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| (WA) 10/06 - Citizens band together t... |
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BBV Admin
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Bbv
Post Number: 7
Registered: 10-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006 - 7:38 am: | 
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Marian Beddill and other citizens formed a group back in 2003, and have continued to advocate for one election transparency measure after the next. They are a good example of how persistence pays off. This group is listened to by the Whatcom County elections officials, their input has come to matter very much. Beddill also helps to mentor other Washingtonian citizens to help them learn the ropes. Here, Marian writes to a Washington citizen who has asked for guidance
Glad I am, to see this interest.
I am from Whatcom County, and have been involved for several years in local Dems and a non- partisan elections integrity group we call "Whatcom Fair Voting". This group has "kicked-ass" in Whatcom, to get us to confidence in the election process. I also contribute to several other national elections integrity groups, like BlackBoxVoting, and the League of Women Voters.
http://noleakybuckets.org/
http://lwvmosaic.org/
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
We (WFV) can provide you with a ton of resources - info, processes, connections, etc.
Marian Beddill
(From BBV): Marian then arranged to call the Washington citizen to offer more support and advice. If you know Marian, you realize very quickly that she is a natural teacher, who happens to have expertise and training in computer programming as well. Yet, she has that gift of being able to break things down and make them understandable. Beddill is a good example of using one's unique skill set to take effective actions. Each of us has unique interests and skills, and when we focus on these, it helps to stay motivated. Persistence is going to be required in order to get control of elections back into citizen hands, and one technique to increase persistence is to utilize skills and interests that come naturally to you.
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Be very clear about your job as a citizen right now: It is to reverse the swing of the pendulum. It's been swinging away from citizen control -- your job is to take back your government. Start at the local level.
You own your government -- not the other way around. It is time to get out of your chair, step away from the Internet, and get involved in citizen oversight.
We salute the extraordinary citizens who are taking back America.
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Marian Beddill
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Uu7thprinciple
Post Number: 39
Registered: 08-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006 - 4:40 pm: |
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Thanks, Bev, for the Kudos.
I will give my kudos to the rest of the multi-partisan group - our thing works because everybody makes it work.
We have even held Saturday Retreats - and used them to craft and refine our Mission Statement:
"Whatcom Fair Voting is a non-partisan grassroots group of citizens working to promote the integrity of the electoral process by:
* researching improvements;
* encouraging full citizen participation;
* informing the public and elected officials on voting issues;
* supporting safeguards to ensure voting accuracy and accountability; and
* monitoring elections legislation."
Marian
http://NoLeakyBuckets.org
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