►The Bimonthly Newsletter of the Dorchester County Democratic Party◄ ►The Bimonthly Newsletter of the Dorchester County Democratic Party◄

June/July 2013 Volume 5, Issue 3

Richard Hayes, chair of the Dorchester County Democratic Party, received the state party’s “Chairman’s Award” at its convention in Columbia on May 4.

“(Hayes) provided leadership and outstanding service to the De-mocratic Party,” Dick Harpootlian, outgoing chairman of the state party, said about the recipient of his award.

The Chairman’s Award is bestowed every year to whom the South Carolina Democratic Party chair finds to have provided the most effective work and dedication.

Hayes was quick to extend the honors of his award to everyone with DCDP.

“Although the award has my name on it, this award is for the entire County Party! You have shown the entire state that you are the best County Party leaders and most active County Party in the state! How?

1. We have the best 1st and 2nd Vice Chairs, Ethel Campbell and Dot Brown, who are helping to lead the day-to-day ground game. I can never thank them enough for their leadership, ability, and en-thusiasm.

2. We have the best 3rd Vice in Jeni Atchley, who really gets the youth out to vote and participate. Our future leader!

3. We have the best Secretary in Debbie Mortellaro; I could not be half as effective without her support. 4. We have the best Treasurer in the State—Nancy Seufert—who keeps the money straight and flowing even if she cannot get out of the house; she also has become the Robo Dialer Queen. 5. We have the best PR Chair in the state. Rob Groce is asked for advice from everybody in the state, and The Blue Note is second to none! It is really a gold standard for all the county parties through-out South Carolina and the US! 6. We have a great precinct leader in Clayton Seufert, who leads and just does it; there is no better Precinct Chair.

7. We have a great County Women's group with Margaret Good-wine and Mary Haynes as leaders.

County Chair Hayes wins Chairman’s Award at State Convention

8. We have great elected leaders in Willie Davis, Patsy Knight, Aaron Brown, David Mack, Seth Whipper, John Matthews and Joe Jefferson. 9. We have the best state executive committee reps in David Rison, Nancy Seufert, Marty Turney and Rob Groce. 10. We have great support from Debbie, Diane, Chrissy, Viola, Penny, Audrey, Johnny, Virginia, Steve and all the rest of the Ex-ecutive Committee!”

Included in This Issue

At the State Convention—page 2

Reflections on Recent Special Election—page 3

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly—page 4

June’s Highway Cleanup/Breakfast Meeting—page 6

White Supremacist on Haley’s campaign?—page 6

Rep. Knight recognized at ‘Day in Blue’—page 7

Share and Share Alike!—page 7

Bennett and “Bang Bang” in the Barroom—page 8

‘Nuns on a Bus’ on Saturday—page 8

Atchley completes NLC, upcoming party—page 9

‘I Voted?’ promotion in SC in May—page 10

Calendar of Events—page 11

By David Rison The South Carolina Democratic Party held its annual convention in Columbia on May 4, pre-ceded by the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on May 3. Vice President Joe Biden was the speaker at the annual fundraising dinner that set a record in both attendance and in money raised for the state party. Biden spoke at the dinner back in 2007, before he became Vice President. He galvanized the record crowd with his attack on national Republicans, and his defense of De-mocrats in general and the Obama-Biden ad-ministration in particular. He also showed up at Congressman Jim Clyburn’s Fish Fry following the dinner. A record crowd attended this free event, as well. Everyone knew that Biden, who has indicated that he wants to succeed Obama, was looking forward to the 2016 presidential election when

South Carolina will hold the first primary in the South. State party leaders expect that other nationally-known Democrats interested in running for president in 2016 will be eager to speak at other JJ Dinners in 2014 and 2015.

The state convention on Saturday was charged with electing officers for the next two years. Jaime Harrison was elected as the state party chair, succeeding Dick Harpootlian, who did not run for a second term. Harrison was unop-posed and became the first African American elected as state party chair.

