Thursday 3/17 Election Fraud, Reform, & Updates Thread

[MelissaB]

In order to organize and document I thought it would be a good idea to have a daily thread to place items related to reform, fraud, protests, and other items. This also make it easier to "catch up" when we are away from the computer for a while.

Please help us. If you see something that isn't here post it with a link to the thread and a thanks to the author. Thanks to everyone who is helping with this project.

Link to the thread from yesterday: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x344573

[dzika]

1. WA GOP list of felons challenged - includes juvenile convictions

March 17, 2005

Washinton GOP list of felons challenged
List includes juvenile convictions

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF

A Republican Party list of supposed felons who purportedly voted illegally in the disputed 2004 governor's race includes people who shouldn't be on it because they were convicted as juveniles, a Democratic Party lawyer said yesterday. And a GOP spokesman conceded that some of those names may come off the list, which was submitted in support of a court challenge to the 129-vote victory of Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire over Republican Dino Rossi in November. David McDonald, a lawyer for the Democrats, said he did not know how many juvenile convictions are among the list of more than 1,100 names filed by the GOP.

more here

DU Discussion Thread

[dzika]

2. NYT - A Wink and a Fraud by MAUREEN DOWD

March 17, 2005

A Wink and a Fraud

by MAUREEN DOWD
OP-ED COLUMNIST

MAUREEN DOWD

...
The White House isn't backing off its plan to replace real news with faux news. The Bushies created their own reality to convince the country that Iraq was a threat to U.S. security. So even though the war has given birth to some of the very evils it was supposed to fix - like more recruits for Osama, and Saddam's formerly sealed weapons' falling into terrorists' hands - Bushies like the results of their war.

...
At his news conference yesterday, the president bristled a bit when a reporter reminded him that after it was revealed that his administration was paying columnists to shill for agency programs, Mr. Bush had ordered that such tactics cease.

But, as the reporter noted, the administration is still using government money to produce stories about the government that are broadcast with no disclosure that the government is producing them.

David Barstow and Robin Stein wrote in The Times on Sunday that at least 20 agencies had made and distributed fake news segments to local TV stations; the administration spent $254 million in its first four years to buy self-aggrandizing puffery from P.R. firms.

The president joked that he could tack on an "I'm George W. Bush and I approved this disclaimer." But then he said he wouldn't - that it was up to local stations to reveal the truth.

more here

[dzika]

3. National Conference on 2004 Election & Need for Election Reform

(re-post)

March 9, 2005

Gathering to Save Our Democracy

National Conference on 2004 Election & Need for Election Reform
Nashville, TN - April 8-10, 2005

Posted by Ray Beckerman

Gathering To Save Our Democracy
National Conference on the 2004 Election
and the Need for Election Reform
Nashville, Tennessee, April 8-10, 2005

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE TODAY!

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Featuring
Judith Alter
Cliff Arnebeck
David Cobb
Clinton Curtis
Dr. Sonnye Dixon
Kathy Dopp
Larry English
Bob Fitrakis
Brad Friedman
Phil Fry
John Gideon
Teresa Hommel
Dr. Charles Kimbrough
Paul Lehto
David Lytel
Dr. Tommie Morton-Young
R. H. Phillips
Larry Quick
Joanne Roush
Lara Schaffer
Jonathan Simon
Bernard Windham

CLICK HERE FOR AGENDA AND SPEAKER LIST

BACKGROUND

Since November 3, 2004, there has been a groundswell of concern, and a plethora of evidence, that the conduct of the 2004 Presidential election in the United States was highly problematic. These concerns have been belittled by many and ignored by the corporate media in this country. However, the weight of the evidence is overwhelming that a multi-faceted strategy of voter intimidation and disenfranchisement, potential manipulation of electronically cast votes in many states, and other instances of election fraud and theft improperly influenced the will of the American people and may have subverted the "consent of the governed". This evidence was sufficient to have stimulated the Government Accountability Office and U.S. Representative John Conyers and other national leaders to investigate the evidence of wrong-doing. This evidence also caused the U.S. Congress to suspend their routine business and to debate the merits of accepting Ohio's electoral votes on January 6, 2005, a historic occasion that highlighted the many problems in Ohio and also served to shed light on similar problems in other states. With this Congressional debate, the American people's responsibility to win back our democratic process was enumerated and enjoined.

To date, most of the discussion and information sharing on the problems with the 2004 election have occurred in the virtual world of the Internet. While there have been some local gatherings and regional and national protests focused on this issue, there has been no opportunity for concerned citizens, researchers, activists and elected officials to meet under one roof to review the wealth of evidence for the many threats to our democratic processes which the 2004 election revealed and to discuss the urgent need for election reform. While some panels on this topic have been added to several national meetings, these panels are not nearly sufficient to present all of the evidence for the 2004 election problems. It is also insufficient to fully inform the American people enough to motivate them to seek redress for the violations of our voting rights which occurred with this past election and to coalesce sentiment around an election reform agenda.

For these reasons, this three day Gathering To Save Our Democracy - A National Conference will provide the appropriate forum for expanding public awareness, for congregating the accumulated knowledge under one roof and for providing a platform for mobilizing support for election reform and justice. Nashville, Tennessee is the setting of this conference. Nashville has a proud history of early successes in the 1960s civil rights movement, we are in a Southern and supposedly "red" state (we prefer to consider ourselves an Orange State, in deference to the Ukrainian example), we are centrally located within a day's drive of 60% of the U.S. population, we have an international airport serviced by a dozen major airlines, and we have several locations tentatively identified as appropriate and historic venues for hosting the conference. But most importantly, we have an energetic (and growing) band of citizen-activists for election reform in Tennessee who would insure the successful implementation of this conference.

This conference will be a comprehensive and historic event that will bring together the "major players" who have surfaced in the dialogue over the problems with the 2004 election and the need for election reform. We also anticipate that the conference will be a gathering place for the many concerned citizens throughout the nation and the world who are intent on preserving democracies. We hope that this conference will help break the media silence about the problems with the 2004 election within our country and provide a forum for increasing the world's attention to our threatened democratic principles. In addition, we will hold discussion sessions before and after the conference to exchange ideas and build coalitions to pursue the necessary elements of election reform and to redress our concerns with the 2004 election.

The conference registration fee is $30 (with exceptions for hardships), and will cover all conference-related activities. Please review the tentative conference agenda, complete the conference registration form and register using PayPal. (People who cannot attend the conference but who would like to support the conference by making a donation can do so using PayPal also.) We will send you the final conference agenda and other details one week prior to the conference. Please contact Bernard Ellis, Jr., MA, MPH (931/682-2864; [e-mail] ) for more information on the conference.


Thank you for supporting the conference and for promoting the preservation of democracy in America.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE TODAY!

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION

CLICK HERE FOR TENTATIVE AGENDA AND SPEAKER LIST

source

[dzika]

4. Videos - CNN Inside Politics for 3/16

Video - CNN: Don't be fooled by Bush's Social Security Separation Strategy - 3/16

Also: Senator Hillary Clinton questions Greenspan's partisan remarks



Video in Real Media format (5 minutes)

---

Video - CNN: New MoveOn Ad warns about corporate judicial nominees - 3/16

Video in Real Media format (2 minutes)

[dzika]

5. Letter from Senator Clinton - Isn't it Ironic (Count Every Vote Act)

From an email:

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for signing up as a citizen co-sponsor of the Count Every Vote Act of 2005. With your support and that of more than 116,000 people all across the country, we have made substantial progress in recent weeks.

But, even with all the energy and action you have helped generate, we still have an uphill climb. It doesn't appear that the administration and the Republican leadership are as concerned as we are about ensuring people's right to vote.

We need to gather even more momentum -- forward this email to your friends and ask them to become a citizen co-sponsor at:

http://www.friendsofhillary.com/CountEveryVote

Isn't it ironic that at the same time the White House is welcoming elections in other parts of the world, we still have to fight to make democracy real here at home!

But fight we will. And, in the weeks since the Count Every Vote Act of 2005 was introduced by Senators Boxer, Lautenberg, Kerry and myself, your personal commitment has helped build our momentum:

• Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has joined us as a co-sponsor. We welcome this support from one of the Senate's most distinguished advocates for civil and constitutional rights.
  
  
• The New York Times (February 22, 2005) described the Count Every Vote Act as "the gold standard for election reform." Among the provisions of the bill it singled out as worthy of note were: "Paper records for every vote cast...restrictions on political activity by voting machine manufacturers...and minimum standards for the number of voting machines per precinct." As the Times stated, our bill would also prevent states from using "onerous identification requirements to turn away eligible voters..."
  
  
• Other organizations have begun to mobilize support for the Count Every Vote Act. I am particularly proud of the support we have received from The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and People for the American Way, two groups that have been at the forefront of working to protect every American's right to vote.
  
  
• Most important of all, we now have more than 116,000 citizen co-sponsors from every state in the union - people who have joined to work together, to insist that we get action on election reform! And we continue to get more co-sponsors every day.

As I look at the record of this Republican Congress, I know that our task is not going to be easy. But I also know that, together, we can make a difference. We can insist that the right of every American to vote - and to have our votes counted - is fundamental to our democracy. We are going to keep organizing, keep building support and demanding action - and we are going to succeed.

Please Forward to a Friend!

Sincerely,


Hillary Rodham Clinton

P.S. Our whole family deeply appreciates all the kind words of encouragement concerning Bill's recent surgery. He's doing well and is very moved by your well wishes.

[dzika]

6. New Mexico Senate approves election reform bill along party lines

March 16, 2005

New Mexico Senate approves election reform bill along party lines

By: Associated Press

SANTA FE (AP) - An election reform bill backed by Governor Richardson has cleared the Senate and is headed to the House.

The bill was approved early Wednesday morning on a 24-to-17 vote. It was a nearly party-line vote, with Democrats supporting the bill and Republicans opposing it. Republicans say the voter ID provisions are too weak.

The bill includes a requirement that New Mexicans provide some identification at the polls and a mandate that voting machines have a paper trail.

The legislation also allows county clerks to begin feeding absentee ballots into the machines that register the votes five days before the election, to prevent long delays in tallying. The results wouldn’t be available until election night.

more here

[dzika]

7. Union employees protest Schwarzenegger at LA fund-raiser

March 16, 2005

Union employees protest Schwarzenegger at LA fund-raiser

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer

A throng of demonstrators outraged over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed changes to state pensions and teacher salaries protested Wednesday outside a hotel where the governor held a lavish fund-raiser to support his agenda.

Nurses, firefighters and teachers spilled into the street outside the Century City hotel, calling for the governor's ouster and waving placards that read, "California not for sale" and "Don't privatize retirement security."

The protest was the latest in a series of actions by a loosely affiliated group of union members, Democrats and others designed to frustrate Schwarzenegger's plans.

The governor has called for series of changes to everything from public employee pensions to how legislative districts are drawn. Opponents have challenged the governor's policies in court, run TV ads against him and staged street demonstrations.

more here

[dzika]

8. Propaganda? What Propaganda?

March 16, 2005

Propaganda? What Propaganda?

Some of the "news reports" you've seen on your local TV station may have been produced at taxpayer expense with PR specialists posing as reporters but broadcast to you as if they were objective stories composed by independent journalists.

But that's OK, according to the White House.

Before the Bush information machine was rocked by revelations that Armstrong Williams was on the Education Department payroll and White House "reporter" Jeff Gannon was backed by GOP funders, a battle was already brewing over "video news releases," which government and companies use to spread the word about the good works they do.

The General Accounting Office has found that some of the VNRs used by the Bush team constitute illegal "covert propaganda" because they are made to look like news reports and there is no disclosure of the government's role in creating them. In one decision in January, the GAO cited some VNRs released by the national drug czar in which "the narrator explains that he or she is 'reporting' on press conferences," and "Each story is accompanied by proposed 'lead-in' and 'closing' remarks to be spoken by television station news anchors. Many of the suggested anchor remarks include a phrase like, 'Mike Morris has the story.' " An earlier GAO decision criticized a VNR about Medicare. As reported here in January, the appeal of these VNRs was described well by one of the companies that makes them: "Imagine the credibility to be gained by having your message delivered by a trusted news anchor as opposed to a paid commercial spot." And as The New York Times reported in a masterful piece this weekend, some of the Bush administration VNRs involve a PR specialist using a false name, scripted interviews with agency officials, and no hint of critics or doubts about the administration's marvelous programs.

more here

[dzika]

9. New Election Hearing in Ohio

March 16, 2005

New Election Hearing in Ohio

Congressional committee to hold election hearing in Ohio

A congressional committee that scolded Ohio's secretary of state for missing its hearing about the 2004 election is holding another session in Ohio. This time, Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell plans to attend. The House Administration Committee hearing is scheduled for Monday in Columbus. Lawmakers were frustrated with Blackwell when he did not attend a February hearing in Washington, especially when they discovered that he was in the area that day. He led a meeting of the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute, a session he said he previously had agreed to attend. The committee is investigating complaints of voting irregularities, such as long lines, computer malfunctions and confusion about provisional ballots, in November's election in Ohio.

more here

[dzika]

10. How to have clean and complete voter rolls

March 16, 2005

Democracy: Coming to America
How to have clean and complete voter rolls

By Rob Richie and Steven Hill

...
Currently, there are two widespread failures. First, our voter rolls are not clean and lead to uncertainty about voter fraud, such as people voting in two states and some places like Alaska having more registered voters than adults. Second, our voter rolls are not complete, with nearly a third of eligible voters—about 60 million Americans—not registered to vote. It’s time to establish clean and complete voter rolls to preserve the integrity of elections and keep close elections in the hands of voters rather than judges.

...
The United States in fact is one of the few democracies where the government does not take responsibility for registering its voters, which is why Iraq already has a higher share of its adult citizens registered to vote than the United States. The international norm is an orderly process of automatic voter registration of every citizen who reaches voting age. Because the government takes a proactive, ongoing role, registration occurs on a steady, rolling basis instead of in spurts tied to any specific election. Voters receive a unique identifier that ensures they don’t vote more than once.

Not only does such an orderly process provide nearly 100 percent voter registration, but it leads to much cleaner voter rolls and less voter fraud. With comprehensive databases and full registration, there is no longer a question about who is or is not registered. Everyone is registered.

By 2006, each state is supposed to have its federally-mandated statewide voter registration database in place, which, if merged with each state’s Census database, would take us a giant step toward universal registration. The most comprehensive way, however, would be to establish a national database and federal standards for assuring 100 percent registration of eligible voters.

more here

[dzika]

11. Secretary of Spin?

March 17, 2005

Secretary of Spin?

By Richard Cohen

I have only a glancing acquaintance with George Bush's good friend Karen Hughes. I met her on the first Bush presidential campaign and was awed by her uncanny ability to answer a question over and over again, each time with the same inflection, volume and, of course, words. This left me suspecting she had a computer chip implanted somewhere in her body or that she was naturally one of those people who, no matter how forceful your complaint, respond with the wholesome but empty phrase "Have a nice day." When she comes before the Senate for confirmation in her new job -- undersecretary of state -- Hughes should not have a nice day.

I have no animus toward Hughes, and this should not be seen as anything personal. It is just that Hughes, once a counselor to the president and always an intimate, represents an administration that values truth only in the abstract. In its day-to-day dealings with the American people, it has the ethical approach of a slippery door-to-door salesman -- anything to make the sale. Until the Bush administration vows to become more forthright, the Senate ought to put the Hughes nomination in mothballs.

Take, for instance, the government's smarmy practice of preparing video news releases and packaging them as actual television news. The New York Times recently detailed how government agencies prepare admiring reports on what they are doing and then send them off to local TV stations, which use them, sometimes pretending the reports are their own. Only a fool would expect the TV industry -- especially local TV news -- to grow up and embrace professional standards, but the government is a different story. It's ours. We fund it. It should not be using our money to propagandize us. That, truly, is adding insult to injury.

The Bush administration did not originate this practice. The Clintons did it, too. But the Bushies have apparently expanded it, and the administration has rejected a Government Accountability Office ruling that this sort of stuff is "covert propaganda" -- inappropriate on its face. What the administration seems not to understand is that the practice -- no matter when it originated and who else did it -- only enhances the White House's reputation for slyness.

more here

[dzika]

12. Casting your ballot in Florida

March 17, 2005

Casting your ballot in Florida

Lawmakers should boost voter access, but not open the door to bias in election law

...
Lawmakers will step in with more reforms this year, but should pass only those that improve the fairness, accessibility and accountability of the voting process.

That means nixing a proposal to eliminate Election Day and precincts in favor of an 11-day voting session using fewer, larger voting sites, or super-precincts.

The massive change would have an untold impact on many voters, especially the elderly.

It also raises accountability issues, such as ensuring that voters -- who would no longer be required to use a certain precinct -- don't cast ballots more than once.

more here

[dzika]

13. Investigator says CBS reportshouldn't stain Rather's career

March 17, 2005

Investigator says CBS reportshouldn't stain Rather's career

By Mark Jurkowitz, Globe Staff

Louis D. Boccardi, who co-authored the postmortem report on last September's flawed ''60 Minutes Wednesday" story on President Bush's military record, suggested yesterday that Dan Rather deserves better than to have his entire legacy tangled up in that one story.

''I think it is one aspect of a long and quite accomplished career, and I guess the fair journalist in me would like to position it that way," said Boccardi, who conducted the investigation at the request of CBS with former US Attorney General Dick Thornburgh. Boccardi was in the Boston area yesterday to give a talk at Tufts University's Fletcher School.

...
''We said we would not make the same mistake the program made, which was to make an assertion and, when asked to prove it, be unable to do so," Boccardi said.

When it came to bias, Boccardi said the investigators were not prepared to assign motive to the CBS journalists. ''It wasn't like there were these crazy biased liberal people at CBS alone after the story," he added. ''There were other people after the story. . . . We didn't feel we could prove . Now that's upset a lot of people." In the case of the documents, Boccardi acknowledged that ''there are many, many reasons to doubt that they're authentic." But he said solid proof is lacking.

more here

[dzika]

14. New Mexico Senate Passes Election Reform

March 17, 2005

New Mexico Senate Passes Election Reform

By Andy Lenderman

The Senate early Wednesday approved New Mexico election law changes that call for voter identification and "paper trails" from electronic voting machines.

Just after midnight, the Senate voted 24-17 to send the measure on to the House.

The measure's sponsor, Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, said the legislation will address election problems that have plagued the state for years.

Lopez's bill would require voter identification for all voters in every election. Republicans, however, said the bill doesn't have a real voter identification requirement.

It also would require all voting machines in the state to have a "voter verifiable and auditable paper trail" to go along with electronic voting machines.

more here

[dzika]

15. State to join ballot probe - Software change not pre-approved

March 17, 2005

State to join ballot probe
Software change not pre-approved

By Troy Anderson and Beth Barrett, Staff Writers

Los Angeles City Clerk Frank
Martinez is under scrutiny for
re-inking ballots on election night
and making changes to software
that read the results. Here he holds
a ballot from the last election
that was re-inked by his workers.


The California Secretary of State's Office announced Wednesday that it will investigate why City Clerk Frank Martinez changed the software on the voting system used in Los Angeles' mayoral primary without state approval -- one of several steps he took that slowed the count and raised questions about the integrity of the process.
Martinez said he ordered a change in computer code in the scanner that "reads" InkaVote ballots in order to reduce uncertainty in what was anticipated to be an extremely close race. And on election night, he ordered workers to hand-sort the ballots and re-ink thousands of votes that might be too faint to scan.

But the change was made without getting the required approval of state officials, said Secretary of State's Office spokeswoman Caren Daniels-Meade.

"I'm really surprised to hear this," she said. "We were not alerted to any changes. We did not approve any changes.

"There is a provision in the elections code that says no change or modification to a voting system that has been previously certified can happen without written notification to the Secretary of State. We'll obviously be contacting (election officials) to determine if there indeed was a modification without our knowledge."

more here

[dzika]

16. Should Democrats run Hillary Clinton for president in 2008? Yes.

March 17, 2005

Should Democrats run Hillary Clinton for president in 2008? Yes.

by Bogdan Kipling

"She came, she saw, she conquered."

That's how The Times of India summed up Hillary Clinton's late February visit to the world's second most populous country.

"She prays, she listens, she learns," chimed in Newsday, a Long Island daily.

"If Hillary runs, Hillary wins," said Canada's Halifax Herald in August 1999 about her likely bid for the White House.
Her 2000 Senate campaign in New York, the Nova Scotia paper said, was a steppingstone to the presidency.

Energetic, concise language is the striking common denominator in media comments about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and her political ambitions. Because she herself is clear and decisive, she is the hottest Democrat in the land. From the nation's television screens to T-shirts, her face is everywhere.

The former first lady had to jump a hurdle or two before she could emerge as a mature, savvy political leader. She had to ease out from public memory the many investigators of White House scandals and her humiliations as the wife of a serial adulterer.

more here

[dzika]

17. DeLaying the Story

March 17, 2005

DeLaying the Story

By Howard Kurtz

An important development in the Tom DeLay saga took place Wednesday night.

The story was actually covered by two of the nightly newscasts.

Until Bob Schieffer's "CBS Evening News" and Brian Williams's "NBC Nightly News" belatedly decided to weigh in, the various investigations of the House majority leader were strictly a print and, to a lesser degree, cable story, which meant that, for millions of Americans, it didn't really exist.

Why have the networks shied away from the hammering the Hammer until now? The allegations, of questionable fundraising and lobbyist-financed trips, are complicated. No great visuals, either.

In fact, DeLay has contributed to the lack of visuals by refusing to address the allegations on camera. When he met with reporters the other day, it was pen and pad only. When Lesley Stahl did a "60 Minutes" piece on DeLay's problems, he walked away from her as she surprised him with a camera crew.

more here

[dzika]

18. GOP looks to Rossi as Senate material

From theolympian.com:
March 17, 2005

GOP looks to Rossi as Senate material

BRAD SHANNON

If Dino Rossi fails to overturn the results of last fall's election in the governor's race, he remains the top Republican available to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell next year, state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance said Wednesday in an interview.

In a related development, the newest Elway Poll shows that the public is tired of Rossi's bid to win a revote through a lawsuit and that 63 percent of voters think it's time for the state to move on with Gov. Christine Gregoire, the Democrat who won by 129 votes on a hand recount.

Vance said he has not seen the poll, but he thinks Rossi will win his election contest and that the resulting public reaction will explode "like dumping gasoline on smoldering embers," producing strong public support for a new election. But if Rossi can't win, he still has a future in statewide politics, Vance said.

"Yes, Dino has said he's committed to the governor's race (revote), but for obvious reasons the national party and Republicans in the state are going to turn to Dino if -- for whatever reason -- he doesn't become governor, and ask if he'd be willing to run for U.S. Senate," Vance told The Olympian's online Capitol Chat on Wednesday.

But Rossi's campaign spokeswoman said that's all premature and that Rossi has no interest in the U.S. Senate job.

more here

[dzika]

19. Kerry calls Bush budget dishonest

March 17, 2005

Kerry calls Bush budget dishonest

By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's $2.6 trillion budget plan working its way through Congress is dishonest, irresponsible and violates the core values of average Americans, Sen. John Kerry, Bush's former rival for the presidency, said Thursday.

The Massachusetts Democrat took a broad swipe at the Republican leadership's priorities outlined in the budget blueprint, including proposed cuts in health care and education, and up to $106 billion in tax cuts over the next five years.

Kerry, who worked unsuccessfully with other Democrats and at times some Republicans this week to defeat specific provisions in the budget proposal, said the debate "should remind all Americans that Washington does not always work for them."

In a speech to the nonprofit Center for National Policy, Kerry said, "the votes this week weren't just ticks in the won-loss column, they were assaults on our nation's character. Honesty, opportunity and responsibility were all cut from this budget."

more here

[dzika]

20. County BOE is 1 of 5 counties still not networked with Blakwell's Office

March 17, 2005

Huron County, Ohio 1 of 5 in state still not networked

The Huron County is one of five counties still not networked with Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell's Office for voter registration

By HEATHER CHAPIN-FOWLER

''We have some time to resolve it,'' said Carlo LoParo, Blackwell's press secretary, adding Blackwell wants all counties to be online by June 2005, though the compliance deadline isn't until Jan. 1, 2006.


Blackwell's office distributed block grants to all 88 counties in Ohio in October 2003 to assist county election boards with the cost of networking their computer systems into the Columbus office as part of the Help America Vote Act, LoParo said. With the grant money, the county election boards were instructed to contract with a voter registration service provider and so far 80 counties have successfully networked into the office, said LoParo.

Along with Huron County, Lucas, Mahoning, Trumbull and Butler counties signed contracts with DIS, a company in California, LoParo said. Those five counties are now experiencing problems, LoParo said.

Huron County Board of Elections Director Kathleen Brady said the board met yesterday morning and made the decision to refer questions about the matter to the Huron County Prosecutor's Office, which in turn referred questions to Blackwell's Office.

Brady said the board met Tuesday with a representative from Blackwell's office and that no decisions have been made about the contract yet. Whether the counties terminate their contracts with DIS will be solely up to the counties and the prosecutors, LoParo said.

more here

[dzika]

21. Save Our Democracy

March 16, 2005

Save Our Democracy

by John Irwin

For the last several decades, the corporate establishment, because of their control of the media, gained more and more control of the country. However, after the 2000 election, which won voter fraud in Florida and by the bizarre action of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, a great mobilization took place that was aimed at winning the next election. The accomplishments of this mobilization were phenomenal. A coalition of traditional democrats, old lefties, and new activists matched the tremendous 150 million dollar war chest accumulated by the Republicans. Theirs came from corporations and rich donors, ours mostly from small donations from more ordinary people. Then, we register millions of new voters—mothers, minorities, and young people—and they voted.

We stuck to the right issues—the mistake of going to war, the lose of good jobs, the huge tax give away to the wealthy and its consequences to our economy, the destruction of our environment, our failed medical delivery system, the erosion of our civil liberties, our loss of respect and support in the world, and the government’s lying to us on the reasons for going to war.

They spewed their hollow rhetoric on “family values” (though they had never delivered any real support to families). They harangued on patriotism and support for our troops, though what supporting meant to them was sending mostly reservists to battle a war that should not have been fought. They militated against abortion and gay rights. Finally, they stooped to attacking the war record and the anti-war activities of Kerry, though the top leaders of the republican party were draft dodgers themselves.

When Election Day started, it looked like our efforts had paid off. All the early results indicated that Kerry was winning by 4 or 5 percentage points. When the final vote counts started coming in, it got closer and closer and it finally boiled down to Florida and Ohio. Late in the night, these two states ended up in the Bush column and it appeared we had lost.

Immediately, some perspicacious people concluded that something was wrong. Ira Glasser, the former director of the ACLU and mathematician by education, circulated a memo indicating that when you looked at the huge increase of young voters, who were much more likely to be Kerry supporters and the closeness of the last election, the numbers did not add up. Then a comparison of 3 states (Wisconsin, Maine, and Illinois) that had paper ballots with 6 (North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) that had electronic voting was circulated. This comparison revealed that in the states with paper ballots the exit polls and the actual vote were within 1.5 percentage points of each other and in the states with electronic voting they were off from 4 to 6 percent, all in the direction favoring Bush. In addition, people working in Ohio and Florida were discovering many voting “irregularities”: machines that started with thousands of Bush votes already recorded, people in heavy democratic districts left off the voting lists, lack of voting machines in heaving democratic districts, etc. More people started getting suspicious.

more here

[dzika]

22. Dan Rather was right

From Fierce Planet:
March 16, 2005

Dan Rather was right

You know, one thing that still burns me about this forgery story is that the underlying story was correct, but no one seems to care. And really, the underlying truth of how Bush evaded his military duty is the most important issue of it all. The secretary who typed up memos for Killian said she hadn't typed these particular memos, but that she had typed some that said the same things in different words. That fact is always glossed over by the fanatical right-wingers who would defend Bush to the death (as long as its not their own), and who have taken such joy in Rather's disgrace.

James Goodale has an article in the latest New York Review of Books where he hits hard on that correctness and criticizes the CBS report on the incident.

Lost in the commotion over the authenticity of the documents is that the underlying facts of Rather's 60 Minutes report are substantially true. Bush did not take the physical exam required of all pilots; his superiors gave him the benefit of any doubt; he did receive special treatment and Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian, Bush's commanding officer, was unhappy with the loss of ANG's investment in him when Bush informed Killian he was leaving for Alabama. Before the broadcast, Mary Mapes, the CBS producer of the program, confirmed the facts in the documents with retired Major General Bobby Hodges, who had been Killian's superior in the ANG. Later Hodges told the panel he did not think the documents were authentic, but did not disagree that the facts were substantially correct.

Add to this the fact that no one knows for sure who the forged papers came from, and it's hard not to stray into frootbat/tinfoil territory. But then it's easy to entertain tinfoil theories in any story where Karl Rove may be involved. He's really capable of anything.

I know that the country has moved on from the issue of Bush's lies and evasions in this matter, and the truth of it all will probably never get the hearing it deserves. But Bush's lack of character was clear in his actions back then, as it is clear in his actions now. Even though it's not a central issue any more, it ought to be.

more here

[dzika]

23. The Return of Big Brother's Newspeak

From Pseudo-Adrienne's Liberal-Feminist Bias:
March 17, 2005

The Return of Big Brother's Newspeak

This rather sobering article from Salon.com, revealed how the Department of Justice seems to be suspiciously aloof and out right ignore the findings made by the Government Accountability Office regarding the growing rate of synthetic news fabricated by the government.

March 16, 2005 Democrats aren't the only ones angered by the Justice Department's memo to federal agencies on March 11 telling them to ignore a key finding by the Government Accountability Office. The GAO declared that video news releases -- or prepackaged TV segments -- that fail to reveal they were produced by the government constitute illegal propaganda. "It's highly unusual for the Justice Department to take this action. Sending out a memo may be unprecedented," says David Walker, comptroller general of the United States and head of the GAO. He adds, "The Justice Department is not independent on this matter."

No. The Department of Justice has not been independent in some time. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but lately, the Bush Administration seems to have found a way to infiltrate and undermine the media via avoid being forthcoming, or putting out newsbytes whose authenticity is questionable. It's a 1984 deja vu!

more here

[dzika]

24. Recounts may cost candidates more

March 17, 2005

Recounts may cost candidates more
Requesting parties would foot entire bill

COLUMBUS (AP) -- Candidates wanting an election recount not required by state law would need deep pockets under a bill being debated in a House committee.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Kevin DeWine, would change a variety of state election rules, including the current cost of $10 per precinct for candidates wanting a recount in races where the state does not mandate one. The bill would require the candidate or party that requested it to pay the full cost of recounting the votes unless the recount changes the outcome of the election.

...
"It very well may have prevented the recount from happening. It seems like a very anti-democratic move," Bonifaz said. "Recounts are critical for ensuring that every citizen's vote is counted."

Rep. Steve Driehaus, a Cincinnati Democrat, said he's concerned about the cost of recounts to counties but that there are times when a request for a non-mandatory recount is legitimate.

"We do appreciate the fact that if one is going to ask for a recount, there has to be substance behind that and they have to bear a certain portion of the cost. However, we don't want to make recounts so prohibitively expensive that someone with a legitimate concern can't move forward with a recount," Driehaus said.

Driehaus, a member of the House Elections & Ethics Committee, which is holding hearings on the bill, said Democrats are offering a compromise that would fix a $20 per-precinct-fee and add more precincts to a recount in its initial stages.

more here

[dzika]

25. Major Victory in New Mexico Election Reform Effort!

March 17, 2005

Major Victory in New Mexico Election Reform Effort!

From Bob Stearns and All:

A major advance toward victory this morning! The House Voters & Elections Committee passed SJC Sub Bill 678, with some amendments that do not affect its VVPB and Automatic Audit provisions. The bill stands in for HB1063, and now goes to a vote on the House Floor.

Again, please phone your House lawmakers, and the House leadership to urge passage of SB678. Leadership consists of:

Speaker Ben Lujan of Santa Fe at 986-4782
Dem Majority Leader Rep. Ken Martinez of Grants at 986-4777
Repub Minority Leader Rep. Ted Hobbs of Albuquerque at 986-4757

A salute to Senators Linda Lopez and Gerry Ortiz y Pino who presented SB678 to the HVE Committee and to the 13 activists who came to show our support. Among the amendments to SB678 was one striking out the provision that the SoS can ask for the full estimated cost of a recount before it is undertaken.

Verfied Voting New Mexico: http://vvnm.org

more here

[dzika]

26. Clinton adviser: Kerry ran inconsistent campaign

March 17, 2005

Clinton adviser: Kerry ran inconsistent campaign

By MARC HUMBERT
AP Political Writer

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A top adviser to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton thinks fellow Democrat John Kerry "ran what was basically an inconsistent campaign" for president last year, according to a published report Thursday.

Clinton and Kerry are considered potential rivals for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

The Kerry campaign had "a different message every two or three weeks," Ann Lewis, director of communications for Clinton's political action committee, told the Forward, a weekly New York City-based newspaper aimed at a Jewish audience.

Lewis is quoted as saying the Kerry campaign "kept trying to rationally convince, to put a presidency together, line by line, plan by plan."

She said people "don't vote for plans, they vote for presidents."

Asked about the Forward's report, Lewis told The Associated Press that her comments "reflect general post-election conversations about campaign strategy that were discussed throughout the party."

more here

[skids]

27. Dirty tricks against college students in MA

It all started a week or so ago when Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr, sounded the alarm that BU students might help elect openly gay, and pro-marriage equality candidate Tim Schofield in the Democratic primary for an open seat for state representative. Carr wrote: If I were one of the other two major candidates, I'd be plotting a dirty trick for this weekend."

DU thread with related links (MA state forum)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=158x3691

[Wilms]

28. (NY) Voting machines need an immediate upgrade to optical

Voting machines need an immediate upgrade to optical

Opinion The Saratogian, The Saratogian 03/17/2005


The lever voting machine should become a thing of the past, the League of Women Voters of New York contends.

The group makes a good point.

For voting that is accurate, easy, accountable and cost-effective, state of the art machines use optical scanners.

It's the way of the future, and the way the Legislature should go in deciding what kind of voting machines ought to be used in New York.

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=5013

[Wilms]

29. (WV) Wood County gets good financial news on election front

Wood County gets good financial news on election front

By PAMELA BRUST The Parkersburg News and Sentinel 16 March 2005

PARKERSBURG - Wood County officials let out a sigh of financial relief after West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland announced the state is going with the optical scan voting system instead of the more expensive touch-screen option.
The federal Help America Vote Act requires elimination of punch card and lever voting systems by no later than the first election for federal officials after Jan. 1, 2006. The federal mandates were a reaction to the Florida punch card voting controversy in the 2000 presidential election. HAVA requires voters must have the ability to change their vote.

The counties in West Virginia still using paper or lever voting systems would have had to convert anyway. But counties, like Wood, which uses the optical scan system were looking at considerable expense if the state had decided to go with the touch-screen system.

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=5006

[Wilms]

30. (MS) Bill requiring special voting machines vetoed

Bill requiring special voting machines vetoed

By Emily Wagster Pettus
The Associated Press 17 March 2005

Legislators won't try to override Gov. Haley Barbour's veto of an elections bill that dealt with handicapped-accessible precincts.

Barbour said he struck down the bill because he believes it conflicts with federal law and "would contribute to voter confusion."

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=5014

[Wilms]

31. (IA) Precinct Consolidation On The Front Burner

Precinct Consolidation On The Front Burner

March 16, 2005

SUPERVISORS TO MEET WITH TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES

A reduction of voting precincts in Guthrie County is likely in the near future as the county positions itself to implement new voting regulations mandated by the federal government.

Currently, the county has 17 voting precincts, a number that could be reduced by at least half due to impending costs.

Implementation of the new regulations required by HAVA (Help America Vote Act) have been estimated at $10,000 per precinct. The state is expected to contribute $90,000 toward the cost of new equipment, reported county auditor John Rutledge.

-snip/more-

Additionally, new software is needed for voting machines.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14160800&BRD=2020&PAG=461&dept_id=231738&rfi=6

©Guthrie Center Times 2005

[Wilms]

32. (CA) Supes: 'Sanctity of vote' important in search for replacement system

New county voting system required by 2006: Supes: 'Sanctity of vote' important in search for replacement system

By James Faulk The Times-Standard

EUREKA -- Humboldt County over the next few months will have to decide which new voting system it will choose to fulfill state and federal requirements.

-snip-

Federal money has been allocated for the upgrades under the federal law -- amounting to roughly $195 million for California, but local elections officials told the board Tuesday that they are not sure that will be enough. There is also money under Proposition 41 -- the Voting Modernization Act -- amounting to almost $1 million for Humboldt County.

The supervisors at some point will likely have to choose between an entirely touch screen system, or one that features a combination of touch screens and optical scan systems, like Humboldt currently has, to meet the accessibility requirements.

-snip-

One of the biggest issues under the new system will be storage. While there may be enough money to change-out the system, there may not be funds to cover additional storage and facility improvement costs. The space already allocated to elections material could not handle an additional voting system, Crnich said.

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=5008