Bye bye to Cleveland GOP Election Chair Bob "Ballots for Bush" Bennett

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/6814

Bye bye to Cleveland GOP Election Chair Bob "Ballots for Bush" Bennett
by Harvey Wasserman | Apr 16 2007 - 7:53am

by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman

Ohio's Bob "Ballots for Bush" Bennett, an essential player in putting George W. Bush back in the White House in 2004, is no long chair of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. His milestone resignation leaves a legacy of scandal, recrimination, massive voter purges, felony convictions and a pivotal role in a stolen presidential election.

Bennett has quit in a signature cloud of graceless accusations and cheap shots at Jennifer Brunner, Ohio's newly elected Secretary of State, who asked him to resign along with the rest of the Cleveland election authority. His forced departure marks the biggest landmark yet in the unraveling theft of the presidential elections in Ohio 2004.

Bennett remains chair of the Ohio Republican Party. In 2004 he was apparently asked by White House consigliere Karl Rove to stay on at the Cuyahoga BOE to help guarantee Bush's second term. Cleveland is Ohio's biggest and most Democratic urban center. A massive sweep there by John Kerry was widely expected to have given him the White House. It was Bennett's job to mute that margin, and apparently that's exactly what he did.

Leading up to the 2004 vote, Bennett oversaw the quiet purge of some 168,000 registered voters from the Cuyahoga rolls, including 24.93% of the entire city of Cleveland, which voted 83% for Kerry. In one inner city majority African American ward, 51% of the voters were purged. Centered on precincts that voted more than 80% for John Kerry, this purge may well have meant a net loss to the Democrats of tens of thousands of votes in an election that was officially decided statewide by less than 119,000.

In a report issued December 7, 2004, the Greater Cleveland Voter Registration Coalition (GCVRC) reported that in addition to the purge of registered voters, some 3.5% of those applying for new registrations were never even entered on the rolls by Bennett's BOE, or were entered incorrectly, which would result in disenfranchisement of those who had just tried to become new voters. Additionally, the GCVRC estimated that "over 10,000 voters in Cuyahoga County would be compromised because of these clerical errors."

Bennett refused to respond to the report's initial conclusions. When the study became public, BOE Executive Director Michael Vu accused the study coordinator of "inciting panic." Vu did not respond to GCVRC's request for the reinstatement of 303 voter registrations where there was direct evidence that they had been wrongly cancelled.

more...

[aquart]

1. That should be a death penalty crime.

Stealing votes caused the death of thousands of Americans.

[Algorem]

2. even the Cleveland Painintheass Dealer seems pleased

probably because they're pushing the let by-gones be bygones b.s. and now they can blame Democrats for anything they can make up


Brunner goes 4-for-4

http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/opinion/117671228830591.xml&coll=2

Monday, April 16, 2007

Bob Bennett, the embattled chairman of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, has decided to resign. And Jenn ifer Brunner, the Ohio secretary of state who pushed Bennett and his three fellow board members to step down last month, has decided to drop the formal complaint against him that was set for a public hearing this morning.

Thankfully, they have avoided a potentially nasty and prolonged confrontation by putting the voters of this county first.

Those voters don't need any more drama at the elections agency. They need a fresh start: a new board, new administrators and a new culture. After years of partisan bickering and bipartisan incompetence, they need a highly professional agency that understands there is no Democratic or Republican way to run an election. There's a right way and there's a wrong way - and this county has seen plenty of the latter.


By ousting the old board and putting the agency under her supervision, Brunner has taken responsibility for making sure that elections here are run efficiently and fairly. Given this county's myriad past problems and national political clout, the new board members she appoints, and the revamped staff she helps it hire and oversee, will be operating under a microscope. So will she.

[EST]

3. Excellent, excellent article.

One can only wonder, with this article and the indictment for crimes against humanity, this morning on FSTV, why there isn't more anger.
How anyone with even a shred of humanity or honor in his being could presume to be a "republican" is unfathomable.

Sometimes I wish I could live long enough to see the time when the label "republican" is even more hated and reviled than that of "NAZI." These people represent the very darkest and nastiest aspect of American history.

I am ashamed to be labeled "human" or "American" alongside them.

[nicknameless]

4. I wonder where he'll end up. California rethugs just hired Vu.

:nuke:

[kster]

5. KNR..nt

[mod mom]

6. If I could subpoena just 3 people (assuming I could get truthful answers) concerning

OH '04, it would be Blackwell, Bernadette Noe and Bob Bennett. Should would be nice to get some truth out of these thieves.

[quiet.american]

7. So, George "I'm so concerned about voter fraud" Bush, what say ye about this massive election fraud?

Oh, that's right, you're only concerned about flimsy, trumped-up, in-your-favor, false voter fraud charges. But absolutely silent, nee, hiding out when it comes to election fraud.