Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday 7/16/05

[MelissaB]

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.





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=203x384108

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).

[MelissaB]

1. Probe focuses on donation to GOP: Election official says he was offered $

Probe focuses on donation to GOP
Election official says he was offered $10,000

Saturday, July 16, 2005
Julie Carr Smyth
Plain Dealer Bureau




Columbus - A member of the Franklin County election board said Friday that prosecutors are investigating whether a GOP political consultant tried to bribe the board's director to buy voting equipment made by his client, Diebold Inc.

The director, Matthew Damschroder, has told prosecutors that the consultant, Pat Gallina, came to his office in early 2004, offering him $10,000.

"Pat Gallina came into my office at the Board of Elections and said, 'I'm here to give you $10,000. Who should I direct it to?' " Damschroder recalled. "I said, 'Certainly not to me. But I'm sure the Franklin County Republican Party would appreciate a voluntary donation. That was my first mistake."

The law prohibits Damschroder from accepting political contributions on county property. He said he took the check home and mailed it to the party, where he had just completed a stint as executive director...

Link: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/112150624541561.xml&coll=2


Thanks to Algorem here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1632050

and farmbo here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x384233#384235

[MelissaB]

2. Probe targets Republican's donation to election official

Probe targets Republican's donation to election official

Associated Press


COLUMBUS, Ohio - Prosecutors are investigating a $10,000 check that a Republican political consultant who works for a voting-machine company handed to the director of the Franklin County Board of Elections.

The consultant, Pasquale "Pat" Gallina, visited elections director Matthew Damschroder in early 2004 on the same day that the county was opening bids for voter-registration software, Damschroder said.

"I'm here to give you $10,000," Damschroder recalled Gallina saying. "Who do I make it payable to?"

"Well, you're certainly not going to make it out to me," Damschroder said he told Gallina, who represents Diebold Election Systems. "But I'm sure the Franklin County Republican Party would appreciate a donation."

More: http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/12150159.htm

[MelissaB]

3. Taft seeks order to block BWC deposition

Taft seeks order to block BWC deposition

Senator wants to question governor under oath about investments, correspondence

By JAMES DREW
and JOSHUA BOAK
BLADE STAFF WRITERS


COLUMBUS - Gov. Bob Taft asked the Ohio Supreme Court yesterday for a "protective order" to prevent a Democratic state senator from questioning him and Chief of Staff Jon Allison under oath about failed investments at the Bureau of Workers' Compensation.


Kathleen Trafford, a Columbus attorney hired by the attorney general's office to represent Mr. Taft, said the sole issue in the lawsuit filed by state Sen. Marc Dann, a Youngstown-area Democrat, is whether reports to the governor from his high-ranking aides are public records under Ohio law.

Saying the high court has pledged a "full and speedy" resolution of the lawsuit, Ms. Trafford wrote that Mr. Dann's plan to depose Mr. Taft and five other current and former high-ranking aides could set a "precedent for misusing public records complaints as inquisitory tools for personal or political purposes."

Mr. Dann, who also is an attorney, said that charge was "absurd." He said the records could provide more details about why up to $13 million is missing from the state's investment in rare-coin funds controlled by Tom Noe and why the state lost $215 million in just a few months in a high-risk hedge fund managed by Mark D. Lay of MDL Capital Management.


More: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050715/NEWS24/507150333/0/NEWS11

[MelissaB]

4. Chicago Mayor Cleans House at City Hall

Chicago Mayor Cleans House at City Hall

By TARA BURGHART, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO - City Hall is shaking from a series of corruption scandals, and Mayor Richard Daley's approval ratings are at historic lows. Add to that a possible mayoral hopeful — congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. — who won't let those scandals die, and the city that has been ruled by a Daley for 37 of the past 50 years has the potential for picking another name come 2007.

So Daley has brought out the ax at City Hall, forcing out four department heads and accepting the retirement of a fifth connected to the scandals in the last six weeks. Political strategists say it is smart move that could help keep the 16-year mayor in office, although he still has work to do to win back voters' trust.

"The biggest thing he's doing is trying to show he's doing something about corruption. He's got to do that. He can't hide," said political consultant Don Rose. "(Over the years he) has been trying to discount all this stuff by pretending all along that it was a bad guy here, a bad guy there. He's not acknowledged that it was anything systemic."

Daley does not face re-election until 2007, and he is not committed to running for a sixth term. But the mayor — who has not been accused of any wrongdoing — has been laying the groundwork for a future run with his cabinet makeover.

More: http://www.ftimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=28325&TM=32288.64

[MelissaB]

6. another snip

Jackson's name as a potential Daley challenger first got mentioned six months ago. The Democratic son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, he has said he has not yet decided on whether to run — but has kept up a steady drumbeat of reproach.

Over the Independence Day weekend, at an event at his father's Rainbow/PUSH headquarters to launch a huge voter registration drive, Jackson turned the heat up several notches.

"For the last six months, we've read and seen nothing but corruption and greed and malfeasance throughout much of city government ... While the corruption has not directly touched the mayor, it's all around him."

[MelissaB]

5. WA: Not everyone a big fan of mail voting

Not everyone a big fan of mail voting

Rebecca Nappirebecca Nappi
The Spokesman-Review
July 16, 2005

Marshall Mitchell clearly remembers the first time he voted. It was 1972. He was 20. His father and mother drove him to their Brent, Ala., polling site. Marshall, who used a wheelchair because of a diving accident, waited in the van while his dad brought a ballot to him.

His dad watched him mark the ballot. He didn't say anything about Marshall's choices, but Marshall wonders what might have happened if they had been at home together at the kitchen table, with more time to fill out the ballot. Marshall was still a young man back then. His father was strong-willed. Would Marshall have felt uncomfortable, maybe even intimidated, and changed some of his votes?


Marshall pondered this thought after reading that Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton will recommend that the county switch to a vote-by-mail system.

A federal law will require voting devices for people with disabilities at every polling site next year. The machines and their maintenance could ultimately cost into the millions. Sending the ballots out by mail is the cheapest way to meet the federal requirements, Dalton says.


More: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local/story.asp?ID=80421

[MelissaB]

7. FL: Federal judge to rule on ballot standoff

Federal judge to rule on ballot standoff

By JAMES MILLER
Staff Writer

Last update: July 16, 2005


ORLANDO -- An attorney representing blind voters compared Volusia County's refusal to buy touch-screen machines to the Alabama governor who tried in 1963 to keep black students out of an all-white school.

After a hearing Friday at the federal district court in Orlando, attorney Daniel Goldstein said Volusia's position reminded him of "George Wallace in the doorway of the University of Alabama saying, 'I don't care what this democracy has decided with respect to how this balance was struck. I stand here in the way of this law.' "

Volusia officials, though, see themselves protecting democracy by opposing machines they fear are vulnerable to undetectable breakdown or fraud.

After hearing the arguments Friday, Judge John Antoon II said he would issue a ruling soon.


More: http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/WestVolusia/03WVolWEST01LOPOL071605.htm

[MelissaB]

8. FL: Touch-screen debate focuses on deadline

Touch-screen debate focuses on deadline
A federal judge says he will determine the timetable for Volusia's buying the machines `as soon as I can.'

By Kevin P. Connolly | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted July 16, 2005


An attorney for the National Federation of the Blind on Friday urged a federal judge to order Volusia County to immediately purchase controversial touch-screen voting machines.

But a special counsel for Volusia County argued against the request, telling U.S. District Judge John Antoon II that under federal law, the county has until Jan. 1 to purchase devices that will allow the visually disabled to vote independently.

Orlando-based attorney David V. Kornreich argued that the additional time may allow the new voting devices -- which allow the visually disabled to vote unassisted and also use the paper ballots County Council members want -- to get approved for use in Florida .

The only touch-screens currently certified for use in Florida don't create paper ballots.


More: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-locvvoting16071605jul16,0,3308942.story?coll=orl-news-headlines

[MelissaB]

9. LA: Voting machine bid requests reissued

Voting machine bid requests reissued

By MARSHA SHULER
[e-mail]
Capitol news bureau

...snip

But it also seeks company proposals for replacing machines statewide for regular and absentee voting, she said.

The nine-member team reviewing the first round of proposals encountered problems comparing pricing of machines because of the manner in which firms presented the data, LaPlace said.

"This time around we did a fill-in-the-blank chart so pricing is all the same and we can compare," she said.

In addition, the new request mandates that companies submit three years of independently audited financial statements, annual reports and Dunn & Bradstreet ratings, LaPlace said. It also seeks a 10-year legal history of civil and criminal cases involving the company and its employees dealings with election system, she said.

More: http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/071605/new_machines001.shtml

[MelissaB]

10. Bleeding in US, Diebold buys out Tata plant

Bleeding in US, Diebold buys out Tata plant

BLOOMBERG
Posted online: Saturday, July 16, 2005 at 1009 hours IST
Updated: Saturday, July 16, 2005 at 1010 hours IST


July 15 Diebold Inc., a maker of automated-teller and voting machines, agreed to buy an ATM plant in India from Tata Infotech. The price wasn't disclosed.

The 30,000 square-foot Goa plant will build machines for customers in India and surrounding regions, North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold said today in a statement.

Diebold and Tata Infotech a unit of Tata Group, began a manufacturing agreement in 2002 and will continue to cooperate in areas that include software development and supplier support, Eric Evans, Diebold president and chief operating officer, said in the statement.

Diebold shares rose 32 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $48.33 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has declined 13 per cent this year.


Link: http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=96637

[MelissaB]

11. Mississippi goes all Diebold Touch Screen - Secty of State: "great system"

State unveils computerized vote machines
Counties will receive them at no cost

By JUSTIN HOOKS
SUN HERALD

BILOXI - Mississippi Secretary of State Eric Clark gave circuit clerks across the state a glimpse into the future Thursday, unveiling new computerized voting machines.

Clark presented the machines at the Circuit Clerk's 70th Annual Convention at Beau Rivage Resort and Casino, and said the touch-screen system will do wonders to improve the state's election process.

"This is just going to be a wonderful thing," Clark said. "For the first time ever, we'll be able to have accurate election-night returns from around the state. As information comes in from the counties, they'll be able to transmit in real time over a secure line to our offices. It's a great system."

Diebold Election Systems, which supplies 95 percent of the state's ATMs, won the $15 million contract to upgrade the state's voting systems and will provide training, maintenance, voter education and technical support for the next five years.

The upgrade is part of the the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) signed in October 2002. HAVA requires the replacement of all central scanner machines, lever machines and punch-card machines in the state by Jan. 1, 2006, and at least one available device that is fully accessible to the disabled in every polling place.

Clark said county governments don't have to worry about the cost of the upgrade, or the security of the new systems.

"You hear about (computer) hacking, but it just can't happen here," he said. "It's as secure as anything can be. Based on everything I've seen, these are the best machines available and they're coming at zero cost to the counties."

The federal government is covering 95 percent of the cost of the machines under HAVA, with 5 percent covered by state matching funds. Mississippi is expected to receive 5,164 Diebold machines, but each county has discretion to choose what manner of HAVA-compliant system it wants to use.

More: http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/local/12136459.htm


Thanks to cyberpj here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4116693

[Mnemosyne]

12. ,

:hi: :kick: :kick: