Friday 3/11 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.
:toast:


Link to the thread from yesterday: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x341526

[dzika]

1. 2 Westchester legislators set election reform hearings

March 10, 2005

2 Westchester legislators set election reform hearings

By GLENN BLAIN
THE JOURNAL NEWS

Two Westchester lawmakers, alarmed by recent election controversies, are launching their own reform initiative with a series of public hearings that they hope eventually will lead to statewide improvements in the way elections are run.

Legislators Thomas Abinanti, D-Greenburgh, and James Maisano, R-New Rochelle, believe the four hearings, which will begin March 28 and continue through April 18, will give them ideas on how to improve the fairness of elections and reduce fraud. They plan to issue a report to both the county Board of Legislators and the state Legislature in the spring.

"People in this country, and particularly this area, are now questioning whether elections are fair," Abinanti said. "Very few public officials are paying any attention to what the public is feeling. I want to hear from the public as to what's bothering them and hear their suggestions."

Abinanti and Maisano said their push for election reform is driven by recent election turmoil, especially the prolonged recount in last year's 35th state Senate District race. In that contest, state Sen. Nicholas Spano eventually was declared the 18-vote winner over Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins after three months of legal battles over the status of affidavit and absentee ballots.

Maisano said he planned to invite officials from both the Spano and Stewart-Cousins campaigns to testify about their experiences. He also intends to investigate such issues as improved training of election inspectors and ways to ensure that only properly registered voters participate in elections.

source

[dzika]

2. Open, Despairing, Letter to Senator Reid

From stephdrays's diary on Daily Kos:
Wed Mar 9th, 2005

Open, Despairing, Letter to Senator Reid

by stephdray

Dear Senator Reid,

Since the election, most days, I feel determined. I have become more involved, more passionate, more informed. There is no other choice--because to accept the defeat I felt the day John Kerry made his concession speech is to admit more blackness into my life than I can handle.

I don't do hopelessness and depression well. I'm a take-action person. Show me where to aim, and I'll fire. I've been proud of the work I've done since the election and I've been proud of the work you've done since becoming Minority Leader--and there have been some hopeful days.

But then there are bad days. Very bad days, like yesterday, when that Bankruptcy Bill slammed the Senate like a tidal wave, and the whole Democratic Party got swept under. Not Nader, not the media, not anybody but blogger Maryscott O'Conner seemed to have seen it until it was too late.

Senator Reid, to be frank, you must get control of your caucus. There have been three votes in the past four months that have meant a great deal to Democrats in which you got steamrolled. I know you're not going to win every battle--but you need to win one, and you need to do it yesterday.

Right now, to Democratic faithful, the situation feels like an ancient massacre. We've got our backs to the water, Hannibal's hordes are bearing down on us, and we can't even see our battle standards go up until it's too late.

I made my phone calls, I've donated, I've drummed up attention, I sent faxes, I write letters, I recruit members, I start clubs. I'm willing to do whatever you need me to do, but I have to see some progress, however symbolic.

I realize you must be skeptical of the blogsphere and the way some of us hate the Democratic Party every time you all don't vote exactly the way we want you to. But that's really just a small portion of us, as was evident in the way we analyzed the Bankruptcy amendments the other day--when it came to that one Amendment that 19 well-respected Democrats voted against, all of us kind of went 'Huh, maybe it was bad drafting'.

It's not like we can't be reasoned with if the effort is made. I know my Senators have more important things to do than to explain things to me personally, but when you let even freshman senators vote for something like this, Democrats owe the whole nation an explanation.

Some people in the blogsphere think the solution is housecleaning. Usually I think that's ridiculous. I don't want to spend my money defeating Democrats. I'm not a one issue voter. And I don't believe having a Republican in that seat that votes against my interests 90% of the time rather than Ben Nelson's 60% of the time, or whatever it is, is a reasonable trade. But I've changed my mind about primary challenges--I'm ready to start funding them after today.

Today was one of those days when the enormity of what we are up against, and our impotence, was just overwhelming to me. I won't crucify any one Senator for their vote on this issue, and I won't condemn you for failing to block this legislation. I realize that you too are up against a lot.

But please understand, you need to be cracking skulls up there. Channel LBJ--I don't care whose arm you have to twist to the breaking point. Make sure Ken Salazar is stuck with every crappy assignment from here to eternity for the kind of hubris he shows in breaking party ranks over and over again in his first four months in office. Get Leiberman on a shorter chain. Even if you have to pick a fight in order to win it, please do it.

We just can't wait much longer for a victory. We can't wait on the judges. I don't know how much more energy we are going to have under this kind of demoralization.

Senator Reid, please rethink our strategy about filibusters. If the Republicans are going to use the nuclear option, then so be it, let them use it, because if they're going to use it over bankruptcy they're going to use it on the judges too. Let them get it out of the way that much quicker so that at least there isn't even the illusion that we're participants in this national travesty.

Senator Reid, your troops are willing to fight and lose, but we're not able to tolerate defeat at our own hands over and over again.

Sincerely,
Stephanie Dray

source

[dzika]

3. If it Walks like a Goose… - United States Government, 2005 (Part I)

March 10, 2005

United States Government, 2005 (Part I):
If it Walks like a Goose…

by Mark Drolette

Previous readers know I can be a little, well, uh…rough on the Bushies, for lack of a better term (like, say, “unapologetically brutal”). That’s OK; I’ve never had a problem calling a spade a spade, or, for that matter, a scoundrel a scoundrel. Typically, though, as a matter of personal preference, I’ve pretty much tried to stay away from using vulgar or shocking language. Since November 2, however, some may have noticed I’ve not shied away from rolling out the f-word.

...
I assert the latter: it is time to acknowledge our democratic system of government has been replaced by fascism.

...
Actually, one of the most venomous attacks on wayward Americans and their petulant insistence on rocking the national unity boat by, of all things, voting for the candidate of their choice, came not from a Republican, but a pseudo-Republican (who nonetheless displayed impressive veteran GOP form): Zell Miller, the former (alleged) Democratic senator from Georgia, who, during his speech at the Republican National Convention (rabid even by Old Yeller standards), ripped off this beauty:

“Today, at the same time young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief.”

Many Americans, obviously rapt in their America-hating self-centered ways, had come to refer to this “manic obsession” every four years as a presidential election.

more here

[dzika]

4. GOP seeks to remove Shelton from Ohio election board post

3-11-2005

GOP seeks to remove Shelton from Ohio election board post

HAMILTON — The Butler County GOP Executive Committee gave a no confidence vote for Judy Shelton and agreed to ask the Ohio Secretary of State to remove her from her county board of elections post.

The GOP’s vote at Butler Tech comes in the wake of Shelton instigating a vote by the Butler County Board of Elections to have Lynn Kinkaid succeed Robert Mosketti as director of the board.

...
But in an unexpected move Mosketti resigned the post on Feb. 24 and Shelton immediately recommended Kinkaid as his Republican successor.

The action, which was supported by Shelton and the two Democrat members of the elections board, sent a shock wave through the Republican community and prompted Shelton’s fellow Republican board member, Joseph Schwarz, to storm out of the meeting in anger.

With 192 for and 60 against, the party Thursday night gave Shelton a vote of no confidence for her actions. The GOP did not stop there.

...
Dan Warncke, the party’s central committee parliamentarian, said the party has no authority to remove Shelton from the board of elections because her four-year term has not expired, but it can send Secretary of State Ken Blackwell a recommendation to remove her if she no longer holds her position as chair of the party’s central committee, according to the party’s bylaws.

more here

[dzika]

5. Vice President launches his own national, media blitz

From commercialappeal.com
March 11, 2005

Vice President launches his own national, media blitz

By Tim Funk
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Cheney on Thursday dismissed polls that suggest there's little public support for creating private investment accounts as part of Social Security.

Cheney, who'll headline a series of town hall meetings across the country on the issue later this month, refused to say how the Bush administration plans to correct the retirement system's long-term solvency problems, which President Bush's proposed accounts wouldn't do.

...
"The notion that you can lay out something this important, this complicated, that touches hundreds of millions of people and then go take a poll and say, 'Oops! Sorry, we're going to stop' makes no sense at all," he said. "A poll's a snapshot in time. We're involved in a major educational effort here."

The Vice President's office offered the interview to The Charlotte Observer in what appears to be part of a strategy to avoid the national media and speak more directly to voters through local and regional media outlets.

more here (free subscription)

[dzika]

6. Bush's localizing his message through the media finds some favor, but also

From commercialappeal.com:
March 11, 2005

Bush's localizing his message through the media finds some favor, but also draws barbs

By Bartholomew Sullivan

...
With no specific Bush administration plan for revamping Social Security, and polls suggesting the public is leery of private accounts, the President is in the process of going before the local television cameras in 60 markets with a simple message on a complex subject.

...
"Sound bites and brief messages in positive settings with appropriate people touting the program -- that's definitely the way to go," Crawford said.

...
Arant said he was concerned that the White House has "crossed the line" in taking on a "partisan political issue" at the public's expense.

The Treasury Department set up a "War Room" last week to coordinate the Social Security agenda. "If there is an editorial in a paper that does not reflect the view of the President, they will engage in the traditional 'rapid response' effort to ensure an op-ed or letter to the editor that states our view," Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols said in announcing the campaign.

...
"Not only is it going to give the impression that people like what he's saying, and approve of it, but that he's more connected to ordinary people," she added. "And he's staying away from those Blue State snobs who clearly are not in touch with where real Americans are."

more here

[dzika]

7. Media fail to hold Bush accountable

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2005

Media fail to hold Bush accountable

By Jim Allen / Staff Writer

...
Bush and his handlers have been able to duck and cover from the media with assertions that, while have a shred of truth, give false impressions and build false constructs. For instance, take the Bush tax cuts. The Bush administration repeatedly argued his tax cuts benefited more Americans by talking about the average tax cut a person will receive from his plan, which his advisors calculated was around $1,400. While this statement is true at face value, it does not accurately represent the picture. The $1,400 savings are only an average, but the vast majority of taxpayers are not going to see a tax break anywhere near that. The wealthiest income earners are going to pay a much higher share, and when taxes are cut, they are going to reap the greatest benefit, and therefore skewing what we would consider the “average.” They say average because we think of averages as something similar to other variables. It’s like if you received a $1,000 cut in taxes and I received $10,000, the average savings would be $5,500. While that’s true, it wouldn’t reflect the reality that my benefit is much greater than yours.

Tax cuts aside, one of the more damning charges made by the President was during last year’s campaign when he consistently criticized Sen. John Kerry of being a flip-flopper and misrepresenting his positions. One commercial the Bush team ran during the summer talked about Kerry’s votes in the Senate on weapons systems. In the commercial they cite Kerry’s opposition to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Apache Helicopter, and the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, but they left out that all three items Kerry opposed were votes cast in one bill. The idea the Bush team wanted voters to have was that he voted three separate times on three separate items. They also overstated Kerry’s attempts to reduce the intelligence budget in 1995 by using words like “gutting” in order to sound more dramatic than what really occurred. Kerry proposed a $300 million reduction in the intelligence budget in 1995, which in reality was only a 1 percent reduction in the total intelligence budget that year. To say that he was trying to “gut” intelligence spending is overly dramatic.

The disturbing part about these false constructs built by the Bush administration is not that they have employed them, but rather the media’s failure to call them out. Those who say the media is either too liberal or too conservative I generally dismiss as being too simplistic and giving themselves a reason to complain. The media has given Bush a pass on many occasions, but they have also done so for President Clinton and Democratic candidates running for president last year. They gave Howard Dean a pass for claiming Bush’s “Clear Skies” initiative would put more pollution in the air. Actually, Bush’s reductions in the reductions of pollutants into the air still lessened air pollution, but they lowered the bar for air quality standards. Even Kerry got a pass from the media for claiming Republicans were attacking his patriotism after he won the Democratic nomination. He was referring to RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie’s remarks criticizing his voting record in the Senate, which is valid, and not his actual service in Vietnam, which Gillespie actually praised.

The real problem lies in the media’s failure to be objective for fear of showing bias. Anytime a reporter calls somebody out on the floor, they are often looked at as having an agenda. President Bush’s former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer once outed Helen Thomas, a veteran White House correspondent, as being a liberal. While that is true, she still has a job to do, regardless of her leanings. When this happens to President Bush, that reporter gets blacklisted and they lose access to the White House. The President has used the media as his bully pulpit instead of allowing the free flow of information from the White House to the public to inform people. His selective releasing of information that he wants the public to see allows him to control the discussion, and the media is left to report only the soundbites and spin, and not what we really need to know. Instead of actually scrutinizing the President’s (or his spokespeople) message, they instead report what they say as fact.

more here

[dzika]

8. What's Lower Than Fluff? (FOX News misleads on Count Every Vote Act)

March 11, 2005

What's Lower Than Fluff?
(FOX News misleads on Count Every Vote Act)

On FNL on 3/10, they barely got started with the usual Dem-bashing & Bush-praising when any pretense of real news was swept away in a barrage of speculation about Michael Jackson. Fortunately, I was able to fast-forward through the Jackson hysteria, which ate up the last 80 minutes of the program -- with only an occasional ad break. They were so gaga about this, they even skipped the "Asman Observer" (yeah, I was heartbroken).

...
At 11:23am Quinn said that a recent study shows that ex-felons are more likely to vote Dem & now JKerry & HClinton are proposing a bill to let ex-felons vote, so are Dems "recruiting felons?"

Comment: Let's start right there. Quinn didn't give enough info re the alleged "study" so that viewers could check it out for themselves. Quinn didn't give the name of the bill -- the Count Every Vote Act, or CEVA (S.450). Quinn named Kerry & HClinton as "proposing" the bill; HClinton is the sponsor in the Senate, & Kerry is one of 6 co-sponsors (the others are Boxer, Dayton, Lautenberg, Leahy & Mikulski, none of whom Quinn named). Quinn didn't mention that it's also been introduced in the House (H.R. 939), sponsored by Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones. Quinn didn't mention that this is old "news" -- both the House & Senate bills were introduced on Feb 17. Quinn didn't mention that CEVA does a lot more than propose enfranchisement of ex-felons. Both the teaser at 11:12am (see above) & the way Quinn strung together her intro clearly are meant to imply that JKerry & HClinton have a vested interest in getting ex-felons the right to vote, that ex-felons are Dems, that Dems like ex-felons, etc, etc, etc.

So Quinn interviewed Pete DeConcini (former Sen, D-AZ) & Frank Donatelli (GOP "strategist"). When Quinn asked if Dems are "recruiting felons" DeConcini replied "of course not" & tried to explain how he considered it a "matter of fairness". Quinn asked Donatelli "Why not do it?" Donatelli said it would be okay "after they've paid their dues" but the problem is that it's a "federal mandate" citing "states' rights" & the 14th Amendment. DeConcini agreed that's a valid point, but said the fed govt "can assist in many ways" (e.g., resources, technology grants) if the states want to comply with fairness standards, adding that it's "all about counting every vote." Quinn asked if the bill was "sour grapes over losing the election" & Donatelli didn't answer directly, instead saying that CEVA (comment: at least he, unlike Quinn, used the actual name of the bill) is "a terrible piece of legislation," the fed mandate is "only one small part" & it opens up "too many opportunities for fraud."

more here

[dzika]

9. Rather finishes up No. 1

March 11, 2005

Rather finishes up No. 1

By MARISA GUTHRIE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Dan Rather can always say he went out on top.

That's because Wednesday's edition of "The CBS Evening News" - his last as anchor of the show - was No. 1 in Nielsen Media Research's sample of 56 major markets around the country.

The ratings were welcome news for the program, which has languished in third place in the three-way evening news race for years. National ratings for the night won't be out until next week.

Rather said farewell after 24 years in the seat and as the face of CBS News. He'll continue with CBS News as a correspondent for the "60 Minutes" franchise.

...
The anchorman's final newscast included a "Reporter's Notebook" segment about what Rather called "the biggest story all" - the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

In his final address, Rather thanked viewers and his CBS colleagues. He then invoked a sign-off he used years ago - and for which he has been chided - "courage."

more here

[dzika]

10. Democracy is stronger if more citizens participate

Fri, Mar. 11, 2005

Democracy is stronger if more citizens participate

By JANE EISNER

...
Yet as often as Americans sing the praises of democracy, our actions say otherwise. Though barriers of race, gender, education and age are gone, this is not a fully enfranchised nation. The record turnout last year belies an uncomfortable fact: More eligible voters didn't vote than voted for either Bush or Kerry.

Some of those no-shows are lazy citizens who hitch a free ride on the democratic train, reaping benefits while paying little fare. But many Americans don't vote because the process is unreliable, cumbersome, and intimidating.

Proposed legislation would go a long way toward reforming the system and expanding the electorate. But because its sponsors include names like Clinton and Kerry, its worthy journey into law may stop at the partisan aisle.

...
Whatever you think of the senators' motives, this bill has many of the elements that bipartisan election reformers have long requested:

• Paper records of electronic voting.

• Election-day registration.

• Election Day as a national holiday.

• Restoration of voting rights for former felons.


To the degree that enacting these reforms would facilitate voting by poor people, minorities and the young, they may help Democrats in the short term. But those same fears were expressed by Republicans as they sought to block the Motor Voter Act of 1993. And what happened? A huge surge in GOP registrations.

more here

[dzika]

11. An aggressive audit of labor unions is one front in Republicans’ attack

March 8, 2005

Under the Microscope
An aggressive audit of labor unions is only one front in Republicans’ multi-pronged attack.

By David Moberg

If union leaders are feeling a little paranoid about Bush’s reelection, maybe it’s because they really are being persecuted. Republicans have both ideological and strategic reasons for an offensive against labor. Attacking unions pleases both Bush’s corporate friends and the movement’s conservatives, and harasses the strongest grassroots political operation opposing the Republican right.

“There’s been a strategy,” says former Democratic Rep. David Bonior, now chairman of American Rights at Work. “It’s not a conspiracy. They’re very open. Grover Norquist says they want to get rid of unions, to break the labor movement.”

But the rights of all workers, not just union members and their organizations, are in jeopardy. Since Bush took office, the Labor Department has significantly reduced staff for enforcing employer violations of laws on labor standards (such as child labor, the minimum wage and overtime), occupational safety, and rights to organize—laws that are important for everyone employed in America.

...
“The real motivation was to saddle unions with expensive and time-consuming requirements to harass them and to provide the kind of ammunition that a Right to Work Committee researcher or Republican staffer would find very useful, but union members would find not useful at all,” says AFL-CIO General Counsel Deborah Greenfield. “I don’t think it’s an accident that the head of the agency within the Department of Labor who came up with the rule, Don Todd, was head of research for the Republican National Committee.”

more here

[Wilms]

12. Orlando Sentinel: County vetoes touch-screens

County vetoes touch-screens
Volusia will rally its 16 cities in asking the state for more time to buy voting machines for the disabled.

By Kevin P. Connolly | Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 11, 2005


DELAND Foes of paperless voting scored a surprising victory Thursday after County Council members derailed plans to buy 210 touch-screen machines for disabled voters in Volusia a move that could reverberate across Florida as a deadline looms.

"We didn't win the war but we won the battle," said touch-screen foe Ron Cahen, legislative committee chairman for the American Civil Liberties Union's chapter for Volusia and Flagler counties.

-snip-

Many of the roughly 40 e-voting foes who attended Thursday's meeting in DeLand donned bright orange stickers bearing the message "Paper not Vapor," a reference to their concerns about potential vulnerabilities of electronic voting and their desire to have a "verifiable paper trail" such as paper ballots.

-snip/more-

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=4980

DU Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x342219

[dzika]

13. VIDEO - "Red & Blue" a moderate essay by Richard Rodriquez

From The News Hour:
March 10, 2005

VIDEO - "Red & Blue" a moderate essay by Richard Rodriquez

Video in Real Media format (5 minutes)

dialup version

[dzika]

14. Polling firm charged with falsifying results

March 11, 2005

Polling firm charged with falsifying results

HARTFORD (AP) -- A Connecticut firm that conducted state and national political and opinion polls and two of its top officials have been charged with falsifying the results of some surveys, according to an indictment released Wednesday.

The owner and manager of Guilford-based DataUSA Inc., now known as ViewPointUSA Inc., told employees to alter poll data, prosecutors said. Managers told employees to "talk to cats and dogs" when instructing them to fabricate the surveys, according to the Feb. 17 indictment by a federal grand jury in New Haven.

...
The indictment alleges that DataUSA employees were told by owner Tracy Costin, 46, of Madison, and manager Darryl Hylton, 41, of Hamden, to change the gender, political parties and responses of survey respondents to meet job quotas and deadlines.

It also claims that employees were told to complete surveys without actually talking to people. When interviewed by law enforcement officials, both Costin and Hylton denied the accusations. A message seeking comment was left for Costin, and a number for Hylton was not listed.

more here

[dzika]

15. Democrats See Cantwell as Republicans' Number-One Target

Note: This is the news service that GOPUSA has used to replace Talon News.


March 10, 2005

Democrats See Cantwell as Republicans' Number-One Target

By Susan Jones

(CNSNews.com) - President Bush and Karl Rove are "working on a plan to attack Democrats in the U.S. Senate," and their number one target is Maria Cantwell of Washington, according to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

...
"With increased majorities, they know they can appoint right-wing judges at will, pass legislation to restrict a woman's right to choose, and rollback our precious environmental protections," Schumer wrote.

Republicans have already drawn up a list of "targets" -- politicians to be defeated -- and Cantwell, the U.S. Senator from Washington, tops the list, he said.

...
Now, Schumer said, Republicans are planning to flood the airways with negative attack ads -- and send campaign specialists to Washington State from around the country.

"Some think this could be one of the nastiest elections that Washington State has seen in a long while," Schumer said.

more here

[dzika]

16. Robert Kane Pappas' Reflections on Orwell, 2005

March 10, 2005

Robert Kane Pappas' Reflections on Orwell, 2005

A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW

In the end the party would announce that 2 plus 2 made 5, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim, sooner or later, the logic of their position demanded it. -- George Orwell, in 1984

* * *

Robert Kane Pappas is the director of the mass media-critiquing documentary, beloved by BuzzFlash readers, "Orwell Rolls in His Grave." This week he agreed to revisit George Orwell's prophetic anti-utopian novel, 1984, and to reflect on recent events in terms of Orwell's vision of a nightmarish future. Are we there yet?

* * *

BuzzFlash: Eason Jordan, the former head of CNN News, was fired for allegedly suggesting, off-the-record, that the U.S. military had targeted journalists in Iraq. He quickly back pedaled, yet he was still "resigned," so to speak. Now the facts indicate that Jordan was right. For instance, an attack on an Al Jazeera reporter was recorded on film in the documentary "Control Room." We also had the deadly attack by American soldiers on journalists at the Palestine Hotel. We've had reports of numerous reporters killed in the field, and just this week Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena was shot, even though these people were known reporters. The bottom line: Orwellian or not?

Robert Kane Pappas: In 1984, Winston Smith worked for the Ministry of Truth, in the department that rewrote past news items to make them conform to the present political realities. As his assignments came in, his daily creative endeavors concerned intuiting how the party might want this done. Winston says, "All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory." It's uncanny how close his job seems to today's lackey editors.

Imagine today's news correspondents' mental gymnastics. They were wringing their hands over the Ukrainian exit polls, using them as a basis to call that election into question, but they were unable to mention (or remember?) what had occurred in their own country only weeks before. Straight-faced irony worthy of Winston Smith.

I think it was November 4th of 2004 that I was listening to "Imus in the Morning," which had a phone interview with Jeff Greenfield of CNN. Imus asked something like, "What about this disparity between the exit polls and the vote?" Greenfield set him straight immediately (I paraphrase): "Oh that's all clear now, we found out through the exit polls that to voters it was about values . . . this was the unforeseen factor that made all those new voters break for Bush" . . . (voters who historically break for the challenger). Judging from his tone of voice, Greenfield had already internalized the new truth. That was it. End of analysis. End of Imus' foray into exit poll discrepancies. As Orwell wrote, "All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory."

more here

[dzika]

17. The Right Leaning Conspiracy

March 10, 2005

The Right Leaning Conspiracy

There are those among the Dems who believe that the Party needs to do a better job of messaging and re-frame the debate to redefine terms like morality. There are others in the Party who think that the quicker and better answer is to move to where the votes are.

It hasn't taken too long for the Hillary 2008 campaign (which is well underway - all that's missing are the placards) to show their hand on this one. Get ready for a move to the right that will blow past Lieberman and have the NY Senator mingling with the likes of Santorum and Brownback.

Currently, the move is manifesting itself in the support of a government bill to study the impact of all the sex and violence on television which Hill calls: "a silent epidemic."

For now it's just a study. But given the climate of these political times, wouldn't you expect the real Hillary (or the old Hillary, anyway) to be focusing her efforts on, say, free speech?

So we'll see a Hillary surge to the right and the Republican hatchet teams (Former First Ladies for Truth?) positioning her as a leftist radical.

All we need is about 10,000 screaming bloggers on each side and we've got ourselves a campaign.

more here

[Wilms]

18. Sen. Sarbanes (D-MD) Won't Seek Re-Election

Sen. Sarbanes Won't Seek Re-Election - Source

Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:10 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Paul Sarbanes, Maryland's longest serving U.S. senator ever, has decided not to run for re-election next year, a party source said on Friday.

-snip-

While a member of the House of Representatives in 1974, Sarbanes served on the Judiciary Committee and offered articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, who ended up resigning because of the Watergate scandal.

-snip/more-

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7879914

DU Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x342318

[Wilms]

19. Now that's what I call "defrauding voters". Enjoy the slammer, pal.

Former GOP party head sentenced to seven months in phone jamming

By Erik Stetson, Associated Press Writer | March 10, 2005

CONCORD, N.H. -- The former executive director of the state Republican Party was sentenced Thursday to seven months in prison for jamming Democratic telephone lines during the 2002 general election.

-snip-

State Democratic Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan had written a letter asking that McGee not be sentenced to prison. She said he was a "low-level player" who also had cooperated with Democrats in a jamming-related lawsuit against Republicans. She said more senior Republicans should be held accountable.

-snip/more-

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/03/10/former_gop_party_head_sentenced_to_seven_months_in_phone_jamming/

DU Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x342316

[dzika]

20. Volusia balks at paperless voting system

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2005

Volusia balks at paperless voting system

By JAMES MILLER
Staff Writer

When Volusia County elections officials had to recount votes after the 2000 presidential election, they had ballots they could hold in their hands.

Faced with a state deadline that could force the county to purchase its first paperless voting system, the County Council on Thursday sent a unanimous message.

Not so fast.

The council balked at Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall's request to buy 210 touchscreen voting machines. The machines are intended for use by disabled voters, but a roomful of protesters urged the council to wait, fearing the new machines would ultimately replace the county's current optical-scan, paper-ballot system -- and leave Volusia without a "paper trail" to settle disputes.

"This is about whether we have a verification of your vote, that's what it's about, not who won or lost the election," said Councilman Dwight Lewis. "It's about honesty, I believe, and doing the right thing."

more here

[dzika]

21. If You Can't Trust a Poll

From White Collar Crime Prof Blog
March 11, 2005

If You Can't Trust a Poll

Everyone reads reports about surveys and political polls as if they were gospel, but what if the pollster is taking liberties with the data? An indictment returned in the District of Connecticut presents that very scenario involving DataUSA Inc . (now called ViewPointUSA Inc.), which has been charged along with its owner (Tracy Costin) and a manger (Darryl Hylton) with conspiracy and wire fraud for providing political and business clients with falsified data. The indictment alleges that employees were told to speak with cats and dogs for information. The company's website ( www.datausainc.com ) has the following statement: "DataUSA upheld the highest standards in data collection as demonstrated in the excellence of our data. DataUSA's predictions of voting behavior and consumer behavior routinely reflected to be within 1% to 2% of actual behavior. We are proud of the quality data collected and want to thank you for teaming with DataUSA and for your support over the years."

A press release by the U.S. Attorney described the allegations:

According to the Indictment, DATAUSA INC. (“DataUSA”) conducts surveys and political polls for numerous clients throughout the United States. The surveys or polls are conducted through the use of computers and telephones. COSTIN, the owner and director of operations for DataUSA, was charged with conspiracy to engage and engaging in a wire fraud scheme to defraud clients of DataUSA by falsifying and fabricating survey results. According to the Indictment, both COSTIN and HYLTON, a DataUSA manager, and others not named in the indictment, engaged in a scheme to defraud by unilaterally instructing DataUSA employees to alter survey data and to fabricate surveys and otherwise falsify their contents in order to meet job quotas and deadlines. The Indictment charges the defendants with falsifying survey data by instructing employees to alter the gender and political affiliation of the interviewees. In addition, the Indictment also charges the defendants with falsifying survey results by altering data on survey responses originally taken by DataUSA employees after the surveys were completed.

Maybe some of the pollsters who predicted a Kerry victory finally have someone else to blame -- dogs are notoriously liberal.

more here

[MelissaB]

22. Los Alamos Monitor, NM: House passes two election reform measures

House passes two election reform measures

The House passed a bill that will allow county clerks to start processing absentee ballots five days before Election Day in an effort to speed up vote tallies.

"This is good news and it will especially be of help to the larger county," Chief Deputy Clerk Sheryl Nichols said in an interview this morning.

>>>snip

"We found absentee ballots in boxes and closets and so on, so I think this would alleviate all that," said Sandoval, the bill's sponsor.

The absentee ballots would not be counted until after the polls close on election night, Sandoval said.

The reliability of voting machines also was an issue for some in the 2004 general election, which was won by President Bush in New Mexico. Advocates of a recount of the presidential race, including Green and Libertarian party presidential candidates, claimed certain voting machines malfunctioned and produced inaccurate results.

More: http://www.lamonitor.com/articles/2005/03/11/headline_news/news04.txt

[MelissaB]

23. Allentown, PA: Local taxes might have to be used to replace machines for v

Carbon may be short on polls funds

Local taxes might have to be used to replace machines for voting act.

By Sarah Fulton
Special to The Morning Call

Carbon County's elections director said Thursday the county may not get enough federal money to buy new electronic voting machines for all its precincts and may have to use local taxes to properly outfit polling places.

Elections Director Kenneth Leffler told county commissioners the federal government plans to give Carbon $8,000 for each voting precinct. There are 47 voting districts in the county, each with a couple of precincts.

Leffler and county Commissioner Wayne Nothstein attended a seminar in Scranton on Wednesday to meet voting machine vendors and see new machines. Leffler said the county doesn't know how much it will cost to outfit all polling places.

The Help America Vote Act, born of the hotly contested Florida results in the 2000 presidential election and passed by Congress in 2002, set a January 2006 deadline to modernize voting machines, centralize voter registration lists and improve poll worker training.

More: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_1carbonmar11,0,6865206.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed

[dzika]

24. Updated Analysis of Exit Poll Controversies Released by SSRC

The National Research Commission on Elections and Voting brings scholarly research, knowledge, and perspective to bear on efforts to improve the integrity of the American electoral process. Organized by the Social Science Research Council, the Commission website serves as a national, nonpartisan clearinghouse of data, independent research, and other resources to support the efforts of scholars and organizations studying voting and election issues. In providing this public service, the SSRC intends to help deepen both public and scholarly awareness of electoral process concerns that must be addressed in order to ensure that our elections and voting system remains legitimate and fair.

Updated Analysis of Exit Poll Controversies Released

Three Commission members have completed a working paper (pdf) providing further analysis of controversies surrounding exit polls during the 2004 Presidential Election.

From the PDF report:

A Review of Recent Controversies Concerning the 2004 Presidential Election Exit Polls

10 March 2005

Michael Traugott, University of Michigan
Benjamin Highton, University of California (Davis)
Henry E. Brady, University of California (Berkeley)

THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND VOTING
A Project of the Social Science Research Council
810 Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10019 USA
http://elections.ssrc.org

I. Introduction

One feature of the end of the 2004 presidential campaign was the leaking of preliminary exit poll data from the National Election Pool (NEP) on several websites during the afternoon of November 2.1 The leaks were not completely unexpected because a similar incident occurred during the 2000 presidential campaign. Several websites announced in advance their intention to locate and release early data, and the activity and visibility of several websites and blogs had increased significantly during this campaign. The difference in 2004 was that the early exit poll data were incorrect in that they suggested that John Kerry was ahead in the national poll and leading in several key states that would have been sufficient to give him an Electoral College majority. Furthermore, even the final data had a Kerry bias in their estimate of the outcome.2

What was also unusual about the leaks was the fact that the campaigns took the information seriously. There was a brief period during the afternoon on Election Day when the Kerry campaign went into seclusion to think about an acceptance speech and an even briefer period when the Bush campaign team contemplated an unexpected loss.3 And the stock market took a brief plunge at the close of trading on November 2, apparently based on this information as well.4 When the Republicans quickly turned to their on-the-ground intelligence in the key states of Florida, Ohio, and Virginia and it gave them a different picture of the likely outcome there, their confidence in victory returned.

By the end of the evening, when the full set of NEP data and the output of their statistical models were available, none of the network partners had made any incorrect calls of individual states, and it was clear at a reasonable hour that President Bush had been re-elected.5 However, many bloggers and websites were concerned that the early exit poll results did in fact accurately represent the voters' preferences, and the differences in actual vote outcomes from the exit poll results may have stemmed from fraud, problems with new voting technology, or administrative malfeasance in specific locations.

As a result, there was sufficient public discussion and consternation that a committee of the U.S. House headed by Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) held open sessions about election administration and the exit polls to which several of the principles were invited for presentations. NEP and its partners remained relatively silent through all of this, and it was not until January 19, 2005 that a report was released by Edison Research/Mitofsky International about what happened with the exit polls on Election Day.6 That report has now become a topic of extended discussion on the Web.

Link to the report in PDF format:
http://elections.ssrc.org/research/ExitPollReport031005.pdf


COMMENT: My initial impression of this report is that they agree with Mitofsky and NEP on the "reluctant responder" theory.

[Wilms]

36. Discussion of the above post, here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x342380

[MelissaB]

25. $220M for voting machines seen as imperiled

$220M for voting machines seen as imperiled

Mayoral panel says state could lose funding for new devices because of dawdling in Albany
Friday, March 11, 2005
By MICHAEL SCHOLL

New York state could lose $220 million in federal funding for new voting machines because of dawdling in Albany, a special mayoral panel warned yesterday.

Richmond County Clerk Stephen Fiala and the other members of the Election Modernization Task Force, appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said the money could be lost unless lawmakers act quickly to approve new voting machine legislation.

New York state is eligible for nearly $220 million in federal aid under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which Congress approved in 2002 to help avoid election fiascos like those in Florida in 2000.

But to qualify, states must replace antiquated voting machines with new ones before September 2006. New York state lawmakers have failed to approve enabling legislation to allow purchase of new equipment because of partisan wrangling over the kinds of machines to be bought.

New York is the only state that has not passed the legislation.

More: http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1110551677151550.xml

[MelissaB]

26. France: Teresa Heinz Kerry - Hacking the "Mother Machine"?

This is the same article by Thom Hartmann that appeared in the US.



"Two brothers own 80 percent of the machines used in the United States," Teresa Heinz Kerry told a group of Seattle guests at a March 7, 2005 lunch for Representative Adam Smith, according to reporter Joel Connelly in an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Connelly noted Heinz Kerry added that it is "very easy to hack into the mother machines."

The two brothers Mrs. Kerry is referencing are, according to voting machine expert (and founder of www.BanVotingMachines.org Lynn Landes in an article for the Online Journal, Bob Urosevich, president of Diebold Election Systems, and Todd Urosevich, who was vice president for customer support of Chuck Hagel’s old company, now known as ES&S.

Presumably the "mother machines" Teresa was talking about are the "central tabulator" computers, like the Windows-based Diebold central tabulator PC that Howard Dean hacked into and untraceably changed an election on - in 90 seconds - live on the "Topic A With Tina Brown" CNBC TV show late last year.

As Dean noted while hacking the Diebold machine on national television, "In 1998, only 7% of all U.S. counties used electronic voting machines." But, Dean noted of the 2004 race, "in the next presidential election, roughly 1 in 3 of us will use one."

Dean added:

"But critics have found all sorts of flaws with these machines, from software security concerns, to the complete lack of a paper trail to verify votes. These machines cannot be recounted.

more: http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=5486

[MelissaB]

27. Inquirer, UK: Hackers put Bush in power

Hackers put Bush in power

Mrs Kerry’s claim

By Nick Farrell: Thursday 10 March 2005, 12:51


THE MISSUS of failed democrat presidential candidate John Kerry, Teresa has told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that she thinks that the only reason her husband lost to George Bush was because of hackers.
Mrs Kerry is still skeptical about George Bush's victory some four months after her husband lost. She questionings the legitimacy of the optical scanners used in some states to record votes.

She said most of the machines used were owned by two brothers who were hard-right republicans. Kerry said that it was "very easy to hack into the mother machines and urged Democrats to push for accountability and transparency.

She said: "We in the United States are not a banana republic. I fear for
More: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21721

(Regristration Required)

[MelissaB]

28. This links to the Sidney Morning Heald after regristering.

It seems this story is being linked around the world. Hummm....

[MelissaB]

29. Times of India, India: 'Hackers may have helped Bush win'

same story...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1047344.cms

[MelissaB]

30. Ireland: US election could have been hacked, says Kerry wife

US election could have been hacked, says Kerry wife

09/03/2005 - 16:34:17



The United States presidential election could have been computer hacked, the wife of Democrat candidate John Kerry has claimed.

Teresa Heinz Kerry is openly sceptical about George Bush’s victory some four months after the election, questioning the legitimacy of the optical scanners used in some states to record votes.

“Two brothers own 80% of the machines used in the United States,” she said during a fund raising event in Seattle.

They are “hard-right” Republicans, she claimed, arguing that it was “very easy to hack into the mother machines”.

More: http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=160111150&p=y6xyyy98x&n=160112063

[MelissaB]

32. Washington Times

Teresa's suspicions

Teresa Heinz Kerry is openly skeptical about results from November's election, especially in places where optical scanners were used to record votes, Matt Drudge reports at www.drudgereport.com, citing remarks in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
"Two brothers own 80 percent of the machines used in the United States," Mrs. Kerry told the newspaper. She identified both as "hard-right" Republicans. She argued that it is "very easy to hack into the mother machines."
Mrs. Kerry did not offer any specific evidence that votes on the machines were altered.
"We in the United States are not a banana republic," Mrs. Kerry said during a fund-raiser in Seattle, adding: "I fear for '06."

Link: http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050308-114907-1247r.htm

[MelissaB]

37. Ann Coulter, too.

Aspiring first lady Teresa Heinz claims the election was stolen through the machinations of a vast conspiracy involving Republican polling machine manufacturers. We eagerly await a Michael Moore documentary to flesh out the details. It's only a matter of time before Heinz announces that anti-Bush insurgents control most of the red states, and that the sooner the U.S. pulls out of those quagmires, the better.

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=6817

(Only through google would I have found this article. I even found it using the "news" search. :puke: )

[dzika]

31. Head of USA Next Promises More Anti-AARP Ads, Despite Court Loss

Friday, March 11, 2005

Head of USA Next Promises More Anti-AARP Ads, Despite Court Loss

NEW YORK

A federal judge on Thursday prohibited the group USA Next, which supports President Bush's Social Security plan, from using in its online ads attacking the AARP a photo of a gay couple that it took without permission from the Portland (Ore.) Tribune.

Meanwhile, in an interview with The New York Times that will appear this weekend in the Sunday magazine, Charlie Jarvis, director of USA Next, reveals that in a few weeks his group will begin running ads “that very specifically and aggressively brand AARP for what they are, the planet's largest liberal lobbying organization. When they are honest about that, we will take a large number of their members away.” AARP has 35 million members.

The ads, he said in the interview, would involve TV, radio, Web, direct mail, e-mail, and phone alerts.

He said he could not think of a single positive thing to say about AARP's goals and that “they don't really know the facts about an issue like Social Security.”

Asked if USA Next was just a front group for the White House, Jarvis said he'd never had a “one-on-one” meeting with Karl Rove, Bush's chief strategist, but had met him, thinks “he is a political and tactical genius,” and has attended presentations he's given at the White House. Jarvis previously worked for Focus on Family, which has dubbed SpongeBob SquarePants a promoter of homosexuality. “I call him Sponge Robert Square Pants,” Jarvis quipped, “because I don't know him well.” He added that his two sons lean to the left and he has had “knockdown arguments” with them.

The ad that has landed USA Next in trouble portrayed AARP as opposed to U.S. soldiers and supportive of gay marriage. A Portland couple, Richard Raymen and Steven Hansen, who appeared in the newspaper photo used in the ad, filed suit against USA Next on Wednesday, saying they hadn't consented "to serve as models for a homophobic and mean-spirited campaign for a political group with whose views they strongly disagree."

Originally published in E&P

source

[MelissaB]

33. Abortion Advocates Still Upset by Pro-Life Democrat Senate Candidates

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates are still upset with Democrat leaders who have coalesced behind two candidates for the U.S. Senate who oppose abortion. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has recruited Pennsylvania state Treasurer Bob Casey and Rhode Island Rep. Jim Langevin to run in Senate races in those states.

Not only have top Democrats recruited candidates who oppose abortion, they've attempted to clear the field and persuade other Democrats from declaring their candidacies.

In Pennsylvania, pro-abortion Governor Ed Rendell successfully talked abortion advocate Barbara Hafer out of challenging Casey in a primary. That's after officials at EMILY's List, a pro-abortion political group, sent two staff members to begin organizing Hafer's campaign


>>>snip

In Pennsylvania, abortion advocates hope Chris Heinz to enter the race. He is the son of Republican Sen. John Heinz and his stepfather is former presidential candidate John Kerry.

More: http://www.lifenews.com/nat1226.html

[dzika]

34. The Media Lobby

March 11, 2005

The Media Lobby

By Alexander Lynch, AlterNet

How can the corporate media be expected to critically cover the issues its parent companies have a financial stake in?


During the Cronkite days of journalism, there were scarcely media watchdogs to dissect the messengers. Now there are varied left-wing, right-wing and centrist watchdog groups, writers who specialize in the media message and the internet, which has spawned even more critics. Stories such as Dan Rather and Eason Jordan's fall, the lack of WMDs in Iraq, the outing of Valerie Plame, the ousting of Jeff Gannon/James Guckert, the unveiling of Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Mike McManus. ... Questioning the journalists seems to be as partisan an issue as the journalists themselves.

But many of these stories, scandals by many accounts, even federal offenses, are often only alluded to by the mainstream media, getting more attention from late-night comics than news desks. In fact, an increasingly bigger story that has hushed the notebooks of reporters, the waxing of columnists and the demands of editorials is the story of how the media is entangled and interconnected with politicians (its supposed regulators) corporate interests and, binding them all together: lobbyists. The simple fact is, objective journalists are not supposed to be proactive on issues, which is the definition of lobbying. "It is the subject of the least journalistic scrutiny," says Peter Hart of the media watchdog Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). Asking a media outlet to report on its parent company's lobbying expenditures and the goals associated with such spending, gives new meaning to "conflict of interest." Considering other options, such as one medium reporting on another's lobbying interests, would only invite scrutiny, which is called, in an economist's terms, collusion. And so the story goes unreported in mainstream media as if, it is not only unimportant, it is nonexistent.

...
No need to imagine, actually, for this scenario is no figment. In 2000, to cite only one lobbying firm, (Podesta/Mattoon) General Electric (NBC, MSNBC), Time Warner (CNN), News Corporation (Fox News Channel), Washington Post, Viacom (CBS), NAB and the Newspaper Associations of America, all shared representation with the likes of Lockheed Martin and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Inc. (PhRMA). Lockheed Martin has benefited greatly from the war in Iraq by dumping weapons and gaining government/military contracts to make more. And PhRMA, who coincidentally just hired Gordon Giffin, former U.S. ambassador to Canada, to lobby for them, is at the head of the industry's movement to prevent the importation of prescription drugs across the northern border.

...
Last year, NBC's David Gregory and MSNBC's Deborah Norville presented a "humanitarian" award to Nancy Goodman Brinker, a top Bush campaign contributor. In 2003, Bob Schieffer of CBS presented an award to Laura Bush and the year before that, Cokie Roberts of ABC shared the stage with Rudy Giuliani and Tom Ridge, then the Homeland Security secretary. Somehow, none of the journalists seem to find a conflict of interest in a lobbying trade group putting on a show, wherein supposedly objective journalists present awards to powerful, and often very partisan political figures whom they regularly interview and whose actions they cover. At times, the back-slapping and hobnobbing can become so incestuous that it's difficult to keep up with who's who and which hat they're wearing at any given moment.

more here

[MelissaB]

35. Democrats woo abortion opponents for Senate

Democrats woo abortion opponents for Senate

Party denies 'positioning' as it selects Casey for Pennsylvania

By Tom Curry
National affairs writer
MSNBC
Updated: 9:25 a.m. ET March 11, 2005

WASHINGTON - The indefatigable senior senator from New York, Charles Schumer, has spent a career crusading for abortion rights.

Now as the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Schumer’s job is to chip away at the Republican majority of 55. Schumer has scored a big success by persuading Pennsylvania state Treasurer Bob Casey, a foe of abortion rights, to be the Democratic candidate against two-term Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, a leader of the anti-abortion movement.

>>>snip

One possible pro-Roe entrant into the race: Chris Heinz, son of Republican Sen. John Heinz, who was killed in plane-helicopter collision in 1991. Chris Heinz campaigned widely last year for his stepfather, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

>>>snip

Pro-choicers disturbed
Supporters of Roe are disturbed by Schumer’s recruitment of Casey and Langevin.

“It is a problem when leading Democrats publicly recruit candidates who do not share the core values of the party," Democratic consultant Kate Michelman, the former head of the abortion rights group NARAL, said Thursday. "I don’t think you ever win in the long term by sacrificing core principles. The right wing has never done that.”

Michelman asked, “Can you imagine recruiting people to run for the Senate with a record of opposition to affirmative action or to Brown v. Board of Education (the 1954 school desegregation decision)?”

More: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7150734/

[MelissaB]

38. Volunteers needed for the Election Justice Center

Volunteers Needed

Current volunteer needs of some of the organizations
and projects who support election reform and election justice.

All tasks listed can be done anywhere unless marked with *.

All of these organizations are in need of funding.

VotersUnite!
P.O. 65050, Port Ludlow, WA 98365
http://www.votersunite.org
[e-mail]

Writers: write daily emails responding to articles with misinformation
Writer/illustrator: Produce promotional/educational material
Statistician: develop guidelines for manual audits of election results
Web programmers: fill periodic asp programming needs
Community members: Deliver "Myth Breakers" document to local decision-makers. Instructions at: http://www.votersunite.org/takeaction/distribute-mythbreakers.asp

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Free Press/Election Reform Organization
1240 Bryden Road, Columbus, OH 43205
[phone] (phone/fax)
http://www.freepress.org
[e-mail]

*Lawyers/legal assistants/clerical workers: able to operate legally in Ohio
*Community members: investigate claims/interview witnesses
*Public speakers: participate in speakers' bureau
Writers: submit articles to freepress.org
Book distribution assistants: distribute upcoming book
Community members: hold house parties/community screenings of upcoming documentary
Subscribers to Free Press http://www.freepress.org/store.php
*in Ohio

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Richard Hayes Phillips, Statistician
4 Fisher Street, Canton, NY 13617
http://web.northnet.org/minstrel/alpage.htm
[e-mail]


Investigators: track evidence
Investigative reporters: pursue leads
Online researchers: perform research for a variety of projects
Legal researchers: investigate legal options
*Community members: obtain records from government offices
*in Ohio

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USCountVotes
http://uscountvotes.org
[e-mail]

Data gatherers: sign up to gather data for any state
Programmers, including php/mySQL: parse and normalize data for database
Legal volunteers: assist volunteers, answer legal questions
*Office manager/tech support: in Park City, Utah
*Fund-raising help

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Verifiable Democracy
P.O. Box 1091, Everett, WA 98206-1091
425-257-2297 (phone) 425-258-5041 (fax)
[e-mail]

Data entry volunteers: enter data into spreadsheets
Data conversion people: normalize data
Lawyers/paralegals/legal secretaries: for "Virtual Partner" Legal Skills Team
Blogger/webmaster: most or all content will be provided
Lobbyists/letter writers: for our Lobbyists Club with creative strategies
RESOURCES OFFERED by Verifiable Democracy: low-cost photocopying, email addresses, public speaking

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Verified Voting
1550 Bryant Street, Suite 855, SF, CA 94103-4879
[phone] (phone)
[phone] (fax)
http://www.verifiedvoting.org

*Researchers: help track voting-related legislation
*Writers: assist with action alerts
*Phone-callers: call legislative offices
*Data entry people: enter incident reports into Election Incident Reporting System
*In-person volunteers in San Francisco office

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Open Voting Consortium
9560 Windrose LaneGranite Bay CA 95746
[phone] (phone)
[phone] (fax)
http://www.openvotingconsortium.org
[e-mail]

Organizers: organize meet-ups in your community
Liaison to celebrities: contact celebrities/politicians for endorsements and support
Researchers: research pending legislation in various states
Member appreciation coordinator: develop and implement ideas
Educational canvassers: ring doorbells to educate your community

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Ohio Project
http://ohioelection2004.com
Ray Beckerman
99 Park Avenue (16th Fl.)
New York, NY 10016
[phone]
[e-mail]

Writers: read available evidence concerning Ohio election of 2004 and organize into outline
HTML writers: help with formatting outline.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All Groups: Funding and Fundraising Urgently Needed
You can help by making a contribution or planning a fundraiser such as:

house party
children's carnival
donation jars in shops
documentary film night
garage sale/flea market
sponsorship program
bowl-a-thon game night
email appeal to friends
E-Bay auction
concert
contest with entry fee

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information on election fraud, see the Solar Bus Election Justice Center

Link: http://www.solarbus.org/election/volunteer.shtml

[dzika]

39. Maryland Senator Sarbanes Won't Seek Re-Election

Fri Mar 11, 2005 05:13 PM ET

Maryland Senator Sarbanes Won't Seek Re-Election

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, a champion of liberal politics and Maryland's longest serving senator, announced on Friday he would not run for re-election in 2006.

"I have reached the decision that I shall not be a candidate," said Sarbanes, 72, first elected to the Senate in 1976, adding it was time to move on.

In a statement prepared for delivery in Baltimore and released in Washington, Sarbanes took another poke at President Bush and the administration's proposed plan to revamp the Social Security retirement program.

"With 22 months of my term still before us, my staff and I will work hard to continue to serve all Marylanders to the very best of our abilities and to oppose the tragic and misguided policies of this administration, especially the current radical attempt to undermine the Social Security system," Sarbanes said.

more here

[dzika]

40. Voting bill leads to walkout in Ga. Senate

Friday, March 11, 2005 · Last updated 5:00 p.m. PT

Voting bill leads to walkout in Ga. Senate

By DOUG GROSS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

ATLANTA -- The state Senate's Democratic caucus, led by the chamber's black members, walked out of the Legislature Friday after an emotional vote on voting rights.

Immediately after a 7 p.m. vote that would eliminate 12 of the 17 forms of identification that may be used at Georgia polls, a majority of Senate Democrats, including all black members, left the chamber.

..
It would remove other forms of ID, including a Social Security card, birth certificate or student identification, from the list.

Democratic critics compared the effort to the poll taxes, literacy tests and other laws aimed at suppressing black votes during segregation. They said poor and minority voters are more likely to be without photo ID than other voters.

"What's happening today is just an updated form of Jim Crow," said Fort, referring to segregation-era laws that suppressed black voting. "You may be more polite about it ... but we know who's going to be disenfranchised."

more here

[MelissaB]

41. Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss: Brent Bozell Supplants Jeff Ganno

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss: Brent Bozell Supplants Jeff Gannon As Man Most Likely to Be Accused of Involvement in Bush Propaganda Scheme

Read the new article in The Nashua Advocate here: http://www.nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/
This article is a follow-up to their last article here: http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/2005/03/new-gopusa-news-service-cybercast-news.html

Folks, this could be every bit as big a part of Gannongate as anything else. And right now, you can only read about it at The Nashua Advocate.

The News Editor
The Nashua Advocate

*****
An excerpt:

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss: Brent Bozell Supplants Jeff Gannon As Man Most Likely to Be Accused of Involvement in Bush Propaganda Scheme

By ADVOCATE STAFF

In 1996, Brent Bozell founded the Conservative Communications Center, or "C3."

In 1998, Brent Bozell founded the current news service for GOPUSA.com, Cybercast News Service (CNS).

At the time Bozell founded C3 in 1996, he was the Chairman (and indeed founder) of The Media Research Center, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

.....

The purpose of Brent Bozell's C3 Applied Public Relations School is to "provide the conservative movement with the...vehicles to deliver their vision...to the American people."

Would those "vehicles" for the conservative movement include, say, Talon News? Or perhaps the newest news service client of GOPUSA, Cybercast News Service? Does "deliver the[] vision" make any room for the IRS requirement of a "sufficiently full and fair exposition of pertinent facts to permit an individual or the public to form an independent opinion or conclusion"?

We wonder.

*****

Thanks to nashuaadvocate here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3259017


(I did a cut and paste like Jeff Gannon. Can I have a press pass now?)

[MelissaB]

42. Scott Ritter: Iraq elections "cooked"

3/11/2005

Nuking the spin: Former UN weapons inspector talks to Raw Story on Iran, Iraq

Exclusive: Raw Story chats with Scott Ritter

By Larisa Alexandrovna | RAW STORY Staff

In a candid interview with RAW STORY, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter sets the record straight on his comments about Iran, shares his concerns about the threats facing America and discusses his hopes. RAW STORY’s interview with Ritter will be published in three parts.

>>>snip

Iraq’s elections, the full circle to Iran

Raw Story: During that same talk you gave in Washington State with journalist Dahr Jamail, you are quoted as saying that the U.S. had “cooked” the Iraqi elections. Now given that you were misquoted on the first “bombshell,” is this a correct account of what you said?

Ritter: It is amazing people are walking away from this one. The US cooked the election in Iraq. For three days after the election the Shia were saying “we” had 60 percent of the vote. The election was flawed to begin with. I was not a big supporter of having a so called democratic election under martial law where 300,000 troops were securing the scene. I don’t think anyone would endorse elections under those conditions. Yet they did manage to vote. Anyone with a brain on their shoulders would know that if you have an open election, the Shia would win.

Raw Story: And they did win. So how was the election “cooked?”

Ritter: The way the law was given to the Iraqis - that L. Paul Bremer wrote and gave to Prime Minister Allawi - and gave to the transitional government is designed so that you have to win over 50 percent of the vote to have the plurality needed to control the assembly.

The election results came in and the Shia got 60 percent of the vote. Now, it is no secret that the Shia want a law based on the Islamic law .

Raw Story: Right. The Kurds want full independence.

Ritter: Right, the Kurds want independence and they got somewhere in the mid 20 percentile of the vote. I don’t think most Americans are aware that the Kurds had their own referendum during this election. Ninety-eight percent of Kurds voted for independence.

Allawi’s group got low single digit figures. That makes them meaningless as any government influence in Iraq. The Kurds do not have enough votes to have their own government. The Shia do, however. Now what would happen is that the Shia would cut a deal with the Kurds and give them autonomy as a road to independence.

Raw Story: So the Shia, and through them, the Kurds, win the election, which we know. The cooking, as it were, then took place in terms of percentages?

Ritter: Well suddenly, three days later after the election. We have a secret recount and ballads appear, disappear… now this is not Florida, and you don’t have TV cameras holding up the chads in front of everybody.

Raw Story: Missing ballots, secret recount, magically appearing new ballots… I can see how this is not Florida.

Ritter Well I am talking about Iraq right now.

Raw Story: So back to Iraq.

Ritter: Right. So you have ballots appearing from nowhere, disappearing, and there is a secret recount and suddenly the Shia have 48 percent of the vote and Allawi has 13 percent. Allawi is now a viable force and can deny the Shia control. This is what was wanted from the beginning. Now why this is important is, and we come back to Iran and these things are related. You cannot talk about bombing Iran unless you have neutered the Shia of Iraq.

Raw Story: What about Lebanon, Yemen, and other countries in the region with a strong Shia population, how will they see this Iraq-U.S.-Iran conflict?

More: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=170

[Wilms]

43. Maine Ballot Access Bill Gains Support

Ballot Access News

Maine Ballot Access Bill Gains Support
March 10th, 2005
Richard Winger, Editorhttp://ballot-access.org/2005/03/10/maine-ballot-access-bill-gains-support/

A new ballot access bill in Maine, LD 1154 by Rep. Ken Lindell, is gaining support. The leader of the Democratic Party in the House, and the Governor, have indicated they support it. The other two ballot access improvement bills are now not expected to pass.

LD 1154 creates two tiers of qualified political parties in Maine. Large qualified parties would nominate by primary; small qualified parties would nominate by caucus. The bill does not yet include numerical requirements for either type of party, but it is anticipated that the Green Party would fall into the caucus-type of party. It is somewhat likely that a caucus-type of qualified party would be one that has registration membership of at least one-half of 1%.

Currently, the Green Party is a qualified party. But under current law, it must poll at least 5% for Governor in 2006 to retain its status. The party doesn’t necessarily want to run for Governor in 2006, and had been seeking an alternate definition of “party” to give it more flexibility.

http://ballot-access.org/2005/03/10/maine-ballot-access-bill-gains-support/