Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday, Sept. 23, 2006

[livvy]

             The Patriot Pirate

1779 The American navy under John Paul Jones, commanding from Bonhomme Richard, defeats and captures the British man-of-war Serapis. American commander John Paul Jones is said to have declared, ''I have not yet begun to fight!'' during a Revolutionary War naval battle.
Read more about the life and experiences of this Patriot Pirate at the link below.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/biographies/johnpauljones.html


Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

          No! I don't mean that way. I mean....

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 new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

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).

[livvy]

1. Editorial: In Ohio's Gubernatorial Race,Black Voters AreDifficult To Read

Article published September 23, 2006

In Ohio's gubernatorial race, black voters are difficult to read

By ROSE RUSSELL

LOOKS as though Ohio's gubernatorial race is heating up, now that the Rev. Jesse Jackson has jumped into the mix.

Mr. Jackson may be honored to have been called "a partisan operative" by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's spokesman, Carlo LoParo, who sends the media E-mail every time Mr. Blackwell bats an eye.

Well, how different is he from other politicians who tell voters what they will and will not do, as long as on Nov. 7, they tap the image of a box next to their names on the touch-screen voting machine?

Although Mr. Jackson seems to favor Mr. Blackwell's Democratic opponent, Ted Strickland, it was very discouraging to learn that no blacks were on Mr. Strickland's staff until this year. What happened? Couldn't he find African-Americans "qualified" until he decided to run for governor? Not cool. No wonder a black man rejected his offer to be chief of staff.

It's really tough not to consider the race of these candidates. Each is the opposite of the expectation. Mr. Blackwell, a black man, is a conservative Republican. Mr. Strickland is the more liberal and a white Democrat. None of this, however, suggests that black voters are declaring allegiance to Mr. Strickland because he is a Democrat or to Mr. Blackwell because he is black. Truth is, at this juncture, it's not easy to tell whom black voters will decide to support.

>more

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060923/COLUMNIST24/609230342/-1/NEWS32

[livvy]

2. NJ: Bill To Require Voter Photo IDs Upsets Activists

Bill to require voter photo IDs upsets activists
Saturday, September 23, 2006

By MIGUEL PEREZ
STAFF WRITER

A bill that would require voters to present a government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot in federal elections beginning in 2008 has been met with alarm and rejection by immigrant and civil rights activists in New Jersey.

The Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006, passed 228-196 by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, aims to prevent election fraud, especially voting by non-citizens.

Beginning in 2010, the bill would require voters to present an ID at the polling place that proves U.S. citizenship.

"Undocumented immigrants are afraid to even go open a bank account," said Martin Perez, president of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey. "To think they are going to try to vote is absurd."

Perez said the bill is "just an effort to suppress the minority vote" by creating unnecessary barriers.

>more

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2OTk1OTgxJnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg==

[livvy]

3. HI: Case and Akaka spend Final Hours Sign Waving

Posted: September 22, 2006 10:17 PM

Case and Akaka spend final hours sign waving
Andrew Pereira

Supporters of Dan Akaka and Ed Case were out in force along King Street in Honolulu Friday night trying to sway voters that their man is the right choice for the U.S. Senate.

One cheerful group of sign wavers found a new way to attract the attention of drivers by spinning in place while holding "Akaka" signs.

"I guess change it up a bit get everyone revved up out in the street," said Akaka supporter Rachel Mark.

A few blocks away Case supporters also had their motors running. Two of his volunteers choreographed an impromptu dance as drivers sped by, some honking their horns.

>more

http://khon.com/khon/displayStory.cfm?storyID=15304

[livvy]

22. Hawaii's Akaka Could Become Next Primary Victim

Hawaii's Akaka Could Become Next Primary Victim
By ERIKA LOVLEY
September 23, 2006; Page A4

In a year when primary voters have already proven willing to dump status-quo candidates, one of Hawaii's veteran senators could become the next casualty in a season of political discontent.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, an 82-year-old Democrat and 30-year veteran of Capitol Hill, has been put on the defensive in Saturday's primary by Rep. Ed Case, who is almost 30 years his junior. The outcome will likely determine the November winner, since Republican competition is weak.

Recent polls show Mr. Akaka pulling barely more than 50% of the likely vote, a weak showing for a longtime incumbent. Moreover, the polls show a large percentage of voters have yet to make up their minds. Undecided voters are often bad news for well-known officeholders, who can offer little that is new at the end of a campaign to persuade voters to back them.

