Casino-Free Philly: Ambition Meets Strategy

PHILADELPHIA'S BALLOT BOX

They expected us to give up when they threatened our vote. Instead, we will implement the most ambitious voting campaign in recent Philadelphia history.

If the referendum is taken off the ballot, we will hold our own election. We will set up tables at polling locations on May 15th so that people can vote on ballot question #1.

We call it: Philadelphia's ballot box. AMBITIOUS, SERIOUS, AND WITH PRECEDENT The last major "alternative election" set up in the United States was the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Like them, we view this as a serious effort to give us a voice when the government locked us out. We have already contacted the Carter Center and several international election monitoring organizations.

To be successful we need thousands of volunteers to take our Pledge for Democracy, committing to work on May 15th as volunteers. There are 1,681 polling places in Philadelphia. We would like two volunteers at each site -- so we need over 3,300 volunteers.

This is a massive operation and we need you to make this work. To sign the Pledge for Democracy click here or if that link doesn't work, just go to our website www.casinofreephila.org and click on "Take the Pledge".

After you sign the Pledge get your friends to sign. PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO OTHERS.

Third, if you know organizations or groups who can join, let us know. To do that, e-mail: jethro@casinofreephila.org.

The press are already intrigued, check out:

Daily News: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20070417_Casino_foes__Were_not_don... KYW News: http://kyw1060.com/pages/360262.php?contentType=4&contentId=416819 A strong editorial from the Philadelphia Inquirer: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070417_Editorial___Slots_Ruling... Plus, we got front page coverage in the Legal Intelligencer (Apr 17) for turning our backs on the Supreme Court on Monday. With ambition, vision, and passion, we can pull this off. This will make vivid the statement that democracy comes from the people. And it is smart strategy, growing our power to become a statewide force to reckon with.

And may I mention, to do this, we'll need money. Every dollar will help us print ballots to set up Philadelphia's ballot box across the city. Please donate online, it's quick and easy from our website:

www.CasinoFreePhila.org

Warmly,

- Daniel Hunter

ps: The Inquirer reported me saying that we may have to escalate to civil disobedience. I hope the politicians and investors will see the wisdom of changing sites before that, but protecting our right to vote and our right to quality neighborhoods is worth defending: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070415_Activists_to_continue_anti...

pps: To unsubscribe, please e-mail unsubscribe@casinofreephila.org.

Casino-Free Philadelphia | PO Box 63724, Philadelphia, PA 19147 | www.CasinoFreePhila.org

ABOUT CASINO-FREE PHILADELPHIA: WE ARE MERELY ASKING FOR A MINIMUM STANDARD

Our request all along has been very simple: give the voters a say on how casinos are built in Philadelphia. Like any development, casinos need a standard. And in a democracy, people have a right to give input on standards.

Since slot parlors increase crime, addiction, and other social problems, we believe they need a buffer between them and our neighborhoods. The current proposed slots parlors are as close as 100 feet from people's homes. No social standards are in place.

We therefore came up with a minimum standard to keep casinos 1,500 feet away from schools, places of worship, and homes.

It took 27,000 signatures and unanimous support from City Council to put that referendum on the ballot. Last Friday, the Supreme Court dared to take away our right to vote. Without any rationale, they put a preliminary injunction to remove the referendum from the May 15th ballot.

The City has sued to keep the ballot question alive.

But if the Supreme Court does take away our right to vote on this question, we are prepared to reinstate Philadelphia's right to vote.