Progress Now Action

I know you understand how important our elections are, and I know you care about the future of our democracy. On August 8th there is a critical primary election in Boulder County that will affect the future of our elections and of our democracy. Incumbent County Clerk Linda Salas has been in office for the past four years, during which there have been many nationally publicized bumps in the road. These bumps all had to do with elections. Hillary Hall has stepped up to offer voters a clear choice.
Hillary will restore the voters' trust and confidence in our voting systems and processes. The Election Review Committee, of which Hillary was a member, made many recommendations and few of them have been implemented as intended.
Areas that need improvement are:
1. returning to an anonymous ballot;
2. removing the need for ballots to be in page order for the machine to process them;
3. resolving problem ballots without bringing the tabulating process to a halt;
4. setting a process to perform an audit that will statistically verify the accuracy of the count;
5. handling of provisional ballots;
6. and, given the unprecedented mailing of absentee applications to every registered voter in the County, handling and verification of absentee ballots.
Hillary will create a model that will include a voting system that is accurate, secure and verifiable and a voting process that is transparent, inclusive and fair, including:
1. inclusive, collaborative leadership,
2. citizen oversight and involvement,
3. clearly defined and publicly available processes,
4. procedures that encompass every aspect of the voting process from voter registration to canvassing, or "certification",
5. a continued commitment to a paper ballot,
6. and, a true audit process.
The County Clerk must establish clear standards, policies and procedures throughout all divisions and provide leadership coupled with the ability to make decisions, to accept responsibility for those decisions and to be accountable to the citizens of Boulder County. The majority of the problems that occurred during the 2004 tabulating could have been either anticipated or identified much earlier in the process, which would then have shortened the delays in the reporting of the vote.
Hillary will take a proactive, long-term approach to leadership and management, which anticipates change, identifies best practices and recognizes opportunities for innovation and improvement.
The Clerk's primary responsibilities are to provide the leadership to manage the staff in all departments, to communicate with the staff, the public and other agencies and organizations through processes that are open, transparent and inclusive and to be accountable to the voters.
Hillary brings over twenty years of management experience in the private sector and service on boards for academic, public policy, and social issues organizations along with a depth and breadth of technological competence. Hillary is adept at bringing diverse groups with divergent viewpoints together to build consensus that leads to real solutions.

I Urge you to VOTE FOR HILLARY HALL - ON AUGUST 8TH

Carolyn

Please read the email copied below. There is a serious campaign of wrong information and lies being spread in an attempt to shore up the support for Owens not signing this important legislation. Please call the governor and let him know that Coloradoan's are not stupid and will not be misled by lies and deceit.
From: Colorado Right to Life [mailto:CRTL@msn.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2006 10:56 AM
To: State Office
Subject: URGENT REQUEST
Importance: High

*** WE URGE EVERYONE TO ACT IMMEDIATELY ***

The Colorado Right to Life office has been notified recently that Governor Owens may in fact sign HB06-1212, the so-called "Emergency Contraception" bill, which was passed by our misguided state legislature and placed on the governor's desk.
While the governor claims to have some concerns over it, he has not in any way declaratively stated that he would veto it. Colorado Right to Life strongly encourages the governor to veto this legislation, as we believe it to be not only bad law but an horrendous public policy.
Proponents of this law have boasted of it's safety and efficacy. It is neither! They've stated that Plan B is "safer than aspirin." Yet while your 13 year old daughter cannot get an aspirin at school without a parent's permission, under this bill she could be sold over the back counter a drug that could initiate the onset of breast cancer in later life, could cause life-threatening blood clots, or prevent her from ever having children. The FDA itself denied Plan B from being sold over the counter.

See CRLC's resource sheet on Emergency Contraception at
Link

This legislation would allow pharmacists to "sell on demand" the powerful Plan B drug, and is atrocious for many reasons:
1) This pharmaceutical, among its effects, prevents eventual implantation in the uterine wall of an already fertilized egg (human zygote), a little person already growing within, thus causing an abortion. As such, it can act as an abortifacient.

2) It is very dangerous because the dispensing pharmacists don't know the medical history of the persons to whom they dispense, they are not aware of any current health conditions or other risk factors, and there is no way for any possible follow-up medical treatment ...until that young person ends up in an urgent care facility. It is just plain foolish not to
have their medical doctor involved.
3) There are no restrictions in this legislation, preventing young teens, for example, of obtaining this drug, or of allowing a deviant to obtain it for their nefarious reasons.
4) Plan B itself should not have ever passed FDA approval, given its lack of adequate testing, clinical trials, and for the horrible side effects it induces: nausea (23%), abdominal pain (18%), fatigue (17%), headache (17%), heavier menstrual bleeding (14%), also: dizziness, breast tenderness, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Plan B also causes a five (5) times greater chance of her later having an ectopic pregnancy. And, did you know, that Plan B contains an active steriodal agent, the kind usually banned? This is a very dangerous drug!

5) Even the Plan B website concedes that emergency contraceptives are not as effective as routine (oral) contraceptives, which by their own statistics show a risk of pregnancy. And, factoring in the dangerous
side effects (both short-term and long-term), it's clear that Plan B is not worth the risk!
PLEASE CALL, FAX OR E-MAIL THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE NOW!
Remind Gov. Owens that human life begins at fertilization and that the EC bill is BAD LAW, and is bad for Colorado.
Politely encourage Gov. Owens to veto this legislation.
303-866-2471 Phone
303-866-2003 Fax
E-mail: governorowens@state.co.us
Remember, a life is a precious thing, and it's worth fighting for.
Thank you.
Phillip Hendrix
Director, Colorado Right to Life
Chair, Legislative Committee
phendrix@coloradorighttolife.org