Election Fraud Newswire THURSDAY, 11/03/05

[Michael Collins]

http://www.worldpress.org/images/200...ick-cheney.jpg http://img.citypages.com/imagebank/a...3539_libby.jpg http://www.americanrhetoric.com/imag...11florida.jpeg
http://www.lowculture.com/archives/images/31prob184.jpg


[h2]”You can corrupt some of the government some of the time but you cannot corrupt all of the government all of the time.”


[h2]Never forget the pursuit of Truth.

Only the deluded & complicit accept
election results on blind faith.[/h2]


[h2]Election Fraud Newswire THURSDAY, 11/03/05[/h2]

Please feel free to comment on any article or add articles of your choice
related to election fraud, research or election integrity.

[Michael Collins]

No narrative necessary, just check it out.
http://www.dailyherald.com/images/headerlogo.jpg
[h2] Earlier, easier voting comes at price for DuPage County
Security, cost debated in possible switch to yet another new system[/h2]

http://www.dailyherald.com/search/se....asp?id=112540
By Robert Sanchez and Marni Pyke
Daily Herald Staff Writers
Posted Sunday, October 30, 2005

By the spring 2002 primary, all DuPage County voters were using a state-of-the-art optical scan system.

The $4.3 million investment was lauded as a success, producing quick poll results with few glitches.

But the county election commission may soon scrap it for new voting machines that could cost up to $12 million.

New laws that extend early voting and require accessible machines for disabled residents are forcing them to consider switching to a fully electronic system, instead of the optical-scan method that uses paper ballots.
And that puts the commission on the horns of a dilemma.

The cost of the switch is giving budget hawks on the DuPage County Board ulcers. And some election watchdogs warn that electronic voting is vulnerable to tampering.

<snip>

Schultz Voots questions whether it’s worth it.
“You know how computers are,” she said. “They are obsolete in a couple of years.”

She also points out that none of the electronic voting devices are certified by the state. They can’t be used in an election until that happens.
Still, Cunningham says he’s “guardedly optimistic” that the devices Kane plans to use will be certified in early December.

Cunningham also has his own theory why counties with optical scanning systems might be reluctant to switch.

“If they put money into it already, it’s hard to justify getting off of it,” he said.

Security qualms

In the upcoming weeks, DuPage Election Commission officials will be visited by several voting machines vendors.

But a commission meeting last week, in which Diebold Election Systems demonstrated its AccuVote-TSX touch-screen voting machine, ended in a confrontation between Saar and residents skeptical about Diebold’s track record.
While Saar accused some residents of twisting the facts about Diebold, they countered the company was woefully unreliable.

Such doubts aren’t restricted to Diebold. Researchers with the Government Accountability Office concluded while electronic voting holds tremendous promise, it’s not tamper-proof.

<snip>

“The science to study how to do electronic voting correctly has not been done yet,” Rubin said. “We’re years away from being able to use electronic voting in any kind of secure way.”

While some characterize fears about voting security as paranoia and confined to a few special-interest groups, some see a larger problem.

“It’s not only the problem of cheating, but even if the election department is absolutely honest and scrupulous, there could well be large numbers of people who don’t believe it,” said Scott Peters, a political science professor at Illinois Institute of Technology.

“If they don’t believe the election, then the resulting government isn’t viewed as legitimate.”

But officials report no problems with electronic voting devices in Harris County, Texas, where they’ve been used for years.

In fact, Beverly Kaufman, the clerk in the county that includes Houston, says she believes the electronic system is more secure than traditional paper ballots.

“A vote is a vote,” she said. “No human hands are going to touch your ballot after you cast it and change it.”