Two other persons were elected without oppo-sition. Melissa Watson was-reelected as 2nd Vice Chair, a post reserved for a person of the opposite sex of the chair, and Tyler Jones was unanimously elected as 3rd Vice Chair, a posi-tion that requires a person under 30 years of age. I have known Tyler since he was the presi-dent of the CSU Young Democrats, and I was

the faculty sponsor. I am sure that all three will do a good job. The only contested race was for 1st Vice Chair. The two candidates for this position were Blaine Lotz, a retired Air Force Colonel who is chair of the Beaufort County Democratic Party, and Kaye Koonce of Charleston, who has served as Chair of the Charleston County Party and recently retired as Senior Vice President of Trident Tech. Kaye has been active in the State Democratic Party for many years. The race was strongly contested. Both Lotz and Koonce ad-dressed the convention, and Koonce was elected to the position The Mayor of Minneapolis, Minn., R.T. Rybak, spoke at the convention, as did Vincent Shee-hen. Sheehen declared that he will be a candi-date for governor again in 2014. He lost nar-rowly to Nikki Haley in 2010. Congressman James Clyburn was honored for his 20 years of service in the United States Congress. Outgoing party chairman Dick Harpootlian gave the 2013 chairman’s award to Dorchester County Party Chair Richard Hayes. This was a great honor for our hard-working county party chair.

Top Left —(L to R) Berkeley County Chair and SCDP 2nd Vice Chair Melissa Watson, DCDP Chair Richard Hayes, and Charleston County Dele-gate Bobbie Rose Top Right—DCDP Delegate Amanda Doty Fralix and Vice President Joe Biden Bottom Left—DCDP Delegates on the floor of the convention Bottom Right—(L to R) Dele-gates David Rison, Marty Tur-ney and Debbie Mortellaro

Democratic Weekend State Democratic Party Convention, May 3 & 4

By Marty “on the gurney” Turney We all put in lots of hours at headquarters managing, making phone calls, canvassing, talking to friends, neighbors and anyone who would listen to spread the word about our candidate for the 1st Congressional District of South Carolina, Elizabeth Colbert Busch. When the first reports were announced we were elated. She was nine (9) points ahead of the other leading candidate. As you know, before long the lead slowly shrank, as did we. Well, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again. We have other elections this fall. You are a very important part of our election process, and you really are needed. November 2013 will bring several non-partisan races for Town Council in Summer-ville, Ridgeville, Harleyville and St. George. Only residents of town can vote and those candidates who are victorious will represent all of the residents of the town. The candi-dates running need our support and assis-tance. You will hear names that you know are “Democrats” but remember they cannot run as Democrats, and they must remain non-partisan during the time they are serving in the elected position. Let’s get our friends elected. We can do it, but only if you help. This means phone calls, can-vassing, and talking to friends, neighbors and anyone who will listen to information about our candidates for town council. Get ready to again spread the word. More information will be coming soon, so look for candidate an-nouncements. Please lend a hand to a neighbor and/or friend. Work and vote in your town elections. Remember—it is not the end. Hopefully we can get Elizabeth Colbert Busch or another great candidate to run in 2014 for the South Carolina 1st Congressional District seat for a full term.

Disappointed? So are we.

But we still have other opportunities

this year!

I am proud of the Dorchester County Democratic Party. You did an out-standing job from January to May on the special election for the 1st Dis-trict. We are all disappointed that Elizabeth Colbert-Busch did not win. But with the leadership of Ethel Campbell and Dot Brown at the Headquarters, and all the amazing work from the party members and volunteers, we had some amazing results, including touching all the Dorchester County De-mocrats we knew multiple times, having many new volunteers (who hope-fully will become active party members), and more young adults involved. The result was a 100-percent to 200-percent increase in voter turnout for a special election. We all know when we got started that Dorchester County is as red as a county can be, and we need to be diligent, and be in this for the long run – but we will eventually turn Dorchester County “blue” because we are on the right side of the issues. Our party stands for what America stands for – not the Republicans. We are on the side that stands for the real America, where all the citizens participate in growth and prosperity, not just the One Percent. We stand for a strong America where diversity is strength, and where we give all of our children a chance for a bright future. We have spent a month recovering; now let’s continue working toward our mission goals – getting Democrats out to vote, running Democrats in all elections, and winning! We need to get Vincent Sheheen elected Governor in 2014! We need to not only win Districts 97, 102, 109, and 113 in the state legislature, but we need to run strong candidates in Districts 94 and 98 and win in 2014! Let’s get back in the saddle and march to victory in 2014 – Rarin’ to Go!

From the Chair Richard Hayes

THE EVEN UGLIER Low turnout was a contributing cause for some of The Bads and The Uglies, and was noted in some other precincts, too. Precincts where Colbert Busch did less than Obama AND the turnout was below the county average of 27.1%:

Briarwood

Clemson 3

Coosaw

Flowertown 2

Greenwave

Lincoln

Patriot

Trolley

Tupperway 2

Hindsight: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly When you want to know about the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, just ask executive committee member Clayton Seufert. No, we don’t mean the old western movie—we’re talking about the numbers from the last election in comparison to the 2012 races.

Clayton did a precinct-by-precinct comparison, and which helps us know exactly where we need to work in our county for the 2014 elections.

THE GOOD Here’s where we have strength in Dorchester, and some of it’s new.

THE BAD Here’s where we slipped a little, in part due to low turnout. We won these precincts, but should have won by more.

THE UGLY It’s very disappointing to carry a precinct in 2012, only to lose it a few months later.

Precincts that Obama won but Colbert Busch lost:

Trolley

Lincoln

Precincts that Colbert Busch and Obama won, but Colbert Busch did LESS than Obama:

Patriot

N Summerville 2

THE OPPORTUNITIES Neither won these particular pre-cincts, but they’re still winnable. Obama got at least 40% of the vote, and Colbert Busch did even better (but still below 50%).

Archdale

Ashley River

Coastal 3

Greenhurst

N Summerville

Oakbrook

Precincts that both Colbert Busch and Obama won, but Colbert Busch did BETTER than Obama:

Carolina

Coastal

Windsor Precinct that Obama lost but Colbert Busch won:

Tranquil 2

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A now-resigned member of Gov. Nikki Haley’s re-election com-mittee is a white supremacist, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported on May 22. After first defending Roán García-Quintana, Haley’s campaign did formally ask him to resign on May 26. He complied that same day. In February did Haley announce his inclusion on her campaign’s steering committee. García-Quintana is a board member of the Council of Conserva-tive Citizens, which SPLC refers to as a “White Nationalist” hate group, and is executive director of the anti-immigrant “Americans Have Had Enough Coalition.”

Both organizations defend school segregation, promote racial purity, support fencing the Mexican border, and call for immedi-ate deportation of non-U.S. citizens. Haley had no intentions to remove him from her committee, her campaign director told Patch on May 24. Two days later the gov-ernor changed her mind, asking him to step away from the cam-paign.

When the news first came out, state Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison said García-Quintana “has been unapologetic

about his opposition to ‘mixing races’ and spent his career lead-ing organizations that defended Jim Crow laws and have been identified as white nationalist groups. Nikki Haley appointing an accused white supremacist to her campaign committee is appall-ing and no joke for the people of South Carolina.” His Latino name is no reflection on his beliefs or even himself, he implies. García-Quintana acknowledges he was born in Cuba, but denies any Hispanic heritage. Now a naturalized U.S. citizen, he claims his ancestors were natives of Spain who settled in Cuba, thus qualifying him to be European and white, according to SPLC. He states he volunteered with the presidential campaigns of Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, and was once an officer with the Lexington County Republican Party and a member of the state GOP’s executive committee.

In his work experience, García-Quintana lists former employ-ment with Baker & Associates, a campaign consulting firm chaired by Lee Atwater, who created the now-infamous “Southern Strategy” for the Republican Party that included use of subtle racist terms in campaign platforms.

In a 2008 bid for State Senate Dist. 7, he was soundly defeated by incumbent Sen. Robert Anderson, an African-American De-mocrat, taking less than 27 percent of the vote.

Alleged white

supremacist was on

Haley’s re-election

committee

Breakfast Meeting on Sat., June 15

Join us at our next monthly breakfast meeting! It starts at 9 a.m. on Sat. June 15 at Ryan’s (1314 N Main St. in Summerville). State Reps. Gilda Cobb-Hunter and Joe Jefferson will be our guest speakers that morning. For the breakfast buffet and coffee, it’s the usual $8 cost. Remember to pay us in the front room of the restaurant, where our meeting is held, instead of the cashier right when you walk in, though.

Highway Cleanup on Sat., June 8

It’s that time again! We’ll be cleaning up the two-mile stretch of Dorchester Road that our county party sponsors. Meet us at the corner of Dorchester and Bacons Bridge (in the CVS parking lot) for 9 a.m. on Sat., June 8! With all the construction in that area, if enough folks show up we can finish in about 90 minutes while the tem-perature is still under 80°. Of course, we’ll all gather in the nearby coffee shop/bakery right near CVS when we’re finished. No excuses—be there!

Just in case you didn’t know, DCDP has its own Facebook page. It’s a great ave-nue for us to inform everyone about party events and relevant news – and also a way for us to spread the word about our party and its candidates to many, many other folks.

That’s where we need you, though. By clicking “like” and “share” on our Facebook entries, it gets our messages out to hundreds, even thousands, of other folks.

For example, when we make a typical posting, it gets seen by about 60 people. (We have more “members” than that on our page, but that’s the average number of members who visit Face-book in the same time range as our postings, and who get to see them on their own pages without having to go to our page.) When folks click “like” on those postings, though, it increases the overall number of views to a much greater number. That means that more people get to see about our events, and get to read the news we need more people to see. And if someone clicks “share,” which allows their Facebook friends to see the same post, it shoots up to an average of over 100 views per share.

To test this, during the last election cycle we added the word “share” to some of the graphic images we made, just to encour-age people to use that option. And it worked! We had some shared by over 70 people, and which helped those images and their messages get seen by over 7,000! (See below.) During that same time period, our Facebook page picked up about another two dozen “fans,” too, which means that even more people will get to regularly see our news and learn about our events. Please help us continue this trend! If you’re not yet a “fan” of Dorchester Democrats, please visit our page (www.facebook.com/dordems) and become one by clicking “like” right below our logo. And don’t forget to “share” our news and images!

“Share” and Share Alike!

On her first morning of being the new president of the South Carolina Democratic Women's Council, Susan Smith shared her agenda with her board of direc-tors. Smith stressed the importance of working closely with the Democratic Women's Caucus. That goal was realized with the newly revived Democratic Women's Caucus and an enthusiastic Democratic Women's Council joining forces for a record-breaking attendance of our “Day In Blue” on Wed., May 15, 2013. The Democratic Women's Caucus and Democratic Women's Council issued a joint press conference where hundreds of Democratic women wearing Democratic blue were recep-tive to our message of service and activism or, as SCDWC president Susan Smith stated, “this was our clarion call to action.” Democratic women came from every corner of South Carolina to be recognized on the floor by the Speaker of the State House. In addition, there was a luncheon and advocacy work-shops. The SCDWC is proud to support our Democratic women legislators such as Rep. Patsy Knight from Dorchester County, who has a long history of dedicated public service. We are proud that she has remained true to her Democratic roots, and vow that we will stand by her to ensure that Dorchester County will be well represented for years to come.

Democratic Women’s

Council thanks Rep. Knight

on “Day In Blue”

Susan Smith (L) and Rep. Patsy Knight (R)

Save the

Date!

Please join us for our upcoming

Annual Cicenia Dinner

Saturday, September 28

Holiday Inn Express in

Summerville

State Sen. (and 2014 gubernatorial candidate) Vincent Sheheen will be our keynote speaker that evening.

Tickets will be $30.

For more information about the event, or to lend a hand, please send a message to dordems@gmail.com.

By Rob Groce

I used to wonder why the federal government created the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. I mean, the first two don’t seem to have anything to do with the third, right? Not anymore, though, thanks to Dorchester County’s own state Sen. Sean Bennett, the Repub-lican who took that seat last year. In January, Bennett intro-duced a bill that would allow anyone with a con-cealed weapon permit to carry guns into bars. To make it safe, he says, those gun-carrying pa-trons would not be al-lowed to drink, though. (Note to Sen. Bennett: you can carry your car keys into bar rooms, too, and are legally not supposed to drink if you’re driving - look how much good that does. And how is a bartender supposed to know he

shouldn’t serve a gun carrier if that customer has a CONCEALED weapon?) At a Senate hearing in February, however,

some folks said the new law should specifically allow folks to drink while carrying guns. That didn’t get accepted in the bill, thank goodness, but still – even if those gun sling-ers aren’t slinging shots, that doesn’t eliminate the danger. The alcohol consumed in those environments is a stimulant to aggression, multiple medical studies show, and is well-known to make people feel stronger and more pow-erful (“liquid courage”). A study by the Interna-tional Journal of the Ad-

dictions found that almost half of all people convicted of murder, attempted murder or assault had consumed alcohol before they committed the offense. And research for the Journal on Studies of Alcohol found that 12

percent of the customers in U.S. bars and nightclubs wind up being pushed, hit or other-wise assaulted. But there’s absolutely nothing to worry about, right Bennett? Sure! (Let me tell you of my own experience with concealed weapons in bars. About 20 years ago, I took a job in the Virgin Islands, managing a company that had a radio station, restaurant and nightclub. My first day on the job, a fight broke out in the nightclub, and nearby police came in to break it up. Before I could get all the lights on inside the building, shots were fired. When the lights finally came up, it was a po-liceman lying on the floor. Now do you know why I don’t like this stupid bill?) The bill cleared State Senate, then an even more gun-happy version passed a House sub-committee on May 22. It now goes to the House Judiciary Committee; if approved, it then opens for debate before the entire State House. If passed there, it goes back to the Sen-ate for final vote. Feel free to contact Bennett about any con-cerns you have about the bill – but make sure you meet him in a coffee shop, not a bar room.

State Sen. Bennett: One Beretta, one scotch, one beer

A “Social Justice Lobby” operated by nuns of the Catholic Church is coming to Charleston as part of a three-week tour promoting im-migration reform.

Calling it the “Nuns on the Bus” tour, the NETWORK group will meet the public at 7 p.m. on Sat., June 1 at the Circular Congrega-tion Church in Charleston (150 Meeting St.). Following their presentation and rally on immigration, attendees are invited to join the sisters for a three-block walk to the Old Slave Mart Museum (6 Chalmers St.).

The country’s current address to immigration “is broken,” the group says. “Our nation needs an immigration system that reflects our faith values and the needs of the 21st century,” NETWORK says in its press release about the tour, and calls for reform that will provide immigrants with a direct route to citizenship, as well as prevent separation of family members.

“Such a system reunites families and allows

workers the opportunity to come forward without fear to pay taxes and earn legaliza-tion.” A U.S. Senate committee recently passed a bill calling for new immigration laws and a revised path to citizenship for the approxi-mately 11 million non-citizens currently in the country illegally.

Republicans in the House, however, have squabbled on the issue, and state they will create their own bill that strongly varies from the Senate version.

South Carolina has approximately 55,000 illegal immigrants who account for about 2.1 percent of the state’s workforce, according to a 2011 study by Pew Research Center.

The three-week tour by “Nuns on the Bus” begins in New Haven, Conn. on May 28, pro-ceeds down the Atlantic Coast to Winter Park, Fl., then moves westward through the southern-most states, ending June 18 in San Francisco.

The NETWORK organization conducting this bus tour calls itself a “National Catholic Social Justice Lobby.” Formed in 1971 by 47 nuns directly involved in their communities, the organization began lobbying for laws and policies pertaining to social and economic justice.

Aside from the current issue of immigration reform, NETWORK advocates affordable housing, universal healthcare, equal wages, retirement security, fair trade, and govern-ment response to poverty and hunger.

‘Nuns on a Bus’ in Charleston on June 1

Get your “Proud to be a Democrat” static stickers! Stick it on your car window, home window, office window or any other place you want to display it. This 4 ¾” x 4 ¾” Proud to be a Democrat sticker applies to the interior plane of a glass window, so there’s no risk of weather damages (or anyone trying to peel it away). And you can easily take it off and move it to another location at any time, too! It doesn’t have any adhesive, either, so it won’t leave any sticky residue for you to clean. Get yours now for only $8 each! You can order some by email (dordems@gmail.com), or just come to our next breakfast meeting (June 15), where we’ll have what’s left of our limited supply on hand.

