posted on November 16, 2005 05:37:57 PM new
GAO report upholds Ohio vote fraud claims
By Joe Baker, Senior Editor Print this page
As if the indictment of Lewis “Scooter” Libby wasn’t enough to give the White House some heavy concerns, a report from the Government Accounting Office takes a big bite out of the Bush clique’s pretense of legitimacy.
This powerful and probing report takes a hard look at the election of 2004 and supports the contention that the election was stolen. The report has received almost no coverage in the national media.
The GAO is the government’s lead investigative agency, and is known for rock-solid integrity and its penetrating and thorough analysis. The agency’s agreement with what have been brushed aside as “conspiracy theories” adds even more weight to the conclusion that the Bush regime has no business in the White House whatever.
Almost a year ago, Rep. John Conyers, senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, asked the GAO to investigate the use of electronic voting machines in the Nov. 2, 2004, presidential election. That request was made as a flood of protests from Ohio and elsewhere deluged Washington with claims that shocking irregularities were common in that vote and were linked to the machines.
CNN said the Judiciary Committee got more than 57,000 complaints after Bush’s claimed re-election. Many were made under oath in a series of statements and affidavits in public hearings and investigations carried out in Ohio by the Free Press and other groups seeking to maintain transparent elections.
Online Journal.com reported that the GAO report stated that “some of [the] concerns about electronic voting machines have been realized and have caused problems with recent elections, resulting in the loss and miscount of votes.”
This is the only democratic nation that permits private partisan companies to count and tabulate the vote in secret, using privately-held software. The public is excluded from the process. Rev. Jesse Jackson and others have declared that “public elections must not be conducted on privately-owned machines.” The makers of nearly all electronic voting machines are owned by conservative Republicans.
The chief executive of Diebold, one of the major suppliers of electronic voting machines, Warren “Wally” O’Dell, went on record in the 2004 campaign vowing to deliver Ohio and the presidency to George W. Bush.
In Ohio, Bush won by only 118,775 votes out of more than 5.6 million cast. Honest election advocates contend that O’Dell’s statement to hand Ohio’s vote to Bush still stands as a clear indictment of an apparently successful effort to steal the White House.
Some of the GAO’s findings are: 1. Some electronic voting machines “did not encrypt cast ballots or system audit logs, and it was possible to alter both without being detected.” In short, the machines; provided a way to manipulate the outcome of the election. In Ohio, more than 800,000 votes were cast on electronic voting machines, some registered seven times Bush’s official margin of victory.
2: the report further stated that: “it was possible to alter the files that define how a ballot looks and works, so that the votes for one candidate could be recorded for a different candidate.” Very many sworn statements and affidavits claim that did happen in Ohio in 2004.
Next, the report says, “Vendors installed uncertified versions of voting system software at the local level.” The GAO found that falsifying election results without leaving evidence of doing so by using altered memory cards could easily be done.
The GAO additionally found that access to the voting network was very easy to compromise because not all electronic voting systems had supervisory functions protected by password. That meant access to one machine gave access to the whole network. That critical finding showed that rigging the election did not take a “widespread conspiracy” but simply the cooperation of a small number of operators with the power to tap into the networked machines. They could thus alter the vote totals at will. It therefore was no big task for a single programmer to flip vote numbers to give Bush the 118,775 votes.
Another factor in the Ohio election was that access to the voting network was also compromised by repeated use of the same user ID, coupled with easy-to-guess passwords. Even amateur hackers could have gotten into the network and changed the vote.
System locks were easily picked, and keys were easy to copy, so gaining access to the system was a snap.
One digital machine model was shown to have been networked in such a rudimentary manner that if one machine experienced a power failure, the entire network would go down. That is too fragile a system to decide the presidency of the United States.
Problems obviously exist with security protocols and screening methods for vendor personnel.
The GAO study clearly shows that no responsible business would operate with a computer system as flimsy, fragile and easily manipulated as the one used in the 2004 election.
These findings are even more damning when we understand the election in Ohio was run by a secretary of state who also was co-chairman of Bush’s Ohio campaign. Far from the conclusion of anti-fraud skeptics, the GAO’s findings confirm that the network, which handled 800,000 Ohio votes, was vulnerable enough to permit a handful of purposeful operatives to turn the entire election by means of personal computers using comparatively simple software.
One Ohio campaign operative, Tom Noe, a coin dealer, was indicted Oct. 27 for illegally funneling $45,400 to Bush by writing checks to others, who then wrote checks to Bush’s re-election campaign, allegedly dodging the $2,000 limit on contributions by an individual.
“It’s one of the most blatant and excessive finance schemes we have encountered,” said Noel Hillman, section chief of the U.S. Department of Justice’s public integrity section, as quoted in the Kansas City Star.
In the 2000 election, Florida was the key; in the 2004 election, Ohio was the key.
From the Nov. 2-8, 2005, issue
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on November 16, 2005 08:09:35 PM new
This is exactly what I have been saying since before the election. Ohio will definately be where the problem is. It is a shame that the President and party who ran on "ethics and morals" had absolutely zero.
As Ed puts it..."The Republicans will do anything to win."
This Administration has obviously sold their solds for fascism, yet dumbsh!ts continue to drink the kool aid. They have no ethics, and could care less about accountability when their party is in control.
posted on November 17, 2005 04:46:37 AM new
logansdad
What's really funny is that the people in southern Ohio are blaming the people in northern Ohio for re-electing Bush. I know this area voted Democrat (NE Ohio). They always do. So, that tells me that something's wrong. Apparently, southern Ohio didn't vote as heavily for Bush as the voting tallies showed.
Three issues to help prevent the fraud were on the last ballot. They failed. They were hastily written so I think once they are re-written and presented next November, they will most likely pass.
Ohio's an odd state. An issue sponsored by Taft whom even the Republicans in this state hate, passed. This issue is supposedly for creating jobs in Ohio. What most people didn't realize is that Taft and his cronies will have control of the money used to create jobs. They will divie the money out to corporations they feel deserve the money in order to create jobs. After the BWC fiasco and Taft's conviction, the people here had better be afraid of where that money will go.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
posted on November 17, 2005 08:23:43 PM new
It would appear as if Bush can not do anything with out a little help.
The people of the United States did not vote for Bush in 2000 and now it appears if the he cheated in order to win in 2004.
Thank God he can't run again. Even if he could the people of this country have realized they made a mistake in 2004.
I guess most of the 59 million people only now have realized they made a mistake in re-electing this joker as president.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on November 18, 2005 07:22:52 AM new
GAO Report Upholds Ohio Vote Fraud Claims
Friday, 11 November 2005, 11:51 am
Opinion: Joe Baker
GAO Report Upholds Ohio Vote Fraud Claims
By Joe Baker, Senior Editor
From the Nov. 2-8, 2005, issue of the Rock River Times
Ron
posted on November 18, 2005 08:29:40 AM new
First elected to Congress in 1974, Murtha is known as an ally of uniformed officers in the Pentagon and on the battlefield. The perception on Capitol Hill is that when the congressman makes a statement on military issues, he’s talking for those in uniform.
Known to shun publicity, Murtha said he was standing up because he had a constitutional and moral obligation to speak for the troops.
His voice cracked and tears filled his eyes as he related several stories of visiting wounded troops, including one who was blinded and lost both his hands but had been denied a Purple Heart because friendly fire caused his injuries.
“I met with the commandant. I said, ‘If you don’t give him a Purple Heart, I’ll give him one of mine.’ And they gave him a Purple Heart,” said Murtha, who has two.
posted on November 18, 2005 08:30:43 AM new
::Is there any way to put a moratorium on this tired, lame phrase?::
Absolutely. Tell you what. I will make an executive decision on behalf of board democrats. All democrats will cease references to kool-aid immediately after the republicans on the board are able to put a moratorium on automatically attributing the viewpoints of any publicized democrat to ALL democrats and cease to use the term "you liberals".
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
An intelligent deaf-mute is better than an ignorant person who can speak.
posted on November 18, 2005 12:14:49 PM new
fenix- i'll add to that... Linda will have to end all accusations of bad mouthing, and calling people "foulmouthed". My fave is when she does the exact same thing herself, oftentimes in the same paragraph as the insults she cries about.
posted on November 18, 2005 12:23:50 PM newAbsolutely. Tell you what. I will make an executive decision on behalf of board democrats.
Is that allowed? I'm afraid I'm going to have to see the Board Democrat Bylaws to verify your authority.
All democrats will cease references to kool-aid
Yeah but what about libertarians, republicans and people named Dwight?
the republicans on the board are able to put a moratorium on automatically attributing the viewpoints of any publicized democrat to ALL democrats and cease to use the term "you liberals".
Luke Skywalker to Yoda as Luke fails to use the force to raise his X-Wing fighter out of the lake: "You want the impossible."
posted on November 18, 2005 12:59:48 PM new
fenix- I'll add to that... Linda will have to end all accusations of bad mouthing, and calling people "foulmouthed"
why should she? Shes telling the truth-you wanna suppress the truth in here?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
posted on November 18, 2005 02:14:12 PM newMaybe for the same reason the starter of this thread is embarrassed to give his source for this info.
The Google Queen must have lost all her abilities.
Linda Are getting lazy in your old age? Or did all your servants end up leaving you because of your stupidity?
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on November 18, 2005 02:15:05 PM new
I'll quit using the phrase "drink the kool-aid" when the repugs and neocons bawking their ONLY answer to everything;
And twist....and twist. You'd think they are related to Chubby Checker. 