This election cycle was no different from past campaigns, in that the national races overshadowed local and state ballot initiatives. On Nov. 2 voters in Santa Cruz, CA handed a crushing defeat to the controversial Measure J. This county-wide initiative would have created a half-cent sales tax to finance transportation projects, primarily a 30 year plan to widen the Santa Cruz portion of California Highway 1. Issues of growth and traffic congestion would only compound if the highway were widened, oppponents said, and more than 60 % of voters agreed. Sprouts contributor Vinny Lombardo brings us this post-mortem look at Measure J.

[ Sprouts - radio from the grassroots I SCCRTC (Yes on J) I No on Measure J I Campaign for Sustainable Transportation (No on J) ]

The 2004 Presidential election is NOT over! There's evidence the election may have been "hijacked" by fraud and that Bush has NOT won. A nationwide grassroots movement is underway to uncover the fraud, get the votes counted (or recounted) and file lawsuits, and YOUR HELP IS NEEDED NOW. Please spread the word, pitch in some volunteer time, help recruit volunteers with legal and/or computer expertise, and consider donating money. The Presidency won't be decided until the Electoral College meets on December 12; it's not too late to Redefeat Bush Again.

Calls to Action in S.F. on Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 12:00 PM: [ Don't Just Mourn, Agitate I Emergency Call to Action -- Votergate!!! ]

More IMC Coverage of the Stolen "Election": [ Portland's sElection 2004 page I Indybay's Government Page I Indymedia.us ]

Electric voting machines in a precinct in Columbus, Ohio gave George W. Bush 3,893 votes while giving John Kerry 260. Yet only 638 ballots were cast. This is according to Matthew Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections.

An indication of how widespread this problem may have been may be found in the exit polls in Ohio. All of this data taken by different networks showed Kerry the winner of the election in this key state.

Yet the corporate media giant of CNN went so far as to change these polling results in the early morning hours between 1:05 AM and 6:41 AM. The network had the data broken down by gender showing Kerry the winner at 1:05 AM. At that time Kerry was shown to have a lead of 53 percent among women to 47 percent for Bush, and similarly 51 percent of men voted for Kerry with only 49 percent voting for Bush. Suddenly at 6:41 AM CNN turned these polling results on their head with a 50 – 50 split between Kerry and Bush among women and 52 percent of men voting for Bush and only 47 percent voting for Kerry.

[ Liberation News ]

Moments ago I voted in Felton, a small town near Santa Cruz, California. When I entered my polling place, St. John’s Catholic Church, the local priest told me that I had to take off my t-shirt before I voted. I had a picture of Bush on my chest framed by the words “international terrorist.� So I went back outside and turned my shirt inside out. Later I found out that election rules do prohibit the wearing of “political� clothes in the polling station. Fair enough. But, then they told me that I had to vote with a pencil...

On the voting booth there was a pink sign that clearly said "to mark your ballot use ONLY the Mark-A-Vote pen provided." We were only provided with pencils--there was not a single Mark-A-Vote pen in sight. When I pointed this out to the election officials, and voiced my concern that my pencil vote could be changed, they told me to use a blue ball point pen and then color over the pen marks with a pencil. But, they indicated that this might make it difficult for the electronic scantron machine to read my vote. One official made a call on her cell phone, and after she got off the phone she began taking down some of the signs that told voters to use the Mark-A-Vote pen. I took one of the signs and brought it home with me. My polling place is St. John's Catholic Church on Highway 9 at the corner of Russell Avenue in downtown Felton.

Audio: Eben Kirksey's Call to Free Radio Santa Cruz

see related: Incompetent pollworker at Louden Nelson in Santa Cruz

[ Voting Irregularities Nationwide: Don't Believe the Numbers I Election Ends With Widespread Voting Problems; Protests Planned for Nov. 3 I The Election was Stolen; How we know & Why it matters ]

Over 30 cities across the nation are mobilizing for a time of popular outrage and widespread non-cooperation if Bush is elected, if the elections are canceled, or if there is overt election fraud again. No matter who wins, we will be uniting to open up a new political space to define democracy as grassroots and participatory.

What if on the day after the presidential election people from all walks of life across America mobilized in their communities to go beyond voting and demonstrate our visions for a truy democratic society? Because the crisis of our democracy did not start with Bush and won't end with Kerry, the Beyond Voting campaign is calling for our election year debate to expand beyond Democrats versus Republicans to the larger issue of whether the U.S. will be a Democracy or an Empire. No matter who wins, we will be uniting to open up a new political space to define democracy as grassroots and participatory.

Santa Cruz: No Stolen Elections; Santa Cruz County Building Nov. 3
San Francisco: Beyond Voting: Healthcare, Not Warfare

[ Beyond Voting Campaign I Direct Action to Stop the War I No Stolen Elections I This Time We're Watching ]

On the Judicial Branch, continued

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 14, 2005

CONTACT: Students Against War’s ad-hoc press team:
Jen Low, Josh Sonnenfeld, Kot Hordynski

In Response to the growing and unfortunate trend among environmental and social justice groups use of the industry and government created term "clean coal," West Virginia Citizen's Action Group, Coal River Mountain Watch launched an internationally circulated sign-on letter calling for a unification of these groups against this sort of industry doublespeak which makes it so much harder for those working towards positive change to achieve it. Over 80 Organizations and prominent individuals have signed on at the time of the release. Please view the letter and add your name too at www.crmw.net

Before the Iraq war gets any worse--or spreads to other countries--let's take a stand for peace, in the spirit of Cindy Sheehan, in front of our Congresspersons' and Senators' homes throughout the holiday season.

This is the complete statement concerning "CIA torture flights" read by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, this morning, December 5, 2005 as transcribed by the US State Department.