Election Day Message from Ray Beckerman

As we approach the critical 2006 election, it is imperative that we
be vigilant. The word is starting to get out about what happened
in 2004, thanks to an outpouring of excellent books, films, and articles.
We need to keep the momentum going, and to keep on learning,
and teaching, and fighting. We owe it to our forefathers who
fought and died for the right to vote,
to those who braved beatings, and dogs, and firehoses, and bombings,
and lynchings, and killings so that their children would have the right
as citizens of the United States to stand up proud and cast their votes.

And if at any time you find your spirits flagging, my personal recommendation
is to go to YouTube or wakeupandsaveyourcountry.com and play what
is now my anthem -- "Get Up On the Bus" -- the rousing commemoration,
by Freedom Bus Rider and rapper extraordinaire "Wil b", of the historic
Freedom Winter Bus Ride of January 2005.

And as election day approaches, a special shout out to
Susan Truitt, who was the first to the ramparts
when the coup d'etat took place, and who never hesitated for a second
to get in there and fight, leading us into battle with
courage, energy, and humor, bringing light into our fight
against the forces of darkness.

--R.B.

"Eternal Vigilance: The Fight to Save Our Election System", New Documentary Film by David Earnhardt

A preview edition of a new documentary film, "Eternal Vigilance: The Fight to Save Our Election System", by Emmy Award-winning producer/director David Earnhardt, has been released.

The film deals with "the illegal tactics and dirty tricks" by those in control of our election system.

To watch clips, order dvd's, arrange screenings, and get information about the film and filmmaker, go to http://www.eternalvigilance.us/.

Screenings of "Stealing America" in Eugene, OR, on October 18th and Mountain View, CA, on October 26th

Screeings of "Stealing America: Vote by Vote" by Emmy-Award winning filmmaker, Dorothy Fadiman:

Wednesday, October 18th, 7:00 pm

LOCATION: In Eugene at Cozmic Pizza, 199 W 8th Avenue (at 8th & Charnelton, 2 blocks west of Willamette)

No admission fee
For more information visit www.stealingamerica.org or contact Kat L'Estrange at kinc@efn.org


Tuesday, October 26th, 6:30 pm registration, 7:00 pm dinner, 7:30 pm program

LOCATION: Mountain View, CA, Michael's on Shoreline, 2960 N Shoreline Blvd

Cost: Free, but viewers will be asked to make $25 donation to ACLU
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

Additional screenings

New Pacifica Radio Program on Voting Rights Situation in Ohio

Columbus Community Radio, part of Pacifica, has come out with an episode of "Sprouts" produced by voting rights activist Evan Davis, which looks at the state of voting rights in Ohio in light of new evidence of election fraud and new legislation affecting voters, featuring an interview with Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

To listen or to download go to:

http://www.ccrfonline.org/ and click on "Audio Archives".

Video the Vote -- Ohio 2006 -- You Can Help

VIDEO THE VOTE is recruiting bideographers and volunteers to document problems at the polls on November 7th.

They provide training on what to look for and who to call and will get video uploaded to the internet.

Details and contact information below.

---

Thanks for your interest in VIDEO THE VOTE. I'm Melissa Giraud, a member of the League of Young Voters
and coordinator of the VIDEO THE VOTE effort in Columbus.

Video the Vote is recruiting videographers and volunteers with video cameras to document any problems people have voting at the polls on November 7th. With the help of other organizations, we'll train these video volunteers so they know what to look for at the polls and know to call election protection when needed. We'll also set up tape drop off points and ask techie volunteers to upload the tapes we get immediately to the Web on YouTube.com. We'll also encourage individuals with camera to post under Video the Vote on line on their own. Our intention is to supplement election protection efforts by making video taken at the polls available on the Web in short order. This will allow election protection folks and
everyone with an Internet connection to see what's happening in near real-time and rectify problems at polls before they close.

Video the Vote is the inspiration of the Guerilla News Network's Ian Inaba, director of the election documentary "American Blackout." Ian got some of his best footage from individuals, many amateurs, who brought video cameras to the polls in November 2004 in Columbus. He knew that figuring out how to get this "guerilla" footage to the public much sooner would help protect voters. Fortunately, making video available on the web has become much easier than it was in 2004.

We're currently developing protocols to coordinate Video the Vote, which I'll share with you soon. Within the week, Video the Vote will have a completed website where volunteers can sign up, download protocols and guidelines and learn more about the project. That site address is: videothevote.org.

Please send any video volunteers or other potential collaborators on Video the Vote my way. Again, we mean to supplement efforts to protect the vote that are already underway.

Oh, and if you haven't seen the upsetting, important, inspiring movie "American Blackout," you'll have another opportunity. SEIU is sponsoring a showing of the film and Ian Inaba will attend and answer questions. Here's that event information:

American Blackout
Thursday, October 26, 2006
7 pm (Reception at 6:30)
Drexel Gateway near OSU Campus
1550 North High Street

Thanks, and I look forward to working with you all.

Best,

Melissa Giraud
melissa@columbusvotes.org, melissagiraud@yahoo.com
cell 773-895-2378

Voting Rights Revival Conference -- Columbus, Ohio -- October 13-15th

Conference is this weekend. CASE will be hosting a workshop on the Adopt A BOE program.

http://freepress.org/vrrc/index.php for details.

Voting Rights Revival Conference
Columbus State Community College
Columbus, Ohio

October 13, 14 and 15, 2006

Long lines....provisional ballots...intimidation at the polls...
Don't let what happened on Election Day in 2004 happen again in Ohio!
Get involved!
Come to the Voting Rights Revival conference
Become an Election Protection volunteer!

The VRRC focuses on concrete solutions that will empower Ohio voters this November 7, 2006. Free and open to the public, the VRRC will inspire and inform with renowned speakers and hands-on workshops. Workshops will cover the changes in the new laws, basic voting procedures, how to make sure your vote is counted, how to work with Boards of Elections, Election Protection videography, the voting rights of people with disabilities, and post-election audits, to name a few.

Our Mission Statement:

To focus on the election process in Ohio, with the goal of sharing information that enfranchises all voters in Ohio; to encourage civic participation at the local and state level, including the ongoing facilitation of emerging local and student leaders and organizers: the commencement of a public sphere.

Highlights:

Speakers:

Steve Freeman, Penn University professor, author of "Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen? Exit Polls, Election Fraud, and the Official Count"
Bob Fitrakis, author, journalist, political science professor, attorney for Moss v. Bush, co-editor "Did George W. Bush Steal America's 2004 Election? Essential Documents"
Harvey Wasserman, author, journalist, Senior Free Press Editor, co-editor "How the GOP Stole America's 2004 Election & Is Rigging 2008"
Cliff Arnebeck, attorney for post-2004 election challenge
Ruth Colker, law professor, OSU Moritz College of Law
Greg Moore, civil rights leader, director, Voting Rights Institute of the Democratic National Committee
Matt Damschroder (invited), Director, Franklin County Board of Elections
Ronnie Dugger, founder, Texas Observer, founder Alliance for Democracy
Doris D. Haddock (invited), clean elections activist
Workshops:

CASE Ohio – Adopt A Board of Election
Voting 101 (Guaranteeing your voter registration, new ID rules, how to use voting machines)
Disabilities and Voting
Election Day Election Protection Activities: parallel elections, legal, video, observation
Post-election Auditing
More

Amended Complaint Filed in King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Blackwell

An amended complaint (pdf file) has been filed in King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Blackwell.

Record of Important Legal Events

This post is intended as a resource for those seeking information on important legal events relating to the Ohio election of 2004, specifically relating to issues of (a) fraud, (b) disenfranchisment, (c) voter suppression,
(d) recount obstruction, and (e) vote machine tampering. It is a selective compilation of links which have been posted on this site which relate to such events.

The links are generally listed in reverse chronological order of posting.

They are numbered in reverse numerical order; the first 2 digits of each link refer to the year of posting. (I.e. “0510" is the 10th post in 2005).

The "permanent" link to this post is at the bottom and can be ascertained by right-clicking the phrase "Permanent Link to this Post". (But please note that it is not entirely "permanent": each time the post is updated in a new month, the 2-digit number for the month changes, and when it is updated in a new year, the 4-digit number for the year changes as well). For a genuinely permanent link, use the link for the identical list on my web site, http://ohioelection2004.com/legalevents.htm

There is, of necessity, some overlap with my separate post "Evidence of Fraud and Disenfranchisement in Ohio, 2004 : A Partial List", since legal documents (a) are often compilations of evidence, and (b) on occasion are in themselves important historical facts.



0602-Amended complaint in King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Blackwell
0601-Complaint in King Lincoln Bronzeville Community Association, et al, v. J. Kenneth Blackwell, et al.

0549-Blackwell's motion to dismiss in League of Women Voters and Plaintiffs' opposition papers.
0548-Two Cuyahoga County Election Workers Indicted For Recount Obstruction
0547-June 13th trial set for League of Women Voters v. Blackwell
0546-Kerry and Edwards to Stay in Recount Case; Trial Set for August 2006
0545-Cobb and Badnarik Claims in Recount Suit
0544-Cuyahoga Recount Being Investigated by Special Prosecutor, Subponeas Issued -- Cleveland Plain Dealer
0543-Federal Lawsuit Commenced to Reform Ohio Elections
0542-Probe of $10,000 payment to Franklin County GOP on instructions by GOP election official - Cleveland Plain Dealer July 16, 2005
0541-TRO extended to August 15th, and parties proceed to mediation, in Hocking County Sherole Eaton litigation
0540-Open Records Request Filed in Lucas County on July 7th
0539-Criminal Complaint Filed in Hocking County Against BOE Director Lisa Schwartze for Shredding Up To 10,000 Registration Documents
0538-Temporary Restraining Order Issued by Court in Alliance for Democracy v. Hocking County Board of Elections
0537-Alliance for Democracy Brings Motion to Stop Hocking County from Terminating Sherole Eaton Without Compliance with Public Meetings Law
0536-Conyers Attacks Gonzalez "Investigation" Report of Franklin County Voter Machine Misallocation
0535-Paul Harmon Files Ohio Supreme Court Brief Describing Licking County Irregularities
0534-Judge Moyer Denies Sanctions Motion in Election Contest Litigation
0533-Videotapes of EAC February 23rd Hearing
0532-Akron Beacon Journal reports: "Prosecutor to Probe Cuyahoga County Recount"
0531-Franklin County Launches Investigation Into 2004 Election
0530-Blackwell Requests Dismissal or Change of Venue of Recount Case, and Opposes Hearing Unless He Can Take Depositions of Kerry and Edwards
0529-Paul Harmon to Appeal Licking County Case to Ohio Supreme Court
0528-National Voting Rights Institute Update on Ohio Recount Litigation
0527-Kerry & Edwards File Court Papers Agreeing With Cobb & Badnarik that Venue Should Not be Transferred & Summarizing Reports of Recount Coordinators
0526-Cobb & Badnarik File Papers Requesting Court Not to Transfer Venue

0525-Report on EAC February 23rd Hearing by electionline.org
0524-EAC Announces it will Only Hold One More Hearing
0523-Election Fraud by Licking County Officials Exposed in Criminal Complaint Filed by Paul D. Harmon
0522-Report on EAC February 23rd Public Hearing
0521-"Public" hearing not open to the "Public"
0520-Blackwell Fails to Show Up at House Administration Committee; Chair Says "You Can Run, But You Can't Hide"
0519-Congressman Conyers, Senator Feingold, and 17 Other Congresspersons file Amicus Brief Opposing Ohio Elections Contest Sanctions Motion
0518-State Court Judges Prohibit Blackwell from Enforcing Optical Scan Deadline
0517-Ohio Attorney General Tells Franklin County Prosector that Blackwell Exceeded His Authority
0516-Cobb and Badnarik File Memorandum of Law in Recount Case.
0515-Conyers and 22 other Members of Congress Request Congressional Research Service Investigation into Voting Irregularities. 2/2/05
0514-Election Contest Lawyers Oppose Sanctions Motion
0513-FBI Refuses to Follow Up on Hocking County Triad Incident
0512-Cong. Conyers Asks FBI to Expand Investigation into Clermont, Union, Fulton, Hocking, Monroe, Henry, and Harrison Counties
0511-Congressman Conyers Writes to Ohio Attorney General About Sanctions Motion Against Election Contest Attorneys
0510-Sanctions Motion Brought By Ohio Attorney General Against Election Contest Litigation Lawyers
0509-Nine Members of House Judiciary Committee Request Formal Committee Hearings & Investigation
0508-Alliance for Democracy Seeks to Intervene Before Democratic Party Dismisses Its Own Case in Knox & Franklin Counties
0507-Four Members of Congress Call for Special Prosecutor to Investigate Blackwell
0506-Waxman and Conyers Call on GAO to Investigate
0505-Election Contest Suit Withdrawn
0504-January 6, 2005, House & Senate Debate, & Vote Against, Objection
to Ohio Electors
0503-House Democrats Request Joint Congressional Investigation of Ohio Election
0502-House Committee Appendices: Eyewitness Accounts, Linda Byrket Documentary, and Blackwell letter
0501-House Judiciary Democrats Submit Preliminary Report in Support of Objection to Ohio Electors, Entitled "Preserving Democracy : What Went Wrong in Ohio"

Needless to say there are other web sites which contain information on these subjects. Some are listed in the left hand column under "Important Links". Three which I find especially helpful are Ohio Vigilance http://ohiovigilance.org, MiaMedia Votergate Resource Center http://miamedia.com/votergate, and Election 2004 http://shadowbox.i8.com/stolen.htm.

If you have documents, court dates, or other detailed material relating to legal events in connection with the Ohio, 2004, election, which you would like to share with this blog, please send to ohioelectionfraud@mindspring.com with "oef" as the subject.

"American Blackout", New Film About Disenfranchisement of African-Americans in 2000 and 2004

Excellent new documentary about systematic disenfranchisement of African-Americans in 2000 Florida presidential election, 2002 and 2004 DeKalb County, Georgia, congressional election, and 2004 Ohio presidential election:

American Blackout

Film by director Ian Inaba, won Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Urbanworld/Vibe Film Festival.

To locate scheduled screenings of "American Blackout"

To host a screening

"Our Rigged Elections: The Elephant is in the Polling Booth" by Mark Crispin Miller, published in Washington Spectator

Important new article by Mark Crispin Miller published in Washington Spectator on October 1, 2006:

OUR RIGGED ELECTIONS
The Elephant in the Polling Booth
By Mark Crispin Miller | October 1, 2006

To say that this election could go either way is not to say that the Republicans have any chance of winning it. As a civic entity responsive to the voters' will, the party's over, there being no American majority that backs it, or that ever would. Bush has left the GOP in much the same condition as Iraq, Afghanistan, the global climate, New Orleans, the Bill of Rights, our military, our economy and our national reputation. Thus the regime is reviled as hotly by conservatives as by liberals, nor do any moderates support it.

So slight is Bush's popularity that his own party's candidates for Congress are afraid to speak his name or to be seen with him (although their numbers, in the aggregate, are even lower than his). It seems the only citizens who still have any faith in him are those who think God wants us to burn witches and drive SUVs. For all their zeal, such theocratic types are not in the majority, not even close, and thus there's no chance that the GOP can get the necessary votes.

And so the Democrats are feeling good, and calling for a giant drive to get the vote out on Election Day. Such an effort is essential—and not just to the Democrats but to the very survival of this foundering Republic. However, such a drive will do the Democrats, and all the rest of us, more harm than good if it fails to note a certain fact about our current situation: i.e., that the Democrats are going to lose the contest in November, even though the people will (again) be voting for them. The Bush Republicans are likely to remain in power despite the fact that only a minority will vote to have them there. That, at any rate, is what will happen if we don't start working to pre-empt it now.

Even though this election could go either way, neither way will benefit the Democrats. Either the Republicans will steal their "re-election" on Election Day, just as they did two years ago, or they will slime their way to "victory" through force and fraud and strident propaganda, as they did after Election Day 2000. Whichever strategy they use, the only way to stop it is to face it, and then shout so long and loud about it that the people finally perceive, at last, that their suspicions are entirely just—and, this time, just say no.

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH—That Bush/Cheney stole their "re-election" is not a "theory" but a fact that has by now been proved beyond the shadow of a doubt. The case was made, first, by the House Judiciary Committee—or rather by its Democratic members, who conducted a meticulous inquiry into the debacle in Ohio. (The Republicans boycotted the investigation, and obstructed it.) Its findings were released on January 5, 2005, in the so-called Conyers Report, after Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the committee's ranking Democrat. The Republicans attacked it, and the press and leading Democrats ignored it; yet that report was sound, its major findings wholly accurate.

In July of that year the Democratic National Committee came out with its own study of Ohio, which offers still more evidence of fraud—before concluding, weirdly, that there was no fraud but rather much "incompetence" (all of which somehow helped only the GOP). Despite its stated contradiction of the House report, the DNC analysts disprove not one of Conyers's findings.

Complete article