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EcoMole
What If the Whole World Could Vote for President?, The View from Midnight, GOP Urged Not to Disrupt Election, Grand Theft Election, How to Avoid a Recount: 'Cheat Big', Some Passing Factoids, and more...
November 16, 2004
 | | In a global Internet poll, John Kerry won 88% of the vote (Blue) to Bush's 11% (Red). Outside the US, Bush's only other big win came in Niger. Credit: Graphic by The-Edge |
What If the Whole World Could Vote for President?
A group called BetaVote (www.betavote.org) conducted a worldwide ballot on the US Presidential Race via the Internet. Anyone, anywhere could vote. All they needed was computer access.
The results were decisive. Planet Earth voted 88% for John Kerry; 11% for George W. Bush. No wonder it's called the "Blue Planet."
The-Edge has created the accompanying red-blue map to illustrate the results of this first-ever Online Global Election. Outside the US, the only countries Bush carried were -- with the sole exception of Niger -- too small to show on a map. Bush was the clear winner in: the Cook Islands, the Cocos Islands, Kiribati, Tokelau and Samoa.
Bush and Kerry were statistically tied in Myanmar, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Congo, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Tokelau, the Maldives, Marshall Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn, San Marino, Western Sahara and Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Call it the "Coalition of the Barely Visible."
Somewhat surprisingly, Bush even failed to carry Afghanistan, Iraq, or Guam.
Look for Niger to get a nice dollop of Foreign Aid in the next Bush budget. Come to think of it, it makes sense that Niger would go for Bush -- if you look at the map, it's the country with Chad dangling to the right....
The View from Midnight
It is now 12 Midnight Eastern time on the night of Nov. 2. At this point in time, the election results are still very much in doubt. Although it is clear that there has been widespread voter intimidation, fraud or suppression, it is not yet clear whether these have affected the outcome of the election. The main issues of voter suppression seem to have occurred before election day itself. Most notable were the attempt to illegally purge the voter rolls by the Republican Secretary of State in Florida and the Ohio Republican Secretary of State's attempt to disqualify all voters registrations not written on 80-pound paper.
There has been a tremendous amount of false information spread about voting and registration, especially in communities of color. There is still great controversy around the 35,000-plus voter registration challenges launched by the Republicans in Wisconsin and Ohio, and the 60,000-plus missing absentee ballots in Florida. The processes surrounding provisional ballots still remain unclear.
The Republicans largely, but not totally, stepped back from their threats to launch massive voter challenges at the polls. A looming issue is vote spoilage caused by computer error. Some say this disqualifies more than a million votes many of them African-American and Latino voters. Whatever the outcome of the election we have much work to do. For a full list of actions, see: www.nov3.us and www.unitedforpeace.org.
GOP Urged Not to Disrupt Election
"Republicans Pressed to Halt Voter-Suppression Efforts" by Jim Lobe (October 29, 2004): "With political analysts agreeing that voter turnout, especially of minority and youth voters, will likely determine the outcome of next Tuesday's presidential election, civil and human rights groups are pressing the Republican National Committee (RNC) to call off plans aimed at discouraging people from casting ballots." http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/96983/1/
Grand Theft Election
In an article titled "Grand Theft Election," Wayne Madsen writes:
There was something very wrong in Ohio. Not only had the head of computer voting machine maker Diebold and Ohio's Republican establishment of Governor Bob Taft and Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell conspired to suppress registration and voter turnout in heavily Democratic precincts, but the Ohio Secretary of State website was only reporting results from 9 counties as of 11:30 AM on November 3, just three hours before John Kerry conceded the election. (Diebold Chief Executive Walden O'Dell and Diebold board member W.R. Timken are both top fundraisers for Bush, so-called "Pioneers.")
Totaling the results from the 9 counties (Fayette, Fairfield, Geauga, Jefferson, Portage, Mahoning, Trumbull, Richland, and Washington), John Kerry was clearly ahead. A tenth county, Columbiana, suspiciously showed up as "No results." The totals from the 8 Ohio counties reported on the Secretary of State web site were: BUSH 267,771, KERRY 294, 648
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MAD411A.html
How to Avoid a Recount: 'Cheat Big'
Voting rights investigator Lynn Landes has filed federal lawsuits against Attorney General John Ashcroft concerning the use of unmonitored electronic voting machines. On October 12, Landes attempted to win a Temporary Restraining Order against their use in the November election. The request was denied. [See: www.ecotalk.org/VotingSecurity.htm]
Landes writes: "In Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court said that a 'legal vote'... is 'one in which there is a "clear indication of the intent of the voter".' [However], if a machine is involved in the voting process, the voter has been relegated to making inputs and hoping that the machines' output is the same.
Two companies (Election Systems & Software and Diebold) started by two brothers (Bob and Todd Urosevich) with close connections to the Republican Party, will count over 80% of all votes in American using both touch-screens and ballot scanners.' These two companies manufacture, sell and service the machines that .... The third election-machine supplier, Sequoia, is foreign owned.
Republicans successfully fought off legislation sponsored by Democrats in the House and Senate that would require voting machines to produce a paper trail.
During an NPR radio interview with Terry Gross, Former President Jimmy Carter said that voting machines should produce paper ballots, just in case the election is "close" and a recount is needed. Recounts are triggered by close elections. But stealing elections and avoiding recounts is duck soup. So, if you intend to commit vote fraud using the machines, just make sure you steal the election by a lot. Which looks like what happened in the 2002 mid-term election where, in 16 upset elections, 74% went to Republicans by margins of 9-16% points off pre-election polling.
Some Passing Factoids
All the exit polls had Kerry ahead in Florida and Ohio.
CNN's exit polls showed Kerry beating Bush 53 percent to 47 percent among Ohio women and 51 to 49 among Ohio men.
The Democrats were so confident that Senator Ted Kennedy said Kerry had won. The Chair of the Democratic National Committee referred to Kerry as "president-elect."
Bush's pre-election approval rating was under 50%. No incumbent has ever carried an election with such low numbers.
Canadian TV announced that the election was an "early landslide" for Kerry.
Exit polls have always been correct -- until 2000 in Florida.
In the 2002 mid-term elections polls nationwide favored Democrats but the GOP won every state. It was the first time exit polls predictions failed to predict the trend. It was also the first time US voters were required to use electronic voting machines.
Electronic voting machines were installed in 14 swing states representing more than 200 electoral votes.
Up to 50,000 Diebold touch-screen machines were used in 38 states.
In late September, the National Ballot Integrity Project Task Force and Black Box Voting held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington. BBV's Bev Harris informed the media: "We are able to use a hidden program for vote manipulation, which resides on Diebold's election software. This is a hidden feature enabled by a two-digit trigger -- not a 'bug' or an accidental oversight; it's there on purpose."
The Election Protection Coalition received thousands of reports of problems with electronic voting machines. Voters in six states -- particularly Democrats in Florida -- reported they intended to select John Kerry but when the computer asked them to verify the choice, it showed they had voted for George W. Bush.
The exit polls tended to match the reported vote in non-critical states like Missouri and Tennessee. The two states where exit polls failed to match reported votes were Florida and Ohio.
Posted election returns on November 3 showed Kerry up 2 percentage points among men and 6 percentage points among women. At 1:41 AM, November 4, the results suddenly shifted with Kerry and Bush tied among women and Bush up five percentage points among men.
Secure the Electronic Records to Secure the Vote
Black Box Voting Executive Director Bev Hariris writes: Black Box Voting is conducting the largest Freedom of Information action in US history. At 8:30PM election night, BBV blanketed the US with the first in a series of public-records requests to obtain internal computer logs and other documents from 3,000 individual counties and townships. Networks called the election before anyone bothered to perform even the most rudimentary audit. Freedom of Information requests are not free. We need to raise $590,000 as quickly as possible to pay for records and the fees some states charge for them.
For more information: www.blackboxvoting.org
For an online movie about Harris' heroic efforts, see: www.votergate.tv
Bush Group Claims Dems Planned to 'Steal the Election'
The Democrats and Greens aren't the only ones livid about the course of the American electoral process. Heres a revelatory memo from RightMarch.com, a Buford, Georgia-based conservative political action group.
"We were successful. John Kerry, the most liberal member of the entire US Senate, went down to defeat yesterday.... Kerry's supporters in leftist groups like MoveOn.org were NOT successful in getting their far-left candidate into the White House. Our newspaper and radio ads exposing Dan Rather's and George Soros' attempt to change the election results were seen and heard NATIONWIDE....
"Our opponents on the left came awfully close to being able to actually carry out their plans to steal this election. They failed -- but, have no doubt, unless something is done NOW, they will be back in FULL FORCE two and four years from now.... President Bush won't go after these scoundrels. He's got a lot of other concerns on his plate right now and it's time to 'look presidential' in calling for 'unity' in America.... But when it comes to our political system of elections in America, 'the weeds are still in the garden' and the MUST be removed. Our opponents.... Will tell us to.... Ignore the massive voter registration fraud, and outright illegal voting, that took place this year.... RightMarch.com will be scrutinizing all of these incidences and underhanded attacks and analyzing every legal and political means possible to prevent the Left from cheating again.... Someone must look at the illegals that voted. Someone must demand prosecution of those who illegally allowed felons to vote from prison.
RightMarch has hired Larry Klayman, former Chair of Judicial Watch, a non-partisan government watchdog to "file whatever lawsuits would be necessary to counter the shenanigans of the left." Dropping his non-partisan stance, Klayman has promised to defend "the will of the people who, through their votes, have spoken in favor of conservative leadership. I am preparing legal actions to insure this."
"From voter fraud, to intimidation, to phony and fabricated ballots, to fictitious absentee voters, to illegal immigants and dead voters, to persons who voted twice in different states -- you name it, we saw it in this election. The 2000 presidential elections and the debacle in Florida were just a warm up for what the Left tried to do in this election -- and almost succeeded at.
"We MUST stop them from continuing their illegal attempts at vote fraud! What is at stake is the fate of the nation. Will the White House, Congress and the Courts be taken over in two and four years by radical leftists, or will responsible conservatives continue to govern under the rule of law and our Judeo-Christian value system? It's up to US to stop them BEFORE they get any further."
Resources for a Post-election Post-mortem
Election Protection
"Protecting Voters' Rights in 2004 and Beyond," Election Protection is sponsored by People for the American Way. The Volunteer Resource Center documented voting scams and poll problems. On election day, EP recorded 4,459 Ballot Problems, 2.867 Polling Place Issues, 7,152 Registration Issues, and 1,074 reported incidents of Voter Intimidation. Check the website for specific examples. http://electionprotection2004.com/
Video Vote Vigil
On November 2nd an army of "video volunteers" helped keep an eye on our democracy. Volunteers submitted video of disturbances outside polling locations. Videos will be posted online. www.videovotevigil.org/
Moore Power to You
Michael Moore's Video Army and Michael Moore's Computer Army invited citizens to "Click here to Report Election Fraud, Voter Irregularities, at the Polls." Reports from across the country are posted at: www.michaelmoore.com/
For more information contact:
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