Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News May 16, 2006 -- DU it!

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"Although there is a strong public policy in attempting to preserve the will of the electorate as reflected by the tabulation of all of the votes, we take this opportunity to remind throughout the state that they invite election contests, uncertainty and the opportunity for fraud by failing to pay close heed to the election statutes whether they be mandatory or directive. Any expense or burden such compliance creates is trivial when compared to the value of the goal of maintaining our Republic. Integrity of our government can be no greater than the integrity of elections which put our government officials in office. It is therefore the duty of every registrar to endeavor to comply with the election statutes regardless of the personal inconvenience it may create." Waters v. Gnemi, 907 So. 2d 307, 336 (Miss. Sup. Ct. 2005) (citing Riley v. Clayton, 441 So. 2d 1322, 1328 (Miss. Sup. Ct. 1983). Cited in Mark Crispin Miller’s “News from the Underground” by DUer and election law warrior, Land Shark.

Why we’re doing all this to secure fair elections:
from DUer ProSense based on an alert to me by DUer Independent_Liberal
Former RNC Chairman’s Involvement in Election Fraud in NH
Lousy e-voting systems that we’re just now “discovering” have huge flaws.
CIA leak case focuses on Cheney.
Ohio Congressman Ney, One of the founders of “e-democracy” (who put HAVA together and helped “investigate” Ohio 2004) looks like he’s “ethically challenged,” looks a lot like it.
WH claims material tapped on ATT networks (they did give it up, didn’t they, is private – evidence of a crime cannot be revealed lest it compromise the criminals criminal appearance.
Abramoff

Never forget the pursuit of Truth.
Only the deluded & complicit accept election results on blind faith.
Denying that 2004 was stolen is like denying global warming...:evilgrin:

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News May 16, 2006

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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=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.
Please

"Recommend"

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

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1. Nation: Bib Fitrakis Reports on MSM/CM Covering More Election Fraud

FRAUD…not integrity. We have ELECTION FRAUD. People could care less about "integrity" unless they realize that there is FRAUD. Thank you Fitrakis and all the great Ohio sentinels of democracy.


Voting rights and election fraud are incompatible.
"The ERD" -- The Gold Standard in voting rights news.

THE FREE PRESS.
Will the major media finally cover the electronic election fraud issue?

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2006/1964

by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
May 15, 2006

That the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 were stolen has become an article of faith for millions of mainstream Americans. But there has been barely a whiff of coverage in the major media about any problems with the electronic voting machines that made those thefts possible---until now.

A recent OpEdNews/Zogby People's poll (http://tinyurl.com/hgkgl) of Pennsylvania residents, found that “39% said that the 2004 election was stolen. 54% said it was legitimate. But let’s look at the d
Here, from that poll, are the stations listed as first choice by respondents and the percentage of respondents who thought the election was stolen: CNN 70%; MSNBC 65%; CBS 64%; ABC 56%; Other 56%; NBC 49%; FOX 0.5%.

With 99% of Fox viewers believing that the election was “legitimate,” only the constant propaganda of Rupert Murdoch’s disinformation campaign stands in the way of a majority of Americans coming to grips with the reality of two consecutive stolen elections.

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2. CA: California Voter Foundation all excited!!! Good Machines.

More than "lipstick on a pig." The CVF was started by Kim Alexander who was one of the early critics of computerized voting. I’m glad they’re doing something but it’s still largely inadequate. The publication page of this foundation has severalpublicationss listed but none on “citizen rights” – the right to know that our vote it taken and counted properly which relies on the right to observe that. We’re still voting with invisible ballots and those are used to determine the elections. A parallel count of ALL paper ballots would be a good test, but then why have machines in the first place?.
Voting rights and election fraud are incompatible.
"The ERD" -- The Gold Standard in voting rights news.

Government Technology
California is Implementing Electronic Voting Reform

http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/99503

By News Release
May 15, 2006
Form the California Voter Foundation:

All 58 California counties are on track to deploy new or upgraded voting equipment that guarantees every ballot cast will be backed up on paper that voters can verify before leaving the polls. Fourteen counties acquired over 40,000 electronic voting machines in recent years, all of which are being replaced or retrofitted with printers in time for the June election, making California the first state in the nation to reform its electronic voting systems after widespread deployment of paperless e-voting machines.

The June 2006 primary marks the first election in which a California paper trail law, unanimously enacted by thelegislaturee in 2004, takes effect. California was one of the first states in the nation to mandate voter-verified paper audit trails for electronic voting machines, which is now required in more than half the states.

"California's June primary ushers in a new era of accountability andtransparencyy in state elections," said Kim Alexander, president and founder of the California Voter Foundation (CVF), a nonprofit organization advancing the responsible use of technology in the democratic process. CVF recently surveyed all 58 counties about their voting equipment plans for June, and has published a new County-by-County Directory and Statewide Map of Voting Systems on its Web site ( CA Voter foundation )

Most of the 14 counties that have used paperless e-voting machines in past elections are retrofitting their existing equipment with printers that can produce a paper record which voters can verify. Several counties, including Plumas, Merced and Alameda, are setting aside their e-voting machines for the June primary and relying on paper balloting systems instead.

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3. WashDC: Re-elected Belarus President Barred US Entry—What a crook, wow!

Stunning, the WH bars an election thief. Of course, we covered this as it unfolded and the results were perfectly ridiculous. The Euripean Union has issued the same ban on this guy. We should let him in just to see what he’s like.


Voting rights and election fraud are incompatible.
"The ERD" -- The Gold Standard in voting rights news.

Zee News:
Washington bars Belarus officials from entering US

Washington, May 16: President George W Bush barred President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus from entering the US because of alleged human rights and election fraud violations.

The measure also applies to other members of the Belarus government.

Lukashenko won a landslide victory in March 19 presidential elections that sparked widespread protests at home and condemnation from abroad.

The US President issued the ban against "members of the government of Alexander Lukashenko and other persons who formulate, implement, participate in, or benefit from policies or actions, including electoral fraud, human rights abuses, or corruption, that undermine or injure democratic institutions or impede the transition to democracy in Belarus."

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4. Nation: DUer John Gideon on the Train Wreck of 2006 Elections

He’s right. If you doubt that look at the Monday and Tuesday ERD News threads. They have a devastating preview for what is to come. Good for Gideon for making this point so well.


Voting rights and election fraud are incompatible.
"The ERD" -- The Gold Standard in voting rights news.

E-VOTING TRAIN WRECK 2006: The Wheels Begin to Come Off
Tell A Friend
by JGideon http://www.opednews.com

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_jgideon_060515_e_voting_train_wreck.htm
Diebold Disasters Leading to Self-Destruction As ES&S Continues to Meltdown and Miss One Contractual Obligation After Another…

By John Gideon, www.VotersUnite.Org and www.VoteTrustUSA.Org May 15, 2006

Yes, the wheels are wobbling on the locomotives. The vendors --ES&S, Diebold, and the rest -- attempt to keep a stiff upper lip as they both fail to perform, yet continue collecting tax-payer dollars from the county election coffers. Meanwhile some elections officials have just turned a blind-eye to what is happening while they continue to make excuses for their vendors: The private corporate American Electronic Voting Machine behemoths that are being paid to take over America's Public Electoral system.

And the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) which was put in place by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), theoretically, to keep all of this from occurring? Well, all they do is raise their hands and shrug and tell anyone who asks that they don't do voting systems certification so they just don't know anything. The Sergeant Schultz Defense, perhaps…

And the corporate media? It took the announcement of a huge security chasm with the Diebold TS and TSx touch-screen machines for them to finally wake up and realize the voters in our country may like to hear a bit about what is happening with their elections. Of course, each media outlet spins it in their own way. The Wall Street Journal, reported on the Diebold issue with little or nothing from the computer scientists while overloading their article with plenty of misinformation from Diebold and their showcase state of Maryland. The New York Times did a good job of reporting both sides. The Rev. Moon's United Press International joined the WSJ in mis-reporting and giving their pro-corporate, pro-electronic bias spin. But, hey! The media has woken up a little. Let's hope they will now sit up and take notice and not go back into hibernation.

This next Tuesday we have three more states holding primary elections. Oregon, Kentucky and Pennsylvania are the next locomotives on the tracks. Pennsylvania is of special concern because of the number of ES&S and Diebold counties and the fact that this is the first election to be held on new electronic voting machines in almost every county.

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5. NC: Voter Disenfranchisement Continues after all these years.

NC: Voter Disenfranchisement Continues after all these years.
Here’s the new trick, which is rally an old trick. You don’t tell people where to vote or change the precinct. When they go to the nearest precinct to vote, their ballot is tagged, and then the state says, “hey, you voted in the wrong precinct.” Nice, huh. Then they throw out your ballot. Those of you familiar with the civil rights movement know that this garbage went on years ago. It’s back for a third millennium tour. This is“election integrity”: issue, well it’s really ELECTION FRAUD and this has to stop.

