ledge of liberty

Red Cross: Guantanamo Bay "tantamount to torture"

A human rights group has filed German war crime charges against U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with allegations of systemic torture at Abu Ghraib prison.  [AFP, Reuters]  The Red Cross has reported abuse at Guantanamo Bay, calling interrogation procedures, "tantamount to torture".  [AFP, NYT]  Meanwhile, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos says torture in Chile was the "policy".  [Reuters]  Chilean torture victims claim life pensions aren't enough, they "want a memorial to the victims and a monument with the motto never again torture in Chile".  [BBC]

Helen Thomas on White House Handjobs

No, not Bill Clinton.

Just when yesterday's White house press briefing was turning out the usual sycophantic handjobfest, First Lady of the Press, Helen Thomas demands, "Why are we killing people in Iraq?  There are many men, women and children being killed there. I mean, what is the reason we are there, killing people, continuing. It's outrageous."

Q The Canadians are going to serve the President Canadian beef for dinner.  Is he eating it?  (Laughter.)

MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't seen -- no, I understand. I have not seen the menu for the social dinner. But the President looks forward to going there and looks forward to participating in the dinner with Prime Minister Martin. Again, I haven't seen the menu, so I couldn't confirm that that's accurate or not.

Helen, go ahead.

Q Why are we killing people in Iraq? There are many men, women and children being killed there. I mean, what is the reason we are there, killing people, continuing. It's outrageous.

MR. McCLELLAN: The reason we are there is the same reason the international community is, is united in helping Iraq -- the international community is united in helping Iraq move forward on a free and peaceful and democratic future. I think you can look to the recent commitments from the United Nations, from the European Union, from the recent meetings in Sharm el-Sheikh last week, there is a united front from the international community in working together to help the Iraqi people realize a free and peaceful future. There are terrorists and other Saddam loyalists who continue to seek to derail that transition to democracy, but they will --

Q They are fighting for their own country.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- they will not prevail. And we are there to partner with the Iraqi people as they work to realize a better future, one that stands in stark contrast to the past of Saddam Hussein and his brutal regime.

George W. Bush Garden Gnomes

[bushgnome.com]

If I had it my way, the Franklin Mint would be hawking these things by the truckload.  Move over "Shauna Princess of Blarney Castle Doll", there's a Bush Gnome in town.

Anywhere Else it Would be Extortion

In an attempt to gain full immunity from the International Criminal Court [ICC], Congress has threatened withdrawal of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid from any country who refuses to sign immunity accords.  The provision, stuck into the 2005 government spending bill, would "bar the transfer of assistance money from the $2.52 billion economic support fund to a government "that is a party" to the criminal court but "has not entered into an agreement with the United States" to bar legal proceedings against U.S. personnel."  [WP]

The International Criminal Court employs a judicial system where the international community tries the most serious crimes of war, including torture and genocide -- it was installed to hold accountable the Adolf Hitlers of the world.  Bush officially “unsigned” this article of the Geneva Conventions back in May 2002 and has since publicly spoken against it.  And now with over 100,000 dead civilians in Iraq, free fire zones, and approved torture all being accepted under the umbrella of the War on Terror -- why is the Bush administration squirming so to relinquish any last sanctions?

"Just to let everyone know, my mother was murdered"

That's what 16-year-old Rachelle Waterman wrote in her final LiveJournal entry before being taken in by police.  Apparently, she and two ex-boyfriends had been plotting the murder of her mother, Lauri Waterman, for weeks before ultimately beating her to death with a "blunt object" and setting fire to her body.  All three are charged with first-degree murder.

"Just to let everyone know, my mother was murdered

I won't have computer acess (sic) until the weekend or so because the police took my computer to go through the hard drive. I thank everyone for their thoughts and e-mails, I hope to talk to you when I get my computer back."

- Rachelle Waterman, 'My Crappy Life' on LiveJournal  

That Couldn't be Comfortable

[Mrs. Cheney Tops the National Christmas Tree]

Bush's Plastic Turkey Wishes You a Happy Thanksgiving

[Bush poses for military holiday photo-op with fake plastic turkey]

What better way to say "happy holiday" than with a succulent and amazingly realistic plastic turkey?  That's what George Bush served our troops stationed in Baghdad last year.  You have to admit -- that is an artfully recreated bird.  I wonder what the spending budget was?  Anyway, Bush pranced along with his fake bird while the press snapped thier shots -- the soldiers collected their meals from cafeteria steam-trays.

America: Now with 50% more spies

President Bush has officially ordered Porter Goss to increase the number of the CIA's clandestine operators, AKA spies, by 50 percent.  At the same time Bush has asked for the total amount of CIA research and development officers be doubled.  Wow.  Now, there're two stages of emotion I experienced upon reading this. 1) shock and awe -- oh dear god, George Bush is actually creating jobs?!?!  And 2) the more practical -- where are we going to house all these spies?  What will they do?  What happened to "small government"?  Will every American be assigned there own personal spy?  Can I pick mine?

Bush Orders the CIA To Hire More Spies [WP/Yahoo]

G. Gordon Liddy: "Hitler's sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body."

In a recent article from the Independent, G. Gordon Liddy discusses his youthful fascination with Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.  Some might say this accounts for his extreme right wing politics, but I'd say, more than anything -- the mustache.

"at assemblies where the national anthem is played, I must suppress the urge to snap out my right arm." His beloved German nanny taught him that Hitler had - through sheer will-power - "dragged Germany from weakness to strength."

This gave Liddy hope "for the first time in my life" that he too could overcome weakness. When he listened to Hitler on the radio, it "made me feel a strength inside I had never known before," he explains. "Hitler's sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body." He describes seeing the Nazis' doomed technological marvel the Hindenberg flying over New Jersey as an almost religious experience. "Ecstatic, I drank in its colossal power and felt myself grow. Fear evaporated and in its place came a sense of personal might and power."  [The Independent, Media Matters]

Lawsuit to Contest Florida Election

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT
SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA
IN AND FOR VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA

SUSAN ROSE PYNCHON,
Plaintiff

Vs.

VOLUSIA COUNTY CANVASSING BOARD
And ANN McFALL,
Defendants

____________________________________

COMPLAINT TO CONTEST ELECTION

Plaintiff, Susan Rose Pynchon, sues the Volusia County Canvassing Board and Ann McFall, defendants, and alleges:

1. This is an action brought under section 102,168, Florida Statutes (2004), to contest the certification that Ann McFall received more votes in the November 2 General Election in Volusia County, Florida, than did Patricia Northey.

2. Plaintiff is an elector resident and qualified to vote in Volusia County, Florida, residing at (redacted address).

3. Defendant Volusia County Canvassing Board consists of Joie Alexander, Member of the Volusia County Council, the Honorable Steven deLarouche, County Judge, and Deanie Lowe, Supervisor of Elections.

4. Defendant Ann McFall, (redacted address), is the candidate certified by the defendant Canvassing Board to have won the November 2, 2004 election for Supervisor of Elections.

5. Plaintiff has been informed that the Volusia County Canvassing Board certified the election results on November 12, 2004. Plaintiff is aware that the statutory deadline for filing this complaint is ten days following the date of that certification. Plaintiff alleges, however, that this complaint should be deemed timely filed for two reasons:

a. The Supervisor of Elections has unreasonably delayed providing information on which this complaint must be based, and still has not provided all of that information. The Canvassing Board is therefore estopped from asserting an untimely filing of this complaint.

b. The certification was based on inadequate and incomplete information regarding the election results, as will more particularly appear, and is, therefore, an invalid certification of those results.

6. A copy of the public records request emailed and faxed to the Supervisor of Elections on November 2, 2004, is attached. Some or all of the information requested is still missing from 59 of the 179 voting precincts, including portions of or all of the voting machine tapes for those 59 precincts, which are a vital part of official paper record of the election results from those precincts.

7. Complete information on problems with the voting machines prior to and during the election has not been provided.

8. Complete information relating to memory card failures during the election has not yet been provided.

9. Only a partial list of the transmission logs from the Accu-Vote optical scan server has been provided. Despite repeated requests, the Elections office has refused to provide to the Volusia County Democratic party the official election results, now stating that those results will not be available until December 1, 2004.

10. The Elections office has provided incomplete data regarding Early Voting and Absentee ballots. The Supervisor of Elections, for example, reported that the total number of absentee ballots and Early voting ballots, combined equaled 89,999 votes, yet the published figures for those totals is 84,100 votes, leaving over 5,800 votes unaccounted for.

11. Section 102, 168(3)(a) Florida Statutes (2004) provides that an election may be set aside for "misconduct, fraud, or corruption on the part of any election official or any member of the canvassing board sufficient to change or place in doubt the result of the election."

12. In Beckstrom v. Volusia County Canvassing Board, et al, 707 S. 2d 720 (Fla. 1998) the Florida Supreme Court said: "... if a court finds substantial noncompliance with statutory election procedures and also makes a factual determination that reasonable doubt exists as to whether a certified election expressed the will of the voters, then the court in an election contest brought pursuant to section 102.168, Florida Statutes (1997), is to void the contested election even in the absence of fraud or intentional wrongdoing."

13. In addition to the pattern of delay in providing the requested information, the true election results are in doubt because of numerous violations of election law procedure and unanswered questions concerning the results.

14. The polls were opened early and closed late during Early Voting.

15. Many public records, including one signed results tape from a voting machine were found in the trash. Many of the requested records not furnished by the Elections office have been found in the trash. Results from the tapes found in the trash do not match the results of the copies of tapes furnished.

16. An email from Mark Earley, of Diebold Elections Systems, Inc., to the Elections office was provided which asked the recipient for an explanation of why Volusia County had more memory card failures than all of their other Florida customers combined, and then asked why the 17 memory card failures which the Elections office reported on November 3, increased to 25 before November 12, 2004.

17. The reported memory card failures were significant and troubling and included reporting zero votes after one week of voting, requesting permission to upload votes before the voting began, and messaging whether the card should be reformatted.

18. According to a statement by the Supervisor of Elections on November 17, 2004, the GEMS computer is not networked, and is "stand alone." The furnished computer logs show evidence of at least two attempts to remotely access the GEMS central tabulator, which is claimed to be secure. A computer screen shot printout on November 17, 2004 (found in the trash) shows that the GEMS computer at that time had two networked hard drives.

19. Plaintiff is reasonably concerned that access to the memory cards and voting machine tapes is presently not restricted, and that the opportunity for tampering with that critical evidence exists. Plaintiff accordingly requests that This Honorable Court immediately order the Supervisor of Elections to seal and sequester all memory cards and voting machine tapes pertaining to or used during the November 2, 2004 general election in Volusia County, during the pendency of this Cause.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that this court order the immediate sealing of all memory cards and voting machine tapes pertaining to or used during the November 2, 2004 general election, and after hearing the evidence in this cause, set aside that general election of November 2, 2004.

SUSAN ROSE PYNCHON

DANIEL R. VAUGHEN, P.A.
Attorney for Plaintiff
Fla. Bar No. 083486

Bush Appoints National Trouser Security Advisor

[Someone Left the Barn Door Open]

No, I'm not talking about Condoleeza Rice.  This recent security oversight may be the first in a long line of security breaches.  A National Trouser Security Advisor is being considered. The White House is not issuing comments at this time.

Voting/Slot Machines: Just an idea I’m working on

But, while we're on the subject of gambling, I'll see your vitriolic Washington Post Reporter with a UC Berkeley Professor and raise you a venerable MIT Political Scientist.

Richard Morin, The Washington Post:

But rather than flog the bloggers for rushing to publish the raw exit poll data on their Web sites, we may owe them a debt of gratitude. A few more presidential elections like this one and the public will learn to do the right thing and simply ignore news of early exit poll data. Then perhaps people will start ignoring the bloggers, who proved once more that their spectacular lack of judgment is matched only by their abundant arrogance.  [WP]

Professor Hout, UC Berkeley Professor:

A research team at UC Berkeley reported Thursday morning that irregularities associated with electronic voting machines may have awarded 130,000 - 260,000 or more in excess votes to President George W. Bush in Florida in the 2004 presidential election.
...
“The three counties where the voting anomalies were most prevalent  were also the most heavily Democratic counties, not the [conservative]  Dixiecrat counties you’ve all heard about before, but the more  heavily Democratic counties that used e-vote technology, including Broward,  Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties in order of magnitude”. [BuzzFlash]

Charles Stewart III, MIT Arts and Social Sciences Dean:

...a reputable MIT political scientist succeeded in replicating the analysis Thursday at the request of the Herald and The Associated Press. He said an investigation is warranted. "There is an interesting pattern here that I hope someone looks into," said MIT Arts and Social Sciences Dean Charles Stewart III, a researcher in the MIT-Caltech Voting Technology Project.  [Tri Valley Herald]

Iraq: Where's AAA when you need 'em?

If this isn't the perfect analogy for Iraq, I don't know what is.

What Happened In Broward County?

Letter to the Editor:

Yesterday, a UC Berkeley research group found the 2004 results in Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami Dade to be "anomalous," with Bush receiving about 130,000 more votes than you would expect given the registration, demographic, and voting patterns in those counties.  The full report is available here: http://ucdata.berkeley.edu/  According to their report, the biggest anomaly is Broward county, where "Bush appears to have received approximately 72,000 excess votes."

The Berkeley study confirms what I've been saying for the past week at online discussion forums: the counties whose 2004 results are inconsistent with the 2000 results are Broward and Palm Beach, not the so-called "Dixiecrat" counties.

My calculations were much more basic than the Berkeley research group's, but according to my calculations, Broward was again the biggest anomaly.  Below is my analysis for Broward county.  First I'll give the results, then I'll explain the calculations.

The Results

Broward county:

Predicted Increase from Gore Total to Kerry Total: 111,030
Predicted Increase from Bush2000 to Bush2004: 19,424
Net Gain: Kerry 91,606

Actual Increase from Gore Total to Kerry Total: 64,657
Actual Increase from Bush2000 to Bush2004: 65,797
Net Gain: Bush 1,140

To give you a sense of the magnitude of the difference between the 2000 and 2004 results, the ratio between registered Democrats and votes for the Democratic candidate was 1 to .849 in 2000, and 1 to .847 in 2004.  This seems reasonable, and since they're still adding up some of the votes, it looks like the final result will be about 1 to .850.  Okay, well, the ratio between registered Republicans and votes for the Republican candidate was 1 to .667 in 2000, and, get ready for this, 1 to .859 in 2004.   When all the counting is finished the ratio will be at least 1 to .862.  Now, we have to consider voters registered in third parties -- who are actually included in the above ratios for each year because they mostly vote for candidates in the two major parties -- but an increase of .2 for Bush is ridiculous, especially since the 2004 Florida exit poll shows Independents breaking toward Kerry, 57% to 41%, whereas the 2000 Florida exit poll shows Independents breaking evenly, 47% to Gore, 46% to Bush.

The Calculations

To see exactly how far-fetched the shift from 2000 to 2004 is, let's look at the calculations for Broward county, starting with registration and voting patterns in 2000:

2000 Registration
Democrat: 456,789, 51.5%
Republican: 266,829, 30.1%
Other: 164,146, 18.5%
Total: 887,764

2000 Voting
Gore: 387,703, 67.4%
Bush: 177,902, 30.9%
Other: 9,538, 1.7%
Total: 575,143
Turnout: 64.79%

Notice that Bush's % of the total vote is a mere .8% higher than the percentage of registered Republicans, whereas Gore's % of the total vote is only 2.6% less than % of Democratic and third party registrations combined.

Consider the "net gains" from relative turnout and/or “cross over” votes (voters who voted differently than their registration). For Gore, for example, I calculate this as: (Votes for Gore) - (%Turnout * Registered Democrats)

Gore Net Gains: 91,770
Bush Net Gains: 5,035

Now consider each candidate’s net gains as a percentage of total net gains: for example, (Gore Net Gains) / (Gore Net Gains + Bush Net Gains)

% Net Gains Gore: 94.80%
% Net Gains Bush: 5.20%

Now look at the registration patterns for 2004

Democrat: 533,976 (up 77,187 from 2000), 50.5%
Republican: 283,736 (up 16,907 from 2000), 26.8%
Other: 240,357 (up 76,211 from 2000), 22.7%

Let’s say we know the %Turnout for 2004 and the number of votes received by third party candidates:

Turnout: 66.57%
Votes Other: 8,317 (down 1,221 from 2000)

Assuming that Bush and Kerry benefit equally from decreased votes for third party candidates, and assuming that the % Net Gains for each candidate are the same as what they were in 2000, we get the following results:

Predicted Net Gains Kerry: 143,256
Predicted Net Gains Bush: 8,437
Predicted Total Kerry: 498,733, 70.8%
Predicted Total Bush: 197,326, 28.0%
Predicted Increase from Gore Total to Kerry Total: 111,030
Predicted Increase from Bush2000 to Bush2004: 19,424

Notice that Kerry’s predicted total is 70.8% of total votes, whereas Gore’s was 67.4%. This makes sense given that Democratic registrations increased far more than Republican registrations, given that turnout increased 1.7%, and given that votes for third party candidates decreased.

Now look at the actual results from 2004:

Net Gains Kerry: 96,882
Net Gains Bush: 54,811
Total Kerry: 452,360, 64.2%
Total Bush: 243,699, 34.6%
Increase from Gore Total to Kerry Total: 64,657
Increase from Bush2000 to Bush2004: 65,797

Notice that Kerry’s percentage of the total vote is only 64.2%, down 3.2% from Gore’s 67.4%.

Compare the Net Gains and % Net Gains from 2000 and 2004

Gore Net Gains: 91,770
Bush Net Gains: 5,035

% Net Gains Gore: 94.80%
% Net Gains Bush: 5.20%

Net Gains Kerry: 96,882
Net Gains Bush: 54,811

% Net Gains Kerry: 63.87%
% Net Gains Bush: 36.13%

Compare the predicted and actual increases in vote totals from 2000 to 2004

Predicted Increase from Gore Total to Kerry Total: 111,030
Predicted Increase from Bush2000 to Bush2004: 19,424
Net Gain: Kerry 91,606

Actual Increase from Gore Total to Kerry Total: 64,657
Actual Increase from Bush2000 to Bush2004: 65,797
Net Gain: Bush 1,140

Something happened in Broward county.  Maybe it was an extraordinary and massive shift in voting patterns, or maybe it was fraud and/or flawed tabulation, but something happened.  Broward county needs to be investigated thoroughly.

Bart

Oddments: Sacrilicious edition

• Once, twice, three times a voter... Ohio discovers thousands of duplicate votes.  [Yahoo/AP]
• "I want my 2 dollars!"  Last month's 25 buck donation would be nice too.  It seems Kerry's got 15 million in left-overs  [Yahoo/AP]
• We've always known it to be true, but know it's actually legal -- House Republicans approve crime.  "House Republicans voted on Wednesday to change their own rules to allow their powerful Majority Leader Tom DeLay to keep his post even if he is indicted in connection with illegal fund-raising activities."  [Reuters]
• "Falluja was relatively calm on Thursday. Groups of Iraqi men under U.S. military control gathered bodies from the street."  Hmm... Falluja calm... I wonder why?  Maybe it's because everyone's dead?  [Reuters]
• There's clearly something wrong with the economy water, when half of a 10 year old grilled cheese sandwich is selling on Ebay for nearly $20,000.  [Ebay]
• Old sandwiches not your thing?  You can get a brand-new customized grilled cheese on Ebay for $75,000.  "I will personally create this sandwich for you within 24 hours after the auction ends. Unlike most popular Virgin Mary cheese sandwiches, yours will be BOTH customized AND made to order! You get to choose from among three cheeses (cheddar, Swiss and the ever popular American)."  [Ebay]
• "When the average citizen hears the phrase 'presidential election,' he thinks of long lines at polling places and agonizing waits as election results are tallied," U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) told reporters Monday.  "Putting the election of our public officials into the hands of private industry would motivate election officials to be more efficient."  [The Onion]

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane Harriet Miers?

[Bush walks with newly appointed White House Council]

Bev Harris Finds Official Vote Records in Trash

BLACK BOX VOTING -- Volusia County on lockdown, Dueling lawyers, election officials gnashing teeth, Votergate.tv film crew catching it all.  Here's what happened so far:

Friday Black Box Voting investigators Andy Stephenson and Kathleen Wynne popped in to ask for some records. They were rebuffed by an elections official named Denise. Bev Harris called on the cell phone from investigations in downstate Florida, and told Volusia County Elections Supervisor Deanie Lowe that Black Box Voting would be in to pick up the Nov. 2 Freedom of Information request, or would file for a hand recount. "No, Bev, please don't do that!" Lowe exclaimed. But this is the way it has to be, folks. Black Box Voting didn't back down.

Monday Bev, Andy and Kathleen came in with a film crew and asked for the FOIA request. Deanie Lowe gave it over with a smile, but Harris noticed that one item, the polling place tapes, were not copies of the real ones, but instead were new printouts, done on Nov. 15, and not signed by anyone.

Harris asked to see the real ones, and they said for "privacy" reasons they can't make copies of the signed ones. She insisted on at least viewing them (although refusing to give copies of the signatures is not legally defensible, according to Berkeley elections attorney, Lowell Finley). They said the real ones were in the County Elections warehouse. It was quittin' time and an arrangment was made to come back this morning to review them.

Lana Hires, a Volusia County employee who gained some notoriety in an election 2000 Diebold memo, where she asked for an explanation of minus 16,022 votes for Gore, so she wouldn't have to stand there "looking dumb" when the auditor came in, was particularly unhappy about seeing the Black Box Voting investigators in the office. She vigorously shook her head when Deanie Lowe suggested going to the warehouse.

Kathleen Wynne and Bev Harris showed up at the warehouse at 8:15 Tuesday morning, Nov. 16. There was Lana Hires looking especially gruff, yet surprised. She ordered them out. Well, they couldn't see why because there she was, with a couple other people, handling the original poll tapes. You know, the ones with the signatures on them. Harris and Wynne stepped out and Volusia County officials promptly shut the door.

There was a trash bag on the porch outside the door. Harris looked into it and what do you know, but there were poll tapes in there. They came out and glared at Harris and Wynne, who drove away a small bit, and then videotaped the license plates of the two vehicles marked 'City Council' member. Others came out to glare and soon all doors were slammed.

So, Harris and Wynne went and parked behind a bus to see what they would do next. They pulled out some large pylons, which blocked the door. Harris decided to go look at the garbage some more while Wynne videotaped. A man who identified himself as "Pete" came out and Harris immediately wrote a public records request for the contents of the garbage bag, which also contained ballots -- real ones, but not filled out.

A brief tug of war occurred, tearing the garbage bag open. Harris and Wynne then looked through it, as Pete looked on. He was quite friendly.

Black Box Voting collected various poll tapes and other information and asked if they could copy it, for the public records request. "You won't be going anywhere," said Pete. "The deputy is on his way."

Yes, not one but two police cars came up and then two county elections officials, and everyone stood around discussing the merits of the "black bag" public records request.

The police finally let Harris and Wynne go, about the time the Votergate.tv film crew arrived, and everyone trooped off to the elections office. There, the plot thickened.

Black Box Voting began to compare the special printouts given in the FOIA request with the signed polling tapes from election night. Lo and behold, some were missing. By this time, Black Box Voting  investigator Andy Stephenson had joined the group at Volusia County. Some polling place tapes didn't match. In fact, in one location, precinct 215, an African-American precinct, the votes were off by hundreds, in favor of George W. Bush and other Republicans.

Hmm. Which was right? The polling tape Volusia gave to Black Box Voting, specially printed on Nov. 15, without signatures, or the ones with signatures, printed on Nov. 2, with up to 8 signatures per tape?

Well, then it became even more interesting. A Volusia employee boxed up some items from an office containing Lana Hires' desk, which appeared to contain -- you guessed it -- polling place tapes. The employee took them to the back of the building and disappeared.

Then, Ellen B., a voting integrity advocate from Broward County, Florida, and Susan, from Volusia, decided now would be a good time to go through the trash at the elections office. Lo and behold, they found all kinds of memos and some polling place tapes, fresh from Volusia elections office.

So, Black Box Voting compared these with the Nov. 2 signed ones and the "special' ones from Nov. 15 given, unsigned, finding several of the MISSING poll tapes. There they were: In the garbage.

So, Wynne went to the car and got the polling place tapes she had pulled from the warehouse garbage. My my my. There were not only discrepancies, but a polling place tape that was signed by six officials.

This was a bit disturbing, since the employees there had said that bag was destined for the shredder.

By now, a county lawyer had appeared on the scene, suddenly threatening to charge Black Box Voting extra for the time spent looking at the real stuff Volusia had withheld earlier. Other lawyers appeared, phoned, people had meetings, Lana glowered at everyone, and someone shut the door in the office holding the GEMS server.

Black Box Voting investigator Andy Stephenson then went to get the Diebold "GEMS" central server locked down. He also got the memory cards locked down and secured, much to the dismay of Lana. They were scattered around unsecured in any way before that.

Everyone agreed to convene tomorrow morning, to further audit, discuss the hand count that Black Box Voting will require of Volusia County, and of course, it is time to talk about contesting the election in Volusia.

Statistical Evidence: Ohio election rigged

[Download Full Report Here]

To believe Bush won Ohio, you would have to believe that perfectly good Democrats turned Republican.  Hundreds of thousands* of Democrats gone bad -- it just isn’t feasible.  These numbers don’t add up to a legitimate election.  Period.

For days I’ve been poring over Excel sheets trying to figure out what happened in Ohio. If only Ohioans declared their Party when registering to vote, it would be a simple equation; actual vote per County/Party minus expected vote per County/Party divided by expected vote per County/Party equals percent change per County/Party… an elementary equation.  But since we don’t have this information, there’s no easy way to suss out candidates likely voters.  So, we take the long route –- elections past.

What I’ve done is taken the data from the previous 4 elections [1988-2000], added up the vote tallies per County/Party, divided those results by 4 which gives me an average of votes per County/Party for all 4 elections [2 Republican terms and 2 Democrat terms]. Then, I took the total average votes per County/Party and divided that by the total average votes per County.  This gave me the likely voter percentile.  From here, I can project the votes for each 2004 candidate by taking the total number of actual votes cast, in the 2004 election, and multiplying it by the likely voter percentile.  Doesn’t sound too complicated, does it?  Well, when you’re dealing with millions of votes and 2 decades of elections, it doesn’t surprise me that no one else went through the trouble.

The final step is to reveal the percent of change between the actual votes recorded in the 2004 election and the historical trends of voters in each County.  To do this, you take the actual votes [2004] per County/Party, subtract the corresponding County/Party projected votes and divide that number by the corresponding County/Party projected votes.  Voila -- Percent Change!

Up until now, numbers on the spreadsheet looked just as you’d expect – tons of confusing numbers on a spreadsheet.  But this final step is quite revealing, negative percentages of change, across the board, for Democratic candidate, John Kerry, and wouldn’t you know it -- positive percentages of change for the Republican candidate, George W. Bush.

These are not small percentages of change either; they are quite significant –- huge -- more than enough to sway the election in favor of John Kerry.  The numbers just don’t lie, statistically; George Bush could not have won this election.

I’ve done my best to present my data in a logical and explainatory fashion -- I want everyone to understand what they are looking at, so please feel free to email me with any questions.  The full report can be downloaded as a read-only excel sheet HERE. 

[*edited]

[fun with] The Biography of George W. Bush

George W. Bush is the [unelected] 43rd President [King] of the United States. He was [enthroned] sworn into office January 20, 2001, after a [smear] campaign in which he outlined [deceptive] sweeping proposals to reform [destroy] America's public schools, transform [weaken] our national defense, provide tax relief [for millionaires], modernize [sell out] Social Security and Medicare, and encourage faith-based [religious freaks] and [xenophobic] community organizations to work with [Halliburton] government to help [white] Americans in need. President Bush [the Texecutioner] served [golfed] for six years as the 46th Governor of the State of Texas, where he earned a reputation as a [prick] compassionate conservative who [destroyed the environment] shaped [corrupted] public policy based on the principles of limited [brain cells] government, personal [ir]responsibility, strong families [discreet hookers], and local [media] control.

I Believe the Children are our Future

And they are, but Whitney herself would rethink the line if she were to attend the Fellowship Baptist Creation Science Fair.

2nd Place: "Women Were Designed For Homemaking"

Jonathan Goode (grade 7) applied findings from many fields of science to support his conclusion that God designed women for homemaking: physics shows that women have a lower center of gravity than men, making them more suited to carrying groceries and laundry baskets; biology shows that women were designed to carry un-born babies in their wombs and to feed born babies milk, making them the natural choice for child rearing; social sciences show that the wages for women workers are lower than for normal workers, meaning that they are unable to work as well and thus earn equal pay; and exegetics shows that God created Eve as a companion for Adam, not as a co-worker.

Kerry Investigates Voter Fraud

Letter from Cam Kerry:

I am grateful to the many people who have contacted me to express their deep concern about questions of miscounting, fraud, vote suppression, and other problems on election day, especially in Florida and Ohio. Their concern reflects how much people care about the outcome of this election. I want to you to know we are not ignoring it. Election protection lawyers are still on the job in Ohio and Florida and in DC making sure all the votes are counted accurately. I have been conferring with lawyers involved and have made them aware of the information and concerns people have given me. Even if the facts don't provide a basis to change the outcome, the information will inform the continuing effort to protect the integrity of our elections.

If you have specific factual information about voting problems that could be helpful to the lawyers doing their job, please send it to vri@dnc.org rather than to me.

The election protection effort has been important to me personally, and I am proud of the 17,000 lawyers around the country who helped. It's obvious that we have a way to go still, but their efforts helped make a difference. Their work goes on.

Thank you,

Cam Kerry

Voter Fraud: Next steps

[Updated 11/11/04]

By now you've probably heard the election was stolen [if not go HERE and come back later]. The question is -- what are you willing to do about it?  There's 1,001 sites out there discussing the voter fraud, but now it's time to act. Don't take take your anger out on your parents, friends, or significant others -- spend some time clicking through the following links, write a letter [maybe two], donate a dollar, call a senator, put aside an hour, put aside a day -- the outcome of this election may well affect the rest of your life and those you love -- so make it a priority and start now.

The Peoples Email Network -- you write the letter and they do the legwork.  This site is great -- just fill in your name, address, and put a bit of your outrage in a quick note. The Peoples Email Network will send it out to the Kerry campaign, the Democratic National Comittee (DNC), and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Find Your Senators -- Then make a phone call and follow-up with an email. Be sure to mention in your email, the date, the time of your call, who you spoke with, and the general concern of your phone call.  You absolutely must do both.

BlackBoxVoting.org -- They've filed the largest Freedom of Information Act request in U.S. history.  They're asking for 3,000 black box voting machines from 3,000 different counties where they believe voter fraud has occured and they have people who know how to extract the audit information. They need money to pay for the sum of $50,000 in fee's, so send a dollar or two their way.  Their website is nothing spectacular, but Bev Harris is widely respected in her field and perhaps our only chance at proving fraud.

Write Your News Outlets -- ABC [NETAUDR@abc.com], CNN [click here], CBS News [click here], NY Times [national@nytimes.com], MSNBC [viewerservices@msnbc.com]

Petition Congress -- request an investigation into the Presidential Election of 2004 by signing this petition.

Report Voter Irregularities -- To Mr. Conyers and The House Committee on the Judiciary. Democratic Members have requested we report any voter irregularities that we know of.

Demand Access to Florida Ballots -- Under Florida's Sunshine Law, you have the right to request access to these ballots. If you are a Florida resident and have some time, go to this link and follow the instructions on how to request access to the ballots.

Help America Recount -- These people come highly recommended by Bev Harris of blackboxvotingorg. They CAN make a recount happen in Ohio and Florida, but at $10 per county, they need your support to make it happen. Please donate if you can.

Investigate the Vote -- A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to your Senators and your Representative in Congress.

100,000 Iraqi Civilians Dead

100,000 Dead In Iraq [alternet, Guardian]

We Will Not Concede

[Please forward via link below or copy and paste to send via email]

Fellow Democrat,

First off -- congratulations on a Kerry victory! Contrary to popular opinion, we got the vote out on Tuesday and with record numbers. Also contrary to MSNBC and CNN, the youth vote DID turn out -- they did their part, but these news stations would like you believe the election was lost to apathy. Well, that's just not the case.

This Neo-Conservative Party has once again hijacked an election. There has been widespread voter fraud, intimidation and disenfranchisement. These blackbox voting machines, conveniently placed in major swing states, have in several reported instances recorded more votes for Bush than the total number of registered voters in the entire county. One county in Florida reported that once voting machines reached a certain number -- they started counting votes in reverse -- actually subtracting votes from the total. Predominantly black and hispanic neighborhoods were given only a few machines to vote on, causing voters to wait in line for 7, 8, 9 hours at a time and ultimately give up.

Diebold, the electronic voting machine company, has created a corporate sponsored ballot box. If you live in a swing state, chances are you used one of their machines. Walden O'Dell, CEO of Diebold announced in August at a $1,000 per plate dinner, "I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year". In the case of Ohio, these machines were placed by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell who's also the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign. And wouldn't you know it -- only days after the election, Diebold was given a no-bid government contract for ATM service in Iraq.

Your Constitutional right as an American citizen is a paper ballot -- not a paper trail, not a receipt, not an audit trail, not a sticker -- a PAPER ballot. Corporate sponsorship of an election is a declaration of a Fascist regime and it will not stand. This is America, and it's time we show these Neo-Conservatives what it means to be a patriot when democracy is under attack. We will not concede.

May democracy bless America,

Peter Smith

peter(at)ledgeofliberty(dot)com
www.ledgeofliberty.com

Please support blackboxvoting.org

It's Official: Election stolen

[Click here to enlarge]

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An error with an electronic voting system gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in suburban Columbus, elections officials said.

Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry's 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct. Bush's total should have been recorded as 365.  [AP/Yahoo]

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ATLANTA - A national voting rights group said Friday it documented hundreds of voting irregularities affecting poor and minority voters in seven Southern states — from long lines and faulty equipment to deliberate voter intimidation.

A systems software glitch in Craven County's electronic voting equipment is being blamed for a vote miscount that, when corrected, changed the outcome of at least one race in Tuesday's election.

Then, in the rush to make right the miscalculation that swelled the number of votes for president here by 11,283 more votes than the total number cast, a human mistake further delayed accurate totals for the 40,534 who voted.  [AP/Yahoo]

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Ohio State Senator Teresa Fedor said today: "There was trouble with our elections in Ohio at every stage. It's been a battle getting people registered to vote, getting to the ballot on voting day and getting that vote to count. There is a pattern of voter suppression; that's why I called for [Ohio Secretary of State] Blackwell's resignation more than a month ago. Blackwell, while claiming to run an unbiased elections process, was also the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio.  [Accuracy.org]

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Most voters in Ohio thought they were voting for Kerry. At 1:05 a.m. Wednesday morning, CNN's exit poll showed Kerry beating Bush among Ohio women by 53 percent to 47 percent.  The exit polls were later combined with—and therefore contaminated by—the tabulated results, ultimately becoming a mirror of the apparent actual vote. Kerry also defeated Bush among Ohio's male voters 51 percent to 49 percent. Unless a third gender voted in Ohio, Kerry took the state.  [Greg Palast]

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Early Thursday, as Broward County elections officials wrapped up after a long day of canvassing votes, something unusual caught their eye. Tallies should go up as more votes are counted. That's simple math. But in some races, the numbers had gone . . . down. Officials found the software used in Broward can handle only 32,000 votes per precinct. After that, the system starts counting backward. Why a voting system would be designed to count backward was a mystery to Broward County Mayor Ilene Lieberman.  [Palm Beach Post]

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States with electronic voting machines gave Bush mysterious 5% advantage; bloggers do the math that broadcast networks fail to follow...  [News Target]

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Surprising Pattern of Florida's Election Results [Us Together]

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - A computer error with a voting machine cartridge gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in a Gahanna precinct. Franklin County's unofficial results gave Bush 4,258 votes to Democratic challenger John Kerry's 260 votes in Precinct 1B. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.  [Ohio.com]

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JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - More than 4,500 votes have been lost in one North Carolina county because officials believed a computer that stored ballots electronically could hold more data than it did. Scattered other problems may change results in races around the state. Local officials said UniLect Corp., the maker of the county's electronic voting system, told them that each storage unit could handle 10,500 votes, but the limit was actually 3,005 votes. Expecting the greater capacity, the county used only one unit during the early voting period. "If we had known, we would have had the units to handle the votes," said Sue Verdon, secretary of the county election board. Officials said 3,005 early votes were stored, but 4,530 were lost.  [AP/Yahoo]

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LEBANON - Citing concerns about potential terrorism, Warren County officials locked down the county administration building on election night and blocked anyone from observing the vote count as the nation awaited Ohio's returns. County officials say they took the action Tuesday night for homeland security, although state elections officials said they didn't know of any other Ohio county that closed off its elections board. Media organizations protested, saying it violated the law and the public's rights.  [Cincinnati Enquirer]

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Three congressmen sent a letter to the General Accounting Office on Friday requesting an investigation into irregularities with voting machines used in Tuesday's elections. The congressmen, Democratic members of the House of Representatives from Florida, New York and Michigan, cited a number of incidents that came to light in the days after the election. One was a glitch in Ohio that caused a memory card reader made by Danaher Controls to give George W. Bush 3,893 more votes than he should have received. Another was a problem with memory cards in North Carolina that caused machines made by UniLect to lose 4,500 votes cast on e-voting machines. The votes were lost when the number of votes cast on the machines exceeded the capacity of the memory cards.  [Wired]

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Too many voting ’irregularities’ to be coincidence  [Bella Ciao]

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An error with an electronic voting system gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in suburban Columbus, elections officials said. Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry's 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.  [CNN/AP]

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Why Did CNN Change Their Exit Poll Data for Ohio After 1:00 AM?  [BuzzFlash]

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Evidence Mounts That The Vote Was Hacked -- When I spoke with Jeff Fisher this morning (Saturday, November 06, 2004), the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 16th District said he was waiting for the FBI to show up. Fisher has evidence, he says, not only that the Florida election was hacked, but of who hacked it and how. And not just this year, he said, but that these same people had previously hacked the Democratic primary race in 2002 so that Jeb Bush would not have to run against Janet Reno, who presented a real threat to Jeb, but instead against Bill McBride, who Jeb beat.  [CommonDreams]

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Palm Beach County Logs 88,000 More Votes Than Voters -- According to the official election results posted on the Palm Beach County election website, 542,835 ballots were cast for a presidential candidate while only 454,427 voters turned out for the election (including absentee). This leaves a discrepancy of 88,408 votes cast for the presidential candidates.  [Washingtgon Dispatch]

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Broward County corrected a computer glitch Thursday that had miscounted thousands of absentee votes, instantly turning a slot-machine measure from loser to winner and reinforcing concerns about the accuracy of electronic election returns. The bug, discovered two years ago but never fixed, began subtracting votes after the absentee tally hit 32,500 -- a ceiling put in place by the software makers.  [Miami Herald]

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A systems software glitch in Craven County's electronic voting equipment is being blamed for a vote miscount that, when corrected, changed the outcome of at least one race in Tuesday's election. Then, in the rush to make right the miscalculation that swelled the number of votes for president here by 11,283 more votes than the total number cast, a human mistake further delayed accurate totals for the 40,534 who voted. The glitch occurred Tuesday night as absentee ballot totals for one-stop early voting at three Craven County locations and ballots mailed-in were being entered, said Tiffiney Miller, Craven County Board of Elections director. The Elections Systems and Software equipment had downloaded voting information from nine of the county's 26 precincts and as the absentee ballots were added, the precinct totals were added a second time. Precincts affected were Havelock East, Havelock West, River Bend, Cove City, Ernul, Fort Totten, Grover C. Fields, Glenburnie and West New Bern.  [Sun Journal]

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[Exit Poll Vs Actual Vote: Paper Ballots]

 

[Exit Poll Vs Actual Vote: Electronic Machines]

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How to Rig an Election in the United States on Diebold Machines -- a step by step tuturial with data and screen-captures.  [TruthOut.org]

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House Judiciary Committee letter to GAO regarding voting machines...

November 5, 2004

The Honorable David M. Walker
Comptroller General of the United States
U.S. General Accountability Office
441 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20548

Dear Mr. Walker:

We write with an urgent request that the Government Accountability Office immediately undertake an investigation of the efficacy of voting machines and new technologies used in the 2004 election, how election officials responded to difficulties they encountered and what we can do in the future to improve our election systems and administration.

In particular, we are extremely troubled by the following reports, which we would also request that you review and evaluate for us:

In Columbus, Ohio, an electronic voting system gave President Bush nearly 4,000 extra votes. "Machine Error Gives Bush Extra Ohio Votes," Associated Press, November 5.

An electronic tally of a South Florida gambling ballot initiative failed to record thousands of votes. "South Florida OKs Slot Machines Proposal," Id.

In one North Carolina county, more than 4,500 votes were lost because officials mistakenly believed a computer that stored ballots could hold more data that it did. "Machine Error Gives Bush Extra Ohio Votes," Id.

In San Francisco, a glitch occurred with voting machines software that resulted in some votes being left uncounted. Id.

In Florida, there was a substantial drop off in Democratic votes in proportion to voter registration in counties utilizing optical scan machines that was apparently not present in counties using other mechanisms.

The House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff has received numerous reports from Youngstown, Ohio that voters who attempted to cast a vote for John Kerry on electronic voting machines saw that their votes were instead recorded as votes for George W. Bush. In South Florida, Congressman Wexler's staff received numerous reports from voters in Palm Beach, Broward and Dade Counties that they attempted to select John Kerry but George Bush appeared on the screen. CNN has reported that a dozen voters in six states, particularly Democrats in Florida, reported similar problems. This was among over one thousand such problems reported.

Excessively long lines were a frequent problem throughout the nation in Democratic precincts, particularly in Florida and Ohio. In one Ohio voting precinct serving students from Kenyon College, some voters were required to wait more than eight hours to vote.

We are literally receiving additional reports every minute and will transmit additional information as it comes available. The essence of democracy is the confidence of the electorate in the accuracy of voting methods and the fairness of voting procedures. In 2000, that confidence suffered terribly, and we fear that such a blow to our democracy may have occurred in 2004.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this inquiry.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr. / Jerrold Nadler / Robert Wexler Ranking Member / Ranking Member / Member of Congress House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution

cc: Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner Chairman

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Outrage in Ohio: Angry residents storm State House in response to massive voter suppression and corruption -- Toledo, Ohio Hundreds of angry Ohio residents marched through the streets of Columbus—Ohio’s Capital—this evening and stormed the Ohio State House, defying orders and arrest threats from Ohio State Troopers. "O-H-I-O ! suppressed democracy has got to go,"they chanted. After troopers pushed and scuffled with people, nearly a hundred people took over the steps and entrance to the State’s giant white column capital building and refused repeated orders to disperse or face arrest.  [Michigan Independent Media]

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A band of patriots have exposed  the electronic voting machines -- manufactured by three U.S. companies -- as both  extremely vulnerable to hacking and having their vote results rigged.  The machines are also manufactured by companies with strong Republican  ties. In fact, Wally O'Dell, the CEO of Diebold, which is headquartered  in Ohio, penned a letter earlier this year pledging  his commitment to "helping  Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President." Just what exactly did Wally mean? Well, we'll give  you one guess, and it has to do with a quote supposedly from Stalin: "Those  who vote decide nothing, those who COUNT the votes decide everything."  [BuzzFlash]

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Glitch Found in Ohio Counting -- An electronic voting machine in hotly contested Ohio added 3,893 votes to President Bush's tally in a suburban Columbus precinct, even though there are just 800 voters there.  [NY Times]

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Votersunite.org -- a compilation of problems reported in the media about the 2004 general election. Starting with early voting, we are seeing a wide array of problems, some of which appear in multiple states. This page allows you to see how widespread the problems are as they accumulate.  [Voters Unite]

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Abraham Goldman did exactly what he was told — and still had his vote tossed out. Goldman, 79, of Boynton Beach, suffered a stroke and lost his sight from glaucoma two years ago, but he was determined to vote in Tuesday's presidential election.  Goldman has trouble writing so he and his wife, Rita, said they went to the county elections office in Delray Beach and asked how he should sign his absentee ballot. Rita Goldman said they were told he could just make an "X" and she could write a note about his stroke. However, Abraham Goldman's vote was one of at least 200 absentee ballots rejected by the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board because his signature did not match the one on file.[Palm Beach Post]

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12,000 votes uncounted in Gaston -- About 12,000 votes cast in Gaston County have not yet been counted, elections director Sandra Page said Tuesday. Page said most early and absentee votes were not included in the county's unofficial election results because of a procedural error. The inclusion of the votes in the county's results, expected Tuesday afternoon, could change the outcome of several local and statewide races. Page emphasized that the votes are still in the computer system. She said officials failed to release the votes from the machine on which they were stored into the database where votes were tallied.  [Charlotte Observer]

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New Mexico clerks continue to process provisional ballots -- ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - County clerks around New Mexico continue to process provisional ballots from Tuesday’s election. There are roughly 17,360 provisional ballots outstanding statewide, according to an Associated Press survey of the state’s 33 county clerks. Some counties are in the process of deciding how many of those would count. Bernalillo, the state’s largest county, had 11,200 provisional ballots. Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera called both political parties together to discuss ground rules on how to qualify those ballots but there was some disagreement. Herrera’s office has asked the secretary of state for clarification, but she says the county still planned to begin the provisional-review process Saturday morning. The secretary of state has not set exact criteria for which provisional ballots are valid.  [AP/KBOTV]

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House Dems Seek Election Inquiry -- Three congressmen sent a letter to the General Accountability Office on Friday requesting an investigation into irregularities with voting machines used in Tuesday's elections. The congressmen, Democratic members of the House of Representatives from Florida, New York and Michigan, cited a number of incidents that came to light in the days after the election. One was a glitch in Ohio that caused a memory card reader made by Danaher Controls to give George W. Bush 3,893 more votes than he should have received. Another was a problem with memory cards in North Carolina that caused machines made by UniLect to lose 4,500 votes cast on e-voting machines. The votes were lost when the number of votes cast on the machines exceeded the capacity of the memory cards.  [Wired]

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Another Rigged Election? The Elephant in the Voting Booth -- On election night, Peter Jennings looked measurably surprised when he  learned that President Bush had provided a tape of himself, sitting in  the White House, commenting on his impending victory. It was an unprecedented  move. No sitting president had ever addressed the nation while polls  were still open. It was just not done. But there was George, exuding  confidence, offering an election day reminder of our leader's legitimacy.  [BuzzFlash]

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From: XXXXXXX
To: mail@democraticunderground.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 2:43 PM
Subject: Re: Cuyahoga County

I have looked at the data posted by the county, and saw something really unusual - different municipalities have the exact same number of "extra" votes.

I sent the following commentary to the author of the original article:
------------------ Looking over the posted turnout data, I have several observations that you may already have made:

* Typically, the "extra" votes appear in the totals for the municipality. Where the municipality is broken down by ward, the sum of the wards does not match the total for the municipality.

* If we use the sum of the wards as the turnout, the numbers are reasonable (about 60%). I suspect the ward counts are accurate.

* The sum of the wards and the reported total for the municipality DIFFERS BY THE SAME AMOUT IN MULTIPLE MUNICIPALITIES. That is to say, differnent towns have the exact same number of "extra" votes.

Examples:

Bedford
registered voters: 9942
votes cast - municipality: 14465 (145% turnout)
votes cast - (sum of wards): 5912 (59% turnout)
difference between ward and municipality: 8553

Warrensville Heights
registered voters: 10562
votes cast - municipality: 15039 (142% turnout)
votes cast - (sum of wards): 6486 (61% turnout)
difference between ward and municipality: 8553

Fairview Park
registered voters: 13342
votes cast - municipality: 18472(110% turnout)
votes cast - (sum of wards): 8524 (64% turnout)
difference between ward and municipality: 9948

Westlake
registered voters: 25627
votes cast - municipality: 25173 (98% turnout)
votes cast - (sum of wards): 15225 (59% turnout)
difference between ward and municipality: 9948

[Democratic Underground]

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Votergate 2004; We Don't Need Paper to Prove Fraud, But We Do Need Money and Leadership, NOW. Since last Tuesday there has been a justifiable uproar about the major differences between the exit polls in Ohio and Florida and the actual results. Democrats and Republicans, who both saw the same exit polls that showed an electoral landslide in favor of Kerry, have confirmed this. Investigative reporter Bob Parry confirmed from his sources that the Bush campaign was convinced they were going to lose. George H. W. Bush also confirmed this in an interview with The Today Show. So why have the exit polls been so wrong in the last two elections? It is clear that there must have been manipulation in the voting machines. While there's been a lot of talk of problems with not having paper trails, computer fraud is uncovered most of the time without paper trails.  [Zogby International]

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From Democratic Underground:

In Duval Co. Fl 219,251 votes for Bush, only 190,111 registered Republican

I've been reviewing numbers for the past few days, and this one struck me as a little odd.

Duval County in Florida was the scene for a lot of accusations in the 2000 vote, mostly for voter suppression. So it certainly deserves some scrutiny. Add to that the County Supervisor for Elections resigned suddenly for health reasons just prior to the 2004 elections. Duval County is considered to be Republican country, however the voter registration numbers do not bear that out. Here are the numbers for 2000 and 2004.

Republican

2000 Regs....152,008...36%
2004 Regs....190,111...41%

2000 Votes...152,098...58% / 98 more votes than registered Republican.
2004 Votes...219,251...45% / 29,140 more votes than registered Rep.

Democrat

2000 Regs....211,762...50%
2004 Regs....238,264...46%

2000 Vote....107,864...41%...Only 51% of Reg Dem count.
2004 Vote....158,121...42%...66% of Reg Dem count.

I know there are crossover voters, but the total turnout for Duval was 74% of registered voters. Republicans get 115% of their registration, while Dems get 66%. Doesn't seem right to me. But someone with a little more political statistics savvy should take a look.

Couple of other issues jumped out at me all in Florida:

Highlands County had 7,495 more votes than turnout.
Collier County had 943 more votes than turnout.
Miami-Dade had 51,979 more votes than turnout.
Palm Beach had 90,774 more votes than turnout.
Osceola had 18,589 more votes than turnout.
Volusia had 19,306 more votes than turnout.

[Democratic Underground]

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[% of Change from Projections on Optical Scan Readers]

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Evidence is mounting that the 2004 presidential election was stolen in Ohio. Emerging revelations of voting irregularities coupled with well-documented Republican efforts at voter suppression prior to the election suggests that in a fair election Kerry would have won Ohio. Democratic hopeful Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts conceded on November 3, based on preliminary postings by the highly partisan Republican Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. These unofficial results showed Bush with 136,483 more votes than Kerry, although 155,428 provisional ballots, 92,672 “spoiled” ballots, additional overseas ballots, and some remaining absentee ballots remained uncounted. The day after his concession, Kerry drew 3,893 votes closer to Bush when a computerized voting machine “glitch” was discovered in an Ohio precinct. A machine in ward 1B in the predominantly Republican Gahanna, Ohio, recorded 4,258 votes for George W. Bush when only 638 people cast votes at the New Life Church polling site. Buried on page A6 of the Columbus Dispatch, the story also reported that the voting machine recorded 0 votes in a race between Franklin County Commissioners Arlene Shoemaker and Paula Brooks. Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matt Damschroder told the Dispatch that the voting machine glitches were “why the results on election night are unofficial.”   [Bayou Buzz]

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The exit polls that showed a sweeping victory for Sen. Kerry on Nov. 2 were right. Unfortunately, the 2004 presidential election was cleanly stolen by Bush & Co. How, you say? With the help of Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia and SAIC, four interlocked secretive right-wing electronic voting machine manufacturers. We have entrusted the most important election task, that of actually counting and tabulating the vote totals to extremist organizations with secret proprietary vote-counting computer software with no auditable paper trail for hand recounts. How very convenient, how very clean, how very slick and with all the evidence of election rigging is buried deep on their computer hard drives.   [Berkely Daily Planet]

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Evidence is mounting and being talked about everywhere that this Presidential election was stolen. The huge difference between the exit polls and the election results. The computer voting machine "gliches". The Diebold Company, making 30% of computerized voting machines, owned by a major Bush supporter who told Bush personally that he "would deliver the votes". [Boston herald]

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The stolen election of 2004: welcome back to hell -- Using a variety of criminal methods that they have perfected over the past four years, the George W. Bush-Dick Cheney-Karl Rove syndicate stole another election, and extended their illegal occupation of the White House. Experienced, informed and unblinking observers were not fooled by any aspect of this utterly predictable goose-step towards full dictatorship. But to those who are "shocked" as they watched the election night numbers mysteriously slip away amidst controversy; those who are struggling to understand "what happened", let this cold realization serve as bracing edification. Welcome to hell. Welcome to the horrifying reality that whistleblowers have suffered and fought through every day, over lifetimes. No more illusions. This is reality.  [From the Wilderness]

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Reign of Mad King George -- Now that I think more about "selection 2004" . . . I am getting angrier. It's the third stolen election since George W.Bush ascended the throne of the most powerful leader of the "free world."  John Kerry conceded the election to Bush even before all the votes were counted. He gave us the "kiss of fascism." How did he know the Republican Ohio election officials were telling the truth about the number of uncounted ballots? Al Gore did that and after the votes were all counted, they found out he won. Kerry trusted the Ohio Republican election officials to tell him the truth about the number of uncounted ballots? Why would the Democratic National Committee and Kerry do this? It doesn't make sense to me.  I don't care about what the DNC leadership wanted. I want all votes counted. As Americans living in a democracy we deserve this before Bush takes office again. Record numbers voted early. They stood out in the cold or heat in long lines to vote; they cast absentee ballots and provisional ballots to remove this president. Now this? We did our part, they  failed to do theirs.  [Online Journal]

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Glitch could force state to vote again -- More than 4,500 votes irretrievably lost in coastal Carteret County could trigger a new statewide election if the official margin of victory in two Council of State races is close enough, state election officials said Monday. The problem, which one expert called one of the worst election glitches nationwide, occurred on a machine that wasn't set correctly. "This is one of the few cases in which the votes were totally lost," said David Dill, founder of the Verified Voting foundation. The votes, all early ballots, could affect the races for superintendent of public instruction and agriculture commissioner, both too close to call Monday. Counties will add totals from as many as 75,000 provisional ballots to their returns today. If the final margin in any race is within 4,532 -- the number of lost votes in Carteret -- the losing candidate can file a protest with the N.C. State Board of Election.  [Charlotte Observer]

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A quick and haplessly generic answer now to the 6,000 emails and the hundreds of phone calls.  Firstly, thank you.  Secondly, we will indeed be resuming our coverage of the voting irregularities in Ohio and Florida -- and elsewhere -- on this evening's edition of Countdown {8:00 p.m. ET}. The two scheduled guests are Jonathan Turley, an excellent professor of law at George Washington University, and MSNBC analyst and Congressional Quarterly senior columnist Craig Crawford.  [Keith Olbermann/MSNBC]

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Computer error at voting machine gives Bush 3,893 extra votes -- COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A computer error with a voting machine cartridge gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in a Gahanna precinct. Franklin County's unofficial results gave Bush 4,258 votes to Democratic challenger John Kerry's 260 votes in Precinct 1B. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct. Matthew Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, said Bush received 365 votes there. The other 13 voters who cast ballots either voted for other candidates or did not vote for president. Damschroder said he received some calls Thursday from people who saw the error when reading the list of poll results on the election board's Web site.  [Ohio News]

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Collection of illegal voter suppression flyers sent out by the Republican Party  [SolarBus.org]

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As Voting Machines Are Checked, Spano's Lead Shrinks -- After the first hours of a two-week vote recount, Democrats claimed Monday that their candidate for the state Senate from Yonkers had wiped out almost all of her unofficial deficit and moved within 288 votes of the powerful Republican incumbent, Nicholas Spano. The GOP's election lawyer, John Ciampoli, acknowledged some gains for Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins but said, "None of this means anything until all the recanvass of the machines is done, over and finished." The count was partial, with just 15 percent of the machine vote checked by late afternoon. But the quick recovery buoyed the forces of Stewart-Cousins, a Westchester County legislator who took on the Senate's assistant majority leader and a nine-term veteran. "If this trend holds, we are confident that Andrea Stewart-Cousins will be the next state senator from the 35th Senate District," said the Democrats' election lawyer, Henry Berger, who was at the recount in a machine storage warehouse in Yonkers.  [WNBC]

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California settles electronic voting lawsuit against Diebold -- SAN FRANCISCO California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has announced a two-point-six (m) million dollar settlement with Diebold (DEE-bohld) -- resolving a lawsuit alleging that the company sold shoddy voting equipment in the state. Some critics are characterizing the settlement as a slap on the wrist. Diebold also agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to partially reimburse Alameda, San Diego and other counties for the cost of paper backup ballots, ink and other supplies in last week's election. California's secretary of state banned the use of one type of Diebold machine in May, after problems with the machines disenfranchised an unknown number of voters.  [KESQ News]

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Diebold settles e-voting lawsuit -- Diebold Inc. shook loose an expensive albatross Wednesday, agreeing to pay California $2.6 million to end a lawsuit over electronic voting. If the settlement is approved in court, it would put to rest rounds of finger-pointing that began back in November 2003. It also would let the Green-based company escape a trial. The plaintiffs were seeking as much as $57 million in damages. "This is just our effort to put these issues behind us so we can move forward," Diebold spokesman Michael Jacobsen said. In the lawsuit, the state of California accused Diebold of making false claims about the security and certification status of its electronic voting machines and tabulation systems. As a result, six counties were misled into buying the machines, the state said.  [Ohio.com]

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The OSCE won’t issue a final report for another six weeks, but its preliminary findings (available HERE) are a litany of "questions of possible conflict of interest," "widespread ... allegations of electoral fraud and voter suppression," "significant delays ... [that] may restrict the right to vote," "considerable confusion ... regarding the use of provisional ballots," "occasional faults and breakdowns of DRE [direct-recording equipment] machines," "concerns ... regarding the secrecy of the vote." Not only that, but "it was not clear that poll workers had generally received sufficient training to perform their functions." On the plus side, the election "proceeded in an orderly and peaceful manner," the OSCE says. And according to many news reports, America was awfully glad, above all else, that there was no untidiness with this election. Once John Kerry conceded, it seemed, concerns about voter suppression, intimidation, and fraud could be safely ignored. The mainstream media refocused their attention on the Scott Peterson trial, while Internet bloggers chased phantom conspiracy theories into the void. But there are at least two valid reasons why we should keep our eyes trained on November 2. First, a Phoenix analysis suggests that more Ohioans may have tried to vote for Kerry than for Bush, and couldn’t — in which case by rights W. should be packing his bags and shredding his files, rather than plotting his second-term agenda.  [Boston Phoenix]

2004: The Days of the Daleks

"PRO-CEED! PRO-CEED! PRO-CEED HU-MAN! CAST YOUR BAL-LOT! CAST YOUR BAL-LOT! ALL VOTES! ALL VOTES WILL COUNT! ALL VOTES COUNT! NOW! NOW! CAST YOUR BAL-LOT! NOW! NOW! EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE THE BAL-LOTS! EX-TER-MIN-ATE THE BAL-LOTS! EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!

Our democracy is too important to leave in the hands of machines. These touchscreen machines produce no audit trail -- no paper trail -- so there’s no possible way to ensure that your vote will count, or that it was ever counted. These machines are un-American. I'm not saying that we didn't have a fair election, what I'm saying is that there is no way we'll ever know. THEY choose our leader -- they decide and will not be questioned. The great and powerful all mighty machines have spoken.

I voted on one of these touchscreen machines. I pressed my way through the 16 electronic pages. I reviewed my choices and pressed the flashing red vote button. I waited for something more to happen and when nothing did, I walked away feeling empty. I walked up to the help desk with a friendly face and asked for help, "hi" I said, "I didn't get a receipt, did I do something wrong?" And then with a stupid smirk she handed me a sticker, "I Voted Touchscreen."

Kerry Concedes

Florida 2000 Ohio 2004

"I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year" - Walden W. O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc.

I Voted in Florida...

[And All I Got Was This Lousy Sticker.]

It's true people -- this is what you get when you vote in Florida. No pesky receipts here, just the sticker. I wonder if they'll start handing out stickers inplace of receipts at your local supermarket -- "I Love Cheese". The people at CVS won't let me leave the store without my very important Snickers Bar receipt, but voters get a sticker. Yeah, that makes sense.

Ledge News: CommentsGate edition

Bloggers and blogettes,

All apologies for the lack of posts in the past week -- I've been out of town and my hotel didn't have internet access [shock horror]. If you've sent me email and haven’t received a response, it's not that I've been ignoring you -- I blame crappy hotels with no internet access. Tomorrow I'll be working the polls in Florida on behalf of the DNC, which I'm sure will be interesting. Of course I'll file my report when I get in and let you all know how it goes.

Your humble blogmaster,

Peter

[P.S. The comments option will once again be available on all posts. Sorry about that -- apparently I don't know how to operate my computer.]

[P.P.S. Kerry in a landslide!]