Congratulations to our own Jeni Atchley, a graduating 2013 NLC Fellow. Join 3rd Vice Chair Jeni and her other fellows on June 14, 2013 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mid-town Bar & Grill down-town (559 King St) for hors d'oeuvres and an open bar of wine and beer while they cele-brate the graduation of the first class of NLC Charleston. The guest speakers for the evening will be Justin Tanner, NLC Am-bassador and Mayor Pro-Tem of Charleston, William Dudley Gregorie. Tickets are $25 per person or get two tickets for $40. Purchase tickets at https://ff.secure.newleaderscouncil.org/Charleston or go to https://www.facebook.com/events/138195449706366/. Justin Tanner is a Legislative Analyst for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. Politically, Tanner is a National Finance Committee mem-

ber with the Democ-ratic National Commit-tee. He serves as a National Finance Com-mittee member of Obama for America African-American Leadership Council and as a National Co-Chair of OFA’s under-40, young profes-sional fundraising program. William Dudley Gregorie is the Mayor Pro-Tem of Charleston, and was born and reared on the peninsula. He was educated by local public schools and graduated from Burke High School. He is currently serving his fourth year on Charleston City Council. Gregorie joined the Executive Branch of Government, U.S. De-partment of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Washington D.C. as an Urban Intern in 1974. Nationally, Gregorie advanced to Office Director managing programs, and the development and implementation of national policy for $30 billion of housing and community development programs. Gregorie received numerous awards while at HUD, including the Vice President’s Hammer Award. New Leaders Council (NLC) works to train and promote the pro-gressive political entrepreneurs of tomorrow — trendsetters, elected officials and civically-engaged leaders in business and industry who will shape the future landscape. The funds raised at the event will go towards ensuring that there will be a future for NLC Charleston, and to support its 2014 class.

Join 3rd Vice Atchley at New Leaders Council graduation

Remember the surprising Democ-ratic primary races in 2010? Yeah, we thought you would. Who could forget them? So sur-prising were those results that national media had a field day with them – but still couldn’t ex-plain how they happened. And that lack of explanation in-spired Jason Grant Smith from California to search for one, which he filmed for a docu-mentary (still in final production) called “I Voted?” Smith was recently in South Carolina promot-ing the under-construction movie, and had three brief showings across the state, includ-ing Charleston on May 9. “I Voted?” covers not just South Carolina’s surprising upset races, but the overall imposi-tion of electronic voting machines, too, and will be released during the 2014 election sea-son. What was the trigger? “I couldn't understand how it was that in our 24-hour news cycle, nobody could figure out what happened,” Smith recalls from the multiple news reports circulating immediately after Alvin Greene’s shocking upset. “David Axelrod (nationally-known campaign advisor) was on ‘Meet the Press’ shortly after Greene's nomination and he couldn't explain it. Obviously, something bizarre was taking place and I wanted to try and understand it.” He landed in South Carolina with camera in hand two months before the 2010 general election searching for answers to those ques-tions we all still have. From Greeneville to Charleston and much in between, he spoke with candidates and politi-cal activists. He asked county election officials and voting machine critics. Smith questioned local media, and even got insight from na-tional media icon Dan Rather. But while South Carolina’s well-known for using questionable electronic voting machines that offer no paper trail records to confirm their results, 15 other states use them, too. As a result, Smith had to widen the focus. “I had no idea that 24 percent of the country

uses touch-screen systems that are paperless and cannot be audited or recounted,” he says. “To me, that's a big deal. And I cannot com-prehend why this isn't a bigger deal to the rest of the electorate.” Not that he’s some political expert or any-thing , but he is a voter. And just like all of the 185 million or so who are registered in the U.S., he wants his vote to be accurately re-corded, dammit. After all, the right to vote “is the right from which all other rights are derived,” Smith of-fers; “the cornerstone of our democracy. “Most people engage in faith-based voting, meaning that they have ‘faith’ our system works. I'm simply asking upon what specifi-cally are we basing this faith? “I think when you open the hood on the en-gine of our democracy, the answers are very disturbing.” It’s not some conspiracy flick, though. “This really isn't an exposé or the hunt for a smok-ing gun.” “I Voted?” definitely adds a lot of fun to the facts it reports, too, which Smith says is a necessary part of the picture. “I’m trying to make a film that’s ‘info-taining,’” Smith promises, and which can cer-tainly be seen in its preliminary trailer. “If I bore people, it doesn’t matter how important my material is because I will have lost my audience. Consequently, humor is a major part of my mission.” “I Voted?” doesn’t want to just report on the problems these so-called voting machines impose, however. Smith hopes his documen-tary could offer insight on how to correct them, too.

“We could change elections dramatically with a federal mandate for evidence-based elec-tions,” he offers as one example of lessons he learned in the film’s progress to date, “meaning elections that can be completely reconstructed utilizing a voter-marked, dura-ble record of intent and risk-limiting audits.

“I also want to offer cost-effective remedies that will put us on the path toward more elec-tion integrity,” he says.

Offering cost-effectiveness in its own produc-tion is where “I Voted?” could still use some help, though. “So far, the project has been self-financed,” Smith says, “and I am in the initial fundraising stages.”

He’s expecting over $200,000 in expenses, and requests donations to help him make sure the film is released in time for the 2014 elec-tion season. (On the right side of the site’s header, see “click here to make a tax deducti-ble donation for the film’s completion.”)

And, yes – your online-submitted dona-tions will be tax-deductible, as they’ll be ac-cepted and processed by From the Heart Pro-ductions, a charitable 501(c)3 organization dedicated to aiding films that are “unique and make a contribution to society.”

And just like our electronic voting systems could use some heavenly aid, “I Voted?” could also use an angel or three. “Anyone interested in investing in the film is welcome to contact me directly,” Smith says (you can reach him by email: jason@ivotedmovie.com).

When production is completed, “I Voted?” will certainly come to South Carolina, and groups and individuals could even host their own screenings, he says.

Smith’s no newbie to movies – he’s appeared in films and TV shows for about 20 years, in fact – but this is his first documentary. And he’s had to fly solo through much of the pro-ject’s flight. “I’ve been a one-man band.”

Using only the trailer currently available as a test, though, it seems Smith’s passed this crash-course with flying colors.

Until its 2014 release, stay updated by visiting the movie’s website, Facebook page and Twitter account, and even sign-up for updates about the film. (And please DO-NATE if you can to help this VERY IMPORTANT documentary get completed.)

‘I Voted?’ promotion hit South Carolina in May An under-production documentary was inspired by our state’s 2010 primaries

Calendar of Events

June

June 1 Nuns on a Bus!

7 p.m. at the Circular Congregation Church 150 Meeting St. in Charleston

A ‘bus tour’ by Catholic nuns with the NETWORK organization are coming to promote immigration reform.

June 8 Highway Cleanup

9 a.m.—meet us in the CVS parking lot at the corner of Dorchester and Bacon’s Bridge Roads.

We can finish in 90 minutes, and then have coffee and more at the nearby deli.

June 10 Executive Committee Meeting

7 p.m. at the County Code Building 500 N Main St

(Directly behind the County Council Building when you enter the parking lot from N Cedar)

June 14 New Leaders Council Graduation Party

6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Midtown Bar & Grill (559 King St. in Charleston)

$25 ($40 for 2) Join DCDP’s 3rd Vice Chair Jeni Atchley as she celebrates her NLC graduation. Hors d’oeuvres

and open bar. Get tickets from: https://ff.secure.newleaderscouncil.org/Charleston

June 15 Monthly Breakfast Meeting

9 a.m. at Ryan’s 1314 N Main St in Summerville

$8 for breakfast buffet/coffee (pay in the private room in the front of the restaurant)

Guest speakers are Reps. Gilda Cobb-Hunter and Joe Jefferson.

July

July 4 Happy Independence Day!

July 8 Executive Committee Meeting

7 p.m. at the County Code Building 500 N Main St

(Directly behind the County Council Building when you enter the parking lot from N Cedar)

July 20 Monthly Breakfast Meeting

9 a.m. at Ryan’s 1314 N Main St in Summerville

$8 for breakfast buffet/coffee (pay in the private room in the front of the restaurant)

Blue Note is licensed under the Creative Com-mons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Deriva-tive Works 3.0 United States License.

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“As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see Amer-ica among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.”

-Pres. George Washington, letter to the Roman Catholic Church, 1790