ren's political graphics (some using parts of other graphics & pix from online)

Open Letter to Scott Gessler: The Only Fraud Undermining Our Voting Process Is Secretary Of State

Mr. Gessler,

I have to dispute your recent letters to our paper, and I'm sure many other sources, over the past two weeks, which misrepresent the "voter fraud" issue in CO, misleading readers to think that the voter fraud issue is a problem in CO, when it is, in fact, minor.

* Fraud by individual voters is both irrational and extremely rare.
* Many vivid anecdotes of purported voter fraud have been proven false or do not demonstrate fraud.
* Voter fraud is often conflated with other forms of election misconduct.
* Raising the unsubstantiated specter of mass voter fraud suits a particular policy agenda.
* Claims of voter fraud should be carefully tested before they become the basis for action. 

http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/policy_brief_on_the_truth_about_voter_fraud/

You are blatantly misrepresenting the facts to the citizens of Colorado to try to justify your voter suppression tactics. Realize that it isn't just minorities and democrats who will be affected by these tactics. For example, many military do not vote in minor elections. In the state of Colorado, their voter registrations are now inactive, and they will not automatically receive ballots in November.

Elderly and handicapped of all races are extremely burdened.  Many older folks were not born in hospitals and thus did not receive state-issued birth certificates (they were born at home with midwives).  There are cases like this popping up for these older voters who have never had a problem before. The ones that have to prove citizenship cannot, despite the fact that they have served in the military and been hard-working and honest citizens.  These laws are a hardship for many of these populations. One of the groups of people hard hit now are those in nursing homes or retirement homes that have voted for years and now need more identification, which most will be unable to afford to get. If they are going to require voter picture IDs, then it should be provided for free and all people should be able to receive that id just by showing the voter registration card they were issued, and for people in nursing homes, then the voter id should be able to be done by fax's or website also, which should cover all people unable to get into the office because of disability or age. 


Here’s an article about a wife of a state rep who was taken off the polls: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/10/675161/new-mexico-voter-purge/

I recently read about a WWII vet who was not permitted to vote in a state primary, and another lady in Florida who received notice that she'd been taken off the voter rolls and had to suddenly prove her citizenship, after voting her whole life. Did your sister change her name when she got married?  Has your elderly mother or aunt stopped driving?  Is your daughter or niece going to college in another state?  In 11 states these normal life occurrences may result in these women not being able to vote.  This can happen to multitudes of women regardless of their race or political affiliation.  Read this article about the disenfranchisement of military voters, which I agree with, since many military voters don't vote in the minor elections and thus their registration may become inactive in many states, to include Colorado.

New Report: Military Voters Will Be Disenfranchised On Election Day Without Immediate Action

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/21/4744054/new-report-military-voters-will.html

A whopping SIX frauds in 2010?  Out of how many thousands of voters?

http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2012/01/23/gessler-cites-voter-fraud-in-2010-election/55272/

 

Here are other sources of information for you to consider:

Scott Gessler, Colorado Secretary Of State, Draws Federal Ire Over Questionable Ballot Practices

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/29/scott-gessler-colorado-secretary-mail-in-ballot_n_987424.html

·         “A lawsuit filed in late September against Denver's clerk and recorder by Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler attempts to stop Denver from mailing ballots to voters who were inactive in 2010. The action led to a slew of high profile politicos, including Rachel Maddow and two U.S. Representative...”

Claims of voter fraud used to push ID laws prove overstated

http://pinetreewatchdog.org/2012/08/14/claims-of-voter-fraud-used-to-push-id-laws-prove-overstated/

League of Women Voters says voter fraud is rare

http://coloradoindependent.com/107103/league-of-women-voters-says-voter-fraud-is-rare

Shame on you. The only fraud that is truly undermining our voting process is you. 

Rev. Renée Lynn Ten Eyck

Fountain, CO

Update: new article posted in the Voting News of the New York Times on August 30th, 2012: Many Suspected Ineligible Colorado Voters Are US Citizens
 http://thevotingnews.com/state/colorado/many-suspected-ineligible-colorado-voters-are-us-citizens-nytimes-com 
             "Earlier this month, Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler sent letters to nearly 4,000 people questioning their citizenship as part of a plan to have them voluntarily withdraw or confirm their eligibility to vote. State officials were able to run 1,400 of those names through a federal immigration database and found that more than 1,200 were U.S. citizens."

quotes

my letter to Doug Lamborn, who should be FIRED from politics in CO

Another splendid example of how you prefer to proselytize and ignore the First Amendment rather than be responsive toward your contituents' voices. "LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION"??? (Just as an aside: How many times now have the voters in Colorado already voted down the "life begins at conception/personhood" initiatives?)

First, I grew up in the Catholic church, and have questioned its doctrine my whole life because I see the pain it inflicts on others. I, therefore, honor everyone for their beliefs, and subscribe only to the Constitution for governing authority over the general citizenry. 

Amendment 1 of the Bill of Rights:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

This also includes freedom from religion. In other words, you do not get to force your beliefs, which work for you, on others. You words in your letter state that you are “dedicated to protecting the sanctity of human life from the unborn to the elderly, the terminally ill, and all whose lives are threatened by euthanasia. Life begins at fertilization.”  But what you think, your definition, based on your RELIGIOUS beliefs, you do not get to force on others.  

I've been told that this country is not truly a melting pot, since we are in many ways, separated by economic status, culture, religion, and race. Never the less, All peoples of all cultures, religions and races and belief systems make up this country, and no one religion or religious belief system can dominate everyone else. Live and let live.

The issues of contraception and abortion are a political football, and strong moral issues, but issues hotly steeped in RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. Neither you, nor anyone else, get to define these things for others. You get to define those things only for yourself.  

Regarding contraception and your “conscience” rights, the government does not get to define these things for me, nor will an employer.  If you choose to live by your religious law, that works for you, but neither you, nor your church, get to force those beliefs on others in a country that not only is a melting pot of different cultures, races, religions, belief systems, and even varying degrees of belief and observance within the established religions.

Women’s reproductive freedom is not a war against religion; it is a war against religion imposing its will on the tribe of women. To say that the battle for women’s rights and women’s reproductive freedom isn’t about religion, though would be a lie. It is about a religion; an extremely loud and rich group of men and women are using their God and the holy texts from which He sprang as sacred and moral reason for their actions and that is persecution. The witch burnings of the middle-ages come to mind. 

In the words of our President, “No, you can’t deny women their basic rights and pretend it’s about your religious freedom.”  If you don’t like birth control, don’t use it. Religious freedom doesn’t mean you can force others to live by your beliefs.

This last letter from you, in addition to other correspondence I’ve received from you state what YOU STAND FOR, completely forgetting that you are MY EMPLOYEE-I AM ONE OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS. Hence, I am your employer and you are supposed to be representing ME, as well as every other constituent/employer member.  And let it be known that many of your employer/constituents are unhappy with your job performance.  As far as I am concerned, you are fired.  I hope that your other employer/constituents step up and let their voices be heard as well. 

The bottom line is that your beliefs, to which you hold yourself accountable, do not govern others. No one religion’s laws govern this country, as it should be. 

Reverend Renee L. Ten Eyck

Fountain

citizens hired a politician, not a preacher.