Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, FRI. Sep. 1, 2006 Bilbray Edition

[rumpel]

Bilbray in the News

Brian P. Bilbray, who has filled the vacancy of the seat in the House of Representatives, which opened up with the imprisonment of Rep. Cunningham, has already garnered several news headlines. The Special Election held in conjunction with the primaries in California District 50 this past June, was held under uncorrected voting procedure problems, which had come to light in 2004 during a mayoral election, again, amidst controversy of bribery scandals and indictments in local politics.

In spite of being informed of electronic voting machines being vulnerable to manipulation, Registrar Haas, had sent the Diebold machines home with the poll workers. In combination with other voting and tabulation problems, a recount was requested by a consortium of citizens, organizations and the San Diego Union Tribune, Los Angeles Times and the local TV station KNSD. Ultimately, this recount was done after the swearing in of Dick Murphy (R) and the much cheered "surfer" Donna Frye (D) and her voters were deprived of accurate vote tabulation as the City registrar Sally McPherson excluded 5,547 write in ballots bearing Frye's name from being counted.

After two years of open debate and numerous concerns expressed and supposedly addressed by the Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, Registrar Hass, yet again, managed to send the Diebold electronic voting machines home with the poll workers. A full 16 days prior to Haas completing vote tabulation and certifying the results of the Busby/Bilbray race - Dennis Hastert manages to swear in Bilbray to the House of Representative seat.

And yet again, a recount request was stalled by Registrar Haas and the issue goes to court, which results in the absurd affirmation that neither the People nor the Judicial has jurisdiction or power of challenging a "member" of the House of Representatives.

Through the rushed swearing in, based on "uncertified and unofficial results" of Bilbray (R) by House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R), Bilbray is now garnering the ultimate campaign advertising designed by and with the aid of the GOP political machine to drum up the base with his "accomplishments" in November when Bilbray will face off Busby again.

The obvious targets - the religious right, and the anti-immigration activists.

When elections reek of the stench of manipulation at all levels - one can only wonder - where and when the media has lost the courage to investigate and report on the obscured dung heap.
God speed - Paul Letho & VR!

Just a few of Mr. Bilbray's accomplishments in the news, since arriving in Washington will follow.


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1. Bilbray: Immigrants struggle to go to college

For undocumented students, measure offers a way to pay
By Aurelio Rojas -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:01 am PDT Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Story appeared on Page A1 of The Bee

SANTA ANA -- It's Friday night, party time for many college students. But inside a cramped conference room, Minerva Gomez has a serious agenda to plow through.
Analyses of proposed immigration changes, government affairs, outreach, fundraising -- she's considering issues of profound importance to Gomez and other students who are illegal immigrants.

snip

Only 371 students enrolled in the UC system during the 2005-06 academic year were undocumented immigrants admitted under AB 540. The CSU system does not keep a tally.

Most of the students who have taken advantage of the law attend the state's community colleges. During the first 2 1/2 years of the law, more than 18,000 did so.

But Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-San Diego, and other critics allege it violates the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The measure bans states from granting rights to illegal immigrants that do not apply to every U.S. citizen.

Bilbray, who rode anger over illegal immigration to an election victory in June, has two children who graduated from high school in Virginia. They are paying out-of-state tuition to attend college in California.

Bilbray, his two children and 40 out-of-state students attending California colleges are challenging the law in a suit filed in Yolo Superior Court. A decision is expected any day.

"You have a sitting member of Congress with children who are totally documented and are still being required to pay out-of-state fees," Bilbray said. "That's not right."

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/14311235p-15211100c.html

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2. A Safety Net for San Diego's Homeless Collapses

KTLA News

Two daytime shelters serving hundreds of people have closed as donations dry up. An activist Catholic priest refuses to give up.

By Tony Perry, Times Staff Writer

August 28, 2006

SAN DIEGO — Marie Everhart, 75, sitting beneath a tree outside City Hall, worries about what will happen to people like her, people who are homeless in the place that calls itself America's Finest City.

"It's going to be bad, awful bad. There are bad things that happen on the streets, especially to women," said Everhart, a widow who said she has been harassed and robbed repeatedly while living on the streets.

The city's main provider of shelter and services for the homeless has hit a fundraising crunch and last week shut down two heavily used daytime programs.

Hundreds of homeless people who otherwise would spend their days at the St. Vincent de Paul Village east of Petco Park are instead roaming the sometimes dangerous downtown streets.

snip

Carroll had hoped that Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a longtime supporter of St. Vincent's, would use his influence in Congress to get the government to loosen the car-donation rules. But Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion and bribery, is now in prison, despite a letter to the judge from Carroll pleading for mercy.

Carroll has turned to Cunningham's successor, Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Carlsbad), another longtime supporter. Bilbray's staff is working on the car-donation issue, but it could require passage of legislation, a slow process.

http://ktla.trb.com/news/la-me-homeless28aug28,0,6554554.story?coll=ktla-news-1

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3. Experts: population growth, impact on environment must be addressed

By Mike Lee Saturday, August 26 2006, 01:36 AM

Look at the top-priority campaigns of the nation's big environmental groups and you'll find endangered animals, pollution and global warming.

What's largely missing are high-profile, domestic initiatives that tackle what many conservationists agree is a chief source of these and other challenges: U.S. population growth.

The environmental establishment has mostly abandoned talking about the nation's growing populace, particularly as it relates to immigration. The topic is dogged by internal squabbles, divisive politics and a desire to avoid ethnic discrimination.

One result is that ecological factors are rarely mentioned in the current effort to establish a new immigration policy. The debate mostly centers on economics and national security.

"People have been avoiding it like the plague," said U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., a hawk on illegal-immigration issues.

"(Environmentalists) will sidestep major challenges to what their stated goal is because it may end up stepping on political friends' toes," he said. "They have credibility problems when they are willing to look the other way."

http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/20060821013640156

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4. Disputed cross now federal property

But 17-year legal battle may not be over yet

By ERICA WERNER
The Associated Press
August 19. 2006 8:00AM

A
giant cross in San Diego that's been contested for 17 years by an atheist became the property of the federal government this week with President Bush's signature.

Supporters hope the legislation transferring the 29-foot cross and war memorial it's a part of to the federal government will protect it for good. A series of court decisions have deemed the cross unconstitutional because it stands on public property.

"Just because something may have a religious connotation doesn't mean you destroy it and tear it down," said Republican Rep. Brian Bilbray of California after an Oval Office signing ceremony Monday attended by other cross supporters and Republican House members from San Diego who sponsored the bill.

"It's a great victory for our veterans," said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California.

But the legal fight that began in 1989 when atheist Philip Paulson sued San Diego over the cross is not played out yet.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060819/REPOSITORY/608190307/1013/48HOURS

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5. Environmentalists fear more drilling in oceans

By Philip J. LaVelle
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 1, 2006

SOLANA BEACH – Conjuring up the specter of more oil rigs off the California coast, Democratic congressional candidate Francine Busby yesterday sharply criticized Rep. Brian Bilbray for voting for legislation that could open large swaths of America's coastal waters to oil and gas exploration.

“Contrary to my opponent Bilbray's assertions, this is not in the best interest of Californians,” Busby said at a rally of several dozen people organized by environmental groups at Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach.

“This is not in the best interest of the people of the 50th District, and it is not in the best interest of the communities here along the beach.”

In a telephone interview, Bilbray said he was the victim of “political cheap shots.” He defended the bill as having the potential to bring more protections to California's coast.

At issue: a bill, sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, approved by the House on June 29 that would end a quarter-century moratorium on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.

The Senate is expected to vote on a narrower version of the bill this week.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/50thdistrict/20060801-9999-1m1oil.html

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6. CA: Yolo County's disabled voters get new private ballots for November

Friday September 1, 2006

By Elisabeth Sherwin/Enterprise staff writer

Published Aug 31, 2006 - 14:01:43 CDT.

WOODLAND - Yolo County's disabled voters will be able to cast private ballots in November, thanks to $2 million worth of new equipment purchased by Freddie Oakley, the Yolo County elections chief.

“We are good to go for the Nov. 7 election,” Oakley said Wednesday. “It's the best certified system available to us.”

Federal funds, rather than the county's General Fund, covered the cost of the new system, she said.

Oakley purchased enough Hart eSlate systems to allow each of the county's 114 polling places to have a separate, private voting booth for disabled voters, with some extra systems available for backup.

“It will serve blind and low-vision persons with an audio script and will also serve those with physical disabilities,” Oakley explained. “We believe it has a very wide range of applications for a wide range of physical challenges.”

Oakley said anyone with a disability is welcome to call her office at 661-8133 and arrange a time to come in and become familiar with the new system.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2006/08/31/news/122new2.txt

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7. OH: Lawsuit seeks to remove Ohio secretary of state from overseeing electi

election



COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohio activists say they don't want Secretary of State Ken Blackwell overseeing November's general election.

They've filed a civil-rights lawsuit claiming Blackwell deprived people of their voting rights during the 2004 presidential election. Specific accusations include: distributing fewer voting machines in black neighborhoods, purging voter registrations and disproportionately assigning provisional ballots to blacks.
Blackwell, a Republican candidate for governor, calls the lawsuit "frivolous" and "political." He says it's not so much an attack on him, as on Ohio's elections process.

http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5353471&nav=MXEFM7m7

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8. NYTimes: A Look Under the Hood at Democracy’s Engine

The New York Times

Lawrence Norden

By ANTHONY RAMIREZ
Published: September 1, 2006
If democracy were a Nascar race — full of noise, fury, victory and defeat — then voting reform would be democracy’s nuts and bolts: inconspicuous, workmanlike, but needed to hold things together.

Charges of voting fraud, as in the prolonged strife over the July 2 race for the presidency of Mexico, can weaken democracy. And doubts can linger, as in the dispute over the 2004 vote in Ohio that helped re-elect President George W. Bush.

Lawrence Norden is a public-interest lawyer in Manhattan who is overseeing a study of various voting technologies nationwide. New York State must replace its current machines to comply with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which Congress enacted after the Florida election debacle of 2000.

A study released this week that Mr. Norden directed suggests that one of the two main types of electronic voting machines being considered by New York State might confuse voters.

A thin, thoughtful man, Mr. Norden, 35, has followed a winding path to his role as election reformer — from corporate litigator to law-firm dropout to vagabond in Ireland and South Africa back to big-firm lawyer before finally returning to New York University law school, his alma mater, as a lawyer.

“The fundamental thing in a democracy is voting,” said Mr. Norden, a registered voter in Brooklyn whose first ballot was cast in 1992.

Still, he added, in encouraging people to vote, “every new technology presents new problems that you have to confront. Technology by itself isn’t going to provide a permanent solution.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/nyregion/01lives.html?

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9. OH: Federal Court to Hear Case Friday Challenging OH Voter Registration

Restrictions; Judge in FL Struck Down Similar Restrictions Monday



8/31/2006 2:46:00 PM

To: National and State desks

Contact: Robert Brandon, 202-331-1550, or Toby Chaudhuri, 978-884-8626

CLEVELAND, Aug. 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A federal judge will hold a hearing tomorrow on a lawsuit filed by civic organizations, challenging Ohio's severe restrictions on voter registration that were passed into law earlier this year. The legislation created new requirements that drastically limit how individuals and civic organizations can register new voters and could lead to large numbers of potential voters not registering.

Voter registration workers and volunteers in Ohio could be subject to felony charges for minor and harmless mistakes in complying with the new rules. Voter registration workers are also required to take an online training program, discriminating against low-income citizens with no access to the Internet and disabled citizens unable to use computers.

The hearing to determine whether to grant a request for a preliminary injunction against the Ohio law follows a Federal Court ruling on Monday in the Southern District of Florida, which established that similar registration restrictions in Florida violate the constitutional rights of free speech and association.

The Florida law imposed a fine of $250 for organizations and volunteers failing to submit voter applications within 10 days of application, $500 for missing the registration deadline and $5,000 for failing to submit the application at all. The passage of that law forced the League of Women Voters to suspend their voter registration drive in Florida.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=71576

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10. TN: ACLU spreads word about felon voting rights

The City Paper Online

By Christine Buttorff, News Correspondent
September 01, 2006

With November’s general election rapidly approaching, several groups are trying to get the word out across the state that a new law passed this year in the state legislature makes it a little easier for former felons to regain their right to vote.

Davidson County Election Administrator Ray Barrett, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee, the NAACP and a former felon were at an informational meeting Thursday night at the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church.

“Tennessee had this patchwork of laws that depending on when you were convicted and what you were convicted for, it would then determine how you could register,” said Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director of the ACLU Tennessee.

Once an individual has served their sentence and completed parole, the new law requires only a certificate of restoration, which has to be filled out by a parole officer or a court clerk, and a completed voter registration form. Those are turned into the county election commission, which sends them to the state commission for verification.

Previously, former felons would often have to hire a lawyer and go to court to have their voting rights restored. State and local prosecutors could then challenge those requests.

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section_id=9&screen=news&news_id=51888

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11. CO: Recall vote would be in December

The Gazette

September 01, 2006

For D-11 election to occur, county must reject protests

By SHARI CHANEY GRIFFIN THE GAZETTE

If there is a recall election for two Colorado Springs School District 11 board members, it will take place on one of two dates in December.

District Judge Kirk Samelson issued a temporary order at a hearing Thursday, saying the recall election should be on Dec. 12 if the election is done by mail or Dec. 19 if it is a traditional polling place election.

The judge’s ruling can be challenged by the district, the El Paso County clerk and recorder, the End the D-11 Chaos Recall Committee or the two candidates it wants to recall — Sandy Shakes and Eric Christen, said Eric Bentley, attorney for the school district.

It also remains uncertain that a recall election will be held on any date, because some of the signatures on recall petitions handed in to the El Paso County Clerk’s office have been challenged. If enough signatures are disqualified, there would be no recall election.

Christen has not challenged the petitions but was satisfied with Samelson’s ruling, saying “I’m glad we’re going to get our due process.” Shakes was not available for comment.

Conflicting election laws had made it uncertain when a recall election would be held.

One part of the law calls for the recall election to be held as part of the general election Nov. 7. That, however, conflicts with deadlines for protesting, petitioning to be a candidate, and drafting ballot wording.

http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1321081

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12. AL: Secretary of State's office without an attorney as election nears

MONTGOMERY, Ala. The November 7th general election is getting closer and Alabama's secretary of state's office is without a lawyer to answer questions from county voting officials.

Four attorneys have left the office in the last couple of years _ two of them dismissed by Secretary of State Nancy Worley _ leaving the office in its current situation.
Mac McArthur, executive director of the Alabama State Employees Association, says the problem is the result of an exodus of employees from the office since Worley arrived in 2003.
He said the office had 66 or 67 workers when Worley became the state's chief elections officer. Only about 35 or 36 of the original employees remain.
The office was left without an attorney this week when she dismissed Adam Bourne. Staff attorney Hope Ayers also resigned from the office this week to take another job.
Bourne says he believes he was dismissed because he turned over a campaign finance complaint against state Sen. Jim Preuitt, a Talladega Democrat, to the attorney general's office.
Worley denies the allegation.

http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=5352479&nav=8fap

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13. PA: Carbon sells one of 73 old voting machines for $50

The Morning Call

September 1, 2006

But county rejects 2nd bidder's offer to buy the others for $1 each.
By Sarah Fulton Special to The Morning Call

Carbon County has sold one of its 73 old lever voting machines to a Towamensing Township resident who plans to save it for historical purposes, but rejected a bid for the other machines at $1 each.

County commissioners on Thursday opened the two bids, from resident Roy Christman to buy one machine for $50 and from metal reclaiming company Weiner Iron & Metal Corp. of Pottsville to buy all 73 for a total $73.

''We're not going to sell them for $70,'' Commissioners Chairman William O'Gurek said.

''Seventy-three,'' corrected county Administrator Randall Smith.

The county has decided to sell the machines because new federal regulations have rendered them obsolete. The 800-pound baby blue behemoths were replaced by touch-screen electronic voting machines in May, as required by the Help America Vote Act, enacted by Congress after vote-counting problems in the 2000 presidential election.

Christman, an educator and member of the Towamensing Township Planning Commission, was pleased Thursday to hear his bid was successful.

''I thought we should get one of these for historical purposes,'' Christman said. ''In 50 years someone will look back and say, 'Jeez, it's good you got this.'''

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/poconos/all-b3_1machinessep01,0,1431799.story?coll=all-newslocalpoconos-hed

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14. WA: Last call for voter registration (announcement)

The News Tribune

Tacoma, WA - September 1, 2006

Today is the last chance to register to vote in time for the Sept. 19 primary election.
While primary contests are scarce in most South Sound legislative districts, plenty of local ballot measures deserve voter attention.

Tacoma voters, for example, will be deciding the fate of mini-casinos and an EMS levy. Funding requests for fire districts will be on the ballot in several communities, including Lakewood and the Central Pierce Fire District, Pierce County’s largest.

The Pierce County Library System is seeking a levy lid lift to restore shrinking tax revenues and improve services at its nine branches.

Citizens can register in person at the Pierce County auditor’s office, 2401 S. 35th St. The office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/6067911p-5322375c.html

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15. OH: Lawsuit questions Ohio voting rights

The Toledo Blade

Article published Friday, September 1, 2006

New case does not challenge ’04 outcome

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

COLUMBUS — A federal lawsuit filed yesterday accuses Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and unnamed elections officials and vendors of conspiring to undermine the voting rights of urban, African-American, and younger voters in 2004.

The suit asks U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley to declare that disproportionately allocated voting machines, new provisional ballot rules, purges of registration rolls, and other practices targeted communities during the presidential election.

“Unless there are public findings and official acknowledgment of the manifest voter suppression and vote rigging in the 2004 presidential election, that experience and the continuing official indifference to it is likely to have a chilling effect upon those ... who were targets of such tactics,” the suit states.

The lawsuit does not challenge the official tally of the 2004 election in Ohio, which handed President Bush a narrow victory over John Kerry.

But the plaintiffs, representing African-American and college-age voters, plan to ask Judge Marbley, a Clinton appointee, to issue an injunction next week to prevent destruction of the 2004 ballots, which the plaintiffs continue to study for potential irregularities. Federal law allows the destruction of such ballots 22 months after an election.

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060901/NEWS02/60901017

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16. AR: Armed Forces Voting Week

KTHV Channel 11

Secretary of State Charlie Daniels is urging armed forces members to vote. Daniels held a news conference at the state Capitol to declare "Armed Forces Voting Week" next week. A Democrat seeking a second term, Daniels says military voters serving overseas can request an absentee ballot over the next week to ensure they'll get their ballot and have their vote counted in the November 7 election.

Overseas and military voters can request an absentee ballot application from a county clerk or complete a federal application available from a military voting assistance officer.

Daniels' Republican rival, Jim Lagrone, arrived at the end of the news conference and claimed Daniels hasn't done enough to ensure military votes were counted in previous elections. Lagrone told reporters a number of military voters were disenfranchised in the 2004 presidential election. And Lagrone's son, a member of the Army National Guard, silently held a sign claiming that his vote wasn't counted in the 2004 election.

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=33462

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17. OH: New lawsuit alleges ballot tampering in 2004 election

The Columbus Dispatch

Group says ballots in Democratic precincts were pre-punched, negating Kerry votes
Friday, September 01, 2006

Jim Siegel
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A coalition of critics of the 2004 election is insisting it has uncovered new evidence of ballot tampering in Ohio that caused a number of John Kerry’s votes to get tossed out.

The group filed a federal civilrights lawsuit yesterday, asking U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley to declare that Ohioans’ voting rights were violated in 2004 and to appoint a special master to ensure fairness in the 2006 election.

The lawsuit alleges that Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and others conspired to deprive Ohioans of their right to vote. Prior election-related lawsuits by those affiliated with the coalition have been dismissed by various judges.

Richard Hayes Phillips, a Canton, N.Y., resident working with groups such as the Ohio Honest Elections Campaign, said he has examined thousands of punch-card ballots cast in heavily Democratic inner-city precincts that were tossed out because of over- or under-voting in the presidential race.

Phillips said he found that on more than 1,900 ballots in six urban counties, there was a vote for President Bush or Sen. John Kerry and a second vote for one of the two independent candidates. In such cases, no presidential vote is counted.

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/?story=dispatch/2006/09/01/20060901-E3-00.html

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18. NC: Duke revamps voter registration efforts

The Chronicle Online

9/1/06
David Graham

Coming soon to a mailbox near you: a North Carolina voter registration form, compliments of the Office of Student Affairs.

Forms will be placed in student mailboxes starting Wednesday as part of a University effort to better comply with the federal Higher Education Act.

The law mandates that institutions of higher education "make a good faith effort to distribute a mail voter registration form" to all students.

Associate Vice President for Federal Relations Chris Simmons said a speaker series and "Get Out the Vote" advertisements in student-targeted media will be part of a concerted push during the election season.

The University will not host candidate forums, as it has in the past.

Simmons said he expects that forms will be distributed on a biennial basis.

"In July, compiled a survey of what other colleges and universities do vis-a-vis voter registration forms," he said. "I think this is the best-faith effort you could make. People have to at least touch the forms, even if it's just to throw them in the trash."

http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2006/09/01/News/Duke-Revamps.Voter.Registration.Efforts-2255017.shtml?sourcedomain=www.dukechronicle.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com

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19. MA: Candidate pushes for voting overhaul

Berkshire Eagle

By Jack Dew, Berkshire Eagle Staff

Friday, September 01

PITTSFIELD — John Bonifaz, a Democratic candidate for secretary of the commonwealth, said he wants Massachusetts to be a national voting leader, running the most efficient elections and ensuring that everyone who is entitled to vote, can vote.
Bonifaz is running in the Sept. 19 Democratic primary against incumbent William F. Galvin, who has served 12 years in the office. The winner will face Jill Stein, a Green-Rainbow Party candidate, in November.

Bonifaz founded the National Voting Rights Institute in 1994 and is a graduate of Harvard Law School. In 2003, he was one of the attorneys for a group of six Democratic congressmen and three unidentified soldiers who sued President Bush, challenging the war in Iraq by asserting that only Congress can declare war. A federal judge threw the case out in February 2003.

During an editorial board meeting at The Eagle yesterday, Bonifaz criticized Galvin's record, saying the incumbent has not done enough to improve elections in the state or to implement the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, enacted after the election crisis in Florida in 2001.

"I think our democracy is in real trouble. It is not only in trouble in Florida and Ohio, it is in trouble here in Massachusetts," Bonifaz said.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/portal/headlines/ci_4271275?_loopback=1

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20. AR: Secretary of state encourages military personnel to request absentee

ballots

Arkansas New Bureau

Friday, Sep 1, 2006

By Betsy Turner
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK - As Secretary of State Charlie Daniels encouraged military personnel to request absentee balloting for the Nov. 7 general election Thursday, his Republican opponent questioned Daniels' performance in securing military absentee ballots two years ago.

Flanked by members from each branch of the military at a Capitol new conference declaring Sept. 3-9 Armed Services Week in Arkansas, Daniels, an Air Force veteran, said he understood the importance of voting for military personnel, particularly when legislation affects their pay and housing.

"I want to do I can to defend that right to be heard," Daniels said.

He said absentee ballot applications are available through the county clerks. Also, federal post card applications are available through voting assistance officers in the military or online. He said those applications should be returned on or before Oct. 31 by fax or e-mail.

Col. John Edwards of the Arkansas National Guard said when a court challenge delayed absentee ballot printing for the 2004 general election, the secretary of state's office worked with the military and U.S. Postal Service to speed the absentee ballot process and make ballots available to military personnel.

"Everyone in the 39th that wanted to vote had the opportunity to do so," Edwards said, referring to the Arkansas National Guard unit that was serving in Iraq during the last general election.

http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2006/09/01/News/337570.html

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21. WI: Secretary of state ordered to pay ethics fine

MADISON, Wis. Secretary of State Doug La Follette has paid a 500 dollar campaign ethics fine.

La Follette was accused of using his state computer and e-mail to send campaign-related documents.
The secretary of state admitted violating the law prohibiting government officials from using state resources for campaign reasons.

http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=5354536

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22. SF Chronicle: Kerry reignites 2004 battle over Ohio

He accuses GOP governor candidate of partisanship

John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writer
Friday, September 1, 2006

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry jumped back into the 2004 presidential race this week with a scathing letter accusing Ken Blackwell, Ohio's Republican secretary of state, of using "the power of his state office to try to intimidate Ohioans and suppress the Democratic vote'' in the 2004 election.

The letter was sent to 100,000 Democratic donors, asking them to send money to U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, who is running against Blackwell for governor. But it focused on Blackwell as a Republican who must be defeated.

Blackwell, who was co-chair of Bush's 2004 campaign in Ohio, "used his office to abuse our democracy and threaten basic voting rights,'' Kerry said in the letter. "His legacy as secretary of state? Putting partisanship ahead of the electorate's fundamental right to vote.''

Although Kerry was careful not to suggest that Blackwell and the Republicans manipulated the Ohio vote to cost him the presidential election, he shoved a stick into a very angry hornets' nest. It was George Bush's narrow victory in Ohio that secured his re-election, and livid Democrats and the liberal end of the blogosphere have challenged those numbers since election day.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/01/MNGDRKTA8A1.DTL

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23. Elsewhere: Congo: Carter Center: Presidential and legislatives results are

credible

UN Mission in DR Congo

Carter Center
01 sep. 06 - 13.51h

The Carter Center did not find evidence of widespread or systematic manipulation. The Center concludes that the presidential results announced August 20 are credible; legislative results, on the whole, are also credible, but cannot be validated in detail because of the shortcomings outlined in this statement, August 31, 2006.

There were a number of important procedural flaws that weakened the transparency of the process. The Center believes these must be addressed prior to the second round in order to avoid more serious problems and to ensure acceptance of the results. The tabulation of provisional results for the July 30 presidential election was generally successful, due to the diligence of electoral staff in spite of difficult working conditions.

Serious flaws in the collection and chain of custody of electoral materials, especially in Kinshasa but also in other locations around the country, undermined transparency and threatened the credibility of the process. The publication of results by polling station was a crucial measure in strengthening public confidence. The recent violence in Kinshasa between armed troops loyal to candidates Kabila and Bemba was a threat to democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

http://www.monuc.org/News.aspx?newsID=12296

[rumpel]

24. Australia: May the force be with us

The Age

September 2, 2006

A state funeral will be held this morning for Don Chipp. The founder of the third force in Australian politics, the Australian Democrats, slipped from life last Monday. He had risen up through the ranks of the Liberals, gone out on his own, and then lived long enough to see his creation slip the moorings and drift off into the horizon. It will take a miraculous turn in the tide of public affairs for the Democrats to come back into view as they had when Chipp was its leader.

This is a tragedy for the political landscape and the health of democracy in this country. Chipp left the Liberal Party in 1977 to found the Democrats under the motto of "keep the bastards honest". It was a highly emotive and effective way to tap into the underlying suspicion voters have of politicians. The slogan had the refreshing pungency of the Australian vernacular, which combined with the novelty of a genuine alternative to the main parties, blew through the voting booths.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/may-the-force-be-with-us/2006/09/01/1156817092123.html

[rumpel]

25. Korea: IMF to Bolster Korea's Voting Rights

Chosun Ilbo

The International Monetary Fund may soon strengthen the voting rights of four nations including Korea. In an interview with the Financial Times, the head of the IMF was quoted as saying the international organization is in the midst of one of its broadest reforms since its establishment in 1945. In recent years, the IMF has faced the choice of reforming its organizational structure in line with the increased economic status of Korea, China, Turkey and Mexico. The U.S. last week gave the green light to expanding the voting rights of the four countries, and a decision is expected in the coming days.

Arirang News

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200609/200609010012.html

[rumpel]

32. Mexico: Mexico Police Surround Congress Before Fox Speech

Bloomberg

(Update2)
By Patrick Harrington

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Thousands of Mexican police officers and secret service agents surrounded the congress building as protesters began marching in a bid to stop President Vicente Fox from delivering his final national address tonight.

Police set up vehicle and pedestrian checkpoints around the complex and deployed water cannons to disperse the protests, the latest action in a two-month effort by former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to challenge results of the July 2 election. Electoral authorities said ballot counts show governing party candidate Felipe Calderon won the vote.

``At every juncture Lopez Obrador has systematically chosen to escalate his protests,'' said Chappell Lawson, a political science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ``The best case is that he continues to be an inconvenience. The worst case is that his movement is destabilizing to political institutions.''

Fox, who will step down Dec. 1, is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. Mexico City time (8 p.m. in New York). The leader of Fox's party in Congress will decide whether conditions are appropriate for the president to speak, Interior Minister Carlos Abascal said yesterday during a press conference. No Mexican president ever has failed to deliver his final address.

Lopez Obrador, 52, alleges Fox conspired with business groups to orchestrate a state-sponsored election fraud. The electoral court will rule on the allegations before Sept. 6.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aKMEAPDa_UPg&refer=latin_america

[rumpel]

35. WAPO: Mexican leftists to disrupt Fox speech

By Catherine Bremer
Reuters
Friday, September 1, 2006; 5:33 AM

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Vicente Fox faces a rough ride at his last state of the nation speech on Friday, with leftist lawmakers planning to hijack the ceremony to protest at what they say was election fraud.

Fox, hailed as a democracy hero in 2000 when he ended 71 years of one-party rule, steps down in December but political unrest over the July 2 election may cloud his legacy.

Legislators from Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, hope to prevent Fox from making the annual presidential address to Congress.

Aside from their allegations that vote counts were tampered with, leftists accuse Fox of illegally aiding conservative Felipe Calderon's campaign and funding his attacks on Lopez Obrador, who he called a danger to Mexico.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/01/AR2006090100190.html

[rumpel]

36. Egypt: Hisham El-Bastawisi: Legal and legitimate

Al-Ahram

It is a tribute to Hisham El-Bastawisi's tenacity that he has a serious heart condition, but he considers himself a freedom fighter. Egypt is at a crossroads and the legal battleground is one of the most decisive arenas. "And, at this historical juncture, judges must be constantly aware of their role," the amiable and bespectacled judge stresses. "When we speak it's not always voce sotto", El-Bastawisi breaks into a smile revealing a measure of his political knowledge.
Interview by Gamal Nkrumah

"The independence of the judiciary is paramount."

El-Bastawisi, living glory to the struggle for an independent judiciary, is optimistic about the future. Responding to his own and other judges' exasperation with the lack of transparency in the political sphere and especially when it comes to free and fair elections, he led the battle against what he considered fraudulent democratic process. He was determined to undertake the legal battle for the moral high ground in the country.

"Elections must be properly supervised and conducted transparently," El-Bastawisi explains. He is, after all, a ranking judge of tremendous consequence. His self is his work, and his work is to mete out justice.

Male-dominated and seemingly resistant to change, the judiciary in Egypt until very recently gave the impression that it was a deeply conservative institution. But there is a restlessness among the country's judges. Many are now insisting on independence. That is why the judiciary has become a battleground for politicians.

Today the judiciary has a brand new image as an institution where liberal values thrive -- thanks in large measure to the courage, determination and outspokenness of judges like El-Bastawisi. Indeed, it is no longer such an anomaly to speak of liberalism and the judiciary in the same breath.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/810/profile.htm

[rumpel]

26. AZ: Voter registration adds 500 plus to the Santa Cruz County pool

Nogales International.com

By Jesse Froehling
The deadline to register for the primary election ended Aug. 14 and some 500 new persons have joined the Santa Cruz County voter pool.

In all, 21,746 persons are registered to vote, said Suzie Sainz, the county recorder. That number is up from 21,267 people in June.

The registrar shows 12,147 Democrats, 4,371 Republicans, 137 Libertarians and 30 Green Party voters. One person registered as a member of the RPA and 11 are members of the NLP. "Other" was listed by 5,052 voters.

The primary will be held Tuesday, Sept. 12.

"It is important for people to understand that the county election is different from the city election," Sainz said. "We've been getting a lot of calls about that. You can still go to the polls for the county election."

Early voting for the primary election has started and will run through Sept. 8. That day is also the last day to request an early ballot by mail. Those wishing to vote early should go to the County Recorder's Office at 2150 N. Congress Drive. If you vote early, you don't need any identification. To vote on election day, photo identification is required.

Bring ID to poll

http://www.nogalesinternational.com/articles/2006/09/01/news/news2.txt

[rumpel]

27. Independent News: Red, White & Screwed

Independent News

Vol. 6, No. 35, August 31, 2006
(Red, White & Screwed)
by Duwayne Escobedo

Will Your Vote Count?

You only thought the 2000 Florida election was a disaster.

Get ready for 2006.

Chads will be replaced by DREs among dirty words in the state's election system.

In case you don't know yet, and you will, DREs stands for Direct Recording Electronic voting systems. It's a fancy term for touch-screen voting machines.

Susan Pynchon, along with thousands of other voting rights activists across the state, plans to wave "Don't Touch the Touch Screens" signs at polling sites in Volusia County where she lives and votes.

"It's just like science fiction, except it's real," says Pynchon, Florida Fair Elections Coalition executive director. "Touch screens pose a risk to our democracy and nation that our Founding Fathers never contemplated. The machines are a huge, huge problem."

Voter Action Co-Director Lowell Finley says the potential for problems on the scale of 2000, or worse, are real. The Berkeley, Calif., attorney, who has practiced election law for two decades, is a leading litigant in the country on electronic voting problems.

http://www.inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=3471

[rumpel]

28. MN: New voting rigs hit snags

News
Call or email the Newsroom at [phone].

New voting rigs hit snags
By Josh Verges/Austin Daily Herald

When Lucy Johnson worked her first election for Mower County a few decades ago, residents voted by paper and pencil.

Since moving to City of Austin offices, she's seen voting with a curtain and lever, punch cards, and, for the last 16 years, the optical scan. The Sept. 12 primary election will be the first time a newer version of the optical scan machines will be used for the majority of voters.

Voters who connected arrows two years ago will fill in circles next to their choices this year. As in recent years in the city, a machine will accept the ballots and record the votes. Johnson, the city clerk, said this year's machines are better because they accept the ballots more readily and aren't as sensitive so they won't be led astray by accidental pen marks.

“These are really nice and I really like them,” she said before a required public accuracy test on Thursday. A bonus is they don't require special two-dollar pens, which should save the city about $330.

September will also be the first time handicapped people should be able to vote without assistance with new ES&S AutoMARK machines across the country - emphasis on “should.”

“So, as you can see, it's working wonderful,” a sarcastic Johnson said as one of the county's 39 $5,700 machines repeatedly failed to read a ballot. “This didn't happen when we were testing.”

http://www.austindailyherald.com/articles/2006/09/01/news/news1.txt

[rumpel]

29. MI: Judge correct on ballot proposal

Published: Friday, September 01, 2006

November’s ballot will be full of important decisions for Michigan voters as we select candidates to fill vital positions such as governor and decide several ballot proposals.

One of those proposals is perhaps the most controversial to come before the electorate in a long time not only because of its subject matter — affirmative action — but because of how it’s been presented.

The Michigan Civil Right Initiative has succeeded in placing the proposal to amend the state constitution to ban affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes.

According to MCRI, the proposed constitutional amendment would:

• Ban public institutions from using affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes. Public institutions affected by the proposal include state government, local governments, public colleges and universities, community colleges and school districts.

• Prohibit public institutions from discriminating against groups or individuals due to their gender, ethnicity, race, color or national origin. (A separate provision of the state constitution already prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin.)

http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=3401

[rumpel]

30. GUAM: 1,000 voters cast early ballots

Welcome to The Pacific Daily News on Guam. Chamorro Standard Time: 4:57 AM 9/2/2006

By Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Pacific Daily News
[email protected]

Recognizing that there's a lot at stake in this election for Guam as a community, many island voters are not taking any chances.

Even before polls opened this morning, more than a thousand voters had cast their votes by yesterday, or more than twice the average number of voters who would normally walk in to vote at the Guam Election Commission before Election Day, according to the GEC.

Among those who voted in advance at the election commission yesterday afternoon was an expectant mom who filled out her paper ballot because she might go into labor today.

As she filled out paperwork to vote early, Manda Quinata, 20, of Merizo, said she's expecting a girl.
There were many others who voted at GEC's voting booths days leading up to today's Primary Election because they will be off island today.

Benny Leon Guerrero, of Yigo, is temporarily stationed in Rota as part of his federal job, but he took a day trip, and arrived at 4:30 a.m. on Guam yesterday so he could vote in advance.

"It's very important for me to vote," Leon Guerrero said.

He said he wants Guam's public schools, health-care system and local government finances to improve.

"People want to see change," he said.

http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060902/NEWS01/609020309/1002

[rumpel]

31. AR: Lagrone berates Daniels over costlier elections

Arkansas Democrat Gazette

BY MICHAEL R. WICKLINE
Posted on Friday, September 1, 2006

Secretary of state candidate Jim Lagrone on Thursday chastised incumbent Charlie Daniels over the state Board of Election Commissioners ’ request for about $ 2 million in additional state funds to cover the cost of complying with the federal Help America Vote Act in the biennium that will start July 1, 2007.

But Daniels, who is chairman of the seven-member board, said he had expected the increased costs.

Lagrone said Daniels is “blowing all kinds of numbers at us on the election, and they still are not taking care of the counties’ maintenance costs.”

This spring’s primary and runoff elections cost Arkansas $ 2. 9 million or roughly $ 600, 000 more than elections in recent years, according to the board’s estimates. State officials attribute the increase to the cost of programming electronic voting machines and printing specialized ballots to comply with the federal law.

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/165246/

[rumpel]

33. WI: Former candidate charged with voting twice

Riley had run for state Senate seat

By BRIAN HUBER - GM Today Staff

September 1, 2006

WAUKESHA - A Milwaukee man voted in both the town of Oconomowoc and Illinois on the same day in the November 2000 election, a criminal complaint alleged.

Donovan Riley, 67, was running for the state Senate District 7 seat currently held by Sen. Jeffrey Plale. The district encompasses Milwaukee’s East Side and Bay View neighborhoods as well as St. Francis and South Milwaukee. The two Democrats were to face off in the Sept. 12 primary until Riley bowed out of the race as authorities investigated an allegation that he voted twice Nov. 7, 2000.

http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2006/Sept_06/09012006_02.asp

[rumpel]

34. KY: Conviction overturned in vote fraud case

Friday September 1, 2006

BY MARY MUSIC

STAFF WRITER

The U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the convictions of Loren Glen Turner in the 2002 election fraud case involving Pike County District Judge candidate John Doug Hays and Donnie Newsome as Knott County Judge-Executive.

Three Court of Appeals judges reversed Turner’s conviction for counts of mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and perjury after they reviewed a federal mail fraud statute, ruling that his alleged conduct can’t be prosecuted using the “honest services theory” — that he participated in a scheme to defraud citizens of the “honest services of a candidate” — or the “salary theory” — that he participated in the scheme to gain money or property.

“While candidates may be dishonest in seeking election, such dishonesty does not deprive anyone of any right to honest ‘services’ for the simple reason that candidates, unlike the elected officials that they hope to become, provide no ‘services’ to the public,” the Court of Appeals judges ruled.

Even though they acknowledged that the government may prove an election fraud case by arguing that the defendant’s intent was to obtain a salary, the Court of Appeals judges ruled that Turner could not be convicted under the salary theory of mail fraud because the payment of an elected official’s salary is not a proprietary act. Since the state of Kentucky doesn’t have the right to appropriate, transfer or spend an elected official’s salary, the citizens don’t have any property rights over the salary, the ruling stated.

http://www.news-expressky.com/articles/2006/09/01/news/01appeal.txt

[rumpel]

37. OH: Judge Hears Challenge to Voter Registration Rules

Ohio News Network

CLEVELAND (AP) - A coalition suing to throw out Ohio's new rules governing voter registration drives continued to make its case before a federal judge on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen O'Malley told lawyers she would like months to review issues she called important and intriguing. But she said because the upcoming Labor Day weekend is traditionally a busy voter registration drive time that she would try to make a ruling Friday afternoon.

O'Malley recessed the hearing until 2 p.m. so that she could study some of the court filings before making a decision.

She ruled Thursday that state Democratic lawmakers could join the challenge.

Assistant Ohio Attorney General Richard Coglianese explained that some of the concerns outlined in the lawsuit are part of a comprehensive election reform bill that reorganized Ohio law to bring it into compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act.

He said the issues before the judge deal with improvements to the registration process to help election officials deal with false, late or questionable registrations.

"I want to know how these problems hurt the voters you say you are protecting," O'Malley said. For example, the judge said, a registration card showing a name like Mickey Mouse or Jive Turkey does not mean a person could actually use that registration to vote.

New voter registration regulations that carry potential criminal penalties are being viewed as harsh and confusing by people who want to conduct voter registration drives, said Karl J. Sandstrom, an attorney for one of the groups that filed the lawsuit.

"What's the stated intent here? We search in vain. A little administrative convenience is the only purpose we can find," he said.

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, Ohio's chief elections officer and the Republican candidate for governor in the Nov. 7 election, predicted in July the courts would let the new rules stand.

http://www.onnnews.com/?sec=home&story=sites/ONN/content/pool/200609/333087119.html

[rumpel]

38. PBS Now: State by State: Voting Rules and Restrictions

9.1.06


Block the Vote
More From This Week: About the Show | Perspectives: Voter's Voices | State by State: Voting Rules and Restrictions | Personal Essay: Democracy in the Deep South | From Mother Jones: America's 11 Worst Places to Vote | Book Excerpt: "Stealing Democracy" | Primer: The Voting Rights Act | Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush

In his 2006 book "Stealing Democracy," Spencer Overton illustrates historical and current flaws related to America's voting system, including an overview of most states. Check the status of your home state below.

Also, find the latest rules in your state regarding:

The Redistricting Process
Electronic Voting Machines and Paper Trails
Ex-felon Disenfranchisement
Voter Identification

State By Letter: A C D G H I K L M
N O P R S T U V W

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/235/voting-rules.html

thank you PBS :)

[livvy]

39. Evening kick for this excellent ERD. n/t

[Kurovski]

40. Thanks, and a bumpel for Rumpel's news we can use.

:kick:

[rumpel]

41. thank you both...

:)