If the Man Won’t Come to Uncounted, Then Uncounted (and Bob Edwards!) Will Take it to the Man
The outrage of systematic voter disenfranchisement looms large over the 2008 presidential election. It is in this highly charged atmosphere that David Earnhardt’s UNCOUNTED: The New Math of American Elections screens at the American Film Institute’s prestigious AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Tuesday, September 9, at 7:00 PM.
Veteran broadcast journalist Bob Edwards of XMPR Satellite Radio’s “The Bob Edwards Show,” will host a post-film panel discussion.
With the urgent need to move America toward absolute election integrity, the discussion panel will be made up of leaders in national efforts to preserve democracy and ensure that the voice of every voter is heard at the polls. The panel members include:
- Mimi Kennedy – Board Chair, Progressive Democrats of America; actress
- Rev. DeForest Soaries - former Chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (2004-2005)
- Matthew Segal – Founder & Executive Director S.A.V.E. (Student Association for Voter Empowerment)
- Rebecca Wilson - Co-Director; Save Our Vote Maryland
- Robert Fitrakis, Ph.D. – Author & Journalist, “What Happened in Ohio?“
- David Earnhardt – UNCOUNTED Director/Writer/Producer
“The predicted record voter turnout for November illustrates an engaged electorate - which is fantastic,” said Earnhardt, “But our country has a long history of manufactured election irregularities and it’s important we all remain vigilant about making sure that every vote that is cast, is counted. Now is the time for the American people to closely examine the accuracy and effectiveness of our election system and I hope that watching UNCOUNTED and listening to the post-film discussion will encourage people to take immediate action.”
For the last seven months, Earnhardt has been on a national tour with UNCOUNTED, partnering with local election integrity groups and using the film as a tool to shed some much-needed light onto electoral affronts. Among the offenses are Jim Crow-like voter suppression, voter intimidation, undervoting, provisional balloting, electronic voting, and the privatization of the election process.
Beyond serving as a searing indictment of our country’s election system as well as a wake-up call for voters, election officials, and lawmakers, UNCOUNTED shares the uplifting stories of whistle-blowers determined to do the right thing. One of them is Florida computer programmer Clint Curtis, who was directed by his boss to create software that will “flip” votes from one candidate to another. County Clerk Bruce Funk in Utah is another electoral hero who was locked out of his office for raising questions about security flaws in electronic voting machines. In California, Steve Heller was convicted of a felony after he leaked secret documents that detailed illegal activities perpetrated by a major voting machine company. Through the compelling stories of these modern day patriots, Americans who see UNCOUNTED will be deeply moved when seeing what is best about our country.
The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center is a state-of-the-art moving image exhibition, education and cultural center located at 8633 Colesville Road in Silver Spring.
Ticket price for the 7:00 P.M. screening on September 9 is $10.00.