CONYERS WANTS YOUR QUESTIONS for the hearing

[WilliamPitt]

I am in a cab headed into
DC writing this on my blackberry, so please forgive the brevity. A Judiciary staffer emailed me to say they want our questions for the hearing. He sent me a press release with an online form to send the questions in. I could not copy and paste the text on this damnable machine, but it is out there. Check the Conyers website. If it is not easy to find, I will post it when I get to my hotel room.

In the meantime, get your questions together. CSPAN, NBC, CNBC and Pacifica will be covering the hearings. This is a BIG opportunity.

I will be at my hotel soon if no one can find that link.

[Stand and Fight]

1. GIANT HULK-MAD KICK!!!

:kick:

[msgadget]

2. Power kick

:kick:

[Maat]

3. Thanks!

Your the best!

[robbedvoter]

4. Why are exit polls valid in Ukraine but not here?

How come all the "glitches" went in Bush's favor?

[FarmerJaxon]

23. I second the "Red" glitch question

[ibegurpard]

26. Third

Thanks for saving me having to type it out.

[MelissaB]

44. Does somebody know the exact number of computer glitches

that went for B*sh that we know of currently? I think this would be helpful since none that I can remember went to Kerry.

[FarmerJaxon]

55. here are some sources

First, surely you've seen Dr. Steven Freedman's article "The Unexplained Exit Poll Discrepancy: Part I" at http://www.ilcaonline.org/freeman.pdf

Also check the Election Incident Reporting System at http://www.verifiedvoting.org/index.php (click on EIRS: 38,000+ Election Incident Reports)
Note that this site tracks ALL issues, including polling place inquires, long lines, etc. But you can filter by kind of incident.

HTH

[MelissaB]

73. Thanks for the links, but I still can't find

the info I want.

Specifically, I want to know how many machine errors do we know of that favored GWB?

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

87. A variation on that:

"How come all the "glitches" only favor Bush and not Kerry?"

[MelissaB]

105. Thanks! This is what I finally sent.

"Why do all of the "glitches" only favor Bush and not Kerry? There are countless examples of this. If these "glitches" were random they would be evenly distributed."

[genieroze]

97. I second your question. eom

[txindy]

103. Absolutely. That's the ultimate question.

Why would the U.S. protest the election results in the Ukraine due to the exit polls not matching the outcome when that is precisely what occurred here? Why would any citizen of this country, let alone any other nation in this world, accept the legitimacy of this administration when we (rightly, but hypocritically) question that of the Ukraine?

[bunny planet]

107. and why were the same exit polls considered correct in proving that

people voted their 'values' but mistaken or flawed when used to prove who actually won the election?

[yojon]

5. How to get Blackwell to play

Bet he is a no show. What would it take for the members to subpoena him?

[meganmonkey]

10. I second that - How can a public servant refuse to be available to the...

public, and refuse to answer questions directly related to his duties as Secretary of State? Is he essentially 'pleading the 5th'? In which case he is admitting there is potentially some sort of criminal activity to hide. If he has nothing to hide, why isn't he answering questions? What will it take to hold real Congressional hearing at which he can be REQUIRED to testify, since he isn't talking when asked politely?

on edit: I am posting this on the link too.

[Kevin Spidel]

6. WILL ASKED ME TO POST THIS

this is the link:

http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/contact.html

[robbedvoter]

11. Thanks. Done. Same I posted here @ #4

[babylonsister]

70. A very general response, and KICK!

I want to know that every vote in this country was counted and counted honestly. I think we need a paper trail at the very least. I realize it might be impossible to count every vote if essential information was not submitted on the ballot. But I don't trust those black boxes, especially if they're in any way affiliated with a specific party. There are some very bright hackers out there who could change the course of this country's leadership illegally, and that is not acceptable.

I would like to see a lot more security regarding ports, trains, and nuclear facilities. Protect us please!

But please don't go after our rights. Abortion rights are the law; one of my biggest fears is that all Supreme Court appointees will be ultra-conservative and will try to change laws, causing an even bigger rift in this country which will be very difficult to heal.
At the same time, I am convinced that gay people deserve the liberties that married people enjoy, and if that's on a state-by-state basic, so be it. People are people. Similar to trying to shove democracy down an unwilling country's throat, why is it just to deny taxpaying, law-abiding people their rights because of their sexuality?

I also strongly object to any monitoring of the internet that might be proposed. I do not want 'big brother' probing into my life anymore than they probably already have. If I have a problem concerning the internet, set up a task force to combat problems. I imagine you won't hear from many people advocating this loss of privacy.
Thanks for your time.

[Capn Sunshine]

128. Thanks Kevin!

This link is going for a ride around the world. :)

[Alizaryn]

7. The questions form

http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/contact.html

[Alizaryn]

8. Press Advisory

The press advisory is worth reading too:

http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohioforumadvisory12704.pdf

[skids]

9. Post your questions as you send them in.

So we don't send the same questions 1500 times. Conyers doesn't need to be lobbied, so let's spare his staffers some headaches.

(edit: Plus it helps keep the thread kicked.)

[Alizaryn]

19. Question sent

What is legally required to impound the voting machines and have them objectively examined? I see this as being a necessity nationwide.

[Clark2008]

50. I asked why anyone in their right mind

would think anything that ran on a Windows OS was secure (speaking, generally, to the GEMS tabulator) and why the Republicans were placing party over democracy by not participating in this hearing.

I don't think either of those questions will be asked - but I just wanted them to know that they are supported and that I am aware that the GOP is a no-show in this hearing - which may turn out to be the most important hearing toward saving democracy.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

93. I sent in the same question I posted above...

Here is the exact text of my submission:

This is a question for the 12/08/04 hearings on Voting Irregularities:

"How did it happen that all the "glitches" favor Bush?
What is the statistical probability of that occurring?"

[myschkin]

12. Why do Blackwell so slow?

It's appearent that he is "playing on time"...

[skids]

13. I sent in ballot order/rotation....

Message: Regarding the presence of an abberant number of 3rd party votes in some precincts in Ohio, how was the ballot order/rotation determined? Is this done on a state-wide basis, and if so by what formula? If it is done on a county-wide basis, is there a suggested formula for the county officials to follow? Is any oversight provided to ensure that the accidental mixing of ballots at colocated precincts does not favor a particular candidate?

[regularjoe]

29. Perhaps you should send them the source of your info on the abberant

number of 3rd party voters so they can cite it and use it.

regularjoe

[ElementaryPenguin]

14. Done. I asked him to subpoena the source code for the Diebold machines

As well as the principal figures in the Madsen articles.

[rdmccur]

28. I would second that one.

Really need to put some more clarity on the story from Madsen.
It could be really potent if there's enough reality in it.

[Peace Patriot]

66. rdmccur

"Really need to put some more clarity on the story from Madsen.
It could be really potent if there's enough reality in it."

And it could be potent even if it isn't real, or wasn't executed--say it was Plan #2, a backup contingency plan? Or a decoy? This would be very useful to know--because anybody doing contingency plans or decoys is doing something ELSE, something that's very real.

[bunny planet]

115. Unfortunately since only the Democrats on the House Judiciary committee

will be present, it is not considered a legal hearing. I don't believe they have the power to subpoena anything or anybody. It's a shame. There is another thread up on DU with the names and contact information for all the Republican house members of the HJC. It is not an encouraging list (has Feeney on it, yes that Feeney, for starters) but I'm emailing them anyway. What this hearing tomorrow needs to do is make a lot of noise, that's why it's a good thing. Great that it's getting coverage.

[fliesincircles]

15. Sent this: Demand the Identity

of the FBI agent who contacted the Warren county officials, resulting in their "lockdown" during vote counting.

[TexasChick]

63. Exactly! Could very well lead to a potential whistleblower! n/t

[joeunderdog]

104. Will this person be charged/prosecuted?

There must be phone records.

[TexasChick]

111. I'm not an attorney, but I would think so. I think this would be a good

step because the guy would become a whistleblower to save his own hide from a tough mandatory sentence by pointing to higher up Repuketards in the scheme as well. I would think somebody high up would have to have told this person to do this.

[peekaloo]

112. Yes!

:kick:

[Kurovski]

16. Is it possible to be rid of computer voting

altogether and have the entire nation vote in the exact same way, with paper and pencil?

Wouldn't this also be cheaper in the long run?

[skids]

18. pencil... how about pen? :-) n/t

[Kurovski]

24. even better.

I sent this question to the Conyers site, and after submitting, my computer froze up and I had to restart.

My firewall recently blocked this address; http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/johnashcroftbi... and that's all I could read on the warning.

What the hell gives? (that's not a question for Conyers)

[regularjoe]

38. Exciting n/t

[skids]

53. I just asked whether Zogby would release internals on early voting.

And I took a packet capture log from my router while doing so. Maybe I can figure out what's going on with that. It'll take some time to disect, though.

[Kurovski]

65. Just to be clear,

the firewall blocked the addy a day before Thanksgiving.

[skids]

75. Well, nothing came of that....

However, it's fully possible that there are intentional attacks. It may just be that you only get attacked on your first visit. I had a doorknob twist on my webserver about 20 minutes after I submitted my first question, but I get those all the time.

Or it could just be a browser bug. (I hope everyone here knows better than to use MSIE except when you absolutely have to BTW.)

[Duer 157099]

40. lol... next time the slogan will be:

"get out the Sharpie!"

[FarmerJaxon]

31. Have to amend the Constitution to change how we vote

and I think we should get that ball rolling.... to require national standards for how elections are run, and take it out of the hands of partisans. No international election monitors -- the Carter Center -- would monitor our elections because we don't meet their minimum standards.
The way we run elections in this country is a travesty. Who in their right mind would set up a system that allows state election campaign chair people (for one candidate or another) to be in charge of the voting and counting process?!?!?

[Kurovski]

37. Are you sure?

Or is it just that states can change the way they vote.

the computer voting systems didn't exist a few years ago and I don't recall an amendment to allow them.

[FarmerJaxon]

61. Yes, states have the power -- that's the problem

There's no national standard, how voting is conducted is entirely up to the local officials, which seems to go down to at least the county level in some states... So any efforts to eliminate electronic voting machines would have to be one on a state-by-state level, at least.

I think the real problem is the lack of transparency. Most of these machines run on "proprietary" -- i.e., "secret" -- software, so we mortal citizens and our representatives can't examine the programming.

Check out http://openvotingconsortium.org/ for more on this aspect of the problem

"It's not who votes that counts, it's who counts the votes" - Josef Stalin

[marions ghost]

17. Yes, seems the exit poll Q should come up...

I'm not great on legal stuff, but does the committee have the power to supoena the exit poll data--the full and complete exit poll data?

Am trying to understand what might be the approach before watching
What should be asked of the Judiciary committee?
What will likely come up ?...

[proudtobeadem]

20. Can he please try to impound the machines, ballots, sign in books

logbooks of any irregularities that day, and anything else important for the whole state.

[rdmccur]

32. Exactly what is the scope

of the hearings tomorrow. Anyone know?--maybe the answer is on the website which I haven't seen yet.

[rdmccur]

45. Disregard my message above

[truehawk]

39. Poll tapes, computer logs, poll worker seals, etc.

[proudtobeadem]

82. I DID NOT SEND THE QUESTIONS ABOVE

I tried 3 times but keep crashing.
Can someone please send him this?

tried 3 times to send my question but it keeps crashing my computer
can someone please post this?

Dear Rep. Conyers,
The result of this obviously flawed election is something that is very important to me as well as many, many others. I am pleased that you are standing up for democracy by initiating this investigation. I have a question/request and that is:
Could you try to impound the machines, tabulators, ballots, poll books, logbooks of irregularities that day and anything else of importance. These are vital pieces of evidence, as I am sure you know. There are already reports of tabulations being disposed of in Shelby County.

“…Among other things, a response from Shelby County election officials has confirmed that the county illegally discarded key tabulations from the November 2 vote count….”

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/97...

-Thank You

[intheflow]

144. I agree. Voting needs to be transparent.

No arguing that machines and codes are intellectual property or proprietary information. The equipment must be made available or the machines must be gone in favor of old fashioned paper and pen ballots.

[stellanoir]

21. Okay

this is kind of spilt milk but why on earth did the representatives in Congress and the Senate not pass HR 2239 & S1980 when we were screaming about the insecurities of these nefarious machines after the mid terms ?

We will never again have free and fair elections without non partisan control of the voting equipment and the counting of votes.

We need sweeping legislation to ameliorate our voting procedures on a national scale. We should have had it after 2000. Partisan Secretaries of State (like Blackwell and Harris) should be completely out of the loop. National Standards need drafting and application.

It is the law that the vote must be auditable. BBV machines are not.

More of these electoral vaguaries truly qualify as nothing more than taxation without representation. It's certainly not anyway near the America I once knew and loved.

Sorry I'm just livid about this.

[Peace Patriot]

92. Stellanoir...do you really want Bush's Congress to...

...involve themselves in "election reform" again--considering what Tom Delay & Co. already have done?

I shudder to think. They could require paperless voting everywhere tomorrow, and only on machines made by companies "certified" by Tom Delay--and we would have no power to stop it.

We already have no paper trail--no auditable election--in one third of the country. Why? Because Congress (under the HAVA bill) required conversion to electronic voting (that is, required the states to pour zillions of dollars into the pockets of the Bush "Pioneers" who made electronic voting machines), and FAILED to require a paper trail or open source code.

Ask yourself how effective the Democrats were in the last Congress as to insuring an honest, fair election, after the debacle of '00? The few who were paying attention tried, and got nowhere. They couldn't even get a paper trail! Tom Delay kept it in committee!

And what do you think Bush Inc. will do now? Their attitude toward the Democrats in Congress and toward all of us is "nuke 'em." Get everything they ever wanted, by way of fraud and greed slave labor and enforced religion. And you think they aren't going to mess with us on this?

No, they are not to be trusted! And I'd just as soon they keep their hands off it.

We have to do this ourselves, state by state, county by county, with highly focused local activist groups. It's a reasonable, doable thing. Most people would agree with it. But we don't have much time.

Now that they've succeeded in using this private electronic voting system to steal a national election, they will surely want to do it again, with less trouble from any kind of recounts. We could lose the audit points that we have now--and that have helped us reveal this fraud!

And there is not going to be a Constitutional amendment. It is just not going to happen.

People really need to understand what has happened here. A fascist coup now owns the presidency, the Congress, much of the court system, the military, the news media AND the ballot box.

Our democracy is hanging by a thread--and that thread is the vigilance and activism of the people, and the remaining right of the states to control election procedures, and to reverse course and enact verifiable elections. No one at the federal level is going to fix this, and they are going to do everything they can to stop US from fixing it. The federal government has become our enemy.

So, I would say the exact opposite of what you're saying. KEEP it with the states! And let us fight it out, state by state.

I DO support these hearings, because it is so desperately important to inform people--especially the majority, the Kerry voters--what happened and what must be done about it--in addition to efforts to overturn this fraudulent result (Bush Inc. retaining power) of a fraudulent election system.

We need:

1. A paper trail for every vote.
2. Open source code.

State by state, county by county. NOW.

[stellanoir]

98. well,

I agree with you that congressional oversight was a horrendous failure. To a certain degree, I feel it is right to fix this state by state.

However, this is going to take massive organization. It has been said by others that organizing Dems is akin to herding cats.

I'm just so damn frustrated that all our attempts to bring awareness to. and fix this broken democracy have failed so miserably so please excuse.

I do wholeheartedly agree that a paper trail and an open source code is essential for even a glimmer of true representative government to be re-established.

I'm sure we'll figure it out over time.

Just not sure how as yet.

[WilliamPitt]

22. HERE IS THE WHOLE PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 7, 2004
Contact Dena Graziano [phone]

C-SPAN, RADIO PACIFICA TO BROADCAST OHIO VOTING IRREGULARITIES FORUM LIVE

Washington, DC: C-Span 1 and Radio Pacifica will carry a live broadcast,
Wednesday, of the Congressional forum held by Rep. John Conyers, Jr.
regarding election irregularities in the pivotal state of Ohio during the
2004 Presidential election. Radio Pacifica affiliates will broadcast the
forum as part of the Andrea Lewis Show beginning at 10 AM eastern time, and
it will be streamed live on the internet at www.pacifica.org
<http://www.pacifica.orgn> and www.kpfa.org <http://www.kpfa.org> . In
addition, NBC and MSNBC and numerous other media outlets will be covering
the forum.

Testimony and other material concerning the hearing can be accessed at the
House Judiciary Committee Democratic website,
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/index.html. <http://www.house.gov>
This site will be updated continuously Tuesday and Wednesday. Interested
parties can submit questions they wish to be addressed at the forum at:
<http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/contact.html> .
WHAT: "Preserving Democracy - What went wrong in Ohio?"

WHEN: Wednesday, December 8th @ 10:00am

WHERE: 2237 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

WHO: Members: Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Robert
Scott, Rep. Melvin Watt, Rep. Linda Sanchez, Robert Wexler

Witnesses: Rev. Jesse Jackson, Founder Rainbow Push Coalition;
Ralph Neas, President, People For the American Way; Prof. Robert
Fitrakis, Editor, The Free Press; Cliff Arnebeck, Arnebeck Associates;
Steve Rosenfeld, Senior Producer, Air America Radio;
David Cobb, Green Party Nominee 2004 Presidential Candidate; Jon
Greenbaum, Director, Voting Rights Project, Lawyers Committee For Civil
Rights Under Law; Ellie Smeal, Executive Director, The Feminist Majority;
John Bonifaz, General Counsel, National Voting Institute; Prof. Steve
Freeman, University of Pennsylvania; Shawnta Walcott, Communications
Director, Zogby International.

[ValleyGirl]

96. Thank you

Thanks for letting us know about this, I just sent in my question and have my dvr set to record C-Span tommorow. :)

[garybeck]

141. f'in awesome n/t

[intelle]

25. I sent in my question

Concerning whether this issue has the potential of being addressed by a full Judiciary hearing. Mentioned that our democracy is at stake here.

[truehawk]

27. When is Ohio going to enforce it's document retention laws?

Why is the basis of our Democracy, access to voting and integreity in voting, treated like some game of gott-ya where everyone turns a blind eye to blatent misbehavior and supression. (I think Mike Moore has video tape)


When is Ohio going to comply with sunshine laws that allow public inspection of the to pollbooks?

Can Ohio show a signatrue for every vote?

When is Ohio actually going to enforce the requirement for a signature for every vote?

Why is voter fraud a great concern in Democratic leaning areas and signatures are not collected (according to the BOE official)in Republican a leaning areas after 4pm?

What prevents a ballot from being counted in the wrong precinct?

Were there zero votes for "disqualified" in the pesidential race, or did they just not count them.

Who was responsible for allocating machines to precincts.

When does the pattern become a Rico actionable conspircy?

[MelissaB]

49. Darn good list of questions.

I hope you sent them.

[seriousstan]

56. What do you mean "signatures are not collected "?

"When is Ohio going to comply with sunshine laws that allow public inspection of the to poll books?"

Good question.

"Can Ohio show a signature for every vote?"

You have to sign the poll book before you get your "authority to vote" slip. You also have to sign to request an absentee ballot. You have to sign to outside envelope of a provisional ballot.I don't know of any other ways to vote.

"When is Ohio actually going to enforce the requirement for a signature for every vote?"

See above answer.

"Why is voter fraud a great concern in Democratic leaning areas and signatures are not collected (according to the BOE official)in Republican a leaning areas after 4pm?"

Where do you get your info about no signatures being collected after 4pm? That is impossible. Every voter MUST sign the poll book next to their address info, except as mentioned above.

"What prevents a ballot from being counted in the wrong precinct?"

Yo must be in the poll book in order to vote. If you are not, you are in the wrong precinct and should be directed to the correct precinct. If you harve moved recently or there is some other problem or your name has been mistakenly removed from the poll book, and you now reside in the precinct...you are given a provisional ballot, which requires your signature. These are all checked later to make sure you really were in the correct precinct. That is the reason there is a rejection rate on provisionals. Some are cast in the wrong precinct.

"Who was responsible for allocating machines to precincts."

Blackwell

"When does the pattern become a Rico actionable conspiracy?"

Got me on this one.

I have been an election judge for way over a decade, so I am fairly confident of the answers.

(Some spelling edits)

[rdmccur]

30. When will they be on?

[keepthemhonest]

41. they are going to be on c-span tomaorrow at 10 am not sure which

time zone, but that is the last I heard

My question is when are they going to jail?since we are having a crack down on white collar crimes per *(enron)

[noclonyofthechimp]

48. Pretty shore it's EST C-SPAN 1

[Carl Brennan]

33. Why do all of the actual polls that are significantly divergent from the

exit polls in favor of Bush?

This presupposes the established use and accuracy of exit polls as in the Ukraine

[FarmerJaxon]

64. Excellent question! Did you send it to Conyers?

Here's the link again, if you haven't
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/contact.html
;)

You might also refer them to http://www.ilcaonline.org/freeman.pdf

[Carl Brennan]

125. Thanks for that link. I sent him a second one about Shelby

County destroying the vote tabulation records.

[leftchick]

83. send it!!

excellent question!

[Carl Brennan]

85. I just sent this.

Attn: Congressman Conyers,



The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which all other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery. - Thomas Paine



One question that must be answered is why all of the actual results for the Presidential election on Nov. 2nd that diverged significantly from the exit poll results favored Bush and not Kerry.

There has been an argument that exit polls are innaccurate but the Republicans themselves claim that the divergence of actual to exit poll results in the recent presidential election in the Ukraine indicate that fraud took place. Why would exit polls be considered an accurate measure of the vote for the Ukraine but not for the United States election?

<http://www.thehill.com/morris/110404.aspx>

By Dick Morris
Nov. 4, 2004

Exit polls are almost never wrong. They eliminate the two major potential fallacies in survey research by correctly separating actual voters from those who pretend they will cast ballots but never do and by substituting actual observation for guesswork in judging the relative turnout of different parts of the state.

So reliable are the surveys that actually tap voters as they leave the polling places that they are used as guides to the relative honesty of elections in Third World countries. When I worked on Vicente Fox’s campaign in Mexico, for example, I was so fearful that the governing PRI would steal the election that I had the campaign commission two U.S. firms to conduct exit polls to be released immediately after the polls closed to foreclose the possibility of finagling with the returns. When the polls announced a seven-point Fox victory, mobs thronged the streets in a joyous celebration within minutes that made fraud in the actual counting impossible.

But this Tuesday, the networks did get the exit polls wrong. Not just some of them. They got all of the Bush states wrong. So, according to ABC-TV’s exit polls, for example, Kerry was slated to carry Florida, Ohio, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Iowa, all of which Bush carried. The only swing state the network had going to Bush was West Virginia, which the president won by 10 points.

To screw up one exit poll is unheard of. To miss six of them is incredible. It boggles the imagination how pollsters could be that incompetent and invites speculation that more than honest error was at play here. <more>


Non-partisan organizations like the The Moderate Independent cite the validity and accuracy of exit polls:
http://www.moderateindependent.com/v2i21editorial.htm

From the Republican Party Website, posted the day before the election (see: Statement From RNC Communications Director Jim Dyke On Anticipated Kerry-Edwards and Democrat Election Day Litigation Strategy <http://www.rnc.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=5045>)
“Before the day is out, Democrat lawyers will begin to argue that all provisional ballots should be counted… If they are successful in keeping the polls open in Democrat precincts and eliminating traditional safeguards… Democrat lawyers will effectively… give John Kerry the advantage.”
When the UN monitors international elections, the way they determine if the election process is credible or fraudulent is to take exit polls and compare the actual results to those of the exit poll.
Exit polls in America have always been accurate, confirming that our elections are fair and honest – except in the last two elections in which President Bush was involved.
The non-M/I media, of course, will not raise the obvious question as to what is wrong with this picture. All last night, this question was not raised once, while the question of should we actually count all votes was pushed again and again.
Now, take all of the above to heart, and then look at the memo posted on the RNC’s website the day before the election. It is what is called a pre-emptive strike, such as when Arnold ran for Governor and launched his campaign on the Tonight Show by saying, “They are going to call me a womanizer.” He knew he was a womanizer, so he was attacking those who would point this out first, trying to turn the tables on them, making it as if they are doing something wrong. It is a desperate, amoral ploy that those who wish to get away with something heinous use.
Enter the RNC memo. It is the pre-emptive defense of a party that knew they were up to something that might be challenged.

[Duer 157099]

34. I asked about voting machine allocation

by precinct, how it was determined and whether that data is available to be reviewed, suggesting that some precincts were "under-equipped" in a preferential manner

[Alizaryn]

35. Has anyone asked who decides what votes are part of the "hand

recount" and whether there is a choice as to what districts to hand recount ?

[truehawk]

43. That 3% thing is not in the law as far as I know.

Upon request they recount everything.

[proudtobeadem]

36. I think the site crashed!

I tried to send my question but it just froze, and I could'nt get out of it until I did alt, del, control.
Will try again.

[rumpel]

42. Will recount after certification be legitimate?

and a new ceritification announced if different?

[msgadget]

46. We need the type of voting proposed by Jimmy Carter,

consistent equipment and counting methods throughout the states and not overseen by partisans. How do we got about implementing such a change?

[FarmerJaxon]

68. Have to amend the Constitution to change how we vote

(Sorry for the re-post, admins...)

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=124661&mesg_id=124876&page=

[msgadget]

76. I figured

but it's what we absolutely need. How about a ballot initiative on the amendment?

[No Mandate Here.]

47. Ask if he will support a rule that bars

State secretaries of state from being state campaign chairs.

First the canoodler Harris, and now Blackburn. This like having the referees and umpires wear the same uniforms as one of the teams, and you don't know which is which.

[rdmccur]

51. Congressman Conyers,

what can you tell us about your discussions with Wayne Madsen (if anything)?

[rdmccur]

52. I am open to alternative ways

of posing this question or even changing the scope of the question. Anyone?

[stepnw1f]

54. Why Were the Republicans so Eager to Use Electronic Voting...

when there were well known and documented security issues with this technology? Let's not forget the lack of a simple paper trail! Why the stonewalling?

And why were private companies given the responsibility to count our votes? Did the people ask for this?

Isn't there a conflict of interest already present between certain politicians and companies handling our vote system? Couldn't such business and political relationships be considered a major breech of confidence with the American Taxpayer? Is this supposed to be a Democracy?

[Stephanie]

59. i.e. - WHOSE decision was it to privatize democracy?

And why did the Dems not see this coming?

Not a proper question for the panel, but something for Conyers to consider.

[BlueStateBlue]

57. Kick

:kick:

[RaulVB]

58. How would the experts explain the "9 millions of new voters for Bush"?

Do they know how the totals breakdown for Republicans?

Do they realize the magnitude of the discrepancies?

They know that this shift of voters for Bush since 2000 defies American voting patterns?

Reagan gained 10.5 millions of new votes in 1984 respect 1980. Bush obtains more than 9 millions respect to 2000.

But Mondale WAS VICTORIOUS IN ONE STATE. Kerry wins 21.

How would they explain all these anomalies?

[troubleinwinter]

60. I sent mine.

Question regarding multiple precincts in one polling place:

It appears that in some precincts, punchcard ballots were read/counted by the wrong counting machine, allocating votes to the WRONG candidate (ie. huge numbers to 3rd party, and tiny numbers to main candidate).

While the above scenario is a clear red flag, how many votes may have bee inappropriately switched from/to Kerry or Bush without such a red flag showing?

HOW MANY POLLING PLACES HAD MULTIPLE PRECINCTS?

HOW DO WE KNOW PUNCHCARD BALLOTS WERE COUNTED BY THE PROPER COUNTING MACING?

Thank you very much.

[anamandujano]

62. Can we stop this cynical excercise of beat the clock?

After a year or two of campaigns and untold millions of dollars seeking to convince citizens for whom to vote, why should we be hamstrung by an artificial time span when seeking to find the legitimate choice of the people?

[Vadem]

67. Hi Will....I'll be watching tomorrow to see you.....wave!....

My question:

Why can't the Judiciary Cmte subpoena and IMPOUND EVERY voting machine in Ohio so that the so-called "proprietary code" can, at last be investigated, forwards and backwards, and we can at last see just exactly WHAT it tells the tabulator to count!

[CantGetFooledAgain]

69. My question (submitted)

What measures have been taken, and what assurances do we have, that physical ballots have been secured and protected since election day, and have not been tampered with in such a way as to "validate" electronically tamperered-with results.

[zann725]

71. Did Mr. Blackwell meet with Mr. Bush on Election Day...

during Mr. Bush's last-minute visit to Ohio? If so, what transpired during that meeting relating to Election?

[KatieB]

129. Yes - here's a news clip

Damschroder is the former Executive Director of the Franklin County Republican Party, and sources close to the Board of Elections tell the Free Press that Damschroder and Ohio’s Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell met with President Bush in Columbus on Election Day.

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/981

[zann725]

131. Ohmigawd! Blackwell said on Keith O's show he did NOT meet with Shrub

on Election Day!! He perjured himself on the air! Has someone sent this to Keith? And/or checked out with Free Press if there are any photos of this mtg? If they met, there MUST be.

[proudtobeadem]

72. OK I GIVE UP - HELP!!

I tried 3 times to send my question but it keeps crashing my computer
can someone please post this?

Dear Rep. Conyers,
The result of this obviously flawed election is something that is very important to me as well as many, many others. I am pleased that you are standing up for democracy by initiating this investigation. I have a question/request and that is:
Could you try to impound the machines, tabulators, ballots, poll books, logbooks of irregularities that day and anything else of importance. These are vital pieces of evidence, as I am sure you know. There are already reports of tabulations being disposed of in Shelby County.

“…Among other things, a response from Shelby County election officials has confirmed that the county illegally discarded key tabulations from the November 2 vote count….”

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/975

-Thank You

[skids]

77. Try a different web browser. You might end up liking it. n/t

[proudtobeadem]

79. I only have IE, I don't want to try another

because I always mess something up (with the computer)

[stellanoir]

74. okay

now that I've calmed down a bit.

Why on earth was there such a huge discrepancy between the voting machines available in Dem. versus Rep. precincts. Huh?

Could someone explain that to me pullease? Who the heck can afford to spend 7-9 hours in line?

Such BS I truly can't contend with.

[Fly by night]

102. My questions to the Judiciary Committee (already posted with them)

Representative Conyers and colleagues,

On behalf of all Americans who are deeply concerned for the future of our democracy, thank you for your efforts to initiate a serious investigation of the recent election theft. I trust that your hearing tomorrow will be only the first in a series of hearings that will result in action to overturn the fraudulent re(un)election of George Bush and other Republicans who were elected under false and fraudulent pretenses. As requested, here are several questions that I would appreciate your asking tomorrow or at future hearings.

1) Although your first hearing will focus on Ohio, it appears that there are a number of other states whose voting irregularities also demand immediate attention. Will you be holding additional hearings to address potential fraud and election tampering evidence from New Mexico, Florida, Washington, Wyoming and many other states?

2) In this regard, is your Committee prepared to address the wholesale destruction of voter registration forms by a Republican-led company which disenfranchised voters in Oregon and Nevada (and perhaps other states?), and other documentable examples of voter intimidation and vote suppression that can be traced to the Republicans?

3) It appears that the Ohio Secretary of State undertook several tactics to confuse, discourage and disenfranchise new voters, including changing the requirements (in mid-stream) for the weight of the paper of the forms used to register voters, and then not monitoring compliance in all counties to allow new voters to register in an efficient and timely manner. Was this coordinated behavior to depress new voter registration activity a violation of the Voting Rights Act?

4) There have been allegations that Diebold employees were granted unauthorized access to voting equipment prior to the election in several Ohio counties. Can those employees be called to testify on what they were doing and under whose auspices?

5) Is it possible to obtain access to electronic voting machines which were used in the election, as well as machines which were programmed for use but never used, to examine the internal coding within these machines? If not, why not?

6) Would it be possible to receive testimony from Ohio voters and poll workers at precincts who reported repeated instances of voters selecting John Kerry on electronic voting machines but who witnessed having their votes diverted to George Bush or other candidates on those machines?

7) Likewise, would it be possible to receive testimony from voters who reported selecting John Kerry on these machines but finding, when they reviewed their votes prior to finalizing the voting process, that their votes for Kerry had been erased and that their ballot showed no recorded vote for President?

8) Can you obtain some explanation for why the numbers of voting machines available at some precincts (which appear to be strongly Democratic) were reduced between the primary and the general election? Likewise, can you obtain an explanation for why other, less populated precincts (in Republican areas) had more voting machines assigned to them for the general election than for the primary? What logical explanation justified these changes in voting machine assignment patterns?

9) What explanation can you obtain for Presidential vote totals in Ohio precincts and counties which exceeded the number of persons voting in those precincts?

10) In voting locations which served multiple precincts, what would justify poll officials accepting ballots from voters from other precincts using the same location and then discarding those ballots, instead of delivering the ballots to the correct precinct table themselves or directing the voters to the appropriate location in the first place?

11) Why were Republican campaign representatives allowed unfettered access within the polling place in some precincts and allowed to distribute "voting guides" which favored their candidates within the areas where such behavior is prohibited?

12) (This isn't framed as a question) I hope that committee staff will categorize the number and variety of voting irregularities which have been reported for Ohio on both the Election Incident Reporting System web-site and in the sworn affidavits obtained at the public hearings in Ohio and that this information will be read into the record at the beginning of the hearings.

13) If Mr. Blackwell does appear at your hearing, please ask him to categorize the amount of time he spent on partisan matters as the Bush campaign chairman for Ohio while he was "on the clock" and drawing a salary to perform his duties as the Ohio Secretary of State. Is he prepared to explain how he kept his official responsibilities (and time commitment) separate from his partisan activities as Bush's campaign chairman? Has he refunded that portion of his salary and expenses that were improperly spent on partisan activities during normal business hours and/or while using state offices and vehicles? Is he aware of any violations of Ohio's conflict of interest statutes for public officials that he violated in his dual (and conflicting role) as "head umpire" for the voting process and as "head coach" for the Bush forces in Ohio?

14) Since issues regarding the ease with which electronic voting equipment can be tampered with have been raised numerous times before and after the election and new evidence has surfaced that indicates that Republican leaders were actively seeking improper methods to "hack" the votes cast on electronic voting machines, can the Committee give time to Mr. Clinton Curtis to hear his experiences in this regard? Can the Committee provide a platform and then pursue legal action to compel testimony from those persons mentioned (including a sitting Congressman) in the allegations which Mr. Curtis had brought to the country's attention?

15) How quickly can the Committee convene formal hearings and compel testimony from witnesses from any and all states in which voting patterns defy credibility and in which similar voting irregularities have been documented?

16) Since Mr. Mitofsky and members of the Edison Research Group are not listed among the speakers for tomorrow's hearing, can this Committee compel these persons to release their raw exit poll information, explain the circumstances surrounding the "crash" of their computer server tracking the exit polls at a critical moment on election night and explain what justification they have for adjusting the exit poll numbers ex post facto in an attempt to get them to match the "reported" votes? Can the Committee compel Mitofsky and the Edison officials to testify under oath regarding the interactions they may have had with the Bush campaign, the Republican National Committee or other pro-Bush forces before, during and after election day? In short, by not releasing their raw exit poll information and refusing to appear before this Committee what do they have to hide?

17) Can the Committee receive testimony from representatives from other reputable polling firms (e.g., Zogby) and academic researchers whose own experience and analyses call into serious question the likelihood that the differences between the exit polls and the "reported" votes in Ohio and elsewhere would occur within the realm of reasonable statistical probability?

18) Can the Committee ask those polling company representatives and researchers why we should use exit polling information from the Ukraine as prima facie evidence of election fraud in that country and ignore the same (more prevalent) evidence of similar fraud in this country?

19) Finally, for those Republican members of the Judiciary committee whose absence is most obvious today, can the Committee members present ask their absent colleagues what else might be more important than assuring trust in our democratic processes and procedures that resulted in their missing this hearing? Please ask them if Republicans are inherently less interested in free and fair elections, or perhaps more interested in winning at all costs, than Democrats? Can they identify which "moral values" or patriotic principles are represented by their current stonewalling and "guilt by absence" positions?

I trust that you will receive many other questions from other Americans interested in overcoming the election fraud and theft that has occurred throughout this country. (If I think of other questions not covered by other people who are posting their questions online, I will send a supplemental list later.)

Thank you for your wisdom, your strength and your courage; and for your willingness to speak truth to the hollow power that has been illegitimately obtained by tampering with our sacred democratic ideals and practices. May the informed memory of our many brave ancestors and the fresh and inspiring example of the Ukrainian people guide your deliberations and bring our own evil-doers to justice.

[witchhazl]

78. My question, which I'm *trying* to send.

Unsuccessfully so far. Not locked up, just hanging.

Shelby County OH officials confirmed they (illegally) discarded key tabulation records from Nov 2, in order to "...save space and avoid confusion..." with the certified results.

How many counties are we going to find have "discarded" election records to "avoid confusion" --since they don't correspond with the certified results?

Since this is clearly contrary to Ohio election law requiring retention of records for 2 years, what is the penalty and who will pay it?

At what point will more evidence such as this, of the deliberate disposal of evidence, become grounds for invalidating the result of the Ohio election?

[proudtobeadem]

94. Hi witchhazl,

I'm having a real problem sending my question, I see that you are too.
My computerjust freezes each time I try (3times).
I posted that I'm having trouble but no one is helping.
If you are able to send yours, could you add this in since your questions are similar to mine?
This is the question:

Dear Rep. Conyers,
The result of this obviously flawed election is something that is very important to me as well as many, many others. I am pleased that you are standing up for democracy by initiating this investigation. I have a question/request and that is:
Could you try to impound the machines, tabulators, ballots, poll books, logbooks of irregularities that day and anything else of importance. These are vital pieces of evidence, as I am sure you know. There are already reports of tabulations being disposed of in Shelby County.

“…Among other things, a response from Shelby County election officials has confirmed that the county illegally discarded key tabulations from the November 2 vote count….”

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/97...

-Thank You

[skids]

80. Asked: Will the recount take care to find ballot rotation problems?

Message: From what I read of the standard procedures for a recount in Ohio, nothing gives me confidence that the recount will catch errors where ballots were mixed in colocated precincts. Will the recount specifically choose a few colocated precincts where abberant numbers of 3rd party votes occurred, and will the selection of ballots for the 3% hand count be sufficiently random to locate such errors? Is hand-counting 3% of the ballots enough to detect these errors? Will procedures in the recount be modified at all in order to clean up an obvious source of inaccuracy in the results?

[Kansas Wyatt]

95. What company supplied the ballots in Ohio?

More importantly, what companies were capable of making ballots and did anyone have ballots made with the same specifications as Ohio? After all, if you are going to swap ballots, you can't just buy them off the shelf.

[skids]

130. All the ballots are the same (well except for the "heavy stock" rumor)

What is printed on the ballots doesn't change -- all that is printed is a bunch of numbers.

The precinct number is written on the ballot, and that is what determines which numbers give votes to which candidate.

[lthuedk]

81. Sent

With electronic vote tabulation at odds with the exit polls, why haven't the voting machines (and their hard drives) and scanners been impounded by subpoena?

[JunkYardDogg]

84. Go to my posting for Instructions how to Contact the Staff

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=121296#125217

I sent them my paper Monday, it looks like it really worked!!!!!
YES YES YES
Read how I contacted them

[rainy]

86. Why are we letting private corporations count our votes

owned by wealthy, criminal republicans? Why do we not refuse to vote on machines that are illegal because a recount, which is the right of candidates, cannot be done. There is no way to recount on these illegal machines.

[nmoliver]

91. great idea ...

Great idea. All of the Democrats who oppose computerized voting shouldn't vote. The Republicans who love it, should go vote. Brilliant ...

How about this instead: demand a paper ballot for yourself, vote absentee, vote early.

[faithnotgreed]

132. BINGO - why machines privately owned with no verifiable paper trail

[Duer 157099]

88. Just heard on Olbermann

Mitofsky will not attend the forum, neither will he provide the raw data.

Big surprise.

[Eric J in MN]

89. Doesn't the EQUAL PROTECTION clause of the US Constitution

prohibit providing enough voting-machines in white neighborhoods, while forcing some blacks in Ohio to wait seven hours to vote?

[Alizaryn]

90. What hope is there of this becoming a NON-partisan issue?

Even if irregularities are found that are able to be defined as "fraud", what hope is there of a fair judgment for the American people? Have there been any efforts from the republicans in the Judiciary committee to take this issue seriously, see it as what it is a NON-partisan issue and join in the investigation?

(It keeps crashing my computer too, I'll try once more)

[Peace Patriot]

101. Republicans...

As for those in Congress, they are the "Nuke 'em brigade." They SET UP this fraudulent election system quite purposefully. They are not going to fix it, and may make it worse.

However, there are many, many Republicans throughout the land who voted for Kerry and whose votes were stolen and given to Bush. This has been spefically documented in certain areas, and is suspected to be widespread. These many Republicans who rejected Bush and voted for Kerry are reasonable people who would be outraged by this fraud. And even some of the Republicans who voted for Bush may be disturbed by it.

My point is that even without the mountain of evidence pointing to election fraud, and to a Kerry win--possibly by a landslide--even if the country is just split more or less 50/50, we have sufficient fair-minded people to accomplish getting, 1) a paper trail, and 2) open source code in every jurisdiction.

But Congress is NOT going to do it--nor of course will we have presidential leadership on this issue (ha, ha, ha)(weep, weep!), nor will the courts, quaking in their boots at a threatened Bush "nuking," come to the rescue of democracy.

We CAN do it locally--in our state and county jurisdictions--and I believe will have significant non-partisan support for it.

[Alizaryn]

116. Agreed, a public question at the hearing then "ignored" by

the republicans could be used against them to encourage the "Bush rejecting" republicans to take a stand and open the door for any real BRAVE Rep's to join.

[Eric J in MN]

99. Why not require PAPER BALLOTS, HAND-COUNTED for federal

races?

There are a maximum of 3 federal races per precinct.

There is no reason why these votes could not be hand-counted.

It would take less time and money than builidng voting machines, setting them up, storing voting machines, training people on voting machines, etc.

It would also be more trustworthy, if an equal number of Republicans and Democrats acted as election judges, and the count were public.

[lizzieforkerry]

100. Help me with my questions

Please help me with my wording, or input about relavence...


1. If Warren County was on a level 10 Homeland Security threat, why was the Homeland Security Color Code not invoked to warn the citizens of Warren County?

2. Why were two elementary schools, that were a 300 yards away from the Board of Elections, allowed to be in session that day, and the Board of Education and parents not warned about an increase in our terror threat level? Why were two precincts allowed to vote in these schools, further endagering the children and putting the voters at an increased risk of being so close to the BoE? Why were the poll workers not warned of the increased threat and instructed to be on the lookout for unusual activity?

3. Why were there no increased security measures taken during the day at the BoE, allowing anyone to walk in and out without question?

4. Why was the only security measure taken to bar the press from the vote counting, what specific threat did they pose by being in the room instead of downstairs in the lobby?

5. What was the name of the FBI agent who met with the Warren County Commissioners?

6. Were the absentee ballots checked against the roll books to insure no double voting took place in the event people received unrequested absentee ballots?

7. Why were precinct judges told to call the BoE to see if an unregistered voter was on the list, and if told "no, they are not on our list" they were not allowed to vote provisionally?

[skids]

136. Looks good.

They already know about 5, but I'd just send them as is.

[danostuporstar]

106. My question regards Gahanna glitch

successfully posted this message using the form:

Rep Conyers,

Thank you again for publically seeking answers to what went wrong in Ohio on election day. It was posted on DemocracyUnderground.com that your staff was taking sugestions for questions to be asked during tomorrow's forum. My suggested questions are below. THANK YOU!!!

The Gahanna glitch which gave Bush 3,893 extra votes has been explained as a faulty cartridge problem by the Franklin County Board of Elections. What steps have been taken to reproduce the problem so that a more specific diagnosis if the 'glitch' can be obtained? How did the BOE assure itself that the problem did not occur on a smaller scale on other machines?

It has also been stated that the correct vote count was obtained by a check of the machine's memory. Can all of Franklin County's votes be recounted this way? Have all the Danaher brand machines been kept secure since election day? Who exactly has had access to them?

Source: http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65609,00.html?tw=wn_4polihead

[snot]

108. Here's what I just sent (with a lot of help from TruthIsAll)

Gentlemen and Ladies:

My heartfelt thanks for your courageous and unremitting efforts in the cause of election integrity. I am writing to propose the following questions to be asked at the hearings on this subject tomorrow:

FACT
Republicans in Congress pushed HAVA through but defeated all efforts to require auditable paper trails. Why?

FACT
In 2004, 80% of all votes in the U.S. tallied on paperless machines. Recommendations by computer experts that system software should be open-source, among other things, were ignored. Tabulations were controlled by highly partisan, private corporations. Why?

FACT
In other developed countries, fully-papered, easily-audited voting technologies are used, and recounts are free—but not in the U.S. Why?

FACT
Kerry led big in all exit polls, but he lost. Why?

FACT
Thousands of incidents: disenfranchised, touchscreen votes that switch themselves to Bush, terror alert lockouts, paucity of voting machines in Democratic precincts, spoiled ballots (again). Why?

FACT
Vast majority of glitches and incidents favor Bush. Why?

FACT
Professors’ and researchers’ statistical analyses point overwhelmingly to fraud, as there is a one-way shift from the exit polls to Bush. Why?

FACT
Exit polls are used to check for election fraud all over the world--but here they are merely disparaged. Why?

FACT
Exit Pollsters refuse to release their raw data. Why?

FACT
Ohio is failing to enforce its own laws regarding the retention of voting documentation. Why?

Finally, how much fraud is enough for the results of an election to be thrown out? Or have we actually reached the sad point of believing that, if the fraud’s BIG enough, it may be too big to be overturned?

Again, thank you.

(Thanks to TruthIsAll for most of these questions.)

 

[SmileMaker]

109. National healing - let's revote on paper & let HS students count them

Message: Is it legal to allow corporations to own the software code that counts our votes and then own the intellectual property of the exit poll consultants that check the results? I hope not!

This election feels like a shock and awe campaign that has defrauded voters in so many different way that it is impossible to explain it in soundbites. So, even if we win, we will still lose.

Sadly, the biggest part of the problem that has lead us to this complicated mess is a privatized media that , distracts from, distorts and omits information that is crucial to a fair election process. Our democracy has been hijacked by business and government collaborators who have demonstrated a total disregard for law and order when it conflicts with their interests. This collaboration is a grave threat to the safety of the citizens that they are sworn to protect. I hope that you and your colleagues will not let them get away with any of the crimes that I have read about.

I think it would be fairest and simplest to revote everywhere that there is a discrepancy. I helped a lot of young people to the polls and I feel a special responsibility for making sure their votes are counted. They have the most at stake in this since they will be paying for it.

For that reason, and because this election is, literally, a matter of survival, I think we should try something really revoltionary that could bring us all together for the sake of the children. It would be easiest, and cheapest to revote on paper and then have students of math and social studies classes in high schools around the country count them as a special project. Just imagine what a great way this would be to resolve this that could bring us all together for the sake of respecting our beloved democracy and protecting the future for our children.

The youth of our country have much more of a right to count our votes than the corporations that have privatized the democratic process and that now threaten our Republic.

In the future, we should plan for a uniform system using open source software wth paper trail. Also, I think it would serve our youngsters well to play an important part in the democratic process as an additional check and balance - beginning with this election.

[bunny planet]

110. Why were the provisional ballot rules different in Ohio than in other

states? Why weren't provisional ballots counted when the voter was registered somewhere in the state of Ohio but was voting in the wrong precinct (or sometimes just at the wrong table in the right precinct). I thought provisional ballots were designed to take care of just such a problem occuring. Voters who were registered, but for some reason, either because they moved or their precinct had changed without their knowledge, were supposed to be able to fill out a provisional ballot and when their names were found registered anywhere within the state, their provisional ballot would be considered valid and counted. There was a last minute ruling in Ohio that denied this basic provision of the provisionals, if you will, from being honored. It would seem that this ruling that caused many provisional ballots to be thrown out was designed to disenfranchise the very voters provisional balloting was designed to protect.

[Vote4Kerry]

113. Signed affidavit by Curtis attests to vote-rigging==Why are machines not

being impounded to check to see they were not tampered with on election day?!! Somebody please ask that question--we have to check all of the electronic voting machines to make sure nobody tampered with them to rig the vote!

[MadScientist]

114. Glitch = MALFUNCTION

Do not allow anyone to use the word "Glitch" in their testimony.

This term should be replaced with the word "Malfunction."
Saying that a problem was caused by a glitch implies several things - That it is an isolated incident, that it is unforeseen, and that NO ONE IS TO BLAME.

That is the reason the word was chosen in the first place. We must not allow them to continue using it.

If anybody at the hearing (or the media) uses the word glitch respond immediately with "By 'glitch' you mean malfunction?"

This places the responsibility back where it belongs:
That these manufacturers create faulty equipment with a high failure rate that results in disenfranchisement of voters, and that the defective machines were then certified and approved for use by elected officials.

BTW, I work in quality control for a medical equipment company, and if I used the word 'glitch' in my reports my career would end immediately.

[MelissaB]

121. Did you email this, MadScientist?

Excellent Point!!

[MadScientist]

123. Yes. (Thanks.) N/T

[TalkingDog]

117. What is being done to the people who do this sort of thing?

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/97...

Ohio election fraud uproar blasting to new level
by Steve Rosenfeld, Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
December 7, 2004

The bitter battle over the stolen November 2 election in Ohio has turned into a rapidly escalating all-out multi-front war with the outcome of the real presidential vote count increasingly in doubt.<snip>

In addition, new evidence has continued to surface of widespread voter fraud throughout the state. Among other things, a response from Shelby County election officials has confirmed that the county illegally discarded key tabulations from the November 2 vote count. As this county's response is the first of 88 to come from Freedom of Information Act filings, it seems likely evidence of many more illegalities could follow.<snip>

[JoMama49]

118. And Then There's This:

(has this been sent to Congress/GAO?)
Found at: www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/975

Ohio election fraud uproar blasting to new level
by Steve Rosenfeld, Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
December 7, 2004

The bitter battle over the stolen November 2 election in Ohio has turned into a rapidly escalating all-out multi-front war with the outcome of the real presidential vote count increasingly in doubt.<snip>

In addition, new evidence has continued to surface of widespread voter fraud throughout the state. Among other things, a response from Shelby County election officials has confirmed that the county illegally discarded key tabulations from the November 2 vote count. As this county's response is the first of 88 to come from Freedom of Information Act filings, it seems likely evidence of many more illegalities could follow.<snip>

And it gets better (or worse): The reason they cited for pitching the best raw evidence of voting results was to "...save space and avoid confusion..." with the certified results. (And yes, Dear Readers, this is a BLATANT violation of Ohio's Public Records law, which requires the retention of election records for two years)

In other words, the supposition is that the actual Nov 2nd results differed from what was certified by Blackwell!

[Samantha]

119. How can the United States sell Democracy in Iraq when we can't grow

it at home.

[evolvenow]

120. I sent:Were the military ballots counted properly? Is there documentation?

Were the military ballots counted properly? Is there documentation?
Was Blackwell aware of the Warren County lockdown? When was he aware? How can the votes be considered untampered without transparency in tabulation?
What time and where did Blackwell and Bush meet on Nov. 2, 2004? What did they discuss?
When and where did Blackwell and Rove meet and what did they discuss in regards to the election?
With massive accounts of machine error, intentional confusion, unlawful challenging and intimidation, outrageous elimination of votes, unchecked partisan support by election officials..there cannot be any confidence in the vote..and therefore must be removed from the election, meaning Kerry won.

[Carl Brennan]

122. OHIO: Shelby County just nabbed for destroying key tabulations

This is the end of it for me. This election is null and void. Bush is a fascist dictator without one ounce of legitimacy. The dirty fucking bastards are destroying public records that are vital to finding out what happened on Nov. 2.


http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/97...

Ohio election fraud uproar blasting to new level
by Steve Rosenfeld, Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
December 7, 2004

The bitter battle over the stolen November 2 election in Ohio has turned into a rapidly escalating all-out multi-front war with the outcome of the real presidential vote count increasingly in doubt.<snip>

In addition, new evidence has continued to surface of widespread voter fraud throughout the state. Among other things, a response from Shelby County election officials has confirmed that the county illegally discarded key tabulations from the November 2 vote count. As this county's response is the first of 88 to come from Freedom of Information Act filings, it seems likely evidence of many more illegalities could follow.<snip>

And it gets better (or worse): The reason they cited for pitching the best raw evidence of voting results was to "...save space and avoid confusion..." with the certified results. (And yes, Dear Readers, this is a BLATANT violation of Ohio's Public Records law, which requires the retention of election records for two years)

In other words, the supposition is that the actual Nov 2nd results differed from what was certified by Blackwell!

[OKthatsIT]

124. my question-voter suppression premeditated

Questions for Judicial Hearing, Wed Dec 8, 2004:
1)How many 'voters per hour' are slotted for the following voting machines:

Punchcard ballot = voters per hour
Optical Scanner ballot = voters per hour
Diebold (DRE)Touch Screen vote = voters per hour
Old Style Lever vote = voters per hour
Paper ballot = voters per hour

Next Question:
Using the formula above, have him do the math. give him the numbers of registered voters in precinct ____________, registered voters in that precinct _______. Polls opened at_____am, closing at ________pm

Have someone there doing the math as he answers the question. This will make is obvious about voter suppression being formulated prior to election.

[EC]

126. I want to know

What is more important to them, keeping our democracy somewhat solid, or playing their partisan games? If a vote is intended, it should be counted, period, no matter how many chads, or other silly excuses for not counting a vote. What has happened to common sense?

[KatieB]

127. A DUer asked this be sent to you re: Clint Curtis - found ref to Fny/NASA

VTGold (25 posts) Wed Dec-08-04 04:12 AM
Original message
LOOK! - Gov Doc showing complaint against Feeney and Yang


I'm hot tonight!

I found this document on the Federal Election Committee site - was this mentioned in any of the info on Clint Curtis - I can't recall.

I've pasted the interesting part below - here is the link (http://www.fec.gov/press/press2004/20040812mur.html )


MUR 5336

RESPONDENTS:
(a) Sean O'Keefe

(b) Space Gateway Support, LLC (SGS)

(c) Yang Enterprises, Inc.

(d) Tom Feeney for Congress, Nancy H. Watkins, treasurer
COMPLAINANT: Chris R. Hunt
SUBJECT: Contributions by a federal contractor; corporate contribution
DISPOSITION: (a) No reason to believe*



(b) No reason to believe*



(c-d) Dismiss the allegations as a matter of prosecutorial discretion*

The complaint alleged that Sean O'Keefe, the Administrator of NASA; Space Gateway Support, LLC, a NASA contractor; and Yang Enterprises, Inc., a NASA subcontractor, unlawfully used federal property and funds for campaign activities on behalf of Tom Feeney, a candidate in Florida 's 24 th Congressional District in 2002. The Commission either dismissed or found no reason to believe in this matter.
DOCUMENTS ON THE PUBLIC RECORD: Documents from this matter are available from the Commission's web site at http://eqs.sdrdc.com/eqs/searcheqs by entering 5336 under case number. They are also available in the FECs Public Records Office at 999 E St. NW in Washington.

*There are four administrative stages to the FEC enforcement process:

1. Receipt of proper complaint 3. ?Probable cause? stage
2. ?Reason to believe? stage 4. Conciliation stage

It requires the votes of at least four of the six Commissioners to take any action. The FEC can close a case at any point after reviewing a complaint. If a violation is found and conciliation cannot be reached, then the FEC can institute a civil court action against a respondent.

[merh]

133. Thanks to VTGold's find re Mitofsky

This should be brought up!

On the US Department of State site - I found this very cool Foreign Press Briefing in NY from October 26 2004 where they discuss the coming exit poll strategy and proclaim how sure they are that it will be reliable - here is the cool bit - I will paste the link below:

-----------------------
QUESTION: This year, how much can we trust exit polls? Is it going to be a little bit different from four years ago?

MR. CARROLL: It's going to be better. I'll tell you why it's going to be better. There's a guy named Warren Mitofsky who is doing all the exit polls. He's in charge of the whole shebang. Now, last time around if you'll recall, we had the Voter News Service, which was sort of a specialized setup just for the election. The Associated Press is doing it this time -- the actual count.

Warren -- he and I talked after the last election. Warren was a -- oh, a foe of the people who did it last time. And he told me what happened in Florida. He said that: (a) the sample precincts were a little peculiar in his view; but (b) they were told -- and look, all of you guys have done this -- at something like about 2 o'clock in the morning, they had something like 96 percent of the vote in. I mean, how many times have you written a story when you had 96 percent of the vote? I've written stories with 30, 40, you know, where you know what's going to happen, right? They were told 96 percent of the vote was in. But 50,000 were out. They did their computer stuff and said, okay, it's going to be Gore.

But there weren't 50,000 out. There were 80,000 out. And don't forget, it was close enough that that made a difference. That was what tilted it. A lot of that extra 30 was in western Florida. So this time: (a) they've got a real pro in Mitofsky doing it; (b) they don't want another 2000. And so I'll guarantee you that if an exit poll is screwed up someplace, it won't be screwed up in Florida. I'll guarantee it. Because, you know, you remember what happened in the off-year election. The 2-years ago, the exit polls didn't work. Their computers went down. It was screwed up. It didn't work. This year -- I'd bet my paycheck on it -- it'll work.

QUESTION: And again, Mitofsky is with AP?

MR. CARROLL: No, Mitofsky is with Mitofsky.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. CARROLL: He's got a -- I've forgotten what they call it. I think he's called something like Mitofsky, International, or something like that. He's a genius at polling, and I'd put my money on him.
-------------------------

http://fpc.state.gov/fpc/37918.htm

[milkyway]

134. I asked about the ES&S tampering in Auglaize County.

Two weeks before the election, there was an incident of tampering with a voting machine by an ES&S employee apparently related to top management at ES&S. The incident was reported in a local newspaper:

"In a letter dated Oct. 21, Ken Nuss, former deputy director of the Auglaize County Board of Elections, claimed that Joe McGinnis, a former employee of Election Systems and Software (ES&S), the company that provides the voting system in Auglaize County, was on the main computer that is used to create the ballot and compile election results, which would go against election protocol. Nuss claimed in the letter that McGinnis was allowed to use the computer the weekend of Oct. 16.

Nuss, who resigned from his job Oct. 21 after being suspended for a day, was responsible for overseeing the computerized programming of election software, according to his job description. His resignation is effective Nov. 11.

http://www.theeveningleader.com/articles/2004/11/06/news/news.01.txt

The name McGinnis pops up a lot when reading about ES&S. There are at least four of them. Dan McGinnis is a VP of ES&S. http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/2001-September/006610.html

There is also a Keith McGinnis. Three of the four McGinnis's were at this meeting in Indiana. http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/iec/minutes/min12799.html

So Joe McGinnis, who was caught tampering with a computer in Auglaize County, Ohio a couple of weeks before the election, is not just any employee. Apparently, he's related to top management.

The Evening Leader's article describes Joe McGinnis as a former employee. Why is he a former employee? Did he leave the company before or after the tampering incident? Also, Ken Nuss, who disclosed the tampering, was suspended for one day and subsequently resigned. Why is that? What is the result of Blackwell's investigation of this incident?

BTW, thanks to the staff for their exceptional work on the letter to Blackwell.

[Tinksrival]

135. I sent in my questions

Thank you sir for listening,
I have heard glowing reviews on the election procedures in Oregon. I thought it would be great if we could adapt this nationwide. But then I remembered there's big money in voting. Are the states binded contractually with the Diebold, ES&S, ect. Any no confidence clause to get out of a contract?
Please investigate the GEMS tabulators. Who has access to these central vote counters, are they hackable, and where are they and are they monitored during thr elections? If yes than by whom?
Since the republican party clearly wants to keep the elections from being transparent and the companies responsible for counting the votes are republican partisan and contributers and since they now have control of the house and senate, will the democrats never win another election? How will we ever have a fair and transparent elections if we have no power to change this broken system? How could we let this happen?
I'm just a hard working mom and wife in the midwest that has lost faith in my countries democracy.
Please tell me there is hope.
Thank You again for your efforts

[skids]

138. Nice personal touch.

If anyone has a "ordinary citizen" card, play it like Tinksrival did.

[JackieP]

137. How many thought they were registered?

My question submitted to the Judiciary Committee's site:

How many provisional ballots were cast by people who believed that they were registered to vote, but whose registrations were removed during a voter roll purge, were received but not by the deadline, or were not processed due to other reasons such as confusing paper-weight directives? Please include a breakdown of each circumstance.


Cuyahoga County presents an unusual scenario, also seen in Hamilton County, with the number of registered voters declining between 2000 and 2004.

Deputy Director Gwen Dillingham of the Cuyahoga County Elections Board in Ohio claimed, before the 2004 election, that there were 820,372 registered voters in Cuyahoga County for the 2000 general election. The official results for the 2000 general election, as posted on Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's site, reflect a total 1,010,764 registered voters in Cuyahoga County. Dillingham also claims that 160,894 new registrations had been received on or before an article published Oct. 25, 2004 at News-Herald.com. This seems to indicate a voter roll purge or other issues in processing registrations.

From: http://serform.sos.state.oh.us/sos/results

2004 Results:
1,007,187 Registered voters
687,260 Votes cast
68.24% Percent turnout

2000 Results:
1,010,764 Registered voters
586,914 Votes cast
58.1% Percent turnout


From: http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13214848&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

Cuyahoga County
Cuyahoga County Elections Board expects to find itself $750,000 over budget for several reasons, said Deputy Director Gwen Dillingham.
The board has had to hire 65 temporary workers to deal with the onslaught of new registrations and absentee ballot requests.
The board also hired 735 special inspectors to work Nov. 2. Typically, the board hires about 200.
Most of the inspectors will be positioned at precincts to ensure that voters are directed to the right place and to make sure campaigning candidates don't get out of hand.
Others will travel throughout the county, checking in at various locations.
"This is quite possibly the biggest election we could ever have," Dillingham said.
"With the volume of voters coming through and the heated campaigns, we want to make sure the voter is not disturbed and that they are at the right precinct."
In the 2000 election, there were 820,372 registered voters in Cuyahoga County. To date, there are more than 1 million, with registrations still being processed.
This year alone, 160,894 registrations have come in, Dillingham said.

[EC]

139. Was it Just INCOMPETENCE

or on purpose, that the number of machines were not enough for some districts and too many for others, when you knew how many people approximately were registered per precinct? If you were doing your job, the ratio would have been closer to adequate machines to people. There is absolutely no good reason for anyone to stand in line more than one hour to vote, especially in a state where every job counts.

Also, there were many cases of absentee ballots being picked up from people after receiving phone calls and others called and told their precinct had been changed. These calls were not random...someone had a list and phone numbers, has the theft of computers from the Democratic Headquarters in Lucas County been truly investigated, or just written off as likely drug addicts? Sounds like a convenient verdict.

[garybeck]

140. Question: Why did 24 precincts in Cuyahoga

originally show 97,489 more votes than registered voters?

These extra votes have now been removed from the results, but the total votes for the county did not change. How can you explain this? Where did the 97,489 votes go?

[garybeck]

142. Why were the bills never voted on?

Senate Bill 1980 (Graham-Clinton):
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SN01980:

House Bill 2239 (Holt):
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.02239:


I want to know why these bills were never voted on. That is my question.

[senegal1]

143. Hi my questions are as follows:

MY question is: Did Kenneth Blackwell seek an advisory opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission on his possible conflict of interest in being both Ohio Secretary of State and Associate Chair of the Bush-Cheney 04 Ohio State campaign?

Was Kenneth Blackwell compensated in any form by the Bush-Cheney Campaign? Compensation would include but not be limited to money, political favors, or other …?

Did Kenneth Blackwell use his influence to gain for himself or his political party favors, advantages, or other …?

You can go on from here according to the ethics rules… which I sent directly.

ALSO for DUers: someone in Ohio should file for an investigation by the Ohio Ethics Commission -- I prove the info and the link ---

http://www.ethics.ohio.gov/Investigation.html
How do I file an allegation of wrongdoing?

________________________________________
You may contact an Ethics Commission Special Investigator at [phone] to determine whether or not your allegation falls within the authority of the Commission, as defined in Ohio's Ethics Law. Once this determination is made, the Investigator will mail to you an Allegation Form to be completed and returned to the Commission.


________________________________________

[emlev]

145. kick

kick

[senegal1]

146. kick this is imporant!