Saturday 3/26 Election Fraud, Reform, & Updates Thread

In order to organize and document I thought it would be a good idea to have a daily thread to place items related to reform, fraud, protests, and other items. 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: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x348549

Touch-screen voting makes debut in Augusta County

By Joel Baird/staff
jbaird@newsleader.com

VERONA —Video gamers, ATM users, and shoppers familiar with credit card check-out systems will have no trouble finding their way around Augusta County's new touch-screen voting machines, says Susan Miller, the county's general registrar.

>>>snip

About the size of a road atlas (but 8 pounds heavier), the demonstrator is designed to be carried out to voters unable to walk into the polls, but can also fit snugly into a collapsible voting booth. Candidates' names appear in large characters, and familiar "stop" and "go" icons guide the novice through federal, state, and local election choices.


More: http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050326/NEWS01/503260304/1002

>>>snip

"These machines are computer-driven, but they're not compatible with other systems (in the county's computer network)," she said. "There's no Internet connection. And there's no wireless. We don't want to open them to any outside hacking."

Augusta County purchased the $350,000 system with federal funds from the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which enables jurisdictions to replace lever-style machines. The UniLect system includes a unit equipped with headphones and large knobs to make voting easier for the blind.

Each precinct will store votes in a central storage system that has 8-hour battery back-up in case of power failures. The same unit will print final vote tallies at the end of the election day.


Originally published March 26, 2005

Improve the election process

Electronic voting committee investigates weaknesses in system, proposes remedies


From Sens. Austin Allran, R-Catawba; Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, and Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange, co-chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Electronic Voting:

In last year's election, several North Carolina counties experienced failures in their voting systems.

In Carteret County an electronic voting machine stopped tabulating ballots and lost 4,300 votes.

In several Gaston County precincts the number of recorded votes on the electronic voting machines did not match the number of voters.

In Onslow County a software error changed the order of finish in the race for county commissioner.

In Cleveland County precinct workers left 120 uncounted provisional ballots behind at the Cleveland County fire station.

In Guilford County the tabulation computers threw some votes away.

Soon after the election, voters began raising questions about the reliability of our voting process -- the most basic of our democratic institutions. Most of the concerns dealt with the "direct record electronic" machines (DREs) -- those electronic voting machines that have no paper record. The problem cited most often was the machine failure in Carteret County that held up a statewide race for three months. This time it was the commissioner of agriculture race, but it could just as easily have been the presidential race.

To investigate the weaknesses in the system and to strengthen voter confidence in the election process, the General Assembly appointed a Joint Select Committee on Electronic Voting. It included legislators, state and local election officials, computer experts, security experts and representatives of interested organizations.

More: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/opinion/11235312.htm

Ousted voting machine makers try again

La. election officials let four companies make case to compete for big state contract


By MARSHA SHULER
mshuler@theadvocate.com
Capitol news bureau

Four voting machine companies disqualified from competing for a $47 million state contract will get a last chance to convince state elections officials that they meet the necessary standards.
First Assistant Secretary of State Al Ater said face-to-face meetings to go over disagreements will begin Tuesday with Diebold, the company that has filed suit in state district court challenging its exclusion.

Three other companies that also did not meet the standards required to compete for the contract will be extended the same courtesy, Ater said.

Ater said the sessions with company officials will be limited to areas of dispute.

"I assume each are going to want to take the appeals process all the way through," said Ater.


"When you are talking about this much money, such a big deal, all are going to exhaust all appeals they have got," he said.

More: http://2theadvocate.com/stories/032605/new_machines001.shtml

Illegal voting investigation targets hundreds in 12 Colorado counties

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 25, 2005

DENVER - Hundreds of Coloradans are under investigation for alleged voting violations in the November election, including casting multiple ballots, forging signatures or voting when they were ineligible, county officials say.

Prosecutors in 47 of Colorado's 64 counties investigated suspect ballots, and 12 counties reported finding problems, Secretary of State Donetta Davidson said Thursday, confirming a report in The Denver Post.

At least 122 voters statewide apparently cast absentee ballots through the mail, then voted again on Election Day, according to the newspaper. At least 120 people in prison or on parole for felony violations - making them ineligible to vote under state law - face possible prosecution for casting ballots.

>>>snip

The panel, appointed by the state's top elections official after problems surfaced in the run-up to the November 2004 vote, is asking lawmakers to make it illegal for a voter registration drive worker to throw away registration forms. The panel also recommended that all new electronic voting machines be required to have a paper trail to avoid disputes and uncertainty about the results.

More: http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20050325/NEWS/103250047

1st step in disenfranchising citizens

By Ed Mahern

Ever since Republicans first proposed the idea of requiring people to show a photo identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day, it has been sold as a way to eliminate fraud and restore honesty to the electoral process.

What these advocates fail to tell you is that they are supporting a system that surely will deny some Hoosiers their right to vote.

On the surface, this seems simple enough. Present your driver’s license and you can vote. Who couldn’t meet that requirement?

People who live at nursing homes and no longer drive, for one. Women who have married and changed their names, because their driver’s licenses will not match their voter registration files. Minorities who have had to face many barriers in the past to their efforts to vote.

Under the guise of so-called “voting reform,” Republicans are taking the first step in disenfranchising voters. It is a solution to a problem that does not exist, except in the minds of those who wish to protect political gains by preventing others from voting.

More: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/11238083.htm

Hey, You! Yeah, You! Wanna Help Fix Our Election System?

March 26th, 2005 : Filed by Ron Brynaert
Who doesn’t love a “good news, bad news” type of post?

The good news is the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University will be hooking us up with a “star-studded study commission that will recommend improvements to the nation’s federal election system.” A.P..

The bad news is that no one at the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University ever heard of the word “non-partisan.”

The good news is that former President Jimmy Carter is leading it.

The bad news is that he’s gotta dance cheek-to-cheek with former Secretary of State James Baker (but how former do you think, really?).

The good news is that they’ll be looking at the 2000 election.

The bad news is that former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle will also be a member of the panel instead of…say…investigating what the hell happened in South Dakota in 2004 (eRiposte: South Dakota ).

More good news and bad news: http://watchingthewatchers.org/index.php?p=465

Some blacks are wary of effect of voter ID bill

Opinions are split on whether plan would keep many from polls.

By Matthew Tully and Barb Berggoetz
matthew.tully@indystar.com
March 26, 2005

Sitting at a table at Smokin' Good Soul Food on 38th Street this week, Robert and Mary Harvey topped off their lunch with a bit of talk about a controversial voter ID bill that has divided the Indiana Statehouse.

Legislative Democrats, led by black leaders, have protested the bill like almost none other in recent years. They've called the measure to require voters to show a government-issued photo ID a blatant attempt to suppress turnout among black Hoosiers.

Robert Harvey, a 46-year-old pastor, agreed. He believes the Republican-led effort is aimed at convincing black voters like him that hassles could accompany a trip to the polls.

"Asking them to go through an extra step in order to vote is just asking for people not to vote," he said. "Especially people who feel disenfranchised by the system -- that feel their voices are not being heard."

More: http://www.indystar.com/articles/7/232192-6017-009.html

Bush's Popularity Falling Like a Rock

Polls now show that President Bush has hit his lowest popularity of his presidency -- a 43% approval rate. Some assert that this is merely a short term effect of the GOP's highly unpopular intervention in the Schiavo matter. I believe that while that is a contributing cause, the overall decline is the result of long term, and likely irreversible trends.


The significance of improper intervention in the Schiavo case goes beyond the narrow facts of the case and concerns about federalism and separation of powers (as important as they are). With Schiavo, the entire nation was exposed to the win at all costs mentality of the Repubican Party, and the fact that their deeds do not match their rhetoric:

-- You can't talk about being pro-life, when your decimating Medicaid, when you are preventing life-saving stem cell research, when you allow guns to flow freely to terrorists, when your abortion laws actually threaten women's health and lives, and when more than 1,500 American soldiers and countless innocent civilians have died in Iraq as a result of a misguided war.

-- You can't say your pro-democracy when you ignore not only repressive regimes abroad, but tolerate and encourage torture, and disparage voting rights in our own nation.

More: http://www.conyersblog.us/

Help Me Achieve Election Reform
We Will Never Give Up
Please Give Me Your thoughts and Ideas

One of the main reasons I have set up this interactive blog, was to receive ideas, input, and suggestions from you. So far I have received scores of comments, and I have reviewed each and every one of them. Today, I ask for your ideas and thoughts about election reform. I hope to use this as an opportunity to solicit your ideas and suggestions on other issues of public concern in the future.

One of the most significant actions I have taken as a legislator was taking the lead in investigating the election debacle in Ohio and around the nation. As many of you now know, I lead to congressional forums into the matter, conducted a wide ranging investigation, and prepared a 106 page report on the irregularities in Ohio. These actions led to the Congressional challenge to the Ohio results last January 6. The Report in turn has been downloaded and read by hundreds of thousands of individuals.

I must tell you my loyal readers that we have not given up. We have introduced legislation. We have held forums. We have held press conferences. We have written letters. We have asked for hearings. We have asked the GAO to investigate. We have asked the Justice Department and the Ohio authorities to investigate. I have written op-eds. I have pushed the election machinery companies to adopt voluntary principles to make every vote count. I have written the Federal Election Commission. I have asked the Congressional Research Service to investigate. While we have not received anything near a complete or full response, especially from the now notorious Ohio Secretary of State, Mr. J. Kenneth Blackwell, we have gleaned important information that has informed the public.

I would like to use this blog as an opportunity for you to provide me with your suggestions and ideas for raising the visibility of this issue and advancing the cause of election reform. Let me know your thoughts.

Link for comments: http://www.conyersblog.us/

Discussion thanks to Wilms here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x348681

Democrats came out swinging Thursday, attacking the presumptive Republican nominee for governor a full year and a half before the election.

The Nevada Democratic Party is trying to use Rep. Jim Gibbons' own words against him.

"This is about making sure people don't forget what Jim Gibbons said," party spokesman Jon Summers said at a Thursday news conference to announce the placement of three billboards around the state attacking Gibbons.

Gibbons, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Two billboards in Las Vegas and one in Reno take Gibbons to task for saying recently, "It's just too damn bad we didn't buy them a ticket" of people who wanted to be human shields in Iraq.

The Democratic Party also has a Web site, www.gibbonsfacts.com, that seeks to make Gibbons look bad.


More: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Mar-25-Fri-2005/news/26152393.html


Thanks to NVMojo here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1343909

C-SPAN Weekend Alert

Programming Information for the Weekend of Fri. 3/25 - Mon. 3/28, 2005

C-SPAN Highlights

Tonight
. Actor & Activist Michael J. Fox on Stem-Cell Research & Bioethics (8pm)
. Leon Kass, Chairman of the President's Panel on Bioethics (9:30pm)

Saturday
. Reairs of This Week's Students & Leaders: Los Angeles (10am)
. America & the Courts: Jeffrey Rosen, Author, "Rehnquist the Great?" (7pm)

Sunday
. American Politics: Presidential Advance Work (6:30pm & 9:30pm)
. Q&A: Paul Weyrich, Chairman & CEO, Free Congress Foundation (8pm)

Monday
. U.S. House: In Recess Until Tuesday, April 5th
. Hudson Inst. Panel on Neoconservatives & Foreign Policy (10:45am) - LIVE
. Black Leadership Forum Symposium (1pm) - LIVE
. Library of Congress "Digital Future": Neil Gershenfeld of MIT (6:30pm) - LIVE
. C-SPAN Special: Conversations with U.S. Soldiers Wounded in Iraq (8pm)




C-SPAN 2 Highlights

Tonight
. Students & Leaders: L.A. - Noel Irwin Hentschel, AmericanTours Int'l (9pm)
. Students & Leaders: L.A. - John Bryant, Founder, Operation Hope (10pm)

Saturday - Sunday
. Book TV Airs on C-SPAN2 Every Weekend from 8am Sat. to 8am Mon.
. Check the Book TV Schedule Anytime - It's Updated Daily - http://www.booktv.org

Monday
. U.S. Senate: In Recess Until Monday, April 4th
. Release of State Dept. Report on Democracy & Human Rights (10am) - LIVE
. Release of New Study on State of Urban Schools (11am) - LIVE




C-SPAN 3 Highlights

Tonight
. History Programming: Religion & the Early Presidents (10pm)
. History Programming: Catholic American Voters (11:45pm)

Saturday
. Programming TBA

Sunday
. Programming TBA

Monday
. Pulitzer Prize Winning Books & Authors in the Category of Biography




C-SPAN Radio Schedule
http://www.cspan.org/watch/schedule.asp
C-SPAN Radio Highlights

Saturday
. American Political Archive: Congresswomen Reva Bosone & Edith Green (10am)
. LBJ Tapes: March '64 Calls on Alaska Earthquake & Brazilian Coup (3pm)
. Encore Booknotes: Peter Gomes, "The Good Book" (5pm)
. Supreme Court Oral Argument: Judicial Power & Personal Injury Case (6pm)

Sunday
. Replays of TV Talk Shows from NBC, ABC, Fox, CNN, CBS (12pm)
. Q&A: Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation (8pm)

Monday
. Washington Journal (7am) - LIVE
. Digital Future: The Concept of "Internet Zero" (6:30pm) - LIVE


Washington Journal Highlights

Saturday
. Donald Schumacher, Nat'l Hospice & Palliative Care
. Stefan Tucker, Partner at Venable Law Firm, on Living Wills
. Arthur Auerbach, Tax Director, Goodman & Company
. Robert Robinson, Managing Director, GAO, on Mad Cow Disease

Sunday
. Show Was Not Yet Booked at Time of Publication
. Likely Segments Include the Following...
. Look at Medicare & Soc. Sec. Trustees' Reports
. Kyrgyzstan; Torture & Interrogation Policies</b>

Monday
. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
. Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director, NORML
. Dan Glickman, President, Motion Picture Assn. of America
. Diana Kattan, Partners for Peace, Christian Palestinian
. Nina Mayorek, Partners for Peace, Jewish Israeli
. Aitemad Muhanna, Partners for Peace, Muslim Palestinian



BookTV Highlights

. After Words: Jim Wallis interviewed by Randy Tate - Sun. 6pm & 9pm
. Jeffrey Sachs "The End of Poverty" - Sat. 9:15pm & Sun. 10:30am
. Katherine Sibley " Spies in America" - Sat. 1:15pm
. Philip Short on the life of Cambodia's Pol Pot - Sun. 12pm
. Ralph David Abernathy's Autobiography - Sat. 7pm



C-SPAN Special Promotions

. The C-SPAN School Bus - On Tour Now - See the List of Cities at http://www.c-span.org/classroom/schoolbus/busschedule.asp



C-SPAN Capitol Spotlight

Today's Spotlight
. In a major policy shift, the Bush administration has agreed to sell F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan, administration officials said today. The diplomatically sensitive move... - Full Story at http://www.c-span.org/capitolspotlight/index.asp

Today's Trivia

. Which Florida congressman started to become aware of politics after dating Kitty Kirk, the daughter of Florida Gov. Claude R. Kirk Jr., the first Republican to hold that post since Reconstruction? - Answer at http://www.c-span.org/capitolspotlight/index.asp
**********************************************************************

C-SPAN. Created by Cable. Offered as a Public Service.

For the very latest programming information, please visit our Schedule Page at
http://newsletter.c-span.org/cgi-bin1/DM/y/enLC0K6uJz0CKr0GRuB0As

Copyright 2005, National Cable Satellite Corporation

Republican Party Stars: Corporate Sponsored and Ethically Challenged
By Joel Wendland



March 24, 2005

Arnold's Corporate Sponsors

While Arnold Schwarzenegger as action hero fought the corruption and abuse of power of the big corporations in Total Recall, he is now on the other side. He is working for them. Last week the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) unveiled what they describe as the Century Plaza "Cash Syndicate," a group of corporate CEOs who have shelled out millions to back Arnold Schwarzenegger 's re-election bid. As of the middle of March this collection of business tycoons had given over $5 million to the admitted former steroids user.

One of these contributors, according to an investigation conducted by the FTCR is Roland Arnall, co-chair of the board at Ameriquest Capital Corporation, a company that is being investigated for a range of corporate crimes from fraud to bait-and-switch sales tactics in 25 states. Arnall and his company, says FTCR, have alone given over $1.2 million.

-snip-

Tom DeLay: Corporate Strongman

While Schwarzenegger 's acceptance of huge amounts of corporate cash in exchange for pushing an agenda that clearly violates his own promises and will hurt the majority of California's workers, taxpayers and consumers, sleazy as it is, it so far hasn't been shown to be illegal or violating of existing ethical rules.

On the other hand, Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been under severe pressure to resign his post, if not his congressional seat, as a result of ethical violations that have led to federal investigations.

-snip/more-

http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2129&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Judge tosses campaign cash limit, boosts Schwarzenegger's camp

By TOM CHORNEAU, Associated Press Writer

Last Updated 7:54 pm PST Friday, March 25, 2005

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Superior Court judge cleared the way for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to raise unlimited cash to promote his agenda to voters, ruling Friday that the state's political watchdog improperly limited donations for ballot measures.
The ruling overturned a Fair Political Practices Commission regulation that would have restricted Schwarzenegger's efforts to raise $50 million for a package of constitutional amendments he wants to put before voters in the fall.

-snip-

The judge noted that the rule applied only to ballot measure committees controlled by candidates and not other ballot committees, forcing candidates to either give up their interest in the ballot measure or accept a fund-raising disadvantage to opponents who can accept unlimited donations.

-snip-

He said the FPPC will have a good case on appeal because the U.S. Supreme Court has already upheld the same kind of fund-raising restrictions in federal elections.

-snip/more-

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/12620630p-13474568c.html

March 26, 2005

** An exclusive pre-release for the DU 2004 Election Forum **

Video pre-release - Bob Fritrakis "Who got glitched: Election Reform Teach-in"

(video pre-release #1)

Speaker: Bob Fritrakis
Recorded: 2/27 in Santa Monica, CA
Length: 12:10
Size: about 20MB

Bob Fritrakis of the Columbus Free Press and attorney (Moss vs. Bush/Cheney/Blackwell) speaks about the stolen 2004 Presidential election in Ohio. He talks about the Bush family history of stealing elections, problems in the 2004 election, legal cases surrounding the 2004 election, exit polls and much more.

This is just the first video in a series of speakers from the Election Reform Teach-in conducted in Santa Monica, CA. Within 2 weeks, videos all of the speakers will be available as a DVD and for internet broadcast at citizensact.org .

Steve Brown has done a wonderful job creating these videos. You will notice that these are high quality digital videos with multiple camera angles and produced by professionals.

Over the next few weeks, pre-release videos of all of the speakers will be published to the Democratic Underground Election Forum. You can see the original announcement for this teach-in at this DU thread.



Video in Windows Media format

Video in QuickTime format

DU Discussion Thread

March 25, 2005

Feds to Probe Maggie Gallagher's HHS Contract

By Dave Astor

NEW YORK The Government Accountability Office will investigate whether the Department of Health and Human Services violated the law by awarding a $21,500 contract to Universal Press Syndicate columnist Maggie Gallagher for marriage-themed writing projects, according to a story in today's Washington Post by Howard Kurtz.

When reached this morning by E&P, Gallagher said: "This is the first I've heard of it . I can't comment right now because I need to get fuller information."

Kathie Kerr, Universal's director of communications, added: "We'll wait until after the investigation is completed before issuing any kind of statement."

...
The GAO inquiry was requested by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). Kennedy said that "the president should put in place sound policies that benefit all Americans rather than pay the press to promote bad policies," Kurtz reported. Lautenberg added that "the Bush propaganda mill has violated the trust of the American people."

source

March 25, 2005

Broder blasts Bush policies

Columnist rips Iraq, Social Security stances

By LARRY PARSONS

Columnist David Broder addressed a crowd of about 200 at
the Monterey Institute of International Studies on Thursday.

...
Many people, he said, wrongly continue to view the president as "an amiable front man" in an administration controlled by advisers and underlings.

"The driving force...is the ideals and goals of George W. Bush," said Broder, who has covered presidential politics since 1960.

If Bush's presidency ended today, Broder said its legacy would be "very consequential" -- ranging from record budget deficits and radical tax cuts to national educational standards and the defense doctrine of pre-emptive military attack.

Now Republicans could well become the long-term national majority party along the same lines that the GOP turned around Texas state politics after Bush became governor, he said.

...
"The atmosphere is simply poisonous," Broder said. "There is a sense that victory of the moment is worth everything else."

more here

March 26, 2005

If Not Bias, Then Incompetence

Dana Milbank makes excellent points in "My Bias for Mainstream News" . Ironically, the two major studies he cited in his article were either buried or bypassed by The Post.

The University of Maryland poll that Milbank describes, which found two weeks before the election that 75 percent of Bush supporters believed that Iraq was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, was buried on Page A4 in Milbank's own "Sunday Politics" column , with no clue from the headline regarding either the substance of the key findings or their inaccuracy.

The Defense Science Board report he quotes from, which was widely reported on elsewhere, did not merit a single column inch in The Post, except for Michael Getler's Dec. 5 column, "What Readers Saw, and Didn't See," in which Getler criticized The Post for failing to report on this key study undertaken for the Pentagon.

Forget about "bias" in the mainstream media -- as Milbank points out, bias is often in the eye of the beholder. Instead we should be talking about skimpy or nonexistent coverage. To paraphrase Getler's March 20 column: For more than a few stories, a grade of incomplete coverage cuts down more often than not on readers' faith in the mainstream news.

-- Elizabeth D. Dyson

Washington

source

March 26, 2005

Conservative Web site (townhall.com), Heritage split

By Jennifer Harper

Townhall.com, one of the nation's most active conservative Web sites, announced yesterday that it has split from parent company the Heritage Foundation, a District-based conservative think tank.

It's a deliberate strategy for Townhall -- home to 68 columnists and destination reading for 1.5 million people a month. As an independent entity, Townhall no longer will be subject to Internal Revenue Service regulations that prohibit "educational only" groups from mobilizing followers or taking a distinct political stand.

"This is a happy parting," said Townhall President Drew Bond. "Heritage has been a critical ally in building our credibility over the years. With this move, we're now free to fully engage our readers and to call them to action."

...
"The gains of November 2004 are not the finish line. To borrow from Churchill, it is best to think of the Republican sweep as perhaps the end of the beginning," Mr. Hewitt said. "As opposition to Social Security reform and judicial nominations indicates, the battles are just being joined."

more here

March 26, 2005

Renew Voting Rights Act now

By Kevin C. Peterson

IF PRESIDENT Bush desires to secure his legacy as a promoter of democracy, he should begin with work at home by extending and amending the Voting Rights Act. Nearly 40 years old, the Voting Rights Act is scheduled to expire in 2007. If it is not renewed, millions of citizens will lose special protections against racially exclusionary election practices and discrimination toward linguistic minorities and the disabled.

Implemented at the height of the civil rights movement, the Voting Rights Act was designed to protect the right to vote as articulated by the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, and it reflects the intent of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964.

With the US Congress, President Bush can extend the life of the Voting Rights Act and focus on election protections, universal franchise rights for youth, and a federalized voting process that is accessible and fair.

Bush should consider the following to extend and amend the act: First, renew the act in its entirety for another 25 years. In doing so, attention should be directed at protecting rights in voting districts historically identified as having high levels of voter disenfranchisement.

continued...

March 26, 2005

GOP candidates messing with party's tradition

At least one big, juicy primary election looms in next year's race for governor. On the surface, that seems like good news. For a change, voters might have a say in who makes the finals in November.

But there is a downside to the competition that's shaping up on the Republican side: The candidates are losing sight of the nature of the Ohio electorate and focusing exclusively on the nature of the Republican electorate. The result is a race to the political right.

The people who vote in the primary can have disproportionate power. The last time Ohio had a contested Republican primary for governor, in 1986, about 660,000 people voted, in a state of about 10 million.

For months, the most visible Republican candidate has been Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. He long ago determined that he would seek to be the dogmatically conservative candidate for governor.

more here

From Durant Daily Democrat:
March 26, 2005

Jesus for President, or the next best thing

By Joe McClour

As anyone with media access may have noticed during the last presidential election, religion seemed to play a larger role than ever. This led to the election's "strongly polarized" "American religious landscape," according to "The American Religious Landscape and the 2004 Presidential Vote."

This report from The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life utilizes "the post-election sample of the Fourth National Survey of Religion and Politics" to support its findings, which include "increased polarization" as the main finding.

...
This leaves the politicians so desperate they will align themselves with the sleeping monster religion hoping it will translate to the votes, if numerous enough, that will yield the desired political power.

...
But this reality isn't just a scary thing for the irreligious among us; as a Christian I am also disturbed by this voting logic. The reason being, I have no way to truly know someone is walking closely with God. Because they say so on the campaign trail? Because they pose for pictures at a church service?

more here

March 27, 2005

Movement in the Pews Tries to Jolt Ohio

By JAMES DAO

The Ohio secretary of state,
J. Kenneth Blackwell, has the
support of the state's
conservative church leaders.


COLUMBUS, Ohio - Christian conservative leaders from scores of Ohio's fastest growing churches are mounting a campaign to win control of local government posts and Republican organizations, starting with the 2006 governor's race.

In a manifesto that is being circulated among church leaders and on the Internet, the group, which is called the Ohio Restoration Project, is planning to mobilize 2,000 evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostal and Roman Catholic leaders in a network of so-called Patriot Pastors to register half a million new voters, enlist activists, train candidates and endorse conservative causes in the next year.

The initial goal is to elect Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, a conservative Republican, governor in 2006. The group hopes to build grass-roots organizations in Ohio's 88 counties and take control of local Republican organizations.

"The establishment of the Ohio Republican Party is out of touch with its base," said Russell Johnson, the pastor of the Fairfield Christian Church and the principal organizer of the project. "It acts as if it lives in Boston, Mass."

...
The church leaders say they will try to harness the energy of religious conservatives who were vital not only to Mr. Bush's narrow victory in Ohio but also to passage of an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. The amendment, known as Issue 1, was credited with drawing large numbers of rural and suburban conservatives to the polls and increasing Mr. Bush's support among urban blacks.

more here

Improve the election process

Electronic voting committee investigates weaknesses in system, proposes remedies

Opinion Charlotte Observer 26 March 2005

From Sens. Austin Allran, R-Catawba; Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, and Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange, co-chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Electronic Voting:

-snip-

Soon after the election, voters began raising questions about the reliability of our voting process the most basic of our democratic institutions. Most of the concerns dealt with the "direct record electronic" machines (DREs) those electronic voting machines that have no paper record. The problem cited most often was the machine failure in Carteret County that held up a statewide race for three months. This time it was the commissioner of agriculture race, but it could just as easily have been the presidential race.

-snip-

The committee made several recommendations. One of the most popular with citizens around the state was to require that every voting machine create a paper record that can be recounted by hand in case of machine failure or a discrepancy in vote count. A paper record would also be available for any challenge that a candidate might mount.

-snip-

The bill requires a paper record on all systems, with federal money from the Help America Vote Act paying for paper-record upgrades to existing DRE machines. The bill also requires the software source code to be held safely in an escrow vault so no tampering can take place, and calls for audits before and after voting takes place and random sampling to measure accuracy. To assure that there are no unfunded mandates to local governments, no changes that would take place under the bill will be charged to local governments.

A second bill (SB 224/HB 158) deals with lost votes, such as occurred in Carteret County. It would authorize the State Board of Elections to establish a process to allow those known voters whose votes weren't counted to vote again.

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http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=5065