Dear Everyone;
More on that Ohio possible electioneering fraud from the NY Times. As
the saying goes where there's smoke there's fire. And if the re-count
at least slows down future vote fraud a little bit it may be worth
it???
Ron Getty
SF Libertarian
Lawmaker Seeks Inquiry Into Ohio Vote
By TOM ZELLER Jr.
The ranking Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee,
Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, plans to ask the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and a county prosecutor in Ohio today to
explore "inappropriate and likely illegal election tampering" in at
least one and perhaps several Ohio counties.
The request for an investigation, made in a letter that was also
provided to The New York Times, includes accounts from at least two
county employees, but is based largely on a sworn affidavit provided
by the Hocking County deputy director of elections, Sherole Eaton.
Among other things, Ms. Eaton says in her affidavit that a
representative of Triad Governmental Systems, the Ohio firm that
created and maintains the vote-counting software in dozens of Ohio
counties, made several adjustments to the Hocking County tabulator
last Friday, in advance of the state's recount, which is taking place
this week.
Ohio recount rules require that only 3 percent of a county's votes be
tallied by hand, and typically one or more whole precincts are
selected and combined to get the 3 percent sample. After the hand
count, the sample is fed into the tabulator. If there is no
discrepancy, the remaining ballots can be counted by the machine.
Otherwise, a hand recount must be done for the whole county.
Ms. Eaton contends that the Triad employee asked which precinct
Hocking County planned to count as its representative 3 percent, and,
upon being told, made further adjustments to the machine.
County officials decided to use a different precinct when the recount
was done yesterday. No discrepancies were found.
"This is pretty outrageous," Mr. Conyers said. "We want to pursue it
as vigorously as we can."
--- In lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com, "Dr. Michael R. Edelstein"
<dredelstein@t...> wrote:
> From: "Libertarian Party Announcements" <info@h...>
> To: "Libertarian Party Announcements"
> <lpannounce@l...>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 10:51 AM
> Subject: LP NEWS ARTICLE: Ohio lawsuit
>
>
>> ====================================
>> LIBERTARIAN PARTY NEWS
>> 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
>> Washington DC 20037
>> World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
>> ====================================
>> For release: December 14, 2004
>> ====================================
>> For additional information:
>> George Getz, Communications Director
>> GeorgeGetz@H...
>> ====================================
>>
>> Badnarik's role in Ohio recount
>> causes controversy in party
>>
>> WASHINGTON -- The decision by 2004 Libertarian presidential
>> candidate
>> Michael Badnarik to play a leading role in the Ohio presidential
>> recount
>> is causing a bubbling controversy within the Libertarian Party
>> itself as
>> many members ask why Badnarik embarked on a venture that will
cost
>> taxpayers money without changing the outcome of the election.
>>
>> The recount, which started this week and will last for several
>> days, was
>> formally requested on Dec. 7 by Badnarik and Green Party
candidate
>> David
>> Cobb. On Dec. 6, the state officially certified President
George
>> Bush
>> as the winner over Democrat John Kerry by a margin of 118,775
>> votes.
>> Badnarik received 14,695 votes in Ohio and Cobb received 186.
>>
>> Ohio's 20 electoral votes put Bush over the top, and Kerry
conceded
>> the
>> state on Nov. 4, saying he thought there was no chance a recount
>> would
>> result in his victory.
>>
>> The national Libertarian Party played no role in the decision to
>> seek a
>> recount, which was made by Badnarik himself and his campaign
staff.
>>
>> "The national Libertarian Party was unaware of this lawsuit
until
>> after
>> it was filed, and no party funds have been spent in the effort,"
>> said
>> the party's national chair, Michael Dixon. "Mr. Badnarik is
>> making a
>> well-intentioned effort to protect the integrity of the voting
>> process.
>> However, because no one anticipates that a recount will change
the
>> outcome in Ohio, the Libertarian Party prefers not to see
taxpayer
>> resources expended in this effort."
>>
>> Badnarik's decision to join the lawsuit was made shortly after
the
>> Nov.
>> 2 election, when Cobb contacted the Badnarik for President
>> campaign.
>> Because Cobb's name was not on the ballot in Ohio, he lacked
legal
>> standing, and needed Badnarik as a co-plaintiff. The campaign
team
>> also
>> considered challenging the outcome in New Mexico and Nevada, but
>> Badnarik said those plans have been put on hold.
>>
>> "On Election Day we received dozens of e-mails from people on
our
>> list
>> saying something funny was going on in Ohio -- that votes
weren't
>> being
>> counted correctly," said Fred Collins, Badnarik's campaign
chair.
>> "We
>> felt that joining the lawsuit was something we could do at no
cost
>> to
>> us, and said we'd be willing to participate. I don't believe the
>> vote
>> count will change dramatically. But this will go a long way
toward
>> making sure that votes will be counted accurately in the future."
>>
>> Collins said the driving forces behind the recount are
nonpartisan
>> watchdog groups and the Greens, who raised more than 90 percent
of
>> the
>> funds -- not the Libertarians.
>>
>> Badnarik pointed out that he and Cobb are being represented by
>> attorney
>> John Bonifaz, founder of the nonpartisan National Voting Rights
>> Institute, who is doing the case pro bono.
>>
>> "He contacted us and offered his services, and said the only way
he
>> was
>> willing to do the case was if it was for both of us, to ensure
that
>> it
>> would be nonpartisan," Badnarik said. "He wouldn't have taken
the
>> case
>> if it was only for one of us."
>>
>> Under Ohio law, the parties seeking the recount are required to
pay
>> $10
>> per precinct, or $113,600 statewide. Badnarik and Cobb raised the
>> required money.
>>
>> However, the Ohio secretary of state's office claims that the
>> actual
>> cost of the recount is closer to $1.5 million, because 3 percent
of
>> the
>> ballots in each county have to be counted by hand; many counties
>> lack
>> central counting equipment; and poll workers have to return and
>> count
>> many of the ballots.
>>
>> In mid-November, the two candidates announced their plan to file
>> for a
>> recount, citing "widespread reports of irregularities in the
Ohio
>> voting
>> process."
>>
>> The announcement triggered a wave of national publicity and
became
>> the
>> topic of discussion on cable TV news shows such as CNBC's
>> "Hardball" and
>> MSNBC's "Countdown."
>>
>> Most of the print coverage focused on the cost of the recount,
and
>> press
>> reports were especially critical in Ohio.
>>
>> In a Dec. 9 interview with the Findlay Courier, Allen County
Board
>> of
>> Elections Director Keith Cunningham denounced the recount effort
as
>> "an
>> outrage" and a "theft." He said the recount will cost $6,000 to
>> $12,000,
>> even though he received only $1,390 from Badnarik and Cobb.
>>
>> A Dec. 9 article in the Chillicothe Gazette, headlined "Local
board
>> disgusted by last-ditch efforts," quoted recount director Nancy
>> Bell as
>> predicting that the $10-per-precinct fee "won't even cover one
day"
>> of
>> the estimated three-day process.
>>
>> And an article on the same day in the Toledo Blade began, "The
>> Green
>> Party and Libertarian Party have triggered a recount of the Nov.
2
>> presidential election in Lucas County, a recount that will cost
>> taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars."
>>
>> As a result of the news coverage, phone calls and e-mails
streamed
>> into
>> the Ohio LP, according to State Chair Jason Hallmark.
>>
>> "As you can imagine, Republicans hate us, Democrats and Greens
like
>> us,
>> but not enough to actually support us financially or join our
>> party,"
>> said Hallmark, who added that the Ohio LP was not informed about
>> the
>> lawsuit in advance. "It is unfortunate that the media keeps
>> labeling
>> this as an action initiated by the Libertarian Party. We cannot
>> stress
>> enough that the recount is not in any way an action by the
>> Libertarian
>> Party of Ohio. No party funds have been spent to aid this action
in
>> any
>> way."
>>
>> Hallmark said the state's estimate of the recount costs are
>> overblown,
>> because it is counting the hours that election boards would have
>> been
>> paying their employees in any case.
>>
>> The publicity also sparked criticism from within the LP, as many
>> members
>> complained that the Greens and Democrats were using Badnarik as
a
>> tool
>> with which to challenge the legitimacy of Bush's victory.
>>
>> Longtime California LP member Manny Klausner said, "I'm puzzled
by
>> the
>> Badnarik campaign joining the legal actions to obtain a recount
in
>> Ohio
>> and other states where Bush won -- but apparently not in states
>> where
>> Kerry won by narrow margins. It seems to me that for the Badnarik
>> campaign to seek to impose massive costs on taxpayers for an ill-
>> considered recount makes no sense for anyone who is a principled
>> Libertarian."
>>
>> Party founder David Nolan said the recount makes Badnarik "look
>> like a
>> tool of the Kerry campaign. Also, this effort appears to be part
of
>> an
>> ill-considered effort to build an alliance with the Cobb wing of
>> the
>> Green Party, who have nothing to offer us."
>>
>> Added Richard Rider, a leader in the San Diego LP, "Perception is
>> everything. Too many will interpret our effort as pro-Kerry. At
>> this
>> point, if we can, we should back out of this mess. Let the
Greens
>> run
>> with it. Clearly, it's their show anyway."
>>
>> Badnarik responded to the criticism by saying, "At first I was a
>> bit
>> surprised. I never thought about a recount until I received
about
>> two
>> dozen passionate requests to do so from Libertarians in various
>> states.
>>
>> "I asked several people if they could think of any reasons not to
>> participate in the recount -- then I made the best decision I
could
>> with
>> the information available to me at the time. Of course, you
will
>> always
>> find Libertarians who have the opposite opinion on any issue, so
>> I'm not
>> surprised that support is not unanimous throughout the party."
>>
>> As far as backing out of the lawsuit, Badnarik said: "The
recount
>> is
>> going to continue with or without Libertarian support, so
changing
>> course isn't an option at this time. The purpose of the recount
>> has
>> always been to uncover voting irregularities (which certainly
>> exist) and
>> to attempt to determine the extent to which they took place. A
>> recount
>> may not be the most efficient way to put an end to vote fraud,
but
>> doing
>> so should be high on everyone's list of priorities."
>>
>> Other Libertarians voiced support for Badnarik. According to
Sean
>> Haugh,
>> a former Libertarian National Committee representative: "This has
>> advanced cooperation between us and the Greens and others of the
>> left.
>> And I'm not terribly concerned about the cost. The purpose of
the
>> recount is to uncover corruption and errors in the vote-counting
>> process. I know it's taxpayer money, but beyond that I really
don't
>> have
>> a problem making government pay for uncovering their own
corruption
>> and
>> incompetence."
>>
>> Trevor M. Southerland, chair of the National Libertarian Party
>> Youth
>> Caucus, agrees.
>>
>> "This has generated a lot of publicity for the Libertarian
Party,"
>> he
>> says. "It has also given us a better relationship with Greens,
and
>> helped us appeal to some Democrats who are upset at what they
>> consider
>> the too-soon concession of Senator Kerry."
>>
>> Both supporters and opponents of the suit agree that
Libertarians
>> have
>> good reason to be suspicious of Ohio election officials. In
>> November
>> 2003, Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell used a
>> technicality to throw out more than 60,000 ballot access petition
>> signatures collected by the Ohio LP, a ruling that left
>> Libertarians
>> stunned and angry.
>>
>> Specifically, Blackwell said the petition forms were illegal
>> because a
>> space had been added for signers to put their last names, and
>> because a
>> sentence about the legal penalty for falsification was slightly
>> different from the state's mandatory language.
>>
>> Ohio Libertarians point out that Republican Party officials have
>> made a
>> concerted effort to keep Libertarians off the ballot to protect
GOP
>> candidates, and note that Blackwell also chaired the Bush-Cheney
>> campaign in Ohio.
>>
>> The state LP had spent two years and about $50,000 collecting the
>> signatures, which would have let all candidates appear on the
>> ballot
>> with a partisan label, including Badnarik. As a result, Badnarik
>> had to
>> appear on the Ohio ballot as an "other party" candidate.
>>
>> At the time, Ballot Access News publisher Richard Winger said the
>> decision proves that Ohio officials are "hostile" to third
parties.
>>
>> "Ohio's action in disqualifying a petition with over 60,000
names
>> just
>> because the format and wording are slightly different from the
>> approved
>> form is unheard of in other states," he said.
>>
>> Barbara Goushaw-Collins, co-director of the Badnarik campaign,
says
>> the
>> track record of Ohio elections officials, combined with the
voting
>> irregularities reported after the election, is sufficient to
>> justify a
>> recount.
>>
>> "The major complaint is that we're doing this because we don't
like