Looking for Voter Registration Information for Your State?
Project Vote Smart has prepared an excellent guide to voter registration rules, deadlines, and procedures in all 50 states. Click the link below, then select your state from the dropdown list:
http://www.votesmart.org/voter_registration_resources.php [1]
Also check the Ohio Voter Registration Information link below to read a detailed profile of your state's voter registration database and state-specific voter registration policies. The report is part of the 50-state national survey titled Making the List, researched by the Brennan Center for Justice.
Additionally, we recommend getting and sharing a copy of the book Count My Vote!, a voters' self-defense guide to voter registration, election regulations, and voter ID laws in all 50 states.
By arrangement with publisher AlterNet, EDA is offering these handbooks at a 40% discount, just $6.00 plus postage.
Available here: Count My Vote[2]
Please inform voter registration and election protection organizations about this important guide.
Ohio Election Justice Campaign
The OEJC is a coalition of concerned citizens and election experts from Ohio and around the nation, including election reformers currently serving on the Ohio Secretary of State's Voting Rights Institute.
The OEJC seeks to raise citizen awareness of election justice issues through education and to encourage elected officials to restore the rule of law to Ohio.
SCROLL this page for the most recent campaign progress reports.
For other, earlier articles, see the tree listing of article links displayed at the foot of this entry. You can make a tax-deductible donation to support OEJC using the EDA ONLINE DONATION FORM[3] << Click link
Be sure to use the dropdown selection box to specify your donation for the Ohio Election Justice Campaign. [4]
[4]
Click here for Documentation, Works and Child Pages
THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK LETTERS
Ohio County Boards of Election’s Poor Excuses
for Record Distruction of 2004 ballots
CONDENSED EXCUSES LIST
Adams – “does not have in its possession”
Allen – “water damage and subsequently destroyed”
Ashland – “mistakenly destroyed”
Ashtabula – (BOE) “inadvertently disposed of”
(Prosecuting Attorney) “inadvertently discarded and destroyed”
Athens – “inadvertently discarded”
Auglaize
Belmont
Brown – “accidentally destroyed or have been misplaced”
Butler – “unintentionally discarded into a Rumpke dumpster”
Carroll
Champaign – “these items have always been destroyed”
Clark – “those ballots were shredded”
Clermont – “unable to locate” “No one remembers specifically discarding the ballots.” “There is a
possibility that the ballots will surface”
Clinton – “not found”
Columbiana – some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Coshocton – some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Crawford
Cuyahoga
Darke -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Defiance
Delaware
Erie – “does not have” “unaware we needed to keep”
Fairfield – “They would have been shredded, as we have a contract with Shred-It for disposal of
all election materials.”
Fayette – “intentionally destroyed”
Franklin – Missing all unvoted ballots, did not admit to it, no letter of explanation.
Fulton
Gallia
Geauga
Greene
Guernsey - “destroyed in error, due to the county maintenance worker, when collecting trash”
Hamilton - “inadvertently shredded”
Hancock – “did not have to be retained and these items were destroyed”
Hardin – “destroyed prior to the court order”
Harrison
Henry
Highland
Hocking
Holmes – “a shelving unit collapsed onto a side table holding a working coffee maker. Many of
the stored items had to be destroyed due to broken glass and hot coffee”
Huron
Jackson – “may have been destroyed pursuant to retention schedule” “Another possibility is that
(the ballots were) accidentally destroyed”
Jefferson
Knox
Lake
Lawrence – some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Licking – some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Logan – “we were instructed by the previous Director to destroy”
Lorain -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Lucas
Madison -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Mahoning – “accidentally disposed of (by) the Mahoning County Green Team”
Marion – “destroyed pursuant to the retention schedule”
Medina – “destroyed following the record retention schedule”
Meigs
Mercer – “were not found” “we will continue to search”
Miami -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Monroe – “according to our retention schedule we were allowed to dispose of”
Montgomery – “We did not receive formal notice from the courts prior to preparing the
certificate of destruction.” “In addition, we contacted our county prosecutor for further
authorization.”
Morgan -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Morrow – “it does not say to in the retention schedule.”
Muskingum
Noble -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Ottawa
Paulding – “destroyed after the official and the recounts were certified”
Perry – “destroyed shortly after the election”
Pickaway
Pike
Portage
Preble – First: “unable to find” “thought it likely they had been inadvertently discarded”
Second: “Ballots are buried in County landfill and are not capable of being replicated.”
Putnam – “destroyed for security purposes”
Richland – “destroyed or lost by the movers or by our staff”
Ross – “unable to duplicate these ballots”
Sandusky – “Our ballots were stacked all over our office and we had them picked up at the first
opportunity.”
Scioto – (some) “unable to locate” “unknown whether the ballots were accidentally destroyed or
have been otherwise misplaced.” (some) “released and shredded”
Seneca – “The ballots were disposed of during the first week of September”
Shelby – “destroyed pursuant to the retention schedule, do not remember the date they were
shredded”
Stark – “destroyed prior to notification of Judge Marbley’s order”
Summit -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Trumbull
Tuscarawas -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Union
Van Wert – “unable to find” “We assume that these ballots were discarded.”
Vinton
Warren – “The ballots were intentionally destroyed.”
Washington
Wayne -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Williams
Wood -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Wyandot -- some ballots missing, no letter of explanation
Department Of Justice Turns Down OEJC Investigation Request For Court Order Abuses Of 2004 Ballot Protection
July 27, 2009
The United States Department of Justice
Gary L. Spartis, Criminal Chief
303 Marconi Boulevard
Suite 200
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 469-5715
Fax 614-469-2200
July 27, 2009
Dear Gary L. Spartis and the US Department of Justice,
As per the Freedom of Information Act I am requesting the following public records.
1. Tape recordings of our conversations of June 29, 2009 and July 7, 2009, if you recorded the calls. On July 10, 2009 at 1:45 p.m. I left you a phone message and verbally requested a FOIA for the July 7, 2009 call. I have received no reply to date.
To refresh your memory:
On June 29 you called me and we discussed the Ohio Election Justice Campaign’s (OEJC) request for assistance from the DOJ and the package of evidence I was bringing to drop off at your office that day.
On July 7 you called me and let me know that you were canceling our Friday July 10th meeting where multiple OEJC members were planning to meet with you. You also let me know that you and the DOJ would not be helping in any way and that you would never meet with the OEJC. Additionally you told me you decided that no crimes had been committed in Ohio, and something about if there were any problems… they would all be taken care of in the King Lincoln case.
As I was in the midst of teaching a preschool painting class on July 7, and unable to take notes at the time, it would really help me to understand the situation better, by listening to a tape of it. This is a time when I hope that you did tape record our calls.
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Paddy Shaffer
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy@columbus.rr.com[5]
(614) 266-5283
Cc: Marian Lupo, OEJC
Dan Stanton, OEJC
Tim Kettler, OEJC
Bev Harris, Blackbox Voting
June 29, 2009
The United States Department of Justice
Gary L. Spartis, Criminal Chief
303 Marconi Boulevard
Suite 200
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 469-5715
Fax 614-469-2200
June 29, 2009
Dear Gary L. Spartis and the US Department of Justice,
On Friday June 26, 2009 I called and spoke to attorney John “Bert” Russ at the D.C office of the Department of Justice in the Voting Rights Section. As I raised criminal issues that need addressed in Ohio, Mr. Russ suggested I contact DOJ attorney Gary Spartis in Columbus, Ohio. On Friday I left you a phone message. Today we have come in hopes of speaking to you directly at your office.
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) is formally requesting your prompt assistance with three items.
Investigation and prosecution of 2004 and ongoing election fraud crimes.
Investigation and prosecution for the destruction of federally protected 2004 election records by at least 58 of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Investigation and prosecution for the massive multi-year cover-up of the above crimes by multiple state and county government agencies, and the attorneys for the plaintiffs in an ongoing case about the 2004 election. That case is KING LINCOLN, ET AL., Civil Action No. C2 06 745 (S.D) Ohio, Marbley, J.)
The next statute of limitations in the case is in the second week of July, 2009. This is for negligence for the destruction of the 2004 protected records. What can you do to help us on this.
The OEJC is a grass roots group of citizens, many who have become citizen investigators. Eight of us sought to resolve some of the above issues by becoming pro se intervenors in the King Lincoln v Blackwell case. In 2007 we filed asking the court to enforce its own order protecting the election records, requested a special grand jury to investigate. We filed in time for the statute of limitations for criminal contempt. The court has ruled to block our intervention, our request for a special grand jury, and to strike our over 1400 pages of evidence. We await a decision on our motion for reconsideration. The court ruled as such in the names of the plaintiffs. OEJC research shows that many plaintiffs did not know what was done in their names. This and more is documented in our court filings. We requested an expedited conference for fraud upon the court, and did not get it. There are serious problems, and we want this resolved.
Time is running out, something must be done.
We now turn to you, the United States Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute. It is our hope that what is learned will go public, and that this nation will know its own history.
Today is our first in person visit to your Columbus office. We request a time where members of our group can meet with you and your staff. Please assist us to schedule that.
We have just a few things to leave for you today, they are:
A disk with some of the main evidence we filed in court. It is 859 pages of the excuse letters that the county Boards of Elections filed with the Ohio Secretary of State (SOS), Jennifer Brunner in April 2007. It also contains the inventories of what they sent. Sixteen counties filed no excuse for missing records. The SOS office did not re-request an excuse from those counties. The counties sent two inventories, the first to determine how many records storage space would be needed for, as the SOS now has part of the remaining records in storage. The second inventory is of what they actually say they sent. Some counties claim to have sent items, that the SOS does not have. OEJC researchers have spent time analyzing those records.
A disk with just some of the OEJC photos of 2004 ballots from Coshocton County. These are write-in votes for a sheriff candidate, on opti-scan ballots. These are the same federal ballots that presidential votes were case on. There are over 6,800 votes in the handwriting of one to a small number of people in this county. Coshocton has 43 precincts, and it is in all 43 precincts. An attorney with the SOS in September 2008 promised an investigation, still nothing has been done to correct it. The OEJC has put an enormous effort into our attempt to see justice in this county for years, where even the recount was rigged. We are the witnesses. This county is a prime example of fraud and cover-up, but sadly, it is not the only example. We will explain further.
A summary and synopsis of the current situation in Ohio including the King Lincoln v Blackwell case. It is nine pages long, and is titled Resolve It or Relive It: Election Fraud 2004.
Thank you for your time. We hope for a strong productive relationship with your agency, and that you are able to resolve one of the really big crimes committed in this nation. When our elections are a farce, we are no longer a great nation.
Sincerely,
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign Members
Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Vote and Rigg Skit - Faith Based Voting at it's BEST!
"The Dog Ate My Homework Letters"
Destruction of Ohio 2004 Ballot and Election Records by Ohio Counties
In 2006 federal Judge Algenon Marbley of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio,presiding in the King Lincoln v. Blackwell lawsuit, issued a protective order for all 2004 election records, requiring Ohio's 88 counties to preserve these records as evidence in the King Lincoln case.
In 2007, after learning that neither Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner or the attorneys for the plaintiffs in the King Lincoln case had filed this evidence with the court, the Ohio Election Justic Campaign filed these 859 pages with the same federal court that had issued the protective order.
These records are currently in danger of being stricken from the King Lincoln case record at the request of plaintiffs' attorneys Cliff Arnebeck and Bob Fitrakis, unless Judge Marbley rules favorably on the OEJC Motion for Reconsideration.
In April 2007 Ohio Secretary of State (SOS) Jennifer Brunner contacted the Ohio Boards of Elections and let them know that the November 2, 2004 election records would need to be submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State, and that she would keep them in protective custody. If the counties did not have the records, they were to send a letter explaining what had happened to them. The counties also were to provide a first inventory so the SOS would know how much space would be needed for storage. The counties were then to follow through with a second, detailed inventory listing everything that they had sent to the office of the Ohio SOS for protective custody.
The letters of excuse sent by the Ohio counties offering explanations for how and why the 2004 ballots in their custody were destroyed despite a federal court protective order, have been dubbed "The Dog Ate My Homework Letters" by children who heard some of these incredible stories. Holmes County election officials, for example, claimed that because of a coffee spill, they had to toss the election records in a dumpster. Sixteen counties provided no explanation whatsoever for the loss or destruction of the protected 2004 election records. Secretary of State Brunner has not asked for any explanation, nor taken any action.
At least 58 of Ohio's 88 counties destroyed some or all of the protected 2004 election records. Click on the link to read the letters for yourself:
The letters are in alphabetical order, beginning with an announcement from the office of the Ohio attorney general (AG) that the election records were missing. The Ohio AG is legal counsel for the Ohio Secretary of State.
Have You or a Loved One Been Denied the Right to Vote? Contact the Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Citizens' group Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) invites all citizens denied or hindered in voting in any Ohio election from 2004 onwards to join class action lawsuit to seek truth, justice, and monetary damages. Ohio Election Justice Campaign points to alleged election fraud cover-up between Ohio politicians and local attorneys as prompting citizen class action. Act now as urgent legal deadline expires soon. For further information or to volunteer help, send E-mail to Ohio.Voter.ClassAction[at]gmail[dot]com[8] or call OEJC Director Shaffer at 614-266-2391.
Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB)[9] July 3, 2009 -- In celebration of our nation's birthday on July 4th and the freedom it signifies, the Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC), a citizens' group, invites all citizens who have been denied or hindered in voting in Ohio to join a class action lawsuit to seek truth, justice, and monetary damages. King-Lincoln v. Blackwell [10], 2:06-cv-00745 (S.D. Ohio).
Sign at Funeral for Democracy, Nov. 2007, in front of Secretary of State Brunner's office, Columbus, Ohio. Eighteen months later, OEJC members now believe "secret negotiations" taking place over destroyed alleged election fraud evidence, public records that belong to the American people.
We will not allow this coup of the U.S. Constitution to continue. We are citizens of the United State of America, and when we know our right to vote has been abridged in any way, it is our duty to take action.
And we will not bow down to puppets or clowns. This is not Iran, Honduras, or North Korea.
Even citizens currently living overseas or in another state such as New York or California are invited by the Ohio Election Justice Campaign to join this class action lawsuit if they have been denied or hindered in voting in any Ohio election beginning with the 2004 presidential election and including the most recent election.
Citizens' group believes Ohio politicians and local attorneys have combined to throw out evidence showing election fraud, to sanction the ongoing destruction of evidence, and to miss crucial legal deadlines in this landmark lawsuit.
Eight OEJC members say citizen class action is needed because their motion for a special grand jury had been turned down in this lawsuit. They say the court denied a request to enforce its own order for criminal contempt charges for destruction of the 2004 election evidence. OEJC provided the court over 1400 pages of evidence they say prove that Ohio's 2004 election was fraudulent but the lead attorneys for the voters of Ohio had the evidence thrown out.
During a telephone conference on June 23, 2009, citizens from across the nation pressed one of the lawyers for the voters of Ohio on the issue of the lawsuit's apparent abandonment. OEJC members believe that "secret negotiations" are taking place on the destroyed alleged election fraud evidence, public records that belong to the American people.
Further, on June 29, 2009, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) was provided with the evidence the OEJC says proves Ohio's 2004 election was fraudulent, including the documents filed in court, at a citizens' meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Citizens present at the meeting believe the Columbus-based DOJ bureaucrats want to play it safe, the same dangerous strategy the government followed in delaying criminal action to end the Madoff investment fraud scheme.
Marlys Barbee of OEJC responded, "We will not allow this coup of the U.S. Constitution to continue. We are citizens of the United State of America, and when we know our right to vote has been abridged in any way, it is our duty to take action."
Ms. Barbee added: "And we will not bow down to puppets or clowns. This is not Iran, Honduras, or North Korea."
In honor of the nation's independence, all United States citizens who think they or or people they know were denied or hindered in voting in any Ohio election beginning with the 2004 presidential election and including the most recent election are invited to contact The Ohio Election Justice Campaign [11]or call OEJC Director Shaffer at 614-266-5283. All inquiries will be held confidential. Act now as urgent legal deadline expires soon.
# # #
Rep. Boehner concerned that Iranian Electionwas stolen
“I think the situation there is very serious, and I think it’s a real opportunity for President Obama to really make a strong statement and take a strong stand with regard to what the leadership over there is doing. It’s pretty clear they’ve had serious election difficulties. The people in Iran believe in democracy, they believe in the rule of law, and I think they believe this election has been stolen… I think the President, who’s said he wants dialogue, I think he has an opportunity to say we’re not going to have any dialogue if this is the way you’re going to treat your people. And so he has the opportunity to make a very strong statement.”
John Boehner - Ohio 8th District House Representative, Republican House Leader, currently in his 10th term.
On January 6, 2005 Representative Boehner gave a speech on the floor of the US House about the Ohio Election during the Boxer Rebellion where the certification of the Ohio Electoral votes was contested. Mr. Boehner said in part: "I think the proceeding today will cause great harm to this institution and great harm to our country at a time when we should be coming together to get ready to do the serious work the American people sent us here to do." Thus letting his opinion that there should be no questioning of the American election in his home state that was riddled with documented problems. Boehner now is insisting President Barack Obama deal with the election problems in Iran.
John Boehner is from Butler County in Southwestern Ohio. Butler County is missing its 2004 ballot pages. This is a federal crime, as yet unresolved. The ballot pages are needed to see the location of a candidates name, in relation to the location of a vote on a punchcard ballot.
Citizen investigator Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips wrote in his book, Witness to a Crime:
Four counties (Adams, Butler, Clinton and Paulding) destroyed their ballot pages and nothing else. Failure to preserve the ballot pages makes it impossible to verify that the ballot rotation was listed correctly on each and every voting machine. Without the ballot pages, there is no way for Butler County, for example, to prove that the “Connally anomaly” in specific precincts was not due to the ballot positions being reversed on one of several voting machines in that precinct.
This could have happened in one of two ways. If the presidential positions were reversed on a machine in a “blue precinct,” there would have been a net loss of Kerry votes to Bush; or if the Chief Justice positions were reversed on a machine in a “red precinct,” there would have been a net loss of Moyer votes to Connally. Either way, by fraud or error, Connally would likely have run ahead of Kerry in that precinct. Reversing the ballot rotations on all machines for a single precinct would make the results obviously erroneous. But if only one machine of several was affected, the results would be merely anomalous.
(From Richards website, description of a chapter in his book)
THE CONNALLY ANOMALY: A POLITICAL ANALYSIS
Election results in the 12 counties where Connally got more votes than
Kerry, all won by Bush, are compared with the other 60 counties won by
Bush, suggesting a vote shift of 60,000 votes from Kerry to Bush.
OEJC Claims Insiders Cause Collapse of Ohio's Election Fraud Lawsuit
Citizens' group Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) calls on media to investigate collapse of Ohio's landmark 2004 election fraud lawsuit; deadline for prosecution for destruction of evidence expires soon.
Columbus, OH (PRWEB[9]) June 15, 2009 -- As the deadline for prosecution of election officials looms, Brunner's office has taken no action to investigate the 2004 election or the destruction of key evidence in the landmark 2004 Ohio election fraud lawsuit, King-Lincoln v. Blackwell, 2:06-cv-00745 (S.D. Ohio), according to the Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC).
In a May 2009 blog, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner admitted, "Numerous election activists have reviewed the centrally stored ballots in great detail, some with conclusions that allege wrongdoing." Brunner live blog on May 16, 2009[13].
The deadline for prosecution for the destruction of key evidence in the election fraud case will expire in the next few weeks.
As alleged in court documents, a private corporation, The Ohio Association of Election Officials, encouraged the destruction of evidence in violation of federal court order. Motion for Special Grand Jury[14]. This group will be holding its summer conference June 15-17th, 2009 in Columbus at the Columbus Renaissance Hotel.
SOS Brunner is hosting this conference, entitled "Election Officials Summer Conference and Trade Show." In Ohio's current tight budget, the SOS office will not give costs for conference hosting.
The OEJC, a citizens' group, believes the problematic history of activities among Brunner, local officials, and the attorneys for the plaintiffs indicate a concerted effort to a) avoid a speedy trial against the State, b) destroy evidence, and c) protect the officials that committed the wrongdoing.
Members of OEJC say for over two years, the press, including the progressive media, has virtually avoided this aspect of the story. Curiously, media outlets that broke the story of the stolen 2004 election have been silent on the collapse of the election fraud lawsuit. One of these outlets, the Columbus Free Press, is controlled by an attorney in this case.
OEJC also believes the attorneys, including lawyer/lobbyist Clifford O. Arnebeck, Jr., who for years claimed to be protecting the records, are failing to take steps to prevent ongoing destruction of evidence.
OEJC member Mark Brown said, "At best, Arnebeck and his associates are providing useful distractions to cover up the wide net of perpetrators. If the Ohio election were investigated, it could pull down the legitimacy of the United States for those four years of the stolen presidential term. Just as with our banking crisis, the media will not pay attention until it is too late."
See Links at the end of this post for a summary for the court case, exhibits (evidence, records, research), articles, and a video.
The below summarizes the unresolved election fraud situation in Ohio, then goes into depth with a synopsis, further background, and research resources. Your help is urgently needed before the statute of limitations expires.
Please contact US Attorney General Eric Holder at 202-353-1555 and ask him to work with the Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) and other supporting individuals and organizations to quickly initiate a special grand jury investigation into the 2004 election before it is too late.
Summary
• The manipulation of the 2004 election in Ohio resulted in one of the most massive violations of constitutional rights in this country’s history. Five years later, the results of this assault to our democracy could not be clearer than in the shock and pain of our current economic devastation.
• The January 6, 2005 challenge to certification of Ohio’s electoral votes, led by Boxer (D-CA) and Tubbs Jones (D-OH), was the first time in U.S. history that a state’s entire electoral college vote was challenged.
• Ohio’s statewide recount following the 2004 election was blocked by Ohio election officials; when the recount did occur pursuant to federal court order, it was rigged. Ohio’s state courts refused to resolve the issues raised by the recount.
• In 2006, suit was filed against the State of Ohio for violations of constitutional rights in King Lincoln v. Blackwell; the federal court ordered the 2004 ballots preserved as evidence.
• The ballots were also protected from destruction under federal statute.
• Ohio election officials mocked the notion of preserving the ballots in e-mail correspondence discovered pursuant to a public records request; 58 out of 88 counties destroyed most or all of their records in clear violation of federal law and U.S. federal court order.
• In June 2008, Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush. Article 29 deals with election manipulation in Ohio, specifically, conspiracy to violate of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It presents detailed evidence.
• In July 2008, shortly before the expiration of the criminal statute of limitations on the destruction of evidence, the Ohio Election Justice Campaign asked, in King-Lincoln v. Brunner, for a special grand jury investigation into, at least, the destruction of the 2004 evidence.
• Jennifer Brunner, the Ohio Secretary of State, objected to the special grand jury investigation. A former judge, Brunner took no action following the destruction of the evidence. Contrary to her public statements, she did not file materials showing the destruction of evidence in court.
• The attorneys for the plaintiffs (Arnebeck and Fitrakis) asked the judge to strike (remove) the motions for intervention and the special grand jury and all the accompanying evidence from the record, claiming that the motion would be “disruptive to the parties and the progress of cooperative negotiations (between the attorneys and the Secretary of State) in this case.”
• Several months subsequent to the OEJC motions, the plaintiff attorneys engaged in a pursuit of a private individual who runs an IT business for government agencies, linking this individual to Karl Rove in the media. The attorneys have not filed any action in court against Karl Rove or named him as a defendant; the deposition taken of this private individual has never been transcribed.
• On March 5, 2009, the district court judge denied the OEJC motion for intervention; the judge also granted the request of Arnebeck and Fitrakis to strike all the materials (approximately 1400 pages) showing that the 2004 evidence was destroyed from the record.
• Several OEJC members have since interviewed multiple plaintiffs in the case. None seem to be fully aware of what is being done in their names by the plaintiff attorneys, and most have no idea what has happened at all with the striking of the OEJC filings regarding the destroyed 2004 evidence.
• This is documented and has been filed with the court on March 24, 2009 and May 8, 2009 with the OEJC motion asking the court to reconsider its order.
• The OEJC also filed new evidence that documents 10 Ohio counties are engaged in the ongoing destruction of 2004 election evidence; records have been destroyed as recently as March and April 2009.
• The statute of limitation on state election crimes is six years. Before an indictment is issued, an investigation must be held. The time for holding such an investigation is rapidly dwindling.
• Holding the Ohio election officials accountable under federal law would be a national deterrent to future election manipulation and fraud.
• The politicians, attorneys, and courts in Ohio have shown themselves incapable of addressing the magnitude of Ohio’s corrupt electoral process.
• The structural issues that allowed election fraud to flourish in Ohio have not been squarely faced, in part because a thorough investigation has never been conducted.
• If this is not resolved, we will relive it.
Synopsis
Eight members of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) from five counties in Ohio came together and filed two pro se motions in King-Lincoln v Blackwell (now King-Lincoln v. Brunner), case no. 2:06-cv-745. By filing pro se, they were acting as their own attorneys. These members come from diverse backgrounds and political affiliations.
This case is in front of Judge Algenon Marbley in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Columbus, Ohio). The case is a class action lawsuit brought against the State of Ohio claiming numerous constitutional violations arising out of the conduct of the 2004 (and 2006) election.
In 2006, the Ohio election officials destroyed all or some of the 2004 ballots in 58 of Ohio’s 88 counties, the evidence in this case, in defiance of this federal court’s order.
The two motions:
1. A motion to intervene and become plaintiffs in this case
2. A motion for criminal contempt and special grand jury proceedings
It is our understanding that the new U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio could commence special grand jury proceedings in this matter.
The OEJC has collected documentation that the destruction of additional evidence is ongoing, and, even more significantly, that the statute of limitations will expire if no action is taken very soon. For example, there is a six-year statute of limitations on certain state election offenses. This statute of limitations could expire shortly. The Secretary of State and the attorneys for the plaintiffs have been informed.
No steps have been taken to stop the documented ongoing destruction of the protected evidence in this case. Additional newly discovered evidence of the continued destruction of 2004 records involving 10 counties was submitted to the federal court on Friday, May 8, 2009.
Given that this is a federal case for constitutional violations, and that the evidence points to disobedience to a federal court on a statewide scale without historical precedent (the closest analogy is disobedience to school desegregation orders), action is urgent.
Background on Motion for Criminal Contempt/Special Grand Jury Proceedings
In September 2006, Judge Marbley issued an order requiring the election officials to preserve their 2004 ballots because they were evidence in this case. The order was clear and strong in its language, including the penalties the election officials would face if they disobeyed.
Nonetheless, out of 88 counties, at least 58 counties destroyed the evidence. The destruction did not come to light until July 2007. It is well-documented.
Neither the plaintiffs’ attorneys nor the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, through her attorney, the Ohio Attorney General, filed the extensive documentation of destroyed evidence with the court. Therefore, there was no record in the court docket of the destruction of evidence and no way for the judge to legally hold the election officials accountable for disobeying his order. Our research of early July 2008 proved the court not only did not have this evidence, but was unaware of its existence.
Shortly before the one-year statute of limitation was to expire on possible criminal contempt charges against the election officials (July 2008), the OEJC filed their motion for criminal contempt proceedings and a special grand jury.
In their motion, the OEJC filed the extensive documentation of destruction of evidence with the court. The OEJC plaintiffs also filed documents obtained through public records requests.
These documents show that certain election officials, especially those in a leadership position within the Ohio Association of Election Officials, mocked the idea of preserving the evidence and had ample actual notice of the legal requirement to preserve the evidence.
These election officials are still in office, still hold leadership positions, and they continue to control Ohio’s elections. These election officials, although nominated by party, are primarily loyal to each other and their association, the Ohio Association of Election Officials.
The lobbyist for the Ohio Association of Election Officials (OAEO), Aaron Ockerman, was also a lobbyist for private election vendors such as ES&S during the HAVA inspired selection of the electronic voting machines. The OAEO is a private corporation that will not release records or even the names of its past officers.
Given the extent of the destruction of evidence as well as the varying degrees of responsibility on the part of the election officials, a special grand jury would be fair to the election officials, grant them due process guarantees, and also serve as an economical use of federal judicial resources.
Further, a special grand jury is authorized, by law, to issue a public report on its findings. Most grand jury proceedings are secret.
The Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, through the Ohio Attorney General’s office, has asked the court to deny both motions. The Ohio Secretary of State is now running for the U.S. Senate.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys have asked the court to strike the OEJC motions from the record, including all the documentation showing the 2004 evidence was destroyed, as well as the e-mail correspondence among the election boards and Blackwell’s office and other citizen-collected evidence that would lead a jury to believe this evidence was, in many cases, intentionally destroyed.
Motions to strike are usually rare in litigation, and intervenors on the same side, as we are, customarily are allowed by the plaintiffs. In fact, the OEJC now has good reason to believe the plaintiffs were never asked – or even knew – of the actions their attorneys were taking.
On March 5, 2009 the court issued the judge’s order and opinion. All requests of the OEJC were denied and all evidence submitted will be stricken from the records. The OEJC motion for an expedited conference for fraud upon the court was denied and will be stricken.
Subsequent to this order, the OEJC learned that multiple current plaintiffs are unaware of the actions being taken in their name, especially the attorneys’ request to strike the material showing the 2004 election records were destroyed. In addition, the OEJC learned that members of the King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood association, in mid-May 2009, did not know they had been named in a law suit (this is the lead organizational plaintiff in the case).
On March 24, the OEJC filed a motion for reconsideration with the federal court. Documents and a video interview were filed to substantiate the questionable lack of fairness and notice to the plaintiffs of what was being done in their names and on their behalf.
Several plaintiffs signed affirmations but wanted them filed under seal (privately) because of a fear of retaliation from the attorneys. An affirmation was filed by the OEJC from a California attorney that these same plaintiff attorneys did not inform the plaintiffs of their actions in the 2004-05 Moss v. Bush election lawsuit, especially of the attorneys’ decision to dismiss the lawsuit.
According to the court’s opinion in Moss v. Bush, sanctions were brought against the same two attorneys handling the King-Lincoln case because they failed to adequately research the law and failed to adhere to the procedures and time requirements. They escaped sanctions by dismissing the lawsuit. Moss v. Bush, 105 Ohio St.3d 458 (2005) (Motion for Sanctions). A substantial amount of evidence had been gathered for that lawsuit.
Another affirmation was filed with the OEJC motion for reconsideration regarding the plaintiff attorneys raising over $25,000.00 for that past 2004-05 election legal work and then not accounting for the spending of it when asked.
Given the local politics in Ohio and the age of this case, it is likely that multiple conflicts of interest and compromised positions have now occurred at the state level. For example, the assistant Ohio attorney generals currently handling this case are the same attorneys from 2006 responsible for preserving the evidence now destroyed.
The OEJC believes that structural reform of our electoral process, in Ohio and nationally, can be meaningfully accomplished only if there is a thorough investigation, and thus, understanding, of the actions and principals involved in the 2004 election in Ohio. In order to move forward, we need to look to the past. The public is entitled to know the actual history.
Further, the OEJC does not believe the changes made to date address the problems from 2004 or will prevent those problems from occurring again. Current reforms being undertaken in Ohio are, at best, an effort to restore the status quo as it was pre-2004.
In fact, what the 2008 election demonstrated to us was that Ohio, to have any semblance of a fair election, will need an army of election protection attorneys, observers, and volunteers to guarantee the integrity of the vote. For example, many precincts will continue to require upwards of four to six volunteers to guarantee that people can simply cast a vote, which is only one component of the election process.
One Example: Franklin County failed to process approximately 15,000 voter registration cards in 2008. No amount of helpers at the polls on election day will be able to help these people to vote, as these people were not be entered in the voter rolls. The Franklin County Board of Elections voted themselves permission to destroy those registration cards. The record retention schedule appears to suggest these would be kept permanently.
The director stated they have no intention to complete those registration cards. According to OEJC research, they still existed in early spring 2009. Some of those boxes of cards appear in the below documentary, “Democracy Deadlocked.”
The deputy director of the Franklin County Board of Elections has been a named defendant in the King-Lincoln case since 2006. He has never been held accountable for his actions in 2004, when he was director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, in disenfranchising voters. The attorney representing this election official in the King-Lincoln case is a former law associate of Secretary of State Brunner, and he used to work with her private law office.
Without significant action, future federal elections will continue to be seriously compromised.
This documentary was produced by Melissa Cornick, who in her career as a network news television producer has received numerous awards for her groundbreaking original investigative reports, including the prestigious 2006 Edward R. Murrow and the Mongerson Prize for Ethics in Investigative Reporting awards, among others, for her work at 60 Minutes, Dateline, 20/20 and for the legendary Walter Cronkite's former documentary unit.
The OEJC Motion for Reconsideration:
1. http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/documents/Lincoln-Motion... [24]
(plus four exhibits, also pdf files on the website).
The exhibits are out-of-order on the website, but the links are below. We can forward to you a more readable copy if you are interested. Because of the extent of the documentation (over 1400 pages), the full evidence is on paper file with the court.
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST CONTEST, AWAKENING THE CITIZENRY AS INVESTIGATORS
Like the game of Clue, we want to know: Who Did It, Where, And When?
Look at the ballots. The same handwriting shows up over 6,800 times and is in ALL 43 precincts. Deputy Director of the Board of Elections Kathy Hendrick said, “We never had a write-in candidate get that many votes.” How did they not notice problems with the same handwriting? Why will the sheriff, prosecutor, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, and the Ohio Attorney General not investigate? The actual ballots are already in the custody of the Secretary of State. It seems it is time for the people’s investigation and people’s court. See the ballot photos, learn the details, help solve the alleged crime. Meeting 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday May 5, 2009 at the Coshocton Library, 655 Main St. Coshocton, Ohio 43812 Go to www.electiondefensealliance.org/OEJC[31] for more details. Paddy Shaffer, Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (614) 266-5283
Pay No Attention To that Coshocton County Behind The Curtain
Ohio Election Status, 2009: Cleaned Up Or Covered Up And By whom?
With unresolved 2004 election theft issues in Ohio, and the national crisis as a result of the mismanagement of the Bush administration, is Ohio Secretary of State Brunner a fit US Senate Candidate?
Ties from Ohio election officials connect with the unelected administration of Bush and Cheney who smashed the US reputation with an illegal war, the death of thousands of US soldiers and possibly over a half million Iraqis, Gitmo, torture, with bank failures spreading like the plague and the taxpayers left paying for the looting of this nations finances for war profiteering and allowing white collar bank robbing. Yes, those Ohio county election officials who allegedly rigged Ohio and the Supreme Court Judges who in 2000 appointed Bush some responsibility for the current situation.
They did this, and now with millions out of work, retirement and savings decimated, and homeless numbers climbing… it is time for justice for those who rigged our presidential election, which lead to the current depression. It is important to remember that Ohio had a statewide recount following the 2004 election and that the 2005 challenge to certification of Ohio's electoral votes, led by Boxer (D-CA) and Tubbs Jones (D-OH), was the first time in U.S. history that a state's entire electoral college vote was challenged.
In a statement for why Ohio Secretary of State (SOS) Jennifer Brunner is now running for the US Senate she wrote, Leadership is not about saying "no"; it's about having the humility to listen, the creativity to see opportunities, and the persistence to enact solutions. Many members of the Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) are still seeking accountability for past election crimes in Ohio, many are the actual witnesses to these crimes. We are not feeling the warmth and potential of the above quote.
Our view is more like that of Harry Markopolis, a citizen investigator of financier Bernard Madoff [32] http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/04/cbsnews_investigates/main47763... [32] . Harry reported the apparent financial robbing of many investors to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), only to be repeatedly ignored for years, while the robbery continued. Harry recently testified to congress: http://financialservices.house.gov/markopolos020409.pdf[33] .
During Bush's time as the unelected president Representative John Conyers held congressional hearings. Nothing was allowed to be resolved. For years OEJC members have informed not only the SOS of many cases of election fraud, but also the Ohio Attorney General's office, who serves as legal council for Secretary Brunner. But like the SEC, those in power in Ohio, ignore these crimes, adding to our national shame.
Elected in 2006, Brunner campaigned then and now for Senate as a reformer, but let's look at actual events. Federally protected election records retained as evidence in the class action election case, King Lincoln v Blackwell http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/klbna.php [10] case no. 2:06-cv-745 are destroyed in 58 of Ohio's 88 counties.
Brunner, a former judge, provides excuses for the destruction of evidence and then does not file county 2004 ballot inventories and the letters with excuses for destruction of those records to the court. On August 21, 2007 she tells members of the SOS Voting Rights Institute, including the League of Women Voters and the NAACP that, "This information was all turned over to Judge Marbley. We have had no updates from his court as of today.”
Yet in early July 2008 wondering why nothing had been done, research by The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) proved that the court had never been given those records by the SOS. The plaintiff's attorneys also did not file those documents with the court. Over 1.5 million ballots were destroyed.
Brunner and her legal council at the Ohio Attorney General's office filed to block our intervention in the King Lincoln case. The plaintiffs attorneys had also not filed with the court the documents on record destruction. Like the SOS, they are seeking to block our intervention and have additionally asked to have the records stricken.
Why? Stricken means removed, the court would then no longer have this critical evidence for the case. The counties admit in their own words to their crimes in those documents. We asked the court to enforce its own order that destruction of those 2004 election records is a fourth degree felony, and they can be held in contempt of court. We asked for an investigation and a report so that is all goes public. Nothing has happened, nothing resolved, we await the court.
Candidate Brunner claims, it's about having the humility to listen, yet she said no to meeting with members of the Ohio Election Justice Campaign, journalists, and several documentary filmmakers to discuss resolving election fraud. Brunner has allowed election officials who committed crimes in 2004 beyond the destruction of records, which have been thoroughly documented by citizens and the information provided to her, to remain uninvestigated and those alleged federal criminals continue to run Ohio elections.
As far as enacting solutions, Brunner had the Ohio Association of Election Officials lobbyist Aaron Ockerman, (whom along with his firm State Street Consultants has lobbied for election vendor's Diebold and ES&S) choose the election officials for the SOS EVEREST study of Ohio's election machines. Most of those chosen officials had destroyed 2004 election records, which is a felony.
The Diebold/Premier machines failed the SOS testing, and those who watched the testing were sworn to secrecy until 2017. Why would we want to not know what they saw? Transparent? The failed Diebold machines are still being used across most of the state. One county to free itself of the bad Diebold machines was Cuyahoga. ES&S technicians rather than election workers ran the new ES&S tabulators for the 2008 primary in Cuyahoga County. Why? Ohio law reads one Democrat and one Republican count the votes. Why would technicians ever run all the tabulators?
Would a Senator Brunner seek accountability and solutions on a national level, when holding even rural Ohio election officials accountable is beyond her, and she hasn't stopped the OEJC documented ongoing destruction of federally protected 2004 election records?
OEJC investigation continues of 2004 records, fraud is easily found. On September 19, 2008 I requested an SOS investigation on over 6,800 write-in votes for a Coshocton County sheriff candidate David Corbett in the handwriting of one to several people, affecting each of the counties 43 precincts. Only the election officials have such access. OEJC member Tim Kettler witnessed the alleged rigging of the recount in 2004. We know there are problems there. I was hopeful when promised by SOS Attorney Brian Green that I would get such an investigation, yet half a year later, nothing has been done, and those same election officials ran another presidential election.
I could not even get the SOS office to provide oversight of Coshocton's Board of Elections during the 2008 presidential election. This is one of many investigations the OEJC asked of Brunner. Having a proven track record that Secretary Brunner will not deal with Ohio's mountains of election problems, it is the OEJC's hope that she will remover her court response to block our intervention in the King Lincoln case, and encourage Judge Algenon Marbley to proceed with the special grand jury we requested, thereby allowing a real federal investigation.
Such a move would show leadership in admitting what she is unable or unwilling to do. In our collective OEJC opinion, SOS Jennifer Brunner is not qualified for US Senate, and without radical change and actually cleaning up election corruption in Ohio, Brunner also isn't qualified for a second term as Ohio SOS.
Rather than be elevated, she should be impeached.
Additional information on the destruction of Ohio election records:
Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) calls for Day of Silence this Tuesday, January 6, 2009 to commemorate "Boxer Rebellion." Four 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, most unaddressed to this day. Alleged acts of voter intimidation ongoing during the 2008 presidential election include the alleged assault of an election observer in Lucas County, the refusal of Delaware County to permit certain election observers, and Franklin County Board of Election's ongoing practice of referring public record requests to its prosecutor.
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) January 6, 2009 -- The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) calls for a Day of Silence this Tuesday, January 6, 2009, to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the "Boxer Rebellion."
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.
Four 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).
An initiative of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Boxer Rebellion was based on widespread electoral problems in Ohio, most unaddressed to this day.
Not only have the election officials allegedly responsible for the acts of voter intimidation, voter suppression, and election fraud in 2004 escaped accountability, many of them still holding office, King-Lincoln, et al. v. Brunner, et al., 2:06 CV 00745 (S.D. Ohio, filed Aug. 31, 2006, Marbley, J.), but also J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's secretary of state in 2004 and state chair of the Bush 2004 re-election campaign, is now a serious contender for chair of the Republican National Committee.
According to Paddy Shaffer, Director of the OEJC, "Although we are grateful for the efforts of thousands of election protection volunteers in Ohio during the 2008 presidential election and the progress made by Ohio Secretary of State Brunner to ensure a fair election for every voter, the OEJC regrets to report ongoing acts of voter intimidation in 2008, which demonstrate that democracy has not yet been restored to Ohio."
As reported by Ms. Shaffer, alleged acts of voter intimidation during the 2008 election include
2. Under the office of Delaware County prosecutor David Yost, assistant prosecutors Christopher Betts and William Owen denied seven election observers representing a third party access to the polls. Evidence of possible past election fraud was presented to the court to demonstrate the need for observers. Constitutional Party of Ohio v. Delaware County Board of Elections, 08 CV H 10 1462 (Delaware County Common Pleas Court, Ohio, filed Oct. 31, 2008).
Yost was also responsible for attempting to block the 2004 recount in Delaware County, which temporarily blocked the 2004 presidential recount in the entire state while the 2004 results were being certified. Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney, et al. v. National Voting Rights Institute, et al., 2:04 CV 01139 (S.D. Ohio, filed Dec. 29, 2004, Sargus, J.).
3. Franklin County Board of Election's ongoing practice of referring public record requests to its prosecutor, Patrick Piccinni.
In addition, Greene County Board of Elections allegedly threatened to prosecute a voter who took a picture of his own ballot, while Warren County prosecutor Rachel Hutzel still has failed to address the fake level-10 homeland security alert called in Warren County during the 2004 presidential election. http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/11/05/loc_warrenvote05.html[37].
Under Ohio law, the county prosecutor is the legal counsel for the elections board.
Only two Ohio counties to date have had independent counsel appointed for election justice issues: Cuyahoga and Morgan.
According to Michael Tigner, of the OEJC, the former Morgan County prosecutor, Richard Welch, was allowed to vote, run for office, and hold the office of county prosecutor for six years in that county, although he was allegedly not a resident.
In 2004, Timothy Kettler, now of the OEJC, filed a police report with the Coshocton County Sheriff's Department requesting an investigation into the 2004 presidential recount. Mr. Kettler informed Coshocton County prosecutor Robert Batchelor that he felt the prosecutor was acting in conflict, which may be seen as improper and unethical.
According to Mr. Kettler, his ethical concerns were dismissed by Batchelor as irrational, and Mr. Kettler was told the prosecutor would no longer take his calls, although he had made only two calls. Mr. Kettler said that Prosecutor Batchelor directed him to resolve any issue about the prosecutor's methods of handling the case with the Ohio Supreme Court.
The OEJC has recently uncovered additional evidence of 2004 electoral irregularities on over 6,800 write-in ballots representing every Coshocton County precinct. Although the Ohio Attorney General, by the request of the Ohio Secretary of State, was asked to investigate this possible election fraud, no results are yet available.
Records released pursuant to public records requests demonstrate that Ohio election officials, their organization, the Ohio Association of Election Officials (OAEO), and their lobbyist, Aaron Ockerman of State Street Consultants, were allegedly linked to 2004 election crimes. King-Lincoln, et al. v. Brunner, et al., 2:06 CV 00745 (S.D. Ohio, filed Aug. 31, 2006, Marbley, J.).
The OAEO, which meets in Columbus, Ohio on January 27-29, 2009, has been brought into a case that contained allegations by the Ohio Secretary of State of fraud in the inducement of contracts for voting technology provided by Premier Election Solutions, a subsidiary of Diebold (DBD). Premier Election Solutions, Inc. v. Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, et al., 08 CV 007841 (Franklin County Common Pleas Court, Ohio, filed May 30, 2008).
According to Ms. Shaffer, the OEJC has several public records requests outstanding from the Franklin County Board of Elections, including public records related to the activities of the board during its October 2008 inquisition of young voters for alleged "voter fraud."
The below string of letters is regarding ongoing attempts to access Franklin County, Ohio public records. Aaron Ockerman is named in the
requests as someone we are seeking the correspondence between him and the Franklin County Board of Elections (BOE). Aaron Ockerman is a lobbyist for The Ohio Association of Election Officials. This group, The Ohio Association of Election Officials (OEAO) does not make it's records public, not even the names of the officers of the organization, nor their budget. If Ockerman sends correspondence to any election official in Ohio at their county office (paid for with our tax dollars $$$), that correspondence is a public record. The OEAO is a private corporation that runs the elections in Ohio. They do not make public their members, which can include businesses and organizations interested in elections. Similar organizations are in other states running our US elections across the United States. I have been told that they also do not make their data available. In the past several years, other BOE's have provided the requested records regarding their correspondence with Ockerman, and we did not have to battle for it. Aaron was also a lobbyist for the election company ES&S and others in his company, State Street Consultants, were lobbyists for Diebold (now Premier). The time frame for the mentioned lobbying on behalf of ES&S and Diebold included but is not limited to when the large original purchase of over $110 million dollars was spent because of HAVA to buy electronic voting machines. The name of Patrick J. Piccininni who is Cc'd by the Franklin County Board of Elections, is one of the Franklin County Prosecutors. The county prosecutors are legal council for the county agencies, including the Board of Elections. Is this a proper usage of the prosecutor, to block public record requests, this service paid for with public (taxpayer) funds? A court case is mentioned repeatedly by the Director and Deputy Director of the Franklin County BOE, "State ex rel Glasgow v. Jones", and they repeatedly say... "your request is overly broad" and they refuse to send the requested records. Upon review, this case does not apply to the OEJC requests which are very specific. At the bottom of the string of record requests, is one made today, December 30, 2008 by Blackbox Voting. Bev Harris was Cc'd on the requests made below by the OEJC. Blackbox is now also requesting records from Franklin County's BOE. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Michael Stinziano
Director, Franklin County Board of Elections
December 30, 2008
Dear Mr. Stinziano,
You have continued to rely upon the prosecutor to deny or delay my requests for records since Monday, December 15, 2008. My request for phone records, which clearly document the activities of your office. It is for a narrow period of time and specific to the deputy director of your office.
To repeat: Per ORC 149.43, I request cell phone and office phone records for Matt Damschroder from October 1, 2008 through November 29, 2008. I would appreciate receiving these records in electronic format as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy@columbus.rr.com[5]
(614) 266-5283
----- Original Message -----
From: Stinziano, Michael P.
To: Paddy Shaffer
Cc: Damschroder, Matthew M. ; Piccininni, Patrick J.
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 11:13 AM
Subject: RE: Sixth request, Re: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondance 2008
Paddy,
We are in the process of fulfilling your previous request. Please allow us the time needed to fulfill the request.
In addition, this office will communicate when we are unable to fulfill a request; if for example, such a request is overly broad.
If such communication is not received please assume we are in the process of fulfilling the request.
Given the many requests you have made and the timing of the requests in lieu of this office’s other responsibilities, we do fulfill them within a reasonable time.
In regards to your most recent request of phone records, I will check with our prosecuting attorney, but as previously mentioned, based on the precedent established in State ex rel Glasgow v. Jones, your request is overly broad.
Michael Stinziano
Director, Franklin County Board of Elections
________________________________________
From: Paddy Shaffer [mailto:paddy@columbus.rr.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 10:23 AM
To: Stinziano, Michael P.
Cc: Marian Lupo; Dan Stanton; Tim Kettler; Bev Harris
Subject: Sixth request, Re: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondance 2008
Michael Stinziano
Director, Franklin County Board of Elections
December 30, 2008
Dear Michael Stinziano,
As I have had no response to my fifth request for public records as per ORC 149.43, which was made on December 18th, 2008, I would like to repeat it at this time. So here goes...
As per ORC 149.43 I request all correspondence between Aaron Ockerman and any and all employees of the Franklin County Board of Elections for the time period from October 10, 2008 through November 10, 2008. Please send this in electronic format. If you view this request as overly broad, kindly advise me as to what would be a not overly broad request.
I additionally request the cell phone and office phone records for Matt Damschroder from October 1, 2008 through November 29, 2008, or. Please also send these in electronic format.
----- Original Message -----
From: Paddy Shaffer To: Stinziano, Michael P. Cc: Marian Lupo ; Dan Stanton ; Tim Kettler ; Bev Harris Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 9:06 PM Subject: Re: Fifth request, Re: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondance 2008 Michael Stinziano, Director, Franklin County Board of Elections Dear Michael, As per ORC 149.43 I request all correspondence between Aaron Ockerman and any and all employees of the Franklin County Board of Elections for the time period from October 10, 2008 through November 10, 2008. Please send this in electronic format. If you view this request as overly broad, kindly advise me as to what would be a not overly broad request. Sincerely, Paddy Shaffer Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (614) 266-5283 ----- Original Message ----- From: Stinziano, Michael P. To: Paddy Shaffer Cc: Damschroder, Matthew M. ; Piccininni, Patrick J. Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 12:46 AM Subject: RE: Third request, Re: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondance 2008 Paddy, I have been cc'ed on all correspondence regarding the public record requests you have made. I do agree with Matt that each of your requests are overly broad and not within the scope of R.C. 149.43 nor the precedence established in State ex rel Glasgow v. Jones. Your request is not specific as to what correspondence you seek, or from whom. As you may be aware, “it is the responsibility of the person who wishes to inspect/and or copy records to identify with reasonable clarity, the records at issue.” State ex rel. Morgan v. New Lexington. We are more than happy to accommodate and fulfill all proper public records request, however as drafted, we are not able to fulfill your current or previous requests because each lacks sufficient specificity and particularity of the records you seek. Again, as drafted, each request is overly broad. Per your other request, at this time, our next Board meeting is scheduled for January 5th at 3 p.m. Michael ________________________________________
From: Paddy Shaffer [mailto:paddy@columbus.rr.com] Sent: Wed 12/17/2008 10:15 PM To: Stinziano, Michael P. Cc: Marian Lupo; Dan Stanton; Tim Kettler; Bev Harris Subject: Re: Third request, Re: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondance 2008
Michael Stinzino Director, Franklin County Board of Elections December 17, 2008
Dear Michael,
I have made several public record requests this week. I have trimmed it down several times. Matt Damschroder has repeatedly refused the entire request for "public records" claiming these requests to be overly broad. The trail of emails are below, and you have also received them all along.
As the "Director", I hope you will take this occasion to lead, and open up access to the records that belong to the people of Franklin County, and the people of the State of Ohio. This last request sent on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 8:35 a.m. is not an overly broad request. It is quite specific. I would prefer that you fill it as it is written below. If that is too much for you to handle in one request, start with just this. As per ORC 149.43 I request all correspondence between the Franklin County Board of Elections and Aaron Ockerman from September 25, 2008 through December 15, 2008. Please send it in electronic format. After this is processed, I will return to the other items I have requested, or we can just process this all at one time. As the Director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, I hope you can quickly assist me with resolving this. Please give me the date and time of your next board meeting. Sincerely, Paddy Shaffer ----- Original Message ----- From: Damschroder, Matthew M. To: Paddy Shaffer Cc: Piccininni, Patrick J. ; Stinziano, Michael P. Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 9:19 AM Subject: RE: Third request, Re: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondance 2008
Ms. Shaffer: The Franklin County Board of Elections is unable to fulfill your request for public records due to the fact that the request is overly broad.
Matt Damschroder
Deputy Director
________________________________________
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 8:35 AM To: Damschroder, Matthew M.; Stinziano, Michael P. Cc: Marian Lupo; Dan Stanton; Tim Kettler; Linda Ligman Subject: Third request, Re: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondance 2008 December 16, 2008 Dear Matt and Michael, As per ORC 149.43 I request all correspondence between the Franklin County Board of Elections and Aaron Ockerman from September 25, 2008 through December 15, 2008. As per ORC 149.43 I request all correspondence between Ashland, Allen, and Franklin County Boards of Elections from December 1, 2008 through December 15, 2008. This is to include all and any correspondence from all and any staff of those Boards of Elections. This simplified request should be much easier for you to process. Please send it in electronic format. Thank you for your assistance. Sincerely, Paddy Shaffer CC: Marian Lupo, OEJC Dan Stanton, OEJC Tim Kettler, OEJC Linda Ligman, OEJC ----- Original Message ----- From: Damschroder, Matthew M. To: Paddy Shaffer Cc: Stinziano, Michael P. ; Piccininni, Patrick J. Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 7:03 AM Subject: RE: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondence 2008 Ms. Shaffer: The Franklin County Board of Elections is unable to fulfill your request for public records due to the fact that the request is overly broad.
Matt Damschroder
Deputy Director
________________________________________
From: Paddy Shaffer [mailto:paddy@columbus.rr.com]
Sent: Mon 12/15/2008 9:10 PM To: Damschroder, Matthew M.; Stinziano, Michael P. Cc: Dan Stanton; Marian Lupo; Tim Kettler Subject: Re: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondance 2008
Dear Matt and Michael,
As per ORC 149.43 I request all correspondence between the Franklin County Board of Elections and Aaron Ockerman from September 25, 2008 through December 15, 2008. As per ORC 149.43 I request all correspondence between Ashland, Lorain, Allen, Montgomery and Franklin County Boards of Elections from September 25, 2008 through December 15, 2008.
This is to include all and any correspondence from all and any staff of those Boards of Elections.
Thank you very much for your assistance. Please send it in electronic format.
Sincerely,
Paddy Shaffer
(614) 266-5283
CC: Dan Stanton, OEJC Marian Lupo, OEJC Tim Kettler, OEJC
----- Original Message -----
From: Damschroder, Matthew M.
To: Paddy Shaffer
Cc: Stinziano, Michael P. ; Piccininni, Patrick J.
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 4:39 PM
Subject: RE: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondance 2008
Ms. Shaffer:
The Franklin County Board of Elections is unable to fulfill your request for public records due to the fact that the request is overly broad.
Matt Damschroder
Deputy Director
________________________________________
From: Paddy Shaffer [mailto:paddy@columbus.rr.com] Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 12:41 PM To: Stinziano, Michael P.; Damschroder, Matthew M. Subject: Franklin, Public Record Request - BOE correspondance 2008 Dear Michael and Matt, As per ORC 149.43 I request all correspondence between the Franklin County Board of Elections, Aaron Ockerman, any and all other Ohio Board of Elections offices (and their staff) from September 25, 2008 through December 15, 2008. Please send this in electronic format. Thank you for your assistance. Sincerely, Paddy Shaffer Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy@columbus.rr.com[5] (614) 266-5283
Bev Harris Responds In Kind
Dec. 30, 2008
Matt Damschroeder Michael Stinziano
Franklin County Elections
280 E. Broad St., 1st floor
Columbus, OH 43215-4572
RIGHT TO KNOW - PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST #123008-Ock
Gentlemen,
Pursuant to the state open records law, Ohio Rev. Code Ann. sec. 149.43 to 149.44, I write to request a copy of the following records. Please respond to each item, separately, in writing.
Item 1: All correspondence between the Franklin County Elections office and Aaron Ockerman from September 25, 2008 through December 30, 2008.
Item 2: All RC-3 Certificate of Records Disposal forms and RC-1 Applications for One-Time Records Disposal which pertain to correspondence between Franklin County Elections and Aaron Ockerman from Sept. 25, 2008 through December 30, 2008. Per Ohio law, I assume you are aware that no record will be knowingly disposed of which pertains to any pending request, case, or claim action. Item 3: If any correspondence between Franklin County Elections and Aaron Ockerman sent or received between Sept. 25, 2008 and December 30, 2008 has been destroyed or disposed of without filing RC-3 or RC-1 forms, please advise of this in writing. Please provide each item in electronic form if possible. If your agency does not maintain these public records, please let me know who does and include the proper custodian's name and address.
I agree to pay any reasonable copying and postage fees of not more than $45 for this information. If the cost would be greater than this amount, please notify me. Please provide a receipt indicating the charges for each document. I would request your response within ten (10) business days. Please be advised that violation of the open records law can result in the award of court costs and attorney fees. Such fee awards against county governments for violations of open records law by elections personnel have exceeded $250,000 in each of two other election-related public records cases recently.
Because of your obstructions of a similar request from the Ohio Election Justice Campaign, and the potential cost to Franklin County for such wrongful denials, Black Box Voting has copied this correspondence to the Franklin County Attorney and to the Franklin County Board of Commissioners.
If you deny this request as "overly broad" Black Box Voting will seek an attorney to litigate against Franklin County, and will seek to recover any and all related expenses from Franklin County. I regret that the tone of this simple request is adversarial. This is a simple request, for communications between your office and a specific individual, during a specific time period, along with a request for any information pertaining to destruction of these records.
It is difficult to see why communications with Aaron Ockerman have been withheld from the public in other requests.
Let's resolve this now by full compliance with this request.
If you choose to deny this request, please provide a written explanation for the denial including a reference to the specific statutory exemption(s) upon which you rely. Also, please provide all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material.
Thank you,
Bev Harris -
Black Box Voting
330 SW 43rd St Suite K, PMB 547
Renton WA 98057
206-335-7747 - records@blackboxvoting.org[40] -
fax: 866-287-2934
Cc: Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney
373 South High St, 14th Floor
Columbus OH 43215
Franklin County Board of Commissioners
373 S. High Street 26th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6314
Copy of this request sent by e-mail, fax and US mail.
Democracy Deadlocked, A Film By Melissa Cornick
Compare the Funky Numbers in Ohio – Provisional Ballots in 2008
By Paddy Shaffer, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign October 28, 2008 Data from the Boards of Elections Franklin County – (City of Columbus) as of October 25, 2008 Provisional Ballots - Through October 25, we have 1,258 provisional ballots cast out of a total of 30,659 (regular and provisional combined). Lucas County – (City of Toledo) as of October 27, 2008 Absentee ballots cast 56,152 (including all off sites, military, overseas, etc.) Provisional ballots cast 104
Voter Fraud Gets a Thumbs Up in Morgan County by Brunner
For Immediate Release: By Paddy Shaffer Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign October 28, 2008 In one of the “rare documented cases of voter fraud” committed by Richard Welch, the Republican Morgan County Prosecutor, Ohio Secretary of State (SOS) Jennifer Brunner voted against the members of her own party, board members Mary Anna Wallace and Azcal Wilson, and for the Republican. The issue here is whether the attorney who is the Morgan County Prosecutor, who has lived outside of Morgan County for the past six years, can continue to vote in that county. Welch has lived south of Morgan County, down along the Ohio River in the town of Belpre. Welch is in the military, and has had not personally been physically in the prosecutors office much in the last six year. He has maintained the prosecutor title, and continued to have himself and his wife vote in Morgan County, he has continued to run for office, and hold office. All while actually having his wife and himself live in Washington County. Welch did claim to spend one night, on September 1, 2008 in the house. He also at his September 2, 2008 hearing claimed that he was unable to live in the house because of the large amount of pigeon poop all over it. Welch Attorney Andrew N. Yosowitz of the law firm of Isaac, Brant, Ledman & Teetor, LLP assisted Welch providing pictures and a vivid description of the numerous white poop spots. Brunner wrote that Welch’s wife is splitting her time between the two homes, but the locals disagree. The McConnellesville home in Morgan County has not even had running water in the past six years, and is zoned as an office, not a residence. Both Democratic Board Members of the Morgan County Board of Elections ruled in January 2008, and then again on September 29, 2008 that Welch is not a resident of their community. Legal counsel for the Secretary of State in Morgan County is Brian Shinn. In her ruling issued today, http://electiondefensealliance.org/files/Welch_Morgan_County_102808.pdf[41] Brunner (or her staff) wrote “Because Welch's total period of absence from Morgan County excluding his active duty military service amounts to a temporary absence, because he testified he has maintained an intent to return to Morgan County, and because he has taken numerous actions that support his intent to return to Morgan County, I conclude that Mr. Welch is a qualified elector of Morgan County”. Another former military man, and a member of Ohio law enforcement for the past 28 years has an opinion in this case also. That is Mike Tigner who filed the complaint against Welch. Tigner complained, “I can’t believe they can’t go by the plain meaning of the law, they keep covering up for people. If it was any other voter that lived outside the county, we wouldn’t be asking for the SOS opinion.” He was very disappointed by Secretary Brunner’s ruling and how she only supported Welch, and never responded to the strong points he made. Tigner stated, “Welch was living in Washington County for the 30 days prior to leaving for service, that makes it his place of residence, according to the Uniformed Statute for Voter Registration. When leaving for service, residency is based on where a person lived, not where they might someday live.” Tigner wants to know, “What are they covering up? How many other elected officials are there who live outside of their counties or districts, for which Brunner wants to protect?” There is another item of interest in this case, Brunner wrote: "The board of elections voted 3-1 to cancel Welch's voter registration at the end of the January 23, 2008 hearing.” It was canceled, then later reinstated, leading to the current ongoing issues. On September 12, 2008 Mike Tigner asked for an investigation by the Ohio Attorney General and CC’d the Ohio Secretary of State on his written request. There has been no response to this letter. The letter is below in part: Dear Attorney General Rogers, I submit to you an urgent request to conduct a serious legal investigation, enforcing the *Ohio Revised Code 109.95, Criminal proceedings for election fraud.* The Morgan County Ohio Board of Elections has allowed its Prosecuting Attorney, Richard Welch, to run for office, fill that office, and vote in the county of Morgan when all the time he has lived in the county of Washington. Because of this, there is a conflict of interest for investigation when both the prosecutor and the Board of Elections have violated Ohio law, and the prosecutor serves as legal counsel for the Board of Elections. Wanting justice and not power moves, Tigner said, “This is not a government of the people for the people, it is the corruption of the government by the government.” He is very concerned about attorneys covering up for one another, and said, “They will take care of themselves.” Tigner and others are also concerned with illegal actions by the board members. Independent candidate for the office of the Ohio Attorney General Robert Owens in a discussion about other candidates that may also live outside of their district stated, “In this ruling Jennifer Brunner has once again shown her true colors as a stooge for the Democratic Party. On its face it may seem that she is trying to be “fair and balanced” in reality she is protecting bigger fish.” Current candidate for the Ohio Senate, former 2006 candidate for Ohio Secretary of State, and 2004 Presidential Recount Organizer Tim Kettler stated, “If Secretary Brunner is refusing to enforce the laws, then Ohio elections are no more secure today then they were in 2004.” Kettler is a witness to the rigging of the 2004 recount in his home county of Coshocton. The Brunner Decision For the foregoing reasons, I vote with Board Chair J. Wilson and Board Member Pennock AGAINST the motion to reaffirm the finding that Welch is not a qualified elector of Morgan County. Accordingly, the motion fails. Because Welch has already submitted a valid application for an absentee ballot as an armed serviced voter pursuant to R.C. 3511.02 and Advisory 2008-29 and because the time for him to return his absentee ballot is short, the Morgan County Board of Elections is hereby instructed to issue Welch an absentee ballot immediately in accordance with Advisory 2008-29. In 2006 when people of the Democratic Party voted in Jennifer Brunner as Secretary of State, one thing they counted on was for her as the tie-breaker vote, and for the people to be represented at the Ohio Boards of Elections. It sadly appears that today, she voted against them. The pigeon droppings are not the only things stinking in Ohio this day.
Request For Voting Documentation Records, Morgan County, OH
Miranda Mullen Director, Morgan County Board of Elections Nancy Robinson Deputy Director, Morgan County Board of Elections morgan@sos.state.oh.us[42] Re: Public Record Request October 28, 2008 Dear Nancy and Miranda, I phoned in part of this record request today to an answering machine, but thought I should also just put it in writing. I added to that phone request too. As per ORC 149.43 I request copies of the current voter registration cards for four people. Current Prosecutor Richard Welch and his wife, Mrs. Welch Current Acting Prosecutor Amy Graham Former Prosecutor Mr. Howdyshell If the cards do not have dates they were filed, please give me dates too. I also request the minutes of the meeting for your resent Board Meeting. This would be the meeting that Nancy referred to on the phone today, where she said the issue of Mrs. Welch voting in Morgan County for the 2008 General Election was discussed, and tabled until the Secretary of State rules on the situation of the residency of Prosecutor Richard Welch. Thank you for your assistance, Paddy Shaffer Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign Co-Manager, 2008 Independent Election Observer Project paddy@columbus.rr.com[5] (614) 266-5283 CC: Mike Tigner Marlys Barbee, OEJC Marian Lupo, OEJC Bev Harris, Blackbox Voting Brian Gadd, Times Recorder Brian Shinn, Elections Counsel, Ohio Secretary of State
Letter to Brian Shinn, (Ass't Council, Elections, Ohio SOS) Morgan County, OH Prosecutor Residency
Brian Shinn Assistant General Counsel/Elections Counsel Ohio Secretary of State 180 East Broad Street, 15th Floor Columbus, Ohio 43215-3726 (614) 466-2585 bshinn@sos.state.oh.us[43] Re: Morgan County Prosecutor Richard Welch... resident or voter fraud? October 28, 2008 Dear Brian Shinn, I spoke to Deputy Director Nancy Robinson in Morgan County this afternoon. She told me yesterday that she expected to hear from you today to resolve the Prosecutor Richard Welch tie-breaker on, voter fraud, resident of county or not... situation. Today she says she has not yet heard from you. I realize you are starting with the issue of residency, but it is so obvious to the great number of people I have spoken with that this is real voter fraud. That is important to point out when the press is full of stories of voter fraud that don't end up being voter fraud. This seems like the real deal to many citizens of Ohio. What is the hold up? Seems like a yes or no question to me. Is a man that has lived in the city of Belpre in Washington County down by the Ohio River for 6 years able to claim to be a resident of Morgan County, vote there, run for office there, and hold office there? Yes or no? Is it OK to be the person in charge of enforcing the county laws, and do this? I hope to have your answer today. If not, please tell me what the hold up is. I would also like to know the names of all those involved in making this decision. Just you, Secretary Brunner, or a team of people. Has the whole transcript of the September 2, 2008 hearing been read? I was there for the hearing. Did you read the part where pigeon poop (white spots shown in photos at the hearing) all over the house is one of the things that stopped Welch from living there? Hmmm.... Has any of the transcript been read by SOS staff? How much and by whom? I look forward to having this Welch residency issue resolved soon. I want to mention that it has been brought to my attention that in February 2008, Welch had this residency issue addressed by the board members of the BOE. They ruled he was not a resident, yet here we go again. As the request into a legal investigation into the matter of Richard Welch has been made, I would like to know the status of that too. This is regarding voting, running for office, and holding office. What about his wife? Will she be allowed to vote in Morgan County this fall? According to Deputy Director Nancy in a phone call at 2:40 p.m. today, Welch's wife is still registered in Morgan County. She said at the last Board meeting it was discussed. They have tabled what to do with it until your office makes a decision. I have requested to know if she has asked for an absentee ballot. Nancy did not know, but will find out. She said Welch has requested an absentee ballot in Morgan County. So it sounds like your decision is twice as important. What if everyone votes where they intend to live? I guess I would get to vote at the beach, someplace with some nice palm trees. I intend to live there again. Yet please note, for real life and legal matters, I'll just be voting in Franklin County this year, where I actually reside. Sincerely, Paddy Shaffer Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy@columbus.rr.com[5] (614) 266-5283
Coshocton County Suspect Write-In Ballots Photo
State to investigate local voter fraud, Write-in votes in '04 under scrutiny
From Gannett News, Coshocton Tribune
By BRIAN GADD Staff Writer October 23, 2008
Original Article:
http://www.coshoctontribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081023/NEWS01/810230305 [44]
COSHOCTON - The state intends to investigate whether hundreds of write-in votes for a Coshocton County sheriff's candidate were fraudulently included in the 2004 election.
The independent Ohio Election Justice Campaign is alleging that hundreds or even thousands of write-in votes for former sheriff David Corbett, who ran unsuccessfully against Tim Rogers, were provided by an individual or several individuals and that the write-ins were scattered throughout each of the county's 43 precincts. The OEJC has been a part of a lawsuit over the 2004 presidential election recount.
Paddy Shaffer, director of the OEJC, received correspondence Tuesday from Brian Green, elections counsel for Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, "that a legal investigation is to take place on election fraud with the 2004 General Election ballots, on the issue of the write-in candidate ballots for David Corbett."
"It gives me hope that justice might one day arrive in Ohio," Shaffer said. "I am certainly happy that something is finally being done."
The investigation will be handled by the Attorney General's special prosecutions section and the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Shaffer said.
Green did not return a call seeking comment and messages were also left for communications staff at the Secretary of State and Attorney General's offices.
Shaffer had previously contacted both Coshocton County Sheriff Tim Rogers and Prosecutor Bob Batchelor about her group's suspicions and asked them to investigate.
Rogers referred the issue to Batchelor.
Batchelor said he didn't feel it was proper that his office conduct an investigation into the issue and was not aware of when the state investigation would begin.
He said he sent information which was supplied to his office by the OEJC to the Ohio Attorney General's Office to take appropriate action.
He added that information he received from the AG indicates 30 ballots were sampled and the handwriting appeared to be from 30 different people, which would discount the allegations being made.
But Shaffer, who along with other OEJC members has spent countless hours looking over ballots in the custody of the Secretary of State's Office in Columbus, said that she and her compatriots saw proof of voter fraud on "thousands" of the 6,864 write-in votes for Corbett, who lost by about 2,500 votes to Rogers.
"Within 10 ballots I was distracted by the write-in votes for sheriff ... which appeared to be written in the same handwriting," Shaffer stated, in a letter requesting action by Batchelor earlier this month.
Shaffer also said it appeared that many of the write-in votes were done on the top of a corrugated box, as the texture of the box is a part of the signature. She also said many of the votes were written in blue or black pencil, rather than a No. 2 pencil. Ballots in all 43 precincts appear to have a "sprinkling" of suspect votes, Shaffer said.
"As all 43 precincts were affected in 2004, this would have to have been done by someone with lots of access to the ballots," Shaffer explained. "For multiple people to have handled these ballots, and nothing to have been said, I question some sort of group involvement.
"...A crime has been committed against both Sheriff Timothy Rogers and the voters. All involved, whether one or multiple people, need to be held accountable and punished."
Request to Brian Green concerning Voter Fraud in Coshocton County Sheriff race
Brian Green Elections Council, Ohio Secretary of State 180 East Broad Street, 15th Floor Columbus, Ohio 43215 (614) 995-4541 October 14, 2008 Re: Voter Fraud in Coshocton County Sheriff race, and public record request Sent: via email and US Post Dear Brian Green I write today to find out the status of your investigation into the Coshocton County vote fraud that happened in the 2004 sheriff race where Timothy Rogers was the candidate with his name printed on the ballot, and there were reported to be 6,864 write-in votes for David Corbett, who had formally been the sheriff in the year 2000. The vast majority of those appear to be election fraud, with a very small sprinkling of actual votes mixed throughout the ballots. During tabulation, each one of these ballots had to be examined and the name of the write-in candidate read from it. This happened at the election, at the recount, and I understand, ballots were recounted between the election and the recount. Yet not one election official there spotted what I spotted within looking at my first 10 ballots, very easy to see voter fraud. The same handwriting shows up repeatedly in thousands of write-in votes for candidate David Corbett. Actually I would guess it is the handwriting of a couple people, and a serious real legal investigation is needed. Timothy Rogers won the race, but this crime was committed directly against this incumbent sheriff for the benefit of a former sheriff, yet mysteriously current Sheriff Rogers doesn’t seem to care. I’ve contacted him. I showed you some of those ballots on September 16, 2008 in the presence of two people assisting my ongoing research that day, Marlys Barbee and Mike Tigner. They were easily able to see the repeated handwriting in ballot after ballot, and in precinct after precinct. Mike Tigner has been a part of Ohio law enforcement for 28 years. We all saw it. My understanding after showing you some of the ballots from the effected 43 precincts was that you would be doing something about this. I expressed my concern at that time that the same people that ran that election are to be running the election again this year. My research shows that 100% of the precincts in Coshocton County were involved. So I request to know what has been done? Has an investigation begun in the 29 days that have passed since I showed you these ballots? Is there any oversight for the election officials in Coshocton County while they are currently hosting another election? As per ORC 149.43 I request all paperwork that you have generated since September 16, 2008 on this subject of the 2004 Coshocton ballots via email, written correspondence, notes, etc. to anyone, including SOS staff, Secretary Brunner, and the Attorney General and the staff there. I also request to know the names of all those that you have told about this voter fraud issue, including and most importantly, does Secretary Brunner know? I will be sending to you a few of the hundreds of photographs I took of these ballots. I will send these via email. Since you actually have in the possession of the Secretary of State, the actual ballots that are the physical evidence in this crime, I hope that you will make quick use of them, and start the investigation (if it is not already under way) immediately. If there is to be no investigation coming from you, please do tell me why this matter will not move through legal channels. I have written to the Coshocton County Prosecutor today about this also, and will CC you on his letter. I let you know of his letter so investigative efforts are not duplicated, and our resources are used as responsibly as possible, just as we the people want our elections run as responsibly as possible. Sincerely Concerned, Paddy Shaffer Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy@columbus.rr.com[5] (614) 266-5283 CC: Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State Nancy Rogers, Ohio Attorney General Tim Kettler, OEJC, State Senate Candidate, Coshocton County Resident Brian Gadd, Zanesville Times Recorder Bev Harris, Blackbox Voting Marian Lupo, OEJC Marlys Barbee, OEJC Mike Tigner Josh Jarman, Dispatch Sheri Myers, OEJC Victoria Parks, OEJC Peter Jones, OEJC
Write-in candidate, Coshocton County, Ohio, has mulitple signatures on multiple ballots from the same person?
The enclosed photo has three 2004 General Election ballots, all from Jackson Twp. North precinct in Coshocton County. All ballots have the write-in votes for David Corbett for which I am requesting a legal investigation.
Request for immediate criminal investigation into election fraud in federal election
Bob Batchelor Coshocton County Prosecutor 318 Chestnut Street Coshocton, Ohio 43812 (740) 622-3566 bobbatchelor@coshoctoncounty.net[45]
October 14, 2008, Re: Request for immediate criminal investigation into election fraud in federal election. Sent: via email and US Post Dear Bob Batchelor, This is a request for an investigation into election fraud that happened in Coshocton County. The actual ballots that are the evidence for this crime represent all 43 precincts in which the citizens of Coshocton County voted in the General Election in 2004, a federal election. Those ballots are now in the city of Columbus, in the protective custody of the Ohio Secretary of State (SOS) Jennifer Brunner as part of a Federal Court Case, King Lincoln Et. Al. v Brunner, Case No. C2 06 745. I understand that you have the duty of representing and advising the Coshocton County Board of Elections. I want to now raise the issue that your county may need to bring in another prosecutor, as there may be a conflict of interest for you to investigate the same Board of Elections of which you represent and advise. Please advise me as to how you will proceed in this case. The Coshocton County Board of Elections is currently conducting yet another federal election, for which early voting is underway and the final day of voting is November 4, 2008. The counting and tabulation can continue for ten or more days after the election. The subject I bring up is quite serious, as is my concern as to those conducting the current election. Please advise me as to your plan of action to make sure that your county is to be immediately protected from election fraud this year, which has come through the literal hands of your election officials in 2004. As all 43 precincts were affected in 2004, this would have to have been done by someone with lots of access to the ballots. For multiple people to have looked at and handled these ballots, and nothing to have been said, I question some sort of group involvement. So what is happening this year, and what will the integrity of Coshocton County's election be? The voters there spend a lot of money to have their elections run in a manner in which they expect to know the actual vote count. A crime has been committed against both Sheriff Timothy Rogers and the voters. All involved, whether one or multiple people, need to be held accountable, and punished. What my research has documented: I have spent several months researching the 2004 election records that the SOS has in protective storage. When I looked at the presidential race in Coshocton County, within 10 ballots I was distracted by the write-in votes for sheriff candidate David Corbett which appeared to be written in the same handwriting. I would actually guess it is the handwriting of several people. I have since then contacted Sheriff Tim Rogers who was the winning candidate in that race, with his name printed on the ballot. It is my understanding that David Corbett is a former Coshocton County Sheriff, and was a write-in candidate in 2004 because of his late filing to be on the ballot. Thus his name was not printed, but an open line was provided for him, and an oval to be filled in by a voter wanting to cast a vote for him. The majority of the ballots appear to be in the handwriting of just a few people, and there is a sprinkling of ballots that appear throughout the precincts that seem to be real votes. I have taken well over 600 photos of these ballots for my research. I have shown these ballots to other researchers, and to SOS election council Brian Green. When I called up the Coshocton County Board of Elections and spoke to Kathy Hendricks on August 15, 2008 to ask questions about that election, here are some of the things I learned from Kathy. 1. There were 6,864 write-in votes for David Corbett, and he lost the election. 2. Incumbent Sheriff Timothy Rogers received 9,313 votes and won the election. 3. Four people did the tabulation of the votes on November 2, 2004. That would be Don Andrews, Kathy Hendricks, Martha Babcock, and (probably) Mary Fritz (Kathy Hendricks wasn’t sure if Mary had assisted). 4. Kathy said, “We never ever, ever, had a write-in candidate get that many votes.” 5. They finished counting the ballots at 4:00 a.m. 6. The tabulator was set up so that every time it would read the colored in oval that indicates a write-in ballot, the machine would stop. The election officials doing the tabulation would then visually look at the ballot and read off the name of the write-in vote. There was also the 2004 recount of the presidential election. Again the ballots were handled and inspected. How is it possible that no seasoned election official spotted what I spotted within 10 ballots? Who did this? Many ballots throughout many precincts appear to have had the write in vote done on top of a corrugated box, as the texture of the box is part of the signature. There are also votes throughout many precincts written in a blue/black pencil, rather than a regular # 2 pencil. As an artist, I spot these things. I did a little experiment, on two lined pieces of paper, I wrote out David Corbett as fast as I could, 100 times. When I started I could do this nine times per minute, by the time I finished I could only write it 7 times per minute and my hand and arm were cramping up. It took 12 minutes to write “David Corbett” 100 times. To do this on the actual ballots a person would have to get into the packages of all 43 precincts. The person would have to color in the oval, they would have to keep switching pieces of paper for each ballot, and they would have to locate the place to vote (low in the middle column). This would take a large amount of time, and could only be done by someone with fairly unlimited access to the ballots. Yet another thing that would have taken a large amount of time and effort by election officials is that the ballots have been sorted. Not only sorted by presidential candidates, but also by ballots that were both Bush and Corbett supporters, and those that were both Kerry and Corbett supporters. To do this sorting in all 43 precincts would have taken a large amount of work and time. Who did this sorting, when, and why did they sort them? How could they not notice the repeated same handwriting? What does their handwriting look like? Sheriff Timothy Rogers was first informed by phone on August 8, 2008, when I had only looked at 4 precincts, and found the election fraud in 100% of the four precincts. He was later updated as the research continued in phone messages I left for him. Sheriff Rogers said that he would inform the prosecutor when we spoke. This crime was committed directly against Sheriff Rogers, yet I find it strange that he will not return phone calls on this subject. The final message so far I left for Sheriff Rogers was on Monday, October 13, 2008 in regards to the fact that the election fraud is in all 43 precincts, and I wanted to know what he was going to do about it. I left this message both on voice mail and with Deputy Euton to be a handwritten message. Brian Green, Elections Council for the Ohio Secretary of State was shown many of these ballots on September 16, 2008 in the presence of Marlys Barbee and Mike Tigner. The request for an investigation was made that day with Mr. Green. Although I have repeatedly requested the status of such an investigation, I have not had a response with that information. I have CC’d Brian Green and others that I feel need to know about this, including Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, and Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers. I am a volunteer citizen investigator, and an artist, not a paid legal investigator. I have taught calligraphy classes. In know a bit about handwriting, and what I see in the repeated same handwriting is easy to spot on these ballots. There appears to be a large election fraud crime on federal election ballots here, with likely about 6,800 illegal votes. I ask for a serious legal investigation into this matter by an entity that will not have a conflict of interest, and to be informed that such an investigation is under way. If you and/or other legal investigators are ready to take a look at these ballots, I would be happy to make the arrangements to get access to these ballots arranged for you or such persons, and show you what I have found. Preferably several days lead time is needed to make those arrangements with the Secretary of State’s office, as these records are in a secure environment, and a there is always a person in attendance overseeing my research and the safety of the ballots that still exist. Many of the legally protected 2004 ballots were destroyed by county election officials across the state. Prosecutor Batchelor, I look forward to hearing from you as to how and when an investigation can proceed on this issue of election fraud, and that immediate protections can be extended to guard the election currently underway. Respectfully Submitted, Paddy Shaffer Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy@columbus.rr.com[5] (614) 266-5283 CC: Nancy Rogers, Ohio Attorney General Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State Brian Green, Elections Council, SOS Tim Kettler, OEJC, State Senate Candidate, Coshocton County Resident Brian Gadd, Zanesville Times Recorder Bev Harris, Blackbox Voting Marian Lupo, OEJC Marlys Barbee, OEJC Mike Tigner, OEJC Victoria Parks, OEJC Josh Jarman, Dispatch
SOS - FOIA - Unfilled FOIA on 2004 Inventory & New FOIA on Electronic Poll-Signature
Brian Green Elections Council, Ohio Secretary of State Re: One New and Prior Unfilled Public Record Requests September 28, 2008 Dear Brian Green, I still await the document I have requested multiple times from you, beginning in July of 2008 for the inventory of records that I asked to see from the SOS storage site for the November 2, 2004 records. This is to inventory the records you found, and which records you did not find as per my past requests. For example, you personally searched for the Franklin County unvoted ballots, and told me you couldn’t find them. Many of the records requested were unvoted 2004 ballots that some counties claim the SOS has custody of. I again request that the document be signed by a staff member of the Ohio Secretary of State. Please respond. This is a request for Public Records as per ORC 149.43. I request the documents that the Ohio Secretary of State has regarding which of Ohio's 88 counties will be using electronic poll books and signature books for the November 4, 2008 election. What I seek is a list of the names of the counties that will be using the electronic poll books and signature books. This would include but not be limited to use of the Premier Elections Solutions' Express Poll 4000 with Card Writer Function 1.1.5 (certified on February 16, 2006) Express Poll 2000 Electronic Poll Book with Card Writer Function 1.15 (certified on February 16, 2006) Express Poll 5000 Electronic Poll Book with EZ Roster, Version 2029 and Card Writer Function, Version 1.0 which consists of Poll Card Writer, Version 1.1.4.0, and PCMcard.dll (certified on November 21, 2006) Thank you for your assistance. Paddy Shaffer Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign 2408 Sonnington Drive Dublin, Ohio 43016 paddy@columbus.rr.com[5] (614) 266-5283 CC: Tim Kettler, OEJC Marlys Barbee, OEJC Victoria Parks, OEJC Bev Harris, Blackbox Voting
Prosecutor Violates Ohio Election Laws in Morgan County, Ohio. - Violations by Election Officials, Prosecutor, & The Pattern of Legal Cover-Ups for Decades By Morgan County Prosecutor’s and Sheriff’s.
Press Advisory: For Immediate Release September 2, 2008 Contact: Paddy Shaffer, Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy@columbus.rr.com[5] (614) 266-5283 On Tuesday September 2, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. the Morgan County Board of Elections will hold a hearing at the Morgan County Courthouse at 19 East Main Street, McConnelsville, Ohio 43756-1172. This hearing will be the second hearing for an issue the Morgan County Board of Elections (BOE) already ruled on in January of 2008. Mike Tigner is requesting that this hearing be cancelled, and that the BOE cannot change their earlier decision to deny Prosecutor Richard Welch the ability to cast a vote in Morgan County for the 2008 Primary Election, as Welch resides in a different county, Washington County. Welch is a Colonel in the US Army and has been away from the county for parts of the last several years. The same BOE officials later accepted the vote cast by Welch. The issues are far larger than just this vote… Who is Mike Tigner: US Army Veteran, Ohio law enforcement officer since 1980. Deputy Sheriff Morgan County for 12 years, Athens County Special Deputy in 1992, Village Marshall for Amesville 1993 – 2008, and is currently a Special Deputy in Athens County. Mike Tigner attempted to run for Sheriff in Morgan County in 2004, and was blocked by the office of the prosecutor and the BOE saying he was not qualified, when he was. The man they allowed to run for Sheriff, was not qualified, yet was allowed to run for Sheriff, and is the current Sheriff. What Mike Tigner wants: 1. A serious legal investigation from the office of the Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers. Enforcement of the Ohio Revised Code 109.95 Criminal proceedings for election fraud, which states in part: “If the prosecuting attorney does not prosecute the violations within a reasonable time or requests the attorney general to do so, the attorney general may proceed with the prosecution of the violations with all of the rights, privileges, and powers conferred by law on a prosecuting attorney, including, but not limited to, the power to appear before a grand jury and to interrogate witnesses before a grand jury.” 2. There is an apparent conflict of interest for investigation when the both the prosecutor and the BOE have violated Ohio law, and when the prosecutor is legal counsel for the BOE. Accountability for Morgan County Prosecutor Richard Welch is needed. Laws that will need looked into for possible violations include but are not limited to: ORC - 3500.11(A) False voter registration – registration forms. ORC – 3599.12 (A) Illegal voting. ORC – 3599.12 (A)(B) Signing of petitions. ORC – 3599.14 (A)(1) Prohibited acts concerning declarations or petitions. Ohio Revised Code 109.95 Criminal proceedings for election fraud. 3. Accountability for the issues raised by Mike Tigner for Morgan County BOE Director Miranda Mullens and Deputy Director Nancy Robinson and the other board members involved would need to address: 3599.16 Misconduct of member, director, or employee of board of elections - dismissal. Will Election Fraud Cover-Up Continue, or shall SOS Brunner end it now? The Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner should consider investigation and look at immediately replacing Morgan County election officials as per: Ohio Revised Code 35.01.16 Secretary of state may remove or suspend from office: which reads in part, “The secretary of state may summarily remove or suspend any member of a board of elections, or the director, deputy director, or any other employee of the board, for neglect of duty, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, for any willful violation of Title XXXV of the Revised Code…” Under ORC 3501.05 Election duties of secretary of state: (N)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (N)(2) of this section, investigate the administration of election laws, frauds, and irregularities in elections in any county, and report violations of election laws to the attorney general or prosecuting attorney, or both, for prosecution: Accountability for the Morgan County BOE Director Miranda Mullens and Deputy Director Nancy Robinson for allowing Prosecutor Richard Welch to vote in the 2008 Primary Election after they held a BOE hearing and it was decided that since he lived out of county, that he could not vote in Morgan County, but would need to vote in the county of his residence, Washington County. Mary Funk was the Deputy Director, with Robinson as the Director in 2004, and her role in this multi year case should also be investigated. The BOE blocking of a valid candidate to replace him with a non-valid candidate came at the suggestion of an Assistant Prosecutor, then working under Prosecutor Welch needs looked at. That Assistant Prosecutor, Mark J. Howdyshell is now a candidate for Prosecutor of Morgan County. Of particular interest to The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) are violations of Ohio’s election laws as we follow this story closely. Not only in the case of Tigner and Welch, but with record retention also. Morgan County resident Marlys Barbee is one of eight pro se litigants seeking to intervene in one of the major pending election cases in Federal Court in this nation. This is the King Lincoln v Blackwell case. The group of pro se litigants have filed a motion to intervene and a motion for criminal contempt for against the counties that destroyed Ohio’s 2004 ballots, which were protected by a court order from Judge Algenon Marbley. They have asked for a special grand jury, and a report that will be made public on the needed investigation. Morgan County is one of the counties in violation of the federal courts order. This story was entered in our court filings of July and August 2008. We await the courts opinion on our motion to intervene. Morgan County is missing all of its 2004 unvoted punch card ballots, and did not follow the request of Ohio Secretary of State (SOS) Jennifer Brunner to submit those records to her custody and to write a letter with the reason why they defied the court order. All of the 2004 general election records that Morgan County turned over to the SOS fit in one box, which is in the midst of analysis and ongoing research by the OEJC. The law on protection of those records is: ORC 3599.34 – Prohibitions concerning destruction of election records. According to the court order, to not protect and provide these records, which are part of the above-mentioned legal case, is a fourth degree felony, and the election officials can be held in contempt of court. If Morgan County election officials did not retain the 2004 election records as required by the federal record retention schedule, and as required by a court order, how do we know they will retain the upcoming records for the November 2008 Presidential Election? How will the voters of Morgan County know that their candidates are qualified for office, and that they actually are getting to choose from all those who were qualified as candidates? Will some good candidates have been refused a spot on the ballot? Do the voters of Morgan County choose their leaders, or are they given only the choices that others have allowed them to have? The below listed allegations were all reported to the OEJC by Morgan County resident Mike Tigner to answer our questions about what else has been covered up by the Morgan County Prosecutor and Sheriff over the years. There appears to be a serious need for the offices of the Ohio Attorney General to do a thorough investigation into multiple decades of legal violations and cover-ups in Morgan County. Private property, usage of public buildings – even the county courthouse, the children, elections, the county cars and gasoline resources and more, are in danger from the very people paid to enforce the laws. • 1989 - Attorney David White Jr. was investigated, by Morgan Co. Deputies, for contributing alcohol to minors. The deputies were told by McConnelsville police chief David White Sr. and Sheriff Jack Nelson to drop this investigation. • 1992 - Investigation of Sheriff Jack Nelson turned over to State Auditors Office, led to a conviction of theft in office. Attn. White Jr. and Attn. Richard Welch spoke on behalf of the sheriff. • 1993 - Attn. David White Jr. Investigated for sexual misconduct with minor boys. Poorly investigated, and covered up. • 1993 -Capt. Tom Jenkins, McConnelsville police (now sheriff), investigated for stolen property. • 2003 - Attn. White Jr. investigated for drug charges, Welch agreed not to prosecute White, and sealed the indictment. • 2004 - Morgan County Board of Election was advised by prosecutors office, that Tom Jenkins Sr. could run for office again, after Jenkins received a letter from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy stating that Jenkins should "cease function as a peace officer, and lay aside his weapon, because Jenkins was 6 years behind in his training,” you have to have a valid training certificate good for 4 years prior to the qualification date, in order to run for sheriff. • 2004 - Morgan County Prosecutors office advised the Board of Election that Mike Tigner was not qualified to run for Morgan County sheriff, after Mike displayed all the qualifications to the board. • 2005 - Attn. White Jr. lost his law office, and was permitted to use the basement of the County Courthouse to continue his law practice. Attn. White Jr. later disbarred from his law practice, by complaint filed through Disciplinary Counsel, by a former client. • 2006 - Investigation for misuse of the County Sheriff's car used by Jenkins Sr. was brought before Grand Jury, and mislead by County Prosecutor. There was no indictment. Sheriff Jenkins Sr. lied under oath at Grand Jury; Prosecutor Welch knew this, and has not taken action. • 2006 –The Morgan County Board of Elections was advised that Kathy Smedly, President of Chesterhill Village Counsel, does not live in the village, which is a requirement to run for election for this position. The BOE did not investigate. • 2006 – 2007 - Jeff Gillespie, is former Morgan county juvenile probation officer. Allegations were made that Gillespie was having sexual relations, with a minor in his care, resulting in pregnancy. Sheriff's office did a brief investigation of this matter, with no action taken against Gillespie. He later moved him to a position of jail warden in Nelsonville. When said girl turned 18, Gillespie left his wife, and moved in with this girl. Gillespie, now a warden over Southeastern Regional Jail in Nelsonville, Ohio, is charged with unauthorized use of a computer, after a female co-worker alleged he had shown her a sexually explicit video he had received in an e-mail from the Morgan County sheriff's office. Sheriff Jenkins sits on the board, and excerpts Gillespie's resignation, if this is a felony in Athens County, it should also be in Morgan County. Especially for the person who sent the e-mail from the Morgan County Sheriff's office. The Morgan County Prosecutor’s office and the Morgan County Sheriff were both aware of this porno being sent from the Sheriff’s office on a county computer. It was sent by a Morgan County Deputy. Nothing was done.
International Observers Ohio SOS Records Request
Brian Green Elections Council, Ohio Secretary of State 180 East Broad Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 August 27, 2008 Dear Brian Green, I understand that in 2004 international election observers wanted to come to Ohio for the General Election. It is also my understanding that former Ohio Secretary of State (SOS), J. Kenneth Blackwell and/or his staff denied them access. Do I understand this correctly? As per ORC 149.43 I request any and all paper and electronic records from 2004 in regards to international election observers wanting access to Ohio’s elections. I additionally request any and all paper and electronic records from 2004 in regards to the replies and communication from J. Kenneth Blackwell and any and all staff members replying to the requests to have international election observers. Also, if you are able to locate the interoffice communications of the former SOS and any and all staff as they discussed and made decisions about the issue of international observers wanting access to Ohio’s general election in 2004. To bring this matter to this current year of 2008 and our upcoming general election, I request any and all communication regarding having international election observers this year, for November 4, 2008. This is to include but not be limited to the international election observer’s requests and all correspondence in reply, including the interoffice communications discussing international election observers this year. I am assuming that a request has been made for such international election observers this year. If that has not taken place, or not taken place yet, please just tell me. Please send this in electronic format if possible, if not, paper will be fine. These requests are severable if need be to speed up the reply process. Thank you for your assistance, Paddy Shaffer Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy@columbus.rr.com[5] (614) 266-5283 CC: Victoria Parks, OEJC Bev Harris, Blackbox Voting Tim Kettler, OEJC, Candidate Ohio Senate Dan Stanton, OEJC Brian Green Elections Council, Ohio Secretary of State 180 East Broad Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 August 27, 2008 Dear Brian Green, I understand that in 2004 international election observers wanted to come to Ohio for the General Election. It is also my understanding that former Ohio Secretary of State (SOS), J. Kenneth Blackwell and/or his staff denied them access. Do I understand this correctly? As per ORC 149.43 I request any and all paper and electronic records from 2004 in regards to international election observers wanting access to Ohio’s elections. I additionally request any and all paper and electronic records from 2004 in regards to the replies and communication from J. Kenneth Blackwell and any and all staff members replying to the requests to have international election observers. Also, if you are able to locate the interoffice communications of the former SOS and any and all staff as they discussed and made decisions about the issue of international observers wanting access to Ohio’s general election in 2004. To bring this matter to this current year of 2008 and our upcoming general election, I request any and all communication regarding having international election observers this year, for November 4, 2008. This is to include but not be limited to the international election observer’s requests and all correspondence in reply, including the interoffice communications discussing international election observers this year. I am assuming that a request has been made for such international election observers this year. If that has not taken place, or not taken place yet, please just tell me. Please send this in electronic format if possible, if not, paper will be fine. These requests are severable if need be to speed up the reply process. Thank you for your assistance, Paddy Shaffer Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy@columbus.rr.com[5] (614) 266-5283 CC: Victoria Parks, OEJC Bev Harris, Blackbox Voting Tim Kettler, OEJC, Candidate Ohio Senate Dan Stanton, OEJC
Vote Rescue Radio Interview with Paddy Shaffer, Aug. 1, 2008
Here is the link to the broadcast. You can right click and save or click and it should open your mp3 media player. http://mp3.wtprn.com/VoteRescue/0808/20080801_Fri_VoteRescue2.mp3
Election Officials May Face Criminal Charges: OEJC Files in Federal Court
Columbus, Ohio, PRWEB, July 11 -- Eight members of the Ohio Election Justice Campaign filed papers on Thursday in United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio, asking Hon. Judge Algenon Marbley to begin criminal contempt proceedings for the destruction of ballots from the November 2004 election.
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) submitted over 1000 pages of supporting documents.
In the case before Judge Marbley, King Lincoln, et al. v. Brunner, et al., Civ. No. C2 06 745 (S.D. Ohio), the judge had issued specific orders directing Ohio's 88 county boards of election to preserve all ballots from the election until a decision was rendered in the case.
At least 56 county boards assert they have destroyed some ballots from 2004; seven counties assert they have destroyed all ballots.
This citizen-initiated action is pro se litigation in which the plaintiffs act as their own attorneys.
The papers in front of Judge Marbley also ask him to impanel a Special Grand Jury to investigate the destruction of ballots.
A Special Grand Jury, as a collection of citizens authorized to hear the evidence, is uniquely suited to sorting out the degrees of culpability associated with the destruction of the ballots. It is also authorized by statute to issue a public report, which can then be circulated to the employer of appointed public officials.
Paddy Shaffer, director, OEJC, said, "The time for accountability is now, prior to the November election of our next president. Many counties allegedly destroyed ballots before the election was even certified. Why would we trust these people with the upcoming elections?”
Mark Brown, a plaintiff in the suit and a candidate for public office in 2004, said, "Justice delayed is justice denied is injustice repeated."
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign was formed by concerned citizens, many of whom participated in the 2004 election as observers, election protection workers, poll workers, and election investigators as well as organizers and witnesses in Ohio's 2004 Presidential Vote Recount.
Plaintiff Tim Kettler, currently a Green Party candidate for Ohio Senate District 20, ran for Ohio Secretary of State in 2006. Kettler believes the only way to stop this type of criminal behavior and incompetence is through citizen action: "Whether we challenge these offenses in court or run for public office, we must replace those who would show such contempt for the law."
For this article on PRWEB, see http://news.yahoo.com/s/prhttp://bs_prweb/prweb1092204;_ylt=AljYOBmObuR_og9MIv_gojs51sIF [46]
Contacts:
Election Officials May Face Criminal Charges: OEJC Files in Federal Court
Columbus, Ohio, PRWEB, July 11 --
Eight members of the Ohio Election Justice Campaign filed papers on Thursday in United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio, asking Hon. Judge Algenon Marbley to begin criminal contempt proceedings for the destruction of ballots from the November 2004 election.
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) submitted over 1000 pages of supporting documents.
In the case before Judge Marbley, King Lincoln, et al. v. Brunner, et al., Civ. No. C2 06 745 (S.D. Ohio), the judge had issued specific orders directing Ohio's 88 county boards of election to preserve all ballots from the election until a decision was rendered in the case.
At least 56 county boards assert they have destroyed some ballots from 2004; seven counties assert they have destroyed all ballots. This citizen-initiated action is pro se litigation in which the plaintiffs act as their own attorneys.
The papers in front of Judge Marbley also ask him to empanel a Special Grand Jury to investigate the destruction of ballots. A Special Grand Jury, as a collection of citizens authorized to hear the evidence, is uniquely suited to sorting out the degrees of culpability associated with the destruction of the ballots. It is also authorized by statute to issue a public report, which can then be circulated to the employer of appointed public officials.
Paddy Shaffer, director, OEJC, said, "The time for accountability is now, prior to the November election of our next president. Many counties allegedly destroyed ballots before the election was even certified. Why would we trust these people with the upcoming elections?”
Mark Brown, a plaintiff in the suit and a candidate for public office in 2004, said, "Justice delayed is justice denied is injustice repeated."
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign was formed by concerned citizens, many of whom participated in the 2004 election as observers, election protection workers, poll workers, and election investigators as well as organizers and witnesses in Ohio's 2004 Presidential Vote Recount.
Plaintiff Tim Kettler, currently a Green Party candidate for Ohio Senate District 20, ran for Ohio Secretary of State in 2006. Kettler believes the only way to stop this type of criminal behavior and incompetence is through citizen action: "Whether we challenge these offenses in court or run for public office, we must replace those who would show such contempt for the law."
For this article on PRWEB, see http://news.yahoo.com/s/prhttp://bs_prweb/prweb1092204;_ylt=AljYOBmObuR_og9MIv_gojs51sIF [46]
New Motions Filed in King-Lincoln Lawsuit Challenging 2004 OH Election
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Enclosed (and in the link below) you will find the Motion to Intervene and the Motion for Criminal Contempt that was filed by 8 members of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign. These were filed with the Federal Court in Columbus, Ohio on July 7th 2008, and July 10th 2008.
First a Motion to Intervene was filed. Then a Motion for Criminal Contempt.
The Motion for Criminal Contempt is very important, and the idea's contained within may help others in states outside Ohio. Please let us know if it helps further your causes elsewhere.
We now wait for a response from the court, to see if we will be allowed to intervene in this case. We hope to resolve some or a large part of this giant mess. The November election is only a few months away, and so far for the most part, the same people that destroyed our 2004 election records, are still running the show. Why should we expect different results?
These documents are up on the Moritz Law College website, at:
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/klbna.php [10]
The whole lawsuit is there from the beginning of it, and our motions have now been added in. They currently show up as the bottom three listings. The bottom listing says, "Exhibits in support of motion for Criminal Contempt". "Exhibit 1" and Exhibit 2" There is a third Exhibit, that is not posted, and I'm not sure why.
There are also photo copies of Delaware County ballots that were presented to the court as Appendix A Volumes 1-3.
These are not up at the Moritz website. We were not able to afford the scanning of those documents at that time, but they were provided to the court on July 10, 2008. Enclosed in the attachments in the Motion for Criminal Contempt, and in it you will see several pages talking about how to view those ballots. A little background history is contained, details on what is there, and the importance of maintaining the election records is dealt with utilizing the story that these Delaware County, Genoa I ballots tell.
This has all been rather expensive, and has been paid for out of the grocery money of several people. To those who donated, thank you very much.
We do this for our nation, our family and for our friends.
We are now preparing for what we may need next, and there is lots more that members of the OEJC have documented just waiting for the light of day. ...And literally, I just ran out of ink in one printer, and the other printer is almost empty too... again. Help if you can.
Make it a Powerful Day,
Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
(614) 266-5283
Recent research by Ohio Election Justice Campaign reveals over 800 pages of documents on destruction of 2004 ballots in violation of court order not submitted to the court, contrary to quoted comments in minutes of meeting of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner with numerous election officials and voting rights leaders. These records are evidence in a federal lawsuit. OEJC calls upon all patriots to commemorate our great nation's independence from King George's tyranny, including his denial of elections, to demand election justice in Ohio and across the nation.
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) July 4, 2008 -- The Ohio Election Justice Campaign announced today that its research revealed that no records from the destruction of the 2004 ballots had been submitted to the federal court with jurisdiction over the matter. (King Lincoln, et al. v. Blackwell, et al., Case 2:06-cv-00745, U.S. District Court, S.D. Ohio.) http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/klbna.php [10]
A recent review of court records revealed that the over 800 pages documenting the destruction of the ballots in violation of federal court order were not in the possession of the court.
Over 56 of Ohio's 88 counties destroyed election records.
On July 3, the following letter was sent in response to this startling discovery:
Dear Secretary Brunner,
I am writing to bring a serious issue to your attention.
According to the Voting Rights Institute meeting minutes from August 21, 2007, your understanding was that every county sent an inventory and a letter of explanation to Columbus with the ballots and that "this information was all turned over to Judge Marbley. We have had no updates from his court as of today." Page 6, Voting Rights Institute, Advisory Council Meeting, August 21, 2007, Shaker Heights, Ohio; http://www.sos.state.oh.us/vri.aspx [63].
Our research has revealed that these records have not been filed with the Court, although almost a year has passed.
In addition, 15 counties have yet to submit letters of explanation.
Please bring this issue to the attention of your staff charged with this responsibility or to the Ohio Attorney General as soon as possible.
I know that many members of Ohio's voting rights leadership, including representatives from the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, People for the American Way, and Citizens' Alliance for Secure Elections, as well as members of the group I direct, not to mention numerous election officials, serve on the Voting Rights Institute Advisory Council.
They and many others were under the impression that the Court had possession of these critical documents and were waiting for the Court to do something.
Are Ohio voters dumb hayseeds or have they trusted unwisely?
Sincerely,
Paddy Shaffer, Director Ohio Election Justice Campaign
The OEJC declares a renewed need for voter independence today, July 4, and in commemoration of this national holiday, and the republic and democracy it represents, calls upon all patriots to demand election justice in Ohio and across the nation.
# # #
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.
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.
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
A Special 2008 Subpoena For Blackwell From Conyers
By Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
February 1, 2008
J. Kenneth BLACKWELL refuses to come and testify before the wonderful Congressman John Conyers and the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. It appears a subpoena may be needed.
Updated information compliment of an article by Jon Craig from the Cincinnati Enquirer, some details on Blackwell and the possible subpoena are provided below this article.
Why is it that Ken Blackwell is still walking the streets of this nation? Why is it that the election officials, for which citizens have documented the alleged election crimes of 2004 (and more since then) are still running our elections? How wonderful that a congressman from Michigan, (the state from up north... for you Buckeye fans) shines as a hero in addressing our Ohio problem, which became the nation and the worlds problem... more years of George W. Bush pretending to be the president, and his illegitimate appointments running the country.
Since the FBI, CIA, Ohio's past and current Attorney General's, Petro and Dann, and our current Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, the county prosecutors, and the Ohio Highway Patrol can't look into the landfill sized crime documentation pile of our rotting, and stinky election nightmare scenario. This bit of horrible theater is loaded with real people that should be locked up in jail. We are needing a hero, thanks Congressman Conyers, it seems there are very few real men in Ohio, and most of the women leaders aren't doing much better.
JUST LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE!!!
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner now has in her possession, over 2200 boxes of the 2004 election records. It should be more. 57 of Ohio's 88 counties destroyed or disposed of (or lost, or spilled coffee on, or shredded, or flooded, or had the Green Team pick up, etc) those election records. The good news is... there still is enough evidence to prove the case that the Ohio 2004 election was stolen, and we the people have the evidence, and we can point to which precinct ballots need looked at. For instance, Delaware County ballots show both the rigging of the US Presidential Election, and of the Ohio Supreme Court. Janet Brenneman was Director of the Delaware County Board of Elections in 2004.
To make sure that Ohio is ready for the 2008 election (of which we so often hear is the only thing the top election officials of the state can do), under the guidance of our new Democratic Leaders... Janet Brenneman is again the Director of the Delaware County Board of Elections. How special. Is this what being ready looks like? And this is just one of many problem counties. It is 2008, another Presidential election year. J. Kenneth Blackwell still walks the streets of this nation, and I hope Congressman John Conyers sends him a subpoena! Michigan and Ohio... Will a Wolverine save the Buckeyes? ___________________________________________________________________
Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has been asked to testify next Friday in Washington, D.C., by the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
The topic: "Voter Suppression," according to this letter [66]sent Tuesday to Blackwell, who now works for the Family Research Council, Buckeye Institute and other conservative policy groups[67].
The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., a Michigan Democrat, is investigating election irregularities, including long lines and challenges to voter registrations.
Blackwell, a Republican from Cincinnati, said he received the invitation, "however, my schedule will not permit me to attend the hearings."
Jonathan Godfrey, a Conyers spokesman, said Blackwell has not responded and could be subpoenaed if he doesn't appear voluntarily.
"I don't think it's unlikely," Godfrey said today of a subpoena.
But it would take a majority vote of committee members to issue a subpoena, probably delaying the day Blackwell would be asked to appear, according to Godfrey.
"As we look forward to the 2008 Presidential Election, the Committee seeks to explore policies that should be implemented to avoid future voting problems and ensure that every American can exercise their right to vote," Conyers and Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler wrote in their invitation to Blackwell.
Blackwell said, "For a better understanding of Ohio’s voting performance during the 2004 election, I recommend Chairmen Conyers and Nadler review the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2004 post-election analysis."
The Census Bureau found Ohio experienced record voter turnout among both African-American voters and those between the ages of 18 to 24, he said.
"In addition, voter registration rolls grew by one million new voters from the year before and voter turnout increased by one million more voters from the previous presidential election," Blackwell said.
Absentee Request Forms For Voting And Websites In Ohio Have Problems
Absentee Request Forms for Voting and Websites in Ohio Have Problems
By Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy[at]columbus[dot]rr[dot]com
February 3, 2008
Last night I received information from several of our wonderful alert election activists in Dayton, Ohio, that Montgomery County's Board of Elections has a problem with it's online absentee ballot request form. It seems that if you fill it in as a Democrat, it won't hold that information on the form. If you fill it in as a Republican, an Other Party (and you must specify that party), or that you are voting only on issues, it will retain the check mark for that information. The website is at: http://www.mcboe.org/ [73] .
The problem here is that if you know you checked the box before printing the form off, many people might not go back and check the boxes after it is printed off. If you didn't tell them you want a Democratic Party ballot to vote absentee on, and nothing is checked... what will you get? Is Voting in Ohio a game of skill, or a game of chance?
Here is an article on this that showed up yesterday:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/02/01/... [74]
I made the request to some of my Ohio researchers to comb through the websites for our 88 counties to look at the absentee forms for requesting an absentee ballot. I was pleased to wake up this morning and find most of that work already completed by Jennifer Alexander.
While she was looking, she also reported on the health of the websites, and a report on all of this will be coming soon for the nation to see. Of importance now to all of you... surprise, surprise (imagine Gomer Pyle saying this), Ohio has problems, and your state might also.
One county, Shelby says to fax the form in. For Warren (the Homeland Security Lockdown County) and Montgomery it says: "NO FAXED ABSENTEE APPLICATION REQUESTS ARE PERMITTED BY LAW". Some counties ask for you to qualify to be allowed to vote absentee, and only people with a few predetermined reasons can ask for an absentee ballot. Ohio has for the last several years had a no-fault absentee ballot, anyone can request one, and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is promoting it.
One county is asking for the full Social Security number, when they are only allowed to ask for the last four digits. It is enough to say, the whole country needs combed over. If others are able to get this done, let me know. We could combine the reports to give an overview on the health of the nation on the websites and applications for absentee ballots, and voter registration forms. If anyone is able to undertake this, please let me know.
In 2006, Sherole Eaton and I gathered the voter registration forms from many of Ohio's counties from public libraries. This is one of the places that then Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's website said to pick up such a form. Some of the forms were adequate, but many of the forms were outdated, asking for information no longer needed, or not asking for the current identification requirements. If a voter sent those in, the election officials would not have the right information to register the voter.
Please look at the data in your state, and if you get that done, and can adopt another state, please do so. We are all in this together. Sink or swim. Please let me know what states are being studied, and we will work out a way to file a group report. Thanks!
Expand The Dann Investigation Press Conference, Your 2008 Ohio Elections At Stake
Part 1 of 3 Thanks to General Bruce from www. Redpeacecross.com for video.
Text Statement from Ohio Election Justice Campaign at bottom of article.
And thanks also to www.Progressohio.org[75]
Part 2 of 3
Part 3 of 3
Ohio Election Justice Campaign asks for Ohio Inspector General's powers to be expanded from investigating Attorney General, and look at the Auditor of State also.
By Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
May 19, 2008
A beautiful spring morning in Ohio was the backdrop for an OEJC press conference. Much of our topic revolves around the 2004 election theft in Ohio, which happened on a cold rainy day. Spring brings new hope, and that is what we have, new hope that the election fraud will finally be addressed.
The press conference centered around two letters that we delivered today. The first was provided to reporters and went to the statehouse. It is addressed to the Ohio General Assembly, and asks these members to broaden the powers of the Ohio Inspector General, Thomas P. Charles to follow the election fraud issues, in particular the destruction of election records issue to the office of the Auditor of State. Our Ohio Attorney General just resigned, while threatened with impeachment and an ongoing investigation into the problems in his office. The below letter was delivered to all 99 Representatives of the Ohio House, and to all 32 Ohio Senators today. It was taken to their offices and was to be put in their mailboxes. It was put in the mailboxes of all the Statehouse Correspondents, which are the media.
A second letter was delivered to the office of the Ohio Inspector General. His ability to look into the Attorney General is not normally allowed by Ohio Law. The legislature made and exception for this scandal. We are asking that he look into the election fraud issue at the Attorney General's office also, the involvement of past and current employees of that office, and the obvious cover up we have found. This appears at both the Attorney General's office, and at the Bureau of Criminal Investigation which is under the AG office. We want this looked at, while he is looking at the sex scandal, and multiple mismanagement issues. This actually is rather important in the scope of things. We were told it typically takes 2 to 3 weeks for a response.
Thanks to Progress Ohio for hosting our press conference.
Thanks to Peace General Bruce for his video, editing, and posting work. Thanks to those who assisted you to get this done.
Video of the Press Conference is available in 9 minute segments at:
It is in three segments. Please share them. The titles may be changing to better reflect the subject. If this changes the link, I'll resend them.
The first article we have found on this is available at http://blog.dispatch.com/dailybriefing/2008/05/election_activists_try_ag... [79]
and has a place to comment under it. Please for those of you who can, do comment. As Tuesday is likely to be the day we will get a variety of coverage, I'll send out the links to the articles we find. Hopefully many reporters spent this beautiful spring day writing about the beautiful changes that could happen in Ohio if we could get this cold ugly election theft issue resolved.
The Ohio General Assembly
Jon Husted
Ohio State Representative District 37, House Speaker
Ray Miller
Ohio State Senator District 15, Minority Leader
May 19, 2008
Dear Members of the 2007-2008 Ohio General Assembly:
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign asks that you expand the investigative powers of Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles to extend beyond the office of the Ohio Attorney General. In our efforts to resolve the needed investigation and prosecution of Ohio election fraud issues that have effected both Ohio and this nation, we have found that the office of the Ohio Attorney General and its Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification appear to be involved in a cover-up.
We further ask that Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles be given the power to extend his investigation into the office of the Ohio Auditor of State (AOS). We ask that you allow the Inspector General to look at the links that run from the office of the Ohio Attorney General into the AOS and SOS in connection with the investigation and prosecution of Ohio election fraud issues.
As the Ohio General Assembly has self-righteously and boldly led the effort to take a critical look at former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, the scandals and cover-ups in his office by himself and other of his employees, we ask that you really look at it all. Open the can of worms. See what is in it. Allow and encourage the Inspector General to investigate all those who promoted, enabled, or ignored and therefore allowed election fraud to happen in Ohio. This had the potential to be the most important investigation Marc Dann could have done, with the biggest impact. He neglected that duty. Why? Who was involved?
Why does the current Ohio Auditor of State Mary Taylor allow the destruction of state and federal records? What part did former Auditor of State Betty Montgomery play during the destruction of millions of ballots that were under litigation hold, that were protected by federal court order, and that had been represented by the Ohio Attorney General's Office under Mr. Petro as safe to two separate federal court judges?
Forty-six counties destroyed their unvoted ballots. Some did this before the Presidential election was even certified on January 6, 2005. Of great concern is the destruction of all or part of the 2004 election record by 56 of the 88 Ohio counties. Yet Clermont County was still destroying additional protected records and as recently as July 2007. Board of Elections Director Mike Keeley signed that he destroyed protected poll books and tally sheets for the 2004 election. These have a six-year record retention schedule.
The destruction of these records violates numerous federal and state laws. The Ohio AOS is responsible for the maintenance of these records and oversees their retention and destruction. Yet nothing has been done to either preserve them or halt the continuing destruction. Why? These records belong to the people of Ohio. Who will enforce our laws? The Auditor of State's office has been notified. I was told by the Auditor of State's office that the laws are "self-enforcing."
At this time you have given Inspector General Thomas P. Charles the authority to look at the Attorney General's office. We ask that in the badly managed issue of the AG office in the case of the 2004 election fraud, you enlarge the Inspector General's powers to follow the trails to another state agency. Let him look at the current office holders, and the last office holders also. Look at the obvious cover-up by current staff, the destruction of public records, the alleged election law violators still running our Ohio elections.
Thank you for your consideration of this important issue. If we need to submit a more formal request to enlarge the authority of the Inspector General, kindly advise us on the proper procedure. We would also welcome the opportunity to present our evidence in more detail to the Oho General Assembly, and we respectfully request a written response to this request.
Victoria Parks, OEJC
Mark Brown, Congressional Policy Forum, OEJC
Dan Stanton, OEJC
Explanation Of Phone Call With Brian Green, Dec. 5, 2007
By Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Asking for clarity on how the decisions on the testing results will now be made is of great interest to The Ohio Election Justice Campaign, the citizens of Ohio, the citizens of the nation, and to the world. When the fate of the planet can rest on the voting machines in Ohio, what the reports reveal and what actions will be taken are of importance.
On Wednesday December 5, 2007 in a phone call with Brian Green, Election Counsel for Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, I raised multiple issues regarding the timeline, procedures, and parties involved on behalf of the Ohio Election Justice Campaign, whose members were and continue to be troubled by the lack of clarity on the when, how, and who of decisions based on the report. Verbal questions to Mr. Green on this topic include the following:
Will there be an ad hoc committee formed?
Will there be hearings?
Will the hearings be public?
What is the protocol or procedure to be included in the public hearing, testimony,
or meetings to discuss Project EVEREST?
What is the timeline?
This was followed up with a more formal request for this information sent as a letter to the Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Nance and other key members of staff. I have included the letter and requests for information at the end of this blog.
Since we have raised the issue, we are pleased that the Secretary of State is beginning to reveal a plan for the public to know something of what is coming. We hope the many detailed questions we ask are answered in a timely manner. Members of the media were copied on our written request.
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign is pleased to say that since the phone call to Mr. Green and the letter requesting information, we are now seeing a response to these issues coming via the Dispatch and the Plain Dealer at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/12/09/z-apo... [80]
And at http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/11971... [81]
These reveal a little about what is coming, but many more details about the process are needed. Who makes the decisions, can we observe the process and participate in the process… and what is the timeline are just a few prime things we all have a right to know as citizens in a democracy. We pay the bills for all aspects of this, and just as importantly, bringing the process into the open is the best defense we have against the culture of corruption that has reigned for too long in our fair state.
Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State
Bobbie Gilbert, Executive Assistant to Jennifer Brunner
Christopher Nance, Assistant Secretary of State
Kellye Pinkleton, Director, Voting Rights Institute
David J. Klein, Elections Research and Operations Specialist
Brian Green, Elections Council
Friday, December 7, 2007
Sent via email and US Post
Re: Request for Project Everest report and recommendations parties, process, and timeline
Dear Ms. Brunner, Ms. Gilbert, Mr. Nance, Ms. Pinkleton, Mr. Klein, and Mr. Green:
We are writing to request the document or documents that provide information on the parties, process, and timeline for review of and/or deliberation on the Project Everest report and recommendations.
1. The names, titles, and, if possible, contact information of all legislators, committees, or deliberative bodies, including liaisons, assistants, consultants, or ad hoc committees, that will receive a copy of the report and recommendations.
2. The names, titles, and, if possible, contact information of all executive personnel, including the gubernatorial liaisons, assistants, or consultants, as well as election officials at the county and statewide level and their consultants or deliberative bodies, whether public or private, that will receive a copy of the report and recommendations.
3. A description of the deliberative process involved in reviewing the report and recommendations, whether in writing or orally, including whether such process will be open for public observation and/or comment and where and when such opportunity for public observation and/or comment will be.
4. The timeline for review and/or deliberation on the report and recommendations, including the timeframe for study and/or comment by all parties who receive the report and recommendations, including legislative and executive personnel, the anticipated completion of review/deliberation, and any deadlines imposed either internally or externally.
5. Please add my name and contact information on the list of people to be informed of all meetings, and please copy me on all documents: Paddy Shaffer, paddy@columbus.rr.com[5], 614-761-0621.
According to a phone conversation with Brian Green, I understand that Mr. Nance will need to share this information with me. He has not yet returned my call, and this is a very timely matter. I am copying this letter to all of you in the hope I will receive a timely and meaningful response.
I had requested permission for the OEJC to observe the Project Everest testing by phone several times, and in writing prior to and on November 7, 2007, and on November 22, 2007. These requests were denied by Mr. Nance in a letter dated November 30, the last day of testing, and the letter arrived via email on Sunday, December 2 at 4:06 p.m. This was neither a timely nor meaningful response.
This above request is a matter of legitimate and public interest to the citizens of Ohio and the citizens represented by the OEJC, and we would appreciate the courtesy of a speedy response.
Given that the process as publicly reported is apparently outside the regular course of executive/legislative decision-making as well as the significant public interest in the results of this process, we would also appreciate up-dated information should any of the above requested information be changed or revised in the course of the process.
I would also like to know who reviewed the package of information that included the Nevada and Washington state product liability lawsuits regarding voting machines that we delivered to your office on November 30, 2007. These were provided as a possible template for a recall and refund regarding the Ohio voting machines. Whom shall we call to discuss the package?
cc: The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Mark Niquette - Dispatch
Mark Kovac - Vindy News
Jon Craig - Cincinnati Inquirer
Ian Urbina - New York Times
Mary Ann Gould - Voice of the Voters
Foreclosures And Bankruptcies Are About To Savage The Voter Registration Bases
Foreclosures and Bankruptcies Are About to Savage the Voter Registration Data Bases
WATCH OUT! More Provisional Voting
By Jane Schiff, Ohio Election Justice Campaign
February 3, 2008
This is urgent re: VOTER REGISTRATION, Provisional Voting, Absentee Voting and Regular Voting and EMERGENCIES faced by people who have had their dwellings foreclosed on, or have had to file bankruptcies and or have been rendered homeless.
Due to the rate of foreclosures and bankruptcy filings across Hamilton County (Cincinnati), Ohio as well as the rest of the nation I believe Ohio's March 4, 2008 Presidential Primary and other states' Primaries are at stake. Notwithstanding the ambiguous language in the former "best of times" about instructing poll workers and officials about the who, when, where and why of CASTING PROVISIONAL BALLOTS, we now are facing imminent potentially mortal blows to the Voter Registration Process and the potential for the powers that be to permanently terminate our rights as fought for, by We The People.
A media release dated January 7, 2008 was issued by Julie Ehrhart, a Public Information Officer from The Ohio Department of Public Safety announced that there is a server problem here and in every state.
"The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators acts as a portal through which all states must access federal databases in order to verify information before being allowed to issue any driver license or state ID card." Julie Ehrhart, the above Public Information Officer from The Ohio Department of Public Safety said "there is not estimated time as to when the server will be completely functional." She is " urging all driver license and state ID card applicants to call their local Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) Deputy Registrar Agency before driving to the location since it is possible that the transaction may not be able to be processed."
My husband encountered an outage in September of 2006 when he went to the Downtown Cincinnati Branch of the Ohio BMV to get another driver's license with an updated address due to our having to move. He was told to leave because "the system was down."
Evidently, these longstanding problems have remained longstanding problems but now have the potential to further erode our rights to CAST PROVISIONAL VOTES, ABSENTEE VOTES AND REGULAR VOTES IN OUR PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES FOR 2008.
What kind of emotional and physical resources do these American families have while they are undergoing foreclosures, bankruptcies, and trying to obtain new living arrangements while having to go to work at the same time?
Guest List For Requested Meeting
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Paddy Shaffer, Founder, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Founder and Director, Artists Creating Justice
Guest List to Date (Updated September 17, 2007)
Speakers:
• Patricia Axelrod, Nevada Elections Activist, Director of the Desert Storm Think Tank and Veterans' Advocate, weapons system analyst and military scientist for peace
• Karla Van Bibber, Observer for the Five Candidate Election Observer Project 2006, witness to election crimes, investigator of election crimes.
• Blair Bobier Esq., Green Party Recount Media Director
• Tim Carpenter, Founder and National Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America, PDA
• Clint Curtis, Florida Candidate US House of Representatives – Florida, Whistleblower
• Tim Kettler, 2006 Candidate for Ohio Secretary of State, witness to rigged Coshocton County 2004 recount, Secretary for Ohio Green Party,
2008 candidate for Ohio Senate, 20th District
• Paul Lehto Esq., Election Law Attorney, Co-Founder Psephos www.psephos-us.org[86]
• Sheri Myers, Elections Activist, Co-organizer of the Winter Freedom Bus Ride, Author of CHEATED!, a graphic novel, www.wakeupandsaveyourcounty.com[87]
• Victoria Parks, Election Investigator, Musician, www.victoriaparks.com[88], www.duhstbunnies.com[89] , Rode on the Winter Freedom Bus Ride to DC on January 5-6 2005
• Richard Hayes Phillips PhD, Ohio Election Fraud Investigator, Author, Musician, http://web.northnet.org/minstrel/[90] Rode on the Winter Freedom Bus Ride to DC on January 5-6 2005
• Joan Quinn, California Superior Courts Staff Attorney for 22 years, specializing in criminal law. Now retired. Witness to a great deal of election fraud in Green County. Former SOS Blackwell “locked down” election records (which are made public by statue) as a result of Joan and Eve Roberson and their request to Carol Garman for public election records. Joan and Eve were witness to the door to the building being unlocked all night at the BOE – before the recount. All the ballots were in there, there is video of this. Rode on the Winter Freedom Bus Ride to DC on January 5-6 2005
• Paddy Shaffer, Artist, Ohio Elections Investigator, Founder of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign and Artists Creating Justice, Director of Candidate Election Observer Project 2006, Fitrakis for Ohio Governor Campaign Manager, former candidate US House of Representatives Ohio 12th District, Writer and Photographer Free Press,
Green Party 2004 Recount County Coordinator for Delaware County, CASE Ohio, J30,
Rode on the Winter Freedom Bus Ride to DC on January 5-6 2005
• Evan Davis, Pacifica Radio and co-producer of Pacifica's 2006 10-part series on elections, "Informed Dissent".
Rode on the Winter Freedom Bus Ride to DC on January 5-6 2005
• Justin Jeffre, Publisher and Writer Cincinnati Beacon
Documentary Filmmakers and Photographers:
• Richard Ray Perez, Producer “Why Ohio Counts”
• Mary Beth Brangen & Jim Heddle, Producers, "Help America Vote on Paper", "Got Democracy", "A Little Light'll Do Ya, Defending Democracy in America", "Vote Rigging 101"
• Jennifer Alexander, Poll worker and supporter of election reform
• Rady Ananda, Ohio Elections Activist, Legal Investigator
• Lorraine E. Bieber, League of Young Voters, www.indyvoter.org[97], Progress Ohio.
• Teresa Blakely,
• Ellen H. Brodsky, Founder of the Broward Election Reform Coalition, a member of the Palm Beach Coalition for Election Reform and the Florida Voters Coalition. Ellen is a longtime Voting Integrity leader in South Florida, best known for election monitoring, the creation of citizen audits known as the Parallel Election Projects and speaking truth to power. Ellen is fighting for citizen control of our elections and advocates for Citizen Advisory Boards on Elections and Citizen Oversight Committees. She is the moderator of the popular ElectionReform@Yahoogroups newsgroup.
Ellen H. Brodsky, Broward Election Reform Coalition, Palm Beach Coalition for
Election Reform, Florida Voters Coalition,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/electionreform/ [98]ehbrod@yahoo.com[99], 954-973-2819
• Mark Brown, Founder Congressional Policy Forum, Ohio Election Activist, former candidate US House of Representatives
• Bill Buckel, former candidate for US House of Representatives, Elections Activist
• Stephen Caruso, Independent producer for ACTV, Volunteer for Free Press, Associates Degree in Computer Science, Certified Electronics technician
• Johannah Hupp-Clark, Guernsey County 2004 Recount Observer, Coshocton County 2004 Recount Observer
• Peace General Bruce Duncanson, Ohio Elections Activist, Peace Army General since 1983, Hand Counted Paper Ballots at the Precinct Supporter, 2006 Election Observer,
http://www.redpeacecross.com [100]
• Sherole Eaton, Former Deputy Director of the Hocking County Board of Elections, Whistleblower
• Phil Fry, CASE Ohio
• Mary Ann Gould,
• John Gideon, Co-Director and Information Manager for VotersUnite!
• Connie Harris, Ohio Election Activist
• Christa Hupp, Muskingum County 2004 Recount Observer, Coshocton County 2004 Recount Observer
• Jo Anne Karesek, Ohio Election Activist, CASE Ohio
• Gloria Kilgore, Voter Rights and Community Activist, Director of Help Ohioans Vote: One Stop ID Service Initiative
• Marian Lupo J.D., Ph.D., Ohio Election Protection Coalition
• Pat Marida, Sierra Club
• Andrew Miller, Ohio Election Activist
• Jason Parry, Ohio Election Activist and Investigator
• Anita Rios, Ohio Green Party, former Lt. Governor candidate
• Len Samuelson,
• Jane Schiff, Ohio Election Activist
• Jamia Shephard, Rode on the Winter Freedom Bus Ride to DC on January 5-6 2005
• Danny Stanton, Ohio Elections Activist, CASE Ohio
• Nudge Squidfish, Musician and poll worker
• Leatrice Tolls, Ohio Elections Activist, Rode on the Winter Freedom Bus Ride to DC on January 5-6 2005, Green Party recount coordinator for Portage County, Greater Cleveland Voter Coalition, 2004 Election Irregularities Hearing convener, E Cleve, and co-organizer of Ohio Election Teach In and Cuyahoga County Democratic Challenger
• Holly Church Wendell, Poll worker, grandmother, gardener and Inniswood Botanical Garden volunteer, peace activist with Central Ohioans for Peace, social justice advocate/lobbyist and a wanna be potter.
Organizations in Support of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign:
• Black Leadership Forum
• Election Defense Alliance
• Ohio Green Party
• PDA, Progressive Democrats of America
• The Coalition for Visible Ballots
Individuals in Support of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign:
Ray Beckerman Esq., http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/[102] New York City Attorney, Ray was a voter protection hotline volunteer in Ohio in 2004, and learned firsthand about the massive disenfranchisement which occurred here. Since then, he's been working, through his blog, "Ohio Election Fraud (formerly "Fairness")", to let the world know what happened in Ohio in 2004, and to see to it that those responsible are brought to justice."
David Earnhardt, Producer, director & writer, UNCOUNTED - www.UncountedTheMovie.com[103]
James H. Fetzer,
Mimi Kennedy, Chairwoman - Progressive Democrats of America
Michael Jay
Penny Little, Film maker
Andi Novick
Nancy Tobi
Meeting Location / Date:
• First Unitarian Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Rd. Columbus, Ohio 43214
• Date TBA
Hamilton County BOE Poll Worker Manual: Highlights
Jane Schiff's translation of highlights from sections of the Hamilton County Board of Elections Poll Worker Manual for the March 2, 2008 primary election, received by Jane from Diane Goldsmith at the Hamilton County BOE on Friday January 25, 2008.
I have attempted to translate the information for readability by attending to comprehension, word recognition and sequencing demands.
Page 14, Section 4: Working with Voters
Voting on the eSlate/JBC: Step - by - Step Procedures
The following is my translation of how a "regular vote" gets cast AT THE PRECINCT.
I have excluded procedures concerning absentee and provisional voting which I intend to present in future e-mail posts.
Scenario #1
Voter brings a current Ohio driver's license or current State of Ohio identification card with a CURRENT ADDRESS, and has ALREADY fulfilled procedures to appear with the matching CURRENT address in the signature poll book.
The
Election Judge finds the Voter's name WITH THE CURRENT ADDRESS in The Signature Poll Book.
Nothing else is required for Scenario #1.
Scenario #2
Voter brings a current Ohio Driver's License or current State of Ohio Identification Card that displays AN OLD ADDRESS and has ALREADY FULFILLED procedures to flawlessly appear with the CURRENT ADDRESS in The Signature Poll Book.
The Election Judge finds the Voter's name WITH THE CURRENT ADDRESS IN THE SIGNATURE POLL BOOK. The Election Judge asks the Voter for the last 4 digits of the CURRENT Ohio driver's license or the last 4 digits of the Current State of Ohio Identification Card and WRITES IT down in The Signature Poll Book.
Note - Nothing else is required for Scenario #2.
Scenario #3
This scenario of casting A REGULAR BALLOT IS LOADED WITH PROCEDURES, BOOBY TRAPS AND POTENTIAL BARRIEERS AND POTENTIAL DISFRANCHISEMENT. This process is driven in part, by the VOTER not producing a CURRENT STATE OF OHIO DRIVER'S LICENSE (WITH OR WITHOUT A NEW current address) or a CURRENT State of Ohio Identification Card (with or without a New current address) as well as the Voter potentially NOT appearing in The Signature Poll Book.
Voter brings a utility bill or a bank statement or a government check or a paycheck or another government document. It's the economically unfair responsibility of the Voter to bring and relinquish the Voter's own sole copy as well as coming emotionally prepared for the possibility of the Voter's CURRENT address NOT APPEARING IN THE SIGNATURE POLL BOOK. If the Voter can't relinquish the sole copy, I think the Voter must side on the side of caution and make a copy of the document prior to arriving at the precinct even though this is economically unfair for the Voter to have to provide a second copy to The Election Judge.
The Election Judge finds the Voter's name WITH THE CURRENT ADDRESS in The Signature Poll Book. The Election Judge records the type of any of the above 5 documents in The Signature Poll Book, retains a copy of any of the above 5 documents and INSERTS IT INTO THE COMPLETED FORMS BAG.
If all this goes WITHOUT A HITCH, the Voter casts a REGULAR VOTE.
font>
Submitted by
Jane Schiff
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
Lobbyists Hack Your Elections (Part II)
OEJC Calls for Investigation
E-Mail Suggests Convicted Felon Bob Ney
Connived with Ohio Election Officials
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign announced today that e-mail between Ohio lobbyist and Ohio election officials suggests that convicted felon Bob Ney connived with Ohio election officials to promote the agenda of lobbyists.
E-mail disclosed pursuant to public records request by the Ohio Election Justice Campaign, which calls for an investigation into influence peddling in Ohio's elections.
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) July 7, 2008 -- An e-mail between a lobbyist for the Ohio Association of Election Officials (OAEO) and county election officials suggests that convicted felon Bob Ney connived with election officials to promote the agenda of lobbyists, the Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) announced today. The OEJC calls for an investigation into influence peddling in Ohio's elections.
The e-mail was sent by Aaron Ockerman of State Street Consultants,
a registered lobbyist for the Ohio Association of Election Officials (OAEO), a corporation that promotes the business interests of Ohio election officials. He was a registered lobbyist for Election Systems & Software, ES&S, (ESS) in 2003.
Neil S. Clark and Paul Tipps, founders of State Street Consultants, were registered lobbyists for ES&S, 2002-04, and for Diebold (DBD), 2004 and 2005. Diebold rebranded itself as Premier Election Systems in 2007.
The subject of the e-mail was OAEO's response to the recommendations of the Ohio Legislative Ballot Security Committee, then studying the security of the electronic voting machines.
Attached to the e-mail was a letter from the leadership of the OAEO: Michael Sciortino, Director of Mahoning County Elections, located in Youngstown, Ohio in Northeast Ohio, and President of OAEO in 2004; and Keith Cunningham, Director of Allen County Elections, located in Lima, Ohio in Northwest Ohio and First Vice-President of OAEO in 2004.
The OAEO leadership sent this letter to the most powerful members of the Ohio Legislature, Speaker of the House Larry Householder (R) and Senate President Doug White (R). In this letter, the OAEO leadership write: "Congressman Bob Ney, the primary sponsor of the Help America Vote Act and former member of the Ohio General Assembly, has expressed to us his apprehensions with the committee's recommendations. The OAEO shares many of those same concerns. We ask you to quickly, but deliberately, remove the doubts developed unintentionally by the Ballot Security Committee..."
The e-mail containing this letter, which was circulated by lobbyist Ockerman to the majority of election officials at the county level, also includes articles written across the state to support the position of the OAEO. Many are editorials with no author name: Cincinnati Enquirer, Mansfield News Journal, Toledo Blade, and Akron Beacon Journal. Representative Bob Ney (R-OH) pled guilty to a conspiracy to commit multiple offenses, including honest services fraud, making false statements, and making false statements to the U.S. House of Representatives. Case No. 07-027, http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/January/07_crm_027.html[104].
Ney admitted that he engaged in a conspiracy where "he corruptly solicited and accepted a stream of things of value from Abramoff, Abramoff's lobbyists, and a foreign businessman, in exchange for agreeing to take and taking official action to benefit Abramoff, his clients, and the foreign businessman." The conspiracy began in "approximately 2000" and continued "through April 2004."
The above e-mail was sent by lobbyist Ockerman on April 13, 2004.
This e-mail was obtained pursuant to a public records request regarding the attempted legal block of the vote recount in Delaware County following the contested 2004 presidential election in Ohio.
At the time it was obtained, according to Paddy Shaffer, Director, OEJC, Delaware County election officials Janet Brenneman (director) and Kim Spangler (deputy director) expressed dismay at her request. When asked why, she was told it was because "these records had already been requested by someone else," suggesting that a parallel investigation was being conducted.
MAG - Good Evening Secretary Brunner. Thank you for being a guest and
thank you for initiating the Everest study. Would that more states
act to investigate and get the facts on the security of our voting
system, and we really appreciate that you have taken that action. I'd
like to start with the findings of Everest—by the way, what a great
acronym and name. It's definitely apropos for Ohio and perhaps the
entire United States. In your opinion, what were the three most
critical findings that are of most concern, and why?
SoSB - Thank you Mary Ann. To sum up, the stream of critical findings
were that the security in our voting systems, whether it's in the
software, servers, workstations, or at the Boards of Elections, or
the voting machines, do not contain the industry standard, or even a
minimum standard of security that we are used to and that we expect
in our other computer applications that we use for things like
banking or communications. That leads to the vulnerability to
viruses being entered in to the system even through the voting
machines in the polling places, and while we don't think that there
would be very many people who would do that, in our computer security
protocols that we use in our other systems, it's already guarded
against by the engineering of the system.
Second, we were very disappointed to learn that what we inherited
from the previous administration is a system where it's not
documented as to the configuration of the software that goes from
system to system among the counties of the state of Ohio. And, the
other thing that we learned is that the performance in some
instances, as these voting machines get used more and more again,
they're going to quickly wear out and not perform and start to
malfunction, and we've only been using them since the earliest of
November 2005. I probably should probably cover the fourth area of
the testing which was the internal operations and controls. That
allowed us to understand what a disparity there is of documentation
that's used by the Boards of Elections to operate the systems and the
work that the Secretary of State needs to do to provide instructions,
guidance, information to help the Boards of Elections do what they
are trying to do which is to do a good job.
MAG - Is there any point in particular that was especially shocking
to you that you did not expect?
SoSB - Well, overall I had hoped that we would see some bright spots
in all the equipment that we tested, and what was extremely
disappointing was that none of the systems tested well. So, from the
statewide standpoint, it leaves us in a position where we have to
look at-what are the risks? because we know we can't mitigate all the
risks, but how do we craft a solution that's going to allow us to use
equipment that we're not entirely happy with, in such a way that we
can satisfy the needs of the voters?
MAG: Especially for 2008.
SoSB: — a lot of bad choices, really.
MAG: Bottom line: from the initial landmark Harri Hursti hacking test
in Florida, through many other tests, including the California top-to-
bottom, now yours, the findings are that the machines have so many
ways to be compromised, either by mistake, or deliberate, that many
have deemed them "fatally flawed", beyond repair, that basically,
they were not designed with security as a priority. Would you agree
with that statement?
SoSB: I would agree that the security was lacking and that part of
the responsibility lays with what was established by the Help America
Vote Act by Congress, in that the testing protocols to bring these
machines to certification for federal elections didn't include the
type of security review that, for instance, California performed, and
the state of Ohio performed, and that's troubling.
MAG: And I hope what the two states have done gets performed
elsewhere. Let's move to recommendations. Who actually made the
recommendations of the problems found?
SoSB: the recommendations were actually sketched out by myself
working in connection with my staff, consulting with the researchers,
our testers, but then what we did, we took those recommendations to a
bipartisan group of election officials, twelve in total, six
republicans, six democrats, all directors and deputy directors of
Boards of Elections throughout the state that represent a variety of
different types of voting systems. And, with those officials we were
able to hammer out the finer points and we gave them a number of
options and said, "which do you think is going to work better?" We
started to assign costs to those options because this has to be paid
for if we're going to make the changes. And in the end the
recommendations were essentially my recommendations but reached with
the consultation of the election officials who actually provided a
lot of value to how these recommendations would work and could be
implemented.
MAG: Are these recommendations final or will there be a chance to
have them reviewed, revised, have citizen input?
SoSB: These are just recommendations. They are not final... the
reason that we're actually taking this to the legislature, besides
the need for perhaps assistance with funding, is that we want people
to be able to express their points of view, to give us their ideas,
their suggestions. We want the beauty of a free speech dialogue like
we have in a democracy in our country so that we can make this a
better process and a better proposal, a better solution to the
problems that we found in our report.
MAG: I assume then you would agree with one of my favorite quotes
from Abraham Lincoln, "Elections belong to the people. It is their
decision" and we need time to get them back in the process.
SoSB: I like that saying and we actually have a poll worker
recruitment brochure that has on it's cover "elections belong to the
people." and we've got pictures of Suffragists and pictures of people
marching during the civil rights movement. So clearly elections do
belong to the people.
MAG: I'd like to just touch base on overarching principles. The
beauty of our country was the creation of a government based upon
separate and independent checks and balances. Would you agree that
that should also apply to our election system?
SoSB: That and transparency create reliability, accuracy and trust in
the system.
MAG: And I would assume openness and provability to the original vote?
SoSB: Correct.
MAG: O.K. Given the above, let's discuss the recommendations because
there seems to be some confusion about the use of the precinct-based
optical scan. Could you explain at this point in time, how you see
the precinct-based optical scan being used?
SoSB: What we're recommending with the proposal that we've given to
the legislature and to the Governor, is that we, and we got to kind
of look at this from a total picture...we're looking at creating vote
centers that would be in size from five to ten precincts that would
accommodate early voting fifteen days before the election through
election day, and we're looking at people being able to vote a paper
ballot, or if they need assistance because of a disability, would be
able to insert a paper ballot into a ballot marking device, such as
an Automark, that would mark their ballot for them. Now, the Help
America Vote Act talks about having a second chance, for a voter to
have a second chance to review their ballot to check especially for
overvotes, and also for undervotes. Although the HAVA, the Help
America Vote Act says that if you have central counts it's
permissible to deal with this opportunity for second chance by
adequate amounts of public education, we would like to take the
existing precinct-based optical scanners, use them in the vote
centers as a scan, or a check on the ballots to allow the
voter to insert their ballot into the optical scanner, be alerted to
an overvote or an undervote and then be able to reject that ballot
and create a new ballot that doesn't contain the overvotes that could
cause invalidation of their vote. Once that's done they would place
their ballot into a ballot box and then that would be transported to
a central counting location at the Board of Elections. Now, at the
Board, we would provide for a server for the count...
MAG: Now, just a moment, at the precinct then. Would the precinct
based optical scan still keep a number count?
SoSB: Would they still be tabulating?
MAG: Yes.
SoSB: Based on the security results of the study that we saw, the
answer is "no." Not at this time. It doesn't mean that they wouldn't
ever. But with the current configuration of the software and the
firmware that's in the equipment and the lack of control so that
right now with the current precinct-based optical scanners someone
can actually turn off the memory. It will still allow the ballots to
scan but there'll be no tabulation, and that can be done for a short
period of time, different times throughout the day and it would only
be discovered or detected if there were a full hand count of the
ballots, or in a recount with a limited number of ballots, so that
can be corrected. We do not want to subject the voters to that risk.
MAG: Many people have raised the question: Wouldn't it be good to at
least have the count at the precinct so that should anything happen
to those ballots between there and the central counter, you do have a
count, and secondly it would be a back-up.
SoSB: That may be a good idea. In the case of the early vote centers
we would just have to ensure that with the technology used that the
scanners have different functions between scanning and tabulating. In
Ohio, two of the types of scanners that are used do, but one
manufacturer's scanner doesn't. And that scanner both scans and
tabulates all in one so that we would have to ensure that whatever
type of equipment was certified if we use that tabulation at the
precinct level as a back-up, had a differentiation in function so
that we weren't having tabulating occurring before election day.
MAG: Um-hmm. That would be important. So, you are open at this point
to having a back-up number at the precinct?
SoSB: Yes.
MAG: O.K. Why do you think the central counter would be more
accurate? Isn't that exposed to the same problems?
SoSB: This was actually something that we saw as a recommendation of
our academic researchers that that was the more secure from attacks.
The reason that we see that as being more secure is that we can
control who has access to it, better than we can with machines placed
all over the state in about fourteen thousand precincts.
MAG: What would you say to those who are saying, well, number one,
somebody else will be handling the voter's ballot: Number two, you
have a chain of custody question with the transfer of the ballots
from the precinct to wherever the central counter will be?
SoSB: Well, chain of custody is something that I know very well from
the days serving as a judge in the Common Pleas Court in Franklin
County. And chain of custody can certainly be documented and that
would be a very worthwhile thing for us to put in our procedures that
we would set forth for the Boards of Elections and those who were
working in the vote centers. So, I think that's the first part of
your question. Was there a second part, Mary Ann?
MAG: No, It's the concern that the chain of custody, be at least at
the precinct base and yes, I recognize the problems there, but it's
the only person handling that ballot is the voter themselves whereas
you would be having somebody else transfer those ballots potentially,
they may not have been counted if you don't have a counter at the
precinct. Therefore you may have a lost chain of custody.
SoSB: O.K. a couple things to answer that. First of all with each
voting machine where tabulation occurs at the precinct there's a
memory card that transfers those tabulated votes to a central server.
Those can be lost in the process. Those have been lost in the
process. In some instances it's taken half the night or more to
recover those cards. Second of all, with the paper ballots...go back
to your original question. I'm sorry.
MAG: So, let's just really get to the question of concern that the
central based (tabulation) may not be secure. What makes (central
tabulation) more secure?
SOSB: What makes the central-based more secure...is that, first of
all, I'm not saying that our high speed optical scanners are going to
be perfect but we know from our study some of the significant
vulnerabilities and we can deal with most of those through procedures
and policies and through documentation. For instance, workstations
that are connected to the server where ballot definition or other
programming goes on, are subject to an audit log. As long as the
audit log is turned on, which we would require be done in the
procedures we're going to be able to tell who did what with what was
going on that night and we also have procedures already in law and
plan to continue to support those procedures for observers to be able
to observe the count. And then finally we're looking to make
recommendations for a post-election audit procedure to check that.
And the other point I was going to make earlier. With a paper ballot
system as I am sure you know there is the opportunity for
reconciliation. So that we know how many ballots were printed for a
particular precinct. We know how many ballots were voted; how many
were spoiled and how many were unvoted, and those should add up to
the number of ballots that were originally printed to allow
reconciliation before we ever get to the steps of auditing.
MAG: We'll come back to that in a moment but you did raise an
important point on the cost. Since these systems have so many
vulnerabilities, why aren't we going after the vendors?
SoSB: Mary Ann, I'm starting to lose you. I'm sorry.
MAG: Why not approach the vendors to recap some of the cost?
SoSB: That's a very frequent question that we're asked, and in this
process, whatever recommendations are ultimately adopted by the state
legislature with the input of lots of people I think we're going to
be in the position where we're going to need to purchase new
equipment. I think that based on the time frames we have and the
negotiations and the contract work that's going to need to go into
it, we're in a good position to be able to seek concessions based
upon problems that we have with the machines and where we need to go.
We think that hopefully will be a superior course to any kind of
protracted litigation.
MAG: Now, time frame: Do you think that this can be done in 2008? and
especially with the primary?
SoSB: We don't think that we're going to be able to enact wholesale
changes for the primary. But looking at the example of New Mexico,
Governor Richardson signed a bill to convert that state to optical
scan in March and by November they had it in place statewide. We
think that it can be done, but we will proceed with caution because
the last thing we want to do is to rush a solution that creates more
problems.
MAG: Have you decided on how you would audit the system?
SoSB: We're still looking at the some of the best ways to do that.
What's interesting is that with the advent of the new equipment
because of the Help America Vote Act there's been quite a bit of
literature and research on audit procedures. I think it's going to
take some time and some experience to develop what we would call best
practices for auditing. I have been intrigued by audits that would
allow us to actually test... if we were using machine voting to test
the votes on every machine but with the model that we're proposing I
think an audit would be somewhat simpler. We would end up working
with experts statistically on how to randomly select ballots so that
we weren't hand-counting an entire state.
MAG - Now that raises the entire question, by the way, I had worked
with Dr. W. Edwards Demming who was the foremost quality statistical
expert in the world, and the basic premise is that when a system is
out of control, unpredictable, audits lose their validity, and you
may have to go to almost a 100% count until the system is under
control. Would you be willing to consider that?
SoSB - I'm not sure what under..."out of control" means.
MAG - "Out of control" means that there are so many problems that it
is not a statistical-controlled system; that the problems can come up
randomly at unusual times, unusual places and there is no way to
know. Therefore, a normal auditing system which is based upon a
normal operating system, doesn't seem to work.
SoSB - Would we be willing to go with a "statewide handcount?"
MAG - If that's necessary.
SoSB - I can't tell you at this point....Again, the goal is to assure
an accurate vote count. We would need to see what that is going to
take and go from there.
MAG: In any way are you heading for Vote-by-mail?
SoSB: One of the things we suggested was to allow individual
counties, like they do in the state of Washington, to actually put
the issue on the ballot of whether or not they can vote by mail, and
I don't know how popular that recommendation will be with the state
legislature, but again, what we're trying to do as part of this
proposal is move Ohio into the twenty-first century by offering early
voting, and voting on more than one day. We're looking at seven days
a week, twelve hours a day, except on Sunday, seven hours. The option
of allowing a county to vote by mail is a way for our voters to test
some new systems and new ways of voting because essentially voting in
Ohio and many places in the country hasn't changed for about forty or
more years. But again the caveat with that is that a state has to
ensure that it's voter database is intact, is reliable, is in good
shape and what we inherited from the year before we came into office—
It was a system that still needs some work. We've done quite a bit.
We've hired a voter database coordinator with a lot of background and
experience statewide working with database systems. But we know that
our system is not yet perfect. We know that what the Boards of
Elections have in their records oftentimes is better voter history
than what we have in ours. And when we notify a county that it has a
duplicate not all counties are responding as quickly as we'd like to
eliminate those duplicates,
MAG: You also inherited a history of caging, or voter roll cleansing.
Are there any steps to reverse that? We understand that in certain
places many people turned up at the polls and lived in the same
location for many years and were found that they were no longer on
the rolls.
SoSB: What is troublesome for me as Secretary of State in Ohio, is
the first step in vote caging is actually sending a notice to voters
at an address that is in the Board of Elections records and when that
notice comes back, for whatever reason, if there was an error in the
data entry, or if in fact the voter did move, then that was used in
2004 to systematically challenge voters. What happened in Ohio is the
Republican legislature built into our statute the expense of mailing
that notice into the statute...essentially the government is mailing
that notice out, and when that notice comes back, because the statute
is very specific that it can't be forwarded if the person's not
there, that first part has been paid for by political operatives who
would choose to use that. That we would love to see changed. That may
take some time until we see a change in the make-up of our legislature.
SoSB: You've taken a strong stand on ethics and you have sent out I
think a notice to the workers at Boards of Elections, those who work
at the polls to sign such an agreement and I laud you on that, but
you included a confidentiality component. How would confidentiality
of information to do with voting be supportive of an open and
transparent system?
SoSB: Mary Ann, I need a little more description of what you're
talking about with a confidentiality component.
MAG: I believe, I don't have it right in front of me, but there was a
section that was mailed out that included that all information was to
be kept confidential. Are you saying then that if those at the Board
of Elections, those working at the polls, see a problem that they are
free to disclose that?
SoSB: Oh, certainly. We operate in a system of public records in
Ohio, So I have personally reviewed that policy about three times now
and I'm having trouble discerning or recalling what exactly that
applies to and I apologize for that. So I think we'll to have to look
at it again and maybe revisit it.
MAG: What can citizens do to help you?
SoSB: Citizens should make their voices heard. If they live in Ohio
and they have an opinion on this they should contact heir legislator.
If they like parts of our recommendations or all of them, I think
that the legislature should want to hear from them. What's been
interesting for me is that the unsolicited comments, emails, faxes,
letters and phone calls that we receive from everyday citizens have
been overwhelmingly positive. I think it's exciting for us to look at
where voting can go in Ohio and what we can do to create a system
that's going to allow more people to participate. The last thing that
I ever want to come from these findings is for people to say that
they have no confidence in the system. The sense that I'm getting is
almost a sense of relief because people have had so many questions
for so long and at least our study answers those questions and it
gives us a launching point to go far beyond what any of us could have
ever imagined our election system could be.
MAG: Now for those places that ran into very long lines in the last
presidential election, will they be able to just go and get a paper
ballot and use it?
SoSB: What I'm suggesting, especially for the March Primary, where we
still have to use the DRE's and the precinct-based optical scans in
the polling places, is that for situations with the DRE's that if a
person wants a paper ballot, they can have a paper ballot. Now anyone
in Ohio who wants to vote by absentee ballot is able to do so without
giving any reason whatsoever and they will always be given a paper
ballot to do that, unless of course they go to the Board of Elections
and vote in-person, early, at the Board as an absentee, and in some
cases they may vote by machine.
MAG: Now, how would you deal with the fact that some of the studies
have found that a precinct-based optical scan can read a ballot one
way and a central (tabulator) may not read it the exact same way. So
you may end up with two systems reading two different ways.
SoSB: Can you elucidate for me what study that is?
MAG; That's in fact by Lehigh University, Dr. Dan LoPresti. He has
been doing quite a bit of study on the use of paper ballots and
optical scans.
SoSB: I would need to look at that study but one of my concerns is
that, are we saying that the precinct optical scan was the correct
tabulation? and central wasn't? Or, visa versa?
MAG: You don't know. They can read differently. And in fact certain
optical scans can read certain sections and not read another section
well, Which may, depending upon where a party is located (on the
ballot), leave a party out.
SoSB: Now, some of what we learned in our study, because we looked at
more than security. We looked at performance and we looked at
internal operations, and controls and configurations, was that the
limitations in some of the machines include a ballot that's printed
where the selections have to be in a certain location, for instance,
in the right-hand column or the left-hand column, and I can't recall
whether it is right or left off the top of my head. That's a
limitation that's built into the engineering and performance of it.
That could be one effect. Another effect is the actual ballot
definition, the actual creation of the ballot so that it can be read
by a scanner, and as you may recall in Cuyahoga County in 2006 the
first time they used their new Premier system which was Diebold at
the time, one of the problems they ran into with their optical scan
ballots, which were absentee ballots were that they had them printed
at a printer who didn't create the ballots in a way that they could
be read. So, there are a lot of variables that could play into this
and we'll certainly look at those issues. As you suggested, allowing
a check through, allowing the precinct-based optical scanners to
actually tabulate on election day all of the results that have been
scanned into it and comparing that with the central optical scan, may
be a good solution to explore that.
MAG: That certainly would and it certainly meets the criteria of
separate and independent checks and balances and is a back-up. And if
there are differences that usually a signal to investigate. Now, if
recounts are needed how will you ensure that the selection is truly
random, rather than what has occurred in the past? Known ahead.
SoSB: Like cherry-picked?
MAG: (laughs) Yes.
SoSB: We have already issued a directive, and I'm sure it's going to
be subject to further change on randomizing the recounts. Right now,
with recounts in Ohio there are situations where automatic recounts
occur when the margin is very close as specified in statute. We take
three percent of the precincts in that particular race and we recount
the votes by hand in those precincts. We did set out a rather
methodical way to randomize the selection. There's been some
criticism that we could make it more random, but we tried this our
for the November election. It worked. It didn't slow down the
process. But we're willing to look at more sophisticated ways to make
this even more statistically random.
MAG: Now, in summary, many people have said that raising this
question will scare people away from the polls. What say you?
SoSB: I go back to the issue that you said, that election belong to
the people. The way that we have a voice in what our government does
is by participating. We know that as these machines were originally
engineered that they were supposed to count the votes correctly. We
have procedures that will allow us to check and to double check in
the short term for the March primary. For November we plan to have a
system in place that will minimize the risks; that will maximize the
instructions and the uniformity of the providing of rights to people.
What we're saying is don't give up on this system. We have many
people who are working hard day and night to make this work because
we understand that voting is the mechanics of how democracy gets
done. Without people's participation we don't have a full and robust
debate. Participation is the fullest measure of our democracy and I
know that each and every one of us believes in that democracy and we
can show that by ensuring that we inform ourselves and that we stick
with the process and allow the improvements to take place as the year
unfolds next year.
MAG: How can citizens get involved/ How can they become poll workers?
SoSB: Citizens can contact their local county Board of Elections and
indicate that they would like to be a poll worker and the Boards
desperately need that help. And they can also go to our website. We
have information on how to contact all the Boards of Elections at the
website. And, we also have something that we created specifically for
high school students who are graduating this year. It's called Grads
Vote 2007. It's under the Secretary of State's website which is
www.sos.state.oh.us [109] and there's actually a place on online to sign up
to be a poll worker and we will transmit that information to that
voter's particular county.
MAG: How can citizens comment on the recommendations. Will there be
some open hearings?
SoSB: There should be hearings in the Ohio legislature and we have a
website and people are more than welcome to drop us a line at our
website.
MAG: Would there be any county hearings where people could go locally?
SoSB: At the county level, I'm not really certain that a Board of
Elections would go to the point to hold that hearing and with the
limited time we have to get recommendations actually adopted and
funded, it's unlikely that we would be able to make it to all eighty-
eight counties between now and when we think we need to have this
ready to roll which would be at the latest mid-April.
MAG: Now, will citizens be able to observe the central counting?
SoSB: That is our plan and right now they can and we intend to push
any proposal that would allow that to still occur.
MAG: What assurance will they have that the transfer of the ballots
from the precinct to the central locations will be completely secure?
SoSB: We will adopt chain of custody procedures and we will verify
that that is done. We have regional liaisons for our office who each
work with the county Boards of Elections that are assigned to them
and they would be checking and spot-checking to make sure that the
procedures were being followed.
MAG: Fine. Is there anything in summary that you would like to say to
both the citizens of Ohio and also to those in the United States
because we face a critical election in 2008.
SoSB: I ran for Secretary of State because I wanted to do this job. I
bring my judicial experience, my years of working in the Secretary of
State's office, my years as an election attorney and serving on the
board of elections. I bring that fully to bear and I resigned my
position as a judge so that I could actually run for the office and
it's important to me to preserve our democracy, and I and my very
dedicated staff will work day and night to do our very best to make
that happen.
MAG: Fine. Thank you very much.
SoSB: Thank you Mary Ann.
Monroe County, Ohio, Records Request
Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Election Education Program
This is for Monroe County, Ohio. In which in their letter of explanation to David Ferrel, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Director of Elections refers to federally protected election records, and the reason they no longer have them. In that letter Margaret Hansen, the Director of the Monroe Board of Elections wrote in part,
"This letter is to inform you of the missing 2004 general election's unvoted ballots. According to our retention schedule we were allowed to dispose of the unvoted ballots after 60 days. Of course, we had to keep the voted ballots for 22 months."
Across this country, federal law requires that all election records from federal elections (that includes the US Presidency) be kept for 22 months. This includes unvoted ballots. Multiple Ohio counties besides Monroe claim to have a different record retention schedule, the OEJC is investigating this.
This is a very simple one item record request. If anyone needs assistance on asking for records in their own state, let us know.
Below is the record request letter.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Margaret Hansen
Director Monroe County Board of Elections
101 North Main Street
Courthouse Room 15
Woodsfield, OH 43793
(740) 472-0929
(740) 472-2517 Fax monroe@sos.state.oh.us[110]
December 10, 2007
Dear Margaret Hansen,
As per ORC 149.43 I request a copy of your record retention schedule for federal election records.
Thank You,
Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
(address removed for internet sharing)
(614) 761-0621 paddy@columbus.rr.com[5]
Cc: The Ohio Election Justice Campaign/font>
Now, do we get our money back??
Project Everest Commentary from Victoria Parks
In my last commentary, I stated that is just plain "wrong to assume." And now we know. The Secretary of State of the great State of Ohio just released her long awaited tests results in Project Everest, Secretary Brunner's plan to determine once and for all where vulnerabilities lie with Ohio's voting machine hardware and software. I just want to say that on the one hand the results of the Project Everest testing were brilliant—so revealing and so damning. I feel vindicated. Long time election justice activists everywhere have indeed won the argument on the DRE voting machines. The touchscreen voting machines have proven a danger to democracy. It is just one more nail in the coffin of lies and deceit. Whew, that was a long haul. Though I am pleased and feel vindicated I have to ask, was it worth 1.9 million dollars to prove this again? Just because something is really, really expensive does that mean it is worth what you paid for it? On the other hand, Secretary Brunner has no plans to decertify the touchscreens. Why not? Even more rigorous testing was done in California which found even more vulnerabilities which resulted in the unprecedented action of California's Secretary of State Debra Bowen decertifying the all three voting machine vendors in that state. Even with the findings, yesterday's news from the Secretary of State didn't produce what most of us in the Ohio Election Justice Campaign were hoping for. Surely, she would do the same, and decertify the machines, we thought. And just look at those test results. Why, it is as if the vendors designed the machines to fail! hmmm. That's getting my blood pressure up. I also want to know, how was that 1.9 Million in HAVA money spent? Blood pressure is going even higher now. To whom did it go? ...higher... Why did it pay for testing which resulted in conclusions that have already been established? ...pop. So many questions, so few real answers. Now, I hear Project Everest managers and observers had to sign a non-disclosure agreement that shuts them up until 2017. So, complain all you want public, "you have no right to know what we are doing." "Just trust us." That is the message. No transparency, still no trust.
The fact that so many holes were poked in vendor claims of voting machine security is absolutely another victory for long-time election justice activists who have long claimed this. For that I am grateful and congratulate the Secretary of State for looking into this critical matter even though it came at a price of 1.9 million to taxpayers way too late. Voters have long awaited official confirmation of these allegations. The fact remains though that the primaries are only two months away and that is unsettling. We all remember what a mess the last election turned out to be. We expect it will be again in '08. Will we just hear more overtures of "everything went just fine" in '08? The tests are better late than never but where will that put us in two months? I only wish this testing had been done early in the year after we had given Secretary Brunner all the ammo in the world to decertify. To her credit she did take action in Cuyahoga County. And, now she has tested the machines and confirmed what we all suspected—that these voting machines are like crack houses. The door is always left unlocked and you may not know who is inside at any one time, but, you do know that crimes are being committed while the criminals are inside. Enforcing the rule of law is now long overdue. I know Secretary Brunner has a huge task ahead of her in 2008 and I will try to take that into consideration, but I also must say that essentially nothing has changed. The same group of officials are still in place who botched the last general election so badly. What is worse, many of the Project Everest observers were Ohio BOE officials who defied a Federal Court Order to preserve '04 election records. What does that say? They should be held in contempt of court. So, what were they doing observing Project Everest? Was it meant as part of their learning curve? And what was a registered lobbyist for ES&S doing picking the observers for Project Everest? I am worried indeed.
I must ask the Secretary of State, why not decertify the machines?? Because the state doesn't have the money to go to a hand-counted paper ballot system? The answer could be "well, yes, we're broke. We just blew our HAVA wad on machines that went for about five thousand dollars a pop." That's all the more reason to get our money back. Or, does the Secretary of State's reasoning not to decertify reflect the view that "we already spent so much money on them, we have to continue spending money with these vendors to try to make electronic voting work!"? That reasoning is so flawed. Like I said, putting good money after bad is not only illogical, it is stupid. Secretary Brunner you know this. You also know we don't have the money. Heck, we've already spent 1.9 million to prove something we activists, and the California SoS already knew. That is why it is so troubling that you choose NOT to decertify the machines as California's Secretary Bowen so wisely chose to do. I am bewildered. Proving your independence of judgement apart from that of Calfornia's Debra Bowen, will not score political points for you. This will not wash with voters. I guarantee it.
Madame Secretary, don't you think we should get our money back??
I've said previously, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results", a saying from our great founder, Ben Franklin who had little respect for lightning but much respect for scientific process. OK, Project Everest did not reveal results any different from those in California, Of course. that was an easy assumption to make. Now, can we move on and get our money back because we all know what landfill these machines turned out to be? Respectfully, there is something else that bothers me and it has nothing to do with you, Madame Secretary. The Help America Vote Act which forced these voting machines on us in the first place, was written in Bob Ney's office with the help of Jack Abramoff and two-hundred-seventy-five thousand dollars from the Diebold corporation. Yes, our tax money went to vendors who finance people like Bob Ney (Federal Prisoner #28882-016) and Jack Abramoff (Federal Prisoner #27593-112). If Bob Ney and Jack Abramoff are both convicted criminals, what does that make HAVA?
Brunner's recommendations long on money, short on transparency
Secretary Brunner enjoyed a great coup at her press conference on 14 December when she revealed her damning Project Everest findings. For a politician to get press like that in front of a 30 foot Christmas tree is a slam dunk. Good on her.
Nevertheless, one could conjecture that absolutely nothing will change in Ohio for the primaries. Her recommendations will not be implemented because there isn't the cash, nor the time now, to put her recommendations into place for '08. We will keep using the DRE's, certainly in every other county save Cuyahoga perhaps. Her recommendation may not be enough to solve the great challenges that lay ahead for Ohio voters in '08. If the past is any indication, the primaries are guaranteed to be a mess when once again we expect to be told by elections officials that everything went "just fine", "just trust is" and "move along. There is nothing to see here." However, as Bev Harris of Black Box Voting pointed out recently, appeals of "just trust us" don't wash anymore with voters. This is not about "just trust us." This is "prove our vote count is correct beyond a doubt by implementing the proper checks and balances." Harris is spot on. We the people are entitled to full transparency in our elections and we are just not there. We are angry and we are still waiting for genuine election integrity by means of genuine transparency.
Secretary Brunner made it clear that in-precinct vote tabulation audits using optical scanners against hand-counts are gone. She, in doing so, has eliminated the most critical opportunity to achieve election transparency. Her move towards strict central tabulation effectively shuts down transparency at the precinct level. Secretary Brunner, we need MORE transparency in the precinct, not LESS. But you know that. No, Secretary Brunner, We the People would demand a mandatory, truly random, ten percent in-precinct hand count audit against the optical scanners on election night. We the people will not let another elections official, politician or bogus legislation, eliminate every avenue to transparency that was once available to us. A real paper ballot provides us that one chance to make sure the vote count is right on election night and you understand this. We will achieve this through a process called citizen oversight. So let's not make it a paper trail. Let's make it a paper ballot. Give us that in our precincts.
I am dreading the March primary. Ohio doesn't have the money for the Secretary's recommendations to shift to optical scanners and paper ballots for '08. Where will we ever find the money? Even if we did have the money, are we to understand her recommendation would be to continue rewarding the vendors— the vendors who sold taxpaying voters a bill of goods in the first place and whose only punishment will be?.... drum roll please... A BRAND NEW CONTRACT for the manufacture of 2 billion-dollars-worth of NEW ELECTRONIC Voting machines!? Oh, that again. I can see it now just as clearly as a train coming down the track and guess who is tied to the tracks? The voters are. The taxpayers are. That is just not going to wash with us anymore. We are tired of spending billions for questionable elections. We want verifiable election results. Anything less than total transparency is unacceptable. We want our money back so we get get back on track—that is, on the train, not the tracks. Methinks it is not only time for real transparency but that it is time for some hefty lawsuits filed against the vendors for the biggest democracy-killing taxpayer rip-off in history. Vendors shouldn't be rewarded, they should be decertified, then they should be sued.
If we ever do get our money back, which I doubt, we should spend it on hiring randomly selected independent auditors to conduct in-precinct random 10% hand-count audits against the optical scanners counting our precious, real paper ballots. Now THAT would prevent the cheaters from cheating. Yes. It would offer genuine checks and balances by the people, for the people offered the freedom to verify their own election results. That's real transparency. Remember, it's not about "just trust us" anymore. Accustomed to disappointment once again though, voters get coal for Christmas. We have been duly informed that in-precinct audits are off the table by Secretary Brunner.
Though some of Brunner's recommendations on the surface appear to be actually quite good, like the 12-day window voters would be given to cast their ballot in "Super-precinct polling stations", the recommendations do nothing to address the urgent need for real transparency. Consider for example, what might happen if some unscrupulous individual counted super-precinct ballots early and was able to use the early results like an exit poll that could be used to fine-tune a rig? The possibilities for fraud are stunning. For another example, weak links in the chain of custody exist for the transport of millions of paper ballots to an ill-conceived "Central Tabulation" point in each county. Without polling station audits with citizen oversight, we still won't know if our vote truly counted.
Transparency is the key word in verifiable elections and we still have none of it. What Secretary Brunner has proposed guarantees voters will have solved some old problems but will gain an entire boatload of new ones—more than we had during the Office of Secretary of State under Blackwell. If anything, voters fear we will feel the noose again in '08 amidst the chaos and desperation of voters who fear their vote, and perhaps their voter registration as well, will be manipulated again. The election of '08 may well become just another fake election that "went just fine." Prove me wrong, Oh please, prove me wrong. In the meantime, can we get our money back?
Is Ohio State Using and Abusing Your Personal Data and Signature?
From: Jane Schiff, Ohio Election Justice Campaign.
The following is an email that I sent to the attention of each of the following individuals on Saturday, February 16, 2008:
Marc Dann, Attorney General, State of Ohio
Richard Coglianese, Assistant Attorney General, State of Ohio
Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State
Richard Cordray, Treasurer State of Ohio
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
My husband and myself obtained new Ohio Drivers' Licenses (although we had ccurrent licenses, we had moved precincts) at the BMV on Thursday, January 24, 2008, to avoid having to cast Provisional Ballots. On Friday, January 25, 2008 we updated our voter registration cards in person at The Hamilton County Ohio Boarfd of Elections to avoid having to cast Provisional ballots. We were given the Acknowledgement Notices with the new precinct info in person at The Hamilton County Ohio Board of Elections. In the past, we had received those types of cards by mail, despite registering also in times past, in person at The Hamilton County Ohio Board of Elections.
Monday, February 11, 2008
A Second Acknowledgement Notice arrived in our mail for my husband with a Barccodes on it. I didn't get a Second Acknowledgement Notice. I immediately cohntacted Ann Strasser (513) 632 - 7036 at The Hamilton County Ohio Board of Elections to find out why the notice arrived for my husband but not for me. Ann and I spoke from about 5:45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Ann said that the BMV AUTO - FILLED the Ohio BMV's voter voter registration cards but insisted we signed them on January 24, 2008 at the Redbank Road Deputy Registrar's Office at this branch of the Ohio BMV. Ann told me that she would mail those "Voter - Registration Cards that were AUTO - FILLED OUT that again - she insisted that we had signed. Ann examined our data further and determined the following:
My husband and I were serviced by two different persons at the BOE because we made separate trips to the same BOE on the same day. Ann said that during reconciliation of data, Question #24 was erroneously answered by the typist doing the reconciliation for my husband. In a nutshell, the question is phrased "Send Deuplicate Notice?" The typist who was reconciling my husband's data INCORRECTLY typed "YES" IN ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION. Apparently, the person who typed the answer to Question #24 on my data answered the question "SEND DUPLICATE NOTICE?" CORRECTLY by typing "No." Ann said I won't be getting a second card.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
We received these documents from Ann Strasswer at The Hamilton County Ohio Board of Elections.
These documents are disturbing. Our signatures and our responses to 2 Voting Inquiry Questions at the top, were used without our knowledge and consent at The Bureau of Motor Vehicles without revealing that one of the purposes was to register us to vote.
1. Are you a U.S. citizen? YES box NO box
2. Will you be at least 18 years of age on or before the next general election?
YES box NO box
"If you answered NO to either of the questions, do not complete this form."
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CITIZEN IS NOT ASKED IF HE/SHE WANTS TO VOTE.
I am also complaining about the accuracy of MY AUTO - FILLED OUT info. The information intended for my previous address appeared as my current address with an erroneous apartment number during the process of WHAT I THOUGHT WAS JUST A DRIVERS' LICENSE RENEWAL AND MERGING OF DATA. I told Maria, the clerk to fix it. She said she would but evidently failed to do so. I expect all of you to correct this error.
Here is how my PREVIOUS address SHOULD read:
5431 Kenwood Road apt. 208
Cincinnati, Ohio 45227
I'm cognizant of The Real ID Act and all related "benchmarks" requiring the "seamless merging" of The Ohio Secretary of State/The Department of HOmeland Security/The Ohio Department of Public Safety/The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
All of you have a responsibility to inform citizens that when they get their Drivers' Licenses renewed, that all of your agencies as I itemized above have gone far afield re: Homeland Security requirements.
Although I am a Voter Rights activist with The Ohio Election Justice Campaign I feel you have violated all Ohio Citizens' Constitutional Rights NOT TO VOTE IF THEY SO CHOOSE NOT TO VOTE by making people THINK that they are simply renewing Ohio Drivers' Licenses and merging data.
I'm not a Jehovah's Winess, but I know some people are. My best guess is that Jehovah's Witnesses expect high levels of Homeland Security like other citizens; but literally sticking license renewal info onto Voter Registration cards with AUTO - FILL and then USING SIGNATURE WITHOUT PERMISSION is UNCONSTITUTIONAL for anybody and interferes with the right of Jehovah's Witnesses to practice their faith by remaining apolitical.
Do not permit: THE OFFICE OF THE OHIO SECRETARY OF STATE/THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY/THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY/THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES/THE BOARDS OF ELECTION OF THE STATE OF OHIO TO PARTICIPATE IN ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED IN ANY WAY WITH THE CREATION OF PHONY VOTER REGISTRATION CARDS.
Figure out the software issues - don't take it on We The People.
I don't believe for one minute that HAVA calls for phony voter registration cards with our signatures TAKEN without our knowledge, informed consent and permission.
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.
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 [115]
Thomas W. Noe Prison Information: http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&need... [117]
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/NEWS24/60...[118] 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." http://ohio15th.blogspot.com/2007/12/latta-did-get-money-from-tom-noe.html[119] http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=12303[120]
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 [121]
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-ste...[122] ), 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[123]
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 kent.markus@governor.ohio.gov[124] kmarkus@law.capital.edu[125]
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
Thugs Gag Your Vote: OEJC Calls for Day
of Silence on Sunday, January 6th, 2008 Fri Jan 4, 9:09 AM ET
[126] [127] [128] [129] [130] [131] Photos By Troy Seman
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[132], 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[37].
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 [133].
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.
Background info: "Ohio Holds Funeral on Anniversary of 2004 Elections," http://www.prnewsnow.com/TextNews/168067.html; [134] "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 [135].
Cuyahoga Needs New Elections Systems and State to
Initiate Recall, Return, and Refund Lawsuit
As reported by Jay Miller in Crain’s Cleveland Business, November 29, 2007, http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20071129/FREE/71129019/1008&Profi...[137]
The Cuyahoga County commissioners want the state of Ohio to cover the county's
costs for swapping out its new, balky electronic voting machines for a system the
commissioners believe is more reliable.
The commissioners are preparing a letter to Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer
Brunner asking her to press the General Assembly to come up with the roughly
$20 million it will cost to scrap the county's touch-screen system and replace
it with a new optical scanning system.
After this morning’s weekly commissioners’ meeting, president Tim Hagan said
the county also is considering suing Diebold Inc., whose Premier Election Solutions
business built the touch-screen machines and their computer software. But Mr. Hagan
said a lawsuit would be a last resort because the county for the coming March 2008
primary is saddled with the Diebold equipment and must be able to work with the company.
Mr. Hagan also said it may make more sense for the state to initiate a lawsuit, if it
comes to that, because other counties have the same system, though they have not had
Cuyahoga’s problems.
Mr. Hagan said the state should pay because it was former Secretary of State Ken
Blackwell who selected the Diebold system.
According to Jeffrey Kirkby, Voices of Cleveland and Beyond Video Productions and an Ohio Election Justice Campaign member, http://www.electiondefensealliance.org/OEJC[31], who was present during the interviews:
When the pens and microphones were dropped and reporters were finished,
I couldn't help but ask Tim Hagan if it is too late to go back to using
paper ballots and counting them at the precincts.
Tim interrupted the scoffs and chuckles by the reporters by saying in a
serious tone, "Hey don't laugh, it may come to that. We all remember a
time when we trusted that way of counting and were comfortable with it."
More Electoral Incriminating Evidence
From deep in the heart of "so goes the nation" we have a few more posts about
Cuyahoga recount days, including film from the reprinting process the first
day, through next week's scheduled 6 more!
Really great footage and coverage of Diebold hardware problems.
I'm hoping soon the citizens will start to ask for their money back
from defective product they were sold.
Paulson said,"I think most people admit they bought the wrong system. You don't want to be a laughingstock because your equipment doesn't work.
Board chairman Jeff Hastings said, "It looks like a hardware issue, not a training issue. We need to go to the vendor and say we have a problem with your equipment. Why do we have a problem."
Ohio Election Theft Kills
This is an important video, titled "More Dead Cause of Ohio" that ties in the theft of the Ohio Election with the many soldiers now dead . . . because of what has happened in Ohio.
The ripples in this dark pond water are rolling around the world, and the dead are buried.
This Video is based on a Neil Young song, and it includes scenes from the new David Earnhardt movie "UNCOUNTED."
David is a supporter of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign, and we recommend the movie.
Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State
Chris Nance, Assistant Ohio Secretary of State
Kellye Pinkleton, Director, Voting Rights Institute
Brian Green, Elections Council
Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2007
Dear Secretary Brunner, Christopher Nance Brian Green, and Kellye Pinkleton,
Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and the staff at the Ohio Secretary of State's office.
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) writes to you this evening
about the growing concern of many of the members of the OEJC regarding
the multiple written and verbal unanswered requests we have made to be
observers of your Project Everest testing of the Ohio voting machines.
As we understand it, according to Kathy Spinelli of the Secretary of
State's office, the testing finishes at the end of this month, with a
report due out in mid December.
As we have repeatedly asked to be observers of the testing, we have
continually been told that someone will get back to us, or we get no
answer at all.
That leaves us now with a maximum of 6 day's left to observe, and this
6 days would include the Friday after Thanksgiving... which for many is
still part of the holiday. So that takes us on a more practical level
to 5 days of testing remaining.
Has any member of the public gotten to observe? As this 1.8 million
dollars is taxpayer HAVA money (our money), used to do the testing,
should not we as taxpayers get to take a look?
We understand that the members of the Voting Rights Institute (VRI)
that were offered a chance to view the testing of the voting machines,
on November 14th were also offered a dilemma. It is our understanding
that to view the facility where the testing was, with the possibility
that they might see some of the testing, they were informed they must
agree to silence. It is our understanding that they would have had to
sign a non disclosure agreement, to not speak about what they saw until
the year 2017, ten years in the future. Do we understand this correctly?
Could you please explain why this was a condition of observing the
testing.
We request a copy of the form that you asked them to sign, please send
it and the other documents we will now be requesting to our contact
person, Paddy Shaffer. We request to know what they were told, verbally
and in written form. Did any of them observe the testing? We request
the forms of any VRI members that signed such a form.
What if they saw something that really troubled them, something that
did not show up in your report. Do you really think they should not
tell the public what they saw?
Who else was asked to sign a non disclosure agreement regarding Project
Everest? If there are other versions of non disclosure forms that your
office has asked people to sign this year, we request to have copies of
these records.
Please send copies of all non disclosure agreements that you have asked
any member of the Voting Rights Institute to sign, or for them to even
consider signing this year in regards to anything having to do with
interaction with the VRI, the office of the Secretary of State, or Ohio
Elections. We request these items as part of the Ohio Public Records
Laws, ORC 149.43
If there have been other verbal requests to "keep quiet" or not share
information either verbally, photographically, audio, video, or other
means from members of the VRI, or the public in their interaction with
any County or State Ohio Election Officials, with venders of Ohio election
machines, silence requests that in any way have come from the Ohio Secretary
of State's office, from any member of the SOS staff, we request to know
the details, and what and when things were agreed to. If this is in writing
please provide it, if it is all been verbal, please write it down, that we
may know what our tax dollars are paying for in the way of public servants.
It is known that Brian Green, who sends out the record requests from the
SOS office likes to only provide paper records, but this topic is so very
important and for our fragile democracy to survive, and for us to trust
what we now see as non trustworthy voting machines, that we feel it is
necessary to know about it all, and to know about it now. We hope that
if the requested information has only been verbal up until this time,
that it will be deemed necessary to put it in writing, and provide it to us.
If we can schedule observers in for watching the testing during the final
week, we are interested. If we would also be asked to sign a non disclosure
agreement to do this, we would of course, need to see what it says.
Cc: All of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Mark Niquette
Jon Craig
Ian Urbina
Brian Rothenberg
P.S. Below you will find a previous request to view the testing, it
was never resolved.
----- Original Message -----
From: Paddy Shaffer
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 4:45 PM
Subject: SOS - Observers for testing of Voting Machines, Project
Everest, OH Sec. of State,
Chris Nance, Assistant Ohio Secretary of State
Kellye Pinkleton, Director, Voting Rights Institute
November 7, 2007
Dear Chris Nance,
Dear Assistant Secretary Nance,
I write today to request to be able to place observers from The Ohio
Election Justice Campaign to witness the Project Everest 1.8 million
dollar tax payer supported testing of the Ohio Voting Machines. I
wrote you about this previously in a letter about several subjects,
and did not get a response. As I now wonder if my request was
overlooked, I thought it was important that I repeat it.
It is my understanding that the testing is to be complete on Thursday
November 15th, 2007. Is this correct? As there are only a few days
before that date, please send me details on how to have observers in
to watch some of the testing, and the location for which they would
need to go.
Please let me know what the anticipated date is for your Project
Everest Report on the findings to be complete.
Thank you so much for your assistance Chris and Kellye.
Sincerely,
cc: Bev Harris
Victoria Parks
Dan Stanton
Tim Kettler
Sheri Myers
Jon Craig
Mark Niquette
Nancy Tobi
Ian Irbina
Paul Lehto Esq.
Brad Friedman
Greg Palast
Stephen Caruso
Jamia Sheppard
Ray Beckerman Esq.
Blair Bobier, Esq.
Tim Kettler
Paul Harmon, Esq
Michael Collins
Joan Quinn
Jo Anne Karesek
Jane Schiff
LOBBYISTS HACKING YOUR ELECTIONS?
The Case for Voting Systems Recall, Return, and Refund (Part I)
photo collage by Victoria Parks, 2007
Ohio Election Justice Campaign Press Conference of November 21, 2007
This is 107 days after a meeting was requested with Jennifer Brunner, The Ohio Secretary of State, and Mark Dann, The Ohio Attorney General to begin the discussion of dealing with the need for investigation, prosecution, and a way for the public to follow the progress. So far, they have not agreed to meet with this growing national group, and their main comment for every question is "We are looking forward to 2008, we are getting ready for 2008", yet we have noticed that while they do this they also ignore a very troubling past.
As today is Thanksgiving, November 22, 2007... we have only 39 days until it is 2008, a presidential election year, and according to Secretary Brunner, absentee ballots go out in January. The continuing research by The Ohio Election Justice Campaign shows that more needs investigated now, not less. It seems Secretary Brunner has now inserted lobbyists of the voting machine companies into the picture. We hope that many things can be worked out for the benefit of the people, with Secretary Brunner and Attorney General Dann.
Artists Creating Justice members... Paddy Shaffer and Victoria Parks sculpted a large roasted turkey sculpture to help get the points of the Ohio Election Justice Campaign out to the world... The OEJC asks to "Toss Out These Turkeys" in reference to the Diebold, ES&S, and Hart Intercivic Voting Machines.
Thanks and Blessings to Progress Ohio for hosting our Press Conference!
Many Thanksgiving "Thanks" to Peace General Bruce for the below video of this press conference.
OEJC Press Conference, Columbus, Ohio, USA >11-21-2007 (part-1-)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2329730873176308759&hl=en [146]
OEJC Press Conference, Columbus, Ohio, USA >11-21-2007 (part-2-)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8852338345804631566&hl=en [147]
A blog article by Columbus Dispatch reporter Mark Niquette (who was out of town on holiday and not at the press conference, but did give us some coverage - thank him) is in the below link. This has a place below for comments. Please add one.
http://blog.dispatch.com/dailybriefing/
In Remembrance of 11/2/04, Demand Electoral Justice! To download, print and distribute an 8.5 x 11 PDF poster of this announcement, Click here[148]
Video clips of Nov. 2 observances:
Video from the November 2, 2007 Three Year Memorial Anniversary of the Theft
of the 2004 Presidential election, organized by the Ohio Election Justice Campaign,
covering the eulogy and funeral procession to the Franklin County Board of Elections
and the offices of the Ohio Secretary of State and the Ohio attorney general.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5764871517737283753&hl=en [149]
Over 350,000 Ohioans did not get to vote in 2004
Many thanks to Peace General Bruce Duncanson for this documentary coverage. Thanks and God Bless these patriotic activists, my friends, these members of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign and of the public that joined us this November day.
Please share with others interested in restoring the rule of law and honest elections to the United States, especially the state of Ohio. This is a sad but important part of American history.
Quarantine that Machine
is a plan to empower the voters of this nation to have any machine that appears to be behaving in a criminal manner during an election (vote hopping, for example), to be pulled from the election, not chanced or tampered with by poll workers, treated as evidence for a criminal investigation, picked up by law enforcement, and not returned to the local county election officials until an investigation of said machine has been done by certified investigators. The voter would be encouraged to file a police report, and to follow up with election integrity groups and report the incident, and get them a copy of the police report. The Ohio Election Justice Campaign is interested in collecting these reports, and would appreciate any group that is given such a report to also submit a report to us.
Members and friends of the "Ohio Election Justice Campaign" gathered for a wake over the loss of HONEST ELECTIONS.
For Immediate Release, 10/28/07:
Remembering Nov. 2, 2004: A Funeral for Democracy
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) is holding a funeral for the 2004
elections in Ohio on Friday, November 2, 2007, in Columbus, Ohio. This is
the third anniversary of an election so flawed that for the first time in
U.S. history, an entire state's Electoral College votes were challenged
in the counting and certifying of a presidential election.
The funeral will begin with a eulogy at 11:30 am in front of the Ohio
Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, at the McKinley statute, followed by a
noon funeral procession past the Franklin County Board of Elections
and the offices of the Ohio secretary of state and the Ohio attorney
general.
A memorial service honoring the 2004 voters will be held from
5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer
Road, Columbus. Mourners are invited to a wake for democracy with speakers and
music at Victoria's Midnight Café, 251 W. 5th Avenue (at Neil),
Columbus, from 7 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
The OEJC is a coalition of concerned citizens from across Ohio and election
experts in Ohio and around the nation, including election reformers
currently serving on the Ohio Secretary of State's Voting Rights Institute.
Organizations supporting the OEJC include the Black Leadership Forum,
Progressive Democrats of America, the Ohio Green Party, and Election Defense Alliance.
The OEJC seeks to raise citizen awareness of election justice issues through
education and to encourage elected officials to restore the
rule of law to Ohio.
The OEJC calls for an immediate response to the allegations of election fraud
and electoral irregularities in Ohio in 2004 and 2006.
These issues have only become more urgent with the passage of time and upcoming presidential election.
For more information, contact the Ohio Election Justice Campaign:
Paddy Shaffer at paddy@columbus.rr.com[5] or (614) 761-0621
or Marj Creech at risenregan@earthlink [152].net or (740)-739-1390
Also see http://www.wakeupandsaveyourcountry.com/oejc.html [153]
An account of the Nov. 2 Day of Remembrance events by the Ohio Election
Justice Campaign published by the Columbus Dispatch newspaper.
http://blog.dispatch.com/dailybriefing/2007/11/activists_hold_funeral_for_ele_1.shtml [154]
The Daily Briefing
Activists mourn 2004 election, Democracy
They gathered around a coffin, taps were played, eulogies given.
A group of about 15 activists, convinced there was fraud in the 2004 election in Ohio,
held a "funeral" today in front of the Statehouse for that election and
for Democracy -- complete with a death certificate.
"Funerals are for the living, we are among the living, and the struggle continues
into the afterlife," said Tim Kettler of Warsaw, Ohio, who spoke at the event
organized by the group
Ohio Election Justice Campaign.[155]
Carrying a fake coffin inscribed with, "Here lies Democracy -- July 4,
1776-Nov. 2, 2004, Killers still at large," the group processed from the
Statehouse to the offices of
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner [156] and
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann [157].
The activists are demanding a criminal investigation of a reports of
irregularities during the 2004 election, as well as of concerns about the
recount and the destruction of ballots after.
Both Brunner and Dann have said they understand the concerns but are focusing
on ensuring the 2008 presidential election, when Ohio again is expected to be
in the national spotlight, goes smoothly.
The activists also plan a memorial service and "wake" tonight in Columbus on this,
the third anniversary of the 2004 election.target="_blank"
Posted by Mark Niquette, Statehouse reporter on November 2, 2007 12:41 PM | Permalink [154]
Comments (3)
Nathan:
Lunatics.
Posted by Nathan | November 2, 2007 2:20 PM [158]
Posted on November 2, 2007 14:20 [158]
MM:
Imagine the good these people could do if they instead spent their time
at, say, a homeless shelter or tutoring school children.
Posted by MM | November 2, 2007 2:42 PM [159]
Posted on November 2, 2007 14:42 [159]
Johnny Springfield:
Don't Let the Evidence Be Buried by the Theatre
The contrast between the tough, sound-bite rhetoric on reforming Ohio elections Brunner and Dann used to win their respective offices, and their clear, fancy footwork of indifference (some might say disdain) to the mountain of evidence pointing to actionable election irregularities, is a
sight to be hold.
For either them, especially Brunner, a former judge (has she forgotten what "evidence" is?) who beat up on Mr. Blackwell at every opportunity over his partisanship, failure to communicate with boards of elections and unwillingness to remedy system wrongs, to now run and hide from the
evidence of 2004 because she wants to "focus" on the 2008 election is a flip-flop of enduring proportions.
She and Dann are key people in Ohio's election-system police force. For them to now let the irregularities of the 2004 election fade with time is a dereliction of duty.
How great would the outrage be among citizens, politicians and the news media if real cops on the beat refused to pursue real criminals because they thought it more important to focus on stopping future criminals? Everyone would go nuts. It wouldn't be tolerated.
Dann, Ohio's own raging bull, would be beside himself wondering who to sue or prosecute. Brunner, a self-described election-law expert who has made bad election-law calls now and in the past, would want to fire someone, as she's wont to do when it's to her political advantage. Just
ask Bob Bennett, I'm sure he has an opinion.
In a world where news is now seen as entertainment, it's likely that the important message these folks are carrying today will likely be mocked and ridiculed because of the antics and theatrics of their New Orlean's style march. But underneath the garb and props lies the truth.
If The Dispatch wants a tip on winning more professional journalism awards, as it announced recently, it should consider dedicating its robust resources, as it did to reporting bad behavior by teachers, to deeper, more piercing investigations into an election with so many problems.
Now in office due in large part to what they said they would do once there, Brunner and Dann are riding away in every direction but the direction that leads to the election miscarriages of 2004. What are they afraid of?
Ohio Election Justice Campaign
2004 Election Fraud Issues
Guest List of Speakers, Special Guests, and Supporters for Meeting with
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Ohio Attorney General Mark Dann
October 14, 2007 The Very Serious Reason for the Requested Meeting, and our updated guest list…
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign has requested a meeting with Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, and Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann.
We have requested a three hour meeting, for which we plan to bring a group of speakers to each speak briefly on a topic, and then to discuss with Secretary Brunner and Attorney General Dann, what is going to get done to investigate and prosecute those involved in the massive amount of documented election fraud in Ohio with an focus on 2004 and subsequent election law violations. We ask for a way for the public to follow the progress, and have dialog about this.
We are waiting for confirmation for a date. It has now been 68 days since the request for a meeting was first made on August 8, 2007.
FUNERAL FOR 2004 - WE REMEMBER... the long lines in the rain, the misallocation of voting machines, the blocking of the recount, and then the rigged recounts,
We will be stopping by both the office of The Ohio Secretary of State and The Ohio Attorney General, as well as The Franklin County Board of Elections on November 2, 2007, as we mourn the Death of Democracy, the anniversary of the November 2, 2004 election. This will be between 12:00 and 1:30 p.m. as our funeral procession moves down Broad Street in downtown Columbus. We ask that Secretary Jennifer Brunner, Attorney General Marc Dann, and Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matt Damschroder be prepared to speak with us briefly as we come a calling to your offices. If you are not available, please have staff available, and let us know in advance who that staff member will be.
We cannot go into a third potential stolen Presidential Election with no accountability on what has happened. We have massive amounts of documentation in Ohio, thanks to the many citizen investigators, of which several of us in The Ohio Election Justice Campaign did the actual investigation. We want justice for Ohio and the nation. We want to meet and get the needed legal work started to resolve this. We want free and fair elections.
The enclosed growing list is the updated guest list, including their bios, and the topics for which our speakers plan to speak on. Please reply to us all, that we shall know that both the Ohio Secretary of State, and the Ohio Attorney General have received this letter. What can we start with, to work on these issues with both your offices? Can we now meet as requested above, or can we at least now meet with staff? Lets start something. Progress is progress.
Sincerely,
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Contact Person:
By Paddy Shaffer
Founder, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign paddy@columbus.rr.com[5]
(614) 761-0621
Guest List to Date
Speakers
Paddy Shaffer, Bev Harris, Gary Flowers, Victoria Parks, Blair Bobier Esq., Patricia Axelrod, Sheri Myers, Tim Kettler, Brad Friedman, Tim Carpenter, Richard Hayes Phillips PhD., Ken Karan Esq., Adele Eisner, Paul Harmon Esq., Paul Lehto Esq., Dr. Peter Jones, Karla Van Bibbler, Clint Curtis, Pate Hutson
Journalists
Lynn Landes – Landes Report www.landesreport.com[91]
Jon Craig - Cincinnati Enquirer
Evan Davis – Pacifica Radio and co-producer of Pacifica's 2006
10-part series on elections, "Informed Dissent".
Michael Collins – Scoop Independent News, "Scoop" , EFN , www.electionfraudnews.com/ [93] , www.scoop.co.nz/features/usacoup.html[94]
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/author/michael_collins [92]
Justin Jeffre – Publisher and Writer Cincinnati Beacon
Documentary Film Crews and Photographers
1. Richard Ray Perez – Producer – “Why Ohio Counts”
2. Mary Beth Brangan and Jim Heddle - Producers, "Help America Vote on Paper",
"Got Democracy", "A Little Light'll Do Ya, Defending Democracy in America",
"Vote Rigging 101",
3. Matt Krous – Producer “How Ohio Pulled It Off
4. Jeff Kirkby – Voices of Cleveland and Beyond Video Productions LLC
Invited, monitoring issue, but not confirmed
Ian Urbana – New York Times
Guests to View Meeting
Marj Creech, Mark Brown, Sherole Eaton, Stephen Caruso, Nudge Squidfish, Bill Buckel, Dan Stanton, Anita Rios, Jennifer E. Alexander, John Gideon, Connie Harris, Peace General Bruce Duncanson, Rady Ananda, Teresa Dawson, Leatrice Tolls, Jo Anne Karesek, Jane Schiff, Jason Parry, Ellen H. Brodsky, Jamia Shepherd, Marian Lupo J.D., Ph.D., Lorraine E. Bieber, Andrew Miller, Vicki Lovegren, Gloria Kilgore, Holly Church Wendell, Mary Ann Gould, Christa Hupp, Johannah Hupp-Clark, Phil Fry
National Election Integrity Groups and Other Groups
Gathered in Support of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Black Leadership Forum
Election Defense Alliance
Green Party of Ohio
Progressive Democrats of America, PDA
Individuals Supporting The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Ray Beckerman
David Earnhardt
James Fetzer
Mimi Kennedy
Andi Novick
Penny Little
_______________________________________________________________________
Below are the bios and the topics for speakers that have currently been received for The Ohio Election Campaign meeting, for which a date and time has not yet been scheduled.
Guest Bios
Speaker:
Patricia Axelrod is an Nevadan election activist and the Director of the Desert Storm Think Tank and Veterans' Advocate. A weapons system analyst and military scientist for peace - she is the recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research and Writing Award as well as a Project Censored Award for her analysis of the modern electronic battlefield and the performance of 'high tech' weaponry.
Axelrod's work has assisted investigations undertaken by the U.S. Congress and the General Accounting Office (GAO) as well as by the German and United Kingdom
Parliaments. She began investigating Nevada's election and voter registration systems the day following the 2004 elections and she now acts as a pro se plaintiff in a lawsuit that she is litigating against Sequoia Voting Systems, Diebold Elections Systems, Sequoia's parent companies Smartmatic and Da La Rue Holdings, The State of Nevada et al, and Washoe County, Nv.
Axelrod will discuss her Sequoia and Diebold findings with an emphasis on the Diebold Electronic Voter Registration System called DIMS. (Diebold DIMS - commonly sold with Diebold GEMS - is in use in Washoe County NV wherein she resides and votes on a Sequoia AVC Edge with Verivote Printer voting machine.)
Speaker:
Blair Bobier served as the Media Director for the Green Party's 2004 presidential campaign. A pioneer in the Green Party movement, Bobier is a founder of the Pacific Green Party of Oregon and was the party's gubernatorial nominee in 1998. Bobier is a member of the Federal and State bars of Oregon and teaches as an adjunct at Western Oregon University. He is a contributing author of the book Counting Votes: Lessons from the 2000 Presidential Election in Florida and has been published on op-ed pages in major newspapers from coast to coast. Bobier has made appearances on television, cable, radio, satellite and internet broadcasts, and has been a featured guest on two
NPR programs. Bobier is an award-winning environmental activist and is well known for
his work on electoral reform. Bobier successfully lobbied the Oregon legislature in 1993 to ease Oregon's restrictive ballot access laws and played a major role in initiating the statewide recount of presidential votes in Ohio, the first such recount in the history of the country. He has lectured at Willamette University, Oregon State University, the
University of Oregon Law School, Southern Oregon University, Bowdoin College in Maine, and at major election reform conferences in California and Oregon.
Speaker:
Tim Carpenter, Founder and National Director of Progressive Democrats of America is a social and political activist who, for more than 30 years, has worked for causes such as nuclear disarmament, death penalty abolition, defending the homeless, and campaign finance reform. Tim established Housing Now! and Democrats for Peace Conversion (DPC), co-founded the Orange County chapter of the Alliance for Survival (AFS), and helped organize the Orange County chapter of Families Against Three Strikes (FACTS). He was a national delegate and served in key positions in the presidential campaigns of Jesse Jackson (1988), Jerry Brown (1992), and Bill Clinton (1996), and spoke from the podium at the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York. Tim was director of the Western Massachusetts Clean Elections movement for public funding of political campaigns, and served as field organizer for Clean Elections' Massachusetts’s gubernatorial candidate Warren Tolman. He also served as Deputy National Campaign Manager for Kucinich for President, was the campaign's state co-coordinator in Massachusetts, and the campaign's Convention Coordinator in Boston. He co-founded AfterDowningStreet.org. In 2006, he was elected as a Massachusetts Democratic Party delegate committed to Deval Patrick. Tim has taught U.S. history and government at the high school and community college levels. He is a product of the California State College system, where he graduated from Cal State University Fullerton with Bachelors Degrees in History and Political Science, as well as a Masters in History. Tim lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife Barbara Considine and their daughters, Sheila and Julia.
Speaker:
Adele Eisner, Adele Eisner is a Wellness Practioner (Massage and CranialSacral) and 20+ year activist and facilitator/instructor on issues driven by universal spiritual ideals of democracy and need for social justice - honoring and evoking fullest possibilities for each and all and creating interdependent teaching/learning communities. She has successfully taught children labeled “learning disabled” in elementary and high school settings, has taught graphic design at college level, and adults in both skill-based marketing and in leadership trainings nationwide. She has been a part-time journalist, founder of a marketing firm for small businesses and a ten-year, nationally award-winning fine artist. In the early 90’s, after serving as a Plain Dealer metro correspondent and often being the only non-staff member at non-publicized University Heights, OH City Council meetings, Eisner broke the 25+ year self-perpetuating incumbency cycle, by being elected to a 4-year seat on that Council without incumbent pre-selection. She won the highest vote plurality based on providing public information, standing for open meetings and records, encouraging and listening to citizen input, and on equal recognition of the city’s diverse population. She has participated on many boards ranging from those of public television stations, to arts organizations, to interfaith and inter-suburban councils. She has been a strong advocate for election reform since the 2004 election, has actively and consistently volunteered in monitoring and attempting to help improve Cuyahoga County’s election board, and has been an active member Ohio and national election reform organizations since that time.
My subject: "Transparency"
I quote Andi Novick, Esq. in her recent memo case to the New York state re: their upcoming decision about "HAVA compliance." Though this refers to New York, it certainly holds true, in principle, for all other states, including Ohio. "New York State Owes a Duty to its Citizens to Safeguard Our Constitutionally Protected Franchise. The State holds the ultimate responsibility for protecting our constitutional right to vote and to have our vote counted as cast. The Court of Appeals has held: The right of an elector to vote is conferred by the Constitution.........[the elector] is entitled to see that his vote has been given full force and effect. ....any method of holding an election which would deprive the electors..... of the right of casting their ballots and having effect given to the votes so cast would plainly be unconstitutional. (emphasis supplied) Deister v Wintermute, 194 NY 99, 108
And I paraphrase, the State must be able to exercise full control over the electoral process which the public must be able to observe and scrutinize in order to hold its government accountable. (emphasis mine.)
Speaker:
Brad Friedman is an Investigative Blogger/Journalist and founder of the popular progressive website The BRAD BLOG (www.BradBlog.com[160]) where he has broken innumerable explosive stories since 2004 on everything from the disastrous Election Irregularities of 2004/2006 and the current E-Voting Meltdown, to the alarming string of ongoing corruption of the Bush Administration and their cronies in Congress and the Corporate Mainstream Media. He has appeared to discuss his reporting on ABC News, CNN, CourtTV and others. He's a contributor at Huffington Post, and has written for Harvard's Neiman Foundation of Journalism, Mother Jones, Editor & Publisher, Salon.com, ComputerWorld, Columbus FreePress, Hustler TruthOut.org, and whoever else will have him. He's frequent and popular guest presence on radio programs left right and middle and a frequent Guest Hosted for Peter B. Collins, Mike Malloy, The Young Turks and others. As well, he frequently speaks live at events around the country. He is co-founder of VelvetRevolution.us, an umbrella organization on everything from Election and Media Reform to the War in Iraq.
Topic: The dangers of electronic voting and the importance of a paper ballot -- one that is tabulated publicly -- for every vote cast in Ohio.
Speaker:
Paul Harmon, 54, has been an attorney for 28 years. He began as an assistant county prosecuting attorney in the Licking County where after three years he became the first assistant in the felony division, trying the most serious of crimes ranging from murder and rape to theft. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Ohio State University and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Dayton. For the past 24 years, Mr. Harmon has been a successful private practitioner where he specializes in family law.
Topic:
In November 2004, Paul Harmon ran for Licking County Domestic Relations Court Judge. He lost by less than 200 votes. Although a recount is mandatory in such close elections, he was denied a recount. The local board of elections excluded the media and voted unanimously to deny access to elections records. While legal proceedings were pending to contest the election results, the board of elections destroyed crucial evidence at the direction of its chairman. Harmon reported suspected criminal conduct of the board of elections to the Newark Police Department and the Licking County Sheriff. The Newark Law Director, the County Prosecutor, and the Ohio Attorney General blocked criminal investigations into any criminal conduct surrounding the election. The Sheriff and the Ohio Secretary of State refused to acknowledge receipt of Harmon's allegations of criminal conduct, much less investigate them. In the past several months, Harmon has requested that investigations be conducted by the recently-elected Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. Harmon remains convinced that because of election fraud and recklessness, the results in his race and others were inaccurate.
Speaker:
Pate Hutson, Retired military. Plans to speak on military voting issues.
Speaker:
Dr. Peter Jones lives and works in Dayton, Ohio and Toronto, Ontario, managing an international research consultancy, Redesign Research, Inc. Redesign Research provides research and design services for online publishing and information services design, primarily for professional practices. Peter is also a partner in Dialogic Design International, a company founded with Dr. Aleco Christakis in 2007 to develop Christakis' Structured Dialogue Process for participatory systems design for complex organizational problems. DDI applies structured dialogic design to business strategy, organizational design, and enterprise transformation. Dr. Jones is also a board member of Christakis' non-profit Institute for 21st Century Agoras, which is dedicated to employing structured dialogue in the social sector, for deeply interconnected problems in civil society, democracy, and policy arenas. Dr. Jones received his doctorate at Cincinnati's Union Institute in 2000, in Design and Innovation Management. He has published numerous peer-reviewed research articles and a book on team practices in system design, Team Design (1998, 2002).
In 2004, Dr. Jones participated an election recount observer in Greene County, and was instrumental in organizing research and communications for election activists in the Dayton region. His own observations and recordings of the Greene County recount have prompted his participation in this briefing. Jones has recorded evidence of the recount proceedings that demonstrate Greene County employed election recount procedures consistent with those of Cuyahoga County, the execution of which in the Cuyahoga case led to the convictions of two BOE members. He wishes to present edited audio recordings of the sessions to support the contention of observers that the recount process was consistently illegally managed, probably on a statewide basis, since an identically illegal recount procedure was used across Ohio counties under the supervision of Secretary of State Blackwell.
Speaker:
Tim Kettler, 56 years old, resident of Warsaw, Coshocton County, Ohio. I am the secretary of the Green Party of Ohio and served as a regional coordinator of the 2004 Ohio Presidential Vote Recount and as a recount witness for David Cobb. I was co-plaintiff in the Federal lawsuit Rios et al v. Blackwell and a candidate for Ohio Secretary of State in the November, 2006 election. Tim is a candidate for the 2008 election, running for Ohio State Senator.
My interest in this matter goes to the heart of our democratic elections and the issues of transparency and accountability. The events in Coshocton County that occurred preceding, during and subsequent to the 2004 Presidential Vote Recount were in violation of Ohio election law, involved individuals currently employed by the Coshocton County Board of Election, the Ohio Secretary of State's office or that serve on the Coshocton County Board of Election and have yet to be addressed by the Coshocton County Prosecutor, the Ohio Secretary of State or the Ohio Attorney General. I will restrict my remarks to those events in which I have first-hand knowledge and can testify as true in a court of law.
Speaker:
Paul Lehto is a former attorney from Washington State, practicing for 12 years in business law and consumer fraud, and several years in election law. He presently resides in Michigan and works as an election consultant and co-founder of the Democracy nonprofit Psephos, and teaches "Democracy Schools" to groups ranging from citizens to lawyers. www.psephos-us.org[86] He's a retired governor of the Washington State Bar Association, voted "Rising Star" in 2003 & 2004 by Washington State Law & Politics magazine, and nominated as a “SuperLawyer” in 2005.
Lehto and Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman are co-authors of a significant paper "Evidence of Election Irregularities in Snohomish County, Washington, General Election 2004" involving persuasive evidence of irregularity and/or fraud on Sequoia touch screen "DRE" electronic voting machines. www.votersunite.org/info/SnohomishElectionFraudInvestigation.pdf[161] Data from the paper is featured in the 2005 book "Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen?" by Freeman & Bleifuss.
Lehto was also lead plaintiff in Lehto v. Sequoia, which among other factors led to the County Council in January 2006 voting to terminate all polling place use of Sequoia touchscreens, transitioning to vote by mail and mooting the case in the Court of Appeals. Claims in the lawsuit included the illegality of trade secret vote counting in democratic elections, nonwaivable inalienable rights of citizens in elections, and constitutional problems with the delegation of core governmental functions to private parties under "nondelegation doctrine," as well as illegal contract provisions that require the government to violate its duty of loyalty to the public by "cooperating" with vendors to defeat subpoenas and public records requests by the citizens the government is pledged to serve.
Lehto was also lead counsel in the "CA50" congressional election contest known as Jacobson v. Bilbray in 2006, which received the attention of international election monitors from the OSCE-ODIHR as a significant case for American democracy in 2006, the only such case written up for the 2006 federal elections. The case featured disputed electronic voting patterns coupled with a premature swearing into Congress with over 50,000 uncounted votes on the first count in a close race, but with a defense claim that no California Court had "jurisdiction" to recount or hear a challenge because the swearing in triggered the House's "exclusive jurisdiction" under Art. I, sec. 5 of the US Constitution.
Lehto has written and spoken widely on elections, legal issues, and the future of the practice of law. He previously served by appointment of the Washington Supreme Court to the board with regulatory authority over continuing legal education for Washington attorneys. He's a prolific blogger, the author of 4 encyclopedia articles on elections, has two upcoming law reviews including one in the Harvard Journal of Legislation, and is the author of upcoming books due out January 2008 entitled "Defending Democracy" and another collection of quotes about democracy and America.
Lehto will discuss the many reasons why post-election remedies are either unworkable or ill-advised from an election integrity standpoint, with "sore loser" accusations just the tip of that legal and political iceberg, leaving nominally defeated candidates poorly situated to defend election integrity, yet others have more questionable standing. But when we refocus on the all-important first counts, whether on optical scans or touchscreens, we are confronted with the stark and undemocratic realities of de facto secret vote counting on proprietary vendor hard-drives. Because vote counting is at the very heart of the exercise of the right of sovereignty by voters (their suffrage right) and since sovereign voters are literally selecting their servants and acting (collectively) in place of the pre-1776 King's sovereignty, there exists no justification even in theory for employees or servants of the public to hide the vote counting from their employers: the public. Confronting these undeniable realities of all republics and democracies (the people are "the boss" as JFK put it) forces us back to a rediscovery of basic principles and tools of democracy that have been consistently ignored during the era of e-voting. As the Founders and man state constitutions state "A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is necessary for the preservation of liberty and free government." Without this practice, American government as a practical matter considers only non-democratic values like "convenience" "confidence" and "trust" instead of democratic values like checks and balances, which are actually a form of distrustful oversight and supervision.
Speaker:
Sheri Leigh Myers returned to her home state of Ohio after the 2004 election to support the investigation of the election results. She was co-organizer of the Winter Freedom Bus Ride, that brought disenfranchised Ohio voters to Washington DC to lobby the Senate in January, `07. Back in Los Angeles, she organized "Who Got Glitched?" the first Southern Californian teach-in on election reform. She has remained an activist for the cause of election integrity. Her graphic novel, CHEATED! tells the story of the Ohio voters in 2004. Her next book, PRINCIPLES (& CRIMES IN THE NAME) OF DEMOCRACY explores the history of electronic voting. She was the election integrity consultant for the Syracuse Cultural Workers 2008 calendar, that is devoted to election integrity activism, and will be distributed throughout the country. www.wakeupandsaveyourcountry.com[162]
Sheri Leigh Myers will address the research of Richard Hayes Phillips on the evidence of record - the Ohio 2004 presidential ballots that were altered for the election.
Speaker:
Victoria Parks
• resident of Ohio for 51 years
• volunteer election integrity activist since 2004, having participated in investigations, audits, parallel elections, as poll worker, registered 300 new Ohio voters in 2004, and have archived over 2500 articles, studies, data, reports, etc. regarding elections in Ohio and the nation
• Penwoman, journalist, commentator
• member and former member of several Ohio Voting Integrity grassroots organizations
• am getting very proficient at connecting the dots
• have met personally with SoS Brunner regarding urgent Ohio election integrity issues
• really want to share what I know but so far have been ignored
Topic - What I would like to see done:
I believe our elections have been privatized without the people's consent. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars of HAVA money has been spent on touchscreen voting machines in Ohio. This amounts to a money-funneling operation that was conceived by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and convicted Congressman Bob Ney and have resulted in massive failures of electronic voting in Ohio in '06. In California last week, Diebold touchscreen machines were decertified by California's SoS Debra Bowen. Also last week, veteran newsman Dan Rather blasted ES&S touchscreen voting in an unprecedented report on the shoddy workmanship and poor quality control on the ES&S iVotronic machines, which we voted on last Fall in Ohio. Now Diebold has divested itself on its elections division and it's stock plummeted on the news. And ES&S declined to go on the record with Rather. My question is, why can't we get our HAVA money back? Ohio should file product liability lawsuits against ES&S and Diebold for forcing Ohio citizens to vote on inferior and insecure voting machines that have experienced a 30% failure rate in Summit County alone. We need to spend our HAVA money to secure clean elections in Ohio, not make partisan vendors rich. Ohio taxpayers have been robbed and I would like to see us get our HAVA money back. Can we do that?
Speaker:
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D., has been investigating the 2004 Ohio election ever since it happened. With the assistance of numerous Ohio citizens he gathered
photographs and photocopies of actual ballots, poll books, and voter signature books from 17 counties in Ohio. His analysis of this forensic evidence has yielded documentation of ballot tampering and vote rigging sufficient to show that the true winner of the Ohio election cannot be verified.
Dr. Phillips will present new evidence documenting the breadth of the Ohio conspiracy. This will include actual photographs of altered ballots, poll books, and voter signature books from numerous counties; results of painstaking analysis, ballot by ballot, of the combinations of choices attributed to the voters; an explanation of why certain evidence was destroyed; and an affirmation that there needs to be a penalty for cheating.
Speaker:
Paddy Shaffer has requested the meeting with Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann for the group she founded, now identified as The Ohio Election Justice Campaign.
Patricia “Paddy” Shaffer is the Founder of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign, and the Founder and Director of Artists Creating Justice. A graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design, a professional artist and art teacher, a former president and vice president of the Dublin Area Art League, and an Ohio native. In 2004 she arrived in Delaware County, Ohio to be a witness to those who attempted to block the Recount of the Presidential Election. This came from John Myers, a leader of the Democratic Party, the Democratic Chairman of the Delaware County Board of Elections (BOE), and this was just the first of many things that made no sense. This has lead to years of investigations, gathering of election records, reporting on, and educating the public to many election stories in Ohio. Paddy helped hold the first and many subsequent public hearings for disenfranchised voters to testify and fill out affidavits on their difficulty to vote stories. When the Green Party Recount happened in 2004, Paddy was the Green Party Recount County Coordinator for Delaware County. She trained 18 people to be recount witnesses, and her people witnessed three of Ohio’s 88 counties. In Delaware’s recount, before Paddy’s eyes, the ES&S technician, Sam Hogsett ran tabulators, loaded ballots, and called off precinct results. Seeing a great need for change and actual honest leadership, in 2006 Paddy Shaffer ran as a Democrat for the US House of Representatives, in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District. While doing this, her concern was great about having her own votes counted, especially in Delaware County, where at the one “Deladems” meeting of the local Delaware Democratic Party, a party leader, Kim Spangler, who was also the Director of the Delaware County BOE threatened to have Paddy arrested if she returned to another party meeting. When asked what the charge would be, she was told, “trespassing, our meetings are private.” It appears Spangler, who helped to block the recount and blocked many of Paddy’s efforts for Delaware election records, was upset. Doing well in her congressional race, but not winning, another candidate item showed up. In August of 2006 Paddy became the campaign manager for another Ohioan studying the fraudulent 2004 election, Dr. Bob Fitrakis, Green Party candidate for Governor of Ohio. This included running the “Five Candidate Election Observer Project 2006” for the state of Ohio for the November 7, 2006 election. She continues her research work on our Ohio elections, with a current focus on taking a detailed look at what has happened to the 2004 election records, recording those stories, and working for justice and prosecution into the criminal activity in Ohio’s elections. She has been both a writer and photographer for the Free Press, where more of her current research will also be submitted, as well as OpEd News, and at www.wakeupandsaveyourcountry.com[162] . Her work has been funded with her grocery money. Nothing less than actual accountability will suffice for what Paddy has witnessed.
Paddy will address the great need for legal accountability and criminal investigation into Ohio’s elections. She supports this discussion with recent new research on what happened with the protected 2004 election records, the legal state procedures for disposal of records, unaccountability for investigation and legal action, quickly clearing out BOE’s with criminal behavior. Paddy recommends forming an Amnesty Program for Election Offenders in Ohio with a slightly reduced sentence for those who turn themselves in, and setting up a way for interested citizens and the press to follow the actual progress of the needed criminal investigations and legal justice work that will follow. Paddy will speak on her proposed first written law, “The National Election Offender Registry,” which would stop those who violate our election laws, from ever working in any election related field again, anywhere in this country. (This is based on the Sex Offender Registry.)
Journalists
Lynn Landes is the publisher of TheLandes Report and a freelance journalist who writes about politics, health, and the environment. She's one of the nation's leading researchers and analysts on voting integrity issues. Lynn is featured in the books: Pollution: Opposing Viewpoints, Softly On This Earth, Hacked and BlackBoxVoting, and appears in several documentaries including Got Democracy, The Right To Count, Stealing America, and Voting 101 and The Fix Is In. Lynn has been a news reporter for DUTV, hosted her own radio talk show WDVR in New Jersey, and was a weekly commentator for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) radio program. Lynn is also the founder of Zero Waste America, an Internet-based environmental research organization. She has been featured in a series of interviews on environment and health issues on WebMD, and is frequently interviewed by TV, radio, and print news media. Her 1998 report, State of the Nation’s Waste, was reported throughout the U.S. and on German Public Radio. Her 1997 article, River of Waste, is the lead article in a compilation of articles for high school students called Pollution: Opposing Viewpoints Series by Greenhaven Press. Lynn (Ehlinger) Landes and her husband live in center city Philadelphia. They have three grown children. lynnlandes@earthlink.net[163] / 215-629-3553
Mary Beth Brangan and James Heddle are co-directors of EON, the Ecological Options Network, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit corporation based in California. They are an award-winning filmmaker team with 25 years experience. Recent productions include several films on the election integrity movement in the U.S.: A Little Light’ll Do Ya: Defending Democracy in America; Vote Rigging 101; Got Democracy? ; Getting Over It; Inaugurating Change; and Help America Vote…On Paper.
Brangan and Heddle have produced multiple documentaries on democracy issues in the US as well as internationally in the last two decades which have been broadcast and toured nationally and internationally; aired in Congress, the United Nations, on PBS, ABC, CNN, Link TV, Free Speech TV, cable; and used in parliaments, universities, libraries and by citizens’ organizations and NGO’s worldwide.
Their work has been honored at the Sundance, American, San Francisco Asian-American, Dallas; Hawaii International, EarthVision and Margaret Mead Film Festivals, among others. Previous funders include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; PBS; the Alton-Jones, McArthur, Columbia and Turner Foundations; the European Commission; the Agape Foundation for Non-Violent Social Change; The Foundation for Deep Ecology; The Flow Fund Circle; Nu Lambda Trust; and many private donors.
Their previous productions include: Strategic Trust: the Making of Nuclear Free Palau; Free Zone: Democracy Meets the Nuclear Threat; Choicepoint: California’s Water & Nuclear Waste; PELIGRO! Nuclear Showdown on the Rio Grande; Islands on the Edge of Time; Bordering on Tyranny: Thailand’s Dilemma; Public Exposure: DNA, Democracy & the ‘Wireless Revolution.’
Matthew Kraus hails from Canton, Ohio. He studied theater at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, graduating in 2001, and acted in independent theatrical productions in the Boston area. Matt’s documentary short film Farming for the Future, a portrait of organic growers in Southeast Ohio, was selected for official competition in several festival programs and garnered Timberland’s 2006 Mion Solutions Environmental Film Award. He recently completed a Master of Fine Arts Degree at Ohio University School of Film.
* Note: Matt is one of the three directors in the newly released film about the 2004 election, “How Ohio Pulled It Off.” http://www.howohiopulleditoff.com/directors/ [164]
Jeffrey H. Kirkby grew up in North Canton Ohio, home of the Late Hoover Co, and the Diebold corp. He now lives with his wife Debra in Lakewood Ohio. He works as an airline mechanic (for 18 years), a theater projectionist, and recently started a movie production company called Voices of Cleveland and Beyond Productions LLC (VOCAB Productions). Recently, some of Jeff's footage was included in an HBO documentary titled “Hacking Democracy" which was produced
by Teale Edwards Productions, located in New York City. This documentary was broadcast during November and December 2006, and is available now on DVD. Hacking Democracy has been nominated for an EMMY Award in the category OUTSTANDING INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM - LONG FORM.
One of Jeff's first projects, "Hands off Medicaid", was a documentary of a town hall forum. The documentary spread the word to our state representatives, senators, county commissioners, and the governor of Ohio that cutting the budget for Medicaid was a bad Idea. The documentary lead to the nomination by Merrick House of Cleveland for the NFL Community Quarterback award.
Some of my footage was used in a Discovery Times TV documentary, "Ballot Battles," which forewarned the public of the chaos of the 2004 elections. The same footage was used in another documentary, "Invisible Coup," by Terry Murray of Black Sheep productions. The next movie
I created was, "We honor Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones," which documented portions from her fight for social justice and voting election reform. http://www.vocabvideo.com[95]
_____________________________________________________________________________
Guests to View Meeting
I'm Jennifer E. Alexander, a supporter of election reform. I've lived in Greene County for 4 years, and a former resident of Montgomery County of 30 years. I've been an active volunteer with the Democratic Party most of my life. I have also worked as an Election Day poll worker for 15 years. I have witnessed first hand the many problems with our current voting practices. After the last two elections, I do not feel I should waste time, effort and emotion into getting voters to the polls. Our votes don't mean anything currently.
Ray Beckerman, a lawyer in New York City, Ray was a voter protection hotline volunteer in Ohio in 2004, and learned firsthand about the massive disenfranchisement which occurred here. Since then, he's been working, through his blog, "Ohio Election Fraud (formerly "Fairness")", to let the world know what happened in Ohio in 2004, and to see to it that those responsible are brought to justice. http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/[102]
Mark P. Brown, Founder of The Congressional Policy Forum, Age 50, Lifetime resident of Ohio; past Democratic nominee for U.S. House, Ohio 12th District 1988, Ohio 15th District 2002 and 2004. Mark has been a political volunteer and activist since 1975. He published a detailed essay on election reform in 2004. After the 2004 General Election, Mark conducted an extensive two month door to door interviews with over 500 voters. This was in December 2004 and January 2005 on Columbus’s south side in regard to problems with the 2004 General Elections. Mark collected 35 legal affidavits during his voter canvas. As an activist he has distributed over 250,000 pieces of literature on political and election reform in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Mark is the brother of election activist Paddy Shaffer.
Bill Buckel, Graduated from the University of Colorado in August 1952 with a M.S. degree in mechanical engineering. Served in the U.S. Air Force from 1952 to 1956. Was discharged with the rank of staff sergeant. Employed at Battelle Memorial Institute from 1956 to 1994. While at Battelle worked as a mechanical engineering researcher, a Reports Librarian, and a Reference Librarian. Graduated from Kent State University in 1980 with a M.L. S. degree in Library Science. Ran for the public office of member of the Columbus Board of Education (Columbus, Ohio) during the years 1981 to present. The platform focused on creating in-depth citizen oversight councils at each of the District’s 130 schools.
Stephen Caruso, Citizen of Ohio since 1977. Independent video producer for ACTV, with films on Steven Canetto and several other aired programs. Volunteer for Olde Towne East Community Festival for numerous years. Ham Radio operator, Member of ATCO (amateur television of Central Ohio). Statutory Agent For the Ohio Students of the Urantia Book. Certified Electronics technician. Associates Degree in Computer Science from CSCC. Volunteer for the Fitrakis For Governor Campaign and the Columbus Free Press
Marj Creech, is Education Coordinator for the national election watchhdog group, Election Defense Alliance (EDA). Before the fiasco of the 2004 national election, Marj was active in GLBT rights and other progressive issues. As the evidence of a fraudulent election rolled in, she joined the fight to reveal the wrongdoing, sloppiness, and outright illegality of an election that continues the reign of imposters who seem determined to destroy this great democracy, economically, environmentally, morally, and spiritually. Marj is a pastor, writer, citizen investigator, coordinator of volunteers, and encourager of all who work for peace and justice for all people. She served as an enlisted medical assistant at Walter Reed Army Hospital and then as an officer in the Women's Army Corps during the Vietnam War.
Teresa Dawson, criminal justice professional, election observer, parent of two reserve soldiers and Director of Veterans and Military Families for Progress, Ohio Chapter. Ohio University graduate. Does volunteer work for the Ohio National Guard.
Bruce Duncanson, has been a peace activist since 1977. I have been a "Peace Army General" since 1983. I got interested in Elections in 2000 when G.W. Bush was selected President. My interest was peaked in 2004 when John Kerry the apparent winner at noon, lost to G.W. Bush by a slim margin amid many irregularities. I acted as an Elections Observer in 2006 when a democratic series of victories should have been a democratic landslide. I am now working for "Hand Counted Paper Ballots at the Precinct."
John Gideon is Co-Director and Information Manager for VotersUnite! He is a disabled Viet Nam Vet (Navy) and a retired federal employee. He has been learning about and working on the issues related to voting reform and voting integrity since early in 2003. He maintains the current news links on the VotersUnite! website and compiles the "Daily Voting News," a clipping service of voting news articles for activists, attorneys, elections officials, elected officials, and others who are interested in voting reform issues. His personal knowledge of current events on these issues has become a trusted resource for voting integrity activists across the country. John has worked with Bev Harris at BlackBoxVoting.Org. He has also worked as Information Director for
VerifiedVoting.Org and is a founder of VoteTrustUSA. John has been effective in lobbying Washington State legislators to introduce and pass legislation requiring a voter-verified paper ballot. He is dedicated to informing election officials and journalists of accurate details, often emailing them facts in response to fallacies he finds in the articles he includes in his clipping service. www.votersunite.org[165]
Patricia A. Marida is a graduate of Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, currently retired after practicing pharmacy in hospital and community pharmacy settings. From 1981-1990 she served as volunteer staff and board member of the Ohio Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign. She has served as Chair of the Board of The Ark House, a facility that mainstreams people with developmental disabilities. For 15 years she volunteered at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus as chair of the local Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, raising funds for the work of the national organization of the same name that does social and political work in several nations around the world. She served as chair of the Central Ohio Sierra Club for 9 years, from 1998 through 2006. She has also chaired the Rivers and Wetlands Subcommittee, the Transportation and Planned Growth Subcommittee, and the Toxics Subcommittee for that Group. She is currently a member of theExecutive Committee of the Ohio Sierra Club. She has also supported local and national efforts addressing homelessness, women's rights, gay rights, and other social justice issues.
Danny Stanton CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist);
I have been married for nearly 30 years and the father of two adult children. I have been a working health care professional for over 30 years. Resident of Ohio for almost 20 years. Elections Information;
• Attended the state house hearings back in early 2004 to find out more about the voting machines Ohio was proposing to buy after HAVA. Talked with Radke face to face.
• Attended an elections administration seminar held at the OSU law school in 2004.
• Talked directly with the EAC administrators during a reception prior to the seminar. Surprised and concerned to learn that EAC received no funds for R&D.
• Attempted to help elect a state official committed to addressing the election system problems. (For a short time was the official campaign manager for Bev Campbell in the 2006 election).
• Lurker on the CASE_OHIO forum for years.
• Protested the Ohio 2004 elections on the statehouse lawn December 2004
• Marched in the 2007 Doo Dah parade handing out literature to inform Ohio citizens about the concerns with electronic voting and encourage a return to hand-counted paper ballots.
• Given talks to inform Ohio citizens about the current problems with out elections system.
• As an informed and concerned citizen, I have no trust in the current state of voting technology and hope for a return to an election system based on hand-counted paper ballots.
Nudge Squidfish is a native Ohio songwriter and former March of Dimes poster child. He began his musical career at age 15 after meeting Jimi Hendrix back stage. Over the years he has worked with, or been involved with the Ohio Players, Ted Nugent, Rush, Spoon, Crime and the City Solution, Guide By Voices, Donavan, Mini Pearl, Beck Bogart and Apice, Lee Greenwood, Dwight Yoakam, Rick Rubin, Nick Cave, Bobby Bear and many, many others in the music business. While living in Nashville Tennessee, and with guidance from the Denny Music Publishing Group and the Grand Old Opera Association, he released two LPs. As a member of the Nashville Songwriters Association and ASCAP he attend songwriting classes at Belmont College. He also attended Columbus State Community College and later majored in philosophy at OSU. While still being active in live stage work he currently manages a non-profit film and record label; which promote local talent via the Internet. He has toured the US and Canada for Warner Brothers Records.
OEJC and Project Vote Count Conduct Citizen Exit Polls in Primary
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign is joining Project Vote Count in this GREAT election protection effort. We are gathering eager volunteers to conduct Citizen Exit Polls on March 4, 2008. As a Citizen Exit Pollster you will be asking voters to participate in an exit poll which will be like them casting their vote a second time. In Florida, they had a 70% response rate in some precincts.
The participants are quite happy to participate. You will often be thanked for doing what you are doing! Respondent voters will swear that they voted just as they did on the official ballot they just cast at the polls. They also sign and date their CEP ballot as an affidavit which makes their participation and vote irrefutable and legally defendable. What make a CEP different from an exit poll conducted by, for example, Zogby, is that we are volunteers, non-partisan citizens and are not paid by any political party, politician or media company and serve no poilitical agenda other than to verify official vote counts. We are not paid at all. And we tell people that. Then usually, we are thanked!
We are not allowed to campaign for any candidate while conducting CEP's. But, wouldn't it be great to defend your candidate's vote in a non-manipulated, honest way, by taking back your power collecting genuine election data? To get REAL numbers on how we voted and not rely on central tabulation? CEP's may prove to be necessary. Jennifer Brunner has told the precincts they do not have to post precinct results. WHAT??? This makes citizen Exit Polls all the more critical.
Brunner is also making sure any automatic recount will be centrally tabulated which means that we will have to rely on precinct totals that your county BOE SAYS were the results. Back to "Just Trust Us" elections. NO WAY!! Project EVEREST proved results can be manipulated. And we know human nature, don't we? Elections are not about "Just Trust Us" anymore.
People who have been CEP pollster's say that it is actually a really fun and enriching experience. It is a long day but if you have enough people you can do morning and afternoon shifts. Three volunteers per shift are good for a precinct of two to three hundred voters. Get four for a precinct with seven hundred voters or more.
Let's catch them in the act. The only people who are going to keep them honest are you and me. GO TO Projectvotecount.com and follow the links to sign up in your county or come and join your nearest CEP in a neighboring county, or lead your own CEP as a Project Coordinator where you live. This is how we fight back as citizens against a machine determined to keep our vote counts secret from YOU.
We are the people and the only people who are going to make sure our vote counts is YOU. Contact Marj Creech at honestelectionscow@gmail.com[167], 740-739-1390 or me Victoria Parks parksongs@columbus.rr.com[168] 614-851-1437 and make sure you sign up at projectvotecount.com.
H2>HATE TO SAY WE TOLD YOU SO....
Ohio Election Officials encouraged by the GOP go into Mutiny phase against Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner
By Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
January 24, 2008
(The below article is a comment on an article by Jon Craig of the Cincinnati Enquirer which is available at the following link: http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/gov/default.asp[169] and titled, "GOP Chairman blasts Brunner for intimidation" .)
In regards to Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Ohio Republican Chairman Bob Bennett: "She's constantly putting out these threats," Bennett said. "And it does absolutely nothing to inspire loyalty and respect among these board members. Quite frankly, I'm convinced she'd get rid of every one of them if she had the choice." Well Bob... actually Secretary Brunner has been covering for all your corrupt election officials since last summer, possibly earlier.
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) has been asking for legal investigation into the citizen documented election crimes of 2004 and the additional election crimes that have happened since then from both the Ohio Attorney General and the Ohio Secretary of State. We also have requested prosecution and a way for the public to follow the progress. We do hope that you, Bob Bennett anger Brunner enough that her and Attorney General Marc Dann will both reinstall the "Rule of Law" in Ohio, and arrest and prosecute many of these alleged felons, also known as the Ohio Election Officials.
It does not appear to be all of the counties, so let's do get busy sorting out the people who would assist with the theft of a US presidential election. Alleged treason? Alleged felonies? What does one even call such behavior? This purging of alleged election criminals should have been done last year in 2007, as the OEJC requested, so Ohio would be ready for 2008. Instead Secretary Brunner was busy telling the press that she trusts the election officials, even though she claims the activists don't. Well, maybe she should have listened to us; we trust only the trustworthy. Hate to say we told you so . . . .
When 57 of our 88 counties illegally destroy 2004 federal election records, many rigged their 2004 recounts (including Cuyahoga under Bennett's watch), and the shenanigans continue. We could use a spunky dictator SOS for awhile to restore order. The people of Ohio actually hired Brunner to do just that. What will it take for her to remember why she was elected as a cleansing agent? Maybe Bob Bennett blowing off noxious gas will do the trick.
Ohioans, the nation, and the world look on Ohio's elections as a bad joke. The research done by citizen investigators even shows that the Ohio Supreme Court contest was manipulated, along with the theft of the presidential race. Why would the same people ever be allowed to conduct another election? Both parties were involved. Their loyalty to one another as election officials appears to come before loyalty to country and their fellow citizens. Not even the Warren County Board Of Elections Homeland Security Lockdown during the 2004 election has been investigated, where the votes were counted in secret.
When asked the status of her investigation in December 2007, Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel replied, "Is there a crime that you think was committed, and if so, who do you think committed it?" In reply to further questions she wrote, "I cannot launch a criminal investigation unless there is reason to believe that a criminal law has been broken. What criminal law do you believe has been broken?"
We find it sad that a prosecutor doesn't understand that it is wrong to plan a fake security alert five days in advance, and count the vote with no witnesses. It is additionally sad that the attorney general's office is aware, and yet nothing is done. The fake alerts continued with 6 large snowplows parked in front of the Franklin County Board of Elections in November 2006.
It is time to have a recall and refund for our voting machines. There is no reason for millions of additional dollars to go to ES&S or Diebold, the same companies that make the current unreliable voting equipment. Give us paper ballots, then hand count those paper ballots. If the counties won't happily comply, Miss Brunner I would be happy to help you pick the ones to fire and have arrested. We have bundles of evidence -- and oh yes, so do you and Marc Dann, because we already provided that evidence to you, and you have ignored it. Some of the alleged guilty are currently on your board certifying our election machines and working in your SOS office.
Oh Secretary Brunner, what were Mr. Bennett, Mr. Vu, and Ms. Dillingham's roles during the alleged rigging of the Cuyahoga County recount? Who did those convicted of the rigging, Ms. Maiden and Ms. Dreamer, take orders from?
Although the OEJC has been ignored by you and your office, and/or treated badly, and it has now been 165 days since we requested to meet with Jennifer Brunner, and we continue to count the days, we remind you that all we ever wanted and still want is to help clean up the state. Dear Jennifer Brunner, please make the phone ring. We want to help you! Meet with us, we have plans, ideas, help. The pile of evidence is huge and growing. Many of these people are not to be trusted. We told you so.
Deal with them. Democracy: Use it or lose it.
Quarantine That Machine! Treat election violations as a crime scene
QuarantineThat Machine Subject: Treat improper voting machine functioning as a crime scene Quarantine That Machine!
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign Announces Citizen Action To Take Back Our US Elections
If the voting machine you use behaves in an illegal manner, it should be treated as part of a crime scene. The theft of your vote is a crime by the voting machine & its vendors against YOU. Treat is as such. What should I do, you ask? If the touch screen voting machine you vote on in 2008, or at any time in the future, is behaving in a manner that appears illegal, it should be investigated. What to look for, including but not limited to: Vote Hopping -
This is when you vote for a candidate or an issue, and your vote hops and goes to another candidate or issue on the screen. We are
generally told it is a calibration problem. For the voter, this means you vote is not recorded for who or what you intended. You have been robbed. Paper Tape records other than what you voted -
Please take the time to read the paper tape when you vote. If you find that the tape prints something other than what you voted, remember.there are many problems with the machines counting our votes in secret. There is no way to verify that the machine counted your vote as you see it on
the screen, nor as the paper tape reads. Yet, if there is a recount audit, the paper record is the voting record.
Your vote will be counted as the paper trail reads at such an audit. The paper tape should read the same information as what you voted. If you wear
glasses, bring them, some tapes are printed very light, and therefore are hard to read.
Take Action!
Tell the Poll Worker / Election Judge what happened. Let them know you want the voting machine pulled from use in the election.
IMPORTANT! Do not harm or manipulate the machine. It needs to bet in the "same condition" for any forensic investigation. Tell the poll worker not to manipulate the machine in an effort to correct the problem. The most important step of taking action is then filing a police report with local law
enforcement to document this possible case of election fraud. The statistics later will document how widespread the problem is.
Typical reactions to expect to your complaint:
The reflex action of a typical judge when told that a voting machine is malfunctioning is to try to help the voter to get the machine working properly. But, when the malfunction is a mismatch between the faceplate and the paper trail, the normal "be-helpful" response many result in the destruction of evidence in a crime scene.
Let us say that a voting machine had been reprogrammed to flip every twentieth vote from candidate XX to candidate YY. Such an occasional
"malfunction" would not provide an easy-to-detect pattern. Further, it would be reasonable to assume that such a reprogrammed machine would
also be set to discontinue using the flipping subroutine when someone tries to correct the apparent "malfunction" by, for example, canceling
and re-voting. Therefore, it seems reasonable for Poll Workers and Election Judges to be trained on how to react when a voting
machine has a mismatch between the faceplate and the paper trail, or for a vote that hops.
(a) Have the voter move away from the machine. Thank the voter for catching the discrepancy, and explain to him/her what just happened.
(b) Place an OUT OF ORDER sign on the machine and report the "malfunction" to independent law enforcement and notify the Board of Elections or election officials in your state of the problem. Then treat the problem voting machine as evidence in a possible crime scene.
(c) Restart the voter on another machine, or on a paper ballot that will be counted, not a provisional ballot that "may" be counted.
Empowering the Voters and Poll Workers for Detecting Possible Election Fraud and Demanding Legal Investigation
A Special Note for Poll Workers and Election Officials
You are the public guardians of our elections. Please quarantine any machine for which a voter tells you of problems, asks for it to be
quarantined, or any that you are aware is malfunctioning in a suspicious manner; regardless of whether the voter knows that they may
request this. Please treat voters with respect if they ask to Quarantine The Machine, and do not push the buttons, or manipulate the
machine in any way. Treat the machine as part of a crime scene. Contact Law Enforcement to pick up the machine and investigate it, and write it
up. Let the Board of Elections, or other proper election officials above you know what has happened. A forensic examination of the machine
is needed, to study why it malfunctioned. It is our hope that law enforcement will confiscate these machines as possible evidence and
assist the public to get such a study done. These machines should not be returned to your local election officials but rather quarantined by
independent investigative authorities. We realize that there is going to be a huge problem. How do you get the existing votes out of such a
machine? It is our hope, that you will let them sit, and wait for the needed investigation.
In Ohio on December 17th, Michael W. Deemer, Chief Deputy Attorney General for Government Affairs of the Ohio Attorney General's office, and two other legal staff members were informed of the Quarantine The Machine program. His phone number is (614) 728-5462. They were asked to put something in place across the state of Ohio, and across the nation via the other state Attorneys General, to prepare for this program. A prepared written plan for law enforcement is needed, and has been requested. These proper authorities should have qualified individuals available to investigate the voting machines that are quarantined on election night. If the state of Ohio is not ready to deal with the citizen action of Quarantine That Machine, and the nations law enforcement has not been warned, you might want to call Chief Deputy Deemer and ask why.
As of this date, February 4, 2008, and according to his office staff, nothing is in place now. They have informed the OEJC they will only prepare law enforcement if the Secretary of State requests them to. The Attorney General's office has been advised by the OEJC to prepare Ohio, and to let the other Attorneys General across the nation know this is coming. Prepare your Attorney General in your state, they may not know.
For questions and press inquires, contact Paddy Shaffer, Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign, http://www.electiondefensealliance.org/OEJC[31]
http://www.wakeupandsaveyourcountry.com/oejc.html [153]
Quarantine That Machine! Citizen Action To Take Back Our US Elections
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign Announces
Quarantine That Machine!
Citizen Action To Take Back Our US Elections
If the voting machine you use, behaves in an illegal manner, it should
be treated as part of a crime scene. The theft of your vote is a crime by the voting machine & its vendors against YOU. Treat it as such.
What should I do, you ask?
If the touch screen voting machine you vote on in 2008, or at any time in the future, is behaving in a manner that appears illegal, it should be investigated.
What to look for, including but not limited to:
Vote Hopping – This is when you vote for a candidate or an issue, and your vote hops and goes to another candidate or issue on the screen. We are generally told it is a calibration problem. For the voter, this means your vote is not recorded for who or what you intended. You have been robbed.
Paper Tape records other than what you voted – Please take the time to read the paper tape when you vote. If you find that the tape prints something other than what you voted, remember…there are many problems with the machines counting our votes in secret. There is no way to verify that the machine counted your vote as you see it on the screen, nor as the paper tape reads. Yet, if there is a recount audit, the paper record is the voting record. Your vote will be counted as the paper trail reads at such an audit. The paper tape should read the same information as what you voted. If you wear glasses, bring them, some tapes are printed very light, and therefore are hard to read.
Take Action!
Tell the Poll Worker / Election Judge what happened. Let them know you want the voting machine pulled from use in the election. IMPORTANT! Do not harm or manipulate the machine. It needs to bet in the “same condition” for any forensic investigation. Tell the poll worker not to manipulate the machine in an effort to correct the problem. The most important step of taking action is then filing a police report with local law enforcement to document this possible case of election fraud. The statistics later will document how widespread the problem is.
Typical reflexes to expect to your complaint:
The reflex action of a typical judge when told that a voting machine is malfunctioning is to try to help the voter to get the machine working properly. But, when the malfunction is a mismatch between the faceplate and the paper trail, the normal “be-helpful” response many result in the destruction of evidence in a crime scene.
Let us say that a voting machine had been reprogrammed to flip every twentieth vote from candidate XX to candidate YY. Such an occasional “malfunction” would not provide an easy-to-detect pattern. Further, it would be reasonable to assume that such a reprogrammed machine would also be set to discontinue using the flipping subroutine when someone tries to correct the apparent “malfunction” by, for example, canceling and re-voting.
Therefore, it seems reasonable for Poll Workers and Election Judges to be trained on how to react when a voting machine has a mismatch between the faceplate and the paper trail, or for a vote that hops.
(a) Have the voter move away from the machine. Thank the voter for catching the discrepancy, and explain to him/her what just happened.
(b) Place an OUT OF ORDER sign on the machine and report the “malfunction” to independent law enforcement and notify the Board of Elections or election officials in your state of the problem. Then treat the problem voting machine as evidence in a possible crime scene.
(c) Restart the voter on another machine, or on a paper ballot that will be counted, not a provisional ballot that “may” be counted.
Empowering the Voters and Poll Workers for Detecting Possible
Election Fraud and Demanding Legal Investigation
A Special Note for Poll Workers and Election Officials
You are the public guardians of our elections. Please quarantine any machine for which a voter tells you of problems, asks for it to be quarantined, or any that you are aware is malfunctioning in a suspicious manner; regardless of whether the voter knows that they may request this. Please treat voters with respect if they ask to Quarantine The Machine, and do not push the buttons, or manipulate the machine in any way. Treat the machine as part of a crime scene. Contact Law Enforcement to pick up the machine and investigate it, and write it up. Let the Board of Elections, or other proper election officials above you know what has happened.
A forensic examination of the machine is needed, to study why it malfunctioned. It is our hope that law enforcement will confiscate these machines as possible evidence and assist the public to get such a study done. These machines should not be returned to your local election officials but rather quarantined by independent investigative authorities. We realize that there is going to be a huge problem. How do you get the existing votes out of such a machine? It is our hope, that you will let them sit, and wait for the needed investigation.
In Ohio on December 17th, Michael W. Deemer, Chief Deputy Attorney General for Government Affairs of the Ohio Attorney General’s office, and two other legal staff members were informed of the Quarantine The Machine program. His phone number is (614) 728-5462. They were asked to put something in place across the state of Ohio, and across the nation via the other state Attorneys General, to prepare for this program. A prepared written plan for law enforcement is needed, and has been requested. These proper authorities should have qualified individuals available to investigate the voting machines that are quarantined on election night.
If the state of Ohio is not ready to deal with the citizen action of Quarantine That Machine, and the nations law enforcement has not been warned, you might want to call Chief Deputy Deemer and ask why. As of this date, February 4, 2008, and according to his office staff, nothing is in place now. They have informed the OEJC they will only prepare law enforcement if the Secretary of State requests them to. The Attorney General's office has been advised by the OEJC to prepare Ohio, and to let the other Attorneys General across the nation know this is coming. Prepare your Attorney General in your state, they may not know.
Request for Project Everest Report and Parties, Process, and Timeline
To:
Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State
Bobbie Gilbert, Executive Assistant to Jennifer Brunner
Christopher Nance, Assistant Secretary of State
Kellye Pinkleton, Director, Voting Rights Institute
David J. Klein, Elections Research and Operations Specialist
Brian Green, Elections Council
Friday, December 7, 2007
Sent via email and US Post
Re: Request for Project Everest report and recommendations parties, process, and timeline
Dear Ms. Brunner, Ms. Gilbert, Mr. Nance, Ms. Pinkleton, Mr. Klein, and Mr. Green:
We are writing to request the document or documents that provide information on the parties, process, and timeline for review of and/or deliberation on the Project Everest report and recommendations.
1. The names, titles, and, if possible, contact information of all legislators, committees, or deliberative bodies, including liaisons, assistants, consultants, or ad hoc committees, that will receive a copy of the report and recommendations.
2. The names, titles, and, if possible, contact information of all executive personnel, including the gubernatorial liaisons, assistants, or consultants, as well as election officials at the county and statewide level and their consultants or deliberative bodies, whether public or private, that will receive a copy of the report and recommendations.
3. A description of the deliberative process involved in reviewing the report and recommendations, whether in writing or orally, including whether such process will be open for public observation and/or comment and where and when such opportunity for public observation and/or comment will be.
4. The timeline for review and/or deliberation on the report and recommendations, including the timeframe for study and/or comment by all parties who receive the report and recommendations, including legislative and executive personnel, the anticipated completion of review/deliberation, and any deadlines imposed either internally or externally.
5. Please add my name and contact information on the list of people to be informed of all meetings, and please copy me on all documents: Paddy Shaffer, paddy@columbus.rr.com[5], 614-761-0621.
According to a phone conversation with Brian Green, I understand that Mr. Nance will need to share this information with me. He has not yet returned my call, and this is a very timely matter. I am copying this letter to all of you in the hope I will receive a timely and meaningful response.
I had requested permission for the OEJC to observe the Project Everest testing by phone several times, and in writing prior to and on November 7, 2007, and on November 22, 2007. These requests were denied by Mr. Nance in a letter dated November 30, the last day of testing, and the letter arrived via email on Sunday, December 2 at 4:06 p.m. This was neither a timely nor meaningful response.
This above request is a matter of legitimate and public interest to the citizens of Ohio and the citizens represented by the OEJC, and we would appreciate the courtesy of a speedy response.
Given that the process as publicly reported is apparently outside the regular course of executive/legislative decision-making as well as the significant public interest in the results of this process, we would also appreciate up-dated information should any of the above requested information be changed or revised in the course of the process.
I would also like to know who reviewed the package of information that included the Nevada and Washington state product liability lawsuits regarding voting machines that we delivered to your office on November 30, 2007. These were provided as a possible template for a recall and refund regarding the Ohio voting machines. Whom shall we call to discuss the package?
cc: The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Mark Niquette - Dispatch
Mark Kovac – Vindy News
Jon Craig - Cincinnati Inquirer
Ian Urbina – New York Times
Mary Ann Gould – Voice of the Voters
Request to Ohio SOS For Response About Project Everest, December 12, 2007
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
December 12, 2007
Dear Kellye Pinkleton,
We appreciate getting a response that you have received our recent request to learn of the official policies, procedures, and the timeline for how the office of the Ohio Secretary of State will be handling the results of Project EVEREST, and the report. We hope that the full report will be available, and if it is redacted in any way, it will be minimal. We additionally hope that we will be able to view it... literally with the black marks across the sections that the SOS office deems the public will not be able to view. This will allow us to see how much has been removed from public oversight.
It is our democracy, the elections are all about the opinions of the citizens being heard and recorded... and how this is recorded is of great interest to the members of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign, and the general public.
We look forward to hearing from you in regards to your office reviewing the sample product liability lawsuits and other information we provided to you on November 30, 2007, the final day of the testing of our voting machines. If you need to speak with the authors of those lawsuits, Attorney Paul Lehto, or Patricia Axelrod with any questions, I am certain they would make time to speak with staff of your office. We all want to help you. If the machines do not work, we strongly feel there should be a recall and a refund. If it were toys with lead paint from China... there would (and has been) be a recall and a refund. A defective product, is simply a defective product for which the manufacturer should bare the financial responsibility to the customer. The fact that they changed the name of the Diebold company, doesn't speak well of the product.
As Secretary Brunner is recommending that Cuyahoga County discontinue use of its Diebold DRE AccuVote-TSX, we wonder about the other 46 Ohio Counties that use those same machines? Then in Scioto County they have the Diebold AccuVote OS and the Diebold AccuVote-TSX. So that gives Ohio 48 Counties with Diebold machines... we are concerned about this, and so much more.
We look forward to promptly receiving a response to our questions and requests for documents.
----- Original Message -----
From: Pinkleton, Kellye
To: Paddy Shaffer
Cc: Gilbert, Bobbie ; Nance, Christopher ; Klein, David ; Green, Brian
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 11:35 AM
Subject: RE: OEJC - Project Everest Timeline, Policies and Procedures
Dear Ms. Shaffer:
Our office has received your correspondence sent by email (below) and USPS. Thank you for your letter.
Regarding the packet you refer to that was delivered to the office November 30th, we will review the materials and let you know if we have any questions. Thank you in advance for providing that information.
Please note, for your public records requests, Brian Green will be corresponding with you to address the requests.
Again, thank you.
Kellye Pinkleton
Kellye Pinkleton
Director, Voting Rights Institute
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner
180 East Broad Street, 15th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
614.995.1619 Executive Assistant
614.752.4360 Fax kpinklet@sos.state.oh.us[170]
-----Original Message-----
From: Paddy Shaffer [mailto:paddy@columbus.rr.com]
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 11:46 PM
To: Secretary Brunner; Gilbert, Bobbie; Nance, Christopher; Pinkleton, Kellye; Klein, David; Green, Brian
Cc: Mark Niquette; Mark Kovac; Craig, Jon; Ian Urbina; Mary Ann Gould; Paddy Shaffer
Subject: OEJC - Project Everest Timeline, Policies and Procedures
Importance: High
Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State
Bobbie Gilbert, Executive Assistant to Jennifer Brunner
Christopher Nance, Assistant Secretary of State
Kellye Pinkleton, Director, Voting Rights Institute
David J. Klein, Elections Research and Operations Specialist
Brian Green, Elections Council
Friday, December 7, 2007
Sent via email and US Post
Re: Request for Project Everest report and recommendations parties, process, and timeline
Dear Ms. Brunner, Ms. Gilbert, Mr. Nance, Ms. Pinkleton, Mr. Klein, and Mr. Green:
We are writing to request the document or documents that provide information on the parties, process, and timeline for review of and/or deliberation on the Project Everest report and recommendations.
1. The names, titles, and, if possible, contact information of all legislators, committees, or deliberative bodies, including liaisons, assistants, consultants, or ad hoc committees, that will receive a copy of the report and recommendations.
2. The names, titles, and, if possible, contact information of all executive personnel, including the gubernatorial liaisons, assistants, or consultants, as well as election officials at the county and statewide level and their consultants or deliberative bodies, whether public or private, that will receive a copy of the report and recommendations.
3. A description of the deliberative process involved in reviewing the report and recommendations, whether in writing or orally, including whether such process will be open for public observation and/or comment and where and when such opportunity for public observation and/or comment will be.
4. The timeline for review and/or deliberation on the report and recommendations, including the timeframe for study and/or comment by all parties who receive the report and recommendations, including legislative and executive personnel, the anticipated completion of review/deliberation, and any deadlines imposed either internally or externally.
5. Please add my name and contact information on the list of people to be informed of all meetings, and please copy me on all documents: Paddy Shaffer, paddy@columbus.rr.com[5], 614-761-0621.
According to a phone conversation with Brian Green, I understand that Mr. Nance will need to share this information with me. He has not yet returned my call, and this is a very timely matter. I am copying this letter to all of you in the hope I will receive a timely and meaningful response.
I had requested permission for the OEJC to observe the Project Everest testing by phone several times, and in writing prior to and on November 7, 2007, and on November 22, 2007. These requests were denied by Mr. Nance in a letter dated November 30, the last day of testing, and the letter arrived via email on Sunday, December 2 at 4:06 p.m. This was neither a timely nor meaningful response.
This above request is a matter of legitimate and public interest to the citizens of Ohio and the citizens represented by the OEJC, and we would appreciate the courtesy of a speedy response.
Given that the process as publicly reported is apparently outside the regular course of executive/legislative decision-making as well as the significant public interest in the results of this process, we would also appreciate up-dated information should any of the above requested information be changed or revised in the course of the process.
I would also like to know who reviewed the package of information that included the Nevada and Washington state product liability lawsuits regarding voting machines that we delivered to your office on November 30, 2007. These were provided as a possible template for a recall and refund regarding the Ohio voting machines. Whom shall we call to discuss the package?
cc: The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Mark Niquette - Dispatch
Mark Kovac – Vindy News
Jon Craig - Cincinnati Inquirer
Ian Urbina – New York Times
Mary Ann Gould – Voice of the Voters
Summit County Ohio, the GOP, the SOS, and a State Senator
By Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
March 10, 2008
For a better understanding of the Dispatch article below... a little history has been provided on several of these Ohio characters, and the voting machine integrity in Summit County.
Ohio State Senator Kevin Coughlin who is pointing out problems with Alex Arshinkoff has some issues of his own. Kevin was very involved in Ohio's voter suppression bill, officially titled House Bill 3. It seems as though Kevin's job was to trump up the charges of Voter Fraud in his testimony before the Ohio Senate Rules Committee, when Ohio's problem is not that, but alleged Election Fraud by vendors, technicians, and election officials.
Coughlin's testimony seems to have been successful as House Bill 3 adopted the voter ID provisions which currently disenfranchise hundreds, or hundreds of thousands of Ohioans. When you can't vote, or are forced to vote provisionally anywhere in Ohio because of the new voter ID rules, thank State Senator Kevin Coughlin (you might want to drop him a card, or call him).
As for Arshinkoff and Summit Counties elections: In 2006 Alex Arshinkoff was a board member for the Summit County Board Of Elections. That November Summit County had reported that over 100% of the people voted in 34 precincts for November.
Bryan Williams, the director of the BOE, blames it on the ES&S machines counting some of the ballots twice, because the ballots are two pages. Yet some absentee ballots got counted only once. He said it was a software problem. I must let my gentle readers know that in Ohio the Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner is now in March of 2008 looking at spending 64 million dollars, up from 31 million dollars in December 2007 on more ES&S machines to tabulate our votes. I presented Kathy Spinelli, of The Ohio Secretary of State's office in the spring of 2007, with the undervote/overvote report from Summit County, and the following results which I have provided for you, and so much more that was in that report. Remember... this is some of the fine work of ES&S.
Actual Official 2006 Certified Election Results from just a few Summit County Locations:
As for the final official count and the official certified results (certified by former SOS Blackwell), Director Bryan Williams said, "The report is meaningless", referring to his report on the certified totals. Byran also claimed that many voters voted for both Blackwell and Strickland for Governor. Hmmm... who would do that? According to the overvote and undervote report that I requested from Director Williams, 2208 people overvoted for Governor.
And yes folks... this is Ohio elections, and the vendors we buy voting machines from.
The Ohio Election Justice Campaign recommends that we go to Hand Counted Paper Ballots, counted at the precinct. We also recommend a recall and a refund for the voting machines. Ohio needs to go to the front of the line to get our money back. The OEJC recommends that not one more dime be spent on ES&S, nor Diebold, and that we no longer certify vote totals of over 100%.
According to the below article, Arshinkoff will be taking his complaints about Secretary Brunner and his losing his job before The Ohio Supreme Court.
Summit Board of Elections Website
http://www.summitcountyboe.com/ [172]
The next link is for "The Godfather in the Closet Story" on Arshinkoff. Disturbing stuff, be prewarned.
Read below for GOP guys in a circular firing squad.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/03/10/z-apo... [174]
GOP chief under fire
Kicked off elections panel, he could lose Summit County post
Monday, March 10, 2008 3:03 AM
By Julie Carr Smyth
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Critics are lining up against one of Ohio's longest-serving, most-powerful political bosses.
Summit County Republican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff, a man President Bush has called the most effective party chairman in America, was removed from his seat on the county board of elections last month by Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. She cited concerns that employees in Akron were being harassed, intimidated and threatened.
Arshinkoff challenged her decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, for which depositions are to begin this week.
Within his party, Arshinkoff faces a power struggle with a Republican state senator who wants him dethroned as county GOP chairman.
"I think that people are just fed up," said state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, whose ouster effort is dubbed the New Summit County Republicans. "Everyone's got their own reason for letting him go, whether it's how he treats people, how he spends the money, or his losing record of 10 wins and 67 losses over the last six years."
Coughlin, who lives in the Akron suburb of Cuyahoga Falls, said he thinks enough new central committee members were elected last week to push Arshinkoff out for good.
Brunner said she also based her decision to remove Arshinkoff on evidence that he was running his party operation out of elections-board offices.
Also, three local judges signed affidavits saying that Arshinkoff interfered with their official duties.
"I really did not want to lose the opportunity to have this board function in a more civil and professional manner," Brunner said. "When you visit there, it feels kind of like a rubber band pulled tight."
Arshinkoff, who took charge of the county party in 1978 at the age of 23, defends his record and his approach. He said he has never been accused or convicted of a crime or found to have broken an ethics or elections law in three decades of service.
"Do I kick ass sometimes to make sure things get done? You're damn right," Arshinkoff said in a telephone interview. Referring to his party, he said: "When you don't have the (backing of the local) paper, and you don't have the (voter) numbers, you have to."
Coughlin accuses Arshinkoff of exploiting his position with the party to steer business to his lobbying firm and to pay for a car and other personal perks.
"He's got about $600,000 that he budgets for loosely defined operational overhead, which includes a Cadillac Escalade and three meals a day, a bloated staff, and his pay," Coughlin said. "We want a chairman who's interested in winning elections and not feathering his own nest."
Arshinkoff calls Coughlin "truth-challenged."
He said he makes $72,000 a year as party chairman, and he and his wife, Karen, have often taken on personal debt to make the contributions to the party that are required of central committee members.
Arshinkoff also noted that the win-loss record Coughlin assigns him neglects the party's influence outside the county. For example, Coughlin counts state Auditor Mary Taylor of the Summit County suburb of Green, whom Arshinkoff recruited and groomed, in the "loss" column because she did not win her Democrat-heavy home county on her way to statewide victory in 2006.
Arshinkoff has built a small county party into a fundraising dynamo that has given millions of dollars to candidates. In 2000, Arshinkoff's fundraising machine gave $2.8 million to elect then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush president.
Arshinkoff's demands that donors give to the party rather than directly to candidates is both the source of the county party's might and the heart of criticism of it. Most county party chairmen no longer require such loyalty.
Arshinkoff said the attacks by Coughlin and Brunner are politically motivated.
Coughlin aspires to be Ohio's next governor and is using his attacks to build a statewide reputation among Republicans, Arshinkoff said.
As for Brunner, undercutting Summit County's fundraising prowess for Republicans would benefit her and the Democratic Party, Arshinkoff argued.
"Would it perhaps be in her interest not to have us donating $1 million to statewide Republican candidates in 2010?" Arshinkoff said.
Coughlin did not deny having political aspirations, but fighting Arshinkoff won't necessarily benefit his career, he said.
"The safe thing for me to do would have been to stay on the sidelines with my eyes shut and my mouth shut to Alex," Coughlin said. "Whether or not it's a smart political move on my part, it really doesn't matter to me anymore. This guy's conduct has to stop."
Brunner said prudence, not politics, motivated her decision. "It might have been easier to keep him on the board, politically," she said. "But I think the way the board was operating, it wasn't serving the best interests of the voters."
"Do I kick ass sometimes to make sure things get done? You're damn right."
Alex Arshinkoff
Summit County GOP chief
The OEJC Calls for Voting Systems Recall, Return, and Refund (Part I)
The OEJC is calling for the recall, return, and refund of Ohio's electronic voting systems, widely documented as unreliable, inaccurate, and subject to manipulation, and subject of several product defect suits nationally. Lobbyist suggested elections officials to current review of Ohio 's voting systems. Selected officials include representatives from counties plagued by election irregularities such as failing to preserve 2004 ballots as ordered by federal court. Voting systems purchased pursuant to HAVA, co-authored by former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), met with lobbyist Abramoff during drafting, both serving prison terms for convictions related to bribery and corruption of public officials, respectively.
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) November 21, 2007 -- In a press conference today, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) is calling for the recall, return, and refund of voting systems used in Ohio, the state that clinches presidential elections. 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.
According to the Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's answers to the State Controlling Board, which approved $1.8 million in Help America Vote (HAVA) funds to review Ohio's elections systems, the final recommendations will be the "responsibility of the Secretary of State's Office working with a representative group of the state's election officials."
Brunner's letter to this same board, dated Sept. 20, 2007, states, "The list (of election officials) was compiled with Aaron Ockerman who met with me this morning and suggested the names of those to be involved."
Aaron Ockerman, of State Street Consultants, is a registered lobbyist for the Ohio Association of Election Officials (OAEO), a corporation that promotes the business interests of Ohio election officials. He was a registered lobbyist for Election Systems & Software, ES&S, (ESS) in 2003.
Neil S. Clark and Paul Tipps, founders of State Street Consultants, were registered lobbyists for ES&S, 2002-04, and for Diebold (DB), 2004 and 2005. Clark is currently a registered OAEO lobbyist.
Ockerman, also a registered lobbyist for ACS (ACS) State and Local Solutions, Inc., formerly Lockheed (LMT) Martin IMS, co-hosted a reception for the Ohio SOS and others during the winter 2007 OAEO conference.
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 [10], 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.
As of this date, almost half come from counties with various alleged recount irregularities, and one from a county with alleged voter suppression, King Lincoln v. Blackwell (S.D.Ohio). Although Ohio does have many BOEs secure from these problems, only two are represented on the list.
HAVA earmarked $3.9 billion in tax payer money to implement electronic voting systems. Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) co-authored HAVA, meeting with lobbyist Jack Abramoff during its drafting. Ney and Abramoff are now serving prison terms for convictions related to bribery and corruption of public officials, respectively.
The electronic elections systems have been widely documented as unreliable, inaccurate, and subject to manipulation. California decertified its electronic voting machines, Florida tossed them out, and New York has not even introduced them.
Lawsuits alleging breach of warranty, Lehto v. Sequoia (King County, Washington) and Axelrod v. Sequoia (Washoe County, Nevada), have been filed in state court. A complaint naming the Ohio SOS was filed in U.S. District Court, Schulz v. State of New York (N.D.N.Y.), seeking an injunction until elections are open, verifiable, and transparent.
To support the OEJC, donate at www.electiondefensealliance.org/OEJC[31]. For background information on the failure to preserve the 2004 ballots, see http://www.prnewsnow.com/TextNews/168067.html.
For Immediate Release:
By Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
October 28, 2008
In one of the “rare documented cases of voter fraud,” committed by Richard Welch the Republican Morgan County Prosecutor, Ohio Secretary of State (SOS) Jennifer Brunner voted against the members of her own party, board members Mary Anna Wallace and Azcal Wilson, and for the Republican. The issue here is whether the attorney who is the Morgan County Prosecutor, who has lived outside of Morgan County for the past six years, can continue to vote in that county. Welch has lived south of Morgan County, down along the Ohio River in the town of Belpre. Welch is in the military, and has had not personally been physically in the prosecutors office much in the last six year. He has maintained the prosecutor title, and continued to have himself and his wife vote in Morgan County, he has continued to run for office, and hold office. All while actually having his wife and himself live in Washington County.
Welch did claim to spend one night, on September 1, 2008 in the house. He also at his September 2, 2008 hearing claimed that he was unable to live in the house because of the large amount of pigeon poop all over it. His attorney assisted Welch providing pictures of the numerous white poop spots, and they had a vivid description. Brunner wrote that Welch’s wife is splitting her time between the two homes, but the locals disagree.
The McConnellesville home in Morgan County has not even had running water in the past six years, and is zoned as an office, not a residence. Both Democratic Board Members of the Morgan County Board of Elections ruled in January 2008, and then again on September 29, 2008 that Welch is not a resident of their community.
Legal counsel for the Secretary of State in Morgan County is Brian Shinn. In her ruling issued today[41],
Brunner (or her staff) wrote: “Because Welch's total period of absence from Morgan County excluding his active duty military service amounts to a temporary absence, because he testified he has maintained an intent to return to Morgan County, and because he has taken numerous actions that support his intent to return to Morgan County, I conclude that Mr. Welch is a qualified elector of Morgan County”.
Another former military man, and a member of Ohio law enforcement for the past 28 years has an opinion in this case also. That is Mike Tigner who filed the complaint against Welch. Tigner complained, “I can’t believe they can’t go by the plain meaning of the law, they keep covering up for people. If it was any other voter that lived outside the county, we wouldn’t be asking for the SOS opinion.”
He was very disappointed by Secretary Brunner’s ruling and how she only supported Welch, and never responded to the strong points he made. Tigner stated, “Welch was living in Washington County for the 30 days prior to leaving for service, that makes it his place of residence, according to the Uniformed Statute for Voter Registration. When leaving for service, residency is based on where a person lived, not where they might someday live.” Tigner wants to know, “What are they covering up? How many other elected officials are there who live outside of their counties or districts, for which Brunner wants to protect?” There is another item of interest in this case, Brunner wrote:
"The board of elections voted 3-1 to cancel Welch's voter registration at the end of the January 23, 2008 hearing.” It was canceled, then later reinstated, leading to the current ongoing issues.
On September 12, 2008 Mike Tigner asked for an investigation by the Ohio Attorney General and CC’d the Ohio Secretary of State on his written request. There has been no response to this letter. The letter is below in part:
Dear Attorney General Rogers,
I submit to you an urgent request to conduct a serious legal
investigation, enforcing the *Ohio Revised Code 109.95, Criminal
proceedings for election fraud.* The Morgan County Ohio Board of
Elections has allowed its Prosecuting Attorney, Richard Welch, to run
for office, fill that office, and vote in the county of Morgan when all
the time he has lived in the county of Washington. Because of this,
there is a conflict of interest for investigation when both the
prosecutor and the Board of Elections have violated Ohio law, and the
prosecutor serves as legal counsel for the Board of Elections.
Wanting justice and not power moves, Tigner said, “This is not a government of the people for the people, it is the corruption of the government by the government.” He is very concerned about attorneys covering up for one another, and said, “They will take care of themselves.” Tigner and others are also concerned with illegal actions by the board members.
Independent candidate for the office of the Ohio Attorney General Robert Owens in a discussion about other candidates that may also live outside of their district stated, “In this ruling Jennifer Brunner has once again shown her true colors as a stooge for the Democratic Party. On its face it may seem that she is trying to be “fair and balanced” in reality she is protecting bigger fish.”
Current candidate for the Ohio Senate, former 2006 candidate for Ohio Secretary of State, and 2004 Presidential Recount Organizer Tim Kettler stated, “If Secretary Brunner is refusing to enforce the laws, then Ohio elections are no more secure today then they were in 2004.” Kettler is a witness to the rigging of the 2004 recount in his home county of Coshocton.
"For the foregoing reasons, I vote with Board Chair J. Wilson and Board Member Pennock AGAINST the motion to reaffirm the finding that Welch is not a qualified elector of Morgan County. Accordingly, the motion fails. Because Welch has already submitted a valid application for an absentee ballot as an armed serviced voter pursuant to R.C. 3511.02 and Advisory 2008-29 and because the time for him to return his absentee ballot is short, the Morgan County Board of Elections is hereby instructed to issue Welch an absentee ballot immediately in accordance with Advisory 2008-29."
In 2006 when people of the Democratic Party voted in Jennifer Brunner as Secretary of State, one thing they counted on was for her as the tie-breaker vote, and for the people to be represented at the Ohio Boards of Elections. It sadly appears that today, she voted against them. The pigeon droppings are not the only things stinking in Ohio this day.
AUDITING and RECOUNTS in OHIO: Would You Let This Team Count Your Money?
By Marj Creech
Dec. 28, 2006
I woke up this morning thinking about the recount I witnessed in Madison County, Ohio at the BOE in the little town of London, for the Kilroy/Price 2006 Congressional race. At the time I couldn’t put my finger, or nose, on anything that smelled particularly fishy, and I still can’t. The 3% not-so-random recount had matched—yeah having the two precincts selected by someone, or someones, from the Board of Election, sort of defeats the purpose of an unbiased recount, but Blackwell had already sent a directive long before this recent election, that said that the selection did not have to be “mathematically random,” whatever that means. So they didn’t break the letter of the law, and the Chair of the BOE, told me that, “They didn’t favor one precinct over another,” but selected one rural precinct and one precinct from London, the “city,” that added up to just over 3 percent of the total votes. Why should anyone reasonable have a problem with that?
It came to me this morning that everyone conducting or observing the recount has a different agenda for doing it. For the majority of election workers the reason is that it’s required by Ohio law when the count difference between candidates is 0.5% or less. Their agenda is, “Let’s get this done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and show anyone who cares that we are doing our job right.” How that translates is an audible cheer when the 3% non-random hand count matches a new machine count, and that machine count matches the election day machine count. No one bothers to try to see if the number of signatures of voters on election day plus absentee ballots plus provisional ballots, match the total number of votes. That kind of audit is not required by law. So if the hand count matches the machine counts, old and new, no more ballots have to be counted by hand, the recount proceeds to all machine counting of the rest of the ballots, and we all get to go home after a few hours and the recount is over. On to regular after-election administrative mop-up, and Christmas shopping.
For higher-up election officials the agenda might be proving to the observers, like me, and the guy from the House Administration Committee of the US Congress, that “all is OK in Ohio elections, especially in the way this BOE is run. There is no fraud and at least these officials are competent and forthright.” The job of the Chair of the BOE at this recount was to make sure we observers stayed seated in our corner—where we could not see the names on the ballots, or see the tally tapes run from each machine, or what was going on in the back room where the electronic cards from each machine were read and tallied. He also made sure we did not talk or ask questions, except when the Director asked us if we had any questions. Oh and the Chair was also asked to remake ballots when the marks were too weak for the optical scan machines to read. A person of the other major party watched him do this, but we observers could not see if they did it right or not. The old replaced ballot was taken to the storage room and placed somewhere. Or more often than not, the checks or x’s that were not being scanned were darkened in on the same ballot. The old ballot no longer existed, for anyone to ever see again.
For the two Republican observers sitting to my right, the agenda was to make sure that Kilroy didn’t somehow pull out enough votes to overturn Price’s lead. Kilroy, I heard them saying later, had already caused some rejected provisional ballots to be reinstated in Franklin County. One of the Republican women objected loudly when all of us were given a list of names and addresses of voters whose provisional ballots had been rejected in this county. “That should not be given out!” she said, purportedly to protect the identity of the voters, but I believe her real concern was that the Kilroy campaign would contact the voters and find out how they voted and try to get their votes counted.
The agenda of the technician for the ES&S voting machines, would be what? He might say, “Making sure the machines function correctly, without glitches.” He told me he knew nothing of software, but that his job was “simply” to make the electronic cards for each precinct so that the ballots would be read correctly. Apparently there is still “rotation” of candidates on optical scan ballots, just like on punch cards, for each precinct, even on precincts that are at the same polling site, that is, in precinct “A” the order on the ballot might be Kilroy, followed by Price, followed by the Independent candidate, while in precinct “B” the order rotates to Independent, Kilroy, Price. I asked him if a voter went to another precinct’s optical scanner, wouldn’t their choices be read wrong? He said no because the machine won’t read the wrong ballot because of the printed marks on the ballot and the card inserted into the machine at the beginning that tells the machine what precinct to read. I didn’t think to ask him if someone could use a wrong electronic card on purpose in order to make, say, the Kilroy votes go to the Independent.
So what’s this guy’s real agenda? If I had his job my goal would be making sure my machines came out looking and smelling like roses, by quelling all doubts that they ever counted wrong, or mutilated ballots, or failed to read them. I would want to not give anyone any reason to suspect that manipulation of the vote was even a remote possibility. But why did he keep staring at me throughout the recount? I had no reason to question his integrity, a good-looking young (early 30’s?) man with darkish complexion, perhaps latino, who moved with competence and confidence.
No, the problem was not a reasonable question as to anybody’s honesty. The problem is that we do not have citizen oversight, or any unbiased oversight for that matter, of our elections, not even in close outcome recounts. Whose agenda is it to have an honest transparent election or recount? For whom is this the number one reason for a recount? I was the only one who could say I was even close to that purpose. Personally I preferred that Kilroy might somehow win but even with that bias, because of my election integrity work for over the past two years, I can honestly say I wouldn’t want her or anyone to win by unfairly adding or subtracting votes. But why was I the only one looking for possible fraud, machine insecurity, breaks in chain of custody, and general sloppiness in handling our ballots? Where are the professional security auditors, those whose job I was doing as a citizen volunteer? Where were the other citizen volunteers so that we could compare notes and have more eyes, and demand to be where we could actually see the names on the ballots and the results tapes from each machine, and write down those tallies so that we could add them ourselves? Why weren't we allowed to watch the final tallying and see for ourselves if the totals matched the original election totals? Why aren’t our elections audited like a bank, where auditors, whether professional or trained citizens, or both, come in with only the agenda of checking the totals, looking for fraud, and security risks, and make suggestions for tightening security?
What I did see from my little corner of the recount room was that the machine recounts failed to match the election day machine counts for several precincts. A few votes here, a few votes there, and for one precinct’s count, eleven votes off! Because the agenda of the election officials was to resolve these discrepancies as quickly as possible and the agenda of the ES&S technician was to show that his machines could not possibly be counting wrong, everyone scrambled to find the problem with the paper ballots, not questioning the machine counts.
Were the ballots in the wrong pile and were thus counted in the wrong precinct? (I wonder what happened to the technician’s explanation that the machine would not count ballots from the wrong precinct?) The technician went into the back and said that from the printout he could tell that ballots from another precinct had been counted in the wrong precinct. A physical search found them.
In some cases a hand-count was made of the ballots, not individual votes, but just number of ballots, because it was just assumed that the machine was counting votes correctly, and that the discrepancies would be found in the operator feeding the ballots incorrectly. Since at least 6 to 8 of the precincts of the 44 precincts of this county had discrepancies, weren’t they lucky to have the two picked for recounting match perfectly? Wouldn’t it be tempting to run those two precincts early, say the night before the recount, and find and fix any discrepancies with the machine count? Such behavior is consistent with the agenda of the BOE workers and the technician, since looking for fraud is not on the table.
The system of recounting we have now in Ohio is like having the bank employees do their own audit, while only the IT guy has control over certain aspects, namely, setting the counting machine to count all the money, and then overseeing the final tally. Oh yeah!--and this guy also works for the expensive counting machines the bank has just invested in--he’s not even a bank employee. AND I almost forgot to mention that the owners of his company have a vested interest in having a certain customer of the bank have the most money. But not to worry! The customers, with proper clearance, can come in and sit in a corner and watch the money being counted, far enough away not to be able to see the denominations or the tally slips of course.
Why, in the name of Democracy, do we let machines count, and recount, our ballots, machines that are programmed and run by a vendor, under the watchful eye of-- ultimately, himself?
* * *
Marj Creech is an Ohio election integrity advocate active with J-30, CASE Ohio, and other grassroots groups, and an EDA Co-Coordinator for Volunteer Recruitment and Training. She can be reached at 740-924-5083 or by e-mail at risenregan(at)earthlink(dot)net.
Election Protection Measures in Ohio
YOU CAN HELP ENSURE A FAIR ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 7, 2006.
"If you don't have the right to vote and have that voted be counted, you
will not make any progress of any kind on any other issue or any other
front. All of your freedoms are predicated on your right to vote." -- Mark
Crispen Miller, author of Fooled Again.
There are several ways that YOU can help ensure a fair election. You can serve as
1. POLLWORKER. Pollworkers for Democracy will offer training to ensure
you understand the laws, regulations, and opportunities to ensure a
fair election in your precinct. This is a paid position. You must work
in your county of residence.
2. OBSERVER: Observers are appointed
by a political party, or by a consortium of independents. You would
work 5:30-???. Among the duties will be following the Precinct Captain
with the electronic ballot from the precinct to the central tabulator.
3. ELECTION PROTECTION VOLUNTEER: EP workers will be present at the
polls, armed with information to help voters who are refused access due
to the new ID requirement and other reasons, or are forced to vote by
provisional ballot.
4. Parallel Election Volunteer: Activists will be conducting parallel elections
in selected precincts in order to verify the vote count.
In addition, organizations may be looking for persons to work the exit polls.
Videographers are also being organized.
Training workshops on all of these topics will be presented at the Voting Rights Revival Conference.
Get involved and make a difference! Come for an afternoon or all three
days! Training workshops scheduled on Saturday afternoon (see website
for exact times). October 13, 14 & 15, Columbus State Community
College, 550 E. Spring Street, Columbus, Nestor Hall. Registration and
more information at:
http://freepress.org/vrrc/. [182] Conference is free to the public.
For those unable to attend, please consider providing financial support.
In addition to the volunteer training workshops, there will be speakers,
forums and even political entertainment throughout the day. Feel free
to drop in for the afternoon or spend the day.
For schedule information, check our website. Highlights include:
Steve Freeman- Exit Poll expert and author of
"Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen? Exit Polls, Election Fraud, and the Official Count"
Ruth Colker, Election and People with Disabilities
Matt Damschroder, Director of Franklin County Board of Elections
Secretary of State forum moderated by Earl Wurdlow
Dave Lippman: singing CIA agent
Tom Neilson: Political Satire, Parody, & Social Commentary
"American Blackout" Sundance award-winning film.
Rev Jesse Jackson (invited)
"Make a difference- protect fair elections" http://freepress.org/vrrc/. [182]
Election-Related Public Records Obtained by Blackboxvoting
Black Box Voting : Document Archive: Public Records:
(OH) - Ohio public records index: Index of Ohio public records
------------------------------------------------------------
Originals posted at Blackboxvoting.org by Bev Harris on Tuesday, January 09, 2007 - 09:23 am:
Beginning in 2007, public records will be posted in the state forums (at BBV.org) where they originate, and will be indexed in the main document archive (at BBV.org)
INDEX OF OHIO PUBLIC RECORDS
E-mails between vendors and county elections officials (partial):
Help Protect the Count in Cuyahoga County Election Day 2008
From: Victoria Lovegren [mailto:lovegrenv@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 10:41 AM
To: 'Victoria Lovegren'
Subject: URGENT - "Adopt" a polling place - Get us the posted precinct elecion results approx 8:30pm - Please forward widely!
Current volunteers! We’re really excited about the enthusiastic response we’ve gotten from you and others! This is so important!
Please send this out to your lists.
This is my last blast to get more “Project Post” volunteers!
It is now required for the Board of Elections to post election results at the polling place!
We need those numbers to compare with “official” results!
Please “claim” a polling place and “capture” those results and call/email them into us. We’re working with BlackBoxVoting.org
and EDA on the Protect The Count[187] effort, and we're calling the Cuyahoga version “Project Post.”
Ohio Voter Registration Database Report:
State Regulations and Procedures Implementing HAVA Voter Registration Requirements
Attached is the Ohio Voter Registration Information as set forth in Making the List, Database Matching and Verification Processes for Voter Registration as published by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University on March 24, 2006. This document contains available information about voter regtistration current as of the date of publication. Information was current as of November 2005.
Federal law now requires, as of January 1, 2006, that states create and maintain statewide databases to serve as the central source of voter registration information. Citizens’ ability to get on the rolls (and thus their ability to vote and have their votes counted) will now depend on the policies and procedures governing the use of these databases in the voter registration process. Evidence demonstrates that poor policy and procedure choices could result in the unwarranted disenfranchisement of millions of eligible citizens attempting to register to vote. The new statewide databases, and their role in the voter registration process, are poorly understood, but extremely consequential.
This report, issued just as the state databases begin to come online, presents the first comprehensive catalog of the widely varying state database practices governing how (and in some cases, whether) individuals seeking to register will be placed on the voter rolls.
The report covers the state’s voter registration process, from the application form up through Election Day - including the intake of registration forms, the manner in which information from the forms may be matched to other government lists, the consequences of the match process, and any opportunity to correct errors. Each variation at each step of the process has tangible consequences for voters seeking to register and vote in 2006 and beyond.
IMPORTANT: Because of the possibility that voter information may differ from database to database (abbreviations, street designations, etc.) or because of data entry errors, valid voter registration data may be rejected. Individual voters are urged to contact their county clerk or local election board to determine that they are properly registered. Many such election authorities maintain online services for this purpose, other will require a telephone call or perhaps a written inquiry to determine the voter's eligibility.
As an addendum to this state report, a fill-in form for voter registration is presented which can be completed, printed and sent to the appropriate registratrar of voters (generally the county Clerk or local election board). The proper form of submission and location is included on the registration form.
Project Everest: Security Review of Ohio E-Voting Systems
Project Everest is the E-voting system security analysis ordered by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. The Everest project follows the example established by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who commissioned the "top to bottom review" (TTBR) of California's computerized voting systems.
The Everest report's authors recommended that Ohio discontinue use of its DRE and PBOS (precinct-based optical scanners)
Subsections of the report can also be accessed individually from the links below.
These documents are housed at the following URL on the Ohio Secretary of State website:
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/elections/voterInformation/equipment/VotingSy... [195]
EVEREST Testing Reports
MicroSolved, Inc.
Project Executive Summary Report (PDF) [196]
Hart System Executive Summary Report (PDF) [197]
Hart System Technical Manager's Report (PDF) [198]
Hart System Technical Details Report (PDF) [199]
ES&S System Executive Summary Report (PDF) [200]
ES&S System Technical Manager's Report (PDF) [201]
ES&S System Technical Details Report (PDF) [202]
Premier System Executive Summary Report (PDF) [203]
Premier System Technical Manager's Report (PDF) [204]
Premier System Technical Details Report (PDF) [205]
Pennsylvania State University, University of Pennsylvania, and WebWise Security, Inc.
Academic Evaluation and Validation of Election-Related Equipment, Standard and Testing - Final Report (PDF) [206]
SysTest Labs: Consulting and Testing Services Risk Assessment Study of Ohio Voting Systems
State Board Blocks Proposal to Test Ohio Voting Machines
Why doesn't the GOP want Ohio's voting machines tested?
by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman Sept. 11, 2007
Ohio Republicans have blocked a proposal to test electronic voting machines prior to the 2008 presidential primary
By a 4-3 vote, Republicans on Ohio's State Controlling Board blocked Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's proposed $1.8 million unbid contract for voting machine testing. Brunner had already set aside the $1.8 million for the test. Her specific request to the Controlling Board was a waiver for competitive bidding. Her office had hoped to complete all testing by November 30, 2007.
A former judge, Brunner is successor to the infamous J. Kenneth Blackwell, who helped engineer the theft of Ohio's electoral votes for George W. Bush in 2004. Brunner won election as a reform candidate, vowing to guarantee the public access to the polls---and an accurate vote count---in 2008.
In California, Democratic Secretary of State Debra Bowen recently completed an extensive testing of that state's electronic voting machines. She decertified many of them and is on course to rework how America's biggest state casts and counts its ballots.
Brunner has not been quite so aggressive. When it was recently revealed that 56 of 88 Ohio counties illegally destroyed protected materials from the 2004 election, she showed little reaction. She has also stated publicly doubts that the irregularities that defined the Ohio vote that year could have affected the outcome or that the illegal destruction of more than 2000 ballots could have been intentional.
But in attempting to carry out her promise to test Ohio's electronic voting machines, Brunner has followed through on public demands that the ability of Ohio's electronic machines to deliver a fair and reliable vote count be proven. Tests and studies conducted by the federal Government Accountability Office, Princeton University, Johns Hopkins, the Brennan Center, the Carter-Baker Election Commission, John Conyer's House Judiciary Committee and others have all shown clearly that electronic voting machines are unreliable and easily rigged.
The New York Times has now joined that consensus, calling for an outright federal ban. "Electronic voting has been an abysmal failure," the Times said. "Computer experts have done study after study showing that electronic voting machines, which are often shoddily made, can easily be hacked. With little effort, vote totals can be changed and elections stolen."
Brunner's Plan to Retest Voting Machines has Skeptics
BY MARK NIQUETTE
The Columbus Dispatch
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner wants to spend more than $1.8 million to retest the state's voting machines, but some members of the Ohio Controlling Board aren't convinced it's necessary.
"I don't understand why we're doing it," said Sen. John Carey, R-Wellston, a member of the board, which is scheduled to consider Brunner's request Monday afternoon.
"I have real concerns about that particular request," said Sen. Steve Stivers, a Columbus Republican.
Brunner wants all of the electronic touch-screen and optical-scan systems used in Ohio and the procedures for handling them thoroughly examined to allay concerns about their security and accuracy.
MORE. . .
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/09/09/brunner.html [211]
Underallocation of Voting Machines Suppresses Votes: Franklin Co. OH, 2004
This study by Elizabeth Liddle linked below very clearly shows how deliberate under-supply of voting machines was used as a partisan tactic to suppress Democratic opposition voters in the 2004 Ohio presidential election in Ohio. The tactic works and continues to be used, and not only in Ohio.
The "bottleneck" effect is an inherent property of computerized voting machines that enforce serial, one-voter-at-a-time voting. This is most particularly so for touchscreen DRE terminals. This unadvertised feature can and will continue to be exploited by partisan election officials wherever they can get away with it, with the perpetual after-the-fact excuse that the voting machine shortage was an "oversight," an "unintended consequence" of "circumstances that could not have been foreseen."
Kathy Dopp, who originally published Liddle's study for USCountVotes.org[212], writes:
"Franklin County, OH was also one of the counties where the election administrators underallocated voting machines to Democratic districts and withheld voting machines in warehouses that they knew were needed during the election.
Here is a short study we did on it back then, but I know there have been others."
Ohio election activist and researcher Rady Ananda writes:
"I recall this - and I witnessed it when I served as a numbers runner for the Dems on 11-2-04. I went into four precincts on Election Day: three predominantly Democrat and one predominantly Republican. At the Republican precinct (in white, wealthy Westerville, OH), voters waited maybe 10 minutes to vote. Volunteers served free coffee and pastries. At the Democratic precincts, the lines went out the door (into the rain) and those voters waited at least an hour, often longer. No refreshments were offered.
Matt Damschroder withheld close to 100 voting machines, and a lawsuit filed by the Democratic Party (at 5 pm) failed to get them deployed. This was a successful vote suppression strategy. Matt serves as a "consultant" to the Franklin BOE thru the end of this year, which means his brilliant strategies will undoubtedly be used in the next stolen election."
Introduction to the Study
An article by Harvey Wasserman in The Free Press[214]1 alleged that long lines on Election Day, 2nd November 2004 deprived some voters in Franklin county, Ohio, of the right to vote, and that this problem was greatest in the most strongly Democratic precincts. If these allegations are well-founded, they should be apparent in the election data. I therefore analyzed data from Franklin County supplied by Cliff Arnebeck2.
The results indicate that in precincts where the number of “active voters” (voters who have voted at least once in the last two election cycles) per voting machine was high, turnout was significantly depressed as compared with turnout in precincts where the number of “active voters” per machine was low, supporting Wasserman’s claim that turnout was indeed depressed by inadequate provision of machines.
The results also indicate that the number of “active voters” required to share a machine in a precinct was strongly and positively correlated with the proportion of that precinct’s vote for John Kerry, again supporting Wasserman’s claim of selective under-provision of machines to strongly Democratic precincts. Statistical tests of both these effects indicate that they are highly significant, and thus extremely unlikely to have arisen by chance.
Two things are clear to the naked eye from the data. First is the finding that where the number of active voters per machine in a precinct exceeded a certain level, turnout (as a proportion of potential voters) dropped off (Figure 1).
To download and read the entire study with graphs, click here[213].
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Lunatics.
Posted by Nathan | November 2, 2007 2:20 PM [158]
Posted on November 2, 2007 14:20 [158]