Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday, April 22, 2006

[livvy]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News



All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

DECISION DAY
NEW ORLEANS





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 new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

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.



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


Link to Friday's ERD
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=424592&mesg_id=424592

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1. On the Debate: New Orleans Election Debate and Race to Finish Line

New Orleans Election Debate And Race To Finish Line
New Orleans

Author: Jeff Crouere | 4/21/2006

Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 8:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and Noon till 2 p.m. weekdays on several Louisiana radio stations. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at [e-mail].

After such an incredible campaign with an unprecedented set of circumstances, it was disappointing to say the least that the final mayoral debate was so dull. Of course the candidates are not rock stars by any means, but they do have personality. Unfortunately, the format of the final mayoral debate on WWL-TV Channel 4 stifled the candidates instead of spotlighting their platforms.

WWL-TV was right to invite the seven major candidates: Virginia Boulet, Rob Couhig, Ron Forman, Mitch Landrieu, Mayor Nagin, Tom Watson and Peggy Wilson. In the last Channel 4 debate, Watson was unfortunately excluded and the viewers were shortchanged. Watson brings some badly needed passion to the debates, provides a completely different opinion on many issues and speaks for many displaced New Orleans voters who feel they have no other voice. Again, last night, Watson was the most passionate, but he did not get into any verbal scuffles with Mayor Nagin and was mostly on good behavior. His one temper tantrum was directed at moderator Dennis Woltering, who was strictly enforcing the time limits.

With such strict time limits, the candidates did not engage one another and the viewer was the loser. To say the debate was dull and boring would be an understatement. If it wasn’t my job to cover the debate, I would have turned off the television. The candidates gave mostly platitudes, spoke in generalities and didn’t specifically answer questions. The viewers were not educated and didn’t hear anything new. There were no fireworks and no chance for the candidates to confront each other on the issues. The debate format was so controlled and so stiff that the candidates seem somewhat programmed. There was little if any spontaneity or excitement.

The last WWL-TV debate was too wide open and the candidates were talking all over each other. This one was lifeless and too structured. So when the station hosts the run-off debate, they should try to prepare a format that falls somewhere in between.

>more


http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=6825

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2. Big Easy Residents Vote for Mayor

Big Easy Residents Vote for Mayor


MICHELLE ROBERTS
Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Still staggering after Hurricane Katrina ravaged their city, voters on Saturday were selecting the candidate they want to lead one of the biggest reconstruction projects in U.S. history.

Twenty-two candidates — including Mayor Ray Nagin, who has sometimes been criticized for his freewheeling and occasionally inflammatory speech — will appear on the ballot in the first municipal election since Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast Aug. 29.

If no candidate gets more than 50 percent, a runoff between the top two vote-getters will be held May 20.

The winner faces a host of politically sticky and racially charged decisions about where and what to rebuild in a city where whole neighborhoods remain uninhabitable.

>More

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=78909

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3. New Orleans Voters Head to Polls

New Orleans voters head to polls

NEW ORLEANS, April 22 (UPI) -- With 60 percent living outside the city, New Orleans voters head to the polls Saturday to choose a mayor among 21 candidates.

Residents have been scattered throughout the country since Hurricane Katrina flooded most of the city.

Civil rights groups say most of the displaced people are black, a group that made up most of New Orleans' population before the storm.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., with 16,000 voters requesting absentee ballots.

CNN reports there are 298,000 registered New Orleans voters and anyone living outside the city is eligible unless he or she registered to vote elsewhere.

>more

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060422-075251-7958r

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4. Mystery and Unease as New Orleans Is Set to Vote

Published Saturday, April 22, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006

Mystery and Unease as New Orleans Is Set to Vote

By ADAM NOSSITER
New York Times

NEW ORLEANS, April 21 Last week, the N.A.A.C.P. chartered four buses in Houston, hoping to fill them with voters returning to Louisiana to cast their ballots early in this city's mayoral election. But only six people showed up, and several buses made the trip empty. It seemed a bad sign for black participation in the vote.
Around Louisiana, on the other hand, 20,000 residents have already cast ballots, more than 10 times the normal number, and many of them are likely to have been evacuated from black neighborhoods after Hurricane Katrina. What appear to be contradictory tea leaves help explain why this election is one of the most mysterious in the region's history, so fraught with uncertainty that for weeks analysts have been hedging their bets on the outcome.
Nobody knows how many people will show up to vote here on Saturday and whether most will be black, as in elections for a generation, or white. Nobody knows exactly how many people are in the city. A white mayor may rule at City Hall for the first time in nearly 30 years, or maybe not.
"We don't know the racial composition of the electorate," Susan Howell, a political scientist at the University of New Orleans, said. "We don't know the racial composition of the evacuees."
Those questions of race are likely to determine which two candidates emerge from the election to compete in the runoff on May 20, assuming no candidate gets a majority of the vote.

>more

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060422/ZNYT02/604220427

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5. New Orleans Votes Today For Next Mayor

Saturday, April 22, 2006

New Orleans votes today for next mayor
By The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans residents will cast ballots for mayor Saturday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina, choosing the candidate they want to oversee one of the biggest and most complex urban reconstruction projects in U.S. history.

Twenty-three candidates — including Mayor Ray Nagin, who has been criticized in some quarters for his sometimes-shaky leadership during the storm and his shoot-from-the-hip style — will appear on the ballot in the first municipal election since Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast Aug. 29.

If no candidate gets more than 50 percent, a runoff between the top two vote-getters will be held on May 20.

The winner will lead this battered city for the next four years, and will face a host of politically and racially fraught choices about what to rebuild and where.

>more

http://www.qctimes.net/articles/2006/04/22/news/nation_world/doc4449aa2bb0776670913985.txt

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6. New Orleans Residents Head to the Polls

New Orleans Residents Head to the Polls

By MICHELLE ROBERTS
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS —

Voters began casting ballots Saturday in this city's first election since Hurricane Katrina, deciding who should oversee one of the biggest reconstruction projects in U.S. history.

>snip

"This is my right," said Gloria H. Brown, 60, who got in line around 5:30 a.m. Saturday to vote. "I have to do what's in my heart."

>snip

The election "is hugely important. I'm not one to fall into hyperbole, but for New Orleans and Louisiana and potentially even the country, as a whole, it's critically important," said political analyst Elliott Stonecipher.

>snip

Pre-election polls have offered little guidance because they account only for residents with home phones in New Orleans _ a minority of potential voters. But most observers believe Nagin, who is black, will advance to the runoff against Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu or executive Ron Forman. Both challengers are white.

>more

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/feeds/apcontent/apstories/apstorysection/D8H51UJ00.xml.txt/resources_apstoryview

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7. New Orleans Election in "Uncharted Waters"

New Orleans election in 'uncharted waters'
Displaced voters, 21 mayoral candidates promise difficulty

Saturday, April 22, 2006 Posted: 1111 GMT (1911 HKT)


Incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin says New Orleans residents don't need a new mayor amid reconstruction.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- New Orleanians are trying to elect a mayor Saturday in a poll in which voters -- six in 10 of whom no longer reside in the city -- have to choose between 21 candidates.

"It's a major undertaking, to say the least," said Louisiana Secretary of State Al Ater, whose office oversees election preparations. "I tell people we're in uncharted waters." (Watch the problems facing New Orleans election workers -- 2:14)

>snip

The state also has set up 10 satellite polling stations around Louisiana for displaced residents. However, a federal judge shot down a proposal by civil rights groups to set up polling stations outside the state, in such cities as Atlanta, Georgia, and Houston, Texas, where many New Orleanians sought refuge after Katrina struck.

The civil rights groups argued that most of those still living outside Louisiana are black.

>more

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/21/nola.elections/

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8. New Orleans Election a Test of Democracy

Posted on Wed, Apr. 19, 2006

New Orleans election a test of democracy

CAIN BURDEAU
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS - In a cramped hallway of his City Hall office, Louis Keller, the registrar of voters, watches a row of fax machines and waits for another absentee ballot to spit out.

Seconds later, he clutches the latest dispatch from a voter living who-knows-where: Atlanta or Houston, or maybe Colorado Springs, Colo., Hot Springs, Ark., or Missouri City, Texas.

The fax machines in his office are busy 24 hours a day, and every morning, he says, "we generally have a stack of these waiting for us."

>snip

"We're going to write a whole new chapter for political science books that historians and lawyers can study for years to come," said Linda Walker, president of the League of Women Voters of New Orleans.

>snip

"If the state says there's a plan, that's an overstatement," said Damon Hewitt, assistant counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, one of several groups that sued in federal court to postpone the election.

>more

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/14379176.htm

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9. New Orleans Election Has High Stakes: Some Q & A

New Orleans ELECTION HAS HIGH STAKES

The Associated Press
Published: April 20th, 2006 01:00 AM

>snip

Here are some questions and answers about the election:

>snip

How many people are expected to vote?

There are 297,991 registered voters in New Orleans. Typically, turnout is about 40 percent to 45 percent, but it could be much higher this time because of how much is at stake.

How many voters are displaced and will send or fax in absentee ballots?

No one knows for sure, but more than 16,000 people have requested absentee ballots so far. That number is expected to go up significantly.

How many polling places are there?

Before Katrina hit, the city had 254 polling places. For this election, there will be 76 polling places; 28 of those will be so-called “super-polling places” that will combine several precincts damaged by the flood.

When will the person elected mayor take office?

Assuming there is a May 20 runoff and no post-election challenges, the new term would begin May 30 – just before the start of the hurricane season.

How much will this election cost?

The state expects to spend up to $4 million. Typically, a New Orleans election costs about $400,000. State and city agencies have spent a lot of money sending information packets and ballots to displaced voters, on national advertising campaigns to inform voters about their options, and on personnel.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/nationworld/story/5676384p-5089709c.html

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10. Hunger Strike Calling for Blanco to Provide a Fair Election

San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center

New Orleans 4/22: Hunger Strike Calling for Blanco to Provide a Fair Election
by via ILC Friday, Apr. 21, 2006 at 11:38 PM

1) Hunger Strike Calling for Blanco to Provide a Fair Election - Call to Join/Support evacuees

2) Katrina evacuees continue hunger strike at Louisiana state capitol

3) Tens of thousands of displaced New Orleanians will be unable to vote in Saturday's municipal elections; Governor Blanco can single-handedly prevent it. But she won't.

4) 'New Orleans is our Gettysburg'; A Generation's Defining Event -- by the Editors of The Black Commentator

International Liaison Committee of Workers & Peoples (ILC)
>snip

1) Hunger Strike Calling for Blanco to Provide a Fair Election - Call to Join/Support evacuees

Tens of thousands of voters will be disenfranchised in the April 22nd election in New Orleans, most of them Black. State officials know it, and they know how to prevent it - by providing satellite voting for displaced New Orleanians outside the state of Louisiana. But despite large grassroots efforts demanding satellite voting, the state has refused to provide it. The only thing preventing this important election from becoming a fair election is one signature by one person: Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

On Tuesday, Hillary Charlot, 46, an evacuee from New Orleans, began a hunger strike on the front steps of the state capitol. On Wednesday, Patricia Thompson, 53 and her daughter Ariel both evacuees, made the drive College Station, TX to join him. They are calling on the governor to sign an executive order to postpone the election until out-of-state satellite voting can be put in place. They will stay until Governor Blanco takes appropriate action to ensure a fair election, or until the day of the election.

Please Join Us

For the evacuees' voice to be effective, they need as much support as they can get. If you can, please join them in Baton Rouge, either to participate in the hunger strike or to stand with them in solidarity.

Please contact James Rucker (415.505.9048 or <mailto:[e-mail]>[e-mail]) if you have questions or are able to provide help in any way.

And please forward this to anyone you know who might be interested in participating in or supporting the effort.

Peace,

James

2) Katrina Evacuees Continue Hunger Strike at Louisiana State Capitol

>snip

Hillary E. Charlot, 46
From the lower ninth ward in New Orleans, evacuated to San Diego and now living in a FEMA trailer park in Baker. Hillary is in a wheelchair after suffering two strokes. He was in the hospital in New Orleans when Katrina struck and was evacuted from the roof.

Patricia Thompson and her daughter Ariel Jeanjques, 53 and 20
Patricia is from the lower ninth ward in New Orleans and is the mother of six children and 12 grandchildren. Patricia and her youngest daughter, Ariel, were both tramatized by being housed at the Superdome and Convention Center. There were later evactuated to College Station, TX. Patricia testified before the Katrina Hearings in the U.S. House of Representatives, as one of the three evacuees sponsored by Rep. Cynthia McKinney.

>more





http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/04/1816999.php

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11. NO Election Talk Comes Down to One Thing: Race, Fear, Hope....

This is an older piece, but gives additional perspective.




Sunday, April 16, 2006
New Orleans election talk comes down to one thing: race
Fear, hope go with idea of electing white mayor

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS

High heels echoing, Ruby Ducre-Gethers crosses the floor of her airy but unlivable home - ear on her cell phone, eyes on the workers replacing her flooded-out walls and mind on payback at the ballot box.

Across town, Irma Williams said that the election for mayor on Saturday isn't truly an election without her neighbors to vote - but she said that it's past time for street lamps to work outside her temporary trailer.

Alex Beard wakes up a thousand miles away and reads the New Orleans newspaper online, following the campaign news, convinced that the storm brought a chance to rescue the city he adopted and then reluctantly fled.

Some people in New Orleans are angry about the government response to Hurricane Katrina and want to render judgment as the city casts ballots for mayor, city council and almost every other elected official.

>more

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137835397188&path=!nationworld&s=

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12. FEMA Won't Pay For New Orleans Election

FEMA won't pay for New Orleans election
4/16/2006, 5:50 p.m. CT
The Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Secretary of State Al Ater wants to know why the federal government agreed to pay for New York City's municipal elections after Sept. 11, 2001, but refuses to pay for New Orleans' elections after Hurricane Katrina.

FEMA recently turned down Louisiana's request for the extra $3-4 million it will take to hold the April 22 New Orleans municipal elections, rescheduled in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

But the agency shelled out $7.9 million after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks delayed New York City's elections.

Ater said it's a double standard.

>more

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-24/1145228347117750.xml&storylist=louisiana

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13. Thousands Cast Early Ballots In New Orleans' Election

NEW ORLEANS, LA
Thousands Cast Early Ballots In New Orleans' Election



More than 10,000 voters cast ballots during early voting in a race to decide who current residents and displaced New Orleanians feel can best tackle the challenge of rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.

A final tally from the Secretary of State's Office said 10,585 people - 5,641 in New Orleans itself - had voted by the close of early voting, which began Monday and ended Saturday. The highest number of voters outside New Orleans was in East Baton Rouge Parish, where 2,023 people cast their ballots. The lowest was in Terrebonne Parish, where 78 people voted.

A more detailed breakdown of voters was not immediately available.

The April 22 election was originally scheduled for February but was postponed because of the damage and dislocation left by Katrina. Residents scattered around the country by Katrina were allowed to vote all week at satellite voting centers in Lake Charles, Shreveport, New Orleans and seven other cities around the state.

New Orleans had nearly a half-million people, about 70 percent of them black, before the hurricane. But fewer than 200,000 have returned and most of them white. Some black leaders have tried to postpone the balloting, fearing the black community would lose political power.
On the final day of early voting, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation sponsored a mobilization drive and canvassed Baton Rouge-area mobile home sites. "Our government found a way to provide access to the ballot for Iraqis. But when it comes to former New Orleans residents, our government seems less diligent," NCBCP leader Melanie Campbell said.

>more


http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=4774897&nav=0RY5

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14. New Orleans Is Democratic Issue: Dean in NO

New Orleans Is Democratic Issue, Backdrop
The party's chairman says Bush's response to Katrina will cost the GOP at election time.
By Jeff Zeleny, Chicago Tribune
April 22, 2006

NEW ORLEANS — Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, stood amid the soggy ruins of a devastated neighborhood here Friday and declared that Republicans would pay the price in the midterm elections for the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.

"This is a searing, burning issue, and I think it's going to cost George Bush his legacy, and it's going to cost the Republicans the House and the Senate and maybe very well the presidency in the next election," Dean said. "People will never forget this."

>snip

"I'm surprised that the place still looks this way," said Dean, resting his foot near two rusted-out cars in a vacant neighborhood. "I hate to be partisan at a time like this, but this is why the Republicans are going to be out of business. Nine months after the hurricane to have this? This is ridiculous…. It's worse than the television pictures."

When asked whether Democrats bore a share of the liability, Dean declared: "In a disaster this size, everybody has responsibility, but it ends up in the federal government's lap, and they dropped the ball."

>more

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-dean22apr22,1,1938526.story?coll=la-headlines-politics

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27. Discussion and Pics

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x988754

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28. Discussion Thread: Dean and the Machines (not NOLA)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=994507&mesg_id=994507

edited for subject clarification

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15. Survey Comments from WWLTV.com: New Orleans, Louisiana

Results

Who do you support in the mayor's race and why?


852 Total Votes

Here are a few of the comments left by people after they voted in the survey.

Here's what other people are saying:
April 22, 2006 09:08 a.m.

I support Mayor Nagin. What has become painfully obvious as the campaigning season has continued, the other candidates really DO NOT have signficant or radically different alternatives about dealing with the city's challenges.I think Mayor Nagin is doing the best possible job in dealing with the issues that are clearly within his jurisdiction AND he is also asserting himself in those domains that are not readily within his influence. We need to get back to the business of running and rebuilding this city. I hope Mayor Nagin is able to secure a majority of the votes tonight!

April 22, 2006 09:07 a.m.

Rob Couhig.... Has the best overall ideas to run the city in a professional and business like manner. But still has to step up to the plate and tell people what will not be possible in the short term.

April 22, 2006 09:02 a.m.

Mitch Landrieu Has the knowledge and experience to deal with the issues that face New Orleans at this time. The influence of his parents "Moon" and Verna Landrieu has also served him well

April 22, 2006 09:00 a.m.

If the citizens of New Orleans re-elect Ray Nagin, then I can assure you that this city will be forever tarnished in the rest of the nation's eyes. Wise up, New Orleans. Congress will surely not grant more capital to a city that re-elects Nagin. America is watching.

April 22, 2006 08:56 a.m.

I support Mitch Landrieu. I am very concerned about the progress of rebuilding our city. I think all the mishandling of funds and the rebuilding process has cost the city credibility on Capitol Hill. We had a businessman, now we need a politician with experince in navigating the state and federal system.

>snip

This one is particularly disgusting:
April 22, 2006 01:00 a.m.

As long as Raycist Nagin doesn't win, and it seems as if he won't, I will be happy. Period. Ray Nagin is a cancer to this city and that cancer needs to be eliminated on Saturday. I don't really care for Landrieu because he is for the blacks too much. If I could vote in New Orleans, it probably would be for Rob Couhig. He is republican and could actually help this screwed up city. If not Couhig, I would go for Forman. Just as long as Nagin is gone, I am a happy little vanilla.

> There are many more at the link. It's interesting to read their comments. Definitely not a majority of pro-Nagin comments.


http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/surveys/vote_now.pl?action=viewResults&poll_id=4414&site=wwltv

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16. New Orleans Voters Consider Mayoral Candidates

New Orleans voters consider mayoral candidates

08:43 AM CDT on Saturday, April 22, 2006

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — The line was already 80 voters deep when the polls opened Saturday at the University of New Orleans, where residents in the city's first election since Hurricane Katrina were deciding who should oversee the massive reconstruction effort ahead.

Rosalie Ramm, 52, was in line shortly after 6 a.m. She and her neighbors have being done the same thing for years, but this time, with her neighbors unable to return to their hurricane-ravaged city, Ramm was alone.

The enormity of the task facing the politicians being elected Saturday weighed heavily on her decisions.

“It feels like a lot of responsibility,” she said. “I don't take it likely.”

>more of pretty much the same election details in other articles



http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/042206dnnatno.5d9e2824.html

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17. Big Easy Readies For Election

Posted on Sat, Apr. 22, 2006


Big Easy readies for election
PETER WHORISKEY
The Washington Post

NEW ORLEANS - No one has a firm idea where the voters in this half-destroyed city are, and as the mayoral election neared its Saturday climax, the unpredictability was putting clear strains on everyone involved.

Election organizers, required to make ballots available to eligible voters, say they have done all they can but are bracing for voting rights lawsuits. They have documented - even filmed - their own outreach activities for later court appearances.

Pollsters have struggled to find voters - particularly black ones - complicating any predictions. As for the candidates, they say they have been forced back to American electioneering basics, and Friday morning, the three front-runners found themselves lurching into traffic at the exact same spot.

Commuters near the Crescent City Connection bridge, a busy bottleneck, were treated to appearances by Mayor Ray Nagin and his most prominent challengers, Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and zoo and aquarium executive Ron Forman.

>more

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/14401256.htm

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18. New Orleans Voters Head to Polls For Historic Election

I really snipped a lot out of this article so I could include the paragraphs that I just had to include. You really should read it in its entirety.




DECISION DAY
NEW ORLEANS VOTERS HEAD TO POLLS FOR HISTORIC ELECTION
Saturday, April 22, 2006
By Michelle Krupa
Staff writer

>snip of intro stuff

Those already home may also face confusion because hundreds of polling places have shifted locations, including many moved to megacenters combining dozens of precincts that were in the hardest-hit sections of town.

>snip

Westfall and her fellow attorneys claimed that election officials were five to six days late in processing some ballot requests and said that by the time those ballots were sent, voters would have had to use expensive private mail or fax services to avoid missing today's deadline. The attorneys called the error a violation of the federal Voting Rights Act.

>snip


Among the unusual steps his office has taken are agreements with the Louisiana State Police and Department of Transportation and Development for daylong patrol of Interstates 10 and 610 by motorist assistance vehicles, ready to aid displaced voters with car trouble. Land-line phones, cell phones and State Police radios also were placed at each polling station to ensure communication with the downtown command center.

>snip

"On a normal election night, we'd have the results for you by midnight," Marusak said. "That whole process, nothing's changed. We don't really expect that to be any different than it has been. We hope to have the results by midnight."

>more

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1145686837275360.xml

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19. Uncertainty Clouds Today's Vote

April 22, 2006, 12:55AM

Uncertainty clouds today's vote
Turnout difficult to predict, and result will likely be late in coming
By KIM COBB
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

NEW ORLEANS - As he watched a crew make repairs to his wind-shorn roof Friday, Roosevelt Williams didn't need reminding about today's mayoral election. There's too much at stake in rebuilding his city to skip voting, he said.

Almost eight months after Hurricane Katrina deconstructed nearly everything in this city, voters such as Williams will head to the polls today to decide whether they should change mayors. And like most things connected with the city these days, the questions on Election Day are dramatic:

•Will voters trade controversial incumbent C. Ray Nagin for the city's first white mayor in three decades?
• Will white voters have a larger voice than usual in this election since so many black residents were driven from the city by flood damage?
•Will large numbers of displaced residents make the trip back to the city from temporary homes in other cities to vote in person?

Runoff looming?
With 23 candidates on the primary ballot, analysts say it would be difficult for one candidate to get a majority of votes in today's balloting. If that's the case, the top two vote-getters will proceed to a runoff on May 20; Nagin and challengers Mitch Landrieu and Ron Forman are given the best chances of making the final cut.

"I'm going to vote for Nagin, myself," Williams said. "If I vote for someone who doesn't know the system, they'll have to start all over."
>more



http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3811492.html

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20. Previewing Saturday's Mayoral Race In New Orleans

April 21, 2006
Previewing Saturday's Mayoral Race In New Orleans

The city of New Orleans made it through what residents call The Storm, but tomorrow only two of 22 mayoral candidates will survive the primary election to battle it out in a May 20 run-off.

Mayor Ray Nagin (D), Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu (D), and Audubon CEO Ron Forman (D) are considered the top three contenders, but with less than 24 hours to go, it is Nagin and Landrieu who should feel confident. As the only major black candidate and as the public face of this stressed city, Nagin's spot in the run-off is now almost assured. Meanwhile, Landrieu has surged in recent weeks and now appears poised to meet Nagin in the run-off.



A Tulane Univ. poll released 4/19 showed Landrieu leading with 26%, Nagin with 21% and Forman with 18%. (Its important to note that it was conducted via land lines, which many residents and especially African-Americans still do not have; and the sample was 48% black and 48% white, whereas African-Americans are expected to account for over 60%of the vote). Nagin had the strongest showing in the black community with 43%, while Forman had the strongest showing with white voters, with 40%. But perhaps the key finding was that Landrieu was everyone's second choice, black or white -- and as John Kerry can attest, that's not a bad place to be in a primary. Landrieu spokesperson Emily Sneed cites their "broad-based balance of support" and says Landrieu "is the only candidate with solid support in the African-American and white communities." His main challenge will be waging a strong GOTV operation.

Nagin needs to be careful about losing African-American votes to the fierce Rev. Tom Watson. Watson blasted Nagin this week for apologizing about his"chocolate city" comment, snapping: "Never apologize for being a black man." And in one of the most heated lines of the race, he also told Nagin in a debate this week, "You drowned 1,200 people. I rebuke you!" If some African-Americans cannot stomach Nagin, the man who was once Uptown's chosen candidate, they will probably look to Watson. Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose says it "looks like a battle between them to out-black each other, which is weird, because Mitch the Valiant keeps insisting that he's the blackest of them all."

To drum up support in the black community, the Nagin camp today announced the endorsement of Rep. William Jefferson (D-02), who actually pledged his support two years ago. In an embarrassing episode, the Nagin camp issued a release with glowing quotes by Jefferson, who only hours later said he never made the comments.

>more

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/04/previewing_satu.html

[livvy]

21. Live Dispatches From New Orleans

April 21, 2006 (Posted at 04:17 PM)
Live Dispatches From New Orleans

The Hotline's John Mercurio is in the Crescent City all weekend, so stay with On Call for complete coverage of the race. John's first dispatch is after the jump.

....

In danger of becoming the city's first mayor in 60 years to be kicked out of office, Nagin appears casually undaunted and, in an interview Friday, predicted he'll lead the balloting Saturday. If as expected, the runoff becomes a debate between him and Landrieu, he said, "it becomes a debate about the experience I have bringing this city back together and building it up versus whatever he has to show. What that is, we'll have to see."

NEW ORLEANS -- The storm may have faded from the national conscience, but Katrina is still barreling down on this hardened city. Ask a local where to find a newspaper, and she launches into a lecture on levees and the lower 9th Ward. Ask a blue-haired waitress how her morning's going and she lilts, "Well, y'know, darlin', so much has changed since Katrina."

Tomorrow, we'll learn whether she's right.

We won't learn the name of New Orleans' next mayor 4/22 p.m.; that'll have to wait for a 5/20 runoff. But we'll learn a lot about the state of politics (and polling) in the new New Orleans, and we'll see, for the first time, what kind of city it really wants to become.

>more

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/04/live_dispatches_1.html

[livvy]

22. State Makes Final Preps For City Elections

State Makes Final Preps For City Elections
Ken Jones

POSTED: 2:16 pm CDT April 21, 2006
UPDATED: 5:03 pm CDT April 21, 2006

>snip

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Al Ater is going over final preparations.

Ater is predicting no problems with Saturday’s primary election, but that doesn't mean voters don't have questions. Early and absentee voting and where to cast ballots are still getting a lot of attention.

The last of some 900-plus voting machines arrived in place for the election.

>snip

Ater’s office sent 200 people to help count because the Orleans Parish registrar of voters has been overwhelmed with the number of people who needed to vote before election day.

“They've gotten a lot more this time so we supplied them with a lot more equipment to assist them to hopefully be done in the same time,” said Ater.
>more

http://www.wdsu.com/news/8886941/detail.html

[livvy]

23. Polling Place Locator

The new Louisiana voters' Polling Place Locator is now available for Louisiana voters' use. Please click the Polling Place Locator button below to open the current Louisiana Voter Poll Locator and find your voting location.

http://sos.louisiana.gov/polllocator/

[livvy]

24. Vote 2006: ABC Channel 26 WGNO Coverage Info

Election Night Coverage
On the Air and Live on the Web

ABC26 News
Brings You the Latest Returns
Saturday, April 22 - Beginning 8 PM

Ways to Watch:
On the Air - ABC26
Cox Cable Channel 11, Charter Cable Channel 7

On the Web -
LIVE STREAMING beginning at 8 PM
(this file will not be live before or after program is over)

Get all the election returns here beginning 8 PM
(this file will not be current until 8 PM)

Tip: Open election return page first, then in a new window open the live streaming - you can move the video box around the screen and see returns
flowing in the page below.

http://abc26.trb.com/

[livvy]

25. Battered New Orleans Votes

Sat 22 Apr 2006
Battered New Orleans votes

By Jeffrey Jones

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - New Orleanians voted on Saturday in their battered city's first post-Katrina election, facing the tough choice of staying with Mayor Ray Nagin and his vision for rebuilding or opting for new blood.

Polls opened after dawn for what many community leaders are calling the most important election in the nearly three-century history of the city known as the birthplace of jazz, which was devastated by the hurricane nearly eight months ago.

At stake is the speed and shape of the massive recovery amid concerns over the strength of the levees before the next storm, drained city coffers, racial tension and questions about whether some badly damaged neighbourhoods will get rebuilt.

The local election has garnered global attention, partly due to the huge task in providing access to voters with more than half the city's population still displaced across the country.

>more

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=608902006

[EFerrari]

40. LA: Displaced New Orleanians ride through the night to cast ballots

Displaced New Orleanians ride through the night to cast ballots
By ERRIN HAINES/Associated Press Writer
Published: Saturday, April 22, 2006 4:12 PM CDT
E-mail this story | Print this page

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Dozens of the sons and daughters of New Orleans, pushed nearly 500 miles away to Atlanta by Hurricane Katrina, crossed four states overnight under rain and hail, headed back to the city to cast their ballots, feeling they were going where truth would meet power.

They started Friday night from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the spiritual home of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., to go vote in person in the city's first election since the storm.

The black church's history of direct action against racism and poverty, the ministry of liberation, had been resurrected again for those left displaced and disenfranchised, said organizers of the trip.

http://www.leesvilledailyleader.com/articles/2006/04/22/breaking_news/news5.txt

[livvy]

26. OH: Glitches in State Voting Machines

What!!! Wait a minute. This isn't about New Orleans! Off topic! Off topic! Quick. Someone report this straying from the subject matter!



I think this was posted yesterday also. Ok, so these companies can't produce quality or quantity, so just what do they produce?





Saturday, April 22, 2006

Glitches in state voting machines
Elections director expecting problems
Associated Press


AKRON - Malfunctioning memory cards have an elections director predicting voting machine problems May 2.

Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems & Software, however, is assuring the Summit County Board of Elections that the optical scan voting system will work properly.

"We are working very hard to ensure it is a trouble free election," Jill Friedman-Wilson, a spokeswoman for ES&S said Wednesday.

The voting system uses paper ballots, marked in pen by the voter, that are fed into a scanner. The elections board has been having problems in practice runs with the machines' memory cards, which are inserted into ballot scanners to record and tabulate those votes. Some of the cards' batteries have run out and other cards have broken.

"One card is physically coming apart at the seams," said elections chief Bryan Williams. Also not working properly is the main ballot tabulator, called the election reporting manager or ERM. It's supposed to read the memory cards and report totals but has been dropping off dozens of races for Republican candidates for precinct committee members.

>more



http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060422/NEWS01/604220351

[EFerrari]

36. Blackwell presses for reforms (Know Thine Enemy Dept)

Blackwell presses for reforms
By HEATHER RUTZ

DAYTON — Last year, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell spoke to a group in Naples, Fla. While in a restaurant the night before his speech, as Blackwell tells it, more people ap-proached him than if he had been in his home state.
“That’s how many Ohioans are living in Florida,” Blackwell told a crowd of nearly 500 at the Montgomery County Lincoln Day Dinner. “Sixty five Ohioans a day become residents of Flor-ida. That means every half an hour, an Ohioan is going to Florida, and it ain’t for the golf.”
The line always gets a laugh, but Blackwell is just getting started.
“It became clear to me. There were more Fifth Third banks in Naples than in Dayton, Ohio. I got to where I was speaking, and half the cars in the parking lot had Ohio license plates,” Blackwell said. “I started my speech off that morning by saying, ‘I am the secretary of state from the great state of Ohio with a simple message: Let my people go.’”

http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=24929

[Wilms]

29. Making Voting Accessible for All

Making Voting Accessible for All

by Dan Tokaji

Thursday, April 20

snip

Now, People for the American Way has filed a lawsuit alleging among other things that the machines to be used in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania don't comply with HAVA. The complaint may be found here. Allegheny County is planning to use the ES&S iVotronic system, which the complaint alleges to have been chosen after plans to obtain machines made by the two other big voting machine vendors (Diebold and Sequoia) were scrapped. One of the allegations in the complaint is that the ES&S system isn't accessible to all disabled voters, and thus doesn't comply with HAVA. Although the system accommodates people with visual impairments, plaintiffs allege that it doesn't accommodate people with manual dexterity impairments.

snip

The case is nevertheless significant, in that it raises the issue of whether an electronic voting machine is accessible, if it doesn't allow private and independent voting by people with manual dexterity impairments. It also raises the factual issue of how well the electronic voting machines being used really do accommodate people with non-visual disabilities. State and local election offcials throughout the country are thus likely to be eyeing this litigation nervously in weeks and months to come. Could it be that there's no system out there that fully accommodates people with disabilities, in the manner that HAVA requires? If that's the case, then what are counties supposed to do? And what are courts supposed to do?

snip

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/blogs/tokaji/2006/04/making-voting-accessible-for-all.html

Good question.

Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x424779

[EFerrari]

30. TX: Villarreal may lose election job

Villarreal may lose election job: Administrator's future is focus of Elections Commission meeting

By JULIE DAFFERN, LAREDO MORNING TIMES
04/22/2006

Less than a week after Webb County Judge Louis Bruni dropped his lawsuit alleging voter fraud, he has called a meeting of the Elections Commission to discuss the termination of elections administrator Oscar Villarreal.

Bruni filed the lawsuit after coming in last in the March 7 primary election. Programming issues and a lack of training with new electronic voting machines delayed the results of the election and cast doubt in several people's minds as to the integrity of the results.

Just days before a hearing on the lawsuit, Bruni's camp found out that the programming on many of the machines had been erased. He had planned to have experts check the machines.
But Bruni says his last project as county judge is to be sure that Villarreal's employment is terminated.

"That department is in shambles. It's a department that either needs to be abolished or completely upgraded," Bruni said. "I promised this community that before I leave office Oscar Villarreal will be fired.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16518996&BRD=2290&PAG=461&dept_id=569392&rfi=6

[EFerrari]

31. MS: Officials get training on vote machines

Officials get training on vote machines
Old equipment lost to Katrina

By VIVIAN AUSTIN
SUN HERALD

PASCAGOULA - Melton Harris said his purpose for attending a voter machine training session Friday was to help him prepare for the election in 2007.

Harris, chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Executive Committee, has been at odds with county supervisors since he said the committee would not conduct the June 6 Democratic primary because members have not had enough time to become proficient with the AccuVote Touch Screen voting machines.

He said officials have nixed the use of paper ballots that the committee wanted to use.

"We have not had the toying around with these machines that's so necessary to become proficient with them... ," Harris said. "We are at the point where we should be for the 2007 election."

http://www.philly.com/mld/sunherald/news/local/14403313.htm?source=rss&channel=sunherald_local

[EFerrari]

32. NC: Stiffer Voter Registration Requirements Sought

Stiffer Voter Registration Requirements Sought

POSTED: 7:18 pm EDT April 21, 2006
UPDATED: 8:07 pm EDT April 21, 2006

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina needs to strengthen its voter application process to prevent illegal immigrants from registering, a conservative political group says.

The state's Spanish-language voter registration form doesn't require applicants to provide identification, only a utility bill or other proof of address. If a person doesn't have an address, they're allowed to draw dots on the registration form to show what structures are on the block where they live.

"Clearly, a utility bill or a rental bill is not proof of citizenship. It proves you have electricity or somewhere to live," said Thomas Stith, a Durham City Council member and vice president of the Civitas Institute. "The concern from the citizens of North Carolina is (the right to vote is) being compromised."

http://www.nbc17.com/politics/8892095/detail.html?rss=tri&psp=news

[EFerrari]

33. LA: Turnout Steady in 1st Post-Katrina Voting

Turnout Steady in 1st Post-Katrina Voting

By MICHELLE ROBERTS

NEW ORLEANS - A steady stream of voters, some from storm-scarred neighborhoods and others by the busload from evacuee havens across the nation, cast their first ballots since Hurricane Katrina in a crucial election Saturday to decide who oversees how their city is rebuilt.

Incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin predicted he would lead the field, but he faced 21 challengers, including the state's lieutenant governor. If none gets more than 50 percent, a runoff between the top two vote-getters will be held May 20.

Because of the Aug. 29 storm, what ordinarily would be a routine municipal race has become an unprecedented experiment in democracy: Of the city's 297,000 registered voters, more than 20,000 cast ballots early by mail, fax or at satellite voting stations around the state.

Turnout figures would not be available for hours, but Secretary of State Al Ater said steady streams of voters were moving in and out of polling places he visited Saturday morning. He said there was no way to measure whether turnout was light or heavy because the election was so unusual.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/04/22/ap/headlines/d8h57it00.txt

[EFerrari]

34. CA: Stanford protesters alter Bush's plans

Stanford protesters alter Bush's plans
By Mary Anne Ostrom
KNIGHT RIDDER

President Bush's stop at Cisco Systems in San Jose on Friday to sell his pro-technology agenda went off without a hitch, but a quick visit to Stanford University's Hoover Institution had to be scuttled when about 1,000 student protesters converged on a corner near the Hoover tower.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said because road access was blocked, a meeting between the president and several Hoover fellows was moved to the campus home of former Secretary of State George Shultz, a Hoover fellow who organized the gathering. Protesters were elated.

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/cctimes/news/14404471.htm?source=rss&channel=cctimes_news

[EFerrari]

35. CA: McPherson rallies supporters from both sides in bid for statewide off

McPherson rallies supporters from both sides in bid for statewide office

By GENEVIEVE BOOKWALTER
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

Santa Cruz Republican Bruce McPherson, who represented the fertile Democratic turf of his hometown for 11 years, is proving that he can attract not only local Democrats, but Democrats from across the state as he bids to keep his seat as secretary of state.

The California Teachers Association, a group known for endorsing Democrats, voted earlier this month to support McPherson as he runs to keep the position Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to in March 2005. McPherson is also backed by the California Farm Bureau and California State Firefighters Association, among other groups that attract Democrats.

"It's a positive reflection on Bruce McPherson," said Allan Hoffenblum, publisher of the California Target Book, a nonpartisan publication that analyzes and handicaps partisan races in California.

Whether McPherson will have enough Democratic support to win the statewide vote will be seen come November.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/April/20/local/stories/02local.htm

:mad:

[EFerrari]

37. CA: Anchundo resigns as registrar (Monterey Co)

Anchundo resigns as registrar
Departure will not affect the June vote
By DAWN WITHERS
The Salinas Californian

Monterey County's elections chief resigned Friday, less than two months before the June election.

Registrar of Voters Tony Anchundo resigned for personal reasons, said County Administrative Officer Lew Bauman.

snip

Anchundo did not return calls for comment Friday evening.

His job was complicated by a spate of federal lawsuits aimed at keeping two controversial land-use measures off the ballot. The lawsuits held that the measures, a general plan initiative and a referendum on the fate of Butterfly Village north of Salinas, had violated the Voting Rights Act because petitions were not circulated in Spanish.

http://www.californianonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060422/NEWS01/604220352/1002

[EFerrari]

38. WV: More than 100 Voter Fraud Complaints Filed

More than 100 Voter Fraud Complaints Filed
Posted 4/21/2006 04:52 PM

Election fraud unit seeing busy first year
Story by Ben Thompson Email | Bio

It's been a busy first year for the Secretary of State's newly-appointed Election Fraud Unit. The group has fielded more than 100 complaints so far.

The unit was launched after concerns that the Secretary of State's office wasn't doing enough to combat the historic problem of vote buying in West Virginia. A new hotline was started to encourage people to call in with tips.

So far five complaints have become actual cases that were passed along to county prosecutors' offices. Three other complaints have led to indictments.

snip

Investigators believe the new touch-screen voting will also clean up the process. They say it leaves less room for fraud.

http://www.wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=10339

[EFerrari]

39. Haiti: Voter turnout is low for parliamentary election

Voter turnout is low for parliamentary election

By STEVENSON JACOBS
The Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Haitians traveled by pickup and mule and on foot Friday to vote in a legislative election billed as the final step in the often delayed process to bring back democracy to the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

Voter turnout in the runoff to pick a parliament two years after an armed revolt ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fell well below the massive participation of February's presidential race.

The race for 127 parliamentary seats -- 97 deputies and 30 senators -- will determine the level of legislative support for President-elect Rene Preval, who has vowed to work to bring peace and jobs to the traumatized nation. Preval takes power next month.

Friday's race had a broad array of candidates, including members of Aristide's center-left Lavalas party and former rebels who helped oust him.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/dfw/news/world/14405259.htm?source=rss&channel=dfw_world

[Wilms]

41. OH: Free Press uncovers evidence of ballot tampering in Warren County

Free Press uncovers evidence of ballot tampering in Warren County, Ohio

Bob Fitrakis

April 19, 2006

After locking out all media observers and declaring a Level 10 Homeland Security Alert, the Republican-dominated Warren County, Ohio reported the vote tally in the wee hours of the morning on November 3, 2004 -- and gave George W. Bush a surprising 14,000 vote boost. Two election workers told the Free Press that the ballots had been diverted to an unauthorized warehouse where they had been possibly stuffed. That is, punched for Bush only. Maps were supplied to the Free Press showing the locations of the warehouse and the Board of Elections.

Warren County officials refused to allow the Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism to handle the ballots, but they did allow us to photograph a few. Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D., has analyzed the ballots for the Free Press and concluded that there is evidence of fraud in Warren County. The ballots as photographed with Dr. Phillips' commentary below each ballot are included here for the first time.

The Free Press predicted early on that the ballots would be found punched only for Bush in Warren County. The Moss v. Bush lawsuit pointed to Warren, Butler and Clermont Counties as the three counties that provided more than Bush's entire margin in the Buckeye State: Bush won Ohio by 118,000, and 132,000 votes were supplied in these three southwestern Republican counties.

Now, for the first time, the Free Press is releasing images of the obvious election fraud in Warren County. The Free Press will continue its ongoing investigation in Ohio despite stonewalling by Republican state officials. See the images by clicking on the link below.

snip/link to ballot images

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2006/1355


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x424806

[FogerRox]

42. Kickin for the super human effort by Livvy, NOW RECOMMEND THIS THREAD