TIPS: the Meeting Hall

When entering into a public meeting, we must monitor one another to ensure civil discussion. We be there to think of solutions and not to just poke holes in the honest attempts made by others. I arrived at the following tips after reflecting on the DFA meet-up I co-hosted last night:

1. LISTEN, then SPEAK
It can be so hard to listen when we can not stand what the other person is saying, but without listening we will never REALLY know what that other person believes, wants, and will do!

2. BE REFLECTIVE!
Sometimes, just sometimes, its YOU. You are the key to your own frustration. To be frustrated, to recognize that and to hold on to it, while yet being able to understand that you are the one allowing yourself to be FRUSTRATED may motivate you enough to understand that it is not the other person's believes or behavior. Once you embrace the belief that you control your emotions you may become productive in taking action that may channel your frustration into more positive directions--don't just bitch about the way things are, start coming up with a list on the steps needs to CHANGE things!

3. BE HELPFUL!
Criticizing without offering suggestions is not only negative, it is regressive. We need to move toward action, we can not blame one another endlessly and take personal insult with each new idea that is different and perhaps even better than our own suggestion.

4. REALIZE THERE IS A PROCESS
Democratic process, while annoying at time, is there so that we the people do not exist at the whims of our leaders. Telling our leaders to make a change is not enough to make it happen. Laws will need to be reformed. What will it take to make a law reformed? Find out and help, don't just keep complaining.These are just a few tips for constructive conversation to change.

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Last night I helped to organize a meeting for Arlington/Alexandria Democracy, a Democracy for America Meet-up.
At last night's meeting we had James Webb who is running for the honor to be a Senator for Virginia.
We also invited Linda Lindberg, Arlington County General Registrar of Voters, and Annie Connole, a voting machine technician.

I was expecting people to be passionate on the topics, but I was not expecting people to be hostile towards Linda and Annie. (I will write about my impression of James Webb in another entry. For now I will say that I was very impressed with his firm stand on Health care and his belief that it should be a right for every American to receive health care no matter their economic standing. The nuances of what this means in terms of quality and access as well as HEALTH INSSURANCE will be flushed out in the coming months.)

Voting reform will not change overnight. When it changes it will probably be through a long and time-consuming process of meetings and trouble-shooting!
Even if our guests were able to convince Linda and Annie that the machines were not trustworthiness, the process of putting that change into place would take time and effort. Linda and Annie would need allies and supporters to help get them materials, to make arguments, and, most importantly to file paperwork. A few people began the segment on voting machines by telling Linda that she had been "blathering away and not saying anything." I felt like she was instantly put on the offensive.

I was really hoping we would be able to ask Linda questions on how to address those worrisome glitches with the machines as well as the questionable processes-like not printing out each image of the vote during a recount.

I worry that in such public meetings people feel that the best way to make their point is to assert their dominance. While this might leave them feeling powerful, it does not lend itself to constructive dialogue for change.

We need to be critical FRIENDS, to work together, and to itemize the steps we need to take in order to convince officials like Linda that changes need to be made and the we need to HANG IN THERE with her to make sure the hard questions of HOW to make the change are addressed! According to the League of Women Voters in Arlington, one of the best strategies for quality assurance is to be certain that Voter Officials are trained and that there is sufficient oversight of maintain procedures!

When looking for solutions the League believes that: "Many of the risks inherent in the use of any system can be substantially reduced by improving management practices such as personnel training and by instituting rigorous administrative procedures." (Safeguarding Your Vote, K. L. Ceballos, The National Voter, October 2004.) http://www.capaccess.org/league/

While many people believe that there are too many places for things to go wrong and for crackers to mess up the voting machines, there is STILL the valid point that Linda and Annie made, which is that VOTERS NEED TO BE EDUCATED! People need to know WHERE the TO GO TO VOTE! People need to know WHEN TO VOTE! People also need to know more about CANDIDATES AND ISSUES so that when they do vote, they MAKE INFORMED VOTES!

There are no easy answers, there are no quick fixes. We need to be respectful of one another! We need to work together!