What's more, says Jennifer E. Duffy, editor of the Cook Political Report in Washington, Mr. Akaka's so-so poll showing may overstate the support behind him. "I think it's going to be one of those races where no outcome would truly surprise us," she adds.

>more

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115896828411571879-oEqtc0pbGW7BaapiXU2TTsiUstw_20061022.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

[livvy]

4. Editorial: "Election Integrity" Legislation Dishonest On Its Face

September 23, 2006

By any definition, a poll tax

'Election Integrity' legislation dishonest on its face

The opening paragraph of the "Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006" states the reason local Rep. Tom Feeney and other House Republicans sponsored the bill: "... to prevent fraud in federal elections, and for other purposes." The bill has little to do with preventing fraud, even less with election integrity. But, oh, those "other purposes."

The House passed it 228-196 Wednesday, heavily along partisan lines. The bill would require every voter to present current, government-issued photo identification to receive a ballot in the November 2008 presidential election. A photo ID and proof of citizenship would be required to vote in future federal elections. The bill is a sham, staged before the midterm elections to pander to anti-illegal immigrant sentiment, but with a potentially more sinister outcome.

Consider who is least likely to have current photo ID: young people, people who move often, the elderly, people with disabilities, people of color, people who are poor and those who live in rural areas. These Americans need more access to the polls, not laws that discourage their participation. Such restrictions by some states have resulted in discrimination. Tuesday, a judge in Georgia struck down a similar voter ID law as unconstitutional because it disproportionately disadvantaged the poor and minorities.

There might be merit to the House bill if there were compelling evidence that voters feign their identity at the polls or that persons ineligible to vote are getting to the polling booth. There isn't, and they're not.

>more

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/opnOPN61092306.htm

[livvy]

5. GA: Election Board Vote Means No Photo ID Required in Nov.

Posted on Sat, Sep. 23, 2006


Election board vote means no photo ID required in November

By Doug Gross
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTA - After two years of battles at both the courthouse and the state Capitol, a law requiring photo ID at the polls will not be enforced when Georgians vote for governor, lieutenant governor and other state races in November.

A judge's rebuff this week of the Republican-backed plan, which would have pared down the forms of identification a voter can show from 17 to 6, was the latest in a two-year series of legal setbacks for the effort.

While the state's election board said Friday that it would not ask a higher court to rule on their appeal before the Nov. 7 election, top Georgia Republicans were saying that it may take a constitutional amendment to finally get the law enforced.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. on Tuesday rejected the state's latest attempt to require voters to present a government-issued photo ID at the polls.

>more

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/15588473.htm

[livvy]

6. US Senate Democrats Decry voter Photo ID Bill

U.S. Senate Democrats decry voter photo ID bill
Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:38 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats on Friday said legislation that would require voters to show proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections was little more than a poll tax and urged Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to stop the bill.

The measure, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week largely along party lines, would require voters to present at the polls a photo identification that also proves citizenship for federal elections beginning in 2010.

Republicans said proof of citizenship is needed to crack down on voter fraud and ensure illegal immigrants do not vote in U.S. elections.

Democrats said there is no evidence of widespread abuse and that the cost and effort required to get such a document would discourage poor voters, the elderly and people with disabilities.

>more

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-09-22T213757Z_01_N22219956_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-IMMIGRATION-ELECTIONS.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C3-politicsNews-3

[livvy]

7. NYT: Lost Horizons

September 24, 2006
Lost Horizons
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

It should have been an easy morning for Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee. He had settled in for a radio interview with a friendly questioner, Frank Beckmann, broadcasting live on WJR from the first floor of the Renaissance Center, home to General Motors in Detroit. As the traffic report hummed over the studio monitors, Mehlman and Beckmann bantered about the liberal media and the war on terrorism and all the problems with the Democrats. But something changed when the microphone went live. Beckmann did not turn hostile, but he was nothing like the cheerleader-interviewer Mehlman tends to find on the other side of the table. Why has Bush been so slow to make a case — “He waited too long, didn’t he?” — for Iraq? Was Bush’s unpopularity dragging Republicans down in places like Michigan, one of the few states where Republicans actually had a chance to topple a Democratic governor and senator? And why was Bush, sounding just like a Democrat, pressing an immigration plan that could help illegal immigrants become citizens? “Why should anybody support what the president puts out there on this, Ken?” Beckmann asked.

It is hard to fathom how much Mehlman’s life has changed since he took the chairman’s desk at the Republican National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill in January 2005, the reward for managing, together with Karl Rove at the White House, what was widely praised as one of the most sophisticated and groundbreaking presidential campaigns in a generation. “It was an election where they knew more than we did,” Joe Lockhart, a senior strategist for John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, told me. For the next year, Chairman Mehlman talked big and thought big about the Republican Party: about how he and his allies could fundamentally redraw the political architecture of America, change the way Americans conceptualize the two parties and establish Republicans as the dominant party in America long after George Bush returned to Texas. That meant putting a lock on the White House and Congress, and it meant winning statehouses and governorships, which draw the redistricting maps that are the cement of long-term political realignments. This was nothing short of a campaign to marginalize the Democratic Party and everything that Mehlman, reflecting Bush and Rove, said it stood for: big government, high taxes, liberal judges, a timorous foreign policy.

In meticulous detail and with a cool mastery of his subject, he preached about the revolution in marketing and data technologies and the new world of advertising and communications that had transformed politics since he first arrived at the George Bush for President campaign in Austin seven years earlier. It is a political paradigm that Republicans — particularly Rove, Mehlman and the Bush campaign’s senior strategist, Matthew Dowd — grasped before Democrats did, and nearly as much as anything else, it accounted for Republican successes in 2002 and 2004. After he was named chairman, Mehlman began filling his days with appearances before African-American audiences across the country, where he apologized for past Republican slights to black Americans, portrayed Republicans as the “party of Lincoln” and pledged to challenge Democrats for black, as well as Hispanic, support. Quixotic? Perhaps. But it reflected just how bullish the second-term Bush Republican Party, with its eye to history and legacy and lasting power, had become.

There was time for such indulgences in the days before a hurricane roared through New Orleans and the country turned against the war Bush had launched in Iraq. These days, of course, talk of a Republican realignment has given way to talk of simple survival this November. Now the lofty ideals and bold ambitions of Mehlman and Rove often seem in direct conflict with the short-term survival instincts of Republicans who want nothing more than to get past the next election. House Republicans sabotaged Bush’s immigration plan, ignoring Mehlman’s warnings about the damage that an enforcement-only immigration bill could do to the party’s long-term growth among Hispanic voters, a critical part of the party realignment that the White House had envisioned. He spent much of July trying to manage the fallout among black leaders after House conservatives delayed a routine extension of the Voting Rights Act. Earlier this year, at the American Jewish Committee’s 100th annual meeting, Mehlman, the second Jewish chairman in the history of the Republican National Committee, heard scattered boos as he defended the Iraq war to a room fearful that the White House’s Iraq policy had empowered Iran, whose new president had expressed a desire to destroy Israel. It was dispiriting for Mehlman, especially since Jewish voters are another group that Republicans are trying to peel off the Democratic base.

>more of this long article from the Times Sunday Magazine

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/magazine/24melman.html

[livvy]

8. Judge Finds in Favor of Voter Lawsuit Against E-Voting Systems in CO

BLOGGED BY Brad ON 9/22/2006 4:54PM
BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: Judge Finds in Favor of Voter Lawsuit Against E-Voting Systems in Colorado!

Plaintiff Rep Says Machines to be Allowed in November, With New Security Measures, But Must Be Recertified From Scratch Thereafter


I just received a phone call from Holly Jacobson of VoterAction.org, the group that has supported voter lawsuits attempting to decertify e-voting machines in Colorado, California, Arizona, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

She called us from Colorado just after leaving the courtroom, where the case in that state against the use and purchase of e-voting systems made by Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia and Hart InterCivic was being heard yesterday. She called and said: "We won!"

That call came moments after I'd received a report that CNN's Lou Dobbs had reported an hour or so ago that they had lost the case…

>More at site

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3515

[livvy]

9. Discussion thread and details started by eleny 9/22

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x450413

[livvy]

10. History Break: Happy Birthday Post

63 BC Augustus Caesar, first Roman Emperor, who introduced Pax Romana, the era of peace.

1838 Victoria Chaflin Woodhull, the first woman presidential candidate (1872) in the United States. Candidate for The Equal Rights Party in a number of States. She lived (1838-1927).

1926 John Coltrane, influential jazz saxaphonist.

1930 Ray Charles, rhythm 'n' blues piano player and singer.

1949 Bruce Springsteen

[livvy]

11. AZ: Primary a Test of New Voter ID Rules

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Primary a test of new voter ID rules

By STEVE AYERS
Staff Reporter

Saturday, September 23, 2006


New voting rules resulting from passage of Proposition 200 in the 2004 general election had their first real test in this month's primary.

The rules require that voter's present some form of identification with a photo, name and address before voting.

Yavapai County Recorder Ana Wayman Trujillo said that the new identification regulations accounted for some of the 1,300 provisional ballots cast at the Sept. 12 primary.

"One reason it took longer to get the final count was we had a good voter turnout ­­ about 30-plus percent," Trujillo said. "The other reason was that we had a lot more provisional ballots to be counted than we usually do."


http://campverdebugle.1upsoftware.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=17830&TM=26326.16

edited for typo

[livvy]

12. Indian Americans Making a Mark in US Politics

Politics : Indian Americans making a mark in US politics

Washington, Sep 23 (IANS) Five Indian Americans have qualified to run in the Nov 7 elections in the US for various legislative offices.

"Indian American and South Asian community's involvement in US mainstream politics will continue to grow," Clinton administration appointee Rajen Anand told India West, an ethnic Indian newspaper.

In Arizona, Democrat Rano Singh won her primary unopposed to contest the state treasurer's race.

In Minnesota, incumbent state Senator Satveer Chaudhary was elected unopposed in the Democratic primary.

>more

http://www.teluguportal.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=14760

[livvy]

13. WI: GOP Exec Says He, Too, Talked With an Elections Bd. Member....

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2006

Last modified: Friday, September 22, 2006 10:47 PM CDT

GOP exec says he, too, talked with an Elections Board member before vote

By SCOTT BAUER

MADISON, Wis. - On the same day that a district attorney announced he will investigate alleged improper lobbying of Elections Board members by an attorney for Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, the head of the state Republican Party said he too had conversations with a board member the day before a key vote.

At issue is the appropriateness and legality of conversations and e-mails that took place prior to the board voting 5-2 on Aug. 30 to require Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green to return nearly $468,000 in campaign donations.

Three Democrats who voted for Green to return the money had been contacted in the days leading up to the vote by Doyle attorney Michael S. Maistelman.

Elections Board attorney George Dunst has said there was nothing illegal about the contact, and Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard said Friday he will not be launching an investigation.

>more

http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/09/23/ap-state-wi/d8kaakt01.txt

[livvy]

14. WA: State Fights For "Top 2" System:WA Files Appeal w/High Court....

King County Journal

Article published Sep 23, 2006
State fights for 'Top 2' system: Washington files appeal with high court in effort to save primary voting method

By David Ammons
Associated Press


Washington state is turning to the U.S. Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to save the "Top 2" primary system that voters created, state Attorney General Rob McKenna said Friday.

The Top 2 system would allow voters to pick their favorite for each office, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the November general election, even if they are from the same party.

That system is similar to the state's popular "blanket" primary that was declared unconstitutional in a California case.

After Washington voters approved the Top 2 system as a replacement, via Initiative 872 in 2004, the political parties challenged it in federal courts, asserting a First Amendment right for the parties to select their own nominees without outside forces interfering.

>more

http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060923/NEWS/609230329

[livvy]

15. Galvin Probing Boston Election

Galvin probing Boston election
Senate challenger asks recount, as state scrutinizes balloting

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | September 23, 2006

Secretary of State William F. Galvin notified Boston election officials yesterday that he has launched an investigation of the city's handling of the primary election Tuesday.

Boston was forced to conduct a public tally Thursday of some 2,700 ballots that had been overlooked in the Second Suffolk District Senate race. For reasons that remain unclear, ballots for the write-in race were not counted or simply were not entered on tally sheets in eight of the district's 73 precincts.

The problems raised serious questions about the conduct of the election citywide, and city officials said they expect Galvin's office to review the election process throughout the city. He will look at the training of poll workers, ballot-counting procedures, and other elements of the election process, they said.

``I think the issue on Tuesday was disturbing because it was so blatant," Galvin said in an interview yesterday.

>more

http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/articles/2006/09/23/galvin_probing_boston_election/

[livvy]

16. MD: Primary results and Diebold info

Maryland votes 2006
Count keeps Wynn in lead
Provisional ballots decide 2 primaries for state delegate
By Sumathi Reddy
sun reporter
Originally published September 23, 2006

snip of primary results

Provisional ballots, cast on paper, became a factor in this year's primary when malfunctions in the state's new electronic voting machines forced many precincts to rely on them.

The sealed ballots are reviewed to make sure each name is a registered voter. Accepted ballots are then fed into an optical scanner for counting.

Diebold Election Systems Inc., the manufacturer of the state's check-in machines, known as e-poll books, faces a Wednesday deadline to provide state officials with a report detailing the steps taken to correct the problems.

In a letter sent to the Board of Public Works, state elections chief Linda H. Lamone said she will not proceed with the e-poll book system, required under state law, unless she's "fully satisfied" that the problems encountered during the primary won't occur again.

>more on the Diebold aspect of the article

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.voting23sep23,0,2912375.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

[livvy]

17. Winners & Losers Galore in Wash Primary

Winners & losers galore in Wash primary

09/23/2006

By DAVID AMMONS / Associated Press

Apathy, incumbents and bloated ad budgets were big winners in the third running of Washington's unpopular new "pick-a-party" primary.

Some of the state's most powerful political players, including the scrappy Service Employees International Union and the homebuilders, suffered slapdowns.

Supreme Court justices and the Republicans' favorite Democrat, state Sen. Tim Sheldon, managed to avoid getting the hook from the voters following big-budget opposition campaigns that seem to be the new normal.

With little interest generated in congressional primaries and voter pique and confusion over the new "pick-a-party" ballot, the biggest loser seemed to be the election itself. Turnout was about one voter in three, and elections officials reported that voters still are mad about having to limit themselves to one party's ballot.

http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8KADNFG9.html

[livvy]

18. CT: Rell: Debates On

Rell: Debates On

By CHRISTOPHER KEATING
Capitol Bureau Chief

September 23 2006

In a complete turnaround from her original position, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Friday she would appear in two, one-on-one debates with Democratic challenger John DeStefano, but no other forums.

The announcement partially satisfied the DeStefano camp, which had repeatedly accused Rell of sidestepping a showdown with him, but it enraged two third-party candidates who will have no chance to confront the incumbent directly.

The debates are expected to be televised, but dates, locations and formats still are being negotiated. The major-party candidates for lieutenant governor - Republican Michael Fedele and Democrat Mary Glassman - will meet for one debate, but those details also are still being discussed.

Rell initially had said she would participate only in debates that included all candidates on the November ballot.

>more

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-govdebate0923.artsep23,0,730364.story?coll=hc-headlines-politics-state

[livvy]

19. CT: Shays Feels Heat of Message To Washington

Shays Feels Heat Of Message To Washington
September 23, 2006
By JOSH KOVNER, Courant Staff Writer

Forget traffic jams on I-95. Set aside private-school vouchers and prescription drug prices. It's the war that's dominating the congressional race in Fairfield County.

The Iraq conflict has divided supporters of Rep. Chris Shays, the 19-year Republican incumbent locked in the toughest campaign of his career against Democrat Diane Farrell in the 4th Congressional District.

Shays still has a formidable following in the district, which stretches from Greenwich along the wealthy Gold Coast to Oxford in the lower Naugatuck Valley. His backers aren't willing to turn out a man they see as an effective, moderate politician who can work both sides of the aisle, even if some disagree with his support of the Bush administration's policies in Iraq.

But others who voted for him in his narrow victory over Farrell in 2004 cannot set aside the war issue. They are bailing on Shays and supporting Farrell, who served eight years as first selectwoman of Westport.


>more

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-4thdistrict0923.artsep23,0,6881508.story?coll=hc-headlines-local

[livvy]

20. Letter to the Editor of the Denver Post (a part-time Kool Aid drinker)

There's good news and bad news in this letter. The good news is here's a Republican who's mad as hell at the Republican Congress Critters. The bad news is...well, it's pretty obvious. I guess we still have some work to do.



opinion | letters to the editor
Letters, 9/23

DenverPost.com

Thinking about elections

I am in a quandary over how to vote this election. Or whether to vote at all.

I am a lifetime Republican and was in full support of our party when we first got control of both houses of Congress and the presidency. It was our chance to fix the mess created by the left wing. Now, looking back to see what we have done with our majority makes me madder than hell. We have spent more tax dollars on pork than the Clinton administration, we don't have secure borders yet and illegal immigration reform is going nowhere. And those private citizens who are doing something about it are labeled as "vigilantes" by the president.

So I ask myself why I should vote at all, or should I vote for the other party to punish my elected officials? In doing so, I risk letting the Democrats sell out our country to our enemies in an effort to beat President Bush and sacrifice our citizens so that we don't violate some perceived "right" of these people by not interrogating them in a way to extract vital information to save lives.

It's time for a third party that will uphold the will of the people and do right by this nation, and not worry about getting re-elected. So, how should I vote?

XXXX, Thornton

http://www.denverpost.com/letters/ci_4382093

[livvy]

21. Humorous Historical Quote

          

"That's an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?"
- Rutherford B. Hayes about the telephone

[livvy]

23. Black GOP Group Runs Controversial Ads (It's a nasty one)

Posted on Sat, Sep. 23, 2006


Black GOP group runs controversial ads
Both parties denounce idea Dems started KKK
By Kristen Wyatt
Associated Press Writer

A national black Republican group is running a radio advertisement accusing Democrats of starting the Ku Klux Klan and saying the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican, a claim challenged by civil-rights researchers.

The National Black Republican Association ads have been heard in Ohio, the Ohio Democratic Party said Thursday.

Republican Party officials and the campaign for Republican gubernatorial nominee Ken Blackwell, who is black, said they haven't heard of the ads and can't say whether they've aired in Ohio.

>snip

The Washington Post reported Thursday that the ad was running on stations in Baltimore.

>more

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/15590623.htm

The ad can be found here if you would like(?) to hear it. Warning...May cause damage to your computer. It will at the very least cause you to sputter an incoherent torrent of outraged verbiage, so children should be removed from hearing distance before accessing the site.
http://www.trustedpartner.com/docs/library/000143/NBRA%20Radio%20Ad.mp3
If this link doesn't work, try here:
http://www.nbra.info/

[livvy]

24. Blackwell Rejects Link To Group Airing Radio Ads

Last Updated: 5:58 am | Saturday, September 23, 2006
Blackwell rejects link to group airing radio ads
They ask blacks to examine history
BY JULIE CARR SMYTH | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A national group airing radio ads in Ohio that accuse Democrats of starting the Ku Klux Klan listed Republican governor candidate Ken Blackwell on its original list of national advisory board members, but Blackwell denies any association with the group.

Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo said Friday that Blackwell, who is black, was approached in 2005 by the National Black Republican Association to lend his name to the list, but he declined. He said the group's listing of Blackwell as a founding adviser, which still appears on its Web site, was unauthorized.

LoParo said Blackwell does not condone the ad, which accuses Democrats of starting the Ku Klux Klan, instituting the anti-black Jim Crow laws and siccing dogs and using fire hoses on blacks during the civil rights movement.

The 60-second spot, fashioned as a conversation between two female friends, also plugs President Bush's spending on education, health care and job training and criticizes Democrats' positions on abortion, gay marriage and religion.

>more

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060923/NEWS01/609230370/1056

[livvy]

25. Ex-central Banker and Ex-speaker Join Thai PM Pool

September 23, 2006 - 1:03 PM
Ex-central banker and ex-speaker join Thai PM pool


By Nopporn Wong-Anan

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A former Thai central bank chief and a former Senate speaker on Saturday joined a speculative pool of candidates for the military to name as prime minister, four days after their coup.

The Bangkok Post tipped former central bank chief Chatu Mongol Sonakul because of his monetary and fiscal expertise as well as his recognition in the world community.

Military and civilian sources working with the coup leaders told Reuters that former Senate speaker Meechai Richuphand, who is writing laws for the coup leaders, was also being considered.

Four days after they ousted the democratically elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra, all eyes are on the Thai military to fulfil their pledge to pick an interim leader within two weeks to oversee political reforms and eventual elections.

big snip

Thaksin was in New York at the U.N. General Assembly at the time of the coup.

He is now in London, where his daughter is studying at university, and has been photographed shopping with friends and looking relaxed.

The coup leaders have said that he is welcome to return to Thailand but that he would have to face charges in cases already filed, including election fraud.


>a bit more

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Ex_central_banker_and_ex_speaker_join_Thai_PM_pool.html?siteSect=143&sid=7093279&cKey=1159017782000

[livvy]

26. Yemeni Opposition Threatens Protest (of partial election results)

Posted on Fri, Sep. 22, 2006


Yemeni opposition threatens protest

DONNA ABU-NASR
Associated Press

SAN`A, Yemen - Yemeni opposition parties threatened Friday to call a massive street protest to dispute partial election results that show their presidential candidate losing by a wider margin than expected.

The threat came amid more allegations of fraud in Wednesday's elections, which pitted incumbent President Ali Abdullah Saleh against his most serious challenger since he came to power in 1978 - former oil executive Faisal bin Shamlan.

Late Thursday, elections commission spokesman Abdu al-Janadi said Saleh had so far won 3.4 million votes, compared with just 880,000 for bin Shamlan out of roughly 5 million cast. The partial results were based on votes counted from 17,000 of the 27,000 total ballot boxes.

Election results are expected by Saturday, but it is not clear whether a formal announcement will come in view of the disputes.

>more

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/world/15585194.htm

[livvy]

27. US Carter Centre Declines To Monito Zambia Polls

US Carter Centre declines to monitor Zambia polls
Publish Date: Saturday,23 September, 2006, at 10:51 AM Doha Time

LUSAKA: The American Carter Centre declined to monitor Zambia’s general election on September 28, saying that it is disappointed with the government’s failure to enact electoral and constitutional reform.

The centre established by former US president Jimmy Carter as a non-profit organisation to advance human rights, announced its decision in a statement in Lusaka.

"The centre has decided not to pursue involvement in the upcoming elections. Its decision not to observe the 2006 elections is based on disappointment over Zambia’s failure to enact meaningful electoral and constitutional reforms," a spokeswoman Deborah Hakes said.

Hakes said the centre had monitored the last general elections in 2001, and concluded that the process had not met minimum international standards as they lacked transparency and credibility in the tabulation of final results.

>more

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=109179&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21

[livvy]

28. Evangelical Voters More Jaded in 2006

Evangelical voters more jaded in 2006
by Rose French
Associated Press
Saturday Sep 23, 2006

Christian conservatives, traditionally a reliable Republican constituency, aren’t necessarily a GOP gimme this time around. There is an undercurrent of concern that some evangelicals, unhappy that the GOP-led Congress and President Bush haven’t paid more attention to same-sex marriage and other "values" issues, may stay home on Election Day or even vote Democratic.

"Conservative Christians are somewhat disenchanted with Republicans," said Kenyn Cureton, vice president for convention relations with the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination with nearly 16 million members. Religious conservatives are unhappy the Republican-led Congress hasn’t paid enough attention to "values issues," he said, noting that even a push this summer against same-sex marriage came too late.

"It has not escaped our notice that they waited until just a few months from the November elections to address our agenda," Cureton said.

Jonathan Gregory, 38, a deacon at Grace Baptist Church in Bethpage, Tenn., said he may not vote GOP this fall, even though he considers himself a Republican and has voted for President Bush. "I will vote conservative across the board, depending on the candidates’ stance on abortion, gay marriage, and their support of the military," Gregory said.

>more

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ci=108&ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=15125

[livvy]

29. AZ: Goddard: Montgomery Misused Funds, Filmed Illegal Immigrants

Goddard: Montgomery misused funds, filmed illegal immigrants
By Christian Richardson, Tribune
September 23, 2006

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, who is running for re-election, has accused his opponent of a campaign-spending violation and of using illegal immigrants during the filming of a campaign ad.

Marty Harper, an attorney for the Goddard campaign, filed the complaint Friday with the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, claiming Republican candidate Bill Montgomery used primary campaign funds during the general election season. The complaint also states that the money was used to pay illegal immigrants to be in an ad on that topic.

Goddard’s campaign asked for an investigation into Montgomery’s spending on the Sept. 12 filming and requested a refund of the $73,000 spent on the production.

Montgomery and Goddard, a Democrat, qualified for state campaign funds but are regulated in how they can be used. Under state law, primary election funds must be spent on the primary campaign or returned.

“There were four Hispanic guys there,” Montgomery said. “But to assume that just because they were Hispanic that they are illegal, that’s the kind of racist characterization that my campaign has been very careful to avoid.”

>more

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=74858

[livvy]

30. WA: Election Workers Cope With Wrath of Voters

Published on Saturday, September 23, 2006

Election workers cope with wrath of voters
By LEAH BETH WARD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Election workers this week struggled with torn-up ballots, improper colors of ink, obscenities scrawled across the paper — or flung in their faces at polls in Klickitat County — making the 2006 primary one many people, voters included, would like to forget.

"I can't get into the voters' heads, nor would I want to, but what I'm hearing over and over and over again is, 'Don't make me pick a party,'" Diana Pafford, Klickitat County auditor, said Friday.

Error rates were running about 10 percent statewide, according to the secretary of state, with wild variations among all the counties.

Yakima County officials estimated an 8 percent rejection rate, which means voters failed to correctly check either Democrat or Republican at the top of the ballot, invalidating their vote in partisan races. Nonpartisan votes still counted.

>more

http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/287098823145464

[livvy]

31. MS: Vote Affects Absentee Ballots

Posted on Sat, Sep. 23, 2006


Vote affects absentee ballots
Qualifying deadline moved
By GEOFF PENDER
SUN HERALD

JACKSON - If you've been toying with running in the November special legislative election but thought you missed the Sept. 8 qualifying deadline, you're in luck.

That deadline has been moved to Oct. 24.

But if you were planning to vote by absentee ballot, Secretary of State Eric Clark says, you're out of luck, and he's not very happy about it.

>snip

"Because of yesterday's decision, hundreds of Mississippians will effectively lose the right to vote by absentee ballot," Clark said. "There will be no absentee voting in legislative elections for more than a month. Absentee voting by mail will be virtually impossible. Absentee ballots will not be available until the last few days before the general election on Nov. 7.

"This decision makes it difficult, if not impossible, for Mississippians serving our country in the military, as well as Harrison County voters displaced by Katrina, to vote," Clark said. "In addition, we will now have two sets of ballots in these four districts, which will create confusion and add to the counties' cost. Our citizens will vote for U.S. Senator, Congressmen and state judges on voting machines. They will be forced to vote on a separate paper ballot in the four special legislative elections."

>a bit more

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/special_packages/renewal/long_beach/15589554.htm

[livvy]

32. Voting System Overhaul Raises Anxieties

Sept. 23, 2006

Voting System Overhaul Raises Anxieties

By Thomas Hargrove
Scripps Howard News Service

Election officials nationwide are holding their breath and crossing their fingers in hopes America's ballots are smoothly cast and accurately counted in the Nov. 7 general elections.

Much of the turmoil this year comes as officials scramble to meet the mandates of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 -- a historic reform enacted by Congress after the debacle of Florida's 2000 presidential election.

Tens of thousands of 1950s-vintage mechanical and punch card voting machines have been scrapped this year in favor of optical-scanners and electronic touch-screen systems. The law requires new machines that keep an independent paper record of votes.

"Certainly there is nervousness about this, given that a third of the country will be using new voting equipment for the first time this year," said Paul DeGregorio, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

>big snip

Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice and NYU School of Law, said he fears thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people will be improperly removed from the new electronic voter rolls.

"We don't know yet if the Help America Vote Act will be a big step forward or an opportunity to commit massive mischief," Waldman said.

>more

http://www.huntingtonnews.net/national/060923-shns-voting.html

[livvy]

33. Re-post: If Paper Ballots Restore Trust In Elections, Let's Switch

Originally posted by Amaryllis on Friday. Too good to miss. Discussion thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x450325



If Paper Ballots Restore Trust In Elections, Let's Switch

By Marc Fisher
Thursday, September 21, 2006; Page B01

Well into the second decade of the television era, the machines still conked out, a lot. "TV's on the fritz again," folks would say. There was such a thing as a TV repairman, who would come to your house. Now, TVs work.

Here in the relatively early stages of the computer era, these vastly more complex machines still lock up and shut down. Yet we're so enraptured by computers' power that we want them to do everything -- even handle the sacred core of our democracy, voting.

But the machines aren't yet reliable, at least not 100 percent. Maryland voters learned this firsthand in last week's primary, and now the state has less than seven weeks to gin up a credible, smooth general election.

The obvious solution, as Gov. Bob Ehrlich said yesterday, is to put the machines in the closet (actually, returning them to the store is an even better idea; does anybody in Annapolis still have that receipt for $106 million?) and go back to paper ballots. The governor bemoaned flaws in the Diebold electronic poll books that Maryland used for the first time last week to check in voters: "Technology is a wonderful thing, but clearly, given their apparent inability to function appropriately -- when in doubt, go paper, go lower technology."

>more good stuff to read

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092001876.html

[rumpel]

34. love the OP

;)

[livvy]

35. Thanks!

I love pirates of any sort, and Jones really seems to fit the bill in several ways. I think the British at the time would have certainly agreed.



I guess we're all pirates of a sort, also. We're just trying to reclaim the booty, of a free and fair America.