Why are we so sure they didn't steal the election?

[BurtWorm]

Because the media say so?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

1. I'm not sure at all

I can't and won't rule out anything. I'd like to wait and see what turns up.

[BurtWorm]

5. I wish the DNC (assuming it has a spine still) would fund a massive

door-to-door study (i.e., not a phone survey, but an in person one, almost like a census) to test the results. Just in the interest of corroboration and ensuring the integrity of the system. It should start with the assumption that the survey will match the election results.

The Congress should actually undertake this and pay for it, but we know why they won't. Maybe George Soros would back it.

[Born Free]

26. Can't be fixed now....

However, we should get our message out there to make sure is can't happen again, given a fair playing field democrats can win. I would like to see Michael Moore do a complete documentation of the election process since 2000, showing how things are gradually changing to make the right wing cultist more powerful.

[roseBudd]

55. says who? breaking the law is breaking the law

[roseBudd]

57. They won Ohio by only 130,000 votes that is the only place they had

to steal

[roseBudd]

58. And in Warren County Ohio they barred the press

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/11/05/loc_warrenvote05.html

Warren's vote tally walled off
Alone in Ohio, officials cited homeland security

By Erica Solvig
Enquirer staff writer


LEBANON - Citing concerns about potential terrorism, Warren County officials locked down the county administration building on election night and blocked anyone from observing the vote count as the nation awaited Ohio's returns.

County officials say they took the action Tuesday night for homeland security, although state elections officials said they didn't know of any other Ohio county that closed off its elections board. Media organizations protested, saying it violated the law and the public's rights. The Warren results, delayed for hours because of long lines that extended voting past the scheduled close of polls, were part of the last tallies that helped clinch President Bush's re-election.

"The media should have been permitted into the area where there was counting," Enquirer attorney Jack Greiner said. "This is a process that should be done in complete transparency and it wasn't."

[roseBudd]

59. AND Ohio is counting the provisional ballots the majority of which

should go to Kerry

[ohioan]

68. Barring the press is problematic, but Democratic witnesses watch

all of the the counting.

[roseBudd]

79. So? Money talks. Theresa Lapore of Palm Beach County is a dem

[ohioan]

85. Then why are you upset that the press isn't allowed to watch?

You complain that there are no witnesses. Then, when it's pointed out that there are Democratic witnesses watching the count in Ohio, you suggest, without any knowledge or proof, that they are on the take because a Democratic official screwed up four years ago in Florida.

Obviously, you think the Republicans control every aspect of the process, the fix is in no matter what we do, and there's nothing we can do about it.

That's what Karl Rove would like us to think - it makes his job so much easier. As long as we think that they are so brilliantly nefarious that we are powerless to stop them from stealing elections, they won't have to steal a thing. We're just handing it to them.

You can cede your power to them if you wish. But don't expect everyone to roll over and play dead with you. We can beat them and I plan to continue working my butt off to see that we do.

[alteredstate]

2. I'm not sure

n/t

[Mick Knox]

3. The DNC and Kerry helped them then

and if thats the case, then why bother?

[BurtWorm]

6. How much do you trust the results on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being

absolute trust?

[Mick Knox]

12. 9

I'm sure something happened somewhere, in a country this big some box got dumped or whatever, but that could just as easily been our side that did the dumping that makes me unsure.

As far as sure that some gov black op nationwide conspiracy - no fucking chance in hell.

That would require 10's of thousands of people and assistance from Kerry's people.

It didnt happen.

[BurtWorm]

15. Why would it have required tens of thousands of people?

I don't want to leap into conspiracy theorizing either, but I'm trying to square what we were led to expect before the election with its actual result, as they do not match up. If there was no conspiracy, fine. We'll have to adjust to the outcome. But what if there was, if not a conspiracy, an anomaly of some kind, a perfect storm of intentional and unintentional glitches in the accounting to account for the discrepancy. Wouldn't you want to be assured that things went as well as could be expected--especially after the mess of 2000?

I believe the results need to be corroborated. For the sake of ensuring the integrity of the system. Unless it really is acceptable for the assurance to come from the media's say so. That seems to me to be a bit faith-based. A reality-based assurance would come from a careful survey of the electorate just to corroborate that the system really *did* work as well as could possibly be expected.

[tngledwebb]

23. Don't be afraid of 'conspiracy theory'

The term may have been coined by the CIA/secret govt/big media years ago to stereotype & ridicule those who would not accept their version of 'conventional wisdom', such as the Cold War, missile gap, domino theory, Oswald acted alone, hanging chads and Nader, Saddam's WMD's....let's see, did I leave anything out...? Oh yes, the best one of all that *** was behind ***.

[roseBudd]

56. it's like the mafia

you buy what you want from people who are dirty

they certainly have the money to spread around

[okieinpain]

77. and that is exactly what kerry needs to come out and say. he still

has money left over, that would get things started. they say that edwards wanted to fight on, well let him help with the investigation.

[m berst]

17. you are consistent

Why are you ciontinually peddling this "don't look" line? Back up your claims. With elections the burden of proof is on those claiming they were clean, not on those questioning the irregularities.

There are more than enough strange irregularities to lead any sincere patriot to want this looked at further. There is no legitimate reason for anyone - especially a Democrat - to be saying "don't look" and "get over it" or in calling people's questions wild theories.

Don't fall for this obvious and transparently disingenous "give it up" talk, people. It is based on false premises.

[Awsi Dooger]

25. Ok, I'm claiming Democrats stole the New Hampshire governor race

It's up to you to prove I'm wrong. Take your time.

Let'e see, not a single poll had Lynch defeating Benson. In fact, most of them had Benson with a high single digit lead. He was the incumbent and had a huge monetary advantage

That state has electronic machines and it's the only one Kerry won that Gore lost in 2000! Do we see a suspicious pattern here? Come to think of it, Kerry spent plenty of time in New Hampshire during the primaries. What better way to repay the state than help fix the race for the Democratic governor nominee? Teresa spent gobs of time there herself, and we know what kind of loot she has.

Benson trailed that race up until the late going then snuck ahead by 13,000 measly votes. No doubt Democrats were cooking their private machines right up until the end. I'm glad I finally figured this stuff out.

[UNIXcock]

35. Excellent point

... I too think it's a lost cause to chase that red herring. We didn't win big, just like 2000. Our energies need to be directed in a positive way, looking to the future. Main stream America views these accusations of fraud as the minority "sore losers" and "sour grapes" crowd.

... I do NOT want to be associated with that in district 6 in the coming months.

[SoCalDemocrat]

86. Entirely possible

It's entirely possible there was fraud on both sides.

That is the point. We don't know. We have little faith in the process.

We need investigations to determine what really happened in this election, and that should be a non-partisan issue. Everyone should want fair elections and trusted results.

[JackRiddler]

72. "Black Op"? Give me break!

Dude, what planet are you on?

The black-op fascists already took power, in the form of the old old CIA/neocon mob around Bush. They openly stole the last election after losing it, and reaped nothing but rewards for it - trillions!

They have sunk this country into a world war in a time of economic meltdown and resource depletion, most likely after having engineered the bloody pretext. They're getting ready to do mental health screening on everyone (this is the New America Initiative sponsored by Bush) and nuke Iran.

They have lied about everything, habitually, stolen everything they can, compulsively, and gotten away with all of it. On the other hand, they know their exposure is huge and an ultimate reckoning against them possible, given how bad things are about to get. And I'm not talking losing an election, more closer to the guillotine.

Their foot soldiers think they are the Party of God, and many of these yahoos believe everyone who's not pro-Bush is a lethal traitor in a time of war. They're all tanked up on Christian dominionism.

Did I mention that the entire country was always a banana republic with big mafias in charge of every industry, and little mafias in charge of pretty much every county? War and Real Estate, baby.

In that context, you think vote fraud isn't child's play? All you have to do is be sufficiently in control - and rely on all the wishful-thinking nice people to remain in denial as always about the reality of America; on the media to sweeten it all up as irregularities; and on the "opposition" to do its usual, supine routine (which actually requires only one asshole at the top to pretend it's for the nation's best if the votes aren't counted).

And here you give vote fraud, the Oldest Scam in Democracy in this oldest of democratic nations, the exotic characterization of "black op," as though there's anything complex or unusual about it.

You want to call Tammany Hall a "black op"? Machine fraud is just the latest, greatest variation on the ancient theme.

[rockydem]

14. for all we know they are working behind the scenes right now

just a possibility. if you're going after someone it's best not to give them notice. remember the electors don't vote until next month. Kerry's concession is not legally binding. not saying this is true, just a thought. I'm still looking to found out what Atrios' mysterioso post was about earlier this afternoon.

[goodhue]

4. Good question.

I find myself less sure the more I learn about votes not counted.
But kind of moot perhaps.

[BurtWorm]

7. I'd just like to be sure that it's not moot for no good reason.

[Hello_Kitty]

8. The thing is....

Whether or not there was voter fraud or tampering, * should not have even been close enough to steal it. If we had a media that was worth a SHIT, Bush would have been polling single digits and maybe even resigned in disgrace.

[BurtWorm]

11. That's true, but a separate issue.

The issue is the integrity of the electoral system. How is it that it could be so fucked up in 2000 and now suddenly it's all better? Shouldn't we check it to be sure?

[leftofthedial]

9. Who is "we"?

I am 100% certain the repukes stole the election.

[Kerry in 04]

13. They stole it. Plan and simple.

[sendero]

10. I'm not sure at all..

... but I know this - John Kerry and only John Kerry is in a position to do fuck-all about it, and I see no indication that he is.

Either he doesn't believe it was stolen, or he's just going to bend over.

I could give a fuck at this point.

[inmania]

16. check out blackboxvoting.org

many FOIA requests in process to document election tampering

[Nederland]

40. I have

and they say they need they FOIA documents because right now they have no proof.

[geek tragedy]

18. 3.5 Million votes is a steal-proof majority.

Ohio and Florida matched almost exactly the national averages.

[BurtWorm]

21. Prove its steal proof.

Or at least explain what you mean. Please.

[geek tragedy]

34. Voter fraud and stealing elections happen in state races where the margin

is very close. Examples include Illinois in 1960 and Florida in 2000.

This is a nationwide ass-whupping.

[roseBudd]

60. They ONLY had to steal 1 state: Ohio

[BeFree]

31. It was stolen

And the proof is coming just as it did in Fla 2000

The question is: with dem slackers, will anything be done about it?

[m berst]

19. strong evidence for suspicion

There is much stronger cause to suspect these results than there was in 2000. So many said "never again" after 2000.

There will be a lot of pressure, and a lot of confusing disinformnation spread around un the coming days.

There is absolutely nothing wrong or assailable with saying that all of the irregularities need to be examined. No one can successfully argue against this unless you let them. Anyone who tries to shut down the process or close off debate should immediately be suspect as having a covert agenda IMHO.

There is no good argument to be made in favor if sweeping this under the rug. If there has been no fraud, then there is no reason for Republicans to fear an investigation into the integrity of this election. We can and must demand this and not be knocked off course.

[timtom]

20. No. No. You all misunderstand.

They DID steal the election. There is no convincing me otherwise. These are truly evil people.

[jukes]

22. they did

theocracy is on the way.

[tavalon]

24. Yes

and we know the media always tells us the truth.

Actually, I'm fairly sure that the election was stolen. I am also fairly sure that we won't be able to stop the stealing of this election.

I do think we need to work tirelessly to expose the bbv scandal but also work tirelessly to keep the light shining on this fascist regime and to keep them at bay as much as possible.

[UdoKier]

27. I think most of us think there was a degree of chicanery.

Probably enough to steal Ohio and the WH. HOWEVER, Bush's popular vote lead of 4 million is not likely to have been all Diebold.

No doubt about it, though. Touchscreen machines made by GOP companies with no paper trail HAVE GOT TO GO.

[ohioan]

37. Ohio did not use electronic voting. Diebold was out of the picture long

ago.

[SmokingJacket]

41. Not true.

See Franklin County: not Diebold but Danaher, older touchscreens.

Every county was different, some punch cards, some touchscreen.

[ohioan]

42. I was not as clear as I should have been . . .

The vast majority of Ohio counties did not use electronic voting, although a few did. But they did not use Diebold machines.

[roseBudd]

61. There i smore than 1 way to steal an election, why did Warren County, OH

bar the press from watching?

Warren's vote tally walled off
Alone in Ohio, officials cited homeland security

By Erica Solvig
Enquirer staff writer


LEBANON - Citing concerns about potential terrorism, Warren County officials locked down the county administration building on election night and blocked anyone from observing the vote count as the nation awaited Ohio's returns.

County officials say they took the action Tuesday night for homeland security, although state elections officials said they didn't know of any other Ohio county that closed off its elections board. Media organizations protested, saying it violated the law and the public's rights. The Warren results, delayed for hours because of long lines that extended voting past the scheduled close of polls, were part of the last tallies that helped clinch President Bush's re-election.

"The media should have been permitted into the area where there was counting," Enquirer attorney Jack Greiner said. "This is a process that should be done in complete transparency and it wasn't."

[ohioan]

69. They barred the press, but Democratic witnesses are in the room

watching the counting.

[Piperay]

28. I don't think they stole it

I just think there are that many people that hate our guts and everything we stand for and their hate got more of them out then our anger at them was able to do for our side. :argh:

[area51]

29. Kerry won

According to Greg Palast, Kerry won. The nazis did steal the election.

[WillyT]

30. I Think They Stole It !!!

It's just proving it that's the bitch.

:shrug:

[SmokingJacket]

32. They should prove they DIDN'T. n/t

[ohioan]

38. Instead of wasting all of our energy trying to prove they stole it

why not focus some energy on figuring out how, for the first time, they kicked our butts on getting out the vote? We should be working NOW on redeveloping our ground game and figuring out how to take control of our message.

Assuming that the only reason they won is that they stole it turns over WAY too much power to the Republicans. They are not invincible and they are not loss-proof. They put together a hell of an operation and have reached the point that, if we don't get on the ball, they will kick our butts even on a completely fair playing field.

Do not be fooled - yes, the Republicans probably engaged in fraud, just like they always do. But they also had an outstanding grassroots get out the vote effort that they began putting together right after 2000 when they saw that ours was so effective that we came THIS close to beating them, even in the face of their cheating.

If we want to believe that the only way they won was that they cheated, we'll be in big trouble next time. They won't need to cheat - their grassroots campaign will be so significantly superior to ours that they'll win fair and square in a walk.

DON'T FALL FOR THE OKIE DOKE!

[SmokingJacket]

43. If we let them get away with cheating --

we'll never, ever, ever win again.

I agree that cheating was not the only problem. But it shouldn't be ignored, by any stretch of the imagination.

Our grassroots ROCKED, btw. Kerry was a great candidate. There was nothing wrong with our "message." Some -- LOTS -- would never vote for a democrat, period, no matter how we tinker with the "ground game."

I say we do what we're doing, even harder if we can, and get rid of the damn unreliable machines.

[ohioan]

44. I'm not saying we should let them get away with - far from it . . .

But if we assume that the only reason we lost is that they cheated, we're doing ourselves a disservice. At the rate we're going, the next election can be clean as a whistle, and we'll STILL get our butts kicked because they have become better than we are at the good old-fashioned get out the vote. If we don't get back on top of our game, they'll kill us next time fair and square. And we won't have anyone to blame but ourselves.

[Merlin]

33. We're not. But you have to be able to prove it first.

Screaming about your suspicions do nothing but marginalize you in the theater of American politics. It's a fact of life. Go out and get proof and then we'll listen to you.

[BurtWorm]

36. I agree that there should be proof.

My position is I don't trust the system. It was proved broken in 2000 (though it's probably been broken for much longer). To repair it, we need to see where the problems are. In order to do that, we need an analysis of the whole election, to either validate that the accounting was more or less accurate or to highlight that it was not. If this were a country that had some trust in reason (as it once was long, long ago), the people wouldn't blink an eye if the government funded a comprehensive examination. Of course Americans by and large have no trust in reason, so we will have to take everything on the Bushists' and media's say so that all systems are go.

[m berst]

50. how can that be?

Is that not similar to saying that the police have to prove who committed a crime and how before they start investigating or questioning anyone? No crimes would ever be solved.

[Nederland]

39. This is suspicious

People here have been going on and on about how the exit polls didn't match up with the final results. Two and a half hours ago I asked this forum for the exit poll data. Nobody has responded:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1327668

At this point you have to ask, where is the proof? How can it be that everybody is saying that the exit polls are out of line with the actual vote, but no one can point to actual exit poll data to back it up? Is proof relevant here, or is it simply enough to speak what everybody wants to believe and repeat it until we all feel better?

[in_cog_ni_to]

46. The people who have the evidence of the ORIGINAL exit polls.

Many took a screen shot BEFORE CNN changed it on their web site. Just keep your thread kicked until the people are online. :hi:

[m berst]

51. at the end of the process

The proof is at the end of the process of questioning and investigation, not at the beginning.

If you have to know where the proof is before you act, you have lost before you begin.

[Nederland]

66. I'm not asking for proof

I'm asking for data. You can't even begin to investigate until you have data. So far, it seems no one has it.

[Beetwasher]

71. You Are The ONLY One Questioning the Legitimacy of the Data

http://www.thehill.com/morris/110404.aspx

Dick Morris (asshole that he is) accepts the "faulty" exit poll data that was released via Drudge and other sources as being the actual exit poll data. He comes to the conclusion there was a conspiracy on the part of the exit pollsters who colluded to release bogus data.

If your contention is that the data many here are using is just made up bullshit released by the likes of Drudge and others, you are wrong. There are many other articles that are trying to dismiss that data as faulty, but accept it as the data the was in fact legitimately released by the exit pollsters.

Deal with it. That exit poll data WAS the actual data released by the exit pollsters. Either that data was really fucked up and wrong and their methodology is fundamentally flawed, OR it was taken out of context because it was leaked too early, OR the eventual vote totals were fucked up and wrong.

If in fact the data under question was NOT the legitimate exit poll data, why were the Republicans themselves getting on TV and telling everyone to ignore it? They weren't saying ignore it because it's NOT the legitimate data, they were saying ignore because it's just wrong.

There's no question there were problems with the exit poll data unless you want to question The Washington Post too:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23580-20...

That same "leaked crap" that you refer to in your linked post IS the data that was legitimately released by the exit pollsters. Deal with it. It may have been taken out of context because it was released early, but was the legit data.

I believe that actual raw data would NOT be available to us directly because it is only given to the media outlets who then report it. Curiously, none of them see fit to release the raw data to the public, so all we have is the leaked data, which everyone (except you) agrees it is legit though possibly faulty.

[Nederland]

73. The data may be from a valid source

but until you have the full, raw numbers you know nothing about its accuracy.

[SoCalDemocrat]

87. How many times do we have to explain this to you freeper

The exit poll data was changed after 1:30am CST.

WE have the screen shots and we have showed them to you. Quit trolling our forums.

Florida was changed, Nevada was changed ...

[in_cog_ni_to]

45. They DID steal it.

They did. There's no doubt in my mind. The media can kiss my ass.

[ohioan]

47. Let's assume they did. Now what? n/t

[in_cog_ni_to]

52. We wait for BBV, attorneys and others to investigate

and uncover the fraud. Did you see Bev's thread? She has filed 3000 FOIA requests around the country. She will find the fraud and this cabal will go down.

[roseBudd]

64. We need newspapers to investigate

Newspapers love a scoop AND they like to win newspaper awards

[roseBudd]

80. Call Ron Leibau and Dan Sewell at the Enquirer

Ron Liebau
(M-F, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.) Local News [e-mail] 513-768-8396

Dan Sewell
(M-F, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.) Ohio Suburban Chief [e-mail] 513-755-4142

newsrooms are open late so you should be able to roust somebody

[ohioan]

70. Then what?

[Zuni]

48. I have my suspicions that at least Florida and Ohio had something

I am not sure what or the extent....but something isn't right there

[roseBudd]

62. I also suspect Florida and Ohio

I think they paid election officials off, perhaps Youngstown?

[Swamp Rat]

49. Of course they stole it!

Reptiles will cannibalize their young to get ahead. These alien lizards will stop at nothing.

[Politicub]

53. I'm not sure

In fact, I think there was massive fraud perpetrated by the GOP. In addition to the fraud, they nakedly employed shameful tactics to surpress the minority vote.

The hard part is proving it. I'm not able to do that on my own, so my anger is being directed towards joining the fight to rid the US of BBV.

[Shopaholic]

54. We're not sure--but what are we going to do about it?

If the party candidates couldn't fight it and didn't want to--how could we????

[roseBudd]

63. Newspaper reporters

this is how they win newspaper awards

[Karenina]

65. The machines STOLE the election

They provided the "failsafe" to the other tactics of vote supression that were employed.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/frontpages/ (see Nov.4)

One wonders.

[roseBudd]

67. The machines were only one of many ways the election was

effected.

They all added up. They only had to steal 1 state, Ohio and possibly Florida

[skip fox]

74. If Soros did not offer a $10 million reward for PROOF of systematic voter

fraud, then he might well consider doing so.

It might well flush out even a right-wing programmer for Diebold or other system.

[okieinpain]

75. I'm not sure, I just think we need to get proof. or we will just look

like sore losers. randy called on everybody to donate to www.blackboxvoting.org. I think that is a start.

[Triana]

76. WHO SAID we weren't sure they didn't steal it?

I KNOW THEY DID.

[LibertyorDeath]

78. Electronic Voting Machines are un-auditable

for a reason. Fraud

Voting machine companies with ties to the far right of the republican party & the Votes cast on these machines can not be VERIFIED because the
the technology used is Proprietary.

What more do Americans want a statement from the head of Diebold
that he will deliver Ohio for Bush*

Voting without auditing. (Are we insane?)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Nov 3 2004 -- Did the voting machines trump exit polls? There’s a way to find out.

Black Box Voting (.ORG) is conducting the largest Freedom of Information action in history. At 8:30 p.m. Election Night, Black Box Voting blanketed the U.S. with the first in a series of public records requests, to obtain internal computer logs and other documents from 3,000 individual counties and townships. Networks called the election before anyone bothered to perform even the most rudimentary audit.

America: We have permission to say No to unaudited voting. It is our right.

Among the first requests sent to counties (with all kinds of voting systems -- optical scan, touch-screen, and punch card) is a formal records request for internal audit logs, polling place results slips, modem transmission logs, and computer trouble slips.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

[SoCalDemocrat]

88. I just sent blackboxvoting $25

Donate people! Help these groups do the work.

[LibertyorDeath]

81. Palm Beach County Logs 88,000 More Votes Than Voters.

Thanks lizzy (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Fri Nov-05-04 05:27 PM
Original message
Palm Beach County Logs 88,000 More Votes Than Voters.
Edited on Fri Nov-05-04 05:28 PM by lizzy


According to the official election results posted on the Palm Beach County election website, 542,835 ballots were cast for a presidential candidate while only 454,427 voters turned out for the election (including absentee). This leaves a discrepancy of 88,408 votes cast for the presidential candidates.

Palm Beach County's supervisor of elections is Theresa LePore who is known for the 2000 Presidential Election and the notorious "butterfly ballot" that caused confusion among seniors and other Floridians.

Other election oddities occurred throughout Florida with some counties registering a 400% increase in expected voter turnout among Republicans while Democrats supposedly experienced a -60% decline in expected support within certain counties. The 50+ counties experiencing the high percentage fluctuations in expected turnout used optical scan voting machines on November 2nd.



http://www.washingtondispatch.com/spectrum/archives/000...

[Cha]

82. I'm sure they did! And Funny..everyone who

came into the co-op today and wished me empathy..had something to say about it ..that they thought it was "stolen". And these are people who don't pay as much attention like we do.

Certainly not on the internet.

[LibertyorDeath]

83. Diebold currently supplies 50,000 voting machines nationwide

THE TWO MAIN CORPORATIONS BEHIND THE MACHINES

DIEBOLD SYSTEMS INC:
CEO: Walden O'Dell. Republican fundraiser. Has written to wealthy Bush contributors
vowing to 'deliver' his state's electoral votes to the Bush campaign (apparently he was not referrring to his machines). Hosts campaign meetings at his house. Member of Bush's 'Rangers and Pioneers' club (each member of whom must contribute at least $100,000 to the 2004 re-election campaign).

Diebold currently supplies 50,000 voting machines nationwide. It points out that its software is inspected andtested by election officials before it is certified. However, Diebold engineers can make changes to the software after it has been certified. A Wired article quoted a Diebold engineer as saying that his team made no fewer than three rounds of software changes to the machines in Georgia's 2002 election for governor — after the machines had been certified, but before the election began. This was the election which ended in a major upset that defied all polls and put a Republican in the governor's seat for the first time in more than 130 years.

ELECTION SYSTEMS & SOFTWARE (ES&S).
CEO: Aldo Tesi
Supplies nearly half the voting machines used in the United States. ES&S is a subsidiary of McCarthy Group Inc., which is jointly held by the holding firm and the Omaha World-Herald Co., which publishes the state’s largest newspaper.
Former conservative radio talk-show host and now Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel was the head of, and continues to own part interest in, ES&S (then AIS), who installed, programmed, and largely ran the voting machines that were used by most of the citizens of Nebraska, in elections where Hagel won very unexpected landslide victories.Senator Hagel is a key advocate for the Bush campaign, and with his experience on the Senate Commerce Committee focusing on telecommunications and trade, was once considered as a Vice Presidential running mate for George Walker Bush
An official at Nebraska’s Election Administration estimated that ES&S machines tallied 85 percent of the votes cast in Chuck Hagel’s 2002 and 1996 election races.
In 1996, ES&S operated as American Information Systems Inc. (AIS). The company became ES&S after merging with Business Records Corp. in 1997.
In a disclosure form filed in 1996, covering the previous year, Chuck Hagel, then a Senate candidate, did not report that he was still chairman of AIS for the first 10 weeks of the year, as he was required to do.
Hagel’s unrecorded stake in the voting systems company poses an apparent conflict of interest on election reform issues. Three companies, including ES&S, stand to make a large profits from election reform legislation enacted last year by Congress.

http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/news/die_bold.htm

[PretzelzRule]

84. I'm not sure

In fact, I'm QUITE sure they did :grr: