Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007

[livvy]

October 24, 1972



The cost of the '08 election? $1 billion. Can we say it's time for some reform?

Three House members and one senator on Tuesday introduced legislation that would increase the amount of money in the presidential public financing system and increase the spending limits for candidates who participate in it. It would not change the rules for the 2008 presidential election.
"This system that's in place now is not sustainable," said Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., who introduced the legislation in the House with Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and David Price, D-N.C. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., introduced similar legislation in the Senate."

See the first post for the link and more from the article.

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News

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 new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

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.



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

PS...Washington was incredible. It was great to meet so many wonderful DUers, and march with them and the hundreds of thousands other patriots to end this horrific fiasco the lying weasel and his varmint pack have created. Peace.
livvy

[livvy]

1. Lawmakers Unveil Election Financing Bill

Lawmakers unveil election financing bill
1/30/2007, 5:32 p.m. ET
By JIM KUHNHENN
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the cost of presidential campaigns moves toward the $1 billion mark, leading congressional advocates of tougher campaign finance laws want to reduce the influence of special interests by pumping more taxpayer money into the system.

Three House members and one senator on Tuesday introduced legislation that would increase the amount of money in the presidential public financing system and increase the spending limits for candidates who participate in it. It would not change the rules for the 2008 presidential election.

"This system that's in place now is not sustainable," said Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., who introduced the legislation in the House with Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and David Price, D-N.C. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., introduced similar legislation in the Senate.

The legislation would triple the amount available to candidates during state primaries and eliminate state spending limits. It would increase the amount available for general elections to $100 million (More than $80 million would be available in 2008). It also would offer more money to candidates whose opponents chose to decline the public money and raise more on their own.

To pay for the extra money, the sponsors would increase the voluntary presidential campaign checkoff on income tax returns from $3 to $10.

>more

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/politics/index.ssf?/base/politics-8/1170196747114180.xml&storylist=electionmi

[livvy]

2. Lite news....Candidates Pick Tunes at DNC Meeting

Candidates pick tunes at DNC meeting
2/2/2007, 5:53 p.m. ET
By NEDRA PICKLER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Everyone needs a soundtrack — even politicians.

The presidential candidates who addressed the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting Friday got to choose their tunes, and it was an eclectic mix that reflected personal favorites and not-so-subtle messages.

Some candidates requested two songs, one that blared as they approached the stage and another that played as they left the podium.

The selections:

_John Edwards: "This Is Our Country" by John Mellencamp.

_Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut: "Get Ready (Cause Here I Come)" by the Temptations and "Reach Out," also by the Temptations.

_Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York: "Right Here, Right Now," by Jesus Jones and "Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

_Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio: "America the Beautiful"

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois decided against using any music in keeping with the somber tone he sought to convey. Wesley Clark, who hasn't indicated whether he will run, entered to Johnny Cash's "I Won't Back Down."

>more at link about an Obama rally

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/politics/index.ssf?/base/politics-8/11704571436220.xml&storylist=electionmi

[livvy]

3. Idaho Senate Panel Kills Reform Bills

Idaho Senate panel kills reform bills

By JOHN MILLER
Associated Press writer Saturday, February 03, 2007



BOISE, Idaho -- Two Democrat-backed election-reform bills have died in an Idaho Senate committee.

They sought to require lawmakers to disclose personal financial information, and to create voluntary public financing of election campaigns, similar to Arizona and Maine.

The State Affairs Committee killed them on 7-2 votes Friday, split along Republican and Democrat lines.

The disclosure bill would have required candidates and elected officials to make public some personal financial information, including details of their income, landholdings, creditors and valuable gifts. Spouses of lawmakers would have also come under scrutiny.

>more

http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2007/02/03/news/regional/486bb81da0418061872572760075f3a6.txt

[livvy]

4. Romney Distances Self From Mass. Health Plan

It's so nice to always have someone else to blame. It makes one so...unaccountable, somehow, doesn't it?



Romney distances self from Mass. health plan

By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | February 3, 2007

BALTIMORE -- With signs emerging that his signature healthcare plan faces hurdles, former governor Mitt Romney has begun to distance himself from the new law and is suggesting that Democrats will be to blame if the plan falters. You mean, it wouldn't just be Clinton's fault?

Yesterday, after addressing a gathering of conservative lawmakers in Baltimore, Romney told reporters that he cannot be held responsible for decisions that Beacon Hill lawmakers make about the sweeping plan now that he is out of office.

"I hope they take action that makes it work even better than I could have thought of," said Romney, who is exploring a campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. "But if they take action that makes it unworkable, I'll point that out. I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and not have a comment to make."

At recent political appearances, Romney has subtly lowered expectations for the law he championed as governor. At the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire on Thursday, he warned that the Democrat-dominated Massachusetts Legislature may cause the collapse of a system he helped design.

>more of this

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/02/03/romney_distances_self_from_mass_health_plan/

[livvy]

6. Blog: Romney and the Strategy That Only a Campaign Finance Lawyer Could Love

Romney and the strategy that only a campaign finance lawyer could love
by: David
Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 12:46:31 PM EST

Today's WSJ has a lengthy front-page article (sub. req'd) on Mitt Romney's evident skill at exploiting loopholes in campaign finance law. It's all legal, at least as far as anyone knows. But if you were wondering why Romney set up a PAC in Alabama, which is neither an important primary state nor a state to which he has any connection, your question has been answered. The whole thing is after the flip. This graphic summarizes his basic strategy. If it wasn't obvious already, this helps make the point that campaign finance regulation is largely a joke.



TESTING THE LIMITS
How Mitt Romney Avoided Campaign-Finance Rules

Governor Found Way Around Federal Caps Before Presidential Bid
By JEANNE CUMMINGS
January 30, 2007; Page A1

WASHINGTON -- Federal law limits how much money individuals can give to presidential candidates -- $2,300 per election. But what about Compuware Inc. founder Peter Karmanos? Last year, he gave $250,000 to presidential aspirant and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Since 2004, 15 other Romney backers have sunk at least $100,000 each into the Republican's coffers, sometimes with a series of checks issued on a single day.

Because he doesn't hold federal office, Mr. Romney became subject to the federal rules only after he set up a presidential exploratory committee earlier this month. Until then, his team took advantage of a little-noticed gap between federal and state law. While most states limit political donations, about a dozen don't. Mr. Romney's political team set up fund-raising committees in three of those: Michigan, Iowa and Alabama. During that time, his political action committees raised $7 million.

As a result, Mr. Romney was able to hit the ground running, a big advantage in what has already become a feverish race. A week after announcing his possible bid, having already taken care of basic campaign logistics such as hiring and office space, the former governor held a Boston fund-raiser that netted $6.5 million in pledges. Mr. Romney also used the cash to build a broad network of financial backers and grass-roots allies.

Mr. Romney's financial network is in a long tradition of candidates working around post-Watergate campaign-finance rules. In the 1980s and 1990s, candidates dodged limits by steering big checks to party committees, which in turn paid for television ads and turnout efforts. The 1990s also saw the rise of lawmakers' "leadership" committees, some of which were set up in a way that allowed them to collect big, unlimited checks. Members of Congress used these accounts to help colleagues and for travel expenses.

>more of article(sub. req'd), but the whole thing is posted at the blog.
http://users1.wsj.com/lmda/do/checkLogin?mg=wsj-users1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle_print%2FSB117012493655191952.html


Blog website:
http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6127

[livvy]

5. WASHINGTON - Think of it as California's revenge.

Argus Leader Media - Sioux Falls, SD
Big states, early primaries

WASHINGTON - Think of it as California's revenge.
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Washington Post Writers Group

WASHINGTON - Think of it as California's revenge.

After years of watching as its financial heavy hitters were bled dry for campaign contributions that were spent elsewhere, the politicians of the nation's largest state have decided to give its voters a say in selecting the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees.

Fearing that California will big-foot its way into dominance by moving its primary to Feb. 5, 2008, Illinois, Florida and New Jersey are maneuvering to do exactly the same thing. Thus would this diverse group of states give their voters a say just two weeks after the New Hampshire primary, three weeks after the Iowa caucuses and also close to the contests in Nevada and South Carolina.

There is a lot of hand-wringing about how the most open election since 1928 and the most important in many, many years will now be held hostage to the whims of big states, big fundraisers, big consultants and, as the first President Bush described momentum, Big Mo.

The money part could be ameliorated if Congress only were willing to update a public financing system that is several election cycles behind the realities of politics. Democrats in Congress who tout their populist and reform credentials while decrying the influence of wealthy interests should be moving with dispatch to do so.

>more

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070203/COLUMNISTS/702030309/1119

[livvy]

7. NJ: Senate Looks to Pass Ban on Dual Office Holding

Senate looks to pass ban on dual office holding

Disturbs checks and balances of state government, some say
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/3/07

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRENTON — The Senate will try Monday to pass legislation that would make it illegal for newly elected officials to hold more than one elected office, which would be a step toward ending a New Jersey tradition deemed unethical by critics.

The ban wouldn't affect the 19 of 120 state legislators who now hold more than one elected office, as long as they continually hold those offices.

The Assembly included a similar ban Jan. 29 as part of a bill to reform taxpayer-paid benefits for newly elected and appointed officials, but that ban would take effect Feb. 1, 2008.

That would allow Assembly members who hold more than one elected office — such as Assemblyman Brian Stack, who is also Union City mayor — to run for Senate this year and keep the other office.

>more

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070203/NEWS03/702030362/1007

[FogerRox]

20. There is a ton of this going around in NJ. Thanks Livvy

Did you see the DC DU video?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=15075&mesg_id=15075

[livvy]

22. No I hadn't...cool! Thanks! n/t

[livvy]

8. S.D. Bill Targets Referendum Concerns

S.D. Bill Targets Referendum Concerns

By JOE KAFKA Saturday, February 03, 2007

PIERRE, S.D. - The state House of Representatives has voted to make it illegal to pay people per signature in campaigns to gather enough support to get a measure on South Dakota's ballot.

The legislation, now headed to the Senate, was inspired by an unsuccessful petition campaign last year to eliminate judicial immunity in which critics say thousands of phony signatures were submitted.

State Rep. Mike Buckingham, who proposed the new law, said allowing payment for each signature collected on a petition is a temptation to fraud: People hired to gather signatures can pull names out of the phone book and fake signatures on petitions to make extra money, he said.

If the new law passes, petition carriers could still be paid by the hour or get a set salary, and a quota could not be set on the number of names they must obtain. It would also require petition circulators to be South Dakota residents.

>more
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/02/03/ap/politics/d8n279k00.txt

[livvy]

9. FL: Voting Debate Cuts In On Talk

Posted on Sat, Feb. 03, 2007


Voting debate cuts in on talk

STACEY EIDSON
Herald Staff Writer

SARASOTA - U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan wanted to talk about eliminating the national debt and balancing the budget by 2012.

But the congressman couldn't escape questions Friday about Gov. Charlie Crist's plan to spend more than $32 million to ensure paper trails become a part of Florida's voting system.

While Buchanan said he was committed to promoting voter confidence in the electoral process, he warned the state about moving too quickly in converting to a paper-based system.

"I want to just caution people," Buchanan said. "In 2000, we had the pregnant and hanging chads."

As soon as the state experiences another close race, such as the 369-vote spread that separated him from Democrat Christine Jennings in the 13th Congressional District race, Buchanan said the electoral process will again be questioned.

>more

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/16612549.htm

[livvy]

10. FL: House Panel Warns Dent To Preserve Election Records

Posted on Sat, Feb. 03, 2007


House panel warns Dent to preserve election records

LESLEY CLARKE
Herald Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - The chair of the House panel that is keeping tabs on Florida's contested congressional election is warning Sarasota County election officials to "protect and keep safe" materials from the November election.

In a letter to Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent, Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, D-Calif., who chairs the Committee on House Administration, reiterates House Democrats' interest in the election, noting that under the Constitution, the House "shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its members."

"It is our duty to see that the right to vote, and have that vote counted, is protected," she wrote, adding a request that Dent "preserve the integrity of the evidence."

The letter asks that the county "protect and keep safe all originals and copies of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, equipment, and documents in your actual or constructive possession, custody or control relating to the general election held on November 7, 2006, including but not limited to all papers and electronic ballots, certifications, poll books, logs, tally sheets, machines, and software."

>more

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/16612240.htm

[livvy]

11. HuffPo: New GOP FL Governor Wlinning Points With Dems

New GOP FL Governor Winning Points With Dems

The Huffington Post
Melinda Henneberger
Posted February 2, 2007 06:10 PM
READ MORE: Florida, Katherine Harris

Progressive Floridians stand in (relative) awe of their new Republican governor, Charlie Crist, who announced yesterday that he wants the state to do away with touch screen voting altogether, in favor of ballots that can be (more) reliably counted.

Crist wants to spend $32 million on democracy building in the state -- to convert Florida's voting machines so that they produce a paper trail. And so they don't wind up with another debacle like the most recent election in Katherine Harris's old district in Sarasota, where either 18,000 voters who got themselves to the polls on Election Day then decided to skip over the hotly contested congressional race -- or else the machines malfunctioned, as per the widespread reports from voters who said they could not get the machines to register any vote in the race. The official tally showed Republican Vern Buchanan winning by 369 votes, and he has been provisionally seated in Congress.

"Boy, is today a good day in Florida," said Christine Jennings, the Democratic candidate in the race, who is still waiting for the courts to decide whether to order a new election. "I had heard a whisper that something wonderful might happen, but I applaud the governor for recognizing the problem that has gone on for years now and for so quickly addressing it." Unlike, you know, some Florida governors we could name.

In fact, in his first weeks on the job, Crist has actually "done a lot of stuff the Democrats are real satisfied with," said a Florida Democratic operative who did not want any of his kind words attributed to him, heaven forfend. What's been so great? For starters, the political adviser said, "his appointments for environmental protection get high marks with" -- you are not going to believe this -- "environmentalists. And the Department of Children and Families that has been a nightmare agency for years? He appointed /Bob Butterworth /to run it." Butterworth is the widely respected former state attorney general many had encouraged to run against Crist for governor. Oh, and he was Al Gore's campaign chair in the state in 2000.

>more

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/02/02/new-gop-fl-governor-winni_n_40304.html

[livvy]

12. NewsBlog-The Guardian:Florida To Follow the Paper Trail

Florida to follow the paper trail
By Mark Tran / USA 12:46pm

Florida just cannot seem to make up its mind over its voting machines. The southern state banned punch cards in favour of all-electronic, paperless voting machines after the hanging chad fiasco in the 2000 presidential election.

But it is now set to abandon them, reports the New York Times. Asked how he felt about spending around $32m (£16.2m) to convert all of Florida's voting machines to those that produce a paper trail in time for the 2008 election, Republican governor Charlie Crist told the paper:

The price of freedom is not cheap. The importance of a democratic system of voting that we can trust, that we can have confidence in, is incredibly important.

While the controversies have not been on the scale of 2000, touch-screen machines have brought their own problems. In last November's midterm elections, a glitch occurred in a close congressional contest in the Florida district of Sarasota.

>more

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2007/02/02/florida_to_follow_the_paper_trail.html

[livvy]

13. Obama-Schumer and the Advance of Voter-Centered Reform

Obama-Schumer and the Advance of Voter-Centered Reform
By Bob Bauer
February 03, 2007

This article was posted at Bob Bauer's Blog and is reposted here with permission of the author.

Among the early criticisms of the Obama-Schumer “deceptive practices” bill is an odd one: that it is an incumbent protection statute. An understandable reaction to any form of regulated “campaign speech”, it is here misplaced. At its core, Obama-Schumer takes up the cause of voters, not of candidates, which distinguishes it from much of the campaign regulation in recent decades.

This distinctiveness emerges with particular clarity when Obama-Schumer is compared to the last “dirty tricks” provision enacted by the Congress, in the wake of Watergate.That was mainly a candidate self-protection measure. In the difference between the two statutes can be seen a shift of regulatory attention from the needs of candidates to the rights of voters, and this, in the period of preoccupation with election reform in the voters’ interests, suggests the importance of Obama-Schumer.

Obama-Schumer’s strategy in addressing deceptive practices—false information disseminated with the intention of subverting rights, in full knowledge of its falsity—is comprehensive, consisting of several parts: a private right of action; criminal penalties; corrective action by the Attorney General to affirm truthful information and to reassure voters; and the compilation of information about these practices in reports to the Congress. The private right of action for “preventive relief", available to any “person aggrieved” by a violation, has attracted some unfavorable notice.

Ed Morrissey, for examples, imagines an explosion of lawsuits and a crushing cost, assessed for raw political advantage, imposed on their victims. Other will see peril, too, in the provisions establishing this type of violation as the basis for criminal prosecution. To be balanced against this is the specificity with which the bill defines the types of information that, communicated with knowledge of falsity, gives rise to liability. The bill is focused on four types: the time, place and manner of any election; the qualifications for or restrictions on voter eligibility; the political party affiliation of candidates in closed primaries; and the explicit characterization of endorsements. In each instance, there is some history—a concrete background of abuse, some of which is set out in the bill's Findings—which supplies additional definition to the objective of the measure and might mitigate some of the concern about overbroad, unconstitutional application.

>more



http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2236&Itemid=26

[livvy]

14. WaPo: DNC Backing Expected for D.C. Vote in House

DNC Backing Expected for D.C. Vote in House
Party's Endorsement Could Help Spur Grass-Roots Effort

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 3, 2007; B01

The Democratic National Committee is expected to throw its support today behind legislation to give the District a full seat in the House of Representatives, kicking off a grass-roots lobbying effort to get it passed.

A resolution in favor of the bill will be considered today at the group's winter meeting in Washington. It has the backing of party leaders, including DNC Chairman Howard Dean.

Donna Brazile, who authored the resolution and ran Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign, said the DNC's action "will allow us to begin a 50-state campaign" in which party supporters urge their legislators to vote for the bill.

The D.C. voting rights bill, reintroduced last month, has sparked hopes among city activists and politicians that the District could get a full seat in the House after decades of seeking more representation. The measure would permanently add two seats to the House -- one for the District, which is heavily Democratic, and the other for Utah, a Republican stronghold. The District would still not have voting senators.

>more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020201786.html

[livvy]

15. Ohio is Keeping Its Touch Screens

Ohio is keeping its touch screens
Brunner plans review to improve voting
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Joan Mazzolini and Michael O'Malley
Plain Dealer Reporters

Ohio's top election official said Friday that the state can't afford to give up on touch-screen voting machines despite decisions by two other states to abandon the technology.

Instead, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said she wants to boost confidence in touch- screen systems and plans a review within six months to look for ways to better handle and secure the machines during elections.

Her comments came a day after Florida's governor announced the state will scrap touch-screen machines used in 15 counties because they do not produce a back-up paper record. Ohio, in contrast, requires a paper record for all touch-screen machines.

Some observers contend the move by Florida, and Virginia's decision to phase out touch- screen machines that operate much like automated tellers, spell trouble for the technology.

>more

http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isope/1170511013257810.xml&coll=2

[livvy]

16. Opinion: Toward a Better Ballot

Article published Feb 3, 2007
Toward a better ballot

Crist's initiative should help restore voters' faith

Gov. Charlie Crist's call for primarily paper-based voting throughout Florida is good news.

We support Crist's aim and hope the Legislature will provide the requested funding, which would greatly help counties such as Sarasota switch from predominantly touch-screen voting to optical-scan systems.

The governor's initiative, announced Thursday, is a necessary attempt to rectify the damage caused by deepening distrust of paperless machines. Experience -- particularly the recent undervote mystery that emerged in Sarasota County's District 13 congressional race -- has left citizens wary of elections where ballots are collected on computer chips that leave no independently verifiable trail of voter intent.

As the community has learned through more than three months of auditing after the disputed District 13 outcome, it is hard to prove definitively that a touch-screen is working properly -- and just as hard to prove that it is not. The election is being contested in court, with a report on the state-led audit due Feb. 9.

>more

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070203/OPINION/702030597/1030

[livvy]

17. Sarasota Selling Defective Voting Machines

WORLD EXCLUSIVE
Feb 02 2007--Venice,FL
by Daniel Hopsicker


Even as the New York Times reported that attention to November’s disputed Congressional election in Sarasota has faded, Sarasota Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent announced her intention this week to begin selling —presumably “as is”— hundreds of Sarasota's touch-screen voting machines proven defective by the November election, where they malfunctioned so badly that frustrated poll workers actually resorted to advising voters who were unable to get their votes to register to try using their knuckles.

Dent has resolutely denied that anything was wrong with the voting machines, despite a Sarasota Herald Tribune poll which reported that the overwhelming majority of precinct officials interviewed cited difficulty getting the electronic touch screens to register their votes as the biggest complaint.

Even though she is eminently responsible for disenfranchising as many as 18,000 voters from having their votes counted in the most hotly-contested Congressional race in the country, Dent appears defiant, and unabashed.

One reason for this intransigence has now become clear: There’s a big payday involved.

>more

[Kurovski]

19. I caught Diebold stealing your link...

so I tackled the duplicitous crap-bag and have herewith returned it:

http://www.madcowprod.com/02022007.html

[livvy]

23. Those scummish, smarthy, ricklefrackin' theives! The nerve!

Oooops...my bad! Thanks! :blush:

[livvy]

18. Saturday 'Toons

http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/2007/02/saturday-cartoons.html

[autorank]

21. K&R livvy, great stuff. Does that $1.0 billion include the HAVA funds;)

Couldn't the Help American Vote Act expenditures on the part of the federal government be considered Republican contributions? That would be another $600 billion or more. Good deal if you're a Republican.

:hi: