ERD News. Mon. 07.17.06 - Greg Palast THANK YOU !!!

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Paul Krugman, Greg Palast and Randi Rhodes

As someone said recently, “Greg Palast is da Man”
Thank you for Florida coverage. You are the reporter of record.
Thanks for all the great election-corporate fraud coverage through today.

A Democracy Now! Exclusive Report THEFT OF AN ELECTION: MEXICO By Greg Palast

MEXICO CITY: IT AIN’T OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER By Matt Pascarella, Greg Palast.Com


Mexico and Florida have more in common than heat By Greg Palast

ARMED MADHOUSE

AND

Greg Palast's Theft of the Presidency

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.

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Monday July 17, 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]

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1. DC: NAACP Convention, No Bush, No Voting Rights Act.

The Voting Rights Act is under attack. See the link below to help. Republicans want to gut it and some Democrats are less than helpful, according to Julian Bond. He invited * to the convention but W was a no show. Bond was very clear as to the central role of voting rights to the future of America’s people of color, the usual targets for voter disenfranchisement and suppression, year in and year out.

Bond Criticizes, Invites Bush: Associated Press
NAACP Chief Faults War and Rights Record at Convention

Monday, July 17, 2006; Page A05

Voting irregularities and biased laws still hit minorities hardest, said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

"The United States has a ways to go before a black or brown voter has nothing to worry about when he or she goes to the polls," she said.

"We might call it voting while black," Bond said.

He called on lawmakers to renew expiring portions of the Voting Rights Act. The House voted last week to renew it, but the Senate has yet to act. NAACP members planned to lobby for the legislation on Wednesday.

Bond criticized Republicans for being unethical and said that "some of the Democrats won't take their own side in a fight."

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14. Voting Rights Act Political Group - excellent

http://renewthevra.civilrights.org/act_now/
Thats the linkii http://renewthevra.civilrights.org/act_now/

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2. Mexico: 900,000 in streets DEMAND recount…yep, 900k by officials.

This is a beautiful sight, nearly a million people, as estimated by the park police. Of course, in the deleted paragraph, now with just the figure, the AP reporters down sized the estimate.

AP: 07.17.07Marchers demand recount
Police say the crowd in Mexico City was much larger than it appeared to some.

By MARK STEVENSON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEXICO CITY - Claiming fraud robbed him of the presidency, leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador led hundreds of thousands of marchers through Mexico’s capital Sunday, demanding a full recount in the disputed election apparently won by his conservative opponent.

Snip

!!!900,000!!! estimated crowd size!!! In this AP Article.

‘‘To defend democracy, we are going to be begin peaceful civil resistance,’’ a stern-faced Lopez Obrador told cheering supporters.

Snip

Lopez Obrador’s Democratic Revolution Party has appealed to overturn the official count, alleging illicit government and corporate help for Calderon, ballot stuffing and other irregularities.

National Action has also filed its own challenges, seeking to stretch Calderon’s tiny vote advantage. Calderon say there is no legal basis for a complete recount. He is building a transition team and planning a nationwide victory tour. A carnival atmosphere prevailed Sunday, with grandmothers dancing to the beat of hand-held drums, teenagers tossing firecrackers and a naked bicyclist with anti-fraud messages painted on his body weaving through the crowd. Chants of ‘‘Hold on, Lopez Obrador, the people are rising up!’’ echoed from the crowd. Dogs wore yellow and black scarves representing the leftist party. .

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13. Incredible pictures from DUer deminks...a must see!!!

deminks (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-16-06 08:16 PM
Original message

Mexico protests their election results (photos)

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3. Mexico: 300,000 (not!) hit the streets– “Ballot by Ballot” Recount Demande

Why not, what does Fox government have to hide, maybe another 2.4 million ballots.

Bloomberg: 07/17/06
Lopez Obrador Leads Mexico March to Protest Election (Update1)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=avtxCyt3KQkk&refer=news
July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador led a march of about 320,000 people to Mexico City's central square, the second large-scale protest in a week to demand authorities invalidate presidential election results showing he lost to governing party candidate Felipe Calderon.

The march today will better gauge Lopez Obrador's national support as it comes one week after the former Mexico City mayor called on supporters to converge on the capital to demand a ballot-by-ballot recount of the July 2 vote. Lopez Obrador, 52, filed claims challenging the election results in Mexico's electoral court, alleging fraud and government interference.

Lopez Obrador, who said increased spending to aid the poor would be his government's priority, drew about 280,000 supporters to this Mexico City square July 8, according to local police. Calderon of the National Action Party beat Lopez Obrador by 243,934 votes, according to the electoral institute. ``The demonstrations are a way to put pressure on electoral authorities,'' said Jose Antonio Crespo, a political scientist at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching, a Mexico City- based think tank.

”Ballot by ballot”

Protesters walking down the city's main Reforma boulevard leading downtown numbered about 220,000 as of 12 p.m. New York time, Mexico City police spokesman Ricardo Olayo said in a telephone interview. Another 80,000 people were at the Zocalo main square and about 20,000 filed side streets around the boulevard, Olayo said.

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4. Mexico: Election Fraud Covered in India

The Times of India 07/16/06
Mexican leftist faces test in capital vote marchAdd to Clippings

16 Jul, 2006 1934hrs STREUTERS

MEXICO CITY: The leftist, claiming fraud in Mexico's presidential election two weeks ago, faces a test of his strength on Sunday when he heads a huge rally through the capital in support of his call for a vote recount.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador hopes for an even bigger protest of support at a march through the city's main Reforma avenue.

Lopez Obrador, 52, is trying to put pressure on an election court that will rule on his charge that conservative Felipe Calderon, the government and electoral officials stole the presidency from him through fraud.

Calderon came from behind in opinion polls to win the July 2 election. The court must rule by early September on who actually won the vote, which split the nation between right and left.

Officials from Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution have told the Mexican media they expect up to half a million people on the march. "We'll move in and live here if need be," said leftist Juan Carlos Escandon.

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5. CA: Mexican Foreign Vote Suppressed – Key to Calderon Victory

Here is a great story. It tells us about the Mexican expat community in California, how they preferred Obrador, and how it was not easy to vote.

Santa Cruz, CA: Sentinel: 07/15/06
Mexicans immigrants along Central Coast await official election results

By Soraya Gutierrez
http://tinyurl.com/j5m9e

Sentinel Staff Writer

“I realized then that I had lost the elections, not by much, but lost it anyway. We were so cocksure of our victory we had no watchers in my opponent’s bailiwick, ” he said.
This is a classic case where yes, it's important to vote," Zarazua said.

Mexicans living abroad cast absentee ballots from 71 countries, she said, for a total of 33,000 votes. In California, 13,500 Mexican immigrant sent in ballots.

More than 50 percent of absentee voters backed Calderon, while 30 percent backed Lopez Obrador.

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6. Mexico: NY Daily News has Reporter on Scene – talking to real people

Not getting PAN talking points at the State Department or looking at the weather and civil and well behaved Mexican people on election day and saint it was an uneventful elecxtion. Great, watch this guy.

NY Daily News Coloumnist Albor Ruiz: 07/16/06
Strong vote for recount in Mex. Elex

http://tinyurl.com/hrtvt

"They say that history repeats itself, but this time it is not going to happen because we are not going to allow it," said Víctor Hugo Lozano, a 42-year-old restaurant worker from Oaxaca, Mexico.

"The Mexican community wants to be sure that there is still some democracy in Mexico," said Joel Magallán, a Jesuit brother who is executive director of Asociación Tepeyac, a Mexican advocacy group that organized the vigil.

Lozano and Magallán were referring to the fact that according to the official count, left-winger Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, lost the presidential contest by 0.6% to conservative Felipe Calderón, of the National Action Party (PAN), the party in power. PAN is the favorite of Washington and the Mexican business class.

snip

The 1988 election story is a sordid one. Cárdenas, the Party of the Democratic Revolution candidate, was ahead in the vote count against Carlos Salinas de Gortari, of Institutional Revolutionary Party. Then, in the middle of the night, the computer system at election headquarters crashed. When it was restored hours later, Salinas - one of Mexico's most reviled public figures - was declared the winner.

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7. Mexico: Leftist to Launch Civil Resistance

This is how you do it.

Reuters: 07.16.06:

Mexico leftist to launch civil resistance

http://tinyurl.com/kcr64

By Noel Randewich Sun Jul 16, 5:50 PM ET
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Backed by hundreds of thousands of followers, the leftist who lost Mexico's presidential vote vowed on Sunday to launch a civil resistance campaign to protest at fraud and force a recount.

Huge crowds chanting "You are not alone," cheered Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, runner-up in the July 2 election by a fraction, on a march through the capital to the Zocalo square.

The size of the protest, bigger than a similar demonstration last week, gave Lopez Obrador a lift in his attempt to persuade an election court to declare him winner.
"We are going to start peaceful civil resistance to defend democracy," Lopez Obrador told supporters, some of whom walked, traveled on battered old buses or even rode on horseback to the capital from around the country.

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8. Nation: Washington Post Endorses Real Election Reform…

....in the Ukraine. Thanks for pointing out the good that came from exit polls, fraud monitoring, and the presumption that if elections can be stolen, they will be. How about here, the USA. Notice a problem or two. Actually, the Post did some good work in 2000 but quickly dropped off the radar. Oh, well, they’re just the only thing resembling a paper in town.

The People's Choice: Washington Post 07.17.06
Ukraine's probable next prime minister didn't steal this election.

http://tinyurl.com/fph75

Monday, July 17, 2006; Page A14

TWO YEARS AGO, politics in Ukraine seemed to be a battle between good and evil. Now the picture is more complicated. The good guy is president, but the bad guy is likely to become the next prime minister. Some say it's a failure of democracy. We disagree.

In the uproar after Ukraine's 2004 presidential election, there were clear principles at stake. Viktor Yanukovich, the Russia-backed candidate, tried to steal the presidential election through massive voting fraud. His pro-West opponent, Viktor Yushchenko, nearly died after a poison attack that no one has yet explained. Ukraine's weak democratic institutions were crumbling under the weight of election rigging and political violence. Massive popular demonstrations forced a rerun of the presidential race and ultimately kept a vote-rigger out of the presidential palace.

But since then, Mr. Yushchenko and his Orange coalition have faltered. The government has had to face Russian bullying and a bevy of domestic problems while the momentum of revolution waned. In March's parliamentary elections, the party of Mr. Yanukovich claimed the most seats. And after months of parliamentary wrangling, he won the nomination for prime minister last week.

It's not an outcome the West will like; Mr. Yanukovich as prime minister will do his best to keep Ukraine in Moscow's orbit. Even if he doesn't get the parliament's top job, which is still a possibility given the volatility of Ukrainian politics, Mr. Yanukovich will rank among the most influential politicians in government. It is tempting to wish that Ukraine's president would call for new parliamentary elections, a move he called a last resort on Saturday, in the hope that a pro-West coalition would get more seats.

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9. CA: Here is someone who gets what the Wash Post doesn’t

A local activist wrote this editorial on the election in San Diego. She points out that there are many recounts all over the country. Why not in her community? Well because everybody has separate rules, designed to serve multiple purposes. So if you live in one state you have more voting rights than people in other states. Silly isn’t it. This is a good article by a citizen activist.

North County News, CA: 07.16.06
Electile dysfunction in the 50th

By: Gail Chatfield – Commentary
http://tinyurl.com/jw3tz

Barbara Jacobson has challenged the results of that election claiming widespread security breeches. It may or may not change the outcome, but it will identify any irregularities with the system.

But citizens are asked once again to "get over it and move on" by some bloggers. Those who support a hand recount are called "DemoWhiners" by bloggers who also claim that liberals "always expect the taxpayer to fund their pet issues and causes " ---- pet issues and causes no doubt meaning fair, transparent, accurate and secure elections.

The U.S. rejected the outcome of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, claiming voter fraud. Secretary of State Colin Powell called for "a full review of the conduct of this election" and tallying of results. "We cannot accept the result as legitimate ... because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse," Powell said.

Lviv is no Leucadia, naturally. But by Googling, I was amazed to read of the numerous American small town, big city and state elections that were recounted because of suspected fraud. One could certainly lose confidence in electronic voting and the absentee ballot process, by the way.

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10. Philippines: Fraud asccused based on daughter testimony. Warry of voting

The Philippines has it all-vote fraud, lost ballots, near revoliution, now. For those of you who don’t remember miy preoccupation with the Philipines it is not back. Just dabbling. Candidat Cruz broke out the firworks, set them off by the lake to celebrate his victory. Then went to bed. In the middle of the night, he’d lost.and his opponent was shooting off fireworks. Bet they’re from “China, great stuff.

SPECIAL REPORT

The Manila Times: 07/17/06
Dangers of leaving vote count to machines

By research staff
MANY years ago the late Ambassador JV Cruz was recounting before a group of friends his unhappy experience about electoral cheating.

“There we were,” Mr. Cruz said, “celebrating my victory in the congressional elections in Bataan. The boys lit the firecrackers and the kwitis and we were whooping it up, getting tighter by the minute. I myself had called it a night after readying in my mind my victory speech for the next day.

“In the middle of the night,” JV mused, “my campaign manager woke me up from my stupor and told me, ‘manong, they’re lighting the kwitis on the opposite bank of the river.’

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11. AZ Star: 1 MILLION MEXICANS DEMAND RECOUNT!!!

Yep, finally got it right, didn’t they. Took them long enough. Thisis from 1 hour ago. One million. Those of you who were there on January 6, 2006, Patriots Day, how many of us were there? We were an awesome group, a sight to see, but how many. Mexicans love democracy. Why don’t we?

http://www.azstarnet.com/news/138170

1 million Mexicans demand recount

By Kevin Diaz
McClatchy Newspapers

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.17.2006

MEXICO CITY — Blaring horns and beating drums, an estimated 1 million protesters from all over Mexico converged on the capital Sunday to call for a recount in the country's still-undecided July 2 presidential election.

The outpouring was by far the largest demonstration yet in support of former Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a left-leaning populist who cites fraud in his narrow loss to conservative ruling party candidate Felipe Calderón.

The Roman Catholic Church canceled Mass at the downtown cathedral as protesters overwhelmed the massive central plaza and spilled for blocks down nearby streets, The Associated Press reported. Protesters filling the Zócalo square and side streets numbered about 1.1 million, making it the second-largest protest in the city's history, Ricardo Olayo, the chief spokesman for Mexico City police told Bloomberg News.

Organizers of López Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution, known as the PRD, distributed copies of newspaper editorials worldwide calling for a recount, if not for López Obrador then to affirm Mexico's nascent democracy and Calderón's victory.

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12. DU: Bloomberg, you are so busted. You said 300,000 protesters but...

in the post above the information the Arizona Star (a McClatchy Paper, a good one) says you were told 1.1 million. Wuz up, fellow media types? Do you divide protest crowds you don't like by three? Do you multiply protest crowds you do like by three?

"Protesters filling the Zócalo square and side streets numbered about 1.1 million, making it the second-largest protest in the city's history, Ricardo Olayo, the chief spokesman for Mexico City police told Bloomberg News."

By Kevin Diaz McClatchy Newspapers 07.17.2006 http://tinyurl.com/fjrsc

Bloomberg told 1.1 million but reports http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=avtxCyt3KQkk&refer=news">300,000. Yet there are those who think that the media and the rest of "management" would never fool around with vote counting. Oh sure, and there's a Bridge in Brooklyn I've got on sale this week, seriously, just for you...and you know who you are;)...

:evilgrin:Bloomberg YOU ARE Busted:evilgrin:

I'm shocked...

[Algorem]

15. Ass P :PERSPECTIVE: Clinton draws attention to who's running elections

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/1153110586148910.xml&storylist=cleveland

PERSPECTIVE: Clinton draws attention to who's running elections
7/17/2006, 12:50 a.m. ET
By JULIE CARR SMYTH
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton created a potential problem for herself and Democrats last week when she said during an Ohio stop that someone running for higher office should be forbidden from overseeing elections.

Clinton's statement, while received with much enthusiasm by national conventioneers of the anti-poverty Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, flies in the face of Ohio's Constitution and sets a bar that some high-profile gubernatorial hopefuls of her own party would have trouble meeting this fall.

By suggesting Ohio Secretary of State and GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell is up to something nefarious, Clinton is harming her credibility among sticklers for accuracy in the nation's bellwether state that Clinton visited to boost her presidential aspirations. Ohio, which clinched re-election for President Bush, has long allowed state election chiefs to participate actively in the partisan political process.

And the sweeping statement that running elections while seeking higher office presents a conflict of interest could give Republicans ammunition beyond Ohio's borders. Democratic contenders for governor in Iowa and Georgia are both secretaries of state poised to administer elections that will seal their political fate...

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16. MN: Runoff Election This Week In Red Lake

Jul 17, 2006 9:45 am US/Central

wcco Channel 4 (CBS)

(AP) Minneapolis A runoff election this week will determine whether Floyd (Buck) Jourdain remains as Red Lake tribal chairman, or if he's replaced by tribal secretary Judy Roy.

Red Lake members who live in the Twin Cities were voting Monday in Minneapolis. Tribal members in Red Lake vote Wednesday.

In the May 17 general election, Jourdain captured 47 percent of the vote in a four-candidate field, short of the 50 percent needed to win outright. Roy received 29 percent of the vote.

That election saw its share of controversy. Jourdain asked for a recount because of a shortage of absentee ballots and other voting problems for Red Lake members in the Twin Cities and elsewhere.

http://wcco.com/local/local_story_198104828.html

[Kurovski]

17. Kick.

A really, really good one.