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Dear Friends at the California Democratic Party,

I am writing to tell you of my troubling experiences attempting to vote in yesterday's election that led me and many others who attempted to vote to conclude that the election was neither free nor fair.

When I arrived at Temple Beth Israel at 1630 Bancroft Way shortly after 1:00 pm, there was a lot of confusion and a lack of order. There was a line to get inside, and there were numerous people milling about unable to vote, trying to get instructions as to how they could vote. The woman who seemed to be in charge soon explained to everyone that there were no more ballots available for District 14, the District in which the voting place is located (!), and that someone had gone out to photocopy a list of candidates, and that those photocopied lists, when they were eventually going to arrive, and she didn't know when they would arrive, would then serve as ballots. This plan was greeted with a great deal of skepticism, as it would require people to wait around for who knows how much longer in order to mark up photocopied sheets of paper, not actual ballots.  

In the meantime, we were instructed, while we wait for the photocopied lists that were to serve as provisional ballots, that we could register on the app which we could access through the QR code the woman in charge provided, in order to get a pin. The app did not work, as many discovered after following the instructions and entering the information requested. Please see the attached screenshot from my phone after I entered the required information, the same information with which I am registered as a voter in Alameda County, that says, "Verification Failed." 

Many people in attendance expressed views that the election appeared to be a sham, rigged election. Those of us who have studied voter suppression techniques employed in Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, and other states recognized that some of those voter suppression techniques were present in this election:  

1. Not having ballots available for voters 

2. Making citizens wait an unreasonable amount of time to be able to cast their vote, discouraging voting and excluding voters 

3. Touted election registration procedures and software do not work on the day of the election. 

What to do now? 

1. Recognize that the election was a failure and an insult to citizens who tried to vote, and hold whomever was responsible for the failure accountable. 

2. Publicly acknowledge the failure and offer explanations as to why it failed. People are not sure how much of the failure to attribute to sheer incompetence and how much to intentional voter suppression. Lack of a clear explanation as to why it failed and who was responsible for the failure will be understood by many that what they experienced was intentional voter suppression. There were members of the press at the voting site-- news about the Democratic Party holding an election fraught with voter suppression techniques would not be good for the Party. 

3. Hold a new election, administered by people with demonstrated competence in holding elections, and seek input from outside of the circle who organized this failed election as to how best and where to hold it.  

I ended up not voting because the app did not work, and I did not have additional hours in the day to wait for photocopied lists that were to serve as provisional ballots to arrive. (I do not know if they ever arrived and I don't know how many people left because they didn't have additional hours in the day to wait) In other words, the voter suppression techniques present at yesterday's election did indeed succeed in suppressing my vote, that of my wife, and those of many others. The question for you is, what are you going to do about it? Will you accept the result of yesterday's failed and flawed election, or will you demonstrate a commitment to fair elections? 

I would be happy to provide you with more information about the flawed election and consult with you as to how to rectify the problem going forward and how to repair the damage done yesterday and to work to gain the trust of voters. 

g