Acknowledgments

     Plebiscite2004 was part of an extraordinary world-wide network of self-generated and self-organized voting projects related to the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Each of these projects was itself a network of volunteers. Plebiscite2004 itself came together with the aid of dozens of volunteers and hundreds of voters, each of whom deserve thanks.

The Voters

     A special appreciation goes out to each of the individuals who cast a vote in Plebiscite 2004 and to each of the questionnaire respondents. They made an idea become a reality.

Poll Volunteers

     Thanks also to the polling station volunteers at each of the seven different sites. At theUnisphere in Queens, thanks to Deidre Hoguet, Helen Gyger, Lorena Rivera, Hope Ginsberg, Michael Cataldi, Amanda Matles, Jason Crump, Kenji Szczepanski, Pilar Rau and Meg Walsh. An extra hats-off to Lorena and Pilar for being the official Spanish translators for the station. Thanks to Deidre Hoguet and Christopher Quirk for their help at the Freedom of Expression National Monument in Manhattan. On election day in London, the various stations were run with the help of Susan Kelly, Zuky Serper, Alana Jelinek and Yael Cohen. Susan and Zuky were particularly helpful with helping negotiate the mobile polling station through the London tube. Thanks! And of course, the day was made particularly memorable by the support given at Parliament Square by the indefatigable Brian Haw, who has been camped in front of Parliament for three years and who defended us from the onslaughts of various officials and partisan spectators.

The Vote Count

     The vote count on the Moral Plinth at Beaconsfield in London was a great success due to the help of the entire Beaconsfield staff, most notably David Crawforth, Julie Clark and Naomi. Their support anchored the project and was indispensable. The Count itself was graced by the participation of Louise Stern, Carrie Braman and Dana Visser who made sure there were no hanging chads and brought the pleasant addition of a sign language translation to the festivities.

Legal Help

     In New York, Chris Dunn and Art Eisenberg at the New York Civil Liberties Union were instrumental in allowing the polling station to be set up in Flushing Meadows/Corona Park. Without their help we might have been unable to collect the important votes of those communities. Thanks also to Patricia Hamilton at the Parks Department. Stephen Watt of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York provided a valuable contact in London in the person of barrister Henrietta Hill. The staff at Liberty and their “Know Your Rights” website were also very helpful. Thanks to you all.

Planning

     Without a doubt, artist Susan Kelly in London made the biggest contribution to the planning process for the project’s iimplementation there. She graciously made her entire network of artists and activists available, allowed artist Peter Walsh to crash at her place and spent the entirety of Election Day working on the project. Thanks Susan! Also in London, Zuky Serper was wonderful, taking photos and helping on November 2nd. Susan, Zuky, Guy Taylor at Global Resistance, Hannes Rox, Jesse Ash and Jaime Gili all provided excellent advance advice by e-mail during the planning stages of the project.

     In New York, Tom Finkelpearl at the Queens Museum of Art, Anthony Huberman at Sculpture Center, Tea Rozman at RACCOON, Cheryl Wertz at NICE and Ian Hart all gave support and sage advice on how to bring the project into being in New York. Erin Donnelly at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Vardit Goss at CreativeTime invited the project to set up at the Freedom of Expression National Monument at Foley Square in Manhattan and their help is much appreciated. Miguel Garcia and his daughter Maria provided the Spanish translation for the call for volunteers and Gordon Sinclair of Codeinc, who claimed that all Canadians were planning to vote for Ralph Nader, provided the all important Ballot Box.

Inspiraton

     In the summer of 2004, I saw a wonderful election-based performance in Puerto Rico by Buenos Aires-based artist Florencia Reina. The project featured a vote count at a bingo hall in Añasco that completely convinced me of the theatrical power of counting votes. Thanks go out to Florencia plus best wishes and hopes for more great projects.

Other Projects

     Artist Mike Rakowitz, who created his own voting project Test Ballot, gave great early support to the idea of Plebiscite2004 and collaborated extensively in the planning and coordination between the various voting projects. Bart La Croix at The World Votes was a strong contact too and thanks go out to him and to all the teams that put together the various voting projects.