New Ohio voter transcripts feed floodtide of doubt .........

.....about Republican election manipulation.

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/930

by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
November 25, 2004

COLUMBUS -- A floodtide of evidence of questionable practices in the 2004 election is mounting fast against Ohio Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and Republican Franklin County Board of Elections (BOE) Director Matt Damschroder. New transcriptions of sworn voter testimony, presented below for the first time, confirm growing suspicions of widespread use of rigged machines. Voters experienced hostility from poll workers, refusal of Republican election officials to follow the law, and discriminatory manipulation of voting machine placement, driving significant numbers of Democrats away from the polls.

The Columbus Dispatch, central Ohio's dominant conservative daily newspaper, which endorsed Bush for the presidency, says Damschroder “has faced criticism locally and across the country from groups that contend an already short supply of voting machines were shifted from Democratic precincts in Columbus to Republican areas outside the city.”

Damschroder is the former head of the Franklin County Republican Party. He claims that the 23.4% increase in voter turnout is a success story. He admitted to the Dispatch on Tuesday, November 23, that he had not asked the Franklin County Commissioners for any additional money this year for new machines, despite a 24% increase in voter registration. “If we had 5000 machines we would have put every one of them out there,” Damschroder says. But he also defends his refusal to ask for more in the run-up to the election.

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....and they're going to serve time for what they did. I just hope if it's not right away that Bush hasn't destroyed to much more of our country by then.

this getting exciting, it feels like something big is about to break loose.

Thanks for posting.

kick

three loud fkn cheers for all those who are sticking their necks out and making this possible.

blows my mind. The blatant, obvious intimidation of voters, suppression of votes, running roughshod over the rules, it's outrageous! It's pathetic for an American Election. Disgraceful that these voters were treated in ways that didn't welcome them at the polls with open arms, ways that enabled them to vote easily, in a timely manner, and that those working the polls and "watching" them failed the most basic public service tasks. It's shameful for America - the "model" of Democracy. How could we not be prepared for turnout as high as this, or higher? I do get one small bit of satisfaction from all of these accounts. The evidence is indeed mounting. My thanks to all who took the time to report the injustice and to those recording it. May it be useful.

If you think there will be any kind of legal challenges here, be cautious. Notice, the artice does say that there was a 23.4% increase in voter turnout. Resources (money, machines, people) are generaly allocated based on Previous Experience --- what has happened in general elections in the past. Money from the State government, given to the county Boards of Elections, is based on that Previous Experience. And even if there was evidence of increased voter registration, say, six months before the election, that is way too close to 11/2 to appropriate more money to buy more machines.

Many BOE officials will be criticised for the 2004 general election, but the 2004 general election was something unique.

Don't get your hopes up that anything will be done with Damschroder, other than he may retire. And SOS Blackwell will not be touched by what happened in Franklin County unless someone reveals a document where he tells Damschroder to make sure certain precincts did have enough machines. You can bet that will never be found.

Sorry folks, this issue won't make a dime's worth of difference.