Voice of the Voters: The Bonifaz Blog
Submitted by Ofer Inbar on Thu, 09/14/2006 - 11:46pm.
Early this summer, after months of inviting Bill Galvin to debates without response, John Bonifaz delivered a letter to his office challenging Bill Galvin to 7 debates. Bonifaz wrote, "I look forward to your immediate response so that we may reach agreement on the scheduling of these debates."
Galvin never responded to the letter.
On Thursday night, the last scheduled public forum for candidates for Secretary before the Democratic primary, was held in Springfield. True to pattern, both Galvin and Bonifaz were invited, but only Bonifaz showed up.
It's not too late, Bill Galvin. There are 4 days left before the election. If you'd like a debate, we'll work with you to make it happen.
Submitted by Ofer Inbar on Thu, 09/14/2006 - 7:24pm.
Bill Gouveia's column in last week's Norton Mirror highlights the problem of Gerrymandering in Massachusetts - the legislature's practice of drawing districts to benefit current officeholders, at the expense of the voters. Oh sure, every vote counts in every election - we all know that. But try selling that to the voters of Norton, many of whom aren’t even sure just who represents them now, never mind who is looking to represent them in the future. This is not a reflection on the people of Norton, but rather on the stupid, disjointed, political system of drawing districts that has left the small town of Norton divided into three different districts.
[...]
Norton is divided up into three legislative districts. The largest is the 1st Bristol District, currently represented by outgoing Rep. Virginia Coppola. That district includes precincts 3,4 and 5 in Norton. Currently there are three democrats and one republican seeking to grab this vacated seat.
In the 4th Bristol District, Norton’s precinct 1 is thrown in with Seekonk and Rehoboth - two towns with which Norton shares virtually nothing else. There are no less than six - count’em, six - candidates seeking that seat, with all of them pretending Norton is a critical part of the district.
Precinct 2 is Norton’s lone remaining precinct. That one is lumped in a district with North Attleboro and part of Mansfield, currently represented by Rep. Betty Poirier, who has no opposition. Poirier is also careful to pay the proper amount of public attention to Norton, insisting the town is lucky to in fact have three state representatives rather then just one.
[...]
So we are left with two races for three seats, and we are not a major factor in any of them. But that does not mean we should not vote on the 19th. Last year Claire Naughton won in two of the three towns in her district, including Norton. But she lost the race because she was unable to carry Foxboro - the only town in the district that has all its precincts included. I was on that campaign. When Claire Naughton hired me to make her web site last December, one of the first things I did was look for a map of the district to put on her web site. Go ahead, look at the map. Does it make any sense that the district would snake distontiguously thorough half of Mansfield just to grab half of Norton on the other side?
But that's far from the strangest Massachusetts district I've campaigned in over the past few years. Check out, for example, the 18th Suffolk, which snakes around the outside of Allston-Brighton, dipping into Brookline for one precinct, and surrounding the 17th Suffolk, which is shaped like some sort of splatter. Or how about the bizarro 4th Congressional District - whose major population centers of Brookline, Newton, Fall River, and New Bedford, are at opposite ends.
When I volunteered for Tim Schofield in a special election in the 18th Suffolk in early 2005, even most of us on the campaign never quite had it clear in our heads which streets were in which district. If we were confused, walking precinct canvass lists every day, imagine how confused the voters of Allston-Brighton are about it! Hardly anyone can guess whether their neighbor has the same state rep as they do.
The 18th Suffolk district was drawn the way it is to protect former Rep Brian Golden, a conservative Democrat who campaigned for Bush in New Hampshire in 2000 and 2004. He initially won the seat in a 5-way primary with less than 30% of the vote. The the district was altered to remove some precincts that vote more liberally, protecting him from future challenges. It highlights the inherent conflict of interest we get when the legislature makes the map: legislators choose their voters, rather than voters choosing their legislators.
To level the playing field for challengers, John Bonifaz will advocate for independent redistricting.
Submitted by Ofer Inbar on Thu, 09/14/2006 - 12:30pm.
This Tuesday, a number of state held primary elections. One of them was Maryland, where the state tried all-electronic voting for the first time, using Diebold touchscreen voting machines and voter roll sign-in computers instead of paper pads. The Baltimore Sun summarized the outcome: Maryland's first statewide run of an all- electronic voting system stumbled out of the gate Tuesday, with major glitches in Baltimore City and Montgomery County that frustrated thousands of would-be voters They were too kind. "Clearly, there is something wrong with the way elections are run in Maryland", wrote the Washington Post in a scathing editorial: In Baltimore, many people who tried to vote early Tuesday found polling places shut because election judges hadn't shown up for work. In Prince George's County, the Board of Elections inexplicably went home early yesterday morning without counting all the primary ballots. And Montgomery County endured not only the morning fiasco with inoperable machines but also chaos at night as election officials ran out of paper ballots for extended voting.
The Baltimore Sun adds, In Baltimore, voters turning out early found locked doors and absent workers at polling places from Highlandtown to Mount Washington. Those workers who did report for duty on time struggled with a balky new electronic voter list, which at times erroneously declared a voter had already cast a ballot. It was unclear how many voters were turned away, or gave up when faced with long lines and computer glitches.
In Montgomery County, the problems and voting delays were even more widespread, as election workers failed to distribute ATM-sized key cards needed to operate the touch-screen voting machines. It took up to three hours to get the necessary cards distributed. The Post includes a helpful Q&A of what went wrong in Montgomery. Computer Science professor Avi Rubin, who volunteered at the polls, gives us a detailed account of problems with Diebold on election day. And as usual, BradBlog has more.
What happens when voting machines and processes break down? In "The Mess in Montgomery", the Washington Post notes, "With important local, state and federal offices at stake, some were questioning the legitimacy of the election even before the polls closed."
Submitted by Ofer Inbar on Wed, 09/13/2006 - 10:44pm.
In February, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. endorsed John Bonifaz. Today, his father the Reverend Jesse Jackson joined in endorsing Bonifaz: "The right to vote is the foundation stone of our democracy, and John has fought, time and time again, to make a fair and equal vote for everyone a reality. John Bonifaz is a fighter for justice. The voters of Massachusetts have a rare privilege next Tuesday, September 19th. They can cast their votes for a true freedom fighter. I encourage them to vote for John Bonifaz for Massachusetts Secretary of State."
Submitted by Ofer Inbar on Wed, 09/13/2006 - 1:46pm.
Add the Boston Phoenix. Today, The Phoenix endorsed John Bonifaz for secretary, along with Deval Patrick for Governor, Deb Goldberg for Lt. Governor, Phil Dunkelbarger for Congress, and Sonia Chang-Diaz for state senate. Here's what they had to say about Bonifaz:
The Phoenix urges you cast your ballot for John Bonifaz in the Democratic primary for secretary of state, a key constitutional office that supervises elections and helps regulate the local securities industry. If ever there were a natural-born reformer, it is Bonifaz. He is perhaps the only person ever to seek office in Massachusetts who is also the winner of a MacArthur "genius" fellowship for his pioneering legal work in voting-rights and campaign-finance reform. Where others see process, Bonifaz sees policy. He has the rare political ability to see life not as it is, but as it should be. He has the idealism and the energy to try to make our government better by making politics accessible to all, not just to the well connected and the well financed.
If you think politics is plagued by cynicism and corrupted by cronyism, then a vote for Bonifaz is a vote for hope that the system, and society, can be made better.
Submitted by Ofer Inbar on Wed, 09/13/2006 - 9:50am.
In a ringing endorsement, the New Bedford Standard-Times today praised John Bonifaz because of his energy, activism, and leadership.
After weighing the cases made by both candidates, we believe that the challenger, John Bonifaz, a young lawyer and founder of the National Voting Rights Institute, has the right ideas. Our democracy is at risk as more and more people fail to vote and fewer and fewer people stand for election to public office. The state has one of the highest numbers of uncontested races in the nation.
It will take more than a well-liked incrementalist to turn the tide on these dangerous trends in Massachusetts. The state needs an energetic, high-profile voter rights activist who is not afraid to push hard for election day registration, voting day holidays, campaign finance reforms and greater access to the polls They also note Bill Galvin's failure to debate:
[...] it was disappointing that the voters were not given more chances to see the two candidates debate these issues. Mr. Bonifaz made several attempts to get Mr. Galvin to agree to a series of debates, but the secretary has not responded to these attempts, including a letter in July. Mr. Bonifaz can list many debates in which he was the only one on the podium.
The New Bedford Standard-Times concluded that "John Bonifaz will be a champion for the voter."
Submitted by Ofer Inbar on Wed, 09/13/2006 - 7:24am.
Blue Mass Group, the state's most widely read political blog, last night endorsed John Bonifaz:
Somewhat to our surprise, the three of us find ourselves in wholehearted agreement in support of John Bonifaz's challenge to 12-year incumbent Bill Galvin in the Democratic primary for Secretary of State. At the outset, each of us expected to back Galvin in this race (though we didn't expect to be terribly vocal about it). But as we've explored the details of the race and seen the way the two candidates are conducting it, we've changed our minds. Why?
They list some of Galvin's failures, including federal investigations of voting rights violations, Massachusetts' failure to comply with a 2002 disability access law, and Bill Galvin's failure to debate.
Are we just against Galvin, rather than being for Bonifaz? No. Bonifaz is a nationally-recognized, MacArthur "genius award" winning leader in voting rights, and without fair elections, nothing else will work very well. He wants to use the office of Secretary of State as a bully pulpit for elections reform and has some good thoughts on how to do that; and he wants Massachusetts to be a national leader in this area, which strikes us as a fine idea. In addition, he favors moving state government toward open documents format, rather than allowing Microsoft to wrap its tentacles ever more tightly around our collective windpipes. Blue Mass Group's Bob and David had a wide-ranging interview with John Bonifaz last week, available for download or listening online. Ryan Adams also interviewed Bonifaz last week. They're great interviews, I learned something from both of them. Listen and read!
Submitted by Ofer Inbar on Tue, 09/12/2006 - 10:30pm.
Spoiled elections don't just happen in Florida and Ohio - they happen all over the country, including here. I'd like to tell you the story of an election here in Massachusetts, in 2004, where an elected office went to the candidate who got fewer votes.
Every four years, on the presidential primary ballot, Massachusetts voters elect people to their party's state & local committees. In 2004, a Democratic State Committee seat for the Middlesex, Suffolk & Essex district was contested by two write-in candidates: Lesley Phillips and Patty Cheever.
The district covers parts of Allston-Brighton, Cambridge, Somerville, Revere, Saugus, and all of Everett and Chelsea. Cheever campaigned only in the north shore part of the district, primarily in her hometown of Everett; Phillips campaigned in Cambridge, Somerville, and Allston-Brighton. I was an organizer with MassForDean, and we had endorsed Lesley Phillips along with a slate of candidates across the state for Democratic committee spots.
Most of the cities and towns in the district reported their tallies promptly, and the numbers were very close. We were cautiously hopeful - all we needed were a handful of votes from Boston, where Cheever hadn't campaigned and we had. We also saw some potentially incorrectly recorded votes in Cambridge and requested a recount. Then came the numbers from Boston: nothing.
I hadn't slept on the night before the primary. All night, I and several other MassForDean members distributed flyers and put up signs. Our flyers had one side making the case for why voters should still vote for Howard Dean, even though he'd stopped campaigning the month before; the other side listed the MassForDean slate for Democratic State Committee, Ward Committee, and Town Committee spots all over the state, organized by city/town. Dean's name and popularity were still high, and there were many voters in these very liberal neighborhoods who would be inclined to support Deanies for party office, and write in a name from a MassForDean slate. I personally distributed thousands of these flyers on car windows that night, including several hundred in the Allston-Brighton precincts Lesley was running in.
Not one single vote? It didn't make sense. And then we discovered two things...
Submitted by Jamie Ansorge on Mon, 09/11/2006 - 2:29pm.
(Jamie Ansorge is an organizer with Brandeis Democracy for America - we thank them for organizing a candidate forum on Democracy and Voting Rights tomorrow afternoon. -- Ofer Inbar)
The Brandeis chapter of Democracy for America is proud to annouce a forum on democracy and voting rights to be held tomorrow (Tuesday September 12th) from 4:00 - 6:00 PM in the library of our university campus.
We have invited all three candidates for Secretary of the Commonwealth including Jill Stein, John Bonifaz, and Bill Galvin. Jill and John, who have both spoken at Brandeis in the past, excitedly confirmed. Bill Galvin's office, however, has repeatedly given hopeful but reserved responses. His campaign manager has declined to say whether he will or will not be avaliable, leaving us with numerous planning difficulties.
Submitted by Matt Wilding on Sun, 09/10/2006 - 1:31am.
(Matt Wilding sent us an email, and I invited him to write a guest post. He crossposted at thefutureofprogress.com, where he blogs regularly.)
I should be clear, I do not work on the John Bonifaz campaign. In fact, I don’t really think Bill Galvin has done a terrible job as Sec. of State. But I cannot in good conscience support a candidate that does not respect the voters, and Bill Galvin has proven throughout this campaign that that is exactly his position.
Like many people, I attempted to attend a debate between the two candidates in Medford, MA last week. I had heard both men speak on different occasions throughout the campaign, and had been privileged enough to meet both of them. Having been a delegate to the Massachusetts Democratic State Convention, I voted for John Bonifaz not because I didn’t want Bill Galvin to be Sec. of State, but because I wanted to hear more from Bonifaz about what we could do to change it. It seemed then to be a golden opportunity to finally see the two men square off in a good old-fashioned style democratic debate to aid me in making my final decision. I could weigh the candidates' ideas against each other in real time, and perhaps walk out of the room a little more confident. As it turned out though, I barely had to get to the door.
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