Guest Blogged by John Gideon

Yesterday, according to an article in The Bakersfield Californian, a panel of California state senators held a hearing in Bakersfield to discern what happened in the county during the June 6 state primary. The panel consisted of Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach; Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield; and Sen. Joseph Dunn, D-Garden Grove.

The California Senate Select Committee on Integrity of Elections has launched an investigation into problems in elections in the state. That investigation started in Kern County (Bakersfield) with testimony by County Deputy Registrar of Voters Sandy Brockman, Diebold Election Systems official Mike Rockenstein, and other election workers.

Brockman stood in for her boss, Auditor-Controller Ann Barnett, who was on vacation and not available to answer questions about why some voters were not able to vote in the primary. In fact, the paper reports:

The questioning was all about mistakes:

The Diebold representative got his turn to answer some hard questions from Sen. Dunn:

The next stop by the panel has been unannounced so far. Could San Diego Co. be very far down on their list?

"More evidence tonight that the security of our elections, the integrity of our democracy are at risk from electronic voting machines. A county in Iowa has just come close to putting the wrong candidate in office because of a massive programming error."

This Dobbs report underscores the problems in the Busby/Bilbray CA50 election fiasco, as the candidates shown as losing the election based on the optical-scan count in Iowa were later found to be winners --- but only after the ballots were actually counted by hand to determine if they were counted accurately by the machine! They were not.

By way of ironic side note, the Iowa Republican primary election in question, as we've noted here many time before, took place on June 6th --- the same day as the flawed Busby/Bilbray election...in which nobody has yet bothered to count the op-scan votes in order to find out if the results were reported accurately. Election integrity, it seems, is more important in some states than in others, we guess.

Says Dobbs in his closing remarks to Kitty Pilgrim: "If this message is not getting through that's emanating from every corner of the country using these voting machines, I don't know what it will take."

Video in Streaming Flash format...
Video in Windows Media format...

(Hat tip David Edwards for the video, John Gideon for the transcript and tracking, etc.)

The complete text transcript of the Lou Dobbs/Kitty Pilgrim report follows...

Blogged by Brad on the road...

The case to challenge the announced results of the Busby/Bilbray election was filed today in San Diego County's California Superior Court as reported earlier this morning in some detail. The case number is: GIC870044 and may be downloaded here...

-- Busby/Bilbray Election Contest complaint, [PDF]

There's some extraordinary and fresh stuff in the suit that you'll want to read, since I'm still on the road and unable to cover as thoroughly as usual.

The local media covered the press conference held and attorney Paul Lehto appeared on Ed Schultz. Coverage of both follows...

Blogged by Brad from the road...

I was able to listen in via cell phone to the Press Conference just held outside the San Diego courthouse where Attorney Paul Lehto has filed a lawsuit to contest the results of the Busby/Bilbray election.

I wasn't able to hear everything...but here are a few quotes as transcribed as best as I could from speakers Lehto, Judy Hess, Barbara Gail Jacobson and Mimi Kennedy...

Blogged by Brad on the road...

RAW STORY's Miriam Raftery offers more details on today's filing of an Election Contest in the Busby/Bilbray race (covered by The BRAD BLOG late last night). Her excellent coverage includes an exclusive interview with attorney Paul Lehto who is speeding to the courthouse in San Diego even as I write this, with a press conference to follow at 10:30am PT as reported previously.

He's also now scheduled to appear on the nationally syndicated Ed Schultz radio program to discuss the lawsuit with Big Ed at 5:30pm ET (2:30pm PT). [UPDATE: Audio from Big Ed appearance now available for download here.]

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

[UPDATE: RAW STORY covers the filing here along with an exclusive interview with attorney Paul Lehto. Details from the press conference held earlier today here. Lehto to appear on Ed Schultz radio show at 2:30pm ET to discuss the case.]

[FURTHER UPDATE: The full complaint is now available to download here.]

For all advocates of election integity, and especially for those in San Diego, Monday is going to be a big day. Attorney Paul Lehto is on the scene and Monday morning he will be filing a contest to the U.S. House special election held on June 6th in California's 50th congressional district to replace disgraced Republican Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

According to a press release issued by a group of Election Integrity advocates organizing themselves as the CA-50 Action Group, a press release will be held on the steps of the Court House in San Diego at 10:30am, just after the filing. (The BRAD BLOG has received an advance copy of the press release. It is posted in full at the bottom of this article.)

