Election Reform, Fraud and Related News Sunday, 12/17/06

[EFerrari]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Sunday December 17, 2006

December 17, 2006 at 07:04:40

Experts for the U.S. Congress to Consult with on Election Integrity Legislation

by Kathy Dopp


U.S. voting and elections systems are still insecure and wide-open to vote fraud and voter disenfranchisement according to experts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and U.S. computer experts.

Here are recommendations for federal legislation to ensure the integrity of our democracy:

http://electionarchive.org/ucvInfo/US/EI-FederalLegislationProposal.pdf

<[i>and here is a list of experts that the U.S. Congress may consult with:

http://electionarchive.org/ucvInfo/US/ExpertsList.pdf

on questions and details concerning federal legislation to ensure the integrity of our democracy. This list of experts is a managable size and the highly qualified experts on it know many other experts who can be conferred with.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_kathy_do_061216_experts_for_the_u_s_.htm


All members welcome and encouraged to participate.
Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

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

2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

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.


Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page

[EFerrari]

1. New CBC Chair Plans to Expand Clout by Expanding Technology

New CBC Chair Plans to Expand Clout by Expanding Technology

By Hazel Trice Edney, NNPA Washington Correspondent
December 18, 2006

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - U. S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), the new chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, says her role will be to galvanize the clout of CBC constituents to help Democrats win the presidency in 2008 - in part, by using technology.

"That's what it's all about. It's about 2008," says Kilpatrick in an interview. "We represent 40 million Americans in 26 states. So, that's an awesome database. We've got a great opportunity. And the technology is available. So, that will be my claim to fame. We've got a lot of work to do and we're ready to do the work.

Kilpatrick, who succeeds Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), says the 43-member CBC will now be strengthened through the use of cutting-edge technology.

"We want to establish a national Internet, Web cast, podcast, blog system where we are able to talk to each other - elected and appointed officials - as well as leaders and our natural allies, our national organizations and our ministerial groups," she says. "We've got to maintain Democratic control of the House and the presidency; thereby you get your issues and your public policies and your resources back. We've had 12 years of an America with Republicans in charge - loss of jobs, big deficits, interest rates high, you name it, health care system in collapse. All of that has got to be changed and you have to have the presidency to do it. We've got 24 months to do the jobs and I'll be working diligently to make sure that that happens."

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20061218c

:yourock:

[EFerrari]

2. Rep. John Conyers Calls for a "People’s Agenda" for the New Congress

Rep. John Conyers Calls for a "People’s Agenda" for the New Congress

By Joel Wendland


12-17-06, 9:28 am


Detroit, Michigan (12-15-06) – Appearing at a town hall meeting in Detroit, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) called for a "new American agenda" for the next session Congress. Conyers discussed a wide range of issues from the war in Iraq to the economy, health care, and the impeachment of President Bush. He declared the new session of Congress, set to begin on January 4, 2007, a "brand new start after 12 years" of disastrous rule by the Republican Party.

"You are now being addressed by Chairman John Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee," Conyers told an overflowing audience at the University of Detroit Mercy. He promised to use his authority and influence to help reverse the irresponsible lack of congressional oversight by the Republican-controlled House of the President on issues such as the war and the abuse of civil liberties.

The election on November 7, Rep. Conyers noted, was a referendum on the Bush administration and the Republican Party's ideas, its policies, and its methods of leadership. Conyers called for a national dialogue on a new American agenda and said he plans to hold more public forums in Michigan and across the country.

Conyers proceeded to discuss his opinion on a number of major issues that he intended to address from his new position in Congress. He cited D.C. statehood as one of the first items on the list.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/4573/1/227/

[EFerrari]

3. CA: The fix is in: It's in the California voting system

The fix is in: It's in the California voting system
By Dan Walters / The Bee's capitol bureau
12/17/06 05:53:26

We like to think that we voters are free to choose those who will occupy public offices and be empowered to make decisions on our behalf.

It's amazing, however, how much energy politicians and interest groups devote to reducing or even eliminating our ability to freely make choices.

Fixing elections is certainly not a new phenomenon. During the early years of the republic, corrupt political machines would routinely stuff ballot boxes. Most historians concede that John Kennedy won the presidency in 1960 thanks to the electoral votes that were stolen by voter fraud in Chicago and South Texas. And, of course, there have been allegations that election officials in Florida and/or Ohio distorted the very close presidential elections of 2000 and 2004.

All of those incidents would have been illegal if proven. More insidious is legally fixing elections, or at least sharply limiting voters' options so that a predetermined outcome is nearly certain.

http://www.fresnobee.com/204/story/19289.html

[philb]

27. The fact that Gore won easily in Florida if all legal votes had been counted was documented by

a big Media recount after the election. The fact that Gore had more legal votes was known the day after the election.
I knew and many did and the officials were told about the legal in Florida votes that were not counted.
They were "overvotes" rejected by computer in counties like Duval and Palm Beach that had "Butterfly ballots" with
the presidential race on 2 pages and where voters could vote for Gore twice, as they were specifically advised to in pre-election information in Jacksonville. And as they did. These votes are legal votes in Florida because the intent of the voter was clear. But though they were known about, the system manipulated events to never count them.

Until the Media recount verified them; but nothing was ever done about it.
It was clear that thousands of voters in Jacksonville minority precincts were manipulated to bring about this result.

And the Palm Beach ballot was ridiculous.

There were also legal Gore votes in other counties never counted. The counting process was aborted by the courts,

in decisions that clearly had nothing to do with law.


If a real hand recount had been carried out in Duval or Palm Beach, Gore would have won easily. And it shouldn't have taken that. About 100,000 Dem votes were denied by partisan purges of voters known to mostly be legal, and
by partisan registration practices in the Motor Voter system, DMV

likewise with manipulation of absentees, known about, and etc.

It took a lot of manipulation for Bush to win Florida in 2000

[EFerrari]

44. Bush didn't win Florida in 2000.

And I hope that the last two federal elections have pissed off the CBC so much that they come out en force.

No more stolen elections on the backs of black voters. No more, none, nope.

:kick:

i->e

[byronius]

45. I'd like to point out that Dan Walters is a Freeper of the Worst Kind.

I would not trust this man for a moment. He's intelligent, wickedly dark-hearted, and if he's pushing some sort of Election Reform, you can bet that somehow at the heart of it is more power for the GOP.

Just sayin'. This guy's a Neo-Nazi. In Sacramento, we hate his friggin' guts.

[EFerrari]

4. PA: Congress may back paper vote trail

Congress may back paper vote trail

By JENNA PORTNOY
Bucks County Courier Times

It never fails.

Every time the Bucks County commissioners hold a meeting, whether it's in Riegelsville, Bensalem or Doylestown, representatives from the Coalition for Voting Integrity are there.

One by one, members take the commissioners to task for what they see as a poor decision to choose the Danaher electronic, push-button voting machines.

Although no machine problems were reported on Election Day last month, the advocates maintain that only machines where voters can check a paper record of their votes can be trusted.

“It was clear that without an independent means of doing checks there was absolutely no way to verify the vote,” coalition co-founder Mary Ann Gould said. “The commissioners would simply say they trust the system. Yet it comes down to a simple question they could never answer, "How do you know?' ''

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-12172006-755644.html

[EFerrari]

5. MD: Early voting issue hardly worth reviving

Early voting issue hardly worth reviving

You don't have to be Nostradamus to guess that, when it reconvenes next month, the General Assembly will return to the issue of early voting.

State Democrats, emboldened by an election sweep, no longer have to worry that their legislation will be vetoed by a Republican governor. Getting such legislation past the courts may be another matter. The state's highest court has ruled that the Maryland Constitution requires that voting be done on a single day.

Some Democrats are indicating that they'll look for a way around this formidable roadblock or consider offering the voters a constitutional amendment.

But they should reconsider making this a priority. Even if you grant that some form of early voting is in use in more than 20 other states, without noticeably endangering American democracy, we don't see any evidence that this is something Marylanders want or need.

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2006/12_17-57/OPN

[EFerrari]

6. PA: Comic echo of 2000 election -- it's not funny

Comic echo of 2000 election -- it's not funny
By CARL HIAASEN

The first time I tried a touch-screen voting machine was Nov. 7. It was not an experience that inspired confidence.

When I pressed a finger down to select my choice for governor, a mark appeared beside the name of a different candidate at the bottom of the list. A poll worker insisted that the device was working properly, and suggested that I'd accidentally touched it in the wrong place with my ``wrist.''

I'd done no such thing. The machine screwed up.

I hit another command to nullify the wrong vote, corrected it and moved on through the remainder of the ballot. After I finished, the machine allowed me to re-check all my selections to make sure they were right.

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/opinion/16250254.htm

[philb]

41. Touch screen switching, disappearing votes, glitches throughout U.S. in 2006 & 2004 &

www.flcv.com/eirstss6.html

[EFerrari]

7. FL: Question lingers: What happened in D-13?

Question lingers: What happened in D-13?

Almost six weeks after the Nov. 7 election, the debate over Sarasota County's congressional "undervotes" rages on with more questions than answers.

Did the county's electronic voting machines lose 17,811 votes cast in the 13th Congressional District race? Did voters, confused by bad ballot design or a differing sample ballot, miss the contest? Or did those votes never exist to begin with, purposely withheld by angry voters?

No one knows for sure, leaving only several theories, none of which have yet been proven or debunked. But some hope the mystery will start unraveling Tuesday, when a judge considers allowing an independent examination of the machines' source code.

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/16258163.htm

[philb]

33. 3 precincts had over 25% undervotes; 6 more had over 20%,

Its clear that something extremely strange happened in those precincts.
Clearly this was not due to voters choosing not to vote in the race.
Most counties UV rate for such races was below 2%

25% in the precinct likely means extremely high UVs for some of the machines in that precint,
maybe 100%
did anyone follow what the distribution was by machine in these precincts??

Similar for the precincts with over 20% UVs
something very strange. Very unlikely due to either ballot design or incompetant voters in those precincts imo

What caused the "disappearing votes" reported by voters?
Are they going to try to determine? They haven't tried yet.

[philb]

42. Apparently there were 5 precincts with over 25% undervotes in Dist 13

[EFerrari]

8. FL: Report: Ballot Design Caused Jennings to Lose

Report: Ballot Design Caused Jennings to Lose

By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Ledger Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE - While the dispute over the outcome of the Congressional District 13 election heads back to court next week, supporters of Democrat Christine Jennings are citing a report by a voting expert on the other side of the case who says Jennings might have won the election if Sarasota County used a different ballot design.

In its defense of its touch-screen machines - which Jennings has alleged were faulty and resulted in a huge under-vote in the congressional race - Election Systems & Software Inc. has hired Michael Herron, an associate professor of government at Dartmouth College.

In a Dec. 3 report, which he wrote in collaboration with political scientists from UCLA and the University of Rochester, Herron said that there was "a 100 percent chance" that Jennings would have won the race if Sarasota voters had been voting in Charlotte County, where there was a much smaller under-vote in the congressional race between Jennings and Republican Vern Buchanan.

Buchanan has been declared the winner in the race by a 369-vote margin.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/NEWS/612170417/1004

[philb]

35. Unlikely caused by simple ballot design; see the previous post

No one has explained the "disappearing votes" reported by voters.
That are similar to the reports in many other races in 2006 and 2004,
S.Florida in both 2004 and 2006
Mahoning Co. Ohio in 2004 and others
other places in 2006

Its fairly clear that this was due to programming, there was clear pattern of disappearing votes for certain machines,
not voter error(some called poll workers who had similar problem), and not due to random miscalibration.
An audit of the machines with high undervotes would have almost certainly determined what caused the problem.
It still hasn't been done.

Rather they are basing decisions on spin and speculation.

[EFerrari]

9. FL: The case for Jennings

The case for Jennings

Stakes demand completion of audit, fair hearing of her challenge

Patience is fading, time is passing and deadlines are approaching. But it's too soon to close the books on the 2006 congressional election in District 13.

Some partisans and media outlets have called on Christine Jennings, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House, to end her contest of the Nov. 7 election -- which, according to the official count, she lost by 369 votes to Republican Vern Buchanan.

Those calls are premature.

Why?

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/OPINION/612170874/1030

[EFerrari]

10. NC: Voting machines need new homes

Voting machines need new homes

Asheville | Officials in Buncombe County want to find homes for nearly 500 old voting machines, but say they might be headed for the county dump.

The machines cost about $2.5 million when purchased eight years ago. But a 2005 state law required that all machines have paper records and that made these machines obsolete.

Officials tried to sell the machines, even offering them on eBay, and has gotten no offers. Alice Silver, deputy elections director for precinct administration, said the machines are taking up valuable storage space but it rankles her to think about throwing them away.

"I'm a former teacher," Silver said. "I can't see throwing away anything useful. It just makes me want to cry."

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061216/NEWS/612160371/-1/State


:shrug:

[EFerrari]

11. FL: Partisan battle boils over Fla. House seat

Partisan battle boils over Fla. House seat
A dispute over a GOP victory may test Pelosi's pledge to keep peace.
By Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer
December 17, 2006

WASHINGTON — Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi's pledge to bring bipartisan peace to that most partisan of institutions — the House of Representatives — could be put to a test early in the new Congress by an election dispute in Florida.

When the Democratic-controlled Congress convenes in January, Pelosi may have to decide whether to seek to deny the certified GOP winner of a Florida House seat from taking office.

Republican Vern Buchanan was declared the winner by 369 votes. Democrat Christine Jennings has gone to court seeking a new vote, asserting that the electronic voting machines malfunctioned. A court hearing is set for Tuesday. And Jennings plans to file papers with the House by Wednesday's deadline contesting the election results and seeking to block Buchanan from taking office next month.

Pelosi is monitoring the court fight but hasn't decided on a course of action, aides say.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-florida17dec17,1,7277119.story?coll=la-news-politics-national&track=crosspromo

[EFerrari]

12. NY: Voted down / Election machines fail to win state certification

Voted down
Election machines fail to win state certification

On Election Day, a newsroom employee who moved here from Atlanta got her first taste of using New York's old voting booths. What a feeling of power it was, she said, to push that handle to the right closing the curtains, pull down the levers over her choices, and then punctuate her vote with a push of the handle that reopens the curtains. Although the state machines are old, few newer options give such a satisfying feeling than flicking that lever down -- bam, you voted!

The push for electronic voting has been strong over the past few years. And under the Help America Vote Act, the federal government mandated that each state must have more reliable voting machines in place by last September. HAVA was a response to the presidential election debacle of 2000 in which the balance of power was tethered to a debate that defined the subtleties between punched holes and hanging chads. (That debate led further to an unprecedented decision by the Supreme Court which decided the election's outcome.)

While no one would argue that reform is needed, and wouldn't it be wonderful if the systems were uniform, this is a case where New York's lack of haste may be to its benefit. Concern is growing over the ability of a hacker to access electronic voting machines. And on Thursday, state Board of Elections Co-chairman Douglas Kellner acknowledged: "There is not a single vendor whose machine can be certified in its current format."

The board passed on the decision of choice to counties, but has the duty of certifying their selections.

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/OPINION/612170314/1005/OPINION

[Wilms]

25. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x462679

[EFerrari]

13. UT: E-vote tab adds up to big trouble

E-vote tab adds up to big trouble
Contract with Diebold may put ballot expenses out of reach for some cities, counties in Utah
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:12/17/2006 02:07:14 AM MST

Democracy isn't cheap, but it sure used to be less expen- sive.
Switching from punch cards to touch-screen voting machines doubled the cost of this year's election.
And taxpayers will continue to hand over millions of dollars to machine-maker Diebold as long as the state uses the equipment.
"I'm not sure any of us realized how much it is going to cost to own and operate this system," said Michael Cragun, elections director for the Lieutenant Governor's Office.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_4855784

[philb]

36. DREs are very unreliable, very high cost to operate, and easy to manipulate

worst of all choices; why would anyone opt for DREs

the answer is obvious

they were chosen because they are easy to manipulate
thats their only advantage

[EFerrari]

14. MT: Counties outline session wish list

Counties outline session wish list
By LARRY KLINE - IR Staff Writer - 12/17/06
The Montana Association of Counties is seeking dozens of changes to state laws in the upcoming legislative session, including measures that would allow counties to conduct all elections through the mail, organize a statewide enhanced-911 effort for cell phones and create summer jobs for low-income youth.

Other changes pushed by MACo include a ban on non-wood bats for high-school-aged baseball players and the establishment of a trust fund for the state’s senior citizens.

MACo has compiled 47 proposals for the session. Its members have sought some of those changes since 2000, but 34 are new this year.

MACo Executive Director Harold Blattie said the initiatives are brought forward at the organization’s district meetings and approved at an annual meeting in September. The association then looks for legislators to carry the bills, he said, and at times state lawmakers contact MACo to see if any proposals pique their interests.

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2006/12/17/helena/a01121706_03.txt

[EFerrari]

15. FL: E-glitch

E-glitch
Sarasota mess creates a test case

A few weeks before the general election, and six years after the biggest election meltdown in U.S. history, which played out here in the capital, a recent chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission told CNN news anchor Lou Dobbs that Americans' lack of faith in electoral machinery is fully justified.

The lack of a paper trail to verify what happens when certain electronic voting machines are used sets off the most alarms. But the short history of new technology is alarming in itself, what with voting machines that lose votes, fail to register votes, count votes twice, award votes to the wrong candidate and simply crash and wipe out votes.

Surely it wouldn't happen again, federal officials were saying the first week in November. In Florida we were adding, "surely - please - not here."

And yet here we are, back in the limelight with the embarrassing and to date inexplicable bollixing-up of a congressional election in Sarasota County. On Nov. 7, and in early voting, more than 18,000 votes were - as was said to occur to human beings in bloody El Salvador in the '80s - "disappeared."

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/OPINION01/612170303/1006/OPINION

[philb]

37. It appears the Jennings team may be asking for the wrong audit

see the Sarasota audit thread

The problem is not a generic source code,
the problem was specific to certain machines, as was the case in many other races in 2004 and 2006
those machines clearly had programming or glitches causing them to consistently switch or disappear votes unless the
voters took heroic efforts to overcome the programming.

They need to audit the screen design, programming for machine ballot definition and compiler for the machines that had the huge undervotes; some had over 25% UVs, does anyone know if there were some with 100% UVs?

[EFerrari]

16. The Spirit Of Democracy In Venezuela

The Spirit Of Democracy In Venezuela

By Stephen Lendman

17 December, 2006
Countercurrents.org

"Today we gave another lesson in dignity to the imperialists, it is another defeat for the empire of Mr. Danger....another defeat for the devil. We will never be a colony of the US again....Long live the socialist revolution....Destiny has been written....Socialism is human. Socialism is love." This is how Hugo Chavez Frias characterized his smashing electoral victory on December 3 when he appeared on the balcony of the Palacio de Miraflores (the official presidential palace residence) and addressed a huge gathering of his followers below that evening telling them of his victory for the people and that he now has an even stronger mandate to pursue his Bolivarian Project to do more for them ahead than he's already accomplished so far which is considerable.

He told his loyal, cheering supporters his impressive landslide electoral victory is one more blow to George Bush, and it follows on the others won by populist candidates in the region in the past six weeks by Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil on October 29, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua on November 7, and Rafael Correa in Equador on November 26. Chavez will serve for another six year term that will run until December, 2012.

Earlier in the day, Hugo Chavez showed he's indeed a man of the people by casting his own vote the same way ordinary people do. Unlike George Bush who goes everywhere in an entourage of limousine, helicopter, or Air Force One luxury accompanied by a phalanx of security needed to protect him from the people he was elected to serve, Chavez drove himself in his aging red-colored Volkswagon to his assigned polling station accompanied by his young grandson in the back seat, voted, and then left the same unaccompanied way he came. That's how a man of the people does it - no bells, whistles or extravagant trappings of power that's a hallmark of how things are done to excess in the US calling itself a model democracy but one only for the few with wealth and power and that behaves like a rogue state that's only a model for despots and tyrants.

In Venezuela under Hugo Chavez there's real participatory democracy for all the people. After it played out in a fair and open electoral process, Chavez greeted his supporters in an atmosphere of jubilant celebration once National Electoral Council (CNE) president Lucena Tibisay announced at 10:30 PM election night that with about 78% of the vote tallied, Chavez received 61.4% (5,936,000 votes) to right wing opposition candidate Manuel Rosales 38% (3,715,000 votes).

http://www.countercurrents.org/ven-lendman171206.htm

[Peace Patriot]

23. Venezuela hand-counts FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT of their ballots cuz they don't

trust electronic voting machines. Smart people in Venezuela. See...

Diary of a Venezuelan Presidential Election: December 3rd 2006

Tuesday, Dec 05, 2006

By: Chesa Boudin – Red Pepper Venezuela Blog

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1901

------------------------

You know how much of the vote we hand-count in the land of free, home of the brave? 0% to 1%, depending on what kind of stranglehold Diebold/ES&S or other election theft corporations have on local/state governments.

Why didn't our electronic voting system have a 55% handcount control on it, from the beginning? Hm?

[Peace Patriot]

26. "The Repeatedly Re-Elected Venezuelan Autocrat"--Steve Rendall - FAIR

"Media Painting Chávez as a 'would-be dictator'

"The Repeatedly Re-Elected Venezuelan Autocrat

"Saturday, Dec 16, 2006 - By: Steve Rendall - FAIR's Extra!

"Note: This is just one of a series of article examining news coverage of Venezuela in the U.S. Press that appeared in the November/December 2006 issue of Extra! For the full table of contents and purchasing information, please go to: Extra! (November/December 2006)

-----

"Hugo Chávez never had a chance with the U.S. press. Shortly after his first electoral victory in 1998, New York Times Latin America reporter Larry Rohter (12/20/98) summed up his victory thusly:

"All across Latin America, presidents and party leaders are looking over their shoulders. With his landslide victory in Venezuela’s presidential election on December 6, Hugo Chávez has revived an all-too-familiar specter that the region’s ruling elite thought they had safely interred: that of the populist demagogue, the authoritarian man on horseback known as the caudillo.

"...it is fitting that the Times reporter sided with that elite. A few years later, in April 2002, following Chávez’s re-election by an even greater margin, Times editors cheered a coup against Chávez by Venezuelan elites (Extra! Update, 6/02), declaring in Orwellian fashion that thanks to the overthrow of the elected president, “Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator.”

(MORE--much more!) (--blistering expose of absurd anti-Chavez bias in major U.S. news media)

(snip) (note: Carville exposed...)

"Even putative liberal commentators have joined the media chorus. On the O’Reilly Factor (12/5/05), Fox News contributor and NPR reporter Juan Williams said of Venezuela, “What you’re seeing there is really communism.” In September, when Democratic operatives Paul Begala and James Carville appeared on New York City public radio station WNYC (9/25/06), Begala told host Brian Lehrer that Chávez was “an autocrat, not a democrat,” and said he had “a terrible human rights record.” Carville told Lehrer, “I’ve worked in Venezuela and I would be very reluctant to call Chávez a democrat.” What Carville didn’t say was that he worked in Venezuela as an advisor to Venezuelan opposition groups leading an economically devastating strike by managers of the national oil company in an effort to destabilize the government (Washington Post, 1/20/03).

"Is Venezuela undemocratic? And is Hugo Chávez an autocrat who has consolidated one-party rule? An examination of Venezuelan elections, governing institutions and public opinion indicates otherwise."

(MORE)

-----------------------

Following the above is an analysis of five U.S. media myths about Chavez: 1) that Venezuela is undemocratic (authoritarian, dictatorial), 2) that Chavez is a communist; 3) that Chavez has/exercises autocratic control over all branches of government, 4) that Chavez is "anti-U.S." (often described that way by U.S. press--are 70% of the American people anti-American cuz they don't like Bush?); 5) that Chavez suppresses freedom of the press/ freedom of speech.

Rendall and others take them apart, one by one. In most cases, whatever the U.S. corporate myth is, it's not just untrue, but the opposite is true. (For instance, Venezuelans are devoted to their democracy and have the most transparent and highly monitored elections in the world; and, the private economic sector has increased from 59.3% to 62.5% , under Chavez). The only reed Chavez critics have to stand on is a vague provision in the Venezuelan Constitution that appears to limit criticism of the government; however, criticism of the government is RAMPANT in Venezuela, in all the media. The provision has never been implemented. And (my addition) it was not written by Chavez--it was written by a constitutional assembly, with the involvement of thousands of citizens, and the constitution was passed by an overwhelming vote of the people (over 70%). It's a flaw in the constitution. So what? (We have a couple of those ourselves.)

In a note to the "Participatory Democracy" section of this analysis, the writer points out that, since 2002, the U.S./Bush government has spend nearly TWENTY-NINE MILLION DOLLARS of our tax money to "promote U.S. foreign policy objectives" in Venezuela, with over $2 million of it going into Chavez's political opposition.

And yet, the more money the Bushites pour in, for coup attempts, oil strikes, recall elections, and what-all, the more people vote for Chavez. And if that is not proof enough that Venezuela is a strong democracy--indeed, a pillar of the free world--consider their hand-count of 55% of the ballots in every election, to check the electronic voting machines for fraud. That's 55% more ballots than are hand-counted in many states of the U.S.A. (Yup, many states do ZERO auditing of Bushite corporate -controlled voting machines run on "trade secret" code. You do the math.)

And what about the other $27 million? What the hell are the Bushites ploting in Venezuela and the other oil and gas rich Andean democracies (Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, all with leftist (majorityist), anti-global corporate predator governments, and next election cycle, Peru)?

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1915

[EFerrari]

17. NYT: Expect even more voting changes in '08

Dec. 16, 2006, 10:47PM
Expect even more voting changes in '08
Expected laws, new rules likely to make paperless machines obsolete

By IAN URBINA and CHRISTOPHER DREW
New York Times

By the 2008 presidential election, voters around the country are likely to see sweeping changes in how they cast their ballots and how those ballots are counted, including an end to the use of most electronic voting machines without a paper trail, federal voting officials and legislators say.

New federal guidelines, along with legislation given a strong chance to pass in Congress next year, probably will combine to make paperless voting machines obsolete, the officials say.

States and counties that bought the machines will have to modify them to hook them up to printers, at federal expense, while others are planning to scrap the machines and buy new ones.

In addition, the various forms of vote-counting software used around the country — most of which are protectively encoded by their manufacturers for trade secrecy — will for the first time be inspected by federal authorities, and the code could be made public.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4406588.html

[EFerrari]

18. KY: Straight-ticket voting may end

Straight-ticket voting may end
By Stephenie Steitzer
Post staff reporter

Kentucky is one of only a dozen or so states where voters can, with one flick of the wrist, cast their votes for all the candidates of one party.

It's called straight-ticket voting, and it's practiced by thousands of the faithful in the Democratic and Republican parties. But if Secretary of State Trey Grayson has his way, it would become a relic of the past.

Grayson , the state's top election official, pushed legislation during the last session of the General Assembly to prohibit straight-ticket voting, but it didn't make it out of committee, he said. He is considering pursuing it again during the next session, which starts in January.

Grayson, a Republican from Boone County, said he'd rather not give voters the option of picking multiple candidates with the push of one button, despite the likelihood that it could shorten lines at the polls.

http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061216/NEWS02/612160309/1014

[philb]

38. Huge numbers of votes were lost by voters voting straight ticket

The machines weren't programmed to compile the votes in the manner they would expect by voting straingt ticket

In some states like Texas the default presidential vote for straingt Dem ticket voters was Bush

In some counties in Indiana it was the Libertarian candidate.

In North Carolina, South Carolina, Missouri, etc. if you voted for straight Dem ticket in 2004
you're Presidential vote did not go to Kerry

On DREs a voter has to know how the machines are programmed to compile or they are likely to lose their vote.

Nothing happens automatically, the votes are counted based on programming that is done by company
(Diebold,ES&S,etc.) programmers; or in a few cases programmers hired by a partisan election official.

And the default rules for straight ticket voting are very strange and unknown to voter in many states

similar in 2006

[EFerrari]

19. VA: Groups seek law to verify voting

Groups seek law to verify voting
Va. lawmakers will push for paper audit trails for machines

BY TYLER WHITLEY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Dec 17, 2006

A coalition of seven organizations will push to add paper audit trails on Virginia's voting machines during the 2007 General Assembly session.
Click here.

State Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, R-Fairfax, and Del. Timothy D. Hugo, R-Fairfax, are introducing legislation to require the paper audits.

The coalition, which calls itself the Verifiable Voting Coalition of Virginia, includes the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, the Virginia Libertarian Party, the Virginia Organizing Project, New Electoral Reform Alliance for Virginia, Virginia Verified Voting and the Southern Coalition for Secured Voting.

Most people in Virginia cast ballots on touch-screen machines, which act much like bank ATMs but leave no paper trail.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&%09s=1045855935264&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192218375&path=!news!politics

[autorank]

28. This represents progress ... not perfection obviously.

Virginia is dominated by two vendors - AVS of Texas, a Diebold cousin of sorts, and Diebold, which serves many urban city areas. Candidates who should do as well in those very liberal areas of Virginia sometimes do. I wonder why?

The paper trail for touch screens is a step that precedes trashing the machine altogether.

In 2003, the Republicans in Fairfax County got educated due to a major screw up. They produced a state of the art analysis of voting systems, one that, at the time, could have run on DU. The Fairfax Republicans are far advanced over the state party (dominated by Falwell and Robertson) so nothing was done.

The two sponsors of the bill described are Republicans form Fairfax County...amazing, isn't it.

[autorank]

29. Virginia 2006 - Massive Voter Suppression - Planned, Deliberate

Sec. of Virginia State Board of Elections Finds Widespread Incidents of Voter Suppression

"Threats of Incarceration, Changed Polling Locations, and Fliers to “Skip the Election.”

Over the past several days, voters throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia have filed complaints of incidents aimed at suppressing voter turn out in heavily Democratic and African American neighborhoods. Today, the Secretary of the Virginia State Board of Elections Jean Jensen concluded that the incidents appear widespread and deliberate."

[philb]

39. Voter suppression and systematic illegal dirty tricks were documented in Virginia- but also many oth

er places

Virginia
www.flcv.com/Virgini6.html

But massive voter suppression in many states and many races
www.flcv.com/eirsppp6.html

Dirty tricks/Robo-Calls in 53 close congressional races
www.flcv.com/eirsdt6.html

[EFerrari]

20. PA: Pike County Commissioners should check voting methods

Pike County Commissioners should check voting methods

December 17, 2006
Pike County Commissioners should check voting methods
Editor, the Record:

Too many voters were discouraged from voting in Blooming Grove Township because of long lines. The number of voters in this election was one-third less than what we can expect in a presidential election.

Why the long lines?

Was it because Blooming Grove should have another voting place?

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/NEWS04/612170306

[philb]

40. Voter reports for Pike Co.- Pennsylvania had huge election problem in general

6760 Polling Place Problem Pike Pennsylvania Dingman Township Fire House No Machine Problems: cards were rejected by machine/ reprogrammed by election office then machine said you already voted.

3622 Absentee Problem Pike Pennsylvania Yes PA voter requested absentee ballot because he didn't trust electronic voting machines. Wanted to vote for 3rd party candidate for Governor; ballot did not have space for write-in candidate. He brought issue to attention of Board of Elections, but they were not willing to correct. He called backon 11/20 to report that a friend who voted a PB also reported that there was no place for a write-in.


Pennsylvania had lot of irregularities in 2006 election

Allegheny County(Touch Screen Switching from Dems to Repubs, Machines not working in many precincts/no backup system, many unable to vote, not providing provisional ballots as required, apparently purge of many active voters, many voters not on role and many not allowed to vote provisionally, several reported not able to get absentee ballots, requiring IDs when not required, misfeasance of poll workers)

Allegheny County. Charges of voter intimidation at three or four polling sites in the North Hills, including one in Franklin Park. Voters said a partisan group set up tables outside the site and were "interrogating" voters before they went in, asking whether they had proper identification. The judge issued a countywide order for all such activity to cease. She also sent sheriff's deputies to patrol the sites in question. http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6772


www.flcv.com/Alleghe6.html

Philadelphia (Touch Screen Switching, Machine Problems, Long lines, Absentee Ballot Problems, etc.)
www.flcv.com/Philade6.html

Montgomery County (Touch Screen switching from Dems to Repubs on straight party voting, machines not working in some precincts, many voters unable to vote, some didn’t receive requested Absentee Ballot, dirty tricks)

Repeated "robo" phone calls made to voters about Lois Murphy, Democratic challenger to incumbent GOP Congressman Jim Gerlach, causing voters to become annoyed with Murphy. But the calls were made by the National Republican Congressional Committee. http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6733

Chester County Dem straight ticket glitch; very long lines, lots of people unable to vote due to long wait,
Opti-scan scanners broken in several precincts , unable to scan ballots, told to leave in basket for scanning later, Repub materials in voting area but not Dems

Lehigh County voter reported machine problem/vote likely not counted, Independent voter indicated not allowed to vote due to no party

Berks County polling place received wrong polling books, very late opening, many voters unable to vote

Other counties, (touch screen switching, machine problems, long lines, polling place problems, registration problems, absentee problems)

Many voters in Pennsylvania lost their votes by forgetting to push the vote button:
http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6872

Cambria County. Vote-switching on ES&S iVotronics. "workers reported that some voters pushed the touch-screen button for one candidate and got the another candidate. Or, voters tried to vote a straight ticket and had problems." http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6799
York County. A ninety-one year old woman who voted straight Democratic was surprised to find that the Sequoia Edge review screen showed she had cast a vote for Republican Rick Santorum. She was able to correct the ballot before casting it. 15 to 20 voting machines malfunctioned in the county
http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6768

Lawrence County. Pa, Some people walked away without casting ballots because about one in nine ES&S iVotronic voting machines malfunctioned. http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6792
Westmorland Co., Pa over 800 ES&S iVotronic machines had a programming error that caused the machines to malfunction; http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6792
Centre County. Pa, Office of Elections told poll workers to begin voting on two machines without printing the zero tapes that show no votes are already cast, because the iVotronic that prints the zero tapes was not working. Caused voting delays. http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6871
Centre County. Vote-switching. Reports that some iVotronics would only register a vote for Gov. Rendell, that others refused to accept a vote for Rendell. http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6871
Cumberland County. A voter reports vote-switching on the iVotronics. Just returned from voting in Lemoyne, PA. Two of the five voting machines were not working. When asked why the machines were down, a poll worker said the two machines were automatically casting votes opposite of the ones selected.
Erie County. Two iVotronic voting machines were taken out of service after it was confirmed that they were switching voters votes http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6921

Westmoreland County. Every one of the over 800 ES&S iVotronic machines had a programming error that caused the machines to act as if it weren't election day. Some shut down early. Others never started at all. The time stamp in the machines was wrong. Confusion and long lines.
http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6792 ; http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6736
Vote Switching in several counties in Pennsylvania from Republicans to Democrats
http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6792
Luzerne County. Vote-switching reported on the ES&S iVotronic. Evelyn Graham, a Hazleton City Councilwoman, said she touched the box for Republican gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann, and it highlighted as her selection. But when she moved on to the next race and picked Republican senatorial candidate Rick Santorum, Graham said she noticed that Rendell’s name had become highlighted as her selection. Graham said she returned to the governor’s race, de-selected Rendell and selected Swann. “I did it four to six times, and each time it changed back to Rendell.”
http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6814
Vote-switching. State Republicans asked Secretary of State Pedro Cortes to investigate what they said were instances in at least 12 counties -- including Allegheny, Butler and Crawford -- where voters allegedly tried to vote for Republican candidates but that the machines reflected Democratic votes. http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6792 ;


Allegheny County. ES&S iVotronics were not working at seven polling places early on election day. 20 units were taken out of service. Some of the machines weren't "zeroing out", necessary to ensure that the electronic ballot box is empty. http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6736
http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6772

Pennsylvania's Lebanon County also extended polling hours because a programming error forced some voters to cast paper ballots. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/07/voting.problems.ap/index.html

Lancaster County. A third of the county's 232 polling stations experienced malfunctions on the Hart InterCivic eScan ballot scanners. http://www.votersunite.org/electionproblems.asp?offset=40&sort=&selectstate=&selectvendor=&selectproblemtype=
http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6737

Adams County. Undefined problems with the ES&S M100 scanners. County is investigating. http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=6768

[Kurovski]

21. K&R

Thank you dear sfexpat2000. :hug:

[EFerrari]

22. My pleasure! Some good stories today.

:hug:

[kpete]

24. Great job as always

K&R

[autorank]

30. You are going to be a hard act to follow...OUTSTANDING Seletion KR

:blush: autorank to self: "This is so good. Do I have to do one today?" :hide:

[autorank]

31. Rate this puppy up!!! S'il vous plait...

[EFerrari]

32. LOL!

There were a lot of opinion pieces this weekend. Interesting little surge in interest out there. :hi:

[Peace Patriot]

34. KICKED & RECOMMENDED! Great work! And, as always, the election reform/

election fraud news alternately kicks me in the stomach, makes me feel like pulling out my hair and rending my garments, causes me to utter little cries of hope and deeply-felt prayers, seems to cover me with the slime of our filthy political system, so that I want to soak in a mineral hot springs for about ten years, and provides sudden laserbeam rays of hope that the good and passionate grass roots political activists of the USA are going to restore our right to vote and help bring this fascist junta to account at long last.

Thanks, SFexpat! It's like watching the whole canon of Greek tragedies and comedies parade across the stage in a marathon of emotion back somewhere in 400 BC.

[EFerrari]

43. Yes, the conflicting emotions that swirl around these topics

can be exhausting.

But we're still here.

:toast: