Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Friday, 9/2/05

[Melissa G]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Friday, 9/2/05

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=203x392262
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. Newsview: Rhetoric not matching reality

Posted on Fri, Sep. 02, 2005

Newsview: Rhetoric not matching reality
RON FOURNIER

Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The Iraqi insurgency is in its last throes. The economy is booming. Anybody who leaks a CIA agent's identity will be fired. Add another piece of White House rhetoric that doesn't match the public's view of reality: Help is on the way, Gulf Coast.

snip
Bush got himself in trouble by trying to put the best face on a horrible situation. The strategy is so common in Washington that operatives have a name for it, "spin," and the Bush White House has perfected the shady art.



snip
But his trust rating dropped gradually to a slim majority by the 2004 election year and remained at the mid-50s through the early part of 2005. In August, an AP-Ipsos poll showed 48 percent of respondents considered Bush honest, the lowest level of his presidency.

Americans like straight-shooters, especially in an era that has seen vast failures by government and social institutions. People are witnessing another institutional failure in the Gulf Coast, and Bush reluctantly acknowledged it Friday.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/politics/12548664.htm

[Melissa G]

2. Teachers union makes major distribution as campaigning begins

Posted on Fri, Sep. 02, 2005


Teachers union makes major distribution as campaigning begins

TOM CHORNEAU

Associated Press


SACRAMENTO - The California Teachers Association, among the most vocal opponents of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election initiatives, contributed $21 million this week to groups campaigning against the governor.

The high-dollar distribution comes just as the fall campaign is set to begin in earnest, with both sides targeting the Labor Day weekend as the unofficial kickoff.

Schwarzenegger helped raise and spend nearly $20 million during the first half of the year to qualify and promote his ballot measures and has raised about $6 million since July. Marty Wilson, the governor's fundraising manager, said he expects Schwarzenegger will reach the $50 million goal he set for the campaign.

"We'd like to be in a position to match them dollar for dollar," he said of the unions opposing the governor's agenda. "But we never expected that we could, and we did not base our campaign on it."

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/business/12548502.htm

[Melissa G]

3. Schwarzenegger stops short of announcing re-election bid

Posted on Fri, Sep. 02, 2005


Schwarzenegger stops short of announcing re-election bid

BY KATE FOLMAR

Knight Ridder Newspapers


SACRAMENTO, Calif. - (KRT) - Stopping just short of announcing that he'll seek re-election next year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday said that he's someone who likes to finish what he starts and added that his plans will be clear within weeks.

"I will be talking about that this month," Schwarzenegger told newspaper columnist Daniel Weintraub, who was guest-hosting on Sacramento radio station KTKZ. "But as you know, I'm a man that always goes and stays all the way through until we get done, so I'm looking forward to working for the people."

snip
Recent speculation has been that the governor might make his announcement around the time of the California Republican Party's convention in mid-September. Before then, he is expected to hit the campaign trail in support of his initiatives for the Nov. 8 special election - an election that many Democrats and unions consider a Schwarzenegger power grab.

"What's the drama? Either he's going to run or he's not," said Gale Kaufman, campaign consultant for the union-backed Alliance for a Better California, which opposes Schwarzenegger's initiatives. "Right now, I'd rather he act like a governor for awhile, doing important things."
"She added, "We like running against people with a popularity of 34 percent."

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/nation/12548469.htm

[Melissa G]

4. Inspector general finds fault with education PR contracts

Inspector general finds fault with education PR contracts

By Greg Toppo,USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — One Sunday last October, readers of The Dallas Morning News opened their newspapers to an angry op-ed penned by Marcela Garcini, a self-described "ninja parent" who took the Dallas school system to task for dragging its heels on No Child Left Behind, saying it was "limiting the future and opportunities for our children."
"I am tired of hearing excuses about the lack of funding for schools, particularly under No Child Left Behind," she said.

snip

Appearing 23 days before the Nov. 2 election, her piece read like an ad for President Bush's 2002 education reform law, a cornerstone of his domestic policy. But what readers never knew was that, for all practical purposes, it was an ad — paid for, in part, by taxpayers, through a grant from the Bush administration.

In 2003 and 2004, Garcini's nonprofit group, the Hispanic Council for Reform and Education Options (CREO), received two unsolicited grants, totaling $900,000, from the U.S. Education Department, to promote school choice and tutoring options for Hispanic children. But in two op-eds in the Morning News and a third that appeared in two Spanish-language publications earlier in 2004, Garcini never disclosed, as was required by law, that CREO had received the government grants.

Federal investigators probing the department's public relations contracts this week say the department has given nearly $4.7 million to groups including Garcini's to promote administration education priorities since 2002, but that in 10 of 11 cases examined, the groups didn't disclose — in print, on radio or in other media, such as brochures or handbooks — that taxpayer funds were used.

snip
Since USA TODAY in January first reported on the Williams deal, several other agencies have admitted that freelance commentators wrote op-ed columns that promoted Bush administration policies on marriage and the environment without noting that they'd received government funds either to write the pieces or to support their interest groups.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-09-02-educationcontracts_x.htm

[FogerRox]

5. recommended--- I suggest you all do the same---

N O W

[Melissa G]

6. Dollar Has Biggest Weekly Drop Since November

Dollar Has Biggest Weekly Drop Since November on Fed Rate View

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar had its largest weekly decline since November against the euro on speculation the Federal Reserve will pause in its campaign of interest rate increases.

Destruction from Hurricane Katrina, surging oil prices and signs of slowing economic growth led traders to bet the Fed will raise its benchmark rate only one more time this year. The U.S. currency's 8.2 percent advance against the euro this year was partly driven by a widening rate advantage over Europe.

``If you look at interest rate differentials versus a lot of the key economies, they're no longer moving in the dollar's favor,'' said Daniel Katzive, a currency strategist in Stamford, Connecticut at UBS Securities LLC. ``I don't think the dollar will have an easy time recovering.''

snip
Lehman Brothers Inc. and Bear Stearns & Co. economists reduced their forecasts for third-quarter economic growth, citing damage from Katrina. Lehman cut its prediction to 3.8 percent from 4.1 percent and Bear Stearns lowered its forecast to 3.5 percent from 4.5 percent.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000101&sid=aURyaQYiTahY&refer=japan

[Melissa G]

7. A national disgrace (Joe Scarborough)

A national disgrace (Joe Scarborough)


BILOXI, Mississippi — New Orleans is the city that America has seemingly forgotten and its politicians have let down in its greatest hour of need. And here in Biloxi, a place where, when we traveled around, we couldn't find enough federal agents, enough state agents, enough emergency personnel around to even begin to take care of those young children and elderly adults that are still without food, still without water, still without the most basic of necessities.

snip
Those storms started hitting on Sunday, and yet, four full days later, still, we just aren't seeing emergency relief agents on the ground, in the neighborhoods that have been affected the most. There's video that we have been taking all throughout the day of people that simply aren't getting water. They are not getting food. They are not getting the basic necessities. It's a disgrace here. But if you think it's a disgrace here, the situation in New Orleans is beyond description. The Associated Press reported yesterday, “storm victims raped and beaten inside the convention center; 88 officers also beaten back by angry mobs.”

The scene in New Orleans keeps getting more apocalyptic by the day, and many Americans on both political sides of the American scene are wondering where Washington politicians and where Louisiana politicians are.

snip
As a former Congressman, I understand how difficult some of these situations are. But don't you believe in the coming days that this storm caught people by surprise. We knew in Pensacola, Florida, that this was going to be a killer storm. It was going to be a Category 4. We were saying on Friday, it would be a historic storm.
So, any politician in Louisiana, Alabama, or Mississippi that tells you they were surprised, they don't deserve your trust or your vote next time.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6330851/

[Melissa G]

8. Highlights of 2005 legislative session

Posted on Fri, Sep. 02, 2005


Highlights of 2005 legislative session

Associated Press


RALEIGH, N.C. - A look back on the leading issues heading into the 2005 session, and how they turned out:

LEADERS: House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, reached another power-sharing agreement with Rep. Richard Morgan, R-Moore, the co-speaker with Black during the 2003-04 session. But Morgan had a more low-key role this year as speaker pro tempore and largely stayed out of public policy debates. With Morgan out of the spotlight, House Republicans appeared more united and voted as a bloc on most tax issues. In the Senate, leader Marc Basnight, D-Dare, had his own struggles with the liberal wing of his caucus, several of whom pushed for a higher cigarette tax and opposed the lottery.

snip
TROPICAL STORMS: In the first major piece of legislation this session, the Legislature approved a $247.5 million relief package after last fall's tropical storms hit hard in western North Carolina. The amount was higher than originally sought by the Easley administration.

snip
VOTING MACHINES: Legislative leaders ultimately approved a bill that would permit only three types of voting methods in North Carolina - electronic machines, optical scan machines and paper ballots. The law also laid out how government grants would be disbursed to counties for machine upgrades. The reforms passed after a voting machine malfunctioned and lost more than 4,000 votes in Carteret County, throwing the outcome of the agriculture commissioner's race into doubt.

ELECTION: For the first time since 1835, the General Assembly decided a race for statewide office. The Legislature intervened in the unresolved election for superintendent of public instruction after Republican Bill Fletcher challenged thousands of provisional ballots in his race with Democrat June Atkinson. The Legislature met in a joint session in August and chose Atkinson.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/12547467.htm

[Melissa G]

9. Next election to have new equipment, higher price tag

Next election to have new equipment, higher price tag

By Dennis W. Sowers Of The Press Staff
Jasper County superintendents received a surprise in the mail yesterday and today.

County Clerk Ronald Mosbaugh informed school districts that the cost of voting was going up substantially.

"You can figure on paying 20 percent more next year for your part of the election," Mosbaugh said in his letter. "Hopefully, this will help you in preparing your budget for next year."

snip
Coincidentally, election equipment costs also have followed an escalating pattern. New optical scanners -- taking the place of punch cards -- cost a total of $252,000 for 50 scanners or $5,250 each.

The county paid $31,313.50 of the total with a Help America Vote Act grant accounting for $219,072.48 of the cost and election services paying $1,614.02.

In the process, Mosbaugh also reduced the number of county polling places from 64 to 48.
"I did that so we don't have to buy as many optical scanners," Mosbaugh said. "We won't have as many judges either."
http://www.carthagepress.com/articles/2005/09/02/news/news1.txt

[Melissa G]

10. County Will Seek Instant Runoff Voting Machines

Berkeley Daily Planet
Edition Date: Friday, September 2, 2005

County Will Seek Instant Runoff Voting Machines By RICHARD BRENNEMAN


Alameda County Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to call for proposals from voting machine vendors who can provide both a verifiable paper trail and the capacity for instant runoff voting (IRV).
Berkeley City Councilmember Kris Worthington, who attended the meeting, hailed the vote as a small but significant step forward.

“If nothing else, the proposals will give us proposals with specific costs,” he said.

The county currently uses equipment and software from Diebold Election Systems Inc., the firm Democratic Party activists love to hate.

Critics have charged that Diebold machines were manipulated to give inflated vote totals for George W. Bush in the last presidential election, and hackers have pointed to vulnerabilities in the company’s software.

But the firm’s biggest problem came in June, when the California secretary of state’s office reported that of 96 of Diebold’s machines with paper audit capability, 19 had failed when tested by the state.

http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=09-02-05&storyID=22219

[Melissa G]

11. Hart to get more elections money

Hart to get more elections money
County OKs contract to print Nov. ballots

By Brad Turner
The Daily Times-Call

BOULDER — The manufacturer that built Boulder County’s maligned ballot-counting machines for the 2004 presidential election has won the contract to print the county’s November mail ballots, even though another company submitted a lower bid.

Austin, Texas-based Hart InterCivic will snag between $159,800 and $183,600 for printing approximately 190,000 ballots, depending on the size of individual ballots, according to a contract unanimously approved Thursday by county commissioners.

K&H Integrated Print Solutions of Everett, Wash., offered to print the ballots for between $99,000 and $124,000 but would not offer a sample ballot for review, elections coordinator Josh Liss said.

snip

The 2004 election was rockier. Printing errors on ballots by contractor Eagle Direct caused Hart machines to reject thousands of ballots and led to a 68-hour tally. In response, the commissioners appointed a nine-member panel to determine what factors contributed to the Election Week mess.

http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=3451

[Melissa G]

12. Two cities chosen as electric-vote test sites

Two cities chosen as electric-vote test sites
By Glen Warchol
The Salt Lake Tribune


Election officials who gathered at the Capitol on Thursday from every county in Utah for training on new electronic voting took a break to hear Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert's selection of cities to test the high-tech ballot boxes.
Farmington and Brigham City will serve as test sites during their municipal elections in October and November, Herbert said, because voting in the two cities is concentrated in a small number of polling places.
snip
Meanwhile, contention over the transition from Utah's punch cards to electronic machines, built by Diebold Elections Systems, continued to swirl.
All but five counties -Salt Lake, Emery, Summit, Grand and Weber - have signed agreements with the state to use the Diebold system. The state has a $27 million contract for 7,500 Diebold machines. But counties are free to choose their own balloting system, as long as it complies with federal mandate.
snip
Kathy Dopp, founder of Utah Count Votes, said county officials have been misinformed on parts of the Diebold decision, including

that they have to go along with the state's decision. "They were told they could not keep the punch cards."
Dopp hopes to gather activists Tuesday to sway the Salt Lake County Council at its meeting.

http://sltrib.com/utah/ci_2994830

[Melissa G]

13. Utah debuts new voting machines

Utah debuts new voting machines

Paul Foy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


SALT LAKE CITY -- Farmington and Brigham City will be the first Utah cities to use touch-screen voting machines in November municipal elections.

The machines will be in statewide use next year, when Utah plans to buy one for every 174 voters at $3,200 apiece using federal and state funds.


snip
Adams, among county clerks being trained in using Diebold Elections Systems machines on Thursday, downplayed the problem California found with the machines. In California's test, officials said one screen repeatedly froze up and the printers on other machines jammed too often.

snip


Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen is worried about the potential for errors if clerks have to do a manual recount using Diebold's paper receipts.

http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=63477