Election Reform, Fraud, & Updates Thread for Friday

[Melissa G]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Updates Thread for Friday

In order to organize and document MelissaB thought it would be a good idea to have a daily thread to place items related to reform, fraud, protests, and other items. This also make it easier to "catch up" when we are away from the computer for a while.

If you see something that isn't here post it with a link to the thread and a thanks to the author. MelissaB is busy for a while so I'm taking over and Need Lots of Help posting news items!
Thanks,
Melissa G

Link to previous thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x370745

[Melissa G]

1. Cayuga election fraud suspected

May 17, 2005

Cayuga election fraud suspected

By John Milgrim
Ottaway News Service
[email protected]

Albany – A key state lawmaker said he is investigating Sullivan County gambling developer Empire Resorts' involvement in last week's election for leadership of the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York.
Assemblyman Jim Brennan, chairman of the Assembly Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee and co-chairman of recent Catskill casino hearings, said he is looking into Empire's financing of the nation's recent election.
"We will continue to gather information and develop facts about Empire and its apparent effort to manipulate the will of the tribe," Brennan, D-Brooklyn, said yesterday. "It's shameful they should be involved in intervening in the internal politics of the tribe, and if we receive information about matters we think are illegal under federal or state law, we will refer them (to prosecutors)."
The leadership of the Cayugas is crucial to Empire's plan to develop Indian-owned casinos in Sullivan County. Traditional Cayuga leaders oppose casinos, as does the tribe's federally recognized representative. Other tribal government members, however, say the pro-casino faction represents the will of the tribe.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/05/17/empire17.htm

[Melissa G]

2. Ohio court won't punish lawyers over vote

Ohio court won't punish lawyers over vote

JOHN McCARTHY

Associated Press


COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ending one of the last fights from the contentious 2004 presidential campaign, Ohio's top judge on Thursday declined to punish four attorneys who had challenged the results in court.

Chief Justice Thomas Moyer ruled against Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's attempt to have the lawyers sanctioned for filing "a meritless claim" against the vote that gave President Bush a win in Ohio and, as a result, enough electoral votes to win a second term in the White House.

In legal documents filed with the state Supreme Court, the lawyers had said the challenge they filed on behalf of 37 voters included enough evidence of voting irregularities to back up their allegations of widespread fraud. Neither Democratic Sen. John Kerry's campaign nor his party were part of the challenge, which was later withdrawn.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/nation/11690516.htm

[Melissa G]

3. Canada's ruling Liberals survive confidence vote

Canada's ruling Liberals survive confidence vote
By Bernard Simon in Toronto
Published: May 20 2005 03:00 | Last updated: May 20 2005 03:00

Canada's minority Liberal government narrowly survived a confidence vote in parliament last night, making a general election unlikely before the autumn.


The vote was a tie, which was broken by the Speaker of the House of Commons, who traditionally votes to maintain the status quo.

The Liberals were supported by the left-leaning New Democrats as well as two out of three independent members of parliament.

The chances of the opposition Conservatives and the separatist Bloc Québécois toppling the government were reduced this week when a prominent Conservative MP, Belinda Stronach, defected to the Liberals.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/00794eaa-c8cb-11d9-87c9-00000e2511c8.html

[Melissa G]

4. Governor's Office: One judge, one vote

Governor's Office: One judge, one vote

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

In a trial set to begin Monday in Wenatchee, state Republicans will in effect ask that the opinion of one man -- a judge -- supplant that of the state's voters by throwing out the results of the 2004 gubernatorial election.

It's unlikely, based on his previous comments, that Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges will accept the Republican Party's argument that the number of erroneous votes cast need merely exceed Democrat Christine Gregoire's 129-vote margin to invalidate the election.

Snip
Yes, some votes that shouldn't have been cast were counted and some votes that were legitimately cast weren't counted. Yes, the election counting process can be improved -- make that must be improved. But there still is no case that fraud or corruption has influenced the outcome of this election.

The standard of proof must be extraordinarily high in order to justify overturning the will of the people, even if the votes were counted sloppily
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/225016_elected.html

[Melissa G]

5. Big changes in Nevada petition process deleted from bill

Big changes in Nevada petition process deleted from bill
By BRENDAN RILEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - A Senate panel voted Thursday to reject a plan to increase the number of signatures of Nevadans needed to qualify a measure for the ballot.

The Legislative Operations and Elections Committee stripped the proposal from AJR5, setting the stage for a likely fight with the Assembly which previously approved the plan to increase the signature requirements.

Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, who chairs the committee, said she spoke with the sponsor of AJR5, Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, about the deletion and Giunchigliani said she didn't know if that would be acceptable.

snip
George Harris, who tried unsuccessfully to get two proposals on the 2004 ballot, told the Senate panel earlier that the burden to qualify a measure should be lessened, not increased.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2005/may/19/051910290.html

[Melissa G]

6. Supervisors may have to combine townships to afford new voting mandate

Supervisors may have to combine townships to afford new voting mandate

By Cindy Iutzi/Gate City Staff Writer




Lee County voters will have new voting equipment in January 2006, but to afford it, some townships may have to be combined into a single precinct, the Lee County Board of Supervisors learned Tuesday.

Under the Help America Vote mandate, each precinct must have equipment that allows vote counting on the spot. Also, every precinct must have a touch screen voting machine for visually impaired voters.

Precincts may opt to have all touch screen voting machines at the polling place or may have one touch screen machine and an optical scanner to count paper ballots, said Lee County Supervisor Anne Pedersen. In Lee County, that means buying at least 26 touch screen machines and possibly 26 optical scanners.

snip.

"I'm reluctant to go to all touch screens," Pedersen said. "If we went to all touch screens, it would mean more equipment and cost, and it would be more of a learning curve for voters. Most people are more comfortable with the paper ballots."


http://www.dailygate.com/articles/2005/05/19/news/news8.txt

[Melissa G]

7. King County election official admits to false absentee count

King County election official admits to false absentee count

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


SEATTLE -- King County's absentee-ballot supervisor has testified that she collaborated with her boss when she filled out a report that falsely showed all ballots were accounted for in the November election, The Seattle Times reported today.


Nicole Way is the first employee to link an upper-level manager with a practice that failed to meet state ballot-auditing regulations. In a deposition Friday, she said she and assistant elections superintendent Garth Fell agreed to the misleading report because officials didn't know how many absentee ballots were returned by voters.


By law, counties must reconcile the number of absentee ballots returned by voters with the number of ballots accepted or rejected. Way's report showed perfect reconciliation because it simply added the number accepted and rejected to calculate ballots returned.


Dozens of absentee ballots were misplaced and the votes not tabulated during the November election. The ballots were never counted as accepted or rejected.

http://cgi.bellinghamherald.com/cgi-bin/breakingnews/showstory.cgi?id=20050519120353&date=nil&ty=news_update

[Melissa G]

8. Voting machine question sparks 'violent' disagreement on board

Voting machine question sparks 'violent' disagreement on board
2005-05-19
By Nick Claussen
Athens NEWS Associate Editor


The continuing saga of electronic voting machines for Athens County took another strange twist on Tuesday when the Athens County Board of Elections chose a new type of voting machine for the third time. Now the question is, will this be the final time?

After the two previous choices of machines, Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell ordered Athens County and every other county in the state to return to the drawing board after he changed the requirements for eligible voting machines.

snip
If the vote on the new machines had ended 2-2, Blackwell would have made the decision. Board members had said they thought Blackwell would choose the Diebold machine, just as he chose the Diebold optical-scan machine for the county after the last tie vote.

snip
"I violently disagree," Mottl replied. He said he had not talked to Stevens, but said he could try to get hold of him later in the day. Mottl added that he had to get to a doctor's appointment and did not think the board should vote on the issue without Stevens being there.

http://www.athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=20659

[Melissa G]

9. Problems few, objections many

Problems few, objections many
BY CARA HOST, Staff writer

[email protected]


WAYNESBURG – The switch from electronic voting to paper ballots on Tuesday prompted few significant problems.

"I think it went very well considering we had to deal with that last minute change," said Frances Pratt, Greene County's director of elections.

Last month, the Department of State outlawed the UniLect Patriot voting machines that were previously used in Greene, Mercer and Beaver counties. Those counties were forced to adopt a paper-based, optical scan system for Tuesday's primary because the UniLect machines failed two examinations.

Even though workers used two scanners to mechanically count votes Tuesday night, the process took about an hour longer than the UniLect system, Pratt said. Results also were released to the public slowly and sporadically.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/283335996705817.bsp

[Melissa G]

10. Corporate Media Favors Incumbents

Corporate Media Favors Incumbents

Comments? [email protected]

For Webmasters rss 2.0

Category: Political Commentary - Liberal
Posted Thu May 19,2005 10:39 PM Last Edited: Thu May 19,2005 10:41 PM



I hear conservatives say the media is dominated by liberals. I hear liberals complain that conservatives influence the media.

What does this mean?

It means no one likes what they are hearing. And why would we? Consider the news stories the corporate media have broadcast to us in recent weeks:

The Terry Schiavo cases. It was sad to hear of a woman in a persistent vegetative state but the media overkill was obscene. It did not help that the President and his brother, the governor of Florida, weighed in on the “sanctity of life.” A better description of the situation would have been “quality of life.”

The Michael Jackson case. Just as they did with O.J. Simpson, the media has given us all of the details of a defendant and his accusers. But does it really matter to anyone else?

http://www.politicalgateway.com/main/columns/read.html?col=360

[Wilms]

11. Does Electronic Voting Affect Turnout?

Equal Vote

Tuesday, May 17

Does Electronic Voting Affect Turnout?

The situation on the voting technology front remains dynamic, both nationally and internationally. As election officials throughout the country contemplate how they'll meet the 2006 for the replacement of punch cards and the implementation of accessible technology, the Election Assistance Commission is contemplating new voting system guidelines according to GCN. The three remaining commissioners are presently considering recommendations of the EAC's Technical Guidelines Advisory Committee. The new recommendations reportedly include new provisions on security and accessibility

-snip/more-

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/blogs/tokaji/2005/05/does-electronic-voting-affect-turnout.html

[Wilms]

12. Vote inquiry in Galloway's seat

Thursday, 19 May, 2005

Vote inquiry in Galloway's seat

Election officials in MP George Galloway's constituency are investigating 250 complaints from people who were unable to vote.
Mr Galloway beat Labour in Bethnal Green and Bow by 823 just votes but has complained about the electoral roll.

-snip-

On election night the newly elected Respect MP attacked the council for publishing an electoral roll "so shot through with errors and anomalies... as to be almost meaningless".

-snip/more-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4564221.stm

[Wilms]

13. The Daily Election Reform, Fraud, & Updates Thread needs help.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

[Wilms]

14. (OH) Lake County seeks trial run for Diebold voting machines

Lake County seeks trial run for Diebold voting machines

Friday, May 20, 2005

Maggi Martin
Plain Dealer Reporter

Painesville- The Lake County Elections Board wants Diebold Inc., one of the state-approved voting-machine vendors, to conduct Willowick's special council election in July to test the company's machines for the first time in Ohio.

Elections Director Jan Clair said the county also has joined in a lawsuit with Election Systems & Software, one of Diebold's competitors, against Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to get more time to replace the county's current equipment.

Clair said that the county's Sequoia Voting System is not on the state's list of approved vendors but has performed well and that the county still owes $800,000 on the touch-screen machines bought in 1999. Those machines could be fitted to provide a paper trail, as required by law, but not by the May 24 deadline imposed by Blackwell.

Clair said Lake County wants to see how Diebold's machines perform before it decides which system to buy...

-snip/more-

http://www.cleveland.com/lake/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/lake/1116581453227292.xml&coll=2

Thanks to Algorem for posting the discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371195

[TruthIsAll]

15. NOMINATED # 3

.

[Wilms]

16. Help America Vote Act can hurt small towns

Help America Vote Act can hurt small towns

Opinion Sioux City Journal 19 May 2005

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) Helping America vote hurts some people in the Fillmore County towns of Strang and Ohio.

There are no polling places there anymore, nor in the Thayer County towns of Gilead, Belvidere, Hubbell, Byron and Carleton.

Neal Erickson, Nebraska's deputy secretary of state for elections, blames a looming, Jan. 1 deadline and the many requirements of the federal Helping America Vote Act of 2002.


The state has already lowered precinct numbers to 15,000 from about 16,500.

Nebraska was one of more than 40 states had to registration systems to comply with the act, so county records are being transferred to new software that will link voter registration with those in other state agencies.

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=5410

[Wilms]

17. County decides to stick with pencil-and-paper voting method

County decides to stick with pencil-and-paper voting method

BY MARSHA L. MELNICHAK

Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Friday, May 20, 2005

Washington County voters will continue to cast their ballots on paper and will still be able to watch their election commissioners count those ballots on a scanner at the county courthouse on election nights, following a unanimous vote by Election Commissioners on Thursday.

Commissioners voted to add one electronic voting machine at each of the 59 polling places in the county to be available to persons with disabilities. That machine, along with a required voter education program, will help the county meet minimum requirements of the Help America Vote Act, according to information from the office of the Secretary of State.

Most of the county’s 80,000 registered voters will vote as they have in the past, on paper ballots. However, any voter may use the electronic voting machine, according to material from the Secretary of State’s office.

Cost of the new machines will be picked up by the State of Arkansas. The Secretary of State’s office is in the process of drafting a Request For Proposal for machines in all 75 counties, based on information submitted by each county,.

http://nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat§ion=News&storyid=28341

[Wilms]

18. Connection found between Ohio's Mr. Noe and the Election

Thanks to mikelewis for digging:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=371329&mesg_id=371329

[Wilms]

19. Coin fund profits skimmed, state says - Colorado dealer fraud alleged...

Friday, May 20, 2005

WORKERS' COMPENSATION FUND

Coin fund profits skimmed, state says

Colorado dealer fraud alleged by bureau

By STEVE EDER and CHRISTOPHER D. KIRKPATRICK

BLADE STAFF WRITERS

A Colorado coin dealer used insider information to skim profits from Tom Noe’s $50 million state-funded coin venture, recently released records from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation show.

An October, 2004, memo states that early last year Mr. Noe “became aware of possible fraudulent activities” by Michael Storeim, the former manager of Numismatic Professionals, the Colorado-based subsidiary set up by Mr. Noe to buy and sell rare coins for the state.

James McLean, the bureau’s chief investment officer, wrote in the memo that Mr. Storeim bought state-owned coins and sold them at a profit for himself.

State records show that bureau officials failed to heed warnings from their own auditor almost five years ago about the potential for insider trading within the Noe rare-coin funds.

-snip/more-

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050520/NEWS24/50520001


Thanks to KaliTracy for posting:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=371192&mesg_id=371192

[Wilms]

20. Judge Rules ES&S has rights to Blackwell's Correspondence RE Diebold

Judge Rules ES&S has rights to Blackwell's Correspondence RE Diebold

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Judge agrees voting-machine maker has right to documents — Blackwell accused of holding talks giving Diebold an advantage to meet requirements “Yesterday, a Franklin County judge ruled that Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Neb., should be able to see correspondence from Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell’s office.”

“In the lawsuit, the Omaha company accuses Blackwell of holding secret talks with Diebold, whose parent company is headquartered in North Canton.”

-snip/more-

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2005/05/19/20050519-C7-00.html&chck=t

Thanks to KaliTracy for posting the discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371364

[Wilms]

21. New indictment revises conspiracy charge in phone jamming case

Friday, May 20, 2005 8:30 am

New indictment revises conspiracy charge in phone jamming case

Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. — Prosecutors have won a new indictment against a former official of President Bush´s 2004 re-election campaign for alleged misconduct during the 2002 election.

The indictment renders moot multiple motions to dismiss filed by James Tobin _ motions scheduled to be heard in U.S. District Court on Friday. Tobin, of Bangor, Maine, will have to enter a new plea to the revised charges.

The new indictment charges Tobin with conspiring to deny New Hampshire residents their constitutional right to vote through a phone-jamming operation on Election Day 2002. The former indictment charged him with conspiring to annoy and harass voters by telephone.

-snip-

At the time, Tobin was a high ranking official of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, whose job was to elect Republicans to the Senate. The 2002 race between Republican John E. Sununu and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, won by Sununu, was considered one of the closest in the country.

The committee was run by Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, now Senate majority leader.

-snip/more-

http://news.mainetoday.com/apwire/D8A6TEIO0-139.shtml

Thanks to RamboLiberal for posting:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1489110