RESEARCHERS -- need some googling QUICK re Vote Fraud

And Happy Thanksgiving!!

First, if you haven't already, see one one of these threads and esp. the Online Journal link:

Technicians leak info about vote rigging
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=78323
or: Online Journal: Saudis, Enron money paid for US rigged election
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x78510
or: Saudis, Enron money helped pay for US rigged election
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2750322

Link: http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/112504Madsen/112504madsen.html

We all know about the OH "Homeland Security" lockdown that made MSM broadcast news -- what I need are as many of any other media accounts as can be found.

Here's the sentence from the Online Journal story I'm talking about:

"There have been media reports from around the country concerning the locking down of precincts while votes were being tallied. In one unprecedented action in Warren County, Ohio, election officials locked down the facility where votes were being counted. The officials said this was in response to a Level 10 high-threat terrorist warning being issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI for Warren County. George Bush won 72 percent of the vote in Warren County, much larger than his percentage of victory statewide."

Can you help? Thanks to any and all in advance. (And again, Happy Thanksgiving.)

have you seen this?

http://www.recountohio.org/nosurrender.html

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041206&s=corn2


"Stolen election proponents point to Warren County, Ohio, where Bush bagged a net gain of 41,000 votes and where local officials barred reporters from the counting room on election night, claiming the Feds had warned of a terrorist attack. But FBI and homeland security officials denied issuing any warning, and a Democratic Party observer, attorney Jeff Ruppert, told the Associated Press he had free access to the counting during the lockdown and saw "no problems whatsoever."

Thanks, but what I'm looking for is "other media reports" in other places. We all know about Warren Co.

Sorry I wasn't clear.

I just wonder if the media got anyone with creds or logos going in or out of the polling place, since the media was locked out, if anyone with creds was photographed they could be ID'd by the FBI, a journalist could do a FOIA to get the identity of anyone, if they were wearing anything that said "homeland security". If anyone was, and they can't be identified by the agency (they wouldn't be covert wearing a logo) then they should file FOIA's with the top three vm makers to see if it was actually an employee of theirs.

I just blew a whole in my tinfoil hat.

But I would love this, the more whisperings of fraud and tampering the better. I am going to post the articles about Gaston county in the NC forum.

and invited you to post those links here, but if you want, just post the link to the NC forum thread. Thanks. It's a little OT, but still interesting, esp. given the Diebold tech aspect.

in Snohomish County, Washington, in the primary election, we got reports of fake technicians showing up to take down machine serial numbers, who supposedly said to call them for repairs. We did a public records request for the notes taken by the poll workers.

There were such individuals, and we obtained their car license plate numbers and a couple cell phones for them through the records request. Andy called them. It appears that they were associated with the Democratic Party, and they say they clearly identified themselves.

That story is still a bit odd, and if we had more time, it would be good to interview the poll workers more, since I don't see why Dem party operatives were allowed to go take serial numbers of machines, or even touch machines at all.

But the point is, this should be discoverable in a records request. I have heard of one individual who has a list of the counties (this information is 2nd hand). If I can get that, we're in business and we'll get this story nailed down.

Bev

If so, could you pull it out (up to 4 paragraphs) and quote it here?

That's what I'm looking for: media reports of lockdowns or similar FBI/Homeland Security activity at polling places OTHER than in Warren County, Ohio.

Thanks.

to post with the link.

Like this:

Thursday, October 28, 2004

County Vote Tallying Closed to Observers By Vigil-Giron

By Barry Massey
The Associated Press
SANTA FE— No observers from the political parties or public will be allowed to watch the secretary of state's postelection checking of county vote tallies in preparation for the official state canvass.
The Secretary of State's Office "does not believe that this process constitutes a public meeting open to public attendance," Assistant Attorney General Zachary Shandler wrote in a letter on behalf of Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron.
"It is not a meeting of a quorum of members of a board, commission or other public-making body. It is simply staff members doing their assigned duties. Therefore, an observer does not have the right to oversee this process."
A Republican Party lawyer, Pat Rogers, criticized the secretary of state's decision to "make the count behind secret closed doors."

-- more --

http://www.abqjournal.com/elex/249895elex10-28-04.htm


That way, you have a synopsis AND the link you can check for more info if needed.

Thanks!

to oversee THEIR voting processes. I think it's germane. Thanks.!

Betcha we look across the country and we will find many boards saying that, but the presence of a quorum to conduct business within the jurisdiction of the body makes the open meeting laws apply.

Hearing this makes my blood boil.

For anyone interested in open meeting laws google the words "first amendment coalition," or if you want to start with California First Amendment Coalition fo to cfac.org .

Argh!

- G

~snip~
SANTA FE— No observers from the political parties or public will be allowed to watch the secretary of state's postelection checking of county vote tallies in preparation for the official state canvass.
The Secretary of State's Office "does not believe that this process constitutes a public meeting open to public attendance," Assistant Attorney General Zachary Shandler wrote in a letter on behalf of Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron.
"It is not a meeting of a quorum of members of a board, commission or other public-making body. It is simply staff members doing their assigned duties. Therefore, an observer does not have the right to oversee this process."
A Republican Party lawyer, Pat Rogers, criticized the secretary of state's decision to "make the count behind secret closed doors."

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Pueblo Gov. Shuts Down Polls for All Souls Day

By Joshua Akers
Journal Staff Writer
Voters at Santo Domingo Pueblo were lining up late into the evening Tuesday after its governor kept the polls closed most of the day.
Gov. Sisto Quintana closed the polls, and the pueblo, 30 minutes after the polls opened Tuesday morning.
Quintana told Sandoval County officials and three election observers from the U.S. Department of Justice that the polls and pueblo would not be open while the tribe observed All Souls Day.
The polls were reopened about 5 p.m. and the line was growing longer by the minute, said Sandoval County Attorney David Mathews.
Election observers from the Department of Justice were en route to the pueblo around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
A telephone message left at the pueblo's administrative offices was not returned.
There are 748 registered voters living at Santo Domingo. The majority, about 72 percent, are registered Democrats.
Mathews said that earlier this year he had advised the Department of Justice that turnout at the pueblo could be low this year.
The Department of Justice oversees a consent decree in Sandoval County. That agreement, intended to protect American Indian voters in the county, requires the county to provide translators to the tribes.
Mathews, who administers the consent decree for the county, said Quintana had been encouraging pueblo residents not to vote in this year's election.
"He (Quintana) has his own personal reasons," Mathews said. "Those reasons don't relate to the county. They relate to his own personal attitude about voting and elections."
There are 15 non-American Indian voters in the precinct that includes Santo Domingo.
Mathews said the Department of Justice and the County Clerk's Office informed those voters they could vote with a provisional ballot in Peña Blanca.
An attorney for the Department of Justice, Richard Dellheim, directed all questions to the department's press office in Washington, D.C. That office requested all questions via e-mail because of the high volume of queries concerning voting issues Tuesday.
Copyright 2004 Albuquerque Journal


http://abqjournal.com/north/252563north_news11-03-04.htm

http://vote2004.eriposte.com/ right now (so no one else needs to search that site)

Edit: Nothing leaped out at me there... and I've gotta run... will look more later if no one else can take it up.

You might also check out VotersUnite.org (I think it is).

And just a reminder to everyone I'm looking for MEDIA reports -- these might go all the way back to Nov.2 (possibly even earlier, tho maybe not).

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2004/10/28/c1a_skterror_1028.html

Schools locking doors Election Day
By Cynthia Kopkowski <mailto:cynthia_kopkowski@pbpost.com>
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2004
The 73 Palm Beach County schools used as polling places will be in a security lockdown on Election Day because of fears that terrorists or anyone else seeking to disrupt the presidential election could target the buildings.
The district has not received any threats specific to Palm Beach County schools, Superintendent Art Johnson said. But he and schools Police Chief Jim Kelly believe the district must be concerned about schools being "soft targets" for terrorism.

Bingo Indeed!.... :wow:

in terrorism exercises on election day:

61a) At least three states involved in terrorism lockdown:
http://blogspot.mg.co.za/?q=node/101

Its 'BOOM' time now..we're in the time period where a number of things are quite possible. The next 48 hours are going to be real interesting. Let me list them (mmm, lists GOOD mmm) :
1. The Bush neocons manufacture/allow a fake terror attack in order to
a) cancel elections and institute martial law..
b) delay or disrupt voting in certain key swing states
proof of this possibility?
http://www.legitgov.org/essay_kane_fema_terror_drill_102904.html
"At least three states have WMD/Terrorism Incident drills scheduled for Tuesday, November 2, 2004 – Election Day. As of May 8, 2001, Dick Cheney was placed in charge of managing all domestic preparedness related to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
It is likely that Cheney will be managing all of the Election Day WMD/Terrorism Incident drills across the country. The presidential statement, which gave Cheney this power, also created the Office of National Preparedness. FEMA’s website makes the national announcement, but omits any dates, saying only that this is a “training course” that takes place over three 8-hour days. The course is headed by the Office of Domestic Preparedness. http://www.fema.gov/compendium/course_detail.jsp?id=353
Arizona is running a WMD/Terrorism Incident exercise on Election Day.
http://inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=868
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20041012-032905-2028r.htm
(CERT – Citizen Emergency Response Team – will be holding a “disaster simulation” nationwide on Election Day, November 2, 2004.
http://www.prisonplanet.tv/articles/october2004/041004daystilldisaster.htm
The D.C. Emergency Management Agency has a Public Works WMD/Terrorism Incident
training scheduled for November 2, 2004. The location is listed as, “To Be
Determined.” http://dcema.dc.gov/dcema/cwp/view,a,1225,q,586022.asp
Senator Dayton recently announced he was closing his DC office due to intelligence reports of possible terrorism in DC He stated he would not advise anyone to go to the Capitol between now and the election. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6243845/
'
Wayne Madsen has laid out a scenario in which California could be “flipped” in the election to go to Bush. The WMD/Terrorism Incident Drills seem to eerily fit right into Madsen’s prediction: "...The Bush team will begin to implement their plan to announce an imminent terrorist alert for the West Coast for November 2 sometime during the mid afternoon Pacific Standard Time. At 2:00 PST, the polls in Kentucky and Indiana will be one hour from closing (5:00 PM EST – the polls close in Indiana and Kentucky at 6:00 PM EST). Exit polls in both states will be known to the Bush people by that time and if Kentucky (not likely Indiana) looks too close to call or leaning to Kerry-Edwards, the California plan will be implemented. A Bush problem in Kentucky at 6:00 PM EST would mean that problems could be expected in neighboring states and that plans to declare a state of emergency in California would begin in earnest at 3:00 PM PST."
http://www.legitgov.org/essay_madsen_terrorism_and_california_071404.html
2. Given the clear and obvious ability to use the computerized voting system to manufacture whatever results a reasonably good hacker desires, and as Bev Harris of blackboxvoting.org has repeatedly demonstrated, there's a huge vulnerability that exists in Diebold's software - which, based on the lack of mass media attention, its likely to be part of the 'Win Bush The Election' strategy, if necessary. ie: if the exit polls, which abruptly ARENT being broadcast and used as much as they once were, indicate that the election isnt going Bush's way.. BOOOOM!
3. Nothing much happens in the next 48 hours, and a 'smooth election' occurs. If Bush wins peacefully, (which is possible, given the ferocity of the neocons
propaganda machine) then we might see the slow start of a US civil war begin to appear - depending on how much evidence is able to emerge showing voter-fraud, if that's the route the neocons take. The electorate coped with last election and Florida - now the polarization is too extreme to allow the same apathy to prevail..So increasingly vocal protest, and equal repression - bypassing posse comitatus eventually, is likely to begin to break out.
At this point, if 'terrorists' havent been used yet, this will be the time when the neocons may well sacrifice a city, and stage a WMD incident, in order to lock down the US 'justifiably' - while blaming the Enemy.
On the other hand, while not knowing what the agenda is behind these two candidates who are both part of the secret society of Skull and Bones, if Kerry wins - this on the surface would appear to be against the military-industrial-complex's plans and profit-making, so my gut feel is - if Kerry wins, there'll be a good chance for either an assasination - or a suitably sordid 'incident' to appear, to smear Kerry's reputation. The idea of just accepting a loss of trillions of dollars versus the removal of the person causing the loss, is a no brainer to a Corporate/Intelligence entity.
Look how fast JFK was killed shortly after both publically stating he was going to smash the CIA into a thousand pieces, had fired Dulles (head of CIA), began sniffing around the Federal reserve, and also signed an executive order authorizing the withdrawal of troops from Indochina (Vietnam). Wayy too much profit was being threatened, so bye bye JFK..
It also didnt help that he was horrified at the joint chiefs of staff's plan
(operation northwoods) to kill US citizens in sniper attacks and bombings, hijack planes, and more - in order to provoke a war with Cuba..
Its kinda funny, watching newsreel footage and films from the late fifties and early sixties - there's a level of naivety and 'trust' in authority, in the public. People on the whole believed that their government wouldnt lie, wouldnt murder them. Yet thanks to declassified documents, we can see that behind the scenes, there's a level of murderous cynicism at play, that even today, is not believed by the public, when one talks about the willingness of a Government to kill its own people..
Everyone back in 61/62 signed off on the plan to fake and kill their own citizens, sniper attacks, bombings, fake an airliner hijacking and crash it.. everyone at the white house, all the way up through the joint military chief of staffs were keen, willing and ready to do a range of murders which - in the documents own words would cause and provoke 'a healthy wave of indignation'.. everyone except JFK, to his credit. Six months or so later, he was dead.
And that was probably the last time any kind of real democracy existed in America.
(Bill Hicks springs to mind here "People say why do you always talk about the JFK killing? Let it go Bill, let it go. Its so OLD"
'And I always say 'well okay, just dont bring up Jesus to me then - seeing as we're talking shelf-life here'

Apparently this page has been moved.

I'm not finding much on lockdowns, but it looks like they didn't need to

Private Company Still ‘Controls’ Election Outcome
American Free Press | Nov 7 2004

CHICAGO, Illinois—The morning after Election Day, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and the vice presidential candidate John Edwards promised the nation that the Democrats would make sure that every vote counts....

(farther down in article)

MORE NAUSEOUS
Although I was ill on Election Day, I knew I had to go to the county clerk’s office to observe “counting” of the vote. It is, after all, the only “counting” open to the public. What I saw in Chicago, however, only made me more nauseous.

The only “vote count” the press or public can observe in Chicago is what is projected on screens.

The opening screen read: ES&S Automatic Election Returns, Release 35, Under License to the City of Chicago, Serial No. 0004, Copyright 1987.
Carl Zimmerman, technical supervisor for the clerk’s office, said that the computer that ran the system was in the back—“in the ES&S room,” he said.

see http://www.infowars.net/Pages/Nov_04/071104_private.html

down to do their dirty work.

But he specifically says there are media reports about lockdowns around the country. I just wonder if there are, and where they are.

"In Gaston, the state also will investigate whether a technician employed by a private company did work on Election Day that should have been done by elections officials.

The Gaston Board of Elections paid for the presence of a technician from Diebold Election Systems, which manufactures the county's voting machines.

Gaston Elections Director Sandra Page has told the Observer that the employee loaded the county's early votes onto a computer and otherwise assisted in the vote-counting process, a job reserved for elections officials.

"We don't want that technician to do anything that is the responsibility of an election official," Bartlett said. "If you have some technician doing that, there better be some election official right beside them."
'
edit: because of the 4 paragraph limit I can't past the part where Sandra Page, the director, admits she didn't watch the Diebold tech the whole time. It's the next paragraph at the link.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/10220215.htm


Gaston County is north of Mecklinburg, lots of people who work in Charlotte live there. Bowles STOMPED Burr by 15% in Charlotte in the senate race, yet Burr took the state. David Dill has said their is major fraud in NC that NC is worst in the nation. And our election director is Gary Bartlett, part of the "fraudulent Five" that run "The Election Center", DRE and op. scan pushers on the dole from Diebold,ES&S, and Sequoia. (see disinfopedia about this, if you click on the footnotes it'll bring up original docs, or Bev's book, chapter 6.)

Another battleground state with a lockdown. You want to bet this was a dem dominant zone.

61b) Aztec schools lockdown on election day:
http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=14630&cat=EDUCATION
AZTEC, N.M. (AP) - Aztec school will lock the doors in its schools as a precaution against terrorism through Tuesday’s general election.
Aztec Superintendent Linda Paul says the district has not received any threats.
She says she put schools on heightened alert as a precaution.
Paul says classroom doors and exits to school buildings will be locked to monitor movement on campuses.
She says, however, schools will not be in a lockdown, and that the front doors of each building will remain open.
Visitors to schools at any time are requested to get a visitor’s pass from the office.

Was this all about conditioning people to accept interruptions and lockdowns during the elections.

61c) Fox News on school lockdowns due to terrorism:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,131524,00.html
NEW YORK — Although three years have passed since the Sept. 11 terror attacks (search <http://search.foxnews.com/info.foxnws/redirs_all.htm?pgtarg=wbsdogpile&qcat=web&qkw=Sept.%2011%20terror%20attacks>), children are returning to schools this fall that still are not adequately prepared for terrorist incidents or other types of emergencies, according to security and educational experts.
"Unfortunately, really, across the board, we are complacent," said Juval Aviv, president and CEO of Interfor Inc., an international corporate intelligence and investigations firm. "Not enough has been done in education to educate those who are responsible for the safety of kids going back to school.
"One has to understand that the world has changed — it's a new ballgame," Aviv said. "Just because nothing has happened between 9/11 and today, doesn't mean that it won't happen again. We need to look at everything, and what is more dear to us than our own kids and our own families?"
For the past few years, money and effort have been poured into fortifying the nation's critical infrastructures — bridges, tunnels, waterways and computer networks — to safeguard them against terror attacks. But security experts say the nation's schools need even more attention because they hold the most precious cargo.
The horror that followed the deaths of scores of children in last week's terrorist attack on a school in Russia has drawn focus on the vulnerability of schools throughout this country.

:kick:

any more -- including either closed to the public counting or media reports of lockdowns or FBI/Homeland Security involvement?

Really appreciate everyone's efforts.

:toast:

believe in liberty and justice for all?

http://www.votefraud.org/how_a_private_company_counts_our_votes.htm

Not a complete lockout, but kinda:
" The only “vote count” the press or public can observe in Chicago is what is projected on screens. The opening screen read: ES&S Automatic Election Returns, Release 35, Under License to the City of Chicago, Serial No. 0004, Copyright 1987.

Carl Zimmerman, technical supervisor for the clerk’s office, said that the computer that ran the system was in the back, “in the ES&S room,” he said."

"In the press room in the back I noticed stacks of boxes containing “Votamatic” voting machines and “pre-punched” ballots printed by ES&S of Addison, Texas, for the different precincts in Cook County. In the rear hallway behind the press room was the ES&S room. Only ES&S personnel were allowed into the room."



Also AP reporters hooked up their computers to the ES&S computer:

"Although I had arrived just shortly before the polls closed at 7 p.m., I was the only member of the public or the press around except for a couple Associated Press (AP) reporters in the far corner of the room. They were busy setting up their laptop to the ES&S computer in the backroom, which provided them with “direct feed” of the results"

"Clearly the subject of AP having direct data feed from the mainframe computer was something Burnham did not want me to discuss."

"Dane Placko, a local reporter for the Fox News network, told AFP that, “Fox gets direct feed.” "

Related to the onlinejournal article premise in that ES&S technicians did try to exclude media (they did not succeed because lawyers were present:

http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_3320070,00.html
(need to register)

Relevant passage:

"Vowels said he also was alarmed on Election Day when an Election Systems & Software executive declared news media representatives were "not allowed to be in the tabulation room ... When he said that to me about keeping the media out, all my red flags went up."

Reporters who wanted to be in the room were allowed to stay in, but Vowels said that was only because the attorneys present protested."

http://www.abqjournal.com/elex/256107elex11-09-04.htm?lrail

Relevant passage:

"Robles' ruling came in response to a temporary restraining order filed Friday by the local Republican Party. Republican watchers were removed for three hours from the county Bureau of Elections last Thursday after complaints they disrupted election workers who were sorting provisional ballots into two piles— those with names on registered voter rolls and those not named on the rolls.
By late Thursday afternoon, partisan watchers were allowed to resume observing workers as they processed the county's provisional ballots. Democratic and Republican officials also observed the audit of the county's election day, early and absentee ballots Saturday and Sunday, with a State Police officer present."

"election lockdown" and didn't find much:

Dem congressman alludes to Justice and Home Security measures slowing voting in FL, OH, and NV

http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/benson112204.html

“Larson (John Larson, D-Conn., the ranking minority member of The House Administration Committee, which produced the Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA)), who called for new hearings even before the election, said he saw trouble coming in voter registration procedures, identification requirements and purging of voter rolls. He said election officials in Florida, Ohio and Nevada should be called to testify, as well as federal officials from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security -- the latter because terrorism-related security measures may have slowed the vote in some jurisdictions.”



Palm Beach school polling sites on “lockdown”

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/11/10/loc_warrenvote10.html


New York City prepares for terrorist activities at polls

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/246182p-210905c.html

http://belfast.villagesoup.com/Government/Story.cfm?StoryID=28069

"The incident occurred in the wee morning hours of Nov. 3, when Mayor Mike Hurley went to the Ward 5 polling place in the United Methodist Church on Mill Lane and found the door locked. "A polling place door should never be locked," Fogg said, "ever."

Hurley told VillageSoup he could see election warden Linda Baker and election clerk Cindee Keene through an open window working on the machine that counts ballots. Baker's husband, Lewis, was a candidate for City Council on the city ballot, and Keene's husband, Dana, was the organizer of the big-box referendum that voters passed. Lewis Baker was the spokesman for the referendum effort. Two other election workers, Joyce Richards and Kathy Holland, were also present............

Though it is a violation to have a locked door at a polling place, "nobody was aggrieved for voting. No one was kept out. , the window was open so he could see what was going on."

state's laws this year, doesn't it?

Thanks!! Excellent work.

This isn't much, because it doesn't give any detail, just repeats the claim that there was more than one instance, so he may know more:

"ES&S totally managed every aspect of the 2004 election including
<...> tabulation of votes (often with armed guards keeping the media and members of the public who wished to witness the count at bay.)"

Note: I searched on the title "Fla. State Elections Office Evacuated" and found many sites but lots of moved or closed links. Several still had it posted though:

Fla. State Elections Office Evacuated

Monday November 1, 2004 4:16 PM

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A suspicious package was reported Monday in the building that houses Florida's Division of Elections, and employees were kept out while the building was searched.

Many employees of the division are housed in other buildings and the evacuation wouldn't affect Tuesday's election, said Alia Faraj, a spokeswoman for the Department of State, which oversees the elections agency in the state that was ground zero for the disputed 2000 race.

Firefighters and police were called to the building at about 6:30 a.m. when a security guard in the building reported the package, said police spokesman John Newland.

A police hazardous device team was still in the building at midmorning and there was no word on whether anything had been found, he said.

Newland said there weren't many employees in the building at the time of the call and people arriving for work were not admitted. They remained out of the building while investigators were inside.

http://www.politics.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4588574,00.html

It was all over the news down here, the day before the election. I thought it was the first sign of bullshit and foul play when I heard it.

No links provided here but info re machines taken away by a single individual.


Report from St. Petersburg, Florida, Nov. 1, 2004: So I was listening to these two poll watchers talk - the woman seemed extremely cynical, but it was hard to tell whether she was Dem or GOP. She was telling her newly arrived table companion about what happens to the voting machines when the polls close at the early voting sites. Apparently they close the things up and then someone puts them in their car and drives them to Clearwater, which is a good 45 minutes away. Presumably this is to plug it into whatever it is that transmits the votes to Tallahassee, but from what she was saying, for 45 minutes, those machines are in the possession of a single person, with no one watching to make sure that the machines aren't tampered with en route. --Carol Schiffler, St. Petersburg, FL

County prepares for possible polling emergencies

Kyle Morgan
Voters take to the polls at at the Utah County Elections office.By Marcie Jessee
Daily Universe Staff Reporter
2 Nov 2004

Utah County has extra emergency preparedness plans in place to ward off problems that could occur at approximately 125 polling locations on election night.

The Utah state Elections Office has notified all of the county clerks' of possible emergencies that would call for law enforcement or polling site evacuations.

"As far as emergency situations, we have put in some back-up polling locations in case a location needed to be shut down in case of an emergency," Jackson said. "We've talked to various judges and told them if there are any security issues that come to them that they are to immediately call 911."


http://newsnet.byu.edu/print/story.cfm/53322

Safety concerns drive Blackford to move polling locations
By: Derek Tucker
Staff Reporter

PDF: Letter sent by Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita to county commissioners about planning for the unexpected this election. (Indiana Secretary of State)

State urges planning to face terror threat at polling places
RELATED SITES
Indiana Secretary of State

HARTFORD CITY, Ind. (NLI) - With two weeks left until the November 2 general election Blackford County has decided to move two of its polling places after a warning from the state about election planning.

http://www.newslinkindiana.com/election2004/00000004440.html

• Blackford County Commissioner Bob O'Rourke said the county is working hard to publicize the voting precint changes. (NLI/Gerry Fernandez)

http://www.abqjournal.com/yesterday/10-28-2004homeAM.HTML

SANTA FE— No observers from the political parties or public will be allowed to watch the secretary of state's postelection checking of county vote tallies in preparation for the official state canvass

kick

http://www.news4jax.com/politics/3886074/detail.html

Elsewhere, a polling place in a Mount Laurel school closed for two hours when officials found a substance on the floor that later was discovered to be salt.

Link: http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=2512646

:kick:

In Minnesota, officials at the state's Division of Homeland Security are worried about another kind of election threat. The agency recently issued a flier telling poll workers how to spot a "homicide bomber" in the line. Among the things to look for: "Unusual shapes or bulges protruding from a person's mid-section" and "May be seen praying fervently to himself/herself, giving the appearance of whispering to someone."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6215295/site/newsweek/

I had some that I sent Keith earlier, that I'm trying to find. Not lockdowns, but one place was closed for a bit investigating salt on the floor, another was closed and moved because of a bomb threat.

A few weeks ago, the National Governors Association, National Association of Secretaries of State and other groups circulated a letter to states, counties and cities urging officials to plan ahead for the possibility of a terror attack on Election Day

Given the limited federal role, there are no plans to station FBI agents or other U.S. law enforcement personnel at or near any polling places, officials said. Homeland Security spokeswoman Katy Mynster said the federal government regularly shares intelligence about the potential threat with state and local officials responsible for voter safety.

Many election officials say they are doing little different this year, given the vague nature of the terror threat. Some say the al-Qaida threat is just the latest in a long line of potential election problems that require advance planning.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-10/22/content_384718.htm

In the same article, it says:

Some officials are increasing police patrols and assigning plainclothes officers to monitor voting sites on Election Day. Others are taking steps to secure ballot boxes, set up emergency communications systems and locate backup polling places in the event of an attack.

As I've been combing through these, reading all of them, it seemed real obvious to me that "the word" had gone out to school systems (at least). Now we know, thanks to ChinaDaily ( :wtf: ).

Really good find.

Due to Homeland Security concerns, Dickson County schools will close on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2.
The county has 18 voting precincts, which include three public schools, Stuart Burns Elementary School, Dickson Middle School and William James Middle School.

http://www.dicksonherald.com/news/stories/20041015/electionday.shtml


While Chris Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, has heard some chatter about polling place security concerns in larger counties such as Cuyahoga with hundreds of thousands of registered voters, Ross County is the first one to take steps to address the concerns.

"There are several reasons why some county boards of elections feel a tighter security presence will be needed this year," Link said.

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/news/stories/20041024/localnews/1471263.html

Soaries also said he wants to know what federal officials are doing to increase security on Election Day. He said security officials must take care not to allow heightened security measures to intimidate minority voters, but that local and state election officials he's talked to have not been told what measures to expect.

``There's got to be communication,'' he said, ``between law enforcement and election officials in preparation for November.''


"The people with the power are not the voters, but the people who count the votes." Joseph Stalin
http://forums.techguy.org/archive/index.php/t-245111.html

I e-mailed Madsen last night to ask him to share his 'reports from around the country' about lockdowns and he sent the following (but I am not sure that it was what you were looking for because his references sound more like appropriate security measures and/or glitches).

System weighs 14 pounds and will be transported to polling place by inspector at which time it will be zeroed out and the polls will be opened. At 8 p.m., the polls will be closed and the touch screens will be transported to Merced and placed in an individual lock down facility which is password protected and records when each device is moved. Opening and closing of each unit is done by internal and external serial number. Software security will be accomplished by logic and accuracy testing of each unit and is open to the public for review.
http://web.co.merced.ca.us/elections/touchvote.html

For seven days, a paperless voting machine sat mute. It refused to tell Collin County elections officials and observers what votes it had recorded at Rose Mary Haggar Elementary School on Campbell Road. from a report in the Dallas Morning News <http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/opinion/stories/111204dnccocollinvote.9eeb3.html>

The touch-screen machine locked up during voting Nov. 2 and was taken out of service. Election night, despite coaxing from technicians, the machine would not divulge results from 63 voters.
http://vote2004.eriposte.com/redstates/texas.htm#TEXAS

Ms. Iachetta is inviting any members of the media interested in the eSlate’s security procedures to attend the “lockdown” and machine certification process on Friday, February 6th at 2 p.m. in the Basement Conference Room of City Hall. At this time the Electoral Board along with the Registrar will perform the Logics and Accuracy test and lock down all the machines before they are sent to the precincts for Tuesday’s election.
http://www.charlottesville.org/content/files/3182DFBE-51DE-4E17-98C4-697C97B2946F.htm

There's some terrific finds in this thread. It's going to be an interesting (and rather persuasive) document, I think.

Thank you all so much! :bounce:

SC - Florence
Earlier in the day, minor problems of a technical nature were addressed promptly at North Vista Elementary, where poll watchers also kept a close eye on activities.

There was a delay in one of the new voting machines, but before I could even call to report it, someone was out here to fix the problem, said Alliree Davis, a poll watcher with the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People. Everyone’s been expecting the worst today, but it’s all been smooth except for that one minor problem.

http://www.morningnewsonline.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=FMN%2FMGArticle%2FFMN_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031778918940&path=


FL - Palm Beach County
Eighty-four schools in Palm Beach County will become polling sites today. The Palm Beach County School District will place schools that are polling sites on lockdown or code yellow meaning classroom doors must be locked during school hours, while voters cast their ballots in the designated areas.
http://www.bocanews.com/index.php?src=news&category=Local%20News&prid=10045

Shrub swung thru Dallas the night before the election...to tie up loose ends, George?? Had his "rally" at SMU around 11 pm or midnight. Kinda odd for a guy who reportedly is in bed by 8 or 9pm.
And SMU is in the Highland Park part of town..where $29 mil is pocket change. There was chatter on some of the blogs that night with people wondering out loud why he felt a need to stop by Dallas instead of going straight to his ranch.

Diebold Election Systems office is based here, also...in McKinney, TX, north of Dallas. They build the AccuVote machines, both optical scan and touch-screens. This is the same county that sent one of their voting machines TO CANADA a week after the election because the machine locked up and no one here could get the vote results out of the machine. So they sent the machine or part of it to Canada where supposedly Diebold technicians worked on it and got the "results" out of the machine. There was a scathing editorial in the Dallas Morning News saying that there was NO excuse for having to send the county's vote results OUT of the COUNTRY. Kinda odd to send it off if their office is based here in Collin County??!!?

Sorry the link is the cache version about the company...the real page is GONE!

http://tinyurl.com/4l26l


Yet the reforms that followed the 2000 election have been good business for Diebold Election Systems, a company based in McKinney. Diebold sells touch-screen voting equipment, the technology designed to assure voter intent.

The machines also assist individuals with disabilities or voters who speak languages other than English. Diebold’s products, which are similar to ATMs, can be found from California to Maryland

n/t

YOU ROCK! I'll be following your lead through the next several weeks. Much love to you and yours and lots of peace.

S

NEW STRATEGIZING THREAD FOR US TO COORDINATE ALL THIS WORK

For those of us who want to help connect the dots in Madsen's hypotheses there is a new strategizing thread located below to follow up on all the good work that Eloriel and so many others are doing:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=201&topic_id=5684

The usual players -- Denise Lamb, Donetta Davidson, the regular pro-touchscreen anti-auditing hate-transparency suspects. What caught my eye is that they've been so involved in pumping up the story about terrorism, homeland security, and the election.

They also were sharing a bunch of "talking points" amongst themselves about homeland security and the election.

The most surprising communication, though, was one in which they discussed how to do an end run around EAC Chairman De Soaries' decision that no event could justify postponing or cancelling an election. As you may recall, he at first was exploring ways to cancel the election due to terrorism. Black Box Voting took an immediate, strong stance against this bad idea.

Later, De Soaries changed his tune and said there is NO WAY elections should be postponed or cancelled for any reason. In response to that change of mind, these NASED and NASS voting system people wrote a memo and circulated it among themselves, talking about how to find ways around a decision not to cancel elections. Kinda spooky, really -- what the hell do these people have to do with homeland security, and shouldn't they be working on PROTECTING elections instead?

I began to wonder why these people -- the same ones who certified both VoteHere and GEMS despite the report saying, plain as day, that tamperability and security was NOT TESTED -- well, why were they so all-fired interested in whipping up a frenzy about "terrorism" and elections?

Also in these materials was their press relase, and they were circulating an AP story about elections and terrorism.

I'm sorry not to get these documents posted just yet. Got them in a 3,500-page FOIA which had many new leads to follow.

I'm somewhat exhausted and have to hop on a plane again in a few hours.

This is an intriguing story, isn't it?

Bev Harris
Executive Director
Black Box Voting
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

Also lots of us at BBV would be happy to help more if we can.

I just got back on line to see this thread and I am thrilled that this is being uncovered.

It's up to us to get our democracy back.

Thanks to ALL who are working on this!

Big KICK!

This is appearently from a different blog (I don't know which one -- I asked Madsen which one):
"I live in Cincinnati, in Hamilton County, which is adjacent to Warren County, where the election night "lockdown" took place. A few weeks before the election, our county sherrif, Si Leis, and the Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher sent out letters to local businesses warning of a possible "terrorist threat" that might involve the elections. They claim they were warned by Homeland Security. This was a front page article in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Homeland Security said they had issued no such warning to them and if an official warning were in order, Homeland Security would issue it, not the county sherrif or police chief. I find it odd that two counties in Southwest Ohio claimed they received warnings of "terrorist threats" that Homeland Security denied issuing."

In my heart I don't believe we've covered all the stories.

"Lockdown" is probably not the best word to use in a google search -- I'm interested in polling places such as schools that took ANY precautions relative to the so-called terror threat as well as any local jurisdictions (cities, counties, or even states) where law enforcement or other groups (even the Gov's office or SoS's) may have been talking about it.

ALSO interested in any other "closed door, press and public not invited" vote counting.

Thanks to everyone for your contributions. I think we've uncovered something interesting (and certainly to me unexpected) here, in 2 separate parts.

Wednesday, October 6, 2004
What's going on
COMPILED FROM ENQUIRER STAFF REPORTS

ALERT PUZZLES FEDS
Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis issued a warning last week urging vigilance against possible terrorism, but FBI and homeland security officials said there was no intelligence about a new threat.

Leis e-mailed a letter to thousands of schools, businesses and shopping malls, warning them to be on guard. He said he sent the alert because of new information about a possible terror attack in the Midwest before the Nov. 2 election.

FBI and homeland security officials said they were not consulted before Leis sent the letter and emphasized that terror alerts should be handled by the federal offices.

Despite the confusion over the letter, Jim Turgal, supervisor of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Cincinnati, said local and federal authorities have a good relationship and would continue to share information and work closely on terror-related issues.

(edited to replace broken link with text excerpt)

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13377692&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532241&rfi=6


Excerpts:

"There was a total lack of security regarding both these boxes and it was so noted on the document arriving with the boxes."

"The lack of security for ballot boxes has also been recorded. They were not in a locked and secured area, but stacked around the county clerk's office, some in the public waiting area. Only one visible box had a piece of paper taped over the slot on top.

Concerned citizens mentioned the boxes in the waiting area on Friday, after looking through the glass on one of the doors that leads into the hallway. Despite the boxes being clearly marked, county clerk office staff quickly informed them the boxes they saw were not ballot boxes at all, but storage containers. Office staff then closed the blinds on the two windows into the hallway."

Hmm this is an interesting expansion

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x88033>

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x88670>

"A LexisNexis search yielded these results "

lists articles from several newpapers on the evacuation that lasted3 hours.