ACTION: "Project California" - part 1

Hi all,

Please don't post to this thread unless you have read this one first:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x88041

Here is what I'd like each post to indicate (and this may take some work):

1. In the subject line, the county which you are able to help with.
2. Whether you would like to help coordinate or help support.
3. Please give a sentence or two about yourself so we can get to know each other.

I'll post Part 2 after I find we have enough volunteers. In the meantime, it would be a good idea to review the list of complaints listed within your chosen county, and look for any patterns in the data. Here is a link on how to get the reports:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=88041&mesg_id=90253&page=

We'll find the fraud if it is here. I have no doubt. :)

Warmly,

George

They can't hide from us here in Cali. :) -G

Hi all,

Here is a list of counties with the screen names of people who volunteered through a couple other threads. I will PM anyone on that list who I see hasn't found this thread yet.

Alameda – caligirl, Ignis?; Alpine; Amador; Butte ; Calaveras ; Colusa ; Contra Costa – Ignis; Del Norte; El Dorado ; Fresno; Glenn; Humboldt; Imperial; Inyo; Kern; Kings; Lake; Lassen; Los Angeles – klebean; Madera; Marin – ccarter84, ailsagirl,; Mariposa ; Mendocino ; Merced; Modoc; Mono; Monterey ; Napa ; Nevada; Orange - masaka___, wigs, Im with rosey; Placer; Plumas; Riverside – Mitchtv; Sacramento ; San Benito; San Bernardino; San Diego – nadinbrzezinski, Liberty Belle,; San Francisco – hangloose; San Joaquin ; San Luis Obispo ; San Mateo; Santa Barbara ; Santa Clara ; Santa Cruz ; Shasta ; Sierra; Siskiyou; Solano ; Sonoma ; Stanislaus; Sutter ; Tehama; Trinity ; Tulare; Tuolumne ; Ventura – Ojai Person; Yolo ; Yuba;

If you are near a county border, please let us know! :)

Thanks again! :) :)

Warmly,

George

:) - G

:) -G

:) -G

:) -G

Hi all,

Also, if any of you know other people who can help us look into California, especially the counties that don't have any volunteers yet, please send them the link! :)

Warmly,

George

kick

kick

Hi all,

We added a few more:

Alameda - caligirl, Ignis?; Alpine; Amador; Butte ; Calaveras ; Colusa ; Contra Costa - Ignis; Del Norte; El Dorado ; Fresno; Glenn; Humboldt; Imperial; Inyo; Kern; Kings; Lake; Lassen; Los Angeles - klebean, mountebank, rumple, SoCalDemGrrl; Madera; Marin - ccarter84, ailsagirl,; Mariposa ; Mendocino ; Merced; Modoc; Mono; Monterey ; Napa ; Nevada; Orange - masaka___, wigs, Im with rosey, Stop Shrub; Placer; Plumas; Riverside - Mitchtv; Sacramento ; San Benito; San Bernardino; San Diego - nadinbrzezinski, Liberty Belle,; San Francisco - hangloose; San Joaquin ; San Luis Obispo ; San Mateo; Santa Barbara ; Santa Clara ; Santa Cruz ; Shasta ; Sierra; Siskiyou; Solano ; Sonoma ; Stanislaus; Sutter ; Tehama; Trinity ; Tulare; Tuolumne ; Ventura - Ojai Person; Yolo ; Yuba;

For those already on the list, please help keep this kicked! :)

Thanks! :) :)

Warmly,

George

Hi all,

If you can help with this project and you live or work in these counties:

Alpine, Butte, Contra Costa, Glenn, Humbolt, Inyo, Marin, Mendocino, Modoc*, Mono, Napa*, Nevada, Plumas*, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara*, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Sonoma

Please try to support this project in a neighboring county that is not on the above list. Please PM me if you live or work in Modoc, Napa, Plumas, or Santa Clara counties just in case the situation changes.

Thanks! :) :)

Warmly,

George

I work there but live in Ventura

as to what you and any others from our area have already researched? I haven't really done anything yet, partially due to a computer virus and because I don't want to duplicate any work that's already been done.

Any suggestions on how we can all get coordinated? If you want to let me know where I should begin, PLEASE do!

Hi Jenn-

I haven't done anything here yet, but this is just an off the top of my head list:

I know Ashcroft was sending DoJ officers here (VC) to "observe". We need to find out about that. Comb the reports online, talk to friends and relatives at the polls to see what they observed.

We need to check our county numbers for all the races. I am as suspicious of the propositions and smaller contests as I am of anything.

I am also curious about absentee ballots and provisionals, as well as how late registrations were handled.

I guess it would help to find out who our election officials are--party affilliation, etc.

It helps knowing there is a fellow DUer on the case. B-)

things and places (i.e. links) that we can check out. i'm still figuring out how to navigate this place, and am having trouble searching for my old posts and responses to it, so i'm not able to find what he posted back to me. when i do though (hopefully this AM) maybe we can divy up his suggestions.

i'm also going to search the papers for strange occurances and complaints as well.

steph miller this morning had a caller from somewhere in Cali saying she had 2 friends who were mysteriously dropped from the voter rolls. both have been long-time voters and had no idea why they were dropped. we may want to look for a pattern there too. i think that being in a blue state people don't report those kinds of problems as much because they know Cal will go blue anyway, so they think their vote isn't as crucial as say in a swing. st.

that folks with otherwise stable residence and voting patterns were dropped off the rolls. I am starting to see signs of a trend: many areas immediatly surrounding areas that were obliterated by machine problems have a respectful number of such registration oddities.

Keep up the great work guys! You'll make a heck of a team!! :) -G

after i post, what is the quickest way for me to get back to where i can check only my posts and the responses to it? i keep it the "back" and "forward" buttons to get there, but that takes forever and I always lose where i left off. know what i mean?

It's only good for posts in the last 24 hours. You can also bookmark your posts using the bookmark button, if you remember.
I get lost all the time, especially since my computer is slow.

Please get back to me if there are specific tasks you find. I am looking at DoJ report of sending observers to VC.

Maybe we can exchange email addresses so that we can communicate outside of the tangled web here?

I'll check back here for your response in a bit. Have to start getting work done now though. :( I wish I could get paid to do this kinda stuff and quit my dumb job.

You can PM or email me from the icons at the top of this message.
Have you talked to Emillereid?

you guys might want to check in with her. :) -G

does it mention other areas? Do you have a link you can post? Thanks! :) :) -G

I think we should try and obtain voter registration rolls and compare total votes vs. signatures. Specifically in Irvine i know for a fact that i could have voted twice if i so desired. This is mainly because a lack of organization not attempted fraud (in my opinion) but this does leave open an extremely easy way to pad the vote. How can I get those rolls, who do i have to contact and what do i have to do. If we each branch out and try and get as many polling places checked maybe we can find enough discrepencies to raise some flags. Irvine is repuke and therefore is an ideal city to pad the overall pop vote. Lets take the gloves off and do this by hand.

kick

kick

kick

Hi all,

I've been going through the EIRS database ( http://voteprotect.org/ )

3250 incidents were reported in the following counties: Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare, Ventura, and Yolo Counties.

Some incidents are simple registration questions, and some indicate as many as hundreds of votes disappearing. It's already looking very odd just based on the complaints we have.

If you have signed up on the thread to volunteer your county, please familiarize yourself with EIRS data for your county. The incedents can be sorted by type. Please make sure to read all machine reports very carefully, but at least scan all the others.

I will be downloading them into a more dynamic database of my own so we can follow-up if need be. For now, just get familiar and please post a reply to this post once you have reviewed your county so I can keep track. :)

- G

Hi caligirl & Ignis,

I get the distinct impression something odd is afoot in Alameda County. I would recommend that somebody find out as quickly and discretely as possible how and where they tabulate their votes (should be a GEMS terminal; they use Diebold).

Also, I can't find the total number of registered voters for the 2004 election. Only 533,000 some voted for President, and 2002 voter registration numbers were at roughly 700,000. In this area I would expect a solid turnout plus a serious get out the vote effort by Dems as the numbers favor them significantly. Also, I thought it was odd that so many less people voted for U.S. Senator, especially with how well known and liked Barbara Boxer is by Dems in that area (I think it was like 5% didn't vote for U.S. Senator... maybe I am reading too much into it).

Alameda has a history of machine problems with over 200 precincts experiencing machine malfunctions during the primaries. Good reason to have plenty of "techs" standing by.

Please post a reply to this post as soon as somebody is able to get info on where and how the votes are centrally tabulated. :)

Thanks!

- G

On how the various cities, or precincts in it voted. Anyone know if it's available on the web? I wonder if Kerry broke 90% in Berkeley.

available Friday; maybe sooner. :) -G

Hi klebean, mountebank, rumple & SoCalDemGrrl,

I have been pooring over the L.A. data, and while the number of incidents are high, by percentage of the population they are relatively low. The concern though is that the reports range from mid-day vote machien switches (which caused vote switching between Sen. Kerry and Mr. Bush) to reports of several hundred early cast votes gone missing.

The best thing to do right now for L.A. is to absorb the reports and get ready to do some investigative work. L.A. is so huge, it's hard to tell where someone would strike and how. I have a feeling we are going to be playing Sherlock Holmes here for a few days before any real pattern emerges.

Once you've had a chance to read through the EIRC reports (carefully read the reports of machine malfunction) and scan through the www.votewatch.us information for Los Angeles, please post a reply to this post so I know we are ready to move ahead. :) :)

(EIRC database: www.voteprotect.org )

Warmly,

George

Maybe I will pick some suspicious polling places from the reports and analyze their precinct data.

I should have more time to work on this after a few days. I am a graduate student in Ecology & Evolution. I'm gearing up for my oral defense. Also, I just got married last weekend and I'm showing my new mother-in-law around Los Angeles! Fortunately, she breaks all stereotypes by being extremely cool.

I've been interested in voting issues for about a year after reading all the BBV threads on DU. I've exchanged some pretty amusing e-mails with Mischelle Townsend among others.

Hi mountebank,

If you find you have some time, could you do some local news searches, yahoo! searches, etc. looking for news of closed session meetings of the Board of Elections, "lock-downs," bomb threats, etc.?

Also, would you have time to find out of the Board of Elections posts its meeting agendas and minutes online? You may have to call. If they say they do not post them online, please ask where the notices are regularly posted, and where you can obtain a copy of recent agendas and minutes.

Whatever you have time for would be great! :)

Warmly,

George
p.s. I have a feeling we will be knee deep in precinct level data soon enough. ;)

I'll keep you posted with what I find. Looks like libertypirate is already diving into the L.A. precinct data, too.

I'll let you know what I find.

George,

o.k. at first glance: a) before election day, the county registrar's office and DMV were either very sloppy, or something happened to the voter registration database input of changes. Or do we also find bags of "sent" mail sitting somewhere?
b) same problem continued into election day. It seems most complaints for machine problems were the Inkadot pens not functioning properly.
c) voter intimidation reports seems relatively few, although I suspect most minorities or new voters rarely officially complain. It would be interesting to find out, if Hispanic, Asian voters had bad experiences, maybe through Spanish and Asian language local stations?
d) Hollywood, some sections of S.F. Valley, Inglewood, Culver City and some inner city areas and Long Beach may have to be scrutinized, since they seem to have a higher incidence of a combination of various complaints.

A major concern are reports of pollworkers! Not having voters sign the book, and how is it that voter lists end up at the wrong polling place.

Next: I would also like to know how many provisional ballots ultimately were cast, and later rejected.

...so LA is using Optiscan...centralized

until later :)

rumpel

Hi rumpel,

Great work sumarizing the LA EIRC data. I agree; the number and type of registration problems in L.A. was slightly peculiar, even givin such a large population. I have noticed similar complaints throughout my list of "red flag" counties.

I agree with your assessment of apparrent hot spots, and it seemed to me Long Beach had a report that possibly hundreds of early votes disappeared.

Question if you have time for follow-up: how does L.A. tabulate its results? Where? You may have to make some calls to find out. I gave some tips on that somewhere up-thread I believe if you need them. :)

Thanks so much for your help with this project! :) :)

Warmly,

George

is miserable. Maybe because I am on Mac, and the downloaded file (an .ets file) needed to convert to Excel, but what I see is a spreadsheet utterly uninformative and not well organized. Maybe you have better luck. The other files are old, one of them had all numbers showing 222222 for some reason.

There is nothing about provisional ballots. It also seems to only give you totals of the races per district. Presidential race is buried in lines #521 thru #529
Other counties do a much better job, it's sad. I hope it is just my computer...

but here's the link

http://rrcc.co.la.ca.us/elect/downrslt.html-ssi

First, thanx for taking the lead on this George.

Ditto much of what rumpel said - lots of folks who registered via DMV submitted reports,
some not on reg rolls; ditto re: rock the vote reg's.

Several reports of polling places running out of provisional vote forms = no vote.

Not enough machines in minority areas.

Minorities who have voted in same precinct for years weren't on rolls this year. Forced to vote PV.

Some suspicious reports to follow-up:

#49946 - poll worker w/roster a No Show, forcing voters to use PVs
#49990 - Registrar arrived late (9:30am) w/voting machines that were missing from supply box - !
#42862 - a caller noticed that names of ppl were listed on the rolls at addresses known to be non-existent, or office bldgs.
#39134 - voters were disturbed to see a huge man stuffing ballots in his jacket pockets. (ballots were unattended, no poll worker at table).

I can work when I want, my family is resigned to my obsession w/this cause - I've got time.
Put me to work.
Kelly

Hi Kelly,

Thanks for checking in! :) :)

L.A. has been giving me a headache, but I have something worth looking into regarding voting machine type and placement. The only problem is that we may have to call directly tomorrow. Here is a link to look at regarding machine type (no word on placement):

http://www.lavote.net/voter/votersystems.htm

When I checked in with the Secretary of State's site and looked up the machine type for L.A., they only listed Inkavote. Turns out there may have been DRE's here as well. What we need to find out is where.

Mind taking a better look at the www.lavote.net site, or anywhere else that might have this data? If not, we will have to call tomorrow and ask them if it is available online. If not, we'll have to start requesting records. :)

Warmly,

George

don't know how you're navigating this beastly thread...
Also, if it becomes necessary, I may possibly be able to get us direct access to the CA AG.

that is, once we get enough together to show that fraud happened here. :) -G

George,

Are you familiar with Ignatzmouse' study of NC election results, particularly his comparison of early results versus election day results? Can you do same for Calif?

point me where!

touchscreens were used in early voting in LA county.

I'll find a number to call tomorrow, unless get info before...

Awesome! Thanks Kelly! :) -G

is so far, impossible to get online (4602 precincts!)

As far as where the DREs were used, just click on (at front page of lavote.net) "early voting"
for a download of a pdf of all locations. Also, on another link, (again on front page)
"voting systems" you can download another pdf justifying DRE lack of VVPT.
Women's league of voters and ACLU supported their use... =/

best I could do.

a couple of things I omitted to mention yesterday (did montebank?)
lots of complaints about being given ballots that appeared to be already used, i.e., "dirty" ballots.
Another was a problem w/a pin # on a machine. I'll look that up to see if in a DRE location.
- K

Thanks! :) -G

.

Hi Rumpel,

Thanks for looking over the reports in the EIRC database. :) It looks like L.A. may also have been using DREs. Kelly is checking for locations (see down-thread).

Likely we'll have more to do tomorrow on the L.A. front. Keep checking back! :) :)

Warmly,

George

I had to do tons of other stuff since my last post.

Last night I checked for other sources possibly posting precinct numbers but all the links I found take me back to the registrar's site. sigh... it would be interesting to compare the problems and the tallies in those precincts.

but this morning I found out that many counties including LA still are counting. Some additional 22,000 or so.
It comes under this article

"Surprise Shift in Prop. 72 Vote Tally"
SACRAMENTO — The fate of a statewide proposition mandating health insurance coverage — assumed to have been defeated in the Nov. 2 election — was thrown into confusion Tuesday night after the secretary of state's office reported that late-counted ballots had given Proposition 72 a narrow margin of victory.
But state elections officials, who had posted the results on the secretary of state's website after the close of business Tuesday, removed them a few hours later, fearing that a clerical error was responsible for the surprising turnaround.

and then at the end

As of 9:50 a.m. Monday, the secretary of state's website reported an estimated 224,000 absentee or provisional ballots uncounted in the state. The most votes believed outstanding were in Contra Costa County, where an estimated 57,000 votes still had to be tallied. Los Angeles County had about 26,000 votes to report, and Monterey County had about 26,000.
Counties, which have 28 days to count all votes, have been reporting updated totals since election day.
"Everybody was updating today, and it sounds like there might have been some glitch," said Elaine Ginnold, a spokeswoman for the Alameda County registrar of voters. Ginnold said such totals are first placed on a computer disc and then transmitted to the secretary of state's office through a computer dedicated to that purpose.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prop1dec01,1,6655841.story?coll=la-headlines-california

need to log in ( I believe it is free)

Also, yesterday in the LA Times, the 2 very close elections in OC, Costa Mesa and La Palma, both Councilmen races this first by 44 votes, the other by 23. They decided not to ask for a recount.
I am not familiar with those races but thought I mention.

I've been looking at. It could be that the data appears skewed because pockets of votes haven't been counted. :) -G

Some info may be helpful here. I will look though it. :)

http://lacounty.info/redistricting/downloads_links.htm

I'm glad I can contribute :)

previous link on downloads:
I can not open exe files. I need Virtual PC. Maybe I will invest in one... meanwhile I tried to see

2000 Total & Voting Age Population & Race/Ethnicity - DOJ Categories
* 2000 Total & Voting Age Population & Race/Ethnicity - Detailed Categories
* 2000 Total & Voting Age Population & Race/Ethnicity - Inclusive Categories
etc.

and please help me keep this kicked so we can get a few more volunteers. :) :) Thanks! :) -G

Please see this related thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x92619

:) -G

checking in! New to DU, found this site just prior to election and haven't stopped reading yet.

Hi dotcosm,

I just went through the EIRC database for Sonoma, and most of the reports or very standard voter registration issues, except for this:

"017391 10/29/04, 2:52 PM PST Voter Intimidation Mary Phillips High School, Santa Rosa, Wake County County, California The caller is a volunteer from California. She was notified of a possible voter intimidation at Mary Phillips high school. She went herself to see if there was a problem and found something could be going on. Voters are being asked to sign a phony looking affidavit stating "I hereby attest under perjury of law, that I am a registered voter" She says that besides this form, voters are being asked to fill out two other ligit looking forms. her concern is that voters are being intimidated. "

Just keep that tucked away for now. :) This is odd, and maybe if it counts we can find out more about it later.

I'll post in reply to your post again in a few minutes... I want to see which areas next to yours need the most attention. Thanks for checking in! :) :)

Warmly,

George

have it tucked away; I looked at the other dozen or so reports too, mostly innocuous as you say.

IT Developer and great Researcher/Data Analysis guy.

Edit: I am compiling a database of all the 131 incidents reported and will publish analysis of this later today.

Hi Broken Acorn,

Here is a link to the EIRC database for Santa Clara county. It has 131 reports, and I just scanned a few of the machine reports and noticed an odd report about a poll worker swapping vote cards out (with the added thought that some kind of chip mught be on it).

https://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapCounty&tab=ALL&state=California&county=Santa+Clara&cat=ALL&start_time=&start_date=&end_time=&end_date=&search=

There might be something in the reported incidents that gets us to sit up and take notice. Mind giving it a look through? :)

Btw, thanks! :) :)

Warmly,

George
(edited to add link)

Geo,

Here is my quick & dirty research on SCC. I agree with you that the 2nd listed Case is disturbing and I will follow up with this later. I will also look at all 3 cases and try to see if there are irregular trends with the precinct results.

Report:

About half of the 131 concerns were just general questions regarding whether the individual was registered and/or where their polling location was. The other half were complaints about not receiving AB.

Only found 3 somewhat unusual complaints which looks like could be the result of poorly trained election officials.

1) Case #33841 & #45065
The Electronic Voting Machines were not working (sounds like all of them) and not enough pens were provided for the paper ballots to keep lines moving.

2) Case #44013
“Caller was voting by regular ballot. She witnessed another voter using a touch screen electronic voting machine. The voter was given a plastic card with a chip in it. The voter was unable to cast his vote using the machine and returned the card to the pollworker. The pollworker ran the card through their machine and found there was already a vote on it. She said, "Oops, there's another one." She placed the card in a box with a few others and provided the voter with a new card. Caller was not sure what the pollworker did with the cards.”

3) Case #48121 & #48139
Voting Machines weren’t ready 30 minutes after polling place opened. Everyone was forced to submit provisional ballots. Polling workers didn’t seem to be processing PV very well. Republican advocates approached voters rudely within the minimum 50 feet of polling location.

Hi Broken Acorn,

It does sound like we had some hardcore Bush loyalists in the Santa Clara vicinity, and the second listed machine case is somewhat disturbing on the surface. Please keep us posted if you find anything more out of this data.

I'll write again in reply to these posts when I have the next set of data or the next step on Santa Clara. In the meantime, would you have time to find out where and how the votes are tabulated? This may require a call to the election board. If they ask why, just be honest; "I am just curious how the machines worked," "I'm not sure I trust the machines all that much, so I would like to know," etc. Their press information/public relations type should be able to find out and call you back if nobody else does.

If they give you any hassles at all, please Pm right away. :) :)

Thanks! :) -G

list. I'll have to check EIRS to see if they made it in.

:) -G

http://www.exit.com/RiversideVoteTest/Nov_2_2004_Riverside_Count_Room_Report.pdf

This is his report of Election Day at Riverside's County registrar of voter's office. Very disturbing.

This is the place I submitted my absentee ballot to. My vote, my most precious democratic right may have been trashed by these people.

Can I put you down to help look into Riverside? :) -G

matter, what my rights are to examinine copy. I'm approximately 1.5 mi from the "House of Irregularities." From the above PDF, I take it there might be some combativeness.

my email: lthuedk(at)pe.net or stephenpitt(at)netscape.com

Hi Ithuedk,

I have yet to go through the EIRC data for Riverside County. It might be good if you familiarize yourself with the incident reports for your area and keep on eye out for odd items and odd patterns. The link to the EIRC database is up-thread somewhat.

When it comes to requesting docs, no worries at all. :) :)

Also, for Riverside, if you have time, could you find out where on the Board of Elections site we can get precinct level data? You might have to put a call into the number listed on their home page and ask. If you find anything please post as a reply to this post here. :)

Thanks for adding yourself to the project! :) :) Once I get through the EIRC data myself, I'll post some followup as a response to these posts here.

Warmly,

George

Re:

https://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapCounty&state=California&county=Riverside&cat=ALL&tab=ALL&pagetop=0

I found a few items (the last of which is interesting):

-In Fontana: Machine problem. 8/10 electronic voting machines not working, with line forming. 033049

-San Jacinto: Voter intimidation: passing out campaign literature within 100 ft of polling place. 038278/038371

-Woodcrest: Neutral observer is being asked to leave school as a safety issue. 040112

-Riverside Airport: Voters who voted by absentee 7-10 days prior, aparently voted again on 11/2. Riverside County is not checking absentee voters off list. 041438

-Murietta: Why voters not I.D.'d? 046368

-Murietta: Machine problem -Forwarded via e-mail to eirhelp: Please help us! Without open examination by impartial computer programming experts of the coding systems used to take, store, transmit and tabulate the electronic votes, and without paper ballot copies to assure a fair recount, the system is illegal, unreliable and clearly open to manipulation - if that has not happened already. I had a questionable experience with the ``black box" voting system this election, and a curt dismissal with ``voter error" is unacceptable. What I experienced was not the result of ``voter error." When I went to push the touch screen to select my choice of candidate, at the lightest touch a gray check appeared next to the name of the Republican candidate. I noticed this and kept pressing, and had to do so quite hard before a green check appeared next to my candidate. I thought this quite odd but figured that the touch screen wasn't as sensitive as it should be, or some random coding problem caused the anomaly. Until I voted for one Republican. The gray check appeared underneath my finger! This suggested to me that this was no random coding problem, and I wondered how many less strong or less observant individuals might not see this. Furthermore, when I completed the candidate section and moved onto the propositions, the touch screen responded correctly to my lightest touch, even in the same regions of the screen that had been touched previously. There is no logical reason that I can see for either of these developments, except for inadequate coding, and the bias for Republican candidates has made me suspicious. I reviewed my ballot and on the screen all appeared well. I did not take down the number of the machine, again believing the circumstance to be an oddity, until my husband spoke to me about his voting experience. He reported that a man had stepped up to one of the machines and then shouted, ``Hey, someone's already voted!" At this a poll worker rebooted the machine. He also told me that he had the same touch screen anomaly, and he was on a different machine. All it would take is one unidentified box in one or even each precinct with inadequate coding to inaccurately and unfairly change the outcome of an important election. Doesn't the idea that exit polls reflecting one outcome and the results of manipulatible polling systems with another outcome suggest to any thoughtful and curious journalist the possibility of foul play, and the need for aggressive investigation? Doesn't my experience suggest to responsible public employees the need to insist on more stringent and fair electronic voting standards? When will you help us? When will you protect us? When will you do everything in your power to ensure our voting rights are protected and to remove all doubt from our minds that the results of an election truly reflect the will of the people.

----------

I'll try to get the precinct data now.

-sp

Awesome job giving us a breakdown of the EIRC data. :)

After we find the location of tghe precint data, we should probably try to find where the central tabulators are/where. This may require some phone calls tomorrow.

Thanks again and please keep us posted! :) :) -G

http://verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=2514

-sp

I'll look up the outcome of the case. I know with Prop. 59 passing they will have a very hard time denying us access. :) -G

the central tabulators are at his location. The totals are then directly transferred to the Secretary of State via T-1 hardwire circuitry.

Stephen

George, here it is. I'm downloading it at a snail's pace. Maybe your connection would be faster. On the menu, click on "Statement of Vote."

http://www.election.co.riverside.ca.us/lmenu.htm

Stephen

DSL there. ;) Thanks! -G

I called the board (951 4867200) and they told me they sell either a CD ($100) of printed version($65)! I don't think you'll be able to open the download.

This might be an issue that needs legal FOI action. Aren't the precinct data publicly accessible?

Stephen

Hi Stephan,

First of all, I was able to download the statement of the vote document, but it is in pdf form, which makes it tough to manipululate the data. I did print out a few things to glance at myself, for now.

As far as charging for the info... hehe

This is where it gets fun. In California we are also protected by the California Public Records Act, which was stregthened by a State Constitutional amendment (Prop 59) on November 3, 2004. The Act, and related Opinion, is very clear about what can be charged for: only the actual costs of the materials necessary to produce the documents. As a matter of fact, the site sells a CD-ROM of voter info for $365 dollars. In my opinion, we should be able to CPRA the file on that CD and get it for free or at cost.

If and when we need data from Riverside County, we will get it. ;)

For further info on the CPRA, open meeting laws and/or Prop. 59, please visit www.cfac.org . :)

Warmly,

George

Hi all,

We added a few more:

Alameda - caligirl, Ignis?; Alpine; Amador; Butte ; Calaveras ; Colusa ; Contra Costa - Ignis; Del Norte; El Dorado ; Fresno; Glenn; Humboldt; Imperial; Inyo; Kern; Kings; Lake; Lassen; Los Angeles - klebean, mountebank, rumple, SoCalDemGrrl; Madera; Marin - ccarter84, ailsagirl,; Mariposa ; Mendocino ; Merced; Modoc; Mono; Monterey ; Napa ; Nevada; Orange - masaka___, wigs, Im with rosey, Stop Shrub; Placer; Plumas; Riverside - Mitchtv, Ithuedk; Sacramento ; San Benito; San Bernardino; San Diego - nadinbrzezinski, Liberty Belle, mary195149; San Francisco - hangloose; San Joaquin ; San Luis Obispo ; San Mateo; Santa Barbara ; Santa Clara - Broken Acorn; Santa Cruz ; Shasta ; Sierra; Siskiyou; Solano ; Sonoma – dotcosm; Stanislaus; Sutter ; Tehama; Trinity ; Tulare; Tuolumne ; Ventura - Ojai Person; Yolo ; Yuba;

For those already on the list, please help keep this kicked! :)

Thanks! :) :)

Warmly,

George

:) -G

:) -G

:) -G

:) -G

Take a look at the photos from a demonstration in California

http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/11/1707625.php


-snip-
"The demonstration, organized by the Wellstone Democratic Club of Silicon Valley, and by The Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley, was to protest the Media's near complete silence concerning voting irregularities in the 2004 presidential election."

lol... I love it! Thanks for the pic and link! :)

By the way, would you like to join us on this "Project California" effort? If so, please let me know and I'll add you to the list. :) :)

:) -G

but I'll be happy to help if I can!

Thanks for offering to help. Are you sure NC isn't going to keep you busy? I would love to get whatever help we can for this project, but we can't ignore the other issues either. :) :)

Did you read Mr. Madsen's third article yet, btw? Perhaps that is one thing I could use help on that isn't so California specific. Mr. Madsen talks about using modems as back doors and that it is the same technique used to adjust gambling odds in Vegas machines. Is this an area you would have any insight in, or any inclination to research? :)

Thanks for checking in, btw! :) :)

Warmly,

George

i have almost all day tomorrow to help out. just let me know what to do! won't be back on DU again until tomorrow morning though...

Hi Jenn197,

I'll also write back before tomorrow morning. I have a little more data to sort through for Ventura County. :)

In the meantime, it might be good to familiarize yourself with the EIRC database reports from Ventura County, keeping an eye out for odd situations or odd patterns. The link is up-thread a bit. :) :)

Thanks for checking in! :)

Warmly,

George

i'm trying to get caught up on all of the threads and links, but i'm still lost. can you direct me to a short summary of the basic situation and what it is you guys want/need me to do? right now, i still don't even know what EIRC reports are.

Right now we are just pooring through some of the ready to go data available to us, like the EIRC database, and other reports of election day mishaps. We've also looked at some of the Secretary of State numbers for the counties to get a feel of what might be out there.

For now, just keep checking back in with the thread, and please give it a kick now and then. :) Fairly soon we'll know better where to focus our efforts. :) -G

somehow?

Hi Jenn1977,

I stated the California focused threads initially for two reasons: 1) Mr. Madsen's statement that fraud took place in CA, 2) CA has amazing sunshine laws, and if it is here we will find it or it will be obvious who is hiding it.

I figured as long as we didn't invest any more time than was warranted, we would have a chance at seeing if Mr. Madsen's statements will pan out. Also, worst case, nothing pans out in CA, but us Californians get familiar with each other in time to possibly help with the recount effort in Nevada, or for those who don't mind a drive/flight, New Mexico.

So yes, this has a lot to do with Mr. Madsen's statements. The focus of Part 1 of this project is to get a few more of us together and ready while looking for any odd reports or patterns in the ready to go data. Once these oddities are identified, we can hone in on the particulars and try to get some answers. This is where a larger number of ready to go volunteers is at its most critical: we may need folks to poor over data, do analysis (including stats work) and help process records requests, etc.

If Mr. Madsen's statements are proven here in CA, we will cut through the media like a hot knife through warm margarine. This is an ideal ground to look for and expose fraud, should it exist.

Hope that help! :)

Warmly,

George

as well as this thread, and, while it is always a good thing to uncover voting irregularities and fraud, I think time would be better spent on the battleground states at this point.

:think:

Hi intelle,

I've been wrestling with a balance on both as well. The one good thing about California is that if fraud happened here, we will find it or it'll be obvious who is hiding it. We have excellent sunshine laws here. If we find fraud here, we can break through the media gridlock like a hot knife through warm margarine. Keep in mind I AM former media here in L.A. (wrote and edited for a couple years, anyway; fed to CNN radio & AP on occasion) and have an idea how things work down here. ;) We'll get covered if we find something hard and credible to report. Beyond that, if the data is telling enough, we may narrow it down to the perp. I would love nothing more than to get California's AG looking at this mess.

Just know that I started this effort after I gave the numbers a hard look myself, and saw some patterns that were of concern. I'm also focused on keeping our collective time investment low unless something breaks. :) I agree that our collective person-power should not be spent frivolously. :) :)

I think we have made some excellent progress in the battleground states, but I do feel Iowa is being a little too ignored. Anyone reading this post that is NOT from California should try to support the swing state efforts. :) :) :)

Warmly,

George

I live in Oak Park, have access to lots of research tools like Lexis-Nexis; have some statistics in my background; have done lots of research; and have lots of free time just now (unemployed). I am the Ways and Means chair of my local democratic club and am a member of DFA.

ity kick kick kick

JTT

Hi Emillereid,

Thank you for joining us! I will add you to our volunteer list. :)

There is something I am wondering if you can help me with, but I will have to PM you or arrange a phone call. ;) It's still a little fuzzy, but I'm starting to see a minor pattern emerge in the data I am looking at and want to run some other data against the theory.

I'll Pm in a few. :)

Warmly,

George

Do we have a plan yet?

Did you see where Ashcroft said that Ventura County was one where he was sending DoJ observers?

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/politics/comments.php?id=4411_0_13_0_C

I don't have any news of this from the election. Do you?

See post 72, it's easier to read through there. Should you, Emillereid, and I divy these up somehow? I'm ready and willing to take orders too if you guys already have devised a plan. Can we communicated separately from these threads? They're driving me crazy right now. I'm driving home and will get back online around 6 or so. Please please let me know what I can do to help. I tried to do # 3 below last night, but my computer at home is kinda f'ed up so I wasn't able to download the information. But just about anything else I can do.

Talk to you guys soon! Has anyone checked the papers for stories/info yet?


From mountebank, post #72:
1) Do you live in California? If yes, continue to 2. (People not in CA should probably focus on swing states for their work.)
2) Which county do you live in?
3) To get a better handle on some irregularities occurring near you, read reports of voting irregularities for your county at this web site: https://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapNation&...
4) Look for local media reports on precinct lockdowns, bomb threats, or other interruptions of voting (this ties in with Wayne Madsen's hypothesis of how voting was rigged: http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/112504Mads... )
4) Look at your county's numbers on the SoS web site: http://vote2004.ss.ca.gov/Returns/pres/00.htm
5) Compare vote percentages to percent registered Republican and Democrat and compare to 2000 totals looking for fishy changes.
5) Find precinct data if possible for your county (google Registrar of Voters and your county - first look to see if someone else is doing it)
6) Get % Democratic and Republican registration per precinct and look for fishy results (this could be a HUGE project for some counties - not to be attempted lightly)
7) Try to get from your county numbers for absentee/early voting and voting at the poll on election day (a la ignatzmouse's analysis of NC: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... )
This may require calling your registrar of voters.
8) Post info including media reports and results of your analyses under your county.

I read through the threads but am still a little unclear on what you need people to do?

i'm trying to catch up on the old threads and links provided but it'll take me half a day just to get through it all! i want to help but i'm lost.

1) Do you live in California? If yes, continue to 2. (People not in CA should probably focus on swing states for their work.)
2) Which county do you live in?
3) To get a better handle on some irregularities occurring near you, read reports of voting irregularities for your county at this web site: https://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapNation&cat=ALL&tab=ALL&pagetop=50
4) Look for local media reports on precinct lockdowns, bomb threats, or other interruptions of voting (this ties in with Wayne Madsen's hypothesis of how voting was rigged: http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/112504Madsen/112504madsen.html)
4) Look at your county's numbers on the SoS web site: http://vote2004.ss.ca.gov/Returns/pres/00.htm
5) Compare vote percentages to percent registered Republican and Democrat and compare to 2000 totals looking for fishy changes.
5) Find precinct data if possible for your county (google Registrar of Voters and your county - first look to see if someone else is doing it)
6) Get % Democratic and Republican registration per precinct and look for fishy results (this could be a HUGE project for some counties - not to be attempted lightly)
7) Try to get from your county numbers for absentee/early voting and voting at the poll on election day (a la ignatzmouse's analysis of NC: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=45003)
This may require calling your registrar of voters.
8) Post info including media reports and results of your analyses under your county.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

i'm going to get started now. has anyone else from my area signed up? if so i'll start searching the threads to see what they've found so far.

:headbang:

Hi again,

I just replied to you up-thread from here as well. :)

Ojai Person and Emillereid have also checked in from Ventura. I am posting regular updates on who is trying to help in any particular county. As soon as the situation warrants I will start a new thread and it will be easier to see the latest in each county. :) :)

Warmly,

George

I heard a caller on the Stephanie Miller show this morning that was talking about 2 of her friends that have been voting in CA for years (6 and 12) and when they went to vote this Nov. 2 they were told that they couldn't vote because their names weren't on the rolls. The woman didn't say where she was from in Cali, but it sparked a couple of ideas...

1) i'm thinking of emailing Stephanie Miller and Randi Rhodes (they seem to be the 2 hosts that are following the voting "irregularities" daily) and asking them to ask listeners in Cali to send in any problems/strange occurances while voting/etc to a central email address or something. do you think this would be helpful? if so, maybe a bunch of us should start a mini email campaign to grab their (miller & rhodes) attention to this?

2) maybe disappearing names from voter rolls should be something we look into specifically too. being in a blue state, i bet there are more out there that stuff like this happened to but didn't report it because they know they live in a blue state

Hi Jenn1977,

I responded to the other post on registration irregularities up-thread as well. (We'll be in a new thread soon...)

I think you hit on an excellent idea. I have looked across the State now for patterns in the EIRC reports, etc., and believe strongly that the registration issues pattern themselves across several counties. I can't tell you how many reports I have read that say roughly, "I lived at x address for 20 years, have voted at the same polling place for x years, and on Nov. 2nd I was told I could not vote because I was not on the rolls." Way too often.

These odd registration problems should not be happening at all, let alone at the rate they would have had to occur for us to see so many reports in the EIRC database.

Please do try to get some radio support for gathering reports of people who "dropped" off of the rolls. Perhaps they can post the responses on a section of their website. :)

Thanks for all your efforts! :) :)

Warmly,

George

I'll make a few posts on their sites, and try to get through to them on the phone, AND possibly start a new thread to ask DU'ers to email Rhodes and Miller about this with a clear and concise message AND subject line. I'll try to come up with a draft this afternoon/evening.

:) -G

Masden cited four or five CA counties as being sites of tampering. I have been looking for that. Will look again now. I know Kern County was on the list.

It seems it would be good to compare these with the voting numbers by county, which was on another thread posted by shraby, I believe.

machine type. I'll keep you posted as I find more in this area. :) -G

Ashcroft announced he was sending DoJ "observers" to Ventura, San Benito, and San Diego Counties, in CA. Any reports of anyone seeing them?

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/politics/comments.php?id=4411_0_13_0_C

but not in Ventura. I'll ask her if she saw anything weird.

Btw, which county or counties are local to you? :)

Right now we are just pooring through some of the ready to go data available to us, like the EIRC database, and other reports of election day mishaps. We've also looked at some of the Secretary of State numbers for the counties to get a feel of what might be out there.

For now, just keep checking back in with the thread, and please give it a kick now and then. Fairly soon we'll know better where to focus our efforts. -G

In San Francisco. So since I am here I thought I could help :)

I'll add you to the project list for San Francisco! :) -G

:) -G

Support
32, F
new to DU
good analytical skills

support.

don't have too much time (been working 15-18 hour days recently) but willing to do whatever i can to help.

also new to DU.

good design skills... analytical skills are unfortunatly a little more iffy....

Thanks for joining us, busy shecule and all! :)

I'll add you to our project list. :) :)

For both you and Polojones: The main thing right now is to look at the ready to go data we have for each area, seeing if any odd report or trend emerges. Up-thread somewhat you will see a link to the EIRC database, which would be a great start. If you see anything notable, please post a reply in response to this post here.

Thanks to both of you! :) :)

Warmly,

George

Glad to have you! I'm adding you to our project list! :) -G

Support and coordinate? not sure what i will be doing though. Guess i'll dive in.
Stay at home mom, have a fax and copy machine.

Hi caligirl,

I believe I added you to the project list from one of the earlier threads.

I've looked over the EIRC data and the county-wide totals posted on the Secretary of State's website. I also noticed that Alameda had over 200 precincts affected by machine problems during the primary, and that the same equipment was in place Nov. 2nd. Definite red flags.

Would you have time to find a link to precinct by precinct data, or if it can't be found, give the Board of Elections folks a quick call to ask how it can be viewed (preferably in electronic form)?

Thanks! -G

site doesn't do it by prec. so I'll call to get the info.

I also thought I would look at the Chronicle for election results. Some of our papers had it by precinct in the past. I'll be looking for electronic form.

:) -G

Richmond, to be specific.

Not sure how hectic life is going to be with moving but I'll just have to find a way to help. I may be able to get some friends involved, too.

I'll add you to the project list for Alameda County! Have a safe move!! :) -G

NOV 30 2004: Today's lawsuit was filed naming Teresa LaPore as defendant, citing her for failure to comply with the Black Box Voting public records request of Nov. 2, 2004.

Black Box Voting filed the lawsuit this morning in Palm Beach County, served it per Florida law on LaPore's attorney. Black Box Voting then made a surprise visit to the podium at the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections meeting held today in Orlando, where LaPore was scheduled to make a speech on records retention.

Check out the link update>.. Bev Harris at her best {BBV}
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/#lawsuit2

Anyone who fights so vigilantly for government transperancy is a godess in my book! :) - G

Cobb asks Bush administration to provide non-partisan support as well for the recount effort! Great news!

From the Cobb website, here: http://www.votecobb.org/press/2004/nov/pr2004-11-30b.ph...

<snip>
Statement From the Green Party Presidential Campaign Concerning John Kerry's Intervention in Ohio Recount Court Case
Kerry-Edwards campaign files papers in Ohio to intervene in legal proceedings in defense of Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb, Libertarian Michael Badnarik

Ohio — Today, attorneys representing the Kerry-Edwards campaign filed papers in Delaware County, Ohio to intervene in legal proceedings in defense of Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb, Libertarian Michael Badnarik and their legal counsel, the National Voting Rights Institute, who are seeking a recount of all votes cast for president in the Ohio 2004 general election.<

:) -G

Hi all,

We added a few more:

Alameda - caligirl, Ignis?; Alpine; Amador; Butte ; Calaveras ; Colusa ; Contra Costa - Ignis; Del Norte; El Dorado ; Fresno; Glenn; Humboldt; Imperial; Inyo; Kern; Kings; Lake; Lassen; Los Angeles - klebean, mountebank, rumple, SoCalDemGrrl, Emillereid; Madera; Marin - ccarter84, ailsagirl,; Mariposa ; Mendocino - ourbluenation; Merced; Modoc; Mono; Monterey ; Napa ; Nevada; Orange - masaka___, wigs, Im with rosey, Stop Shrub; Placer; Plumas; Riverside - Mitchtv, Ithuedk; Sacramento ; San Benito; San Bernardino; San Diego - nadinbrzezinski, Liberty Belle, mary195149; San Francisco - hangloose, Polojones, Republikkkon ; San Joaquin ; San Luis Obispo ; San Mateo; Santa Barbara ; Santa Clara - Broken Acorn; Santa Cruz ; Shasta ; Sierra; Siskiyou; Solano ; Sonoma – dotcosm; Stanislaus; Sutter ; Tehama; Trinity ; Tulare; Tuolumne ; Ventura - Ojai Person, Jenn197, Emillereid ; Yolo ; Yuba;

For those already on the list, please help keep this kicked! :)

Thanks! :) :)

Warmly,

George

If I can do anything (besides money - tapped out), let me know.

- Lux

Thanks! :) -G

Can I pm you?

Or email you through DU??

important!!

ailsa

:) -G

:) -G

Placer County

2000 Gore.....42,449.....36.1%.......Bush......69,835.......59.53%

2004 Kerry....55,573.....36.4%.......Bush......95,969.......62.8%

2004 Boxer....59,554.....39.8%.......Jones.....85,163.......56.8%

2004 Kerry increase .3% Bush increase 3.27%


Sacramento County


2000 Gore.....212,792....49.4%.......Bush......195,619......45.4%

2004 Kerry....236,657....49.6%.......Bush......235,539......49.3%

2004 Boxer....252,016....54.2%.......Jones.....196,984......42.4%

2004 Kerry increase .2% Bush increase 3.9%

Call me crazy, but it sure looks like 3-4% vote shift from Kerry to Bush

This could show that even more was due Sen. Kerry this round. :) -G

Placer

2000 3rd party...5515 ...4.6%

2004 3rd party...1408 ...0.8%

Sacramento

2000 3rd party....23,137...5.2%

2002 3rd party....4569.....1.1%

I don't really see anything here, 3-4% shift away from 3rd party candidates in 2004

:) -G

wow.

I witnessed a Republican woman tearing up a stack of registration forms and thrwoing them in hte trash. I also witnessed poll workers sending people away and not telling them about provisional ballots. People I know who worked as poll workers were instructed NOT to advise people of their right to a paper ballot. The availability of paper ballots had been mandated by Kevin Shelley. I understand that Spanish ballots were unavailable during the early part of the day in some precincts.

In California, not all ballots are being counted and, if they were, it could change the results of two propositions.

If you need help with this county let me know.

I can help in Sacramento or Placer

Seito

Hi Sieto,

I'll add you to the project list for both counties. Would you have time to scan tghe EIRC database and report back with any odd reports or odd patterns for these counties? :) :)

Thanks! :)

- G

Placer county:

9 incidents, 2 reports of voter intimidation/registration problems Looks like a high school the same high school.

In Roseville, outside Sacto, high school kids told that couldn't registrar for party that they wanted -- only let Republican voter registration table into a highschool and kids told that could only vote Republican

Father went to high school in Roseville, CA to register high school students to vote. However, he was told by some senior high school students that he shouldn't be registering people to vote and they were under the impression that they should only vote Republican. Father does not know who told the students that they can only vote Republican.

but not to much abnormal reported with the machines. - G

The were 95 reported incidents

The pattern seems to be voters not receiving registration materials and absentee ballots.

It seems like there is a lot of those kind of reports in the region. Thanks for scanning through! :) -G

She said men were driving around in trucks with big signs that said "A Vote for Kerry is a Vote for Gay Sex" or something. This is one of those counties like Kern, maybe--a hotbed of RW activity.

See my post above with the comparative results for Sac and Placer counties. It seems that there is a pattern of approximately 3-4% increase in the Bush votes compared with a .2-.3% increase in Kerry votes.

Placer county is a conservative portion of CA, but Sacramento is not. It surprised me to see that Kerry won Sacramento county by only 1118 votes.

Hi genius,

Did you report this to anyone? Please Pm me with the details if you have time. :)

A little ways up-thread there is a link to an article that talks about Prop. 71 flipping... it appears we still have several votes to count in CA. The article tells us where and by how much.

Have you had a chance to review the data in the EIRC database for Orange County? The link is higher up-thread if you need it. :) :)

Thanks for checking in! :)

Warmly,

George

kick

Is to kick for yourself...

sometimes it takes a few kicks to get the dicussion going, especially when it is particular to a geographic area because people tend to come and go in waves. :) -G

George,

Need input. I made a spreadsheet based on the same theory of someone's post . I think for Ohio: comparing total votes cast for a liberal local judge and Kerry votes cast.

Comparing Kerry Bush total votes with Boxer Bil Jones total votes. Calculated difference & %. Looks quite interesting.
Also made calculation with the asumption that all Dems vote for Kerry & Boxer, and all Rep's vote for Bush & Jones. Data based on registered voter total.

Also put in machine type and vendor as per verifyvote.org info.
Numbers are from CA Sec of State.
Did not include other parties at this time.

Just based on rough assumption.

Too big to post? Maybe make jpg, but then it will be to small to read...

can e-mail excel file too.

Hi Rumpel,

Great work. I did that for a few counties as I looked at the data. I noticed, for instance, how much Boxer was outpacing Kerry in the bluest parts of the State. Very odd.

Yeah. I would love to see the excell file. :) :)

I have the vendor and machine type for county. Good there.

I think we almost have enough to move to part ii. I just need to get a few more pieces locked down. :)

Warmly,

George

via e-mail

hope it makes sense :)

it says I can't use this feature. too few posts, I'll change my settings so you can e-mail me first.

But I just got an idea like to share. From what I've glimpsed in Ohio and now what (you're saying) may have happened in Cal. as well, it might be good if some studies could be made in states where fraud was absent(if that occurred) to see if any similar trend was there or not.
Then again maybe this is not really too worthwhile. Any thoughts?

even if it is just satisfying curiosity for comparisons.

I just came across a website (I am still looking to find a list of precincts for LA County) which was a vendor convention of voting equipment which was held in NY. I did not realize that there are so many equipment manufactuers, since all over the country you basically just hear about 3 or so.

It may be that if all States had a similar result based on particular machines could it not mean that certain machines are unreliable, and if only certain States using the same machines had questionable outcomes, well...it may mean somethng else?...

It would require tedious work...

I've been wrestling with who much time to invest where in California myself. In a perfect world we would have standard auditing processes that would work quickly across the board, but at this point we are having to be a little picky choosy where we invest our time.

I think the conclusion I came to is to do kind of an 80-20 split. Focus about 80% (not an exacting thing) on the most probable areas to turn up fraud and about 20% collecting at least surface data on the others. For instance, before we finish this project here in California we will have given at least a surface audit to the whole State, while going so deep into the problem areas it makes anyone who was at all complicit squirm and tell on themselves.

So in answer to your question, sure it is worth it, but there is the matter of resource allocation. We are lucky in CA to have so many able and willing DU members ready to tear into anything remotely suspicious.

Hope that helps. :)

Warmly,

George

Hi all,

Since posting this thread we have made some good progress in getting a feel for what is going on with the California vote. Some of the more sensative areas, we've exchanged Pms or e-mails, so all the data is not on the thread.

I recieved some information this morning closely related to Mr. Madsen's statements about a California fix. Beyond that, us DUrs have pin pointed a few other areas that warrant examination. I myself, having poored almost 18 hours of the last 24 into this, have seen a couple of patterns emerge that seem related.

Part II of this project will break us into two teams (we may go back to counties later). The North team and the South team. I have two target counties in mind, but I want to do a little more homework before making an announcement and possibly tipping others off that we are at work.

Once again, I appreciate all the work several of you have invested in checking this out. If you are in the two key counties I may be contacting you directly to see if we can build better ground support for any effort we make by interfacing with local college clubs, etc.

In the meantime, please visit CFAC's website at www.cfac.org and familiarize yourself somewhat with your rights to records access and public meetings. Even if you don't find yourself using it here, it is good to know.

Until I start the new thread, keep posting here. Also, feel free to Pm, e-mail or call (Pm me for the number) should you need to at any time... don't even wait to ask. :) :)

Warmly,

George

by Schwarzenegger through a special election according to LA Times today. My immediate reaction: Texas with a twist.
makes this project even more important.

our Honorable Governator has some fairly radical "reform" ideas, doesn't he? :) -G

I was waiting on an e-mail and just got it. ;) I'll try to get Part II rolling tomorrow. -G

Hi all,

We added a few more:

Alameda - caligirl, Ignis?, darthdemocrat; Alpine; Amador; Butte ; Calaveras ; Colusa ; Contra Costa - Ignis; Del Norte; El Dorado ; Fresno; Glenn; Humboldt; Imperial; Inyo; Kern; Kings; Lake; Lassen; Los Angeles - klebean, mountebank, rumple, SoCalDemGrrl, Emillereid; Madera; Marin - ccarter84, ailsagirl,; Mariposa ; Mendocino - ourbluenation; Merced; Modoc; Mono; Monterey ; Napa ; Nevada; Orange - masaka___, wigs, Im with rosey, Stop Shrub, genius; Placer - Sieto; Plumas; Riverside - Mitchtv, Ithuedk; Sacramento - Sieto; San Benito; San Bernardino; San Diego - nadinbrzezinski, Liberty Belle, mary195149; San Francisco - hangloose, Polojones, Republikkkon, nodehopper ; San Joaquin ; San Luis Obispo ; San Mateo; Santa Barbara ; Santa Clara - Broken Acorn; Santa Cruz ; Shasta ; Sierra; Siskiyou; Solano ; Sonoma – dotcosm; Stanislaus; Sutter ; Tehama; Trinity ; Tulare; Tuolumne ; Ventura - Ojai Person, Jenn197, Emillereid ; Yolo - luxpara; Yuba;

For those already on the list, please help keep this kicked! :)

Thanks! :) :)

Warmly,

George

:) -G

Ashcroft announced he was sending Dept. of Justice "observers" to selected counties around the country. These 3 were on his list in CA.

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/politics/comments.php?id=4411_0_13_0_C

Please post here if you find any reports about it.

what's Ashcroft's angle? I'll google for any mention of a formal report by the observers. If we don't find it we can put in a call and/or FOIA request it and see what they say. - G

I am limited as far as time and am a complete newbie at this kind of investigating, but I would be happy to do what I can.

I'll see what I can find out tomorrow (day off) and let me know if there's anything specific you're looking for here.

Any other Cruzers wanna give me a hand? Or hold my hand?!!



And THANK YOU Geo for leading the charge.

O8)

I'm adding you to the project list for Santa Cruz County. :) I think we are about ready to jump to a Part 2 thread sometime before tomorrow, so you may want to post there if you notice it. In the meantime, if you have time I would recommend looking through the EIRC database reports for Santa Cruz County, looking for odd reports or odd patterns in the data.

Thanks for checking in! :) :)

Warmly,

George

Live in San Jose, but commute past there every day. I would be willing work with you in your county as well if you need help.

Me = Computer/IT/Software Professional :)

George,

Since I learned on other threads of the letter to Mr. Blackwell, and also learned that Mr. Madsen met with Mr. Conyers, I decided to provide him with my chart. He is the only one with an actual e-mail address. I hope it's ok.
Question D in the letter to Mr. Blackwell it says:

"In Butler County, a Democratic Candidate for State Surpreme Court, C. Ellen Connally received 59,532 votes. In contrast, the Kerry-Edwards ticket received only 54,185 votes, 5000 less than the Supreme Court candidate."

then

"While you may have found an explanation for these bizarre results, it appears to be wildly impausible that 5000 voters waited in line to cast a vote for an underfunded Democratic Supreme Court candidate and then declined to cast a vote for the most well-funded Democratic Presidential campaign in history."

This is my e-mail to him: ( I realize I called the Supreme Court candidate " judiciary nominee" oops)

Honorable Congressman Conyers,

Thank you for checking into the irregularities of the recent election.
I am quite concerned of the issues at hand, and regardless of the final outcome find it of utmost importance to make sure that our democracy prevails.
I have read your letter to the Secretary of State, Mr. Blackwell of Ohio, and of particular interest to me was the question of Democratic Judiciary nominee vs. the Kerry undervotes.

Based on the article of Mr. Wayne Madsen stating there was widespread padding of votes in California (my State), I have created an excel chart showing the difference of our Senate race vote total and presidential race total. Here, too I see a great number of undervotes, which is quite peculiar to me since I believe the majority of voters, who would cast a vote for Senator Boxer, would be highly likely to also vote for Mr. Kerry.

In the same chart I also calculated the difference of votes for the Senatorial candidate Mr. Bill Jones and Mr. Bush, even though it is widely reported that Mr. Jones campaign lacked the funds and therefore outreach to voters.

Out of 58 counties a total of 45 counties show less votes cast for Senator Kerry than Senator Boxer.
Out of 58 counties a total of 55 counties show more votes cast for Mr. Bush than Mr. Jones.

Although the presidential race outcome of each county would not be reversed except in one county, namely, San Joaquin, I believe the undervotes at best represent a gross malfunction of some tallying machines used.


The data I used are the official tallies per county posted on the Secretary of State website as of Dec 1, 04.

You and your staff are far better equipped with knowledge to evaluate this data. I hope the enclosed data sheet helps your overall investigation.

Sincerely,
xxx

Alameda:
Kerry 422,585 Boxer 403,8892 Dif: 18,693
Bush 130,911 Jones 107,966 Dif. 22,945
Total registered republicans 132,260 Republican voter turnout must have been 99% or some of the "deline to state" voters representing 157,370 voters voted for Bush.

FYI

I was doing some more research with the actul results and found a trend similar what we are seeing in Ohio, NC and other questionable areas.

Here are the differences between Pres/Senate per party.

Kerry: 64.07%
Boxer: 66.00%

Difference: Kerry -1.03%

Bush: 34.70%
Jones: 29.83%

Difference: Bush +4.87%

That's a 5.9% vote swing for Bush along party lines.

I would also argue that Jones raised tons of money and, although never a serious threat to Boxer, had a big ad/media campaign in the state. I could understand a 1-3% vote swing, but almost 6% looks awfully suspicious.

Gore: 60.7%
Feinstein: 59.6%

Difference: Gore +1.1%

Bush: 34.4%
Campbell: 35.0%

Difference: Bush -0.6%


0.5% vote swing for Gore in 2000
5.9% vote swing for Bush in 2004

Something is definitely up with these results.
I noticed that Santa Clara County voted 21.1% absentee in 2004.
That seems like a very high number of ballots in my opinion, but I will need to compare with 2000 first.

Total cast for Kerry
422,585 74.9%
BARBARA BOXER (DEM) 403892 75.6 Kerry - 0.7%

Total cast for Bush
130,911 23.2%
BILL JONES (REP) 107966 20.2% Bush +3%

Ballots not casting a vote for President
7,173

Off the SOS site.

2000 Alameda County

Total registered voters
669,918 D380,412 R137,117 Ind. 10,802 G13,077 All other 128,510

Total ballots cast
502,045 74.9%
Total for Gore 342,889 69.4% Bush Total 119,279 24.2%

Total for D.Feinstein 67.7 Tom Campbell 22.6
328,355 109,517

you meant total registered voters

Alameda was one of the first to get the touchscrren machine in 2002.

In 2000 punch card
Bush(119,279 votes ) was 1.6% ahead of Tom Campell. 109,517 votes
No touch screens were used

But in 2004, with touchscreen
Bush(130,911) was ahead of Jones(107,966) +3%

in registered Dems in Alameda. I have to see if there has been a rise in "decline to state" voters

Please see my thread here:
<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x108401>

<http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/touchscreen.htm>

<http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/november2004_pmp_report.pdf> (203 pp with appendices)

The California Secretary of State has completed their report of testing the accuracy of the touch screen voting machines used in ten California counties - six were Sequoia, two were Diebold, one was Hart/eSlate, and one was ES&S. The accuracy was near 100%.

But the state was clear that this level of testing was not enough. On the first page they wrote: "Notwithstanding this additional level of testing, there are forms of malicious code that could affect the accuracy of a voting system that would not be detected by federal, state, local or parallel testing. Other detection methods, such as the Accessible Voter Verification Paper Audit Trail (AVVPAT), are necesary to expose these types of election tampering."

Among the ten counties using touch screen, Riverside stood out for two reasons – it insisted on changing the random methodology of the state’s testing procedure and it did not print out results directly to the state testers, because its DREs could not print. Instead it took out the memory cards of the tested machines the next day and sent them overnight to Sacramento. Why didn’t the state testers take the memory cards with them when they left on election night?

Also, the touch screens used in LA county for the early voting were not tested at all by the state.

Tim, in Petaluma

Hi Tim,

Great post. I will take a look at this info right now.

I can't believe L.A.'s machines were not tested at all. That might be worth a quick press release. I'll check it out.

I'll add you to our project list for Sonoma County. Thanks for checking in! :) :)

Warmly,

George

I think I already responded to this but I'm not seeing myself in the list of volunteers so thought I'd respond again. Don't know if I'd have the experience to coordinate - not even really sure where we'd start - BUT would be happy to support and would be willing to try to do whatever is needed. My "real name" is Lila and I live in Culver City (sort of heart of LA County) - I'm an attorney (though not a litigator, I do real estate transactional work), I've been an online activist for a dozen years now and fought really hard this election and before the 2000 election against Bush and worked Election Protectin in Florida as a poll monitor attorney. Don't know what else you might need to know, but would be glad to provide any additional info. you'd like. Let me know what I can do!

Hi Lila,

Several of us took a look at the EIRC database trying to get a feeling for odd reports or patterns in the data. The link is further up-thread.

I've targeted two counties for a hard look so far, and once I get good data from these counties I will gather us together into North and South teams to crunch that data. By that time just about every county should have their Statement of Vote published, and we can pursue the necessary records to compare that against to give each county a quick spreedsheet audit. I'm just trying to digest enough data myself to have a handle on where this thing is going.

By the way, are you familiar with www.cfac.org ?

Thanks for checking in! :) :)

Warmly,

George

Very familiar with geography and people of certain areas of California--SB/Riverside, parts of L.A. (Hollywood, West L.A., beach cities), coastal No. Calif. (just no. of SF), and, to lesser extent SF/Bay area, central valley, and SD.

Cannot travel to review election records, but CAN do internet research, political analysis, and other kinds of analysis (like simple number crunching).

Give me assignments. Time: some time Sat. morning 12/4, but much more time starting Sun. 12/5, for a couple of days.

I'll add you to the San Bernardino part of the project list, barring any objections, but will keep in mind your flexubility with crunching numers, analysis, etc.

I'm hoping we'll have enough to really get going shortly. :)

Thanks for checking in! :) :)

Warmly,

George

Hi all,

We added a few more:

Alameda - caligirl, Ignis?, darthdemocrat; Alpine; Amador; Butte ; Calaveras ; Colusa ; Contra Costa - Ignis; Del Norte; El Dorado ; Fresno; Glenn; Humboldt; Imperial; Inyo; Kern; Kings; Lake; Lassen; Los Angeles - klebean, mountebank, rumple, SoCalDemGrrl, Emillereid, TruthOutDawg; Madera; Marin - ccarter84, ailsagirl,; Mariposa ; Mendocino - ourbluenation; Merced; Modoc; Mono; Monterey ; Napa ; Nevada; Orange - masaka___, wigs, Im with rosey, Stop Shrub, genius; Placer - Sieto; Plumas; Riverside - Mitchtv, Ithuedk; Sacramento - Sieto; San Benito; San BernardinoPeace Patriot?; San Diego - nadinbrzezinski, Liberty Belle, mary195149; San Francisco - hangloose, Polojones, Republikkkon, nodehopper ; San Joaquin ; San Luis Obispo ; San Mateo; Santa Barbara ; Santa Clara - Broken Acorn; Santa Cruz - pantouflard; Shasta ; Sierra; Siskiyou; Solano ; Sonoma – dotcosm, chorti; Stanislaus; Sutter ; Tehama; Trinity ; Tulare; Tuolumne ; Ventura - Ojai Person, Jenn197, Emillereid ; Yolo - luxpara; Yuba;

For those already on the list, please help keep this kicked! :)

Thanks! :) :)

Warmly,

George

Title: "Cingular Wireless Wins L.A. County, Orange County Registrar Offices' Votes"
Agencies Order Wireless Services From Cingular for Combined 6,500 Mobile Phones to Keep Connected with Polling Places During Elections 

http://www.investorideas.com/IIW/News/Cingular_Wireless.asp

Just FYI

wireless vote transmissions. This could not be good... I'll take a look. - G

Hi all,

We added a few more:

Alameda - caligirl, Ignis?, darthdemocrat; Alpine; Amador; Butte ; Calaveras ; Colusa ; Contra Costa - Ignis; Del Norte; El Dorado ; Fresno; Glenn; Humboldt; Imperial; Inyo; Kern; Kings; Lake; Lassen; Los Angeles - klebean, mountebank, rumple, SoCalDemGrrl, Emillereid, TruthOutDawg, bardgal; Madera; Marin - ccarter84, ailsagirl,; Mariposa ; Mendocino - ourbluenation; Merced; Modoc; Mono; Monterey ; Napa ; Nevada; Orange - masaka___, wigs, Im with rosey, Stop Shrub, genius; Placer - Sieto; Plumas; Riverside - Mitchtv, Ithuedk; Sacramento - Sieto, Gyre; San Benito; San BernardinoPeace Patriot?; San Diego - nadinbrzezinski, Liberty Belle, mary195149, jagsd01*, MindPilot, MsLeopard; San Francisco - hangloose, Polojones, Republikkkon, nodehopper, Gyre ; San Joaquin ; San Luis Obispo - pauldp; San Mateo; Santa Barbara ; Santa Clara - Broken Acorn; Santa Cruz - pantouflard; Shasta ; Sierra; Siskiyou; Solano ; Sonoma – dotcosm, chorti; Stanislaus; Sutter ; Tehama; Trinity ; Tulare; Tuolumne ; Ventura - Ojai Person, Jenn197, Emillereid ; Yolo - luxpara; Yuba;

For those already on the list, please help keep this kicked! :)

Thanks! :) :)

Warmly,

George

Here is maybe useful info for all counties. I am still figuring out how to use it. Maps. precinct, zip code and census info.

Main page link:

http://swdb.berkeley.edu/

and

county info link (have to know what all those titles mean, sigh)

http://swdb.berkeley.edu/data/d00/g02_geo_conv.html

:) -G

http://www.votersunite.org/electionproblems.asp



Let me know what I can do... LA, CA (Hollywood)