I love reposting, especially if it gets the job done..
by Steven Rosenfeld and Bob Fitrakis
April 22, 2007
Did the most powerful Republicans in America have the computer capacity, software skills and electronic infrastructure in place on Election Night 2004 to tamper with the Ohio results to ensure George W. Bush's re-election?
The answer appears to be yes. There is more than ample documentation to show that on Election Night 2004, Ohio's "official" Secretary of State website – which gave the world the presidential election results – was redirected from an Ohio government server to a group of servers that contain scores of Republican web sites, including the secret White House e-mail accounts that have emerged in the scandal surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s firing of eight federal prosecutors.
Recent revelations have documented that the Republican National Committee (RNC) ran a secret White House e-mail system for Karl Rove and dozens of White House staffers. This high-tech system used to count and report the 2004 presidential vote– from server-hosting contracts, to software-writing services, to remote-access capability, to the actual server usage logs themselves – must be added to the growing congressional investigations.
Numerous tech-savvy bloggers, starting with the online investigative consortium epluribusmedia.org and their November 2006 article cross-posted by contributor luaptifer to Dailykos, and Joseph Cannon's blog at Cannonfire.blogspot.com, outed the RNC tech network. That web-hosting firm is SMARTech Corp. of Chattanooga, TN, operating out of the basement in the old Pioneer Bank building. The firm hosts scores of Republican websites, including georgewbush.com, gop.com and rnc.org.
The software created for the Ohio secretary of state’s Election Night 2004 website was created by GovTech Solutions, a firm co-founded by longtime GOP computing guru Mike Connell. He also redesigned the Bush campaign's website in 2000 and told "Inside Business" magazine in 1999, "I wouldn't be where I am today without the Bush campaign and the Bush family because the Bushes truly are about family and I’m loyal to my network."
Ohio's Cedarville University, a Christian school with 3,100 students, issued a press release on January 13, 2005 describing how faculty member Dr. Alan Dillman’s computing company Government Consulting Resources, Ltd, worked with these Republican-connected companies to tally the vote on Election Night 2004.
"Dillman personally led the effort from the GCR side, teaming with key members of Blackwell's staff," the release said. "GCR teamed with several other firms – including key players such as GovTech Solutions, which performed the software development – to deliver the end result. SMARTech provided the backup and additional system capacity, and Mercury Interactive performed the stress testing."
On Election Night 2004, the Republican Party not only controlled the vote-counting process in Ohio, the final presidential swing state, through a secretary of state who was a co-chair of the Bush campaign, but it also controlled the technology that allowed the tally of the vote in Ohio's 88 counties to be reported to the media and voters.
Privatizing elections and allowing known partisans to run a key presidential vote count is troubling enough. But the reason Congress must investigate these high-tech ties is there is abundant evidence that Republicans could have used this computing network to delay announcing the winner of Ohio's 2004 election while tinkering with the results.
Did Ohio Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell or other GOP operatives inflate the president's vote totals to secure George W. Bush's margin of victory? On Election Night 2004, many of the totals reported by the Secretary of State were based on local precinct results that were impossible. In Clyde, Ohio, a Republican haven, Bush won big after 131 percent voter turnout. In Republican Perry County, two precincts came in at 124 percent and 120 percent respectively. In Gahanna Ward 1, precinct B, Bush received 4,258 votes despite the fact that only 638 people voted for president. In Concord Southwest in Miami County, the certified election results proudly proclaimed at 679 out of 689 registered voters cast ballots, a 98.55 percent turnout. FreePress.org later found that only 547 voters had signed in.
These strange election results were routed by county election officials through Ohio's Secretary of State's office, through partisan IT providers and software, and the final results were hosted out of a computer based in Tennessee announcing the winner. The Cedarville University releases boasted the system "was running like a champ." It said, "The system kept running through the early morning hours as users from around the world looked to Ohio for their election results."
All the facts are not in, but enough is known to warrant a serious congressional inquiry. Beginning with a timeline on Election Night after a national media consortium exit poll predicted Democrat John Kerry would win Ohio, the first Ohio returns were from the state's Democratic urban strongholds, showing Kerry in the lead.
This was the case until shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 3, when for roughly 90 minutes the Ohio election results reported on the Secretary of State's website were frozen. Shortly before 2am EST election returns came in from a handful of the state's rural Republican enclaves, bumping Bush's numbers over the top.
It was known Bush would carry rural Ohio. But the vote totals from these last-to-report counties, where Karl Rove said there was an unprecedented late-hour evangelical vote giving the White House a moral mandate, were highly improbable and suggested vote count fraud to pad Bush’s numbers. Just how flimsy the reported GOP totals were was not known on Election Night and has not been examined by the national media. But an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff begun after Election Day 2004 and completed before the Electoral College met on Jan. 6, 2005, was first to publicly point to vote count fraud in rural Ohio.
That report, "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio," cited near-impossible vote totals, including 19,000 votes that were mysteriously added at the close of tallying the vote in Miami County. The report cited more than 3,000 apparently fraudulent voter registrations – all dating back to the same day in 1977 in Perry County. The report noted a homeland security emergency was declared in Warren County, prompting its ballots to be taken to a police-guarded unauthorized warehouse and counted away from public scrutiny, despite local media protests.
In our book, "What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election" (The New Press, 2006), we go beyond the House Judiciary Democratic report to analyze precinct-by-precinct returns and we print copies of the documents upon which we base our findings. We found many vote-count irregularities based on examining the certified results, precinct-level records and the actual ballots.
The most eyebrow-raising example to emerge from parsing precinct results was finding 10,500 people in three Ohio's 'Bible Belt' counties who voted to re-elect Bush and voted in favor of gay marriage, if the official results are true. That was in Warren, Butler and Clermont Counties. The most plausible explanation for this anomaly, which defies logic and was not seen anywhere else in the country, was Kerry votes were flipped to Bush while the rest of the ballot was left alone. While we have some theories about how that might have been done by hand in a police-guarded warehouse, could full Republican control of the vote-counting software and servers also have played a role?
The early returns on the Secretary of State's website suggest Blackwell's vote-tallying and reporting system could manipulate large blocks of votes. Screenshots taken during the early returns in Hamilton County, where Cincinnati is located, gave Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb 39,541 votes, which was clearly incorrect. Similarly, early return screenshots in Lucas County, where Toledo is located, gave Cobb 4,685 votes, another clear error. (The screenshots are in our book). Were these innocent computer glitches or was a GOP vote-counting and reporting system moving and dumping Kerry votes?
There's more evidence the late returns from Ohio's Republican-majority countryside were not accurate. During the spring and summer of 2006, several teams of investigators associated with Freepress.org, notably one team led by Ron Baiman, a Ph.D. statistician and researcher at Chicago's Loyola University, examined the actual election records from precincts in Miami and Clermont Counties. These records – from poll books where voters sign in, to examining the actual ballots themselves – were not publicly accessible until last year, under orders from Ohio’s former Republican Secretary of State. Baiman compared the number of voters who signed in with the total number of votes attributed to precincts. He found hundreds of "phantom" votes, where the number of voter signatures was less than the reported vote total. That discrepancy also suggests vote count fraud.
There was other evidence in the observable paper trail of padding the vote, including instances in Delaware County where in one precinct, 359 of the final punch-card ballots cast on Election Day contained no Kerry votes, which means the day's last voters all were Bush supporters, which also is improbable. In another Delaware County precinct, Bush allegedly received the last 210 votes of the day. Were partisan local election workers trying to mask what was happening electronically to tilt the vote count?
Ohio's 2004 ballots were to be destroyed last September. However that fate was blocked by a federal judge, who ruled in the early phase of trying a Voting Rights Act lawsuit that accused Ohio officials of suppressing the minority vote in Ohio's cities. The state's new Secretary of State and Attorney General, both Democrats, are now holding settlement talks for that suit, suggesting its claims have merit. However, unlike Florida after the 2000 election, there still has yet to be a full accounting of Ohio's presidential vote.
What's clear, however, is the highest ranks of the Republican Party's political wing, including White House counselor Karl Rove, a handful of the party's most tech-savvy computer gurus and the former Republican Ohio Secretary of State, created, owned and operated the vote-counting system that reported George W. Bush's re-election to the presidency. Moreover, it appears the votes that gave Bush his 118,775-vote margin of victory – the boost from Ohio's countryside – have yet to be confirmed as accurate. Instead, the reporting to date suggests that what happened on the ground and across Ohio's rural precincts is at odds with the vote tally released on Election Night.
As numerous congressional committees attempt to retrieve and examine the secret White House e-mails surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' firing of eight federal prosecutors, those panels must also probe the privatization and partisan manipulation of the 2004 presidential vote count in Ohio. The lessons from 2004 have yet to be fully understood or learned.
Similarly, the House Administration Committee, which is expected to soon mark up H.R. 811, a bill by Rep. Rush Holt, D-NJ, to regulate electronic voting technology, also must take heed. The vote count and outcome of American elections cannot be left in the hands of known partisans, who can control and manipulate how the votes are counted and what is reported to the media and American people.
Public vote counts on private, partisan servers and secret proprietary software have no place in a democracy.
--
Bob Fitrakis is a political science professor and attorney in the King Lincoln Bronzeville civil rights lawsuit against Ken Blackwell. Fitrakis, Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman are authors of "What Happened in Ohio? A documentary record of theft and fraud in the 2004 election," (New Press, 2006).
KEY LINKS: To trace the site-hosting history of election.sos.state.oh.us, go to:
http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report? url=http://election.sos.state.oh.us
(You will note on Nov. 3, 2004, the Ohio Secretary of State's website was moved from a Columbus-based company, OARnet, to SMARTECH CORPORATION.)
Ken Blackwell Outsources Ohio Election Results to GOP Internet Operatives, Again
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org.nyud.net:8080/story/2006/11/7/115314/922
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/7/144314/082
Who is Michael L. Connell? Part II: Behind the firewall
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org.nyud.net:8080/story/2007/4/3/19924/39133
The White House, vote theft, and the email trail
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2007/03/gwb43-white-house-vote-theft-and-email.html
Cedarville University A Major Player in Ohio's Election Tallying Efforts
http://www.cedarville.edu/newsrelease/2005/ Cedarville_University_ A_Major_Player_in_Ohio_s_ Election_Tallying_Efforts/2132271177
"What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election," by Robert Fitrakis, Steven Rosenfeld, Harvey Wasserman.
http://www.thenewpress.com/index.php?option=com_title&task =view_title&metaproductid=1597
Rove-ing emails: what else could go missing? by Todd Johnston
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org.nyud.net:8080/story/2007/ 4/22/33926/1773
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org.nyud.net:8080/story/2006/ 11/9/61233/1283
This shows a screen capture of the TN server 64.203.98.137 which in 2004 was where election.sos.state.oh.us was hosted from, and in 2006 it was still getting live data from Ohio, even though election.sos.state.oh.us was hosted on OARnet servers in Ohio.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
AUDITING THE MID-TERM ELECTION IN OHIO
Dispatch from the Ohio Election Investigators
This blog does not Accomodate tables well so bare with the misalignment.
Please read the below research on "Auditing the Mid-Term Election" by Richard Hayes Phillips. It is also in the attachment in case you want to print it out. If you are able to send it on to others do so, or print it, and hand it to them, or cover it in the course of your job, please do so.. Those who would rig our elections must go, and those machines must go away also. I am also sending you a letter on the upcoming Holt bill, HR811 and why it must be stopped NOW! Democracy and your country needs you. Please act.
The whole paper is important below, but make sure you look at the last two pages and how Summit (Akron) and Cuyahoga (Cleveland) Counties had over 100% of the voters voting. Please ask... how is that even possible, and how did these people certify their elections... including Kenneth Blackwell. Hmmm.... The data comes in columns, if the email doesn't keep it in columns, look at the 8 page attachment (and if you don't have time to read the whole thing now.... look at the last two pages now, read the rest later).
Log
AUDITING THE MID-TERM ELECTION
January 2, 2007
In the 2006 general election, according to unofficial results posted on the website of Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, there were 4,177,498 ballots cast in the State of Ohio.
Of these, only 3,831,716, or 91.72%, contained a vote for Governor, and only 3,826,829, or 91.61%, contained a vote for United States Senate. These numbers created the appearance of undervote (or overvote) rates of 8.28% and 8.39%, respectively, in the two most hotly contested statewide races on the ballot. When the unofficial election results are examined county by county, there was a strikingly abnormal distribution of undervotes. I chose the United States Senate race to examine in detail because there were only two candidates on the ballot (and one write-in candidate), which makes the mathematical analysis simpler than for the Governor's race, in which there were four candidates on the ballot (and two write-in candidates).
The methodology was simple. The percentage of undervotes for each county was derived by fifth grade mathematics. The total number of votes counted for the candidates combined was subtracted from the number of ballots cast. The remainder is the number of uncounted ballots, or undervotes. This number was divided by the number of ballots cast to determine the percentage of ballots left uncounted in each county.
There are 88 counties in Ohio. Of these 88 counties, according to unofficial results posted by J. Kenneth Blackwell, 71 counties had rates of under votes ranging from 0.88% (in Greene County) to 6.90% (in Holmes County). In 62 of these 71 counties, the percentages were tightly clustered between 2.00% and 4.50%. The rate in these 71 counties combined was 2.99%.
In 16 of the other 17 counties, including 4 of the 10 most populous counties in the State of Ohio, the percentages of undervotes were clearly anomalous, ranging from 11.91% (in Montgomery County) to 26.48% (in Cuyahoga County), with a combined rate of 19.46%, or six and one-half times the rate in the rest of the state. Just four counties -- Cuyahoga, Lucas, Montgomery and Stark -- accounted for 219,332 undervotes, or 62.55% of the statewide total of 350,669. Cuyahoga County alone accounted for 148,928 undervotes, or 42.47% of the statewide total. It was difficult to believe that more than one in four voters in Cuyahoga County could not decide between Sherrod Brown and Mike DeWine.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: UNITED STATES SENATE
Ballots Votes Undervotes/
Cast Counted Overvotes
16 counties 1,382,455 1,113,568 268,987 19.46%
71 counties 2,775,090 2,692,133 82,957 2.99%
In Marion County, Blackwell reported 19,853 total votes cast, and 21,128 votes counted for the United States Senate candidates -- an overcount of 1,275 votes. These are known as "phantom votes," because they are apparitions, with no explainable origin. There can never be more votes counted for an office than the number of persons voting in the election.
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UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: UNDERVOTES AND OVERVOTES
County Ballots Votes Undervotes/ Voting
Cast Counted Overvotes Technology
Cuyahoga 562,498 413,570 148,928 26.48% touch screen
Morrow 15,679 12,242 3,437 21.92% touch screen
Belmont 29,045 23,192 5,853 20.15% touch screen
Coshocton 16,138 13,107 3,031 18.78% touch screen
Licking 70,705 57,704 13,001 18.39% touch screen
Jackson 12,025 9,974 2,051 17.06% touch screen
Lucas 164,003 139,003 25,000 15.24% touch screen
Tuscarawas 36,124 30,750 5,374 14.88% touch screen
Stark 139,646 119,011 20,635 14.78% touch screen
Perry 12,775 10,894 1,881 14.72% touch screen
Carroll 12,664 10,898 1,766 13.95% touch screen
Highland 14,351 12,358 1,993 13.89% touch screen
Wood 50,666 44,190 6,476 12.78% touch screen
Adam 9,592 8,378 1,214 12.66% touch screen
Hancock 28,692 25,114 3,578 12.47% touch screen
Montgomery 207,952 183,183 24,769 11.91% touch screen
Marion 19,853 21,128 - 1,275 - 6.42% touch screen
Note that there is no county falling between Holmes County (6.90%) and Montgomery County (11.91%). The counties listed above are clearly anomalous. The unofficial results cannot be right. And, of course, the unofficial results in Marion County are impossible.
Note also that all 17 counties listed above utilized touch screen voting machines, known in the trade as Direct Recording Electronic (DRE). 31 of 88 Ohio counties utilized optical scanners, and none of them had this problem. Data on voting technology utilized in 2006 by each Ohio county is displayed on a map provided by www.yourvotecountsohio.org As it happens, the voting machine vendor in all 17 of these touch screen counties was Diebold Election Systems.
In the 2005 general election in Ohio, several counties reported incorrect figures for total ballots cast. The false numbers were derived by counting absentee ballots at least twice, as the Diebold tabulators are programmed to do. That was one possible explanation. A more disturbing possibility was that some 227,000 votes had been lost by touch screen voting machines in Ohio.
There were 1,402,408 ballots cast in these 17 counties. If the rate of undervotes (touch screen machines do not allow overvotes) had been about 3%, as was the case elsewhere in the state, there would have been about 42,000. Instead there were 267,712 (or 268,987 if one takes into account the 1,275 phantom votes in Marion County). Whether or not this "affected the outcome," a phrase generally intended to mean who won and who lost the election, is beside the point. If 227,000 votes were not counted, the outcome was affected.
2
I stated at that time that even if the official results were to reduce these discrepancies, the question would remain as to how the unofficial results could have been so erroneous in the first place. Once the official results were posted on the website of J. Kenneth Blackwell, I was able to compare the official and unofficial results for the 17 suspect counties and analyze the changes.
COMPARISON OF UNOFFICIAL AND OFFICIAL RESULTS, UNITED STATES SENATE
-- Unofficial Results -- -- Official Results --
Ballots Votes Ballots Votes
County Cast Counted Undervotes Cast Counted Undervotes
Cuyahoga 562,498 413,570 148,928 26.48% 468,056 452,832 15,224 3.25%
Morrow 15,679 12,242 3,437 21.92% 12,952 12,481 471 3.64%
Belmont 29,045 23,192 5,853 20.15% 24,484 23,556 928 3.79%
Coshocton 16,138 13,107 3,031 18.78% 13,865 13,366 499 3.60%
Licking 70,705 57,704 13,001 18.39% 60,726 58,923 1,803 2.97%
Jackson 12,025 9,974 2,051 17.06% 10,669 10,288 381 3.57%
Lucas 164,003 139,003 25,000 15.24% 146,652 142,304 4,348 2.96%
Tuscarawas 36,124 30,750 5,374 14.88% 31,913 31,385 528 1.65%
Stark 139,646 119,011 20,635 14.78% 143,753 139,264 4,489 3.12%
Perry 12,775 10,894 1,881 14.72% 13,368 11,189 2,179 16.30%
Carroll 12,664 10,898 1,766 13.95% 11,566 11,053 513 4.44%
Highland 14,351 12,358 1,993 13.89% 15,064 12,981 2,083 13.83%
Wood 50,666 44,190 6,476 12.78% 47,089 45,515 1,574 3.34%
Adams 9,592 8,378 1,214 12.66% 9,972 8,570 1,402 14.06%
Hancock 28,692 25,114 3,578 12.47% 26,147 25,622 525 2.01%
Montgomery 207,952 183,183 24,769 11.91% 219,153 188,836 30,317 13.83%
Marion 19,853 21,128 - 1,275 - 6.42% 22,224 21,604 620 2.79%
Subtotal 1,402,408 1,134,696 267,712 19.09% 1,277,653 1,209,769 67,884 5.31%
As shown in the table above, in four counties (Adams, Highland, Montgomery and Perry) the egregious errors in the election results have not been corrected. There are still far more ballots cast than votes counted. In fact, the discrepancies are even greater than in the unofficial results. In Montgomery County alone, there were 30,317 voters, or 13.83%, who did not vote for United States Senator. Either that, or the official results are not true and correct – which is, of course, the case. And this is not the only problem with the official results.
In 11 of the counties where, according to unofficial results, ballots cast had far exceeded the number of votes counted, the reported number of ballots cast has been revised downward. In Marion County, which originally reported 1,275 more votes counted than ballots cast, which is impossible, it is now acknowledged that the number of ballots cast had been underreported in the unofficial results. But in Stark County, where 20,635 undervotes, or 14.78% of ballots cast, were originally reported, the Board of Elections now reports, in the official results, 4,107 more ballots cast than in the unofficial results:
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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN UNOFFICIAL AND OFFICIAL RESULTS
Ballots Votes Absentee/
County Cast Counted Undervotes Provisional
Cuyahoga - 94,442 + 39,262 -133,704 30,791
Morrow - 2,727 + 239 - 2,966 271
Belmont - 4,561 + 364 - 4,925 529
Coshocton - 2,273 + 259 - 2,532 157
Licking - 9,979 + 1,219 - 11,198 1,464
Jackson - 1,356 + 314 - 1,670 464
Lucas - 17,351 + 3,301 - 20,652 3,694
Tuscarawas - 4,211 + 635 - 4,846 497
Stark + 4,107 + 20,253 - 16,146 4,488
Perry + 593 + 295 + 298 369
Carroll - 1,098 + 155 - 1,253 244
Highland + 713 + 623 + 90 646
Wood - 3,577 + 1,325 - 4,902 1,664
Adams + 380 + 192 + 188 265
Hancock - 2,545 + 508 - 3,053 851
Montgomery + 11,201 + 5,653 + 5,548 10,272
Marion + 2,371 + 476 + 1,895 698
Subtotal -124,755 + 75,073 -199,828
In Stark County, according to Blackwell’s website, there had been, at the time the unofficial results were reported, 4,488 absentee and provisional ballots yet to be examined – from which, no doubt, the 4,107 additional ballots were drawn. Thus there is no indication from the Board of Elections that the number of ballots cast was overreported in the unofficial results. Rather, the number of votes counted was underreported. These numbers deserve closer scrutiny:
COMPARISON OF RESULTS, STARK COUNTY
Sherrod Mike Richard
Brown DeWine Duncan
Unofficial 68,266 50,741 4
Official 79,900 59,353 11
Difference 11,634 8,612 7
If there were only 4,107 additional ballots in Stark County, how did Sherrod Brown gain 11,634 votes, and how did Mike DeWine gain 8,612 votes? Where did these votes come from? If there were only 4,488 unexamined absentee and provisional ballots, where did the 20,253 newly counted votes come from? These numbers are impossible.
