Introduction by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Illustrations by Ted Rall
A close presidential election in November could well come down to contested states or even districts—an election decided by vote theft? It could happen this year.
Based on Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s investigative reporting for Rolling Stone and BBC television, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps might be the most important book published this year—one that could save the election.
Billionaires & Ballot Bandits names the filthy-rich sugar-daddies who are super-funding the Super-PACs of both parties—billionaires with nicknames like “The Ice Man,” “The Vulture” and, of course, The Brothers Koch. Told with Palast’s no-holds-barred, reporter-on-the-beat style, the facts as he lays them out are staggering. What emerges in B&BB is the never-before-told-story of the epic battle being fought behind the scenes between, for instance, the old money banking sector that supported Obama, and the new hedge fund billionaires like Paul Singer who not only supported Romney but were also among his key economic advisors. B&BB exposes the previously unreported details on how operatives use the hundreds of millions in Super-PAC money that pour in each election cycle.
The story of these billionaires and why they want to buy an election is matched with the nine different ways they can steal the election.
In recent weeks, we've seen two amazing documentaries I want you all to know about. I Am Not Your Negro by director and Seven Stories author and advisory board member Raoul Peck debuted at the Toronto Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award for Documentary. Magnolia films picked it up for distribution, and it will be in NY and LA in December and in wide release in February 2017. The film is extraordinary because it gives us James Baldwin in the present tense. Raoul's vision is so in line with Baldwin's that you feel as if Baldwin is here, alive and well, speaking not only to the issues of his time but to the greatest challenges of humanity facing America and the world today.
The other documentary is Greg Palast's The Best Democracy Money Can Buy—A Tale of Billionaires and Ballot Bandits, which is an up-to-the minute investigation of voter theft happening right now under the guise of a computer program called Interstate Crosscheck which is active currently in over 30 states. Over seven million voters have been identified in the participating states and are being removed from the voter rolls, ostensibly for voter fraud on suspicion of voting in more than one state, but really because the vast majority of them are minority voters. The subject matter is incendiary but the presentation is artful and funny and heartbreaking, following the lives of many who have fought hard for the right to vote and whose vote is being denied. The tie-in book arrived in stores last week. The sad truth is that vote theft is a factor in US elections now and is something that people need to know and news organizations need to cover.
Today marks the launch of sevenstories.com in an exciting new form. The site hosts a number of new features you'll want to check out. Every printed book purchase comes with a free ebook in your preferred format. Bundling in this way will allow you to start reading a book in hardcover or paperback at home, and then have it on your mobile device when you travel, so the reading experience is continuous. And if you want to search the site to find out about our books, and then buy from your local bookseller, we're happy about that too. The catalogue has over 600 titles and, more importantly, they are grouped according to a political and literary vision that makes sense, so you see them here in context. We're also offering free shipping for all books, a permanent 25% discount for online purchases, and flash sales at much higher discounts, including a 50%-off sale for launch, starting now. (The sale is limited to two copies of each title per customer.) And there'll be new content from authors and fellow travelers arriving more or less constantly so you'll enter our world and hopefully be informed and inspired every time you visit.
—Dan
Born in Los Angeles in 1952, Greg Palast worked as a government consultant and an investigator for labor unions before turning to journalism full time. A self described “reporting investigator” as opposed to an investigative journalist, he became a writer in order to alert a wider public to abuses he saw committed by governments, corporations, politicians, and lobbyists. For years Palast wrote a column for the Guardian called “Inside Corporate America,” and his articles have appeared in magazines and journals including the Nation, Harper’s, and In These Times. Palast’s 2002 bestseller The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, which covered in detail the fiasco of President Bush’s victory in Florida in 2000, appeared in 2002 and served as the basis for his documentary film Bush Family Fortunes. Palast lives in Los Angeles.
