Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday, September 9

[livvy]

Today in History

Group of "Contrabands" at Foller's House
Cumberland Landing, Virginia,
James F. Gibson, photographer,
May 14, 1862.
Early on the morning of Sunday, September 9, 1739, twenty black Carolinians met near the Stono River, approximately twenty miles southwest of Charleston. At Stono's bridge, they took guns and powder from Hutcheson's store and killed the two storekeepers they found there. "With cries of 'Liberty' and beating of drums," historian Peter H. Wood writes in the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, "the rebels raised a standard and headed south toward Spanish St. Augustine…Along the road they gathered black recruits, burned houses, and killed white opponents, sparing one innkeeper who was 'kind to his slaves.'" Thus commenced the Stono Rebellion, the largest slave uprising in the British mainland colonies prior to the American Revolution.

Late that afternoon, planters riding on horseback caught up with the band of sixty to one hundred slaves. More than twenty white Carolinians and nearly twice as many black Carolinians were killed before the rebellion was suppressed. As a consequence of the uprising, white lawmakers imposed a moratorium on slave imports and enacted a harsher slave code.

Slaves frequently resorted to insurrection, first in the British colonies and later in the southern United States. At least 250 insurrections have been documented; between 1780 and 1864, ninety-one African-Americans were convicted of insurrection in Virginia alone. The first revolt in what became the United States took place in 1526 at a Spanish settlement near the mouth of the Pee Dee River in South Carolina.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/sep09.html



1776 Continental Congress renames the "United Colonies," the "United States".


California, our 31st state 1850


Released on this day in 1971.

And, now without further ado....
Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News

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If you can:
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[livvy]

1. Ohio: Outdated Voting Machines Sold Back To Maker At Big Loss

Outdated voting machines sold back to maker at big loss
Saturday, September 9, 2006

PAINESVILLE, Ohio (AP) - A northeastern Ohio county that adopted electronic voting seven years ago has taken a huge financial loss over the state's requirement that voting machines produce a paper record.

The law made Lake County's first set of electronic voting machines outdated. The 549 machines, purchased by county commissioners in 1999 for about $3 million, were sold back to California-based Sequoia Voting Systems on Thursday for roughly $27,500.

"This has been a very frustrating experience for a county where we have taken pride in running quality elections," said Jan Clair, director of the Lake County Board of Elections.

Commissioners twice put the machines out for bid but received no suitable offers.

>more

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=306899&Category=13

[livvy]

2. Ohio: Democrats Ask Court To Force Disclosure Of Group's Backers

Democrats ask court to force disclosure of group's backers
Saturday, September 9, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Democratic Party has asked the state Supreme Court to force a nonprofit group targeting its governor candidate Ted Strickland with negative ads to disclose its backers, a case reminiscent of the battle over third-party ads against one of the court's justices in 2000.

The group, called Common Sense 2006, received $1.5 million in donations from another group known as Common Sense Ohio. The money came from unknown sources who the groups says are protected by their nonprofit status. Two of both groups' directors have given a total of $8,600 to Republican candidate Ken Blackwell's campaign since 2004.

The ads against Strickland, which ran late last month, say he has a history of voting for tax increases and noted his low scores in grades by conservative advocacy groups.

The Democrats asked the Supreme Court to Blackwell, who oversees Ohio elections as secretary of state, to force the groups to release contributors' names. The party argues the donors cannot be kept secret under a 2004 Ohio election law that requires disclosure of contributors to campaigns that specifically call for the election or defeat of a candidate.

>more

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=306902&Category=13

[livvy]

3. Ohio Editorial: Sprinting Into Campaign "Silly Season"

Editorial
Saturday, September 9, 2006

Sprinting into campaign 'silly season'

Well, this one certainly wasn't a photo finish. Not even close.

By a 6-0 vote, the Ohio Elections Commission this week dismissed write-in candidate Nathan Noy's complaint that U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Miami Township, had lied about her achievements as a distance runner and had fabricated a photo that showed her finishing the 1993 Columbus Marathon. The panel found his claim had no merit, and is considering levying fees and costs against Noy.

But while Noy's pathetic stunt may have come up hobbling with leg cramps, this episode should serve notice that bogus campaign ploys, dirty tricks and outright lies will be littering the political race track this fall. Voters beware.

One example: The New York Times recently blasted a new twist in "high-tech smear tactics" - automated phone calls to voters with recorded lies, near-lies and distortions about certain candidates. These are bankrolled by various "nonpartisan" (oh, sure) "voter education" (yeah, right) groups hiding behind the anonymity afforded by campaign finance loopholes.

This has been going on for months in Connecticut races, the Times notes. In this case, the calls have attacked three Republican members of Congress. But both sides have been guilty, and we live in an era in which advocacy groups flush with cash feel free to distort with impunity. These tactics, the Times said, "coarsen political discourse and need to be discouraged as strongly as possible."

>more


http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060909/EDIT01/609090320/1090

[livvy]

4. Ohio: Candidate Loses Elections Ruling

Posted on Sat, Sep. 09, 2006

Candidate loses elections ruling
Panel finds Hanna's Senate campaign materials violated law
Beacon Journal staff report

The Ohio Elections Commission has found Ohio Senate candidate Judy Hanna of Akron in violation of state elections laws for making false statements on her campaign material and her Web site.

The commission also found her in violation for not having proper disclaimers on her materials.

Hanna, a Democrat, is running against incumbent Sen. Kevin Coughlin of Cuyahoga Falls.

Phil Richter, executive director of the commission, said the commission chose not to impose any punishment on Hanna. The complaints could have been forwarded for prosecution and she could have been fined or received a written reprimand, he said.

>more

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/15478670.htm

[livvy]

5. Ohio: Student's Essay On Voting Claims 2nd In Contest

Neat human interest story...you go, guy!



Student’s essay on voting claims 2nd in contest
By MATTHEW SCHOMER
Salem News staff writer

BELOIT — “In order for democracy to function properly, elections, which are the heart of a democratic government, need to have top notch security. To negate this results in the deterioration of our government.”

That passage, written this spring by West Branch High School senior Josh Gaines, was part of an essay on the reliability of voting technology that won him second place in a national competition.

Gaines’ essay, “Democracy’s Downfall: Is the Computing Technology for Electronic Voting Secure and Reliable Enough for National Use?”, won second-place honors in the Schubmehl-Prein Essay Contest in August at the University of Notre Dame.

>snip

And having a passion for the topic didn’t hurt his chances of winning either.

“The votes, really, are the only thing between the leader of out nation and the people,” he said. “I feel very strongly that if we’re going to have machines that will decide the leader of this nation, they ought to be foolproof.”

But looking at his essay, one doesn’t find many reasons to trust the machines.

>more

http://www.salemnews.net/News/articles.asp?articleID=2749

[livvy]

6. Opinion: Bush's Great Fear: Three Little Words

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Bush's great fear: Three little words
Stakes for a Democratic majority in Congress

RUPERT CORNWELL

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For an idea of the upheaval that may be about to overtake Congress, just three words suffice: Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

This is no denigration of the member for California's 8th District in the House of Representatives.

She is as competent, ambitious and driven a politician as they come. But nothing would so perfectly symbolize the twilight of a conservative era as a House led by a woman with a near-perfect liberal voting record from the great city of San Francisco, a place that lives in Republican mythology as Sodom and Gomorrah made flesh.

And the chances right now are that it will happen. America's mid-term elections, in which all 435 House seats and a third of the Senate are at stake, are just two months away. A new poll found the party leading 53 percent to 43 percent in a generic vote for Congress, while Democrats are set to gain several state governorships as well. Rarely have the stars been as favorably aligned -- an unpopular president, an equally unpopular foreign war, a stumbling economy, above all the pervasive mood that the present lot have been in power too long, and that it's time for a change.

>more



http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/284403_focusdems10.html

[livvy]

7. Huckabee Faults Some Republicans

Huckabee Faults Some Republicans

By MIKE GLOVER
The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa —

Gov. Mike Huckabee faulted some congressional Republicans for abandoning party principles and said Friday he is urging local candidates to draw distinctions with the GOP-controlled Congress.

The Republican governor and potential 2008 presidential candidate also said he is not afraid to be seen with President Bush, whose popularity has dropped.

"Where we agree with him, I think we should stand strongly with him," Huckabee said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm not afraid to be seen with him, but I have to be true to my principles and the people who elected me than to any one person."

Earlier this week, at an event in Maryland, neither Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich nor GOP Senate candidate Michael Steele appeared with the president.

>more

http://mcalesternews.com/opinion/feeds/apcontent/apstories/apstorysection/D8K0UMI80.xml.txt/resources_apstoryview

[livvy]

8. Bumpy Ride for Incumbent Govs

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Bumpy Ride for Incumbent Govs

By Pamela M. Prah

Voters this year already have dumped one governor in the primaries, and political experts predict the electorate is only warming up for the November elections.

Stateline.org - infoZine - At least three of the 26 governors running for re-election are showing up on political endangered lists that successfully predicted the demise of Gov. Frank Murkowski (R) in Alaska's Aug. 22 primary. The incumbents most often listed as vulnerable are Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, both Democrats.
"If you're looking for turbulence, look at the governors' races," said Rhodes Cook, founder of The Rhodes Cook Letter, a bimonthly subscription newsletterthat tracks state and congressional races. "Governors tend to be more vulnerable. ... They are the ones voters identify as the CEOs of their states," he said.

Of the 36 governors' races this November, 10 are open seats -- largely because of term limits. Alaska's Murkowski became only the second governor in the nation in more than a decade to lose renomination when he was overwhelmingly defeated in the GOP August primary. The only other governor to hold that distinction in the last decade was Missouri's Gov. Bob Holden (D), defeated in a 2004 primary.

Currently, Republicans hold 28 governorships to the Democrats' 22. However, GOP governors are vacating nine of the 10 open seats this year, leaving the Republican Party more exposed in a year when its prospects nationally are being pulled down by President Bush's low approval ratings.

"You'll see an incumbent or two lose" in the Nov. 7 election, predicted Jennifer E. Duffy, editor and political analyst who specializes in gubernatorial races for The Cook Political Report, which despite its similar name is not affiliated with The Rhodes Cook Letter.

>more

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/17598/

[livvy]

9. CA: Governor's Gaffe Is Fodder For Democrats

Posted on Sat, Sep. 09, 2006

Governor's gaffe is fodder for Democrats
By Steven Harmon
MediaNews Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has had a history of verbal gaffes and boorish behavior, found himself once again apologizing Friday, this time for race-based comments that some found offensive.

The governor -- who previously called legislators ``girly men,'' said he would kick special-interest ``butt'' and also apologized for having ``behaved badly'' toward women -- was caught on tape saying a mixture of Latin and black ``blood'' makes for ``very hot'' personalities.

``It's one thing to say things and another to read it in the papers,'' Schwarzenegger said at a press conference Friday in Santa Monica. ``When I read it, it made me cringe, it made me feel uncomfortable.''

His remarks were first published Friday by the Los Angeles Times, which obtained a recorded private conversation that took place March 3 in the governor's office.

>more

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15478969.htm

[livvy]

10. Reaction Mixed To Schwarzenegger Remarks

Reaction mixed to Schwarzenegger remarks

Posted 9/9/2006 4:30 AM ET

By Michael R. Blood, Associated Press
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's taped comment that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are feisty because of their mixed black and Latino "blood" set the blood of some Democrats boiling, but others say it's no big deal.

Rep. Barbara Lee, an Oakland Democrat and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, denounced the Republican governor's words as "racist" and "disgusting." But a spokesman for state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, a Latino Democrat, dismissed them as insignificant.

"These are hardly Nixon's Watergate tapes," said Nunez aide Richard Stapler.

State Sen. Martha Escutia, a Democrat who chairs the California Legislative Latino Caucus, said Schwarzenegger "has never been disrespectful to the Latino community."

>more

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-09-09-schwarzenegger-remarks_x.htm

[livvy]

11. CA: City Possibly Violated State Code

City possibly violated state code
by Mike Morrow, 9/9/2006

Appointed? Elected?

That seems to be the question facing Trinidad City Council members as a result of several public inquiries regarding the possibility the city is in violation of two California state codes.

Trinidad City Attorney Jeff Guttero was out of town and unavailable for comment, but a representative of the California Secretary of State’s Office said the nature of the violation might depend on a judicial interpretation.

Mayor Dean Heyenga has confirmed he has been questioned about the potential violation — specifically, Code 36512 D-1 — that notes “an appointment shall not be made to fill a vacancy on a city council if the appointment would result in a majority of the members serving on the council having been appointed.”

A week ago, at a special council meeting, Trinidad residents Kathy Bhardwaj, Stan Binnie and Dwight Miller were recognized as the only three individuals seeking to fill three vacant positions on the council, thus eliminating the need for a citywide election. Only Heyenga and Councilmember Chi-Wei Lin will be retained from the current council.


>more

http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=14843

[livvy]

12. Blog: California's Most Important 2006 Election-Calderon Edges...In Mexico

September 08, 2006
View From Lodi, CA: California’s Most Important 2006 Election—Calderon Edges Lopez Obrador in Mexico

By Joe Guzzardi

For California voters, the most important 2006 election will not be the Senate race between incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein and her Republican challenger Dick Mountjoy.

Nor will it be the gubernatorial contest between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Phil Angelides.

And none of the 53 Congressional races is likely to have the impact on California that the recently-concluded Mexican presidential race where Felipe Calderon was officially declared the winner over Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will have.

Let’s be candid. Whether Feinstein, Mountjoy, Schwarzenegger, Angelides or Democrats or Republicans prevail in Congress come November, federal and state government will slog on with the painful sameness that marks it year after year.

>more with an interesting conclusion

http://vdare.com/guzzardi/060908_vfl.htm

[livvy]

13. WI: AG Election a Race to the Bottom

Friday, September 08, 2006
WIS. AG Election a Race to the Bottom

By Kavan Peterson - A vulnerable incumbent trying to overcome a drunken-driving conviction while fending off three bruising challengers makes the Wisconsin attorney general's race stand out among this year's 30 state races for top law enforcement officer.

Stateline.org - infoZine - On the Democratic side, Attorney General Peggy Lautenschlager is fighting for her political life in the Sept. 12 primary after pleading guilty to drunken driving while in office in 2004. Her opponent in the primary, Dane County Executive Kathleen M. Falk, trails Lautenschlager in recent polls but launched a new offensive over Labor Day weekend with the first television ads of the campaign mentioning the drunken-driving conviction.

Republican hopefuls Paul Bucher, the attorney general of Waukesha County, and J.B. Van Hollen, former U.S. attorney for Wisconsin, have been chastised by their own state party head for their negative campaigning. During a radio debate last month, Van Hollen told Bucher, "You suck," after being repeatedly interrupted by his rival, according to media reports.

All three of Lautenschlager's challengers blasted her at a debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday, Sept. 6, for allowing a backlog of unanalyzed DNA evidence to build up in the state crime lab during her term. It was the candidates' last chance to face each other before next Tuesday's primary election. (Listen to the Democratic candidates' debate or Republican candidates' debate at Wispolitics.com)

"I've never seen the negativity that we're seeing in this race. The tone is just nasty, and the personal animosity between each of the candidates is clearly evident," said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, the state's largest nonpartisan citizen reform group.

>more

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/17574/

[livvy]

14. FL: Op-Ed- Attacks Only Made Villalobos Stronger in Senate

Attacks only made Villalobos stronger in Senate
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
Published September 9, 2006

The Florida Senate will never be the same.

Some of this state's most powerful political forces threw all they had at Miami Republican Alex Villalobos. But he still won.

Gov. Jeb Bush said Villalobos "abandoned our party's principles and lost his way" for opposing vouchers and supporting the class size amendment. Bush did radio ads in two languages for Villalobos' primary opponent, Frank Bolanos.

Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, incoming Senate president, stayed neutral, an act that contradicted a decades-long tradition that parties protect their incumbents.

>more

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/09/Columns/Attacks_only_made_Vil.shtml

[livvy]

15. FL: Democrats Kick Off Hunt For November

Democrats kick off hunt for November

The party's candidates emerge from their primaries with a message of unity.

JUSTIN GEORGE
Published September 9, 2006

TAMPA - The lull after the primary lasted about three days before state Democrats cranked up the campaign again Friday, choosing the century-old Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City as their launching point.

It seemed as if the party couldn't wait to tout its ticket for governor, chief financial officer and senator at the statewide unity event that signaled the start of the fall campaign.

About 200 party loyalists gathered in a ballroom beneath a banner that read "DEMOCRATS. Putting Floridians First. Because Security Begins at Home."

Before things got under way, a few red, white and blue balloons got loose, and the theme music from Star Wars came on too soon.

>more of this and:



Democrat endorses Lee

TALLAHASSEE - It was tit-for-tat in the race for Florida chief financial officer Friday, as Republican Tom Lee received the endorsement of a former Democratic Cabinet member.

The announcement that former Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford supports Lee came a day after former Comptroller Bob Milligan, a Republican, endorsed Lee's Democratic opponent, Alex Sink.

>two more paragraphs

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/09/State/Democrats_kick_off_hu.shtml

[livvy]

16. Harris, GOP Differ on Jeb Bush Commitment (to Harris)

Harris, GOP differ on Jeb Bush commitment
She says governor will stump for her -- is it true?

Jim Stratton and Daphne Sashin | Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted September 9, 2006

U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris said Friday that Gov. Jeb Bush will campaign with her in the next two months, but the state GOP said no such commitment exists.

Harris, appearing in downtown Orlando, said she will travel with Bush and others as she seeks to defeat incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Nelson, meanwhile, formally kicked off his campaign Friday in Tampa, saying he wanted to "take our nation in a new direction."

Touring with Bush, the state's most powerful Republican, would bring Harris badly needed credibility and steady a campaign that, at times, appeared ready to collapse.

But Friday, it was unclear what Harris was talking about. The Governor's Office referred questions about Harris to the state party. And party spokesman Jeff Sadosky said the governor had not agreed to stump with Harris.

>more

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-harris09_106sep09,0,4515274.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state

[livvy]

17. FL: Poll Workers Caught Short

Posted on Sat, Sep. 09, 2006

BROWARD VOTING
Poll workers caught short
Broward County's elections office is taking steps to improve its performance in the Nov. 7 general election.
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD
[e-mail]

Broward County was so short of the technicians needed to manage voting machines in Tuesday's primary that some were paid extra to monitor more than one precinct this week.

And the elections office had such difficulty finding and training people for the job that some voting system technicians -- known as VSTs -- were trained as late as the day before the election.

Election officials doubled up only where more than one precinct was housed at a single voting location, so every polling place had a technician.

The elections office is actively recruiting poll workers for the Nov. 7 general election, so they're not caught short again.

>more

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/15475420.htm

[livvy]

18. FL: Oliphant, Ethics Panel Closer To Settling Fine(former elections super)

Posted on Sat, Sep. 09, 2006

FORMER ELECTIONS SUPERVISOR
Oliphant, ethics panel closer to settling fine
The Florida Elections Commission and Miriam Oliphant may finally work out their dispute dating back to the 2002 gubernatorial primary.
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD
[e-mail]

Miriam Oliphant may finally resolve the $10,000 fine levied against her by the Florida Elections Commission.

The commission plans a hearing for Oliphant in November, at which members will decide whether to uphold the fine, assessed for her poor handling of the 2002 primary election.

The commission charged Oliphant in 2005 with 55 violations of law and ''willfully'' failing to meet her duties as an elections supervisor. They voted to fine her $10,000 for failing to open polls on time in the 2002 primary and for closing some early after the chaotic election in Broward and Miami-Dade counties forced the governor to extend voting by two hours.

Oliphant took office in 2000, in the wake of the presidential recount. She was suspended without pay from office in 2003 by Gov. Jeb Bush, and the suspension was upheld in 2005 by the Florida Senate.

>more

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/15475429.htm

[livvy]

19. Opinion: Katherine Harris: A Uniter, Not a Divider

Article Last Updated: 9/08/2006 11:39 PM
Pitts: Katherine Harris: A uniter, not a divider
Leonard Pitts Jr.
MIAMI HERALD
Salt Lake Tribune

I offer three cheers for Katherine Harris.

Harris has brought this nation together, done a more effective job of uniting people than any prayer breakfast, sensitivity class or Benetton ad I've ever seen. Thanks to her, Christians and Jews, Muslims and atheists, Republicans and Democrats, are now standing as one and saying, ''That Katherine Harris, what a moron.''

Really warms the heart.

>snip

In short, she's a train wreck. And maybe your instinct is to laugh at this new smash-up and move on. That would be a mistake. Because here's the thing about what she told the newspaper: She meant it. She may try to soft-pedal now in the face of a public relations shellacking,but she meant it. And I doubt she's the only one.

>more

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_4310193

[livvy]

20. Nicaraguan Expats Anxious As Sandinistas Lead Election Polls

Nicaraguan expats anxious as Sandinistas lead election polls

BY LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ

AP HISPANIC AFFAIRS WRITER
MIAMI -- It's flashback time for many expatriate Nicaraguans as Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega - once the thorn in side of the Reagan administration - leads again in the Central American country's presidential election polls.

Many Nicaraguans in the U.S. fear that Ortega, a leftist who ruled the country from 1979 to 1990, would roll back recent efforts to fight government corruption, pull out of the Central American Free Trade Agreement and return the country to the unrest and authoritarian rule of the 1980s.

"Everybody here thinks that we will really go back 10 or 20 years in time if a politician like Ortega takes over the country," said Julio Velazquez, vice president of the Nicaraguan American Chamber of Commerce in Miami.

One group that could tip the electorate balance is the expat community.

>more

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060909/APN/609090527

Maybe we could loan them some of our voting equipment and Karl Rove to help them set 'em up.

[livvy]

21. FL: Machine Recount Ordered in District 73 Race

Machine recount ordered in District 73 race
By Betty Parker
Originally posted on September 09, 2006

State House candidate Nick Thompson picked up two more votes after provisional ballots were counted Friday, giving him a 36-vote lead over Lee County Commissioner John Albion.

Provisional ballots are those that were under extra scrutiny because of questions about photo ID or the voter's ability to cast a ballot in the race.

After Tuesday's primary Thompson had a 34-vote lead, a margin that automatically set in play additional counts and checks.

Lee County's canvassing board met Friday to examine the 36 provisional ballots cast in that race, Elections Supervisor Sharon Harrington said.

>more


http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060909/NEWS0107/609090476/1075

[livvy]

22. FL: Dispute Arises Over Finances

Dispute arises over finances

Democrat Michael Cox says that Commissioner Steve Simon illegally accepted more than $500 from a contributor.

By DAVID DeCAMP
Published September 9, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - The November election grudge match between County Commissioner Steve Simon and former ally Michael Cox kicked off Friday with a complaint that Simon violated campaign finance law.

Cox, a Democrat and former Port Richey mayor, said Simon violated Florida law limiting contributions to $500 from individuals by accepting donations above that from a Tarpon Springs engineer. Cox said he would mail a complaint Friday to the state election commission.

Simon, a Republican who angered Cox when he left the Democratic Party in 2002, said it was a mistake in an amended report Friday with a letter to the Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Office saying he "in no way intended" to break the law.

Simon's original report showed a $250 contribution from engineer Keith Appenzeller on May 17. Simon also reported that Appenzeller provided $452.60 for campaign-related food, drinks and invitations on Aug. 24.

>more

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/09/Pasco/Dispute_arises_over_f.shtml

[livvy]

23. RI: Down to the Wire: McHugh Stands By His Record

DOWN TO THE WIRE: MCHUGH STANDS BY HIS RECORD

By Chris Keegan - The Sun Staff

Facing scrutiny from challenger Donna M. Walsh, incumbent Rep. Matthew J. McHugh says he stands by his legislative record.

The 61-year old financial advisor is set to face Walsh - a former state senator - in Tuesday's Democratic primary contest for the District 36 house seat. The voting district includes parts of Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly and the island of New Shoreham.

"I stand by my record," McHugh said. "I'm very proud of my record and how I voted. I voted for the people of South County. If elected, I will continue to do so."

Often times at odds with the Democratic leadership, McHugh said his time on Smith Hill has been well spent. Recent high notes include co-sponsorship of a Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act that aims to reform the state pension system; a vote to reduce the annual cap on municipal tax levies; and membership on the state's Fire Safety Commission, he said.

>more

http://www.thewesterlysun.com/articles/2006/09/09/news/news3.txt

[livvy]

24. Rhode Island's Republicans Deeply Split Ahead of Senate Primary

Rhode Island’s Republicans Deeply Split Ahead of Senate Primary
By Marie Horrigan | 9:12 PM; Sep. 08, 2006

Few incumbents have been as besieged in this year’s campaign season as moderate Rhode Island Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who faces a threatening challenge from conservative Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey in the Sept. 12 primary.

And the final days of that contest have been as rough on Chafee as what came before: He has found himself obliged to disavow some of his own side’s hard-hitting negative ads aimed at Laffey, and facing criticism from Laffey and allied conservatives concerning his indecision over whether to support Senate confirmation of John R. Bolton, President Bush’s confrontational appointee as ambassador to the United Nations.

Chafee is a scion of one of New England’s top political families: His Senate predecessor was his father, John Chafee, a centrist Republican who held the seat from 1977 until his death in 1999.

But whereas the elder Chafee generally was able to maintain support across factions in the state’s Republican Party factions, Lincoln Chafee spawned a backlash in his bid for a second full term by building a record as the least conservative of the current 55 Republican senators and by standing out as a party maverick.

>more

http://www.cqpolitics.com/2006/09/rhode_islands_republicans_deep.html

[livvy]

25. Oregon: Groups Oppose Camaign Finance Measures

Groups oppose campaign finance measures

By The Associated Press

A coalition of groups including unions and others describing themselves as “progressive” has filed opposition to Measures 46 and 47, the campaign finance measures in the general election.

They say the measures would give wealthy persons even more influence over politics.

The Oregon Supreme Court said this week Mesure 46 can stay on the ballot.

Opposing Measure 46 are : ACLU-Oregon, American Federation of Teachers-Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network, NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon, Oregon Action, Oregon AFL-CIO, Oregon Education Association, Oregon School Employees Association, Our Oregon, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, Rural Organizing Project, SEIU Local 49, SEIU Local 503, OPEU, Stand for Children.

The groups say they are concerned that the restrictions are so broad and the measures are so poorly drafted that they will increase the advantage of wealthy individuals and silence the voices of membership organizations, they said ina statement Friday.

Measure 46 is a single-sentence that would give up political free-speech rights now and in the future, according to the opponents.

>more

http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2006/09/09/news/oregon/1ore04groups.txt

[livvy]

26. Oregon: A Telling Absence of Opposition to Measure 44

A telling absence of opposition to Measure 44
Last year's Legislature should have passed this law to make prescription drugs less expensive for the uninsured
Saturday, September 09, 2006

When this fall's Oregon Voters' Pamphlet arrives in the mail next month, see if you can spot what's missing from it.

Helpful hint: Turn to the pages on Measure 44 and look under "Arguments in Opposition."

There aren't any.

>snip

At least one recent survey shows this measure likely to pass by a huge margin. That raises an obvious question: If it's such a broadly popular idea, why did its backers have to take the difficult and costly initiative route? Why didn't they just ask the Legislature to pass a law?

>snip

"Basically," he says, "PhRMA killed the bill."

PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, is a powerful lobby that doesn't like expanded bulk purchasing. That's easy to understand, because the bigger the pool, the more leverage Oregon has to negotiate lower prices.

So PhRMA, which spends thousands of dollars annually to influence lawmaking in Salem, went into full attack mode on Morrisette's bill. Sadly, the House GOP leadership succumbed.

>more


http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1157757916273350.xml&coll=7

[livvy]

27. KY: Cabinet Chief Is Political Donor

Saturday, September 9, 2006

Cabinet chief is political donor
Hill has worked in law, journalism

By James Bruggers
[e-mail]
The Courier-Journal

The newly appointed head of the Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet is a former basketball standout at Corbin High School who worked as a journalist before becoming a lawyer and political operative.

In that last capacity, Teresa Hill, 42, also has been a loyal player in Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration, and a financial contributor as well.

Since September 2003, Hill, who has been vice chairman of the state Public Service Commission for a little over a year, has given more than $20,000 to Fletcher's campaigns, his inaugural committee and the Republican Party, according to records from the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance and the Federal Election Commission.

>snip

The size of Hill's campaign contributions "raises a flag in my mind," said Aloma Dew, who works for the Sierra Club in Kentucky and is a former member and chairwoman of the state Environmental Quality Commission.

>more

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060909/NEWS01/609090389/1008/NEWS01

[livvy]

28. KY: Businessman Pleaded Guilty to Bribing Congressman...

Posted on Sat, Sep. 09, 2006

IGate's Jackson gets 87 months
BUSINESSMAN PLEADED GUILTY TO BRIBING CONGRESSMAN TO PROMOTE TECH COMPANY
By John Cheves
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

WASHINGTON - A Louisville businessman who says he bribed a congressman to promote his small technology company was sentenced yesterday to more than seven years in prison.

Federal prosecutors said Vernon Jackson, 54, founder of iGate, deserved credit for pleading guilty in May to two bribery counts, and they said he is cooperating with the Justice Department in its political corruption investigation. Jackson could have received up to nine years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

Although Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., has not been charged with a crime, he is the friend and partner of Jackson who promoted iGate in the United States and overseas. FBI agents have searched Jefferson's homes and offices in Washington and New Orleans, finding $90,000 in alleged bribe money stashed in his freezer.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria, Va., noted that Jackson is a self-made entrepreneur with strong ties to his community and church. But Ellis said the punishment must reflect the damage that bribery inflicts on the credibility of government.

>more

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/15477426.htm

[livvy]

29. NH:Eight House Candidates Rubbed Out

Eight House candidates rubbed out
Names off ballot due to registration errors

By LISA ARSENAULT
Monitor staff
September 09. 2006 8:00AM


Eight House candidates with questionable registration status will not be allowed to have their names on the ballot in Tuesday's primary, the state Ballot Law Commission ruled yesterday. With the election just days away, their names will be removed from thousands of ballots using marker or adhesive tape, said Dave Scanlan, deputy secretary of state.

Tests of a new statewide voter database done by the Secretary of State's Office this summer revealed that eight candidates for the House were not registered voters of the political party they were running with in the primary. Members of the Ballot Law Commission said yesterday that state law is clear: That means those candidates can not be on the ballot.

Just because their names won't appear on the ballots doesn't mean they won't be able to run for office, Scanlan said. They will be able to run a write-in campaign Tuesday in which they must garner the majority vote for their seat with at least 10 write-in votes. If that seat is still open after the primary, their party can still nominate them for the seat, Scanlan said.

Rep. James Danforth of Andover, who has served one term as a Republican and is seeking re-election to the Legislature, was so outraged by the commission's decision that he abruptly left the hearing during final deliberations. Danforth was often heated during his testimony. The commission stenographer asked him to lower his voice and speak slower several times.

>more

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060909/REPOSITORY/609090336/1037/48HOURS

[livvy]

30. Scoop/Gideon: Daily Voting News For Sept. 8- many links to news!

Saturday, 9 September 2006, 9:23 pm
Article: John Gideon
Daily Voting News For September 8, 2006

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

Sequoia Voting has been in a media blitz lately. Today it is a media release announcing a demonstration of their full-screen Advantage DRE in New York. Unfortunately they are still not telling the truth about their accessibility features which actually force anyone who uses them to vote as if they were blind which actually makes voting much more difficult or impossible for voters who have mobility or cognitive disabilities. / Berkeley Co. West Virginia has already identified that they don't have enough DREs to put in their polling places but it is going to cost them $480,000 to purchase enough and they can't afford them if they had gone with optical-scan they would only need to buy more pencils / ES&S has accepted blame for all of their problems in the Arkansas primary election....

* National: Cast Out: Media Briefing on New Voter Suppression Strategies in the 2006 Elections LINK

* Arkansas: Legislators slam firm, adopt election report LINK

* Arkansas: Proposal: State would fund election coordinators in counties LINK

* California: Humboldt County - Election office gets early look at likely vote system solution LINK

>many, many more links to follow for election news around the states.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0609/S00119.htm

[livvy]

31. The End

ZZZZZZZ....nap time for livvy

[freedomfries]

32. kudos to livvy's great thread!

[DemReadingDU]

33. Thank you!

and thank you for the history lesson!

[FogerRox]

34. Knr... Livvy great work on the ERD

[livvy]

35. Thanks! n/t

[rumpel]

36. Nice Op, livvy

and tons of news

:applause: