by Robert Kennedy Jr., in Rolling Stone (June 2006)
"Was the 2004 Election Stolen?
Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House"
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen__________________________________________
No discussion of stolen elections should occur without FIRST stating these facts as the CONTEXT for the discussion:
Our country's election system is now under the control mainly of two private corporations, both with very close ties to the Bush regime and the Republican Party. They are counting all the votes with TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code, and with virtually no audit/recount controls. Would your Republican friend trust a voting system controlled, say, by George Soros, with "trade secret" software? Our election system has been rendered INHERENTLY FRAUDULENT--non-transparent, unverifiable. These extremely insecure and insider hackable electronic voting systems were fast-tracked into place, in the 2002-2004 period, with a $3+ billion federal boondoggle--the infamous "Help America Vote Act" (HAVA)--engineered by the biggest crooks in the Anthrax Congress, Tom Delay and Bob New (now indicted or resigned in bribery scandals), abetted by corporatist 'Democrats' like Christopher Dodd and Terry McAuliffe. No auditing controls (such as a paper ballot backup) were required for electronic voting; unregulated lavish lobbying, and secret industry "testing" of the machines, were permitted. The corporations that thus gained SECRET control of almost all vote tabulation in the country are:
DIEBOLD: Until recently, headed by Wally O'Dell, a Bush-Cheney campaign chair and major fundraiser (a Bush "Pioneer," right up there with Ken Lay), who promised in writing to "deliver Ohio's electoral votes to Bush-Cheney in 2004"; and
ES&S: A spinoff of Diebold (similar computer architecture), initially funded by rightwing billionaire Howard Ahmanson, who also gave one million dollars to the extremist 'christian' Chalcedon Foundation (which touts the death penalty for homosexuals, among other things). Diebold and ES&S have an incestuous relationship; they are run by two brothers, Bob and Todd Urosevich.
These are the people who "counted" 80% of the nation's votes in 2004, under a veil of corporate secrecy.
SEQUOIA: The third major election theft industry player, which hired Republican former Calif Secretary of State Bill Jones, and his chief aide, Alfie Charles, to peddle their machines--in an outstanding example of the highly corrupt practice of "revolving door" employment.
__________________________________________
SOME RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN REVOLUTION II: Election Reform
Hopeful signs - latest news:
California voters sue the state over Diebold:
www.VoterAction.org is suing the state of California and 18 Calif county registrars on behalf of 25 California voter/plaintiffs, on the illegal Diebold "certification" by Schwarzenegger appointee Bruce McPherson.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2180496San Diego voters sue the state over Diebold (CA-50, Bushby/Bilbray)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1995831&mesg_id=1995831Maryland rejects Diebold:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x418263Florida - anti-trust accusations against Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia, re: heroic Florida election official Ion Sancho:
(FLA AG subpoenas the companies)
http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,110192,00.htmlhttp://www.tbo.com/news/politics/MGBKSY8W8LE.html(info & discussion)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2183630Utah county clerk fights back!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x419226-----
More resources for American Revolution II:
www.votersunite.org (MythBreakers - easy primer on electronic voting--one of the myths is that HAVA requires electronic voting; it does not.)
www.UScountvotes.org (statistical monitoring of '06 and '08 elections--they need donations)
(Activist sites with links to state activist groups or info)
www.votetrustusa.org (news of this great movement from around the country)
www.votersunited.org (good general info, and state links)
www.verifiedvoting.org (great activist site)
www.solarbus.org/election/index.shtml (fab compendium of all election info)
www.freepress.org (devoted to election reform)
www.bradblog.com (also great, and devoted to election reform)
www.TruthIsAll.net (analysis of the 2004 election) :patriot: :applause: :patriot:
www.votepa.us (well-organized local group of citizen activists in Pennsylvania, where important legal issues are at stake, including state's rights over election systems)
Provisions of the PA lawsuit:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x423739The Voter Confidence Resolution
http://tinyurl.com/rlnr2 (“We Do Not Consent”)
http://guvwurld.blogspot.com (GuvWurld blog main page)
http://tinyurl.com/amryg (Voter Confidence Resolution
www.debrabowen.com (Calif Senator running for Sec of State to reform election system)
www.johnbonifaz.com (running for Massachusetts Sec of State on strong election reform and antiwar platform)
Congressional bills: (NOTE-don't count on the people who gave you the Iraq war to give you back your right to vote! Think nationally--act locally!)
Russ Holt's HR 550 requires a real paper ballot, bans secret software in "voting machines", and has more than 170 co-sponsors, but the audit required is too weak, it promotes electronic voting and centralized power, and the secret software might be permitted to continue in the central tabulators (the bill is not clear). To sign the HR 550 petition:
http://www.rushholt.com/petition.htmlAt lot of discussion at DU of the loopholes/pitfalls in HR 550:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x422926http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x421136http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=422967&mesg_id=422967(Note: Senate Bill-SB 330 and House-HR704 simply require a "voter verified paper audit trail" (VVPAT), which may be best for the moment.)
Also of interest:
Michael Collins (Autorank)'s searing election reform article for New Zealand's Scoop.com
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x971363 Bob Koehler (-- four recent election reform initiatives in Ohio, predicted to win by 60/40 votes, flipped over, on election day, into 60/40 LOSSES!--the biggest flipover we've seen yet; the election theft machines and their masters are now dictating election policy!)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col321.htmBob Koehler's latest: "Take this box and stuff it" (3/16/06)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col337.htmAmaryllis (Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia lavish lobbying of election officials - Beverly Hilton, Aug. '05)
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x380340
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Throw Diebold, ES&S and ALL election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!
:think: :patriot: :woohoo: :patriot: :think:
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"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." --Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
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