Desclasificados
Elecciones paralelas en California, por J. Tesanovic

Jasmina acaba de enviarme el siguiente artículo para que lo cuelgue. Pronto ella y Tatiana Donoso tendrán espacios propios en esta web. (Por cierto, que confirmamos que Tatiana y yo iremos definitivamente al Valle de Abdalajís el próximo fin de semana, del 18 al 20).

November 8th
Parallel elections in East LA
Jo and I, women activists from Pasadena, are assigned a table in front of the polling place on Soto Street: a poor Mexican neighborhood. Some inhabitants don’t speak English, we can hardly speak Spanish. We are two middle aged blondes but we look OK, besides looking funny: we hold a parallel election ballot list with 8 questions that Governor of California is asking the people, a notebook where voters are supposed to sign their names saying they are doing this parallel thing voluntarily and a handmade paper box where the parallel voting list is cast. They are supposed to vote the same way they did it in the official place some minutes before. Inside the building they have computers and officials. We are standing a hundred feet away from the official site, as the law requires.

Our purpose is to make sure that the computers don’t fake the election results. Rumors have been going on that such a thing already happened some years ago in Florida. I ask the guy inside, how come you don’t have the invisible ink to put on the voters' fingers so that you make sure people don’t vote twice? I come
from Serbia, we have the exact same procedure except for the ink: this is democracy Madame, he replies and there is only so much one can do. My friend is phoning me, she is laughing loudly, you know what the news is, it seems that the governor was told when he went to vote that he already voted once... and that apparently he did not. However you can spread the story...

It is a citizens' initiative, no partisans, no group names...A small Spanish speaking woman approaches me: we speak with hands and noises, but I gather, she is from a labor union, she wants to bring a guy who will help out the locals, somebody the voters may trust and understand. Twenty percent of the population is turning out here at the official site and we are getting only twenty percent of the twenty.

The elderly guy who helped us bring the table reminds me of my "reserve husband" as we feminists from Serbia used to call our Professor handyman; a guy who would come and fix everything that was broken in a household, an honest and clever worker, vox populi. The LA guy is trembling and shouting while telling me, I cannot stand this anymore, the peace protests which change nothing. This is the first thing we are doing that matters...I was desperate, I nearly lost faith in the possibility to make a difference. My Serbian reserve husband used to say after god knows how many elections, which were stolen or abused by the regime of Milosevic: I don’t believe in anybody anymore, I would not even vote for myself.

Jo, who is a professional retired nurse, worked here some years ago, she says, I don't know why but only when I do this, do I feel at home. You are the first
lady of parallel elections I say, you were born to do this: she gives long calm speeches on democracy and spiritual citizen duties, speeches which awake the
most indifferent upper middle class in Pasadena and compel the poor to trust her.

Mary, standing at the other entrance of the site tells me; I work in this school, I know these people, they are one of the most politically inactive - they are
afraid of the authorities. A young girl with a newborn is not: she steps next to us and boldly puts her name on the paper: girls are braver and in control of their
male companions. A middle aged woman is smiling at us but running away, I have to cook dinner for the family she explains. A garbage woman asks us for a candy and tells us she already voted elsewhere...A sweet tooth for politics women have, given the proper ingredients. I am sure, ruling this world would be a piece of cake for them.

Counting the ballots in Warszava restaurant in Santa Monica 'till midnight, a dozen of us: private video cameras are on for the sake of credibility and accountability. A historical moment says the professor from UCLA who is in charge of all of this, who already did it in San Diego. We from the streets alternative elections are telling our experiences, how things could be done better and what went well. We laugh some but we are nervous. In Serbia for days on end we did parallel counting of an election which proved to be stolen by Milosevic. Our efforts toppled him.

This morning the governor of California stepped down from his 8 proposed legal amendments: he lost in the official as well as parallel elections The victory the
people of California won last night - against restrictions of human rights - are just a step in the US and world fundamentalist aggressive politics against democratic individual rights. The issues once again were: restriction of abortion policy, union rights, health and social security. A small step for the individual, but a big one for humankind...

Publicado por magda Noviembre 10, 2005 04:15 PM | TrackBack