Election Reform, Fraud, & Updates Thread for Wednesday

[Melissa G]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Updates Thread for Wednesday

In order to organize and document MelissaB 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.

If you see something that isn't here post it with a link to the thread and a thanks to the author. MelissaB is busy for a while so I'm taking over and Need Lots of Help posting news items!
Thanks,
Melissa G

Link to previous thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x369990

[Melissa G]

1. The Monkey Wrench Trial

The Monkey Wrench Trial
Dino Rossi's challenge of the 2004 election is on shaky legal ground. But if he prevails, watch litigation become an option in close races everywhere.

by George Howland Jr.


Dino Rossi (right) listens to Slade Gorton do his bidding at a GOP news conference.
(Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)




The political trial of our new century begins on Monday, May 23, in Wenatchee, the seat of Chelan County, a small city of about 28,000 known for apple orchards and Republicans. It's nearly the geographical center of the state, and while everyone knows the stakes are high for Washingtonians, Wenatchee also will be the center of attention for politicos nationwide. If the GOP successfully overturns an election of a Democratic governor in court, litigation will become a monkey wrench in campaign toolboxes everywhere.

Republicans and their losing 2004 gubernatorial candidate, former state Sen. Dino Rossi of Sammamish, want Chelan County Superior Court Judge John E. Bridges to nullify the 129-vote, hand- recount victory of Gov. Christine Gregoire, who took office in January. The Republicans want a new vote next November. Aside from possibly forcing an unprecedented off-year gubernatorial election, a Rossi win in court and at the polls would bring a very different set of priorities to state government: business, business, business, and conservative Christianity—in roughly that order. If Rossi loses, either in court or at the polls again, Gregoire would continue in her role as a moderate Democrat who favors targeted tax increases—on sin, gasoline, and the estates of the wealthy, for example—to invest in education, social services, and transportation. It's kind of like the difference between George W. Bush and John Kerry. This trial's outcome will touch every Washington resident.

Election systems are far from perfect anywhere. So a reversal of the outcome here is certain to encourage political operatives elsewhere, too, to swoop in when a margin of victory seems to be less than a margin of error. In that world, expect more legal challenges and fewer concession speeches. Conservative writer John Fund of The Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com calls this "the margin of litigation." He observes that lawsuits already have played a role at the presidential level, starting with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision regarding the 2000 Florida tally in Bush v. Gore.
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0520/050518_news_election.php

[Melissa G]

2. Bush shrugs off polls

May 18, 2005 3:20 AM

Bush shrugs off polls

By Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Tuesday hailed the Republican Party as the "party of ideals and vision" at a time when he and his allies in Congress have been struggling with weak poll numbers.

snip
Bush's approval ratings are hovering near the lowest levels of his presidency.

A survey by Pew Research taken from May 11 to May 15 put Bush's overall approval rating at 43 percent and that of the Republican leadership in Congress at 35 percent versus an approval rating of 39 percent for congressional Democrats.

But Bush brushed aside such numbers.

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5793882&cKey=1116379233000

[Melissa G]

3. Remarks By President Bush at the Republican National Committee Gala

Remarks By President Bush at the Republican National Committee Gala


THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)
Thanks for coming. Please be seated. (Laughter.) Thank you for the warm
welcome. Thank you for supporting the Republican Party. I am proud to be here
today to not only offer my thanks, but to remind you that our party has a
positive, hopeful, optimistic vision for every single person who is fortunate
to be an American. (Applause.)
We are driving the debate on all key domestic and foreign policy issues.
Because of our achievements, the American people see the Republican Party as
the party of reform and optimism, the party of ideals and vision. And one of
the reasons I asked Ken Mehlman to serve as the chairman of our party is
because he is a man of vision, he is an idealistic soul. He is willing to take
our message to every neighborhood in the United States of America. He did a
fabulous job in managing my campaign in 2004. I'm proud to call him Chairman
of the Republican Party. (Applause.)
The Comedian-in-Chief -- (laughter) -- is tied up. But she sends her love.
(Applause.) Many of you know Laura as a friend; I'm fortunate to know her as a
wife. She is a great mother and a fabulous First Lady for the United States.
(Applause.) If you ever want to get a laugh, all you have to do is poke fun at
the President and his mother. (Laughter.)
I want to thank my Secretary of Interior, Gale Norton is with us. I want
to thank the members of Congress who are here. I just had a chance to shake
hands with Leader Bill Frist, who's doing a fabulous job. (Applause.) I enjoy
working with the leadership of the House -- Danny Hastert is a great Speaker
of the House; Tom DeLay is a fine Majority Leader. (Applause.) Roy Blunt is a
great Whip. (Applause.) I thank all the members of the Senate who are here,
members of the House who are here. I appreciate my friend, Governor Haley
Barbour, from the great state of Mississippi, who has joined us. (Applause.)
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/05-17-2005/0003634019&EDATE=

[Melissa G]

4. Current Events For Dummies, May 2005 Edition

Current Events For Dummies, May 2005 Edition
Wednesday, 18 May 2005, 12:12 pm
Opinion: Bernard Weiner

Current Events For Dummies, May 2005 Edition

By Bernard Weiner
The Crisis PapersPolitics is so confusing these days, with all sorts of charges, scandals, distortions, nominees, wars, distractions. To help me out of this current-events muddle, I once again turn to the editors of the popular franchised book series, for short easy-to-understand answers.*

Q. I don't get it. The government makes it harder for individuals to file for bankruptcy, but United Airlines is permitted to declare bankruptcy and to refuse promised pensions to its employees. Isn't that a bit hypocritical?

A. The Bush Administration is not hypocritical. It has been very open about its priorities, and they don't include ordinary workers. Everything is geared to protecting big business and those already wealthy, such as in the huge tax breaks and refunds granted to that narrow strata of society. Those who complain are accused of "class warfare." (Note: It's only "class warfare" if liberals talk about it; conservatives don't talk about it, they just wage it.)

Better face up to it: Until Bush&Co. are sent packing -- either by impeachment or when another party takes control in 2008 -- there will be no hope of economic justice in this country. If you're unable to pay your credit card bill, be prepared to face jail-time; if you don't pay your employees their pensions, you're a savvy businessman and you'll get federal assistance.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00221.htm

[Melissa G]

5. Jeb Bush's 2005 losses won't hurt presidential prospects

Jeb Bush's 2005 losses won't hurt presidential prospects

BRENDAN FARRINGTON

Associated Press


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - People who have unsuccessfully fought Republican Gov. Jeb Bush since he took office in 1999 may have found a little pleasure this legislative session: the governor didn't get everything he wanted.

But even Democrats agree that the less-than-perfect session doesn't dull the governor's star power if he ever decides to follow his father and brother into the White House. Bush has an overall strong record - from creating the first statewide school voucher program to cutting taxes each of his first seven years in office.

"He consolidated more power in the governor's office than any of the past governors and he set out a right wing agenda and accomplished it," said Scott Maddox, who resigned this month as chairman of the Florida Democratic Party and is running for governor in 2006.

Bush has to leave office in January 2007 because of term limits. Though he doesn't plan to run for president in 2008, he hasn't ruled out a bid later. For now Bush said his only plan is to return to his Miami home.

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/11669854.htm

[Melissa G]

6. Dean's language

Inside Politics


By Greg Pierce


Dean's language
Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Saturday that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay "ought to go back to Houston, where he can serve his jail sentence."
Mr. Dean's remark, in a speech to Massachusetts Democrats at their party convention, drew an immediate rebuke from Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat and one of Mr. DeLay's harshest critics, the Boston Globe reports.

"That's just wrong," Mr. Frank said in an interview on the convention floor. "I think Howard Dean was out of line talking about DeLay. The man has not been indicted. I don't like him, I disagree with some of what he does, but I don't think you, in a political speech, talk about a man as a criminal or his jail sentence."
Mr. DeLay faces accusations that he may have violated House rules by taking foreign trips paid for by lobbyists. In a separate case, a Texas grand jury indicted three fundraisers with ties to Mr. DeLay on accusations of campaign-finance irregularities.

A new offer
With a showdown looming, a small group of Senate Democrats floated a compromise yesterday on President Bush's stalled judicial nominees, offering to clear five for confirmation while scuttling three.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050517-121316-8543r.htm

[Melissa G]

7. Few problems with paper ballots

Few problems with paper ballots


By Andrew Conte
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, May 18, 2005


Voters in three Western Pennsylvania counties went back in time to vote on paper ballots Tuesday -- even after taxpayers spent millions of dollars on state-of-the-art technology.
Electronic voting machines typically used in Beaver, Greene and Mercer counties were decertified by the Department of State last month after a state study discovered irregularities.

That forced elections officials to scrap the new machines in favor of paper ballots -- the kind with ovals that voters must darken, similar to sheets used by students on standardized exams.

Many voters griped about the changes, and it took longer to calculate the results, but there were few major problems reported.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/news/s_335369.html

[Melissa G]

8. Chicago Tribune Finally Allows a Bob Koehler Response!

Chicago Tribune Finally Allows a Bob Koehler Response!
Almost a full three weeks after the Chicago Tribune allowed their Public Editor, Don Wycliff, to write a foolish rebuttal to Robert Koehler's watershed column -- in which he said...

Almost a full three weeks after the Chicago Tribune allowed their Public Editor, Don Wycliff, to write a foolish rebuttal to Robert Koehler's watershed column -- in which he said "the 2004 election was stolen, will someone please tell the media?" -- they have finally allowed Koehler a response by way of a letter in their hallowed pages.

It should be noted that the Trib never ran Koehler's original column, nor its followup, nor the original direct reply which Koehler wrote in response to Wycliff. In fact, the Tribune Media Services, in an unprecedented example of censorship at the organization, refused to allow Koehler's response to be published at all via the syndication service where Koehler has worked and published as editor and columnist for nearly a decade. A hastily compiled column crafted of letters that Koehler's received since the brouhaha began took its last minute place.

(We interviewed Koehler on our radio show a couple of weeks back discussing the spiking of that column. Here's the .MP3 archive of the interview, the Koehler interview begins at the :22 minute mark or so.)

In regards to the Trib finally allowing a response to Wycliff's article by anyone (they received hundreds of letters, only a single one of them was published, and that one didn't even speak to the 2004 election mess), Koehler wrote to us yesterday...

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001397.htm

[Melissa G]

9. Please don't run, Newt

Please don't run, Newt
May 17th, 2005


Even his enemies concede that Newt Gingrich is a visionary. Listening to him give a speech or engage in a colloquy with Brian Lamb of C-SPAN, one is astonished at the sheer volume of ideas that spring forth from his inquisitive and overactive mind. The concepts and strategies that he espouses run the gamut from “wise use” stewardship of the environment to pondering the future of democracy in Russia, and everything in between, in the margins, and outside the lines.

I was first exposed to this jaw-dropping exercise in rapid fire conceptualized rhetoric at a breakfast meeting of some long forgotten business trade association where, at that time, second term Congressman Newt Gingrich appeared to speak on behalf of the Reagan Revolution, then barely one year old and in considerable trouble. The economy had gone south, spending was out of control, and the President’s tax plan was in trouble.

Gingrich was late as he blew into the room, all smiles and apologies. There were about 15 of us working through a plate of stale danish and tasteless muffins, exchanging desultory comments about the weather when the Congressman sat down at the head of the long table and said “Okay, where do you want to start?” Someone asked him about interest rates and he was off.

Forty-five minutes later I was a convert to the cause. I had never heard anything like it. Thoughts and images poured off him like rainwater from a roof. There was simply no stopping him. Like a great blues guitarist, he went from one intellectual riff to another with perfectly logical transitions and bridges.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4500

[Melissa G]

10. Conyers' Common Sense is Everywhere!

Conyers' Common Sense is Everywhere!
Everywhere!
Fighting for Democracy on Every Front! (Can we clone him?)


Late last week, the good John Conyers posted a fun (and very smart) piece headlined "The GOP's Attack On Voting Rights" over at TomPaine.com. Presumably his article was in reply...

Late last week, the good John Conyers posted a fun (and very smart) piece headlined "The GOP's Attack On Voting Rights" over at TomPaine.com. Presumably his article was in reply to Russ Baker's attempt -- published the week before at TomPaine.com -- to tamp down the ever-growing cries of foul in Election 2004 and the need for true Electoral Reform in this country.

Election Reformers being no dolts and well used to subtle smoke-screens, trojan horses and deflections by now, quite a few enlightening letters to the editor were published over there as well last week in reply to Baker's article. Those letters also followed a quick reply/clarification/CYA column by TP's Executive Editor, Alexandra Walker.

Conyers' piece uses a bunch of Harper's Index-like numbers to cut through the crap and outline the very real and very major assaults now being mounted by the Right against American freedom and democracy. Read the whole thing. Here's a couple grafs of particular note to BRAD BLOG readers...



22: The number of times the phrase "voter identification" or "voter ID" was said at the first Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform hearing on April 18, 2005. The mantra of Republicans is that dogs, dead people, and cartoon characters are allowed to cast fraudulent votes. Republicans are advancing that strict voter identification requirements are the means to eliminate such voter fraud and state legislators are passing voter identification legislation as fast as they can with little debate or delay. In recent months, Indiana and Georgia have enacted voter identification requirements that have been characterized as some of the most severe and unreasonable voter identification requirements in the country. Several other state legislatures have similar legislation pending. At this first Carter-Baker Commission hearing, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Barbara Arnwine told of the real-world consequences of these measures: More than 10 percent of eligible voters currently lack government-issued photo ID, and would be arbitrarily disenfranchised.

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001394.htm

[Melissa G]

11. County council wants company to HAVA heart

County council wants company to HAVA heart

By Christine Walsh
[e-mail]


White County owes over $48,000 for its election equipment, and county council members want to know why.

Because of HAVA, (Help America Vote Act of 2002), which requires that voting equipment used in an election for federal office meet federal minimum standards, county officials decided to replace the punch card system with an electronic scanning system.

Although they can find no record of it, several councilman believe that a representative from Fidlar Election Company, which sold the voting machines, told them that the equipment would cost them nothing.

http://www.thehj.com/main.asp?SectionID=9&ArticleID=11199&SubSectionID=32

[Melissa G]

12. Beaver County Voters Greeted by Extra Security

http://images.viacomlocalnetworks.com/images_image_114142220
Beaver County Voters Greeted by Extra Security

May 17, 2005 2:44 pm US/Eastern
Beaver (KDKA) Voters in Beaver County may notice added security and unprecedented oversight at the polls today due to some recent conflicts with the state Election Commission.

The extra security measures have been put into place since the state decertified the county's electronic voting machines last month -- forcing local election officials to return to paper ballots.

In the so-called "election war room" at the county courthouse, five optical scan paper vote counters replace the million dollars worth of county voting machines that the state recently decertified.

As a precaution, extra locks and security cameras have been installed at the Beaver County Courthouse.
http://kdka.com/local/local_story_137150445.html

[Melissa G]

13. More mail-in elections proposed

More mail-in elections proposed

By John Woolfolk

Mercury News


The latest proposal to make voting in California easier and more reliable doesn't involve touch-screens, software or machines worth more than your car.

Burned by voting machine problems, the state that spawned the computer revolution may turn instead to snail mail in hopes of boosting voter participation, lowering election costs, ensuring verifiable results and guarding against fraud.

Inspired by Oregon, where voters in 1998 switched to mail-in ballots for all elections, California Assemblywoman Carol Liu, D-Pasadena, has written a bill that would allow San Mateo, Santa Cruz and five other counties to vote mostly by mail through 2010.

Yet Santa Clara County -- which just successfully completed its first large-scale election by mail -- isn't one of them.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_valley/11665933.htm

[Melissa G]

14. Diebold shows off voting machines

Diebold shows off voting machines

Critic of touch-screen method attends display for Summit officials

By Lisa A. Abraham

Beacon Journal staff writer


The Rev. John Beaty said his concern about ``stolen elections'' prompted him to attend Monday's demonstration of new voting machines in the Summit County Council chamber.

At the council's invitation, representatives of Diebold Inc. offered a three-hour demonstration of the Green-based company's touch-screen and optical-scan voting machines.


``It's cool, and it's easy to use, but I think there are more important criteria than those,''Lovegren said.

She said computer technology from a touch-screen machine is not as verifiable as optical scan -- a system that uses pencil-marked paper ballots that can later be checked by hand in a recount.
``You need a ballot that can be recounted,'' she said.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/11665720.htm

[Melissa G]

15. US Count Votes New working Paper

Thanks to Satya for the post and DU discussion
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x370363

1 National Election Data Archive Project 5/17/2005 US Count Votes
US Count Votes
National Election Data Archive Project
---
Working Paper
----
Patterns of Exit Poll Discrepancies
More On the Implausibility of a “Uniform” Bias Explanation for the
2004 Presidential Election Exit Poll Discrepancies
May 12, 2005
Updated May 17, 2005
Ron Baiman, Ph.D – Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago
Kathy Dopp -MS in mathematics - USCountVotes, President
Richard G. Sheehan, Ph.D. - Professor, Department of Finance, University of Notre Dame
Paul F. Velleman, Ph.D. - Associate Professor, Department of Statistical Sciences, Cornell University
Reviewed via USCountVotes’ email discussion list for statisticians, mathematicians and pollsters.
Press Contact:
Kathy Dopp, US Count Votes, President [e-mail]
US Count Votes thanks Bruce O'Dell - Partner, Digital Agility and USCountVotes, Vice President
for contributing his programmed exit poll simulations results to this paper.
This paper can be found on the Internet at:
http://uscountvotes.org/ucvAnalysis/US/exit-polls/USCV_exit_poll_simulations.pdf
2 National Election Data Archive Project 5/17/2005 US Count Votes
.

[Melissa G]

16. "Why Isn't Bush in the Dock?

Thanks to Peace Patriot for the Link and Discussion
Former WSJ & NR editor & Reagan Asst. Treas.: IMPEACH BUSH!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x370209


http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts05172005.html

May 17, 2005

"Why Isn't Bush in the Dock?

"The Lies that Kill

"By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

"George W. Bush and his gang of neocon warmongers have destroyed America's reputation. It is likely to stay destroyed, because at this point the only way to restore America's reputation would be to impeach and convict President Bush for intentionally deceiving Congress and the American people in order to start a war of aggression against a country that posed no threat to the US. America can redeem itself only by holding Bush accountable.

"As intent as Republicans were to impeach President Clinton for lying about a sexual affair, they have a blind eye for President Bush's far more serious lies. Bush's lies have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, injured and maimed tens of thousands more, devastated a country, destroyed America's reputation, caused one billion Muslims to hate America, ruined our alliances with Europe, created a police state at home, and squandered $300 billion dollars and counting.

"America's reputation is so damaged that not even our puppets can stand the heat. Anti-American riots, which have left Afghan cities and towns in flames and hospitals overflowing with casualties, have forced Bush's Afghan puppet, "president" Hamid Karzai, to assert his independence from his US overlords. In a belated act of sovereignty, Karzai asserted authority over heavy-handed US troops whose brutal and stupid ways sparked the devastating riots. Karzai demanded control of US military activities in Afghanistan and called for the return of the Afghan detainees who are being held at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

"Abundant evidence now exists in the public domain to convict George W. Bush of the crime of the century. The secret British government memo (dated July 23, 2002, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-15936 ), leaked to the Sunday Times (May 1, 2005), reports that Bush wanted: