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Departments Election Issues Ohio vote count battles escalate amidst new evidence of potential criminal activity Meanwhile, efforts to recount Ohio's vote may have been fatally tainted by the Republican Party, raising questions of what the GOP has to hide, and prompting demands for criminal prosecution. New affidavits point to possible criminal activity by top Ohio election officials, raising yet more questions about the 2004 vote. Rhonda J. Frazier, a former employee of the Ohio Secretary of State's office, has confirmed in an affidavit taken by Cynthia Butler, working with freepress.org, that the Office had secret slush funds. Frazier says it also failed to comply with the requirements of "The Voting Reform Grant" that required all the voting machines in Ohio to be inventoried and tagged for security reasons. "I was routinely told to violate the bidded contracts to order supplies from other companies for all 17 Secretary of State offices throughout the State which were cheaper vendors, leaving a cash surplus differential in the budget," Frazier states, "After complaining about the office's repeated practices of violating grants and contracts I was fired." Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has come under intense fire for his role in officiating the disputed Ohio balloting and vote count. Blackwell served as co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign while running an election he says went "smoothly." Blackwell's role has been central to a week that started with a bang and rapidly escalated to a dramatic last-minute filing at the state Supreme Court Friday afternoon, December 17. On Monday, December 13, with Rev. Jesse Jackson at hand, citizen activists filed the now-famous landmark Moss V. Bush action demanding the Ohio Supreme Court vacate the apparent victory for George W. Bush and award the state's 20 electoral votes -- and thus the presidency -- to John Kerry. The filing lists a litany of problems with the November 2 balloting and vote count. The official tally showed a victory for George W. Bush of some 119,000 votes. But the filing claims the real outcome was a 134,000 vote victory for John Kerry, and it demands the Court install a slate of Democratic electors. The filing was followed by a unique Congressional hearing staged at Columbus City Hall. Conducted by U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the nearly four-hour gathering hosted a wide range of testimony charging manipulation, intimidation and fraud surrounding the Ohio election. Most pointed to Secretary of State Blackwell's "clear conflict of interest" as election administrator and Bush-Cheney co-chair. Among other things, in the lead-up to Nov. 2 Blackwell circulated a taped message asking Ohio voters to approve a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and abolishing spousal benefits for unmarried partners. That partisan position came amid multiple orders from Blackwell to local election officials on how to conduct the actual vote count. At noon on Monday, 20 Republican electors convened at the Ohio statehouse and certified their votes for Bush, which were then mailed to Washington. On January 6, they will be evaluated by Congress. It is now possible that for the first time since 1877, there will be a formal challenge to those electoral votes by Democratic members of Congress. High among the charges against Blackwell was the fact that he delayed certifying the Ohio vote count to make it impossible for a meaningful recount to occur before the electors met. If this was a fair vote, wondered Rev. Jackson, "what are they hiding?" Jackson plans to be fully visible on January 3 at a large rally in Columbus, Ohio sponsored by Rainbow/PUSH. But far more serious charges than a mere delay surfaced at Conyers' hearing. A letter from the Shelby County Board of Elections, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, admitted that data critical to a meaningful recount had been discarded, possibly illegally. Sworn testimony from election observers in Greene County indicated that ballots had been left loose on tables in an unlocked, unguarded building, open to manipulation and theft, prior to a recount. And in Lucas County and Hocking County, it was revealed that technicians from the Diebold and Triad companies had inexplicably taken control of voting machines and dismantled them, rendering verifiable recounts impossible. On Wednesday, December 15, U.S. Representative John Conyers posted an affidavit from Douglas W. Jones, a professor of computer science and a voting technology consultant. In Professor Jones' opinion, the bizarre behavior by the Triad Company, which provides computer software and voting machines in 41 of Ohio's 88 counties, may have tainted the entire recount effort. A Triad employee took apart a computer used in the recounting process and inserted new parts as well as alleged modifications of the software. "As a result, the incident in Hocking County could compromise the statewide recount and undermine the public's trust in the credibility and accuracy of the recount," Jones stated in an affidavit. As evidence of fraud, manipulation and sabotage of a recount poured in, citizen activists filed for a Temporary Restraining Order demanding the Ohio Supreme Court step in to protect ballots and voting records from further destruction. On Thursday, Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyers denied the original Moss v. Bush filing, saying it had wrongly joined actions on two separate elections, the one for president and one for Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. The Supreme Court race of Moyer and Ellen Connally had been part of the filing because citizen litigators found fraud in its conduct as well. The litigation team worked all night in order to refile the two challenges on Friday, December 17. These challenges on both the Bush-Kerry race and on the Supreme Court case were filed separately, reinstating the original thrust of Monday's action and asserting that Kerry had won the Ohio vote, as had Connally. With court battles escalating, attempts to conduct a meaningful recount have proceeded. Democratic, Green and Libertarian party officials have helped in training volunteers to examine voter records and what to look for as the Ohio vote tally continues. Hundreds of volunteers are observing at election boards around the state trying to get a grasp on what actually happened November 2. Amy Kaplan, head of the Green Party's Franklin County recount, reported to the Free Press that two of the electronic voting machines in Franklin County had faulty cartridges that generated error messages despite being in use on Election Day. The observers' work has been frustrated and the recount tainted by destroyed records, compromised evidence, and by private vendors who have "re-programmed" machines in both Lucas and Hocking Counties. Despite his early concession, Kerry has now issued a letter to election boards in all 88 Ohio counties asking a series of questions about the vote count. Thus, charges that Republicans are hiding an outright theft have gained increasing media attention, as have charges that deliberate and illegal destruction of records has been rampant. Where this will all lead remains unclear. An escalation of court battles is the only certainty. The presidential election of 2004 is by no means over. -- Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman are co-authors of the upcoming OHIO'S STOLEN ELECTION: VOICES OF THE DISENFRANCHISED, 2004, to be published by http://freepress.org, which is accepting donations for the project. |
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Recent Election Issues Articles Ohio's official non-recount ends amidst new evidence of fraud, theft and judicial contempt mirrored in New Mexico Impossible Phantom Votes in New Mexico
The 2004 Presidential Election: Who Won The Popular Vote? An Examination of the Comparative Validity of Exit Poll and Vote Count Data Ohio GOP election officials ducking notices of deposition as Kerry enters stolen vote fray Another third rate burglary Hacking the vote in Miami County Update from the Ohio Frontlines Lawsuit Before the Ohio Supreme Court Kerry votes switched to Bush and ballots pre-punched for Bush Uncounted votes in Cuyahoga County Provisional ballots in Cuyahoga County Uncounted votes in Summit County Uncounted votes in Hamilton County Default settings in Mahoning County Ohio electoral fight becomes 'biggest deal since Selma' as GOP stonewalls Observations from an election observer TV Networks Officially Refuse to Release Exit Poll Raw Data; Mainstream media finally displays true colors Election results in Southwestern Ohio Voting Rights Groups 'Block' Talk of Machine-Free Elections Statistics from Warren County The greatest story never told The United States of Ukraine?: Exit Polls Leave Little Doubt that in a Free and Fair Election John Kerry Would Have Won both the Electoral College and the Popular Vote Certifiable election results Sinclair Broadcasting's Long History of Journalistic and Corporate Deception Ohio vote count battles escalate amidst new evidence of potential criminal activity American democracy hangs by a thread in Ohio Startling new revelations highlight rare Congressional hearings on Ohio vote New Ohio voter transcripts The One-Two Punch of Racism: Whitewashing the Voter Fraud Issue Rigging the vote in Lucas County
Uncounted votes in Montgomery County Why history demands an Ohio revote Ohio election fraud uproar blasting to new level Dirty work at the Philly polls Voter Suppression: STEALING VOTES IN OHIO URBAN AREAS (full documentation) In Ohio 2004, it's the People versus the Party of Hate & Terror and the Party of Duck and Run...but will the Democrats now stand and fight? Warren County, Ohio: most successful voter registration drive in American political history, or stuffing the ballot box Jesse Jackson demands Ohio presidential recount, blasts GOP election officials, and says Kerry supports the process Kerry Supports Ohio Vote Investigation, Jackson says Hope for the Homestretch Favoritism in the suburbs New Ohio voter transcripts feed floodtide of doubt about Republican election manipulation Election officials gave wrong information about provisional ballots - revealed in affidavit. US tells Ukraine to recount votes on fradulent election! Not counting the votes Stealing votes in Columbus Making every vote count How a Republican election supervisor manipulated the 2004 central Ohio vote, in black and white More Ohio voter suppression testimony prompts upcoming legal filing for statewide recount Ohio Presidential Results to be Challenged Franklin County, Ohio voting machine assignments, and other information Coalition's Support of Voting Machines Causes Confusion
Hearings on Ohio voting put 2004 election in doubt Closing the Circle: The Corporatization of Elections Subordinating nation's secular values to zealots' will The Public Hearings and Rally About Election Fraud in Columbus, OH this weekend, Sat. 11/13-Please pass widely! Slip-sliding away in Columbus Green and Libertarian Presidential Candidates to Demand Ohio Recount An End To Mourning November 3rd action The Bible, The Constitution, and the James Carville Experiment Basic report from Columbus Waiting to vote Confessions of a political Know-Nothing in the wake of the 2004 elections Let the spin begin Back Stabbers Cost Kerry in Ohio! The Last Battle Republican America! Republican Forever! Is there inner-city election suppression in Franklin County, Ohio? Michael Moore in Columbus No love in the Heartland: Kerry gets mocked in Pa. school election Ten reasons for Greens to vote for Kerry Twelve ways Bush is now stealing the Ohio vote GW Bush Before the Iraq War
MISOGYNY Foreign Policy Forecast: If Bush Wins | If Kerry Wins Hope for the homestretch FactCheck.org says Cheney got it wrong Do the Hokey Pokey Hope for the homestretch Addressing Republican issues with John Kerry Gallup Polls- Conditioning for Vote Rigging? Too Many Cameras and Not Enough Truth: John Kerry Dodges the Press Nader 2000 Leaders United To Defeat Bush Shut up and color: the politics of bullying Kerry, Nader and the Greens need to kill the circular firing squad Don’t Believe the Hype; Terrorist Warnings Just Another Way Bush Will Steal Election President of Greater Stark County AFL-CIO speaks out on Bush’s visit in Canton, Ohio I'll Follow Kucinich to Kerry, Sorry Ralph Badnarik Doubles in Recent National Poll ‘A green world is possible’ planned in New York City during the Republican National Convention An open letter to progressives: vote Kerry and Cobb A street fighting man? How Kucinich can win Scary, Scary John Kerry With all deliberate stupidity: US self-isolation makes Iraq a virtual non-issue in the elections so far To support or not to support; the Nader question Halliburton, VP Cheney's Former Company Faces Second Criminal Probe In Four Years The Lone Ranger of Righteousness The Wrong Side of History High Noon in America The Truth is Out: Kucinich is the choice of progressives Dean and Kucinich Bush Should Be Facing 'A Long, Hard Slog' On The Campaign Trail, But Dems Too Busy Fighting With Each Other Read Election Issues Articles by Year: |
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