Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, FRI. 11/17/06 Every Vote Counts

[rumpel]

rumpel's note: For those who are not familiar with CA-50 race.
Mr. Simpkins is counsel with our own Land Shark in the case filed after the primaries of 2006, and the election of the seat replacing Cunningham's seat. Blibray/Busby contest. The below came via e-mail.

Thank you Mr. Simpkins, thank you Land Shark :hi:

Ken Simpkins is a voter located in San Diego County, California. While
the point of this letter is local, the issue is national. With many
localities still needing to count tens of thousands of votes even eight
days after the election, the question of conceding before all the votes
are counted, and the process audited for accuracy, is an important one.
It is even more important given that absentee and provisional voting is
surpassing 50% of the vote in many locations, and the initial election
night results are mostly results from electronic voting machines. What
follows is Mr. Simpkins' response to an advocate of conceding.

> Dear Prof. Jacobson:
> I understand from your comment published in the North County Times
> today you question why a candidate for political office, in this case
> Francine Busby, should wait until all the votes are counted before
> conceding. I would like to offer you several reasons for waiting. Even
> before being elected, a candidate is a representative of other
> citizens, namely her supporters. Those citizen are entitled to
> respect. By valuing all their votes before conceding, Ms. Busby showed
> her supporters that she valued them. She also showed how she would
> govern if elected by placing the interests of citizens above her own.
>
> Aside from respecting her supporters, the facts on the ground gave her
> supporters good reason to ask that she not concede. At the time
> individuals were calling for Ms. Busby to concede, an exit poll showed
> a discrepancy in the canvass that offered concrete evidence that the
> vote spread would narrow. If the spread did not narrow, serious
> questions would be raised over the validity of the election. When the
> media and political pundits ignore these considerations, they fail to
> perform their proper roles which should be to investigate and educate.
> The NC Times seriously breached its duty by misreporting the results
> of the exit poll thereby feeding the fire of calls for a concession.
> The NC Times then buried the correction.
>
> Your question asking why Ms. Busby did not concede earlier, and the
> reporting by the media, reveals a fundamental problem with our
> political process. We do not ask competitors, like football teams, to
> gracefully concede when they are trailing by 21 points at the half.
> Giving up before all opportunities to win a game are exhausted is
> considered a lack of character and cowardice. Even when a team is up
> against the wall facing insurmountable odds, sometimes they come back
> and win 49-41. Sticking it out until the end in that case creates
> heros. Even when it's 41-0 with minutes to play and no chance of
> winning, we do not ask the losing team at the end of the game, "Why
> didn't you concede?" And, we don't call coaches "sore losers" because
> they challenge a call. So why do pundits and the media disparage
> political candidates for waiting until the election is over before
> pressuring those candidates into conceding? An election is over when
> officials certify it. We should be praising candidates who respect the
> election process.
>
> Whatever benefits are achieved by an election day concession are
> outweighed by the negative impact. In San Diego County, in particular,
> election results are inherently suspect because of the manner in which
> the elections are conducted given secret vote counting and other
> problems. Democracy is a system of checks and balances. Citizens who
> want to protect democracy by verifying elections provide an important
> check against abuses. Their efforts are undermined when candidates are
> pressured to concede before the verification is completed.
>
> My hope is that pundits and media start to recognize the importance of
> waiting until the canvass is complete and limit their roles to
> reporting the facts instead of creating news by speculating about why
> a candidate refuses to concede. In these circumstances, anyone calling
> for a concession may be suspect for trying to undermine the will of
> the people.
>
> Ken Simpkins

--
----
Kathy Dopp
http://electionarchive.org
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"Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day," wrote Thomas Jefferson in 1816

I truly hope people will understand it is not about winning it is about the integrity and the Will Of The People.

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[rumpel]

1. DU: Must See 4-minute Sarasota video - this says it all!

thanks to garybeck

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x459001

[rumpel]

2. Some media claim: "Most researchers reject the idea that deliberate fraud is to blame"

thanks philb

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x459121

[rumpel]

3. Should only close races be audited, investigated- when big glitches/problems occur in a race

thanks philb

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x459123

[rumpel]

4. Kelly (FINALLY) says Hall won and concedes (NY 19)

thanks brooklynite

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2619686

[rumpel]

5. Run-Off Elections

thanks erpowers

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2974693

[rumpel]

14. Landslide Denied! Major Miscount in 2006 Election! BIG STORY!

thanks emlev

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x459190

[rumpel]

6. SC: Election Commission certifies Bauer, Rex as election winners after recount

WCNC (NBC)

10:57 AM EST on Friday, November 17, 2006
Jim Davenport - Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Republican Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer was certified Friday as the winner of the election, capping a campaign marred with speeding violations and then a plane crash before the primary that could have killed him.

The state Election Commission also certified Democrat Jim Rex as the winner of the education superintendent race.

The races were too close to call after the Nov. 7 election, triggering a mandatory statewide recount. Bauer finished the recount Thursday with a 3,108-vote lead, while Rex led by 455 votes. Candidates have five days to challenge the election.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/southcarolina/stories/wcnc-111706-cls-screcount.47345ec4.html

[rumpel]

7. AR: Commission Releases Fourth Version Of Results (uncounted ballots found)

The Morning News

Files Found In Back Room Had Never Been Counted

This article was published on Thursday, November 16, 2006 8:44 PM CST in News
By Michelle Burhenn
The Morning News

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County election commissioners found two electronic files Wednesday containing ballots that had never been counted. Those ballots, left in bags in the back room of the Election Commission's office, have changed the outcome of one close race.

The election commission released a fourth set of results for two races Thursday, but stopped short of a recount.

The new totals helped Janette Lasater make up the six votes needed to bring her into a tie with Eric Hausserman in the Lowell city clerk race. They now each have 444 votes.

Jim McCarthy, election coordinator, explained Thursday that instead of recounting the paper ballots again, the commission relied on the totals from Monday and verified the electronic ballots using the machine's audit log. To get the new results, the commission added the provisional, absentee and newly discovered ballots. The Secretary of State's office recommends using the audit log to verify electronic ballots and counting the paper ballots on the optical scan machine in the event of a recount.

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2006/11/17/news/111706bzrecounts.txt

[rumpel]

8. MI: How Terri Lynn Land held the state Senate

The Detroit Free Press

November 17, 2006

BY BRIAN DICKERSON
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

If you're one of the handful of Michigan Democrats who came this close to winning your election last week, you might want to stop reading right here.
Because Jon Krosnick thinks he knows what made the difference between victory and defeat, and when you hear his theory, it's just going to make you crazy.
Krosnick is a professor of communication, political science and psychology at Stanford University. He and his colleagues have studied years of election results in Ohio and a half-dozen other states, and they've concluded that, when other variables are neutralized, candidates whose names appear first on the ballot get about two percentage points more (on average) than they would have if they had been listed farther down.
If he is right, the difference name position makes is enough to turn a 49-51 defeat into a 51-49 victory.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061117/NEWS05/611170334

[rumpel]

9. WAPO Letters: Our Voting Rights Went AWOL in Prince George's

Friday, November 17, 2006; Page A24


For the first time in more than 40 years, my husband and I did not vote. It was not because we couldn't decide between the lesser of two evils. It was not because we didn't think our vote counted. It was because our absentee ballots did not arrive before we left town.

I had dutifully faxed our applications on Oct. 25 as the instructions dictated and then waited and waited and waited. After we left for California on Nov. 2 to attend a wedding, two "Official Absentee Balloting Material -- First Class Mail" envelopes arrived at our home. No date was stamped on the envelopes, so I can't tell when they were postmarked. The return address was the Prince George's County Board of Elections. When we arrived back home at 10 p.m. on Nov. 7, Election Day, obviously too late to vote, the envelopes were sitting in a stack of our mail that had been delivered that day.

The elections board denied me my right to vote. Before I realized that we would be out of town on Election Day, I had been worried about the voting machines. I guess I worried wrong.

BEVERLY R. SILVERBERG

Hyattsville

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601402.html

[rumpel]

10. AL: National Voting Rights Museum to hold banquet

The Selma Times Journal
Serving Selma and The Black Belt Since 1827

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2006

By Victor Inge

Friday, November 17, 2006 12:08 AM CST

The Times-Journal

The National Voting Rights Museum & Institute is holding its annual membership drive banquet and plans to honor five living legends of the Civil Rights Movement, and one posthumously.

The dinner is set for Saturday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Slavery and Civil War Museum on Water Avenue. This year's theme is "Lest We Forget."

This year's honorees include Charles A. Lett Jr., Lorenzo Harrison, Bessie McMeans, Evelyn Turner, Frank Miles, and the late Andrew Jones. Donations are $25, which includes dinner and a year's membership, and are tax deductible.

As pastor of Green Street Baptist Church, Rev. Lett and his congregation fed demonstrators and marchers. Harrison is being honored as one of the first black members of the Selma City Council. McMeans opened her home in Lowndes County to Stokely Carmichael and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Turner is the spouse of the late Albert Turner Sr., who worked along with her husband for social change.

http://www.selmatimesjournal.com/articles/2006/11/17/news/local/news%201524.txt

[texpatriot2004]

11. K & R for Transparent Democracy nm

[rumpel]

12. OH: Officials cite training for voting problems

Vindy.com

Published: Friday, November 17, 2006

Poll workers denied one man's request for an emergency ballot.

MERCER, Pa. — County commissioners said training of poll workers will be adjusted to address problems that deprived some Grove City residents of their right to vote in last week's general election.

Mike Rodgers of Grove City said machine problems delayed the opening of a precinct at Hillcrest School until 8:30 a.m. and one at Washington school until 8 a.m. All precincts should have opened at 7 a.m.

Commissioner Brian Beader said poll workers were apparently unaware the county's new electronic voting machines are not linked together and if one goes down, the others can still be operated.

Rodgers said poll workers at the two precincts did not allow voting to begin because of one malfunctioning machine, even though two more were available at each precinct for use.

Emergency ballot denied

http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/300617874290206.php

[rumpel]

13. NC: Election Commission meets to certify recounts

Star News Online

By JIM DAVENPORT
Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. | Ten days after South Carolina voters went to the polls, the State Election Commission is expected to certify the results of all the races in the general election.

