Project NHRECOUNT - Bump for Liberty

Questions Unfolding Throughout NH...

From http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/71605.html?1201581357

Posted by Bev Harris on Monday, January 28, 2008 - 4:16 pm:

1. David Scanlan - operations guy for the New Hampshire recount. Questions are always referred to Scanlan when you ask about ballot ordering, ballot reconciliation, ballot chain of custody. David Scanlan knew, or should have known, of the fraudulent labels being referred to as "seals." Why did he permit this?

WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY: "Seal": something that secures (as a wax seal on a document); a closure that must be broken to be opened and that thus reveals tampering ; a tight and perfect closure

Why is Scanlan blaming the town clerks for seals that do not adhere properly, when it was his own division that provided the seals?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHL_YMBolRs - Who's responsible for chain of custody breakdown?

Is it true that Scanlan is the one who attempted to halt the Albert Howard recount, trying to call it off for Tuesday and Wednesday this week?

Why is reconciliation (poll book examination, blank ballot counts, ballot order invoices) not being allowed right now? According to Sally Castleman (EDA), town clerks are saying there were required to send poll books to the secretary of state by Jan. 18. The sec. state's office has the documents in hand. Why not allow proper reconciliation of the ballots?

2. Do problems originate from the town clerks or "Hoppy & Butch"?

- Did Nashua Town Clerk Paul Bergeron fail to secure his ballot boxes, giving Ward 9 absentee votes to Hoppy and Butch with the lid open? Or did the lid get opened while in the custody of Hoppy and Butch? Who will take accountability for the chain of custody failure for Ward 9 absentees?

- Did Nashua Town Clerk Paul Bergeron provide a large Ward 5 ballot box to Hoppy and Butch with the top torn open, containing only 333 ballots in the large box -- with a "seal" on the box that did not match anything on the dispatch sheet? Or did something happen to this box while in the custody of Butch and Hoppy?

- Did the Bedford Town Clerk provide an improperly sealed box, sticking ballots in a medical supply box? If so, why, and if not, how did ballots appear for the recount housed in such a container?

3. Why did Secretary of State Bill Gardner fail to take any steps to mitigate the risks with Diebold 1.94w optical scan system used in New Hampshire? Why did he permit a sole source vendor, LHS Associates, to program all the memory cards, knowing that one of the key people for this vendor is a convicted narcotics trafficker? Why did Gardner agree to let ballots be stored outside the vault on the evening of Jan. 17, 2008?

When Election Defense Alliance's Sally Castleman visited town clerks on January 23, she was told by a town clerk that Sec. State Bill Gardner had issued a directive advising them not to allow citizens to photograph the ballots boxes before pickup. Does this directive exist in writing?

4. Why did Karen Ladd, of the sec. state's office, sign for a shipment of ballots from Manchester Ward 11 by herself, while the rest of the shipment was signed for publicly, in front of the building, by David Scanlan and Brian Burford? Why were one-half of Ward 11 ballots delivered six hours after all the other Manchester ballots? Why weren't they received publicly following the same protocols as the other ballots in the same shipment?

Looking for answers, looking for accountability, and looking for people to pitch in getting and sharing e-mailed or faxed written answers from New Hampshire public officials. Just jump right in. Don't call, write, get the answer committed in writing, help us get to the bottom of this. You can see details for yourself in the videos linked below.

LAST QUESTION:

Aren't we all getting sick of lack of consequences for clear breaches in duty to protect and secure the rights of the citizenry?

Videos posted at YouTube on New Hampshire so far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHL_YMBolRs
Who's responsible for chain of custody breakdown?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKQEQ7qHvgM
No ballot vault tonight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiiaBqwqkXs
Silvestro the cat

http://www.blackboxvoting.org
http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org


RP2008!
 
Bev Harris Live on Alex Jones Today

MUST LISTEN!

From http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2008/012808_criminal_enterprise.htm

"Bev Harris: New Hampshire Recount a "Criminal Enterprise"
Vote fraud expert convinced chain of custody is corrupt

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Monday, January 28, 2008

Fresh from her confrontations in New Hampshire during which public officials were grilled about slapdash chain of custody and ballot box tampering issues, Bev Harris is now convinced that a "criminal enterprise" is running the primary recount.

Harris was fundamental in the vetting and production of the HBO special Hacking Democracy, and has contributed towards bringing charges against vote fraudsters who cheated in Ohio in 2004.

Harris traveled to New Hampshire personally to discover for herself the disgraceful lapses in chain of custody for the memory cards and ballot boxes used in the recent primary.

Harris is featured in the video below (uploaded today) asking public officials about slits in ballot boxes as they bizarrely deny that the slits are big enough to allow tampering, amongst a myriad of other disturbing questions about chain of custody.

"What they're doing here is a criminal enterprise," Harris told the Alex Jones Show today, "It has all the earmarks of it."

[Click on above page] to listen to the MP3 interview..."

Live Free or Die NH!

http://www.blackboxvoting.org


RP2008!
 
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NH Call to Action

Patriots (w/ video) on the ground at State Archives, Concord thru duration of recount and fully documenting ballot chain of custody a la "Butch and Hoppy" van driving between towns and Archive Bldg.
(Contact email Bev Harris http://www.blackboxvoting.org)

NH Democrat and Republican Recount fees => Refund in Full

David M. Scanlan, NH Deputy Secretary of State => Dismissal

William M. Gardner, NH Secretary of State => Resignation

Live Free or Die NH!

"[Voting] is the right upon which all other rights depend." - Thomas Paine
 
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Those slits in the boxes ... instead of sliding your fingers into the slits to show that you could put a couple of extra ballots ... are we looking at this all wrong?

If you take one of those slit boxes, and remove The Official Post-It Note Seal ... does the box open up completely to allow for easy access to the entire inside?

Inquiring minds want to know.
 
Sir Rhino said:
Those slits in the boxes ... instead of sliding your fingers into the slits to show that you could put a couple of extra ballots ... are we looking at this all wrong?

If you take one of those slit boxes, and remove The Official Post-It Note Seal ... does the box open up completely to allow for easy access to the entire inside?

Inquiring minds want to know.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, the combo is fishy, but Bev tends to feed us evidence in the videos without actually making accusations..

Did you see the guy saying "I don't like the accusations you are making!" ??

That was funny because she really wasn't making any accusations, she was trying to figure out who was responsible for choosing those particular faulty seals.
 
NH Recount Update & Call for Help

From http://www.dailypaul.com/node/31197

NH Recount Update & Call for Help
Posted January 30th, 2008 by manystrom
by Bob Dwyer

Albert Howard reports that the Secretary of State William Gardner had threatened to suspend the recount, but hurdles were overcome and the recount goes on. One witness to the recount stated that there were approximately seventeen recount watchers and videographers in Concord today, but Albert has requested that we need even more people to witness and videotape the recount.

If you would like to help, please go to the NH State Archives building between 9:00am and stay until 5:00pm. There will be an hour lunch break. We need witnesses to sit opposite the counters and videographers with extra batteries to document the count.

Albert stated that our 'presence of unity' has made it clear to the NH officials that we are serious. He also requests that everyone write to the NH Governor John Lynch and Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and let them know that their intentional efforts to thwart this recount will not be tolerated. Tell the Governor that we need to change the election process. Albert's assessment is that the overall election as it is now being run possesses the "integrity of a sandbox."

Albert's remedy to the sloppy handling of our vote must include locks on boxes, a room for securing the ballots and the Secretary of State needs to know where the memory cards have gone.

WMUR has been contacted by hundreds of citizens wanting to know what if any coverage this major NH news outlet will provide us on the presidential vote recount. In a call to WMUR earlier today I was told that they are investigating but not yet reporting on the broken chain of custody and for now just reporting on several small discrepancies that can mostly be accounted and will have little or no effect on the results. Only one out of ten districts has been recounted so far and it is expected to take almost two weeks to complete the process and will not be completed before Super Tuesday. If you are able to go to Concord NH and witness this historic recount then please call 978-835-2592 to speak with the coordinator.

Go to BlackBoxVoting.org to get more of Bev Harris’s telling video documentation of the broken chain of custody in this NH primary election recount.

Bob Dwyer
MA State Coordinator
cell: 508-930-5530
Massachusetts Ron Paul Supporters


RP2008!
 
Free Faxes to NH Governor and AG

Examples of Patriots in action in NH:

jaybone said:
I used faxzero.com (FREE) to send the following to the GOV:

Governor Lynch,
I have been closely following the republican primary hand-recount effort going on in New Hampshire. I am writing you today because I am quite alarmed at several developments that have called into question the integrity of the original election and subsequent recount.
I will summarize my concerns as a bullet list:
1. DELAY – The republican primary was conducted on 1/8/08, the recount was officially requested by Mr. Albert Howard two days later. It has now been three weeks since the primary. The recount should have been completed already, not just being started.
2. FUNDS – While the democratic recount requested by Dennis Kucinich was started immediately, and was allowed to proceed as funds allowed, Mr. Howard was compelled to come up with the full amount of the recount estimate in 48 hours. Was this designed to discourage the recount from moving forward?
3. TIMING – Even though Mr. Howard gave the required funds to recount the entire State to the Secretary of State in a timely manner, the democratic recount was started first, while only a small portion of the costs from Mr. Kucinich was delivered to the SOS. Was this designed to delay the recount until after “super Tuesday”? If two separate estimates were written by the SOS, then the counts should have proceeded concurrently.
4. CHAIN OF CUSTODY – I’m sure your office is aware, but NH Election Law says that the State Police are to collect ballots from municipalities to be delivered to the SOS for a recount. However, as documented by Bev Harris from blackboxvoting.com, the ballots were transported by a pair called in jest “Butch & Hoppy” who appear to NOT be employed by the State Police.
5. CHAIN OF CUSTODY again – Bev Harris has posted a video she made where the SOS is disturbingly dismissive of her questions why ballots were not vaulted but left in a “secured” room. In the video Bev also demonstrates that the custody seal used by the SOS can easily be taken off of ballot boxes and re-applied, leaving no evidence of tampering. This is obviously not an effective COC seal.
6. EVIDENCE OF TAMPERING – Bev Harris has also posted several pictures of ballot boxes that she observed with a large slit cut into them, this obviously negates any confidence in the chain of custody, and by extension the primary election.

I ask your office to initiate two steps to remedy this situation:
• Direct Secretary of State, William M. Gardner to complete the republican recount by close of business this Friday, 2/1. Any further delay will severely inhibit the ability of campaigns to adequately plan for “super Tuesday”
• Direct the Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire to open an investigation into the breakdown of the proper chain of custody for paper ballots, focusing on the slits cut in boxes, unlawful transportation of the ballot boxes, and dubious security measures to protect the COC.
Thank You very much for your consideration in this matter
Click to expand...

jaybone said:
Then fired this one to the AG:
To: Kelly Ayotte, Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire

I am writing to request that your office initiate in an investigation into the conduct of the office of the Secretary of State before and during the republican primary election re-count, paid for and initiated by Mr. Albert Howard.

It has come to my attention that the collection of the ballots and transportation of the ballots was not carried out by the State Police, as required by NH Election Law, but by two rather mysterious men, euphemistically referred to as “Butch and Hoppy”. These men do not appear to be direct employees of the State Police, they wear no uniform and offer no identification. This obviously calls into question the integrity of the ballot chain of custody.

I have also seen a video of Bev Harris, of www.blackboxvoting.org , apply then remove a SOS custody seal to a ballot box. The seal was easy to remove, akin to a post-it note, and left no indication that it was removed. This is a poor COC seal, and again it calls into question the chain of custody for the ballots.

In the same video of Bev Harris, it is shown that the ballots collected for the republican recount were not vaulted, as they were for the democratic recount, but left in a room. Secretary of State William M. Gardner appears in the video and though asked several times why there was a change in protocol for ballot storage, he just assured Bev Harris that they are secure. The question was not “are they secure” the question was “why they are not vaulted”. This lack of explanation by the SOS certainly does not inspire confidence in the integrity of New Hampshire elections.

There is also the matter of preferential treatment for the democratic recount, initiated by Dennis Kucinich. Mr. Kucinich was only required to post a portion of the recount fee, while Mr. Albert Howard was compelled to come up with the entire recount fee in very short time. Even though the costs to recount the entire State were delivered by Me. Howard, the partial democratic recount was conducted first. Was this an attempt to delay the republican recount?

I urge you to go to www.blackboxvoting.org and view the photos, blogs and videos of the experiences that Bev Harris has had while auditing the recount process in New Hampshire.

The integrity of your State hangs in the balance.
Thank You for your consideration in this matter,
Click to expand...


RP2008!
 
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Petition for Redress/Recall

Of the People, by the People, for the People:

Edu said:
NH people, get together and start getting signatures for a recall petition.

It's not that hard for a small group to do. Go look up the rules and get on it!

Don't expect them to resign on their own, it won't happen.

All the politicians in the State will take note and change their ways, knowing the People are in charge.
Click to expand...

Live Free or Die NH!


RP2008!
 
Citizen's Guide to Following Vote Transport Vehicles

More critical, timely information from BlackBoxVoting:

From http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/71620.html?1201644252

Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 2:04 pm:
By Bev Harris - Black Box Voting
Vickie Karp - Vote Rescue, Austin TX
with Tom Courbat - SAVE R VOTE, Riverside Calif.

If you live in Florida or any of the Super Duper Tuesday (Feb. 5) states, your votes are soon going to be toted around the county. Who's transporting them? Is the chain of custody secure? What we found in New Hampshire proves you should take nothing for granted, and you may be stone cold horrified at what you see.

Now's the time to get in gear and track your own local chain of custody. Here are some tips:

TRACK BALLOTS, MEMORY CARDS, AND CARTRIDGES

The most interesting locations are the county (or in New England, Town/City) election headquarters, and the depots, drop-off centers, and other consolidated locations set up to receive multiple precincts at once before toting them downtown.

In Florida, we found some of the most interesting anomalies clustered in the Daytona Speedway drop off site. Here, poll workers from dozens of Volusia County polling places had been instructed to drive through a Daytona Speedway drop-off site, hand over their poll tapes and memory cards, and drive away.

In California, Tom Courbat and the SAVE R VOTE group tracked the memory cartridges from polling places to the county elections office.

In King County, Washington Kathleen Wynne stationed herself at one of the depots, drop-off sites, what have you, where she observed optical scan machines being tossed around and memory card handling in the dark of night.

In New Hampshire, we followed a van driven by "Butch and Hoppy" as they careened around the state picking up ballot boxes, delivering them after dark to a state archive building.

PREPARATION

Don't even bother if you don't take video of this. Collect evidence, not anecdotes.

1. Get at least one video camera for each vehicle and practice with it before you need it. Get the best zoom lens, remote audio and night vision adjustments you can, if you have a choice. Otherwise, just get any video camera and go.

2. Get enough recordable media -- mini DVs, disks, or whatever your camera takes. Plan for enough to capture 3-5 hours worth of video.

3. Bring your charger cord. Bring full batteries.

4. Get a converter. This will let you plug in your camera, charge it, whatever while in the car. The converter plugs into the cigarette lighter and gives you ordinary electrical outlets to plug in cameras, laptops, cell phone chargers, what have you. Available at Radio Shack for about $79. Looks like this:

(Keep the engine running while the converter is charging, it can drain the battery with car turned off).

You can also plug in your laptop to the converter.

5. Which reminds me: Bring your laptop. You may want to upload photos or comments live while you're there. Download Google Earth before you go, if you get a chance. You can use Google Earth in the car to help find your way. The satellite view is especially helpful.

6. Bring cell phones.

7. Set the date/time on your camera!

STAFFING THE CHAIN OF CUSTODY TRACKING TEAM

Best if you have two vehicles with two people each. Each vehicle should have cell phones and video. It is not unusual for the vote transport squad to drive over the speed limit and/or take evasive maneuvers to try to ditch citizens who are simply monitoring the transfer of the votes from one place to another. Two vehicles will help you find them if you can't see which way they turned.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO VIDEO AND DRIVE AT THE SAME TIME! Do not endanger others. One person should drive, the other person should video.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TRANSPORT VEHICLE

1. Be at the drop-off points or your target location at least 15 minutes before the polls close. (Note: You cannot video during voting and in Florida and Texas, they may try to prevent you from video AFTER the polls close, but that only applies to inside the polling place.)

Position your vehicle(s) so that you can see all routes the transport vehicle may leave from. Park so that you can follow promptly when they go.

2. You may want to bring snacks and water, -- but not too much water, there may be no bathroom breaks. (Or else, bring some “Depends”!!!) In cold weather, bring a blanket in case you get stranded.

3. If possible, before they leave, approach the driver, on videotape, and ask where they are going. Ask them after they leave each stop, which place they are going to next. ASSUME COOPERATION AND AVOID CONFRONTATIONAL BEHAVIOR.

4. One vehicle needs to follow close. The other can be a little bit behind. Stay in contact by cell phone. If the second car misses seeing where the transport vehicle turns, call them & let them know where to turn to help everyone stay together

5. Try to keep your video camera running all the time. You never know when something happens that should be recorded. That way you can't forget to hit the "record" button. Tape everything.

6. Keep a written "log" of each location visited, mark down the time you arrived and note activity. Get video on any ballot boxes, memory card pouches, etc. Use your zoom to capture as many location names/tracking numbers as you can.

7. If the transport vehicle speeds, take video of speed limit signs if you can and take a video shot of the speedometer and document with audio on the videotape.

At the next stop, videotape as you point out the speeding violations and request on tape that they stay within the speed limit.

8. Be on the alert for these evasive maneuvers which may be attempted: Pulling into a parking lot of a store or business, then circling around and making a left turn just ahead of traffic that will get between you and the transport vehicle; Circling round the same spot repeatedly; speedy driving through back roads and residential areas.

