Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith, The Nation‘s unofficial bard and balladeer, is on the job still fighting to ensure that – like her powerful song says – People Have the Power.
The artist who has penned songs about Guantanamo, the Iraq War, the WTO protests in Seattle, and many more critical issues of our time – and who John Nichols describedas “marked by a determination to work like Paine – as a poet-pamphleteer with a good beat” – now has her eyes set on the upcoming elections. Her website features links for folks to make sure they are registered to vote (especially important since state registration deadlines are often arbitrarily set long before primary/caucus day) and to demand paper ballots in 2008 rather than relying solely on easily hacked and unreliable voting machines.
As I recently posted, there is a desperate need to fix our broken electoral system, and it’s good to see Smith giving her considerable energy and attention to this cause. Representative Rush Holt is still working to build support for his Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008 and bring it to the floor for a vote. You can help in that critical effort by clicking here. It’s too late for Super Tuesday, but with a little People Power we can still make some much needed improvements to the way we count votes in November.
