Ohio Official Invested in Vote Machine Co.

[Judi Lynn]

Ohio Official Invested in Vote Machine Co.
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press Writer

April 3, 2006, 11:19 PM EDT


COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state's top elections official said Monday he accidentally invested in a company that makes voting machines.

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, said he discovered the shares for Diebold Inc. while preparing a required filing for the Ohio Ethics Commission.

"While I was unaware of this stock in my portfolio, its mere presence may be viewed as a conflict and is therefore not acceptable," he said in a letter included in his filing.

Blackwell said his investments are directed by an accountant and financial adviser without his knowledge or help, "similar to a blind trust."
(snip/...)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-ohio-ethics-filing,0,1028372.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[rumpel]

1. Accidentally my foot.

[MADem]

37. Sorta like Fristie's "blind trust" I'll wager!!

What a bullshit artist that guy is!

[magellan]

2. We could discover Blackwell OWNED Diebold

It wouldn't make a bit of difference. Congress and Americans are in denial about election fraud. Besides, what's a little conflict of interest when Republicans outright break the law every day with impunity?

[TroglodyteScholar]

17. Um, we DID find out he OWNS Diebold. n/t

[magellan]

18. Not the way I meant. (nt)

[Zorra]

3. Yuh. I believe him. It could happen.

When pigs fly.

Blackwell is a supercorrupt republican POS.

[Peace Patriot]

4. "...similar to a blind trust..."

Is that like Diebold elections being "similar" to real elections, just without all that bothersome transparency?

[SoCalDem]

8. republican definition of "blind trust"

"I'm keeping it all and I trust that you will be blind to my hubris.

[Kagemusha]

5. Dupe, the other thread said it was under 200 shares total.

It has to have been a mistake because even politicians aren't cheap enough to engage in corruption on behalf of a company over a mere 200 shares.

[yellowcanine]

28. It's 200 shares NOW - we don't know what may have been sold off.

Besides, Diebold is worth over $40 a share so 200 shares would be worth over $8,000 - not a fortune but not chump change either for someone on a public servant's salary.

[HuffleClaw]

6. BAWHAHHAHAHHAHAHAAAAAA

'accidentally' ! ! !

i've heard better excuses from a third grader.

the hits just keep on coming. this guy is so dirty its not even funny anymore.

[SoCalDem]

7. like "my dog ate my homework" or "my cat peed on my report"

These freaks are SOMETHING ELSE

[fooj]

9. Lying, treasonous rat bastard!

He makes me sick.....:puke:

[countmyvote4real]

10. Me thinks he doth protest too much.

Puh-lease. It reminds me of the urban legend tale of the grocery store shoplifter when confronted by the evidence falling out of their overcoat: "Who put that ham in my coat?"

[Tiggeroshii]

11. LOL

"accidentally..."

Funny stuff. Unfortunately I really hope this goes somewhere because the only way I see that guy leaving office is in handcuffs or overloaded with indictments.

[Carla in Ca]

12. Oh, I like the way you think

Perhaps he caught the same illness as Frist? And the hard-core supporters of these criminals are in a blind trust as well.

[rodeodance]

25. yes, it needs to be an issue, day after day--hear that OHIO Dems?

[WhiteTara]

13. what an obvious liar. Blackwell

must be pathological if he thinks that lousy lie could hold water anywhere. Bye Bye Kenneth. Maybe you and Bugman can be bunk buddies.

[saltpoint]

14. Quite possible. I mean, when you're real busy gutting the

Constitutional liberties of voters generally and rigging Ohio election outcomes specifically, it's just damned tough to have time to review your portfolio on a regular basis.

Busy Ken, Corrupt Ken, Losing Ken.

Ohio goes blue in 06.

[truthisfreedom]

15. you know what's really funny about this? that we've become so accustomed

to this kind of news that we hardly care anymore. the thugs have broken every rule, every law, every bit of trust AMERICA has for them.

that's why the Democratic Party will retake Congress this Fall!

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. "similar to a blind trust"

Like theft, but not really. Like a breach of ethics, but not really. Like corruption, but really just investing with low risk, and high profit margins.

[salin]

19. "similar to a blind trust...."

sorta like Sen Maj Leader Frist has....

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. All they needed was someone to hold them accountable.

They had no boundaries because there was no one to reign them in. And what is a good capitalist to do, but take advantage of the situation?

[salin]

21. heh

just turned on Washington Journal.... basking in the DeLay resigning. Even a hoosier is calling in praising the resigning and bashing Mitch Daniels (Ditch Mitch!)

[donkeyotay]

32. That is true. How ironic that the very regulation that the GOP overthrew

in their Contract On America would have saved them from so much of the excess which is now going to take off a goodly portion of their fatcat rearends. Just like GM and Ford would have been better off with strong CAFE standards and universal health care. Ironic.

[woodsprite]

22. He really meant that it was an accident anybody found out about it. n/t

[mikeytherat]

23. The Steve Martin defense:

Now... you say, "Steve... what do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, 'You... have never paid taxes'?" Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language: "I forgot!" How many times do we let ourselves get into terrible situations because we don't say "I forgot"? Let's say you're on trial for armed robbery. You say to the judge, "I forgot armed robbery was illegal." Let's suppose he says back to you, "You have committed a foul crime. you have stolen hundreds and thousands of dollars from people at random, and you say, 'I forgot'?" Two simple words: Excuuuuuse me!!" - Steve Martin

mikey_the_rat

[rodeodance]

24. A deft polititian would instruct his investor which stocks NOT to buy!--so

for me, Blackwell allowed this to happen. Now is is causht and says he did not know. Sounds like same ol same ol......coming from the WH.

[yellowcanine]

26. "similar to a blind trust." Are we to trust you on this Kenny? My take

on this is that Kenny got word that someone was checking into his investments and was going to blow the whistle on the Diebold stock and he did a premptive disclosure hoping to "innoculate" himself against the political fallout. This is so basic as to defy the imagination that it could have been accidental. An elections official owns stock in a company whose main business is selling voting equipment and the accountant doesn't say, "Hey, wait a minute."?

No, Kenny, I am NOT buying it.

[Tippy]

27. Accidently? YEA right...in a pigs eye n/t

[spotbird]

29. Isn't this exactly the claim made by Frist? n/t

[melissinha]

31. Bingo!

Its all they can say to defend themselves, now here's the question, now if it were TRULY the case... would it not be responsible for the financial advisor who would HAVE knowledge of the inpropriety to tell the public official.... Or am I asking for too much?

[melissinha]

30. please rename to name Blackwell by name

and on the subject, thats what all guilty people say.... look at Frist....

[Pachamama]

33. 1) Sec.of State 2)Head of * Election Campaign 3)Owned Stock in voting box

Things that make you go - HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM?

:eyes:

[superconnected]

34. He wasn't involved in "price negotiations" with diebold.

That doesn't mean he wasn't involved in choosing Diebold as the state voting machine.

Ignorance about your investments does not hold up in court.

He did stand to gain monitarily from the state giving Diebold their business, whether he admits to knowing or not.

He dropped nearly 10k on the stocks in 2005. The SEC can explain what they think about "ignorance", in conflicts of interest stock buys.

[mod mom]

35. Cols Dispatch nails why this should be investigted:

<snip>

Rival vendors and several counties complained that Blackwell was trying to steer business to Diebold, and they sued Blackwell to allow other companies to offer their touch-screen machines.

Matthew Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, also has said that former Diebold contractor Pasquale "Pat" Gallina had boasted of a $50,000 donation to Blackwell’s "political interests."

Blackwell has vehemently denied that allegation, and Diebold officials say they were unaware of Gallina’s activities.

<snip>

http://www.dispatch.com/?story=dispatch/2006/04/04/20060404-A1-01.html

[Kelvin Mace]

36. This is having an effect on the stock price

The price has been sliding since September when bad news started coming out of California and Diebold said it would miss earnings. The price dropped about $9 bucks in a day. Since then it has been creeping back up from the bottom in mid October ($33) to a recent high of $43 (price one year ago was $58).

Wall Street "analysts" believe Diebold is a good investment, showing why you should never listen to these people.

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/funds/madmoneywrap/10271471.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

The price began tumbling again after Florida, Maryland, Georgia and California began expressing displeasure with Diebold and its products, today it closed at $40.77 (down 28 cents). I surmise that today's drop had to do with Blackwell, though it is not mentioned in the investor news (in fact, quite a bit of news about Diebold's BBV woes never makes it to investor news. If I was an investor, I would be pissed.

Diebold is now trading where it was in late 1997. Though, that is not as good as it sounds since $40 in 1997 dollars would be $47 today.

[rman]

38. "conflict of interest" is their middle name

[Judi Lynn]

39. Foes, watchdog say Blackwell wrong

Foes, watchdog say Blackwell wrong
Democrats, Petro critical of him on Diebold stock case
By William Hershey

Dayton Daily News

COLUMBUS | Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell's disclosure that he owned shares last year in voting-machine manufacturer Diebold sparked criticism from political opponents and a government watchdog.

Robert Paduchik, chairman of Attorney General Jim Petro's campaign for governor, said Tuesday the Ohio Ethics Commission should consider looking into the investment, which Blackwell said he has disposed of at a loss.

Blackwell and Petro are seeking the Republican nomination for governor in the May 2 primary.

"With all the charges and allegations that Ken Blackwell throws around, I think it's proper he provide more information on this," Paduchik said.

Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party, said the party is discussing whether to ask the ethics commission to look into the issue.

"Ken Blackwell has a responsibility when he's coercing local boards of elections to use Diebold (machines) to acknowledge that he's a stockholder in the company," Rothenberg said.
(snip/...)

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0405blackwellreax.html

[hyphenate]

40. Coincidence? I think not

Knowing as much as we do already about Blackwell, we KNOW it's not something he forgot. Right now, though, I'm sure he would love to cover it up.

I would love to see what the date is on his purchase. Either way, it will supply some of his motive--if the stocks were bought before the 2004 election, we know he was inside trading; if they were gotten after the 2004 election, it's a strong possibility it was a "thank you" purchase for following up on Wally O'Dell's promise to turn Ohio into a Bush state.