Sunday 1/9/05 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 with this project.

Link to the thread from yesterday: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x269044#271167

[MelissaB]

1. Secretaries of State Take Issue with Detractors

From National Association of Secretaries of State:

For Immediate Release
Meredith B. Imwalle
Director of Communications
202.624.3528 direct
[e-mail]
November 8, 2004
Statement on 2004 Election

Secretaries Take Issue with Detractors, Ask Election Assistance Commission to Begin Important Work

Some detractors have suggested that this year's presidential election did not run smoothly. Certainly, our nation's
election system is not perfect. This year, we saw long lines at polling places and large numbers of provisional ballots
cast. But the administration of this November's election was successful, and in line with what Congress intended when
it passed The Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

We recognize that better allocation of resources and improved poll worker training would have helped cut down on
voters' wait time. We accept the fact that better voter education campaigns and poll worker training could have
reduced the number of provisional ballots cast. We also know that Americans with no confidence in the system would
not have waited as many as eight hours in some cases to vote, and that for the first time, no voter was turned away.

http://www.nass.org/Post%20Election%20Statement.pdf


Sounds like they need some mail, plus we should study what they have in mind for the future.


Thanks to Ojai Person here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x271812

[Botany]

2. Speaking of Secretaries of State

Ken Blackwell caught trying to collect illegal funds while boasting about his role
in bush taking Ohio.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050109/ap_on_el_gu/ohio_election_chief

BTW help me I am stupid how do you open a new thread @ DU?


:kick:

[MelissaB]

3. Hi, Botany!

Go to the page in this section (2004 Election Results and Discussion) where you are viewing all the topics. At the top of the page you will see things such as "logout", "search", "latest", etc. "Post" is in the middle with a pencil and paper. Click that and you will be able to start a new thread.

Good luck!

Melissa

[MelissaB]

4. Jan 4 Roll Call Editorial!

Anyone seen this editorial? I was looking for a list of congress members and the headline grabbed me.

I don't subscribe yet, so I can't see all of the article. I like the hook:




Vote As You Bank

January 4, 2005

Every day, tens of millions of people use ATMs in utter confidence that their bank transactions will be accurately recorded. And as Bank of America brags in its television ads, it processes 10 billion checks annually with an error rate close to zero. This year, and the sooner the better, Congress ought to make America’s voting system work like that.

http://www.rollcall.com/pub/50_58/editorial/7669-1.html

-Hoot

Thanks to hootinholler here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x272126

[Raster]

10. (s)election 2000 was supposedly the wake-up call. I find it amazing

that NOTHING WAS DONE to fix the problems highlighted in 2000.

[texpatriot2004]

5. kick

[texpatriot2004]

6. kick

[sunnystarr]

7. Kick

[MelissaB]

8. Editorial from Boston Globe Supports Ballot Reform

Ballot box basics

January 7, 2005

POLITICS OUTWEIGHED policy in yesterday's congressional debate on voting irregularities in the presidential election. But those who objected to the partisanship will serve themselves and the nation better if they stop scrapping and take the steps needed -- some of them obvious -- to fix the problems.

Republicans claimed that Democrats took the unusual step of challenging the certification of President Bush's victory in the Electoral College merely to give themselves a soapbox, and they are right. Many Democrats who debated heartily ended up voting to certify all 286 of Bush's votes -- even those from disputed Ohio.

Still, it was a worthwhile move because the November elections showed that much more needs to be done to give American voters confidence that the electoral process is sound.

It is true, as some in the GOP said, that many voting problems are the fault of state and local officials. But this is all the more reason for Congress to go back to work and improve the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

To start: Computer voting systems should be required to leave paper records. The handling of provisional ballots should be standardized. Ineffective systems should be modernized. And access to the ballot should be comparable in areas that are rich and poor, white and minority, Democratic and Republican. At least in elections for federal office, these improvements should be mandated by Congress. It is a disgrace that the 2002 legislation fell so far short.

