Unraveling the Mess... Election Reform, Fraud, News Tuesday, 11/14/06

[Melissa G]

A Woman's place is in the House....

Speaker of the House that is!!!!

Speaker Nancy Pelosi!!! How sweet it is!!!




Well now that the Grown ups are back in charge, we still have to unravel the mess that was the 2006 election. One week later and 10 House seats have yet to be determined as to who won.

So much for the speed of electronic voting...:eyes:
We would like to recount some races but there was no paper trail to follow.:grr:
Let this be the last election this is true.
Contact your congress critter and tell them to make election reform a Priority!:patriot:




Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday, 11/14/06

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 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).

[Melissa G]

1. GOP Opens Lame-Duck Session of Congress"

"(AP) GOP Opens Lame-Duck Session of Congress"
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON




Lawmakers present and future mingled in the Capitol's marble hallways Monday as Republicans exiled from power in last week's elections glumly opened a lame-duck session and wide-eyed Democrats prepared to take control of Congress.

snip
Returning lawmakers had company from more than 50 House members-to-be and most of the 10 senators-in-waiting. Theincoming freshmen attended orientation meetings Monday and embarked on toast-of-the-town schedules _ from private tours of the Capitol and the White House to dinner with Frist and a reception with Bush.

snip
The atmosphere Monday echoed 1994, whenCongress briefly returned after the GOP landslide to ratify a trade bill. Then, there were dozens of the "living dead" _ Democratic lawmakers who lost re-election bids _ who returned to Washington still smarting over their losses. There are at least 26 defeated Republican incumbents in that situation this year. Ten races, all in the House, are still undecided.

snip
On the Democratic side, politicking is under way for party leadership elections scheduled for Thursday. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a Marine Corps veteran and hawk on military issues who became the darling of the anti-war movement after calling for a U.S. pullout from Iraq, is running against Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Marylandto be majority leader.

http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/ap-gop-opens-lameduck-session-of-congress/59379.htm

[Melissa G]

2. GOP Continues Trickery at the Voting Booth

GOP Continues Trickery at the Voting Booth


Newswire Services
November 13, 2006
Washington, DC - An article in today's Washington Post labels Maryland Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich and his Lt. Governor Michael Steele as key architects in a desperate scheme to trick African American voters in Maryland during last week's mid-term elections. These efforts by Maryland Republicans are just one example of despicable efforts on the part of the GOP to intimidate and deceive American voters. Michael Steele whose name is now being floated as a possible replacement for RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, knowingly hired out of state workers to canvass African American communities, handing out misleading literature which falsely claimed Steele received the support of prominent African American Democrats.

"Clearly the GOP's 'Southern Strategy' is alive and well in Maryland. It's appalling that Michael Steele rolled out his own modern day version of the 'Southern Strategy,' designed to deceive African American voters," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. "Is this the kind of leadership Steele plans to offer the national party if he were chairman? And when will the GOP stop using trickery to win elections?

"Last Tuesday, despite the efforts of Steele and national Republicans, the American people went to the polls and rejected the Karl Rove politics of hate and division, and overwhelmingly voted for fundamental change. Democrats are offering a new direction for America that protects the right to vote for all, and protects all voters from intimidation and deception at the polls."

Listed below is a small sample of the tactics used by Republicans in recent elections to intimidate voters across America. For more information about the Democratic Party's comprehensive national voter protection program to ensure the American people can vote with confidence in all 50 states visit www.democrats.org/voterprotection:

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=16602

[Melissa G]

3. Details on Eight Undecided House Races

Details on Eight Undecided House Races

Monday November 13, 2006 10:31 PM


By The Associated Press

Details, as of Monday, on the 10 House races in which the outcome remains undecided:

- Connecticut, 2nd District: Democrat Joe Courtney led GOP Rep. Rob Simmons by just 66 votes. A recount is to be completed by Wednesday.

- Georgia, 12th District: First-term Democratic Rep. John Barrow led Republican former Rep. Max Burns by fewer than 600 votes. An automatic recount is likely once results are certified, which could happen Wednesday.

- New Mexico, 1st District: Republican Rep. Heather Wilson led Democrat Patricia Madrid by fewer than 1,500 votes out of more than 200,000 cast, with about 3,700 ballots remaining to be qualified and tallied.

- North Carolina, 8th District: Rep. Robin Hayes, a Republican, had a 449-vote lead over Democrat Larry Kissell. About 1,500 provisional ballots remained to be counted.

- Ohio, 2nd District: Rep. Jean Schmidt, a Republican who called decorated Vietnam veteran Rep. John Murtha a coward, was ahead of Democrat Victoria Wulsin by about 2,300 votes. Counting provisional and absentee ballots could take nearly two weeks.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6212327,00.html

[Melissa G]

4. Votes for Three Indiana House Races Still Uncounted

Votes for Three Indiana House Races Still Uncounted

Nov 13, 2006 06:01 PM CST

Votes for Three Indiana House Races Still Uncounted

By Jim Shella
News 8 @ 6:00

Six days after Election Day we still don't know the outcome in the race for Indiana Representative between Jon Elrod and Ed Mahern. It is just one of three Indiana House races where the planning for a recount is underway.

The counting of votes on touch-screen machines intended for use by disabled voters may go on until Wednesday at the Marion County election warehouse. The counting of provisional ballots is not complete, either. Currently, Republican Jon Elrod holds a nine vote lead over Democrat incumbent Ed Mahern in District 97 on the south side.

Leaders in both parties anticipate a recount.

"Anytime you're talking about a number somewhere less than 40 or 50 votes, you're sort of compelled to check for irregularities and see what's going on there," said Tim Jeffers, House Democratic Campaign Coordinator.

The circumstances are similar in northern Indiana where Republican incumbent Don Lehe of Brookston leads Democrat Myron Sutton by just 26 votes. In Marion, another Republican, Tim Harris, holds a 25 vote lead over Democrat Larry Hile.

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5674217&nav=0Ra7

[Melissa G]

5. Women gain in the new Congress, but white men still dominant

Women gain in the new Congress, but white men still dominant
STEPHEN OHLEMACHER The Associated Press
Article Last Updated:11/10/2006 11:15:13 AM EST


WASHINGTON -- The first female speaker of the House will lead a chamber filled with more women than ever before.
Congress as a whole, however, still will be dominated by white men.

The House will add at least three women and the Senate will add two, bringing the total number of female members of Congress to at least 86 -- 70 in the House, 16 in the Senate. And women are candidates in two undecided House races.

"It's still very hard for women to succeed and to actually get to the House of Representatives," said Rep. Hilda Solis, a California Democrat and co-chair of the Women's Caucus. "But that number just keeps going up every time we have elections."

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is expected to become the first female speaker of the House, with Democrats taking control of the 435-member chamber. She was helped by the election of at least seven new female Democrats.

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/nationworld/ci_4637416

[Melissa G]

6. See how they won

See how they won


By JIM VANDEHEI and CHRIS CILLIZZA, The Washington Post

Published: Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006

Democrats won big in Tuesday’s election by undoing GOP gains among groups President Bush once envisioned as essential ingredients of a durable, conservative governing majority in Washington: Catholics, married mothers and Latinos.

These voters, who were instrumental in electing Republicans in recent elections, took flight from the GOP in large numbers and helped push Democratic pick-ups to the highest level since the post-Watergate election in 1974. Democrats picked up 29 House seats and six in the Senate.

While it will take years to determine if the exodus of voters is a passing phenomenon or something more fundamental, the final exit polling data showed Democrats not only winning a strong majority of the vote overall but also eroding the Republican edge among some of the most important voting blocs in politics today.

The numbers suggest a return to the political landscape that preceded Bush and his effort to use policies and political appointments to build what some of his aides called an effort to restructure American politics. Democrats, for instance, won women by 55 percent to 43 percent, their highest margin since 1988. They won independents – the key swing vote in elections – by 18 percentage points, the biggest margin in House races in the past 25 years.

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061112/OPINION04/111120157/-1/youth

[Melissa G]

7. Three Kan. House races still undecided

Three Kan. House races still undecided

By Mary Clarkin

The Hutchinson News




[e-mail]

When the county boards of canvassers in such counties as Barton, Harvey, Pratt, Pawnee, Stafford and Sedgwick convene to consider whether to count sealed provisional ballots, they likely will enjoy an audience.


The outcome in some area races for the Kansas House of Representatives hinges on those not-yet-counted ballots.

Kansas Republican Party Executive Director Ron Freeman said the party generally leaves it up to Republicans at the county level to monitor the counting of provisional ballots. Frances Gorman, communications director for the Kansas Democratic Party, said the party should have a better idea at the end of this week regarding how it will observe the count.

State Rep. Mike O'Neal, R-Hutchinson, hoped to rearrange his work calendar Monday when most canvassing will occur. He noted one of the close races in the area is in neighboring Sedgwick County, where Rep. Willa DeCastro, R-Wichita, is trailing Wichita Democrat Terry McLachlan by 26 votes.

Unofficial results posted on the Kansas Secretary of State's Web site also showed:

http://www.hutchnews.com/news/regional/stories/house110906.shtml

[Melissa G]

8. The Crowded Progressive Caucus -John Nichols

Opinion
The Crowded Progressive Caucus John Nichols
Sun Nov 12, 9:10 AM ET

snip
The largest ideological caucus in the new House Democratic majority will be the Congressional Progressive Caucus, with a membership that includes New York's Charles Rangel, Michigan's John Conyers, Massachusetts' Barney Frank and at least half the incoming chairs of House standing committees.

The caucus currently has 64 members -- up 14 since last year -- and its co-chairs, California Democrats Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee, say they expect that as many as eight incoming House Democrats will join the CPC. The number could actually go higher, as several candidates in undecided House races ran with strong progressive support. (The CPC worked with labor and progressive groups to assist a number of candidates in targeted races around the country this year, reflecting the more aggressive approach it has taken since the caucus was reorganized under the leadership of Lee and Woolsey and hired veteran labor and political organizer Bill Goold as a full-time staffer.)

snip
Says Lee: "Some inside-the-Beltway commentators, columnists, and conservatives want the American people to believe that last Tuesday's election results have especially empowered moderate-to-conservative elements within the House Democratic Caucus in the 110th Congress, but that is an incomplete picture of the new political landscape on Capitol Hill."

snip
Do the math. While the Blue Dogs are predicting that the membership of their caucus may grow from 37 to 44 members, and the New Democrats hope their membership will edge up from the mid-forties to over the 50 mark, the Progressives are looking at the prospect that their caucus -- the most racially and regionally diverse ideological grouping in the Congress -- could number more than 70 members once the new House is seated.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20061112/cm_thenation/1139093

[Melissa G]

9. Impeachment Talking Points

Impeachment Talking Points
Tuesday, 14 November 2006, 10:27 am
Press Release: afterdowningstreet.org

Impeachment Talking Points

www.afterdowningstreet.org The evidence of impeachable offenses by Bush and Cheney is already public knowledge. There is no question that impeachment is needed. The question is why it hasn't happened yet. Investigations will reveal more details and move the process forward, but the outcome is clear from the start. In fact, those who oppose impeachment very rarely claim that there is not sufficient evidence. Rather, they base their opposition on political or strategic concerns, getting their priorities out of order. Nothing is more important than restoring the rule of law and a constitutional system of government in which Congress can restrain abuses by the executive. If we do not impeach in this case, we will effectively remove impeachment from the Constitution and establish for future presidents the right to ignore the law.

Ten impeachable offenses committed by Bush and Cheney are:
1. Violating the United Nations Charter by launching an illegal war of aggression against Iraq without cause, using fraud to sell the war to Congress and the public, and misusing government funds to begin bombing without Congressional authorization.
2. Violating U.S. and international law by authorizing the torture of thousands of captives, resulting in dozens of deaths, and keeping prisoners hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
3. Violating the Constitution by arbitrarily detaining Americans, legal residents, and non-Americans, without due process, without charge, and without access to counsel.
4. Violating the Geneva Conventions by targeting civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, and using illegal weapons, including white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and a new type of napalm.
5. Violating U.S. law and the Constitution through widespread wiretapping of the phone calls and emails of Americans without a warrant.
6. Violating the Constitution by using signing statements to defy hundreds of laws passed by Congress.
7. Violating U.S. and state law by obstructing honest elections in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
8. Violating U.S. law by using paid propaganda and disinformation, selectively and misleadingly leaking classified information, and exposing the identity of a covert CIA operative working on sensitive WMD proliferation for political retribution.
9. Subverting the Constitution and abusing Presidential power by asserting a "Unitary Executive Theory" giving unlimited powers to the President, by obstructing efforts by Congress and the Courts to review and restrict Presidential actions, and by promoting and signing legislation negating the Bill of Rights and the Writ of Habeas Corpus.
10. Gross negligence in failing to assist New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina, in ignoring urgent warnings of an Al Qaeda attack prior to Sept. 11, 2001, and in increasing air pollution causing global warming.

snip

While impeachment is a very serious step that should not have been trivialized the way it was during the last presidential administration, it is also an indispensable part of a system of checks and balances that sustains our democracy. When strong evidence exists of the most serious crimes, we must use impeachment or lose the ability of the legislative branch to compel the executive branch to obey the law. This is not a question of supporting one party over another, but of upholding the rule of law over both of them.

The new Democratic majority in the House is helpful, but haven't Pelosi, Emanuel, and Conyers taken impeachment "off the table"? They have no power to do so. The American people have the power to persuade both the House and the Senate to take up investigations that will lead to impeachment. A majority of Americans support this. We have a duty to make the strength of our support known. See these polls: www.afterdowningstreet.org/polling

But won't that hurt the Democrats politically in 2008? That worry should be lower on our list. What good is getting elected in 2008 if we still have a dictator? What good was getting elected in 2006 if all you do is hide until 2008? But if you must base everything on elections, impeachment is helpful, not harmful. Failing to impeach Reagan for Iran-Contra led to Democratic losses, not gains. Through history, parties that have pushed for impeachment have gained at the polls, not lost.

But don't the Democrats have a duty to work cooperatively with the Republicans, pass legislation, and advance a positive future-looking agenda? Not according to American voters who elected many new Democrats but not a single new Republican, who support investigations and impeachment, and who care about the freedoms found in the Bill of Rights as much as they do about health care, schools, stem cells, or the minimum wage. Passing legislation that will be either vetoed or reversed by signing statements may make good political theater, but will not solve the current crisis.

But won't impeaching Bush give us Cheney? No. Impeachment and removal from office are two steps. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Investigating Bush or Cheney will incriminate the other. Both will face criminal indictments. Cheney runs things now, and having him as the most unpopular president in history would be a coup for the Democrats. But whoever is president after Bush, whether it's Cheney, another Republican, or Pelosi, he or she will know that the American people can hold them accountable through impeachment. The next election is the time to pick a president. Impeachment and removal from office are only tools for dealing with officials who abuse power, not for selecting their replacements.

But why impeach in the House if removal from office by the Senate requires an unlikely two-thirds vote? The investigations in the House will expose crimes to the light of day and the glow of televisions. Impeachment itself and the trial that follows, even if resulting in acquittal, will provide some measure of accountability. Criminal and civil proceedings will almost certainly follow. If the House votes to impeach, it is very likely that many Republicans will vote with the Democrats. They will understand the 2006 election results as requiring it if they are to keep their seats in 2008. If at least 16 Republican Senators (plus Lieberman and other Democrats in Name Only) see the same writing on the wall, they will either vote to convict or advise Bush to resign before they have to.

How can Bush and Cheney be charged with crimes after being tried in the Senate? Criminal proceedings, domestic or international, are completely separate from the impeachment process, which is political, not legal. The fact that Clinton had violated the law by lying under oath was seen as central to his impeachment only because he was not being charged with anything remotely approaching an impeachable offense. The public came away imagining falsely that illegal activity was required for impeachment. The impeachment proceedings against Nixon focused on impeachable offenses, which included lying to the public (not a crime) but intentionally omitted tax fraud (a crime, but not a serious abuse of presidential power). An impeachable offense is a threat to our system of government, legal or otherwise. Lying to the citizens of a democracy is a threat to that system of government. Legalizing your crimes through legislation like the Military Commissions Act does not make them any less impeachable offenses. Bush has lied to Congress about the reasons for the war in formal written statements (see his letter and report on March 19, 2003) as well as orally. These actions are felonies. Lying under oath is not the only crime on the books. Bush and Cheney have lied to the public on the same topic. That may not be a crime, but it is the highest possible high crime or misdemeanor, the clearest conceivable impeachable offense.

ENDS

[Melissa G]

10. Voting recount begins with a lawsuit

Voting recount begins with a lawsuit
BY PHIL LONG AND MARC CAPUTO
[e-mail]
SARASOTA - With nearly 18,400 votes lost or uncast in a hot congressional race, elections officials began a recount Monday in five counties and promised a fair examination of the voting machines -- only to have a lawsuit filed and questions of partisan bias crop up by day's end.

The campaign of Democrat Christine Jennings, who trails Republican Vern Buchanan by only 373 votes, voiced concerns about the GOP ties of a computer expert hired by the state to check the touchscreen voting machines in Sarasota County.

Meanwhile, the campaign filed a lawsuit Monday aimed at making sure all of the voting systems and documents remain in their Election Day state.

The computer expert, professor Alec Yasinsac of Florida State University, is a registered Republican who actively supported GOP governor candidate Tom Gallagher this year and loudly protested Democratic tactics in the disputed presidential recount in 2000.

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/16005820.htm

[Melissa G]

11. Voting Machine Companies Still in Denial…

Bradblog

Voting Machine Companies Still in Denial…
Unnamed Diebold Spokesliar Says Touch-Screen Vote Flipping 'Not a Problem, Doesn't Exist', Unnamed Sequoia Spokesliar Says It's a 'Conspiracy Theory from Activists and Bloggers'
Despite massive problems with their voting machines all over the country, at least two of the leading voting machine companies, Sequoia and Diebold are still in extreme denial. But at least they have the "courage" to keep their names off record when talking to the press about it now…Cowards.

Witness the last two grafs of this ComputerWorld story on touch-screen vote-flipping — the type that was reported all over the country both in Early Voting and on Election Day this year, and certainly in a big way back in '04…


E-voting machines are far more secure, accurate and auditable than the mechanical lever-operated voting machines and other systems they replaced, the spokeswoman contended. She called vote-flipping concerns a "conspiracy theory from activists and bloggers."

A spokesman at e-voting equipment vendor Diebold Election Systems also said that e-voting machines don't cause vote flipping. "It's not a problem," he said. "It doesn't exist. This again falls into the 'what if' scenario."

snip
By the way, one of those "conspiracy theory activist bloggers" who had the "non-existant" "non-problem" was Marshall Cook, a candidate for city council in Pinellas Park, Florida last March. He kept trying to vote for himself, but his vote kept flipping to his opponent until he was finally forced to move to a different crappy Sequoia touch-screen voting machine.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3787

[Melissa G]

12. ELECTION RECOUNT

ELECTION RECOUNT
Monday Nov 13, 2006


Voters in Bannock County are still waiting for official results from last week's election. Political specialist Doug Andersen has an update.

Machine malfunctions, the wrong pens, and some early morning duplication and you have cause to question the validity of last week's election results.

Aaron Thompson: "There's been some question as to how the process worked."
...Or to what degree it worked. A handful of days later, same question remains. Is a recount necessary?

snip
Dale Hatch: "It's not as simple as it looks. We have to get everybody involved."

That means county commissioners, representatives from both political parties, and a technician from the company who manufactured the voting machines. All face a November 22nd deadline.

http://www.kpvi.com/index.cfm?page=nbcheadlines.cfm&ID=37686

[philb]

13. Unlike people assume, it is possible to audit touch screen results in most cases

if people are paying attention and desire to. Many of the touch screen systems have internal memories (which admittedly may have been manipulated) but if there is suspicion, if machines were impounded and audited it would be possible to document whether there was a problem in most cases.
It has been documented by EP efforts and hot lines that there has been widespread manipulation, switching, glitches, that have affected huge numbers of votes. Especially in Florida and Ohio in 2004, but also in about 20 other states.
However the public and authorities have shown not enough concern to seriously investigate the manipulations and followup on findings.

[rumpel]

14. AR: Republicans win big after long-awaited election tally

Monday, November 13, 2006 9:22 AM CST

Republicans win big after long-awaited election tally

By E. Alan Long and Virginia Wietecha, Carroll County News

Forty-eight hours after polls closed, Carroll County finally had a list of certified winners from the election commission Thursday night, and for Republicans, it was worth the wait.

The certified totals gave victories to Bryan King for state representative of District 91, to Richard Williams for county judge, to Bob Grudek for sheriff - all Republicans - and to four of the seven Republicans vying in contested positions on the quorum court.

Carroll County had the attention of both Republican and Democratic bigwigs as what appeared to be minor glitches in vote-counting Tuesday night had racheted up into a battle of wills Thursday.

Several Republican candidates who were leading in preliminary tallies - including King and Williams, accompanied by the newly-hired lawyer for the county's Republican Party, Cindy Baker - stood watch over the on-again, off-again vote count well into the Wednesday morning vote count.

http://www.eurekaspringstimesecho.com/articles/2006/11/13/news/we1.txt

a very interesting read. Election Commission Chairman won't certify, and GOP lawyer challenge of 175 absentee ballots etc all sorts