Monday 12/27 Election/Fraud/Recount thread

[MelissaB]

In order to organize and document I thought it would be a good idea to have a daily thread to place items related to the recounts/fraud. This also make it easier to "catch up" when we are away from the computer for a while.

Please help us. If you see something that isn't here post it with a link to the thread and a thanks to the author. Thanks to everyone who is helping in this project.


Link to the thread from yesterday here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=196638

[meganmonkey]

1. Thanks for doing this MelissaB!

This could be a good one!!!

:bounce:

[MelissaB]

3. I'm hoping

today will be a good one!

Dzika has really kept this thread going. My husband's family (they aren't Democrats either) is here for the holidays, and I haven't had a lot of time. I want to say "Thank You" to dzika publically for keeping this thread alive.

:toast:

[dzika]

8. Sunday 12/26 Highlights

Recap of stories from Sunday 12/26
(and a few from previous days)



12/23 - Kerry to Enter Ohio Recount Fray
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122404Y.shtml

12/23 - MORE: Video Supporting Ohio Vote Fraud Claim Revealed
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122404X.shtml

12/23 - Video Clip of Kerry Ohio Filing news on Countdown
http://www.edwardsdavid.com/BushVideos/Obermann_041223-01.rm (Real Media Video)

12/24 - BreakForNews: Kerry Preparing Grounds to Unconcede
http://www.breakfornews.com/articles/KerryPreparing%20GroundsToUnconcede.htm

Jan 3: Defend Democracy in Columbus, Ohio
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=4882

U.S. Presidential Election Fraud Inquiry Request To Consider
http://okcitykid.bravejournal.com/entry/8940/

Democracy’s unbound when the media fails
http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2004/12/26/democracys-unbound-when-the-media-fails/

11/5 Article - FOOTPRINTS OF ELECTORAL FRAUD
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/KEE411A.html

Voting rights groups attack provisional ballot process
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/10501551.htm

Recap on New Mexico Recount Saga
http://www.democracyfornewmexico.com/democracy_for_new_mexico/2004/12/recap_on_nm_rec.html

Three exit polls project Yushchenko presidential victory by a large margin
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/12/26/international1732EST0527.DTL

Lytel: "The End is Near: The Coming Constitutional Insurrection"
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/end-is-nearthe-coming-constitutional.html

President of Triad Present During Montgomery Co. Recount
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/president-of-triad-present-during.html

Ukraine Exit Polls Leave No Doubt that John Kerry Would Have Won
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/997

Kerry's Counsel Makes Statement Questioning The Legitimacy Of Election
http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/002359.php

Evidence of Fraud and Disenfranchisement in Ohio: A Partial List
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/evidence-of-fraud-and.html

Even Non-Partisan Commission Cannot State the Election Was Not Stolen
http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/2004/12/news-election-2004-even-non-partisan.html

G.O.P. Officials Try to Squelch Recount Efforts in Ohio, Washington
http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/2004/12/news-election-2004-gop-officials.html

Republican Leadership’s Problem With Democracy by Stephen Crockett
http://magic-city-news.com/article_2627.shtml

More fuel to recount fire - Widespread abuses in Ohio
http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$30089
http://www.thefreespeechzone.net/html/Ohio_Suppression_Video.html (info and video)

[Clark2008]

2. OK, so where is the news of today?

Is Kerry filing?
Has he filed?

Woke up and flew to the computer to see! I hope something happens today. I go back to work tomorrow and am in charge of the marketing department for the week. I'm doubting I'll be able to sit and follow the news. :)

[renaissanceguy]

4. I hope SOMETHING happens today!

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.15574683

[FogerRox]

5. Kickin it 4 KERRY & 51capitalmarch.com

[MelissaB]

6. Kaufman (TX) County Election Scandal

http://www.ntimc.org/newswire.php?story_id=1678

For the past three years the 50-year-old Texas native studied up for the position of County Commissioner by going to meetings. And she recruited the outgoing Commissioner, Ivan Johnson, to be her campaign manager. In the Democratic primary, she won handily. And right up to ten o'clock on election night, she felt pretty good about her chances. That's about the time she says she left Democratic Party headquarters in the town of Kaufman to return home to Terrell. With virtually all nine voting boxes counted, she was about 200 votes ahead.

"Y'all better get back over here," is what Tony Crow told Ivan Johnson over the telephone not too long after ten o'clock. "They're about to steal the election away from Brenda." Johnson was watching the phone at the Denson-Prince campaign headquarters in Terrell. So Johnson called Denson-Prince, they hopped in their cars, and sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 that night, they walked through the back door of the Kaufman County courthouse annex, where the votes had been counted.



"Deja-Vote," hollered the headline in Wednesday morning's Kaufman Herald. "A computer software glitch is being blamed for controversy that occurred Tuesday night as ballots were being counted by Kaufman County election officials," began the story.

"The problem occurred when data taken from one counting machine to another computer for collating became corrupted. The data roughly doubled the amount of votes counted for several precincts, according to Kaufman County information technology director George York." A two-column photo of York showed him testing a ballot-counting machine on Wednesday morning.


Thanks to TexasProgressive here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x198034

[gmoses]

30. author corrections

References to news clips are to Terrell Tribune, not Kaufman Herald. First reference to Crow should ready Terry, not Tony. Corrections posted at Texas Civil Rights Review. All background clips and docs available in PDF format at downloads section of texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke --gmoses

[dzika]

32. Kaufman (TX) County Election Scandal - Link to PDF

I believe that this is the correct link to the PDF file:
http://texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke/downloadz/prince03fax.pdf

[gmoses]

35. three files total in pdf

there are three pdf files at the "Downloads" section of Texas Civil Rights Review:

http://www.texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke/

thanks for your interest--gmoses

[MelissaB]

7. Blackwell blocks precinct books viewing until AFTER Jan. 6th

The new Champaign County report describes how the precinct signature book, necessary to verify that the number of votes that were cast, will not be made available to recount observers until after January 10, per orders of Kenneth Blackwell (Secretary of State) (and, of course, Congress convenes on January 6 to receive the Electoral College votes, so irregularities discovered after that date are old news).
http://www.votecobb.org /


Thanks to Imagevision here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x198567

[dzika]

9. IN ONE SPOT: RECENT HORROR STORIES - A series of posts by DU's TruthIsAll

(thanks to TruthIsAll for writing these excellent posts and putting this digest together)

TruthIsAll (1000+ posts) Sun Dec-26-04 10:20 PM
Original message
IN ONE SPOT: RECENT HORROR STORIES

• I. THE NEW MEDIA: TRUTHSEEKERS IN THE BLOGOSPHERE
  
  
  
  • DEJA VU: WAS IT ALL A DREAM? FLASHBACK TO NOV. 2
    
  • FOOTPRINTS OF ELECTORAL FRAUD
    
  • The SCOOP/Simon exit poll breakthrough - more true than ever.
    
  • INVALID EXIT POLLS? BLAME THE BLOGGERS
    
  • WHY DID THE EXIT POLLS SAY KERRY GOT MORE VOTES? BECAUSE HE DID.
    
  • WHERE WOULD WE BE WITHOUT THE NET?
    
  
  
• II. EXIT POLL NUMBER CRUNCHING
  
  
  
  • VERY STRANGE, VERY STRANGE....
    
  • MY TINFOIL HAT IS GETTING HEAVY: CNN 2000 Exit Poll Site is INCOMPLETE
    
  • THE SMOKING GRAPH: GORE (tight) VS. KERRY (wide) EXIT POLL DEVIATIONS
    
  • EXIT POLLS: THE LATEST MYSTERY POLLSTER BLOG - AND MY COMMENTS
    
  • THE ODDS: TAKING THE EXIT POLL "CLUSTER" FACTOR INTO EFFECT
    
  • CLUSTER AROUND, FOLKS. CHOOSE YOUR OWN MOE.
    
  • PROBABILITY TABLES: YOUR OWN EXIT POLL FRAUD DETECTION KIT
    
  • CLUES? Exit Poll Deviations weighted by EV; Voting Machine Mix by state
    
  
  
• III. TO SUM IT UP
  
  
  
  • THESE ARE THE FACTS SO FAR
    
  • WHY REPUBLICANS BELIEVE THERE WAS NO FRAUD: From A to Z
    
  • PART III: To believe that Bush won the election, you must also believe:
    
  
  
• Programming 101:
  
  
  
  • SUB SCAM – A Tiny Visual Basic Program
    
  
  

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x197278

[dzika]

10. Vigil at John Kerry's house ...Coalition Against Election Fraud

(thanks to NVMojo)

NVMojo (1000+ posts) Mon Dec-27-04 04:49 AM
Original message
Vigil at John Kerry's house ...Coalition Against Election Fraud


in case I buried it under the wrong caption ...for those of you interested in putting your actions behind your mouths with Kerry ...

Daily Vigil at Senator John Kerry's House, 12/28 - 1/5
Coalition Against Election Fraud

There will be a daily vigil from 12:30-1:30 p.m. at Senator John Kerry's
house at Louisburg Square on Beacon Hill in Boston, starting Tuesday,
December 28 - Wednesday, January 5. On New Year's Eve only the vigil will
be from 4:00-5:00 p.m.

- We are asking Senator Kerry not to certify the electoral college vote on
January 6, 2005 and to encourage other Senators and Representatives not to
certify.

- We are asking Senator Kerry to support any other Senators and
Representatives who are planning not to certify.

This vigil is sponsored by the Coalition Against Election Fraud
You can direct questions to us at [e-mail]
Contact: Sheila Parks, Coalition Against Election Fraud
617-524-2223
cell: 617-512-5529


Continued at DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x197758

See Also:
http://www.caef.us
and
http://nostolendemocracy.typepad.com

[dzika]

11. The Texas Election Scandal You Have Not Heard About

(thanks to gmoses)

The Texas Election Scandal You Have Not Heard About

By Greg Moses

The Texas Civil Rights Review

"As I look back over the General Election held on Nov. 2, 2004, I know that voting is a 'right' that is being taken away everyday," writes Brenda Denson-Prince. But she is not writing about far away places like Ohio or Florida. She is writing about her own attempt to become the first woman in Kaufman County, Texas to sit on the County Commissioners Court. On the day after Christmas, Denson-Prince faxes me forty pages.

http://www.texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke /

PS: Mirror Sites Welcome for story and pdf files--gm

[dzika]

12. OH R*s aren't the only ones hindering recounts; Recount Roadblocks in NM

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Elections! Here...

Ohio Republicans aren't the only ones trying to hinder recounts of election results. The Green and Libertarian parties have also filed for a recount in New Mexico, and the Democratic administration there is throwing up as many roadblocks as it can, with support from state courts, which are no more eager than are those in Ohio to deal with these upstart outsiders eager to disturb the established order.

The State Canvassing Board demanded that Cobb and Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik pay the full estimated cost of the recount in advance, even though there is no legal requirement for the campaigns to do so. On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court upheld that decision. In a December 23 press release, Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb called that
an insult to the democratic process and the citizens of New Mexico.



"We are seeking a recount in New Mexico to protect the right to vote and ensure that all votes are counted. We came here expecting cooperation, or at least compliance with the law, from New Mexico's Governor and Secretary of State. However, despite broad support across the political spectrum for an honest audit of New Mexico's voting system, we have been stonewalled and obstructed at every step by the Democratic Party leadership of this state," said Cobb.

"The New Mexico Supreme Court has apparently decided it is more interested in protecting the rights of corporations who make electronic voting machines than the rights of citizens to ensure that their votes are counted accurately. To call this a travesty of justice is understating the nature of the outcome," said Rick Lass, New Mexico coordinator for the recount effort.


continued...
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2004/12/elections-here.html

[dzika]

13. Time to Debunk Some Post-Election Myths

(I hesitated to even post this crap... except it sounds like some of Rove's "Talking Points" )

Time to Debunk Some Post-Election Myths
By Richard Davis
MichNews.com
Dec 27, 2004

-snip-
Myth #6. The Banana Republic. Democrats owe Americans a huge apology for smearing the country’s reputation by claiming our elections are rigged and needful of international monitoring. Slime balls like Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Kerry and members of the NAACP and Black Caucus deserve public contempt for this slander, and we’re wrong not to lavish it upon them.

They’re still trying to dirty America. This time it’s Ohio. Black activists say someone distributed flyers in black neighborhoods telling residents that Republicans vote on Tuesday and Democrats vote on Thursday. No need to tell blacks when independents vote. Here’s the skinny on those flyers (and I’ll keep this to single syllables): If you are so dumb to fall for that, you are way too dumb to vote. Stay on the couch.


Link:
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_6175.shtml

(Oh, so people with lower IQs don't deserve to vote... I heard Rush say this same thing on election morning after the first few exit polls terrified the R*s. How is that patriotic?)

[meganmonkey]

21. That's too funny - I came across that same article

and debated with myself about whether or not to post it...

:P

It is important to know what we're up against, though.

[dzika]

14. Texas Election Scandal - Forty Faxes and a Whisper

(a few paragraphs from the article posted by gmoss. Very interesting.)

December 27, 2004

Forty Faxes and a Whisper
Texas Election Scandal
By GREG MOSES


-snip-
For the past three years the 50-year-old Texas native studied up for the position of County Commissioner by going to meetings. And she recruited the outgoing Commissioner, Ivan Johnson, to be her campaign manager. In the Democratic primary, she won handily. And right up to ten o'clock on election night, she felt pretty good about her chances. That's about the time she says she left Democratic Party headquarters in the town of Kaufman to return home to Terrell. With virtually all nine voting boxes counted, she was about 200 votes ahead.

-snip-
Deja-Vote," hollered the headline in Wednesday morning's Kaufman Herald. "A computer software glitch is being blamed for controversy that occurred Tuesday night as ballots were being counted by Kaufman County election officials," began the story.

-snip-
Meanwhile another story in that dayís Herald reported Ohio-length voting delays. At Bethlehem Baptist Church (voting box 26) lines were said to be 45-minutes long, owing to van-loads of enthusiastic young voters from nearby Southwestern Christian College.

By the end of the day, reported the paper (quoting Election Judge Russell Jones) there were "366 voters" at Bethlehem Baptist. The paper did not explain why at 10:09 p.m. that night, only 360 ballots appeared in the official, computerized tally for box 26, a precinct that Denson-Prince won handily, with 94 percent of the vote. On the most recent count of box 26, says Kaufman County Democratic Chair George Lawshe in a Dec. 7 email, there were 342 voters and 361 ballots.

-snip-
Prior to the electronic recount, Denson-Prince released her letter to the Texas NAACP. "I as an African American female, do not feel that my rights were protected," wrote Denson-Prince. "I feel that I have been discriminated against." Her letter to the Texas NAACP was reported as top story in the Kaufman Tribune for Nov. 12. But the story never leaked out of the county, and as far as I can tell, the newspaper does not make some of these stories available online.

Saturday's headline was matter of fact. The electronic recount had found 2,870 votes for Denson-Prince and 2,873 for her Republican opponent. Meanwhile, Saturday's hand count yielded six more votes for Denson-Prince (2,876) and six for her opponent, too (2,879). When commissioners met Monday morning, Nov. 15, Denson-Prince's campaign manager approved the canvassed vote. Denson-Prince had lost by three votes.

What's surprising to me at this point is the apparent lack of support or attention being given to Denson-Prince by powers outside of Kaufman County. Last year at this time, two of the four Commissioners for Kaufman County were Democrats. Next week, if nothing changes, there will be none.

Link:
http://www.counterpunch.org/moses12272004.html

[dzika]

15. Greens and Greenbacks - How Nonprofit Careerism Derailed the "Revolution"

(another negative article)

December 27, 2004

How Nonprofit Careerism Derailed the "Revolution"

Greens and Greenbacks
By MICHAEL DONNELLY

-snip-
Yet, did any of this chasten the insiders? Of course not. Cobb and cronies went on to find a whole new fundraising mechanism ­ the Ohio recount. Cobb, who cared so much for Ohio voters that he did not even campaign there and gained but 186 votes in Ohio, is leading a recount challenge. The Cobb Campaign, not the Green Party proper, has received well over $300,000 in donations for the recount from idealists and deluded Democrats across the country ­ far more than the $116,000 Cobb raised for his entire campaign. Moneys that would be far better spent repairing the damage done the Green Party by the Cobb Campaign, as any change in the Ohio vote result is beyond unlikely.

What's the point? In perhaps the most ironic title and first paragraph written this year, Bobier had a piece on the recount (good for more fundraising) published this week Bobier actually titled his piece "Mock the Vote" and started off with "Some people just have no respect for the law these days. Unfortunately, they happen to be in charge of our elections." (Well, Blair, the people "make the rules")
(see: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1223-11.htm)

And, how is the money being used? Well, Ohio charged $113,600 for the Recount. The rest goes to "overhead" such as the "rehiring of staff" talked about on Cobb's new recount website; sans names, duties and salary info, of course.

Link:
http://www.counterpunch.org/donnelly12272004.html

[dzika]

16. The Nation - Rule One: Count Every Vote

Rule One: Count Every Vote
12/27/2004 @ 11:20am
by John Nichols

Politics is a game played by rules. And the most important rule regarding close elections is that you don't win by being conciliatory during the recount process. Indeed, the only way a candidate who trails on election night ends up taking the oath of office is by refusing to concede and then confidently demanding that every vote be counted -- even when the opposition, the media and the courts turn against you.

That is a rule that Al Gore failed to follow to its logical conclusion in 2000, and that John Kerry did not even attempt to apply this year. Both men were so determined to maintain their long-term political viability that they refused to fight like hell to assure that the votes of their supporters were counted. That refusal let their backers down. It also guaranteed that, despite convincing evidence that the Democrat won in 2000, and serious questions about the voting and recount processes in the critical state of Ohio in 2004, George W. Bush would waltz into the White House.

continued...
http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=2090

Yahoo Link:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2281&ncid=742&e=5&u=/thenation/20041227/cm_thenation/12090

[dzika]

17. Blaming the Victims of the 2004 Election

December 27, 2004

Power Concedes Nothing Without Demands
Blaming the Victims of the 2004 Election
By BRIAN KWOBA

I hate to keep wading around in the drudgery of election-year fallout, but I've heard too much elitist cynicism and scapegoating of a supposedly dumb-and-dumber American population to keep quiet. In much of the post-election commentary, the left along with much of the rest of the world has predictably cited a stupid, ignorant, or incurably right-wing US electorate as the reason for Bush's recent win. The cynicism arises from interpreting the wide margin of victory in the popular vote as ratification of Bush's unilateral rapacity in Iraq and Afghanistan, decisive complicity in the Haitian coup, and his menacing attacks on the minimal civil liberties, education, social security, and healthcare systems at home. All of this is certainly daunting and immensely unwelcome, to say the least. But the blame for Bush's second coming should not be placed on the "American public." For those of us who truly seek change, there is a more complicated story. And that story is rife with lessons that are absolutely critical for the future of our movement.

Link:
http://www.counterpunch.org/kwoba12272004.html

[dzika]

18. R*s request review of some ballots in Kittitas County, WA

Nine local ballots face review

By MIKE JOHNSTON

Kittitas County Auditor David Bowen said the county Canvassing Board will meet 10 a.m. Tuesday to discuss the legality of re-examining nine absentee ballots in response to a request made Thursday by the county Republican Party.

Bowen said county GOP Chairman Mathew Manweller, accompanied by a state Republican Party attorney, presented nine affidavits from county voters who mailed their absentee ballot envelopes to the county with no signatures or with signatures that didn't match signatures on the voter registration rolls.

-snip-
"The Canvassing Board has not agreed to review any ballots, change reported totals or recanvass any ballots," Bowen said. "The meeting will be a discussion of the legal issues regarding the certification of the Canvassing Board results from the manual recount of the governor's race."

Link:
http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2004/12/27/news/news02.txt

[dzika]

19. Recount checks out for Morrow County, Ohio

Recount checks out for Mt. Gilead's Gloria Hershey

By ALBERTA STOJKOVIC
For The Marion Star

"We need to care about our vote and this was something real I could do," said Hershey, a homemaker, who says she has not been formally involved in politics in the past. "I asked myself, 'Do I believe in this enough to be there?'"

Hershey was one of 12 participating in the recount for Morrow County's November election. Four members of the county's board of elections took part in the count along with two observers for the Republican, Democrat and Green parties, and candidate Michael Badnarik.

"I wasn't just doing this for me," Hershey said after the recount. "I was doing it to make sure the election was honest."

-snip-
According to the law, the hand count was to be done on 3 percent or 501 ballots of the total 16,694 votes cast in Morrow County and the director of the board of election had chosen a precinct to count ahead of time, which had 517 ballots. Wright pointed out that the recount instructions called for a "random" selection of precincts until the number of ballots reached the 3 percent of the total vote.

Board of Elections Director Marilyn Smith explained that they had chosen one from the ten precincts with more than the needed 501 ballots so they would not have an excessively large number of votes to count. She pointed out that the ballots had been in a sealed box since the election.

Link:
http://www.marionstar.com/news/stories/20041227/localnews/1794448.html

[dzika]

20. Green Party - Blackwell's Role Becoming Clearer

Daily Update
Monday, December 27, 2004

Blackwell's Role Becoming Clearer

As more county recount reports flow into our office, it is becoming clearer that Secretary Blackwell's office had a direct role in making it harder to vote in Ohio and harder to recount the vote.

For example, the new Champaign County report describes how the precinct signature book, necessary to verify that the number of votes that were cast, will not be made available to our recount observers until after January 10, per orders of the Secretary of State (and, of course, Congress convenes on January 6 to receive the Electoral College votes, so irregularities discovered after that date are old news).

-snip-
Here are some of the latest findings from our recount observers:

· Hamilton County: Approximately 400 provisional ballots allegedly were rejected because they were cast in the wrong precinct, despite the fact that they were cast at the right polling station (i.e., at a polling station with more than one precinct).

· Fairfield County: When the hand recount of the 3% test sample did not match the official vote totals, a full recount should have been ordered for all county ballots. Instead, the recount was "suspended" by county officials who said that Secretary Blackwell recommended that the recount should begin again "from scratch." The Green recount observers then were told that it was 4:00 PM, the building was closed, and all had to leave. The Republican contingent, however was allowed to stay in a conference room for an additional ten minutes or so for a private discussion.

· Belmont County and Summit County: Recount witnesses were threatened with expulsion if they spoke to counting teams. In some instances, they were expected to "observe" from up to 20 feet away, despite Ohio Election Law allowing observers to be close enough to actually observe.

· Medina County: Election officials were aware of several "problem" districts, but instead chose to perform the manual 3% test recount on two precincts that had been part of a School Levy Recount the previous Monday. That meant that those ballots had been taken out of the standard "double lock" situation and had been handled several times since Monday.

· Huron County: The punchcard tabulator test was observed only by Republican witnesses. This test was conducted the day before the Green witness was invited to observe the recount.



continued...
http://votecobb.com/recount/daily_update/

[dzika]

22. NYT: Politically Inclined Filmmakers Say There Is Life After the Election

Politically Inclined Filmmakers Say There Is Life After the Election
By NANCY RAMSEY

Published: December 27, 2004
New York Times

In the months preceding the November election, it seemed as if every other week saw the release of a new documentary whose primary intent was to defeat George W. Bush.

Theaters ran "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Bush's Brain," "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry" and "Brothers in Arms: The Story of the Crew of Patrol Craft Fast 94." House parties sponsored by the liberal group MoveOn featured "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" and "Uncovered: The War in Iraq." A Web site started in September, www.filmstoseebeforeyouvote.org, had 13,000 visitors in its first three weeks.
(see: http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=301835&inline=nyt_ttl )
(see: http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=306667&inline=nyt_ttl )
(see: http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=309213&inline=nyt_ttl )
(see: http://www.filmstoseebeforeyouvote.org/ )

Now, with the election over - one whose results George Butler, the director of "Going Upriver," likened to "coming to a screeching halt in front of a brick wall" - the question arises of what the future holds for these filmmakers. Interviewed about plans for their next projects, many made clear that they did not view the recent mixing of filmmaking with activism as a phenomenon limited to a presidential campaign.

"Political documentaries are not going to come to an abrupt halt because of the re-election of George Bush," said Errol Morris, whose prescient Academy Award-winning documentary, "The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara," looks back on the fateful decisions that led the United States into the Vietnam War and kept it there. During the campaign, Mr. Morris filmed political commercials with MoveOn featuring people who had voted for Mr. Bush in 2000 but planned to vote for Senator John Kerry in 2004.

"If people were motivated to make films because of their concern with the policies of the first administration," he said, "it's hard to argue that those concerns were allayed on Nov. 2."

continued...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/movies/27docu.html?oref=login

[dzika]

23. Update from PFAW Election Protection Hotline

December 27, 2004

Update from PFAW Election Protection Hotline

Dear Volunteers,

Thanks to volunteers and activists like you, the Election Protection Coalition is pressing ahead and making progress. We have two major post-election objectives:

Ensure that the votes cast in 2004 are properly counted; and,
Prepare an election reform agenda to push at the federal, state and local levels. As we get ready for 2005, here's a brief update on where we stand.

Preliminary Review of Election Problems and Reform Agenda Unveiled
We are shattering the myth that the 2004 election ran smoothly, a myth that has become the conventional wisdom for many pundits and politicians. To tell the real story, People For the American Way Foundation and other Election Protection partners released on December 8 a preliminary review of the election problems documented by our efforts. Based on an analysis of the nearly 40,000 written complaints and more than 200,000 phone calls taken by Election Protection volunteers, the report identifies the top five problems voters encountered in 2004 and outlines preliminary recommendations to fix them. Take a moment to read the report and help spread the word to friends: http://www.pfaw.org/go/EP/shattering_myths (.pdf) .

GAO Will Investigate 2004 Voting Process
Last month, thousands of Election Protection activists wrote Congress to demand a nationwide investigation of voting problems in this year's elections. Backed by those and other letters from constituents, members of Congress called for the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office to conduct a thorough investigation. The GAO has agreed to do so and will study a range of systemic election issues, including the accuracy of the vote count and the methods used to count the vote. We'll keep you posted as this investigation takes further shape. Election Protection activists will most certainly be needed again on this matter.

PFAW Foundation Files Suit to Protect Ohio Provisional Ballots
People For the American Way Foundation filed a lawsuit on November 24 seeking to overturn arbitrary rules that led election officials in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) not to count one third, or more than 8,000, of the provisional ballots cast on November 2. The percentage of provisional ballots rejected this year is almost twice the percentage thrown out in 2000. Representing several individual voters whose ballots were among those not counted, PFAW Foundation's legal team is asking that election officials check the provisional ballots against voter registration cards, not electronic voting lists that are known to contain errors. The lawsuit also requests remedies for voters affected by poll workers who did not notify them of their correct polling place. You can stay current on this case, which is currently pending at the county appellate district court, and our other election-related legal efforts on our Casewatch page: http://www.pfaw.org/go/EP/casewatch.

Public Hearings Collect Voter Problems, Experiences and Ideas
Election Protection coalition members and allied organizations are conducting a series of public hearings to gather additional information on election inequities, irregularities, and voter suppression efforts, and to help build public support for a reform agenda in the states. Well-attended hearings have already been held in Ohio and Texas, bringing to light voting obstacles from the pervasive confusion among poll workers concerning provisional ballots to reports of authorities towing the vehicles of voters standing in long lines. Additional hearings, scheduled throughout January, will be held in at least six states (Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, New Mexico and Colorado). Election Protection activists will be invited to attend hearings and help keep voting problems and the people affected by them before the media.

As you can see from just this short recap, the Election Protection team has been hard at work since November 2, and our efforts will only increase in 2005. Your participation, action and insight will lead our march toward a fair and reliable election system for every American.

Thank you for your incredible support. We hope you enjoy the holiday season.
Sincerely,
Ralph G. Neas
President
People For the American Way Foundation


Link:
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/update-from-pfaw-election-protection.html

[dzika]

24. Ten Earth-Shaking Headlines Should be Front-Page News in the Times Today

Monday, December 27, 2004

Ten Earth-Shaking Headlines Which Could Have Been Front-Page News in the Times Today, But Won't Be

By ADVOCATE STAFF

All this from a single blog entry from MSNBC anchorman Keith Olbermann (see link, below, for full text). What does that say about the size and scope of the Votergate scandal?

One - Ten Days Shy of Congressional Certification of the November Election, Kerry-Edwards Campaign Releases Statement Indicating It Does Not Believe Certification of Bush's Re-Election "Warrants the Public Trust"

Two - Congressional Source Estimates Chance that Bush Re-Election Will Receive Challenge from Both Houses of Congress Now at "Upwards of 33%" -- Up From 0% Just Seven Days Ago

Three - More Than 2,200 "New Votes" Found in Recounts of Two Ohio Counties, Only One of Which Was a Manual Recount; To Date Only One of Eighty-Eight Ohio Counties Has Conducted a Countywide Manual Recount

Four - 86 of 88 Ohio Counties Violate State Law By Illegally Pre-Selecting Precincts to Recount

Five - Congressman: Private Voting Firm Had "Remote Access" to Sensitive Election-Day Data, Had Power to Amend Election-Day Results Without Being Detected

Six - Kerry-Edwards Campaign Files Federal Lawsuit Alleging Ohio Recount Was Illegally Conducted and All Electronic Evidence from Recount Must Be Preserved for Independent Analysis

Seven - MSNBC Anchorman Predicts Vestiges of Kerry-Edwards Campaign to Wage Months-Long Assault on 2004 Election Process, Starting Now

Eight - Kerry-Edwards Lawyer: "Developing Evidence Will Reveal Other Problems" in Ohio Recount Which Have Not Yet Been Disclosed to the Public; Kerry and Edwards Authorize Their Representative to Say That They Are "Very Concerned" About Recount Illegalities

Nine - Kerry-Edwards Campaign to Put "All Circumstances Involved in the Ohio Election Recount...Before the Court "

Ten - MSNBC: Kerry, Through His Lawyer, Issues His First "Fighting Words" of the Post-Election Season

Link:
http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/2004/12/news-election-2004-ten-earth-shaking.html

[dzika]

25. 12/24 - Ex-hostage: Rebels wanted Bush re-elected

(this article was originally posted on 12/24 but I thought it deserved another look in light of the latest Bin Laden video)

Ex-hostage: Rebels wanted Bush re-elected
(from AP)

December 24, 2004


PARIS -- French journalists held hostage for four months in Iraq said their militant captors told them they wanted President Bush to win re-election.

In a four-page account of their ordeal, one of the reporters, Georges Malbrunot, also wrote that they saw several other hostages who were later decapitated. The journalists said their captors viewed foreign businessmen working in Iraq as their enemies.

One of the captors from the group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq said Bush's re-election would boost their cause, Malbrunot wrote in Friday's edition of Le Figaro, the French daily he works for.

"We want Bush because with him the American troops will stay in Iraq and that way we will be able to develop," Malbrunot cited the captor as saying.


Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2004/12/24/ex_hostage_rebels_wanted_bush_re_elected/

[dzika]

26. Reverend Jesse Jackson writes to PDA base

(thanks to kevin_pdamerica)

This email is going to go out within the next hour or so.

From the desk of Reverend Jesse Jackson
December 27, 2004

Dear Progressive Democrat,

I want to express my thanks for everything Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) has done to keep the investigations into tampering and fraud in the 2004 election alive and in the public eye. The work of PDA's grassroots activists helped bring media attention to the election fraud hearings held in Ohio, rallied the House Minority Judiciary Committee to confront the issue of voter fraud, and has forced members of Congress to take the election fraud issue seriously.

I ask you to join in the next wave of election-related actions. We must let the politicians know that we're here, we're watching, and we demand every vote be counted and that every vote count. This is not about whether Bush stole another election, it's about fundamental civil and democratic rights. We must work to change the current system, or we'll continue to have disreputable politicians denying the vote to African Americans, Latinos, youth, and others for years to come.
Please visit the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition website for more information about the upcoming Rallies for Democracy. You may contact George Korn at 740-953-1130 for logistical information.

Additionally, I urge you to go to the PDA website and follow their latest Action Alert which targets a second round of Senators, including John Kerry. In less than 72 hours PDA members were responsible for over 23,000 emails being sent to six U.S. Senators urging at least one of them to join progressive House members in challenging the election results on January 6, 2005. Many of you took the first action. Now we need to contact this second group of Senators as well. Please send this message on to your friends and email lists and ask them to send the action alert also.

Next month we will pause to remember the sacrifice of Dr. Martin Luther King. I ask that you remember him not only in spirit, but in deed. His words ring as true today as ever, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Commit to taking action in the streets as a tribute to his memory. Two historic rallies will be held at the beginning of January. Start the New Year off right and get involved.

Rainbow/PUSH, PDA, UFPJ, the Greens, and other progressive activists are sponsoring a Pro-Democracy Rally in Columbus, Ohio on January 3rd, 2005.

If you can't be there, ask your friends in the area to attend. Encourage them to add their voices to the chorus.

On the 3rd, we will ask our politicians to stand up for democracy. On the 6th we will be there to support them as they do. A massive Pro-Democracy Rally will be held in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2005, with complementary rallies throughout the country. Take a day off for democracy and join with us as we demand an end to separate and unequal elections, to a system that lends itself to manipulation and fraud. Votes are the building blocks of our democracy, and we must not take them for granted.

We seek to do a glorious thing, and we will be triumphant if we stand together.

Keep Hope Alive
Rev. Jesse Jackson


The NEW action with new targeted Senators (Including Kerry) is at http://www.pdamerica.org the direct one click link is:
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=6770366

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x199115

[dzika]

27. New Olbermann blog 12/27, with full text statement from Kerry lawyer

(thanks to Miami Liberal)

As promised, the full text of the statement to Countdown from the evening of December 23 of Daniel J. Hoffheimer, State Legal Counsel, Ohio, Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc., (and, yes, he’s referring to himself in the third person here):

“Daniel Hoffheimer, State Legal Counsel for the Kerry-Edwards campaign, told MSNBC today that Kerry-Edwards will support the third-party candidates in asking the Federal Court in the Ohio recount lawsuit to order the preservation of the evidence obtained during the recount and to expedite discovery of the facts. Hoffheimer said that various problems and errors have occurred in a number of Ohio's 88 county boards of elections during the recount, which will conclude next week. Hoffheimer acknowledged that the most publicized of these problems was the machine manipulation in Hocking County but said that the developing evidence will reveal other problems as well. He said that Senators Kerry and Edwards are very concerned that the law for conducting the recount should be uniformly followed. They want to be sure that all circumstances involved in the Ohio election, including the recount, should be put before the Court and disclosed to the American people. Only then, Hoffheimer said, can the integrity of the entire electoral process and the election of Bush-Cheney warrant the public trust."

Bloggermann:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x198486

[dzika]

28. Doing the Right Thing - "we who believe in freedom cannot rest"

Doing the Right Thing

by Ted Glick
December 27, 2004

-snip-
The right thing, one of the key "right things," that all progressives of all nationalities and whatever their party affiliation need to be doing **right now,** is throwing ourselves feet first into the grassroots movement to bring out the truth of what happened in Ohio and elsewhere. We need to demand that action be taken accordingly-action against any criminal wrongdoing, action to reform an electoral system that is seriously deficient, even on its own two-party, winner-take-all terms.

U.S. "democracy" is to democracy what the war on Iraq is to a just war.

-snip-
The weeks since the election have seen the emergence and unfolding of a potentially powerful, pro-democracy movement in this country. Such a movement will, of necessity, bring together organizations and leaders who have their differences on other issues but who are in agreement that the defense, expansion and deepening of U.S. democracy is an urgent necessity. Such a movement, over time, should grow to include not just Greens and progressive Democrats but other third party adherents and even some Republicans who are disturbed by what they see happening in their party. Such a movement, if it is to succeed, must put institutionalized electoral racism at the center of its agenda and must be led by African Americans and other people of color in combination with others. Indeed, that is what is now happening.

It may be the holiday season, but this is no time to be sitting back relaxing. There's a Winter Democracy Campaign underway and, in Ella Baker's words, "we who believe in freedom cannot rest."

For more information go to www.votecobb.org, www.nov3.us, www.counter-inaugural.org, or www.unitedforpeace.org.

Ted Glick is the outgoing National Coordinator of the Independent Progressive Politics Network. He can be reached at [e-mail] or P.O. Box 1132, Bloomfield, N.J. 07003.


Link:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=90&ItemID=6924

[dzika]

29. Gregoire Wins Hand Recount, Rossi Won't Concede

12/27/2004 - AP

Gregoire Wins Hand Recount, Rossi Won't Concede

Election To Be Certified Thursday

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Democrat Christine Gregoire says the race is over and she's ready to get down to work as Washington's next governor.
Republican Dino Rossi says Washington has neither a clean election nor a legitimate governor. He refuses to concede.

Republicans are asking counties to take one last look at ballots that the GOP says should be included now in light of court decisions.

If Rossi supporters can't get more ballots counted, they still have a right to contest the election in court. The deadline for that action is Jan. 20. A court could void the election if there is evidence of wrongdoing that changed the outcome.


Link:
http://www.koin.com/news.asp?RECORD_KEY%5Bnews%5D=ID&ID%5Bnews%5D=559

[dzika]

31. Election Fraud in America - Comparing Mythologies: US, Ukraine, Venezuela

Election Fraud in America

by Michael Keefer

A 'president' who takes office through fraud and usurpation
can make no legitimate claim to exercise the stolen power of his office.

Comparing Mythologies: US, Ukraine, Venezuela


-snip-
...But there are good reasons to be skeptical of the official vote tallies. The last wave of national exit polls published on the evening of November 2-polls which appear to have been duly weighted to correct for sampling imbalances-showed Kerry, not Bush, leading by 51 to 48 percent (see 'Mystery Pollster'). A divergence of 6 percent between weighted exit polls and the official numbers is a strong indicator of electoral fraud.

At the decisive point, moreover, the divergence between the exit poll results and the vote tally was wider still (see S. Freeman <21 Nov. 2004>). Prior to the election, political analysts identified Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania as the three key swing states: the candidate who carried these states, or a majority of them, would win the election.

Bush won Florida, with 52.1 percent of the vote to Kerry's 47.1 percent. (This tally, by the way, diverges by 4.9 percent in Bush's favour from the state exit poll, which gave Bush a paper-thin 0.1 percent lead.) Kerry won Pennsylvania, with 50.8 percent of the vote to Bush's 48.6 percent. (Here again the vote tally differs in Bush's favour from the exit poll results-this time by 6.5 percent.)

That left Ohio as the deciding state, the one on which the national election results depended. George W. Bush won Ohio, according to the official vote tally, with 51 percent of the vote to John Kerry's 48.5 percent. The divergence in this case between the vote tally and the exit poll, which showed Kerry as winning by 52.1 percent to Bush's 47.9 percent, is fully 6.7 percent.

Is it possible that these three divergences in Bush's favour between exit polls and vote tallies could have occurred by chance? I wouldn't bet on it...

-snip-
The fact that Mitofsky International systematically altered the U.S. presidential exit poll data early on the morning of November 3, contaminating the exit poll figures by conflating them with the vote tally percentages, has quite rightly become a matter of controversy (see Keefer <5 Nov. 2004>, and Olbermann, "Zogby Vs. Mitofsky"). But there seems no reason to doubt that the Mitofsky exit poll data made available by the CNN website on the evening of November 2 was professionally gathered.

-snip-
The parallels between the Ukrainian and the U.S. presidential elections extend beyond the exit poll divergences. Ballot-box stuffers appear to have achieved a 96 percent turnout in parts of eastern Ukraine, with turnout figures in some areas exceeding 100 percent. There is evidence of similar indiscretions on the part of Bush's electoral fraud teams. Twenty-nine precincts in a single Ohio county reported more votes cast than there are registered voters-to a cumulative total of over 93,000 votes (see Rockwell). And in six Florida counties the total number of votes reported to have been cast exceeded by wide margins the total number of registered voters (see Newberry). Senator John McCain, manifesting the same stunning lack of irony as other Republican spokesmen, has weighed in on the issue: "IRI found that in a number of polling stations, the percentage of votes certified by the Central Election Commission exceeded 100% of total votes. This is simply disgraceful" (see "McCain"). McCain is of course referring to eastern Ukraine; when it comes to Florida or Ohio, he keeps his eyes wide shut.


continued...
http://www.serendipity.li/jsmill/election_fraud.htm

[dzika]

33. AP - Blackwell doesn't want to be interviewed in vote challenge

Posted on Mon, Dec. 27, 2004

Blackwell doesn't want to be interviewed in vote challenge

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has requested a protective order to prevent him from being interviewed as part of an unusual court challenge of the presidential vote.

Blackwell, in a court filing, says he's not required to be interviewed by lawyers as a high-ranking public official, and accused the voters challenging the results of "frivolous conduct" and abusive and unnecessary requests of elections officials around the state.

About 40 people who voted for president Nov. 2 have challenged the election results with the Ohio Supreme Court. The voters cite irregularities including long lines, a shortage of voting machines in minority precincts and problems with computer equipment.


continued...
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/10508601.htm

[dzika]

34. Governor's race: GOP mulls next step, demands voter list

Governor's race: GOP mulls next step, demands voter list
DAVID AMMONS, AP Political Writer

Monday, December 27, 2004

(12-27) 13:49 PST OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) --

Washington Republicans, considering whether to challenge Democrat Christine Gregoire's razor-thin victory for governor, on Monday demanded a list of the 900,000 who cast ballots in vote-rich, problem-plagued King County.

Republican state Chairman Chris Vance said the party and other backers of GOP candidate Dino Rossi have nagging questions about the vote-count in the county that tipped the race to Gregoire by a scant 130 votes last week.

"We want to know who voted in the election, and it's hard to know where we go from here (with a possible court challenge) before we get some answers," Vance said in an interview.

-snip-
The Republicans' latest demand came as a public records request filed with King County Elections Director Dean Logan. The GOP wants a list of all voters who submitted ballots in the Nov. 2 general election, including ballots that were counted as well as those that were rejected, so that they may begin deciding how to proceed and whether to contest the election.


Link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/12/27/state1649EST7239.DTL

[NMDemDist2]

36. Kerry Files in OH in support of Greens/Libs (thanks to Spazito)

"Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26, Intervenor-Defendant Kerry-
Edwards 2004, Inc. hereby moves this Court for an order preserving materials from the
2004 presidential election and for leave to take a limited number of depositions on an
expedited schedule. The depositions and preservation order sought by Intervenor-
Defendant Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. are the same as those sought in the motion filed on
December 23, 2004 by Defendants NVRI, Cobb and Badnarik. Intervenor-Defendant
Kerry-Edwads 2004, Inc. hereby adopts the memorandum and proposed order filed by the
Defendants in support of its own motion.
Dated: December 27, 2004
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Donald J. McTigue
______________________________
Donald J. McTigue (0022849)
Law Offices of Donald J. McTigue
3886 North High Street
Columbus, OH 43214
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Counsel for Intervenor-Defendant
Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.
Certificate of Service
This is to certify that a copy of the foregoing was electronically filed this 27th day
of December, 2004. Notice of this filing will be sent to all parties by operation of the
Court’s electronic filing system. Parties may access this through the Court’s system.
/s/ Donald J. McTigue
______________________________
Donald J. McTigue, Attorney at Law

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=199403&mesg_id=199531&page=

[dzika]

37. Hearings expose conspiracy in November voting

'Ohio's first poll tax'
Hearings expose conspiracy in November voting
By Martha Grevatt
Cleveland

-snip-
Public hearings in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C. have torn off the veil of media and government denial. Hundreds of witnesses have given sworn testimony, pointing to a deliberate and coordinated effort to disenfranchise tens and maybe hundreds of thousands of Ohio voters, primarily African Americans.

-snip-
Statutes permitting partisan challengers have been overlooked for decades. "The Ohio statute, originally codified in 1831, was amended in 1859 to permit challenges based upon a voter's possession of a 'visible admixture of African blood,'" testified Judith Browne, acting co-director of the Advancement Project.

-snip-
Now tens of thousands of the 155,000 provisional ballots disqualified on technicalities, along with 92,000 "spoiled" ballots, may never be counted. They were not included in the statewide recount completed Dec. 17 (after Bush electors were already sworn in).

In a classic Catch-22 situation, the disregarded ballots were not included in the recount because they were never counted in the first place!

-snip-
The fight for the basic right of suffrage, to complete the unfinished revolution cut short by the defeat of Reconstruction, is a just fight deserving the utmost solidarity. Its best hope is to link up the fight over the Bush (s)election with the fight to overturn the whole Bush (and Kerry) program of war, bigotry and exploitation.


Link:
http://www.workers.org/ww/2004/ohio1230.php

[MissBrooks]

38. I just read this ...

12/27/2004
The election is over, it's time to move on

There's hardly a day goes by that we are spared yet another story about a protest involving the vote count somewhere in this year's election.

If ever a story had legs, it is this one. Florida in 2000 was child's play compared with 2004. Focal point of much of the hue and cry was Ohio. There is a hard-core of hard-headed individuals that still wants to count votes here.

When will it end?

Wednesday's headline said, "Electronic voting worked well, election officials say."

Indeed. In Lake County, the final vote totals were reported at 9:17 p.m. - first in Ohio - and we got it right. Critics, it was reported, remain unconvinced. What will it take?

With recount results reported in 85 of 88 counties last Tuesday, President Bush gained 437 votes and Sen. John Kerry picked up an additional 680.

That narrowed Bush's 119,000-vote lead by 243 votes, the Associated Press reported in a survey of the counties.

Since both sides agreed the recount wouldn't change the outcome, why do we keep counting votes?

In Akron, U.S. District Judge David D. Dowd Jr. ruled that voting rights were not denied to those who use punch-card ballots. It was the nation's first trial to challenge the system blamed for woes in Florida four years ago.

It was claimed Ohio violated the voting rights of blacks, who predominately live in punch-card counties. Dowd disagreed.

"All voters in a county, regardless of race, use the same voting system to cast a ballot," he said, "and no one is denied the opportunity to cast a valid ballot because of their race."

A lawyer representing Kerry asked that representatives of the campaign be allowed to inspect those ballots. What's the point?

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and attorney Cliff Arnebeck of the Massachusetts-based Alliance for Democracy asked the Ohio Supreme Court to reconsider the election results, accusing Bush's campaign of "high-tech vote stealing."

How can these two expect to be taken seriously when they use inflammatory language such as that?

As newspapers across the country have pointed out, most Americans have grasped the basic reality of the 2004 election: Bush won.

It is time for Jackson to stop talking about vote-stealing, time for the Green and Libertarian parties to understand that their combined three-tenths of one percent of the vote is a fly speck and not deserving of a recount, and time for MoveOn to move on.

The election is over. If you really care about the process, do yourselves a favor - start getting ready for the next one.

[dzika]

39. An Awesome Collection of Links about Fraud 2004! - 350+ Links

(thanks to Dancing_Dave)

This site has 350+ links about Election Fraud.

Anyone can learn something here:
http://www.betterworldlinks.org/book109h.htm

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x199463

[dzika]

40. truthout Report: Kerry Files Motion to Protect Ohio Vote Evidence by WRP

(thanks to WilliamPitt)

OK...I'm gonna go cough up a lung, apologize to the cat, and...oh yeah, THANK EVERYONE ON DU WORKING ON THIS FOR THEIR DILIGENCE, AND FOR BEING PATIENT WHILE THIS CAME TOGETHER. This was the longest goddam Monday I can remember.

*thud*

===

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122804V.shtml

Kerry Files Motion to Protect Ohio Vote Evidence
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Report

Monday 27 December 2004

This afternoon, an attorney representing the Kerry/Edwards presidential campaign filed two important motions to preserve and augment evidence of alleged election fraud in the November election. The motions were filed in the matter titled Yost et al. v. Delaware County Board of Elections and J. Kenneth Blackwell (Civil Action No. C2-04-1139) with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The document is titled "Motion Of Intervenor-Defendant Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. For A Preservation Order And For A Leave To Take Limited Expedited Discovery."

The purpose of the motions is twofold: A) To preserve all ballots and voting machines pertaining to the Yost matter for investigation and analysis; and B) To make available for sworn deposition testimony a technician for Traid Systems, the company that produced and maintained many of the voting machines used in the Ohio election. The technician has been accused of tampering with the recount process in Hocking County, Ohio, though other counties are believed to have also been involved. Any officers of Triad Systems who have information pertaining to said tampering are likewise subject to subpoena for sworn deposition testimony.

If the judge in this case allows these motions, and these individuals are served with subpoenas for deposition, the information disclosed under oath could have a major effect on the case. Likewise, judicial approval of these motions will open the door to forensic analysis of both the ballots cast and the machines they were counted on. If tampering took place, such an analysis could reveal it.

The document filed in Ohio reads as follows:

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26, Intervenor-Defendant Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. hereby moves this Court for an order preserving materials from the 2004 presidential election and for leave to take a limited number of depositions on an expedited schedule. The depositions and preservation order sought by Intervenor- Defendant Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. are the same as those sought in the motion filed on December 23, 2004 by Defendants NVRI, Cobb and Badnarik. Intervenor-Defendant Kerry-Edwads 2004, Inc. hereby adopts the memorandum and proposed order filed by the Defendants in support of its own motion.

(snip)

The filing by the Kerry/Edwards campaign is significant. The Yost matter deals with a recount of the votes cast in Ohio during the election. In order for a judge to consider such a motion, the plaintiff must be able to prove irreparable harm in the matter at hand, and must also be able to prove a significant chance that the case will succeed on the merits. The stumbling point for the Green Party and Libertarian Party in this matter has been the ability to prove that potential for success, because no recount would deliver an Ohio victory to them. A recount could very well deliver Ohio to Kerry, thus fulfilling the success on the merits requirement.

In the end, this filing amounts to a "Me, too" from the Kerry/Edwards campaign. This case would not exist in any form without the dedicated efforts of Green Party candidate David Cobb and Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik. Though the inclusion of Kerry into this matter strengthens the case significantly, Cobb and Badnarik deserve the lion's share of credit for carrying the matter to this point.

Attorney John Bonifaz serves as general counsel for the National Voting Rights Institute, and is co-counsel for Cobb and Badnarik in this matter. Reached for comment on this Kerry filing, Bonifaz said, "We are pleased that the Kerry Edwards campaign has joined our motion to preserve all of the ballots and election machinery in the presidential election in Ohio and to investigate the potential tampering of voting machines by Triad Governmental Systems, Inc, prior to the start of the recount. We welcome the Bush Cheney campaign joining our motion as well. The integrity of this recount is at stake. All candidates ought to join together in ensuring the proper counting of every citizen's vote."

...more...
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/122804V.shtml

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x199842

[dzika]

41. Audio - Should Dino Throw in the Towel? (Public Radio)

The Conversation (Public Radio Show)
12/27/2004 1:00 pm

Should Dino Throw in the Towel?

Republican Dino Rossi is deciding whether or not to concede the governor’s race. Last week the third and final recount of the November election results showed his opponent Christine Gregoire as the victor, after general election results and the first recount that showed Dino Rossi had the most votes. A month ago we asked, "Should Gregoire concede?" Today the shoe is on the other foot. Should Rossi concede?

Link to page:
http://kuow.org/theconversation.asp?Archive=12-27

Real Audio:
http://128.208.34.90/ramgen/archive/weekday/conv20041227.rm

MP3 Audio:
http://kuow.org/m3u/co_20041227.m3u

[dzika]

42. eFax Senators to Demand They Investigate the Election Fraud

Monday 27th December 2004:

eFax Senators to Demand They Investigate the Election Fraud

Dear Americans, please act now, nothing else matters. George W and his cronies have lied to start a war, they lied about 9/11 and now they’ve BLATANTLY stolen the election. For those that have been following the ’voting irregularities’ since Nov 2nd, there is no doubt that this was a fraudulent election.

If we don’t step up and demand our Congress investigate this and give us a re-vote, then Bush is America’s first dictator. It really is that bad. What will it take for you to stop your daily routine and realize that Nothing Else Matters, the future of our children is at stake.

Three actions you can do: First send one email per day 4 days in a row, which will turn into faxes printed in twenty different Senators offices, requesting that they challenge the electoral college vote this Jan 6th.

Second, email this to everyone in your address book- let’s flood these Senator’s offices with faxes.

Send a multiple efax now!

copy and paste a block of fax-email addresses into the ’To’ field of a blank email

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

ps- you are only allowed 6 faxes per day or 20/wk- so this is set up for 5/day, four days in a row. Also, you have to send the next email a full 24 hours after the previous email- ie if you send one to the first 5 Senators today at 1pm, wait until 1:05 tomorrow to send the next email or it will get bounced.


Sample Letter to Senators

This is a sample letter, I was going to write one but beckerman did such a nice job, no need to re-invent the wheel, eh?
(see: http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com )

Dear Senator,

You took an oath to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States from its enemies both foreign and domestic. On January 6th your sincerity and commitment to that oath will be tested.

The evidence is overwhelming and incontrovertible that the electors from Ohio were unlawfully chosen and unlawfully seated.

Evidence is pouring in that even the incomplete remedy of a recount is being thwarted by election officials brazenly engaged in a coverup designed to destroy any possible efficacy the recount could have.

If a President can be selected in this country as a result of conduct which was wildly unlawful, then the rule of law, and with it democracy, has ceased to exist.

It is your duty not to accept the vote of the illegal electors for President or Vice President of the United States, and to accept the vote of the electors who were lawfully chosen by the voters of the State of Ohio, who are committed to voting for John F. Kerry and John Edwards as President and Vice President of the United States respectively.

Your decision to honor your duty, or not to honor it, is something for which you will have to answer not only to the people of the United States, and to your constituents, but to your own families, and your children and grandchildren and their children’s children, and to your own conscience.

I implore you to do your duty in defense of democracy, and not to allow "government of the people, by
the people, and for the people" to perish from the great nation which introduced it to the modern world.


ps- If you need further information on the Ohio Vote Fraud and Suppression, please contact Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, investigative reporters at the FreePress.org [phone]
truth -at- freepress.org

Music is inspirational

if you need some inspiration, please download some free Peace mp3s now:
http://www.benfrank.net/nuke/Free_Peace_mp3s.html

tip, for those from the 60’s generation, I recommend starting with
Eddie Vedder- Power
David Freyer- Rise Up People
Death of our Democracy

And all 6 of the Martin Luther King Jr mp3s- the most powerful 30 min of music ever!

Act as Martin Luther King Jr would, Peace NOW!



Original source:
http://www.benfrank.net/nuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=273

Reposted at:
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=4896

Du Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x200009

Note: the page has been reformatted for posting at DU

[dzika]

43. AP - Ohio Official, Ken Blackwell, Refuses Interview Over Vote

Tuesday December 28, 2004 12:16 AM

Ohio Official Refuses Interview Over Vote

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
AP Statehouse Correspondent


COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The secretary of state, who declared President Bush the official winner in Ohio, is seeking a court order to keep himself from being interviewed as part of a court challenge of the Nov. 2 vote.

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell claims his deposition is not required, and accused 37 voters challenging the election of ``frivolous conduct.''

The court challenge cites irregularities including long lines, a shortage of voting machines in minority precincts and problems with computer equipment.

-snip-
Attorney General Jim Petro, representing Blackwell, said the voters ``are not trying to actually contest the presidential election but are merely using this litigation to cast public doubt on the voting system of the State of Ohio without a shred of evidence.''

On Dec. 21, officials learned lawyers for the voters planned to issue subpoenas to several high-ranking officials, including Blackwell, Bush and the president's political adviser, Karl Rove, according to Petro.


Link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4696889,00.html

[dzika]

44. Analysis of Kerry/Edwards Motion to Intervene - SCAM-O-RAMA

(thanks to gdub)

FROM SCAM-O-RAMA ( http//:scam-o-rama.blogspot.com ):


Background on New Action by Kerry/Edwards in Federal Court

Can we stop a Fascist Revolution?


Today, the Kerry/Edwards campaign filed a motion to intervene in Federal court in connection with a recount effort involving the 2004 presidential election. The anticipated Kerry/Edwards action follows a ruling this past week by the Republican-dominated Ohio Supreme Court that lays groundwork for procedural delay and ultimate dismissal of a separate challenge of election suit brought by a public interest group in Ohio Supreme Court. The contest of election suit alleges wide spread fraud and voter disenfranchisement in the Ohio presidential and Supreme Court elections and asks for the Ohio Supreme Court to vacate the election results.

The new development from the Kerry/Edwards camp is significant and critical to the investigation of potential fraud in the 2004 General Election. Without additional involvement by the Kerry/Edwards campaign in the recount process, the recount investigation in Ohio may be over, with the “official” recount results showing John Kerry picking up only 242 votes against George Bush.

The stakes are higher than may be readily apparent. A dismissal by the Ohio Supreme Court at this juncture would effectively end the investigation into allegations of fraud in the 2004 General Election. The evidentiary record will begin to deteriorate and to be lost completely. The likely result is the suppression of any further questions concerning the legitimacy of the Presidency of the United States amid wide spread and credible allegations of fraud, conspiracy and corruption.

continued...
http://scam-o-rama.blogspot.com/2004/12/background-on-new-action-by.html

DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x199915

[dzika]

45. Bush Orders Ohio Revote (satire)

Bush Orders Ohio Revote (satire)

Written by K.C. Bell

Not wishing to be called a 'girlie boy' by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, but deeply sensitive to the confusion in the Ohio vote and vote count, President George W. Bush issued an executive order today calling for a new vote in the state at the end of January. Sympathetic to the Ohio voter's plight, the new vote would be absent of Diebold voting or counting machines, with ballots cast using ink on paper, consistent with a paper trail, and Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell would recuse himself from the election. Though time consuming, the procedure is to be completed by March and supervised by Navy Seals. The inauguration would follow, and Bush added confidently, "We have nothing to hide."

-snip-
Meanwhile at the White House, having mastered counting dots by numbers and busy with tic tac toe workbooks, a Rubik's cube waiting, Condoleeza Rice rejected the notion of the January revote, ignoring the executive order, saying nothing like that ever happened in the Communist world.

Link:
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s9i7142

The story as represented above is written as a satire or parody. It is fictitious.

[dzika]

46. BRAD BLOG: 'Bloggermann' Keeps Shoveling...

(thanks to BradBlog)

Sorry, guys. I know there's a lot of KO fans here, but we need to call a spade a spade, and hold the MSM feet to the fire. Olbermann's feet need a deep char right about now...




'Bloggermann' Keeps Shoveling...

MSNBC's Prime-Time Star Continues to Fail To Get the Story Right.
Offers Some Explanation, But Ignores Most Troubling BRAD BLOG Charges.

FULL STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001077.htm


Brad
The BRAD BLOG
http://www.BradBlog.com


DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x200535

[dzika]

47. Washington Gov. Election - A look at GOP records request

A look at GOP records request

The Associated Press
Monday, December 27, 2004
(12-27) 17:42 PST (AP) --


Republicans, eying a possible court challenge over the Washington governor's race, have asked King County for an array of election information. They request:

* A list of all voters who submitted ballots in the Nov. 2 general election, whether those ballots were counted or rejected.

* E-mails and other correspondence to or from all county workers connected in any way to the 2004 election.

* Any complaints or records of complaints from voters about problems receiving ballots, voting or obtaining information about whether their ballot was counted.

* Any envelopes, updated signature cards or registration records related to provisional and absentee ballots rejected for signature failings.

* A list of voters who cast provisional ballots on which signatures could not be verified.

the list continues,,,
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/12/27/state2042EST7244.DTL

[dzika]

48. Labor to Join Count-the-Vote Rally on Jan. 3

Posted by : DavidSwanson on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 05:38 PM

Labor to Join Count-the-Vote Rally on Jan. 3
By David Swanson, ILCA


The Cleveland Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO) will be sending buses to Columbus on Jan. 3 to support a "Count Every Vote" pro-democracy rally being organized by Rainbow/PUSH, the NAACP National Voter Fund, Progressive Democrats of America, and several other organizations.

The Cleveland AFL-CIO has already signed up members of the Cleveland community for three busses, one of which will be specifically for union members.

Cleveland labor is working on this effort with the N.A.A.C.P. National Voter Fund, the Greater Cleveland Voter Registration Coalition, and the 11th Congressional District Caucus, and is also reaching out to the 10th District.
(see: http://www.ohaflcio.org/inside/clc/all_clc/cleveland.htm )

The rally is intended to cast more international light on the fraud and irregularities that took place in the November 2nd election in Ohio.

For more information, contact Marcia McCoy ([e-mail]) at the Cleveland AFL-CIO, 216-374-0913 or 216-881-7200.
(see: http://www.ohaflcio.org/inside/clc/all_clc/cleveland.htm )



Link to info and flyers on Jan. 3 and 6 rallies!
http://ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1326

Sign Petition to US Senators
http://www.contestthevote.org/

Link to article at ILCA:
http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1358&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[dzika]

49. Video Clip - Countdown for Monday 12/27

Video clip is here:
http://www.edwardsdavid.com/BushVideos/Obermann_041227-01.ram (Real Media)

Feel free to let me know if you have problems viewing it.


DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x201086

[dzika]

50. Ohio sucks-does anyone care?

12/27/04 06:45:41 pm

Ohio sucks-does anyone care?


However you feel about the outcome of this election, what happened in Ohio is a joke. A travesty. And the Shrubber should always keep in mind that what happens in the last 2 election cycles, may well be reversed by a cynical dem bent on acquiring and keeping the reigns of office.

The link I present here, you may be unaware of-basically, Shrub is FINALLY being challenged, by all appearances. And it isn't an unhealthy thing-on the contrary, scrutiny is needed, and needed badly.

Is anybody paying attention? Does anyone care?

Surely, I’m not going out on a limb here to infer that at the moment, Mr. Hoffheimer and the Kerry-Edwards campaign don’t think the entire electoral process and the election of President Bush warrant the public trust.


continued...
http://www.lakedwellers.com/evblog/blogs/index.php?blog=13&title=ohio_drawing_straws_would_be_fairer_than&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

[dzika]

51. Raw Story - Kerry files motion to preserve recount evidence

Monday, December 27, 2004

Kerry files motion to preserve recount evidence


On Monday afternoon, Kerry-Edwards' state counsel for Ohio filed a motion in to preserve evidence related to the state's presidential recount, RAW STORY has learned. Specifically, the motion seeks to preserve all ballots and voting machines for investigation and analysis, and to make a Triad Election Systems technician available for a sworn deposition. Triad had previously been accused of tampering with voting machines in Ohio.

The motion was first reported by William Rivers Pitt at Truthout.org. Kerry-Edwards previously filed to demand an investigation to Ohio recount tampering.

Meanwhile, Ohio Republican Secretary of State and Chairman of the Bush-Cheney 2004 re-election effort in Ohio has issued an order to protect himself from being interviewed by lawyers for this and another suit, dubbing them "frivolous."


(Images of documents filed available on The Raw Story page)

Link:
http://rawstory.rawprint.com/1204/kerry_motion_ohio_recount_1227.php

[dzika]

52. NEW MEXICO RECOUNT - COBB CONSIDERING FEDERAL APPEAL

Recount news and notes

Chris Graham
[e-mail]


COBB CONSIDERING FEDERAL APPEAL: Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb said last week that he is considering appealing a New Mexico Supreme Court decision upholding a State Canvassing Board decision requiring Cobb and Libertarian Party standard-bearer Michael Badnarik to pay in advance the full cost of a recount of votes cast on Nov. 2.

"Hundreds of rank-and-file Democrats, along with Greens, Libertarians and others, signed up as observers of the recount," Cobb said in a statement.

"Gov. (Bill) Richardson's actions, and the Supreme Court's tacit approval of them, are an insult to the democratic process and the citizens of New Mexico," Cobb said.


continued...
http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$30133

[dzika]

53. Washington Gov. Certification will be Thursday

Certification will be Thursday


SEATTLE Secretary of State Sam Reed on Thursday will certify results of the latest recount in the governor's race, and he's apparently not inclined to speed that up.

Reed's office says outgoing Governor Gary Locke offered to send a state airplane to McMinnville, Oregon, to fetch Reed so he could certify the election today.

But Reed spokeswoman Trova Hutchins says the reply was, "Thanks, but no thanks."

http://www.kptv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2738492

[dzika]

54. What Victory In Washington State Could Mean For Justice In Ohio

12/27/2004

What Victory In Washington State,
Could Mean For Justice In Ohio


I am already hearing (and gleefully perpetuating) the growing sentiment that the combination of grassroots and legal efforts on behalf of Democrat Christine Gregoire in the Washington State Governor’s race could have far-reaching implications.

Having now been declared the official winner, her path to this astonishing victory is not without tales of setback and disappointment, but more about dogged commitment, pivotal legal and monetary support – and, putting ones trust in the American legal process and a Secretary of State with integrity.

I cannot emphasis more, the ironic situation Washington state Republicans now find themselves in, scouring the state searching for possibly valid but rejected or discarded ballots, filing affidavits of alleged disenfranchised Republican voters, and filing motions challenging state election laws, that have so far stood up in court.

Sound familiar?


continued...
http://thatcoloredfellasweblog.bloghorn.com/337

[dzika]

55. USATODAY: Election Day leftovers

Posted 12/27/2004 10:16 PM

Election Day leftovers

Compared with the presidential election in Ukraine, this year's elections at home went off smoothly. Certainly no candidate here had to overcome massive fraud or a bizarre face-disfiguring poisoning. But eight weeks after Election Day, several U.S. races are still unresolved because of glaring human errors, machine malfunctions, disputes over vague or contradictory election laws and other echoes of the mess that tied up the presidential race four years ago.

-snip-
Ohio's votes for president are being recounted. And two court challenges, involving the presidential race and a major statewide race, seek to have the election thrown out altogether because of machine malfunctions, the double-counting of some ballots and a failure to provide adequate numbers of voting machines, particularly in predominantly minority precincts. The evidence, however, does not suggest that the discrepancies would give John Kerry enough votes to overtake President Bush in the state that decided the race.

Presidential recounts are also being sought in New Mexico and Nevada. A scattering of legislative races from Texas to New York are still in dispute. And one North Carolina county has to vote again next month because 5,000 votes were wiped out by a computer.

continued...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-12-27-edit_x.htm

[dzika]

56. Ohio Action Alert from the "DeanPeople"

December 27, 2004

Ohio Action Alert from the "DeanPeople"

Action Alert
Help Enlist Others in the Declaration of Intent (Jan 6th) Project (www.thedeanpeople.org). Can you commit a couple hours? If so, we need your help!

Every day, more horrifying evidence comes to light that error, systematic suppression of Democratic votes, and other criminal efforts to manipulate the outcome have thwarted the true will of the people to elect John Kerry as their 44th President. Many groups are fighting for a REAL remedy to this crisis, and our effort, the "Declaration of Intent" project continues to play a key role (see thedeanpeople.org).

Time is of the essense. In these final days, we need your help to extend our reach and help the public, and our leaders, to understand that on January 6th, 2005 it is the DUTY of each and every member of the Senate and House to INDEPENDENTLY JUDGE the validity of the appointment of each slate of electors. And further, that their judgment is not limited by "legal technicality", but rather, must be a moral judgment, grounded in our shared democratic principles. Legal technicality has no place and cannot be used to trump reality, as it did in 2000.

Click here for a list of resources that you can use to help spread the word and lobby members of the Senate and the House. In addition to enlisting others to make calls and send faxes to their representatives, from the 27th to 30th WE NEED VOLUNTEERS to help us with our efforts to identify and contact individuals and groups in other states to:

- Encourage as many as possible to request meetings with staffers at their local Senate offices.
Collect contact information for people and groups that that we can represent in meetings at their Senators' offices in Washington D.C.

- Identify people who can schedule their own meetings in D.C. with Senate or House members on the 3rd, 4th, or 5th and make sure they know we are available to support them in whatever way we can.

If you can help, send an email with the subject "I Can Help!" to [e-mail].

Link:
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/ohio-action-alert-from-deanpeople.html

[dzika]

57. Free Press: Ohio GOP election officials ducking subpoenas as Kerry enters

Ohio GOP election officials ducking subpoenas as Kerry enters stolen vote fray

by Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman
December 28, 2004


COLUMBUS -- Ohio Republican election officials thumbed their noses at a subpoena Monday, December 27, as Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell refused to appear at a deposition in an election challenge lawsuit filed at the Ohio Supreme Court. Meanwhile John Kerry is reported to have filed a federal legal action aimed at preserving crucial recount evidence, which has been under GOP assault throughout the state.

-snip-
President George Bush, Vice-President Richard Cheney and White House Political Advisor Karl Rove received notice that they will be deposed Tuesday and Wednesday, December 28 and 29. The trio’s Ohio attorney, Kurt Tunnell, so far claims his clients have not been properly served. Under Ohio law, the Republican-dominated Ohio Supreme Court is responsible for serving the three with subpoenas.

Meanwhile, the Election Protection legal team has collected new statements under oath describing more voting and vote-counting problems on November 2.


Link:
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/1046

[dzika]

58. TURN UP THE HEAT ON ASKING CHUCK SCHUMER TO OBJECT TO CERTIFICATION

December 28, 2004

Ask Schumer Not To Certify The Election While He's In NYC

Call to Action:

TURN UP THE HEAT ON ASKING CHUCK SCHUMER
TO OBJECT TO CERTIFICATION OF THE ELECTION

Dear New Yorkers:

During the recess of Congress we can make our voices heard more
clearly by calling Senator Schumer's New York office, 212-486-4430.

Turn up the heat. Let Senator Schumer know we want him to object to
certification of the Electoral College vote. Objecting to
certification would be a mandate for a government by we, the people.
Objecting to certification would be a mandate for reliable,
transparent voting technology with equal access to voting for all.

On January 6th, Congress meets to certify the Presidential election.
If even one House member and one Senator object to the electoral votes
of any state, this objection will be recorded: the vote will not be
automatically approved. This has happened only once before -- in 1877.
Its occurrence once again would draw historic attention to our
shattered democracy.

Call Senator Schumer at 212-486-4430 this week through Monday, January 3, 2005.

In 2000 no Senator would join the Representatives from the
Congressional Black Caucus to challenge the electoral vote. Therefore
in 2004, we are asking you to contact Senator Schumer and tell him not
to certify the election on January 6, 2005.

For more information on voting irregularities and violations and for
guidelines on approaching Senators, see our website,
http://www.caef.us.

Sign our petition to the Senators:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/senatorsnocertify

Coalition Against Election Fraud
web: http://www.caef.us
email: [e-mail]


Link:
http://nostolendemocracy.typepad.com/blog/2004/12/ask_schumer_not.html

[dzika]

59. Latest Findings from Ohio Recount Observers

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Here are some of the latest findings from our recount observers:

Hamilton County: Approximately 400 provisional ballots allegedly were rejected because they were cast in the wrong precinct, despite the fact that they were cast at the right polling station (i.e., at a polling station with more than one precinct).

Fairfield County: When the hand recount of the 3% test sample did not match the official vote totals, a full recount should have been ordered for all county ballots. Instead, the recount was "suspended" by county officials who said that Secretary Blackwell recommended that the recount should begin again "from scratch." The Green recount observers then were told that it was 4:00 PM, the building was closed, and all had to leave. The Republican contingent, however was allowed to stay in a conference room for an additional ten minutes or so for a private discussion.

Belmont County and Summit County: Recount witnesses were threatened with expulsion if they spoke to counting teams. In some instances, they were expected to "observe" from up to 20 feet away, despite Ohio Election Law allowing observers to be close enough to actually observe.

Medina County: Election officials were aware of several "problem" districts, but instead chose to perform the manual 3% test recount on two precincts that had been part of a School Levy Recount the previous Monday. That meant that those ballots had been taken out of the standard "double lock" situation and had been handled several times since Monday.

Huron County: The punchcard tabulator test was observed only by Republican witnesses. This test was conducted the day before the Green witness was invited to observe the recount.

Link:
http://votecobb.com/recount/daily_update/

[dzika]

60. Cobb Legal Update -Ohio Recount

December 27, 2004

Cobb Legal Update - Ohio Recount


-snip-
As reports from conversations with the different Boards of Elections and our County Coordinators began to come in last week, we grew concerned about the varying standards throughout the State of Ohio as to how the recount in each of the counties would be conducted.

Those varying standards raised serious equal protection and due process concerns. We attempted to go back to Federal Court again on Friday, December 10th before the recount began. The judge denied our Motion for Injunctive Relief citing, as before, the lack of 'irreparable harm' that we would encounter — the third time our efforts to seek a timely and meaningful recount was denied because David Cobb and Michael Badnarik, the Green and Libertarian presidential candidates, respectively, were unlikely to get any electoral college votes.

The Attorney General had until end of business day on December 16th to respond, which he has now done. Basically, the Secretary of State and the Brief of Amici Curiae, filed by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio and Ohio's Association of Election Officials, asked the Court to deny our motion. Notice this phrase in their papers: "...However, these Plaintiffs are doing something far worse. Through this litigation, they are asking this Court to replace the Ohio Secretary of State."

Link:
http://votecobb.com/recount/daily_update/

[dzika]

61. Cobb Lega Update - New Mexico Recount

December 27, 2004

Cobb Lega Update - New Mexico Recount

The New Mexico Supreme Court declined to hear our petition for a writ of mandamus, upholding a State Canvassing Board decision that Cobb and Libertarian Michael Badnarik pay the full cost of the New Mexico recount in advance (estimated by the Board at $1.4 million). That decision was contrary to New Mexico law, because there is no legal requirement that campaigns pay the full cost in advance, nor any way to accurately estimate the cost of the recount before it is completed. press release commentary: Mock the Vote more updates

On December 16, the Cobb-LaMarche legal team filed a Verified Petition for Mandamus; Verified Petition for Superintending Control or Prohibition; and Request for Immediate Hearing with the New Mexico Supreme Court. The Petition and Supplement detail the reasons why the New Mexico recount should proceed. A hearing is expected today (Monday).

"There's tremendous grassroots support for the recount and for verifying the accuracy of our voting system. We have 800 volunteers who are ready to jump in and monitor the recount process," said Rick Lass, the New Mexico recount coordinator for the Cobb-LaMarche campaign. more

Link:
http://votecobb.com/recount/daily_update/

[dzika]

62. Ohio Recount Update - Blackwell on the Run

December 28, 2004

Blackwell on the Run


When Mahatma Gandhi said, "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win," he could have been talking about Ohio in 2004. Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who presided so triumphantly over the granting of Ohio's 20 Electoral votes to President Bush on December 13 even though the recount had not yet started, has gone past ignoring and ridiculing the recount movement. Now that his house of cards is tumbling down, he is starting to fight back.

In a story in yesterday's Akron Beacon Journal and the online version of ABC News, it was reported that "Secretary of State Blackwell requested a protective order to prevent him from being interviewed as part of an unusual court challenge of the presidential vote.... n a court filing, says he's not required to be interviewed by lawyers as a high-ranking public official, and accused the voters challenging the results of 'frivolous conduct' and abusive and unnecessary requests of elections officials around the state."


Link:
http://votecobb.com/recount/daily_update/

[dzika]

63. Ohio Update - Rep. John Conyers Demands Answers

December 28, 2004

Rep. John Conyers Demands Answers


If Secretary Blackwell doesn't want to submit to cross-examination in court, and refuses to answer the detailed questions about the Ohio election sent to him by Rep. John Conyers, then how will we get to the bottom of what happened in Ohio on November 2nd? As reported in the Black Commentator, Rep. Conyers' letter asked Secretary Blackwell, among other things, why he had not investigated criminal acts committed on Election Day, such as intentionally misleading voters about the location of their polling place, thus increasing the number of provisional ballots found invalid.

Those of us particpating in the county recount process have seen Secretary Blackwell's presence in several key recount decisions so far. For example, in Fairfield County, a full recount should have been ordered when the 3% test sample did not match the official vote totals. Instead, based on what county officials said was a recommendation from Secretary Blackwell's office, the recount was "suspended" so that they would not have to do a full recount. In http://votecobb.com/recount/ohio_reports/counties/champaign.php">Champaign County, a precinct signature book, necessary to verify that the number of votes that were cast, will not be made available to our recount observers until after January 10 (four days after Congress has counted the Electoral College votes on January 6), per orders of the Secretary of State.


Link:
http://votecobb.com/recount/daily_update/

[dzika]

64. Ohio Recount - "Chain of Custody" Has Been Compromised

December 28, 2004

"Chain of Custody" Has Been Compromised

Another question we have for Secretary Blackwell is how he can say for sure that the state-wide vote totals are accurate, given that the "chain of custody" of vote tabulators and even paper ballots has been compromised by unsupervised access given to machine technicians. In Van Wert County, for example, our observer reported:

"When asked if Triad had serviced the machine, the deputy director and a board member stated that they had serviced the machine over the phone via modem on December 9th."

In Ashland County, there were other security issues:

"The cast ballots are stored by precinct in open cubicles along one wall of this room, completely open and visible to anyone who enters this room....Piled on top of the cubicles holding the vote are baskets, Doritos, paper plates, mugs, cleaning products, Fresh-n-Soft, Glad Wrap, etc."

These "chain of custody" issues are especially important when you consider that, as reported in the New York Times, "Voting machine companies and their supporters have been given a large say in the process , while advocates for voters, including those who insist on the use of voter-verified paper receipts, have been pushed to the margins. The chairman of the working group preparing the standards for voting machines is a top executive of Election Systems and Software , a large and controversial voting machine maker."


Link:
http://votecobb.com/recount/daily_update/

[dzika]

65. GOP weighs next step after recount

Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.


GOP weighs next step after recount

By Keith Ervin
Seattle Times staff reporter


Republican Party leaders yesterday laid the groundwork for a possible challenge of Democrat Christine Gregoire's victory over Dino Rossi in the hand recount for governor, claiming a number of irregularities in the way King County handled ballots.

But state Republican Chairman Chris Vance said a decision hadn't been made about whether to ask either a court or the Legislature to reject the results of the hand recount that wiped out Rossi's win in two earlier counts.

That decision will be made by Rossi, Vance said.

continued...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002132490_recount28m.html

[dzika]

66. Election czar for Utah County? - Officials want to avoid another snafu

Article Last Updated: 12/28/2004 01:50:40 AM

Election czar for Utah County?
Officials want to avoid another snafu

By Mark Eddington
The Salt Lake Tribune


PROVO - Embarrassed by November's 33,000-ballot blunder, Utah County commissioners may cast a vote today to help prevent such a huge miscue - by appointing an elections coordinator.

"We want more accountability in the office, meaning to have someone responsible to make sure some of the things that happened won't happen," said Commissioner Jerry Grover, who wants to free up Clerk-Auditor Kim Jackson to do more auditing and less election oversight.

"Bottom line: The failure was a reflection on him," Grover added Monday. "I understand problems happen, but they need to be caught quickly and corrected."

continued...
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2499289

[dzika]

67. Iraq tells U.S. election fraud is unacceptable

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Iraq tells U.S. election fraud is unacceptable


Ohio Republican election officials ignored a subpoena Monday and Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell refused to appear at a deposition challenging the legitimacy of the election. This described in an article from The Free Press, entitled: Ohio GP election officials ducking subpoenas as Kerry enters stolen vote fray. This as Kerry filed, as expected, legal action to preserve voting records that may be used as evidence of fraud (see also: Conspiracies theorized, or conspiracies invoked?).

The piece describes:

* Voters testifying they received punch-card ballots pre-punched for Bush.
* A notarized affidavit from a woman stating a machine in her Democratic Precinct did not have a cartridge, which makes it likely none of the votes cast on it were recorded.
* Miami County, where a 98.5% voter turnout was recorded, yet canvassing of the precinct debunks a turnout of this size.
* Requested voting records came directly from a private firm.
* Several affidavits of “vote hopping,” where machines were preset to record a vote for Bush as proven by the fact that machines showed a vote for Bush before the voter voted.
* How Ohio touts, as evidence of fairness, that Democrats were involved in overseeing the counting of ballots, yet these same Democrats are beholden to Secretary of State Blackwell for their jobs.
* The certainty that several members of the Congressional Black Caucus plan to challenge the validity of the electoral votes when the Electoral College meets on January 6, but so far a required Senator has not committed to the challenge.

continued...
http://busheye.blogspot.com/2004/12/iraq-tells-us-election-fraud-is.html

[dzika]

68. Parties Should Court All Voters, Not Just Those In Battleground States

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Parties Should Court All Voters, Not Just Those In Battleground States

By: By Byron Dorgan
Special to The Washington Post


If you saw a real live presidential candidate this year, you must live in one of those "battleground states." You're lucky. Most of us never laid eyes on a candidate except on television.
In fact, most Americans are as likely to see a presidential candidate in the flesh as they are to see Elvis walk out of a Johnny Rockets hamburger stand. Despite being called a national campaign for the presidency, it really isn't national anymore. These elections have become a series of mini-campaigns in specific states calibrated to win an electoral college vote. The candidates rush back and forth between such contested states as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. They act as if they're running for president of the battleground states rather than of the United States.

Since your tax dollars are being used to fund the presidential campaign, you have a right to expect the candidates to run a national campaign and maybe show up in your state. After all, when they received their party's nominations, the Bush and Kerry campaigns each pocketed $74.6 million in public funding for the general election campaign. They took that money and headed straight for the battleground states.

Here's how it works:

continued...
http://www.yankton.net/stories/122804/opEd_20041228004.shtml

[dzika]

69. TV Networks Officially Refuse to Release Exit Poll Raw Data

(this story has already be seen on DU but it has been republished by the ILCA which gets it to many more media outlets.)

DavidSwanson on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 01:39 PM


TV Networks Officially Refuse to Release Exit Poll Raw Data


Attempts to get an explanation from the media have been met with cold and evasive responses. Local media outlets say it's not their duty to report the national news. National media people say there's not enough evidence yet, and they're waiting to see how it pans out before they give it the spotlight. This begs the question: Do we wait until the Superbowl is over to report on it? Did they wait until the OJ trial was over to report on it?

But as the story develops, no one has been able to explain why the media is avoiding it like the plague.

Until today.

Yesterday Representative John Conyers called their bluff. He's the one leading the investigation in the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. After weeks of investigation he's become more and more interested in seeing the raw data of the exit polls. Exit polls were a red flag in Ukraine, and many statistical experts have used the exit polls from our election to demonstrate a high likelihood that there was some funny business on November 2nd.

Like most people trying to get to the bottom of the matter, Mr. Conyers first came to the realization that the exit poll data has mysteriously not been released yet. We only have the preliminary exit poll data, which showed Kerry winning Ohio by several points. But about half way through election day, the networks started "mixing in" the "real" numbers with the exit poll data, and from that point on, the raw exit poll data has been locked up.

So, Conyers wrote to Warren Mitofsky, who owns the exit poll data, asking for the complete raw data, without the "real" numbers mixed in. Mitofsky balked, saying that the TV Networks actually own it and he was not able to release it without their permission. Conyers then took his inquiry to the leaders of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox.

And they promptly laid an egg. Through a spokesperson who spoke on behalf of all the media companies together, they said they are still analyzing the data and don't want to release it until they're done.


Link:
http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1355&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[wakemewhenitsover]

70. Maybe Dems should officially refuse to buy products...

...advertised on networks which officially refuse to release exit poll raw data.

We can live on canned dolphin-free tuna for a while, right?

[dzika]

71. I have seen different versions of the 'Buy Blue' idea.

If you know of a specific site please paste a summary and a link to the page.

Thanks!