Background

As the world learned in 2000 and 2004, the very integrity of the voting process in the United States has come under suspicion with dubious outcomes. Fair and honest elections with properly counted results that can be documented and trusted are essential to democracy. But can we really trust the results today? Who is watchdogging elections at the local, state and national level? Will hanging chads and unaccountable electronic machines determine the outcome of the 2008 vote?

To help answer these questions, and to play a role in improving the process, we at the Center for Media and Democracy will soon be launching a new project on our www.SourceWatch.org website, our Election Protection portal. Watch for it in the weeks ahead.

SourceWatch, our online encyclopedia of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda, will soon become a clearing house of vital current information, research and reports for examining the US election process. The new Election Protection portal will be a key "first stop" online resource for information about election officials, polling places, procedures and regulations.

We're hoping to meet an urgent need. There has never to our knowledge been a central repository for this information, certainly not one that harnesses citizen journalism and the benefits of 'wiki' collaboration to stay up to date and accurate. The lack of such a website has been a serious hindrance to understanding and responding to problems on Election Day and to reforming voting procedures before the next election.

Many organizations and individuals are working across the United States to protect our right to vote and the integrity of the electoral process. In the weeks ahead we will be drawing attention to their work and pulling it together in one portal in Sourcewatch. This is an experiment, it's not been done before. We're doing it in the spirit of our successful experiment earlier this year, the Super Delegate Transparency Project.

Limited-Term Position Available to Work on the Election Protection Project

Right now, we're looking for the right person to become the paid editor of our Election Protection wiki, beginning immediately. Below is the job posting. If you qualify, please send us an email. This is a short term position with no benefits, and it will be a demanding job, but it's an important position. We hope to fill this position by the end of the week, so please send this quickly to anyone you know who might be interested.