NYT, pg1: Election Troubles Already Descending on Florida

[DeepModem Mom]

Election Troubles Already Descending on Florida
By ABBY GOODNOUGH

Published: July 15, 2004


MIAMI, July 14 - Three years after Gov. Jeb Bush announced a new voting system that he called "a model for the rest of the nation," Florida is grappling with some of the same problems that threw the 2000 presidential election into chaos, as well as new ones that critics say could cause even more confusion this November.

The touch-screen voting machines intended to cure many of the ills of 2000 have raised a host of other concerns here just four months before the election. A new state rule excludes the machines from manual recounts, and the integrity of the machines was questioned after a problem was discovered in the audit process of some of them. Voting rights groups filed a lawsuit last week challenging the recount ban, and a Democratic congressman has also sued to request a printed record of every touch-screen vote.

The controversy over the new equipment is just one of Florida's challenges, which also include confirming which voters are ineligible, training poll workers on new policies and processing a flood of new registrations.

State officials announced on Saturday that they would throw out a controversial list used to remove felons from the voting rolls, acknowledging that Hispanic felons were absent from the list. Secretary of State Glenda E. Hood, appointed by Governor Bush last year, had earlier dismissed concerns from lawmakers and advocacy groups about the list of 48,000 suspected felons, which the state made public only after a judge's order.

The United States Civil Rights Commission, which issued a scathing report on the last election here in 2001, will examine problems with the list of felons in a hearing Thursday in Washington....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/15/politics/campaign/15vote.html

[lazarus]

1. one piece of paper

one pen.

Two boxes.

Mark the candidate you want.

Yeah, that's way to complicated, let's get a computer to do it. After all, computers never make mistakes.

Now excuse me while I go defrag.

[TrogL]

16. actuallly, it's one box

ballots are sorted and counted later under scrutiny

[lazarus]

17. I sorta meant

one box for each candidate. I wasn't very clear, sorry.

Trog, you should write up a full article on what Canadian elections are like.

[arcos]

2. jeez, as a non-American this is incredible...

"...have raised a host of other concerns here just four months before the election."

Well, we at DU knew a couple of years before the elections but anyway... in ANY SINGLE country in the world this would be an uproar, but how come the media in the US is just starting to report it??

It is unbelievable... I hope Kerry wins other states easily so the outcome won't depend on Florida!

[nofurylike]

3. Greg Palast has been trying to, every day since. had to try from England!

his entire newsletter of today:

>The US Civil Rights Commission has asked Greg Palast to testify before a special commission hearing Thursday, July 15th at 11am, to discuss his continuing investigative reports for BBC Television on Florida and other states' cleansing of Black voters from voter rolls. Palast's reports provide the basis for the story on the vote fix in Florida featured in Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."

The Commission requested that the Florida Secretary of State testify jointly with Palast before the Commission.

The hearings are open to the public to and the media.

Palast's latest investigation has uncovered new attempts by the State of Florida to take away the votes of African-Americans - this includes a fix in registries and in ballot counting methods and racial bias in the computerization of the ballot box. "Florida put Jim Crow in cyberspace in 2000 ... and it's looking worse in 2004."

The Democratic Caucus of Congress has also asked Palast to appear Thursday morning before the hearings to explain the latest from his investigations of vote fixes and the Bush-bin Laden family connection. Palast will also be a panelist on a joint Minority Outreach Forum sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus and Senator Hillary Clinton. "I'm happy to speak to Republicans, too," said journalist Palast, "but I haven't received a request to drop by Dick Cheney's bunker."

C-Span is expected to provide coverage of this event.

Those interested in bringing more public attention to Palast's appearance may want to go to Common Cause's Action Center: http://causenet.commoncause.org/afr/dbq/media/?command=state_search&state=dc, select the media outlets in DC that you think should cover this event, scroll to the bottom of the screen and press the button "compose message." Then, type up an announcement of this event in the box including the relevant info:


ELECTION 2004: IS AMERICA READY TO VOTE? COMMISSION EXAMINES PURGE LISTS, VOTER DISENFRANCHISEMENT, FLORIDA REGISTRATION PROCESS

WHO:
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; an independent, bipartisan agency charged with monitoring and protecting voting rights.

WHAT:
Briefing on Purge List and Florida Voter Disenfranchisement;
National Voter Empowerment

WHEN:
THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2004 AT 11:00 AM PANEL:
Ion Sancho, Supervisor of Elections, Leon County, FL;
Gracia Hillman, Vice-Chair, U.S. Election Assistance Commission;
Greg Palast, Author, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy..."
Voting Rights Advocates, Election Experts, and Others

WHERE:
Commission Headquarters
624 9th Street, NW
Room 540
Washington, DC

For more information contact Laura Hart at the commission at 202/833-9771 202/352-8755

Palast is author of the Expanded Election Edition of the New York Times bestseller, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." And Thursday, 7 Stories Press will release Palast's, "Joker's Wild: George Bush's House of Cards" - the game with the stacked deck.

Information, media inquiries at www.GregPalast.com or phone Sally McCartin at [phone].<

[nofurylike]

4. that newsletter was sent at 5pm last night, should anyone want to post

it in latest breaking news.

titled:
PALAST TO TESTIFY AT US CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION THURSDAY JULY 15TH

found on his website at:
http://www.gregpalast.com/

thank you


peace

*edit to add details

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Has been posted, nofurylike -- I kicked it --

Thanks!

[nofurylike]

8. great! thank you DeepModem Mom! n/t

[Judi Lynn]

7. Thanks for all the info., and for the news on Palast's C-Span appearance

Hope good health and protection for this fine reporter, and for his long, accident-free/murder-free life.

[nofurylike]

9. thank you, JudiLyn, and i too am feeling worried for him! n/t

[Zorra]

6. Golly gee, do you think Jeb Bu$h might be dishonest?

Ol' PNAC Jeb? Who would ever suspect?

[dusty64]

12. Yeah, a HUGE surprise.

x

[teryang]

10. This is great news!

<A new state rule excludes the machines from manual recounts, and the integrity of the machines was questioned after a problem was discovered in the audit process of some of them. Voting rights groups filed a lawsuit last week challenging the recount ban, and a Democratic congressman has also sued to request a printed record of every touch-screen vote.>

These lawsuits go right to the heart of corrupt electoral process in Florida.

[soup]

13. the new state rule

Boy, did they slide that one in. It was so hard to find information on the proposed changes, I thought I'd go crazy(ier).

First read about the proposed change (buried in a news article) on February 6th:

>snip<
But since those images only repeat what the machine originally tallied as a total rather than the marks of the individual voter's choice, Kast called such review "an exercise in futility." Kast also said that such a review of electronic images "would not be feasible in a larger statewide race" because of statutory deadlines.

In an interview, Kast said public notice of proposed changes to the recount rules -- including the elimination of review of ballot images -- will be posted next Friday, with 21 days for public comment.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1075219902519

-----

On Friday the 13th, I called my County Supervisor's Office, and they had no idea what I was talking about. They told me they had no information pertaining to eliminating touchscreens from recounts and finally suggested I contact the State DOE.

-----

The state responded with this:

The notice is published in the Florida Administrative Weekly. It was
published in the February 13, 2004 issue, Volume 30, No. 7. The
Florida Administrative Weekly can be accessed through our website at
http://faw.dos.state.fl.us .
If you wish to submit a public comment, please do so in writing. Comments are requested
to be submitted via a letter or an e-mail.

-----

The PDF document for 02/13/04 they referred me to was 119 pages long.
The portion pertaining to the proposed change was on pages 74-77.

Page 77-

(7) When a manual recount is ordered and touchscreen ballots are used, no manual recount of undervotes and overvotes cast on a touchscreen system shall be conducted since these machines do not allow a voter to cast an overvote and since a review of undervotes cannot result in a determination of voter intent as required by Section 102.166(5), F.S. In this case, the results of the machine recount conducted pursuant to (5)(c) shall be the official totals for the touchscreen ballots.

-----

So, basically, what it boiled down to is that since the votes made on touch screen machines cannot be recounted, the rules had to be changed in order to legally accommodate them.

Should there be reason for a recount in Florida in 2004, those of us using these machines will be discriminated against because there is no way to perform a recount (and even if there were, it's against the new rules now).

We could ask Mr. Kast about that, but he resigned suddenly to 'pursue other interests'.

I'm so glad that voting rights groups, Congressman Wexler, Greg Palast, and now the New York Times are running with this. I just hope there is time to get something resolved before November.

Open the windows and let some fresh air in!

[teryang]

18. Nice work Soup!

I know that information wasn't easy to find.

You've nailed the crux of it: "So, basically, what it boiled down to is that since the votes made on touch screen machines cannot be recounted, the rules had to be changed in order to legally accommodate them."

I don't think that the agency is empowered by statute to make this law. It is ultra vires. They seem to conclude that because the machine cannot comply with statutory recount requirements, instead of rejecting the machines, they reject the statutory requirement for meaningful recounts. The end result is no legitimacy for government.

[dbt]

11. Harvest time, Jebbie!

Four years ago, you and your Reptile kin sowed the wind. It's time to reap the whirlwind. Good luck getting it into the barn!

:evilgrin:
dbt

[Beetwasher]

14. Jeb Bush Is A Vote Stealing Criminal

Sorry, incompetence just doesn't cut it. After the 2000 fiasco he's had over 3 years to fix the problems. He's done nothing. It's either total incompetence or it's deliberate and criminal. There's no other choice.

[reprobate]

15. This election might just turn florida around.

It's my hope that the felonious Jethro and his treasonous brother Jr's fenagleing with the laws of my state and my country will turn the state of Florida back to the folds of the Democratic Party for the forseeable future.

Surely the fact that TWO national elections have been screwed up in favor of their interests must mean something to floridians.

[VolcanoJen]

19. Kick

:dem:

[struggle4progress]

20. kickety-kick

:kick:

[DeepModem Mom]

21. Just saw a report on this on CNN International -- the world now knows...

that the 2000 Presidential election in the U.S. is considered by many Americans to be illegitimate, and that the opposition party here is united in its concern that 2004 could be illegitimate as well. The report talked about Florida, Jeb, and disenfranchisement of black voters; the Republican vote to strike the Congressional "coup d'etat" statement; the Democratic vote, defeated by Republicans, asking for United Nations monitoring of the 2004 election, in what is supposed to be America.