Fritakis: Shocking Diebold Conflict Of Interest Revelations

[MelissaB]

Shocking Diebold Conflict Of Interest Revelations

Sunday, 9 April 2006, 10:50 pm
Opinion: Bob Fitrakis

Shocking Diebold Conflict Of Interest Revelations From Secretary Of State Further Taint Ohio's Electoral Credibility

by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
April 6, 2006
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2006/1909

Ohio is reeling with a mixture of outrage and hilarity as Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell has revealed that he has owned stock in the Diebold voting machine company, to which Blackwell tried to award unbid contracts worth millions while allowing its operators to steal Ohio elections. A top Republican election official also says a Diebold operative told him he made a $50,000 donation to Blackwell's "political interests."

A veritable army of attorneys on all sides of Ohio's political spectrum will soon report whether Blackwell has violated the law. But in any event, the revelations could have a huge impact on the state whose dubiously counted electoral votes gave George W. Bush a second term. Diebold's GEMS election software was used in about half of Ohio counties in the 2004 election. Because of Blackwell's effort, 41 counties used Diebold machines in Ohio's highly dubious 2005 election, and now 47 counties will use Diebold touchscreen voting machines in the May 2006 primary, and in the fall election that will decide who will be the state's new governor.

...snip

In recent months, Blackwell has ordered all 88 county boards of elections to send into his office the memory cards that will be used in the primary election, in which Blackwell expects to win the gubernatorial race. There is no effective statewide monitoring system to protect those cards from being rigged.

...snip

An eyewitness ally of Blackwell told a small gathering of Bush supporters, with a Free Press reporter present, that Blackwell was in a frenzy on Election Day, writing percentages and vote totals on maps of rural Republican counties, attempting to figure out how many votes, real or manufactured, Bush would need to overcome the exit poll results in Cleveland and Columbus.


More: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00089.htm

[acmavm]

1. And the people of Ohio don't mind being disenfranchised apparently.

This guy's ahead in his race for governor I understand. (Please tell me I'm wrong. But this is what I gather from some articles I've read.)

[Amaryllis]

2. How can he get away with this? Hopefully all his opponents will

got to the press with this: "In recent months, Blackwell has ordered all 88 county boards of elections to send into his office the memory cards that will be used in the primary election, in which Blackwell expects to win the gubernatorial race. There is no effective statewide monitoring system to protect those cards from being rigged."