Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday 8/15/06

[Melissa G]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday 8/15/06

Riot police prevent supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from getting to National Congress in Mexico City

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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

If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

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.



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







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

[Melissa G]

1. Mexico - Mexican Police, Protesters Clash

Riot police prevent supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from getting to National Congress in Mexico City

Mexican Police, Protesters Clash
By VOA News
15 August 2006

Riot police prevent supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from getting to National Congress in Mexico City
Mexican riot police have fired tear gas to disperse protesters who massed outside Congress to demand a full recount in last month's disputed presidential election.

Officials say the tear gas was fired to end a brief clash Monday between police and supporters of leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The former Mexico City mayor has alleged fraud in the election that he narrowly lost to his rival, conservative Felipe Calderon, and has called for all the votes to be recounted.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-08-15-voa6.cfm

[Melissa G]

2. Mexican police gas leftist lawmakers and protesters

It was the first time the government had deployed police to break up protests over the election. Picture / Reuters


Mexican police gas leftist lawmakers and protesters

1.00pm Tuesday August 15, 2006
By Oliver Ellrodt


MEXICO CITY - Mexican riot police used tear gas and clubs to drive back leftist legislators and supporters protesting outside Congress on Monday in the first violent clash over a fiercely contested presidential election.

Several lawmakers from the left-wing party whose presidential candidate narrowly lost the July 2 election were injured when police swept through their protest camp.

Demonstrators threw rocks back at the federal police lines. It was the first time the government has deployed police to break up protests that began days after the election and have until now been peaceful.

"They hit us all, they fired gas at us. I still haven't recovered from the tear gas," Elias Moreno, a senator of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10396299

[Melissa G]

3. Left-wing protests spread to highways, banks

Left-wing protests spread to highways, banks
By Kieran Murray in Mexico City

August 15, 2006 12:00

Article from: ReutersFont size: + -
Send this article: Print Email
HUNDREDS of left-wing demonstrators, claiming fraud in Mexico's presidential election, spread their protests outwards from the capital city on the weekend by occupying major highways to stop the government from collecting toll fees.

snip
Activists swung open toll barriers for hours on several main highways serving Mexico's three biggest cities: Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Also hit were highways to the Pacific coast beach resort of Acapulco and Nuevo Laredo on the US border.

snip"What happens if the court applies the law and annuls those polling stations with grave irregularities? Well, the result is different," Lopez Obrador told thousands of supporters in Mexico City's vast Zocalo square.

snip
This week, the tactics included blockading the stock exchange, the headquarters of international banks and government offices in Mexico City.
Fearing further unrest, the government has tightened security at the capital's international airport as well as oil refineries and power plants
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20133955-5006003,00.html

[Melissa G]

4. Mexico’s Partial Vote Recount Confirms Massive / Systematic Election Fraud

Mexico’s Partial Vote Recount Confirms Massive and Systematic Election Fraud
With Less than 9 Percent of Precincts Recounted, More than 126,000 Votes Are Found to Have Been Disappeared or Illegally Fabricated


By Al Giordano
Part V of a Special Series for The Narco News Bulletin
August 14, 2006

Finally, the hard numbers are starting to come in. In the “partial recount” of paper ballots from the July 2 presidential election in Mexico, ordered by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (known as the Trife), the recount has been completed in 10,679 precincts of the 11,839 ordered by the court (about 9 percent of Mexico’s 130,000 precincts). From these precincts, Narco News has obtained the following preliminary numbers that confirm the massive and systematic electoral fraud inflicted on the Mexican people:

In 3,074 precincts (29 percent of those recounted), 45,890 illegal votes, above the number of voters who cast ballots in each polling place, were found stuffed inside the ballot boxes (an average of 15 for each of these precincts, primarily in strongholds of the National Action Party, known as the PAN, of President Vicente Fox and his candidate, Felipe Calderón).
In 4,368 precincts (41 percent of those recounted), 80,392 ballots of citizens who did vote are missing (an average of 18 votes in each of these precincts).
Together, these 7,442 precincts contain about 70 percent of the ballots recounted. The total amount of ballots either stolen or forged adds up to 126,282 votes altered.
If the recount results of these 10,679 precincts (8.2 percent of the nation’s 130,000 polling places) are projected nationwide, it would mean that more than 1.5 million votes were either stolen or stuffed in an election that the first official count claimed was won by Calderon by only 243,000 votes.
Among the findings of this very limited partial recount are that in 3,079 precincts where the PAN party is strong and where, in many cases, the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) of candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not count with election night poll watchers, one or more of three things occurred: Either the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE, in its Spanish initials) illegally provided more ballots than there are voters in those precincts, or the PAN party stole those extra ballots, or ballots were forged.

“Taqueo and Saqueo”

These preliminary recounts demonstrate mainly two kinds of fraud: “taqueo,” or the stuffing of ballot boxes with false votes as if putting extra beans inside a taco, and “saqueo,” or “looting,” that is, the disappearance of legitimate ballots cast.

snip
If the Trife follows the law and its own established precedents, and annuls the results in these 7,442 precincts where the fraud took place, it would reverse the official results and López Obrador would emerge the victor by more than 425,000 votes nationwide.

http://www.narconews.com/Issue42/article2010.html

[AntiFascist]

25. Too bad this is no longer an issue of focus for the major media...

election fraud really did occur in a major way, and the partial vote recount confirms it.

[Melissa G]

5. Republicans straw poll to pick favored write-in

Republicans straw poll to pick favored write-in

SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - With former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay officially out, Republicans are moving on to decide who'll they'll back as a write-in candidate for his House seat this fall.

snip
The decision follows a meeting last week by four county party chairmen with Benkiser. Fort Bend Now, an online newspaper in DeLay's home county, reported DeLay also attended the meeting.
Benkiser said the straw poll by precinct chairs will ensure that the write-in candidate is selected by local, grassroots officials, not state party officials.

Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace has filed to be a write-in candidate in the district and Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs has said she wants to be the Republicans' chosen write-in candidate. Benkiser said Paul Bettencourt, Harris County's tax assessor-collector and Houston businessman Tim Turner also have said they are interested.

snip
Anyone who meets eligibility requirements can file as a write-in candidate, but only one will get backing from the party. The district is served by the expensive Houston area media market and party money can help with those costs.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/15273309.htm

[Melissa G]

6. SATIRE-Bush Gets Tom Delay onto Supreme Court with Recess Appointment

George W. Bush Gets Tom Delay onto Supreme Court with Recess Appointment

by Kamal El-Din

Supreme Court Justice Tom DelayA sleepy Washington D.C. was rudely awakened today by the news that embattled Representative Tom Delay has been appointed to the Supreme Court by the embattled President Bush. Bush took the highly controversial step of using a recess appointment to get Tom Delay onto the Court bypassing the Senate and thus avoiding another divisive nomination process.
"Tom is the right person to have on the court during these turbulent times." Said White House spokesmen Ben Lion, reading from a prepared statement. "Judge Delay will be the rock the country will stand on as we face an uncertain and dangerous future. Justice Delay is a man of strong convictions and has the ability to see past the facts of an issue and decisions on purely partisan political grounds."

"The President has done it again." Says David Brooks, of the New York Times. "He has defied conventional wisdom and made, in my mind, the most brilliant appointment of his presidency. Tom Delay's presence on the bench will pave the way and solidify the right wing's control of the government and the country. The President has really captured the high ground with this appointment. And by using a recess appointment has saved the country from another bruising nomination process like that of Judge Roberts. Bravo Mr. President! Bravo!"

snip

"I would like to thank the President for this gracious appointment and vow to use my power as a supreme court justice to guide this county out of the moral morass it has fallen into. With God favor, and corporate guidance, we will make this the best Christian country the world has ever known. We will set a new standard of moral and ethical governance as to be an example for all the world. But first, Ronnie Earl, you better watch your ass, because I coming for you."

http://www.unconfirmedsources.com/?itemid=1222

[Melissa G]

7. Electronic Voting Machines Pose An Extraordinary Threat To Our Democracy."

BLOGGED BY John Gideon ON 8/14/2006 5:58PM
CNN's Lou Dobbs: Electronic Voting Machines Pose An Extraordinary Threat To Our Democracy.
Guest Blogged by John Gideon

Tonight Lou discusses the fact that Diebold voting machines and parts can be purchased on-line and at least one of those purchases has revealed a vulnerability in the Diebold TS-R6. The only response Diebold had was that there are only a few thousand of those machines being used as they are being replaced. Diebold obfuscates the truth; there are over 40,000 in use in Georgia and Maryland alone.

snip


There's new evidence tonight that electronic voting machines pose an extraordinary threat to our democracy. Computer experts say it's easy for hackers to tamper with the machines and to change voting results. It is also, as it turns out, possible for hackers to buy key parts of these machines over the Web. Kitty Pilgrim has the story.
snip

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Voter watchdog groups report that in recent months, components for electronic voting machines and even an entire machine are regularly up for sale, even on E-Bay. A quick check on E-Bay found this Diebold motherboard for sale, listed as brand new.

snip
PILGRIM: A motherboard contains most of the core functioning of the voting machine. In essence, vital information on how the machine records votes. That can be valuable to activist groups who want to check the security of the system or hackers with an interest in tampering with the system.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3234

[Melissa G]

8. Chavez Launches his Candidacy for Venezuela's Presidency 2007-20013

Chavez Launches his Candidacy for Venezuela's Presidency 2007-20013

Monday, Aug 14, 2006 By: Steven Mather - Venezuelanalysis.com



Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez holds up the form with which he registered as candidate for the December 3 election.
Credit: Silvia Leindecker



thousands gathered outside the electoral council headquarters to help Chavez launch his re-election campaign.
Credit: Silvia Leindecker

Caracas , Venezuela , August 14, 2006 —Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez presented himself at the National Electoral Council (CNE) Saturday to register his candidacy for the December 3 presidential election.

He was nominated in all by 25 different political organisations which, besides his own, Movement for the Fifth Republic (MVR), included coalition partner Patria Para Todos (Fatherland for All), Podemos (We Can – For Social Democracy), the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), and several smaller parties, such as the Middle Class Revolutionaries and the Movement for Revolutionary Action (Tupamaros).

After registering, Chávez expressed his confidence in the Venezuelan electoral system and, regarding the campaign, said that it, “must be above all a debate about ideas, an opportunity to elevate the level of debate and the political culture.”

He also used the opportunity to guarantee that, in accordance with the norms of publicity and propaganda constituted by the CNE, he would not use official channels such as the weekly presidential TV program Aló Presidente to campaign for his re-election.

Waiting for Chávez outside of the headquarters of the CNE in Caracas Square was a sea of red: thousands of followers in trademark Chavista red t-shirts and caps, the slogans inscribed on them including their party loyalties and from which part of the country they had come. They had come from all corners of the republic to support Chavez and danced to loud music pumping out of speakers while they awaited his appearance.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2042

[Melissa G]

9. State Has Yet To Order Voting Machines For Disabled

State Has Yet To Order Voting Machines For Disabled
Machines May Not Be Ready For Primary

POSTED: 1:53 pm EDT August 14, 2006
UPDATED: 4:37 pm EDT August 14, 2006



BOSTON -- Voting machines designed to help the disabled may not be in place for the September primary in Massachusetts.

Secretary of State William Galvin told the Boston Globe that he is still in the process of evaluating several models, but could place an order within days.

A federal law enacted after the 2000 presidential election requires that disabled voters be given the same accessibility in the voting booth enjoyed by others.


Galvin's staff held forums around the state with disabled voters to gather information on what type of equipment was needed.
The possible delay is causing concerns for some disability advocates.

http://www.turnto10.com/politics/9676306/detail.html

[Melissa G]

10. Soggy ceiling plops on voting machines

Soggy ceiling plops on voting machines
Source: KRQE News 13

ALBUQUERQUE -- A building where Bernalillo County voting machines are kept couldn't withstand the rain.
The building's roof started to leak last night soaking insulation until it fell through the ceiling tiles.

Water poured down onto computers. Absentee ballots from the primary election, which have already
been counted, were ruined.

The county clerk’s office is now scrambling to find a new facility and test voting machines.

“We have some voting machines that got wet,” County Clerk Mary Herrera said. “We're going to have to test them to make sure that they're functioning efficiently to use for the election.”




http://www.krqe.com/expanded.asp?ID=16689

[Melissa G]

11. E-VOTING REACHES RELIGION STATUS

Thanks to Stevepol for the post and the DU discussion here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x445959
he got it Courtesy John Gideon and Voters Unite

E-VOTING REACHES RELIGION STATUS

By: PAUL JACOBS - For the North County Times

Elections in America have achieved cult status. A sect of county election officials all over the country trust the voters' will to an unholy trinity of manufacturers of proprietary electronic voting equipment.

When election officials propose spending millions of taxpayer dollars on privatized voting systems, county administrators and our elected officials obediently bow and approve obscene expenditures without a doubt. Cultists never question the dogma; they just blindly follow.

The sad fact that only a minority of voters participate in the charade of electronic voting is further evidence that elections in America are now faith-based, cultish affairs reserved for the true believers. Elections have become so ethereal that citizens demanding sanctity of the process are treated like unworthy, wayward members of the flock in need of a good flogging.


Electronic elections lack any scripture dictating uniform procedures to ensure integrity of the highest order. Instead, false idols act as the sole divinity in their respective jurisdictions. These stone gods know nothing of computer programming codes, and even if they did, the software that runs our elections is considered "intellectual property" and off-limits to independent inspection.

It's like a church leader using a Bible that has had all the pages glued together, making it impossible to look inside to see the light.

In Riverside County, the election goddess is Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore. County administrators and the Board of Supervisors are her flock, and the voters are heathens needing to be saved at the altar of a touch-screen voting machine. We even vote in privacy ---- much like a confessional.

Our high priestess of electronic voting writes her own bible of spur-of-the-moment rules. Secular election laws are irrelevant and something to be worked around, because the machines are her higher authority. No mandatory standards existed when Riverside County took that leap of faith with electronic voting in November of 2000. As commandments have been written since, such as the requirement for a paper audit trail, Dunmore has resisted the laws of mere mortals ---- including California's secretary of state

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/08/13/opinion/jacobs/17_25_508_12_06.txt

[Melissa G]

12. MI - 'The voter registration you currently hold...may be cancelled'

Thanks to WillYourVoteBCounted for the post and the DU discussion here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x445964


MI - 'The voter registration you currently hold...may be cancelled'
by fergusonforcongress
Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 11:31:59 AM PDT
Cross-posted from michiganliberal.com

Remember a few weeks ago when my ex-boss and East Lansing political list kingpin Mark
Grebner (D) called attention to the massive statewide mailing Secretary of State Terri Lynn
Land's (R) office sent out to all registered voters. Remember when he suggested it could be
part of an effort by Land to "clean up" the state voter file?

....So the state is trying to clean up the voter rolls. Big deal. What's the problem?

Well, for one thing, the State of Michigan has no authority to do this. Under Michigan law (MCL 168.509), only city or township clerks have the ability to strike people from the voter rolls. Terri Land may not like that law. But that's what it says.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/14/143159/981

[Melissa G]

13. New Election Auditing Protocol Proposed

Thanks to Wilms and Vote trust USA for the post. DU discussion here..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x445924

New Election Auditing Protocol Proposed
By Warren Stewart, VoteTrustUSA

August 12, 2006

In a newly released paper, “Random Auditing of E-Voting Systems: How Much is Enough?”, Howard Stanislevic argues that “Auditing protocols proposed and implemented at the federal and state levels that rely on small-percentage random sampling without replacement are unlikely to detect miscounts sufficient to change the outcome of Congressional or smaller local races, even if such races initially appear to be decided by relatively wide margins.”

While accpeting that random sample comprising a small percentage of thousands of voting systems may be adequate to confirm the outcome of all but the closest statewide races, Stansislevic recommends that a much larger percentage of systems must be audited than commonly suggested for Congressional elections. "Each race must be considered a separate auditing process taking into account the vote margin, the number of precincts in which the race appeared on the ballot and the possibility of miscounts concentrated in a relatively small number of large precincts."

Stanislevic is quick to add that he does not discourage legislation requiring routine election audits, but rather, that the limitations of such audits must be acknowledged by those who promote them so as not to engender a false sense of security. “Routine methods of error and fraud detection must be developed and employed to supplement small-percentage audits, particularly when there is no obvious trigger for additional auditing or full recounts.”

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_conten...


From the paper:


Using the above methodology (which does not even take precinct size into account), in the 2004 general election for the US House of Representatives there were 57 races with margins of less than 17.4% requiring more than a 2% audit, 14 races (with margins of < 8.1%) requiring more than a 5% audit and 7 races (with margins of < 4.2%) requiring more than a 10% audit.


http://www.votetrustusa.org/pdfs/VTTF/EVEPAuditing.pdf

[Melissa G]

14. BWC tried to keep $215M loss under wraps prior to '04 vote

Thanks to rosebud57 for the post and the DU discussion here..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x445910
Toledo Blade reports on '04 machinations to save Bush, Voinovich, etc.


BWC tried to keep $215M loss under wraps prior to '04 vote
Documents reflect director's concern about possible 'leak'

COLUMBUS - Less than a week before the 2004 presidential election, Jim Conrad, then head of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, took steps to ensure that a $215 million investment loss in an offshore hedge-fund would not become public, documents obtained by The Blade show.

On Oct. 27, 2004 - just six days before President Bush was re-elected after narrowly winning Ohio - Mr. Conrad expressed his concern about a potential "leak" of the losses in an e-mail to John Annarino, then the bureau's chief legal counsel and ethics officer. In the e-mail, Mr. Conrad advised how Mr. Annarino and James McLean, then the bureau's investment director, should manage the agency's investment staff to keep the potentially explosive losses under wraps.<snip>

On Sept. 27, 2004, Mr. Conrad, the bureau's administrator-CEO, was giving a speech in Cincinnati when he received a call from Ms. Kielmeyer, then the bureau's chief operating officer. She told Mr. Conrad that an employee had told her about an investment gone bad. That evening, Mr. McLean told Mr. Conrad in a conference call that when he wanted to "tighten the screws" on MDL, Gasper had told him that Mr. Conrad had given permission to "give MDL a break.''<snip> Mr. McLean said he was instructed by Mr. Annarino "to make sure that the staff was kept content and happy so that they would not reveal any information on MDL."<snip> "Keeping a lid on the MDL losses was not something that I simply assumed Mr. Annarino wanted; it was a straightforward mandate," Mr. McLean wrote. "The Bureau did not want any information on MDL to get out and I was to cooperate with that mandate."<snip>

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060813/NEWS24/608130338/-1/NEWS

[Melissa G]

15. Ben Bentzin to withdraw from House race

Thanks to crispini for the post and DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=180&topic_id=35818&mesg_id=35818
Ben Bentzin to withdraw from House race


Ben Bentzin to withdraw from House race
GOP nominee cites negative campaign.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Monday, August 14, 2006

Republican House candidate Ben Bentzin said today he plans to withdraw from the race for Texas House District 48 in western Travis County. He will formally notify party officials Tuesday.

Bentzin, a former executive at Dell, Inc., cited new business opportunities and the negative tone in his earlier race for the seat as reasons for dropping out. He is not moving out of the district.


http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/legislature/08/15bentzin.html?

[Kurovski]

16. K&R! Thanks, Melissa G!

:-)

[cascadiance]

17. The real "faith based" initiatives are our current election machine laws!

Just have "faith" that the votes will be counted right! :eyes:

[reprehensor]

18. Salon acknowledges a possible problem...

...sort of. Better than nothing, I guess. Presumably enough people cancelled their subscriptions to freak them out.

"Salon's shameful six"
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/08/15/states/index_np.html

*There was Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. Here are the six states where vote suppression could cost voters their voice -- and Democrats the election -- in 2006.*

*ARIZONA*
Thanks to a legacy that includes denying Native Americans the right to vote until 1948 and decades more of scheming to block minority voters (the state still has to submit its voting regulations to the Justice Department for approval), there's a good reason that voting reformers view the state's latest "voting integrity" weapon with skepticism. The sweeping Proposition 200, passed by the Republican Legislature in 2004 and enacted last year, was designed to bar illegal immigrants from accessing state services and voting. It makes Arizona the only state in the country to require proof of citizenship for voter registration...

*INDIANA*
In the movie "Hoosiers," a plucky team of Indiana underdogs overcome long odds to achieve victory on the basketball court. But in the real world of politics, Indiana citizens face even more daunting obstacles to win the right to vote, and too often, they fail. Whether it's thousands of voters purged from county registration rolls this year without due process or new and arcane photo I.D. rules that can trip up even the most dedicated voter, state and county GOP election officials are seemingly seeking to discourage voter participation -- perhaps because three of the most competitive U.S. House races this year are in Indiana...

*OHIO*
The secretary of state, Kenneth Blackwell, now the Republican candidate for governor, is using some new vote-suppressing tricks and, this time, he's got a sweeping if confusing law, HB 3, to back him up. A coalition of voting-rights groups filed suit last month to overturn the law as unconstitutional. Infamous for such schemes as initially demanding that all voter registration applications be submitted on 80 lb. stock paper, Blackwell also presided over what most investigators regard as the worst election meltdown of 2004. While the allegation that Blackwell helped "steal" the election from John Kerry is debatable, the view that he intentionally suppressed voting by Democratic-leaning groups is less controversial. That the Ohio election was a mess is almost universally acknowledged, although not by Blackwell's office. His spokesman, James Lee, says, "The critics were wrong then, and they're wrong now."...

*CALIFORNIA*
Back in 2002, the federal government mandated that states create consolidated statewide voter registration lists, a mandate that became effective Jan. 1, 2006. The law required that states attempt to match the applicant's Social Security or driver's license info with the database, but spelled no consequences for the would-be voter if the data didn't match. California is among a handful of states that have been using those comparisons to bar voters from the rolls...

*FLORIDA*
Will the fiasco-prone Sunshine State be the next ... Florida? That's the question that has haunted observers of Florida's election system since the debacle of 2000. Six years later, Florida is still Florida, only more so. Florida still has a Republican governor, legislature, and secretary of state, and still doesn't have voter-verified paper trails for its vulnerable voting machines. Hundreds of thousands of voters remain at serious risk of being robbed of the vote...

*MISSOURI*
The Show Me state has an unsavory and very recent history of suppressing black votes. As governor 20 years ago, John Ashcroft tolerated different standards for voter registration in white Republican St. Louis County and the black and Democratic city of St. Louis. Last week, progressive groups mounted a legal challenge to the Republican legislature's latest attempt to thwart black voters, a rigid voter I.D. law that takes effect Aug. 28...

Full article here.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/08/15/states/index_np.html

-----------------------------------

Get involved:
"VerifiedVoting.org"
http://verifiedvoting.org

[Melissa G]

21. DU Discussion here....

Thanks to im10ashus for the post..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1912360

[freedomfries]

19. thanks for a great thread melissa g!

:)

[kpete]

20. awesome thread

thanks

[Melissa G]

22. Thanks kpete, FF and Kurovski for the K and R's!!

Thanks to calipendence and reprehensor for their posts also! We appreciate all the help from DUers who post to the thread either to put up articles or links to discussions or just those who have time to recommend for greatest to get the word out!!

Whatever anyone can do to assist those who do the ERD Daily Thread is always welcome!
Thanks DU!!!

[kpete]

24. Thank you for all you do!!!

[Melissa G]

23. Fraud claims in Mexico recount rampant

Thanks to kpete for the post and DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x446013


Fraud claims in Mexico recount rampant

Amid protests, cries of fraud, both sides claim victory in Mexico recount

................

Analyses of the hard data varies... depending on the source.

UPI, Bloomberg and MarketWatch are among those asserting that the recount results indicate little change in the overall figures, cementing Calderón's claim to victory.

Cuban news agency Prensa Latina, however, reports that Mexican election officials "detected a favorable 420,000 vote difference" favoring Obrador. Narco News, in a continuing investigative series focusing on the election, takes an in-depth look at the data and concludes that preliminary numbers confirm "massive and systematic electoral fraud." RAW STORY reported earlier on accusations of fraud surrounding the first election.

Mexicans themselves, at first content with the initial result but welcoming a recount, have become disenchanted with the government's handling of it. Approval ratings for the federal electoral committee have dropped 13 points in the last month.

President Fox broke his silence in an interview with the New York Times (registration required), calling López Obrador's claims of box stuffing and missing ballots a "big lie," standing by the apparent win of Calderón, and warning ominously that if events continue to spiral out of control, "I will assume my responsibility."

Mexicans are meanwhile losing patience with disruptive protests in the nation's capital. Demonstrators have been tear-gassed, while federal legislators have been injured in scuffles with riot police.

For his part, López Obrador declares that protests could continue "for years."

more (lots of interesting links) at:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Amid_protests_cries_of_fraud_both_0815.html

[Melissa G]

26. Pennsylvania: suit filed against electronic voting without paper trail

thanks to kpete for the post and Du discussion here..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x446038


Pennsylvania: suit filed against electronic voting without paper trail

Voter's rights advocates sue over paperless voting systems in Pa.
PATRICK WALTERS
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - Voter advocates filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to stop most Pennsylvania counties from using "paperless" electronic voting machines, saying that such systems leave no paper record that could be used in the event of a recount, audit or other problem.

The suit asks the state's Commonwealth Court to decertify machines being used in 58 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. The plaintiffs argue that the state should replace paperless machines with systems in which voters fill out a bubble sheet that is then fed into a machine for quick scanning.

"Whatever the initial promise may have been for electronic voting, we now know ... that they are simply not ready for prime time," said Lowell Finley, an attorney with the nonprofit group Voter Action, which has been involved in similar suits nationwide.

A similar lawsuit forced New Mexico to use "optical scan" ballots earlier this year, Finley said. Other suits involving paper-based voting systems have been filed in Arizona, Colorado and California.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/15279524.htm

[Kurovski]

27. Kick to the top!

:kick: