Here's the transcript from Dan Rather's HD Net show on voting tonight.

[madfloridian]

I don't know why they put it all in caps, yuck.

I am particularly interested in the segment about Sequoia and the paper for the Palm Beach County ballots being changed. I had never heard this.

http://www.hd.net/transcript.html?air_master_id=A4755

"THE PALM BEACH BALLOTS MADE FOR THE 2000 ELECTION SHOWED A TROUBLING PATTERN: MANY CARDS SHOWED CLUSTERS OF HANGING CHADS- PRIMARILY IN THE COLUMN THAT CONTAINED THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES.

THE PATTERN WAS CLEARER IN SOME PRECINCTS THAN OTHERS. IT'S THE MORNING AFTER THE ELECTION IN 2000? YOU TURNED ON THE TELEVISION, YOU TURNED ON THE RADIO AND YOU SAW AND HEARD ABOUT THE MESS IN FLORIDA. TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT. LET'S START OVER WITH YOU. WHAT'D YOU THINK? OH, MAN. SOMEBODY BLEW IT BAD AND I BET IT WAS US. WELL, I-- I KNEW IT WAS US AND-- I DIDN'T EXPECT ANYTHING LESS THAN FIASCOS. BECAUSE YOU KNEW YOU WERE DEALING WITH BAD PAPER. BECAUSE WE WERE DEALING WITH BAD PAPER AND OLD TOOLING. I GET A PHONE CALL. AND IT'S-- THE FIRST ONE WAS FROM MY WIFE. SHE GOES, "WHAT YOU GUYS DO?" I GO, "WHAT HAPPENED?" SHE GOES, "THE BALLOTS ARE BAD IN FLORIDA. PALM BEACH." SO, THEN, I HANG UP AND THEN THE NEXT PERSON CALLS ME IS MY BOSS JIM JOHNSON AND HE TELLS ME, "WE BLEW IT. THE BALLOTS ARE BAD IN FLORIDA. IT'S ALL OVER THE NEWS AND WHEN YOU GOT TO THE PLANT IN THE DAYS AFTER THE ELECTION, WHAT WAS THE SCENE THERE? IT WAS CHAOTIC. THEY WERE MOVING STUFF, HIDING STUFF, GET RID OF THIS. HIDING STUFF? YEAH, BECAUSE THE NEWS PEOPLE WANTED TO COME IN AND TALK TO PEOPLE AND THEY WANTED TO TOUR THE PLANT.

WE WERE TOLD TO GET RID OF EVERYTHING, ANYTHING THAT HAD FLORIDA ON IT HAD TO DISAPPEAR AND DID IT DISAPPEAR? YES. NOTHING WITH ANY KIND OF BOISE CASCADE LABELS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LEFT AROUND. AND THAT WORD CAME FROM WHOM? BRIAN LEHRMAN. WHO WAS? THE PLANT MANAGER. WE REPEATEDLY INVITED SEQUOIA TO HAVE BRIAN LEHRMAN ON CAMERA TO ANSWER SOME OF THE WORKERS ALLEGATIONS SEQUOIA DECLINED WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED? MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION WAS THE TOUCH SCREEN VOTING SYSTEM WASN'T GETTING OFF THE GROUND LIKE THAT THEY-- LIKE THEY WOULD HOPE. AND BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T HAVING ANY PROBLEMS WITH PAPER BALLOTS. SO, I FEEL LIKE THEY-- DELIBERATELY DID ALL THIS TO HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE PAPER BALLOTS SO THE ELECTRONICALLY VOTING SYSTEMS WOULD GET OFF THE GROUND -AND WHICH IT DID IN A BIG WAY."

That is only a small part.

Here's where the online video will be later, and a link to the DVD you can order

http://www.hd.net/danrather.html#watch

[madfloridian]

1. More....

"JOHN AHMANN, THE BIGGEST PUNCH CARD EXPERT IN THE UNITED STATES SAYS THAT SEQUOIA PACIFIC MADE THE BEST VOTING BALLOTS ANYWHERE. WE TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN THE QUALITY OF BALLOTS WE PUT OUT-- THERE WAS-- NO LEEWAY. IT HAD TO BE RIGHT AND IT HAD TO BE ON TIME. AND THEY TOOK A GREAT PRIDE IN DOING THAT FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. WELL, THE COMPANY TOLD CUSTOMERS THAT SEQUOIA PRODUCED, AND I QUOTE, "A NO DEFECT PRODUCT." NOW, WHAT DID THAT MEAN TO YOU? NO DEFECT? PUNCH CARDS WOULD PUNCH PROPERLY. THEY WOULD GO THROUGH THE CARD READERS PROPERLY. IT'S A NO FAULT WHAT THEY SAID. AND THEY DID IT FOR YEARS. THEY DID IT, THESE WORKERS SAY, UNTIL THE MONTHS LEADING UP TO THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, WHEN THEY SAY THEY SAW MANY THINGS CHANGING, BUT NONE MORE TROUBLING THAN THE PAPER ITSELF THE PAPER WOULD COME THROUGH THE PRESS LOOKING LIKE IT WAS DOING-- LIKE JELL-O. IT WOULD JUST KINDA-- AND WE'D HAVE TO GO THROW AWAY BOTH ENDS OF THE PAPER CUZ WE COULDN'T RUN IT. THE PAPER? THE PAPER IS A LARGE FACTOR IN THE QUALITY OF THE BALLOT. IT'S THE FLOUR FOR THE BREAD. I MEAN YOU CAN'T MAKE GOOD BREAD WITHOUT GOOD FLOUR. IF YOU DON'T HAVE GOOD PAPER, YOU WON'T MAKE GOOD BALLOTS. DID YOU HAVE INPUT, YOU KNOW, AS RANK AND FILE WORKERS IN THE PLANT, DID YOU HAVE INPUT ON WHAT KIND OF PAPER WAS ACCEPTABLE AND WHAT KIND WASN'T. YES.

THE POLICY WAS WORKERS COULD REJECT ROLLS THAT WERE IMPERFECT OR DAMAGED AND THEY OFTEN DID SEND ROLLS OUT FOR SALVAGE TRYING TO INSURE TOP-QUALITY BALLOTS. A PRESSMAN RUNNING A PRESS COULD REJECT A ROLL, KICK IT BACK TO RAW STOCK, SAY THIS ROLL WAS NO GOOD. WE HAD ROLLS COME OFF IN HUGE LOGS AND THEY'RE MARKED BY POSITION WHEN THEY SLICE A, B, C, D, E, RIGHT ABOUT EARLY 1999 MAYBE MIDDLE OF 1999 STARTED GETTING ROLLS MARKED X AND Z WE COULDN'T FIGURE THAT OUT BUT MAN THEY WERE TERRIBLE WE HAD QUITE A BIT OF INPUT BUT TOWARDS THE END WE HAD NO INPUT WHATSOEVER. SO THINGS CHANGED. YES THEY DID. -ABSOLUTELY AFTER 1999, IT WAS ALL OVER. IT WAS LIKE WE WERE ALL PUT ON THE SHELF. AND YOUR OPINION DIDN'T AFTER THAT. EXACTLY. WHAT CHANGED IN 1999? "

[blm]

2. I knew machine fraud had to have started in 2000. No way was Bush that close

to Gore as media tried to convince us.

Some in the Dem party, too, would blame Gore for not winning by a larger margin - when the RNC plan to steal went through with no counter measures in place by the DNC, there was NO VOTE MARGIN that would have stopped that theft with those rigged machines.

What I would like to know is how did it get to that point where the RNC had so much control of the voting machines and did so without a sitting Dem president and his FBI and CIA and his own powerful party machine not catch any hint of the massive theft about to be committed?

[madfloridian]

3. The part about the paper was stunning.

We watched it with our mouths open. He had about 10 of the employees from Sequoia with him, and they were very credible. It almost sounds deliberate what they told the guy to do before he sent the paper to Palm Beach.

[defendandprotect]

4. You're asking really, really interesting questions . . . .

Actually, the first scapegoat offered was Nader --

QUOTE: . . . when the RNC plan to steal went through with no counter measures in place by the DNC, there was NO VOTE MARGIN that would have stopped that theft with those rigged machines.

What I would like to know is how did it get to that point where the RNC had so much control of the voting machines and did so without a sitting Dem president and his FBI and CIA and his own powerful party machine not catch any hint of the massive theft about to be committed? UNQUOTE

Maybe that worked too well in keeping us from really understanding the magniture of the steal?

But your questions are really penetrating. To this novice, I presume that the companies that made the machines were pro-GOP as they still seem to be?

I think Freeh headed the FBI at that point? Or had he left?

Clinton, of course, was popular with the public but constantly under attack by the right-wing propaganda machine.

I'd be really interested to read comments of others --

Hope C-span covers this --

[madfloridian]

5. I just did a web search for Brian Lehrman, Sequoia plant manager...

guess I am not the only one who never heard of him. Hardly anything on a search.

[mahaingttiam]

6. call Sequoia and your congressmen/senators

I was speechless when watching the Sequoia segment.

I just phoned Sequoia and left voice mail, letting them know I'd be writing my congressman and senators. Just incredible.

Sequoia's info:

7677 Oakport Street
Suite 800
Oakland, CA 94621

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

[bananas]

7. k&r - thanks. nt

[madfloridian]

8. "cut a product that doesn't mean our usual specifications...to be sent specifically to Palm Beach

"SO THE ORDERS WERE FOR THE BALLOTS GOING TO PALM BEACH, DON'T MAKE THEM MEET THE-- THE NORMAL SPECIFICATIONS? RIGHT. BECAUSE THEY WOULD GROW AND IF MET THE NORMAL SPECIFICATIONS THEY WOULD GROW OUTSIDE THE SPECIFICATIONS BECAUSE OF THE HUMIDITY."

Gee, I hate this in all Caps, but not going to retype it. I think in the subject line they meant "doesn't meet" our usual specs.

http://www.hd.net/transcript.html?air_master_id=A4755

Specific orders for Palm Beach County.