New Florida vote scandal revealed

[CottonBear]

By Greg Palast
Reporting for BBC's Newsnight (10-26-04)


A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals.

Election supervisor Ion Sancho believes some voters are being intimidated
Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called "caging list".

It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.

An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: "The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day."

more...

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129.stm>

Greg Palast's film will be broadcast by Newsnight on Tuesday, 26 October, 2004.
Newsnight is broadcast on BBC Two at 2230 BST every weeknight in the UK.

on edit: As noted in the GD 2004 forum thread on this topic, the "caging" list of the 1,800 + black voters can be found as an attachment at the georgewbush.org deadletter site.

[Catfight]

1. Nov 2nd is going to be a long day, hopefully camera's will be placed

outside those polling areas for documentation of how crooked the repugs are.

[msanthrope]

6. We need to film the challenges....

We need film of the challenges, and the names and addresses of those challenging.

Then we need to file civil Rico suits afterward.

Go after the assets of the Republican Party, and their cohorts.

[trueblew]

58. Anyone who votes needs to bring a video camera or audio recorder.

[sugus]

110. We need also International observers. NOW!

We need international observers. NOW!





Who has changed the ballots?

[msanthrope]

2. TRO---is there a Florida attorney out there who will file

a TRO asking a federal judge to intercede? Can we have an emergency hearing to get the Repukes on the stand to ask why this list exists?

What is their purpose...

[GOPBasher]

3. Wonderful.

These pieces of shit stop at nothing.

[Cocoa]

4. how do the republicans have time for this?

aren't they busy getting all their voters to the polls, all the supporters of their great president?

[Rjnerd]

63. They pay their "volunteers"

Ususally. There have been some exceptions (like "Sproul"), but the RNC picks up transportation, hotel, meals, and a "stipend". If this is your day job, you have time to spend on games like this.

[0007]

77. They're are called volunteers. Volunteers work without no pay.

A stipend is just another tricky way to say "money"

This is an old repuke trick to make folks believe these volunteers are working and giving their time for free.

[nonconformist]

5. This is from the Caging-1.xls, the .org fuckup

Kelly Porter is the original sender and reporting the total. She is with the Bush/Cheney Florida Campaign.

KELLY PORTER: Executive Assistant to Executive Director of Political Affairs & Executive Director of Party Development
http://www2.gwu.edu/~action/2004/bush/bushorgfl.html



This is the email:

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Griffin - Research/Communications <mailto:[e-mail] >
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 6:34 PM
To: [e-mail] ; Lindy Landreaux - Political <mailto:[e-mail] >; Miriam Moore - Research/Communications <mailto:[e-mail] >; Victoria Newton - Research/Communications <mailto:[e-mail] >; Shawn Reinschmiedt - Research/Communications <[e-mail] >; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail]
Subject: Re: caging

Thx
Tim Griffin
Research Director and
Deputy Communications Director
Republican National Committee
310 First Street, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
w 202) 863-8815
f: [phone]
[e-mail]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kelly Porter <[e-mail] >
> To: Lindy Landreaux - Political <[e-mail] >; Miriam Moore - Research/Communications <[e-mail] >; Victoria Newton - Research/Communications <[e-mail] >; Tim Griffin - Research/Communications <[e-mail] >; Shawn Reinschmiedt - Research/Communications <[e-mail] >; [e-mail] <[e-mail] >; Stephen Shiver <[e-mail] >; [e-mail] <[e-mail] >
> Sent: Thu Aug 26 18:12:49 2004
> Subject: caging
>
> Total as of today is 1834.
>
> Kelly
>
> ATTACHMENT: Caging-1.xls

[progressivebydesign]

7. And BUSH is in on it!!

Thus the emails to HIS website. "Caging" to me, sounds incredibly scary and racist. Where did that term come from?

[aquart]

33. There are no emails to [e-mail].

georgewbush.org is not a Bush site.

[msanthrope]

40. Sigh..patiently explaining this again....

No, georgewbush.org is a parody site that many Repuke morans accidentially sent their email to.

The site posted all their collected emails yesterday.

People have been reading the emails, and asking questions.

Palast asked the RNC spokeswoman (mindy tucker) about the 'caging' memo they produced.

She didn't deny it. She just didn't want to talk about what it was for.

[progressivebydesign]

42. No.. the Bush Campaign is the .com

They are the recipients of those emails (well, the intended recipients). www.georgewbush.com is the official site of Bush's campaign, and they are all over those emails, along with the RNC.

[Hephaistos]

47. Caging

Seems to be a term from the direct marketing / donation solicitation industry:

Caging
The opening and sorting of orders and the handling of checks and cash. So called, as people work in cages for security purposes.

Maybe these are donors? Unlikely, but it can't hurt to check opensecrets.org...

[Zorra]

8. Republican challengers can easily be identified by their white hoods

and will also be wearing white sheets. They may also be holding ropes.

Polling stations where challengers will be placed can be identified by the crosses that are burning in front of the buildings.

Republican Party = KKK

[Tight_rope]

64. LMBao...too funny...if only it was that simply to stop them!

[progressivebydesign]

9. What is an "xls" format file? there was ALSO an Evangelical outreach file.

I couldn't open it with my computer, but they also had something about the results of their evangelical church outreach.. makes me think that some churches are going to lose their tax status over that..

[SoCalDem]

XLS. is excel

it may be in a spreadsheet format.. (I did not open the attachments in the emails)

[ParanoidPat]

41. I did, however.......

......the first file I clicked on shut my computer down. :(

I rebooted and everything opened just fine.

At the end of each row toward the bottom there are notations about "Not at this address", "ANK" (attempted not known), "Forward time exp rtn to sender", "UAA", "Return to sender no such number", etc.

They start at line 1749 in the caging1.xls file.

[ldf]

109. "Not at this address", "ANK""Forward exp rtn to sender", "UAA",

all of these would be reasons to challenge.

if they are legitimate, it would be a good reason to challenge. but many times it can be the mistake of the post office.

could they then demand that the voter supply a utility bill, or something else to show residence, which they more than likely will not have?

they should be required to give them a provisional ballot which could be verified by the eletions office.

[Oreo]

11. It's a spreadhseet

That lists 1800 names and addresses in Jacksonville

I emailed ABC News, Michael Moore, Talking Point Memos
We need to hammer this to the media.

[crossroads]

25. Welcome to DU Oreo!

On those emails... well done!
:hi:

[Carolab]

27. How about NPR?

Also, did you send it to Koppel?

[Tight_rope]

66. Great job Oreo...Welcome to DU!

[cubsfan forever]

114. You are on top of things, Oreo!

Welcome to DU!

Professor 2

[Kolesar]

12. Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet ... eom

[Ganja Ninja]

13. xls is a microsoft excel spreadsheet file. n/t

[MADem]

50. You can download an EXCEL READER at microsoft web site nt

[Dem2theMax]

121. I opened EVERYTHING. After running virus checks of course.

Excel spreadsheets. I sent the church ones to an organization that goes after churches doing 'business' with politics and politicos. Haven't heard back from them yet. One had a huge list of churches, contacts, congregation sizes, if they got their church 'directories' -big no-no, very eye-opening. I really love Newt's file. In his world, there are 'THE LIBERALS' and then there is "THE REST OF AMERICA". Made me :puke:

Loved the Miami-Dade contact lists for all the Repup HQ leaders. Had names, email addys, phone numbers, including HOME phones.

It's like hitting the Mother load I tell ya! :)

[maddezmom]

10. WTF... the bushistas are getting desperate

The private detective claimed not to know who was paying for his all-day services.

[msanthrope]

17. I wonder what Florida law has to say about that.....n/t

[friesianrider]

14. Believe it or not, this is a good sign...

that they're scared shitless.

I seriously doubt anyone is going to let anyone else intimidate them from getting to the polls. Our base is fired up like never before, and nothing is gonna stop a strong majority of us from casting our votes properly and having them counted properly.

Nonetheless, let's spread the word about this (could we forward it to any African American leaders in FL or the state NAACP?) and keep working for Kerry.

[Gman]

103. The only thing good about this is they were caught in time

to file a TRO. No doubt they're doing this across Florida.

[msanthrope]

15. Some of the addresses are listed as "Naval Air Station"

Does this mean that the Republican party is going to 'cage' service members?

[msanthrope]

20. This is an interesting point--some of the addresses are listed as

Naval Air Station.

Anyone want to call Mindy Tucker and ask her about 'caging' service members?

Perhaps 'caging' is a word we should spread....

[Oreo]

16. I emailed Greg Palast

The author of the article. I'm sure he'll be happy to be able to connect the dots

[JudyM]

18. Let's do all we can to HELPKERRYWIN.com

They're going to pull everything they can to steal this election - the best we can do is get all our friends to get Kerry beyond the margin of error in the swing states. This site has quick and easy things anyone can do, many right from home. Plus fun stuff! Please circulate it!

www.helpkerrywin.com

[Wapsie B]

19. You can safely bet

that there are similar things planned for Ohio and Pa. I don't think it'll just be Fla. Eternal vigilance is the operative term from here on out.

[msanthrope]

21. "Caging" what an interesting word....n/t

[Gothmog]

22. Jeb Bush and the Florida GOP are scum

This is disgusting

[napi21]

23. If you have some proof, here's the 800# of the lawyers

who are to be contacted for election problems. This is given to poll watchers with the instructions to call immediately if you see a problem. I can't place a call because I have NO first hand knowledge, and can't really give them a source, but if you do, PLEASE CALL!

1-866-687-8683

[CottonBear]

24. Attn.: DUer's not at work, please call that 800#

and report this situation and the caging file found at the georgewbush.org deadletter site. My cell phone just broke and I don't get off work until 6 pm. Thanks.

[CatWoman]

26. kick

:kick:

[msanthrope]

30. Talked to them, gave the info--but DUers-keep callling.

[Anaxamander]

28. I opened the "Caging.xls" spreadsheet and under Properties,

The company listed is The Republican Party of Florida. They are SO FUCKING BUSTED. This could be huge, right?

[Oreo]

31. Smart move!

I didn't even think to check this.

If we weren't living in bizarro world I would think this would be huge. We just have to make sure we get the word out and make we can help tip the scales

[Anaxamander]

36. Some other info from the document's Properties:

Created: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 5:43:49 PM
Last saved by: kporter
Author: RPOF
Company: The Republican Party of Florida

[Dem2theMax]

122. I didn't know you could do that.

Church lists: say 'Bush/Cheney04' and 'Minnesota04' on one of them. On the other it says: 'Republican National Committee.'

Isn't this fun? :evilgrin:

[aquart]

35. What information is on the spreadsheet?

[Anaxamander]

37. It's a list of names and addresses

Like this:

Prefix FIRST MIDDLE LAST ADDRESS 1 ADDRESS 2 CITY ZIP DATE RECEIVED
Ms Sarah D. Corley 1859 San Marco Blvd # 1 Jacksonville 32207-3201 8/23/04

[JPZenger]

62. Contact the Author of the Caging List

If you have any questions about the "Caging" list, please contact the author of it:

Kelly Porter at [phone] ext. 380 or e-mail her at [e-mail].

She is the "Executive Director for Party Development" of the Republican Party of Florida.

You might also ask her about the many service-persons from the Naval Air Station at Tallahassee who show up on her list.

You might also ask her whether the challenges of voters that were planned using these lists were intended to "gunk up" the works of minority precincts, so that lines would become so long that voters would leave.

You might also ask her why this Florida list was so important that it needed to be sent to Bush's Washington headquarters.

[missingthebigdog]

73. I called her! She's there!

I was shocked that they connected me. I expected voice mail at best.

I asked her what this "caging" thing was about, and she said she had no comment about that. I asked her if she could even tell me what caging was, and she said: (not direct quote- I can't type and talk)
It's a list of voters new voters we sent welcome letters to throughout the state.

I said "only 1800?"
She replied:
These were returned.

I asked what they intended to do with them, and she said nothing. I asked how she felt about them being available on the internet and she hung up.

Call her yourself! The more calls they have to field from us, the less time they have to hatch their evil plans.

[Wols]

76. Rock n Roll people!

The shit is beginning to hit the fan. Now if only a major American media outlet had the courage to carry it.

[LiberalFighter]

90. rnchq.org = RNC rpof.org = Republican Party of Florida

To: [e-mail] ; Lindy Landreaux - Political <mailto:[e-mail] >; Miriam Moore - Research/Communications <mailto:[e-mail] >; Victoria Newton - Research/Communications <mailto:[e-mail] >; Shawn Reinschmiedt - Research/Communications <[e-mail] >; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail]

[GeoK]

104. I open it on my Mac and found this

Under the preferences I discovered it was last saved by "kpoter" and it was created Wed., Aug. 25, 2004 at 4:43 p.m. The author revealed, "RPOF."

This is just amazing stuff. :wow:

[msanthrope]

29. Here is the link to Palast, and the "Caging" memo

BBC/Palast article-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129...

Here is the link to the "Caging" memo

http://www.georgewbush.org/deadletteroffice/index.asp

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Griffin - Research/Communications <mailto:[e-mail] >
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 5:55 PM
To: Kelly Porter <mailto:[e-mail] >; Lindy Landreaux - Political <mailto:[e-mail] >; Miriam Moore - Research/Communications <mailto:[e-mail] >; Victoria Newton - Research/Communications <mailto:[e-mail] >; Shawn Reinschmiedt - Research/Communications <mailto:[e-mail] >; [e-mail] ; Stephen Shiver <mailto:[e-mail] >; [e-mail]
Subject: RE: caging

thank you, perfect
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kelly Porter <mailto:[e-mail] >
> Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 5:47 PM
> To: Lindy Landreaux - Political; Miriam Moore - Research/Communications; Victoria Newton - Research/Communications; Tim Griffin - Research/Communications; Shawn Reinschmiedt - Research/Communications; [e-mail] ; Stephen Shiver; [e-mail]
> Subject: caging
> The total to date is 1771.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Kelly
>
> ATTACHMENT: Caging.xls

http://www.georgewbush.org/deadletteroffice/attachments...

[riverwalker]

32. why no stories in the US on this?

The georgebush.org letters came out on DU last night, we all sent them to everyone and their grandmother on our media lists, but it took a British journalist to have the balls to put it all together?
Great work by Greg Palast. Maybe he can teach Journalism 101 to the American media.

[Rjnerd]

39. Palast is an american

Just working for a UK newspaper. But it is a good comment on the US press. (he apparently gets a lot of "get your nose out, limey" mail).

What I wonder is how long it will take Rove et all to figure out how it leaked. I can just imagine foam lipped bellowing, "how the cheney did he get his hands on...". It would also be great to be able to see the faces of those that slipped on .com and .org, especially after cheneys factcheck gaffe.

[young_at_heart]

34. It's amazing how often the word SECRET pops up for Republicans

How many lists do they have, anyway? This casts an ominous background to Republican party tricks.

[Sinnerman]

38. Repukes getting Nervous ... Limbaugh going Ape Shit......

[MADem]

45. They use CONFIDENTIAL, too!

AS in: *Private Room: The “Oak Room” is a designated private room for Mr. Rove.
*Pfizer is the primary sponsor of this event, which is confidential.

Guess they didn't want us to KNOW they took money from DRUG COMPANIES!!! This is from http://www.georgewbush.org/deadletteroffice/attachments/GHall%20K.%20Rove%20Advance%20Memo%20August%2030.pdf and describes the layout for a GOP convention event featuring KKKarl and Michael Reagan, on the latter's radio show.

Scuzzballs!

[Spinzonner]

43. Is this another 'Rather-like' plant ?

It's hard to see how they would benefit without risk so close to the election but i'm paranoid enough to wonder if there couldn't be a Rovish neutralizing and immunizing planted scandal in things like this before the election.

The scandal gets debunked and the messengers are discredited and the GOP and Bush get immunized against both the accuser and the accusation in case voth arise later as some people are led to assume later events are 'another false allegation' and the reporter 'can't be trusted'.

[msanthrope]

46. Palast is a little smarter than Rather...n/t

[MADem]

48. Uh, the headers

The headers, the IP address, ya can't fake all that without specific knowledge of the location of all of the computers. If it was a plant, it would have to be a plant from the inside.

And who would post those geeky pictures -- talk about humiliating overkill!!

These are real, and the GOP REALLY SCREWED UP. This is BIG. It may not shift the tide before the election, but afterward, there should be charges filed.

[maddezmom]

55. :kick:

[missingthebigdog]

75. Not a prank- I called

I called Kelly Porter. See my post above. She acknowledged existence. So unless the whole organization is some elaborate plant, this is for real.

[Chiyo-chichi]

44. How about also letting the people on the list know

that they are on a Republican Party "caging" list?

[Wols]

49. The bastards are trying to steal another election....

the shit they're pulling in Ohio, now this. They truly are scum.

[msanthrope]

51. Start with the servicemembers--somoe of the addresses are

listed as Naval Air Station.....

[Ganja Ninja]

52. That's a good idea and I hope the party local is doing just that. n/t

[Occulus]

53. deleted

double post

[Invalence1]

78. No phone numbers

I have Excel, opened the file. It has names, addresses, zip codes and dates but no phone numbers. This would seem to lend cred to the idea that this is a list for exclusion rather than a list of supporters as suggested in a post above.

[Occulus]

54. deleted

nevermind

[Chiyo-chichi]

56. If you knew you were on a voter supression list

and you were legally registered & eligible to vote, wouldn't that make you all the more determined to vote? I hope the local Dems are contacting these people.

[Oilwellian]

61. I looked several of the names up on AnyWho

None of them are showing up. I wonder if these are people who don't have phones.

[ornotna]

86. A lot of the addresses are the same

and they are to a college... http://www.petersons.com/blackcolleges/profiles/edward_waters.asp?sponsor=2904

[LiberalFighter]

91. Then they be trying to suppress votes of college students

[Bozos for Bush]

57. Could it be a list of people who registered for first time or absentee?

On the excel spreadsheet it has a "date received" column. What could it be?

The date a Bush operative, designated to harass or roadblock a voter, received the name? The date a voter registration form from the voter was received? The date a request to vote absentee was received?

I have to get back to work soon, so sorry I can't help investigate this right now, but...why not try to contact some of these people and ask them if this is their first time voting, or did they register for an absentee ballot.

John

[Sinnerman]

69. Just saw On CNN.....

Ed Rendel not sounding to confident.

WTF your the govenor for Cripe sake

Kerry is going to win BIG real BIG

[Chiyo-chichi]

59. All 1,886 of these people

need to be given a ride to a place where they can vote early.

[Tight_rope]

60. Those Bush* motherfuckers never learn! Karma will get your ass everytime!

[Wols]

65. Is anybody reading some of the other emails over at

georgewbush.org There is some pretty entertaining stuff. Here's a good one: May I request that you or someone on your staff send directions
> >regarding
> >what Counties can and cannot do as it pertains to newsletters and phone
> >banks usage for federal candidates. There is a great deal of ignorance
> >out
> >here and many counties are violating the campaign law as I understood it
> >
> >from you. God help us if the Democrats find out. I think we all need
> >direction. Can you help us?
> >
> >Thanks, Chris
> >
> >Ardean A. Anvik
> >State Committeeman, Mason COunty

http://www.georgewbush.org/deadletteroffice/index.asp

I find this pretty interesting from: Todd Ungerecht
Senior Policy Advisor
Northwest Region
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce
[phone]
Check out what he says concerning what I assume was a conference call concerning Pacific Northwest environmental issues.
" The call lasted a little longer than it should have been allowed, but I think Bob got through the questions pretty well. Incidentally, I don't know how they got the number, but about 8 or 10 enviro reps were called as the sequence of the callers were recognized. Luckily, none of them were given an opportunity to ask a question." Yeah, Bush is a great friend of the environment. Bullshit. Wonder if the mainstream media will pick up on any of this? I'm going to try and contact all of the reporters mentioned in this one email.

[BlueScreen]

67. What I don't get is...

The georgewbush.org site is done in a very amusing way. Even funnier to think that a Bushco supporter would actually mistake it for a real Bush site.

But how does a joke site like this get real memoes from the Floridian Republican party? Is it because the FPP fell for the site without realizing it was an anti-Bush group? I guess I don't understand how they were able to get access to such sensitive info in the first place.

Just curious; thanks for reading!

(btw, I know we are all very excited about the upcoming election. Let me assure you that I am not an undercover freeper. I can't wait to usher in President Kerry. Just want to firm-up on my facts before I run with this story)

Cheers,
Sagar

[SoCalDem]

70. they were misdirected, and the senders

probably ended up faxing stuff or making phone calls when the person waiting for the email did not get it.. or if it was an unsolicited email, the sender probably thought the sendee just was rude for not replying back..

It's like when you leave a message at a wrong number.:)

[PATRICK]

82. Done in by misdirected mail

The irony is that they are using a standard detective strategy in mailing out letters and getting information off the returned, undeliverable. In this case they want to challenge the residency or registration info of anyone whose returned mail gives the GOP a piece of hard evidence to challenge voters with.

HOWEVER. Can THEY be sure some zealot has not committed a big crime by forging postal codes and evidence to increase the size of that list? Do they UNDERSTAND the postal codes they obviously had to list and explain to their compatriots?

Scare the crap out of them with possible federal prison time and heavy fines, should they try to tough out this ploy.

They can't be sure each and every volunteer has not violated some very big postal regulation.

Alert postal inspectors? There is a hotline at the www.usps.com site.

Nothing like a spotlight for maggots.

[LiberalFighter]

93. Don't forget that there were about 5,000 GOP challenges dropped in Ohio

because they discovered the wrong addresses were matched with names.

There is no way that can be done unless it was intentional with the intent of disqualifying them.

If the address was an old address or someone filling out voter registration form with false info then that would be different.


But the voter registration forms had the correct addresses while the repugs supplied different addresses in their challenge to strip the voters their right to vote.

[Princess Turandot]

111. when you have an email account for a domain name..

you can set up a 'catch-all' box which receives emails sent to your address, even where no user account has been set up for a name. For example, [e-mail] likely is not a 'real' account at that address.So,if someone addresses an email to 'rigoletto'at that address by error or accident, it will be sent to a catch-all mailbox at 'georgbush.org'.

Someone obviously managed to register the 'georgewbush.org' internet domain name, before Bush's campaign did. In the internet world, usually domain names go on a 'first register, first get' basis.A lot of times, major organizations/companies will register their 'brand-name' under at least the larger internet domain sets: '.com,' '.net' & '.org', generally just to prevent someone else from using them. (For example, if you type 'www.microsoft.net' into your browser, it will redirect you to 'www.microsoft.com'.) It's not uncommon for people to mix up .com & .org, which are the 2 largest private domain sets, especially if the website you are seeking isn't for a company.
It appears that emails which were intended for people with addresses @georgewbush.com were accidently addressed to the '.org' site instead, which is not controlled by his campaign.


BTW, www.georgewbush.net will also take you to the Bush parody site.

The Kerry campaign was more on the ball here: typing in 'johnkerry.org' & 'johnkerry.net' will automatically redirect you to 'johnkerry.com.'!

HTH

[ArnoldLayne]

68. What are the Republicans trying to do start a race riot

they are close to doing it from what they are saying in the black communities in Florida.

[BlueScreen]

72. Did you catch Ann Coulter on Norville last night?

She kept on bringing up "the blacks" whenever Norville would ask whether Clinton's presence on the campaign trail would help Kerry. Norville kept having to slap Coulter off of the race issue by reminding her that the question was about Clinton.

Must be a RNC talking point.

[CottonBear]

80. Evil Blonde vs. Good Blonde

I missed that show. I think I'm glad I did. I need to avoid the Coulter creature for my own mental well-being.

[murielm99]

133. I have been thinking about this a lot.

They are not thinking at all. There COULD be race riots over this.

African Americans rioted in the sixties out of anger and frustration. They had nothing to lose.

African Americans died during the civil rights years in order to be able to vote. Some white people died for African American enfranchisement, too.

There could be integrated riots, if they steal another election. I don't mean that as a joke. I will not be the only one who refuses to sit home quietly if they rob our country again.

[LizW]

71. "Caging" is a term used in the direct mail business

It is the process of analyzing the returns you get back from a mailing.

This sounds to me like they're doing the same thing in Florida as in Ohio, sending mailings to every new Democratic registrant and seeing what comes back. If their mailings are undeliverable or returned for any reason, they will use that as grounds to accuse the people of fraud and challenge them.

Remember that the Republican plan to steal this election has two prongs, just as it did in 2000: cheat (secretly of course) and very loudly and publicly accuse Democrats of cheating. If you read the Atlantic Monthly article on Rove, you know that this is the way he always does it.

I think it is fairly certain that this "caging" and challenging is being done in every black precinct of every battleground state. It would be horrendously expensive to do it everywhere, so they have to narrow it. That is one thing we should focus on with the media, that the Republicans are only concerned about whether the black folks follow the law. They are engaging in their only nasty little brand of racial profiling, and it is wrong, wrong, wrong.

[ParanoidPat]

79. How many of the campaign solicitations have you received......

........that were mailed 1st class? :shrug:

I've been receiving two or three a week for the past two months and ALL of them have been 3rd class (bulk) mail. That stuff does NOT get returned to sender if undeliverable.

Has anyone here from Florida received an RNC solicitation for funds?
Could you check the postage please?

[funkhowser]

118. RNC solicitation for funds in FL

...Has anyone here from Florida received an RNC solicitation for funds? Could you check the postage please? ...

My brother has ... registered D, but a disabled vet, it was a solicitation aimed at vets. Came in big 8.5x11 envelope, 1st class mail, big "signed" photo of Mr. and the Mrs. chimp. He lives on the Gulf coast of Tampa Bay. At the local "big" VA medical center (Bay Pines), he's run into more than a few repuke vets and all he can do is ask them what exactly chimpy has done for them?

[harmonyguy]

124. Caging and direct mail

Thanks for confirming what caging means. I had come to that conclusion, but hadn't posted it yet.

Here's a link to an article that mentions caging - in this case it appears to be the alleged capturing of voter info from registration forms by the Democratic Party.

"Perhaps the primary concern, Glaiser said, is that the ballots aren't sent directly to division offices. The address printed on the back of the detachable postcard directs the mail to "ADP," at an Anchorage post office box."

"Randy Ruedrich, chairman of the Republican Party of Alaska, said the redirection of the ballot requests was his first concern when he saw the Alaska Democratic Party absentee ballot application. He said he phoned staff at the state Department of Law, but the issue was laughed off by staff at the department."

"I viewed it as totally inappropriate for the Democratic Party to be caging," Ruedrich said, referring to the collection of voter -- or potential voter -- information. "The statute says voters may apply to the director -- not to the Republican Party, not to the Democratic Party, not to their city clerk -- it is definitive."

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:NyjfU2-x_s8J:www.frontiersman.com/articles/2004/10/11/news/news9.txt+caging+republican+Frontiersman&hl=en

[shelley806]

139. Thank you so much for the explanation!!!!!

I had come to pretty much the same conclusion, but you expressed it so well. I even did an internet search on Rove and caging yesterday after reading this, but I kept coming up with caging of humans! RNC protesters, etc. No surprise Rove was mentioned in these articles. Very sad. But so is this caging business. It is so like Rove to loudly cast blame on others for what they are doing themselves--with intent to flame the media and turn it into innocence defending the real wrong-doers. Like Rather. Like Kerry's honorable service versus Bush's dishonorable service. Like Democrats cheating versus Republicans cheating. Rove is so vicious that any evangelical Christian is now suspect for me, even though I know they are being duped. I did read the Atlantic Monthly article on Rove, and forwarded it to friends and family. Everyone should read it. It is chillingly evil.

"Karl Rove in a Corner" November 2004

"Karl Rove is at his most formidable when running close races, and his skills would be notable even if he used no extreme methods. But he does use them. His campaign history shows his willingness, when challenged, to employ savage tactics."
by Joshua Green

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200411/green.

[BlueScreen]

74. So should we contact the folks on the list?

Tell them how we obtained their addresses, and encourage them to get out and vote? They will probably be harassed on Nov 2 and should know their rights, and who to talk to if they are turned away from the polls.

Maybe one of us could draft a letter and do a mail merge from Excel?

Sagar

[CBHagman]

81. How many acts of corruption in Florida before we cry, "Enough"?

The DOJ should have handed them their rear ends by now. I mean, come on!

[Edmond Dantes]

105. Ummmmm

John Ashcroft runs DOJ. And the head of the Civil Rights Division is a Bush appointee. And DOJ is sending attorneys to a number of polling places, how many I do not know, to "observe". I read in an article (by former federal prosecutor Jeff Toobin) that many of these "observers" are federal prosecutors. Toobin(?) suggests that using federal prosecutors for this purpose may discourage African-Americans from voting.

I decline to express a personal opinion on this.

[allemand]

83. Newsnight is online now !

You can watch it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129.stm

[nytemare]

84. Rumors on the "internets" ...

are coming back to haunt GW!! LOL! It appears that GW and Cheney by his "factcheck.com" comment think that .org and .com are two different internets. I wonder if .net will get involved now??

:)

[muriel_volestrangler]

85. Palast report now available online

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/tvseq/newsnight/newsnight.ram

1st story on BBC Newsnight - lasts about 18 minutes.

[dpakman91]

87. wow

it's embarrassing, AND expected, and absolutely ludicrous.

i hate to say it, but even if he receives more votes in reality, kerry is going to need a miracle to be pronounced the winner.

[davepc]

88. it made Drudge.

top of the page

"New Florida vote scandal feared..."

[steve2470]

89. kick n/t

[hadrianswall]

92. no longer...

drudge removed it.

[SoCalDem]

95. Drat.. someone told Karl

:)

[Wols]

97. He's already taken it down

He had it up for what, like 30 minutes? Wow Matt, now that's fair and balanced. I guess his Republican handlers told him they weren't happy.

[BlueScreen]

94. Hit the media with this! Force them to air this story!

Here's copy of the email I sent off to all of the CNN contacts on DU's Media Contacts list. Feel free to borrow, modify, and use if you like.



Subject: Please air the Republican memo story coming out of Florida!

I would like to know why CNN is not running the outrageous news regarding a secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggesting a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in African-American voting districts. This is credible information, and has already been broadcast by the BBC on their program Newsnight.
 
Why isn't CNN-- whose motto is "The World's News Leader"-- airing this story?

Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called "caging list". It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida. An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: "The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day."

What is amazing is that the list includes not only African-Americans, but servicemen and women. Apparently the Republican party does not mind disenfranchising those who have placed their lives at risk for our country.

I would direct your attention to the following sources for additional information. Perhaps you can redeem yourselves by carrying the story at this late point.

BBC article-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129 ...

Here is the link to the Republican memo where approaches are discussed to "cage" the African-American vote:

http://www.georgewbush.org/deadletteroffice/index.asp

Sincerely,

Sagar Jethani

[Laelth]

99. Nice letter.

Good work. :toast:

-Laelth

[Tony_Illinois]

112. I Am Sending This Link to Every Address on The List And ...

asking that this story get covered and investigated. This is an absolute outrage--a clear attempt to disenfranchise 58,000 people.

<http://www.local10.com/politics/3854230/detail.html>

[hadrianswall]

96. ANOTHER FLORIDA SCANDAL...

58,000 absentee ballots missing in Broward county?

http://www.local10.com/politics/3854230/detail.html

[hadrianswall]

98. 58000 ballots missing in Broward county...

Might be worth someone posting this as a new discussion. I am new so I can't do it.

Hadrian

[Wols]

100. Someone else started a thread about it somewhere

I tell you, the Republicans are going to lie, cheat, and steal to win this one. And they're gonna do it on a level that has never been seen before. What they have done in Ohio and what they're doing in Florida- people better wake up. I've never seen anything like this. It's insane types of things that you would expect out of third world dictatorships, not the United States.

[Polemonium]

101. We did it with Sinclair, some similar noise needs to be made

about fair elections NOW. A fair election result in Florida is unlikely, but this time we are paying much greater attention. It will be harder for the right to steal this election, but we need to come together to make some noise. How can your average non-Floridian best make some noise?

[JanMichael]

102. My African American friends are getting seriously tired of this shit.

They all know about the GOP attacks on them, they're all aware that they're being singled out because of ethnic statistics.

It's almost like the GOP is TRYING to start a "race" war. Is that even remotely possible? If you spoke to my friends you'd think that the GOP is already fighting it, not in person, not face to face, but with dirty assed tricks like this.

[Philostopher]

126. You bet they know it.

They know it in Ohio, too. They laugh, but it's not the laugh of somebody who thinks it's funny -- it's the laugh of resignation; of someone who got the shit kicked out of him in 2000 and expects the same in 2004, and expects the same spineless failure to stand up for him that he got in 2000 this time, as well. I hope to all that's holy they're wrong, this time -- if clear disenfranchisement happens again this year, and nobody gets up off their ass and says so, and says it was focused on the minority community like a laser, we're in bigger trouble than I think some of us realize.

[sherilocks]

106. Mission Accomplished-file sent to Corrine Brown

I just spoke to Congresswoman Brown's office. They hadn't heard about the list. I sent the file to her Jacksonville office and her staff is going to contact all 1800 people. They were very thankful to you all for getting this information, especially since most of the names are in her district.

For those who are not familiar with Ms Brown, she is the most outspoken member of the CBC. I'm sure we have not heard the end of this from her.

[CottonBear]

107. Way to go sherilocks!

You've done a great thing. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Wols]

108. Agreed

You have a done a very good thing!

[msanthrope]

113. Great Work!!!! n/t

[Oreo]

116. Great Job!

[sherilocks]

143. Thanks received from Congresswoman Brown's Office Jax, FL

"Thank you so much for sharing the information. I will pass it on to Mrs. Corrine and the other members of our office. I am circulating copies Thur out the office and our other headquarters. It is just amazing the length they will go Thur to cheat us out of voting against this man. It is almost like they think he is a God or something. Perhaps he is the God of hell. I pray that he is defeated this time and we have already contacted over one hundred of the people on the list to inform them of the situation and to get them to vote early. We are offering them free rides to the poll and any other assistance they may need to not let this happen. You are a God send. Some of the people on the list were from a college here in town and the students were registering for the first time to vote, very excited and thrilled to do this. I spoke to the director of student affairs and also to the president assistance and we are sending vans to their school to take them out to early vote if they need us to. Keep up the good works and great looking out. May God bless you and hopefully this will not be our last time communicating with each other. "

[steve2470]

115. kick nt

[Expat_Kristen]

117. I Emailed Kelly Porter, the sender of the Caging List

. . . and she emailed me back immediately. The standard letter I received follows (they must be on damage control).

Note 1: As you can see, this is my first post. I've been reading here for the last couple weeks (a friend told me about the site) but didn't post until now. Since I'm a FL resident and am already freaked out by potential fraud, this literally hits close to home.

Note 2: After reading this I still don't get what the hell they wanted to use the list for and why it was being emailed around. Does anyone have any more information on this 'caging' process?? Does anyone really think her explanation is legitimate??

BBC
Peter Barron
Delivered via e-mail

In an effort to make sure that the public has the facts regarding a recent story by Greg Palast for Newsnight, I respectfully request that the following information be shared with your viewers and posted on-line where the story was published.

It was evident that the reporter did not have a strong background in the political process and had not done much research beyond talking to an opinionated Democrat who is the Supervisor of Elections in Tallahassee, which is not even the area referenced by the list
in the story.

First, caging is a commonly used term in the political process by which someone opensa large amount of mail and logs it into a database. This is routinely done when an organization receives a great deal of mail from a fundraising appeal or returned mail from a mailing to a large number of people. The reporter was not familiar with this term or this process and did not seem to understand it even after it was explained to him.

Second, the list was a listing of returned mail that came from a mailing that the Republican National Committee sent to new registrants in Duval County in Florida, encouraging newly registered Republicans, Democrats and Independents to vote Republican. Voter registration has been a heavy concentration of both parties this year
and both national and state Republican parties have been reaching out to new registrants for the upcoming election.

The Duval County list was created to collect the returned mail information from the Republican National Committee mailing and was intended and has been used for no purpose other than that. Palast’s insinuation that it was created for and will be used for
the purposes of an Election Day challenge is erroneous and frankly illustrates his willingness to twist information to suit his and others’ political agenda. Reporting of these types of baseless allegations by the news media comes directly from the Democrats election playbook.

If the reporter had asked the Elections Supervisor in Duval County, the area in question, he would have learned that this area has been affected by massive fraud efforts this year as a result of the work of ACORN, a third party organization supporting the Kerry campaign and the Democrats. He would have learned that many people who were
registered this year in Duval County in fact do not have valid addresses. It seems his goal was not to obtain accurate information, but to help the Democrats launch a political attack.

In a year when reporters are under heavy scrutiny for showing political leanings toward the Democratic Party, I would think that your new organization would take greater care to understand the facts and use sources that will yield objective information, rather than carry one party’s political agenda.

Please post this letter on your website and in any other place that the above-mentioned story appears. It is your responsibility to make su re that the facts are relayed to your viewers and readers.

Sincerely,
Mindy Tucker Fletcher
Senior Advisor, Victory 2004

[Wols]

119. We put the pressure on Sinclair

Now let's do it to these lying bastards.

[gardenista]

123. Good ol' Mindy's pulling out all the stops to save her ass.

Or, more likely, that was written by a "fixer" and Mindy's under 24 hour surveillance, lest she confess the whole thing. Remember how they immediately gave Katherine Harris a watcher?

Anyhow, the BBC won't fall for her spin, but it is likely that MSNBC will. I love how she alluded to Rather. Desperate.

[choie]

127. What a crock! But good work from you, VFK2004! :)

Thanks for sharing the response!

Talk about a weak CYA attempt -- reading this, my eyes just rolled so far back in my head I can see my brain.

My favorite part?

It was evident that the reporter did not have a strong background in the political process

Why, yes, Mindy. Yes, that's right. Poor ignorant Greg Palast don't know nuttin' 'bout how this here politickin' stuff works down in Florida. :eyes:

[CAcyclist]

129. My opinion

"he Duval County list was created to collect the returned mail information from the Republican National Committee mailing and was intended and has been used for no purpose other than that."

But if the email said 1800, wouldn't that be a far too low number if they are only counting mailed-back info?



"If the reporter had asked the Elections Supervisor in Duval County, the area in question, he would have learned that this area has been affected by massive fraud efforts this year as a result of the work of ACORN, a third party organization supporting the Kerry campaign and the Democrats. He would have learned that many people who were registered this year in Duval County in fact do not have valid addresses. "


How do they know that? Why do these two things coincidentally involve the same area? I think she said too much.

[Mike Niendorff]

132. The key points of her response are :

(1) she claims, as a matter of context, there has been a "massive fraud" effort by Democratic-leaning organizations who are registering new voters in the state.

(2) the Republican Party -- just coincidentally, mind you -- decided to send out a (non-bulk-rate) mailing to each newly registered voter in Duval County

(3) as a further coincidence, they then created a database containing the names and addresses of any new voters where the mail came back as undeliverable.

(4) she claims that the party intends to do absolutely nothing with these lists ... ok, nothing *on election day* (specifically) ...

(5) she then proceeds to attack the reporter who made these facts public, accusing him of bias, incompetence and of fanning public distrust of his profession.


Did I leave anything out? Oh yeah: tons and tons of self-serving Republican spin. No loss, really.


MDN

[missingthebigdog]

134. Amazing!

What a crock.
ACORN registers voters in low income areas without regard to party affiliation. The fact that low income areas are more densely populated with democratic voters does not mean "they support the Kerry campaign and the democrats," nor does it constitute "massive fraud efforts."

That whole spin about using sources that will yield objective information, immediately followed by "please post this letter," would be hilarious if it weren't so frightening. . . .

[slutticus]

137. I've been in contact with them too...

...Tim Griffen sent me a piece from Salon that supposedly "debunks" this story...but what's interesting is a little note at the very end of the story...

"UPDATE: A few readers have pointed out that even if the Republicans are telling the truth that the list is only a compilation of bad addresses returned from a direct-marketing mail, its purpose could have been less than innocent -- to challenge voters on residency grounds (since the GOP would have some reason to believe their addresses didn't qualify). This is plausible; it's worth noting, and we should have noted earlier, that the RNC has in fact been accused of these actions before, and in 1987, in response to a civil rights suit, it signed a consent decree pledging not to do this. But Republicans told War Room that this was not the purpose of this list, and, so far, we have no way of proving them wrong."

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html#palast_florida

[uhhuh]

140. Oh My God!!!!!!

I am laughing so hard at this statement that I almost stopped breathing...Twice!!!

Greg Palast doesn't know anything about voting in Florida???

Greg Palast?? The author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy? That guy??

Help!! I'm gonna collapse!!!

[Expat_Kristen]

120. just a side note

as for the letter from the Repugs - "CAGING" seems an awfully strange term for such a supposedly innocuous process.

[Dem2theMax]

125. I can think of two African Americans who have the clout and the voices

to get this on the news. Anyone have contact info for Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton? I'm serious. Look how long it took someone on the board to think of sending this to Ms. Johnson. And we've had this info for what, 24 hours? And she hadn't heard about it. People, use what we've got and get heard. PLEASE!

[murielm99]

128. Jesse Jackson's son is a Chicago politician.

I think he is a state rep.

His contact information is probably public.

Maybe if someone sent it to his son, he could pass it on?

[Dem2theMax]

131. OK, I have some contact info. At this point, telephoning

would be the quickest way of getting in touch with people.
Would people please help? I'm posting phone numbers. If you live in these areas, please call and get the word to Jesse Jackson, his son and to Al Sharpton. They can get the TV time needed to get this out to all states, not just Florida. I'm in Calif. I'll call any California numbers. And hey, anyone else in CA. go for it as well. The more calls, the better chance we have of getting this info to the right people ASAP. This is specifically about the 'caging' files found on the parody GWB site. Please do what you can. Thanks! :)

For Jesse Jackson - these are numbers of RAINBOW PUSH. They are working to make sure African Americans get to vote.

National Headquarters
930 East 50th Street
Chicago, IL 60615-2702
ph: 773-373-3366
fx: 773-373-3571

Atlanta Bureau
Herndon Plaza
100 Alburn Avenue
Suite 101
Atlanta, GA 30303
ph: 404-525-5663 or 5668
fx: 404-525-5233

Detroit Bureau
First National Building
660 Woodward Avenue
Suite 1433
Detroit, MI 48226
ph: 313-963-9005
fx: 313-963-9012

New York - Wall Street
Empire State Building
350 5th Avenue
Suite 2723
New York, NY 10118
ph: 212-425-7874
fx: 212-968-1412

Telecommunications Project
1131 8th Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
ph: [phone]
fx: [phone]

Silicon Valley Project
2160 Euclid Avenue
East Palo Alto, CA 94303
ph: 650-323-7637
fx: 650-323-7639

Entertainment Project
1968 West Adams Boulevard
Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90018
ph: [phone]
fx: [phone]

Jesse Jackson Jr. - Jesse's son, He is state representative, 2nd District, Illinois.

District Office
17926 S. Halsted Homewood, IL 60430
phone: [phone]

Washington, DC Office
313 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-1302
phone: [phone]

Al Sharpton

His old 2004 campaign site is still up but I doubt that it is still active. All I can find on him is that he lives in Brooklyn, NY and is represented by Greater Talent Network, Inc.
They are located at:

Greater Talent Network, Inc
437 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016
1-800-326-4211 or 212-645-4200
Fax [phone]

[Name removed]

130. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Sinnerman]

135. Developing... 61,000 Ballots being scrutinized in Duval County

Registration forms with missing info and approx 40% of Voter ID Cards returned Undeliverable!!!!

This is a Freakin Outrage...........
They can't throw out those ballots..... F**kin Repukes

[Willy Lee]

136. It boggles the mind

the corruption in this party.

[Sinnerman]

138. Damn Repukes.... No ID.... NO VOTE

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675&dept_id=18171&newsid=13231317&PAG=461&rfi=9

Why won't they just let people vote.. Is it because there scared

[cthrumatrix]

141. Florida LAW allows them to cast a provisional ballot

[truthisfreedom]

142. here's bush's answer (video link to him flipping the bird)

http://static.vidvote.com/movies/bushuncensored.mov