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A Special Message to BuzzFlash Readers from Bev Harris, Heroine Who Has Led the Investigation Into the Large Potential for Fraud in Electronic Voting. Her New Book Will be Available Free on PDF Before Coming Out in Softcover.

A BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY
by Bev Harris

Bev Harris is the person who spearheaded the investigation into the chilling potential for fraud in electronic voting and has been joined by activists and researchers around the nation, who have all donated their time for democracy.

We have a made an important decision to try and ensure that every election in the United States will receive a fair vote count, and that every voter will have his or her vote counted ACCURATELY.

As the author of "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," I -- and publisher David Allen, of Plan Nine Publishing -- will make a PDF version of the book available to everyone, free of charge. "Black Box Voting" is designed for action, to provide facts and information so that voting can once again belong to the people. Many of those most at risk of disenfranchisement may be unable to afford this book. Therefore, the PDF version is completely free.

PAPERBACK VERSION: A trade paperback version will be sold through Buzzflash, Plan Nine, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and other outlets. The paperback version is compact and appealing, and is designed for distribution to public officials, friends, and leaders of organizations. The book is meant to be USED, so select whichever versions best meet your needs. It will be available in the next few weeks.

However, chapters of the PDF book will become available this week for download on the Plan Nine and Black Box Voting web sites ([LINK], watch for the announcement at the top of the homepage). The first download will appear Wednesday Oct. 1, with new downloads appearing every two days after that date.

Web site owners will also be able to offer the book through their own Internet sites; details are being worked out on that now, so that the PDF files can be available on as many web sites as possible, in as many countries as possible.

"Open sourcing" this book is entirely appropriate for this project. The only solution to the problem of black box voting is to get vote-counting back out in the open. If software is to be used, that which is developed in an open source environment, in full view of the citizenry, will inspire the most confidence. Physical ballots which voters can see and verify at the time they cast their vote, counted openly and compared against the machine tally, will give everyone confidence that our votes are being counted as we cast them.

Another way in which the open source metaphor is appropriate is this: The investigation for Black Box Voting started as a solitary process, comparing notes with just a few other journalists and activists. It turned into an "open source" investigation with hundreds of people -- Americans, Britons, Canadians, New Zealanders and others -- joining in to find the truth.

Most of the world is migrating into electronic voting, and these issues will continue to be relevant for some time to come.

If this book moves you, remember that opinions don't create changes -- actions do. Join a forum, write a letter, organize a group, visit your congressperson, pick up that phone. "Each one teach one," and don't take no for an answer. And don't let anyone tell you to "wait until after the next election." Take action, personally. The solution to this calls for an open source process, with participation by all of us. Many new organizations are springing up to help you get involved in effective ways.

This book is an easy way for you, and those you give it to, to get educated on the topic -- but it is up to you what you do with the information!

Sincerely,

Bev Harris

A BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY