True the Vote 2012 National Summit Showcases Diversity

While the liberals and the folks profiting from a very divided American electorate continue on with their agendas, a groundswell of grassroots activists met for the second annual True the Vote National Summit in Houston Saturday. A full day of motivating speeches and education for activists to take into the field was presented. The sold-out crowd was fired up and ready to go.

Unlike what the Houston Chronicle reporter would like for the reader to believe, the crowd was filled with folks from all walks of political life. To say that True the Vote is solely a Tea Party project or that one political party controls the work is wrong. From the beginning of the movement, the foundation of non-partisanship has been evident. Election integrity is not a Republican or Democratic initiative, it is an American initiative. It is easy to point a finger at one side of the political aisle and it is sloppy journalism. It is also deliberately divisive. It is wrong.

Speakers included experts on poll watching, voter challenges, open records requests and other election-related concerns, as well as writers, commentators and activists familiar to tea partiers and the political right.

While the reporter quotes Pat Caddell, the final speaker on Friday night's opening slate, he doesn't bother to acknowledge a similarly powerful Democrat who spoke just before Caddell - former U.S. Rep Artur Davis, (D-AL), a black Democrat who is strongly in favor of voter identification laws. Davis doesn't quite fit the narrative of the article, does he? Davis was fiery and strongly delivered a message of motivation to the audience. He told them to stay focused and demand election integrity. He spoke of the old days of Jim Crow and the battles of civil rights leaders. He clearly stated that a drivers license, or other photo id required to vote, is not Jim Crow. Davis also noted the diversity in the audience. Sorry, Houston Chronicle reporter. Mr. Davis, like all of the speakers both Friday night and Saturday, received a standing ovation from the audience.

It can also be noted that the group does live up to its inclusive claims - liberal bloggers and Soros-backed organizations received media credentials as well as conservative bloggers and groups. *Full disclosure - I received media credentials as a conservative political blogger.*

The all day session Saturday included strong speeches from author/editor John Fund who addressed the issue of stealing elections and how important election integrity is to the process from the registration process to the polling place.

James O'Keefe spoke about making videos showing how easy it often is to game the system as voting takes place. Thanks to his videos, states have passed legislation to tighten up the process and re-instill citizen confidence, like in New Hampshire.

Christian Adams, author of "Injustice" and former attorney with DOJ Election Law Center, spoke about the corruption within the office of DOJ.

Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, announced that the organization intends to pursue a Section 8 lawsuit and demand that for the first time in over 20 years, voter logs are cleaned as required by law. "Holder is in office at the sufferance of Republicans. I want you to remember that." He stated that Eric Holder is the most corrupt attorney general since the Nixon years. If the GOP would speak up and demand that he be gone, it would happen. The cabinet serves at the pleasure of Congress.


  Fitton spoke of the Election Integrity Project. States such as Colorado, Texas, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio have more registered voters on the rolls than eligible voters. He said that the room Saturday should have been filled with Secretaries of State from all states - "Who is talking about voter integrity?"

Washington State and Oregon have both gone almost solely to the mail-in ballot system. This leads to total corruption of the system.

Our system has been corrupted. The Obama administration is taking active steps to stop voter identification laws, especially in Ohio. There is no line between the DOJ and the Obama administration.

Catherine Engelbrecht spoke the common sense goal: "All that we ask is everyone play by the same set of rules." That shouldn't be too much to expect.