Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday 5/27/05

[Melissa G]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday 5/27/05

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391

Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News
thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x372937

All previous daily threads are available here:
http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm


Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below)

[Melissa G]

1. Voting machines opened

Scranton Times Tribune


Voting machines opened

By Andrew M. Seder 05/27/2005


HONESDALE - Seven voting machines that had been seized and secured last week were opened publicly Thursday night as Wayne County officials tried to figure out why vote totals were greater than the number of voters in polling places in Lake, Lehigh and Scott townships.

The consensus is that human error, not fraud, is to blame.
With more than 25 onlookers, including judges of election, five of the seven affected candidates and members of the county's Election Board, the machines were opened and inspected by technicians.

The findings revealed that devices designed to control the number of votes allowed per race were not installed on the machines in question.

"The next thing will be a report made to the Board of Elections ... it appears it was human error," Wayne County solicitor Lee Krause said. "I don't think we have any grounds to show there was fraud of any kind."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14600213&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id

[Melissa G]

2. Counties in lawsuit now at 32- Ohio

Posted on Fri, May. 27, 2005

Counties in lawsuit now at 32

Associated Press


COLUMBUS, Ohio - Twelve more counties have joined a voting-machine maker's lawsuit to extend the state's deadline for qualifying touch-screen systems, bringing the total to 32, the manufacturer said Friday.

Joining Election Systems & Software's lawsuit extended the participating counties' deadline for picking a voting system to at least Wednesday.

ES&S and Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's office have been in negotiations since the company filed the lawsuit May 2. It asserts that the process by which Diebold Election Systems won certification was unfair. Blackwell disagrees, saying the same rules applied to all manufacturers. Diebold has the only touch-screen machine to meet certification standards.

Judge Dale Crawford of Franklin County Common Pleas Court has scheduled a hearing for next week on ES&S's request to keep Blackwell from enforcing the May 13 deadline for manufacturers to receive certification by the state Board of Voting Machine Examiners and from federal elections officials.

snip
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/11758385.htm

[Melissa G]

3. Parties unsure of all mail voting

Parties unsure of all mail voting
Posted: Friday, May 27, 2005 - 01:50:56 pm PDT
By Brad W. Gary
Herald staff writer

Commission to decide whether to hold public hearing

GRANT COUNTY -- A proposal to conduct the majority of Grant County's future elections by mail doesn't appear to have the vote of the two major political parties.

Grant County Auditor Bill Varney proposed a plan to the Grant County Commissioners earlier this week, suggesting the county move to an all mail election system. The plan has picked up steam in other Washington state counties in recent months, leading several county commissions to pass resolutions in support of the plan.

Such a decision has not been made in Grant County, and the commission plans to deliberate Tuesday on whether or not to hold a public hearing on the issue. If the September primary were to be held under the all mail proposal, Varney said the county must approve a resolution by June 20, or 90 days prior to the election.


The chairs of the two major political parties in Grant County, however, have concerns the proposal could increase the potential for voter fraud. Varney told the commission Tuesday that voter fraud problems would still be an issue even if the county kept all its precincts open.

http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2005/05/27/news/news03.txt

[Melissa G]

4. More Than 50 AccuPoll Voting Units Handle Thousands of Voters in 1 Locat

More Than 50 AccuPoll Voting Units Handle Thousands of Voters in One Location
i-Newswire, 2005-05-27 - Tustin, CA – AccuPoll, Inc. ( OCTBB: ACUP ), a developer of Direct Recording Electronic ( DRE ) voting systems, today announced the successful completion of this week’s runoff election selecting leaders for the United Auto Workers Local 148 ( Long Beach ). More than 1,600 UAW members cast their ballot on 50 AccuPoll voting units over the course of the day, demonstrating unprecedented scalability for one location.

“Yesterday’s election was significant because it demonstrates how robust the AccuPoll electronic voting system can be,” said Frank Wiebe, president of AccuPoll. “With more than 1,600 members casting their ballots at just one location, we were able to demonstrate that our system can handle a heavy single-day voter turnout. This is extremely important for election officials who are interested in consolidated and early voting options.”

