State police officers in Florida

[ArnoldLayne]

according to an article in Tuesday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have been going into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando. Apparently they are interrogating them about allegations of voter fraud in the Orlando mayoral election in March. It say's it is part of an odd "investigation" that has frightened many elderly voters. Could someone please provide a link to the article from the Post-Gazette which I don't know how to do.:mad: :mad: :dem:

[wyethwire]

1. Tavis Smiley did a story on NPR

here is the link

http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3854651

[wyethwire]

2. More from Florida

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into possible absentee-ballot fraud in an Orlando mayoral race has blossomed into an election issue itself, with Democrats calling for Gov. Jeb Bush to halt a practice they say is aimed at intimidating elderly black voters.

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/9427680.htm

[wyethwire]

3. The story also mentions the state trooper roadblock in 2000

This is the second time in recent years that a state agency has been accused of harassing minority voters. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights heard testimony after the 2000 election that at least one voter felt intimidated by a Florida Highway Patrol traffic checkpoint near Woodville and called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to report it.

Troopers mistakenly chose a location not on a prepared list and failed to advertise the checkpoint - but it was 2.1 miles from the polling place, and operated during an off-peak hour, an FHP official told the commission.

[ArnoldLayne]

8. Thanks for providing a link to the actual

article in the Tallahassee Democrat which was the exact same article thatI read in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I really hope they get International observers including our beloved Pres. Jimmy Carter something has to be done in Florida. I may personally have to leave West Virginia to come to Florida to help escort elderly voters Black or White to the polls on election day. Are Florida DU'ers and the Democratic Party activists from Florida and states close by going to do something about this or what I can't believe this what the mother Fu#*en Hell is going on down there. I'm sorry I better chill out a little I'm sure Democratic activists will be ready for action on election day. I still remember the pics of those wimpy white shirt and tie so called Republicans Fascists which is what they were that forced the stop of the recount of votes in Broward or Dade Co in the 2000 elections. I'm not sure which county it was I never want to see that be allowed to occur again, I mean NEVER, I was so ashamed and angry with Progressives and the Democratic Party when that was allowed to happen I still haven't forgotten that sickening scene.:mad::mad: :mad: :kick:

[proud patriot]

4. Mike Malloy also reported this

night before last .

[Zan_of_Texas]

5. Also NYT article. Also Greg Palast on related issue.

August 16, 2004
OP-ED COLUMNIST

Suppress the Vote?
By BOB HERBERT

NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/16/opinion/16herbert.html?th=&pagewanted=print&position=

The big story out of Florida over the weekend was the tragic devastation caused by Hurricane Charley. But there's another story from Florida that deserves our attention. State police officers have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando and interrogated them as part of an odd "investigation" that has frightened many voters, intimidated elderly volunteers and thrown a chill over efforts to get out the black vote in November. The officers, from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which reports to Gov. Jeb Bush, say they are investigating allegations of voter fraud that came up during the Orlando mayoral election in March.

Officials refused to discuss details of the investigation, other than to say that absentee ballots are involved. They said they had no idea when the investigation might end, and acknowledged that it may continue right through the presidential election. "We did a preliminary inquiry into those allegations and then we concluded that there was enough evidence to follow through with a full criminal investigation," said Geo Morales, a spokesman for the Department of Law Enforcement.

The state police officers, armed and in plain clothes, have questioned dozens of voters in their homes. Some of those questioned have been volunteers in get-out-the-vote campaigns.

I asked Mr. Morales in a telephone conversation to tell me what criminal activity had taken place. "I can't talk about that," he said. I asked if all the people interrogated were black. "Well, mainly it was a black neighborhood we were looking at - yes,'' he said. He also said, "Most of them were elderly." MORE

[Zan_of_Texas]

6. Here's the Palast research - excellent work

1.9 million black votes didn't count in the 2000 presidential election

It's not too hard to get your vote lost -- if some politicians want it to be lost

San Francisco Chronicle
June 20, 2004
Greg Palast

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/06/20/ING2976LG61.DTL

In the 2000 presidential election, 1.9 million Americans cast ballots that no one counted. "Spoiled votes" is the technical term. The pile of ballots left to rot has a distinctly dark hue: About 1 million of them -- half of the rejected ballots -- were cast by African Americans although black voters make up only 12 percent of the electorate. This year, it could get worse.

These ugly racial statistics are hidden away in the mathematical thickets of the appendices to official reports coming out of the investigation of ballot-box monkey business in Florida from the last go-'round. How do you spoil 2 million ballots? Not by leaving them out of the fridge too long. A stray mark, a jammed machine, a punch card punched twice will do it. It's easy to lose your vote, especially when some politicians want your vote lost.

While investigating the 2000 ballot count in Florida for BBC Television, I saw firsthand how the spoilage game was played -- with black voters the predetermined losers. Florida's Gadsden County has the highest percentage of black voters in the state -- and the highest spoilage rate. One in 8 votes cast there in 2000 was never counted. Many voters wrote in "Al Gore." Optical reading machines rejected these because "Al" is a "stray mark."

By contrast, in neighboring Tallahassee, the capital, vote spoilage was nearly zip; every vote counted. The difference? In Tallahassee's white- majority county, voters placed their ballots directly into optical scanners. If they added a stray mark, they received another ballot with instructions to correct it. <MORE>

[joanne]

7. Elderly black voters?

In other words..... DEMOCRATIC VOTERS.

Jeb sucks almost as much as Chimpy. :mad:

[blue neen]

9. Here's another link for you from Orlando TV station

http://www.local6.com/news/3536618/detail.html

[ArnoldLayne]

10. Is there anyway I

could come down to Florida to help get voters to the Polls on election day who could I get a hold of especially in Gadsden County. I have my vacation scheduled in October but I could have it changed. I also want to be able to vote in my own state in West Virginia could I cast an absentee ballot before the election before flying down. I'm really serious about this, does anyone have any ideas. I'm probably taking a risk of being arrested on some trumped up charge considering I'm a Yankee but I don't care I'm willing to do do this. I'm sure I will be protected by the families of the people I am willing to help so they won't be denied their basic right to vote without having to worry about being intiminated. Does anyone think I am wrong,stupid or crazy for wanting to do this but I am fed up who else agrees with me.:dem::dem::kick: