From the Desk of Diana Kerry - To Overseas Voter

[DoYouEverWonder]

I know this is a little old, but I don't recall seeing this posted anywhere. There is some very interesting information in here regarding what went on with the overseas ballots. No wonder the media and Repugs could care less about the military vote this year.


November 09, 2004

Dear Overseas Voter:

I want to thank you for making the effort to register to vote and request an absentee ballot in the 2004 Presidential Election. I won?t pretend that I?m not disappointed with the results of this election. I feel that my brother?s record and character were maligned from the start by an uncommonly personal and negative campaign, and that the US news media for the most part failed in their coverage of this important race.


But I want you to know that as disappointed as I am about the election?s outcome, I am downright angry about the way US citizens living abroad have been treated by those charged with helping them exercise their right to vote. Despite millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, the Pentagon?s Federal Voter Assistance Program defaulted on their obligation to serve two important groups: civilian overseas voters and local election officials.

Poor customer service, inaccurate, conflicting and outdated information, blocked websites, last minute rules changes and all the rest: it was an unmitigated disaster. As a result, many voters saw their absentee ballot requests wrongly denied, and a large number of duly registered voters did not receive ballots from their States in time, or at all. Based on preliminary results reported by local election officials, perhaps as many as 30% of registered overseas voters did not return their ballots in time to have them count. A great many of you have been effectively disenfranchised during this election, either deliberately or through blunders, bureaucratic negligence, and worse. Whatever the reason, depriving you of your vote, never mind how you intended to cast it, is wrong.

I?d also like to acknowledge that I know many Americans abroad felt my brother?s concession Wednesday morning was premature, as all the absentee votes in Ohio and elsewhere had yet to be counted. Please rest assured that thanks to the data available from local election officials, the Kerry-Edwards campaign was aware of scale of remaining uncounted absentee ballots, and conceded only after it was abundantly clear that even a massive overseas vote in favour of the Democrats would not have made a difference. And despite that, we are still going to make sure that every overseas vote?military and civilian?is counted, as the law requires. As for possible vote-counting fraud, let me simply say that I hope we have learned our lesson about un-audited black-box voting.

more...

http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/from_the_desk_o.html

[BlueDog2u]

1. Ok! Kick!

As for possible vote-counting fraud, let me simply say that I hope we have learned our lesson about un-audited black-box voting.

[PATRICK]

2. "learned our lesson"

All of this was predictable LONG ago with full warnings and methodologies and even some counter measures. I have another sickening feeling that once more we are getting the simple picture of the capsized Kerry campaign. I hope to God my own fantasy is real, that Occam's Razor is determined by the smart, determined personality of Kerry and not the inertial impetus to disaster of modern Democratic campaigning that CAN'T cope with the dirt.

My theory was MFSH. It is either a set of swear words for the probably face value reality of being snookered by dumb crooks OR four words representing what will happen in the next weeks.

Reading a letter like that really has me ready to go for the expletives initialized. It is consistent with everything from the campaign so far and consistent with the fact that we are owed a big apology we will never receive for never getting the obvious until the truck rolled over them.

This attitude in fact seals the further setbacks for any reforms to deal with problems that should never have been naively allowed to happen unopposed in the first place. This barely squeaks for reform and this is not exactly up to snuff leadership in any sense of the word.

Please let this not be true. the fraud I know, but not the depths of naive, defenseless Dem leadership.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. I am reserving my judgment for the middle of Dec

until after the Electoral College meets. If Kerry hasn't made a move by then, him and the rest of the Democratic Party can all go to hell.

[Straight Shooter]

4. An acquaintance of mine who lives in France did not receive his ballot

He was so angry. I sent the info to him to follow up on it.

I'm going to disagree with Ms. Kerry. I think every vote makes a difference. At the time of concession, they may have been unaware of the extent of vote manipulation.

Of course, this letter was written on the 9th, eleven days ago. Things are surfacing.