"We pretend to vote,
they pretend to get elected."
Michael Collins
Did you know that Bush won the 2004 election in the nation's "big cities" (population 500,000 and greater); that the rural base of the electorate went from 23% in 2000 down to 16% in 2004; and that Bush received two million fewer votes in his rural base in 2004 than in 2000? It was not a red versus blue election, not by a long shot.
The final and official exit poll for the 2004 election was released by the network election pool on Nov.3, 2007. The poll showed a 66% turnout increase in "big cities" compared to 2000. That didn't happen The poll showed two million white big city voters never seen before or since. Election returns covering 60% of big city voters were available to the public either before the networks released the poll or shortly thereafter. It didn't matter. This "urban legend" of a Bush tidal wave of support was the only "adjustment" the network pollsters had to reconcile the exit poll results with the reported vote totals for the nation. What was going on?
These two articles point to the false explosion of urban turnout in the official exit poll, uncover the four million brand new white big city voters, and outline the implications for the first time.
Election 2004: The Urban Legend 13 July 2007 Word doc
Notes from the Underground Aug. 22, 2007
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A Zogby Poll conducted in 2006 (1018 registered voters nationwide) found interesting results in terms of public attitudes toward electronic voting and vote counting and also toward the 2004 election results. 92% of respondents felt that, as citizens, they had the right to watch vote counting (impossible now since it's all done by computerized e-voting machines). Over 50% lacked strong confidence in the results of the 2004 election for president including 32% who were "not at all confident," and 20 or so % who were just "somewhat" confidence.
New Zogby Poll On Electronic Voting Attitudes Aug. 21, 2006
Zogby - Voters Question Outcome Of '04 Election Sept. 25, 2006
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Voter ID requirements by the states have a direct link back to the post reconstruction period after the Compromise of 1877. The notion of "voter fraud" (individuals voting in-person who are not registered) is a fabrication based on minor incidents. Yet the Supreme Court upheld the Indiana voter ID law (and others pending and in place), even though it will disenfranchise millions. The decision opens the door to pending and new voter ID laws, the seven that exist already, and has a measurable impact on Democratic voters. The title is a bit rough but the Court's actions are unforgivably harmful by suppressing the votes of a major segment of the population.
Polite Fascism Contracts the Right to Vote - Another Supreme Outrage May 13, 2008
The Pennsylvania primary was critical. Yet 90% of the votes are taken and counted on touch screen voting machines, highly vulnerable to security lapses and capable of being pre-programmed to tally votes any way they want. Election officials agree, by law, never to look into the source code of these machines to see if they're working properly and, even if they could, they would lack the resources to catch "vote switching" software.
Election Fraud in Pennsylvania? Apr. 20, 2008
The South Carolina Constitution is clear. It grants citizens the right to observe vote counting. The voting machines in use don't allow this. The candidates in that primary totally ignored this unconstitutional process and engaged in "faith based" vote counting.
Democrats Pass On Secret Vote Counting in SC Jan. 25, 2008
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Ohio 2004 was the epicenter of election fraud on multiple levels. A law suit was brought in federal court charging election fraud. The federal and Ohio laws call for ballot preservation for 2 years plus the federal judge had a court order to preserve ballots until the court called for them. 56 of 88 Ohio Counties destroyed some or all of their ballots prior to the judge ordering them delivered. Their letters explaining this are a testimony to the incompetence of that state's election system and represent destruction of evidence. Nothing was done to hold the counties accountable by the Democratic Secretary of State and Attorney General.
Destruction of Evidence Ohio's 2004 Ballots Oct. 20, 2007
Stealing Ohio 2004 The Case Heats Up Nov. 8, 2007
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In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002. It was to help give handicapped people better access to the polls. They heavily funded some associations for the handicapped and there was bipartisan support. The bill resulted in $4-5 billion worth of purchases of voting machines for all the states. It also created the Election Assistance Commission, which overseas testing and certification for voting machines. These machines have all sorts of problems including documented security risks, touch screen and optical scan tabulators. The two dominant manufacturers are owned by rabid Republicans. Diebold & ES&S have strong ties to the right. The manufacturers don't give a warranty for any performance. The counties and states give away their rights to examine the machines. It's a totally insecure system creating "privatized" elections run by right wing Republicans.
The Democrats think that optical scan machines are the answer. These are supplied and serviced by the same Republican vendors, Diebold and ES&S, who provide touch screens. They say the machines have a paper trail - optical scan forms voters fill out. But the optical scan counters are computer devices with memory cards unavailable to any one but the Republican vendors. Furthermore, those who tout "paper trails" with optical scan e-voting devices almost never make the parallel effort to allow public inspection of ballots after elections. They almost never make the parallel effort to ensure that election recounts are available to candidates without putative charges
The 110th Congress did nothing to remedy the problem, despite the problems they've faced in election after election due to e-voting. Their proposal was overly complex, The Holt Bill, and basically enshrined e-voting. The bill called for election audits that were not binding and avoided the return to paper ballots, which was a solution introduced in the same session. The bill is dormant now and unlikely to pass.
"Microsoft 811" Secret Disservice Sept. 5, 2007
The Democrats had a strong challenge to the Florida 13th Congressional district election in 2006. They "investigated" and since they couldn't recreate the machine "error" that cost the Democrat 14,000 votes (she lost by less than 500), the decided it was a non starter. The analysis shows clear evidence of preprogrammed software to make the "machine malfunction." Computers don't make errors, they're programmed to do exactly what they do. In the case of these touch screen e-voting machines, they systematically took 14,000 votes away from the Democrat but the party, even the lawyer for the election contest, is afraid to say the obvious - election fraud is the most likely explanation.
Arguments to Void Florida-13 Congress Election Jan, 10, 2007
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Anyone else would be in jail ...
Comey's Evidence of a Crime 18 May 2007
IMPEACHMENT: "Did The President Ask You To Go?" July 25, 2007
Sources on Election Fraud
Deliver the Vote, Tracey Campbell
Was the 2004 Election Stolen? : Rolling Stone Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
(Response to Salon & Mother Jones criticism of Kennedy's article)
Election Fraud News & The Money Party