[Michael Collins]

Well, it happened on DU first but here goes. Another gem from Scoop. Anyone doubting “Math Logic” should keep in mind that Patrick Fitzgerald was a Math major at Amherst. He’s been very logical lately;)
http://www.scoop.co.nz/images/scoop_logo_cropped.gif
[h2] Mitofsky Claim to "Rule Out Vote Fraud" is Bunk[/h2]
[h3] Math Logic Proof Shows that ESI Analysis of Ohio and National Exit Poll Data is Bunk
-- Mitofsky and ESI's Claim to "Rule Out Vote Fraud" is Proven Incorrect[/h3]
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0511/S00021.htm

Tuesday, 1 November 2005, 2:43 pm
Press Release: National Election Data Archive

The National Election Data Archive
http://electionarchive.org

Summary:

George W. Bush could have won the 2004 presidential election due to large-scale vote fraud without election data showing the patterns that the Election Science Institute (ESI) and pollster Warren Mitofsky claim must exist if vote fraud had occurred. The analysis that exit pollster Warren Mitofsky presented at the October 14, 2005 American Statistical Association fall conference has been proven mathematically useless for testing exit poll data for vote fraud.

Background:

In the 2004 presidential election, John F. Kerry won according to exit polls. Yet George W. Bush won according to the official election results. Exit pollster Warren Mitofsky in a January 2005 paper, stated that the discrepancy between election and exit poll results was caused by Kerry voters responding to exit polls more than Bush voters. From January to June, the National Election Data Archive (NEDA) used algebraic methods to show that this "reluctant Bush responder" explanation was refuted by the available exit poll data. However, in a June 2005 paper, and at the October 14 American Statistical Association fall conference, Mitofsky presented another hypothesis that he claimed "kills the vote fraud argument" in the 2004 presidential election.

Math Logic Proves that ESI's Latest Analysis Purporting to Rule out Vote Fraud Is Invalid

Mitofsky and Election Science Institute (ESI) argue that

"If systematic fraud or error in vote counting [favoring Bush] occurred [in precincts] in 2004 but not in 2000, then Bush would have done significantly better in those precincts in 2004 [than in 2000], and we would see larger exit poll discrepancies in those precincts."

That is, ESI claims that if precincts had vote fraud, then we would expect better Bush performance in those precincts in 2004 than in 2000. Mitofsky showed that precinct-level Bush vote increases from the 2000 election were not correlated with larger exit poll discrepancies, and concluded that vote fraud could thus be ruled out in the 2004 presidential election.

However, to cite just one possibility, what if the Democrats won the 2004 turnout battle big-time so that the effect of vote fraud in those precincts was to rescue Bush from a worse performance than in 2000 and bring him up to even?

The National Election Data Archive (NEDA) uses mathematical logic to prove that ESI's logic is incorrect and that any analysis of vote fraud based on it is meaningless. NEDA, in its proof, shows how Bush could win in 2004 due to large-scale vote fraud and yet have higher exit poll discrepancies where the Bush vote share is less in 2004 than in 2000 (not more as ESI claims).

In other words, no conclusion on the occurrence of vote fraud can be reached via the analysis used by Mitofsky with ESI.

Any mathematician utilizing the discipline of Math Logic can easily check the validity of NEDA's proof by reading “Mathematical Proof that Election Sciences Institute's Test to Rule Out Vote Fraud is Logically Incorrect” which can be found at

http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalys...-illogical.pdf.

NEDA requests that:

1. Mitofsky and ESI please shoot only straight arrows into the fray from now on -- by logically and mathematically checking their hypotheses of the 2004 exit poll discrepancies before publicly releasing them. Time could better be spent on implementing a national election data archive system to analyze election data as soon as polls close; and

2. the polling firm Edison/Mitofsky release their arsenal of 2004 raw precinct-level unadjusted data for the entire United States, as was done for Ohio, so that independent researchers could statistically ascertain whether vote fraud probably occurred or not. Further, precinct identifiers are needed to allow investigation into the causes of some impossible election results in some precincts where the sum of all non-responders to the exit poll plus the number of all responders who said they voted for Bush is less than Bush’s official vote share.

Any valid comparison of the 2000 and 2004 elections to test for vote fraud would require 1) the unadjusted exit poll discrepancy data for the 2000 election, and 2) consideration of other issues such as the influence of third party candidates, voter turnout increases, and changing precinct demographic and geographic characteristics .

NEDA will release its own analysis of the precinct level Ohio exit poll data on November 2, 2005 in a report, “The Gun is Smoking: Ohio Precinct-level Exit Poll Data Show Virtually Irrefutable Evidence of Vote Miscount”.

*************

[Michael Collins]

The issues on the ballot around the country will be a belle weather for 2006 as much as the specific elections. California leads the pack. Arnnie will have go get that old Diebold mojo going. But watch out Spud-O-Lator, there are a bunch of extremely bright citizen activists and unions out there who know the drill. You will be exposed.



[h2]Off-year elections feature mix of issues[/h2]
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index...-elections.inc

Associated Press

Gay rights, teen abortion, Arnold Schwarzenegger's prestige. These and other volatile topics are adding spice to off-year elections in seven states where voters will be considering statewide ballot measures on Nov. 8.

As is often the case, California has the most intriguing mix of propositions - including four backed by Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor, to curb the power of the Democratic-controlled Legislature and the state's public employee unions. Another measure, notable in a state with liberal leanings, would require parents to be notified when a minor seeks an abortion.

Texas voters are expected to approve a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriages - a step already taken in 18 other states. In Maine, a conservative alliance is urging voters to quash a new law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In Republican-controlled Ohio, site of bitter wrangling in the 2004 presidential election, four election overhaul measures backed by Democratic-leaning groups are on the ballot. Voters will be asked if bipartisan boards, instead of elected officials, should draw lawmakers' districts and oversee elections; whether campaign contribution limits should be lowered; and whether all voters should be allowed to vote early by mail.

Doctors and lawyers in Washington state are spending heavily to support rival measures dealing with medical malpractice.

<snip>

Voters in New York are being asked to approve a $2.9 billion transportation bond and a measure that would give the Legislature, not the governor, the upper hand in writing a budget.

[Michael Collins]

Centralized registration databases offer states the opportunity to institute far more damaging routines to deny votes than even Jeb Bush imagined. Remember, the first election fraud of our era was the “felon purge” in 2000 by Jeb with a program from ChoicePoint that took 57,000 registered voters off the rolls. On election day 2000, none of them could vote. Coincidentially, they were almost all black Floridians. Not saying there’s a problem in MT but there are in FL, WI, PA and other states who have used Accenture to develop these registration databases.

http://www.billingsgazette.com/images/smallerlogo.gif
[h2] 10 counties test voter database [/h2]
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index...4-database.inc


Associated Press
HELENA - Ten counties in Montana will test a new database on Election Day that will lead to same-day voter registration.
Although voters won't notice any changes at the polls, the counties will be trying out a statewide list of registered voters that will be used in all Montana counties by next year.
"We'll get the real acid test directly," said Elaine Graveley, head of the Elections and Legislative Bureau in the secretary of state's office.
The statewide voter registration database will replace a patchwork of local systems and allow county election officials to check whether new voters are registered elsewhere in the state. It also will allow voters to register up to election day.
<snip>

[Michael Collins]

[b]WTF is this. The never ending saga of rotten election schemes. Now everybody in the Philippines knows Arroyo stole it, even her own party. The chief election official is missing and now the chief agricultural official. Seems there was a diversion of fertilizer funds to Arroyo’s campaign fund. How appropriate.[/b The disappeared[/h2]
http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.p...lished_site=25

First posted 00:34am (Mla time) Oct 31, 2005
By
Inquirer News Service

View full-size editorial cartoon

IT IS NOT ONLY LEFTIST ACTIVISTS WHO HAVE disappeared in increasing numbers; key officials or former officials of the Arroyo administration have also become scarce, albeit voluntarily. The most damning disappearance, of course, has been that of former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. Every day he continues to be missing, the administration sinks an inch deeper into its crisis of legitimacy.

But another former government executive is giving Garcillano a run for his money.

Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante was agriculture undersecretary for finance and administration from 2001 until after last year's elections. Today, he is the fourth-highest official in Rotary International; he is a member of the RI board of directors and treasurer of the worldwide humanitarian organization. In fact, he is the most senior Filipino Rotarian since Mat Caparas became the first Filipino president of Rotary International two decades ago. By all accounts he should be recognized for his achievement, and for the honor his elected position brings to a country of international achievers.

But instead he is almost a fugitive in his own country. Avoiding journalists and government investigators, he prefers to issue statements through a lawyer. He hosts an international conference of Rotarians in one of the country's leading hotels, but when members of the Senate staff arrive to serve him a subpoena, he is suddenly nowhere to be found. And last week, on the very day the Senate committee on agriculture resumed its investigation into the alleged election-related misuse of hundreds of millions in fertilizer funds, Bolante skipped town.

Bolante's deliberate elusiveness (he also "missed" the Oct. 6 hearing) may not be criminal, but it is certainly unRotarian.

The first spoke of Rotary's Four-Way Test, its famous wheel of guide questions, is about truth-telling: "Is it the truth?" Bolante's continuing and increasingly elaborate refusal to testify about the fertilizer funds, which he was chiefly responsible for when he was agriculture undersecretary, can only mean that he is failing the most fundamental Rotary principle of all.


<snip>

The issue facing Bolante is not a trivial one. The Commission on Audit has found that there is evidence to support the contention that part of the fertilizer funds was diverted to the Arroyo presidential campaign. "It was a well-planned project involving national and local officials and [it was] the DA itself, with its nationwide machinery, which ensured easy distribution throughout the country," a COA source told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

[Michael Collins]

This is a good example of election fraud the old fashioned way. Gues how the re-call Gray Davis, former CA Governor, were collected—with paid petition gatherers. Well, MA has the same problem. Takes an Oregonian to let them know.

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[h2] Grassroots and big bucks[/h2]
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/edi...and_big_bucks/
JEANNIE BERG

By Jeannie Berg | October 31, 2005

AS MASSACHUSETTS voters face another batch of citizens' initiative petitions, including one controversial anti-gay marriage petition, it's important to consider that petition drives in today's world are often the product of big-moneyed special interests, not concerned neighbors going door-to-door.

Oregon is perhaps the best example of the initiative process gone amok. During the last decade, Oregonians have voted on more than 100 ballot initiatives ranging from antitax petitions to measures regulating denturists and drugs. Most were not issues that bubbled up from the citizenry, but rather the efforts of well-heeled interest groups that hired out-of-state firms which pay a dollar for every signature collected. Not surprisingly, this led to rampant fraud and forgery, as paid signature gatherers sometimes said and did anything to make a bigger weekly check.

Oregon's response was to create the Voter Education Project in 2001, a nonprofit organization combating fraud in the petition process. What we found stunned even the most cynical: Two signature collectors, who were later prosecuted, turned in 30,000 signatures that were rife with fraud; tens of thousands of signatures were removed or invalidated, partly based on footage from our hidden cameras at key collections spots. One of the petitions they were caught carrying was a fake gas tax repeal designed to get the attention of potential signatories. As a result of their arrests, Oregon passed a law in 2002 barring payment for signatures collected on citizen petitions.

I believe the problems in signature-gathering in Massachusetts are just as vile. Even worse, there is no simple reporting or enforcement system that protects voters from being duped.

After testifying recently before the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Election Law, I was impressed by the engagement of hundreds of voters who complained of signature fraud. By contrast, in Oregon we had to track down people who experienced these abuses because they were unaware. What I see happening in Massachusetts is serious abuse: voters complaining of signing multiple petitions when their objective was simply to support wine sales at their local grocer. Instead, signature gatherers asked them to sign a second or third page saying additional signatures were needed. Some saw the bait and switch right away and refused; others signed and only realized the trickery later.

<snip>

Jeannie Berg was director of Oregon's not-for-profit Voter Education Project from 2001 to 2003.

[Michael Collins]

[b]Is this what they have planned for us? We’ll win one soon and when we show up, we get sprayed. What a mess. Are there any free and fair elections around the world? [b]
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/...826371,00.html
[h2] Cops disperse opposition[/h2]
http://www.news24.com/Images/News24v...ewtop_logo.gif
31/10/2005 09:44 - (SA)

Zanzibar - The Tanzanian army used teargas and water cannons on Monday in an attempt to disperse crowds of opposition supporters claiming victory following weekend presidential and legislative elections in the volatile offshore state of Zanzibar.

At least 60 supporters of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) chanted "Let us decorate CUF with flowers after our victory", and "We have defeated CCM; Bye bye CCM", a reference to the ruling Revolutionary Party (CCM) of Zanzibar President Amani Karume.

Separate elections for the president and parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania - made up of Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania - will be held in mid-December, later than scheduled because of the death of a vice-presidential candidate.

Vote counting under way

Zanzibar's opposition presidential candidate Seif Shariff Hamad claimed a strong early lead against Karume, although no official early results had been published.

Vote counting was under way after Sunday's elections were marred, like previous ballots, by violence and fraud.

At least seven people were injured, two by bullets and five by machetes or sticks, according to a doctor in Zanzibar and where both presidential and legislative elections were held on Sunday.

Monday morning's jubilant opposition supporters assembled near the central market in the capital, Stone Town.

An AFP correspondent watched as the army fired water cannons and tear gas towards the celebrating CUF supporters who took refuge in the town's narrow side streets before returning to the main street.

No celebrations before official results

A tense face off between troops and opposition supporters was continuing at 08:00.

At least five arrests were made.

The opposition supporters "have to wait for the official announcement of the results", before any celebrations, said a police official, Ramadan Kinyongo.

[Michael Collins]

http://www.bradenton.com/images/logo...ogo_340x60.gif

[h2]GOP putting up obstacles to suppress minority vote[/h2]

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradent...n/13038881.htm


Posted on Mon, Oct. 31, 2005

Last week, an ugly bit of business transpired in the GOP-dominated House of Representatives, where Republican hard-liners succeeded in passing a measure that would limit the ability of nonprofit groups to conduct voter registration drives. It was one of those moments when you don't have to wonder what the jihadist faction of the GOP is up to: They want to restrict the franchise to people who think as they do.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a veteran of the civil rights movement, said the measure would "take us back to 1964 or 1965. I just think they (Republicans) want to be in a position to stifle the participation of poor people and minorities in the political process. They want to take us back to another period."

This heavy-handed step was of a piece with other Republican efforts to place obstacles in the way of voters they fear may favor Democrats. In Georgia, the GOP-dominated legislature passed a law earlier this year requiring all voters to have a state-sponsored photo ID, such as a driver's license. Happily, a federal court has ruled the law an unconstitutional impediment to voting.

In South Dakota, Republican legislators were more successful with their onerous voter ID requirement, passed in 2003 and apparently aimed at Native Americans, who also tend to support Democrats. Last year, though, two Republican senators, Kit Bond of Missouri and Richard Shelby of Alabama, failed in their attempt to sneak a provision into law that would have prohibited public housing sites from hosting voter registration initiatives and get-out-the-vote drives.

Last week's partisan power play took the form of an amendment tacked onto a piece of legislation intended to increase regulatory oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage financing companies recently plagued by accounting scandals. The House bill included a sorely needed provision to create a fund for affordable housing, prompted by calls for federal aid to rebuild the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

But to placate an ultraconservative group called the Republican Study Committee, an amendment was added that prohibits any nonprofit group from receiving any of the federal affordable-housing funds if it has conducted a voter registration campaign in the past year, even if it has used its own funds to do so.

This is not a poll tax; this is a poll ax. If this measure becomes law - the Senate has not yet acted on it - it will penalize countless organizations, including churches, that have run voter registration drives and also built high rises for the elderly and low-cost apartment complexes that accommodate store clerks, janitors and fast-food workers.

Republicans seem to think that residents of low-cost housing, especially black and brown residents, have a tendency - one they find troubling - to vote Democratic. You'd think the GOP would find a way to appeal to those voters. But that would require the party to forsake its allegiance to big business and the wealthy. So, instead, it has decided to try to suppress the vote among citizens of color.

Among the more than 600 nonprofits that protested the amendment was Catholic Charities USA. "Nonprofits with expertise in housing should not have to choose between two equally important missions: supporting full participation in our democracy and providing affordable housing," the Rev. Larry Snyder, president of the group, said in a letter to House GOP leaders. He also pointed out that the amendment didn't place any restrictions on for-profits that register voters. "We are puzzled and troubled by the double standard being applied to faith-based and nonprofit organizations," he wrote.

GOP backers of the amendment say all they're trying to do is make sure that federal funds are not used to support partisan political activities. There's just one problem: That's already illegal. Indeed, many nonprofits have been more careful about observing restrictions against partisanship since the Christian Coalition lost its tax-exempt status in 1999 over voter guides that it distributed in churches.

Cynthia Tucker is editorial page editor for the Atlanta Constitution, P.O. Box 4689, Atlanta, GA 30302. She can be reached by e-mail: cynthia@ajc.com.

Cynthia Tucker

Commentary

[Michael Collins]

[b]Jerry Kilgore is from the far Southwestern corner of Virginia. He’s running against Tim Kaine, Lt. Gov and Democrat for Governor. His mother now stands at the center of a controversy over absentee ballots. She’s election official for Gate City and has refused to provide pubic domain information on absentee ballots despite accusations of election fraud against the Republican candidates. Wonderful! VOTE FOR KAINE, D, GOV. VA[]B]
http://www.roanoke.com/wrapper/images/logo_roanoke.gif
[h2] Scott County absentee records at issue – again[/h2]
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-38694

By Laurence Hammack
981-3239
When a Gate City attorney first sought copies of absentee ballot applications from the registrar's office in September, she was told the staff was too busy to provide the records.

When it comes to absentee voting in Scott County, there's no absence of controversy.

The latest dispute over the issue -- at least the third in the past two years -- involves access to records kept by the voter registrar, Willie Mae Kilgore.

Last week, the secretary of the State Board of Elections said she saw no reason why Kilgore's office should not have promptly provided records sought by Sherry Lee Wilson.

Wilson had accused the registrar of stonewalling her requests for information on who has been approved to vote by absentee ballot in next week's election and the reason they stated for not being able to make it to the polls.

Wilson eventually obtained the information, which by state law is public record.

But the Gate City attorney says her experience was part of a broader problem with absentee voting in Scott County, which has led to lawsuits, criminal charges and intervention by state officials.

In 2003, Kilgore refused to provide a list of absentee voters to Mary Lane, the wife of the Democratic candidate for sheriff, according to a lawsuit refiled Monday in Scott County Circuit Court.

The lawsuit portrayed Kilgore as a "strong political partisan" who "has openly showed favoritism for Republican candidates." Registrars are expected to remain politically neutral on the job.

In retaliation for seeking the records, Lane claims in the lawsuit, she was falsely accused by Kilgore of being a convicted felon and taken off the voting rolls.

<snip>

[Michael Collins]

Good news bears repeating. Not the news that our election system is entirely inadequate, but the news that our government officials investigated, found major problems, and issued an objective report. Good for the Federal bureaucracy.
http://www.fcw.com/images/demo/bot_fcw_logo.jpg
[h2] E-voting machines are not always secure
GAO Report: Federal Efforts to Improve Security and Reliability of Electronic Voting Systems...[/h2]
http://www.fcw.com/article91241-10-31-05-Print


Although electronic voting machines have become a regular feature at the ballot box, a growing number of critics have raised concerns about the machines' security, reliability and accuracy.

Proponents tout the machines' efficiency, ease of use and accessibility to voters with disabilities, but skeptics fear computer errors or fraud could disenfranchise voters or secretly change election results.

The critics found some vindication earlier this month in a Government Accountability Office report that showed some machines were insecure and unreliable, and their flaws have lost or miscounted some votes in recent federal elections.

Without identifying the specific voting systems involved, GAO reported that in some cases:

* Ballots already cast, ballot definition files and audit logs could be modified.
* Systems had locks that could be easily opened and unprotected power switches.
* Local voting officials misconfigured their machines.
* Voting systems failed while in use during elections.

GAO found some local elections officials had no idea how to deal with problems that could arise with the machines during an election.

"It is important to note that many of the reported concerns were drawn from specific system makes and models or from a specific jurisdiction's election," GAO auditors wrote in the report. "There is a lack of consensus among election officials and other experts on the pervasiveness of the concerns."

GAO made specific recommendations for the Election Assistance Commission, a body established through the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The recommendations include determining the necessary changes for making systems more secure and reliable and improving management and support to state and local elections officials.

GAO recommended that authorities collaborate with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish a process to continuously update the National Software Reference Library for voting system software and promote use of the library for checking software.

GAO also recommended that election officials find ways to share information on the vulnerabilities of voting systems.

[Michael Collins]

So Doles election committed and the Republican campaign committee in NC hire a guy to raise funds. He does so illegally and Dole gets $81k. Now the FEC says, Elizabeth Dole, give back the $81k. But noooo, Dole says, I’ll keep the money, have the guy I hired make restitution. Republican battle cry: “It’s not my fault! The dog ate my homework.”
http://www.the-dispatch.com/graphics/smlogo.gif
[h2] Dole committee, FEC auditors at odds over stolen donations[/h2]
http://www.the-dispatch.com/apps/pbc...85&cachetime=5

November 01. 2005 6:40PM


By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press Writer

Federal auditors said a campaign committee for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., should return $81,320 in unlawful corporate contributions from her 2002 campaign, but the committee insists a convicted felon who cooked the books should be held responsible.
Earl Allen Haywood pleaded guilty last year to mail fraud after prosecutors said he stole more than $174,000 from two Dole campaign committee accounts. Haywood's plea deal requires him to make restitution.

A federal audit of the Dole North Carolina Victory Committee, a joint fund-raising effort between Dole and the North Carolina Republican Party that Haywood helped manage, determined that it had deposited 31 checks received from the general funds of corporations. Such donations are unlawful.

The review by Federal Election Commission auditors released Tuesday said the Victory Committee "bears the responsibility for the return of the prohibited contributions." The committee also could bear the consequences of violating the law.

Dole's campaign committee said Haywood is responsible for those contributions and should return them himself. Neither Dole nor the party used the illegal donations because Haywood hid them, said Cleta Mitchell, the committee's Washington attorney.

The auditors wrote that a lack of internal controls and oversight by the committee "created an environment that contributed to the misappropriation of funds and the misreporting to the commission."

<snip>

[Michael Collins]

http://images.ibsys.com/cin-structur...eader_logo.jpg
Is any one here surprised?
[h2]District-Drawing Powers Among Full Plate Of Issues At Ohio Polls[/h2]
http://www.channelcincinnati.com/pol...45/detail.html
POSTED: 2:03 pm EST November 1, 2005
UPDATED: 2:22 pm EST November 1, 2005
Email This Story | Print This Story

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Voters will be asked Nov. 8 to do what the state Legislature has rejected for at least three decades -- strip elected officials of the power to draw legislative and congressional district lines.

One of four election-related issues on the ballot would give that highly prized authority to a bipartisan board. The other issues would allow any voter to vote by absentee ballot, lower the caps on campaign contributions and replace the secretary of state as the overseer of elections in Ohio.

The power to create districts is the most contentious issue. The party that draws the lines -- now the Republicans -- can shape public policy for decades by forging districts to include voters favorable to its candidates. The state lottery and income tax were produced with Democrats in control; Republicans' watch brought income tax refunds and restrictions on abortion.

Democrats say the shift in authority would ensure more competitive districts. Republicans say it would create oddly shaped districts that pay little attention to common interests of constituents.
Click here to find out more!

"If they (current districts) are so bad, how come the courts declare them constitutional?" asked former Senate President Richard Finan, co-chairman of Ohio First, which opposes all four issues. "Competitiveness is not the bellwether of drawing districts in the state of Ohio or any other state and the U.S. Supreme Court has said that many times."

<snip>

[Michael Collins]

What a transparent strategy these Republicans have. They are total hypocrites. Absentee ballots are opposed in Maryland now; they were opposed in Washington a couple of months ago (the states mail-in ballot system). The algorhythm for Republican elections efforts is simple: suppress the ability of minorities, the elderly, and the poor to vote & fix those machines. Simple, apply it yourself. You own the source code now.
http://images.ibsys.com/bal-structur...eader_logo.jpg
[h2] Governor Proposes Review Of Md. Election Laws[/h2]
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/5220271/detail.html


TheWBALChannel.com

POSTED: 6:29 am EST November 1, 2005
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- After vetoing seven Democratic proposals to change Maryland election laws last spring, Gov. Robert Ehrlich said Monday he will set up a commission of non-legislators to review election rules and suggest changes.

Among the bills the governor vetoed were plans to allow Marylanders to vote during the five days before primary and general elections, and a bill creating no-excuse absentee balloting which would allow people to vote absentee even if they could make it to polls on election day. In his veto message, Ehrlich called the no-excuse absentee plan "an invitation for greater voter fraud."

Ehrlich's nine-person commission, however, will look at absentee voting and other potential changes, including early voting and a paper receipt to record votes cast on an electronic machine. Its chairman, prominent Baltimore Republican George Beall, said he expects proposals will come out of the meetings, which begin Wednesday.

Beall said changes are needed in Maryland election laws, though he wouldn't say specifically what should be changed. The committee was not asked to consider new primary election dates, which some Democrats have said should be moved.

"Perfect elections are not possible, but a reduction of voter distrust in the system is essential," said Beall, son of former Maryland Sen. J. Glenn Beall.

Democrats in the legislature were quick to shrug off Ehrlich's commission, saying it's too late to prepare substantive reforms for a session that starts in just over two months. They also said lawmakers should be included if new bills are to be prepared.

"This is simply a public relations gambit to try to negate his vetoes of bills to allow additional access to the polls," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.

[Michael Collins]

Here’s a new election strategy, shoot and arrest oppositioneaders…and, whie you’re at it, arrest taxi drivers for taking people to protests. This is all election related, the opposition challenges corrupt elections and gets shot, beaten, and arrested. New opportunities for election fraud tried out overseas before repatriation.
http://abcnews.go.com/images/site/_t.gif
[/h2] Eight Die in Clashes With Ethiopian Police[/h2]
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ory?id=1270949

Ethiopian Riot Police Clash With Dozens of Opposition Supporters, Leaving Eight Dead, 43 Wounded

Doctors rush a wounded man into Black Lion Hospital, Addis Ababa, Tuesday, Nov.1, 2005, after clashes between opposition supporters and police. Riot police clashed with dozens of opposition supporters in Ethiopia's capital Tuesday, shooting dead at least five people and wounding some 20 others in renewed protests against the disputed May 15 elections, health workers said. (AP Photo/Stringer)

By ANTHONY MITCHELL Associated Press Writer
The Associated PressThe Associated Press

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia Nov 1, 2005 — Riot police clashed with dozens of opposition supporters in Ethiopia's capital Tuesday, leaving eight people dead and 43 wounded in renewed protests against disputed elections, the Information Ministry said.

Two leaders of the main opposition party Coalition for Unity and Democracy were also arrested, party officials said. It was unclear what charges they faced, but Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has accused the opposition of treason and committing "serious" crimes in the run-up to the May 15 elections.

The head of the party, Hailu Shawel, was arrested at his home, while the vice chairman, Berhanu Nega, was taken into custody on the streets following the unrest, party officials said. Two other senior party officials were missing and feared arrested.

Some publishers and editors of private newspapers accused of publishing "baseless" reports and propaganda also faced arrest, the Information Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said the dead included six civilians and two policemen.

The clashes came a day after police arrested and revoked the licenses of 30 taxi drivers who took part in demonstrations against the parliamentary elections, which opposition parties claim were rigged by Zenawi's ruling party.

<snip>

[Michael Collins]

One of the very best election integrity, election fraud research sites on the internet.

http://votersunite.org/

http://www.votersunite.org/images/webbanner750.jpg

Take Action:
Participate in the New Project Myth Breaker
Voters, unite to inform election officials, legislators, and the media.

Join with other activists throughout the nation to hand-deliver copies of this eye-opening information to your county and state decision-makers. Help distribute "Myth Breakers," second edition, to ALL local election officials in the country.

To be part of this nation-wide education campaign:

[All_The_States]

......And stop the election fraud from all sides once and for all.

:devil2:

[TruthIsAll]

.

[Michael Collins]

TIA, I think ATS is responding to the Republican faces in OH fighting the forces of election reform.

States, am I right or am I right?

[All_The_States]

Those DLCers helped them cover up the fraud!

Not one more!

:yourock: