John,

Have you seen this article at The LATimes?

**snip**

The administration began skewing federal law enforcement before the current U.S. attorney scandal, says a former Department of Justice lawyer.
By Joseph D. Rich, JOSEPH D. RICH was chief of the voting section in the Justice Department's civil right division from 1999 to 2005. He now works for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
March 29, 2007

"I spent more than 35 years in the department enforcing federal civil rights laws — particularly voting rights. Before leaving in 2005, I worked for attorneys general with dramatically different political philosophies — from John Mitchell to Ed Meese to Janet Reno. Regardless of the administration, the political appointees had respect for the experience and judgment of longtime civil servants.

Under the Bush administration, however, all that changed. Over the last six years, this Justice Department has ignored the advice of its staff and skewed aspects of law enforcement in ways that clearly were intended to influence the outcome of elections."

This is huge! John Conyers pointed it out on his blog!

Sherry

BAD NEWS Regarding Florida Voting...Help Needed

This was from Friday's Sun-Sentinel. Although the governor and the people want reform, these reps are trying to stop it in the budget. I sit in one of these Reps district (Hasner). Anything I can do, let me know.

Republicans vote to ax effort for more money for optical voting scanners
By Anthony Man & Linda Kleindienst
sun-sentinel.com Tallahassee Bureau
Posted March 30 2007, 2:30 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE --- Republicans in a key Florida House committee voted on Friday to kill an effort to add money to the state budget to pay for optical scanners to replace touch-screen voting machines in 15 Florida counties.

State Reps. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale; Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, and David Rivera, R-Miami, were among those voting against the money, which would help cover the cost of replacing the voting machines in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Bogdanoff and Hasner each represent parts of both counties; Rivera represents parts of Broward and Miami-Dade, which also would get replacement money.

State Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, questioned the need to switch voting equipment just a few years after the touch-screen machines were bought. "The fact is that some people don't like the outcome of elections and then question the integrity of the voting system."

Hours later, the House Republicans issued a notice explaining they are not necessarily all that opposed to scrapping the touch-screen machines.

Although they've taken no action on legislation to eliminate the touch-screen machines during the first four weeks of the annual legislative session, shortly after the Republicans voted to eliminate the budget amendment, the party leadership suddenly announced it would allow a hearing on the proposal after all.

Replacing the touch-screen machines with optical scanners that read paper ballots is a top priority of Republican Gov. Charlie Crist. But neither the House nor the Senate has included the $35 million cost in early versions of the state budget.

House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, has questioned whether all the state's taxpayers should cover the cost of replacing touch-screen voting machines in just 15 counties that made decisions to buy that equipment. Those counties cover more than half the state's voters.

State Rep. Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs, proposed a budget amendment Friday, asking the House Budget and Policy Council to add $35 million for touch-screen replacement.

"I think our voters are looking for a higher level of integrity. Just because a county screwed up [by buying touch-screen machines] I don't want to penalize the voters in that county," he said.

State Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, supported Porth. "No one can deny there have been problems with elections in Florida. It's important to restore confidence."

The council's Republican members, including several Rubio lieutenants, voted down the Porth proposal. Rivera said voters already have access to paper ballots, and can choose them instead of touch-screen voting, by using absentee ballots through the mail.