Apart from appearances, Republicans objected to the Democrats' challenge yesterday because even though many examples of voting problems have been found in many states, no evidence has been uncovered of any fraudulent effort to steal the election. And in any event, Bush won Ohio by more than 118,000 votes.

But this is just the point. If a loser takes the oath and serves as president, it doesn't improve things a great deal if the mistake occurs by accident rather than theft. And the fact that Bush was the clear victor this time should only underline the need for certainty. His victory was clear but narrow -- a shift of only 60,000 votes in Ohio would have left the nation in turmoil for the second straight election.

Congress should establish electoral reform as a top priority for this session to improve balloting in the 2006 midterm elections and assure that the next president will be chosen by the voters, not by mischance, fraud, or the Supreme Court.

The two Democrats who demanded congressional debate on the issue yesterday -- Senator Barbara Boxer of California and Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio -- deserve credit, not scorn, for advancing a cause fundamental to the union.
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.


Thanks to JoMama49 here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x272609


(This may already be in the thread on another day. I'm not sure.)

[L. Coyote]

9. Evidence of Fraud and Disenfranchisement in Ohio, 2004 : A Partial List

SNIP:

January 8, 2005

Evidence of Fraud and Disenfranchisement in Ohio, 2004 : A Partial List

This post is intended as a resource tool for those doing factual research on the Ohio election 2004, specifically relating to issues of (a) fraud, (b) disenfranchisment, (c) voter suppression, (d) recount obstruction, and (e) vote machine tampering. It makes no pretense at comprehensiveness, but is merely an attempt to compile links which have been posted on this site which either (1) are themselves primary sources of evidence, or (2) summarize, analyze, or point to, such sources.

LINK:

http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/evidence-of-fraud-and.html

[MelissaB]

15. Wonderful link!

Thanks!

[MelissaB]

11. The Daily Star (Bangladesh): Inside America Voodoo elections

Inside America
Voodoo elections
Ron Chepesiuk

George Bush, Sr., while running against Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election, described Reagan's views on the US economy as "Voodoo Economics." I think "Voodoo Elections" might be a good term to apply to the views of those who assert the American electoral process is still the most viable of all possible democratic systems and the model that the rest of the world should emulate.
I say that because election day here in America has come and gone and President George, Jr. is prepping for his State of the Union address, but for many Americans, the results of last November 2 remains a bitter bone of contention. Challengers have even gone to the US Supreme Court to contest Bush's contention that he won Ohio, the swing state that guaranteed his victory over John Kerry in the Electoral College.

Meanwhile, after three vote tallies and 58 days of waiting, Democrat Christine Gregoire was declared governor-elect of Washington state on December 30. Her Republican rival, Dino Rossi, who initially appeared to have won the election, hasn't conceded and wants to have a new special election. Gregoire won a statewide hand recount by a mere 128 votes out of the 2.8 million cast.

Even in Florida, which for the most part avoided the big embarrassing problems it had in the 2000 election, some Democrats are questioning the result, suspecting that the voting was rigged through systematic computer hacking.


More here: http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/01/10/d501101502108.htm

[MelissaB]

12. Cuba: ELECTORAL FRAUD IN THE UNITED STATES Not Even Hidden

ELECTORAL FRAUD IN THE UNITED STATES
Not even hidden
BY JEAN-GUY ALLARD—Special for Granma International—

ALTHOUGH popular groups in Ohio have observed in November’s presidential elections a veritable pattern of fraud that meant the votes were significantly modified in favor of the Republican candidate George W. Bush, in the Miami of the Cuban-American mafia, fraud was being perpetrated in full view, reaching the level of farce. The height of ridicule: the vote on the issue of gambling machines that took place at the same time as the presidential vote.

In Miami-Dade and Broward counties, registered voters had to vote on Amendment 4, which authorizes the installation and operation of fruit machines, commonly known as slot machines at horse racing enclosures and greyhound tracks. The preliminary results, announced a few hours after the polls closed, indicated that a majority were against the proposed controversial measure.

However, the following day, it was suddenly announced that voters had

approved the amendment, because the machine that tabulated the electoral results had an "internal program" designed to subtract votes when the ballots cast reached 32, 000.

Suddenly, with the complicity of the press, it was dispassionately announced that there was an error in the tabulation and, even more scandalously, that the voting machines are "programmed" in such a way that alterations in the vote can be anticipated.


More: http://www.periodico26.cu/english_new/opinion/fraud080105.htm


(I think it is interesting to see what other countries are saying about us. :))

[MelissaB]

13. More, but surely it isn't true...

Different alternative press outlets have noted how the voting machine manufacturing companies have ties with the most reactionary branch of the Republican Party and the war industry. Among the computer equipment used in the last election was equipment manufactured by Diebold, a subsidiary of Kellog Brown & Roost, another subsidiary of Halliburton, the business of which Vice President Dick Cheny was executive director.

[MelissaB]

14. Alleged Voter Registration Fraud

Three Parma police officers are under investigation for allegedly listing the police headquarters as their home addresses when registering to vote.

Mayor Dean DePiero says two of the officers live in other cities, making them ineligible to vote in Parma, where a nearly two million dollar police tax failed for a third time in November.

Cuyahoga County sheriff's detectives are investigating.

The mayor says officials in his Cleveland suburb learned of the possible registration fraud after checking a report from a campaign worker about an officer criticizing city officials as he left a polling place.

A police union lawyer says he doesn't believe the officers would deliberately mislead election officials.

Link: http://www.onnnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=2785147&nav=LQlCUzdj

[dzika]

16. God Save the King

Posted by Alan - January 9, 2005 06:54 AM

God Save the King

UK Guardian on Bush II's re-coronation:

It is going to be the most expensive, most security-obsessed event in the history of Washington DC. An army of 10,000 police, secret service officers and FBI agents will patrol the capital for four days of massive celebrations that some critics have derided as reminiscent of the lavish shindigs thrown by Louis XIV, France's extravagant Sun King...

Any time the Brits start comparing your leader to the King of France, it's time to get a little nervous. They're not complimenting you. And in the case of the Sun King, the real lesson is what happened two Louises later...

More than 150,000 people, nearly all Republicans whose tickets are a reward for election work, will pack the Mall to hear Bush take his oath of office on 20 January. There will be nine official balls, countless unofficial ones, parades and a concert hosted by Bush's daughters, Jenna and Barbara.

Amid the official pageantry will be many huge parties laid on by companies wishing to win favour with Washington's power players. Anyone who is anyone in Republican circles will be in town. Many Democrats will be leaving. With so many big names in one place, security measures will include road blocks, anti-aircraft guns guarding the skies and sniper teams patrolling the rooftops.

Many observers say it is all too much. 'We have elected a President who seems to have quite a monarchical role. It is a bit of a coronation,' said Larry Haas, a former official in Bill Clinton's White House.

But don't worry -- if black tie and cowboy boots isn't your style, there's another party going on in the streets:

A huge series of demonstrations is now being planned which organisers say will be much larger than the ones that marked Bush's first inauguration after the contested Florida recount in 2000...

link:
http://www.rmpn.org/weblog/archives3/permalink/003742.cfm

[dzika]

17. Nation remains intact despite Congressional debate

Nation remains intact despite Congressional debate

This may come as a surprise to some Republicans, but the United States has survived two hours of debate on voting irregularities in Ohio.

Yes, even though representatives to both houses of Congress spoke aloud about those problems on television, the government has continued to function uninterrupted, the expensive inauguration will go ahead as scheduled, and the war in Iraq is still proceeding according to plan. Nothing changed except that the problems people had voting in Ohio last Nov. 2 are now on the record, the Congressional Record, as is the report prepared by the Democratic staff of the House Judiciary Committee: Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio.

Thank you, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, for standing up, speaking out, and introducing legislation to address at least one of those problems.

link:
http://dagleydagley.blogspot.com/2005/01/nation-remains-intact-despite.html

[icehenge]

18. Thanks for creating these threads!! - they realy do help

[dzika]

19. The January 7th Problem

January 10, 2005

The January 7th Problem

January 7th print and other media were quite subdued in regards to the historical significance of the electors challenge on January 6th, 2005. As this was the third time in U.S. history that such an electors challenge has ever taken place, I thought it would be interesting to see what happened after the second, over thirty five years ago. I went to the local library and printed a copy of the front page of our local paper dated Tuesday, January 7th, 1969. Low and behold on the front page was the second story: "State Elector's Vote is Upheld."

The 1969 story by Roy Parker, Jr. begins: "Congress rejected a move Monday to throw out the electoral vote which a North Carolina Republican elector cast for the third party candidate George Wallace. In a history-making interruption to the usual formality of counting electoral votes, the House and the Senate took two hours to debate a motion to throw out the vote of Rocky Mount eye doctor Lloyd Bailey. The Senate rejected the motion by a vote of 58 to 33. The House spurned it by a vote of 229 to 169. Then in a joint House-Senate session, Congress finished the formality of adding up the 301 electoral votes for Richard M. Nixon, 191 for Hubert Humphrey, and 46 for Wallace."

The 1969 Raleigh News and Observer placed this elector's challenge story higher than Richard Nixon's pay raise, an Allegheny plane crash that killed 11 (two weeks after an identical Convair 580 for the same airline crashed), and Nixon administration's selection of John H. Chafee as the Secretary of the Navy and Dr. Robert C. Seamans as Chief of the Air Force.

Look what the 2005 Raleigh News and Observer thinks is more important than the current elector's challenge that Barbara Boxer made possible:

"DOT to Slash Area Road Funds"
"Surgical Tools Cleaned improperly"
"Elections Hindered in Sections of Iraq"

In fact, the electors challenge did not make it to the front page at all! That's right, the Iraq election did but not ours. Let's not forget John Edwards is a North Carolinian making any electors challenge even more newsworthy. Anything with a chance to put a North Carolinian in the White House should be considered news. In addition, we were talking about 20 electoral votes not just one.

Now let's see how the New York Times fared in the same comparison. Again, the 1969 topic makes it to the font page in a top story called: "Congress Declines to Cancel Vote Changed by the Elector" by Warren Weaver, Jr. It even ran a large graphic on the controversial session on the front page. Edmund Muskie, Democrat from Maine was the signing Senator.

But in 2005 last week in the same New York Times with a purportedly decent reputation, the topic is eclipsed by:

"Retired General is Going to Iraq for Full Review"
"Gonzales Speaks Against Torture during Hearing"

In fact, the historic electors challenge does not really make the front page at all except that a short description is listed on the bottom under "Inside" (see page A15). The listing "Bush Officially Elected, But Democrats Protest."

It does lure at the bottom with: "Congress officially ratified President Bush's election victory, but not before Democrats -- including one senator, Barbara Boxer of California -- lodged a formal challenge to the electoral votes from Ohio, forcing an extraordinary two-hour debate in the only second such challenge to a presidential race since 1877. (Page A15)."

But if it were so extraordinary in its own words, why did the article not get equal billing with the Gonzales pseudo-grilling that will get rubber-stamped?

Interestingly, the defector elector (Bailey) 1969 move was to argue that of the 16,510 electors named since 1789, he was only the sixth to kick party traces. His supporters also argued that their move would dramatize the need for reform of the electoral college system (which has failed through 2005).

The electoral college is a relic based on "the founding fathers didn't really trust popular elections for national office." How could an illiterate laborer in rural Virginia be able to pick between presidential candidates from far-off Massachusetts or New York? It was believed, in the conditions of those times, that ordinary voters would be subject to deception and inclined to vote only for someone from their own state. This made it likely that the largest state, having the largest vote, would usually elect its own candidate.
Congressman Morris K. Udall of Arizona (August 28, 1968; Vol. VII, No. 2): Congressman's Report.
http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/branches/spc/udall/congrept/90th/680828.html

No one should be surprised to hear Tom Delay to use the X-Files argument or "there is not a single shred of evidence" mantra. Why on earth would an ex-exterminator question a system that made and make him "a somebody." Four of the Republicans all repeated quotes from the same Cleveland Plains-Dealer editorial that coincidentally made it into the paper that day -- since they apparently did not take the time to develop their own arguments and took to scouring the newspapers (an editorial no less!). In fact, despite the outcome, the Democrats absolutely out-argued the emperor's new clothes crowd. The Conyers Report, The Conyers Report, The Conyers Report.

And for the record, Tom, the videotape showing the long lines in Ohio counts as evidence:
Clip One
Clip Two

We remember you were the one that prevented Rush Holt's (Rep NJ) bill (http://holt.house.gov/issues2.cfm?id=5996 )
from making it to the floor for a vote. And now we know why. It is hardball you want, it is hardball you shall have. We will do our own penetration testing. That means IT folks will now make public how bad these systems are. Next stop, Texas. And get your pesticide cannister and Rolodex ready.


Robin Baneth. M.S., M.A.
[e-mail]


ALL CONTENT FREE TO RE-USE EXCEPT GRAPHICS

[dzika]

20. The January 9th Problem

I watched all of the news shows from this morning (FOX News Sunday, This Week with George S., Face the Nation and Lated Edition with Wolf B.)

Not a single one of them mentioned that the Ohio electoral votes had been challenged this week.

[dzika]

21. N.E.P. Adds Hundreds of Voters to Exit Poll Sample - Are They Real?

Sunday, January 09, 2005

N.E.P. Adds Hundreds of Voters to Exit Poll Sample Without Proof These Voters Were Interviewed, Poll's Veracity Now Unconfirmable

By ADVOCATE STAFF

Warren Mitofsky has told America how many voters he polled in his National Election Pool (N.E.P.) Exit Poll of November 2nd, 2004.

-snip-

So how is it, in a business -- exit-polling -- in which numbers are everything, Mitofsky, CBS, and the Washington Post can't agree on the sample size for the nation's only general election exit poll?

Was it:

a) 12,219
b) 13,047
c) 12,403
d) 13,600

And when the N.E.P. releases its exit poll data in late January, which poll will they release?

more
http://www.nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x273936

[dzika]

22. Revote Washington State?? Rossi says it was stolen!

01/09/2005 10:45pm

Revote Washington State?? Rossi says it was stolen!

by maggiemetcalfe

A fake emergency alert appeared on my tv today saying there was a crisis, an election was stolen in washington, the solution would be a revote, and the action I should take is to sign a petition to damand a revote. It was a black screen with scrolling red type and a loud repetitive buzzing sound in the background. (channel 4 or 5 with the link www.revotewa.org)

Since the reports of tabulation problems are indicating that there are lots of irregularities favoring Rossi...I'd support a revote if we could do it all on paper ballots...and hey-maybe if we can do the same in Ohio I'd really support it.

But I really resent the use of the fake emergency alert, and the alarmist exageration of the republicans when it suits them-especially when the Dems are being so careful not to risk calling the national election fraud a "crisis" when truely it is. Lets revote America.


link
http://blog.democrats.com/node/2479

[dzika]

23. MOORE A MAN OF THE PEOPLE'S

MOORE A MAN OF THE PEOPLE'S

January 9, 2005 -- Lefty filmmaker Michael Moore has been tipped he's going to win the People's Choice Award tonight, Tom O'Neil reports at goldderby.com.

This is the first year these awards - which insiders have long suspected notifies winners in advance - resorted to online voting instead of a Gallup poll.

Tinseltown has been buzzing about organized campaigns on behalf of Moore's Bush-bashing "Fahrenheit 9/11," which goes up against the likes of "Spider-Man 2" and "The Incredibles" for favorite movie, as well as for Mel Gibson's equally controversial "The Passion of the Christ," which is up for best drama.

Moore's flacks didn't return Post movie critic Lou Lumenick's calls, but sources confirmed he is snubbing tonight's New York Film Critics Circle awards to attend the Hollywood ceremony, where polar opposite Gibson is also expected to make an appearance.


link
http://www.nypost.com/gossip/37874.htm

[dzika]

24. Voting is Not a Constitutional Right

Voting is Not a Constitutional Right

Hadn't heard much of Jesse's son before but he has the same gift for gab as his dad (or at least the same speechwriters and elocution). I knew that voting was a state right but hadnt thought of the implications of that:

When it comes to voting, a person does not have such a fundamental right. They have a State right. A State right is not a citizenship right, but a right defined and protected by each State and limited to each State.

108 of the 119 nations in the world that elect their public officials in some democratic manner have the right to vote in their Constitution, including the Afghan Constitution and the interim document in Iraq. The United States is one of eleven nations that does not have an affirmative right to vote in the Constitution. Should we not be the 108th nation that does just that?

We need to provide the American people with the citizenship right to vote and provide Congress with the authority to craft a unitary system from Maine to California so we do not have so many separate and unequal systems. Mr. Speaker, it is the foundation upon which we build a more perfect Union amongst the States.

This is why I could never figure out how no-voting-felons laws could apply to a federal election and not just at the state level. I did sort of understand how this affected the 2000 elections but hadn't really thought of the summation as there is no constitutionally protected right to vote.

I even stumbled on Jackson's draft legislation: HJR 28.

link
http://andymatic.com/2005/01/09/voting-is-not-a-constitutional-right/

[dzika]

25. Count Me In - Lady Liberty

January 10, 2005

Count Me In - Lady Liberty

One of the most sacred rights we have—at least in the eyes of many Americans—is the right to vote. With such a right, many believe that bad politicians can be peacefully removed from office, and that unconstitutional laws can be reversed without bloodshed. There are, of course, just a few problems with this scenario.

-snip-

Despite a system that's largely corrupt and those who've learned all too well how to work that system, and despite disappointing levels of both ignorance and apathy in the general voting population, most Americans still seem to think that voting is a good idea. They traditionally support efforts toward democracy in other countries, and they'll proudly talk about "majority rule" at home. What they don't realize, however, is that an undiluted "majority rule" is what the Founding Fathers feared could—and would—result in what they called a "tyranny of the majority," hence our republican form of government.

-snip=

One thing that virtually everyone can agree on where voting is concerned is how it works at its most basic level: People cast ballots. Their choices are counted. The choice with the most votes in its favor wins. Simple, yes? Just as obviously, when votes are counted, the counts must be accurate if the voting is to have any meaning whatsoever. People can be angry or unhappy at election results, but to doubt them is to undermine the government at its very foundation. That's why it's surprising that the authorities in Ohio aren't being more cooperative with an investigation there.

The state of Ohio was a crucial state in the presidential election just past. Ohio's 20 electoral votes, as it turned out, essentially determined the winner of the presidency. The vote was, in statistical terms, a relatively close one. Only a percentage point or two separated the two major candidates. But early in the morning of November 3, John Kerry conceded the election acknowledging that his campaign wasn't going to make up the more than 200,000 vote difference between him and George W. Bush. Two other candidates, however, thought that accuracy was more important than winners, and they filed a lawsuit in Ohio accordingly.

-snip-

Someone once said (I personally seem to recall it being Robert Heinlein, but searching the Internet has given me results ranging from "anonymous" to an international workers union) that if voting really mattered, it would be illegal. That's a pretty cynical way of looking at it. The fact that it is still legal to vote (at least at the moment) doesn't necessarily mean voting doesn't matter. But that Ohio—and apparently some other locations across the country—is dismissing concerns of accuracy in counting the votes is a pretty good indicator that, at least in 2004 and in some places, it didn't.


link
http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcontributors/lliberty_20050110.html

[dzika]

26. Wexler reminds Fla. elections chief of paper trail challenge

Monday, January 10, 2005

Wexler reminds elections chief of paper trail challenge

By George Bennett

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer


Less than 48 hours after Arthur Anderson took over as Palm Beach County elections supervisor, Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler gave him a pointed public reminder of who and what got him elected.

"Arthur, we are going to have a paper trail, right?" Wexler, D-Delray Beach, asked Anderson in front of about 400 people at a Democratic rally west of Delray Beach on Wednesday night.

Wexler's tone was jocular. But the underlying message was as serious as a manual recount.

After spending much of 2004 pursuing litigation against paperless voting and being the most prominent backer of paper-trail advocate Anderson's campaign for elections chief, Wexler in 2005 is not about to let the issue fade away.

On Thursday morning, Wexler told a group of west Delray Beach retirees that Anderson can expect "ramifications" if he doesn't see to it that the county's voting machines include a tangible, voter-verified record of how ballots are cast.


more
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/epaper/2005/01/10/s1a_paper_trail_0110.html

[dzika]

27. Vennochi: Black voters' untapped power

Monday, January 10, 2005

COMMENTARY

Vennochi: Black voters' untapped power

by Joan Vennochi, THE BOSTON GLOBE


Barack Obama, the new junior senator from Illinois, made the cover of Newsweek even before he was sworn into office. Why?

The man gave a great speech during last summer's Democratic National Convention. He is smart, accomplished, talented, and a politician to watch for future greatness. He is also the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas. And the fact that he is the first African American male Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate makes him extra-special, especially to desperate Democrats still reeling from Election Day results and worried about retaining traditionally safe voting blocs.

In short, African Americans gained political leverage after Nov. 2. How will they use it? "We have unused and untapped political power that can be utilized in a close presidential election. Had blacks not turned up in record numbers for John Kerry, Bush would have won in a landslide," says Donna Brazile, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute.

On Election Day, African Americans remained loyal to the Democratic Party. National exit poll surveys indicated that John Kerry won the black vote by an overwhelming 88-11 percent.

But the future is not a lock. On Nov. 17, Brazile and colleague Cornell Belcher issued a public memo based on post-Election Day number-crunching that warned of trouble when the opponent is not George W. Bush: "Democrats should be concerned that under strong Republican messaging efforts, African American voters might indeed prove to be as persuadable as some other 'base' Democratic groups turned out to be in 2004."


more
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/01/10vennochi_edit.html

[dzika]

28. Michael Moore win People Choice Aware for "overall favorite movie"

Sunday, January 09, 2005




Associated Press photo

Filmmaker Michael Moore sports a new Drew Carey-like look and a People's Choice Award for overall favorite movie for his anti-Bush-regime documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11." The People's Choice Awards were given out tonight in Pasadena. (Red-staters, take heart: Mel Gibson's truly awful Jesus Christ snuff film "The Passion of the Christ" won the People's Choice Award for best dramatic movie.)


link
http://blogs.salon.com/0001517/2005/01/09.html#a448

[dzika]

29. Some Folks Really Do Care about Democracy

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Some Folks Really Do Care about Democracy

"Mr. Speaker and members, I dedicate my objection to Ohio's electoral votes to Mr. Michael Moore, the producer of the documentary '9/11' and I thank him for educating the world on the threats to our democracy and the proceedings of this house on the acceptance of the electoral college votes for the 2000 presidential election."

-- Representative Maxine Waters

link
http://misoverestimated.blogspot.com/2005/01/some-folks-really-do-care-about.html

[texpatriot2004]

30. kick