Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Monday 03/10/08

[tbyg52]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Monday 03/10/08

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[tbyg52]

1. States nt

[tbyg52]

6. MS: A.G.'s Probe Results in Voter Fraud Indictments

Sixteen people have been indicted in Benton county for voter fraud.

Attorney General Jim Hood said the investigation stems from the August 7th, 2007 primary and the August 27th, 2007 runoff elections in Benton county.

The defendants are charged with voter fraud and conspiracy to commit voter fraud.

More:
http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7989804

[tbyg52]

7. TX: The Texas Zero Vote Counts - An Explanation

The TX vote counts seem to be correct in most counties because not all counties in TX hold primary elections for both political parties.

There is, however, an interesting pattern in the Texas Democratic primary which is open to voters of both political parties in Texas.

In the 21 counties where there was no Republican primary, the vote shares for Clinton and Obama were:

Clinton 69.4%

Obama 24.6%

as opposed to Clinton and Obama vote shares in the other counties which had both Republican and Democratic primaries:

Clinton 49.7%

Obama 48.7%

More:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0803/S00151.htm

[sonias]

46. Great job tbyg52!

As usual!

:applause:



Sonia

[tbyg52]

9. MS: Mississippi Snapshot

Mississippi holds a Presidential preference primary on Tuesday, March 11. Primary elections will also be held for federal offices and for Commissioners of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee District.

Mississippi has just under 1.8 million registered voters. Mississippi voters do not register by political party, and voters may choose a Republican Party ballot or a Democratic Party ballot at the polls. Absentee voters must have an excuse for being unable to come to the polls. Most votes in the primary will be cast on DREs with a voter-verifiable paper trail printer. The state does not require post-election hand audits of the electronic vote tallies, so there will be no manual verification of software-tabulated election results.

See the Verifier map for a complete breakdown of county systems. Here is a statewide summary:

More:
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2774&Itemid=26

[tbyg52]

10. OH: E-Vote: Ohio Supreme Court Refuses to Interfere with Secretary of State's Directive

Last week, the Supreme Court of Ohio unanimously denied the Union County Commissioners' request for an order that would have prevented Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner from implementing a recent directive she issued to require county boards of elections using touch screen machines to have backup paper ballots available for voters who want them.

In response to vulnerabilities brought to light late last year through Ohio's top-to-bottom voting machine review, Project EVEREST (Evaluation and Validation of Election Related Equipment, Standards and Testing), the secretary of state's directive (2008-01) ordered all boards of elections using electronic touch-screen voting machines to provide as an alternative an optical scan paper ballot to any voter who requests it.

Brunner ordered that ballots be printed in number equal to at least 10 percent of the number of voters who voted in a previous, similar election. All other boards complied with the directive, with a number of them printing up to 40 percent, but the Union County Board of Elections split on the question of whether the follow the secretary's directive (which boards are required by law to follow according to Brunner's Office), and eventually the county commissioners took Brunner to court in two separate actions over the matter. Union County had objected to complying with the directive, stating the cost to be $86,000 but has now complied -- said Brunner's Office -- at a reported actual cost of $13,000.

More:
http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/271931

[tbyg52]

11. FL: Hillsborough Hauls Away Touch-Screen Machines

Workers today started loading more than 3,000 touch-screen voting machines destined to be resold, disassembled or crunched into bits by a recycler as Hillsborough County begins changing how ballots are cast and counted.

The devices will be replaced by machines that scan and record paper ballots as part of a legislatively mandated change requiring a paper trail after elections.

The lack of a paper trail was a short-coming of the old machines that recorded votes on a computer card.

For Hillsborough, the change will cost roughly $3.2 million for the new machines after the Legislature voted in May that all counties using touch screens convert to the optical-scanning devices. The state will kick in an additional $2.5 million, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson said.

More:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/mar/10/hillsborough-hauls-away-touch-screen-voting-machin/

[tbyg52]

12. OH: Did Republicans give Hillary her victory in Ohio?

Hilary Clinton's larger-than-expected victory in Ohio may have been won with votes from Republicans, and from independents who usually vote Republican.

Much has been made of Rush Limbaugh’s other far-right commentators’ pleas to Republicans to cast their ballots for her in open primary states like Ohio and Texas. Part of the strategy is to slow down Barack Obama, who analysts argue will be harder for John McCain to beat this fall. Others, like Ann Coulter, have gone so far as to say they actually PREFER Clinton to McCain. Such voters would certainly also prefer the former first lady to Obama.

Whatever the case, there is concrete evidence in Ohio that Republican cross-over voters did, in fact, play a significant role in delivering the Buckeye primary votes to the Senator from New York.

More:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0803/S00160.htm

[tbyg52]

15. FL: Do-over primary vote in Florida might have to be done by mail

Martin, Indian River and other counties that are changing to optical scan voting equipment might not be able to get their machines and poll workers up to speed for a proposed early June presidential primary revote for the Democratic Party.

However, the U.S. Postal Service could be the answer for getting the party’s delegates seated at their national convention.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is now pressing for a do-over primary by mail this spring possibly financed by private donations to the state Democratic Party.

“A mail-in vote — which Oregon has used successfully for years — would be cheaper, less cumbersome and more inclusive than attempting at this late hour to stage a full-fledged return to the polls,” Nelson stated Sunday. “It also would give voters enough time to take a closer look at the candidates, and further study their positions on the issues.”

Two key players in the fray — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist — indicated it is workable.

More:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/mar/10/do-over-primary-vote-florida-might-have-be-done-ma/

[tbyg52]

39. Mail-in primary could be illegal in Florida

A mail-in vote is being kicked-around as a possible solution to the delegate impasse in Florida and Michigan, but a state-run mail-in election could be illegal in Florida.

The Democratic Party leadership discounted delegates from both states because Florida and Michigan chose to hold their primaries early.

Would a mail-in vote work in Florida? We spoke with Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent, who says a mail-in vote in Florida could be illegal. "The law in Florida right now prohibits mail-in voting if there are any candidates on the ballot. Which means, since there would be Obama and Hillary on the ballot, Florida law prohibits it, for the Supervisors of elections to actually conduct it."

More:
http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=7993603&nav=menu577_2_1

[tbyg52]

19. CA: Illegal Vote Counts in Riverside County now on Video - testimony before CA legislature

There was a very important informational hearing in Los Angeles on Friday, 3/7/08 before the chairs of three (3) CA State Senate and Assembly committees and Secretary of State Debra Bowen reviewing problems with the 2/5/08 Presidential Primary election. Examples shown specific to Riverside County include illegal counting out of view of the public, unsecured voting machines, a "yellow button" that allows voters to vote repeatedly, and vote memory cards tossed into the back of an open bed pickup truck in Riverside County. The video is on YouTube right now at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s-3L5ETcTE

More:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_tom_cour_080309_illegal_vote_counts_.htm

[tbyg52]

23. MN: House OKs bill to automatically update Minn. voter rolls

The Minnesota House has approved a bill to automatically update voter rolls using postal information.

The bill passed on a 115-16 vote would freshen registration lists more frequently, which sponsors say will save on administrative costs and cut down on polling place lines.

People who move within Minnesota wouldn't have to re-register in their new residence because a change of address card sent to the post office would do it for them. People who leave Minnesota would have their names removed from the roster.

A postcard would go out to advise people of their status change, giving them a chance to prevent the voter registration transfer.

More:
http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7993402&nav=menu239_2

[tbyg52]

24. MA: City Wants To Require IDs To Vote

Lawrence is hoping to become the first Massachusetts city to require voters show IDs before casting their ballots.

The city council is urging the state to pass a law allowing it.

More:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/15550768/detail.html

[tbyg52]

25. CA: Brad Friedman and Other Election Integrity Advocates Speak At Historic California Hearing

The BRAD BLOG's own Brad Friedman and other Election Integrity advocates spoke at the historic Joint Informational Hearing Discussion Of Problems Faced By Voters At The 2008 Presidential Primary Election held in Los Angeles on Friday (Brad covered one aspect of the hearing on the L.A. County "Double Bubble" ballot debacle quickly last week, our full body of coverage on the matter is posted here). However, Brad almost did not get a chance to say his piece as the Sergeant-at-Arms almost tossed him out of the hearing on multiple occasions for applauding (video below, 2:20):

More:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5782

[tbyg52]

27. OH: Ohio Supreme Court: State elections chief must give deposition

The Ohio Supreme Court says Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner must give a sworn deposition over her decision to remove a county elections official.

The high court said Monday that state law does not shield Brunner from direct questioning and a staff member can't serve in her place.

(A little) more:
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080310/UPDATES01/80310020

[tbyg52]

28. OH: Is partisan system behind Lucas County election glitches?

When Lucas County Elections Director Jill Kelly and Deputy Director Dan Pilrose switched jobs last week, it wasn't because one was more capable than the other at handling the flow of ballots on Election Day.

Nor was it that one had more advanced training or better qualifications than the other.

It came down to simple politics. Mr. Pilrose is a Democrat and so is Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, who holds the tie-breaking vote over the two Democrats and two Republicans who make up the Lucas County Board of Elections.

"It's traditional. That's the way it's always been," Mr. Pilrose said.

Indeed, politics is paramount at the board of elections.

More:
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080309/NEWS08/803090349/0/NEWS32

[tbyg52]

31. PA: Counties see spike in party registration before primary

Elections are meant to be a celebration of democracy.
But on April 22, nearly one million Pennsylvania Independent voters will have to sit at home during one of the most hotly contested primary elections in recent memory because of the state’s election rules.

“It’s akin to taxation without representation,” Stephen Bouikidis, chairman of Independent Pennsylvanians, said Friday. “The primaries are paid for with taxpayer money. It isn’t fair, you’re leaving people out. Independents have been marginalized and I’m not surprised.”
Only registered Republicans and Democrats can vote in what is called a closed primary, leading to last-minute switching among some voters.
“From January, we’ve seen an increase in people changing parties. I think it’s because of the (Democratic primary) race,” said Betty Dries, Schuylkill County election bureau director.

Dries said since Nov. 7, 615 county voters have switched their allegiance to the Democratic party.

More:
http://www.standardspeaker.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6991&Itemid=2

[tbyg52]

32. AL: Helping soldiers vote

GOV. BOB Riley's task force to develop Internet voting for Alabama citizens overseas should do whatever it can to get a secure system set up because all the state's residents, especially those in the military stationed in foreign lands, deserve the right to a timely vote in state and national elections.

Most would agree the current system of mailing absentee ballots back and forth works, but it is cumbersome and subject to delays. Moreover, if the ballots don't arrive in time, they might not get counted.

The governor was right to move forward with setting up a task force, considering that the Legislature has failed to act on Internet voting for the past seven years.

More:
http://www.al.com/opinion/press-register/index.ssf?/base/opinion/120514053685810.xml&coll=3

[tbyg52]

33. NM: US Congresswoman 'Shrugs' at Vote-Buying Charges

Story Summary: Via extensive BRAD BLOG interviews, New Mexico's former Republican Governor repeats and adds fresh details to his allegations of Republican vote-buying by Congresswoman Heather Willson, tells us that the AG and SoS offices are now investigating the charges, and says he recently confronted Wilson, in person, about the allegations and was "stunned" by her response. KKOB's News Director Pat Allen offers a new reason as to why he spiked reporter Laura MacCallum's stories on the scandal and she dismisses the argument as being without merit. We also post the scripts of radio station KKOB's yanked stories, which led to MacCallum's resignation from the station last week.]

32-year award-winning news veteran and New Mexico's ABC field producer, Laura MacCallum, quit her job as afternoon anchor at Albuquerque's 50,000-watt blowtorch KKOB-AM 770, after she read an email from her News Director, Pat Allen, which said, among other things, "if there was anything to it the bloggers would have picked this up, let alone other news agencies."

More:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0803/S00150.htm

[tbyg52]

34. LA: Shorter Election Days Proposed Again

For at least the 10th time in recent years, lawmakers during the upcoming regular session will be asked to cut election-day voting hours from 14 hours to 12 hours.

State Representative Kay Kellogg Katz of Monroe has filed a bill reducing the hours polls are open from the existing 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. to the proposed 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

More:
http://www.wdsu.com/news/15552704/detail.html

[tbyg52]

36. OK: Rock the Native Vote

An initiative by the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference (OIMC) of the United Methodist Church plans to register American Indians to allow them to participate in the political process. “A group of ten persons of all ages have been meeting since late last year to regroup and focus on efforts to engage American Indians in this process,” said Rev David Wilson, Superintendent of the OIMC, and Chair of the RNV.

Rock the Native Vote (RNV) was first established in 2004 as an attempt to register young American Indians to vote. That RNV effort culminated in a large concert that was held in June, 2004. The organization worked in conjunction with the National Congress of American Indians.

This year’s plans include enlistment of American Indian students from several of the Oklahoma colleges and universities. “We hope to enlist them to help us set up registration booths at major native events in their communities,” stated Wilson. The RNV first official endeavor was in late February with the support of a gathering of Indian students at Southwestern State University in Weatherford. Native students from most of the state and private colleges and universities gathered there for a leadership conference. Rev. Chebon Kernell, Vice-chair of RNV reported that, “we were successful in signing up twenty-two volunteers.” The RNV will now sponsor training for the group on how to register persons to vote, motivate native persons to vote, and other pertinent information.

More:
http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=9408

[tbyg52]

37. VA: Registrar is playing the victim

When nine Chesterfield County precincts ran out of Democratic ballots during the Virginia primary, they improvised with a random array of handwritten votes.

One ballot included a drawing of Hillary Rodham Clinton -- "the typical little female stick figure," said Marjorie Clark, a county resident and 7th Congressional District chairwoman for the Democratic Party.

Misspellings on the handwritten ballots were prevalent, and we're not just talking about Barack Obama.

"Can you tell me off the top of your head whether Hillary has one or two l's?" asked Clark, who observed a review of the ballots for the Obama campaign.

More:
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-03-10-0129.html

[tbyg52]

38. FL: One error cost them their voice at the polls

Andrew Yochum, a lifelong Republican, went to the polls Jan. 29 to vote for John McCain..

But when he arrived, poll workers told him could not vote in the GOP primary because, they insisted, he was a member of the Reform Party, which Yochum jokes "I did not even know existed until I Googled it to find out what I believe."

The same day in Orange County, Mallie T. Williams took off work to "vote for change," only to have his ballot for Barack Obama thrown out because poll workers said the Democrat was listed as a Republican.

More:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080309/NEWS/803090749/0/FRONTPAGE

[tbyg52]

40. MT: Historic voting exhibit at MSU

A new exhibit about voting at Montana State University includes chads from the 2000 presidential election, historic ballot boxes and a signed speech by President John F.Kennedy.

The exhibit on the history of voting technologies will be housed in Wilson Hall at MSU through the fall semester.

More:
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=7992440&nav=menu227_3

[tbyg52]

41. WV: Area man makes his ballot count

For more than 65 consecutive years, T. Guy Reynolds Jr. has been casting his vote in area elections.

In honor of his civic commitment to this country’s democracy, Secretary of State Betty Ireland is expected to participate in a ceremony to induct Reynolds, 95, into the West Virginia Voter Hall of Fame.

The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. March 20 in the Berkeley County Voters Registration office at 110 W. King St.

Reynolds, a Democrat, was born in 1912 and said he remembered voting for Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932.

“Voting is our duty, as far as I’m concerned. If we don’t vote, we have no reason to complain,” said Reynolds on Friday. As for the induction, he said, “It’s another 15 seconds of glory.”

More:
http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/504526.html

[tbyg52]

2. National nt

[tbyg52]

13. 'Myth of Voter Fraud' Hearings to be Held This Week in Senate

The insidious nexus between phony GOP charges of "voter fraud" and the U.S. Attorney Purge scandal will finally explored in a Senate Hearing on "In-Person Voter Fraud: Myth and Trigger for Disenfranchisement?" this Wednesday in Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) Rules Committee.

Witnesses will include, among others, former NM U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, believed to have been fired for his unwillingness to bring voter fraud charges in the state despite pressure from folks such as Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and a representative of Republican operative Thor Hearne's now-defunct "American Center for Voting Rights" (ACVR) who The BRAD BLOG originally outed as a White House/GOP front group in a long series of investigative reports dating back to 2005, which began just after the supposedly non-partisan group (co-founded by two very high level White House/GOP operatives) first appeared on the scene.

More:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5783

[tbyg52]

14. House Hearings Expose Voter Suppression by Department of Justice

February 26 was not a good day for Asheesh Agarwal, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U. S. Department of Justice. During a hearing of the House Committee on the Judiciary, the bookish bureaucrat was raked slowly over the hot coals by several irate members of Congress.

At issue was the DOJ's enforcement of key provisions within the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which was passed by Congress in 1993 to increase participation in federal elections. Committee members attempted, with little success, to get Agarwal to explain why DOJ has spent the lion's share of its resources to pressure states to purge voters rather than ensuring their rights.

"Rights on paper are not the same as rights in fact," intoned Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York. "For that we need vigorous enforcement."

More:
http://www.alternet.org/democracy/79050/

[tbyg52]

17. Debugging Election Codes

Are electronic voting machines secure? No, says EECS professor David Wagner.

snip

Wagner, a computer security expert, explains that the main problem with current voting machines is that they are built on top of standard, non-secure computer hardware and operating systems. To ensure proper security for something as important as a voting machine, the security must be designed into the system from the ground up. Superficially, voting machines seem like ATMs, which are a solved problem; ATMs handle huge numbers of interactions, dispense paper receipts and can be audited. But what makes voting machines much more difficult, Wagner explains, is the secret ballot. A trustworthy electronic voting system must break the link between the voter and votes in a way that cannot be reversed.

More:
http://innovations.coe.berkeley.edu/vol2-issue3-mar08/electioncodes

[tbyg52]

3. Foreign nt

[tbyg52]

35. Zimbabwe: Postal Voting And the Need for Transparecy

The issue of whether to allow residents outside the country to use the postal voting facility has been raging on since government decided, in 2005, to restrict the use of the postal voting system to government officials and their spouses outside the country on official government business.

The arguments for the exclusion of others have been as variegated as they might be partisan. What has not been thoroughly scrutinised is the process through which current users of the postal voting system cast their votes, both within and without the country.

More:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200803100464.html

[tbyg52]

4. Blogs, Editorials, LTTEs, etc. nt

[tbyg52]

8. Voting security needed now!

snip

The solution? All "direct-recording" electronic voting machines should be banned at once and replaced with optical-scan or other reliable paper-trail equipment. Then people must be trained to verify the counts. Election law requires votes to be counted by people, in public and posted publicly.

If there isn't time to get the new equipment before November, then other methods, like mail-in and paper-ballot distribution at polling places must be used. A bill has been introduced to ban the use of touch-screen voting by 2012 by Sens. Bill Nelson of Florida and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Since we've recently had elections with very slim margins, no undocumented totals should have any part in presidential or congressional voting this year.

More:
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20080310_Voting_security_needed_now_.html

[tbyg52]

16. An Open Letter to Howard Dean from a Concerned Young Voter

snip

Every four years we crack bitter hanging chad jokes and criticize this obviously archaic, unnecessarily confusing process and we achieve unspectacular, incremental results. (Well, if you consider Florida and Michigan's bold acts of protest to be yielding results.) We complain about the inherent representative nature of Iowa and the bias of Diebold. And now we're stuck in the thick of a logistical nightmare trying to make sure that votes in remaining states are counted fairly.

These are all important conversations, but the troubling thing is that our national discourse is operating too much on the micro-level when we need to be having a solution-oriented macro conversation. What drastic changes are we going to make to prevent this inequity and convoluted process from perpetuating itself? What does the future of elections look like in America, given changes in technology, globalization and the emergence of a new generation?

You've always championed engaging this generation, but many of us are not convinced that we should be Democrats in this kind of system. I will not vote for a candidate in the general election who is selected by party insiders with disregard for the popular vote, and I will immediately become a registered Independent if this happens.

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maegan-carberry/an-open-letter-to-howard-_b_90794.html

[tbyg52]

18. CA: Dan Walters: Redistrict reformers miss mark

It's a given, or should be, that California's method of redrawing legislative and congressional districts after a decennial census is not only an affront to democracy. It has the real-world effect of rendering the state Legislature even more dysfunctional than it otherwise would be.

Over the past four decades, we've had two fair-minded redistricting plans adopted by the state Supreme Court after Democratic lawmakers and Republican governors deadlocked (1973 and 1991), one gerrymander designed by Democrats to solidify control of the Legislature and the largest-in-the-nation congressional delegation (1982), and one bipartisan gerrymander to freeze the numerical status quo in both arenas (2001).

Steve Westly, the former Democratic state controller, captured the situation the other day as he joined with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to tout a redistricting reform initiative for the November ballot.

More:
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/773064.html

[tbyg52]

20. The case for same-day voter registration

Imagine that you just turned 18 and decided to act upon the new rights afforded to you as a U.S. citizen.

You decide to get involved in the presidential election and attend a rally for a candidate. While there, you are inspired and as your first step toward electing your chosen candidate, you fill out a registration card at the registration-drive van outside the arena.

Two months later, you show up at your designated poll to exercise your constitutionally protected right to vote. Only, when it is your turn to check in, the poll worker informs you that you are not registered and you may not vote. By some unfortunate circumstance, the registration card you filled out never reached City Hall.

Now what? Whether your registration card was lost, you moved within the short time span preceding an election, or you failed to respond to a census and were subsequently dropped from the voting list, you are in the same boat. In eight states, this is not a problem. You would be able to register and cast your vote.

More:
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/puopinion/local_story_070060813.html?keyword=secondarystory

[tbyg52]

21. LETTERS: Same-day voting law would be abomination

A bill has been filed by a Newton Democrat to allow same-day voter registration here in Massachusetts.

If these unregistered people were too lazy to get up and vote in past elections and have now missed the deadline in the present election, perhaps they should just stay home. If their passion and belief in their candidate was so strong as to compel them to vote, then how about making a little effort? Anything else invites fraud and slaps those of us who do get out every election right in the face. We play by the rules, and you expect the state to fall over backwards simply because some candidate tickles your fancy today. If you really felt that way sooner, you would have registered.

More:
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2008/03/10/opinion/opinion02.txt

[tbyg52]

22. IA: Will your vote count?

The president of the Iowa State Association of County Auditors talks like a field general whose troops are under fire.

"I think there's a lot of county auditors who feel like they were put on the front line, and the people who were backing them up are no longer backing them," said Ken Kline, the association's leader and Cerro Gordo County auditor.

The "people" Kline referred to are the members of the Iowa Legislature, and the "front line" is the state's election process, which falls under county auditors' jurisdiction.

Just two years after election officials across the nation eliminated questionable voting processes that produced things like Florida's "hanging chads," Iowa's auditors are left hanging by a Legislature that has not yet decided how Iowa's voting process should work.

More:
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=193762

[tbyg52]

26. VT: WHY WE NEED RANDOM MANDATORY AUDITS

Many Vermont municipalities currently use machines designed by Diebold Election Systems, Inc. to count their paper ballots. But can these machines, known as optical-scanners, be completely trusted? Here’s how they work: each machine has a memory card which is like an electronic voting box where all the votes from the paper ballots are recorded and tabulated. Before each election, these memory cards must be programmed to reflect all the races with the candidates names, party affiliation, etc. This is done by a private company, LHS Associates, based in Massachusetts. On election day, these memory cards are inserted into the machines and then the machines ‘scan’ the paper ballots. This is certainly convenient for election officials and voters alike but it is important for Vermonters to know that these optical-scanners are by no means perfect.

More:
http://blazingindiscretions.blogspot.com/2008/03/why-we-need-random-mandatory-audits.html

[tbyg52]

29. Clinton Comeback: Courtesy of Diebold

It’s unfortunate that the American people still just don’t understand. It’s hard to watch them be so easily swayed by the endless mainstream nonsense while the truth is right in front of them. It’s by design of course, and the perpetrators have had a lot of practice at this.

Granted, this has been an ugly Democratic Primary season. I’ve seen things come out of the Clinton campaign that I would have never expected, and surely I’m disappointed. I would have hoped that the Clinton’s would have had more respect for the positive direction that the majority of the country is determined to take, rather than the pursuit of “winning” by any means. The fact that the Republicans have gleefully done all they can to ensure Hillary continues this behavior should be a clear indication of what side she is benefiting.

However, this is not why she won three of the four March 4th contests. Once again we are supposed to believe that it was the leaked memo, or the red phone ad, or buyer’s remorse or some other such nonsense. In reality however, she won for the same reason George Bush has been president for eight years. She won because this country still uses Diebold and ES&S voting machines that have time and again altered the outcome of our elections. I don’t think I can say it any clearer than that.

More:
http://forums.montrealracing.com/off-topic-sponsored-fast-wheels/538782-clinton-comeback-courtesy-diebold.html

[tbyg52]

5. The Youth Vote nt

[tbyg52]

30. Young voters take notice of election '08

Young voters may shake their previous image of political apathy this election year.

This presidential election has sparked more interest among students than past elections, said Shippensburg University Political Science Professor Alison Dagnes.

Among the issues most important to students are the war and the economy, she said. "I know students that are graduating are very worried about what to do after college."

Young people are registering to vote in record numbers, and youth voter turnout in several recent presidential primaries has surpassed the numbers in 2004, according to the Washington Post.

In response to the trend, SU has made several attempts to increase political interest and awareness even further among its students.

More:
http://www.publicopiniononline.com/localnews/ci_8515965

[tbyg52]

42. That's all folks! nt

[livvy]

43. Well done! Karma bonus thread. Knr (and I got to be first---Woot!) n/t

[mojowork_n]

44. Nice graphics, tbyg52. Here's the best article I've seen lately...

It was on Commondreams:

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/10/7591/

The same article's also available at Counterpunch.org

Excerpt:

Did Republicans Give Hillary Her Victory in Ohio?
by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman

Hilary Clinton’s larger-than-expected victory in Ohio may have been won with votes from Republicans, and from independents who usually vote Republican.

Much has been made of Rush Limbaugh’s other far-right commentators’ pleas to Republicans to cast their ballots for her in open primary states like Ohio and Texas. Part of the strategy is to slow down Barack Obama, who analysts argue will be harder for John McCain to beat this fall. Others, like Ann Coulter, have gone so far as to say they actually PREFER Clinton to McCain. Such voters would certainly also prefer the former first lady to Obama.

Whatever the case, there is concrete evidence in Ohio that Republican cross-over voters did, in fact, play a significant role in delivering the Buckeye primary votes to the Senator from New York.

Ohio has a classic open primary. Party affiliation can be whatever a voter states upon entering the polls. Both of this article’s writers, who usually vote Democratic or independent, chose to vote Republican in the 2006 primary, essentially because of a desire to oppose J. Kenneth Blackwell, the sitting Secretary of State, because of his role in his voter suppression during the 2004 election. In 2006, though our previous party affiliations were Democratic, each writer merely informed poll workers that we wished to cast a Republican ballot. Raised eyebrows notwithstanding, there were no problems getting them. The same opportunity allowed voters to cross-over last week.

There is clear statistical evidence that many Republican voters did cross-over. The Democratic Party “won at least 141,785 new voters in the four-county region” of Warren, Clermont, Hamilton, and Butler counties according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner told the New York Times that in Clermont and Summit Counties, paper ballots ran out mostly due to a large number of independent and Republican voters crossing over to vote in the Democratic primary.

In Warren and Clermont counties, in southwestern Ohio, the number of votes cast in the Democratic primary are telling. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that in Warren County, for example, there were 12,440 registered Democrats (9.49%) and 41,377 registered Republicans (31.57%) and 77,237 nonpartisan voters (58.94%). In Tuesday’s primary, 27,855 voters (48.53%) asked for Democratic ballots, representing 223.91% of the registered Democrats in that county.

Warren County is notorious for a “homeland security” alert called by county officials on Election Day 2004, causing the ballots to be diverted to and counted in a restricted unauthorized warehouse.

In Clermont County, there were 14,496 are registered Democrats and 37,714 registered Republicans, as reported by the Enquirer. In the primary, 26,279 people voted Democratic. One Clermont County presiding judge reported running out of Democratic ballots and turning away at least 30 people, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer...

There's more, later in the article about Texas. I still haven't seen anything very detailed about the results of that New Hampshire primary recount, but as another poster already noted, 'machine count states favor Hillary, hand count states (and caucuses) favor Barack.'

[Kurovski]

45. K&R & thank you!

:thumbsup: