Monday 4/4 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=203x352144

[MelissaB]

1. Gore television station sets launch date

4/4/2005

Gore television station sets launch date

A cable channel recently acquired by an investment group led by Al Gore is to relaunch Aug. 1 under the name Current, hoping to generate much of its content from viewers, the Wall Street Journal reports Monday.

#
The former vice president and his partners, including entrepreneur Joel Hyatt, are taking an unconventional approach to TV programming in hopes of attracting viewers aged 18 to 34. That demographic, heavily sought by advertisers, has become difficult for TV networks and newspapers to reach.

Messrs. Gore and Hyatt say they hope young people will use the channel as a forum to express their opinions on news and current events. Viewers will be invited to submit short films, documentaries and home videos to be aired on the channel. Mr. Gore’s group also has struck a deal with Google Inc. to use information from Google in its programming.

Now called Newsworld International, the channel was acquired from Vivendi Universal SA last year for about $70 million. Mr. Gore is chairman of the investment group, while Mr. Hyatt is chief executive. The two will unveil their plans for the channel today at a cable-industry convention in San Francisco.

In an interview Friday, Mr. Gore said the goal of Current is to connect “the Internet generation with television in a brand new way.” Its Web site will be a key part of its service, listing topics on which it wants material, such as reviews of movies, CDs or videogames; items on social trends; and advocacy journalism. Current will pay $250 for videos it airs.

A segment called “Google Current” will report on what topics are generating the most interest on the Web, using Google as
its source. Google doesn’t do its own reporting, but will rank the topics, based on which subjects generate the most search queries. A Google spokesman confirmed it struck an agreement with Mr. Gore’s group.

More: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=239

[MelissaB]

2. Byrd would win, say analysts

Byrd would win, say analysts
GOP ready for battle should W.Va. senator seek re-election

By RAJU CHEBIUM - Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Robert Byrd, 87, says he’s young in spirit and has the physical and mental stamina to continue serving in the Senate. But he hasn’t announced whether he’ll seek re-election to a ninth term in 2006.

Whether Byrd seeks to return to the Senate, where he has spent 47 years, is a crucial question for West Virginia and the nation.

If he doesn’t run, a seat that Democrats easily have held for decades comes into play.

If he runs, the race promises to be bitter and nasty because national Republicans vow to campaign hard to dislodge one of President Bush’s harshest critics. Byrd is often seen as a spokesman for the liberal wing of the Democrats.

More: http://hdonline.com/2005/April/04/LNtop1.htm

[MelissaB]

6. West Virginia getting optical scan voting systems

Counties Plan For Optical Scan Voting

By JOSELYN KING

Local counties in West Virginia report that they are making plans to implement new optical scan voting systems, but elections officials say they nevertheless will miss their punchcards and lever machines.

The problem is if they don't get rid of the punchcards and levers now, the federal money to replace them won't be there if the systems break down two years from now. Most of the local systems are 20 to 30 years old.
West Virginia will receive $19 million through the act to update its election machine and procedures.

Secretary of State Betty Ireland earlier this month announced the state's plans to conform with provisions of the federal Help America Vote Act. These plans include purchasing one central optical scan counter for each of the state's 55 counties, and these devices each cost $45,000.

More: http://news-register.net/news/story/044202005_new02.asp

[MelissaB]

3. Khalsa News Network, India: A Florida Style Nightmare - North Carolina Cit

A Florida Style Nightmare - North Carolina Citizens Demand Verified Voting Measures

"NC has the worst election problem in the country RIGHT NOW." - November 11, 2004 Computer scientist Dr. David L. Dill of Stanford University.

"A Florida-style nightmare has unfolded in North Carolina in the days since Election Day, with thousands of votes missing and the outcome of two statewide races still up in the air." Steve Hartsoe, AP Newswire, Nov 13, 2004

How can we trust our key decision-makers when they ignore the seriousness of the problem?

"Except for the lost votes in Carteret County, Gary Bartlett, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, called the problems 'easily remedied and lessons learned.' " AP Newswire, Nov 13, 2004. This is definitely a rosy view to an election where citizens votes were lost, public totals were mis-tabulated, thousands of provisional ballots were generated, thousands of absentee and early ballots were “misplaced“, and two state-wide races still unresolved.

North Carolina’s election problems will not be so easily remedied as Mr. Bartlett says. The degree and severity of problems in North Carolina’s election system indicates the need for serious study. Many of the problems are compounded by the State’s reliance on non-verifiable voting systems. Problems with voting machines, central tabulators using outdated and secret software, registration confusion, poll worker training, provisional ballots and absentee ballots are not easily remedied. The Board of Elections must change its focus towards election management. If the State insists on being dependent on electronic voting, when it is clear that the officials know very little or nothing about it.

Lost: 4,500 votes in Carteret County - this is the consequence of e-voting without a proper paper trail.

Omitted: entire precinct of 1,209 votes in Gaston County left out of Nov 2 Count.

Missing: 12,000 votes not reported by Diebold Software in Gaston County.

Bamboozled: In 2003 Guilford County bought vote tabulating software that used over a decade old technology, it was already obsolete when purchased. This software released presidential vote totals that were off by 22,000 votes.

More: http://www.kntimes.com/travel/fullstory0305-status-1-newsID-913.html

[MelissaB]

4. More:

Who are we trusting our democracy to?
In 2002, Tom Eschberger, then at Global Business Systems accepted immunity in reward for his testimony in the bribery kickback conviction of then SOS of Arkansas, Bill McCuen.
Eshberger went on to be a key executive at the ES&S Voting machinery company.

In 1999, two Sequoia (Voting Systems) executives, Phil Foster and Pasquale Ricci, were indicted for paying Louisiana Commissioner of Elections Jerry Fowler an $8 million bribe to buy their voting machines. Fowler, is currently serving five years in prison. Voter advocate Bev Harris alleged that managers of a subsidiary of Diebold Inc. (voting machines), included a cocaine trafficker, a man who conducted fraudulent stock transactions, and a programmer jailed for falsifying computer records, Jeffrey Dean, who served time in a Washington correctional facility for stealing money and tampering with computer files.

[MelissaB]

5. Election Software Developer Group Endorses VR's 'Divestiture for Democracy

Blogged by Brad on 4/4/2005 @ 12:58pm PT...

Election Software Developer Group Endorses VR's 'Divestiture for Democracy'!

Non-Partisan 'Open Voting Consortium' Becomes First E-Vote Software Developer to Call for 'Transparency' and 'Verifiability' in Election System!


The Open Voting Consortium (OVC), a non-partisan group with Republican, Democratic, Green Party and Libertarian Party support, has today become the first Election Software Developer to publicly endorse Velvet Revolution's...

The Open Voting Consortium (OVC), a non-partisan group with Republican, Democratic, Green Party and Libertarian Party support, has today become the first Election Software Developer to publicly endorse Velvet Revolution's "Divestiture for Democracy" campaign!

In an open letter sent today to VR by OVC President, Alan Dechert, the group announced their intentions of adopting the standards set forth in VR's February 21st letter to America's Voting Machine companies, calling on them to do the right thing for their country by -- amongst other things -- voluntarily opening hardware and software for inspection and certification to ensure transparency in our electoral system.

Dechert calls, in his letter, for the voting process to be "clear, transparent, fair, trustworthy, orderly, observable, and auditable." We couldn't agree more. Why so many seem to be frightened by such an idea, is beyond us. If you haven't already, please join the Revolution by sending an Email to America's Voting Machine companies stating your support! It'll take you 60 seconds!

OVC joins a growing list of supporters to the VR "DV4D" Campaign which, along with over 100 Voting Rights and Electoral Reform groups, also currently includes 23 U.S. House members, and 2004 Presidential Candidates David Cobb (Green) and Ralph Nader (Independent). All of these Americans are now calling for a trustworthy, auditable, transparent and verifiable voting system in the world's most important democracy!

Link: http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001302.htm

[MelissaB]

7. End of an era

End of an era

Jersey County voters to use punch card ballots for last time

By LAURA PRANAITIS
The Telegraph

JERSEYVILLE -- Tuesday’s election will mark the last time Jersey County voters pick up a stylus and punch out a piece of cardstock to cast their ballots.

Jersey County Clerk Linda Crotchett said that after the consolidated election, the county’s punch card ballots and vote recorders officially will be retired and replaced with more high-tech, up-to-date optical scan machines.

"It is the end of an era," she said. "It’s going to be a little bittersweet after this election is over, because we’ll be saying goodbye to a voting method we have used for many years, but we’ll be moving into a change that we all hope and think will be for the better."

The county is making the change to comply with the 2002 Help America Vote Act, which was Congress’ answer to the 2000 voting debacle in Florida, when election judges studied punch card ballots with magnifying glasses to find "hanging" or "pregnant" chads.

Crotchett said although she and her staff are ready for the switch to a new voting system, it is frustrating that every county in every state using punch card ballots is required to change their machines because of problems in just one state.

"When I first learned that we had to do this, my first thought was, ‘Why spend all this money on new machines when ours still work just fine?’ But the integrity of the punch card system was challenged in the 2000 election, and the most important job of any election authority is to ensure that every voter’s ballot is counted and counted fairly," she said.

>>>snip

"We’ve never had a problem with our punch card machines," she said. "When we first purchased them, we spent $26,000 for 115 punch card recorders and 30 demonstrators, and we’ve only had to replace a few machines over the years.

"I’d say we got our money’s worth out of this system," she said.

More: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14278880&BRD=1719&PAG=461&dept_id=25271&rfi=6

[MelissaB]

8. Two opinion letters in Florida

Election fiasco

Enough is enough. The elections-department situation in Miami-Dade County is all too clear. Elections Supervisor Constance Kaplan has resigned. Now the electronic voting machines must go, too. Paper ballots are the only way. To say that the current situation is an embarrassment is a gross understatement.

MICHAEL GRUENER, Biscayne Park



Selected from 120 applicants for a job with a $150,000 annual salary, Kaplan gets the ax because the voting-machine vendor hides its problems behind the term ''proprietary.'' Until our elected officials have the integrity and courage to insist on an independent analysis of the voting operating programs for accuracy and the absence of manipulation, we will never be certain that our votes count.

Paper trails are useless. One can vote for a candidate, print out how the vote was submitted and have the vote recorded for another. There are no glitches; computers can only do as they are told by their programmers.

STEPHEN CARNER, Miami

Link: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/11304129.htm

[MelissaB]

9. TRUTH LEFT OUT: Data Indicates a Massive 2004 Exit Poll Whitewash

TRUTH LEFT OUT: Data Indicates a Massive 2004 Exit Poll Whitewash

Back in January, 2005, I emailed Dr. Steven Freeman about the Mitofsky anaylsis of the 2004 Presidential election exit poll. In that email, I made an observation about a particular detail in the Mitofsky analysis that had not been noticed by any researcher or critic of the report at that time. You may see the original observation I made here.

The Mitofsky hypothesis proposes that "within precinct error" (WPE) is the reason for the exit poll discrepancy that we’ve all heard about. In his report, he discusses many factors that he said contributed to this WPE. Factors such as: the distance the exit poll workers were from the actual election polling area; the weather conditions; interviewer characteristics (such as age) all contributed to the skew of the exit polls towards Kerry -- so the argument goes.

However, while I glanced over the data that Mitofsky used to justify this theory, something hit me over the head like a 2-by-4. In EVERY ONE of these factors that Mitofsky mentions in his report, THE WPE IS STILL SIGNIFICANTLY NEGATIVE IN THE MOST IDEAL CIRCUMSTANCE!!! That is, in Mitofsky’s dream world, where the exit poll workers were:

1. working immediately adjacent to the ballot boxes.

2. interviewing electors where the weather was a nice sunny 70 degrees fahrenheit.

3. interviewing electors from only one precinct in multiple precinct areas.

4. between the ages of 55 and 64.

etc...

there still would be significant WPE, with the 2004 exit poll results.

More: http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=5666

[texpatriot2004]

19. Thank you for this wonderful article on Mitofsky's fantasy exit

polling. It was great!

I hope he is ashamed and humiliated by his obvious participation in this scandal.

Release the original exit polling data to the public Mitofsky! What you have released so far is rubbish!

"President" Bush and his cohorts cheated! They stole it...AGAIN! We knew they would.

Like the article says, this could be the biggest scandal against the American public in history.

The media is complicit in this scandal too.

[MelissaB]

10. Firm buys Napa's touchscreen machine maker

Firm buys Napa's touchscreen machine maker

Monday, April 4, 2005

By JAY GOETTING
Register Staff Writer

The way things work at the ballot box is changing, thanks to some significant moves on the statewide and even international levels.

The firm that makes the touchscreen voting machines used by Napa County voters has been sold by its European parent company, and California has a new secretary of state to oversee elections operations.

Sequoia Voting Systems, with headquarters in Oakland, makes the touchscreen machines used in the last couple of Napa elections. The British parent of Sequoia, De La Re, has sold it to Smartmatic of Boca Raton, Fla. for $16 million.

Napa County Registrar of Voters John Tuteur said, "Everybody's very positive about it. We've seen no break in service."

Although unrelated, the move comes as California's new secretary of state, Bruce McPherson, takes office, bringing a new approach to the state's voting practices. McPherson is a Republican and former state senator who was unanimously approved for the post by the state assembly last week.

More: http://www.napanews.com/templates/index.cfm?template=story_full&id=BE3195FE-E9AB-48D1-A322-730500B5822C

[MelissaB]

11. More about Smartmatic

It's not too early to assert that Florida will be a focus of the 2008 U.S. presidential election. That's because Boca Raton-based Smartmatic Corp. now owns Sequoia Voting Systems, one of the major providers of the technology used in electronic voting machines.

Smartmatic bought Sequoia last week from British-based De La Rue PLC for $16 million.

Smartmatic, whose touch-screen voting machines were used in the presidential referendum recall in Venezuela last year, plans to focus on foreign elections. Sequoia, based in Oakland, Calif., is a prominent player in U.S. elections.

Both companies tout that their systems give voters a paper, like a receipt, showing their vote. The use of such a system by Sequoia in Nevada last year was believed to be the first time a U.S. election provided a voter-verified paper trail.

Smartmatic says it has given voters a paper trail in Latin American elections. The company has been criticized as having ties to the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chàvez, who won the referendum.

Alfie Charles, Sequoia's vice president of business development, says the paper trail technology gives the combined companies a competitive edge because voters are clamoring for proof of their votes. He says he does not expect major layoffs because there is little overlap between the two companies. Smartmatic will continue in Boca Raton, and Sequoia in Oakland.

More: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/columnists/sfl-ybtechmarch14mar14,0,4430406.column

[MelissaB]

13. Discussion

here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x352486

[MelissaB]

12. LEAKED: Dems' scathing rebuke on Gannon inaction

LEAKED: Dems' scathing rebuke on Gannon inaction

"It is an unfortunate fact of life that we have an Administration that is all too willing to flaunt the law, and a Republican-controlled Congress that refuses to investigate even the most serious ethical transgressions. Whether it is torture at Abu Ghraib, sole source contracts with Haliburton, or the outing of a CIA operative, this Congress has been unwilling and unable to ask the hard questions or issue the difficult subpoenas. The... failure to request even the most cursory of information regarding Mr. Gannon... represents a disturbing continuation of this trend, and illustrates the ongoing problem of one-party rule in Washington..." Full eight-page dissent forthcoming soon...

Link: http://www.rawstory.com/

[MelissaB]

16. Discussion

here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3424710

[MelissaB]

17. Story is up now.

4/4/2005

Leaked: Democrats ready stinging dissent on inaction over Jeff Gannon, other scandals

Filed under: General— site admin @ 8:24 pm


Democrats prep stinging rebuke of Congress’ lack of oversight

By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor

Democrats are readying a sharp rebuke of the Republican-led Judiciary Committee’s vote against demanding an investigation into discredited White House ‘reporter’ Jeff Gannon, and placing it in the context of what they see as a broad attempt by Republicans to stonewall investigations into improper activity, RAW STORY has learned.

Their dissent, prepared by Democrats in the House, is an eight-page explanation of why they feel investigating Gannon’s credentialing was warranted, citing preferential treatment and issues of security.

Most salient, perhaps, are the Democrats’ effort to place Gannon in a broader context of the Republican-led Congress’ moves to derail investigations on issues such as Abu Ghraib and Halliburton contracts.

“We have an Administration that is all too willing to flaunt the law, and a Republican-controlled Congress that refuses to investigate even the most serious ethical transgressions,” the Democrats write. “Whether it is torture at Abu Ghraib, sole source contracts with Haliburton, or the outing of a CIA operative, this Congress has been unwilling and unable to ask the hard questions or issue the difficult subpoenas.

“The Committee’s failure to request even the most cursory of information regarding Mr. Gannon from the Administration,” they continue, “represents a disturbing continuation of this trend, and illustrates the ongoing problem of one-party rule in Washington.”

Their dissent, leaked to RAW STORY this evening, follows.

#
Dissenting Views to Committee’s Adverse Reporting of H. Res. 136

We vigorously dissent from the Majority’s decision to report adversely H. Res. 136, which would have requested the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security disclose information concerning the manner in which Jeffrey Gannon (aka James A. Guckert) received White House press privileges.

We dissent because we believe 1) Mr. Gannon was granted preferential access by the White House; 2) the granting of such access via temporary passes raises serious security issues; 3) the Administration’s course of dealings with Mr. Gannon may also have violated various legal requirements; and 4) there are no other means available to pursue these lines of inquiry.

By defeating this Resolution, all of the above questions will remain unanswered, and the Majority continues a long line of inaction on their part which runs totally counter to the principles of accountability and checks and balances that our nation was founded upon. The Majority’s perfunctory rejection of this important Resolution, on a party line vote of 21-10, at the end of a long day of markup of other business, does a disservice to the 33 Members, including 14 members of this Committee, who submitted this Resolution of Inquiry to the House.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that we have an Administration that is all too willing to flaunt the law, and a Republican-controlled Congress that refuses to investigate even the most serious ethical transgressions. Whether it is torture at Abu Ghraib, sole source contracts with Haliburton, or the outing of a CIA operative, this Congress has been unwilling and unable to ask the hard questions or issue the difficult subpoenas. The Committee’s failure to request even the most cursory of information regarding Mr. Gannon from the Administration represents a disturbing continuation of this trend, and illustrates the ongoing problem of one-party rule in Washington.

More: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=242

[MelissaB]

14. Pope John Paul II

From MichaelMoore.com

April 3rd, 2005 11:17 pm
Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)



1920-2005

"Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create."
-- July 3, 1980

"This determination is based on the solid conviction that what is hindering full development is that desire for profit and that thirst for power already mentioned. These attitudes and 'structures of sin' are only conquered - presupposing the help of divine grace - by a diametrically opposed attitude: a commitment to the good of one's neighbor with the readiness, in the gospel sense, to 'lose oneself' for the sake of the other instead of exploiting him, and to 'serve him' instead of oppressing him for one's own advantage."
-- Pope condemns excesses of capitalism, December 30, 1987

"We cannot pretend that the use of arms, and especially of today's highly sophisticated weaponry, would not give rise, in addition to suffering and destruction, to new and perhaps worse injustices."
-- Pope opposes Gulf War, Message to George H.W. Bush, January 15, 1991

"A disconcerting conclusion about the most recent period should serve to enlighten us: side-by-side with the miseries of underdevelopment, themselves unacceptable, we find ourselves up against a form of superdevelopment, equally inadmissible. because like the former it is contrary to what is good and to true happiness. This superdevelopment, which consists in an excessive availability of every kind of material goods for the benefit of certain social groups, easily makes people slaves of 'possession' and of immediate gratification..."
-- On the shortfalls of consumerism, March 13, 1998

"Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary."
-- Pope speaks out against capital punishment, January 27, 1999

"The Holy See has always recognized that the Palestinian people have the natural right to a homeland, and the right to be able to live in peace and tranquility with the other peoples of this area."
-- Pope calls for a Palestinian State, March 22, 2000

"NO TO WAR! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity."
-- January 13, 2003

"When war threatens humanity's destiny, as it does today in Iraq, it is even more urgent for us to proclaim with a loud and decisive voice that peace is the only way to build a more just and caring society. Violence and arms can never solve human problems."
-- Pope condemns Bush's invasion of Iraq, March 22, 2003

FLASHBACK:
Pope Warns Against Iraq War
The Papal Visit to Cuba
Journey to the Holy Land

Link: http://michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2073

[MelissaB]

15. John Conyers blogs

>>snip

If this is what Senator Cornyn meant to say, it is outrageous, irresponsible and unbecoming of our leaders. To be sure, I have disagreed with many, many court rulings. (For example, Bush v. Gore may well be the single greatest example of judicial activism we have seen in our lifetime.) But there is no excuse, no excuse, for a Member of Congress to take our discourse to this ugly and dangerous extreme.

My message is not subtle today. It is simple. To my Republican colleagues: you are playing with fire, you are playing with lives, and you must stop.

Senator Cornyn and Congressman DeLay should immediately retract these ill considered statements.

[Wilms]

18. (CA) Brief honeymoon, but then it's time to get cracking

Brief honeymoon, but then it's time to get cracking

MCPHERSON MUST CLEAN UP FEDERAL FUNDS, GET STATE READY FOR LIKELY SPECIAL ELECTION

Mercury News Editorial 04 April 2005

-snip-

Whether or not that happens, McPherson will have to straighten out the mess Shelley made of federal get-out-the-vote funds.

On other responsibilities of the office, McPherson would actually do well to follow in Shelley's footsteps.

-snip-

As voting technology becomes more complicated, the secretary of state's office will be about the only agency with the resources and expertise to make sure that the integrity of elections is maintained. Especially in the smaller counties, registrars will not have the ability to verify what the makers of electronic voting machines and software are telling them.

Shelley made enemies of registrars with his personality. But some of his goals should be pursued with more finesse by McPherson to assure Californians that their votes are counted the way they cast them.

-snip/more-

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=5112