Call back some faint spirit of Jefferson and Lincoln, and when again we can hold a fair election on real issues, let's vote, and not till then. Is this impossible? Then democracy in America is impossible.

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Many Americans believe that voting is either irrelevant as a tactic for pursuing genuine democratic social change, or that casting and counting ballots is the sum total of democracy. Although current U.S. elections are indeed a farce, elections have the potential to play a necessary role in ensuring that people can meaningfully participate in making the decisions that affect their lives.

Liberty Tree's Democratizing Elections Program strives to fundamentally transform US elections by nurturing a powerful new voting rights movement that will implement the fundamental and systemic electoral reforms defined in the "Voter Bill of Rights".

Initiatives

• No More Stolen Elections!
  The national campaign to defend voting rights on and beyond the federal general Election Day, 2008.

Events

• Real Democracy at the DNC in Denver (August 22, 2008 - August 29, 2008)
  Join Liberty Tree in protests, panels, and more outside the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
• Protect Wisconsin's Vote Education Summit (July 24, 2008 - July 24, 2008)
  This event features a panel discussion and short films organized to inform the media about important voter protection issues, educate community groups on what steps they can take to prevent voter suppression, dispel the myths of voter fraud, as well as collaborate to create an action plan to protect voting throughout the state. 
• Democracy Day (June 5, 2008)
  Liberty Tree is playing a leading role in organizing Democracy Day. Scheduled the day before the National Conference on Media Reform, Democracy Day is a major conference designed to build support among voting rights advocates, electoral reformers and movement organizations for a broader vision of democracy
• Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Day of Action (April 1, 2008)

  Join hundreds of other Floridians in Tallahassee on April 1 for a rally and lobbying visits.

  Demand that the Florida Legislature and the Board of Executive Clemency make civil rights restoration automatic and remove employment barriers faced by people with past felony convictions.

  People with past felony convictions are especially encouraged to participate.

• Procession for the Future (March 2, 2008 - March 4, 2008)
  David Cobb to be a featured speaker at the Backbone campaign's Procession for the Future event.
• Midwest NLG Conference (February 29, 2008 - March 1, 2008)
  Liberty Tree convenes two panels at the regional Midwest meeting of the National Lawyers Guild.
• Claim Democracy 2007 Conference (November 9, 2007 - November 11, 2007)
• Democracy Track at the U.S. Social Forum (June 27, 2007 - July 1, 2007)
  The Democracy Track is a series of sessions and community spaces at the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia, June 27-July 1, 2007. The purpose of these sessions is to centralize democracy in all of our everyday struggles.
• The New Generation Voting Rights Movement (March 5, 2007)
• National Election Reform Conference
• A Call to Protect and Democratize U.S. Elections
• March and Rally to Support Reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act
• Judiciary Committee Hearings on Ohio Voting Irregularities
• Progressive Dialogue III

Publications/Talks

• Liberty Tree Panel at Claim Democracy Conferece (November 10, 2007)
  Panel Discussion with Liberty Tree's Patrick Barrett, David Cobb and Brandon Lacy Campos on Democratizing Elections
• Measure T Bans Corporate Campaign Financing (September 3, 2007)
  The Fall 2007 issue of Yes Magazine features an article by Liberty Tree Fellow Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap. Kaitlin writes about Measure T, the groundbreaking campaign passed in Humboldt County, California that bans outside corporate money in elections and challenges the doctrine of corporate constitutional rights.
• The Citizen's Election Assessment Hearing
  "The challenge is to create a movement that expands and deepens the notion of elections and democracy itself."
• David Cobb: 'The New Voting Rights Movement' and 'Fighting The Corporate Takeover'
• Prospects for Participatory Democracy in the U.S.
  "The task . . . is to facilitate the growth of an aggressive democracy movement in the United States."
• We are on the offensive: Make the most of it!
  Ben Manski responds to Independent Politics News' question, "How can progressives get off of the defensive in 2006?"
• Corporatization: An Internal Clash of Civilizations
  Corporatization: An Internal Clash of Civilizations by Ben Manski and John Peck Published in "Beyond the Market: The Future of Public Services"
• Voter Bill of Rights
  The full text of the Voter Bill of Rights.
• Wisconsin votes for immediate withdrawal!
  Ballot resolutions put a state on the map as opposed to the occupation of Iraq
• ACS Paper: Preserving and Expanding the Right to Vote: Ranked-choice Voting
  In this American Constitution Society white paper, Liberty Tree Fellows Patrick Barrett and David Cobb join Caleb Kleppner of Election Solutions in making the case for ranked-choice voting.
• The 2006 Mid-term Elections: Change or Continuity?
• Z Magazine interviews Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap about Measure T
  Democracy Unlimited: Daniel McLeod interviews Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap

Democracy News

• Green Party Seeks to Ensure Fair Elections in Ohio and Pennsylvania (July 23rd, 2008)
• Will states topple the Electoral College? (June 9th, 2008)
• Obama Wants to Shrink One War, But Expand Two Others (July 16th, 2008)
• Voter Protection -The African World- (10 July 2008)
• Florida's 2008 Election Landscape Looking More Like 2000 (28 June 2008)
• Municipal ballot measure to ban military recruitment of children (6/12/08)
• Report from Democracy Day (6/9/2008)
• U.S. Sens. Feingold, Klobuchar, US. Rep. Ellison: Work to make voting easier for all Americans (May 10, 2008)
• Hawaii Enacts National Popular Vote Bill (May 2, 2008)
• Supreme Court Upholds Voter ID Requirement (April 28, 2008)
• Movement for Election Day Registration Gains Momentum (April 15, 2008)
• Maryland Funds New Voting System (April 8, 2008)
• Do You Want the Military Industrial Complex Counting Your Votes? (March 4, 2008)
• Election Madness (March 2008)
• Questions for Candidates on Corporate Power (February 10, 2007)
• The Nation: Liberty Tree MVP! (January 1, 2008)
• CEPR Exposes Efforts to Undermine Referendum on Venezuelan Constitutional Reform (November 28, 2007)
• Updating the Electoral College: The National Popular Vote Legislation (June 5, 2007)
• Rob Richie: Election Observers Abroad ~ Scotland's May 2007 Elections (June 2007)
• Liberty Tree: Democratizing Elections ~ Review by Rady Ananda (May 22, 2007)
• PA Court Recognizes that Voters? Have a Right to Reliable, Secure Voting Machines (April 16, 2007)
• Ontario Voters to Decide on Electoral Reform (Monday, April 16, 2007)
• Excerpts from a speech by Howard Zinn
• A Major Victory for Local Democracy: Measure T Adopted! (June 6, 2006)
• IRV in action in Burlington, VT: City elects Progressive mayor (March 8, 2006)
• Debate on ballot measure could go national (February 22, 2006)

Urgent Action

• No More Stolen Elections! Pledge of Action (No More Stolen Elections! campaign)
• Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Day of Action (Florida Rights Restoration Coalition)
• Voting Rights Act Reauthorization (Rainbow/PUSH and VoteJustice.org)