Okay, I am missing something on the Election Fraud issue

[TayTay]

and need both help and a change in focus. (I am not getting something that everyone else is getting and it is bugging the crap out of me. I am becoming obsessed with this.)

I just saw the click through ad on DKos for Gov Bill Richardson and his petition to get paper ballots (read on an optical scanner) for all of New Mexico.

1. Why is he going national and paying obscene DKos advertising rates for this message?

2. What does he hope to gain from this? If he gets sigs from say, me in Massachusetts, what good does that do him?

There are two bills that address the machine fraud issue in the Senate.

S.330
Title: A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified permanent record or hardcopy under title III of such Act, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Ensign, John (introduced 2/9/2005) Cosponsors (11)
Related Bills: H.R.704
Latest Major Action: 2/9/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

AND

S.450
Title: A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified paper record, to improve provisional balloting, to impose additional requirements under such Act, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham (introduced 2/17/2005) Cosponsors (6)
Related Bills: H.R.939
Latest Major Action: 2/17/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/c109bills.html


Are these the only actions that have been taken? Is the rest of the movement to eliminate these machines taking place in the states? What else should someone like Sen. Kerry be doing on this issue. (Federally, Senators make laws. Well, here are the proposed laws. What am I missing here?)

Help, I can't see the forest cuz the trees are in the way. What other efforts should be underway?

[MH1]

1. I don't know about the Richardson thing yet...

(we in PA have our own headaches...make that migraines...sigh...)

but here is one site that discusses the bills in some detail:

http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?list=type&type=43

[TayTay]

4. Yeah, I read that

and saw they liked Ensign's bill and didn't have time to finish reading the other one and will get back to us on it. (Sigh!)

I read the statements at the Rules Committee site: http://rules.senate.gov/hearings/2005/062105_hearing.htm from last June when the Committee last considered the issue. I read Sen. Dodd's piece on the machines, I read the various professors and the objection to machine reform from the person from the Disabled American's group. Nobody seems to be able to come to a consensus on the federal level. (I think Ensign is on the level, but I'm not sure.)

So, if this doesn't seem to be going anywhere and neither of these bills have a real shot at making it out of committee, then doesn't the movement for reform (which can't be stopped, it has momentum) devlove to the individual states?

[MH1]

10. Don't know, but here is another link for legislation -

http://www.electioncenter.org/electionresources.html#legislation

Lists many other bills. A kludgy looking site but seems to have good info.

I am doing VRTF research tonight. Big sigh...

[JanusAscending]

11. Wish I could help you Tay!!

But now I'm confused too!! Our SOS Susan Bysevich had us all running around this fall checking out different voting machines for the State to make the change required by the US Govt......then announced that we were going to stick with our old lever machines due to problems with evoting contracts!! (Too much money maybe?) Today I saw a banner on TV while watching cable news stating that the US Govt. is suing NY State over voting machine issues???

[fedupinBushcountry]

2. Hmmm

Is it a way to get an e-mail list, so he can start pushing his message ?

I will not give to this, Richardson did not let a recount be done in New Mexico, when there should have been one. There was a lot of reasons to do it, and he refused. I ask WHY? Now he comes and said he wants a paper trail, well if he doesn't trust it now why did he trust the results in '04.

[wisteria]

5. My thoughts exactly. I am ignoring him. I will never forgive him for

his reaction in 2004 to counting the votes.

[Mass]

3. He is running for president and in 2004, he refused a recount in his

state.

He has to make it known that he is for election reform now.

[sandnsea]

6. What they said

Trying to build election reform cred and building an email list. I like paper ballots and opti-scan, but even opti-scan needs more transparency. Alot of those Ohio counties in question used opti-scan, which is where I get a little annoyed with the focus on Diebold and DRE's. Anyway, Richardson is quite late to the party.

[ProSense]

7. Every time I go back

to a particular website I see the ad and think: WTF?

How the hell does anyone justify Richardson as the face of election reform?

As Mass stated, he was the symbol of opposition to NM's recount effort.

[MH1]

8. Okay I clicked the "Read more..." link and

there wasn't very much more.

I edited the url to go to the main page of his site...that slogan should read "Help Bill move Bill's 2008 presidential campaign forward", methinks.

....

A ha... a little more digging and I found this:
http://www.billrichardson2006.com/reform/paperballots/

(the link that "Read more" should have gone to, but didnt)

Check this out:

Recent elections would suggest that democracy, the greatest system of government in the world, can be broken. As the world witnessed in 2000, the sanctity of the ballot box and the integrity of our government are vulnerable. The people of the United States lost faith in the electoral process, and the covenant between citizens and elected officials deteriorated. Those national officials scrambled to pass legislation to restore voter confidence, but in 2004, inaccurate exit polls raised further doubts about electronic voting machines without a verifiable paper record.

Oh, Bill, Bill, Bill....:banghead:

Now what he is really trying to do is say "look at me, here in New Mexico (my great state) we have done the best thing, which is insisted on paper ballots using optical scans to read them."

So because lots of grassroots fraudsters think optical scanned paper ballots are the best solution, he is trying to harness that wave of support, I believe.

FWIW, some say optical scan also has its problems. I can't come up with a good link at the moment, but I've seen reports describing the purported issues.

Anyway, between stopping the recount in NM in 2004 and his misstatement about the exit polls, well I guess those who already like him will overlook that stuff but others may not.

[wisteria]

9. His reaction or lack there of, cemented my opinion of him.He

is just another phoney who actually seemed happy Kerry didn't make it in 2004 so he could run in 2008. He could have done the right thing, but he didn't.

[kerrygoddess]

12. Richardson petition is to State Officials in all 50 states

Personally I think it is a good thing. We need verified voting. There is a big mess here in CA. Frankly if his petition helps to get people moving on this I am all for it and I have no doubt that JK is too. Each state right now is allowed to have their own laws and rules, that is part of the challenge. We need to get state officials to see that this needs to be done and also do something on the federal level.