20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA

bbchris

Did you know....

1) 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.

www.onlinejournal.com/evo...andes.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold

2) There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.

www.commondreams.org/views02/0916-04.htm

www.onlinejournal.com/evo...andes.html

3) The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers.

www.americanfreepress.net...andes.html

4) The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2...2436.shtml

www.wishtv.com/Global/sto...?S=1647886

5) Republican Senator Chuck Hagel used to be chairman of ES&S. He became Senator based on votes counted by ES&S machines.

www.motherjones.com/comme...3_200.html

www.onlinejournal.com/evo...rakis.html

6) Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, long-connected with the Bush family, was recently caught lying about his ownership of ES&S by the Senate Ethics Committee.

www.blackboxvoting.com/mo...cle&sid=26

www.hillnews.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx

www.onlisareinsradar.com/...000896.php

7) Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George W. Bush's vice-presidential candidates.

www.businessweek.com/2000...689130.htm

theindependent.com/storie...gel27.html

ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the U.S. and counts almost 60% of all U.S. votes.

www.essvote.com/HTML/about/about.html

www.onlinejournal.com/evo...andes.html

9) Diebold's new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in by voters.

www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm

www.itworld.com/Tech/2987...index.html

10) Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail.

www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm

www.diebold.com/solutions/default.htm

11) Diebold is based in Ohio.

www.diebold.com/aboutus/a...efault.htm

12) Diebold employed 5 convicted felons as senior managers and developers to help write the central compiler computer code that counted 50% of the votes in 30 states.

www.wired.com/news/evote/...40,00.html

portland.indymedia.org/en...1469.shtml

13) Jeff Dean, Diebold's Senior Vice-President and senior programmer on Diebold's central compiler code, was convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree.

www.chuckherrin.com/Hackt...AQ.htm#how

www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf

14) Diebold Senior Vice-President Jeff Dean was convicted of planting back doors in his software and using a "high degree of sophistication" to evade detection over a period of 2 years.

www.chuckherrin.com/Hackt...AQ.htm#how

www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf

15) None of the international election observers were allowed in the polls in Ohio.

www.globalexchange.org/up.../2638.html

www.enquirer.com/editions...lexoh.html

16) California banned the use of Diebold machines because the security was so bad. Despite Diebold's claims that the audit logs could not be hacked, a chimpanzee was able to do it. (See the movie here.)

http://wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,63298,00.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4874190

17) 30% of all U.S. votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/28/sunday/main632436.shtml

1

All - not some - but all the voting machine errors detected and reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.

http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65757,00.html

http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermath04/ThreeResearchStudiesBushIsOut.htm

http://www.rise4news.net/extravotes.html

http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=950

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0411/S00227.htm

19) The governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush, is the President's brother.

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/7628725.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10544-2004Oct29.html

20) Serious voting anomalies in Florida - again always favoring Bush - have been mathematically demonstrated and experts are recommending further investigation.

http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermath04/ThreeResearchStudiesBushIsOut.htm

http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/policy/story/0,10801,97614,00.html

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/tens_of_thousands.html

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1106-30.htm

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/110904.html

http://uscountvotes.org/

SOURCE: http://miamedia.com/votergate/20facts.html

RonOnGuitar · Joined: 08 Jan 2003 Posts: 1916

Chris -

The big problem with the 20 amazing facts is that if they any substance, it would be John Kerry screaming them at the top of his lungs - as opposed to finding them on some person's homepage.

There has always been the angry fringe on both sides of the political aisle that just won't accept reality and who won't let go of their bitterness. Every sitting US president has had to endure such meaningless slings and arrows - from George Washington on up to George Bush.

For example, the vicious anti-Clinton fringe still won't let go of their own pet conspiracy theories. Hatred makes people unreasonable and out of touch, both then and today.

It's not hard to find just such "amazing facts" re: President Clinton still hanging about on the web. Here's one such site that even has the facts achived by category, lol!

THE DOWNSIDE LEGACY ARCHIVES

So it's all just what could be termed "fringe conspiracy politics as usual" - nothing new on the American political landscape.

I do entertain conspiracy theories on the assissination of President Kennedy, though. Most of them are removed from the context of partisan politics.

Hey - I see that my icon is missing in action again!!

conalrehill · Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 74

"There has always been the angry fringe on both sides of the political aisle that just won't accept reality and who won't let go of their bitterness."

Oh, I see. So I suppose it's just an 'angry fringe' in the Ukraine that has discovered Yanukovich's cheating? Perhaps it's Yuschenko's inner bitterness that made his face come out in a rash rather than dioxin poisoning?

Perhaps we should send them an e-mail and tell them to let go of their bitterness?

And also send one to Zimbabwe? It's a pity we didn't think of this when Pinochet murdered and cheated his way to power with US support.

Seismic Anamoly · Joined: 22 Aug 2002 Posts: 3039

Quote:
Perhaps we should send them an e-mail and tell them to let go of their bitterness?

Hey!! Good idea!!

Go for it!!

conalrehill · Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 74

"Hey!! Good idea!!

Go for it!!"

Well, would you mind doing it?

I would feel rather embarrassed.

Seismic Anamoly · Joined: 22 Aug 2002 Posts: 3039

Since it was your idea, I'll let you handle it.

I'm swamped with "Redneck" business here lately.

RonOnGuitar · Joined: 08 Jan 2003 Posts: 1916

It was assumed people would easily notice the topic at hand here is Amercian electoral politics, conal, and thus not fall prey to what psychotherapists term "transference".

RonOnGuitar · Joined: 08 Jan 2003 Posts: 1916

Ya wanna talk denial, Seismo?

Now here's one hothouse flower that you might not wanna give a clue to, lest the real world completely crush his tender feelings! He's fragile and needs to "heal". Doncha just feel his pain?

==================

Councilman from Lancaster orders picture removed

The Associated Press

Mon, Dec. 13, 2004

LANCASTER, PA

A Democratic city councilman has demanded that a baker remove photos of President Bush from his stand in Lancaster's venerable farmers' market, saying the city needs a "healing period" following the bitterly contested presidential election.

City Council member Nelson Polite approached David Stoltzfus last month and asked him to remove the pictures. When Stoltzfus refused, Polite vowed to pursue a city ordinance that would ban all political items from public places in the city.

Polite said the photo offended city Democrats.

"I just feel that since it was a close election and the city's so divided, that we should have a healing period," Polite told the New Era of Lancaster.

After the New Era published a story about the flap earlier this month, conservative pundits from around the nation skewered Polite as being clueless about free speech.

Republican Mayor Charlie Smithgall said would-be tourists have told him they will skip Lancaster -- an old city in the heart of Amish country -- because of Polite's statements.

"They're saying, 'What kind of crazy people live in Lancaster? We're never coming to Lancaster,'" Smithgall said Friday. "This hurts the image of the city of Lancaster."

In the earlier story, Stoltzfus said that the photo should come down because "this is a public market" and that the public display of political paraphernalia is inappropriate and divisive.

"Bush didn't win here (in Lancaster City). It is like rubbing salt on a wound," he said.

The Central Market, in Penn Square, dates to the 1730s and is the nation's oldest publicly owned, continuously operated farmers' market.

Stoltzfus, 54, of Lititz, opened the stand with his wife in March 2003 to sell cakes, cookies and other baked items. The Bush photo is attached to the stand portico with four screws. Another photo of the president and first lady Laura Bush sits on a shelf.

The baker said he is enjoying the attention.

On Friday, U.S. Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., stopped by to offer support -- and buy six chocolate-iced eclairs for his staff.

Other standholders have shown their support by putting up photos of the president.

"It's fun. People are coming up to me and supporting me. I've been getting letters and phone calls," Stoltzfus said Friday. "Even the Democrats come to me and tell me, 'Don't take that picture down."'

bbchris

Well I think there's some truth in the voting facts I listed in the beginning of this thread. There was some sort of recount happening this week, I had friends in Ohio involved, haven't heard much about that over here in HK.

Seismic Anamoly · Joined: 22 Aug 2002 Posts: 3039

There is a lot of truth in there, Chris. No doubt about it.

Ron....

Quote:
Polite vowed to pursue a city ordinance that would ban all political items from public places in the city.

I would be interested to see, if this guy is successful, when HIS re-election time comes around, if he were to post campaign posters or hand out political cards in public places seeking votes for himself, breaking the very law he would like to see created.

I'd sue him for it if I were a resident of the place.

And Win. :laugh