BE THE CHANGE! A Website Guide for Positive Grassroots Action & Election Reform

BE THE CHANGE!!!ELECTION INFORMATION FOR OREGON, WASHINGTON AND THE NATIONWebsites to get info, participate and take action. This info is in conjunction with the January 31st show, Voices from the Edge, hosted by Dave Mazza and Jo Ann Bowman. They spoke with Laura Flanders and Jim Hightower on  taking grassroots action to make our local and national governments more accountable to the people.THE INFORMED VOTERPROJECT VOTE SMART is a non-partisan site that gathers information about government officials and candidates, including their voting record while in office. The Voter's Self-Defense System  Get the facts on those who control your future: • Biographical Info • Voting Records • Issue Positions • Interest Group Rating • Public Statements • Campaign Finances • ON THE ISSUES:  Every Political Leader on Every Issue Which 2008 Presidential Candidate Agrees With You? For Fun:  Short Quizzes to find out which Presidential Candidate holds most of your views:http://www.electoralcompass.com/language/enhttp://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.htmlOREGONELECTION REFORM-OREGONOREGON VOTER RIGHTS COALITION is working to restore public ownership and oversight of elections, and to ensure the fundamental right of every American citizen to vote and to have each vote counted as intended in a secure, transparent, impartial, and independently audited election process. OREGON CLEAN VOTE Concerned Oregon Democrats and others insisting on a proper count of the 2004 vote, proper investigations of voting irregularities, full and detailed media coverage, strong opposition of certification of this election and accountability and reform of future elections. OREGON VOTING  provides news and information about the election process.  Controversies in the 2000 and 2004 election have energized the public to demand reforms to ensure that every vote cast is counted and done so accurately. There must be a paper trail. We believe that your vote should and must count. ACTION SPEAKS PORTLAND is a non-partisan group of individuals in the Portland Metro area, who have formed in response to the events of November 2, 2004.THE DEMOCRACY ACTION GROUP challenges the corporate threat to our democracy. We are both a study group and an action group that looks at ways that corporations control our government and our society. Our current focus is reform of the election process, primarily campaign finance reform in the state of Oregon where we have no limits on corporate participation in the election of our government officials. We will also focus attention and effort on making other changes in the elections process  which will increase democracy and lessen the influence and dominance of corporations.FAIR ELECTIONS OREGON When it comes to campaign finance reform, Oregon is last, dead last! Oregon has no limits on political campaign contributions for any state or local race. The result is that corporations dominate politics in Oregon. They outspend labor unions by 5-1 and massively outspend all other groups and causes, including those for better health care, environmental protection, human and civil rights, decent and living wage jobs for all, consumer protection, fair taxes on corporations, less promotion of gambling, and sufficient funding for education and other needs. Corporations pushed up the total reported spending on political races in Oregon from $4.2 million in 1996 to $42 million in 2002 - a factor of 10 in 6 years .OREGON FOLLOW THE MONEY We look at how money effects our democracy, and work to even the playing field with research, analysis, and action.  MONEY IN POLITICS RESEARCH ACTION PROJECT  Information about Voter owned elections BALLOT MEASURES-OREGON Ballot initiatives in Oregon have established vote by mail, set a reasonable minimum wage, established Death with Dignity, legalized medical marijuana and made the Oregon coast accessible to all.  Other past measures also banned marriage for same-sex couples and dramatically changed land use in Oregon.  Dozens of initiatives have been filed. Some have been approved for circulation of petitions to collect enough signatures to place them on the ballot. Here's a sampling:Open Primaries--is an initiative that would establish: Open Primaries; Electors Vote Regardless Of Party Affiliation; Two Candidates Proceed To General Election. (initiative #109, election year 2008) This initiative was filed by Phil Keisling who hopes to get enough signatures to get it on the November '08 ballot.  More info:  Campaign Finance Reform is another topic.Another petition: Prohibits Instruction At Public Schools (Including Colleges, Universities) That "Approves," "Endorses" Homosexual, Bisexual, Transgendered Behavior (initiative #23, election year 2008)And another:  Amends Constitution: Using Funds To Facilitate Abortion Or Accepting Funds For Performing Abortion Is Punishable As Murder  (initiative #108, election year 2008)Others would pit property rights and against land use planning  Many of these initiatives have been filed by the same people--including conservatives Kevin Mannix whose ballot measures included minimum mandatory sentences and Bill Sizemore who's been behind the Oregon tax revolt movement.To find out more, go to:  http://egov.sos.state.or.us/elec/web_irr_search.search_formDemocracy Resources is expected to soon be putting up information about Oregon's ballot initiatives.PARTICIPATION-OREGONRegister to vote Oregon Election DivisionContact elected officials--US President, US Senators & Representatives, State Governors, State LegislatorsDEMOCRACY REFORM OREGON is a non-partisan, not-for-profit group working to increase accountability and opportunities for participation in politics and governmental decision-making.   THE BUS PROJECT-- Engage, educate, and elect. That’s our mission. Founded in 2001 to respond to specific needs, the Bus Project has mobilized thousands of volunteers and activists around the state of Oregon. We bring voters out of the woodwork. We create forums to learn about candidates and policy issues. The BusPAC works to elect the best progressive candidates in the state. We do it all, with one constant: combining fun and politics.  THE BUS PROJECT '08 GENERAL ELECTION   60 Oregon State Representatives and control of the State House, 15 Oregon State Senators and control of the State Senate, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, All five congressional offices, US Senator Gordon Smith ’s seat  and the POTUS . Ballot measures that can change everything! (SEE BALLOT MEASURES, ABOVE).  Plus some local stuff that you should run for.  Wanna make a difference in any of the above?  This thing only works if you volunteer. Get on the Bus.NORTHWEST PROGRESSIVE COMMUNITY We are a collection of people dedicated to building community based on progressive values. We recognize the potential of progressive politics to further fundamental changes in our society and in our world. RURAL ORGANIZING PROJECTAdvancing Democracy in rural Oregon.  ROP is a statewide organization of locally-based groups that work to create communities accountable to a standard of human dignity: the belief in the equal worth of all people, the need for equal access to justice, and the right to self-determination.   As community organizers we can break through despair by inventing people-powered systems that address the problems of the day.  And this year we have made real progress towards creating new grassroots systems.OREGON ACTION Organizing people on the downside of power to work together building power, winning campaigns, and making real changes in our lives and in our communities. LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS is a nonpartisan political organization, has fought since 1920 to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. The League's enduring vitality and resonance comes from its unique decentralized structure. The League is a grassroots organization, working at the national, state and local levels. OSPIRG (Oregon State Public Interest Research Group) takes on powerful interests on behalf of Oregon's citizens, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being. With a strong network of researchers, advocates, organizers and students across the state, we stand up to powerful special interests on issues to stop identity theft, fight political corruption, provide safe and affordable prescription drugs, and strengthen voting rights.  OREGON LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS is a non-partisan organization with a simple mission:  Educate voters about how their legislators vote on the environment and to hold these legislators accountable. OREGON SMALL BUSINESS FOR RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP  OSBRL's membership has extensive knowledge of community strengths and needs. Working through OSBRL, small business is a significant partner in planning and guiding all aspects of community development. OSBRL supports political systems that are inclusive and encourage participation and  economic systems that provide multiple opportunities for participation.  PORTLAND NAACP BRANCH 1120:  Educate.  Empower. Engage.  CENTER FOR INTERCULTURAL ORGANIZING -- a diverse grassroots organization working to build a multi-racial, multicultural movement for Immigrant and refugee rights.CAUSA  Oregon's Immigrants' Rights Organization  POLITICAL PARTIES-OREGONPACIFIC GREEN PARTYDEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON  OREGON REPUBLICAN PARTY  CONSTITUTION PARTY LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF OREGON WASHINGTONELECTION REFORM-WASHINGTONWASHINGTON CITIZENS FOR FAIR ELECTIONSWASHINGTON CITIZENS FOR VOTING INTEGRITY is a grassroots organization that was created to inform and mobilize Washington State voters to demand complete accountability and integrity in our public ballot systems. PARTICIPATION-WASHINGTONRegister to vote, Washington state info, resources WASHINGTON VOTER:  more infoWashington state recently joined Arizona as the only states to offer online voter registrationRead more  Register online Contact Elected Officials--US President, US Senators & Representatives, State Governors, State Legislators THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS, a  nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active  participation in government, works to increase understanding of major  public policy issues, and influences public policy through education  and advocacy.WASHINGTON CONSERVATION VOTERS is focused on electing and supporting environmentally responsibe candidates for public office. WASHINGTON STATE PUBLIC INTEREST GROUP WASHPIRG's mission is to deliver persistent, result-oriented public interest activism that protects consumers, encourages a fair, sustainable economy, and fosters responsive, democratic government. POLITICAL PARTIES-WASHINGTON GREEN PARTY OF WASHINGTON STATE PROGRESSIVE PARTY OF WASHINGTON CONSTITUTION PARTY OF WASHINGTON STATE WASHINGTON STATE DEMOCRATSLIBERTARIAN PARTY OF WASHINGTON WASHINGTON STATE REPUBLICAN PARTY   NATIONALELECTION REFORM-NATIONALBLACKBOXVOTING.ORG America's Elections Watchdog Group. Excellent source of information. VOTE TRUST USA A national resource for state-based organizations working for secure, accurate and transparent elections. VoteTrustUSA is a project of Verified Voting Foundation.  VOTERS UNITE non-partisan national grassroots resource for fair and accurate elections!   Voters Unite: Daily National UpdatesELECTION ARCHIVES.ORG  Investigating the accuracy of elections. VOTES MUST COUNT  This Web site  acts as a clearinghouse for news involving irregularities found in the 2004 election.   SOLARBUS' ELECTION JUSTICE CENTER and lots more links:  http://www.solarbus.org/election/links.shtmlVELVET REVOLUTION ELECTION PROTECTION STRIKE FORCETHE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR FAIR ELECTIONS The goal of the National Campaign is to foster a national movement committed to ensuring that all voters have an equal opportunity to cast a meaningful ballot. To that end, NCFFE leads Election Protection - the nation's largest non-partisan voter protection coalition including the Lawyers' Committee, the National Bar Association, the NAACP, and the People for the American Way Foundation.    The NCfFE is currently recruiting pro bono attorneys, law students, paralegals, and activists to assist with their campaign efforts throughout the year and with Election Protection in 2008.VERIFIED VOTING  Help us complete the legislative push toward reliable, secure, verifiable, and transparent elections! Step 1 of our strategy has been to make sure that there is a paper record of every vote and that voters are able to verify the accuracy of that record before the ballot is cast (that paper record is called a "Voter-Verified Paper Record" or VVPR). 28 states, with more than half the U.S. population, now have such a requirement.  We need your help to make sure the voters in the remaining 22 states are protected, through Federal or state legislation.  Step 2 of our strategy is to encourage states to adopt laws or regulations requiring such mandatory manual audits of the VVPRs.  As the map below shows, 13 states have such a requirement now.  We need your help to pass laws in the remaining 37 states to require such audits."The Good News (Really) About Voting Machines" Today, 27 states — including such large ones as California, New York, Illinois and Ohio — require electronic voting machines to produce a voter-verified paper trail. There is paper-trail legislation pending in a dozen more states. Read more...ELECTION DEFENSE ALLIANCE is a democratic, participatory organization bringing together election integrity activists from across the country in a coordinated, full-time, full-range campaign to achieve transparent electoral processes fully accountable to the public.  EQUAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION: VOTE FRAUD AND ELECTION ISSUES A survey of problems with voting in America, with particular emphasis on the fallacies and disasters of electronic voting. Contributions are solicited if you have a story of election corruption. PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY:  ELECTION PROTECTION. Focusing on historically disenfranchised communities, the nonpartisan Election Protection 365 program is committed to protecting the right to vote and ensuring fair elections.S.A.V.E. DEMOCRACY --Secure, Accurate and Verified Elections We are a national network of culturally and politically diverse citizens working together in a non-partisan, unified manner for the purpose of restoring the sanctity, integrity , openness and legality of our electoral system by replacing current voting systems with same day hand counting of paper ballots. BRADBLOG "Brad Friedman is one of the Paul Revers of the [Election Integrity] movement."Kennedy, Jr., Ring of Fire,  Air America RadioMARK CRISPIN MILLER BLOGSPOT  Author of Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform  WHO'S COUNTING? A compilation of info on voting fraud. FOLLOW THE MONEY National Institute on Money in State Politics.  Money in state politics plays a pivotal role in shaping public policy in individual states and across the nation. The nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics tracks contributions in all 50 states and makes this data easily searchable online. COMMON CAUSE has led successful efforts for campaign finance reforms, ethics and accountability in government, and open government at the national, state and local levels. We joined with coalitions fighting for civil rights legislation, ending wasteful weapons programs and working for reforms to our nation’s system of voting. Common Cause works with our members and activists and in coalition with other advocacy organizations to make government more accountable to the people.  We have been engaged in a wide range of issues for more than thirty years, succeeding in many reforms and today keeping up the fight to make government open and accountable. PUBLIC CAMPAIGN ACTION FUND: CLEAN MONEY, CLEAN ELECTIONS  A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving America’s campaign finance laws. We help enact, defend, and promote Clean Elections-style public financing in states around the country like Arizona and Maine, and advocate for similar legislation for all federal elections.Public Campaign Action Fund also campaigns to hold elected officials and politicians accountable for opposing reform and for the special favors they do for their political contributors. With its pro-reform Campaign Money Watch project, the organization engages voters in hotly contested elections around the country to educate them about the impact of big money from special interests on the policy-making process.PARTICIPATION-NATIONALContact Elected Officials--US President, US Senators & Representatives, State Governors, State Legislators US HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEEALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY THE ALLIANCE is a new Populist movement --- not a political party --- setting forth to end the domination of our economy, our government, our culture, our media and the environment by large corporations. THE ALLIANCE brings people together to build a progressive populist movement to end the corporate domination of our economy, our government, our culture, our media and the environment. It is time to end corporate rule. WE AIM TO PROMOTE true democracy in our country and help achieve a just society with a sustainable, equitable economy. We work together with other organizations, both here and abroad, who share these goals.  DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA:  Social Progress, Fiscal Responsibility, Grassroots Activism.  Democracy for America (DFA) is a political action committee dedicated to supporting fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates at all levels of governmentfrom school board to the presidency. DFA fights against the influence of the far right-wing and their radical, divisive policies and the selfish special interests that for too long have dominated our politics.  WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM:  The Challenge Corporate Power, Assert the People's Rights Issue Committee is dedicated to understanding how corporations use their illegitimate constitutional “rights” and powers to define our law, politics, jurisprudence, work, technologies, food, communities... you name it! The Committee does this through learning and helping others to learn how we got into this mess through the discovery and study of hidden histories with an eye toward rethinking WILPF activism by placing it in the context of people’s right to self and mutual governance and uncovering the meaning of real (radical) democracy along with developing its skills and practice.  VOTER INFORMATION-NATIONAL & ALL STATESRegistering to Vote and Voting 2008 State Primary Dates Absentee Ballot (for Citizens in the United States) Absentee Ballot (for Uniformed and Overseas Citizens) Absentee Voting Assistance Guide for Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Election Assistance Commission Register to Vote by Mail State Election Offices State Voter Registration Deadlines Voting Assistance Program for Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Voting Rights and Discrimination When to Vote, Polling Hours by StateVOLUNTEERING AND CONTRIBUTING TO THE ELECTION PROCESS-NATIONAL & ALL STATESCampaign Contributions for All 2008 Presidential Candidates, by State Federal Election Volunteers – Become a Poll Worker Political Activity by Federal Government Employees (The Hatch Act) Political Activity by State and Local Government Employees Supporting Federal Candidates: A Guide For Citizens Volunteering Personal Services in Federal Election Campaigns ELECTION LAW BLOG The law of politics and the politics of law: election law, campaign finance, legislation, voting rights, initiatives, redistricting, and the Supreme Court nomination process