Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Sunday, April 2

[MelissaB]

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x420198

[MelissaB]

1. Fla. county official fights for voting machine security

Fla. county official fights for voting machine security

Associated Press
Originally published April 2, 2006

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. // With the memory of the botched 2000 presidential election fresh in the minds of most elections supervisors in Florida, Leon County's Ion Sancho is finding that he can't get the equipment he says he needs to guarantee an honest election.

Vendors of the electronic voting machines, tired of Sancho's criticisms about the level of security in their software, no longer want to do business with him or the county. All three companies certified to do business in Florida - Diebold Inc., Election Systems & Software Inc. and Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. - have bowed out.

Sancho's persistence has angered several Florida officials, including Gov. Jeb Bush, and has cost his county more than half a million dollars.

But Sancho, 55, has supporters. The Tallahassee Democrat has dubbed him "a zealous solider in election reform battles."


More: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.electionfla02apr02,0,3939447.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

[MelissaB]

2. TX: Candidates run against each other ... and voter apathy

Candidates run against each other ... and voter apathy

By: Beth Gallaspy, The Enterprise 04/02/2006

Less than a month after party primaries, voters have a chance to cast ballots again. Early voting for the April 11 runoff starts Monday and continues through Friday.

...snip

After problems with election machine vendor Election Systems & Software in recent weeks, Jefferson County Clerk Carolyn Guidry said the company is due to deliver ballots today for the optical scan system.

"We'll be working all weekend to get the ballots ready to deploy to all the early voting locations," Guidry said.

The company has promised to deliver programming for touch-screen machines today as well, Chief Deputy Theresa Goodness said. To comply with federal law, the county needs at least one machine per polling location where disabled voters can cast ballots independently.

If electronic machines cannot be programmed, tested and delivered to polling places in time for the start of voting Monday, they will be deployed as soon as they are ready, Guidry said.


More: http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16417766&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6

[MelissaB]

3. Forget NH, greet the Flori-DUH Primary

Forget NH, greet the Flori-DUH Primary

By MARK LANE
FOOTNOTE
Just what the nation is asking for -- a way to give Florida voters a bigger role in picking presidents.

No, don't thank us yet.


...snip

The last time Florida chose a president for the rest of the nation, the rest of the nation was not so happy with the way we did the job. Back when the tabloids dubbed us "Flori-duh."

Well, rest assured, that sort of thing can't happen again.

We won't have trouble with recounts because we've invested heavily in touch-screen voting machines that can't be recounted or second-guessed.

And we have a new chief elections official who makes Katherine Harris look like a nonparti-san lightweight. When pesky reporters showed up at a meeting last month, Secretary of State Sue Cobb had uniformed police throw them out.

That's the kind of take-charge attitude that's restoring trust in Florida elections. And, if you don't think so, this gentleman will show you to the lobby.

In recent years, the phrase "Florida election" has come to have a special connotation.

And now, we'll use Florida-style elections to pick presidential candidates before you out-of-towners even get a chance to learn the names on the ballot.

Democracy marches on.



More: http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Columnists/Footnote/colFOOT040206.htm

[MelissaB]

4. PA: Voting machine demonstrations scheduled

Voting machine demonstrations scheduled
Test drive machines before primary

By TERESA ANN BOECKEL
Daily Record/Sunday News

Apr 2, 2006 — Voters will be able to test-drive the new electronic voting machines at numerous demonstrations around York County over the next two months.

"We want a lot of people to be able to see these before they get to the polls," said Dale Dalton, technical coordinator of the county's election/voter registration office. It will make it easier for voters and poll workers on election day.

It takes 10 to 15 minutes at the most for people to orient themselves with the new machines, Dalton said.

One voter compared voting on the new machines to ordering a sandwich on touch-pad kiosk at a convenience store, said John Scott, county election's director.


Upcoming demonstrations

For times and locations click here: http://www.ydr.com/newsfull/ci_3664814

[Joanne98]

34. Treating voters like consumer units. They'll sell the convenience

aspect.

[MelissaB]

5. Primary season kicks off with fund-raisers, candidate forums

Primary season kicks off with fund-raisers, candidate forums

By RICK YENCER
[e-mail]
MUNCIE -- Robert Thompson did not talk as much about getting re-elected as he did encouraging people


Campaign season for the May 2 election primary was in full swing Saturday with campaign fundraisers, candidate forums and some early door-to-door stops.

More than 75 people gathered at the Debonair Club in the Whiteley neighborhood to hear local candidates speak and get in touch with political concerns from African Americans. Hundreds more attended campaign fundraisers for Republican Sheriff George Sheridan Jr.; and Democratic county commissioner candidates Larry Bledsoe, a factory worker, and Mike King, a bank manger, on Saturday.

Thompson, who worked his last day Friday at Manual Transmissions, said jobs and the economy were major concerns of African-Americans.

"It is hard to find a good paying job," said Thompson, with manufacturing jobs being outsourced to other countries.

Pat Fields, a former Muncie NAACP chairman, said she was more concerned about changes at the poll causing problems for seniors and African-Americans.

Delaware County will use new electronic voting machines instead of punchcards this year. And voters also must have a photo identification to vote. Voters can get a photo ID at no charge at local license branches, and demonstrations of new voting equipment are available in the county clerk's office. Monday also is the last day to register for the May 2 primary.


More: http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS01/604020352/1002

[MelissaB]

6. No troubles are seen with vote machines

No troubles are seen with vote machines

By Jay Evensen
Deseret Morning News

No troubles are seen with vote machines We wouldn't be in this mess if Florida had ordered thinner paper for its punch-card ballots six years ago.

Let me rephrase that. We'd still be in a mess. We just wouldn't know it.

And the Emery County clerk wouldn't be scrambling to come up with $40,000 because he just voided the warranty on a bunch of new electronic voting machines.

Maybe sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Or as they say in the voting business, HAVA nice day.

...snip

But, OK. Why not bring voting into the 21st century? Why hang onto a system that is mildly flawed, even if most people don't know it?

Why schedule a root canal if you don't really need one?

Here's democracy's nasty little secret: No one has yet invented a foolproof voting system. Once you get beyond counting the paper ballots of about 10 people, errors begin to occur with a predictable frequency.

And once states began switching to electronic voting machines, debates over accuracy, computer programs, independent verification and the ability to tamper with the system began to spread like Mormon crickets on a June day in the west desert. Maryland's House just voted 137-0 to back away from its paperless Diebold voting machines this year and use paper ballots and an optical scan system instead.

When was the last time you heard of a legislature doing anything unanimously?

But Diebold isn't the only system causing doubts. Sequoia and ES&S also have had problems in various parts of the country.


More: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635195709,00.html


(Note: I guessed at the spacing and paragraphs to make this readable. It was all jumbled.)

[MelissaB]

7. Ion Sancho supporters hold press conference (LTTE)

Ion Sancho supporters hold press conference

INSIDE POLITICS Supporters of Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho held a press conference Friday to show him some community encouragement.

Sancho came under fire earlier this year when he couldn't meet a Jan. 1 deadline to get election equipment for the disabled. But that was because none of the three vendors certified to sell the machines in Florida would do business with Sancho, who last year tested Diebold equipment and found security flaws.


"We need to give him some encouragement," former Leon County Commissioner Anita Davis said. "I know it's going to work out because he did the right thing. He opened up something that nobody had the nerve to do."

Sancho is hoping to buy equipment from a company called IVS, but he's also open to the possibility of buying Diebold equipment, provided the company addresses his concerns. Diebold, at the behest of Secretary of State Sue Cobb and county leaders, recently agreed to consider selling its touch screens to Sancho.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Charlie Crist issued subpoenas last week to Diebold and the other two vendors as part of a probe into the equipment problems.

-Jeff Burlew


Link: http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS01/604020324/1010/NEWS01

[MelissaB]

8. Fla. county official fights for voting machine security

Fla. county official fights for voting machine security

Associated Press
Originally published April 2, 2006

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. // With the memory of the botched 2000 presidential election fresh in the minds of most elections supervisors in Florida, Leon County's Ion Sancho is finding that he can't get the equipment he says he needs to guarantee an honest election.
Vendors of the electronic voting machines, tired of Sancho's criticisms about the level of security in their software, no longer want to do business with him or the county. All three companies certified to do business in Florida - Diebold Inc., Election Systems & Software Inc. and Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. - have bowed out.

Sancho's persistence has angered several Florida officials, including Gov. Jeb Bush, and has cost his county more than half a million dollars.

But Sancho, 55, has supporters. The Tallahassee Democrat has dubbed him "a zealous solider in election reform battles."

"Ion is one of the few to ask the questions," said Herbert Thompson, chief security strategist for Boston-based Security Innovation. "Like, what is this thing actually doing to my vote? How is it processing my vote?"


More: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.electionfla02apr02,0,3939447.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

[Wilms]

9. Two Independent Testing Authorities Testify

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

The Senate Elections, Reapportionment & Constitutional Amendments Committee will talk publicly with two of the three independent testing authorities about how voting equipment is tested and certified for use in California.

Officials from Wyle Laboratories and SysTest Labs, two of the three ITAs in the country, will appear before the committee at the hearing. The third ITA, CIBER – which recently certified the Diebold TSx machine for use in California even though it relies on programming code banned by the Election Assistance Commission and California law – has declined for the second time to appear before the committee. The four largest voting machine vendors – Hart InterCivic, Sequoia, ES&S, and Diebold – have also declined for the third consecutive hearing to appear before the committee.

The witnesses scheduled to testify before the committee are:

* James Neu, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Wyle Laboratories

* Joe Hazeltine, Senior Director, Commercial and Aerospace Test, Wyle Laboratories

* Brian Phillips, President, SysTest Labs


Transcripts

Part 1
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x420460

Part 2

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x420462

[MelissaB]

10. Duval County vote questionedTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Duval County vote questioned

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN DIEGO - Allegations of voter fraud have surfaced in Duval County, where records show that half the voters who cast a ballot in the Democratic primary did so by mail.

Longtime County Clerk Oscar Garcia Jr. said that the number of mail-in ballots in the primary was unusually high in the South Texas county, the San Antonio Express-News reported Wednesday. More than half the 5,641 votes cast were through absentee balloting. That amounts to 2,958 ballots sent by mail, more than all the early voting in the county's 2004 primary, when about 2,800 ballots were cast both in person and by mail.

Jon West, assistant district attorney for Duval County, said he called for a state investigation after receiving complaints about mail-in vote irregularities. The Texas attorney general's office confirmed that it received a referral letter March 16 about Duval County from the secretary of state's office, the state elections agency.

Some residents complained about receiving rejected mail-in ballot forms at their homes, although they were unaware who had sent them, West said.


Link: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/14221728.htm

[MelissaB]

11. Texas Counties at Mercy of ES&S

Texas Counties at Mercy of ES&S

http://www.opednews.com

Texas Counties at Mercy of ES&S PDF Print Email
By Veronica L. Castro, Texas Coalition for Voting Integrity
April 01, 2006

The elections drama that unfolded this week in Jefferson County, TX is an example of what can happen when an extraordinary amount of power is placed in the hands of a few. Democratic and Republican primary elections were being ‘held hostage’ by iVotronic manufacturer ES&S. Jefferson county purchased iVotronic machines in order to comply with federal law by the first primary election of the year. On March 7, the iVotronics were in place, but the system was not. Database components were missing. The programming was flawed. There were equipment failures. County Clerk Carolyn Guidry stated tabulation errors led to votes being counted twice. She added that the ES&S personnel were ill-informed. The Jefferson County Commissioner’s Court reviewed what happened on March 7 and concluded that ES&S was not fulfilling its contractual obligations. They decided to withhold payment until ES&S held up their end of the bargain. This is a standard practice; when homeowners or businesses hire a contractor, they do not pay the entire sum in advance but pay a portion when work begins. The remainder is paid when work is satisfactorily completed. Even though the March 7th election was problematic and far from satisfactory, ES&S demanded payment. The company stated that they would not provide programming and technical support for the run-off election until they were paid $1.95 million.

County officials knew they could not conduct the run-off election on iVotronics unless they had ES&S support. Assistant District Attorney Tom Rugg told the Beaumont Enterprise, “They are refusing to do things only they can do. Without ES&S programming, "the system they say they've sold to us is essentially worthless."

Unable to put the voting machines to use, the County planned to use paper ballots for early voting, which begins Monday. “We’re cutting and pasting from sample ballots,” stated Chief Deputy County Clerk Theresa Goodness. County officials expressed concern about accessibility, but said if they did not reach an agreement with ES&S they would have to use paper ballots. The Secretary of State’s office reminded Jefferson county officials that they risked losing federal money and sanctions from the Justice Department if they did not meet handicapped-accessibility requirements.

Although the county has reached an agreement with ES&S late Wednesday afternoon, it appears they had no choice. The county was between a rock and a hard place. The rock: they could pay ES&S for sloppy and incomplete work. The hard place: use paper ballots and face possible sanctions for violating federal law. County commissioners chose the former. They will pay ES&S, but the iVotronics will not be ready for early voting, and the county will have to use optical-scan ballots. The touch-screens will be added whenever programming and testing has been completed. Hopefully that will be before the end of early voting.

More: http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_veronica_060401_texas_counties_at_me.htm

[Wilms]

26. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x420291

[MelissaB]

12. Ken Blackwell watch

You know him...the Ohio Secretary of State who played dirty to make sure Ohio's electoral votes went to Bush. Well, he wants to be governor now.

[MelissaB]

13. Minister's organization a blessing for Blackwell

Minister's organization a blessing for Blackwell
Patriot Pastor's' Ohio Restoration Project shines spotlight on gubernatorial candidate

Saturday, April 01, 2006
Mark Naymik
Plain Dealer Politics Writer

Portsmouth, Ohio -- The 40 American flags lining the parking lot of Christ's Community Church foreshadow the message about to be delivered inside: that God has a plan for the country.

More than 700 people from this Ohio River town, about 100 miles south of Columbus, file into the sprawling hillside church for the evening service sponsored by the Ohio Restoration Project. Among them are Miss Scioto Valley and a half-dozen Bikers for Christ.

They do not know what to expect, except that they are to help prepare a way in the secular world for conservative politicians, notably the Republican Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate, Ken Blackwell.

Most have never seen the Ohio Restoration Project, whose traveling road show combines patriotic songs and images with evangelical sermons meant to rally so-called "values voters." Most have never seen Blackwell, either.


More: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/lorain/1143884165209190.xml&coll=2

[MelissaB]

16. More, and I'm not going to apologize. You need to read it to believe it.

Blackwell, says Johnson, is given time at this rally not as a candidate for governor but in recognition of his staunch support for the cause.

Blackwell's presentation is as theatrical as Johnson's. He first asks that the lights be dimmed so he can play a 3½-minute rap video by the Rev. S.M. Lockridge, the now-deceased San Diego Baptist preacher known for his booming voice, lyrical sermons and civil rights activism.

The video is a collection of more than 70 one-line descriptions of Jesus -- "Pilate couldn't find fault in him" and "Death couldn't handle him" -- interrupted occasionally by the question, "Do you know him?"

It quickly excites the audience members, who applaud and shout "Amen!"

As Lockridge delivers the last line -- "And the grave couldn't hold him!" -- the church lights rise to reveal Blackwell pointing to the sky.

"That's my king!" he yells as the audience comes to its feet. "That's my king!"

Citing Scripture, the words of famous leaders and philosophers and stories from his childhood, Blackwell delivers a speech that's more religious than political.

But, like Johnson, he encourages the audience to get involved, or "pray, serve, and engage" in this year's election.

Paraphrasing Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail, in which he called for clergy to be more politically active, Blackwell poses a question.

"In 2006, what do you choose -- just to be a passive thermometer that just takes the temperature of the culture, or will you be a thermostat?"

He wraps up his 20-minute talk with the declaration that the audience can change Ohio for the better by moving religion back into public life.

"America is at her best when God is at her center," he says in a low but strong voice. "But we all have a charge as believers to take a stand in the public square and draw the line in the sand and take a stand for morality, for righteousness, to take a stand for what is right."

His presentation leaves a strong impression on audience members, most of whom are standing and applauding as he finishes.

[MelissaB]

17. Inside look at Ohio Restoration Project

The Ohio Restoration Project, headed by evangelical minister Russell Johnson, aims to rally so-called value voters around conservative candidates. It is conducting voter registration drives, distributing voter guides and holding rallies that combine patriotic songs and images with sermons about social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

Johnson founded the Ohio Restoration Project after the 2004 election, emboldened by the belief that evangelicals, who organized church-goers around that year's successful ban on gay marriage, helped President Bush win Ohio. A group of religious leaders in Ohio has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service, charging that the group is mixing religion and politics.


Link: http://www.cleveland.com/open/story.ssf?/open/more/pastor.html

Watch the slide show! Ken Blackwell makes an appearance. http://www.cleveland.com/open/slideshow/index.ssf?patriotpastor.html

[MelissaB]

36. Cross post in GD

here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x420504

[MelissaB]

18. What’s really scary about the “new religious right” and their politics

What’s really scary about the “new religious right” and their politics
by Marj Creech
March 29, 2006

On March 26, a television station interviewed me right after I heard the debate at the Riffe Center in downtown Columbus between Christian-right Blackwell supporter, Rev. Russell Johnson of the Ohio Restoration Project and pastor of Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster, Ohio, and Washington, DC based Left-wing Christian author and editor of Sojourner’s magazine, Rev. Jim Wallis. When pressed Wallis said he thinks Barack Obama exemplifies the progressive views he espouses, and he supports John Edwards for President in ’08. I truly hope I did not appear on TV and that they destroyed the tape. I think I was under the influence of euphoria of walking around in the enemy’s camp, being fed with tasty snacks from the Lancaster Church, and remaining alive. As proof that I was under some kind of “mushy let’s all just love each other” spell, as soon as I got to my truck, I snapped out of it, and thought. “Whoa! There is something more than meets the eye going on here!”

When I got home and read the glossy literature which the Restoration Project people handed out, that nagging feeling grew to outright concern, just short of a queasy feeling. This is definitely a get-out-the-vote for conservative/aka Republican candidates and punish those who do not agree with “our values.” (There were three glossy graphics of Ohio legislative regions, which I ripped out of their game plan notebook and am finding useful in my own political work.)

...snip

So what do I find truly scary and nausea-making about Johnson and his Restoration Project? It’s a marriage thing. An unholy alliance between his version of Christianity and right-wing politics. An unquestioning loyalty to Ken Blackwell while Johnson proclaims that he decries corruption in politics, blaming the media for smearing Republicans as dishonest. A commitment to politicians with whom they share their most important moral rules, which they somehow find in their bibles: homosexuals are perverts, abortion is murder, Islam is against God, the Iraq war is for spreading liberty, and creationism is theory that should be taught in the public schools. Since these are the most important values, then killing in war, tolerance toward others, creating legislation that gives all people equal rights and respect, protecting the environment, and peaceful co-existence within the world community don’t even come up in the moral playbook.

As a Christian pastor, I have read and studied my bible many times but I just can’t find much of anything to support these right-wing “values.”


More: http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/20/2006/1897

[MelissaB]

20. The new face of apartheid: J. Kenneth Hackwell

The new face of apartheid: J. Kenneth Hackwell

March 30, 2006

The most unprincipled and opportunistic man in the history of Ohio, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, stands poised to claim the Republican primary for governor. Blackwell and his far-right theocratic “rapture-ready” Christian dominionists will doom the Buckeye State to further despair.

It should come as no surprise that the Free Press is the only newspaper in Ohio willing to out Blackwell for appearing before white supremacists in the secretive Council on National Policy. Blackwell understands power; he understands that there’s plenty of money in putting a black face on the new politics of high-tech Jim Crow. Blackwell also understands that in order for his strategy to succeed, he must convince a significant number of black ministers to join him in his open bigotry against gays and lesbians.

This is simply the old apartheid politics of divide and conquer. Blackwell wants to rule the new Buckeye State Bantustan.

Blackwell’s recent trip to Cleveland to appear before members of the United Pastors Mission at the Antioch Baptist Church seemed to be scripted by Karl Rove. Blackwell – the notorious co-chair of the Bush-Cheney Re-election Committee, who was shameless and blatant in his partisan suppression of minority and poor voters while mugging for the camera and claiming he was just like “Gandhi and King” – told the big lie. He blamed the suppression on black voters in Columbus on the likeable but lame William Anthony, Chair of the Franklin County Democratic Party and the County Board of Elections.

So distressed was Anthony that the Franklin County Dems actually issued a stinging rebuke entitled, “Blackwell Breaks the Ten Commandments.” Anthony understated the obvious when he called Blackwell’s outrageous lie a “deceitful misdirection.”


More: http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2006/1343

[rumpel]

14. NC: Friday is voter registration deadline for primaries (Charlotte)

The Charlotte Observer

Posted on Sun, Apr. 02, 2006

Friday is the registration deadline to vote in the May 2 party primaries.The primaries will determine who will represent each party in the 2006 general election Nov. 7. Voters registered with a party can participate only in that party's primary. Unaffiliated voters can choose to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary, or can vote on a ballot that contains only nonpartisan races.

(In addition, Kannapolis residents will elect two members to their school board May 2.)

One-stop absentee voting will be available April 13-19.

The Cabarrus elections office is at 53 Corban Ave. S.E., Concord. Details: [phone]. The Rowan office is at 130 W. Innes St., Salisbury. Details: [phone].

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/north_carolina/counties/cabarrus/14244962.htm

[rumpel]

15. IN: Voting machine errors disturbing for league

Journal & Courier

PUBLISHED: 04-02-06 5:00 AM EST

By Jackie Cummings
[e-mail]

At the annual League of Women Voters State Council meeting Saturday, many voters were visibly disturbed as they learned of the possibility of voting machine errors.

Eugene Spafford, professor of computer science at Purdue University and director of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, spoke to the group about voting machine security. His comments were not reassuring.

"The way that voting machines are tested and used does not provide safeguards against accidents, fraud or misuse," said Spafford.

"The testing and standards are designed by voting machine companies who have put a lot of money into marketing their products. Until we have technical standards designed by people not associated with the companies, we risk the possibility of all sorts of errors."

About 60 league members and guests from across the state were at the meeting in Lafayette. Shorna Broussard, president of the League of Women Voters of Greater Lafayette, said the information provided will be useful in helping to protect the integrity of voting.

"I wasn't aware of the extent of error possibilities," said Broussard. "It motivated me to get involved in the voting process and to be more aware during elections."

Spafford said poll workers and voters are often blamed for errors, but they are not usually the ones at fault.

"If blame can be put on them, then the machines are not being designed correctly," he said.

http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS/604020310/1152

[rumpel]

19. TX: Records complicate disputed primaries

The Monitor
April 02,2006
Kaitlin Bell
The Monitor


Starr County seeks software to track voters

Mail-in ballot records from Starr County’s March 7 Democratic primary elections have been under a lot of scrutiny lately.

Starr County Elections Administrator Rudy Montalvo has been poring over them since January, when he began to question who was requesting ballots. Responding to Montalvo’s concerns, the Texas Attorney General’s Office sent investigators to town this week. And candidates from both sides in the county’s two major contested races have been scrutinizing them to support claims of funny business on the other side, even though a recount last week affirmed the March 7 results.

The problem is, there is no easy way for anyone — Montalvo, candidates, investigators or members of the public — to search the records.

Starr County’s Elections Administrations Department, established last November, keeps only lists of the people who requested and submitted mail-in ballots. There is no computer database and no way to cross-check quickly who requested the ballots against the people who sent them in.

http://www.themonitor.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=12357&Section=Valley

[rumpel]

21. Bloomberg News: Don't knock a good stock when it's down (Diebold)

Inside BayArea

Article Last Updated: 04/02/2006 8:17 AM PDT
By John Dorfman, Bloomberg News

BUYING a stock on bad news is a good tactic —provided the unfavorable news proves temporary.
One place to look for downtrodden stocks is the New Lows list, a roster of stocks that have hit 52-week nadirs. Twelve times since March 1999, I have devoted this column to recommendations on stocks that have just hit new lows.
Three-year returns can be calculated for seven of my New Low recommended lists. They have averaged a three-year return of 47 percent, compared with 11 percent for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
One-year results can be calculated for 11 lists. The average gain is 4.7 percent, compared with 2.1 percent for the S&P 500.
This suggests that if you are going to buy stocks that have been knocked on their rump, you had best allow two or three years for them to clamber up again.
My most recent list, from October, is doing OK. Aided by a 24 percent gain in Diebold Inc. (DBD), it has gained 13 percent through March 24, edging out the 12 percent gain in the S&P.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_3665577

[rumpel]

22. MS: (Greenville) Greenville voters to test machines

Delta Democrats Online

Sunday, April 2, 2006

By David Lush / delta democrat times

GREENVILLE - City voters will have four opportunities this week to learn how to use the new Diebold Touch Screen voting machines, which will be used in future elections.

With more than 25,000 registered voters in the city, it's a tall order to try and get a many voters out to try out the new machines before the June primary.

“That's a lot people to train on the new machines,” said Lurann Thomas with the Greenville Municipal Election Commission. “Voters need to learn how the machines work and learn the voting process using the new machines”

http://www.ddtonline.com/articles/2006/04/02/news/news6.txt

[rumpel]

23. The other Diebold business: Banking

Security concerns lead banks to use tellers on video monitors

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/2/06

BY GREG HAFKIN
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
Would-be bank robbers hitting a Flagstar Bank branch in Indianapolis are likely to run up against a wall — of television monitors.

To succeed, the robber would have to make his demand for money by telephone. The cash, should he receive any, would be conveyed through a pneumatic tube.

In the three years since Flagstar entered the Indianapolis market in 2003, there has been just one robbery at any of its branches in the city, according to Pete Joines, the bank's regional manager. At the same time, the rate of bank robberies in Marion County doubled from 2003 to 2005.

snip

More than 700 branches of various banks in the United States now use the remote teller systems, which are manufactured by Diebold, the Ohio-based company that developed the technology in 1996, said Dan McIntyre, Diebold's senior product manager.

"Essentially it was a means to create enhanced service capability for financial institutions," McIntyre said. "It . . . has gone off in all directions because it has so many benefits."

Not everyone is enthusiastic about the systems. Finance Center Federal Credit Union had the machines in place when it opened a new Indianapolis branch three years ago. Last January, the machines were pulled in favor of a traditional bank setup.

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/BUSINESS/604020339/1003

[rumpel]

24. GUAM: ABRAMOFF TIED TO ELECTION!

Pacific Daily News

Welcome to The Pacific Daily News on Guam. Chamorro Standard Time: 3:21 AM 4/3/2006

Abramoff tied to Guam election
By Gene Park
Pacific Daily News
[e-mail]

Federally convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff was linked to Guam's 1998 gubernatorial election, according to an article published in The Wall Street Journal Saturday.

In e-mails reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Abramoff had asked Tony Rudy, Rep. Tom DeLay's deputy chief of staff, to see if he could garner any assistance in helping the 1998 gubernatorial candidacy of former Gov. Joseph Ada and then Sen. Felix Camacho, now the governor of Guam, who ran against incumbent Gov. Carl Gutierrez at the time.

The report makes no mention of whether Ada and Camacho sought assistance from Abramoff, or if they even knew him.

Calls to Ada's home yesterday were not answered. Gov. Camacho's spokesman Shawn Gumataotao said he would try to have a response from the governor yesterday, but as of press time, no response was given.
The e-mail from Abramoff, sent Oct. 26, 1998, stated, "We want to know if there is any way to get Tom to call for an investigation of the misuse of federal funds on Guam by this governor," referring to Gutierrez.

http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060403/NEWS01/604030302/1002

[MelissaB]

25. Interesting!

I think this should this have it's own thread.

[rumpel]

27. I posted it on Latest as a cross post, too.

:)

[Wilms]

29. If you provide the link for that here...

anyone seeing it on this thread can go there to discuss it.

I try to post links to the discussion threads. It helps spread the word.

[rumpel]

31. Thanks

OOps

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2203153

[MelissaB]

35. Just went in for a recommend.

:hi:

[Wilms]

28. More on Vote Theft, and The Big Picture (PodCast)

More on Vote Theft, and The Big Picture

March 19, 2006

It's a real pleasure talking with Dr. Dennis Loo, author of No Paper Trail Left Behind: The Theft of the 2004 Election. This paper has circulated quite widely on the internet but it has not, nor has the issue itself, gained any appreciable traction in the mainstream media or among the Democratic Party's (so-called) leadership—with a couple notable exceptions, such as Rep. John Conyers, Jr. To me this borders on being inexplicable, as Dr. Loo's arguments are entirely compelling and, indeed, have yet to be challenged in any serious or systematic way. It's a case of people strenuously ignoring the bad news.

Not to minimize the importance of his own work Dr. Loo nevertheless points out, correctly, that electronic vote fraud and stolen presidential elections are only symptoms of the more profound problem of oligarchic corporate control of our society. We don't fully sketch out the solution, but we agree that peaceful civil disobedience is an obvious option which deserves to be explored. This podcast runs about an hour and thirteen minutes. Enjoy!

snip/links to audio

http://www.electricpolitics.com/podcast/2006/03/more_on_vote_theft_and_the_big.html


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x420509

[rumpel]

30. GA: With the legislative session over, campaigning in Georgia begins

Ledger-Enquirer.com

Posted on Sun, Apr. 02, 2006

SHANNON McCAFFREY
Associated Press
ATLANTA - And they're off.

With the book closed on the 2006 legislative session, campaign season now kicks into high gear.

Cash-starved candidates will be hitting the fundraising circuit hard and fast to make up for lost time. Elected officials were barred from accepting contributions for the last three months while the Legislature was in session.

But with work complete under the Gold Dome the floodgates are open again.

The stakes are highest for the Democratic nominees for governor - Secretary of State Cathy Cox and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor. The two are set to face off in a primary in less than four months. They face a steep challenge to catch Gov. Sonny Perdue, who had $8.5 million in the bank as of his last campaign filing and is not expected to face any serious competition from within the GOP.

Taylor and Cox combined have less money on hand than Perdue. According to their most recent filings, Cox has $3.1 million and Taylor has $4.5 million.

Perdue will also be helped along by a wave of free media as he spends the coming weeks signing bills, some of them allowing him to tout his work on top election issues, like education.

But Perdue will also have to take a stance on some tough issues with the potential to alienate some voting blocs. By signing the sweeping immigration bill he is likely to upset Hispanic voters, although it could also galvanize his conservative base. Another bill, which recalculates the way child support is determined, might not sit well with some women.

snip

In the race for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Casey Cagle will be scrambling. Cagle's GOP opponent - former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed - does not hold elected office so he has been able to raise money for the last three months, while Cagle has not.

"We're definitely under some pressure to catch up," Cagle spokesman Brad Alexander said.

Whether Reed has been able to capitalize on the fundraising window is unknown. His latest campaign filings are expected to be available this week. The flow of money into his campaign showed signs of slowing amid concerns over his association with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who entered a guilty plea to fraud charges earlier this year.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/politics/14247354.htm

[rumpel]

32. LA: Far from New Orleans, evacuees work on turnout, clout in upcoming

election
The Times-Picayune

4/2/2006, 10:41 a.m. CT
By PAUL J. WEBER
The Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — Snaking his Mercedes through a cluster of low-income rentals in a corner of Houston densely packed with Hurricane Katrina evacuees, Eusi Phillips stops at each complex and makes two deliveries: a stack of absentee voter forms for the front office, and fliers he tapes above washing machines urging tenants from New Orleans to cast their ballot in the April 22 election back home.

In the laundry rooms, Phillips hopes to find Louisiana's newest power bloc of voters.
"It's a matter of circling the wagons," said Phillips, 27, who has been canvassing Houston apartments each weekend and has built a voter information Web site. "In communities like the Lower Ninth Ward, how are they going to have a say in what happens there if we don't reach these people and get them to vote?"

Across Houston, Phillips and representatives of at least two nonpartisan groups are rallying eligible voters among the 150,000 refugees who have remained in the city since Katrina landed Aug. 29, 2005. Most volunteer campaigners are frustrated, homesick evacuees like Phillips, who say nothing about party politics but speak, with rising anger, about who's going to fix what's broken in New Orleans.

The groups search for voters at job fairs and churches. They comb parking lots for Louisiana license plates and don't easily relent when faced with excuses.

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-24/1143993259159420.xml&storylist=louisiana

[JimDandy]

44. LA: Jackson, Sharpton lead New Orleans rally

Jackson, Sharpton lead New Orleans rally

Rev. Al Sharpton: What happens here affects the whole U.S.


Saturday, April 1, 2006;

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Hundreds of protesters led by the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton rallied Saturday, saying the city's election plans will disenfranchise voters displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The system of mail-in voting set up for the April 22 election for mayor and other positions in the largely black city will make it difficult for voters living elsewhere to cast a ballot, Jackson and other activists said.

"We want the Voting Rights Act," Jackson said at a news conference before the rally. Black leaders have argued city elections could violate the landmark 1965 law designed to ensure voter equality.

The city election could have a broad effect nationwide, Sharpton said: "What happens in New Orleans will affect voting rights all over the United States."

>snip<

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/01/nola.rally/index.html

[rumpel]

33. WA: Felon voting debate likely Supreme Court-bound

The Olympian Online

Published April 02, 2006

Appeal expected to judge’s ruling in holdover issue from Election 2004
By RACHEL LA CORTE

The Associated Press

Tens of thousands of released felons barred from voting in Washington state are at the center of a legal battle over whether unpaid fines alone should keep them from the polls.

To some, felons don’t deserve the privilege of the vote until they complete all of their obligations — fines included. Others argue that creates a two-tiered voting system that punishes poor people: a modern day “poll tax.”

A King County judge agreed with the latter argument, ruling Monday that the state’s law requiring that felons pay all court-ordered fines and fees before they can vote again violates the equal-protection clauses in the U.S. Constitution and the state constitution.

“The Washington re- enfranchisement scheme which excludes one group of felons from exercising the right to vote, while permitting another, where the sole distinction between them is the ability to pay money bears no rational relation to any stated or apparent governmental purpose,” Superior Court Judge Michael Spearman wrote.

State law also requires felons to complete their entire sentence, probation or parole.

Attorney General Rob McKenna and Secretary of State Sam Reed — both Republicans — have said they will appeal to the state Supreme Court, and the case is being closely watched by national advocacy groups.

http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS06/60402037

[rumpel]

37. TX: ACC vote a go despite signature debate

San Marcos, Daily Record

By BRAD ROLLINS - Staff Reporter
Posted: Sunday, Apr 02, 2006 - 11:37:27 am CDT

Dismissing annexation critics' claims that scores of petition signatures are invalid or questionable, Austin Community College officials say they will move forward with a May 13 annexation election.

Supporters of expanding the colleges taxing district to include the San Marcos Consolidated School District turned in petitions with 2,999 signatures last year. Of those, 1,963 were certified by college trustees as valid, 62 more than the 1,898 needed to call an election.

If the measure is approved residents would accept the college district's 10 cents per $100 valuation property tax and open the door for less expensive tuition and a San Marcos satellite campus.

But expansion critics say the petition is full of irregularities including the signature of at least one deceased man, Lloyd Kyle, although his signature was not among those certified.

Resident David Bethancourt said at least 10 people have told him their signatures were forged and he has identified more than 200 certified signatures from people who either were not registered voters or registered sooner than 30 days before they signed.

http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/articles/2006/04/02/news/news2.txt

[rumpel]

38. NC: Democrats to convene (local announcement of meeting: new machines)

To the editor:

Democrats from across Vance County are set to come together Saturday, April 8 at 1 p.m. at the Commissioners Meeting Room for their annual convention, according to party chair James Baines.

Speaker for the convention will be Mr. J.C. Kearney, chairman of the Board of Elections. According to Baines he will speak to the party convention on the new voting machines, which are to be out for the May primary.

http://www.hendersondispatch.com/articles/2006/04/02/news/letters/let01.txt

[rumpel]

39. NC: (Roanoke Rapids local) Election Day and the rules

Amy Lotven /Herald Staff Writer

With the primary election coming up and a number of questions on voters' minds, two area election directors took the time to explain the voting process and most importantly, explain that every voter, regardless of party affiliation, will be able to cast some type of ballot.

The primary will be held May 2 and the deadline to register to vote in time is Tuesday, April 7. In the primary, each voter will receive a different ballot depending on their party affiliation.

“I am surprised by the number of people who ask what day the Republican Primary is on,” County Election Director Tonya Pitts said. “Everybody's primary is on the same day. Most people don't realize there are multiple ballot styles for a primary election. The Democrats have a ballot with only democrats and the nonpartisan races on it. The Republicans have a ballot with only Republican candidates and the nonpartisan races on it.”

Halifax County Election Director Jackie Taylor agreed. “First of all, this is not a Democratic Primary. Any voter can vote,” she said. “What happens in Halifax County is we're a predominately Democratic county, so when the offices are open, normally you have more Democratic candidates than republicans and it appears that it's a Democratic primary.”

http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2006/04/02/news/news3.txt

[rumpel]

40. FL: (Sumter County) Voter drive set for Friday

The Villages Daily Sun

Sunday April 2, 2006

By TONY HOLT, DAILY SUN

THE VILLAGES - Sumter County’s Supervisor of Elections is hosting a voter registration drive during the unveiling of the Lake Miona Recreation Center Friday and all residents, new and old, are encouraged to attend.

The drive will begin at 9 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting and is expected to last throughout the morning.

“We’re offering registration cards for those who have not registered yet,” said Sumter County Supervisor of Elections Karen Krauss. “We’re a closed primary state and not all states are that way. We may have some new laws they’re probably not familiar with.”

Early voting is a popular choice among Florida residents. The state Legislature is expected to pass a bill that would increase the number of facilities that would offer voters the chance to complete their ballots with the candidates of their choice before Election Day. If and when it passes, Sumter County may add three early voting sites, Krauss said.

http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/articles/2006/04/02/villages/villages02.txt

[rumpel]

41. OH: Tomorrow is final day to register for primary

Toledo Blade

Article published Sunday, April 2, 2006

Tomorrow is the last day to register to vote in the May 2 primary election, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.

U.S. citizens who are residents of Ohio for at least 30 days before the election and are at least 18 years old on or before the general election are qualified to register and may do so at any of these locations: the secretary of state’s office, county boards of elections, public high schools or vocational schools, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, public libraries, county treasurer offices, and designated government offices that provide public assistance. Also, this year’s Ohio tax booklets contain two voter registration forms.

New or updated registration forms sent to county boards of elections or the secretary of state’s office must be postmarked or received by tomorrow.

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS09/60402005

[Kurovski]

42. Kick, and don't forget to recommend this thread.

:-)

[rumpel]

43. TX: Conservative Christians losing faith in GOP

khou 11 News The Spirit of Texas
The Dallas Morning News

12:37 PM CDT on Sunday, April 2, 2006
By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON – There was no clearer sense of the despair among conservative Christians who gathered recently than the row upon row of books with urgent, alarmist titles.
Pagan America. Judicial Tyranny. Liberalism Kills Kids. The Criminalization of Christianity.
In the political culture wars, religious conservatives say they've been electing candidates but not getting the results they want. And leaders worry that they might be about to lose Christian conservatives as a potent political force because of unmet expectations on a host of issues and stumbles by a Republican administration they helped elect.

Conservative "values voters" have been crucial to Republican success, with religious leaders driving huge voter turnout in recent elections. If they lack enthusiasm this fall, experts say, the GOP could lose control of Congress.
"The nation isn't focused today in a way it was on such issues as abortion, marriage, the nature of the family," said the Rev. Laurence White of Houston. "For us, it's not the economy, stupid. It's the morality, stupid."

The Rev. Rick Scarborough, an East Texas evangelist whose group Vision America sponsored a two-day conference aimed at getting Christian activists involved in the 2006 elections, says he hopes to mobilize groups representing 20 million people. To motivate them, he offers a list of 10 grievances and a program to register voters and press candidates to pass specific legislation.

http://www.khou.com/news/state/stories/khou060402_ac_christiansgop.869c1575.html

[FogerRox]

45. KICK DAmn it

[Wilms]

46. Kick