But that still might not decide everything.

The commission is meeting Friday morning to certify the results of Thursday's recount in the superintendent and lieutenant governor races.

Republican Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer finished the recount with a 3,108 vote lead, while Democratic education superintendent candidate Jim Rex leads by 455 votes after the ballots were counted again.


http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061117/APN/611170531

[rumpel]

15. CO: Rodriguez Nominated To Election Commission (EAC)

Nov 16, 2006 8:15 pm US/Mountain

(CBS4) DENVER Denver City Councilwoman Rosemary Rodriguez was nominated for a seat on the Federal Election Assistance Commission.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada submitted her name.

Ultimately, the president must formally nominate Rodriguez and the senate would vote on it.

http://cbs4denver.com/local/local_story_320221746.html

[rumpel]

16. FL: Sarasota Public Hearing on Voting Irregularities

People For The American Way

On Thursday night, hundreds of angry Florida voters packed a hotel conference room, spilling out far into the hallway, to have their say about Sarasota County’s flawed election system. Through a combination of poorly designed ballots and problems with electronic voting machines, thousands of citizens were denied the right to cast a ballot in the race for Florida’s 13th Congressional District.

At a public hearing organized by People For the American Way Foundation and a group of allies dedicated to ensuring voting rights for all, voters spoke for almost four hours about
faulty ballot design
the lack of warning to voters about problems
inadequate poll worker training
programming which forced voters to vote again and again in the Congressional race
erratic machine responses in the review screen
missing review screens
Speakers ranged from a 16-year-old poll worker to a 71 year old veteran angry about losing his vote in yet another election. Testimony offered at the hearing will be useful evidence as we call for Sarasota County to take meaningful steps to make sure every eligible citizen has the right to cast a vote in this race and build public support for broader election reforms.

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=23111

[rumpel]

17. FL: Democrat's attorney: Republican is delaying voting machine audit

The Kansas City Star

Posted on Thu, Nov. 16, 2006

STEPHEN MAJORS
Associated Press
SARASOTA, Fla. - Democrat Christine Jennings on Thursday accused her opponent Republican Vern Buchanan of putting up legal blocks to hamper her ability to refute the outcome of the election for a contested congressional seat.

Jennings unofficially trailed Buchanan by 400 votes Thursday, after the first day of a manual recount ended. The vote tally had changed by one vote Thursday on an absentee ballot, giving Jennings an additional vote. The recount starts again Friday, when military and overseas ballots will be reviewed.

During a hearing about the race, Circuit Judge Deno Economou told Buchanan's attorney Hayden Dempsey to choose an expert by 5 p.m. Monday to work with Jennings and Sue Cobb, the secretary of state, on an audit of the machines.

"We are extremely disappointed that Buchanan effectively boycotted the dialogue that this judge asked all the parties to participate in," Kendall Coffey, Jennings' attorney. "They should have been there day one with their experts pushing multiparty participation."

Cobb's office said the audit would begin in a "reasonable" amount of time, but did not elaborate. Her office has said both sides will participate or none. Either way, Cobb's office will conduct its own audit alone if Buchanan does not provide an expert.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/elections/16031119.htm

[rumpel]

18. CO: ELECTION 2006 Voting Snafus Lead to Investigation Of Montrose County Election

The Telluride Watch

Published:11/17/06

By Christopher Pike

In the wake of complaints from Montrose citizens and county officials about breakdowns in security and of voting machines as well as long delays at the polls in last week’s election, the Montrose Board of County Commissioners has called for an investigation, County Commissioner Bill Patterson said Tuesday. “We just want to get to the bottom of it. At some voting centers, there were complete disasters. Machines were not working and secrecy was in question,” he said.

“Obviously, an investigation is needed into what happened at the Pavilion,” said Deborah Rudy, an assistant to the county clerk and election official at the Montrose County clerk’s office. At the Pavilion, 11 of the 12 Direct Recording Electronic Voting Machines, or DREs, ceased operation, requiring voters to resort to the use of paper ballots, of which there were not enough in stock. In some instances, the ballot shortage forced precinct volunteers to issue photocopied sample ballots with text on only one side (a number of which were rejected by optical scanning equipment).

“I found it odd that Montrose didn’t discuss security measures from the 16-page directive that came from Denver,” said Regina Sowell, who was defeated by Fran Long 6,638 to 4,285 for the Montrose County Clerk and Recorder position. “And there were no paper ballots or backup when I voted at the Pavilion,” she added.

http://www.telluridewatch.com/111706/montrose.htm

[rumpel]

19. NJ: Ban electronic voting machines

Strauss Newspapers

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

Now that the election is over and we have yet another election for which the actual vote count can never be verified, I believe that our state legislature should vote to ban the use of any electronic voting machines until such time as these electronic voting machines are equipped with a paper printout. The voter could then use this paper printout in an attempt to “verify” that his votes may actually have been recorded properly. After “verifying” his vote, the voter would be required to deposit this paper printout in a secure “ballot” box. Then, in the case of a contested election, the final legal vote would be obtained by counting the votes on these paper printouts, instead of just rereading the vote totals tabulated by the electronic voting machines that are in question.

If our State Courts want to perform a real service for the citizens of the State of New Jersey, the Courts will vacate the results of any contested election for which an adequate system for recounting the actual votes was not provided.

William H. Gettler

Wantage

http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2006/11/16/advertiser_news/opinion/1.txt

[rumpel]

20. CA: Updated Nevada County Election Results – Canvass Continues

YubaNet.com
"I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell." - Harry Truman

By: Nevada County Elections Office
Published: Nov 16, 2006 at 12:05

Results of the November 7, 2006, General Election have been updated effective November 16, 2006. Visit www.mynevadacounty.com/elections for current vote totals.

California law allows 28 days after the election to complete the ballot tally and official audit of the election, known as the canvass. After all aspects of the canvass are completed, the official results are certified.

1,000+ ballots still remain to be processed and counted in Nevada County. Over 900 of these are provisional ballots. Provisional ballots are voted at the polls when a voter's eligibility must be confirmed or when records indicate the voter was already sent an absentee ballot. Provisional ballots are segregated from other ballots and must be individually researched, including signature verification, before ballots are counted or challenged in accordance with election laws. Every voter who votes a provisional ballot may contact the Elections Office to find out if his or her provisional ballot was counted or challenged. If challenged, the voter is entitled to know why the ballot was not counted. Voters then have the right to challenge the election official's decision in court.

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_45871.shtml

[rumpel]

21. IN: Go distance to make each vote count

November 17, 2006

Today's editorial

Our position: State law should be changed to ensure that every absentee ballot lawfully cast is counted.


Every vote should count. That should be the principle underlying decisions about a race still too close to call 10 days after ballots were cast.
Republican challenger Jon Elrod leads incumbent state Rep. Ed Mahern by only five votes out of nearly 9,000 cast in the District 97 race.
But four provisional ballots could yet be counted if the voters who cast them can be located in time to prove their identities.
Then there are three absentee ballots cast before Election Day that, according to state law, won't count because the Election Board was unable to deliver them to the polling place in time for counting.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061117/OPINION/611170388

[rumpel]

22. In: Final tally: Lasater wins recorder's office by 15 votes

THE STAR PRESS
Post Comment

MUNCIE — The Delaware County Election Board today signed the final tally result from the Nov. 7 election, and Republican Jane Lasater was confirmed as the winner by 15 votes in the county recorder's race.

Lasater defeated Democrat Claudette King. Lasater had been ahead of King by 25 votes before this morning’s count began.

The board has approved a complaint to be filed with the Indiana Election Commission, leaving it to the state to determine what action to take against MicroVote.


http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061117/NEWS01/61117012/1002

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23. NC: Provisional-vote count likely to end today 459 BALLOTS DENIED OUT OF NEARLY 1,500

The Carlotte Observer

Posted on Fri, Nov. 17, 2006

Tally won't mean end of close races as candidates brace for challenges
JIM MORRILL
[e-mail]
Ten days after last week's vote, Mecklenburg County election officials expect to finish counting provisional ballots today, which may help determine the winner in several key races.

The three-member elections board slogged through nearly 1,500 ballots Thursday. They disqualified 459 voters who'd failed to register or forgot to sign their provisional ballot application.

The board reviewed provisional ballots -- cast by voters whose names don't appear on precinct books because they moved or had registration problems -- under the watchful eye of lawyers and some candidates. Onlookers included a videographer and court stenographer working on behalf of Republican U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes' campaign in the 8th Congressional District.

A lawyer for Hayes has challenged ballots throughout the district, including about 120 of the 195 that Mecklenburg voters cast in the 8th District. Hayes currently has about a 440-vote lead over Democrat Larry Kissell.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/16033947.htm

[rumpel]

24. NY: 25th Congressional District vote count

News 10 Now

Updated: 11/16/2006 6:38 PM
By: Bill Carey

“It is not over,” Dan Maffei urged.

Everyone agreed the race was close, but everyone also agreed that with a lead of over 3,000 votes, Republican James Walsh ended election night with another term in hand. Still, his democratic challenger said he would not concede yet.

“I will respect those voters whose votes have not been counted, and unlike my opponent, I will not gloat, and I will not talk about any potential outcomes because those voters' votes deserve to be counted before we say anything about where this race will fall,” Maffei said on November 7th.

A demand for a count of all the votes may sound dramatic, but in fact, it carries little weight with boards of election that have the job of doing just that anyway.

“For us it's automatic, and normally we would have done it, actually, faster. We would have been into all this mode last week. But, we are where we are, and yes, we count every paper ballot whether there's close races or not,” Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Ed Szczesniak said.

http://news10now.com/content/all_news/central_new_york/?ArID=86347&SecID=86

[rumpel]

25. OH: Pivotal vote count to be held Tuesday

Published November 17, 2006 12:00 am - JEFFERSON - - Two high-profile candidates and two Ashtabula County townships will be paying close attention when the county Board o ...

Star Beacon

Commissioner, township races in balance

By MARK TODD
Staff Writer

JEFFERSON - - Two high-profile candidates and two Ashtabula County townships will be paying close attention when the county Board of Elections runs it's official count Tuesday.

The count will include late-arriving ballots from military personnel, as well as hundreds of provisional ballots cast by voters away from their usual polling places. The process could take a few hours to complete, said Richard Hornstein, election board director.

The final result could have an outcome on the Ashtabula County commissioner race between incumbent Joseph Moroski and challenger Daniel Claypool. Moroski won the contest by a 233-vote margin in a race in which more than 33,000 ballots were cast.

Still in storage and awaiting Tuesday's official count are 863 provisional ballots, but not all will pass muster when the board starts to scrutinize the voters' registration credentials and eligibility, Hornstein said.

"(The final total) won't be that high," he said.

Also in the hopper are some ballots received from military personnel serving overseas. Ballots can be received from troops up to 10 days after the election, officials said.

The election board will meet at 10 a.m. Nov. 22, one day after the count, to certify the results, Hornstein said.

http://www.starbeacon.com/local/local_story_321071547

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26. WY: Machine problems slow vote count

By The Star-Tribune Staff Friday, November 17, 2006

Problems with a new ballot-counting machine plagued the Natrona County clerk's office Tuesday.

Regular ballots for all 46 precincts were counted by 8:15 p.m., but 3,942 absentee ballots remained uncounted long into the evening. The votes stood to affect several races, possibly including the U.S. House of Representatives contest and the Wyoming Senate District 29 race.

The machine had trouble reading the absentee ballots, which had been folded in the mail. Clerk's office employees had to feed the ballots in slowly and fix several jams.

The problems were not expected to affect the accuracy of the count, according to the clerk's office, but they would delay results. No absentee ballot information would be added to the vote tallies until all ballots had been counted.

http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2006/11/17/news/elections/5c90b4a903989638872572200059fb84.txt

[rumpel]

27. NC: Hayes' Lead Down To 372 As Seven Counties Certify Results

WRAL

POSTED: 2:27 pm EST November 17, 2006
UPDATED: 2:27 pm EST November 17, 2006
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Rep. Robin Hayes' slim lead over challenger Larry Kissell narrowed to just 376 votes Friday, as seven counties in the 8th Congressional District reported official election results in a race that appears headed for a recount.

Still outstanding were official results from three counties _ Hoke, Mecklenburg and Stanly _ that accounted for about 31 percent of the votes cast in the Nov. 7 election.

Meanwhile, state House Speaker Jim Black waited along with GOP challenger Hal Jordan for the updated results from Mecklenburg County. Black, the Democratic speaker who has faced months of legal and ethical scrutiny tied to his campaign finances and the state lottery, led Jordan by just seven votes in unofficial Election Day results.

http://www.wral.com/apncnews/10345727/detail.html

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28. NM: Wilson-Madrid count wrapping up

KRQE Channel 13

ALBUQUERQUE -- Bernalillo County workers are still verifying and tabulating ballots from last week's election.
County Clerk Mary Herrera said the job should finally be finished sometime today. The canvassing board is set to meet at 9 p.m. to certify the results.

There has been no change in the incomplete returns from the 1st Congressional District race since Wednesday.

Rep. Heather Wilson. the incumbent Republican, continues to maintain a 1,164-vote lead over her Democratic challenger, New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid.

About 1,900 votes must still to be counted in that race and entered into the system. However, some of them may be ruled invalid and thrown out.

Wilson declared victory last week based on incomplete returns. Madrid has not conceded.

http://www.krqe.com/expandedb.asp?RECORD_KEY%5Bnewsb%5D=ID&ID%5Bnewsb%5D=18224

[rumpel]

29. MO: Kansas 16th District: Rardin, by 3 votes

The Kansas City Star

Posted on Fri, Nov. 17, 2006

Overland Park Democrat Gene Rardin won the Kansas 16th District House seat, eking out a three-vote win over Overland Park Republican John Dennis Kriegshauser.

The Johnson County Board of Canvassers met this morning to certify the results of the recount, which Kriegshauser requested on Tuesday.

Kriegshauser appeared to have won on election night, but when provisional ballots were tallied Monday, Rardin had won by four votes, leading Kriegshauser to request the recount.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/16039093.htm

[rumpel]

30. WA: No flexibility in reading our ballots

The Columbian

Friday, November 17, 2006
GREGG HERRINGTON Columbian staff writer

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

When all Clark County votes were tallied after last week's election, there was a stack of 870 additional ballots still uncounted, even though they were cast by registered voters before the deadline.

Those voters probably don't know this even today, but their votes in one or more races were wasted. That's because, in addition to the properly filled-in little boxes next to candidates' names, some boxes were X'd, checked or circled rather than filled in.

Under a new state rule, consistency is the holy grail. In Clark and other counties, including King, Snohomish and Pierce, it displaces the time-honored guideline of determining "voter intent."

The instructions to voters were clear. The little boxes next to the candidates' names were supposed to be darkened with pen or pencil, not marked in some other way. But is voting supposed to be a test of following directions, or a way to find out who we want to make our laws?

http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/11172006news77419.cfm

[rumpel]

31. OpEd: Clear Evidence 2006 Congressional Elections Hacked

November 17, 2006 at 10:59:41

by Rob Kall

Results Skewed Nationwide In Favor of Republicans by 4 percent, 3 million votes


A major undercount of Democratic votes and an overcount of Republican votes in U.S. House and Senate races across the country is indicated by an analysis of national exit polling data, by the Election Defense Alliance (EDA), a national election integrity organization.

These findings have led EDA to issue an urgent call for further investigation into the 2006 election results and a moratorium on deployment of all electronic election equipment.

"We see evidence of pervasive fraud, but apparently calibrated to political conditions existing before recent developments shifted the political landscape," said attorney Jonathan Simon, co-founder of Election Defense Alliance, "so 'the fix' turned out not to be sufficient for the actual circumstances." Explained Simon, "When you set out to rig an election, you want to do just enough to win. The greater the shift from expectations, (from exit polling, pre-election polling, demographics) the greater the risk of exposure--of provoking investigation. What was plenty to win on October 1 fell short on November 7.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_rob_kall_061117_clear_evidence_2006_.htm

Note: also under DU above

[rumpel]

32. OpEd: STILL VOTING?

by Michael Shelby

Straight from the Shoulder of Michael Shelby


STILL VOTING?©

Cast your ballots on manually counted paper ballots or don't vote at all in 2008. I'm joining the call for a total boycott of the 2008 elections unless the only ballot of record is a durable paper ballot that is manually counted.

After years of objections, thousands of scientific and peer reviewed studies, non-partisan government and private foundation reports, an array of books covering the use of electronic voting machines from numerous viewpoints, with Lou Dobbs, Keith Olbermann, and others in the corporate media casting serious doubt over the efficacy of corporate owned, secret software programmed, computer voting machines; following election integrity pioneer Bev Harris' HBO documentary tangibly proving the crisis . . . all of which has been driven by blogosphere heroes like Brad Friedman giving voice to tens of thousands of citizen advocates and millions of voters calling for honest and accurate elections; it's time we draw the line. No more electronic voting machines, ever!

I'm not the first to make this call for a return to sanity and a technology that will work far more effectively and efficiently than machine voting as it is mandated today. Bruce O'Dell justified a return to hand counted ballots in a brilliant series of articles at www.OpEdNews.com last October. Rob Krall, Op Ed News editor, joins in the call for a return for a sane and trustworthy elections process that, judging by the number and quality of the comments to his article, strikes an intuitive sense of what is the obvious solution to the current election quandary. Originator of the Still Voting?© boycott concept, Arizona candidate for Secretary of State, Ernest Hancock, an expert on the politics and personalities of voting in my state, has begun our movement for a paradigm shift in assuring our votes are accurately and honestly counted by dumping Diebold, Sequoia, and all the rest in favor of hand counting the ballots.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." –Yogi Berra –

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_michael__061116_still_voting_3f.htm

[rumpel]

33. Fox News/AP: Unresolved Races at a Glance

Friday, November 17, 2006
By The Associated Press

Details on House races in which the outcome remained undecided:

_ New Mexico, 1st District: Republican Rep. Heather Wilson led Democrat Patricia Madrid by just over 1,100 votes out of more than 200,000 cast. Officials hoped to finish counting roughly 1,500 remaining votes by late Friday.

_ North Carolina, 8th District: Rep. Robin Hayes, a Republican, led Democrat Larry Kissell by about 450 votes. About 1,500 provisional ballots remained to be counted. County election boards met Friday to count provisional ballots and hoped to certify results.

_ Ohio, 2nd District: Rep. Jean Schmidt, a Republican who called decorated Vietnam veteran Rep. John Murtha a coward, was ahead of Democrat Victoria Wulsin by about 2,800 votes. Workers were to begin counting as many as 10,000 provisional and absentee ballots next week.

_ Ohio, 15th District: Rep. Deborah Pryce, a member of the House Republican leadership, leads Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy by 3,536 votes. Thousands of provisional ballots need to be recounted, but results won't be announced until Nov. 27 because of a dispute over a new voter identification law.

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov17/0,4670,UnresolvedRacesGlance,00.html

[rumpel]

34. NY: Don't Talk About It, Be About It

By Katie Mulligan, Contributing Writer

As I walked into the Multi Purpose Room of the SUB on Election Day last Tuesday, I was immediately bombarded by a spry woman in her mid-60’s who tensely led me to a table displaying the names and parties of this year’s candidates. My phone began to ring.

“You’ll have to turn that off,” she barked at me. “Please take a moment to look over the candidates.”

Her abrasive manner surprised me. I had come there to exercise my right to vote, and felt intimidated by her unpleasant tone.

As I walked over to sign my name before entering the voting booth, a middle-aged man asked for my student ID.

“Your hair looks much shorter now than in this picture.”

There was a note of suspicion in his voice, as though he didn’t believe that the girl standing before him was the same person on the photo ID. I had taken the time to research my choices for Senate carefully, and I was being treated as though college students are uninformed. As I stood in the booth and chose the candidates I had come to vote for, I couldn’t help thinking of the condescending mannerisms of the election volunteers, and wondered if they thought my vote as a student counted and that my views were valid.

After hearing the results of the election the next day, I ventured downtown in an effort to gain some insight into the minds of New Paltz residents on the subject of the Democratic shift in power in the Senate. New Paltz is a politically active town, host of the Sick-of-Bush festival that was held in Hasbrouck Park in September, and home to an active chapter of NYPIRG. I was anxious to hear some feedback.

http://oracle.newpaltz.edu/article.cfm?id=2728

[rumpel]

35. NM: Recount slated in county attorney race

Friday, November 17, 2006

By Marshall Helmberger

A recount will decide who will serve as St. Louis County attorney after one of the closest county races in years. Melanie Ford, who ran a surprisingly strong challenge to longtime county attorney Al Mitchell, notified county officials on Monday that she wants a recount after the latest election tally showed her trailing by just 53 votes.
That’s out of more than 80,000 cast in the Nov. 7 election.

A recount will add more uncertainty to a race that has already brought its share of surprises. The initial Tuesday night tally had Ford leading by 367 votes after all precincts had reported. That result led a number of area newspapers, including the Timberjay, to report that Ford was the victor. But by late Wednesday, after a doublecheck of vote totals, the county auditor’s office reported a tabulation error had failed to count 500 votes for Mitchell, putting the incumbent in the lead. Auditor’s office staff found still other errors in a couple other precincts and by the time they were sorted out, Mitchell clung to a razor thin margin.

http://www.timberjay.com/current.php?article=2784

[rumpel]

36. CA: Wharff blames court order,computer snafus for count delay

The Willits News

By Mike A'Dair/TWN Staff Writer
Article Launched:11/17/2006 09:26:31 AM PST

A series of unanticipated events--including a computer memory card failure, a court order and an avalanche of absentee ballots--has caused the office of county Clerk/Recorder/Assessor and Registrar of Voters Marsha Wharff to fall behind in counting the votes in this year's general election.

Wharff appeared before the board of supervisors Tuesday to explain why her office still had some 12,562 absentee ballots left to count as of 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Wharff explained the California First District Court of Appeals ruling to seal the results of the district attorney race between the late Norman Vroman and challenger Meredith Lintott forced her office to spend 32 hours of staff time reprogramming and testing the office's optical scan units to insure the machines would count the results from the DA's race, but would not print them along with the other election results.

In addition, Wharff decided all the ballots from polling places throughout the county would have to be rerun through her office's reprogrammed scanners to seal the DA voting results.

"Had we not been under this court order, we would have been done election night by about 12:30 a.m.," Wharff said.

http://www.willitsnews.com/localnews/ci_4678764

[rumpel]

37. FL: New wrinkle in contested Hernando race

The Petersburg Times

A judge ruled that a hearing must be held on the dispute over whether the highest vote-getter in the Nov. 7 election is eligible to take office.

By ASJYLYN LODER
Published November 17, 2006

BROOKSVILLE — A judge this morning halted plans to declare a winner in a disputed Hernando County Commission race.

Hannah “Nancy” Robinson, a four-term commissioner, filed a lawsuit Tuesday to keep the seat she held for 14 years, claiming that election winner Rose Rocco isn’t qualified to take office because she didn’t live in Spring Hill District 2 on Election Day.

Rocco owns a house a block from district lines. She and her husband moved into the district this week. Robinson doesn’t dispute the vote totals that give Rocco a lead of 1,456 votes.

The county Canvassing Board, which tallies the votes, was scheduled to certify the election at 4 p.m. today. Swearing-in ceremonies were slated for Tuesday.

The injunction Friday stopped both proceedings. Fifth Circuit Judge John Booth directed the Canvassing Board to withhold certification, and ordered the swearing-in postponed until a hearing can be held.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/11/17/Hernando/New_wrinkle_in_contes.shtml

[rumpel]

38. MT: Summary of E-Voting Problems in Montana

VoteTrust USA

By Steve Corrick, EnduringVoteMontana.org
November 17, 2006
The nation held its breath as the counting in the highly contested Senate race in Montana extended on into midmorning the Wednesday after election Tuesday, with national control of the US Senate hanging in the balance. When it was finally resolved, Democrat Jon Tester beat sitting Senator Conrad Burns by 2,735 votes in the final unofficial count.

What went wrong? In the news story that follows this introduction, you'll learn that, in spite of his repeated warnings that election day registrations could be a problem, many were quick to criticize Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson (pictured at left) for failing to prepare the county election officials for the onslaught of election day registrants who wanted to vote. However, Johnson did far better than the election officials in many other states, and even, on October 15, had issued a great ruling which may have prevented even more election day software problems by requiring a 5% random testing of the voting machines after the election had started on November 7.

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2050&Itemid=113

[rumpel]

39. NY: Maffei concedes election victory to Walsh

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Joseph Spector
Staff Writer

November 17, 2006 2:31 pm — More than a week after Election Day, congressional candidate Daniel Maffei conceded this afternoon to Rep. James Walsh, R-Onondaga, Onondaga County.

Maffei congratulated Walsh on "his apparent victory."
"As we've said all along, it's important that every single vote be counted, and we've respected that process since election night," said Maffei. "However, it is becoming apparent that we will not be able to gain enough votes to change the outcome."

Walsh held a roughly 4,000-vote lead on Election Day, but Maffei held out hope that a count of absentee ballots would close the gap. Yet Maffei said it appears he was only narrow the total by about 1,000 votes.

Walsh was elected to 10th term to the 25th District, which runs from Syracuse to Webster.

The race was one of three close congressional contests in the Rochester area, but the seats were retained by the Republican incumbents. Nationally, though, Democrats took control of Congress.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061117/NEWS01/611180307/1002/NEWS

[rumpel]

40. NC: Challenger to Watauga County sheriff widens vote lead

Friday, November 17, 2006

Journal Staff Report
Winston-Salem Journal

BOONE - Democrat Len "L.D." Hagaman widened his lead over Sheriff Mark Shook in the race for Watauga County sheriff after the Watauga County board of elections met today to count provisional ballots and certify the results from the Nov. 7 elections.

Hagaman's lead widened from 98 to 121 votes over Shook, the Republican incumbent. He has 7,845 votes to Shook's 7,724. Of 262 provisional ballots cast, the board counted 170 as valid.

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191751344

[rumpel]

41. CA: Vernon corruption probe leads to sex charges against mayor's son

Union Tribune

ASSOCIATED PRESS
11:33 a.m. November 17, 2006

LOS ANGELES – The son of the mayor of Vernon pleaded not guilty to child sexual abuse, the latest in a string of charges stemming from a corruption probe in the small industrial city.
John Joseph Malburg, 37, the son of Mayor Leonis Malburg, was charged with multiple counts of child sexual abuse, possession of child pornography and using a minor for sex acts while dean of students at an area Catholic high school.

snip

Earlier this week, prosecutors filed voter-fraud charges against the mayor, his wife and his son while a former city administrator was accused of bilking $60,000 in public money to pay for massages, golf outings, dinners and other personal uses.

snip

The mayor, 77, was charged with seven counts, including voter fraud, assisting unqualified voters and false registration. He pleaded not guilty.

His wife, Dominica, who is the younger Malburg's mother, entered a not-guilty plea to two counts of voter fraud. John Leonis Malburg, the son, also pleaded not guilty to a false-voting charge and perjury.

Prosecutors say former Administrator Bruce Van Malkenhorst Sr. used the city treasury as his personal account, diverting money while in office for everything from lavish dinners to political donations. Malkenhorst, 71, pleaded not guilty Thursday after being charged with 18 counts for misusing public money. Before stepping down two years ago, Malkenhorst earned more than $600,000 a year, according to reports.


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20061117-1133-ca-vernon-corruption.html

[rumpel]

42. OR: Bum ballot baffles voter

Friday, November 17, 2006
By Susan Gordanier
The Argus

Jim Conroy is not a happy voter.

Unlike many this season, his displeasure doesn't stem from ideology.

The Hillsboro man says both his own ballot for the Nov. 7 election, and that of his wife, omitted the District 15 senate race between Bruce Starr and John Napolitano.

Mickie Kawai, manager of Washington County Elections Division, says nothing in either of the Conroys' registration records would trigger their receiving such a ballot. Their address is correctly entered.

If the system had identified Conroy's general neighborhood as belonging to a different legislative district, the elections office would have received many complaints, she says.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/argus/index.ssf?/base/news/1163784680196940.xml&coll=6

[rumpel]

43. CA: Democrat Correa Pulls Ahead in State Senate Race; 80th Assembly District Race Between Clute and

Garcia Too Close to Call

California Progress Report

November 17, 2006.

By Frank D. Russo

The numbers continue to trickle in, agonizingly slow in some cases. There are two state legislative races are too close to call, but it looks likely that the California State Senate will return with exactly the same number of Democrats, 25 of the 40 Senators in that body. The Democrats will likely return with 48 of the 80 Assembly seats, as before but have a chance of gaining one seat.

There is also a bit more data to chew on for the overall trends of the election.

First, to the races!

For the first time since returns were complete from election night when he trailed by 8 votes, Democrat Lou Correa pulled ahead of Republican Lynn Daucher in the hotly contested State Senate race in Orange County. As of the close of business yesterday, he led by 283 votes. The day before, he was down by 147 votes, and before that trailed by more. The trend is becoming apparent with the "provisional" ballots now being counted. Traditionally, these provisional ballots tend to be more Democratic as they reflect voters who may have moved and thus not appeared on the rolls of the polling places where they appeared to vote on election day and for a variety of other reasons. According to the Orange County Register this morning, there are approximately 4,000 provisional ballots left to be counted and the complete results are not expected until next week. Approximately half, or 2,000 of these ballots are expected to be ruled valid and counted.

http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2006/11/california_elec_1.html

[Kurovski]

44. K&R Thank you rumpel!

:-)

[rumpel]

45. pleasure

:)

[Kurovski]

46. Kick!

Can we get one more vote for this terrific ERD thread by rumpel?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

47. a plethora of info!

kick!