In fact, there are three other counties (Coshocton, Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas) where the number of newly counted votes exceeds the number of absentee and provisional ballots that remained to be examined on Election Night. In Cuyahoga County, there were 39,262 newly counted votes, drawn from only 30,791 unexamined absentee and provisional ballots. These numbers also deserve closer scrutiny:
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COMPARISON OF RESULTS, CUYAHOGA COUNTY
Sherrod Mike Richard
Brown DeWine Duncan
Unofficial 291,469 122,101 0
Official 319,568 133,235 29
Difference 28,099 11,134 29
If there were only 30,791 absentee and provisional ballots in Cuyahoga County that remained to be examined on Election Night, how did Sherrod Brown gain 28,099 votes and Mike DeWine gain 11,134 votes? These numbers are impossible.
Finally, the vote totals for Richard Duncan, a write-in candidate, cannot be right. By comparing the unofficial and official results, one sees that his vote totals actually decreased, sometimes substantially, in four counties (Coshocton, Highland, Lucas, and Marion). This is especially ridiculous in light of the fact that, in many counties, write-in votes are not counted on Election Night, and thus are not included in the unofficial results. For example, Richard Duncan received 29 write-in votes in Cuyahoga County, none of which appeared in the unofficial results.
COMPARISON OF RESULTS FOR RICHARD DUNCAN
County Unofficial Official Difference
Coshocton 6 2 - 4
Highland 31 10 - 21
Lucas 129 15 - 114
Marion 19 0 - 19
How did Richard Duncan lose 4 of his 6 votes in Coshocton County, 10 of his 31 votes in Highland County, 114 of his 129 votes in Lucas County, and all of his 19 votes in Marion County? These numbers are impossible.
There were 17 Ohio counties for which the unofficial results could not have been correct. Of these, only 7 counties (Belmont, Carroll, Hancock, Jackson, Licking, Morrow and Wood) have posted official results that withstand scrutiny. But there are more.
Dale Tavris performed a similar analysis of the 2006 Senate race. Using official results only, he identified not four, but six counties with inexplicably high percentages of undervotes:
"Furthermore, there were six counties that were definite and extreme outliers (all Diebold) compared to the other counties. Those six counties (Mercer, Darke, Highland, Montgomery, Adams, Perry) had undervote rates ranging from 11.2% to 16.3%, with an average of 13.8%, while the other 82 Ohio counties had undervote rates ranging from 0.62% to 6.76%, with an average of 3.37%. The undervotes in the six outlier counties amounted to almost a quarter (24.9%) of the undervotes in the whole state, whereas the total votes in those six counties amounted to only 7.1% of the total votes in the state."
5
Two of these counties -- Darke and Mercer -- did not appear as outliers in the unofficial results. At that time, the undervote rates for these two counties were reported as 3.47% and 3.51%, respectively. The differences between the unofficial and official results are ridiculous:
COMPARISON OF RESULTS, DARKE COUNTY
Ballots Votes
Cast Counted Undervotes
Unofficial 20,435 19,726 709 3.47%
Official 23,350 20,187 3,163 13.55%
Difference 2,915 461 2,454 84.19%
COMPARISON OF RESULTS, MERCER COUNTY
Ballots Votes
Cast Counted Undervotes
Unofficial 15,510 14,966 544 3.51%
Official 17,483 15,532 1,951 11.16%
Difference 1,973 566 1,407 71.31%
There you have it. The percentage of provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots containing no vote for Senator was 84.19% in Darke County, and 71.31% in Mercer County. Either that, or the official results are not true and correct -- which is, of course, the case.
When the unofficial results were posted on Blackwell’s website, it was reported that there were 300 unexamined absentee and provisional ballots in Darke County, and 534 in Mercer County. Somehow, another 461 votes were counted in Darke County, and another 566 in Mercer County. These numbers cannot be right. And there is surely no legitimate way to account for an additional 2,915 ballots cast in Darke County, and 1,973 in Mercer County. Again, the problem lies in the Diebold tabulators, which are programmed to produce two sets of numbers for ballots cast. Very likely, Darke and Mercer counties reported the lower number in their unofficial results, and the higher number in their official results.
The obviously incorrect results in the other 10 counties are mainly attributable to the same problem that appeared in the 2005 election, the programming of Diebold tabulators to report two sets of numbers for ballots cast. One, “times counted,” may or may not be correct; the other, “cards cast,” equals “times counted” plus the number of absentee ballots, which thus are counted twice, or even three times. The reason for this is that absentee ballots consist of two or more pages, each of which is tallied as a “card cast.” Or maybe it’s the other way around. It depends which county is being audited. In Summit County, the “times counted” number is the high one. In Cuyahoga County, the “cards cast” number is the high one.
These numbers for “cards cast” and “times counted” also wreak havoc on the turnout data. If enough people vote by absentee ballot, the official turnout can exceed 100% of registered voters. In Summit County, according to the official, certified results, voter turnout was 110.16% countywide, exceeding 100% in three of ten wards in Akron and in all thirty of the suburbs:
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VOTER TURNOUT BY WARDS AND TOWNS, SUMMIT COUNTY
Registered Times Percent Registered Times Percent
Voters Counted Turnout Voters Counted Turnout
Akron Ward 1 15110 15018 99.39 Tallmadge 12721 15939 125.30
Akron Ward 2 11018 8042 72.99 Twinsburg 12630 14425 114.21
Akron Ward 3 13165 9711 73.76 Boston Hts Vill 1038 1267 122.06
Akron Ward 4 14628 14601 99.82 Clinton Vill 826 1056 127.85
Akron Ward 5 12345 7395 59.90 Lakemore Vill 1802 1883 104.50
Akron Ward 6 13605 15550 114.30 Mogadore Vill 2127 2435 114.48
Akron Ward 7 13149 13300 101.15 Northfield Vill 2422 2572 106.19
Akron Ward 8 16787 21908 130.51 Peninsula Vill 454 591 130.18
Akron Ward 9 11279 10769 95.48 Reminderville Vill 1982 2112 106.56
Akron Ward 10 11824 9804 82.92 Richfield Vill 2650 3408 128.60
Akron Total 132910 126098 94.87 Silver Lake Vill 2049 2899 141.48
Bath Twp 7598 10287 135.39
Boston Twp 643 708 110.11
Barberton 16736 17241 103.02 Copley Twp 10864 12759 117.44
Cuyahoga Falls 35148 40170 114.29 Coventry Twp 7599 8667 114.05
Fairlawn 5621 6764 120.33 Northfield Ctr Twp 3944 5009 127.00
Green 17318 20496 118.35 Richfield Twp 1771 2396 135.29
Hudson 17918 22348 124.72 Sagamore Hills Twp 8236 10056 122.10
Macedonia 7771 9373 120.62 Springfield Twp 9770 11732 120.08
Munroe Falls 3949 5108 129.35 Twinsburg Twp 1941 1962 101.08
New Franklin 10399 12804 123.13 Suburbs Total 240537 285309 118.61
Norton 8309 10086 121.39
Stow 24301 28756 118.33 Summit County 373447 411407 110.16
In Cuyahoga County, according to the official, certified results, voter was 100% or more in sixty precincts, one of them in Cleveland, fifty-nine of them in the suburbs:
PRECINCTS WITH 100% TURNOUT, CUYAHOGA COUNTY
Registered Cards Percent Registered Cards Percent
Voters Cast Turnout Voters Cast Turnout
Beachwood 00-C 649 686 105.70 Highland Heights 01-A 946 1083 114.48
Beachwood 00-D 681 750 110.13 Highland Heights 01-B 912 1051 115.24
Beachwood 00-H 684 726 106.14 Highland Heights 02-A 862 871 101.04
Beachwood 00-J 967 986 101.96 Highland Heights 02-B 403 549 136.23
Brecksville 00-E 510 510 100.00 Highland Heights 03-A 869 990 113.92
Brecksville 00-G 827 843 101.93 Highland Heights 03-B 933 963 103.22
Brecksville 00-N 552 555 100.54 Independence 00-C 796 805 101.13
Broadview Heights 05-C 1035 1066 103.00 Independence 00-G 852 872 102.35
Broadview Heights 05-D 946 967 102.22 Independence 00-H 696 696 100.00
Cleveland 04-G 727 784 107.84 Lyndhurst 03-E 454 572 125.99
Cleveland Heights 02-B 618 643 104.05 Lyndhurst 04-C 619 704 113.73
Fairview Park 05-A 652 685 105.06 Lyndhurst 04-D 496 561 113.10
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MORE PRECINCTS WITH 100% TURNOUT, CUYAHOGA COUNTY
Registered Cards Percent Registered Cards Percent
Voters Cast Turnout Voters Cast Turnout
Mayfield Heights 00-B 610 610 100.00 Rocky River 04-F 509 523 102.75
Mayfield Village 03-A 465 467 100.43 Seven Hills 01-B 821 825 100.49
Middleburg Heights 04-C 630 642 101.90 Seven Hills 01-C 747 766 102.54
North Olmsted 03-B 906 994 109.71 Seven Hills 03-B 831 875 105.29
North Royalton 06-E 976 1036 106.15 Seven Hills 03-C 915 988 107.98
Olmsted Township 00-A 980 994 101.43 Shaker Heights 00-B 518 531 102.51
Orange 00-B 698 702 100.57 Shaker Heights 00-E 640 653 102.03
Parma 03-H 46 46 100.00 Shaker Heights 00-W 792 804 101.52
Parma 05-A 625 641 102.56 Shaker Heights 00-AA 562 678 120.64
Parma 05-E 1031 1068 103.59 Shaker Heights 00-JJ 740 776 104.86
Parma 07-B 724 747 103.18 Strongsville 01-L 580 606 104.48
Pepper Pike 00-A 722 875 121.19 Strongsville 03-A 523 636 121.61
Pepper Pike 00-F 556 620 111.51 Strongsville 03-B 834 850 101.92
Pepper Pike 00-H 442 449 101.58 Valley View 00-B 445 468 105.17
Richmond Heights 04-C 522 544 104.21 Walton Hills 00-B 642 667 103.89
Rocky River 01-G 519 540 104.05 Walton Hills 00-C 634 641 101.10
Rocky River 02-A 588 628 106.80 Westlake 01-E 757 807 106.61
Rocky River 02-C 309 345 111.65 Westlake 05-C 720 739 102.64
This is not a case of “voter fraud,” of dishonest people voting early and often. This is a case of election fraud, of dishonest vendors deliberately programming tabulators to produce false data. The tabulators do not have to be “hacked” in order to make it possible to throw an election. The tabulators are programmed to make it possible to throw an election. If we do not know how many ballots were cast, then we do not know if all the votes were counted, or if too many votes were counted. And if we cannot trust the count for total votes, we cannot trust the count for the individual candidates.
There is no legitimate reason for any accounting system to keep two sets of books. It is an open invitation to error and fraud. The result is, at best, an erroneously high number of undervotes and, at worst, a window of opportunity for altering the vote count. Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell had a choice of which, if either, of these numbers to post as the number of ballots cast. Ohio had the good sense to get rid of Blackwell. Now Ohio needs to get rid of Diebold. Diebold tabulators need to be decertified in Ohio and in every other state of the Union.
This blog does not Accomodate tables well so bare with the misalignment.
Please read the below research on "Auditing the Mid-Term Election" by Richard Hayes Phillips. It is also in the attachment in case you want to print it out. If you are able to send it on to others do so, or print it, and hand it to them, or cover it in the course of your job, please do so.. Those who would rig our elections must go, and those machines must go away also. I am also sending you a letter on the upcoming Holt bill, HR811 and why it must be stopped NOW! Democracy and your country needs you. Please act.
The whole paper is important below, but make sure you look at the last two pages and how Summit (Akron) and Cuyahoga (Cleveland) Counties had over 100% of the voters voting. Please ask... how is that even possible, and how did these people certify their elections... including Kenneth Blackwell. Hmmm.... The data comes in columns, if the email doesn't keep it in columns, look at the 8 page attachment (and if you don't have time to read the whole thing now.... look at the last two pages now, read the rest later).
Log
AUDITING THE MID-TERM ELECTION
January 2, 2007
In the 2006 general election, according to unofficial results posted on the website of Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, there were 4,177,498 ballots cast in the State of Ohio.
Of these, only 3,831,716, or 91.72%, contained a vote for Governor, and only 3,826,829, or 91.61%, contained a vote for United States Senate. These numbers created the appearance of undervote (or overvote) rates of 8.28% and 8.39%, respectively, in the two most hotly contested statewide races on the ballot. When the unofficial election results are examined county by county, there was a strikingly abnormal distribution of undervotes. I chose the United States Senate race to examine in detail because there were only two candidates on the ballot (and one write-in candidate), which makes the mathematical analysis simpler than for the Governor's race, in which there were four candidates on the ballot (and two write-in candidates).
The methodology was simple. The percentage of undervotes for each county was derived by fifth grade mathematics. The total number of votes counted for the candidates combined was subtracted from the number of ballots cast. The remainder is the number of uncounted ballots, or undervotes. This number was divided by the number of ballots cast to determine the percentage of ballots left uncounted in each county.
There are 88 counties in Ohio. Of these 88 counties, according to unofficial results posted by J. Kenneth Blackwell, 71 counties had rates of under votes ranging from 0.88% (in Greene County) to 6.90% (in Holmes County). In 62 of these 71 counties, the percentages were tightly clustered between 2.00% and 4.50%. The rate in these 71 counties combined was 2.99%.
In 16 of the other 17 counties, including 4 of the 10 most populous counties in the State of Ohio, the percentages of undervotes were clearly anomalous, ranging from 11.91% (in Montgomery County) to 26.48% (in Cuyahoga County), with a combined rate of 19.46%, or six and one-half times the rate in the rest of the state. Just four counties -- Cuyahoga, Lucas, Montgomery and Stark -- accounted for 219,332 undervotes, or 62.55% of the statewide total of 350,669. Cuyahoga County alone accounted for 148,928 undervotes, or 42.47% of the statewide total. It was difficult to believe that more than one in four voters in Cuyahoga County could not decide between Sherrod Brown and Mike DeWine.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: UNITED STATES SENATE
Ballots Votes Undervotes/
Cast Counted Overvotes
16 counties 1,382,455 1,113,568 268,987 19.46%
71 counties 2,775,090 2,692,133 82,957 2.99%
In Marion County, Blackwell reported 19,853 total votes cast, and 21,128 votes counted for the United States Senate candidates -- an overcount of 1,275 votes. These are known as "phantom votes," because they are apparitions, with no explainable origin. There can never be more votes counted for an office than the number of persons voting in the election.
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UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: UNDERVOTES AND OVERVOTES
County Ballots Votes Undervotes/ Voting
Cast Counted Overvotes Technology
Cuyahoga 562,498 413,570 148,928 26.48% touch screen
Morrow 15,679 12,242 3,437 21.92% touch screen
Belmont 29,045 23,192 5,853 20.15% touch screen
Coshocton 16,138 13,107 3,031 18.78% touch screen
Licking 70,705 57,704 13,001 18.39% touch screen
Jackson 12,025 9,974 2,051 17.06% touch screen
Lucas 164,003 139,003 25,000 15.24% touch screen
Tuscarawas 36,124 30,750 5,374 14.88% touch screen
Stark 139,646 119,011 20,635 14.78% touch screen
Perry 12,775 10,894 1,881 14.72% touch screen
Carroll 12,664 10,898 1,766 13.95% touch screen
Highland 14,351 12,358 1,993 13.89% touch screen
Wood 50,666 44,190 6,476 12.78% touch screen
Adam 9,592 8,378 1,214 12.66% touch screen
Hancock 28,692 25,114 3,578 12.47% touch screen
Montgomery 207,952 183,183 24,769 11.91% touch screen
Marion 19,853 21,128 - 1,275 - 6.42% touch screen
Note that there is no county falling between Holmes County (6.90%) and Montgomery County (11.91%). The counties listed above are clearly anomalous. The unofficial results cannot be right. And, of course, the unofficial results in Marion County are impossible.
Note also that all 17 counties listed above utilized touch screen voting machines, known in the trade as Direct Recording Electronic (DRE). 31 of 88 Ohio counties utilized optical scanners, and none of them had this problem. Data on voting technology utilized in 2006 by each Ohio county is displayed on a map provided by www.yourvotecountsohio.org As it happens, the voting machine vendor in all 17 of these touch screen counties was Diebold Election Systems.
In the 2005 general election in Ohio, several counties reported incorrect figures for total ballots cast. The false numbers were derived by counting absentee ballots at least twice, as the Diebold tabulators are programmed to do. That was one possible explanation. A more disturbing possibility was that some 227,000 votes had been lost by touch screen voting machines in Ohio.
There were 1,402,408 ballots cast in these 17 counties. If the rate of undervotes (touch screen machines do not allow overvotes) had been about 3%, as was the case elsewhere in the state, there would have been about 42,000. Instead there were 267,712 (or 268,987 if one takes into account the 1,275 phantom votes in Marion County). Whether or not this "affected the outcome," a phrase generally intended to mean who won and who lost the election, is beside the point. If 227,000 votes were not counted, the outcome was affected.
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I stated at that time that even if the official results were to reduce these discrepancies, the question would remain as to how the unofficial results could have been so erroneous in the first place. Once the official results were posted on the website of J. Kenneth Blackwell, I was able to compare the official and unofficial results for the 17 suspect counties and analyze the changes.
COMPARISON OF UNOFFICIAL AND OFFICIAL RESULTS, UNITED STATES SENATE
-- Unofficial Results -- -- Official Results --
Ballots Votes Ballots Votes
County Cast Counted Undervotes Cast Counted Undervotes
Cuyahoga 562,498 413,570 148,928 26.48% 468,056 452,832 15,224 3.25%
Morrow 15,679 12,242 3,437 21.92% 12,952 12,481 471 3.64%
Belmont 29,045 23,192 5,853 20.15% 24,484 23,556 928 3.79%
Coshocton 16,138 13,107 3,031 18.78% 13,865 13,366 499 3.60%
Licking 70,705 57,704 13,001 18.39% 60,726 58,923 1,803 2.97%
Jackson 12,025 9,974 2,051 17.06% 10,669 10,288 381 3.57%
Lucas 164,003 139,003 25,000 15.24% 146,652 142,304 4,348 2.96%
Tuscarawas 36,124 30,750 5,374 14.88% 31,913 31,385 528 1.65%
Stark 139,646 119,011 20,635 14.78% 143,753 139,264 4,489 3.12%
Perry 12,775 10,894 1,881 14.72% 13,368 11,189 2,179 16.30%
Carroll 12,664 10,898 1,766 13.95% 11,566 11,053 513 4.44%
Highland 14,351 12,358 1,993 13.89% 15,064 12,981 2,083 13.83%
Wood 50,666 44,190 6,476 12.78% 47,089 45,515 1,574 3.34%
Adams 9,592 8,378 1,214 12.66% 9,972 8,570 1,402 14.06%
Hancock 28,692 25,114 3,578 12.47% 26,147 25,622 525 2.01%
Montgomery 207,952 183,183 24,769 11.91% 219,153 188,836 30,317 13.83%
Marion 19,853 21,128 - 1,275 - 6.42% 22,224 21,604 620 2.79%
Subtotal 1,402,408 1,134,696 267,712 19.09% 1,277,653 1,209,769 67,884 5.31%
As shown in the table above, in four counties (Adams, Highland, Montgomery and Perry) the egregious errors in the election results have not been corrected. There are still far more ballots cast than votes counted. In fact, the discrepancies are even greater than in the unofficial results. In Montgomery County alone, there were 30,317 voters, or 13.83%, who did not vote for United States Senator. Either that, or the official results are not true and correct – which is, of course, the case. And this is not the only problem with the official results.
In 11 of the counties where, according to unofficial results, ballots cast had far exceeded the number of votes counted, the reported number of ballots cast has been revised downward. In Marion County, which originally reported 1,275 more votes counted than ballots cast, which is impossible, it is now acknowledged that the number of ballots cast had been underreported in the unofficial results. But in Stark County, where 20,635 undervotes, or 14.78% of ballots cast, were originally reported, the Board of Elections now reports, in the official results, 4,107 more ballots cast than in the unofficial results:
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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN UNOFFICIAL AND OFFICIAL RESULTS
Ballots Votes Absentee/
County Cast Counted Undervotes Provisional
Cuyahoga - 94,442 + 39,262 -133,704 30,791
Morrow - 2,727 + 239 - 2,966 271
Belmont - 4,561 + 364 - 4,925 529
Coshocton - 2,273 + 259 - 2,532 157
Licking - 9,979 + 1,219 - 11,198 1,464
Jackson - 1,356 + 314 - 1,670 464
Lucas - 17,351 + 3,301 - 20,652 3,694
Tuscarawas - 4,211 + 635 - 4,846 497
Stark + 4,107 + 20,253 - 16,146 4,488
Perry + 593 + 295 + 298 369
Carroll - 1,098 + 155 - 1,253 244
Highland + 713 + 623 + 90 646
Wood - 3,577 + 1,325 - 4,902 1,664
Adams + 380 + 192 + 188 265
Hancock - 2,545 + 508 - 3,053 851
Montgomery + 11,201 + 5,653 + 5,548 10,272
Marion + 2,371 + 476 + 1,895 698
Subtotal -124,755 + 75,073 -199,828
In Stark County, according to Blackwell’s website, there had been, at the time the unofficial results were reported, 4,488 absentee and provisional ballots yet to be examined – from which, no doubt, the 4,107 additional ballots were drawn. Thus there is no indication from the Board of Elections that the number of ballots cast was overreported in the unofficial results. Rather, the number of votes counted was underreported. These numbers deserve closer scrutiny:
COMPARISON OF RESULTS, STARK COUNTY
Sherrod Mike Richard
Brown DeWine Duncan
Unofficial 68,266 50,741 4
Official 79,900 59,353 11
Difference 11,634 8,612 7
If there were only 4,107 additional ballots in Stark County, how did Sherrod Brown gain 11,634 votes, and how did Mike DeWine gain 8,612 votes? Where did these votes come from? If there were only 4,488 unexamined absentee and provisional ballots, where did the 20,253 newly counted votes come from? These numbers are impossible.
In fact, there are three other counties (Coshocton, Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas) where the number of newly counted votes exceeds the number of absentee and provisional ballots that remained to be examined on Election Night. In Cuyahoga County, there were 39,262 newly counted votes, drawn from only 30,791 unexamined absentee and provisional ballots. These numbers also deserve closer scrutiny:
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COMPARISON OF RESULTS, CUYAHOGA COUNTY
Sherrod Mike Richard
Brown DeWine Duncan
Unofficial 291,469 122,101 0
Official 319,568 133,235 29
Difference 28,099 11,134 29
If there were only 30,791 absentee and provisional ballots in Cuyahoga County that remained to be examined on Election Night, how did Sherrod Brown gain 28,099 votes and Mike DeWine gain 11,134 votes? These numbers are impossible.
Finally, the vote totals for Richard Duncan, a write-in candidate, cannot be right. By comparing the unofficial and official results, one sees that his vote totals actually decreased, sometimes substantially, in four counties (Coshocton, Highland, Lucas, and Marion). This is especially ridiculous in light of the fact that, in many counties, write-in votes are not counted on Election Night, and thus are not included in the unofficial results. For example, Richard Duncan received 29 write-in votes in Cuyahoga County, none of which appeared in the unofficial results.
COMPARISON OF RESULTS FOR RICHARD DUNCAN
County Unofficial Official Difference
Coshocton 6 2 - 4
Highland 31 10 - 21
Lucas 129 15 - 114
Marion 19 0 - 19
How did Richard Duncan lose 4 of his 6 votes in Coshocton County, 10 of his 31 votes in Highland County, 114 of his 129 votes in Lucas County, and all of his 19 votes in Marion County? These numbers are impossible.
There were 17 Ohio counties for which the unofficial results could not have been correct. Of these, only 7 counties (Belmont, Carroll, Hancock, Jackson, Licking, Morrow and Wood) have posted official results that withstand scrutiny. But there are more.
Dale Tavris performed a similar analysis of the 2006 Senate race. Using official results only, he identified not four, but six counties with inexplicably high percentages of undervotes:
"Furthermore, there were six counties that were definite and extreme outliers (all Diebold) compared to the other counties. Those six counties (Mercer, Darke, Highland, Montgomery, Adams, Perry) had undervote rates ranging from 11.2% to 16.3%, with an average of 13.8%, while the other 82 Ohio counties had undervote rates ranging from 0.62% to 6.76%, with an average of 3.37%. The undervotes in the six outlier counties amounted to almost a quarter (24.9%) of the undervotes in the whole state, whereas the total votes in those six counties amounted to only 7.1% of the total votes in the state."
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Two of these counties -- Darke and Mercer -- did not appear as outliers in the unofficial results. At that time, the undervote rates for these two counties were reported as 3.47% and 3.51%, respectively. The differences between the unofficial and official results are ridiculous:
COMPARISON OF RESULTS, DARKE COUNTY
Ballots Votes
Cast Counted Undervotes
Unofficial 20,435 19,726 709 3.47%
Official 23,350 20,187 3,163 13.55%
Difference 2,915 461 2,454 84.19%
COMPARISON OF RESULTS, MERCER COUNTY
Ballots Votes
Cast Counted Undervotes
Unofficial 15,510 14,966 544 3.51%
Official 17,483 15,532 1,951 11.16%
Difference 1,973 566 1,407 71.31%
There you have it. The percentage of provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots containing no vote for Senator was 84.19% in Darke County, and 71.31% in Mercer County. Either that, or the official results are not true and correct -- which is, of course, the case.
When the unofficial results were posted on Blackwell’s website, it was reported that there were 300 unexamined absentee and provisional ballots in Darke County, and 534 in Mercer County. Somehow, another 461 votes were counted in Darke County, and another 566 in Mercer County. These numbers cannot be right. And there is surely no legitimate way to account for an additional 2,915 ballots cast in Darke County, and 1,973 in Mercer County. Again, the problem lies in the Diebold tabulators, which are programmed to produce two sets of numbers for ballots cast. Very likely, Darke and Mercer counties reported the lower number in their unofficial results, and the higher number in their official results.
The obviously incorrect results in the other 10 counties are mainly attributable to the same problem that appeared in the 2005 election, the programming of Diebold tabulators to report two sets of numbers for ballots cast. One, “times counted,” may or may not be correct; the other, “cards cast,” equals “times counted” plus the number of absentee ballots, which thus are counted twice, or even three times. The reason for this is that absentee ballots consist of two or more pages, each of which is tallied as a “card cast.” Or maybe it’s the other way around. It depends which county is being audited. In Summit County, the “times counted” number is the high one. In Cuyahoga County, the “cards cast” number is the high one.
These numbers for “cards cast” and “times counted” also wreak havoc on the turnout data. If enough people vote by absentee ballot, the official turnout can exceed 100% of registered voters. In Summit County, according to the official, certified results, voter turnout was 110.16% countywide, exceeding 100% in three of ten wards in Akron and in all thirty of the suburbs:
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VOTER TURNOUT BY WARDS AND TOWNS, SUMMIT COUNTY
Registered Times Percent Registered Times Percent
Voters Counted Turnout Voters Counted Turnout
Akron Ward 1 15110 15018 99.39 Tallmadge 12721 15939 125.30
Akron Ward 2 11018 8042 72.99 Twinsburg 12630 14425 114.21
Akron Ward 3 13165 9711 73.76 Boston Hts Vill 1038 1267 122.06
Akron Ward 4 14628 14601 99.82 Clinton Vill 826 1056 127.85
Akron Ward 5 12345 7395 59.90 Lakemore Vill 1802 1883 104.50
Akron Ward 6 13605 15550 114.30 Mogadore Vill 2127 2435 114.48
Akron Ward 7 13149 13300 101.15 Northfield Vill 2422 2572 106.19
Akron Ward 8 16787 21908 130.51 Peninsula Vill 454 591 130.18
Akron Ward 9 11279 10769 95.48 Reminderville Vill 1982 2112 106.56
Akron Ward 10 11824 9804 82.92 Richfield Vill 2650 3408 128.60
Akron Total 132910 126098 94.87 Silver Lake Vill 2049 2899 141.48
Bath Twp 7598 10287 135.39
Boston Twp 643 708 110.11
Barberton 16736 17241 103.02 Copley Twp 10864 12759 117.44
Cuyahoga Falls 35148 40170 114.29 Coventry Twp 7599 8667 114.05
Fairlawn 5621 6764 120.33 Northfield Ctr Twp 3944 5009 127.00
Green 17318 20496 118.35 Richfield Twp 1771 2396 135.29
Hudson 17918 22348 124.72 Sagamore Hills Twp 8236 10056 122.10
Macedonia 7771 9373 120.62 Springfield Twp 9770 11732 120.08
Munroe Falls 3949 5108 129.35 Twinsburg Twp 1941 1962 101.08
New Franklin 10399 12804 123.13 Suburbs Total 240537 285309 118.61
Norton 8309 10086 121.39
Stow 24301 28756 118.33 Summit County 373447 411407 110.16
In Cuyahoga County, according to the official, certified results, voter was 100% or more in sixty precincts, one of them in Cleveland, fifty-nine of them in the suburbs:
PRECINCTS WITH 100% TURNOUT, CUYAHOGA COUNTY
Registered Cards Percent Registered Cards Percent
Voters Cast Turnout Voters Cast Turnout
Beachwood 00-C 649 686 105.70 Highland Heights 01-A 946 1083 114.48
Beachwood 00-D 681 750 110.13 Highland Heights 01-B 912 1051 115.24
Beachwood 00-H 684 726 106.14 Highland Heights 02-A 862 871 101.04
Beachwood 00-J 967 986 101.96 Highland Heights 02-B 403 549 136.23
Brecksville 00-E 510 510 100.00 Highland Heights 03-A 869 990 113.92
Brecksville 00-G 827 843 101.93 Highland Heights 03-B 933 963 103.22
Brecksville 00-N 552 555 100.54 Independence 00-C 796 805 101.13
Broadview Heights 05-C 1035 1066 103.00 Independence 00-G 852 872 102.35
Broadview Heights 05-D 946 967 102.22 Independence 00-H 696 696 100.00
Cleveland 04-G 727 784 107.84 Lyndhurst 03-E 454 572 125.99
Cleveland Heights 02-B 618 643 104.05 Lyndhurst 04-C 619 704 113.73
Fairview Park 05-A 652 685 105.06 Lyndhurst 04-D 496 561 113.10
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MORE PRECINCTS WITH 100% TURNOUT, CUYAHOGA COUNTY
Registered Cards Percent Registered Cards Percent
Voters Cast Turnout Voters Cast Turnout
Mayfield Heights 00-B 610 610 100.00 Rocky River 04-F 509 523 102.75
Mayfield Village 03-A 465 467 100.43 Seven Hills 01-B 821 825 100.49
Middleburg Heights 04-C 630 642 101.90 Seven Hills 01-C 747 766 102.54
North Olmsted 03-B 906 994 109.71 Seven Hills 03-B 831 875 105.29
North Royalton 06-E 976 1036 106.15 Seven Hills 03-C 915 988 107.98
Olmsted Township 00-A 980 994 101.43 Shaker Heights 00-B 518 531 102.51
Orange 00-B 698 702 100.57 Shaker Heights 00-E 640 653 102.03
Parma 03-H 46 46 100.00 Shaker Heights 00-W 792 804 101.52
Parma 05-A 625 641 102.56 Shaker Heights 00-AA 562 678 120.64
Parma 05-E 1031 1068 103.59 Shaker Heights 00-JJ 740 776 104.86
Parma 07-B 724 747 103.18 Strongsville 01-L 580 606 104.48
Pepper Pike 00-A 722 875 121.19 Strongsville 03-A 523 636 121.61
Pepper Pike 00-F 556 620 111.51 Strongsville 03-B 834 850 101.92
Pepper Pike 00-H 442 449 101.58 Valley View 00-B 445 468 105.17
Richmond Heights 04-C 522 544 104.21 Walton Hills 00-B 642 667 103.89
Rocky River 01-G 519 540 104.05 Walton Hills 00-C 634 641 101.10
Rocky River 02-A 588 628 106.80 Westlake 01-E 757 807 106.61
Rocky River 02-C 309 345 111.65 Westlake 05-C 720 739 102.64
This is not a case of “voter fraud,” of dishonest people voting early and often. This is a case of election fraud, of dishonest vendors deliberately programming tabulators to produce false data. The tabulators do not have to be “hacked” in order to make it possible to throw an election. The tabulators are programmed to make it possible to throw an election. If we do not know how many ballots were cast, then we do not know if all the votes were counted, or if too many votes were counted. And if we cannot trust the count for total votes, we cannot trust the count for the individual candidates.
There is no legitimate reason for any accounting system to keep two sets of books. It is an open invitation to error and fraud. The result is, at best, an erroneously high number of undervotes and, at worst, a window of opportunity for altering the vote count. Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell had a choice of which, if either, of these numbers to post as the number of ballots cast. Ohio had the good sense to get rid of Blackwell. Now Ohio needs to get rid of Diebold. Diebold tabulators need to be decertified in Ohio and in every other state of the Union.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Cuyahoga County Ohio Elections Official Michael Vu Just Hired On In San Diego, California
Heads up repost.
Paul, You have my vote! :P
San Diego County hires Vu as assistant registrar
By: GIG CONAUGHTON - Staff Writer
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego County officials said Wednesday that they had hired former Cuyahoga County, Ohio elections Chief Michael Vu as assistant registrar of voters.
Vu, 30, resigned as executive director of Cuyahoga County's elections board in February after 3 1/2 years.
San Diego County officials declined to make Vu available for an interview Wednesday. However, Vu was quoted in previous interviews as saying it was his decision to resign, based upon his belief that the Cuyahoga board wanted new leadership.
Vu was praised by elections board officials in Ohio as successfully overseeing election changes that led to a November 2006 general election that had few problems.
But Vu also gained national notoriety, and the characterization of "embattled," as the Ohio county -- a "swing state" in national elections -- struggled with a switch to electronic voting, and two elections workers were convicted for "rigging" a 2004 elections recount.
Mikel Haas, who was San Diego County's registrar of voters until being promoted last month to become the county's director of community services, said Wednesday that the county immediately moved to contact Vu when he became available and felt lucky to hire him.
Haas said that Vu was specifically hired to be assistant registrar, and that county officials were still searching for a permanent registrar. Retired Riverside County Registrar Mischelle Townsend was named San Diego County's interim director last week.
The county had been without an assistant registrar for many months.
"We needed an assistant registrar," Haas said, "and to get someone with this kind of experience in that size of jurisdiction (nearly 1 million voters), with both punch card ballots and moving to electronic voting -- he was a natural."
Haas said that Vu would be paid $130,000 a year.
The news of Vu's hiring drew immediate disapproval and bewilderment from a small number of critics who have sharply criticized San Diego County's handling of recent elections and its own switch to electronic "touch-screen" computers.
"I'm disappointed, I think San Diego voters deserve better than this," Carlsbad attorney Ken Simpkins said.
Simpkins unsuccessfully sued Haas, as county registrar, over how to count paper ballots, and to force the county to stock enough paper ballots at polling places to cover the county's 1.3 million voters in November.
"I don't know why Mr. Vu resigned, but like I said, San Diego voters deserve better," Simpkins said. "Out of all the qualified people it's surprising that they end up choosing somebody with the reputation that (Vu's) got."
Haas said Vu resigned for personal reasons and had family living on the West Coast.
He said Vu had been an elections officer for a decade, working in Salt Lake City, Utah, before taking over in Cuyahoga County.
Cuyahoga County was a "battleground" for elections officials because it was a swing state and routinely came under national scrutiny that magnified any problems that occurred, Haas said.
"(Vu) worked under a crucible there," Haas said. "Try being an election official in the largest county in a swing state during a presidential election. He was certainly battle-tested."
Among the problems that gained national notoriety during Vu's Ohio tenure, a federal judge in Cleveland in November's elections ordered 16 Cuyahoga County polling stations to stay open 90 minutes after the 7:30 p.m. closing time because of voting machine problems and long wait lines for voters -- up to 14 hours. In January, a court convicted two elections workers of illegally rigging the 2004 presidential election recount so they could avoid a more complete review of votes.
Vu defended the workers, saying they had followed longtime procedures and done nothing wrong.
-- Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.
____________________________________________________
More on Vu...
___________________________________________________
Cuyahoga County Ohio elections official Michael Vu Just Hired on in San Diego, California
(& Comparing voter fraud with election fraud)
Given that presidential elections, at least, involve the question of control of trillions of federal dollars, the world's sole military superpower, and the world's richest country -- the United States of America -- I am unable to blind myself to the fact that there could hardly be any higher material incentive to cheat in elections than this.
While it remains absurd to believe that illegal voting (which normally nets one lousy vote) is worth a potential 5 or more year felony sentence for "voter fraud", it is infinitely more believable that those motivated by the above highest stakes in the world would contact insiders in elections or become insiders in elections who can deliver the only result that counts: the election result.
The whole DOJ "voter fraud" investigation thing is an exercise in misdirection, finding "no organized effort" to skew elections, but focusing only on the risks coming from outsiders (citizens).
How many people know that two elections officials in Ohio were recently convicted on felony counts for rigging the 2004 presidential recount? They were sentenced not to 5 years but to 18 months for rigging the entire election recount to come out OK. As shown in this case, conflicts of interest for elections officials abound and include the desire to protect their reputation (having signed off on the first count) and the desire to avoid working, especially through Thanksgiving (the two proven motives in Cuyahoga County, OH). That's a Democratic county that could not be trusted to recount Democratic votes that could only benefit the Democrat, Kerry. CYA trumps partisanship, big time.
Now elections official Michael Vu, (formerly head in Cuyahoga County) has just been hired on by San Diego County. After two felony convictions, and the removal of his entire elections board by the Ohio Secretary of State on grounds of malfeasance generally, this elections official insider has this to say about the two convicted election-rigging felons from our 2004 presidential election: " Vu defended the workers, saying they had followed longtime procedures and done nothing wrong." http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/12/news/sandiego/5_02_564_11_07.txt
These were not "workers" they were officials, and the judge who presided specifically said he believes there was a conspiracy that went further. Unlike robbing a bank, where one does not get to be a bank official or set future bank vault security policy, after successfully stealing an election, one does or can get to be an elections official or gets to set future elections "security" policy. In these security policies, none give substantial attention to or identifies the obvious fact that insiders, i.e. elections officials, are the #1 risk. Even a private attorney would have to disclose such conflicts to their clients in writing. But it's hard to get this reality into news coverage.
Is it too much to expect all of us, even the media, to be watchdogs, sentinels or defenders of representative democracy? At least a minority of them? Any such sentinel has to be able to be clear-eyed about all of the risks, and has to investigate all such risks even if "it's probably nothing, just the cat...".
Instead, officials who preside over felonious presidential recounts and forced from office, defend the felons instead of democracy and are called "battle tested" and then pitied for having to suffer so much scrutiny in a battleground state, according to outgoing Registrar Mikel Haas quoted in the North County Times (link above).
If you look into the Ohio convictions, these mid-level officials spent two entire days rigging the presidential recount so that it would come out OK. Vu denies knowledge, said they "followed longtime procedures and [did] nothing wrong." Are elections officials even exempt from even recognizing the force of criminal convictions?
I will be looking with great curiosity to see which citizens, bloggers and others pick up this mainstream media story in the San Diego area, and its connection to Ohio 2004, and the overriding importance of defending democracy from insiders even more than from outsiders. Everyone votes, so everyone takes sides in elections and ultimately nobody can be trusted. Checks and balances are a form of institutionalized distrust. Trust in results can only be achieved by lots of public eyeballs on the process, which in turn can only be achieved when the public oversight eliminated by computerized electronic voting is fully restored.
Paul Lehto
Attorney at Law
lehtolawyer@gmail.com
OK to forward or blog this email with all attribution preserved.
Paul, You have my vote! :P
San Diego County hires Vu as assistant registrar
By: GIG CONAUGHTON - Staff Writer
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego County officials said Wednesday that they had hired former Cuyahoga County, Ohio elections Chief Michael Vu as assistant registrar of voters.
Vu, 30, resigned as executive director of Cuyahoga County's elections board in February after 3 1/2 years.
San Diego County officials declined to make Vu available for an interview Wednesday. However, Vu was quoted in previous interviews as saying it was his decision to resign, based upon his belief that the Cuyahoga board wanted new leadership.
Vu was praised by elections board officials in Ohio as successfully overseeing election changes that led to a November 2006 general election that had few problems.
But Vu also gained national notoriety, and the characterization of "embattled," as the Ohio county -- a "swing state" in national elections -- struggled with a switch to electronic voting, and two elections workers were convicted for "rigging" a 2004 elections recount.
Mikel Haas, who was San Diego County's registrar of voters until being promoted last month to become the county's director of community services, said Wednesday that the county immediately moved to contact Vu when he became available and felt lucky to hire him.
Haas said that Vu was specifically hired to be assistant registrar, and that county officials were still searching for a permanent registrar. Retired Riverside County Registrar Mischelle Townsend was named San Diego County's interim director last week.
The county had been without an assistant registrar for many months.
"We needed an assistant registrar," Haas said, "and to get someone with this kind of experience in that size of jurisdiction (nearly 1 million voters), with both punch card ballots and moving to electronic voting -- he was a natural."
Haas said that Vu would be paid $130,000 a year.
The news of Vu's hiring drew immediate disapproval and bewilderment from a small number of critics who have sharply criticized San Diego County's handling of recent elections and its own switch to electronic "touch-screen" computers.
"I'm disappointed, I think San Diego voters deserve better than this," Carlsbad attorney Ken Simpkins said.
Simpkins unsuccessfully sued Haas, as county registrar, over how to count paper ballots, and to force the county to stock enough paper ballots at polling places to cover the county's 1.3 million voters in November.
"I don't know why Mr. Vu resigned, but like I said, San Diego voters deserve better," Simpkins said. "Out of all the qualified people it's surprising that they end up choosing somebody with the reputation that (Vu's) got."
Haas said Vu resigned for personal reasons and had family living on the West Coast.
He said Vu had been an elections officer for a decade, working in Salt Lake City, Utah, before taking over in Cuyahoga County.
Cuyahoga County was a "battleground" for elections officials because it was a swing state and routinely came under national scrutiny that magnified any problems that occurred, Haas said.
"(Vu) worked under a crucible there," Haas said. "Try being an election official in the largest county in a swing state during a presidential election. He was certainly battle-tested."
Among the problems that gained national notoriety during Vu's Ohio tenure, a federal judge in Cleveland in November's elections ordered 16 Cuyahoga County polling stations to stay open 90 minutes after the 7:30 p.m. closing time because of voting machine problems and long wait lines for voters -- up to 14 hours. In January, a court convicted two elections workers of illegally rigging the 2004 presidential election recount so they could avoid a more complete review of votes.
Vu defended the workers, saying they had followed longtime procedures and done nothing wrong.
-- Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.
____________________________________________________
More on Vu...
___________________________________________________
Cuyahoga County Ohio elections official Michael Vu Just Hired on in San Diego, California
(& Comparing voter fraud with election fraud)
Given that presidential elections, at least, involve the question of control of trillions of federal dollars, the world's sole military superpower, and the world's richest country -- the United States of America -- I am unable to blind myself to the fact that there could hardly be any higher material incentive to cheat in elections than this.
While it remains absurd to believe that illegal voting (which normally nets one lousy vote) is worth a potential 5 or more year felony sentence for "voter fraud", it is infinitely more believable that those motivated by the above highest stakes in the world would contact insiders in elections or become insiders in elections who can deliver the only result that counts: the election result.
The whole DOJ "voter fraud" investigation thing is an exercise in misdirection, finding "no organized effort" to skew elections, but focusing only on the risks coming from outsiders (citizens).
How many people know that two elections officials in Ohio were recently convicted on felony counts for rigging the 2004 presidential recount? They were sentenced not to 5 years but to 18 months for rigging the entire election recount to come out OK. As shown in this case, conflicts of interest for elections officials abound and include the desire to protect their reputation (having signed off on the first count) and the desire to avoid working, especially through Thanksgiving (the two proven motives in Cuyahoga County, OH). That's a Democratic county that could not be trusted to recount Democratic votes that could only benefit the Democrat, Kerry. CYA trumps partisanship, big time.
Now elections official Michael Vu, (formerly head in Cuyahoga County) has just been hired on by San Diego County. After two felony convictions, and the removal of his entire elections board by the Ohio Secretary of State on grounds of malfeasance generally, this elections official insider has this to say about the two convicted election-rigging felons from our 2004 presidential election: " Vu defended the workers, saying they had followed longtime procedures and done nothing wrong." http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/12/news/sandiego/5_02_564_11_07.txt
These were not "workers" they were officials, and the judge who presided specifically said he believes there was a conspiracy that went further. Unlike robbing a bank, where one does not get to be a bank official or set future bank vault security policy, after successfully stealing an election, one does or can get to be an elections official or gets to set future elections "security" policy. In these security policies, none give substantial attention to or identifies the obvious fact that insiders, i.e. elections officials, are the #1 risk. Even a private attorney would have to disclose such conflicts to their clients in writing. But it's hard to get this reality into news coverage.
Is it too much to expect all of us, even the media, to be watchdogs, sentinels or defenders of representative democracy? At least a minority of them? Any such sentinel has to be able to be clear-eyed about all of the risks, and has to investigate all such risks even if "it's probably nothing, just the cat...".
Instead, officials who preside over felonious presidential recounts and forced from office, defend the felons instead of democracy and are called "battle tested" and then pitied for having to suffer so much scrutiny in a battleground state, according to outgoing Registrar Mikel Haas quoted in the North County Times (link above).
If you look into the Ohio convictions, these mid-level officials spent two entire days rigging the presidential recount so that it would come out OK. Vu denies knowledge, said they "followed longtime procedures and [did] nothing wrong." Are elections officials even exempt from even recognizing the force of criminal convictions?
I will be looking with great curiosity to see which citizens, bloggers and others pick up this mainstream media story in the San Diego area, and its connection to Ohio 2004, and the overriding importance of defending democracy from insiders even more than from outsiders. Everyone votes, so everyone takes sides in elections and ultimately nobody can be trusted. Checks and balances are a form of institutionalized distrust. Trust in results can only be achieved by lots of public eyeballs on the process, which in turn can only be achieved when the public oversight eliminated by computerized electronic voting is fully restored.
Paul Lehto
Attorney at Law
lehtolawyer@gmail.com
OK to forward or blog this email with all attribution preserved.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Lee Iacocca, Mad as Hell!
http://www.bordersstores.com/features/feature.jsp?file=wherehavealltheleadersgone
I
Had Enough?
Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."
Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?
I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.
My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to—as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.
Read More!
I
Had Enough?
Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."
Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?
I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.
My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to—as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.
Read More!
Friday, April 13, 2007
RNC Servers Have Email And Ohio Election Results
This is a repost for from Daily Kos and Scoop. I think this relates to the current email debacle with the RNC. Smells fishy. I think so.
If the system needs a communication back bone and Karl and Bush were in Columbus in 2004 election day with Blackwell, how far do you have to go to a paint a picture?
Here is part of the KOS article:
"Is there significance to the fact that election.sos.state.oh.us, on Tuesday
night, will correspond to the IP address that lies between Karl Rove's
Votervault.com and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)? Just
one arrangment of odd bedfellows in that example click the link
to IP Block 64.203.98.xxx for other familiar examples such as Becki Donatelli-client,
VetsForFreedom.com, or Ken Mehlman's 72hour.org.. They're all hot items right
now with each aimed capture the reader's vote."
>>>>snip
"There is also the link between Blackwell and the media group that Ken Blackwell outsourced the design of the Election Night Project to Mike Connell
who is a GOP operative and the principal of New
Media Communications and GovTech Solutions. Their association may go back
as far as the George H. W. Bush era. Connell's long-established association in
the online political, campaign and fundraising arenas, in addition to his technological
expertise, made him a shoe-in for government and non-government services where
pay-to-play is the standard..
On April 7, 2000, Blackwell certified the woman-owned (Connelle's wife, Heather),
small business that Mike Connell spunoff of New Media Communication in order to
provide government contracting service.having a 'non-partisan' face. When Blackwell
stamped 'approval' on that incorporation, he'd previously approved the mergner
of DCI Group
and NewMedia Communications."
(Picture was here)
Yes, that is the same DCI Group that later employed New Hampshire phone-jammer,
James Tobin. So, including silent GovTech Solutions partner, Tom Synhorst,
was as partisan a ploy as had Mike been partner rather than registered agent..
>>>>>>end of Copy and paste of sections
There is RNC all over this thing and where is any real investigation?
This doesn't seem like anything new but then add the fact that fired Federal Attorneys were refusing to twist the voter fraud scam from the election fraud reality.
There are a lot of links here and it is a needing a lot of reasearch if you have time or vested interest in true democracy.
Root of Electronic Election Fraud in Ohio?!?!
Fri Nov 10, 2006 8:04 am (PST)
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2006/11/9/61233/1283
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/7/144314/082
Ohio's live 2006 election results fed to GOP mirror server
On Election Day, November 7, 2006, ePluribus Media reported on
technology developed for live reporting of election results by the
Secretary of State of Ohio was programmed, hosted, and operated by
companies that are related to the Republican National Committee.
If the system needs a communication back bone and Karl and Bush were in Columbus in 2004 election day with Blackwell, how far do you have to go to a paint a picture?
Here is part of the KOS article:
"Is there significance to the fact that election.sos.state.oh.us, on Tuesday
night, will correspond to the IP address that lies between Karl Rove's
Votervault.com and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)? Just
one arrangment of odd bedfellows in that example click the link
to IP Block 64.203.98.xxx for other familiar examples such as Becki Donatelli-client,
VetsForFreedom.com, or Ken Mehlman's 72hour.org.. They're all hot items right
now with each aimed capture the reader's vote."
>>>>snip
"There is also the link between Blackwell and the media group that Ken Blackwell outsourced the design of the Election Night Project to Mike Connell
who is a GOP operative and the principal of New
Media Communications and GovTech Solutions. Their association may go back
as far as the George H. W. Bush era. Connell's long-established association in
the online political, campaign and fundraising arenas, in addition to his technological
expertise, made him a shoe-in for government and non-government services where
pay-to-play is the standard..
On April 7, 2000, Blackwell certified the woman-owned (Connelle's wife, Heather),
small business that Mike Connell spunoff of New Media Communication in order to
provide government contracting service.having a 'non-partisan' face. When Blackwell
stamped 'approval' on that incorporation, he'd previously approved the mergner
of DCI Group
and NewMedia Communications."
(Picture was here)
Yes, that is the same DCI Group that later employed New Hampshire phone-jammer,
James Tobin. So, including silent GovTech Solutions partner, Tom Synhorst,
was as partisan a ploy as had Mike been partner rather than registered agent..
>>>>>>end of Copy and paste of sections
There is RNC all over this thing and where is any real investigation?
This doesn't seem like anything new but then add the fact that fired Federal Attorneys were refusing to twist the voter fraud scam from the election fraud reality.
There are a lot of links here and it is a needing a lot of reasearch if you have time or vested interest in true democracy.
Root of Electronic Election Fraud in Ohio?!?!
Fri Nov 10, 2006 8:04 am (PST)
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2006/11/9/61233/1283
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/7/144314/082
Ohio's live 2006 election results fed to GOP mirror server
On Election Day, November 7, 2006, ePluribus Media reported on
technology developed for live reporting of election results by the
Secretary of State of Ohio was programmed, hosted, and operated by
companies that are related to the Republican National Committee.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Notoriously Historical Terrorist Groups Such As The KKK, Merit No Voice Or Free Speech
Any true leader would condemn these groups and legislate them out of existence.
Governor Strickland?
Would Christ turn his back on such injustice?
This IS TERRORISM in The United States
and it is sanctioned by OUR Governement?
Original Article here:
http://tinyurl.com/3xrqn5
The Cincinnati Beacon
Cincinnati NAACP Demands Regarding Upcoming Nazi March
Monday, April 09, 2007
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Photo courtesy of here.
In the following letter to the Mayor, City Council, and the County Commissioners, recently elected president of the Cincinnati NAACP, Christopher Smitherman, issues demands concerning the upcoming Nazi march through Over-The-Rhine. Smitherman questions why it took so long for anyone to be notified of the Nazi march. He characterizes the Nazis as a terrorist group, and wonders whether any other supremacist groups have similar applications in the system.
April 9, 2007
Mayor of the City of Cincinnati
Cincinnati City Council Members
Hamilton County Commissioners
Public Officials:
Just before the Easter holiday, news was released that a white supremacy organization received a permit to walk through a predominantly African American neighborhood in Cincinnati on April 20, 2007. We were told that this permit was received and approved by the Cincinnati Police department months ago. The NAACP is very concerned about this situation. However, out of respect for the majority of its Christian members, the controversy was not allowed to overshadow the celebration of Resurrection Day. Today’s correspondence is the NAACP’s effort to be proactive in addressing a highly sensitive matter in conjunction with elected officials to prevent a dangerous escalation in the upcoming encounter.
The original white supremacy group has produced many offshoots since its inception. The Nazi group that requested a permit to march in Cincinnati is one offshoot. Since the 1800’s, these groups have targeted African Americans with acts of terrorism via beatings, rapes, murders, lynchings, arson of our homes, churches and business voter intimidation and many other fear tactics against Black men, women, and children. Given this history, our first demand is for City Council Members and County Commissioners to pass resolutions condemning the messages and actions of all white supremacy groups in our nation prior to anyone marching in our city.
The number one subject matter in the U.S. right now is terrorism. Police and armed forces across the country are charged with looking for and recognizing terrorists. Timothy McVey was a member/sympathizer of a white supremacy group and he was successful in his plan of destruction in Oklahoma. Our police officers profile citizens (Blacks, Latinos, Muslims, etc.) everyday for criminal and law-breaking activity. Hence, it is most interesting that the police department did not profile the person requesting the permit for April 20, 2007 as a possible terrorist before approving the permit request. Has the FBI been contacted to check and clear each person who intends to march?
The NAACP believes in free speech. However, we do not want our tax dollars used to provide police protection for a terrorist organization. Nor do we want our tax dollars used to oppress our constituents by subjecting them to verbal and possible physical intimidation in their own neighborhoods. The NAACP demands that police protection not be provided to the terrorist demonstrators at our taxpayer’s expense.
It is outrageous that African American leadership was not notified 24 hours after the permit was pulled. Instead, the community was notified approximately 14 days before the march was to occur. Delaying notification and providing police protection only substantiates the public perspective that the police, council, and commissioners really do lack sincere concern for African American citizens. The NAACP also demands 24 hour, written notification of similar permit requests/approvals. Also provide in writing whether any other permits have been pulled by any similar organization.
The local branch of the NAACP is not going to allow public officials to use our national convention to communicate to the world that civil rights for African Americans are protected in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is unacceptable for Cincinnati City Council and Hamilton County Commissioners to consent to the marching of a white supremacy group through the heart of one of our African American neighborhoods, Over-the-Rhine, with no institutional condemnation. There is no civility when a terrorist group pulls a permit and Black leadership is not notified for months nor when terrorists march under the umbrella of free speech with police protection.
Below is our good faith effort towards collaboration, resolution, and prevention. We will otherwise investigate alternative measures depending on your response to the following.
* Resolutions from City Council members and County Commissioners condemning the messages and actions of all white supremacy groups in our city prior to the scheduled march.
* No provision of police or deputy protection for the Nazi demonstrators, at tax-payer expense.
* Written notification to the NAACP within 24 hours of a permit of this nature being requested.
* Written notification to the NAACP regarding existing permit requests/approvals to organizations that use strategies for terrorizing African Americans.
* Clarification on the permit process.
Respectfully,
Christopher Smitherman
President of the Cincinnati Branch of the NAACP
Governor Strickland?
Would Christ turn his back on such injustice?
This IS TERRORISM in The United States
and it is sanctioned by OUR Governement?
Original Article here:
http://tinyurl.com/3xrqn5
The Cincinnati Beacon
Cincinnati NAACP Demands Regarding Upcoming Nazi March
Monday, April 09, 2007
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Photo courtesy of here.
In the following letter to the Mayor, City Council, and the County Commissioners, recently elected president of the Cincinnati NAACP, Christopher Smitherman, issues demands concerning the upcoming Nazi march through Over-The-Rhine. Smitherman questions why it took so long for anyone to be notified of the Nazi march. He characterizes the Nazis as a terrorist group, and wonders whether any other supremacist groups have similar applications in the system.
April 9, 2007
Mayor of the City of Cincinnati
Cincinnati City Council Members
Hamilton County Commissioners
Public Officials:
Just before the Easter holiday, news was released that a white supremacy organization received a permit to walk through a predominantly African American neighborhood in Cincinnati on April 20, 2007. We were told that this permit was received and approved by the Cincinnati Police department months ago. The NAACP is very concerned about this situation. However, out of respect for the majority of its Christian members, the controversy was not allowed to overshadow the celebration of Resurrection Day. Today’s correspondence is the NAACP’s effort to be proactive in addressing a highly sensitive matter in conjunction with elected officials to prevent a dangerous escalation in the upcoming encounter.
The original white supremacy group has produced many offshoots since its inception. The Nazi group that requested a permit to march in Cincinnati is one offshoot. Since the 1800’s, these groups have targeted African Americans with acts of terrorism via beatings, rapes, murders, lynchings, arson of our homes, churches and business voter intimidation and many other fear tactics against Black men, women, and children. Given this history, our first demand is for City Council Members and County Commissioners to pass resolutions condemning the messages and actions of all white supremacy groups in our nation prior to anyone marching in our city.
The number one subject matter in the U.S. right now is terrorism. Police and armed forces across the country are charged with looking for and recognizing terrorists. Timothy McVey was a member/sympathizer of a white supremacy group and he was successful in his plan of destruction in Oklahoma. Our police officers profile citizens (Blacks, Latinos, Muslims, etc.) everyday for criminal and law-breaking activity. Hence, it is most interesting that the police department did not profile the person requesting the permit for April 20, 2007 as a possible terrorist before approving the permit request. Has the FBI been contacted to check and clear each person who intends to march?
The NAACP believes in free speech. However, we do not want our tax dollars used to provide police protection for a terrorist organization. Nor do we want our tax dollars used to oppress our constituents by subjecting them to verbal and possible physical intimidation in their own neighborhoods. The NAACP demands that police protection not be provided to the terrorist demonstrators at our taxpayer’s expense.
It is outrageous that African American leadership was not notified 24 hours after the permit was pulled. Instead, the community was notified approximately 14 days before the march was to occur. Delaying notification and providing police protection only substantiates the public perspective that the police, council, and commissioners really do lack sincere concern for African American citizens. The NAACP also demands 24 hour, written notification of similar permit requests/approvals. Also provide in writing whether any other permits have been pulled by any similar organization.
The local branch of the NAACP is not going to allow public officials to use our national convention to communicate to the world that civil rights for African Americans are protected in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is unacceptable for Cincinnati City Council and Hamilton County Commissioners to consent to the marching of a white supremacy group through the heart of one of our African American neighborhoods, Over-the-Rhine, with no institutional condemnation. There is no civility when a terrorist group pulls a permit and Black leadership is not notified for months nor when terrorists march under the umbrella of free speech with police protection.
Below is our good faith effort towards collaboration, resolution, and prevention. We will otherwise investigate alternative measures depending on your response to the following.
* Resolutions from City Council members and County Commissioners condemning the messages and actions of all white supremacy groups in our city prior to the scheduled march.
* No provision of police or deputy protection for the Nazi demonstrators, at tax-payer expense.
* Written notification to the NAACP within 24 hours of a permit of this nature being requested.
* Written notification to the NAACP regarding existing permit requests/approvals to organizations that use strategies for terrorizing African Americans.
* Clarification on the permit process.
Respectfully,
Christopher Smitherman
President of the Cincinnati Branch of the NAACP
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Eeking Out Reality And Gonzales Denies Us Habeas Corpus
First a quote from a friend that rings so true in the "dis-information age":
Our universe is governed by fictions of all kinds: mass consumption, publicity, politics considered and managed like a branch of publicity, instantaneous translation of science and techniques into a popular imagery, confusion and telescopage of identities in the realm of consumer goods, right of pre-emption exercised by the television screen over every personal reaction to reality. We live at the interior of an enormous novel. It becomes less and less necessary for the writer to give fictional content to his works. The fiction is already there. The work of the novelist is to invent reality.
-J.G. Ballard, from the introduction of the French edition of Crash
From Amnesty International Email;
"The Constitution doesn't say every individual in the United States or every citizen is granted or assured the right to habeas [corpus]. It doesn't say that."
If you guessed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, you're correct. In fact, the Constitution states that habeas corpus rights cannot be suspended except in times of rebellion or invasion. For centuries, this has meant that a person could challenge his or her detention in an independent court of law - unless those exceptional circumstances existed.
Gonzales's declaration should strike fear in all of us. His dangerous comments before the Senate Judiciary Committee betrayed the Constitutional rights he was sworn to protect as our nation's top law enforcement official...and defied common sense, too. Watch the video!
Our universe is governed by fictions of all kinds: mass consumption, publicity, politics considered and managed like a branch of publicity, instantaneous translation of science and techniques into a popular imagery, confusion and telescopage of identities in the realm of consumer goods, right of pre-emption exercised by the television screen over every personal reaction to reality. We live at the interior of an enormous novel. It becomes less and less necessary for the writer to give fictional content to his works. The fiction is already there. The work of the novelist is to invent reality.
-J.G. Ballard, from the introduction of the French edition of Crash
From Amnesty International Email;
"The Constitution doesn't say every individual in the United States or every citizen is granted or assured the right to habeas [corpus]. It doesn't say that."
If you guessed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, you're correct. In fact, the Constitution states that habeas corpus rights cannot be suspended except in times of rebellion or invasion. For centuries, this has meant that a person could challenge his or her detention in an independent court of law - unless those exceptional circumstances existed.
Gonzales's declaration should strike fear in all of us. His dangerous comments before the Senate Judiciary Committee betrayed the Constitutional rights he was sworn to protect as our nation's top law enforcement official...and defied common sense, too. Watch the video!
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Fired U.S. Attorneys and Election Fraud? This Was April 2006
On 4/18/06 wrote:
One think I have seen barely mentioned in election groups is how
aggressive/partisan the U.S. Department of Justice is getting about election
matters.
Louisiana, etc.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=63792
Miscellaneous states
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=56330
Texas
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/March/06_crt_121.html
California
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/November/04_crt_743.htm
Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey
http://www.aapd-dc.org/dvpmain/votenews/DOJmonitorElection.htm
Florida
http://www.newsunfiltered.com/archives/2005/11/justice_departm_3.html
Voting Rights Act
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/103004U.shtml
And seemingly endless more.
One think I have seen barely mentioned in election groups is how
aggressive/partisan the U.S. Department of Justice is getting about election
matters.
Louisiana, etc.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=63792
Miscellaneous states
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=56330
Texas
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/March/06_crt_121.html
California
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/November/04_crt_743.htm
Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey
http://www.aapd-dc.org/dvpmain/votenews/DOJmonitorElection.htm
Florida
http://www.newsunfiltered.com/archives/2005/11/justice_departm_3.html
Voting Rights Act
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/103004U.shtml
And seemingly endless more.
Monday, April 2, 2007
U.S. Full Spectrum Dominance Continues On Course
From another Blog but significant to our reality and the Democratic need to adjust the stolen power in The White Haus.
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/31/1725221
http://magnoopere.blogspot.com/2007/04/wtf-sunday-news.html
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/31/1828/16663
4.01.2007
WTF Sunday News
Yeah, I haven't written in awhile. What can I say - the ongoing shit just writes itself!
But this kind of sneaky Bush Administration cloak and dagger news is just scary. In a domestic spying-Guantanamo Bay-Black CIA Interrogation site-scary.
Hence, your resident tin-foil hat of Ohio comes out of hiding:
"At an ICANN meeting in Lisbon, the US Department of Homeland Security made it clear that it has requested the master key for the DNS root zone. The key will play an important role in the new DNSSec security extension, because it will make spoofing IP-addresses impossible. By forcing the IANA to hand out a copy of the master key, the US government will be the only institution that is able to spoof IP addresses and be able to break into computers connected to the Internet without much effort. There's a further complication, of course, because even 'if the IANA retains the key ... the US government still reserves the right to oversee ICANN/IANA. If the keys are then handed over to ICANN/IANA, there would be even less of an incentive [for the U.S.] to give up this role as a monitor. As a result, the DHS's demands will probably only heat up the debate about US dominance of the control of Internet resources.'"
Now, I have one question: why exactly does the DHS need the sole authority over the DNS master key? Do they really care about phishing? Or is there some more (likely) sinister motive?
We're talking about the Bush Administration here folks, so go nuts on the conjecturing because you can't be too conservative with this gang of Stalinists.
You can find more discussion about this in this DKos diary entry.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I have consider what life might be like without my daily dose of onlineness... besides being very scary.
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/31/1725221
http://magnoopere.blogspot.com/2007/04/wtf-sunday-news.html
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/31/1828/16663
4.01.2007
WTF Sunday News
Yeah, I haven't written in awhile. What can I say - the ongoing shit just writes itself!
But this kind of sneaky Bush Administration cloak and dagger news is just scary. In a domestic spying-Guantanamo Bay-Black CIA Interrogation site-scary.
Hence, your resident tin-foil hat of Ohio comes out of hiding:
"At an ICANN meeting in Lisbon, the US Department of Homeland Security made it clear that it has requested the master key for the DNS root zone. The key will play an important role in the new DNSSec security extension, because it will make spoofing IP-addresses impossible. By forcing the IANA to hand out a copy of the master key, the US government will be the only institution that is able to spoof IP addresses and be able to break into computers connected to the Internet without much effort. There's a further complication, of course, because even 'if the IANA retains the key ... the US government still reserves the right to oversee ICANN/IANA. If the keys are then handed over to ICANN/IANA, there would be even less of an incentive [for the U.S.] to give up this role as a monitor. As a result, the DHS's demands will probably only heat up the debate about US dominance of the control of Internet resources.'"
Now, I have one question: why exactly does the DHS need the sole authority over the DNS master key? Do they really care about phishing? Or is there some more (likely) sinister motive?
We're talking about the Bush Administration here folks, so go nuts on the conjecturing because you can't be too conservative with this gang of Stalinists.
You can find more discussion about this in this DKos diary entry.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I have consider what life might be like without my daily dose of onlineness... besides being very scary.
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R.D. Laing
Speaking on Autonomy