A call to investigate the 2004 election

[ProSense]

STEVEN F. FREEMAN AND JOEL BLEIFUSS

A call to investigate the 2004 election

By Steven F. Freeman and Joel Bleifuss | June 26, 2006

WE'VE ALL heard the story. Nov. 2, 2004, was shaping up as a day of celebration for Democrats. The exit polls were predicting a victory for Senator John Kerry. Many Americans, including most political observers, sat down to watch the evening television coverage convinced that Kerry would be the next president.

But the counts that were being reported on TV bore little resemblance to the exit poll projections. In key state after state, tallies differed significantly from the projections. In every case, that shift favored President George W. Bush. Nationwide, exit polls projected a 51 to 48 percent Kerry victory, the mirror image of Bush's 51 to 48 percent win. But the exit poll discrepancy is not the only cause for concern.

In Ohio, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, the Ohio co-chairman of the 2004 Bush/Cheney Campaign, borrowed a chapter from Secretary of State Katharine Harris's Florida 2000 playbook. Like Harris, he used the power of his office to affect turnout and thwart voters in heavily Democratic areas. Vote suppression and electoral irregularities in Ohio have been documented, first in January 2005 by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, and in June 2005 by the Democratic National Committee, which found, in the words of DNC Chairman Howard Dean: ``More than a quarter of all Ohio voters reported problems with their voting experience."

Election Day 2004 also saw the advent of a congressional mandate under the Help America Vote Act to replace punch-card systems with new, unproven technologies. In that election, 64 percent of Americans voted on direct recorded electronic voting machines or optical-scan systems, both of which are vulnerable to hacking or programming fraud. According to a September 2005 General Accountability Office investigation, such systems contained flaws that ``could allow unauthorized personnel to disrupt operations or modify data and programs that are critical to . . . the integrity of the voting process."

more...

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/06/26/a_call_to_investigate_the_2004_election

[blm]

1. Great piece - I hope more get a chance to read it.

.

[Awsi Dooger]

2. That third paragraph deserves all the weight

Everything Blackwell.

That type of suppression goes on nationwide, to perhaps less blatant degree. But we'll never get any mileage or outrage or potential correction if RFK and Freeman insist on highlighting the exit poll and therefore machine aspect.

Waste of an issue and opportunity, IMO.

[flpoljunkie]

3. Yes, how could the Dem leadership ignore the September 2005 GAO report!

[tomp]

4. can anyone explain why the dem. party has not acted yet?

i've been asking this question for a while and i've yet to receive anything resembling a reasonable explanation. the democrats and democracy have been raped at the polls in 2000, 2002, and 2004, yet the party is not taking direct again for democracy and against vote hampering and tampering. why? i'm begging for a serious answer.

[mod mom]

5. They did a half ass attempt in March 05 but never bothered to review

affidavits, videos and other evidence gathered (only Conyers and the House Judiciary Dem Staff bothered to fully look at everything). Since this time, much more has come out.

[rudy23]

7. Cause they don't want to look like complainers n/t

[kster]

10. Cause they are up to their ears

involved in the machines, "Whats good for the goose is good for the gander" If a Dem claims victory while using an illegal vote counting machine, He/She is no better than A Rebublican that claims victory while using an illegal vote counting machine.

[yellerpup]

6. K&R

Everyone needs to know. :kick:

[flyingobject]

8. dude, it was already investigated

see
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=436340&mesg_id=436340

[YvonneCa]

9. Refresh my memory. n/t

[newyawker99]

14. Hi flyingobject!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[vj68]

11. Kick

:dem:

[Senator]

12. k&r

[In Truth We Trust]

13. K&R Hand counts NOW!!!