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Departments Election Issues Part II – Squire v. Geer: Facts the Magistrate left out are even more shocking than the ones he included The Free Press recently published an article entitled "Sausage making and electronic voting machines" that revealed shocking facts about e-voting flaws in a 2006 Franklin County, Ohio judicial race. This extensive investigation into this stolen election is a strong indictment of electronic voting in general. It underscores the importance of the national debate on the Holt Bill and other legislation now pending on "reforming" or abolishing the use of these problematic machines altogether. Indeed, what was left out of the Magistrate's report in the Squire case (which is now on appeal) but was well documented in the court’s evidence record, constitutes an even greater indictment of touchscreen voting machines than has generally been known. To understand the implications of this obscure election, readers should realize that it’s one of the most exhaustively studied e-voting races in U.S. history. Election Day and recount observers, two auditors, joined by one of the country’s leading electronic voting experts and under oath depositions and testimony from Board of Elections officials exposed in detail the unreliability of electronic voting systems. The Franklin County Board of Elections (BOE) appears to have violated the law when it refused to comply with Ohio law. BOE officials must follow election laws. "Strict compliance" is mandated under Ohio law. Failure to comply is a first-degree misdemeanor. The BOE refused to impound election material as ordered by the Franklin County Court of Appeals. Magistrate Joel Sacco refused to punish the BOE and allowed them to get away with presumed fraudulent activity in their non-compliance with the Appeals Court order. Ohio law assumes fraud has taken place when election officials refuse to comply with court orders. Moreover, Franklin County BOE Executive Director Matt Damschroder admitted under oath that he did not compare the total votes cast in the recount precincts with the number of voters listed in the pollbook in direct violation of the Secretary of State’s recount requirements. Also, when election officials failed to provide the poll books, poll lists and/or signature poll books for visual inspection as requested, they again violated recount procedures. The facts the Magistrate ignored in the court record are the most damning toward touchscreen voting machines. Much of this reaches the legal standard for criminal election or vote tampering. The key issue regards how election officials handled the real time audit log (RTAL) paper rolls that are supposed to ensure a fair recount. Hundreds of RTALs were already sitting out on various tables when Judge Squire’s observers entered the recount site. Dr. Rebecca Mercuri, Squire’s expert witness, noted that the correct procedure is for the "sealed containers holding the RTAL rolls to be opened in the presence of observers." The premature extraction of the RTALs exposed the audit to the potential of a biased result. Missing from many of these paper rolls was the additional tamper-proof tape that held the roll together. The court record indicates that many of the RTAL rolls were incomplete. At the end of many rolls, where the final vote tally is printed for candidates, the figures were missing. The explanation from election officials was that many of the rolls were incomplete because they had most likely been changed during the election process, the machines had simply run out of paper, or the paper rolls were damaged or ripped. Mercuri estimated that between 5-10% of the machines either had not printed an ending vote tally or that tally was simply missing. The court record shows that specific machines lacked the end print out tallies. These machines include #5152130, #5157287, #5153310, #5153871, and #5159550, among others. Another machine, #5151765, had a blank RTAL. Not to be outdone, machine #5155228 printed out all zeros. A fair and unbiased audit is impossible to conduct under these circumstances. Karen Cotton, the administrator for the Franklin County BOE, tried to explain away the fact that many RTALs had not been signed by poll workers. Cotton claimed that the "paper may have jammed" making it impossible to sign the vote tally. Mercuri testified under oath that "I did not observe any [RTALs] that were signed at all." So, in the Squire v. Geer race, an uncertified system that was incapable of being audited produced unexpected election results. And the Board of Elections officials responsible for ensuring free, fair and unbiased elections failed to safeguard the people’s votes. The real RTALs, or voter verified paper trails, prove to be worthless for audit purposes in an election where 90,000 votes were in question, according to the court record. -- Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman are co-authors of HOW THE GOP STOLE AMERICA'S 2004 ELECTION & IS RIGGING 2008, available at www.freepress.org. |
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Recent Election Issues Articles Nonviolent resisters put Senator Clinton on notice In-depth, post-EVEREST interview with Ohio's Secretary of State The phrase that could defeat Hillary Clinton Ohio will likely face big vote-counting problems in 2008 "Critical security failures" leads Ohio Sec. of State to recommend ban of DRE (touch-screen) voting machines Ohio Secretary of State confirms 2004 election could have been stolen Kucinich first, Edwards second in PDA straw poll Hillary and the politics of disappointment Voting can be a real battle for U.S. troops and others overseas in the 2008 primaries Wolf Blitzer loses Democratic debate Another Clinton campaign fraud We remember… Nov. 2 memorial anniversary of the 2004 Ohio election The weak slat under the bed of democracy Aurora Dairy exemption from check-off program challenged; USDA should demand retroactive payment from faux organic milk producers Kucinich tops other Dem Presidential leaders in key CA straw poll Will the GOP election theft machine do it again in 2008? Exactly how the good guys finally won Voter purging: a legal way for Republicans to swing elections? Why doesn't the GOP want Ohio's voting machines tested? The Cat in the Hat, elusive happy endings, and the [election] mess that is so big, and so deep, and so tall The Death of the DRE: gone the way of Lawn Jarts Fooled Again series: exclusive interview with Michael Collins Fooled again series: exclusive interview with "Diebold whistleblower" Steve Heller The Dan Rather voting machine special, a recipe for election disaster, and serious food for thought Resistance of one The dog ate my homework continues: inter-office Ohio Board of Elections email prompted by SAVE THE BALLOTS website gives a glimpse into the attitudes of Ohio election officials Look at who runs our boards of elections Restore health to America's elections and pull the plug on SDD virus threat Paper ballots for California: Secretary of State announces de-certification/re-certification plans for e-voting systems The dog ate my homework Welcome to jail for destruction of election records… for some of the ladies and gentlemen of the Ohio Boards of Elections! The criminal cover-up of Ohio's stolen 2004 election sinks to the fraudulent, the absurd, the pathetic Part II – Squire v. Geer: Facts the Magistrate left out are even more shocking than the ones he included Will Bush cancel the 2008 election? Ohio's 2004 presidential election records missing or destroyed Sausage making and electronic voting machines Shreds of evidence Missing records and record access in Ohio, July 2007 On-site observations of the hand-counting of paper ballots and recommendations for the general election of 2008 Sicko ? John Edwards supports "open source" for voting systems Will electronic voting reform create new ways to steal elections? US Attorney resigns following Conyers’ request for BBC documents Will Al Gore face his inconvenient truths about our stolen elections? Giving the voters "poisoned food" to "nourish" democracy In the land of the free, and the home of the brave The globalization of electronic election theft RFK: Rove and Rove's brain, 'Should be in jail,' not in office Introducing Psephos Are Rove's missing e-mails the smoking guns of the stolen 2004 election? The GOP's cyber election hit squad Another path to peace: the case for Kucinich Virtual election season Bye bye to Cleveland GOP Election Chair Bob "Ballots for Bush" Bennett Bye bye to Cleveland GOP Election Chair Bob "Ballots for Bush" Bennett Auditing the mid-term election Two big victories boost Ohio's election protection movement More potential 2004 election illegalities rock Ohio's Hocking County as Cleveland braces for a legal firestorm New Ohio evidence exposes apparently illegal 2004 recount activity by Hocking County's GOP Election Director, and a stinging complaint is filed in Cleveland Explosive new vote fraud developments continue to rock Ohio and Florida Forced resignations and stiff prison sentences intensify the escalating blowback from Ohio's 2004 stolen election Election fraud, my ass After Ohio's recount rigging convictions in Cuyahoga, is Coshocton County next? Florida setting example Sequoia Voting Systems contract with San Francisco needs added section to ensure transparency Ohio's spreading stolen 2004 election scandal claims another victim First criminal convictions from Ohio's stolen 2004 election confirm recount was rigged Election attorneys amplify importance of convictions for recount rigging in Ohio 2004 presidential race Do new Ohio recount prosecutions indicate unraveling of 2004 election theft cover-up? The mystic voting hall: for the love of democracy DREs, magic and other sleights of hand Read Election Issues Articles by Year: |
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