They are saying "breaking news"about problems w/absentee

[SoFlaJet]

ballots on my local TV station noontime news WPEC-also;Teresa Lepore is not answering her door and her husband called the cops on reporters
she didn't show up for work after her"stunning defeat"by Dr.Arthur Andersen.I don't know what the exact problem is maybe someone can help us out here.(Mods I hope this qualifies)I'll update as soon as it comes on

[Catherine Vincent]

1. Is this Dr. Andersen a Democrat?

[hang a left]

2. Yes.

[DFLforever]

12. Yes, a Democrat and one of the first among Dean's Dozen

[hang a left]

3. Please update us. Greg Palast wrote an article about her in the last

couple of days. I will go try to find it.

[SoFlaJet]

4. here's the station we have on-news just ended

http://www.wpecnews12.com/

[hang a left]

5. I found his report.

saywhat (1000+ posts) Sun Aug-29-04 07:58 PM
Original message
E-mail from Greg Palast: FL will be rigged again.

Edited on Sun Aug-29-04 08:02 PM by saywhat
Madame Butterfly Flies Off with Ballots
Florida Fixed Again? Absentee Ballots Go Absent
by Greg Palast

Sunday, August 29, 2004.

On Friday, Theresa LePore, Supervisor of Elections in Palm Beach, candidate for
re-election as Supervisor of Elections, chose to supervise her own election, no one
allowed. This Tuesday, Florida votes for these nominally non-partisan posts.

You remember Theresa, "Madame Butterfly," the one whose ballots brought in the big
vote for Pat Buchanan in the Jewish precincts in November 2000. Then she failed to
do the hand count that would have changed the White House from Blue to Red.

This time, Theresa's in a hurry to get to the counting. She began tallying absentee
ballots on Friday in her own re-election race. Not to worry: the law requires the
Supervisor of Elections in each county to certify poll-watchers to observe the
count.

But Theresa has a better idea. She refused to certify a single poll-watcher from
opponents' organizations despite the legal requirement she do so by last week.
She'll count her own votes herself, thank you very much!

And so far, she's doing quite well. Although 37,000 citizens have requested
absentee ballots, she says she'd only received 22,000 when she began the count.
Where are the others? Don't ask: though she posts the names of requesters, she
won't release the list of those who have voted, an eyebrow-raising deviation from
standard procedure.


And she has no intention of counting all the ballots received. She has reserved for
herself the right to determine which ballots have acceptable signatures. Her
opponent, Democrat Art Anderson, had asked Theresa to use certified hand-writing
experts, instead of her hand-picked hacks, to check the signatures.

Unfortunately, while Federal law requires Theresa to allow a voter to correct a
signature rejection when registering, the Feds don't require her to permit
challenges to absentee ballot rejections.

I know what you're thinking. How could Madame Butterfly know how people are voting?
Well, she's printed PARTY AFFILIATION on the OUTSIDE of each return envelope. That
certainly makes it easier to figure out which ballot is valid, don't it?

And dear Reader, please take note of the implications of this story for the big vote
in November. Millions have sought refuge in absentee ballots as a method to avoid
the dangers of the digitizing of democracy. Florida and other states are reporting
400%-plus increases in absentee ballot requests due to fear of the new computer
voting machinery. Some refuge. LePore is giving us an early taste of how the Bush
Leaguers intend to care for your absentee ballot.

If there's no safety in the absentee ballot, how about the computerized machines?
The LePores of America have that one figured out too.

On Friday, the day on which Theresa began her Kremlim-style vote count, the New York
Times ran a puff piece on Jeb's Palm Beach political pet. Cub reporter Amy
Goodnough derided fears of Democrats who painted "dark scenarios" about the computer
voting machines Madame Butterfly installed over the objections of the state's
official voting technology task force.

If you're wondering why the experts told her not to use the machines, I'll tell you
-- because the New York Times won't. It's not because the voting specialists are
anti-technology Luddites. The fact is that Florida counties using touch-screens
have reported a known error rate 600% greater than the alternative, paper ballots
read by optical scanners. And those errors have occurred -- surprise! --
overwhelmingly in African-American precincts.

First Brother Jeb has teamed with LePore to keep the vote clean and white.
Together they have refused the Democrats request for the more-reliable paper ballots
as an option for voters.

In Leon County, by contrast, Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho insisted on paper
ballots and did not lose a single vote to error in the March presidential primary.
Sancho told me it's a slam-dunk certainty that the computer screens will snatch away
several thousand Palm Beach votes.

Theresa and the Jebster have been quite close since LePore came out of the closet.
The Republican-turned-Democrat, nominally independent, this year accepted the sticky
embrace of the Republican Party. One really has to wonder if she ever truly left
the Blues in the first place.

It's a shame that Supervisor LePore was too busy counting her votes and rejecting
ballots to respond to my phone calls. I wanted to be the first to congratulate her
on her election victory -- two days before the election. Or maybe she fears I might
be the early birddog who catches the butterfly as she turns back into a worm.

**********
Greg Palast is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Best Democracy Money
Can Buy. His article on vote manipulation in Florida for Harper's Magazine, was
nominated for a 2002 National Magazine Award.

On September 28, Disinfo/Ryko will release on DVD his film, "Bush Family Fortunes,"
based on Palast's investigative reports for BBC Television -- described as
"courageous reporting." (Michael Moore) and "twisted and maniacal" (Katherine
Harris). View a 2-minute preview at http://www.gregpalast.com/bff-dvd.htm

Sign up for Greg Palast's elections investigation reports at
http://www.gregpalast.com/contact.cfm

[54anickel]

10. Huh, wonder if this explains the recorded phone message I got from

Shrub the other day reminding me to be sure and send in my application for an absentee ballot that I should be getting in the mail in the next couple of weeks.

I'm in WI :shrug:

Not sure why I'm getting calls from Repugs, somehow I got on their list. Got a call to pick up my free tickets to see the Shrub & Dick the other day too.

[goclark]

44. What the hell is happening with this?

Is there an update.

How can she count her own votes!!!

[Atman]

6. Hey, Liberalnproud...

That's my BushCo artwork. Glad you like it...I hope you're at least hosting it on your own server and not thieving my bandwidth! Credit would be nice! It IS copyrighted material, you know! ;-)

[hang a left]

7. Which one.

I don't know what you are talking about. I just learned how to post pictures and went searching for something original. Tell me what you would like me to do. I don't want to steal nothin'. :evilgrin:

[MGKrebs]

9. You are welcome to this one, Lib:

[in_cog_ni_to]

22. Can I steal a copy?

Pleeease??? :7

[spinbaby]

8. That's funny

Just this morning NPR was telling how swimmingly well Florida voting went yesterday.

[SoFlaJet]

11. Some problem ballots accepted

The county canvassing board spent more than six hours looking at hundreds of absentee ballots with potential problems.
Some ballots had a signature that didn't match the one filed at the election office, or the ballot wasn't filled out properly. The voter may have used an "X" or circled the candidate they wanted, instead of connecting the arrow.
So the canvassing board had to go through those ballots one by one to see if they could tell what the voter meant to do.
A disgruntled man filled out the ballot for his 90 year old blind mother and signed it. He was surprised to learn it will not count because she didn't sign it herself.
"I think it's lousy," Isaac Lawrence said. "I think it's lousy because I think they should be more concerned with including voters than excluding voters.
He made two trips to the elections office to assure them there was no fraud involved. Still, his mom's ballot was rejected.
The canvassing board says they accepted about 95 percent of the problem ballots.

[redqueen]

13. LMMFAO

Get ready, media whores... you're gonna be doing a lot of tap dancing over the next few months.

:evilgrin:

[0007]

14. Yeah, like tap dancing to "Alexandra ragtime band"

or a beat two or three times faster!

[Atman]

15. Liberalnproud, check your DU messages

You're e-mail is full. (Don't worry...all is cool! Thanks for writing!)

[barbaraann]

16. "Discrepancy forces re-count of 6,000 absentee ballots" PB Post!!!!!!!!

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/politics/primary/recount0901.html

...
County Judge Barry Cohen, a member of the county's canvassing board, said 37,839 votes from absentee ballots were counted in Tuesday's election — far more than the 31,095 that were actually sent in.

The 12-hour recount will delay certifying the results of elections until at least 11 a.m. Thursday.
...

[hang a left]

17. Do you think they might be looking for hanky panky on LePore's

part? Oh, silly me, I forgot it is Florida.


What is funny to me is it looks like the bitch tried to kink the election and she lost anyway. Hahahahahahahahaha

[barbaraann]

20. I have no idea! It is just bizarre.

But I agree with you that it doesn't look good for LePore.

[DeepModem Mom]

18. Is LePore stealing it back?

[dryan]

19. We had a very good election in Orange County....

the electricity went off and we even had a good election. That's why we had an emergency ballot box.

[barbaraann]

21. I am very, very worried that that could be happening.

I guess we will have to be on pins and needles until tomorrow.

Whatever happens, I think LePore reelection is crucial.

[barbaraann]

23. kick

What will happen with Hurricane Frances re: the recount?

[Joanne98]

24. Maybe this is why she loves e-voting........

VOTE Tabulator Security Hole Exposed
Slashdot - USA
Doc Ruby writes "Black Box Voting has exposed a security hole in Diebold
machines that tabulate votes collected from electronic voting machines.
...
<http://slashdot.org/articles/04/08/30/2322208.shtml?tid=172&tid=219&tid=1&tid=218>

Are own Bev Harris figured this out. this country owes her big time. Go Bev Go......

[Snazzy]

25. Palm Beach Post: Discrepancy forces re-count of 6,000 absentee ballots

Discrepancy forces re-count of 6,000 absentee ballots
By Jane Musgrave, Mary McLachlin

Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

A more than 6,000-vote discrepency in absentee ballots counted in Tuesday's election has forced Palm Beach County to re-count all of those votes.

County Judge Barry Cohen, a member of the county's canvassing board, said 37,839 votes from absentee ballots were counted in Tuesday's election — far more than the 31,095 that were actually sent in.

The 12-hour recount will delay certifying the results of elections until at least 11 a.m. Thursday.

....

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/news/politics/primary/recount0901.html


Edit: headline misleading. Sounds like they are recounting all the absentee.

[Snazzy]

26. F*ck!

AP: "Despite the loss, LePore will remain in office until Jan. 3 and will oversee the November election in the county."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/9547448.htm?1c

----

Maybe there's a move on to get her arrested or at least removed over the absentee fiasco. Hope so.

[hang a left]

37. You know I just thought of something.

Breaking out the foil for a sec. What if she doesn't want to be there after the 04 election for some reason. Things that make you go Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[LisaL]

38. Then, she wouldn't have run for re-election.

LOL.

[LisaL]

30. Miraculously appearing and disappearing absentee ballots.

Wow, that is strange.
6,000 more ballots than were actually cast?
I wonder if they all wanted to elect Theresa LePore?
LOL.

[Snazzy]

33. PBP: 300,000 urged to evacuate in Palm Beach County

300,000 urged to evacuate in Palm Beach County

Other evacuations:
Martin County | St. Lucie County | Okeechobee County

By Deana Poole
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 1

Up and down the eastern coast of Florida, county emergency officials braced for the worst from Hurricane Frances, ordering the mandatory evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents on barrier islands, near the coastline and in mobile homes.

A state of emergency was declared in Palm Beach County Wednesday afternoon, with county officials ordering the mandatory evacuation of about 300,000 residents living in mobile homes, east of U.S. 1, and along the edge of Lake Okeechobee.

The evacuation order is effective 2 p.m. Thursday. At the same time, hurricane shelters will be opened across the county.

....

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/news/epaper/2004/09/01/frances_main.html

Read somewhere else on the site that all non-emergency Gov. offices will be closed on Thursday.

So, of course, thanks to hurricane, this will turn into yet another recount fiasco. I'm close to offering odds those ballots will disappear or something will happen to the audit trail, etc. Meantime LePore can circle wagons--and she's still the boss through friggin' January.

[hang a left]

27. Did anyone see this?

snip>



In Miami-Dade County, all 559 polling places opened on time, but NAACP President Brad Brown said a problem had developed over party affiliation.

Some voters said they went to the polls and found themselves registered as Republicans, although they were Democrats or nonpartisan. Brown said the NAACP would request an investigation.

One such voter was Ignacio Correa, a native of Colombia, who said he has been a registered Democrat for the 26 years he's lived in the United States. When he went to cast his vote in west Miami, he said election officials handed him a Republican ballot.

When Correa complained, he said, he was told, "Go ahead and vote Republican." After 20 minutes, Correa filled out a provisional ballot and hopes it gets through.

"How can something like that happen in the United States?" Correa said. "I can see it happening in Cuba or the Congo, but not here."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_ne...

[DeepModem Mom]

28. "Go ahead and vote Republican" -- that's a new one --

[LisaL]

34. How many times

does this woman have to prove she is incompetent, or actually much worse that that?
One would think they would get rid of her after 2000, but no, she is still around to screw yet another election.
What a shame!

[spotbird]

29. Shoot, between the Dems she switched to Republican

and the absentee fakes it looks like she lost by a landslide.

She was probably the most surprised of all.

[hang a left]

31. That is how I hope it turns out.

But I was intrigued by this post today;

ParanoidPat (1000+ posts) Wed Sep-01-04 12:32 PM
Response to Reply #6

8. More likely scenerio.......


.......LePore was involved in the Absentee ballot count. All she had to do is,

1) ADD 6,000 votes for her opponent

2) Rig the Gems tabulator to keep the win by her opponent under the 6000 vote win margin

3) 'Discover' the discrepancy in the number of ballots after she 'lost' and then cry foul!

Now all anyone can do is to recount all of the Absentee ballots and 'discover' the fact that she really won by a razor thin margin.
That will trigger an automatic recount of all of the results.

All of the paper ballots will have already been recounted, the machines will, of course, spit out the same numbers they did the first time and she will be declared the winner, while at the same time making her opponent look like he tried to rig the election and proving, one and for all, that the machines performed flawlessly! (Unlike those damn, confusing paper ballots!)

F*ckin' brilliant!

Anyone want to place a bet?

[LisaL]

32. I don't think so

She had personally counted absentee ballots.
How do you think she can convince anyone her opponent was able to rig anything regarding absentee ballots? He was not allowed nowhere near them.
In fact, Theresa didn't even let an observer in to watch her counting the absentee ballots.
So, if there was any "rigging" going on, it's all on her.

[spotbird]

35. kick

[liberalcanuck]

36. Kick!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[qwertyMike]

39. kick - networks

[barbaraann]

40. 6,000 missing votes? The tally difference is 5,533!!!!!!!

I just did the math on the final tally of Anderson vs. LePore and the difference is very close to the number of votes supposedly missing.

Lordie. Will they steal this election?

[LisaL]

41. The votes are not missing.

There is 6,000 "extra" votes.
Basically, they counted 6,000 more absentee ballots than they actually received.

[barbaraann]

52. Or were they missing and then extra?

It's hard to keep track of the BFEE shenanigans.

[Nordic]

43. same thing happened in California with Arnold

Some 900,000 votes were "missing" and he won by about that same number.

Nobody ever followed up on this story.

Nobody. Ever.

[praeclarus]

42. Here is the Palast article....

http://www.gregpalast.com/

It is on the main page entitled: MADAME BUTTERFLY FLIES OFF WITH
BALLOTS FLORIDA FIXED AGAIN? ABSENTEE BALLOTS GO ABSENT

It came out on Monday with an update on Tuesday night.
She is the Supervisor of Elections.

"This time, Theresa's in a hurry to get to the counting. She began tallying absentee ballots on Friday in her own re-election race. Not to worry: the law requires the Supervisor of Elections in each county to certify poll-watchers to observe the count.

But Theresa has a better idea. She refused to certify a single poll-watcher from opponents' organizations despite the legal requirement she do so by last week. She'll count her own votes herself, thank you very much!"

[LisaL]

45. The ballots were missing before the election

But in the end, there were 6,000 extra ballots "counted", that don't exist.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/politics/primary/recount0901.html
She was missing the absentee ballots before the election, but they ended up with 6,000 to spare.
This woman is incompetent beyond belief.
So, as it stands now, 6,000 votes magically appeared.

[praeclarus]

46. right. incompetent.

She bungled stealing her own election.

[LisaL]

47. Sure looks like it.

They have come up with new numbers, but Anderson still ended up being ahead.
WTF is going on down there, this is scary and crazy.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/news/epaper/2004/09/02/m1a_elex_0902.html

[hang a left]

48. Jeezus.

I can't believe that these people just get away with this. Where are the cops when you need them?

[LisaL]

49. Well, looks like cops were keeping democrats away

from observing the re-count.
Thankfully, Anderson still came up on top.
It's a god awful mess, isn' it.
Whoever actually did vote for this woman to be election supervisor have got to be ashamed of themselves.
I mean, the woman can't even count absentee ballots for her own election, and ends up scanning them into the machine several times?

[spotbird]

53. Unbelievable.

These people ignore the law, over and over, yet there is no accountability.

She may have bungled stealing her own election, but we'll have to wait to find that out.

[Virginian]

50. On the news tonight I heard

LaPore loses election. Palm Beach County urged to evacuate...

Then they started talking about Hurricane Francis. Or is it Frances?

I know the two aren't connected, it was just a strange sequence of words.

[ParanoidPat]

51. "LaPore loses election. Palm Beach County urged to evacuate"...

LOL! :evilgrin: They claim it's over but until I see a wooden stake through her heart or a silver bullet or something I'll remain unconvinced.

It appears they wanted us focused on the Absentee ballots. I wonder what was going on with the machines? We need to take a close look at the returns vs. voters by party to see what trends show up.

[jdj]

55. That IS funny. LOL

thanks for lightening the mood.

[LiberalFighter]

54. Both parties should be represented.

Our voter registration office has Democrat and Republican appointed. Election Board has 1 appointed by both parties and 1 holds office by virtue of their elected position.


It should never be totally controlled by one party.