Angry Kerry Supporters Seek Ohio Reform - Guardian

[rndmprsn]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5391063,00.html

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Still angry a year later, John Kerry supporters across the country are donating money to an effort to overhaul elections in the state they blame for costing them the White House.

A New Mexico retiree who became incensed after reading last fall about pre-election directives by Ohio's secretary of state gave $100. A substance-abuse counselor in Maine who suspects Ohio-made electronic voting machines were tampered with to give President Bush the victory contributed $25.

``There were so many questions and allegations about voter fraud, vote machine tampering, that it really frightened me,'' said Elizabeth Schrader, 50, of Old Hickory, Tenn. ``Serious voter reform is necessary in all 50 states.''

She added: ``If Ohio can start the ball rolling, then more power to 'em.''

The four constitutional amendments on Tuesday's ballot in Republican-dominated Ohio would expand voting by mail, limit campaign contributions and create bipartisan boards to draw districts and oversee elections - jobs now done by politicians. The amendments were proposed by Democratic-leaning groups.

Reform Ohio Now, a coalition of union and citizens groups that backs the amendments, has raised $2 million overall in donations and services, including nearly 3,300 contributions of $500 or less from all 50 states. A third of its money, $629,750, came from People for the American Way in Washington.

Many of the donations poured in after a nationwide e-mail alert in late September from moveon.org, a liberal advocacy group that campaigned heavily against Bush.

[Amy6627]

1. Did you see this?

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05956.pdf

The non-partisan GAO report has now found that, "some of
concerns about electronic voting machines have been realized and have
caused problems with recent elections, resulting in the loss and
miscount of votes."

The United States is the only major democracy that allows private
partisan corporations to secretly count and tabulate the votes with
proprietary non-transparent software. Rev. Jesse Jackson, among
others, has asserted that "public elections must not be conducted on
privately-owned machines." The CEO of one of the most crucial
suppliers of electronic voting machines, Warren O'Dell of Diebold,
pledged before the 2004 campaign to deliver Ohio and thus the
presidency to George W. Bush.

Bush's official margin of victory in Ohio was just 118,775 votes out
of more than 5.6 million cast. Election protection advocates argue
that O'Dell's statement still stands as a clear sign of an effort,
apparently successful, to steal the White House.

Among other things, the GAO confirms that:
1. Some electronic voting machines "did not encrypt cast ballots or
system audit logs, and it was possible to alter both without being
detected." In other words, the GAO now confirms that electronic voting
machines provided an open door to flip an entire vote count. More than
800,000 votes were cast in Ohio on electronic voting machines, some
seven times Bush's official margin of victory.
2. "It was possible to alter the files that define how a
ballot looks and works so that the votes for one candidate could be
recorded for a different candidate." Numerous sworn statements and
affidavits assert that this did happen in Ohio 2004.
3. "Vendors installed uncertified versions of voting system software
at the local level." 3. Falsifying election results without leaving
any evidence of such an action by using altered memory cards can
easily be done, according to the GAO.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05956.pdf

[Frustratedlady]

2. So, what's going to come of it, if anything?

We keep hearing that the GAO has found fraud, corruption and laws that are being broken, but what ever happens to the officials that are responsible for the abuse/corruption? With the attention span of the average American citizen, it's in one ear and out the other.

I want to see action! I want to see Halliburton and their ilk hang, I want to see this administration on its knees, apologizing and correcting the massive number of sleazy tricks and stopping the corruption in our government, I want to see our military back home, the jobs brought back and...and...and... Oh, it's so messed up, our country will never be the same again. Forget it. I was just dreamin'! <sigh>