Nevada Vote Direct

Nevada Vote Direct is a citizen initiative to eliminate political corruption and waste, and to make government more responsive to the people. Nevada Vote Direct cuts off political corruption at the source. No lobbyists will even attempt to buy our Representative’s vote in Congress when they learn that his vote is controlled by the majority of voters in our district.

Nevada Vote Direct is a membership organization open to every registered voter in Nevada’s Second Congressional District. It’s purpose is to provide a way for voters to exercise CONTROL over how their Representative in Congress votes on legislation. We are NOT just another opinion poll. Here, we vote, not just on generalities and hot-button issues, but on specific bills before the Congress. Our polls are not held on one day once every two years, but continuously every day all day, so that our Representative will never be in doubt about the will of his constituents. Citizens are free to vote only on the issues that particularly concern them.

Until now, representatives have voted according to their own judgment, or more often according to the wishes of their big-money campaign contributors. This is unacceptable. We have been declining as a nation because we have relied exclusively on career politicians and lobbyists to make our public decisions for us. Most of the disastrous decisions made by Congress have been made against the will of the majority, and for the primary benefit of a tiny minority of elite special interests.

In America, the people are sovereign, and government officials must represent the will of the people. We, the citizens in Nevada’s Second Congressional District may now vote on specific legislation that is pending in Congress. We may also vote on more general rules focused on broad issues, such as immigration and national security. And Daniel Rosen, our candidate for Congress in 2006, has pledged to be controlled by our decisions when he casts his votes in Congress.

Nevada Vote Direct marks a milestone in the history of both technology and politics. Our voting system is the first application of digital technology designed to put people fully in control of their government. When we demonstrate that this new use of technology is not only possible, but viable in practice, then other places will follow the lead of Nevada, and people everywhere will assert their control over their representatives. Then, the moneyed grease and stench of political corruption will become once and for all a thing of the past. Politicians will become true servants of the people, instead of corrupt lords over them. Our technology invites us to do this, and our ancient traditions demand it, for our form of government has always been based on the idea that the government represents the sovereign will of the people. It is of, by and for the people.

Nevada Vote Direct uses Decision Management System software to provide every registered voter in Nevada’s Second District with a system for voting on specific legislation pending in Congress, and on more general questions and issues. Members may vote whenever they wish, and whenever they are concerned with a particular bill, issue or question. All members are equal, and equally in control of Nevada Vote Direct, which operates on the basis of the very traditional and time-tested Robert’s Rules of Order Revised for the Internet. All members may participate if they wish in the discussion and debate at Nevada Vote Direct, and all members may submit Motions for action. For example, any member may submit a Motion directing our Representative in Congress to write and present new legislation in Congress for a particular purpose. If that Motion is seconded, and approved by a majority of voters in the Second District, then it shall be done.

Click here for more information on how the voting system works.

Nevada Vote Direct provides a secure voting system on the Internet, AND BY SECURE TELEPHONE CONNECTION to the representative’s office in Washington. Secure telephone voting systems have been tested successfully in several states and countries. Like our Internet voting system, our telephone voting system will be secure and very easy to use. [In this area, we have the assistance of a prominent expert in the field of telephone voting, Dr. Vincent Campbell, who has done substantial work on such systems in San Jose, CA and in Reston, VA. Telephone voting has been demonstrated as a practical and viable means for citizens to vote from their homes. For example, the State of New Mexico, in collaboration with Sandia Labs, created a telephone voting system that was tested successfully in that state.]

Moreover, when Mr. Rosen is elected, he will use the resources of his office to provide computers in suitable community locations so that people without computers may participate more fully in the deliberations of the members at Nevada Vote Direct (giving them the ability to propose more general Motions, and to participate in discussion and debate).

Citizens may also use computers in our libraries and schools.

Nevada Vote Direct provides secure and transparent voting software to officially registered voters in Nevada’s Second Congressional District. The system does not permit unregistered people to vote, and login to the system is controlled by unique voter identification. The system permits only one vote per person on any given question, but since most questions will be open to a vote over a period of months or indefinitely, a citizen may even change a vote, if there are new developments or there’s been a change of mind.

At Nevada Vote Direct there are NO hidden codes, NO secret software. We are committed to transparency in all of our procedures and systems. Our system is NOT like the systems used by government in our periodic elections. Those systems, owned by Diebold and other large corporations, use proprietary computer software that is not open to public inspection. OUR voting system, by contrast, is available to anybody at anytime for examination and independent verification. The system is confidential, but transparent in the sense that every citizen may verify that his or her vote has been registered properly in the system.

We do not pretend to have foolproof software. There is no such thing. Yet, advantages weighed against disadvantages, society has decided to live with something less than foolproof in this area. And, if people are willing to trust their money to computers, as they do with banking and credit, it’s only because software can be made that is almost foolproof. For this reason, today, the most sensitive information is transmitted, stored, and used on the Internet by governments, banks and businesses. At Nevada Vote Direct, we will always strive to employ the state-of-the-art when it comes to security. To achieve that end, and to ensure confidence, our software code is open to inspection at any time, by anybody.

But there is another reason why the question of security at Nevada Vote Direct only appears to be so significant. At Nevada Vote Direct, voting is open all day, everyday, and individual legislative questions will most often be polled over a period of weeks and months. Indeed, in some questions, where, not specific legislation, but instead more general governing rules are involved that pertain to specific issues like immigration or the budget, the polls will be open indefinitely. At any time during the life of the poll, voters can always access and verify their vote by unique password identification on the Internet.

If the vote was not registered properly, or even if the voter wants to change a vote, the system takes care of it. If the system is hacked at any given time, the vote tallies will be restored to the day before the hack. All members will be alerted to the event, and people who voted in the interim will be informed that they should check or change their vote. Moreover, we will learn from the hack, and prevent its recurrence.

In those instances when last-minute amendments or emergency legislation do not afford sufficient time for constant verification and correction as described above, my votes in Congress will anyway most often be determined by those previously adopted general governing rules - as described above, these are precisely those rules that depend on open-ended voting. Thus, even if one could hack the voting software, per se, it is only one part of the Decision Management System implemented at Nevada Vote Direct. It would invalidate at most one day’s results in a system that gathers results over much longer spans of time. The system is completely confidential, but also completely transparent in terms of each individual voter’s constant ability to verify his own vote, and to be appraised of the total vote, at any time.

It should be noted that the security issue has only been studied up to now with regard to its application to traditional public voting arrangements. In other words, the question has been how to provide security in our general elections, where one particular day is set aside and people gather at specific polling places to register their votes. Nevada Vote Direct is an entirely different system, almost completely without the real-time limitations that are imposed in traditional public voting situations.

Therefore, the security issue is substantially altered, and it is very significantly diminished in importance, being more easily and more successfully addressed.

By the way, Nevada Vote Direct is owned and controlled by its members. And, membership is open without charge or obligation to all officially registered voters in the 2nd Congressional District. The members select the Administrator through the elected Board of Directors. The system is administered according to Robert’s Rules of Order, revised for the Internet.

The system is owned and controlled exclusively by all of the members of Nevada Vote Direct. It is administered by a Board of Directors, which is periodically elected by the members.

Citizens should only vote on those bills that concern them. We believe that the people who are concerned with an issue, those who are directly affected by it, should be the ones who decide.

But it often happens that congressional actions are taken at the last minute, as when “earmarks” are added to appropriation bills in order to provide pork-barrel funding for individual legislators. Sometimes, very complex procedural amendments are included at the last minute for various purposes. How can busy citizens be expected to study and understand these complexities? Mr. Rosen has answered this question in the following way:

“I will work closely with constituents to formulate more general rules that will control my votes in Congress. For example, to address an issue much in the news recently, my constituents may conceivably pass a Motion that directs me to vote NO on any appropriation bill that, at the last minute, is saddled with a host of so-called ‘earmarks’ for pork-barrel funding of individual projects that are not specified in the main bill. Thus, unless more voters approve the specific legislation than approved the previous general rule, I would vote NO because this more general Motion would override the vote on specific legislation. In all cases, the greater majority will prevail. (This example is only for the sake of illustration. In practice, such Motions would have to be much more carefully framed, and a substantial part of my duty as Representative would be to help my constituents to frame such Motions.)

“I will also keep my constituents fully informed with constant reporting on all of my actions in Congress. I will provide people with summaries of pending decisions, explaining which rules and votes will determine my votes. In most cases, their will be ample time for people to vote to change that decision if they so wish.

“Nevada Vote Direct is a comprehensive system of citizen control over their representative. Thus, I have revised Robert’s Rules of Order for the Internet so that citizens may propose and vote on an unlimited range of Motions that will directly control my actions in Congress. In this way, the will of my constituents will be expressed in even more broadly conceived Motions that express their will on the pressing issues of our time. For example, a Motion might be framed to express their determination to reduce the deficit, directing me to work toward that end at all times. (For more information on how this will work in practice, please click here.)

No. The rules of procedure at Nevada Vote Direct prevent hijacking. Here’s how:

At Nevada Vote Direct, we will work with citizens to define in broad terms how they expect our representative to vote in Congress. We will formulate rules that establish basic guidelines. For example, citizens may wish to establish a general rule that no congressional bill may exceed a specific limit on spending. If then, a particular bill is pending in Congress that exceeds that spending limit, its approval will require a greater majority than the majority that approved the earlier general rule . Only then will our representative vote to approve that specific bill in Congress.

But if only 30,000 people in this district vote on a particular bill, and there is no over-riding earlier vote that disqualifies that decision, this still means that just 30,000 people will control the vote in Congress. This is true, but people should also ask themselves this: shouldn’t the vote of that 30,000 have more weight than the vote of two or three big-money lobbyists who, in our present system, actually decide how the representative votes in Congress? Which would you prefer: two or three special-interest lobbyists deciding in Washington, or 30,000 citizens in our own district?

It is important to add that our By-Laws and our revision of Robert’s Rules of Order for the Internet are specific about which questions require a quorum. For example, any amendment or revision of the By-Laws requires a two-thirds majority of all the members. Other questions require a simple majority of all the members. However, on questions relating to issues of public policy, such as immigration or national security, no quorum will be required. When elected, Mr. Rosen will respect the majority of just the members who actually vote on that particular issue. Some people may quarrel with this approach, but it seemed to us that the people who are concerned enough to vote should be the ones who decide.

It should also be emphasized that we are ruled by conventional democratic rules of procedure, and Nevada Vote Direct is owned and controlled by the members - present and future members. If at any time the citizens in our district decide that the prevailing rule in this respect is unsatisfactory, they will be free to join Nevada Vote Direct (membership is free and without obligation), and then to propose a Motion to change the rule - say, to require more substantial quorums on questions relating to issues of public policy. If such a Motion is seconded by another member, it will immediately come up for a vote, and approval of the Motion by a two-thirds majority of all the members will result in the desired change in the rule.

In short, Nevada Vote Direct is not a system set in stone.

Moreover, voting at Nevada Vote Direct on general questions of public policy is open-ended. We are not constrained, as in our nation’s electoral system, by votes that must be restricted to specific hours on a specific day, once every two years. The polls that determine general rules on public policy, such as immigration or national security, will never close. People who do not like the rules will be free to mobilize people to change the rules. People will also be free to change their own previous votes, if they learn more about the issues, if circumstances change, or if they simply change their mind.

Our candidate, Mr. Daniel Rosen, answers this question as follows: “As I know very well, having studied American History in depth, this is a complicated question, although many people pretend that it is a simple question. They get tangled up in the words, as if you could enjoy dinner by eating just the printed menu.

“The important thing to keep in mind is that the founders of our republic clearly and obviously did what they did in order to make government radically responsive and accountable to the people.

“I like to think of Abraham Lincoln as a later founder, since he led the nation in the Civil War, which gave new life to our republic. He said, ‘What I want is to get done what the People would have me do. The problem for me is how to find out what that is exactly.’

“Well, you see, finding out is no longer a problem, and that is what Nevada Vote Direct demonstrates. Think of it this way: some forms of new technology, unforeseen by the founders, have caused our government to be less responsive to the people. So why should we hesitate to use other forms of new technology to right the balance, and make our government more responsive to the people. I believe the founders of our republic, the writers of our constitution, would have been the first to use technology as we are using it at Nevada Vote Direct.

“We’re not trying to rewrite the Constitution. But, should we prohibit our representatives in government from using the telephone simply because George Washington had never heard of it. Soon, any representative who does not use a voting system like ours at Nevada Vote Direct will appear as backward as if he refused to use the telephone.”

Nevada Vote Direct does NOT dismantle the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

But this question demands another answer as well. The people of Nevada’s Second Congressional District are not barbarians. Like citizens throughout our nation, we are for the most part intelligent and upstanding people. We would consider it neither right nor sensible to behead left-handed people, nor people of any particular ethnic group, or racial group. We understand basic human rights as well as any current member of the Congress.

Of course, some people are more expert in the detailed workings and history of any given issue than most other people. It is their duty to educate the rest of us as best they can. We expect our Representative in Congress to facilitate this process, and he will make sure that citizens understand exactly what provisions there may be in any pending bill, and their expected effect. But when it comes to making the decision, we are adults, thank you, and we can make it for ourselves.

The response to Nevada Vote Direct has been overwhelmingly positive. We spoke with hundreds of citizens during our petition drive to put Mr. Rosen’s name on the ballot. Time and again, we heard people say, “Well, that’s just the way it should be.” Or, “I’ve had that idea myself.” People instantly understand what we are doing, and they love it. This is an idea whose time has come.

During our petition drive to get Mr. Rosen’s name on the ballot, we talked with hundreds of people. Eight out of ten of these people were extremely enthusiastic about Nevada Vote Direct. Most of these promised to vote for our candidate in November. They expressed their exasperation with the status quo. People in our district are interested in any idea that promises to rekindle the spirit of the American Dream. Nevada Vote Direct is such an idea.

The campaign is controlled by the members at Nevada Vote Direct. You can get involved by clicking here.

We are conducting a grass roots campaign using primarily the Internet and direct mail to make voters aware of Nevada Vote Direct.

The other candidates from the two major parties, Democrats and Republicans, have raised well over a million dollars already for this campaign season, as if we were up for sale at auction to the highest bidder. With this money they will use every ploy in expensive TV and radio advertisements to get our support.

But, in our campaign at Nevada Vote Direct, we don’t want to hector and propagandize our fellow citizens. We wouldn’t do it even if we had the money to do it. We’re tired of all that. Instead of a traditional campaign, we want to do only what is necessary to make every registered voter in our district aware that Nevada Vote Direct is offering for their consideration a historic new option in our political life. We believe that the best way to do this is by direct mail. We will be sending out two or three simple brochures over the course of the campaign. These will explain who we are and how our voting system works.

Then, let the people decide.

Daniel Rosen, BA MFA

Daniel Rosen has been a resident at Lake Tahoe for 30 years. Harrahs brought him here from Las Vegas to play with Brian Farnon’s Orchestra. Soon after, Mr. Rosen formed his own concert duo, performing at Caesars and Harrahs, in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and too many other places to list here (please click here for Daniel’s professional resume). Mr. Rosen has performed with many of the great jazz and popular musicians of our time. In recent years, he has focused on composing original orchestral and electronic music. He is an award-winning film composer, author of several books, a teacher, photographer, inventor (with two US Patents), a computer programmer, and “amateur” (as he says) philosopher.

But Daniel is reluctant to draw attention to his personal accomplishments. Even more, he hopes to avoid any interest in his personal political viewpoints.

“You’re welcome to know what I think about the issues,” he says, “but this question completely misses the point of my campaign. What does it matter if I think this or that, when I am committed to honor and be controlled by what YOU think when I cast my official vote? You could think of me as a kind of office clerk or mailman, simply transmitting the decisions of my constituency through my own votes in Congress. Why should you care what I think so long as I deliver the mail?

“For it would be your judgment that I would be bound to express in my congressional vote, not my own.

“I will say this eagerly: I believe in democracy, not as an established reality, but as an ideal we are privileged to approach over the course of ages. It is a work never done. Democracy isn’t so much a thing as a desire. Above all, it is an expression of our instinctive sense of being free by nature. Whenever our freedom is wrongly constrained or revoked, either by explicit design or by organic changes in society, we need to push back and renew our determination to be free. And sometimes we have to revise the means, or invent new ones, in order to secure our freedom on a stable basis. This is such a time.”

In this way Mr. Rosen would like to diminish his role in Nevada Vote Direct. But, in fact, Nevada Vote Direct would not exist were it not for his creative vision and practical guidance. He is the inventor and designer of the Decision Management System (Vox Populi) that executes the practical functions of our online pages.

Mr. Rosen received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970 from Brandeis University. In 1974, he received the Master of Fine Arts in Music Composition, also at Brandeis University.

Daniel Rosen is not a member of any political party. He is running as an Independent candidate. He has NO party or any other form of political affiliation.

As an Independent candidate, he should NOT be confused with the candidate for the Independent American Party who will also be appearing on November’s ballot.

Mr. Rosen must be absolutely impartial in his capacity as the Representative of the registered voters in the district. He will inform constituents about the issues, making sure that legislation by conservatives is given as much fair representation as liberal legislation. When he expresses his position on the issue of the day, he will vote at Nevada Vote Direct, and his vote will be equal in weight to that of any other voter at Nevada Vote Direct. Then, he will vote in Congress EXACTLY as directed by the majority of voters in the district. Therefore, he has NO public position on any of the issues.

The sad thing is that many other politicians only pretend to have positions on the issues. But in reality they stand wherever their big-moneyed supporters tell them to stand. Mr. Rosen has no public positions on the issues because they are completely irrelevant to how he will vote in Congress. As he says, “I will deliver the vote of the people like a mailman.”

Membership is FREE. There are no obligations or duties. Voting is a right, not a requirement. Vote only on the congressional bills that you care about.

Membership is FREE.

Simply click on the “New Member Registration” link on the sidebar to the right (or click HERE). When you register, we will check your official voter registration in Nevada to verify that you are an eligible voter. If you are, you’re in.

There are no obligations. Voting in Nevada Vote Direct is a right, not a requirement. Vote only on the congressional bills that you care about.

All members may vote on pending legislation in Congress, and may submit and vote on more general Motions. Through Motions, citizens may propose and adopt measures that control my actions in Washington above and beyond my votes on specific legislation. For example, citizens may decide to have me reject ANY bill to which so-called “earmarks” for pork-barrel funding are added at the last minute. Or, a Motion may be adopted directing me to write and introduce legislation for a specific purpose.

Restricted Members under legal voting age may not vote on Legislative Motions, but they may vote on Nevada Vote Direct Organizational Motions. All members may participate in Nevada Vote Direct online discussions, subject to traditional standards of decorum (all discussions are moderated).

The By-Laws of Nevada Vote Direct are based on Robert’s Rules of Order, the long-established standard for democractic organizational procedure in America. Specifically, we have adopted Robert’s Rules of Order, Version 2.0 for the Internet. Click here to read Nevada Vote Direct By-Laws.,