Voter fraud and disenfranchisement
by kos - Oct 31st, 2004
Here's a sampling of what we face nationwide.
Read More >>
31 October 2004
How Republicans Are Manipulating Soldiers' Children To Get the Military Vote
Bruce Cole - October 31, 2004
A little over three weeks ago, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz visited American military bases in Germany and, while there, delivered speeches to gatherings of Department of Defense officials and members of the Family Readiness groups. His visit coincided with the full onset of absentee voting by American military personnel, and the trip was paid for by US taxpayers; but handshakes, speeches and personal photographs weren't the only things he delivered.
He also brought with him a stack of DVDs, fresh from the White House assembly line, containing a short speech by Laura Bush, directed at school-age children of military parents. The DVDs were distributed to the attendees to the Wolfowitz soirees, which included Department of Defense school administrators, and they were subsequently shown to children by homeroom teachers and school counselors. I received a transcript of the speech from a concerned base resident who got my email address from a recent piece on the military that appeared on this site. Here's the transcript of Mrs. Bush's speech, in full (I have also obtained confirmation of this presentation from other sources in Germany):
Read More >>
Bruce Cole - October 31, 2004
A little over three weeks ago, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz visited American military bases in Germany and, while there, delivered speeches to gatherings of Department of Defense officials and members of the Family Readiness groups. His visit coincided with the full onset of absentee voting by American military personnel, and the trip was paid for by US taxpayers; but handshakes, speeches and personal photographs weren't the only things he delivered.
He also brought with him a stack of DVDs, fresh from the White House assembly line, containing a short speech by Laura Bush, directed at school-age children of military parents. The DVDs were distributed to the attendees to the Wolfowitz soirees, which included Department of Defense school administrators, and they were subsequently shown to children by homeroom teachers and school counselors. I received a transcript of the speech from a concerned base resident who got my email address from a recent piece on the military that appeared on this site. Here's the transcript of Mrs. Bush's speech, in full (I have also obtained confirmation of this presentation from other sources in Germany):
Read More >>
A Halloween History of Republican Dirty Tricks
The Associated Press reported this weekend about yet another effort to confuse, deceive and intimidate African-American voters with a FAKE letter from the NAACP.
A bogus letter circulating in South Carolina, purporting to be from the NAACP, threatens the arrest of voters who have outstanding parking tickets or failed to pay child support. The NAACP said Friday the letter is a scare tactic and called for an investigation.
Click Here to View a Copy of the Actual Letter >>
The Rev. Joe Darby, vice president of the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he received the one-page letter - which had a Columbia postmark with no return address - at his Charleston home. The letter also says voters must have a credit check, provide two forms of photo identification, a Social Security card, a voter registration card and a handwriting sample.
Of course, voter intimidation has a long and sordid history in South Carolina. As the following reports suggest:
Democrats in some areas of South Carolina would depend on the commerical taxi companies to supply transportation, but according to a GOP activist, "We'd tie them up by using our phone banks. We'd keep calling the taxicabs on the phone and get them to go to bogus addresses."
In Dillon County, several days before election day, state Rep. Son Kinon, a white Republican, mailed out more than 3,000 brochures to black voters. On the outside, the brochure read, "You have always been my friend, so don't chance GOING TO JAIL on Election Day!"... "SLED agents, FBI agents, people from the Justice Department and undercover agents will be in Dillon County working this election. People who you think are your friends, and even your neighbors, could be the very ones that turn you in. THIS ELECTION IS NOT WORTH GOING TO JAIL!!!!!!"
In 2002, Republicans in Jasper County were caught videotaping voters outside of the absentee voting precinct at the Jasper County Voter Registration Board. Operatives were filming voters as they entered the Voter Registration office, and filmed their license plates in the parking lot. Republicans had to be threatened with a court order before the videotaping ceased.
In the 2004 Greenville County Council Race, Republican Councilman Steve Selby's attorney Samuel Harms said on Tuesday that campaign observers will be at the precincts to "encourage poll workers to enforce the law." "If Democrats attempt to vote in the election, we're going to call upon the solicitor to start charging and indicting Democrats - it's a crime. If a couple Democrats go to jail for voting illegally, I'm not going to shed a tear."
Read More >>
The Associated Press reported this weekend about yet another effort to confuse, deceive and intimidate African-American voters with a FAKE letter from the NAACP.
A bogus letter circulating in South Carolina, purporting to be from the NAACP, threatens the arrest of voters who have outstanding parking tickets or failed to pay child support. The NAACP said Friday the letter is a scare tactic and called for an investigation.
Click Here to View a Copy of the Actual Letter >>
The Rev. Joe Darby, vice president of the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he received the one-page letter - which had a Columbia postmark with no return address - at his Charleston home. The letter also says voters must have a credit check, provide two forms of photo identification, a Social Security card, a voter registration card and a handwriting sample.
Of course, voter intimidation has a long and sordid history in South Carolina. As the following reports suggest:
Democrats in some areas of South Carolina would depend on the commerical taxi companies to supply transportation, but according to a GOP activist, "We'd tie them up by using our phone banks. We'd keep calling the taxicabs on the phone and get them to go to bogus addresses."
In Dillon County, several days before election day, state Rep. Son Kinon, a white Republican, mailed out more than 3,000 brochures to black voters. On the outside, the brochure read, "You have always been my friend, so don't chance GOING TO JAIL on Election Day!"... "SLED agents, FBI agents, people from the Justice Department and undercover agents will be in Dillon County working this election. People who you think are your friends, and even your neighbors, could be the very ones that turn you in. THIS ELECTION IS NOT WORTH GOING TO JAIL!!!!!!"
In 2002, Republicans in Jasper County were caught videotaping voters outside of the absentee voting precinct at the Jasper County Voter Registration Board. Operatives were filming voters as they entered the Voter Registration office, and filmed their license plates in the parking lot. Republicans had to be threatened with a court order before the videotaping ceased.
In the 2004 Greenville County Council Race, Republican Councilman Steve Selby's attorney Samuel Harms said on Tuesday that campaign observers will be at the precincts to "encourage poll workers to enforce the law." "If Democrats attempt to vote in the election, we're going to call upon the solicitor to start charging and indicting Democrats - it's a crime. If a couple Democrats go to jail for voting illegally, I'm not going to shed a tear."
Read More >>
30 October 2004
VoterGate
Votergate is the investigative documentary feature film uncovering the truth about new computer voting systems, which allow a few powerful corporations to record our votes in secret. But Votergate is not just a warning. The film strongly concludes that elections are harder to defraud when voters turn out in big numbers.
Votergate will continue filming through the Nov. 2nd election and release a 90 minute feature film / DVD. This 30 minute Special Edition is designed specifically to help viewers navigate past the fear and spin being thrown at this critical issue.
Watch This Special Film for the Presidential Election >>
Votergate is the investigative documentary feature film uncovering the truth about new computer voting systems, which allow a few powerful corporations to record our votes in secret. But Votergate is not just a warning. The film strongly concludes that elections are harder to defraud when voters turn out in big numbers.
Votergate will continue filming through the Nov. 2nd election and release a 90 minute feature film / DVD. This 30 minute Special Edition is designed specifically to help viewers navigate past the fear and spin being thrown at this critical issue.
Watch This Special Film for the Presidential Election >>
Confusion in Ohio
10/30/2004
At a rally in Washington a couple of Sundays ago called the Million Worker March, comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory joked, "We won the Voting Rights Act forty years ago, but it didn't say they have to count that vote. That's gonna have to be another bill and another march." In the run-up to the election, Ohio is putting its own special exclamation point on that statement.
Since the beginning of the year voter registration in the state has swelled by about 700,000 souls, to a record 7.8 million voters. It's estimated that about 60 percent of those new voters registered as Democrats. Meanwhile, like sportscasters filling the dead air between plays, pundits have been intoning for months that "No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio." All of which lays the table for what Republican operatives nationally have been quite frank to admit is an effort to suppress the vote, and--surprise, surprise--such plans especially target African-Americans.
Read More >>
10/30/2004
At a rally in Washington a couple of Sundays ago called the Million Worker March, comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory joked, "We won the Voting Rights Act forty years ago, but it didn't say they have to count that vote. That's gonna have to be another bill and another march." In the run-up to the election, Ohio is putting its own special exclamation point on that statement.
Since the beginning of the year voter registration in the state has swelled by about 700,000 souls, to a record 7.8 million voters. It's estimated that about 60 percent of those new voters registered as Democrats. Meanwhile, like sportscasters filling the dead air between plays, pundits have been intoning for months that "No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio." All of which lays the table for what Republican operatives nationally have been quite frank to admit is an effort to suppress the vote, and--surprise, surprise--such plans especially target African-Americans.
Read More >>
Sparks couple take vote battle to state high court
Allegations involve canvasser for Republican-backed organization
October 30, 2004
RENO -- A Sparks couple who claim a Republican-backed voter drive lost or destroyed their Democratic registration forms have taken their case to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Four Reno lawyers filed the petition Thursday on behalf of Eric and Traci Amberson. The petition asks the court to allow the Ambersons and all others with voter registration receipts to be allowed to vote Tuesday.
The Ambersons' receipts show their forms were among those assigned to Voter's Outreach of America, which is operated by Republican-backed Sproul & Associates of Phoenix.
Sproul has been investigated by Nevada and Oregon state officials about allegations that workers destroyed voter registration forms from Democrats.
The company denies the charge but the FBI is investigating.
Read More >>
Allegations involve canvasser for Republican-backed organization
October 30, 2004
RENO -- A Sparks couple who claim a Republican-backed voter drive lost or destroyed their Democratic registration forms have taken their case to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Four Reno lawyers filed the petition Thursday on behalf of Eric and Traci Amberson. The petition asks the court to allow the Ambersons and all others with voter registration receipts to be allowed to vote Tuesday.
The Ambersons' receipts show their forms were among those assigned to Voter's Outreach of America, which is operated by Republican-backed Sproul & Associates of Phoenix.
Sproul has been investigated by Nevada and Oregon state officials about allegations that workers destroyed voter registration forms from Democrats.
The company denies the charge but the FBI is investigating.
Read More >>
Phony Letters Sent to Democratic Voters Telling Them Incorrectly That They are Ineligible to Vote
Click Here to View Letter >>
Click Here to View Letter >>
Missing absentee ballots in Broward Co. could be a catastrophe
Broward County, Florida, has just announced that it is resending some 76,000 absentee ballots. Some 56,000 ballots, asserted by the Elections Office to have been mailed on October 7-8, have not been received.
What happened to 56,000 ballots demands a thorough investigation. It's difficult to imagine such a large mailing "lost" without some criminal activity. But the investigation will have to wait until after the election.
In the meantime, those missing ballots are a real threat to the outcome of the Florida election. For some—home-bound people and travelers—the absentee ballot is a must. But of the total requests, this group does not represent the greater portion.
The majority have requested the ballots as a convenience or as insurance that their vote is counted. So can they just go to the polls and vote?
Not exactly.
Read More >>
Broward County, Florida, has just announced that it is resending some 76,000 absentee ballots. Some 56,000 ballots, asserted by the Elections Office to have been mailed on October 7-8, have not been received.
What happened to 56,000 ballots demands a thorough investigation. It's difficult to imagine such a large mailing "lost" without some criminal activity. But the investigation will have to wait until after the election.
In the meantime, those missing ballots are a real threat to the outcome of the Florida election. For some—home-bound people and travelers—the absentee ballot is a must. But of the total requests, this group does not represent the greater portion.
The majority have requested the ballots as a convenience or as insurance that their vote is counted. So can they just go to the polls and vote?
Not exactly.
Read More >>
G.O.P. to the Poor: Don't Vote
October 30, 2004
With little notice or discussion, Senator Christopher Bond of Missouri allowed a provision into a Senate appropriations bill that could ban even nonpartisan voter registration efforts in public housing developments all over the country. This is an example of the unfortunate impulse now afflicting some parts of the Republican Party: a desire to suppress voting in poor and minority neighborhoods. Mr. Bond's proposal runs contrary to both the spirit of democracy and federal law, which in recent years has moved increasingly toward broadening ballot access. The National Voter Registration Act - commonly known as the Motor Voter Act - actually requires state agencies, including those that issue welfare benefits and drivers' licenses, to offer voter registration materials to the people they serve.
The proposed Senate legislation comes on top of recent G.O.P. maneuvers in Ohio, where Republicans challenged the registrations of more than 30,000 voters, many of them impoverished. Federal courts have stepped in to halt such challenges for now, but more are expected at the polls.
The same impulse to discourage voters was on display over the last several months in New Mexico, where the Indian Health Service of the Health and Human Services Department suspended voter registration efforts for several months at some medical centers and clinics serving Native Americans. Earlier this month, the Indian Health Service issued a memorandum effectively ending the ban, but only after untold numbers of Native Americans had missed the opportunity to register to vote in the coming election.
Mr. Bond's argument - that housing built with public money should be used only for housing, not voter registration - makes no sense on its face. It is even more ridiculous given the universal support for voter registration on military bases around the world. Military voters tend to favor Republicans, and public housing residents tend to favor Democrats. It would be nice if everyone could agree that both groups should be encouraged to vote.
Read More >>
October 30, 2004
With little notice or discussion, Senator Christopher Bond of Missouri allowed a provision into a Senate appropriations bill that could ban even nonpartisan voter registration efforts in public housing developments all over the country. This is an example of the unfortunate impulse now afflicting some parts of the Republican Party: a desire to suppress voting in poor and minority neighborhoods. Mr. Bond's proposal runs contrary to both the spirit of democracy and federal law, which in recent years has moved increasingly toward broadening ballot access. The National Voter Registration Act - commonly known as the Motor Voter Act - actually requires state agencies, including those that issue welfare benefits and drivers' licenses, to offer voter registration materials to the people they serve.
The proposed Senate legislation comes on top of recent G.O.P. maneuvers in Ohio, where Republicans challenged the registrations of more than 30,000 voters, many of them impoverished. Federal courts have stepped in to halt such challenges for now, but more are expected at the polls.
The same impulse to discourage voters was on display over the last several months in New Mexico, where the Indian Health Service of the Health and Human Services Department suspended voter registration efforts for several months at some medical centers and clinics serving Native Americans. Earlier this month, the Indian Health Service issued a memorandum effectively ending the ban, but only after untold numbers of Native Americans had missed the opportunity to register to vote in the coming election.
Mr. Bond's argument - that housing built with public money should be used only for housing, not voter registration - makes no sense on its face. It is even more ridiculous given the universal support for voter registration on military bases around the world. Military voters tend to favor Republicans, and public housing residents tend to favor Democrats. It would be nice if everyone could agree that both groups should be encouraged to vote.
Read More >>
Deceptive tactics inflate GOP voter registration
Canvassers hired by a leading Republican group allegedly misled Oregon college students while gathering signatures
Edward Walsh - October 30, 2004
At 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 12, Rori Smith, a Republican Party official temporarily assigned to Oregon, and several other GOP operatives strode into the Barracuda nightclub in downtown Portland. They were on official party business.
Smith was delivering several thousand voter registration cards, all of them ostensibly new Republican voters, to a special drop-off point set up at the nightclub during extended registration hours on the last day to register to vote in this year's election.
But apparently unknown at the time to Smith and other GOP officials, it soon began to emerge that some of those cards -- the number is not known -- were signed by young people who were deceived into registering as a Republican, or who may have registered as an independent or a Democrat and then had the registration switched to Republican by someone else before the card was turned in.
Read More >>
Canvassers hired by a leading Republican group allegedly misled Oregon college students while gathering signatures
Edward Walsh - October 30, 2004
At 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 12, Rori Smith, a Republican Party official temporarily assigned to Oregon, and several other GOP operatives strode into the Barracuda nightclub in downtown Portland. They were on official party business.
Smith was delivering several thousand voter registration cards, all of them ostensibly new Republican voters, to a special drop-off point set up at the nightclub during extended registration hours on the last day to register to vote in this year's election.
But apparently unknown at the time to Smith and other GOP officials, it soon began to emerge that some of those cards -- the number is not known -- were signed by young people who were deceived into registering as a Republican, or who may have registered as an independent or a Democrat and then had the registration switched to Republican by someone else before the card was turned in.
Read More >>
Now They're Registered, Now They're Not
Election Officials Express Dismay at Extent of Misinformation, Variety of Tricks Targeting Voters
Registered voters who have been somehow unregistered. Democrats who suddenly find they've been re-registered as Republicans. A flier announcing that Election Day has been extended through Wednesday
Last week in Allegheny County, election officials received a flurry of phone calls about fliers handed out at a Pittsburgh area mall and mailed to an unknown number of homes. The flier, distributed on bogus but official-looking stationery with a county letterhead, told voters that "due to immense voter turnout expected on Tuesday," the election had been extended. Republicans should vote Tuesday, Nov. 2, it said -- and Democrats on Wednesday. A criminal investigation has been launched.
Read More >>
Election Officials Express Dismay at Extent of Misinformation, Variety of Tricks Targeting Voters
Registered voters who have been somehow unregistered. Democrats who suddenly find they've been re-registered as Republicans. A flier announcing that Election Day has been extended through Wednesday
Last week in Allegheny County, election officials received a flurry of phone calls about fliers handed out at a Pittsburgh area mall and mailed to an unknown number of homes. The flier, distributed on bogus but official-looking stationery with a county letterhead, told voters that "due to immense voter turnout expected on Tuesday," the election had been extended. Republicans should vote Tuesday, Nov. 2, it said -- and Democrats on Wednesday. A criminal investigation has been launched.
Read More >>
29 October 2004
Three plead guilty in absentee ballot probe
Carson Walker - AP - October 29, 2004
SIOUX FALLS -- Three of the six people to be charged in connection with absentee ballot applications pleaded guilty Friday in Sioux Falls.
A magistrate fined Joseph Alick, Todd Schlekeway and Rachel Hoff $200 each and gave them a 30-day suspended jail sentence. They also voluntarily gave up their notary public commissions.
Eric Fahrendorf's hearing is set for Wednesday and Nathan Mertz's lawyer rescheduled his first court appearance to Nov. 8.
The charges are misdemeanors.
Jennifer Giannonatti is to be charged in Rapid City, but no complaint has yet been filed, officials said Friday.
The six former Republican campaign workers are accused of notarizing some absentee ballot applications without seeing the voter sign the document.
Read More >>
Carson Walker - AP - October 29, 2004
SIOUX FALLS -- Three of the six people to be charged in connection with absentee ballot applications pleaded guilty Friday in Sioux Falls.
A magistrate fined Joseph Alick, Todd Schlekeway and Rachel Hoff $200 each and gave them a 30-day suspended jail sentence. They also voluntarily gave up their notary public commissions.
Eric Fahrendorf's hearing is set for Wednesday and Nathan Mertz's lawyer rescheduled his first court appearance to Nov. 8.
The charges are misdemeanors.
Jennifer Giannonatti is to be charged in Rapid City, but no complaint has yet been filed, officials said Friday.
The six former Republican campaign workers are accused of notarizing some absentee ballot applications without seeing the voter sign the document.
Read More >>
Things Get Ugly At Early Voting Locations
October 29, 2004
MIAMI -- The election is growing close, and the heat is on -- especially in South Florida, where thousands of absentee ballots are missing, and now there are claims of voter intimidation.
Thursday, South Florida Republicans and Democrats traded charges of voter intimidation at early voting locations.
Teams of out-of-town lawyers are here, and already charges are flying that these so-called legal observers are over-stepping their bounds.
Outside the Miami-Dade Government Center, Democratic demonstrators tried to shout-down Republican party officials and legislators who had called a news conference to make allegations of voter fraud and voter intimidation by supporters of Sen. John Kerry.
Read More >>
October 29, 2004
MIAMI -- The election is growing close, and the heat is on -- especially in South Florida, where thousands of absentee ballots are missing, and now there are claims of voter intimidation.
Thursday, South Florida Republicans and Democrats traded charges of voter intimidation at early voting locations.
Teams of out-of-town lawyers are here, and already charges are flying that these so-called legal observers are over-stepping their bounds.
Outside the Miami-Dade Government Center, Democratic demonstrators tried to shout-down Republican party officials and legislators who had called a news conference to make allegations of voter fraud and voter intimidation by supporters of Sen. John Kerry.
Read More >>
The Return of the 'Butterfly Ballot'
October 29, 2004
Residents of Ohio's largest county, Cuyahoga, who are voting by absentee ballot this year have to solve a brainteaser. They were each given a ballot with candidates' names, arrows pointing to the right and small numbers. And they each got a punch card with hundreds of little boxes and a number inside each one. A voter is supposed to ignore the arrows on the ballot - which appear to be there by mistake - and punch out the chad in the box on the punch card whose number corresponds to the candidate selected. If, instead, the voter follows the arrow and punches out the chad in the box it points to - as would someone voting in person, with a machine to align the ballot and punch card - that vote could be counted for the wrong candidate, or no candidate.
Ohio is a critical swing state, with 20 electoral votes and dead-even polls. The more than 75,000 absentee ballots that have been requested in Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, could decide the election. Although the ballots include instructions that theoretically guide people on how to use them properly, the county elections board has been fielding calls from confused voters. There is no way of knowing how many voters are simply punching the wrong holes and mailing their ballots.
Read More >>
October 29, 2004
Residents of Ohio's largest county, Cuyahoga, who are voting by absentee ballot this year have to solve a brainteaser. They were each given a ballot with candidates' names, arrows pointing to the right and small numbers. And they each got a punch card with hundreds of little boxes and a number inside each one. A voter is supposed to ignore the arrows on the ballot - which appear to be there by mistake - and punch out the chad in the box on the punch card whose number corresponds to the candidate selected. If, instead, the voter follows the arrow and punches out the chad in the box it points to - as would someone voting in person, with a machine to align the ballot and punch card - that vote could be counted for the wrong candidate, or no candidate.
Ohio is a critical swing state, with 20 electoral votes and dead-even polls. The more than 75,000 absentee ballots that have been requested in Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, could decide the election. Although the ballots include instructions that theoretically guide people on how to use them properly, the county elections board has been fielding calls from confused voters. There is no way of knowing how many voters are simply punching the wrong holes and mailing their ballots.
Read More >>
Republicans Pressed To Halt Voter-Suppression Efforts
Jim Lobe - OneWorld - Oct 29, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C., – With political analysts agreeing that voter turnout, especially of minority and youth voters, will likely determine the outcome of next Tuesday’s presidential election, civil and human rights groups are pressing the Republican National Committee (RNC) to call off plans aimed at discouraging people from casting ballots.
At a press conference held in front of RNC headquarters here Thursday, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the country’s largest civil and human-rights coalition, demanded that RNC chairman Ed Gillespie ensure that the party does nothing to suppress the vote or try to intimidate voters, particularly in minority communities.
“In state after state, Republican officials and operatives are working to deny American citizens the right to vote,” charged LCCR executive director Wade Henderson. “We’re today to ask the RNC Chairman to put a stop to these activities.”
Read More >>
Jim Lobe - OneWorld - Oct 29, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C., – With political analysts agreeing that voter turnout, especially of minority and youth voters, will likely determine the outcome of next Tuesday’s presidential election, civil and human rights groups are pressing the Republican National Committee (RNC) to call off plans aimed at discouraging people from casting ballots.
At a press conference held in front of RNC headquarters here Thursday, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the country’s largest civil and human-rights coalition, demanded that RNC chairman Ed Gillespie ensure that the party does nothing to suppress the vote or try to intimidate voters, particularly in minority communities.
“In state after state, Republican officials and operatives are working to deny American citizens the right to vote,” charged LCCR executive director Wade Henderson. “We’re today to ask the RNC Chairman to put a stop to these activities.”
Read More >>
Pennsylvania Sued Over Overseas Ballots
Mark Scolforo - AP - Oct 29, 2004
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Republicans and the father of a serviceman sued Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell on Friday, hoping to extend to 30 days the deadline for counting overseas military and civilian ballots for president.
The move came just hours after a federal judge approved a settlement between Rendell and the parents of two other servicemen who had also sued over the ballot counting. Rendell agreed to extend the deadline by eight days — to 5 p.m. on Nov. 10.
But the Republican State Committee and the father of a soldier stationed at the American Embassy in Ethiopia said eight days was not enough and asked a state court to order officials to count ballots for a month after Tuesday's vote.
Read More >>
Mark Scolforo - AP - Oct 29, 2004
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Republicans and the father of a serviceman sued Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell on Friday, hoping to extend to 30 days the deadline for counting overseas military and civilian ballots for president.
The move came just hours after a federal judge approved a settlement between Rendell and the parents of two other servicemen who had also sued over the ballot counting. Rendell agreed to extend the deadline by eight days — to 5 p.m. on Nov. 10.
But the Republican State Committee and the father of a soldier stationed at the American Embassy in Ethiopia said eight days was not enough and asked a state court to order officials to count ballots for a month after Tuesday's vote.
Read More >>
Help Preserve the Right to Vote
10/29/2004
With the Presidential election less than a week away, it's clear that GOP operatives are attempting to disenfranchise voters through intimidation, suppression and bureaucratic maneuvers in battleground states coast to coast.
The examples are already legion: Just this week, it was revealed that in Broward County, Florida, 58,000 absentee ballots have not reached voters who requested them. In Ohio, thousands of Republican challengers are being deployed to polling places in heavily Democratic--and minority--areas to contest voters' eligibility, while the Republican Secretary of State has decided not to count "provisional" ballots filed at the wrong polling place, a judgment that will hit minorities the hardest. In Las Vegas recently, a former employee at the voter registration firm Sproul & Associates in Las Vegas--run by ex-Arizona Christian Coalition head Nathan Sproul--said he witnessed co-workers shredding new applications of registered Democrats. In Jacksonville, Florida, Suzanne Charlé reports, in a new Nation weblog, that GOP officials have resisted calls to process new registrations.
Fortunately, progressive activists nationwide are joining the fray in response. From voter mobilization to election monitoring, an unprecedented volunteer effort is under way to both turn out the vote and to prevent GOP operatives from turning the vote away. New York Newsday reported yesterday that Democratic-leaning groups expect to send 30,000 volunteers into swing states to join tens of thousands of paid grassroots workers and tens of thousands of local volunteers.
Read More >>
10/29/2004
With the Presidential election less than a week away, it's clear that GOP operatives are attempting to disenfranchise voters through intimidation, suppression and bureaucratic maneuvers in battleground states coast to coast.
The examples are already legion: Just this week, it was revealed that in Broward County, Florida, 58,000 absentee ballots have not reached voters who requested them. In Ohio, thousands of Republican challengers are being deployed to polling places in heavily Democratic--and minority--areas to contest voters' eligibility, while the Republican Secretary of State has decided not to count "provisional" ballots filed at the wrong polling place, a judgment that will hit minorities the hardest. In Las Vegas recently, a former employee at the voter registration firm Sproul & Associates in Las Vegas--run by ex-Arizona Christian Coalition head Nathan Sproul--said he witnessed co-workers shredding new applications of registered Democrats. In Jacksonville, Florida, Suzanne Charlé reports, in a new Nation weblog, that GOP officials have resisted calls to process new registrations.
Fortunately, progressive activists nationwide are joining the fray in response. From voter mobilization to election monitoring, an unprecedented volunteer effort is under way to both turn out the vote and to prevent GOP operatives from turning the vote away. New York Newsday reported yesterday that Democratic-leaning groups expect to send 30,000 volunteers into swing states to join tens of thousands of paid grassroots workers and tens of thousands of local volunteers.
Read More >>
GOP Challenging Voter Registrations
Civil Rights Groups Accuse Republicans Of Trying to Disenfranchise Minorities
Jo Becker - Washington Post - October 29, 2004
Republicans yesterday continued to challenge the validity of tens of thousands of voter registrations in Ohio and other key states in the presidential election while a coalition of civil rights and labor groups sued the GOP, contending the Republican efforts were aimed at removing eligible minority voters from the rolls.
After initially saying he would not contest a Wednesday ruling halting the challenges, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell (R) worked with other election officials who asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati to allow GOP challenges to 35,000 voters from mostly urban and minority areas to proceed before the election. As of late last night, the court had not ruled.
Also yesterday, Republicans in Wisconsin attempted to challenge the registrations of 5,600 voters in Milwaukee but were turned down in a unanimous decision by the city's bipartisan election board.
The Republican challenges in Ohio, Wisconsin and other battleground states prompted civil rights and labor unions to sue in U.S. District Court in Newark, saying the GOP is violating a consent decree, issued in the 1980s by Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise and still in effect, that prevents the Republicans from starting "ballot security" programs to prevent voter fraud that target minorities.
Judith A. Browne, acting co-director of the Advancement Project, which filed the lawsuit along with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said the Republican "challenges were, and currently are, used to disenfranchise minority voters."
Read More >>
Civil Rights Groups Accuse Republicans Of Trying to Disenfranchise Minorities
Jo Becker - Washington Post - October 29, 2004
Republicans yesterday continued to challenge the validity of tens of thousands of voter registrations in Ohio and other key states in the presidential election while a coalition of civil rights and labor groups sued the GOP, contending the Republican efforts were aimed at removing eligible minority voters from the rolls.
After initially saying he would not contest a Wednesday ruling halting the challenges, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell (R) worked with other election officials who asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati to allow GOP challenges to 35,000 voters from mostly urban and minority areas to proceed before the election. As of late last night, the court had not ruled.
Also yesterday, Republicans in Wisconsin attempted to challenge the registrations of 5,600 voters in Milwaukee but were turned down in a unanimous decision by the city's bipartisan election board.
The Republican challenges in Ohio, Wisconsin and other battleground states prompted civil rights and labor unions to sue in U.S. District Court in Newark, saying the GOP is violating a consent decree, issued in the 1980s by Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise and still in effect, that prevents the Republicans from starting "ballot security" programs to prevent voter fraud that target minorities.
Judith A. Browne, acting co-director of the Advancement Project, which filed the lawsuit along with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said the Republican "challenges were, and currently are, used to disenfranchise minority voters."
Read More >>
Another Voter Intimidation Tactic: Flyer Full of Lies
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT - October 29, 2004
A Message from Sheila D. Cochran, Sec./Treas., Milw. County AFL-CIO
I just wanted to make you aware of this flyer circulating in the African American community. This is an example of the type of tactic being done in the African American neighborhoods to suppress the vote. It is not an accident; it is intentional and it is aimed at the newly registered and infrequent voter, or the fearful voter. This is why we need all of you to please keep your eyes and ears open, participate wherever you can and encourage people to not be intimidated by or discouraged from voting. Not one point on this flyer is true and it is the type of disgusting and egregious information spread in neighborhoods to keep the voters home.
Don't be fooled, this is happening and you are the best weapon to make sure it does not continue. We will be doing all we can to make sure that our community votes on election day and that every vote is counted!
Sheila Cochran, AFL-CIO Voter Protection
It's Your Right, It's your Vote, Make it Count!
Click Here to View Flyer >>
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT - October 29, 2004
A Message from Sheila D. Cochran, Sec./Treas., Milw. County AFL-CIO
I just wanted to make you aware of this flyer circulating in the African American community. This is an example of the type of tactic being done in the African American neighborhoods to suppress the vote. It is not an accident; it is intentional and it is aimed at the newly registered and infrequent voter, or the fearful voter. This is why we need all of you to please keep your eyes and ears open, participate wherever you can and encourage people to not be intimidated by or discouraged from voting. Not one point on this flyer is true and it is the type of disgusting and egregious information spread in neighborhoods to keep the voters home.
Don't be fooled, this is happening and you are the best weapon to make sure it does not continue. We will be doing all we can to make sure that our community votes on election day and that every vote is counted!
Sheila Cochran, AFL-CIO Voter Protection
It's Your Right, It's your Vote, Make it Count!
Click Here to View Flyer >>
Bush Seeks Limit to Suits Over Voting Rights
Administration lawyers argue that only the Justice Department, not the voters, may sue to enforce provisions in the Help America Vote Act.
By David G. Savage and Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writers
WASHINGTON — Bush administration lawyers argued in three closely contested states last week that only the Justice Department, and not voters themselves, may sue to enforce the voting rights set out in the Help America Vote Act, which was passed in the aftermath of the disputed 2000 election.
Veteran voting-rights lawyers expressed surprise at the government's action, saying that closing the courthouse door to aspiring voters would reverse decades of precedent.
Since the civil rights era of the 1960s, individuals have gone to federal court to enforce their right to vote, often with the support of groups such as the NAACP, the AFL-CIO, the League of Women Voters or the state parties. And until now, the Justice Department and the Supreme Court had taken the view that individual voters could sue to enforce federal election law.
But in legal briefs filed in connection with cases in Ohio, Michigan and Florida, the administration's lawyers argue that the new law gives Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft the exclusive power to bring lawsuits to enforce its provisions. These include a requirement that states provide "uniform and nondiscriminatory" voting systems, and give provisional ballots to those who say they have registered but whose names do not appear on the rolls.
Read More >>
Administration lawyers argue that only the Justice Department, not the voters, may sue to enforce provisions in the Help America Vote Act.
By David G. Savage and Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writers
WASHINGTON — Bush administration lawyers argued in three closely contested states last week that only the Justice Department, and not voters themselves, may sue to enforce the voting rights set out in the Help America Vote Act, which was passed in the aftermath of the disputed 2000 election.
Veteran voting-rights lawyers expressed surprise at the government's action, saying that closing the courthouse door to aspiring voters would reverse decades of precedent.
Since the civil rights era of the 1960s, individuals have gone to federal court to enforce their right to vote, often with the support of groups such as the NAACP, the AFL-CIO, the League of Women Voters or the state parties. And until now, the Justice Department and the Supreme Court had taken the view that individual voters could sue to enforce federal election law.
But in legal briefs filed in connection with cases in Ohio, Michigan and Florida, the administration's lawyers argue that the new law gives Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft the exclusive power to bring lawsuits to enforce its provisions. These include a requirement that states provide "uniform and nondiscriminatory" voting systems, and give provisional ballots to those who say they have registered but whose names do not appear on the rolls.
Read More >>
DOJ Actions on Election Law Benefit Republicans
October 29, 2004
With the elections just days away, key battleground states are embroiled in legal battles over provisional ballots and voter fraud that might determine the outcome of the election. In each case, Attorney General John Ashcroft’s Department of Justice has thrown its weight behind rules that will stop many new voters from having their ballots counted, and discourage many qualified voters from going to the polls.
Read More >>
October 29, 2004
With the elections just days away, key battleground states are embroiled in legal battles over provisional ballots and voter fraud that might determine the outcome of the election. In each case, Attorney General John Ashcroft’s Department of Justice has thrown its weight behind rules that will stop many new voters from having their ballots counted, and discourage many qualified voters from going to the polls.
Read More >>
Ohio GOP Loses Bid to Fight Registrations
Andrew Welsh-Huggins - AP - Oct 29, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A federal appeals court Friday blocked the Republicans from contesting more than 20,000 voter registrations in Ohio before Election Day.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati turned down several GOP appeals of a lower court judge's order that stopped hearings on the contested registrations.
The action could mean the hearings might never take place, since they must be held within two days of the election, the Republicans said. The lower court judge was considering Friday whether to make her temporary order permanent.
Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro and the Ohio Republican Party said they would not pursue any further appeals.
Read More >>
Andrew Welsh-Huggins - AP - Oct 29, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A federal appeals court Friday blocked the Republicans from contesting more than 20,000 voter registrations in Ohio before Election Day.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati turned down several GOP appeals of a lower court judge's order that stopped hearings on the contested registrations.
The action could mean the hearings might never take place, since they must be held within two days of the election, the Republicans said. The lower court judge was considering Friday whether to make her temporary order permanent.
Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro and the Ohio Republican Party said they would not pursue any further appeals.
Read More >>
E-voting - What the Horror Stories Teach
October 29, 2004
EFF will be reporting on Election Day about any problems that may arise with electronic voting machines, but some of the machines have been used in earlier elections and during early voting this week, so we're already starting to see patterns emerge. The National Committee for Voting Integrity (NCVV) has published a list of articles on e-voting that provides a good overview of what the major glitches are. Below, we take look at a handful of these articles and provide a heads-up on three key issues voters and poll watchers should be aware of:
Read More >>
October 29, 2004
EFF will be reporting on Election Day about any problems that may arise with electronic voting machines, but some of the machines have been used in earlier elections and during early voting this week, so we're already starting to see patterns emerge. The National Committee for Voting Integrity (NCVV) has published a list of articles on e-voting that provides a good overview of what the major glitches are. Below, we take look at a handful of these articles and provide a heads-up on three key issues voters and poll watchers should be aware of:
Read More >>
28 October 2004
Election Day has its (dirty) tricks, too
Richard Byrne Reilly - October 28, 2004
Somebody is campaigning hard to confuse Allegheny County voters ahead of Election Day.
At the Ross Park Mall, for example, people are distributing leaflets printed on bogus, but official-looking, county stationery telling Republicans to vote Tuesday, Nov. 2, and Democrats to wait a day.
The election will be over on Nov. 3.
The fliers have succeeded in spreading confusion, and county officials spent parts of Wednesday fielding phone calls from residents.
"We don't know who is behind it," said Elections Division Manager Mark Wolosik, who received a copy yesterday afternoon.
Wolosik's office referred the case to the county police, who have launched an investigation to determine who is behind the disinformation campaign. Officials say the fliers also turned up in mailboxes of homes in the North Hills.
The letter reads in part: "Due to the immense voter turnout that is expected on Tuesday November 2 the state of Pennsylvania has requested and extended the voting period ... Voters will be able to vote on both November 2 and November 3."
The letter is signed by "Anne Ryan," and a phone number on the flier rings in Tampa, Fla. Workers there reached by telephone denied any knowledge of the flier.
County officials say the flier is part of the political shenanigans that accompany a hotly contested presidential race.
Still, Wolosik said, "The matter is now a criminal investigation."
Read More >>
Richard Byrne Reilly - October 28, 2004
Somebody is campaigning hard to confuse Allegheny County voters ahead of Election Day.
At the Ross Park Mall, for example, people are distributing leaflets printed on bogus, but official-looking, county stationery telling Republicans to vote Tuesday, Nov. 2, and Democrats to wait a day.
The election will be over on Nov. 3.
The fliers have succeeded in spreading confusion, and county officials spent parts of Wednesday fielding phone calls from residents.
"We don't know who is behind it," said Elections Division Manager Mark Wolosik, who received a copy yesterday afternoon.
Wolosik's office referred the case to the county police, who have launched an investigation to determine who is behind the disinformation campaign. Officials say the fliers also turned up in mailboxes of homes in the North Hills.
The letter reads in part: "Due to the immense voter turnout that is expected on Tuesday November 2 the state of Pennsylvania has requested and extended the voting period ... Voters will be able to vote on both November 2 and November 3."
The letter is signed by "Anne Ryan," and a phone number on the flier rings in Tampa, Fla. Workers there reached by telephone denied any knowledge of the flier.
County officials say the flier is part of the political shenanigans that accompany a hotly contested presidential race.
Still, Wolosik said, "The matter is now a criminal investigation."
Read More >>
Ramsey Clark launches online reporting system for election fraud
"If widespread voter interference or vote fraud is traceable to high officials, it will be an important element in the impeachment struggle." - - Ramsey Clark
Click Here to Report Election Misconduct >>
"If widespread voter interference or vote fraud is traceable to high officials, it will be an important element in the impeachment struggle." - - Ramsey Clark
Click Here to Report Election Misconduct >>
Phony letters tell people they cannot vote
Jeff Maynor - October 28, 2004
PAINESVILLE -- It is an outright case of election fraud in Lake County.
The phony letter says newly registered voters signed up by the Kerry or Capri Cafaro campaigns or the NAACP, their registrations are illegal and they will not be able to vote.
“That was not authorized by the Board of Elections, said Elections Director Jan Clair. “It was not mailed by the Lake County Board of Elections.”
A real board mailing would have Clair’s signature.
The letter was brought to election officials by Ron Colvin, a longtime registered voter and head of the Lake County NAACP.
Sheriff Dan Dunlap is investigating. “It will be a federal offense because you have interfered with the constitutionally protected right to vote,” he said.
Read More >>
Jeff Maynor - October 28, 2004
PAINESVILLE -- It is an outright case of election fraud in Lake County.
The phony letter says newly registered voters signed up by the Kerry or Capri Cafaro campaigns or the NAACP, their registrations are illegal and they will not be able to vote.
“That was not authorized by the Board of Elections, said Elections Director Jan Clair. “It was not mailed by the Lake County Board of Elections.”
A real board mailing would have Clair’s signature.
The letter was brought to election officials by Ron Colvin, a longtime registered voter and head of the Lake County NAACP.
Sheriff Dan Dunlap is investigating. “It will be a federal offense because you have interfered with the constitutionally protected right to vote,” he said.
Read More >>
Protecting voters
John Sweeney - October 28, 2004
(SH) - With a new outbreak of massive voter challenges being reported and just a few days left until Nov. 2, we must renew our efforts to come together and work urgently for a free and fair election.
It seems like a funny thing to demand, after so much blood has already been shed to guarantee the right to vote for all Americans.
Almost 40 years ago, John Lewis, now a U.S. congressman from Georgia, and 600 others were attacked by state troopers as they marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. Their bloodshed paved the way for the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Decades before, Alice Paul was imprisoned in her quest for women's suffrage, a right that was finally granted in 1920.
In 2004, our voting rights are firmly set - on paper. What is happening is a different story.
Read More >>
John Sweeney - October 28, 2004
(SH) - With a new outbreak of massive voter challenges being reported and just a few days left until Nov. 2, we must renew our efforts to come together and work urgently for a free and fair election.
It seems like a funny thing to demand, after so much blood has already been shed to guarantee the right to vote for all Americans.
Almost 40 years ago, John Lewis, now a U.S. congressman from Georgia, and 600 others were attacked by state troopers as they marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. Their bloodshed paved the way for the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Decades before, Alice Paul was imprisoned in her quest for women's suffrage, a right that was finally granted in 1920.
In 2004, our voting rights are firmly set - on paper. What is happening is a different story.
Read More >>
Gov. Bush: Poll watchers can, should challenge voters
His remarks come amid concerns that excessive scrutiny may put a damper on the election.
Joni James and Tamara Lush - October 28, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday he would have no problem if Republican poll watchers challenge the eligibility of voters before they cast ballots on Election Day, despite growing concern that it could create gridlock and scare away qualified voters.
"I don't think it will cause problems," Bush said. "I do think that people who are not eligible to vote shouldn't and the people who are should."
The Florida Republican Party has not decided whether to instruct poll watchers to challenge voters Tuesday, spokeswoman Mindy Fletcher said.
But Democrats say a GOP list of 2,663 newly registered voters in Duval County who appear to have incorrect addresses indicates Republicans are planning such a strategy.
"It's despicable," Florida Democratic Party chairman Scott Maddox said. "Their goal is to harass people enough that they'll give up their right to vote or not go to the polls."
[...] Among other election-related issues Wednesday:
* Bush said he has recused himself from the Election Canvassing Commission, which certifies the state's final vote.
* In Broward County, officials searched for 58,000 ballots that have not been returned. Officials said they sent 126,220 absentee ballots on Oct. 7-8, yet half of those have not been received by elections officials. The U.S. Post Office denied any responsibility, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said its investigation found no criminal violations. Elections officials planned to send new ballots by overnight mail to any voter requesting a new form.
* In Pinellas County, officials acknowledged that nearly 300 St. Petersburg voters received absentee ballots that were missing the second of two pages.
Supervisor Deborah Clark's office mailed the missing page to affected voters along with an explanation and a postage-paid envelope.
* State elections officials urged county supervisors to post signs or put up ropes to ensure privacy for voting booths after reports of campaigning at early voting sites.
* Computers used to check voter registrations were slow or malfunctioning in Broward, Duval and Hillsborough counties. On Tuesday, Hillsborough County's registration network went down for about 30 minutes. Workers used the telephone to verify registrations.
* Long lines at early voting precincts were reported throughout the Tampa Bay area and the state. Hillsborough reported 43,000 early voters as of Tuesday. Early voters in Pinellas reported lines of more than two hours in some locations.
Read More >>
His remarks come amid concerns that excessive scrutiny may put a damper on the election.
Joni James and Tamara Lush - October 28, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday he would have no problem if Republican poll watchers challenge the eligibility of voters before they cast ballots on Election Day, despite growing concern that it could create gridlock and scare away qualified voters.
"I don't think it will cause problems," Bush said. "I do think that people who are not eligible to vote shouldn't and the people who are should."
The Florida Republican Party has not decided whether to instruct poll watchers to challenge voters Tuesday, spokeswoman Mindy Fletcher said.
But Democrats say a GOP list of 2,663 newly registered voters in Duval County who appear to have incorrect addresses indicates Republicans are planning such a strategy.
"It's despicable," Florida Democratic Party chairman Scott Maddox said. "Their goal is to harass people enough that they'll give up their right to vote or not go to the polls."
[...] Among other election-related issues Wednesday:
* Bush said he has recused himself from the Election Canvassing Commission, which certifies the state's final vote.
* In Broward County, officials searched for 58,000 ballots that have not been returned. Officials said they sent 126,220 absentee ballots on Oct. 7-8, yet half of those have not been received by elections officials. The U.S. Post Office denied any responsibility, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said its investigation found no criminal violations. Elections officials planned to send new ballots by overnight mail to any voter requesting a new form.
* In Pinellas County, officials acknowledged that nearly 300 St. Petersburg voters received absentee ballots that were missing the second of two pages.
Supervisor Deborah Clark's office mailed the missing page to affected voters along with an explanation and a postage-paid envelope.
* State elections officials urged county supervisors to post signs or put up ropes to ensure privacy for voting booths after reports of campaigning at early voting sites.
* Computers used to check voter registrations were slow or malfunctioning in Broward, Duval and Hillsborough counties. On Tuesday, Hillsborough County's registration network went down for about 30 minutes. Workers used the telephone to verify registrations.
* Long lines at early voting precincts were reported throughout the Tampa Bay area and the state. Hillsborough reported 43,000 early voters as of Tuesday. Early voters in Pinellas reported lines of more than two hours in some locations.
Read More >>
Ga. Hispanics Questioned on Voting Rights
Russ Bynum - AP - Oct 28, 2004
PEARSON, Ga. - Ninety-five people who make up more than three-quarters of a rural Georgia county's registered Hispanic voters were summoned to a courthouse Thursday to defend their right to vote after a complaint alleged a county commissioner attempted to register non-U.S. citizens.
The Atkinson County Board of Registrars, however, dismissed most of the complaint at the beginning of the hearing, saying the case could open the county to charges of violating the Voting Rights Act. Remaining complaints against two voters were dropped when the complainants declined to present any evidence against them.
Read More >>
Russ Bynum - AP - Oct 28, 2004
PEARSON, Ga. - Ninety-five people who make up more than three-quarters of a rural Georgia county's registered Hispanic voters were summoned to a courthouse Thursday to defend their right to vote after a complaint alleged a county commissioner attempted to register non-U.S. citizens.
The Atkinson County Board of Registrars, however, dismissed most of the complaint at the beginning of the hearing, saying the case could open the county to charges of violating the Voting Rights Act. Remaining complaints against two voters were dropped when the complainants declined to present any evidence against them.
Read More >>
27 October 2004
Twelve ways Bush is now stealing the Ohio vote
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman - October 27, 2004
The Republican "November Surprise" to steal the 2004 election is in full force here in Ohio. With polls showing a dead heat, the GOP is staging an all-out attack on a fair vote count in the Buckeye State.
Here are a dozen ways they're doing it:
* Under an archaic Ohio law, both the Republican and Democratic Parties, or any slate of five candidates, may embed official election challengers inside polling places. The New York Times reported on Oct. 23 that the Republican Party intends to place thousands of lawyers and other GOP faithfuls inside the polls to challenge voters. Republican insiders confide here that the key goal is to jam lines and frustrate new voters. The GOP apparently figures many voters in key Democratic precincts won't wait in line more than 15 minutes to vote. This is certain to be a major tactic in Cleveland's Cuyahoga County and other Democratic strongholds. The GOP is not planning to challenge voters in Republican districts.
Read More >>
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman - October 27, 2004
The Republican "November Surprise" to steal the 2004 election is in full force here in Ohio. With polls showing a dead heat, the GOP is staging an all-out attack on a fair vote count in the Buckeye State.
Here are a dozen ways they're doing it:
* Under an archaic Ohio law, both the Republican and Democratic Parties, or any slate of five candidates, may embed official election challengers inside polling places. The New York Times reported on Oct. 23 that the Republican Party intends to place thousands of lawyers and other GOP faithfuls inside the polls to challenge voters. Republican insiders confide here that the key goal is to jam lines and frustrate new voters. The GOP apparently figures many voters in key Democratic precincts won't wait in line more than 15 minutes to vote. This is certain to be a major tactic in Cleveland's Cuyahoga County and other Democratic strongholds. The GOP is not planning to challenge voters in Republican districts.
Read More >>
The GOP's Shameful Vote Strategy
Harold Meyerson - October 27, 2004
With Election Day almost upon us, it's not clear whether President Bush is running a campaign or plotting a coup d'etat. By all accounts, Republicans are spending these last precious days devoting nearly as much energy to suppressing the Democratic vote as they are to mobilizing their own.
Time was when Republicans were at least embarrassed by their efforts to keep African Americans from the polls. Republican consultant Ed Rollins was all but drummed out of the profession after his efforts to pay black ministers to keep their congregants from voting in a 1993 New Jersey election came to light.
For George W. Bush, Karl Rove and their legion of genteel thugs, however, universal suffrage is just one more musty liberal ideal that threatens conservative rule. Today's Republicans have elevated vote suppression from a dirty secret to a public norm.
Read More >>
Harold Meyerson - October 27, 2004
With Election Day almost upon us, it's not clear whether President Bush is running a campaign or plotting a coup d'etat. By all accounts, Republicans are spending these last precious days devoting nearly as much energy to suppressing the Democratic vote as they are to mobilizing their own.
Time was when Republicans were at least embarrassed by their efforts to keep African Americans from the polls. Republican consultant Ed Rollins was all but drummed out of the profession after his efforts to pay black ministers to keep their congregants from voting in a 1993 New Jersey election came to light.
For George W. Bush, Karl Rove and their legion of genteel thugs, however, universal suffrage is just one more musty liberal ideal that threatens conservative rule. Today's Republicans have elevated vote suppression from a dirty secret to a public norm.
Read More >>
Something Is "Terribly Wrong" in Ohio
10/27/2004
Late Wednesday, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell issued a directive that, for the first time, will allow political parties to apportion partisan challengers by precinct instead of polling site, thereby greatly increasing the number of challengers at Ohio polling places.
For example, a polling place serving four precincts would normally have one challenger from each party. Blackwell’s directive will now allow four challengers at that location, one for each precinct served.
The deadline for registering partisan poll challengers passed on October 22nd. A New York Times story the following day revealed that the Republican Party registered 3,600 challengers, while the Democratic Party registered 2,000. Neither party is allowed to add challengers, but Blackwell’s directive will allow the parties to concentrate multiple challengers at polling places with multiple precincts.
People For the American Way Foundation President Ralph G. Neas said:
“There is something terribly wrong here. The question must be asked: is the Ohio Secretary of State using his position for partisan advantage? What is the purpose for putting an unprecedented number of challengers at the polls and allowing them to be concentrated in precincts?
“At a minimum, this creates the potential for long lines, great confusion and frustration, and ultimately, the possibility that many working men and women who can’t afford to stand in long lines on a work day will effectively be denied the right to vote. That’s wrong.
“The Secretary of State should protect the rights of legitimate voters, not curtail them. He should make decisions that bring more voters to the polls, not keep them away. He should clear the path to the ballot box, not put up barriers. There should be nothing to fear, and everything to gain, from a massive voter turnout in Ohio.”
People For the American Way Foundation is a founding member of the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition, an organization dedicated to voter education, empowerment and protection. The coalition will have poll monitors stationed at voting sites around Ohio on Election Day, and operates a toll-free hotline, 1-866-OUR VOTE, to provide free legal assistance and information to voters.
Read More >>
10/27/2004
Late Wednesday, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell issued a directive that, for the first time, will allow political parties to apportion partisan challengers by precinct instead of polling site, thereby greatly increasing the number of challengers at Ohio polling places.
For example, a polling place serving four precincts would normally have one challenger from each party. Blackwell’s directive will now allow four challengers at that location, one for each precinct served.
The deadline for registering partisan poll challengers passed on October 22nd. A New York Times story the following day revealed that the Republican Party registered 3,600 challengers, while the Democratic Party registered 2,000. Neither party is allowed to add challengers, but Blackwell’s directive will allow the parties to concentrate multiple challengers at polling places with multiple precincts.
People For the American Way Foundation President Ralph G. Neas said:
“There is something terribly wrong here. The question must be asked: is the Ohio Secretary of State using his position for partisan advantage? What is the purpose for putting an unprecedented number of challengers at the polls and allowing them to be concentrated in precincts?
“At a minimum, this creates the potential for long lines, great confusion and frustration, and ultimately, the possibility that many working men and women who can’t afford to stand in long lines on a work day will effectively be denied the right to vote. That’s wrong.
“The Secretary of State should protect the rights of legitimate voters, not curtail them. He should make decisions that bring more voters to the polls, not keep them away. He should clear the path to the ballot box, not put up barriers. There should be nothing to fear, and everything to gain, from a massive voter turnout in Ohio.”
People For the American Way Foundation is a founding member of the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition, an organization dedicated to voter education, empowerment and protection. The coalition will have poll monitors stationed at voting sites around Ohio on Election Day, and operates a toll-free hotline, 1-866-OUR VOTE, to provide free legal assistance and information to voters.
Read More >>
Long lines, busy signals fuel voting frustration in Broward
Jean-Paul Renaud - October 27 2004
The Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office pointed a finger at the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday for nearly 60,000 missing absentee ballots, but took the blame for having a phone system that was being overwhelmed by calls from frustrated voters.
While the post office denied responsibility for the missing ballots, Broward County commissioners, anxious to avoid another failed election, offered to send county employees to help with the phones. Dozens of employees could begin assisting the elections office today to answer telephone calls and to process voters at the 14 early voting sites.
Read More >>
Jean-Paul Renaud - October 27 2004
The Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office pointed a finger at the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday for nearly 60,000 missing absentee ballots, but took the blame for having a phone system that was being overwhelmed by calls from frustrated voters.
While the post office denied responsibility for the missing ballots, Broward County commissioners, anxious to avoid another failed election, offered to send county employees to help with the phones. Dozens of employees could begin assisting the elections office today to answer telephone calls and to process voters at the 14 early voting sites.
Read More >>
E-voting off to rocky start in some states
Problems so far are characterized as minor, despite possible voter disenfranchisement
Dan Verton
OCTOBER 27, 2004 (COMPUTERWORLD) - With less than a week still to go before the presidential election, dozens of voters in Florida may have already been disenfranchised as a result of technical glitches in the computers supporting the state's early voting process.
Since early voting began on Oct. 18 in Florida and in at least seven other key states, voters have reported hundreds of problems to the Election Incident Reporting System, an online database founded by grass-roots voter organizations, including the Verified Voting Foundation and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
Read More >>
Problems so far are characterized as minor, despite possible voter disenfranchisement
Dan Verton
OCTOBER 27, 2004 (COMPUTERWORLD) - With less than a week still to go before the presidential election, dozens of voters in Florida may have already been disenfranchised as a result of technical glitches in the computers supporting the state's early voting process.
Since early voting began on Oct. 18 in Florida and in at least seven other key states, voters have reported hundreds of problems to the Election Incident Reporting System, an online database founded by grass-roots voter organizations, including the Verified Voting Foundation and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
Read More >>
E-vote vendors submit software for safekeeping
But critics say the vendor move won't guarantee integrity of system
Dan Verton
OCTOBER 27, 2004 (COMPUTERWORLD) - WASHINGTON -- With less than a week to go before the presidential election and concerns still lingering about the integrity and security of the software used by tens of thousands of electronic voting machines, five voting machine makers agreed to submit their software to the National Software Reference Library (NSRL) for safekeeping, federal officials said yesterday.
[...] Security experts and grass-roots voter advocacy groups, however, are skeptical of the vendor move.
Avi Rubin, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and a leading critic of the security controls put in place by e-voting system vendors, called the reference library "smoke and mirrors." The real threat to the election, he said, is that if "the code is already rigged, storing the hashes only guarantees the malicious code will be there if the hashes match."
Read More >>
But critics say the vendor move won't guarantee integrity of system
Dan Verton
OCTOBER 27, 2004 (COMPUTERWORLD) - WASHINGTON -- With less than a week to go before the presidential election and concerns still lingering about the integrity and security of the software used by tens of thousands of electronic voting machines, five voting machine makers agreed to submit their software to the National Software Reference Library (NSRL) for safekeeping, federal officials said yesterday.
[...] Security experts and grass-roots voter advocacy groups, however, are skeptical of the vendor move.
Avi Rubin, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and a leading critic of the security controls put in place by e-voting system vendors, called the reference library "smoke and mirrors." The real threat to the election, he said, is that if "the code is already rigged, storing the hashes only guarantees the malicious code will be there if the hashes match."
Read More >>
26 October 2004
Republicans to try to intimidate voters
GOP: Poll watcher claims part of playbook
Frank Geary - Review-Journal
Nevada Democratic Party representatives said Monday their Republican opponents plan to intimidate voters next week by challenging the legitimacy of Democrats at the polls.
Democratic Party spokesman Jon Summers said Republican poll watchers plan to target voters and challenge their right to vote as lines gather outside voting booths during what's expected to be the busiest election in years.
"They are looking to take as many Democrats off the roll as possible," Summers said. "This a systematic approach, here and across the country."
Read More >>
GOP: Poll watcher claims part of playbook
Frank Geary - Review-Journal
Nevada Democratic Party representatives said Monday their Republican opponents plan to intimidate voters next week by challenging the legitimacy of Democrats at the polls.
Democratic Party spokesman Jon Summers said Republican poll watchers plan to target voters and challenge their right to vote as lines gather outside voting booths during what's expected to be the busiest election in years.
"They are looking to take as many Democrats off the roll as possible," Summers said. "This a systematic approach, here and across the country."
Read More >>
New Florida vote scandal feared
Greg Palast - 26 October, 2004
A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals.
Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called "caging list".
It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.
An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: "The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day."
Ion Sancho, a Democrat, noted that Florida law allows political party operatives inside polling stations to stop voters from obtaining a ballot.
Mass challenges
They may then only vote "provisionally" after signing an affidavit attesting to their legal voting status.
Mass challenges have never occurred in Florida. Indeed, says Mr Sancho, not one challenge has been made to a voter "in the 16 years I've been supervisor of elections."
"Quite frankly, this process can be used to slow down the voting process and cause chaos on election day; and discourage voters from voting."
Sancho calls it "intimidation." And it may be illegal.
Read More >>
Greg Palast - 26 October, 2004
A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals.
Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called "caging list".
It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.
An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: "The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day."
Ion Sancho, a Democrat, noted that Florida law allows political party operatives inside polling stations to stop voters from obtaining a ballot.
Mass challenges
They may then only vote "provisionally" after signing an affidavit attesting to their legal voting status.
Mass challenges have never occurred in Florida. Indeed, says Mr Sancho, not one challenge has been made to a voter "in the 16 years I've been supervisor of elections."
"Quite frankly, this process can be used to slow down the voting process and cause chaos on election day; and discourage voters from voting."
Sancho calls it "intimidation." And it may be illegal.
Read More >>
Local 10 Uncovers Big Ballot Mystery - Elections Office Says Situation Is 'Odd'
October 26, 2004
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- Local 10 has received many phone calls from viewers in Broward County who say they have not received the absentee ballots –- and the news from the elections office doesn't sound good.
Local 10 has learned that many as many as 58,000 ballots that were supposed to mailed out on Oct. 7 and 8 could be missing.
The Broward County Supervisor of Elections office is saying only that the situation is "unusual," and they are looking into it.
Gisela Salas, Broward Deputy Elections Supervisor, said, "I hate to say 'missing' at this time because that has not yet be substantiated. Some ballots are starting to arrive. But there is an extraordinary delay."
An elections office representative told Local 10 that the office has investigated with the U.S. Post Office what might have happened to the ballots, but so far, no one has been able to figure it out.
Read More >>
October 26, 2004
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- Local 10 has received many phone calls from viewers in Broward County who say they have not received the absentee ballots –- and the news from the elections office doesn't sound good.
Local 10 has learned that many as many as 58,000 ballots that were supposed to mailed out on Oct. 7 and 8 could be missing.
The Broward County Supervisor of Elections office is saying only that the situation is "unusual," and they are looking into it.
Gisela Salas, Broward Deputy Elections Supervisor, said, "I hate to say 'missing' at this time because that has not yet be substantiated. Some ballots are starting to arrive. But there is an extraordinary delay."
An elections office representative told Local 10 that the office has investigated with the U.S. Post Office what might have happened to the ballots, but so far, no one has been able to figure it out.
Read More >>
25 October 2004
Judge Tosses Fla. E-Voting Paper Trail Suit
Adrian Sainz - AP - October 25, 2004
MIAMI -- Florida does not need to create a paper record for touch-screen voting machines in case recounts are needed in tight races, a federal judge ruled Monday, upholding the state's emergency rule that set standards for e-voting recounts.
Touch-screen machines "provide sufficient safeguards" of constitutional rights by warning voters when they have not cast votes in individual races and allowing them to make a final review of their ballots, U.S. District Judge James Cohn ruled.
Read More >>
Adrian Sainz - AP - October 25, 2004
MIAMI -- Florida does not need to create a paper record for touch-screen voting machines in case recounts are needed in tight races, a federal judge ruled Monday, upholding the state's emergency rule that set standards for e-voting recounts.
Touch-screen machines "provide sufficient safeguards" of constitutional rights by warning voters when they have not cast votes in individual races and allowing them to make a final review of their ballots, U.S. District Judge James Cohn ruled.
Read More >>
24 October 2004
GOP drops voter challenges
5,000 of 35,000 discovered with mistakes
Cindi Andrews - October 24, 2004
Republicans withdrew their challenges to 5,000 voter registrations in Hamilton County on Saturday after learning the challenges themselves contained mistakes.
The challenges were among 35,000 that Republicans filed in 65 of Ohio's 88 counties Friday afternoon. They targeted newly registered voters whose mail was rejected as undeliverable.
The Hamilton County Board of Elections discovered Saturday some challenges had mismatched names and addresses, according to state GOP Chairman Bob Bennett. It was a clerical error when databases were merged, he said.
Read More >>
5,000 of 35,000 discovered with mistakes
Cindi Andrews - October 24, 2004
Republicans withdrew their challenges to 5,000 voter registrations in Hamilton County on Saturday after learning the challenges themselves contained mistakes.
The challenges were among 35,000 that Republicans filed in 65 of Ohio's 88 counties Friday afternoon. They targeted newly registered voters whose mail was rejected as undeliverable.
The Hamilton County Board of Elections discovered Saturday some challenges had mismatched names and addresses, according to state GOP Chairman Bob Bennett. It was a clerical error when databases were merged, he said.
Read More >>
23 October 2004
Truthout Voter Rights
Truthout is dedicating this page to protecting America's right to vote. If you believe your right or the rights of others in your community are being denied send the information here: voters.rights@truthout.org. We will get the TruthOut.
Read More >>
Truthout Voter Rights Multimedia >>
Truthout is dedicating this page to protecting America's right to vote. If you believe your right or the rights of others in your community are being denied send the information here: voters.rights@truthout.org. We will get the TruthOut.
Read More >>
Truthout Voter Rights Multimedia >>
Group Soliciting Libraries Accused of Destroying Democrat Registrations
A political consulting firm owned by the former head of the Arizona Republican Party, which contacted several libraries regarding voter registration drives, has come under scrutiny after a former employee told authorities that thousands of voter registration forms submitted by Democrats were destroyed.
Oregon officials are now investigating Voters Outreach of America, a group run by the Nathan Sproul-owned Sproul & Associates, which received $500,000 from the Republican party. The Republican connection reportedly was first made by a county librarian in Medford, OR, who was one of several librarians to receive a FAX from Sproul requesting the library solicit voter registration on behalf of the nonpartisan group America Votes. Librarian Meghan O’Flaherty performed research on Sproul and made the link. "I was just being a good reference librarian and checking the facts. We want to be sure someone who claims to be nonpartisan is nonpartisan," she told CBSNews.com.
America Votes president Cecile Richards insists her group has no connection to Sproul and sent a letter ordering Sproul to desists from using its name. Democratic senators Leahy (VT) and Kennedy (MA) have demanded attorney general John Ashcroft immediately initiate an investigation into Sproul’s activities.
Link >>
A political consulting firm owned by the former head of the Arizona Republican Party, which contacted several libraries regarding voter registration drives, has come under scrutiny after a former employee told authorities that thousands of voter registration forms submitted by Democrats were destroyed.
Oregon officials are now investigating Voters Outreach of America, a group run by the Nathan Sproul-owned Sproul & Associates, which received $500,000 from the Republican party. The Republican connection reportedly was first made by a county librarian in Medford, OR, who was one of several librarians to receive a FAX from Sproul requesting the library solicit voter registration on behalf of the nonpartisan group America Votes. Librarian Meghan O’Flaherty performed research on Sproul and made the link. "I was just being a good reference librarian and checking the facts. We want to be sure someone who claims to be nonpartisan is nonpartisan," she told CBSNews.com.
America Votes president Cecile Richards insists her group has no connection to Sproul and sent a letter ordering Sproul to desists from using its name. Democratic senators Leahy (VT) and Kennedy (MA) have demanded attorney general John Ashcroft immediately initiate an investigation into Sproul’s activities.
Link >>
Integrity of Florida Virtual Vote in Doubt
Rachel Konrad - AP - October 2004
Delray Beach, Fla. - Edward Bitet fought in World War II, built affordable housing for veterans and taught sixth grade. When the Long Island native retired to Florida, he fulfilled another civic duty by becoming a poll worker. But Bitet, 77, isn't volunteering this year — he says he doesn't trust Palm Beach County's electronic voting machines. He walked out of a county demonstration of touch-screen terminals convinced that software bugs could wreak havoc on Nov. 2.
Read More >>
Rachel Konrad - AP - October 2004
Delray Beach, Fla. - Edward Bitet fought in World War II, built affordable housing for veterans and taught sixth grade. When the Long Island native retired to Florida, he fulfilled another civic duty by becoming a poll worker. But Bitet, 77, isn't volunteering this year — he says he doesn't trust Palm Beach County's electronic voting machines. He walked out of a county demonstration of touch-screen terminals convinced that software bugs could wreak havoc on Nov. 2.
Read More >>
GOP Voter Drive Accused of Tossing Cards
Deborah Hastings - AP - Oct 23, 2004
In several battleground states across the country, a consulting firm funded by the Republican National Committee has been accused of deceiving would-be voters and destroying Democratic voter registration cards.
Arizona-based Sproul & Associates is under investigation in Oregon and Nevada over claims that canvassers hired by the company were instructed to register only Republicans and to get rid of registration forms completed by Democrats.
"We treat these complaints very seriously," said Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. The Democratic office-holder said three complaints were filed with election officials throughout the state. He declined to provide details, citing the continuing investigation.
Read More >>
Deborah Hastings - AP - Oct 23, 2004
In several battleground states across the country, a consulting firm funded by the Republican National Committee has been accused of deceiving would-be voters and destroying Democratic voter registration cards.
Arizona-based Sproul & Associates is under investigation in Oregon and Nevada over claims that canvassers hired by the company were instructed to register only Republicans and to get rid of registration forms completed by Democrats.
"We treat these complaints very seriously," said Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. The Democratic office-holder said three complaints were filed with election officials throughout the state. He declined to provide details, citing the continuing investigation.
Read More >>
Big G.O.P. Bid to Challenge Voters at Polls in Key State
Michael Moss - October 23, 2004
Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots.
Party officials say their effort is necessary to guard against fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters in Ohio, seen as one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the Nov. 2 elections.
Election officials in other swing states, from Arizona to Wisconsin and Florida, say they are bracing for similar efforts by Republicans to challenge new voters at polling places, reflecting months of disputes over voting procedures and the anticipation of an election as close as the one in 2000.
Ohio election officials said they had never seen so large a drive to prepare for Election Day challenges. They said they were scrambling yesterday to be ready for disruptions in the voting process as well as alarm and complaints among voters. Some officials said they worried that the challenges could discourage or even frighten others waiting to vote.
Ohio Democrats were struggling to match the Republicans' move, which had been rumored for weeks. Both parties had until 4 p.m. to register people they had recruited to monitor the election. Republicans said they had enlisted 3,600 by the deadline, many in heavily Democratic urban neighborhoods of Cleveland, Dayton and other cities. Each recruit was to be paid $100.
Read More >>
Michael Moss - October 23, 2004
Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots.
Party officials say their effort is necessary to guard against fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters in Ohio, seen as one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the Nov. 2 elections.
Election officials in other swing states, from Arizona to Wisconsin and Florida, say they are bracing for similar efforts by Republicans to challenge new voters at polling places, reflecting months of disputes over voting procedures and the anticipation of an election as close as the one in 2000.
Ohio election officials said they had never seen so large a drive to prepare for Election Day challenges. They said they were scrambling yesterday to be ready for disruptions in the voting process as well as alarm and complaints among voters. Some officials said they worried that the challenges could discourage or even frighten others waiting to vote.
Ohio Democrats were struggling to match the Republicans' move, which had been rumored for weeks. Both parties had until 4 p.m. to register people they had recruited to monitor the election. Republicans said they had enlisted 3,600 by the deadline, many in heavily Democratic urban neighborhoods of Cleveland, Dayton and other cities. Each recruit was to be paid $100.
Read More >>
Bush and RNC: Disavow Voter Suppression
For years, Republicans have used voter intimidation, misinformation, and other tactics to undermine the votes of blacks and other minorities. It's racist, undemocratic, and fundamentally un-American. We're joining Julian Bond, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., Representatives Maxine Waters and Jesse Jackson, Jr. and others to demand that it stop. Sign our petition asking the Bush/Cheney campaign and the RNC to disavow voter suppression and read an illuminating report by the People for the American Way Foundation and the NAACP.
Sign Petition >>
The Long Shadow of Jim Crow >>
For years, Republicans have used voter intimidation, misinformation, and other tactics to undermine the votes of blacks and other minorities. It's racist, undemocratic, and fundamentally un-American. We're joining Julian Bond, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., Representatives Maxine Waters and Jesse Jackson, Jr. and others to demand that it stop. Sign our petition asking the Bush/Cheney campaign and the RNC to disavow voter suppression and read an illuminating report by the People for the American Way Foundation and the NAACP.
Sign Petition >>
The Long Shadow of Jim Crow >>
State Democrats challenge Hood's recount rule
Dara Kam - October 23, 2004
TALLAHASSEE — State Democrats filed a challenge Friday to Secretary of State Glenda Hood's emergency rule regarding how to conduct manual recounts on touch-screen voting machines.
Hood issued the rule Oct. 15, more than a month after an administrative law judge threw out Hood's previous rule that exempted the 15 counties that use touch-screen machines from performing manual recounts in very close elections.
The complaint, filed by the Florida Democratic Party in the First District Court of Appeal, charges that Hood "waited until the last possible moment, declared an 'emergency,' repackaged the invalidated rule in form but retained its substance, and foisted it upon the voters of Florida."
Hood's new rule said that elections officials should print a "ballot image report" of what the voter saw on the screen.
A coalition of unions, civil-rights groups and U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler wanted a voter-verified paper trail.
"Once again, we're extremely disappointed with these partisan tactics to litigate every single issue," Hood's spokeswoman, Alia Faraj, said of the challenge. "This is part of the attempt to create confusion and chaos."
Link >>
Dara Kam - October 23, 2004
TALLAHASSEE — State Democrats filed a challenge Friday to Secretary of State Glenda Hood's emergency rule regarding how to conduct manual recounts on touch-screen voting machines.
Hood issued the rule Oct. 15, more than a month after an administrative law judge threw out Hood's previous rule that exempted the 15 counties that use touch-screen machines from performing manual recounts in very close elections.
The complaint, filed by the Florida Democratic Party in the First District Court of Appeal, charges that Hood "waited until the last possible moment, declared an 'emergency,' repackaged the invalidated rule in form but retained its substance, and foisted it upon the voters of Florida."
Hood's new rule said that elections officials should print a "ballot image report" of what the voter saw on the screen.
A coalition of unions, civil-rights groups and U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler wanted a voter-verified paper trail.
"Once again, we're extremely disappointed with these partisan tactics to litigate every single issue," Hood's spokeswoman, Alia Faraj, said of the challenge. "This is part of the attempt to create confusion and chaos."
Link >>
Banana Republicans: Block the Vote
In the face of overwhelming rejection from African-American and other minority voters, Republicans have adopted a two-tiered strategy:
token efforts at symbolic inclusion, aimed primarily at soothing the conscience of white voters, many of whom want to see themselves as supporters of a racially inclusive party;
and efforts to minimize the number and influence of black votes.
Read More >>
In the face of overwhelming rejection from African-American and other minority voters, Republicans have adopted a two-tiered strategy:
token efforts at symbolic inclusion, aimed primarily at soothing the conscience of white voters, many of whom want to see themselves as supporters of a racially inclusive party;
and efforts to minimize the number and influence of black votes.
Read More >>
Ohio Provisional Ballot Ruling Reversed
October 23, 2004
CINCINNATI - A federal appeals court on Saturday reversed a lower court's ruling that Ohio voters could cast provisional ballots on Election Day anywhere in the county in which they are registered.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a provisional ballot cast outside a voter's home precinct isn't valid, agreeing with Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. Federal law allows people to get provisional ballots if they are in the right jurisdiction. Blackwell, a Republican, defines that as a precinct, while Democrats say it's the voter's county.
The state's Democrats had filed a lawsuit challenging Blackwell's directive instructing county elections boards not to give ballots to voters who come to the wrong precinct and to send them to the correct polling place on Election Day.
U.S. District Judge James Carr on Oct. 14 blocked the directive, ruling that Ohio voters who show up at the wrong polling place still can cast ballots as long as they are in the county where they are registered.
Blackwell appealed to the 6th Circuit.
Read More >>
October 23, 2004
CINCINNATI - A federal appeals court on Saturday reversed a lower court's ruling that Ohio voters could cast provisional ballots on Election Day anywhere in the county in which they are registered.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a provisional ballot cast outside a voter's home precinct isn't valid, agreeing with Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. Federal law allows people to get provisional ballots if they are in the right jurisdiction. Blackwell, a Republican, defines that as a precinct, while Democrats say it's the voter's county.
The state's Democrats had filed a lawsuit challenging Blackwell's directive instructing county elections boards not to give ballots to voters who come to the wrong precinct and to send them to the correct polling place on Election Day.
U.S. District Judge James Carr on Oct. 14 blocked the directive, ruling that Ohio voters who show up at the wrong polling place still can cast ballots as long as they are in the county where they are registered.
Blackwell appealed to the 6th Circuit.
Read More >>
22 October 2004
Will GOP Use Rent-a-Mobs Again in 2004?
'Spontaneous' Mob Violence
In Florida, the Bush campaign quietly organized "rent-a-rioters" and flew them to Florida from all over the country. While disingenuously portraying the protests as "spontaneous grass-roots efforts," the Bush campaign sent special squads of GOP Congressional staffers who, in several instances, led violent attacks on Democratic observers, smashed windows, and tried to force their way into vote-counting rooms. This was not civil disobedience intended to show disagreement, but a concerted attack designed to threaten and intimidate.
Shortly after the election, the Bush campaign began a two-pronged program to import as many protesters into Florida as they could. The first prong was done openly: phone-trees reached out across the country to coax party loyalists to head down and fight Al Gore's "theft" of the election. This much is standard political fare. What was unusual was the more discreet second prong.
Under the direction of House Republican Whip Tom DeLay (of Texas, mind you), staff members of GOP Congressmen were quietly approached with offers of all-expenses-paid trips to Florida, "all paid for by the Bush campaign." In addition to staying in swanky beach-side hotels, part of their reward would be an exclusive Thanksgiving Day party in Ft. Lauderdale.
Read More >>
'Spontaneous' Mob Violence
In Florida, the Bush campaign quietly organized "rent-a-rioters" and flew them to Florida from all over the country. While disingenuously portraying the protests as "spontaneous grass-roots efforts," the Bush campaign sent special squads of GOP Congressional staffers who, in several instances, led violent attacks on Democratic observers, smashed windows, and tried to force their way into vote-counting rooms. This was not civil disobedience intended to show disagreement, but a concerted attack designed to threaten and intimidate.
Shortly after the election, the Bush campaign began a two-pronged program to import as many protesters into Florida as they could. The first prong was done openly: phone-trees reached out across the country to coax party loyalists to head down and fight Al Gore's "theft" of the election. This much is standard political fare. What was unusual was the more discreet second prong.
Under the direction of House Republican Whip Tom DeLay (of Texas, mind you), staff members of GOP Congressmen were quietly approached with offers of all-expenses-paid trips to Florida, "all paid for by the Bush campaign." In addition to staying in swanky beach-side hotels, part of their reward would be an exclusive Thanksgiving Day party in Ft. Lauderdale.
Read More >>
Voters report fake calls
Instructions to change polling place don’t come from board of elections
Suzanne Hoholik - October 22, 2004
The caller interrupting a North Side couple’s dinner earlier this week said he was from the Franklin County Board of Elections.
He told the elderly woman that her voting site had changed and that on Nov. 2 she and her husband should cast their ballots at a South Side precinct. The caller even left the phone number of the board.
Her husband, who didn’t want their names published out of fear of retribution, called the board, sat through a long menu of automated options and finally spoke with an employee.
"They said there was no way in the world they would make such a call," he said. "I think it’s hankypanky and somebody in the election is trying to kill some votes."
At no time, Elections Director Matthew Damschroder said, does the board call voters.
"The only communication from the board of elections is printed on official board of elections paper with the logo," he said.
"If they’re saying they’re the board of elections, that’s a violation of the law. My recommendation to them would be to cease and desist."
His office has received about a dozen calls since last week from voters checking on similar calls.
Damschroder said there are two scams: The caller tells voters their precincts have changed or the caller offers to pick up an absentee-ballot application, deliver the ballot to the voter and return the completed ballot to the elections office.
Read More >>
Instructions to change polling place don’t come from board of elections
Suzanne Hoholik - October 22, 2004
The caller interrupting a North Side couple’s dinner earlier this week said he was from the Franklin County Board of Elections.
He told the elderly woman that her voting site had changed and that on Nov. 2 she and her husband should cast their ballots at a South Side precinct. The caller even left the phone number of the board.
Her husband, who didn’t want their names published out of fear of retribution, called the board, sat through a long menu of automated options and finally spoke with an employee.
"They said there was no way in the world they would make such a call," he said. "I think it’s hankypanky and somebody in the election is trying to kill some votes."
At no time, Elections Director Matthew Damschroder said, does the board call voters.
"The only communication from the board of elections is printed on official board of elections paper with the logo," he said.
"If they’re saying they’re the board of elections, that’s a violation of the law. My recommendation to them would be to cease and desist."
His office has received about a dozen calls since last week from voters checking on similar calls.
Damschroder said there are two scams: The caller tells voters their precincts have changed or the caller offers to pick up an absentee-ballot application, deliver the ballot to the voter and return the completed ballot to the elections office.
Read More >>
Voter intimidation begins early in Florida
October 22, 2004
The City of Jacksonville and Duval County are geographically one and the same, and in land area are the largest city and county in Florida. They're the fourth largest in population with 779,000 people.
So when early voting began this past Monday, as mandated by Florida law, you might have expected a number of voting sites to be open for such a large jurisdiction. But you would have been disappointed. Duval County opened one site — the Supervisor of Elections office in downtown Jacksonville. By contrast, Miami-Dade opened 20.
Supervisor of Elections resigns
To get things off to a really good start, the Supervisor of Elections resigned "for health reasons" effective the 18th, the first day of voting. John Stafford, the Supervisor, had suffered a severe heart attack back in March, so no one could doubt his claim of poor health. We're free to doubt, however, any claim of good judgment.
[...] Videotaping the voters
It was wonderfully convenient to have only one polling site. It made it so much easier to set up an intimidation campaign.
Read More >>
October 22, 2004
The City of Jacksonville and Duval County are geographically one and the same, and in land area are the largest city and county in Florida. They're the fourth largest in population with 779,000 people.
So when early voting began this past Monday, as mandated by Florida law, you might have expected a number of voting sites to be open for such a large jurisdiction. But you would have been disappointed. Duval County opened one site — the Supervisor of Elections office in downtown Jacksonville. By contrast, Miami-Dade opened 20.
Supervisor of Elections resigns
To get things off to a really good start, the Supervisor of Elections resigned "for health reasons" effective the 18th, the first day of voting. John Stafford, the Supervisor, had suffered a severe heart attack back in March, so no one could doubt his claim of poor health. We're free to doubt, however, any claim of good judgment.
[...] Videotaping the voters
It was wonderfully convenient to have only one polling site. It made it so much easier to set up an intimidation campaign.
Read More >>
Students have parties switched by bogus petitions
Registration changed to Republican without consent
Dennis B. Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - October 22, 2004
Scores of college students in Pennsylvania and Oregon have had their voting registrations switched by teams of canvassers circulating bogus petitions and, in some cases, partially concealed voter registration forms students were requested to sign.
The canvassers have visited campuses asking students to sign petitions advocating lower auto insurance rates, medical marijuana or stricter rape laws, according to elections officials.
After signing their names, the students were pressured into registering with the Republican Party by being told that their signatures otherwise would be invalid, or they were asked to fill out the signature and address portions of blank voter registration forms as proof of citizenship. In multiple instances, students already registered to vote have had their registrations changed without their consent, elections officials said yesterday.
Read More >>
Registration changed to Republican without consent
Dennis B. Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - October 22, 2004
Scores of college students in Pennsylvania and Oregon have had their voting registrations switched by teams of canvassers circulating bogus petitions and, in some cases, partially concealed voter registration forms students were requested to sign.
The canvassers have visited campuses asking students to sign petitions advocating lower auto insurance rates, medical marijuana or stricter rape laws, according to elections officials.
After signing their names, the students were pressured into registering with the Republican Party by being told that their signatures otherwise would be invalid, or they were asked to fill out the signature and address portions of blank voter registration forms as proof of citizenship. In multiple instances, students already registered to vote have had their registrations changed without their consent, elections officials said yesterday.
Read More >>
Some Voters Say Machines Failed, Incorrect Choices Appear on Screens
Jim Ludwick - October 22, 2004
Kim Griffith voted on Thursday— over and over and over.
She's among the people in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties who say they have had trouble with early voting equipment. When they have tried to vote for a particular candidate, the touch-screen system has said they voted for somebody else.
It's a problem that can be fixed by the voters themselves — people can alter the selections on their ballots, up to the point when they indicate they are finished and officially cast the ballot.
For Griffith, it took a lot of altering.
She went to Valle Del Norte Community Center in Albuquerque, planning to vote for John Kerry. "I pushed his name, but a green check mark appeared before President Bush's name," she said.
Griffith erased the vote by touching the check mark at Bush's name. That's how a voter can alter a touch-screen ballot.
She again tried to vote for Kerry, but the screen again said she had voted for Bush. The third time, the screen agreed that her vote should go to Kerry.
She faced the same problem repeatedly as she filled out the rest of the ballot. On one item, "I had to vote five or six times," she said.
Michael Cadigan, president of the Albuquerque City Council, had a similar experience when he voted at City Hall.
"I cast my vote for president. I voted for Kerry and a check mark for Bush appeared," he said.
He reported the problem immediately and was shown how to alter the ballot.
Cadigan said he doesn't think he made a mistake the first time. "I was extremely careful to accurately touch the button for my choice for president," but the check mark appeared by the wrong name, he said.
[...] Herrera said she's heard stories from Democrats and Republicans. In some cases, when people have tried to vote a straight ticket, the screen has given their votes to every candidate in the opposite political party, she said.
[...] "I'm concerned that people who don't check and double-check will try to vote for a candidate and not realize that the vote went to another candidate," she said.
Read More >>
Jim Ludwick - October 22, 2004
Kim Griffith voted on Thursday— over and over and over.
She's among the people in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties who say they have had trouble with early voting equipment. When they have tried to vote for a particular candidate, the touch-screen system has said they voted for somebody else.
It's a problem that can be fixed by the voters themselves — people can alter the selections on their ballots, up to the point when they indicate they are finished and officially cast the ballot.
For Griffith, it took a lot of altering.
She went to Valle Del Norte Community Center in Albuquerque, planning to vote for John Kerry. "I pushed his name, but a green check mark appeared before President Bush's name," she said.
Griffith erased the vote by touching the check mark at Bush's name. That's how a voter can alter a touch-screen ballot.
She again tried to vote for Kerry, but the screen again said she had voted for Bush. The third time, the screen agreed that her vote should go to Kerry.
She faced the same problem repeatedly as she filled out the rest of the ballot. On one item, "I had to vote five or six times," she said.
Michael Cadigan, president of the Albuquerque City Council, had a similar experience when he voted at City Hall.
"I cast my vote for president. I voted for Kerry and a check mark for Bush appeared," he said.
He reported the problem immediately and was shown how to alter the ballot.
Cadigan said he doesn't think he made a mistake the first time. "I was extremely careful to accurately touch the button for my choice for president," but the check mark appeared by the wrong name, he said.
[...] Herrera said she's heard stories from Democrats and Republicans. In some cases, when people have tried to vote a straight ticket, the screen has given their votes to every candidate in the opposite political party, she said.
[...] "I'm concerned that people who don't check and double-check will try to vote for a candidate and not realize that the vote went to another candidate," she said.
Read More >>
Questionable Absentee Ballots Lead To Criminal Charges
KOTA Territory News & The AP - 10/22/2004
Questionable absentee ballots across the state lead to criminal charges.
Six Republican notary publics face misdemeanors in connection with absentee ballot applications filled out on South Dakota college campuses.
Attorney General Larry Long says there's no evidence of voter fraud and Secretary of State Chris Nelson says his office and County Auditors are working to make sure every application is proper.
Joseph Alick, Nathan Mertz, Todd Schlekeway, Rachel Hoff, and Eric Fahrendorf are charged in Sioux Falls. Jennifer Giannonatti will be charged in Rapid City.
Jesse Abbott of Black Hills State Universtiry says Giannonatti signed off on his application to register and vote absentee.
Giannonatti and five others face charges for notarizing some absentee ballot applications without seeing the voter sign the document.
Long says the number of improper absentee requests range from a few hundred to more than a thousand. He says several democratic lawyers have already told him they plan to challenge the validity of those applications in court.
Read More >>
KOTA Territory News & The AP - 10/22/2004
Questionable absentee ballots across the state lead to criminal charges.
Six Republican notary publics face misdemeanors in connection with absentee ballot applications filled out on South Dakota college campuses.
Attorney General Larry Long says there's no evidence of voter fraud and Secretary of State Chris Nelson says his office and County Auditors are working to make sure every application is proper.
Joseph Alick, Nathan Mertz, Todd Schlekeway, Rachel Hoff, and Eric Fahrendorf are charged in Sioux Falls. Jennifer Giannonatti will be charged in Rapid City.
Jesse Abbott of Black Hills State Universtiry says Giannonatti signed off on his application to register and vote absentee.
Giannonatti and five others face charges for notarizing some absentee ballot applications without seeing the voter sign the document.
Long says the number of improper absentee requests range from a few hundred to more than a thousand. He says several democratic lawyers have already told him they plan to challenge the validity of those applications in court.
Read More >>
Justice Dept. Weighs in on Ohio Ballots
John Nolan - AP - Oct 22, 2004
CINCINNATI - Ohio Democrats did not have the right to challenge a state requirement that voters show up at their assigned polling place to cast a ballot, lawyers for the Justice Department told a federal appeals court Friday.
Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is within his authority under federal law to require that a voter appear at the correct polling place, Department of Justice lawyers contended in written arguments filed with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The federal government may sue in order to enforce its provisions, but federal law does not grant private parties that right, the Justice Department contended in its brief in support of Blackwell. The Justice Department is not a party in the lawsuit, which Ohio Democrats filed against Blackwell, a Republican.
Read More >>
John Nolan - AP - Oct 22, 2004
CINCINNATI - Ohio Democrats did not have the right to challenge a state requirement that voters show up at their assigned polling place to cast a ballot, lawyers for the Justice Department told a federal appeals court Friday.
Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is within his authority under federal law to require that a voter appear at the correct polling place, Department of Justice lawyers contended in written arguments filed with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The federal government may sue in order to enforce its provisions, but federal law does not grant private parties that right, the Justice Department contended in its brief in support of Blackwell. The Justice Department is not a party in the lawsuit, which Ohio Democrats filed against Blackwell, a Republican.
Read More >>
State terminates deal for voting machines
Jan TenBruggencate - October 22, 2004
A state administrative hearings officer yesterday canceled a Texas company's $3.8 million contract to provide electronic voting machines at Hawai'i polling places, but the decision will not disrupt balloting in the Nov. 2 election.
Voters will still be able to choose between a paper ballot and the new Hart InterCivic eSlate electronic voting machine, which is meant to make it easier for disabled voters to cast ballots, but can also be used by others.
Read More >>
Jan TenBruggencate - October 22, 2004
A state administrative hearings officer yesterday canceled a Texas company's $3.8 million contract to provide electronic voting machines at Hawai'i polling places, but the decision will not disrupt balloting in the Nov. 2 election.
Voters will still be able to choose between a paper ballot and the new Hart InterCivic eSlate electronic voting machine, which is meant to make it easier for disabled voters to cast ballots, but can also be used by others.
Read More >>
21 October 2004
GOP board member resigns
Denise Ross - October 21, 2004
One former state lawmaker is, as of Wednesday, also a former member of the South Dakota Republican Party's executive board.
Jan Nicolay, who represented Sioux Falls for 14 years in the state House of Representatives and was chairman of the appropriations committee, said negative campaign tactics and what she views as mishandling of the absentee ballot process led to her decision.
"I'm not happy with that at all," Nicolay said of an absentee ballot snafu that affected voters on several college campuses.
State law requires absentee ballot applications to be signed by a notary public who witnesses the voter signing the application. Apparently, young workers for the state Republican Party and College Republicans collected the ballot applications, and notaries who did not see the voter sign the application affixed notary seals to the documents at a later time.
Both the South Dakota Republican Party and College Republicans fired those involved in the clouded absentee ballot applications, but Nicolay said party officials had a responsibility to see that the situation never got that far.
Read More >>
Denise Ross - October 21, 2004
One former state lawmaker is, as of Wednesday, also a former member of the South Dakota Republican Party's executive board.
Jan Nicolay, who represented Sioux Falls for 14 years in the state House of Representatives and was chairman of the appropriations committee, said negative campaign tactics and what she views as mishandling of the absentee ballot process led to her decision.
"I'm not happy with that at all," Nicolay said of an absentee ballot snafu that affected voters on several college campuses.
State law requires absentee ballot applications to be signed by a notary public who witnesses the voter signing the application. Apparently, young workers for the state Republican Party and College Republicans collected the ballot applications, and notaries who did not see the voter sign the application affixed notary seals to the documents at a later time.
Both the South Dakota Republican Party and College Republicans fired those involved in the clouded absentee ballot applications, but Nicolay said party officials had a responsibility to see that the situation never got that far.
Read More >>
Foreign Observers See Problems in Election
Alan Elsner - Oct 21, 2004
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Substantial threats to the integrity of the U.S. presidential election remain despite an improvement in election practices since 2000, an international delegation of election observers reported on Thursday.
The delegation of 20, including lawyers, diplomats, civic leaders and veteran election monitors from 15 countries, visited five key states last month to review preparations for the Nov. 2 balloting.
They plan to return to Florida, Ohio and Missouri on Election Day, although officials in some counties have so far not agreed to allow them access to polling places and vote counting centers.
"We hope voters in the United States will feel confidence with the presence of international observers and realize they are part of a world community," said Brigalia Bam, chairperson of South Africa's independent electoral commission.
Australian human rights lawyer Irene Baghoomians urged local election officials in parts of Ohio and south Florida, who have so far failed to allow the delegation access on Election Day, to change their minds.
"We do not see any harm from increased accountability and transparency," she said.
[...] It strongly recommended that new electronic touch screen voting machines that have been introduced in many states in the past four years be equipped to produce a voter-verified, recountable paper record.
[...] "Transparency at the polls is critical and cannot be readily established without voter verification," the report said. "If such verification is not available, arrangements for independent auditing should be put in place."
Read More >>
Alan Elsner - Oct 21, 2004
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Substantial threats to the integrity of the U.S. presidential election remain despite an improvement in election practices since 2000, an international delegation of election observers reported on Thursday.
The delegation of 20, including lawyers, diplomats, civic leaders and veteran election monitors from 15 countries, visited five key states last month to review preparations for the Nov. 2 balloting.
They plan to return to Florida, Ohio and Missouri on Election Day, although officials in some counties have so far not agreed to allow them access to polling places and vote counting centers.
"We hope voters in the United States will feel confidence with the presence of international observers and realize they are part of a world community," said Brigalia Bam, chairperson of South Africa's independent electoral commission.
Australian human rights lawyer Irene Baghoomians urged local election officials in parts of Ohio and south Florida, who have so far failed to allow the delegation access on Election Day, to change their minds.
"We do not see any harm from increased accountability and transparency," she said.
[...] It strongly recommended that new electronic touch screen voting machines that have been introduced in many states in the past four years be equipped to produce a voter-verified, recountable paper record.
[...] "Transparency at the polls is critical and cannot be readily established without voter verification," the report said. "If such verification is not available, arrangements for independent auditing should be put in place."
Read More >>
New charges fuel Senate race
Jennifer Sanderson - 10/21/2004
Daschle campaign files criminal charges claiming mail fraud over 'sodomy' sticker
A window sticker scarcely larger than a standard photo print has the nation's top elected Democrat and the state's Republican Party pressing separately for a criminal investigation.
The white-on-blue sticker reads, "Vote for Daschle & Vote for SODOMY." A disclaimer alerts readers that fees were "Paid for by someone who loves Jesus and friends of swlJ. This ad is not authorized by any candidate of (sic) candidate committee."
The mass mailing went out earlier this month to churches statewide. A select few homeowners with yard signs supporting Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle also received copies in their mailboxes.
The anonymous disclaimer offers no real identity, and the return address is that of Daschle's re-election headquarters.
Dan Pfeiffer, Daschle's deputy campaign manager, said that amounts to mail fraud, one of the charges leveled against the South Dakota Republican Party in a formal complaint to the Federal Election Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. Pfeiffer said the party is the only group in the state that could support such an effort.
Read More >>
Jennifer Sanderson - 10/21/2004
Daschle campaign files criminal charges claiming mail fraud over 'sodomy' sticker
A window sticker scarcely larger than a standard photo print has the nation's top elected Democrat and the state's Republican Party pressing separately for a criminal investigation.
The white-on-blue sticker reads, "Vote for Daschle & Vote for SODOMY." A disclaimer alerts readers that fees were "Paid for by someone who loves Jesus and friends of swlJ. This ad is not authorized by any candidate of (sic) candidate committee."
The mass mailing went out earlier this month to churches statewide. A select few homeowners with yard signs supporting Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle also received copies in their mailboxes.
The anonymous disclaimer offers no real identity, and the return address is that of Daschle's re-election headquarters.
Dan Pfeiffer, Daschle's deputy campaign manager, said that amounts to mail fraud, one of the charges leveled against the South Dakota Republican Party in a formal complaint to the Federal Election Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. Pfeiffer said the party is the only group in the state that could support such an effort.
Read More >>
America's Hidden Vote
Sidney Blumenthal - The Guardian U.K. - 21 October 2004
Passing almost without notice earlier this month, the public release of The Civil Rights Record of the George W Bush Administration - the official staff report prepared by the US Civil Rights Commission - whose submission is required by federal law, was blocked by the Republican commissioners. None the less, it was posted on the commission's website: "This report finds that President Bush has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words."
Bush has held the Civil Rights Commission in contempt since its June 2001 report on Election Practices in Florida During the 2000 Campaign. Then it concluded: "The commission's findings make one thing clear: widespread voter disenfranchisement - not the dead-heat contest - was the extraordinary feature in the Florida election ... The disenfranchisement of Florida's voters fell most harshly on the shoulders of black voters."
Vast efforts to mobilize or suppress African-American, Hispanic and Democratic voters have already reached a greater level of intensity than in any modern campaign. The Republicans in Ohio, for example, have attempted to toss out new Democrat registrations because it was claimed they were written on the wrong weight of paper, a gambit overruled by a federal court. From Pennsylvania to Arizona, a Republican consulting firm is discouraging new Democratic voters from getting on the rolls.
Meanwhile, the Democratic party has more than 10,000 lawyers deployed to defend against voter suppression, 2,000 stationed in Florida; civil rights groups are sending out more than 6,000 lawyers. Bush v Gore remains an open wound; and now the battle over voting rights, over democracy itself, is being fought again.
Read More >>
Sidney Blumenthal - The Guardian U.K. - 21 October 2004
Passing almost without notice earlier this month, the public release of The Civil Rights Record of the George W Bush Administration - the official staff report prepared by the US Civil Rights Commission - whose submission is required by federal law, was blocked by the Republican commissioners. None the less, it was posted on the commission's website: "This report finds that President Bush has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words."
Bush has held the Civil Rights Commission in contempt since its June 2001 report on Election Practices in Florida During the 2000 Campaign. Then it concluded: "The commission's findings make one thing clear: widespread voter disenfranchisement - not the dead-heat contest - was the extraordinary feature in the Florida election ... The disenfranchisement of Florida's voters fell most harshly on the shoulders of black voters."
Vast efforts to mobilize or suppress African-American, Hispanic and Democratic voters have already reached a greater level of intensity than in any modern campaign. The Republicans in Ohio, for example, have attempted to toss out new Democrat registrations because it was claimed they were written on the wrong weight of paper, a gambit overruled by a federal court. From Pennsylvania to Arizona, a Republican consulting firm is discouraging new Democratic voters from getting on the rolls.
Meanwhile, the Democratic party has more than 10,000 lawyers deployed to defend against voter suppression, 2,000 stationed in Florida; civil rights groups are sending out more than 6,000 lawyers. Bush v Gore remains an open wound; and now the battle over voting rights, over democracy itself, is being fought again.
Read More >>
Alabama registration beset on 2 fronts
Backlog, key resignation plague process
Jay Reeves - AP
BIRMINGHAM — Counties across Alabama struggled to deal with a backlog of thousands of last-minute voter registrations as the state's longtime head of voter registration quit Wednesday less than two weeks before Election Day.
Secretary of State Nancy Worley's office also was attempting to sort out a record-keeping discrepancy that left uncertain the actual number of registered voters in the state — thought to be around 2.54 million.
The seeming disarray led some would-be voters to wonder whether their vote would get counted on Nov. 2.
"It looks like it's crooked," said Robert Wells, who moved to suburban Birmingham from Washington in September and learned of the backlog when he inquired why he had not received a voter registration card. "I might just get an absentee ballot from Washington."
Read More >>
Backlog, key resignation plague process
Jay Reeves - AP
BIRMINGHAM — Counties across Alabama struggled to deal with a backlog of thousands of last-minute voter registrations as the state's longtime head of voter registration quit Wednesday less than two weeks before Election Day.
Secretary of State Nancy Worley's office also was attempting to sort out a record-keeping discrepancy that left uncertain the actual number of registered voters in the state — thought to be around 2.54 million.
The seeming disarray led some would-be voters to wonder whether their vote would get counted on Nov. 2.
"It looks like it's crooked," said Robert Wells, who moved to suburban Birmingham from Washington in September and learned of the backlog when he inquired why he had not received a voter registration card. "I might just get an absentee ballot from Washington."
Read More >>
20 October 2004
Voting Expert: Electronic Voting Is 'Out Of Control'
Wexler's Battle Continues
October 20, 2004
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Testimony ended Wednesday in a Fort Lauderdale trial on whether touch-screen voting machines need to produce a paper record of ballots.
The trial was prompted by a lawsuit by Rep. Robert Wexler, a Democrat from Boca Raton. He wants a paper trail when recounts are needed in tight races.
The judge's decision will cover more than half of the statewide vote and the 15 counties with touch-screen machines. Twenty-eight states use more than 1 million touch-screen machines.
He has given no sign when he would rule.
A voting expert testifying for the state Tuesday says the nation's system of electronic voting is out of control.
Computer scientist Michael Shamos says the makers of the machines lack industry standards, testing is inadequate and no compulsory procedures exist for fixing problems.
Read More >>
Wexler's Battle Continues
October 20, 2004
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Testimony ended Wednesday in a Fort Lauderdale trial on whether touch-screen voting machines need to produce a paper record of ballots.
The trial was prompted by a lawsuit by Rep. Robert Wexler, a Democrat from Boca Raton. He wants a paper trail when recounts are needed in tight races.
The judge's decision will cover more than half of the statewide vote and the 15 counties with touch-screen machines. Twenty-eight states use more than 1 million touch-screen machines.
He has given no sign when he would rule.
A voting expert testifying for the state Tuesday says the nation's system of electronic voting is out of control.
Computer scientist Michael Shamos says the makers of the machines lack industry standards, testing is inadequate and no compulsory procedures exist for fixing problems.
Read More >>
19 October 2004
Here Come the Dirty Tricks
Jeff Fleischer - Mother Jones - October 19, 2004
A truism of recent American elections is that high turnout favors Democrats. Hence Democrats are worried about Republican attempts to suppress the vote by way of "dirty tricks" and voter disenfranchisement.
In an election constantly dubbed "the most important" in years, get-out-the-vote efforts have signed up record numbers of new voters in various states. On the other hand, there would be even more new voters registered if not for the ironically named Voters Outreach for America.
A former employee told a television station that VOA, which was paid to collect signatures by the Republican National Committee, intentionally destroyed hundreds of registration forms in Nevada, trashing only those filled out by Democrats. VOA, which is run by former Arizona GOP chair Nathan Sproul, has also registered voters in Oregon, where the attorney general’s office is now investigating whether similar selective-ballot-destruction efforts took place there. As the New York Times editorialized:
"Destroying voter registration forms is not merely an ugly political trick; it can be a felony. The Department of Justice, and the states of Nevada and Oregon, should quickly and thoroughly investigate these allegations, and look into any registration work being done by Voters Outreach and Mr. Sproul in other states. The charges should be pursued wherever they lead. Since the Republican Party was paying the bills, questions should be asked about what instructions it gave for its registration drives, and what it knew about the alleged malfeasance."
In another swing state, New Hampshire, the regional chair of George Bush’s re-election campaign has had to step down because of his alleged role in a 2002 phone-jamming operation that prevented six Democratic get-out-the-vote offices from making outreach calls. In an election where now-GOP Sen. John Sununu narrowly defeated former Democratic governor Jeanne Shaheen, there’s no telling how much of an impact those dirty tricks had. And as the Portsmouth (N.H.) Herald explains, James Tobin’s resignation still leaves some questions unanswered:
"The Democrats didn’t get to question GOP operatives under oath on Thursday because the Justice Department stepped in, declaring the testimony in the civil case might damage its ongoing criminal investigation. The Democrats cried foul, charging the Justice Department with protecting the Republican operatives, but clearly there was enough heat around the issue to force Tobin’s resignation.
"Tobin adamantly denies any wrongdoing. ‘These allegations date back two years and have absolutely nothing to do with the present campaign,’ Tobin told The Associated Press. ‘But to avoid any harm to the campaign from (the Democrats’) underhanded tactics, I elected earlier this week to step down.’ Tobin’s comments are curious because his political affiliates, not the Democrats, pleaded guilty to "underhanded tactics," and he himself acknowledges that the only reason he is stepping down is to avoid damaging the Bush campaign, now deadlocked with U.S. Sen. John Kerry in the Granite State."
Then there’s Pennsylvania, where Republicans are trying to relocate 63 Philadelphia polling places, 59 in largely minority neighborhoods. Republicans claim those polling places are not adequate for voters, but didn’t file their complaint until Friday. Since voters who go to the wrong polling place will not be able to vote, the last-minute nature of the complaint (which is expected to fail) sure makes it look like an attempt to suppress minority voting:
"I've never witnessed a more wanton example of an effort to discourage minority voters from participating in an election," Kerry campaign spokesman Mark Nevins told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's despicable."
Swing states aren’t the only ones where such tricks are being deployed. In some California counties, pollworkers are reportedly being trained not to offer voters the option of a paper ballot (and with it, a paper trail) even though the state makes that option available. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
"Ed Cherlin, a pollworker being trained in Santa Clara County, said he was very disturbed to learn that he was not supposed to mention the paper option. ‘I object to the government telling me that I can't tell people about their rights,’ he said. Representatives of the voting commissions in Orange County and Riverside confirm that they also will not be informing voters about the paper option at the polls. There are ten counties in California using paperless e-voting machines known as DREs. It is not clear at this time whether all ten are adopting similar policies."
Beyond these tricks, there are concerns about the rules governing provisional ballots in Ohio and Florida, the possible intimidation of minority voters on Election Day, and the possibility of a new tactic from the brain of Karl Rove.
The aforementioned examples have made headlines with two weeks still to go before the election. As the vote draws nearer, voters must confirm their registration and keep an eye out for more dirty tricks. In an election like this, irregularities at just a few polling places could decide the winner.
Link >>
Jeff Fleischer - Mother Jones - October 19, 2004
A truism of recent American elections is that high turnout favors Democrats. Hence Democrats are worried about Republican attempts to suppress the vote by way of "dirty tricks" and voter disenfranchisement.
In an election constantly dubbed "the most important" in years, get-out-the-vote efforts have signed up record numbers of new voters in various states. On the other hand, there would be even more new voters registered if not for the ironically named Voters Outreach for America.
A former employee told a television station that VOA, which was paid to collect signatures by the Republican National Committee, intentionally destroyed hundreds of registration forms in Nevada, trashing only those filled out by Democrats. VOA, which is run by former Arizona GOP chair Nathan Sproul, has also registered voters in Oregon, where the attorney general’s office is now investigating whether similar selective-ballot-destruction efforts took place there. As the New York Times editorialized:
"Destroying voter registration forms is not merely an ugly political trick; it can be a felony. The Department of Justice, and the states of Nevada and Oregon, should quickly and thoroughly investigate these allegations, and look into any registration work being done by Voters Outreach and Mr. Sproul in other states. The charges should be pursued wherever they lead. Since the Republican Party was paying the bills, questions should be asked about what instructions it gave for its registration drives, and what it knew about the alleged malfeasance."
In another swing state, New Hampshire, the regional chair of George Bush’s re-election campaign has had to step down because of his alleged role in a 2002 phone-jamming operation that prevented six Democratic get-out-the-vote offices from making outreach calls. In an election where now-GOP Sen. John Sununu narrowly defeated former Democratic governor Jeanne Shaheen, there’s no telling how much of an impact those dirty tricks had. And as the Portsmouth (N.H.) Herald explains, James Tobin’s resignation still leaves some questions unanswered:
"The Democrats didn’t get to question GOP operatives under oath on Thursday because the Justice Department stepped in, declaring the testimony in the civil case might damage its ongoing criminal investigation. The Democrats cried foul, charging the Justice Department with protecting the Republican operatives, but clearly there was enough heat around the issue to force Tobin’s resignation.
"Tobin adamantly denies any wrongdoing. ‘These allegations date back two years and have absolutely nothing to do with the present campaign,’ Tobin told The Associated Press. ‘But to avoid any harm to the campaign from (the Democrats’) underhanded tactics, I elected earlier this week to step down.’ Tobin’s comments are curious because his political affiliates, not the Democrats, pleaded guilty to "underhanded tactics," and he himself acknowledges that the only reason he is stepping down is to avoid damaging the Bush campaign, now deadlocked with U.S. Sen. John Kerry in the Granite State."
Then there’s Pennsylvania, where Republicans are trying to relocate 63 Philadelphia polling places, 59 in largely minority neighborhoods. Republicans claim those polling places are not adequate for voters, but didn’t file their complaint until Friday. Since voters who go to the wrong polling place will not be able to vote, the last-minute nature of the complaint (which is expected to fail) sure makes it look like an attempt to suppress minority voting:
"I've never witnessed a more wanton example of an effort to discourage minority voters from participating in an election," Kerry campaign spokesman Mark Nevins told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's despicable."
Swing states aren’t the only ones where such tricks are being deployed. In some California counties, pollworkers are reportedly being trained not to offer voters the option of a paper ballot (and with it, a paper trail) even though the state makes that option available. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
"Ed Cherlin, a pollworker being trained in Santa Clara County, said he was very disturbed to learn that he was not supposed to mention the paper option. ‘I object to the government telling me that I can't tell people about their rights,’ he said. Representatives of the voting commissions in Orange County and Riverside confirm that they also will not be informing voters about the paper option at the polls. There are ten counties in California using paperless e-voting machines known as DREs. It is not clear at this time whether all ten are adopting similar policies."
Beyond these tricks, there are concerns about the rules governing provisional ballots in Ohio and Florida, the possible intimidation of minority voters on Election Day, and the possibility of a new tactic from the brain of Karl Rove.
The aforementioned examples have made headlines with two weeks still to go before the election. As the vote draws nearer, voters must confirm their registration and keep an eye out for more dirty tricks. In an election like this, irregularities at just a few polling places could decide the winner.
Link >>
Man Charged For Registering Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy To Vote
Suspect Was Allegedly Paid With Cocaine
October 19, 2004
DEFIANCE, Ohio -- In Defiance, Ohio, a man has been arrested on a charge of submitting phony voter registration forms.
Investigators are looking into allegations that he was paid with crack cocaine in exchange for his efforts.
Authorities said the man fraudulently filled out more than 100 voter registration forms. He was charged with false registration and will be arraigned Friday.
Elections officials knew something was wrong when they got a batch of voter registration cards for Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, Michael Jordan and George Foreman.
Officers said they interviewed a Toledo woman who claims she had paid the man with cocaine for the phony voter registrations. According to authorities, the woman claimed she'd been recruited by a Cleveland man to obtain voter registrations.
Read More >>
Suspect Was Allegedly Paid With Cocaine
October 19, 2004
DEFIANCE, Ohio -- In Defiance, Ohio, a man has been arrested on a charge of submitting phony voter registration forms.
Investigators are looking into allegations that he was paid with crack cocaine in exchange for his efforts.
Authorities said the man fraudulently filled out more than 100 voter registration forms. He was charged with false registration and will be arraigned Friday.
Elections officials knew something was wrong when they got a batch of voter registration cards for Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, Michael Jordan and George Foreman.
Officers said they interviewed a Toledo woman who claims she had paid the man with cocaine for the phony voter registrations. According to authorities, the woman claimed she'd been recruited by a Cleveland man to obtain voter registrations.
Read More >>
The ‘Catastrophic’ Success of the Republican Party
‘Third World’ Election
Manuel Valenzuela
10/19/04 "ICH" -- As much as America and the world wish to believe Florida will not be rigged with electoral fraud this November, the sad truth is that all the mechanisms needed to steal the state in favor of George Bush are already firmly entrenched. Thanks to Jeb Bush, Jim Crow manipulator of mandates, corrupt fraudster, decimator of democracy and brother of the president, and the Republican Party, which in essence controls the logistics of and the keys to running the election, Florida has already declared tens of thousands of voters, mostly black and Democratic, ineligible. Many more voters, of all creeds and colors, will be disenfranchised on election day, be it through intimidation, coercion, government intervention, criminal negligence, corruption and fraud, and, of course, through electronic voting machines, most of which are owned by staunch Republican supporters.
Thus, it is fair to say that the election scheduled for November is already stolen, the purging of votes already assured, and the swindling of the 2004 Presidential election has become, for all intents and purposes, an absolute inevitability. In the most crooked state in the union can the lynching of American elections vividly be seen, becoming the poster child for the systemic evisceration of America’s cherished principle of democracy. Already, throughout the nation, instances of Republican Party meddling with electoral procedures and citizens’ right to vote have surfaced, from Florida to Nevada to Oregon to Ohio and everywhere in between, trying desperately to garner any advantage in any of a dozen states deemed as swing states, where the outcome will be so close that 10,000 votes could mean the difference between winning electoral votes and losing the presidency. With so much at stake, and with American democracy a mirage of its former self, Republican minions and vultures are hard at work, once more disenfranchising thousands from an election that will decide the future destiny of the entire planet.
Read More >>
‘Third World’ Election
Manuel Valenzuela
10/19/04 "ICH" -- As much as America and the world wish to believe Florida will not be rigged with electoral fraud this November, the sad truth is that all the mechanisms needed to steal the state in favor of George Bush are already firmly entrenched. Thanks to Jeb Bush, Jim Crow manipulator of mandates, corrupt fraudster, decimator of democracy and brother of the president, and the Republican Party, which in essence controls the logistics of and the keys to running the election, Florida has already declared tens of thousands of voters, mostly black and Democratic, ineligible. Many more voters, of all creeds and colors, will be disenfranchised on election day, be it through intimidation, coercion, government intervention, criminal negligence, corruption and fraud, and, of course, through electronic voting machines, most of which are owned by staunch Republican supporters.
Thus, it is fair to say that the election scheduled for November is already stolen, the purging of votes already assured, and the swindling of the 2004 Presidential election has become, for all intents and purposes, an absolute inevitability. In the most crooked state in the union can the lynching of American elections vividly be seen, becoming the poster child for the systemic evisceration of America’s cherished principle of democracy. Already, throughout the nation, instances of Republican Party meddling with electoral procedures and citizens’ right to vote have surfaced, from Florida to Nevada to Oregon to Ohio and everywhere in between, trying desperately to garner any advantage in any of a dozen states deemed as swing states, where the outcome will be so close that 10,000 votes could mean the difference between winning electoral votes and losing the presidency. With so much at stake, and with American democracy a mirage of its former self, Republican minions and vultures are hard at work, once more disenfranchising thousands from an election that will decide the future destiny of the entire planet.
Read More >>
Election to Be Scrutinized for Irregularities
Along with computer experts to monitor the equipment, thousands of observers will be on hand to detail incidents that could affect votes.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Times Staff Writer
Mounting concerns about voter registration foul-ups, election machine defects and other problems that might undermine the presidential election have spurred dozens of organizations to plan extraordinary efforts to scrutinize the polls on Nov. 2.
More than 25,000 poll watchers, including lawyers and computer experts, are expected outside and inside precinct stations to report problems and in some cases to intervene if they believe poll workers are violating voter rights or making technical mistakes.
The largest effort is being mounted by a coalition of 60 liberal and independent organizations that includes churches, civic groups, unions and minority rights groups; it has created a massive computerized tracking system to follow possible election day breakdowns.
But poll watchers will also include elite computer scientists, county election officials and even European observers who believe the U.S. system is flawed.
Read More >>
Along with computer experts to monitor the equipment, thousands of observers will be on hand to detail incidents that could affect votes.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Times Staff Writer
Mounting concerns about voter registration foul-ups, election machine defects and other problems that might undermine the presidential election have spurred dozens of organizations to plan extraordinary efforts to scrutinize the polls on Nov. 2.
More than 25,000 poll watchers, including lawyers and computer experts, are expected outside and inside precinct stations to report problems and in some cases to intervene if they believe poll workers are violating voter rights or making technical mistakes.
The largest effort is being mounted by a coalition of 60 liberal and independent organizations that includes churches, civic groups, unions and minority rights groups; it has created a massive computerized tracking system to follow possible election day breakdowns.
But poll watchers will also include elite computer scientists, county election officials and even European observers who believe the U.S. system is flawed.
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Judge denies GOP tie influenced decision in Vegas area vote case
October 19, 2004
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Nevada judge is denying that personal and political ties influenced her refusal to reopen voter registration after Democrats claimed applications were destroyed by a Republican-backed organization.
Clark County District Judge Valerie Adair said her live-in relationship with Thomas Lozzi, a former member of the Clark County Republican Central Committee, had nothing to do with her ruling.
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October 19, 2004
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Nevada judge is denying that personal and political ties influenced her refusal to reopen voter registration after Democrats claimed applications were destroyed by a Republican-backed organization.
Clark County District Judge Valerie Adair said her live-in relationship with Thomas Lozzi, a former member of the Clark County Republican Central Committee, had nothing to do with her ruling.
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President Gore warns of grab by Bush
Noelle Straub - October 19, 2004
WASHINGTON -Former Vice President Al Gore, who lost the bitterly contested 2000 election, is warning of a repeat of the recount nightmare in Florida.
"The widespread efforts by (President) Bush's political allies to suppress voting have reached epidemic proportions," he charged yesterday. "Some of the scandals of Florida four years ago are now being repeated in broad daylight even as we meet here today.''
He said the Bush team used an Enron jet to ferry "their rent-a-mob to Florida in 2000 to permanently halt the counting of legally cast ballots.''
In a stinging indictment of his former rival, Gore accused Bush of forbidding dissent, disdaining facts and ignoring his mistakes in a "recklessness that risks the safety and security of the American people.''
"It is love of power for its own sake that is the original sin of this presidency,'' Gore said in a speech at Georgetown University sponsored by the liberal group MoveOn.org.
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Noelle Straub - October 19, 2004
WASHINGTON -Former Vice President Al Gore, who lost the bitterly contested 2000 election, is warning of a repeat of the recount nightmare in Florida.
"The widespread efforts by (President) Bush's political allies to suppress voting have reached epidemic proportions," he charged yesterday. "Some of the scandals of Florida four years ago are now being repeated in broad daylight even as we meet here today.''
He said the Bush team used an Enron jet to ferry "their rent-a-mob to Florida in 2000 to permanently halt the counting of legally cast ballots.''
In a stinging indictment of his former rival, Gore accused Bush of forbidding dissent, disdaining facts and ignoring his mistakes in a "recklessness that risks the safety and security of the American people.''
"It is love of power for its own sake that is the original sin of this presidency,'' Gore said in a speech at Georgetown University sponsored by the liberal group MoveOn.org.
Read More >>
18 October 2004
Computer problems reported at Broward early voting sites
Jean-Paul Renaud & Sarah Halasz
sun-sentinel.com - October 18 2004
As long lines gathered at polls, early voters at nine of Broward County's 14 sites ran into computer-generated problems on Monday.
Gisela Salas, of the Broward Elections Office, said workers had problems connecting with a live database that is used to verify that a voter is properly registered in the county.
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Jean-Paul Renaud & Sarah Halasz
sun-sentinel.com - October 18 2004
As long lines gathered at polls, early voters at nine of Broward County's 14 sites ran into computer-generated problems on Monday.
Gisela Salas, of the Broward Elections Office, said workers had problems connecting with a live database that is used to verify that a voter is properly registered in the county.
Read More >>
Any means necessary
In the 60s, police dogs and billy clubs kept black Americans from the polls. Today's methods are more refined
Gary Younge - The Guardian - October 18, 2004
There is nothing George Bush likes more than extolling the virtues of democracy in faraway places.
[...] Back in the US, however, the Almighty seems far less generous. Bush's enthusiasm to export democracy is not matched by his desire to defend it at home. With just a fortnight to go to the presidential election, efforts to obstruct and deny the vote, particularly to black and Latino voters, are intensifying. Forty years after the civil rights act enshrined the franchise in the constitution for African-Americans, freedom is being crippled.
Read More >>
In the 60s, police dogs and billy clubs kept black Americans from the polls. Today's methods are more refined
Gary Younge - The Guardian - October 18, 2004
There is nothing George Bush likes more than extolling the virtues of democracy in faraway places.
[...] Back in the US, however, the Almighty seems far less generous. Bush's enthusiasm to export democracy is not matched by his desire to defend it at home. With just a fortnight to go to the presidential election, efforts to obstruct and deny the vote, particularly to black and Latino voters, are intensifying. Forty years after the civil rights act enshrined the franchise in the constitution for African-Americans, freedom is being crippled.
Read More >>
New voters: confirm your registration
Marshall Loeb, CBS.MarketWatch.com - October 18, 2004
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Your right to vote is among your greatest assets - one you should make sure hasn't been stolen by voter registration scams.
Several states, including Oregon and Nevada, are investigating charges that voter registration application forms were shredded by registration drive organizers.
The Federal Trade Commission also warns that telephone scam artists have been posing as volunteers making calls asking for personal information and even financial information to confirm that the voter is properly registered. In reality, the callers use that information to open new financial accounts and make charges in your name.
The U.S. Elections Assistance Commission recommends that if you have recently registered to vote, you should contact your local board of elections to confirm that your name is on the registration list.
If it isn't, ask a representative at the board of elections what options are open to you. You may be able to re-register if your state deadline has not already passed, or vote under a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are given to voters whose names do not appear on registration lists, or who cannot provide identification. The ballot is not counted until the voter's registration has been verified - sometimes days after an election.
To report voter registration fraud or a violation of your voter rights, contact your state election officials.
If someone has made an unsolicited phone call to you asking for your personal or financial information for voter registration, report the incident to the FTC. Call (877) 382-4357.
Read More >>
Marshall Loeb, CBS.MarketWatch.com - October 18, 2004
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Your right to vote is among your greatest assets - one you should make sure hasn't been stolen by voter registration scams.
Several states, including Oregon and Nevada, are investigating charges that voter registration application forms were shredded by registration drive organizers.
The Federal Trade Commission also warns that telephone scam artists have been posing as volunteers making calls asking for personal information and even financial information to confirm that the voter is properly registered. In reality, the callers use that information to open new financial accounts and make charges in your name.
The U.S. Elections Assistance Commission recommends that if you have recently registered to vote, you should contact your local board of elections to confirm that your name is on the registration list.
If it isn't, ask a representative at the board of elections what options are open to you. You may be able to re-register if your state deadline has not already passed, or vote under a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are given to voters whose names do not appear on registration lists, or who cannot provide identification. The ballot is not counted until the voter's registration has been verified - sometimes days after an election.
To report voter registration fraud or a violation of your voter rights, contact your state election officials.
If someone has made an unsolicited phone call to you asking for your personal or financial information for voter registration, report the incident to the FTC. Call (877) 382-4357.
Read More >>
U.S. Justice Department files brief in provisional ballot case
October 18, 2004
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge on Monday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Michigan Democrats in an effort to get the state to count provisional ballots cast by voters in the wrong polling precincts on Nov. 2.
The Justice Department argued in a friend-of-the-court brief that the Help America Vote Act does not give individuals the right to sue if they believe their state has violated the law passed by Congress in 2002. Rather, those citizens should go through a state administrative complaint process or rely on a U.S. attorney to file suit, government attorneys said.
The Justice Department also opposed Democrats' request that citizens who appear in the right city, township or village should have their votes counted regardless of whether they show up in the correct precinct.
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October 18, 2004
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge on Monday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Michigan Democrats in an effort to get the state to count provisional ballots cast by voters in the wrong polling precincts on Nov. 2.
The Justice Department argued in a friend-of-the-court brief that the Help America Vote Act does not give individuals the right to sue if they believe their state has violated the law passed by Congress in 2002. Rather, those citizens should go through a state administrative complaint process or rely on a U.S. attorney to file suit, government attorneys said.
The Justice Department also opposed Democrats' request that citizens who appear in the right city, township or village should have their votes counted regardless of whether they show up in the correct precinct.
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Kerry left off some absentee ballots
Barry M. Horstman - Post staff reporter
Some absentee ballots distributed to Hamilton County voters do not include the name of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, local election officials confirmed today.
Because of a printing error -- limited, election officials believe, to only a few ballots in the Forest Park area -- absentee ballots recently mailed out exclude the Democratic presidential ticket of Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards.
"It's a screw-up," said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Board of Elections. "This just feeds the paranoia that's out there. The tragic thing is that even though I think we will have a very fair and accurate count here, this will cause people to question the accuracy of our operation."
Although election officials believe only two voters have received the inaccurate ballot to date, Burke said he is worried that the mix-up "will open us up to all kinds of questions and concerns." He also conceded that some may question whether the problem is, indeed, limited to only a few ballots.
"I'm happy we're talking about a very small number," Burke said. "But it's something that never should have happened."
One of the voters who received the inaccurate ballot said today she "just couldn't believe it" when she opened her absentee ballot envelope and noticed that Kerry's name was missing.
"I knew enough to see something was wrong," said the voter, who asked not to be identified. "But you wonder whether others maybe didn't notice it before they sent their ballots back."
The printing error is the second major mistake to plague Hamilton County's absentee ballots for the Nov. 2 election.
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Barry M. Horstman - Post staff reporter
Some absentee ballots distributed to Hamilton County voters do not include the name of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, local election officials confirmed today.
Because of a printing error -- limited, election officials believe, to only a few ballots in the Forest Park area -- absentee ballots recently mailed out exclude the Democratic presidential ticket of Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards.
"It's a screw-up," said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Board of Elections. "This just feeds the paranoia that's out there. The tragic thing is that even though I think we will have a very fair and accurate count here, this will cause people to question the accuracy of our operation."
Although election officials believe only two voters have received the inaccurate ballot to date, Burke said he is worried that the mix-up "will open us up to all kinds of questions and concerns." He also conceded that some may question whether the problem is, indeed, limited to only a few ballots.
"I'm happy we're talking about a very small number," Burke said. "But it's something that never should have happened."
One of the voters who received the inaccurate ballot said today she "just couldn't believe it" when she opened her absentee ballot envelope and noticed that Kerry's name was missing.
"I knew enough to see something was wrong," said the voter, who asked not to be identified. "But you wonder whether others maybe didn't notice it before they sent their ballots back."
The printing error is the second major mistake to plague Hamilton County's absentee ballots for the Nov. 2 election.
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Election officials warn of misleading calls to absentee voters
Amy F. Bailey - 10/18/2004
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's top elections official on Monday said qualified voters can request absentee ballots until Nov. 1, citing fraudulent calls telling voters the application deadline already had passed.
Registered voters who qualify for an absentee ballot have until 4 p.m. on Nov. 1 to request one at their city or township clerk's office, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land said. Voters have until 2 p.m. on Oct. 30 to request an absentee ballot be sent to their home.
Land said there have been some reports of calls made to Ann Arbor and southern Wayne County residents by people identifying themselves as members of the state bureau of elections or local clerk's offices. They are telling residents the deadline to apply for an absent voter ballot has passed and are asking that completed ballots be sent to the wrong place.
"This fraudulent activity is unconscionable," Land said in a news release. "While these activities appear to be extremely limited and do not represent what's going on throughout Michigan, it's important that residents do not release private information over the phone."
It's unclear who is making the calls. A message left with the secretary of state's office on Monday morning wasn't immediately returned.
Absentee ballots must be completed and returned to the clerk's office by 8 p.m. on Nov. 2, Election Day.
Read More >>
Amy F. Bailey - 10/18/2004
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's top elections official on Monday said qualified voters can request absentee ballots until Nov. 1, citing fraudulent calls telling voters the application deadline already had passed.
Registered voters who qualify for an absentee ballot have until 4 p.m. on Nov. 1 to request one at their city or township clerk's office, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land said. Voters have until 2 p.m. on Oct. 30 to request an absentee ballot be sent to their home.
Land said there have been some reports of calls made to Ann Arbor and southern Wayne County residents by people identifying themselves as members of the state bureau of elections or local clerk's offices. They are telling residents the deadline to apply for an absent voter ballot has passed and are asking that completed ballots be sent to the wrong place.
"This fraudulent activity is unconscionable," Land said in a news release. "While these activities appear to be extremely limited and do not represent what's going on throughout Michigan, it's important that residents do not release private information over the phone."
It's unclear who is making the calls. A message left with the secretary of state's office on Monday morning wasn't immediately returned.
Absentee ballots must be completed and returned to the clerk's office by 8 p.m. on Nov. 2, Election Day.
Read More >>
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