INDIVISIBLE Lambertville NJ / New Hope PA

Author: Indivisible Lambertville / New Hope

  • If You Can Drive, You Can Vote

    In April, New Jersey passed the automatic voter registration law that addresses the 1.2 million adults in New Jersey who aren’t yet registered to vote. The new law, signed by Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday, Apr. 17, after previously being rejected by former Gov. Chris Christie, mandates that the Motor Vehicle Commission implement automatic registration and allows any state agency that collects documents and personal data to “establish a procedure to automatically register people to vote.”
    What this means is that agencies such as the Department of Human Services and the parole board could choose to register its clients to vote. Convicted felons still can’t vote under state law, and other parolees would have to wait until they finish their sentences.Vote NJ Update
    In Hunterdon County elections, 14 towns or townships have Democrats running for local seats. That’s the good news. The bad news is that 10 townships don’t have any Democrats running, including Alexandria, Bethlehem, Delaware, Franklin, Glen Gardner, Hampton, Holland, Lebanon, Milford and Bloomsbury, the last of which has no candidates for open seats. IndivisibleLNH members started talking to voters about the importance of voting in the upcoming elections last month, setting up tables in downtown Lambertville, outside Stockton Market, and at the Stangl Market in Flemington. They encouraged people to find out more about the candidates and to vote. Contact MJ Legere to volunteer!
    Upcoming events will help voters get a better sense of the candidates and give them an opportunity to support the candidates:

    A reception is being hosted as a fundraiser for Tom Malinowski on Saturday, May 19 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM, at the home of Joe and Lois Zarish, 153 Voorhees Corner Rd., Flemington, NJ.

    To RSVP or with questions, please contact Amanda Osborne at (908) 524-1802 or aosborne@MalinowskiForNJ.com.
    Hunterdon County Democrats will have a tent at the Chamber of Commerce event “Everything Hunterdon” on Saturday, June 2, at the County Fairgrounds. Stop by and meet members of the HCDC Party, as well as our Candidates running for Office.

  • Trumponomics versus Our Economy

    Putin loves a joke. So, he’s surely getting a giggle over the way Trump proclaims, “America First,” while promoting policies that are highly destructive, supportive of totalitarian regimes, and potentially enriching to oligarchs like himself. For Russia, Trump’s election was tantamount to a coup that erodes our economic stability by the day.

    The key word here is inflation, the culprit in the Great Depression of the 1930s that fomented fascism and, ultimately, World War II. The classic definition of inflation is: Too much money chasing too few goods.

    As the former KGB head, Putin knows first-hand how hyperinflation contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union and dogged Mikhail Gorbachev’s goal of promoting democracy and free markets thereafter. In his essay, “The Role of Inflation in Soviet History: Prices, Living Standards, and Political Change”, Steven M. Efremov writes, “…the early 1990s, brought prosperity only to the very few, while the vast majority experienced poverty, chaos, and immense hardship.” In words that evoke today’s world, he continues, “This has led many of inflation’s victims to desire stability, even if it means a partial return to authoritarian politics and a managed economy.”

    Today’s accelerating inflation — manifested in higher prices, growing scarcity, and increasing delays in delivery — is the upshot of the Trump administration’s tactics. These range from lowering taxes (putting more money in circulation) to barring immigrants (curbing production of goods and increasing costs) to fomenting a trade war (reducing availability of goods and raising prices).

    To fund Trump’s massive tax cut; pay for expanded military and ICE operations; and, now, cover the red-state farmers affected by his ill-conceived trade war with China, our government is borrowing more and more. In an April 9th article entitled, “Cracks Appear in Global Growth Story”, the Wall Street Journal reported, “…the U.S. government has been ramping up borrowing to fund a widening budget deficit and a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul, recently drawing concern from credit raters.”

    Meanwhile, like the court of Louis the 14th, the Trump administration spends flagrantly on luxury travel, expensive furnishings, and obsessive security for cabinet members, as well as unproductive assets, such as, over $200 million to “modernize” Guantanamo, including a $12 million state-of-the-art medical facility and a special $69 million facility for 15 “high value” prisoners of the 40 some presently housed there according to NPR.

    Besides serving Russia’s scheme to undermine our democracy, such upheaval plays into the hands of Trump and top cabinet members, like Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Specialists in profiting from distressed properties, all three built their fortunes by taking advantage of opportunities arising from economic downturns. If they are really lucky, like Trump, they might even get the government to forfeit taxpayer dollars to bail them out.

    Suddenly a “protectionist,” Ross aggregated multiple failing US steel companies before selling them to a UK-based, Indian-owned firm, ArcelorMittal for $4.5 billion, making a $300 million profit. Ross later assembled a consortium to invest $1.6 billion in 2011 to buy 35% of the Bank of Ireland, nearly failing based upon its wanton practices, and similarly led a bailout group of 30 investors, who pumped 400 million euros into the Bank of Cyprus, following the 2013 banking crisis there. Ross went on to become vice-chairman of this bank, known for its Russian clientele.

    At first giddy over Trump’s loosening of regulations and enormous tax cut, investors pumped the stock market to new highs. But, their joyride has begun to careen, as seen by the recent market volatility and faltering economy. Referencing the Wall Street Journal’s “Global Growth” assessment:

    In the U.S., gauges of manufacturing and services activity have been pulling back. Retail sales have fallen for three straight months [although rose in March], construction spending decelerated at the start of the year, and auto sales have largely plateaued. …government data show a sharp slowdown in U.S. jobs creation last month, reversing some of the labor market’s recent momentum.

    Looking ahead, when Democrats and Progressives boot this administration, we will be left with the task of cleaning up a Trump-magnitude mess. This is nothing new. For, much as Bill Clinton took on Reagan’s horrendous deficit and turned it into a trillion dollar asset, Obama also eked out a steady, if not robust economy when faced with the ashes of Bush’s Economic Meltdown. So, it will fall upon us to take the prudent, but unpopular, steps necessary to salvage our nation’s economy. That means raising taxes and, most likely, reducing benefits still further. Such measures may only lead to more unrest, rally the alt-right, and result in the same kind of political turmoil we see in Hungary, Poland, and Romania.

    Putin laughs.

    CALL TO ACTION: Join ILNH and elect Democrats NOW, before it’s too late!

  • Rolling Out the Big Blue Wave

    Waves transmit energy, not water, and are commonly caused by the wind as it blows across the ocean, lakes, and rivers. Waves caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun are called tides. The ebb and flow of waves and tides are the life force of our world ocean. – from NOAA Ocean Service

    For the past year, the Blue Wave has been gathering momentum. We’re counting on you to restore an American future shaped by our values in November. This rising tide has already had significant impact: millions turned out for Marches; untold numbers of communications sent from every possible channel to elected and appointed officials, increased attention paid to what our government is doing. Planning, strategizing and resisting.

    Certainly, we are a community of voters.

    We know what’s at stake. For the past year and a half, we have been shocked, angry, heartbroken, exhausted, encouraged, elated, energized and a thousand other emotions. We have come together and fallen apart as we watched what seem to be the worst representatives of our nation run roughshod over Constitutional rights, the rule of law, progress made during Obama’s administration and basic human decency.

    Guess what? Not everyone feels this way. Not everyone cares to the extent we do. Not everyone believes that their vote will make one iota of difference.

    And so, they won’t make the trip to the polls. Or they won’t take the time to learn about the candidates, the issues or positions. And so when they pull the lever or press the screen next to the name that kinda-sorta sounds familiar it’s pretty much a crap shoot.

    We can’t leave this next election up to chance. The Blue Wave needs all hands on deck to Get Out the Vote. (Insert picture of Uncle Sam pointing outward here). This. Means. You.

    There’s plenty of research that shows what makes people more likely to vote. Education, peer pressure, personal identity, healthy competition are all factors that can increase voter turnout. But the most effective means by far is the personal touch of face-to-face conversations and one-to-one discussions.

    For some, however, the thought of having a face-to-face discussion about the political system with a person outside of your known community makes the idea of a root canal seem a holiday. What level of motivation gets us past the propensity to leave the ‘hard stuff’ to someone else and hope for the best?

    Olga Vannucci, who keeps us abreast of events and opportunities via Facebook and is on the ILNH’s leadership committee, was a first-timer in 2017. She describes herself as the ‘shyest human being in the world,’ yet was motivated to do what she could to stop the corruption and incompetence and get back to a government that wants to do good things for the country and its people.

    She ultimately canvassed seven times. She initially partnered with another ILNH member and experienced canvasser, Liz Glynn, which increased her comfort level.

    “What I learned is that we only visit like-minded people,” said Olga. “It’s truly GOTV, not persuading people to flip parties. A big part of the job is letting people know there’s an election, when it is and who’s running. No one was ever nasty.”

    For Susan Devore, motivation came as a promise to her 10-year old granddaughter who was frightened by Trump’s bullying and meanness. She promised that if he won she would protest and resist until he was out of office. Regardless, Susan was still very nervous and had many of the same concerns as Olga, including the fact that she didn’t like strangers knocking on her own door. Her first time out was a ‘tag-along’ with Liz, with a list of mostly Democratic-leaning voter names and addresses. It was purely informational: many on the list had never heard of the candidates running for the NJ Assembly, or that the office was on the ballot.

    Susan offers this advice:
    • Don’t go it alone – ask for a partner with some experience the first few times.
    • Meet the candidates or listen to them speak – even if it’s online because it gives you your own personal feeling about the candidate that’s valuable when you meet other voters.
    • Get your education and confidence up by volunteering at a registration table.
    • Smile, be polite and respectful. Remember you are sharing information, not telling people what to do.
    “I was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I did it and even enjoyed it a little,” said Susan. “Try it. You will surprise yourself.”

    There’s a saying that the risks of staying inside your comfort level all your life far outweigh the risk of stepping outside of it. Here, the risk is maintaining the nightmare of politics we’ve experienced since the 2016 election – and in many ways, returning to the bad old days of discrimination and living in a society that leads with fear and hate far outweighs the risk of making phone calls and knocking on doors to get out the vote.

    Call to Action: Volunteers are needed for the Stockton and Lambertville voter registration tables. Email MJ Legere to sign up for dates.

  • The Lambertville ICE Incident. What It Was, What it Wasn’t, and How You Can Help

    On the morning of Friday April 13 at around 8:30 a.m. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) came to Lambertville pursuing an individual with an open warrant. They were seen by several people in the community, and reports of the incident spread quickly through social media and word of mouth.

    Lambertville Police Director, Bruce Cocuzza, confirmed that ICE informed the Lambertville Police Department that morning that they had a warrant for a specific suspect wanted for a high speed chase in Delaware Township. The ICE agents stopped a van in which they expected to find the suspect on Bridge Street. While the target was not in the van, there were two other individuals who had warrants.

    What it was not: It was not a sweep. It is important to understand the directive of the New Jersey State Attorney General’s office. Per Director Cocuzza:

    “The Attorney General’s directive primarily outlines those circumstances when ICE must be notified concerning the arrest of a possibly undocumented immigrant (specifically for violent crimes and/or DWI arrests). It also forbids local police from routinely inquiring about a person’s status.”

    ICE is under no obligation to share information with local police departments. The Lambertville Police Department does not know the specifics of the warrants, nor did they assist ICE. An incident like this is – and has been – ICE’s standard operating procedure. It does not seem to reflect a change in federal policy.How to be an ally: Our ILNH community embraces the idea of inclusion and it values those who seek to simply be good neighbors. We are proud to be a community that stands by the principles of fairness and safety. When we see our neighbors and friends in danger, we may react with the best of intentions, but without fully understanding how our reactions may harm the people we seek to help. In situations like these, it’s important to connect with people who are already doing this work. For the safety and privacy of the community we are trying to protect, avoid posting to social media. Here’s how you can help:

    If you know of someone who has been affected by recent ICE actions, please refer them to Fisherman’s Mark at 609-397-0194. Fisherman’s Mark has deep relationships with our Spanish-speaking community on both sides of the river and is a trusted organization.

    Be a person who shares confirmed facts.If you have access to, or knowledge of, Facebook pages that exist for our vulnerable neighbors, please do not share them in public places on social media. While you are well meaning, not everyone who reads your posts is. Sometimes well-intentioned sharing brings unwanted attention to platforms and pages that have been established through hard work and building of trust.

    Donate time and dollars. Fisherman’s Mark has been doing this work for a long time and they do it on a shoestring. Sometimes the best thing we can do is support those that are doing the work on the front lines with funding and volunteering within the organization. Organizing a fundraiser is another way you can make a difference.

    Donations can be sent to: Fisherman’s Mark, 37 S. Main St. Lambertville, NJ 08530 or made through their website.

    Attend Lambertville Human Rights Council meetings. See times and dates on the city’s website.

  • WARNING: Our Votes Are At Risk

    Insecure, obsolete, unverifiable.
    These words describe the voting systems used in New Jersey and much of Pennsylvania.
    New Jersey is one of the last five states in the nation allowing paperless, unauditable voting systems. More than 80% of Pennsylvania has unauditable voting machines that make recounts impossible, and prevent any chance of proving our votes have been recorded as intended. If our votes get lost due to computer malfunctions, mistakes, or hacking – all highly possible with our outdated systems – we will never know.
    Nationally recognized expert Andrew Appel, professor of computer science at Princeton University, has done seminal work on voting machine vulnerability. In an interview with NJ.com, Appel shared how easy it is to quickly reprogram voting machines and enable votes for one candidate to go to the other. This actually happened in Cumberland County, NJ, in 2011. A landmark lawsuit resulted. In Zirkle vs. Henry the judge ruled that, “bad computer code had given Zirkle’s votes to Henry and Henry’s votes to Zirkle.” Additionally, it took one of Appel’s students seven seconds to hack into a central processor used for tallying votes. All of New Jersey plus 83% of Pennsylvania, and all of Bucks County are still voting with the systems that can allow this to happen.
    With the threat of hacking greater than ever, we have to act fast.
    “The head of every U.S. intelligence agency says Russia attempted to penetrate elections systems nationwide during the 2016 presidential election, and will try again during this year’s midterm elections.” – Pew Charitable Trust
    The Solution
    Hundreds of computer security experts who testified before Congress agree: The safest way to vote is with voter-marked paper ballots, run through optical/digital scanners to backup each vote, plus non-tabulating ballot marking devices for people with disabilities.
    The Center for American Progress agrees. “Voter-verifiable paper ballots or records are necessary for conducting meaningful post election audits that confirm election outcomes and detect malicious activity. Paperless touch-screen voting systems should be replaced with paper ballots and optical scanners.”
    In “The Myth of the Hacker-Proof Voting Machine,” cybersecurity expert, Jacob D. Stauffer, says, “What I’ve seen in the past 10 years is that the vendors have absolutely fumbled every single attempt in security,’’ In a report published last year on voting machines from ES&S – one of the biggest vendors in the nation, Stauffer and colleagues “found the voting machines and election-management systems to be rife with security problems.”
    “Without a paper audit trail, any recount is just like hitting enter on the keyboard over and over again: You get the same answer and you have no clue if that answer is correct,” Joseph Lorenzo Hall, election security expert.
    Pending Legislation
    NJ Bill A1889, introduced by Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker, is in the process of being amended to prohibit paperless DREs, and specifically mandate voter-marked paper ballot voting systems, optical or digital scanners, and at least one non-tabulating ballot marking device at every polling place in New Jersey. When the amendments are finalized, this bill will be ready for introduction to the committee that will vote on its passage. Work is also in progress to finalize a companion bill in the NJ State Senate. We’ll be keeping you posted on this too.
    Our lobbyists are making sure that the amended language in A1889 is crystal clear, airtight, and completely unambiguous. This is critical. Otherwise election officials can purchase hackable machines that commercial vendors are offering, with promises of easy tabulation and glitch-free use.
    Convincing county voting officials to use paper ballot voting won’t be easy. And convince them we must, since they decide which voting technology will be used in each county. Voting machine vendors are actively pursuing them, some claiming their machines will preclude the need for manual audits and recounts. That would defeat the whole purpose of requiring paper-based systems. Thus, we need to educate NJ and PA citizens fast. See Calls to Action below and stay tuned for more Action Alerts to come.
    In PA, H.R. 3132 – Restoring Confidence in America’s Elections Act was introduced in July, 2017, but appears to be going nowhere. After a yearlong study, The Advisory Committee on Voting Technology recommended amending the Pennsylvania Election Code to require a voter-verifiable paper record in all voting machines. Governor Wolf then directed that all new voting systems have a paper record, however, lack of funding, decertification of existing technology, or designating a replacement date leaves the directive in limbo.
    Verified Voting President Marian Schneider, former special advisor on election policy to Governor Wolf says, “The state can no longer ignore these issues and must take steps to replace its aging voting systems as soon as possible.” Some electronic voting machines were manufactured in the early 2000s, and even though the lifespan of these machines is only 10 to 15 years, they are still in use. Schneider recommends, “implementing the best practice of requiring trustworthy evidence of voter intent . . .voter marked paper ballots together with a method of checking the paper records to make sure that the electronic vote tallies are correct.”
    Many groups across Pennsylvania, including SAVE Bucks Votes, are coordinating visits to Harrisburg, urging legislators to replace old voting systems and fund new ones. We’re trying to introduce them to the most secure systems available for the 2018 elections.
    As in New Jersey, County Commissioners are the decision makers. Repeated attempts to meet with Bucks County commissioners have been made, to no avail. There’s been resistance, and we assume it’s because of the cost. They’ve implied there hasn’t been widespread support for changing the way we vote. That’s why we all need to help educate them.
    Another Big Challenge: Funding****
    In NJ, Governor Murphy has pledged his support for secure verified voting, but our state is cash-strapped and running on a deficit. The paper ballot voting systems described above have been estimated to cost $36 million, which sounds like a lot, but only represents about .1 percent of the State budget. We need to push Governor Murphy to include an appropriation in his 2018 budget and let him know we want him to fund secure voting.
    Our new Secretary of State, Tahesha Way, needs to hear from us too. The Division of Election falls under her purview, and voting machine vendors are already knocking on her door. There’s big money to be made for them if they can convince her that direct recording electronic voting machines, are safe and secure. Our task is to get Secretary Way fully up to speed on the need for paper ballot voting, rather than slick new machines that deliver a doorway to hacking.
    Pennsylvania is also running a deficit. Verified Voting advocates are working in Harrisburg to urge lawmakers to support funding. They’re also looking at alternatives on the County level. Bucks County maintains a surplus general fund to keep its credit rating high. We need to convince the Commissioners that this money could fund new voting systems that are more secure and cheaper to maintain. Look for Action Alerts at the end of this article so you can help.
    ****In late breaking news, the 2,232-page budget bill signed by the president included a provision that election security and technology experts have been pushing for years: money to update the nation’s outdated voting infrastructure. NJ stands to get a portion of that: just under $10 million according to this article from NJSpotlight.com. However, more work needs to be done in a few short months.
    “What I’ve seen in the past 10 years is that the vendors have absolutely fumbled every single attempt in security.” – Jacob D. Stauffer, cyber-security expert quoted in the NY Times
    We recommend that voters make an effort to vote early and to hand-deliver ballots to the county election office. Ballots can be requested online. We strongly suggest hand-delivering ballots to avoid adding to many reported cases of ballots “lost in the mail.”
    THE BOTTOM LINE:
    The only way New Jersey and Pennsylvania will have verified voting in time for the 2018 election is with your help. Spread the word. Share this article, talk to your family, tell your neighbors. The right to vote is a precious one, and it will take all of us to preserve it. We can’t give up if the road gets dicey. We’re bigger than that. The past year has strengthened us. It’s fortified our grit. We know what it is to fight.
    TAKE ACTION NOW!
    In New Jersey:
    Contact NJ Secretary of State, Tahesha Way. Call: 609-777-0884 Fax: 609-292-7665 Email: Feedback@sos.nj.govScript: Please secure our votes! The only way to insure every vote is counted, and none hacked is with voter marked paper ballots, optical/digital scanners, and non-tabulating ballot-marking device for voters with disabilities. No more hackable electronic voting machines.Tweet: MAKE NJ VOTES SECURE, @SecretaryWay. Voter-marked paper ballots, optical/digital scanners & non-tabulating ballot-marking devices for voters with disabilities. We need this now. Thank you. Tweet the message above easily with this click-to-tweet: https://ctt.ec/e_8Ob (You must have a Twitter account; you can edit the tweet before posting it.)
    Contact Governor Phil Murphy Call: 609-292-6000 Fax: 609-292-3454 Email: http://nj.gov/governor/contact/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/governorphilmurphy/

    Script: Please fund secure voting in NJ in time for the 2018 midterm elections on Nov 6th: Voter marked paper ballots, optical/digital scanners, and non-tabulating ballot-marking device for voters with disabilities. No more hackable electronic voting machines. Fund secure voting now. Thank you!Tweet: FUND SAFE VOTING IN NJ, @GovMurphy. Voter-marked paper ballots, optical/digital scanners & non-tabulating ballot-marking device for voters with disabilities. We need this now. Thank you! Tweet the message above easily with this click-to-tweet: https://ctt.ec/U3fMr (You must have a Twitter account; you can edit the tweet before posting it.)

    In Pennsylvania:
    Follow SAVE Bucks Votes on Facebook for constant updates, articles and action alerts. Check out our website, sign our online petition, attend a meeting, help fund our efforts, make suggestions, visit lawmakers with us, get involved a little or a lot, help us make people aware of the issue and create grassroots momentum
    Contact the following County and State Officials using this script:“Please fund secure, accurate, verifiable election systems now. We need voter marked paper ballots, optical/digital scanners, audits, and non-tabulating ballot marking devices for voters with disabilities for every election. The new technologies are cheaper, easier to use and easily verifiable. Decertify the DRE electronic machines now. Help us move forward to secure upcoming elections. Thank you!”
    County Commissioners Rob Loughery
    County of Bucks, Office of Commissioners
    55 East Court Street, Doylestown, PA 18901
    Phone: 215-348-6424
    Email: comm.loughery@buckscounty.org
    County Commissioner Diane Marseglia
    County of Bucks, Office of Commissioners
    55 East Court Street, Doylestown, PA 18901
    Phone: 215-348-6425
    Email: CommEllisMarseglia@buckscounty.org
    County Commissioner Charles Martin
    County of Bucks, Office of Commissioners
    55 East Court Street, Doylestown, PA 18901
    Phone: 215-348-6426
    Email: chmartin@buckscounty.org
    Contact PA Governor WolfOffice of the Governor508 Main Capitol BuildingHarrisburg, PA 17120Phone: 717-787-2500Fax: 717-772-8284
    Contact PA Secretary of State Robert TorresOffice of the Secretary302 North Office BuildingHarrisburg, PA 17120Phone: 717-787-6458Fax: 717-787-1734
    Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation210 North Office Building, 401 North StreetHarrisburg, PA 17120Phone: 717-787-5280Fax: 717-705-0721