ERD for May 5th, 2006- "The Ohio Primary MELTDOWN

[FogerRox]

Ohio meltdown 2006

Welcome, our good friend Mr. Blackwell, he has truly screwed the pooch again. The way this guys run an election, he could get himself elected Governor . . . .

Governor Blackwell, DAMN, say it aint so............

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




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=203x397093

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

for MAC users-- IIRC its hold down control- and click on the image to view its source.

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1. Blackwell grabs Gov nod while (SU prise! SU prise!) voting problems

Ken Blackwell


Ohio 2004 election thief grabs Gov nod while (surprise! surprise!) voting machines malfunction
by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
May 5, 2006

Ohio's Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell has grabbed the GOP nomination for governor in a vote count riddled with machine breakdowns. In Franklin and Delaware Counties, election officials had to "shut down and recalibrate throughout the day," according to the Columbus Dispatch. Election officials use recalibration as a code word when machines are malfunctioning including the recording of votes for wrong candidates.

Blackwell became infamous in 2004 for his role in swinging the Buckeye State, and the presidency, to George W. Bush, with whom he met with on Election Day in Columbus. Karl Rove also accompanied Bush on his visit to Columbus. Exit polls showed a clear victory for John Kerry until a massive mysterious late vote surge reversed the popular vote for Bush. The state was later the target of the first Congressional challenge to an electoral delegation in US history.

Blackwell is the first African-American nominated by a major party for the Ohio governorship. The nod is widely considered a pay-back for his role in stealing the 2004 election, just as Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris was handed a safe Congressional seat after handing the state to Bush in 2000. Harris is currently a US representative is now a candidate for the US Senate. Both Harris and Blackwell simultaneously oversaw their state's vote count while serving as co-chairs of the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Blackwell has courted the extreme right wing fundamentalist church network in Ohio. He now advocates an absolute ban on abortion, even in the case of rape or endangerment of the mother. His Democratic opponent, Congressman Ted Strickland, is the first ever Methodist Minister nominated for Ohio governor. Blackwell's campaign has deliberately flown under the radar. He has refused to disclose his public schedule as he nurtures a network of far right wing theocrats with unannounced church and Christian school appearances.

more


http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2006/1953

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2. Cleveland Polling Problem Delays Ohio Election Results

Ken Blackwell




Cleveland Polling Problem Delays Ohio Election Results

CLEVELAND -- Tuesday's elections results in statewide races are delayed until at least 9:30 p.m.

"Due to a Federal Court decision to keep the polls in Cuyahoga County open until 9 p.m., the Franklin County Board of Elections is prohibited from posting results until 9:30 p.m.," read a statement from the Franklin County Board of Elections.

A judge ordered a polling site that didn't open on time to stay open late. Some electronic voting machines made printing errors, among other glitches reported in Tuesday's primary election, the state's first without punch cards.

All 88 Ohio counties were using either touch-screen electronic machines or ones that electronically scan voter-marked ballots.

more-

http://www.nbc4i.com/politics/9150075/detail.html

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3. Ohio's election problems linger

Ken Blackwell





Ohio's election problems linger
Associated Press
Originally published May 5, 2006
CLEVELAND //


The state's largest county counted ballots and searched for lost voting-machine memory cards yesterday, ..................Memory cards holding votes from 20 polling places were still missing in Cleveland's Cuyahoga County. Election workers continued painstaking hand counts of more than 17,000 paper ballots that could not be read by new optical-scan machines.

Officials predicted the counting could go into the weekend.

Touch-screen and optical-scan equipment was used statewide for the first time in Tuesday's primary, when only 13 percent of voters went to the polls. Millions more voters are expected to cast ballots electronically in November.

"What would have happened if we had a real election?" said Chris Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio,...........Election officials blamed voting-machine manufacturer Diebold Inc. for not conducting tests on the optical-scan devices.............. disorder at polls across the state, including workers who were unable to set up the new voting machines and others who turned away voters .......... problems occurred in Cuyahoga County, where one in five election workers did not show up at the polls. Others reported hours late, ............. memory cards holding votes from 74 locations were missing. About 20 of the cards were found still loaded in machines, but officials continued searching yesterday for others. If they are not found, votes will be tabulated by reading the paper backups.


More-

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.ohio05may05,0,4263496.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

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4. OHIO: Counting the votes continues

Ken Blackwell




By Connie Mabin
Associated Press


CLEVELAND - The state's largest county continued counting - and searching for - votes two days after the primary election, Ohio's first without punch-card ballots.

Vote-holding memory cards from 20 polling locations were still missing Thursday in Cleveland's Cuyahoga County. Board of election workers continued painstaking hand counts of more than 17,000 paper ballots that could not be read by new optical scan machines. Officials predicted the count could go into the weekend.

Election officials blame machines manufacturer Diebold Inc. for not doing tests early enough to fix any problems with the optical scan counters. Diebold said the issue appears to be the fault of the county, which used a new company to print ballots that didn't have the proper layout to be read electronically.

more-

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/NEWS01/605050351

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5. CLevland Ohio: We still don't have all of the winners

Ken Blackwell



Friday, May 05, 2006
Tuesday's primary election - the first in Cuyahoga County with electronic voting machines - remains a mystery.

People in school districts with taxes on the ballot still don't know if their tax bills will rise. Candidates hoping to be in the general election in November don't know whether to start buying campaign buttons and bumper stickers.

Here's where things stand.

Ken Blackwell launches an investigation:

The Ohio secretary of state will send a team to Cuyahoga County to investigate how things went so wrong. "The job will be to find out where the breakdown occurred," said spokesman James Lee. "We are going to need some answers." Speaking in Westlake, Blackwell called the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections performance disappointing. His aides slammed the county for failing to test some election machines more than a few days before the election.

Elections workers finally track down most missing memory cards:

Elections chief Michael Vu said all but five memory cards - which record votes in electronic voting machines - have been accounted for, although not all votes on them have been tabulated. Elections workers realized Wednesday that 70 cards were missing. Workers inadvertently left some in the machines, and others were in storage bags at the board's offices.

more-

http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/114681846627890.xml&coll=2

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6. Ohio's Largest County Still Counting Votes

Ken Blackwell

Ohio's Largest County Still Counting Votes


By CONNIE MABIN Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

CLEVELAND — The state's largest county counted ballots and searched for lost voting-machine memory cards Thursday, two days after widespread voting problems blemished Ohio's first election without punch-card ballots.

Memory cards holding votes from 20 polling places were still missing in Cleveland's Cuyahoga County, while election workers continued painstaking hand counts of more than 17,000 paper ballots that could not be read by new optical-scan machines.

Officials predicted the counting could stretch into the weekend.

Touch-screen and optical-scan equipment was used statewide for the first time in Tuesday's primary, when only 13 percent of voters went to the polls. Millions more voters are expected to cast ballots electronically in November.


more-

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3841783.html

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7. Diebold and Ohio: Nothing Ever Changes

Ken Blackwell



Diebold and Ohio: Nothing Ever Changes
While Ohio faces continued problems with their voting machines, one thing is becoming readily apparant: One man, one vote is no longer considered the standard. The AP is reporting a host of new problems with Ohio’s voting system after Tuesday’s primary election:

Election officials had trouble printing ballot receipts, finding lost votes and tabulating election results in Tuesday’s primary. Some election workers were late or did not show up at all in Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County, the state’s largest. Others could not figure out how to turn on the machines.

“Ohio’s quickly getting this reputation as most corrupt and maybe most incompetent,” said Chris Link, executive director of the
American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, which fielded dozens of complaints from voters.

more-

http://hammeroftruth.com/2006/05/04/diebold-and-ohio-nothing-ever-changes/

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9. OHIO: GOP's right wing flexes its muscles with primary wins

Ken Blackwell


GOP's right wing flexes its muscles with primary wins

by Eric Resnick

Energized by religious conservatives, politically active churches and intolerance bred during the 2004 Issue 1 campaign, Ohio Republicans nominated their most anti-gay slate ever in this week’s primary election.

Attacks on LGBT Ohioans and their families are expected to become more prominent as the November 7 election approaches.

All of the contested statewide GOP primary races featured anti-gay themes. In most cases, the winners were determined on the strength of each candidate’s anti-gay credentials.

The standard-bearer, gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Blackwell, denigrated and blamed LGBT people for the state’s problems so often that daily newspapers ran columns asking him to stop.

more-

http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories06/may/0505062.htm

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10. Blackwell, Taft affected more than one race

Ken Blackwell

Blackwell, Taft affected more than one race
JOHN McCARTHY
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Scandals in Gov. Bob Taft's administration played a role in more than one primary race as Republicans who tied their opponents to Taft were victorious.

Kenneth Blackwell spent the past few weeks calling Jim Petro "Taft-like" or "Taft-light," and featured the two in his advertising. Blackwell, Ohio's secretary of state, cruised to a victory Tuesday over Petro, the attorney general.

