Wednesday 1/19/05 Election/Fraud/Recount/Protest Thread

[MelissaB]

In order to organize and document I thought it would be a good idea to have a daily thread to place items related to the recounts/fraud. This also make it easier to "catch up" when we are away from the computer for a while.

Please help us. If you see something that isn't here post it with a link to the thread and a thanks to the author. Thanks to everyone who is helping with this project.

Link to the thread from yesterday: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x289243

(Better late than never! :))

[MelissaB]

1. ARNEBECK :"Their cage has been rattled and they popped their cork,"

Report from OUR side!



Ohio's GOP Attorney-General Launches Revenge Attack on Election Protection Legal Team
by Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman

COLUMBUS -- In a stunning legal attack, Ohio's Republican Attorney-General has moved for censure against the four attorneys who sued George W. Bush et. al. in an attempt to investigate the Buckeye State's bitterly contested November 2 election.

Robert Fitrakis, Susan Truitt, Cliff Arnebeck and Peter Peckowsky were named by Attorney-General James Petro in a filing with the Ohio Supreme Court. Petro charges the November Moss v Bush and Moss v. Moyer filings by the Election Protection legal team were "frivolous". Petro is demanding official censure and fines.

-snip -

"Their cage has been rattled and they popped their cork," Arnebeck said. "The chairman of the Ohio Republican Party is going berserk because he can't stand the fact we are not going away. We are still pursuing the legal investigation and the legal interrogations. They are just besides themselves because they cannot withstand cross examination."

Petro's filing is widely viewed as revenge for the heavy toll taken by grassroots activists on the credibility of the Ohio GOP and Petro's cohort, Secretary of State Blackwell. Spurred by the lawsuit, by extensive coverage at http://freepress.org and other web sites, and by a nationwide grassroots campaign that was escalated by Rev. Jesse Jackson and a series of public hearings around Ohio and in Congress, some three dozen Senators and Representatives mounted the first-ever challenge to a state's Electoral College delegation.


http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0119-12.htm

Thanks to meganmonkey here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x292845

[MelissaB]

2. I cannot believe it....CNN is giving us some coverage

of course, now that I have read the article...it is not much coverage at all and as ususal, the light always seems to be placed on the "bad" leftists and liberals, and feminists, and evvironmentalists...

why can't they just acknowledge us for what we are ....Americans...

'Counter-Inaugural' revving up

Dozens of groups converging on Washington for protests
Wednesday, January 19, 2005 Posted: 8:26 AM EST (1326 GMT)



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The committee handling Bush's Thursday inaugural is focused on pomp and pageantry, but protesters are also preparing.

Dozens of groups, from environmentalists to feminists to antiwar activists, are uniting for what they're calling "J20," or "The Counter-Inaugural."

"No one should underestimate the hatred that the world has for the Bush administration," said Bill Hackwell of ANSWER -- Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.

He explained the rationale behind staging protests by saying, "There are two superpowers in the world. One is the U.S. and the other is world opinion."


Thanks to rodriguez94 here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x292387

[MelissaB]

3. CNN "explanation" of exit polls

Report suggests changes in exit poll methodology



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Exit polls overstated John Kerry's share of the vote on November 2, both nationally and in many states, because more Kerry supporters participated in the survey than Bush voters, according to an internal review of the exit-polling process released Wednesday.

The report said it is difficult to pinpoint precisely why, in general, Kerry voters were more likely to participate in the exit poll than were Bush voters. "There were certainly motivational factors that are impossible to quantify," the report said.


Exit polls overstated John Kerry's share of the vote on November 2, both nationally and in many states, because more Kerry supporters participated in the survey than Bush voters

----------------------------------------------
<laughing> Well, yeah!

compare:
The New York Yankees won the final game of the World Series, 4 to 2. The reason given for the victory was, they crossed the plate four times, compared to their opponents' two.

This CNN "explanation" is FEEBLE.


Thanks to SophieZ here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x292400

[Wilms]

17. MSNBC's "explaination" of the exit polls

Exit polls say Bush won fair and square
Report on surveys finds system worked, even with errors
By Alex Johnson
Reporter
MSNBC
Updated: 10:05 a.m. ET Jan. 19, 2005

<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6840933>

[MelissaB]

4. Better Late Than Never! Ted Koppel Covering Ohio Election Fraud Tonight!

Nightline <[e-mail] > wrote:
From: Nightline
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Nightline Tonight Wed., January 19, 2005
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 12:37:46 -0800

VOTE 2004: FAIR OR FRAUD?

Jan. 19, 2005

In this very partisan atmosphere, it may not surprise you to hear that there are some people out there who believe the winner of the 2004 U.S. presidential race was John Kerry -- that he should be the focus of the extravagant inaugural parade that will make its way up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House tomorrow. These very vocal critics believe that because of voting irregularities in Ohio on Election Day, George Bush actually lost the election. Some go even further to say that the Republicans conspired to steal it. Washington has been dressed up once again for the festivities, so it seems a little late, but tonight we'll listen to the arguments and see if they have any merit.

If there had been more voting machines and less partisan oversight of the voting in Ohio, John Kerry would have carried the state, and had the electoral votes to carry the election. That's what some people think. Many of these arguments need to be looked at in the context of the vote in 2000, which also had serious problems and where partisan politics did play a role. It ended up in the Supreme Court and there are still people who believe Al Gore won it fair and square. But do the irregularities in Ohio rise to the same level? Or are we being subjected to much more concentrated criticism because of that anonymous engine of information called the Internet?

Part of the problem surrounding the various arguments about what happened in Ohio (and other states) is that those exit polls threw people off once again. By early afternoon on Election Day the poll results were being leaked very early on, showing that John Kerry was in the winner's column. Those results were turned upside down later by the actual results. But those early results had a lot of people convinced. "Nightline" correspondent Chris Bury, who was in Ohio on Election Day, sorts through all of this to see if any of the arguments that George Bush lost have any merit.

And what about some of the political shenanigans in past presidential elections? There are many great stories about the way political machines used to operate and who got paid to make them run. Ted Koppel will chat with two entertaining Washington watchers who will gingerly remove those political skeletons from the closet, just for some perspective.

We hope you'll join us.

Gerry Holmes & The Nightline Staff
Senior Producer
Washington Bureau

Thanks to JoMama49 here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x292973

[MelissaB]

5. Myth Breakers: Facts About Electronic Elections

Today, the new, updated version of "Myth Breakers" is complete and available at VotersUnite.org

"Myth Breakers for Elections Officials" is a widely distributed document that was written to give elections officials the correct information about voting systems. "Myth Breakers" was delivered, by hand by local voters, to over 800 local elections officials across the country.

"Myth Breakers: Facts About Electronic Elections" is an up-to-date version of the original. We encourage voters to download a copy, print it off, bind it or put it in a folder and deliver it to your local or state elections officials.


http://www.votersunite.org/takeaction/mythbreakerssecondedition.pdf

Thanks to JohnGideon here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x292271#292291

[MelissaB]

6. boston.com news: Irreconcilable

On the eve of Inauguration Day, many who voted against the president haven't come to terms with his reelection
By Don Aucoin, Globe Staff | January 19, 2005

<...>

At least one activist who believes there was widespread vote fraud in November is unimpressed by Kerry's salvo. ''Whatever he says means little or nothing to me," Joseph A. Lopisi, a member of the Coalition Against Election Fraud, said yesterday. ''Speaking means nothing; actions mean everything. He didn't take action. He could have joined that lawsuit in Ohio. He could have put a lot of money into securing the voting machines in Ohio and Florida."

Lopisi, a 56-year-old attorney from Arlington who said he was not active in a political organization before joining the coalition, recently helped distribute to congressional representatives a 250-page summary of what he called evidence of ''voter fraud, voter suppression, and computer manipulation." He was also part of a recent vigil outside Kerry's Beacon Hill home that sought to persuade the senator to join the fight against formal congressional certification of the election results.

That battle did not succeed. Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, was the sole senator to join Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Democrat of Ohio, and a small band of other House lawmakers in a failed bid on Jan. 6 to block congressional certification. House majority leader Tom Delay, a Republican, mocked the effort as inspired by ''the 'X-Files' wing of the Democrat Party." A spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, a Republican, said Democratic opponents were ''just trying to stir up their loony left."

<...>

As for Lopisi, he plans to continue his efforts to, in his words, ''bring Mr. Bush and his administration to justice for stealing two elections."

He does not trust the media to do it -- ''They make us look like idiots, conspiratorial" -- and he does not trust Congress to do it. So this week he launched a website, www.bushstole04.com, that includes links to other websites launched by citizens' groups that contain information about voter fraud. ''It's really up to the everyday person to realize they're not finding the truth from the media and the entire system is corrupt," Lopisi said.

MORE: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/01/19/irreconcilable/

Thanks to HomerRamone here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x291808

[Wilms]

7. OK, MS and UT Dem Leadership Endorse Dean

Blog for America
January 18, 2005
by Tara Liloia

Governor Howard Dean was endorsed today by several state Democratic Party chairs and vice chairs, adding to his broad, diverse and growing list of support both among the members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The list of voting DNC state party chairs and vice-chairs supporting Governor Dean include:

Florida: Chairman Scott Maddox, Vice-Chairwoman Diane Glasser
Mississippi: Chairman Wayne Dowdy
Oklahoma: Chairman Jay Parmley, Vice-Chairwoman Debbe Leftwich
Utah: Vice-Chairwoman Nancy Woodside
Washington: Chairman Paul Berendt
Vermont: Chairman Peter Mallary

-snip/more-

<http://www.blogforamerica.com/archives/005824.html>

[Wilms]

8. Record of Important Legal Events

Ohio Election Fraud (Formerly "Fairness")

Record of Important Legal Events
January 19, 2005
by Ray Beckerman

This post is intended as a resource tool for those seeking information on important legal events relating to the Ohio election of 2004, specifically relating to issues of (a) fraud, (b) disenfranchisment, (c) voter suppression, (d) recount obstruction, and (e) vote machine tampering. It is a selective compilation of links which have been posted on this site which relate to such events.

-snip/more-

<http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/record-of-important-legal-events.html>

[MelissaB]

9. AP Says We're "In Denial"

Some Dems Plan to Avoid Bush Inauguration

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - If they aren't leaving the capital, they might be going to the movies or spending a quiet afternoon at home. Some even boarded a cruise ship, hoping moonlight and mai tais will take the sting out of President Bush (news - web sites)'s second inauguration.

These Democrats are in denial, not quite ready to hail the chief they fought so hard to unseat.

"We all know the inauguration is taking place," said Debra DeShong, once a spokeswoman for Bush challenger Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites). "But watching it is like adding salt to a wound."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=696&e=3&u=/ap/20050119/ap_on_re_us/inaugural_democrats_in_denial

Thanks to Sparkly here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1510062

[Wilms]

10. What Are They Hiding in New Mexico?

Scoop
19 January 2005
By Warren Stewart
National Ballot Integrity Project

-snip-

But that canvass report is riddled with anomalies. In comparing the number of ballots cast (that is, the number of voters who signed the poll books or submitted an absentee or provisional ballot) with the total number of presidential votes in any precinct, there turn out to be three possibilities. There can me more ballots cast than total votes for president (these are called undervotes), the same number of votes counted as ballots cast (I’ll call those zero-undervotes), and alarmingly there is also the situation where the number of presidential votes exceeds the number of ballots cast (these are called ‘phantom votes’). Since these are all mutually exclusive results, it is extraordinary to find excessively high rates of all of three in the same state for the same contest, but that’s what happened in New Mexico according to the canvass report.

-snip/more-

<http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0501/S00152.htm>

[MelissaB]

11. Thanks so much, Wilms!

Your help is much appreciated!

:toast:

[Wilms]

12. Nine House Democrats call for full hearing on voting reform, irregularitie

Blue Lemur
1/19/2005

Letter: Nine House Democrats call for full hearing on voting reform, irregularities

From Rep. John Conyers, Jr.’s office to:

The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary

<http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=563>

[Wilms]

13. The Diebold Variations:

whatreallyhappened.com

The Diebold Variations
Posted Jan 19, 2005 05:26 PM PST
Category: HUMOR

-snip-

I came into possession of the image of Stalin casting a vote, and wondered what the ghastly old fellow might have made of the new touchscreen voting technology. A magazine ad suggested itself, and then another, and another...

-snip/more-

<http://homepage.mac.com/rcareaga/diebold/adworks.htm>

[Wilms]

14. Liberal Financier Accused of Violating Federal Election Law

By Marc Morano
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
January 19, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - A conservative legal group has accused billionaire investor George Soros of violating federal election law.

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) on Tuesday filed a 41-page complaint against Soros with the Federal Election Commission, alleging "extensive apparent violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act."

The NLPC alleges that Soros failed to disclose a series of expenditures stemming from his October 2004 speaking tour to several swing states, where he called for the defeat of President Bush. Soros is a major financier of liberal causes.

-snip/more-

Uncooperative link. Please cut and paste the url.

http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200501\POL20050119a.html

[Wilms]

15. Vote machines being cleared (New Mexico)

Vote machines being cleared
Judge rules against stay on erasure

By Ed Asher
Tribune Reporter
January 19, 2005

County workers have begun erasing and reprogramming voting machines and will begin delivering them to polling places next week, in time for the Feb. 1 school district election, Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera said.

A court ruling over the weekend cleared the way for the machines to be prepared, Herrera said Tuesday.

-snip/more-

<http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local_state_government/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19859_3481732,00.html>

[Wilms]

16. A Program To Restore Election Legitimacy

Tuesday, January 18, 2005
posted by GuvWurld

-snip-

Of course, no City Council alone has the means to implement these changes to our federal election process. However, as a strategy for developing an overall national platform, organizing locally will harmonize the voices in our community, and then amplify the message through our recognized community spokespeople. Arcata is one of over 300 communities to pass an anti-Patriot Act resolution. There is sound precedent for anticipating a similar trend.

-snip/more-

<http://guvwurld.blogspot.com/2005/01/program-to-restore-election-legitimacy.html>

[Wilms]

18. Texas Election System Examiners' Meetings Shrouded in Secrecy

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

Texas Election System Examiners' Meetings Shrouded in Secrecy
Lawsuit Pushes for Public Access to Meetings Where E-voting Machines Are Evaluated

Cindy Cohn
Legal Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
[e-mail]

Matt Zimmerman
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
[e-mail]

Austin, TX - On January 19, a Texas court is scheduled to determine whether to force the state's voting examiners to open their meetings to the public. The ACLU of Texas and a Texas voter filed a lawsuit last year, ACLU of Texas v. Geoffrey S. Connor, demanding that the public be admitted to meetings where the examiners decide which electronic voting machines to certify. While these groups waited for a response from the court, the examiners held yet another closed meeting on January 4 and 5.

"There's no technical reason for keeping these meetings closed to the public," said Dan Wallach, a Rice University computer science professor and outspoken critic of electronic voting systems. "By allowing outside experts in security, accessibility, and election procedure to attend the meetings, the voting system vendors will receive better feedback from the ultimate users of the machines. Likewise, if outside experts find problems, the state can demand the vendors address those problems before the machines are used in the field."

-snip/more-

<http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_01.php#002212>

[Wilms]

19. Delays at polls weren't a scheme

The Plain Dealer

Delays at polls weren't a scheme
Voting machines distributed evenly
Monday, January 17, 2005
Mark Naymik
Plain Dealer Politics Writer

-snip-

But a Plain Dealer analysis shows that, in Cuyahoga County at least, the elections board distributed machines equally to city and suburban polling locations.

-snip/more-

<http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1105957870247212.xml>

DU Threads

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x288073>

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=291156&mesg_id=291156>

[Wilms]

20. Edison/Mitofsky Report: Evaluation of Election System

January 19th, 2005

Evaluation of Edison/Mitofsky Election System 2004
prepared by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International
for the National Election Pool (NEP)


Link to .pdf file:

<http://www.exit-poll.net/election-night/EvaluationJan192005.pdf>


Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International

<http://www.exit-poll.net/>

[Wilms]

21. RecountOhio: Don't Let the Recount Fight Die

RecountOhio
Michael and Jason

Dear Friends,

On the eve of the presidential inauguration, we want to thank you for your
support during the RecountOhio fight. Despite the disappointing
results of the recount in Ohio, there are positive accomplishments
emerging from your efforts:

-snip/more-

<http://www.recountohio.org/>

[Wilms]

22. Seattle Weekly: Dinocracy Delayed

January 19 - 25, 2005

The Republican challenge of Gov. Christine Gregoire is already bogging down in court, so she's likely to hold office for months, at least.

by George Howland Jr

-snip-

On Thursday, Jan. 13, state Republican Party lawyer Diane Tebelius called a press conference to excoriate the Democrats for delaying the legal process. "The Democrats don't want to discover what the real facts are," she said. "If you really believe your mantra—'count every vote'— should be saying, 'Let's get on with this case.'"

But Gregoire is not a defendant in the lawsuit, nor has she a lawyer representing her. Besides, the GOP's losing gubernatorial candidate, Dino Rossi, chose to take the matter to court knowing full well that the legal system is not built for speed. The Rossi campaign and the lawsuit's plaintiffs, which include regular citizens and state Republican Party Chair Chris Vance, are suing many, many people and institutions: all 39 counties, all 39 county auditors, Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed, Speaker of the House Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, and Democratic Lt. Gov. Brad Owen. All had a hand, however small, in certifying Gregoire's election. This week, Bridges allowed the state Democratic and Libertarian parties to have their say, too. Everyone—the plaintiffs, the defendants, and the interveners—is entitled to a lawyer, and every lawyer is entitled to make motions on behalf of his or her client. The first consequence is that the trial will be moved from the Chelan County courthouse in Wenatchee to the Chelan County Auditorium, just to accommodate all the defendants and their lawyers.

-snip/more-

<http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0503/050114_news_governor.php>


DU Thread:

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x294033>

[Wilms]

23. Nobel Peace Prize nominee: Bush re-election may end the human race

Information Clearing House
By ANI

01/17/05 "ANI" -- The world-renowned anti-nuclear and environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Helen Caldicott, has warned that US President George Bush's re-election does not bode well for mankind, and she fears that the human race may not survive his second term (2005-2009).

"This is the most serious election that has ever occurred in the history of the human race, without a scrag of doubt. I don't know if we'll survive the next four years ... I don't think the Americans have, on the whole, the faintest idea - and I have to say also I don't think most Australians do either. But it's not just the threat from nuclear war. It's the threat of what's happening to the environment, the global warming which is occurring rapidly now, to ozone depletion, to species extinction, to deforestation - it's the whole thing," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Caldicott as saying.

-snip/more-

<http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7759.htm>


DU Thread:

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x294084>