"Stealing America : Vote by Vote", Dorothy Fadiman film, premiers in New York August 1st

Well, being a New Yorker, I am honored that our fair city gets to host the historic opening of "Stealing America: Vote by Vote", the feature length documentary by award-winning filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman, which details the stealing of our country, including the Ohio 2004 election.

Be there.

-R.B.

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LINKS

Schedule for upcoming showings
(New York, California, Washington, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Texas)

Quad Cinema

Link to printable *pdf flyer

***How you can help:***
1. Come see the film at the Quad Cinema!
2. Spread the word to others that this is a 'must-see' film.
3. Sign up to table in the theatre lobby to hand out our election reform
information and, if you wish, material from your own organization. For
information on tabling, email: info@concentric.org
4. Rent a theatre to hold a private screening or benefit. For information on
scheduling a screening, email: stealingamerica@gmail.com
5. Purchase tickets for small groups at a reduced rate. For information on group
ticket sales, email: stealingamerica@gmail.com

Report from Ohio Election Justice Campaign

Ohio Election Justice Campaign asks for Ohio Inspector General's powers to be expanded from investigating Attorney General, and look at the Auditor of State also.

By Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign

May 19, 2008

A beautiful spring morning in Ohio was the backdrop for an OEJC press conference. Much of our topic revolves around the 2004 election theft in Ohio, which happened on a cold rainy day. Spring brings new hope, and that is what we have, new hope that the election fraud will finally be addressed.

The press conference centered around two letters that we delivered today. The first was provided to reporters and went to the statehouse. It is addressed to the Ohio General Assembly, and asks these members to broaden the powers of the Ohio Inspector General, Thomas P. Charles to follow the election fraud issues, in particular the destruction of election records issue to the office of the Auditor of State. Our Ohio Attorney General just resigned, while threatened with impeachment and an ongoing investigation into the problems in his office. The below letter was delivered to all 99 Representatives of the Ohio House, and to all 32 Ohio Senators today. It was taken to their offices and was to be put in their mailboxes. It was put in the mailboxes of all the Statehouse Correspondents, which are the media.

A second letter was delivered to the office of the Ohio Inspector General. His ability to look into the Attorney General is not normally allowed by Ohio Law. The legislature made and exception for this scandal. We are asking that he look into the election fraud issue at the Attorney General's office also, the involvement of past and current employees of that office, and the obvious cover up we have found. This appears at both the Attorney General's office, and at the Bureau of Criminal Investigation which is under the AG office. We want this looked at, while he is looking at the sex scandal, and multiple mismanagement issues. This actually is rather important in the scope of things. We were told it typically takes 2 to 3 weeks for a response.

Thanks to Progress Ohio for hosting our press conference.

Thanks to Peace General Bruce for his video, editing, and posting work. Thanks to those who assisted you to get this done.

Video of the Press Conference is available in 9 minute segments at:

OEJC Mark Dan resignation press conference 5/19/08 part 1

OEJC Mark Dan resignation press conference 5/19/08 part 2

OEJC Mark Dan resignation press conference 5/19/08 part 3

It is in three segments. Please share them. The titles may be changing to better reflect the subject. If this changes the link, I'll resend them.

The first article we have found on this is available at this link and has a place to comment under it. Please for those of you who can, do comment. As Tuesday is likely to be the day we will get a variety of coverage, I'll send out the links to the articles we find. Hopefully many reporters spent this beautiful spring day writing about the beautiful changes that could happen in Ohio if we could get this cold ugly election theft issue resolved.

This is the letter to the Ohio General Assembly.

___________________________________________________________

The Ohio Election Justice Campaign

The Ohio General Assembly
Jon Husted
Ohio State Representative District 37, House Speaker
Ray Miller
Ohio State Senator District 15, Minority Leader

May 19, 2008

Dear Members of the 2007-2008 Ohio General Assembly:

The Ohio Election Justice Campaign asks that you expand the investigative powers of Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles to extend beyond the office of the Ohio Attorney General. In our efforts to resolve the needed investigation and prosecution of Ohio election fraud issues that have effected both Ohio and this nation, we have found that the office of the Ohio Attorney General and its Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification appear to be involved in a cover-up.

We further ask that Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles be given the power to extend his investigation into the office of the Ohio Auditor of State (AOS). We ask that you allow the Inspector General to look at the links that run from the office of the Ohio Attorney General into the AOS and SOS in connection with the investigation and prosecution of Ohio election fraud issues.

As the Ohio General Assembly has self-righteously and boldly led the effort to take a critical look at former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, the scandals and cover-ups in his office by himself and other of his employees, we ask that you really look at it all. Open the can of worms. See what is in it. Allow and encourage the Inspector General to investigate all those who promoted, enabled, or ignored and therefore allowed election fraud to happen in Ohio. This had the potential to be the most important investigation Marc Dann could have done, with the biggest impact. He neglected that duty. Why? Who was involved?

Why does the current Ohio Auditor of State Mary Taylor allow the destruction of state and federal records? What part did former Auditor of State Betty Montgomery play during the destruction of millions of ballots that were under litigation hold, that were protected by federal court order, and that had been represented by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office under Mr. Petro as safe to two separate federal court judges?

Forty-six counties destroyed their unvoted ballots. Some did this before the Presidential election was even certified on January 6, 2005. Of great concern is the destruction of all or part of the 2004 election record by 56 of the 88 Ohio counties. Yet Clermont County was still destroying additional protected records and as recently as July 2007. Board of Elections Director Mike Keeley signed that he destroyed protected poll books and tally sheets for the 2004 election. These have a six-year record retention schedule.

The destruction of these records violates numerous federal and state laws. The Ohio AOS is responsible for the maintenance of these records and oversees their retention and destruction. Yet nothing has been done to either preserve them or halt the continuing destruction. Why? These records belong to the people of Ohio. Who will enforce our laws? The Auditor of State’s office has been notified. I was told by the Auditor of State’s office that the laws are “self-enforcing.”

At this time you have given Inspector General Thomas P. Charles the authority to look at the Attorney General’s office. We ask that in the badly managed issue of the AG office in the case of the 2004 election fraud, you enlarge the Inspector General’s powers to follow the trails to another state agency. Let him look at the current office holders, and the last office holders also. Look at the obvious cover-up by current staff, the destruction of public records, the alleged election law violators still running our Ohio elections.

Thank you for your consideration of this important issue. If we need to submit a more formal request to enlarge the authority of the Inspector General, kindly advise us on the proper procedure. We would also welcome the opportunity to present our evidence in more detail to the Oho General Assembly, and we respectfully request a written response to this request.

Sincerely,

The Ohio Election Justice Campaign

Paddy Shaffer
Director, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
(614) 266-5283
paddy@columbus.rr.com

Victoria Parks, OEJC
Mark Brown, Congressional Policy Forum, OEJC
Dan Stanton, OEJC

Blackwell is subpoenaed by House Judiciary Committee

J. Kenneth Blackwell has been subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee, reports OMB Watch:

Congressional Hearings Examine Election Issues

The House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee passed a resolution, with a 6-4 vote, authorizing a subpoena to former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell for testimony about the 2004 election. On January 29, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) wrote a letter to Blackwell to "explore the state of voting rights and the allocation of resources to end voter suppression and voter fraud," but he has refused to appear voluntarily. The Associated Press quoted Conyers; "Mr. Ken Blackwell, wherever you are in North America today, please know that we are not sending the gendarme for you this moment," said Conyers. "I do not like to issue subpoenas. ... The only problem is we can never reach him."

Complete article

Announcement : Richard Hayes Phillips book on 2004 Ohio election fraud coming out next month

Announcement by Richard Hayes Phillips:


The finished manuscript of my long-awaited book --
Witness to a Crime: A Citizens’ Audit of an American
Election -- has gone to the printer. The book will be
hardcover, with a dust jacket. The manuscript is 448
pages, 6” x 9”, including Table of Contents, Glossary
and Index.
In addition there will be eight color plates with
two photographs each, and a CD with 1200 digital
images of actual ballots, poll books, voter signature
books, and other forensic evidence from the 2004
presidential election in Ohio.
The retail cost to the purchaser, including
packaging and postage, will be between $25 and $30,
depending upon the final cost to me. Once the product
is received, and the retail price is known, I will be
accepting credit card payments. During the month of
February only, I will accept personal checks, as they
will have time to clear before the book is actually
available.
Anyone interested in making advance orders for the
book should send $30 per copy, via personal check,
bank check, or money order, to the address below. The
final cost is expected to be less than $30, and I will
be happy to refund the difference. If you wish to
consider the difference to be a donation to the cause,
feel free to say so. Please make all checks payable
to Fisher Street Ventures.
The advantage to you is that advance orders will be
filled before the book is formally announced on the
worldwide web. Please allow 7 to 10 days for
delivery.
Attached is the text of the dust jacket flaps for
the book, being the most concise description of its
contents.

Richard Hayes Phillips
4 Fisher Street
Canton, NY 13617
(315) 379-0820
richardhayesphillips@yahoo.com

ENDORSEMENTS:

Richard Hayes Phillips worked day and night for three
years compiling irrefutable evidence of how the
Republicans stole the 2004 presidential race in Ohio.
This landmark investigation is a testament to what
private citizens can accomplish when government
officials fail to protect our right to vote and to
count those votes as cast. Every American –
Republican and Democrat – should read this book, and
join the fight for democracy’s most fundamental right.

-- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The experience of the investigators in Ohio shows all
of us how to figure out if, and how, and where ballot
tampering and ballot substitution can take place –
whether at the polls, or during transportation of the
ballots, or after their arrival at a central location.

-- Bev Harris, Founder, Black Box Voting

BuzzFlash Interviews David Earnhardt, director of film "Uncounted"

Recommended reading, BuzzFlash interview with David Earnhardt, director of new film "Uncounted":

A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW

For me, it's quite simple. I was appalled at what I'd seen in the 2004 election ...

-- David Earnhardt, Director of Uncounted

* * *

First of all, BuzzFlash wants to commend all those Americans who are working to ensure that every citizen can vote -- and that every vote is properly counted.

Since the debacle of the Florida vote in 2000, there has been a growing movement to ensure voting rights. It involves the unacceptable role of proprietary electronic voting machines (owned in large part by Republican affiliated corporations); the suppression of voting rights (think "Jim Crow" voter "identification cards"); and equal access to voting precincts, among other issues.

It's a complicated and long-term challenge to ensure that the legal right of "one person/one vote" is enforced -- and that a vote count accurately reflects the votes cast. Given the large number of issues involved, the voter advocacy community has, at times, disagreed about some of the potential solutions, particularly when it comes to electronic voting machines.

As for BuzzFlash, we believe that if there is not a count of paper ballots to audit any electronic total, then there is no possibility of ensuring an accurate vote count. We also believe that no private corporations should own any proprietary software that is not completely transparent. Unless one can count paper ballot "trails" (which can be thought of as "receipts,") there is always room for monkey business. (In fact, having publicly owned electronic voting machines that produce printed ballots that can be reviewed and checked for accuracy by the voter allows for cross-matching totals to ensure a correct count. Remember that paper ballots alone can also be abused. That's how the term "stuffing the ballot box" came into being.)

All of this leads us into recommending Uncounted, an excellent, informative documentary about the broad range of election integrity issues that confront us as a nation. Uncounted distills the most important problems confronting advocates for allowing every eligible voter to cast a ballot -- and then making sure that the ballots are accurately counted.

We were delighted to interview David Earnhardt, who produced, directed and wrote Uncounted.
* * *


BuzzFlash: We've seen your film, Uncounted, The New Math of American Elections. Your film is exceptional in how it presents a narrative about what is really quite a complex issue to follow. What motivated you to undertake a film like this on the voting issue, let alone distribute it on your own, show it around the country on your own?

David Earnhardt: For me, it's quite simple. I was appalled at what I'd seen in the 2004 election, and then, coupled that with, after the election was over and after Kerry conceded, watching the media just go away. From a mainstream media standpoint, there was no looking into many of the problems that had been observed on Election Day.

There was lots of great work going on on the Internet. There was great investigating going on in Ohio and New Mexico, from the legal standpoint, from the alternative journalistic standpoint. But in terms of the mainstream media, it did not exist. I was just naïve enough to be shocked. I just could not believe it. I thought we'd sort of fallen into a parallel universe.

And for me, like a lot of people, the 2004 election felt like a very important election. It felt like the stakes were very high. We closed down our office that day. Many of us wanted to go out and get involved, door to door, to encourage people to vote. My wife and I did that kind of thing for the first time. And I was struck by several interactions I had in a neighborhood that we were in.

It was a fairly low economic neighborhood. When I knocked on the door -- and this happened on three or four different occasions -- I would encourage people to get out and vote. The sentiment was something to the effect -- different forms of this - look, I'm not going to vote. This is not for me. This is not anything that has to do with me. They've already decided who's going to win. It's that kind of language. I'm saying, no, no, no, that's what they want you to do -- not go out and vote. You've got to get out there. You've got to. It was that kind of interaction.

I realized later that I was the naïve one. There was a certain truth in there that I was missing, and it upset me. I thought: my gosh, we really don't take this right very seriously. So I went to work. I went to work immediately and started studying everything I could. I decided, I'm going to find everything I can, and at least consider doing a documentary. Eventually I had enough material to where we could pull the trigger and say let's keep going. Let's do something on this. Let's try to get this issue out there.

Complete interview

Blackwell invited by House Judiciary Committee to testify on Ohio 2004 election

The House Judiciary Committee has extended an invitation to J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's former Secretary of State, and the chief architect of voter suppression and disenfranchisement in the Ohio 2004 election, to testify at a hearing in Washington on February 8, 2008, on the 2004 election.

"Uncounted" Goes on Tour: Starts Sacramento and Oakland, CA

The national tour of the film "Uncounted" starts in Sacramento and Oakland, California, January 15th and 17th. Details here.

Disenfranchisement in Shaker Heights, democratic district, by refusal to provide provisional ballots to voters turned away

I was working as a MoveOn coordinator for the Shaker Heights polling center at Woodbury Elementry School in the 2004 election. I was 14 at the time and was barred from the polls, and as a MoveOn member, I wasn't allowed within 100 feet of the entrance, thus the only evidence I have is from other people.

Early in the morning, a large line formed outside the polling place- about a 3 hour wait to vote.

The problem supposedly lay in a zoning regulation.

The way the Shaker Heights School District is set up, students are admitted from areas of Cleveland bordering Shaker Heights. Apparently this caused a problem with voting on taxes- the poll workers would not elaborate on this for me, and the voters who were turned away were unsure as well.

The big problem, however, is that the poll workers *refused* to give out provisional ballots for those whose voting elegibility was in question, and instead, turned them away after a lengthy wait.

Most of those turned away tried to vote at another polling place, only to be told to return to Shaker, where they were again denied the ability to vote.

It should be noted that Shaker Heights - indeed, the Greater Cleveland area - is one of the most strongly Democratic areas in Ohio.

~Cyrus O. Taylor

Cuyahoga Election Results 2000-2005 Web Page Not Operating?!

The link to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections web page which contained information about the election results in Cuyahoga County for the period 2000-2005 is no longer operating.

Here is the link:

http://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/BOE/results/history.htm

It had been posted here.

We hope that Ohio activists will be in touch with the Cuyahoga board of elections to find out where this information can be located online.

Ohio Secretary of State will be looking into 2004 "Warren County Lockdown"

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports, based upon an in-depth interview of Ohio's Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, by Brad Friedman in Brad Blog, that Ms. Brunner will be "look[ing] into the situation".