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You Can Stop Election Theft! (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Mark Ritchie" <mritchie@xxxxxxxx>
To: "Votefraud@xxxxxxxx" <votefraud@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004
An Emergency Call-to-Arms:
A Five-Step Battle Plan for YOUR Future
This year 28% of the vote (and counting) will be tallied on electronic voting machines or scanners, which have been repeatedly hacked and can be used to fix an election -- all without a trace. Below you'll find a link to the diagrammed, step-by-step report of how e-vote activist Bev Harris hacked one(13). If you think this is exaggeration, please follow the links listed below, where everything has been well-documented and by the NY Times, the Washington Post, CNN, ABC, CBS, the BBC, etc. (14)
Once paperless, effortlessly hackable (10) voting machines have been installed, the situation will be PERMANENT -- we will never know or be able to prove if an election has been stolen. And if it HAS -- those who have stolen it CAN NEVER BE VOTED OUT. And without the fear of voter reprisal, whoever takes advantage of such a situation could do literally anything they wanted and NEVER LOSE POWER. It will mean the end of Democracy. And if you work for an activist group, it will certainly mean the end of your organization.
We have less than six months to prepare to fight the biggest power grab in human history.
Do your part.
Help save America.
There will not be a second chance.
A 5-STEP BATTLE PLAN:
I. LOBBYING (20 minutes approximately)
Tell your representatives to support Bills H.R.2239, 1986, and ESPECIALLY 2045 (14)
Online e-petitions:
http://www.truemajority.org/actionregister/
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/petition.cfm?itemid=14993
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/348035553?ts=1079111375&sign[partner_userID]=304336170&sign[memberID]=304336170&sign[partnerID]=1
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/cleanvote.html
Congress
http://www.senate.gov/
Toll free: 1-800-839-5276
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
State elections boards
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
State Attorneys General
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/
Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@xxxxxxx
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
II. MEDIA BLITZ (one to three hours approximately)
Write a ltter and email or fax it to Radio & tv stations, newspapers & magazines in your area:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
National Media Contacts:
CBS Evening News
212-975-3691
evening@xxxxxxxxxxx
NBC Nightly News
212-664-4971
nightly@xxxxxxx
Peter Jennings : ABC World News Tonight
Tel : (212) 456-4025, Fax : (212) 456-2381
PeterJennings@xxxxxxxxxxx
Washington Post :
abramowitz@xxxxxxxxxxxx,colemanm@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
letters@xxxxxxxxxxxx,hadarm@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
kingc@xxxxxxxxxxxx,milbankd@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
New York Times:
nytnews@xxxxxxxxxxx,oped@xxxxxxxxxxx,
president@xxxxxxxxxxx,publisher@xxxxxxxxxxx,
society@xxxxxxxxxxx,washington@xxxxxxxxxxx,
web-editor@xxxxxxxxxxx,letters@xxxxxxxxxxx
USA Today: editor@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Houston Chronicle: viewpoints@xxxxxxxxx
San Francisco Chronicle: letters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Los Angeles Times: letters@xxxxxxxxxxx
Chicago Tribune:ctc-TribLetter@xxxxxxxxxxx
Washington Post: letters@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Newsday: letters@xxxxxxxxxxx
New York Daily News:voicers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
CNN HeadLine News executives :
cameron.baird@xxxxxxxxxx,dave.willis@xxxxxxxxxx,
bill.schneider@xxxxxxxxxx,
james.broyles@xxxxxxxxxx,jason.evans@xxxxxxxxxx,
lou.dobbs@xxxxxxxxxx,moneyline@xxxxxxxxx,
kathy.slobogin@xxxxxxxxxx,paul.varian@xxxxxxxxxx,
judy.fortin@xxxxxxxxxx,bill.galvin@xxxxxxxxxx,
susan.jalali@xxxxxxxxxx,kurt.kasting@xxxxxxxxxx,
tim.mallon@xxxxxxxxxx,wade.mckinney@xxxxxxxxxx,
jerry.mihoch@xxxxxxxxxx,stephanie.minter@xxxxxxxxxx,
dennis.newman@xxxxxxxxxx,alan.schrack@xxxxxxxxxx,
rolando.santos@xxxxxxxxxx,steve.shusman@xxxxxxxxxx,
jennifer.c.thomas@xxxxxxxxxx,
USA Today :
editor@xxxxxxxxxxxx,fanklam@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
jbacon@xxxxxxxxxxxx,lbranson@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
dcolton@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
Los Angeles Times :
dean.baquet@xxxxxxxxxxx,op-ed@xxxxxxxxxxx,
john.carroll@xxxxxxxxxxx,janet.clayton@xxxxxxxxxxx,
letters@xxxxxxxxxxx,latmag@xxxxxxxxxxx,
marjorie.miller@xxxxxxxxxxx,john.puerner@xxxxxxxxxxx
james.rainey@xxxxxxxxxxx,bill.stall@xxxxxxxxxxx,
REUTERS :
michel.gelbart@xxxxxxxxxxx,eddie.evans@xxxxxxxxxxx,
editor.reuters@xxxxxxxxxxx,daniel.grebler@xxxxxxxxxxx,
stephen.jukes@xxxxxxxxxxx,reshma.kapadia@xxxxxxxxxxx,
andrew.mitchell@xxxxxxxxxxx,dick.satran@xxxxxxxxxxx,
david.schlesinger@xxxxxxxxxxx,eddie.evans@xxxxxxxxxxx,
washington.daybook.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx,
miami.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx,michel.gelbart@xxxxxxxxxxx,
boston.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx,toronto.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx,
mexicocity.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx,
Associated Press:
info@xxxxxx,msilverman@xxxxxx,
gjohnson@xxxxxx,hjung@xxxxxx
tkorte@xxxxxx,sthomsen@xxxxxx
etompson@xxxxxx,ntrott@xxxxxx
rtanner@xxxxxx,mtighe@xxxxxx,
kathleen.carroll@xxxxxx,dcrary@xxxxxx,
adinnocenzio@xxxxxx,jaffleck@xxxxxx,
mfeldman@xxxxxx,paula.froke@xxxxxx,
tfuentez@xxxxxx,kgazlay@xxxxxx,
chanley@xxxxxx,bharpaz@xxxxxx,
lheinzerling@xxxxxx,rherschaft@xxxxxx,
hitalie@xxxxxx,sjacobsen@xxxxxx,
ajesdanun@xxxxxx, tkent@xxxxxx
III. WITNESS E-VOTE EVALUATIONS(one afternoon)
Ask your elections board (about any e-voting purchase evaluations meetings to be held in your district. As a member of the voting public, it is your legal right to attend as a witness, although, out of convenience, they may try to avoid giving you the information. Insist on your rights.
If you do attend as a witness, you may well be a victim of intimidation tactics. Insist on voter-verified paper ballots. Bev Harris has written comprehensive answers to arguments you will hear. DO NOT BACK DOWN OR BE INTIMIDATED BY CIVIL SERVANTS -- they are your EMPLOYEES, paid by YOUR TAXES:
From Bev Harris,http://www.BlackBoxVoting.Org
Assertion:"Upgrading the printer already in the (Diebold) machine costs money"
Fact: Diebold has stated in writing that their pre-installed internal printers are sufficient to generate a voter-verified paper trail.
Assertion:"The paper is very expensive"
Fact: No, thermal paper is the cheapest made. And with an estimated maximmum of 300 people voting at each touch screen. A LARGE precinct may have seven touch screens, but many have just two or three. It might cost $15 per precinct to print those ballots.
Assertion:"The paper won't last"
Fact: If the report to be by the machine will last the required amount of time, the ballots will too, if printed on the same paper. The printer is there to report totals at the polling place.
Assertion:"the machines will jam"
Fact: The printer is similar to models used in supermarkets and WalMart. Remember: the total number of transactions, will be about 300. Do supermarket and WalMart printers jam every 15 sales? No; They process thousands of printouts without jamming.
Assertion:"the ink will run out"
Fact: There is no ink in a thermal printer
Question: "If a paper ballot record doesn't match a machine record, which is the legal vote?"
Fact: The voter-verified paper must trump the machine unless a mechanical defect or fraud is shown, because it is a physical record seen and verified by thousands of individual voters, whereas the machine is bits and bytes that can be changed by a single technician!
Assertion:"Paper ballot systems have been tampered with"
Fact: Yes, and machines have been frequently wrong as well. Do not allow sidetracking of the discussion or assertions that you are "against electronic voting" -- no, we want them to put paper in a printer and use it for auditing.
Assertion:"Officials won't know what to do with paper ballots and new laws must be written."
Fact: Laws and procedures set up for optical scans are applicable.
Assertion: "A paper trail will only lead to demands for more complicated and stringent auditing"
Fact: Yes, it will. We're asking for that anyway, with optical scanning. It is still be cheap and efficient compared to many of the changes currently being implemented to accomodate the sales of more touchscreen machines.
Question:"Why use machines at all if you're demanding paper ballots?"
Fact: Voting machines are helpful for the visually impaired
Assertion:"Paper ballots prevent the visually impaired from voting"
Facts:Wheelchair-assisted voters can use a touch screen with the same efficiency whether or not there is a paper printout, and the visually-impaired are can be provided with headphones for these machines. Nor does a paper printout hinder their ability to vote.
Alternatives to the Diebold, Sequoia and ES&S machines (operated by heavily partisan CEOs, designed to operate WITHOUT a paper trail, and whose code and
components are not allowed to be examined) exist.
Avante Systems has a machine that shows a printout through a glass screen. After the voter confirms it is correct, the paper ballot is droped into a storage box so it can be checked against the machine totals and the AccuPoll system has a scanner that can pass over the printed ballot to verify votes.
Alternative, secure e-voting machines you can suggest to your elections officials:
http://www.accupoll.com/
http://www.aitechnology.com/avantetech/home.html
IV. VOLUNTEER ELECTIONS MONITORING(three days approximately, including preliminary training)
Vootewatch is organizing election monitor volunteers here:
http://www.votewatch.us/forum/register.php?
Bev Harris has outlined a point-by-point strategy on specifically what to look for when monitoring electronic voting machines. It is also recommended that you either download her free e-book "Black Box Voting", or better yet, purchase it here:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org
From Bev Harris,http://www.BlackBoxVoting.Org
CITIZEN WATCHDOGS: What to look for and report -- Let's get good at this before November!
Optical-scan systems and absentee ballots: We have information that all systems recognize carbon-containing marks (soft lead pencil). Some DO NOT recognize all inks. You may want to bring a soft lead pencil to the polling place with you to mark your optical-scan ballots.
All Diebold counties (AccuVote and AccuTouch are Diebold brands) -- Ask that the poll workers print a report and post a copy at the polling place at the end of the day, whether they are required to or not. All Diebold machines, both touch-screen and optical-scan, contain internal printers and have the ability to print a polling place results report. This takes 60 seconds and costs nothing, and is an important check and balance to compare with the county results from the GEMS system, which we believe to contain security flaws. Votes should not change from the polling place to the county.
Report any instance of mismatched polling place/county tabulations here. Do NOT accept the excuse that they won't match because early votes, absentee, provisional, or challenge votes were added into the polling place totals. That is called "co-mingling" the data and is not an acceptable record-keeping practice. Additional categories of votes must be accounted for as separate line items.
Sequoia touch-screens do not have an internal printer. A printer can easily be hooked up with a serial port. If you see printers, demand a polling place report.
Watch for any "wandering vote tallies" on election night, especially if any votes go DOWN. (Yes, this has been known to happen).
Late poll openings: Report these immediately and we'll try to get cameras there. This is a form of vote suppression, often occurring in minority areas.
Late vote results: Report late incoming tallies. These can be indicative of the county trying to resolve voting machine anomalies before filing reports.
Observe how many cords come in and out of the voting machines. Report any evidence of networking the machines together. Report any time you see more than a simple power cord plugged in while the election is in progress.
Wardrive election sites. See if you can pick up wireless signals either during or after the election. Wireless communication is not permitted. Also, report any use of cell phones for vote transfers, which is also not permitted.
Election workers: Report the procedures used for training if they seem insecure. For example, we have already had reports that in Georgia, some poll workers were told to take voting machines home after training; Georgia flag artwork was uploaded right before the election; and other unwise and insecure procedures were followed.
Go visit the polling place at the end of the day and see how secure it is. We had reports recently of machines left in the polling place unattended.
Felony watch: In some states, IT IS A FELONY for technicians who are not sworn elections officials to touch the vote database in any way, shape or form after votes have been cast. In fact, if you look at Chapter 13 of Black Box Voting, the San Luis Obispo incident was probably illegal (Diebold tech Sophia Lee was tied to a live vote database that appeared on the Internet five hours before the polls closed).
Watch for statistical anomalies. Look at everything. Time is of the essence, as these analyses take some time and there are only a few days before the election is certified.
V. LEGAL CHALLENGES(indeterminate)
Author Lynn Landes has questioned the constitutionality of voting machines.
http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachinesUnconstitutional.htm
If your organization has the wherewithal to raise a legal challenge on these (or other grounds) here are some resources below:
Election campaign and civil rights lawyers listed for every city:
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Election%20Campaign%20&%20Political%20Law
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Civil%20Rights
Institute for Justice:
http://www.ij.org/index.shtml
Center for Indiviual Rights:
http://www.cir-usa.org/intakehtml
Class actions:
http://www.bigclassaction.com/civil_rights.html
Southeastern Legal Foundation:
http://southeasternlegal.org/
Electronic Frontier Foundation attorneys:
gwen@xxxxxxx
jason@xxxxxxx
owlswan@xxxxxxx
wendy@xxxxxxx
tien@xxxxxxx
fred@xxxxxxx
Other challenges:
http://www.palmbeachpostcom/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/tuesday/local_news_04d49255058760a400d8.html
http://www.electionguardians.org/actions.htm
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/dieboldlawsuit.pdf
Pax Christi is also organizing an international group of elections monitors. More information here:
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_events_more.asp?id=887
REFERENCES
1 (GOP:$115,667,827 ; Dems:$44,175,502).
http://www.opensecrets.org/parties/index.asp
2. Greg Palast, Harper's Magazine "The Great Florida Ex-Con Game"
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=122&row=2
3 a."Unprecedented" -- internet preview of the film
http://wwwunprecedented.org/UnprecedentedPreview.htm
3 b. Lynn Landes: "Mission Impossible - Federal Observers & Voting Machines"
http://www.ecotalk.org/FederalObservers.htm
4. Barabara Walters interview"The Note":
http://wwwfreerepublic.com/focus/f-news/791744/posts
5.McConnell vs the Federal Election Commission
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/1637/
6.http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0404/hentoff.php
7. "Bush Assures Evangelicals of Commitment to Marriage Amendment"
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/12/politics/12EVAN.html?pagewanted=print&position
8a. Online Journal: "Wag the Osama"
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/031004Burns/031004burns.html
8b.NewsNet5: "Ridge Sidesteps Question On Bin Laden's Capture"
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2917298/detail.html
9. U.S. Unloading WMD in Iraq
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=3/13/2004&Cat=4&Num=011
10. Aljazeera.net: "Purported Al Qaida Statement"
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2CDD53D6-7AF7-40C7-AF88-32A16072F81B.htm
11. NewsMax: "Tommy Franks: 'Martial Law Will Replace Constitution After Next Terror Attack'"
http://infowars.com/print/ps/franks_martial.htm
12. The New McCarthyism, the Progressive:
http://www.progressive.org/0901/roth0102.html
13. Scoop: "Inside a US Election Vote Counting Program"
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm
14a. NY Times: "Hack the Vote"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/120303A.shtml
b. CBS: "Electronic Voting Causing Concern"
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/03/eveningnews/main591185.shtml
c. UK Independent: "All the President's Votes?"
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1013-01.htm
d. Salon: "Will the Election be Hacked?"
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/02/09/voting_machines/index_np.html
e. BBC: "Concerns over US Computer Voting"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3489877.stm
f. ABC News: "Avoiding Another Florida Fiasco"
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/SciTech/Voting_machines_040305-1.html
g. "Comparison of Senate Bills 1980, 1986, and 2045"
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/senate_bill_comparison.asp
You are encouraged to distribute this document freely and widely.