CNN right now claiming that Smartmatic, who bought Sequoia, STOLE

[Gabi Hayes]

the last Chavez election, reversing the exit polls, which said he LOST by 59 to 41 percent.

they had an 'expert' who said the the central tabulating that occurred made it easy to rig the results

not one opinion from the other side, either

didn't Carter's group certify that election as being comletely above board?

just curious

they went into some detail about what a shady corporation Smartmatic is, including the investment by the Venezuelan government, of $150K in startup money, just before the recall. they forgot to mention that they also sold off their shares. guess that part didn't fit in with their story line

anybody else catch this? it's already over.

it's part of their E=voting special.

[Gabi Hayes]

1. thread on ABC story....the CNN one was more detailed, AFAIK

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2512384&mesg_id=2512384

[malaise]

2. Tell CNN to show the exit polls for the US elections

in 2000 and 2004 then shut the fugg up or deal with their own problems.

[boolean]

3. It's not impossible!!

I know we all love Hugo Chavez around here, but he could've stole an election the same way the chimp did.

Election fraud is NOT a partisan issue. Ever.

[Nozebro]

5. You have a flair for pointing out the blindingly obvious.

nt

[Nabia2004]

6. unlikely, they had a paper trail and fingerprint voter id - nt

[EFerrari]

29. And OPEN SOURCE software. n/t

[maryallen]

9. With the help of the Carlyle Group?

Purportedly, Carlyle is part owner of Smartmatic.

Unusual group to be in bed with Chavez ...

[tkmorris]

11. Except that he didn't

Legitimate criticism of Chavez is fine, but any implication that he stole the election in Venezuela is pure 100% good old American bullshit. That was arguably the most closely observed election in the history of mankind and the was NO evidence that it wasn't legitimate. Accusations by opponents were made of course, but independent observers said there was NOTHING to any of it.

[bananas]

15. Except the Venezuela elections had international monitors watching it

including Jimmy Carter: http://www.cartercenter.org/news/documents/doc1810.html

[C_U_L8R]

4. So if this crack "reporting" is correct

then by the same logic..
Chavez helped Bush steal the 2004 election ????

Nah... the republicans just can't help themselves from blaming SOMEONE
and the funny-as-shit thing is... they haven't even lost yet !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just cracks me right up.

[Gabi Hayes]

16. it's getting 'better' as time passes:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2513427

[alittlelark]

26. It's making me laugh so hard I'm gonna puke

in a bad way:puke:


They are setting the propaganda stage the sad thing is that
many might 'believe'.
Not enough to swing the election, but enough to have on camera interviews that might make the less informed of us believe that the Repukes won.


That's when 'dancing in the streets' can shift perceptions to reality.

[upi402]

7. i can call bullshit from a mile away

BushCo is worried that if they bomb Iran, Iran will immediately take out oil sites in the Arab neighborhood.

BushCo knows that Chavez would cut his oil supply too. They want him out and they want us distracted. They may escape jail by their corruption and a neutered Congress,Media, and half canceled opposition party -but they can't escape the crushing America will take if oil is cut by double digit %.

Corporate News Network is a propaganda organ of the neocons. They've been doing it since Raygun and they should be careful what they ask for.

[LibertyorDeath]

27. You got it

"Corporate News Network is a propaganda organ of the neocons"


Cheers!

[Gabi Hayes]

8. best line of show that I've seen, from Rep. Brady Wiseman, D., Montana:

''they're having us buy five thousand dollar machines to make a mark on a piece of paper, when we've got the best thing for the job right here.">>>>paraphrase....

then, he pulls out, without comment, a number 2 PENCIL, accompanied only by a wry smile

Dobbs was impressed

[Gabi Hayes]

10. Dobbs ends show by saying that all four major Emachine companies

refused to appear on the show, and that Diebold referred him to some industry lobby group to represent their POV, but THEY refused to appear as well

so much for accountability

words fail

what ffffing democracy?

[Gabi Hayes]

12. mounting campaign against Sequoia, much?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2584410&mesg_id=2584410

Oct. 28, 2006

In the debate about the reliability of electronic voting technology, the South Florida parent company of one of the nation's leading suppliers of touch-screen voting machines is drawing special scrutiny from the U.S. government.

Federal officials are investigating whether Smartmatic, owner of Oakland, Calif.-based Sequoia Voting Systems, is secretly controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, according to two people familiar with the probe.

In July, a Treasury Department spokeswoman disclosed that a Treasury-led panel had contacted Smartmatic, and a company representative said his firm was ''in discussions'' with the panel. At the time, those discussions were informal. The government has now upgraded to a formal investigation, the two sources said.

Sequoia's electronic voting machines operate in 17 states. In Florida, the machines are used in four counties: Palm Beach, Indian River, Pinellas and Hillsborough.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/15869919.htm

[NotGivingUp]

13. they are pushing this big time on all the networks. they know

the dems are gonna do a sweep and this will be their reason for not accepting the results.

[stillcool]

14. he did it too....

no matter what the issue, that is the response. They keep bringing Hugo's election out like Bill Clinton. If I recall correctly, Venezuela's technology was open source, but since I couldn't find a source, it might have been a dream. But, here's what I did find....and this is one awesome link...

http://newsmine.org/archive/cabal-elite/election-fraud/electronic/voting-disputes/31-mistakes.txt

June 7, 2000
Honolulu Star Bulletin


FIRM ADMITS ERRORS IN COUNTING VOTES FOR HAWAII, VENEZUELA

ES&S has felt the most fallout from its problems in Venezuela, where that nation's highest court suspended the May 28 elections because of technical glitches in the cards used to tabulate votes.

Dozens of protesters have chanted "Gringos get out!" at ES&S technicians working in Venezuela's election offices. The U.S. Embassy in Caracas has protested the treatment by secret police of ES&S personnel, including alleged verbal and physical abuse and threats.

Venezuela sent an air force jet to Omaha to fetch computers and experts in a last-ditch effort to fix the problem before the delay was ordered.

Venezuela's president and the head of the nation's election board accused ES&S of trying to destabilize the country's electoral process. ES&S denied that, saying 11,200 changes by election officials in posting thousands of candidates for 6,200 offices were hindering the firm's work.

US Tax Dollars Helped Finance Some Chavez Foes, Review Finds
by Mike Ceaser

CARACAS - Over the two years preceding the thwarted coup in April against President Hugo Chavez, a US-funded prodemocracy group financed a range of antigovernment programs, including some that have come under scrutiny for the way they spent their money.

An examination of grants of more than $1 million, given to organizations in Venezuela by the National Endowment for Democracy, has found that US tax money financed several Chavez opponents, including two organizations prominent in the protests that led up to the coup. The documents and interviews also report that money sent to one US-funded organization never reached its intended target and that another organization apparently falsified its Venezuelan accomplishments.

An endowment-funded trip to Washington by Chavez opponents may have accelerated the events leading to the April 11 uprising.

The revolt against Chavez fell apart after two days, allowing him to return to power. The United States soon came under a barrage of criticism for appearing to support the coup against a democratically elected president, apparently in contradiction to US policy to strengthen democracy in Latin America.

The endowment, founded in 1983 during the Cold War, is a private, nonprofit institution that receives almost all of its annual $33 million budget from the US Congress. Its purpose is to strengthen democracy worldwide, but critics have accused it of acting as an extension of US foreign policy.

[lostnotforgotten]

22. Sounds Like The US Bribed ES&S To Oust Chavez With Tampering

BTW, I watched ES&S machines flip votes when I worked as a voting clerk for Dallas, County in 2004.

[stillcool]

23. you've got to check out this link...

http://newsmine.org/archive/cabal-elite/election-fraud/electronic/voting-disputes/31-mistakes.txt

It's the best I've seen for a short and sweet eye-opener on this crap.

[Roland99]

17. New Mexico. Nov. 2002. Sequoia systems "lose" 12,000 votes?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=548&ncid=703&e=7&u=/ap/20040708/ap_on_el_ge/profile_e_voting_gadfly

"It took me a while to recognize that despite her over-the-top personal style, she was doing valuable sleuthing," said Douglas Jones, associate professor of computer science at the University of Iowa and a member of Iowa's Board of Examiners for e-voting. "But her style, which tends to be a bit alarmist and tends to appeal to conspiracy theorists, may be necessary to get the attention of the people who need to pay attention."

Harris, who in the 1990s freelanced as an investigator for companies that suspected employees of embezzling, dismisses conspiracies. She blames a lack of federal oversight, and human nature for voting problems such as those in the November 2002 election, when Bernalillo County, N.M.'s turnout was 48,000 — but only 36,000 votes were tallied on Sequoia touchscreens.

"I never looked at this as a computer problem or even a conspiracy," said Harris. "I always looked at it as an auditing problem, the exact equivalent of taking away canceled checks, invoices and receipts. You take away oversight — someone will steal. I guarantee it."

[IndyOp]

18. BULL - Re: Chavez. Voters cast votes on voter-verified paper ballots -

and Chavez has OFFERED to let people come down and recount - he won by over 1.5 million votes. She Carter center report, too: http://www.cartercenter.org/news/documents/doc1810.html

:kick:

[robinlynne]

19. "Chavez secretly owned Sequoia?" Wow, that's quite a conspiracy theory!

[Perky]

33. :) heee heee (eom)

[gully]

20. Anything that gets Republicans and others interested in reform

is fine by me. If they are not leary of the machines, we won't have change.

[pnorman]

21. A point brought out in an earlier DU discussion of that election:

That there was a "paper trail" of some sort (printout?). That we should exercize all due cautions against blindly accepting ANY election returns, is obvious. But that country is far freeer than most we could name. And it's pretty obvious that given unhindered access to the ballot, the overwhelming majoriry would vote for their perceived "best interests" (ie: for Chavez).

pnorman

[seafan]

24. Once again, Rove tries to attack us on our strengths.

Election fraud is what we've been screaming about since 2000, only to be mercilessly ridiculed and shuffled down to the basement to talk about it with John Conyers and staff.


Now, when the GOP Congress is at critical mass risk of a nationwide tsunami next week, they suddenly get righteous about the *hackable machines*, claiming a *stolen election*, and, as a result, they will *challenge the results* and refuse to relinquish their power.

You watch.

U.S. digs for vote-machine links to Hugo Chávez

BY ALFONSO CHARDY
Oct. 28, 2006



In the debate about the reliability of electronic voting technology, the South Florida parent company of one of the nation's leading suppliers of touch-screen voting machines is drawing special scrutiny from the U.S. government.
Federal officials are investigating whether Smartmatic, owner of Oakland, Calif.-based Sequoia Voting Systems, is secretly controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, according to two people familiar with the probe.

snip

Determining whether there really is a hidden connection to Chávez or anyone in his government is difficult because of Smartmatic's complex, though legal, corporate structure.
Smartmatic's corporate papers, obtained in Curac¸ao by The Miami Herald, reveal a convoluted trail of companies incorporated abroad and operating through dozens of proxy holders -- a structure seemingly designed to cloak the true owners.

The founders and principal owners of Smartmatic are Antonio Mugica and Alfredo Anzola. They are also the founders and owners of Bizta -- the company the Venezuelan government once partly owned.

Though both men come from wealthy families, a decidedly anti-Chávez sector, their reluctance to provide specific details about ownership has continued to fuel suspicions about the company.

snip

Ostensibly, the company's umbrella corporation, Smartmatic International Group, is housed inside a bank building on a scenic boulevard in Willemstad's busy Punda financial district. But all the people contacted either at the building or at the addresses of company proxy holders refused to talk to a reporter in Curac¸ao.

However, business records obtained by The Miami Herald in Willemstad's commercial registry provide no evidence of any Venezuelan government official or agency as director, associate, employee or proxy. What the records do show is the circuitous ownership structure with a paper trail leading from Willemstad to Amsterdam to Caracas to Delaware and then to Boca Raton and Oakland, Calif.

Stoller said the arrangement is standard for multinational companies.

snip

Does this remind anyone else of The Carlyle Group's method of operation?

[pa28]

25. Some interesting facts on that exit poll BTW.

http://www.narconews.com/Issue34/article1046.html

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1248

Same thing from Newsmax for balance.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/8/19/130932.shtml

It turns out the exit polls were supervised by an American firm but actually conducted by Sumate. A partisan anti-chavez group which was also involved in the coup attempt.

But this is good news! I see that CNN suddenly on a crusade against electronic vote fraud.

:sarcasm:

[roamer65]

28. Fuck CNN...Chavez's election was cleaner than ours...

in 2000 and 2004. Why don't they spend more time on the real election thieves, DIEBOLD?????

[Warren DeMontague]

30. Gee, whiz. I thought we weren't supposed to pay attention

to those pesky exit polls. Certainly not when they had Kerry kicking Bush's ass in 2004.

[cascadiance]

31. Is this KKKarl's October surprise? He's running out of time for anything else!

Pretty lame!

And it's like Ukraine all over again. Folks here and the media are more concerned about the integrity of an election in other countries where those gaining power they don't like rather than worse reports (and FAR MORE substantiated) go unreported by MSM on our own elections. Brad Friedman probably simply can't keep up with all of the great material he's given that they totally ignore!

[PATRICK]

32. Obvious timing, transparent BS

During the many incendiary moments of anti-Chavez criticism since his re-election not once did they dare resurrect their US rigged polls and smears. A DU posting at that time detailed all the oversight and welcomed challenges, the opposition party having free access to scrutinize the results. I believe there was only one comment how there was some possibly one insecure methodology- as opposed to secret deluxe US swiss cheese with vote suppression and allowed verification.

So why bring up this shameless and weak charge NOW? Could it be because of election time? When the US has the amount of accountability Chavez boldly and confidently allowed in his election despite outside US interference, THEN positing such nitpicking $%&***&^%#$@#@, glass house stone throwing contests for GOP gain by a supposed news media no more truthful and bi-partisan than the US and minority backed media in Venezuela that constantly trash the majority elect for gain might be treated with something other than revulsion and utter contempt.

Just because they hog the nation's airwaves which are in the main devoid of objectivity and depth does not mean that we have to take their "points" seriously, distractions as they are and more indicative of their lapse in ethics and professionalism on behalf of unprincipled fascism than anything else. Hypocrisy is not only looking for the mote in the honest man's eye, it lies about it strenuously because it is too lazy to look for a real one, and as unconcerned for the truth as for anything else of human value besides wealth.

Feel free to forward my by sentiments to all CNN employees who face a worse moral predicament than a Dow employee spooning napalm into rockets for use against Vietnam villages.

What this really about is the possibility that Chavez "owned" machines can be a scapegoat for GOP losses(while the media studiously IGNORES Diebold) OR that a comparison of machines and districts where "Chavez" machines are fair and accurate would create a comparison embarrassment for outright theft districts. The GOP in such cases wants to be the first off the mark to cast the first stone- and NOT get hit in return. That includes outshouting and intimidating consumer vote verification volunteers throughout the country.

[Pawel K]

34. So they are more worried about their democracy than ours?

What a bunch of pricks. Why aren't they asking the same questions about our elections. We have real proof something was fishy in 04. This makes my blood boil.

[FogerRox]

35. Excellent OP Gabi, and excellent follow up posts too, KnR

[cushla_machree]

36. I don't care who owns the voting machines

I don't trust any of them.

What is wrong with good old fashion paper, which can be locked up and stored after the election to verify. I use a paper ballot and put it into an optical scanner. I don't know how good it is, but i trust it more than electronic voting.

[Gabi Hayes]

37. CNN going after Smartmatic again, citing worries by US representatives

over ownership of Sequoia by a "country that doesn't like the US"

well, AHOLE, to start with Venezuelans DONT hate the US, they HATE BUSH!


I know it's a slight distinction to them, but funny how that tends to help the pugs, isn't it?

and the MOST IMPORTANT aspect, if they're so worried about possible funny business, has CNN EVER ONCE mentioned the letter from the president of Diebold promising to deliver Ohio in 2004? that seems to me INFINITELY more troubling

and now, Dobbs promises to get to the bottom of the Smartmatic ownership conundrum. he's so worried about them, but the funny thing is he didn't mention the Diebold letter.

could it possibly be that he doesn't even know about it? how could he know and NOT comment on it? he's either VERY LAZY, incompetent, in fact, or has an axe to grind....can't be both. which is it, Lou?