Election Fraud, Reform, News & Related Events for Sunday, 12-11-05

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x404449

All previous daily threads are available here:

http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm

work of the secretary of state

By Brian Seals
SEntinel staff writer
A special election, a department house-cleaning and taking steps to modernize the state's voting systems have been the highlights of Bruce McPherson's tenure as California secretary of state thus far.

And it's voting systems requirements — part of the federal 2002 Help America Vote Act — that are occupying much of his time these days, he said in a recent interview in his Sacramento office.

Eight months into his job, the Santa Cruz Republican faces a looming federal deadline calling for new voting machines and the task of soothing anxious county officials struggling to meet that mandate.

McPherson was named to the post of secretary of state by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the wake of the resignation of San Francisco Democrat Kevin Shelley, who vacated the office amid a swirl of controversy.

The greater part of the secretary of state's job is overseeing elections and recording campaign contribution reports, but the department also is responsible for chartering corporations and serving as head of the California State Archives.

More: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/December/11/local/stories/02local.htm

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051211/NEWS24/512110352

Article published Sunday, December 11, 2005

COLUMBUS - A month after voters soundly rejected sweeping changes to Ohio's election system largely pushed by Democrats, Republicans are poised this week to enact their own idea of reform.


Voters would be forced for the first time to show some form of identification before casting a ballot. It will become tougher to get petition-driven issues on the ballot, and caps will be enacted for the first time on how much county and municipal officials may accept in campaign contributions from employees.

"These are much more modest changes, but I was surprised the Republicans wanted to pursue further election reform given the solid rejection of the ," said John Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute for Applied Politics at the University of Akron.

The debate further demonstrated the split between Democrats and Republicans on what reforms they believe are needed, and again exposed a nerve in the battle between Republican titans running for governor next year...

and were flipped over on election day to 60/40 LOSSES! --the most audacious flipover yet. The machines and their masters are now dictating election policy and PREVENTING reform--a chilling Orwellian twist to the introduction of election theft by Bushite controlled electronic voting machines, run on "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY software and firmware, with virtually no audit/recount controls.

This statement in the Toledo Blade is a goddamned lie: "A month after voters soundly rejected sweeping changes to Ohio's election system...".

See Bob Koehler's article about the Ohio initiatives:
http://www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?custid=67&catid=1824

How does the Toledo Blade KNOW how voters in Ohio voted? Did they see the votes? Did they count them? Did they see anybody counting them? Do they know how the votes were tabulated? Do they reveal who owns and controls the vote tabulation? Did they investigate the SECRET, PROPRIETARY vote tabulation code? This is an example of the BIG LIE! And how "news" is controlled by the BIG LIARS!

"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."--Josef Stalin

I think I hate newspapers like this even more than I hate the criminals who feed their 'talking points' to these lapdogs. They are such a disgrace to their profession.

The Republican from Santa Cruz

By Brian Seals
SEntinel staff writer
SACRAMENTO — In the lobby of the secretary of state's headquarters on 11th Street two portraits hang above the building directory.

One is of Bruce McPherson. The other is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appointed McPherson to the job eight months ago.

That may be as close as anyone sees the two together for the next year or so.

...snip

While that act may seem obscure, its call for updating voting machines has raised the profile of the secretary of state job, Gerston said. And the office issues voters guides, which means McPherson's name will be on millions of pieces of mail that can, though it's not the intent, carry as much value as campaign literature for a candidate.

Even one potential Democratic foe said she believes, at least for now, that the race would be decided more on the job than on party affiliation.

"I think voters are more concerned about voting issues more now than they ever have been," said state Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, who is vying for the seat and will face state Sen. Deborah Ortiz in the March Democratic primary election. "There is significantly more attention being paid to how votes are counted."


More: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/December/11/local/stories/01local.htm

Touchy voting issue returns
Volusia to decide on touch-screens

By JAMES MILLER
Staff Writer

Last update: December 11, 2005

One paper-ballot proponent tagged it "Armageddon" in an e-mail to her peers.

Demonstrating a little less flair, Volusia County officials have dubbed it "Item 24" on the County Council's Friday agenda.

Either way, touch-screen voting and the need for a so-called paper trail to verify election outcomes -- one of the county's most passionately debated issues in 2005 -- is slated to emerge one more time this week.

"I still think we need a paper, verifiable, ballot," said Councilman Carl Persis, one of four councilmen who earlier this year rejected a proposal to buy 210 touch-screen machines for voters with disabilities because the machines didn't use paper ballots.

Against a backdrop of growing attention from lawmakers nationwide, grumblings elsewhere in Florida, conspiracy theories and an array of devoted local activists pushing in several directions, he'll soon get another shot.

Committed to beating a Jan. 1 federal deadline for making independent, secret balloting accessible to everyone, council members on Friday will choose the county's voting system for what could be the foreseeable future.


More: http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/03NewsHEAD03121105.htm

Ohio about to become a GOP dictatorship

A bleak picture from Free Press' Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman:

A law that will make democracy all but moot in Ohio is about to pass the state legislature and to be signed by its Republican governor. Despite massive corruption scandals besieging the Ohio GOP, any hope that the Democratic party could win this most crucial swing state in future presidential elections, or carry its pivotal US Senate seat in 2006, are about to end.

House Bill 3 has already passed the Ohio House of Representatives and is about to be approved by the Republican-dominated Senate, probably before the holiday recess. Republicans dominate the Ohio legislature thanks to a heavily gerrymandered crazy quilt of rigged districts, and to a moribund Ohio Democratic party. The GOP-drafted HB3 is designed to all but obliterate any possible future Democratic revival. Opposition from the Ohio Democratic Party, where it exists at all, is diffuse and ineffectual.

HB3's most publicized provision will require positive identification before casting a vote. But it also opens voter registration activists to partisan prosecution, exempts electronic voting machines from public scrutiny, quintuples the cost of citizen-requested statewide recounts and makes it illegal to challenge a presidential vote count or, indeed, any federal election result in Ohio. When added to the recently passed HB1, which allows campaign financing to be dominated by the wealthy and by corporations, and along with a Rovian wish list of GOP attacks on the ballot box, democracy in Ohio could be all but over.

<...>

In traditional terms, the scandal-ridden Ohio GOP would appear to be more vulnerable than ever. Governor Robert Taft has become the only Ohio governor to be convicted of a crime while in office. With an astonishing 7% approval rating, he has been compared to Homer Simpson by the state's leading Republican newspaper. Republican US Senator Mike DeWine appears highly vulnerable. The GOP has never won the White House without winning the Buckeye State.

But HB3 will solidify the GOP's iron grip on the electronic voting process and all that surrounds it. Unless they break that grip, Democrats who believe they can carry any part of Ohio in 2006 or 2008 are kidding themselves.
Just when you think they can't sink any lower, they do. Ohio is about to become a GOP dictatorship. It'll be like communist Russia. You can vote in the election, but it doesn't mean anything.

Remember, it's not who votes that counts. It's who counts the votes. Republicans are attempting to ensure that democracy is stamped out in Ohio. It's beyond outrageous. What they are trying to do goes against everything that America stands for and has ever stood for.


More: http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2005/12/ohio-about-to-become-gop-dictatorship.html

This is making the rounds by e-mail...

Click here for discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x404492


WE HAVE GOT TO STOP THIS - THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA MUST RISE UP AND SHUT THEM DOWN IN OHIO.
If everyone devotes just 15 minutes and passes this along, we could create a tsunami of protest.


It is past midnight for Democracy in Ohio. And you must know, as Ohio goes, so goes our country.
I URGE you to read this article, if you haven't:


With new legislation, Ohio Republicans plan holiday burial for American Democracy
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
December 6, 2005.... A law that will make democracy all but moot in Ohio is about to pass the state legislature and to be signed by its Republican governor.


http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1607


What can we do? The Democrats in the Ohio legislature are out numbered and out gunned. The bill will pass - easily. The Ohio election reform activists, the Ohio League of Women Voters, Common Cause in Ohio, are doing everything they can.


They need OUR outrage - ALL OUR VOICES to support them. A NATIONAL "SHAME ON OHIO" CAMPAIGN.
Will you make a few phone calls or send emails, and ask everyone to pitch in? PLEASE! Don't leave it to the next guy.


My friend Paddy Shaffer, whose stand-alone courage against the Delaware, Ohio (my home town) Board of Elections during the 2004 recount inspired me to come to Ohio and join in the fight, wrote the following:


Here is Citizen Paddy:


One thing I hear from people doing questionable things is, that it is not justified to voice your opinion if it is not your district, county, city, or state, where the questionable issue is happening.


In November of 2004 when I started asking questions in Delaware County, Ohio, as to why they had filed an injunction to stop the recount of the Presidential election, I was told that since I live in an adjacent county, it was not my business. I did not stop, it was my business, and I did everything I could to open up the story and let all the truths I could find be aired. The recount proceeded, even though it was a sham.


Why do I tell you this... because Ohio needs your help. We have a horrible new piece of legislation that currently looks like it will be voted on Tuesday December 13, 2005. House Bill 3 could be better titled "The Republican Voter Suppression Bill".


One Republican that spoke on the Radio today about it went on at length about how "out-of-staters should leave us alone, stop interfering, this only concerns Ohioans," etc. I would like to take this moment to invite you to help. Consider yourself not an "interfering outsider" as the Republicans (who paid for the Texas Strike Force) would and will call you, but let them know that Paddy and other Ohioans invited you to help.


Also tell them as an American, everything that happens in this country is your business, it is all our back yard.


http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/by_name.html


http://www.house.state.oh.us/jsps/SearchbyName.jsp
(the 800 number is not available for oostaters)


Add your voice, call and fill their mailboxes and voicemail over the weekend, call and fill their phone lines next week.
Write too, if you can. Ohio needs you!


1) Call or email the Republican members of the Ohio Legislature.
Tell them the whole country is watching what is happening in Ohio.
Tell them you're watching the votes on HB 3 - a threat to Democracy.
Tell them Voter Suppression is ugly and Un-American.
Tell them you are calling in to radio shows to discuss how Ohio has become a Faux Democracy and The Yahoo State


2) Call or email the Democratic members of the Ohio legislature.


Tell them to hang in there, and THANKS for standing against this terrible bill.
Encourage them to propose amendments to specific sections of HB3 and call for roll call votes so that all senators will be required to take a public position on each of the proposed amendments.


(Then we can use that information in campaigns in all House districts and in half of the Senate districts.)


3) Create national publicity! Call in to the talk shows, write letters to the editor, write to the media:
Take your money out of Ohio - the yahoo state. BOYCOTT OHIO!


This threat to democracy is the business of ALL of us.


Thanks for taking time to view this,
Make it a Powerful Day,
Paddy Shaffer


Patricia Shaffer,
Candidate for Ohio 12th District, US House Representative
(614) 761-0621


Onward, raging for what's right,
Sheri Myers


*** If you haven't yet, buy a copy of Mark Crispin Miller's Fooled Again. It can help convert the ignorant and the resistant.
(Not that you are, I mean, OTHER people!) also get How the GOP stole America's 2004 election and is rigging 2008, by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman

County balks at buying new voting system
Officials frustrated over rush to upgrade

By Mike Joseph

mjoseph@centredaily.com


STATE COLLEGE -- Centre County's top elected official said the county may forgo almost $1 million in federal money for a new electronic voting system rather than accept an unwanted product.

"This is probably one of the most important things we have to do as adults," county Board of Commissioners Chairman Chris Exarchos told about 50 people Thursday night. "I may be putting our $900,000 in jeopardy, but I'm not putting your vote in jeopardy."

His remark reflects growing frustration among county leaders across the state who are facing a federal mandate to upgrade voting systems in time for the May 16 primary election. They say they're being asked to rush to judgment and commit a lot of taxpayer money to buy new systems, even though the Pennsylvania Department of State has so far approved only three systems, with another five awaiting tests.

...snip

"It's not rocket science to take a little slip printer to give it to the voter," Exarchos said, noting that restaurants and automatic-teller machines can do it. "The voter can look at it, like it or not, and put it in the ballot box."

But state law prohibits such voter-verified printouts. Bureau of Elections spokesman Brain McDonald said it would be impossible to keep voters from taking the printouts from the polling places to use as proof in such criminal activities as vote-buying.

The one state-approved voting system that has such printouts, AccuPoll, was certified only on condition that the printout function not be used.


More: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/13380167.htm

State gives counties more time to buy voting machines

By Alison Hawkes, For the Herald-Standard
12/09/2005


HARRISBURG - With only three voting machines so far certified for use in the state, the Pennsylvania Department of State is giving counties additional time to make multi-million purchasing decisions on new machines.

This week, the department backed off on the enforcement of a Dec. 31 deadline in which counties needed to have new voting machine contracts in place.

Instead, it announced that counties could sign a resolution indicating that they would obligate funds for the purchase of new machines by the May primary, essentially giving them more time to make their decisions.

Department of State Spokesman Brian McDonald would not draw a clear line between the delayed certification and the time extension. But he did say that the department wants to give counties more time to make good decisions on their replacement of lever and punch card machines.

snip

http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15721202&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6

Discussion and another article

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x404415#404500

Fri, Dec. 09, 2005

A dispute at rollout of voting machines

A judge agreed that a group wanting to spread flyers on a different scanner system had no place at a demonstration.

By Dana Reddington
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

A demonstration of new voting machines turned into a forum on free speech yesterday, landing a citizens' group and the Bucks County commissioners in court.

The county prevailed.

Members of the Coalition for Voting Integrity said that as they entered the courthouse in Doylestown Borough for the start of the 8:30 a.m. exhibit, security officials confiscated their flyers endorsing paper ballots that are read by optical scanners. The county also denied their request to set up a model of that system, said Mary Ann Gould, a cofounder of the group.

snip

At an afternoon hearing, attorney Lawrence M. Otter told Judge Albert J. Cepparulo that the group wanted permission for one member to hand out its flyers near the exhibit.

"Their First Amendment rights were trampled on because they were barred from coming into the courthouse with this," Otter said.

But county solicitor Guy Matthews said some members of the group were "disruptive" as people tried to fill out questionnaires after trying the machines.

snip

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/bucks_county/13365868.htm

Thanks to Enough for the discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x404421

Pennsylvania: Senate Committee Puts VvPAt and Voter ID on the Agenda

By Marybeth Kuznik, VotePA
December 10, 2005

SB 977, Pennsylvania’s much-needed bill for voter-verified records will share the Senate State Government Committee meeting agenda with the restrictive HB 1318 this Tuesday morning, December 13, prompting an urgent action alert to contact State Senators and Representatives in the Keystone State.

Introduced in early November by Senator Joseph Conti (R- Bucks), SB 977 is an exact clone of HB 2000, introduced in the PA House earlier this fall by Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny. ) HB 2000 / SB 977 would require voter-verified records on all voting systems with a routine 5% random manual audit records, and would make the paper the official record in the event of discrepancy, audit, or recount. The Pennsylvania bills have been highly acclaimed nationally as well-planned “model” legislation for VVPR, and have already garnered co-sponsors making up over one-fourth of each chamber in the state legislature. HB 2000 and SB 977 are also receiving growing support from local and county governmental bodies as well as individual citizens throughout the state.

HB 1318, which started out last spring as a simple bill to amend requirements for candidates running for open seats on local governmental boards, was marked up on the PA House Floor just prior to passage in June to would require photo ID for all voters and further disenfranchise persons with a history of felony conviction. The Pennsylvania Senate has already added further language restricting polling places. The bill is so changed from its original intent, the original sponsor Rep. Marc Gergely (D-Allegheny) removed his name as prime sponsor last month.

While movement on the VVPR bill(s) has been long awaited in the Keystone State, citizens and activists are highly concerned that SB 977 for VVPR has been placed on the same agenda as HB 1318 for this meeting right before the holiday recess. The fear is that restrictive provisions from HB 1318 may be rolled into the “good” bill SB 977.

snip

The e-mail alert provided by VoteTrustUSA and VotePA can be used to send your message. Be sure to add a note requesting a vote against HB 1318 and that HB 2000 / SB 977 be passed as written.

http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA&hotissue=2

snip

For more information, visit:

VotePA’s http://www.votepa.us

Pennsylvania Action Center http://http//www.votepa.us/actioncenter.htmlwww.votepa.us/actioncenter.html

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=481&Itemid=113

Discussion on this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x404479#top

N.Y. voting machines need paper verification

December 11, 2005

Will your vote count? Will your vote in 2006 for the gubernatorial, Senate and congressional races be what you intended? And beyond that, will it be what you intend in the next presidential election?

The New York State Board of Elections has posted draft voting machine regulations for the new machines the state must use by next year. But alarmingly, the proposed standards do not require voting machine vendors to submit their optical-scan voting machines for certification by the elections board.

There have been too many instances of equipment failures around the state and nation and of votes of not being accurately counted. The best way to protect the vote is to ensure that there is a permanent voter-marked paper trail record that cannot be lost or altered electronically. And the only machine that simply counts votes such that they cannot be tampered with is the optical scanner.

State Board of Elections is holding public hearings in three locations: Rochester on Tuesday, Albany on Friday and New York City on Dec. 20. Written comments are also being accepted until mid January 2006.

More: http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051211/OPINION02/512110333

New Orleans evacuees, panel meet over rebuilding

By LORI RODRIGUEZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Fueled by beignets, coffee and juice, several hundred Katrina evacuees passionately presented their rebuilding recommendations to members of the Bring Back New Orleans Commission at the George R. Brown Convention Center today.

Numerous former residents of the city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina condemned a preliminary rebuilding plan created by the nonprofit Urban Land Institute. That plan calls for leaving large areas of New Orleans abandoned.

...snip

"It looks like the city's elite are trying to forge plans that leave us last or, worse, leave us out altogether," said Kemberly Samuels, a Ninth Ward homeowner and member of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

ACORN members, as well as dozens of representatives from the The Metropolitan Organization, a Houston social reform group, were on hand today, wearing T-shirts and passing out absentee-voter cards.

The cards are the tip of a TMO drive to develop a constituency of at least 10,000 New Orleans voters in Houston who will support the group's rebuilding agenda and participate in Louisiana elections.

"Our voting machines were destroyed and have not been replaced so we can't even hold our elections that were scheduled for February," said TMO member Pamela Steeg, also a New Orleans evacuee.


More: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3516350.html

Ohio Citizen Continues Hunger Strike, Prayer Vigil in Buckeye State to Oppose Anti-Democratic Law Set to Pass Statehouse

'Christian Faith Requires Personal Sacrifice' Says Divinity Student Protesting Law Said to Ensure Republican Control of Scandal-Ridden Ohio

To protest what Free Press investigative reporters describe as a "holiday burial for American Democracy" in the Buckeye State, Ohio divinity student and Columbus resident, Jonathan Meier is continuing his...

To protest what Free Press investigative reporters describe as a "holiday burial for American Democracy" in the Buckeye State, Ohio divinity student and Columbus resident, Jonathan Meier is continuing his prayer vigil and hunger strike at the Ohio Statehouse despite heavy snow and brutally cold winter temperatures.

House Bill 3 has already passed the House and is about to be approved by the Republican-dominated Senate in the ground-zero snakepit of GOP political corruption otherwise known as Ohio.

Activist Meier, in a just-issued press release says "that his Christian faith calls him to 'constantly pursue social justice and illuminate social ills, and, often, this call requires personal sacrifice."

Free Press' Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman recently described the latest onslaught to democracy in Ohio, which Meier is protesting, this way:

More: http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002139.htm

Calhoun County steps up to recover cost of new voting machines

Associated Press

ANNISTON, Ala. - Calhoun County officials stepped up to recover the estimated $245,000 cost of new federally mandated voting machines.

County Administrator Ken Joiner said the county is buying 49 Direct Recording Electronic voting systems, or DREs, hoping to be among the first in line to be reimbursed for machines that could cost as much as $5,000 each.

More: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/13378231.htm

Elections officials prefer similar machines

12/10/05

Person County Board of Elections members began their search for new voting machines Tuesday in Raleigh.

The trip to view new machines became a necessity recently when Person County Board of Elections Director Brenda Whitlow was notified that Person County’s ballot-counting machines had been decertified by the North Carolina Board of Elections and must be replaced.
Whitlow told The Courier-Times Friday that some of the questions the local board of elections had were answered Tuesday, but that there is still much to discuss and learn.

"We still don't know for sure what kind of machine that we are going to go with," Whitlow said. "And, we have not been any prices yet. is supposed to tell us some prices next week," she said.

What Whitlow did know, however, is that Person County will likely continue to use a machine similar to the Optech III optical scan machine that has been used in the county for several years.

...snip

The state elections board has set a Jan. 20 deadline for counties to select voting machines.


More: http://www.roxboro-courier.com/newsnowstories/ts121005-3.htm

Trickle-Down is a Giant Again, and the Poor Grow Poorer

By Leigh Saavedra

Al-Jazeerah, December 10, 2005

If George Bush is so simple-minded, how is he getting away with it?

Most of us old enough to have watched a couple of wars have at some time been brainwashed about the bad guys who would redistribute the wealth, take from the hardworking man of God and give it to the slacker who would sell drugs to your kids if you weren't constantly vigilant.

...snip

The final question is just how large the disparity between the very rich and the poor can be before someone picks up a pitchfork and walks toward Washington. Let us hope that this is figurative and that it will be done at the ballot box.

First, though, we must use a voting system that has not proven to be flawed, using machines manufactured by strong Bush supporters.

More: http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2005%20Opinion%20Editorials/December/10%20o/Trickle-Down%20is%20a%20Giant%20Again,%20and%20the%20Poor%20Grow%20Poorer%20By%20Leigh%20Saavedra.htm

discussion here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5570580

William Hershey: Governor candidates step up to podium, pulpit

By William Hershey

Dayton Daily News

COLUMBUS | Hallelujah sisters and brothers.


Welcome to the First Church of Ohio Politics.

Clap your hands. Say amen.

And, of course, get ready for the usher to pass the collection plate.

Today let's hear from Brother Jim and Sister C.J.

Brother Ken probably has something to say but surely he'll give up the pulpit for a morning.

Brother Jim — that's Attorney General Jim Petro — is up first.

"What does God expect of us? To do justice, to love kindness."

That's from Brother Jim's recent 30-second TV spot, part of his campaign for the 2006 Republican nomination for governor.

He doesn't provide attribution — you can say only so much in 30 seconds — but the passage appears to come from the book of Micah in the Old Testament of the Bible.

There apparently wasn't time, either, for Micah's last line in response to what God expects — "and to walk humbly with your God," according to the Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

There was time, of course, for Brother Jim to say that he and his wife, Nancy, had been married for nearly 33 years, are "pro-life" and believe that "marriage is a sacred bond between man and a woman."

It sounded like Brother Jim was preaching to Brother Ken's flock. Brother Ken, that's Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, is also a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor. He has become a favorite of conservative church-going Republicans who oppose abortion and same-sex marriage and also are a very important constituency in a Republican primary.


More: http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/columns/daily/1211hershey.html

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Terry Oblander

snip

The voting machines provide little protection from prying eyes. Tilted screens make it easier for others to see whether you voted for the new school tax -- particularly for voters who chose a large typeface on the computer screen.

Medina elections board member Pam Miller, the Democratic Party chairwoman, said she felt uncomfortable when she found that the new screens offered little protection from prying eyes. She said she missed the old days when you could pull the curtains behind you as you entered a voting booth...

Portage County Elections Director Lois Enlow said her board will experiment with ways to make voting more secure. She said she does not know "if there is a perfect solution to the issue."

Enlow said there would be no problems if voters just heeded what their teachers used to tell them: "Keep your eyes on your own papers."

snip

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/113420736528750.xml?ocoth&coll=2

Thanks to Algorem for the Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x404440

Wisconsin: State Senate Sends Election Bill To Governor With Unanimous Vote

By Warren Stewart, Director of Legislative Issues and Policy, VoteTrustUSA
December 09, 2005

With a unanimous voice vote, the Wisconsin State Senate has passed AB 627 and sent the bill to Governor Doyle for his signature. The legislation establishes a requirement for a paper record of every vote and the disclosure of voting system software. The Governor has repeatedly voiced his support for the bill.

The bill's author Senator Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee), commented after the vote that “the Senate struck a blow for accuracy and fairness in Wisconsin elections today,” began Senator Plale. “This legislation will ensure that each and every vote cast in Wisconsin is counted correctly.”

“I look forward to watching the Governor sign this legislation into law.” Concluded Senator Plale. “This is an example of the success possible when cooperation not competition rules the day.”

Gov. Jim Doyle applauded the Assembly's passage of the bill last month and is expected to sign the bill before the end of the year. "The last election showed we urgently need to upgrade and modernize our election system," Doyle said in a statement. "This legislation will take an important step forward, ensuring that new touch screen voting machines also produce a verifiable, paper ballot. This is a vital step to ensuring we would be prepared for an event such as a recount or an election challenge."

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=476&Itemid=26

Bobby Kennedy (paraphrasing): "If anyone doubts that election 2004 was stolen - tune in next week - Harvey Wasserman will present compelling evidence."

A KENNEDY said it aloud! A KENNEDY - woo-hoooooooo!!!

We have 11 months to get all 50-states on guard to prevent, detect, and fight back against election fraud.

Election Issues on Free Press- Wasserman & Fitrakis Articles
<http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19 >

How the GOP stole America's 2004 election and is rigging 2008, by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman: $12 <http://www.freepress.org/store.php#documents2 >

A Special Investigative Report Revealing Massive Voter Theft, Fraud and Illegalities in Ohio's Presidential Balloting

The theft of the 2004 election has been catalogued, footnoted and thoroughly documented in more than 180 bullet points compiled by the Ohio-based investigative reporters in their shocking new compendium. The special digest may serve as the touchstone for all future coverage of the 2004 campaign and vote count in the lead-up to 2008.


Thanks to IndyOp here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x404464

I understand there were some irregularities last week in his home state of North Carolina, where SOMEHOW Diebold usurped state laws to SNEEK in their SERIOUSLY FLAWED VOTING MACHINES. Perhaps one would think, with all that FREE TIME Edwards has since losing(?) the 2004 election, he might offer up some PRO BONO help. From EFF (via BradBlog 'Daily Voting News' )


North Carolina Sued for Illegally Certifying Voting Equipment (scroll down...)

EFF Asks Court to Void Approval of Diebold and Others Without Source Code Review


Seeing as how Mr. Edwards just might have some time on his hands, perhaps he could file an Amicus Curiae brief in support of EFF and the good citizens of North Carolina. He certainly has some first-hand knowledge about "fair" elections.

How about it, Mr. Edwards?

:patriot:

Cobb's partisan cloud

Florida's election overseer should be above suspicion

Last update: December 12, 2005

By naming Sue Cobb secretary of state -- the person to oversee Florida elections -- Gov. Jeb Bush appointed a friend in whom he has confidence. Pardon voters if they don't share his enthusiasm for Cobb.

So long as the state's chief elections officer is a gubernatorial appointee, not just Bush's but any governor's, a cloud of partisan suspicion will hang over the office and the electoral system. In fairness to appointees intent on running a fair electoral system, the state should do everything possible to keep the appointment process above suspicion.

Bush had the right to appoint someone he trusts. But Cobb, a businesswoman and attorney, is also a munificent contributor to the Republican Party, not unlike Katherine Harris, who presided over the 2000 presidential election fiasco as secretary of state and as co-manager with Bush of his brother's Florida presidential election campaign. Cobb, appointed by President Bush as U.S. ambassador to Jamaica, contributed $52,500 to Republican candidates and party committees in 1999-2000, and gave a $40,000 soft-money contribution to a Republican state elections committee. She also gave $5,000 to the 2000 Bush/Cheney Presidential Transition Foundation. Her husband, Charles, ambassador to Iceland under the first President Bush, contributed $71,750 to the GOP in 1999-2000, including $1,000 to Bush, and $5,000 to the Bush-Cheney Florida recount fund. The last thing Florida needs is another elections chief pulling Harris-like punches that just happen to favor her party's candidates.

Prior to 1998, the secretary of state was an elected Cabinet officer. Recognizing that clearly shaded the office with partisan bias, state voters amended the constitution to make the position appointive. But voters left the decision about who would appoint to the Legislature, which tripped over itself in the rush to bestow that power exclusively to Bush. To restore confidence in Florida's electoral system, lawmakers should create a nonpartisan nominating committee to recommend appointees.


snip

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/03OpOPN24121205.htm