CONTACT:
David Enrich (Director)
(909) 607-7209
david@votewithamerica.com

GOP ELECTORS FEEL THE HEAT AFTER GORE CONCESSION

Thousands Pressure Electors to Vote with America

Claremont, Calif. - Al Gore's campaign may be over, but the election will not end until the presidential electors vote on December 18th. Because "faithless" electors are the only remaining hope of preventing the Electoral College from overturning the popular vote, Citizens for True Democracy (CTD) today intensified its grassroots campaign to persuade at least three electors to vote for Gore.

VoteWithAmerica.com, the centerpiece of the CTD campaign, lists contact information for 172 Republican electors and provides tools that allow visitors to easily e-mail, call, and write to the electors. The campaign targets presidential electors that can legally switch their votes. In particular, the site encourages visitors to contact four electors whose public statements indicate that they may be considering voting for Al Gore.

"Conscientious electors are America's only chance to stop an unfair and anti-democratic institution from overruling the will of the American people," said Citizens for True Democracy director David Enrich. "The VoteWithAmerica.com campaign has picked up steam while Gore's legal efforts have gone up in smoke."

Republican electors have reported receiving thousands of e-mails and dozens of calls each day from VoteWithAmerica.com users. With the click of a mouse, voters have been sending e-mail to 54 Republican electors simultaneously, asking them to switch their votes. The Web site also encourages site visitors to place free long-distance phone calls to targeted electors. Many concerned citizens are calling up to 130 electors using VoteWithAmerica.com.

In addition, many visitors are downloading VoteWithAmerica.com's printable address labels and mass mailings. Hundreds of Americans are expected to send letters to every Republican elector, warning them about the serious legitimacy crisis that American government will face if the Electoral College subverts the popular vote.

"Most Americans believe that the popular vote, not the electoral vote, should determine the presidency," said Enrich. "VoteWithAmerica.com empowers concerned citizens to make their voices heard."

Gore won the popular election by more than 500,000 votes, but Bush is poised to win the Electoral College vote 271-267. If three electors switch, Gore wins. Two defections would send the election to the House of Representatives. Though Gore has distanced himself from CTD's efforts, his campaign acknowledges that he will accept victory if electors defect.

Prior to Election Day, CTD had prepared to post contact information for Democratic electors if Bush won the popular vote and Gore won the electoral vote. According to newspaper reports, Bush's campaign, too, intended to "fight" an Electoral College defeat by "pressuring" Democratic electors and launching a media campaign.

"We are not Democrats and we did not vote for Al Gore," Enrich said. "VoteWithAmerica.com is based on the simple principle that the candidate that wins the most votes nationally should be the next president. The electors should put patriotism above partisanship."

Citizens for True Democracy was founded as a student project in 1998 to increase political participation via electoral reform. It is a non-partisan public interest organization based in Claremont, California. For more information, contact David Enrich at (909) 607-7209 or david@votewithamerica.com.