Thursday 12/30 Election/Fraud/Recount thread

[MelissaB]

In order to organize and document I thought it would be a good idea to have a daily thread to place items related to the recounts/fraud. This also make it easier to "catch up" when we are away from the computer for a while.

Please help us. If you see something that isn't here post it with a link to the thread and a thanks to the author. Thanks to everyone who is helping in this project.


Link to the thread from yesterday here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x206858#209683

[L. Coyote]

1. Rossi Calls for a WA Revote "election was a mess"

Rossi Calls for a Revote, Gregoire Shuns Request, Certification Today
by Brad Shannon:

http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20041230/_government/59246.shtml

[dzika]

9. Wednesday 12/29 Highlights

Recap of stories from Wednesday 12/29
(and a few from previous days)

• Ohio Fraud News
  
  
  • 12/27 - truthout Report: Kerry Files Motion to Protect Ohio Vote Evidence by WRP
    
  • 12/28 - Free Press: Ohio GOP election officials ducking subpoenas as Kerry enters
    
  • 12/28 - Internet Vote Fraud: TRIAD has Means, Motive, and Opportunity
    
  • 12/28 - Congresswoman Maxine Waters Will Challenge Ohio Electors
    
  • 12/28 - TEFLON KERRY: MORE SLICK MOVES ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FRAUD
    
  • 12/28 - New Media Communications--fascinating octopus of electoral
    
  • Chicago Sun-Times Ohio recount ends -- Jackson still fighting
    
  • Chief justice refuses to remove self from vote challenge
    
  • The Nashua Advocate Reports on Media Blackout of the "Watergate of Ohio"
    
  • ILCA : Presidential Election 2004: CBC Attacks Ohio Voter Disfranchisement
    
  • San Francisco Bay View - No holiday for vote thieves
    
  
  
• New Mexico Fraud News
  
  
  • 12/28 - Legal Fight Over New Mexico Recount Could Continue For Weeks
    
  • 12/28 - New Mexico Recount Goes Back to Court
    
  • 12/28 - Recount Fight Still On in NM; Candidates Plan To File Notice of Appeal
    
  
  
• Texas Fraud News
  
  
  • 12/27 - Texas Election Scandal - Forty Faxes and a Whisper
    
  • 12/27 - (3 PDFs for dl)
    
  
  
• Washington Recount News
  
  
  • Gregoire to be certified as governor, but Rossi won’t concede
    
  • Republican seeks revote in Washington governor's race
    
  • Rossi's letter calling for new election
    
  • County Panel Rebuffs GOP Bid in WA; Canvassing Board Says No to Rejects
    
  
  
• Act Now!
  
  
  • 12/27 - eFax Senators to Demand They Investigate the Election Fraud
    
  • 12/28 - action alert to send your own senators + rep from deanpeople
    
  • 12/28 - TURN UP THE HEAT ON ASKING CHUCK SCHUMER TO OBJECT TO CERTIFICATION
    
  • Important Ohio Action Memo from Progressive Democrats of Illinois
    
  • Ideas For Those Who Can Make Financial Contributions
    
  • Contact Information for 7 Key Senators
    
  
  
• Protest/Rallies
  
  
  • 12/27 - Labor to Join Count-the-Vote Rally on Jan. 3
    
  • 12/28 - Daily Vigil at Senator Kerry's House, Dec. 28-Jan. 5
    
  • 12/28 - What political activities will you be undertaking in January?
    
  • TN: THE THIRD GATHERING TO SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY SUNDAY, 01/02/05
    
  • January 5th Freedom Ride From Columbus to Washington
    
  • Rally For The Republic at Boston's Faneuil Hall on Jan. 3
    
  
  
• Other Media/Opinions
  
  
  • 12/27 - Ukraine Exit Polls Leave No Doubt that John Kerry Would Have Won
    
  • 12/27 - BRAD BLOG: 'Bloggermann' Keeps Shoveling...
    
  • 12/27 - Reverend Jesse Jackson writes to PDA base
    
  • 12/27 - Doing the Right Thing - "we who believe in freedom cannot rest"
    
  • 12/28 - Montana Court declares "one or more" ballots invalid, Dem. Windham wins
    
  • 12/28 - Do Not Believe the Misinformation Being Fed by the Corporate Media
    
  • OpEdNews: Assassins of Democracy, Votergate 2004 Continues
    
  • Common Dreams: Rule One: Count Every Vote
    
  • Federal Standards Needed to Reduce Voter Fraud
    
  • Clear Channel refuses to air Right to Vote ad, and 6 other ads
    
  • The 2004 Popular Vote Needs Thorough Investigation
    
  • We are not alone
    
  • Group holds fast to Kerry cause with Beacon Hill vigil
    
  
  
• Resources
  
  
  • 12/27 - Evidence of Fraud and Disenfranchisement in Ohio: A Partial List
    
  • 12/27 - Update from PFAW Election Protection Hotline
    
  • 12/27 - Election Fraud in America - Comparing Mythologies: US, Ukraine, Venezuela
    
  • 12/27 - An Awesome Collection of Links about Fraud 2004! - 350+ Links
    
  • 12/28 - IN ONE SPOT: RECENT HORROR STORIES - A series of posts by DU's TruthIsAll
    
  • Calendar of Events Leading to Constitutional Challenge of Electors on 1/6
    
  • Who Won The Popular Vote? Comparative Validity of Exit Poll and Vote Count
    
  • A Roundup Of The Recent Events Surrounding Election Fraud in Ohio
    
  
  
  
  
  

[L. Coyote]

2. Free Press has "Impossible Phantom Votes in New Mexico"

Impossible Phantom Votes in New Mexico
by Warren Stewart

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/1055

SNIP:

" The 2,087 phantom votes 'disappeared' and hid an equal number of undervotes at the same time. Surely New Mexico would have left the other states in the dust if they had calculated the phantoms right. But then how many phantoms do you suppose there are lurking in the canvass reports of the other 49 states? "

[MelissaB]

3. Cincinnati Post: "Vindication for Ohio"

The 2004 Ohio presidential election is destined to provide fodder for conspiracy theorists, graduate students and political junkies for generations to come. Already there is a cult convinced that George Bush stole the election and that John Kerry conceded it way too soon.
For the record, the official recount ended Tuesday. It uncovered no grievous problems with the vote count, no evidence of fraud, no major irregularities that didn't have a logical explanation. The recount gave Bush an additional 449 votes and Democratic candidate John Kerry another 734. Bush wound up carrying Ohio by 118,457 votes out of 5.8 million cast -- a tight election, but not the closest in Ohio history.

Even the minor party candidates who forced the recount -- putting up $113,600 for a process that cost more than $1.5 million -- appeared satisfied with the result. "The intention was always to verify whether there were anomalies in the voting process,'' Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik told the Associated Press. "The purpose of the recount was not to change the outcome.''

But even though the recount is finished, and even though Ohio's presidential electors have already cast their 20 votes for Bush, the challenge isn't over.

