Wednesday 3/23 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=203x347403

[MelissaB]

1. Learn what kind of man SOS Blackwell is and hear him get roasted.

Secretary of State clashes with Congresspeople at hearing on Ohio's 2004 vote

By Karen Kasler - March 21, 2005

A Congressional committee headed by Ohio Rep. Bob Ney (R-St. Clairsville) is investigating the 2004 presidential election. The committee held a hearing at the Statehouse Monday, and sparks flew when the state’s chief elections official took a seat before the panel. Ohio Public Radio’s Karen Kasler reports.

Audio Report:

http://63.135.96.170/media/2005/03/21/8215/7651.rm



Thanks to KaliTracy here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x347432#347459

and Wilms here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x347403#347469

Discussion here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3326564

[Wilms]

3. AP: Blackwell tells panel election went smoothly

Blackwell tells panel election went smoothly

JOHN McCARTHY

Associated Press 21 March 2005

-snip-

The exchanges Monday became heated at times, especially between Blackwell and U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a Cleveland Democrat who is not a committee member but sat in with the panel.

Tubbs Jones questioned Blackwell about a telephone message delivered to thousands of voters just before the election to make sure they voted in the correct precinct, especially if they had not changed their registration and needed a provisional ballot. Tubbs Jones wondered why he didn't say in the message that voters had the option to use provisional ballots at their local boards of elections.

Blackwell said, "It worked," several times, his voice rising as Tubbs Jones continued the question. Ohio ranked fourth nationwide in the number of provisional ballots that were validated. Ten days before the election, a judge upheld Blackwell's directive that voters must cast provisional ballots in the correct precinct.

Blackwell also said directives he issued on provisional ballots and voter registration cards that led to complaints about their timeliness were forced by court rulings made just weeks or days before the election.

-snip/more-

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1007889&tw=wn_wire_story

[Wilms]

7. BRAD BLOG: Blackwell Testifies & New 'Voters Rights' Group Appears

Blackwell Finally Testifies in OH as a New 'Voters Rights' Group Appears 'Talon News-style' out of Nowhere...

Director of 4-Day Old Group Called as Expert Witness along with Blackwell in U.S. House Hearings Yesterday.

Blogged by Brad
3/22/2005 @ 12:50pm PT

-snip-

As well, a Republican operative by the name of Mark F. (Thor) Hearne was also called as a "Witness" to discuss Election Reform issues despite fronting an organization, the so-called "American Center for Voting Rights" which suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the web just last Thursday.

-snip-

We hope to find more information on yesterday's hearings, of which we are highly dubious. If only because one of the "witnesses" scheduled to testify was to be a member of the American Center for Voting Rights, a Dallas TX group which seems to have sprung up out of nowhere -- just in time for the hearings -- and which is clearly tied to Republican Party operatives.

The ACVR established their website just last Thursday -- 4 days ago -- on March 17th, 2005.

The director of the supposedly non-partisan 501(c)3 organization scheduled to testify as a witness at yesterday's hearing was Mark F. (Thor) Hearne. Hearne is listed on the site as "National Election Counsel to Bush-Cheney ’04 and Missouri counsel to Bush-Cheney ‘00" amongst other very Republican credentials.

-snip/more-

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001275.htm


Discussion Thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1678865

[Wilms]

14. BRAD BLOG: Interview w/ GOPers from new 'Non-Partisan' 'Voting Rights' Org

High-Level Republicans from the New 'Non-Partisan' 'American Center for Voting Rights' Explain Themselves...
Um...Sort of.

Blogged by Brad
3/23/2005

Today we attempted to get some more information about the "American Center for Voting Rights" (ACVR), a group who, as we reported yesterday, suddenly appeared on the Internet last Thursday. On Monday, they gave testimony to U.S. Congressman Bob Ney's (R-OH) House Administrative Committee during hearings held in Columbus, OH on the 2004 Election mess in the state.

The discussion with the "non-partisan" group-leader and Bush/Cheney '04 National Counsel Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, II didn't last very long.

However "non-partisan" ACVR press contact Jim Dyke (also Communications Director for the Republican National Committee in the 2004 Election) was willing to explain a bit more about this tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization which seems to have sprung up, Talon News-like, from nowhere...

-snip/more-

STORY/INTERVIEWS: http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001279.htm

DU Discussion posted by Brad, here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1682073

[Wilms]

4. ToledoBlade: Blackwell questioned about Ohio's election performance

Article published Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Blackwell questioned about Ohio's election performance

COLUMBUS - The battle over the 2004 presidential election raged anew yesterday as a congressional committee questioned Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell over what happened on Election Day and his decisions leading up to that day.

"What you don't want to hear, or what you are not hearing, is that Ohio, whether you're talking about the National Association of Secretaries of State or any other objective measure, had one of the best election administration performances in the country," Mr. Blackwell told the House Administration Committee.

U.S. Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D., Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, countered: "Irrespective of that, there have been allegations put out there. Again, you don't want to hear that, but they're out there."

The occasionally acrimonious hearing was brought to Ohio - the state that ultimately kept President Bush in the White House - after Mr. Blackwell opted not to attend a similar hearing in Washington last month even though he was in the city that day on other business.

-snip/more-

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050322/NEWS09/503220405

[Wilms]

5. Hearing on election turns heated - Blackwell, Tubbs Jones spar over ads

Hearing on election turns heated
Blackwell, Tubbs Jones spar over ads

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Julie Carr Smyth
Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus

-snip-

Blackwell repeatedly interrupted a pair of Democratic questioners at a meeting of the Committee on House Administration to explain the controversial directives and divisive decisions that marked his administration of the 2004 contest.

-snip-

State Rep. Kevin DeWine, a Dayton-area Republican, made a blunt request for the extension during his testimony. Ohio is among states that opted amid public concern to require a so-called "paper trail" for the machines, but the technology is still largely undeveloped and untested.

-snip-

DeWine said House Republicans are reviewing the matter and may yet consider scrapping the paper trail mandate because of the conflict it created between federal and state law.

-snip-

Tubbs Jones grilled Blackwell on the $2.5 million voter education ad campaign in which he starred, noting that neither TV nor radio spots told Cuyahoga County voters they could legally vote at their Board of Elections.

-snip/more-

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1111487748160380.xml

[Wilms]

6. The New York Times: Ohio Official Says Election Went Smoothly

Ohio Official Says Election Went Smoothly

The New York Times

Monday 21 March 2005

Columbus, Ohio

-snip-

Tubbs Jones questioned Blackwell about a telephone message delivered to thousands of voters just before the election to make sure they voted in the correct precinct, especially if they had not changed their registration and needed a provisional ballot. Tubbs Jones wondered why he didn't say in the message that voters had the option to use provisional ballots at their local boards of elections.

Blackwell said, "It worked," several times, his voice rising as Tubbs Jones continued the question. Ohio ranked fourth nationwide in the number of provisional ballots that were validated. Ten days before the election, a judge upheld Blackwell's directive that voters must cast provisional ballots in the correct precinct.

-snip-

Blackwell also said directives he issued on provisional ballots and voter registration cards that led to complaints about their timeliness were forced by court rulings made just weeks or days before the election.

Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald of California, the committee's ranking Democrat, asked Blackwell several questions about alleged irregularities, including voters getting calls telling them the election was the day after Nov. 2 and voting machine misallocation by elections officials.

-snip/more-

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Election-Hearing.html


Additional Link Care of TruthOut and Botany:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032205X.shtml

[Wilms]

12. Testimony from the Committee on House Administration Hearing

Testimony from the Committee on House Administration Hearing



3/21/05

Testimony from the Committee on House Administration hearing that was held March 21 in Columbus, Ohio, is now available.

More links will be added as they become available.


CHA News Release
http://www.house.gov/cha/prMar18-05.htm

Edward B. Foley
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/analysis/050321b.htm

Daniel P. Tokaji
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/analysis/050321a.htm

Mark F. (Thor) Hearne
http://www.ac4vr.com/news/testimony.html

Note: As uncovered and reported by BradBlog:

-snip-

As reported here earlier today, the U.S. House Administrative Committee hearings yesterday in Columbus featured testimony from St. Louis attorney, Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, II of the "non-partisan" American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR).

According to Internic records, the ACVR was established on the web just last Thursday and early investigation into this group would seem to indicate that it is little more than a front group for Republican operatives with little or no interest in actual "Voting Rights" at all.

While Hearne is listed as a witness for yesterday's hearings on the U.S. Committee for House Administration website as "National Counsel, American Center for Voting Rights", there is no mention of his affiliation or extensive work for Bush/Cheney '00, '04 and other Republicans.

Hearne, a former Reagan Administration official, is the National Election Counsel to Bush-Cheney ’04 Inc. and was Missouri counsel to Bush-Cheney ‘00 Inc. As well, he was General Counsel to Republican Missouri Governor Blunt.

-snip/more-

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001276.htm

[Wilms]

8. .

[Harlequin]

9. get the full audio of that exchange

because that one was edited to make people of color look overly socially concerned to the detriment of the project at hand. I'd like to hear the full audio.

[Botany]

2. My 2 cents ......

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x347766

:bounce:

[Wilms]

10. NY State Legislature's Plan to Help America Vote May Hurt NYC Residents

New York State Legislature's Plan to Help America Vote May Hurt NYC Residents

By Amanda Erickson
Columbia Spectator Staff Writer

March 23, 2005

Only a few weeks ago, New York State risked losing over $200 million in federal aid because legislators from the State Senate and Assembly just couldn’t compromise.

Now the state has created a joint conference committee to work out differences between the two houses in order to secure funds to improve voting practices in New York. The money will be used to bring the state into compliance with the Help America Vote Act, a federal act that encourages states to reform their voting practices.

The conference committee has already agreed on which voting machines to buy, who will own the machines, how to create a statewide voter registration list, and how voter complaints should be handled.

They have yet to decide, however, on several potentially contentious issues, including what kind of identification will be accepted at polls, an issue particularly relevant to the many immigrants without proper identification who live in New York.

-snip/more-

http://www.columbiaspectator.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/03/23/4241227160636

[Wilms]

11. (CO) Election reform plan headed for full Senate

Election reform plan headed for full Senate

Article Published: Wednesday, March 23, 2005

By Mark P. Couch
Denver Post Staff Writer

A package of election reforms that would make it easier to vote won approval of a Senate committee Tuesday.

The bill - sponsored by a political odd couple, Sens. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, and Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield - overhauls several parts of the state's election law.

-snip-

Paper trail. Sets deadlines - 2008 in most cases - for counties to buy electronic voting equipment that can provide a voter-verified paper trail.

-snip/more-

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~61~2776829,00.html

[MelissaB]

13. My apologies for not being able to work on the thread today

I'm a mommy again. My children got a new puppy. :)

[Wilms]

16. Put on your seat belts!!!

But what joy!

[MelissaB]

17. That is so cute!

Thanks, Wilms. The kids got a dog, but I'm exhausted. I forgot hoe much work it is.

[Wilms]

15. (WV) Wetzel Commissioners Discuss Voting

The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register

Wetzel Commissioners Discuss Voting

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

By BARB MINOR

NEW MARTINSVILLE - Wetzel County Clerk Carol Haught approached commissioners on Tuesday regarding the purchase of an optical scan voting system on the recommendation of Secretary of State Betty Ireland.

"Our Secretary of State came to the conclusion the optical scan system is the best system for the state and will replace the punch cards and lever machines," Haught said. "I don't feel it's one of the best systems. The punch card system has stood the test of time in Wetzel County and in West Virginia."
Wetzel County, Haught said, has used the punch card voting system since the late 1970's with some success. Now, the Secretary of State's office is encouraging counties to move toward a paper ballot where voters darken in the appropriate circle indicating their choice.

"The optic scan system is probably the best solution for the county for the time being," Haught said. "The HAVA (Help America Vote Act) funding can only be used to get the aximum amount for the optic scan system. We cannot purchase anything new for the punch card system with that money and if the funds aren't used by Jan. 1, 2006, it's gone. It's gone forever. We won't have the option to go back; your allotment is gone."

-snip/more-

http://www.news-register.net/community/story/0323202005_com0001.asp