Ohio vote count: new evidence of potential criminal activity

[liam97]

Freepress article - http://freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/996

[leftchick]

1. From the article...

<snip>
Meanwhile, efforts to recount Ohio's vote may have been fatally tainted by the Republican Party, raising questions of what the GOP has to hide, and prompting demands for criminal prosecution.

New affidavits point to possible criminal activity by top Ohio election officials, raising yet more questions about the 2004 vote. Rhonda J. Frazier, a former employee of the Ohio Secretary of State's office, has confirmed in an affidavit taken by Cynthia Butler, working with freepress.org, that the Office had secret slush funds. Frazier says it also failed to comply with the requirements of "The Voting Reform Grant" that required all the voting machines in Ohio to be inventoried and tagged for security reasons.

"I was routinely told to violate the bidded contracts to order supplies from other companies for all 17 Secretary of State offices throughout the State which were cheaper vendors, leaving a cash surplus differential in the budget," Frazier states, "After complaining about the office's repeated practices of violating grants and contracts I was fired."

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has come under intense fire for his role in officiating the disputed Ohio balloting and vote count. Blackwell served as co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign while running an election he says went "smoothly."

Blackwell's role has been central to a week that started with a bang and rapidly escalated to a dramatic last-minute filing at the state Supreme Court Friday afternoon, December 17.

[mdb]

7. That's just great.

This is just unbelievable what is happening in Ohio, and everything is still going on as if nothing has happened.

More and more problems surface from Ohio and you wouldn't know it because it is being ignored, not only by the media but it seems by the courts. The courts can't ignore what is going on in Ohio. Frazier says it also failed to comply with the requirements of "The Voting Reform Grant" that required all the voting machines in Ohio to be inventoried and tagged for security reasons.

So the machines could of been tampered with and probably were because they were not secured through inventory and tagging. We already know Triad had it's crew out there in Ohio's counties setting up machines for the recount WITHOUT party affiliates observing. Now we find out the machines were not secured.

[lenidog]

2. Here I thought that someone had proof

of actual tampering that would have led to criminal charges because of your headline and it turns out to be everyday governmental BS.

[Digit]

3. Good article

There is hope.

[merh]

4. Great article....

more from the article:

But far more serious charges than a mere delay surfaced at Conyers' hearing. A letter from the Shelby County Board of Elections, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, admitted that data critical to a meaningful recount had been discarded, possibly illegally. Sworn testimony from election observers in Greene County indicated that ballots had been left loose on tables in an unlocked, unguarded building, open to manipulation and theft, prior to a recount. And in Lucas County and Hocking County, it was revealed that technicians from the Diebold and Triad companies had inexplicably taken control of voting machines and dismantled them, rendering verifiable recounts impossible.


(snip)

With court battles escalating, attempts to conduct a meaningful recount have proceeded. Democratic, Green and Libertarian party officials have helped in training volunteers to examine voter records and what to look for as the Ohio vote tally continues. Hundreds of volunteers are observing at election boards around the state trying to get a grasp on what actually happened November 2. Amy Kaplan, head of the Green Party's Franklin County recount, reported to the Free Press that two of the electronic voting machines in Franklin County had faulty cartridges that generated error messages despite being in use on Election Day.

The observers' work has been frustrated and the recount tainted by destroyed records, compromised evidence, and by private vendors who have "re-programmed" machines in both Lucas and Hocking Counties.

(snip)

Where this will all lead remains unclear. An escalation of court battles is the only certainty. The presidential election of 2004 is by no means over.

==========
Thanks for the link - this is far from over!

(A belated Welcome to DU, too! :hi:

[dobegrrrl]

5. Repug courts will throw it out.

I am a recovering lawyer and all of this confirms my decision to leave the corrupt system of no justice. It just makes me ill - that partian politics trumps justice, but we see it over and over -- FL (great Oct 2004 Vanity Fair article), now Washington, Ohio next!

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[AirAmFan]

8. Bob Fitrakis gets my vote for hardest worker against Ohio election fraud

[jazzjunkysue]

9. hope it sticks. We need a senator!!!