Photo Evidence of Fraud in Ohio... What became of this?

[dzika]

Another thread reminded me of a picture I saw on 11/3 that DOES LOOK LIKE FRAUD...

Does anyone know what happened with this?


Larger:

In a nutshell, Stefan Skirtz is a poll manager for the Kerry campaign in Cincinnati. His precinct is heavily made up of minorities and students (i.e., leans Kerry). One of the duties of the poll managers, Stefan told me in a phone call minutes ago, is to follow the poll workers to election headquarters as they drop off the ballots and ballot boxes. Stefan followed the poll workers who didn't go directly to the election headquarters. Instead, they went to a local public school where workers put the ballot machines into a semi trailer, and then the poll workers handed off the sealed bags containing the ballots to someone Stefan assumed was with the county board of elections.

The first problem he noticed was that there was no sign off of the transfer of the ballots. Nothing was written down and given to the poll worker as proof that the ballots were passed off to the county employee.

What's worse, Stefan noticed the pick-up truck of the supposed county board of election - the truck the ballots for 40 precincts were loaded into - had a big Bush-Cheney 2004 sticker in the back window. Stefan did say that he followed the truck to the election headquarters, though he didn't see what transpired after the truck pulled into the election hq parking lot.

As Stefan explains it, the poll managers had such an extensive list of voters rights and regulations that they had to follow, including it being illegal to have any partisan buttons etc. in the polling place, yet the ballots for voters in over 40 precincts were put in the hands of Bush-Cheney partisans.

I don't know whether the Bush partisans did or didn't play any games with the ballots they received, but it sure doesn't look good, and I wonder whether it's even legal. And let's not forget, this is a state that was already well on its way to becoming the new Florida of GOP election fraud.

Stefan says he has 6 or 7 witnesses who also saw the sticker on the truck. I have Stefan's contact info for members of the media.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/archives/2004_10_31_americablog_archive.html#109946880458828314

[naryaquid]

1. ..Why don't you send this to all the MSM?

[dzika]

2. I don't mind blasting it out...

...would just like to know if there is any additional info first.

[DrDebug]

4. According to google nothing

If you google for Stefan Skirtz then you'll only find this story and a person who likes classical musical (with the same name for the same city so it's probably the same person as well)

Or maybe you should ask the poll worker yourself...

[dzika]

10. Good idea...

I'll try to get in touch with Stefan. I post the response if I get one.

You would think if it was a real photo/story then more would have been made of it.

Thanks for everyone's comments!

[Demit]

3. I remember some discussion here about that photo...

Do I recall correctly that it turned out to have been photoshopped? Or was that just speculation? Maybe that's why it never went anywhere, b/c it could have so easily been altered (adding the bush sticker). I do remember some folks lamenting the fact that you couldn't see the license plate, which would have made for much more definitive proof.

[MarkusQ]

7. It may well have been altered...

It's hard to say, but the sticker is 1) slightly "brighter" than the rest of the image and 2) exactly horizontal w. regard to the picture (while the truck is at a slight angle).

Even if it's legit, there is AFAIK no law against partisan people in Ohio's electoral process, so no reason it should be a problem as far as the law is concerned.

It's thought provoking, but that's about it.

--MarkusQ

[Delarage]

9. I don't use a level

when putting stickers on my car, so I, personally, wouldn't put too much weight into the angle of the stickers.

[MelissaB]

5. I've never seen this, and

I'm kicking it for answers.

:kick:

[democracyindanger]

6. two things

1. the person who took the picture didn't get the license plate number?

2. the b/c sticker looks photoshopped. i'd go as far as to say "definitely photoshopped." Absolutely no persepective to it. The top edge is perfectly straight.

[iamtechus]

8. Sorry, I don't see a problem.

Perhaps they do things differently in Ohio but in Colorado the poll workers
(AKA election judges) are recruited from party activists. Someone is appointed
head judge for a precinct and that person is responsible for getting the ballots
to a central point, usually the county seat, after the polls close. This results
in the head judge, along with a judge from the other party, hauling the ballots
to the county seat in the head judge's personal vehicle. My wife did this a couple
of times as the head election judge in our precinct. She and a republican lady
loaded the ballots into my old pickup truck and headed for the county seat.

I suspect that there is nothing improper shown in the picture -- just a party-recruited
poll worker doing her job.

One excellent way to prevent election fraud and voter harassment might be to get
active in the party. Go to the precinct caucuses and become one of those chosen
to be a judge/poll-worker/clerk or whatever those jobs are called where you live.
Sometimes it's hard to find people who'll do the job because it doesn't pay much
and requires some training.

[dzika]

11. Response from John Aravosis of AmericaBlog.org

John has the photo posted on his blog. Here is response:

Hi David. I interviewed the guy who took the photo and watched the incident. He's a friend of a friend, and says he has 6 or 7 witnesses. I also put him in touch with local media in the area, and so far, no one has debunked him. The real issue regarding the photo is the sloppiness of the whole affair. No one knows what may or may not have happened to the ballots once they arrived in the dark parking lot because of sloppiness. I'll forward your info to Stefan so he can get a hold of you.

Thanks, JOHN