TEACH-IN, CLEVELAND, OHIO. JUNE 3RD-4TH

Important message from Dr. Lovegren:


Friends concerned about democracy, please forward this announcement to your mailing lists of concerned citizens. Because we need money right away to secure our venues, prepare educational material and financing some needed advertising, please encourage those on your distribution list to pre-register as soon as possible, sending donations if possible. We should have on-line registration and Pay Pal working by tomorrow evening I hope. This will be an historic event, I'm certain.

Thanks much,

Victoria Lovegren, Ph.D.

Founder, Ohio Vigilance

OHIO VIGILANCE

"But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your States as well as in the Federal Government."
-- Andrew Jackson

Election Investigation/Reform

Rally, Teach-In and Public Hearing

Friday, June 3rd and Saturday, June 4th in Cleveland

Cleveland, OH - The public is invited to participate in a rally, teach-in and public hearing on "Election Investigation and Reform" on June 3rd and 4th. Our keynote speaker Friday will be nationally known election reform advocate Bev Harris of Black Box Voting. Plenary speakers include Bob Fitrakis of the Free Press, Bob Koehler of Tribune Media Services, Jonathan Simon of Verified Vote, Dorothy Fadiman, documentary filmmaker and the Reverend Marvin McMickle of Antioch Baptist Church.

On Friday, June 3rd, , the rally and film showing will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at Antioch Baptist Church, 8869 Cedar Ave. The public hearings, workshops and discussion groups on everything from campaign finance reform to reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act will be held on Saturday, June 4th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Tri-C Metropolitan Campus. Suggested donation is $20 with advance registration ($10 for students / seniors / low income) and $25 on the day of the event. However, NO ONE will be turned away for inability to pay.

Download Flyer

To register in advance, send your name, address, phone number and email to:


Ohio Vigilance, P.O. Box 18336, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

Indicate whether you would like to give a three-minute testimony on Saturday about any election irregularities you witnessed. Any donation to help cover our costs will be appreciated. You may also register and/or make a donation at www.ohiovigilance.org.

The 2004 Ohio contest was not "a model election," as J. Kenneth Blackwell claims. Saturday's workshops and discussion groups will cover a lot of ground. Attendees will learn about the media lockdown and watch videos describing countless Americans who were disenfranchised in this latest presidential election. The need for grassroots communication, organization and action will be discussed as attendees learn how to be videographers, bloggers, and reporters - how to obtain public records, monitor election boards and "become the media."

Expert speakers explain the unprecedented shift in exit poll numbers by 5.5%, unexplained by mainstream news media sources. Topics like voter suppression and intimidation tactics being used in America today will be tackled head-on. The public will have a chance to learn, firsthand, about the different types of ballots and equipment being debated in Ohio, what went wrong with Ohio's "recount" and what is going on with the "Real ID" Act.

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Sponsors: Ohio Vigilance, Black Box Voting, Ohio Voters Reform, Global Exchange, J30 Coalition, Ohioans for Democratic Values, Citizen Act, CASE-Ohio, The Free Press, NAACP, Rainbow Push and others

FOR MORE INFO: www.ohiovigilance.org or (216) 849-7470

Download Flyer

Sanctions Motion Denied

The sanctions motion brought against the attorneys for the plaintiffs in the election contest litigation has been denied.


http://ohioelection2004.com/PDFHost/denial_of_sanctions_motion.pdf

Common Cause issues 2-minute film on 2004 election

Common Cause has posted a 2-minute documentary film on the 2004 election, made by Erin and Conrad Stanley, documentary filmmakers from Los Angeles:

http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=562403&tr=y&auid=836313

"Invisible Ballots" Video on Electronic Voting

"Invisible Ballots", New Video on Electronic Voting:

http://www.invisibleballots.com/

Robert Koehler of Tribune Media Services writes : "The Silent Scream of Numbers"

Article by Robert C. Koehler of Tribune Media Services, "The Silent Scream of Numbers":

"As they slowly hack democracy to death, we’re as alone — we citizens — as we’ve ever been, protected only by the dust-covered cliches of the nation’s founding: “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

"It’s time to blow off the dust and start paying the price.

"The media are not on our side. The politicians are not on our side. It’s just us, connecting the dots, fitting the fragments together, crunching the numbers, wanting to know why there were so many irregularities in the last election and why these glitches and dirty tricks and wacko numbers had not just an anti-Kerry but a racist tinge. This is not about partisan politics. It’s more like: “Oh no, this can’t be true.”

"I just got back from what was officially called the National Election Reform Conference, in Nashville, Tenn., an extraordinary pulling together of disparate voting-rights activists — 30 states were represented, 15 red and 15 blue — sponsored by a Nashville group called Gathering To Save Our Democracy. It had the feel of 1775: citizen patriots taking matters into their own hands to reclaim the republic. This was the level of its urgency.

Complete article

US Count Votes April 11, 2005, Analysis of Exit Poll Discrepancies in 2004 Election

"US Count Votes"'s April 11, 2005, analysis of exit poll discrepancies in 2004 election:

http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/US/Exit_Polls_2004_Edison-Mitofsky.pdf

Akron Beacon Journal reports: "Prosecutor to Probe Cuyahoga County Recount"

The Akron Beacon-Journal reports that prosecutors are investigating the Cuyahoga County recount:

"CLEVELAND - Erie County Prosecutor Kevin J. Baxter is investigating whether the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections broke the law in its recount of ballots from the November presidential election.

"Cuyahoga County Prosecutor William Mason appointed Baxter as a special prosecutor in the case because the board of elections is Mason's client, which could pose a conflict of interest, said Mason spokeswoman Jamie Dalton.

"Baxter said he didn't know yet whether the allegations have any validity. He said his investigators will begin interviewing people in the next several weeks.

``If it goes nowhere, it goes nowhere,'' Baxter said. ``We'll just start from the beginning... This is rather preliminary.''

"The probe stems from two requests written to Mason: one from minor-party presidential candidates David Cobb and Michael Badnarik, and another from entrepreneurial consultant Edward Michael Caner.

Complete article

Franklin County Board of Elections Launches Investigation into 2004 Election

The Franklin County Board of Elections announced today that it was launching an independent examination into the election process used in last November’s presidential election.
http://ohioelection2004.com/WordHost/franklincountymarch16thpressrelease.doc

"Gathering to Save Our Democracy" -- National Conference on 2004 Election & Need for Election Reform - Nashville, TN - April 8-10, 2005

Gathering To Save Our Democracy

National Conference on the 2004 Election

and the Need for Election Reform

Nashville, Tennessee, April 8-10, 2005

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE TODAY!

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Featuring

Bernie Ellis, Tennessee, Gathering To Save Our Democracy (and other members)

Civil rights leaders (Tennessee): Tex Thomas, Sonnye Dixon, Charles Kimbrough

Michael Grant, TN NAACP Statewide coordinator, Voting Rights Act celebrations

Cliff Arnebeck, Ohio, Moss v. Bush

Bob Fitrakis, Ohio, Moss v. Bush, www.freepress.org

R.H. Phillips, Ohio election fraud researcher

Joanne Roush, Wisconsin, Ohio recount volunteer

Bernard Windham, Florida, national election datasets analyst (including EIRS)

Warren Stewart, California, National Ballot Integrity Project

Judith Alter, California, Recount New Mexico

Paul Lehto, Washington state election/fraud attorney

Andrew Silver, North Carolina

David Griscom, Arizona

Roxanne Jekot, Georgia, Voter Choice Coalition

Mary Beth Kuznik, Pennsylvania

Sharona Merel, New Hampshire, National Ballot Integrity Project

Kathy Dopp, Utah, US Count Votes

Jonathan Simon, Massachusetts, exit poll researcher, We Do Not Concede

Josh Mitteldorf, Pennsylvania, exit poll researcher, US Count Votes

Robert Koehler, Illinois, syndicated columnist, (Chicago) Tribune Media Services

Brad Friedman, California, BradBlog/Velvet Revolution

R. Lee Wrights, North Carolina, Vice-Chair, Libertarian National Committee

David Cobb, California, 2004 Green Party Presidential candidate

Barbara Burt, Maine, Common Cause

Lara Shaffer, California, Open Voting Consortium

Ruth Martin, District of Columbia, People For the American Way

Phil Fry, Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections-Ohio

Larry Quick, Illinois, National Ballot Integrity Project

Teresa Hommel, New York, Where’s The Paper

Larry English, Tennessee, Information Impact International

Lowell Finley, California, Help America Recount

David Lytel, District of Columbia, Left.org

Susan Truitt, Ohio, Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections (CASE)-America

Clinton Curtis, Florida, election fraud whistle-blower

Phyllis Huster, Georgia

(and others to come)

CLICK HERE FOR AGENDA AND SPEAKER LIST

BACKGROUND

Since November 3, 2004, there has been a groundswell of concern, and a plethora of evidence, that the conduct of the 2004 Presidential election in the United States was highly problematic. These concerns have been belittled by many and ignored by the corporate media in this country. However, the weight of the evidence is overwhelming that a multi-faceted strategy of voter intimidation and disenfranchisement, potential manipulation of electronically cast votes in many states, and other instances of election fraud and theft improperly influenced the will of the American people and may have subverted the "consent of the governed". This evidence was sufficient to have stimulated the Government Accountability Office and U.S. Representative John Conyers and other national leaders to investigate the evidence of wrong-doing. This evidence also caused the U.S. Congress to suspend their routine business and to debate the merits of accepting Ohio's electoral votes on January 6, 2005, a historic occasion that highlighted the many problems in Ohio and also served to shed light on similar problems in other states. With this Congressional debate, the American people's responsibility to win back our democratic process was enumerated and enjoined.

To date, most of the discussion and information sharing on the problems with the 2004 election have occurred in the virtual world of the Internet. While there have been some local gatherings and regional and national protests focused on this issue, there has been no opportunity for concerned citizens, researchers, activists and elected officials to meet under one roof to review the wealth of evidence for the many threats to our democratic processes which the 2004 election revealed and to discuss the urgent need for election reform. While some panels on this topic have been added to several national meetings, these panels are not nearly sufficient to present all of the evidence for the 2004 election problems. It is also insufficient to fully inform the American people enough to motivate them to seek redress for the violations of our voting rights which occurred with this past election and to coalesce sentiment around an election reform agenda.

For these reasons, this three day Gathering To Save Our Democracy - A National Conference will provide the appropriate forum for expanding public awareness, for congregating the accumulated knowledge under one roof and for providing a platform for mobilizing support for election reform and justice.

Nashville, Tennessee is the setting of this conference. Nashville has a proud history of early successes in the 1960s civil rights movement, we are in a Southern and supposedly "red" state (we prefer to consider ourselves an Orange State, in deference to the Ukrainian example), we are centrally located within a day's drive of 60% of the U.S. population, we have an international airport serviced by a dozen major airlines, and we have several locations tentatively identified as appropriate and historic venues for hosting the conference. But most importantly, we have an energetic (and growing) band of citizen-activists for election reform in Tennessee who would insure the successful implementation of this conference.

This conference will be a comprehensive and historic event that will bring together the "major players" who have surfaced in the dialogue over the problems with the 2004 election and the need for election reform. We also anticipate that the conference will be a gathering place for the many concerned citizens throughout the nation and the world who are intent on preserving democracies. We hope that this conference will help break the media silence about the problems with the 2004 election within our country and provide a forum for increasing the world's attention to our threatened democratic principles. In addition, we will hold discussion sessions before and after the conference to exchange ideas and build coalitions to pursue the necessary elements of election reform and to redress our concerns with the 2004 election.

The conference registration fee is $30 (with exceptions for hardships), and will cover all conference-related activities. Please review the tentative conference agenda, complete the conference registration form and register using PayPal. (People who cannot attend the conference but who would like to support the conference by making a donation can do so using PayPal also.) We will send you the final conference agenda and other details one week prior to the conference. Please contact Bernard Ellis, Jr., MA, MPH (931/682-2864; tracevu@bellsouth.net ) for more information on the conference.

Thank you for supporting the conference and for promoting the preservation of democracy in America.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE TODAY!

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION

CLICK HERE FOR TENTATIVE AGENDA AND SPEAKER LIST

Registered Franklin County Voters Whose Provisional Ballots Were Rejected on the Ground that they were "not registered"

0535-Franklin County Ohio voters whose provisional ballots were categorized Code 200 - Not Registered (No Vote) in the 2004 General Election, yet who are listed in the BOE registration database