Tuesday 2/22 Election Fraud, Reform, & Updates Thread

[MelissaB]

In order to organize and document I thought it would be a good idea to have a daily thread to place items related to reform, fraud, protests, and other items. This also make it easier to "catch up" when we are away from the computer for a while.

Please help us. If you see something that isn't here post it with a link to the thread and a thanks to the author. Thanks to everyone who is helping with this project.


Link to the thread from yesterday: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x331162

[L. Coyote]

1. Blackwell presidential election sanctions briefs == PDFs at Free Press

The following documents are supporting documents in the Blackwell presidential election sanctions case in Ohio.

Briefs:

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1172

MEMORANDUM OF UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS, JR. AS AMICUS CURIAE IN OPPOSITION TO MOTION OF SECRETARY OF STATE BLACKWELL FOR SANCTIONS PURSUANT TO CIV. R. 11 AND S. CT. PRAC. R. XIV, §5

MEMORANDUM OF UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS, JR. AS AMICUS CURIAE IN OPPOSITION TO MOTION OF SECRETARY OF STATE BLACKWELL AND OHIO’S TWENTY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS FOR SANCTIONS PURSUANT TO CIV. R 11 AND S. CT. PRAC. R. XIV, §5

MEMORANDUM OF UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS, JR. AS AMICUS CURIAE IN OPPOSITION TO MOTION OF SECRETARY OF STATE BLACKWELL AND OHIO’S TWENTY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS FOR SANCTIONS PURSUANT TO CIV. R. 11 AND S. CT. PRAC. R. XIV, §5

MOTION ON BEHALF OF PROPOSED AMICI CURIAE FOR LEAVE TO JOIN AS AMICI CURIAE IN THE MEMORANDUM OF UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS, JR., AS AMICUS CURIAE IN OPPOSITION TO MOTION OF SECRETARY OF STATE BLACKWELL AND OHIO’S TWENTY ELECTORS FOR SANCTIONS PURSUANT TO CIV. R. 11 AND S. CT. PRAC. R. XIV, §5

For more information about the sanctions, read the following articles.

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1138

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1102

[Catchawave]

2. NYT - Tackling Election Reform (op-ed)

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/22/opinion/22tues1.html?th

February 22, 2005
EDITORIAL
Tackling Election Reform

After a second consecutive presidential election marred by significant flaws in the mechanics of voting, it's time for Congress to take a hard look at fixing the system. Two Senate bills aim to do that. A Republican-sponsored bill is narrowly tailored around making electronic voting more reliable. A more ambitious bill, sponsored by the Democrats, would take on a broad array of problems, from long lines at the polls to odious maneuvers aimed at keeping people from voting. Both bills would greatly improve the functioning of American democracy.

The Republican bill, introduced by Senator John Ensign of Nevada, would focus on the most critical weakness in the system by requiring that electronic voting machines produce voter-verifiable paper records of the votes cast. The paper records would take precedence when there were inconsistencies.

Mr. Ensign's bill does not go as far as another paper-trail bill that has been introduced in the House by Representative Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat. That bill is preferable because it includes other safeguards, like requiring an audit of some paper records as a spot-check for the electronic totals. Still, Mr. Ensign's bill would be a good step, and its Republican sponsorship and narrow focus could give it real momentum in this Congress.

The Democratic Senate bill, introduced last week by Senators Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry and Frank Lautenberg, is now the gold standard for election reform. It would require not only paper records, but recounts in 2 percent of all polling places or precincts, and restrictions on political activity by voting machine manufacturers.

more....

[BillyDoc]

3. Pledge-Bounty for Convictions of Election Fraud

Go to ElectionFraudBounty.org and pledge toward the bounty, if you want to do something positive. It won't cost you a cent if there isn't a conviction.

By the way, be sure to check out the "Evidence and Links" page, down about half way. The graph there will knock your socks off.

[Wilms]

4. Vanity Fair: Ohio's Odd Numbers

Thanks to November 2nd Truth
<http://nov2truth.org/index.php>

2/20/2005
Vanity Fair
By Christopher Hitchens

Are the stories of vote suppression and rigged machines to be believed? Here is "non-wacko" evidence that something went seriously awry in the Buckeye State on Election Day 2004 If it were not for Kenyon College, I might have missed, or skipped, the whole controversy. The place is a visiting lecturer's dream, or the ideal of a campus-movie director in search of a setting. It is situated in wooded Ohio hills, in the small town of Gambier, about an hour's drive from Columbus. Its literary magazine, The Kenyon Review, was founded by John Crowe Ransom in 1939. Its alumni include Paul Newman, E. L. Doctorow, Jonathan Winters, Robert Lowell, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and President Rutherford B. Hayes. The college's origins are Episcopalian, its students well mannered and well off and predominantly white, but it is by no means Bush-Cheney territory. Arriving to speak there a few days after the presidential election, I found that the place was still buzzing. Here's what happened in Gambier, Ohio, on decision day 2004.

-snip-

In Miami County, a Saddam Hussein–type turnout was recorded in the Concord Southwest and Concord South precincts, which boasted 98.5 percent and 94.27 percent turnouts, respectively, both of them registering overwhelming majorities for Bush. Miami County also managed to report 19,000 additional votes for Bush after 100 percent of the precincts had reported on Election Day.

-snip-

Machines are fallible and so are humans, and shit happens, to be sure, and no doubt many Ohio voters were able to record their choices promptly and without grotesque anomalies. But what strikes my eye is this: in practically every case where lines were too long or machines too few the foul-up was in a Democratic county or precinct, and in practically every case where machines produced impossible or improbable outcomes it was the challenger who suffered and the actual or potential Democratic voters who were shortchanged, discouraged, or held up to ridicule as chronic undervoters or as sudden converts to fringe-party losers.

-snip-

I had the chance to spend quality time with someone who came to me well recommended, who did not believe that fraud had yet actually been demonstrated, whose background was in the manufacture of the machines, and who wanted to be anonymous. It certainly could be done, she said, and only a very, very few people would have to be "in on it." This is because of the small number of firms engaged in the manufacturing and the even smaller number of people, subject as they are to the hiring practices of these firms, who understand the technology. "Machines were put in place with no sampling to make sure they were 'in control' and no comparison studies," she explained. "The code of the machines is not public knowledge, and none of these machines has since been impounded." In these circumstances, she continued, it's possible to manipulate both the count and the proportions of votes.

-snip/more-

<http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/articles/050214roco05?page=1>

[dzika]

5. NY Time - Wag-the-Dog Protection

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,340750,00.gif
http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,78570,00.jpg
February 22, 2005

Wag-the-Dog Protection

When things are going badly for the Bush administration, expect a change of subject.

By PAUL KRUGMAN



The campaign against Social Security is going so badly that longtime critics of President Bush, accustomed to seeing their efforts to point out flaws in administration initiatives brushed aside, are pinching themselves. But they shouldn't relax: if the past is any guide, the Bush administration will soon change the subject back to national security. The political landscape today reminds me of the spring of 2002, after the big revelations of corporate fraud. Then as now, the administration was on the defensive, and Democrats expected to do well in midterm elections.

Then, suddenly, it was all Iraq, all the time, and Harken Energy and Halliburton vanished from the headlines.

I don't know which foreign threat the administration will start playing up this time, but Bush critics should be prepared for the shift. They must curb their natural inclination to focus almost exclusively on domestic issues, and challenge the administration on national security policy, too.

I say this even though many critics, myself included, would prefer to stick with the domestic issues. After all, domestic issues, particularly Social Security, are very comfortable ground for moderates and liberals. The relevant facts are all in the public domain, voters clearly oppose the administration's hard-right agenda, and Mr. Bush's attack on Social Security stumbled badly out of the gate. It's understandable, then, that critiques of the administration's national security policy have faded into the background in recent months.
...
But a president can always change the subject to national security if he wants to - and Mr. Bush has repeatedly shown himself willing to play the terrorism card when he is losing the debate on other issues. So it's important to point out that Mr. Bush, for all his posturing, has done a very bad job of protecting the nation - and to make that point now, rather than in the heat of the next foreign crisis.



more: http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,343053,00.html

[MelissaB]

6. ACTION! LETTER OF THE WEEK #4: Kevin Shelley, Diebold & Election Fraud

This is a draft letter. It is 2 /12 pages long in 10 pt. Times font--too long! But I thought I would post a draft for comments, and to get people started. I believe that what is going on in California is THE fight of fights for Election Reform. THIS IS IT, DUers! As so often, the BushCons are a thousand steps ahead of us. THEY know Congress isn't going to help--they have real Election Reform blockaded there. This is a local, state by state struggle. That's why they got rid of Kevin Shelley. And we had better move fast to educate California legislators--a progressive group, as a whole--who might just listen to us. This letter is aimed at them, and can also be used for media and for other California Democratic politicians and groups.

Letter and lots more information thanks to Peace Patriot here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x319613

[MelissaB]

8. Another way to educate you officials in California

here thanks to JunkYardDogg: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x332059


For those in California who want to construct a Package of Objective Documents to present to their County Supervisors and Election Clerks to "Educate" them, these are a beginning.
I seriously doubt that many elected officials, especially the supervisors, have or will ever read any of this material.
The problem at hand, at the moment, is to make sure that they purchase the most secure equipment which is compliant with the 2006 mandated regs. If they purchase non-compliant equipment, they will try to back door, grandfather it in and try to suspend the 2006 mandated regs, especially now that Shelley is gone. In doing so, they will claim that they have already spent the HAVA Fed Money, and the cash strapped local counties will not have enough money to purchase compliant equipment.
The first document on the list is really good, it covers a lot of what we discuss here at DU.


STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECRETARY OF STATE
"DECERTIFICATION AND WITHDRAWAL OF APPROVAL OF CERTAIN DRE VOTING SYSTEMS AND CONDITION APPROVAL OF THE USE OF CERTAIN DRE VOTING SYSTEMS'

9 PDF Pages
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/ks_dre_papers/decert1.pdf

PROCEDURES FOR APPROVING, CERTIFYING, REVIEWING, MODIFYING, AND DECERTIFYING VOTING SYSTEMS,
VOTE TABULATING SYSTEMS, ELECTION OBSERVER PANEL PLANS, AND AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT, MATERIALS,
AND PROCEDURES
28 pages PDF


http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/ks_dre_papers/decert1.pdf


VOTING SYSTEMS INFO
(Machines used by each County in California

http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_w.htm
Web Page w/ links

http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_vs.htm

VOTING SYSTEMS CERTIFIED FOR USE IN CALIFORNIA
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/voting_systems/certified_vs.pdf

4 pages pdf

AVVPAT
ACCESSIBLE VOTER VERIFIED PAPER AUDIT TRAIL SYSTEMS IN
DIRECT RECORDING (DRE) VOTING SYSTEMS
JAN. 21,2005
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/ks_dre_papers/avvpat_standards_1_21_05.pdf
8 pdf pages

PARALLEL MONITORING OF ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS
Nov., 2004
203 pdf pages
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/ks_dre_papers/avvpat_standards_1_21_05.pdf


KEY DOCUMENTS ON ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/touchscreen.htm#A
web page

OTHER DOCUMENTS:
"MYTH BREAKERS:
Facts About Electronic Elections"
Essential Information for those Entrusted with Making Decisions
about Election Systems in the United States
by VotersUnite.org
http://www.votersunite.org/MB2.pdf
70 pdf pages

[Wilms]

7. Federal vote panel's hearings not public enough, group says

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Federal vote panel's hearings not public enough, group says

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Julie Carr Smyth
Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus - Ohio Citizen Action wants a federal elections panel to put the "public" back in "public hearing."

The activist group questioned on Monday why public testimony won't be taken at Wednesday's meeting of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Instead, citizens were invited to submit their comments by e-mail.

-snip-

Gracia Hillman, who chairs the commission, said people are welcome to submit written testimony of any length, and that commissioners took pains to invite a balanced panel of speakers.

-snip-

Asked why the group isn't hosting an open-mike style forum, she said: "We just don't have enough time."

-snip/more-

<http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/110906828170691.xml>

[MelissaB]

9. The Gold Standard for Election Reform

The Gold Standard for Election Reform

22 February 2005

An editorial in Tuesday’s New York Times takes an objective look at election reform bills sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. While the Republican bill sponsored by Senator John Ensign of Nevada focuses on requiring that electronic voting machines that produce voter-verifiable paper records, it appears to fall flat from there…

Mr. Ensign's bill does not go as far as another paper-trail bill that has been introduced in the House by Representative Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat. That bill is preferable because it includes other safeguards, like requiring an audit of some paper records as a spot-check for the electronic totals. Still, Mr. Ensign's bill would be a good step, and its Republican sponsorship and narrow focus could give it real momentum in this Congress.

The Democratic Senate bill, introduced last week by Senators Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry and Frank Lautenberg, is now the gold standard for election reform. It would require not only paper records, but recounts in 2 percent of all polling places or precincts, and restrictions on political activity by voting machine manufacturers.

More: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1615285


Thanks to kerrygoddess here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1615285

[dzika]

10. Ohio Election Job pits daughter against mother

Ohio Election Job pits daughter against mother
Elections board politicking puts women in middle

By Anthony Gottschlich


CELINA | In Mercer County, choosing the board of elections' next executive director is a relative matter — a political battle pitting a daughter against her mother in a scenario that could cost mom her job.

The Republicans' pick for the job is Denise J. Fullenkamp, 26, a clerk who has worked in the office since 1999.

But if Fullenkamp gets the job, the board members likely would be forced to fire Fullenkamp's mom, Democrat Diana Grile, the deputy director since 1998. State nepotism laws prohibit such a close working arrangement in a public office.

The Democrats on the elections board contend the Republicans want to "railroad" Grile out of the office because they don't like her. Why else, they said, would the GOP nominate Fullenkamp, a registered Democrat, to a job 14 Republicans applied for?

"This whole situation smells," said board member Mark Uhlenhake, chairman of the Mercer County Democratic Party.
...
The board meets at 3 p.m. today, but after five tie votes so far, both parties have asked Blackwell to settle the dispute. Blackwell could not be reached for comment.


more: http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0222elections.html

[dzika]

11. Lawmakers look to mend campaign, balloting flaws

February 22, 2005

Lawmakers look to mend campaign, balloting flaws

By Brian DeBose


Arguing that the public-financing system for presidential nominees is broken, two top House members, House Administration Committee Chairman Bob Ney, Ohio Republican, and House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, have introduced a bill to create a uniform day for when the public financing takes effect for a general election.
...
If passed, the bill would designate the Friday before Labor Day -- generally viewed as the start of the general election -- as the day on which both parties' nominees would receive public funds with which to mount their general campaigns, rather than the day on which the candidate is formally nominated.
...
Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barbara Boxer of California and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio have introduced the Count Every Vote Act.
...
The bill would mandate a voter-verified paper ballot for every vote cast in electronic voting machines and would ensure access to voter verification for all citizens, to be used as the official ballot for purposes of a recount. It also would make presidential Election Day a federal holiday. It would further set a uniform standard for provisional ballots, and require the Federal Election Assistance Commission to issue standards that ensure uniform access to voting machines and trained election personnel in every community.


more: http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050221-115001-7274r.htm

[dzika]

12. Blackwell: Hypocrisy and the arrogance of power

February 22, 2005

Blackwell: Hypocrisy and the arrogance of power

by Bob Fitrakis


J. Kenneth Blackwell is at it again. Ohio’s infamous Secretary of State and master of media distortion and hype, earning him the name “Inkwell” among the statehouse press corps, has announced his partisan agenda for governor of the Buckeye State.

Blackwell, Ohio’s first statewide African American office holder, has rapidly moved to stake out the far right of the Ohio Republican Party as his political base. The Secretary of State has found himself consistently at odds with mainstream conservatives in the state’s GOP.

Last week, the Franklin County Board of Elections, under the control of Republican Executive Director Matt Damschroder, obtained a temporary restraining order against Blackwell. In another of his notorious imperial decrees, the Secretary of State ordered all 88 county boards to buy optical-scan voting systems from two well-known Republican-linked companies, Diebold and ES&S.

Republican Attorney General Jim Petro issued an opinion stating that Blackwell does not have the authority to limit a county’s choice as to specific types of voting systems. Hart InterCivic, Inc. filed suit against Blackwell seeking reimbursement for millions of dollars they had spent trying to market their voting system in Ohio, based on the assumption that there would be competitive bidding.

Once again, Blackwell went to court to make sure he would not have to testify under oath, and once again, he succeeded.


more: http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2005/1074

[dzika]

13. Board wants closer look at absentee voters (and their health records)

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Board wants closer look at absentee votes

Elections officials seek proof from those holding permanent status By BRIAN NEARING


ALBANY -- For years, the permanent absentee ballot has been a wild card in Albany County politics. In tight races, such ballots, used by voters who cannot visit polling places because of illness or infirmity, can swing results.

Now the county Board of Elections is checking for the first time to confirm that these 2,300 voters exist and have a valid reason to hold their special ballots. So far, the answer is not all of them.

The inquiry comes as a federal lawsuit stemming from a Democratic Party primary last spring continues to explore voting irregularities, including the holding of blocks of absentee ballots by operatives for the party.
...
Some absentee voters are not happy about the probe. Rosemary Rafferty, a 72-year-old widow of an Albany police officer who lives on Frederick Avenue in Albany, was outraged when she learned the county wanted her doctor's name and the medical reason she needs the ballot.
...
Graziano said the medical information is required on absentee ballot applications under state election law. "We are not trying to invade anyone's privacy," he said. "We realize that may be a bother for some people."


more: http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=335283&category=ALBANY&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=2/22/2005

[dzika]

14. Federal vote panel's hearings not public enough, group says

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Federal vote panel's hearings not public enough, group says

by Julie Carr Smyth


Columbus - Ohio Citizen Action wants a federal elections panel to put the "public" back in "public hearing."

The activist group questioned on Monday why public testimony won't be taken at Wednesday's meeting of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Instead, citizens were invited to submit their comments by e-mail.

The panel will meet in Columbus to gather information on how provisional voting fared around the country. Voters who appear to be unregistered vote provisionally and their voter record is checked later. In Ohio, 77 percent of the 153,539 provisional ballots cast were found to be valid.

Hand-picking who will testify on the provisional ballot issue could limit the picture the commission gets, said Catherine Turcer, who monitors election issues for Citizen Action.

"Why take the show on the road, unless you want to hear from the public?" she said. "Is this really a public hearing?"


more: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/110906828170691.xml

[dzika]

15. Doubts Raised Over Bush's Faith-Based Commitment

Tuesday, February 22, 2005; 8:32 AM

Doubts Raised Over Bush's Faith-Based Commitment

By Terry M. Neal



As David Kuo, a former high-ranking official in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, faulted President Bush last week for not pushing the centerpiece of his "compassionate conservative" agenda, I was taken back to a hot summer day in Indianapolis nearly five years ago -- the day then-candidate Bush delivered the first policy speech of his first presidential campaign.

Rather than talk about tax cuts or increased defense spending or some other favorite conservative topic, the president chose to kick off his campaign by talking about bringing comfort and assistance to the poor, the downtrodden, those in need of a helping hand. It was stark repudiation to the Republican rhetoric of the Gingrich era and it helped the campaign define Bush as "a new kind of Republican."

But Bush was not repudiating conservative policies, merely defining new ways to talk about conservative principles. His faith-based initiative was a way to talk about downsizing the welfare state, encouraging the private sector to help people help themselves and using government as a catalyst for an end, rather than an end itself. It was, the campaign believed, a perfect way to appeal both to mainstream conservatives and to evangelicals as well as religious black and Hispanic voters.

I also recall the candidate's tortured efforts to handle issues related to gay rights. As Texas governor, Bush had never shown much heart for wading into hot-button social issues. It wasn't that he didn't have convictions, he just preferred to focus on issues such as tax cuts and the economy.

What do these two issues have to do with each other? People on both sides of the ideological fence accuse the president of using both issues for purely political purposes.


more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43532-2005Feb22.html

[MelissaB]

16. Gannon Admits to Feeding Information to Thune Campaign in 2004 Race

Former Thune Staffer Jon Lauck Speaks Out About Explosive Gannongate Allegations; Gannon Admits to Feeding Information to Thune Campaign in 2004 Race

By ADVOCATE STAFF

Now we're getting somewhere.

Sort of.

The Advocate has contacted former paid Thune staffer and current South Dakota blogger Jon Lauck, Professor of History at South Dakota State University, in reference to his explosive allegation from February 20th that "reporters have recently told me that the Daschle campaign had been sending them photos of Gannon for at least a year to discredit him."

In an e-mail to The Advocate on Tuesday, Lauck amended his statement but also, on the most important point, held firm. Lauck no longer claims that "reporters" (plural) gave him information on the Daschle campaign's February 2004 possession of naked photographs of Jeff Gannon; he does, however, maintain that "a reporter recently told me that Daschle's campaign spokesman emailed him Gannon photos more than a year ago."

The Advocate is currently attempting to contact Tom Daschle's former campaign spokesman, Dan Pfeiffer, to confirm the claim.

Meanwhile, Maricarrol Kueter of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader had no comment on the story when reached by The Advocate. The Advocate has been attempting to track down which South Dakota reporters, if any, received the purported Pfeiffer e-mail. The Argus Leader, the most popular paper in the state, has refused comment on the Gannon matter since it broke.

>>>snip

In a revelation which will surely blow Gannongate wide open, Gannon has admitted to E&P that he traded information with Thune staffers Jason Van Beek and Jon Lauck during the 2004 general election cycle. .

More: http://www.nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/

Thanks to nashuaadvocate here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3160035#3160461

[dzika]

17. Church Electioneering Ban Re-examined

February 22, 2005

Church Electioneering Ban Re-examined

BY MILES BENSON


Acting on complaints, the Internal Revenue Service is conducting inquiries into political activities at churches and other tax-exempt institutions across the country, even as Congress considers legislation to ease legal restrictions and encourage preachers to peel off the kid gloves.

Under federal law, churches are tax-exempt. But as such, they are banned from partisan political activities; preachers are prohibited from endorsing candidates from the pulpit.
...
But the practice is already well along, according to many political leaders, and candidates of both major parties benefit. Indeed, the law banning church political activity and endorsements resembles, to some, the Prohibition era ban on alcoholic beverages -- on the books but widely ignored.

Former Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe recently told reporters he was "dismayed" by the stance of many Roman Catholic churches in last year's election. "The way they went into their pulpits and told people it was a sin to vote for John Kerry was nothing short of outrageous," said McAuliffe, who describes himself as "a strong Catholic."

Kerry, also Catholic, was criticized by many Catholic theologians for his pro-choice position on abortion.


more: http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/benson022205.html

[dzika]

18. Video - Olbermann reports Gannon threaten to sue - 2/21 @ 8PM ET

Video - Olbermann reports Gannon threaten to sue - 2/21 @ 8PM ET



Video in Real Media format (9 minutes):
http://www.edwardsdavid.com/BushVideos/olbermann_gannon_threaten_suit_050221-01.rm

[dzika]

19. Video - Olbermann says Swift Vet backers to attack AARP - 2/21

Video - Olbermann says Swift Vet backers to attack AARP - 2/21



Real Media format (1 minute):
http://www.edwardsdavid.com/BushVideos/olbermann_swift_vet_ss_attack_050221-01.rm

[dzika]

20. League president: Turnout, confusion led to invalidation rate

AP offers a very one-sided argument here...


Feb. 22, 2005

League president: Turnout, confusion led to invalidation rate

JOHN McCARTHY | Associated Press


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The heavy turnout in the Nov. 2 election and poll-worker confusion contributed to the invalidation of ballots cast by many voters whose names didn't appear on registration logs kept at polling places, the president of the League of Women Voters said Tuesday.

In Ohio, 21 percent of the provisional ballots cast were found to be invalid, compared with 13 percent in the 2000 presidential election. Nationwide, 32 percent of provisional ballots cast in last year's election were thrown out. Most states were using them for the first time.

...
Also scheduled to appear were Blackwell and Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood, also a Republican. U.S. Rep. Robert Ney, an Ohio Republican, scolded the two for not appearing before his House Administration Committee this month at the first congressional review of the 2004 election. Both cited previously scheduled events for their absence. Hood said she had never agreed to appear before the committee and had scheduled the other event seven months in advance.
..
Some Democrats have suggested that Congress should make the same election rules apply in all states. Maxwell said it is too soon since the commission's formation to mandate changes.

"The Election Assistance Commission and election officials and those who have been working with this are probably the better ones, at this point at least, to be looking at what standards to set and how to move forward," Maxwell said.



more: http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/10964817.htm

[MelissaB]

21. Democratic leadership joins call for Gannon inquiry; Whip calls on members

Democratic leadership joins call for Gannon inquiry; Whip calls on members to join push

2/22/2005
Democratic leadership joins call for Gannon inquiry; Whip calls on members to join push
Filed under: General— site admin @ 7:29 pm Email This


Senate Democratic leadership joins push for Gannon inquiry

By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor

The Senate Democratic leadership is privately circulating a letter calling for other senators to join a call for an investigation into discredited White House reporter Jeff Gannon, RAW STORY has learned.

The letter, issued from Minority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL), calls on President Bush to “order a full inquiry” into how a “fake” journalist working for a “sham” news organization got access to the president.

The letter was leaked to RAW STORY this evening. A decision on taking action on Gannon has been brewing for about a week, since Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on the White House to turn over all documentation relating to Gannon’s credentialing.

The Senate Democratic leadership is encouraging members to sign onto the letter behind the scenes. As Congress is in recess, Democrats will be calling on members in their home districts before the Senate reconvenes next week.

Senator Durbin’s letter follows.

###

Dear Mr. President,

At a press conference in the White House on January 26, you stated that “there needs to be a nice, independent relationship between the White House and the press.” In that same press conference, you called on a reporter then known as Jeff Gannon, who worked for an organization called Talon News.

More: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=117

Thanks to Goldmund here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1258485

[dzika]

22. Game - George Bush's Weed Party

Game - George Bush's Weed Party



Zip file for Windows (6 MB):
http://www.edwardsdavid.com/BushVideos/Geroge%20Bush%20-%20Weed%20Party.zip

[Wilms]

23. SacBee - Other view: Rebuild trust in electoral process

Other view: Rebuild trust in electoral process

By Debra Bowen Special To The Sacramento Bee
February 22, 2005


Few things are more important in a democracy than the integrity of our electoral process.

That's why it's so important for California's secretary of state - the one person responsible for certifying election results for all state and federal offices in California, as well as all of the statewide ballot propositions - to conduct the duties of the office in a nonpartisan fashion.

-snip-

A second important reform would be to preclude the secretary of state and candidates for the office from accepting campaign contributions from voting equipment manufacturers and vendors whose systems he or she is charged with certifying for use in California. The 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) created a new political player: the electronic voting machine manufacturers who are vying to get their voting systems installed in polling places nationwide.

Since the enactment of HAVA, the four major electronic voting machine manufacturers have given more than $652,000 to candidates running for office, including secretary of state candidates in four states.

-snip/more-

<http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=4879>

[sacxtra]

25. Anything to avoid this: eh?

They'll do anything to avoid talking about this:




Now figure it out, and go file an election fraud complaint form locally in your own precint.

[MelissaB]

24. "Who Got Glitched: An Election Reform Teach-In" Santa Monica, CA 2/27

"Who Got Glitched: An Election Reform Teach-In"
Sunday, Feb 27th, 2:00 - 5:00 pm
The Church at Ocean Park
(2nd and Hill, Santa Monica)

Presenting:
Bev Harris, Black Box Voting, Investigator
Bob Fitrakis, Columbus Free Press,(Attorney, Moss vs. Bush/Cheney/Blackwell)
The Jonas/Quinn/ Ritt legal team for Ohio
Blair Bobier, Green Party, ‘The Ohio Recount' Great Film Clips & ‘Building a Civil Rights /Voter Rights Coaliton’
Moderated by Ian Masters, KPFK
with Butch Wing, Rainbow Push
Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange & Codepink
Brad Freidman, Velvet Revolution
Kevin Spidel, Progressive Democrats
Blair Bobier, Green party
Susan Clark, Pro-Democracy Advocate
Mandeep Gill, Citizen Lobbyist ..and YOU!

Tickets $10 - No one turned away for lack of funds
Ticket orders & info: [e-mail]
Seating limited. Reservations recommended.

http://www.citizensact.org/pages/2/index.htm

edit: subject changed to add date

Thanks to emlev here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x329512