Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Wednesday 7/20/05

[MelissaB]

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

All previous daily threads are available here:

http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_20...

[MelissaB]

1. Seattle Weekly: Editor's Note on Andy Stephenson and his memorial service

The previous two Seattle Weekly articles about Andy Stephenson, both excellent and written by George Howland Jr., are linked to in the first paragraph of this Editor's Note by Knute Berger.

Internet Martyr

The life and cruel death of Andy Stephenson.

by Knute Berger (Seattle Weekly Editor-in-Chief)
July 20 - 26, 2005

In the past couple of weeks, we've covered the life—and what turned out to be the last days—of Andy Stephenson, a Seattle voting activist who died amid a blazing online controversy after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (See "A Fight to the End," July 13, and "Cancerous Campaign," July 6.)
The Internet made Stephenson a national force. The onetime candidate for Washington secretary of state became known for his work with voting watchdog Bev "Black Box" Harris of Renton and Web sites like Democratic Underground, which helped turn him into one of the nation's leading voices for voting reform. He was an advocate of verifiable paper ballots, distrusted the promoters of electronic voting, and worried about the corporate takeover of our elections system. He helped expose deceit and incompetence among those promoting electronic voting as a kind of panacea for accurate elections. According to one of the eulogizers at Stephenson's memorial service in Seattle last Saturday, July 16, Stephenson felt the same about paper ballots that Charlton Heston felt about his gun: "You'll have to pry my paper ballot from my cold, dead hands," he once proclaimed.

(snip - much more in the original)

The beautiful thing about the service was the tangible reality it evoked. The Internet bullshit was confined to cyberspace. In real space, there was a room full of the living—friends, family, his partner, and his mother, and activists from across the country—gathered to celebrate Stephenson's life with memories and hymns.

In death, Andy Stephenson was no longer an Internet abstraction, someone who could be obliterated the way you would annihilate a character in a video game. He was a nonvirtual, three-dimensional person, a vital spirit, a good-humored and passionate man, whose death left a big hole in many people's lives and, some say, our democracy itself.

[e-mail]

More: http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0529/050720_news_...

Thanks to Nothing Without Hope here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[MelissaB]

2. Dallas Morning News: Roberts role in Bush recount team "critical"

Appeals judge gets nod for high court

Conservative Roberts won't legislate from bench, Bush says

09:58 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 20, 2005

By ALLEN PUSEY / The Dallas Morning News




(snip)

Role in 2000 recount
In the aftermath of the disputed 2000 presidential election, Judge Roberts played a key, if quiet, role in the Florida recount.

Although his name did not appear on the briefs, three sources who were personally aware of Judge Roberts' role said he gave Republican Gov. Jeb Bush critical advice on how the Florida Legislature could constitutionally name George W. Bush the winner at a time when Republicans feared that if the recount were to continue the courts might force a different choice.

More: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestne...


Okay, everybody who says that Roberts is an acceptable choice... here is a report that he told Jeb Bush how to "constitutionally" name Bush the winner if the recount proved that Bush got fewer votes.

Not if the recount proved that the election really was too close to call. Not if the recount proved there was massive fraud. If the recount proved that the electors should go to Gore - - if the recount proved Gore won.

Now, does anybody here think Roberts' legal opinions don't have any real, meaningful impact on our lives? That fighting Roberts and fighting Bush are mutually exclusive?



Thanks to AlGore-08.com here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[skids]

3. Roberts had role in 2000 recount.

link to additional DU thread on above article:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[skids]

4. Former (2002) King County Elections official arrested for fraud.

Source link:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?c...

DU thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[MelissaB]

5. Texas: Commissioners rediscuss electronic voting machines

Commissioners rediscuss electronic voting machines

By Denton Ramsey / Staff Writer

The key issue addressed at the Brewster County Commissioners Court meeting Monday morning was a discussion on whether or not to continue with the process of choosing Unilect as the county's election system.

The court voted to stay with the system.

Unilect, a PATRIOT Voting System, is currently going through a re-certification process by the Texas Secretary of State.

"They are scheduled for an examination on Aug. 18, at which time all remaining issues will be settled with examiners," Elections Officer Alice Tidwell said. "I believe we should stick with Unilect."

More: http://www.alpineavalanche.com/articles/2005/07/20/news...

