Tom Joad: THIS is the story of the year-the Ohio Sec. of State is in violation of Ohio law.

[babylonsister]

From here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=460330714006421&set=a.433295386709954.96727.433288343377325&type=1&theater

[lady lib]

1. Kick

[Tippy]

2. I can not believe this is happening again

Where is the hell is the Justice Department?

[bvar22]

41. Attorney General Holder & The Justice Dept is currently occupied....

... keeping America safe from Pot Smokers.


Sending the BBV Machines in to be tested AFTER the election is too late.
It is easy to have malicious code erase itself after it has done damage.

The ONLY way to solve this problem is to dump ALL computer operated Voting Machines and Tabulators , and reclaim OUR Elections from "Private" hands.

What works in other nations WILL work here too:

*One Day Voting, national Holiday, polls open 24 hours

*Vote In Person on Voting day
(I LIKE the Purple Fingers of Iraq)

*Paper Ballots deposited in a transparent Ballot Box

*Multiple Independent Exit Polls and Observers

*Ballots hand counted at the Voting Station in Public
with live Inet Video Feed

*No Ballot Boxes or Ballots to be removed from the Voting Station
or public & Video view "to be recounted elsewhere" until after the election is certified


"Privatized" elections should have NEVER been allowed.


Other things that should NEVER be privatized in a democracy:

*Prisons

*Military

*Police

*Schools ("Charter Schools" ARE "Private Schools&quot

*Administration of The Commons

*Health Insurance

*National Pension (Social Security)

*Roads & Bridges

*Utility Grids (Power & Water delivery)

Turning ANY of the above over to "Private" Corporations should raise Screaming Red Flags.



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their rhetoric, promises, or excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[rhett o rick]

42. it concerns me that the Democratic Party hasnt been more forceful in seeing that

we have free, fair and verifiable elections. This is where we draw a line in the sand.

[bvar22]

46. After the Stolen Election of 2000,

and the "questionable" election of 2008,
you would think that transparent, verifiable elections would be a Front Burner issue with the Democratic Party Leadership.
Transparent, Verifiable Elections are supported by over 92% of the American People,
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x446445
so THIS is an easy WIN/WIN.
But NO!
Only silence on this most important of issues.

You have to go Waaaaaaay out on the Fringe Left Wing to find a Democrat that is even willing to talk about it in public,
and HE got Re-Districted out of office.

Lesson Learned?


You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their rhetoric, promises, or excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[rhett o rick]

63. I think it will have to get much worse before citizens demand action. nm

[MessiahRp]

84. By questionable election of 2008, you mean 2004, right?

I've been saying this all along. The race we need to win is the State SOS offices. That way we control elections and can ensure fair fights in the future. It doesn't seem like a high priority gig for the party so no money is ever spent there. Winning the Presidency and Senate Races and such is important but it's a million times harder if we don't control the SOS positions.

[bvar22]

94. Oops! My Bad.

I certainly meant 2004, Ohio and other places,
though I firmly believe there WERE "problems" in 2008.
The gap in Presidential Election was Too-large-to-Steal,
(and it was time to rotate Corporate Control to the Democrats to maintain the illusion of choice),
but there were many Down Ticket races that could have been stolen.
They only needed ONE in the Senate to knock the wheels off of the chance of getting anything remotely "Liberal" through the Senate.

Believe me when I say that "they" have it ALL figured out.

[Blanks]

47. I agree with some of what you say.

However, private utilities aren't always a disaster. As long as there is a strong government regulatory agency. It's a mistake to allow private companies to completely take over traditionally government services without any oversight, but I don't agree that it is always a mistake to experiment with private utility ownership when it encourages competition.

Schools have to improve. Period. If that means we experiment with private schools a little; I'm willing to give it a try.

As far as voting; we do a lot of banking over the Internet without any problems. There is no reason (if we can trust our money to electronics) that we can't develop a checks and balance system for voting that is trustworthy. I think you're right; in that, for the time being we need paper ballots, or receipts, or some method of verification, but if we can do paperless banking we can get to paperless voting eventually.

[bvar22]

49. Exit Polls are the International Touchstone for Election Verification.

Last edited Sat Nov 3, 2012, 05:33 PM - Edit history (1)

That is why I support One Day Voting In Person.

Voting-by-Mail or Over-the-Net is convenient,
but to paraphrase Franklin,
those who would give up "a little" of their election security for the sake of convenience,
don't deserve fair elections.

I do agree with closely regulated, publicly accountable utilities,
and have no problem with "Charter" (Private) schools
[font size=3]as long as they do NOT receive a Single Penny of taxpayer money.[/font]
The USA already has a Public School system.
If it is broken, FIX IT,
not siphon Tax Payer Money OUT of the system and into "private" hands.
Charter Schools are just another "Privatization" SCAM designed to
*allow "connected" people to have access to the Public Treasury.

Our Public Schools could be "fixed" overnight:
simply require everyone who draws a paycheck from Uncle Sam to send Their Kids to the nearest Public School.

[quakerboy]

60. Sorry, way off

I will put up our Oregon vote security against any state any day. I trust the USPS to deliver my vote over any voting machin any day. Andwe have an inherent paper trail. It can be recounted. Forget convenience, it's access and security all in one.

[bvar22]

62. I also trust the USPS over any BBV Voting Machine too,

...but that does NOT mean that Oregon has a Steal Proof System,
just that you are marginally better than BBVoting.

You still have no way of knowing if your vote was recorded, counted, tabulated, and reported correctly after you drop that envelope in the mail box.
....And THAT doesn't take into account the absence of Exit Polls.
In that respect, Vote-by-Mail is the least secure of all the ways to vote in America.


I stand by my post.

