Democrats will investigate Ohio vote

[Rocky Top]

Democrats will investigate Ohio vote
National party to spend up to $500K

"I want them to open up the machines," outgoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe told Gannett News Service and USA Today reporters. "If there's nothing wrong with the machines, we ought to be able to go in and take a look at them."

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050202/NEWS01/502020378/1056

[AllegroRondo]

1. What took so long?

we should have been looking at the machines Nov 3rd.

[garybeck]

4. sheer idiocy

anyone with half a brain would have been on this months before the elction not after

[pbartch]

16. You're right,. National DEMS should have been looking @ VOTE FRAUD 11-3

What took them so long?????????????

[hvn_nbr_2]

22. They should have been looking 11-3-2003

It's been obvious to all the computer security experts for years that there were major problems, and it's not like they didn't tell anyone. The party wheels just refused to listen and kept their heads in the sand.

[Occulus]

37. We should have been demanding this as a condition of HAVA

that any electronic processes, counting methods, software, software code, and any ancillary notations, logs, written comments, and especially the companies involved be 100% open for at-will public inspection.

Of course, nobody listened. Well, nobody who wasn't bought first.

[NVMojo]

2. ...and then we need to look at all the machines, no matter the maker ...

...and investigate the government pushers of this. Most being SOS's ...

[blm]

3. Good. Wish they knew enough to demand it after 2002.

.

[ohtransplant]

5. What ever happened to striking while the iron is hot?

I'm glad they're finally on board but...

Do they really expect to find anything now?

Where the hell has the Democratic party been for three months?

[Rocky Top]

7. This is why they waited !!

Since November's presidential election, a small but vocal chorus of liberal activists has complained that the vote in Ohio was miscounted - either through conspiracy or errors - and the wrong man elected president. Had Ohio's 20 electoral votes gone to Sen. John Kerry, he would be president today.

[ohtransplant]

10. I'm confused - really

Are you saying the Democratic party didn't push earlier because they didn't want Kerry to be President or am I missing something? Sorry to be obtuse.

[mod mom]

14. my guess is they feared retribution or lacked cojones.

I have yet to hear Denny White admit to election irregularities. It took Rep John Conyers and of course Rev Jesse Jackson to have our voices heard. The Ohio Dems wanted us silenced. We need new leadership in Ohio! :(

[ohtransplant]

19. Dems seem to be convinced that...

fighting back makes them look bad somehow.

I agree Ohio needs new and better leadership. This past November's experience have motivated me to get personally involved. I hope many Dems in Ohio do the same.

[pbartch]

18. Why they waited?? A LARGE and VOCAL chorus have been speaking out!

IF the National Dems had got off their collective arses, made sure a FAIR AND ACCURATE vote count was done......Kerry might be President right now!

But no.......they had to sit around and do nothing!

What good is it to do an accurate count now and FIND OUT THAT THE OHIO COUNT WAS WRONG???

COULD JOHN KERRY BE PRESIDENT NOW?

[KaliTracy]

6. How many Ohio Counties have elections tomorrow? I am in Butler though DRE

machines aren't used in our precint -- we use punch card -- I would hope that different machines would be used for this vote. Does the memory card become preserved for 22 months -- or is it game over?

[Duncan]

8. Why did they only give Bushstole04.com as a link?

This sentence is incredible: "There's even a Web site, www.bushstole04.com, largely about the Ohio vote."

"There's even a website" !?!?!? Unbef**kinglievable.

There must be a better website they could have referenced.

[garybeck]

9. the very statement "they even have a website"

is flat stupid.

having a website means nothing. It can be had for free by a high-school aged kid with nothing better to do than make up some stories.

[johnaries]

11. Didn't someone here start that website?

I remember a thread with a DU'er saying that since the Republicans owned bushcheated.com (to keep anyone from using it), they were going to start a bushstole04.com. A lot of the info on the site looks familiar, anyway.

[count_alucard]

12. Kerry will concede again

faster this time, regardless of the outcome of the investigation.

Even if Bush himself tells him 'hey IDIOT we stole it' Kerry will just say 'nah you've been a wonderful President.'

[mod mom]

13. I hope Dean will allow grassroot investigators, freepress, CASE, Alliance

for Democracy, and others to assist in directing how the money should be allocated. About time we had a pragmatic Chairman w cojones!

[Vinca]

15. Sorry, but this drives me nuts.

What happens if they learn that . . . surprise, surprise . . . the election wasn't on the "up and up" and John Kerry probably won? These people should have been interested in Ohio on November 7, not February 7. Oooooh . . . I'm so pissed off.

[mod mom]

17. I would like to hear what the Dems will do with the news. Are they going

to back us up? If not, it's kind of a waste of money. If they really are serious, they will find that Kerry won the election. They ignored the fact that Gore won in 2000, so our only hope is that Dean will fight with Conyers and Boxer. Thanks to Greg Palast and others outside the US, the world knows, now it is time for Americans to know what many of us in OHIO already know! bU$H CHEATED!

[Daybreaker]

20. I bet Republicans are scared now! Not.

"Oh, no! DEMOCRATS might come after us! We might get SCOLDED!"

I am still not done being mad at the party leadership for failing at ... well, basically, everything.

[Rocky Top]

21. Where is Howard Dean ? We need him.

McAuliffe and other Democrats have acknowledged that Bush won the election. "The election wasn't stolen," McAuliffe declared…

(Sure, Terry. Wasn’t stolen. Right.)

We need strong leaders who are willing to fight with all their might to beat the powerful Republican propaganda machine. There is no room for cowards in our party.

[saracat]

23. Howard hasn't said the election was "stolen" either.

I just wonder why they are doing this now??? What reason do they have? There has to be something behind this.

[mod mom]

25. If Dean had said the election was stolen, then he would never become

chairman. He is the one who inspired a lot os us into political activism. Let's hope he comes and listens to what we have to tell him. We have Rep Conyers and many dem house members and Sen Boxer on board. I encourage people to let Gov Dean know what we have learned. I hope he is strong enough to handle the truth and do something about it.

[rigel99]

28. Dean is on fire and pissed off about election fraud

met with Dean a few weeks ago in Georgia, he's fired up , pissed off and doing something day one when he's installed as our new DNC chair. He had several incredible ideas:

1. make the Sec. of state a nonpartisan position, and strict rules regarding their participation in partisan activities
2. Make democratic fulltime positions to the tune of 500K per state to make the dem. party have both organization and teeth, he sees we lose our strength in not having paid positions at that level
3. Hold back DNC money for govs/sec. of state running on anything but a pure clean election reform slate... Dean understand that much the fight has stalled at the 'open records or FOIA layer' and said to consider using the sunshine laws of the state to get deeper access to the data.

finally, he said 2 things that really stuck with me...
1. JUST SHOW UP for democracy.. don't just sit at home, get out there and do something positive to change the depressing slide into unelected chaos
2. Don't take 2nd best (like the Dems in DC now), shoot for the dem. values and the 1st /highest values, platforms, policies issues.

finally, when my friend Clay worked for Dean in Vermont, I remember something very bold Dean did, he never accepted a meeting with a company, he would only meet with individuals.. I think Dean is going to do a cleaning house of corporate interest in the party the likes of which even Kennedy's brother would be proud....

I am going to setup a invitation only roundtable of the stars of this election community to educate Dean on the real necessary next steps (and I think spending 500K in OH is a big mistake, definitely spend a large portion in OH, but GA, FL, NM, CA and other places that can challenge the very essence of machine based/outsourced voting and 'invisible ballots' is required, and mitigate risk if the OH legal system is already 'rigged' by repub. graft). I think we should definitely spend more in other states as well, but more importantly, Dean should make this a fundraising/houseparty challenge for the grassroots.. I can't get the Dem. For america folks to raise a dime or even show up on election reform issues...

I guess they think getting out the vote matters in a totally 'rigged election' system... I think this should be Dean's first and highest priority...I think he agrees wholeheartedly and said he wanted a 'brainstorm session' on this... I promised to deliver that to him....

[mod mom]

30. Loved that man from the beginning. Dean Rocks! nt

[myschkin]

34. great!

go forward, rigel99...

[corbett]

44. Wow! Very Insightful!

I'm glad all over again that I said he was the right man for DNC chair. Some here on this site have said that the chairmanship is mostly a fund raising position. I hope that they are wrong and he is able to bring to bear the brilliant ideas you cited.

[KaryninMiami]

24. He's right and He's Late. Very late.

Glad they are investing $500K (which is probabably money many of us donated to the campaign) and I hope they will then go on to invest in a few other states (like FL, NV, NC, NM, etc.) but then what? Will we then have enough evidence for a lawsuit? To impeach them? Will MSM actually cover the story if it is clear that we do in fact have "the goods"?

Any insiders here have any idea what they plan to to do with this information once they have it (if they get it)?

Also is there any way that they will be able to recreate the codes inside the machines to show the evidence of tampering or have they been erased and destroyed by now? Wouldn't Diabold and Es&S have destroyed any trace of this by now?

Andy Stephenson my friend-- - if you happen to be reading this, perhaps you know the answer. Is there any chance that they will be able to uncover any tampering at this point with all the time that has gone by?

[rigel99]

29. Evidence of tampering may have been Stored in a Sealed Envelope

in GA, we are 100% diebold.

Evidence of the Diebold software used in each DRE machine, as well as a subset of the software to run the summary reports is on a CD that was created by Elections workers in each county and sealed close to election day to 'preserve' that state of the machines on election day. There is also a sealed copy in the Superior court clerk's office that was again delivered there shortly after election.

While it's been hard to get a copy of, I think with minimal legal action, we can get copies of both the election superintendent CD as well as the superior clerks. If you want to see the letters you can write to get this (of course specific to GA election code) you can go to this website... it was written by some very savvy GA activists who have done wonders in this state to fight election fraud.

www.countpaperballots.com

I predict we'll be going to court in the next month to get access to this data.. otherwise the PCMCIA cards are wiped clean to prepare for other races... but technically, a copy of the data should be stored and if the Clerk CD and Elections CD do not match, I believe we have sufficient cause to point to election tampering...

[flyarm]

33. in pinellas fla / largo

there is another election in march..which means the machines will be cleared for that election...

i have no doubt it was stolen here with deborah clark soe..whos husband represents es&s..and sold the sequoia machines to our county!!

we are one of 4 counties that had dre's machines in fla..

this county has consistantly gone dem..and bush supposedly won this time..yeah right!!

fly

[rigel99]

39. don't worry if the machines get cleared,

you are supposed to have a CD backup of the contents of the PCMCIA or whatever memory storage units inside the machine.. I can only speak for Diebold, but I know the data is still very much out there.. only we have 2 years to get to it or else they have a legal right to dispose of it...

you might want to ask via FOIA requests to get access to the files or the CD or the reports of the machines before any next big election... though just to be sure...

[Helga Scow Stern]

26. G-damnit, the EAC should be investigating Blackwell,

since they are investigating Shelley. All someone had to do was ask:

http://www.etopiamedia.net/empnn/pages/cpt-emnn/cpt-emnn115-5551212.html
On Friday, August 20th, shortly after revelations and allegations published in the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury kicked off the "Shelleygate" scandal, California Politics Today contacted the Election Assistance Commission to find out what, if anything, it was doing to monitor the spending of California's HAVA money. Brian Whitener, spokesperson for EAC, told CPT that EAC was expecting a report from California regarding the spending of its HAVA money in March, 2005.

Asked about the reports in the San Jose Mercury that almost half-a-million dollars in federal HAVA funds were being misappropriated by the state's chief elections officer, Mr. Whitener indicated that EAC couldn't comment on news reports.

Asked if EAC had a mechanism in place for the on-going auditing of the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds it was allocating under the HAVA to California and other states, Mr. Whitener indicated that it did not.

Mr. Whitener suggested that inquiries regarding the misappropriation of HAVA funds in this case be directed to "California," which he indicated meant the Secretary of State of California, the very person whose use of these funds was at issue.

At Mr. Whitener's suggestion, CTP prepared and e-mailed to him a list of questions regarding the allegations made about California Secretary of State in the San Jose Mercury article.

At 12:48 pm, PDT, on Friday, August 20th, this e-mail was sent to Mr. Whitener at the EAC:

Hi Brian,

Here's a link to today's article in the San Jose Mercury alleging that California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has misappropriated almost half a million dollars in HAVA money:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/9449482.htm

As a reporter for California Politics Today, at http://www.etopiamedia.net/empnn/pages/cpt-emnn/cpt-emnn0.html, I'd like to do a short recorded audio interview with someone at EAC to discuss:

1. Is there an ongoing audit function at EAC to monitor/supervise the disbursement in the states of the HAVA funds EAC is responsible for providing to the states?
2. Has EAC taken note of the recent allegations against Secretary of State Shelley?
3. Does EAC have any comment about these allegations?
4. Is EAC conducting or planning to conduct any investigations of these allegations?
5. What criminal charges or civil remedies could be pursued by EAC if it finds wrongdoing on the part of Secretary of State Shelley?
6. Can misappropriation of HAVA funds by state election officers result in action by EAC to limit further payment of HAVA funds to the offending states?
7. Have there been, to your knowledge, any other instances of alleged or proven misappropriation by states of HAVA funds and, if so, what has been the disposition of these cases?

If possible, I'd like to get something on the record about these questions before the close of business today.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide about these questions.

Regards,

Marc Strassman
Reporter
California Politics Today
Etopia Media Political News Networks
Etopia Media News Networks

[Rocky Top]

27. I agree

They should be investigating Blackwell!!!

[berniew1]

31. They also need to investigate ballots- there appears to have been tamperin

tampering with ballots and macnines other than touchscreens in several counties to cause misvotes for Kerry voters.
Cuyahoga and counties noted by the Green recount teams.
http://www.flcv.com/greenrc.html

[fasttense]

32. There's more than just that.

The list goes on and on and on. I just get tired of repeating all the very obvious evidence that the election was stolen. No one seems to listen or care (except people here). Maybe the America people are getting what they deserve for not using their God given logic and reason, and for not standing up and fighting back.

[dandrhesse]

35. I will post this now and keep posting it til people "get it"

I am not trying to be a pest but people either don't believe this or they don't know about it.

In the midwest, we don't have any information that is not tainted! Gannett News owns the newspapers, right wing has the whole radio dial, and people, tons of them, cannot afford cable or internet access. People cannot be mad about what they don't know about.

[Rocky Top]

36. Media outlet are all adopting an rightwing attitude.

It becoming painfully obvious that in addition to having to put up with repugs who keep defining democrats the press is becoming all rightwing.
Not one single media outlet CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, FAKENEWS, HEADLINE NEWS and others can be called liberal any more and are all adopting an rightwing attitude.

[Rocky Top]

38. We need to find a way to get more people this information.

It will not do any good for the Democrats to investigate Ohio vote if the MSM will not cover it.

[emlev]

40. We need a coordinated campaign for local coverage

Folks are being much more successful at getting local print, radio and TV coverage than national for election fraud issues.

[hvn_nbr_2]

41. 6-headed Pravda

or maybe 6-headed cyclops with only one eye, a "right" eye.

[Rocky Top]

42. Does any one know when they will start investigating!!

We need to stay on top of this.

[Al-CIAda]

43. Magic machines are being installed in ALL the key states.

Calif. is next...democracy is OVER, and the complicit Dems in 'leadership' are allowing it to happen.

[Imagevision]

45. Better late then NEVER> Let's see where this is at in 6 weeks?

[Rocky Top]

46. I agree

[Rocky Top]

47. Howard Dean will become Party Chairman

On Saturday Howard Dean will become Party Chairman maybe he can get this going asap.