H.R. 10: 'Extraordinary rendition'

[lederhosen]

Remember Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen who was nabbed while in transit through the US and shipped to Syria to be tortured for information he probably didn't have? (Apparently this process of outsourcing torture is called 'extraordinary rendition'.) Well, if H.R. 10 gets through in its current form - in particular, sections 3032 & 3033 - we're likely to see a lot more of that.

Under section 3032, if the US wants to deport another Maher Arar to Syria, "the burden of proof is on the applicant... to establish by clear and convincing evidence that he or she would be tortured if removed to the proposed country of removal."

Under section 3033, if "in the opinion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, removing the alien to [their home country or country of birth] would be prejudicial to the United States", said alien may be deported to *any* country whose government is willing to take them. The bill also does its best to deny judicial review.

Good commentary on this in Obsidian Wings; more discussion at Making Light.

In mildly-related news, will be at the booths on Saturday handing out how-to-vote cards for a certain political party. This is very nearly my least preferred way of spending a Saturday, or any other day; while I'm happy to rant about politics all day on my blog, evangelising to strangers in person - for a party that I'm well aware has its flaws - is Not My Thing. In the spirit of compromise, I asked for a half-day rather than the full day they offered, because I get peopled out fast. And it seems like it would be wrong to campaign for a left-wing environmentally-oriented party while entertaining visions of global thermonuclear annihilation. That I'm doing this at all says something about how pissed off I've been for the last three-plus years.

Speaking of this: anybody with experience in how-to-vote boothworking want to tell me what to expect?

Comments

[djfiggy.livejournal.com]

Iran still hasn't provided conclusive and satisfactory answers about the Kazemi case, never mind. Though maybe it's because they're afraid what they know to be true would chill our relations even cooler than they are already.

On how-to-vote boothing

[frou-frou.livejournal.com]

Basically, you're standing around, chatting and trying not to get bored/riled by nasty voters/cold/hot.

My advice? Take clothing suited to the worst possible expected whether: hats are good too. Sunblock in case you need to stand in the sun, umbrellas if it might rain. Last election I rang drzero to bring me gloves as it was unexpectedly cold.

Bring something to sit on if you're going to be there for a while. Food and drink - especially if you're there as the sole party rep you won't be able to run off to get things. Be nice to the other how-to-voters regardless of their party: you're all in this together. I find it's the only time I like Liberal supporters.

Make sure you have plenty of how-to-votes. If it looks like you might run out, it's okay to ask voters to return them (if you're supporting the Greens or the Dems they'll actually expect the recycling).

Have fun! Do the whole day if you can - when you go home, it's likely they'll be unrepresented and for the small parties having a person on the booth can make a lot of difference. The voters come erratically: in waves. I generally go horrendously smiley and nice and it helps make it all go fast.

Re: On how-to-vote boothing

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

I'll see how it goes. I'm not a terribly gregarious person, and I suspect I'll be very tired and stressed by lunchtime, but if they don't have a replacement I'll think about it.

Maybe I'll take Dog-Or the Wonder Spaniel, at least for a bit. He's much better with people than me :-)

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

Manning the poll booth really depends on where it is. It affects the mix of people you get, what times they turn up, whether they bring the kiddies, whether they bring someone to watch said kiddies...

Expect to be overwhelmed when any large event nearby finishes (last election, there was a polling booth 100m from the street that the Christmas Pageant went down that day. There was a line of parents all the way to the street as soon as the Pageant finished. Fortunately there was also play equipment as the polling place was a primary school, or I think there would have been many more whining as opposed to well-behaved children).

Take the same kind of things that you would take to an all-day picnic. No food that you can't put down in a hurry and still have clean fingers, straws for the drinks, sunglasses & hat, etc. About twice as much water as you think you'll need. Bandaids and painkillers. They may have a first-aid kit in the polling booth, but I wouldn't count on it. A book to read when there is literally no-one there and you need to veg for a little while, title depending on what electorate you're in.

Take Dog-or - he's well enough behaved that when you say "Sit and stay here away from the little kiddies whose parents are scared of dogs" he'll do it - but make sure that there's some place you can leave him and be OK with taking your eyes off of him for half an hour as you talk to voter after voter. When I was little, we took my fox terrier when Mum went to vote, but she was never well-behaved enough to take for the day when Mum was manning the booth. She loved saying hello to the other small people, though.