Sign Up To Review Netroots Panels

Here's something active you can do right now!

Netroots Bills Itself As the Largest Progressive Conference in the U.S.

In 2019 we proposed, assembled and moderated the first election security panel ever at Netroots. It was a breakthrough moment for election security. To commemorate the event, we had a top comic book illustration team design a flyer for the panel. SMART Elections Team Members and Advisors who were on the panel were featured in the illustration.

The panel was successful. For example, we received a glowing review from the Political Director of Stand Up America.

"In 2019, SMART Elections' panel was among the most informative, detailed, and policy-oriented presentations I saw while at Netroots. Lulu gathered real experts from around the country, who gave a thorough, yet accessible, introduction to the key election security challenges facing election administrators around the country. In 2020, I can't think of a more important issue." - Brett Edkins, Political Director, Stand Up America

Here is a video from the panel.

The issues that we covered included:

• the vulnerabilities of electronic voting machines, especially touchscreen systems

• the need for better accessible systems

• documented irregularities in Georgia and Tennessee that impacted

  predominantly Black communities

• how to effectively use hand-count and other types of audits

After Biden won in 2020, progressives didn’t want to think about election security anymore and we have been unable to get a panel at Netroots since. Two years in a row we received either the highest or close to the highest number of votes for submissions, but we still did not get selected for a panel or a training.

Please Help Choose the Panels & Trainings at Netroots

This Year We Submitted an Application for an Election Protection Training Session at Netroots. It’s called Absolutely Necessary Election Protection Skills.

Submissions closed yesterday and the panels and training sessions will be chosen in the next few weeks from March 17 - March 26. You can help choose the panels & training sessions. The time commitment is from 3-6 hours.

You must first create an account at Netroots Nation and then go to this page to register to evaluate training sessions.

Please choose the proposals you believe are best, but we hope that will include selecting ours. It is likely under one of these options:

• Trainings (Basic and Advanced)

• Elections

• Digital Organizing/Technology

If we learn more, we’ll update this post.

Absolutely Necessary Election Protection Skills

In addition to actively researching past election results including those from the 20204 election, SMART Elections is assembling a nation-wide corps of volunteers to monitor and protect future elections. This is based on pilot programs we’ve run since 2021.

We believe it is absolutely essential for the general public including progressives and Democrats to get a better understanding of the steps needed to protect our elections, and we’ve created a system that almost anyone can learn to use.

We are currently in the process of organizing nonpartisan regional and state teams that will become involved in their local elections. We teach those teams how to:

• Get involved in their local elections

• Learn what voting equipment and audit procedures are used locally

• Monitor elections by collecting specific data

• Analyzing that data for irregularities

• Follow up on irregularities with local, regional or federal action

You Can Join Our Regional/State Observation Teams Now

No need to wait for Netroots. We welcome anyone who wants to collaboratively and peacefully improve their elections.

Observation Is Meaningful

Often, when we observe elections, everything looks normal and well-run. But sometimes we find glaring instances of irregularities. In one polling place we observed 678 more ballots scanned than voters who signed in. In another election we found gross irregularities, including serious chain of custody problems. We filed a lawsuit regarding that election, and the lawsuit is moving forward.

So, to summarize: here are a few ways you can jump in the mix and get active right now:

Sign up to evaluate panels & trainings sessions at Netroots. You must first create a Netroots Nation account. (Please select the SMART Election training called: Absolutely Necessary Election Protection Skills.) You can also sign up to join a SMART Elections regional/state team and learn more about how to protect your local elections.

Please Donate & Subscribe

We are making tremendous progress understanding what happened in the 2024 election, as we lay the groundwork for improved U.S. elections long term. If you find our work valuable, please subscribe and make a donation as well! All donations are tax-deductible.

Think for yourself, or others will think for you without thinking of you.

~ Henry David Thoreau

---