Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Thursday 11/10/05

[Wilms]

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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

If you can:

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

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x397093

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

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


If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391

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

http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm


Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[Wilms]

1. Groups to Congress: Undo Part of Voter Law

Groups to Congress: Undo Part of Voter Law

By JEFFREY McMURRAY
Associated Press Writer

November 9, 2005, 10:15 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- Civil rights activists argued Wednesday that a 2-year-old Supreme Court decision largely wiped out 40 years of progress minorities have made under the Voting Rights Act.

Officials with the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People were among those who asked a House panel to renew a key portion of the law but include a provision that would essentially undo a verdict pertaining to Georgia redistricting.

"It clearly shows the schizophrenic, dichotomized mind-set this nation clearly has in terms of extending voting rights and then taking them back," Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., said of the Georgia v. Ashcroft decision.

At issue before the House Judiciary Committee's panel on the Constitution is a section of the Voting Rights Act that expires in 2007. It requires states with a history of racial discrimination to get federal government approval before changing their voting laws. Redistricting cases spark the most legal challenges, particularly when minorities can prove that a new map gives them less of a chance at electing candidates they prefer.

snip/more

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-voting-rights,0,3511910.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

Thanls to Judi Lynn

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1914862

[Wilms]

2. Pelosi Urges Attorney General to Secure Voting Rights for All

Wed Nov 9, 8:41 PM ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 /U.S. Newswire

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi today issued a statement calling on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to report immediately on the activities undertaken by the Justice Department to protect the right to vote in the recently concluded elections, especially of citizens affected by the recent hurricanes. In light of reports last month that Republicans may seek to exploit the mass displacement of voters due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Pelosi, leading Democrats, and several Representatives from areas affected by the hurricanes, had asked the Attorney General on October 27 for an immediate status report on the Justice Department's efforts, given the elections in several affected states yesterday, a report that still has not yet been provided.

"Yesterday, across the country, Americans proudly cast votes and performed one of their most critical civic responsibilities. Our democracy depends on protecting the right of every American citizen to vote - and to register to vote - in every election. As the Supreme Court has noted, 'No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the law, under which, as good citizens, we must live.'

"Special challenges, however, exist for the citizens of the states affected by the recent hurricanes. The Justice Department has a special responsibility and obligation to help people fulfill their right to participate in their government. I urge the Attorney General to work to secure voting rights for all, to prevent barriers, and to provide a report on the Justice Department's activities in the affected states without delay."

snip/more

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20051110/pl_usnw/pelosi_urges_attorney_general_to_secure_voting_rights_for_all321_xml

Thanks to deadparrot

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1914872

[Wilms]

3. The Day After... (Election Irregularities)

Blogged by John Gideon on 11/9/2005 @ 6:32pm PT...

'Daily Voting News' for November 9, 2005

The Day After...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Today was a typical "day after an election day" news day. Though many claim that everything went well, a look at the list of counties in Ohio, and elsewhere, proves that everything did not go well. Of course elections officials and the vendors are claiming that all of the problems were caused by the voter or poll workers. The problems are never the result of using the machines. Already a candidate is calling for a recount in Virginia after complaints that voters would vote for him and the votes would register for his opponent. And there are 45,000 questionable votes in Montreal, Canada...

# California – Voters Head To The Polls
LINK

# District 20, AZ - Recount hearings creating GOP split
LINK

# New Jersey - Poll workers under scrutiny during election. DOJ wanted to make sure no repeats of problems in primary election
LINK

# Ohio - Long issues confuse some voters; new machines cause late starts
LINK

# Ohio - Voters soundly reject Democratic election changes in Ohio
LINK

# Manchester, OH - In Manchester, voters turn out for levies
LINK

# Los Angeles Co., CA - Absentee Votes Returned to Senders
LINK

# King Co., WA - Elections chief praises work of poll workers
LINK

# Riverside and San Bernardino Co., CA - Local voters head to the polls
LINK

# Minnesota - Secretary touts voting reform
LINK

# Onslow Co., NC - New machines OK to most voters (Hart InterCivic eSlate)
LINK

# Cameron Co., TX - New elections equipment paves way for smooth vote counting (ES&S PBOS)
LINK

# Hidalgo Co., TX - Despite new machines, voters see delays at polls (ES&S iVotronic accessible machine software problems would not allow those machines to be used)
LINK

# Butler Co., OH - Problems early, but Butler voters praise new voting
method (Diebold TSx)
LINK

# Beaver Co., OH - Problems plague voting tabulations (Optical scan)
LINK

# Lorraine Co., OH - Elections officials hit snags, but not from touchscreens
LINK

# California - Paperless e-voting era ends
LINK

# Montreal, Canada - Bourque seeks judicial recount. Demand rejected. Upheaval grows over glitches in vote tally (Microvote)
LINK

# Contra Costa Co., CA - San Ramon voters keep board intact
LINK

# Stark Co., OH - Voters love new machines but ...
LINK

# Monterey Co., CA - Good start for touchscreens
LINK

# Brainerd Co., MN - County getting devices that will help the disabled vote
LINK

# Tennessee - New Voting Technology Upsets Tennessee Taxpayers, Commissioners
LINK

# Clermont Co., OH - Multiple Voting Glitches Hold Up Clermont Results
LINK

# Tennessee - Attack of the Killer Voting Machines
LINK

# New York - Voting machines: Lifton right on choice
LINK

# Butler Co., OH - Fairfield races may need recount
LINK

# Campbell Co., OH - Voting machine snafus not huge
LINK

# Lucas Co., OH - Ballots still being counted into today
LINK

# Minnesota - State of Minnesota moves to fulfill disabled voting mandate
LINK

# Roanoke Co., VA - Democrat Deeds Prepares for Recount in Tight Attorney General Race
LINK

# Lucas Co., OH - Election Day not entirely a smooth event
LINK

# Neshoba Co., MS - Stennis Institute of Government to help with voting precincts
LINK

# Wichita Co., TX – New machines cause problems in getting vote totals
LINK

# Matagorda Co., TX - New voting machine malfunctions
LINK

snip/more

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001994.htm

[Wilms]

4. VA: Voters report problems with voting machines in Roanoke Co.

Voters report problems with voting machines in Roanoke Co.

November 8, 2005

Election day voting is going on across the Old Dominion, but everything has not gone smoothly in Roanoke County.

News 7 has received calls from several voters in at least four different precincts who say their votes for Tim Kaine were not recorded or took several attempts to go through.

They contend the electronic touch screens repeatedly indicated they were voting for Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore instead of registering their intended vote for his Democratic opponent Tim Kaine.

Roanoke Co. Registrar Judy Stokes says she doesn't want to say the problem is operator error on the part of the voters, but she points out the touch screens are sensitive. She says anyone who is having difficulty voting should ask one of the poll workers for assistance.

snip/more

http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=4089899

[Wilms]

5. PA: PA: Problems plague voting tabulations

Problems plague voting tabulations

By: Bill Viodonic, Times Staff

11/09/2005

BEAVER - Problems with ballot-counting machines meant that Beaver County residents were waiting until the wee hours of the morning today for complete results from Tuesday's general election.

According to county Communications Director Brian Hayden and Financial Administrator Rob Cyphert, the county had four machines to count all the paper ballots cast in the election.

The counting started off slowly, Hayden said, and got even worse when one of the four machines stopped working.

Cyphert said that counting continued to go slowly with the three remaining machines. For example, Cyphert said, the machine would grab a ballot incorrectly to feed it through the machine and scan for each vote cast.

When the machine realized it had a problem with the ballot, it would automatically stop. Once the machine was cleared, Cyphert said, the process would start again, but a short time later, the same problem cropped up, and the machine would stop again.

snip/more

http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15541486&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6

[Wilms]

6. OH: OH: Multiple Voting Glitches Hold Up Clermont Results

Multiple Voting Glitches Hold Up Clermont Results

POSTED: 10:21 am EST November 9, 2005
UPDATED: 10:29 am EST November 9, 2005

CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio -- Voting glitches in Clermont County are causing delays in ballot tallying, News 5's Jonathan Hawgood reported.

Officials said perforations at the top of a new ballot design jammed the counters, and some ballots were not cut properly, so they had to be fed through the machines more than once.

New software also gave out inaccurate reports and had to be corrected, Hawgood reported said.

Several write-in candidates in more than half of the county's 200 precincts had to be counted by hand, slowing down the process, elections officials said.
Click here to find out more!

"We want to assure our voters that accuracy is our primary concern," a statement from the Board of Election said. "Slowly, but surely, we will provide 100 percent accurate results."

snip/more

http://www.channelcincinnati.com/politics/5286456/detail.html

[Wilms]

7. OH: Ballots jammed machines, slowed count

Ballots jammed machines, slowed count

By Kevin Osborne

Enquirer staff writer

Wednesday, November 9, 2005

BATAVIA – Officials at the Clermont County Board of Elections say ballots that didn’t have proper perforation marks jammed machines and caused the long delay in tallying votes Tuesday that was only completed this morning.

Clermont County was using a new optical scanning voting system for the first time, said board chairman Tim Rudd.

The machines, which were on loan from the manufacturer, replaced an outdated system that was scrapped after the August special election.

Because the perforation mark varied slightly from ballot to ballot, the machines frequently stopped counting them, Rudd said.

snip/more

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051109/NEWS01/311090014

[Wilms]

8. TX: New voting machine malfunctions

New voting machine malfunctions

Erin Phillips
Bay City Tribune

Published November 09, 2005

Matagorda County’s new voting machine did not work Tuesday night and officials hoped a replacement out of Omaha, Neb. will tabulate the results of the constitutional amendments election.

Out of the county’s 12 election precincts, the early vote was the only one counted on the new machine before it quit working Tuesday night.

With about 1,200 early votes counted — roughly 8.3 percent of the county’s 20,746 registered voters — the overall turnout promises to be higher than the 2003 constitutional amendments election.

An estimated 5,000 Matagorda County voters cast ballots in this election, or about 20 percent of the county’s registered voters, County Clerk Gail Denn said. There were 2,663 votes cast in the 2003 election.

snip/more

http://www.baycitytribune.com/story.lasso?wcd=5291

[Wilms]

9. GA: Voting problems in East Point, Fulton sites

Voting problems in East Point, Fulton sites

By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/08/05

Problems with the touch-screen voting machines caused delays for some voters in East Point and several other locations around Fulton County this morning, county elections officials said.

Fulton elections chief Cynthia Welch said the machines at Tri-Cities High School "were not calibrated," forcing poll workers to switch to a provisional, paper ballot.

"In the event you have problems with your machines, you do not stop voting, you move to the paper ballots and it's treated the same as the vote on the touch-screen unit," Welch said. "It's the exact same as an absentee ballot."

snip

Welch said similar problems had been reported in at least four other polling places in Fulton County by late-morning, but she didn't know which specific precincts were affected. A power interruption in one of the10 machines at the Riverwood precinct in Sandy Springs caused a brief problem, according to Ruth Sours, the poll manager at the Riverwood.

snip/more

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/1105/08votewoes.html

[Wilms]

10. TN: New Voting Technology Upsets Tennessee Taxpayers, Commissioners

New Voting Technology Upsets Tennessee Taxpayers, Commissioners

by Dan Taylor

Nov 9, 2005, 05:49 AM

NASHVILLE, Tenn -Tennessee is about to receive nearly $57 million dollars to help buy new voting machines.
But there are questions about who's deciding what to buy and if taxpayer money is being well spent.

In some counties in Tennessee, like Lewis County, voters still mark their ballots by punching a hole in a ballot card. Local election commissioners say it is a simple, economical system that also allows them to do recounts.

Commissioners are upset that the state is trying to force them to scrap punch card voting. Spearheading the drive to get rid of punch cards is Brook Thompson, the state's coordinator of elections.

snip/more

http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=4094663

[Wilms]

11. VA: State Registrars Report Pranks & Errors At Polling Places

State Registrars Report Pranks & Errors At Polling Places

Nov 9, 2005, 03:55 AM

While voting went smoothly throughout most of the state, officials in some precincts reported incidents ranging from power outages to silly pranks.

The Virginian-Pilot, in Norfolk, reports the problems occurred in Charlottesville, Richmond and northern Virginia precincts. Jean Jensen is secretary of the State Board of Elections. She says registrars reported voters being directed to incorrect or nonexistent polling places.

A Suffolk voter said fliers claiming polls had moved were left on the doors to one site. In Portsmouth, an elderly woman had received a reminder to vote, at an incorrect polling location. One site even had an overnight break-in.

snip/more

http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=4093837&nav=ZolHbyvj

[Wilms]

12. "Make Voting Easier. Weekend Elections Would Be a Start"

Election Law Blog

November 09, 2005

Posted by Rick Hasen at November 9, 2005 08:11 AM

"Make Voting Easier. Weekend Elections Would Be a Start"

Norm Ornstein offers this Roll Call commentary (paid subscription required). A snippet, for those who have been following the Carter-Baker Commission controversy:

Moving Election Day to the weekend is no panacea. It ought to be done in conjunction with a series of other reforms, some of which have been suggested by election officials and others of which were included in the recommendations by the Carter-Baker Commission on election reform, co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker.

Their commission has been given a bum rap, heavily criticized for one of its recommendations — that we move to a required photo ID for voting. Carter-Baker had made this recommendation with a series of caveats. Under current federal law, there will be a requirement in a few years that a photo identification, the REAL ID, be used for homeland security purposes. If such a requirement is to exist anyhow, why not use it as well for voting? At the same time, the commission said that any photo ID requirement must provide the IDs free of charge to everyone who lacks them and make them readily accessible. The panel did not accept the noxious Georgia standard, which is a latter-day poll tax.

snip/more

http://electionlawblog.org/archives/004389.html

[Wilms]

13. The Uncertain Cong. Power to Ban State Felon Disenfranchisement Law

Election Law Blog

November 09, 2005

by Rick Hasen

"The Uncertain Congressional Power to Ban State Felon Disenfranchisement Laws"

I have posted the following draft article on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Abstract:

This article, prepared for a voting rights symposium to appear in the Howard Law Journal, considers congressional power to ban state felon disenfranchisement laws. Although courts in other countries have held that the practice of denying the right to vote to felons (or ex-felons) violates constitutional guarantees, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the practice usually does not violate the U.S. Constitution. Current controversy in lower federal courts swirls over whether section 2 of the Voting Rights Act may bar certain state felon disenfranchisement laws. This article looks beyond that controversy to the constitutional question: If Congress passed a clear law barring the state practice of disenfranchising felons (or ex-felons), would the Supreme Court uphold such a law as a permissible exercise of Congressional power to enforce the 14th or 15th amendments? The most promising, but still quite uncertain, basis for congressional power is that a felon disenfranchisement ban enforces equal protection guarantees against race discrimination under the 14th amendment and enforces the right to vote free of race discrimination under the 15th amendment. In particular, the federal government could argue that it is intentional past (and potentially present) race discrimination in this country that leads to cycles of poverty in minority communities, and that such poverty makes it more likely that members of these communities will be arrested. In addition, the government could argue that state discrimination in the administration of the criminal justice system makes it more likely that minorities will be convicted of felonies and therefore disenfranchised. The article concludes that in light of the Supreme Court's new federalism jurisprudence it is uncertain whether the Supreme Court would uphold such a law on this basis as a permissible exercise of congressional power, leaving state legislatures as the prime locus for changes to felon disenfranchisement laws.

snip/link

http://electionlawblog.org/archives/004391.html

[Wilms]

14. On Election Day, Obama Introduces Legislation to Prevent Election Fraud

On Election Day, Obama Introduces Legislation to Prevent Election Fraud

Tuesday, November 8, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Obama Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, [phone]
Illinois Contact: Julian Green, [phone]
Date: November 8, 2005

On Election Day, Obama Introduces Legislation to Prevent Election Fraud

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) Tuesday introduced legislation to protect Americans from using tactics that intimidate voters and prevent them from exercising their rights on Election Day.

Obama's legislation, the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2005, would make it illegal for anyone to knowingly attempt to prevent others from exercising his or her right to vote by providing deceptive information and would require the Attorney General to fully investigate these allegations. The legislation would also require the Attorney General, in conjunction with the Election Assistance Commission, to provide accurate election information when allegations of deceptive practices are confirmed.

"One of our most sacred rights as Americans is the right to make our voice heard at the polls," said Obama. "But too often, we hear reports of mysterious phone calls and mailers arriving just days before an election that seek to mislead and threaten voters to keep them from the polls. And those who engage in these deceptive and underhanded campaign tactics usually target voters living in minority or low-income neighborhoods. This legislation would ensure that for the first time, these incidents are fully investigated and that those found guilty are punished."

As recently as the 2004 Presidential election there have been reports of tactics aimed at preventing rightful voters from exercising their right to cast a ballot. In Milwaukee some voters received fliers from the non-existent "Milwaukee Black Voters League," warning that voters risk imprisonment for voting if they were ever found guilty of any offense - even a traffic violation. In one county in Ohio, some voters received false mailings claiming that anyone registered to vote by the Kerry Campaign or the NAACP would be barred from voting. Similar reports were echoed in jurisdictions across the country and underscore the need for concerted action against such tactics. But many of these incidents are never investigated, and the culprit is never discovered.

Obama's legislation would provide a criminal penalty for deceptive practices, with penalties of up to $100,000 or one year imprisonment, or both. The legislation would also require the Attorney General to work with the Federal Communications Commission and the Election Assistance Commission to determine the feasibility of using the public broadcasting system as a means of providing voters with full and accurate Election Day information.

Obama's legislation is supported by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Common Cause, the Arc of the United States, the People for the American Way, the National Disability Rights Network, United Cerebral Palsy and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

snip

http://obama.senate.gov/press/051108-on_election_day_obama_introduces_legislation_to_prevent_election_fraud/index.html

[Wilms]

15. Ewald on Felon Disenfranchisement Practices

Election Law Blog
\
November 09, 2005

by Rick Hasen

Ewald on Felon Disenfranchisement Practices

Be sure not to miss A Crazy Quilt of Tiny Pieces: State and Local Administation of American Criminal Disenfranchisement Law by Alec Ewald for the Sentencing Project. This is a very important piece of work and should be read especially by those who support fairly applied felon disenfranchisement laws.

snip/more/link to article

http://electionlawblog.org/archives/004396.html

[Wilms]

16. UPDATE: Voters trounce election changes in Ohio

UPDATE: Voters trounce election changes in Ohio

5:58 AM, Wednesday, November 9, 2005

By JOHN McCARTHY Associated Press Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Voters soundly rejected four issues Tuesday that would have overhauled the way Ohio runs its elections, ending a high-pitched campaign that had hoped to capitalize on a Republican investment scandal and complaints about last year's presidential election.

The issues would have opened absentee balloting to all voters, lowered the cap on individual campaign contributions and put boards, instead of elected officials, in charge of drawing legislative and congressional districts and overseeing the state's elections.

Reform Ohio Now, a coalition of unions and other Democrat-leaning groups, wanted to wrest control of elections from state officeholders, now a virtual Republican monopoly. Republicans resisted, forming an opposition group known as Ohio First.

The opposition did its job, said former state Rep. Ed Jerse, a Euclid Democrat who directed the backers' campaign.

snip/more

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=251766&r=1&Category=11

[Wilms]

17. New Mexico Law Suit Delves Inside Voting Machines

New Mexico Law Suit Delves Inside Voting Machines

Election Errors Threaten Future Voting Rights in New Mexico

Major Law Suit Under Way to Open Up "Secret" Workings of Voting Machines

Special Report for 'Scoop' Independent Media

First in a Series

By Michael Collins

Nov. 2, 2005

Patricia Rosas Lopategui et al. "wishes to have her vote properly counted and weighted in any forthcoming elections."

New Mexico rarely generates much national news. When it does, as in the Wen Ho Lee nuclear espionage investigation, it can be explosive.

Now a little-known lawsuit before New Mexico District Court Judge Eugenio S. Mathis has the potential to alter the face of American elections.

Lopategui et al versus the State of New Mexico is proceeding at a surprising pace, with the litigants currently in the discovery phase of the trial, the point at which lawyers are allowed to question key witnesses and dig for facts and opinions with wide latitude. The targets of discovery right now include Sequoia Elections, two of the big three voting machine companies; Rebecca Vigil-Giron, New Mexico Secretary of State; state and local election officials; and officials of the state's voting systems support vendor.

Highly disturbing facts and allegations have already emerged in this well-run but under publicized case. For example, in one majority Hispanic precinct, the voting machines produced exactly zero votes for John Kerry. More issues will arise as the Plaintiffs legal team digs deeper into the highly irregular events of Election Day 2004. Remarkably, these events occurred at a much higher rate in predominantly Hispanic and Native American precincts.

snip/more

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0511/S00067.htm

[Wilms]

18. CA: Parallel Election Wrap Up...To Be Continued

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Parallel Election Wrap Up...To Be Continued

Doing the Parallel Election today was one of the best experiences I have had working with a group or doing any kind of public service (this was NOT activism, it was public service). In Portland, at the National Summit to Save Our Elections, one of the big buzz phrases was civic engagement. The PE is like injecting civic engagement directly into your spine.

We had a team of about 16 working in shifts from 6:30am to 11pm. There were always at least three people and sometimes as many as six calling out to the voters across the street. "Can you help us with a citizen exit poll? We're trying to double check the accuracy of the secret vote counting machines." This was the line that worked well for me.

It took a lot of energy but that came back to me multiplied by the people so thankful for our work. We were often asked how many other polling places had the PE. And even though this was the first time and we were only doing one polling place, it was as if the idea was so obvious and easily accepted that next June we will be ready to cover at least half of Humboldt County (perhaps a fatigue induced exaggeration...or not).

At a couple of points throughout the day we caught updates from an official poll worker. The only number was the total voters but this was what we needed to estimate our participation rate. I'm going to guess about 60% is where it will end up. Unfortunately, we don't yet have the results from the official polling place, Arcata City Hall.

snip/more

http://guvwurld.blogspot.com/2005/11/parallel-election-wrap-upto-be.html

[EFerrari]

19. I think your elephant is dead!

:)

[Wilms]

20. Election 2005: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Wednesday, November 9th, 2005

Election 2005

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Make no mistake about it, last night was a very good night for the Democratic party. A quick rundown:

The Good: Obviously, sizeable Gubenatorial wins in so-called red-state Virginia and a defeat of the Arnold Agenda in California were high points. Virginia and New Jersey showed that gutter politics don't always play out the way the GOP thinks it will. Virginia also showed that the Lee Atwater-Karl Rove playbook of demonizing those who oppose the death penalty doesn't play anymore, if a candidate fights back and sets the record straight.

The Bad: The defeat of Reform Ohio Now. It is hard to tell what happened there. I have heard a number if reports of voters who simply did not understand the propositions and left without voting. It may have been too much all at once.

The Ugly: Continued election irregularities. Arnold was almost denied the right to vote by a DRE machine in California. Voters in Ohio again had difficulties with machines. In Detroit, which I represent, there were allegations of absentee voting fraud by the City Clerk's office and voter intimidation by Republican operatives. No voter should have their vote interfered with by political partisans, as is the case with both allegations in Detroit, or faulty machines. I am asking the FBI to help me evaluate the veracity of the Detroit claims and will be closely examining these events in the rest of the country. It is clear that we have a long, long way to go.

snip/more

http://www.conyersblog.us/archives/00000302.htm

[Wilms]

21. What John Kerry definitely said about 2004’s stolen election...

What John Kerry definitely said about 2004’s stolen election and why it's killing American democracy

by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman

November 10, 2005

The net is abuzz about what John Kerry may or may not be saying now about the stolen election of 2004.

But we can definitively report what he has said about New Mexico and electronic voting machines soon after his abrupt "abandon ship" with 250,000 Ohio votes still uncounted.

And we must also report that what he's not saying is having a catastrophic effect on what's left of American democracy, including what has just happened (again) in Ohio 2005.

In recent days Mark Crispin Miller has reported that he heard from Kerry personally that Kerry believes the election was stolen. The dialog has been widely reported on the internet. Kerry has since seemed to deny it.

snip/more

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1556

[Wilms]

22. BBV on LA

Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 08:24 am

Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters Conny McCormack, the most powerful county elections official in California, has mastered the art of window dressing. You get a nifty tour when you observe elections, and L.A. election events are well orchestrated.

snip/more

http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/1954/13095.html

[Wilms]

23. NC: Diebold ducks deadline

Diebold ducks deadline

Raleigh News & Observer

One of the companies looking to win state approval to sell voting equipment to counties won a few extra days to file its paperwork.

The proposals were due Friday. But on that day, Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard E. Manning Jr. gave Diebold Election Systems Inc. until Monday to respond to the state's request for proposals.

Four other companies met the Friday deadline.

State Elections Director Gary Bartlett said he didn't know whether the extra time gave Diebold an advantage over other companies.

snip/more

http://www.blackboxvoting.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=355

[Wilms]

24. Diebold Shenanigans in North Carolina

November 09 @ 20:37:28 CST

Diebold Shenanigans in North Carolina

by David

Field Reports OK, some curious developements have reached me concerning the NC State Board of Elections' selection process for new voting machines. After two years of fighting and getting a law passed that makes it quite plain we want a transparent voting process and tight control of voting machine vendors, we discover that the state has hired Kevin Long, of Beachwood Computing, Ltd. over 20 other applicants to help pick new voting mcahines.

What makes Mr. Long an interesting choice is that until recently, he was a senior project manager for Diebold. His career also includes stints with Hart-Intercivic and Sequoia, two other voting machine companies.

Now, it would certainly not be unusual for the state to hire someone with experience in dealing with voting machine companies to help it craft its selection of voting equipment, but it begins to look peculiar when he's a very recent employee of a company that the state should consider radioactive, given it's reputation for lies, shoddy equipment and law-breaking.

snip/more

http://www.blackboxvoting.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=354

[Wilms]

25. Florida voting gear chief exits to start own firm

Florida voting gear chief exits to start own firm

By Alan Gomez

Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau

Saturday, November 05, 2005

TALLAHASSEE — The man responsible for ensuring the accuracy of new voting machines for Florida following the 2000 election debacle resigned from the state's Division of Elections this week, just one day before Secretary of State Glenda Hood announced that she would do the same.

Paul Craft, a 25-year state employee and the head of the Bureau of Voting Systems Certification through Florida's past two elections, said the "horrendous" workload ever since the 2000 election has proven overwhelming, and he left to start his own consulting company.

snip/more/Hmmmmm

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/state/epaper/2005/11/05/a24a_craft_1105.html

[Wilms]

26. The Role of Voter Registration Purging/Fraud in Kerry's loss of Ohio

The Role of Voter Registration Purging/Fraud in Kerry's loss of Ohio

Nov-09-05

by Time for change

The main reason that Al Gore lost Florida and the Presidency in 2000 was the illegal purge tens of thousands of mostly black voters from the Florida voter registration roles. "The reason" for the purge was that these voters were close computer matches to felons, who by law were not allowed to vote in Florida. Florida's Governor and the private company that he hired to conduct the purge knew that their process would disenfranchise not only real felons, but close computer matches as well. A very effective way to win an election.

I have posted threads on DU postulating that hundreds of thousands of mostly Democratic voters were illegally purged from Ohio's voter roles in 2004 and that this accounted for a net loss of over 40 thousand votes from John Kerry in Cuyahoga County alone. My rationale for those postulations was mostly the huge discrepancy between newspaper reports of new voter registration, compared to official Ohio Secretary of State figures. In the weeks prior to the election, for example, a New York Times report indicated that new voter registration in Ohio was ten times as great throughout the state in Democratic than in Republican precincts. Indeed, these reports provided reason for much optimism that the Kerry/Edwards ticket would win Ohio and the Presidency. But official figures by the time of the November election showed that Republican precincts actually exhibited greater gains in voter registration than Democratic precincts between March and November of 2004.

