GAO Inquiry Finds Problems In 2004 Election (Yahoo News)

[kpete]

Inquiry finds problems in 2004 election

WASHINGTON - Many of the voting and counting mishaps of the bizarre 2000 general election were not fixed four years later and brand new problems arose, including a rash of fraudulent voter registrations in some areas, congressional investigators say.

A study of the 2004 election by the Government Accountability Office concludes that paper ballots continued to be used extensively by small jurisdictions, many polling places struggled to manage heavy early voting and new federal requirements for voter identification were applied unevenly by local officials across the country. The GAO released the study Thursday.

Altogether, 41 states were granted extra time to meet federal requirements to build statewide voter registration lists, meaning most such lists were not in place for the 2004 vote.

New problems cropped up in 2004. Ambitious get-out-the-vote drives swamped officials with the task of checking applications with their backs against registration deadlines. Incomplete addresses, fictional names and questionable signatures showed up.

The report estimates 5 percent of local jurisdictions handled voter registration applications with fraudulent names.

more at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060608/ap_on_el_ge/election_investigation

[robinlynne]

1. you guys, read this carefully.

This really looks like a republican introduciton to justify their "stop the vote' campaign. I mean it. read it twice. It is saying the problem is with the voters and the people who register voters. That is WRONG! That is not where the fraud is, or the amjor fraud at least. this is an old story. Let's clean up voter fraud...This is very bad and dangerous news, in my opinion.

[kpete]

2. thanks for making that clear robinlynne

[bananas]

3. The actual report is here

if anyone has the time to look at it:

"Elections: The Nation's Evolving Election System as Reflected in the November 2004 General Election, GAO-06-450, June 6, 2006"
http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-06-450

Other GAO election reports
http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/featured/uselections.html

[robinlynne]

4. yep, here is their list of problems:

nowhere on the list is a mention of hackable software and voting machines, proprietary software, lack of paper and verification. just the opposite. the problem is the voters, and that some counties haven't yet fully complied with HAVA..... voter error, innucurtate voter applications. fraud from voter registration drives. This is the right wing spin. get ready.



such as problems receiving voter registration applications from motor vehicle agencies, addressing voter error issues with absentee voting, recruiting and training a sufficient number of poll workers, and continuing to ensure accurate vote counting. At the same time, new challenges arose in the November 2004 election, such as fraudulent, incomplete, or inaccurate applications received through voter registration drives; larger than expected early voter turnout, resulting in long lines; and counting large numbers of absentee ballots and determining the eligibility of provisional voters in time to meet final vote certification deadlines.

[althecat]

7. So this is a new GAO report.... Here is the old GAO report

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0510/S00331.htm
GAO Report Confirms Key Stolen Election Findings
Monday, 31 October 2005, 1:11 pm
Opinion: Bob Fitrakis

Powerful Government Accounting Office report confirms key 2004 stolen election findings
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
October 26, 2005
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1529Read the Full GAO Report:
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05956.pdf

As a legal noose appears to be tightening around the Bush/Cheney/Rove inner circle, a shocking government report shows the floor under the legitimacy of their alleged election to the White House is crumbling.

The latest critical confirmation of key indicators that the election of 2004 was stolen comes in an extremely powerful, penetrating report from the General Accounting Office that has gotten virtually no mainstream media coverage.

The government's lead investigative agency is known for its general incorruptibility and its through, in-depth analyses. Its concurrence with assertions widely dismissed as "conspiracy theories" adds crucial new weight to the case that Team Bush has no legitimate business being in the White House.

Nearly a year ago, senior Judiciary Committee Democrat John Conyers (D-MI) asked the GAO to investigate electronic voting machines as they were used during the November 2, 2004 presidential election. The request came amidst widespread complaints in Ohio and elsewhere that often shocking irregularities defined their performance.





http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0511/S00165.htm
GAO Report Upholds Ohio Vote Fraud Claims

By Joe Baker, Senior Editor
From the Nov. 2-8, 2005, issue of the Rock River Times
From: http://rockrivertimes.com/index.pl?cmd=viewstory&id=11529As if the indictment of Lewis “Scooter” Libby wasn’t enough to give the White House some heavy concerns, a report from the Government Accounting Office takes a big bite out of the Bush clique’s pretense of legitimacy.

This powerful and probing report takes a hard look at the election of 2004 and supports the contention that the election was stolen. The report has received almost no coverage in the national media.

The GAO is the government’s lead investigative agency, and is known for rock-solid integrity and its penetrating and thorough analysis. The agency’s agreement with what have been brushed aside as “conspiracy theories” adds even more weight to the conclusion that the Bush regime has no business in the White House whatever.

Almost a year ago, Rep. John Conyers, senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, asked the GAO to investigate the use of electronic voting machines in the Nov. 2, 2004, presidential election. That request was made as a flood of protests from Ohio and elsewhere deluged Washington with claims that shocking irregularities were common in that vote and were linked to the machines.

[althecat]

8. Note that the old GAO report confirmed hackable machines

.. seems likely they had a visit at the GAO from some brownshirts.

[stubtoe]

5. Sharp eye, robinlynne

Methinks you are definitely on to something.

[althecat]

6. This is MCM's point.... People who are not familiar with "Fooled Again"

Go get educamated....

In summary Mark Crispin Miller's Fooled Again investigates the motivations behind the theft of US elections by multiple means involving hundreds and thousands of people on the ground doing a range of dirty tricks.

Essentially he finds that:
1. The vote fraud fear movement is older inside the GOP base than it is in the democratic base
2. That a key part of the motivation behind those who are stealing elections and preventing the franchise is a "pre-emnptive strike" to prevent the Democrats from doing precisely that.

This story is now out of the bag and will go mainstream. Expect to see a huge amount of media justifying restrictions on registration etc.. in coming months... and then come November 2006 it will all happen again.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1369167

Mark mark's words...

[Patsy Stone]

10. That's exactly right

I got the same feeling. The whole security issue was brushed off in one sentence:

"Places that adopted newer voting technology since 2000 were not necessarily making the best use of it. Investigators said performance measures "have not been systematically embraced" and they found shortcomings in security and testing procedures."

Oh, by the way:

"The changes got off to a slow start in part because members of the Election Assistance Commission, a new body set up to help state and local officials, were appointed by President Bush eight months behind schedule and not at work until January 2004."

:eyes:

This article is not good.

[althecat]

9. kick n/t

[pat_k]

11. Arrrggghhhh

References from GAO-06-450 Elections (15 MB PDF)

suppress 0 hits

manipulate, manipulation (0)

voter error 20 hits

voter fraud 4 hits

election fraud 4 hits -- two hits on the Hava definition of "Election Fraud" (which emphasizes "voter fraud") and

p. 18 . . . Mail-in absentee ballots are considered by some to be particularly susceptible to fraud. Election fraud could include such activities as completion of a ballot by someone other than the registered voter or an attempt by a voter to cast more than one ballot in an election.

p. 66 . . .Any major compromise of the voter registration system could lead to considerable election fraud.

Corrupt(s) (ion) (ing) 4 hits -- all within Hava definition of election fraud.

Then, we have the evil poll watchers:

p. 211. . "voters complained about being harassed by demonstrators while waiting in line to vote," "poll watchers acting aggressively," and "poll watchers (who were attorneys, mostly) were interfering with the process, intimidating precinct officials, and giving erroneous advice to voters who showed up at the wrong polling place."

Apparently, GAO wasn't able to get counts of provisional ballots cast v. counted -- and they seem to gloss right over this big fat signal that something is VERY wrong.

p. 242 Estimating the number of provisional ballots initially cast and those that were counted in the November 2004 election is difficult because complete information is not available. . .

Jurisdictions reported they were unable to finish the job of counting and canvassing within the allotted timeframe . . .so what workers in those jurisdictions do? Why didn't the GAO ask that? Did the workers rush it and turn in an estimate? Did they get more time? What?

p. 250 . . .A new phenomenon emerged as a challenge to election officials with respect to counting the votes: Some jurisdictions reported difficulty completing the extra steps required to verify and count provisional votes within the time allowed for tallying the final vote count.

p. 27 . . .short deadlines for certifying the final vote—as little as 2 days in 1 state—provide little time for election officials to review, verify, and count provisional and absentee ballots.

It's all ok, because

p. 31 The administration of election systems will never be error free or perfect. . . .

Perfection isn't the goal. The goal is to eliminate manipulation and fraud. And that goal is easy to achieve.

If election fraud were a capital crime -- and if election fraud included obstructing efforts to remedy systematic problems before, during, or after an election -- fraud would be a rare thing indeed.

As the GAO report takes pains to point out, Systems and processes do not conduct elections, people do.

And people can be held accountable in ways that systems cannot.

Holding people accountable is something that has been consistently avoided -- either the voters are blamed for "voter error" or systems and processes are blamed. Rarely if ever do you see blame attached to the people that facilitate the corruption (and that includes those who are complicit by their silence).

Sure, "our side" gives some attention to people like Blackwell, but almost all our focus is on the blackbox voting systems themselves, not the people who are responsible for implementing them, or the people who are responsible for conducting elections with corruptable -- if not corrupt -- process at other stages (from qualifying to vote to being afforded equal access to cast a vote and have that vote accurately counted).

It is time to put the spotlight on the people responsible -- the elected and appointed officials. The people pushing the corruptible systems on us. The people who know their processes are wide open to manipulation, and who do or say nothing about it.

[New Earth]

12. perfect example

of why i keep spanking people who use the term "voter fraud" when talking about the machines or all around fraud in elections
:spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

btw, :puke: