Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Sunday 6/19/05

[Melissa G]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Sunday 6/19/05

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391

Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x378739

All previous daily threads are available here:
http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm





Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[Melissa G]

1. All Bush, All the Time, for the Rest of Your Life

COMMENTARY:
All Bush, All the Time, for the Rest of Your Life
by John Chuckman

America needs a belly full of Bush before the world can expect any relief from the country's lunatic course

A group of Republican legislators proposes to rescind the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution. This is the Amendment, passed after four terms of Franklin Roosevelt, scared the bejesus out of Republicans, limiting a President to two terms in office. The legislators apparently believe that with continued Republican gains in Congress, they may be in a position to change the Constitution by 2006, in time to extend Bush's benevolent work.
Of course, Bush must actually be re-elected in 2008, but that represents a mere technicality. Bush was appointed in 2000 by a Supreme Court whose capacity for critical thinking already resembled that of senior judges in the early Reich. By 2008, Bush will have loaded the Court with creatures who might have made splendid careers in the Holy Inquisition under Torquemada.

The Republican fallback plan for 2008 is to repeat the election of 2004, in which heavy vote fraud in places like Ohio gave Republicans their revenge for Democrats' vote fraud in 1960. Republicans used to be more straitlaced about things like vote fraud. It was only the old Democratic political machines of the nation's cities that supposedly practiced it with any regularity. But with the rise in political influence of America's fundamentalists and neo-cons, Republicans have embraced vote fraud wholeheartedly. Fundamentalist pitchmen provided the party a splendid example of the advantages of fleecing their flocks. America's neo-cons have decades of experience posing as disinterested academics advocating human slaughter as policy. If you really think about it, the plan seems sound, and the timing seems right. Its prospects look quite good.
http://baltimorechronicle.com/061905Chuckman.shtml

[Melissa G]

2. VerifiedVoting.org to Brief Senators on Verifiable Elections

Saturday, June 18, 2005 :: infoZine Staff
VerifiedVoting.org to Brief Senators on Verifiable Elections
Stanford University Professor Champions Paper Ballots and Public Audits


Washington, D.C. - infoZine - On Tuesday, June 21, the Senate Rules Committee is scheduled to hear testimony on publicly verifiable elections from VerifiedVoting.org Founder David Dill. Dill is a Stanford University Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and a nationally recognized expert on systems verification. He will recommend passage of federal legislation to require voter-verified paper records and routine mandatory audits of elections so that every vote is counted as cast.

"The debate about electronic voting should not be about election fraud but about performing independent checks on the conduct and results of elections so
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/8460/

[Melissa G]

3. County election workers 'embarrassed'

Saturday, June 18, 2005

County election workers 'embarrassed'
Survey in department indicates low morale, atmosphere of fear

By GREGORY ROBERTS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Half the election workers in King County are embarrassed to work in their department, which suffers from low employee morale, poor internal communications, inadequate training, excessive workloads and an atmosphere of fear, the workers said in a survey released yesterday.

"My staff is as embarrassed as I am about the problems and mistakes made last year," Election Director Dean Logan said in a statement put out in response to the survey.

"The survey results make it clear there is a lot of work that needs to be done," he said, adding that moves are under way to address the issues.

Logan actually came out relatively well in the survey, with 19 of the 33 respondents expressing either a high or very high level of confidence in him
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/229081_elections18.html

[Melissa G]

4. Early voting could better Ohio elections

Early voting could better Ohio elections

The Ohio General Assembly is considering a proposal to allow early voting, similar to what is done in West Virginia.

Early voting, which allows people to vote before Election Day without having to explain why they want to do so, has worked well in this state. In fact, before the 2004 general election, some people registered to vote in the Cabell County Courthouse and went down the hall immediately afterward to cast their ballots.

By the time Election Day arrives, many voters have already decided who they will vote for. Allowing them to vote early reduces congestion on Election Day.

Some in Ohio may worry about the possibility of fraud with early voting. West Virginia had fraud before early voting and after, so one has little to do with the other.

Early voting is a practice Ohio should adopt.
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2005/June/18/OPlist2.htm

[Melissa G]

5. Woman claims politiqueras targeting elderly

Woman claims politiqueras targeting elderly
Friday, June 17, 2005 Posted: 06:06 PM
MCALLEN -- Some Valley residents are concerned political operatives aren't playing fair when it comes to securing the elderly vote.

