Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News MONDAY, 09/12/05

[autorank]

NEW ORLEANS…Simply the Best

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

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News MONDAY, 09/12/05

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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

If you can:

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[autorank]

1. OH: Democrats Smell Blood in Ohio

And now for the good news...we’re competitive in Ohio. Just scare them in to counting the votes, letting people vote. We’ve got the best election fraud ground game in Ohio in the form of the great activists there. It’s you time. Nail them for all of us!

The Democrats Smell Blood in Ohio
The swing state is the front line, as Dems try to make GOPers' shady dealings an issue in 2006

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2005/nf20050912_8527_db016.htm

9/12/05
NEWS ANALYSIS
by Eamon Javers

The Democrats Smell Blood in Ohio
The swing state is the front line, as Dems try to make GOPers' shady dealings an issue in 2006

In the long, hot summer now ending, Ohio radio listeners may have thought they were having heat-induced flashbacks to the 2004 Presidential contest that saturated the state with political ads. Fully 16 months before Ohio's next election, radio spots lambasted Republican Representative Bob Ney for being too cozy with indicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. And the campaign also ran ads in papers such as The Zanesville Times Recorder and Chillicothe Gazette.

The ads -- some funded by the liberal group Campaign for America's Future, others by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) -- signal that national Democrats want to make Ohio the front line in their battle to turn Republican corruption into a potent issue in 2006 and beyond.

Why Ohio? The Rust Belt bastion has long been dominated by Republicans, who control both Senate seats, the governorship, and 12 of 18 House seats. But a recent rash of GOP scandals has put the party on the defensive.

<snip>

And an investigation continues into activities of Republican fund-raiser Tom Noe, who managed $50 million in state workers' compensation funds, some of which was invested in rare coins. Noe's attorney has acknowledged the fund could have a "valuation shortfall" of up to $13 million. The attorney, William Wilkinson, says his client "has admitted no misconduct in connection with the shortfall."

Democrats see Ohio as a test market for a broader national theme -- namely, that ruling Republicans have become arrogant and corrupt. They intend to link scandals in the state to a string of GOP imbroglios across the country.

ETHICS "MELTDOWN." The incidents include Abramoff's indictment on federal fraud charges and the ongoing investigation into whether or not he used his GOP connection to bilk his Indian tribal clients, ethics allegations that have dogged House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), and California Republican Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham's financial relationship with defense contractor Mitchell J. Wade, who bought Cunningham's California home in 2003 and sold it months later for a $700,000 loss. Cunningham has acknowledged backing federal contracts for Wade's company, MZM Inc.

<snip>

In more serious trouble is Taft, who has been rebuffing calls to resign before his term expires in January, 2007

<snip>

For now, Democrats are gleefully piling on: The Democratic National Committee recently issued a press release detailing GOP ethics flaps around the country. The headline: "An Episode of The Sopranos?"

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

[mod mom]

9. Corruption in Ohio? Just because a * Pioneer who dropped out of college

semester was given a splt of the prestigious Board of Regents and later handed over 50 million in invest in coins and beanie babies doesn't infer a pay to play climate, does it?

It's nothing but the GOP Culture of Corruption's family values.

[autorank]

2. FL & Nation: From “Scoop” – Plain Old Vote Buying by FEMA’s Brown

When you’re good, you’re good. Jason Leopold nails it and “Scoop” Independent Media delivers…”big time!” This is what’s called “good old election fraud…the commercial vote…walking around money…direct payoffs. Get this, print it off and distribute, it’s THAT GOOD.

False Hurricane Claims to Help Bush Win Fla. Votes

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0509/S00155.htm

Monday, 12 September 2005, 12:48 pm
Opinion: Jason Leopold
FEMA Chief Brown Paid Millions in False Claims to Help Bush Win Fla. Votes

By Jason Leopold

Michael Brown, the embattled head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, approved payments in excess of $31 million in taxpayer money to thousands of Florida residents who were unaffected by Hurricane Frances and three other hurricanes last year in an effort to help President Bush win a majority of votes in that state during his reelection campaign, according to published reports.

“Some Homeland Security sources said FEMA's efforts to distribute funds quickly after Frances and three other hurricanes that hit the key political battleground state of Florida in a six-week period last fall were undertaken with a keen awareness of the looming presidential elections,” according to a May 19 Washington Post story.

Homeland Security sources told the Post that after the hurricanes that Brown “and his allies him to succeed Tom Ridge as Homeland Security secretary because of their claim that he helped deliver Florida to President Bush by efficiently responding to the Florida hurricanes.”

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel uncovered emails from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that confirmed those allegations and directly implicated Brown as playing politics at the expense of hurricane victims.

“As the second hurricane in less than a month bore down on Florida last fall, a federal consultant predicted a "huge mess" that could reflect poorly on President Bush and suggested that his re-election staff be brought in to minimize any political liability, records show,” the Sentinel reported in a March 23 story.

<snip>

Hurricane Frances hit Hutchinson Island, Fla., about 100 miles north of Dade County, on Sept. 5. Miami-Dade officials described damage there from heavy rain and winds of up to 45 mph as ''minimal,'' according to the Post.
Indeed. A May 14 story in the Sun-Sentinel said: “Miami-Dade County residents collected Hurricane Frances aid for belongings they didn't own, temporary housing they never requested and cars worth far less than the government paid, according to a federal audit that questions millions in storm payouts.

Responding to those allegations, Brown held a news conference Jan. 11 blaming the overpayments on a “computer glitch” …

<snip>


On Sept. 2, 2004, Garcelon, wrote a three-page memo titled "Hurricane Frances -- Thoughts and Suggestions."

“The Republican National Convention was winding down, and President Bush had only a slight lead in the polls against Democrat John Kerry,” the Sentinel reported in its March 23 story. “Winning Florida was key to the president's re-election. FEMA should pay careful attention to how it is portrayed by the public, Garcelon wrote in the memo, conveying "the team effort theme at every opportunity" alongside state and local officials, the insurance and construction industries, and relief agencies such as the Red Cross.”

<snip>

The DHS audit report found that, under Brown, FEMA erroneously distributed to Miami-Dade residents:

# $8.2 million in rental assistance to 4,308 applicants in the county who "did not indicate a need for shelter" when they registered for help. In 60 cases reviewed by auditors, inspectors deemed homes unsafe without explanation, and applicants never moved out.

# $720,403 to 228 people for belongings based on their word alone.

<snip>

*************


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

[texpatriot2004]

6. Are they buying votes with money that isn't theirs again? n/t

[althecat]

7. Cheers Autorank ....

:yourock:

[autorank]

3. LA: What Will Happen to Evacuee Votes? Major Implications for LA

This is a thoughtful article. It mixes voting rights with civil rights. Why? Because there are huge implications for both parties based on where the New Orleanians vote. If they’re denied the vote in Louisiana, either de facto or de jure it will allow a David Duke event in Louisiana. Any analysis of Democratic victories, nationally, shows that Democratic candidates minus black voters equal a loss. There are exceptions, to be sure (Swietzer, D, MT Gov and Hackett, D OH 2nd who nearly won an all white district). But in Louisiana, you don’t get elected as a Democrat without New Orleans. Watch how this unfolds. The voting rights, election fraud, and civil rights movements are all one movement.

Political Landscape May Shift on Displaced Voters
The party makeup of districts in Louisiana may hinge on which evacuees return or are able to cast absentee ballots, experts say.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-voting11sep11,1,6421727.story?coll=la-news-politics-national

By Johanna Neuman and Richard B. Schmitt
Times Staff Writers

September 11, 2005

WASHINGTON — Government officials and legal experts have begun wrestling with an intriguing question posed by the evacuation of New Orleans: What happens to the politics of a region when a significant part of the electorate suddenly disappears?

The migration of hundreds of thousands of people from this urban center, many of them low-income and black, could have a dramatic effect on the political makeup of a state delicately balanced between the two major parties. If most of the evacuees choose not to return, Katrina's political legacy could be that it made Louisiana a more Republican state.

How Katrina may have rewritten the political map of New Orleans and of Louisiana is just one of many questions the Gulf states are pondering in the aftermath of a natural disaster of such scope that it may have permanently altered the region's demographics and economy.

<snip>

Ernest Johnson, head of the Louisiana NAACP, called Friday for Congress to pass emergency legislation to extend special protections of the Voting Rights Act that expire in 2007. The law is meant to ensure access to the polls for black voters.

Johnson says the hurricane has potentially disenfranchised 1.5 million voters, many of them black.

"A lot of voters have been displaced, and they could be out of their voting jurisdiction, with toxins in the water, for a year or more," Johnson said. The expiring provision of the law requires jurisdictions in 15 states to clear changes in election laws with the Justice Department to ensure the changes do not disadvantage minority groups.

"We were going to fight for the extension anyway. Now, we want to move up the debate, to talk about this in 2005 instead of 2007, so we do not have to worry," Johnson said. The provision, he said, would protect voters as precincts are moved and absentee ballots are mailed.

<snip>

Unlike the migration of Oklahomans during the Great Depression, which lasted for years, this shift of population — whose consequences could be lasting — occurred over a few days.

One immediate casualty may be Louisiana's unusual political culture.

In the jargon of political consultants, Louisiana is a "pink state." After voting twice for President Clinton, the state voted twice for President George W. Bush. It recently elected its first Republican U.S. senator since Reconstruction — David Vitter.

<snip>

Johnson, the Louisiana NAACP leader, said he was hoping that evacuees, once relocated, would contact their local National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People chapters so that the Louisiana branch could reestablish contact.

"The thing I'm worried about is getting New Orleans people back to New Orleans," he said.

<snip>

"The modern trend in this country is to make it more difficult to vote," said Laughlin McDonald, the head of the American Civil Liberties Union voting rights project. "If people insist on taking that stand , then a lot of these folks are not going to be allowed to vote."


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

[autorank]

4. OH: Blackwell CertifiesHimself! & OH Republicans have a Prankster!!!

”At long last, have you no sense of shame” Apparently not, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell hit the “perfecta” this week with two winners. He put convicted Gov. Bob Taft’s picture on a national map for emergency relief (free rare coins for those in need) and he certified a petition for a ballot measure collected by an organization he heads. Now, it’s OK to put the Governor’s picture on a disaster map, makes sense. Tub to certify a petition from an organization you head, well…isn’t that like President Bush heading an investigation of himself. Wonders never cease. This is a subscription site but it’s worth taking the 10 seconds and getting the whole article. It’s hilarious. Go to the last section of the article. The Republicans in Ohio are so silly they now have a “prankster” taking the on.

Taft's face on disaster help site:evilgrin:
Blackwell Certifies Petition for His Organization!

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0912capcor.html

By the Columbus Bureau

Dayton Daily News

After 9/11, states came up with an agreement on how they'd help one another during disasters. The Web site for the Emergency Management Assistance Compact includes a U.S. map under the heading "mutual aid resources."

Click on Ohio and up pops the Ohio Emergency Management Agency's mission statement — and a photo of a smiling Gov. Bob Taft.

<snip>

No longer Gov. Golf after spraining wrist

Gov. Bob Taft has put his golf clubs away.

<snip>

He sprained his left wrist about three weeks ago riding his bike, he said last week.

Blackwell gives

OK to Blackwell

J. Kenneth Blackwell gave himself the OK last week, so to speak.

In his role as secretary of state, Ohio's chief elections officer, Blackwell ruled that supporters had gathered enough valid signatures to get a constitutional amendment on next year's ballot that, if approved, would limit the spending of state and local government.

Blackwell also is honorary chairman of Citizens for Tax Reform, the group backing the amendment.

He said that the group submitted 324,006 valid signatures, more than the 322,899 required. The requirement equals 10 percent of the votes cast in the last governor's race.

<snip>

Political parody

strikes again

Fake letters from the "Bureau of Wanton Corruption" were mailed out last week, touting a new "Pay-to-Play Triple Play" program for Ohio businesses.

The program features such unbearably high employer premiums that competing businesses will steer clear of Ohio and such miserable employee benefits that workers will be desperate enough to take any job, the letter says.

The letter is signed "James Conjob" and at first glance it looks like a legit letter from the scandal-plagued Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

The letters appear to be the work of the same satirist who sent out chocolate candy coins wrapped in gold foil and marked "Republi-coin, Zero Sense," and probably the same satirist who put out golf tees and a scorecard that had slogans such as "Par for Taft, Bogey Ethics."

—Columbus Bureau


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

[paineinthearse]

10. J. Kenneth Blackwell gave himself the OK last week, so to speak

:wtf:

Anyone with an ounce of ethics would have recused himself!

[autorank]

5. Lynn Landes: Details on the Electronic Voting Companies – Chilling

This is priceless information for you and your skeptic friends. Just take a look at the excellent job Lynn Landes has done describing the seamy records of the electronic voting machine and systems companies. It’s fully documented and designed to motivate you to do something about it. It’s invaluable. I don’t agree with everything Lynn Landes says, she’s a skeptic on exit polls, but who cares? This is great stuff. Thank you Lynn!

Lynn Investigates… Lynn Landes

There is no argument “… to counter the loud and vociferous assertions of numerous computer experts who insist that electronic voting machines can be rigged. And that if they can be rigged, they are… because if you leave the bank vault open, sooner or later someone is going to rob it.” Lynn Landes

http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingSecurity.htm


Check this link out and bookmark it. Read it and use it. After reading it, if you think that the “calm ones” are correct and election fraud is tin foil material, you’ve got my respect.
http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachineCompanies.htm

About 80% of the votes in this country are now tabulated—totaled—by just three companies, two controlled by right wing Republicans and a third by a British company. These and other voting machine and system companies have a checkered record, some employing ex felons. This article by reporter LynnLandes details the sorry situation in detail with references.
http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachineCompanies.htm



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

[freedomfries]

8. KICK

[Wilms]

11. Support for Bush reaches low among central Ohioans

Support for Bush reaches low among central Ohioans
Approval down 20 percent in past two years

September 12, 2005

COLUMBUS (AP) - Central Ohioans' support for President Bush and the war in Iraq have reached their lowest points since the onset of the war, according to a poll commissioned by The Columbus Dispatch.
Bush's approval rating in the Columbus area sank to 41 percent, down 20 points from just after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. Support for his handling of the Iraq war dropped 30 points to 37 percent in that time.

Sandra Taylor, 58, of Hilltop, said she supported the country's initial involvement in Iraq, but now she wonders what good it's doing.

"We're spending billions of dollars on a country that doesn't want us there," she said, adding that with the removal of Saddam Hussein, the United States should be pulling out troops.

-snip-

"To sacrifice American lives for a cause that is still undefined is disturbing," said poll respondent Jennifer McNally, 35, of Columbus.

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/NEWS01/509120306/1002

Thanks to Sabra for posting the discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1773400

[Wilms]

12. UT: Voters will like touch screens, but it's a leap of faith

Electronic Voting: Voters will like touch screens, but it's a leap of faith

Opinion

09/11/2005

Now that Utah voters have been placed in the tender care of Diebold Election Systems, they all should say a prayer.

Not because they should believe the theory floating around the Internet that the company is some sort of Christian fundamentalist conspiracy to throw elections to the Republicans. But there are some unresolved problems with the paper trail that the touch-screen voting machines are required by law to provide.

California has reported difficulties with paper jams and screen freezes, and veteran election officials say that if the paper trail had to serve as the basis for a recount, it would be hard to read and might not meet the legal definition of a ballot.
Diebold still does not have a machine available that could recount the votes from the paper trail, according to Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen.

That is why Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert's decision to select Diebold as the provider of touch-screen voting machines statewide was a leap of faith. If that faith turns out to be misplaced, he can kiss his political career goodbye.

-snip/more-

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_3020972

[Wilms]

16. Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x393240

[Wilms]

13. Voting Research Center Opens

The Johns Hopkins News-Letter

Voting research center opens

By Patrice Hutton

September 09, 2005

The Johns Hopkins University, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, announced in August the opening of A Center for Correct, Usable, Reliable, Auditable, and Transparent Elections (ACCURATE), which will blend public policy and computer science in an attempt to create stronger and more accurate voting technology.

ACCURATE, funded by the National Science Foundation and in cooperation with the help of five other research institutions, will be based at Hopkins and seek to assuage mounting concern about the increasing use of electronic voting machines.

In a statement released by Hopkins, Avi Rubin, who will be directing ACCURATE, said, "This center will develop the fundamental science necessary for secure, accessible, trustworthy and transparent voting."

-snip/more-

http://www.jhunewsletter.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/09/4320cdc069d06

Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=393208&mesg_id=393208

[The Bear]

14. National Summit to Save Our Elections in Portland, OR

You fellow DUers are some of the primary leaders in this fight to take back our elections and our country. Are you all aware that the Oregon Voter Rights Coalition is sponsoring the "National Summit to Save Our Elections: A Call to Rescue Our Democracy" in Portland, Oregon? It's scheduled for Fri., Sept. 30th - Sun., Oct. 2nd. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. is scheduled to be there as are David Cobb, Cliff Arnebeck, Brad Friedman, Clint Curtis, and many others. The deadline for the Early Bird Discount (cost of only $52 for entire summit) is this Fri., Sept. 16th. For more information visit www.OregonVRC.org. Hope DUers will be able to attend to meet with other activists, share ideas, and help us work on strategies for real action.

[autorank]

15. Thanks Bear, cya there!

[FogerRox]

17. In his early morning speech, Michigan Congressman John Conyers Jr ......

Progressives utter fighting words
By Samara Kalk Derby



BARABOO - Some of the nation's top political progressives gathered in Baraboo on Saturday, as they have for the past three years, to rally the faithful in the hopes of freeing government from the grip of corporate special interests and returning it to the people.

snip-------

More than 5,000 people spent all or part of the day at Fighting Bob Fest IV on the Sauk County Fairgrounds, according to event organizer and attorney Ed Garvey, a one-time gubernatorial candidate who runs the fightingbob.com Web site and writes a column for The Capital Times. The Web site and newspaper sponsored the free event.
snip------

In his early morning speech, Michigan Congressman John Conyers Jr. said he was so energized by the spirit of Fighting Bob Fest, he wanted to "bottle it and take it around the country."



He promised to bring a delegation from Detroit next year. Conyers drew loud applause when he said, "I think there's a relationship between Baghdad and New Orleans: What's going on, who's doing it and why."

rest of article--
http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news/index.php?ntid=53737&ntpid=0

[kster]

18. kick.nt

[Wilms]

19. .