Election News!

Yes, it is December, but if you think Election 2004 is old news, you're simply not paying attention (or reading the Daily Kos blog).

Even if you do regularly read Daily Kos, there's so much there, it's easy to miss a story or two. With that in mind, here's some stories that you NEED to read:

Republicans Threaten Violence in Washington State!
by msaroff
Tue Dec 14th, 2004 at 08:35:03 PST

A quote from from Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance regarding 561 votes found in King County:

Republicans are now "absolutely convinced that King County is trying to steal this election," said Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance.

"There are Republicans urging us to organize mass protests, to take to the streets," Vance said. "At some point people's patience just runs out." More HERE

BREAKING: Witness Says Voting Company Tampered With Machines
by sixmoreweeks
Mon Dec 13th, 2004 at 19:31:58 PST

Witness says voting company tampered with machines after vote and tried to plant false information into Ohio recount. More HERE

Clint Curtis' "show stopper" testimony causes "gasps" at hearing
by Spiral Stairs
Mon Dec 13th, 2004 at 15:04:16 PST

In an apparent surprise, Clint Curtis testified today before the House Judiciary Committee Democrats. What happened? This happened:

Testimony Described as 'Show Stopper'!
'Stunner', 'Jaws Dropped'!
Audible 'Gasps' heard in chamber room!

The software programmer, whose sworn affidavit was first reported by The BRAD BLOG, named Republican U.S. Congressman Tom Feeney (a Republican member of the Judiciary Committee!) as having asked him to create "vote-rigging" software when he was a Florida Congressman prior to 2000 elections! More HERE

And, this from www.freepress.org

Startling new revelations highlight rare Congressional hearings on Ohio vote
by Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman
December 13, 2004

Startling new revelations about Ohio's presidential vote have been uncovered as Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee join Rev. Jesse Jackson in Columbus, the state capital, on Monday, Dec. 13, to hold a rare field hearing into election malfeasance and manipulation in the 2004 vote. The Congressional delegation will include Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, and others.

Taken together, the revelations show Republicans – in state and county government, and in the Ohio Republican Party – were determined to undermine and suppress Democratic turnout by a wide variety of methods.

The revelations were included in affidavits gathered for an election challenge lawsuit filed Monday at the Ohio Supreme Court. Ohio's Republican Electoral College representatives are also to meet at noon, Monday, at the State House, even though the presidential recount, requested by the Green and Libertarian Parties, is only beginning the same day.

On Sunday, John Kerry spoke with Rev. Jesse Jackson and urged him to take an more active role in investigating the irregularities and ensuring a fair and impartial recount. Kerry said there were three areas of inquiry that should be addressed: 92,000 ballots that recorded no vote for president; qualifying and counting provisional ballots; and supported an independent analysis of the software and set-up of the optical scan voting machines.

What follows are excerpts from some of the affidavits for the election challenge.

More Here

Some of that 'more' includes:

- In Warren County, where election officers declared a homeland security emergency on Election Day, and barred reporters and others from watching the vote count.

- In Franklin County, election director, Matt Damschroder, misinformed a federal court on Election Day when he testified the county had no additional voting machines (actually 81 voting machines were being held back).

- Also in Franklin County, a worker at the Holiday Inn observed a team of 25 people who called themselves the "Texas Strike Force" using payphones to make intimidating calls to likely voters, targeting people recently in the prison system (their hotel bill was paid for by the Ohio Republican Party).

- Again in Warren County, Democrats were being targeted and forced to use provisional ballots, even if they had proper identification.

- And in a half-dozen precincts in Franklin County, people who were not inside polling places by 7:30 PM were told to leave - even if they had waited in line for hours.