Wednesday, January 30, 2008

A Special Two-Hour VOICE OF THE VOTERS with Brad Friedman, Paddy Shaffer and others

 

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Around the Country and in the Counties - Reports on
Election 2008
A SPECIAL TWO-HOUR VOICE OF THE VOTERS
Tonight Starting at 7pm!
Special Guest Co-Host: Jim Strait
Special Guests:
Bucks County Commissioner, Diane Marseglia
Alysoun McLaughlin of the National Association of Counties
AND YOU!
on Voice of the VotersWednesday, January 30, 7 pm ET
Heard on 1360 AM and on the InternetCall In to Add Your Questions & Comments
856-227-1360 or 856 232 7078

Part I: Starting at 7pm, We'll Take a Trip Around the County to Hear Reports from Key States and Voting Integrity Advocates

First Brad Friedman of the dynamic website, Bradblog.com, will present an overview of the country's elections/voting systems: what are the chalellenges? Where are the hotspots? What issues most need to be addressed. Will we? Can we? Brad will share his outlook for the November 2008 elections.

Then we'll open a discussion with leading voting integrity advocates as we take a trip around the country to visit Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Colorado and more.

Call in to give your own report on the status of your state's elections and voting issues. What's working? What isn't? What challenges are being addressed? What are the expectations for the November 2008 elections? We want to hear what's happening in your state. Questions also encouraged!

 

First Brad Friedman of the dynamic website, Bradblog.com, will present an overview of the country's elections/voting systems: what are the chalellenges? Where are the hotspots? What issues most need to be addressed. Will we? Can we? Brad will share his outlook for the November 2008 elections.

Then we'll open a discussion with leading voting integrity advocates as we take a trip around the country to visit Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Colorado and more. Call in to give your own report on the status of your state's elections and voting issues. What's working? What isn't? What challenges are being addressed? What are the expectations for the November 2008 elections? We want to hear what's happening in your state. Questions also encouraged!

Part 2: Starting at 8pm, The Counties

Alysoun McLaughlin, Associate Legislative Director of the National Association of Counties - the Voice of America's Counties. (NaCo) will discuss the diversity of challenges facing counties around the nation as we seek to improve our elections process. She will address some of the differences that have developed among elections officials, county governments and voting integrity advocates. "We're in a place of change. The system was designed around election officials, cnadidates and parties," says Ms. McLaughlin. "Now as more and more citizens want to become more involved, how do we integrate? How do we build bridges? How do we deal with hot buttons of technology?"

Ms McLaughlin will also review NaCo's position on HR 5036, The Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008 and will also discuss problems created for the counties, especially for the smaller ones, by voluntary guidelines issued by the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission.

In all the talk and attention on Florida, Ohio and California, Pennsylvania has become the forgotten state. The silence on the issue in the media and from state leaders is deafening. Yet, in 2008, Pennsylvania may be the most critical battleground state, becoming the Florida/Ohio of 2008. Predominantly a paperless state, dependent on DRE (direct record electronic) machines, there is no way to recount results independent of the machines. We are facing a faith-based election in Pennsylvania in 2008.

Bucks County Commissioner Diane Marseglia will share her ideas on improving citizen involvement in county government and improving the flow of information between the citizenry and their government. She will discuss election systems weaknesses in Bucks County as well the possible impact of the 2008 Pennsylvania elections on the country. Commissioner Marseglia will address problems around using paperless DREs and her own position on what remedies are needed in time for 2008.

She will also review her standing on HR 5036 and address whether there is enough time in her county to change systems.

Calls to Ms. McLaughlin and Commissioner Marseglia will be welcome.

As always, the incomparable John Gideon of Voters Unite will be on hand to share up-to-the-minute voting news and analysis you won't hear anywhere else.

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

Voice of the Voters, hosted by Mary Ann Gould, is an hour devoted to voting rights and election reform. Ultimately it is an exploration of Representative Democracy itself and the responsibilities of citizens and their elected representatives. It airs every Wednesday night at 8:00 PM ET on 1360 AM and on the Internet. (http://wnjc.duxpond.com/)

Dial-up Internet users: Please turn off all other programs in order to receive clearest broadcast.

Listeners can call in questions live at 856-227-1360 and submit questions in advance at the Voice of the Voters website.

Archived Voice of the Voters shows are available here.

Bio for Alysoun McLaughlin

Alysoun McLaughlin is a lobbyist with a decade of experience representing state and local governments on Capitol Hill. As Associate Legislative Director with the National Association of Counties, she organizes lobbying efforts by county officials to oppose unfunded mandates and strives to foster coordination among federal, state, and local governments in addressing a broad range of policy challenges facing the nation. Alysoun is a leading national advocate for the county officials who are responsible for administering most elections for federal, state and local office. She is also a pollworker in Montgomery County, Maryland, and a member of the Board of Advisors for the Pollworker Institute.

Coalition for Voting Integrity

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

IF IT'S BROKE, DON'T FIX IT

January 29, 2008 at 11:49:52

Headlined on 1/29/08:
IF IT'S BROKE, DON'T FIX IT

by Teresa Blakely (Posted by Victrola) Page 1 of 1 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com



Crony Capitalism and the Demise of Our Democracy
The final chapter?

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's EVEREST study has demonstrated how badly the Ohio taxpayers were ripped off by dishonest voting machine vendors and complicit Board of Election Officials. Brunner has been forced to act decisively ahead of the presidential election to address a crisis of election integrity that she inherited from former Secretary J Kenneth Blackwell and former Ohio Republican Party Chair and Director of Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Bob Bennett. Bennett's "kill the messenger" attack on Brunner is a way to divert blame for the consequences of years of corrupt and incompetent "bad old boy" election management. Bennett remains true to his crony constituency, the voting machine vendors, by refusing to address the dangers posed to our democracy by notoriously fraud-friendly touchscreen voting machines. Push a button, accept the computer output, no audits, no questions asked. A most excellent way to choose the next leader of the free world.



It boggles my mind that Bennett, can tell reporters that he had not seen the EVEREST report yet claim there is nothing wrong with the voting machines. This sort of willful ignorance is what contributed to the purchase of inadequately tested, fraud-friendly electronic voting machines in the first place. Secretary Brunner does not want to have insecure, defective voting machines in use in Ohio for the next presidential election. Any attempt to thwart this goal is suspect.

--What confidence crisis?

The following Republicans have not conducted themselves in a manner that inspires trust in their judgment and integrity in managing our elections. Jack Abramoff represented Diebold at the time when the House Government Operations Committee, chaired by Bob Ney, was establishing rules for electronic voting systems. Diebold contributed at least $275,000 in lobbying fees to Jack Abramoff's law firm, Greenberg Traurig. Former Ohio Congressman Bob Ney, another convicted felon and the lead sponsor of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA)strongly opposed legislation requiring a paper audit trail[1]. Ney spearheaded the hasty move to electronic voting machines [2]. Diebold's then CEO Wally O'Dell, who promised to deliver Ohio votes to George W. Bush [3], resigned amidst securities fraud litigation [4]. Ken Blackwell was Secretary of State while co-chairing the Bush/Cheney campaign[5]. Now chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers' report on "What Went Wrong in Ohio" described massive and unprecedented voter irregularities in 2004 caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior, much of it involving Blackwell [6]. Mitch Given, a Diebold lobbyist contributed $10,000 to Blackwell's gubernatorial campaign. [7] Looking back to the early 1990's, convicted computer fraud felon Jeff Dean programmed what became Diebold's optiscan software.[8] In 2004 Franklin County Board of Election Director Matt Damschroder accepted $10,000 from a Diebold intermediary and donated it to the Franklin County Republican party. [9] Remarkably, in 2007 Damschroder was unanimously elected President of the Ohio Association of Election Officials.[10] In 2006 the Republican dominated Ohio Legislature removed the HB-3 requirement for a random audit of the electronic voting machine tallies. Ethically challenged individuals will always be drawn to high stakes political endeavors. This is precisely why our method of vote counting must be above reproach.

-- Read the Report. I call this broken.
( The following section was previously posted by this author to OP ED news on 1/6/08)[11]

EVEREST like the countless credible, critical, reviews of electronic voting machines that preceded it, found numerous serious security vulnerabilities in basic electronic voting machine system design and implementation. The academic reviewers on the EVEREST team describe the electronic voting system put in place under Ken Blackwell as possessing "critical security failures that render their technical controls insufficient to guarantee a trustworthy election." As part of the EVEREST project, MicroSolved, Inc. (MSI), performed penetration tests of three voting machines systems in use in Ohio: Premier (Diebold), ES &S and Hart Intercivic. MSI's Executive Summary report concluded that all three vendors had failed to adopt, implement and follow "even the most basic set of information security guidelines" used in other industries.

MSI uncovered a myriad of common vulnerabilities and weaknesses many of which have been known for several years and still exist in the system components. They reported that many components lacked basic security controls such as firewalls, antivirus and other mechanisms for protecting system integrity. [12]

Princeton computer scientist Ed Felten considered the EVEREST report to be the scariest e-voting security report yet. He questioned how the ES&S iVotronic touchscreen voting machine ever got certified, noting that a machine with so many design errors must be susceptible to misrecording or miscounting votes due to ordinary glitches that plague computer systems. He considered the iVotronic too risky to use even if all poll workers and voters were angels. Among the many potential touchscreen security breaches that alarmed Felten was an undocumented backdoor function that allows a voter or poll worker to alter vote totals using a magnet and a personal digital assistant. [13]

-- Expensive. What's an honest election worth?

How is it that the cost of moving to a more secure accountable method of vote tabulation is now too expensive? In 2003 Blackwell was moving full speed ahead to purchase Diebold DRE's that he explicitly did not want to have a paper trail. Blackwell issued this directive in January of '05, the same month in which it was discovered he had acquired Diebold stock worth almost ten-thousand dollars. [14] Blackwell and company could not spend 100 million fast enough when purchasing incompetently designed electronic voting machines from disreputable vendors. Ask Ken Blackwell what sort of election official opts for voting technology that is unaccountable in the first place. How does one explain the expenditure of $100 million of taxpayer money on voting machines that are so insecure as to be untrustworthy in our elections? Ohio still has never had a complete accounting of how Blackwell spent HAVA money in 2005. What we see here is unregulated, partisan, crony capitalism from the Federal Election Commission all the way down to our County Boards of Election.

It would be a serious mistake to continue to use DRE voting machines that are extremely fraud friendly in a time when it is widely known how insecure these voting machines are. When a DRE voting machine is corrupted or malfunctions on election night, votes are irretrievably lost. If our election outcomes are to be decided by competing hackers or election insiders who infect electronic voting machines with computer viruses then our democracy is history.

References:

[1] Abramoff-Diebold connection: http://coloradovoter.net/bcv-archive/msg03062.html
/>
[2] Ney opposes audit trail for DREs: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=2262
/>
[3] O'Dell fundraising letter (2003): http://rawstory.com/printstory.php?story=1570
/>
[4] O'Dell securities fraud litigation: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5468
/>
[5] Blackwell co-chairing Bush/Cheney 2004 campaign: http://www.thesentinel.com/283370491126756.php">href="http://www.thesentinel.com/283370491126756.php">http://www.thesentinel.com/283370491126756.php/>
[6] Massive and unprecedented irregularities in 2004: Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio, Status Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff (Rep. John Conyers, Jr.), January 5, 2005. Page 4:

[7] Diebold lobbyist donates to Blackwell: http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=5012724/>
[8] Jeff Dean: http://www.defendersofdemocracy.com/drupal/node/54
/>
[9] Damschroder: $10,000 donation: http://www.thesentinel.com/283370491126756.php
/>
[10]Damschroder OAEO: http://vote.franklincountyohio.gov/boe/assets/pdf/press-releases/PR-03092007.pdf
/>
[11] Blakely: http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_teresa_b_080106_everest_3a_the_truth_a.htm
/>
[12]Ohio SOS Everest Executive Summary>http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/info/EVEREST/04-Microsolved--Comprehensive-ExecSummRpt.pdf
/>
[13]Felton's comments: http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1236
/>
[14]Blackwell buys Diebold: http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2006/04/04/20060404-A1-01.html
/>
[15]Blackwell can't account for how all HAVA money spent;
http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/081905Madsen/081905madsen.html

BALLOTS WERE NOT SECURED FOR THE NEW HAMPSHIRE RECOUNT

Please take a few minutes and watch the below video from New Hampshire. There is more information coming on this story. I also assisted, along with other patriots to start the investigation days prior to the start of the recount, and then as it began. Bev Harris has stepped up unlike no other citizen I know to make sure that America gets to see "behind the curtain" in New Hampshire's presidential election. Of importance here... New Hampshire holds the first primary for the office of President of the United States, which sets the tone for the nation. The current tone is one hell of a bad song. Please look for yourself, and distribute the below video links and information widely. If you are able, please donate to Blackboxvoting.org.

Onward to Justice,

Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
paddy@columbus.rr.com
(614) 761-0621
http://www.electiondefensealliance.org/OEJC
http://www.wakeupandsaveyourcountry.com/oejc.html



Monday, January 28, 2008

WOSU Call In Election Reform with Board of Elections Officials

http://streaming.osu.edu/wosu/openline/012808bOL.mp3

11:00 AM - Election Reform with Board of Elections Officials
Franklin County Board of Elections officials discuss reform of the election process.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

The New Hampshire recount "Shame of Custody"

For those of you interested in the unfolding story of the New Hampshire recount, take a moment and look at the below link.


http://www.opednews.com:80/articles/opedne_bev_harr_080125_the_new_hampshire__22s.htm


The video has already had over 19,094 views. Many thanks to Bev Harris for inviting me to join her, and for all her work while I was there, and her continuing work after I left. For those of you able to donate, please send off some dollars to www.blackboxvoting.org and know that Bev puts that money to good use.



Onward with Liberty and Justice for All,



Paddy Shaffer


Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign


paddy@columbus.rr.com


(614) 761-0621




Thursday, January 24, 2008

Slacker BOE Members Ignore Brunner Survey Order

http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/gov/default.asp



Thursday, January 24, 2008

Survey says. . .

Despite a directive by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner ordering all county Board of Elections members to respond to a survey about voting systems by a Friday deadline, Brunner's office has not received responses from 98 of the boards' 352 members as of today.

Jeff Ortega, a spokesman for Brunner, said it's unclear what legal or punitive action board members could face. The office's election division is calling tardy members -- which make up about 28 percent of all board members today, Ortega said, adding: "Just fill out the survey.''

Brunner's survey found 61 percent of Republican board members are not concerned about a scientific report last month that all of Ohio's voting systems "carry serious risks to voting integrity." About 71 percent of the Democratic respondents, however, said they are concerned about the study's findings.

The survey also reflects a split within county boards when asked if they wanted to keep touch-screen voting machines -- which Brunner recommends replacing. If funding is available, about 31 percent of all respondents favored switching from touch-screen to optical scan -- which uses paper ballots.

Of the optical scan counties, only 13 percent said they'd agree to counting ballots centrally instead of at the precinct level.

Preliminary results indicate a general resistance to change, even if funding is provided, Brunner said.

Respondents:
254 total respondents out of 352 (72 percent of total)
133 or 53 percent Republican
121 or 48 percent Democrat

Do you have concerns as a result of the EVEREST findings (Direct Recording Electronic & Optical Scan counties)?
Total respondents 254
180 responded no (71 percent of total)
110 or 61 percent Republican
70 or 39 percent Democrat

68 responded yes (27 percent of total)
20 or 29 percent Republican
48 or 71 percent Democrat
(Four Democrats and two Republicans did not respond)

Do you wish to change your county's voting system to Central Count from the current precinct-level count? (Optical scan counties only)
Total respondents: 97
80 responded no (73 percent of total)
41 or 51 percent Republican
39 or 49 percent Democrat

14 responded yes (13 percent of total)
10 or 72 percent Republican
4 or 29 percent Democrat

7 did not respond

If funding is available to cover costs, do you wish to switch from touch-screen to Optical Scan or Central Count? (touch-screen counties only)

Total respondents: 158
92 responded no (58 percent of total)
44 or 48 percent Republican
48 or 52 percent Democrat

50 responded yes (31 percent of total)
26 or 52 percent Republican
24 or 48 percent Democrat

16 did not respond

"Change is difficult for many people, and our election officials seem to be struggling with our recommendations to move to optical scan paper ballots to provide more security and accountability for Ohio's election system," Brunner said in a news statement. "We must move forward now to prepare for November."

Since the results of Brunner's EVEREST report were made public last month, Brunner said her office "has been barraged with unsolicited calls and e-mails from individuals in the voting public who are mostly in favor of the need for the study and the proposed recommendations."

The running tally of responses is nearly 4-to-1 in favor of Brunner's plans to move to a paper ballot optical scan system to protect the integrity of the vote, according to her staff.

"Most voters seem to be asking why the controversy over a change to paper ballots that will provide for greater accountability and confidence that their vote will be counted," Brunner said today.

For readers able to access an Excel spreadsheet of all respondents, go
here

Labels: Columbus


Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Ohio Secretary of State to Talk Live With Citizens on Radio and the Internet & Important News from S.C.




A Vital Dialogue with Citizens
Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer L. Brunner, to participate in live discussion via radio and the Internet with citizens about serious election issues/problems

Call In & Add Your Questions & Comments

Plus A Separate SC News Announcement

on "Voice of the Voters!"
Wednesday, January 23, 8 pm ET
Heard on 1360 AM Greater Philadelphia & and on the Internet www.voiceofthevoters.org or http://wnjc.duxpond.com/

In the best tradition of American representative democracy, Ohio's Secretary of State, Jennifer L. Brunner, will hold an on-air Radio and Internet Dialogue with Citizens of Ohio and throughout the United States to address the issues surrounding voting problems and possible ways to make some improvements in time for the November 2008 elections in Ohio and thus in turn for the Nation..
Madame Secretary will open with an update on the status of Ohio Election Issues and expected next steps followed by a Dialogue with Citizens.
This program is being presented as an example of how OUR representatives may listen and work with citizens, creating a true dialogue/partnership that supports a vibrant and good working representative democracy.
The 2008 election is proving to be one of major concern over the security, reliability and verifiability of our votes. Many fear that the problems continually found in electronic voting machines and the secrecy of the programming as well as other issues relating to registration and voter ID will lead to a major meltdown in November. Some even believe that 2008 could prove far worse than 2000 and 2004. This story is finally becoming front page news as more people become aware of the looming issues that must be addressed. Can they be? Will they be? What will the short term and long term solutions look like?
Ohio has already identified major problems in electronic voting machines and processes through the EVEREST study, instituted by Secretary Brunner, the findings of which were far worse than expected. (details here: http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/info/everest.aspx )
The vote belongs to the people! This week's "Voice of the Voters!" is an opportunity for the people of Ohio and the rest of the United States to hear from the Secretary of State Brunner directly and to express their questions and concerns to her.
Then Mark Adams, lawyer and voing rights activist, will be making a very important news announcement on actions concerning South Carolina elections.
****************************************************
Listeners can call in at 856-227-1360 or 856 232 7078 or send in questions via the Voice of the Voters website at http://mysite.verizon.net/resq4lzq/cvi/id252.html. All questions must be received before 4pmET on Wednesday.
Questions from all over the country are welcome. We especially want to hear from Ohio citizens.
As always, the incomparable John Gideon of Voters Unite will be on hand to share up-to-the-minute voting news and analysis you won't hear anywhere else.
****************************************************
Voice of the Voters, hosted by Mary Ann Gould, is an hour devoted to voting rights and election reform. Ultimately it is an exploration of Representative Democracy itself and the responsibilities of citizens and their elected representatives. It airs every Wednesday night at 8:00 PM ET on 1360 AM and on the Internet. (http://wnjc.duxpond.com/)
Dial-up Internet users: Please turn off all other programs in order to receive clearest broadcast.
Listeners can call in questions live at 856-227-1360 or 856 232 7078 and submit questions in advance at the Voice of the Voters website.
Archived Voice of the Voters shows are available here.
www.voiceofthevoters.org
****************************************************
Bio: Secretary Jennifer L. Brunner
Jennifer Brunner served as a Judge of the Franklin County Common Pleas Court for more than four years. She was elected to an unexpired term in 2000, edging out a governor's appointee, and was reelected to a 6-year term in 2002. Brunner resigned on September 1, 2005, in order to run for Ohio Secretary of State.
Working with leaders in the criminal justice and treatment communities of Columbus, Brunner formed and presided over Franklin County's first adult felony drug court. The drug court is a specialized docket that Brunner operated in addition to her regular docket that promotes accountability by offenders to maintain drug and crime-free lives. Franklin County's drug court is used by the Supreme Court of Ohio as a model for other county courts that want to start drug and mental health courts.
While a judge, Jennifer Brunner adopted the practice of permitting jurors in criminal and civil trials to take notes and ask questions, a practice aimed at improving trial outcomes and juror satisfaction. The procedures she used and developed were appealed in the case of State v. Fisher, a case tried in Brunner's court in 2001. The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the practice and the procedures used by Jennifer Brunner. The high court thereafter operated a pilot project allowing questioning by jurors and has adopted rules for questioning by jurors in trial courts throughout the state.
Jennifer Brunner's interest in public service dates back to her days as a committee secretary and legislative aide in the Ohio Senate, as Legislative Counsel for former Secretary of State Sherrod Brown, now a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-13, Ohio), and as members of the Franklin County Board of Elections and the Ohio Student Loan Commission.
After serving in Secretary of State Sherrod Brown's first administration as a deputy director and legislative counsel to the Ohio legislature, Jennifer Brunner developed a statewide law practice in election law. Working with her husband, she grew a law firm from two people to thirty people, and in her work assisted local, statewide and presidential candidates, legislative caucuses, labor unions, businesses, associations and other organizations in complying with often-complicated election laws and in successfully accessing Ohio's election system. While a judge, Brunner served as a board member for the Ohio Community Corrections Organization, representing common pleas judges from throughout the state. She continues to serve as a board member for the Mental Health Association of Franklin County.
Jennifer and her husband, Rick, have three adult children and live in Columbus, Ohio.
Coalition for Voting Integrity

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Exposing reasons the Ohio Dems Oust Election Reform Pioneer from Leadership Position - Take Action!!!! Please Forward !!

For Immediate Release:

 

How the Ohio Democratic Party proves it is worthless and complicit in the area of not protecting our elections and maintaining people who care about those elections. 

                                                                       

By: Paddy Shaffer

Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign         

 

New unfolding ugliness in Ohio... (A message from Susan Truit below this little write up to prepare you for what she will describe).

 

I would like to remind all of you of some background information before you read about State Senator Teresa Fedor losing her position as Minority Leader, compliments of what appears to be... The Enemy Of We The People.   This will allow you to understand why we are not able to resolve the election issues in Ohio.  The Democrats are also involved!  Face it, it currently takes two parties, and the story is just starting to flow.   The party people and the election officials that prefer to protect their club of election officials and protect the surrounding illegal business actions that run our elections, rather than look out for the people need their asses exposed, just like the little girl in the old Coppertone suntan add with the dog tugging on her bathing suit... her ass was hanging out, and now so are theirs.

 

Bernadette Noe, wife of Tom Noe (now in prison for robbing the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation Fund) is the former Director of the Lucas County Board of Elections.  It is pretty bad when even J. Kenneth Blackwell fired her for the problems at that BOE.  Bernadette Noe is Chris Redfern's cousin.  Chris Redfern is the current Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, current Ohio State Representative for District 80, and the former Ohio House Minority Leader. http://www.house.state.oh.us/jsps/MemberDetails.jsp?DISTRICT=80

 

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif
Tom Noe was convicted of 29 counts, including theft, corruption and forgery.

Tom Noe was convicted of 29 counts, including theft, corruption and forgery. (Jeremy Wadsworth - AP)  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/13/AR2006111301305.html?nav=rss_print/asection

 

Federal Prisoner Number 26157-018, age 53, White, Male...

Thomas W. Noe, Prison Release date is October 27, 2008.

 

The Ohio Democrats were having a field day beating up on the Noe's for all their criminal and other problems.  "Coingate" http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS24/60402016 is the main title given to this sad sick story, as Tom Noe spent $50 million of BWC dollars on collector coins and beanie babies... and donating heavily $$$ to Republican campaigns.  George W. Bush's campaign  received over $100,000, and Noe was given the title "A Bush Pioneer."

This money was gathered for the use of injured workers, and their widows and orphans.  Chris Redfern told the Ohio Democrats to stop the criticism because Bernadette is his cousin.  They did, all except Marc Dann, our current Attorney General. Dann was a champion of the people, forced this needed issue to court, and also rode it as a means into his current office. 

 

Former Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Chairman Denny White left his downtown office window open and got his computer stolen with all the ODP data. Denny left the job and went to the Deputy Director position at the Franklin County Board of Elections (which is now under investigation, the last guy with that job, Hackett was just convicted of crimes for selling voting machine carts, needed because of HAVA to the BOE.  The conviction was just last week). Then the Chairman job at the Ohio Democratic Party opened up. 

 

I assisted Ohio Honest Elections  run a public forum for all the candidates for the job.  Redfern was the least of the 7 candidates that showed up and planned to work two jobs.  All the others planned to focus on the ODP. When the vote came up days later for the ODP job, it was reported to me that Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones entered the room where the voting was to take place, upset.  Why, we need to know.  (I heard that people were reporting that they had received calls telling them that they must vote for Chris Redfern.)  That vote, normally done on a private ballot, was instead done publicly.  Each voter had to go public with their choice, and raise their hand for their candidate choice.  Chris Redfern won.    A fair election?  http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/12/ohio_democrats.php

 

I requested a meeting with Chris Redfern shortly after he took his new job as ODP Chairman, I was a candidate for the US Congress.  I attempted to have dialog on what he was going to do about the election mess, which was the driving issue for me as a candidate.  He wouldn't touch it, but instead recommended I raised lots of money and wrote thank you cards to donors.  When I managed the Green Party Governor Candidate's 2006 Campaign, he blocked my candidate from the Governors debates, telling me "It is my job to get Strickland elected," when I asked him "what about democracy... why are you blocking the Libertarian and Green Party Candidates?"

 

The cover up for our 2004 and subsequent elections continues.  The Attorney General and Secretary of State will not touch the issue.  How big does the pile of elephant crap in the room have to be before we admit it is there?

 

Again,... I am sickened.  And the misdeeds continue.  Help if you can.

 

 

________________________________________________________________

From Susan Truit:

 

Please WRITE - EMAIL - CALL Ohio Dem Leaders - contact info below

 

     The Ohio Democratic Party has ousted staunch election reform advocate, State Senator Teresa Fedor, from her position as Minority Leader. Senator Fedor was sounding the alarm regarding the unsafe nature of touch screen voting machines (DREs) years before most people had ever heard of them. Her removal as the leader of the Democrats in the Ohio Legislature is a dramatic blow to the election reform movement in Ohio. She has worked tirelessly for years for election reform, first as a State Representative and then as a State Senator.

 

     Among other things, Senator Fedor spearheaded the 2004 Joint Committee on Ballot Security, which, with the help of CASE Ohio members, prevented the purchase of any new DREs in Ohio prior to the 2004 election. She invited many computer experts, and others, to testify before the Committee, educating not only the legislature, but also the public, about the dangers of DREs. She introduced and passed the Bill requiring paper on any voting machine. But she has not stopped there - she has continued to advocate for voting rights and voting reform for years.

 

     She was also instrumental in exposing the Thomas Noe scandal in Lucas County - (see

http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2005/10/noe-indicted-for-helping-steal-2004.html ), and the scandal of Congressman Bob Ney, who, unfortunately, pushed through HAVA (Help America Vote Act) before he was embroiled in his scandel.

 

     Who is behind her removal from power and why? Who expressly and tacitly approved it?

 

     Why, with only months to go before a Presidential election, have the Dems removed from a leadership position the one Legislator who has devoted herself to election reform?!? Especially in the key state of Ohio?

 

     Is this move driven by those who do not buy in to the grave nature of the election system in Ohio, and in the entire U.S.? Is it more insidious than that? This move clearly indicates that there are Ohio Democrats in key leadership positions who are unaware of the dire situation regarding the unreliable, unverifiable, and untrustworthy DREs. To oust Senator Fedor as a party leader, after her years of devotion and unflagging work, is an abomination.

 

     Who will lead the election reform charge, now?

 

Write, email, and call the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, Chris Redfern, and ask him:

 

Chris Redfern
77 S. High St
10th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Telephone: (614) 644-6011
Fax : (614) 719-6980
Email Address: district80@ohr.state.oh.us

 

Write, email, and call the Chief Legal Counsel for the Governor, Kent Markus, who also serves as the Chief of State-Legislative Relations, and ask him:

 

Kent Markus

Office of Governor Ted Strickland
77 South High Street
30th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6117
Phone:614/466-3555
Fax:614/466-9354
Capitol Phone:614/466-2000

 

EVEN IF YOU DO NOT LIVE IN OHIO - IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ELECTION REFORM, Call, Email, and Write them now and demand some answers about why Senator Fedor has been punished for her years of exemplary service to the State of Ohio and to the issue of election reform.

 

Regards,

 

Susan Truitt

 

 

 

 

Friday, January 18, 2008

Petition To Recoup Election Machine Financing

Categories: Consumer and Worker Protection, Economic Fairness and Security, Honest and Ethical Government, Election Reform
Dear Friends,

I have just read and signed the petition:

"Ohio Secretary of State, Sue Voting Machine Vendors for Product Liability".

Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition.

It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 1000 signatures - please sign here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/help-save-Ohio-voting

Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well.

Thanks,

OEJC

Reference http://www.progressohio.org/page/community/post/OEJC/C3gS

Excerpts quoted here:

"Representatives from Boards of Elections (BOE) plagued by election irregularities, such as failing to preserve their 2004 ballots in violation of federal court order, are now sitting in review of the state's electronic elections systems, courtesy of a lobbyist."
....

"Of the twelve election officials, nine come from BOEs that disposed of 2004 election records protected by court order in King Lincoln v. Blackwell (S.D. Ohio), http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/klbna.php, four of the nine serving as BOE Director in 2004. Two of the nine disposed of their records before certification of the 2004 election; and another three have not submitted the requested explanation to the SOS for their missing records."

see also:

http://www.ohiodems.org/index.php?page=blog&full=311

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

In The Meantime, We Want Our Money Back

By Victoria Parks

 

Secretary Brunner should immediate decertify the touchscreens and go to 100% paper in those Ohio counties that use touchscreens. In the optical scanner counties, she should organize citizens for a truly random, 10% in-precinct audit before the ballots go anywhere. I speak of the central tabulation point in each county. Even though Secretary Brunner wants centralized tabulation in a chain of custody she prescribes, it is still necessary to allow citizens to verify their own votes. In this way the vote count would be voter-verified before being made vulnerable in any chain of custody. All precinct totals should be posted at the precinct for at least 15 days. Secretary Brunner, that is how you will restore voter confidence.

 

In the meantime, taxpaying voters want their HAVA money back. Because Jennifer Brunner has such a difficult task ahead of her restoring voter confidence in Ohio, I urge Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann's office to pick up the ball and build the Election Integrity Unit he promised us in '06. Then he should sue these vendors on behalf of Ohio taxpayers through his Consumer Fraud Division as I suggested before AG Dann's Assistant Chief for Governmental Affairs, Michael Deemer, in a meeting with the OEJC on December 17, 2007 where 16 members of the OEJC were present.

 

We requested this action by the Ohio Attorney General's office because taxpayers have been sold a bill of goods and now we are broke. Secretary Brunner needs the funding. Her predecessor Blackwell, drained the treasury and we still have never had an accounting of how all the HAVA money was spent in '05. Secretary Brunner will need that HAVA funding to help assist Ohioans in the conduct of clean elections.

 

And here is another reason we need 100% paper in a 100% hand-count: 

Vendors should not be rewarded with more state contracts with yet more of our taxpayer money. They should not be enriched further. They need to be sued. We taxpaying voters want our HAVA money spent on clean elections and now we want our HAVA money back. Ohio voters deserve nothing less.

 

 

Victoria Parks

The Ohio Election Justice Campaign

 

Friday, January 11, 2008

Exposing reasons the Ohio Dems Oust Election Reform Pioneer from Leadership Position - Take Action!!!! Please Forward !!

For Immediate Release:

 

How the Ohio Democratic Party proves it is worthless and complicit in the area of not protecting our elections and maintaining people who care about those elections. 

                                                                       

By: Paddy Shaffer

Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign         

 

New unfolding ugliness in Ohio... (A message from Susan Truit below this little write up to prepare you for what she will describe).

 

I would like to remind all of you of some background information before you read about State Senator Teresa Fedor losing her position as Minority Leader, compliments of what appears to be... The Enemy Of We The People.   This will allow you to understand why we are not able to resolve the election issues in Ohio.  The Democrats are also involved!  Face it, it currently takes two parties, and the story is just starting to flow.   The party people and the election officials that prefer to protect their club of election officials and protect the surrounding illegal business actions that run our elections, rather than look out for the people need their asses exposed, just like the little girl in the old Coppertone suntan add with the dog tugging on her bathing suit... her ass was hanging out, and now so are theirs.

 

Bernadette Noe, wife of Tom Noe (now in prison for robbing the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation Fund) is the former Director of the Lucas County Board of Elections.  It is pretty bad when even J. Kenneth Blackwell fired her for the problems at that BOE.  Bernadette Noe is Chris Redfern's cousin.  Chris Redfern is the current Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, current Ohio State Representative for District 80, and the former Ohio House Minority Leader. http://www.house.state.oh.us/jsps/MemberDetails.jsp?DISTRICT=80

 

Tom Noe was convicted of 29 counts, including theft, corruption and forgery. (Jeremy Wadsworth - AP)  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/13/AR2006111301305.html?nav=rss_print/asection

 

Federal Prisoner Number 26157-018, age 53, White, Male...

Thomas W. Noe, Prison Release date is October 27, 2008.

 

The Ohio Democrats were having a field day beating up on the Noe's for all their criminal and other problems.  "Coingate" http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS24/60402016 is the main title given to this sad sick story, as Tom Noe spent $50 million of BWC dollars on collector coins and beanie babies... and donating heavily $$$ to Republican campaigns.  George W. Bush's campaign  received over $100,000, and Noe was given the title "A Bush Pioneer."

This money was gathered for the use of injured workers, and their widows and orphans.  Chris Redfern told the Ohio Democrats to stop the criticism because Bernadette is his cousin.  They did, all except Marc Dann, our current Attorney General. Dann was a champion of the people, forced this needed issue to court, and also rode it as a means into his current office. 

 

Former Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Chairman Denny White left his downtown office window open and got his computer stolen with all the ODP data. Denny left the job and went to the Deputy Director position at the Franklin County Board of Elections (which is now under investigation, the last guy with that job, Hackett was just convicted of crimes for selling voting machine carts, needed because of HAVA to the BOE.  The conviction was just last week). Then the Chairman job at the Ohio Democratic Party opened up. 

 

I assisted Ohio Honest Elections  run a public forum for all the candidates for the job.  Redfern was the least of the 7 candidates that showed up and planned to work two jobs.  All the others planned to focus on the ODP. When the vote came up days later for the ODP job, it was reported to me that Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones entered the room where the voting was to take place, upset.  Why, we need to know.  (I heard that people were reporting that they had received calls telling them that they must vote for Chris Redfern.)  That vote, normally done on a private ballot, was instead done publicly.  Each voter had to go public with their choice, and raise their hand for their candidate choice.  Chris Redfern won.    A fair election?  http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/12/ohio_democrats.php

 

I requested a meeting with Chris Redfern shortly after he took his new job as ODP Chairman, I was a candidate for the US Congress.  I attempted to have dialog on what he was going to do about the election mess, which was the driving issue for me as a candidate.  He wouldn't touch it, but instead recommended I raised lots of money and wrote thank you cards to donors.  When I managed the Green Party Governor Candidate's 2006 Campaign, he blocked my candidate from the Governors debates, telling me "It is my job to get Strickland elected," when I asked him "what about democracy... why are you blocking the Libertarian and Green Party Candidates?"

 

The cover up for our 2004 and subsequent elections continues.  The Attorney General and Secretary of State will not touch the issue.  How big does the pile of elephant crap in the room have to be before we admit it is there?

 

Again,... I am sickened.  And the misdeeds continue.  Help if you can.

 

 

________________________________________________________________

From Susan Truit:

 

Please WRITE - EMAIL - CALL Ohio Dem Leaders - contact info below

 

     The Ohio Democratic Party has ousted staunch election reform advocate, State Senator Teresa Fedor, from her position as Minority Leader. Senator Fedor was sounding the alarm regarding the unsafe nature of touch screen voting machines (DREs) years before most people had ever heard of them. Her removal as the leader of the Democrats in the Ohio Legislature is a dramatic blow to the election reform movement in Ohio. She has worked tirelessly for years for election reform, first as a State Representative and then as a State Senator.

 

     Among other things, Senator Fedor spearheaded the 2004 Joint Committee on Ballot Security, which, with the help of CASE Ohio members, prevented the purchase of any new DREs in Ohio prior to the 2004 election. She invited many computer experts, and others, to testify before the Committee, educating not only the legislature, but also the public, about the dangers of DREs. She introduced and passed the Bill requiring paper on any voting machine. But she has not stopped there - she has continued to advocate for voting rights and voting reform for years.

 

     She was also instrumental in exposing the Thomas Noe scandal in Lucas County - (see

http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2005/10/noe-indicted-for-helping-steal-2004.html ), and the scandal of Congressman Bob Ney, who, unfortunately, pushed through HAVA (Help America Vote Act) before he was embroiled in his scandel.

 

     Who is behind her removal from power and why? Who expressly and tacitly approved it?

 

     Why, with only months to go before a Presidential election, have the Dems removed from a leadership position the one Legislator who has devoted herself to election reform?!? Especially in the key state of Ohio?

 

     Is this move driven by those who do not buy in to the grave nature of the election system in Ohio, and in the entire U.S.? Is it more insidious than that? This move clearly indicates that there are Ohio Democrats in key leadership positions who are unaware of the dire situation regarding the unreliable, unverifiable, and untrustworthy DREs. To oust Senator Fedor as a party leader, after her years of devotion and unflagging work, is an abomination.

 

     Who will lead the election reform charge, now?

 

Write, email, and call the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, Chris Redfern, and ask him:

 

Chris Redfern
77 S. High St
10th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Telephone: (614) 644-6011
Fax : (614) 719-6980
Email Address: district80@ohr.state.oh.us

 

Write, email, and call the Chief Legal Counsel for the Governor, Kent Markus, who also serves as the Chief of State-Legislative Relations, and ask him:

 

Kent Markus

Office of Governor Ted Strickland
77 South High Street
30th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6117
Phone:614/466-3555
Fax:614/466-9354
Capitol Phone:614/466-2000

 

EVEN IF YOU DO NOT LIVE IN OHIO - IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ELECTION REFORM, Call, Email, and Write them now and demand some answers about why Senator Fedor has been punished for her years of exemplary service to the State of Ohio and to the issue of election reform.

 

Regards,

 

Susan Truitt

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

2004 Video - US Citizens Demand Honest Elections in Ohio

2004 Video - US Citizens Demand Honest Elections in Ohio

Dear State of Ohio Employees at the Offices of the Ohio Attorney General and The Ohio Secretary of State,

I ask that you take the 5 minutes and 10 seconds to review this video titled "Ohio (Get Up On The Bus) by Wil b" of The Political Power of Hip Hop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQyX0PxUo5w

This video documents the 50 Freedom Winter Busriders that traveled from Ohio, joining with citizens from across this nation in Washington DC on January 6, 2005 (the 3 year anniversary just passed) to protest the certification of the Ohio Electoral College.  We lobbied the Senators and demanded that action be taken.... it was.

This is the day of the Boxer Rebellion where Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones gathered with them 30 US Representatives, for a total of 32 members of the United States Congress to block the certification of the vote.  The bulk of leadership at that time, came from the Black Congressional Congress. 

In Ohio at that time, the offices of the Secretary of State and Attorney General assisted the cover-up, and would not investigate, but put fines and sanctions on the attorneys who did their patriotic duty and stepped up to represent the people.  In calling Jim Petro and asking for help with Delaware County's election officials, we were directed to the County Prosecutor.  No one at the Attorney General's office would help.  We let them know that the Delaware County Prosecutor office was a major part of our problem, they denied, blocked, or greatly stalled our record requests.  At one time wanting to charge nearly $2000 to make copies of the 2004 ballots.  These are public records. 

To those of you working in the Attorney General and Secretary of State offices now.  Help us, help your state, help your nation.  Assist us to get the investigation going into the theft of the 2004 election, only real accountability will start to turn around those that would steal our elections. 

 

Sincerely Concerned,

Paddy Shaffer

Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign

paddy@columbus.rr.com

(614) 761-0621 

A note from Wil b about the his video...

 

Wil b and a some very pissed off disenfranchised voters, representing over 100,000 folks from Ohio, take their fight to the streets against George W. Bush's second term by lobbying their Senators and "Gettin' Up On The Bus!" to Washington D.C. where it all went down January 6th, 2005.

Peace to the Winter Freedom Riders!

Peace to We Do Not Concede!

Peace to Ohio, Florida, New Mexico and all of the other states who've had their voters voices stolen by unfair elections.

VOTE 2006-2008

Monday, January 7, 2008

Interview with Jennifer Brunner/OEJC, Brad Blog And Voice of the Voters Audio



http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5463
BLOGGED BY Brad Friedman ON 12/20/2007 1:18PM
Exclusive: BRAD BLOG's In-Depth, Post-EVEREST Interview with Ohio's Secretary of State
Jennifer Brunner Responds to Kudos, Criticism Following State's Massive and Disturbing E-Voting Assessment
'The last thing I want for my state, is to be looked at as a pariah, like it was for 2004'
-- By Brad Friedman, The BRAD BLOG

Voice Of The Voters
Dec. 19: Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Dan Lopresti of Lehigh U. discuss the Evaluation & Validation of Election-Related Equipment, Standards & Testing (EVEREST) report, a review of voting systems used in Ohio and throughout the country, which found “critical security failures.” Paddy Shaffer and Marian Lupo of the Ohio Election Justice Campaign. John Gideon with a voting news update. Audio. Podcast.

Strait Talks: “Secretary Brunner was candid when she stated, 'I had hoped to see some bright spots, it was extremely disappointing that none of the systems functioned well.'” [continued]

Friday, January 4, 2008

Thugs Gag Your Vote: OEJC Calls for Day of Silence on Sunday, January 6th, 2008







Photos By Troy Seman
Jan 4, 9:09 AM ET




Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) calls for Day of Silence this Sunday, January 6th, 2008. Three years ago on this day, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) led the challenge to the certification of Ohio's votes in the 2004 presidential election, the first time in U.S. history that an entire state's electoral college votes were challenged. An initiative of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Boxer Rebellion was based on widespread electoral problems in Ohio, including the fake level-ten homeland security alert in suburban Warren County, Ohio. Acts of voter intimidation are ongoing and include the rumors of an uprising in Mombasa, Kenya in 2002 and the attempt to barricade the Franklin County Board of Elections, Columbus, Ohio in 2006.

Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) January 5, 2008 -- On this week's Voice of the Voters, the Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) called for a Day of Silence this Sunday, January 6th, 2008, www.voiceofthevoters.org, WNJC 1360 AM.

This day marks the peaceful legislative challenge to the re-election of George W. Bush on January 6th, 2005. Our silence stands in solidarity with voters around the world whose voices have been extinguished through violence, fear-mongering, and election fraud.

Three years ago, on January 6th, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) led the challenge to the certification of Ohio's votes in the 2004 presidential election. This was the first time in U.S. history that an entire state's electoral college votes were challenged.

If the challenge had been successful, Bush would have lost the electoral college votes he needed to clinch the election.

Joining Boxer and Jones in the challenge, known as the "Boxer Rebellion," were 30 representatives, including Kucinich (D-OH), Conyers (D-MI), McKinney (D-GA), and civil rights leader John Robert Lewis (D-GA).

The following senators failed to support the challenge and voted "yes" to accepting Ohio's votes as votes for Bush: Biden (D-DE), Clinton (D-NY), Feingold (D-WI), Lieberman (D-CN), and Obama (D-IL).

Twenty-five senators were absent and did not vote, including McCain (R-AZ) and Feinstein (D-CA).

132 members of the House of Representatives were absent and did not vote; Pelosi (D-CA), Kaptur (D-OH), and Strickland (D-OH) voted to accept Ohio's votes.

An initiative of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Boxer Rebellion was based on widespread electoral problems in Ohio, including the fake level-ten homeland security alert in suburban Warren County, Ohio, called on election day, 2004, http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/11/05/loc_warrenvote05.html.

Planned in advance, the fake alert included dogs sniffing for bombs while children of election officials transported ballots from the precincts to the Warren County Board of Elections (BOE) for secret tabulation. Warren County, one of the last counties in Ohio to report, went overwhelming for Bush.

Acts of intimidation were also used in Kenya prior to its 2002 presidential election; rumors of an uprising near Mombasa caused voters to flee from their province of voter registration.

During Kenya's Dec. 27, 2007 presidential election, which resulted in allegations of election fraud and large-scale violence, observers were turned away from tabulation centers in the Central province, whose results proved decisive, http://allafrica.com/stories/200801030632.html.

During tabulation of the 2006 vote, the Franklin County Board of Elections, Matt Damschroder, Director, attempted to barricade the BOE in Columbus, Ohio by lining the street in front with snow plows. Photos attached.



For information or to donate: http://www.electiondefensealliance.org/OEJC.

More Ohio election justice videos: http://www.vocabvideo.com.

Background info: "Ohio Holds Funeral on Anniversary of 2004 Elections," http://www.prnewsnow.com/TextNews/168067.html; "Lobbyists Hack Your Elections: The OEJC Calls for Voting Systems Recall, Return, and Refund," http://www.prnewsnow.com/Public_Release/Legal%20And%20Law/170544.html.

###

Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Paddy Shaffer
1-614-761-0621
E-mail Information Trackback URL: http://prweb.com/pingpr.php/U3F1YS1TdW1tLVByb2YtQ291cC1Mb3ZlLVplcm8=