Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News THURSDAY, 9/1/05

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Never forget the pursuit of Truth.
Only the deluded & complicit accept election results on blind faith.

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News WEDNESDAY, 9/1/05

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

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



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).

CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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1. CA: San Jose Mercury Strongly Supports Paper Ballots for Recounts

CA: San Jose Mercury Strongly Supports Paper Ballots for Recounts

The “registrars” (Boards of Elections) in CA are griping that they might actually have to count paper ballots for recounts. It’s important to be skeptical at best of any election official throughout the United States. One can only wonder why they would oppose paper ballots to verify elections.

Paper ballot spot check is key to election integrity

DESPITE OPPOSITION, GOVERNOR SHOULD SIGN BILL REQUIRING IT

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/12521516.htm

Mercury News Editorial August 31, 2001

A paper trail, both during an election and afterward, is essential to ensure the integrity of electronic voting. A bill requiring the use of paper ballots during a post-election recount is heading toward the governor's desk. Despite the opposition of Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should sign it.

For four decades, state law has required that poll officials after an election do a random manual recount of 1 percent of ballots cast, as a check against election malfunction and fraud. SB 370, sponsored by Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, would require that the sample recounts for electronic voting be done using the paper printouts that voters now use to verify their ballots.

California is one of two dozen states that mandate a voter-verified paper trail for touch-screen machines. A dozen of those now use the paper printouts in a sample recount.

That should seem obvious, but not to most county registrars of voters and McPherson. They want to take the easier and quicker route of printing out electronic images of votes that the touch-screen software can create internally but that voters don't see.

The difference may seem an arcane point, but it's fundamental. If there is a glitch with the software, you won't know it by simply using images that mask the problem. Only the paper copies that voters verified when they voted can offer an accurate check.

The registrars protest that counting the paper slips would be cumbersome and might interfere with the requirement to do a recount within 28 days of an election -- a weak excuse. Some have continued to insist that a paper trail is unnecessary.But there have been enough breakdowns and bugs in touch-screen machines to warrant skepticism and justify the extra check that SB 370 would provide.

McPherson has another objection: The voter-verified paper slips don't conform in size, print clarity and paper weight to a legal ballot. That is true but shouldn't preclude their use. Regulations should be changed to incorporate the voter-verified receipts, and voting machine companies should be encouraged to produce a paper trail from larger, sturdier stock.

California took the lead in demanding accurate electronic voting. SB 370 is key to election accountability.



CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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2. OH: Ohio’s Top Law Enforcement Official Accused of Corruption—Go Figure

This is what we were dealing with in Ohio. This article shows how the state’s top law official handled things: pay for play. No wonder voter suppression a massive scale took place; no wonder the recount was a joke; no wonder a top Republican fundraiser took $50 to $200 million out of state employee pension funds.

‘Special counsel’ Criticism bring Criticism of Attorney General Petro. Democrats say contributors pay to get state funded worki.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050830/NEWS24/50830001

By CHRISTOPHER D. KIRKPATRICK
BLADE STAFF WRITER
August 31 2001
COLUMBUS — Democratic officials brought pay-to-play charges to the state controlling board yesterday and aimed them squarely at Republican Attorney General Jim Petro.

Two Democratic members of the board questioned awarding $19 million in outside legal work to firms that had contributed $803,000 to Mr. Petro since 1998.

Much of the legal work, which is approved by Mr. Petro, is for routine collections on behalf of state agencies. But money for other contracts also was approved yesterday to pay the legal fees caused by fallout from an investment scandal at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

Called “special counsel” work, the contracts awarded yesterday and each fiscal year by Mr. Petro have been attacked by Democrats as part of a pay-to-play system highlighted this year by the bureau’s recent investment scandal, which began with problems over a $50 million investment in rare coins with former Toledo-area coin dealer Tom Noe, who was a major Republican fund-raiser.

“There’s $800,000 in contributions from the very firms we have before us,” said Sen. Ray Miller, a Columbus Democrat and controlling board member. “Why is it the lawyers that make the substantial contributions get all the special counsel work?”

Mr. Petro has said that Bernadette Noe, who is married to Tom Noe, may have lobbied the attorney general to win some special counsel work.

In 2003, Mr. Petro appointed Tracy Kidd, who like Ms. Noe was a part-time lawyer at the Toledo firm of Wise & Dorner, as special counsel to conduct some debt collection.

The appointment meant that Ms. Kidd, and potentially Ms. Noe, would receive as much as one-third of the $245,000 collected during her tenure as special counsel for the state. The standard fee for special counsel is one-third of the first $30,000 of each claim collected, and an additional 10 percent for additional collections.


Contact Christopher D. Kirkpatrick at: [e-mail] or 614-221-1766.


CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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3. OH: Republicans File Suit to Keep Election Reform off Ballot

OK, so Ohio citizens have a ballot initiative to clean up Ohio elections. What do the Republicans do? They mount a law suit to keep the initiative off the ballot. Figures.

Former Senate president sues to stop election changes

http://www.onnnews.com/global/story.asp?s=3682417&ClientType=Printable

August 31, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A Republican statehouse veteran sued on Thursday to keep the statewide ballot clear of three constitutional amendments to change elections and the drawing of legislative districts.

Richard Finan, a former Senate president and 29-year lawmaker, argued in the lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court that the petitions being circulated to qualify the issue for the November election don't contain the full text of the proposed amendments because they don't show what parts of the current Ohio Constitution would be deleted.

"In no way does this allow the average Ohioan to understand the issue," he said. "Whether there are some reforms needed or not is not the question. This is badly flawed."

The lawsuit demands that Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell not allow the proposals on the ballot. Finan also formed a nonprofit group, Ohio First, that will reorganize as a campaign committee to fight the amendments if the lawsuit fails.

Finan is relying on a 1919 state Supreme Court case that says voters must have all the information, including what would be replaced in the constitution, before deciding to support a ballot initiative.

"I would describe the lawsuit as a shot in the dark," said Columbus attorney Donald McTigue, who prepared the amendment language for the group, called Reform Ohio Now.

On the Net:

http://www.reformohionow.org

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/constitution.cfm


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4. MD: Republican Gov. Erlich Gets Way – Diebold Machines and “Maintenance”

Yeah, "maintain" Erlich in power! MD goes Diebold. Republican Governor Erlich gets his way .which is amazing since both houses of the MD legislature are heavily Democrat. Recall that on election day of the Governor’s race, thousands of notices were distributed in the Baltimore black community announcing falsely that election day was delayed. Voter suppression anyone. Let’s see, who was more likely to do that, Republicans or Democrats? Watch for a Republican comeback in Maryland, unless activists put heavy pressure on.

Md. To Spend More Than $10 Million for Voting Machines

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0805/256426.html

Annapolis, Md. (AP) - The Maryland Board of Public Works agreed Wednesday to buy more of the electronic voting machines that have been the subject of intense scrutiny and debate since they were first used in four counties in 2002.

The state will spend $7.9 million to buy machines from Diebold Election Systems for use in Baltimore, which had purchased a different touch screen system and was allowed to use its machines until the 2006 election. The board also agreed to spend $2. 3 million to buy more machines for Prince George's, Montgomery and Baltimore counties because of big increases in voter registration.

Also approved was a $6.1 million dollar contract for maintenance and management services for the system.

Critics of the Diebold machines say they are unreliable and subject to fraud, allegations that have been vigorously denied by Diebold and Maryland election officials.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press.

CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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5. BushCheated04—A Truly Great Election Fraud Resource (music & ‘shop too!)

BEST FOR LAST


This is a tremendous resource for election fraud evidence and links. The extended link is a great compendium of evidence background and original material. This site is the product of two DUers who can post to this message to take credit for their great work.




http://www.bushcheated04.com/
Click on “Cheater Proof” in Left Menu

The proof

Fraud: n. the intentional use of deceit, a trick or some dishonest means to deprive another of his/her/its money, property or a legal right.2

Constructive fraud: n. when the circumstances show that someone's actions give him/her an unfair advantage over another by unfair means ... the court may decide from the methods used and the result that it should treat the situation as if there was actual fraud even if all the technical elements of fraud have not been proven.3

GREAT LINKS -->http://www.bushcheated04.com/links.html <--GREAT LINKS

From the front page:

It was early 2004 and the Bush reelection campaign was understandably shaken by the realization that they were not going to be running against the latte drinking, Volvo driving, gay civil unions, peace nik Howard Dean.

Instead they found themselves up against a man who had volunteered for the Viet Nam war, a comparison that put George W. Bush's National Guard service and decades of falling down, pissing on himself drunkenness in an unfavorable light.

CLICK HERE to get quick access to Election Results and Discussion Forum on your “Latest” page.

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6. OH: Two Ohio election officials indicted over 2004 recount

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Two_Ohio_election_officials_indicted_over_2004_reco_0831.html

Sorry if this is a repeat.

Two Cuyahoga County elections officials were indicted Tuesday on charges of not handling ballots correctly during the recount of the 2004 presidential election, the (registration-restricted) Plain Dealer reports Wednesday. Excerpts follow -- caught by BradBlog.com.
#

Kathleen Dreamer, manager of the board's ballot department, and the assistant manager, Rosie Grier, were each charged with six counts of failing to follow Ohio laws that spell out how ballots are selected and reviewed during a recount.

The most serious charges carry a maximum of 18 months in prison. . . .

. . . . The charges stem from a complaint first raised last December by Toledo lawyer Richard Kerger, who watched over the recount on behalf of two third-party candidates.

Kerger charged that elections officials failed to randomly select precincts that were supposed to be counted by hand and compared against ballots tabulated by a machine; conduct test-runs before witnesses; and investigate discrepancies between vote totals.

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7. Thanks for the post...always welcome...don't worry about repeats.

;)

[Algorem]

8. Cleveland Channel 3 video report on indictments ,if can get it to work,

I can't

http://www.wkyc.com/highspeed

[paineinthearse]

9. 5th

Thanks for the dedication.

[Algorem]

10. Diebold parts ways with consulting firm after donations(caught bribing)

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1125590940205411.xml&storylist=cleveland

9/1/2005, 12:03 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Diebold Inc. has elected not to renew its contract with a consulting firm after its workers offered campaign funds to county officials while trying to persuade them to use Diebold's voting machines.

Company officials were not aware that members of Celebrezze & Associates offered contributions to elections officials, Mark Radke, Diebold's director of voting industry and business development, told The Columbus Dispatch's editorial board.

Pasquale Gallina gave $10,000 to Franklin County Elections Director Matthew Damschroder. William Chavanne offered $1,000 to Susan Gwinn, chairwoman of the Athens County Board of Elections.

Gwinn refused the contribution. Damschroder accepted the check made out to the county's Republican Party in January 2004. He was suspended for 30 days after admitting he took the money the day after the county opened bids for new voting software...

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11. Toledo court sets trial date (8/06) in recount lawsuit

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=203&topic_id=392262&mesg_id=392262

Toledo court sets trial date in recount lawsuit
9/1/2005, 7:09 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A voting advocate's lawsuit seeking clarification of Ohio's rules for conducting election recounts will go to trial next August in federal court, the judge's office said Thursday.

The National Voting Rights Institute, on behalf of two minor-party candidates in Ohio's 2004 presidential election, filed the lawsuit against Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's chief elections officer, in U.S. District Court in December.

It alleges irregularities in the recount of the Nov. 2 election that gave President Bush Ohio and the presidency. Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik and Green Party candidate David Cobb paid for the recount, despite garnering less than 0.3 percent of the vote. The recount showed Bush won by 118,000 votes.

Institute lawyer John Bonifaz, who is representing Badnarik and Cobb, said some counties didn't tally the entire vote by hand when the hand count of 3 percent of the vote didn't match the machine vote, as required by law. Other counties manipulated ballots to match the machine vote or failed to secure the ballots, which led to tampering, Bonifaz said...