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Arrest in VA: GOP Voter Reg Scandal Widens
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ALL TOGETHER: ROVE, SPROUL, KOCHS, RNC
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LATimes: RNC's 'Fired' Sproul Working for Repubs in 'as Many as 30 States'
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'Fired' Sproul Group 'Cloned', Still Working for Republicans in At Least 10 States
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CRIMINAL PROBE LAUNCHED INTO GOP VOTER REGISTRATION FRAUD SCANDAL IN FL
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CAUGHT ON TAPE: COORDINATED NATIONWIDE GOP VOTER REG SCAM
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CRIMINAL ELECTION FRAUD COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST GOP 'FRAUD' FIRM
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RICK SCOTT GETS ROLLED IN GOP REGISTRATION FRAUD SCANDAL
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VIDEO: Brad Breaks GOP Reg Fraud Scandal on Hartmann TV
Breaking coverage as the RNC fires their Romney-tied voter registration firm, Strategic Allied Consulting...

RNC FIRES NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION FIRM FOR FRAUD
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EXCLUSIVE: Intvw w/ FL Official Who First Discovered GOP Reg Fraud
After fraudulent registration forms from Romney-tied GOP firm found in Palm Beach, Election Supe says state's 'fraud'-obsessed top election official failed to return call...

GOP REGISTRATION FRAUD FOUND IN FL
State GOP fires Romney-tied registration firm after fraudulent forms found in Palm Beach; Firm hired 'at request of RNC' in FL, NC, VA, NV & CO...
The Secret Koch Brothers Tapes...

By Brad Friedman on 11/7/2004 1:07pm PT  

Like everyone else honest enough with themselves to see our country --- and our world with it --- being torn apart by George W. Bush, Andrew Veal, a 25 year-old employee at the University of Georgia recognized the disaster afoot in Iraq (where as of last night, they've officially declared Martial Law in the country --- more evidence of "catastrophic success", I guess).

Veal was an ardent John Kerry supporter and became despondent after Tuesday's results were announced.

He travelled to New York City on Friday --- home of the world's worst-ever terrorist attack and a city that voted overwhelmingly in favor of John Kerry to keep them safer in the future --- went downtown to the site of 9/11's "Ground Zero" and shot himself in the head with a .12-gauge shotgun.

Newsday reported yesterday that "Ground Zero remains a top tourist attraction" and that opinions of sight-seers later in the day varied about the latest tragedy to occur there.

One visitor was quoted as saying "Maybe he felt ineffective...You feel ineffective if you tried and it all failed" speaking of "many New Yorkers who are depressed over this."

An East Village artist and registered Democrat suggested the suicide was symbolic, "Obviously, this person was devastated. I can see why he would come here".

And from the Right, Bobbie Jensen, a 54 year-old "Republican from Pheonix" was compassionate enough to understand that Bush's victory must have been troubling to those who dislike him.

But, Ms. Jensen explained, "You can be upset about the war, about Bush, but this is a sacred place."

Apparently, for the compassionately conservative Ms. Jensen, Ground Zero is just an inappropriate place to blow ones brains out.

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Hacking the Final Results
By Brad Friedman on 11/6/2004 7:31pm PT  

A must read article entitled "Evidence Mounts That The Vote Was Hacked" from Thom Hartmann at CommonDreams.org. Hartmann explains precisely how this election could easily have been hacked and claims that a U.S. House candidate in Florida has the evidence to prove it.

No doubt, the issues disclosed in this piece, are exactly what Bev Harris and BlackBoxVoting.org are basing their recent pronouncements of "fraud" upon. Teasing the first graf...

When I spoke with Jeff Fisher this morning (Saturday, November 06, 2004), the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 16th District said he was waiting for the FBI to show up. Fisher has evidence, he says, not only that the Florida election was hacked, but of who hacked it and how. And not just this year, he said, but that these same people had previously hacked the Democratic primary race in 2002 so that Jeb Bush would not have to run against Janet Reno, who presented a real threat to Jeb, but instead against Bill McBride, who Jeb beat.

It's a very clear and convincing read. As I say, it's a must read! Please give it a look.

