Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday 5/31/05

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday 5/31/05

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391

All previous daily threads are available here:
http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm

Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x373749


Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

Has Bush run out of political capital?
Poll numbers sag as setbacks mount at home, abroad
By Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei

Updated: 11:49 p.m. ET May 30, 2005Two days after winning reelection last fall, President Bush declared that he had earned plenty of "political capital, and now I intend to spend it." Six months later, according to Republicans and Democrats alike, his bank account has been significantly drained.



In the past week alone, the Republican-led House defied his veto threat and passed legislation promoting stem cell research; Senate Democrats blocked confirmation, at least temporarily, of his choice for U.N. ambassador; and a rump group of GOP senators abandoned the president in his battle to win floor votes for all of his judicial nominees.

With his approval ratings in public opinion polls at the lowest level of his presidency, Bush has been stymied so far in his campaign to restructure Social Security. On the international front, violence has surged again in Iraq in recent weeks, dispelling much of the optimism generated by the purple-stained-finger elections back in January, while allies such as Egypt and Uzbekistan have complicated his campaign to spread democracy.

Summer of discontent
The series of setbacks on the domestic front could signal that the president has weakened leverage over his party, a situation that could embolden the opposition, according to analysts and politicians from both sides. Bush faces the potential of a summer of discontent when his capacity to muscle political Washington into following his lead seems to have diminished and few easy victories appear on the horizon.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8040150/

Nader awaits ruling on '04 court costs
Case focused on invalid voter signatures
Tuesday, May 31, 2005

By James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



The counting and recounting are long since over, but the Nader campaign is waiting warily for one final return from the 2004 presidential election.

Ralph Nader and his running mate, Peter Miguel Camejo, sought a line on Pennsylvania's presidential ballot, submitting nominating petitions for the general election containing tens of thousands of signatures. Their candidacy was challenged by lawyers allied with the Democratic Party, who wanted the independents kept off the ballot for fear they would take crucial votes away from the Democratic ticket of Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards.

After some legal skirmishing over whether the Nader candidacy should be disallowed over a technical violation of the state's election law, the case turned on whether the independent ticket had submitted the 25,697 signatures of registered voters required for a spot on the ballot.

The challengers argued that the petitions were rife with fraudulent or otherwise invalid signatures. After a marathon series of hearings conducted simultaneously in courtrooms across the state, the challengers prevailed. The court found that only 18,818 of the Nader signatures were valid, while disallowing more than two-thirds of the signatures originally submitted.


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05151/513121.stm

State's primary plan stirs criticism
Panel says a date in March would give state greater voice in picking president, but many election officials are opposed
Tuesday, May 31, 2005

By James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Over the past decade, few states have had more influence in the ultimate choice of the president than Pennsylvania.
Every four years, the political press made it seem that the words "key battleground" were an official part of the state's name. Through the autumn of both 2000 and 2004, national candidate visits were as common as falling leaves.

In the spring of both years, it was a different story. The presidential nominations were effectively decided by the time the state's mid-April primary came along, and the national spotlight skipped the state and with it the chance for Pennsylvanians to have any meaningful voice in the major parties' choice of candidates.

Wanting to change that, Gov. Ed Rendell appointed a commission to review the state primary date, hoping to move the state ahead on the calendar and increase its nomination clout. Rendell had suggested moving the primary date to January or February. In a report issued earlier this month, The Pennsylvania Election Reform Task Force voted instead to recommend that the primary be shifted to the first Tuesday in March.

snip
The arguments against the disproportionate influence of Iowa and New Hampshire in the nomination sweepstakes are familiar -- they are small, too homogenous, and atypical of the rest of the country. Jealous of their role, other states over the past decade have jostled for positions closer to the midwinter nomination starting line. Last year, 20 states had already staged primaries or caucuses before the first week of March, the Pennsylvania panel's target date for future state primaries.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05151/513092.stm

Posted on Mon, May. 30, 2005
FEC may impose new rules on bloggers

BY DAWN WITHERS

Chicago Tribune


WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Web loggers, who pride themselves on freewheeling political activism, may soon face new federal rules on candidate endorsements, online fundraising and political ads - though bloggers who don't take money from political groups would not be affected.

Draft rules from the Federal Election Commission, which enforces campaign finance laws and is haltingly moving toward regulating how campaign money is spent on the Internet, would require that paid political advertisements on the Internet declare who funded the ad, much as political television spots do now.

Similar disclaimers would be placed on political Web sites, as well as on e-mails sent to people on purchased lists containing more than 500 addresses. The FEC is also considering whether to require web loggers, or bloggers, to disclose whether they get money from a campaign committee or a candidate, and to reveal whether they are being paid to write about certain candidates or solicit contributions on their behalf.

These rules would not affect citizens who don't take money from political action committees or parties.

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/politics/11775263.htm

DU Discussion
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x373874

Diebold Optical Scan Voting System Hacked (3 Ways)
Tuesday, 31 May 2005, 1:10 pm
Article: www.blackboxvoting.org

Diebold Optical Scan Voting System Hacked (3 Ways) - BBV Exclusive

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/ - Source URLTallahassee, FL: "Are we having fun yet?"

This is the message that appeared in the window of a county optical scan machine, startling Leon County Information Systems Officer Thomas James. Visibly shaken, he immediately turned the machine off.

Diebold's opti-scan (paper ballot) voting system uses a curious memory card design, offering penetration by a lone programmer such that standard canvassing procedures cannot detect election manipulation.

The Diebold optical scan system was used in about 800 jurisdictions in 2004. Among them were several hotbeds of controversy: Volusia County (FL); King County (WA); and the New Hampshire primary election, where machine results differed markedly from hand-counted localities.

New regs: Counting paper ballots forbidden

Most states prohibit elections officials from checking on optical scan tallies by examining the paper ballots. In Washington, Secretary of State Sam Reed declared such spontaneous checkups to be "unauthorized recounts" and prohibited them altogether. New Florida regulations will forbid counting paper ballots, even in recounts, except in highly unusual circumstances. Without paper ballot hand-counts, the hacks demonstrated below show that optical-scan elections can be destroyed in seconds.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00381.htm

Remember Why We Really Lost In ’04?

By Allen Snyder

May 30, 2005

www.OpEdNews.com

According to the conservative-controlled corporate media machine and assorted annoying right wing-nut flacks and flunkies, it was committed hoards of evangelical Christians flocking from their pews that tipped the scales in favor of the regressive regime we now know as BushCo. The exit polls were skewed, they say, because nothing could have predicted so many would be so taken by BushCo’s Christian purity and moral uprightness (read: the fact regressives despise gays, blacks, browns, women, the poor, government programs, and progress while loving God, guns, and war) that they’d swarm to the polls believing the Rapture was in sight.

If true, then BushCo pulled off yet another brilliant bait-and-switch scam on their most ardent supporters, making them think their radical social agenda (turning the clock back to no later than the 14th or 15th Century) would be enthusiastically enacted when, in fact, BushCo has dropped the whole crowd’s crazier domestic plans like a hot rock, while tossing them an evolutionary fossil or two. BushCo used the fundies politically because they’re so easy to manipulate (they’ll believe practically anything) and so eager to please. It was a match made somewhere just south of heaven.

The fundamentalists’ media-nourished delusions have resurrected several ‘family values’-type creeps ubiquitously waxing psychotic about the imminent demise of Western/Christian civilization and the need to pack Federal courts with right-wing, stone-tablet-hugging, abortion-hating, evolution-despising, corporation-loving ideologues.

Lost in the thick methane fog emanating from this giant pile of Fox-ified horseshit is the first victim in all such conflicts – the truth.

Let’s get this straight. BushCo didn’t win ‘cause of the so-called ‘values’ voters (a misnomer if ever there was one), or the fundie evangelical Christian whacko turnout (don’t you wish they all wore big neon signs?), or inaccurate exit polls (they were dead on as usual).

They won ‘cause they fucking cheated.

-snip/more-

http://www.opednews.com/snyder_053005_remember.htm

Tue, May. 31, 2005

GOP election challenge enters second week

REBECCA COOK

Associated Press

WENATCHEE, Wash. - As the unprecedented legal challenge to Washington's 2004 gubernatorial election heads into its second week, state Democrats and Republicans are focused on one thing - Gov. Christine Gregoire's victory.

Republicans are asking Superior Court Judge John Bridges to nullify Gregoire's 129-vote win and open the way for her challenger, Dino Rossi, to be declared winner or set a rematch.

The margin was the smallest of any governor's contest in U.S. history.

On Friday, Republicans rested their case and Democrats moved for immediate dismissal. Bridges denied the motion, meaning that Democrats will defend the election when the trial resumes on Tuesday.

-snip/more-

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/special_packages/election2004/11777407.htm

BOB FITRAKIS ON TOUR WITH BOOK EXPOSING OHIO ELECTION FRAUD

The national launch of the new book by Bob Fitrakis, Did George W. Bush Steal America's 2004 Election? Essential Documents, begins on June 15, 2005 in Santa Barbara and includes Ventura (6/16), Topanga (6/17), San Diego (6/18), and Santa Monica (6/19).

-snip-

This book is filled with numbers and data showing what really happened in the 2004 election in Ohio. It includes many crucial source materials, commentary and investigative reports—including the complete text of the Conyers report, prepared by the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff. It is a must read for all people concerned about saving democracy and ensuring free and fair elections in the future.

Bob Fitrakis will speak about the book and his role in holding the first public hearings on voter suppression and election irregularities that lead to the Conyers hearings and the members of Congress and the Senate contesting the election in Ohio. Fitrakis is a dynamic, inspiring speaker who receives standing ovations after nearly every speech he gives. He is committed to protecting the voting rights of all Americans and is truly a national hero.


Come support the Another Stolen Election book tour! Your community is invited to join Bob at events in the following cities:

6/15 Santa Barbara, 8pm, Unitarian Hall, 1535 Santa Barbara Street, $5, contact Helen Conly, 805 746-0199
6/16 Ventura, 8pm, Franky’s Restaurant, 456 East Main Street, $5, contact Helen Conly, 805 746-0199
6/17 Topanga, 7pm, Topanga Christian Fellowship Church, 269 Old Topanga Canyon Road , free (donations gladly accepted), contact Rain Cater, 310-570-3254
6/18 San Diego, evening, venue TBA, contact Marin Eder, activist@cox.net, 619-528-8383
6/19 Santa Monica, 6pm, Venice United Methodist Church, 1020 Victoria Ave., $10 (fathers get in free), 310-390-8141

Be sure to check Bob’s calendar for continuous updates on venues, times,
etc.: www.freepress.org


Did George W. Bush Steal America's 2004 Election? Essential Documents (CICJ Books) will be available in bookstores by mid June and is available now on Amazon.com and Freepress.org. ISBN 0-971-04389-2

-snip/more

http://www.freepress.org/dispatches/2005/display/191

Thanks to LARAOVC for posting the discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=373882#373906

<http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/907402825>
Please sign this if you haven't yet. Officially I am sending/presenting it? June 9th- it to Rep. Henry Waxman Committee on Govenrment Reform Minority Office, but it is a public document and I will send copies to Rep. conyers- some seantors- reccommendations? I have links for this and others on my blog also NoBU**SH**zone <http://jarnocan.blogspot.com>
I haven't been pushing this as much because of pushing the Downing St. memo one everywhere I can. But this is crucial too. If we do not have meaningful investigations, we will NOT have meaningful reform IMHO.

We the undersigned, endorse the following petition:
Support Verified Voting / Call for investigations

Petiton to support Verified Voting Lobby Day on June 9th,the Rush Holt Bill HR-550, and call for meaningful investigations of election fraud, in order to enable meaningful reform

Support Verified Voting / Call for investigations

We want to feel confidant and proud of our democracy again. Election reform is a high priority, and a valid nonpartisan concern. Meaningful election reforms will not take place, until there is a full and clear understanding of the many reported incidents of unfair treatment of people trying to vote, and complaints of equipment malfunctions and alleged sabotage. We can not fix this, unless we know the hows and why of what went wrong. The verified vote is definitely a step in the right direction, and we urge you to support the RH-550 bill.

However this important step is not enough. We need competent and complete investigations, and as deemed necessary prosecutions and penalties for any crimes against our democracy. Many have fought and even died for our democracy. We must not dishonor them. Our democracy counts! Freedom and justice are essential components to our democracy, and we need you represent us in this just cause. It is our right to demand that you do the right thing.

Please see the below for more information. http://www.commonwonders.com/archives/col290.htm http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19

Last Updated: 05/28/2005 03:56:31 AM

County moves to buy new voting machines

FROM STAFF REPORTS

REDWOOD CITY — Disappointed by the failure in Sacramento of legislation that would have eliminated nearly all the county's polling places and allowed total mail-in elections, San Mateo County's elections office set to work Wednesday on securing new voting machines.

"There's a mountain of work to do," said Carol Marks, spokeswoman for Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum.

The county's optical scanning machines are decertified, operating with a conditional certification this year.

The challenges include funding the new equipment, deciding on which kind to buy and then training staff on the new equipment, which must be functioning by June 2006.

-snip/more-

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_2765818

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

County to update voting machines

By Liz Hacken / The Citizen
When Cayuga County voters hit the polls this November, they will have to savor what may be their last time with the old lever-style machines.

-snip-

There are two major styles of machines vying for counties' attention: an optical scanner using paper ballots or a computerized touch-screen model. Both Sedor and his Republican counterpart, Cherl Heary, are leaning toward touch-screens, also called Direct Recording Electronic machines.

-snip-

"It's got all the makings of a disaster," Cosentino said. "We're going to have 62 counties going in different directions? That's not a good idea."

-snip-

The optical scanners can also create problems in the long run for the county, especially with associated costs. Heary heard estimates that the individual paper ballots could cost up to 60 cents each.

-snip/more-

http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2005/05/29/news/news02.txt

Ohio GOP in turmoil with growing coin scandal.

Signed Copies of Conyers Report
What Went Wrong in Ohio?

As regular readers of this blog know, I have never asked for a contribution on it. Today, I am compelled to break that pristine record. Raising money is an unfortunate reality of politics and, when you do not side with corporations and other special interests on legislation, you turn to ordinary Americans for help.

Today, I ask for your help in raising money for my re-election campaign and to help elect other Democrats so that we can end Republican rule of the House of Representatives, one party rule in Washington, and finally hold this Administration accountable.

For every $50 contribution, I will send you a copy of What Went Wrong in Ohio?(shown above), signed by me, and recently published by the Academy Chicago Publishers. I do not make a penny off the sales of this book and this publication house published the book more as a public service than a money making venture. They did a great job. The book has an amazing forward by Gore Vidal and the text of my Ohio report.

If you can, please contribute today.

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

Let's Not Forget Ohio

Blogged by JC on 05.30.05 @ 10:21 PM ET

With all of the focus on the Smoking Gun Downing Street Memo in the blogosphere and elsewhere, I am glad that many have not forgotten the tragedy of the recent presidential elections and all of the irregularities and corruption in Ohio.

Today, Thom Hartmann interviewed British MP George Galloway -- of recent anti-war note as a result of his testimony before the Senate -- and he offered a vocal reminder that all is not well with the electoral system in the U.S. The full interview is picked up by OpEdNews.com.

Last week, we learned that the courageous Sherole Eaton was essentially fired. Though no reason was given, most suspect that the firing was orchestrated as a result of her willingness to blow the whistle on Triad's suspicious involvement in the Ohio recount. This has led me write a protest letter to the now notorious Ohio Secretary of State, J. Kenneth Blackwell. Our old friend Bob Fitrakis at the Free Press has the story, as does the Bradblog. BTW, Triad never even bothered to respond to my inquiries regarding their suspicious and possibly illegal involvement in the Ohio election and the recount.

We also learned about the growing scandal in the Ohio GOP, whereby the State Party used its influence to have State pension funds acquire "rare coins" from a GOP fundraiser in Toledo. That is not a typo or a joke -- and now millions of dollars in hard earned pension funds are missing. The Toledo Blade has the story.

-snip/more/comment-

http://www.conyersblog.us/archives/00000114.htm

Disscussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x373968

jarnocanblogspot: Support Verified Voting Petition

jarnocan

Support Verified Voting

Don't forget the postcards!

I'm going to Washington DC! -to join the lobbying efforts with Common Cause! Of course I am very excited as I have never done anything like this before. There is a training session in the morning of June 9th, and then I guess you make the rounds.

Hopefully I will have a chance to gather some more signatures, and to give out 'hard' copies of this petiton to Rep. Waxman and perhaps other members of congress, but I will still be faxing and/or e-mailing it.

So the link is above; Petiton to support Verified Voting Lobby Day on June 9th,the Rush Holt Bill HR-550, and call for meaningful investigations of election fraud, in order to enable meaningful reform Please sign it if you haven't yet.

Democracy counts! -here is the petition/open letter- to ask the BushInc. to STOP intimidating our mainstream media- In order to maintain our freedoms we need free and fair elections, and also freedom of the press. thank you to all who signed, and are planning to send post cards!

-snip-

http://jarnocan.blogspot.com/2005/05/support-verified-voting-petiton-link.html

Sign the Petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/907402825?ltl=1117569705

Thanks to jarnocan for posting the discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x373973

May 31, 2005

Guest Viewpoint: Help stop irregularities in voting

By Carol McBrian

On March 31, a group of university statisticians led by Josh Mitteldorf of Temple University issued a troubling report.
They noted that while President Bush officially won by 2.5 percent of the popular vote, the exit polls showed John Kerry winning by 3 percent. According to the statisticians, the chances of a discrepancy this large are close to 1 in a million.

Exit polls have proved to be exceptionally accurate in the U.S., in Ukraine, in Latin America and elsewhere. The 2004 discrepancy, like that of the invalid Ukraine election, was five times the usual discrepancy, a significant difference. The statisticians' report concludes that this discrepancy "is an unanswered question of vital national importance that needs thorough investigation."

-snip-

In 1996, Chuck Hagel, an executive with the AIS voting machine company, left his job two weeks before entering the Nebraska Senate race - which was counted by AIS. Hagel never disclosed this connection, which was finally discovered shortly before Hagel's re-election in 2002.

When Hagel's opponent asked for a vote audit and offered to pay for it, he was told that there was "no provision in the law" for such an audit.

-snip/more-

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/05/31/ed.col.mcbrien.0531.html

Discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x373990

Is HAVA Being Abused?

The 1990 Voting System Standards are Certainly Outdated. Are They Illegal, Too?

by John Gideon and Ellen Theisen (pdf)

-snip-

In fact many of the voting systems that we've seen malfunction, heat up, break down, switch votes, and record high undervote rates were qualified by NASED to the 1990 standards after federal law made the 2002 standards the official guidelines — and after NASED itself adopted rules prohibiting both changed and new systems from being tested to the 1990 standards.

--snip-

We replied with questions asking how the Diebold AccuView could be qualified, partly to the 2002 standards and partly to the 1990 standards, given the rules in the NASED advisories. Mr. Hancock referred us to Tom Wilkey: "As for the NASED decision process on the 2003 and 2005 guides, you will need to speak with Tom Wilkey as Voting Systems Board Chairman. Tom can most easily be reached via email."

Unfortunately, Mr. Wilkey has not responded to our emails, and we are left with quite a few questions:

-snip/more-

http://www.votersunite.org/info/hava-abuse1.asp

Thanks to JohnGideon for posting the discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=374004#374009

EAC Executive Director Selected

“Tom Wilkey has firsthand knowledge of every aspect of election administration,” said EAC Chair Gracia Hillman. “He understands the importance of making sure every vote counts, but he also knows the challenges state and local election officials face trying to meet that goal."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x372481

Government Technology

Cook County, Ill., Chooses Both Optical Scan and Touch-Screen Technology for Voting

May 31, 2005 By News Staff

Suburban Cook County voters will cast ballots in future elections by marking their choices with a pencil or pen instead of punching out chads with a stylus, Cook County Clerk David Orr announced Thursday.

Using federal dollars allocated by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), the Clerk's office intends to replace its punch card equipment with optical-scan technology for the March 21, 2006 gubernatorial primary election.

In addition, the Clerk's office will purchase at least one touch-screen machine for each of its 2,402 suburban Cook County precincts to enable physically disabled and blind voters to cast ballots privately and independently as required under HAVA, Orr said. The touch-screen machines will be available for any voter to use, Orr added.

Orr will recommend the county use federal grants to purchase the dual system for suburban Cook County voters from Sequoia Voting Systems -- based in Oakland, Ca. -- for approximately $23.8 million (includes capital costs with a five-year maintenance agreement). Sequoia submitted the lowest bid among three other finalists: Diebold Election Systems of North Canton, Ohio; Election Systems and Software (ES&S) of Omaha, Neb.; and Hart Intercivic of Austin, Texas.

-snip/more-

http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=94130