Taft became a target because of an investment scandal that led to him becoming the first Ohio governor charged with a crime while in office. He pleaded no contest last year to ethics charges of failing to report golf outings and other gifts.

With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Blackwell had 441,533 votes or 56 percent, while Petro had 346,524 or 44 percent.

more-

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/14484800.htm

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11. Opinion: The Blackwell revolution

Ken Blackwell


The Blackwell revolution

By STAR PARKER
Scripps Howard News Service
05-MAY-06

As the Republican Party flails around trying to regain its bearings, party operatives should take a close look at Ken Blackwell, who just won the Republican primary in the governor's race in Ohio.

Blackwell decisively defeated Jim Petro, Ohio's attorney general, garnering 56 percent of the vote, and now has a shot at becoming the first black Republican governor in the nation's history. Initial polling shows him trailing his Democratic opponent Congressman Ted Strickland. However, it's early in the game and Blackwell, a former Xavier University football star, is both a competitor and a winner.

Blackwell also is a man of principle and is that rare and unusual politician who is clear, upfront and uncompromising about those principles. He serves up his agenda, a combination of limited government, fiscal conservatism and traditional values, in a straightforward way that makes typical political gurus and consultants wince. But, like Ronald Reagan, Blackwell knows that Americans respond to honesty and he also knows that he is right.

Conventional wisdom is that he's too conservative. There is also concern that Ohio is in such bad shape, and that the current scandal ridden Republican governor is so unpopular, that the door is wide open for a change in party.

But, in fact, Blackwell's clear and honest conservatism is the answer to the concerns about the state's economic problems and the problems with government corruption.

more crap--

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=PARKER-05-05-06

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12. OH: America’s Battleground Has Battlegrounds of Its Own

Ken Blackwell


OH: America’s Battleground Has Battlegrounds of Its Own
By Greg Giroux | 5:57 PM; May. 04, 2006
In three of Ohio’s four statewide primaries on Tuesday night, the winner swept all 88 counties in routing little-known primary opponents. But a closer look at the county-by-county results, compiled here by CQPolitics.com (Senate | Governor), provides some early insight into the general election.

Sen. Mike DeWine, who received 71 percent of the GOP primary vote, received vote totals ranging from 59 percent of the vote in Madison County, which is just west of Columbus, to 87 percent in Lake County, which is just northeast of Cleveland.

His Democratic challenger, Rep. Sherrod Brown, won 78 percent of the Democratic vote. His high water mark was in Lorain County, his home base in the Cleveland suburbs, where he took 87 percent. Brown’s worst showing was in Paulding County, a wheat-growing area on the state’s border with Indiana, where he took 62 percent of the vote.


Predictably, Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland’s most dominant showing in the gubernatorial primary came in the southern Ohio counties that have long been a part of his political base. Strickland had a whopping 97 percent of the vote in Scioto County, which hugs the Ohio River and is one of 12 counties that is wholly or partly in his 6th District.

more-

http://www.cqpolitics.com/2006/05/oh_americas_battleground_has_b.html

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8. Grand Rapids Mich: Barry county not alone in voting problems

Barry County not alone with voting machine problems


By DAN BEWLEY

BATTLE CREEK -- In the wake of the 2000 election, a federal mandate said every state needs a uniform voting system. After Barry County's new Diebold electronic voting machines failed Tuesday, we made dozens of calls and found the 21st century technology is worrying people across the country.

In Ohio's Cuyahoga County, officials had trouble printing from Diebold's touch screen system and voters had to use paper ballots. The problem also forced workers to hand-count 17,000 absentee ballots. A Diebold spokesman said the problem was with the printer used by the county and the same system worked fine in 46 other counties across the state.

In Florida, we discovered the Leon County election supervisor was worried about security with the new Diebold system and performed a test last year. He said the result showed the memory cards could be hacked by election workers and change the results. The same Diebold spokesman told us those tests did not follow industry standards.

One of the oldest problems we found was in Alaska where the Democratic Party is still trying to get answers from the 2004 Presidential election. The statewide and district vote counts don't match up.

More-

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4862076&nav=menu44_2

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13. MA: Bonifaz lands two more endorsements: DFA Cambridge & Social Workers

...adding to prior endorsements from Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Joe Trippi, 21st Centruy Dems.....

by email

May 5, 2006

As I continue to travel around our state, it is clear that there is a hunger for a new kind of politics. It is a type of politics that is open and transparent, that is independent of big money interests, that returns voters to power and that requires pro-active leaders willing to stand up and fight for the basic principles of our democracy. With our new website, our blog is now interactive and we invite comments, questions and participation.

DFA Cambridge, Social Workers Endorse Bonifaz

This week, we are proud to announce the endorsements of both DFA Cambridge and the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

"John Bonifaz has been a steadfast supporter of progressive voting rights and electoral reform," said Shai Sachs, chair of DFA Cambridge, on the organization's web site. "He has been tireless in his advocacy for expanded access to the ballot and to the polling place."

"John's record as a political activist and organizer reflects a real commitment to creating a climate of social justice, the basis for a stronger future for Massachusetts," said Sallye Bleiberg of MA PACE, NASW's political action committee.

It is an honor to receive the endorsement of both. The support of these groups and their members adds to a growing grassroots campaign focused on preserving voting rights and strengthening our democracy for all Massachusetts residents. Read more about these endorsements in our blog and in our press release.

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14. Indiana: ES&S glitches delay vote count.

Firm couldn’t test machines
State investigating election glitch

By DAN DAVIS
[e-mail]


BROWNSTOWN — Employees of Election Systems & Software failed to successfully test whether Jackson County’s voting systems could merge their results for Tuesday’s primary and school elections.
They tried but couldn’t get it done, Jackson County Clerk Sarah Benter said Thursday of ES&S employees.
“At first they thought it was that lightning affected our server, but that wasn’t a problem,” Benter said. “He (an ES&S employee) decided he didn’t know enough about one of the systems to really test it. He assured me, though, they would work.”
They didn’t.
And the Indiana Secretary of State’s office is looking into the problem here and in three other counties that had similar glitches.
With Tuesday night’s experience — combined with ES&S delays in delivering the new systems, software and ballots — Benter remains cautious about the firm’s promise that the system will work and ballots will be delivered well in advance of this fall’s general election.
Two ES&S workers had to use tapes from the county’s two voting systems, download the votes by precinct and then input them into what was essentially a spreadsheet to produce results, Benter said.
That tedious process delayed results for hours.

more-

http://www.tribtown.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=186&ArticleID=18889&TM=34834.61

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15. Indiana Meltdown: State to probe voting problems in 4 southern counties

State to probe voting problems in 4 southern Indiana counties
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS - State officials will investigate problems with voting systems in four Indiana counties where determining winners in Tuesday's primary became so cumbersome that workers in one county gave up tabulating returns.

Secretary of State Todd Rokita's chief counsel will look at Clark, Harrison, Jackson and Washington counties' voting systems, which were sold and maintained by Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems & Software.

The company was under state scrutiny well before the primary.

Last month, Rokita's office issued a notice of violation against ES&S for problems that included improper programming and the late delivery of ballots.

Although voting went smoothly Tuesday across most of the state, the primary was chaotic for officials in the four counties, where workers were forced to manually enter votes for each candidate in each precinct.

more-

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/14500511.htm

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16. Indiana: System failure leads to manual count of precincts

System failure leads to manual count of precincts

Clark vendor already faces state investigation of performance

By LARRY THOMAS
[e-mail]

A vote tabulation system provided by a vendor under investigation by the state failed in Clark County last night, leading to a manual counting of precinct results that ended after midnight.

“This is the worst scenario you can experience,” said Clark County Clerk Keith Groth.

Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Groth told a group of reporters, “Normally we would be completing the official vote total around this time of the evening.” Four hours later, official totals were completed.

Software and equipment provided by Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems & Software failed to accept data packs from the precinct voting machines, election officials said. That left the Clark County Election Board manually counting printed tapes. ES&S provides Clark County with optical scanning and touch-screen devices. The latter are new to the county this year and are designed for use by people with handicaps.

ES&S sent a technician from Floyd County — where it is also the election system vendor — to help address the problems in Clark County.

more-

http://www.news-tribune.net/politics/local_story_123111930.html

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17. Indiana: Is this any way to run an election?

It’s your right

Whatever the method, voters should still vote

Voters are always faced with choices. That’s the essence of the election process.

But as Tuesday’s primary nears, election officials themselves are also making choices.

Because of delays on the part of Election Systems & Software in providing vital software to operate the new touch-screen voting machines, county election officials throughout the state have been forced to scramble to come up with alternate plans for Tuesday’s balloting.

“I am absolutely appalled by ES&S’ delays and the hardships ES&S has placed upon this state and our county officials,” Secretary of State Betty Ireland said late last week.

Ireland’s comments came after Kanawha County Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib issued an order extending the testing deadline for the high-tech voting machines until the day before the primary. Under state law, all voting machines must be tested a week before an election.

But with the uncertainty, county officials decided to go with back-up plans. While some remained hopeful of receiving the needed software to get the new touch-screen machines up and running, others made the choice to go with either paper or optical scan ballots.

Is this any way to run an election? No. But it’s important to note that it is not the fault of state and county election officials who have been forced to come up with workable plans after being dealt a bad hand by the vendor. It may not be perfect, but systems, however varied, will be in place Tuesday for the voters.

more-

http://www.register-herald.com/opinion/local_story_124232238.html?keyword=topstory

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18. Indiana: Officials to discuss election night snafu

Officials to discuss election night snafu

Meeting may take place next week

By DAVID MANN
[e-mail]

County election officials will meet next week to determine what, if any, recourse will be taken against Election Systems & Software company, after a computer glitch slowed down election results Tuesday night.

“It’s something we’re concerned about,” said County Clerk Keith Groth. “We want answers from Election Systems & Software.”

The meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday morning, although that date isn’t certain.

Software and equipment provided by Nebraska-based ES&S failed to accept data packs from the precinct voting machines after Tuesday’s election, officials say. Clark County election workers were left to manually count hard copies of the voting records. Election results were not made official until near 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.

more-

http://www.news-tribune.net/news/local_story_124105400.html

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19. Indiana: more glitches, election equipment from Voting Technologies Int.

At least officially, Randolph election results on hold

By JOY LEIKER
[e-mail]


WINCHESTER -- Three out of the four Indiana counties that used election equipment from Voting Technologies International, including Randolph County in East Central Indiana, were still waiting on complete election totals as of late Wednesday.

In Randolph County, election workers gave up trying manually to tally the results from each precinct just before midnight Tuesday. On Wednesday morning a second official from the Wisconsin-based election machine company was supposed to fly to Indianapolis and travel to Winchester to help retrieve the county's election data. But County Clerk Claudia Thornburg said the employee's plane was grounded because of thick fog in Detroit, and his arrival in Winchester was delayed to late in the evening.

Thornburg now plans to resume tabulation at 9 a.m. today, with both a Democratic and Republican representative of the election board on hand. She hopes to have results by noon.

>snip<

-Cass County Clerk Linda Crimmins said she was missing a report from a single precinct.

-Boone County Clerk Lisa Garoffolo said disks at 13 of the county's 29 polling locations didn't retrieve complete data at the end of the 12-hour election day, but staff had paper printouts from each location as backups. Staff used those papers to calculate totals, Garoffolo said.

-In Parke County, a deputy clerk said the county was still waiting on "official numbers" after its first election using the new voting machines.

more-

http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/NEWS01/605040325/1002

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27. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2608613

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20. Arkansas: SOS Daniels: PAPER BALLOTS to be used, re E-voting problems

New Machines Out For Most Early Voting

Arkansas News Bureau [e-mail]

LITTLE ROCK — Most counties in Arkansas will be using paper ballots when early voting begins next week because of problems with recently purchased electronic voting machines, Secretary of State Charlie Daniels said Tuesday.

Electronic balloting will be available for early voting in the eight counties that comprise the 2nd Congressional District in central Arkansas because there is a competitive federal party primary on the ballot, Daniels said.

The federal Help America Vote Act requires the machines be available in contested federal races this year.

Daniels said he is confident that electronic voting machines would be available in all 75 counties by the May 23 primary.

Daniels spoke at a news conference Tuesday to address questions being raised about whether Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Neb., would be able to provide electronic voting machines, ballot software and absentee ballots in time for early voting that begins Monday.


At least 14 counties missed a Friday deadline to deliver absentee ballots to their clerks’ offices for mailing. Several other counties, including Pulaski, have reported receiving defective software for their new machines.

more-

http://www.swtimes.com/articles/2006/05/03/news/news05.txt

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21. Arkansas: Touch-screen voting may be on hold

New ballots are not ready
Early voting starts Monday
GEORGE JARED
Bulletin Staff Writer


Touch-screen voting may be on hold in Baxter County and other counties across the state.

Baxter County Clerk Rhonda Porter said the county has not received electronic ballots from the state for its iVotronics touch-screen voting machines. Porter said early voting begins Monday and paper ballots will be available to voters who want to vote early. "No matter what, it won't affect people's ability to vote," Porter said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels said some counties will not be able to use their touch-screen voting machines during the early voting period, but the problem should be fixed in time for the primary election May 23.

"Come May 23, counties in Arkansas will be using electronic voting according to plan," Daniels said at a news conference in Little Rock. "All polling sites in Arkansas will have at least one electronic voting machine available to voters with disabilities, and many other counties will be using a full system of electronic voting at the polling site."

Marion County Clerk Dee Carleton said her county ordered paper ballots Tuesday afternoon and she thinks the ballots will be in before the start of early voting.

Baxter County has 27 optical-scan voting machines, but they can't be used in early voting, Porter said. She said optical-scanning machines automatically tabulate the votes at the end of each day. Votes cannot be tabulated before election day, she said.

more-

http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060503/NEWS01/605030303/1002

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23. Arkansas, Pulaski County: to use PAPER BALLOTS

Update: Paper Ballots For Pulaski County


In a THV update, paper ballots it is for early voting on Monday in Pulaski County.

The Pulaski County Election Commission tested new software Thursday afternoon and it's not compatible with the touch screen voting machines they received Thursday morning.

The county says the Nebraska-based software company must send new software and there's no word on when that will happen.

Election commissioners say the county could be in violation of federal law that mandates touch screen voting in federally contested races.

here-

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=28023

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24. Arkansas: Counties still struggle with voting machines

Counties still struggle with voting machines
Staff and wire reports

Most counties in Arkansas will be using paper ballots when early voting begins next week because of problems with the recently purchased electronic voting machines, Secretary of State Charlie Daniels said Tuesday, but locally, Pulaski County and Lonoke County officials still hope to use their new touch-screen Ivotronics.

Electronic balloting will be available for early voting in the eight counties that comprise the 2nd Congressional District in central Arkansas because there is a competitive federal party primary on the ballot, Daniels said. The federal Help America Vote Act requires the machines be available in contested federal races this year.

The eight counties in the 2nd Congressional District where electronic machines will be available for early voting are Conway, Faulkner, Perry, Pulaski, Saline, Van Buren, White and Yell.

Daniels said he was confident that electronic voting machines would be available in all 75 counties by the May 23 primary.
The secretary of state spoke at a news conference Tuesday to address questions being raised about whether Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Neb., would be able to provide electronic voting machines, ballot software and absentee ballots in time for early voting that begins Monday.

more-

http://www.arkansasleader.com/2006/05/top-story-counties-still-struggle-with.html

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25. Arkansas: ES&S "We got a little behind in Arkansas".

Contingency Plans Made For Primary Voting

As part of the "Help America Vote Act" electronic machines are required in each county and that's what Secretary of State Charlie Daniels says he expected to have in place. Tuesday he announced the firm hired to handle the new machines failed to do its job.

Daniels says it will have no effect on the outcome of the election. He says there are contingency plans in place and every single vote will count, no matter how it is cast. Others worry that may not be true and the say the problems could have been avoided.

If you planned to vote early in the May primary chances are most of you will be using a paper ballot.

Daniels says, "This is a deviation from the plan we had originally envisioned and communicated with our counties, and for that, I apologize."

Less than a week away from early voting Daniels decided to make changes after becoming convinced Election Systems and Software, the company that signed a $15 million contract with the state, couldn't complete programming and testing of all the machines in time.

Mark Kelley, regional account executive with ES&S admits, "We got a little behind in Arkansas. We brought in extra resources to get caught back up. I’m part of the group that's come in and we're committed to get the Arkansas project back on track."

And by the May 23rd primary election every county is expected to have those electronic machines.

more-

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=27884

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22. West Virginia: Counties Ditch New Voting Machines... PAPER to be used?

Counties Ditch New Voting Machines

Two more counties in southern West Virginia are choosing not to use the new machines
Story by Aaron Mesmer Email | Bio

Greenbrier and Mercer counties announced plans Thursday to use paper ballots instead of the new voting machines in Tuesday's primary election.

Election officials in Greenbrier County say they are definitely using paper ballots. To complie with state and federal laws, the county will also have one handicapped accessible electronic machine in each precinct.

Mercer County Clerk Rudolph Jennings says the county wants to use paper ballots, but it doesn't have the necessary handicapped accessible machines to go along with them.

Jennings says Tuesday's voting process in Mercer County is now in limbo.

"Whatever we do, we'll come up with something that every registered voter, every legal voter gets to vote and their vote is counted," Jennings said.

The Mercer County Commission is in the process of trying to figure out what method voters will use on Tuesday.

Wyoming County had already decided to use paper ballots for the primary election.

Fayette and McDowell counties will use optical scans.

Pocahontas, Raleigh and Summers Counties will follow through with the new voting machines. Those counties have all finished testing software. Monroe County is still testing its machines.


more-

http://www.wtrf.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=10672

[FogerRox]

26. West Virginia: Counties to ditch e-voting and use PAPER BALLOTS

Voting machines pose problems in 2 counties

Matthew Thompson
Daily Mail staff

Friday May 05, 2006

Just as Kanawha County gets on track with its optical-scan and handicapped-accessible voting machines, two counties have announced difficulties in getting their systems online for Tuesday's primary.


The problems stem from April 19 disclosures by Election Systems and Software, the state's provider of the new machines, that it was behind in preparing the software for the systems.


The Nebraska-based company has since equipped many counties for Election Day, but some areas are still facing struggles.


Greenbrier County officials have decided to abandon the new touch-screen machines, which were to be introduced Tuesday. The county is refusing to test the machines for usage and is planning to use old-fashioned paper ballots instead.


more-

http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/200605054/

[livvy]

28. Just a little kick. n/t

[AndyTiedye]

29. Ohio Has Fallen to the Dominion(ists)

Last Fall, he turned a landslide for US into a landslide for THEM.
Now he is going to select himself as governor of Ohio.


At this point, I can't see how he could possibly lose,
even if he got caught screwing a guy in the Watergate Hotel!

[flyingobject]

39. that needs to be posted in windows of businesses in Ohio

That picture of Kathryn Blackwell needs to be installed in the
front windows of businesses all over Ohio.

[Algorem]

30. OH-the winner's Al Gore

http://www.cleveland.com.nyud.net:8090/images/darcy/today.jpg

hey this one's even more stupid-

http://www.cleveland.com.nyud.net:8090/images/darcy/050306.jpg

[Algorem]

31. OH- Blackwell To Investigate Self

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/114686574970820.xml&storylist=cleveland

Ohio to probe problems that delayed vote tally in largest county
5/5/2006, 5:40 p.m. ET
By M.R. KROPKO
The Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) — Ohio election officials will investigate the glitches that delayed ballot counting in the state's largest county, which struggled with its first election converting from punch cards to electronic voting.

Michael Vu, director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, said Friday the investigation authorized by Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell was expected because of the county's election problems.

The county, which includes Cleveland, continued searching for votes Friday.

"We welcome the secretary of state's office," Vu said. "We want to know what happened also. We're not going to start pointing fingers. It would be inappropriate and unethical to point fingers until we can research this issue. We do know something went wrong and we need to find out what."...

[Algorem]

32. OH- Opposition to Blackwell spending amendment grows

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/1146869949226460.xml&storylist=cleveland

5/5/2006, 6:55 p.m. ET
By JULIE CARR SMYTH
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment that would cap state and local government spending took on new momentum Friday when two public universities, the lieutenant governor and some Republican legislators grew more vocal with their concerns.

The boards of trustees at Ohio State and Bowling Green passed resolutions opposing the Tax & Expenditure Limitation — just three days after its champion, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, won the Republican nomination for governor.

Ohio State President Karen Holbrook said the proposal could "severely impair our ability to meet the goals of the university's academic plan and to continue rising in the ranks of the nation's premium universities."

The Intra-University Council of Ohio, which represents public universities in the state, has passed a similar resolution...

[Algorem]

33. Counties not upset this time by Blackwell's election order

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/1146867866141650.xml&storylist=cleveland

5/5/2006, 6:19 p.m. ET
By CARRIE SPENCER GHOSE
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Elections officials in counties with closely watched races and voter advocates aren't upset at an election-night order from Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's office to delay reporting of statewide results while one precinct out of 11,300 stayed open late.

"There are numbers of things I get unhappy with the secretary of state's office about, but this isn't one of them," said Peg Rosenfield, elections specialist with the League of Women Voters.

Results that usually start trickling in at 8 p.m. were held until 9:30 p.m., when the polling place in Cuyahoga County closed. A judge had ordered the site on Cleveland's east side to remain open because poll workers who had trouble operating new voting machines had turned voters away rather than give them paper ballots as required by law.

Blackwell, the Republican candidate for governor, has a history of butting heads with county elections officials. Counties fought orders before the 2004 presidential election that voter registration cards had to be submitted on heavy enough paper and that provisional ballots may be counted only if cast at the correct precinct. Counties also were angered last year over directives on choosing the new machines rolled out in elections this week and in fall...

[Algorem]

34. Blackwell speech links God, politics

http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isope/114682667881660.xml&coll=2

He speaks in Westlake church
Friday, May 05, 2006
Joe Guillen
Plain Dealer Reporter

Ohio's GOP gubernatorial candidate continued Thursday to play to the religious base that helped him win the party's nomination Tuesday. He showed no signs yet that he is willing to forgo them to appeal to a more moderate base.

Ken Blackwell used the National Day of Prayer -- intended to unite Christians and promote personal reflection -- for his first public appearances since winning Tuesday's party primary. He spoke Thursday at the Church on the Rise in Westlake as well as at locations in Colum bus and Hamilton.

The Ohio secretary of state began his speech in Westlake with an anecdote about the connection between man and God, then quickly progressed toward politics, offering his interpretation of religious freedom and later declaring, "the first obligation of government is to protect innocent life."

The speech was peppered almost equally with references to the Bible and historic American politicians, like Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin...

[Algorem]

35. OH- Noe scandal won't guarantee Democratic win, analyst says

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/NEWS09/605050404/-1/NEWS

The Tom Noe Coingate scandal could well have an effect on upcoming state elections - but Democrats shouldn't simply hang their hat on it, one area political expert said during a taping of The Editors television program.

In an analysis of Tuesday's primary election, Miriam Wilson, an instructor of political science at Bowling Green State University, noted that based on past political research and studies, scandals alone aren't usually enough to shift deep political sands without some sort of ideological current behind them.

"No, it absolutely won't do it," she said. "The existence of a scandal isn't enough. It has to be tied to an idea."

But both she and fellow academic David Davis, a professor of political science at the University of Toledo, believed Democrats would try hard to tie Republican gubernatorial nominee Kenneth Blackwell to the scandal...

[Algorem]

36. OH- Legal papers shed light on Noe forgery investigation

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/NEWS02/605050422/-1/NEWS

Coin dealer allegedly got $440,200 through checks


By MIKE WILKINSON and JAMES DREW
BLADE STAFF WRITERS


Nearly two dozen times over six years, Tom Noe leaned on his boyhood, business, and political friends for money, prosecutors contend.

Documents released recently allege that Mr. Noe wrote checks from money in the state’s coin funds to his friends, forged their signatures, and then deposited the money — a total of $440,200 — into accounts he controlled.

Mr. Noe was charged in February with 22 counts of forgery, in addition to 31 other charges. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on bond.

In the original indictment, the forgery charges allege the date and the amount of the checks involved in the forgeries. But in court records filed recently, prosecutors shed additional light on the alleged forgeries as well as other aspects of the case against the former area coin dealer who now lives in Florida...

[Algorem]

37. OH- House Republicans offer plan for redrawing districts

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/NEWS09/605050388/-1/NEWS

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU


COLUMBUS - Six months after voters soundly rejected a largely Democratic-backed proposal to revamp how Ohio redraws congressional and legislative districts, House Republicans yesterday unveiled a plan to try again.

But whatever bipartisan momentum that existed appears to be waning.

Buoyed by the results of Tuesday's primary election that saw the defeat of an incumbent Republican officeholder, Treasurer Jennette Bradley, to a virtual unknown, Democrats are less inclined to change the system.

Senate President Bill Harris (R., Ashland) was offering no commitments yesterday, even if the resolution should pass the House. Lawmakers have until Aug. 9 to pass the resolution in order to make it on the Nov. 7 ballot, but leaders plan to send members home for the summer before Memorial Day...

[Algorem]

38. OH- Voters set tone for November races during Tuesday primary

http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2006/05/05/news/local/bcover0505.txt

BY: DOUGLAS J. GUTH, Senior Staff Reporter



...Joyce Garver Keller, Columbus lobbyist for Ohio Jewish Communities, expects a competitive gubernatorial race between Blackwell and Strickland. Garver Keller believes Strickland, a minister and six-time winner in a Republican-leaning congressional district, may have the edge due to the stigma of highly publicized Republican scandals on both the state and federal levels.

However, cautions Garver Keller, "don't underestimate the power of Blackwell,” a charismatic figure with a powerful voting base on the religious right. (Blackwell carefully distanced himself from the unpopular incumbent Republican governor, Bob Taft.) Both candidates will stress Ohio's economic recovery with the goal of moving the state "back to a position of strength.”...

Concerning Jewish issues, Strickland has a 100% voting record in support of Israel during his time in Washington, notes Garver Keller. Blackwell does not have Strickland's track record, but he did invest in Israel as Ohio state treasurer.
Budish

"Blackwell has always been a friend to Israel,” adds Barbara Amper, local leader of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Amper is not worried about Blackwell's strong ties to the Christian right. "He's very representative of the party, and I'm proud to have him as our candidate.”...