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Hearing loss is a common health problem affecting millions of Americans annually. Unfortunately, the high cost of hearing aids makes it difficult for many people to afford them, leaving them with impaired hearing and potentially leading to other health issues. Fortunately, InnerScope Hearing Technologies is changing the game by providing affordable, high-quality hearing aids that can be purchased online or in-store.
According to a Hearing Loss Association of America report, approximately 48 million Americans experience hearing loss. Only 14% of people with hearing problems use hearing aids. One of the biggest reasons for this low adoption rate is the cost of hearing aids. A single hearing aid can range from $1,000 to $6,000, not including additional expenses such as hearing tests, follow-ups, and ongoing support from healthcare professionals. Many insurance policies don’t cover these costs, leaving many people unable to afford the hearing aids they need.
The traditional hearing aid market model requires consumers to get hearing aids from a doctor or specialist, creating a significant barrier to competition and making hearing aids extremely expensive. The four largest hearing aid manufacturers control 84% of the global market, making it difficult for new companies to enter and offer more affordable options.
InnerScope Hearing Technologies is a company that is changing the game by providing affordable, over-the-counter high-quality hearing aids that consumers can purchase directly online or in-store without a prescription or having to be seen by a hearing professional. In addition, the company has disrupted the traditional hearing aid market model by shifting hearing care out of clinics and making it accessible to everyone.
InnerScope’s CEO, Matthew Moore, has explained that the company’s marketing strategy is centered around helping people get the hearing aids they need at a fraction of the cost of those sold by the major competitors. InnerScope allows people with limited budgets to buy high-quality hearing aids directly for as little as $44 per month.
The company has also launched its hearing aids and related products on FSAstore.com, HSAstore.com, and WellDeservedHealth.com, making it easier for people enrolled in flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, and employers’ health incentive programs to purchase hearing aids.
InnerScope offers over-the-counter, FDA-registered, Bluetooth app-controlled, medical-grade hearing technology through its dedicated online stores, iHEARdirect.com and HearingAssist.com, and multiple wholesale and retail partnerships. The company’s product line includes:
- Rechargeable full-streaming.
- Bluetooth app-controlled hearing aid devices.
- Cleaning supplies and ear care products, and batteries.
All hearing aids are FDA-registered, over-the-counter medical-grade devices and include professional remote programming and support services with one of InnerScope’s licensed hearing professionals.
The company’s innovative point-of-sale Hearing Screening Kiosks in large retail chains and pharmacy chains also make it easier for people to get their hearing tested and purchase hearing aids directly in-store. This new model of hearing care is disrupting the traditional market and making it easier for people to access the hearing aids they need to improve their quality of life.
InnerScope’s mission is to empower consumers to take control of their hearing care and to deliver the same level and quality of hearing technology and professional support to customers from their homes at a fraction of the cost of traditional channels. The company aims to make hearing aids accessible and affordable to everyone, regardless of their financial situation.
In addition to its innovative approach to the hearing aid market, InnerScope is committed to providing excellent customer service and support. The company’s Doctor of Audiology and licensed hearing professionals can give customers remote programming and support services, ensuring they receive the best care and attention. Millions of Americans already feel the impact of InnerScope’s disruptive approach to the hearing aid market.

domain: medical


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Cricket bats are an expensive investment. And buying them online requires that you trust the seller’s reputation. We assure you that we are reliable and you will get great value for your money. Purchasing cricket bats online should not worry you, because more and more people purchase cricket bats and other consumer goods online.
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Cricket bats are the specialized equipment used by the cricket players. Cricket bats may come in different sizes but the length of the cricket bat may be no more than 38 inches and the width no more than 4.25 inches. Cricket Bats are used by professional, Club, and beginners batsman. The cricket bats are made for different style of play. Four types of cricket bats that you can purchase 1.
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We have some of the best cricket bats from top Cricket bat manufacturers like MRF, SG, SS, Spartan, Kookaburra, New-Balance, GM, Grey Nicolas, SS TON, DSC and many others. When you Buy Cricket Bat with us,we assure you, you will get 100% authentic and original products with a good discount. All these Bats are suitable for Cricket Leather Ball .
GRAY NICOLLS Gray Nicolls Maax 200 Cricket Bat Adult English Willow. $199.95. In stock. GRAY NICOLLS Gray Nicolls Powerbow Inferno 4 Star Cricket Bat English Willow. $219.95. In stock. SLAZENGER Slazenger V100 Power Blade Cricket Bat Kashmir Willow. $49.95.
Featuring cricket bats from the top brands like adidas, Puma, Gray-Nicolls, Gunn & Moore, Kookaburra and many more with up to 50% off new Cricket bats. Adults Cricket Bats Huge Savings on the Biggest Brands
We offer a range of delivery and pickup options, so you can choose the shipping method that best meets your needs. 223 Item (s) Cricket Bats. Buy Online Cricket Bats of All Sizes like Men, Youth, Boys, Kids and Junior Available at affordable price and we provides delivery worldwide. Senior Bats.
Browse an unrivalled choice of cricket bats online from Cricket Direct UK – your pioneering online cricket bat shop. We source the best cricket bats from around the world, crafted by internationally-renowned cricket brands like Gunn & Moore, Gray-Nicolls, Kookaburra, Puma, Adidas, Spartan, MRF, Ton, New Balance, Newbery and many more.
See more videos for Cricket Bats Buy

domain: sports


“John McCain’s lie became mine,” Steve Schmidt wrote about Senator John McCain’s relationship with a female lobbyist.
By Jeremy W. Peters
He made headlines by fighting for an oil pipeline and reading the Pentagon Papers aloud. After 25 years of obscurity, he re-emerged with a quixotic presidential campaign.
By Adam Clymer
She’s the latest descendant in a lineage of Republican women who embrace a boffo radicalism.
By Jennifer Senior
The coronavirus crisis and the transition of 2020 have the clear potential to spiral out of control, an economist says.
By Austan Goolsbee
His burden as president would be “gross.”
By Frank Bruni
John McCain credited to her his will to survive as a prisoner of war. She later campaigned for him in his 2008 bid for the presidency.
By Robert D. McFadden
Mr. Paul, 85, a former congressman and presidential candidate and the father of Senator Rand Paul, slurred his words while speaking on his YouTube channel on Friday.
By Michael Levenson
So much talent, if you really enjoy exasperation.
By Gail Collins
As Biden works to win over progressive voters, he has empowered a Washington uber-veteran long trailed by allegations of personal and financial indiscretion.
By Matt Flegenheimer, Rebecca R. Ruiz and Sydney Ember
He would be wise to remember that Barack Obama didn’t pick him simply because they were “simpatico.”
By Lisa Lerer


(President) Trump just delivered his State of the Union address but I couldn’t help thinking it should have been called the "State of Pollution," because from climate and clean air to national parks and wildlife, Trump and his Acting EPA Chief Andrew Wheeler have made the degradation of public health a priority. I’m tired of Trump using rally rhetoric to instill fear in people so they’ll support his baseless ideas. While he railed about a “crisis” on the border, Americans know the real crisis is climate change.
“Victory is not winning for our party. Victory is winning for our country,” Trump said. Solving climate change is “Winning for our country”. Did the President acknowledge the urgent threat of climate change and commit to act? No, because he has slashed one vital environmental safeguard after another. From gutting Mercury and Fuel Economy Standards, to pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, to dismantling the Clean Power Plan and reversing the Clean Water Act; his goal seems to be to put vulnerable communities at risk regardless of the cost to our economy or public health.
When Trump denies climate change, he doesn’t want you to know he’s acknowledged it at his own golf course. He says he’s “not a big believer in global warming,” and calls it "a total hoax," and "pseudoscience," while he builds a seawall to protect his golf course from "global warming and its effects." An application filed by Trump International Golf & Hotel Ireland, cites climate change and its impacts – as justification for building those seawalls.
Seacoast residents know all too well the cost of rising seas with NH tidal flooding up 260 percent since 2000. As a result, NH’s tiny coastline has already lost more than $15 million in property values. And the climate crisis has serious public health and security costs too. Trump’s proposal to undermine the Clean Power Plan will result in 4,500 extra premature deaths and 48,000 new cases of asthma per year. Half of US military sites, including our own Naval Shipyard, are threatened by climate change, according to a new Pentagon study whose findings are contrary to White House views on global warming.
Yet Trump’s Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler was just nominated as permanent EPA head. Under Wheeler’s tenure, fuel economy and carbon pollution standards have been ripped up. He is against ratifying the Kigali Amendment which would phase down dangerous hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs); this despite the fact that reducing HFCs is considered a priority solution to combating climate change. The former coal lobbyist has also reneged on EPA promises to protect Americans from the deadly chemical methylene chloride. Under Wheeler’s leadership, EPA fines have dropped a shocking 85 percent. And, NH families take notice; Wheeler is refusing to set limits on the toxic drinking water chemicals PFAS – a move that will potentially contaminate the drinking water of 110 million Americans, many of them on the Seacoast. Such an industry insider who clearly has only disdain for the environment and public health should not be running the very agency tasked with these matters.
So…”What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered?” Trump asked on Tuesday night.
I believe we are a strong and innovative nation that can come together to solve a true crisis like climate change. And we, the citizens of NH, have the tools, technology and will to tackle climate change by increasing our renewable portfolio standard to 100 percent, supporting renewable energy like on and offshore wind, solar and hydropower, by aggressively engaging in all types of energy efficiency and by continuing to support RGGI and other carbon tax measures. But, NH can’t do it alone; we need bold and innovative leadership at the top. Leadership like that proposed in the Green New Deal.
The State of the Union is supposed to put forth bold new ideas, talk about the real challenges we face as a nation and provide leadership to tackle them. If Trump wants to lose the "State of Pollution" nickname he’ll need to start listening to the American people and instead of rolling back lifesaving climate and health protections, act on the biggest threat to our Union; act on climate.
Hunter Brownlie of Newmarket is the founder of HDB Investment Group, a firm specializing in sustainable and socially responsible investments.


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Head over to Your Face Blog, email Damien Weighill, and he’ll draw your face! Maybe your face will even get published in his zine! Damien just posted face illustration #265 – that’s dedication. I snooped around the site and found a link to his portfolio (CSI should hire me), some really great work over there too.
I briefly mentioned Radar Music Videos back in May. If you’d love a shot at directing music videos but don’t want to spend the next 5 years of your life getting people coffee on a film set, Radar is for you. Filmmakers pitch for commissions and labels get videos tailored to their budget. Perfect symbiosis! I was browsing the “top rated” section and came across this excellent video:
Pegz – What would Happen – Directed by Callum Cooper. Further proof that Radar has a good thing goin’.
If I wrote a book called “Things I have learned in my life so far” one of the statements would be “Make sure you’re having fun!” If you’re waiting until later to enjoy life I got news for you – later will never come! Go to the park right now and make a slip & slide. Thanks to my buddy Cody and his partner in crime Alex over at DiscoVietnam for reminding me what it’s all about!
If you told me your name was Justin Lee Williams, naturally I would assume you were either the prime suspect in a political assassination plot or you were a supremely talented illustrator from Australia. Lucky for us (and the president) Justin is the latter. Keep your eye on this gentleman, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to wake up tomorrow and see him gracing the cover of Juxtapoz.
It’s Christmas in August thanks to Neo2. They’re sharing a whole bunch of fonts (some better than others) all of which are totally free! Mac/PC! I picked out at least 10 that don’t suck! Head on over there, click on an image and then hit “ACEPTAR” to download. They even have a font based off the lasertype I featured awhile ago!
Some funny little sports caricatures by Jesse Hora. He says they are inspired by the players’ names, his childhood memories of them, and info ganked from wikipedia.
I just realised that the active project thumbnail is also a middle finger right now too haha – I gotta do something about that, this place is looking a little too negative.
The Thief and the Cobbler is quite possibly the best animated film ever made and most people still haven’t ever seen it – unless you went to school for animation, in which case you have a burned copy of this on your desk somewhere. The Thief and the Cobbler holds the record for the longest film production EVER at 31 years. Canadian animator Richard Williams (animation director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit) spent 26 years of his life trying to get his film completed only to have another company assume control of it and “finish” it without him. You can read the full story here.
Last year this cut of the film surfaced on the net. A fan, Garrett Gilchrist, actually cut this together using footage from the various versions of the film that had been released, as well as clips from an original uncut workprint. The result is a version of the film closest to Williams’ original. This is only Part 1 – you can view the entire film on youtube.

domain: artistic


Notebook: Brantley 'fine' to play Saturday, Meyer says
After finishing a week of practice, Florida coach Urban Meyer said John Brantley is ready for Saturday.
The junior quarterback began the week hampered by a rib injury he suffered toward the end of last week's Alabama game and was limited throughout practices. Backups Trey Burton and Jordan Reed took some snaps at quarterback, but Meyer said Brantley left Thursday's practice in better health than at any other point this week.
"He was limited mostly throwing, so we had someone go in there and throw the ball a little bit because his ribs were so sore," Meyer said after Thursday's practice. "He's fine, now."
One player still battling a nagging injury is junior running back Jeff Demps, who sprained his foot against Kentucky two weeks ago. Slowed by it at Bama, Meyer said Demps was limited this week and while he'll play, he won't be 100 percent.
"We expect him to be the same tempo from last week against Alabama," Meyer said.
Demps was seen leaving practice in tennis shoes, but didn't have a noticeable limp in his step.
What could add more protection to and aid Florida's wounded backfield is the addition of junior fullback Steve Wilks, who will see his first game action against No. 12 LSU (5-0, 3-0 SEC) Saturday after being sidelined with a back injury.
"Wilks is playing and had a great week of practice," Meyer said. "That's good news for us that he came back and had a great week of practice."
Meyer compared Wilks to former Gator fullback Billy Latsko and said his blocking skills should help add more time in the passing and running game. Wilks should also free up Burton so he can play more off the line at receiver and tight end.
The 14th-ranked Gators (4-1, 2-1 SEC) will be without senior defensive tackle Brandon Antwine, who has been battling a shoulder injury this season, Meyer said. Also out are freshmen wide receivers Quinton Dunbar and Chris Dunkley who have been bothered by hamstring injuries.
Senior kicker Caleb Sturgis, who has a stress fracture in his back, is getting better, Meyer said, but won't kick against the Tigers. Senior punter Chas Henry will resume place-kicking duties.
Despite having his aggravated stalking charges reduced last week, Meyer said Thursday that junior receiver Chris Rainey still hadn't rejoined the team.
"No," Meyer said. "No update."
Before Florida gave up a 41-yard punt return to Alabama's Julio Jones last week, the Gators allowed an average of 4.4 yards per return since the beginning of the 2008 season.
Jones' return enraged Florida's coach, who is putting a heavy emphasis on the punt team this week and its ability to cup returner Patrick Peterson, who is averaging 23.6 yards per return and has two touchdowns this season.
"That's our No. 1 concern," Meyer said of containing Peterson. "That's absolutely the No. 1 concern of our football team right now."
Meyer said he's switching in two new players onto his punt team, but wouldn't say who Thursday.
LSU's big loss
Tigers coach Les Miles said Wednesday that redshirt freshman defensive end Sam Montgomery will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a serious knee injury in LSU's win over Tennessee.
"We wouldn't expect that he would play until next fall," Miles said.
No surgery date for Montgomery had been set.
He had 18 tackles, including tying for the team lead with six for a loss, and had two sacks before his injury.


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Shada Mountain is distinguished by its high height and its distance from the layers of pollution resulting from car exhaust and dust particles, which gives the viewer a wide and clean horizon.
Thus, these wide horizons serve as a natural painting of cloud formations and gradient sunlight during sunset.
Speaking to CNN in Arabic, Al-Shadawi said: “The red twilight is a semi-constant weather phenomenon in all aspects of the earth, but it is not seen clearly and purely except from high altitudes such as mountain tops.”
Shada Mountain is considered an integrated complex of different environments and wonderful and exotic rock forms together.
And according to what the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, the Shada Mountains above and below in the Al-Baha region are characterized by a group of caves with natural formations that gave more beauty and tourist attractions to the area.
The caves are one of the most important tourist attractions, which prompted the people of both the upper and lower Shada mountains to develop these unique natural formations and refer them to attractive mountain resorts without compromising the aesthetics of the place.
Tourists visit this mountain periodically from inside and outside the country, especially as it is considered the permanent incubator for all the activities of the region, which are concerned with the popular and agricultural heritage.
Of course, Al-Shadawi’s experience was not without challenges, most notably following up on the weather conditions that the region is going through, especially since great differences occurred at the top of the mountain and its ease in terms of beauty and splendor of view.
Al-Shadawi says: “An aesthetic painting made by the Creator, it must be impressive.”
These photos have won the admiration of many people, through social media, especially as they were widely circulated.
These were the details of the news A red color adorns the horizon of the Saudi mountains with... for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at saudi24news and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.

domain: geography


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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed died at AIIMS in New Delhi this morning. (File Photo)
The National Flag will fly at half mast today as a mark of respect to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, who died at AIIMS in New Delhi this morning after being hospitalised for a fortnight.
A Home Ministry spokesman said that the government has also decided to accord state funeral to 79-year-old Sayeed in Jammu and Kashmir.
Expressing grief and sorrow over Mr Sayeed's death, the spokesman said, "As a mark of respect to the departed leader, the National Flag will fly at half mast today in capitals of states and Union Territories, including Delhi.
"The government has also decided to accord state funeral to the departed leader in Jammu and Kashmir," the spokesman said.
Mr Sayeed passed away at AIIMS where he was hospitalised on December 24.
The body of Mr Sayeed was flown in a special Indian Air Force plane to Srinagar and he is likely to be buried in his home town Bijbehara in south Kashmir.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi drove to Palam technical area where he paid his last respect to Mr Sayeed and offered condolences to the family members.
Mr Sayeed's last rites were performed at his ancestral village in Anantnag's Bijbehara in south Kashmir this evening.

domain: news


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Venezuelan President Gives Heating Aid to U.S. Poor
For the eighth year in a row, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is donating oil to 100,000 American households who can’t heat their homes because they are jobless and the government no longer provides for them.
— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
Wait, before you go…
Digital Journal at Reader Supported News:
In 2005, a pair of devastating hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, led to dwindling oil supplies and skyrocketing fuel costs. Some of the poorest and most vulnerable Americans, including many elderly people on fixed incomes, found themselves having to choose between heating their homes or providing food, clothing or medicine for themselves and their families. Since that first winter, CITGO has provided 227 million gallons of free heating oil worth an estimated $465 million to an average of 153,000 US households each year. Some 252 Native American communities and 245 homeless shelters have also benefited from the program. This winter, more than 100,000 American families will receive Venezuelan aid. With the US government estimating that households heating primarily with oil will pay $407 (19 percent) more this year than last, the program remains an invaluable helping hand to many needy Americans.
If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.Support Truthdig


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In my coursework I am going to analyse what Charles Dickens’ ‘Ghost of an Idea’ is and how the idea is portrayed at the beginning of Stave 1. Charles Dickens wanted to change people’s lives and their opinions about the horrors of the poor and the middle-class all because of how he was treated as a child. The cold-hearted capitalism which ruled the society at that time was businesses owned by private people and all they care about was money and how they could make it. They didn’t care about other people’s welfare the working classes were livening in small houses in cramped streets and not a lot of food as they cannot afford it. I think that Charles Dickens was trying to imply to the readers that rich people will find true joy and love through sharing with the poor however he influences the way people thought about Christmas. Charles Dickens separated his books into staves in the first stave Scrooge was visited by the ‘ghost of Marley’, the second stave he is visited by the ‘ghost of Christmas past’, the third stave he was visited by the ghost of the Christmas present, the fourth stave the ‘ghost of Christmas Yet to Come’ and the fifth stave is the ending. The structure of the novella determined by what is in the story in this case in stave 2, 3 and 4 were Scrooge is visited by the three ghosts. However the first stave Marley’s ghost introduces what Scrooge was like as a person to begin with and his feelings. Stave 5 show us how Scrooge has changed since stave 1.
The story i...
... middle of paper ...
...asked to contribute to charities for the poor and destitute, he replies: "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?" when he talks most of his sentences are short and sometimes only words I think he does this to create a sense of balance because he uses a lot simple sentences but he then ends them with complex sentences this is the hard and emotional language of a business man.
Charles Dickens uses the ‘Ghost of an Idea’ to portray the beginning of stave 1 as he uses cold-hearted capitalism, pathetic fallacy. He is trying to put his point across by using the ghost of an idea, he wants to change people’s lives he does this in a meaningful way. When Charles Dickens written this novella and got it published, the readers got the moral and listened that is all he wanted to do he did this by showing society at that time what it was like and how they were treated.
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- With the recent technological advances, ghost hunters have been able to find more ghosts and search better than before. Embracing this new technology can provide us great insight into the world of the ghosts by showing us how strong they are, what kind of energy they use, and how they look like. Science has given ghost hunters the technology, now ghost hunters can apply it to their trade. People of science have this notion or idea to seem to think that science is superior to those that believe in ghost hunting.... [tags: Ghost, Paranormal, Camera, Science]
1019 words (2.9 pages)
- Ghosts are often characters that are a representation of revenge tragedy, especially in Shakespearean plays, such as Macbeth. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the ghost is very significant because it influences Hamlet negatively, which ultimately results in his tragedy. The ghost causes Hamlet to get revenge, realize his tragic flaw, and leads to his madness. He causes Hamlet to get revenge for his father. He implants the whole idea of revenge in his head. After meeting with the ghost and learning the truth about the death of his father, he states, “O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain.... [tags: Hamlet, Ghost, Poetics, KILL]
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- Many characters and people even with very few appearances or interactions with others can leave a lasting effect on someone or can impact the overall mood and message of a body of work. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, King Hamlet’s ghost or afterlife form makes a few appearances through the course of the tragedy but leaves a persisting effect that weighs heavily on the decisions and actions of Prince Hamlet that result in further deaths, adds depth and establishes the theme of revenge, and overall assists in the development of Prince Hamlet’s character as a person.... [tags: Hamlet, Characters in Hamlet, Ghost, Gertrude]
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- This story was told to a friend of mine by his father. My friend was 10 years old when he first heard the story and is 20 years old now. He grew up in northern Oklahoma and his family moved to Maryland when he was eight. His father, his younger brother and he were on a road trip and my friend and his brother asked their father to tell them a story to help them pass the time. My friend does not recall what his father said about where he heard the story from, but it goes more or less as follows: Once upon a time (chuckles), there were two brothers.... [tags: Ghost Stories Urban Legends]
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- Ghost Children of San Antonio The legend of the Ghost Children of San Antonio dates back to the first half of the 20th century, with the majority of accounts placing its origins within a period extending from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. The story is based on a supposed freak accident involving a school bus full of children. As the story goes, the school bus stalled over a set of train tracks and was subsequently hit by an oncoming freight train, killing everyone on board the bus. (Weiser) Not soon after this grisly event, it was said that, should anyone park their car on the very same train tracks and place the gears in neutral, the car will roll uphill (seemingly defying gravity) off of the... [tags: Urban Legends Ghost Stories]
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- The Haunted House This haunted house in Hagerstown was built long ago. It is the site of a most interesting ghost story, which happened to my friend’s friend’s grandmother. Now while I have heard many stories similar to this, I have never known someone to be involved in one and actually affected by it. My friend’s friend is a Caucasian, 17-year-old, female Christian from Hagerstown. Her dad is a postal worker, and her mother works for the government. The story takes place in the house her grandmother temporarily lived in as a child.... [tags: Urban Legend Ghost Stories]
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Rational and pluralistic approaches to HAVA implementation: the cases of Georgia and California.
Part of the reason for this decentralized model of election administration is constitutional because Articles I and II of the U.S. Constitution largely delegate election procedures for federal offices to the states. (1) The federal government has periodically sought to provide some uniformity in election administration, for example, by pushing for more uniform protection of voting rights (e.g., the Voting Rights Act of 1965) or for more consistent voter registration procedures across the states (i.e., the National Voting Rights Act of 1993). However, before the 2000 presidential election, election administration was largely a county or subcounty responsibility.
In the wake of the 2000 election, though, this decentralized American election administration came under criticism. Some of this concern arose after the careful examination of the Florida election process in 2000 found substantial differences across counties in how administrative procedures were implemented; this is one way to view the U.S. Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision that stopped the Florida recount in December 2000. (2) Criticism deepened in other states, for example in California, where concern developed about the use of punch-card voting machines in counties with large minority-voter populations, when more reliable and accurate voting technologies were in use in counties with fewer minority voters.
By 2002, the federal government acted, in the form of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). This legislation provided a stronger federal role in election administration, mainly by establishing a new federal entity, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), and by mandating that states develop statewide voter registration databases and eliminate inferior voting technologies. Although HAVA did not vastly expand the federal role in election administration, it did open the door for a stronger state role in election administration relative to the historical strength of local government entities in conducting elections. It is this potential transformation in the relative role of the state and local election officials that we examine here.
Specifically, we examine the recently published state HAVA plans to determine how state officials are using HAVA to reshape elections. We are especially interested in evaluating the aspects of state HAVA plans where states are planning to exert control and where they are leaving matters in the control of local officials. Examining three specific areas-voter registration, voting systems, and voter education--we are able to cluster states and evaluate the level of control they are asserting over the election process. After discussing the effect of HAVA generally on the states, we examine two approaches to HAVA implementation--a rational approach and a pluralistic approach--and how these approaches are being used in two states to show how HAVA has been used to change election administration. The stories of how the secretaries of state in Georgia and California have attempted to use the 2000 election and the subsequent passage of HAVA as means of changing the balance of power between state and local officials are illustrative of how election processes and procedures are likely to change in the post-HAVA world. (3)
THE ROAD TO HAVA
The brunt of the criticisms about the conduct of the 2000 election in Florida fell on local election officials. Local officials in various jurisdictions used the butterfly ballot, deferred maintenance on punch-card machines, and implemented other procedures that made voting difficult. (4) Additionally, some election officials made extreme comments to the media after the election expressing a lack of concern about discrimination against certain classes of voters, comments that resulted in the U.S. Department of Justice sanctioning three Florida counties. (5)
The postelection policy environment spawned an array of election reform efforts. Almost all of the major national associations representing state and local election officials (e.g., the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of County Recorders, Auditors, and Treasurers) and state and local governments (e.g., the National League of Cities and the National Conference of State Legislatures) created election reform committees. There were also three major independent election reform efforts: the National Commission on Federal Election Reform (NCFER), the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project (VTP), and the Constitution Project's Forum on Election Reform. These independent groups initiated studies of election reform that combined public hearings and input from experts with independent research on various issues associated with elections. Their reports noted that there would be benefits in shifting certain responsibilities from localities to the states, especially in the area of voter registration, and in creating uniform statewide standards in other areas. (6)
This movement to consolidate and reorganize certain aspects of the election process is a typical response in the United States to both real and perceived management and implementation problems in both the private and the public sectors. (7) Hannah Sistare notes that there are four rationales for government reorganization: (1) making government work better, (2) saving money, (3) enhancing power, and (4) addressing a pressing problem. (8) Reorganizing the management of elections was clearly intended to address the first and fourth rationales. However, the election reform proposals also had the potential to address the third rationale for government reorganization--enhancing or shifting power. Governmental reorganizations are often undertaken with the intent of enhancing executive or legislative power, or enhancing the control that one branch or the other has over a policy area, program, or agency. Reorganization can also be undertaken to enhance the standing of certain groups within government, such as when cabinet departments are created and these groups gain a seat at the cabinet table with the president. Reorganization can also be conducted to achieve the more focused goal of shifting decision-making power within a given policy area from one entity to another. (9)
In the case of election reform, the reorganization of elections was initiated by the federal government with congressional passage of HAVA. The final provisions in HAVA reflect the intersection of two political and policy dynamics. First, there was a fundamental difference in views between the House--controlled by Republicans--and the Senate--controlled by Democrats--over the level of ongoing authority the federal government should have in election reform. This conflict reflected obvious differences in ideology between the two houses of Congress and differences in interpreting historical and legal norms. The House was more sensitive to the historical norm that elections are primarily state activities carried out by local governments; the Senate relied on legal views that the federal government can establish rules and standards for all federal elections because they involve members of Congress. (10)
Interest groups played an active role throughout the HAVA legislative process. These groups included civil rights and disability rights organizations, state and local intergovernmental organizations, and corporations (e.g., voting machine vendors). Outside actors, especially academics and prominent members of the various election reform commissions, also were involved in HAVA's development. The NCFER vigorously presented its recommendations to the congressional committees and met with various legislators during the drafting process to provide technical assistance. The Caltech/MIT VTP also provided technical assistance and input. This effort of providing input often occurred in private meetings that included other interest groups, especially interests representing local election officials. (11)
CHANGING STATE AND LOCAL CONTROL VIA HAVA
In the end, the HAVA legislation created a modest role for the federal government. HAVA empowered the EAC to allocate funding to the states to purchase new voting equipment, as well as to finance voter registration and other election-related activities. This design is quite typical of federal intergovernmental programs created to influence state or local activities and induce state and local officials to change specific behaviors. (12) The EAC also is required to study various aspects of election administration and collect data from the states about their election activities.
The EAC did not receive the power to create binding regulations on states regarding standards to be met in any given aspect of election administration. Section 209 of HAVA explicitly states: "The Commission shall not have any authority to issue any rule, promulgate any regulation, or take any other action which imposes any requirement on any State or unit of local government." For example, the EAC cannot create a single national standard for what constitutes a countable provisional ballot. Instead, its major powers are holding hearings and disseminating information--especially related to best practices--that raise awareness of specific election administration issues. The EAC also certified the state plans that allowed for federal funds to flow to states for the purchase of new voting equipment, voter registration systems, and related expenditures. Considered broadly, HAVA does reflect a national consensus for uniform and nondiscriminatory administration of elections. As such, the federal law explicitly requires state governments to ensure uniformity within states for voter registration and other aspects of the election process. It is up to the states to determine how this will be accomplished because the EAC cannot dictate standards for these activities.
The modest role for the federal government in HAVA means that the reform powers in HAVA were largely delegated to state election officials. This decision is interesting in part because most states had played a relatively small role in election administration prior to 2000. State laws typically make a state election official the final arbiter of election results and give the power to promulgate rules to that individual, but the responsibility for election management rests largely with local election officials. Prior to HAVA, in most states, local governments decided which voting systems and voter registration system would be used in their community. HAVA empowered states to accomplish politically what all could accomplish legally--to reclaim control over certain aspects of the elections process they may have historically granted to local governments.
The potential for a shift in the power dynamic between state and local governments required by HAVA can be seen quite clearly in the process that was developed for states to complete prior to receiving federal funds under this law. Section 254 is the centerpiece of the HAVA process; it outlines the requirements for a state plan to guide the HAVA implementation in a given state. The first twelve of the thirteen planning requirements explicitly discuss "how the state" will carry out a given activity. These include how the state will spend or distribute funds; provide programs such as voter education, poll worker training, and election official training; and develop performance goals and measures to determine whether HAVA's goals are being achieved. Although Congress was not requiring that these activities be implemented by the state governments, the language in HAVA clearly puts state actors in control of the planning process.
Section 254 puts the state in a dominant position for implementing HAVA. Section 255 affects the control each state has over the planning process based on its power to determine the composition of its state planning committee. Although the two largest election jurisdictions in a given state have to be included, the state is able to select all other members. Local election officials have a voice in this discussion; given their expertise in actual election implementation, they are obvious candidates for inclusion in a state HAVA committee. However, they are not agenda setters in the process. The state election officials can easily stack the HAVA committee with their allies to achieve the outcome they desire. The state officials are also in a position to control the drafting of the certification document, further increasing their control. Equally as important for states, the scope of activities for which states can use HAVA funds is quite broad. As long as the state controls the HAVA plan, it can determine whether monies should be spent on voting technology, voter registration, voter education, programs for recruiting and training election officials and poll workers, improving the quantity and quality of polling places, or assuring access for voters with physical and cognitive disabilities.
The ability of states to control the process vis-a-vis local election officials can be seen in the composition of the state planning committee membership listed in the HAVA reports published in the Federal Register. On average only 26.9 percent of state HAVA committee members in 2003 were local election officials. On only three state committees--in Vermont, Georgia, and Pennsylvania--did the percentage of local election officials equal or exceed 50 percent. At the other extreme, in four states--Rhode Island, West Virginia, Alaska, and California--local election officials accounted for less than 15 percent of the membership of the state HAVA committee. Table 1 categorizes states based on the percentage of local election officials on the state HAVA committee. The modal percentage of local election official involvement is between 25 and 30 percent, and more than half of the states have a local election official participation rate of less than 30 percent. At this level, local officials have a say in the process, but the state is in a dominant position to control the outcome of the debate.
HAVA ACTIVITIES AND STATE CONTROL
Given the state's control over the planning process, the plans can be viewed as reflecting the level of control that the state desires to exercise over elections. Again, although state laws govern the power possessed by local election officials, the HAVA planning process provided political cover to state officials who might want to change this dynamic. States are in a position to take control over certain aspects of elections but can leave local governments in control over others. The variability in the level of control a state might want to assume over a given component of elections can be seen in the area of voter registration. Section 303 of HAVA requires that
each State, acting through the chief State election official, shall implement, in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner, a single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list defined, maintained, and administered at the State level that contains the name and registration information of every legally registered voter in the State.
Section 303 follows from both the NCFER and Caltech/MIT VTP reports, which recommended the development of statewide voter registration systems. However, there are many ways to implement a statewide voter registration system. One method--used by Michigan, for example--is to have the state play a large role in the operation and management of the system. By contrast, Utah is implementing a statewide voter registration system whereby the state is developing and will manage certain aspects of the system, but the local governments will maintain much of the registration control they had prior to HAVA.
A similar pattern can be seen in the procurement of voting technologies that meet Section 301 voting system standards, especially standards for voters with disabilities. Some states have used HAVA as an impetus to engage in statewide voting system procurements that put all local jurisdictions on the same voting platform. (13) The advantage to this effort is that it allows the state to conduct uniform voter education campaigns on how to use the voting system; it also allows the state to purchase the equipment in a larger quantity, which can improve the price for the overall purchase. However, many states have continued to allow local election officials to determine which Section 301-compliant equipment will be used by citizens.
Table 2 categorizes all states across three dimensions. The first dimension is whether local election officials will play a strong role in the maintenance of the state voter registration system. Although HAVA requires the state to implement a statewide system, the role that local governments can or should play in this process is unstated. The second dimension is whether the state is planning to adopt a uniform statewide voting system. The third dimension is whether the state is planning to dominate the voter education process. Voter education has both political and educational purposes, especially for the individual who sends out the information. Control over this can be seen as an issue both of state versus local control and of political versus policy interests in voter education.
In Table 2, control is defined through the language used in the HAVA state plan. For example, state control over voting system procurement is noted whenever a HAVA plan requires a statewide uniform plan. With voter registration, local control is noted when the statewide voter registration system overlays on local systems or local governments retain almost complete control over system management. In the area of voter education, most state plans explicitly discuss how the state election office will fulfill voter education. Shared control exists here in several states, where HAVA plans discuss collaboration or combined implementation between state and local election officials. Many states are using election reform to control important aspects of elections, especially voter education and voting system choice. This shift in control from historical precedent provides state election officials with greater influence over polling place activities because they can control both the information that voters get before they go to vote and the type of voting technology that is used by voters in the voting booth.
APPROACHES TO HAVA PLANNING
The decisions regarding the role of the state government and of local governments stated in a HAVA plan reflect the outcome of certain decision processes. States can take several different approaches in developing a HAVA plan. Using case studies, we focus on two dimensions of the planning process that come from different theoretical traditions. The first dimension is the choice of decision-making process to use, and here we contrast rational policy analysis with a political decision-making process. (14) The rational policy analysis process involves a careful process of defining the policy problem, collecting information, defining the proposed policy solution, and communicating that solution. The second approach comes from pluralism and the political interest group process, where rational considerations play a diminished role in defining and achieving a specific policy outcome. (15) Instead, political considerations are at the forefront of the policy process, with interest group pressures and the political interests of the principals determining the solution selected. Interest group elites typically dominate this process, and although corporate interests are often seen as being dominant elites in pluralist debates, the more defining attribute is that the interests of traditionally disenfranchised groups are discounted.
Second, we examine the level of conflict that frames the environment in which decision making occurs. Here, we contrast the high-conflict environment in California with the consensual environment in Georgia. In practice, the low-conflict environment was conducive to a participatory management process. This allowed for effective citizen and interest group involvement in various aspects of the policy process, which can increase public support and acceptance for the selected policy choice. By contrast, the high-conflict environment in California was marked by litigation and a failure to negotiate among interests. (16)
Thus, the two contrasting cases of Georgia and California fall into opposing categories in this typology. California's HAVA process became conflictual and political, whereas Georgia's was consensual and rational. Below, when we consider each of these cases in detail, we provide more analysis as to how we can categorize each case along each of these dimensions.
Of course, these are not the only approaches that states could adopt to implement their HAVA (and other) election reforms. First, states could (and did) adopt approaches that were a mixture of pluralistic and rational; pluralistic approaches could be applied to some domains of reform (for example, state decisions about voting technology acquisitions in the wake of HAVA's passage could be pluralistic, whereas their approach to the development of the statewide voter list could be more rationalistic). Second, some states appear to be implementing HAVA in a "muddling-through" approach, where they are tackling HAVA reforms only incrementally and in what appear to be minimal ways. (17) Here we focus on the pluralistic and rational approaches, as they are quite different approaches to implementation of a reform package like HAVA.
In the case studies that follow, the approach chosen largely reflects the political choice of the state's election officials. HAVA created a large opening in the policy window that provided these state officials with a broad choice of approaches. The following case studies illustrate two of these approaches. In Georgia, a rational and participatory approach was used to determine how to reform elections. The state involved primarily local election officials in reform, but it also included voters and groups interested in reforming elections. By contrast, in California, a more pluralistic approach was used, with substantial involvement of many stakeholders throughout the state, but where the role of local election officials was much less significant than in Georgia and where the secretary of state's office attempted to use HAVA to centralize some power (e.g., voter education initiatives and possibly the statewide voter registration database). However, the very pluralism used in the early stages of HAVA implementation in California produced a highly confrontational situation between interest groups, local election officials, groups representing the traditionally disenfranchised (especially individuals with disabilities and language minorities), and the secretary of state's office. These choices reflect very different political and policymaking choices made by each secretary of state to achieve his or her election reform goals, and they possibly reflect the influence of other variables, such as the existing relationships between state and local election officials, the political and partisan context of each state, and concerns in the state about possible litigation and federal scrutiny of their electoral process.
THE RATIONAL PROCESS APPROACH--HAVA IN GEORGIA
Although the focus of the nation was on Florida after the 2000 election, the first legal action related to election administration occurred in Georgia in the case Andrews v. Cox. (18) The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) summed up the electoral problems in Georgia in a press release that accompanied its lawsuit:
voters in some Georgia counties were ten times more likely than others to lose their right to vote because of a "fatally flawed" system that disproportionately affects people of color ... the state's voting system [is] "a hodgepodge consisting of antiquated devices, confusing mechanisms, and equipment having significant error rates even when properly used." The state's failure to accurately record votes deprives its citizens of equal protection and due process as guaranteed under state law and by the United States Constitution, and violates the federal Voting Rights Act. (19)
Although this legal action could be seen as providing an impetus for subsequent state action, in fact the state was already acting. Georgia's secretary of state, Cathy Cox, a Democrat, did not dispute the claims made by the ACLU because her office was the source of the lawsuit's data. Cox saw the 2000 election debacle as an opening for her to improve election administration in Georgia and to secure resources for this purpose. In John Kingdon's language, Cox took advantage of the policy window opening and acted as a policy entrepreneur to get the result she desired. (20) This effort started with a comprehensive analysis of the problems that had occurred in the election and then the creation of a proposed solution to the problem.
The problems in 2000 in Georgia were outlined in report entitled "The 2000 Election, A Wake-Up Call for Reform and Change." (21) The report focused on problems associated with the antiquated voting systems used in the state. Two critical problems identified were large variations in over-vote and under-vote rates across voting systems and variation in these rates across demographic groups--especially white and African American voters--within given platforms. This report and subsequent studies found that African American voters were statistically less likely to have their votes counted on paper-based voting systems--punch cards and optical scan ballots--than white voters. (22)
Cox proposed addressing this problem through a clearly delineated, structured, and inclusive reform process. Specifically, she drafted and had legislation introduced into the Georgia General Assembly that would promote election reform by having the state purchase a uniform electronic voting system to be implemented across the state. The legislation did not empower the secretary of state to select the equipment but instead created the 21st Century Voting Commission to conduct a pilot test of various voting technologies to determine which one best suited the needs of Georgians. The commission had eighteen members, and Cox used all eight of her appointments to select local election officials, bringing important expertise and credibility among the other 151 county election officials to the process. The commission then held hearings to allow for greater civic involvement and to educate the public about the state's election reform efforts. The commission then pilot-tested various voting systems in local elections in the fall of 2001 and conducted exit polling as a part of this effort to determine public support for each voting system. This effort was augmented by survey data collected by the University of Georgia's Carl Vincent Institute of Government regarding statewide attitudes about the move to electronic voting. The decision by the state to move to a single electronic voting technology statewide reflects the outcome, therefore, of a process that identified a problem, examined various alternatives for addressing the problem, tested specific alternatives, and allowed for public input into the process.
The work of Georgia's 21st Century Voting Commission presaged in many ways the work many states did in their HAVA planning. Georgia's HAVA committee membership and HAVA plan largely reflect this previous work and illustrate a rational approach to planning and analysis. The rationalist approach begins with information gathering. (23) This feeds into both problem analysis (developing an understanding of the problem) and solution analysis (determining what solution might best address the problem). Georgia engaged in two sets of information gathering, starting with its initial evaluation and report on the problems in the 2000 election and again with the conduct of its pilot-testing. This rational process paid dividends for the secretary of state. It allowed her to develop buy-in and support from other state officials, especially the governor and legislators. This was critical to the success of her efforts because it gave her access to the resources she needed to make the voting system transition a success. For example, in Georgia's 2003 budget, the secretary of state received thirteen positions and $3.4 million to conduct voter education and other activities related to the transition to electronic voting. These resources made garnering support among local election officials much easier because the state could exchange money, resources, and training to localities for greater state control over elections, including determining the voting system to be used statewide.
HAVA was passed just as Georgia was holding its 2002 elections, the first using electronic voting statewide. The analyses that were carried out immediately after the election found that the reform had been a success. The statewide residual vote rate went from 4.8 percent statewide for the top-ticket race under the myriad voting systems used in 1988 to 0.88 percent in 2002. (24) When the residual vote rates in 2002 were compared with the residual vote rates for the 1998 gubernatorial and 1996 U.S. Senate races, it was determined that approximately 77,000 more ballots were counted using electronic voting than would have been counted under the previous systems. More recent analyses have shown that the greatest reductions in residual votes occurred among low-income and African American voters, groups which have been historically disenfranchised in the state. (25) These outcome data reflect the achievement of the rational policy goals that were established at the outset of this process.
In HAVA, Georgia was able to build on the process used by the 21st Century Voting Commission. Many of the same participants were involved in both commissions, and Cox saw to it that the HAVA commission had a strong representation by local election officials. In fact, Georgia had the highest rate of local election official involvement in HAVA, along with Pennsylvania, with 60 percent of the HAVA planning members in the state being local election officials. The state again used a participatory approach for developing the HAVA plan and was able to leverage the success of the previous reforms to promote activities such as uniform statewide poll worker and election official training and voter education. This effort was made easier by the state having a uniform statewide voting system.
THE PLURALISTIC APPROACH--HAVA IN CALIFORNIA
Although there is a stark contrast in their responses to the 2000 election, in many ways the starting points for reform in both states were similar. California, like Georgia, was sued after the 2000 election for using punch cards. In California, the outcome of the Common Cause v. Jones lawsuit was a consent decree that banned the use of punch-card voting systems as of March 2004. (26) Unlike the situation in Georgia, where Secretary of State Cox avoided litigation after the 2000 election, this court case in California was divisive and helped to frame the discussion over election reform in conflictual, not consensual, terms. Also, in March 2002, California voters approved Proposition 42, the "Voting Modernization Act," which allocated $200 million in state funds to replace old voting systems. Proposition 41, while allowing for a strong state role in the acquisition of new voting technologies by California counties, established the Voting Modernization Board to administer these funds, with three board members appointed by the governor and two appointed by the secretary of state. Proposition 41 passed in March 2002, the same election in which Kevin Shelley was chosen as the Democratic candidate for secretary of state--a race he would win in the fall, thereby replacing term-limited Republican Bill Jones.
Here we encounter two very important ways in which California differs from Georgia, differences that have led to two distinct HAVA implementation paths. First, California's election administration environment is vastly more heterogeneous than Georgia's, with California's counties representing a broader spectrum of administrative problems and practices after 2000 than Georgia's counties. Consider the simple demographics of the two states: Georgia's largest county, Fulton County, had 440,291 registered voters in the most recent (2005) enumeration; California's largest county, Los Angeles County, had 4,075,352 registered voters in the most recent (2005) enumeration, more voters than exist in the entire state of Georgia. (27) Although ten California counties have more registered voters than Fulton County, Georgia, California also has some very small election jurisdictions, including Alpine County (831 registered voters) and Sierra County (2,307 registered voters).
Not only is there a broader size range of election jurisdictions in California than in Georgia, but California is also more ethnically diverse. Although 28.7 percent of Georgia's population is African American, California has a smaller white population than Georgia and has a number of language minorities. For example, Los Angeles County must provide election materials in six languages as well as English. This diversity in California set the stage for a potentially more conflictual HAVA process, as a wider diversity of administrative practices and problems needed to be reflected in the development of the HAVA state plan.
The second major distinction between California and Georgia lay in state politics and process. California's term-limit law covers the secretary of state's office; individuals are allowed to hold the office for only two terms. Bill Jones, a Republican who had been secretary of state since 1994, was term-limited in 2002 and was planning a run for higher office just as the post-2000 election debate and HAVA development began. A major upheaval in the secretary of state's office occurred in 2002, when Democrat Shelley took over this office. Shelley, widely seen in California as a Democratic star in the making, came into statewide office looking to make his mark to support a likely run for another statewide office, possibly governor in 2006. As noted below, Shelley's political ambitions led to a much more political HAVA development and implementation process than seen in Georgia. Cathy Cox had only recently taken office--winning her seat in 1998--and operated in a more conservative political environment, both ideologically and in regards to decisions to run for higher office. Statewide officials in Georgia often do not run for other positions, or they wait very long periods before running for another office. The defeat of Governor Roy Barnes in 2002 and the rise of Republican Party competition has begun to change this dynamic as the state's political culture has changed.
Like most states, California created a state plan advisory committee after the passage of HAVA. The committee held five public hearings and released a draft plan in June 2003. However, California's HAVA planning was very different from Georgia's on several levels. First, Georgia acted faster than California, enacting many of its reforms before HAVA was even enacted by Congress. Second, California's planning process was much more pluralistic and political, something that began with the decision to appoint a wide range of interest groups to the committee and appoint very few election officials. In fact, California has the smallest number of local election officials on its HAVA planning committee of any state. Finally, as became very problematic later, the secretary of state used HAVA to achieve his own political goals at the expense of the state's interests.
During the implementation of HAVA in 2003 and 2004, two different storms blew into California's election reform efforts. One of these storms was the gubernatorial recall election, which began building in the spring of 2003 and erupted into a chaotic, controversial, and expensive election held on 7 October 2003. Before this election could be held, the Democratic secretary of state's office made many controversial decisions about the process and procedures under which this novel recall election could be held, and many of these decisions (and decisions by local election officials) were contested in a series of lawsuits in the summer and fall of 2003. (28) The logistics of the recall election, the litigation it spawned, and the growing controversy over what some observers saw as partisan election administration in California effectively stopped election reform well into the late fall of 2003.
The second storm, still raging today, is the debate over electronic voting machines. Partly because some of the strong advocates for the use of the so-called voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) are located in California, and partly owing to the fact that it was clear that some California counties were poised in 2002 and 2003 to transition to electronic voting machines for precinct voting, the fight erupted in 2002 and 2003 in California--both in Sacramento and in a number of counties--over electronic voting systems. Secretary of State Shelley, sensing the building controversy, took a number of steps to try to resolve the debate. By 2004, he had decertified the electronic voting machines of one manufacturer and had issued a whole slate of short- and long-term regulations for the use of electronic voting machines produced by other manufacturers. In response, several counties and disability rights groups sued the secretary of state to have electronic voting equipment allowed in the 2004 election, which resulted in lengthy negotiations between the state and localities in order to arrive at a resolution. (29) At the same time, disability rights advocates were suing the state and four counties because they did not provide access to accessible voting technologies, such as electronic voting machines. This controversy consumed considerable time and resources and kept the HAVA reform process from moving forward quickly.
However, the pluralistic, and possibly partisan, evolution of the HAVA reforms in California slowed down at the end of 2004 as allegations arose that HAVA voter education funds (allocated to statewide voter education efforts as a result of the formula developed in the state's HAVA implementation plan) may have been used for partisan or political purposes by the secretary of state's office. A review of the use of HAVA voter education funds by Shelley's office was conducted by the state auditor, who found a number of questionable grants and questionable partisan activities conducted by contractors using federal HAVA funds. (30) This audit provided additional evidence that the HAVA effort in California was not focused on developing a uniform statewide voting process; rather, the HAVA effort was being used by state election officials in a pluralistic and possibly political manner. This controversy led to the decision by Shelley to resign on 1 March 2005.
Additionally, California's development of a statewide voter registration database is progressing slowly. Again, the difficulties in California with this component of its HAVA reforms are partly exogenous, affected by the delays imposed by the recall election, but they are also partly endogenous. Specifically, delays in HAVA planning occurred because of the secretary of state's heavy involvement of resources and energy in the national VVPAT debate and the allegations regarding improper use of HAVA funds. The substance of this debate centers on whether the current CalVoter voter registration system--which has been used since 2000 in all California counties and was developed under Shelley's predecessor, Bill Jones--is HAVA compliant and can serve the state's voter registration needs. The secretary of state supports developing a new system at a cost of between $40 million and $60 million.
The local registrars, led by Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters Conny McCormack, support modifying the existing system and have referred to Shelley's desire to build a new system as "folly." (31) McCormack, whose own county constitutes 25 percent of the registered voters in California, argues that CalVoter is either HAVA compliant or close to being so. As she told the Los Angeles Times, "Why not simply upgrade CalVoter to meet HAVA compliance, rather than attempt to procure and implement a new [system]?" (32) The state audit of HAVA singled out the failure of the secretary of state to address this procurement in a timely manner and noted that the state risks an enforcement action by the U.S. Department of Justice if it fails to develop this system before 1 January 2006. Although the exact approach that California will follow for the statewide database is currently unclear, what is clear is that the struggle over whether the system will be state-centric or locally autonomous is far from being decided.
The debate over CalVoter highlights the confrontational relationship that has been the trademark of California's HAVA process and the environment in which it has been implemented. Members of the HAVA planning committee have literally been suing each other over various aspects of HAVA implementation, and there is no clear set of goals for everyone to move toward. In fact, it often seems that much of the debate over election reform in California has occurred in the media and in the courts, as the various interest groups jockey to achieve their own goals.
The 2000 election created the impetus for states to rethink their laws governing elections; HAVA planning processes provided a clear mechanism for rationalizing these changes. States vary widely in the level of participation they allow local election officials in the HAVA planning process. Some states, such as Georgia, provide local election officials with a large say in how the state moves forward with HAVA. In Georgia, the state was able to build on a previously established relationship between the secretary of state and local government officials. In California, the state has pursued a much more pluralistic approach and attempted to involve a broad array of interest groups in the HAVA planning process, with local election officials playing a much more modest role.
We have also illustrated how state HAVA plans can vary in the level of control they are actually moving into state hands. Not surprisingly, states have made efforts to keep voter education--and the concomitant publicity it provides state officials--under their control. The movement of voter registration and voting equipment procurement to state control, however, is a much more fundamental change in the previous dynamic of local control over elections. These systems often shape the way work is conducted locally, and because elections are still implemented locally, the state having control over system procurement can change election management locally.
The Georgia and California cases also illustrate differences in approaches for identifying and addressing key issues within the state relative to election reform. In Georgia, there was a rational approach used for addressing election-related problems, with the state conducting a rigorous analysis of problems that existed with voting technologies. State officials then addressed these problems through the procurement of new voting technologies and were able to conduct policy evaluations to show the efficacy of this effort. By contrast, in California, the state has engaged in several studies related to voting equipment, but the studies have focused largely on the issue of VVPATs, in part because the leading advocates of VVPT are located in California. Other issues--such as improving the enfranchisement of language minorities and the disabled, and the reduction of the residual vote rate--have not been the focus of evaluation or action by California. Instead, a pluralistic, and somewhat political, approach has been used for HAVA implementation. The process has been conflictual, with the result being several lawsuits, a harsh state audit of the spending of HAVA funds, and a delay in the implementation of HAVA.
Other states have also followed more rational or pluralistic approaches in the development of state HAVA plans. As these plans are implemented, it will be possible to determine which approach resulted in more effective election reform for voters. The pluralistic model, which in practice can have a conflictual aspect, may lead to slower implementation of reforms and cause state and local election officials to be overly cautious in order to avoid lawsuits and other forms of pressure. The rational model, by contrast, has the potential to build public and interest group support that may provide election officials with greater confidence to move forward with more reforms to improve the election process.
Soon, it will be possible to examine how power has shifted between states and localities and whether states are up to the challenges that HAVA has placed at their doorstep. A key question is whether these changes will benefit voters, the ultimate customer of election services. The HAVA plans are only documents. It is up to the states and localities to implement these plans. It is likely that some reform models and some planning models will build the political capital and support needed to turn these plans into reality.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: We wish to especially thank the editors of this special edition for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.
R. Michael Alvarez
California Institute of Technology
Thad E. Hall
University of Utah
(1) See Kenneth A. Gross, "Constitutional Restrictions on Federal and State Regulation of the Election Process," To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process, ed. Jimmy Carter, Gerald R. Ford, Lloyd N. Cutler, and Robert H. Michel (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2002), pp. 222-235, and Pamela S. Karlan and Daniel R. Ortiz, "Congressional Authority to Regulate Elections," To Assure Pride and Confidence, pp. 235-245, for a complete discussion of the constitutional issues surrounding federal governance of elections.
(2) Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000).
(3) Georgia's and California's election reform efforts have been evaluated using different criteria. See, e.g., Randall Strahan and Mathew Gunning, "Entrepreneurial Leadership and Election Reform in Georgia, 2001 to 2003," Election Reform: Politics and Policy, ed. Daniel J. Palazzolo and James W. Ceaser (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005), pp. 59-73; Karin McDonald and Bruce Cain, "California: Low-Tech Solutions Meet High-Tech Possibilities," Election Reform, pp. 123-140.
(4) Richard B. Schmitt, "Gore's Suit Is a Duel of Experts As Lawyers Contest Every Point," Wall Street Journal, 4 December 2000, p. A26.
(5) Thad E. Hall, "Public Participation in Election Management: The Case of Language Minority Voters," American Review of Public Administration 33 (December 2003): 407-422.
(6) Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, "What Is, What Could Be," July 2001; http://www.vote. caltech.edu/Reports/2001report.html (accessed 8 August 2005); Carter et al., To Assure Pride and Confidence; The Constitution Project's Forum on Elections, "Building Consensus for Election Reform," and "Recommendations for Congressional Action"; http://www.constitutionproject.org/evi/ (accessed 8 August 2005).
(7) See, for examples in the private sector, Christopher Bartlett, "MNCs: Get Off the Reorganization Merry-Go-Round," Harvard Business Review 61 (February 1983): 138-136; Richard Daft, Organizational Theory and Design (Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing, 1998), pp. 253-258. See, for examples in the public sector, Ronald Moe, Administrative Renewal: Reorganization Commissions in the 20th Century (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2003); Hannah Sistare, Government Reorganization: Strategies and Tools to Get It Done (Washington DC: Center for the Business of Government, 2004).
(8) Sistare, Government Reorganization, p. 7.
(9) Thomas H. Hammond, "Agenda Control, Organizational Structure, and Bureaucratic Politics," American Journal of Political Science 30 (April 1986): 379-420.
(10) Carter et al., To Assure Pride and Confidence.
(11) Both authors worked with one of the two commissions mentioned in this article and either participated in these consultations or were apprised of these activities by their colleagues.
(12) See, e.g., Martha Derthick, "Preserving Federalism: Congress, the States, and the Supreme Court," Brookings Review 4 (Spring 1986): 32-37.
(13) Another factor that might motivate states to move toward standardization and uniformity in voting system use across counties is fear of litigation on equal protection grounds, based on the logic contained in Bush v. Gore (2000) and in other recent court decisions in the states, such as Common Cause v. Jones, 213 F Supp. 2d 1110 (C.C. Cal. 2002).
(14) See, e.g., David L. Weimer and Aidan R. Vining, Policy Analysis: Concepts and Cases, 4th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999); John C. Thomas, Public Participation in Public Decisions: New Skills and Strategies for Public Managers (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995); Robert Backoff, Barton Wechsler, and Robert E. Crew Jr., "The Challenge of Strategic Management in Local Government," Public Administration Quarterly 17 (Summer 1993): 127-144.
(15) See, e.g., Theodore Lowi, The End of Liberalism: Ideology, Policy, and the Crisis of Public Authority (New York: Norton, 1969); E. E. Schattschneider, The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960); David Truman, The Governmental Process: Political Interests and Public Opinion (New York: Knopf, 1951).
(16) In his discussion of policy and social change, Michael Hayes also identifies conflict and complexity as key issues in decision making. See Michael T. Hayes, The Limits of Policy Change (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2001).
(17) Ibid., 39-46.
(18) Andrews v. Cox, Civil Action File No. 2001CV32490, Superior Court of Fulton County, 2001.
(19) American Civil Liberties Union, "ACLU Seeks to Remedy Georgia's 'Fatally Flawed' Voting System," 1 December 2004; http://www.ach.org/VotingRights/VotingRights.cfm?ID=7000&c=166 (accessed 8 August 2005).
(20) John W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, 2nd ed. (New York: HarperCollins College, 1995).
(21) Georgia Secretary of State, "The 2000 Election: A Wake-Up Call for Reform and Change," January 2001; http://www.sos.state.ga.us/acrobat/elections/2000_election_report.pdf (accessed 8 August 2005).
(22) Charles S. Bullock III and M. V. Hood III, "One Person, No Vote; One Vote; Two Votes: Voting Methods, Ballot Types, and Under-Vote Frequency in the 2000 Presidential Election," Social Science Quarterly 83 (December 2002): 981-993.
(23) Weirner and Vining, Policy Analysis, p. 257.
(24) Georgia Secretary of State, "Analysis of Undervote Performance of Georgia's Uniform Electronic Voting System," 1 December 2004; http://www.sos.state.ga.us/pressre1/undervoteanalysis.htm (accessed 8 August 2005).
(25) See, e.g., Charles Stewart III, "The Reliability of Electronic Voting Machines in Georgia," Voting Technology Project Working Paper, October 2004; http://www.vote.caltech.edu/Reports/georgiastewart.pdf (accessed 8 August 2005), for an analysis of Georgia's residual vote rates. See Arnold Fleischmann and Carol Pierannunzi, Politics in Georgia (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1997), for a discussion of the state's political culture.
(26) Common Cause v. Jones.
(27) Data on California's demographics can be found from the Census Bureau's QuickFacts; http:// quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06000.html (accessed 8 August 2005); data on Georgia's can be found at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13000.html (accessed 8 August 2005).
(28) See Maura Dolan and Jean Guccione, "The Recall Campaign: Court Dates Approach for Challenges to Recall," Los Angeles Times, 14 August 2003, p. A21, for a summary of the major lawsuits.
(29) Seema Mehta, "Secret Vote at Risk, Suit States," Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2004, p. B5.
(30) California State Auditor, "Office of the Secretary of State: Clear and Appropriate Direction Is Lacking in Its Implementation of the Federal Help America Vote Act," December 2004; http:// www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2004-139.pdf (accessed 8 August 2005).
(31) Tim Reiterman, "Shelley Reconsidering Voter Registry Plan," Los Angeles Times, 24 December 2004, p. B6.
Table 1 Percentage of local election officials on HAVA planning committee, 2003 10-15 RI, WV, AK, CA 15.1-20 IA, LA, IN, NE, NC 20.1-25 MN, NH, ND, WY, IL, WA, MT 25.1-30 SD, KS, TX, FL, NY, DE, SC, ME, NV, KY, MA 30.1-35 UT, ID, AZ, MD, MI, MS, TN 35.1-40 AL 40.1-45 OR, AR 45.1-50 WI, OK 50.1-55 VT 55.1-60 GA, PA Table 2 State versus local control of various election reform components Maintenance Voting of voter system registration State AK, CA, GA, HI, AL, AK, AR, CT, DE, HI, control IL, KY, LA, MI, GA, MD, MI, MN, MS, MT, NV, NC, NE, NV, OK, RI, SC, UT OK, PA, SC Shared CT, DE, IN, NM, WY CT control Local AL, AZ, AR, CO, FL, CA, CO, FL, ID, IL, IN, control IA, KS, MA, ME, MD, IA, NKS, KY, LA, ME, MA, MN, MO, MS, NH, NJ, MO, MT, NE, NJ, NM, NY, NY, OH, OR, RI, SD, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WA, WV, WI WI, WY Voter information initiation State AL, AK, AR, AZ, CA, control CO, CT, GA, HI, ID, IN, IL, IA, KY, LA, ME, MD, MN, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WV, WI, WY Shared DE, FL, MA, MI, MS, MO, control NJ, NY, OR, PA, WA Local KS control
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|Title Annotation:||Help America Vote Act of 2002|
|Author:||Alvarez, R. Michael; Hall, Thad E.|
|Date:||Sep 22, 2005|
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domain: law


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While most of the press has focused on Obama’s military machinations in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq, the administration has also been quietly expanding its secret wars and assassination programs across Africa. From training the militaries of various unsavory regimes and boosting the military capabilities of the so-called African Union, to establishing drone bases to facilitate espionage and extrajudicial killings, the White House is literally treating the continent as a vast battlefield in need of perpetual U.S. “intervention.” And the consequences have been deadly.
Additional insight into the White House’s shadowy scheming emerged in late October, when The Intercept published a series of stories on Obama’s mass-murder programs, based largely on leaked documents, under the title “Drone Papers.” One of the articles zeroed in on a semi-secret drone base in the nation of Djibouti dubbed Chabelley Airfield. Of course, The New American and other publications have been reporting on Obama’s African drone machinations in the small African nation since at least 2012. But the new report sheds additional light on what appear to be preparations for lawless war in Africa without end — and without any legal authority or public oversight.
In 2013, Chabelley Airfield was just an isolated landing strip in the desert once reserved for the French Foreign Legion. About 10 kilometers away is a massive U.S. military facility with some 5,000 troops known as the Camp Lemonnier Naval Expeditionary Base, from which some 20 U.S. military flights — drones and jet fighters — were taking off each day by 2012. After a series of U.S. drone crashes around Camp Lemonnier spooked Djibouti authorities, though, the isolated airstrip would take on a new role, being transformed into a major outpost for shadowy and illegal Obama administration activities across the region. According to reports, drones launched from the base can reach Yemen and parts of Saudi Arabia, as well as much of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Egypt.
“This base is now very important because it’s a major hub for most drone operations in northwest Africa,” GlobalSecurity.org Senior Fellow Tim Brown, an expert on analyzing satellite imagery, was quoted as saying by The Intercept. “It’s vital.” Brown also noted that the new location allows the White House to keep its drone machinations more secret than the larger and more obvious Camp Lemonnier. “They’re able to operate with much less oversight — not completely in secret — but there’s much less chance of ongoing observation of how often drones are leaving and what they’re doing,” he said.
The emergence of Chabelley Airfield as an important hub for Obama’s drone warfare was not entirely a secret. Indeed, when the U.S. government began shifting its drones from Camp Lemonnier, which was right next to Djibouti international airport, over to the new location, multiple news agencies reported it. Apparently no less than five accidents involving the “MQ-1” Predator drones had occurred since 2011 — and one of those crashed in a residential area in the capital. So, the Pentagon quietly asked Congress for tax funding to build “minimal facilities” for “temporary operations” at the airstrip expected to last no more than two years.
But those two years have come and gone. And not only is the drone base still there, it has expanded massively. According to The Intercept reporter Nick Turse, Chabelley Airfield is now an “enduring” base for the U.S. government and a “key hub for its secret war, run by the U.S. military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), in Africa and the Middle East.” And while the Obama Pentagon fails to mention it on public lists of U.S. bases, and refuses to answer or even acknowledge questions about it, “official documents, satellite imagery, and expert opinion indicate … that Chabelley is now essential to secret drone operations throughout the region.”
https://www.endtime.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/93eb55914f5318c235a658b20f05de59_M.jpg 201 380 alphatimes https://endtime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/endtime-logo.png alphatimes2015-11-03 00:00:002018-03-28 16:57:19Across Africa, Obama Expands Secret Wars, Assassinations


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Precisely 18 months ago, on June 4, 2009, President Obama traveled to Cairo — that “timeless city,” as he called it — to address the Islamic world. Committed to “governments that reflect the will of the people,” the president called on those in power to “govern with respect for all their people.”
He acknowledged the great gap between those words and reality. There are some, he said, “who advocate for democracy only when they’re out of power; once in power, they are ruthless in suppressing the rights of others.” When I heard that back then, I thought of Samuel Johnson’s biting line about the hypocrisy of white Americans during the revolution: “How is it,” Dr. Johnson asked, “that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?”
The crisis in Egypt is rife with perennial tensions. For Americans, it’s a reminder of our checkered history with friendly authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. From the beginning of the republic, American foreign policy has been governed by American self-interest more than American ideals. From the Philippines to Iran to the Congo to Nicaragua to South Africa, we’ve protected dictators we’ve found useful. Hosni Mubarak has long been a member of that club, a leader rewarded by Washington for his ability to maintain order in a strategically critical nation.
But authoritarian regimes around the world should take careful note of Mubarak’s fate. Once they do, they may well be moved to address the concerns of their people and undertake real reforms before the passions of the Cairo crowds spread to their own streets and squares even more than they already have.
Meanwhile, America’s foreign-policy establishment should use all the means at its disposal — and those are formidable means — to encourage such reforms, while the images from Cairo are fresh. And this is the time for American officials to make the case that democratic sentiment is an irresistible force in human affairs.
We do not yet know whether the fall of Mubarak will lead to an Egypt — and a wider region — congenial to U.S. interests. But we do know this: the events in Egypt — and in Tunisia, Jordan and Yemen — prove anew that John Milton was right when he wrote that “no man … can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free.” That was President Obama’s message 18 months ago. It’s true today. And it’ll be true tomorrow, in Egypt and everywhere else.


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Bill English has just returned and discovered that the Chinese are sitting on a massive stockpile of milk products. From China:
The Finance Minister, fresh from a week long trip to China, New Zealand’s largest export market, said that there was a picture of an international glut of dairy products which would keep prices lower for some months to come.
In recent weeks the US Department of Agriculture had highlighted an increase in stocks of dairy prices being stored in China.
“It appears there’s been almost literally a mountain of milk powder in warehouses around China, more than people thought so it might take a bit longer to work through,” English said.
“The way it’s been described to me, there’s been a perfect storm of excess milk supply, influenced by events in Russia, Europe, in China, in New Zealand, Australia and that’s led to these prices which I think everyone regards, everyone believes are too low for the health of the dairy industry, whether it’s here, in China or in Europe, but it is going to take some time for the prices to pick up.”
English remained confident that there would be a recovery in dairy prices some time in 2015.
“I don’t think there’s much doubt that they’re going to pick up, it’s just a matter of when and how fast.”
Estimates ranged from picking up in a few months to remaining flat until Christmas, English said.
“I haven’t seen any estimate that it would take years to clear up.”
Read more »


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Photography is beautiful and an essence of who I am. Most of my photos capture emotions of others, living plants at their peak, animals living day to day life and the simple things in life.
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As much as I hated high school (and I REALLY hated it), I love movies set in those years.
Like I’ve said before, it just offers so much material. I especially love any movies about the outcasts in high school.
Every time “Mean Girls” is on, I have to watch. It just has so many great lines.
If there’s anything I love more than movies set in high school, it’s movies taken from a classic novel. You’d think they wouldn’t work, but the nod to the original is always great.
“Clueless,” for example, was a remake of Jane Austen’s “Emma,” and — while some of the plot points didn’t translate — it’s pretty obvious that the lessons of that age don’t really change over time.
Another favorite is “10 Things I Hate About You,” a modern version of “The Taming of the Shrew.” Heath Ledger is, of course, awesome, and the movie is very cheesy at times, but you can’t go wrong with the immortal themes of Shakespeare.
Just this week, I caught “Easy A,” which definitely caught my eye with its commercials. The movie based on “The Scarlet Letter” definitely lived up to my expectations of classic remakes set in high school. Although it is racy, that’s to be expected in any teen fare. It’s also smart and funny, especially because Emma Stone makes a great lead. Plus, it also makes some great commentary on modern politics.
So do you any of you have favorites? Or is it weird that I’m this old and still like teen movies?
Pop Culture Hijabi is a weekly column by Nadia Malik. Malik is a former newspaper reporter based in Chicago who’s now making her way as a freelancer. She spends entirely too much time watching TV and reading pop culture, fashion and TV blogs. She also occasionally consumes serious books and news. No, really. You can reach her at email@example.com with “pop culture hijabi” in the subject line, follow her at www.twitter.com/nadiamalik or simply leave a comment below.