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Wednesday, November 10, 2004
http://www.helpamericarecount.org/
Help America Recount!
If the Politicians and the Parties Won't Do It,
America's Citizens Will!
Donate!
WEDNESDAY NOV 10, Washington D.C. -- Consumer groups rallying citizens for recounts in Ohio, Florida; voters can fund audits of Ohio and court challenges in Florida by donating to HelpAmericaRecount.org, a 527 tax exempt organization set up exclusively for recount funding.
Click Here to Donate!
Getting out the vote is good, but getting a 123 percent turnout is too good to be true. This happened in Fairview Park, Ohio. In Broward County, Florida, voting machines can do the moon walk: They count back-wards, but only on certain ballot measures.
If you want to buy a recount in Ohio you don't need to live there...you do need to be a US citizen and you need to get out your check book. How much is Democracy worth to you...starting next week no one can stop us from auditing Ohio were gonna get em.
In New Hampshire, voting trends seemed to depend more on which voting machine was used than on what party voters were affiliated with. When asked to produce “zero reports” at poll opening, some Florida touch-screen machines reported votes were already in the system, apparent stuffing of the electronic ballot box. Gahanna, Ohio had thousands more votes show up than voters.
Accounting for provisional ballots has been murky, and anomalies have now surfaced in Cuyahoga County, Perry County, and Youngstown Ohio. Florida optical scan machines in 40 counties had statistically improbable results, which did not exist in Florida touch-screens. Technicians got inside access to a central tabulator in Collier County during the middle of the election, and modem security settings may have been disabled for Diebold machines.
As hundreds of anomalies pop up, citizens are thinking:
Who really won? Don’t know. Gotta audit!
Click Here to Donate!
Black Box Voting, a nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer protection group for elections, has been investigating election irregularities for two years. The group has honed in on voting machines, citing problems with internal audit logs, tamperability, improper testing and certification, and bogus results. The National Ballot Integrity Project is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that has approached voting machines from another angle. The organization lobbies for transparency and public accountability in election systems. Both groups are now calling for citizen-initiated recounts. To fund these recounts, BlackBoxVoting.org and the National Ballot Integrity Project have formed a separate, 527 organization, the Help America Recount Fund.
Ralph Nader, who earned notoriety for decades as a consumer protection advocate, just wants to know the truth. How accurate are the Diebold voting machines in New Hampshire?
Using a little-known provision in Ohio law, any five Ohioans who did not vote for the winning candidate can file for recounts. In Florida, citizens can file to contest the election, county by county. Black Box Voting researchers are helping to identify key counties with the worst anomalies, for hand counts and other audits, to detect computer intrusions and vote count discrepancies.
Nader has set the pace for proper auditing, insisting on a hand count of New Hampshire’s Diebold optical scan machines. According to Black Box Voting Executive Director Bev Harris, this method, along with other auditing, is essential to verify machine results, because running ballots through the machines a second time is not a meaningful audit.
Click Here to Contribute to Help America Recount!
About the Help America Recount Fund
The Help America Recount Fund is a new 527 fund affiliated with BlackBoxVoting.org and the National Ballot Integrity Project. The sole purpose of the Help America Recount Fund is to finance presidential ballot recounts in Ohio, Florida and elsewhere, for the 2004 election. For more information, contact us at info@helpamericarecount.org. Or you can reach us at Help America Recount Fund, Law Offices of Lowell Finley, 1604 Solano Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94707-2109
Posted at 11:58 pm by blog swarm
Political News Permalink
Posted at 11:53 pm by blog swarm
Political News Permalink
I wanted to wait to write this note until some of the dust had settled from our loss last week. It was heartbreaking for all of us. It felt like a win was snatched away from us at the last second. All of us were very disappointed in the result but not in the battle.
It is hard to remember right now but we did take Bucks County for John Kerry! We did register many, many new voters who showed up at the polls and stood in long lines to vote! We did have a wonderful “Get Out the Vote” organization with volunteers from all over the country!
Remember, if we were correct in our view that the country would suffer from another four years of George W. Bush, then we will see the problems grow and multiply in the next six months to a year. We know we were right and we must stand ready to pick up the pieces as the economy, healthcare and jobs continue to spiral in the wrong direction.
Our job has not changed; we are still fighting for a better place for our children to live. We still need clean air, clean water, respect in the world, jobs for every person who wants and needs one, decent healthcare, and an education system that makes sense.
Our local organizations have grown and strengthened, let’s not lose the opportunity to build our party and our structures.
This is a very long winded way of saying thank you for everything you did to try to help me win this Congressional seat. You were there for me when I needed you, you showed up, fought the fight and I will never forget your work, your friendship and your support.
I thank you with all my heart.
Love, Ginny
Donations are always needed and appreciated. To contribute using a credit card on the internet, please visit
http://www.ginnyschrader.com/getinvolved/donations.php or send your check (payable to "Schrader for Congress") to:
Schrader for Congress
P.O. Box 876
Morrisville, PA 19067
Contributions to the Schrader for Congress campaign are not deductible for federal income tax purposes. Under federal election law, an individual/partnership may contribute a maximum of $2,000 counting towards the general election. Corporate contributions are prohibited. Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle.
Posted at 11:36 pm by blog swarm
Political News Permalink
From dKosopedia, the free political encyclopedia.
BREAKING - Iraq will need vote challengers in January
We expect the GOP to continue their heartfelt and incessant concerns about "voter fraud", Donate to BlogPAC to help fund these dedicated GOP stalwarts to carry freedom's march to the Iraqi polls![1] -Cope 10:07, 2 Nov 2004 (PST)
I don't see any way the Republican party can lose gracefully. As soon as they lose control of the DOJ their leadership is cooked. Look at it another way: the GOP is going for broke. - Tom Frank
And so it begins. Some say this will be the dirtiest election ever. The more people who vote, the tougher it is to suppress votes or tamper. So VOTE. But this time, we're asking you to do more. Democracy is not a spectator sport.
See also Election 2004 Problems
Use this space as a stub to begin collecting and organizing the various catalogued irregularities, suspicious results, and sundry indications of potential vote fraud.
For the current rundown of known voting irregularities, along with an incident reporting protocol, the one-stop shopping site is found at
VotersUnite! Incident Reporting
Transcript of Jack Hitt's report on election fraud
DailyKos Voting Tips
Voter Fraud Help If you have been the victim of Voter Fraud go here to learn about your rights!
Black Box Voting Incident Reporting
VotersUnite! Incident Reporting
Verified Voting Incident Reporting
Handy toll-free number to report disenfranchisement.
Election Protection Coalition 1-866-OUR-VOTE
Provisional Ballot GOTV Tactics Lawyer's Diary on GOTV / Provisional Ballots
Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has more contact and legal information, and they need volunteers to run the hotline mentioned above.
State toll-free numbers-
Some state Democratic Parties will set-up toll-free lines to report problems in the field. We will post these numbers as the lines are established.
Election Protection 2004's downloadable Voters' Bills of Rights that are state specific for 20+ states.
They even have bi-lingual ones for AZ, CO, NM, FL, NV, OH and WI.
Also some other helpful links there on the same page as well as elsewhere on the EP2004 site.
Michigan Independent Media Center is covering Michigan and Ohio. Their toll-free hotline to report breaking developments is 1-877-825-9535
North Carolina Information
http://www.michaelmoore.com/electionwatch/index.php Michael Moore's Fraud Page]
For another voter fraud resource, and for a multiplicity of links to stories and resources, please check out eriposte's vote2004 and excellent roundup!
Voter's Rights - State by State Links
Post the most crucial news here. Additional information may be found below, or in the relevant state section.
There is a multi-state effort to misdirect democrats to the polls[2] This is being reported in : - Florida : Broward, Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale
- Colorado : Denver
- Michigan
Great Article on NPR's This American Life Daily Kos Diary Entry
It is now becoming clear that there is a massive, coordinated campaign orchestrated by the RNC and the GOP to commit nationwide fraud, disenfranchisement, confusion, and chaos. Nathan Sproul is behind voter fraud in many swing states, including Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
They have fraudulently used the name of another organization, America votes. Here is a summary of some of the various cases of voter fraud going on now.
The Republican party in Nevada ordered its employees to dispose of Democratic Voter Registrations.
Republican voter registration organizations have illegally shredded Democratic registrations in both Nevada and Oregon, which both are past their voter registration deadline of Tuesday October 12th, leaving many Democrats who thought they'd registered disenfranchised in the most important election of our lifetime.
The company Sproul & Associates, which is closely connected to the RNC and has recieved half a million dollars from them since July 14, 2004, is behind this. It is run by Nathan Sproul, a big Republican donor.
Any means necessary, Guardian 18 Oct 2004 In the 60s, police dogs and billy clubs kept black Americans from the polls. Today's methods are more refined...
Hollow Victory, Guardian 21 Oct 2004 Markos Moulitsas runs through the bare bones of the vote fraud, registration fraud, and voter suppression stories, mentions this page and another excellent resource, eriposte's vote2004 and brings the exposure of GOP mendacity to the global stage.
DKos Diary explaining the roots of the Republican Florida ACORN fraud claims.
Does a party that refuses to tell the truth before Election Day deserve our vote on election day?
I cannot in good conscience vote for President Bush in this election. What he has done since his election in 2000 goes against the values I treasure both in terms of leadership and in our nation. He has not done what he said he would do. He has lost my trust and my respect.
"It would be easier to sit back and say and do nothing but at the same time I couldn't do that...I just think it's a disservice to the young people that are probably for the first time getting involved or looking forward to getting involved." ... she said she still doesn't want to be involved anymore. "I'm bothered. We need to keep it clean. We need to protect this process. And people that are involved in it need to understand that. The candidates need to set the highest standard and say this is what we need to do and I guess I don't think it's been done."
Justice Dept to monitor elections: a locations list Great, Now everyone trust Ashcroft! -Cope 11:54, 29 Oct 2004 (PDT)
10/29/04 Study: DOJ pattern of anti-democratic actions thwarts voters-Cope 15:16, 31 Oct 2004 (PST)
-- Nota Bene, Fraud in this instance is used as a shorthand catchall phrase that includes
-- everything from faked registrations, registration destruction, denial of access to critical
-- registration or voting materials, intimidation campaigns, voter roll manipulation or purging,
-- and so on. --RedDan 18:57, 14 Oct 2004 (PDT)
This Page is devoted to collecting, organizing, and systematizing documented instances of voter fraud, disenfranchisement, and other "dirty tricks" that are ongoing in this election cycle.
Parties clash over new voters Allegations of registration cards being dumped and partisanship have spurred suits, investigations
-Cope 13:49, 21 Oct 2004 (PDT)
Black Box Voting has fingered Diebold union busting as the source of many of the Ballot roblems!
The real story behind the October ballot problems Submitted by Andy Stephenson on Wed, 10/20/2004 - 18:46. News Articles Black Box Voting has obtained documents from June 2004 indicating that Diebold was concerned about upcoming ballot printing problems. Recent problems in California (Alameda, San Diego and Tulare counties) and Washington state (King County) appear to trace back to labor problems at the Diebold printing plant in Everett Washington.
There seems to be a loophole in the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) with respect to how to count provisional ballots. See HAVA Fraud
Get Out The Vote drives have become a strategic necessity for this election. Unsurprisingly, there have been allegations of voter registration abuse and fraud.
Most notably, Eric Russell a former Voters' Outreach of America employee, alleges that the private voter registration company destroyed hundreds of non-Republican registration forms. Voters Outreach of America has been linked to Sproul & Associates and Nathan Sproul, GOP consultants.
Recently, there have been allegations of voter registration fraud against ACORN in Florida alleging phony voter registrations and forged party-affiliation change cards, and absentee ballots.
In Kansas City, MO, Neal Breitweiser a low-level Republican operative from St. Louis, has submitted a petition to the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners. He asks the board to investigate registration fraud he alleges has been committed by the Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, America Coming Together, and MoveOn.org.
Please post breaking stories in the space below, and as the Wiki gets organized, these stories can (and will) be moved into the relevant sections.
Democrats' votes challenged - Utah Fraud article. Republican candidate Brice Derek Carsno claims all of those residents do not live in the precincts they are registered in and therefore should not have the right to punch a ballot Tuesday. State and county election officials, however, disagree and at least one says Carsno's challenge could be criminal.
Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to block thousands of votes - Oregon Fraud article. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Democrats accused Republicans Sunday of trying to block thousands of young people's votes, following a formal request by GOP lawyers to review ballots cast by first-time voters in Oregon's most populous county. In a letter issued Friday, attorneys for the Oregon Republican Party demanded that officials set aside ballots cast by new voters in Multnomah County who have not provided proof of identification. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said that the Republican demand flies in the face of Oregon law which does not require voters to show proof of identification when registering. "This is not Florida. We are about empowering citizens," said Wyden, who helped draft the relevant portion of Oregon's election law.
Republican Group Accused of Voter Fraud - Minnesota Fraud article. "They said if you bring back a bunch of Democratic cards, you'll be fired,".
anecdotal report regarding Texas voting machine troubles
Philly Enquirer story misquoted and used as propaganda Another Republican effort to make it look like both sides are equally culpable, and a good disemboweling of the effort. Link is to a message board thread that starts with a mail that is probably being sent out to tens of thousands and finishes with the accusation lying dead in the street.
Smell's like Rove in Tennesee
Bush's New England Campaign Chief Resigns over 2002 fraud
New Nevada Story - New witness comes forward verifying Registration Destruction stories
BREAKING STORY ON REUTERS
The article includes some Republican lies, trying to claim that Democrats are doing the same thing, to muddy the situation. This is pure Republican propaganda. They are the ones disenfranchising voters, not the Democrats.
RNC TIED TO MULTI-STATE REGISTRATION FRAUD
Original Diary entry
Story with additional information
First we get news out of a local Las Vegas news affiliate from CBS that an outfit called Voters' Outreach of America is caught trashing voter registration forms filled out by people trying to register to vote as Democrats. But while running down this outfit, they skipped town on their office space rent, and moved out of state (Nevada), and the CBS affiliate indicates that they might have moved their operation to Oregon.
We also learn not too long ago, that Sproul & Associates, which is based out of AZ, was misrepresenting itself as being under contract with the legitimate nonpartisan group America Votes, while trying to get permission to do voter registration sign-ups in Southern Oregon libraries. A sharp librarian down in Medford double-checks with America Votes, and finds out that the Sproul group which had sent a letter to the public library seeking the permission, are not under contract or affiliated with the non-partisan group America Votes. It should also be noted that because of this, some confusion is circulating in the news media and conflating America Votes with the shady Sproul outfit.
We now know that Sproul & Associates is a directly funded RNC consultancy firm.
Then we learn that a "traveling team" hired signature gatherer is caught in downtown Portland's Pioneer Square, the night before Edwards is planned to hold a debate watching rally, refusing to register Democrats, and admits to throwing out forms filled out by people registering as such.
This person also admits that the "traveling team" he is with was recently doing registration drives in Nevada. We still don't know if this "traveling team" is connected with either Voters' Outreach of America or not. This has led Oregon Sec. of State Bill Bradbury and Attorney General Hardy Myers to tell news outlets late this evneing that they plan to investigate. Bradbury telling the local news outlet KGW that they are investigating this serious matter, and he appeared to be more than a little pissed to see this sort of fraud taking place. Now it seems the story is being picked up by the AP.
We now find in a past story from The American Prospect that Voters' Outreach of America IS in fact connected with, and was under contract by Sproul and Associates which we know is directly funded by the RNC from FEC records at opensecrets.org. Voters' Outreach of America were under contract by Sproul to do signature gathering in AZ for petition gathering for "No Taxpayer Money For Politicians" petition AND to get Ralph Nader on the ballot in AZ (where he was eventually knocked off the ballot for fraudulent petition signatures).
The relevant TAP article passage which shows the contractual connection between Voters' Outreach of America and Sproul & Associates, who are directly funded by the RNC:
Nor has Nader denounced the covert assistance his Arizona ballot-qualification effort received from Sproul, who is currently running the No Taxpayer Money For Politicians" initiative, a right-wing effort to ban candidates from receiving public financing. According to several sources, two of the contractors Sproul hired to oversee petition gathering for No Taxpayer Money For Politicians -- Aaron "A.J." James, who directs Voters' Outreach of America, and Diane Burns -- were also paid by Sproul to get as many signatures as possible for Nader.
American Prospect Online, 06.25.04 (emphasis added) We need to start digging on Aaron "A.J." James.
Breaking News from KansasCity.com
The Republicans strike again. Following the alarming news of GOP puppet company Voters Outreach shredding voter registrations belonging to democrats, they're mounting a campaign to accuse the Democrats of the same thing.
Neal Breitweiser, a low-level Republican operative from St. Louis, has submitted a petition to the the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners. He asks the board to investigate registration fraud he alleges has been commited by the Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, America Coming Together, and MoveOn.org.
He speaks of hundreds of registrations being trashed by those organisations. The organisations are defending themselves, and have declared that it is not the first time Republicans make similar baseless accusations.
Is this an attempt by Republicans to cover their asses the Nevada Voters Outreach scandal that is sure to break, so they can accuse Democrats of the same thing ? I don't know, but it scares me.
Source: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/9901866.htm bugmenot.com for registration info --Kryostat 20:46, 12 Oct 2004 (PDT)
In Missouri no party affiliation is stated on the voter registration form, so the Republican accusation is bizarre as well as baseless.
Just created New England Fraud Unindicted 2002 Co-conspirator - Just Named - is Regional Bush-Cheney '04 Chair. Added South Dakota Fraud Republican operatives resign over Absentee Ballot fraud and Ohio Fraud the operatives that resigned over the South Dakota Absentee Ballot fraud were shifted to lead the Ohio get-out-the-vote operation. Carneades 07:38, 15 Oct 2004 (PDT)
The South Dakota information comes from here: Bill Janklow, former Republican congressman and governor of South Dakota, says the national GOP is encouraging campaign workers to cheat, particularly in their Victory organization.
This American Life story on Voter Suppression (Real Media clip)
Is the DOJ poised to keep voters from voting? (Sept. 20 New Yorker)
DailyKos Diary on a Sproul Search indicating fraud perpetrated in PA, WV, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, and...
DKos diary re: Election Postponement due to potential terror alert
CNN transcript with Tom Ridge re: Terrorism and Election Postponement
Meteor Blades (DKos) Roundup of postponement stories
Newsweek Soaries storie re: Postponement
DHinMI (DKos) re: GOP contracting to "Security Firms" to "protect the vote" (Pinkertons, Vance, and etc)
The American Prospect story on GOP collusion and conspiracy to suppress the vote
Black Box voting, an online book on how Diebold electronic voting machines have fraud problems at the upper right
Dept of Justice Voting Rights Laws
DOJ Voting Rights Section
Voting Rights Sec. 1971
ACLU Voting Rights Info
Newsday Article on Record Voter Registration
Record numbers of new voters
Iowa voter Registration Records
Act for victory (America Coming Together)
Election Protection Volunteer
Move On main
MoveOn Political Action Campaign
Driving Votes
Music for America
The League of Independent Voters
USAction
PIRG (Public Interest Research Groups)
ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)
PFAW (People For the American Way)
America Votes NOTA BENE America Votes is in NO WAY associated with Sproul & Associates or any of their associated organizations. Sproul is using a similar name in order to hide his own activities and to provide a means of smearing the 527's operations.
Sunshine and Alligators (sorry for the shameless self-promotion, but we folks here in Tokyo have already voted and need something to do with our time...sor we're gonna go to Tampa/St. Pete...Join us!)
Fair Vote 2020 - massive map, demographic, and statistics database
Polling Station Locations determined via input of Zip Code - EXTREMELY USEFUL!!!
- 10 Oct 2004 MyDD Diary Discusses historical practices of voter fraud & intimidation.
Election 2004 Problems
The Everything Voting Guide
billhobbs.com vote fraud page (Dark Side Resource...)
Posted at 11:23 pm by blog swarm
Political News Permalink
Blogging of the President Election Theft
Republican Election Theft Clearinghouse
We're adding new links to the main post, and rolling old links below the fold. There's a lot of info out there (so much, that we've upgraded from a "roundup" to a "clearinghouse"), and we'll do our best to keep this thread current for you. Apologies for any redundancies--we're just throwing it up raw and ugly so we can get the information to you as fast as possible.
1. Before the URLs get scrubbed, could someone archive them?
2. Would be lovely if a kind soul could throw them up in a wiki in a more orderly fashion.
BOP House Crew on Election Fraud
New! 11/9 Ian Welsh: Thinking about vote fraud
Matt Stoller: another stolen election
oldman: speaks for itself
Barry Ritholtz: mapping out election results
Ian Welsh: Okay, it was stolen
Shaula Evans: fight fight fight
New Links November 9
Statistical improbabilities of Bush FL vote tallies
Atrois: The Ohio Code
Sarpy County, Nebraska: More votes than voters
FL: voting machines reject mysterious wet ballots
Shifting numbers of Florida's election (with graphs and charts)
More from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann plus he wants your feedback at KOlbermann@msnbc.com
Bob Fitrakis: Evidence is mounting
97,489 extra votes in Cayahoga County, Ohio
Democracy Now: The E-vote Factor
eRiposte: Election 2004 results
No paper ballot recount requests yet in Florida - and how to start one
Another rigged election? The Elephant in the voting booth
Electronic voting machine woes reported
Machine error gives Bush extra Ohio votes
Gambling glitch mars vote tally
Wired: Watchdogs spot e-vote glitches
National voting rights monitor documents voting irregularities in the south
Warren County, OH shrouds vote count in darkness
Ralph Nader challenges vote count in New Hampshire
Citizen attempt to expose irregularities in Florida
WI group says, Election stolen
Indianapolis Wish-TV asks, Will Your Vote Count?
AP gets direct feed from tabulating computers
media Black Out Voting Problems
Republicans and Democrats spar over vote tally
House Democrats Seek election inquiry
Voting irregularities (with charts!)
William Rivers Pitt: Worse Than 2000
Florida rigged the optical scanners with stats and charts
Strange election results from Ohio
Electronic Voting machine woes reported
Defective software lost votes
Over 20 percent of the machines tested failed to record votes properly.
Electronic Ballots: Major media reporting major problems
Video the Vote: Documentation from Cleveland Polls
Angry Ohio Residents Storm State House Thanks to everyone who is sending us new links, and for all the links and trackbacks out there.
Note, these are the kind of URLs that mysteriously wind up scrubbed Would some tech savvy person be kind enough to archive them, quickly?
Folks, this is THE news story right now: the numbers don't add up, the voting machines were rigged, and they're trying to steal the presidency again.
This story isn't in Big Media and word is, for whatever reason, the inside-the-beltway crowd won't touch it.
So push it hard in the blogs, talk to your neighbors, email it to your grandma, and send it to your local media.
Kerry's concession speech carries NO legal weight. Results aren't final until they are certified by the state election boards. Once Bush is coronated again, we're out of luck.
We have a VERY SMALL WINDOW to make sure the votes count. And, no one else is doing it: it is up to us.
Roll up your sleeves, and go forth to save American democracy.
November 7 Update
International Election Monitors banned in Ohio
Group tallies more than 1,100 e-voting glitches
Slashdot: Avi Rubin & More on Electronic Voting
Slashdot: Evoting problems in Ohio
November 7 Links
MSNBC's Hardblogger: Keith Olberman on George, John, and Ohio
The numbers don't add up
CIA-style hacking rigs election for Bush
Black Box Voting calls it Fraud
Surprising Pattern of Florida's Election Results
The Greg Palast classic: An Election Spoiled
Washington Dispatch: Vote Fraud in Ohio?
Presidential votes mis-cast on machines across the country
Reconciling voting machine and exit poll discrepancies
Ohio Whitewash
Institute for Public Accuracy on Ohio Elections
software flaw found in Florida vote machines
Florida numbers analysis (chart)
exit poll chart via BOP reader alyosha (thanks, man)
Stolen Election 2004
Open Voting Consortium
4000 votes missing in Pennsylvania County
Palm Beach county logs 88,000 more votes than voters
outrage in ohio
Broward County Florida voting machines count backwards
Diebold Pres Odell's 2003 promise to "deliver Ohio for Bush"
Greg Palast: Kerry Won
Diebold Machines yield fishy results
Machine Error Gives Bush Extra Votes in Ohio
More evidence of possible fraud in Darke County, Ohio
NC: 11,823 "extra" votes cast for Bush
chart: Florida voter reg vs performance
Something looks very wrong in Florida
Election Theft Bombshell: Major Security Breach
And finally, from the "We told you so" files:
A technical look at how they can steal it (from October 9, 2004)
First posted as Republican Election Theft Roundup on November 7, 2004.
Permalink
by Shaula Evans
Posted at 11:18 pm by blog swarm
Political News Permalink
Posted at 11:09 pm by blog swarm
Political News Permalink
Video of Tanks at anti-war protest in LA
Tanks on the streets of LA
QuickTime movie at 6.8 mebibytes
LOS ANGELES, November 9, 2004 - At 7:50 PM two armored tanks showed up at an anti-war protest in front of the federal building in Westwood. The tanks circled the block twice, the second time parking themselves in the street and directly in front of the area where most of the protesters were gathered. Enraged, some of the people attempted to block the tanks, but police quickly cleared the street. The people continued to protest the presence of the tanks, but about ten minutes the tanks drove off. It is unclear as to why the tanks were deployed to this location. Uploaded here is video from the event.
Posted at 11:04 pm by blog swarm
Political News Permalink
Alberto Gonzalez has more information on him Alberto Gonzalez and news on Alberto Gonzalez with a full Alberto Gonzalez watch on Blog Swarm:
Gonzales Record on Abu Ghraib, Detention Policies, among Top Questions for Senate to Examine if He Is Nominated for Atty General Job
People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas said the reported nomination of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales as U.S. Attorney General raises serious concerns, particularly over his role in the development of policies governing the treatment of detainees in Iraq and in the war on terrorism.
Neas issued the following statement:
“Alberto Gonzales’s role in the development of policies that ultimately led to the Abu Ghraib prison scandals in Iraq is deeply troubling. Few images have done more to scar our nation’s image at home and abroad than the terrible pictures of prisoners being abused in Iraq. Further, there are many questions that must still be answered regarding the rights and treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. We expect Senators to question him closely on these matters.
“An even more fundamental question is whether Mr. Gonzales will continue the damaging course set by John Ashcroft at the Justice Department. John Ashcroft’s tenure was marked by a severe erosion of Americans’ civil liberties and a diminished commitment to civil rights enforcement. Would an Attorney General Gonzales continue policies that restrict Americans’ constitutional protections? Would he undermine voting rights by supporting recent Justice Department actions to restrict Americans from turning to the courts to enforce the Help America Vote Act?
“Senators should explore Mr. Gonzales’ support for the excesses of the PATRIOT Act, parts of which come up for renewal in 2005, as well as his central role in the administration’s efforts to pack the federal judiciary with far-right ideologues. Senators should also examine his role in White House actions promoting excessive secrecy, interfering with constitutional checks and balances and demonstrating contempt for Congress’ oversight role, threatening affirmative action, and restricting workers’ rights by executive order.
“America needs an attorney general who is committed to protecting both national security and the nation’s Constitution. We urge Senators to ensure that the next U.S. Attorney General is committed to the protection of Americans’ civil rights and constitutional liberties.”
Alberto Gonzalez
From dKosopedia, the free political encyclopedia.
- Gonzales was largely responsible for the chain of events that led to Abu Ghraib - actually writing a memo to Bush advocating the disregard of Geneva Convention torture rules, one of the so-called Torture Memos.
- Gonzeles was the legal architect for the Gitmo detainee system, much of which various courts (including the Supreme Court) have ruled unconstitutional.
- Gonzales had a tight financial and political connection to Enron, making him unable to impartially handle the largest corporate fraud in modern history or to enforce the laws needed to prevent the next Enron-like scandal.
Quite a track record for a lawyer, huh? Get the word out that we cannot have this guy be our #1 law enforcement officer. Details below:
1. Albert Gonzales is currently White House General Counsel. While there, he "asked for" and received a memorandum regarding the "Status of Taliban Forces ... Under the Geneva Conventions." The memo concludes that the Taliban forces are not covered under the Geneva Convention, which protects prisoners of war from torture. Gonzales let his feelings be known in a January 25, 2002 memo to the President, writing:
In my judgment, this new paradigm [the war on terror] renders obsolete Geneva's [i.e., the Geneva Convention's] strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions.
Gonzales's pro-torture memo gave fruit to an Order by the President accepting this rationale, making it part of what what Newsweek called the "root of torture" that led to the Abu Ghraib debacle.
2. Also while at the White House, Gonzales was the author of the Gitmo detainment procedures:
[H]e drew up the rules for holding suspected terrorists at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The detainees have been designated enemy combatants, denied prisoner-of-war status under the international Geneva Convention. These rules have repeatedly been rejected by federal courts as unconstitutional, including the Supreme Court last summer.
3. Gonzales is "inextricably tied" to Enron, casting doubt on his ability to impartially handle the biggest corporate fraud in history. As the described in the press even now:
Gonzales also has connections to scandal-ridden energy giant Enron. He is a former partner in the Houston law firm Vinson and Elkins, which represented Enron. He also received $6,500 in campaign contributions from the company when he ran for re-election to the Texas Supreme Court. Indeed, Gonzales got rich off of Enron as a corporate partner at Vinson & Elkins, which is the law firm that was sued for crafting these deals.
Remember, the federal government's case against Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling is still ongoing. Gonzales owes his fortune and much of his early political future to Ken Lay, so making him the nation's top law enforcement officer while the federal government prosecutes Lay presents an obvious conflict of interest. Also, we cannot trust the investigation and enforcement of rules against the future "Enrons" to a corporate lawyer who was possibly contributed to the Enron debacle in the first place.
Alberto Gonzalez:
Alberto Gonzalez
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=246536
Alberto Gonzales: A Record of Injustice
As White House Counsel
GONZALES APPROVED MEMO AUTHORIZING TORTURE: An August 2002 Justice Department memo "was vetted by a larger number of officials, including...the White House counsel's office and Vice President Cheney's office." According to Newsweek, the memo "was drafted after White House meetings convened by George W. Bush's chief counsel, Alberto Gonzales, along with Defense Department general counsel William Haynes and [Cheney counsel] David Addington." The memo included the opinion that laws prohibiting torture do "not apply to the President's detention and interrogation of enemy combatants." Further, the memo puts forth the opinion that the pain caused by an interrogation must include "injury such as death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions—in order to constitute torture." The methods outlined in the memo "provoked concerns within the CIA about possible violation of the federal torture law [and] also raised concerns at the FBI, where some agents knew of the techniques being used" overseas on high-level al Qaeda officials. [Gonzales 8/1/02 memo; WP, 6/27/04; Newsweek, 6/21/04; NYT, 6/27/04]
GONZALES BELIEVES MANY GENEVA CONVENTIONS PROVISIONS ARE OBSOLETE: A 1/25/02 memo written by White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales said "the war against terrorism is a new kind of war" and "this new paradigm renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions." The memo pushes to make al Qaeda and Taliban detainees exempt from the Geneva Conventions' provisions on the proper, legal treatment of prisoners. The administration has been adamant that prisoners at Guantanamo are not protected by the Geneva Conventions. [Gonzales 1/25/02 memo; Newsweek, 5/24/04]
GONZALES ADMITTED HIS VIEWS 'COULD UNDERMINE U.S. MILITARY CULTURE': The 1/25/02 memo shows Alberto Gonzales was aware of the risk that ignoring the Geneva Conventions could create for the military. One concern expressed is that failing to apply the Geneva Conventions "could undermine U.S. military culture which emphasizes maintaining the highest standards of conduct in combat, and could introduce an element of uncertainty in the status of adversaries," which is what happened at Abu Ghraib. Secretary of State Colin Powell strongly warned against taking this decision, as did lawyers from the Judge Advocate General's Corps, or JAG. This week, a federal judge ruled that "President Bush had both overstepped his constitutional bounds and improperly brushed aside the Geneva Conventions" when he established military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to try detainees as war criminals. [Gonzales 1/25/02 memo; Bloomberg, 6/14/04; New York Times, 11/9/04]
GONZALES BLOCKS INFORMATION FROM CONGRESS: Historically, senators have been allowed to review some memoranda by judicial nominees. But, in a letter [about nominee Miguel Estrada], Gonzales told the Democrats that the administration would not produce the memos, because to do so would chill free expression among administration lawyers and violate the principle of executive privilege, which protects the internal deliberations of the president's aides. [New Yorker, 5/19/03]
As Texas Chief Legal Counsel
DEATH PENALTY MEMOS: GONZALES'S NEGLIGENT COUNSEL: As chief legal counsel for then-Gov. Bush in Texas, Gonzales was responsible for writing a memo on the facts of each death penalty case – Bush decided whether a defendant should live or die based on the memos. An examination of the Gonzales memoranda by the Atlantic Monthly concluded, "Gonzales repeatedly failed to apprise the governor of crucial issues in the cases at hand: ineffective counsel, conflict of interest, mitigating evidence, even actual evidence of innocence." His memos caused Bush frequently to approve executions based on "only the most cursory briefings on the issues in dispute." Rather than informing the governor of the conflicting circumstances in a case, "The memoranda seem attuned to a radically different posture, assumed by Bush from the earliest days of his administration—one in which he sought to minimize his sense of legal and moral responsibility for executions." [Atlantic Monthly, July/August, 2003]
MEMORANDUM ON TERRY WASHINGTON: A CASE STUDY IN INCOMPETENCE: In his briefing on death-row defendant Terry Washington – a mentally retarded 33-year-old man with the communication skills of a seven-year-old – Gonzales devoted nearly a third of his three-page report to the gruesome details of the crime, but referred "only fleetingly to the central issue in Washington's clemency appeal—his limited mental capacity, which was never disputed by the State of Texas—and present[ed] it as part of a discussion of 'conflicting information' about the condemned man's childhood." In addition, Gonzales "failed to mention that Washington's mental limitations, and the fact that he and his ten siblings were regularly beaten with whips, water hoses, extension cords, wire hangers, and fan belts, were never made known to the jury, although both the district attorney and Washington's trial lawyer knew of this potentially mitigating evidence." Nor did he mention that Washington's lawyer had "failed to enlist a mental-health expert" to testify on Washington's behalf, even though "ineffective counsel and mental retardation were in fact the central issues raised in the thirty-page clemency petition" it was Gonzales's job to review. This all came at a time when "demand was growing nationwide to ban executions of the retarded." [Atlantic Monthly, July/August, 2003]
GONZALES TOLD GOV. BUSH HE COULD IGNORE INTERNATIONAL LAW: In 1997, Alberto Gonzales wrote a memo for then Gov. Bush to justify non-compliance with the Vienna Convention. The Vienna Convention, ratified by the Senate in 1969, was "designed to ensure that foreign nationals accused of a crime are given access to legal counsel by a representative from their home country." Gonzales sent a letter to the U.S. State Department in which he argued that the treaty didn't apply to the State of Texas, as Texas was not a signatory to the Vienna Convention. Two days later, Texas executed Mexican citizen Irineo Tristan Montoya, despite Mexico's protestations that Texas had violated Tristan's rights under the Vienna Convention by failing to inform the Mexican consulate at the time of his arrest. (Slate, 6/15/04)
GONZALES GETS BUSH OUT OF JURY DUTY TO KEEP DUI SECRET: In 1996, as counsel to Gov. Bush, Gonzales helped to get him excused from jury duty, "a situation that could have required the governor to disclose his then-secret 1976 conviction for drunken driving in Maine." Gonzales argued "that if Bush served, he would not, as governor, be able to pardon the defendant in the future." [USA Today, 3/18/02]
As Texas Supreme Court Justice
GONZALES DOES ENRON'S BIDDING: As an elected member of the Texas Supreme Court, "Enron and Enron's law firm were Gonzales's biggest contributors," giving him $35,450 in 2000. Overall, Gonzales raked in $100,000 from the energy industry. In May 2000, "Gonzales was author of a state Supreme Court opinion that handed the energy industry one of its biggest Texas legal victories in recent history." Since Bush brought him into the White House, Gonzales has worked doggedly to keep secret the details of energy task force meetings held by Vice President Cheney. [New York Daily News, 2/2/02]
ACCEPTING DONATIONS FROM LITIGANTS: In the weeks between hearing oral arguments and making a decision in Henson v. Texas Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance, Justice Alberto Gonzales collected a $2,000 contribution premium from the Texas Farm Bureau (which runs the defendant insurance company in this case). In another case, Gonzales pocketed a $2,500 contribution from a law firm defending the Royal Insurance company just before hearing oral arguments in Embrey v. Royal Insurance. [Texas for Public Justice]
by VirginiaDem
Wed Nov 10th, 2004 at 12:21:39 PST
Bush can't appoint a moderate to save his life, so we've got to get the Kos machine back in gear and out of its post-election malaise.
LTEs, message boards, emails, word of mouth - let the world know why we can't have Gonzales be the top law enforcement official in the country.
Borrowing from Kos and other blogs to consolidate everything in one place:
- Gonzales was largely responsible for the chain of events that led to Abu Ghraib - actually writing a memo to Bush advocating the disregard of Geneva Convention torture rules.
- Gonzeles was the legal architect for the Gitmo detainee system, much of which various courts (including the Supreme Court) have ruled unconstitutional.
- Gonzales had a tight financial and political connection to Enron, making him unable to impartially handle the largest corporate fraud in modern history or to enforce the laws needed to prevent the next Enron-like scandal.
Quite a track record for a lawyer, huh? Get the word out that we cannot have this guy be our #1 law enforcement officer. Post any addition reasons, and I'll update the diary.
Details after the jump...
1. Albert Gonzales is currently White House General Counsel. While there, he "asked for" and received a memorandum regarding the "Status of Taliban Forces ... Under the Geneva Conventions." The memo concludes that the Taliban forces are not covered under the Geneva Convention, which protects prisoners of war from torture. Gonzales let his feelings be known in a January 25, 2002 memo to the President, writing:
In my judgment, this new paradigm [the war on terror] renders obsolete Geneva's [i.e., the Geneva Convention's] strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions.
Gonzales's pro-torture memo gave fruit to an Order by the President accepting this rationale, making it part of what what Newsweek called the "root of torture" that led to the Abu Ghraib debacle.
2. Also while at the White House, Gonzales was the author of the Gitmo detainment procedures:
[H]e drew up the rules for holding suspected terrorists at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The detainees have been designated enemy combatants, denied prisoner-of-war status under the international Geneva Convention.
These rules have repeatedly been rejected by federal courts as unconstitutional, including the Supreme Court last summer.
3. Gonzales is "inextricably tied" to Enron, casting doubt on his ability to impartially handle the biggest corporate fraud in history. As the described in the press even now:
Gonzales also has connections to scandal-ridden energy giant Enron. He is a former partner in the Houston law firm Vinson and Elkins, which represented Enron. He also received $6,500 in campaign contributions from the company when he ran for re-election to the Texas Supreme Court.
Indeed, Gonzales got rich off of Enron as a corporate partner at Vinson & Elkins, which is the law firm that was sued for crafting these deals,
Remember, the federal government's case against Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling is still ongoing. Gonzales owes his fortune and much of his early political future to Ken Lay, so making him the nation's top law enforcement officer while the federal government prosecutes Lay presents an obvious conflict of interest. Also, we cannot trust the investigation and enforcement of rules against the future "Enrons" to a corporate lawyer who was possibly contributed to the Enron debacle in the first place.
Posted at 10:07 pm by sanfrancisco
Democrat Blog Swarm Permalink
Alberto Gonzalez
The Honorable Alberto R. Gonzales
Counsel to the President
 Judge Al Gonzales was commissioned as Counsel to President George W. Bush in January of 2001. Prior to serving in the White House, he served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. Before his appointment to the Texas Supreme Court in 1999, he served as Texas' 100th Secretary of State from December 2, 1997 to January 10, 1999. Among his many duties as Secretary of State, Gonzales was a senior advisor to then Governor Bush, chief elections officer, and the Governor's lead liaison on Mexico and border issues.
Prior to his appointment as Secretary of State, Gonzales was the General Counsel to Governor Bush for three years. Before joining the Governor's staff, he was a partner with the law firm of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. in Houston, Texas. He joined the firm in June 1982. While in private practice, Gonzales also taught law as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center.
Among his many professional and civic activities, Gonzales was elected to the American Law Institute in 1999. He was a board trustee of the Texas Bar Foundation from 1996 to 1999, a board director for the State Bar of Texas from 1991 to 1994, and President of the Houston Hispanic Bar Association from 1990 to 1991. He was a board director of the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast from 1993 to 1994, and President of Leadership Houston during this same period. In 1994, Gonzales served as Chair of the Commission for District Decentralization of the Houston Independent School District, and as a member of the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions for Rice University. Gonzales was Special Legal Counsel to the Houston Host Committee for the 1990 Summit of Industrialized Nations, and a member of delegations sent by the American Council of Young Political Leaders to Mexico in 1996 and to the People's Republic of China in 1995.
Among his many honors, in 2003 Gonzales was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Hall of Fame, was honored with the Good Neighbor Award from the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, and received President's Awards from the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the League of United Latin American Citizens. In 2002, he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Rice University by the Association of Rice Alumni and was honored by the Harvard Law School Association with the Harvard Law School Association Award. Gonzales was recognized as the 1999 Latino Lawyer of the Year by the Hispanic National Bar Association, and he received a Presidential Citation from the State Bar of Texas in 1997 for his dedication to addressing basic legal needs of the indigent. He was chosen as one of the Five Outstanding Young Texans by the Texas Jaycees in 1994, and as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas by the Texas Young Lawyers Association in 1992. Gonzales was honored by the United Way in 1993 with a Commitment to Leadership Award, and received the Hispanic Salute Award in 1989 from the Houston Metro Ford Dealers for his work in the field of education.
Gonzales was born in San Antonio, Texas and raised in Houston. He is a graduate of Texas public schools, Rice University, and Harvard Law School. Gonzales served in the United States Air Force between 1973 and 1975, and attended the United States Air Force Academy between 1975 and 1977. He is married to Rebecca and is the father of three sons.
Posted at 10:42 pm by blog swarm
Political News Permalink
CALL FOR PUBLIC HEARINGS IN OHIO!
They might have conceded - but we haven't conceded our right to have our votes count.
The Ohio Citizens Alliance for Secure Elections (CASE-OH), the League of Young Voters, People for the American Way Foundation - a leading member of the Election Protection Coalition, Common Cause Ohio, Ohio Election Reform Now, Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism, WVKO Radio, and Ohio Voterization Project are calling for public hearings to investigate voting irregularities and voter suppression in Ohio surrounding the 2004 General Election.
THIS IS A NONPARTISAN STATEWIDE CALL TO ACTION. VOTERS AND POLL WORKERS FROM AROUND THE STATE ARE INVITED TO TESTIFY.
Saturday November 13, 1-4 PM
New Faith Baptist Church
955 Oak Street
Columbus, Ohio 43205
Monday November 15, 6-9 PM,
Auditorium (Meeting Room A)
Courthouse, 373 S. High St.
Columbus, OH
We are calling for anyone who experienced or observed election
irregularities or voter suppression on Election Day to come forward and
give their testimony.
We are calling for any individuals or organizations that have information about election irregularities or voter suppression that occured before, during or after the elections to give their testimony.
We are calling for our public officials, community representatives and
the media to come and hear the testimony of the people.
We will document and videotape the testimonies for use in a report
and a formal complaint to the Franklin County Board of Elections.
This is a public space to respond to the systemic undermining of our
democratic process and assess how to respond to racial disenfranchisement and suppression of democratic rights.
Citizens, voting experts, and investigative journalists will be invited
to present testimony for the public record documenting instances of voting irregularities and systematic voter suppression. The coalition hopes to expose the systemic undermining of our democratic process that occurred leading up to and on Nov 2, and assess how to respond to racial
disenfranchisement and suppression of democratic rights.
Testimony will be followed by a summary statement of patterns of voting rights violations emerging in the state of Ohio and a discussion of statewide reforms needed to address these issues.
ENDORSERS:
* Ohio State Senator Teresa Fedor
* Ohio State Senator Ray Miller
* Carol Mosley Braun
* Cobb/LaMarche campaign
* League of Pissed Off Voters (www.indyvoter.org)
* freelance journalist Lynn Landes
* Dr. Robert Fitrakis, Ph.D, J.D.
* Bill Moss, community leader/former Columbus School Board Member
* Lawyers Committee For Civil Rights in San Francisco Bay Area
* Medea Benjamin - Code Pink & Global Exchange
* Ted Glick - IPPN
* This Time We're Watching (www.ttww.org)
* Driving Votes (www.drivingvotes.org)
* Chris Vaeth - Truth Force Training Center
* International Labor Communications Association
* No Stolen Elections Coalition (www.nov3.us)
* Liberty Tree
* Black Voices for Peace
* Alliance for Democracy
We are seeking support from US Congressional Representatives, Ohio State Representatives, nonpartisan organizations, and community and national leaders. Experts and investigative reporters are invited to present testimony as well.
Here are a few articles on the types of voter suppression/disenfranchisement that we are hoping to call attention to:
Kerry Won. Greg Palast, Tompaine.com
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/kerry_won_.php
Did Kerry Concede Too Soon? Bob Fitrakis, The Free Press
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/981
Was the Ohio Election Honest and Fair? Institute for Public Accuracy
http://www.accuracy.org/press_releases/PR110304.htm
Worse Than 2000: Tuesday's Electoral Disaster, William Rivers Pitt,
Truthout
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/110804A.shtml
None Dare Call it Voter Suppression and Fraud, Bob Fitrakis, Free Press
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/983
To get involved, sponsor this call, or testify, contact:
ohiohearings@yahoo.com
Amy Kaplan: 614.405.2160
Navina Khanna: 425.269.5194
Naina Khanna
National Field Director
Posted at 10:36 pm by blog swarm
Political News Permalink
Posted at 10:34 pm by blog swarm
Political News Permalink
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