Well, I just felt like collecting some ER news for old times' sake.

[tbyg52]

Don't know what got into me, nor how far I'll get before my mouse hand gives out.... ;)

[tbyg52]

1. States nt

[tbyg52]

9. WI: AG sounds off on voter lawsuit, rest of term

Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen spent most of his first year in office keeping a low political profile -- so low that some in his own party wondered whether he was really one of them.

Not so in 2008. Van Hollen threw himself into the election full-force. He served as co-chairman of GOP presidential candidate John McCain's Wisconsin campaign. He sent state agents to the polls. He filed a lawsuit demanding the state Government Accountability Board abide by federal law and verify the identities of tens of thousands of voters before the election. A judge threw the lawsuit out a little more than a week before the election, though.

Van Hollen sat down with The Associated Press recently to discuss what the lawsuit accomplished, the role party politics played in the action and other postelection issues, including how the state's budget woes could affect the state Justice Department.

AP: What do you think you accomplished with the lawsuit ultimately dismissed?

More:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-attorneygeneral-q,0,2457282.story

[tbyg52]

10. FL: Frequent Hialeah candidate convicted of election fraud

Nilo Juri, a frequent Hialeah political candidate and former state lawmaker, was convicted Wednesday by a Miami-Dade jury on charges that he used illegal contributions to boost the campaigns of his political allies.

After an eight-day trial, the jury convicted Juri of nine felonies and four misdemeanors in a scheme using straw donors to steer money to candidates running for the Hialeah City Council and the Miami-Dade County Commission in 2003 and 2004. Juri repaid the donors -- among them his daughter and son-in-law -- bypassing the legal limits on donations to candidates.

Juri, 59, was also convicted of coaching two witnesses to lie to investigators. Prosecutors said Juri could face at least 17 months in prison.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/789471.html

[tbyg52]

TX: Judge alleges election fraud in Richardson

Richardson has gained another distinction among area communities, that of questionable election law compliance. In spite of clear notice on all registration forms, voters have obtained certification and cast ballots under fraudulent circumstances. Under penalty of law, at least 15 instances of unlawful registration and ballots being cast were uncovered from records of early voting during the November 4, 2008 Presidential election in the only Richardson Precinct audited. Penalties for this third degree felony includes loss of voting privileges, fines and incarceration...and, in this case, public humiliation.

More:
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008/nov/26/judge-alleges-election-fraud-richardson/

[tbyg52]

12. GA: Velvet Revolution Says Saxby Chambliss Election Fraud:

Attorney Files RICO Notice on Georgia Secretary of State

RE: Public record and document hold request

Dear Secretary of State Handel:

We are in the process of preparing a racketeering claim under the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act against Karl Rove as the principal perpetrator, and other individuals acting in association with him, to corrupt elections in the United States over the course of this decade.
Ground zero for this activity in 2000 was Florida, in 2004 was Ohio, and in 2002 was Georgia. In each case, exit polling, the international gold standard for detection of vote count fraud, indicated fraud in the officially recorded vote for President or for the US Senate, in the case of Georgia 2002. Furthermore, the direct recording electronic voting machines that have been used in Georgia since 2002 are the election burglary tool of choice because of the multiplicity of avenues they provide for wholesale election fraud.

More:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Velvet-Revolution-Says-Saxby-Chambliss/story.aspx?guid=%7B43B49F9C-9BB6-44BD-A989-C08ADB1D86F5%7D

[tbyg52]

38. GA: E-Vote Questions Linger Over Cleland's 2002 Loss

Lingering questions regarding former US Sen. Max Cleland’s (D-GA) loss in 2002 to US Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) are resurfacing in the last days of Democrat Jim Martin’s Run-off Election with Chambliss.

Whistleblower Chris Hood, former Diebold employee, spoke with Atlanta Progressive News in detail about an illegal patch, which may or may not be the same “0808" patch Diebold now admits its workers applied during the 2002 Primary Election.

As previously reported in 2006 by Atlanta Progressive News, Hood and another whistleblower, Rob Behler, had given independent accounts regarding illegal Diebold patches used in 2002, to Rolling Stone magazine, as well as Black Box Voting (BBV) and Wired News magazine, respectively.

More:
http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0403.html

[tbyg52]

13. PA: Ex-ACORN worker gets home term in voter fraud case

A suburban Philadelphia man will serve house arrest for falsifying 18 voter-registration cards.

Jemar Barksdale worked briefly this year for the voter-turnout group ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The 34-year-old Chester man must serve six to 23 months of home confinement after his sentencing Monday in Delaware County.

(A little) more:
http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_11071173

[tbyg52]

14. CA: Velvet Revolution Calls on CA Secretary of State to Investigate Prop 8 Vote!

Also: VR offers $100K reward for info leading to arrest and conviction of election fraud affecting the outcome of Prop 8

When a government runs our elections on electronic voting systems that are known to be faulty, error prone, and easily manipulated, systems that repeatedly fail to record and report election results correctly, the public has good reason to be skeptical of the announced results.

If you're unfamiliar with these issues, please see these examples of voting machine problems:

More:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Velvet-Revolution-Calls-on-by-Emily-Levy-081125-52.html

[tbyg52]

15. PA: County looks into voting machine bugs

While three of Bradford County’s touch-screen voting machines were reported to have malfunctioned on Election Day earlier this month, two now seem to be working fine and the third will be sent back to the manufacturer to be repaired, an elections official said.

The malfunctioning of the three machines was the first time that the county’s touch-screen voting machines have not worked properly since the county began using them in the spring of 2006, said Marie Zbyszinski, Bradford County elections director.

Since the May 2006 primary election, the county has been using only electronic touch-screen voting machines manufactured by Diebold Election Systems Inc. of McKinney, Texas.

On Nov. 4, 2008, before the polls opened, Bradford County elections workers found that the screen of one of the machines would not illuminate and the internal printer on a second machine was operating too slowly, Zbyszinski said. Both machines were replaced with back-up machines before the polls opened that day, she said.

More:
http://www.thedailyreview.com/articles/2008/11/26/news/tw_review.20081126.a.pg3.tw26voting_s1.2119361_loc.txt

[tbyg52]

16. IN: Grand jury to look at Muncie mayoral election

A Delaware County grand jury was impaneled Tuesday to investigate allegations of voter fraud in the 2007 mayoral election.

The investigation by Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney, a Democrat, and Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter stems from Republican Mayor Sharon McShurley's allegations that Democratic Muncie City Council member Monte Murphy illegally helped cast absentee ballots, a violation of state election law.

McKinney, who quizzed prospective grand jurors before Delaware Circuit Court 3 Judge Robert Barnet Jr., offered few details of the case brought before the grand jury other than to say it revolved around all of the allegations involving the election.

More:
http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20081126/NEWS01/811260344

[tbyg52]

20. CO: Conejos voting machines pass tests

"The Secretary of State’s office was here on Nov. 10th. They ran tests on all our (voting) equipment and everything tested right,” said Lawrence Gallegos, Conejos County Clerk and Recorder, in a recent telephone interview.

Gallegos was speaking about allegations that there were problems, including a charge of “tampering” with voting equipment, following the November 4 general election. Two candidates asked for a recount of their respective races, in part charging that incumbent Republican candidate for Commissioner for Dist I, John Sandoval, was seen tampering with election equipment.

Gallegos has dismissed the accusations citing election safeguards on all Conejos County election equipment.

More:
http://www.alamosanews.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=10453

[tbyg52]

21. OH: Voting system will be panned

Rich-land County Deputy Elections Director Jeff Wilkinson will defend the performance record of the county's voting system.

And he will criticize as overly expensive rules that require Richland County to keep a sizeable number of paper ballots, and a system meant to accommodate what he said is a small number of voters who prefer a paper system.

Jeff Wilkinson is one of two county elections officials invited to speak at the Ohio Elections Summit on Dec. 2.

He told the Richland County Board of Elections this week he and a Cuyahoga County elections official are the only local officials who will speak about experience overseeing elections where both systems were offered to voters.

Wilkinson told the board he has a major concern with the long-term costs of maintaining two systems.

More:
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20081129/NEWS01/811290323

[tbyg52]

22. VA: Electronic voting’s reign far from over

Fears of a possible shift to paper ballots in the area — which could make counting votes more difficult during elections — could end up being much ado about nothing.

None of the voting machines in Winchester and Frederick and Clarke counties is more than four years old — and the state law calls for a return to paper ballots only after existing machines break down and are no longer able to be repaired.

Suzanne Fleming of the Winchester Electoral Board said Friday that the machines have a fairly long life and are likely to remain operable in area localities for several years.

With voting machines, which cost about $3,500 each, the concerns include the lack of “paper trail” documentation. But getting rid of the machines could be costly for taxpayers.

More:
http://www.winchesterstar.com/showarticle_new.php?sID=6&foldername=20081129&file=voting_article.html

[tbyg52]

25. MN: Disputed ballots: Judge for yourself

There are scribbles. There are check-offs and cross-outs. There are self-drawn ovals. There are ballots left completely blank. There are arrows sketched in by voters who apparently miss an older form of ballot. And, occasionally, there is commentary, like the voter who scrawled "GOD!!!" above the names of Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken.

Such artistic and literary voting quirks are all part of the universe of challenged ballots in the U.S. Senate recount -- a number that is closing in on 6,000.

The disputed ballots will end up in the laps of members of the state Canvassing Board next month, and it will be up to them to rule on whether each ballot should be counted for Franken, for Coleman -- or neither.

A sneak preview of sorts is available, now that the secretary of state's office has begun releasing copies of the ballots. And using state election law as a guide, it's possible to sort through the actual ballots yourself and get a general idea of the job facing the board members.

More:
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/35240724.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUHPYDiaK7DUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

[tbyg52]

34. HI: Paperless voting for neighborhood boards approved

The 2009 Honolulu Neighborhood Board elections will be the first paperless elections in the state after the city Neighborhood Commission approved allowing voters to use the Internet or telephone to select their candidates.

Following testimony from about 15 neighborhood board members, including many who voiced concerns about security, the commission voted 6-1 to approve the proposal shortly before 10 last night.

The commission has allowed some online voting, incorporating it with traditional balloting for the first time in the 2007 elections, when about 10 percent of those who voted cast their ballots online.

"The budget pushed us to where we would have ended up anyway," said neighborhood commissioner Brendan S. Bailey, an attorney with Proservice Hawai'i and chairman of a permitted interaction group on elections formed this year. "There are real benefits to the community in the method that we selected."

More:
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081125/NEWS04/811250343/1001/localnewsfront

[tbyg52]

39. FL: Gerrymandering in Florida

State Supreme Court Justices are reviewing a proposal that could change the way legislative districts are drawn. Since Republicans took over in the mid 1990’s, the districts are setup to give Republicans an advantage. And as Whitney Ray tells us, the recent Florida vote may be the proof the court needs to make changes for the future.

On November 4th America spoke. Democrats won the White House and gained seats in Congress. Democrats outnumber Republicans here, but the state legislature remains overwhelmingly Republican. House Speaker Ray Sansom says voters made a conscious choice.

“I commend the voters because they did a great job, in my opinion in Florida, of separating us from the national congress,” Sansom said.

But choice at the state level was slim. One reason Obama lacked coat tails, says ACLU Spokesman Larry Spalding, is because legislative district lines give Republicans an unfair advantage.

More:
http://www.flanews.com/?p=3151

[tbyg52]

40. VA: Improving Absentee Voting

Following the Nov. 4 election, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has asked the electoral board to review the in-person absentee voting procedures and report back with potential improvements to the system.

"Voting on election day went smooth as silk but absentee voting was another story," said Supervisor Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock) at a meeting Nov. 17.

Supervisors Jeff McKay (D-Lee), Patrick Herrity (R-Springfield) and Penny Gross (D-Mason) all said there were problems with the people voting absentee at the county nine district government centers, where the supervisors offices are also located.

According the supervisors, some voters had to wait between two and three hours to cast a ballot, partially because election officials were required to call the county registrar office and verify that each voter was registered and had not already voted.

More:
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=322845&paper=82&cat=104

[tbyg52]

45. MD: We Don't Need No Stinking Source Codes!

From Velvet Revolution comes this video of an unaired interview with Linda Lamone, Maryland State Board of Elections Administrator, two weeks before the 2006 midterm elections. As she's questioned about the security of the Diebold voting machines, Lamone gets a little testy, then removes her microphone and refuses to continue the interview. You'll also hear references to Avi Rubin, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, who has for years been sounding the alarm about the reliability (or lack thereof) of those voting machines.

Video:
http://www.cogitamusblog.com/2008/11/we-dont-need-no.html

[tbyg52]

46. Some more info from BradBlog:

Along with their first-time posting of this interview, VelvetRevolution.us notes the "interesting postscript to this interview," which includes a bit of good news, at least.

Despite the Lamone's "rabid opposition," last year the state of Maryland passed new legislation that will do away with their touch-screen systems, and require paper ballots for all voters beginning in 2010. Supporters of the new legislation, including both Democrats and Republicans in the state house and MD's former Republican Governor, Robert Ehrlich --- who had himself called for paper ballots during his re-election attempt in 2006 after a particularly ugly machine meltdown during the primaries --- came out in opposition to Lamone, a Democrat.

Her credibility was largely shot, by the time the legistlation came up, for a number of reasons, including her cover-up of a stunning analysis made of her machines in 2003 by SAIC which was never released in full, in its unredacted form, until The BRAD BLOG acquired and released it the day before the 2006 election.

More:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6658

[tbyg52]

48. OH: Lawsuit over '04 Ohio election advances

A federal appeals court agreed today that a lawsuit challenging Ohio's voting system as unfair and marked by problems should be heard in court.

The League of Women Voters brought the action three years ago in the aftermath of the 2004 general election, which brought national criticism of Ohio elections officials while President Bush narrowly carried the state to clinch re-election. The organization wants a court order requiring the secretary of state and governor to put "a fair and competent system" in place.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled unanimously that the lawsuit should continue in U.S. District Court in Toledo.

More:
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/11/26/lwv_lawsuit.html?sid=101

[tbyg52]

49. FL: Class-Action Suit Filed Over Early Primary Election Date

A Democratic activist is trying to turn his court challenge over Florida's early primary date into a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all Democratic and Republican voters in Florida.

"The plaintiffs in this case are suing not only to make sure they protect their own voting rights, but to make sure all Florida voters have the same right to he heard in selecting their candidates for president," said Roger Bernstein, attorney for Jon Ausman, a member of the national Democratic Committee from Tallahassee.

Ausman is suing the state over the Legislature's and Gov. Charlie Crist's decision in 2007 to move up the primary date to Jan. 29 - a decision that came close to costing Florida Democrats their seats at the convention this year. National Republicans similarly threatened not to seat one-half of Florida's GOP delegation. Ausman has argued that the parties' decisions to seat Florida in the end do not change the fact that the state forced a primary on both parties in violation of their rules for choosing their delegates.

More:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/nov/29/na-class-action-suit-filed-over-early-primary-elec/news-breaking/

[tbyg52]

52. AL: Justice Department Sues Alabama for Failure to Protect Voting Rights of Overseas Citizens

he Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the State of Alabama and Alabama Secretary of State Beth Chapman, alleging their failure to protect the rights of overseas voters in violation of the Uniformed Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).

UOCAVA is designed to ensure that uniformed military members and overseas citizens may effectively participate in federal elections. The State of Alabama, through its Secretary of State, is responsible for collecting and reporting the number of military voters and overseas citizens who are sent ballots, who return ballots, and who have their ballots successfully cast in each federal general election. Alabama has failed to fulfill this important legal obligation since UOCAVA was enacted in 2002. The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Montgomery, Ala., seeks a declaration that the State, through its Secretary of State, has previously violated the law, and seeks compliance regarding the reporting of data from the Nov. 4, 2008 election and future federal general elections.

"Ensuring that our uniformed servicemembers and overseas citizens are being given an effective opportunity to have their votes counted is critical to our democracy," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "States must be held accountable for ensuring that absentee ballots are sent out in a timely fashion."

The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) publishes a report every two years and provides data for every state and jurisdiction in the country about how many absentee ballots were transmitted to UOCAVA voters, how many were returned and how many were cast in federal general elections. UOCAVA specifically mandates that state and local governments report to the EAC "not later than 90 days after the date of each regularly scheduled general election for Federal office" the "combined number of absentee ballots that are transmitted to absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters for the election and the combined number of such ballots which were returned by such voters and cast in the election." Further, the States must make such a report available to the general public. Alabama has never submitted the reports required by this law.

More:
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/November/08-crt-1031.html

[tbyg52]

55. TX: Capitol News - Texas Legislature

In the upcoming Texas legislative session

Lawmakers and their staff members said the major topics likely to arise in the 2009 session are:

Voter photo identification Some want to make it a requirement for voters to show photo identification at the polls, saying it will reduce voter fraud. Opponents say voter fraud of that type is virtually nonexistent and argue that a photo identification requirement will disenfranchise citizens.

More:
http://www.impactnews.com/southwest-austin/inside-information/2640-capitol-news-texas-legislature

[tbyg52]

60. OR: Voting-machine results backed by recount test

hand recount of two precincts on Wednesday verified that voting tabulation machines worked correctly on Election Day.

Only minor discrepancies were discovered as Jackson County Elections Center officials reviewed ballots as required by House Bill 3270, which was enacted by lawmakers in 2007 to ensure that the results from voting machines are accurate.

"It does prove that the machines were counting correctly," said Jackson County Clerk Chris Walker.

The recount showed only a few votes difference, well within the one-half of one percent requirement in Oregon elections.

More:
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081127/NEWS/811270325

[tbyg52]

62. OH: Despite uproar, just 2 votes questioned

Despite widespread concerns about voter fraud before the Nov. 4 election, Hamilton County elections officials said Monday there were only two problem votes out of more than 400,000 votes cast.
Advertisement

"I think the fears about widespread voter fraud and potentially long lines didn't happen," county Elections Director Sally Krisel said.

Republican Board of Elections member Chip Gerhardt said he didn't think pre-election concerns were overblown and said the heightened awareness of potential fraud helped limit it.

More:
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081125/NEWS01/811250317

[Captain Hilts]

2. Oh!

ER: I thought this thread was about me! Never mind...



Kick

[tbyg52]

4. I wish my mind worked that fast....!

:rofl:

[tbyg52]

3. National nt

[tbyg52]

31. Diebold faces GPL infringement lawsuit over voting machines

My note: This is rich. Apparently they have been using open-source software in their proprietary software, and not abiding by the terms of the license.

Artifex Software, the company behind the open source Ghostscript PDF processing software, has filed a lawsuit against voting machine vendor Diebold and its subsidiary Premier Election Solutions. Artifex says that Diebold violated the GPL by incorporating Ghostscript into commercial electronic voting machine systems.

Ghostscript, which was originally developed in the late 80s, is distributed for free under the GNU General Public License (GPL). This license permits developers to study, modify, use, and redistribute the software but requires that derivatives be made available under the same terms. Companies that want to use Ghostscript in closed-source proprietary software projects can avoid the copyleft requirement by purchasing a commercial license from Artifex. Among commercial Ghostscript users who have purchased licenses from Artifex are some of the biggest names in the printing and technology industries, including HP, IBM, Kodak, Siemens, SGI, and Xerox.

Evidence of Diebold's Ghostscript use first emerged last year when electronic voting machine critic Jim March was conducting analysis of Pima County voting irregularities. He brought a technical question to the Ghostscript mailing list relating to his investigation and mentioned in passing that Diebold's use of Ghostscript could potentially fall afoul of the GPL. This view was shared by Ghostscript developer Ralph Giles, who referred the matter to the Artifex business staff so that it could evaluate the legal implications.

More:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081104-diebold-faces-gpl-infringement-lawsuit-over-voting-machines.html

[tbyg52]

54. The Morning After, Voting Problems Remain

Election Day Was Rife With Problems, And Voting Rights Advocates Have Thousands Of Videos And Phone Call Reports To Prove It. Two Weeks Later, Does Anybody Care?

Anyone walking through Election Protection's headquarters on Nov. 4 could have been forgiven for thinking the invasion of a small country was under way rather than an election.

Dozens of volunteers fielded calls from harassed or confused voters in a command center complete with a 20-foot-high wall of digital maps and statistics. Upstairs, teams of lawyers hunched around conference tables littered with soda cans and cups of cold coffee, working the phones and dispatching legal teams to troubled polling stations.

In the press room, the coalition's leaders clambered over one another to report the latest voting malfeasance. TV cameras rolled and calls poured in from newspapers around the country concerned about long lines and voter disenfranchisement. Standing before a bank of television screens and interactive maps, Jonah Goldman, the director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections and one of the leaders of Election Protection, paused to encourage the assembled press to see the day as a jumping-off point for future stories of election reform.

More:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/no_20081117_9032.php

[tbyg52]

57. Consensus Builds for Universal Voter Registration

Experts and media call for sweeping reform of how voter registration is conducted in America.

America's system of voter registration, in which the responsibility is placed almost solely on individuals, took center stage in this election cycle.

In the wake of historic interest in voting, and after months of controversy surrounding nonprofit registration drives, America's leaders, journalists, and voting rights experts are calling for a new registration system that reduces the need for third-party registration drives and shifts responsibility from the individual to government:

The Washington Post editorializes: "It's time to rethink another vestige of an earlier era -- a voter registration system that not only prevents people from voting but causes myriad troubles for election officials. There's a growing clamor by voting rights advocates to shift the onus on registering from the individual to government. Not only would this remove the single biggest obstacle to voting (consider that in 2004, 28 percent of eligible Americans were not registered to vote), but it would make manipulation of the system harder." A Better Vote, November 9, 2008).

More:
http://www.alternet.org/democracy/107657/consensus_builds_for_universal_voter_registration/

[tbyg52]

5. Foreign nt

[tbyg52]

17. Election Fraud in Nicaragua

Two strongmen team up to undermine democracy.

Every crisis presents opportunity. That seems to be the thinking of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who is trying to steal an election while much of the world is focused on the financial upheaval threatening the global economy.

On Nov. 9, Nicaragua held municipal elections in 146 cities and towns. For such a tiny country these races are big, because mayors have a great deal of autonomy and can act as a check on central government power. But this round of balloting was even more important than usual. Consolidating Marxist power in Nicaragua is a prime goal of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Mr. Ortega is supposed to carry out the plan. If he fails it will be another setback for the hard-left's 30-year dream of establishing a communist foothold in Central America.

Mr. Ortega ruled the country from 1979-1990 as a Sandinista dictator. Since winning the presidency in 2006 with 37% of the vote, he has demonstrated that, like his friend Mr. Chávez, he finds institutional checks and balances on his power rather inconvenient. Mr. Ortega's popularity rating is down to about 20%, suggesting that although he is the executive in charge, a lot of Nicaraguans now wish it weren't so.

More:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122748875503551983.html

[tbyg52]

24. VOA: Vote Recount Needed In Nicaragua

Fears that the Nicaraguan government would ride roughshod in the country’s recent municipal election appear to have been validated, with widespread reports of violence and election fraud. The November 9th vote came at an important moment in Nicaragua’s democracy and the irregularities are a disappointing setback in the process.

Voters cast ballots for 146 mayors around the country, and according to the still incomplete tally the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front has won most of the races, including in the capital, Managua. Two opposition political parties were barred from fielding candidates and for the first time since 1990 the government did not allow independent observers at the polling stations.

Nicaraguan business and church groups have complained that local election officials in some communities conducted the vote count improperly and in some cases the announced vote totals did not match figures on the national election council’s Internet Web page. A Nicaraguan civic group that posted volunteers at polling places around the country reported irregularities at 32 percent of the locations it monitored. Street protests have been staged in Managua and some other cities.

More:
http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2008-11-24-voa5.cfm

[tbyg52]

37. Nigeria: Credible elections: E-voting to the rescue

My comment: :wtf:

As the euphoria over the electoral triumph of Barack Obama as President-elect of America begins to ebb in Nigeria, time has come for a sober reflection among the policy makers and the political class on how best to achieve a more transparent, credible and almost hitch free election. It is only but 24 months away to the 2011 general elections and the nation cannot continue to dwell in the past which was characterized by recriminations, name-calling and hate-filled blame against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its leadership.

Indeed as we celebrate the Obama’s phenomenal statement on the demolition of racial barriers and other man-made inhibitions in the world electoral system, we need to pause to evaluate what led to that revolution in America. Our politicians have been so carried away by that singular achievement that they have even engaged in the absurd including a House of Assembly passing a motion for states to name streets after Obama and governors sending congratulatory messages, with tax-payers’ money, to a president-elect who they neither know nor appreciate his principles.

But never mind, since success has many fathers, the revelry is excusable in so far as those concerned reflect deeply on the factors that turned up Obama and of course examine the electoral system which ensured that he was not robbed of victory. Experts have posited that technology played a prominent part in strengthening the American electoral system. Another factor is the disciplined and principled culture of American politicians who believe in the supremacy of the voter and not in dubious and violence – soaked process of snatching of ballot boxes or falsifying election results. The transparent electoral system evolved through a painstaking effort to ensure that any voter’s vote counts. Tried and tested, the electronic voting system has been largely responsible for the success of every American election. As it has worked for America, so can it work here if only we can give it a chance.

More:
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/opinion/2008/nov/24/opinion-24-11-2008-002.htm

[tbyg52]

35. Philippines: Electoral reforms

My comment - your heart's in the right place, kid, but you've got to be kidding...!

What if we can hold the 2010 elections without printing ballots, without fear that ballot boxes would be stolen and switched and without worrying about “dagdag-bawas”? No, I am not talking about the kind of computerized voting that the Commission on Elections has in mind. Think hanging chad in the 2000 battle between Bush and Gore and we have to admit that’s not the way to go. I am talking about voting via text messaging or SMS.

More:
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=connieVeneracion_nov25_2008

[tbyg52]

36. Philippines: Groups push for transparency, 'hybrid' counting for 2010

With the 2010 elections approaching, a coalition of civil society groups on Tuesday called for transparency in the election process in a bid to prevent, if not eliminate, cases of poll fraud.

At the same time, the groups pushed for a "hybrid" system of counting for the coming polls, saying that the Commission on Elections' system is still open to cheating.

In a forum in Makati City, the Movement for Good Governance particularly tackled election automation and underscored its advantages and drawbacks on efforts to introduce electoral reform.

Speaking before the forum was National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) Information Technology systems head and technology expert Augusto Lagman, a proponent and critic of automated elections.

Lagman expressed reservations regarding the proposed direct recording electronic (DRE) technology and the optical mark reader (OMR) machines that the government plans on using for the full automation of the forthcoming elections.

More:
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/135654/Groups-push-for-transparency-hybrid-counting-for-2010

[tbyg52]

53. Venezuela may reform election law

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says that his socialist party could seek to amend the constitution to provide unlimited presidential rule.

Following promising results for his left-wing party from state elections, Chavez said on Monday he would not personally promote such a reform which would allow him to run for reelection in 2012.

"It's the people's right (to decide on the issue). We'll see if the people use this right, and if all the country approves it or not, if there is a referendum," he said.

"I've said I'm not going to introduce or ask for any constitutional reform regarding presidential reelection. What I can't avoid is if someone else does it," the Venezuelan leader added.

More:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=76461§ionid=351020704

[tbyg52]

6. Blogs, Editorials, LTTEs, etc. nt

[tbyg52]

18. Voter Fraud

Do you remember the pre-election Republican hissy-fit about the threat of "voter fraud?" it got to the point where John McCain said during one of the debates,

"ACORN ... is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."

Just in Ohio Republicans tried to purge more than 650,000 registered voters from the registration rolls to prevent "voter fraud." This was just in Ohio! Other massive-scale efforts were tried in Colorado, Georgia, Florida and other states.

So ... what was the result of all that hysteria about "voter fraud"? How many voter fraud cases turned up? Let's look at Ohio again.

More:
http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2008/11/voter_fraud.htm

[tbyg52]

23. LTTE: Twiddling our thumbs on voting security

Reports and worries about the reliability and security of direct-recording electronic touch-screen voting machines (DREs) rose to a crescendo before the November election. But now that the dust has settled, the Legislature is once again at work to delay implementation of the voter-verified paper ballot law of 2005.

The Assembly’s State Government Committee approved A-3458, which would give a one-year extension to the deadline for implementation of a pilot project requiring one municipality of every county to purchase a printer, attach it to its DREs and test it. The program was originally set to start Jan. 1.

The solution could have been implemented three years ago: Replace the DREs with paper ballots and precinct-based optical scan machines. Miami-Dade County in Florida estimated saving millions of dollars over a five-year period, and calculations for New Jersey have confirmed that we, too, could save money.

More:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/nationalpolitics/35247184.html

[tbyg52]

27. NYT: New Jersey Still Needs to Fix Its Electronic Voting

New Jersey was lucky to get through the 2008 election without a major voting machine scandal. But with the election for governor less than a year away, it’s about to tempt the fates once again.

In a report last month, a computer expert from Princeton University said that most of the state’s 10,000 voting machines could be hacked into in about seven minutes and that the machines were “too insecure to use in New Jersey.” He made the assessment in connection with a public interest group’s lawsuit to block use of the machines.

The state used the machines anyway, and apparently got away with it.

Now it looks like déjà vu may be just around the corner. State elections officials this month asked the Legisture to let them off the hook on a requirement that they equip each voting machine in the state with a printer in time for the gubernatorial election. By creating a paper trail of each vote, the printers would provide a way to confirm that the results they reported were accurate.

More:
http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/new-jersey-still-needs-to-fix-its-electronic-voting/

[tbyg52]

28. Editorial: Take politics out of redistricting (CA)

Lost in the furious reaction to its referendum on same-sex marriage was the approval by California voters of a reform that Massachusetts and other states should emulate. By a small but sufficient margin, voters took control of legislative redistricting away from the politicians.

Redistricting is among government's most basic housekeeping duties, and, as usually practiced, one of the most political. Federal and state constitutions require that a census of all citizens be taken every 10 years and that state legislative districts and U.S. House of Representatives districts be redrawn to reflect changes in population.

From the beginning, politicians have drawn district lines to their own advantage. District maps drawn by Massachusetts Gov. Eldridge Gerry following the first post-Constitution Census provided a term still in use today. Computer programs have made it easier than ever to "gerrymander" districts, usually to protect incumbents and handicap the minority party.

Such gerrymandering results in legislatures that are more extreme and subject to political paralysis. When politicians pick the voters they'll represent rather than letting the voters pick the candidates, they create "safe seats" that discourage competition at the ballot box and bipartisanship in the legislature.

More:
http://www.enterprisenews.com/opinions/x1196579389/Editorial-Take-politics-out-of-redistricting

[tbyg52]

29. Time to target gerrymandering (PA)

If there is any energy left in the reform movement following the pay raise outrage several years ago, redistricting of election districts is a matter worth considering. Every state has this problem.

The state legislators, Pennsylvania General Assembly included, have the constitutional prerogative to change election districts. When this is done with the aim of maintaining party control, it is known as gerrymandering. You can look this up.

On Nov. 4, California voters under their referendum prerogative voted to remove redistricting from the hands of the state legislators and to invest it in the hands of rationally chosen commission members. Votes are still being counted.

Both political parties are guilty of transgression. That Pennsylvania legislators will voluntarily relinquish redistricting prerogatives is highly unlikely. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania voters’ referendum prerogatives are meager. There was in the school property-tax reform act recently a slight referendum option. For some civic-minded or reform-minded group, reform of the redistricting procedure is a cause worth seizing upon.

More:
http://www.ldnews.com/opinion/ci_11098358

[tbyg52]

30. Why all votes are not equal (FL)

Now, while you are still rejoicing over or crying about the results of the 2008 election, let me bring to your attention the need to do something about the seldom mentioned but absolutely most pernicious force keeping us from achieving the goal of making all votes equal.

You think all votes are equal?

Then how do you explain the fact that in Florida as of Nov. 4, there were 4,722,076 registered Democrats and 4,064,301 Republicans, about 658,000 more Democrats than Republicans, yet our delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives numbers 15 Republicans and 10 Democrats?

As for the Florida Legislature, in the House of Representatives there are 77 Republicans and 43 Democrats, while in the Senate there are 26 Republicans and 14 Democrats.

Obviously a Republican has more voting power than a Democrat.

How come? Gerrymandering.

More:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081129/COLUMNIST/811290329/2127?Title=Why_all_votes_are_not_equal

[tbyg52]

32. Are Long Lines the ‘New Poll Tax’?

Did Rachel Maddow mean to suggest racism in naming long polling place lines as “the new poll tax”? After all, poll taxes were abolished in 1964 by the Civil Rights Act, which ended a mechanism of vote suppression dating back almost a century.

After the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870 (“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged…on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”) the South reacted with intimidation of black voters through violence. Within a few years poll taxes were enacted, very effectively disenfranchised the great majority of blacks, who could not come up with the cash that the tax required them to pay in order to vote.

Today, intentional vote suppression is illegal. So why would Maddow refer to long lines as a poll tax? Aren’t lines just a bureaucratic snafu, the inevitable consequence when voter turnout overruns predictions and an under-prepared county election apparatus struggles to cope?

Maybe not. Two generations after the Civil Rights Act, long lines at polling places show a striking correlation with the percentage of African-Americans in the voter population. States with a greater African-American population had more reports of long lines.

More:
http://inthesetimes.com/article/4068/are_long_lines_the_new_poll_tax/

[tbyg52]

33. More Unfinished 2008 Election Business: Verifiable Vote Counts

The ongoing Senate races in Minnesota and Georgia highlight America's disparate systems of voting and auditing the count.

Whether Democrats hold a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate -- cementing their political power as Barack Obama becomes the 44th president -- will be decided in early December as Minnesota finishes a senate recount and Georgia holds a run-off election.

But the nation will be seeing more than whether Minnesota Democrat Al Franken beats Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman to become the 59th Democratic senator, and whether Georgia Democrat Jim Martin beats Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, possibly putting a 60th senate seat in Democratic hands.

The country will also see a stunning contrast between two of the most commonly used voting systems in America -- hand-marked paper ballots in Minnesota versus paperless electronic voting in Georgia -- and that contrast, between an ability or lack thereof to verify vote counts, will highlight the need for additional federal election reforms.

More:
http://www.alternet.org/democracy/108667/more_unfinished_2008_election_business:_verifiable_vote_counts/

[tbyg52]

41. LTTE: Possible Voter Fraud

One more seat in the United States Senate is still up for grabs. The State of Georgia has scheduled a run-off between Democrat Jim Martin and incumbent republican senator, Saxby Chambliss. While most of the country has filed this election away, the hustle and bustle of the campaign is still alive and well in Georgia. As reported by CNN, endorsements by celebrities and heavyweight politicians are still rolling in and campaign ads are still airing. Along with these more (or less) innocuous election hallmarks, the worst cyclical occurance has reared its ugly head.

As a young absentee voter, I have experienced voter fraud. On the 26th of November, I called my local election office and asked why I hadn't received my absentee ballot for this important run-off. I was told that I had already voted on the 18th. Somehow, I travelled in my sleep from Boston to Atlanta to vote in a run-off and was back for class the next day. I should lay off the ambien.

More:
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-155049

[tbyg52]

42. Bailing out ignorance: Voting public 'dumber than ever'

So much for the wisdom of The People. A new report from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute on the nation's civic literacy finds that most Americans are too ignorant to vote.

Out of 2,500 American quiz-takers, including college students, elected officials and other randomly selected citizens, nearly 1,800 flunked a 33-question test on basic civics. In fact, elected officials scored slightly lower than the general public with an average score of 44 percent compared to 49 percent.

Only 0.8 percent of all test-takers scored an "A."

America's report card may come as little surprise to fans of Jay Leno's man-on-the-street interviews, which reveal that most people don't know diddly about doohickey. Still, it's disheartening in the wake of a populist-driven election celebrating joes-of-all-trades to be reminded that the voting public is dumber than ever.

More:
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081129/OPINION09/311299979/-1/OPINION

[tbyg52]

43. Why Minnesota's Recount Process is a Model for the Country

With a celebrity candidate and record-setting expenditures the race to represent Minnesota in the US Senate captured the nation’s attention even before the historically close margin was announced. An automatic, manual recount of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race that began could last until mid-December. As non-partisan, election integrity advocates in Minnesota, we welcome this attention and hope that one of the outcomes will be lessons learned that strengthen our democracy.

One reason for our optimism is that Minnesota’s election system minimizes problems and circumstances that have historically reduced voter confidence. The occurrence of such problems and circumstances in other states plagued the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. The people, procedures, and technology comprising Minnesota’s election system are among the most respected in the nation. Minnesota’s election system has great potential to certify results that accurately reflect the will of the voters and in which voters can have confidence.

More:
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2996&Itemid=113

[tbyg52]

44. More Election 2008 Stories: Election Judge Who "Helps" Voters Vote

I voted for Obama and if Laura could have voted she too would have adamantly voted for him as well. While I was voting there were judges who displayed their political alliances on their name badge. Well, as I was waiting in line to vote at one of the touch screen machines I noticed that there was a hispanic gentleman who seemed confused and a republican judge "helped" him. I noticed that he was reaching towards the screen to "demonstrate" how to use the machine and at that time I yelled "while I am glad to see you are helping to explain how to use the machine I don't think that a live demonstration means voting on his behalf". I promptly received a stern glance from the judge and as a result two other judges (Democrat) reminded the Rebulican judge that he was not allowed to be near the machines. (no judge was permitted).

My point is, all this happened in a short time (10 minutes), imagine repeated occasions in hundreds (or thousands) of voting sites in the US all day?

(A little) more:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/More-Election-2008-Stories-by-Joan-Brunwasser-081125-138.html

[tbyg52]

47. Popular Science: What You Need to Know About Voting Machines

After several centuries of casting and counting ballots, it’s shocking that we still haven’t mastered what seems to be a simple task. But anyone who lived through the 2000 presidential election, in which a mishmash of flawed voting machines, contradictory county procedures, and unclear state laws in Florida led to the least reliable outcome in history, knows that 21st century voting is no better than the era when we shouted out our votes at the courthouse steps. After 2000, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was passed by Congress to help rid us of hanging chads and stolen ballots by subsidizing e-voting machines. But, it turns out, the 50,000 e-machines turned out to be even more of a headache than the chads, with widespread reports of crashes, lost votes, flipped votes, and even hacking. Voting and vote counting since then has been more than a little bit interesting.

After almost of decade of voting reform and increased scrutiny, have we come far enough in safeguarding the vote? The answer is a resounding question mark. Though the real answer will come on November 4, many parts of the country have made great strides to fix the problems caused by electronic voting machines. The great solution? Send the machines to the dump. According to CBS news, just one-third of Americans will vote on electronic machines. Fifty-five percent of the electorate will rely on a relatively old technology, optical scan machines, which leave a paper trail.

In fact, the states with the biggest voting headaches—Florida, where e-machines dropped 15 percent of the Sarasota vote several years ago, and Ohio, the e-voting problem child of 2004—have made the biggest steps back. Last year, the Sunshine state unplugged 30,000 touch screen e-voting machines in favor of optical scanners with a recountable paper trail. In Ohio, where questions about touch-screen voting set off investigations after the 2004 election, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner reviewed the state’s entire voting system and forced its largest counties to abandon e-voting. This year, she has printed enough paper ballots to allow voting to continue if there are any glitches or irregularities with the machines. Other states that have devolved from e-voting to paper include California, where all but three counties now use optical scan machines, Iowa, which replaced its machines in April, and New Mexico which is now all paper.

More:
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-10/what-you-need-know-about-voting-machines

[tbyg52]

50. A couple of eVoting security podcasts, one an interview with Avi Rubin.

Might be other interesting stuff here from time to time.
http://www.fortify.com/news-events/podcasts.jsp

[tbyg52]

51. Denying military personnel the right to vote

By U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard

As my wife Joan and I filled out our ballots on November 4th, we were reminded and then disturbed over the thousands of military personnel serving overseas who routinely have been denied their right to vote.

Sadly, 2008 was no exception.

For instance, while the matter has not yet been resolved, it looks as though thousands of Virginia-based military voters stationed overseas may have been denied this fundamental right because local officials were late mailing out their ballots, which may have prevented them from being filled out and returned on time.

It is already a concern that the upcoming run-off election in Georgia is going to be conducted without many military ballots, as the expedited nature of that process means that the time required to facilitate overseas military ballots won't be available. Now is as important a time as ever to draw public notice to this matter.

For far too long, our service members" right to vote has been threatened by unnecessary hurdles and an overall ineffective process.

More:
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_11082518

[tbyg52]

56. Avoid the agony of recounts, and more, with instant runoff

We all were hoping that the bruising and expensive race for the U.S. Senate seat would end on Election Day.

Instead, the $40 million-plus campaign continues to permeate our headlines and limit our forward momentum. The Coleman-Franken race is now in a contentious recount and is almost certainly headed to the courts from there. The recount and its aftermath will be a protracted and high-priced affair, and no matter the outcome, most voters will be left wondering if there is not a better way to express our preferences.

Instant-runoff voting (IRV) would have produced an entirely different election.

More:
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/35018964.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:UthPacyPE7iUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

[tbyg52]

63. Making the case for Open Source software for elections (CA)

If the counting of the vote lies at the heart of democracy then vote-counting conducted in secret on proprietary software is a dagger threatening to still that heartbeat and undermine the integrity of the process. Among those who have looked into the abyss of secret vote-counting software is California Secretary of State Debra Bowen when she set up a task force to study the software used in her state’s elections.

Bowen says it is time for elections to be conducted with Open Source software. She is basing her conclusion on the findings of the Top to Bottom (T2B) Review of California voting systems that she ordered after taking office. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5893946&page=1

Bowen has a history of pushing for greater transparency and accountability in election technology. After taking office in November 2006, she commissioned a top-to-bottom review of e-voting systems, including detailed analyses of source code, documentation, security, and usability. “All of the systems had security issues,” Bowen said.

More:
http://votingmatters.wordpress.com/2008/11/28/making-the-case-for-open-source-software-for-elections/

[tbyg52]

64. Slow down Internet voting plan (FL)

Votes were cast in Florida's general election at polling sites in Germany, Britain and Japan as part of a small experiment in Internet voting. The pet project of the elections supervisor in Okaloosa County is being touted as a success. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has called for its expansion, but in truth the Internet voting effort was premature and wildly expensive for the relative handful of votes cast.

The Okaloosa Distance Balloting Pilot program was expected to collect 600 or so votes from the international sites, which were selected because of their proximity to large military bases where many Okaloosa residents are stationed. Okaloosa County is home to Eglin Air Force Base.

Voters cast ballots at kiosks on personal computers, and the votes were transmitted over the Internet through a secure line. Voters received a paper verification of their vote, which was dropped into a tamperproof box that was returned to the elections office as a backup.

More:
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article917344.ece

[tbyg52]

7. Campaign Finance nt

[tbyg52]

61. Final touches put on public campaign finance plan (NH)

A hearing on setting up a quasi-publicly funded campaign financing system for the state was momentarily interrupted Friday when the chairman asked about students standing in the back of the room.

They were there with State Sen. Jackie Cilley, D-Barrington, who said some of her business students at the University of New Hampshire, after exploring the Statehouse, may be candidates one day.

"You won't have to do what I do and beg for money every few years," she told them.

That may be true if the Legislature adopts the plan by the New Hampshire Commission on Public Funding of Elections, which has been making changes to a draft report ahead of submitting the proposal to the governor, legislative leaders and the secretary of state on Dec. 1.

More:
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081123/GJNEWS_01/711239841/-1/FOSNEWS

[tbyg52]

8. The Youth Vote nt

[tbyg52]

58. Why Democrats are thankful: The youth vote has arrived

In "Twelfth Night," Shakespeare reminds, "Youth's a stuff will not endure." But given what has been happening to the Republicans among the youngest voters, their resulting electoral problems could indeed endure for 20-30 years.

On November 4, the youngest cohort of voters, 18-29, gave Barack Obama a blow-out 66-32 win. It was by far his biggest margin among any age group. John McCain, by contrast, won only the over-65 set. And since the 18-year-old vote was established in 1972 (on which as a college kid I went to Washington to lobby my home-state senator, Majority Leader Mike Mansfield), this is the first time the youngest cohort of voters has comprised a larger share (18 percent) of the total electorate than the oldest group (16 percent).

This complete GOP wipeout among young voters has been brewing for some time, and the Republicans should have seen it coming. In 2000, Al Gore barely won the youngest voters 48-46. Four years later, John Kerry, not exactly a kid himself at 60, took the 18-to-29 set by a margin of 54-45 over George W. Bush. In 2006, when the Democrats took back the House and Senate, the youngest voters backed Democrats 60-38 - the highest among any age group. And now Obama pushed the margin to 34 points.

Signs of disaffection with Republicans among young people have been rampant for the past several years. In a national survey of young voters in May of last year, the polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner found a "Republican collapse among young Americans." When asked which party pays more attention to issues that affect young people, the Democrats were preferred by an eye-popping 60-21 over the Republicans.

More:
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_adctlid=v%7Cjq2q43wvsl855o%7Cxkur2wbxihxhn0&issueId=xkuqpe86jkpgow&xid=xkuqiewoqetgbm

[tbyg52]

59. Philippines: Be counted, young voters urged

Young first-time voters could make or break a presidential candidate’s chances in the coming elections, with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and poll watchdogs anticipating an increase in their number by 2010.

At the launch of the youth voters’ registration drive called “Bagong Bida, Be the Change” at the Comelec headquarters in Manila Tuesday, National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) Chair Henrietta de Villa said they expect an increase of two million youth voters added to the estimated nine million who participated in the 2007 midterm elections.

With young voters numbering 11 million, De Villa said they could be a formidable bloc in 2010. Around 13 million voted for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 presidential election, she added. “If you have 10 million votes, you already have a base. It would be difficult for your opponents to catch up.”

More:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20081126-174425/Be-counted-young-voters-urged

[Tuesday Afternoon]

11. silly me. I thought you meant

[tbyg52]

19. I *knew* there was a reason I decided to do this today....!

:hi:

[yowzayowzayowza]

26. K&R for olde times sake. n/t

[tbyg52]

68. Thank you! nt

[tbyg52]

65. That's all, folks!

And it looks like you, yes *you*, could be lucky rec #5...... ;)

[Lochloosa]

66. You need a hobby.

:evilgrin:

[tbyg52]

67. Nah, I just need to go back to work Monday.

I don't deal with free time real well - very emphatically not a self-starter. Unless someone is paying me or I actually promise an outside force to do a certain job at a certain time, I basically just read and hang out on DU. My major accomplishment is learning to feel less guilty about it.... ;)

[Fly by night]

69. Thanks so much for doing this. It demonstrates just how much our ER issues continue to percolate.

[tbyg52]

70. That's one of the reasons I did it.

This stuff didn't go away just because Democrats got elected, unfortunately....! :hi:

[Melissa G]

71. Thanks, tbyg! n/t

[tbyg52]

72. It seemed like a good idea at the time.... ;-> nt