Any time the transport vehicle stops, park your car into a position that will allow a hasty exit offering either a right OR left turn, as you will not know which way they are going until they may "turn on a dime".

Note any locations where you encounter evasive maneuvers.

9. Be aware that some of the areas they stop have more than one way in and out, EVEN IF NOT OBVIOUS. NEVER let the vehicle out of your sight—what appears to be them "turning around" to go out the front driveway, might really be them circling around the back to elude you out the back driveway.

10. Be aware that if you run a red light or speed, you may be ticketed.

11. Be sure to record:
- Liasons, meetups, or rendezvous with other vehicles
- Extra stops
- Anything they don't seem to want you to see

WHAT TO VIDEO

- Closeups of the faces of each person working at the drop-off point or in the intake area of election headquarters

- Zoom in on ballot boxes and memory card/poll tape pouches. Record (and speak aloud) each tracking number you see

- Conversations of people at the drop off sites or elections headquarters as they speak with each other, especially if they are huddling over some problem or trying not to let people hear.

- License plates, make and model of cars of people handling and/or transporting votes.

- Ballot/memory card handling procedures

- Any incident that endangers the public safety (We watched "Butch and Hoppy" speed through a school zone with lights flashing and children present)

- Any situation where ballot boxes or memory cards are handled not in clear public view.

- If you are told not to videotape, record them telling you not to tape, but abide by their request to avoid having your camera confiscated.

- In California, Florida, Washington, Oregon, and many other Super Tuesday states, it is illegal to record voices secretly. It's a serious offense. Don't do it. You can look up whether secret audio is permitted in your state by searching for the term "single party consent".

- IF YOU ARE STANDING IN THE PUBLIC AREA, IN FRONT OF THE COUNTER, you can videotape even if they tell you it is not permitted. The ban against secret audio recording only applies in locations where there is an expectation of privacy, and the public area of a public elections office during a public election is not a location where a reasonable expectation of privacy exists. Bear in mind that a popular obstruction strategy nowadays is for government officials to block, confiscate or even arrest, then after it is too late, drop charges or say "oops."

Don't provide ammunition for camera confiscation. Be polite and respectful and follow directives.

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR VIDEO

Learn to download it to your computer -- or just get help from someone who knows how, ask a high school kid.

Windows XP has an update patch with a free program called MovieMaker that is really easy to use to edit your film.

Keep an intact copy of your film and, if you capture something very important, get a copy made on the same media on which you originally recorded it, as soon as possible. Put the copy in a safe place.

You can edit your film into clips and post on YouTube, Google Videos, etc.

Your film can also be very helpful when anomalies are discovered. For example, in New Hampshire, Nashua Ward 5 had very significant anomalies. Later, looking at my film, I saw that a Nashua Ward 5 ballot box arrived ripped open, too large for its reported contents, and with its reported contents not matching the dispatch sheets.

You may want to request public records, or just request to videotape, any intake forms or dispatch records.

- Time/date
- Tracking numbers
- Signatures
- Faces of who was there
- Locations
- Information on results, poll tapes, number of ballots etc.

YOU MAY NOT REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE IS IMPORTANT

Quite often, you will catch something on video that does not become important until days, weeks, or even months later.

INDEX YOUR VIDEO

Always record on each tape or disk the date, time, and subject so you can identify it easily.

The next day, quickly look at your video and record what it contains -- at least in broad strokes -- so you can find what you need later.

SHARE YOUR VIDEO

Agree among those on your team that you will each share video with the other. Share important footage with the public via Internet, and with news reporters, voting rights groups and, if appropriate, law enforcement agencies.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org
http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org

http://www.ronpaulvotecount.com

RP2008!
 
Voice of the Voters on Elections Integrity

From http://www.voiceofthevoters.org/

Declaration of Voting Principles

The United States of America is the first nation founded on a set of ideals rather than a common race, ethnicity, religion or power structure, such as a monarchy or dictatorship. "In America, to be an American is not to be someone, but to believe in something.”* It is those shared ideals that laid the foundation for America’s growth and greatness.

The Declaration of Independence framed a vision of a people capable of self-governing and articulated principle values and goals. All men are created equal … life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Words that touch heart and soul … the dream of what America and Americans can be.

These have been our fixed North Star serving to guide us. Yes, meaning has evolved but the larger vision remains. We were next given a framework to develop the principles that would support the vision … founders moved to more concreteness through the Constitution, keeping in mind the promise and compact inherent in our Declaration of Independence.

Laws are evaluated as to whether they support or inhibit the larger framework of the Constitution, which itself was written within the frame of the ideas and ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

As Proust noted, “The real act of discovery is not in finding new lands, but seeing with new eyes.” Our founders saw with new eyes what a nation could be and built from there.

It is time that we view voting, elections, and the roles and responsibilities of citizens and our representatives with new eyes based on our founding principles. We must have an overarching vision that outlines citizens’ core role and rights as the sovereign power in self-governing. We must set out principles that ensure our voting rights and the open, observable integrity of our election process. Those principles must include citizens in voting-related decisions at all levels. It is time we consider voting and elections within that same framework.

Overarching Principles

First and foremost, the sovereignty of America is vested in her citizens. All power is meant to flow from the people and always back to them. Our government is subject to our Constitution and the will of the people.

Citizens have a right and responsibility to be informed of the operations of government at all levels and to oversee that government, which must serve the interests of citizens. Government at all levels must also support our core values and principles outlined in our Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.

One of the primary methods of citizen participation in government is voting. The vote belongs to the people. It is our first right, from which all other rights derive. Every effort must be made to ensure citizens’ right to vote freely, without interference, barriers, discrimination or intimidation.

The brilliance of our founders was especially evident in the creation of the requirement of a system of separate and independent checks and balances for the operation of our government. Since the vote is the foundation and mechanism of the selection of representatives to administer our government, the voting process must also be based on the design and use of a system of separate and independent checks and balances.

Since the vote belongs to the people and not to private entities or partisan interests, citizens must be an active part of the process, working together with government and independent experts to monitor and improve the system while ensuring all citizens access to the opportunity to participate in such management.

