Website Shoutout

Here are a couple of sites you might not know about, that I like:
http://www.billkeefe.com/
http://agreater.us
Please post sites I should check out in the comments section and I might give them a review in the future.
I find out about both of these sites by the creators sending a message through the "Contact Me" button on www.centristalliance.com (Thank you Alan Hyman for setting that up). I called both of these gentleman on the phone and spoke with them.
Bill Keefe wrote a book which is posted on his site and which I've read through called W.A.Y. "Wisdom is Always Yours." I found the words very inspiring. He says I am on a Hero's Journey. I believe the entire earth and our country especially, is going through a time of transition. It is our duty as citizens to help this transition occur in the more peaceful way possible.
Jon Denn from agreater.us has created a site where users can rank bills. I have not had time to do this yet. I just found out about this site this week. He wants as many people as possible on the site ranking bills. The top three bills would be merged together into a "Greater Bill." The idea is that the ideas that rise to the top are the issues that citizens care about the most. So, log in and start ranking today!

Alright, I also wanted to write a little bit about what I accomplished today. I sent out a newsletter really promoting David's page on Americans Elect. Then, I updated David's page on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Coolnation/David_Jon_Sponheim.
Finally, I changed the settings here on my blog.
During our BlogTV show, I started by unbanning about 10 people. I avoid unbanning the obvious trolls, but I do plan on unbanning 10 people a day until all but the obvious trolls are on the ban list. I figure that we can re-ban those 10 people if they come in again. I did have one of those unbanned come in and naysay our show, but he was kicked out by one of our Ops.
Speaking of Ops, I have been de-opping people that have not been in our show for a while. I spent the entire show doing that tonight, removing anyone who doesn't have a recognizable username. I think that going in this direction will make for a more interactive show.

My Americans Elect Story

My name is Sarah Hart and I love Americans Elect. I have a strong passion for politics and technology, and this organization merges both of these. Americans Elect has the potential to revolutionize the political process.

I am also the campaign manager for David Jon Sponheim for President. In early 2008, David was constantly complaining about the state of the nation. He disliked Bush and did not like any of the candidates that were running for President. I told him to essentially, "Stop complaining and Start campaigning." We started America's Third Party and I ran for Washington State Senate and David ran a write-in campaign for President.

I made an impression on both the Democratic and Republican candidates and got 5% of the vote. I heard about Unity08 by following their activities through the FEC Register. I tried to volunteer for that organization, but they closed up shop.

Since 2008, we have been campaigning for 2012 online using social media. Every week night we host a video chat show on blogtv at www.tinyurl.com/atpblogtv at 6 pm Pacific.

During this time, I have been researching ballot access laws as they pertain to the presidency. I've realized that the laws are rigged against Independent and Minor political party candidates. I have been reaching out to other political organizations. When I heard that some of the same people involved with Unity08 were involved with Americans Elect and they were working on getting ballot access in all 50 states, I contacted them to see how I could help. I was glad to hear they were using my site, with the ballot access research I had done, as a resource.

I became the first Delegate Leader in the Northwest for Americans Elect. I talked to Peter Arno (my AE Regional Director) about how to get more involved in Facebook and create Facebook Groups. I have been involved since before the beginning of our weekly conference calls in the Northwest.

Recently, have been part of the creation of the Web Team / Rapid Response Team in our area. I responded to articles, blogged and wrote Press Releases about the Western Regional Conference. I have been very active on the Delegate Leader Facebook group and I have been tweeting about Americans Elect as well (#WhoWillAmericansElect now that it's a #3wayrace).

As soon as the Draft process opened, I started a committee to Draft David Jon Sponheim to be Americans Elect candidate (www.tinyurl.com/votedjs). I believe Americans Elect provides the best opportunity to gain ballot access for 2012. However, I am involved in Americans Elect for more than that reason alone.

I like the fact that that Americans Elect is providing an alternative nominating procedure and candidate selection process for the Presidency. This has the potential to take the power out of the hands of powerful lobbyists and move in the direction of a more Direct Democracy.

The method Americans Elect is using is by no means perfect. I have advocated to make the system more fair and easier to use. There has been some progress thanks in part to the concerns I've voiced. I still advocate that Americans Elect should require the same amount of "Support Clicks" from all the candidates - eliminate the two-tier qualification process. I also think the process to support candidates should be easier. Finally, I have made suggestions to ensure the online voting that occurs is anonymous, yet transparent.

Americans Elect has the potential to revolutionize the political process. I am happy to be involved on the ground floor of this potential groundswell. We are the re-founding fathers and mothers of America. We are starting a social revolution to avert a violent revolution.

You can follow my political activities by reading my blog at http://ideasforchange.blogspot.com

Taking back my blog

After I went to the Americans Elect conference in San Ramon, I was going to change this into a co-blog dedicated to Americans Elect. Since, I've had no takers and there are other AE blogs out there, I'm going to take over this space again as my personal blog. This way, I'm likely to post more often and I'll feel more likely to be myself. I'll still blog about AE, but it won't always be pretty and superfluous. I actually have a lot to say about ways to make Americans Elect better, but I'll save that for another entry.

For now, I'll focus on my to do list for America's Third Party.
Today, I plan on uploading our book, "Hybrid Capitalism," to Create Space, Amazon's paperback/ hard copy edition company. David did order another book from www.blurb.com just to keep it listed in their store. I would advise any authors to not go through that company. Use Microsoft Word until you are ready to publish, and go through Amazon instead.

Once the book is uploaded, I will send out a newsletter. I really need to push David's candidate page on AE: www.tinyurl.com/votedjs - I made that tinyurl link yesterday, in time for David's weekly video. I hope they don't change the URL like Votocracy did when they got started.

Another thing I need to do is update the page I createdt for David back in 2008 on Wikipedia. I didn't realize people still access it, since it is not really a main page link, but I got advice about it yesterday. I need to add a picture and lay out bullet points. It makes sense to update David's bio since he is now a published author.

The person who gave me the advice, Philip Armstrong, offered to help me increase my social media presence so we could get David more support clicks on AE, for a fee. I am considering it, after I run it by David.

In the meantime, I have invested in www.ning.com and brought our community back online http://americasthirdparrty.ning.com -when I send out the newsletter, I'll send it to the members on there as well, with a message to start using that again. After a month, I will check activity and ask them to "use it or lose it" since I have limited membership ability on there for now.

I also need to reach out to the media. Local media is going to be my focus this week. I'll start with newspapers and go from there. That will keep me busy for a while.

Yersterday, I started using twittert. I feel a little odd since I am using the @ThirdParty account, which is supposed to be David's account. I never made one of my own. It's OK, since I'm just using it for campaigning.

Enough writing for now, I better get going.

Please Support David Jon Sponheim on Americans Elect

We now have a page to support David Jon Sponheim For President on Americans Elect: http://www.tinyurl.com/votedjs.

This is the easiest way to get David Jon Sponheim on the ballot in all 50 states. We need to get at least 50,000 support clicks = 5,000 support clicks in each of 10 different states.

To support David, you will need to verify your identity with Americans Elect. To do this, go to "My Account" and then click "Voter Security" after you verify your email address. You will need to put in the last 4 digits of your Social Security number and answer some personal questions.

Once your identity is verified, you will be able to vote in Americans Elect Online Primary and Online Convention. The online primary will begin May 8, 2012 and the online Convention will begin June 12, 2012. You do not have to change your political party registration to participate in Americans Elect.

Process for Drafting Candidates

I started a Draft Committee for David Jon Sponheim For President on the Americans Elect website today. His page is here: http://www.americanselect.org/profile-candidate/366392/draft-status. You can "Add My Support" or Draft a Candidate of your own. Each Delegate may only Draft one Candidate, but you may support as many candidates as you like (at least this is my understanding).

They truly do have "Bank Level Security" on the website. The main programmer for Americans Elect worked for E-Trade for a number of years. When I wanted to Draft a Candidate today, I had to go through a series of steps for "Voter Security." First, I had to confirm my email address. Secondly, I had to reset my pin to 6 to 10 digits rather than the 4 digit code I used to sign up. Unlike other websites, the pin is numerical only- similar to a pin number for an ATM card. Third, I had to answer security questions, much like a bank would ask you. Finally, I had to post my information for Identity Verification.

This "Identity Verification" process is where you can see the security, with true identity verification occurring. I input the address where I was registered to vote, my phone number, birth-date and the last 4 number of my Social Security number. Suddenly I was asked to verify 2 other addresses (asking if I had lived there, not input by me). I was also asked where my sister lived (they knew her name). I believe there may have been a couple of more questions as well, the types of which a bank would ask if you were applying for a loan. Finally, it said it was checking my voter registration. Then, I could Draft my Candidate and "Add My Support."

I believe Americans Elect is doing a good job verifying identity in order to ensure that Delegates who are able to Support Candidates and Vote in the Online Convention truly are registered to vote. They are also doing a good job of ensuring security for this internet voting.