MCALLEN – Some Valley residents are saying the McAllen race for mayor is taking the idea of politiqueras to a whole new level.

One woman claims election workers hired to target the elderly took unfair advantage of her 84-year-old mother.

The woman did not want to be identified, but she said a politiquera, or political operative, came to her mother’s home and offered to help her fill out a mail-in ballot.

http://www.newschannel5.tv/2005/6/17/3208/Woman-claims-politiqueras-targeting-elderly-

[Melissa G]

6. Disclosure needed to rescue integrity

Disclosure needed to rescue integrity



Tom Elias
California
Focus [e-mail]

The integrity of California’s ever-popular ballot initiative process may be more heavily at risk right now than at any moment since the modern initiative movement emerged in 1970.
Why? Because it’s getting harder and harder to track who’s really behind which initiative.
This reality is the reason one major newspaper editorialized the other day that “Direct democracy…has been turned on its head in California. The power of the people has become the power of the special interests.”
No one doubts the power of special interests in elective politics. “You’ll never get the money out of politics,” says Allen Hoffenblum, a former Republican consultant who now co-publishes one of the authoritative guides to state election races. “The way to ensure integrity is through full reporting of all donations.”
That’s how it works when it comes to electing governors, mayors, legislators and city councilmen. Every significant contribution is reported, often online and usually within a day or two of when it’s received. Failure to report a major donation can result in a large fine and a lot of embarrassment.

http://www.sierrastar.com/061705disclosureneeded.html

[Melissa G]

7. Editorial: Can Today’s Youth Save the World?

Berkeley Daily Planet
Edition Date: Friday, June 17, 2005

Article


Editorial: Can Today’s Youth Save the World? By BECKY O'MALLEY
snip
On the national scene, we have now seen conclusive proof, via England, that the Bush administration’s plans to invade Iraq pre-dated the supposed weapons-of-mass-destruction excuse. And what’s worse, as we’ve said many times in this space, we told you so. It’s appalling to think that while hundreds of thousands of sensible people were in the streets shouting fraud, both the national press and the Congress believed (or pretended to believe) that Bush was telling the truth. And then there’s Tom DeLay, lying, cheating and stealing right out in front of everyone, while Congress looks the other way, perhaps fearing that their own peccadilloes will be exposed next.

Here in California we have Schwarzenegger, who has turned his back on the conventional political process in favor of a populism run amok. He’s raised so much money that he can disdain the time-honored tradition of buying a few legislators to promote his agenda, instead planning to buy a whole election. Just like in the movies, he gets what he wants by stomping on little guys, teachers and nurses.

And when Howard Dean speaks up about all of this in the mildest possible way, the nervous nellies in his own Democratic party start to quiver with anxiety. They’re shocked to hear that the Republicans are mostly white Christians? We could tell them even worse things Dean might say about Republicans, but unfortunately also about many Democrats.

The captive U.S. press continues to fiddle away while the country burns. The Hearst daily today ran a couple of letters complaining that its front pages are now devoted to massive photos of hugging gurus, while the disintegration of the nation is a small item in the back pages. It didn’t seem to be possible to dumb down that paper any further, but they’ve managed to do it. The common excuse is that young people are too simple-minded to read a real newspaper, but the young people I’ve been seeing don’t fit that stereotype. It might just be that they’re too smart to read trash. With the Internet, they now have serious choices.

http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=06-17-05&storyID=21640

[Melissa G]

8. Voter bill draws fire from labor, Hispanic groups

Voter bill draws fire from labor, Hispanic groups


6/18/2005, 11:10 a.m. PT
By BRAD CAIN
The Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's largest Hispanic group, labor activists and state election officials are opposing a Republican-backed plan to require people registering to vote for the first time to show proof of citizenship, a proposal that one key backer said was made necessary by the terrorist attacks of September 2001.

The measure recently was approved by the Oregon House after sponsors said the requirement would help prevent illegal immigrants from fraudulently registering and voting.

"In part, it's a response to the post-Sept. 11 world we live in," said state Rep. Linda Flores, a Republican from Clackamas. "Citizens want us do everything we can to preserve their rights and to secure our borders."
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1119117300290450.xml&storylist=orlocal

[Melissa G]

9. Sancho is protecting our democratic ideal

Posted on Sun, Jun. 19, 2005

Sancho is protecting our democratic ideal

It's ironic that Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho is being attacked by corporate lawyers for testing one of our county's voting machines. Not surprisingly, Sancho found that the Diebold virtual vote machine we were
pressured into buying can easily be hijacked and made to report anything a hacker wants it to.

But instead of admitting the problem and offering to fix it, Diebold is making accusations and pointing fingers. It is the worst kind of corporate bullying. What are they trying to hide?

It's the supervisor of elections' job to ensure our voting machines do what they're intended to. He, and we, should demand polling equipment that cannot be tampered with, accurately counts every vote and leaves a record in the real world of each and every vote cast. If Sancho is not allowed to ensure fair and accurate elections, we will lose what makes our country great and keeps us free: our democratic ideal.

If Diebold challenges the citizens of Leon County by challenging the man we elected to run our elections, then we should shop elsewhere for voting machines, and encourage other counties to do so as well.

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/11912453.htm

[Melissa G]

10. State GOP copies Rove

State GOP copies Rove

By David M. Drucker
From our Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO — Building upon the strategy President Bush used to turn out record numbers of voters last year, California Republicans are poised to deploy a volunteer army tasked with turning out "Yes' votes for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiatives and other measures on the Nov. 8 ballot.
The state GOP has spent more than $2 million to hire full-time, professional staff initially in preparation for Schwarzenegger's anticipated 2006 re-election bid.

Now, however, it is to ensure a policy victory for him in this year's special election. Local GOP officials expect an onslaught of money and manpower from the governor's labor and Democratic opponents, but say they are prepared to compete for votes in the trenches, one front door and phone call at a time.

"This will be a very unusual election cycle, because there's no candidate, it's more about ideology and issues," said San Bernardino County Supervisor Bill Postmus, chairman of his County Republican Party.

http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~2928048,00.html

[Melissa G]

11. THE RETURN OF THE MODERATE INDEPENDENT

THE RETURN OF THE MODERATE INDEPENDENT

by Thomas J. Bico

snip
We have gotten many e-mails saying, "There is so much news, why aren't you writing." The reality is there has been no news - nothing has been done to remedy the e-voting and other election problems that allow elections to be fixed, nothing was done in response to the discarding of the Constitution for a vegetative woman, nothing has occurred because of the mess in Iraq or new memos reaffirming that lies were used to lead the nation to war.

Nothing.

Not a single day of general strike, not a single sizeable protest. Nobody has even significantly changed their shopping habits. TV-watching habits haven't altered. No boycotts have been staged.

The nation was lied into war, two elections in a row may have been fixed, the Constitution has been discarded, the free press is now all right-wing propaganda, and no one has done anything about it.

People are wondering - and "progressive" talkers and bloggers are complaining - that the "Downing Street memos" have not elicited any response. They don't really get the reason for it: because everyone knows that at this point there will be no response on the part of the American people to anything. If they covered the Downing Street memos, you know what would happen? Right, nothing.

http://www.moderateindependent.com/v3i7return.htm

[LightningFlash]

13. Talk about pessimistic...

What do you mean nothing has been done?!??? Have they been paying ANY attention to the news outside of their little bubble?

What the hell kind of alternate reality do they live in? Conyers has held hearings, millions of americans are boycotting, and for the last time there is a bill on the House floor being rammed through....The bill for VVPB!

http://www.commonblog.com/section/Elections

Propaganda, total propaganda!!! There is things being done more than ever now and they simply ignore it. :thumbsdown:

[Melissa G]

12. Momentum Builds For Election Reform

Momentum Builds For Election Reform
By ANN McFEATTERS
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jun 17, 2005, 04:49
Email this article
Printer friendly page

Nearly five years after the chaos of Election 2000, angry citizens still storm Capitol Hill and statehouses to demand investigations and changes to the electoral process while task forces continue to churn out recommendations for reform.
Congress did pass the Help America Vote Act in 2002, and it did appropriate $3 billion to improve the system.

Then came Election 2004, which was marred by delays, discarded ballots, mixed up identifications, allegations of electronic voting machine chicanery and other problems, all of which have spawned an industry of election-reform experts and lobbying groups.

Dozens of states have approved or are considering proposals for change. But some independent experts complain that many proposals are driven by a desire for partisan advantage, and they fear that nothing significant will be accomplished without mandating nonpartisan election administration.

At the federal level, there remains disagreement, and reform advocates argue that if nothing is done this year, next year's congressional elections, with one-third of the Senate and the entire House up for re-election, could take place in an atmosphere of suspicion and a worrisome lack of voter participation.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_6889.shtml

[Melissa G]

14. Activists: Vote 'no' on new machines

Activists: Vote 'no' on new machines
Officials make no recommendation after facing 200 protesters
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER



SACRAMENTO —— As California rolls toward a train wreck with federal and state laws, voting activists told state elections officials Diebold and its voting machines aren't welcome along for the ride.
Witness after witness — Bay Area liberals seasoned with a few Libertarians and Republicans — called on state officials Thursday to block Diebold's voting machines from the nation's largest elections market, casting the firm as synonymous with lost trust and vote "theft" in the 2000 and 2004 elections.

In a jam-packed hearing punctuated by chanting, activists demanded paper ballots be counted by hand, by computers running open-source software if absolutely necessary, but never by secret software closely held by a company known for executive support of Republicans up to the president.

"If you value democracy you will not certify these hackable machines with secret mechanisms that are considered proprietary," said Berkeley's Phoebe Anne Sorgen. "You will dump Diebold Elections Systems and software."

"If you throw them out of this state, they're dead. Their backs are up against the wall," said Jim March, a Sacramento Republican and activist for BlackBoxVoting.org. Looking over the angry crowd of more than 200, the chairman of the California's Voting Systems and Procedures Panel decided against making a recommendation to Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, a break with a panel tradition of prompt approvals of voting systems.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_2807981

[Melissa G]

15. More days to vote and fewer polling places ideal (scary group?)

DU discussion..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x379136

Pantagraph Editorial

Friday, June 17, 2005
More days to vote and fewer polling places ideal

Having more than one day to vote and having fewer, but better-staffed, polling places are intriguing ideas. They are among recommendations from the National Task Force on Election Reform, a group of present and former election officials from 15 states charged with looking for better ways to accommodate voters. The group was put together by Election Center, a Houston firm that trains election officials but has received some criticism for accepting some of its funding from manufacturers of voting machines.

However, the task force didn't recommend buying new voting machines, although it downplayed the need for paper receipts from voting machines in an electronic age.

This isn't the only group looking at ways to make it easier for people to vote.

Immediately after the 2000 presidential election debacle in Florida, there were numerous suggestions on how to improve the system. But most zeroed in on getting rid of simple punch-card ballots and spending millions -- if not billions -- of dollars on voting machines. That included purchasing machines in most areas that had not had a problem with punch-card ballots, including virtually every county in Central Illinois.

The accusations of vote-machine tampering in the last election came as no surprise. Some people just will not accept that most of the problems in 2000, which were confined largely to major metropolitan areas, were caused by voters and inattentive election judges.



http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/061705/opi_20050617001.shtml

[Melissa G]

16. Flagler ready for touch-screen machines

http://www.news-journalonline.com/library/images/navigation/headers/

Flagler ready for touch-screen machines

By AARON LONDON
Staff Writer

Last update: June 17, 2005


PALM COAST -- Flagler County residents soon will be able to touch the future of voting.

The county is in final negotiations to buy 41 touch-screen voting machines as part of a state mandate for disabled-accessible voting.

The machines will cost $173,000, with part of the cost to be paid through a state grant, said Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Peggy Rae Border. Flagler County commissioners approved spending $29,000 for the machines in May, with the rest coming from the state grant.

"Now we are working on the contract," Border said. "I am hoping to have it ready for the board (of county commissioners) very quickly."

Border, like election supervisors across the Sunshine State, is facing a deadline to get the machines in place. Disabled-accessible machines must be available to voters for any election after July 1. Border said she expects to meet that deadline.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Flagler/03FlaglerFLAG01061705.htm

[Melissa G]

17. Looming '06 Congressional vote heats up election reform

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_washington/article/0,1891,TRN_5707_3859824,00.html

Looming '06 Congressional vote heats up election reform
By ANN McFEATTERS
June 15, 2005

Nearly five years after the chaos of Election 2000, angry citizens still storm Capitol Hill and statehouses to demand investigations and changes to the electoral process while task forces continue to churn out recommendations for reform.

Congress did pass the Help America Vote Act in 2002, and it did appropriate $3 billion to improve the system.


Then came Election 2004, which was marred by delays, discarded ballots, mixed up identifications, allegations of electronic voting machine chicanery and other problems, all of which have spawned an industry of election-reform experts and lobbying groups.

Dozens of states have approved or are considering proposals for change. But some independent experts complain that many proposals are driven by a desire for partisan advantage, and they fear that nothing significant will be accomplished without mandating nonpartisan election administration.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_washington/article/0,1891,TRN_5707_3859824,00.html

[Melissa G]

18. Iran calls for Bush poll apology

Iran calls for Bush poll apology

Kamal Kharrazi said George Bush's comments backfired
Iran has called on US President George W Bush to apologise for criticising Friday's presidential election.
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said the high turnout discredited Mr Bush's comments the poll was undemocratic.

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is in the region, also said the poll had failed to be a legitimate exercise in democracy.

snip
Bush 'disgraced'

On Saturday, President Bush denounced the election as a sham.

He said the polls ignored "basic democratic standards" and was a further example of what he called the regime's "oppressive record".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4108452.stm

[Melissa G]

19. Tribune Columnist Causes Controversy Over Presidential Election Fraud Stor

DU discussion Thanks to Babylonsister for posting...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x379151
Tribune Columnist Causes Controversy Over Presidential Election Fraud Story

Robert Koehler likes to ask tough questions and tackle issues ignored by the press. When he asked if the 2004 Presidential election was stolen, it created a rift in the Chicago Tribune newsroom, providing an example about the sad state of media affairs existing today.
June 18, 2005
By Greg Szymanski

Some people say Tribune Online columnist Robert Koehler works inside the belly of the beast, working inside a corporate media hungry for money but short on truth telling.

Able to spit out a few morsels of truth every now and again, Koehler describes his unique position a little differently, suggesting it’s more like floating on top a gigantic whale’s back instead of rumbling around inside it’s belly.

Wherever he sits, one of his recent columns, hinting the 2004 Presidential election was stolen, caused the ugly beast to let out a fierce roar, leading to a heated controversy inside the Chicago Tribune newsroom.

"It was a definite body blow," said Koehler this week from his suburban home in Chicago.

http://www.globalnewsmatrix.com/modules.php?name=News&f

[babylonsister]

20. Thanks for all this info, MelissaG! nt

[autorank]

21. Blogger CANNONFIRE says Boycot Salon for Trashing NEP Fraud Evidence

"DISINFORMATIONIST"-CannonFire to Salon re: election fraud criticism

Salon's Farhad Manjoo has written a number of articles on election fraud pointing to major problems in 2004. All of a sudden, he released an article on Salon claiming that the National Exit Polls really didn't mean much and that the pollster Mitofsky and some associates had solved the riddle of Kerry winning the polls up to, and until, 12:25am (election eve). After that, the poll suddenly showed Bush winning by the same margin as the "actual vote count."

In the articleFarhad discussed a some time poster at DU and subject of an interminable thread. He says: O'Dell is critical of his compatriots, some of whom routinely suggest that a "corrupted vote count" is the only explanation for the odd exit poll results. "It's impossible that they have actual evidence that vote fraud must have occurred," he says. "They're overstating their data -- I think it's crying wolf or chicken little big time to proclaim you have evidence of vote fraud when actually you don't." IMHO, O’Dell is spinning Republican talking points, but that’s just my interpretation.

There was a great GD thread on this where DUers in GD showed that they knew what’s what. A number of us called up and canceled Salon on the spot (your’s truly, subscriber from day one).

Well, look what uber blogger CannonFire had to say:

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

BOYCOTT SALON

CannonFire link (articles appear by date

In a new Salon piece on the 2004 vote -- find it yourselves; I won't link to it – Farhad Manjoo calls the "reluctant Bush responder" theory a "persuasive new theory." That phrasing indicates the work of a disinformationist.

Manjoo is peddling horse shit, of course.(don’t you love this guy) Use your common sense: Are any Republicans of your acquaintance shrinking violets? Turn on your radio: Do the voices of reaction sound even slightly embarrassed or cautious?Democrats are the ones who have been cowed into silence by the violent brown shirts of the right.

<snip>

If the "eDr" theory holds water, then why were Democrats so notably "exuberant" only in "purple" states? And why were exit polls accurate in this country until the ascension of the Bush dynasty? Why are they still considered extremely accurate in Europe?

The Republicans have done everything in their power to insure that our voting machines have no paper trails. As demonstrated in many previous posts (both on this blog and elsewhere), the vote tabulator companies are run by either crooks or theocratic fanatics. These companies have often bribed officials to use their easily-hacked machines. (it gets better)

Those facts alone prove vote fraud. We need no further evidence. If Republicans do not commit vote fraud, then why do they not allow paper trails? If someone using a fake identity asks for your credit card information, do you need to gather more evidence before you conclude that he hopes to rob you?

<snip>

Why does Salon no longer publish work by investigative writers such as (say) Murray Waas? Why do they waste cyber-ink on frauds like Manjoo?

Ask yourselves: When was the last time Salon published a worthwhile, cutting-edge investigative piece about politics?

I STRONGLY urge Salon readers to unsubscribe.

Well, he was just getting warmed up.

Thursday, June 16, 2005
Manure from Manjoo: A response

In the "comments" section, Salon writer Farhad Manjoo responded to yesterday's call for a Salon boycott, which I issued in the wake of his piece attacking vote fraud investigators. In the interest of fairness, I'll repeat his words in full here. (Italics indicate when he has quoted me.)

<snip>

Manjoo tries to convince his readers that "fraud freaks" have concentrated on exit poll controversies to the exclusion of concerns he considers more vital. That accusation hardly applies to me, to Brad Friedman, to the many Democratic Underground posters, to the writers at Raw Story, to the heroic workers who oversaw the Ohio recount, and to any number of people who have devoted time and energy to the discussion of all aspects of vote fraud.

<snip>

And Manjoo still doesn't respond to the question about the accuracy of exit polls in Europe, but not here.

Neither does he mention many other pertinent points, such as the fact that vote tabulation companies have a disturbing history of bribing election officials and offering them comfy sinecures, in order to get their hackable machines into position. Or this administration's efforts to impede international observation of the 2004 vote. Or Leto's study of Snohomish county, where the electronic vote differed substantially from the paper vote -- a difference inexplicable by any theory other than vote fraud.

Neither does Manjoo offer any suggestions as to how we might double-check our highly-questionable paper-free compu-vote. If we blithely toss out any exit polls that conflict with the official story, what else do we have?

Salon, which was once the place to go for those who wanted the truth about the Right's war on Clinton, now prints very little cutting-edge investigative reporting. Lately, I've gone there mostly for the movie reviews. But in the Bush economy, I can't really afford movies. So why read the reviews?

This is what's called really kicking ass and taking names. CannonFire is on my regular check-in list from now ow.

[SophieZ]

22. Fitrakis, BBV.org were on the radio tonight. FL, CA and OH discussed.

Here's the thread.

Archive available now. Sunday Monitor on KPFT.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x379131

Bob Fitrakis, author of Did George W. Bush Steal America's 2004 Election? Essential Documents, talked more about the whistleblower who is an Ohio technician. Said whistleblower has told Bob that the central tabulator in Ohio is alterable -- can be overwritten -- and that Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has access to it, as well as two government agencies. Fitrakis has not written on this yet -- this is new information. But, he says he will.
Website: http://freepress.org

Kathleen Wynne of Black Box Voting along with their expert, Harri Hursti of Finland, talked about the meeting of an election panel in Sacramento, CA this week that they testified at. And, Hursti discussed the demonstration of a hack of the Diebold optical scan equipment in Leon County, Florida, in front of the election supervisor, with the official's permission. He said it was not so much a hack, as just using the information that is publically available to exploit the vulnerabilities that were built in.

FLORIDA: From the county's report: "Granted the same access as an employee of our office, it was possible enter the computer, alter election results, and exit the system without leaving any physical record of this action."

Website: Black Box Voting http://www.blackboxvoting.org
Reports on Leon County, FL hack demonstration, "Optical scan system hacked (3 ways)":
-- http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/1954/5921.html
-- http://www.leonfl.org/elect/SpecialReport.htm

[FluxRostrum]

23. January 6th Contest the Vote Rally in DC ~ Video

http://www.fluxview.com/v/Fluxview-News-Video-2005.htm#J6VoteFraud

featuring Jesse Jackson, Rev. Moss, Clint Curtis, Asa Gordon, Wil b and David Cobb.

Jesse breaks down the multitude of inconsistences involved in the Ohio election process.

Rally, March and interviews.