The primary purpose of voting is to exercise of our duty to share in the process of self-governance. Citizens must have a voting process that ensures that their votes are recorded, counted and reported accurately. Original source ballots completed by the voters are the "real votes" and must verify results.

Only our vote is secret. All processes governing our elections, including decisions, regulations, laws, oversight, machines, programming, testing, certification, operating methods, and provability must be open, transparent and observable.

Citizens should also have the right to say No, I do not wish to vote for one or more candidates offered, whether because I do not prefer any of the given choices or do not have enough information to make a good decision; thus every ballot must have an abstain selection which is to be counted and reported and which can affect results.

No law or government or agency has the right to force citizens to vote using a process/system that is insecure, unreliable, unobservable or unverifiable.

All voting laws, regulations and processes must be evaluated frequently as to whether they support, advance or inhibit these principles and specifically how they do so. If not clearly demonstrable as supporting and ideally improving, they must be modified or removed. Criteria and evaluative methods will be used to check continually on the effectiveness of government’s meeting the overarching objectives and principles. Proof or clear explanation must also be provided as to how government supports the overarching objectives and principles.

Citizens have both a right and a responsibility to participate in our self-governing process, especially through informed voting ... to study, discuss, be informed of issues and candidates' positions. Voting is not a popularity contest but a sacred and serious responsibility, the fulfillment of our founding covenant to come together as a community, sharing our views, voting our conscience in line with founding principles and our Constitution.

Mary Ann Gould

*Professor Gordon S. Wood, preeminent authority/historian of the American Revolution and Constitution, on the internet/radio program Voice of the Voters http://www.voiceofthevoters.org.


RP2008!
 
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Third World Electioneering Tactics...

From http://www.electionintegrity.org/blogengine/

Foreign Policy: How to Steal an Election Without Breaking a Sweat
by Steven Freeman 1/30/2008 10:30:00 AM

No, this story isn't about New Hampshire. Although the US media can not or will not consider even the possibility of election fraud at home, they readily attribute suspicious foreign results to fraud. See here for Foreign Policy magazine's summary of different ways in which "autocratic regimes have become adept at manipulating 'free and fair elections' to stay in power."

http://www.foreignpolicy.com

How to Steal an Election Without Breaking a Sweat
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4145

Posted January 2008
From Abuja to Islamabad, autocratic regimes have become adept at manipulating “free and fair elections” to stay in power. Here’s how they do it—and how to stop them.

Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Control the process

How it’s done: It’s much easier to steal an election when there are fewer checks on executive power and no legal framework for resolving disputes. When the laws are vague, election commissions are often powerless to confront a powerful central leader. “When you have a partial constitution that doesn’t lay out the details of election law properly, that’s a problem,” says Chris Hennemeyer, director of African programs at the election-monitoring group IFES, adding, “It’s a tried-and-true technique to stack the electoral commission with your cronies.”

Real-world example: Kenya’s constitution invests an enormous amount of power in the executive branch. This allowed President Mwai Kibaki to create a vast system of patronage throughout the government based largely on tribal ties. The head of the Electoral Commission of Kenya, Samuel Kivuitu, has recently admitted that he was pressured by the president’s office to announce results before he could verify their authenticity.

How to stop it: An independent judicial branch that is capable of arbitrating electoral disputes without partisan pressure is a must. It also helps if polls are managed by independent election commissions rather than interior ministries.
VANO SHLAMOV/AFP/Getty Images

Manipulate the media
How it’s done:In countries with little or no independent media outlets, opportunities are rife for leaders to use state-controlled media to broadcast propaganda or discredit the opposition. Crackdowns on independent media are also common in the run-up to elections.

Real-world example: In the months leading up to the recent presidential election in Georgia, President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government shut down Imedi TV, an opposition-friendly television station founded by one of the president’s rivals and managed by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. Footage of Saakashvili’s campaign appearances dominated news programs on state television. The incumbent went on to win handily in an election deemed fair by international observers.

How to stop it: The proliferation of Internet news sources and text messaging can make it harder to control the flow of information, a fact exploited by Ukrainian bloggers during that country’s “Orange Revolution.” However, as bloggers critical of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak learned this year, they are not immune to government crackdowns or jail time. There are low-tech solutions as well. Since World War II, the U.S. government’s Voice of America service has provided relatively unbiased information to citizens without access to free media.
KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images

Keep out the observers

How it’s done: In close elections, a popular technique is to identify which polling stations are likely to be swing votes and replace trained election officials with government loyalists at the last minute. If the official staff can be kept quiet for long enough, the deception won’t be discovered by the opposition until it’s too late. Another common technique is to threaten, blackmail, or discredit domestic election observers, or simply deny them access to polling stations, to give government loyalists space to do their work.

Real-world example: During the 2005 Egyptian parliamentary elections, judges at individual polling stations made seemingly arbitrary decisions about whether to allow outside monitoring. The result? Some stations were monitored and some were not. Monitors were beaten by police in one southern city, and eight were arrested and released elsewhere. Those who were granted access recorded a litany of violations.

How to stop it: Observers from international organizations are harder to remove and less susceptible to threats from local law enforcement personnel. However, it is often impossible to bring in sufficient numbers of foreign staff to monitor every polling place, and even foreign observers often have trouble getting the access they need.
KAREN MINASYAN/AFP/Getty Images

Misreport results

How it’s done: It’s not a slam dunk to cheat on the count at polling stations, since they are often monitored by international observers or civil-society groups. Unfortunately, official results are generally tabulated by officials at centralized locations away from public scrutiny, making deliberate miscounting all too easy. Another popular technique is to tabulate results from “ghost” voting stations, says Pat Merloe, director of electoral programs at the National Democratic Institute. This type of fraud can be risky. The public usually notices when officially reported results vastly differ from polling conducted prior to elections.

Real-world example: Nadia Diuk, senior director for Europe and Eurasia at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), relays a tale from Azerbaijan’s 2000 elections: “The light went out in the room where the counting was to take place, and the flashlights of the observers just caught sight of a bundle of ballots sailing through the air to land on the counting table.”

How to stop it: In one innovative scheme, Kosovar democracy activists monitored polling places during assembly elections last November and used mobile phones to text unofficial results to a central server, creating a tally that could be compared to officially released results. As it turned out, the tally was within half a percent of the election commission’s own numbers.
ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images

Foster incompetence and chaos

How it’s done: “Arguably, Africa’s foremost election thieves have been the Nigerians, world famous for their 419 scams and oil-induced corruption,” says Dave Peterson, also at NED. The trick is to create so much chaos that nobody can say for sure who really won.

Real-world example: Nigeria’s 2007 national and state elections take the chaos prize. Ballots arrived late to polling stations, if at all, or were printed with missing or incorrect information. Polling places and procedures were changed at the last minute. With security lax, reports were rampant of militants harassing voters and youth gangs breaking into polling places and making off with ballot boxes. “One couldn’t say the government controlled the process as much as it simply sabotaged it,” Peterson says.

How to stop it: The best way to stop it, says Peterson, is once again to establish and fund a “genuinely independent electoral commission” that is responsible for ensuring that the process flows smoothly.
KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images

Resort to the crude stuff

How it’s done: “My old boss once said, ‘Only amateurs steal an election on election day,’” says Hennemeyer. Controlling the process itself is generally far more effective and difficult to prevent than blatantly stealing an election at the polling-station level. But if all else fails, some governments are still not above using such tried-and-true methods as intimidating voters and prospective candidates.

Real-world example: A favorite tactic in Egypt is to deploy riot police in strategic polling locations to keep out voters for the opposition Muslim Brotherhood—while state employees arrive in buses and are ushered in en masse. In 2005, a bloody showdown in the streets of Alexandria between government-backed thugs wielding machetes and Brotherhood supporters seeking to cast their votes became international news, embarrassing the regime.

How to stop it: Thankfully, this type of blatant election-stealing is less common than it used to be in many parts of the world. This is due less to governments’ becoming more honest than to increased vigilance by citizens’ groups and the media. Hennemeyer describes the changes he has seen in Africa: “While there were some horrible elections in Africa [in 2007], there were some pretty good ones too. It’s almost as if there’s a new generation of people who have woken up to the fact the Africans have been robbed of their political rights since independence.”


RP2008!
 
A 12-Step Program to Save U.S. Democracy

From http://www.opednews.com

"January 30, 2008 at 19:10:55

Headlined on 1/30/08:
A 12-Step Program to Save US Democracy

by Mark Crispin Miller Page 1 of 2 page(s)

Tell A Friend

Certainly the outlook for democracy seems pretty bleak—and how could it be otherwise? The surest way to make a problem worse is to pretend it isn’t there, which is exactly what our press and politicians have been doing; and the rest is, unfortunately, history.

But history can be changed, as We the People have continually learned, from our refusal of colonial subjection, to our (partial) establishment as a democratic republic, to the abolition of slavery, to the enfranchisement of women, to the end of formal segregation and the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

After that, our progress seemed to stop, and it must now resume: for history can be changed, and for the better, but only through our own unbreakable commitment to, and action for, enlightened policies for the renewal of our democracy. Based squarely on America’s first principles, such policies would not be wholly new, however revolutionary they must sound in these bad, backward times. As it was certain policies that got us into this horrific situation, certain other policies can get us out.

The fact is that We the People are in lousy shape, and must get straight as soon as possible. For we are all addicted to the horse race—and we can’t win, because it’s fixed. And so, before we end up losing everything, we need to pull ourselves together, face the music, and then take all necessary steps to change the tune.

A 12-Step Program to Save US Democracy

1. Repeal the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

This step will inevitably follow an in-depth investigation of how HAVA came to be.

2. Replace all electronic voting with hand-counted paper ballots (HCPB).

Although politicians and the press dismiss this idea as utopian, the people would support it just as overwhelmingly as national health care, strong environmental measures, IS withdrawal from Iraq, and other sane ideas.

3. Get rid of computerized voter rolls.

It isn’t just the e-voting machines that are obstructing our self-government. According to USA Today, thousands of Americans have had their names mysteriously purged from the electronic databases now used nationwide as records of our registration.

4. Keep all private vendors out of our elections.

With their commercial interests, trade secrets and unaccountable proceedings, private companies should have no role in the essential process of republican self-government.

5. Make it illegal for the TV networks to declare who won before the vote-count is complete.

Certainly the corporate press will scream about its First Amendment Rights, but they don’t have the right to interfere with our elections. When they declare a winner when we don’t yet even know if the election was legitimate, they delegitimize all audits, recounts and even first counts of the vote as the mere desperate measures of “sore losers.”

6. Set up an exit polling system, publicly supported, to keep the vote-counts honest..."

[this article seems to have temporarily disappeared from http://www.opednews.com as I was preparing to repost second page...

here's a summary of steps 7-12 from another related article by Mark Crispin Miller http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mark_cri_080124_interview_3a_the_psych.htm]

"...(7) Get rid of voter registration rules, by having every citizen be duly registered on his/her 18th birthday.
(8) Ban all state requirements for state-issued ID's at the polls.
(9) Put all polling places under video surveillance, to spot voter fraud, monitor election personnel, and track the turnout.
(10) Have Election Day declared a federal holiday, requiring all employers to allow their workers time to vote.
(11) Make it illegal for Secretaries of State to co-chair political campaigns (or otherwise assist or favor them).
(12) Make election fraud a major felony, with life imprisonment-and disenfranchisement-for all repeat offenders..."


http://www.ronpaulvotecount.com

RP2008!
 
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CO SOS Asked to Step Down by CO Democratic Party

From http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/8/71661.html?1201887673

Posted on Friday, February 1, 2008 - 9:41 am:
http://coloradoconfidential.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3331
by: Leslie Robinson
Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 05:30 AM MST

The Colorado Democratic Party on Monday requested Secretary of State Mike Coffman, a Republican, to step down from his office because of an ongoing controversy over the decertification of voting machines and possible conflicts of interest.
Leslie Robinson :: Democrats Ask Coffman to Resign
Pat Waak, chair of the Democratic Party, said Coffman's office was under a cloud of controversy.
"The public's confidence in the elections process continues to erode under the watch of this Secretary of State whose essential role is to fulfill his responsibilities as the state's chief elections officer," Waak said in a press release. "Coffman has failed miserably in his attempts to instill the confidence and trust the voting public deserves in the elections process. He needs to leave."

Coffman has been accused of mixing politics with his duties as the Secretary of State, which is supposed to remain neutral in election policies and practices. Since he has announced his candidacy for the 6th Congressional District, calls for his resignation have come to the forefront.

For instance, a report by the Colorado State Auditor office last fall criticized Coffman's office for not dealing with at least a dozen problem areas, including personnel-board rules abuses and numerous conflict-of-interest violations among employees who were working in partisan political side jobs.

Then in December, Coffman announced he was decertifying all but one kind of voting machine, because of security-risk factors. Coffman has recently begun to backtrack on that position.

Initially, Coffman gave the single nod to Premier, formerly known as Diebold Election Systems, although nearly 50 counties had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in other voting machine systems. Coffman admits his decision put some county clerks and recorders into a "state of shock."

Also problematically, Coffman has been accused of a conflict of interest because his congressional campaign consultant, Phase Line Strategies, had ties with Premier. Coffman hopes to replace retiring Rep. Tom Tancredo in this fall's election, but faces a stiff primary race with at least two other candidates.

"The Secretary of State is the chief elections officer for all Coloradans, therefore the office can be no less than transparent when dealing with the fundamental voting rights of every qualified citizen in our state," said Waak. "There appears to be a lack of transparency when it comes to Coffman's ability to guarantee Coloradans an honest and accurate elections process, he needs to go."


RP2008!
 
Latest from Mr. Albert Howard

From http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5636#more-5636

"BLOGGED BY Brad Friedman ON 2/1/2008 2:30PM
Republican NH Primary Candidate Demands Secretary of State Allow Unvoted Ballots to be Counted in Ongoing Election Contest
Albert Howard Hand Delivers Letter to SoS Gardner, Reiterates Demand For Reconciliation of All Uncast Ballots
ALSO: Diebold Machine Errors Reported in 21 Towns, Democrat John Conyers Calls Howard, Expresses Support...

New Hampshire's Republican Presidential Primary candidate Albert Howard has delivered a letter to Secretary of State Bill Gardner, demanding that "all ballots that have been returning from the towns and cities, including, but not necessarily limited to, the unused/uncast ballots and the 'spoiled' ballots," be counted as part of the ongoing Election Contest in the Granite State. Howard filed for the contest, where ballots are being counted again today in Concord, following concerns about reported results from the Diebold optical-scan machines used during the state's January 8th Primary.

The BRAD BLOG has also learned that problems with Diebold machines were reported in 21 different towns during the primary, according to Howard, who says he has finally received some answers to public records requests filed with the state weeks ago, asking for details of problems with the machines that occurred on Election Day.

We just spoke with Howard, who explained that counting conditions in Concord continue to be "a mess," prompting his latest demands, which echoed earlier ones that remain unmet by SoS Gardner.

The Republican Howard also told us that he'd been contacted recently by the Democratic chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, John Conyers, who called him personally to discuss concerns about what was going on in the wake of questions surrounding the New Hampshire Primary Election results...

Describing the reasoning behind his latest request to count the unvoted ballots along with the voted ballots, Howard told The BRAD BLOG this afternoon that his observers "are noticing that these uncast ballots are inside the ballot boxes with the ballots that are being counted on the table."

"The Democratic ballots are mixed in with the Republican ballots. We're having to separate them. It's a real mess," he said, adding that counters are being forced to sit and wait for hours as they continue to wait for ballots to be delivered from towns where the election was held almost four full weeks ago.

"The observers are sitting there sometimes for two hours waiting to count, and I'm having to pay these people," Howard, who raised nearly $60,000 to pay for the hand count, told us. "We've got so many counters, they're blowing through [the ballots] at super speed. The people who are picking up the ballots are going out, and the counters are having to wait, and it's just not right."

Howard had originally requested that unvoted and spoiled ballots be made available for counting, in order to allow proper reconciliation during the hand count, when he first filed his Contest (complete letter, listing all of Albert's original demands posted at the end of our 1/15/08 article). Similarly, Democratic contestant Dennis Kucinich's campaign, which also requested a hand count, had demanded that unvoted ballots be included in that count, as well. Gardner refused to comply with the demand, citing state law which, he said, requires only the counting of ballots actually "cast" in the election.

Howard says the law allows for "all ballots" to be counted.

In his short, hand-delivered letter, posted in full at the end of this article, Howard also demands that Gardner "provide the number of ballots that were printed and the number of ballots that were delivered to each town and city." Presumably, again, so that there can be appropriate reconciliation for the ballots being counted, and to ensure that blank, unvoted ballots have not been used to alter results of the ballots currently being hand counted.

Over the last several weeks, The BRAD BLOG has reported on a number of outrageous "chain of custody" concerns revealed during the hand count of ballots in New Hampshire, where 80% of the state's votes had been tabulated --- without human verification or double-check of any of the paper ballots used --- by the same Diebold optical-scan machines shown to be easily hackable in HBO's 2006 documentary, Hacking Democracy.

Concerns over lax chain of custody have emerged since counting began in the state capitol. Election Integrity experts on location in New Hampshire have detailed such concerns, which include ballots delivered to the counting room in Concord in alarming condition, in unsealed and opened boxes (see photo essay here); "security seals" which are shown to be as easily removed as Post-It notes (see video here); and ballots left out overnight, instead of stored in the state's ballot vault during the hand count of Democratic ballots.

Gardner has previously been unable to account for the reason that ballots were left unattended outside of the vault, and has admitted that he has no idea what's become of the sensitive Diebold memory cards used to program and store vote counts on the optical-scanners. That, despite federal law requiring such election-related media be securely retained for 22 months following an election.

The Democratic hand count was suspended last week, after counting in just two of New Hampshire's counties found mistallies for many candidates across many voting wards. Variances from the initial Diebold count were discovered during the hand count to be as high as 4% to 10% in several wards --- while the general error rate was found to be approximately 1% across all areas counted during the Kucinich's Democratic hand count.

Similar miscounts have been revealed so far during the Republican hand count, including notable mistallies in the town of Stratham. "We're noticing discrepancies and irregularities where all of a sudden you've got clusters of Romneys and McCains where the numbers are very high. Incidents where Obama was crossed out twice, etc.," says Howard. "We're trying to figure out what's going on here."

Howard, one of several little-known Republican candidates on the primary ballot, filed for the hand count, he claims, after reports on C-SPAN on Election Night showed him receiving more than 100 votes, only to find he was awarded just 44 votes after the official state-reported, largely machine-tabulated results were released.

The Michigan Republican has also been contacted by Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers, who, Howard says, was concerned about reports he'd read at The BRAD BLOG in regard to the hand counts.

"Conyers called me, said he's very interested in this, and said that he's going to get back to me. He's very aware of what's going on," Howard explained.

Howard went on to say that every time a question comes up about procedures for the hand count, Secretary of State "Gardner becomes very nervous and asks if I want to stop the recount."

"I keep telling him, 'No, I don't want to stop the recount, I want you to do the count I paid for!'" says Howard.

Last week, as The BRAD BLOG reported, Asst. Sec. of State David Scanlan informed Howard that the count would be recessed for two days this week. Howard objected, and the count continued as scheduled.

"They never explained why they wanted to have a recess on this," Howard told us today.

Please see BRAD BLOG's index of notable (and nearly-exclusive) New Hampshire coverage, for more.

The letter, delivered today by Republican Albert Howard to NH Secretary of State William Gardner, again reiterating his demand that all unvoted ballots to be included in the hand count, follows in full below…
February 1, 2008

HAND DELIVERED
Mr. William Gardner
Secretary of State
State of New Hampshire
Dept. of State
107 N. Main St. Rm 204
Concord, NH 03301

Re: MISSING BALLOTS

Dear Mr. Gardner:

Under the authority of New Hampshire’s Election Law or, if necessary, New Hampshire’s Right to Know Law, I respectfully request the recount immediately begin to include a count of the all ballots that have been returned from the towns and cities, including, but not necessarily limited to, the unused/uncast ballots and the “spoiled” ballots.

In addition, please provide the number of ballots that were printed and the number of ballots that were delivered to each town and city.

Time is of the essence, your immediate attention to this matter is essential.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Very truly yours,

Albert B. Howard"
 
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Live Free or Die

Publius Freeman said:
From http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd337.htm

..."What can you do? The same as I am doing this morning: Call and fax the Governor of the State of New Hampshire, John Lynch, and politely tell him:

The Secretary of State's office has been delaying and stalling the recount requested and paid for by Mr. Albert Howard. This recount is from the January 8, 2008, primary - a whopping 20 days ago. The obvious fraud prompted Mr. Howard to request this recount, but he has been stymied at every turn and time is of the essence on this recount which should have been finished ten days ago.

Additionally, certain individuals in the office of the Secretary of State have likely committed violations of New Hampshire's election laws and you are requesting the Governor do two things: (1) Step in and direct the Secretary of State William M. Gardner, to get the recount done this week, and (2) direct the Attorney General for the State of New Hampshire to open an investigation into likely violations of New Hampshire's elections laws, i.e., chain of custody of the ballots, slits in the ballot boxes and unlawful transport and security of the ballots:

NH Election laws including RSA chapters 39 & 40: 660:5: Conduct of recount. If directed by the SOS, the State Police shall collect all ballots requested from the town or city clerks having custody of them and shall deliver them to the public facility designated by the SOS.

Instead of the ballots being transported by the State Police, they were transported by Butch & Hoppy. Butch & Hoppy? As far as I can find out at this time, B & H are not personnel of the SOS, but something akin to independent contractors. BIG red flag for chain of custody and we have to get to the bottom of this travesty.

If you are a citizen of the sovereign state of New Hampshire, be sure to make that known when you contact the governor and AG's offices. I've been in this arena going on twenty years and I can tell you flat out that elected officials hate getting heat from outside their state, but they pay extra attention if the heat comes from a citizen because the governor and attorney general are statewide elected offices.

Call and fax the Attorney General's office. Tell State Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, you insist her office open a criminal inquiry into the actions of the Office of the Secretary of State regarding the recount requested and paid for by GOP candidate, Albert Howard. Irregularities include chain of custody of ballots, tampering with the ballot boxes, transporting the ballots, irregular security of the ballots, stalling and preferential treatment for the Kucinich people in allowing them to pay only the initial fee to begin a recount while requiring Mr. Howard to come up with $55,000 within 48 hours.

One note about Kucinich's recount: it has been stopped allegedly due to lack of funds. According to the SOS, Kucinich's people are "happy" with the recount that did take place. It is my understanding that the Kucinich people are not happy with the outcome of the limited recount. If Rep. Kucinich, even though he's dropped out of the race, is unsatisfied, then he will have to fight his own battle with the SOS. See: New Hampshire Sec. of State Appears to Lie to Media About Kucinich Hand Count."

You can send email, but these offices get so much, most likely all you'll get back is a form response. A fax is something their office staff will physically receive and we need to bury the Governor's office and the Attorney General in faxes.

The phone call is equally important because their staffs will be overwhelmed and I say so be it. We CANNOT allow this type of malfeasance govern our political process.

Governor John Lynch's contact information:

Office of the Governor
State House
25 Capitol Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603) 271-2121
(603) 271-7680 (fax)

E-mail is direct from their site here. "Your comments and suggestions are always welcome." See? The Governor wants to hear from you!

Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte contact information:

New Hampshire Department of Justice
33 Capitol Street
Concord, NH 03301
Telephone (603) 271-3658
Fax (603) 271-2110..."
Click to expand...

Petition for Recall NH?


http://www.ronpaulvotecount.com

RP2008!
 
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