Since the fall of 1994 I have researched Missouri elections. I actually began the research to attempt to prove
the late James Collier, author of VOTESCAM, whom I had become phone friends with, WRONG.
By 1997 I had talked to many Missouri election authorities; listened to thousands of voters and non voters;
thanks to the Mo. Secretary of State's Office, elections and corporations divisions, reviewed hundreds of pages
of documents; and observed numerous testings of elections tabulation equipment.
Most of the information gathered was highly disturbing and I had to accept the grim reality the potential for
vote fraud certainly was present in Missouri.
The arrogant attitudes of some of the election authorities, who appeared to thumb their noses at state laws and
the code of state regulations giving a bad name to their professional colleagues trying their best to insure free and fair elections; voters and non voters expressing their belief that their votes are not counted; vendors
for election materials or even voter registration not being properly registered to do business in Missouri and the
small number of vendors, many of which appeared to intertwine; coupled with the potential for outside interference
with Missouri voting, including possibly the United Nations or other international agencies, disenfranchised some
citizens. I could have easily chosen to be amongst those who have decided to not vote and
merely decided our republic is lost and free elections are a thing of the past. However, I chose instead to
be the "gadfly" that stayed in the face of those who could make a difference until hopefully some changes would be
made.
What I have put together in this report may actually offend some of those who have supported
me in the past as some may feel I have mellowed too much as a critic of the system. I hope there is some wisdom
in the positions I have taken that will touch the lives of both those who have essentially given up on elections
and those who can make a difference in insuring free and fair elections in the future.
Unlike James Collier, Jim Condit, Devvy Kidd, and others, who have promoted the paper ballot as the only way to restore election
integrity, I believe in working with the system we have and making it better. (I have also seen the horrors of vote
fraud via paper ballots. Plus I do NOT believe enough people will ever help support a full return to paper ballots.)
I do advocate some tests of a choice of paper ballot or electronically tabulated ballot
cards to see if voter participation would increase and if there would be any difference in the returns. And I would like to
see all of the Missouri elections laws consistent with each other, as well as each of the code of regulations regarding
elections consistent both with the laws and to each other.
Although I have written this report both with short term and long term ideas in mind, I feel the year 2000 election cycle is an excellent time to try to both insure Missouri laws and the code of state regulations
regarding elections, are followed in each precinct, by each election authority, by each vendor, by the state board
of canvassers; and perhaps to refine and/or redefine some of the laws and/or CSRs.
January, 1999 I was about 70 per cent finished with a report intended for Congress, Judicial Watch, and the courts, regarding Missouri and USA elections
and what my research had revealed. I believe all things happen for a reason and God's perfect timing often can
be quite amazing. Originally that report was to have been hand delivered January 22 while a former Missouri
public official and I attended the annual pro-life rally in Washington DC and a session of the impeachment
proceedings against the President of the United States. However, the flu and other
delays had prevented completion. Instead of being in Washington DC, I was thus home to both read an e mail
that a major problem with one of Missouri's elections materials vendors, Henry M. Adkins, was being resolved; and
get a separate phone call I had waited over seven years for, inspiring me to strive to make things better for the youth of
our nation.
The report to Congress, etc. then was not completed after the man financing most of the effort was imprisoned.
In November, 1999, I began to study the Voting Systems Standards established by the Federal Elections Commission and wondered
why Congress had chosen to never fully fund something so important as a project to preserve the integrity of vote counting and
why the standards were obviously incomplete, outdated, and remained voluntary for the states.
Thanks to Missouri Secretary of State, Bekki Cook, and her staff, being willing to listen and making efforts to both increase voter participation and restore public confidence in the
integrity of Missouri elections, this has been prepared instead of the original report intended for Congress, Judicial Watch, and the courts. I am therefore pleased to present this report to the secretary
of state and her staff, to the people of Missouri, and the world via the internet. I am hopeful one or more of my ideas or comments will be helpful in making the
year 2000 and beyond elections free and fair for all and inspiring a few more people to become involved in the electoral process.
Links to other sites on the Web
Summary of Election Ideas
Absentee and Write-in Voting
Registration and Casting Ballots
Counting the Vote
State Laws, CSRs, Constitutional Provisions
Increasing Voter Participation
Copyright Marvalene Pankey 1999, 307 W. Fields, El Dorado Springs, Mo. 64744,
e fax--810-314-0929
Main e-mail--marvalenpankey@yahoo.com
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