http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/20...volunteers.html

December 10, 2004

Blackwell Locks Out Recount Volunteers

Subject: Blackwell Locks Down Ohio Voting Records

Ohio Election Investigation Thwarted by Surprise Blackwell Order

Dayton, Ohio Friday December 10, 2004

On Friday December 10 two certified volunteers for the Ohio Recount team assigned to Greene County were in process recording voting information from minority precincts in Greene County, and were stopped mid-count by a surprise order from Secretary of State Blackwell’s office. The Director Board of Elections stated that “all voter records for the state of Ohio were “locked-down,” and now they are not considered public records.”

The volunteers were working with voter printouts received directly from Carole Garman, Director, Greene County Board of Elections. Joan Quinn and Eve Roberson, retired attorney and election official respectively, were hand-copying voter discrepancies from precinct voting books on behalf of the presidential candidates Mr. Cobb (Green) and Mr. Badnarik Libertarian) who had requested the recount.

One of the goals of the recount was to determine how many minority voters were unable to vote or denied voting at the polls. Upon requesting copies of precinct records from predominantly minority precincts, Ms. Garman contacted Secretary of State Blackwell’s office and spoke to Pat Wolfe, Election Administrator. Ms. Wolfe told Ms. Garman to assert that all voter records for the State of Ohio were “locked down” and that they are “not considered public records.”

Quinn and Roberson asked specifically for the legal authority authorizing Mr. Blackwell to “lock down” public records. Garman stated that it was the Secretary of State’s decision. Ohio statute requires the Directors of Boards of Election to comply with public requests for inspection and copying of public election records. As the volunteer team continued recording information from the precinct records in question, Garman entered the room and stated she was withdrawing permission to inspect or copy any voting records at the Board of Elections. Garman then physically removed the precinct book from Ms. Roberson’s hands. They later requested the records again from Garman’s office, which was again denied.

Ohio Revised Code Title XXXV Elections, Sec. 3503.26 that requires all election records to be made available for public inspection and copying. ORC Sec. 3599.161 makes it a crime for any employee of the Board of Elections to knowingly prevent or prohibit any person from inspecting the public records filed in the office of the Board of Elections. Finally, ORC Sec. 3599.42 clearly states: “A violation of any provision of Title XXXV (35) of the Revised Code constitutes a prima facie case of election fraud within the purview of such Title.”

Why aren't people screaming from the rafters "What is going on here??" Blackwell is the king of "lockdowns". Hell, he decided the day before the election to ban reporters from the precints. (The reporters scrambled to challenge him in court and won the stay so they were allowed) All of this just REEKS of suspicious activity and its really really really really starting to piss me off (mind my language..sorry)!! I have had ENOUGH of this! Nothing will ever be fair in this country. Nothing!

Why is this not in the mainstream media?

This was posted at democratic underground

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discu...ress=203x141517

Ohio impeachment laws.

According to this site, an official can be impeached if he/she commits a misdeameanor while in office.

Misdemeanor in office
FL, KY, ME, NB, NJ, OH

Misdemeanor in office
(Ohio Rev. Code Ann. , Art. 2 §§ 23 and 24)xii
xii “Misdemeanor” is probably used in this section in the generic sense of “misdeed. ” (Editor’s Comment)

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2004/rpt/2004-R-0146.htm

================
If Blackwell obstructs justice or violates a court order, is that not an impeachable offense. Is the AG of Ohio a repuke or dem? What about the gov?

ABSOLUTELY!!!! Ohio members, print this and march to Attorney General Jim Petro's office first thing Monday morning!

http://www.ag.state.oh.us/index.asp

General Jim Petro
State Office Tower 30 E. Broad Street 17th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-3428
(614) 466-4320

Then go to your local representative's and seantor's offices offices and demand they sponsor articles of impeachment.

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/

Search for your representative: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/search.cfm#reps_zip

Search for your senator:
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/search.cfm#reps_zip

Yes, this doen't make people think that they did something illegal, does it?

I've sent this to one in NY who has access to the wire services, and to the editor for investigative journalists at one of the major newspaper chains.

Print the article and go to YOUR local newspaper. The newsroom is open 24/7.

Do the republicans just expect people who are recounting and democrats to say "The votes have been locked down, everyone go home, there will not be a recount. It was a nice try though. See you in four years." Ohio is like a time bomb at this point, just waiting to explode.

Of course this happens on the weekend, when the officials who might be able to help the volunteers are nowhere to be found.

Blackwell is the perfect example of giving someone enough rope to hang themselves. Since he has now committed a misdomeanor, lawyers should swarm on him like locust. If Kerry's campaign or the DNC doesn't nail this criminal,
ACLU or Lambda Legal should make sure it is handled.
Blackwell may find he's safer behind bars than out where others in this scheme can silence him. Ukraine's cream soup additive comes to mind, and it's not pleasant what it does to your organs or face.

I'm wondering where the HELL is the Ohio press? It's your damn state, your damn votes, and it effects MY DAMN COUNTRY!

I sent the begining article of this thread to Ohio's Governor Taft, the Minority leader of Ohio's Senate, the Cleveland Herald, and CNN headline news and Keith Olbermann.
I encourage others on here to make some NOISE! :o

Where is a mere handful of the 17,000 Kerry attorneys who might be able to take this matter to court and have it resolved in a heartbeat? Someone needs to remind Mr. Blackwell that this is America - the home of the FREE as well as the brave. Public records are just that. Public records. We bought and paid for them and there's no reason we can't peruse them whenever we damn well please. What the heck is wrong with this Blackwell character, anyway? Did Dubya promise him the Supreme Court or something? I'm really getting sick and tired of this BS.

Just sent to The Chicago Sun-Time's Ohio beat reporter and the national political editor.

And to Senator Kerry's press officer.

Sent this link

http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/20...volunteers.html

to David Lytel (david@lytel.com) , the author of "Silencing the vote" in Baltimore Sun

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/o...-oped-headlines

This sort of pisses me off.

BIG TIME

Sent the info to Meghan Hohl of Kerry's senate staff. Posting her name because she has not returned one of my messages for weeks. Got an "out of office" automatic reply.

I sent the link to everyone I know and the Toledo Blade to make sure they cover the story..

"New revelations about voting machine allocations in Franklin County
emerged on Tuesday, December 7. William Anthony, Chair of the
Franklin County Board of Elections, told WVKO radio listeners that
the Board begins "stationing voting machines four weeks out" before
Election Day. Security questions were raised after a machine in
Gahanna Ward 1B at the New Life Church recorded 4258 votes for Bush
where only 638 voters cast ballots.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ElectionFraud2004/
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=284
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/revote2004
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/636288161
http://www.411onpolitics.com/wst_page19.html

Cornell McCleary, former minority director of the Republican Party of
Ohio, argues that it would easy for computer hackers to hack directly
into the machines: "The two points of vulnerability are setting up a
computer and hacking directly into the machine, or the line that goes
directly down to the Board of Elections." He dismissed the Gahanna
incident as a "prank." Prank or not, Kerry's decision to concede
early on November 3 was based in part on these imaginary votes that
were either a prank, a computer glitch, or a deliberate effort to
boost Bush's total in Ohio.

Anthony also conceded that some voters in Franklin County waited up
to "five or six hours' in order to vote. He admitted that the Board
of Elections usually holds back "a truckload of voting machines"---
75---in case there's a truck accident." He blamed this on the lack
of machines and the fact that 77 voting machines malfunctioned on
Election Day. Two affidavits from voters obtained by the Free Press
report that voting machine maintenance people came out to fix
machines and their technique seemed to be to continually plug and
unplug, or reboot, the electronic machines until the machines
functioned again.

Anthony also confirmed that the Board only delivered 2741 of its 2866
machines at the opening of polls on Election Day. He said Board of
Elections workers later placed an additional 44. This would put the
total number in use at the "close of polls" at 2785, leaving 81
machines sitting unused. Anthony further said Election Day problems
were the result of utilizing essentially 4800 volunteers with minimal
training, paid a small stipend. Some poll workers have testified they
repeatedly called the Board of Elections for additional machines as
lines stacked up at their inner city precincts but got no response.
In addition, new evidence has continued to surface of widespread
voter fraud throughout the state. Among other things, a letter from
Shelby County election officials dated December 2 confirmed that the
county discarded "tabulator test deck reports" from the November 2
vote count "to reduce paperwork and confusion with official
results." As this county's response is the first of 88 to come from
Freedom of Information Act filings, it seems likely other
controversial practices could surface.
Moreover, new computer tabulation errors – first reported locally
after Election Day – have resurfaced, and are of a magnitude
suggesting Bush's margin over Kerry---now 118,775 votes or 2 percent
of the total votes cast in the state, according to Blackwell---could
easily have been manipulated."

All this news is very shocking. :o
Blackwell has no right to do that!
We live in a DEMOCRACY!
Yes; something must be done about it!

What Blackwell is doing is outrageous, and it needs to be stopped.
Blackwell is not above the law.
We live in a democracy, and our fundamental rights are at stake. :o
There needs to be a public outcry and action taken to stop this lockdown - and to be able to have a recount.

It’s perfectly obvious this man is trying to cover up his own illegal activity. That is something we should point out to all of the other Secretary of State officials in every state in the Union. He is cheating them as well as the people of Ohio!

So, am I to understand that Blackwell is blatantly committing crimes against the election laws in broad daylight and there are no checks and balances stopping him? Not even the Press?

Remember Ukraine is being criticized for lack of democracy, yet in Ukraine, the Supreme Court has annulled the election results and ordered for a new election to take place.

Yet the US is still considered to be a democracy? Am I missing something here?

Yep, Daddy Bush's checkbook.

Update on this story (looks like a thriller)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discu...ress=203x142934

Blackwell Lockdown (thread 3)

Damn this is freaking scary, Karl Rove has gotten desperate and tried to destroy the evidence!!!! Looks like the hammer is coming down!!! :o :o :o :o

Wow, there's some pretty intense stuff going down. Sounds like there's at least some local media paying attention. Now if only the national media would pay attention.

tick, tick mr. blackwell, do you hear this situation about to blow up in your face?

I think it is time to take all of this information and spread it around the world. Are there any international student organizations, or grassroots organizations? If the information is accurate, the only way to have everybody observe what is going on is to let everybody know (and through means other than the usual news media). Anybody who habitually mails out cards this time of year should send information about voter fraud along with them. It is true that all we can do is stand as witnesses, but to be a witness means quite a lot. I am reminded of the movie, "The Seven Days in May," which gave me nightmares when I saw it over thirty years ago.

The longstanding blatant hypocrisy of US administration that behaves undemocratically while portraying itself as the most democratic of all states, that takes actions befitting a tyranny while decrying 'tyrannies' around the world.

I gave up any desire to work in international relations when my studies in that field showed me the extent of the hypocrisy in international affairs, particularly on the part of the world's most armed and powerful nation.

But I had faith in the American public and media that they would demand their administration be honest. They did over Vietnam and they did when Nixon was in power so it has been shocking to see the slavish devotion and adoration of that bastard Bush. No, not by half the nation, but by far too many of its citizens.

But there may yet be hope. Perhaps there's still enough decency left in the land that the majority of people will protest these abuses and will call for the downfall of Bush and all his minions.

He gave himself too much rope!!!