Ken Blackwell: Too Many Coincidences with Diebold for Comfort

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Coincidence CEO of Diebold, Walden O'Dell, hosted a $1000 a plate dinner to benefit Republican Bush's 2004 reelection campaign. The invitations asked each attendee to donate or raise up to $10,000 each for the State GOP. Some of that money eventually will fall back out of the GOP's pockets and into Blackwell's campaign fund for his gubernatorial election campaign.

Coincidence As Republican Ohio Secretary of State, Blackwell recommended Diebold as the company to tabulate the 2004 Ohio election results

Coincidence Ken Blackwell qualified Diebold as one of three companies eligible to sell voting machines to Ohio for the 2004 elections

Coincidence Ken Blackwell was co-chairman of George Bush's Republican 2004 Ohio Campaign.

Coincidence This just happens to be the deadline for filing financial statements for the Ohio May primaries. This is also the first reporting period since Republican Gov. Bob Taft and four former members of his administration were convicted of various crimes last year. And before you start screaming bias, The Dispatch has a track record of supporting most Republican candidates and their issues.

Coincidence Republican Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell filed a directive in January of 2005 stating that he'd closed a "best in the nation" deal for Diebold voting machines, resulting in a lawsuit filed by rival venders and several Ohio counties.

Coincidence The Director of Franklin County Board of Elections is quoted as saying that former Diebold contractor Pasquale Gallina has bragged of donating $50,000 to Republican Ken Blackwell's "political interests". And while Blackwell denies that, oddly enough, Diebold said they were unaware of Gallina's activites, coming just short of confirming it.

Coincidence Leading up to the 2004 elections, Republican Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell was accused of providing only 1 or 2 voting machines in areas most likely to fall to John Kerry, causing well-documented and publicized long and discouraging polling lines However, he assigned as many as 6 or more machines in lightly-populated rural areas where Bush was more likely to get votes.

I know what conclusions I'd draw from this, but they're only my opinion

[EST]

1. And another-

Blackwell is a proud Diebold stock investor.

[mod mom]

2. & now a Tol TV station reporting Diebold Lobbyist gives $10K to Blackwell

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x432853

[Tigress DEM]

3. Have you read John Conyers book "What Went Wrong In Ohio?"

It isn't only your opinion. These things and worse went on and they have been document in court records.