Wednesday 1/26/05 Election/Fraud/Recount/Protest 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 with this project.

Link to the thread from yesterday (even though it says Monday :( ): http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x303496

[MelissaB]

1. Greg Palast & Jesse Jackson: JIM CROW RETURNS TO THE VOTING BOOTH

JIM CROW RETURNS TO THE VOTING BOOTH
DOES AMERICA HAVE APARTHEID VOTE-COUNTING SYSTEM?
Seattle Post-Intelligencer


by Rev. Jesse Jackson and Greg Palast
Wednesday Jan 26, 2005


The inaugural confetti has been swept away and with it, the last quarrel over who really won the presidential election.

But there is still unfinished business that can't be swept away. After taking his oath, the president called for a "concerted effort to promote democracy." The president should begin with the United States.

More than 133,000 votes remain uncounted in Ohio, more than George W. Bush's supposed margin of victory. In New Mexico, the uncounted vote totals at least three times the president's plurality -- and so on in other states.

>>>snip

The ballots left uncounted, and that will never be counted, are so-called spoiled or rejected ballots -- votes cast by citizens, but never tallied. This is the dark little secret of U.S. democracy: Nationwide, in our presidential elections, about 2 million votes are cast and never counted, most spoiled because they cannot be read by the tallying machines.

Much more here: http://www.gregpalast.com/

[MelissaB]

2. Discussion here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x304975

[L. Coyote]

7. Use this link for entire article

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=411&row=0

[MelissaB]

3. Election Fraud 2004 Compilation Video by DU Members

http://veredictum.com/stolenelection2004-256.ram

Thanks to Faye here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x304254

[MelissaB]

4. The Advocate Continues Its "Tiregate" Investigation;

News From The U.S. Election Reform Movement
Tuesday, January 25, 2005

News: The Advocate Continues Its "Tiregate" Investigation; G.O.P.-Hyped "Scandal" Beginning to Seem Almost Wholly Illusory

BY ADVOCATE STAFF

First, there was the concession that the five men who slashed the tires of vans rented by the Wisconsin G.O.P. on Election Day were not, in fact, acting on behalf of the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

Nor were they -- we eventually learned, contrary to G.O.P. speculation -- sponsored, condoned, sanctioned, encouraged, or in any way abetted by the campaign, which knew absolutely nothing of the tire-slashing until the men, reluctantly, revealed to them what they had done. The Kerry-Edwards campaign immediately relayed this information to the Milwaukee Police Department.

Next came the disclosure that the rented vans were not, in fact, designated primarily for the use of Republican voters, but for Republican poll-watchers, instead -- many of whom were charged with "caging" minority voters at polling places around the city. .

Next came a bizarre omission: the inability of the Chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, Rick Riley, to identify even a single Republican voter who was disenfranchised by the tire-slashing. He offered up, instead -- somewhat lamely, as he must have known -- that some poll-watchers had reached their polls "two hours late" because of the vandalism.


More here: http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/


Thanks to nashuaadvocate here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x304772

[MelissaB]

5. Mitofsky's background and an outrageous endorsement!

The Mexican PRI, political party that stole elections for almost 80 years in Mexico, hired guess who, to make sure the numbers matched...yes, WARREN MITOFSKY!

"In 1994, MI conducted the only exit poll and quick count for the Mexican presidential election reported by the country's broadcast industry. Mitofsky received public commendation by President Carlos Salinas for his contribution to the election's credibility. MI and its Mexican partner, Consulta, have conducted exit polls for most governor elections between 1997-99 for Televisa, Mexico’s largest television network. Consulta/Mitofsky also covered the first PRI national presidential primary in 1999."

- Carlos Salinas de Gortari went into exile in the late 90's. He was going to be indicted for ordering...THE KILLING OF A POLITICAL OPPONENT!

http://www.mitofskyinternational.com/company.htm


Thanks to RaulVb here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x304890

[L. Coyote]

6. Snohomish County Touch-Screen Voting Study Suggests Machines Favored Rossi

The Minus Touch: Snohomish County Touch-Screen Voting Study Suggests Machines Favored Rossi, No Way to Prove It by Rick Anderson, 1/26/05

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0504/050126_news_snohomish.php

[dzika]

8. GOP FEARS SENATOR BOXER

The Headline Story on GOP Website shows that they FEAR Senator Boxer

There is no doubt that the GOP is concerned about how popular Barbara Boxer has become in the last few weeks.

This image is the headline story on GOP (dot) com:



The picture might make you mad but it should also show you that they think Boxer is a THREAT.

And you know what... she is. We need to do everything we can for her because Boxer is the best Senate advocate we have.

(I'm not linking to their site. Just type it in if you want to go there.)

[L. Coyote]

9. Vote Machine Maker Settles CA Suit Brought by Bev Harris

A word of advice, "If you need some dough, sue an election machine company!"

Harris may get $75K from CA settlement!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/209250_diebold25.html


<quote>

Harris is waiting to hear what part of the California settlement she will net as one of two whistle-blowers who originally filed the suit.

She says she's hoping to receive about $75,000, which she says she will put into a dedicated fund to bankroll more legal action relating to the use of elections equipment.

</quote>

========

From Election Fraud and Irregularity Headlines.

[Joanne98]

29. That's all she's getting? 75,000?

[dzika]

10. 5 years ago: E-voting gets the nod

January 26 2005

5 years ago: E-voting gets the nod

by silicon.com

Or does it?

26.01.2000: Democrats in Arizona are to use electronic voting in their elections for their presidential candidate, despite last week's rejection of electronic voting by the state of California over security concerns.

The Democratic Party hailed the move as the first-ever legally binding public vote over the internet. It'll allow its Arizona members to vote online in the March State Primary elections.

The election is being organised with the help of election.com which has run internet-based polls for businesses for two years.

The company claims its partnership with security company VeriSign makes its procedure safer than any other currently available.

26.01.05: E-voting, of various sorts, is still prompting debate today among politicos and techies alike.

With the shift in emphasis moving from voting online to voting via specially designed machines, the safety of e-voting is still in question, with the lack of an auditable paper trail in particular causing concern to some computer scientists.

Cries for e-voting have even been heard in London, when Ken Livingstone announced that voting by internet, phone, SMS and digital TV could soon be on the way.

Meanwhile, the Democrats seem to have lost their enthusiasm for e-voting of late. 2004's presidential election losers complained of irregularities in Ohio.

Unsurprisingly, e-voting has been know to have its flaws - including finishing an election with more than 100 per cent turnout by the electorate.

source
http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39127364,00.htm

[dzika]

11. The Strange Death of American Democracy: Endgame in Ohio

(this is a few days old but worth knowing about. It's a comprehensive article on the election problems in Ohio. Shorter than Conyers' Executive Summary but it covers most the important points.)

The Strange Death of American Democracy:
Endgame in Ohio

by Michael Keefer
www.globalresearch.ca 24 January 2005

The URL of this article is: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KEE501A.html

---

So who ever thought the 2004 U.S. presidential election had the remotest chance of being honest and democratic?

Not, one might guess, the electronic voting security experts like Ken Thompson, Roy Saltman, Rebecca Mercuri, Bruce Schneier, Doug Jones, Victoria Collier, Aviel Rubin, Lynn Landes, and Bev Harris, who have for years been warning that the new voting technology coming into use in the United States offers unprecedented opportunities for electoral fraud.<1>

Probably not Osama bin Laden, who made his much-anticipated Jack-in-the-Box video appearance three days before polling day: wearing a gold-lamé hospital gown in front of a blank shower curtain, and with a nose that looked to have been quite recently punched flat, he landed some anti-Bush shots that Rush Limbaugh and the other ring-tailed roarers of the American right were happy to interpret as a last-minute endorsement of John Kerry.<2>

And certainly not Republican Congressional Representative Peter King, who made an equally notable video statement on the afternoon of November 2nd, long before the polls closed, in the course of a White House function that seemed to have put him into a celebratory mood. "It's already over," he told the interviewer. "The election's over. We won." Asked how he knew at that early hour, King replied: "It's all over but the counting. And we'll take care of the counting."<3>

One of the people who took care of the counting--and who was responsible as well for some of the most decisive crookedness of the election, and the most flagrant illegalities of the post-election cover-up--is J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's Republican Secretary of State.


coneinued:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KEE501A.html

[dzika]

12. Exit Poll Big Lie Exposed

by Bob Fertik on 01/21/2005 9:44am. - revised 01/25/2005 11:27am

Exit Poll Big Lie Exposed

On Inauguration Eve - to prove Bush "really" won this time - Warren Mitofsky published his analysis of why the exit polls that showed Kerry won were "wrong." He offered four hypotheses:

• Distance restrictions from polling places imposed upon the interviewers by election officials at the state and local level.
  
• Weather conditions, which lowered completion rates at certain polling locations.
  
• Multiple precincts voting at the same location as the precinct in the exit poll sample.
  
• Interviewer characteristics, such as age, which were more often related to the errors last year than in past elections.

After reading the 77-page document, Stop_George of Newsclip Autopsy discovered one teensy-tiny flaw with Mitofsky's self-criticism.

Even if all of these factors had been "fixed," Mitofsky's own numbers show KERRY STILL WON!


continued here
http://blog.democrats.com/node/2755

[dzika]

13. The Counter-Inaugural Demonstrations of January 20th

January 25, 2005

The Counter-Inaugural Demonstrations of January 20th

Although it is the editorial policy of this blog at the present time to concentrate on evidence, investigation, litigation, and prosecution of the Ohio 2004 election fraud, I am making an exception by posting this informative link to news about the events of January 20th, in view of the mainstream media's suppression of that news:

http://www.friedman-sun.com/inaug/jan20.htm


Source: http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/counter-inaugural-demonstrations-of.html

[dzika]

14. GOP Sells Out its' Base and they keep coming back for more

Selling Out the Base

As mentioned yesterday, the GOP’s ability to utilize a political base of support such as social conservatives (primarily the religious right) for the political season every two years is, without question, impressive. Talk about a free lunch, this dynamic has the organizational auspices of old school labor unions, is first-in-line at the polls, and requires nothing more than lip service for their facile obedience. Though it would require an extreme forfeiture of ideological integrity to position the party in such a way as to similarly exploit, err. . . utilize this sector of the electorate by feigning agreability with their means/ends, it is perfectly feasible to prime their preferences in accordance with the party’s overall goals. As Tom Frank says in What’s the Matter With Kansas:

Their grandstanding leaders never deliver, their fury mounts and mounts, and nevertheless they turn out every two years to return their right-wing heroes to office for a second, a third, a twentieth try. The trick never ages; the illusion never wears off. Vote to stop abortion; receive a rollback in capital gains taxes. Vote to make our country strong again; receive deindustrialization. Vote to screw those politically correct college professors; receive electricity deregulation. Vote to get government off our backs; receive conglomeration and monopoly everywhere from media to meat-packing. Vote to stand tall against terrorists; receive Social Security privatization. Vote to strike a blow against elitism; receive a social order in which wealth is more concentrated than ever before in our lifetimes, in which workers have been stripped of power and CEOs are rewarded in a manner beyond imagining.

Democrats and liberals/progressives alike are quick to point out this readily-prevalent dynamic, but have made little headway in eroding GOP support from such voters. Call it the idiot that keeps touching the stove, and call such an interpretation elitism, but putting all your eggs in one basket, only to see it be stolen by the wolves every Easter is at best senile, and at worst obtuse.

http://polemic.enduphere.com/?p=659

[dzika]

15. The Nation - The Power of Nightmares

01/25/2005

The Power of Nightmares

Last week, the BBC re-broadcast a provocative documentary series which challenges the idea that Al Qaeda is the center of a uniquely powerful, unified and well-organized international terrorist conspiracy.

"The attacks on September 11th," according to the film's director Adam Curtis--one of Britain's leading documentary filmmakers--"were not the expression of a confident and growing movement. They were acts of desperation by a small group frustrated by their failure which they blamed on the power of America. It is also important," Curtis adds, "to realize that many within the Islamist movement were against this strategy." (This view accords with those held by terrorism experts--like Peter Bergen--who argue that Al Qaeda is largely a spent force that has changed from a tight-knit organization capable of carrying out 9/11 to more of an ideological threat with loose networks in many nations.)

The film also challenges other accepted articles of faith in the so-called war on terror, and documents that much of what we have been told about a centralized, international terrorist threat "is a fantasy that has been exaggerated and distorted by politicans. It is a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services and the international media."

The series does not claim that terrorism poses no threat, nor does it challenge the idea that radical Islamism has led to gruesome violence throughout the world. "The bombs in Madrid and Bali showed clearly the seriousness of the threat--but they are not evidence of a new and overwhelming threat unlike any we have experienced before. And above all they do not--in the words of the British government--'threaten the life of the nation.' "

First broadcast in Great Britain last November, The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear has yet to air on this side of the Atlantic. Why is it that no television outlet in the United States has yet to broadcast this critically-acclaimed film?
...

Curtis has promised to send me a copy of the documentary. But millions of Americans deserve to see a film that offers a rigorously documented and credible counter to the conventional narrative of a "war on terror."

If you agree, write HBO and ask why it isn't showing this BBC documentary. You can also call on PBS stations to be true to their missions by asking them to air The Power of Nightmares.


http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?pid=2149

[dzika]

16. Recount reimbursement bill hits potential snag in Virginia

January 26, 2005

Recount reimbursement bill hits potential snag

Kevin Crossett / [e-mail]

RICHMOND - House lawmakers must decide whether the state should reimburse candidates for legal fees incurred after a botched election, or if doing so establishes what some call a dangerous precedent that opens the door for future claims against the state.

A House Privileges and Elections subcommittee will take up Bedford independent Del. Lacey Putney’s legislation on Thursday for a bill he submitted on behalf of four candidates whose election results were stricken because of a registrar’s error that led dozens of voters to cast ballots in the wrong district.

A three-judge panel threw out the results and ordered special elections in 2004. All four racked up legal bills, but some relied on campaign funds to pay the attorneys who defended their case.

Putney had originally proposed reimbursing Steve Arrington, Carolyn Dixon, Betty Earle and Tony Ware until he was made aware that some used campaign funds to pay their legal fees.

continued
http://www.registerbee.com/

[dzika]

17. Republican Election Fraud isn't Prosecuted in Florida

Attorney closes voter fraud case

THE STATE ATTORNEY’S OFFICE COULD NOT FIND ENOUGH EVIDENCE

Local authorities recently closed an investigation into alleged voter fraud against UF students before the 2004 general election, after evidence proved insufficient for prosecution.

“No charges will be filed against anyone,” State Attorney’s Office spokesman Spencer Mann said. “There was not enough evidence to establish the identification of a subject.”

The investigation began in October when then-Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Beverly Hill forwarded to the state attorney about 500 primarily student voter registration forms after she questioned their validity.

An inordinate number of forms requested a change in party affiliation, and most registrants “emphatically” denied they asked to change parties, Hill said at the time.

Several students alleged that Young Political Majors LLC, whose voter drive was sponsored by the Republican Party, tricked students into changing their affiliations with a fake petition.
...

Julie Handa, Gainesville coordinator for America Coming Together, a left-leaning grassroots organization, said she notified Hill and UF Student Activities Director Lohse Beeland when she became suspicious of YPM.

“What they were doing didn’t seem right,” she said. “I wanted them (local officials) to look into it.”

Ted Terry, president of the Gator Greens, was among the students who aired concerns about the registration drive in October when he wrote an e-mail complaining to the Attorney General’s Office.

“We didn’t think anything would come of it, because it seemed like people under Gov. Jeb Bush wouldn’t take us seriously,” Terry said.


http://www.alligator.org/pt2/050126ypm.php

[dzika]

Prosecutor Inquiry into 4 possible cases of WA ballot fraud

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Inquiry into 4 possible cases of ballot fraud

3 county residents suspected of voting for dead relatives

By MICHELLE NICOLOSI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER


The King County Prosecutor's Office has asked the King County sheriff to investigate four possible cases of voter fraud: three in which county residents are suspected of having voted for dead relatives and one case in which a person is suspected of voting twice.

Officials would not release the names of the people who are being investigated, as they have not been charged with a crime.

The Prosecutor's Office forwarded the cases to the sheriff Thursday. The county elections office reported the cases to the Prosecutor's Office last Wednesday, said prosecutor's spokesman Dan Donohoe.

"We had an initial review of the complaints and determined that we needed some additional investigation," Donohoe said. "It will be a couple of weeks before we can have a decision whether a charge can be filed."

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Jan. 7 that at least eight people who died well before the November general election were credited with voting in King County.

Two people contacted by the P-I -- Doris McFarland of Duvall and Bob Holmgren of West Seattle -- said they had filled in ballots for their dead spouses. McFarland said yesterday that she had no comment; Holmgren could not be reached for comment.


more
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/209406_voter26.html?source=rss

[dzika]

18. Prosecutor Inquiry into 4 possible cases of WA ballot fraud

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Inquiry into 4 possible cases of ballot fraud

3 county residents suspected of voting for dead relatives

By MICHELLE NICOLOSI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER


The King County Prosecutor's Office has asked the King County sheriff to investigate four possible cases of voter fraud: three in which county residents are suspected of having voted for dead relatives and one case in which a person is suspected of voting twice.

Officials would not release the names of the people who are being investigated, as they have not been charged with a crime.

The Prosecutor's Office forwarded the cases to the sheriff Thursday. The county elections office reported the cases to the Prosecutor's Office last Wednesday, said prosecutor's spokesman Dan Donohoe.

"We had an initial review of the complaints and determined that we needed some additional investigation," Donohoe said. "It will be a couple of weeks before we can have a decision whether a charge can be filed."

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Jan. 7 that at least eight people who died well before the November general election were credited with voting in King County.

Two people contacted by the P-I -- Doris McFarland of Duvall and Bob Holmgren of West Seattle -- said they had filled in ballots for their dead spouses. McFarland said yesterday that she had no comment; Holmgren could not be reached for comment.


more
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/209406_voter26.html?source=rss

[dzika]

19. Ariz. Requires Citizenship Proof to Vote

Wed Jan 26, 8:27 AM ET

Ariz. Requires Citizenship Proof to Vote

PHOENIX - Arizona has become the first state to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote, a measure that supporters say is intended to prevent voter fraud.

The law went into effect Tuesday after being approved by voters in November. It requires that people provide proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, when registering to vote and show specified forms of identification when casting a ballot at a polling place.

A civil-rights group and Democratic legislators recently had urged the Department of Justice (news - web sites) to reject the law. They argued the changes will erect barriers that will hinder minorities' participation in elections and hamper grassroots voter registration drives.

The Justice Department (news - web sites) gave final approval Tuesday.

Arizona needs federal clearance of all election laws and regulations because of the state's history of violations of minorities' voting rights.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050126/ap_on_re_us/immigration_law_2

[MelissaB]

20. helderheid: I was quoted in today's paper!!

http://www.sltrib.com/utahpolitics/ci_2535306

<snip>
Clarity Sanderson, the Internet outreach coordinator for the Utah Democratic Progressive Caucus, said the bill has good intentions. "However, it's missing some key factors to make it as transparent as need be."
Sanderson, who has been following the state's voting switch, says the state needs to have "open-source software," which means the software's code is open to the public to inspect. As currently proposed, the software running the new state system likely would remain proprietary to the company that made it.
</snip>


Thanks to helderheid here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x304801

[MelissaB]

21. Action items here

[MelissaB]

23. Our THANK YOU list. Start licking those stamps, kids!!

I can't stress enough how important it is that these fine folks are shown they have supporters all over the country who are deeply appreciative of their vote against Dr. Rice.

Also, please stress the need for verifiable paper ballots! Now that they have the stones to stand up and fight, let's give them something else to fight for.


Daniel Akaka D-HI
141 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]


Evan Bayh D-IN
463 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: bayh.senate.gov/WebMail1.htm

Barbara Boxer D-CA
112 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: boxer.senate.gov/contact

Robert Byrd D-WV
311 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: byrd.senate.gov/byrd_email.html

Mark Dayton D-MN
346 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: dayton.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Richard Durbin D-IL
332 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: durbin.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.htm

Tom Harkin D-IA
731 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

James Jeffords I-VT
413 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: jeffords.senate.gov/contact-form.html

Edward Kennedy D-MA
317 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: kennedy.senate.gov/contact.html

John Kerry PRESIDENT sorry...I had to do it.
304 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: kerry.senate.gov/bandwidth/contact/email.html

Frank Lautenberg D-NJ
324 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: lautenberg.senate.gov/webform.html

Carl Levin D-MI
269 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: levin.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Jack Reed D-RI
728 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: reed.senate.gov/form-opinion.htm


Thanks to NikiWitch here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x305260

[dzika]

42. ACTION ALERT: NM Election Reform

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

ACTION ALERT: NM Election Reform

According to an article in today's Albuquerque Journal, the first House Voters and Elections Committee meeting at the NM Legislature yesterday was packed with voters demanding a paper trail for electronic voting machines. NM Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron stated that NM has a kind of paper trail that provides cumulative totals at the end of the day, but admitted the machines lack a paper receipt for voters to check if their vote was recorded correctly.

Get this (#1): Vigil-Giron said the state's 33 counties can't use the $9 million in federal dollars left for voting machine purchases to buy machines that provide individual paper receipts because none of the companies that make them have applied to her office for testing and certification according to NM law.

Given the urgent need for machines with paper trails, you'd think it would enter Vigil-Giron's mind to contact the companies, wouldn't you? After all, she does seem to have a special relationship with ES&S machines, whose vice president was her 6th largest campaign contributor in 2002. (See previous DFNM post.) Just by chance, ES&S was showing off its machine with paper receipts at the Roundhouse rotunda yesterday. Perhaps she should have walked over and talked to them.

Vigil-Giron also answered questions from committee members about possible vote fraud in the last election. Get this (#2): She claimed she "has not seen a single complaint come to her in writing, nor has she heard from the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Mexico, which created a task force to look into such allegations." She said, "So far we have not seen anything written down."

I wonder if she considers the court actions and suits, or the reports submitted by the Green and Libertarian Parties that documented myriad problems with the election to be "anything written down." Guess not.

It should be noted that Vigil-Giron is president of the National Association of Secretaries of State and that Denise Lamb, NM's election bureau director, heads the National Association of State Election Directors. So they have alot of clout in how their counterparts around the country will deal with election reform issues. It's incredibly important that they understand how many of us are demanding that voters have access to machines with paper trails and receipts so that we can, once again, trust our election process.

Click to the continuation page for related contact information.

To contact Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron:
Office of the New Mexico Secretary of State
State Capitol North Annex, Suite 300
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87503
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
Toll Free 1-800-477-3632
[e-mail]

To contact Election Bureau chief, Denise Lamb:
[phone]
[e-mail]

To contact your legislators about voting reform issues:
http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/default.asp

Membership, contact and meeting information about the House Voters and Elections committee:
http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/committeedetail.asp?CommCode=HVEC

The website of Verified Voting New Mexico is a good resource on this issue.


source: http://www.democracyfornewmexico.com/democracy_for_new_mexico/2005/01/action_alert_co.html

[dzika]

22. DU Video posted on Ray Beckerman's site

January 26, 2005

Video Presentation on Stolen Election of 2004

For a good, 9-minute, documentary film on the Stolen Election of 2004, see:

Real Media 256k stream:
http://veredictum.com/stolenelection2004-256.ram

Real Media 56k stream (for dial-up):
http://veredictum.com/stolenelection2004-56.rm

From democraticunderground.com

Source: http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/video-presentation-on-stolen-election.html

[dzika]

24. GONZALES VOTE GOES TO SENATE FLOOR - VOTING RIGHTS AT ISSUE

(from Hungry Blue's)
Wednesday, January 26, 2005

GONZALES VOTE GOES TO SENATE FLOOR - VOTING RIGHTS AT ISSUE

PROTECT VOTING RIGHTS:
HELP US STOP APPROVAL OF ALBERTO GONZALES FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

Please call on your own Senators to object to the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General. The Judiciary Committee just voted: 10 yeas and 8 nays on the Gonzales nomination. The votes were on party lines, with 10 Republicans and 8 Democrats on the committee. The recommendation goes to the Senate floor: it could be either today or in the next few days.

Tell your Senators that we need an Attorney General with a commitment to Civil Rights and Voting Rights. Call 1-800-839-5276 or 1-877-762-8762 connecting all offices.

In the last five years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has DECREASED its Civil Rights enforcement dramatically. While the number of civil rights complaints has remained constant, at about 12,000 per year for the last five years, the number of defendants charged with criminal violations of the nation's civil rights laws has dropped by close to 50%, from 159 in 1999 to 84 in 2003.<1>

When it comes to the Civil Rights Division's Voting Section, which has the historic mission of protecting voting rights, it is clear that the Department of Justice

• Has failed to address allegations of voting irregularities and is not properly documenting them;
  
  
• Has replaced the protection of voting rights with the potentially discriminatory advancement of so-called "voter integrity"; and
  
  
• Has been litigating to limit the private right of action by individual citizens to enforce federal statutes guaranteeing voting rights.

J. Gerald Hebert, a former chief of the DOJ's Voting Section, said "This is the first time in history the Justice Department has gone to court to side AGAINST voters who are trying to enforce their right to vote. I think this law will mean very little if the rights of American voters have to depend on this Justice Department."<2> It is crucial that the new Attorney General demonstrate a strong commitment to fixing the damage done to voting rights under Attorney General Ashcroft. Therefore we call on the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to object to the nomination of Alberto Gonzales on the grounds that he has no program to resurrect the DOJ's mission to protect voting rights.


continued
http://minorjive.typepad.com/hungryblues/2005/01/gonzales_vote_g.html

[dzika]

25. Responses to the HAVA and the Rush Holt Bill - H.R. 2239

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

HAVA and the Rush Holt Bill - H.R. 2239

These are responses to the 5 main points of the Rush Holt Bill aka H.R. 2239. By no means does HAVA or H.R. 2239 cover all that needs to be done to clean up elections, but below are responses to those 5 points which are posted immediately after.

1) Focus on the Australian or Mercuri methods. Don't be afraid of being called a skeptic or Luddite because in the case of voting that is a good thing since voting is the single right that controls all others. 'Paper trail' is not a legal term. How about 'ballot evidence'? Those two words are legally defined and are unlikely to be eradicated from legal dictionaries. Legalities are vital in discussions of election practices. If you're unfamiliar with a word or term, try Everybody's Legal Dictionary at http://www.nolo.com/ . Note which words and terms are available and those that are not. There are attorneys among us, so by all means find one and ask if necessary.

2) H.R. 2239 allows disclosed use of networked software and hardware. Say NO to networked software, hardware and tabulators.

3) A living lie because it was a timely matter.

4) Useless if not enforced, and it has not been, which turns every voting machine into potential ammo against every voter.

5) 10% or greater should be required for a legit, transparent, randomly sampled recount. If a recount is due to mismanagement of software or hardware, the seller (also known as voting machine company) should be required to fully reimburse every recount. There is no reason why software/firmware and hardware can't count votes like ATMs do. Diebold should ring a bell. Banks reimburse customers when an ATM transacts an error and ATM companies bear a cost even if they pass it on to consumers at some point. At least there is accountability by the ATM company and the bank. Responsibility must be taken for voting machine software and hardware. If not, then who?

---

Rush Holt Bill H.R. 2239 - Key provisions of The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003 include:

1) Requires all voting systems to produce a voter-verified paper record for use in manual audits and recounts. For those using the increasingly popular ATM-like "DRE"(Direct Recording Electronic) machines, this requirement means the DRE would print a receipt that each voter would verify as accurate and deposit into a lockbox for later use in a recount. States would have until November 2003 to request additional funds to meet this requirement.

2) Bans the use of undisclosed software and wireless communications devices in voting systems.

3) Requires all voting systems to meet these requirements in time for the general election in November 2004. Jurisdictions that feel their new computer systems may not be able to meet this deadline may use an existing paper system as an interim measure (at federal expense) in the November 2004 election.

4) Requires that electronic voting system be provided for persons with disabilities by January 1, 2006 -- one year earlier than currently required by HAVA. Like the voting machines for non-disabled voters, those used by disabled voters must also provide a mechanism for voter-verification, though not necessarily a paper trail. Jurisdictions unable to meet this requirement by the deadline must give disabled voters the option to use the interim paper system with the assistance of an aide of their choosing.

5) Requires mandatory surprise recounts in 0.5% of domestic jurisdictions and 0.5% of overseas jurisdictions.


http://blackboxvoting.blogspot.com/2005/01/hava-and-rush-holt-bill-hr-2239.html

[dzika]

26. NC Panel's list for improving voting-system ills finished

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Panel's list for improving voting-system ills finished

Committee proposals move on to General Assembly
By David Ingram
JOURNAL RALEIGH BUREAU
RALEIGH


A legislative panel issued several recommendations yesterday for improving North Carolina's voting system, but not before tossing out the most controversial ideas.

The Joint Select Committee on Electronic Voting Systems suggested that state elections officials should have more authority to correct irregularities in voting, such as the loss of 4,438 votes in Carteret County last year.

It also recommended giving state employees up to 24 hours a year in community-service leave to work at voting precincts; allowing election officials more time to count absentee votes on Election Day; and expanding one-stop voting, in which a voter can cast a ballot anywhere in his county, not just in his home precinct.

Members of the group said that the changes would help restore trust in the state's elections.

"Despite capable, dedicated election officials, the system has malfunctioned just often enough and recently enough to create doubt in the public mind that the system is healthy," the members wrote in their report.

"Those malfunctions, together with questions raised by critics of electronic voting about what problems are possible, threaten to leave the state with an election system that does not have the public's confidence."

more
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780454923&path=!localnews!elections&s=1037645509113

[dzika]

27. Question what you're told about faith-driven voters

Editorials & Opinion: Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Question what you're told about faith-driven voters

By Timothy Burgess
Special to The Times


I was standing at the edge of the soccer field watching my daughter's game when another parent launched a post-mortem commentary on the election and those "right-wing Christian wackos."

That got me thinking. Would he lump me into that group because I go to church, read the Bible, pray, try to live a Christian life, and even — don't leave me now — vote for Republicans sometimes?

Commentators have been debating what the Democrats should do to reach people like me: Use more faith language, screen candidates for acceptability to red-state voters.

Nonsense. The wisest course for Democrats — and Republicans, too, for that matter — is to get to know and understand people who are driven in life by their faith beliefs. People who believe that truth can be discerned, that some things transcend this physical realm we touch and see every day.

Unfortunately, the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have helped create an image of Christians as narrow-minded, exclusionary, hate-filled loonies who don't understand the nuance and realities of life. Thankfully, Falwell and Robertson don't speak for most Christians — not even close.

more
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=burgess26&date=20050126

[MelissaB]

28. Texas DA Takes on Delay in Campaign Probe

Texas DA Takes on Delay in Campaign Probe

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- After years of going after some of the biggest names in Texas politics, District Attorney Ronnie Earle reckoned 2004 would be the year he would retire.

Then Earle found himself in charge of a campaign-finance investigation that has set off tremors from Austin to Washington. Calling it the most important investigation of his nearly 30-year career as D.A., the Democrat decided to stay on, and got himself re-elected in November to another four-year term.

That, of course, may have set off even more tremors.

So far, Earle's two-year-old probe has led to the indictment of three associates of Republican U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and eight corporations. It also has stirred rampant speculation at the state Capitol over who among the legislators might be next.

More here: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Texas-DA.html?oref=login&oref=login


From understandlife's post here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x305476

[MelissaB]

30. The New Bush Doctrine, by George Soros

President George W. Bush's second inaugural address set forth an ambitious vision of the role of the United States in advancing the cause of freedom worldwide, fueling worldwide speculation over the course of American foreign policy during the next four years. The ideas expressed in Bush's speech thus deserve serious consideration.

"t is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture," Bush declared, "with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

There is a bow to diplomacy in the assurance that fulfilling this mission "is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend our friends and ourselves by force of arms when necessary." Similarly, Bush recognizes that outsiders cannot force liberty on people. Instead, "Freedom by its nature must be chosen and defended by citizens and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities."

Finally, there is acceptance of diversity, for "when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom and make their own way."

I agree with this goal, and have devoted the last fifteen years of my life and several billion dollars of my fortune to attaining it. Yet I find myself in sharp disagreement with the Bush administration. It is not only that there is a large gap between official words and deeds; I find that the words sometimes directly contradict the deeds in a kind of Orwellian doublespeak.

When Bush declared war on terror, he used that war to invade Iraq. When no connection with Al Qaeda could be established and no weapons of mass destruction could be found, he declared that we invaded Iraq to introduce democracy. We are about to convert elections in Iraq into a civil war between a Shi'a-Kurd dominated government and a Sunni insurrection.


More here: http://www.georgesoros.com/article012605.html

Thanks to wicket here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3010898

[MelissaB]

31. I'm posting this one because we all know $$ relates to politics.

China has lost faith in the stability of the U.S. $

(AP - Davos Swtiz)

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP)--China has lost faith in the stability of the U.S.
dollar, and its first priority is to broaden the exchange rate for its currency
from the dollar to a more flexible basket of currencies, a top Chinese
economist said Wednesday at the World Economic Forum.

At a standing-room only session focusing on the world's fastest-growing
economy, Fan Gang, director of the National Economic Research Institute at the
China Reform Foundation, said the issue for China isn't whether to devalue the
yuan but "to limit it from the U.S. dollar."
But he stressed that the Chinese government is under no pressure to revalue
its currency.

China's exchange rate policies restrict the value of the yuan to a narrow band
around CNY8.28 pegged to $1. Critics argue that the yuan is undervalued, making
China's exports cheaper overseas and giving its manufacturers an unfair
advantage. Beijing has been under pressure from its trading partners,
especially the U.S., to relax controls on its currency.
"The U.S. dollar is no longer - in our opinion is no longer - (seen) as a
stable currency, and is devaluating all the time, and that's putting troubles
all the time," Fan said, speaking in English.


More here: http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/business/10740504.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Thanks to cthrumatrix in LBN here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1185907#1185915

[dzika]

32. Black Evangelicals: Bush's New Trump Card

Black Evangelicals: Bush's New Trump Card

Commentary, Earl Ofari Hutchinson,
Pacific News Service, Jan 26, 2005

Editor's Note: George Bush and Karl Rove hope to bypass black civil rights leadership to make deals with black evangelicals and assure future electoral victory in battleground states.

The recent meeting between President Bush and the Congressional Black Caucus grabbed headlines because Bush and the group spent the last four years snubbing each other. What did not make news was a meeting Bush had with black evangelical leaders the day before his get-together with the caucus.

The great untold story of the 2004 presidential elections was the black evangelical vote. Although black evangelicals still voted overwhelmingly for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, they gave Bush the cushion he needed to bag Ohio and win the White House. There were early warning signs that might happen. The same polls that showed black's prime concern was with bread and butter issues -- and that Kerry was seen as the candidate who could deliver on those issues -- also revealed that a sizeable number of blacks ranked abortion, gay marriage and school prayer as priority issues. Their concern for these issues didn't come anywhere close to that of white evangelicals, but it was still higher than that of the general voting public.

A Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies poll in 2004 found that blacks by a far larger margin than the overall population opposed gay marriage. That raised a few eyebrows among some political pundits, but there were much earlier signs of blacks relentless hostility to gays and gay rights. A survey that measured black attitudes toward gays published in Jet Magazine in 1994 found that a sizable number of blacks were suspicious and scornful of them. Many blacks also loathed Kerry's perceived support of abortion. In polls, Kerry got 20 percent less support from black conservative evangelicals than Democratic presidential contender Al Gore received in 2000.

In the right place and under the right circumstance, black evangelicals posed a stealth danger to Democrats. As it turned out, the right place for Bush was Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida. These were must-win swing states, and Bush won them with a considerably higher percent of the black vote than he got in 2000. In Ohio, the gay marriage ban helped bump up the black vote for Bush by seven percentage points, to 16 percent. In Florida and Wisconsin, Republicans aggressively courted and wooed key black religious leaders. They dumped big bucks from Bush's Faith-Based Initiative program into church-run education and youth programs. Black church leaders not only endorsed Bush, but in some cases they actively worked for his re-election, and encouraged members of their congregations to do the same.

The helpful nudge over the top that the black evangelicals gave Bush in Ohio, Florida and Wisconsin has not been lost on Bush's political architect Karl Rove. He has publicly declared that he will pour even more resources and attention into revving up black evangelicals in the 2006 and 2008 congressional and presidential elections. Rove has flatly said that Bush will try to pay off one of his debts to evangelicals by pushing the languishing federal gay-marriage ban. Family groups say they'll dump gay-marriage ban initiatives on ballots in as many states as they can.


continued
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=770281fdb43abafdd678e0b04eaccb1c

[MelissaB]

33. RawStory: Ohio Recount Volunteers Allege Electoral Tampering, Legal ...

Ohio Recount Volunteers Allege Electoral Tampering, Legal Violations, and Possible Fraud

'Why were there stickers on ballets in Clearmont County, Ohio?'

By Larisa Alexandrovna | RAW STORY Staff

Serious new election tampering allegations have emerged from an Ohio county, where witnesses allege that stickers were placed on presidential election ballots, RAW STORY has learned.

Several volunteer workers in the Ohio recount in Clermont County, Ohio have prepared affidavits alleging serious tampering, violations of state and federal law, and possible fraud. They name the Republican chief of Clermont’s Board of Elections and the head of the Clermont Democratic Party Priscilla O’Donnell as complicit in these acts.

These volunteers, observing the recount on behalf of the Greens, Libertarians and Democrats, assert that during the Dec. 14, 2004 hand recount they noticed stickers covering the Kerry/Edwards oval, whereas the Bush/Cheney oval seemed to be “colored in.”

Some witnesses state that beneath the stickers, the Kerry/Edwards oval was selected. The opti-scan ballots were then fed into the machines after the hand recount.

More here: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=7

Discussion here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x305634

[dzika]

34. Polls That Count

from the January 27, 2005 edition

Polls That Count

The Monitor's View


News media and campaigns long have relied on exit polls - information gleaned from voters, who, after they leave their polling places, voluntarily answer questions that help provide a sense of not only how an election is trending but the reasons behind their choices.

Still, the poll data continue to have limited value. Their reliability is less than perfect. Unfortunately, it's taken the last three national elections to confirm those limitations.

The now defunct exit polling firm, Voter News Service, incorrectly called Al Gore the winner in Florida during the 2000 election. Then, in 2002, the VNS system broke down and couldn't give its media clients any exit polling results. VNS was history at that point.

Then, the two polling companies replacing VNS for the 2004 presidential election admitted last week that their information was, in fact, the most inaccurate of any provided in the past five presidential elections. They produced estimates that mistakenly predicted John Kerry beating George W. Bush.

To their credit, major TV networks subscribing to the poll results didn't use that information to call an outcome, but enough leaked out to Internet bloggers to throw Democrats and Republicans onto quite an election day roller coaster. The mistake also fueled conspiracy theories that GOP supporters had rigged the election.

more
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0127/p08s03-comv.html

[dzika]

35. AP implies that Ohio recount laws were abused by Greens and Libertarians

AP implies that Ohio recount laws were abused by Greens and Libertarians

AP does bother to even get a comment from the Green and Libertarian paries.

---

Posted on Tue, Jan. 25, 2005

Bill would clarify voting procedure, pay for recounts
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Election challengers would have to pay the entire cost of recounts that fail to change the results of the election, under a bill before state lawmakers.

The legislation, a top priority for the House and Senate, also would align federal Help America Vote Act standards with state law by creating a statewide voter database, requiring first-time voters to bring identification and defining who gets a provisional ballot.
...

"It's not going to change outcomes of elections. It's just going to make them more accurate," said Kevin Coughlin, a Republican senator from Cuyahoga Falls who is sponsoring the bill.
...

In October, a federal appeals court ruled that provisional ballots cast by Ohio voters outside their own precincts should not be counted.

Challengers of the presidential election paid $113,600 to re-tally the state's precincts, but Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell estimated the actual cost at $1.5 million.

The $10 per precinct charge has not changed since 1957. "It was never addressed because it was really never abused," said Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Blackwell.

The Green and Libertarian presidential candidates requested the recount, arguing it assured that every vote was counted.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/10731439.htm

[dzika]

36. Bush meets with Congressional Black Caucus for 1st time since '01

Wed, Jan. 26, 2005

Bush meets with Congressional Black Caucus for 1st time since '01

BY TODD J. GILLMAN
The Dallas Morning News


WASHINGTON - (KRT) - For the first time in four years, President Bush welcomed the Congressional Black Caucus to the White House on Wednesday, promising nothing but agreeing to consider proposals to end racial disparities.

For more than an hour, the caucus pressed Bush on an agenda that includes higher funding for Head Start and education, universal health care, affirmative action, and eradicating poverty, disease and war in Africa, the Caribbean and other regions. Some members voiced objections to his Social Security plans.

"The president listened. Whether that prompts a change in policy remains to be seen," said Barack Obama of Illinois, the only senator in the 43-member all-Democratic caucus.

Bitterness from the Florida presidential ballot recount of 2000 dominated the last meeting with Bush, four years ago next Monday.
...

But caucus members are wary. At the session in 2001, Bush proposed "a lot of meetings" that never came about - just one impromptu meeting with 19 caucus members who showed up at the White House last February to press the administration during a Haiti crisis.

Caucus chairman Mel Watt of North Carolina called the meeting "very cordial" but said proof of Bush's intentions would emerge in the State of the Union speech next week and when he unveils his budget a few days later.


http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/politics/10742122.htm

[dzika]

37. Freedom from Reality

January 26, 2005

Freedom from Reality

By Robert Parry


One of the most troubling crises confronting the world today is that the U.S. Executive Branch – controlling the most fearsome arsenal in history – has largely detached itself from reality and faces no counterforce in Washington capable of bringing it back down to earth.
...

More Bare Knuckles

In Campaign 2004, Bush again demonstrated the Bush family’s bare-knuckled approach to politics.

As in other George Bush campaigns – by both father and son – there was the usual litany of dirty tricks and front-group smear operations, this time, including a well-coordinated assault on John Kerry’s Vietnam War heroism. (For details, see Consortiumnews.com’s “Reality on the Ballot” and “Bushes Play the ‘Traitor’ Card.”)

Other Bush campaign tactics were designed to suppress the Democratic vote, especially in African-American neighborhoods, by adopting aggressive “ballot security” procedures and through the creation of long voting lines.

So, while many Republican strongholds in the key state of Ohio had lots of voting machines and only brief waits, many Democratic-leaning precincts were shorted on voting machines causing delays that stretched on for hours. Many time-pressed voters had to give up because of child-care demands at home or the need to get to work.

Defeated candidate Kerry said the tactics suppressed the votes of “thousands” of Americans. “Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways,” Kerry said on Jan. 18. “In Democratic districts, it took people four, five, 11 hours to vote, while Republicans (went) through in 10 minutes.” (For more on the voting irregularities and the post-election battle, see Consortiumnews.com’s “Bush’s Unaccountability Moment.”)


more
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/012605.html

[MelissaB]

38. Join Mike (Moore) for a live webchat!

Live webchat (Thursday at 6:30pm ET)


Link here on the main page: http://michaelmoore.com/

Anybody want to ask him about some election "issues"?

[dzika]

39. Dodd and Conyers Introducing Comprehensive Election Reform Legislation

Posted by jesselee
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 at 11:33 AM

Dodd and Conyers Introducing Comprehensive Election Reform Legislation

Washington, D.C. - Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Ranking Member on the Senate Rules Committee, and Rep. John Conyers, Jr, (D-MI), Ranking Member on the House Judiciary Committee, announced that they will be working together in seeking changes to our nation's elections system this Congress. Dodd introduced S. 17, the Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act of 2005 ("VOTER Act") Monday, and Conyers will introduce a House companion version based in significant part on the Senate bill shortly.

Among other things, their legislation will provide for a nationwide federal write in/absentee ballot; require states to provide for a voter verified ballot; insure that provisional ballots cast anywhere in a state are counted; eliminate disparities in the allocation of voting machines and poll workers; mandate early voting and election day registration procedures; and protect against improper purging of registration lists in federal elections.

"It is imperative that we have elections that count every vote of every eligible voter," declared Dodd and Conyers. "A provisional ballot cast anywhere in the state of Ohio should count just as it does in the state of Iowa. There is no reason that voters in inner city areas should be forced to wait in lengthy lines, while their counterparts in the suburbs are able to vote immediately. If voters in Oregon can vote early, why can't voters in Michigan, and if citizens in Idaho enjoy same day registration, why can't voters in Florida?"

"Our elections are the very foundation of our democracy. We've made great strides in repairing cracks in that foundation, but clearly we still need to do more to strengthen and reinforce each American's right to vote and have that vote counted," said Dodd. "This measure can hopefully act as the democratic mortar to anchor one of our nation's most precious rights and ensure that all voters are treated equally on election day."

Conyers stated "Our nation has just endured the second consecutive presidential election which came down to a single state, and that state - Ohio - was riddled with irregularities and the appearance of partisan manipulation. If there is any issue that is central to our democracy, it is insuring that eligible voters are freely able to participate in our elections. I intend to do everything I can to insure that this issue does not go away until we have a set of uniform and non-discriminatory rules that respects all of our citizens' right to vote."

In 2001, in the wake of the myriad problems that surfaced in Florida and around the nation in the presidential election, Sen. Dodd and Rep. Conyers jointly introduced election reform legislation that ultimately passed into law as the Help America Vote Act.

http://blog.dccc.org/mt/archives/002015.html

[dzika]

40. Stop Bitching, Start a Revolution - Right-Wing Inaugural Protest Video

I'm guessing this a right-wing site due to the following reviews:

Shown on Fox News Channel and praised by Rush Limbaugh, Brit Hume, Sean Hannity and other media powerhouses, the Brain Terminal videos have been seen and heard by millions on TV, radio and the Internet.

"This is from Evan Coyne Maloney, the brilliant young man who took his video camcorder out amongst the protesters in New York, and asked them questions, the answers to which served as profound embarrasment to themselves, whether they knew it or not. We played three soundbites from Evan's work, his work also showed up on Brit Hume's show on the Fox News Channel."
-Rush Limbaugh (on The Rush Limbaugh Show)

"Evan makes the best, most revealing mini-documentaries about the left. Period."
-Jonah Goldberg (National Review)

"Check out Evan Coyne Maloney's hilarious video..."
-James Taranto (The Wall Street Journal's "Best of the Web Today")

"Be sure you watch Evan Coyne Maloney's antiwar protest

[dzika]

41. AP wrote "Bush Wins" article on October7, 2004

(sorry if you have already seen this as it is quite old.)

Thursday, October 7, 2004

AP article reports that Bush has been elected President on Oct. 7

WBAY TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin is running an AP article reporting that Bush has won the election, weeks before the election is to take place.

"At this hour, President Bush has won re-election as president by a 47 percent to 43 percent margin in the popular vote nationwide. Ralph Nader has 1 percent of the vote nationwide. That's with 51 percent of the precincts reporting."


UPDATE: Satirista sez "AP is now saying the article was a "test article" (WTF?) that was "inadvertently" picked up by WBAY. Now, I've been a freelance writer/journalist for quite awhile, as have you, but I've never heard of writing "test articles" in advance, other than advance obituaries for celebrities. Have you? Furthermore, I Googled '"test article" journalism' and came up with nada."




source: http://www.boingboing.net/2004/10/07/tv_station_reports_t.html

[dzika]

43. Author of Palm Beach's infamous butterfly ballot writing a book

Published Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Author of Palm Beach's infamous butterfly ballot writing a book

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.


The county election supervisor who devised the infamous "butterfly ballot" that helped spur the 2000 presidential election meltdown is writing a book about her experiences.

Theresa LePore, who eventually was voted out of office because of the two-page presidential ballot, said Wednesday that the book is in the early stages, and doesn't yet have a title.

"There's definitely a book that's in the works," she said, declining to provide details. "As far as the dirt goes, you'll have to wait for the book."

LePore is working with Marty Rogol, a friend with national marketing experience.

He views a LePore book as a natural.
...

Her post was changed to nonpartisan in 2002 and Democrats who blamed her for President Bush's election voted her out of office last fall.



http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050126/APN/501261407

[dzika]

44. Bush makes first trip to Ohio since re-election

Posted on Thu, Jan. 27, 2005

Bush makes first trip to Ohio since re-election

JOE MILICIA


CLEVELAND - It's only logical that President Bush would travel to Ohio for the first trip of his second term.

After all, his 118,000-vote margin of victory in Ohio is the reason he's got four more years in the White House.

"It's probably not a coincidence that he chose Ohio for a prominent first stop after the inauguration," said Alexander Lamis, a political science professor at Case Western Reserve University. "The election turned on Ohio. Let's not forget it."

Bush's last trip to Ohio was on Election Day when he made a brief stop to thank supporters in Columbus. It was his seventh straight day in the hotly contested state and his 33rd visit to Ohio as president.
...

"There's a lot of talk that the president is going to use his campaign resources to campaign for his legislation," he said. "There's no better place to try that out than Ohio."

Green said Bush may tap into the same power structure that helped get him elected. This time, he would ask those leaders to use their political power to help him influence Congress.

"We know that this structure is good for getting votes. We don't know whether it's good for getting votes in Congress," Green said.


http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/10744567.htm

[dzika]

45. Hold recount on 'morality' vote

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Six news organizations — ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and the Associated Press — formed the National Election Pool and hired Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International to conduct exit polling. On Nov. 2, Edison-Mitofsky's national results incorrectly showed Sen. John Kerry leading President Bush 51 percent to 48 percent. Edison-Mitofsky also incorrectly found Sen. Kerry ahead in several swing states. In fact, as official results later showed, it was President Bush who had nearly 51 percent.

Making things much worse, someone or some ones leaked the results all over the Internet. To this day, some suspicious voters think the exit poll results prove that the Bush team stole the election by manipulating the official vote.

Why did Edison-Mitofsky get it wrong? According to the report, which Edison-Mitofsky wrote and is available at www.exit-poll.net, Kerry voters were more willing to complete the exit questionnaire. Why? Obviously they only can speculate. They didn't know beforehand they'd need to ask. And in any case, they couldn't have asked non-respondents why they didn't respond. Anyway, Kerry voters were overrepresented in the sample. Therefore, Sen. Kerry seemed to be ahead.

The report also says that the exit pollsters need to be better trained. And a programming error overstated the number of women likely to vote, which compounded the pro-Kerry error because women were more likely to be Kerry voters.

In a rather weaselly defense, Edison-Mitofsky says, "The system delivered on its main goals" because none of the news organizations in the pool used the flawed data to make "incorrect winner projections." Right. But lots of bloggers did. And staffers from both campaigns also took the leaked/incorrect data seriously. Edison-Mitofsky also blandly says that "the estimates produced by the exit poll data on Nov. 2 were not as accurate as we have produced with previous exit polls." A not-so-bland translation: These were the most inaccurate exit polling results ever.

Is the fact that Edison-Mitofsky was wrong about how many people voted for President Bush or Sen. Kerry a reason to doubt the exit poll's other results? Sure. But in general, there is reason to doubt some exit poll results regardless of how accurately that poll predicts the vote totals.
...

In any case, the Edison-Mitofsky poll's motivation question was poorly constructed, in that there is no way to separate "moral values" from many of the other categories. Fifteen percent of voters said Iraq was the most important issue, and 73 percent of those voted for Sen. Kerry. Many of those votes stemmed from the voters' moral values.

Exit polls that are squishy on the numbers and even more squishy on motivation don't give anybody standing to demand payback. Exit polls, themselves, should exit.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2005/01/27/a22a_versteegcol_0127.html