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Voter Suppression ((Supreme Court Just . . .))
- Thread starter thoughtone
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I'm tired of listening to crickets.
Let me update this thread . . .
Voting laws may disenfranchise
10 million Hispanic U.S. citizens
Republican presidential candidate Romney shakes hands with the crowd after addressing the
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Annual Conference in Lake Buena
Vista (David Manning, Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New voting laws in 23 of the 50 states could keep more than 10 million Hispanic U.S. citizens from registering and voting, a new study said on Sunday, a number so large it could affect the outcome of the November 6 election.
The Latino community accounts for more than 10 percent of eligible voters nationally. But the share in some states is high enough that keeping Hispanic voters away from the polls could shift some hard-fought states from support for Democratic President Barack Obama and help his Republican rival, Mitt Romney.
The new laws include purges of people suspected of not being citizens in 16 states that unfairly target Latinos, the civil rights group Advancement Project said in the study to be formally released on Monday.
Laws in effect in one state and pending in two others require proof of citizenship for voter registration. That imposes onerous and sometimes expensive documentation requirements on voters, especially targeting naturalized American citizens, many of whom are Latino, the liberal group said.
Nine states have passed restrictive photo identification laws that impose costs in time and money for millions of Latinos who are citizens but do not yet have the required identification, it said.
Republican-led state legislatures have passed most of the new laws since the party won sweeping victories in state and local elections in 2010. They say the laws are meant to prevent voter fraud; critics say they are designed to reduce turnout among groups that typically back Democrats.
Decades of study have found virtually no use of false identification in U.S. elections or voting by non-citizens. Activists say the bigger problem in the United States, where most elections see turnout of well under 60 percent, is that eligible Americans do not bother to vote.
Nationwide, polls show Obama leading Romney among Hispanic voters by 70 percent to 30 percent or more, and winning that voting bloc by a large margin is seen as an important key to Obama winning re-election.
The Hispanic vote could be crucial in some of the battleground states where the election is especially close, such as Nevada, Colorado and Florida.
For example, in Florida, 27 percent of eligible voters are Hispanic. With polls showing Obama's re-election race against Romney very tight in the state, a smaller turnout by Hispanic groups that favor Obama could tilt the vote toward the Republican.
SOURCE: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...n-hispanicsbre88n01i-20120923,0,4765735.story
source: Huffington Post
Charlie White, Indiana Election Chief, Found Guilty Of Voter Fraud
INDIANAPOLIS — While Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels held off Saturday on appointing a permanent replacement for the state elections chief convicted early that morning of voter fraud, Democrats said they planned to move quickly to wrest control of the politically powerful office from the GOP.
A jury from Hamilton County, just north of Indianapolis, deliberated for 13 hours before convicting Republican Secretary of State Charlie White on six felony charges. Among other things, White was accused of lying about his address on voter registration forms.
Indiana law does not allow felons to hold statewide office, and Daniels quickly appointed White's chief deputy, Jerry Bonnet, as interim secretary of state. But the governor said he was holding off on naming a permanent replacement because a judge could reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, allowing White to regain the office.
Democrats didn't want to wait, however. Chairman Dan Parker told The Associated Press the party will seek to have its 2010 candidate, Vop Osili, who lost to White by about 300,000 votes, certified as secretary of state during the coming week. A civil judge in Marion County ordered the state to declare Osili the winner in December, saying White wasn't an eligible candidate because he had lied about where he lived on a voter registration form.
Parker said White's conviction removed the sole objection to Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg's ruling ordering the Indiana Recount Commission to certify Osili, the second-place finisher, as the winner. Parker said the conviction proved White had committed voter fraud as Democrats contended. Rosenberg had stayed his order pending appeal.
"Now is the time for the stay to be lifted and for the recount commission to certify Vop Osili as the winner and have him sworn in this week, and all of this can be put behind us," Parker told The AP.
But a spokesman for the state Republican party said the civil lawsuit filed by Democrats and the criminal charges handed down by a grand jury were separate. Pete Seat said Democrats were unfairly trying to change the outcome of the election.
"The Democrats, this is what they do," he said. "They lose elections and then they try to litigate victory."
Under ordinary circumstances, Daniels would appoint another Republican to the office once he received a certified copy of White's sentencing order.
The case is likely to end up in the state Supreme Court, although the justices have not said yet whether they will take up the appeal of Rosenberg's order.
White also is expected to appeal his criminal conviction.
Jurors in White's criminal trial deliberated overnight before reaching a verdict about 2 a.m. Saturday.
"I'm disappointed for my family and the people who supported me," White said outside the courtroom after the verdict was announced.
Prosecutors said White used his ex-wife's address instead of a condo he had with his fiancee because he didn't want to give up his $1,000-per-month Fishers Town Council salary after moving out of that district.
White claimed the charges ignored a complicated personal life in which he was trying to raise his 10-year-old son, plan his second marriage and campaign for the statewide office he won that November. He said he stayed at his ex-wife's house when he wasn't on the road campaigning and did not live in the condo until after he remarried.
The Indiana Recount Commission unanimously upheld White's candidacy in June after Democrats challenged its legitimacy, but Democrats appealed the decision to Rosenberg, who ordered it reversed. A Hamilton County grand jury had indicted White in March following an investigation by two special prosecutors, one Republican and one Democrat.
Amid all the turmoil, work at the secretary of state's office continued.
Office spokesman A.J. Feeney-Ruiz said Bonnet would report to work as secretary of state Monday and "it'll be business as usual."
Charlie White, Indiana Election Chief, Found Guilty Of Voter Fraud
INDIANAPOLIS — While Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels held off Saturday on appointing a permanent replacement for the state elections chief convicted early that morning of voter fraud, Democrats said they planned to move quickly to wrest control of the politically powerful office from the GOP.
A jury from Hamilton County, just north of Indianapolis, deliberated for 13 hours before convicting Republican Secretary of State Charlie White on six felony charges. Among other things, White was accused of lying about his address on voter registration forms.
Indiana law does not allow felons to hold statewide office, and Daniels quickly appointed White's chief deputy, Jerry Bonnet, as interim secretary of state. But the governor said he was holding off on naming a permanent replacement because a judge could reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, allowing White to regain the office.
Democrats didn't want to wait, however. Chairman Dan Parker told The Associated Press the party will seek to have its 2010 candidate, Vop Osili, who lost to White by about 300,000 votes, certified as secretary of state during the coming week. A civil judge in Marion County ordered the state to declare Osili the winner in December, saying White wasn't an eligible candidate because he had lied about where he lived on a voter registration form.
Parker said White's conviction removed the sole objection to Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg's ruling ordering the Indiana Recount Commission to certify Osili, the second-place finisher, as the winner. Parker said the conviction proved White had committed voter fraud as Democrats contended. Rosenberg had stayed his order pending appeal.
"Now is the time for the stay to be lifted and for the recount commission to certify Vop Osili as the winner and have him sworn in this week, and all of this can be put behind us," Parker told The AP.
But a spokesman for the state Republican party said the civil lawsuit filed by Democrats and the criminal charges handed down by a grand jury were separate. Pete Seat said Democrats were unfairly trying to change the outcome of the election.
"The Democrats, this is what they do," he said. "They lose elections and then they try to litigate victory."
Under ordinary circumstances, Daniels would appoint another Republican to the office once he received a certified copy of White's sentencing order.
The case is likely to end up in the state Supreme Court, although the justices have not said yet whether they will take up the appeal of Rosenberg's order.
White also is expected to appeal his criminal conviction.
Jurors in White's criminal trial deliberated overnight before reaching a verdict about 2 a.m. Saturday.
"I'm disappointed for my family and the people who supported me," White said outside the courtroom after the verdict was announced.
Prosecutors said White used his ex-wife's address instead of a condo he had with his fiancee because he didn't want to give up his $1,000-per-month Fishers Town Council salary after moving out of that district.
White claimed the charges ignored a complicated personal life in which he was trying to raise his 10-year-old son, plan his second marriage and campaign for the statewide office he won that November. He said he stayed at his ex-wife's house when he wasn't on the road campaigning and did not live in the condo until after he remarried.
The Indiana Recount Commission unanimously upheld White's candidacy in June after Democrats challenged its legitimacy, but Democrats appealed the decision to Rosenberg, who ordered it reversed. A Hamilton County grand jury had indicted White in March following an investigation by two special prosecutors, one Republican and one Democrat.
Amid all the turmoil, work at the secretary of state's office continued.
Office spokesman A.J. Feeney-Ruiz said Bonnet would report to work as secretary of state Monday and "it'll be business as usual."
source: Think Progress
How The Tea Party Hopes To Purge Thousands of Ohio Voters
Members of an Ohio tea party group are taking it upon themselves to individually police alleged voter fraud, launching challenges to a targeted list of voters that includes hundreds of college students, trailer park residents, homeless people and African Americans in counties President Obama won in 2008. In all, the group has sought to remove from the voter rolls at least 2,100 registrations in 13 Ohio counties, nine of which Obama won in 2008, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The alleged perpetrators of this voter fraud include Lori Monroe, a 40-year-old recovering from cancer, whose apartment for the past seven years was allegedly listed as a commercial property; and eight members of an African American family, whose four-bedroom home where the family has lived since the 1980s was allegedly listed as a vacant lot. The group has also focused on challenging college students for failure to specify a dorm room number, a claim that every election board has thus far found invalid.
The group behind this crusade has dubbed itself the Ohio Voter Integrity Project, an offshoot of Texas-based True the Vote, which champions voter purges and voter ID laws and has been building a “poll watcher” network, an effort documented by Colorlines’ Brentin Mock:
How The Tea Party Hopes To Purge Thousands of Ohio Voters
Members of an Ohio tea party group are taking it upon themselves to individually police alleged voter fraud, launching challenges to a targeted list of voters that includes hundreds of college students, trailer park residents, homeless people and African Americans in counties President Obama won in 2008. In all, the group has sought to remove from the voter rolls at least 2,100 registrations in 13 Ohio counties, nine of which Obama won in 2008, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The alleged perpetrators of this voter fraud include Lori Monroe, a 40-year-old recovering from cancer, whose apartment for the past seven years was allegedly listed as a commercial property; and eight members of an African American family, whose four-bedroom home where the family has lived since the 1980s was allegedly listed as a vacant lot. The group has also focused on challenging college students for failure to specify a dorm room number, a claim that every election board has thus far found invalid.
The group behind this crusade has dubbed itself the Ohio Voter Integrity Project, an offshoot of Texas-based True the Vote, which champions voter purges and voter ID laws and has been building a “poll watcher” network, an effort documented by Colorlines’ Brentin Mock:
[True the Vote National Elections Coordinator Bill] Ouren and Americans for Prosperity gathered these recruits in Boca Raton in July to instruct them on how they could become “empowered” vessels for True the Vote’s poll watcher program. True the Vote is most widely known for its advocacy of restrictive photo voter ID laws. But while that might garner headlines, the group’s real focus is on policing the act of voting itself. As Ouren declared during the group’s national summit in April, and repeated again in Boca Raton, his recruits’ job is chiefly to make voters feel like they’re “driving and seeing the police following you.” He aims to recruit one million poll watchers around the country. […]
True the Vote encourages recruits to “build relationships with election administrators” because “they control the access to the vote,” as Ouren told a gathering in Houston. In 2010, the group was able to get a list of voter registration data from Republican Harris County registrar Leo Vasquez, who reportedly refused the same to the Democratic Party, for which the party sued. When the King Street Patriots submitted to him their list of fraudulent actions they claimed to see at the polls, Vasquez accepted them without verification and held a press conference with Engelbrecht asserting Harris County polls were “under a systemic and organized attack.”
Of course, these phony charges of voter fraud – a wildly exaggerated phenomenon — do more than harass legally registered voters; they provide an artificial justification for the real and considerable threats to disfranchisement that come from new restrictive voter suppression laws, such as the move to limit early voting in Ohio, now embroiled in litigation.True the Vote encourages recruits to “build relationships with election administrators” because “they control the access to the vote,” as Ouren told a gathering in Houston. In 2010, the group was able to get a list of voter registration data from Republican Harris County registrar Leo Vasquez, who reportedly refused the same to the Democratic Party, for which the party sued. When the King Street Patriots submitted to him their list of fraudulent actions they claimed to see at the polls, Vasquez accepted them without verification and held a press conference with Engelbrecht asserting Harris County polls were “under a systemic and organized attack.”
By Tony Pugh | McClatchy Newspapers
PHILADELPHIA — As legal challenges to voter identification laws slowly wind their way through the courts, opponents of the controversial measures aren’t just sitting around waiting for judicial relief.
They’re hitting the streets in a grassroots effort to make sure affected voters have the documents they’ll need to cast their ballots in November.
“When you put Americans’ backs against the wall, we tend to rise and we tend to fight a little harder,” said John Jordan, an NAACP elections consultant in Philadelphia, where a new state law requires voters to have government-issued photo identification documents.
From Pennsylvania to South Carolina to Florida, a loose network of civic, religious, labor and civil rights groups are working to find, educate and register voters who might not meet eligibility requirements under a spate of new Republican-backed laws that opponents say create new barriers to voting in the name of stopping fraud.
PHILADELPHIA — As legal challenges to voter identification laws slowly wind their way through the courts, opponents of the controversial measures aren’t just sitting around waiting for judicial relief.
They’re hitting the streets in a grassroots effort to make sure affected voters have the documents they’ll need to cast their ballots in November.
“When you put Americans’ backs against the wall, we tend to rise and we tend to fight a little harder,” said John Jordan, an NAACP elections consultant in Philadelphia, where a new state law requires voters to have government-issued photo identification documents.
From Pennsylvania to South Carolina to Florida, a loose network of civic, religious, labor and civil rights groups are working to find, educate and register voters who might not meet eligibility requirements under a spate of new Republican-backed laws that opponents say create new barriers to voting in the name of stopping fraud.
SOURCE: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/10/01/170042/as-election-day-looms-voter-id.html#storylink=cpy
Judge halts Pennsylvania’s tough new
voter ID requirement; appeal is possible
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A judge postponed Pennsylvania’s controversial voter identification requirement on Tuesday, ordering the state not to enforce it in this year’s presidential election but allowing it to go into full effect next year.
The decision by Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson on the law requiring each voter to show a valid photo ID could be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
However, Simpson based his decision on guidelines given to him days ago by the high court justices, and it could easily be the final word on the law just five weeks before the Nov. 6 election.
One lawyer for the plaintiffs said it appeared to be a “win.”
His ruling came after listening to two days of testimony about the state’s eleventh-hour efforts to make it easier to get a valid photo ID. He also heard about long lines and ill-informed clerks at driver’s license centers and identification requirements that made it hard for some registered voters to get a state-issued photo ID.
The 6-month-old law — now among the nation’s toughest — has sparked a divisive debate over voting rights and become a high-profile political issue in the contest between President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, for Pennsylvania’s prized 20 electoral votes.
Pennsylvania, traditionally considered one of the most valuable a presidential swing states, is showing a persistent lead for President Barack Obama in independent polls. As a result, the state has been virtually empty of presidential TV ads and off the candidates’ beaten paths to more contested states in recent weeks.
Pollsters say an identification requirement could mean that fewer people end up voting and, in the past, lower turnouts have benefited Republicans in Pennsylvania. But Democrats have used their opposition to the law as a rallying cry, turning it into a valuable tool to motivate volunteers and campaign contributions while other opponents of the law, including labor unions, good government groups, the NAACP, AARP and the League of Women Voters, hold voter education drives and protest rallies.
The voter ID law was a signature accomplishment of Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature and its Republican governor, Tom Corbett. Republicans, long suspicious of ballot-box stuffing in the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia, justified it as a bulwark against any potential election fraud.
But Democrats objected furiously, accusing Republicans of using old-fashioned Jim Crow tactics to steal the White House from Obama by making it harder for young adults, the poor, minorities and the disabled to vote.
Protests, warnings of Election Day chaos and voter education drives ensued, as the law’s opponents — including the AARP, the NAACP and labor unions — began collecting stories of people who had no valid photo ID and had encountered stiff barriers in their efforts to get one from state driver’s license centers.
It was already a political lightning rod when a top state Republican lawmaker boasted to a GOP dinner in June that the ID requirement “is going to allow Gov. Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.”
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter ID law in 2008, and Georgia’s top court upheld that state’s voter ID law. But a federal panel struck down Texas’ voter ID law, and the state court in Wisconsin has blocked its voter ID laws for now. The Justice Department cleared New Hampshire’s voter ID law earlier this year.
The plaintiffs — a group of registered voters, plus the Homeless Advocacy Project, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — had sought to block the law from taking effect in this year’s election as part of a wider challenge to its constitutionality.
The constitutionality of the law was not a question before Simpson.
Rather, the state Supreme Court had ordered him to stop the law if he thought anyone eligible would be unable to cast a ballot because of it or if he found the state had not complied with law’s promise of providing liberal access to a photo ID that voters were required to carry on Election Day.
Las week, the Corbett administration overhauled the process for getting a voting-only ID card — an admission that the state had not met the Supreme Court’s test for the whether the law should stand.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
SOURCE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...6b405c-0c41-11e2-97a7-45c05ef136b2_story.html
source: New York Times
G.O.P. Operative Long Trailed by Allegations of Voter Fraud</NYT_HEADLINE>
The authorities in Florida are reviewing “numerous” complaints about voter registration efforts by a company run by Nathan Sproul, shown in 2004.
In a provocative article on CNN’s Web site, the committee’s chairman, Reince Priebus, said, “Democrats know they benefit from election fraud.”
The tables have turned, however, and Republicans are now playing defense over the role of a well-paid operative, Nathan Sproul, in a voter registration scandal that emerged in Florida and has spread to other states.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it was reviewing “numerous” claims involving a company that Mr. Sproul runs to determine if a criminal investigation is warranted. Complaints have surfaced in 10 Florida counties, among them allegations that registrations had similar signatures or false addresses, or were filed under the names of dead people. In other cases, party affiliations appeared to have been changed.
In recent days, similar claims against Mr. Sproul have arisen in Nevada and Colorado.
Mr. Sproul, 40, a former executive director of the Arizona Christian Coalition and the Republican Party in Arizona, is well known in political circles there. Since 2004, Mr. Sproul’s companies — he has operated under several corporate names — have collected more than $17.6 million from Republican committees, candidates and the “super PAC” American Crossroads, mostly for voter registration operations, according to campaign finance records.
The Republican Party, which paid Mr. Sproul about $3 million this year for work in five states, has severed its ties with him, saying it has no tolerance for voter registration fraud.
But questions about Mr. Sproul’s methods first emerged in 2004, when one of his companies, Sproul & Associates, was paid nearly $8 million during the election cycle. The payouts made the company the seventh-biggest recipient of campaign expenditures by the committee, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Mr. Sproul declined to be interviewed.
In a statement issued by his lawyer, Mr. Sproul said the huge size of his voter operation — he claims to have registered more than 500,000 people in more than 40 states through election cycles — would invariably lead to a few problems. “Inevitably, there have been accusations of ‘bad registrations,’ isolated instances that have been thoroughly investigated not only internally but by the appropriate legal authorities,” the statement said.
Mike Hellon, a former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, said that Mr. Sproul had been considered “very controversial” in Arizona Republican circles before the recent allegations, partly because of past voter registration investigations. “There are questions among a lot of people in the party about how he gets these contracts and why he gets contracts,” Mr. Hellon said.
As a political operative in Arizona, Mr. Sproul is known for a no-holds-barred approach. He was criticized for dredging up 28-year-old domestic abuse claims against an incumbent State Senate candidate in 2008.
That same year, he promoted a ballot initiative that would have made it more difficult to impose additional taxes or increase spending in the state. The measure failed, despite considerable financial backing from the liquor industry and from Jim Click, a Tucson car dealer and a large Republican donor who has worked closely with Mr. Sproul on local elections.
On a campaign trip to Arizona last year, Mitt Romney visited one of Mr. Click’s auto dealerships. Mr. Click is a co-chairman of Mr. Romney’s campaign in Arizona. Mr. Sproul has also worked for the campaign, receiving about $60,000 since last year, according to campaign finance records. A spokesman for the campaign said that Mr. Sproul collected petition signatures during the Republican primary elections and provided office space.
Mr. Click said that while he had worked with Mr. Sproul on campaigns and thought highly of him, he had nothing to do with securing his recent contracts with the Republican National Committee. “He’s always performed for me,” Mr. Click said. “He’s always been aboveboard.”
Mr. Sproul is one of the biggest players in a for-profit industry that relies on low-paid seasonal workers who must be quickly trained in the legalities of voter registration. In addition to $12 an hour, workers might be eligible for college internship credit, the ad said.
Mr. Sproul has said that his company employs 4,000 workers. “We have in place a background check system and stringent quality controls meant to prevent individuals from skirting the system,” said the statement released by his lawyer, David Leibowitz.
Mr. Sproul runs at least five affiliated companies that have conducted registration drives, polling and political consulting. According to a lawsuit filed against him by a former employee over pay, Mr. Sproul changed his company’s name in 2008 to Lincoln Strategy Group, from Sproul & Associates, after the negative publicity.
More recently, Mr. Sproul has operated under the name Strategic Allied Consulting.
Susan Bucher, the superintendent of elections in Palm Beach County, Fla., said that about 100 questionable voter registrations had been flagged there. Of those, more than half involved changing a voter’s party affiliation to Republican or independent. Ms. Bucher said that the revised registrations gave her “the feeling that the person completing the application had not come in contact with the voter,” because they failed to include proper identifying information, like the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number.
The voter registration fraud allegations against Mr. Sproul’s companies seem to fit a pattern.
In Nevada, a complaint filed last month with the secretary of state’s office alleged that a woman, Cathy Sue Yancey, was told to tear up a form in which she registered as a Democrat and fill out another one without marking her party affiliation.
The complaint was filed by another woman who said she witnessed the event outside an unemployment office in Henderson, Nev., on Sept. 13. That woman, Gina Greisen, said she and a group of friends had been approached by a man who told them that they needed to update their voter registration. “He talked about voter fraud and mentioned Acorn and illegals voting,” Ms. Greisen said.
The worker then approached Ms. Yancey. “He was sure a Republican, because he was totally against Obama,” said Ms. Yancey, who was reached by phone and verified Ms. Greisen’s account. “I’m a Democrat. I’m certainly voting for Obama.”
The election forms were traced to a Sproul operation. Similar allegations prompted an investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice in 2004.
In that case, a couple told the police in Roseburg that they had been approached by a woman outside a Walmart who asked them to register to vote. The husband, John Gomez, filled out a card registering as a Republican. His wife, Katheline, registered as a Democrat.
About a month later, Mr. Gomez received a ballot in the mail, but his wife did not, the Oregon authorities said. Her registration form seemed to have evaporated. Investigators determined that the woman who solicited the couple had been paid by Sproul & Associates.
The woman told investigators that she was paid only when she registered Republicans or those who said they would vote for President George W. Bush. The Oregon inquiry focused on more than 100 fraud complaints, many pointing to operations run by Mr. Sproul, but did not result in any charges. A lawyer for Mr. Sproul said at the time that the company had a system in place to prevent and detect fraud and forgery.
Additional investigations of Mr. Sproul’s organization, including one by the Portland office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also failed to produce any charges.
Around the same time, officials at a library in Pittsburgh complained that Mr. Sproul’s company had used false pretenses — claiming to represent the nonpartisan America Votes — to get permission to set up a voter registration desk outside their building. It was only after visitors began to complain that the library learned that the canvassers represented the Republican Party.
G.O.P. Operative Long Trailed by Allegations of Voter Fraud</NYT_HEADLINE>
The authorities in Florida are reviewing “numerous” complaints about voter registration efforts by a company run by Nathan Sproul, shown in 2004.
In a provocative article on CNN’s Web site, the committee’s chairman, Reince Priebus, said, “Democrats know they benefit from election fraud.”
The tables have turned, however, and Republicans are now playing defense over the role of a well-paid operative, Nathan Sproul, in a voter registration scandal that emerged in Florida and has spread to other states.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it was reviewing “numerous” claims involving a company that Mr. Sproul runs to determine if a criminal investigation is warranted. Complaints have surfaced in 10 Florida counties, among them allegations that registrations had similar signatures or false addresses, or were filed under the names of dead people. In other cases, party affiliations appeared to have been changed.
In recent days, similar claims against Mr. Sproul have arisen in Nevada and Colorado.
Mr. Sproul, 40, a former executive director of the Arizona Christian Coalition and the Republican Party in Arizona, is well known in political circles there. Since 2004, Mr. Sproul’s companies — he has operated under several corporate names — have collected more than $17.6 million from Republican committees, candidates and the “super PAC” American Crossroads, mostly for voter registration operations, according to campaign finance records.
The Republican Party, which paid Mr. Sproul about $3 million this year for work in five states, has severed its ties with him, saying it has no tolerance for voter registration fraud.
But questions about Mr. Sproul’s methods first emerged in 2004, when one of his companies, Sproul & Associates, was paid nearly $8 million during the election cycle. The payouts made the company the seventh-biggest recipient of campaign expenditures by the committee, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Mr. Sproul declined to be interviewed.
In a statement issued by his lawyer, Mr. Sproul said the huge size of his voter operation — he claims to have registered more than 500,000 people in more than 40 states through election cycles — would invariably lead to a few problems. “Inevitably, there have been accusations of ‘bad registrations,’ isolated instances that have been thoroughly investigated not only internally but by the appropriate legal authorities,” the statement said.
Mike Hellon, a former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, said that Mr. Sproul had been considered “very controversial” in Arizona Republican circles before the recent allegations, partly because of past voter registration investigations. “There are questions among a lot of people in the party about how he gets these contracts and why he gets contracts,” Mr. Hellon said.
As a political operative in Arizona, Mr. Sproul is known for a no-holds-barred approach. He was criticized for dredging up 28-year-old domestic abuse claims against an incumbent State Senate candidate in 2008.
That same year, he promoted a ballot initiative that would have made it more difficult to impose additional taxes or increase spending in the state. The measure failed, despite considerable financial backing from the liquor industry and from Jim Click, a Tucson car dealer and a large Republican donor who has worked closely with Mr. Sproul on local elections.
On a campaign trip to Arizona last year, Mitt Romney visited one of Mr. Click’s auto dealerships. Mr. Click is a co-chairman of Mr. Romney’s campaign in Arizona. Mr. Sproul has also worked for the campaign, receiving about $60,000 since last year, according to campaign finance records. A spokesman for the campaign said that Mr. Sproul collected petition signatures during the Republican primary elections and provided office space.
Mr. Click said that while he had worked with Mr. Sproul on campaigns and thought highly of him, he had nothing to do with securing his recent contracts with the Republican National Committee. “He’s always performed for me,” Mr. Click said. “He’s always been aboveboard.”
Mr. Sproul is one of the biggest players in a for-profit industry that relies on low-paid seasonal workers who must be quickly trained in the legalities of voter registration. In addition to $12 an hour, workers might be eligible for college internship credit, the ad said.
Mr. Sproul has said that his company employs 4,000 workers. “We have in place a background check system and stringent quality controls meant to prevent individuals from skirting the system,” said the statement released by his lawyer, David Leibowitz.
Mr. Sproul runs at least five affiliated companies that have conducted registration drives, polling and political consulting. According to a lawsuit filed against him by a former employee over pay, Mr. Sproul changed his company’s name in 2008 to Lincoln Strategy Group, from Sproul & Associates, after the negative publicity.
More recently, Mr. Sproul has operated under the name Strategic Allied Consulting.
Susan Bucher, the superintendent of elections in Palm Beach County, Fla., said that about 100 questionable voter registrations had been flagged there. Of those, more than half involved changing a voter’s party affiliation to Republican or independent. Ms. Bucher said that the revised registrations gave her “the feeling that the person completing the application had not come in contact with the voter,” because they failed to include proper identifying information, like the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number.
The voter registration fraud allegations against Mr. Sproul’s companies seem to fit a pattern.
In Nevada, a complaint filed last month with the secretary of state’s office alleged that a woman, Cathy Sue Yancey, was told to tear up a form in which she registered as a Democrat and fill out another one without marking her party affiliation.
The complaint was filed by another woman who said she witnessed the event outside an unemployment office in Henderson, Nev., on Sept. 13. That woman, Gina Greisen, said she and a group of friends had been approached by a man who told them that they needed to update their voter registration. “He talked about voter fraud and mentioned Acorn and illegals voting,” Ms. Greisen said.
The worker then approached Ms. Yancey. “He was sure a Republican, because he was totally against Obama,” said Ms. Yancey, who was reached by phone and verified Ms. Greisen’s account. “I’m a Democrat. I’m certainly voting for Obama.”
The election forms were traced to a Sproul operation. Similar allegations prompted an investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice in 2004.
In that case, a couple told the police in Roseburg that they had been approached by a woman outside a Walmart who asked them to register to vote. The husband, John Gomez, filled out a card registering as a Republican. His wife, Katheline, registered as a Democrat.
About a month later, Mr. Gomez received a ballot in the mail, but his wife did not, the Oregon authorities said. Her registration form seemed to have evaporated. Investigators determined that the woman who solicited the couple had been paid by Sproul & Associates.
The woman told investigators that she was paid only when she registered Republicans or those who said they would vote for President George W. Bush. The Oregon inquiry focused on more than 100 fraud complaints, many pointing to operations run by Mr. Sproul, but did not result in any charges. A lawyer for Mr. Sproul said at the time that the company had a system in place to prevent and detect fraud and forgery.
Additional investigations of Mr. Sproul’s organization, including one by the Portland office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also failed to produce any charges.
Around the same time, officials at a library in Pittsburgh complained that Mr. Sproul’s company had used false pretenses — claiming to represent the nonpartisan America Votes — to get permission to set up a voter registration desk outside their building. It was only after visitors began to complain that the library learned that the canvassers represented the Republican Party.
Wasn't Gunner all over ACORN?
<iframe src="http://current.com/bc/1867197417001?linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fcurrent.com%2Fshows%2Fthe-war-room%2Fvideos%2Ftwr20120928-fang" width="480" height="270" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
<iframe src="http://current.com/bc/1867197417001?linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fcurrent.com%2Fshows%2Fthe-war-room%2Fvideos%2Ftwr20120928-fang" width="480" height="270" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
A yo, actin, Lamarr, Gunner . . . lets talk about Nathan Sproul:
A little white boy. That about describes the usual suspects.
source: Think Progress
Despite Court Order, At Least Five Pennsylvania Counties Still Telling Voters They Need ID To Vote
Last week, a Pennsylvania court mostly suspended that state’s voter ID law for the upcoming election. Under the court’s order, voters will still be asked for ID at the polls, but they will still be able to cast a regular ballot — not a provisional ballot — if they are unable to show it.
Yet, despite this court order, at least five Pennsylvania county websites still falsely inform voters that they need to show ID in order to cast a regular ballot:
In addition to these five county websites, at least one state university — West Chester University — falsely informs its students that they “MUST present one of the following forms of PHOTO ID when [they] go to their poll place to vote in the General Election this November 6, 2012.”
To be fair, it is likely that these websites remain live simply because county or university officials have not yet updated their sites after the court’s decision last week. Nevertheless, they are a possible sign that elections officials may not fully understand that the requirement that voters present ID at the polls before they can cast a regular ballot is not in effect in November. Last month, elections officials in New Hampshire falsely told some primary voters that ID was required, even though the law did not yet require ID to be shown. The websites listed above indicate a similar error is taking place in Pennsylvania, potentially discouraging many voters from casting a ballot they are lawfully entitled to cast.
Despite Court Order, At Least Five Pennsylvania Counties Still Telling Voters They Need ID To Vote
Last week, a Pennsylvania court mostly suspended that state’s voter ID law for the upcoming election. Under the court’s order, voters will still be asked for ID at the polls, but they will still be able to cast a regular ballot — not a provisional ballot — if they are unable to show it.
Yet, despite this court order, at least five Pennsylvania county websites still falsely inform voters that they need to show ID in order to cast a regular ballot:
- Butler County: Butler County’s website still tells voters that “
tarting with the November 2012 general election, Pennsylvania requires voters to show an acceptable photo identification to vote at the polls.”
[*]
[*]Bucks County: Bucks County’s website falsely claims that “f you do not have a photo ID or are indigent and unable to obtain one without payment of a fee, you may cast a provisional ballot, and will have six days to provide your photo ID and/or an affirmation to your county elections office to have your ballot count.”
[*]
[*]Perry County: Perry County echoes Bucks County’s false statement that voters without IDs will only be able to cast provisional ballots.
[*]
[*]Luzerne County: Luzerne County’s website is similarly incorrect, also falsely claiming that “ALL voters will be required to show a photo ID before voting at a polling place.”
[*]
[*]Delaware County: Delaware County’s website falsely claims that “Pennsylvania law now requires voters to show approved photo ID to vote at the polls.”
To be fair, it is likely that these websites remain live simply because county or university officials have not yet updated their sites after the court’s decision last week. Nevertheless, they are a possible sign that elections officials may not fully understand that the requirement that voters present ID at the polls before they can cast a regular ballot is not in effect in November. Last month, elections officials in New Hampshire falsely told some primary voters that ID was required, even though the law did not yet require ID to be shown. The websites listed above indicate a similar error is taking place in Pennsylvania, potentially discouraging many voters from casting a ballot they are lawfully entitled to cast.
Supreme Court denies Ohio request to curtail early voting
(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Ohio's request to curtail early voting in the state leading up to the November 6 presidential election.
Ohio, critical to the election hopes of Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, began early in-person voting earlier this month but planned to cut it off on November 2, the Friday before the election, except for members of the military.
The Obama campaign, the Democratic National Committee and the Ohio Democratic Party had sued Ohio officials to restore early voting right up to election day eve. Republicans opposed their efforts, saying a cutoff was needed to reduce voter fraud.
In states that allow voters to cast ballots before election day, early voting and extended voting hours are thought to benefit Democratic candidates because lower-income people, who tend to vote for them, are more likely to work odd hours.
Earlier this month, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a U.S. District Court order that reinstated early voting in the final days before the election. The state had appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.
In a one-sentence order on Tuesday, the high court denied the state's petition for a stay of the appeals court decision.
Ohio Secretary of State John Husted, the state's top elections official, called the 6th Circuit's decision an unprecedented intrusion by federal judges into state elections that was illegal and impractical.
The appeals court's decision did not require polls to be open on the final three days, leaving it up to the discretion of the state's 88 individual county election boards.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/16/us-usa-campaign-ohio-voting-idUSBRE89F14F20121016
Man arrested for tossing voter
registration forms in Virginia
A 31-year-old man working for the Virginia Republican party was arrested on Thursday after he was caught throwing out voter registration forms, Richmond, Va., the Rockingham County sheriff's office confirmed to CBS News.
The man, Colin Small, faces 13 felony and misdemeanor counts relating to voter fraud, including one count of obstruction of justice, four counts of destruction of voter registration applications and eight counts of disclosure of voter registration applications.
According to CBS affiliate WTVR local man reportedly spotted Small throwing a bag into a Harrisonburg, Va., dumpster reserved for private use by the company at which he works, and investigated because he was annoyed that the man had improperly used the dumpster. He looked in the bag to discover eight filled-out registration forms.
The forms were discovered on October 15, the deadline for voter registration in Virginia. Local officials said the forms would be counted and that the incident did not appear to be widespread.
In a statement, the Sheriff's office said there was "no indication that this activity was widespread in our jurisdiction; it appears to be very limited in nature" but that "there is the possibility that additional charges may be filed in the future if it is deemed appropriate."
Brian Moran, the chairman of the Democratic party of Virginia, called on Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and state authorities to investigate whether the recent incident could be tied to a larger effort of voter suppression.
"This individual was an employee of the first firm the Republican Party of Virginia hired to do voter registration before they fired that firm amidst allegations of fraud in other states. Virginians deserve answers as to how this person was still working for Republican campaigns here and whether his behavior was directed by his superiors or party officials," he said. "In order to assure Virginians that this was not part of a larger Republican effort, Attorney General Cuccinelli and state authorities must conduct a thorough investigation into how Virginia Republicans conduct their voter registration and turnout efforts on behalf of George Allen, Mitt Romney and Republicans across the state.
In a statement, Republican Party of Virginia chair Pat Mullins called Small's actions "a direct contradiction of both his training and explicit instructions given to him."
"We were alarmed by allegations recently made regarding an individual in Harrisonburg," he said. "The Republican Party of Virginia will not tolerate any action by any person that could threaten the integrity of our electoral process."
Mullins said Small was immediately fired and that the party was "grateful to the local sheriff's office and Registrar for acting so quickly to protect our democratic process and will fully cooperate with any requests made by them."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57535950/man-arrested-for-tossing-voter-registration-forms/
This article is prima facie evidence of as Malcolm X often cited — the “tricknology” of the corporate media. You can bet money with no fear of losing, that the original version of this article submitted to an editor, contained the obvious truth that Mr. Small was only throwing away voter registration forms where the applicant indicated their selected party affiliation as the Democratic Party. The editor who removed this salient fact was attempting to mitigate the obvious RepubliKlan party theft of U.S. citizens voting rights.
Last edited:
source: Raw Story
Ohio Democrats protest misleading mailer with wrong election date
Ohio Democrats protest misleading mailer with wrong election date
Ohio Democrats are in an uproar about a mailer that was sent out to more than 2,000 voters from the Ottawa County Board of Elections that gave recipients the wrong date and location for voting. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the Democratic Party of Ohio has requested that Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) review all correspondence from the board this year to make certain that no other misleading materials have been sent.
Ottawa County resident and Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said, “There is no excuse for a board of elections or Secretary Husted’s office to botch their most basic job, notifying voters when and where to exercise their right to vote.”
The mailer instructed voters in three Danbury, Ohio townships that election day will be Thursday, November 8 rather than the actual day of the election, Tuesday, November 6. It also gave them the wrong instructions as to where to vote.
The mailer instructed voters in three Danbury, Ohio townships that election day will be Thursday, November 8 rather than the actual day of the election, Tuesday, November 6. It also gave them the wrong instructions as to where to vote.
Deputy Director of the Ottawa Board of Elections Carol Ann Hill told the Plain Dealer that the board is “sending out a new mailer, as we speak, with an apology.”
The issues come on the heels of charges by Democrats that Republican efforts to curtail early voting in the state were an effort to suppress the black vote and lower the turnout of voters who would favor President Barack Obama. Redfern’s notice about the problem mailer noted that Obama carried the area in 2008 and that the new director of the Board of Elections is a Republican.
Hill disdained the accusations.
“We want people to vote, that is our reason to be here,” she said. “It was just a mistake. It is troublesome to make a mistake, but there was no effort to suppress the voting of anyone.”
I just voted earlier today, and they asked for my Driver's License so they can scan it.
I feel so suppressed right now...
I feel so suppressed right now...
What do you expect in corrupt, racist Texass!
Bless you.
you have a lot of burdens. Santorum, Sununu, Brietbart, McConnell, Gingrich, Perry, Romney are heavy weights to blindly and loyally wear around the neck.
'CAVEAT EMPTOR'!! - RMoney & RepubliKlans Have Plans In Place TO STEAL the Election!
'CAVEAT EMPTOR'!!
RMoney & RepubliKlans Have Plans In Place TO STEAL the Election!
'Caveat Emptor'
"To be Forewarned is to be Forearmed"
I can report with certainty that the upper echelon of the Obama campaign knows about the information posted below.
The only debate would be how seriously they are taking this information and what plans they have implemented to make sure they don’t get screwed by any of these plans coming to fruition
We’ll see in just a few days
<hr noshade color="#333333" size="4"></hr>
<img src="http://i.minus.com/ibxLAvkkxohw6U.png" width="800">
DOWNLOAD & READ This Important Article
The link is below for the entire article, pdf
https://www.rapidshare.com/files/656694078/Harps_Rig_Election_Nov_2012.zip
Short Article Excerpt - HERE
<hr noshade color="#333333" size="4"></hr>
The Free Press confirms installation, secret justification of uncertified last minute election tabulation reporting software in Ohio
by Gerry Bello and Bob Fitrakis
<span class="blinking">November 2, 2012</span>
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2012/4768
The Free Press has obtained internal memos from the senior staff of the Ohio Secretary of State's office confirming the installation of untested and uncertified election tabulation software. Yesterday, the Free Press reported that "experimental" software patches were installed on ES&S voting machines in 39 Ohio counties. (see Will "experimental" software patches affect the Ohio vote?).
Election Counsel Brandi Laser Seske circulated a memo dated November 1st renewing the already shaky justification for installing software made by Election Systems and Solutions on vote tabulation equipment used in 39 Ohio counties. The letter to Ohio Secretary of State personnel Matt Masterson, Danielle Sellars, Myra Hawkins, Betsy Schuster, and Ohio's Director of Elections Matthew Damschroder, clarified the dubious justification for not complying with the legal requirements for the examination of all election related equipment.
Seske begins by explaining what she purports to be the purpose of the software patch: "Its function is to aid in the reporting of results that are already uploaded into the county's system. The software formats results that have already been uploaded by the county into a format that can be read by the Secretary of State's election night reporting system."
According to the contract between the Ohio Secretary of State's office and ES&S, this last minute "experimental" software update will supposedly transmit custom election night reports to the Secretary of State's office from the county boards of elections, bypassing the normal election night reporting methods.
In order to justify this unusual parallel reporting method, Seske explains "It is not part of the certified Unity system, so it did not require federal testing." This attempt to skirt federal and state law from one of the most partisan Secretary of State offices in the nation ignores basic facts of how modern information systems function.
Seske continues "Because the software is not 1) involved in the tabulation or casting of ballots (or in communicating between systems involved in the tabulation or casting of ballots) or 2) a modification to a certified system, the BVME [Board of Voting Machine Examiners] was not required to review the software." These claims are factually unsound. The software, although not communicating actual ballot information, facilitates communication between systems upon which votes are tabulated and stored. Although the software purports to not modify the tabulation system software, it is itself a modification to the whole tabulation system. This is why certification and testing is required in all cases.
Just as in 2004, the Ohio Secretary of State's office has enabled the possibility of a "man in the middle" attack. This software, functioning on a network through which votes are transmitted could act to intercept, alter or destroy votes from counties where it is not even installed, hence the "man in the middle" nickname.
On September 19, the last minute contract between ES&S and the Ohio Secretary of State's office was inked. Within a week, Seske wrote "He [Matt Masterson] has reviewed and approved the changes." Masterson is the Deputy Director of Elections. After Masterson's approval, Seske acted to bypass the Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners required review.
"Pursuant to the board's policy, each change will be approved unless three members of the BVME request a meeting to review a change within 15 days of today's date. Given the proximately of the upcoming election, please let me know as soon as possible whether you will be requesting a meeting to review the changes," wrote Seske.
Government reports such as Ohio's Everest study document that any single change to the system could corrupt the whole voting process.
An unelected, partisan group of attorneys appears to have conspired to install election software without testing and certification that they are professionally unqualified to pass judgment upon. These types of last minute installations of software patches on voting machines are considered suspect by knowledgeable and experienced election protection attorneys, in light of all the voting machine irregularities exposed during the 2004 election in Ohio.
-------------------
Gerry Bello is the chief researcher at the Columbus Free Press. He holds a degree in computer security from Antioch College. Bob Fitrakis is the Editor of the Free Press. He holds Ph.D. in Political Science and a J.D. from the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University.
<hr noshade color="#333333" size="6"></hr>
Romney's Halloween Trick On Ohio Voters
October 31, 2012
by Jim Hightower
http://www.jimhightower.com/node/7875
If you really want to scare people this Halloween, go trick-or-treating dressed as an Ohio voting machine.
The "black box" e-vote machines that Ohioans will use on November 6 are owned by Hart Intercivic – but that disguises the real owner. Last year, Hart was taken over by an investment fund with the cryptic name of HIG Capital. Peek into HIG, and you'll find that of its 22 American directors, 21 are donors to Mitt Romney's campaign, and a third of them had been money managers at Bain & Company, the hedge fund that gave Mitt his start in corporate plundering.
But the enigma within Ohio's machines goes even deeper than these cozy partisan ties suggest, for HIG itself is largely owned by an inscrutable private equity creature called Solomere. Who dat? Solomere was formed by Romney's oldest son, Tagg, and financed by Mama Ann Romney and Uncle Scott Romney, with Papa Mitt himself chipping in $10 million and personally pitching Solomere to other rich investors.
Like father, like son – Tagg cloaks the fund's operations through a dark maze of offshore tax shelters. And, now, the son has slipped out of Solomere to be a top campaign manager for his father. This slippery guy gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "playing Tagg."
One wonders if Tagg's campaign duties include "monitoring" Ohio's voting machines. Can the Romneys even spell conflict-of-interest? The people's trust in the fairness of our democratic elections has already been severely eroded by the unlimited corporate cash flooding into the process, but what are we to make of a multimillionaire presidential candidate with secret financial and crony control of the machines that can decide the outcome in this key swing state? I ask you: Of all the things the Romneys could invest in – why voting machines?
<hr noshade color="#333333" size="6"></hr>
NSA Analyst Proves GOP Is Stealing Elections
by Denis G. Campbell and Charley James
October 25, 2012
UPDATED: Why is Mitt Romney so confident?
In states where the winner will be decided by less than 10%, of the vote he already knows he will win. This is no tinfoil hat conspiracy. It’s a maths problem. And mathematics showed changes in actual raw voting data that had no statistical correlation other than programmable computer fraud. This computer fraud resulted in votes being flipped from Democrat to Republican in every federal, senatorial, congressional and gubernatorial election since 2008 (thus far) and in the 2012 primary contests from other Republicans to Mitt Romney.
This goes well beyond Romney’s investment control in voting machine maker Hart Intercivic and Diebold’s close ties to George W. Bush. Indeed all five voting machine companies have very strong GOP fundraising ties, yet executives (including the candidate’s son Tagg Romney) insist there is no conflict between massively supporting one party financially whilst controlling the machines that record and count the votes.
A retired NSA analyst has spent several sleepless nights applying a simple formula to past election results across Arizona. His results showed across-the-board systemic election fraud on a coordinated and massive scale. But the analysis indicated that this only happens in larger precincts because anomalies in small precincts can be more easily detected........
READ THE REST - HERE
<hr noshade color="#333333" size="6"></hr>
'CAVEAT EMPTOR'!!
RMoney & RepubliKlans Have Plans In Place TO STEAL the Election!
'Caveat Emptor'
"To be Forewarned is to be Forearmed"
I can report with certainty that the upper echelon of the Obama campaign knows about the information posted below.
The only debate would be how seriously they are taking this information and what plans they have implemented to make sure they don’t get screwed by any of these plans coming to fruition
We’ll see in just a few days
<hr noshade color="#333333" size="4"></hr>
<img src="http://i.minus.com/ibxLAvkkxohw6U.png" width="800">
DOWNLOAD & READ This Important Article
The link is below for the entire article, pdf
https://www.rapidshare.com/files/656694078/Harps_Rig_Election_Nov_2012.zip
Short Article Excerpt - HERE
<hr noshade color="#333333" size="4"></hr>
The Free Press confirms installation, secret justification of uncertified last minute election tabulation reporting software in Ohio
by Gerry Bello and Bob Fitrakis
<span class="blinking">November 2, 2012</span>
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2012/4768
The Free Press has obtained internal memos from the senior staff of the Ohio Secretary of State's office confirming the installation of untested and uncertified election tabulation software. Yesterday, the Free Press reported that "experimental" software patches were installed on ES&S voting machines in 39 Ohio counties. (see Will "experimental" software patches affect the Ohio vote?).
Election Counsel Brandi Laser Seske circulated a memo dated November 1st renewing the already shaky justification for installing software made by Election Systems and Solutions on vote tabulation equipment used in 39 Ohio counties. The letter to Ohio Secretary of State personnel Matt Masterson, Danielle Sellars, Myra Hawkins, Betsy Schuster, and Ohio's Director of Elections Matthew Damschroder, clarified the dubious justification for not complying with the legal requirements for the examination of all election related equipment.
Seske begins by explaining what she purports to be the purpose of the software patch: "Its function is to aid in the reporting of results that are already uploaded into the county's system. The software formats results that have already been uploaded by the county into a format that can be read by the Secretary of State's election night reporting system."
According to the contract between the Ohio Secretary of State's office and ES&S, this last minute "experimental" software update will supposedly transmit custom election night reports to the Secretary of State's office from the county boards of elections, bypassing the normal election night reporting methods.
In order to justify this unusual parallel reporting method, Seske explains "It is not part of the certified Unity system, so it did not require federal testing." This attempt to skirt federal and state law from one of the most partisan Secretary of State offices in the nation ignores basic facts of how modern information systems function.
Seske continues "Because the software is not 1) involved in the tabulation or casting of ballots (or in communicating between systems involved in the tabulation or casting of ballots) or 2) a modification to a certified system, the BVME [Board of Voting Machine Examiners] was not required to review the software." These claims are factually unsound. The software, although not communicating actual ballot information, facilitates communication between systems upon which votes are tabulated and stored. Although the software purports to not modify the tabulation system software, it is itself a modification to the whole tabulation system. This is why certification and testing is required in all cases.
Just as in 2004, the Ohio Secretary of State's office has enabled the possibility of a "man in the middle" attack. This software, functioning on a network through which votes are transmitted could act to intercept, alter or destroy votes from counties where it is not even installed, hence the "man in the middle" nickname.
On September 19, the last minute contract between ES&S and the Ohio Secretary of State's office was inked. Within a week, Seske wrote "He [Matt Masterson] has reviewed and approved the changes." Masterson is the Deputy Director of Elections. After Masterson's approval, Seske acted to bypass the Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners required review.
"Pursuant to the board's policy, each change will be approved unless three members of the BVME request a meeting to review a change within 15 days of today's date. Given the proximately of the upcoming election, please let me know as soon as possible whether you will be requesting a meeting to review the changes," wrote Seske.
Government reports such as Ohio's Everest study document that any single change to the system could corrupt the whole voting process.
An unelected, partisan group of attorneys appears to have conspired to install election software without testing and certification that they are professionally unqualified to pass judgment upon. These types of last minute installations of software patches on voting machines are considered suspect by knowledgeable and experienced election protection attorneys, in light of all the voting machine irregularities exposed during the 2004 election in Ohio.
-------------------
Gerry Bello is the chief researcher at the Columbus Free Press. He holds a degree in computer security from Antioch College. Bob Fitrakis is the Editor of the Free Press. He holds Ph.D. in Political Science and a J.D. from the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University.
<hr noshade color="#333333" size="6"></hr>
Romney's Halloween Trick On Ohio Voters
October 31, 2012
by Jim Hightower
http://www.jimhightower.com/node/7875
If you really want to scare people this Halloween, go trick-or-treating dressed as an Ohio voting machine.
The "black box" e-vote machines that Ohioans will use on November 6 are owned by Hart Intercivic – but that disguises the real owner. Last year, Hart was taken over by an investment fund with the cryptic name of HIG Capital. Peek into HIG, and you'll find that of its 22 American directors, 21 are donors to Mitt Romney's campaign, and a third of them had been money managers at Bain & Company, the hedge fund that gave Mitt his start in corporate plundering.
But the enigma within Ohio's machines goes even deeper than these cozy partisan ties suggest, for HIG itself is largely owned by an inscrutable private equity creature called Solomere. Who dat? Solomere was formed by Romney's oldest son, Tagg, and financed by Mama Ann Romney and Uncle Scott Romney, with Papa Mitt himself chipping in $10 million and personally pitching Solomere to other rich investors.
Like father, like son – Tagg cloaks the fund's operations through a dark maze of offshore tax shelters. And, now, the son has slipped out of Solomere to be a top campaign manager for his father. This slippery guy gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "playing Tagg."
One wonders if Tagg's campaign duties include "monitoring" Ohio's voting machines. Can the Romneys even spell conflict-of-interest? The people's trust in the fairness of our democratic elections has already been severely eroded by the unlimited corporate cash flooding into the process, but what are we to make of a multimillionaire presidential candidate with secret financial and crony control of the machines that can decide the outcome in this key swing state? I ask you: Of all the things the Romneys could invest in – why voting machines?
<hr noshade color="#333333" size="6"></hr>
NSA Analyst Proves GOP Is Stealing Elections
by Denis G. Campbell and Charley James
October 25, 2012
UPDATED: Why is Mitt Romney so confident?
In states where the winner will be decided by less than 10%, of the vote he already knows he will win. This is no tinfoil hat conspiracy. It’s a maths problem. And mathematics showed changes in actual raw voting data that had no statistical correlation other than programmable computer fraud. This computer fraud resulted in votes being flipped from Democrat to Republican in every federal, senatorial, congressional and gubernatorial election since 2008 (thus far) and in the 2012 primary contests from other Republicans to Mitt Romney.
This goes well beyond Romney’s investment control in voting machine maker Hart Intercivic and Diebold’s close ties to George W. Bush. Indeed all five voting machine companies have very strong GOP fundraising ties, yet executives (including the candidate’s son Tagg Romney) insist there is no conflict between massively supporting one party financially whilst controlling the machines that record and count the votes.
A retired NSA analyst has spent several sleepless nights applying a simple formula to past election results across Arizona. His results showed across-the-board systemic election fraud on a coordinated and massive scale. But the analysis indicated that this only happens in larger precincts because anomalies in small precincts can be more easily detected........
READ THE REST - HERE
<hr noshade color="#333333" size="6"></hr>
Re: 'CAVEAT EMPTOR'!! - RMoney & RepubliKlans Have Plans In Place TO STEAL the Electi
Obama Has 2500 Lawyers On The Ground In Ohio
November 3, 2012 | 6:00PM EDT
As we all know, the zeal of Republican Governors in the Battle ground states has been a serious cause for concern for all of us. They have tampered with the state elections laws now for 2+ years (OH, FL, VA, ..), trying to shape it to favor their constituency and disenfranchise Democratic voters.
As we get closer and closer to election night, prudence and vigilance are of the highest order. Don't let yourself bullied by Romney people at the polls and know your rights.
With all the polls now converging to give the president a clear path to victory, there is absolutely no doubt, how the Republicans are planning to win these elections.
They have done it before (2000 in FL) and they are determined to do it again. They have shows us that they have no shame. They have no conscience. They don't care about the people. They are determined to win BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY.
It is imperative that the Administration, the Voters and everyone involved be very vigilant about what goes on, as you get ready to cast your vote.
We already know that Romney has an army of ill-trained polls workers.
We already know that the RNC has hired dubious companies to throw away ballots of registered voters.
We already know how the Right Wing media tried to de-legitimize Obama's victory in 2008 by blaming ACORN. And they will do it again.
Just watch Fox News or listen to any right wing media.
The Obama team has dispatched thousands of lawyers to Ohio and are ready to get to work for the American People.
If you hit any problems while voting, make sure to document it and contact the OFA team nearest you. Research prior to going to the polls and have them on speed dial, if needed.
Let's get our people to the polls on Election Night. Let's make sure we remain vigilant and vote. And let's make sure our vote counts.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/03/1154931/-Obama-has-2500-lawyers-on-the-ground-in-Ohio
Obama Has 2500 Lawyers On The Ground In Ohio
November 3, 2012 | 6:00PM EDT
As we all know, the zeal of Republican Governors in the Battle ground states has been a serious cause for concern for all of us. They have tampered with the state elections laws now for 2+ years (OH, FL, VA, ..), trying to shape it to favor their constituency and disenfranchise Democratic voters.
As we get closer and closer to election night, prudence and vigilance are of the highest order. Don't let yourself bullied by Romney people at the polls and know your rights.
With all the polls now converging to give the president a clear path to victory, there is absolutely no doubt, how the Republicans are planning to win these elections.
They have done it before (2000 in FL) and they are determined to do it again. They have shows us that they have no shame. They have no conscience. They don't care about the people. They are determined to win BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY.
It is imperative that the Administration, the Voters and everyone involved be very vigilant about what goes on, as you get ready to cast your vote.
We already know that Romney has an army of ill-trained polls workers.
We already know that the RNC has hired dubious companies to throw away ballots of registered voters.
We already know how the Right Wing media tried to de-legitimize Obama's victory in 2008 by blaming ACORN. And they will do it again.
Just watch Fox News or listen to any right wing media.
The Obama team has dispatched thousands of lawyers to Ohio and are ready to get to work for the American People.
If you hit any problems while voting, make sure to document it and contact the OFA team nearest you. Research prior to going to the polls and have them on speed dial, if needed.
Let's get our people to the polls on Election Night. Let's make sure we remain vigilant and vote. And let's make sure our vote counts.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/03/1154931/-Obama-has-2500-lawyers-on-the-ground-in-Ohio
Re: 'CAVEAT EMPTOR'!! - RMoney & RepubliKlans Have Plans In Place TO STEAL the Electi
Obama Has 2500 Lawyers On The Ground In Ohio
November 3, 2012 | 6:00PM EDT
As we all know, the zeal of Republican Governors in the Battle ground states has been a serious cause for concern for all of us. They have tampered with the state elections laws now for 2+ years (OH, FL, VA, ..), trying to shape it to favor their constituency and disenfranchise Democratic voters.
As we get closer and closer to election night, prudence and vigilance are of the highest order. Don't let yourself bullied by Romney people at the polls and know your rights.
With all the polls now converging to give the president a clear path to victory, there is absolutely no doubt, how the Republicans are planning to win these elections.
They have done it before (2000 in FL) and they are determined to do it again. They have shows us that they have no shame. They have no conscience. They don't care about the people. They are determined to win BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY.
It is imperative that the Administration, the Voters and everyone involved be very vigilant about what goes on, as you get ready to cast your vote.
We already know that Romney has an army of ill-trained polls workers.
We already know that the RNC has hired dubious companies to throw away ballots of registered voters.
We already know how the Right Wing media tried to de-legitimize Obama's victory in 2008 by blaming ACORN. And they will do it again.
Just watch Fox News or listen to any right wing media.
The Obama team has dispatched thousands of lawyers to Ohio and are ready to get to work for the American People.
If you hit any problems while voting, make sure to document it and contact the OFA team nearest you. Research prior to going to the polls and have them on speed dial, if needed.
Let's get our people to the polls on Election Night. Let's make sure we remain vigilant and vote. And let's make sure our vote counts.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/03/1154931/-Obama-has-2500-lawyers-on-the-ground-in-Ohio
Obama Has 2500 Lawyers On The Ground In Ohio
November 3, 2012 | 6:00PM EDT
As we all know, the zeal of Republican Governors in the Battle ground states has been a serious cause for concern for all of us. They have tampered with the state elections laws now for 2+ years (OH, FL, VA, ..), trying to shape it to favor their constituency and disenfranchise Democratic voters.
As we get closer and closer to election night, prudence and vigilance are of the highest order. Don't let yourself bullied by Romney people at the polls and know your rights.
With all the polls now converging to give the president a clear path to victory, there is absolutely no doubt, how the Republicans are planning to win these elections.
They have done it before (2000 in FL) and they are determined to do it again. They have shows us that they have no shame. They have no conscience. They don't care about the people. They are determined to win BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY.
It is imperative that the Administration, the Voters and everyone involved be very vigilant about what goes on, as you get ready to cast your vote.
We already know that Romney has an army of ill-trained polls workers.
We already know that the RNC has hired dubious companies to throw away ballots of registered voters.
We already know how the Right Wing media tried to de-legitimize Obama's victory in 2008 by blaming ACORN. And they will do it again.
Just watch Fox News or listen to any right wing media.
The Obama team has dispatched thousands of lawyers to Ohio and are ready to get to work for the American People.
If you hit any problems while voting, make sure to document it and contact the OFA team nearest you. Research prior to going to the polls and have them on speed dial, if needed.
Let's get our people to the polls on Election Night. Let's make sure we remain vigilant and vote. And let's make sure our vote counts.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/03/1154931/-Obama-has-2500-lawyers-on-the-ground-in-Ohio
Re: 'CAVEAT EMPTOR'!! - RMoney & RepubliKlans Have Plans In Place TO STEAL the Electi
Last-Minute Ohio Directive
Could Trash Legal Votes
And Swing The Election
A last-minute directive issued by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) could invalidate legal provisional ballots. Ohio is widely viewed as the most critical state for both presidential campaigns and — with some polls showing a close race — the 11th-hour move could swing the entire election.
The directive, issued Friday, lays out the requirements for submitting a provisional ballot. The directive includes a form which puts the burden on the voter to correctly record the form of ID provided to election officials. Husted also instructed election officials that if the form is not filled out correctly by a voter, the ballot should not be counted.
According to a lawsuit filed by voting rights advocates, this is “contrary to a court decision on provisional ballots a week ago and contrary to statements made by attorneys for Husted at an Oct. 24 court hearing.”
Indeed, it also appears directly contrary to Ohio law. From the lawsuit:
Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.181(B)(6) provides that, <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">once a voter casting a provisional ballot proffers identification, “the appropriate local election official shall record the type of identification provided, the social security number information, the fact that the affirmation was executed, or the fact that the individual declined to execute such an affirmation and include that information with the transmission of the ballot . . . .”</SPAN> (Emphasis added.)
The law “ensures that any questions regarding a voter’s identification are resolved on the spot or, consistent with due process, the voter is informed that he or she needs to provide additional information to the board of elections. This protects the integrity of the voting process, and provides a reasonable opportunity to resolve deficiencies.”
The last-minute directive changes this and switches the burden to the voter, greatly increasing the chances that legal provisional ballots will be discarded.
The court gave Husted until Monday to respond to the lawsuit and indicated it will resolve the dispute before provisional ballots are counted on November 17.
Husted has also tried to limit voting in Ohio by reducing early voting hours.
SOURCE: http://thinkprogress.org/election/2...legal-votes-and-swing-the-election/?mobile=nc
Last-Minute Ohio Directive
Could Trash Legal Votes
And Swing The Election
A last-minute directive issued by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) could invalidate legal provisional ballots. Ohio is widely viewed as the most critical state for both presidential campaigns and — with some polls showing a close race — the 11th-hour move could swing the entire election.
The directive, issued Friday, lays out the requirements for submitting a provisional ballot. The directive includes a form which puts the burden on the voter to correctly record the form of ID provided to election officials. Husted also instructed election officials that if the form is not filled out correctly by a voter, the ballot should not be counted.
According to a lawsuit filed by voting rights advocates, this is “contrary to a court decision on provisional ballots a week ago and contrary to statements made by attorneys for Husted at an Oct. 24 court hearing.”
Indeed, it also appears directly contrary to Ohio law. From the lawsuit:
Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.181(B)(6) provides that, <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">once a voter casting a provisional ballot proffers identification, “the appropriate local election official shall record the type of identification provided, the social security number information, the fact that the affirmation was executed, or the fact that the individual declined to execute such an affirmation and include that information with the transmission of the ballot . . . .”</SPAN> (Emphasis added.)
The law “ensures that any questions regarding a voter’s identification are resolved on the spot or, consistent with due process, the voter is informed that he or she needs to provide additional information to the board of elections. This protects the integrity of the voting process, and provides a reasonable opportunity to resolve deficiencies.”
The last-minute directive changes this and switches the burden to the voter, greatly increasing the chances that legal provisional ballots will be discarded.
The court gave Husted until Monday to respond to the lawsuit and indicated it will resolve the dispute before provisional ballots are counted on November 17.
Husted has also tried to limit voting in Ohio by reducing early voting hours.
SOURCE: http://thinkprogress.org/election/2...legal-votes-and-swing-the-election/?mobile=nc
source: Think Progress
Why The Lines Are So Long In Florida And Ohio
There have been massive lines this weekend in the key swing states of Florida and Ohio, with some voters waiting six hours or more to cast their ballot.
This is not an accident. In Ohio, after attempting to cancel weekend early voting all together, Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) drastically rolled back early voting hours.
In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott (R) reduced the number of early voting days from 14 to 8.
Here is the result:
Columbus, Ohio
(via @finneganlatimes)
Cleveland, Ohio
(via @ariberman)
Cincinatti, Ohio
(via @DavidPepper)
Miami, Florida
(via AP)
Aventura, Florida
(via Daily Kos)
West Palm Beach, Florida
(Via The Palm Beach Post)
Why The Lines Are So Long In Florida And Ohio
There have been massive lines this weekend in the key swing states of Florida and Ohio, with some voters waiting six hours or more to cast their ballot.
This is not an accident. In Ohio, after attempting to cancel weekend early voting all together, Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) drastically rolled back early voting hours.
In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott (R) reduced the number of early voting days from 14 to 8.
Here is the result:
Columbus, Ohio
(via @finneganlatimes)
Cleveland, Ohio
(via @ariberman)
Cincinatti, Ohio
(via @DavidPepper)
Miami, Florida
(via AP)
Aventura, Florida
(via Daily Kos)
West Palm Beach, Florida
(Via The Palm Beach Post)
Voter Intimidation Is A Crime! FBI Voter Intimidation Hotline: 202-514-1888 Carry “Camera Phones” to the polls with you!
However, Fox & Friends encourages it!
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Just another slip of the tongue!
However, Fox & Friends encourages it!
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Just another slip of the tongue!
What’s going on in florida & ohio is unnecessary but Deliberate Deceitful and Disgusting republiklan voter suppression tactics. RepubliKlans know that large voter turnout and easy access to the polls means that republiklans usually lose.
Got a call from a cousin in florida, he waited 6 hours and finally voted at 11:33PM. This voter suppression is only occurring in states with Republiklan governors and republiklan secretaries of state. Thousands of people on line to vote on sometimes only 3 machines. This is deliberately done by the republiklan secretary of states. Contrast what’s going on in the republiklan controlled states to how I’ll vote tomorrow. I’ll take the elevator in my building down from the 35th floor, walk two city blocks, enter a polling station with a dozen machines, and vote; the maximum wait will be 15 minutes or less; no lines.
GOP strategist: Voter fraud part of Republican ‘mythology’
Got a call from a cousin in florida, he waited 6 hours and finally voted at 11:33PM. This voter suppression is only occurring in states with Republiklan governors and republiklan secretaries of state. Thousands of people on line to vote on sometimes only 3 machines. This is deliberately done by the republiklan secretary of states. Contrast what’s going on in the republiklan controlled states to how I’ll vote tomorrow. I’ll take the elevator in my building down from the 35th floor, walk two city blocks, enter a polling station with a dozen machines, and vote; the maximum wait will be 15 minutes or less; no lines.
GOP strategist: Voter fraud part of Republican ‘mythology’
Ohio shaping up as ground zero
for Election Day disputes
A voter drops his ballot into the ballot box during early voting
in Cleveland, Ohio. | Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT
CINCINNATI - Twelve years after voting problems delayed the
2000 presidential election results, Ohio, possibly the most
pivotal state on the political map, sits at the center of a
dispute that once again could put the outcome in limbo for weeks.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/11/05/173718/ohio-shaping-up-as-ground-zero.html#storylink=cpy
Nov. 6th 2012
Are black pastors this stupid!!
Thousands of Souls-To-The-Polls voters are given provisional ballots which will NOT be counted tonight....& most likely NEVER be counted unless there is a recount
Ohio – Wrong Ballots for Black Voters
November 6th 2012
Several thousand African-American voters in Dayton, Ohio, may find their ballots left uncounted, and they, and America, won’t know it––even if the lost votes change the presidency.
First, you need to know, there are two elections for President in Ohio held on two days and in two colors.
Today, White Ohio will vote: Evangelicals, rurals, small businessmen, big and bigger businessmen, the whole Rotary Club.
Black Ohio already voted. More African-Americans vote early than on the official Election Day.....
READ the full report & watch the video
http://www.gregpalast.com/democracy...on-uncovers-thousands-at-risk-of-ballot-loss/
Pennsylvania Voting Machine Switches Vote From Obama To Mitt Romney (VIDEO)
source: Huffington Post
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QdpGd74DrBM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A Pennsylvania voting machine was taken out of service on Election Day 2012 after it was filmed switching a vote for President Barack Obama to one for his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, NBC News has confirmed.
Mother Jones reported that the machine was recalibrated and returned to service.
"There was a single complaint, so they recalibrated the machine, did a test run, and put it back online. We've had no complaints since then," Mathew Keeler, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of State, told Mother Jones.
The video of the malfunctioning voting machine was uploaded to YouTube by user "centralpavote." It quickly proliferated across social media and rose to the front page of Reddit's politics forum.
The user, who said he works as a software developer, gave his account of what happend in the YouTube video description:
On Tuesday, claims of voter fraud and voter suppression erupted in Pennsylvania after 75 Republican inspectors in Philadelphia were not able to access polling places, ABC News reports.
Several reports of voter suppression have come out of Ohio, also a crucial battleground state.
African-American early voters in Dayton were allegedly given the wrong ballots on Sunday, according to a Democracy Now report. Additionally, a suit filed Monday in federal district court claims that a company that makes electronic voting systems used in Ohio "improperly approved the use of untested, non-state certified software in voting machines to help tally results," CBS News reports.
Although the Pennsylvania voting machine was reportedly fixed, Jezebel called the glitch "chilling" in light of comments made by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett at a Romney rally on Sunday.
At a Pennsylvania rally with Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan, Corbett and other Keystone State GOP leaders expressed confidence that the state's electoral votes would go to Romney, despite Obama's three- to five-point lead in state polls, according to ABC News.
In 2011, Corbett decided not to move forward on a plan that would have divided Pennsylvania's Electoral College votes by Congressional district. In a blog for The Huffington Post, conservative commentator John Ziegler wrote that this move would have been "devastating to the Obama campaign."
source: Huffington Post
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QdpGd74DrBM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A Pennsylvania voting machine was taken out of service on Election Day 2012 after it was filmed switching a vote for President Barack Obama to one for his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, NBC News has confirmed.
Mother Jones reported that the machine was recalibrated and returned to service.
"There was a single complaint, so they recalibrated the machine, did a test run, and put it back online. We've had no complaints since then," Mathew Keeler, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of State, told Mother Jones.
The video of the malfunctioning voting machine was uploaded to YouTube by user "centralpavote." It quickly proliferated across social media and rose to the front page of Reddit's politics forum.
The user, who said he works as a software developer, gave his account of what happend in the YouTube video description:
I initially selected Obama but Romney was highlighted. I assumed it was being picky so I deselected Romney and tried Obama again, this time more carefully, and still got Romney. Being a software developer, I immediately went into troubleshoot mode. I first thought the calibration was off and tried selecting Jill Stein to actually highlight Obama. Nope. Jill Stein was selected just fine. Next I deselected her and started at the top of Romney's name and started tapping very closely together to find the 'active areas'. From the top of Romney's button down to the bottom of the black checkbox beside Obama's name was all active for Romney. From the bottom of that same checkbox to the bottom of the Obama button (basically a small white sliver) is what let me choose Obama. Stein's button was fine. All other buttons worked fine.
This is not the first time a malfunctioning voting machine has been caught on camera. In 2008, a West Virginia voting machine picked the wrong candidates during a video demonstration -- even after the machine had been calibrated. On Tuesday, claims of voter fraud and voter suppression erupted in Pennsylvania after 75 Republican inspectors in Philadelphia were not able to access polling places, ABC News reports.
Several reports of voter suppression have come out of Ohio, also a crucial battleground state.
African-American early voters in Dayton were allegedly given the wrong ballots on Sunday, according to a Democracy Now report. Additionally, a suit filed Monday in federal district court claims that a company that makes electronic voting systems used in Ohio "improperly approved the use of untested, non-state certified software in voting machines to help tally results," CBS News reports.
Although the Pennsylvania voting machine was reportedly fixed, Jezebel called the glitch "chilling" in light of comments made by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett at a Romney rally on Sunday.
At a Pennsylvania rally with Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan, Corbett and other Keystone State GOP leaders expressed confidence that the state's electoral votes would go to Romney, despite Obama's three- to five-point lead in state polls, according to ABC News.
In 2011, Corbett decided not to move forward on a plan that would have divided Pennsylvania's Electoral College votes by Congressional district. In a blog for The Huffington Post, conservative commentator John Ziegler wrote that this move would have been "devastating to the Obama campaign."
Oregon County Elections Official Under Investigation For Switching Votes On Ballot
source: Think Progress
<CENTER>
</CENTER>
The Clackamas County Elections Office is under investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice for possible ballot tampering, reports the Oregonian. A temporary election worker allegedly filled in a straight Republican ticket where voters had left blank preferences. It is unclear how many ballots were affected, but, as Blue Oregon notes, this is not the first time Clackamas County has come under scrutiny for foul play.
The state elections office has twice had to monitor the county elections office. In 2011, an elections director had to step in when county clerk Sherry Hall accepted invalid signatures for a Tea Party-backed urban renewal petition.
source: Think Progress
<CENTER>
The Clackamas County Elections Office is under investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice for possible ballot tampering, reports the Oregonian. A temporary election worker allegedly filled in a straight Republican ticket where voters had left blank preferences. It is unclear how many ballots were affected, but, as Blue Oregon notes, this is not the first time Clackamas County has come under scrutiny for foul play.
The state elections office has twice had to monitor the county elections office. In 2011, an elections director had to step in when county clerk Sherry Hall accepted invalid signatures for a Tea Party-backed urban renewal petition.
This is why Romney lost: