The company counting critical votes in Ohio and Colorado has extensive connections to the Romney campComplete article
By Craig Unger
Voting machine provider Hart Intercivic will be counting the votes in various counties in the crucial swing states of Ohio and Colorado and elsewhere throughout the country come Nov. 6 — even though it has extensive corporate ties to the Mitt Romney camp, and even though a study commissioned by the state of Ohio has labeled its voting system a “failure” when it comes to protecting the integrity of elections.
Reports of Hart Intercivic’s ties to Romney first surfaced in late September, in a blog post by Gerry Bello and Bob Fitrakis in the Free Press, an Ohio website that reported that a key investor in Hart was HIG Capital, seven of whose directors were former employees of Bain & Co., a consulting company of which Mitt Romney was once CEO. (Romney left the company in 1984 to co-found a spinoff company, Bain Capital.) HIG Capital announced its investment in Hart on July 6, 2011, just one month after Romney formally announced the launch of his presidential campaign.
Nor were those the only ties between Hart and the Romney camp.....
Before the Ohio Election Fraud, this blog was entitled "Fairness". Since November 2, 2004, a day that will live in infamy, this blog has been devoted exclusively to fighting the crimes committed against the citizens of Ohio, and against our American way of life, in the 2004 "election".
October 23, 2012
"Romney-linked voting machine company to count votes in Ohio" ~ Salon Magazine
From Salon Magazine:
October 22, 2012
It's come to this: international monitors needed for US elections
 |
||
|
Republican attempts to reduce voter turnout in minority neighborhoods
are so widespread that, at the request of American civil rights groups,
international monitors will oversee
our elections: United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week.[...] The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a United Nations partner on democratization and human rights projects, will deploy 44 observers from its human rights office around the country on Election Day to monitor an array of activities, including potential disputes at polling places. It's part of a broader observation mission that will send out an additional 80 to 90 members of parliament from nearly 30 countries. Liberal-leaning civil rights groups met with representatives from the OSCE this week to raise their fears about what they say are systematic efforts to suppress minority voters likely to vote for President Obama. The election is going to come down to a battle between Democratic voter turnout efforts and Republican voter suppression efforts. At Daily Kos, we have made it easier to win this battle by putting the two largest Democratic voter turnout operations—President Obama's reelection campaign and the union-backed Workers' Voice—on a single Act Blue page. Please help get Democrats to the polls, and make sure their votes count, by contributing $3 each to President Obama and Workers' Voice. Keep fighting, Chris Bowers Campaign Director, Daily Kos |
||
October 20, 2012
"My father's vote was just stolen in Ohio" -- reprint from Democratic Underground
The following is reprinted from this post at Democratic Underground:
****************************************************************
Original post at Democratic Underground
****************************************************************
My Father's vote was just stolen in Ohio...
Original post at Democratic Underground
October 19, 2012
Website to sign up as election protection volunteer
Here is a website to go to, to sign up as an Election Protection Volunteer.
http://www.866ourvote.org/pages/election-protection-volunteers
http://www.866ourvote.org/pages/election-protection-volunteers
"Ohio Should Be Out Voting" By Gary Polvinale
(Reprinted with permission from http://www.madogmusic.com)
Ohio Should Be Out Voting
by Gary Polvinale (Sandusky, Ohio)
http://www.madogmusic.com
Got a few million bucks to spend on a comic book? I see that someone just paid three million dollars for a Superman first edition. And you can bet he didn’t have to save his nickels and dimes. Currently, right-wing politicians want to give people like this a $250,000 tax break and pay for it with contributions from poor Americans. And it’s Jon Husted’s fault. How’s that? Who’s he? I’ll get to that in a minute.
There’s plenty of money out there. Money that could provide security, healthcare, education and jobs for every American. But it’s a safe bet you haven’t seen any of it lately. Because it’s in the hands of a few, the job creators – and this is what they do with it. And that comic book? Well, your deprivation bought it. Republicans chant, “Nothing wrong with being wealthy and well compensated.” That’s baloney. Doing well for yourself is one thing – having 3 mil from overseas investments to drop on a comic book is something else. Something obscene, when 50 million Americans can’t pay the rent or feed their kids.
While the rich have become obscenely rich, seniors you’ll be forced to give up the Social Security and Medicare you paid for all your life, and sick people you’ll be left to die because you can’t afford insurance. It doesn’t have to be that way. We’re the richest nation in the world. With enough wealth for every single family to live happy, healthy and productive lives. Instead, a few live in the lap of unimaginable luxury while the rest of us get squashed under their Gucci boot. And now the Republican party pledges to deliver what’s left of your money to these rich guys, spending billions on advertising lies, scary billboards… and vote suppression in swing states. Which brings me to Jon Husted’s part in all this.
Husted is Ohio’s Secretary of State, the man in charge of Ohio’s elections. And he’s after your vote – literally. 100,000 Ohioans, mostly Democrats, used the weekend before election day to vote early in the last presidential election. Husted refused to provide that early voting time, even though two federal courts have ordered him to do so. For months Husted has ignored the court’s ruling. However, a few days ago on Oct 16 the United States Supreme Court unanimously denied Jon Husted’s appeal to squelch early voting the three days before the election. Even so, aside from the early voting restrictions, Husted’s tougher voter ID requirements are making it harder for seniors, shut-ins, nursing home residents, low wage earners and college students to vote. And all that theatre is distracting media attention from the rest of the disenfranchising being wrought from hacking electronic voting machines, shorting machines in Democratic precincts, purging largely Democratic voter rolls, intimidating billboards in low-income neighborhoods and malarky advertising. In this close election, all it takes is a couple of hundred thousand votes to swing Ohio and snatch the presidency.
You would be behind bars if you ignored a federal judge. But every time there has been another court ruling come down on Ohio’s early voting, I have called the board of elections and asked whether those early voting hours were in effect. And every time the same answer, “No early voting the three days before… orders from the Secretary of State… there is an appeal pending.” The Secretary of State has said he doesn’t want to confuse Ohio voters by changing the hours to comply with the court while it is being appealed. So his website and local Board of Elections sites showed no early voting hours available during that time, until the Supreme Court finally said “or else”. And the early voting flyer I received in the mail from the Secretary of State didn’t show them. The local print and broadcast media had no idea until the Supreme Court decision. Even the Obama early voting info website didn’t show them. Even though by law, those hours should have been in effect. The damage has been well done. Ohio voters are completely confused and disgusted.
That’s pure vote suppression, designed to discourage Democrats from voting. Husted’s true motives were revealed months ago when he attempted to block early voting in highly Democratic precincts only. Sure, it seems outlandish, over the top, so outright outrageous that people can’t wrap their heads around it. But that’s why they can do it. At stake right now in Ohio, control of the American people (that’s you), their money and their lives; both Obama and Romney have been camped out here in Ohio for months. If Jon Husted doggedly continues to follow his Koch Bros directive to confuse Ohio’s election process and stifle Democratic votes, he should be locked up until the election is over. Ohio Boards of Elections need to encourage people to vote, instead of disenfranchising them.
An encouraging bit of information. As of Tuesday Oct 16 when I voted, twenty percent of Ohio’s registered voters had already voted early. And seventy five percent of them were Democrats. It’s possible that the grassroots thing in Ohio is working, and that Democratic Ohioans are determined not to be bulldozed.
It’s up to you Ohio:
- ID requirements are a hassle, but not impossible. Go to the
“Ohio Secretary of State” website
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections.aspx to learn official
voter ID requirements.
- You can vote early during the week, daytime and evenings at
your local Board of Elections. Call them or visit their website for
hours and info.
- Owing to the Supreme Court’s decision, early voting hours are
also posted for those all-important three days right before the
election.
Sat Nov. 3rd 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
Sun Nov. 4th 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Mon Nov. 5th 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
- Ask your local Democratic Party or Obama headquarters about
obtaining transportation to vote.
- If you can’t get there in person, mail-in absentee ballots are
available on your local Board of Elections website or they
can mail one to you.
- All this info is also available on Obama’s voting website
http://vote.barackobama.com/en/OH/early-voting/ or call
Obama’s vote hotline 800-311-VOTE.
- Or for voting issues and information visit my music website
http://www.madogmusic.com and my voting website
http://www.madogmusic.com/vote.
- Anyone interested in using my new song “Gotta Vote” to dress
up your voting programs, presentations, websites or advertising
can download the recording for free on
http://www.madogmusic.com.
Ohioans, don’t be suppressed. Find a way to vote. That’s what it comes down to. Help someone else find a way to vote. We all want to be able once again to look at our spouse and say, “Honey, it’s gonna be ok.” But we have to make it ok.
Ohio Should Be Out Voting
by Gary Polvinale (Sandusky, Ohio)
http://www.madogmusic.com
Got a few million bucks to spend on a comic book? I see that someone just paid three million dollars for a Superman first edition. And you can bet he didn’t have to save his nickels and dimes. Currently, right-wing politicians want to give people like this a $250,000 tax break and pay for it with contributions from poor Americans. And it’s Jon Husted’s fault. How’s that? Who’s he? I’ll get to that in a minute.
There’s plenty of money out there. Money that could provide security, healthcare, education and jobs for every American. But it’s a safe bet you haven’t seen any of it lately. Because it’s in the hands of a few, the job creators – and this is what they do with it. And that comic book? Well, your deprivation bought it. Republicans chant, “Nothing wrong with being wealthy and well compensated.” That’s baloney. Doing well for yourself is one thing – having 3 mil from overseas investments to drop on a comic book is something else. Something obscene, when 50 million Americans can’t pay the rent or feed their kids.
While the rich have become obscenely rich, seniors you’ll be forced to give up the Social Security and Medicare you paid for all your life, and sick people you’ll be left to die because you can’t afford insurance. It doesn’t have to be that way. We’re the richest nation in the world. With enough wealth for every single family to live happy, healthy and productive lives. Instead, a few live in the lap of unimaginable luxury while the rest of us get squashed under their Gucci boot. And now the Republican party pledges to deliver what’s left of your money to these rich guys, spending billions on advertising lies, scary billboards… and vote suppression in swing states. Which brings me to Jon Husted’s part in all this.
Husted is Ohio’s Secretary of State, the man in charge of Ohio’s elections. And he’s after your vote – literally. 100,000 Ohioans, mostly Democrats, used the weekend before election day to vote early in the last presidential election. Husted refused to provide that early voting time, even though two federal courts have ordered him to do so. For months Husted has ignored the court’s ruling. However, a few days ago on Oct 16 the United States Supreme Court unanimously denied Jon Husted’s appeal to squelch early voting the three days before the election. Even so, aside from the early voting restrictions, Husted’s tougher voter ID requirements are making it harder for seniors, shut-ins, nursing home residents, low wage earners and college students to vote. And all that theatre is distracting media attention from the rest of the disenfranchising being wrought from hacking electronic voting machines, shorting machines in Democratic precincts, purging largely Democratic voter rolls, intimidating billboards in low-income neighborhoods and malarky advertising. In this close election, all it takes is a couple of hundred thousand votes to swing Ohio and snatch the presidency.
You would be behind bars if you ignored a federal judge. But every time there has been another court ruling come down on Ohio’s early voting, I have called the board of elections and asked whether those early voting hours were in effect. And every time the same answer, “No early voting the three days before… orders from the Secretary of State… there is an appeal pending.” The Secretary of State has said he doesn’t want to confuse Ohio voters by changing the hours to comply with the court while it is being appealed. So his website and local Board of Elections sites showed no early voting hours available during that time, until the Supreme Court finally said “or else”. And the early voting flyer I received in the mail from the Secretary of State didn’t show them. The local print and broadcast media had no idea until the Supreme Court decision. Even the Obama early voting info website didn’t show them. Even though by law, those hours should have been in effect. The damage has been well done. Ohio voters are completely confused and disgusted.
That’s pure vote suppression, designed to discourage Democrats from voting. Husted’s true motives were revealed months ago when he attempted to block early voting in highly Democratic precincts only. Sure, it seems outlandish, over the top, so outright outrageous that people can’t wrap their heads around it. But that’s why they can do it. At stake right now in Ohio, control of the American people (that’s you), their money and their lives; both Obama and Romney have been camped out here in Ohio for months. If Jon Husted doggedly continues to follow his Koch Bros directive to confuse Ohio’s election process and stifle Democratic votes, he should be locked up until the election is over. Ohio Boards of Elections need to encourage people to vote, instead of disenfranchising them.
An encouraging bit of information. As of Tuesday Oct 16 when I voted, twenty percent of Ohio’s registered voters had already voted early. And seventy five percent of them were Democrats. It’s possible that the grassroots thing in Ohio is working, and that Democratic Ohioans are determined not to be bulldozed.
It’s up to you Ohio:
- ID requirements are a hassle, but not impossible. Go to the
“Ohio Secretary of State” website
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections.aspx to learn official
voter ID requirements.
- You can vote early during the week, daytime and evenings at
your local Board of Elections. Call them or visit their website for
hours and info.
- Owing to the Supreme Court’s decision, early voting hours are
also posted for those all-important three days right before the
election.
Sat Nov. 3rd 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
Sun Nov. 4th 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Mon Nov. 5th 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
- Ask your local Democratic Party or Obama headquarters about
obtaining transportation to vote.
- If you can’t get there in person, mail-in absentee ballots are
available on your local Board of Elections website or they
can mail one to you.
- All this info is also available on Obama’s voting website
http://vote.barackobama.com/en/OH/early-voting/ or call
Obama’s vote hotline 800-311-VOTE.
- Or for voting issues and information visit my music website
http://www.madogmusic.com and my voting website
http://www.madogmusic.com/vote.
- Anyone interested in using my new song “Gotta Vote” to dress
up your voting programs, presentations, websites or advertising
can download the recording for free on
http://www.madogmusic.com.
Ohioans, don’t be suppressed. Find a way to vote. That’s what it comes down to. Help someone else find a way to vote. We all want to be able once again to look at our spouse and say, “Honey, it’s gonna be ok.” But we have to make it ok.
October 18, 2012
August 27, 2012
Turning Point Novel Suggests 2012 Presidential Election Shaping Up as Chilling Déjà vu of Recent Voter Suppression Controversies
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: George Clarke
703 447-6885
Turning Point Novel Suggests 2012 Presidential Election Shaping Up as Chilling Déjà vu of Recent Voter Suppression Controversies
August 26, 2012 – Alexandria, VA – Turning Point provides a chilling reminder of voting controversies in recent presidential elections and a warning for what could happen again in 2012. From the critical role of swing-vote Supreme Court justices to current concerns over voter suppression and voter identification in key battleground states, author and political veteran Charles A. Santangelo writes a thrilling political narrative, Turning Point: A Compelling Vision of America Today Had the Supreme Court Recounted the Florida Votes in the 2000 Presidential Election.
Santangelo’s well-crafted novel is the first book to provide a compelling vision that America would be a far different place today had the Supreme Court decided in 2000 to recount all the rejected ballots in Florida. This powerful narrative is presented through an action-packed love story between a liberal Democratic environmentalist and a conservative Republican Air Force pilot that extols the virtue of compromise, rather than adherence to extreme ideology.
In telling the story, Turning Point answers the great questions of our time. If a Democrat had been elected in 2000, would we have invaded Iraq? Would Bin Laden have been captured at Tora Bora? Would our economy still be flourishing and what would we have done with the projected $4.5 trillion budget surplus? Would America have turned the corner on global warming? Would the financial crisis have been averted? Would Israel and Palestine be on a path to peace?
“Recent concerns with voter identification and suppression in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states suggest a potential replay of the 2000 and 2004 presidential voting irregularities,” said author Charles A. Santangelo, who has served as a White House aide and in press roles for more than six presidential campaigns.
But Turning Point is not a pessimistic look back at what America could have been if a Democrat been elected in 2000. Rather, it provides a credible narrative of inspirational leadership in fighting terrorism, combatting suppression of minority voters, and taking on electronic voting fraud and global warming politics.
Turning Point is available on-line in hardcover and paperback through Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com (keywords: Turning Point Santangelo). Trade discounts in quantities of ten or more are available at www.outskirtspress.com/bookstore. Turning Point will also be available in selected brick and mortar bookstores.
Turning Point format options:
6 x 9 paperback cream ISBN: 978-1-4327-9396-8 SRP: $16.95
6.14 x 9.21 hardback with jacket 978-1-4327-9398-2 $25.95
e-Book, Kindle, Nook $ 9.99
Genre: Political/Historical/Fiction/Action and Adventure/Romance
About the author:
Charles Alfred Santangelo is a veteran of six presidential campaigns and a former White House aide who has served in senior positions in the Clinton, Bush and Obama Administrations at NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Santangelo is the author of numerous articles and has been interviewed by CNN, Newsweek, Time, Associated Press, and other media outlets. He is a former assistant professor of information technology policy and the Co-Editor/Researcher of the award-winning political biography, Lucky Corner: The Biography of Congressman Alfred E. Santangelo.
To reach the author for interviews contact George Clarke, whose contact information is listed above. For more information about Turning Point, visit www.outskirtspress.com/turningpoint or www.turningpointnovel.com.
Outskirts Press offers high-quality, full-service self-publishing and book marketing services for writers and professionals who are seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining 100% of their rights, 100% of their profits, and 100% of the creative control. www.outskirtspress.com.
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http://outskirtspress.com 1-888-OP-BOOKS
August 22, 2012
Stop voter suppression in Ohio
|
In 2008, we saw just how important weekend voting is to Black Americans. In Ohio, which had narrowly gone Republican in 2004, Black voters took advantage of extended hours and helped Obama win the state.1 By opening the polls on Saturdays and Sundays, this battleground state enabled Black and low-income Ohioans to vote in record numbers.
But now, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted wants to put an end to weekend voting. It’s clearly a partisan move to secure Ohio for Mitt Romney.
As Ohio’s top election official, Husted has the power to restore weekend hours statewide. He needs to know that the nation is watching. Please join us in calling on him to make sure that all Ohioans can exercise their basic right to vote this November. It only takes a moment:
http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/early_voting_ohio
Earlier this month, state election officials decided that if you lived in a Republican-leaning county in Ohio — mostly suburban and rural areas — you could stroll into your polling place to vote late into the evening or on weekends in the weeks leading up to Election Day. But if you lived in a county that encompassed a racially diverse city such as Cleveland, Cincinnati or Columbus, you had to make it to the polls between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.2
Husted stood by county Republican election officials who voted to put this disparity in place until a national outcry forced him to announce a new plan.3 As secretary of state, Husted had the power to expand evening and weekend early voting hours to people in urban counties, making access to the polls a priority everywhere. Instead he chose to eliminate weekend voting statewide. And now he's even trying to fire Board of Elections officials who would open their county's polling place doors on weekends.4
Ohio’s recent history around elections is key to understanding why early voting is so important. In 2004, Black voters and others in the state’s urban areas experienced faulty machines and lengthy voting lines.5 Many eligible voters gave up in frustration, returning to work or home without getting to cast their ballot. But starting in 2006, the state allowed people to vote in the weeks leading up to the election, including evenings and weekends.
Evening and weekend hours have been especially critical to Black voters who cast their ballots after work or after church in the weeks preceding elections.6 In the 2008 election, 56% of early voters in Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is located, were Black. African Americans of voting age make up only a quarter of the county’s population.7 Our communities take advantage of extended hours.
Husted’s efforts to limit early voting in Ohio is just one piece of a larger, coordinated effort to derail democracy. Across the country, right-wing legislators are erecting barriers for Black voters including discriminatory voter ID laws,8 failure to restore the vote to people with felony convictions,9 and predatory voter purges.10
As Ohio’s secretary of state, Jon Husted is charged with ensuring that every Ohioan has equal access to the voting booth. Please join us in telling him to rise above party politics and protect Black voters and all Ohioans by extending early voting hours:
http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/early_voting_ohio
-- Rashad, Gabriel, Dani, Matt, Arisha, Aimée and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
August 21st, 2012
Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don't share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:
http://www.colorofchange.org/donate
References
1. "Ohio Early Voting Cutbacks Disenfranchise Minority Voters," The Nation, 08-08-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1706?t=6&akid=2600.1372604.DI3a8P
2. "Ohio Limits Early Voting in Democratic Counties, Expands in Republican Counties," ThinkProgress, 08-10-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1691?t=8&akid=2600.1372604.DI3a8P
3. "Ohio Secretary of State Restricts Voting Hours in All Counties," ThinkProgress, 08-16-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1702?t=10&akid=2600.1372604.DI3a8P
4. "Husted suspends Democrats on election board," Dayton Daily News, 08-17-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1708?t=12&akid=2600.1372604.DI3a8P
5. "Several Factors Contributed to 'Lost' Voters in Ohio," Washington Post, 12-15-04
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1692?t=14&akid=2600.1372604.DI3a8P
6. "Equal voting processes for Ohio counties may still be unfair for voters," WKSU, 08-16-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1703?t=16&akid=2600.1372604.DI3a8P
7. "Black Pastors Group Criticizes Ohio For New Rules That Limit Early Voting," The Huffington Post, 08-14-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1695?t=18&akid=2600.1372604.DI3a8P
8. "Top PA GOP politician admits voter ID is a partisan move," ColorOfChange.org blog, 06-24-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1709?t=20&akid=2600.1372604.DI3a8P
9. "Few Felons Regain Right to Vote in Florida," FCIR, 08-13-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1705?t=22&akid=2600.1372604.DI3a8P
10. "Thousands petition Department of Justice to ‘protect the vote’ in Florida," Florida Courier, 07-12-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1710?t=24&akid=2600.1372604.DI3a8P
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July 21, 2011
New court filing reveals how 2004 Ohio presidential election was hacked ~ Bob Fitrakis, The Free Press
Good article by Bob Fitrakis in The Free Press:
New court filing reveals how the 2004 Ohio presidential election was hackedComplete article
by Bob Fitrakis
July 20, 2011
A new filing in the King Lincoln Bronzeville v. Blackwell case includes a copy of the Ohio Secretary of State election production system configuration that was in use in Ohio's 2004 presidential election when there was a sudden and unexpected shift in votes for George W. Bush.
The filing also includes the revealing deposition of the late Michael Connell. Connell served as the IT guru for the Bush family and Karl Rove. Connell ran the private IT firm GovTech that created the controversial system that transferred Ohio's vote count late on election night 2004 to a partisan Republican server site in Chattanooga, Tennessee owned by SmarTech. That is when the vote shift happened, not predicted by the exit polls, that led to Bush's unexpected victory. Connell died a month and a half after giving this deposition in a suspicious small plane crash.
Additionally, the filing contains the contract signed between then-Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and Connell's company, GovTech Solutions. Also included that contract a graphic architectural map of the Secretary of State's election night server layout system.
August 11, 2010
My proposed #sxswi panel: "How I became an online grassroots organizer" #sxsw
My proposed #sxswi panel:
How I Became an Online Grassroots Organizer
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/5953#comment-new
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