Four great letters to the Union-Tribune editor, as published today in reply to their horrendous, irresponsible, factually incorrect and unsigned editorial posted a few days ago (which Emily Levy angrily and adeptly blogged about here a few days ago.)

One of the letters published comes from San Diego County Democractic Party Chair, Jess Durfee, who the original editorial smugly referred to as "the local Democratic Party boss." Biased much, Union-Tribune?

Want an extra laugh? This rightwing rag has been calling themselves a "watchdog" for the people in a series of recent TV ads. No, seriously. That's what they tell people. As laughable: Their published Mission Statement says: "Journalistic excellence is our commitment to readers. Above all, integrity." Apparently, they were just kidding.

Mimi Kennedy of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and Emily Levy of California Election Protection Network (CPEN) appeared smartly today in my usual weekly Friday slot on The Peter B. Collins Show. Somehow, from somewhere, off to the side of a blistering hot stretch of highway in the middle of the Great Plains, I found a computer and net access from which I could secretly listen in (don't tell them.)

A busman's holiday.

They were all three tremendous on the topic mess that is the Busby/Bilbray CA50 election fiasco and on the anti-American, democracy-hating, truth-averse San Diego County Registrar Mikel Haas and his facilitating partner-in-crime CA Sec. of State Bruce McPherson. They offer a few hints as well about what's to come on those topics within the next few days (and what it is that's been keeping me from getting fully off the grid for the last week or so.)

Give 'em a listen...

-- Mimi and Emily on the Peter B. Collins Show, 7/28/06 [MP3]

And one quick personal word about Peter B... He has, nearly single-handedly, devoted more air time time to the issue of Electoral Integrity over the past year or so than just about anybody else across the entire media spectrum. Not just with my weekly appearances, but with many other guests and discussions on the same issues. For that, this country owes him an enormous debt of gratitude. Especially while the bulk of the media still fails to deal with this issue head on. PBC's willingness to use his platform for the public good, instead of distraction, is not to be "misunderestimated". Thank you, Peter. I'll be back. Though hopefully not too soon.

Blogged on the road by Brad...

Mimi Kennedy, chair of Progressive Democrats of America, makes some noise re: the Busby/Bilbray election fiasco over at Huffington Post yesterday...

Lawless Elections: Sleepovers, Voter Vault and San Diego

Please note that PDA has been on top of this issue from Day 1, proving to be the only large national organization (along with VelvetRevolution.us, of course) to meet this issue with the seriousness that it deserves. For that, they deserve mountains of credit and support in return. Mimi has spoken at most of the CA50 Busby/Bilbray related Townhall Meetings and Press Conferences and has been organizing nationally to fight for accountability on this matter as well as to ensure the same mess won't happen around the country this November.

In other words, they're fighting for electoral integrity now rather than waiting until November. Their efforts should be a model for all groups, nationally and locally, who take election integrity seriously. As I've tried to stress many times, fighting for accountability in Busby/Bilbray now is about accountability across the nation prior to the election.

If there's one thing Busby/Bilbray teaches us, it's how difficult it is to fight for accountability after an election has been held when irresponsible, appointed elections officials like San Diego County Registrar of Voters Mikel Haas are given credibility by the media simply because they have a title before their name. No matter how little they deserve such credibility and no matter how illegally and irresponsibly they administer an election against the best interests of the very voters they are supposed to be serving.

And now...I'm back off the grid. Don't bother me. I'm trying to notice trees and mountains and the sky. (When the phone's not ringing...urgh...)

Guest blogged by Emily Levy of the California Election Protection Network and the CA-50 Action Committee

As I said in my response to the ridiculous article in the North County Times over the weekend, “The most important thing is not that voters have full confidence, but that there be a basis for confidence. Public confidence can be manufactured by government disinformation such as has become Mikel Haas's hobby of late and media disinformation such as Schultz's article. But a disinformed yet confident public does not a democracy make. We deserve and demand transparent, verifiable elections.”

And as to “unfounded insinuations,” read any of the BRAD BLOG entries on the CA-50 debacle and you’ll see plenty of documentation.

Guest blogged by Emily Levy of the California Election Protection Network and the CA-50 Action Committee

Attorney Paul Lehto, who specializes in cases involving election law, business fraud and consumer law, has been retained for work on the issues surrounding the illegal election conditions in San Diego County.

Lehto came to the attention of BRAD BLOG readers when he filed a lawsuit in Washington state against Sequoia Voting Systems Inc.

He has also appeared as a guest on The BRAD SHOW of April 23, 2005. To listen to that interview, click here.

More details will be posted when they become available.

(DISCLOSURE: Paul Lehto is also a legal advisor for VelvetRevolution.us, a Voting Rights and Election Reform organization co-founded by BRAD BLOG's Brad Friedman.)

Blogged by Brad from the road and on the fly!...

Just a quick post to say thanks to all who have been covering for me here, in particular Winter Patriot who has been thawed out and called up for duty to allow me some much needed time away.

I'm traveling across the country, and not getting as much down time as I'd like for the moment, as I'm in touch with folks in re: the Busby/Bilbray election fiasco and their plans for announcing several new initiatives to call for accountability there shortly. As well, working on several related issues via the phones etc.

I've not been online at all since last Thursday night, and only on briefly today. So forgive me if I've not been able to answer your email, or otherwise report on so much of what is going on right now. We'll see more and more Guest Bloggers here in the coming days and weeks to cover much of that in my absense, which I hope you continue to understand. I really need to find some time away, even if I'm unable to get away 100% in the bargain for now.

Thanks also to John Gideon and David Edwards for keeping up the battle here, and I hope you'll welcome some of the new names (like Emily Levy, etc.) that you'll be seeing here over the next several weeks. Please offer them all the support you can!

If you haven't noticed, the disinfo campaign down in San Diego by Registrar Mikel Haas and his compatriots in the media is now in full swing. Haas is lying left and right, and his friends at the Union-Tribune and elsewhere are all too happy to help! Please feel free to let such media outlets know the truth about what's going on where you can in my absence.

This unsigned editorial today in the U-T was simply incredible! According to them, we're "Internet conspiratorialists" again. Someone please let them know that if we are, so is CA Sec. of State Bruce McPherson whose own office confirmed dozens of ways that Diebold voting machines could be hacked, along with NYU's Brennan Center for Justice who detailed more than 120 security threats to E-voting security, and even the Washington Post who declared that a "Single Personal Could Reverse an Election".)

So much disinfo from the liars and scoundrels in San Diego who are entrusted to run the people's elections, so little online time (for me at least) to counter it all. Thanks in advance to those of you who can continue to do so in my absence! And thanks for your understanding over the next several weeks while I continue to be gone!

(Note to Winter Patriot or John Gideon: Feel free to add links to any of the above text as you are able or inclined!)

Guest blogged by Emily Levy of the California Election Protection Network and the CA-50 Action Committee

While San Diego's North County Times could have been reporting on Friday's protest outside the Registrar of Voters' office, instead the NCTimes donated its column-inches to the noble cause of further misinforming the public about the June 6 election debacle and the people's fight for democracy.

In Recount fee goes unpaid: San Diego Registrar says no recount happening in 50th District race, staff writer Erin Schultz appears satisfied to report Registrar of Voters Mikel Haas's lies as fact:

The poor woman went to all the trouble of filing for a hand count under the recount provision and then didn't bother to pay the fee, eh? Not so fast. It just might be relevant to mention that it was an improperly required fee. The only fees the Registrar of Voters' office is allowed to charge are the actual costs of a recount. The exorbitant $6,000 demanded by the RoV's office as a deposit for the first day’s counting should have been reduced significantly when the voter requesting the recount advised the RoV that no counting panel would be needed on the first day, as she was still awaiting documents needed in order to proceed with the recount. Haas has failed to provide these documents despite Barbara Gail Jacobsen’s being legally entitled to have them and despite—or perhaps because of—their significance to the recount.

And why weren't the documents provided? What is Haas trying to hide?

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

Staff Writer Leslie Wolf Branscomb of the San Diego Union-Tribune actually gets some of the story right in her July 19th piece: Reliability of voting machines questioned.

Brad mentioned this story yesterday, noting that it was among "the worst" of the most recent local coverage of the Busby/Bilbray election, which, as all regular readers know, happened over a month ago and is still under a cloud of doubt.

Just before he left for his "vacation", Brad mentioned that "the reporters continue to allow Haas to pass on his knowing obfuscations, and the media is usually too lazy or ill-informed to bother to call him on it. So that's your job now!" and he also said: "Please help such media out by giving them the facts to counter Haas' ass-covering spin, misleads, red-herrings and bald-faced lies."

And so, without further ado ... after the fold you will find extended excerpts and some commentary from your lowly and nearly frozen guest-blogger.

And please also read Brad's post on the subject, if you haven't done so already.

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

A timely reminder from our friend Jay: