GAO cops out: now what?

They're counting on the long, dead weekend?

http://www.gao.gov/electionresults.pdf

United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
Comptroller General
of the United States

Statement of the Comptroller General on Election-Related Matters
November 23, 2004

GAO has received a number of comments pertaining to the recent national
election
processes. In the past, GAO has conducted a range of federal elections-related
work,
including broad-based systemic reviews primarily focusing on issues relating to
federal election requirements and technologies. We also have ongoing and
planned
work relating to systemic election issues, involving reviews of voter
registration
processes, provisional voting, and voting technologies. In addition, GAO has
reviewed federal entities charged with overseeing various aspects of
election-related
activities. For example, we recently issued a report on actions taken by the
Department of Justice to investigate and pursue violations of federal laws
related to
voting irregularities emanating from prior national elections.1 You may obtain
copies
of our published election-related reports on this web site.
While GAO has and will continue to do certain elections-related work, we are
not
authorized to engage in enforcement efforts relating to specific allegations of
voting
irregularities. Under the nation’s legal framework, elections are a matter
largely
reserved to, and regulated by, the states.2 Thus, many of the issues relating to
the
recent election are primarily the responsibility of state and local
jurisdictions, since
they involve the implementation of state law and regulation. As a result,
general
questions concerning these issues, as well as specific allegations of voting
irregularities, should be addressed to state and local officials, such as the
Secretary of
State or the State Attorney General.
Congress has, however, asserted its prerogatives under the Elections Clause of
the
Constitution (Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1) to impose certain procedural
requirements on federal elections through such federal statutes as the Help
America
Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act, both of which are enforced by
the
Department of Justice. In this regard, questions or allegations regarding
federal
voting irregularities generally are addressed by one of three federal entities.
The
name, areas of responsibility, and contact point for these entities are:
• The Civil Rights Division, Voting Section, at the Department of Justice:
responsible for enforcing federal voting rights statutes. Information about how
to
1 GAO, Department of Justice’s Activities to Address Past Election-Related
Voting Irregularities, GAO-
04-1041R (Washington D.C.: September 14, 2004).
2 For example, as outlined in Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the Constitution
(known as the Elections
Clause), the legislature in each state is required to prescribe the “Times,
Places and Manner” of holding
elections for United States Senators and Representatives. The clause goes on to
state that “...Congress
may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulation...”
Page 2
file a complaint through the mail or by telephone can be found at
www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/misc/contact.htm.
• The Criminal Division, Public Integrity Section, at the Department of
Justice:
responsible for enforcing federal criminal laws applicable to federal election
fraud
offenses, among other things, in conjunction with the 93 U.S. Attorneys.
Information about how to contact the Criminal Division can be found at
www.usdoj.gov/criminal.
• The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC): serves as a national
clearinghouse and resource for information on the administration of federal
elections. Information about the EAC can be found at www.eac.gov.
Specific allegations of voting irregularities should be addressed to the
appropriate
authority as described in the above framework. I assure you that GAO will
continue
to do its part in connection with important elections issues consistent with our
scope
of responsibility and authority.

Remember how far the GAO got when they were trying to get a hold of the Energy Task Force meeting information from Cheney?

I mean, I would LOVE for them to discover everything but most of the electronic data is GONE, vanished, there's little solid proof left and what's there will be stonewalled to hell and back.

By the time anything get released to the public, it'll be too late.

I'm not expecting much out of this country any more.

I can't quite make it out.

it's a game of fucking kickball. ay yay yay.

We could all just sit, eat, sleep etc. until they correct the government. What do you think about it ?? Must do before it gets to cold.

This is associated with the 7 Congress people who approached the GAO on November 5th as associated with 'please look at these voting irregularities."



It was a very big deal. It was circulated widely. A significant amount of what has taken place is associated with that initial attempt to 'get a read' from a government authority. (I'll turn it up later; can't get to my file; maybe someone else can pull up that pdf file).



marsha hammond, phd: hammondmv@netzero.com

will get right on it.