Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Sunday, June 4th, 2006

[rumpel]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.


Unisyn Voting Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Lottery & Totalizator Systems (ILTS), a leading supplier of computerized transaction processing systems to government sanctioned lotteries and racing organizations worldwide. Founded in 1979, the Company serves 28 customers in 22 countries on five continents with secure and reliable automated wagering systems and quality support. ILTS has provided integrated systems including more than 50,000 terminals to seven lotteries and nearly 200 racetracks worldwide, processing nearly 50 billion secure transactions annually.
source: itls.com

Voting is neither a lottery or a game!


source: inkavote.com

[rumpel]

1. WI: Vote technology debate losing sight of blind, disabled

The Northwestern.com

Posted June 4, 2006

One of HAVA's intents is to improve access, privacy, independence in voting for visually-impaired, physically disabled

By Alex Hummel
of The Northwestern


Technology to ensure voting access for the disabled has become such a politicized hot potato the local debate may be leaving out the voices of those the technology aims to help.


The county board will hold a June 14 meeting to get a hands-on trial of new Diebold touch-screen voting machines the county is considering buying to comply with the Help America Vote Act. An hour later, they will take a second vote on approving a $294,000 federal grant to buy the equipment.


Diebold Elections Systems will have company representative on hand. It's unclear if blind, visually impaired or disabled voters for whom the technology is primarily intended have been invited.


"That's a horrendous disservice to the disabled community," said Michael Huckaby, second vice president and legislative liaison for the National Federation of the Blind of Wisconsin. "They are making a decision based on information that doesn't affect them. They are making a decision for a community that they are, frankly, unfamiliar with."


Winnebago County last month became a hot spot in the touch-screen voting debate that is raging across the county. On May 16, the county board didn't have enough support to approve the $294,000 purchase of Diebold technology, an, at that time, little-questioned recommendation from the county's municipal clerks.


Questions about the machines' security have since snowballed. The issue was sent back to committee, but Board Chairman David Albrecht instead called a full county board meeting to reconsider the vote. Diebold remains the recommended vendor.

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060604/OSH0101/606040366/1128/OSHnews

[Joanne98]

25. I'm beginning to hate the blind.

[rumpel]

2. NM: ID cards don't get vote of confidence

Las Cruces Sun-News

By Walter Rubel Santa Fe bureau chief

Gov. Bill Richardson referred to it as a "glitch."

Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, an Albuquerque Republican running for lieutenant governor, had a harsher assessment — "It is not just a mess of mistakes, it's a fraud," she said.

Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron said last week that her office has been flooded with phone calls from voters complaining about mistakes on the new, plastic voter ID cards. The state began mailing out the new cards May 22, and plans to mail one to all 1.1 million registered voters, at a cost of about $1 million.

The new cards, which replace the old, paper voter identification that was issued at the time of registration, are called for in an election-reform bill passed by the Legislature. Voters will not need them to cast a ballot in Tuesday's primary election.

Vigil-Giron said the most common mistakes were things such as a wrong address or birth date. She said in some cases, ID cards were mailed to people who have died.

And, as is usually the case, government officials engaged in cross-jurisdictional finger-pointing as to the cause of the problem. The Secretary of State's office blames the county clerks, the clerks blame the state.

Richardson, who supported the election-reform bill, described the situation as a "fixable problem."

http://lcsun-news.com/news/ci_3897867

[rumpel]

3. OpEdNews: Global Warming vs. Election Integrity

June 4, 2006

by Mark E. Smith

http://www.opednews.com

Recently MoveOn.org announced their new priorities, with health care in first place and election reform tied for third. At about the same time I was involved in a discussion about peak oil with someone who was absolutely frantic about this impending disaster. And of course there has been a lot of attention given to Al Gore's new film about global warming. If we are going to effect change, we need to focus our energies, so how can we know what our top priority really should be?

My friend with the peak oil obsession insisted that the current politicians had to be brought onboard because there wasn't time enough for election reform. I replied that the current politicians with any policy-making power at all, were put in place BY the oil and energy people, so they're not going to get onboard. Here's the rest of my response to my friend:

So long as there is a short term profit to be made, you cannot get corporate-sponsored politicians to stop the torture, the war, globalization, global warming, or anything else that causes human suffering and endangers the entire planet. Do you think that if Hitler had only understood that people were suffering he would have stopped the death camps and forbidden corporations to use slave labor? Those politicians with policy-making power at the present time knew the levees would be breached in New Orleans. If they let it happen, there was money to be made from reconstruction contracts and a political advantage from displacing minority voters. It they had acted to prevent it, or to quickly limit and control the damage and assist survivors, they would have lost millions of dollars in reconstruction contracts, or their corporate sponsors would have, which is the same thing. The current politicians with policy-making power in the U.S. don't care about peak oil, or about anything else other than short term profits and their long term investments.

