Claim Democracy
Claim Democracy encourages networking and collaboration among national, state and local democracy groups in order to build support for and strengthen a national infrastructure for a pro-democracy movement within the United States.  Its most significant accomplishment thus far has been our November 2003 and 2007 Claim Democracy conferences, which brought together representatives of more than 100 organizations and more than 500 people for intensive private meetings and public dialogue inWashington, D.C. In light of recent election administration problems and high-profile obstacles to fair elections in the public interest, its major goal for 2008 is the Democracy SoS (Secretary of State) project, designed to develop a comprehensive agenda for action by Secretaries of State and other elected officials who influence election policy.

The vision for Claim Democracy is to help create and support a network of state-based organizations that work to secure, enhance and exercise the right vote through a range of reforms and activities. Rather than exclusively focus on one particular reform or another, these organizations would be able to coordinate and pool resources to advocate one of a number of reforms that meet clear pro-democracy goals. Examples include: expanding the electorate, increasing citizen participation, providing fair representation, promoting better political debate, freeing voters to support their candidate of choice and supporting equality in the political process. Potential activities include plans to:
  • Establish a new website with a range of information about pro-democracy issues, blogs from several leading pro-democracy advocates and easy means to find pro-democracy advocates in one’s state or locality. An internal invitation-only set of pages would facilitate communication among leaders of pro-democracy groups.

  • Promote creation of and support for a network of state and local groups working to promote participation and reform in their state – ideally seeking to integrate efforts to boost citizen participation with reform efforts and seeking to establish lasting relationships with elected officials able to enact change.

  • Coordinate regular meetings of a pro-democracy roundtable of national and local groups, designed to promote strategic thinking, greater communication and coordination in the pro-democracy movement and support for state/local efforts.

  • Develop a “war-room” communications ability able to spotlight deficits in our democracy and work being done to address those efforts.

  • Develop and work with caucuses of pro-democracy elected officials, at local, state and federal levels – coordinating strategic initiatives that can be carried out at different levels.

  • Develop curriculum about the history of expansion of democracy in the United States as a whole and individual states to be used in K-12 schools.


 
Blind Voters in Phila. Say Their Election Experience is Improving -- Slowly

By John McDevitt
Published May 15th 2007 in  Philadelphia all news radio KYW Newsradio 1060
Making a quick stop to vote on Tuesday wasn't as speedy as some would have liked.

And some voters, including the blind, who opted for audio instruction couldn't go faster even if they wanted to.

Led by her five-year-old guide dog Pattie, 51-year-old Suzanne Erb of center city Philadelphia -- blind since birth -- made her way to the elevator of her apartment building and then to the second-floor polling place.
 
Once there, a volunteer guided Erb's hand to the spot where she was instructed to sign the registry.

Erb waited for her turn in line. A volunteer led her into the polling station. Inside the voting booth, Erb put on headphones and followed the recorded voice instructions.

It took more than 30 minutes for her to complete the voting process. Compare that to some sighted voters who were taking three or four minutes. She says it was frustrating:

"I would like to be able to speed it (the recorded instructions) up, because there's no reason why it should have taken me 31 minutes to vote."

Erb isn't a fan of the electronic voting booths -- she favors a paper trail. She also says that poll workers seemed a little better trained this year in assisting her than the last time she voted.