• Welcome to our new home!

    Please share any thoughts or issues here.


SC Elections Are Unconstitutional!?! - Mark Adams

Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
408
(Note: Mark Adams will be on Ron Paul Revolution Radio http://www.rprradio.com Thursday 1/17 between 6-8pm CST)

From http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_mark_a___080114_south_carolina_elect.htm

January 14, 2008 at 08:06:56

South Carolina Elections Are UNCONSTITUTIONAL!?!

by Mark A. Adams JD/MBA Page 1 of 10 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com

Tell A Friend

South Carolina elections are unconstitutional? How could that be? Surely, no one in our government would conduct any election which violated the Constitution, and if any scheme threatened to undermine the very foundation of our government, our power to elect our leaders, the press would expose it, wouldn’t it?

After all, our government was founded upon the principle that all of its actions must comply with the Constitution. In fact, Article VI of the Constitution of South Carolina requires all of the State’s officers to swear an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of this State and of the United States." So, they would probably at least read it before enacting any new law, right?

Well, you would think so, but as most people now realize, far too many in power in our government believe that they are the law. I’ve had judges tell me that, but I’ll save judicial arrogance and lack of respect for the law and the facts for another day.

Of course, other government leaders may just think that if someone else in government has proposed something, then it must be Constitutional because of course, they would have checked that before proposing a new law or program. Besides, there is so much important work to do in the halls of government that there isn’t time to go reading everything and the Constitutions all of the time. After all, there are lunches, dinners, press conferences, and fundraisers to attend.

Whether it is because some think that they can ignore the law because they are above it or whether some don’t bother to read the law because they just assume that the one who proposed it did, a lack of respect for the law causes serious problems. John Locke said that without respect for the law, there is tyranny. We all understand that when the law is not applied equally, it is unfair, unjust. Obviously, when the Constitution is ignored, fundamental rights get trampled.

Our Founders understood that people would not devote time, effort, and resources to productive endeavors if the fruits of their labors could be taken from them at the whim of someone with power. They understood that any government which allowed its leaders to ignore the law, change the law at their whim, or trample fundamental rights harmed everyone and put everyone at risk. They risked their lives and fortunes in order to throw off the burdens of a government that could and did ignore their fundamental rights.

Our Founders understood that the people had the power to abolish any government which acted in a manner which harmed the public welfare, and they endeavored to give us a peaceful means of controlling our government. To prevent tyranny and the violence of oppressions and revolutions which flow from it, they designed a system of checks and balances which includes the three branches of government, the press, and the public through elections, the right to assemble, the right to freedom of speech, the right to petition for a redress of grievances both civil and criminal in nature, and through service on both trial juries and on grand juries.

In order to help guard against abuses of power, elections were required to be held on a regular basis. Of course, great care was taken to protect the power of the people to control their government through elections. Our Founders understood that without frequent and reliable elections, a government of and for the people would not endure for long. They understood tyranny, oppression, and revolution, and they wanted to protect their children and grand-children from such horrors.

They took care to make sure that our power to control our government through elections was protected from fraud and undue influence. They required that the polls be open to observers and that the ballots be collected, stored, and counted in public in order to minimize the chance that an election might be stolen. They understood the need to protect the integrity of elections long before Joseph Stalin said, "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."

So, how could it be that the government of the great State of South Carolina, one of the original States, would institute any system of elections which would violate fundamental principles? Wouldn’t the press raise an alarm if an election system was proposed which violated the Constitution?

The people wouldn’t stand for anything that would undermine their most fundamental right to control their government, or would they? If the vast majority of the people didn’t know what was going on because the press was controlled by a small cartel which chose to divert their attention away from changes which threatened to undermine their fundamental rights, would an alert minority be able to protect against erosion of our control over our government?

If very few people even understood our own history or studied our Constitutions because they were educated in a system which lacked any real competition, would an alert minority even exist? If so, would it be so small that it could not alert and educate the masses in time to protect our fundamental right to control our own government? Would it be able to overcome the beliefs, the assurances, and the illusion that our leaders are working to spread democracy, that we have an ability to control them, and that they are fighting for our votes?

Certainly, those people in our government are good, honest Americans, aren’t they? Those people on TV who bring us the news wouldn’t keep us in the dark, would they? Those people in the press have to search for news about movie stars and even bake sales. Certainly, they would want to tell us if someone were taking away our fundamental right to elect our leaders, wouldn’t they?

Well, for a very long time, I also thought so, and until Friday, January 11, 2008, at about 4:00 PM, I would have said that it was unlikely that the government of South Carolina would implement a plan to conduct its elections which blatantly violated its Constitution. I said unlikely because I have handled more election contests than any other attorney or former attorney that I know of, and I have first hand experience with proof that the official results of elections in Florida are false, as in not true. This means that these elections were most likely fixed, fraudulent, stolen. Of course, the votes were counted in secret.

Unfortunately, I know that for far too many judges who sit in our courts, the law and the facts mean nothing. The evidence we gathered meant nothing because the Florida state court dismissed the Congressional election contests saying it did not have jurisdiction even though a United States Supreme Court case said that a state court does have jurisdiction to entertain an action for a recount. I know that nine members of Congress who serve on the House Committee on Administration were willing to ignore the law and the facts in order to cover up for election fraud in Florida. I wonder if the voters in their districts know that they don’t care about respecting the will of the voters.

On Friday afternoon, I got a call from a concerned person in South Carolina. She told me that the upcoming Presidential primary would be conducted on touch screen voting machines and that she was worried that votes may not be counted accurately, or even worse, that votes may be stolen. That’s right, stolen. Many are worried about our elections being stolen. In fact, a Zogby poll from August of 2006 indicates that 92% of Americans are worried about our votes being counted in secret. The link is below... (page 1 of 10)

Take action -- contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Stop Counting Our Votes in Secret!!! Restore Election Integrity with Hand Counted Paper Ballots Now!!!

See the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers

Mark A. Adams earned his BA in business administration with a major in finance and a minor in economics at the University of South Florida. He earned his law degree and his master of business administration at the University of Florida where he also worked as a teaching assistant in the Economics Department. Mark practiced law in Florida. In 2006, Mark represented Max Linn, the Reform Party candidate for Governor of Florida, in successful lawsuits brought against the media to require his inclusion in the Gubernatorial debates. Mark also represented John Russell, Clint Curtis, Frank Gonzalez, and others in contesting the official results of the 2006 elections in Florida state court and before the U.S. House of Representatives. Mark has been involved in the judicial reform movement since 2003, the media reform movement since 2004, and the election reform movement since 2006. Before those years, he believed that judges followed the law, that our media told us the truth, and that our votes were counted. Beliefs that most of us once held and that many still hold on to. Unfortunately, Mark, like many of us, learned that these beliefs were no longer true. However, Mark believes that we can counteract the forces which have destroyed these institutions if we face reality and take action before it is too late. Mark asks that you please remember that the American dream will die and our children will suffer if the people do not know what their government leaders are doing, if the people are not able to vote ineffective or corrupt leaders out of office, or if judges can ignore the law and the facts with no repercussions!...

http://www.ronpaulvotecount.com

RP2008!
 
Last edited:
That was a horribly written article. The last paragraph needs to be the first.
 
Open Letter to Senator John Edwards - Mark Adams

(Mark Adams live tonight on Ron Paul Revolution Radio http://www.rprradio.com betw. 6-8 pm CST)

From http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_mark_a___080117_an_open_letter_to_se.htm

January 17, 2008 at 12:13:53

An Open Letter to Senator John Edwards: The Constitution Prohibits Secret Vote Counting! Will You Take Action?

by Mark A. Adams JD/MBA Page 1 of 2 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com


Tell A Friend

Senator Edwards:

I heard your call for eliminating touch screen voting machines. Of course, being from South Carolina you are certainly aware of its use of the notoriously unreliable iVotronic touch screen voting machines. Last Friday afternoon, I looked into South Carolina’s use of these infamous voting machines, and I discovered that it’s PROHIBITED by South Carolina’s Constitution.


Some of the key information from my article "South Carolina Elections Are UNCONSTITUTIONAL!?!" published on Monday January 14, 2008 on OpEdNews.com follows.

Article II, § 1 of the Constitution of South Carolina states, "the ballots shall not be counted in secret." Although there is case law which supports the right to have votes counted in public, this is the election integrity jackpot, a Constitutional provision prohibiting counting votes in secret! No more need to refer to case law, evidence, or logic to argue against secret vote counting, at least in South Carolina.

You have courageously spoken out against touch screen voting. But, in case this is the first time someone else reading this has thought about how votes are counted on computers, they don’t understand that computers count in secret, or they think that fears about votes being counted on computers are unfounded, take a minute and think about three things: (1) How does a computer count votes? (2) Do computers sometimes malfunction? and (3) Do you have any security measures on your computer to protect against hackers?

The last two questions are really easy, but for those of you who haven’t yet thought of how computers count, it’s really simple. Computers count inside their case, with no oversight, just like they are told to do, unless of course, they malfunction or are hacked.
Unfortunately, there is abundant evidence of problems with counting votes on computers from across our country in the last several elections. The corporate media and the government media don’t mention these problems very often, but if you haven’t heard of them or you’re not concerned about allowing votes to be counted in secret, then you’re in the minority, a minority which is either hopelessly clueless or completely power hungry and corrupt.

This is why the vast majority of Americans are worried about election integrity. In fact, a Zogby poll from August of 2006 indicates that 92% of Americans are worried about our votes being counted in secret. See, http://www.zogby.com/templates/printnews.cfm?id=1163

The cat is out of the bag. The people know about these problems, and they are becoming more and more aware of the damage that has resulted from them.

Those few of you who still think that we can trust having our votes counted in secret will be happy to know that your view is shared my many powerful and influential people. For example, Joseph Stalin said, "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything." If you want to role back the evolution of civilization from citizen influence over government to a form of feudalism, then you might as well quit reading now.

South Carolina is the best opportunity to make a case against allowing computers to count the votes in secret. I’ve discussed this with two leading election law advocates who have also brought election contests, Paul Lehto and Andi Novick. They both think that this is the best opportunity to act that they have seen. The South Carolina Constitution prohibits secret vote counting! The election reform community EXPECTS one of the Presidential candidates to take action.

I’ve already heard from four, now five, radio shows that want me to come on as a guest speaker this week to discuss this issue. I’ll be on two shows tonight. This was discussed on Voice of the Voters last night.

Congressman Kucinich has a lot of support in the election reform movement, and he might take action on this. He came out against the Holt bill after meeting with me last summer. Now, we have a new Holt bill which is better, but it still has some shortcomings.

Congressman Ron Paul has been a consistent defender of Constitutional rights. It would seem like he would jump on this case. Maybe he is working on it, but he didn’t ask for a recount in New Hampshire. Also, he’s running out of time, and he doesn’t have your legendary trial skills and legal team.

You could sit back and wait to see whether someone else takes legal action, then join in or sit by and just speak in support of another’s effort. If so, you lose the opportunity to take the lead and grab the spotlight in the effort to stand up for the rule of law and the right to have our votes counted accurately.

Most importantly, if you act before the Republican primary, you can make it a non-partisan issue. You would be working to help make sure that even Republicans’ constitutional rights are respected. Certainly, that would make the Daily Show as well as all of the late night shows.

I can see it now, John Stewart saying, "John Edwards has taken legal action to protect the Constitutional rights of Republicans. You know, those guys whose leaders don’t care about Constitutional rights!" It would explode across America!

1 | 2


http://www.ronpaulvotecount.com
 
Cliff Notes:

Article II, § 1 of the Constitution of South Carolina states, "the ballots shall not be counted in secret." Although there is case law which supports the right to have votes counted in public, this is the election integrity jackpot, a Constitutional provision prohibiting counting votes in secret! No more need to refer to case law, evidence, or logic to argue against secret vote counting, at least in South Carolina.

There's no paper trail in SC, i.e., votes are counted in secret.
 
SC Constitutional Defense

(SC born Senator from NC John Edwards ignoring or not hearing issue so far per RP supporter Mark Adams, JD live now http://www.rprradio.com)

An excerpt from first thread post:

"...Congressman Ron Paul has been a consistent defender of Constitutional rights. Will he speak out about the blatant violation of South Carolina’s Constitution? Will he take a stand to protect our fundamental right to have our vote counted accurately? After all, without the right to have our vote counted accurately, what does the right to vote mean anyway? Hitler let the Germans vote. Stalin let the Soviets vote. Dictatorships usually do allow their subjects to vote. But of course, the counting is done in secret, and the powers that be always win the secret count"...

Sounds like this issue is too big for a regular SC citizen without standing to file a petition for an emergency injunction hearing (even though relatively quick, 1 day or so process), courts will probably (unfortunately) ignore it according to Mr. Adams...he has an attorney standing by in SC to file TOMORROW, and makes a very good case this would do nothing but boost Ron Paul's Presidential candidacy as a Constitutional Champion...(as well as dealing the sharpest blow against secret electronic vote counting across America)...requires someone that the media would have to cover...perhaps even a major (or up and coming) celebrity...Mr. Adams has already sent a letter to Ron Paul...possible opportunity of a lifetime...(and the tipping point in this campaign)...

This is a campaign, not an intellectual, issue. If I were Ron Paul or his campaign manager (I'm not), I would step up on this one and file Friday (~1 hr. process per Mr. Adams), because the upside is potentially HUGE, and the downside is very limited in this case, IMHO. (Esp. after seeing what is starting to come out of grassroots NH recount). This is a unique, historical opportunity and challenge for principled leadership to do the right thing. The grassroots will support it...but proactive, consistent leadership, I believe, is necessary on this one from the very top. (Having said that, I respect the campaign's decision either way, and will continue to support RP for President as long as he is still in the running, even though it's possible my vote might not be counted).

Mr. Adams encouraging RP supporters to contact SC and National RP HQ with requests...

I believe the time is NOW...


From http://www.zogby.com/templates/printnews.cfm?id=1163 :

"Asked whether Americans have the right to view and obtain information about how elections officials count votes, 92% of respondents concurred.

"The 92% support for the public's right to view vote counting and obtain information about it is a very strong political value of transparency and against secret vote counting outside the observation of the public," said Paul Lehto, a lawyer and sponsor of the survey. "To put this figure in context, support for election transparency exceeds the support for tax cuts, exceeds the approval of Pres. Bush immediately after 9-11, and virtually all other political values being measured." Mr. Lehto is counsel in the 50th Congressional District election contest in California."

And more excerpts from Mr. Adams first thread post:

"So, what can you do? First, you need to understand what our Founders knew. You need to demand that your fundamental rights are respected. You need to remind the powers that be that all power is inherent in the people. You need to act now before more suffer, before the grip of those in power grows more oppressive. You need to act now to demand that your peaceful right to remove bad leaders is respected, preserved, and restored. Honest elections are the only way to avoid the violence and suffering that come with tyranny, oppression, and eventual revolution.

Ask yourself, what do you think Martin Luther King and those who worked for years in the civil rights movement would do? Would they stand by and let the fundamental right to equal treatment under the law and at the polls be taken away by a regime that wants to count their votes in secret? I think that Dr. King would be leading the effort to demand public vote counting. Some of his disciples are still around, but I haven’t heard their voices on this issue yet...

...George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Sam Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, Paul Revere, Nathan Hale, and thousands of other brave Americans stood against the most powerful nation on Earth to fight tyranny and give us the opportunity to govern ourselves. Do you think that they would stand by and let our votes get counted in secret? I don’t think so. I think that they would take up arms if our leaders refused to restore public vote counts.

Anyone who has thought about this for a few minutes realizes that we can restore election integrity overnight. The vote can be cast on paper, placed in a ballot box in public view in each precinct, and counted in public in the precinct when the polls close. This can be done immediately with little need to add any more poll workers and with great savings on expensive, unreliable, and untrustworthy voting machines"...


"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything." - Josef Stalin, Dictator

"[Voting] is the right upon which all other rights depend." - Thomas Paine

"Government is like fire. We bring it into our homes to keep us warm, but we build a chimney to keep the fire from consuming us. The Constitution is the chimney that keeps government from consuming us. Has the chimney collapsed, and is the constitutional house on fire?" - George Washington (paraphrased)

"The time is near at hand which we must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves."
- George Washington

RP2008!
 
Last edited:
SC State Constitution Article II Section I

From South Carolina State Constitution http://www.scstatehouse.net/scconstitution/a02.htm

"ARTICLE II.

RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE

SECTION 1. Elections to be by secret ballot; protection of right of suffrage.

All elections by the people shall be by secret ballot, but the ballots shall not be counted in secret. The right of suffrage, as regulated in this Constitution, shall be protected by laws regulating elections and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence from power, bribery, tumult, or improper conduct."
 
GrannyWarriors SC Grassroots Lawsuit?

Latest from http://grannywarrior.grannywarrior.chipin.com/recount NH Grassroots Patriot Recount

"Law Suit?
In SC the state law states all voting is to be in the open as stated below:

ARTICLE II.
RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE

SECTION 1. Elections to be by secret ballot; protection of right of suffrage.

All elections by the people shall be by secret ballot, but the ballots shall not be counted in secret. The right of suffrage, as regulated in this Constitution, shall be protected by laws regulating elections and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence from power, bribery, tumult, or improper conduct.

Since there are no paper ballots to count whether in secret or in the open perhaps SC needs to have a wake up call put in. Ted Gunderson is working on a law suit to remedy these situations and perhaps we should be getting ready to support him in this?

WAKE UP SOUTH CAROLINA."

Granny, is Ted Gunderson working with Mark Adams on this, or is this a parallel effort? Mr. Adams is clearly very knowledgeable on this, and stated yesterday he had an attorney standing by in SC to move on this. His website is http://www.votecount2008.org. The big question yesterday was who would actually be the one with enough standing to step up and file today (and fund).

Right now, nothing comes to mind that would be a better investment for my hard earned dollar than this, NOW...let's do all we can to help make it happen! Would there be costs, or would this be mostly pro bono? If costs, how much?

If not us, who? If not now, when?

(This of course would be above and beyond the call of duty toward the campaign).


RP2008!
 
That was a terrible article. I don't even really understand what's unconstitutional about the SC elections, after reading that...
 
GrannyWarriors SC Grassroots

Latest from http://grannywarrior.grannywarrior.chipin.com/recount NH Grassroots Patriot Recount

"Law Suit?
In SC the state law states all voting is to be in the open as stated below:

ARTICLE II.
RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE

SECTION 1. Elections to be by secret ballot; protection of right of suffrage.

All elections by the people shall be by secret ballot, but the ballots shall not be counted in secret. The right of suffrage, as regulated in this Constitution, shall be protected by laws regulating elections and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence from power, bribery, tumult, or improper conduct.

Since there are no paper ballots to count whether in secret or in the open perhaps SC needs to have a wake up call put in. Ted Gunderson is working on a law suit to remedy these situations and perhaps we should be getting ready to support him in this?

WAKE UP SOUTH CAROLINA."

Granny, is Ted Gunderson working with Mark Adams on this, or is this a parallel effort? Mr. Adams is clearly very knowledgeable on this, and stated yesterday on http://www.rprradio.com he had an attorney standing by in SC to move on this. His website is http://www.votecount2008.org. The big question yesterday was who would actually be the one with enough standing to step up and file today (and fund).

Right now, IMHO, nothing comes to mind that would be a better investment for my hard earned dollar than this, NOW...let's do all we can to help make it happen! Would there be costs, or would this be mostly pro bono? If costs, how much?

If not us, who? If not now, when?


(This of course would be above and beyond the call of duty toward the campaign).


RP2008!
 
Last edited:
That was a terrible article. I don't even really understand what's unconstitutional about the SC elections, after reading that...

are you serious?????the votes are counted inside the machine where you can not see each vote being counted....only the total you see and not the actual counting...
 
Unbelievable

I can't believe SC is letting them get away with this...

No one ever wants to talk about this, it needs addressed. There could be major voter fraud in South Carolina.

South Carolina plans on uses touch screen voting machines that have been banned in other states. This is quite serious! They can be corrupted by the use of a magnet and a palm treo.

Here is the news article about it if you wish to read more.

S.C. to use voting machines banned in other states
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jan/07/s_c_use_voting_machines_banned_other_sta26854/
 
The count is done in the machine, the machine is in front of people, this is a joke lawsuit. Plus are we talking General Election or Primary... either way it doens't matter I guess.. lame
 
Unique argument, get it in front of the right judge and you might have something. Gonna have to ask my elections law professor about this one on wednesday.
 
Isn't 'ballots shall not be counted in secret' about as elementary as you can get to a free election?

Who's idea were these voting machines anyway? Throw them all out! They should be illegal in every state.

Let's go back to counting by hand.
 
Back
Top