September 24, 2006

Bev Harris in Columbus OH on October 1st

An afternoon with Bev Harris of Blackbox voting, Sunday Oct 1, 1:30pm till 6 pm, Columbus, Ohio

German Meeting Haus, just South of I-70 ramp on 3rd South and WILLOW. (TURN LEFT ON WILLOW) Park behind the Golden Hobby Shop, (just South) or St. Mary's school (also South), but NOT in the bank parking lot. Or street parking or park at Freepress offices one third mile north.

Richard Hayes Philips, the investigator whose research into Ohio 04 ballots is the basis of lawsuits against a fraudulent election, will also share his latest research in Ohio.

Other voting rights activists will tell what they have been doing. Don't be frustrated, get organized! Let's get ready for Nov.7.

$5 donation requested to defray costs. Refreshments for free. Seating may be limited, get there early.

Table for your group, $10, no candidates, prefer non-partisan. Email for availabilily.

Join us afterwards for supper in a restaurant.

Please pass this email on! She doesn't get here from Seattle often!! Last time was Jan 05.

Let me know if you can help. Risenregan@earthlink.net

-Marj Creech

CASE OHIO News Update

The focus of this CASE News email is the November General Election in Ohio. It includes some information and actions you can take to help more people vote. Updates will be sent as needed and will include projects coordinated by other election advocacy groups. Send comments, suggestions to ron@caseohio.org.



Feel free to forward as appropriate and invite others to join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CASE_OH_News/ to get these updates. This group is not a discussion group so you will not get a lot of email.



Help Wanted (see below for details)

League of Women Voters Flyer on Voter ID/Registration (click here for link)

Many people do NOT yet know that ID will be required to vote! Available in English or Spanish.
You can tell your friends, help distribute, identify organizations that might want them, ask your Senator or Congressperson to publish in constituent newsletter.


Student Voter Guide

You can help identify student groups, college newspapers to send it to.


Election Day:

Statewide election hotline 866-OURVOTE (866-687-8683) goes live October 16. Spread the word.
You can work for your county as a poll worker. See below about learning what to look for and gathering incident reports.
You can gather posted precinct results, send in for comparison with official results
You can observe the election as a monitor/witness
You can help conduct a parallel election


Misc

You can challenge Ohio media to watch for election fraud


CASE News

CASE presented the Adopt A BOE program at the “Making Your Voter Count, A Voter’s Rights Forum” in Akron on Sept 10 (contact Eileen Goldman, eyeleen45@aol.com)
Phil Fry met with BOE officials in Darke & Shelby counties.
Pete Johnson & Stuart Wright met with Franklin County BOE Director Matt Damschroder
Ron met with Tom Hayes to discuss CASE recommendations for Cuyahoga County election improvements
Three members of CASE have been invited to participate in the Election Protection meetings, which include Common Cause, People for the American Way, the League of Woman Voters, and other organizations.
CASE News group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CASE_OH_News) created for activists who just want the highlights


Announcements

Sept 29-30: "We Count - A Conference about Fair Elections and Democracy" in Cleveland featuring Mark Crispin Miller, Bob Fitrakis, Bev Harris, Ron Baiman, Greg Coleridge and many more. Contact Victoria.Lovegren@case.edu or go to www.wecount2006.org for more information or to register.
Oct 13-15: Voting Rights Revival” in Columbus featuring Steve Freeman, Bob Fitrakis, Doris Haddock, Cliff Arnebeck, and more (more info: http://freepress.org/vrrc/)


Help Wanted Details



Voter Registration/ID (for details à Ron - ron@caseohio.org)

LWVOH, CC, COHHIO, and Ohio Votes have published a flyer on how to check voter registration and what ID to bring (click here for flyer)
You can

Tell your friends. Send email to political (or non-political) groups.
Call a local library and ask them to put some flyers at the checkout desk.
Contact organizations that might distribute them (target audience includes students, low income, and senior voters in urban areas).
Contact your congressperson and ask them to publish the flyer information their newsletter. Call and offer to email them the flyer. Contact Ron if they want help condensing the material.


Student Voter Guide (for details à Phil - phil@caseohio.org)

CASE student voters guide at www.caseohio.org (under New Voter Guides)
You can

Help identify colleges/universities and phone/email for student groups/newspapers across Ohio
Call (preferably) or email this groups and ask them to publish
Send contacts to Phil so we know which schools have been contacted


Project Post (for details à Vicki - victoria.lovegren@case.edu, www.ohiovigilance.org/ProjectPost/Index.html)

Ohio Vigilance & CASE Ohio are coordinating this effort to gather precinct level vote totals at as many precincts as possible. Then we compare our date with official results.
We have a list of counties that have said they will post results.
You can

Signup at Ohio Vigilance link above to visit precincts after closing, copy results and send them in
Gather the data in a spreadsheet/database


Participate as a poll worker on election day (for details à TBD, could be you)

Ohio counties will be particularly challenged by Voter ID requirements and need poll workers who care about fair elections.
There may be no better way to work for fair elections.
CASE is working with Pollworkers for Democracy to distribute information on what to look for and coordinate gathering of incident reports.
You can

Signup with your county to work on election day
Contact so we can share information on what to look for and how to report incidents


Observe as monitor/witness

We expect details from other advocacy groups on an observer program which will be distributed.


Conduct a Parallel Election (for details à You?)

Ask voters leaving a polling place to fill out a parallel ballot
Count the results and compare to official results


Adopt A BOE (for details à Pete – pete@caseohio.org, Ron - ron@caseohio.org)

County Summary: have active volunteers: 15, tentative volunteers: 9.
Contact BOE (in person or via email)
Requires some chutzpah & patience, but not a lot of time
Understand their election process
Work constructively towards the common goal of fair elections
Provide expertise based on election process knowledge and experience at other BOE’s
Advocate for improvements


Challenge Ohio media that believe there was no fraud in 2004 to cover 2006 effectively (for details à You?)

You can

Write a plan on how we think a newspaper should cover the pre election, election, and post election phases of the election.
For example: clear & documented rules on Voter ID/Registration, fair allocation of voting machines, posting precinct results, post election check of DRE totals.
Send letters to each newspaper, ask them for their plans, and issue a press release.


Research (for details à John - john@caseohio.org)

Come up with citations from the Revised Code, media, etc. (e.g.,what types of ID are acceptable since HB 3).
CASE could use a team of folks doing this. Folks connected to law, media, political science may be especially good.


Help maintain CASE Website (for details à Phil - phil@caseohio.org)

Calendar of Events - needs regular inputs
Best Practices - needs to be reviewed and updated
Lawsuits - needs to be updated (Ohio only)
Media and Government Contacts - needs regular updating
News - we are no longer maintaining news - Should we?
Many, many more. Choose the area you are interested. Just get me the details and I can post it.


Post Election Citizen Audit (for details à You?)

Start planning for after November 7th. An organized post election audit and report should be done by BOE’s, but if they won’t maybe we should.
Validate vote totals (with hand count ballots or VVPAT for random precincts)
Validate provisional ballot count (by checking random sample of acceptions/rejections)


John, Pete, Phil, Ron, Stuart

www.caseohio.org

September 20, 2006

Bob Fitrakis On the Radio

Bob Fitrakis -- a person who needs no introduction to readers of this blog -- is running for Governor of the State of Ohio, on the Green Party Ticket. Needless to say, his election would be a tremendous victory for voting rights, and for democracy. To hear a recent radio interview with Bob, go here.

September 13, 2006

Screening Schedule for Dorothy Fadiman New Film, "Stealing America: Vote by Vote"

STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote
A New Documentary Film
Directed and Produced by
DOROTHY FADIMAN
EMMY Award winning, OSCAR-nominated Documentary Filmmaker
Screening Schedule, September-October 2006
www.stealingamerica.org


Friday, September 15
City: Washington, DC
Place: Camp Democracy, between the Mall and Constitution Avenue, 14th/15th Streets, at the foot of the Washington Monument.
Time: 8 PM
Cost: FREE. Viewers will be invited to make a donation.
Film will be introduced by Bob Fitrakis and Jonathan Simon. The filmmaker will not be in attendance.
Sponsor: Focus on Democracy (www.grassrootsunity.org)

Tuesday, September 19
City: Washington, DC
Place: Peoples Congregational Church, 4704 Thirteenth Street NW
Time: 7:30 PM
Cost: FREE. Viewers will be invited to make a donation.
Film will be introduced by Matthew Segal. The filmmaker will be in attendance.
Sponsor: Velvet Revolution (www.velvetrevolution.us)
RSVP: Kat L'Estrange, kinc@efn.org

Tuesday, September 19
City: Mountain View, CA
Place: Adobe Building, 157 Moffett Boulevard
Time: 7 PM
Cost: FREE
The filmmaker will not be in attendance.
Contact: TAMARA COLBY, tamara@radiostreet.com
Sponsor: League of Women Voters of Los Altos

Thursday, September 21
City: New York, NY
Place: Millennium Film Workshop, 66 East 4th Street, Manhattan, NYC
Time: 8 PM
Cost: FREE. Viewers will be invited to make a donation.
Film will be introduced by Mark Crispin Miller. The filmmaker will be in attendance.
Contact/RSVP: Kat L'Estrange, kinc@efn.org

Sunday, September 24 - OHIO PREMIERE
City: Columbus, OH
Place: Drexel Gateway Theater, 1550 North High Street
Time: 7:30 PM
Cost: $8/ticket
Film will be introduced by Bob Fitrakis. The filmmaker will be in attendance.
Contact: Suzanne Patzer, truth@freepress.org
Sponsor: Free Press (www.freepress.org)

Monday, September 25
City: Cincinnati, OH
Place: Esquire Theatre, 320 Ludlow Ave
Time: 7:30 PM
Cost: $5/ticket
The filmmaker will be in attendance.
Contact: Andrew Warner, andrewwarner2@gmail.com

Thursday, September 28
City: Youngstown, OH
Place: Youngstown University, McKay Auditorium in Beeghley Hall - Building #5
Time: 8:00 PM
Cost: FREE. Viewers will be invited to make a donation.
The filmmaker will be in attendance.
Contact: Kim Akins, khia213@yahoo.com

Saturday, September 30
City: Cleveland, OH
Place: Cuyahoga County Community College, 2900 Community College Avenue. The Theater in Media and Theater Arts (MTA) building.
http://www.tri-c.edu/maps/docs/metrocampus.htm#Theater
Time: 4:30 PM
Cost: $5/ticket. Free for We Count conference attendees.
The filmmaker will be in attendance.
Sponsor: We Count 2006 (www.wecount2006.org), Velvet Revolution, Election Defense Alliance

Wednesday, October 4
City: Oakland, CA
Key Note Speaker: Mark Crispin Miller
Place: Oakland Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Avenue
Time: 7 PM
Cost: $10/ticket
The filmmaker will be in attendance.
Contact: Katie Hickox, khickox@yahoo.com

Sunday, October 15 - LOCAL PREMIERE
City: Palo Alto, CA
Place: Cubberley Theatre, 4000 Middlefield Rd. Palo Alto, California
Time: 7:30 PM
Cost: FREE. Viewers will be invited to make a donation.
The filmmaker will be in attendance.
Contact: Ana Hays, anamh@earthlink.net

Tuesday, October 26
City: Mountain View, CA
Place: Michael's on Shoreline, 2960 N Shoreline Blvd
Time: 6:30 registration 7 pm dinner 7:30 pm Program
Cost: $25 Fundraiser for ACLU
Cost: Free. Viewers will be invited to make a donation.
The filmmaker will be in attendance.
RSVP: Tamara Colby tamara@radiostreet.com by October 14
Sponsor: The Mid-Peninsula Chapter of The American Civil Liberties Union

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote brings together behind-the-scenes perspectives from Election 2004. Interviewees include voters who experienced hardships, poll workers, computer experts, nationally recognized journalists, as well as others concerned about the Presidential election of Nov. 2, 2004 and democracy in the United States. For more information or to arrange a screening, please visit www.stealingamerica.org.

September 09, 2006

Update; "We Count" Has Been Moved to Larger Venue: Cuyahoga Community College (Metro Campus), Cleveland, Ohio




Important update:

The venue of "We Count" has been changed to a larger facility: Cuyahoga Community College (Metro Campus), Cleveland, Ohio. Here is the updated announcement:

**************


"Election Integrity" is not a partisan issue.
"It is a civic issue of profound importance!" - Mark Crispin Miller

Without fair and honest elections, there is no functioning democracy!

Learn the truth about our electoral process and the many ways it subverts the will of the people. Yes, massively fraudulent elections CAN happen and ARE happening here in America, a terrifying fact that becomes increasingly obvious as the "leadership" departs ever more radically from the views of the electorate, as registered by every opinion poll, but somehow never by an election.

You can help us build a Democracy Movement that seeks to reclaim the democratic ideals fought for - died for - by our founding fathers and patriots, and in ongoing struggles for human rights.

Join the growing chorus of citizens questioning the legitimacy of our elections and so-called 'Democracy' in our country (see http://wecount2006.org/whyattend) Plan to participate in:

"We Count - A Conference about Fair Elections and Democracy"

September 29-30, 2006
Friday (6pm - 10pm); Saturday (9am - 9pm, with breaks for lunch,dinner)

Cuyahoga Community College (Metro Campus).

Cleveland, Ohio


Learn from fabulous speakers (Mark Crispin Miller, Bev Harris, Bob Fitrakis and many more--see www.wecount2006.org ) fighting against the implementation of privatized elections and electronic voting machines, investigating election anomalies, analyzing election data, bringing the truth about our elections to the public, developing "systems" to promote election integrity, writing articles and books, educating the public about the dangers of electronic voting, exposing the many types of voter disenfranchisement, and otherwise working for every American's right to vote and have that vote be counted.

Sponsors include:

Election Defense Alliance
Black Box Voting
The Free Press
CASE-Ohio
Ohio Vigilance
Northeast Ohio Sierra Club
Northeast Ohio AFSC - Economic Justice and Empowerment Program
Ohio Democracy Project
J30 Coalition
Clamor Magazine
Progressive Democrats of America - Ohio
Cuyahoga County Green Party
51CapitalMarch
and others.


We expect many other organizations to join us once we publicize the event!

Participate in workshops empowering "average citizens" to play an important role in the election process, especially in the quickly approaching November 2006 elections. Learn to "participate" in democracy! For more information on workshops, see www.wecount2006.org/workshops.

For more information, check out our website: www.wecount2006.org. Register today! Get your organization to co-sponsor the event. Volunteer to help with the conference. Donate funds to help us pay for our speakers' travel and other expenses. Tell your friends!

Don't miss this historic event in the belly of the beast! Join in the Democracy Movement !


September 03, 2006

Calendar of Upcoming Events


The "permanent" link to this calendar changes each month. For a truly permanent link, use the link to the calendar at my web site: http://ohioelection2004.com/calendar.htm

Friday, September 29, 2006.
Cleveland, Ohio. 6:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M. "We Count -- a Conference about Fair Elections and Democracy"

Saturday, September 30, 2006.
Cleveland, Ohio. 9:00 A.M. - 9:00 P.M. "We Count -- a Conference about Fair Elections and Democracy"

SPECIAL NOTE: This calendar of upcoming events is to promote events which relate to the Ohio 2004 election.

If you have information about any such events, and would like me to post them, please email the information to ohioelectionfraud@mindspring.com with "oef" as the subject.

Thanks.
Sincerely yours,
R. B.

September 02, 2006

Columbus Dispatch Reports: New lawsuit alleges ballot tampering in 2004 election

The Columbus Dispatch has reported that a new lawsuit has been commenced in Ohio alleging ballot tampering in the 2004 election:


New lawsuit alleges ballot tampering in 2004 election
Group says ballots in Democratic precincts were pre-punched, negating Kerry votes

Friday, September 01, 2006
Jim Siegel
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

"A coalition of critics of the 2004 election is insisting it has uncovered new evidence of ballot tampering in Ohio that caused a number of John Kerry’s votes to get tossed out.

"The group filed a federal civilrights lawsuit yesterday, asking U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley to declare that Ohioans’ voting rights were violated in 2004 and to appoint a special master to ensure fairness in the 2006 election.

"The lawsuit alleges that Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and others conspired to deprive Ohioans of their right to vote. Prior election-related lawsuits by those affiliated with the coalition have been dismissed by various judges.
Complete Columbus Dispatch article

*****************************


The lawsuit, brought by a number of civic associations and individuals, is captioned "King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association, et al, v. J. Kenneth Blackwell, et al", C2-06-743, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division. It was filed on August 31st. It alleges that the defendants violated the constitutional and civil rights of the plaintiffs, by depriving Ohioans of their right to vote.

The complaint alleges various deliberate discriminatory acts by defendants in furtherance of this objective, among them:
-uneven distribution of voting machines;
-improper and inaccurate precinct boundaries;
-malfunctioning voting equipment;
-disproportionate assignment of, and disqualification of, provisional ballots;
-improper voter purges;
-use of provisional ballots to limit voting locations for minority voters; and
-use of faulty optical scan machines.

The complaint alleges that defendants created and implemented voting policies calculated to discriminate against African-American voters, voters from large urban areas, and students, and seeks a declaratory judgment and a permanent injuction.

Full copy of the Complaint

The plaintiffs are represented by Marshall and Morrow LLC and Arnebeck Law Office, both of Columbus, Ohio.

On August 23rd, the Arnebeck Law Office sent a letter to J. Kenneth Blackwell demanding that he refrain from disposing of any documents relating to the 2004 election:

August 23, 2006, Letter of Clifford O. Arnebeck, Jr.



-R.B.

Kerry Wakes Up: Criticizes Ohio 2004 Election

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that John Kerry has finally woken up and is attacking the integrity of the 2004 presidential election in Ohio:

Kerry reignites 2004 battle over Ohio
He accuses GOP governor candidate of partisanship


John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writer
Friday, September 1, 2006

"Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry jumped back into the 2004 presidential race this week with a scathing letter accusing Ken Blackwell, Ohio's Republican secretary of state, of using "the power of his state office to try to intimidate Ohioans and suppress the Democratic vote'' in the 2004 election.

"The letter was sent to 100,000 Democratic donors, asking them to send money to U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, who is running against Blackwell for governor. But it focused on Blackwell as a Republican who must be defeated.

"Blackwell, who was co-chair of Bush's 2004 campaign in Ohio, "used his office to abuse our democracy and threaten basic voting rights,'' Kerry said in the letter. "His legacy as secretary of state? Putting partisanship ahead of the electorate's fundamental right to vote.''

"Although Kerry was careful not to suggest that Blackwell and the Republicans manipulated the Ohio vote to cost him the presidential election, he shoved a stick into a very angry hornets' nest. It was George Bush's narrow victory in Ohio that secured his re-election, and livid Democrats and the liberal end of the blogosphere have challenged those numbers since election day."

Complete article

New York TimesReports that Blackwell has Agreed to Wait to Destroy 2004 Election Ballots

The New York Times reports that Secretary of State Blackwell has agreed to wait to destroy the 2004 presidential election ballots from Ohio:

Ohio to Delay Destruction of Presidential Ballots

By IAN URBINA
Published: August 31, 2006

"With paper ballots from the 2004 presidential election in Ohio scheduled to be destroyed next week, the secretary of state in Columbus, under pressure from critics, said yesterday that he would move to delay the destruction at least for several months.

"Since the election, questions have been raised about how votes were tallied in Ohio, a battleground state that helped deliver the election to President Bush over Senator John Kerry.

"The critics, including an independent candidate for governor and a team of statisticians and lawyers, say preliminary results from their ballot inspections show signs of more widespread irregularities than previously known.

"The critics say the ballots should be saved pending an investigation. They also say the secretary of state’s proposal to delay the destruction does not go far enough, and they intend to sue to preserve the ballots.

"In Florida in 2003, historians and lawyers persuaded state officials not to destroy the ballots in the 2000 presidential election, and those ballots are stored at the state archive.

Complete article

However, the report of the Cincinatti Enquirer is much less sanguine than that of the Times:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006609010388