New Ohio lawsuit alleges ballot tampering in 2004 election

[kpete]

New lawsuit alleges ballot tampering in 2004 election
Group says ballots in Democratic precincts were pre-punched, negating Kerry votes
Friday, September 01, 2006
Jim Siegel
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


A coalition of critics of the 2004 election is insisting it has uncovered new evidence of ballot tampering in Ohio that caused a number of John Kerry’s votes to get tossed out.

The group filed a federal civilrights lawsuit yesterday, asking U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley to declare that Ohioans’ voting rights were violated in 2004 and to appoint a special master to ensure fairness in the 2006 election.

The lawsuit alleges that Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and others conspired to deprive Ohioans of their right to vote. Prior election-related lawsuits by those affiliated with the coalition have been dismissed by various judges.

Richard Hayes Phillips, a Canton, N.Y., resident working with groups such as the Ohio Honest Elections Campaign, said he has examined thousands of punch-card ballots cast in heavily Democratic inner-city precincts that were tossed out because of over- or under-voting in the presidential race.


more at:
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/?story=dispatch/2006/09/01/20060901-E3-00.html

[Jack Rabbit]

1. My, Mr. Blackwell, what kind of outfit are you running there?

Does he have an answer? An excuse? A story to tell?

[longship]

2. This is important news.

Wonder if it hit LBN yesterday.

:kick: and recommeneded.

[Patsy Stone]

3. Excellent!

The more lawsuits, the more exposure and discovery.

K&R

[neoblues]

4. Remember, Need to Know Only...

"Your contact in the Ohio region for the Republican Black-Ops project: DDSV ("Deprive the 'Democrat' Suckers of the Vote")(otherwise known as SUIDV "Screw the Unsuspecting Ignorant 'Democrat' Voters"), is Mister Black-well. Trust no one outside our network. Your job will be to act as messenger to courier confidential, encoded mission plans between the Local Republican Electoral Board Members--who happen to hold key positions, including Managing Director of Elections in nearly every precinct (and all contested precincts) statewide. Given this, there's practically no chance for discovery, and with our installation of our own electronic voting systems as well as ballot designs conceived to allow us to cause Democrat votes to count as Republican by merely switching filled ballot boxes between adjoining districts late in the evening on election day--that too will be one of your responsibilities, but more on that later. Never speak of this, and heaven forbid, never write any of this down--and never contact Mister Black-well directly. Do a good job, and one day you too could rise in the Party just like Mister Black-well will after this 2004 Presidential Election has been 'managed'. Just don't get stresed out--we own the Justice Department, FBI and the local governments and their law enforcement--and increasingly, most of the judges too, so even if the unimaginable should happen and you're caught, just clam up and we'll be able to cover it up! Now, get out there and give those mindless Dems what they deserve... Republican Leaders!"

"Oh, the satisfaction is just too much! Being able to cause Democrats to vote for our (Republican) candidates is just such a guilty pleasure... it's just soooo Right! It's even better because they won't even know it's happening. Then, those few who do suspect won't be able to prove anything because we've designed the process--thanks to the Democrats themselves--they raised such a stink over the 2000 elections that our Congress passed 'Federal' guidelines that allowed us to expand the project by orders of magnitude--and to explicitly exclude every possible consistency check, data validation mechanism as well as any trace of evidence, history, or paper-trail--while allowing us to build in fake procedures by which we can claim to have verified the vote counts, making it all look above question. It's flawless--and I just love robust mechanisms that will work almost by themselves--we can't fail! We can pre-program the outcome of every race to shift, alter or even reverse the totals by any percentage we want--and not only will no one know, but no one--no matter what access they have or what theyv'e witness can 'prove' anything happened--no evidence will exist! The cherry on the top is that when some Democrat complains--especially if they have a seemingly compelling story, we can just laugh and call them 'paranoid'--and bemoan all these irrational, sore-losers. Democrats will appear to be members of the tin-foil hat society. If there's anything else that could be said to describe how fabulous the system is, it's that if Demcorats actually do mount a legal challenge--they--they have to 'pay' for any recounts! Recounts that are guaranteed to provide the same results we orifinally specified--thus ensuring they lose in court--which-which actually will make it harder for them to mount future challenges. It's just perfect! Perfect--and I can't tell anybody... it's eating me alive. Hmmm... Actually, I could tell--and it wouldn't hurt, if anything, it would just stimulate the 'paranoid' response among the Dems! I love electronic voting!!! Our 'new slogan'? Vote Republican--every time, without knowing, whether you want to or not!"

The foregoing was written as though from the twisted (the only kind they have) perspective of a presumably imaginary Republican vote-fraud operative...

How imaginary is the question.

[DemReadingDU]

5. good news! thanks for finding this for us!

[Berry Cool]

6. Oh, I cannot WAIT to find out what the end of all this is!

I don't live in the "inner city" per se, but I am damn curious about whether or not my ballot might have been "pre-spoiled" or "pre-voted on" by Mr. Blackwell and his minions.

[eomer]

7. NYT/AP: Activists Want Ohio Election Chief Out

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Activists filed a civil-rights lawsuit Thursday claiming Secretary of State Ken Blackwell deprived people of their voting rights during the 2004 presidential election and seeking to have him removed from overseeing the general election in November.

The plaintiffs, who range from the Ohio Voter Rights Alliance for Democracy to the head of a Columbus neighborhood association, accuse Blackwell of distributing fewer voting machines per person in black neighborhoods, purging voter registrations and disproportionately assigning provisional ballots to blacks. Those provisional ballots then were disqualified at higher rates than in nearby precincts that were mostly white, the plaintiffs allege.

''The court should appoint someone that everyone will say is honest and competent and will ensure that the appropriate security measures are in place and we don't have this kind of vulnerability in the next election,'' said attorney Cliff Arnebeck, who represents the plaintiffs.

Blackwell, a Republican running for governor this November, said he sees the lawsuit not as an attack on him, but on Ohio's elections process, run by 88 bipartisan county elections boards.

-snip-

Rest of the Article (NYT Registration Required)

[datadiva]

8. Great post

I wonder what happens to unused ballots? Maybe they should be preserved in future elections also. If there is suspicion that punchcards were punched prior to an election, you could then go to the unused cards to check them for tampering.

[StrictlyRockers]

9. It is becoming more and more clear, Kerry won in 2004.

[mopinko]

10. every fifth precinct. very interesting.

that way, you know which precincts were tampered with. that way, even a math challenged republican moran knows which precincts to keep out of audits. i see....

[pat_k]

11. Kick 'em !! (in the balls!)

[a la izquierda]

12. How long until we get...

international election observers?

[focusfan]

13. repukes are the lowest people

this proves what kind of liar cheater Bush is I just wished
people could put two and two together and not vote for a
republican in November.