Election reform would take a long time, true. But nobody with half a brain expects those corrupt, illegitimate politicians with policy-making power today, to vote for election reform. People are angry about many things these days, including high gas prices, corruption, torture, the war, 9/11, New Orleans, depleted uranium, etc. Unfortunately the Democratic and Republican party leadership, and the media, are still spreading the big lie that Bush was elected and that our votes count. And people are just starting to see through the lies.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mark_e___060604_global_warming_vs__e.htm

[rumpel]

4. IA: Iowa rolls out new voting machines for June 6 primary

AP
JEFFERSON, Iowa When Iowa voters go to the polls for Tuesday's primary, they'll cast their ballots on updated voting machines.

It's the first statewide test of the machines mandated by the Help American Vote Act. Congress passed HAVA in the wake of the disputed 2000 presidential election, highlighted by the hanging chad fiasco in Florida. It funneled 31 (m) million dollars to Iowa, with 18 (m) million being spent on voting machines.

Iowa settled on two companies that make versions of a precinct optical scan machine, which uses a paper ballot, and a touch-screen, which can be used by the disabled.

In Greene County, Auditor Jane Huen (HUE'-in) says they opted for a combination.

In the past, ballots were taken from the precincts to the courthouse in Jefferson, where they were fed into a machine and counted. The machine broke in 2004, stalling the count for president and every other race.

http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4984149&nav=1LFX

[rumpel]

5. MT: Rehberg encounters glitch while voting

Great Falls Tribune

BILLINGS — Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., got a firsthand look Friday at Montana's new touch screen voting system and learned it still has a few kinks.

Rehberg attempted to cast his absentee ballot using the new equipment at the Yellowstone County Courthouse; however, a printing problem on the machine forced him to vote the old-fashioned way.

Montana used about $4 million in federal funding to buy 725 of the machines, which are primarily for people with disabilities. Polling places statewide are getting the machines as part of the Help America Vote Act.

The machines allow voters to use a touch screen or a Braille keypad to enter their choices. It then prints out a ballot that can be placed in a ballot box.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060604/NEWS01/606040312/1002

[rumpel]

6. TX: Voting boo-boo vexes officials: Company fails to send software to

operate system

Texarcana Gazette

Saturday, June 3, 2006 3:31 PM CDT
By JAMES WILLIAMS
Sports Editor


The Miller County Election Commission is frustrated that the new touch-screen voting machines have no software to operate in the upcoming runoff elections.

On Friday morning, two election commission members, including Miller County Election Administrator Robby Selph, said the frustration was similar to buying a new car and after two weeks the car breaks down.


“And the dealer won’t fix it,” said John Burns, the Republican representative on the Election Commission.


As the commission’s meeting was ending Friday, a representative of Election System and Software called Selph on his cell phone to say the software to operate the voting machines was to be shipped Friday.

The meeting was conducted in the office of Ann Nicholas, county clerk and voter registrar, to certify the May 23 primary election.


Selph told the ES&S representative the software will have to be tested on the machines and a state law requires the runoff candidates to be notified about the testing of the software 48 hours in advance of the test.

http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2006/06/03/local_news/news/news02.txt

[rumpel]

7. Paul R. Lehto: The False-Fake Debate over RFK Jr's Rolling Stone Article

Started by Salon Ignores Democracy and What's Important

OpEdNews
June 4, 2006

by Paul R. Lehto, Attorney at Law

http://www.opednews.com

Sources
Robert F. Kennedy Jr's Rolling Stone investigation into stolen election 2004, and
(criticizing Kennedy's Rolling Stone investigation)


The fight started in the Salon response linked above over the sufficiency of the evidence to prove a stolen election in 2004 that was amassed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a great disservice to democracy, because it fails to take the risks to democracy seriously. It's net effect is to say it's "ok go back to sleep, no need to be alarmed" while also suggesting we get together and deal with issues like voter suppression.

Though it seems that it's uncool to take something extremely seriously in this modern day, I believe We should all be earnest about defending democratic elections, like Salon's Farhad Manjoo used to be when he wrote election protection articles prior to Election 2004. That recited fact tells us especially strongly that it's ok to slumber away, RFK=no credibility here.

But there's a better way to understand this debate over the sufficiency of evidence, one that shows why 2004 is so important. Elections fundamentally shifted in the late 90s by the advent of electronic voting and that shift was increased greatly in 2002 with the passage of the Help America Vote Act and its $3.8 billion in funding for electronic voting machines to be installed around the country, with the HAVA addition of legal requirements that generally favor electronic voting.

Articles like Manjoo's, though probably well intended, are doing what Jon Stewart said CrossFire was doing when he went on CrossFire and said:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_paul_r___060604_the_false_fake_debat.htm

:bounce:

[rumpel]

8. NY: Hastings quits town board

Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

Published: June 03, 2006 11:58 pm

Ed Hastings will be sentenced July 31 on an election fraud charge

Bill Wolcott
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal
By Bill Wolcott

[email protected]

WILSON — Councilman Ed Hastings has resigned as a member of the Wilson Town Board, Supervisor Joe Jastrzemski confirmed Saturday.

Hastings, who pled guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge of election fraud, had served two and a half years of a four-year term. As deputy supervisor, he stepped in replace supervisor Jerry Dean in 2005.

“I’m sorry to see Ed quit,” Jastrzemski said. “A year ago, when Jerry Dean was sick, he stepped up to the plate and did the best he could to hold things together. Ed is going to be missed. Unfortunately, he’s so busy in his personal life that he feels he doesn’t have time to commit anymore. He would like to pass it on to somebody younger who could offer a little bit more to the board.”

The resignation was effective June 2. Jastrzemski notified the board of election that there will be two seats open in November and that town would need a special election.

http://www.lockportjournal.com/local/local_story_154235853.html

[rumpel]

9. CA: Bush - Most Hated President Ever Stole Both Elections

Media Monitors Network

by Evelyn Pringle
(Saturday June 03 2006)
"...the mainstream press was in its usual asleep at the wheel mode, just as it has been since Bush took office.

The latest polls say Americans now dislike Bush more than any other president including even Tricky Dick. It only took the public five and half year to see through him.

That said, I wonder how long it will take people to accept the news that Bush never won either election and the country is in such a mess that it will take 50 years to get back to how it was when Bush took office.

According to Robert Kennedy Jr's article in the June issue of Rolling Stone, "Republicans derided anyone who expressed doubts about Bush’s victory as nut cases in “tinfoil hats.”

Well Republicans can call me whatever they like because this nut-case is finally going to weigh in on this subject.

Bush needed Ohio. He could not win the election without Ohio and he knew it.

So just as you might expect with the Bush gang, voter fraud was rampant in Ohio, described as "the critical battleground state that clinched Bush’s victory in the Electoral College," by Mr Kennedy.

http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/30977

[rumpel]

10. MA: Democrats select Patrick

June 4, 2006

By KEVIN DENNEHY
STAFF WRITER
WORCESTER - Deval Patrick, an unknown political entity in Massachusetts just a year ago, yesterday rode a wave of grass-roots support to the state's Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Patrick, a former attorney with the Clinton administration, won almost 58 percent of delegates at the party's convention in Worcester, easily topping Attorney General Tom Reilly and venture capitalist Chris Gabrieli.

But both Reilly and Gabrieli earned a spot on the primary ballot in September by getting support from at least 15 percent of the party delegates.

Reilly garnered about 27 percent of the delegates. Gabrieli, a multimillionaire who just entered the race two months ago, barely made the required threshold by collecting just 15.3 percent of the delegate tally.

The party faithful also nominated for lieutenant governor Tim Murray, the Worcester mayor who rode a home-field advantage to nearly 50 percent of the delegates. Harwich resident Andrea Silbert finished second for the lieutenant governor nomination - and earned a spot on the primary ballot - with almost 29 percent. Also making the ballot was Deb Goldberg, a former Brookline selectman who collected 22 percent.

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/democratsselect4.htm

[rumpel]

11. CO: Secretary candidates square off

Publish Date: 6/4/2006

Both agree on importance of elections process in job

By John Fryar
Reporter-Herald Denver Bureau

DENVER — As the state’s chief election officer, Colorado’s secretary of state is responsible for the integrity of elections and voting processes, the two major-party candidates for that post agree.
Republican Mike Coffman of Aurora and Democrat Ken Gordon of Denver also both indicated during a recent joint appearance that they’d advocate whatever policies or new laws may be needed to assure Coloradans that everyone who has the right to vote can do so, and that every vote validly cast will be counted.

“I really regard the right to vote and the integrity of the voting process as sacred,” Coffman said during a taping of “The Aaron Harber Show,” to be broadcast next month.

Colorado’s Department of State is responsible for a variety of government services ranging from the registration of business trademarks to the enforcement of bingo and raffle laws, but Coffman said the division within that department that oversees elections, campaign-finance and lobbyist registration laws “is by far the most important function of the office.”

Gordon agreed that “the election part is the most important part” of the secretary of state’s responsibilities, and he suggested the person holding that position needs to be a policy activist.

Colorado’s secretary of state “could be an advocate for clean elections, for integrity in government, for the reduction of the influence of money” in politics, Gordon said, as well as “for getting young people involved” in government.

http://www.lovelandfyi.com/region-story.asp?ID=5466

[rumpel]

12. CA: Hopefuls don't agree on technology

PressTelegram.com

Article Launched: 06/04/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT
By Louise Chu, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Two termed-out legislators are competing for the Democratic nomination for California's top elections office, but both will have to overcome low name recognition to face Republican incumbent Bruce McPherson in November.
That will be a challenge in the down-ticket race between state Sens. Deborah Ortiz of Sacramento and Debra Bowen of Marina del Rey. Both are working with modest campaign budgets and little buzz surrounding their bids for secretary of state.

The post is currently held by McPherson, a moderate who was appointed by Gov. Schwarzenegger last year after Democrat Kevin Shelley resigned amid allegations of financial impropriety.

She also was the first state lawmaker to have an e-mail address and leading the push to make California the first state to put bills and voting records online.

Bowen remains skeptical about electronic voting machines, pointing to their vulnerability to glitches and vote-tampering, as well as the high purchase and maintenance costs. She prefers the "simplicity and consistency" of a traditional pen-and-paper ballot counted by optical scan.

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_3896415

[rumpel]

13. CA: Republican scandal benefits Dem seeking San Diego House seat

San Francisco Chronicle

Carl Hulse, New York Times
Sunday, June 4, 2006

San Diego -- In the first major congressional race of what could be a politically volatile year, the contest to fill the seat of a jailed Republican is testing whether Democrats can capitalize on Republican unrest in the battle for the House.

Fractures among conservatives in the affluent coastal communities extending north of San Diego -- coupled with dissatisfaction with President Bush -- have put Democrats within striking distance of capturing a safe Republican seat that was thrown open when Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned after pleading guilty to corruption charges.

Though Bush carried the 50th District by 10 points in 2004 and Republicans have a 44 percent to 29 percent edge in voter registration, polls show Brian Bilbray, a Republican, and Francine Busby, a Democrat, essentially tied going into Tuesday's special election.

"It is going to be close," Bilbray, a former congressman, acknowledged. The campaign will have cost an almost-unheard-of $10 million when spending by the candidates, the national parties and others is totaled.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/06/04/MNGAKJ85GJ1.DTL&type=politics

[rumpel]

14. AZ: Voter ID checks don’t cause undue burden on residents (Editorial)

East Valley Tribune

Tribune Editorials

June 4, 2006

A litany of civil rights advocates and public interest groups are launching a new attack on the voting identification provisions of Proposition 200, the popular 2004 ballot initiative that helped to spark the current national debate on illegal immigration policy.

Two federal lawsuits filed in recent weeks seek to remove new requirements that residents must prove their U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, and they also must present identification when they cast a ballot in person on election day. A federal judge dismissed similar arguments from a previous case in December 2004 because the law hadn’t been implemented yet, so critics couldn’t show anyone had been unduly harmed.

Two sets of municipal elections were held in March and May under the law. So opponents can now bring to court a few people who say they were denied their constitutional rights. These groups claim voter identification inherently discriminates against the elderly and poor minorities who are less likely to have the correct documents than the average citizen.

But this complaint is based on an anachronistic view of Arizona from the 19th and 20th centuries when severe poverty was more pronounced and people more frequently were born at home and didn’t receive birth certificates. Having access to formal identification is a way of life in modern society.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=67079

[rumpel]

15. NJ: Local battle over messenger ballots pits election losers against

winners

Press of Atlantic City

By THOMAS BARLAS Staff Writer, [phone]
Published: Sunday, June 4, 2006
Updated: Sunday, June 4, 2006

The difference is whether you win or lose.

Candidates who have lost, or have come close to losing, elections in Atlantic City, Pleasantville and Galloway Township because of large numbers of messenger ballots in recent years contend something is wrong with the system.

Candidates who have used the ballots to their advantage counter with a relatively straightforward argument: What they're doing is legal.

They note one other thing: Despite continued charges that many of the ballots were cast illegally over the years, only one person in Atlantic County has ever been convicted of a related crime.

That hasn't stopped a rather unusual alliance of Atlantic County Republicans and some county Democrats — essentially those stung in some way from the use of messenger ballots — to push for what they consider to be needed change to restore the integrity of local elections. They want more regulation and control of messenger ballots, along with investigations by whatever law enforcement agency will take up their cause.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/story/6409554p-6265308c.html

[rumpel]

16. NH: Is Gov. Lynch for or against theft? Ican't tell

Concord Monitor

By Sen. ROBERT BOYCE
For the Monitor
June 04. 2006 10:00AM

I
t is always interesting to see which bills a governor will veto and which he applauds and signs in public.

Take two bills that the House and Senate passed - one of which Gov. John Lynch signed with a public ceremony and an accompanying press release and the other of which he vetoed.

The one he signed has to do with identity theft, where someone takes your name and credit info and misuses them. The bill makes it a little easier to fix things afterward. This kind of theft is hard to defend against since it is hard to detect and the victim almost never sees the thief, but the effects are visible after the fact. It is a good bill; I'm glad he signed it.

The bill he vetoed has to do with theft as well, also of an intangible thing. This theft is also hard to detect, and the victim and thief rarely meet. This theft also has detrimental effects visible only after the fact. It is also hard to correct.

The bill he vetoed would make the thief at least leave a trail that prosecutors could follow to bring these thieves to justice. Current law allows these thieves to ply their trade under the noses of the authorities while preventing these good public officials from taking a simple step to prevent the theft.

So what is it the governor wants thieves to be able to steal without fear of punishment? It is your vote. The governor obviously believes people who are not legally eligible to vote should be able to conceal their true identity easily and vote with impunity.
When anyone who cannot legally vote does so, he or she cancels out the vote of a legitimate citizen. That is theft! And the victim doesn't even know it happened.

http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060604/REPOSITORY/606040356/1028/OPINION02

[rumpel]

17. SD: Voters in South Dakota primary can use new machines

The News Sentinel

Posted on Sun, Jun. 04, 2006

CHET BROKAW
Associated Press
PIERRE, S.D. - Voters in South Dakota's primary on Tuesday will have the option of using new voting machines required by a federal law that was passed to improve the election process.

South Dakota chose to get AutoMARK machines, and each polling place will have one of the touch-screen voting machines, Secretary of State Chris Nelson said.

Each voter will choose whether to fill out a ballot the traditional way, by using a pen or pencil to darken the oval next to that voter's choice, or by using the new machines.

The screens on the AutoMARK machines will guide voters through the process of completing their ballots.

But the machines are designed particularly to help voters with various disabilities fill out their ballots privately without help from others, Nelson said.

People with poor eyesight can increase the size of the type on the screen. Those who are blind can use headphones and have the machine read the ballot to them.

The new machines also will be helpful for those who cannot hold a pen or pencil, Nelson said. They can vote by touching the screen or using a keypad to make their choices, and disabled people who use a device called a switch can plug it into the machine to vote, he said.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/14740427.htm

[rumpel]

18. MD: The governor's anti-democratic scare tactics (Opinion)

The Baltimore-Sun

By C. Fraser Smith
Originally published June 4, 2006

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. spends a remarkable amount of time attacking Maryland's election laws, particularly a new one that allows voting five days before the official Election Day.
Maybe it's diversionary - because he failed to achieve any real utility rate relief for consumers.

Maybe it's because he doesn't have a party primary and needs something to stay involved until the general election.

Maybe he really thinks there's an organized effort afoot to steal the election. Evidence, if any, is lacking.

Whatever the reason, the governor is dragging Maryland into the same sordid league as Florida, Georgia and other states that have engineered a series of remarkably anti-democratic voter suppression measures.

Mr. Ehrlich says the early voting law that was passed over his veto is an invitation to fraud. Democrats say it's an invitation to participation. Of course, there is a political element here: There are more Democrats, so more voting will help them. But more than 30 other states, including some with Republican governors, have adopted early voting without significant incident.

Mr. Ehrlich's fears remain undiminished. He is supporting an effort to have early voting outlawed by referendum. If the voters agree with him, the ban would apply in subsequent elections, not the one in November.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.fraser04jun04,0,2628605.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

[rumpel]

19. AL: County readies for primary

The Messenger

Published Jun 03, 2006 - 22:22:14 CDT.

By Matt Clower, The Messenger

Pike County voters will make their selections of Republican and Democrat candidates on Tuesday during primary elections that will see no local offices contested.

Polls in Pike County will be open continuously from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 27 polling locations in the county said Probate Judge Bill Stone.

Stone and his staff spent the weekend getting ready for the primary elections, testing machines and setting up at polling locations around the county.

In a change this year, voters in Pike County voting precinct 1 will have a new voting location. The hot conditions in the long-time precinct 1 location at the Elm Street gym prompted the Pike County Commission to request a move earlier this year.

The new location will be in the auditorium of the old Academy Street High School, a spot Stone said was a better location.

Another new addition to Pike County Elections this year will be devices at all poling locations that will be abel to accommodate blind or otherwise physically handicapped voters.

http://www.troymessenger.com/articles/2006/06/04/news/newsssss02.txt

[MelissaB]

20. Way to go, Rumpel! Sorry I'm late.

[rumpel]

22. No problem. Not much news today..odd when you think RFK..

:shrug:

something is going on - in the press...?

on edit: I would have hoped some Oped or editorial ....

[MelissaB]

23. I'm finding the same thing...

not much. :shrug: It is like this sometimes on Sunday, though.

[FogerRox]

26. KNR, thanks for another ERD.

[MelissaB]

21. OH: Candidates Can't Take Urban Voting Bloc For Granted

Candidates Can't Take Urban Voting Bloc For Granted

(6/03/06)
Reported by: A.P.
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
Photographed by: 9News
First posted: 6/4/2006 12:46:24 PM

CLEVELAND (AP)-- Ohio's candidates for governor continue to try to make inroads with the urban black community in an attempt to woo their votes and endorsements.

Democratic nominee Ted Strickland has held meetings with clergymen from predominantly black congregations and this week garnered the endorsement of influential black Democrat Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

Meanwhile Republican candidate Kenneth Blackwell is trying to present his conservative viewpoint -- which typically translates better in suburban or rural areas of the state -- to urban communities.

Both candidates say that neither can count on or write off inner city votes, and that despite the emphasis some have put on race, they don't expect it to factor into people's decisions at the polls.


Link: http://www.wcpo.com/news/2006/local/06/04/black_votes.html

[MelissaB]

24. OH: Dems warned not to yield values debate to GOP

Dems warned not to yield values debate to GOP
Obama rallies party at fund-raiser in Columbus

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU


COLUMBUS - Democrats cannot afford to cede the debate of family values to Republicans if they hope to make gains this year in Ohio and nationally, rising Democratic star and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama said yesterday.

"People don't have to be religious to be moral, and to be ethical, and to speak about the common good … ," he said before a party dinner expected to raise more than $500,000 for gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland and other statewide Democrat candidates.

"What you don't want to do is engage in the equivalent of showing up to church two days before the election, kind of clapping off rhythm … ," he said. "People sniff out inauthentic expressions of faith."

Mr. Obama specifically took aim at debate set for next week in Congress on a proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, drawing comparisons to the Republican gubernatorial candidacy of Ken Blackwell. The secretary of state successfully championed a similar state amendment in 2004.

"I know Mr. Blackwell … is going to try to take advantage of that base as much as he can," he said. "I had someone similar - Alan Keyes - run against me when I ran for the U.S. Senate two years ago. I think that base of voters who consider the most important issue facing America caps out at around 25-30 percent."


More: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060604/NEWS09/606040419/-1/NEWS

[Wilms]

27. USA TODAY: Spate of Lawsuits Target e-Voting

Spate of Lawsuits Target e-Voting

By Patrick O'Driscoll, USA TODAY

DENVER — Electronic voting machines, adopted widely after the disputed Florida ballot count in the 2000 presidential election, are under legal attack as primary election season heats up.

Lawsuits have been filed in at least six states, the most recent last week in Colorado, to block the purchase or use of computerized machines.

snip

Most of the suits argue that the machines are vulnerable to software tampering, don't keep an easily recountable printed record and may miscount, switch or not record votes and even add phantom votes.

snip

About one-third of the USA's 3,114 counties use some electronic systems, according to Election Data Services, a consulting group. It says half the counties use optical scanners that read dots or marks that voters pencil in on ballots.

snip

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-04-electronic-voting_x.htm


I'm wondering if the "About one-third of the USA's 3,114 counties use some electronic systems" is correct.

Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x431564