Competing systems typically allow for fewer than one dozen voting machines per location unless additional control units are included. These additional units, which are highly expensive, add complexity for election officials and increase the time required for ballot tallying. AccuPoll’s system, however, provides election officials the opportunity to add many times more machines to the polling location without such additional control units.

“The AccuPoll machines helped us run a very smooth election with hardly any lines whatsoever,” said Maureen Collie, Chair of Permanent Election Committee, UAW Local 148. “Our voters were able to cast their ballots quickly and the election results were ready shortly after the polls closed.”

http://i-newswire.com/pr22405.html

[Wilms]

7. Does ES&S Really Want to Sell the AutoMARK Machines?

Does ES&S Really Want to Sell the AutoMARK Machines?

by John Gideon*

Article edited on 25 May 2005 at 4:15PM PDT

The AutoMARK, developed by AutoMARK Technical Services (ATS) is a computerized ballot-marking device. The voter makes selections using a touch screen, then the system marks a ballot with those choices. That ballot is then either read by a precinct based optical scan machine or deposited into a ballot box and read later by a central count optical scan machine or by hand.

-snip-

Some of the business practices of ES&S suggest that the company's intent is to minimize sales, rather than take advantage of the high customer interest in the AutoMARK. The information presented in this article shows that they are refusing to demo the machine to large customers, decreasing the commissions of their sales staff when the product sold is the AutoMARK, stifling publicity about the product, and quoting higher prices to larger customers. Could they be holding down the sales of the AutoMARK in order to sell more of their high-priced electronic voting systems, in spite of those systems' poor performance record?

In February of 2005, Bo Lipari of New York Verified Voting asked ATS to bring a complete voting system (AutoMARK touch screen and an ES&S precinct based optical scan machine) to New York so the state legislators could look at the system in an informal setting and see how it operates. ATS brought the system and set it up for the legislators in Albany.

Unfortunately, a lobbyist for ES&S happened to walk by the demonstration and almost immediately told the ATS representatives to remove the equipment. According to a source close to the issue, a protracted discussion between ES&S representatives and ATS ensued in which ES&S refused to allow the system to be shown. Finally a compromise was reached. ATS was allowed to show the AutoMARK in New York State but without any optical scan machine to complete the system.

-snip/more-

http://www.votetrustusa.org/blogs/ES&SControl.htm

Thanks to Amaryllis for posting the discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x373306

[Melissa G]

5. 'Vote centers' could be future of elections

'Vote centers' could be future of elections

Katharhynn Heidelberg

MONTROSE - Cross-town drives, precinct confusion and a longer turnaround time for counting votes could be a thing of the past if Montrose County decides to utilize "vote centers," officials and members of the public were told Thursday afternoon.

Vote centers, or "super precincts" are polling locations where any elector who's registered in a particular county can vote, regardless of where his or her home precinct is.

Montrose County, which by federal mandate must replace its current punch-card voting machines, is also considering using vote centers. A blue-ribbon committee was recently formed to consider the feasibility of vote centers and Thursday, it heard how such centers have worked in Larimer County.

Jan Kuhnen, chief deputy and director of elections there, said Larimer County had gone from 143 precincts to 13 voting centers and, among active voters, saw a 94.6 percent turnout in the 2004 general election.

http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2005/05/27/local_news/1.txt

[Wilms]

6. Coins Go Missing, and G.O.P. Insider Becomes Outcast

Coins Go Missing, and G.O.P. Insider Becomes Outcast

By JAMES DAO
Published: May 28, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 27 - For nearly a decade, Thomas Noe has been the Republican Party's man to see in northwest Ohio, a confidant of governors and a prodigious fund-raiser for legislators, judges and just about every Republican statewide elected official.

-snip-

He also happened to be a dealer in rare coins. And in 1998, the Ohio Workers' Compensation Bureau agreed to invest in a rare-coin fund that he controlled as a way to hedge its holdings in stocks and bonds, an investment that experts have called highly unorthodox.

But this week, Mr. Noe's lawyers said that as much as $13 million of the state's $50 million investment in his two funds could not be accounted for. Mr. Noe, meanwhile, has become the focus of at least six investigations or audits involving either his handling of the coin investments or his campaign fund-raising. Federal investigators are also looking into his contributions to President Bush's 2004 campaign as a "Pioneer," raising more than $100,000.

-snip-

The three Republicans trying to replace Mr. Taft in next year's election - Auditor Betty Montgomery, Attorney General Jim Petro and Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell - have all received thousands of dollars from Mr. Noe and his wife, Bernadette, in recent years, according to state campaign records. All three have opened audits or investigations into Mr. Noe's coin funds or campaign contributions.

-snip/more-

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/28/national/28coins.html?hp&ex=1117339200&en=23abbe734b5ea633&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Thanks to KaliTracy for posting the discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x373322

[Wilms]

8. Vendors, Testers Concerned About Deadline for Voting Machine Guidelines

electionline Weekly - May 26, 2005

I. In Focus This Week

Vendors, Testers Concerned About Deadline for Voting Machine Guidelines

States face 2006 deadlines; completed standards could take months more

Sean Greene

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission this month started the process of reviewing new guidelines that will assist states in multi-million dollar purchases of new voting systems.

The recommended standards, the first to be published in three years - and also the first to be developed by the EAC - updating the 2002 Voting System Standards - were created by the Technical Guidelines Development Committee, a panel established by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA.) A draft was delivered to the EAC earlier this month.

-snip-

“It is unrealistic to expect that vendors, the independent testing labs, and customers, which include state, county and local officials, will be able to make wholesale changes to current products and get those products certified and into the field for a national election in November 2006,” stated Michael Kerr, testifying on behalf of the Information Technology Association of America and its Election Technology Council, which represents voting system vendors at the EAC’s public meeting this week.

-snip/more-

http://www.electionline.org/index.jsp?page=Newsletter%20May%2026%202005

[Wilms]

9. ITAA Warns Purchase Delays will Endanger HAVA Compliance

ITAA Warns Purchase Delays will Endanger HAVA Compliance

May 27, 2005 By News Staff

Testifying before the Election Assistance Commission this week, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) warned that states and counties waiting to purchase voting systems implementing the new Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) are in danger of missing the 2006 deadline for Help America Vote Act (HAVA) compliance.

"Under a best-case scenario, it will be difficult for states and counties to meet the HAVA deadlines" for the purchase and implementation of accessible voting systems, said ITAA Election Technology Council (ETC) Director Michael Kerr. "Recognizing that it often takes three to six months for counties to select a system and complete contracts, and many more months for shipping, acceptance, and customizations, waiting for the 2005 VVSG will effectively preclude counties and states from completing their transition to new voting technology under the deadlines established by HAVA."

-snip-

Ultimately, voting equipment vendors and their customers may need two to three years to absorb and adjust to the new guidelines. "Our members will be coming in on the tail end of the process and sorting through a complex set of proposals," Kerr said. "It is unrealistic to expect that vendors, the independent testing labs, and customers...will be able to make wholesale changes to current products and get those products certified and into the field for a national election in November 2006."

Kerr called on the EAC to advise election officials that waiting for the guidelines to be implemented may jeopardize HAVA deadline compliance. He suggested that instead of waiting the EAC assure jurisdictions that equipment properly certified to existing standards can produce secure, accurate and reliable elections, meeting HAVA functional requirements. Finally, Kerr asked that systems certified to meet 2002 standards be grandfathered under the new 2005 guidelines.

-snip/more-

http://govtech.net/news/news.php?id=94118

[Wilms]

10. (IL) Cook Co. switching to optical scan ballots

Cook Co. switching to optical scan ballots

May 26, 2005

BY MAURA KELLY LANNAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cook County voters will be using optical scan equipment in future elections and doing away with the old-style punch cards ballots, the voting method blamed for Florida's 2000 election nightmare, the county clerk announced Thursday.

Statewide, absentee voters could also see changes soon in the deadline by which their ballots must reach election officials.

-snip-

The county will also buy at least one touch-screen machine for every 2,402 precincts, primarily to help physically disabled and blind voters cast ballots independently, Orr said. Those machines also alert voters to possible errors and allow them to correct mistakes before casting ballots.

Illinois law requires that the touch-screen machines have paper audit trails, which allow voters to verify their votes and can be used for recounts.

-snip/more-

http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/16ballot.html

[Wilms]

11. (NY) Key issues keeping bipartisan committee from finishing plan

Voting issues still in dispute

Key issues keeping bipartisan committee from finishing plan on federal voting mandates

By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau

First published: Thursday, May 26, 2005

ALBANY -- Acrimony reigned over Wednesday's meeting of a bipartisan legislative committee struggling to complete New York's plan to meet the federal Help America Vote Act's mandates.
The 10-member committee has tentatively agreed on letting county election officials have the final say over what kind of new electronic voting machines to buy -- an issue many expected would be the most difficult to negotiate.

-snip-

One remaining question is whether individuals who registered to vote but for some reason don't appear in a new statewide voter database should be allowed to cast a ballot anyway if they show identification at the polls.

Democrats say voters should not be penalized for database errors and should be allowed to vote at all costs. Republicans believe this would invite voter fraud and don't want pollside identification to be allowed.

-snip/more-

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=364200&category=STATE&newsdate=5/26/2005

[Wilms]

12. (SC) Voting machine hung up

Voting machine hung up

Thursday, May 26, 2005

By Alex Keown Daily Times Staff Writer

With seven months to go before boards of elections across the state are supposed to acquire new voting machines compliant with the national Help America Vote Act, no standards have been handed down by the state Board of Elections.

The new machines are supposed to be in place by Jan. 1, 2006.

Ann Cone, director of elections for Wilson County, said her office is in limbo regarding new machines. Not only will the county's 93 voting machines, purchased in 1987, have to be replaced, but more will have to be purchased to serve the growth of registered voters in the county, Cone said.

And that means new storage space as well. The estimated cost to the county is about $1 million. Both the voting machines and software the county uses will have to be updated.

When Cone presented her budget request to the county, it did not include a request for funds for new machines. She said a separate request for $200,000 would be made. Before the county can purchase new machines, Cone said, it will have to wait until standards are decided by the state and federal governments.

-snip/more-

http://www.wilsondaily.com/Wil_region/Local_News/285439389179153.php

[Wilms]

13. (PA) Group Will Petition to Have Election Machines Be Reviewed

Group Will Petition to Have Election Machines Be Reviewed

Story posted on 2005-05-26 18:30:00

FIVE VOTER ADVOCACY GROUPS WANT STATE OFFICIALS TO TAKE A LOOK AT VOTING MACHINES IN BERKS COUNTY.


THE REQUEST COMES AFTER A PROGRAMMING ERROR LOST MORE THAN A HUNDRED VOTES DURING LAST WEEK'S PRIMARY. SIX RACES ARE STILL UP IN THE AIR.

THAT MEANS 400 PEOPLE MAY BE CALLED TO VOTE AGAIN IN A SPECIAL ELECTION.

EARLIER TODAY, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE GROUPS ASKED THE ELECTION BOARD TO JOIN HIM IN A PETITION TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO RE-EVALUATE THE MACHINES.

THE ELECTION BOARD IS EXPECTED TO DISCUSS THE MATTER IN DEPTH NEXT WEEK.

VideoClip:
http://wfmzdb.wfmz.com/s.php?fileID=3231&offset=1996&len=30&file_start_time=1117141143&file_end_time=1117146694&encoderID=1&filename=e0001__20050526_1659_01.rm

Story:
http://wfmz.com/cgi-bin/tt.cgi?action=viewstory&storyid=3974

[Wilms]

14. (PA) Voting machines opened

Scranton Times Tribune

Voting machines opened

By Andrew M. Seder 05/27/2005

HONESDALE - Seven voting machines that had been seized and secured last week were opened publicly Thursday night as Wayne County officials tried to figure out why vote totals were greater than the number of voters in polling places in Lake, Lehigh and Scott townships.

The consensus is that human error, not fraud, is to blame.

With more than 25 onlookers, including judges of election, five of the seven affected candidates and members of the county's Election Board, the machines were opened and inspected by technicians.

The findings revealed that devices designed to control the number of votes allowed per race were not installed on the machines in question.

"The next thing will be a report made to the Board of Elections ... it appears it was human error," Wayne County solicitor Lee Krause said. "I don't think we have any grounds to show there was fraud of any kind."

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14600213&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416046&rfi=6

[Wilms]

15. Miami-Dade's elections chief urges new system

Miami-Dade's elections chief urges new system

By Chrystian Tejedor and Ihosvani Rodriguez
Sun-Sentinel

Posted May 28 2005

After repeated embarrassing glitches at the polls, elections officials in Miami-Dade County have recommended scrapping the county's $24.5 million electronic voting system in favor of paper ballots with optical scanners.

Supervisor of Elections Lester Sola made the recommendation Friday in an initial analysis of the county's voting system and the feasibility of adopting a new one. In his report, Sola said that adopting the simpler system could save county taxpayers millions and restore voter confidence by providing a paper record of ballots cast.

-snip-

Alvarez also fumed that the current system has increased the cost of running an election to about $7 million per election.

Sola's report comes days after a voter advocacy group released a disparaging report that cited a litany of problems during last fall's general elections, among them malfunctioning voting machines.

-snip/more-

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-delections28may28,0,6680437.story?coll=sfla-news-miami

[Wilms]

20. Discussion

LBN Discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1507122

ER2004 Discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x373368

[Wilms]

16. No Live BRAD SHOW This Saturday! In Observation of Memorial Day Weekend

Blogged by Brad on 5/27/2005 @ 4:40pm PT...

No Live BRAD SHOW This Saturday!
In Observation of Memorial Day Weekend...

We'll be re-broadcasting a previous show (probably last week's) since it's a Holiday Weekend. Be sure to catch it (7p - 11p ET on Saturday) via www.BradShow.com if you didn't...

We'll be re-broadcasting a previous show (probably last week's) since it's a Holiday Weekend. Be sure to catch it (7p - 11p ET on Saturday) via www.BradShow.com if you didn't last week! It was a great show and includes interviews with Jim Lampley, Sen. Dick Durbin, and "Operation Iraqi Freedom" vet USMC 1st Lt. Andrew Borene amongst others!

Beyond that, enjoy the weekend and take a break from saving democracy if you wish! I'm guessing that you, like I, can use the break! Though I have a feeling I'll still be on duty throughout the next few days...at least somewhat.

While we take the time to remember those who fought and died for what's left of our freedoms and those who are doing so on behalf of this country even as I write...allow me to thank all of you who have fought so hard and so tirelessly over the last several months and years attempting to preserve those same freedoms. I know that it's been easy for none of us and -- though nothing like those who have given their lives for the cause -- has taken a toll on all of us. A toll, however, that I firmly believe will prove before long to have been well worth it.

So thank you endlessly to all of the BRAD BLOG Freedom Fighters! Now go enjoy the weekend!

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001427.htm

[Wilms]

17. Was Hocking County Board of Elections member illegally appointed?

Bob Fitrakis

Was Hocking County Board of Elections member illegally appointed?
May 25, 2005

The battle between Deputy Director Sherole Eaton, a recently fired federal whistleblower, and the Hocking County Board of Elections (BOE) she worked for, is becoming a bare-knuckled political brawl.

The Free Press has learned that Eaton supporters will protest at the Hocking County BOE Thursday, May 26 and plan to allege that Susan Hughes, a Democrat who seconded the motion to fire Eaton, is illegally on the BOE.

During last December’s presidential election recount, Eaton signed a sworn affidavit that a Triad, Inc. voting machine technician came into the BOE without being scheduled and changed out the county’s vote-tabulation computer hard drive. Eaton also claimed that he offered a “cheat sheet” to make sure the recount tally matched the original election results.

The Logan Daily News reported that BOE members privately complained “that Eaton was a disruptive influence in the office.” But, all BOE members “refused to be quoted on the record.”

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2005/1133

[Time for change]

18. I have a question about this process

If we are aware of an important story that we think should be posted here, or if we see something on DU that we think belongs here, how would we know if it's already been posted here? And if we can't know without a great amount of searching, how would substantial duplication be avoided?

[Wilms]

19. TFC

If you don't see it on this thread, please feel free to post it here.

It's not considered a duplicate if the story is already posted as it's own thread on the ER2004 forum, though if it is and you see it, you can post a link to that "Discussion" thread.

Here, we're attempting to compile the stories in one place, and post links to "Discussion" threads if we come across them, or post them ourselves.

Feel free to grab a story from this thread, and post it on it's own for discussion, if you want.

[MelissaB]

21. Ken Blackwell, Bill Frist, Condi Rice, Gingrich, and Ahnuld! Hmm...

In trying to follow up on this DU thread I went off on a slightly different tangent and ran across some very interesting things. What I'm going to post here (at least in this first post) will only scratch the surface, but it may give others here a starting point.

I started by investigating kenblackwell.com which is a "Ken Blackwell for Ohio Governor" website. I did a whois for the domain which gave me a number of pieces of info. For example, the domain is hosted at IP address 68.152.85.31. That IP address hosts 117 different domains including things like citizensfortheprotectionofmarriage.com, citizensfortheprotectionoffaithandvalues.com, and defendmarriageyes.com, all of which display the website for something called the "Michigan Christian Citizens Alliance".

That same IP also hosts - get this! - AMENDFORARNOLD.COM, as well as variations such as amend4arnold.com, etc.

If you poke around in the whois data for the 117 sites you'll find that a number of them, including kenblackwell.com are associated with newmediacommunications.com, which resides at the same IP address.
On it's website New Media Communications states that "Our political practice group consults for Republican campaigns and party organizations in the United States and center and center-right parties around the world, continuing to pioneer new initiatives in online politics". Their "News & Info" page has the following:

November 3, 2004
NMC CLIENTS WIN BIG IN KEY RACES

CLEVELAND, OHIO - You might call it the best kind of "November Surprise" for New Media Communications (NMC). With the declaration of President George W. Bush as winner of the presidential election, the company emerged from the 2004 General Election with a perfect score. "Every client who turned to us for online strategy and Internet solutions came out a winner," NMC President Mike Connell said.

From the White House to Capitol Hill, New Media clients garnered victories that surprised the pundits and made political history:
# Most notable was the Bush/Cheney '04 Presidential campaign. President Bush won 51.1% of the popular vote, enabling him to start off his second term with a mandate. Bush was the first U.S. President to garner a majority of the popular vote since his father did the same in 1988. He earned a record breaking 58.9 million votes -- more than any other U.S. President .

# In his South Dakota Senate race, former Congressman John Thune scored an upset over current Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in the most expensive Senate race in history. This marked the first time since 1952 that a seated Senate leader has been defeated in a re-election bid.

# David Vitter made history as the first Republican to earn a Senate seat in Louisiana since Reconstruction. He gathered a decisive 51.6% of the votes in an unusual three-way "open primary," thereby avoiding a runoff election.

# In Ohio, Senator George Voinovich won a second term with a comfortable 63.9% of the votes.

Seven congressional seats went to Republicans whose websites and electronic communications campaigns were created by New Media. Far from shoe-ins, many of these pivotal races were highly competitive to historic proportions:

# Minnesota's Mark Kennedy emerged the victor after weathering fierce and blatant attacks from Michael Moore in "Fahrenheit 911."

# Geoff Davis of Kentucky faced down Nick Clooney, a former television host, whose campaign was heavily supported by friends of Clooney's son, Hollywood actor George Clooney.

# Robert Simmons and Heather Wilson won hotly contested battles in Connecticut and New Mexico, respectively.

# Joe Barton of Texas, Mike Turner of Ohio, and Kenny Hulshof of Missouri, rounded out the list of successful candidates who turned to NMC for Internet identity solutions.

In addition to its work for specific candidates, New Media created a number of electronic communications tools for the National Rifle Association, the Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party. The efforts of these groups made a difference in strategic arenas all across the country. New Media also worked for two grassroots groups in Michigan and Ohio to successfully defend traditional marriage. These ballot initiatives to reaffirm the definition of marriage (as the union between one man and one woman) won by a wide margin in both states.

"We have really been blessed in this election cycle," Connell said. "This important string of victories for our clients is nothing short of phenomenal."

So EVERY ONE of their 2004 campaign clients came out a winner. This includes Bush. Thune ran against Tom Daschle who was heavily targeted by the Republicans and won in an "upset", Bush won with a surprising last minute turnaround, and David Vitter was the first Republican to earn a Senate seat in Louisiana since Reconstruction. So, out of 11 clients; a presidential candidate, 3 senatorial candidates, and 7 congressional candidates, every one of them won and a number of them seem to have overcome strong odds to do so. Hmmm... :tinfoilhat: I wonder if there's any connection between New Media Communications and any of the voting machine companies. It is interesting (and disturbing) that Ken Blackwell is also involved with this outfit!

But there's more. If you look at the whois for kenblackwell.com you'll see that it lists trespassers-w.net as the "Hosting Company". I think that means it's the company that physically hosts that IP address but I could be mistaken. In any case It's definitely connected somehow with kenblackwell.com and New Media Communications.

Doing a whois for trespassers-w.net we find that it is hosted at IP address 68.152.85.76. Checking out that IP address we find that it hosts 163 different domains including frist-08.com, gingrichforpresident.org, frist-gingrich.com, and frist-rice.com!!!

So it looks like they're already considering some possibilities. They seem to be considering trying to amend the constitution so Ahnuld can run at some point in the future. And Frist is planning on running and has some possible running-mates chosen. And it looks like these campaigns will be associated with a company that has an almost "magical" track record of winning against the odds. Hmmm... Should we be disturbed by this?


Thanks to drm604 here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1815496#1815551

[drm604]

22. Thank you MelissaB for posting that.

Just in case anyone is confused, MelissaB's copy and paste of my original post lost all of the links I had embedded in that post. If you go to the link at the bottom of her post (and at the bottom of this one) you'll see my original post with all of the links. You'll also find some other good info that others have added to that thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1815496#1815551

[Wilms]

23. (NM) Clerk: More personnel needed to meet mandate

Clerk: More personnel needed to meet mandate

By Stella Davis/Current-Argus Staff Writer

May 28, 2005, 03:41 am

CARLSBAD — A new federal law requires that handicap accessible voting machines be placed in all polling places by 2006, which means more work and additional personnel for the county’s Bureau of Elections, a county official said.

Eddy County Clerk Jean Blenden told the County Commission during its final budget hearing this week that she will need an additional employee dedicated to help service and troubleshoot the county’s electronic polling machines and new handicap accessible machines for visually- and hearing-impaired voters.

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“They believe this is not the time to implement this,” Blenden said. “The specifications for the voting machines have not yet been written. Why would you want to purchase the machines if the requirements for them are not out?

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http://www.currentargus.com/artman/publish/article_13351.shtml

[Coexist]

24. Alabama: (Diebold) Company selected to implement statewide voting system

Cross post from LBN
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1508127

Robbien (1000+ posts) Sat May-28-05 05:24 PM
Original message
Alabama: (Diebold) Company selected to implement statewide voting system


Diebold Election Systems, a company specializing in election data information, has been selected to oversee the implementation of Alabama's new statewide voter registration system, Secretary of State Nancy Worley said Friday.

Worley said in a statement that she plans to immediately begin negotiations with the company. Diebold proposed a $2.3 million bid for the contract.

The federally-mandated Help America Vote Act (HAVA) became law in Alabama in 2003 and requires the state to create a statewide, uniform voter registration system. The new system will replace the Alabama Voter Information Network (ALVIN) System, which was implemented nearly 20 years ago. Currently, various counties across the state use their own independent voter systems, as well.

"If we reach agreement with Diebold on the new statewide system, each Alabama county can join me on equal footing with the new system," Worley said. "This effort will be a fresh start toward making voter registration as up-to-date as possible in Alabama."

http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20...

[Wilms]

25. (NJ) Losing candidate demands recount in Camden mayoral election

Losing candidate demands recount in Camden mayoral election

May 28, 2005, 12:54 PM EDT

CAMDEN, N.J.

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A judge on Friday ordered a recount of the May 10 election in which Councilman Ali Sloan El finished behind Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez and incumbent Gwendolyn Faison.

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Sloan El said he made the recount request to shed light on what he described as voting irregularities, not because he expected to gain more votes.

Some of the problems Sloan El said he had been told about included voting machines that did not work, people voting twice, and ballots cast by dead or unregistered voters.

Camden County Elections Superintendent Phyllis Pearl estimated the recount would cost $6,000. But under the agreement outlined by state Superior Court Judge Samuel D. Natal Friday, Sloan El will only have to reimburse the city $1,080 for the recount.

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http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--camdenmayor-recou0528may28,0,4764728.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey

[Wilms]

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