Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Sat. Nov. 11, 2006

[livvy]

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, "Mother, what was war?"             ~Eve Merriam


Armistice Day Becomes Veterans Day

World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The actual fighting between the Allies and Germany, however, had ended seven months earlier with the armistice, which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. Armistice Day, as November 11 became known, officially became a holiday in the United States in 1926, and a national holiday 12 years later. On June 1, 1954, the name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all U.S. veterans.

In 1968, new legislation changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/veteransday1.html


And now, for your Saturday reading pleasure...

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.



Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:
1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[livvy]

1. Letter to the Editor:Election Offers Chance To Reveal War's Vampires

Not exactly Election Reform, but I liked it, and since this is my thread, I posted it. Gads...maybe this renewed sense of power from our recent election victories has gone to my head.... ...there, all better now! O8)




Election offers chance to reveal war's vampires

Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel Saturday, November 11, 2006

Now that the people have spoken very clearly to this administration and its far-right agenda, I have four requests for the new Congress.

The first is simple: No reprisals and no vengeance.

Do not waste your energy and our tax dollars on indulging your egos. There is a hell of a mess to clean up.

Second, get our people out of Iraq and back with their families and friends and lives.

There is plenty of work for the guard to do here, and they can start in New Orleans.

>more

http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/view/letters/3313718.html

[livvy]

2. Three Indiana House Races Could Result In Recounts

Posted on Sat, Nov. 11, 2006


Three Indiana House races could result in recounts

By Mike Smith
of The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Election officials met Friday to prepare for as many as three recounts in closely contested Indiana House races.

The Indiana Recount Commission also gave the Marion County Election Board approval to take steps needed to get results from 520 voting machines that enable people with disabilities to cast votes in private. Because of a software glitch, local election officials were unable to obtain results from the machines on election night Tuesday.

Technicians must open up the machines and use a special card so the vote totals will print out. Those totals could prove crucial in the House District 97 race between incumbent Rep. Ed Mahern, D-Indianapolis, and Republican challenger Jon Elrod. It is one of the races that could result in a recount.

According to unofficial results tabulated by The Associated Press, Elrod was ahead by 65 votes — 4,387 to Mahern’s 4,322.

>more

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/15988855.htm

[philb]

18. Are these State House seats? People should help in auditing results

Before conceding in a close race, due to recent widespread manipulation I would audit the results.

The most common way to swing elections in recent years are touch screen manipulation and absentee ballot stuffing. Regarding absentees, look at absentees accepted(similar % to reg.election?, pattern of when requested and when received, were they all received in big group?), absentees rejected(why?balance?, ) balance/bias is absentees requested and sent?


In general there are also a lot of Dem votes lost by manipultion of registrations, purges, dirty tricks, provisionals.

Regarding touch screen results, look at the state website for number of undervotes and overvotes. Follow up in unusual precincts.

The Jennings District 13 race in Florida appears to have been hacked this year by touch screen "switch to blank" hacks(results in high undervotes). That happened in lots of areas in 2004 races. You can also look for precincts with unusual percentages, indicative of "switching".

there have also been swings due to "illegal purges" of Dems for questionable reasons, manipulation of registrations, disinformation and dirty tricks resulting in rejection of provisionals of minority voters, etc.

If there are questions contact someone like me or the Verified Voting or VotersUnited people who have been involved in the election protection process.


irregularities in Indiana in 2004
www.flcv.com/indiana.html

[livvy]

3. OR: Cause of Election Computer Glitch Still Undetermined

November 11, 2006
Ashland ballot recount continues
Cause of election computer glitch still undetermined
By Meg Landers
Mail Tribune

The outcome of the race between Eric Navickas and Greg Lemhouse for Ashland City Council was still up in the air Friday as Jackson County elections officials continued to pull out all the ballots for Precinct 2 for a recount.

County Clerk Kathy Beckett said the recount should be complete early next week, though the cause of the problem remained unknown.

"It's still a mystery to us," Beckett said.

Final unofficial results posted on the Jackson County Web site seemed to be hundreds of votes off in Ashland. The discrepancies could affect the Navickas/Lemhouse race, which hinges on a 65-vote difference.
>snip
For a time on Friday, elections officials thought a power outage on Tuesday night might have caused the problem. A car wreck damaged a power pole along Highway 238 and knocked out electricity to 2,097 homes in the Jacksonville and Applegate areas. But Pacific Power officials told Beckett Friday afternoon the outage would have had no effect on Medford, because the substation in Ruch and the substation in Medford are served by different sources.

"The power glitch theory is not valid at this point," said Beckett at the end of the day Friday. She said it was not caused by employee error, either, adding, "It's in the program." (my bold)
>more

http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/1111/local/stories/election-update.htm

[livvy]

4. AZ: Ballot Audit Takes Time, Will Be Used In All Future Voting

Ballot audit takes time, will be used in all future voting
B. POOLE
Published: 11.11.2006
A hand audit of about 6,000 votes is adding to the time Pima County election officials will need to complete Tuesday's election tally.

For the next few days, volunteers will huddle in a former call center on East 22nd Street to make sure votes were tallied accurately by machines.

This is the first general election in which such an audit is required by state law.

A test run after the Sept. 12 primary election showed the computer counts exactly matched the hand tallies, said Pima County Elections Division Director Brad Nelson.

The audit of 2 percent of ballots in 2 percent of precincts will factor into all future elections, he said.

> lots more

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/32315.php

[livvy]

5. FL: One Race Left Off 4,000 Indian River County Ballots

One race left off 4,000 Indian River County ballots
By HENRY A. STEPHENS
[e-mail]
November 11, 2006

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Almost 4,000 voters in the Fellsmere and Vero Lake Estates areas, who pay taxes to the Indian River Mosquito Control District, did not get that race on their ballots Tuesday.

County Supervisor of Elections Kay Clem blamed it Friday on a technical error in her voter-registration system, but said she should have caught it before.

"The bottom line is, we made an error and the buck stops here," Clem said.

Records show 34,341 voters cast ballots Tuesday for the Mosquito Control District race and 62 percent re-elected incumbent Commissioner Keith Hedin to a fourth four-year term.

But Clem said there should have been 3,988 more people with the ability to vote for either Hedin or challenger Ken Gioeli.

>more
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/election/article/0,2820,TCP_24436_5135209,00.html

[livvy]

6. UT: Paper Ballots Cause Confusion

Deseret Morning News, Saturday, November 11, 2006

Paper ballots cause confusion

Official takes blame for a lapse in poll training

By Tad Walch
Deseret Morning News

PROVO — Poll workers in Utah County mistakenly denied paper ballots to angry registered voters on Election Day because the workers weren't properly prepared for the possibility of a glitch in the state's new electronic voting system.

Confusion between paper ballots and provisional ballots exacerbated the problems in some instances.

A provisional ballot and a paper ballot are the same document, but ballots cast under the definition "provisional" are put in special envelopes with lengthy forms on the front that must be filled out by the voter. After the election, county officials investigate the information on the front of the envelope to determine if the voter was properly registered but mistakenly left off the register. If so, the envelope is opened and the votes are counted.

"State code says provisional ballots can only be used in two cases — voters whose names aren't in the register or those who are challenged by an election judge," said Utah County elections coordinator Sandy Hoffmann, who described herself as a "code junkie." She emphasized the law during training and said Utah County's 826 poll workers followed that training.

>more

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650206173,00.html

[livvy]

7. AR: Election Results Continue To Puzzle

Election Results Continue To Puzzle
By Michelle Burhenn
The Morning News

BENTONVILLE -- Unprecedented voter turnout in Benton County has again called into question the results of Tuesday's general election.

After the Election Commission reviewed the votes Wednesday, the turnout jumped from 49 percent to 83 percent. That catapulted Benton County to the top of the turnout heap, according to totals from Secretary of State's Web site on Friday. The county with the second-highest turnout was Madison County with 64 percent.

>snip

Robbyn Tumey, former chairwoman of the Benton County Democratic Party, went to the Election Commission office on Friday to speak with Jim McCarthy, election coordinator. Tumey worked on the media plan for Cheryl Murphy, District 2 justice of the peace candidate. Revised results released Thursday showed Murphy had lost her race to Republican Frank Winscott. Tuesday's results first showed she was winning and later showed she would face a runoff with Winscott.

Tumey said she is prepared to file an injunction to stop the Election Commission from certifying the election. She said she and McCarthy looked over the results together. Some, such as a Rogers precinct with more than 100 percent voter turnout, alarmed both of them. He then gathered the voting system's computer disks and flash drives and told her he was headed to the Election Systems & Software office in Little Rock, she said.

>more

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2006/11/10/news/111106bzelectioncontinued.txt

[philb]

20. People there should help in auditing all results; lots of irregularities likely

Before conceding in a close race, due to recent widespread manipulation I would audit the results.

The most common way to swing elections in recent years are touch screen manipulation and absentee ballot stuffing. Regarding absentees, look at absentees accepted(similar % to reg.election?, pattern of when requested and when received, were they all received in big group?), absentees rejected(why?balance?, ) balance/bias is absentees requested and sent?


In general there are also a lot of Dem votes lost by manipultion of registrations, purges, dirty tricks, provisionals.

Regarding touch screen results, look at the state website for number of undervotes and overvotes. Follow up in unusual precincts.

The Jennings District 13 race in Florida appears to have been hacked this year by touch screen "switch to blank" hacks(results in high undervotes). That happened in lots of areas in 2004 races. You can also look for precincts with unusual percentages, indicative of "switching".

there have also been swings due to "illegal purges" of Dems for questionable reasons, manipulation of registrations, disinformation and dirty tricks resulting in rejection of provisionals of minority voters, etc.

If there are questions contact someone like me or the Verified Voting or VotersUnited people who have been involved in the election protection process.

[philb]

22. What counties were these in? see EIRS data base for those counties for 2004

irregularities reported
https://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapState&tab=ALL&state=Arkansas

[rumpel]

21. SC: Election certifications reveal few changes (State considering recount)

the Times And Democrat

By LEE HENDREN
and LARRY P. JORDAN
The Times and Democrat
Saturday, November 11, 2006

The ballots may have been cast, but Tuesday’s general election is not yet decided.

With razor-thin margins in two key races, Friday’s county election certification hearings across South Carolina became a steppingstone to a possible statewide recount next week.

Both major parties made efforts to send representatives – county chairs, party activists, attorneys and others – to each of the hearings across the state.

They listened closely for reports of voting machine malfunctions – a few were reported locally – and anxiously tallied the new vote totals as boards of canvassers decided which challenged ballots to count.

In St. Matthews on Friday, the Calhoun County Election Commission learned that there were only 16 challenged ballots, not 81 as previously reported.

The commission determined that 13 of those ballots were cast by people who were not eligible to vote, mostly because they had not registered to vote or had moved out of the county.

The three ballots that were counted did not alter the results of any races.

Isaiah Holman, District 2 candidate for the Calhoun County School Board, asked why one of the electronic voting machines in the Lone Star precinct was left in service after it failed to function on the first vote.

http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2006/11/11/news/doc455556e6da196522448181.txt

[philb]

24. These should be audited also; examples of irregularities reported in 2004

Before conceding in a close race, due to recent widespread manipulation I would audit the results.

The most common way to swing elections in recent years are touch screen manipulation and absentee ballot stuffing. Regarding absentees, look at absentees accepted(similar % to reg.election?, pattern of when requested and when received, were they all received in big group?), absentees rejected(why?balance?, ) balance/bias is absentees requested and sent?


In general there are also a lot of Dem votes lost by manipultion of registrations, purges, dirty tricks, provisionals.

Regarding touch screen results, look at the state website for number of undervotes and overvotes. Follow up in unusual precincts.

The Jennings District 13 race in Florida appears to have been hacked this year by touch screen "switch to blank" hacks(results in high undervotes). That happened in lots of areas in 2004 races. You can also look for precincts with unusual percentages, indicative of "switching".

there have also been swings due to "illegal purges" of Dems for questionable reasons, manipulation of registrations, disinformation and dirty tricks resulting in rejection of provisionals of minority voters, etc.

If there are questions contact someone like me or the Verified Voting or VotersUnited people who have been involved in the election protection process.

South Carolina irregularities reported in 2004
www.flcv.com/southcar.html

[livvy]

8. Fight Against "Judidcial Activism: To Continue Despite Election Setbacks

Fight against 'judicial activism' to continue despite election setbacks
Posted 11/11/2006 8:38 AM ET
By Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Efforts to curb judges' independence suffered some Election Day setbacks, but supporters pledged to keep fighting against a judiciary they say has lost touch with America.

The problem, critics say, is that judges too often make laws rather than interpret them. On Tuesday's ballots, the possible solutions ranged from term limits to prison time. All failed, most by wide margins.

Judges say such efforts threaten their autonomy and some legal scholars see them as part of an organized campaign to persuade voters that judges, like legislators, governors and presidents, are policymakers who need political oversight.

The frontier of the movement was South Dakota, where voters considered allowing judges to face lawsuits or jail time for their opinions.

>more

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-11-11-judicial-critics_x.htm

[livvy]

9. Forced Vote-By-Mail Belongs With New Coke In Oblivion

Forced vote-by-mail belongs with New Coke in oblivion

Victor Joecks
Evergreen Freedom Foundation
November 11, 2006

R emember "New Coke"? All the experts agreed it was the wave of the future. It would taste better and outsell Pepsi forever.

Everything was perfectly planned, except none of that happened. The public hated it, the experts were wrong, and New Coke was one of the biggest product bombs of the 20th century.

One day people will remember forced vote- by-mail in the same way.

Our election officials, led by Secretary of State Sam Reed, have touted vote-by-mail as the answer to election problems nationwide. They claim it will decrease election fraud, increase voter turnout, and save taxpayers millions.

>more

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local/story.asp?ID=159067

[livvy]

10. NM: County's Election Results Remain Unofficial

Saturday, November 11, 2006

County's election results remain unofficial
By Nathan Gonzalez The Daily Times
Article Launched:11/11/2006 12:00:00 AM MST

FARMINGTON — Three days after half of San Juan County's 62,036 registered voters cast ballots, County Clerk Fran Hanhardt said official election results won't be ready until at least Monday.

Waiting to be counted are 182 provisional ballots that remain padlocked in boxes, Hanhardt said. And the boxes can only be unlocked by a District Court judge.

"We are going to have to get a court order to get into some locked boxes to get the provisional ballots out," she said. "It's an issue this time because we didn't have locked boxes before. We have the security of the ballots with padlocks now."

While most of the county's election races from Tuesday have since been decided, the outstanding provisional ballots could be crucial in one local race.

>more

http://www.daily-times.com/ci_4641834

[philb]

26. This county's election should be audited also; lots of irregularities in NM in 2004

likely again

New Mexico 2004 www.flcv.com/newmex.html

for details on this county in 2004 go to www.voteprotect.org go to maps click NM & San Juan

[livvy]

11. Re-Cap of Election Day Problems and Solutions for Future Presidential

Re-Cap of Election Day Problems and Solutions for Future Presidential Elections

By Robert Brandon
November 10, 2006

As expected, voters casting ballots in the mid-term elections were confronted with significant obstacles to voting, including ID requirements, inadequate poll worker training, deceptive practices, problems with voting equipment and database/registration problems. Unlike past elections, there was no single "meltdown" confined to a particular state. Instead, nationwide, there were widespread systemic problems in our voting system that, in the aggregate, disenfranchised tens of thousands of voters and impacted many more.

Below, is a list of the most common problems that voters across the country faced on Election Day, some of the states where they most commonly occurred and solutions to these problems. The level of Election Day dysfunction requires the attention of state and local election officials now so these problems can be solved or minimized prior to the 2008 Presidential elections.

Voter ID Requirements

While there is little evidence of voter impersonation, many states have implemented new voter ID requirements, creating a new obstacle to voting. New voter ID requirements plagued citizens across the country, especially in Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio and Florida.

Strict voter ID requirements in Indiana and Arizona disenfranchised large numbers of eligible voters, many of whom had been voting their entire adult lives but found that they were unable to meet stringent new rules. In the past, these voters, like the rest of us, confirmed our identities by signing our names at the polling place, where poll workers compared the signature to the one on file to verify identity.

>more

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2020&Itemid=26

[livvy]

12. Voters Unite Election Problem Log for 2006

VotersUnite.org
Election Problem Log including machine malfunctions, long lines, late counting, etc.

http://www.votersunite.org/electionproblems.asp

[livvy]

13. WP: Democrats Win Bigger Share of Religious Vote

Democrats Win Bigger Share of Religious Vote
Parties Disagree on Why The Gap Has Narrowed

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 11, 2006; A01

As the results of the midterm elections sank in this week, religious leaders across the ideological spectrum found something they could agree on: The "God gap" in American politics has narrowed substantially.

Religious liberals contended that a concerted effort by Democrats since 2004 to appeal to people of faith had worked minor wonders, if not electoral miracles, in races across the country.

Religious conservatives disagreed, arguing that the Republican Party lost religious voters rather than the Democrats winning them.

Either way, the national exit polls told a dramatic story of changing views in the pews: Democrats recaptured the Catholic vote they had lost two years ago. They sliced the GOP's advantage among weekly churchgoers to 12 percentage points, down from 18 points in 2004 congressional races and 22 points in the 2004 presidential contest. Democrats even siphoned off a portion of the Republican Party's most loyal base, white evangelical Protestants.

>more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/10/AR2006111001694.html

[livvy]

14. For your amusement....Republicania (The Disease)

OpEdNews.com

November 11, 2006

REPUBLICANIA (The Disease)

By Vince Williams

REPUBLICANIA, The Disease

What is Republicania (RPBLC)?

RPBLC is a quasi-neurological disorder defined by recurrent thoughts and repetitive behaviors that RPBLC sufferers feel driven to perform. People with RPBLC sometimes know their thoughts and actions are irrational or excessive, yet they have little or no control over them.

Typical Thoughts and Actions
Assigning aspersions of dirt, germs and contamination to Democrats, fear of not acting violently or aggressively enough towards their perceived enemies, feeling overly responsible for the safety of eight-cell embryos, abhorrent religious (blasphemous) and sexual thoughts assigned to anyone not in agreement with themselves, and an inordinate concern with order, arrangement or symmetry so long as it does not conflict with what they've been told to believe by leaders in their party.

Typical Concerns
Repetitive behaviors such as excessive castigations of Democrats. Ritualistic behaviors seem to lessen the distress from these concerns, but buy only short-term comfort at the long-term cost of frequent ritual repetition.

What are some of the other symptoms of RPBLC?
People with RPBLC may become demoralized or depressed. Feelings of intense anxiety, discomfort or disgust are common. Other symptoms that may be related to RPBLC are vicious attacks based on unfounded suspicions and fears directed towards various balanced media outlets (Trickytalkomania), the preoccupation with a minor or imagined body-politic defect (body-politic dysmorphic disorder), severe or extreme adversary biting or the unfounded fear of all those in opposition having a serious and dangerous illness (HypedUPchondriasis).

>more of this delightful piece :rofl:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_vince_wi_061110_republicanitis__28the_.htm

[livvy]

15. OpEdNews: What Al Qaeda's Post Mid-Term Elections Prop. Really Means

OpEdNews.com

November 11, 2006

What Al Qaeda's post mid-term elections propaganda really means

By Esbe

I hope someone pays attention to this because if they don't, it's yet another disaster in the making. Watching the pundits today, I am stunned that not one of them seemed to know what to make of the situation. I know exactly what to make of it:

Al Qaeda knows it's ambitions in Iraq are absolutely dead if the United States leaves; As a Sunni terror group, it has no ideological common ground with the 70% Shitte majority in Iraq; it has never been tolerated by either the Sunni Bathists, or the Iranian Shittes. The propaganda issued today is explicitly designed with the hopes dragging the Democrats onto George Bush's side to remain in Iraq where we can be targeted, and where they can make use of our presence to operate within the greater divide of the common enemy; the United States.

If someone smart doesn't figure this out, and if the Democrats allow themselves to manipulated into a state of provocation to delay the exit from Iraq, or worse, to actually re-commit, Al Qaeda will truly have won.
These people are NOT in the business of giving the United States correct information.

If the United States can rapidly remove it's troops from Iraq, there will indeed be a blood bath, beginning with a slaughter of Sunnis who've terrorized the country since the fall of Saddam. This natural occurrence is something which needs to be anticipated and recognized for exactly what it is, or we risk Al Qaeda's having successfully once again manipulated George W. Bush into doing their bidding; Al Qaeda wanted the U.S. to topple Saddam, and every scholar who knows anything about the Middle East knows this. The United States has been fighting exactly the war Bin Laden wants us to fight, and so long as we are there, Al Qaeda is winning. Bin Laden's worst nightmare at this point, would be for the United States to withdraw, and to recommit itself to re-doubling efforts in Afghanistan where the enemy is actually identifiable, and where Al Qaeda's actually got a native capacity to rebuild and is doing so.

>more

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_jay_esbe_061110_what_al_qaeda_s_post.htm

[livvy]

16. OpEdNews: No Impeachment? No Problem. Think Nixon and President Pelosi

No matter if the plan is feasible, just pondering the results is delightful at the very least. Besides, remember the motto:

NGU



OpEdNews.com

November 10, 2006

No Impeachment? No Problem. Think Nixon and President Pelosi

By Rob Kall

On Saturday, at the constitution center, in Philly, I'll be Speaking at Impeach for Change, on a bloggers panel, discussing impeachment. Here's my take.

I want Bush out. He's a criminal in so many ways-- war, constitution, democracy... it's a long list. I want him to do jail time.

But I'm not worried about Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean keeping their promises not to impeach.

We can take care of George W. Bush and, necessarily, at the same time, Dick Cheney, without needing to go through the impeachment process. And we can do it getting very deeply satisfying results.

Here's the way I see it CAN be done:

>details of the plan at link

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_061110_no_impeachment_3f_no_p.htm

[livvy]

17. OpEdNews: Progressive Caucus Rising: This election was no victory for centrists

OpEdNews.com


November 10, 2006

Progressive Caucus Rising: This election was no victory for centrists

By Nick Burt

Don't buy all the crap coming from GOP talking-point memos or the blather from mainstream pundits. The midterm elections do not signal a move to the center. Yes, a few conservative Democrats were elected, but the big gainers were progressives. In particular, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is on the rise.


Photo is my "artistic" addition to the op-ed

No longer will Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) be able to grab the gavel and run, as he did at a hearing last year when faced with pointed questions from Congressional Democrats about the PATRIOT Act, Guantanamo and the "war on terror." During a hearing, Sensenbrenner, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, used his standing to abruptly declare the committee's public hearing on the PATRIOT Act over. He cut off the microphones of the Democratic half of the panel and smugly shuffled out of the room, thereby avoiding any more frivolous questions about "civil rights."

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich)-the new chair of the Judiciary Committee- will welcome such questions.

Democrats as a whole will benefit from controlling the House of Representatives, but yesterday's victory bodes especially well for members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), a coalition of 63 left-leaning Democrats that includes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Indeed the CPC is poised to increase its ranks. In an unprecedented move this fall, CPC members-coming together under the newly formed Progressive Majority Project-pooled their money, time and staff to lend support to progressives running in 12 House races. Eight of those CPC-backed candidates won, which makes all this talk about conservative Democrats in the ascendancy a bunch of bunk. (In addition, two CPC members, Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), have moved on to the Senate.)

>more

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_nick_bur_061110_progressive_caucus_r.htm

[livvy]

19. They're Already Hacking the 2008 Election;Paper Ballots-- the Only Acceptable Solution

OpEdNews.com

November 11, 2006

They're Already Hacking the 2008 Election;Paper Ballots-- the Only Acceptable Solution

By Mark E. Smith

How the 2008 Election Was Stolen

The military-industrial complex and the big corporations have been very much aware that some people know that the Presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 were stolen, and that many people are angry with the black box voting machines that make mass election rigging child's play. So they have had their Plan B in place for years to deal with public outrage, should it ever arise.

As usual, rather than sacrifice a corrupt system that benefits them to the tune of trillions of dollars annually, they will make some cosmetic reforms to the system, enough to let people think there is hope when there really is none. This time it takes the form of paper trails and open source software that will leave the hackable voting machines in place and permit another stolen Presidential election in 2008. The Democratic Party, Common Cause, and many other large organizations are rallying around HR550 which calls for paper trails, or calling for open source software.

The problem with open source or paper trails is that both systems require painstaking and time-consuming recounts in order to verify that no tampering has taken place. A vote cast on a voting machine may look right on the touch screen and on the paper trail, but may not actually be counted as cast when the central tabulator tallies the votes. With open source software elections officials, poll workers who take the machines home with them, and anyone else with access and programming skills can tamper with the election, but only experts can examine the software afterwards to determine if corrupt code had changed the results and then erased itself.

During the time the public is asking for a recount, and the experts are examining the software, the wrong candidate can be installed. As we saw in 2000 and 2004, there is no remedy once they are sworn in. Experts can prove conclusively that the elections were stolen, they can rant, rave, publish their studies, go on radio and TV, blog, write books, but many will still dismiss them as conspiracy theorists or sore losers and the losing candidate will still remain in power.

>more

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mark_e___061110_they_re_already_hack.htm

[rumpel]

23. CO: Votes for Colorado secretary of state uncounted

November 10, 2006

By STEVEN K. PAULSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER - The race for Colorado secretary of state remained too close to call Thursday as officials in dozens of counties painstakingly tallied absentee and provisional ballots uncounted in Tuesday’s election.

Republican state Treasurer Mike Coffman led Democratic state Sen. Ken Gordon 736,069 to 703,832 in unofficial returns assembled by The Associated Press.

At least 67,400 ballots remained uncounted as of Thursday evening.

The biggest stacks of remaining ballots were in the heavily Democratic counties of Denver, Boulder and Pueblo, making it mathematically possible Gordon could whittle away the Republican’s 32,237-vote lead.

Officials in various counties cited computer problems, equipment breakdowns, human error and a long ballot.

http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1326405&secid=1

[livvy]

25. NM: Serious Counting Irregularities at Bernalillo County

Democracy for New Mexico

Friday, November 10, 2006

Serious counting irregularities at Bernalillo County

THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN BY TERRY RILEY. ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO THIS POST IS ANNE KASS AND CARTER BUNDY OF WHAT THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED AT THE ELECTION COUNTING WAREHOUSE:

(please note this is posted by mary ellen, not as pretty and organized as what the webmaster would put up but we have got to keep the info going, people are working hard down at the warehouse and we should hear what is going on)

FROM TERRY RILEY:

I worked on Monday opening absentee ballots at the Bernalillo County election warehouse. I worked on Wednesday counting absentee ballots. After about two hours of work our table of four noticed that we had a tally sheet that had two votes for each ballot position and only one ballot had been counted.

On Wednesday morning the tally packs consisted of groups of ballots that had already been tallied, tally sheets and ballots that had not been counted yet. Our procedure was to spread out a tally packet into a stack of already counted ballots, the tally sheets and the ballots to be counted. The pre-counted ballots had a sticky-note with the number of ballots counted, the date they were counted and signatures of the ballot reader and the tally marker. We checked to see that the number of ballots equaled what the sticky-note indicated. We then added a tally of the ballots that had not yet been counted.

We were on our fourth packet and we noticed that there was only one ballot yet there were two vote tallies on the tally sheet. We then rechecked the packets that we had already processed and found that every one of them had votes marked and not enough ballots to support them.

We called the presiding judge and asked what to do. She had a difficult time understanding the problem. After we managed to explain it she tried to explain it to all of the workers. She finally allowed me to explain the problem and we decided to recount all tally packs.

I am concerned that we did not recount all of the tally packs, I feel that the process went too quickly. I spoke with a friend of mine Wednesday evening after he finished working at the warehouse and he said that he had found two packs with the same problem. I do not trust that everything has been done correctly.

>more

http://www.democracyfornewmexico.com/democracy_for_new_mexico/2006/11/serious_countin.html

[rumpel]

27. What? In Guam incumbent Camacho (R) wins?

This is very odd - After the primaries he was trailing way way behind in popularity


Pacific Daily News

Governor celebrates
Camacho-Cruz hold party to thank voters
By Lacee A.C. Martinez
Pacific Sunday News
[e-mail]

Surrounded by thousands of his supporters at his Anigua campaign headquarters, Gov. Felix Camacho yesterday thanked everyone who helped him win a second term in office and said he and Lt. Gov.-elect Mike Cruz are ready to get to work.

Spirits ran high during yesterday's late-afternoon appreciation celebration at the Camacho-Cruz campaign headquarters. Upbeat music blared as thousands gathered for the celebration, which came complete with long and winding lines to the fiesta table.

Despite the controversy surrounding the very close gubernatorial race and a pending legal challenge from his Democratic opponent, Camacho yesterday was confident as he made his way through the thick crowds at the gathering to greet and thank his supporters.

On Friday, the Guam Election Commission voted to certify the results of the gubernatorial race and declared the Republican team of Camacho-Cruz the official winner.
A day earlier, commission members voted to exclude "over-votes" in determining whether Camacho had the majority of votes cast for governor. If they had been included in the calculation, Camacho would not have the majority required by federal law, and a runoff election with Democrat Robert Underwood would be necessary.

Friday's Election Commission decision to certify the gubernatorial race results was not without controversy. There was disagreement among commission members about whether to certify the gubernatorial results, with Democratic members Larry Ramirez and Alice Taijeron voting against certification.

http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061112/NEWS01/611120302/1002

[Kurovski]

28. K&R.

Thank you livvy and contributors. :thumbsup: