Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday 7/9/05

[MelissaB]

(I'll try to work on this thread in the morning. It's been a tough day...)

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.





If you can:

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

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

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.



If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391

Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x381154

All previous daily threads are available here:

http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm




Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[MelissaB]

1. Seattle Weekly memorial article on Andy Stephenson: "A Fight To the End"

A Fight to the End

Voting-rights activist, 43, dies.
by George Howland Jr.



Voting-rights activist Andy Stephenson was so full of life it seems impossible that he is dead. Surrounded by his life partner, Ted Edmondson, and members of his family, Stephenson passed away on Thursday, July 7, at Seattle's Virginia Mason Medical Center. The Seattle resident was 43.

(snip)

In person, Stephenson was a red-headed, crackerjack live wire, full of ideas and energy, chasing after every hint of impropriety by election administrators and the corporations that make voting software and hardware. During an interview, he would simultaneously smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, take phone calls, assign tasks to volunteers, condemn elected officials, and rail against Election Systems & Software, Diebold, and other voting-equipment corporations. He was a heartfelt advocate for his cause and didn't shy from confrontation with government officials and corporate officers. His passion and affability attracted a following here and on the World Wide Web, particularly among the frequenters of the progressive Web site Democratic Underground (www.democraticunderground.com ).

(snip)

Stephenson's health took a turn for the worse on Wednesday June 22, when he was admitted to Virginia Mason Medical Center with post-surgery complications. When I visited him the next day, he was still in battle mode�against his cancer and on behalf of voter rights. Over the next two weeks, his condition steadily declined. After a series of strokes, he died.

(snip)

A memorial service will be held at Town Hall in Seattle at 1119 Eighth Ave., on Saturday, July 16, at 2 p.m.

Link: http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0528/050713_news_andy.php

Thanks to Nothing Without Hope here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4052955

[understandinglife]

2. Right here with you, MelissaB. Recommended because of all ...

....your dedication and in honor of dear Andy.

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Halt terror on America; begin by demanding Voter-Verified Paper Ballots.

[MelissaB]

3. Thank you, UL! I promise to try to do the thread justice tomorrow.

:hug: I've got to get the kids in bed tonight, and my mind just didn't feel like doing it until now.

[MelissaB]

4. 'Plain Dealer': We're Holding Big Stories Because of Fear of Jail

'Plain Dealer': We're Holding Big Stories Because of Fear of Jail

By Mark Fitzgerald

Published: July 08, 2005 5:02 PM ET

CHICAGO Plain Dealer Editor Doug Clifton says the Cleveland daily is not reporting two major investigative stories of "profound importance" because they are based on illegally leaked documents -- and the paper fears the consequences faced now by jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

Lawyers for the Newhouse Newspapers-owned PD have concluded that the newspaper would almost certainly be found culpable if the leaks were investigated by authorities.

"They've said, this is a super, super high-risk endeavor, and you would, you know, you'd lose," Clifton said in an interview Friday afternoon.


"The reporters say, 'Well, we're willing to go to jail, and I'm willing to go to jail if it gets laid on me,'" Clifton added, "but the newspaper isn't willing to go to jail. That's what the lawyers have told us. So this is a Time Inc. sort of situation."

More: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000976374

[MelissaB]

5. Rare coins touted before state sought investment plans

Article published Saturday, July 9, 2005

WORKERS' COMP CASE

Rare coins touted before state sought investment plans
Noe proposals found in office of bureau's ex-financial chief

By JAMES DREW and MIKE WILKINSON
BLADE STAFF WRITERS


COLUMBUS � Long before the Ohio Bureau of Workers� Compensation asked for investment proposals, Tom Noe already was in the front door.

Documents released yesterday show that Mr. Noe�s Capital Coin fund submitted a proposal � dated March 25, 1997 � for the bureau to invest in rare coins.

That�s almost nine months before the bureau requested proposals from firms to invest in stocks, bonds, private equity, and other financial instruments.

Jeremy Jackson, the bureau�s press secretary, said two proposals from Mr. Noe�s Capital Coin � dated March 25, 1997, and Oct. 15, 1997 � were found two months ago in the office formerly used by Terrence Gasper, the bureau�s former chief financial officer.

...snip

�The ink was not dry on the bill and Tom Noe was banging on the door saying, �Give me the money.� This is further evidence of a conspiracy,� Mr. Dann said.



More: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050709/NEWS24/50709001

[MelissaB]

6. Justices to decide on Taft records

Justices to decide on Taft records
Governor has cited executive privilege

Saturday, July 09, 2005
T.C. Brown and Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus- The entire Ohio Supreme Court will participate in any decisions on a lawsuit seeking the release of records that Gov. Bob Taft says are protected by executive privilege.

In May, a majority of justices removed themselves from three lawsuits seeking the release of records involving $50 million in rare-coin investments by the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

The former manager of that investment - Tom Noe, a Toledo coin dealer and prodigious Republican fund-raiser - had given more than $23,000 to five of the seven justices.

Records of the coin funds, which may show a shortfall of up to $13 million, were subsequently released without a hearing.


More: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/112090172763331.xml&coll=2

[MelissaB]

7. Editorial: In Ohio, 'pay to play' poisons the system

Saturday, July 9, 2005

In Ohio, 'pay to play' poisons the system

Editorials

Investment losses at Ohio's Bureau of Workers' Compensation have cost it $300 million, but many of the state's top officials seem unwilling to do much more than wring their hands.

Why, for instance, hasn't Gov. Bob Taft, demanded the resignation of everyone on BWC's bipartisan oversight board. Taft has said he doesn't want to do anything to interfere with the state and federal investigations into the widening scandals, but top administrators in the bureau already are gone and demanding that the board members vacate their seats immediately can't possibly cause any further damage.

The scandals, simplistically referred to as "Coingate" because they started out with some very curious BWC investments in rare coins, have spread to several other of the bureau's investment funds. The BWC's $15 billion portfolio is spread among about 150 managed funds. A common thread among the funds that lost money is that the managers seem to have been politically well-connected. This has led to allegations of "pay-to-play," which are now spreading beyond the bureau.

Taft, for instance, hired his own criminal defense attorney after recently acknowledging that he failed to disclose gifts he received in the form of free golf games. Taft was one of many Republican officeholders who have returned campaign contributions to Thomas Noe, the Toledo coin dealer and party activist who managed BWC's rare coin investment.

Noe has acknowledged losing about $13 million of BWC's money in the deal. Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted, another Noe beneficiary who returned a contribution, has recently been scrambling to repay the costs of plane tickets and junkets he received from companies that do business with the state.

More: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050709/EDIT01/507090328

[MelissaB]

8. Fund managers donated almost $80,000 to Taft

Posted on Sat, Jul. 09, 2005

Fund managers donated almost $80,000 to Taft

Review shows 3 groups blamed for lost money gave to campaigns

Associated Press


COLUMBUS - Three of the four fund managers blamed for losing $300 million in investments by the state's injured workers insurance fund produced almost $80,000 for Gov. Bob Taft's political campaigns, an Associated Press review of campaign finance records shows.

The donations came from National City and some of its employees, two employees of MDL Capital Management and coin dealer Tom Noe.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation has terminated investment agreements with the two firms and a company set up by Noe. National City's investment subsidiary, Allegiant Asset Management, had losses totaling $71 million, including $60 million the bureau blamed on Allegiant's poor decisions; MDL losses totaled $215 million; and Noe's attorney has said he cannot account for as much as $13 million from an investment in rare coins.

Since 1990, National City's political action committee gave Taft $21,475; its employees contributed 31 times totaling $40,500; MDL founder Mark Lay and an MDL employee gave a total of $1,000; while Noe has given Taft campaigns $12,300 and an associate, Timothy LaPointe, $4,000, according to campaign finance reports filed with Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell.


More: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/12093171.htm

[MelissaB]

9. Taft refuses to yield staff calendars

Article published Friday, July 8, 2005

Taft refuses to yield staff calendars

By JOSHUA BOAK
BLADE STAFF WRITER


COLUMBUS - Gov. Bob Taft's office has rejected a Blade request made under the Ohio Open Records Act that asked for the appointment calendars from members of the governor's staff, including former chief of staff Brian Hicks.


"Mr. Hicks' calendar, which contains both personal and professional appointments, was kept for his personal convenience and does not serve to document the activities of the office," the governor's chief legal counsel, Elizabeth Luper Schuster, said in a July 6 letter.

Ms. Schuster justified this decision by citing International Union vs. Voinovich, a 1995 ruling by Ohio's 10th District Court of Appeals.

Written before the dominance of calendar and e-mail programs like Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, the case states that the governor has no obligation to disclose any appointments because he is not legally required to maintain any records of them.

Attorneys for then-Gov. George Voinovich said he did keep personal calendars "but denies that he utilizes them to document his official actions."


More: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050708/NEWS24/507080374

[MelissaB]

10. Review ousts 2 Democratic committee members

Review ousts 2 Democratic committee members

Saturday, July 9, 2005

By GEORGE CLARK
Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN

In a report to Superior Court Judge Samuel D. Natal released Friday, Camden County election officials enumerated 20 mistakes made in tallying election returns from Camden City during the June 7 primary.

These mistakes are in addition to the errors found in counting the votes of all eight candidates in the June 14 runoff for mayor and city council.

While the errors on June 14 did not alter the outcome of the election, the June 7 primary election miscounts resulted in two members of the 48-member city Democratic committee losing their seats. Delbert Nelson and Richard Walker were declared winners over Willie Hunter and Osvaldo Camacho for the seats.

Robert J. Venuti, chairman of the county Board of Elections, attributed many of the mistakes to the hostile tenor of the election between incumbent Mayor Gwendolyn Faison and Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez. Faison won the election 4,991-4,417.


More: http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m070905m.htm

[MelissaB]

11. FL: Touch-screen or scan: That's voting panel's choice

Touch-screen or scan: That's voting panel's choice

July 9, 2005

Arthur Anderson is taking a step toward making good on a centerpiece of his campaign for supervisor of elections: reducing public distrust of Palm Beach County's election equipment. Ultimately, it could lead to printers for touch-screen voting machines.

Anderson promised during last year's campaign to "ensure there is an auditable paper trail for all touch-screen voting machines."

Activists who helped him defeat former Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore have been growing increasingly restless waiting for action.

Now, six months after taking office, Anderson is finalizing membership of an Election Technology Advisory Committee. He's giving it six months and a broad mandate.


More: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cpanthony09jul09,0,4825934.story?coll=sfla-news-broward

[MelissaB]

12. �����V��, Japan: Top court: scrap Kani election

Top court: scrap Kani election

07/09/2005

The Asahi Shimbun


The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a lower court ruling that nullified the results of a 2003 city assembly election in Kani, Gifu Prefecture, over faulty electronic voting machines.

All but one of the 25 members of the Kani municipal assembly will now lose their posts. The local election administration commission must now hold another election within 50 days.

The court's first-ever ruling on electronic-voting results is expected to curb municipalities' enthusiasm for using such systems. Several municipalities that spent public funds on the systems are already mulling whether to scrap them.

The Supreme Court's Second Petty Bench rejected the appeal filed by the Gifu Prefectural Election Administration Commission, which let a March ruling by the Nagoya High Court stand.

The lawsuit seeking to nullify the city assembly election was filed by 15 voters, including a candidate who was defeated in the July 2003 race.


More: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200507090154.html

[MelissaB]

13. Activists Urge California To Not Use Diebold Voting Machines

Activists Urge California To Not Use Diebold Voting Machines

By The Daily Review


SACRAMENTO-As California rolls toward a train wreck with federal and state laws, voting activists told state elections officials that Diebold and its voting machines aren't welcome along for the ride.
Witness after witness-Bay Area liberals seasoned with a few Libertarians and Republicans-called on state officials Thursday to block Diebold's voting machines from the nation's largest elections market, casting the firm as synonymous with lost trust and vote "theft" in the 2000 and 2004 elections.
In a jam-packed hearing punctuated by chanting, activists demanded paper ballots be counted by hand, by computers running open-source software if absolutely necessary, but never by secret software closely held by a company known for executive support of Republicans ranking as high as the presidency.
"If you value democracy you will not certify these hackable machines with secret mechanisms that are considered proprietary," said Berkeley's Phoebe Anne Sorgen. "You will dump Diebold Elections Systems and software."
"If you throw them out of this state, they're dead. Their backs are up against the wall," said Jim March, a Sacramento Republican and activist for BlackBoxVoting.org.
Looking over the angry crowd of more than 200, the chairman of California's Voting Systems and Procedures Panel decided against making a recommendation to Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, a break with a panel tradition of prompt approvals of voting systems.


More: http://www.coastalpost.com/05/07/02_.html

[MelissaB]

14. Volusia hires outside help in touch-screen lawsuit

Volusia hires outside help in touch-screen lawsuit

By Kevin P. Connolly
Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted July 8 2005


DELAND -- Volusia County Council members agreed Thursday to pay for special outside legal counsel to defend them against a fast-moving federal lawsuit filed by blind advocates who want disability-accessible touch-screen voting machines.

Though they expressed interest in a different attorney, council members eventually endorsed County Attorney Dan Eckert's move to retain Orlando-based attorney David V. Kornreich with the firm of Akerman Senterfitt, to defend the suit prompted by council members' refusal last week to buy touch-screens.

Eckert exercised his authority under the county's charter to retain outside counsel because a majority of council members went against his advice by rejecting touch-screens -- a move that prompted the suit from the National Federation of the Blind and others.

Kornreich has represented the county on labor and civil-rights issues and has demonstrated "unquestioned loyalty" to Volusia, Eckert said Thursday.


More: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-locmvote08070805jul08,0,2827394.story?coll=sfla-news-florida

[MelissaB]

15. NJ: Activist to meet with Codey staff re: voting machines

Activist to meet with Codey staff re: voting machines

Friday, July 08, 2005

By PAUL BRUBAKER


Montclair voters� rights advocates who said that they have been stonewalled by the state Attorney General�s office on Essex County�s pending conversion to digital record electronic (DRE) voting machines are scheduled to get the ear today of acting Gov. Richard Codey�s assistant chief of staff.

Today�s meeting is the result of a June 22 letter to Codey by Montclair resident Katherine Joyce on behalf of several activists concerned about the propriety of certain DREs. On Thursday, June 9, many of the activists convinced a majority of the Essex County Board of Freeholders to reject a $7.5 million bond ordinance to buy DREs that did not provide a voter-verifiable printed record.

�We urged this measure�out of concern that our freeholders would have no choice but to approve a wasteful purchase of flawed voting equipment,� Joyce stated in her letter to Codey.

Since the bond ordinance was rejected, the Attorney General�s office has held fast to the federal requirement for the county to convert to DRE voting machines in time for the first round of elections in 2006, and urged the Essex freeholders to reverse their decision.


More: http://www.montclairtimes.com/page.php?page=10060