[p2p-research] Blurb for your June 30 blog post

Wed Jun 30 14:04:57 CEST 2010

http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/eva-waskell-and-the-election-integrity-movement-the-privatization-of-democratic-elections-via-computer-technology/2010/06/30

Dear Eva,

Thanks for this, I'm going to do this in 2 steps and your letter below will
be published as the 2nd installment on July 3. I also copy our own
community.

I certainly can skype with you and discuss how we do things in our own
ecology, my skype handle is p2pfound1, remember I'm in bangkok, gmt plus
seven, your mornings are my evenings and vice versa, anytime is good, except
july 5 to 9, I'm away.

I had a conversation with Gordon, and will do a screencast about my
methodology, which may help you as well,

Feel free to ask any questions, beyond the one below, to our community, and
we'll see what kind of response we can get. However, be aware that this is a
global community and that the integrity of elections, while obviously
important, has not been our focus,

but in any case, I think we can give you advice on how to proceed with a
online presence and community for such a movement and purpose,

If you have the means to travel, I strongly suggest you pay a visit to Sam
Rose in Flint, Michigan, he has helped many communities do similar things,

Michel Bauwens

Michel Bauwens

On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 4:36 AM, Eva Waskell <ewaskell at comcast.net> wrote:

>  Dear Michel,
>
>
>
> I am very happy that Gordon has introduced us. I say this because during a
> conversation with him yesterday that centered on the P2P Foundation website,
> I had a very rewarding aha! moment re: how to organize the mountains of
> information related to election reform/election integrity. Too much of this
> info now exists in silos. Using the P2P model as a template, I believe it
> will be possible to have a central location for all of this knowledge. This
> will empower the grassroots election reform efforts that are now struggling
> to deal with a deluge of data.
>
>
>
> Gordon also encouraged me to write a summary (see below) of some of my
> ideas about how election reform measures in general, along with the
> citizen-based election integrity movement, can move forward most
> effectively. I very much appreciate your posting this on your blog to help
> spread the word. And yes, I absolutely do think about the wiki project from
> a long-term, holistic and bottom-up perspective.
>
>
>
> I would also like to thank you for agreeing to talk with. Before that
> happens, I will make it a point to read the issue of Gordon’s newsletter
> that contains your interview and that wonderful mind map!! Let me know what
> times would be best for us to Skype. Thursday evening (Pacific standard
> time) July 8 is about the only time I will be unavailable.
>
>
>
> In previous emails you answered a few of the questions I posed in the next
> to the last paragraph of my reflections on election reform. Please feel free
> to edit this in a way you think it will make most sense and likely to be
> understood by your community. And it goes without saying that if you have
> any further questions or need clarification on anything, please don’t
> hesitate to contact me.
>
>
>
> Thank you once again from my heart for your interest and willingness to
> help.
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Eva Waskell
>
> San Rafael, CA
>
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>
> I have been involved with election integrity for over 25 years and this is
> what I have observed.
>
> While the issue is certainly vast in scope, extremely complex, intractable,
> and politically sensitive, the core *systemic* problems have not been
> honestly defined and widely recognized.
>
> The mainstream media has failed miserably, with a few notable exceptions,
> to keep the general public informed regarding the consequences of
> privatizing America’s elections, i.e. the loss of transparency,
> accountability, meaningful oversight, and the public’s right to know.
>
> Furthermore, when election-related problems and solutions are being
> discussed by politicians, election officials, academics, computer experts,
> public interest organizations, and the all powerful vendors of voting
> equipment, one quickly realizes that the most important stakeholders of all,
> i.e. well-informed “We the People” citizens, do not yet have a seat at the
> table on an equal footing with other participants.
>
> Although they continue to be ignored and marginalized in the on-going
> dialogue about how to fix our dysfunctional system of election
> administration, citizens have been relentless in doing their homework in
> election reform 101. However, they’ve been working in cells and there has
> been little coordination on a national scale. No one is really in charge of
> the big picture. Part of this fragmentation is due, of course, to the
> decentralized nature of election administration. There’s also a *huge*amount of ever-changing, multi-disciplinary information to absorb. Citizens
> are working in this highly unstructured world with few resources and few
> support systems. Physical, emotional and financial exhaustion sets in and
> they burn out after a while. And up until now they’ve largely been preaching
> to the choir.
>
> The good news is that citizens across the country have been working in the
> county-level trenches to witness first-hand and plainly document the harsh
> reality of things like non-enforcement of election laws and restricted
> election observer access. These citizens have now produced a solid and
> unique body of information (research, reports, studies, surveys, historical
> policy documents, news articles, investigative materials, anecdotal
> evidence, etc.) that needs to reach a much wider audience. Compiling and
> organizing this material into one central, user-friendly location would be
> very helpful. There are a few websites that have done an excellent job in
> this area but these efforts need to be greatly expanded.
>
> Michel Bauwens’ wiki approach could be used as a template to create a
> comprehensive knowledge base for election reform/election integrity that is
> citizen-driven, open source, and populated with open election data.
>
> One quick aside. John Seely Brown’s book *The Power of Pull* discusses the
> formation of guilds based on a merit system. I envision election integrity
> citizen guilds functioning as a meritocracy, peer-reviewing work products,
> developing best practices, and gathering data globally to apply it locally.
>
> One final thought. The election integrity movement needs a robust system of
> communication, a sustainable funding apparatus, and an active, well-designed
> educational/outreach program. Tools like social networks and mobile
> technology can be creatively integrated into this approach. But above all,
> the movement needs to do some serious soul searching and come together to
> define itself, its mission and its goals, and develop short-term and
> long-term strategies on how to get from here to there...state by state,
> county by county. Without all of these basic requirements--and then
> some--the infant election integrity movement will not be able to mature,
> build trusting relationships, sustain itself, and fulfill the promise of
> permanent change.
>
> Is there anyone in Michel’s p2p network who would be interested in talking
> with me about how to proceed with creating a wiki? What are the first steps?
> What principles should I keep in mind? Any lessons learned I should be aware
> of? What technical assistance is available in the San Francisco area?
>
> My hope is that building an election integrity wiki can serve as the focal
> point and a first step to bringing the vital issue of election integrity to
> the public at large and to the policy makers who will be instrumental in
> determining the effectiveness, longevity and honesty of *genuine* election
> reform.
>
>

-- 
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