Judge orders release of Nevada presidential election public records

[Amaryllis]

This came from Patricia Axelrod Saturday. A little sketchy in details but of interest. Below it I posted another press release from earlier in the week for those who may not have seen it, that gives more details.

Press releaseFrom Patricia Axelrod:
Jan. 22
JUDGE ORDERS RELEASE OF NEVADA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PUBLIC RECORDS…

“George Bush was taking the oath of the Presidency just about the same time I was swearing under oath about how he might have stolen the election,” says Patricia Axelrod. Axelrod – a writer and researcher – spent Inauguration Day in court battling for the release of the Nevada public election records she says may prove that George Bush stole the election.

Two and a half hours passed as Axelrod argued pro sea against Deputy
Attorney General Joshua Hicks and Rhonda Moore Secretary of State in charge of elections. Moore took the stand to defend against Axelrod’s charge of illegally withholding the public records generated by the 2004 presidential election. The Court battle heated up as Axelrod repeatedly charged Moore with perjury reminding the official “that she was under oath.” until Judge William Maddox cut off her cross examination with a threat of contempt of court and jail. Surprisingly after the smoke had settled The First Judicial Court of Nevada had ruled in favor of Axelrod and ordered the Nevada Secretary of State to allow the activist full access to the 2004 Presidential Election public records as well as to just cause why the State should charge a $1.00 per page copy cost.

Judge Maddox ruled against Axelrod’s request of the Court to hold Nevada State in contempt of court and he altogether refused to hear the researcher’s separate motion to hold The Secretary of State and The Attorney General in contempt of court for what the litigant was
colluding “with malice aforethought to undermine” the 'lawful right and benefit’ to the public records she began requesting November 3.

Axelrod says, “I won’t call George Bush President until it is proven that he won the election fair, square, and democratically.”

This released earlier this past week:
NEVADA INAUGURAL DAY SHOWDOWN AND COURT ROOM DRAMA PROMISED. Public
invited.

NEVADA LEGAL SHOWDOWN – Patricia Axelrod vs State of Nevada - SET FOR INAUGURATION DAY, JAN 20, 1:30PM, in the First Judicial Court of the State of Nevada, 885 E. Musser, before Judge William Maddox.
January 20, Carson City, Nevada, 1:30 PM, Judge William Maddox is expected to order Dean Heller, the Nevada Secretary of State, to surrender the public records of the Nevada 2004 Presidential Election to citizen activist/writer Patricia Axelrod. George Bush claimed victory in Nevada and Axelrod says she wants to see in black and white how the State was won.

Axelrod sued the State of Nevada December 7 charging The Secretary of State with unlawfully withholding public records. December 21, the State moved to dismiss the case. That same day Judge Maddox gave the Secretary a deadline of January 11 to show just cause – under oath - why the State could not produce the records. A hearing on the matter was set for January 18. On January 11 the Secretary violated the direct court order and produced another motion to dismiss rather than an explanation as to why the State could not produce the records. January 18, Deputy Attorney General Joshua Hicks claiming stomach flue asked the court for a sick day off and requested an extension that Axelrod agreed to until January 20.

George Bush won Nevada by 22,000 votes but Patricia Axelrod believes human malfeasance, malfunctioning electronic voting machines, and simple error may have swayed the election outcome away from John Kerry and she has asked for the records to confirm or deny her hypothesis. Axelrod says she first agreeably asked for the records only resorting to litigation after the Nevada Secretary of State became increasingly hostile to her Public Records request. “I knew it was time to sue when Rhonda Moore, the Nevada Secretary of State in Charge of Elections told me she was charging me $1.00 per page for every copy of every public record she saw fit to release if and when she chose to. Moore drove me to court when she set the Capitol Police on me to silence my objections.”

Axelrod, whose work has earned her a John D. and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation Research and Writing Grant as well as a Project Censored Award, explains that her preliminary investigation into Nevada county and state vote tabulations and outcomes reveals unexplained under and over votes and a disparity between the number of ballots issued and the number of votes cast. There is a significant and unexplained post election increase in the voter’s registration total Axelrod claims, and votes cast in small precincts have disappeared into cyber space.

Nevada Secretary of State, Dean Heller and Attorney General Brain Sandoval are rising Republican stars. Each has been openly publicly supportive of George Bush. Heller frequently campaigned for the Bush re-election. Sandoval, currently under consideration for a Federal Judgeship, headed up the Nevada Bush re-election effort for which he was rewarded with prime time Republican convention face time. “Heller and Sandoval’s serious commitment to the Bush re-election surely helped the President win Nevada says Axelrod, “Inauguration Day is a great day for this suit to come to court.”


Edited to add this, since several have asked about links:
THere are no links. Patricia's phone number and email address were attached, but I was reluctant to post those here. It came from a source I trust from Alliance for Democracy who has access to a lot of sources. Sometimes there is a woman named Audrey who sends out the press releases for Patricia. The one from earlier in the week came from Audrey, but again, I am reluctant to post her email and phone here. I did check with my source at Alliance for Democracy and she said they were legit.

[glitch]

1. Wow. Please God protect this woman. Thanks for posting.

We need to keep track of what happens on this. Do you have a link?

[Amaryllis]

4. There is no link. She just puts these releases together and sends them

out. Sometimes there is a woman named Audrey who sends out the press releases. Patricia's phone number and email address were attached so I figured it was legit, but I was reluctant to post those here. It came from a source I trust from Alliance for Democracy who has access to a lot of sources.

[genieroze]

2. If it does prove it, isn't it too late? I mean we know for a fact that the

2000 election was stolen, not by Bush but by the Supreme Court. The recounts that the right wing media whores won't report shows the truth that shows Gore won by a decent margin.

[meganmonkey]

8. Too late for what?

I will wait as long as necesary to see fraud & fraudsters exposed and reform enacted.
This is great news - so many lawsuits have stalled out, but it's good to see some ending well! Especially after New Mexico's records got wiped.

KEEP HOPE ALIVE!

[Helga Scow Stern]

3. Wow! Thanks for posting. This is from NV Senator Harry Reid:

It was on the listserve for recount volunteers:
(I think it is encouraging, and I also want NV in-the-knowers to tell us how we need to pressure or inform Reid.)

Dear Friend,

I wanted to send an email to say thank you for the kind and powerful words you wrote me last week.

History has shown us that the right to vote has always demanded vigilance, responsibility and hard work from citizens and legislators alike. And the sad fact is disenfranchisement continues even today.

Thanks to your support, Senator Boxer and I we were able to use these facts to force the senate into a public debate on voting rights. But that was only the beginning. Now the Senate must act to correct the errors and injustice
of the voting system still visible in the 2004 election. It is a fight that I promise you I will champion as Democratic leader.

Although I was able to help enact landmark reforms in ballot box protection for my home state of Nevada this year, suppression efforts were still made. Calls, which we were unable to trace, told voters that Election Day was
November 3rd, not November 2nd. And our registration process was also tainted by the proven destruction of Democratic voter registration forms.

We know that in Ohio and across the country, precincts with large minority populations had disproportionately long lines because there weren't enough voting machines in those precincts. And blanket challenges to Ohio voters
were merely a thinly veiled effort to suppress the vote.

During the next session of Congress we face many other tough battles including the fight to save Social Security from the Republican plan to phase it out in favor of benefit cuts and private accounts. Social Security
is America's promise of retirement security, but through news reports and White House leaks, we know the President intends to break this promise in order to reward Wall Street with windfalls.

We're up against some very powerful opponents, and to win this fight you and I will need to work side by side, from battles on the Senate floor to debates in cities and towns around this nation. Together we can make sure
the values of fairness, security and opportunity survive the Republican onslaught and remain a part of the American experience.

To help our work together, in the next few weeks I plan on launching Democrats.gov, which will introduce new methods of citizen participation in Government. I will be in touch with you during this time to let you know how
you can get involved and strengthen your voice in government.

Once again thank you for your letters and kind words. They meant more to me than you could ever know.

Sincerely,

Harry Reid

[Amaryllis]

5. I get the idea that he really is not informed about e-voting issues, as is

the case with most of our legislators. Educating them is perhaps our most important task. Seems this is best done on a state by state level.

[suston96]

6. Poisoned fruit

They can dance into the night and eat their poisoned fruit but it will do them the harm that befalls all deceivers of the people.

Robbing the people of their elections is a serious crime, one that may take time to prove but when it is, the firestorms of the peoples' rage will follow mercilessly.

[BeFree]

13. "Follow mercilessly", yep

When the truth finally comes out, any politician still clinging to e-voting will be swallowing the poisoned fruit.

As for you, Ms. Axelrod, if you ever read this, I want you to know that you are on my short list of my American heroes. You know you will be in court many more times, and I only wish I could sit there and watch you win, but, alas, must do so from afar. You go girl!

[AtLiberty]

7. Any links?

[Amaryllis]

9. See post #4

[Alizaryn]

10. This is great news, please keep us updated?

[torque]

11. I assume the Cobb organization is aware of this? n/t

[Carolab]

12. And Conyers?

If not he should know.

Good for Patricia. I wondered where her efforts wound up. I see she succeeded.

Here is an AP article from 12/9/04 about this in the Nevada papers:

http://www.rgj.com/news/printstory.php?id=87172

I'd really like to see Heller take a hit. He keeps bragging about how he "solved the confidence problem in Nevada" by providing a paper trail. Even had the nerve to appear with David Dill and other "verified voting" experts on a panel broadcast on C-Span right after the election.

[Amaryllis]

14. Good point. I will make sure my AFD contact is passing it along. She

has been involved in conference calls with Cobb.

[senegal1]

15. If you get another email let us know how we can help! Kick!

[GetTheRightVote]

16. I hope Patricia does well and gets the info, please keep us up to date

:kick:

[Vidar]

17. What a spectacular woman. Thanks for posting.

[emlev]

18. kick