Voting rights and election fraud are incompatible.
"The ERD" -- The Gold Standard in voting rights news. \

civilrights.org
Report: North Carolina Struggles with Voting Discrimination
By civilrights.org staff
http://www.civilrights.org/issues/voting/details.cfm?id=43249

May 15, 2006

For most Americans, heading to the polls on Election Day is routine - the meat and potatoes of democracy. Most don't have to worry that they might be turned away or given false information. They certainly can't imagine appealing to their state Supreme Court to get to vote or have their ballots counted.

But for many black voters in North Carolina these are stark realities, according to a report by RenewtheVRA.org.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has intervened 45 times in North Carolina since 1982 to protect minorities from voting procedure changes that would block or dilute their votes. And less than half of the state's counties are required to submit voting or election changes to DOJ, according to a new report from RenewtheVRA.org.

<snip>

In one of the most glaring examples of voter disenfranchisement, Onslow County used an election method for nearly 20 years that diminished blacks' chances of electing their candidate without submitting it to DOJ for approval, which the VRA required the county to do. Only in 1988 did a court order the county to throw out the method..

In the 2004 federal election, the state Supreme Court disenfranchised 12,000 voters because they had cast ballots outside of their designated precincts. Blacks were represented in this group at twice their rate in the electorate. Many had never been told where they should vote or had been assured by precinct officials that their votes would count.

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6. NC: Voting Rights in North Carolina 1982-2006

Those of us in the election fraud research and election integrity branch of the Voting Rights movement need to realize that it started out about race and ethnicity, was about race and ethnicity, and will continue to be that way. Look at Ohio 2006 primary: where did the problems take place, predominantly, Clevelad! AN URGAN AREA populated by black Americans who vote Democratic in large numbers. It’s all about voter suppression. We have to keep that in mind. The machines, etc. are used to SUPPRESS VOTES,. Whose votes? You got it.

Voting rights and election fraud are incompatible.
"The ERD" -- The Gold Standard in voting rights news.

Voting Rights in North Carolina, 1982-2006

http://renewthevra.civilrights.org/resources/details.cfm?id=43022

May 9, 2006
Anita S. Earls, Emily Wynes, and LeeAnne Quatrucci
RenewTheVRA.org

Introduction to the Voting Rights Act

North Carolina's experience since the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 1982 has been a mixed one of slow progress, setbacks and new challenges. Only 40 of the state's 100 counties are covered by Section 5 of the Act, resulting in greater protections for some areas of the state. While many of the gains in minority representation at all levels have come about as the result of litigation under Section 2 of the Act, Section 5 has arguably had the greatest impact in the state because numerous objections have prevented the implementation of election changes that would have made it harder for black voters to participate in elections. Indeed, the ability of Section 5 preclearance to protect and thereby reinforce Section 2 gains has been an important part of the minority voting rights story in North Carolina.

Of the counties that are covered, most are rural counties in the eastern part of the state. Indeed, North Carolina's two largest cities, Charlotte and Raleigh, are not in covered counties. Durham and Winston-Salem are also not covered. Thus, it is remarkable that even though so few of the state's citizens are covered by Section 5, there have been forty-five objection letters issued since 1982 relating to an even greater number of changes in voting practices and procedures. Of those 45 objection letters, ten involved multi-county or statewide changes, including state redistricting plans, changes relating to the election of judges, and proposed delays in implementing mail-in registration procedures.

There are ten instances of North Carolina Section 5 submissions being withdrawn from consideration since 1982 - five of them since 2000. This is a strong indication of the beneficial effect of Section 5 review short of the Department of Justice issuing a formal objection. In at least one instance, the submission related to subsequent attempts by a local jurisdiction to modify an election method that had been put in place following litigation under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The Department of Justice, by raising questions about the proposed change, was able to prevent the dismantling of a system that gave minority voters an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice and, thereby, preserved the gains obtained through earlier litigation, without the need for the original plaintiffs to return to court.

It is also clear from recent testimony by local activists that election officials in covered jurisdictions do consult with representatives of the local NAACP or other African-American leaders in the community before changing polling places or making other election-related changes. Motivated by the fact that any change will be reviewed in Washington, local officials are more conscious of the impact that such changes may have on the ability of black voters to participate in elections. Although prior to 1982 there was significant non-compliance with Section 5's preclearance requirement, local election officials in the covered counties are now generally in favor of keeping the process in place.

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7. MS: Check out the Great Decision from the Missippi Supreme Court

It’s not all bad news from the courts. Read this decision. It places boards of elections in the role of public servant. It’s so logical and the court just says it. Thank you MS Supreme Court.


Voting rights and election fraud are incompatible.
"The ERD" -- The Gold Standard in voting rights news.

Mark Crispin Miller’s News from the Underground
Case law for sound elections!
Honest Legal Advice for Your Local Elections Officials.

http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/2006/03/case-law-for-sound-elections.html

by LandShark (Paul Lehto, an attorney) at Democratic Underground 3 16 06

CASE CITATION

Tattoo these Three to your local elections officials, courtesy of the Mississippi Supreme Court opinion Debra Waters v. James "Danny" Gnemi, ordering new elections. (call these the Three Sisters if you like):

1. "Any expense or burden such compliance {with strict procedures} creates is trivial when compared to the value of the goal of maintaining our Republic."

2. "Integrity of our government can be no greater than the integrity of elections which put our government officials in office."

3. "It is therefore the duty of every {elections official} to endeavor to comply with the election statutes regardless of the personal inconvenience it may create."

THE FULL QUOTED PARAGRAPH IS BELOW, FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE 43 PAGE OPINION, ORDERING A NEW ELECTION WITHOUT DIRECT EVIDENCE OF FRAUD BECAUSE IMPROPER PROCEDURES WERE FOLLOWED **THAT PREVENTED** CANDIDATES AND THE PUBLIC **FROM KNOWING** WHETHER OR NOT IMPROPRIETY OCCURRED.

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8. The "train wreck" commeth...(1)...Patrick Henry edition.

Wake up America

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9. The "train wreck" commeth...(2)..."Bloody Kansas" edition

This is the post primary thread on just the early 2006 primaries, you know, the elections where only we show up. This is nothing compared to what's waiting for us down the line.

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10. Ohio-Rescuing God from the right

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/sam_fulwood/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1147768298206150.xml&coll=2

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Sam Fulwood III

Plain Dealer Columnist

When did God become a right-wing Republican on a crusade to elect Ken Blackwell governor?

Clearly, that's the take-away message of Christian fundamentalist ministers like Russell Johnson and Rod Parsley, who have successfully dominated most conversations about what people of faith believe and how they should vote.

Johnson is the pastor of Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster, and Parsley heads the World Harvest Church in Canal Winchester. Together they are the Dynamic Duo of the Religious Right, engaged in a never-ending battle against liberals and nonbelievers across Ohio.

To this end, Johnson and Parsley are the leaders of the Ohio Restoration Project, a network of extremist conservatives doing all it can to blur the line separating church from state...


Blackwell not a friend to blacks

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/sam_fulwood/index.ssf?/base/opinion/114733635163590.xml&coll=2

Thursday, May 11, 2006
Sam Fulwood III
Plain Dealer Columnist

He appeals to blacks by being black.- George Will, columnist Feb. 19, 2006

Now that Ken Blackwell has become the latest in a long line of Great Black Hopes for the GOP, I expect to hear and read plenty of ignorant comments like the one above.

It's the wishful thinking that accompanied previous Republican darlings in dark skins.

Remember the presidential chatter surrounding J.C. Watts, former Oklahoma football star-turned-conservative congressman? Nobody does any more...

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11. OH: Ethics problems at Ohio Board of Elections (good one).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=428257&mesg_id=428257

from DUer Algorem(go recommend it, s'il vous plait;)
Commissioner questions purchase of voting machine storage carts

5/16/2006, 3:01 a.m. ET
The Associated Press
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-24/1147763355307380.xml&storylist=cleveland

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — ...

The county purchased the carts last year from SST Systems in suburban New Albany, a company whose founders include the wife and a friend of then-deputy elections director Michael Hackett Jr.

Hackett had asked the Ohio Ethics Commission for an opinion on his ties to the company, but the elections board approved the purchase in November without waiting for an answer. County commissioners gave final approval in December, but Brooks said commissioners were never told ethics questions had been raised...

Elections Director Matthew Damschroder said the storage carts weren't required for the 900 new voting machines but needed to help keep the 40-pound machines from being stolen...

Damschroder told elections board members in the fall that county Prosecutor Ron O'Brien had approved of the SST Systems purchase. O'Brien said his office had never issued an opinion.

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12. PA: Bunch of machines break down in Philly...from Bradblog

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2288476

(go recommend it, s'il vous plait;)