Subsequently, I tried to contact the NY Times and the reporters who reported the massive increases in Democratic voter registration, in order to see if I could obtain verification that illegal voter purges were indeed conducted, but they would not answer my letters.


Confirmatory evidence of illegal voter purging

Finally I found some good sources that provide a probable explanation and confirmation of my suspicions for much of the discrepancy between the newspaper reports and Kenneth Blackwell's official voter registration figures. The first source was Norman Robbins, leader of the Greater Cleveland Voter Registration Coalition. According to his figures, there were 160,894 new voter registrations received by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in 2004, compared to only 31,903 registrations in 2000. This information is fully consistent with the NY Times and other newspaper reports. Yet, the number of Cuyahoga County registered voters for the 2004 election was actually LESS than the number of registered voters for the 2000 election! What happened to all those voters?

snip/more

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2237782

[Wilms]

27. NJ: Marlboro voting machine opened...

Marlboro voting machine opened, but outcome depends on provisional ballots

11/9/05

BY JAMES A. QUIRK

FREEHOLD — Monmouth County Board of Elections officials this afternoon cracked open a jammed voting machine from Marlboro to show that Democratic Assemblymen Michael Panter and Dr. Robert Morgan had received more votes than their challengers, Republicans Declan O'Scanlon and Jennifer Beck.

For that one district, Morgan received 121 votes; Panter, 110; Beck, 86 and O'Scanlon, 81.

It remains unclear, however, who the victors will be in the contentious 12th Legislative district. Unofficial election night results - which did not include the votes from the machine in Marlboro - showed Beck received 31,299 votes; O'Scanlon, 30,316; Panter, 30,099 and Morgan, 30,035.

Monmouth County Clerk Claire French said the county will not have official results until ""bags and bags'' of provisional ballots are counted. French and John Bradshaw, county superintendent of elections, said that official results will most likely not be ready until after this weekend.

snip/more

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051109/NEWS/51109006

Thanks to fearnobush

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x400791

[Algorem]

28. Cleveland Propagandist Daily-Ohio Republicans are so freaking nice

Opposition gracious after election reforms fail
GOP foe asks for help designing districts

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/113161871370410.xml&coll=2


Thursday, November 10, 2005
Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau Chief
Columbus

-- Republican Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted, whose party scored a major victory Tuesday when voters trounced four election-reform amendments, made an unusual phone call Wednesday morning.

He telephoned former State Rep. Ed Jerse, a Democrat who led the failed reform effort, and invited him to work with Republicans to try to fashion a better system of designing legislative and congressional districts...

Husted's olive branch was in sharp contrast to some other lawmakers who plotted ways to punish organizations, particularly labor groups, that lent money and volunteers to the RON campaign.

Husted acknowledged hearing chatter about possible efforts to scale back collective bargaining for public employees, but said if any anti-union bills surface, decisions about them "won't be based on retaliation."...

[Wilms]

29. WA: Computer woes slow county site

November 10, 2005

Computer woes slow county site

The Snohomish County Web site has been bogged down by people trying to see election results.

By Steve Powell
Herald Writer

Snohomish County's Web site developed computer troubles on election night that continued through Wednesday, making it hard for voters to obtain election results.

"It's countywide, not just the auditor's office," elections manager Carolyn Diepenbrock said Wednesday.

Some users were able to get information at a snail's pace, while others could not access the site at all.

An extremely high volume of Web access requests bogged down the system, said Bob von Wolffradt, information services director for the county. The county receives Internet access through a state-run cooperative in Olympia, and is working with that group to fix the problem.

snip/more

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/11/10/100loc_computer001.cfm

Thanks to Land Shark

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x400866

[Wilms]

30. KOEHLER: A Crime Without a Name

A Crime Without a Name
'Concern' about election fraud is useless without guts and anger

By ROBERT C. KOEHLER
Tribune Media Services

November 10, 2005

Some news is so big it won’t fit into a headline. For example: WIDESPREAD VOTER DISENFRANCHISEMENT IN 2004.

Sorry. It may be true, but it’s a no-go on the front pages and TV news programs of America. The reality hovers namelessly, like the disappeared of Central America. Shhh, don’t refer to it directly. Wait 20 years, until they dig up the mass graves.

No matter the election was a multilayered travesty of disenfranchisement: widespread malfunctioning of electronic voting machines that continually worked to the benefit of George Bush over John Kerry; Jim Crow-style spurious challenges of African-American and other likely Democratic voters; preposterously long lines in inner-city neighborhoods while unused machines sat in warehouses; mysteriously inaccurate exit polls that picked Kerry until Bush suddenly emerged victorious; dirty tricks galore; more than 100,000 uncounted provisional ballots in the bitterly contested state of Ohio alone; and now, a just-released General Accounting Office report on electronic voting in 2004, which found evidence of lost and miscounted votes, sloppy security and other problems.

Even the most high-profile victim of all this malfeasance and chicanery, the losing candidate himself, seems unable to give it a name, though he stands for all that’s right and good: “Barriers to voting — whether it’s intimidation, disinformation or a lack of voting machines — have no place in the freest, greatest nation in the world.”

snip/more

http://commonwonders.com/archives/col319.htm

Thanks to AtLiberty

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x400858

[Wilms]

31. PA: Recount

Recount

By John Hilton, Nov 10, 2005

Cumberland County commissioners say a ballot-counting mistake may change the outcome of the magisterial district judge race in Carlisle.

snip

The candidates — Republican Kathy Keating and Democrat Jessica Rhoades — were notified of the vote discrepancy Wednesday evening.

snip

However, Commissioner Gary Eichelberger says a programming error by the county’s ES&S voting machines awarded all votes by Democrats casting a straight-ticket ballot to Keating. The problem involved a software coding error in which Keating’s political affiliation was mislabeled.

“As they were getting the counts in on election night, we had a couple people watching the monitors and somebody noticed Kathy Keating coming in as a ‘D,’” Eichelberger says. “We knew right away that we needed to be looking at something there.”

http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2005/11/10/news/news02.txt

Thanks to flowomo

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5320873

[Wilms]

32. ACLU, NAACP Ask House to Redo Voter Law

ACLU, NAACP Ask House to Redo Voter Law

Nov 10, 8:16 AM (ET)

By JEFFREY McMURRAY

WASHINGTON (AP) - Civil rights activists argued Wednesday that a 2-year-old Supreme Court decision largely wiped out 40 years of progress minorities have made under the Voting Rights Act.

Officials with the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People were among those who asked a House panel to renew a key portion of the law but include a provision that would essentially undo a verdict pertaining to Georgia redistricting.

"It clearly shows the schizophrenic, dichotomized mind-set this nation clearly has in terms of extending voting rights and then taking them back," Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., said of the Georgia v. Ashcroft decision.

At issue before the House Judiciary Committee's panel on the Constitution is a section of the Voting Rights Act that expires in 2007. It requires states with a history of racial discrimination to get federal government approval before changing their voting laws. Redistricting cases spark the most legal challenges, particularly when minorities can prove that a new map gives them less of a chance at electing candidates they prefer.

snip/more

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20051110/D8DPKGFG6.html

Thanks to GreenPartyVoter

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5321716

[Wilms]

33. CT: Computer Glitch Delays Norwalk Election Results

Computer Glitch Delays Norwalk Election Results

POSTED: 8:06 am EST November 10, 2005

NORWALK, Conn. -- A computer glitch delayed results in the Norwalk mayor's race until Wednesday morning.

Ballot Box

City election officials decided around 10 p.m. on Tuesday that they had to recount more than 600 absentee ballots by hand because the optical scan machine had not counted them properly.

Andy Garfunkel, the town clerk, said the machine mistakenly combined ballots from two polling districts. State law requires that absentee ballots be reported for each precinct. Workers counted ballots until 2 a.m. Wednesday and returned later in the morning to finish. In the end, Republican Richard Moccia defeated incumbent Democratic Mayor Alex Knopp 8,259 to 8,083.

A state police officer escorted the election monitor to the Bridgeport state police barracks, where the ballots were due to the state by 4 p.m., Garfunkel said.

snip/more

http://www.nbc30.com/news/5293749/detail.html

Thanks to Lori Price CLG

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1915983

[Algorem]

34. Ohio-State (Blackwell) plans to investigate (Lucas County) voting chaos

(uh,yeah,right.)

State plans to investigate voting chaos; Tuesday's problems are latest for Lucas County

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051110/NEWS09/511100477

By CHRISTOPHER D. KIRKPATRICK
BLADE STAFF WRITER

With the final Lucas County vote count from Tuesday's election not released until 9 a.m. yesterday - the last among Ohio's 88 counties - state officials say they plan to investigate the county's board of elections.

Carlo LoParo, spokesman for the secretary of state's office, said the poor performance Tuesday was "frustrating" because of previous strides made, including a glitch-free Sept. 13 primary.

"It's an all too familiar process at the Lucas County Board of Elections. We'll begin by interviewing staff and reviewing their preparation plans," he said of the coming investigation.

The board of elections has been criticized by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who in April said all four board members should resign or he would fire them because of problems with the November, 2004, presidential election...

RECENT RELATED ARTICLES


• The election board fiasco | 11/10/2005
• Elections board seeks 120 workers for Tuesday | 11/03/2005
• Elections board rules against Canales-Flores | 09/28/2005
• Board OKs Christiansen run for judge | 09/13/2005
• Montalto ends bid for elections position | 09/10/2005
• Challenge to judge's petitions is dropped | 09/02/2005
• Montalto wrong pick | 08/26/2005
• Kirk - Lucas County Board of Elections | 08/26/2005
• Elections board set to begin fresh era | 06/07/2005

[Algorem]

35. Ohio-GOP alternative reform plan needed, election expert professor says

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051110/NEWS09/511100446/-1/NEWS

GOP reform plan needed, expert says
Alternatives to failed amendments expected

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU


COLUMBUS - Now that they've declared victory in defeating the effort to reform Ohio elections, it's time for Republicans to step to the plate, an Ohio State University election law expert said yesterday.


"They want to look responsible," said Edward Foley, OSU law professor and former state solicitor. "Given the nature of the debate we had in Ohio, looking responsible and being responsible means offering alternative reform."

Republicans went five for five on statewide ballot issues on Election Day against predictions of a scandal-induced voter backlash.

The reform movement forged by a coalition of mostly Democrat constituencies say they suffered from a lack of official backing from the state party and a message confused by lengthy, complicated ballot language...


RECENT RELATED ARTICLES


• Democrats debate GOP's woes | 10/12/2005
• Extreme partisanship chills capital's climate | 09/18/2005
• GOP scandals hurt, Ludeman says | 09/02/2005
• GOP scandals hurt, Ludeman says | 09/02/2005
• Slim GOP win Tuesday linked to Noe factor | 08/04/2005
• Dems try to scuttle GOP candidates | 08/02/2005
• Another slap at cities | 06/02/2005
• Back from the brink | 05/27/2005
• Kirk - Moderates | 05/27/2005
• Little threat to Stabenow | 05/19/2005
• Partisan preacher | 05/18/2005

[Wilms]

36. PA: Ballot snafu means long, baffling day

Ballot snafu means long, baffling day

J.D. Prose, Times Staff

11/10/2005

snip

"This is one of the setbacks from a paper system," Mandity said.

snip

Paper ballots were frequently stuck together and rejected by the machines. Mandity also said that absentee ballots were folded, which meant election workers had to feed the ballots into machines one at a time.

snip

Commissioner Joe Spanik, who is also chairman of the county's board of elections, questioned whether the quality of the paper on which the ballots were printed contributed to the problems.

Mandity said a combination of factors might have caused the problems, ranging from humidity affecting the paper ballots to dust in the machines to the warmth in the courthouse room in which the machines are kept.

snip

Officials are looking forward to not using paper ballots again. Under the federal Help America Vote Act, all counties are required to buy an approved voting system by the end of the year so that it can be used in next year's primary.

snip

Commissioners Chairman Dan Donatella laid the blame for Tuesday's problems not on any company or person, but squarely on the paper ballots.

"You're always going to have some problems with paper ballots," Donatella said. "It's just an archaic way of doing things."

more

http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15550834&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=8

Thanks to demodonkey

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x400886

[Wilms]

37. Diebold Election Systems' Touch-Screen Deployment Described as Great Succe

Diebold Election Systems' Touch-Screen Deployment Described as Great Success

Voters and elections officials praise the ease and speed of the Diebold
AccuVote touch-screen voting system

ALLEN, Texas, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Across the country on
Election Day, voters who had the opportunity to cast their vote on Diebold
AccuVote touch-screen systems raved about the ease and speed of the high-tech
process, and election officials received positive feedback from throughout the
electorate.

Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell described Ohio's first large-
scale use of modern voting systems as a great success. "It was a great day
for Ohio voters. More than 15,000 new voting machines were used by nearly one
million voters today and we were overwhelmed with positive reports," he said.

"As with all large-scale rollouts of new technology, there were a few isolated
slow starts. However, election officials identified problems and resolved
them quickly so voters could cast their ballots with confidence and
efficiency." The Diebold system was deployed in 41 Ohio counties which
included 4,100 voting precincts. To read the entire message from Secretary of
State Blackwell, please visit
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/News/Read.aspx?ID=146.

"We were extremely pleased with the ease of use of the system, which was
especially important considering this was the first time the system was used
by poll workers and voters throughout Lorain County (Ohio)," stated Marilyn
Jacobcik, director of elections, Lorain County Board of Elections. "The
performance of the Diebold system exceeded our expectations." In addition to
the ease of use mentioned by voters, election officials highlighted that
voters with disabilities were able to use the features of the new systems to
vote without assistance, ensuring the privacy that all voters expect and
deserve.

In Ohio and Utah, voters had an opportunity to verify their vote on paper
prior to casting their ballot through a voter verified paper audit trail
printer integrated on the machine. The Diebold AccuVote-TSX can be equipped
with a federally qualified paper audit printer which, in addition to the
system's standard summary screen, can provide an additional level of candidate
selection review for voters. Diebold's Ohio installation is the largest
deployment of touch-screen voting stations with voter-verifiable paper audit
trail printers in the country.

snip/more

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-10-2005/0004213520&EDATE=

Thanks to althecat

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x400895

[Wilms]

38. Some election notes, November 10, 2005

Some election notes, November 10, 2005

By Andy Prutsok

Wednesday, November 9, 2005 9:12 PM CST

Sheriff Raleigh Isaacs could use some tips on how to fire up a crowd. At his election night vigil party at the Dining Room, a crowd of dozens of friends and supporters had been there for more than close to an hour and a half before the candidate showed up.

The crowd greeted Isaacs enthusiastically, but all he could say was that he had results from King's Fork, the first precinct reporting, which he expected to win, and the margin wasn't as large as he had hoped.

That put a little damper on things, but it picked up quickly when it became clear that he was headed for a big win.

Treasurer Ron Williams was at the Isaacs event and looked like he had gotten plenty of sun on Election Day. Williams served as a poll worker for Isaacs at John Yeates Middle School. He said it was his first time pulling such duty in about 20 years.

My favorite line on election night came, oddly enough, from my 16-year-old son, Adam. We were watching returns at home and both had a good laugh when we saw the name of the fella running for treasurer, I think, of Portsmouth, Billy Butts III.

snip/more

http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/articles/2005/11/10/virtual_suffolk_-_editors_blog/0927blog.txt

[Wilms]

39. Deep-rooted Voting Irregularities Persist, Watchdogs Say

Deep-rooted Voting Irregularities Persist, Watchdogs Say

by Catherine Komp

Citing a recent government appraisal of the nation’s election systems and evidence of continued abuse and potential fraud, groups championing free and fair elections say the US still has a long way to go.

Nov 10 - Although this was an "off-term" election year, voting-rights advocates, computer scientists, and politicians watched the process closely as more districts used electronic voting machines, which many blame for irregularities during the 2004 presidential election.

Many of those same problems reportedly occurred again this year, when an estimated 30 percent of voters used touch-screen voting machines -- technically known as direct recording electronic (DRE) systems -- the majority manufactured by the companies Diebold, Sequoia, and Election Systems & Software.

According to local media reports, officials at a precinct in Fulton County, Georgia removed three machines after voters said their votes registered for different candidates. In Roanoke County, Virginia, people at several precincts reported that their selection for democratic candidates registered as votes for republicans in both the governor’s and state attorney general race. And in several Ohio precincts, electronic machine malfunctions and problems getting machines running forced a number of polling places to open late.

As groups continue to monitor this technology, civil rights and public advocacy organizations say voter intimidation and suppression continue to block would-be voters from the polls. Strict identification requirements, lack of ballots and instructions in various languages, and absentee restrictions along with intimidation and misinformation campaigns continue to disenfranchise Americans.

snip/more

http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=2585

[Mnemosyne]

40. Wow Wilms, just wow! n/t