[MelissaB]

6. IN: County’s New Voting Machines On Display At Fair

County’s New Voting Machines On Display At Fair

BY TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer
Acting as precinct judge, county commissioner Avis Gunter inserted a card into MicroVote’s Infinity Voting Panel. Units are on display at the Republican and Democrat booths in the merchant’s tent on the fairgrounds.

A series of questions appeared on a black and grey screen, like, “What’s your favorite animal at the fair?” and “What’s your favorite fair food?” A second page, accessed with the push of a button, asks voters if they ever used a punch card system and whether or not they prefer new method.

A “X” appears in a box beside the voter’s selection and the selection is highlighted.


More: http://www.timeswrsw.com/N0720052.HTM

[MelissaB]

7. I'm so blue Reflections on leaving the progressive South

I'm so blue

Reflections on leaving the progressive South

B Y B A R B A R A S O L O W

When old friends from the Northeast learned that my husband had been offered a great job at Rutgers University and we'd be relocating to New Jersey by the end of the summer, they were thrilled. Maybe a little too thrilled.

"Hey, this is great! You've been wanting to get out of the South for years, right?!" was the sentiment expressed by more than a few.

Well, it's been 12 years since I first drove into Durham. And, except for a few random pronouncements made during the initial adjustment to life in this region of mystery, eccentricity and barbecue, I don't recall any significant efforts on my part to get out. Especially in the six years I've been at the Independent, I've felt blessed with a dream job, a diverse and fascinating community, and a window onto complexities that are shuttered by our current penchant for red state/blue state clichés.

...snip

It's true that the Triangle is a freethinking pocket, a blue-to-purple oasis in a landscape that's considered reliably red. But electoral politics tap only one layer of belief. They fairly beg for people to express themselves in narrow, partisan terms. And they're far too vulnerable to snake-oil sermonizing and spurious connections--to say nothing of faulty voting machines--to offer more than blurry outlines of the hopes people hold in their hearts.


More: http://indyweek.com/durham/2005-07-20/first.html

[MelissaB]

8. Kyl's column way off mark

Kyl's column way off mark

Like many Americans, Sen. Jon Kyl has trouble distinguishing our rights as Americans from our role in wars that affect the rest of the world ("Independence Day offers time to reflect on past, current wars," SPVNS, July 6).

Stating he was reflecting on "the source of our rights and the sacrifice made by Americans throughout our history to preserve them," Kyl opines at length about the war in Iraq.

How, exactly, does the war in Iraq preserve our freedom?

Kyl is correct in that Sept. 11, 2001, illustrates "the vulnerability of our freedom and the fragility of those rights."

Let's concentrate on the home front. Since that day, our privacy has been invaded, not by terrorists by our own government. We have seen the almost total domination of media by right-wing interest groups. We have seen elections "handled" by voting machines that leave no paper trail. We have witnessed inroads into our personal records and we have seen our legislators afraid to speak out against these wrongs, fearing being ostracized and called traitors.


More: http://www.bensonnews-sun.com/articles/2005/07/20/news/...

[MelissaB]

9. Unity Campaign for Peace, Justice and Democracy

Unity Campaign for Peace, Justice and Democracy

By Rodney Foxworth
July 20, 2005


A Unity Campaign for Peace, Justice and Democracy Challenges the Two-Party System

...snip

Zeese: At the foundation of the legitimacy of government is elections. If people do not trust the election results then the government losses legitimacy. The last two presidential elections highlighted many shortcomings in our democracy. The public awareness of these problems is an opportunity to fix them. Sadly, I don't see that type of leadership among our current senators nor do I see it in the two major parties.

In Maryland, I've been active in TrueVoteMD.org because we have a particular problem – the statewide use of paperless electronic voting. The administrator of our Board of Elections, Linda Lamone, should be fired for spending tens of millions of tax payer dollars on voting machines that cannot do a meaningful recount. We need a paper record confirmed by the voter that is available for independent recounts. These recounts need to be conducted in a transparent fashion, observed by voters, candidates and the media. People are losing faith in elections and electronic voting with no paper trail increases this loss of faith in democracy. Fixing this mistake is a first step to restoring faith in democracy.

The critical second step is giving voters more choices than the candidates from the two pro-Big Business, pro-war, pro-Patriot Act parties. Neither of these parties represents the issues of the people. The reason we have such low voter turnout – the lowest in the developed world – is because the candidates running do not represent the interests of the people. That will not change until voters start voting outside of the two party system for third party and independent candidates who are not dependent on the political financiers of the Republicrats or is it the Demipublicans!

Foxworth: Though the Florida and Ohio incidents are concerns for all Americans, they are popularly viewed as specific attacks against the black electorate. How much consideration have you and your colleagues given this?

Zeese: African Americans are always a target – in every election. They are a minority. They have no political power because they vote as a block for one party – so they are taken for granted. It is not a coincidence that the drug war escalated at the same time that the voting rights act was passed. The result – decades later – is that more African Americans have been disenfranchised than go to college!

Because Republicans know that 90% of blacks will vote Democrat all they need to do is focus their voter suppression on those African American districts – take people off the voter registration lists, put in less voting machines so there are longer lines, allow harassment at the voting places, put out false information on when voting is occurring.


More: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.a...

[MelissaB]

10. $10,000 check not from us, Diebold says

$10,000 check not from us, Diebold says

Election official punished for passing donation along

From staff and wire reports


Diebold Corp., the Green-based maker of electronic voting machines, is denying any involvement in a $10,000 check one of its outside consultants handed to Franklin County's elections director on a day the board was opening bids for new voter-registration software.

But that check has landed the Columbus-area election director in hot water.

Matthew Damschroder will lose 30 days' pay for forwarding a $10,000 check to the Republican Party from an outside consultant representing Diebold.

Damschroder acknowledged last week that the consultant, Pasquale ``Pat'' Gallina of Celebrezze & Associates, came to his office and offered $10,000 in January 2004 as the board was considering which firm to award its software business.

...snip

Diebold spokesman Mike Jacobsen said Celebrezze & Associates was employed by Diebold to promote the company's touch-screen election system. He said that if the consulting firm is proved to have provided the check in the name of Diebold, it will be fired.


More: http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/business/12175981...

Sounds familiar...

[MelissaB]

11. DemBloggers has Cynthia McKinney Press Conf. video

They've front paged Roxanne J's article with links to the video (broken into 2 parts for easier download).

http://www.dembloggers.com


Thanks to Boredtodeath here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[MelissaB]

12. Harper's Forum Thursday: WHAT WENT WRONG IN OHIO

From Mark Crispin Miller:

"WHAT WENT WRONG IN OHIO"-BIG D.C. EVENT!!

Friends, there will be a Harper's Forum on the theft of the 2004 election, this Thursday morning (July 21) from 8:15 - 10:00 a.m., in room HC-5 at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The event is intended to mark the publication of the August Harper's,
whose cover story, "None Dare Call It Stolen," was adapted from my
forthcoming book Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the Election of
2004, and Why They Will Keep Doing It (Unless We Stop Them).
It will be published by Basic Books this October.

The forum will feature some illustrious panelists: Rep. John Conyers;
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, Rep. Sherrod Brown, Eleanor Clift of
Newsweek, and yours truly.

To RSVP, you must call 212-420-5745 AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!

I hope to see you all there!

(The invitation is on-line at harpers.org.)


Thanks to Stephanie here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[MelissaB]

13. Dear Representatives, What The Hell Are You Thinking?

Dear Representatives, What The Hell Are You Thinking?

Senators and Representatives:
I write to you today to ask a simple question: "What the hell are you thinking?"

...snip

Shame on you. The last three national elections have had major irregularities, if not outright fraud, yet you sit on your hands and don’t do a damn thing to address those. Some of you did stand up to contest the certification, and look what good things that brought you. You got the Swift Boat treatment. It used to be that standing up for a principle such as "one person-one vote" was an admirable thing. There is something very wrong with our electoral system, and you owe it to the people of the nation to determine what it is and how to fix it BEFORE the next national election. I personally believe you need to outlaw electronic voting machines. Actually, I’d like to see a return of the paper ballot. Results may take a little longer to get, but we waited weeks after the 2000 election, so waiting for ballots to actually be counted would be a cakewalk.

...snip

There’s a new American revolution a-brewing. It’s fomenting on the blogs, websites and networks of people, of all political persuasions, who believe America is headed down a dangerous, disastrous path, and who are determined to take back our government from those complicit in getting us in this sorry state. It’s the American way. And if you can’t hear our hoof beats looming, shame on you. You’re just not listening.


Donna Wade Crestline, CA

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/05/07/con05243.ht...

More: http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=7092

[MelissaB]

14. PA: Board should hold a revote in the city

July 20, 2005

Board should hold a revote in the city

The Issue: The Berks County Elections Board decides not to hold a special election in four city precincts where 111 votes were lost during the primary election.

Our Opinion: Although those votes probably won’t change the outcome of three races that were decided by fewer than 111 votes, the voters have the right to have their votes counted.


The decision by the Berks County Elections Board not to hold a revote in four city precincts may be based in law, but it seems unfair.

In announcing the decision to certify the election in the city, where a programming error caused 111 votes to be lost, board members cited a Delaware County Court case that said the elections board must determine whether the error caused the will of the voters to be overturned.

More: http://www.readingeagle.com/blog/editorials/archives/20...

[MelissaB]

15. Taft Relents, Releases Reports Related To BWC

Taft Relents, Releases Reports Related To BWC

Dann Sued Governor To Release Memos

POSTED: 4:48 pm EDT July 20, 2005
UPDATED: 5:32 pm EDT July 20, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. Bob Taft on Wednesday reversed course and agreed to release weekly reports from top officials at the embattled state insurance fund for injured workers.

Releasing the reports from January 1999 through August of last year is in the public's interest because of ongoing scrutiny of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation's investment policies, Taft said in a letter to state Sen. Marc Dann.

Dann, a Youngstown Democrat, sued to force Taft to release weekly memos between the governor's office and the bureau from 1998 to 2004.

Taft, a Republican, had argued the reports were not covered by the state's open records act because they often contain sensitive material regarding employees, strategy for passing bills and prospects for economic development.

But Taft decided to release the documents because of revelations Tuesday about the bureau's internal scrutiny of investments, said spokesman Mark Rickel. A consultant reviewing the bureau's investment policy said the bureau can't be certain of the exact amount of its $14 billion portfolio.


More: http://www.nbc4i.com/news/4748906/detail.html

[MelissaB]

16. Ohio GOP leader blasts 'hypocrisy' of Democrat

Ohio GOP leader blasts 'hypocrisy' of Democrat

Bennett: Critic of Republicans had ethical lapse

BY BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU


COLUMBUS - Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett yesterday accused the leading Democratic critic of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation investment losses of "hypocrisy."


Mr. Bennett cited a quote from yesterday's editions of The Blade from state Sen. Marc Dann, a Democrat from suburban Youngstown: "Who am I to tell the Supreme Court about legal ethics?" Mr. Dann asked.

He made the statement after fellow Democrats said several Supreme Court justices should recuse themselves from a lawsuit Mr. Dann filed to gain access to weekly reports sent to Gov. Bob Taft.

"I'm glad Senator Dann admits his own hypocrisy on this issue," Mr. Bennett said.

"Here's a guy who's been running around for weeks lecturing Republicans about ethics in state government, and his own ethical misconduct is finally catching up with him."

More: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050...

[MelissaB]

17. TX: Mayor accused of offering drugs in return for votes

Mayor accused of offering drugs in return for votes

By Laura Whitley
ABC13 Eyewitness News

(7/19/05 - BROOKSHIRE, TX) — Allegations of voter fraud are shaking things up in the small town of Brookshire. There are some serious allegations, including offers of crack in return for a vote.

The small town of Brookshire is the scene of a big time legal battle. A woman who did not want to be identified says she was paid to vote for Mayor Keith Woods -- in crack.

The woman said, "She told me, she said, 'I'll pay you 10 dollars to vote.' That's what she gave me. … She gave me a dime rock."
She's not the only one making those kinds of allegations about the May elections. In a sworn affidavit another person says, "I gave Larry the dime rock. He voted and afterwards, Keith (the mayor) paid me the $10 for Larry's dime rock."

She's not the only one making those kinds of allegations about the May elections. In a sworn affidavit another person says, "I gave Larry the dime rock. He voted and afterwards, Keith (the mayor) paid me the $10 for Larry's dime rock."


MOre: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/071905_local_voterfrau...

[burrowowl]

18. KICK!

And RIP ANDY when we get the $#*^&^ out of the WH, Senate, House, SC!

Okay DUers we've got out work cut out for us!