Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News WEDNESDAY, 12/07/05

[autorank]

A Rorschach for our time

ELECTION REFORM, FRAUD, & RELATED NEWS

SALUTES TWO WARRIOR PUBLICATIONS IN THE FIGHT

AGAINST ELECTOIN FRAUD



AND

Never forget the pursuit of Truth.

Only the deluded & complicit accept election
results on blind faith.

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News WEDNESDAY, 12/06/05

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



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).

[autorank]

1. NYC: RawStory Takes Diebold insider story to the streets!!!

What more can we say than thank you to Miriam Raftery for this great story. It’s comprehensive and represents a devastating indictment of CM (corporate media) for their failure to tell the truth. Maybe CM will take the hint again from Raw Story and push this one forward. It’s about time. GREAT WORK lalarawraw and RawStory


http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Diebold_insider__alleges_company_plagued_1206.html

Diebold insider alleges company plagued by technical woes, Diebold defends 'sterling' record

12/06/2005 @ 1:44 pm

Filed by Miriam Raftery

In an exclusive interview with RAW STORY, a whistleblower from electronic voting heavyweight Diebold Election Systems Inc. raised grave concerns about the company’s electronic voting technology and of electronic voting in general, bemoaning an electoral system the insider feels has been compromised by corporate privatization.
The Diebold insider, who took on the appellation “Dieb-Throat” in an interview with voting rights advocate Brad Friedman (BradBlog.com), was once a staunch supporter of electronic voting’s potential to produce more accurate results than punch cards.

But the company insider became disillusioned after witnessing repeated efforts by Diebold to evade meeting legal requirements or implementing appropriate security measures, putting corporate interests ahead of the interests of voters.

“I’ve absolutely had it with the dishonesty,” the insider told RAW STORY. Blasting Wally O’Dell, the current president of Diebold, the whistleblower went on to explain behind-the-scenes tactics of the company and its officers.

“There’s a lot of pressure in the corporation to make the numbers: `We don’t tell you how to do it, but do it.’ probably the number one culprit putting pressure on people,” the source said.
Diebold spokesman David Bear rebuts the charges. “Diebold has a sterling reputation in the industry," Bear said. "It’s a 144-year-old company and is considered one of the best companies in the industry."
Previous revelations from the whistleblower have included evidence that Diebold’s upper management and top government officials knew of backdoor software in Diebold’s central tabulator before the 2004 election, but ignored urgent warnings—such as a Homeland Security alert posted on the Internet.

“This is a very dangerous precedent that needs to be stopped—that’s the corporate takeover of elections,” the source warned. “The majority of election directors don’t understand the gravity of what they’re dealing with. The bottom line is who is going to tamper with an election? A lot of people could, but they assume that no one will.”
Concerns about Georgia, Ohio elections.

The insider harbors suspicions that Diebold may be involved in tampering with elections through its army of employees and independent contractors. The 2002 gubernatorial election in Georgia raised serious red flags, the source said.

“Shortly before the election, ten days to two weeks, we were told that the date in the machine was malfunctioning,” the source recalled. “So we were told 'Apply this patch in a big rush.’” Later, the Diebold insider learned that the patches were never certified by the state of Georgia, as required by law.

“Also, the clock inside the system was not fixed,” said the insider. “It’s legendary how strange the outcome was; they ended up having the first Republican governor in who knows when and also strange outcomes in other races. I can say that the counties I worked in were heavily Democratic and elected a Republican.”

In Georgia’s 2002 Senate race, for example, nearly 60 percent of the state’s electorate by county switched party allegiances between the primaries and the general election.

The insider’s account corroborates a similar story told by Diebold contractor Rob Behler in an interview with Bev Harris of Black Box Voting.

Harris revealed that a program patch titled “rob-georgia.zip” was left on an unsecured server and downloaded over the Internet by Diebold technicians before loading the unauthorized software onto Georgia voting machines. “They didn’t even TEST the fixes before they told us to install them,” Behler stated, adding that machines still malfunctioned after patches were installed.

California decertified Diebold TSX touch screen machines after state officials learned that the vendor had broken state election law.
“In California, they got in trouble and tried to doubletalk. They used a patch that was not certified,” the Diebold insider said. “They’ve done this many times. They just got caught in Georgia and California.”
The whistleblower is also skeptical of results from the November 2005 Ohio election, in which 88 percent of voters used touch screens and the outcome on some propositions changed as much as 40 percent from pre-election exit polls.

“Amazing,” the Diebold insider said.

Diebold is headquartered in Ohio. Its chairman Wally O’Dell, a key fundraiser for President Bush, once promised in an invitation to a Republican fundraising dinner to deliver Ohio’s electoral votes for Bush. The staffer said the company has a deep conservative culture.

<snip>

The Diebold insider says Americans who care about their vote must remain vigilant. “I don’t look for the paperless people, the corporations, to back off at all. They will continue to try to keep the public in the dark.”

[Liberty Belle]

23. Thanks, all!

[autorank]

2. INTERNET: BradBlog unearthed DiebThroad and now helps Raw Story

Brad nailed it first with Dieb. What a pro he is! Supporting the Raw Story expansion. No ego trips here. Just damn good blogging and reporting. Thank you Brad!!!


http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002121.htm
Blogged by Brad on 12/6/2005 @ 12:03am PT..

RAW STORY Splashes New DIEB-THROAT Exclusive!

Diebold Insider -- First Reported by BRAD BLOG -- Offers Additional Revelations in New Interview...
RAW STORY's Miriam Raftery unleashes a terrific new piece today based on an interview with the Diebold Insider, dubbed as "DIEB-THROAT", who we originally introduced in our BRAD BLOG EXCLUSIVE...

RAW STORY's Miriam Raftery unleashes a terrific new piece today based on an interview with the Diebold Insider, dubbed as "DIEB-THROAT", who we originally introduced in our BRAD BLOG EXCLUSIVE back in September.
Raftery previously delivered the terrific San Diego CityBeat story in October on all manners of electile dysfunction since the November 2004 election mess, right on up to the recent Mayoral boondoggle on Diebold machinery in San Diego. She's covered the Election Reform and Diebold beat in various outlets for some time.

Amongst the revelations reported by Raftery for RAW from her exclusive interview with the anonymous whistleblower who has chosen to keep their identity undisclosed for the time being due to "a continuing sensitive relationship with the company":

*** DIEB-THROAT blasts "the dishonesty" of the Diebold company and their CEO Walden O'Dell who has come under much fire since announcing his intention to "deliver the state of Ohio" to George W. Bush in a Republican fundraiser."

*** Says Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell is "the number one culprit" in putting pressure on employees to "make the numbers."

*** More quickly disproved statements from Diebold spokesperson David Bear who describes the company as having "a sterling reputation in the industry." Denies (at first) that paper trail rolls in Ohio's '05 election came in completely blank.

*** DIEB-THROAT blasts the "corporate takeover of elections" as a "very dangerous precedent that needs to be stopped"

*** DIEB-THROAT compares the massive new wave of Electronic Voting Machines to a Civil Rights-era "denial of rights"

*** New details on the Georgia 2002 gubernatorial election where Diebold installed patches to the software described as "never certified by the state." DIEB-THROAT was involved in some of those allegedly illegal and apparently malfunctioning patches. Heavy Democratic counties ended up electing Republicans.

*** The source says Diebold has installed such patches "many times," it's just that they "got caught in Georgia and California."

*** Uproar from the public for paper ballots was the reason Diebold finally conceded to add "paper trails" to their touch-screen machines for jurisdictions who specifically requested them.

*** Details on a failed Cook County, IL test of the Diebold touch-screen machines.

*** Details on several convicted criminals (for "computer-aided embezzlement" and "cocaine traffick") who were key to Diebold's software development and deployment, one of whom may still be working to program Diebold ballots around the country.

*** Refers to the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which DIEB-THROAT once, but longer supports, as "a big money grab.
*** Describes Diebold machines as "purposely complex and poorly designed."

[autorank]

3. NM: Local Press Picks Up Huge Story!!!

See quote from Voter Action co-director Holly Jacobson. This one's rocking. Hopefully they'll give old autorank a breathing spell. Keep up the great work attornies and citizen activists involved in this case.

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/35951.html

Santa Fe County chooses new voting machines print

By JULIE ANN GRIMM | The New Mexican
December 6, 2005

Despite an 11th-hour protest from people who question the security and effectiveness of new electronic voting machines, Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza has ordered touch-screen voting machines to comply with a federal mandate.

New Mexico Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron gave the state's 33 county clerks until today to decide which of three state-approved machines they prefer. Espinoza said Monday that she told the secretary's office last week to order touch-screen machines called Sequoia Edge.

Espinoza requested 56 of the machines, one for each county polling place, as required by the federal Help America Vote Act, she said.

The machines -- aimed at creating equal voting rights for disabled voters and those who do not speak English -- are at the center of controversy still swirling from the 2004 general election.

Lowell Finley, a California lawyer who successfully sued voting-machine manufacturer Diebold, has teamed up with Albuquerque attorney John Boyd in a lawsuit against the secretary of state on behalf of eight New Mexico voters who say the Sequoia Edge touch-screen machines malfunctioned in Bernalillo County and other counties in New Mexico.

The lawsuit, currently in discovery in the state's 2nd Judicial District Court, also seeks to prohibit the state from using Sequoia's touch-screen machines again.

Holly Jacobson, a former Santa Fe resident who is working on the case, said electronic voting machines amount to ``faith-based voting'' because voters can't see whether their votes are cast as intended.

<snip>
More than 60 percent of Santa Fe County voters used paper ballots in the 2004 election because they voted early or absentee.

A new state law calls for all counties to have a ``voter verified and audible paper trail'' for all voters by 2007, which will require the county to stop using electronic machines it has had since the 1990s.

Espinoza said the new machines she ordered for disabled voters can be retrofitted to comply with the state law before the deadline.

[eppur_se_muova]

27. "Faith-based voting"...like the expression. eom

[autorank]

4. OH: More Voter Suppression in Ohio…thanks Pres. Carter—Voter ID

I predicted that the National Voter ID recommendation by the Baker-Carter Commission would be used as precedent to push through Voter ID laws in the states, ID laws which are de facto voter suppression. Well, was I right or was I right? GA did it, AL is doing it, and now, shock of shocks, OH is doing it. Thank you so much President Carter for endorsing the stupid commission’s vile idea.


http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051206/NEWS09/512060377/-1/NEWS

Voters may have to show ID in Ohio
Proposals also aim at petitioners

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

COLUMBUS - Voters would be forced to provide proof of identification before casting ballots and non-Ohioans could not circulate petitions to change state law under proposals headed for an Ohio Senate committee today.

The measures could reach the full Senate next week. The Senate Rules Committee is expected to expand on a provision passed by the House to require first-time voters to provide proof of identification at the polling place.

The Senate version would require all voters to provide a driver's license or other photo ID, utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, any government document with his or her name and address, or the last four digits of their Social Security number.

"People who would commit fraud have become more sophisticated," said state Sen. Kevin Coughlin (R., Cuyahoga Falls). "A simple signature match as the only safety value in verifying the identification of a voter doesn't cut it. What we've proposed is a responsible approach that creates added security but doesn't disenfranchise voters."

He noted that a voter who is unable on the spot to provide any of the required forms of identification could cast a provisional ballot to be counted only after the voter's identity is verified.

Twenty-one states, including Ohio's neighbor Kentucky, require some form of voter identification at the polling place, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Indiana will join their ranks on Jan. 1.

http://toimages.us.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=TO&Date=20051206&Category=NEWS09&ArtNo=512060377&Ref=AR&MaxW=240

[autorank]

5. WI: “B.S.” Republican “Vote Fraud” Charges in Milwaukee Debunked by Repub

The Republicans tried to do their counter to election fraud, a Rovian anticipation and discrediting of the real story of “election fraud” 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005. Well, Milwaukee was their main target. The Federal attorney for that city investigated and said, no go. This was their best shot. They have no credibility. Unfortunately, we can’t get any Federal prosecutors to investigate Democratic charges of election fraud, no matter how much evidence we have!!!.


http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/dec05/375572.asp

No vote fraud plot found
Inquiry leads to isolated cases, Biskupic says
By STEVE SCHULTZE
[e-mail]
Posted: Dec. 5, 2005

The nearly yearlong investigation into voter fraud in 2004 has yielded no evidence of a broad conspiracy to try to steal an election, U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic said Monday.

He predicted that perhaps "a couple of dozen" isolated cases of suspected fraud might be charged, and he said that sloppy recordkeeping by election officials was a key impediment to proving such cases.

Nothing in the cases that his office has examined has shown a plot to try to tip an election, Biskupic said during a meeting with Journal Sentinel editors and reporters.

Critics had raised such fears of partisan voter fraud schemes in the election aftermath. But Biskupic said, "I wouldn't say that at all."

He said, "We don't see a massive conspiracy to alter the election in Milwaukee, one way or another."

Biskupic, a Republican whom President Bush appointed in 2002, and Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann, a Democrat, announced a joint effort to investigate allegations of illegal voting in January.

That followed Journal Sentinel stories on widespread problems in Milwaukee, including flawed voter counts, votes cast from invalid addresses, outdated poll lists and discrepancies between the number of ballots cast and voters listed at dozens of polling places.

The newspaper found similar problems elsewhere in the state.

[autorank]

6. FL: Article on State Secretaries of State Running Campaigns and Elections

No kidding? Wow, could there be something like a "conflict of interest" there? These people lack even the lowest level of intellect to even be asking this question at this point. Of couse the head of the national associaiton for state elections officials disagrees. Says you need 'political muscle' to get things done for elections. Give me a break! What a total fabrication.

http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8EB1S6G0.html

Few states move to restrict election chiefs' partisan role

12/06/2005

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS / Associated Press

Few states have moved to take politics out of the job of counting votes, despite concerns raised about the role of partisan secretaries of state in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio last year.

The state Senate is expected to approve a bill this month that would prohibit Ohio secretaries of state from taking an active role with the campaign of any candidate or ballot issue, other than their own race.

The measure stems from controversy last year over Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's role overseeing a contested vote count in the presidential race while serving as an honorary vice chairman in the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Blackwell, a Republican running for governor, also backed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Secretaries of state continue to discuss the issue but see it more as a matter of personal ethics than a problem needing a legislative fix, said Sam Reed, secretary of state in Washington.

"As a statewide partisan elected official, you do need to have some connections, some clout, to be players in the process," Reed, president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, said Tuesday.

"You need to have some political muscle to succeed," he said. "Proposals like this make you more neutered."

[Wilms]

7. PA: State extends voting machine deadline

State extends voting machine deadline

By Glenn May
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, December 6, 2005

Allegheny County has more time to pick a vendor to replace its mechanical voting machines, federal, state and local election officials said Monday.

Previously, the state's 67 counties faced a Dec. 31 deadline to reach an agreement to purchase new voting machines that comply with the federal Help America Vote Act. Now, they are required only to have the machines in operation for the May 16 primary.

"A lot of (counties) feel they are under the crunch. Maybe this will give them a little more wiggle room to come into compliance," said Brian McDonald, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Secretary of State's Office.

At stake is federal money routed through the states to county governments to help pay for new machines.

snip

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/news/s_401082.html

[Wilms]

8. Paper ballots protect vote integrity

Paper ballots protect vote integrity

December 6th, 2005

David Grant, News Assistant

The Libertarians at Virginia Tech brought Alex Blakemore of Virginia Verified Voting to illustrate the need for a paper trail when it comes to elections

From presidential polling in Ohio to voting for school board officials in Northern Virginia, electronic voting machines have proven controversial across party lines, adding 4,000 votes for George Bush in one Ohio district in 2004 and swinging North Carolina state senator Lewis Pate (R-Wayne) from a 1-percent loss to a 1-percent victory in 2002.

For Alex Blakemore, one of the co-founders of Virginia Verified Voting who spoke at the request of the College Libertarians last night in Squires, said instances such as these serve as painful illustrations both of the mis-votes that may have gone undetected as well as the need to ensure voter-verified paper audit trails.

“The advantages to these machines are that they are lightweight and portable … some of the future ones might even come with video games and designer colors … but that’s not why we have them. We have them to ensure the accuracy of elections, and at that they do a poor job,” Blakemore said.

snip

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/1/ARTICLE/6231/2005-12-06.html?sid=8304830b4b218e6749c9ac17f6e6a051

[Wilms]

9. OH: Bill Would Limit Secretary Of State's Campaign Activities

Bill Would Limit Secretary Of State's Campaign Activities

Reported by: A.P.

12/5/2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio's chief elections officer would no longer be able to hold two jobs seemingly at odds with each other -- counting votes and backing candidates -- under changes to an election-reform bill released Monday.

In a jab at GOP Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, criticized for his honorary role in the Bush-Cheney campaign last year, fellow Republicans want to prohibit such dual responsibilities in the future.

"It is reasonable to expect that a person making decisions during and after an election about a campaign should not be an interested party to that campaign," said Sen. Kevin Coughlin, a Republican from Cuyahoga Falls in northeastern Ohio.

He said the proposal came out of the perceived conflict-of-interest last year when Blackwell was an honorary vice chairman in the Bush-Cheney campaign.

snip

http://www.wcpo.com/news/2005/local/12/05/blackwell.html

[Wilms]

10. Warning Bell in Ohio (LWV vs. Blackwell)

Warning Bell in Ohio

Tova Andrea Wang
The Century Foundation

12/6/2005

A federal court in Ohio has just issued a decision that has potentially enormous significance for elections all over the country. In The League of Women Voters et al. v. Blackwell, a federal judge denied a motion to dismiss by the Governor and Secretary of State. Instead, he ruled that if the League and other voting rights organizations can demonstrate there were “systemic breakdowns” in the election system that led to widely disparate levels of voting access throughout the state in 2004 (and for over three decades before that), the state likely violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

Judge James G. Carr writes,

"Put simply, LWV contends that defendants’ election system provides different voting rights to different citizens based solely on where those citizens happen to reside and vote. Some citizens get short lines, properly functioning voting machines, well trained and informed poll workers, accurate registration information, and the opportunity to cast unencumbered absentee or proper provisional ballots. Other citizens, due to the vagaries of residence and registration, encounter long lines, defective voting machines, ill-trained and uninformed poll workers, inaccurate registration information, and absentee or provisional ballots that are ultimately deemed invalid. If LWV’s allegations are well founded, defendants may be depriving citizens of the franchise depending on where they live in violation of the equal protection clause."

snip

What makes this case all the more interesting is that the judge found that the Governor and Secretary of State were the proper defendants in the action. In other words, those at the top will be held responsible for ensuring that our democracy is equally accessible to all voters—regardless of race, ethnicity, and yes, where they happen to live. It also shows that no matter how many laws the federal or state government passes, if elections officials implement them in a wrongful or incompetent manner, true election reform can never have real meaning.

snip/wow!

http://www.tcf.org/list.asp?type=NC&pubid=1153

[Wilms]

11. OH: Court Allows Historic Voting Rights Action to Proceed

Court Allows Historic Voting Rights Action to Proceed against Ohio Governor and Secretary of State; Non-Partisan Lawsuit Seeks to Redress Constitutional Defects in the Ohio Elections

December 05, 2005

snip

The court specifically rejected arguments by the defendants that state officials are not responsible to protect voters' rights in Ohio. The court stated that even "inaction that diminishes the right to vote" may be unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause and that state officials "cannot adopt policies leading to disparate treatment of those voters and thereafter plead 'no control' as a defense." The court held that if the defendants acted with "deliberate indifference" and that indifference resulted in injury to the voters, the state defendants would be in violation of the Due Process Clause. The court dismissed as premature one statutory count under the Help America Vote Act. The court has set the case for trial in June 2006.

snip

The lawsuit does not challenge the results of any past elections. Instead, it seeks to protect the rights of Ohio voters in future elections. Filed originally in federal court in Toledo on July 28, 2005, the complaint chronicles deficiencies over more than three decades, including widespread problems with the voter registration system, the absentee and provisional ballot processes, the training of poll workers, the organization of polling places and precincts, and the allocation of voting machines. The lawsuit seeks to compel the state defendants to carry out their duties to protect the fundamental right to vote in time for the November 2006 general election. The relief sought would require the state defendants to exercise their authority to repair the problems at all stages of the Ohio elections process. This will include removing the burdens that disenfranchise Ohio voters and, as a practical matter, make the ability to vote vary widely from county to county.

snip

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20051205006032&newsLang=en

[Wilms]

12. Judge allows lawsuit challenging adequacy of Ohio election system

Judge allows lawsuit challenging adequacy of Ohio election system

Associated Press

TOLEDO, Ohio -

snip

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell and Gov. Bob Taft had sought to dismiss the complaint, saying it should be directed at individual counties with election problems. The lawsuit also names Blackwell's predecessors dating back to the 1970s, including Taft.

"There is no question that LWV (the League) has alleged actionable constitutional violations," Toledo-based U.S. District Judge James Carr wrote on Friday, rejecting the request. "What remains is whether Secretary Blackwell and Gov. Taft are legally responsible for those violations."

Carr also refused to move the lawsuit to the Columbus court from Toledo.

Carr did throw out one claim that the state is not meeting requirements of the federal law meant to make voting easier. Ohio has until next month to comply, and the last 44 of the 88 counties expect new voting machines this month, Blackwell spokeswoman Carlo LoParo said.

snip

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/13335226.htm

[Wilms]

19. Ohio Lawsuit Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x404269

[Wilms]

13. DNC: Ohio Republicans Cast Wrong Vote on Ballot Issues

DNC: Ohio Republicans Cast Wrong Vote on Ballot Issues

12/6/2005

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Democratic National Committee:

One day after an Ohio judge rejected an attempt by Republican Gov. Bob Taft and Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to block a lawsuit that would hold them responsible for a broken election system that violated Ohioans' constitutional rights, Ohio Republicans are introducing new legislation that would make it even harder for people to exercise their fundamental right to vote.

Republicans in Ohio today introduced a Senate bill that includes voter ID measures similar to a Georgia law that was blocked by a federal appeals court. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 12/06/05) The three-judge panel, which included two Republican- appointed judges, found the provision to be an unconstitutional poll tax. The Georgia voter ID law and the Ohio Senate bill are part of a disturbing national pattern in which Republican Parties in 18 states from Alabama to Arizona have proposed legislation or pushed ballot initiatives that would make it more difficult for people to cast their ballot.

snip

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=57711

[Wilms]

14. Few states move to restrict election chiefs' partisan role

Tue, Dec. 06, 2005

Few states move to restrict election chiefs' partisan role

ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS

Associated Press

snip

Secretaries of state continue to discuss the issue but see it more as a matter of personal ethics than a problem needing a legislative fix, said Sam Reed, secretary of state in Washington.

"As a statewide partisan elected official, you do need to have some connections, some clout, to be players in the process," Reed, president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, said Tuesday.

"You need to have some political muscle to succeed," he said. "Proposals like this make you more neutered."

Reed, a Republican, oversaw the recount in last year's closely contested governor's race in which Democrat Christine Gregoire defeated Republican Dino Rossi by 133 votes.

snip

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/13342286.htm

[Wilms]

15. Observers Say Venezuela Vote Was Fair

Observers Say Venezuela Vote Was Fair

Staff and agencies

06 December, 2005

By JORGE RUEDA

CARACAS, Venezuela - European observers said Tuesday that Venezuela‘s congressional elections were fair and transparent despite opposition claims of irregularities and a low voter turnout.

snip

Jose Silva, head of the European Union team, said the vote was clean and praised the elections council.

He said many Venezuelans did not trust the nation‘s elections system, leading them to abstain from voting.

Chavez, who accused the opposition of plotting the boycott with the help of the United States as part of a plot to "destabilize" the country, said Tuesday that the low turnout "must be looked at, analyzed and considered." Washington and the opposition have denied the accusations.

snip

Court authorities on Tuesday delayed the start of a trial for leaders of a Venezuelan vote-monitoring group accused of conspiring against Chavez‘s republican system by receiving U.S. funding.

snip

http://www.localnewsleader.com/brocktown/stories/news-00109103.html

[BradBlog]

16. AutoRank is the swelliest!

Thanks AR. Don't forget to take a bow for yourself every now and again for your tremendous and tireless work!

Though after that quick bow, get up and back to work, we need ya! :-)

Brad

[Kurovski]

17. He is the swelliest. One more vote to go for greatest.

Wilms ain't so bad niether. :-)

[autorank]

29. Thanks Brad, and no need to tell you do keep it up. You're our D'Artagnan

:patriot:

[Wilms]

18. Ballot Design and Unrecorded Votes on Paper-Based Ballots

Ballot Design and Unrecorded Votes on Paper-Based Ballots

David C. Kimball and Martha Kropf

DAVID C. KIMBALL is an associate professor of political science at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

MARTHA KROPF is an associate professor of political science at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

Address correspondence to David Kimball; e-mail: [e-mail].

The 2000 presidential election focused attention on the problem of unrecorded votes, in which a person casts a ballot but fails to record a valid vote for a particular contest. Although much recent research has evaluated voting technologies and their effects on unrecorded votes, there has been little research on the effects of ballot design.

We argue that the same theories used to design and evaluate self-administered surveys can be used to analyze ballot features. We collect and code paper-based ballots used in the 2002 general election from 250 counties in 5 states. We code the ballots in terms of several graphic design elements, including the content and location of ballot instructions and the layout of candidate names and office titles.

Our analysis suggests that several ballot features are associated with unrecorded votes (both overvotes and undervotes) in the gubernatorial contests.

We also find that ballot design features exacerbate the racial disparity in unrecorded votes. Ballot design can be an important factor in determining whether voters are able to cast a ballot accurately, which can influence the legitimacy of elections.

snip

http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/4/508

[kster]

20. All aboard

next stop the greatest.....

[lala_rawraw]

21. Thanks guys:)

[autorank]

28. Thank you for exposing yourself to the Chernobyl of out politisl system.

:patriot:

[Piedras]

22. With new legislation, Ohio Republicans plan holiday burial for American De

I previously posted this to Editorials & Other Articles
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x177931

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1607

With new legislation, Ohio Republicans plan holiday burial for American Democracy
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
December 6, 2005

A law that will make democracy all but moot in Ohio is about to pass the state legislature and to be signed by its Republican governor. Despite massive corruption scandals besieging the Ohio GOP, any hope that the Democratic party could win this most crucial swing state in future presidential elections, or carry its pivotal US Senate seat in 2006, are about to end.

House Bill 3 has already passed the Ohio House of Representatives and is about to be approved by the Republican-dominated Senate, probably before the holiday recess. Republicans dominate the Ohio legislature thanks to a heavily gerrymandered crazy quilt of rigged districts, and to a moribund Ohio Democratic party. The GOP-drafted HB3 is designed to all but obliterate any possible future Democratic revival. Opposition from the Ohio Democratic Party, where it exists at all, is diffuse and ineffectual.

HB3's most publicized provision will require positive identification before casting a vote. But it also opens voter registration activists to partisan prosecution, exempts electronic voting machines from public scrutiny, quintuples the cost of citizen-requested statewide recounts and makes it illegal to challenge a presidential vote count or, indeed, any federal election result in Ohio. When added to the recently passed HB1, which allows campaign financing to be dominated by the wealthy and by corporations, and along with a Rovian wish list of GOP attacks on the ballot box, democracy in Ohio could be all but over.

The GOP is ramming similar bills through state legislatures around the US, starting with Georgia and Indiana. The ID requirements in particular have provoked widespread opposition from newspapers such as the New York Times. The Times, among others, argues that the ID requirements and the costs associated with them, constitute an unconstitutional discriminatory poll tax.

more

edit: first found it at http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0512/S00078.htm

[MelissaB]

24. Wexler asks court to ensure manual recounts in close races

Wexler asks court to ensure manual recounts in close races

Associated Press


MIAMI - Florida's touch-screen voting machines violate people's constitutional rights because they don't create a paper record of each ballot, a lawyer for U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler said Wednesday in a federal appeals court. But a state lawyer said the ATM-like devices are accurate and don't need a paper trail.

The Boca Raton Democrat sued the state and two county elections supervisors in March 2004 because the touch-screen machines don't create physical ballots that can be counted by hand when disputes arise in close races.

He argues that because the 15 Florida counties with touch-screens have a different recount procedure than the other 52 with machines that scan paper ballots, the state violates the Constitution's equal protection clause and the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended the disputed presidential election in 2000. That ruling called for uniform recount standards throughout the state.

But a federal judge disagreed with Wexler in a ruling issued just before last year's presidential election. He said touch-screens "provide sufficient safeguards" of constitutional rights. Wexler challenged the decision to a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard arguments Wednesday.


More: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/13351512.htm


Thanks to sabra here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1972241

[MelissaB]

25. POTENTIAL SECURITIES FRAUD CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST DIEBOLD IN PROGRESS!

EXCLUSIVE: POTENTIAL SECURITIES FRAUD CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST DIEBOLD IN PROGRESS!
Documents and comments provided by Company Insiders suggest Diebold could be the next Enron as All-New Legal Troubles Mount for Voting Machine Giant...
Additional Individual, Union Owners of Diebold Stock, Mutual Funds Sought for Addition to Plaintiff Class

The BRAD BLOG has received exclusive detailed information about a developing potential class action securities litigation against Diebold, Inc. (stock symbol: DBD). The class for the suit will involve shareholders who purchased or owned stock in the Ohio-based company any time from October 22, 2003 though September 21, 2005.

Though we are not at liberty at this time to discuss the specifics of the potential litigation and the causes of action in the complaint being compiled, The BRAD BLOG has learned that the class action lawsuit, currently being drawn up, will involve securities fraud violations and other troubling matters for the controversial company, its CEO as well as current and former members of its Board of Directors.

Those who owned or purchased Diebold stock, or mutual funds which carried Diebold during the period mentioned, are asked to contact [e-mail] where contact information submitted may be turned over to attorneys currently working on the case for possible addition to the plaintiff class. Union groups who own or owned shares of Diebold or mutual funds which invest in the company are specifically urged to contact VR about joining the class action...

MUCH MORE DETAIL & COMMENTS FROM OUR SOURCE "DIEB-THROAT" ON THIS BREAKING NEWS AT:
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002126.htm

---
Brad Friedman
THE BRAD BLOG - The uprising continues...
http://www.BradBlog.com
VELVET REVOLUTION - The revolution has begun...
http://www.VelvetRevolution.us

*** The BRAD SHOW On the Air via RAW RADIO!
*** http://www.BradShow.com
*** Broadcast coast-to-coast and around the globe!


Thanks to BradBlog here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1972438

[lonestarnot]

26. Woooodamnwhooooooooo!

Excellante'!

[oregonindy]

30. Who runs Diebold you ask?

http://www.votefraud.org/who_owns_diebold.htm


WHO RUNS DIEBOLD ELECTION SYSTEMS? WHO WROTE THE PROGRAMS?

Bob Urosevich is the CEO of Diebold Election Systems. Urosevich created the original software architecture for Diebold Election Systems, and his original company, called I-Mark Systems, can be found in the source code signatures.

Prior to programming for and taking over Diebold Election Systems, Urosevich programmed for and was CEO of Election Systems & Software (ES&S), which counts 56 percent of the votes in the United States. When Urosevich left ES&S, Chuck Hagel took his position. (Hagel then ran for the U.S. Senate, with ES&S machines counting his own votes, but failed to disclose that he had been both CEO and Chairman of ES&S on his disclosure documents).

Bob Urosevich, together with his brother Todd, founded ES&S. Bob then went to run Diebold, while Todd still is a Vice President at ES&S. Diebold and ES&S, together, count about 80 percent of the votes in the United States.


(After Note from votefraud.org: while it is not at hand, we believe researchers will find that Star Bank and US Bank were run also by two brothers -- and finally these two banks merged and became US Bank. The Big Newsmedia keeps the American people completely in the dark about these agressive moves towards financial dictatorship by a very few people. Of course, we say "aggressive moves" because such rapid consolidation would not be possible without the backing of the international banksters running the Federal Reserve System -- which grants unlimited credit to their appointed operatives so that one industry after another can be gobbled up by this power-mad Ruling Elite.)

[oregonindy]

31. and remember it doesnt matter who casts the votes only who counts them

and ole senator chuck hagel is a vote counter


While Diebold has received the most attention, it actually isn't the biggest maker of computerized election machines. That honor goes to Omaha-based ES&S, and its Republican roots may be even stronger than Diebold's.

The firm, which is privately held, began as a company called Data Mark, which was founded in the early 1980s by Bob and Todd Urosevich. In 1984, brothers William and Robert Ahmanson bought a 68 percent stake in Data Mark, and changed the company's name to American Information Services (AIS). Then, in 1987, McCarthy & Co, an Omaha investment group, acquired a minority share in AIS.

In 1992, investment banker Chuck Hagel, president of McCarthy & Co, became chairman of AIS. Hagel, who had been touted as a possible Senate candidate in 1993, was again on the list of likely GOP contenders heading into the 1996 contest. In January of 1995, while still chairman of ES&S, Hagel told the Omaha World-Herald that he would likely make a decision by mid-March of 1995. On March 15, according to a letter provided by Hagel's Senate staff, he resigned from the AIS board, noting that he intended to announce his candidacy. A few days later, he did just that.

A little less than eight months after stepping down as director of AIS, Hagel surprised national pundits and defied early polls by defeating Benjamin Nelson, the state's popular former governor. It was Hagel's first try for public office. Nebraska elections officials told The Hill that machines made by AIS probably tallied 85 percent of the votes cast in the 1996 vote, although Nelson never drew attention to the connection. Hagel won again in 2002, by a far healthier margin. That vote is still angrily disputed by Hagel's Democratic opponent, Charlie Matulka, who did try to make Hagel's ties to ES&S an issue in the race and who asked that state elections officials conduct a hand recount of the vote. That request was rebuffed, because Hagel's margin of victory was so large.

As might be expected, Hagel has been generously supported by his investment partners at McCarthy & Co. -- since he first ran, Hagel has received about $15,000 in campaign contributions from McCarthy & Co. executives. And Hagel still owns more than $1 million in stock in McCarthy & Co., which still owns a quarter of ES&S.