Article here: http://www.cincypost.com/2004/12/30/edita123004.html

Thanks to libertypirate here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x210704

[MelissaB]

4. The Advocate: "It's time to let election results go"

GUEST EDITORIAL
What common sense couldn't accomplish, basic finances just might be able to.

A state Green Party spokeswoman told The Lima News the party doesn't have the money to keep Ohio's electoral results in court. A party spokesman later said the national party is considering legal options, so here's hoping the finances remain bleak.

It's time to let the election go, guys.

Boards of elections have finished recounting the Nov. 2 vote. It's no surprise -- except maybe to the conspiracy buffs -- that the count came back this week pretty much the same way it did the first time. President George W. Bush is still the winner.

... The Green Party still doesn't believe Bush won, but it might not have the funds to sue until it can prove that. So the party might drop the issue. It's about time.

If Ohio election laws need changed, as the Green Party asserts, forcing a recount wasn't the way to get it. The Legislature is the place to go for those changes. ...

-- The Lima News


Link: http://www.newarkadvocate.com/news/stories/20041230/opinion/1807736.html

[MelissaB]

5. Kicking

this thread. I'll be out a lot today.

[MelissaB]

6. Phila. Daily News quiz -- it's starting to seep in

This was Question No. 5 in the Philadelphia Daily News annual year-end quiz -- I think the concept of the stolen election is starting to seep in!

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/10527358.htm?1c

5 On Nov. 2, George W. Bush was elected to a second term as president with:

A. The help of some very creative technicians at Diebold and other companies that make electronic voting machines.

B. With a carefully thought-out and well-vetted agenda for the next four years.

C. 51 percent of the popular vote.

D. God on his side and five Supreme Court justices just in case.

Another question mentioned something about Bush's voting machine re-programmers.


Thanks to scoopmeister here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x211895

[MelissaB]

7. Conyers to Object to Ohio Electors, Requests Senate Allies

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/123104W.shtml

Conyers to Object to Ohio Electors, Requests Senate Allies
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Report

Thursday 30 December 2004

Representative John Conyers, ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will object to the counting of the Ohio Electors from the 2004 Presidential election when Congress convenes to ratify those votes on January 6th. In a letter dispatched to every Senator, which will be officially published by his office shortly, Conyers declares that he will be joined in this by several other members of the House. Rep. Conyers is taking this dramatic step because he believes the allegations and evidence of election tampering and fraud render the current slate of Ohio Electors illegitimate.

"As you know," writes Rep. Conyers in his letter, "on January 6, 2005, at 1:00 P.M, the electoral votes for the election of the president are to be opened and counted in a joint session of Congress. I and a number of House Members are planning to object to the counting of the Ohio votes, due to numerous unexplained irregularities in the Ohio presidential vote, many of which appear to violate both federal and state law."

The letter goes on to ask the Senators who receive this letter to join Conyers in objecting to the Ohio Electors. "I am hoping that you will consider joining us in this important effort," writes Conyers, "to debate and highlight the problems in Ohio which disenfranchised innumerable voters. I will shortly forward you a draft report itemizing and analyzing the many irregularities we have come across as part of our hearings and investigation into the Ohio presidential election."

There are expected to be high level meetings with high ranking Democratic officials next week to coordinate a concerted lobbying effort to convince Senators to challenge the vote. The Green Party and David Cobb, as has been true all along, will be centrally involved in this process, as will Rev. Jackson.

...more, including the rest of the letter and specific Senatorial targets...


Thanks to WilliamPitt here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x212304

[bettyellen]

8. Send a fax to targeted Senators here, asking them to stand up Jan 6th

http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=6770366

Urge your Senator to stand with the Representatives and contest the vote.
Help avoid a repeat of the 2000 silence from the Senate.

On January 6, 2005, the House and Senate will meet to consider the electoral vote count. Progressive members of the House Representatives will challenge the vote count based on the voting irregularities and recount efforts still underway. Urge your Senator to stand with the Representatives in order to avoid a repeat of the 2000 silence from the Senate. This action also targets potential Senators who are allies in this cause.

on edit- the added site below gets your state's senators, this one goes to those targeted as possible supporters,,,,,

[bettyellen]

10. This link will get your own state Senators a fax!!

Ask Senate and House Members to Declare Their Intent
Regarding Presidential Electors on Jan 6th

We have come to the conclusion that we can no longer tolerate the
intolerable. We all watched in horror (many for the first time) as the
movie Fahrenheit 9/11 opened by recounting how our political
"leaders" sat idly by on Jan. 6, 2001 as the Congressional Black
Caucus tried nobly but futilely to object to the unlawful Florida
electors.

But even Michael Moore seemed unaware of "the rest of the story."

On Jan. 7th two Democratic Senators were asked by Tim Russert
why they didn't come to the defense of their House collegues. Their
answer (in unison): "Nobody asked us."


http://www.thedeanpeople.com/

[Al-CIAda]

11. Email 'Contradicts' Feeney Statements to 'Florida Commission on Ethics'

Email 'Contradicts' Feeney Statements to 'Florida Commission on Ethics'!
Uncovered Email 'Contradicts' Feeney Statements to 'Florida Commission on Ethics'!
2002 Article Revealed Evidence "At Odds" with Testimony to Commission.
2004 Threats of Legal Action by Feeney Use Commission Findings as Defense.

The BRAD BLOG reveals some of the troubling information that The Daytona Beach News-Journal's Laura Zuckerman uncovered during her investigation into Emails discovered in 2002 which directly contradict statements made to the "Florida Commission on Ethics".

That commission's findings are now being used by Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL), and his surrogates, to defend themselves against charges made by software programmer, Clint Curtis....
FULL STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001083.htm

ALSO COMING SHORTLY FROM BRAD BLOG...
Tom Feeney's other Hometown Weekly Paper, The Oviedo Voice, jumps into the fray with an article on the matter today published today! Article includes an "off the record" interview with Feeney himself!
---
Brad Friedman
THE BRAD BLOG
http://www.BradBlog.com

[dzika]

12. Presidential Election Results Can't Be Verified

Publish Date: 30-Dec-2004

Presidential Election Results Can't Be Verified


Roger Barany notes: "No one has been able to assert that the reelection of Bush is directly attributable to fraud." While true, this statement puts the burden of proof in the wrong place. For an election result to be accepted, it should be provable that fraud did not occur, through a recount. However, this is impossible with the touch-screen voting machines used in many states. With these machines, although one cannot prove fraud, one cannot prove legitimacy either; and since stealing elections is human nature, nobody should ever accept the results of such an unverifiable vote.

Greg DePaco

Burnaby

Link:
http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=7303

[Al-CIAda]

13. Ohio Judge Denies Knowing Of Presidential Election Fraud Plot

Ohio Judge Denies Knowing Of Presidential Election Fraud Plot

Ongoing developments in Ohio legal cases have the potential to
severely affect George Bush's claim on Ohio's electoral college
votes; to blow the lid off corrupt practices in Ohio's political
and judicial spheres; and to land a sticky mess of election fraud
and judicial bias before the US Supreme Court and/or legislators
convening to roll-call the presidential electoral college votes
on January 6th, 2005.
BreakForNews.com, 30th Dec, 2004 15:00ET
by Fintan Dunne, Editor EXCLUSIVE

http://www.breakfornews.com/articles/MoyerDeniesKnowingElectionPlot.htm

[dzika]

14. Ohio Voters Challenge Recount Results

Ohio Voters Challenge Recount Results
By Tracy L. Scott, BET.com Staff Writer


Posted Dec. 30, 2004 –After months of legal battles and accusations of illegal voter tampering in the controversial battleground state, the recount of the Ohio ballots ended Tuesday declaring President Bush the victor, but by a smaller margin than originally thought.

-snip-

“You’re allowing the original error to be repeated a second time, so it’s not a meaningful recount,” said Cliff Arnebeck, a lawyer representing voters who are challenging the results of the recount.

Hanging chads and other problems resulted in many discarded ballots on Nov. 2. However, those ballots were part of the recount. With the inclusion of those, both Kerry and Bush picked up more votes.

However, advocacy groups – complaining that deliberate misinformation, intimidation at polling places, malfunctioning voting machines and the unnecessarily long lines – argue that many poor and minority residents were barred from voting. Even a recount can’t consider ballots that were never cast, they say.

Many of these groups are hoping the Ohio Supreme Court will review the matter and rule in their favor. But Attorney General Jim Petro described the legal challenge as frivolous, saying a state court has no jurisdiction over a federal election.


Link:
http://www.bet.com/News/tlscott_ohioresults.htm?wbc_purpose=Basic&WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished&Referrer=%7B03CE5360-2620-42CB-AD7E-77E4249C5FB7%7D

[dzika]

15. ABC NEWS - Democrat Declared Wash. Governor-Elect

Dec 30, 2004

Democrat Declared Wash. Governor-Elect
Washington Governor's Election Certified, Showing Win by Democrat; Opponent Seeks New Vote
The Associated Press


OLYMPIA, Wash. Dec 30, 2004 — After three vote tallies and 58 days of waiting, Democrat Christine Gregoire was declared Washington's governor-elect on Thursday. But her Republican rival did not concede and wants a new election.

-snip-

But Republican candidate Dino Rossi, a former state legislative leader and real-estate investor, said the election was hopelessly flawed and that the Legislature should authorize a new election. He won both of the earlier counts.

Rossi also held open the possibility of contesting the election in the courts.

Gregoire's campaign rejected the idea of a new vote and said Rossi should accept the newly certified tally.

"This ain't golf. No mulligans allowed here, folks," Gregoire's spokesman, Morton Brilliant, said Wednesday. "It's irresponsible to spend $4 million in taxpayer money on a new election just because you don't like losing this one."

A revote would have to be approved by the Democrat-controlled state Legislature.

continued...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=371750

[dzika]

16. Reflections on the 2004 Election - An Interview with Ralph Nader

December 30, 2004

Reflections on the 2004 Election
An Interview with Ralph Nader
by Merlin Chowkwanyun
www.dissidentvoice.org

-snip-

Nader's run earned harsh scorn from Democrats and many of his former supporters in 2000, such as Medea Benjamin, Norman Solomon, and Jeff Cohen. Yet in light of emerging post-election commentary partially attributing the Democrats' loss to the party's tepid economic policies, many of Nader's campaign arguments now seem utterly prophetic in hindsight. In a recent article blasting John Kerry's hasty election concession, Harper's Magazine publisher Rick MacArthur expressed regret over not voting for Nader.

This is one of Nader's first in-depth interviews since the election. In it, he offers his insights on the election outcome and the future of American politics.

-snip-

MC: Can you talk about the recount in Ohio and the Democratic Party's rather tepid support of it?

RN: I've always thought there were always a lot of shenanigans before, during, and after Nov. 2 because you had the perfect environment for it. You had a Republican governor. You had a Republican Secretary of State, who was very partisan, who's like Katherine Harris in 2000 in Tallahassee, Florida. You had a Republican legislature, and they knew it was going to be a swing state, if not the swing state. The stakes were high. There's other evidence that before the election, Kenneth Blackwell, the Secretary of State, was working overtime to try to undermine the minority vote, dealing with voter registration, etc. The ambience, the atmosphere was all there, and the Democrats should have been much more alerted to it. But the ways these laws are written, unless you're seen really with some crude stuff on election day or post-election, you get away with what you did before election day to depress the vote and to minimize the number of voting machines in minority or heavily Democratic areas, which is what was done in Ohio.

However, there is increasing information coming to the forefront. There's litigation, very good lawyers demanding a recount. There will be a recount. But the results will not be in before the electors meet in mid-December and elect a President. It will still be in the courts.


Link:
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Dec2004/Chowkwanyun1230.htm

[dzika]

17. ‘We Will Not Faint’ - Jesse Jackson on why he thinks Kerry really won

Dec. 30, 2004

‘We Will Not Faint’

Jesse Jackson on why he thinks John Kerry really won the election



WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Susannah Meadows
Newsweek

Updated: 2:13 p.m. ET Dec. 30, 2004Dec. 30 - Ohio officials concluded their recount of the presidential vote last Tuesday—reaffirming President George W. Bush’s victory. But the state’s election woes aren’t over yet. As bloggers continue to spin conspiracy theories about a victory stolen from Democratic candidate John Kerry, the Rev. Jesse Jackson plans to lead a Monday rally in Columbus to protest alleged voting irregularities. He warmed up with NEWSWEEK’s Susannah Meadows.



Dec. 30 - Ohio officials concluded their recount of the presidential vote last Tuesday—reaffirming President George W. Bush’s victory. But the state’s election woes aren’t over yet. As bloggers continue to spin conspiracy theories about a victory stolen from Democratic candidate John Kerry, the Rev. Jesse Jackson plans to lead a Monday rally in Columbus to protest alleged voting irregularities. He warmed up with NEWSWEEK’s Susannah Meadows.


NEWSWEEK:What’s the matter with Ohio?
Rev. Jesse Jackson: In Columbus, Cincinnati, Akron, Youngstown, Cleveland, where I was, you had blacks standing in line for six hours in the rain. That’s a form of voter suppression.

Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell says that machines were allotted based on turnout in past years, and that he didn’t realize they’d need more machines until it was too late.
He had to know it because registration was up. Blackwell may have had to deliver for Bush and Cheney and he got a lighter rap than Harris got. But Ohio may have been more stacked than Florida was.

continued...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6770193/site/newsweek/

[dzika]

18. Cobb Calls On Congress to Reject Tainted Electoral College Votes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 30, 2004
2:13 PM

CONTACT: Green Party of the United Sates
Blair Bobier, 541-929-5755

Cobb Calls On Congress to Reject Tainted Electoral College Votes

WASHINGTON -- December 30 -- A day after the conclusion of the flawed recount of Ohio's presidential vote, Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb called on Congress to challenge the legitimacy of Ohio's Electoral College delegation.

"The recount of Ohio's presidential vote was conducted in clear violation of both the spirit and the letter of the law. We can have no faith in the results when both the initial election and the recount were conducted in a haphazard and clearly illegitimate manner. Ohio's presidential electors are tainted by unresolved allegations of voter suppression and the lack of a meaningful recount. Congress must reject and challenge their votes," said Cobb.

One of the most significant problems with the recount was that few of Ohio's 88 counties randomly selected sample precincts for the recount as required by Ohio law.

"The lack of random sampling calls into question the legitimacy of the recount. A few counties did the recount properly and selected the precincts at random. The vast majority of them, however, chose the precincts in advance without the official observers witnessing or participating in the selection. That's like showing up at a poker game with strangers and finding that you've already been dealt your hand," said Blair Bobier, Cobb-LaMarche Media Director.

Other problems with the recount included a lack of security for the ballots and voting machines-including allegations of interference with voting machines by representatives of the Diebold and Triad corporations-and the refusal of some counties to do a full hand recount when required by law to do so. Detailed reports from observers outlining a wide range of irregularities with the recount are available at <http://www.votecobb.org/recount/ohio_reports/index.php>.

"We have done our utmost to protect the integrity of our right to vote in court and through the recount process, yet a cloud of suspicion still hangs over the election results. We cannot sit back and allow our rights to be violated. It is time for Congress to defend the right to vote and the right to have all votes counted, and time for the people to engage in loud and peaceful protests," said Cobb.

Cobb will be speaking at rallies in Columbus, Ohio and Washington, DC on January 3 and 6, respectively. The Columbus rally is at 2 p.m. at the Capitol Theater, 77 S. High Street, and is sponsored by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Rainbow/PUSH, the Cobb-LaMarche campaign and many other organizations. The events in Washington
will be held on January 6, the day of the expected challenge to the presidential electors, and will begin with a rally at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, at 10 a.m., followed by a march to Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill.

"We urge everyone to contact their Senators and congressional representatives and ask them to reject Ohio's Electoral College votes," said Blair Bobier.

Contact information for members of Congress can be found at <http://vote-smart.org>.

Additional information about the recount and the Cobb-LaMarche campaign can be found at <http://www.votecobb.org>. The website for the national Green Party is <http://www.gp.org>.

Link:
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1230-04.htm

[dzika]

19. Why Did All the Voting Errors Favor Bush?

Why Did All the Voting Errors Favor Bush?


The re-election of George W. Bush as President of the United States has sparked as much controversy (at least online) as his selection as President by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000. Why? Electronic Voting. Electronic voting, without a paper trail, thought to be the answer to the problem of butterfly ballots and pregnant chads has turned out to be more unreliable than counting paper. Why all the fuss? Well it seems clear now that electronic voting machines can be manipulated to favor a candidate, stop counting votes or reverse count votes. The controversy rages in Ohio the state that decided the 2004 election. Here is an example of the problem in Franklin County Ohio a precinct using electronic voting recorded 4258 votes for Bush where only 638 voters cast ballots. This precinct in this county did not do a good job of hiding the potential fraud. The CEO of Diebold Inc the makers of electronic voting machines in Ohio stated in a 2003 fund-raising letter to his fellow Republicans that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." It seems he came through with is prediction. There is no telling of how many voting errors like this occurred on election day but slowly stories of voter fraud is trickling out into the mainstream.

Statistically one would think that the errors in electronic voting would have occurred equally to the benefit of each candidate. If there were a problem with an electronic voting machine than Kerry and Bush would at some point receive more or less votes than actually recorded. But this did not happen! Every single electronic voting error gave Bush more votes! Statistically this is impossible without some sort of tampering! This is the case. This is the conspiracy in plain sight.

Exit polls on election day had Kerry winning the election handedly how could they be so off once the “counting” began. In Florida in 2000 the exit polls seemed off because peoples actual votes were not counted due to criminal activity or spoiled ballots. Speaking of Florida it is odd that a state Bush allegedly won by 537 votes in 2000 he won by over 300,000 this time when exit polls had him down. You couple this activity with a strange law enacted by the Republican controlled Florida legislature making the electronic voting outcome superior than actually counting ballots. When there is no mechanism for verifying the electronic vote.

And like in 2000 the media is silent and thus complicit in not reporting on these errors. Keith Oberman, MSNBC’s Countdown has been the only show to report on the strange voting errors that occurred in Ohio and Florida that all happen to benefit Bush.

continued...
http://www.blackstate.com/election-errors-bush.html

[dzika]

20. A Letter from Rep. David Wu on Voting Suppression

Posted: 30.Dec.2004 10:13


Rep. David Wu on Voting Suppression

This letter was sent by Rep. Wu on December 23, 2004.


Rep. David Wu
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-3701

December 23, 2004

Dear Mr. Batko:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns about allegation of voting irregularities and fraud in our elector process. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue,

The right to vote in a free election, and the right to have your vote counted, is an indispensable right. Without it, our democracy would not be possible. More than that, the public must have the confidence that the system is fair, and that the results of that process can win broad acceptance.

Unfortunately, recent elections, marked by the closeness of the results, have highlighted some serious problems. In a 50-49 nation, questions about qualified voters not being able to vote, about valid votes not being counted, about equipment failing to function, or being unable to verify the results, threaten the stability as well as the fairness of our system of government.

Since Election Day, thousands of Ohio citizens have reported difficulties and barriers in casting their vote. These reports include: long lines at polling places; electronic voting machines which malfunctioned; precincts reporting more voters than they had, or inexplicable numbers of votes cast; and disenfranchisement, particularly in high-population areas. I also understand concerns about the conflict of interest of having an official in charge of running elections in a key state also heading a presidential campaign. I agree that Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell's dual role calls into question any election decision he made that favored Republicans.

I agree that we have an obligation to investigate the facts, to get a clear understanding of what happened, and to do everything we can to make sure that those problems are fixed. With just two short years until our next federal elections, Congress must act expeditiously to ensure that we correct any problems that may need fixing.

In response to widespread reports of voting irregularities, including faulty equipment, voter suppression tactics, and other problems, House Democrats have asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to undertake a systematic and comprehensive review of election irregularities throughout the nation. Also, the Election Assistance Commission will hold hearings on the 2004 electoral process. And on December 8, 2004, Congressman Conyers held a hearing to address the voting irregularities in Ohio.

The integrity of our democracy is at stake. We need to give the American people confidence that each and every vote will be properly counted and that the democratic electoral process is respected. Continuing to improve our election procedures will aid the work of restoring the people's trust in our democratic process. What is at stake here is not just a single presidential election but the right of all Americans to vote and to have those votes counted in all future elections.

Please know I care deeply about this issue, and I will work with my colleagues to ensure that our electoral system is above reproach. Thank you again for your letter.

With warm regards,

David Wu
Member of Congress


Link:
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/12/307036.shtml

[dzika]

21. Sheila Parks of Coalition Against Election Fraud on Vigil in Boston Globe

December 30, 2004


What I Told Her: Sheila Parks On The Boston Globe Article


Coalition Against Election Fraud's daily vigil in front of Senator Kerry's home in Beacon Hill, Boston made the front page of yesterday's Boston Globe. The article depicts the protesters as disgruntled Kerry supporters who can't get over the election results:

The election is long over. A new year is starting, and even most of the more ardent liberals are moving on. But in Louisburg Square this week, one determined group isn't quite ready to let go. About a half dozen supporters of John Kerry are holding vigil in front of his house, still hoping for a Kerry presidency.

A few paragraphs later, a quote from Sheila Parks, one of the co-founders of Coalition Against Election Fraud.

''Who knows? Maybe we'll overturn the election," said Sheila Parks, a vigil organizer.

Out of context from any other remarks by Parks, the thought is framed as that of a naive idealist.

''You meet a lot of inspirational people who took this campaign into their hearts," spokesman David Wade said. ''They keep their bumper stickers on their cars because they're proud of the fight they fought. John Kerry's campaign touched a chord with millions of Americans, and so many people want the fight to continue. . . . The campaign's ended, but the values we share are worth fighting for."

But it wasn't John Kerry for whom Parks and the others were braving the cold. They were there on the icy cobblestone to ask the man who was probably elected President of the United States to show he cares about justice. I spoke with Sheila Parks yesterday and these were some of the things she says told the Globe reporter that weren't included in the story:

I told her we were concerned that 57,000 complaints had been filed about election violations in 2004.

I told her about the ten hour lines to vote in Ohio in communities of people of color and students at colleges.

I told her some of us had been working against electronic-voting machines for over 2 years.

I told her about the touch screen machines, with no paper trail.

I told her about Diebold's ATM's that produce paper trails whereas their voting machines don't. Why?

I told her about Senator Rush Holt's bill, demanding paper trails and more, signed by both Democrat and Republican Representatives, which Tom Delay never let out of committee.

I told her two electronic voting machines (ES&S and Diebold) predominate the market and are owned and operated by heavy contributors to the Republican party.

I told her there is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.

I told her about Florida in 2000, where Bush and Rove blatantly manipulated the outcome through an overtly partisan Secretary of State and Bush's brother, the Governor.

I told her about Ohio in 2004, where Bush and Rove blatantly manipulated the outcome through an overtly partisan Secretary of State.

I told her that the recount in Ohio was being hampered by Blackwell.

I told her of the upset in 2002 in Georgia, the state using the most Diebold DRE voting systems, where incumbent US Senator Max Cleland, ahead in the polls by five points the week before Election Day, lost by seven, a twelve-point swing.

This is what I remember telling her. I told her more.

Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/12/29/group_holds_fast_to_kerry_cause_with_beacon_hill_vigil/

[dzika]

22. Video Clip - Obermann says that Conyers will Challenge Ohio Electors

Real Media Format
http://www.edwardsdavid.com/BushVideos/Obermann_041230-01.rm

[MelissaB]

23. Candidates Want Second Ohio Recount

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/text/2004/dec/30/123004110.html

Candidates Want Second Ohio Recount
By JAY COHEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Two third-party presidential candidates asked a federal court Thursday to force a second recount of the Ohio vote, alleging county election boards altered votes and didn't follow proper procedures in the recount that ended this week.

Lawyers for Green Party candidate David Cobb and the Libertarian Party's Michael Badnarik made their request in federal court in Columbus.

The two candidates, who received less than 0.3 percent of the Ohio vote, paid $113,600 for a statewide recount after the vote was certified earlier this month by the secretary of state. They have said they don't expect to change the election results, but want to make sure that every vote is proply counted.

Ohio and its 20 electoral votes tipped the race to President Bush when Sen. John Kerry conceded the morning after the Nov. 2 election.

Counties finished the recount Tuesday. Bush won the state by 118,457 votes over Kerry, according to unofficial results provided to The Associated Press by the 88 counties.

"We've documented in this filing how this recount was not conducted in accordance with uniform standards throughout Ohio" as required by the U.S. Constitution, said John Bonifaz, a lawyer from the National Voting Right Institute representing the candidates.

Ohio law requires an elections board to manually recount a randomly selected 3 percent of ballots. If the totals match certified results for those precincts, all the county's votes are then machine-counted. If the hand count is off, a county must manually recount all its ballots.

The filing, part of an ongoing lawsuit originally brought by a county board of elections to stop the recount, alleges counties did not randomly select precincts for the manual recount and some workers altered votes to prevent a full hand count.

Bonifaz said the filing is based on the experiences of Green Party representatives who observed the recount.

Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, called the contentions "baseless accusations."

"The ballots were counted in Ohio, they were counted again, they were recounted. The election is over," LoParo said.


Thanks to 59sunburst here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x213749

[dzika]

25. Candidates Want Second Ohio Recount - Yahoo Link

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041231/ap_on_el_pr/ohio_vote_2

[dzika]

37. NYT - OHIO: REQUEST FOR SECOND RECOUNT

Published: December 31, 2004


OHIO: REQUEST FOR SECOND RECOUNT Two third-party presidential candidates asked a federal court to force a second recount of the Ohio presidential vote, contending that county election boards altered votes and did not follow proper procedures in the recount that ended this week. Lawyers for the Green Party candidate, David Cobb, and the Libertarian candidate, Michael Badnarik, made their request in federal court in Columbus.

Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/national/31brfs.html


(This might be the worst coverage of a story EVER.)

[MelissaB]

24. Press release from NYC coordinator of 51capitalmarch.com

We believe that the 2004 Presidential election was stolen. Tens of thousands of incidents have been recorded. Rep John Conyers has held hearings on the Election Fraud in Ohio. The GAO has said it will investigate the Fraud. Statistical studies to the raw data show a pattern of fraud and criminal actions throughout Ohio, Florida, New Mexico and Nevada.

The Main stream Media has only given us token, condescending coverage of the Election scandal. From the Broadcast and Cable networks, to the print media. The willful ignorance of the 4th Estate borders on the criminal. The Main Stream Media has abdicated their responsibilities, they like Computer Voting Machines cannot be trusted.

35 million people don't get their news from cable TV, they don't get their news from the New York Times or the Boston Globe, they don't get their news from CBS, NBC or ABC. Those 35 million people get their news by listening to Air America Radio or Pacifica radio, and they get their news from the Internet. And Those 35 million people know that John Kerry won on November 2nd.

We at http://www.51capitalmarch.com will not stand down at this time. We will be protesting this stolen election in Washington D.C. and in New York City. January 4th to the 6th we will be participating in the "Save Our Votes" March on Washington: From Selma to Ohio to Washington: Marching For Our Voting Rights! Washington D.C. coordinator: [e-mail]

From December 30th to January 6th.we will be picketing CBS Headquarters and studios in New York City. The picketing will occur at 3 locations: 1) CBS Headquarters, 51 West 52nd Street, New York, 2) 1697 Broadway, Between West 53rd and West 54th Streets , 3)Between 7am to 9am at the General Motors building. If there is an overflow of protesters then the effort will expand to NBC and ABC. New York City coordinator: [e-mail]


Thanks to FogerRox here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x213439

[north houston dem]

27. MelissaB and Dzika

You guys rock! I look for this thread everytime I log in. This is invaluable to those of us with busy schedules. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!:yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :loveya:

[north houston dem]

28. I include everyone who posts on these threads

:yourock:

[dzika]

30. Thanks for letting us know...

...and thanks to everyone that has been posting!

[MelissaB]

31. You're welcome!

You're welcome! You're welcome!

It is good to know that people actually read this thread. :)

I enjoy doing what I can when I can. I have time for this project while I'm out of school (I teach), but I go back Monday and only have access to the homepage of this site. :(

Dzika is amazing! I don't know how he makes his posts look so professional, but he does, and I'm amazed.

[dzika]

32. Save Our Votes March -- Baltimore, Maryland, to DC -- Jan. 4th - 6th

(additional information about www.51calitalmarch.com post)


December 30, 2004

Save Our Votes March -- Baltimore, Maryland, to Washington DC -- Jan. 4th - Jan. 6th!


Jan. 4th, 2005 through Jan. 6th, 2005
Savage MD to Washington DC
Begins Tuesday at 10AM, January 4th, Arrives Thursday January 6th at the Rally to Defend Democracy at the Federal Capitol in Washington DC.
51capitalmarch is sponsoring Save Our Votes March, From Selma to Ohio to Washington a re-enactment the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March for voting rights. The following is a brief description of that march:

On "Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965, some 600 civil rights marchers headed east out of Selma on U.S. Route 80. They got only as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge six blocks away, where state and local lawmen attacked them with billy clubs and tear gas and drove them back into Selma. Two days later on March 9, Martin Luther King, Jr., led a "symbolic" march to the bridge. Then civil rights leaders sought court protection for a third, full-scale march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery." On Sunday, March 21, about 3,200 marchers set out for Montgomery, walking 12 miles a day and sleeping in fields. By the time they reached the capitol on Thursday, March 25, they were 25,000-strong. Less than five months after the last of the three marches, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. http://www.africanamericans.com/SelmaMarch.htm

The Rally: At 10 A.M. on Janaury 4th, there will be a "Save Our Votes Rally". This will be at the intersection of Route 32 and Route 1, Savage, Maryland (Just below Baltimore, Maryland).

The March: March will commence immediately after the Rally. Covering 25 miles in 2 1/2 days, the march will begin outside Baltimore on January 4th at 10AM in Savage Maryland (intersection of Route 32 and Route 1). The march will follow Route 1, ending at the Federal Capitol in Washington DC for the Rally in Defense of Democracy on January 6th.

Accommodations: We are going to stay in a heated tent at a beautiful campground right outside of DC. They have hot showers, meeting rooms and a cantina. It is Cherry Hill Park www.cherryhillpark.com. So people should be very comfortable. "

We need as many people as possible to join us the morning of the 6th and march the last 2 to 3 miles to the Upper Senate Park, where we will join the Defend Democracy Rally and Vigil on the west side of the Capital at 12:00 Noon.

Here are some details of the planned march:

We will provide a large heated event tent for the overnight campers, as well as other necessities. We welcome any and all marchers, you may march as little or as long as you would like. People may choose to march during the day and make their own arrangements at night, camping is not required to participate in the march. Even if you only march for one day or one hour, we need you to help us fight for our democracy.

If you can't join the march on January 4th and 5th, please join us on the morning of the 6th and march to the Capital and take part in the rally planned there. We need to show strength in our numbers to encourage our representatives to fully investigate this election and to fight for total election reform.

We hope this will grow to be a very large group by the time we reach the Capital, just as it did in 1965 in Montgomery. This re-enactment could be a spotlight on the sham of an election held on Nov 2nd, 2004.

Please see http://www.51capitalmarch.com/index.html for more details. We hope you can join us and make history! Details will be provided on the message board: http://www.51capitalmarch.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=marchonwashington

To contribute financially to "Save Our Votes" March, via Paypal: http://www.51capitalmarch.com/index.html

For any questions, contact
Joy
[e-mail]

Link:
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/save-our-votes-march-baltimore.html

[dzika]

26. Rally for the Republic - San Francisco, California - Tuesday, January 4th

December 30, 2004

Rally for the Republic - San Francisco, California - Tuesday, January 4th - 7:00 P.M.

--------------------------------------------------
Rally for the Republic
Start Time: 7:00 PM
Location: CA Herbst Theater, San Francisco, California
Category: Protest!

A second Rally for the Republic will be held in San Francisco that is focused on California's Congressional delegation. Participants will show solidarity with the protestors in Columbus, OH and show the depth of the support in California for the Constitutional Challenge.

Speakers are expected to include www.ReDefeatBush.com founder David Lytel, who will give an update on the status of the Challenge as of that moment, summarize what is known about the parliamentary process, and report on interaction he has had with key people on Capitol Hill; Chuck Lowery, the renegade California elector who cast his electoral vote "provisionally" and who requested that all votes be counted, and others to be announced in the coming days. We are also hoping for an Electile Dysfunction humor skit, and the video will also be shown.

The lead organizer is Dan Ashby of ReDefeatBush who may be reached via e-mail at [e-mail], or you may consult http://www.rallyfortherepublic.org for more information.


Link:
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/rally-for-republic-san-francisco.html

[dzika]

29. Rally - Monday, January 3rd - Columbus, Ohio with Jesse Jackson

December 30, 2004

Rally - Monday, January 3rd - Columbus, Ohio
Pro-Democracy, Count Every Vote Rally

Featuring:




Rev. Jesse Jackson

Time: 2:00 P.M.

Location: Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, Capitol Theatre, 77 S. High Street, in downtown Columbus, across from State Capitol.

Admission: Free

Sponsored by: Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Progressive Democrats of America, CASE Ohio, DoNotConcede, MoveOn.org, United for Peace and Justice, International Labor Communications Association (AFL-CIO), Cleveland Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO),the NAACP National Voter Fund and other national and local groups to be announced, and by Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, State Senator Joyce Beatty, and others.


Download Press Release

Further details to be announced at http://www.caseohio.org/CalendarEvents.htm
See also http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/rev-jackson-compares-ohio-election-to.html

For additional posts relating to the January 3rd rally, see http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/labor-to-join-count-vote-rally-in.html
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/united-for-peace-and-justice-coalition.html
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/rainbowpush-coalition-co-sponsors.html
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/progressive-democrats-of-america-join.html
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/ilca-joins-pda-and-rainbowpush-in-jan.html
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/excellent-poster-for-january-3rd-and.html
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/rev-jackson-compares-ohio-election-to.html


Link:
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/rally-monday-january-3rd-columbus-ohio.html

[dzika]

33. Recount Ruling Does Not Jibe with New Mexico State Law

by margieburns at 10:22AM (CST) on December 30, 2004


Update on New Mexico vote

In the most recent stifling of voters actually getting to see their votes counted accurately in New Mexico, local powers that be are claiming in court that a recount must be paid for entirely in advance – that is, that all the money must be handed over to the powers that be, before the recount can even begin.

This stance jibes not at all with state law in New Mexico.

Here is 1.1.14, New Mexico state code, on “Recounts, Rechecks, Application”:

A. Whenever any candidate for any office for which the state canvassing board or county canvassing board issues a certificate of nomination or election believes that any error or fraud has been committed by any precinct board in counting or tallying the emergency paper ballots or absentee ballots, in the verification of the votes cast on the voting machines or in the certifying of the results of any election whereby the results of the election in the precinct have not been correctly determined, declared or certified, the candidate, within six days after completion of the canvass by the proper canvassing board, may have a recount of the emergency paper ballots or absentee ballots, or a recheck of the votes shown on the voting machines, that were cast in the precinct.

B. In the case of any office for which the state canvassing board issues a certificate of nomination or election, application for recount or recheck shall be filed with the secretary of state.

C. In the case of any office for which the county canvassing board issues a certificate of nomination or election, application for recount or recheck shall be filed with the district judge for the county in which the applicant resides.

Seems pretty clear to me; when a recount or recheck (checking the voting machines themselves) is requested, it is applied for and a deposit is paid.

Here’s the next section, on “Recounts, Rechecks, Cost of Proceedings”:


continued...
http://www.margieburns.com/blog/_archives/2004/12/30/219266.html

[dzika]

34. Statehouse briefs - Vigil outside Kerry home

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Statehouse briefs

Vigil outside Kerry home


BOSTON -- The Coalition Against Election Fraud is holding a vigil from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Sen. John Kerry's Boston home through Wednesday, Jan. 5.

The New Year's vigil will take place from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

At the end of each day's vigil, the coalition will submit written requests from Massachusetts voters to the senator urging him not to certify the vote of the Electoral college when Congress meets in a joint session on Jan. 6. The coalition say it is "fighting for a fair and transparent election process."

Link:
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106~4994~2626385,00.html

[dzika]

35. Ohio Judge Denies Knowing Of Presidential Election Fraud Plot

BreakForNews.com, 30th Dec, 2004 15:00ET


Ohio Judge Denies Knowing Of Presidential Election Fraud Plot


Ongoing developments in Ohio legal cases have the potential to severely affect George Bush's claim on Ohio's electoral college votes; to blow the lid off corrupt practices in Ohio's political and judicial spheres; and to land a sticky mess of election fraud and judicial bias before the US Supreme Court and/or legislators convening to roll-call the presidential electoral college votes on January 6th, 2005.

by Fintan Dunne, Editor EXCLUSIVE

In an Ohio voters legal suit with potential to alter the outcome of the 2004 U.S. presidential election, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio has denied having personal knowledge of a plot to steal votes; has refused an emergency motion to recuse himself from the case and has declined a request to secure election evidence in the voters' legal contest of the Ohio presidential election result.

-snip-

Responding to the decision, Cliff Arnebeck, attorney for the Massachusetts-based Alliance for Democracy, which brought the cases said "the important thing about the judicial process is the concept that you have a neutral judge."

"It's disappointing that doesn't seem to be the priority here," Arnebeck said.

continued...
http://www.breakfornews.com/articles/MoyerDeniesKnowingElectionPlot.htm

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x212098

[dzika]

36. WaPo - Honest Look Reveals There Are No 'Others'

Friday, December 31, 2004; Page B01


Honest Look Reveals There Are No 'Others'
By Donna Britt


-snip-

We're on automatic, our behavior as reflexive as an eyeblink.

Is that why we so reflexively dismiss "the other" -- anyone who isn't us, or like us? Our talent for ignoring, belittling or attacking such people is so common and instinctive that our deepest horrors stem from it:

War. Bigotry. Poverty.

-snip-

Each of us hates being boxed and labeled. Yet our approval and understanding of others -- and especially the other -- is often meted out on a sliding scale based on what we are.

I considered this after a recent column deploring irregularities in the presidential election. Some readers didn't care a hoot that thousands of registered voters -- most of them Democrats, many of them poor and minorities -- were turned or intimidated away from polls or faced physical obstacles (broken voting machines, hostile officials, interminable lines). Some felt certain their ballots were wrongly tallied -- suspicions proved by the Ohio recount that documented more than 17,000 additional votes for John Kerry.

The recount didn't change the election's outcome, those readers would tell you. But would those who shrugged have been so unconcerned if their own votes had been compromised?


continued...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37575-2004Dec30_2.html

[dzika]

38. Improving elections (Political Junky reprint)

Dec 30, 2004 in News & Opinion

Improving elections (Political Junky reprint)


With all of the reports of attempted election fraud the US needs to do a few things to straighten out our system. I'm not sure the practicality of my ideas because voting is handled by the states, but perhaps a Constitutional ammendment since this is the sort of thing the ammendment process is actually for.

(1) Two ballots. One for the big ticket positions (President, Governor, Senators) that can be used throughout an entire state. It must be hardcopy so there is a record. It should be simple enough that everyone on the ballot appears on the front side. It should be simple scantron that uses number 2 pencil or pen, not punched out. They should have the politicians names on the ballot itself, not on a seperate sheet or booklet. Every American who has been to school had dealt with scantrons, that covers the vast majority of problems right there. The ballots can be double-checked by the voter before the vote is cast, and they can dumped into a machine and counted very rapidly.

The second ballot can be whatever the state or municipality wants to cover the measures, issues, and district based elections. If there is graft on the second ballot it won't leave the entire country waiting for a resolution.

(2) End the absentee ballot system. You can have the ballot sent home so you can vote in peace, but you must turn the ballot in to a designated location on election day (or the week before) where your drivers license and other Identification can be confirmed. Military bases, and vessels overseas should count as such a designated location so vote totals can be called in rather than ballots shipped out months ahead of time.

(3) Insist that drivers licenses to identify voters. Alternate ID can be used if required, the point is not if you can drive, but that you are who you say you are and that's the person on the voter registration card. This is not intimidation, its minimal security against vote theft.

continued...
http://www.rjschwarz.com/2004/12/improving_elect.html

[dzika]

39. Washting Gov. Race Continues to "Rock the Vote"

posted by Zebediah Durden at 2:03 PM

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Rock the Vote


Deomocrate Christine Gregoire has just been declared the official winner of the Washington state governor's race, by a margin of 129 votes. This comes after more than a month of recounts resulted in Republican Dino Rossi's initial 261 vote victory being overturned after heavily Democratic King County "discovered" new votes no less than 9 different times during the recount process.

The Rossi camp is now suggesting a revote, a la the Ukraine election. Not surprisingly, Gregoire is pleased with the results, and will fight any attempt at a do over. The issue of another vote to decide the election was floated even before Gregoire took the lead in the recount. Republican strategists could see the writing on the wall once King County found those extra 723 votes, and were raising the revote prospects even at that time. See this John Fund column for details on that proposal.

The Washington Republicans are now pushing that proposal in earnest, but absent any signs of gross fraud or dioxin poisoning, I don't think it will happen. I do believe that the vote counting in King County was just dirty enough to eke out a victory given the tightness of the original margin, but probably not dirty enough to warrant a new election. As mega-blogger Huge Hewitt says, if it's not close, they can't cheat. This governor's race is now Exhibit A for his thesis.

Update: The Seattle Times article linked above has an online poll asking if there should be a revote. The results now stand at 50/50, which suggests that a do over may not settle things as neatly as hoped.

Update, Part II: Jim Lindgren over at The Volokh Conspiracy is suggesting that Rossi should concede in an effort to "show some class." I don't think it would be unclassy for him to contest the election further, but I do think it would be the wise thing to do. What's at stake in this election, while important, is nothing on the scale of what took place in the Ukraine. While I would agree with Lindgren's suggestion not to push for a revote, I have to take issue with his reasoning.


Link:
http://amishfightclub.blogspot.com/2004/12/rock-vote.html

[dzika]

40. CASE-MN Letter to Senator Mark Dayton

Posted December 31, 2004


CASE-MN Letter to Senator Mark Dayton
December 29, 2004

Senator Mark Dayton
Bishop Henry Whipple Building, Suite 298
1 Federal Drive
Fort Snelling, MN 55111



Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position
that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular;
but one must take it because it is right.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dear Senator Dayton,

We are founding members of Citizen's Alliance for Secure Elections - Minnesota (CASE - MN) and we are writing on behalf of the group. CASE - MN is a grass-roots organization committed to ensuring election integrity, both with regard to the 2004 election and for future elections. We are affiliated with CASE-Ohio www.caseohio.org

More than eight weeks have passed since the 2004 Presidential Election -- but every day, more and more information surfaces that call into question the 2004 election's integrity and accuracy.

In Ohio, electronic voting machines stopped working, counted backwards, eliminated votes, and registered votes for the wrong candidate. African-American and college neighborhoods experienced by far the longest lines on Election Day, the most vote spoilage, the most elimination of provisional ballots, and the most victimization by precinct manipulation. It seems clear that the imbalanced allocation of voting machines between suburban and predominately African American precincts was designed to suppress black voting. This racist policy must be exposed and corrected immediately, not two years or four years or six years hence.

Nationwide, 400,000 callers phoned voter protection hotlines, with complaints ranging from absentee ballots lost in the mail, to outright voter intimidation and disenfranchisement. And partisan election officials with conflicts of interest undermined voting rights in states from Ohio to Florida to New Mexico. As you are likely aware, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, have questioned the election's legitimacy in a series of rigorous, painstakingly detailed hearings and letters documenting the unprecedented extent and scope of vote suppression, available at http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ .

Exit polls strongly suggest that the tabulated results of the 2004 election do not accurately reflect the votes cast. University of Pennsylvania Professor and Statistician Steven Freeman calculates the odds of the exit polls in PA, OH and FL all diverging from the tabulated results by the margin that they did at 662,000 to 1. This means it is statistically impossible that the discrepancies between the predicted and actual vote counts in the three critical battleground states could have been due to chance or random error. http://www.dakotatechnics.com/downloads/Exitpoll_discrep_v00p1_Part_I.pdf

CASE - MN sent nine members to Ohio to participate in the recent recount. We found significant issues with regard to both the original vote and the accuracy and validity of the recount. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has published an editorial in today's edition written by two CASE - MN members who traveled to Ohio to oversee the recount: http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5158534.html . Updated information regarding the recount and the follow-up investigation can be found at the Cobb-LaMarche web-site at http://www.votecobb.org/

On January 6, 2005, Congress will meet in joint session to certify the 2004 presidential election. On that day, if one member of the House and one member of the Senate object to the certification of the vote, then all members of Congress will finally discuss these issues.

We are grateful that you are our senator and we are proud of the courageous positions that you have taken during your first years in office. We recall when you stood up as the only senator to challenge the veracity of the NORAD claims regarding the chronology of the events of 9/11. You were a strong voice of reason on the Medicare prescription drug bill and you bravely challenged your senate colleagues to "have a taste of their own medicine" by receiving drug benefits no greater than those provided to our seniors.

We are now at a pivotal point in the history of our country, a time when our future as a Democracy is in the balance, and we are writing to ask you to take a stand of conscience. We ask that you object to the certification of the vote for the 2004 presidential election when Congress meets on January 6, 2005 so that the serious issues that we have addressed above can be carefully considered and addressed by Congress. We ask that you stand up against those who would take our freedom to vote, and to have every vote counted, away from us.

Members of CASE - MN, together with our partner organizations from the Twin Cities, would like to meet with you before January 6 to further delineate our concerns and to discuss your thoughts regarding the certification of the vote. We look forward to hearing from you with a day and time that is convenient for you to meet with us.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

On behalf of Citizens Alliance for Secure Elections - MN,

Mark Halvorson
Lance Henderson
Susan McAninch
Susan Solomon


Link:
http://nostolendemocracy.typepad.com/blog/2004/12/casemn_letter_t.html

[dzika]

41. The WA Gov. campaign's over; the law must rule now

Published: Friday, December 31, 2004

Editorials

The campaign's over; the law must rule now



Technically, the closest gubernatorial election in state history ended Thursday when Democrat Christine Gregoire was certified as the winner.

The campaigning, unfortunately, raged on.

Republican Dino Rossi, one day after calling for a revote, tried to win support for that idea by trotting out a Snohomish County couple who said their son, a soldier who was wounded in Iraq, was disenfranchised because he didn't receive his absentee ballot until the day after the election.

-snip-

Rossi also said that a legal challenge would take too long. Well, think of the timing required for a new vote. Counties have 45 days to print and distribute ballots, meaning an election probably couldn't take place before early March. Even barring challenges to that vote, a new governor wouldn't take office until the legislative session was halfway over.

Rossi further claims that the state Supreme Court changed the rules by allowing King County to correct an error made by election officials that allowed several hundred ballots to be added to the manual count. But Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed, a beacon of fairness and nonpartisanship throughout this ordeal, disagrees. After he certified Gregoire as the winner Thursday, Reed advised Rossi to seek relief in the courts, as provided by law, if he feels the result is flawed.

Rossi, who received this editorial board's endorsement, should take that advice. If he has a legal case to make, he should do so. But the time for campaigning has passed.


Link:
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/04/12/31/100edi_editorial001.cfm

[dzika]

42. Thread for Friday 12/31

is here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x215662

[L. Coyote]

43. kick, it was too buried. n/t