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...Comparing States With and Without Voter Paper Trails
Only Bush's Counts Improved
By Brad Friedman on 11/6/2004 6:11pm PT  

As Raw Story originally reported on Wednesday, the Exit Polling on the day of the Election showed Kerry ahead by robust margins in many states. By the time the day had ended Kerry's margin had been eclipsed by Bush's. But, notably, that only happened in states that do not have fully voter-verifiable paper trails (e.g. E-Voting machines that don't offer printed/verifiable paper receipts for the voter to confirm that their vote was recorded correctly).

Here are a couple of rudimentary graphics now to show the difference.

In the 10 states polled where there were voter-verifiable paper trails, the Final Results barely differed from the Exit Polls (which, until this year, have been widely regarded as highly accurate since they are taken as folks actually leave the polling place). The average change from Exit Poll to Final Results in these states was a tiny .8% gain for Bush. (Exit Numbers displayed in BLUE, Final Numbers in RED):

And now look at the data from states where there are no paper trails. Note the huge difference in Final Results that changed radically from the Exit Polling results. The average gain for Bush --- in these states only --- was 6.25% over the Exit Polling numbers!

What could possibly account for the huge differences there between the Exit Polls and the Final Results? And only in the Non-Paper Ballot States?

The numbers shown in these graphs seem to be taken from the "4pm Exit Polls" as shown on this chart. That chart is not particular user-friendly, but with a bit of close study, it makes sense.

Those "4pm Exit Poll" numbers however, match up with the "Final 6pm Exit Polls" as reported by Raw Story on the day of. So I'm not sure if the person who compiled the chart and the above graphics was in a different time-zone to account for the 4pm/6pm discrepancy. It doesn't really matter to be frank, as long as the numbers were correctly reported. Which they seem to have been.

It's my understanding that a major news organization is investigating this part of the story now. So we'll see what can be learned in the days ahead.

UPDATE: 11/9/04 Raw Story asked a former MIT "Associate Professor of Mathmatics" to look at these results, and his conclusion was that the probabilities of the Exit Polls all closing for Bush the way they did was approximately "1 in 50,000 or .002 percent". Nonetheless, that same Professor has looked closely at the available Exit Polling data and has "ruled out any significance of a variance between electronic balloting and paper ballot states" in the matter. That story is here.

I have spoken to Raw Story editor, John Byrne about this, and he stands by the report though he adds that to get any conclusive information on the matter we'd have to now take a look at the Exit Polling data on a county-by-county level. At this time, that information has not been released to the public, though apparently it is for sale somewhere. Not sure at this time how much it would cost to purchase for further analysis (and not sure why, at this point, it isn't simply made available to the public given all the troubling reports about this election!)

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The major points in the story so far...
By Brad Friedman on 11/6/2004 1:58pm PT  

{NOTE: This page has been reformatted and updated in our new blogging software. Please visit the updated page here.}

NOTE: The link for this BRAD BLOG stay-on-top index of most notable News & Action items is:
https://bradblog.com/archives/00000905.htm
Please feel free to link, or pass the link on, as you see fit.

What follows are links to the latest and most alarming information concerning the questionable results of the Presidential Election. I am updating the list with the most notable items as soon as I can verify the info. Newest items will be added to the top of the lists.

Not all BRAD BLOG items are listed here! Just the most notable, verified, newsworthy and/or troubling! Please scroll past this item to read all of the latest BRAD BLOG articles.

Thanks to those who have sent tips to investigate! I am attempting to look at them all. Also, thanks to those who have hit the "Support the BRAD BLOG" button to donate to the effort and help allow me to stay focused on this now, while time is of the essence!

Latest Notable NEWS ITEMS: (Most Recent at Top)

  • All "Clint Curtis" and other "Grand Theft America" articles now at BRAD BLOG TOO until bandwidth can be increased at BRAD BLOG!

  • BRAD BLOG EXLUSIVE! WHISTLEBLOWER AFFIDAVIT: Programmer Built Vote Rigging Prototype at Republican Congressman's Request! CLAIM: Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) Asked Company to Create E-Vote Fraud Software!
  • CHICAGO TRIB: Dead Voters, Double Voters, Discounted Votes ...And Bush margin in OH is decreased by 17,000
  • MORE: Supplemental Judiciary Committee Letter to Blackwell! BRAD BLOG Reporting Included in Official Update to Ohio Sec. of State!Also...Exit Poller Mitofsky Asked to Testify, Release 'Raw Data'
  • BRAD BLOG EXLUSIVE - CONFIRMED!: House Judiciary Committee Dems Announce Public Hearings on Voting Irregularities! ... ALSO: Detailed Excerpts from the Blackwell Letter!
  • SOURCE: House Judiciary Committee Dems to Announce Public Hearings on Voting Irregularities!
  • BRAD BLOG Reveals Exclusive Details on Delaware County, OH's Activist Republican Judge! Uses Tax-Payer Funded Website to Quote Scripture! And More!

  • >>> Click here to DISPLAY ALL NEWS ITEMS <<<
  • >>> Click here to SHOW ONLY LATEST NEWS ITEMS <<<
  • Activist OH County Judge Halts Green/Lib Recount! And the KERRY/EDWARDS Campaign Comes to the Rescue!!!
  • BlackBoxVoting.org Files Lawsuit Against Palm Beach County, FL!
  • NY DAILY NEWS: 3rd Party Candidates Out-Polled Bush in OH! Precinct-by-Precinct Analysis of Cuyahoga County Shows Disturbing Trends. As Another Mainstream Media Outlet Enters the Investigation!
  • 15 Unanswered Election 2004 Issues that The New York Times Might Wish to Investigate and Report on!
  • Kerry's Margin over Bush increases by 9,242 in Cuyahoga County, OH After Provisionals Counted Count Certified after Testimony Heard about the 34% of Provisionals Tossed Out
  • Greens/Libertarians File for Recounts in NV and NM!
  • The Stench Builds in Ohio...And the Numbers Still Refuse to Add Up
  • AP Updates Ohio Election Sitch, Fox News Censors the Story!
  • Ohio's Spoiled Election: A "Floodtide" of Evidence Emerges!
  • Blackwell and Ohio Sued by Voters' Rights Group for Rejection of Provisional Ballots Many tossed for simply being cast at the wrong table in the right building!
  • Pravda Uses Nov 2nd Election Against us in regards Ukrainian Election Objections And properly so.
  • BBV UPDATE: Troubling Details Emerge in Florida!
  • 106% Voter Turnout in Wyoming! State's official website shows 13,393 more votes than registered voters!
  • GAO to Investigate Voting Irregularities! And other Breaking News that may be coming this afternoon!
  • Reward for Evidence of Fraud Raised to $200,000! Previous award amount now doubled!
  • Monday's Ohio Recount Round-Up! The Dems Join In! The Greens/Libertarians Maneuver! The G.O.P Begins to Block (Surprised?)! And other Odds 'n' Ends
  • 68 Voting Machines Never Deployed in Columbus, OH! While Voters in Dem Districts Waited in Line for Hours!
  • Lawyers to Challenge Elections in OH (Also - Bloggers Right, Mainstream Media Wrong)
  • Bush Received 130,000-260,000 Extra Votes in 3 FL E-Vote Counties! UC Berkley Analysis Announced Today!
  • 2,600 Ballots Double-Counted in Sandusky County, OH
  • BBV: Evidence of Fraud in Florida?! Troubling Reports from Bev Harris in Volusia County, FL!
  • Indiana, ES&S and One Ungodly Mess! Stunning reports of illegally installed software from April of 2004 add to already-horrific mess!
  • Nader's NH Recount to Begin Thursday!
  • Greens/Libertarians Meet OH Recount Cost Goal! Now Seek Funds for "Mobilization" and Volunteers to be "Recount Witnesses"!
  • Nader's Demand for NH Recount appears to be Moving Forward Set to begin Nov. 24th
  • Provisional Ballots Being Discarded in OH!, "New Ruling" tosses out ballots without Date-of-Birth...Also - 19,000 unexplained ballots added in Bush-heavy Miami County, OH
  • BlackBoxVoting.org: FRAUD Audits, Investigations Launched in FL, NM, AZ, GA, NV!
  • 33,000 Ballots 'Discovered' after 'Programming Glitch' in UT County!
  • WASHINGTON TIMES: Major Security Holes Found in Diebold Software! The most 'Conservative' of newspapers admits vote-counting software vulnerable to hackers!
  • Diebold Settles California Law Suit for $2.6 Million
  • FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: 250 Million to 1 Odds on Exit Polls; Good MSNBC Reporting; Green/Libertarian OHIO Recount Update
  • Green & Libertarian Parties to Call for Ohio Recount! Cobb & Badnarik to join forces! Must raise $113,000 quickly!
  • Kerry Attorneys Return to Ohio! Vow to keep Kerry's promise to "Make Sure Every Vote Is Counted"
  • UPDATED! FBI & Homeland Sec. Officials Deny Warren County's Claim! Say they never warned Warren County about anything! SEE ORIGINAL STORY: Warren County, OH Vote Count Tallying Done in Secret! Officials site "homeland security warnings" from federal officials, County had near largest % of Bush votes in state!
  • The Mysteries of Cuyahoga County, OH
  • 22,000 Votes Errantly Given to Bush in Guilford County, NC! Caused by "computer error".
  • BlackBoxVoting.org Hacked; 150,000 Votes Already Miscounted or Lost!
  • MORNING UPDATE: Mainstream Media Shows up, DNC Issues Press Release, and 97,000 Votes ADDED in Cuyahoga County, OH?!
  • ES&S Employee found on Auglaize County, OH Computer! Just weeks before election! Fourth highest Bush Vote % in State!
  • 50,000 Votes LOST in Dem Indiana County! Yet another ES&S computer "failure".
  • 10,000 Extra Votes Added in Nebraska County Another ES&S computer "failure".
  • *** Diebold Inc. gave $411,320 to Republicans and promised "to deliver the Ohio electoral vote to the President"! Also, please watch this film!
  • Graphical Look at Exit Polls vs. Final Results in Paper vs. Non-Paper Ballot States
  • Dems on House Judiciary Comm. ask GAO for Vote Count Investigation!
  • 11,238 More E-Votes Recorded Than Actually Cast in single NC Precinct!
  • 70,000 Votes "Discovered" in Broward County, FL; Extra Presidential votes "show up", results of local initiative overturned after find! Software glitch in counting machine blamed.
  • 4,258 votes for Bush in single OH precinct where only 638 votes total were cast!
  • NC election officials admit 4500 (out of 7000) votes lost entirely on a single E-voting machine due to memory limit on machine; Same machines used in OH!
  • Huge discordance between "Expected Votes" (based on party registration) and "Actual Votes" in Florida, but only occuring in counties with Diebold/ES&S optical scan counting machines!
  • 11/4/04: BlackBoxVoting.org announces "fraud took place in the 2004 election through electronic voting machines"; Launches massive "FOIA" petition for audit logs and other material.
  • 11/2/04: BlackBoxVoting.Org issues urgent notice to disconnect modems from E-Voting machines after 3 hours of data discovered deleted by "hackers" on Washington state primary E-Vote machine audit log!
  • 8/14/03: Diebold CEO says he's "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year" in Republican Fundraising Letter. More on Diebold here.
  • Latest Notable ACTION ITEMS: (Most Recent at Top)

  • Tell The Boston Globe to Investigate and Report NOW too! Easy Email link provided!
  • Rally in Columbus, OH! Saturday Dec. 4th! Be there! And pass it on!
  • Tell The NY Times to Investigate and Report NOW! Easy Email link provided for you!
  • Greens/Libertarians Meet OH Recount Cost Goal! Now Seek Funds for "Mobilization" and Volunteers to be "Recount Witnesses"!
  • SEEKING PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL HELP/RESOURCES
  • ONLINE PETITIONS/EMAIL DRIVES YOU MUST SIGN NOW...
    · MoveOn.org's ONLINE PETITION
    · Election Protection/People for the American Way's ONLINE EMAIL DRIVE
    · Act for Change/Working Assets ONLINE EMAIL DRIVE
  • · DTMagazine.com's ONLINE PETITION


  • >>> Click here to DISPLAY ALL ACTION ITEMS <<<
  • >>> Click here to SHOW ONLY LATEST ACTION ITEMS <<<
  • Your help is needed to look at Florida and the Exit Polls and a few other items!
  • More Action Items on WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP from Citizen's Alliance for Secure Elections
  • Terry McAuliffe has asked for feedback...Watch This Film Now! And then pass the link to everyone you know!
  • Email everyone you know about these various items! Post about them on other blogs, bulletin boards and chat forums! Point folks to specific articles, this blog, or specific articles that we're linking to! The story needs to be told before "conventional wisdom" gets even more hardened!
  • Stop by BlackBoxVoting.org right now to see if you can help answer their urgent call for Attorneys, Computer Specialists and/or Donations to aid their current investigation!
  • The BRAD BLOG has been under DDoS hack-attack at various times since we've begun reporting this story. If you have trouble getting in or the site is slow in loading, that is why. Please keep trying.

    PLEASE NOTE: I am not, for now, focusing here on alleged Dirty Tricks and/or reports of Voter Suppression/Disenfranchisement on Election Day though there were plenty of them (a database of such reports can be found here, and further info here). I am largely for now looking at emerging hard evidence documenting potential fraud and/or mistabulation of actual votes cast by Americans on 11/2/04, with a focus on disturbing trends related to Ohio and Florida.

    For the record, I voted for neither Bush nor Kerry, but have been a long-time opponent of both Bush and the corruption in the two-party system. My interest in this story now is due to concerns about ensuring an accurate vote count that reflects the will of the people in the world's most important democracy!

    Keep checking back for more items as they emerge! MEDIA INQUIRIES HERE...

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    By Brad Friedman on 11/6/2004 12:26pm PT  

    ATTN: Mathematicians and Statisticians - Please see this item posted at eRiposte concerning how some of the reported voting numbers just don't seem to be adding up to the reported Final Results. I'd love if some of you could double-check those figures and let us know in comments if you find that their math holds up.

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    To the Owners Go the Spoils.
    By Brad Friedman on 11/6/2004 11:31am PT  

    In the previous article, I outlined a report from July 2003 that described how to steal an election in America in 2004. Virtually everything in that list was "done" in time for the 2004 election.

    The items concerning the corporate privatization of the vast majority of our "public" balloting and counting systems by companies who are very closely tied to the Republican party are described in this new article yesterday by Thom Hartmann in the Baltimore Chronicle & Sentinel. Read the whole thing if you can. Here's just a few of the troubling highlights:

    As more and more analysis is done of what may (or may not) be the most massive election fraud in the history of the world, however, it's critical that we keep the largest issue at the forefront at all time: Why are We The People allowing private, for-profit corporations, answerable only to their officers and boards of directors, and loyal only to agendas and politicians that will enhance their profitability, to handle our votes?
    ...
    About two years ago, I wrote a story, "If You Want To Win An Election, Just Control The Voting Machines," that exposed how Senator Chuck Hagel had, before stepping down and running for the US Senate in Nebraska, been the head of the voting machine company (now ES&S) that had just computerized Nebraska's vote. The Washington Post (1/13/1997) said Hagel's "Senate victory against an incumbent Democratic governor was the major Republican upset in the November election." According to Bev Harris, Hagel won virtually every demographic group, including many largely black communities that had never before voted Republican. Hagel was the first Republican in 24 years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska, nearly all on unauditable machines he had just sold the state. And in all probability, Hagel will run for President in 2008.

    In another, later article I wrote at the request of MoveOn.org and which they mailed to their millions of members, I noted that in --another state that went all-electronic-- "USA Today reported on Nov. 3, 2002, 'In Georgia, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll shows Democratic Sen. Max Cleland with a 49%-to-44% lead over Republican Rep. Saxby Chambliss.' Cox News Service, based in Atlanta, reported just after the election (Nov. 7) that, "Pollsters may have goofed" because 'Republican Rep. Saxby Chambliss defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Max Cleland by a margin of 53 to 46 percent. The Hotline, a political news service, recalled a series of polls Wednesday showing that Chambliss had been ahead in none of them.'" Nearly every vote in the state was on an electronic machine with no audit trail.
    ...
    In the years since those first articles appeared, Bev Harris has published her book on the subject (Black Box Voting), including the revelation of her finding the notorious "Rob Georgia" folder on Diebold's FTP site just after Cleland's loss there...
    ...
    Congressman Rush Holt introduced a bill into Congress requiring a voter-verified paper ballot be produced by all electronic voting machines, and it's been co-sponsored by a majority of the members of the House of Representatives. The two-year battle fought by Dennis Hastert and Tom DeLay to keep it from coming to a vote, [insured] that there will be no possible audit of the votes of about a third of the 2004 electorate.

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    A Haunting July 2003 Report...
    By Brad Friedman on 11/6/2004 10:05am PT  

    The more I read this report/warning from July 2003 titled "Bigger Than Watergate!" - the more I feel like I did after 9/11. I'd heard all the warnings about bin Laden and Terrorism, etc., but I didn't take it all very seriously until after it was already too late.

    The mindset is true for what I'd been hearing from BlackBoxVoting.org and others for years about the concerns about Electronic Voting machines. I was interested, but never took their dire warnings with much more than a grain of salt.

    I was wrong.

    Looking again at the story from July 2003, you'll find a chilling description of precisely what seems more and more to have happened in last Tuesday's election. For example, look at this passage explaining how one might steal an election in modern day America:

    Imagine then if it were possible to somehow subvert the voting process itself in such a way that you could steal elections without anybody knowing.

    Imagine for example if you could:

    - secure control of the companies that make the voting machines and vote counting software;
    - centralise vote counting systems, and politicise their supervision;
    - legislate for the adoption of such systems throughout your domain, and provide large amounts of money for the purchase of these systems;
    - establish systems of vote counting that effectively prevent anybody on the ground in the election at a booth or precinct level - from seeing what is happening at a micro-level;
    - get all the major media to sign up to a single exit-polling system that you also control removing the risk of exit-polling showing up your shenanigans.

    This is a precise description of what has happened in our country leading up to Tuesday's vote as foretold more than a year ago!

    The onlyl place where reality varies from the scenario above is in the last step, "removing the risk of exit-polling showing up your shenanigans". It was, in fact, that apparent slip-up --- the reporting of exit-polling, and the way that final results ended up varying wildly from normally very precise exit-polling, but only in swing states where they have E-Voting that doesn't supply voter-verified paper trails --- that gave us all our first clue that something was amiss here. In all other states, the exit-polls were exceedingly accurate. And where the "errors" described occured, the final results always ended up swing in Bush's favor. Why wouldn't at least some of those errors show declines in Bush's support in some states?

    Since the results of the Exit Polls tipped us off, we've been able to track down more and more evidence that begins to add up to an election stinking to high heaven. The BRAD BLOG will continue to stay on this story until the matter is appropriately resolved one way or the other.

    Please check back frequently as this story unfolds, as it's important that action is taken quickly on this matter. Please see BlackBoxVoting.org for more information on how you can help, and make everyone you know aware of these problems ASAP in the meantime! It's important that this story begin to emerge to the American public as quickly as possible!

    More soon...

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    Don't Let Them Divide You!
    By Brad Friedman on 11/6/2004 9:24am PT  

    This is the way dividers such as Sean Hannity, O'Reilly, Scarborough, Wall Street Journal etc. have been telling you that America looks today in hopes of continuing their hateful wedge of the American people for political gain:

    This, however --- according to reality-based data --- is what America really looks like today:

    Don't let the dividers and haters tell you otherwise!

    And please see this previously posted map of what America really looks like as well.

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    Troubling Evidence is Beginning to Mount!
    By Brad Friedman on 11/5/2004 5:38pm PT  

    Folks are beginning to pay attention, guys!

    Wired Magazine is now reporting that three Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee are now calling for an investigation of the troubling incidents that we've been reporting concerning irregularities in Tuesday's vote counting!:

    Three congressmen sent a letter to the General Accounting Office on Friday requesting an investigation into irregularities with voting machines used in Tuesday's elections.

    The congressmen, Democratic members of the House of Representatives from Florida, New York and Michigan, cited a number of incidents that came to light in the days after the election. One was a glitch in Ohio that caused a memory card reader made by Danaher Controls to give George W. Bush 3,893 more votes than he should have received. Another was a problem with memory cards in North Carolina that caused machines made by UniLect to lose 4,500 votes cast on e-voting machines. The votes were lost when the number of votes cast on the machines exceeded the capacity of the memory cards.

    There were also problems with machines that counted absentee ballots in Florida. Software made by Election Systems & Software began subtracting votes when totals surpassed 32,000. Officials said the problem affected only certain countywide races on one of the last pages of the ballot. Elections officials knew about the problem two years ago, but the company failed to fix the software before the election this year.

    Reports from voters in Florida and Ohio also indicated that some of them had problems voting for the candidate of their choice. When they tried to vote for John Kerry, they said, the machine either wouldn't register the vote at all or would indicate on the review page that the vote was cast for Bush instead.

    Click for complete story...

    Keep up the noise, guys! They're starting to listen! I've had other unconfirmed reports about both Dems and the Kerry campaign beginning to take notice of all of this as well!

    UPDATE: House Judiciary Committee Letter to GAO, as mentioned above, available here in PDF format. (Hat tip "Shari H-D" for the link!)

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    By Brad Friedman on 11/5/2004 3:13pm PT  

    In a different North Carolina incident to the one we've already report where some 4500 votes were lost for good from a single NC E-Voting machine, The Sun-Journal is now reporting additional North Carolina E-vote errors:

    A systems software glitch in Craven County's electronic voting equipment is being blamed for a vote miscount that, when corrected, changed the outcome of at least one race in Tuesday's election.

    Then, in the rush to make right the miscalculation that swelled the number of votes for president here by 11,283 more votes than the total number cast, a human mistake further delayed accurate totals for the 40,534 who voted.
    ...
    An override, like those occurring when one attempts to save a computer file that already exists, is supposed to prevent double counting, but did not function correctly, [Craven County Elections Director, Tiffiney] Miller said.

    This machine in question, by the way, was also an ES&S machine.

    The story also notes that "a national Republican political consultant who had watched the returns and had some concern that other precincts were involved in the problem entered the office." --- Hello? Are there "national Democratic political consultants" out there who are watching this stuff as well?!

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    By Brad Friedman on 11/5/2004 2:13pm PT  

    Thanks to all who have sent tips and links. I am looking into all of them even if I can't always reply!

    Thanks also to those who have hit the "Support the BRAD BLOG" button in the last day or two! Your donations --- big or small, and if using credit card, no PayPal account is necessary! --- are helping a great deal to allow me to devote much more time on this than (clearly) I thought I would have to after Election Day!

    So thanks for the tips, info and support! I hope to put together an "Executive Summary" of the major items here shortly! And possibly some "Action Items" to move forward! In the meantime, PLEASE let folks know about what is going on! More soon...

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    By Brad Friedman on 11/5/2004 12:56pm PT  

    Miami Herald now reporting that 70,000 votes were "discovered" last night in Broward County, FL for a gambling initiative that reversed the previously announced outcome. [emphasis mine, and mostly notable to those who have been following along with previously reported items]:

    Broward County corrected a computer glitch Thursday that had miscounted thousands of absentee votes, instantly turning a slot-machine measure from loser to winner and reinforcing concerns about the accuracy of electronic election returns.

    The bug, discovered two years ago but never fixed, began subtracting votes after the absentee tally hit 32,500 --- a ceiling put in place by the software makers.
    ...
    The problem was quickly traced to software in what is known as the central tabulation machine, a computer that collects data from optical scanners that read the individual mail-in ballots.
    ...
    County officials blamed Election Systems & Software, the company that sold the machines and counting software to Broward.

    County officials say they think ES&S failed to follow through on a problem that was brought to their attention two years ago, during the 2002 general election.

    ES&S spokeswoman Becky Vollmer said the glitch --- which limits the number of votes that can be counted in each precinct to safeguard against ballot stuffing --- will be fixed in software updates they are submitting to the Division of Elections next year.
    ...
    Alia Faraj, [FL Secretary of State, Glenda] Hood's spokeswoman, said ES&S had not previously submitted any information about the counting cap in its tabulation software, which is supposed to be certified by the Secretary of State's Office.
    ...
    The tabulation software was set to reverse the vote count at 32,500. It was triggered when Broward counted all 97,535 absentee ballots in one mega-precinct Tuesday night and early Wednesday.

    Hello? Connect. The. Dots.

    (For more on the Optical Scan oddities in Florida, and info on who ES&S is, see this previous item.)

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    What a Difference a Day Makes.
    By Brad Friedman on 11/5/2004 11:53am PT  

    I'm happy to report that folks are starting to catch on to all of this. Hunter over at DailyKos gives a very sober and detailed analysis of where things are at this point in regards to both counting votes and the serious potential fraud being looked at, much of it that we've reported over the last two days here in various items.

    Lots of good and new information in that piece is offered as well. Including this little "anomaly" discovered in the released Franklin County, OH voting results in PDF format:

    Franklin County, OH: Gahanna 1-B Precinct
    638 TOTAL BALLOTS CAST

    US Senator:
    Fingerhut (D) - 167 votes
    Voinovich (R) - 300 votes

    US President:
    Kerry (D) - 260 votes
    Bush (R) - 4,258 votes

    AP has now picked up that story, and some of the others I'd been telling you about over the last couple of days. But perhaps even more notably, Drudge(!) is also now pointing to that article!...So I guess it's now officially "news"!...DEVELOPING HARD...

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    By Brad Friedman on 11/5/2004 11:40am PT  


    STEPHEN COLBERT: Eleven states approved anti-Gay Marriage ballot initiatives yesterday. Clearly our deep national fear of hot man on man monogamy...drove turnout among the nation's so called "value voters". And here's what's interesting...these voters see the connection between terrorism and what I'll call...homo-ism.
    ...
    JON STEWART: If those are the two major issues concerning voters --- and again, uh --- why would New York City --- which really has the most significant gay population in the country...and has already had the most significant terror attack in the country...vote overwhelmingly for Kerry?

    STEPHEN COLBERT: Well, here's the thing, John. We in New York are too close to the terrorism and the gay people. Only the red states, with the advantage of a safe distance, can take in the whole picture...and clearly see what we should do about those issues...And so, on behalf of everyone living in the blue states, I'd like to thank the red states...for saving us...from ourselves. John?

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    Massive 'Freedom of Information Act' Filing Now Under Way!
    Pay Attention!
    By Brad Friedman on 11/4/2004 9:19pm PT  

    Connecting the dots... Investigative reporter, Bev Harris, has been reporting on the various concerns related to electronic voting for some time via her site BlackBoxVoting.org She released a book within the last year on the topic, and likely has compiled more evidence on the matter than anyone else in the world.

    After studying the audit logs from one Washington state county's voting machines (audit logs obtained through a "Freedom of Information Act" petition) they discovered 3 hours of deleted data on the logs from the primary election there just six weeks ago.

    Today they posted this:

    THURSDAY Nov. 4 2004: If you are concerned about what happened Tuesday, Nov. 2, you have found a home with our organization. Help America Audit.

    Black Box Voting has taken the position that fraud took place in the 2004 election through electronic voting machines. We base this on hard evidence, documents obtained in public records requests, inside information, and other data indicative of manipulation of electronic voting systems. What we do not know is the specific scope of the fraud. We are working now to compile the proof, based not on soft evidence --- red flags, exit polls --- but core documents obtained by Black Box Voting in the most massive Freedom of Information action in history.

    We need: Lawyers to enforce public records laws. Some counties have already notified us that they plan to stonewall by delaying delivery of the records. We need citizen volunteers for a number of specific actions. We need computer security professionals willing to GO PUBLIC with formal opinions on the evidence we provide, whether or not it involves DMCA complications. We need funds to pay for copies of the evidence.

    Visit the site for more details on how you can help...

    Other ways you can help: 1) Send the link to this story and/or this blog and/or as many of the previous items I've reported on (scroll down!) to as many folks as you can! 2) If you find something you think I should look at, feel free to post here in comments or email me with a link (please pardon if I can't respond immediately, I assure you I'm looking at it).

    The Mainstream Media has largely taken their lead from the Bush Administration and the Rightwing media to follow the "Great Bush Mandate" storyline despite the numbers --- at best --- just not adding up, and even if accepted at face value, they represent the slimmest margin for a sitting President since Woodrow Wilson in 1916!

    I understand full well that "conventional wisdom" is already beginning to harden that Bush "won" this race, and I'm sorry to continue to offer troubling information to those of you who would have liked a clean result this time around. If that's where my investigation leads, I will tell you that. But as of now, every street I turn down seems to display more and more that something is rotten in the state of Diebold/ES&S. Pay. Attention.

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