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Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 10466
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? 
Votes: 6 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 6:56 pm: | 
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One of the nation's leading election integrity watchdogs, John Gideon, 62, passed away Monday April 27. Gideon was editor of the very widely distributed "Daily Voting News," featured on Bradblog. Together with Ellen Theisen, he co-founded the prominent election integrity Web site VotersUnite.org.
In the early days of Black Box Voting, John Gideon played an important role by corresponding with each and every new member in our forums. He also helped assist VerifiedVoting.org when it was a fledgling organization.
He succumbed rather suddenly to bacterial meningitis. He passed away with his family by his side.
John Gideon earned a reputation for painstaking accuracy. He developed a breadth of knowledge about certification processes and all major voting machines. Yet more impressive (for some of us middle-aged folk), he had an amazing ability to remember details whenever needed, synthesizing knowledge from thousands of articles, research papers and visits.
Always courteous, he was respected by election officials, secretaries of state, voting rights attorneys, and the often-raucous grass roots election reform community. Gideon was consistently intellectually honest, demonstrating the ability to consider new ideas and rethink old ways, whether or not it was popular. Once he latched onto key concepts for election transparency, he held onto them with the stubbornness and backbone required of great patriots.
Sometimes you can't replace important voices in a civil rights movement. I don't think we'll ever be able to match John's unique voice. I do have confidence, however, that his vast and effective communications reach developed many new voices, and that together the individuals John Gideon inspired will at least help to fill the hole we're left with in our hearts, and in our fight to regain self-government.
John Gideon
A giant voice for transparent elections |
Samuel Scharff
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Abacus
Post Number: 139
Registered: 8-2005
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 8:16 pm: |
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Bruce Springsteen, on the loss of a band member, recalled an old phrase for a song:"when they made you, brother, they broke the mold,,,"
Abacus
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Nancy Hendrix
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Scruffles
Post Number: 1
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 11:46 pm: |
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Thanks for all you did for all of us. Rest now in the arms of the angels. Nancy Hendrix |
Scott S. Cooper
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Sscoop
Post Number: 11
Registered: 5-2006
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 1:39 am: |
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John...Thank you for your work to preserve the People's Democracy...History will attest to your work. |
Laurie Sabel
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Pearl
Post Number: 2
Registered: 2-2008
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 3:59 am: |
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Many thanks to a true hero. You will be missed. May your work live on and thrive. God bless you and keep you. |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 5504
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 7:14 am: |
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May you continue to be an inspiration to us all. |
Susan Burton
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Shotgunsusie
Post Number: 1
Registered: 1-2008
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 7:48 am: |
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ridin with the patriots in the sky!! |
George Culley
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: George4
Post Number: 3
Registered: 1-2008
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 7:54 am: |
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Our prayers are with the family that you will know that John is missed and that his work has not gone unnoticed. |
Marian Beddill
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Uu7thprinciple
Post Number: 196
Registered: 8-2005
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 8:27 am: |
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My heart is heavy. I have enormous admiration for the spirit which John brought to this activity, as well as the effort he expended and the style he used. We may never know the real impact he had on our nation - and the world.
Marian
http://NoLeakyBuckets.org
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Julie Penny
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Julie_ny
Post Number: 8
Registered: 6-2006
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 8:35 am: |
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This is devastating news. No one can replace John. While I didn't know him personally, I marveled at his work, his intelligence, his dedication. Depended on it in passing along his information to lawmakers, to the public, to my lists.
He's one of my heroes, taken away from life too soon. He will be so sorely missed. My heart goes out to his family and friends. This is a tragedy for them and for our movement. Having earned our collective respect and gratitiude, rest peacefully John along with all our nation's great patriots. |
Kerry Kimes
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Kerrykimes
Post Number: 34
Registered: 2-2006
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 10:41 am: |
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John Gideon worked to keep hope alive, I admired him and the many others that still work so hard on BBV and similar websites. His work helped this cause so much. His family and friends can rest assured all of humanity will continue to benefit from his work. Thank you John. |
Ross Levin
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Rossl
Post Number: 18
Registered: 2-2008
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 11:01 am: |
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I'm so sorry to hear this. I had just met John through email about a week ago for the first time, because I started a blog series modeled after his Daily Voting News and inspired by it. I relied on him for some great content and was wondering why DVN had suddenly stopped... this is truly a tragedy and my condolences to his family. |
Christopher S. Brudy
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Csbrudy
Post Number: 3
Registered: 4-2007
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 3:12 pm: |
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A beacon of light during eight years of dank, dismal darkness. He illuminated the bone daddy single most important issue, the stealing of our elections, with a glow despised by the dark forces.
Gideon will be missed and mourned. |
Phyllis A. Huster
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Rigel99
Post Number: 75
Registered: 2-2005
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 3:56 pm: |
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for those of us who read the DVN like the only oasis in a sahara desert of lies and outsourced government, I find John's death one more reason to double down on my own efforts in the election fraud detection and putting integrity back in our voting process.
John's Daily Voting News, was a beacon of truth in those early months in 2005, shortly after our APOCRYPHAL meeting in Nashville TN when those of us who cared, wanted to save Democracy, and the right to vote for all Americans.
John was the honesty, he was the voice, he was the careful cartographer of a community of Election Integrity activists that started with corruption, graft and Billion Dollar funded corporations like ES&S and Diebold, who were felled because of John's hard work echoed through our community. Every state that we turned back to paper ballots, Maryland, North Carolina, california, new York, became states that SURPRISE, Obama managed to win. John is not just a hero, he's the reason we have democracy again in the white house and his hard work and dedicated efforts will never be forgotten, this day, as i honor him with my tears, I am both saddened and proud..
May your weary soul rest peacefully now, John, for you are an American hero and I"m grateful to have crossed your path.
Let's keep up the struggle in honor of John, Andy, Athan Gibbs, and all the unnamed folks who have given their souls to creating honest, transparent, American elections!!
we are all better off for having John in our lives... |
Alan Brau
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Alan_brau
Post Number: 206
Registered: 1-2006
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - 5:12 pm: |
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Thank you for heroic effort, John. You will be missed.
Alan Brau |
Barbara Ehrentreu
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Lionmother
Post Number: 1
Registered: 6-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, May 1, 2009 - 6:21 pm: |
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John was there when hardly anyone believed that our election could have been stolen. His support kept us sane. I worked very hard in this movement and it is wonderful that John Gideon was able to keep this spirit alive in his daily newsletter. Lately I depended on him for accurate information about what is going on in Minnesota. Rest easy John Gideon. Your leadership will be missed. |
Alice Copeland Brown
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Alicecbrown
Post Number: 3
Registered: 9-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, May 2, 2009 - 9:12 am: |
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 Millions of people all over this country got their vote counted because of John Gideon. As a voting rights advocate and a publicizer of voting wrongs, I was unaware of John's giant part in catalyzing the efforts of folks like me, who knew something was terribly terribly wrong in 2000 when the crook Bush stole the presidency. But was helpless to know what to do about it. Folks like Gideon (and Bev) did, and for that today this nation and the world, through Pres. Obama, have a chance.\red. |
