Donna Brazile to head Ohio Election Task Force. List of Team Members:

[KoKo]

Mar 4, 2005
Democratic National Committee Announces Ohio Election Review Team

Washington, D.C. – The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced the members of its Ohio Election Task Force. This group of seasoned professionals in the electoral and technology fields are taking an in-depth look into the issues of voter registration problems, long lines at the polls, the issuance and counting of provisional ballots and voting equipment irregularities that voters faced during the 2004 presidential election in Ohio. The team has been hard at work since January, conducting surveys and reviewing election data from all across the state. The task force will submit its report to the DNC with suggestions for moving forward.

"I am confident that Voting Rights Institute (VRI) Chair Donna Brazile and her team of experts will properly investigate what went wrong in the Ohio election process," said DNC Chairman Governor Howard Dean. "This investigation will ensure that every vote will be counted and everyone who is eligible to vote will be able to secure that right."

"This team is hard at work, analyzing voting irregularities," said VRI Chair Brazile. "We are putting the efforts and resources into this project because it is vital that we find out what went wrong, how we can fix it, and restore the faith of the American people in our voting system."
OHIO REVIEW TEAM MEMBERS

List of all the Team Members and their Bio's are here:

http://www.democrats.org/news/200503040002.html

[slor]

2. I do not think she is the right choice...

listening to her recent comments. I may be wrong, and maybe that is her strategy, to seem as someone that can both denigrate Dems and support a shift to the right and yet still show the tenacity, to get to the bottom of voter fraud. I guess time will tell.

[donsu]

3. Brazile will stab the taskforce in the back

this is set up to fail.

did you see her on the stage at Travis Smiley meeting? she didn't talk much during any of the meetings and once gave up her talking time to others.

I wouldn't trust her for a minute.

[KoKo]

4. OOPS this is a dupe, I've asked Mods to Lock or remove. n/t

[merh]

5. Just posted in LBN - DNC Announces Ohio Election Review Team

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1285478
(also found in Greatest forum)

Democratic National Committee Announces Ohio Election Review Team

http://www.democrats.org/news/200503040002.html

Democratic National Committee Announces Ohio Election Review Team
Washington, D.C. – The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced the members of its Ohio Election Task Force. This group of seasoned professionals in the electoral and technology fields are taking an in-depth look into the issues of voter registration problems, long lines at the polls, the issuance and counting of provisional ballots and voting equipment irregularities that voters faced during the 2004 presidential election in Ohio. The team has been hard at work since January, conducting surveys and reviewing election data from all across the state. The task force will submit its report to the DNC with suggestions for moving forward.

"I am confident that Voting Rights Institute (VRI) Chair Donna Brazile and her team of experts will properly investigate what went wrong in the Ohio election process," said DNC Chairman Governor Howard Dean. "This investigation will ensure that every vote will be counted and everyone who is eligible to vote will be able to secure that right."

"This team is hard at work, analyzing voting irregularities," said VRI Chair Brazile. "We are putting the efforts and resources into this project because it is vital that we find out what went wrong, how we can fix it, and restore the faith of the American people in our voting system."

OHIO REVIEW TEAM MEMBERS
(Long list follows.)

[TruthIsAll]

She will NEVER help expose Rove, her buddy.

This means one thing to me: Dean is already caving to the DNC.

Donna B. helped to screw up Gore's campaign. Sure, he got the most votes, but should have done much better.

She is a regular on the BishCo Media propaganda talk shows.
What does that tell you? She's just another Karl Rove minority shill.

[mod mom]

Let's start a campaign to write DEAN and urge him to stay true to his base

If he caves in, a lot of us here are going to be looking for a new party to focus our energy on. I believe the DNC knew this and this is one of the reasons Dean was made chairman. The grass roots movement that Dean helped create is a strong force. (I am one of it's byproducts) While I wholly support Howard Dean, the only thing I will pledge to, is the truth. I believe Howard Dean will aim for the same. We can only hope that he is not consumed by party politics and corporate interest.

[rigel99]

13. Bravo...

let's start those letters going..

Dean cannot put unqualified people in charge of election fraud. Where was Donna on Jan. 6th, or from Nov. 2 till Jan. 6th, I never once saw here involved in the work of activists and lawyers and do not believe other than her token democrat status, she will fight honestly and vigourously for election fraud discovery and turning away from DRE machine control.

she was a bad choice, and I think Dean needs to hear from us that there should be a panel of ELECTION FRAUD experts that guides the work of this new panel from their years of experience...

[Jo March]

19. We also need to contact the panel as well

I am getting the contact info for the first five on the list. Ojai Person will get the contact info for the next five.

We need to send them our research. We also need to let them know that we are WATCHING and we will hold them accountable for the type of job that they do.

Face it, WE are the panel of election fraud experts, rigel99. DU has some of the best election fraud experts around. Seriously, how many posts have we made, papers have we read or written, numbers we have crunched? Think of TruthIsAll, berniew1 and others. Think of yourself, flybynight, Eloriel and so many, many others who have been operating as an election fraud panel all this time!!

WE are the "panel behind the panel" so we have to work on this as well.

If they think that we will be quiet now that they have appointed a panel, they are crazy.

[madfloridian]

VRI was established back in 2001, mentioned again in December 2004

by McAuliffe. Brazile was the chair of it then. Maybe it is finally going to do something?

I don't know the people on the list that well, but they seem pretty well qualified.

If this group has been in existence since 2001, why are you all being so critical now?

I see one person in LBN called it a cover-up because of two people on it. I think it is very problematic to start being this critical of organized effort.

Now, go research and find out what they have been doing. I did a little research, and I see articles about the recount linked from the site.

[mod mom]

With all due respect, If this group has been around since 2001, why

did they allow such fraud to occur?

[merh]

See, the problem that exists regarding elections is that they are

conducted by the states. Each state has the SOS or its equivolent that is responsible to the citizens and is mandated to follow the state election laws. Each state is divided into parishes or counties and those subdivisions have their board of commissioner or election commissioners. It is hard to know all of the statutes, laws, regulations and findings of each of these hundreds of subdivisions that conduct elections.

To see a problem and report it is not enough (eg those that requested more voting machines in Ohio only to be ignored). It is theorized that the tabulators and the computer software used in Ohio were the culprits. Those are internal contraptions and I could stand over the voting machines all day long and not detect the crime.

There were thousands of "experts" at the polling places and on duty on election day. There is no way theyy could detect the software/tabulator issues and they had no control over the operations of the election.

They did not allow the fraud! To think that "they" allowed it is akin to believing that a woman that wears a short skirt and hangs out in seedy dives asked to be raped!

[mod mom]

No Dem allowed machine manipulation, but we had other large problems in Oh

such as placement of the machines. This was signed off by a Dem as well as Repub. This problem of suppression was blatantly obvious, even during election day. I heard no outcry by the ODP, and it's leaders. I have dedicated every day since the election to SCREAM about this injustice. Our constitution demands equal protection. IT DID NOT OCCUR!

Maybe I should just stop posting today, I'm just too upset. How many times have we got our hopes up?

[merh]

No, don't stop posting and don't apologize for your passion

and concern! :hug:

See, we have to recognize that some of those dems on the election boards were repukes in dems clothing. That is one way the repukes have maintained their foot hold on our system of government. Don't blame the entire party or the candidate for the failings of the individual members.

How was the campaign supposed to control the elections or oversee those elected officials? They couldn't. To blame the entire party for the failings of the elected officials that were responsible to the people first and then the party is a waste of effort. Now, if you want to work to remove the creeps from office by putting true, responsible dems in their place, more power to you.

I am hoping they included local dems on the committee who know how the system works and did not have the same problems or as extreme problems at their polling places as did those that were responsible for the disenfranchised voters. And maybe those on this committee that did have the problems know that the problems exist and have ideas as to how to prevent them. If I am not mistaken, there are reports that the machines were requested and the SOS failed to deliver.

:shrug:

[mod mom]

Are there Dems out there, who think that even if election fraud can be

proven, we should not pursue it? Just wait until the next election, and learn from the past? Are you kidding?

Look at what irreparable damage * is doing to the enviroment, the world, the poor, veterans benefits, !

[merh]

Of course there are dems that think that. I do not agree with them

and I don't believe the Ohio Dems and DNC would have put this study committee together if they thought waiting would be the answer.

They know they did not do enough after 2000 election - they know they cannot wait.

[Helga Scow Stern]

33. I hope you are right.

Last night at the MoveOn Meeting Dean said in his call to us that all he can do with election reform is put it on the ballots as an initiative.

He suggested starting in California. Is he not aware that California has the strongest standards in place already, unless they are eroded by the SoS coup?

Also, how lame is it to think we can fix election problems by voting?

I mean, if the vote is being tampered with, why would we be able to vote to fix it?

[madfloridian]

They are trying to work to fix it.

They are not trying to overturn the election. It is ok, I don't even have hope left for the party after reading this thread and the one in LBN.

When I saw the press release, I felt pretty good. But now I don't. I don't think anything anyone does will matter.

[kster]

I always have hope

I think it was Clint Curtis who said "coming forward isn't the problem it's having people care about the problem". There's allot of people who care about it now.

[madfloridian]

Allow it?

I am sorry, but my brain is fried today already. I am not on the same wave lengths with this board today.


:crazy:

[mod mom]

Heres my take in Ohio, for whats it's worth....

the Ohio Dem Party, headed up by team member Denny White, had the ability to oversee the BOE. There sits one dem and one repub, which is why Blackwell claims it had to be fair. The ODP chose incompetent people who signed off on the elections. The Party has not been supportive of any post election investigation and is totally happy with business as usual. they even snubbed the House Judiciary Dems, who took time out of their busy schedules to come and here testimony, after they were presented affidavits and other pertinent material from those grass root investigators. I hear they are even upset as the large number of area progressive groups that are flourishing in Ohio. One would think they would welcome this grass root organizing wouldn't you? Not if it threatens status quo.

[Bill Bored]

Some OH Dems were more concerned with local races

than the Presidency. I learned this while making calls for Kerry last Oct. It was a red flag then and it still is!

[madfloridian]

So you disapprove of all the Ohio Advisory board on the committee?

Could you take each one and tell me why? I agree Ohio and Florida as well as other states are not welcoming the new grassroots, but you and others are highly critical right now of something I see going in the right direction.

It is blowing my mind.

[mod mom]

No, in an earlier post I stated OH Sen Mark Mallory was a good choice. I

applaud that selection.

[John Q. Citizen]

Well let's wait and see. When Kennedy was assasinated, some

questioned the "lone gunman" theory. So the dems who controlled both houses and the executive appointed a bi-partisan commision and they pretty well laid to rest all of that conspiracy crap, didn't they?

Same with 9/11. It was a bipartisan complete and full investigation, but thank god, they didn't leave any stone unturned and reported the whole truth to the American people.

This is why I have such high hopes for this review. And it's just and right that they name it a review. Because if they called it an investigation that would make it appear that at least some of the members felt that things aren't on the up and up in Ohio. And that would be so unfair...
</sarcasim off.>

[Jo March]

23. Because "we the people" did not know then what we know now

By golly, if I had known about this then, I would have been contacting them way before now. In 2001, I had no idea about all of this. I really didn't.

Now I do, however, and that makes all of the difference for me and many others.

[mod mom]

Denny White, Jim Ruvolo-OH Dem Party leaders responsible for

the election. Where have they been? Totally absent in post election. I wonder if this team came from Howard or Terry.

[mod mom]

Not one member from the Judicary that works with Conyers. I think

this is a way to placate us. This appears more DLC than DFA inspired. One positive note is Mark Mallory, an African American Senator from Cleveland. I believe he has the fighting spirit.

A representative from Michael Coleman's office? MC is running for governor, but never questioned the 2004 election. Where was his office representative when John Conyers, Maxine Waters et al came to Columbus to hold hearings?

Hoffheimer, Kerry's attorney works in a Taft (OH Repug governor) family law firm.

I hope I'm proven wrong. Getting tired of big let downs.

[madfloridian]

Why don't you go to the blog and tell the DNC how they did wrong?

That is the best way to handle things. Go blog it and tell it to them.

[Alizaryn]

THIS is what gives me hope.

....."said DNC Chairman Governor Howard Dean."

If there are concerns regarding any or all of the members I agree that communicating those concerns to the DNC/GovDean would be a good plan. Aside from opening eyes to some of the history that leaves us uneasy it would most importantly let the DNC know that we:
Are aware and interested in the "Review",
Involved to the degree that we might have educated questions,
and most importantly, watching them.

Its all good.

[mbee]

Let's just hope she's going to look at the actual ballots or

forget it!

[Straight Shooter]

6. VRI Chair Donna Brazile?

Oh, brother. :eyes:

[Junkdrawer]

Donna Brazile: "Frustrated Democrat Makes Friends in G.O.P."...

WASHINGTON — Two years ago, Donna Brazile, then Al Gore's campaign manager, was engaged in daily combat with Karl Rove, then George W. Bush's top campaign strategist.

Today, they chirpily exchange e-mail, chat on the phone and write letters, indulging in their shared zeal for the inner workings of politics.

"I like her a lot," said Mr. Rove, now ensconced in the West Wing as President Bush's chief political adviser.

Ms. Brazile, a committed Democrat who was the first black woman to manage a presidential campaign, has built similar relationships with other Republicans, like Grover Norquist, an influential conservative strategist. And her coziness with them comes as she is deeply frustrated with her own party for what she calls years of taking African-Americans for granted and for failing to organize for elections in a coherent way.

....

http://members.cox.net/fweil/NYT030221.htm

[suziedemocrat]

Keep your friends close - enemies closer!

I like Donna Brazile - she seems smart. However - is Rove picking her brain or is she picking his???

I think Republicans ARE somewhat color blind. They'll cosy up to anyone they can use, abuse, and then throw away.

[Junkdrawer]

I'll be watching with interest..I'm sure a lot of folks here will too...

I also remember that Blackwell was once a Democrat too...

[SharonAnn]

7. Actually, I think she knows what to look for. She's a great "on the

ground" operator.

She's just not the big picture strategist.

[saracat]

9. Ha! She is repuke lite. If anyone could botch this it is her. I hope

she is in name only. She and the DLC botched 2000 and she was vociferous in her negativity during this campaign. I wouldn't trust her for anything. I suppose Dean recognizes she campaigned against him and will take the appropriate measures. If not, this is trouble.

[merh]

8. I like the experts (non lawyer)

Michael C. Herron, PhD - Michael Herron is Associate Professor of Government at Dartmouth College. He previously was on the faculty of Northwestern University and was a Post - Doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University. Herron has published in the top political science journals, and his current research interests consist of the study of election irregularities, legislative districting, and the use of quantitative methods in political research.

Juan M. Jover, PhD – Dr. Juan Jover, a high - technology entrepreneur, received his Doctorate in Electrical Engineering and Masters in Engineering Management both from Stanford University. He has been involved in the investigation of false claims related to technology devices. His membership in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and its Standards Association provides insights to standardization of electronic equipment. Jover received a Fulbright Fellowship in 1980 and co-authored a book on computers in Spanish at age 24.

Walter R. Mebane, Jr., PhD - Walter R. Mebane Jr. is Professor of Government at Cornell University. He has published numerous research articles concerning topics in American politics, especially elections, and political methodology, including statistics and mathematical modeling. He wrote a series of articles that examined the discrepancies between voters' intentions and the outcome of the 2000 presidential election, focusing on Florida. He has developed statistical methods useful for identifying anomalies in election results. Currently he is continuing work on a project that examines how information, partisan messages and rational voter choices all relate to the dynamics of election campaigns and the institutional structure of American government. He is a member of the Council of the Midwest Political Science Association and served on the Social Science Research Council's National Research Commission on Elections and Voting.

Jasjeet S. Sekhon, PhD – Sekhon is an Associate Professor of Government at Harvard University and an Associate of Harvard's Center for Basic Research in the Social Sciences. He’s done extensive research on elections, voting behavior and voting irregularities. Sekhon has developed numerous statistical methods including techniques to detect election irregularities and methods to make causal inferences. He is the author of numerous scientific articles and software programs. For more information please see http://jsekhon.fas.harvard.edu/.

Dan Wallach, PhD - Dan Wallach is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He earned his bachelor's at the University of California, Berkeley and his PhD at Princeton University. His research involves computer security and the issues of building secure and robust software systems for the Internet. Wallach began his security career in 1995 when he and his colleagues found serious flaws in the security of Java applets; an attacker could use your web browser to hijack your entire computer. Wallach has also studied security issues that occur in distributed and peer-to-peer systems. Wallach, along with colleagues at Johns Hopkins, co-authored a groundbreaking study that reported significant flaws in Diebold's AccuVote-TS electronic voting system. He has testified about voting security issues before government bodies in the U.S., Mexico, and the European Union.

[truckin]

Walter Mebane claimed that any allegation of fraud using Kathy Dopp's

analysis of an unusually high number of Democrats voting for Bush on optical scan machines in Florida is baseless. He attributes this anamoly to the dixiecrat theory and does not even consider the possibility of fraud associated with Florida's optical scan machines. IMO, he is not a good person to have in this team. Here is a link to his rebuttal to Cathy Dopp's analysis:

http://macht.arts.cornell.edu/wrm1/commondreams/commondreams.html

[KaliTracy]

if he was so skeptical, why didn't they do a canvass of some key districts

after the election in Florida? That's what I don't get about all this -- making judgments and suppositions on the psychology of voters without truly talking to the voters. But it costs money to do that, and time, something which most don't have readily available to help prove our elections have been fair.

[merh]

Oh, now I don't like that at all ---

but then again, we are dealing with Ohio and not Florida and hopefully he will have more information available to him to research and decipher. It would be great to make this non-believer a believer, because of his skeptism re Florida, should he report there is fraud his report would seem more credible and not partisan. (Just trying to find the positive in the obvious negative.)

[truckin]

I agree with you as long as there is a chance that he will have an open

mind and not just be an obstructionist. While it is possible that he may be right about Cathy Dopp's analysis in Florida it appears that he does not even accept the possibility of fraud in that state.

[merh]

It is a concern, but you have to remember, his analysis was

limited to Florida and the issues in her report. He may not have looked outside of her report. If he can be convinced of the fraud, then we have something given he is so skeptical and wrote a report contrary to the fraud in Florida.

Let's keep an open mind and let's pray he does too!

[Dancing_Dave]

44. Mebane also believes in "rational voter choice" models!

Which are often VERY psychologically inaccurate!

He also assumes people have access to information needed to make these rational voter choices--unfortunately, that is often untrue in America today! This easily turns "rational choice" models into a kind of ideological scam, positing a nice situation which unfortunately doesn't happen to really exist.

People like Jefferson and Adams thought that rational voter choice was indeed something to be cultivated through education and civic culture, but they did not take it as a given. To put it in modern terms, a lot of "consciousness raising" must be done.

[Fly by night]

Could we track down the experts' email addresses ...

... and post them for direct communication with these experts. I know there are at least a dozen members of this DU thread who would have much to share about misdeeds in a host of states, including but not limited to Ohio. I would like to invite this entire team to come to Nashville for our conference -- In fact, I think I'll invite them now.

[Jo March]

20. FBN, Ojai Person and I are going to get their contact info

I am taking the first five on the list; Ojai Person the next five. We will post the info back here for everyone.

If you get their contact info before we do, can you please post it here?

[saracat]

10. I would like to know what these people were doing during the election.

This seems like a great group, except for Donna. But then, I believe Kerry won! And it that is proven, what then?

[Peace Patriot]

saracat, I was thinking the same thing about this list until I got to the

...Johns Hopkins guy, Dan Wallach. Now in that case the experts did the right thing, and warned everybody. But too many Democratic leaders were too thick in Diebold's pocket themselves, apparently, to heed the warning--the most incredible and catastrophic failure of political leadership we've ever seen.

Of the other academics, we really have to ask: Where WERE they? AND, where are they NOW?

Here are the ones I respect--who have cried foul on the 2004 election, and called for investigation (Freeman, Baiman and Haut were among the earliest whistle-blowers):

Exit poll analysis: astronomical odds against Bush win

Dr. Steven Freeman (2 reports): Professor, Center for Organizational Dynamics, Univ. of Penn.; Karel Steuer Chair for entrepreneurship, Univ. de San Andreas, Buenos Aires; Professor of Management, Central Amer. Inst. of Business Administration (INCAE),
http://www.appliedresearch.us/sf/epdiscrep.htm
"The Unexplained Exit Poll Discrepancy," and "Hypotheses for Explaining the Exit Poll-Official Count Discrepancy in the 2004 US Presidential Election"
Article: http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1970

Dr. Ron Baiman: Economist/Statistician - senior research specialist, Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago; teaches at the University of Chicago.
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/997

Dr. Baiman: "I conclude that, based on the best exit sample data currently available, neither the national popular vote, or many of the certified state election results, are credible and should not be regarded as a true reflection of the intent of national electorate, or of many state voters, until a complete and thorough investigation…."

Dr. Michael Haut, & UC Berkeley Quantitative Methods Research Team; Haut is a nationally-known expert on statistical methods and member of the National Academy of Sciences and the UC Berkeley Survey Research Center
Florida: 130,000 to 230,000 phantom votes for Bush--paper vs. electronic voting—calls for investigation:http://ucdata.berkeley.edu
Press release: http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1118-14.htm

Dr. Webb Mealy: http://www.selftest.net/redshift.htm (Bush vote skewed to the Electoral Votes that were needed to win.)

Nine Ph.D's from leading universities say, 1) Kerry won the Exit Polls (by 3%); 2) the Exit polls were skewed to Bush, so Kerry's margin was likely even higher; 3) there is evidence of electronic fraud at the precinct level, and 4) call for investigation of the 2004 Election:

http://uscountvotes.org/ucvAnalysis/US/USCountVotes_Re_Mitofsky-Edison.pdf

Josh Mitteldorf, Ph.D. - Temple University Statistics Department
Steven F. Freeman, PhD - Center for Organizational Dynamics, University of Pennsylvania
Brian Joiner, PhD - Prof. of Statistics and Director of Statistical Consulting (ret), University of Wisconsin
Frank Stenger, PhD in mathematics - School of Computing, University of Utah
Richard G. Sheehan, PhD - Department of Finance, University of Notre Dame
Elizabeth Liddle, MA - (UK) PhD candidate at the University of Nottingham
Paul F. Velleman, Ph.D. - Department of Statistical Sciences, Cornell University
Victoria Lovegren, Ph.D. - Department of Mathematics, Case Western Reserve University
Campbell B. Read, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Statistical Science, Southern Methodist University
Kathy Dopp, MS in mathematics - USCountVotes, President
Also Peer Reviewed by USCountVotes’ core group of statisticians and independent reviewers.

----

These are brave and honest people who have looked at the facts and have been willing to speak the truth about them, despite a near total news monopoly blackout on this vital matter. They deserve our thanks.

We'll see what Donna Brazile's Ohio Election Task Force comes up with. You will notice how limited it is already (to Ohio). The DNC deserves significant blame for this stolen election. (You can't tell me they didn't know that the election system was a fraud going in...with Wally O'Dell & co. "counting" our votes in secret. I mean, come on...) So, can Howard Dean make a difference, and help us achieve election reform? I think he will try. His statements indicate that he knows what's what (for instance, that election reform must be a state/local fight, led by the grass roots--no other way it's going to get done). I presume this Task Force is his handiwork, so I would give it the benefit of the doubt.

But I doubt if we'll ever find out from it--or from any official Dem source--how the party leadership failed us, in Ohio and throughout the nation, on Nov. 2, 2004. And unless we understand that failure--who is responsible for it, and why--then we are going to continue to be stymied on election reform FROM WITHIN OUR OWN PARTY, as we recently discovered in California, with a pro-Diebold, pro-paperless voting DEMOCRAT, L.A. county elections head Connie McCormack, driving our anti-Diebold, pro-verified voting Sec of State Kevin Shelley out of office, and leading a campaign to gut the strongest electronic voting standards in the country (Shelley's!).

We've got "enemies within," and really need to face this.

[Wilms]

11. If we get Ohio back...

I hope what is uncovered in OH can help us show that other states were defrauded. Part of the problem is the popular vote, too.

But no way is JK/JE waltzing into the WH. :( * was inaugurated. Proving fraud and pinning it on him or Cheney are two different things.

Rove, on the other hand...

[kster]

12. I wouldn't give up

hope to soon,what is going to be uncovered in Ohio is going to be the key to the whorehouse,sorry White House.

[Wilms]

Oh yes.

The place will be swamped with it and a pile of other scandals nipping at them.

Plus, it's not like the majority voted for them. I think the "collective unconscious" already realizes this (unconsciously, of course). It's reflected in every miserable poll that comes out.

So while I can imagine this administration flying apart, the details of the fall don't seem apparent.

But that's the fun part. :)

[kster]

1. And it's going to be

because of blogs like this one,who refused to give up on. "Stopping the Secret Vote Counts".........

[mod mom]

15. It wasn't just Ohio. nt

[Jo March]

21. Yes, we can't forget that. This panel should be a starting point

They have a lot of work to do with Ohio and then they need to move to FL, NM, NC, PA and so many other states!

We have to "manage up" and tell them their jobs and hold them accountable! We cannot let them think that we are going to be all hunky-dory now that they are investigating.

[Helga Scow Stern]

25. A few of these academics were writing papers together after the election:

saying that the optical voting machines in Florida did not give irregular results:

In the aftermath of the 2004 Presidential election, a significant number of activists and
researchers have argued that the optical voting machines that are used in a majority of
Florida counties caused John Kerry to receive fewer votes than “Direct Recording Electronic”
(DRE) voting machines. Implicitly, these researchers wish to estimate the causal
effect of using optical versus DRE voting machines. There are two difficulties which must
be confronted when one attempts to estimate this causal effect. First, the type of voting
machine that a county uses was not randomly assigned. Second, the 67 counties in Florida
are extremely heterogeneous. For example, the portion of the population which is white
(including Hispanic whites) ranges from 0.41 to 0.96,1 and the proportion of the population
which is registered Democrat ranges from 0.24 to 0.89.2
Both of these issues are common when one tries to make causal inferences from observational
data. The issues give rise to the problem of confounding—i.e., the distributions
of pre-treatment variables, such as party registration, past votes and demographics, differ
greatly between those counties that use optical voting machines and the counties that use
DREs. These baseline differences must be accounted for before any valid causal inference
can be made. A common way to account for these variables is by comparing matched observations.
Matching estimators do not make functional form assumptions and are hence
appealing.3 For the optical voting machine question, a matching estimator greatly reduces
the imbalances in baseline variables and produces the most reliable statistical results we
currently have. The estimated causal effect of optical voting machines on the Kerry vote
is indistinguishable from zero. These results give no support to the conjecture that optical
voting machines resulted in fewer Kerry votes than the DREs would have.

http://jsekhon.fas.harvard.edu/papers/SekhonOpticalMatch.pdf


I don't know about all of the fine points of their arguments, matching, and so on, but I do know that using a group of academics who have worked together on a subject in the past is no way to get an unbiased evaluation of a problem. If nothing else, they have an investment in the point of view of their research.

http://elections.fas.harvard.edu/index.html

If fairness and an impartial analysis of results was truly the intention of this committee, why didn't they invite researchers with differing views?

[Helga Scow Stern]

37. The scientists were busy refuting any claims of fraud:

http://macht.arts.cornell.edu/wrm1/ustogether/ustogether.html

http://macht.arts.cornell.edu/wrm1/commondreams/commondreams.html

and giving David Corn "evidence" to lead liberals astray.

[fasttense]

14. I've come to the conclusion that all the legislation and "review boards"

in the world will amount to absolutely Nothing (including lawsuits) until we the people get up off our duff and march on Washington for weeks. It is the only thing the rethugs can't stop. It is the only thing the rethugs can't control. The corporate media will eventually report it if we stay long enough.

[Jo March]

22. There is a march on DC being planned by 51 Capitol March

You should go and check out their plans. Also, you can PM Foger Rox, who has been working to get that organized.

[Jo March]

16. We need contact info for all of these people so we can "manage up"

We need to get the contact information for these people and flood them with OUR information - Mythbreakers info, the research that berniew1 and TruthIsAll have done, the documents that we all have practically memorized.

It's called "managing up." If we even suspect that these fine folks might need some assistance in doing their jobs, then it is our responsibility to give them that assistance instead of sitting back and hoping that they will do the right thing.

Hell, I'm not even convinced that they can find their ass with their hands, a map and a flashlight. So, in that cynical vein:

Who wants to get contact info? I can work on the first five on the list.

[Helga Scow Stern]

17. Please post it. I will work on the next five.

[Jo March]

18. Sure will! I'll have it up by this evening.

I have some appointments this morning - background check and drug test for my NEW JOB! - but I'll get the info posted back here.

Thanks, OP!!

[Helga Scow Stern]

24. Thank you, arnheim!

:yourock:

And good luck on your NEW JOB!

[Helga Scow Stern]

26. I am discouraged by my five.

Three of them are already "experts" who published papers days after the election disputing the contention of fraud.

[freeroo]

27. More ways of working with the DNC Ohio review team

I'm from Ohio. I agree that the grassroots may be able to affect the outcome of the DNC review by taking a very positive approach.

After a few hours of research, I see the national review team as a mixed bag. For example, Professors Mebane, Herron, and Sekhon are related professionally and are apparently well-respected independent scholars in election analysis. With studies like one after Florida 2000 showing that Gore really won because of butterfly ballots, but also studies after Florida 2004 questioning some initial theories about anomalies in the Panhandle. Dr. Freeman and his consortium should submit all of their statistical work on Ohio directly to the DNC's three professors and try to find common ground.

Most importantly, I'd like to see a fund-raising event in Columbus at which election activists would contribute funds to the DNC that would match part or all of the $500,000.00 maximum that the DNC has pledged to spend for the Ohio review. And would rub elbows with the review team members.

Howard Dean sees grass-root fund raising and mobilization as the way to rebuild the Democratic Party. Raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the DNC review would send an unmistakable positive signal to the DNC and its review team. True, it might turn out to be a waste of money, but wouldn't it be a strategic investment of $100 for an election activist to try to strengthen the DNC's approach to the 2004 election in Ohio?

[Helga Scow Stern]

28. Interesting ideas.

I guess I am concerned that if the academics who work together had wanted to take the other papers seriously, they would have already addressed them....or am I missing something? It can't hurt. I am just afraid they already have their minds made up.

[freeroo]

29. supporting the DNC academics

1) I don't see that these DNC professors have committed themselves on the big issues yet -- Ohio Kerry exit polls and statistical anomalies in the counted vote. There's probably a lot of wiggle room either way

2) I'm glad they are hooked in with the DNC, not the RNC. Let's capitalize on that.

3) The DNC professors may not have entered the debate with USVoteCounts (Freeman, Dopp, and others) because they were uncomfortable criticizing the methodology when they may sympathize with some of the conclusions. I see the DNC profs as the experts with a track record in election irregularity statistics. The USVoteCounts professors are smart and have specialties that are related to the subject, but have not directly published much on elections before. If the DNC professors agree with even part of the USVoteCounts analysis, make it more "Republican-proof," and use the pollsters and strategists on the DNC team to frame and publicize the issues best, it would be a big step.

4) Even if the professors pooh-pooh the exit polls and statistical anomalies, the DNC team may focus on issues like registration, long lines, or voter suppression instead. It could still be valuable. We don't have to win on EVERY issue.

5) If we hope to affect the Democratic Party, why not use the most obvious means -- fundraising and direct contacts, such as the Ohio election fundraising event I suggested? Show them that review of the 2004 election can be a political plus. I believe that such an event would energize hundreds, even thousands, of us Ohio election activists and supporters in other states.

6) For us in Ohio, we need more organization and facts about how bad the 2004 election was in Ohio, to counter Secretary of State Blackwell's trumpeted message that the election was "inspiring" and that he should be elected Governor in 2006.

[glitch]

30. We do have to win on the machine vote count issue. That is the core crime

The other crimes were committed as flak to disperse any counter-attack, IMO.

"4) Even if the professors pooh-pooh the exit polls and statistical anomalies, the DNC team may focus on issues like registration, long lines, or voter suppression instead. It could still be valuable. We don't have to win on EVERY issue."

Edited to add: Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Helga Scow Stern]

32. I am afraid you are right.

Somehow I am afraid this review board is about missing the point.

[rigel99]

40. SECRET VOTE COUNTING is the best issue

to pursue and one we can litigate and win with...
the lawsuits can drive the legislative efforts..

simple. We have to get rid of DRE machines counting our votes.

I have significant and mounting evidence that Diebold
DRE Tapes Mismatch with SOVC Reports Mismatch with DRE Machine Recap sheets, mismatch with Election Summaries, Mismatch with DRE Tape Accumulations... there's so much I have spent 3 hours on Chatham county for all their irregularities... would post but need to save for courtroom action..

but bottom line, the main case is that we've PRIVATIZED our elections to corporations... disenfranchisement and other things are hard to find caselaw to support. but there is caselaw that says Poll workers have to sign an oath to be a pollworker.. guess what? Diebold employees known to be working poll centers do not have oaths.. can you say misdemeanor? Vote rigging, as will soon be found when we secure more access to records is a felony.....

and the people who will receive these charges... real simple, every county BOE person, that's who... we make everyone accountable to the crime so we get the system eating itself like a snake eating it's tale.

it's a brilliant strategy, can anyone poke holes in it.....

[Helga Scow Stern]

31. Have you been in touch

with all of the recount people, etc., in Ohio?

Welcome to DU, by the way! :hi:

[freeroo]

43. Ohio Recount People

Yes I have gone to several meetings with three different groups of recount people. I was a recount witness myself.

They are split on whether to pursue any further investigation of the 2004 election, or whether to "move on" to election reform and other issues.

Many are suspicious of the DNC effort. I suggest being realistic but not negative. True, we should not put all our eggs in this one basket, but I'd pay $100 to meet the DNC team in person and show them and the DNC that many people are concerned about election fraud.

The DNC investigation does not look like it will include a ballot-level review of any precincts. It looks like it will deal with the statistics and reviewing the "party line" that the Dems have taken on the 2004 election. I doubt it will be a whitewash. They could have bought a whitewash much cheaper than half a million dollars.

The DNC faces a divided party on the 2004 issue. Conyers and his colleagues have committed to questioning the election, as have the many Dems whose eyes were opened by being election "challengers" and recount witnesses, and a lot of bloggers. On the other side, Kerry and the party officials, including Dem members of boards of elections, who are accused of being "complicit." If I were Dean, I would want the investigation to give me what I need to make sure that Dem pollworkers and Dem members of Boards of Elections know how to protect the interests of the party and democracy in the next election in Ohio, to get some dirt on the Ohio Repubs, and to get everyone unified to fight the Repubs on election reform.

Thanks.

[rigel99]

38. AGREED we should all fundraise for election reform...

But Dean and Ohio Team folks need to realize, Ohio is not the only place that needs funding.


Georgia for example is a much better place to litigate and win against election fraud. Why? Because we are 100% DRE (Electronic voting) it's a clean slate from a test case perspective, meaning we know that one kind of voting was implemented statewide and not like OH where there were so many voting machines and styles, it's impossible to get a cohesive look at how the voting was rigged statewide... then you are left to litigate disenfranchisement which is like litigating the african american's right to vote before the voting rights act of 1965... the laws just aren't there for disenfranchisement.

While Georgia is not electorally significant, if Georgia can invalidate all DRE votes as being fraudulent, it will put over 36Million votes nationwide into question. This is a much bigger stong point than just winning in OH.

So please, DNC listen carefully... pick a few other states, FL, CA, MD, GA, WA and please spend some money in those states.. right now we have to do all our own fundraising or in my case I"ve paid over $10K out of pocket just to get the friggin informatoin needed to go to court (they really want you to do your own discovery).

Also, look at the solid and growing evidence of Vote Manipulation and the serious dangers of depending on Corporations for a. secret vote counting b. election system management at this website....
www.countpaperballots.com

Also, get DemocracyForAmerica to get off their proverbial butts and do something PRACTICAL... my GA DFA has become a glorified movie and social club... in fact our main guy, Tim Cairl, actually wrote an email discouraging citizens from attending a Cathy Cox event intended to answer questions about the election systems in place....

bottom line, DNC do more than give lip service and money to OH, do something serious and get out in the REAL GRASSROOTS, you know Dean, the real folks who put you into power... don't do everything so damn centralized....

[Helga Scow Stern]

34. Dean's remarks last night:

http://moveon.org/r?r=649

Dean starts speaking after 9 minutes and 40 seconds.


He advocates having a ballot initiative in California to not use election machines that can't be recounted by hand.

He also says that we have to get Dems elected as Secretary of State and Election Commissioners. "We can no longer trust Republicans to count the vote."

[rigel99]

39. HE'S FLAT OUT WRONG

and contradicting his earlier statements. He once said the actions we need to pursue were a set of election reform guidelines and flat out not support any candidate that did not support those guidelines..

that while we need to get our chosen democratic clan elected(I agree here), in GA we have a problem with ZEALOTS (or Zell Miller Democrats, dixiecrats that represent sometimes more repugnant approaches than even GA republicans).......

in fact, we have an SOS that is DEMOCRACT in the form of Cathy Cox and she is personally doing the most harm to Georgia , because brought Diebold here and is openly preventing citizens (mainly me) from getting access to the Diebold CD that captures the ballot images (see http://www.countpaperballots.com/cox-terrorist-response.htm for what kind of crap a Democrat in GA is foisting on its citizens). She also walked out of a citizen forum a few weeks ago..

NOOOOOO I'd rather take the idiot proof approach. Make some kind of national standard that says ONLY paper ballots are what is counted election day and render all the electronic machines as glorified printers... that way if we don't succeed and some republicans get accidentally elected as SOS, we still have a shot at preventing them from doing very serious harm in this ongoing onslaught of the DRE machine borg that is infesting this nation.

I can't believe Dean thinks electing democrats is the best approach...he is seriously undereducated on this issue.... he needs more than Donna Brazile who's been nowhere on this issue at his side..... someone tell him to grow a few real experts on his panel......

[Helga Scow Stern]

35. They "knew" days after election that fraud claims were baseless:

http://macht.arts.cornell.edu/wrm1/commondreams/commondreams.html

From: Walter Mebane <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2004 16:54:35 -0500
To: [email protected]
CC: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked

To the Editor:

Regarding "Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked," by
Thom Hartmann

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1106-30.htm

Jasjeet Sekhon <[email protected]>, Jonathan Wand
<[email protected]> and I <[email protected]> have looked into the
allegation of vote fraud involving optical scan voting machines in the
2004 presidential election voting in Florida. Based on the data shown
below, we conclude that allegation is baseless. Instead, the pattern
in which counties that have high Democratic registration had high
percentage increases in the vote for Bush reflects the fact that all
those counties have trended strongly Republican over the past twelve
years. The counties are mostly in the Florida Panhandle. Given the
voting history and registration trends, these counties seem to have
many old-style southern Democrats who have not bothered to change
their registration.


(This is from most of the academicians on the panel to the editor of Common Dreams.)

[Helga Scow Stern]

36. Response to Kathy Dopp, days after election:

http://macht.arts.cornell.edu/wrm1/ustogether/ustogether.html

From wrm1 Fri Nov 12 02:36:22 -0500 2004
From: Walter Mebane <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
CC: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: response to your responses

Hi Kathy,

Thanks for posting a link to the critique we circulated of your
posting of "Surprising Pattern of Florida's Election Results" at
http://ustogether.org/Florida_Election.htm

Here's a response to the responses (by Elizabeth Liddle and Marc
Sapir) to our critique that you also posted. If you'd like also to
post a link to this response, I will post a copy of this message at
http://macht.arts.cornell.edu/wrm1/ustogether/ustogether.html

Best,
Walter Mebane

[Helga Scow Stern]

41. Also creepy Gloria Molina association with VRI:

http://molina.co.la.ca.us/press01/05-01-01%20Molina%20Announces%20Voting%20Rights%20Institute.pdf

She was one of those California Dems suspiciously allied with Conny McCormack in demanding SoS Shelley's blood.

This whole thing stinks.

[Jo March]

42. CONTACT INFO: Ohio Advisory Team Members

Some of these people were a bit hard to find. I'm going to keep looking for better info for some of them.

OHIO ADVISORY TEAM MEMBERS

Timothy M. Burke
225 West Court Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202
email: [email protected]
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Susan Gwinn
Phone (home): 740-592-5401
Work Phone: [phone]
Cell Phone: [phone]
e-mail address:[email protected]

Greg Haas
Mayor's Office
City Hall 2nd Floor
90 West Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Brooke Hills, Special Assistant to the Mayor
Office of the Mayor
801 Plum St. Rm 150
Cincinnati, OH 45202-1979
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Dennis Lieberman
318 West Fourth Street
Dayton, Ohio 45402
Phone: [phone]

Senator Mark Mallory
Senate Building
Room #228, Second Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Phone: [phone]
email: [email protected]

Alan Melamede
Melamede Communications
Shaker Heights, OH 44122

Ron Malone
6805 Oak Creek Drive
Columbus, OH 43229

Russ Pry
438 Grant Street
Akron, OH 44311
email: [email protected]
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Jim Ruvolo
74 Canterbury Court, Ottawa Hills, OH 43606
Phone: [phone]

Fred Strahorn
77 S. High St
10th Floor
Columbus,OH 43215-6111
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email Address: [email protected]

Nan Whaley
Montgomery County Auditors Office
451 West Third Street, Dayton, OH 45422
P.O. Box 972, Dayton, OH 45422
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Dennis White
Chair, Ohio Democratic Party
[email protected]
614-221-6563 x128 (voice)