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TechnoratiTen Ways the McCain/Palin GOP Is Now Stealing the Ohio Vote
The McCain/Palin GOP is already in the process of stealing the Ohio vote, as was done in 2004. Among those at the center of the GOP strategy is Bush Family computer operative Michael Connell, who programmed the key vote counting mechanisms that were used to give George W. Bush his second term.
Except for John Kennedy in 1960, no candidate since 1856 (James Buchanan) has won the White House without carrying the Buckeye State. No Republican has ever done it.
On October 27, 2004, we published "Twelve Ways Bush is Now Stealing the Ohio Vote" at www.FreePress.org. Despite four years of denial by the Democratic Party and the corporate media, all methods mentioned in that article (plus many more) were used in the theft that gave George W. Bush his second term.
Much has now changed in Ohio, including the transition from a Republican Governor (Robert Taft) and Secretary of State (J. Kenneth Blackwell) to Democrats Ted Strickland and Jennifer Brunner. Brunner has made strong public commitments to conducting a fair registration process, an orderly election and a reliable vote count this fall. She is being pushed by the King-Lincoln-Bronzeville federal civil rights lawsuit, filed originally against Blackwell.
To help guarantee an election that truly reflects the will of the voters, Freepress.org will convene a conference on election protection procedures web-cast from Columbus this September 26-8. It will reinforce the positive steps Brunner has taken, and will help train poll workers and judges to safeguard the vote in Ohio and around the nation.
But much of the electoral apparatus remains beyond public control. Serious questions remain about how reliable the final vote count will be, and how much of it the Republican party will cage, confuse and steal in its crusade to put John McCain and Sarah Palin into the White House.
Here are some of the key factors that still endanger the vote in Ohio and around the nation:
1) Illegal Destruction of Evidence Surrounding the Vote Count
In a federal court decision delivered in August, 2006, Judge Algernon Marbley ruled that all materials related to the 2004 presidential vote in Ohio must be preserved. Standing federal law required that these materials be protected for 22 months dating from November 4, 2004. In response to the King-Lincoln lawsuit, Marbley's decision came in time to make it a federal offense to destroy any poll books, ballots and other records relating to the 2004 election in Ohio at any time.
Around the time of the decision, GOP Secretary of State Blackwell, who also served as Ohio co-chair of the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign, issued ambivalent orders to the state's 88 county Boards of Elections about preserving these materials.
Blackwell subsequently lost his 2006 campaign for governor of Ohio, and was replaced by Brunner as secretary of state. Brunner publicly announced that she would establish a repository in Columbus for all 2004 election materials. In accordance with the King-Lincoln lawsuit, a definitive recount would then establish what actually happened during the Bush re-election.
But in August of 2007, Ohio Attorney-General Mark Dann informed the King-Lincoln attorneys that 56 of the 88 county Boards of Elections had illegally destroyed all or some of their records and ballots from 2004. No repository has been established for what remains, and no definitive recount is now possible.
Ironically, Florida Governor Jeb Bush did preserve materials from the 2000 election there from all but one of the counties in that state. The materials are being held in a repository in Tallahassee. But no such resource---and no definitive recount---will be possible in Ohio.
There have been no state or federal prosecutions for the illegal destruction of these materials. Nor does there seem to be any guarantee similar destruction will not follow the 2008 election.
2) Massive Residual Elimination of Registered Voters
In the run-up to the 2004 elections, GOP-controlled Boards of Elections in Ohio eliminated some 308,000 registered voters from the rolls used at the polls to determine whether or not citizens are eligible to vote. The purges were conducted in heavily Democratic districts in Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Lucas (Toledo) and Hamilton (Cincinnati) Counties. The numbers of voters eliminated represented more than 5% of the 5.4 million Ohioans who voted in 2004. The GOP also challenged the right of some 35,000 registered voters to cast ballots, based largely on letters the Republicans sent to voters which then came back undelivered, thus allowing them to claim the lack of a valid address. Challenges were also issued to prevent thousands of ex-felons from voting, even though there is no state law disenfranchising them.
Overall, the removals far exceeded Bush's official victory margin of less than 119,000 votes. After the 2004 election, another 170,000 voters were eliminated in Franklin (Columbus) County, also now heavily Democratic.
Despite massive grassroots voter registration drives, those voters have never been restored to the registration lists. None were notified when they were eliminated, and no public accounting has been made of exactly who was disenfranchised. Parallel purges were used in Florida 2000, and throughout the US in 2004. There is every reason to believe the GOP will repeat them in 2008 wherever possible.
3) Renewed Attempts to Eliminate Additional Registered Voters
Throughout Ohio's 88 counties, GOP-controlled Boards of Elections have continued "caging" registered voters by sending them notices requiring that the post office return those that cannot be delivered. A loophole in Ohio law allows partisan challengers to then demand that the names of those whose forms come back be eliminated from the voter rolls. This practice has been used by the GOP throughout the nation to purge voter rolls in inner city precincts. In many cases those removed are soldiers currently serving in Iraq.
The Advancement Project has notified Brunner that it will challenge any mass purges in Ohio 2008. For her part, Brunner has ruled that returned notices cannot be used as a basis for eliminating voters from the registration rolls. She has further attempted to counter-act the purges by requiring that any registered voter fingered for removal be issued notice and given a pubic hearing by the purging BOE. But the process remains intimidating for prospective voters---especially the heavily-targeted list of those voting for the first time. With sixty days left to election day, the on-going impact remains unclear.
4-5) Resisting Universal Access to Absentee Ballots While Re-introducing Chaos
Brunner and voting rights advocates want the Boards of Elections in all 88 Ohio counties to mail absentee ballots to all voters. Previous restrictions on casting such ballots have been lifted. Brunner has strongly supported the practice of making these paper ballots available throughout the state. It would, among other things, help eliminate long lines at the polls, increase access for the infirm and disabled, and circumvent electronic voting machines, which her office has deemed to be easily corruptible. "As we prepare for Election Day," Brunner has said, "we are promoting clear, consistent, statewide standards for absentee voting. Every Ohioan who requests an absentee ballot should have the same rights and responsibilities," no matter what county they might be in.
Ohio's GOP leadership has made a loud public show of supporting this universal access to absentee ballots. But the Republican-controlled legislature pointedly failed to authorize enough money to the Secretary of State's office to pay for the full mailing. In a stunning display of public cynicism, the GOP leadership has since told Brunner, in a non-binding promise, that she should just go ahead and order the local BOE's to do the mailings. The Legislature, they say, will then vote the additional money at some point in the future.
Brunner has refused to do this, pointing out that the potential shortfall would be in the millions, and that such an order---in essence, an unfunded mandate---might be illegal. As a result, using a calculation based on per capita postage rates, she has informed every BOE how much state money they can expect. She is encouraging those that have the additional money in their budgets to do the mailings on their own.
The GOP-sponsored shortfall has thus introduced chaos into what should have been the orderly, manageable process of providing every Ohioan with a paper ballot prior to election day. As it now stands, some counties will be mailing absentee ballots and others will not. The uneven distribution is expected to favor GOP voters in better-funded rural and suburban districts. Should problems arise as a result of this uneven distribution, the GOP will certainly blame Brunner.
6) Resisting Same-Day Registration and Voting
A loophole in a recently passed Ohio election law allows voters to register to vote and then cast an absentee ballot at the same time by coming in person to their Board of Elections between September 30 and October 6. Ironically, the loophole was accidentally inserted into an otherwise highly repressive bill by Republican State Senator KevinDewine, second cousin of the former US Senator Mike DeWine, who lost his seat in 2006. By allowing voters to cast absentee ballots as they register, they can avoid long election-day lines and the perils of electronic voting machines. Furthermore, the only election ID required is the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number.
The Ohio Republican Party has called on Brunner "to revoke a directive to allow residents to register to vote and cast an absentee ballot the same day." The GOP says her directive is illegal. The party is expected to deploy a full attack on this provision that would otherwise allow thousands of Ohioans to participate in the process for the first time with relative ease and security.
7) The Persistent Spread of Electronic Voting Machines
In addition to mass elimination of Democratic voters, a principle method of stealing the 2004 election in Ohio was through the manipulation of electronic voting machines. Since then, the Ohio-based Diebold Company has admitted that its machines are vulnerable to manipulation and the dropping of significant numbers of votes. Decertification and lawsuits involving Diebold and other electronic machines in California and elsewhere have proliferated. Some 800,000 Ohio ballots---representing about 15% of the state's vote---were cast on Diebold machines in 2004. Additional votes were cast in Ohio and nationwide on machines made by ES&S, Hart Inner-Civic,Triad and others, all of whom have come under serious legal and legislative scrutiny.
Studies by the Brennan Center, Princeton University, the Carter-Baker Commission, the Government Accountability Office, the Conyers Committee and others, have all concluded that results coming from such machines can be easily manipulated, and election outcomes reversed, with just a few keystrokes. A $1.5 million report to Brunner's office concluded that electronic machines could easily have been used to steal the 2004 election in Ohio.
But because of the Help America Vote Act, authored by former Ohio Congressman Bob Ney (just recently released from Federal prison), electronic voting machines will be in far greater use in Ohio and around the nation during the 2008 election than ever before. The reinstatement of electronic voting machines has also been forced into effect in New York and elsewhere despite widespread attempts to require the use of paper ballots. Without a massive influx of absentee ballots, voters in 54 of Ohio's counties are likely to be forced to use touchscreen machines, with parallel increases nationwide. This includes Ohio's largest city, Columbus, and other major urban center such as Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown.
In 2004, the compiled tabulation of Ohio's electronic vote was deisgned for Secretary of State Blackwell by Michael Connell, a Bush family loyalist who programmed the Bush-Cheney web site in the 2000 election. Connell directed the Ohio vote count to servers in a basement in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which also housed e-mail traffic for the White House. Thousands of emails from Karl Rove and other key Bush Administration operatives have mysteriously disappeared from servers in this basement. Many worked side-by-side with the Connell-designed ones to which Ohio's official election results were outsourced, under supervision by Rove and Blackwell.
Like Rove, Connell now works for the McCain/Palin campaign. An IT associate, Steve Spoonamore, himself a McCain supporter, has stated that Connell's IT apparatus can be used to steal elections. Attempts to force Connell to testify under oath have thus far been successfully resisted by the GOP.
Brunner has ordered a halt to some better-known e-voting abuses, such as "sleep overs" whereby electronic machines have been stored at the homes of poll workers prior to election day. At the behest of attorneys working through the King-Lincoln lawsuit, other potential abuses in the electronic apparatus are being exposed and eliminated by Brunner. She has issued the 2008-74 County Board of Elections Security and Risk Mitigation Plan which requires Boards of Elections to secure the machines and file plans that safeguard the hardware and software as well as establish chain of custody. Her 2008-73 memorandum, concerning "Minimum Security Requirements of Vote Tabulation Servers," mandates that "Each board of elections shall develop and/or maintain a policy for account and password management for granting access to the server and access to related workstations, if any, for its election system." The directive goes on to require that, "Each Board of Elections shall have a policy for maintaining sign-in documentation of server activity and related workstation activity..."
"We want Ohio's voters and the rest of the nation to see that we have prepared a transparent process of transporting voting equipment, ballots and supplies," Brunner says. "That begins with security practices at boards of elections and polling places, documented chain of custody, and now procedures to make secure voting machine delivery."
But electronic touchscreen voting remains a black hole through which a close election could once again be stolen, in Ohio and throughout the nation.
8) Residual Chaos From Precinct Elimination and Manipulation
In the lead-up to Ohio 2004, Blackwell eliminated numerous precincts where voters had cast their ballots for decades. Consolidation was uneven. Some 321 precincts have been shifted in Franklin County alone. Blackwell admitted to a Congressional hearing that false, misleading and out-of-date information was posted on the state's official web site, misdirecting thousands of voters to the wrong polling stations. In many cases, they were then denied the right to vote altogether, or forced to cast provisional ballots which were never counted.
The chaos resulting from these precinct eliminations has not been entirely overcome. For financial and other reasons, Brunner has not restored all the precincts to pre-Blackwell levels. It is expected that her website will provide accurate information about precinct status and location. But it's likely some problems will persist.
9) Data Mining
Early indications are that the Republicans are heavily involved in data mining. Registered voters are already reporting strange letters from undisclosed senders or unidentified nonprofit organizations "welcoming" voters to the system. As in 2004, voters should expect a deluge of phone calls as well, telling them if they vote they'll be arrested if they have outstanding parking and traffic tickets, back child support payments due, or are on parole, probation or reside in a halfway house. None of these are legal grounds for disenfranchisement. But we expect thousands of such calls will be made to keep first-time and uninformed voters away from the polls.
10) Expanded Voter Identification Requirements
A US Supreme Court decision has upheld an Indiana law, drafted and passed by the GOP, requiring photographic identification for voter registration. Because millions of young, poor, homeless, minority and elderly voters may not have voter ID, various state laws are expected to eliminate large numbers of mostly Democratic voters from casting ballots throughout the country. In key swing states like Ohio, which now require ID other than signature to vote (except by absentee ballot), the outcome of the election could be significantly affected. Attempts by voter registration organizations to help such voters obtain suitable ID are proceeding. But the law may still deprive crucial numbers of citizens their right to vote, and play a decisive role in the November 4 outcome.
Overall, there is no doubt that four years of intense public scrutiny, legal action and grassroots organizing have made the theft of the 2008 election in many ways a more difficult proposition. Widespread training of poll workers, poll judges and independent observers (including video teams) will add to the safeguards available during the registration process, voting and vote count. Should thousands of trained election protection activists committed to the democratic process come to the polls this year, it may prove impossible for the 2008 election to be stolen, as happened in 2000 and 2004.
But the Supreme Court approval of photo identification requirements and the proliferation of electronic voting machines will prove serious challenges to a fair registration, voting and vote count process. Given the number of ploys used by the GOP in Ohio and elsewhere in 2004, it's certain additional methods of election theft will surface this year that no one has seen before.
Unless they are effectively countered, there is little doubt that John McCain and Sarah Palin will follow George W. Bush and Dick Cheney into the White House.
52 Comments so far
Show AllThe part about threatening voters that they'll be arrested, that should be if it isn't, ILLEGAL! Is it not every citisen's right to vote? Having poll workers hold on to the machines- of course they're going to tamper with it. And wonderful (I'm being sarcastic) work by the Republicans, just- oops- not having any money to distribute absentee ballots. The entire thing is seriously insane; it makes me sick. They are going so far to try and thwart the system ON WHICH THIS COUNTRY WAS supposedly BUILT. This isn't a fair election anymore; this isn't a democracy- this is CONQUERING. Are the Democratic voters going to be forced to walk a 'Trail of Tears'? Are we going to be forced into a No Man's Land, with our own reservations? This...this is ridiculous. This country has fallen into a sad and sorry state.
"Unless they are effectively countered, there is little doubt that John McCain and Sarah Palin will follow George W. Bush and Dick Cheney into the White House."
Ironically, the Repimplicans won't have to fix the election, in Ohio or anywhere else. The general fear and ignorance and even downright racism and stupidity of a majority of the electorate will give McCain/Palin the victory. Can you imagine the cynical laughter in the chambers of Repimplican power when this happens? We rip those rubes off; we swindle them; we humiliate them in broad daylight; we tell lies that not even a newborn would believe; we kill their sons and daughters for nothing . . . and they still vote for us. America, you heedless, half-assed army of lemmings. Go on, march over the cliff to the tune of "76 Trombones".
I beg to differ, Mordechai. They WILL have to fix it, just as they HAD to fix the last two elections, because, in spite of a constant barrage of right wing corporate propaganda, the American people are just not stupid enough, or cynical enough, to elect George W. Bush--or McSame, in my view. Of course, we have proof that they did NOT "elect" George W. Bush. They wouldn't have fixed it unless they felt they HAD to.
So, I wonder how you arrive at your sentiment about "the majority of the electorate," other than the corporate media, which is always trying to make us believe we are cynical, self-interested and stupid. I'm not saying there aren't a lot of racist, belligerent people in the U.S.--there are. But in general, Americans are far more liberal than the corporate media makes them out to be, or than the electoral system permits them to express. And they are FAR more liberal and intelligent than the decision makers in Congress and the White House.
The fix is in, McCain will be our next pResident, regardless of the voters' intentions. The pundits will say that voters just had too many doubts about Obama's foreign policy experience, and Sarah Palin galvanized the Christian Right, causing a massive turnout for the Republicans. It will go down to the wire, and lo! McCain, "the maverick" will be declared the winner!
Folks, its time for General Strikes, tax resistance, and revolution. We've had two fraudulent presidential elections, and there is NOTHING to indicate 2008 will be any different. I've voted in every election since I was eligible to vote in 1980. From now on I'm not wasting my time.
Why legitimate a process that is a fraud?
I don't think it will "go down to the wire"
McCain will win by a healthy margin....
so tell me...right now today McCain is winning the Popular vote...and Obama has more Electoral Votes...Bush won that same way and you guys thought it was madness...that a candidate can win the Electoral votes and lose the Popular...will you still decry the system if Obama wins that way?
OK, here is the bet, McCain wins in 08, any takers?
I swear, if Mad Cain and Sarah Cuda are (s)elected, I will pound a wooden stake of ash through my blue passport.
_____
There's a glory in the morning because the earth turns 'round and a promise in the evening when the sun goes down
Don't do that. You might need it to leave.
Joe
I gotta tell ya...I'm starting to worry about the mentality of people in this country. When you ask Repubs just WHAT it is they like about Palin, I hear stuff like..."she hunts, she fishes, she shops at Wal-mart just like regular moms, and she's REAL." "She could've had an abortion but gave birth to a DS baby anyway." "She comes from a small town & understands small town values" But when you ask them what policies she supports that they approve of, all I get is, "she wants drilling & she's against abortion". THAT'S IT!!! With all thats facing this country after 8yrs under Bush, the fact that she bring NOTHING to the table other than a beauty queen smile, the ability to read a prepared speech & a questionable record as mayor/govenor (which somehow qualifies her to potentially lead our nation). Since the RNC, she's made a few campaign stops with McCain, where she's trotted out to make a 15min version of the speech she already gave at the RNC (complete with the same lies I might add) then MCain takes over and repeats HIS same lies about Obama raising their taxes and these people cheer like the sheep they are. Of course, when the camera pans the crowd, you see mostly older white men & women (the kind that don't use the internet to check the facts & get most of their information from Fox/Fix news & Bill O'Reilly.) Don't believe me?
Check this out: http://foxattacks.com/
We are being cheated people. Cheated out our 1 chance to REALLY make a difference in our children's lives. McCain talks about change then turns around and hires Steve Schmidt to head his campaign. The same man who ran Bush's campaign in '00. The same man who was behind the smear campaign against MCCAIN in SC by suggesting his adopted black daughter was really his illegitimate love child!!! Does that matter to McShame? HELL NO!!! Its all about winning now and ALL the stops are being pulled out. Lets face it, at his age (72) this is his last shot at the Oval office and he's going to do EVERYTHING to acheive his goal. Even run the kind of negative campaign he swore he wouldn't. Even if it means using Karl Rove behind the scenes. After all, "Bush's Brain" did such a great job beating him before, didn't he???
And now, after compaining that the media is "picking on" poor Palin for daring to question her qualifications as VP & not being "properly deferential", she's finally going to give an interview to Charlie "softball" Gibson. We've got less than 56 days to get past the hype and find out where she stands on the issues people!!!! And THIS is probably the best we're going to get??? Lemme tell you something Charlie, you better not screw this up. The lives of millions of people and of their children are literally in YOUR hands. Your reputation and that of ABC news is on the line and I guarantee that if there's even a WHIFF of pandering, there is going to be deafening howls of outrage directed at you!!! We will NOT accept softball questions or pre-prepared questions already approved by the RepubliCONs (led by Karl Rove.) Matter of fact, I think its time to take this criminal out of the equation don't you?!?
http://sendkarlrovetojail.com
Wake up people...Our country needs you to make the right choice! Eight is Enough!!!!!!
Is the GOP stealing the Ohio vote relevant? No.
It would be, if we didn't have fake candidates, fake elections and our votes really counted.
But Obama and Biden are working for John McCain, they both know he'll be the next president. It has all been decided months ago. The electoral and popular votes have already been assigned.
The Democrats will increase their numbers in both houses of congress and the Republicans will have the White House. The 'gridlock' will continue for at least 4 years. War with Iran will start in the winter.
I wrote in another thread that if Democrats had both the White House and congress, that would mean that they'd actually have the power to do something. It won't happen. The 'gridlock' in Washington must continue.
I don't think Obama or Biden know already the outcome. I don't think it is fixed in that "fixed" a manner. I _suspect_ it will be fixed for McCain, and there is no question that this is likely, given the last two stolen elections. It's interesting that every four years, now, we have a "neck and neck" race--there is never a candidate with a sizable advantage in the polls. If you were to fix elections through electoral fraud, this is what you would want: close elections every time.
I think the Republican attack machine has gotten very good at destroying the credibility of the Dem candidate for a large segment of the populace. 2 -3 books have already come out attacking Obama, there has been a 2 year email campaign calling him a Muslim (15% still believe he is Muslim, as of a couple months ago), and Fox News is 24/7 Republican TV and has been attacking him consistently for at least the last four months that I've monitored Fox, and probably a lot longer.
Then you have the 1,000 right-wing radio talk show ranters, with only about 60 Air America hosts to compete, and, well, the deck is stacked in favor of Republicans. This is not to say that the polls are accurate. Since they don't call people with cell phones, they leave out a broad swath of the voting public. But I think it is a crucial part of the strategy of the oligarchs in the Republican party who engineer elections is that you've got to have the thing neck and neck, a dead heat, down to the last day. No more than a few percentage points difference...It makes it easier to steal the election via computer fraud without raising too many eyebrows.
I suspect Obama _does_ know, like Kerry knew, that there was massive electoral fraud in Ohio that cost Kerry the election. Kerry and and the DLC did nothing to contest this fraud, and so they deserve nothing but our contempt. The Dem Party has done nothing to rectify the integrity of the vote, so it has to be viewed as complicit in a sham electoral process. It's not that they don't WANT to win, it's that they know the corporate media stack the deck against them. Moreover, they share a deep class interest with Republicans, they're all part of the same exclusive, privileged club, and they don't want to upset the wonderful complacency, based on misinformation, of the American public.
The Dems know, just like the Repubs, that if a large enough segment of the American public finds out about all the crap that's gone down, the millionaires club of the Senate and the other centers of power could face a citizenry intent on revolution. This must be avoided at all costs, even if it means not contesting stolen elections.
I think many Democrats are willfully ignorant--in denial--about our stolen elections. Others just play along with the agenda set by the corporate media, for reasons stated above. Nevertheless, their refusal to bring up the subject and insist on an overhaul of our antiquated electoral system in a manner that would assure a reliable outcome, makes them complicit with the Republicans.
USAn---
J'cuse you of being a so-called Troll.
You wrote at this site:
"Good article. Unlike his anti-nuclear power stuff, Mr. Wasserman seems to be actually informed about the electoral shennanigans in his home state."
I know Harvey, personally, and I have read his books for decades. I have also read his most recent book, Solartopia..., and it pretty much predicted the Thomas Friedman NYT method by which The West goes "Independent."
What is the American advantage of going "independent."? Not much.
-30-
Why doesn't anyone question the elections when a democrat wins? And I didn't see anyone questioning the results when obama edged out hillary for the democrat nomination.
With so many people loosing their homes (I'm sure they are not Republican voters), I'm sure their residency will be challenged and even another advantage givin to the Republicans. Not to mention do you actually bother to vote when you don't have a job and/or home?
I've read much of this data before, and find Bev Harris' examples quite telling. Robert F Kennedy, Jr. also published a long & thorough account of all the chicanery and machinations around the Ohio election. I believe it ended up published in Rolling Stone (not sure).
TREE FITZ: Mercury won't go retrograde for about another 2 weeks... you may be feeling the upcoming full moon. It's in Pisces, the sign of illusion and deception, and the weather always goes into a tailspin on this annual cycle... storm after storm marching across the Atlantic; but my heart goes out to the island people of Cuba and already impoverished Haiti, to have taken the brunt for what our western lifestyles and over-consumption of fossil fuel is causing them. Mothers had been feeding their children mud pies the poverty was so severe in Haiti, and these storms have ruined yet more crops. I PRAY a worldwide crusade to send aid to this nation now occurs!
I lived in Bogota, Colombia for a year back in the mid-seventies (my junior year in college). There was a presidential election while I was there. Although there were two candidates, the country was an oligarchy. The entrenched party in power was going to win. Voting seemed just about meaningless. I was young, idealistic and appalled that there even was such a thing as an oligarchy.
We are an oligarchy, which is not far from a dictatorship. The voice of the people no longer matters. I am not sure any of us should be wasting our time fretting about Diebold machines. If this article is correct, and I assume it is, it is almost impossible for me to believe there are any Diebold voting machines still being used (after the debacles of 2000 and 2004). . . and yet, Diebold machines ARE still being used.
The dream of American democracy is over.
Let each of us do what we can to live good, happy lives. Let us not try to count on the government, especially the federal government. Perhaps if we begin to disengage and focus on our individual lives, we can meaningfully reshape our culture. But as long as many citizens seem to think voting is the way to bring about meaningful change, I don't think we are going to get it.
There are lots of things federal taxes pay for that are badly needed, such as medicare, social security, housing vouchers, food stamps. Many real humans will suffer real suffering if this money dries up. I don't want people to starve while living under bridges because food stamps and housing vouchers are no longer funded. . .I am sickened as I imagine the human future as created by the conservatives, one in which 'me-first' dominates and greed is an acceptable value. . . . but. . . I am way depressed right now. Maybe mercury is in retrograde?!A!!
Maybe we should just let the neo-cons take over and be done with it and focus on our individual selves.
Conservatives/Liberals the terms are outmoded. Governors are less interested in the governed than they are about Re-election. Would *"Native Criminal Class", be a better Descriptor? *Gore Vidal
Outstanding point Tree Fitz.
Yes, that is in fact the point of view that most of our country is seriously considering by not getting involved in the election system.
I'm not pretending to sympathize about the people who for right or wrong want to become involved in the election system.
I am arguing with myself about why I'm not more involved and it's a very one sided argument.
The only possible way to take America back is to change the system from within.
There is no possibility of winning the hearts and minds of people by advocating more radical means of control.
I do not expect or want anyone in Washington to help with this change since "...elected", is a term that carries a responsibility to your constituents and to the government system.
Now, having said that, the only alternative to your very true comments about quality of life and a neo-con takeover is that their are plenty of Americans (plenty) like myself that would rather die than let some political movement like the one I'm referring to here destroy the constitution or the offices that our founding fathers helper create.
For your better understanding and to help you to see that these politicians are not going to take over and dismantle our form of government, look at the support for Representative Kucinich that has helped to galvanize the people like myself (I signed the petition and wrote my Representative Pete Sessions here in the 32nd Federal District of Texas).
The Election "show", that you see is not the way that Washington gets it's business done.
They act like they want to help but you and I know that's just not true.
After the elections are over they'll get back to business with talking to their fellow Representatives about government issues, and they listen to their Pollsters and to their Lobbyists.
It takes all of us, together to convince them, that they had a really good idea about impeaching that President.
Or that putting in Earmarks for special projects is a really bad idea when their constituents are going to vote on those issues as well.
I don't want them to pass more laws that tie their own hands and make them less able to take action on what their voters want.
Let's tell them each and every day so that they'll be sure and think up the right way to take the credit for passing the right bills, Hell they can even take all the credit, I don't care just as long as they do the job that we elected them to do.
hman
bligh4
Article is sheer paranoid idiocy. Embarrassing to see it on CD.
Prove it.
Conservatives/Liberals the terms are outmoded. Governors are less interested in the governed than they are about Re-election. Would *"Native Criminal Class", be a better Descriptor? *Gore Vidal
I haven't examined any of the analysis of Electoral patterns that you are talking about and I don't know how reliable the prediction methods are.
I would like to ask if the patterns for electing these candidates are able to be well predicted.
I spent all of my time prior to and after these 2 elections pouring over all of the Election Machine problems.
I'll say that the Election machine company that was called Diebold changed their name in August 2007 to Premier Election Systems for "strategic reasons"(?).
I can't say what that means but I could guess that it might have something to do with the roster of persons employed by Diebold that cast some doubt on the company's business.
In 2005 CEO Wally O'Dell resigned from Diebold after his company was accused of Securities fraud and insider trading. The Same Walden O'Dell that admiitted in 2003 to being a Bush Fundraiser and sent a get out the vote letter to Ohio republicans in which he stated he was committed to delivering the Ohio State electoral vote to the President...".
And of course the "Crux of the Biscuit...", as Mr. Zappa thoughtfully suggested is the most disturbing fact of all.
Jeff Dean, Senior Vice-President and Senior Programmer at Global Election Systems (GES), the company purchased by Diebold in 2002 which became Diebold Election Systems, was convicted of 23 counts of felony theft for planting back doors in software he created for ATMs using, according to court documents, a "high degree of sophistication" to evade detection over a period of two years.
In addition to Dean, GES employed a number of other convicted felons in senior positions, including a fraudulent securities trader and a drug trafficker.
Diebold Election Systems Incorporated (DESI) claims its systems provide strong immunity to ballot tampering and other vote rigging attempts.
These claims have been challenged, notably by Bev Harris on her website, Blackboxvoting.org, and book by the same name. Harris claims there is also evidence that the Diebold systems have been exploited to tamper with American elections — a claim Harris expands in her book Black Box Voting.
The debate that still goes on between Computer software systems companies who advocate or decry the type of security system being Open Source coding or Secured is ongoing and unlikely to be resolved at all.
I have been writing letters to my State's Secretary of State (all unanswered) and asking how I might request a paper ballot to use.
The answers I have found online are very disappointing.
I can request a provisional ballot or a mail-in ballot but the State Election board and only the Election Board will determine the number and type of election machines delivered to the precinct.
My State's Election Board (like yours) has already determined the approximate make up of the election machines that will be delivered on Election day to each polling place.
These facts are very normal and if it weren't for the possibility of an Electronic Ballot machine flip-flopping the vote I cast (like they did in Ohio in 2004) or reporting the numbers to my Election Administering Voting Site (Election judge level) and having someone change the vote in the Voting Site (read Bev Harris' report) I wouldn't be concerned.
What do you readers think about this?
hman
&YYY&
The republicans are always so cool,
when they know their vote is rigged for rule.
The democrats will always sound very thin,
because they do not really want to win.
All they really want to do is spin.
Most of the politicians are happy with the way things go,
because they like to stand by a river of big money flow.
Scooping out the big buckets of cash,
None would like to do anything rash.
All the world is given the lash.
The only alternatives like strong green,
In self righteous poses like to preen.
All main newspapers, radio and TV,
dutifully ignore the leftist scree,
on pain of sacking, or losing a fee.
So voters decide in ignorance blind,
with empty slogans make up their mind,
On policy change without substance,
at last the people vote in a trance.
on computers the vote counts are a dance.
#1 is about 2004, doesn't seem to have anything to do with 2008.
#2 and #3 are a normal part of the process of trying to maintain accurate voter rolls. In most places, both parties do this. If its only the Republicans in Ohio, then the question is why are the Democrats doing the same.
#4,5,6 are the typical back and forth between the two parties. Usually the Dems want these rules more open, the Republicans want them more closed. But its really both sides trying to game the system to their advantage. #6 is probably especially unfair to list as its more a pipe dream than anything that occurs anywhere. The only place I know that does this is MN.
#7 is a problem everywhere.
#8 is normal. Precincts do get rearranged at times. If the Dems can't get their voters to the right precincts four years after the change, then that speaks much more about the incomptence of the Dems than anything about the Republicans trying to steal an election.
#9 so what. Or of course. If the Dems aren't doing this, I'd be shocked. And since I get stupid recordings of Bill Clinton on my phone on election day, I'm pretty sure they are.
#10. Again, why can't the Dems teach their voters to bring a friggin ID to the voting booth. Frankly, this is one I've never really seen a problem with. If you are going to have a system where a person walks up to a voting place and gets a ballot, and if you want to try to ensure a person only votes once, then this seems to be pretty logical to me. I view it largely as protecting MY vote, as it makes it harder for someone to go to the voting place and claim to be me.
And again, why aren't the Dems out now helping all their potential voters get an ID card? This seems to speak more for Dem incompetence than anything the Republicans are doing to 'steal' the election.
Or, are the Democrats subtlely throwing the game by failing to execute the plays they should be executing? Either way, it says the Dems need to do more work and less whining.
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"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
"Throwing the game" seemed to me like what Kerry was doing. I have never trusted him since I met him on a anti-Vietnam war march years ago and he exuded cold waves that gave me the chills.
Joe
"Brunner and voting rights advocates want the Boards of Elections in all 88 Ohio counties to mail absentee ballots to all voters"
Let's shift this country to mail in voting RIGHT NOW, PEOPLE!!! The mail in ballots will: 1.) Display the Name, Address and Social Security number of the voter. 2.) Indicate the candidates running for each office and allow the voter to write in alternate candidates. 3.) provides the voter a carbon copy receipt, 4.) free postage, 5.) ability to verify through gov website that your vote was registered correctly. C'MON PEOPLE, DEMAND IT!
Actually, this sounds like an election system that is easily hackable. When the ballot comes back in, there's no way to know if its really from the voter who's name is on it. Unless you used FedEX to deliver these and collect signatures of the people who received them, there's no way to know if the ballot even reached the voters. How hard would it be for a crooked politician or party to go out a 3 in the afternoon of the day the ballots are in mailboxes and grab as many as they can before people come home from work.
In general, I've heard mail-in voting described as being one of the least secure voting systems.
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"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
uh... so, what's your point? If the entire election is a fraud and it really doesn't matter which brand of "The Party" wins, why should I be concerned? I'm speaking from under the bus, so perhaps I missed something in the last several weeks... but I'll be damned if I can understand what that might be.
If you are suggesting that I should be concerned about which Republican faction gets to pocket the loot for the next four years, make your case.
...camped by the left rear wheel.
Have any of you readers ever played good old American football ? I have. College level, while in the U S Army and one try at semi pro. Someplace along that line I found out that a U S prez election was like a game. The grid, the clcok, the news boxes, the crowd ( popular voters ) the refs, the coaches and the players.
Now the players break down to the well known postions like QB, RB, WR for offense, for the D, Linebackers a really good Safety and a tackle that ooozes of the stuff that make most men fear. Then the not so well or even unheard of players who are seldom watched. Ofensive line, TE included on D Safety guys half of the LB's and some of the D line. Now in a football game you can have a left guard ( you never heard of ) pull out and trap. This is to give the RB another guy to make way for him. A game could depend on that move. So what if that pulling guard screws up on purpose to blow the game ? It will look like he was beat but he knows he did it on his own and let the other team win. Now stick this system into an election and you can see elections can be lost when honestly beaten or when someody who had something to do with the game blows it. The Dems blew it in 2000 and got very good at accepting loss that in 2008 The star player Kerry walked off the grid with a few moments to play. Now if the football team had only three players we could see it all, if the elections were understandable we could see it all. You wonder if Palin is the cheerleader here ? Might be.
Former Middle Line Backer
Most of the things I see on the list in the article fall much more in the category of the Dems blowing it instead of the Republicans stealing it.
For instance, most of the tactics above could also be used by the Democrats. Are the Democrats sending letters to people in the heavily Republican parts of the state and then trying to strike those voters from the rolls.
Yes, I believe that ideally we'd have a non-partisan election system which is run by people who want to make it as easy as possible for people to vote in a fair election. Instead we have a partisan system where one party controls the local elections boards, and you get these sorts of attempts back and forth between the party to challenge voters.
So, why is only one side doing this? Is the other side just 'blowing it'? Or is the other side subtlely throwing the game? What I see from this list is not one side 'stealing' and election, but instead one side who just seems better coached and better drilled and that is executing its moves correctly.
Ie, it looks a lot like the Denver - Oakland game last night with the Dems being Oakland.
Former Nose Tackle (one of those positions down in the line you'd never hear of)
:)
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"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
I do believe we have a real problem here in both voter fraud and electronic voting. No problem with electronic voting, get rid of it.
But other than a bio-metric national identity card, or real registering to vote policies, how can you fix that?
I was with moveon.org at the polls in Dayton, OH, in 2004; I can assure that we will never know the real outcome--but all that is stated in the article did indeed happen. I was onthe phone at 5:00 AM (not in bed yet)screaming bloody murder to anyne who would listen! I called the NAACP, teh SCLC (the voter caging and challenging, I saw firsthand at two trad/ Af. Am. colleges in Greene county), and Rep Tubbs-Jones. She was the only one to truly listem She was involved in TRYING to hold the basterds accoutnable, The DNC sat with thei rthumb up their ass, if you'll pardon the expression! It may be one reason I cannot vote DNC anymore! GAWD I WAS PISSED!!!!!! And we stil have tho gawdam Diebold machines--they hav a "paper trail", but its "in the machine"--youjust "look at it".-I dont know what theDem in Ohio are planning to do this year that is different. I prob wouldve helpeed in Atty Gen. Dann didnt get caught screwing around and stealing money--we dont really have an acting AG in place!I can hear my pulse in my head again. I have to go lie down.
KDelphi - I laughed because that is the way one should react to voter Fraud. Your reaction is much more appropriate than tetti-tatti's who says it doesn't matter or burnout John Kerry who capitulated without a battle. (Who was he working for? Skull and Bones?) A fair elections is the ultimate tool that can give ordinary people the final word. I will be following your example and shouting from the rooftops, but this time in advance of the elections.
Enough stealing, whoring and living off the fat of the land for the so-called Democratic Party. They have to stand up. I suggest that we call them and threaten to build the Green Party in their district if they don't do something. And we should build a third party anyway, because I am tired tired tired of Democrats standing by while democracy circles the drain.
That being said I have decided to support Obama this election since there is no effin choice. Right now we should start contacting the Obama campaign and try to get commitments in writing that they will monitor the elections and contest fraud.
Joe
I believe I saw that Ohio is rejecting the machines this year. Not sure though.
I do not believe it is statewide. Some places are rejecting them. Also, there is a new law that requires precincts to set the machines up the day of the elections. It used to be done ahead of time; leaving the machines vulnerable to tampering the nights before the election. These are safeguards.
I'm usually a nice guy but..I think the fuckers that do this crap should be charged with treason and then executed. It's bad enough that the MSM lies to voters about candidates and issues.
The Republicans always try to steal it but if Democrats actually come up with strong populists the likes of Sherrod Brown, this wouldn't be an issue. Too bad Obama is no populist. Fix that first and then we can complain about election theft.
that is very true. I just wanted Dubya out SO bad.
It's 3 A.M. and the Red Phone is ringing...President Palin answers and begins speaking...in tongues!
Is that before or after she prays about God's war?
All Republicans Are Scum.
You left out the Democrats again!
This article should be required reading for the dem apologists that will inevitably want to blame Nader for the Democratic loss of the election.
Lobo Gris
When I analyzed the electoral college this past weekend, it became very clear the only way Republicans would win this year is to steal yet another election. I'm not fond of the Democrats but it's clear they would win if the votes were honestly and fairly counted. So it's going to be very interesting. McCain has to win both Ohio and Florida to win. There are a few ways in which Obama would win without any of the big three but it's unlikely. (Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida are the toss up states that it's all going to come down to this year).
Why do you believe the polls?
"When I analyzed the electoral college this past weekend, it became very clear the only way Republicans would win this year is to steal yet another election."
I don't know what you are looking at, but right now McCain looks to be winning. If Obama doesn't get high behind it may not be close.
How are you figuring this?
http://prorev.com/electmap.htm
This one shows Obama at 255 with several states too close to call. He needs 273 to win.
Ohio and Fla are both too close to call. By this map, if Obama wins either, he wins.
VA (13) and CO (9) are both too close to call. If Obama won both, he wins.
There are several more 3, 4 and 5 electoral states too close to call. Any combination of VA, CO or these states that totals 18, and Obama wins it.
So, if he can pull either OH or FL, he's in. And there are some combinations where he can lose both of these states and still win.
Obama is actually in pretty good shape. Of course, since he's pissing off 2/3rds of the country by acting like a freakin Republican, he can still easily blow it.
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"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
As of 12 a.m. PST, it's Obama 275, McCain 262. Obama is still in the race, it is not over by a long shot, but a close race means the Repubs steal. BO has to win by huge margins, and that's probably not going to happen. BO's advantage is that there are several winning combinations for him.
I use fivethirtyeight.com for election stats - the guy over there is using some of the most sophisticated algorithms I've ever seen.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
Gotcha...though I'd be amazed if he could win Ohio and Florida. It's going to be interesting.
Does anyone doubt the outcome of the voting?
But I could be wrong !
Good article. Unlike his anti-nuclear power stuff, Mr. Wasserman seems to be actually informed about the electoral shennanigans in his home state.
I'm shocked, shocked! To think that the pukes would even think about such a nasty thing. It's not like they've behavied badly in any other area...
This needs to be publicized as much as possible in advance of the election. If the Dims don't have the cajones to confront it, they deserve the inevitable "loss" but unfortunately, their collaborationist weakness comes at our expense.
Excellent article and I agree it looks like that punic politics will win again in 2008 unless counterpunched.