[quakerboy]

103. That remains true of every county I am aware of

Unless you personally count the vote, you don't know that it was counted and reported correctly. And that's true whether you send it via email, snail mail, paper ballot or black box. There is no steal proof system.

And exit polls didn't do us any good in 2000. We may apply those things other places, but the us doesn't seem to pay them any mind. That said, exit polling is not any less possible under vote by mail. There is a record of ballots recieved. I can go online and make sure that mine has been checked in. And they can just as easily contact people from that record as they can ask people coming out of a polling place.

So I also stand by my post.

[bvar22]

105. 1) The USPS is in the process of being Privatized.

Pieces of it are already being sold off to private corporations.
Will you be as trusting of the USPS once it too is owned and operated by the same corporations that own the voting machines?


2)Where in Oregon do you live?
Eugene?
Portland?
Do you also trust the USPS in Spokane?
What about in the rural SE corner of Oregon?
What about the USPS in Dothan, Alabama?

True Story:
It was recently discovered that the Postmaster at a rural Zip Code in Arkansas
had been pocketing the money he received for renting the boxes at his post office.
He had been doing this for SEVEN YEARS.

You may feel all smug and falsely confident up in Oregon,
but would you trust the Mail-In vote in Louisiana or Florida?
The point is, We need a National Standard of Security for our Elections.


3)Exit Polls didn't do us any good in 2000?
How do you know?
I believe they worked perfectly,
as they do in every other country in the World,
AND in the USA in every election before 2000.

BTW: It IS a Corporate Talking Point that the exit polls didn't work in 2000,
an election that is KNOWN to have been stolen.

4)The last I heard,
the ballots in Oregon are still counted, tabulated, and reported by hackable computers.

5)"There is no steal proof system"
Maybe, but some are more secure than others.

Continuous physical, public, visible Chain of Custody of the ballots & ballot boxes until the vote is counted and certified is the MOST secure system in the World.

THAT actually IS the level of security you prescribed when you said,
[font size=3]"Unless you personally count the vote, you don't know that it was counted and reported correctly."[/font]
Under the system I support, you CAN stand there and watch until your vote is counted,
or watch the actual ballots & boxes over an internet feed on your smart phone or computer
AND play back the Casino Style Video tape IF you suspect ANYTHING improper.
ANYONE & EVERYONE would be able to do that.


Vote-by-Mail remains one of the least secure of all the ones we use in the USA.
ALL you can verify is that in some data base, your name is electronically added to the digital file of names for those who have sent in a ballot.

Think about it.
Think about it for Texas.
Those votes affect your life in Oregon too.

If your democracy is important enough,
you will Show Up on election day and WATCH your vote being counted.

Those who would sacrifice Election Security for convenience
don't deserve fair elections. (Forgive me Ben Franklin).

[quakerboy]

110. Those who

Would sacrifice ballot access for the illusion of security deserve no better.

1. And that needs to stop. But it's no different than every other part of the voting process being privatized. This point is a distraction, not a point

2 yes. Any day I will trust the USPS in any city and any state over partisan election officials.

We do need a national standard of voting security. But as long as dishonest people run part of the system, any unchecked moment is a chance for the system to be subverted.

3) it's a fact. Gore won. Bush ruled. Exit polls did us no good.

4) counted by machine yes. Recounted by hand if anyone has reason to doubt the results. And people can, just as you desire, go to watch the counting done.

I am sorry. I disagree with you. I do not feel that the facts bear you out. Humans with ill intent will find ways to subvert any system, and the main danger is not in the countingroom, particularly when they are watched, but in the trasnmission of data from each count to the county and up to the state. one counter can mess with a few votes. but as they are aggregated, they can mess with thousands.

I do not see any difference in security between what you propose and what we enjoy here in Oregon. We could add some security. I like the idea of a live round the clock webcam of the ballots waiting to be counted. And I do think we need a national standard. But I do not accept your premise that in person voting is more secure. I will take my Oregon system over that of any other state as they currently exist.

[bvar22]

111. Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong.

[font color=red]1) "Those who would sacrifice ballot access for the illusion of security deserve no better."[/font]
Strawman.
No one is advocating for limiting ballot access.
If our democracy is important enough to you,
you will find a way of voting on voting day.

Absentee ballots will be available to those who are absent, and those with special needs.
The needs (secure elections) of the many DOES outweigh the needs of the few.
Fact of life.


[font color=red]"I will trust the USPS in any city and any state over partisan election officials"[/font]
Another Strawman.
No one has advocated for ANYONE to trust partisan election officials, except yourself.
WHO do you imagine opens, handles, and reads your Mailed-In ballot AFTER the USPS delivers your letter,
(Gee. I would HATE for an extraneous mark to somehow be added to a ballot, disqualifying it)
and WHO do you imagine enters THAT information or ballot into a software programed computer to read and log your vote,
and WHO do you imagine is involved in sending THAT information to another computer serving as a Central Tabulator,
and WHO do you imagine reads and reports that information to the Media
where it comes out of your TV set telling you who WON!!!!

In our discussions in THIS thread, I am the one telling everyone NOT to trust the System or the "partisan election officials"
but to show up on election day,
cast your vote on a paper ballot,
watch as that ballot is put in a transparent Ballot Box,
and then STAY THERE and WATCH as that vote is counted,
or better yet, watch the Internet feed over your SmartPhone or Home Computer.

You and the other Mail-in-Your-Vote advocates are the ones telling everybody to Trust The System, the (soon to be Corporate Owned)USPS, & the Election officials.
"Just Mail It in and go sit in front of your TV.
You can TRUST them.
They will tell you who WON!!!
Honest."

You know it is a JOKE when a someone's lackluster performance is criticized by saying,
"Yeah. They Phoned-It-In today"
How much more pathetic is Mailing-It-In?


[font color=red]"3) it's a fact. Gore won. Bush ruled. Exit polls did us no good."[/font]
Just plain denial
It is also a fact that we KNOW that that election was stolen,
and the VERY FIRST indicator that it was being stolen was when it was "reported" that the Exit Polls were "somehow" wrong. The investigations that followed were initially justified by the attack on the Exit Polls.
The UN, the World and people who want to see Secure Elections in the USA do NOT doubt the value of Exit Polls.
....but there ARE still people who continue to insist that the Earth was created only 6000 years ago.


[font color=red]"4) counted by machine yes. Recounted by hand if anyone has reason to doubt the results. And people can, just as you desire, go to watch the counting done."[/font]
a legitimate point
HOWEVER, there is absolute ZERO Chain of Custody of those ballots.
Who really knows WHAT is being "counted" and where it came from?

[Blanks]

64. I'm not advocating for electronic ballots until a functional system is in place.

The only point I was trying to make is that paper ballots should only be a short term solution. Though paper is a renewable resource; I'd still rather conserve it whenever possible. There are a lot of energy inputs into making paper.

I agree that paper ballots are what we need to do in order to restore our confidence in the voting process, but long term (that's why I mention banking) we should be able to establish a paperless system that we have confidence in. The current system is in serious need of reform.

As far as our different views on education; perhaps another day, but we are probably not that far apart on that.

[JDPriestly]

72. Don't you get a receipt when you shop at the supermarket?

It wouldn't take much paper to vote. Our mail-in ballots are complete on one small card. And we can make a photocopy of the ballot. I think we should be completely mail-in ballots.

[bvar22]

95. I don't.

This is the least verifiable method of voting in America.
There is NO Popular Experience of Who Won,
not to mention no possibility of Exit Polls.
After you drop that ballot on the mail box,
you are TOTALLY dependent on The System (People you don't know and can't see) to verify, count, tabulate, and report YOUR vote.
Then you have to trust some corporate paid Talking Head on your TV to tell you Who WON!!!!


Democracy depends on People-in-the-Streets.
Crowds of people on Election Day provide a great Cross-Check (Unofficial exit polls),
in addition to fulfilling our democratic duties.

Holding a paper receipt or a (supposed) "copy" of the ballot you supposedly mailed in
will be virtually useless AFTER the Election has been stolen.

If your democracy is important enough to you,
you WILL Show Up on Election Day.

[Blanks]

98. The methods you describe offer no additional security.

If we want elections that we can trust; election thieves need to go to jail. Vote counting software must be open source and approved by people recognized as professionals in the field; access to the code in the machines should be very tightly controlled, and anyone caught tampering with it should be sent to the big house for a long time. .

Sure, we need people in the streets to get out the vote. Face to face human interaction is important. As far as allowing some 'talking head' to tell you who won. People don't get all of their news from the TV anymore.

I have a nationwide network of very knowledgeable people sitting right here in the palm of my hand. I can be made aware of what is going on in the world while I watch Sesame Street with my severely autistic non-verbal self-injurious daughter. Some people have to make special arrangements just to get out of the house; suggesting that folks don't care just because they aren't out driving around on election day is judging everyone else based on the standards that you have established based on your own circumstances.

This entire election has been a huge waste of non-renewable resources and insisting that we set aside all technological advances just because you've decided that's the only way it's gonna work is amusing in a sad kind of way.

[bvar22]

101. Yes. They DO offer much greater security.

The methods I prescribe above offer continuous Physical, Visible, Public Chain of Custody of the Ballots and Ballot Boxes
until all the votes are counted, recounted if necessary, and the election certified.

[Blanks]

102. Believe what you want.

It seems there were stories of ballots getting lost in Florida during the 2000 election. Perhaps we should all just drive all of our ballots to Washington to have the president count them personally.

There is going to be a point where you turn the ballot over to someone else; it can be turned over electronically immediately with tracking just as reliably once a trustworthy system is put in place.

Do you want to go back to exclusively paper money too? Should we get rid of email and go back exclusively to snail mail (or better yet the pony express), perhaps we should go back to cashiers writing out all receipts by hand.

Technology isn't the enemy here; people who want to steal elections are the enemy. I think we're just gonna have to agree to disagree on this.

[bvar22]

106. Believe what you want??!!!

No.
That is a False Equivalency Logical Fallacy worthy of Climate Change Deniers at Fox News.

Facts are Facts,
and Continuous, Visible, Public/Video Chain of Custody of the ballots and ballot boxes IS a much more secure system.
There is no "Believe what you want" involved here.

Nowhere have I argued that technology is the enemy.
THAT is a Strawman Logical Fallacy.
The "enemy" are those who would USE technology to steal elections.

Until we, as a nation, decide to discard our Secret Ballot protections,
we will not ever be able to use a digital accounting system like our Banking System to verify our votes.
Even if there comes a time that we can log on to a National System and access the file that contains our voting records (scary) we STILL won't be able to verify a vote count until THAT file is public.
I can check my balance at the Bank, and so can the IRS, my creditors, and any decent hacker.
Anybody can check someone's Credit Record and Property Ownership.
Do you want to give "them" access to your voting records too?

In order to verify an election, the public would have to have the ability check EVERYONE'S voting record.
Are you ready for THAT?




Cheers.

[Blanks]

109. The 'purity' of the secret ballot is the problem.

If you've got a box full of ballots; it makes no difference how secure the box is. It's vulnerable to ballot stuffing, or removal.

I didn't suggest allowing 'anybody' to view your voting records (straw man indeed), but given the choice; I'd rather a few people know how I voted than some of the other privacy issues that we've given up.

If the ballot is tied to a person and only the authorized persons verify that the ballot matches a name (with severe penalties for persons who violate that trust) it is essentially a secret ballot. A lot of people know how I voted; it doesn't scare me that two poll workers verify that the ballot that they are looking at matches my name on a list.

Again, we are just going to have to agree to disagree. I believe that you are firm in your convictions; your 'firmness' in your convictions is not persuasive to me.

[bvar22]

112. A transparent ballot box under continuous public & video surveillance...

.... at the Voting Station until the votes are counted and the election is certified is NOT
vulnerable to ballot stuffing, or removal.
That is WHY the Eye in the Sky is so effective at stopping cheaters in Vegas.

I also couldn't persuade my Fundamental Christian neighbor that the Earth is older than 6000 years.
He looks at onjective facts, and then chooses to NOT believe.
Go figure.

[Blanks]

114. I'm sorry your neighbor is a moron.

Perhaps if he looked at objective facts (instead of onjective facts); he would choose to believe. There are several things that you and I have discussed (and each time you've used the 'straw man' fallacy) maybe you can't persuade your neighbor because your just not very persuasive.

Just because something was the best system a 100 years ago; doesn't mean it will always be the best system. I don't expect that you're going to convince me on this, but take heart; I'm nobody anyway (just a civil engineer) there is no reason to expect that anyone is going to be adopting any system that I come up with.

You may very well be right about the mandatory components in the system; it just seems like an overly resource intensive system.

[Blanks]

96. Yes, but that isn't necessary.

I'm offered the opportunity for a receipt when I fuel my vehicle; I push no. I didn't used to, but my confidence in the system is such that; I don't worry about the receipt. If someone were to challenge me (which they won't because you can't begin pumping until you've either scanned a card or paid inside) I know that I could prove the purchase on my iPhone. i'd rather my receipts be emailed to me.

That's what I mean. It's gonna take a while to establish confidence in the voting system, but to think that we should never get away from paper ballots; I'm not sure I agree with 'never'.

Right now; yeah, paper ballots to stamp out corruption. I expect we can get to a point where you can vote from your mobile device (and should because it is a huge waste of energy requiring that people drive to the polls).

I'm not saying I have some kind of system, but that's the way things seem to be trending. It isn't just the fuel that's wasted; we should put a value on human time and energy.

[JDPriestly]

71. People should vote by mail and make a copy of the ballot they fill out by hand until the election

has been fairly decided.

[bvar22]

97. What possible "Real World" good do you believe....

...that copy you made of your ballot before you Mailed-it-In will do if you see something that makes you question the validity of the election?

You can sit in front of your TV and curse the Talking Head reporting the results while you hold your "copy" in your hand,
but that is about all.
There is NO scenario where these "copies" will be collected and counted.

Without multiple, independent Exit Polls, what would you see on your TV that would make you suspect the vote count?
What criteria would you use?

... the Media Polls?
You see what they are doing with those now.


AFTER the election is stolen, it is TOO late.
The simple procedures I outlined above
will PREVENT elections from being stolen, and provide a fool proof Chain-of-Custody of the paper ballots
and ballot boxes should a recount become necessary.


Democracy is about People-in-the-Streets,
especially on Election Day.
If it is important enough to you,
you will Show Up.

[JDPriestly]

104. I vote by mail. I trust mail voting more than I trust the machines at the polling place.

[bvar22]

108. I'm promoting a system that is OUTSIDE the binary choice you posed above.

Neither of the two systems you mentioned above are secure.
There IS a simple way to ensure the validity of our elections:

*One Day Voting, National Holiday, Polls open 24 hours.

*Paper Ballots, Deposited in a transparent Ballot Box.
Purple fingers would be cool!

*Multiple Independent Exit Polls

*Ballot Boxes remain in Public View with continuous Video Surveillance uploaded to the Internet

*Votes counted by hand in public view & Internet Video view,
results posted on the Voting Station door.

*NO ballots or ballot boxes removed from the polling station with continuous Public/ Video observation until the election is certified.

That is the system the rest of the World uses,
and it has been proven to be the most accurate,
transparent,
and verifiable.

That is the system supported by the UN.
Would you trust a Mail-in-your-Vote system in Haiti?

[TheMadMonk]

68. Difference is bank records are perusable. Voting records aren't. /nt

[Blanks]

100. Voting records are perusable by someone.

If we can trust all of our money to an electronic system; we can trust our elections to an electronic system. Obviously not the current system.

There are a bunch of poll workers at the polling places and there should be a way of them verifying that every vote is counted, and that every vote comes from a real person. We should be able to have early voting so that there is plenty of time to match the vote with the voter and have a poll worker from each party verify every vote. That person shouldn't have to be standing right in front of them at that moment in time.

If we want accurate exit polls; the press should be allowed access to the names of the voters then they can contact those people via email, phone or in person. In fact we could have a system whereby the poll workers provide the names, the press asks the questions, returns the answers to the polling place, and the polling place return the percentage of people lying to the press. The private ballot is protected, but the mystery about whether people are lying about the votes is eliminated. This would require people to provide either an email address, a phone number, or a location that they can be found on election day. If they don't provide the information; they must understand that they will not be participating in an exit poll. It could be a requirement that if you plan on voting electronically you must provide an email address.

The idea that the entire country should be shut down just so people can drive to the polls and respond to exit polls is laughable. What we're talking about here is the difference between a couple of little old ladies sitting in front of a single computer matching votes with voters that came in via iPhones versus millions of vehicles making a special trip (sometimes even taking a day off) to somewhere that may not be on their way to work. There's no reason your ballot can't be sitting somewhere electronically until you decide to submit it. You should be able to change your mind right up to the last minute, or vote early.

To suggest that we're lazy because the government hasn't set up a reliable, trustworthy system is ridiculous. That's like blaming drivers because there are potholes in the road. It's someones job to develop a system that works; if they do it right, it will work; if they don't do it right we should complain until the people who can do it right are put in place. The better system is the one that works with the least amount of effort.

[bvar22]

107. Your Banking Records are "perusable" by the IRS, your creditors, and any decent hacker.

Until we are ready to give up the protections of our Secret Ballot
our voting records will not be "perusable" by anyone,
nor should they be.

[TheMadMonk]

113. Hand counted paper ballots works perfectly well.

The only machine intervention that makes any possible sense is machine assisted ballot marking.

[sunnystarr]

61. +1000 (nt)

[Fawke Em]

65. I work in network security (all-be-it in a non-technical position, but

I still learn about the issues, how they're found and how they're solved since I'm in marketing and it's my job to promote it).

I still cannot understand how the evoting machines and their software can't be subpenaed for independent investigation. We are constantly accepting machines, hard drives, etc. (and are taught how to preserve the chain-of-command should we be the person to accept the evidence). A judge simply has to order it - proprietary or not - it's of no consequence to a judge.

Anyone know why there's never been a case where the machines were subpenaed.

[Scuba]

69. Great post, thanks.

[flamingdem]

70. DOJ is dispatching 800 attorneys to hotly contested areas n/t

[yends21012]

80. Excellent list and totally agree

If it serves for the benefit of all people, then it should be managed by the Government and not mismanaged by people for their own private gain at the expense of the people.

[northoftheborder]

3. kick

[1monster]

4. K&R

[Dustlawyer]

5. I am tired of the too big to be indicted shite! Prosecute them all! Protect our VOTE!

[daleanime]

8. 12years is far too long...

We should be the gold standard for voting not the laughing stock.

[Stargazer09]

6. Beautiful!

I hope John decides to protect himself by being honest.

I doubt he will, though. He's being paid too handsomely.

[NeonDog]

7. March on this MF's house...hound this bastard in public...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. These bastards think America is too timid....

We have been suckered into believing we need a permit to protest.

Unlike other countries...

[plethoro]

29. That is exactly what needs to be done--and worse. These people are stealing

our country and our usual response is to go someone and hold up weird signs or maybe send out a bunch of nasty emails. We are in reality now. If the rakes and the shovels don't come out, we are done for. It's just that f-kn simple.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

9. Excellent.

Husted should be reminded of the fact that after Harris did Jeb's dirty work, Jeb thanked her by endorsing Charlie Crist for governor and not Harris.

[alfredo]

11. Blackwell's political career suffered too.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

16. I am drawing a blank on Blackwell...can you remind me please...

[starroute]

21. Here's a memory refresher

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/04/ken-blackwell-ohio-brown-senate

Remember Ken Blackwell? He was Ohio's secretary of state in 2004 who was accused of throwing the presidential vote in that crucial swing state in favor of George W. Bush and overseeing "massive and unprecedented voter irregularities and anomalies" that disenfranchised tens of thousands of voters. Now Blackwell's back—and he's eyeing a place in the US Senate.

Roll Call reports today that Blackwell, who unsuccessfully ran for Ohio governor in 2006, has talked with the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), a heavy-hitter among Senate GOPers, about challenging Democrat Sherrod Brown in the 2012 election. Blackwell said he won't make a final decision about his political future until after his forthcoming book, "Resurgent: How Constitutional Conservatism Can Save America," comes out in late May.

There are plenty of reasons why Blackwell's idea is a bad one. First, he'd be joining two other GOP contenders, among them Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel. And Brown is fairly popular in Ohio. He handily defeated incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine in 2006 by 12 points, and in a recent survey by Public Policy Polling, Brown led all potential opponents by double digits. "Sherrod Brown appears to be in a much stronger position now than he was just three months ago," said Dean Debnam, who heads Public Policy Polling.

Then, of course, there's Blackwell's 2004 debacle. An investigation by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Democratic committee staff concluded that Ohio's voting disaster in 2004 was "caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior, much of it involving Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell." Long lines, faulty voting machines, onerous barriers for voter registration, a rigged recount—anything that could go wrong in Ohio did on Election Day 2004.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

34. Thanks...

Yes, now I remember....as a resident of FL, Harris is etched in my memory...Blackwell faded into dim memory...Now he's etched as well.

[greiner3]

23. Ken Blackwell;

"Ohio Secretary of State
Involvement in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election

As Secretary of State of a hotly contested swing state, Blackwell played a prominent role in the 2004 national election. As Secretary of State, Blackwell held the position of Chief Elections Officer, overseeing Ohio's elections process. In Congressional testimony, Blackwell stated that every Republican holder of statewide office in Ohio was named an honorary "co-chair" of the Bush campaign, that the position carried no responsibilities, and that previous Ohio Secretaries of State from both parties had held similar honorary positions.[6]

Blackwell also announced he would enforce an Ohio State election law decreeing that any person who appeared at a polling place to vote but whose registration could not be confirmed would be given only a provisional ballot; if it were later determined that the person had attempted to vote in the wrong precinct, then their provisional ballot would not be counted. He also directed poll workers to refuse to distribute provisional ballots unless they were satisfied as to the voter's residence. The Democratic party promptly filed a lawsuit claiming that the policy was "intended to disenfranchise minority voters" and in violation of federal election law, specifically section 302 of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).[7]

On October 21, 2004, U.S. District Court Judge James G. Carr issued an order rejecting Blackwell's policy.[8] Blackwell said that he would go to jail rather than comply.

Blackwell appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. On October 26, 2004, the Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed in part and reversed in part. The court agreed with the plaintiffs and the District Court that Blackwell's directive violated HAVA to the extent that it empowered poll workers to withhold a provisional ballot based on their "on-the-spot determination at the polling place." The court also ruled, however, that if a subsequent review concluded that the voter was not entitled to vote in that precinct, then the provisional ballot would not be counted. (pdf)(pdf) In accordance with the Court of Appeals ruling, provisional ballots cast in the wrong precincts were not counted in Ohio's 2004 elections.

Democratic members of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary asked Blackwell to explain irregularities in the Ohio election in two letters, (pdf) (pdf) and requested his presence at a Public Congressional Hearing. (pdf) He did not attend the hearing, but responded to the first letter, refusing to comply with their requests for explanation, noting that he was already responding to requests from the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Justice. (pdf)

Keith Olbermann interviewed Blackwell regarding the 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy.[9]

On December 27, 2004, Blackwell requested a court order to protect him from being interviewed in the Moss v. Bush case, a challenge of the presidential vote, and fought a subpoena, arguing that the litigation was frivolous.[10]
List of legal suits and rulings

As Ohio Secretary of State, Blackwell has been a party to many election-related lawsuits.[11] Some of these include:

Moss v. Bush; Dismissed at request of plaintiff after certification of electoral votes
Beacon Journal Publishing Company, Inc. and Charlene Nevada v. J. Kenneth Blackwell and the Board of Elections; Ohio was ordered to permit reporters to enter polling places during the Fall 2004 election, notwithstanding ORS § 3501.35.(pdf)
Lucas County Democratic Party et al. v. Blackwell[12]
The Sandusky County Democratic Party v. J. Kenneth Blackwell; Blackwell was forced to pay nearly $65,000 in legal fees to the Sandusky County Democratic party.[13][14]
The League of Women Voters of Ohio et al. v. Blackwell[15]
Miller et al. v. Blackwell et al.[16]
Spencer v. Blackwell[17]
Summit County Democratic Central and Executive Committee et al. v. Blackwell et al.[18]
American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. et al. v. Blackwell[19]
State of Ohio Ex Rel. Matthew Wolf, et al. v. Blackwell[20]
Sarah White v. J. Kenneth Blackwell and the Board of Elections of Lucas County, Ohio[21]
Nader et al. v. Blackwell[22]
Schering v. Blackwell[23]
Ohio Democratic Party v. Blackwell; Upheld in federal appeals court in favor of Blackwell[23]
Anita Rios et al. v. Blackwell[24]
State ex. rel David Yost et al. v. National Voting Rights Institute et al.[24]

Release of Ohio Social Security numbers

On March 1, 2006 Blackwell's office accidentally published a list of 1.2 million Social Security numbers of Ohio citizens on a website along with their business filings. A Federal class-action lawsuit was filed by Darrell Estep who claimed that the release of the data had caused his Social Security number to appear three times on the website.[25] The lawsuit was settled on March 28, 2006 after the numbers were removed from the website, a registration process was enacted to view the data and Blackwell's office agreed to make monthly progress reports to the court.[26] The data was part of a centralized voter database, required by Federal law. At that time, Blackwell promised to only retain the last four digits of the Social Security number in the database to prevent future problems.[27]

However, on April 26, 2006, Blackwell's office disclosed Ohio Social Security numbers again, mailing out computer disks containing the names, addresses, and the Social Security numbers of 5.7 million registered voters in Ohio (80% of all registered voters in the state).[28] The list was released as a standard practice under the Freedom of Information Act and Help America Vote Act. Blackwell's office apologized, indicating that the release of the Social Security numbers was accidental and attempted to recall all 20 of the disks. At least one recipient of the disks has refused to comply.

Jim Petro, then Republican Attorney General of Ohio, has launched an investigation into the disclosure, citing a legal requirement to "investigate any state entity where there may be a risk of a loss of private data." Blackwell stated that he considered the issue to be closed, but Petro disagreed, saying that he will use "maximum due diligence" to ensure that the data was not copied before it was returned. Ohio law requires that individuals be notified if their Social Security numbers are compromised.[29][30]
Diebold controversies

Ohio State Senator Jeff Jacobson asked Blackwell in July 2003 to disqualify Diebold Election Systems' bid to supply voting machines for the state, after security problems were discovered in its software,[31] but was refused.[citation needed] Blackwell had ordered Diebold touch screen voting machines, reversing an earlier decision by the state to purchase only optical scan voting machines which, unlike the touch screen devices, would leave a "paper trail" for recount purposes.[citation needed]

On April 4, 2006, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Blackwell "owned stock [83 shares, down from 178 shares purchased in January 2005] in Diebold, a voting-machine [and ATM] manufacturer, at the same time his office negotiated a deal" with the company. After discovering the stock ownership, Blackwell promptly sold the shares at a loss.[32] He attributed the purchase to an unidentified financial manager at Credit Suisse First Boston who he said had, without his knowledge, violated his instructions to avoid potential conflict of interest.[33]

When Cuyahoga County's primary was held on May 2, 2006, officials ordered the hand-counting of more than 18,000 paper ballots after Diebold's new optical scan machines produced inconsistent tabulations, leaving several local races in limbo for days and eventually resulting in a reversal of the outcome of one race for state representative. Blackwell ordered an investigation by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections; Ohio Democrats demanded that Blackwell, due to his prior role in acquiring the Diebold equipment as well as his status as the Republican gubernatorial candidate in this election, recuse himself from the investigation due to conflicts of interest, but Blackwell did not do so.[34]"

Blackwell, A TRUE PATRIOT!??????

[Sekhmets Daughter]

37. Thanks so much...

And this clown thought he had a chance to beat Sherrod Brown? Is there nothing they think they can't get away with?

[alfredo]

10. Is Romney worth going to jail for?

[Raster]

12. This renegade Secretary of State and his electoral shenanigans need to be spotlighted....

...the entire world needs to know.

Husted and the rethuglicans WILL TRY AND STEAL OHIO. They have to. There is no other way for mittens and lyin' to abscond with the Presidency. They MUST steal Ohio.

[newspeak]

32. the thing is, like phone jamming or election tampering

IF any thing is done, it's AFTER the damage has been done. and, the american people must deal with the consequences. we don't get to re-vote-those cheating have a successful return.

[Raster]

39. This situation may be different. If by whatever means Rmoney wins OHIO, there will be massive.....

....investigations. Many already suspect electoral theft BEFORE IT EVEN HAPPENS. This will not be a 2000 or a 2004. The outcry against Ohio and it's renegade, rethuglican Secretary of State will be thunderous. I predict riots in the streets.

[hootinholler]

13. Does anyone have the list of the 39 counties?

What are their demographics?

[Melinda]

20. Here are the 39 counties, you'll need to find demographics.

On edit: Oops, forgot to list the counties:
On edit #2: Forgot Monroe county... no copy paste here, I typed each of em put and forgot an entire population!

Allen, Ashtabula, Athens, Auglaize, Brown, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Colombiana, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Erie, Fayette, Franklin, Geauga, Knox, Lake, Lawrence, Logan, Madison, Mahoning, Meigs, Monroe, Noble, Ottawa, Pickaway, Prebel, Putnam, Ross, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, SUmmit, Union, Vinton, Warren, Washington, Wyandot


You can d/l the spreadsheet from Verified Voting Here. These new untested and SECRET software patches will affect 4,041,056 registered voters in these counties. You can read more at Free Press. Make sure you read all the links... apparently the only ones who learned from Ohio 2004 was the Republic party. *sighz*

[chuckstevens]

14. Major Goals of Obama's 2nd Term

A. Replace Eric Holder

B. Repeal Citizens United

C. Complete Election Reform even it means amending the Constitution in conjunction with number 1. Most important aspect of this
is the death of Electronic Voting Machines (2002-2012 RIP)

D. Arrest Warrants for Karl Rove, the Koch Brothers Sheldon Adelson, Rick Scott, Jon Husted, Scott Walker, Tom Corbet, Rick Snyder and any other partisan fucker who thinks the constitution doesn't apply to them

Hey I can still dream , can't I?

[TBF]

91. E. Universal Health Care

Good list!

[lonestarnot]

15. Anon is watching.

hmmmmf. This disgusting prick. Thanks for sharing lonsister!

[Melinda]

17. I posted about this yesterday and it sank like a stone. Glad to see some traction here.

Thanks bs.

[mak3cats]

19. K&R, and thank you! (n/t)

[hockeynut57]

22. k&r

[WillyT]

24. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[paparush]

25. ..in violation of Ohio law. AGAIN!

The fact that the Sect of State job is a partisan position is a serious flaw.

2004 Ohio Sect of State (and chairman of the State Republican Party) Ken Blackwell: "It's my job to deliver Ohio to George W. Bush."

[NoMoreWarNow]

27. yeah-- it's insane that the person in charge of elections is partisan

[Blue_In_AK]

33. The person in charge of elections in Alaska

is the lieutenant governor. He's also very active, maybe even the chairman, of mitt romney's campaign in the state. You can't make this stuff up.

[NoMoreWarNow]

26. if Obama doesn't win Ohio, there HAS to be massive demonstrations

and investigations

[klook]

28. No reputable IT operation would install untested software patches right before a deployment.

Election day is certainly a huge "deployment" day for a mechanized voting operation. So installing software patches that haven't gone through user acceptance testing, right before the launch, should be forbidden - that is, if preserving the integrity of the machines' capabilities is your goal.

[triplepoint]

30. Laws? We Don't Need To Follow No Stinking Laws!

and that's the way the rePIGfuckers roll. Until the Supreme Dorks are changed out and a new US AG is appointed, don't expect anything to change for the better. Now, go back to beating yourself up until your morale improves. That is all...for now.

[valerief]

31. Of COURSE Ohio will steal it for Mittens and the rest of the GOP. Because our election system is a

JOKE that's no longer funny.

[newspeak]

35. yeah, other industrialized nations

probably chuckle when the US publicly talks about democracy and liberating people for democracy and how those ruthless leaders have fake elections. because, we've got some major problems of our own.

[Pachamama]

36. Ahhh, yes, its happening again....remember all too well since I was in OH in 2004 as an Election

...Protection volunteer along with other attorneys, law students from around the country...

Had Republicans (some Democrats too) who later would tell me to "Get Over it"....

Sorry, I wont get over our elections being stolen.....



Im just evn more upset that 8 years later, this kind of crap is happening again.

[CrispyQ]

58. I'm sick to my stomach. Almost as sick as the night the OH 2004 votes flipped.

I don't know if I can do this again. If the pukes steal it & the dems rollover, I don't know if I'll ever vote again.

[AzDar]

38. K & R

[Raster]

40. KICK! No sink!

[solara]

43. Thank you for posting this!! I have a question, however

I have heard that our right to vote is not actually written into the Constitution or even against the law!! So I am wondering if it -is- a felony to do what Husted and all those other Regressive jerk wads are doing.

Tampering, repressing, manipulating the vote and intimidating, frightening and threatening voters -should- be against the law and in fact I thought it was. But if it isn't, could that be why the Justice Department isn't going after anyone?

???

This really should go viral...

[Mc Mike]

90. The pertinent Federal and Ohio State Statutes

are laid out in The Conyers Report on the '04 Prez elections. My paperback version has them listed on pp 105 to 116. Interestingly, a link provided of the report in a recent O.P. ('let's not let Ohio slip away') cuts the report off at page 104, which is page number 102 in the electronic link "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio".

Last time, the repugs had the state and Federal Attorney Generals offices and executive branches. This time, we have the Federal gov., and a ton of Ohio State Dems who aren't going to put up with it.

There are a nice long list of state and Federal felonies associated with getting caught de-frauding the voters.

[Smilo]

44. GOPT stealing the election one twisted AG at a time.

[solara]

45. Keeping this kicked

Kickety Kick!!

[ailsagirl]

48. Kick

[Doctor_J]

50. some facebook post is the story of the year???

When he's arrested it will be the "story of the year". Right now there are at least 100 just like it.

Yeesh

[JackHughes]

51. Life in prison

There should be a federal law mandating life in prison for anyone convicted of tampering with election results.

[dchill]

52. K & R.

[andrewgr]

53. If true...

... we'll never find out.

It's painfully easy to write code that deletes itself. Hackers do it all the time. I should know, I've been in the software security field at "a large software company located in Redmond, WA" for the last 3 years.

I have no idea how true any of this is, but *if* it's true that they installed an unverified, untested patch, they need to sieze some of those voting machines *now*. They need to analyze every program on the box. If they wait until after the election, the malicious code will have erased itself, leaving only a perfectly valid patch behind.

[colsohlibgal]

54. The Republicans Know They Can't Win Without Their Bag Of Crime And Tricks.

If Ohio would turn out to be the key, and if Romney defies all the polls and wins Ohio, I hope Obama will not follow the lead of Gore and Kerry. Gore put himself behind the 8 ball right away in 2000 when he unbelievably rushed to concede to Bush and then recanted.

Kerry threw in the towel quickly as well, even though there were compelling clues that the vote was tinkered with.

Show a backbone Barack.

[defacto7]

55. The right wing are simply saying...

"WE DARE YOU. We dare you to do anything about it. "

"You just try it!"

That's how I read it.

[AnnieK401]

83. That's exactly what I think (N/t)

[mfcorey1]

56. HE is patching so that anonymous cannot monitor his butt. Remember, Anonyous threatened to monitor

the servers to look for fraud. I know it is a stretch, but I believe that is what he is doing.

[CrispyQ]

57. "...do you *honestly* think Democrats are just going to roll over and accept the rigged results?"

I'm concerned about exactly that. They don't have a lot of credibility in this department.

[pscot]

59. K&R

[Canuckistanian]

66. Oh, wow

That is the very definition of "a shot across the bow".

The ball's in your court, Husted....

[AllyCat]

67. Of course he is, but then laws don't apply to Republicans

who clamor for the "rule of law" at every turn. Where is the DOJ?

[blkmusclmachine]

73. K&R

[glinda]

74. K & R n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

75. Federal charges should be brought against this jerk.

[Up2Late]

76. You know what I'd like to see? Context! Here's the link to Think Progress...

...for all of you, like me, who missed it.

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/11/03/1134981/last-minute-ohio-directive-could-trash-legal-votes-and-swing-the-election/?mobile=nc

Check out the comment section too, over 900 so far.

Is this the same Tom Jode who psots here at DU? If so, do you have a link to what he posted to DU on this too?

Thanks babylonsister.

[KatyBR]

77. Same thing happened in 04 ...K & R

Get national attention on this.

[0rganism]

78. to be sure, Obama has to win without Ohio and Florida

the way it's going now, by 2020, the Democratic nominee have to win without Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Our best hope is that a demographic shift turns Arizona and Texas Democratic in the next 20 years.

[RagAss]

79. Been kept pretty quiet for a "story of the year".

[Shuhered]

81. Justice Department, Hel-LO!!!!!!!!

Let's see something happen
here. This guy is playing politics. He is engaging in illegal activity to sway election results. That's a felony.

[Firebrand Gary]

82. Kick

[lexw]

85. Won't Ohio's governor (who predicted the win for Romney) just pardon the SofS in the future?

[LovingA2andMI]

86. Kicked~~

And will discuss on our program tomorrow!

[LovingA2andMI]

86. Kicked~~

And will discuss on our program tomorrow!

[sunwyn]

88. I think I will be wanting a paper ballot

[Anthony McCarthy]

89. Vote tampering and election rigging has to be a very serious federal crime

That is one of the most important issues that is always neglected. Loss of voting rights, a serious prison term, perhaps getting them where it hurts, a ruinous fine. Any corporation that is involved should be dissolved and all of its assets confiscated. Screw federalism, there is no possible legal issue that is more important. Laws passed by illegitimate governments can't be legitimate.

[Samantha]

92. Any state that does not comply with its own election law as written into its state constitution

can have its slate of electors disallowed when the Electoral College meets to counts the vote. Just posted this on another thread:

"... when conducting its election violates it own laws and thus can have its slate of electors NOT COUNTED during the Electoral College Voting. There are rare precedents for slates being disallowed, but it has happened. I did a lot of research on this very issue during the 2004 election and reported it here.

Do I think the Electoral College would disallow for instance Ohio for violating its own state constitution in tabulating the votes? Odds would be slim, but if there were absolute proof it had happened, enough pressure by the constituents and independent voices which monitor election integrity could cause enough outrage the Senate would have to consider it."

You will see more on this subject I am sure if it turns out demonstrable proof of the violation is on hand following the election.

Perhaps the Secretary of State of Ohio is not aware of this or perhaps he is and just is willing to run the risk.

Sam

[beac]

93. K&R. Husted belongs in JAIL. n/t

[trueblue2007]

99. throw him in jail