1/4/05 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=203x226125

[Al-CIAda]

1. Senators should object to Ohio vote

Excerpt--

Senators should object to Ohio vote
January 4, 2005
BY JESSE JACKSON

This Thursday in Washington Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the senior minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will formally object to the counting of the Ohio electoral vote in the 2004 presidential election. If any senator joins him, the counting of the vote is suspended and the House and the Senate must convene separately to hear the objections filed, and to vote on whether to accept them.

The grounds for the objections are clear: The irregularities in the Ohio vote and vote count are widespread and blatant. If the Ohio election were held in the Ukraine, it would not have been certified by the international community. In Ohio, the gulf between exit polls and counted votes is vast and glaring. Blatant discrimination in the distribution of voting machines ensured long lines in inner-city and working-class precincts that favored John Kerry, while the exurban districts that favored President Bush had no similar problems.

Systematic efforts were made to suppress and challenge the new voters in Kerry precincts, whether students or African Americans. Some precincts were certified with more votes than the number registered; others were certified with preposterously low turnouts. Voting machines, produced by a company headed by a vowed Bush supporter, provide no paper record. Ohio's secretary of state, the inappropriately partisan head of the state's Bush campaign, has resisted any systematic recount of the ballots.

--snip--
If Harry Reid, the new leader of the Democratic minority in the Senate, has any sense, he will lead members of the caucus to support their colleagues from the House and demand a debate that will expose the irregularities in Ohio. If Kerry wants to establish his continued leadership, he will stand first to join with Conyers and demand a debate.


link-
http://www.suntimes.com/output/jesse/cst-edt-jesse04.html

DU thread-
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x231453

[shadowknows69]

2. Somebody please tell me we have a confirmed Senator on board

Please, huh? Pretty please? But only if it's true.

[hootinholler]

3. At the risk of tooting my own horn...

I think this thread needs to be seen.

It can be argued that it's a statutory mandate to stand up and object.

-Hoot

[MelissaB]

19. I can't get to that link. n/t

[Al-CIAda]

4. Voters stand firm on Ohio election challenge

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6784389

Voters stand firm on Ohio election challenge

Bush campaign asks judge to throw out complaints
The Associated Press
Updated: 5:47 a.m. ET Jan. 4, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio - One voter didn’t see any signs of fraud on Election Day but was suspicious of the results. Another was surprised by long lines in her suburban city, where voting was always quick in the past.

Voters were angered by having to wait hours to vote in black neighborhoods. Some left in frustration without casting their ballots.

In all, 37 voters in this swing state are challenging President Bush’s Nov. 2 victory over Democratic Sen. John Kerry. They want Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer to set aside the election results.

DU thread-
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x231403

[texpatriot2004]

5. kick

[dzika]

6. Please read the ACTION ALERTS in the NEXT POSTS

WE NEED YOU TO LOOK AT THE LATEST ACTION ALERTS IN THE NEXT POST AND DO ALL THAT YOU CAN TO HELP!

THANKS!

[dzika]

7. Monday 01/03 Highlights

Recap of stories from Monday 01/03
(and from previous days)

• ACTION ALERTS!!!

  It's not too late - DU These Action Alerts!
  • 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
    
  • 12/29 - Important Ohio Action Memo from Progressive Democrats of Illinois
    
  • 12/29 - Ideas For Those Who Can Make Financial Contributions
    
  • 12/30 - Send a fax to targeted Senators here, asking them to stand up Jan 6th
    
  • 12/30 - TheDeanPeople - This link will get your own state Senators a fax!!
    
  • 12/31 - ACTION ALERT: CONTEST THE VOTE NOW!
    
  • 01/01 - Letter to Leahy and Jeffords contends election was fraudulent
    
  • 01/01 - Open Letter To Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer
    
  • 01/01 - GP: Action Needed at Home and Abroad - Reject Ohio's Tainted Electoral Votes
    
  • 01/01 - ACTION - Thank Senator Kerry for Getting Involved!
    
  • 01/01 - ACTION - Urge Sensenbrenner to Hold Judiciary Committee Hearings!
    
  • 01/01 - Action Memo from Progressive Democrats of Illinois - Jan. 1st
    
  • 01/02 - Action Alert - Urge your Senator to stand with the Representatives
    
  • 01/02 - Letter to Senators Murray and Cantwell
    
  • 01/02 - Smoking GUNS - Please FAX Election Fraud Briefing to Senators
    
  • 01/02 - SUPPORT NM RECOUNT - Please Call the NM SOS
    
  • 01/03 - ACTION - Dial [phone], Ask For Democracy
    
  • 01/03 - ACTION ALERT - Ask Ron Wyden (D-OR) to keep vows to object to 2004 election results
    
  • 01/03 - ACTION ALERT from Truth In Voting (OREGON) - Contact Senator Wyden
    
  • 01/03 - ACTION ALERT - Rallying Sen. Bingaman: Decertifying Electors
    Out-of-State Calls are Welcomed! -- Out-of-State Calls are Welcomed!
    
  
  

• Electoral Challengers

  • 12/28 - Congresswoman Maxine Waters Will Challenge Ohio Electors
    
  • 12/30 - truthout Report - Conyers to Object to Ohio Electors, Requests Senate Allies
    
  • 12/30 - Cobb Calls On Congress to Reject Tainted Electoral College Votes
    
  • 12/30 - Video Clip - Obermann says that Conyers will Challenge Ohio Electors
    
  • 01/01 - Lytel - Conyers show tactical brilliance; releases letters to Senators
    
  • 01/01 - Firtik's blog - New Year's Update; Jackson Jr. to Contest Electoral Vote
    
  • 01/01 - Obama is 1 of 15+ senators strongly considering challenge
    
  • 01/03 - Politicians protest certifying of vote
    
  • 01/03 - Will Pitt FYI - Manual for pestering Senators
    
  • 01/03 - BRAD BLOG: Staffer Confirms Sen. Nelson's Interest in Joining Challenge!
    
  • 01/03 - BRAD BLOG: 3:30 PM Update Regarding Nelson's Challenge
    
  • 01/03 - Senator who blog said might raise electoral challenge says that he won’t
    
  • 01/03 - Video- Obermann: "at least a fair chance" of Senator challenging Ohio vote
    
  • 01/03 - Conyers to object to Ohio vote count, certification
    
  • 01/03 - Will Pitt FYI - We have Senators?
    
  • 01/03 - Time to Put Democratic Senators on the Hot Seat
    
  • 01/03 - Liberal Group Seeks Support for Challenge of Bush Electors
    
  
  

• Protest/Rallies

  • 12/28 - Daily Vigil at Senator Kerry's House, Dec. 28-Jan. 5
    
  • 12/28 - What political activities will you be undertaking in January?
    
  • 12/29 - TN: THE THIRD GATHERING TO SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY SUNDAY, 01/02/05
    
  • 12/29 - January 5th Freedom Ride From Columbus to Washington
    
  • 12/29 - Rally For The Republic at Boston's Faneuil Hall on Jan. 3
    
  • 12/30 - Press release from NYC coordinator of 51capitalmarch.com
    
  • 12/30 - Save Our Votes March -- Baltimore, Maryland, to DC -- Jan. 4th - 6th
    
  • 12/30 - Rally for the Republic - San Francisco, California - Tuesday, January 4th
    
  • 12/30 - Rally - Monday, January 3rd - Columbus, Ohio with Jesse Jackson
    
  • 12/31 - Yahoo - Citizens Stage 'Boxer Rebellion' in San Francisco
    
  • 01/01 - Bus Leaving Chicago for Columbus on 1/3/04
    
  • 01/01 - BALLOT SCAM - POLLSTERS, MEDIA IMPLICATED IN VOTE FRAUD
    
  • 01/01 - TN Rally to focus on election fraud on Sun., Jan. 2nd - 2 to 5 PM
    
  • 01/01 - Natl Critics of E-Voting Jan 7 to speak to NC E-Voting Committee
    
  • 01/01 - Long, Hard Voting Season to Culminate in Verifygra Rally (Boxer Rebellion)
    
  • 01/02 - ILCA - Pro Democracy Count Every Vote Rally, Monday, January 3
    
  • 01/02 - Green Daily Update: Protests in Ohio, D.C. and Nationwide
    
  • 01/02 - Time to Take It to the Streets, Demand That Government Enforce the Law
    
  • 01/02 - DISENFRANCHISED OHIO VOTERS MOBILIZING FOR HISTORIC PROTEST BUS TRIP
    
  • 01/02 - On Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C.: Tell Bush: We Will Stop Voter Disenfranchisement
    
  • 01/02 - ReDefeatBush Holds 'Rallies for the Republic' in Boston and San Francisco
    
  • 01/02 - Rally In Columbus Monday For National Election Reform
    
  • 01/03 - Rally for the Republic - Boston, Mass. - Fanueil Hall - 7 PM Tonight
    
  • 01/03 - Rally - Today - Monday, January 3rd - Columbus, Ohio
    
  • 01/03 - Save Our Votes March - Baltimore to DC - Jan 4 to Jan 6!!
    
  • 01/03 - Passionate Voters Chose To Challenge Election Results
    
  • 01/03 - News from the Columbus OHIO Rally this afternoon
    
  • 01/03 - Report from Third Gathering To Save Our Democracy, Nashville, TN
    
  
  

• Ohio Fraud News

  • 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 - TEFLON KERRY: MORE SLICK MOVES ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FRAUD
    
  • 12/31 - Cobb Asks for New, Meaningful Recount
    
  • 12/31 - Ohio's official non-recount ends amidst new evidence of fraud, theft and judicial contempt mirrored in New Mexico
    
  • 01/01 - Znet Magazine - Re-Vote Ohio
    
  • 01/01 - "Vote challengers accuse Blackwell of trying to let 'clock run out'"
    
  • 01/01 - Democracy Week - Ohio Recount Steeped in Fraud
    
  • 01/01 - Challenge picked up by associated press in Cleveland
    
  • 01/01 - SNL - GB to JK: "I can find more for votes for you in Ohio...."
    
  • 01/01 - AAR - Fitrakis and Arnebeck on Laura Sanders Sunday nite
    
  • 01/02 - Baltimore Sun - Ohio recount highlights continuing vote trouble
    
  • 01/02 - Blackwell - How quickly the worm turns...
    
  • 01/02 - Recount saga continues in Ohio
    
  • 01/03 - A big problem, at least in Alachua County
    
  • 01/03 - Kerry Wins Ohio and the Presidency, Counting Uncounted and Prevented Votes
    
  • 01/03 - Ohio News Now - Election Reform Rally Planned
    
  • 01/03 - Missing in Action - The Media and the Ohio Recount
    
  • 01/03 - Report - Jesse Jackson at Press Conference in Cleveland on Jan. 2
    
  • 01/03 - Op-Ed: More Trials and Tribulations for Ohio
    
  • 01/03 - Bush Asks Judge to Toss Ohio Election Suit
    
  
  

• New Mexico Fraud News

  • 12/28 - Recount Fight Still On in NM; Candidates Plan To File Notice of Appeal
    
  • 12/30 - Free Press has "Impossible Phantom Votes in New Mexico"
    
  • 12/30 - Recount Ruling Does Not Jibe with New Mexico State Law
    
  • 12/31 - Ohio's official non-recount ends amidst new evidence of fraud, theft and judicial contempt mirrored in New Mexico
    
  • 01/01 - Important NM Recount Press Conference in Santa Fe on Tuesday
    
  • 01/01 - New Yahoo Group - People-v-NewMexico-n-Nevada
    
  • 01/02 - Support NM Recount Press Conference & Rally on Wednesday in ABQ
    
  • 01/03 - ACTION ALERT - Rallying Sen. Bingaman: Decertifying Electors
    
  
  

• Texas Fraud News

  • 12/27 - Texas Election Scandal - Forty Faxes and a Whisper
    
  • 12/27 - (3 PDFs for dl)
    
  
  

• Washington Recount News

  • 12/31 - Gregoire focuses on becoming Wash. gov.
    
  • 12/31 - A look back at 58-day wait and 3 counts in WA
    
  • 12/31 - WA: Rossi continues campaign for new election
    
  • 12/31 - Rossi vs. Gregoire - What About The Other Counties?
    
  • 12/31 - WaPo -Reversal of Fortune
    
  • 01/01 - Seattle Times: We're ready for recovery: WA Election exhilarating, exhausting
    
  • 01/01 - Salon - Wash. GOP governor candidate seeks revote
    
  • 01/01 - Rossi should take a cue from Gore
    
  • 01/02 - Dino Rossi now wants to cost the state over $4 million for a new election.
    
  • 01/03 - Taking office in WA - A gentleman holds the key
    
  • 01/03 - Republican Reed faces GOP wrath over recount decisions
    
  
  

• Other Media/Opinions

  • 12/27 - Ukraine Exit Polls Leave No Doubt that John Kerry Would Have Won
    
  • 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
    
  • 12/29 - OpEdNews: Assassins of Democracy, Votergate 2004 Continues
    
  • 12/30 - Newsweek - Jesse Jackson on why he thinks John Kerry really won the election
    
  • 12/30 - Why Did All the Voting Errors Favor Bush?
    
  • 12/31 - UN Observer - An Urgent Message From A Longtime Contributor, Ken Reiner
    
  • 12/31 - BRAD BLOG: Feeney's OTHER Hometown Weekly Reports 'Vote-Rigging' Charges!
    
  • 12/31 - BuzzFlash - Congress Dropped the Ball in 2001, Will They Do So in 2005?
    
  • 12/31 - Stage Last Stand for Democracy: "Boxer Rebellion" Set for Noon on Jan. 3
    
  • 01/01 - Former Congressman Peter Deutsch to Assist Challenge of Ohio Electors
    
  • 01/01 - OR Dems sign resolution to stand with Conyers!
    
  • 01/01 - TocqueDeville - The 2004 Election Was Stolen
    
  • 01/01 - Scoop - Warren Stewart: Did We Bounce An Election?
    
  • 01/01 - WaPo: Christine Todd Whitman breaks party silence - B* has lowest margin ever
    
  • 01/01 - Man who tossed Dem registrations, invited to Bush's private XMas party
    
  • 01/01 - 2004 recount highlights problems once again
    
  • 01/02 - American democracy, RIP: 1789-2005., DU & TIA are source for essay.
    
  • 01/02 - WaPo - "...there's going to be, in effect, a coronation."
    
  • 01/02 - New Group called Grassroots Democracy starting up
    
  • 01/02 - Time Magazine - The New Hanging Chads
    
  • 01/02 - Vote Fraud News - New Year's Update
    
  • 01/02 - Dave Barry - Kerry easily sweeps to a landslide victory in the exit polls
    
  • 01/02 - What Are You? An Election Girlie Man?
    
  • 01/02 - Documentation of fraud and suppression: case grows stronger
    
  • 01/02 - Columbus, Ohio - Count Every Vote Rally, Monday, January 3
    
  • 01/02 - The Growing Case for Election Fraud in the 2004 National Election
    
  • 01/02 - Hawaii Election System - irregularities, illegalities, arrogance
    
  • 01/03 - A Media Blackout: Media Whites Out Vote Fraud
    
  • 01/03 - BET - Push for Election Investigation Intensifies
    
  • 01/03 - CNN - The new hanging chads - Jackson challenges results
    
  • 01/03 - Dialing In For Democracy - Now Is Critical
    
  • 01/03 - Ten preliminary reasons why the Bush vote does not compute
    
  • 01/03 - Will John Kerry Report for Duty?
    
  • 01/03 - ABC NEWS - 2/3s of Fla. Provisional Ballots Rejected
    
  • 01/03 - Get Over It, Winners
    
  • 01/03 - A bigger cause on Beacon Hill
    
  
  

• 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
    
  • 12/29 - Calendar of Events Leading to Constitutional Challenge of Electors on 1/6
    
  • 12/29 - Who Won The Popular Vote? Comparative Validity of Exit Poll and Vote Count
    
  • 12/29 - A Roundup Of The Recent Events Surrounding Election Fraud in Ohio
    
  • 12/31 - Raw Story - National exit poll data leaked
    
  • 12/31 - Majority of Florida provisional ballots thrown out in November
    
  • 01/01 - Documentation of vote machine fraud in Ohio, Florida, and N.Mexico & suppr
    
  • 01/01 - Dr. Freeman has updated his paper on exit pollling
    
  • 01/01 - A Partial Compilation of AR Electronic Voting Machine Problems since 2000
    
  • 01/02 - Finding election data - SamSpade Internet/Network Research Tool
    
  • 01/02 - No Stolen Democracy - Important Ohio Documents
    
  • 01/02 - No Stolen Democracy - Ohio Public Hearing Transcripts
    
  • 01/03 - New U. of Penn Study -- 622,000 to 1 Odds against Vote being Fair
    
  • 01/03 - "Talking Points" from "thedeanpeople"
    
  • 01/03 - Bellaciao - 2004 vote fraud documents
    
  
  
  
  
  
  

[dzika]

8. Latest election troubles show that U.S. system still needs work

Web-posted Jan 4, 2005

Latest election troubles show that U.S. system still needs work

It's now been two months since the national, state and local elections of 2004 and some outcomes have just been resolved.
In North Carolina, the balloting for state agriculture commissioner was so fouled up that they'll hold another election for that office. The rest of the states have successfully whistled past the graveyard, with the ghost of the 2000 presidential fiasco in mind.

But no one can be assured something similar won't happen again. Even after the improvements made before November's voting, there were plenty of glitches.

In six states, voters claimed they'd voted for Sen. John Kerry on touch-screen machines but were recorded as having voted for President Bush.

In New Orleans, incompetent poll workers told early voters to come back because they couldn't figure out how to turn on the voting machines.

An Ohio precinct recorded nearly 4,000 votes for Bush, despite the fact that only 683 voters had shown up. It was a computer error and election workers have not been able to reproduce it.


Link:
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/010405/opi_20050104003.shtml

[dzika]

9. Jesse Jackson - Senators should object to Ohio vote

January 4, 2005

Senators should object to Ohio vote

BY JESSE JACKSON


This Thursday in Washington Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the senior minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will formally object to the counting of the Ohio electoral vote in the 2004 presidential election. If any senator joins him, the counting of the vote is suspended and the House and the Senate must convene separately to hear the objections filed, and to vote on whether to accept them.

The grounds for the objections are clear: The irregularities in the Ohio vote and vote count are widespread and blatant. If the Ohio election were held in the Ukraine, it would not have been certified by the international community.

In Ohio, the gulf between exit polls and counted votes is vast and glaring. Blatant discrimination in the distribution of voting machines ensured long lines in inner-city and working-class precincts that favored John Kerry, while the exurban districts that favored President Bush had no similar problems.

Systematic efforts were made to suppress and challenge the new voters in Kerry precincts, whether students or African Americans. Some precincts were certified with more votes than the number registered; others were certified with preposterously low turnouts. Voting machines, produced by a company headed by a vowed Bush supporter, provide no paper record. Ohio's secretary of state, the inappropriately partisan head of the state's Bush campaign, has resisted any systematic recount of the ballots.


Link:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/jesse/cst-edt-jesse04.html

[dzika]

10. U.S. voters should protest fraud in presidential election

January 4, 2005

U.S. voters should protest fraud in presidential election

by Jerry Scott


As the Washington governor's race shows, the best possible count never happens when machines are involved. That is why the "anybody but Bush crowd" is not getting over it.

When machine providers won't share their programming code, no paper trail exists, election officials jerk around people trying to vote, unauthorized people have access to the machines during the recount, election officials violate laws to deny investigators access to voters' rolls and the vote-counting environment and use unauthorized methods in recounts, and the official results differ from exit polls -- which Bush is using to justify spending millions of tax dollars supporting the Ukraine voter-fraud demonstrators -- and in every case, differ in the same direction, favoring the one the machine manufacturers favored, little trust in the fairness of the system should exist.

The Ohio Verified Election Contest Petition, filed in the Ohio Supreme Court, documents all of the above abuses occurring in Ohio. It also documents the veracity of exit polls.

We should be following the Ukraine's example and be in the streets protesting this election -- and probably would be if we had the millions of dollars supporting the Ukraine uprising, supporting the same here.


more
http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050104/OPINION/501040305/1050

[dzika]

11. GOP's Reed suffers slings from own party

GOP's Reed suffers slings from own party

BRAD SHANNON THE OLYMPIAN

Secretary of State Sam Reed is catching flak from some Republicans -- including some of his close advisers -- for his handling of the state's disputed governor's race.

Reed, a Republican, moved to certify Democrat Christine Gregoire as the governor-elect last week and said at the time the election was well-run, despite what he called serious but corrected vote counting glitches in King County.

He also sided with Democrats last month in the state Supreme Court in a bid to let county auditors fix election worker errors -- a move that gave Gregoire 120 votes of her 129-vote victory over Republican Dino Rossi.

Rossi's campaign is now raising questions about the King County vote in a bid to build support for calling a new election. Meanwhile, some Reed supporters say they won't support the secretary of state again.


more
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20050104/topstories/61785.shtml

[dzika]

12. Democrats Snatching Election Victories from GOP across the Country

Posted Jan 4, 2005

Democrats Snatching Election Victories from GOP across the Country

by Chuck Muth

In the 2004 elections, seldom was heard a discouraging word for Republicans; however, there were some late exceptions. And these pockets of light at the end of the Democrats' dark tunnel appear to be the result of the donkeys playing hardball while the elephants were playing tiddly-winks.

Let's start in Washington--the West Coast state, not the police state--where Democrats snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the gubernatorial race. No sooner was the original vote count complete showing a razor-thin victory for the Republican candidate, Dino Rossi, when the Democrat political machine went into overdrive.

The race immediately popped up on the Democrats' national radar screen. DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe was talking the recount up on national TV while pouring a ton of resources and money into "stealing" this one from the GOP column. And they didn't stop turning up rocks until they found enough votes to swing the election.


more
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=6190

[Al-CIAda]

13. Election Fraud: Spooks, Saudis, Florida

Election Fraud: Spooks, Saudis, Florida "The Covert Op That Ate The World"
January 4,2005 -Venice, FL. 
by Daniel Hopsicker

While both of the terrorist pilots who crashed into the World Trade Center were students at Venice Florida’s Huffman Aviation, the flight school's owner Wallace J. Hilliard, 72, of Naples, FL., was simultaneously pursuing a diplomatic opening to Fidel Castro’s Cuba.

But it's Hilliard’s involvement with ADNAN KHASHOGGI, arms merchant and international fugitive, which we find most intriguing. The SAUDI BILLIONAIRE’s name has now surfaced in connection with the ownership of two of the election service companies whose performance in the 2004 Presidential contest has inspired heated controversy.

http://www.madcowprod.com/

DU thread-
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=232179#

[dzika]

14. Ohio Recount: The Recount That Wasn't, a Chance to Reassure Voters Missed

1/4/05 - 10:00am EST

Ohio Recount: The Recount That Wasn't, a Chance to Reassure Voters Missed

by Steven Leser


People who have been following Elites TV or my articles will attest to the fact that I have been attempting to raise awareness regarding the recount that had been going on in Ohio from December 13th until December 28th. I thought it important that all groups have a chance to have their say regarding the Ohio election and its subsequent recount, including the Ohio Secretary of State, county election boards, and more and that the public get all this information so that each reader could make up their own mind regarding how the election was conducted in Ohio. It was my sincere hope that any thought of fraud or conspiracy would be cleared up one way or the other via the recount process. If the recount had been conducted in strict adherence to Ohio state law, I have no doubt that this would have happened. Sadly, it does not appear that this was the case and if anything, the way the recount was conducted lends more credence to the conspiracy theories floating around the blogosphere that there was something wrong with the Ohio vote, something man-made and intentional.

Why do I say this? On or about December 23rd, I was forwarded a civil court filing by the head counsel for the Kerry Campaign in Ohio, a Mr. Daniel J. Hoffheimer of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP. The Kerry campaign had joined an action filed by the Green and Libertarian parties in conjunction with the National Voting Rights Institute, self described on their web site as 'a prominent non-partisan legal center in the campaign finance reform field. Through litigation and public education, the Institute aims to redefine the issue of private money in public elections as the nation's newest voting rights barrier, and to vindicate the constitutional right of all citizens, regardless of their economic status, to participate in the electoral process on an equal and meaningful basis.' The NVRI has frequently joined actions against both major parties for among other things, better access for third parties to the election process at various levels. This civil court filing contains a concise issue by issue and county by county description of allegations that Ohio county election boards refused to conduct recounts of their votes in accordance with Ohio state law. This filing is of an account by of Lynne Serpe, Campaign Manager of the Cobb 2004 (Green Party) Presidential campaign, and manager of Green Party election observations of the recount, and can be read in its entirety at http://www.nvri.org/about/ohio_serpe_122304.pdf . If Democracy is a matter of great import to you, I suggest you steel your stomach before you begin reading. Also, it is important to note that Ohio state law requires that in a recount, each county must initially choose precincts randomly such that at least 3% of the total ballots are in selected precincts, then do a hand count of those ballots. If the hand count is the same as the initial machine count, the rest of the 97% of ballots can be recounted by machine. If it is off even by as little as one vote, the rest of the 97% of the ballots in that county must be counted by hand. That is Ohio state law regarding recounts. Some of the allegations are as follows:


more:
http://www.elitestv.com/pub/2005/Jan/EEN41daafcecb050.html

[dzika]

15. More Election Crimes Surface In Ohio

January 7, 2005 issue

More Election Crimes Surface In Ohio

by Edward Spannaus


Evidence of a criminal conspiracy to prevent legitimate votes from being cast, and counted, continues to mount in the state of Ohio. Ohio will be the primary focus of the anticipated challenge to Electors when the Congress meets in Joint Session on Jan. 6, but questions may be raised about other states as well.

In a radio interview Dec. 28, former Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche said that "I couldn't say that Kerry didn't win the election. I have many indications that the margins of votes attributed to a Bush victory, didn't happen."

"We have a lot of people who are eligible for imprisonment," LaRouche continued, "because there was a massive campaign of voter suppression. Voter suppression, under the U.S. law, under the Voting Rights Act, is a crime ... and there were a lot of people who were caught doing just that. And there's a possibility of their being convicted for doing that, including possibly the Secretary of State of the state of Ohio."


link:
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2005/3201ohio_conyers.html

[Al-CIAda]

16. KICK

[MelissaB]

17. MoveLeft Media: Voting Rights Tuesday: The 2004 Election Is Unconstitution

Voting Rights Tuesday: The 2004 Election Is Unconstitutional
by Eric Jaffa

January 4, 2005

US Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The Fourteenth Amendment was adopted on July 28, 1868. This post-Civil War amendment was to undo Black Codes passed in states such as Mississippi which treated blacks (mostly newly freed slaves there at that time) differently from whites.
But in the 2004 election, blacks in Ohio were treated differently than whites.

There were fewer voting machines-per-citizen in black neighborhoods than in white neighborhoods ("Hearings on Ohio voting put 2004 election in doubt" by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, November 18, 2004.)

This was to suppress the black vote.

more: http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2005_01_04_voting_rights_tuesday_the_2004_election_was_unconstitutional.asp

Thanks to Eric J in MN here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x230700

[MelissaB]

18. Cleveland Plain Dealer to Jackson, Tubbs-Jones: "Please, let it go"

Please, let it go
Election was 2 months ago; inauguration is in 2 weeks; Jackson and Tubbs Jones should get on to something useful
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Memo to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones and the Rev. Jesse Jackson: The elec tion horse is dead. You can stop beating it now.

Not an ounce of political flesh remains on that carcass. Ohio has counted and recounted: President George W. Bush received 118,775 more votes than your man, Sen. John Kerry.

The senator had the good grace and sense to acknowledge the abundantly obvious, go home and resume his life. You might consider emulating his excellent example, because what you are doing now -- redoubling your effort in the face of a settled outcome -- will only drive you further toward the political fringe. And that long grass already is tickling your knees.

The 176 Democrats who sit on Ohio's 88 county election boards pondered their jurisdictions' results, accepted their subordinates' good work, and are turning their energies toward the future. Are they all dupes in some Machiavellian Republican scheme? Or do they simply have a firmer grasp of reality than that displayed by the two of you and a handful of unrelenting zealots still ranting in the January rain, eight weeks after the November voting?

More: http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1104834711239252.xml

Thanks to bones_7672 here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x232165

[dzika]

20. NY Daily News - Recount countdown

Jan. 4 2005

Recount countdown

by Juan Gonzalez

-snip-

But a persistent and significant group of voters is not moving anywhere, not until some straight answers are forthcoming.

To them, 2004 was worse than the Florida fiasco of 2000. It was further proof that something is drastically wrong with our nation's patchwork voting system.

Black voters and their elected leaders are carrying the brunt of the fight, especially in Ohio, whose 20 electoral votes were the key to the Bush victory.

During a series of postelection hearings, Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) collected "thousands of complaints" from Ohio voters, many of them black, about Election Day irregularities, a Conyers spokeswoman said yesterday.


Link:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/story/267902p-229434c.html

[dzika]

21. John Bonifaz - We Must Choose to Fight. Count Every Vote.

We Must Choose to Fight. Count Every Vote.

by John Bonifaz

Delivered at the Rally for the Republic
Faneuil Hall, Boston
Monday, January 3, 2005

Four years ago last month, the United States Supreme Court stopped the vote counting in the State of Florida and, for the first time, selected the president of the United States. It marked a dark moment in our nation’s history.

Since that time, people throughout this country committed to the vision of democracy pledged to never let it happen again – never again would we allow an individual to assume the power of the presidency without the proper counting of all the votes. We are here tonight because we are dangerously close to allowing it to happen again. We are here tonight because we refuse to be silent.

On December 13, 2004, in the state capitol of Ohio, we witnessed a crime – a crime against democracy, a crime against the right to vote, a crime against our Constitution. On that day, Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell presided over a meeting over a group of individuals who claimed to have won the right to serve as presidential electors for the State of Ohio in the Electoral College. Mr. Blackwell and that group gathered while a recount began of the votes cast in Ohio for President of the United States.

Mr. Blackwell has done everything in his power to push through a slate of electors based on an untested, initial count. In enacting its recount law, the Ohio legislature ensured that a proper counting of all the votes could include a recount. As candidates for the office of President of the United States, David Cobb and Michael Badnarik exercised their right under the law and sought a recount.

Mr. Blackwell had no right to convene a meeting of the Electoral College in Ohio while a recount was underway. And individuals who ran as candidates for presidential electors had no right to cast votes in the Electoral College in Ohio while a recount was underway.

The meeting of the Electoral College in Ohio on December 13 was illegitimate. It was in violation of the United States Constitution. It marked an utter contempt for the promise of democracy and for the rule of law.

We refuse to be silent in the face of this crime.


continued
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0104-32.htm

[dzika]

22. The Electronic Road to the White House

The Electronic Road to the White House

by Grant Gross

E-VOTING is fantastic—or it's problematic. During the Nov. 2 U.S. general election, electronic voting machines performed nearly flawlessly, or they experienced serious problems—depending on whom you talk to. Here are some states where the process broke down.

North Carolina: Storage issues. More than 4,500 votes lost in Carteret county, according to the Verified Voting Foundation.

Florida: Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties logged questionable results. More votes were registered for President George Bush than were expected by post-election analysis, over 100,000, according to researchers at UC Berkeley.

Louisiana: E-voting machine malfunctions. Machines misrecorded votes, often switching votes from Kerry to Bush, and some ballots were already filled out when voters logged in to the voting machines, according to the Verified Voting Foundation.


more
http://www.csoonline.com/read/010105/briefing_evoting.html

[dzika]

23. ACTION - Memo from Alliance For Democracy

January 4, 2005

Action Memo from Alliance For Democracy

How can protection of voters' rights granted in the 14th and 15th Constitutional Amendments enacted following the Civil War, in the Civil and Voting Rights Acts passed between 1866 and 1968, and the legislation of 1920 granting women the right to vote count for so little in this country in 2004?

Take Action Now: America's Democracy Depends on Honest Elections THERE IS A NEW PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT BUILDING

1. Challenge the Ohio Electors
2. Call for investigation by the House Judiciary Committee
3. Join Rallies and Marches
4. Receive Email Updates on the 2004 Election investigations and Call for Election Reform before 2006

Background: On Thursday, January 6, the 109th Congress will meet in joint session in the House chamber at 1:00 pm to open and count the electoral vote certificates of each state. This is the final step in the presidential election process before the inauguration according to the Electoral Count Act of 1887.

Objections may be offered to both individual electoral votes and state returns as a whole. Objections must be in writing and signed by one Senator and one Representative. If an objection is received and determined to be valid, the electoral vote count session is recessed. The two houses then consider the objections separately for no more than two hours when each house votes separately to agree or disagree with the objection. Then the joint session reconvenes and the decisions of each house are announced. If both houses agree to the objection, then the electoral vote or votes in question are not counted. Otherwise, the vote or votes stand as submitted and are counted.

Still in question, however, are election results in Ohio, New Mexico and Florida. In Ohio, where the official recounts was terminated on December 28, state and county election officials failed to examine votes in 97 percent of the state's precincts and, in many cases, hand-picked the 3% of precincts where votes were recounted. Extensive evidence of irregularities and alleged fraud continues to be compiled and analyzed ranging from voter intimidation and disenfranchisement, vote suppression, recount delays and obstruction, and vote machine tampering. Read more at http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/1057. View Ohio Election Fraud summary online or pdf http://www.bpac.info/

1. Challenge the Ohio Electors Rep. John Conyers, ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, has announced that he will challenge the Ohio electors on January 6 along with perhaps 14 of his colleagues in the House. He has sent a letter to each Senator. Read more: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/123104W.shtml In 2000, the Senate fell silent when not one Senator stood with those Representatives who challenged the Florida vote. ASK YOUR SENATORS TO "Stand Up For Democracy" in 2004! Rep. Conyers along with various groups are calling on these Senators, in particular, to stand up: Senators Feingold, Leahy, Harkin, Murray, Durbin, and Kerry. Conyers is also seeking support from Senators Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Byrd, Chaffee (R-RI), Clinton, Conrad, Corzine, Dodd, Dorgan, Inyoue, Jeffords, Kennedy, Lautenberg, Mikulski, Nelson (FL), Obama, Jack Reed, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Schumer, Stabenow, and Wyden. ACT NOW - CALL NOW - CALL TODAY and call through Wednesday, Jan 5th. This is the most effective thing you can do do now. The Democratic Caucus meets on Tuesday, January 4th at which time they purportedly will discuss vote ratification. Call the Capitol switchboard toll free 800-839-5276. For District and Washington Senate office numbers look in the Blue Pages of your telephone book under United States Government offices. Send an Email: Send emails to individual senators using the individual email form provided at their own website. DO THIS NOW. For each Senator type http:// senator's last name.senate.gov For example: http://feingold.senate.gov - follow instructions for email contact. For talking points http://www.unioncountyfordemocracy.org/files/jan6points.html

2. CALL FOR INVESTIGATION OF THE 2004 ELECTION by the Judiciary Commitee of the House of Representatives, specifically in Ohio, Florida, and New Mexico. Email Rep. Jim Sensebrenner, Chair of the Judiciary Committee, at http://judiciary.house.gov/Contact.aspx Rep. Conyers, ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee, wants a million emails sent the chair to compel the committee to do their job! For these and more actions go to The VOTERGATE Resource Center http://miamedia.com/votergate/take.action.html

3. JOIN RALLIES AND MARCHES - there is a NEW Pro-Democracy Movement Building For detailed information go to: http://www.caseohio.org/CalendarEvents.htm - click on "link to events nationwide" and find one near you. Tuesday, January 4 - Thursday, January 6th "Selma" March from Baltimore to Washington Wednesday, January 5th. Freedom Ride from Columbus to Washington Thursday, January 6th. 10 AM Rally at Lafayette Park across from the White House and march to Capitol Hill to join others at noon 12 NOON - 4:00 PM. Defend Democracy Rally and Vigil outside the Capitol while votes are opened and counted inside

4. To receive Email updates on the 2004 Election Investigations and Call for Election Reform before 2006 contact Nancy Matela, Alliance for Democracy, Portland, OR chapter at [e-mail]

Thank you to all those who donated to the Ohio Honest Election Campaign at our website and to AfD members.
Best wishes for the New Year.
Nancy Price
Co-Chair, Alliance for Democracy
www.theallianceforDemocracy.org


Link:
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/action-memo-from-alliance-for.html

[dzika]

24. ICONOCLAST EDITORIAL - 05’s Brave New World

05’s Brave New World

ICONOCLAST EDITORIAL


-snip-

As 2005 emerges, it will be interesting to see just how many freedoms will be robbed from Americans this year. Although most do not realize it, a new, stealthier version of the Patriot Act has been approved. It was renamed so as not to draw attention to itself and get the public into an uproar. With the passage of time comes acceptance, for each day lets the ink dry on acts that become history.

Investigations into the presidential vote in Ohio have revealed that the election was compromised in a major way, eliminating any possibility that the election was fair. On Jan. 6, the government has an opportunity to right this wrong to democracy by refusing to certify the Ohio electors. That will be a red-letter day in history, for its ramifications are deep.

Our question is “Will Congress act to save democracy?” Our guess is “Probably not.” The conventional wisdom in Washington is that the people do not deserve a fair election; only reassuring propaganda.

America is in what President Bush likes to call a war with Iraq, a “war” that we created. Scheduled in January are that country’s first so-called elections as a democracy. How many of our readers know who is running, what they are running for, how that country’s constitution is written, and just what power those electors will have? Will Iraqis be voting by machine or paper ballot? Who is supplying the machines? Will they have independent monitors? Who is going to determine who is eligible to vote? You’d think this would be important, due to our cost in lives and dollars, but dare we say, few Americans know what is going on over there. Perhaps it is better that we don’t know. No use upsetting the government’s hidden agenda until it can be “spinned.”


more
http://iconoclast-texas.com/Columns/Editorial/editorial01.htm

[dzika]

25. Another election stolen while America sleeps

04.Jan.2005

Another election stolen while America sleeps

author: Nancy Hedrick e-mail: [e-mail]


We've been robbed again, and yet most voters probably know little about this latest episode of electoral travesty.. The date of Jan 6, 2005 is key.. Action Speaks asks you to contact your senator.. Too much is at stake to simply drop this issue and move on.

---

ANOTHER ELECTION STOLEN WHILE AMERICA SLEEPS
By Nancy Hedrick




"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."
- Josef Stalin


We've been robbed again, and yet most voters probably know little about this latest episode of electoral travesty. The most under-reported story of 2004 is what happened pre-, during, and post-election Nov. 2. Yet the story of irregularities and fraud, occurring in many ways and in many different regions, may be a hard one for the public to follow, as the story line is complex, and the information is out there, but mainly in the alternative media.

THE BACK STORY:

The vote was lost, suppressed, or changed in many ways across the country. Voters were illegally disenfranchised before Election Day (by arbitrary voter role purges), intimidated as the polls (with more challenges and more provisional ballots assigned to minority voters), had their registrations lost, or dealt with long lines and faulty equipment. Additionally, evidence has been piling up that hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of votes were discarded, miscounted, or electronically manipulated. People of color and youth were targeted in many ways, including lines up to 11 hours in predominantly minority or college precincts in Ohio. Candidates Ralph Nader (Independent), David Cobb (Green), and Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) have been seeking recounts in various states, which in a tardy fashion the Kerry campaign has also backed. Researchers like Bev Harris of Black Box Voting continue to uncover election irregularities, such as the poll tapes (recording optically scanned votes) headed for the trash in Volusia County, Florida.

Professional exit polling, which prior to 2000 was considered highly predictive (almost always coming within a few percentage points of the final outcome), showed improbable discrepancies with the results in at least 16 states. A University of Pennsylvania study found that the differences between the polls and the results in three states (Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) were statistically impossible (odds ratio of 250 million to one). This anomaly is of further note when one realizes that the exit polls continued with reasonable productive power in areas with paper ballots or proper ballot auditing. More than 40 percent of the U.S. vote now has no paper trail.

more
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/01/307285.shtml

[dzika]

26. ACTION - Memo from Harris Schiff

January 4, 2005

Action Memo from Harris Schiff

Call Any or all of the following senators at the Capitol Switchboard - 1-202-224-3121 or 1-800-839-5276. Real People are answering phones (Kennedy, Boxer, for example). They are counting your calls.

Ask them to join Representative John Conyers in his Request to Contest the Ohio Presidential Electors. HE ONLY NEEDS ONE SENATOR!!!! Particularly call Senators from California, West Virginia, Minnesota, Iowa, Vermont, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maryland, Illinois, New York, or Maine, as those state have senators who may be more inclined to join Conyers than most. It does not matter if you are a resident of those states. This is about a national issue. Call as many as you can! If there is no challenge you will have the rest of your life to relax, watch television and live under a totalitarian government where no actual voting is ever again permitted.

The Most important Senators to Contact: Senator Barbara Boxer - CA Senator Robert Byrd, W. VA Senator Edward M. Kennedy, MA Senator James Jeffords - VT Senator Barack Obama, IL Senator Olympia Snowe, ME Senator Patrick Leahy - VT Senator Barbara Mikulski, MD Senator Tom Harkin - IA Senator Christopher Dodd - CT Senator Daniel Inouye, HI Senator Debbie Stabenow - MI Senator Joseph Biden, DE Senator Ken Salazar - CO Senator Bill Nelson, FL Senator Blanche Lincoln, AR Senator Byron Dorgan, ND Senator Carl Levin MI Senator Charles Schumer - NY Senator Chuck Grassley, IA Senator Daniel Akaka, HI Senator Dianne Feinstein, CA Senator Evan Bayh, IN Senator Frank Lautenberg - NJ Senator Herb Kohl, WI Senator Hillary Clinton - NY Senator Jeff Bingaman, NM Senator John Rockefeller, W. VA Senator Jon Corzine - NJ Senator Kent Conrad, ND Senator Maria Cantwell, WA Senator Mark Pryor, AR Senator Mary Landrieu, LA Senator Patty Murray, WA Senator Paul Sarbanes, MD Senator Richard Durbin, IL Senator Ron Wyden, OR Senator Russell Feingold, WI Senator Susan Collins, ME Senator Thomas Carper, DE Senator John Kerry, MA Senator Pete Domenici, NM


Link:
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/action-memo-from-harris-schiff.html

---

About Harris Schiff



Harris Schiff has been curator/webmaster of $lavery - Cyberzine of the Arts since it's inception in 1995. His commentary poem for 9/11/01 was published by The Arts Paper. Harris was, for a time, a resident of Morningstar Commune in Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico. A prose poem about some of that experience was recently republished as part of the The Angel Hair Anthology, (Anne Waldman & Lewis Warsh, eds., 619 pp. Granary Books, 2001).

[dzika]

27. Press Conference - Wed., June 5th - 2:00 P.M. -- National Press Club in DC

January 4, 2005

Press Conference Tomorrow
Wednesday, June 5th -- 2:00 P.M.
National Press Club, Washington, D.C.

Ilene PRoctor
International Public Relations
Press Contact:
Ilene Proctor [phone] or [phone]
Kat L’Estrange [phone]

BEYOND ANY REASONABLE DOUBT, BUSH DID NOT WIN THE OHIO OR NATIONAL VOTE.
HISTORIC PRESIDENTIAL CHALLENGE.
PRESS CONFERENCE, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, WASHINGTON, D.C.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5TH AT 2:00 PM


WHO:
Lead plaintiff, Moss v. Bush, Rev. Bill Moss
Lead trial counsel, Peter Peckarsky
Professor and statistical expert, Ron Baiman, Ph.D.
Publisher and lawyer, Bob Fitrakis
Lawyer, Susan Truitt
Exit polling expert, Jonathan Simon, JD
Senior editor, freepress.org. Harvey Wasserman
Legal statistician, Richard Hayes-Phillips, Ph.D
Director, Progressive Democrats of America, Tim Carpenter
NAACP, National Voter Fund, Greg Moore
Author Warren Linney, MA (The Patriot Test)


WHAT:
• Exit polls did not match the reported vote in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and 7 of 8 other key battleground states
• Voting machines with secret software owned by private, partisan companies subject to manipulation and which deprived citizens of their right to fair and transparent elections
• Uncounted and provisional ballots negatively and disproportionately affected African American voters
• Inexplicable vote disparities
• Voting Rights Act Violations
• Recount did not recount all the votes
• Challenge at January 6 Joint Session of Congress


WHY:
TO PROVIDE FULL BACKGROUND ON KEY ASSERTIONS PRIOR TO THE HISTORIC CONGRESSIONAL CHALLENGE TO THE 2004 VOTE


PARTIAL LIST OF EVIDENCE:
There is clear and compelling evidence that the election was stolen. By examining a very wide range of sworn testimonies from voters, polling officials and others close to the administration of the Nov. 2 election; by statistical analysis of the certified vote by mathematicians, election experts and independent research teams who have conducted detailed studies of the results in Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere; from experts who studied the voting machines, tabulators and other electronic equipment on which a fair vote count has depended; and from a team of attorneys and others who have challenged the Ohio results; the freepress.org investigative team has compiled a portrait of an election whose true outcome must be investigated further by the Congress, the media and all Americans -- because it was almost certainly not an honest victory for George W. Bush.

Crucial flaws in the national vote count, most importantly in the national popular vote, and in Ohio and Florida indicate John Kerry was the actual winner on November 2, as reported in national exit polls. At the very least, the widespread tampering with how the election was conducted, and how Ohio's votes were counted and re-counted, has compromised this nation's historic commitment to free and fair elections.

George W. Bush's ‘victory' appears to have resulted from multiple frauds – a GOP ‘do-whatever it takes' strategy to win the state that swung the election.

The questionable votes far exceed Bush's margin of victory in Ohio.

The Bush-Cheney ‘do what ever it takes" strategy in Ohio covered a very wide range of tactics, from disenfranchisement of minority voters to discarding of ballots to tampered tabulators and much more. Taken as a whole, this compendium of error, fraud, cover-up and contempt indicates that this was not a legitimate election, and is not worthy of being certified by the Congress of the United States.

Thirty disenfranchised voters on the Freedom Winter bus ride from Columbus, Ohio to Washington, D.C. will be present to share their voting horror stories with the media.


WHERE:
National Press Club
Zenger Room
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045
202.662.7500


SPONSORED BY: Free Press, _www.freepress.org_ (http://www.freepress.org/) Citizens Alliance for Secure Elections, _www.caseohio.org_ (http://www.caseohio.org/) Progressive Democrats of America, _www.pdamerica.org_ (http://www.pdamerica.org/) We Do Not Concede _www.donotconcede.com_ (http://www.donotconcede.com/)


link:
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/press-conference-tomorrow-wednesday.html

[dzika]

28. Yes Magazine - Conyers to contest Ohio electors

Monday, January 03, 2005

Conyers to contest Ohio electors

Rep. John Conyers, who has been valiantly—and nearly singlehandedly—leading an investigation into voting irregularities in Ohio, has thrown down the gauntlet. In a letter he sent to every Senator last week, Conyers said, "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." He urged at least one senator to join him, as is required for a challenge to be mounted under the Electoral Count Act of 1887 (passed after the contested election of 1876, when Rutherford B. Hayes was installed as president by the House of Representatives).

Conyers also says that Ohio’s electors were not “lawfully certified” because there was too much illegal activity by election officials and voting machine company employees in Ohio.

Conyers and others are claiming that the Ohio recount was botched. David Cobb and Michael Badnarik, the Green Party and Libertarian presidential candidates who requested the Ohio recount—and paid for it—have filed a request in federal court that the recount be done over, because the recount did not conform to Ohio legal standards. Ohio law provides that each county do a hand count of a random 3 percent of its ballots, then if the hand count doesn’t match the original machine count, do a hand count of all its ballots. Only a handful of counties did this full hand count. Cobb and Badnarik charge that several counties that were required by law to do the full handcount did not do so, that precincts for the 3 percent recount were not randomly chosen (but instead carefully chosen to ensure the counts would match), that in some cases poll workers were given “cheat sheets” telling them what numbers the handcounts should add up to, and that ballots were inadequately secured. They also note that tens of thousands of “spoiled ballots”—those rejected by machines—and rejected provisional ballots were never reconsidered in the recount. Only 1,200 votes, out of a total 5.7 million cast statewide, were shifted by the recount.

Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman, writing in the Columbus Free Press, point to a number of other problems in the recount, including anomalies in the reported voter turnout in various counties. They point also to the refusal of the Ohio State Supreme Court Chief Justice to recuse himself from a legal challenge to the election in which the race for his office figured. Their article also looked askance at lawyers representing the Kerry campaign, which has challenged the Ohio results in only one county. “Daniel J. Hoffheimer, an attorney hired by the Kerry campaign, has emphasized his belief that despite that challenge, ‘this presidential election is over. The Bush-Cheney ticket has won.’ Hoffheimer is affiliated with Taft, Stettinius and Hollister, a Cincinnati firm with deep Republican ties to Ohio's current GOP governor, Bob Taft.”


link:
http://www.yesmagazine.org/cmblog/2005/01/conyers-to-contest-ohio-electors.html

[texpatriot2004]

29. kick it to the top

[dzika]

30. House Dems to Contest Electoral Vote Count

53 minutes ago

House Dems to Contest Electoral Vote Count

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A handful of House Democrats plan a long-shot effort to snarl President Bush (news - web sites)'s formal re-election by preventing Congress from counting Ohio's pivotal votes when lawmakers tally the electoral vote on Thursday.

No one expects the action to undo Bush's victory. Instead, it seems likely to do little more than call attention to Election Day voting irregularities, a growing frustration for Democrats who blamed similar problems in Florida for Bush's 2000 defeat of Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites).

In a measure of the dispute's political delicacy, proponents are considered unlikely to find a senator who will co-sign the objection, which is required to force Congress to act on the challenge. Most Democrats are reluctant to launch a serious effort to undo the election, in which Bush outpolled Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., by more than 3 million votes nationally.

Even so, Rep. John Conyers (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., has sent letters to senators seeking their support for his plan to object to the counting of Ohio's 20 electoral votes, which gave Bush his November victory over Kerry. Some Ohio voters have complained of Election Day fraud, citing a shortage of voting machines at precincts with minority voters, unusually long lines and computer problems.


more
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050105/ap_on_go_pr_wh/electoral_vote_2

[dzika]

31. Press Release: ReDefeatBush to hold "Rally for the Republic" in San Fran

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Press Release: ReDefeatBush to hold "Rally for the Republic" in San Francisco tonight

Contact: Stephen Gaskill of the Committee to ReDefeat the President, 202-257-9298; Web: http://www.redefeatbush.com

News Advisory:

Highlighting allegations of voting irregularities in the 2004 Presidential election and, therefore, the need to challenge the electors, the Committee to ReDefeat the President, a federal PAC better known by the name of its popular ReDefeatBush.com Web site, will hold a "Rally for the Republic" tonight, Tuesday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m. in San Francisco's Herbst Theater at 401 Van Ness Ave. The rally is open to the press and public.

On Thursday, the electoral votes for election of the President are to be opened and counted in a joint session of Congress. Several members of Congress are planning to object to the counting of the votes because of numerous irregularities in the voting and counting of votes.

Former Florida Rep. Peter Deutsch, who led the effort to challenge the Florida electors in 2000 and is now advising groups organizing this year's challenge, said, "It is shocking that we are seeing some of the same outrageous examples of discrimination in access to voting in 2004 that we saw in Florida in 2000."

At tonight's San Francisco rally, ReDefeatBush founder David Lytel will be joined by recent graduates of the Electoral College in California and Emily Levy, who will report on her work with statistician Richard Hayes Phillips about anomalies in the Ohio election results. Music and humor will be provided by Electile Dysfunction. Linda Bryket's 24-minute film on what happened in Columbus, Ohio on Election Day will also be shown.


Link:
http://logicvoice.blogspot.com/2005/01/press-release-redefeatbush-to-hold.html

[dzika]

32. PRESS RELEASE - Cobb Urges Congress to Reject Tainted Ohio Electoral Votes

Ohio's Electoral College votes are tainted by the widespread irregularities and allegations of fraud which took place both on election day and in the course of the flawed recount of the vote. Congress must reject these tainted Electoral College votes to preserve the integrity of our democratic process.
— David Cobb

Cobb Urges Congress to Reject Tainted Ohio Electoral Votes

January 4, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact

Cobb Urges Congress to Reject Tainted Ohio Electoral Votes


Columbus, OH — Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb will be a featured speaker at two rallies on Thursday in Washington, DC, calling on Congress to reject Ohio's tainted Electoral College votes.

Ohio's Electoral College votes are tainted by the widespread irregularities and allegations of fraud which took place both on election day and in the course of the flawed recount of the vote. Congress must reject these tainted Electoral College votes to preserve the integrity of our democratic process.
— David Cobb
The first rally, sponsored by a variety of organizations in addition to the Cobb-LaMarche campaign, will be held at 10 a.m. across from the White House in Lafayette Park. Other speakers besides Cobb include Reverend Jesse Jackson, Global Exchange co-founder Medea Benjamin, recount attorney John Bonifaz from the National Voting Rights Institute, Alysia Fischer from Progressive Democrats of America, and Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.

"Ohio's Electoral College votes are tainted by the widespread irregularities and allegations of fraud which took place both on election day and in the course of the flawed recount of the vote. Congress must reject these tainted Electoral College votes to preserve the integrity of our democratic process," said Cobb.

Sponsors for the 10 a.m. Lafayette Park rally include: United Progressives for Democracy, the Cobb/LaMarche campaign, Code Pink, D.C. Anti-War Network, the national Green Party, Independent Progressive Politics Network, International Labor Communications Association, No Stolen Elections, Progressive Democrats of America, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, United for Peace and Justice, and Truth in Elections. Two members of Congress, Cynthia McKinney and John Conyers, have also been invited to speak at the rally.

The rally will conclude with a march to Capitol Hill to join with other pro-democracy demonstrations where Cobb will also be speaking.

Cobb will speak at a pro-democracy rally today, January 3, in Columbus, Ohio, at 2 p.m., at the Capitol Theater, 77 S. High Street. The rally will feature the Reverend Jesse Jackson and is sponsored by Rainbow/PUSH, the Cobb-LaMarche campaign and a number of other pro-democracy organizations.

Detailed reports from official observers outlining a wide range of irregularities with the Ohio recount are available at http://www.votecobb.org/recount/ohio_reports/index.php.

Because the Ohio recount was conducted without uniform standards, adequate security for ballots and voting machines, and without using random samples for auditing the vote as required by law, the Cobb-LaMarche campaign is asking a federal court to order a second recount in Ohio.

The New Mexico recount, which has yet to begin due to interference by New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson, is also the subject of pending litigation.

Cobb is available for press interviews on the recount. On January 4 and 5 he will be in New York City (contact Colby Hamilton at 917.627.8000). On January 6 and 7 he will be in Washington (contact Blair Bobier at 414.364.1596).

Additional information about the Ohio and New Mexico recounts and the Cobb-LaMarche campaign can be found at www.votecobb.org. The website for the national Green Party is www.gp.org.


link:
http://www.votecobb.org/press/2005/jan/pr2005-01-03.php

[MelissaB]

33. Truthout: Stand Up, Senator

Stand Up, Senator
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Report

Wednesday 05 January 2004

"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out."
- Vaclav Havel

Four years ago, members of the Congressional Black Caucus ran deliberately and vociferously into a brick wall when they chose to stand and protest the deplorable election calamity in Florida. They sought the name of one Senator, just one, which they could append to their complaints. Had they gotten that one name, a debate and discussion on what happened in Florida would have taken place in the House and the Senate. No Senator came forward, and the debate never happened.

Now, four years later, another election has come and gone. Now, four years later, there are rafts of evidence which point, once again, to overwhelming disenfranchisement of minority voters. Now, four years later, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, along with several other House members, plan to stand once again and protest an election that failed to live up to the standards required of participatory democracy. Now, four years later, they seek a Senator to stand with them.

This time, a Senator must answer the call.

Four years ago, standing up was politically dangerous. The country had just endured a month of mayhem and charges and countercharges and overheated rhetoric. The Supreme Court had ruled, a judicial version of the loud voice from Mount Ararat that cannot be contravened. The tablets had been handed down.

The mainstream news media had launched into the soothing refrain, "This is an orderly transition of power…this is an orderly transition of power," and a Senator standing up in Congress to swat the hornet's nest again would have, bluntly, gotten their butt kicked up between their shoulderblades. Recall the line from the film ‘The Right Stuff': "It takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially one that's on TV." Four years ago, no one was feeling special enough to volunteer. Do not forget, as well, that candidate Gore asked his Senate colleagues not to join the CBC, so that they all might "heal the country."

More here: http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/010505W.shtml

Thanks to WilliamPitt here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x233795

[dzika]

34. PRESS RELEASE - New Mexico Recount Press Conference in Santa Fe on Jan 4th

January 4, 2005

New Mexico Recount Press Conference in Santa Fe on January 4th

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact

New Mexico Recount Press Conference in Santa Fe on January 4th


Santa Fe, NM — Rick Lass, the New Mexico coordinator for Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb, will be joined by a renowned expert in statistical analysis and the lead attorney for the recount litigation, in a press conference to be held on Tuesday, January 4, at Noon, in the rotunda of the New Mexico State Capitol in Santa Fe. The speakers will discuss the CPA report, commissioned by the New Mexico Secretary of State's office, which found numerous errors and discrepancies with the counting and reporting of New Mexico's presidential vote.

Problems with the New Mexico general election have been documented by a number of independent reports, including one commissioned by the Secretary of State. We need a recount of the vote to clearly identify those problems and have them solved before the next presidential election. It's time for the Governor to stop stonewalling this process so we can get the recount done before the upcoming local elections," said Rick Lass.

John Skelly, an expert in advanced quantitative analysis and research director of the Sausalito, California firm, King, Brown & Partners, Inc., will address the CPA report and offer a statistical analysis of it and other information suggesting that a recount is necessary.

Lowell Finley, general counsel for Help America Recount and the attorney representing David Cobb and Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik in their pending litigation before the New Mexico Court of Appeals, will also be speaking at the press conference.

Problems with the New Mexico presidential election included malfunctioning voting machines and an unusually high number of under-votes (ballots cast with no votes for president) and "phantom" votes (more votes for president recorded than actual voters).

For more on the New Mexico recount, call Rick Lass, NM Coordinator at 505.920.0540. For more information about the Cobb-LaMarche campaign and its recount efforts in Ohio and New Mexico, see www.votecobb.org.


Link:
http://www.votecobb.org/press/2005/jan/pr2005-01-04.php

[snot]

35. SSRC Report?

Just wanted to make sure, have the approp. DU'ers seen the report at:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/downloads/

When you get to this site, search the page for
InterimReport122204.pdf

I was told this report was produced by the Social Science Research Council. Whoever they are, they appear well-funded.

[dzika]

36. Radio Documentary - Election Fraud in Ohio by Evan Davis

2004-12-30

TUC Radio: Election Fraud in Ohio

Series: TUC Radio
Subtitle: Count Every Vote, a Documentary by Evan Davis
Program Type: Documentary
Featured Speakers/Commentators: Dozens, among them Shiela Jackson Lee, Jesse Jackson, Kenneth Blackwell, David Cobb
Producer: Maria Gilardin
Broadcast Restictions: For non-profit use only.

Summary: While the international press asks whether George Bush really did get elected this time, the US mass media are silent on voting machines that leave no record, purged voter rolls, and to false tallies. It's up to us again!!


Notes: The Pacifica Radio correspondent Evan Davis lives in the battle ground state of Ohio. He was witness to the unprecedented effort of voter registration, and to the fight against the use of the Diebold voting machines long before they were put to use. He remains involved as investigative journalist in the discovery of fraud and legal challenges to the outcome of the vote in Ohio that may change who will be president for the next four years.


Version 1: Election Fraud, Part ONE/TWO
Description:
Length (h:m:s): 00:29:00
Language: English
Date Recorded: 2004-12-30
Location Recorded: Various locations in Ohio
Announcer Script/Transcript: View Script


Link:
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=10759&nav=&

[dzika]

37. Slate kausfiles - Exit Poll Smoking Gun

Kausfiles
Posted Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2005, at 5:43 PM PT

Exit Poll Smoking Gun

Bloggers can attack with New Zeal!
By Mickey Kaus


The prestigious Columbia Graduate School of Journalism could use this meandering, weak piece--which fails to deliver the goods in support of whatever its vaguely delineated thesis is--as a case study of an article that desperately needs editing before it's published. ... Oh, wait. The piece was published. By the prestigious Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. ... 5:40 P.M.

-snip-

The smoking gun indicting the official Mitofsky/Lenski exit poll appears to have surfaced--in New Zealand! Mystery Pollster points the way to this file posted on the Scoop website. It is one of several that "appear to be actual internal Election Day reports generated by Edison/Mitofsky," according to MP. ... What it shows: As late as 7:33 P.M. on Election Day, Mitofsky and Lenski were apparently telling their clients (NBC, CBS, CNN, AP, etc.) that after "weighting" Kerry was beating Bush by 9 points among women and losing by only 4 among men. By 1:24 P.M. the next day (see this file) revised results revealed that, in fact, Kerry won women by only 3 points while Bush won men by 11 points. Whoops! ... It wasn't the dumb bloggers who didn't understand on Nov. 2 that they were being prematurely leaked "complex displays intended for trained statisticians," as Mitofsky would have it--or the dumb Kerry aides and dumb Bush aides who believed the same leaked numbers. It was that the weighted results Mitofsky's statisticians put out were full of it! ...

P.S.: The documents would also seem to contradict Mitofsky's argument that "we recognized the overstatement in the exit polls in mid-afternoon, and we told the members of NEP about the suspicions we had"--but mistakenly did not tell the mere "subscribers" like WaPo. If the errors were recognized in mid-afternoon, why was bogus 'weighted' data being compiled in neat official tables well into the evening?

P.P.S.: How much did Mitofsky's clients pay to be misinformed at 7:30 in the evening on Election Day? Are they happy about it?

Update: Mystery Pollster seems to think the New Zealish documents are less of a smoking gun than I do, but that's because he feels already knew the story--in part from WaPo managing editor Steve Coll's comments in a postelection chat. But it's one thing to take Coll at his word. It's another thing to see the bad Edison/Mitofsky data in black and white on an official NEP document. MP notes:

The continuing stonewall of secrecy that the networks have erected around the exit polls does not help. It is that secrecy, as much as anything else, that continues to fuel the more bizarre conspiracy theories floating around the blogosphere. I remain a skeptic of widespread fraud, but I cannot understand the continuing secrecy: Why did these documents have to be leaked by a left-wing web site in New Zealand? Why did NEP not release them in early November? Why did it take until late December for NEP to make the basic methodology statements the networks had on Election Day available online? And why so much reluctance to discuss, openly, what went wrong and why?

Gee, maybe because the truth is really, really embarrassing? Just a guess! ... 2:26 P.M


Link:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2111831/

[MelissaB]

38. Boston Herald: On Iraq trip, Kerry to skip election finale

On Iraq trip, Kerry to skip election finale
By Andrew Miga
Tuesday, January 4, 2005

WASHINGTON - When Congress meets in a special joint session Thursday to count electoral ballots from the presidential race, Sen. John F. Kerry will be noticeably absent - thousands of miles away on a fact-finding trip in the Middle East.

Kerry's two-week overseas trip, which includes stops in war-ravaged Iraq, conveniently allows the defeated Democrat nominee to avoid a potentially awkward moment on the House floor as congressmen vote to certify election results.

>>snip

Vice President Dick Cheney - who zestfully played the role of President Bush's pit bull during the bitter fall contest - will preside over the official electoral vote count.

Some Democrats, citing alleged voting irregularities in Ohio, a critical battleground state, are protesting certification and urging Kerry to join them. Kerry publicly conceded the race Nov. 3.

``While he conceded the election on Nov. 3, he is still very passionate about having every vote count,'' Boyd said.

U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) called Kerry's office yesterday to try to persuade him to change his mind and join the protest. Kerry is not expected to join the protesters, which include the Rev. Jesse Jackson.


More here:
http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=61675


Thanks to Freddie Stubbs here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x231461

[dzika]

39. Photos: Kerry BeaconHill Vigil Day 8

January 04, 2005

Photos: Kerry Vigil Day 8

Day 8 of Coalition Against Election Fraud vigil outside Senator Kerry's home, BeaconHill, Boston, 1/4/05.




(Photos by Mike Walsh)


For larger images:
http://nostolendemocracy.typepad.com/blog/2005/01/photos_kerry_vi.html

[MelissaB]

40. RawStory: Ohio Republican SOS brags about delivering Ohio

http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=528


(I can't cut and paste this one. Sorry! Anyone else who can... feel free.)

[Wilms]

50. Ohio Republican Secretary of State brags about delivering Ohio...

Here you are:

Blue Lemur

Ohio Republican Secretary of State brags about delivering Ohio for Bush in gubernatorial fundraising letter

10:15 pm
By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor

“In the late hours of Election Night I was truly pleased to announce President Bush had won a critical and clinching victory here in Ohio, on the belief that it was statistically improbable for Senator Kerry to recover,” the Secretary penned.

Even in the wake of a House Judiciary Committee investigation by Democrats into voting irregularities in Ohio, Blackwell goes so far as to say that he was proud to prevent voting fraud.

-snip-

“I have never shied away from giving the liberals fits,” he remarked in the letter. “And I’m sure that with all the voter fraud we prevented during this last election, they will be looking to get even with me in my next political campaign.”

-snip-

Conyers’ report showers scorn on Blackwell for his pleasure in announcing Bush’s victory.
“Such a blatant statement acknowledging the commingling of his official duty to ensure a fair election with his partisan duty to re-elect President Bush, made in a political fund-raising appeal, evidences Secretary Blackwell’s poor judgment at best, and the manipulation of election administration for partisan purposes, at worst,” the report asserts.

-more-

<http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=528>

-actual letter (and envelope)-

<http://rawstory.rawprint.com/105/blackwell_campaign_letter_105.php>

Note: Images begin half way down each of five pages you must click through.

[MelissaB]

62. Thank You!

[dzika]

41. Photos: Rally For The Republic, Faneuil Hall Boston, MA, Jan 3 2005

January 04, 2005

Photos: Rally For The Republic, Faneuil Hall Boston, MA, Jan 3 2005

Larger Images
http://nostolendemocracy.typepad.com/blog/2005/01/photos_rally_fo.html

[dzika]

42. Vermont Senator Jeffords' will not Challenge Ohio Electors

(and he's smiling about it)

January 4, 2005

Senator Jeffords' Statement
On Ohio Electors Challenge

I am deeply concerned about reported irregularities and flaws in the 2004 election, and I fully support efforts to find out what went wrong and make it right. A challenge to the Ohio Electors will not fix the problems at hand. We know that such a challenge will not affect the outcome of the election, and I fear it will only further polarize our political landscape. John Kerry has conceded this election, and we must now move forward in a constructive way. I believe the investigation by the non-partisan Goverment Accountability Office will provide needed answers.

In Congress, I will work to reform and clarify existing law, and push for the creation of a paper trail for electronic voting and a national standard for provisional ballots. These reforms are needed to assure that these problems are not repeated in future elections. People must have the utmost confidence that their votes will be counted.

Link:
http://www.senate.gov/~jeffords/press/05/01/010405ohioelectors.html

[dzika]

43. Republican Ohio Secretary of State boasts about "delivering" Ohio to Bush

Tuesday, January 4, 2005

Republican Ohio Secretary of State boasts about "delivering" Ohio to Bush

Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell boasted of helping “deliver” Ohio for President Bush and said he was “truly pleased” to announce Bush had won Ohio even before all of the state’s votes had been counted in his own fundraising letter, RAW STORY has discovered. (Read the full story, including response from a Congressman, here.)

The letter, which was received by a Butler County resident Dec. 31, is a plea to support Blackwell’s campaign for governor. The resident has asked to remain anonymous.

In apparent disregard for his nonpartisan role as Ohio’s chief election official, the Republican Secretary and chairman of Bush’s Ohio reelection campaign slammed Senator Kerry as a “disaster” who would have reaped “terrible” and “horrible” results on both Ohio and the United States.

Further, Blackwell’s use of the word “deliver” finds striking resonance with another controversial fundraising letter sent by the CEO of voting machine manufacturer Diebold Walden O’Dell in the summer of 2003 when he said he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”



View the Letter at RAW STORY:
http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=528

[dzika]

44. Inside the WA Recount - A ballot counter matches wits with wily Republican

January 05 - 11, 2005

Inside the Recount

A ballot counter on the Democratic side matches wits with wily Republicans and survives with this news: The hand recount of the gubernatorial election wasn't pretty, but it was squeaky clean.

by Karyn Quinlan





Democrat Christine Gregoire was elected governor by 129 votes last month in the third tabulation of one of the closest elections in U.S. history. While many are skeptical about the outcome, I am not among them. I was there at the historic moment the last ballots were tallied. In fact, I personally counted those and more than 10,000 of the 900,000 other ballots cast in King County. Over two weeks, as a temporary county employee and Democratic Party designee, I also learned a thing or two about partisan holy war—and human nature. The Re-Recount of 2004 wasn't pretty, but the system worked as designed. The hand recount gave us the true winner: the voters.

My involvement began with an e-mail. "Help with the King County recount for governor's race and get paid!" said a message on Dec. 4 from the Backbone Campaign. The Backbone Campaign is a group of local artists and activists whose mission is to encourage citizens and elected officials to stand up for progressive values. I called the King County Democratic Party and enlisted as one of 80 party designees in the hand recount of ballots. The Republicans provided their own 80 designees. It would be the third and presumably final tally of 2.8 million ballots statewide. Republican Dino Rossi won the first machine count by 261 votes and a recount by machine by 42 votes. As a computer professional, I understand the fallibility of automated systems better than most. It was clear to me that the only way to accurately determine the winner in such a tight election was by a hand recount.

So I became a Democratic partisan, despite the fact that I have never been a true believer in the Democrats or in their candidate for governor. Among Democrats, my pick would have been retired Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge, who dropped out of the race early last year for health reasons. In the 2000 presidential election, I voted for Ralph Nader, and had it not been for the candidacy of Dennis Kucinich, I might have voted for Nader again in 2004. I voted the Democratic ballot in September's primary, but I am hardly a party faithful. For 12 days last month, however, I was a warm-and-fuzzy, dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. In the account that follows, I speak what for me is a surprisingly partisan truth.


Continued:
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0501/050105_news_recount.php

[dzika]

45. Come on Barbara Boxer… do Whats right

Tuesday, Jan. 04, 2005

Come on Barbara… do Whats right - Our democracy is in trouble and we need you to fight!!!!

by tiny/PoorNewsNetwork-POOR Magazine




"Senator Boxer is weighing everything- The eyes of Barbara Boxer's chief assistant and Deputy State Director Adrienne Bousian looked down at the glistening cherry wood conference table below her to bring more weight to her rather vague statement, and then repeated it for more impact, "She is weighing everything."

"Can I ask, what would tip the scale in her 'weighing' process?", unable to hold my ever curious mouth closed I, speaking as a frustrated and betrayed citizen of Amerikka and poverty justice/civil rights organizer for several thousand very low, no-income and homeless youth and adult voters who I worked alongside in this last election, piped up the first challenge to Boxer's careful non-statement in a meeting that was held with her assistant to present a stack of signatures from the citizenry of California urging her to challenge the electoral vote. Demanding that she represent the people, not the machine and bring Real democracy back to Congress.

"Well, she said slowly, the calls , letters, faxes and emails of people really are listened to.. so you should all tell your groups to keep those coming, for as you all know Senator Boxer really tries to work for the people…"

"So then we are to assume that these tens of thousands of signatures we have brought to you today will matter..?"

"Yes, of course.." she concluded.. but in my heart I didn't quite believe her affirmation, but that's just me. I was honored to be in Barbara Boxers conference room with some of the most powerful democrats in the Bay Area represented as the delegates of the people including Delores Huerta, long-time civil rights leader and one of the founders of The United Farmworkers Union, Walter Riley, long-time activist and democratic party fundraiser, Max Anderson , Berkeley City Council Member, representatives from Physicians for Social Responsibility, Education without Incarceration, Labor Leaders and at least two very big democratic fundraisers from the south Bay and Marin. Several of these powerful folks related agregious voter abuses that they witnessed first-hand when they were supporting/reporting on the 2004 election in Nevada, Ohio, Florida and New Mexico. We were in her office following a very powerful rally emceed by KPFA's Chris Welch and attended by several hundred folks from across the Bay Area on her lawn all there in solidarity with the work being done in Ohio and Nationwide by researchers, activists, church leaders and old school democrats fed up with these media propagated lies about who really won/stole the 2004 election.


continued
http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/01/1712741.php

[dzika]

46. Good Signs Out of Minnesota

January 04, 2005

Good Signs Out of Minnesota

This was posted on Democratic Underground, but I have it directly from the author, whom I've been working with. I'll post the DU link later, when I have the chance to get it. --BG

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x232749

I am a member of CASE-Minnesota. CASE stands for Citizens Alliance for Secure Elections. We are affiliated with Susan Truitt's organization in Ohio, called CASE-Ohio.

This morning we had a meeting scheduled at 10am at Senator Mark Dayton's office in Minnesota. I did not attend this meeting, but I just got off the phone with someone who did, and I took notes.

What the CASE-MN member said:
We had a powerful meeting. The room was packed, 20-35 people from several organizations besides CASE - Minnesota: Green, Dean's group, League of Pissed Off Voters, National Lawyers Guild, Progressive Democrats of America. Two notables showed up: Ken Pentel, who was last election's Green Party candidate for governor, and an executive board member from the DFL (Minnesota's official Democratic organization).

We met with Nate, Dayton's constiuency advocate, for 1.5 hours, from 10-11:30am. Nate heard us, took notes, and promised to write up a report. He would send his impressions to both Senator Dayton, and the people at the meeting.

During the meeting with Nate, two CASE-MN members talked about their experiences in Ohio (recount). Everyone else got the chance to speak. It was all strongly worded, and passionate. People were giving reasons why Dayton should challenge the electoral vote. People were positive, but the underlying tone was that we expect Senator Dayton to stand up. He will be conceived as a leader, a hero, if he stands up for the Constitution, Civil Rights, and the right to vote. (I have heard some of these people speak, in the past, and they are eloquent, and persuasive. My friend commented that it was too bad that Dayton, himself, couldn't personally hear their statements).

After leaving Dayton's office, several went to the building's cafeteria and discussed the need to work together, even though we are from various groups. Email addresses and phone numbers were exchanged.


OF GREAT INTEREST:
During the pre-meeting it was noted that our CASE-MN chairman was missing. It was a surprise to learn that Mark H. was absent because he is on his way to Senator Dayton's office in Washington D.C. He has a 20 minute meeting scheduled with Dayton this afternoon.

Our group (CASE - MN) is meeting tonight, and Mark will be calling in from Washington DC on a conference call. He will report on his meeting with Dayton.

I'll post his impressions after the conference call. It won't be until after 9:00pm, Central.

link
http://nostolendemocracy.typepad.com/blog/2005/01/good_signs_out_.html

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x232749

[dzika]

47. "Phantom Votes Are Not Possible" says New Mexico's Secretary of State

"Phantom Votes Are Not Possible"
says New Mexico's Secretary of State

Yet there are 2,087 phantom votes in her certified canvass report.
Phantom votes are found when the number of votes reported is higher than the number of ballots cast.

The canvass reports on the New Mexico Secretary of State's website show precinct totals and ballots cast, separated into voting types (absentee, early voting, and election day). Analysis shows that there are 2,087 phantom votes reported across the state and present in the certified results.*



Confronted with the evidence of phantom votes in her own canvass reports, Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron explained that they are impossible and denied their existence.**

Independent auditors that looked at the state's canvass, or final report, did not find any problems like that, she said. "They didn't find any irregularities like that," Vigil-Giron said.

Election results are checked at the county canvassing board level, the state level and later by the independent auditor, Vigil-Giron said.

"Listen," she told a reporter. "I'm a Democrat. If I would have found some irregularities, believe you me I would have brought them out and questioned them."

Nevertheless there they are, right in the canvassing details posted on the Ms. Vigil-Giron's website. The Bernalillo County, Precinct 512 example Mr. Lenderman points to in his article can be found at http://www.sos.state.nm.us/PDF/Bernalillo.pdf .
Look on page 41 for the total number of certified presidential votes on the absentee ballots in Precinct 512 (Kerry 104; Bush 206; Badnarik 2; Nader 6). They add up to 318. Move to page 69. The last column lists the "Totals taken from signature roster." That's the total number of absentee voters in each precinct. For Precinct 512 that number is 166.

Another of the 250 precincts with phantom votes is Dona Ana County, Precinct 106, with 325 absentee votes resulting from 107 absentee ballots cast. For details, look on pages 10 and 12 of the Dona Ana County canvass report. (http://www.sos.state.nm.us/PDF/Dona_Ana.pdf ).

---

"Impossible Phantom Votes in New Mexico." By Warren Stewart.
"Did We Bounce an Election?" By Warren Stewart.

Top 20 phantom-vote precincts
All 2,087 phantom votes
Download complete data in an Excel spreadsheet (4MB)

* Summary Report on New Mexico State Election Data.
By Warren Stewart and Ellen Theisen. December 21, 2004. (2-page Brief)

** Vote Recount Fight 'Is Not Over'. Albuquerque Journal. December 24, 2004. By Andy Lenderman, Journal Politics Writer.



Link:
http://www.votersunite.org/info/newmexicophantomvotes.asp

[dzika]

48. PHOTOS - Greene Co. BOE UNLOCKED and Triad Techs doing RECOUNT

On Saturday December 11, the door at the Greene County BOE was discovered unlocked.

William Pitt wrote about it in his article "The Greene County Lockdown":
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/121404Z.shtml

It was also reported in The Dayton Daily News:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/1212greene.html

"It is shocking that they would first deny us access, and then leave the records unlocked overnight," said Joan Quinn, a retired lawyer from Sacramento, Calif., an election observer acting on behalf of the Green Party, which asked for a recount of the Ohio presidential vote.

Election board officials returned Saturday afternoon to lock up the building after they were told of the security lapse.

They said that while the building had been left unlocked by mistake, voter records are kept in a separate locked room, and had not been tampered with.

"The records are safe, the ballots are still locked and we can have our computers checked to see if they have been tampered with," said Llyn McCoy, deputy director of the Greene County Board of Elections.

But Quinn and her colleagues say that when they entered the unlocked building, voting machines and voter records had been left in the open.

Here are some pictures of the event.


(BOE door is unlocked)


Voter records room that was supposed to also be locked.


More Photos:
http://www.edwardsdavid.com/images/GreenCountyOhio/

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=234616#234758

[dzika]

49. Born Again Jim Crow

January 04, 2005

Born Again Jim Crow

by Heather Baum

Who would have thought that on the 40th anniversary of Freedom Summer and the Voting Rights Act we would be fighting for voting rights for all of America? I'm sure you understand that vote suppression is not without historic precedence. The fight for suffrage is elemental to the peoples history. In our own life times, we know this from the history of Jim Crow. A system we fought a bloody battle to bring to an end in the south. We thought it was dead. But it is not. What has happened during the last three or four election cycles is an attempt to give birth to a "born again" Jim Crow. The obvious goal is to bring it to a new era of technological sophistication and spread it throughout the country...If unchallenged this could lead to a permanent one party rule. In Minnesota, we managed to beat it back...but I believe we cannot let this stand.

Bush can not wage war around the world in the name of democracy and fail to practice it at home. What's coming out about election suppression and fraud goes way past whether it's too late to find enough votes to save Kerry. Postmortems are important, but we have a genuine opportunity to reveal the Karl Rove voter suppression strategy. Now is the time to nail the right wing anti-democracy machine to the wall. Fighting for fair elections is fundamental, not just for the future, but for the present. Bush won no mandate. Yet he has already begun to spend his "political capital" in Faluja...and this will cost millions of lives.

The true reality is voter suppression has been a long term strategy the Right has methodically applied to gain control of all four branches of government. They can not win without it and they have admitted this publicly. It is a dynamic strategy...it includes manipulation of the census count...and allowing gerrymandered redistricting. Among other things it also includes voter intimidation, stolen ballots, manipulation of mail in ballots, sending out mass mailings of unrequested absentee ballots in communities of color, mass distribution of racially sorted provisional ballots, creating 10 hour waits at the poles and finally implementation of a paperless unverifiable electronic voting system, owned by the President's supporters.


more
http://nostolendemocracy.typepad.com/blog/2005/01/born_again_jim_.html

[dzika]

51. Valley Residents Urge Boxer to Challenge Electors

January 3, 2005

Valley Residents Urge Boxer to Challenge Electors

by Ken Hudson Tuesday

Petitions were presented to Boxer's Fresno office, calling for her to join the challenge of electors.

Fresno, California


Diane Corbin Scott led sixteen Central Valley residents at the Fresno office of Senator Barbara Boxer today to deliver petitions bearing 242 signatures calling for the senator to join U.S. Representative John Conyers and others in challenging the electoral vote in congress on January 6, 2005. The local signatures were raised in three days. People came from Porterville, Tulare and Visalia, as well as Fresno. Monday’s action was held in conjunction with presentations at Sen. Boxer’s office in San Francisco with Dolores Huerta, at the state capitol building in Columbus, Ohio with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and elsewhere throughout the country. The coordinated effort is to urge at least one senator to join seventeen representatives who are challenging the validity of the electoral votes from 2004 when the item comes up for certification in congress on Thursday. The congressional procedure was immortalized in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9-11 when representatives challenged the 2000 electoral vote but needed the endorsement of at least one senator for a successful challenge --and failed to receive it. “Our hope is that Boxer will be that voice this time,” Scott said. To press the point further, a vigil will be held on Wednesday, January 5 at 5:00 p.m. in front of the Federal Building, which houses the senator’s office, at 1130 “O” Street.

Inside Boxer’s office, the group’s stack of petitions was cordially received by a staff member. No commitment on behalf of the senator was provided.

“People from all over are showing their concern,” stated Bill Warner of Porterville, who, along with Merrily Davies, made the 1½ hour drive to Fresno through the rain. Scott echoed Warner’s statement. After having spoken with Boxer’s state director, Tom Bohigian, on Friday, Scott said that the office had been getting “a lot of calls from all over.” The group was encouraged when one of its members relayed a statement attributed to Boxer and reported in an article by Steve Bhaerman on December 29 in which he wrote that “one of the people at (a community) meeting had personally asked Sen. Barbara Boxer to be that one senator, and she said, in effect, “show me the numbers (supporters).”

The group’s concern regarding the validity of the electoral votes focuses on voting irregularities in Ohio: insufficient amounts of voting machines in Democratic areas resulted in the turning away of voters, some heavily-Republican precincts reported more votes than registered voters, election observers were barred in Warren County, reports of machine-tampering, the conflict of interest created as Ohio’s secretary of state also was the co-chair of the state’s Bush campaign, among other irregularities. “Partisan corporations have so much control in the process of the vote and recount,” added Mark Koenig of Visalia, “The machines and software made by Diebold that were used in Ohio were decertified in California for lack of a paper trail.”

Signature-gathering continues and the last petitions will be submitted at Sen. Boxer’s office prior to the vigil on Wednesday, January 5, at 5:00 p.m. Contact Diane Corbin Scott at [e-mail].


Link:
http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/01/1712674.php

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52. Obermann - "Rumors fly that a senator may join" Ohio Challenge

Real Media:
http://www.edwardsdavid.com/BushVideos/Obermann_050104-01.rm

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53. Dissent to mar Bush validation

January 05, 2005

Dissent to mar Bush validation

By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Congress tomorrow is set to certify the Electoral College vote confirming the re-election of President Bush, but some say the election results are invalid and plan to disrupt the process.

Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, will formally object to the Ohio count. Other House Democrats are putting pressure on senators to force a floor debate.

"We're not going to roll over and surrender when we know there have been countless voting irregularities in Ohio," Mr. Conyers told BlackAmericaWeb.com Monday. "This is the second time that George W. Bush had a one-state victory that is hugely controversial. We are asking for careful consideration by the House and Senate."

It takes one House member plus one senator to force a two-hour debate before a full vote is taken to validate the election. Such debate would "enable members of Congress to debate and highlight the problems in Ohio — which are very prevalent virtually everywhere else in the country as well — that disenfranchised innumerable Ohio voters," said Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., Illinois Democrat.



Link:
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050104-102731-3798r.htm

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54. GOP may object to ratification of governor vote

Wednesday, January 5, 2005

GOP may object to ratification of governor vote

Legislative tradition poised to fall

By CHRIS McGANN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT


OLYMPIA -- It's usually no more than a formality.

State House and Senate leaders who gather here next week will announce that, hearing no objection, the Legislature hereby ratifies the 2004 election.

But with the prospect that Republicans may contest the race that Gov.-elect Christine Gregoire won by 129 votes over Dino Rossi in a controversial hand recount, that tradition might become the first casualty of the Legislative session.

House Minority Leader Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, said yesterday that unless questions are answered about the election process -- specifically about how several counties counted thousands more votes than there were voters recorded -- Republicans plan to object.


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/206605_governor05.html?dpfrom=th

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55. Michigan Dems ask Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow to Challenge

Web-posted Jan 5, 2005

Local Dems ask for more recounts

By SVEN GUSTAFSON
Of The Daily Oakland Press


WARREN - Some local Democrats are pressing Michigan's two U.S. senators not to certify election results on Thursday, but instead support launching an investigation into alleged voting irregularities in the 2004 election.
Roughly a dozen residents from Oakland County and across Michigan, many of them involved in the recent Ohio recount, crowded the regional offices Tuesday of Democratic U.S. Sens. Carl Levin in Warren and Debbie Stabenow in Detroit. Both senators were in Washington for the start of the legislative session.

"The reason that we're here is that we observed the failure of the election system in 2000 and we worked hard to make sure problems didn't happen in 2004," said John Ashcraft, a Democratic precinct captain from Troy. "But what we didn't discover is the problems have metastasized."

The residents are asking the senators to oppose certifying the 2004 electoral vote on Thursday, demand a full investigation of the 2004 election and make what they call "serious election reform" a centerpiece of their legislative agendas.


continued
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/010505/loc_20050105024.shtml

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56. NM Senator Jeff Bingaman Asked To Object To Vote

Wednesday, January 5, 2005

Senator Asked To Object To Vote

By Laura Banish
Journal Staff Writer


Santa Fe resident Leland Lehrman believes it's his civic responsibility to stand up for the nation's election process.

So much so, that the bearded 35-year-old has organized a mass e-mail campaign reaching out to some 1,300 people to demand that Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., support Michigan Rep. John Conyers' call for an investigation into the presidential election results in Ohio.

Conyers has asked the U.S. Senate to join a number of members from the House in objecting to the election results when Congress meets in joint session Thursday.

Congress is scheduled to certify the electoral votes that would make President Bush the winner over Democrat John Kerry. But if an objection is signed by at least one senator and one member of the House of Representatives, the certification will be delayed for discussion and Congress would have to act on the challenge.

With his 3-year-old daughter in tow, Lehrman and a handful of supporters trudged through downtown Santa Fe's slushy streets to Bingaman's office Tuesday afternoon in hopes of swaying the senator to unite with the Michigan Democrat.


continued
http://www.abqjournal.com/north/283286north_news01-05-05.htm?tease

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57. Will a senator stand up?

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Will a senator stand up?

On Thursday, Congress will convene to certify the results of the 2004 presidential election. While it's unlikely the body will overturn the results or reject them outright, it is crucial to debate the issues surrounding voting irregularities, especially in Ohio where thousands of voters may have been shut out on Nov. 2.
John Conyers, the black U.S. representative from Michigan, has already confirmed he will object to the Ohio electoral vote. All he needs is one senator to join him. Vermont's two senators, Democrat Patrick Leahy and Independent James Jeffords, have already declined.

In 2000, Congressional Black Caucus members tried to fight the election outcome, but no senator would sign the objections and the initiative failed.

To be sure, a switch in the Ohio vote won't turn the results of this election. And no, Sen. John Kerry won't be the next president. To the disappointment of those who supported him, President Bush's margin of victory was too vast for Ohio to be the post-election "swing state."

Voting irregularities and problems in Ohio, especially among its poor, working-class neighborhoods, are apparently so wide-ranging that a challenge needs to be made. An investigation into them ought to be serious and thorough. To this point, the man in charge of the Ohio vote -- the secretary of state -- has downplayed the issue and refused to authorize a recount. But be reminded he was also the chairman of the Bush re-election campaign in Ohio.

Bordering on contempt for the process, the Bush administration asked a judge to throw out a legal challenge to the election by 37 Ohio voters. The Bush re-election campaign even took the Rev. Jesse Jackson to task for pressing the issue.


continued
http://www.reformer.com/Stories/0,1413,102~8854~2635314,00.html

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58. Just One Senator...An Open Letter to the U.S. Senate from Michael Moore

Just One Senator...
An Open Letter to the U.S. Senate from Michael Moore

by OfficialWire NewsDesk


FLINT, MI -- (OfficialWire) -- 01/04/05 --
On January 6, 2005 in Washington, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) (shown here)—the senior minority member of the House Judiciary Committee—will formally object to the counting of the Ohio electoral vote in the 2004 presidential election. If any senator (Republican or Democrat) joins him, the counting of the vote will be suspended and the House and the Senate must convene separately to hear the objections filed, and to vote on whether to accept them.

Michael Moore—just in case you have never heard of him (unlikely)— the man who created one of the most controversial and provocative films ever, Fahrenheit 9/11, has written an Open Letter to members of the U.S. Senate. It's worth a read. You can read it on Moore's own website located at www.michaelmoore.com or below. If you haven't already, visit Michael's website. It's packed full of information.

Tuesday, January 4th, 2005

Dear Members of the U.S. Senate,

Welcome back! The 109th session of Congress has just begun. I'm watching you on C-SPAN right now and you all look so snap-happy and clean-faced. It's like the first day of school all over again, isn't it?

I have a favor to ask of you. Something isn't right with the vote from Ohio. Seems a lot of people didn't get to vote. And those who did, thousands of theirs weren't counted.

Does that seem right to you? I'm just asking. Forget about partisan politics for a moment and ask yourself if there is a more basic right, in a democracy, than the right of the people to vote AND have ALL their votes counted.

Now, I know a lot of you wish this little problem of Ohio would just go away. And many of you who wish this are Democrats. You just want to move on (no pun intended!). I can't say I blame you. It's rough to lose two elections in a row when the first one you actually won and the second one you should have won. And it seems this time around, about 3 million more Americans preferred to continue the war in Iraq and give the rich more tax breaks than those who didn't. No sense living in denial about that.

But something isn't right in Ohio and more than a dozen members of the House of Representatives believe it is worth investigating.

So on Thursday at 1:00 pm, Rep. John Conyers of Detroit will rise and object to the vote count in Ohio. According to the laws of this land, he will not be allowed to speak unless at least one of you—one member of the United States Senate—agrees to let him have the floor.

A very embarrassing moment during the last session of Congress occurred in the first week when none of you would allow the members of Congress who were black to have the floor to object to the Florida vote count. Remember that? You thought no one would ever notice, didn't you? You certainly lucked out that night when the networks decided not to show how you shut down every single member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

No such luck this year. Everyone now knows about that moment of shame. Thank you? You’re welcome.

But this Thursday, at 1:00pm, you will have a chance to redeem yourself.

Congressman Conyers and a dozen other members of Congress have some serious questions about how the Republican secretary of state in Ohio (who was also the state’s co-chair of Bush’s reelection campaign) conducted the election on November 2. The list of possible offenses of how voters were denied access to the polls and how over a hundred thousand of their votes have yet to be counted is more than worthy of your consideration. It may not change the outcome, but you have a supreme responsibility to make sure that EVERY vote is counted. Who amongst you would disagree with that?

If you would like to read more about the specific charges, I ask that you read these two links: “Senators Should Object to Ohio Vote” —by Jesse Jackson and “Ten Preliminary Reasons Why the Bush Vote Does Not Compute, and Why Congress Must Investigate Rather Than Certify the Electoral College”. I am asking everyone on my mailing list to send you a letter joining me in this call to you to do your job and investigate what happened before you certify the vote.

It only takes one member of the House and one member of the Senate to stop the acceptance of the Electoral College vote and force a legitimate debate and investigation. Do you know why this provision is set in stone in our nation’s laws? I mean, why would we allow just two officials in a body of 535 members to throw a wrench into the works? The law exists because nothing is more sacred than the integrity of the ballot box and if there is ANY possibility of fraud or incompetence, then it MUST be addressed. Because if we don't have the vote, what are we left with?

C'mon Senators! Especially you Democrats. Here is your one shining moment of courage. Will you allow the gavel to come down on our black members of Congress once again? Or will you stand up for their right to object?

We will all be watching.

Yours,

Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
[e-mail]

P.S. My whereabouts this week: I will be on the Today Show Thursday morning, Jay Leno on Friday night. And... the People's Choice Awards are this Sunday night, live on CBS at 9pm! Can we defeat the superheroes Spiderman, Incredibles and Shrek for best picture? A documentary??? Whoa... tune in...

Link:
http://www.baou.com/newswire/main.php?action=recent&rid=1986

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59. BRAD BLOG: Clint Curtis...Meet FOX NEWS

1/4/2005

Clint Curtis...Meet FOX NEWS.

And other Details from This Week in D.C.


We've just received word from the producer of Fox News Live with Alan Colmes on the Fox News Radio Network that Clint Curtis will be appearing live tomorrow night (Wednesday) as Colmes' guest at 11pm ET.

-snip-

We will attempt to record the hour if possible to make the audio available later as an update to this item for those who can't listen live. Though we're not always successful at such audio captures, and appreciate anyone else who may be able to attempt same as a backup for us.

As previously reported, Curtis will be in D.C. tomorrow to participate in a number of rallies and attend several meetings on Capitol Hill and elsewhere.



Go to THE BRAD BLOG for audio link and some details from DC...
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001097.htm

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60. WA Democrats In Legislature Quash GOP Hopes Of Governor Revote

January 4, 2005

Democrats In Legislature Quash GOP Hopes Of Governor Revote

By KOMO Staff & News Services


OLYMPIA - Despite Republicans' demands for a revote, the Democratic leaders who control the state Legislature say the governor's election is over.

"We are following the rules and we need to live by those rules, and not just call for a do-over because we don't like the results," said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, at The Associated Press's Legislative Preview on Tuesday.

Democrats hold a majority in the state House and Senate. On Tuesday they stood firmly behind fellow Democrat and Gov.-elect Christine Gregoire, who beat Republican Dino Rossi by 129 votes after a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots cast. Rossi, who won the first count and a machine recount, has not conceded and may contest the election in court.

On Tuesday, radio stations began running ads paid for by the state Republican party, declaring the governor's election a "certified mess" and urging people to petition the Legislature for a revote.

The ad focuses on a Marine wounded in Fallujah, Tyler Farmer of Everett, who didn't get his ballot until Nov. 3. Republicans have adopted military voters as the poster children for the revote effort, claiming many were wrongly disenfranchised while fighting to defend democracy.

But Secretary of State Sam Reed, also a Republican, said there's no evidence of any systemic problems with the military vote. Every county in the state mailed absentee ballots to registered military voters by early October, Reed said, and the U.S. Department of Justice even watched over the process to make sure it was done right.


more
http://www.komotv.com/stories/34671.htm

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61. kick.