Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News February 7, ,2006

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The Help America Vote Act symbol – perfect!
Getting Texas Republicans elected in Texas and
All over the country.

“HAVA, a bad solution for the wrong problem.”

Michael Collins



…and this is the official who would ultimately
Investigate Federal election fraud. I think not.

Never forget the pursuit of Truth.
Only the deluded & complicit accept
election results on blind faith.

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News February 7, ,2006

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:

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All previous daily threads are available here:
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Please

"Recommend"

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

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1. Help America Vote Act: “HAVA…. a bad solution for the wrong problem”

HAVA was enacted in 2002. Its purpose was to “fix” the system to avoid any Florida 2000 repeats. What were the problems in Florida 2000? 1) The Supreme Court sElected the president. 2) Around 50 black Floridians were excluded from voting through registration database purges done by Patricia Harris’ shop. 3) Black voters were disenfranchised. And oh, 4) Punch card machines in South Florida were dirty and marginally functional in many cases creating “hanging chads” and other “spoilage” on ballots. HAVA sought to solve problem number four while ignoring the first three. What a deal! It’s been a rough ride. Billions for states to buy touch screen and other voting equipment from Republican voting machine companies. HAVA was such a priority that in 2004, the State of Louisiana was denied $24 million in levee maintenance funds by the Federal government while it received $26 million in HAVA funds for voting machines. HAVA is one of the great swindles of all time, it’s one of the great election leverage (as in Republican leverage) systems of all time, it’s a pathetic joke that needs to be repealed immediately.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Help America Vote Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_America_Vote_Act

The Help America Vote Act Public Law 107-252 (HAVA) is a federal election statute in the United States, passed on October 29, 2002. Under HAVA, a new federal voter registration form was created, which has simplified as well as complicated the registration process. HAVA also guarantees the ability of individuals to cast a provisional ballot and have the validity of their registration checked later if they do not appear on voter registration rolls.

HAVA was drafted (at least in part) in reaction to the dimpled ballots fiasco that accompanied the 2000 U.S. presidential election. Some have questioned its usefulness as it is understood to mandate electronic voting systems; automated systems were the cause of some of the problems at the last election. Others are concerned about the opportunities for vote tampering associated with the fluidity of electronic data.

With the new act, states now have powers that were originally distributed to counties. With this centralization of power comes the new federally mandated computerization of voter rolls. This is particularly troubling to critics of the voter roll cleansing that took place in the Florida election in 2000.

The Country will have to convince the 50 different states in order to allow electronic-voting to succeed. The problem comes when some states decide to vote differently. In the USA there are no uniform set of standards for voting, so in the end, voting still remains a problem because in order to succeed, the Country will have to convince the 50 different states in order to allow electronic-voting to happen.


Criticisms

Critics of the bill state it is little more than an effort to help large electronic voting systems vendors such as Diebold Election Systems, Election Systems & Software, and Sequoia Election Systems make millions of dollars throughout the country in selling electronic voting devices encouraged by HAVA. <1><2>

The bill has also been come under fire for the fact that the majority of the billions of dollars allocated to the states for HAVA has been for increased access for disabled voters, while the main goal of HAVA, an avoidance of a recurrence of the election malfeasance in 2000, has been largely ignored. <3><4>

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2. Electronic Frontier Foundation: A Voice of Sanity in the HAVA Nightmare.

E-VOTING
http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/

The 2004 presidential has come and gone. What did we learn? Among other things, that despite the assertions of vendors and election officials to the contrary, electronic voting remains a fundamentally closed and hidden process that introduces an unacceptable risk of error and manipulation. The November election saw a variety of serious e-voting problems emerge across the country, across a range of platforms that underscored the need for more transparent procedures and the introduction of true verifiability.

In New Orleans, for example, several Sequoia e-voting machines broke down on Election Day, prompting long lines, confused voters, and litigation. In Ohio, a Danaher electronic voting machine inexplicably added 4,000 votes for George Bush. In North Carolina, more than 4,500 votes were irretrievably lost due to a storage problem with the system provided by Unilect. And across the country, reports emerged of systems incorrectly recording their votes.


Approximately one-third of the votes cast in November were cast on electronic voting machines. Most of these machines use "black box" software that hasn't been publicly reviewed for security. Almost none provide voter-verifiable paper ballots to permit voters to ensure that their votes are being recorded as intended. Most election workers remain woefully under-trained regarding potential e-voting problems. Vendor technicians frequently have unsupervised access to voting equipment. Local election officials routinely deny attempts to examine e-voting audit data.

[mirandapriestly]

12. "New Machines Await 4 in 5 Voters"- not good.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060207/ap_on_re_us/voting_machines


(This is very upsetting. I thought things were getting better not worse. They just keep right on going! It is being framed as "new technology". This showed up online around midnight last night._

Study: New Machines Await 4 in 5 Voters By ROBERT TANNER, AP National Writer
Mon Feb 6, 7:25 PM ET

Fewer voters will cast their ballots by punching a card or pulling a lever in this November's elections as the country continues to turn to newer, electronic machines, according to a study released Monday.


While the study says old systems that were prone to error are on their way out, experts also note that means many Americans will be voting on unfamiliar equipment this fall.

At least four out of five registered voters will use the newer generation of machines — either ATM-style touchscreen machines or ones that ask voters to fill in the blanks, a vast change from the contested 2000 presidential election that spurred states and Congress to push for improved equipment.

Back in 2000, just over half the voters had access to the latest technology.

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15. Correction: "Around 50 black Floridians " shoudl read "50,000 black Flo."

My error. The 50,000 disenfranchised voters would have made the difference with only 50% voting!

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3. NC: County Commissioners Chose DRE’s, Veto Election Board’s Optical Scans

Well this is interesting. The NC situation has been complicated since Diebold fled when required to produce source code. This county Board of Elections chose ESS optical scan equipment, with a real paper trail. The Board of Commissioners just ignored that and opted to keep MircoVote, even though those touch screen machines produce no paper trail. It’s all about HAVA and the forced deadline plus, in this case, a politicized county board.

County Commissioners Opt for Touch Screens after Board of Elections Says Optical Scan.

http://www.sanfordherald.com/articles/2006/02/06/news/news03.txt
By JUSTIN STORY

SANFORD - The Lee County Board of Commissioners are scheduled at Monday's meeting to once again tackle the voting machine issue that will not seem to die.

Last month, it seemed that the county was on its way to purchasing new optical-scan voting machines to replace 112 electronic machines made by MicroVote that were decertified last year by the state board of elections, voting unanimously in a special meeting to buy 14 of the new machines from Election Systems and Services (ES&S).

Lee County Board of Elections Chairwoman Susan Feindel found a state law days later that showed the commissioners should not have approved the purchase, because the county board of elections had recommended the purchase of Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machines.

The state general statute says that a county board can vote for or against the recommendation of a county elections board on a voting machine purchase.

In this case, the commissioners did not officially consider the election board's recommendation, instead opting to purchase a different type of voting equipment ES&S is also offering.

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4. CA: Marin & Alameda Counties – Conundrum on Handicapped Accommodations

State and HAVA Federal Law collide in a bizarre way in this situation. Marin County wants disabled friendly machines under a Federal requirement but doesn’t have the time to turn around a bid process. They want the HAVA deadline extended. Alameda, on the other hand, (that’s Berkeley and Oakland, its big), has disabled friendly machines but they’re Diebold touch screens and the state decertified them. This reflects the absurdity of HAVA, a bad solution to the wrong problem.



Last Updated: 2/05/2006 07:18 AM

Accessible voting has limitations

http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_3478999
Keri Brenner
Marin Independent Journal
A top Marin elections official says he will lobby to delay a federal deadline for installing disabled access voting machines because California has no state-certified systems.

"We have tried county registrars statewide, asking about this, but nothing has happened," said Michael Smith, Marin's registrar of voters. "We're in a Catch-22 situation, where the legislation has literally gotten ahead of the technology."

Under the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, each polling place in the nation is required to have at least one certified disabled access voting machine installed by the spring primary elections - June 6 in California's case. That would have meant starting the bidding, negotiation and contract process by Jan. 1 at the latest, Smith said.

"We need to have our federal representatives extend the É deadline," he added. "We're not alone."

The lack of certified disabled access machines is only one of several instances of election equipment deadlines affecting counties throughout California. State elections laws also call for each county to have a "paper trail" record of its elections by this year.

(Ironically, Alameda County has disabled voter accommodations with their Diebold touch screens but lacks the state certification because Diebold is de-certified in California for numerous problems.)

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5. NYC: Asian-American Association Sues City over Voting Rights Violations

The Voting Rights Act calls for accommodations on language barriers. NYC under Bloomberg has not accommodated this need. This is a traditional voting rights law suit. It’s ridiculous that NYC is subject to this. One wonders if this is intentional on the part of the NYC elections officials.

AALDEF Files Voting Rights Act Lawsuit Against NYC Board of Elections, Cites Violations of VRA Language Assistance Provisions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060206/pl_usnw/aaldef_files_voting_rights_act_lawsuit_against_nyc_board_of_elections__citesviolations_of_vra_language_assistance_provisions206

Mon Feb 6, 3:22 PM ET

To: National Desk

Contact: Shirley Lin of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, 212-966-5932 ext. 213 or [e-mail]

NEW YORK, Feb. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In federal court today, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), along with pro bono co-counsel Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, filed a lawsuit against the New York City Board of Elections for violations of the Language Assistance Provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act.

The suit was filed on behalf of four organizations-the Chinatown Voter Education Alliance, Young Korean American Service and Education Center, Inc. (YKASEC), Korean American Voters' Council, and Chinese American Voters Association-and five limited English proficient Asian American voters.

Said AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung, "The New York City Board of Elections must stop ignoring its obligations to provide effective language assistance to Asian American voters who are not fully proficient in English. For over a decade, the Board's erratic attempts at compliance with the Voting Rights Act have disenfranchised too many Asian American voters."

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6. WI: Native American election, fraud claimed. Winner says if so, new vote

Well, here’s a model for all of us. A Native American claimed he was denied his right to vote. The winner said, if there was fraud involved, there should be a new election. Republicans, please pay attention.

Election fraud probe gains support

http://www.shawanoleader.com/articles/2006/02/06/news/news1.txt
By Kent Tempus, Leader editor

Joe Peters didn’t plan on voting in the Menominee Tribal final election last month, but his brother convinced him that his vote would make a difference.

Turns out, he didn’t get to vote.

“They said I voted already,” said Peters, one of an undetermined number of people who reportedly went to the polls but found out absentee ballots had been cast by someone else who signed their name.

Peters is one of four plaintiffs seeking to have the results of both the primary election and final election thrown out, alleging that fraudulently cast absentee ballots affected the outcome. The others are candidates who lost in either the final and primary elections this year.

A review of the absentee ballots now underway has the support of Regina Washinawatok, the top vote-getter in the final election Jan. 18-19. Washinawatok said if the allegations turn out to be true and affected the results, there should

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7. Haiti: New Vote Raises Questions of “Corralling.”

Rumor, well actually, investigative reporting has it that the USA and Canada sat down and decided to toss President Aristide as leader of Haiti and replace him with a “democracy guy!” (DG). The DG was to really help the people…help Oh Canada and the USA. They made a big deal about election fraud and Aristide’s election. Powell was on point here. He’s the same Powell who said “exit polls” were great when it allowed us to change the Ukraine’s pro-Russian government. Well, here are the fruits of his labor. New elections are coming and guess what? The Republican State Department is rokken. They’ve set up voting centers, national voter ID’s. It’s supposed to be honest. Aristide is running again. If he wins, watch the Republicans claim vote fraud. Of course, they’ve created it since they’re running the election. Wonderful! Making friends acrossthe globe through “democracy” projects to help get us “democracy guys,” friendly and compliant leaders who think we’re the best.



<snip>

REDUCING VOTER FRAUD
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/haiti/13795066.htm?source=rss&channel=miamiherald_haiti

But the U.S.-backed interim government of Prime Minister Gérard Latortue and foreign election advisors have faced serious obstacles preparing for the elections, delayed four times since October. Just more than 3.5 million people are registered to vote on Tuesday -- compared to more than four million in 2000.



U.N. advisors and Haitian electoral officials say that while they may not have quite the quantity of voters as in the past, the level of fraud will be sharply reduced.

''This election has to be like a lighthouse for the future of the country,'' said Rosemond Pradel, secretary general of the Electoral Council. ``Most of the past elections have been fraudulent. That is why the economy and society is in shambles today. This needs to be a new starting point.''

<snip>

''I never thought this feeling we have now, that the election will take place and people want to vote, would come to pass,'' said Claude Parent, secretary general of the Canadian-funded International Mission of Evaluation of Elections in Haiti, the largest group of international electoral observers.

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8. Haiti: Ah, but there's more....Dudley Dooright is on his way!

Haiti: Ah, but there's more....Dudley Dooright is on his way!
So it took me about 15 minutes to find this. I’d posted a Democracy Now article, reported here, on the subject of Canadian complicity in the overthrow of Aristide. This is another example of how election fraud charges are used to oust elected officials overseas. Can there be any doubt that election fraud techniques, administered by the same puppet masters, will be used to install the “foreign favorite," referred to in the future as "democracy guy." Canada and the OAS were responsible for the lies four years ago which resulted in Aristide leaving. Now they're at it again. Makes you confident we'll get the "right" outcome.
Canada in Haiti
Who Engineered the Overthrow of Democracy?
http://dominionpaper.ca/features/2004/08/25/canada_in_.html

By Anthony Fenton

Around 2,500 Haitians demonstrate for the return of Aristide in Cap Haitien on August 14. Canada’s role, Fenton writes, may have gone well beyond diplomatic complicity. During the US-Canadian-Franco occupation, thousands of pro-Aristide activists have been jailed or murdered. photo: Haiti Information Project


In May 2000, Haiti held an election. The Organization of American States (OAS) initially declared the procedure "free and fair", but reversed course suddenly a few months later, reporting the election as having been "deeply flawed". Why the change?

<snip>

Canada made itself complicit in disinformation about the Haitian elections circulated by the OAS, hosted meetings to plot the overthrow of a democratically elected government, illegally occupied the country, and knowingly participated or was complicit in the murder of Haitians opposed to the coup. For months, Martin's Liberal government ignored Aristide's requests for "a few dozen" peacekeepers. On the day he was escorted out of office by US troops, however, Canada had 500 soldiers available to occupy the country and enforce his departure.

[MelissaB]

9. ***From Democracy For America: Demand real voting reform ***

Dear Melissa,


The survival of our democracy demands that every vote be counted accurately. That's why Democracy for America members around the country are working with Congress and other organizations every day to ensure the integrity of your vote. We have made some progress. But this is crunch time. The mid-term elections are just eight months away. We must act now to ensure that our voting systems produce accurate and verifiable results every single time.

Unfortunately, the Republican leadership in Congress has resisted every call for real reform. Well, we can't wait any longer for Washington to act. The way to protect our elections is to go right to the source by reaching out to town and county election officials. In most areas, these officials have the power to ensure fair and accurate voting systems even if our federal government won't act.

Today, we call on our county election officials to demonstrate that their systems use paper-ballots that allow a) voters to verify their choices; and b) officials to conduct meaningful audits and recounts. Add your name to the call for accountability:

http://democracyforamerica.com/voting

Paper-ballot voting is the gold standard because it is the only way to ensure an auditable paper trail. Both the non-partisan Government Accountability Office and the bi-partisan Carter/Baker Commission have resoundingly condemned touchscreen electronic voting systems as lacking even the most basic security and reliability. In one test after another, electronic voting systems are failing at rates of 30% or higher.

It's time to let our local election officials hear from us. We can use the grassroots network we've built to bring real voting reform to our country. And we'll do it our way: from the bottom up, one county at a time.

Sign the call for accountability:

http://democracyforamerica.com/voting

After you sign the petition, Democracy for America staff will work with you and thousands of others around the country to make sure your voice is heard by delivering your signature to your local election officials.

Casting a vote is the most fundamental action we take as citizens. But unless we act now, that fundamental right may be undermined by failing technology, and unaccountable election officials. It is our responsibility to ensure that -- in 2006 -- every vote is counted accurately.

Sincerely,

Tom Hughes
Executive Director
Democracy for America

Our coalition on this campaign includes:

- Mainstream Moms: http://www.themmob.org/
- VoteTrust: http://www.votetrustusa.org/
- Verified Voting: http://www.verifiedvoting.org/

bolding mine

Discussion here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x412134

[MelissaB]

10. Also in GD

here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x344038

[Angry Girl]

11. Recommended. But how do I do so with a straight face anymore?

That disgusting excuse of a human being, Alberto Gonzalez, blatantly lying and avoiding answers and the Grand Old Posse voting to have him NOT take an oath?????

What kind of trumped up hearings are these? The minute he wasn't going to take oath, EVERY person who gave a damn about the Constitution should have stood up and WALKED OUT! But what does the so-called opposition party do? NOTHING!

In the meantime, the so-called Justice Department rules that the redistricting of Texas was legal. Diebold and ESS are still counting all the votes. Crispin Miller is getting censored. Rove is a free man. Whistleblowers are going to jail or worse. Journalists are getting killed for disseminating information. The Internet is under siege. New Orleans has effectively been purged. And hundreds of thousands are still dead and many multitudes more will be murdered if the Bushies have their way.

It's all a sham and I'm tired of pretending it's not. What recourse do we have? We can't even speak freely anymore without ending up in jail. This is no longer America: It's Amerika.

Our leaders are nothing but fascists in democrat clothing.

[liam_laddie]

13. Kicked & Recommended!!

BTW, I submit that HAVA stands for "Hinder American Voters Always"

[Algorem]

14. OH-Blackwell and primary opponent trying to out Bible-thump each other

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_openers/archives/2006_02.html#110947

Bible thumping

...During a presentation to party leaders from Southern Ohio, Padgett recommended that everyone read Tom Friedman's "The World is Flat” for its insights on the world economy in the 21st century.

When it was Blackwell's turn to speak, he threw the Good Book at her.

“The only book I live by is the Bible, and that’s where I get my principles,” Blackwell said.

Padgett, who teaches Sunday school, was incensed. She dispatched her husband to the parking lot to get her copy of the Bible on CD, which she then waved before the audience...