A forwarded report on Florida by the following: Libby Anker Libanker@berkeley.edu Ryan Centner rcentner@berkeley.edu Jill Greenlee jillgs@socrates.berkeley.edu Rachel Van Sickle-Ward rvansick@berkeley.edu Spurred by the unwillingness of the broadcast media to report voting problems during the 2004 election race, we want to alert our friends, family and colleagues to the widespread voter suppression and disenfranchisement that occurred in Broward County, Florida. We staffed the emergency hotline for the Kerry Campaign Headquarters in Broward County from late October through the election. All of us were devastated by the margin of Bush's win in Florida, particularly since polls predicted the race would be extremely close. Many of the calls to our hotline were from voters who had pressed the Kerry button on their electronic voting screen, only to have Bush light up as the candidate they had chosen. In some cases, this would happen repeatedly until about the 5th or 6th time the voter pressed Kerry and eventually his name would light up. In other cases, the voters pushed Kerry but were later asked to confirm their Bush vote. We had calls about a road block, put up by the police at 7am on Nov. 2, which blocked road access to two precinct locations in majority black districts. There was no justification for the road block no accident or crime scene or construction. Many of our calls dealt with voter suppression, or manipulation, of the Haitian population occurrences which seem too numerous, and their targets too indefensible, as primarily poor, first-time-voter, Creole-speaking refugees, to be anything but systemic. In one example, a voter whose hands were bandaged could not press the touch-screen himself; he asked the nonpartisan election official to press Kerry for him, but the election official pressed Bush and sent his vote immediately into the machine. Many, many others were denied the right to vote and were not given provisional ballots, while others were refused assistance at the polls, even though provisional ballots and voter assistance are legal rights. Others were told they had already voted and were turned away, although they had never voted previously. This latter experience was a complaint not isolated to Haitians but also included other surprised voters with no recourse except their word against that of the Supervisor of Elections. We spoke with hundreds of voters who were certain they had registered to vote in the past 6 months, well before the October 18 deadline, but were not on the rolls. And those were just the people who had the information to contact us. The local paper, citing the Supervisor of Elections office as its source, told all people voting by absentee ballot that they could turn in ballots by hand to any of its seven offices by 5pm on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Every single one of those offices except one was closed on Tuesday. We had numerous calls from voters on Nov. 2 whose precincts had closed, yet the Supervisor of Elections office had given voters no notification of the closure, and no notification of where to go to vote. Thousands of people were likely disenfranchised because of inexcusable mishaps such as this. We had many calls from people who had been harassed by poll workers, who were turned away without being allowed the right to vote provisionally (another breech of voter rights). Other people were turned away because the address on their driver's license did not match the address on their voter registration card; again, this is in direct violation of election law. All of these problems do not even take into account the 58,000 absentee ballots that had been "lost" by the Supervisor of Elections, in perhaps the most Democratic county in the state, disenfranchising thousands of people who were disabled, out of the country, or elderly and unable get to the polls. These events, and many others, have been documented and also [size=-2]reported to lawyers, but we fear they will not get the attention they deserve. This is what we witnessed in just one county. We believe that these voting irregularities raise serious concerns about the legitimacy of the results in Florida, and more broadly, about the health of democracy in this country. Please circulate this widely. 2-------------- From Alice Cherbonnier: ********************** Asian American Civil Rights Group Reports Widespread Voter Problems on Election Day ********************** Longtime Voters Improperly Required to Show ID; Many Cast Provisional Ballots; Shortage of Bilingual Poll Workers Contributes to Long Lines New York City...A heavy turnout of Asian American voters in today's Presidential election, especially among new citizen and first-time voters, was marred by complaints about racist poll workers, improper demands for identification, and a shortage of Asian-language interpreters at polling sites throughout New York and New Jersey. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which dispatched over 600 volunteer attorneys, students and community workers to over 175 poll sites in 8 states, reported that Asian American voters throughout the country faced obstacles in exercising their right to vote: Racist Remarks to Asian American Voters *At PS 69 in Jackson Heights, Queens, poll workers blamed voters for holding up the lines: "You Oriental guys are taking too long to vote." Several Asian American voters told AALDEF monitors that they felt rushed when they were voting. Although the Voting Rights Act requires bilingual materials to be displayed at polling places, poll workers said that there were too many bilingual materials on the tables: "If they (Asian American voters) need it, they can ask for it." This was a violation of section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, which mandates that Chinese-language materials and assistance be provided to Asian American voters with limited English proficiency. One Chinese American voter who asked for language assistance was directed to a Korean interpreter, who could not help. * At Grace Church in Jersey City, NJ, a police officer pulled an Asian American voter out of the voting booth, admonishing her that she should wait on line until called. Asian American Voters Misdirected to Wrong Polling Sites Two major snafus occurred in Queens, where an unusually large number of voters in Asian American neighborhoods appeared at their regular polling places and then were told to go to different sites. * At PS 115 in Floral Park, Queens, over 100 mostly South Asian voters were turned away and told to go to two other polling sites, PS 266 or PS 161. * At PS 20 in Flushing, Queens, over 70 Asian American voters were turned away and told to go to PS 189 or St. Andrew's Church. * At PS 250 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Asian American voters were told to stand in one line and then were told to go to another line for their proper election district. General confusion about where voters should go to vote could not be easily resolved, because individuals could not get through to the NYC Board of Elections voter hotline. In these instances, the NYC Board of Elections failed to give appropriate notice of a polling site change or did not inform voters about their correct polling sites. It is unclear whether these Asian American voters were finally able to vote at these alternate sites. Asian American Voters Improperly Asked for ID * Under the new Help America Vote Act (HAVA), ID checks are required only for certain first-time voters who registered by mail and did not provide a driver's license number of the last four digits of their Social Security number. AALDEF monitors reported that Asian American voters were routinely asked for identification, even though they had voted in several previous elections. Asian American voters complained about this unnecessary ID check at IS 131 in Manhattan's Chinatown; PS 115 in Floral Park, Queens; PS 100 in Richmond Hill, Queens; IS 145 in Jackson Heights, Queens; PS 250 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Rosenthal Senior Center in Flushing, Queens; Grace Church[/size] [size=-2]in Jersey City, NJ; and Senior Citizens Building at Palisades Park, NJ. AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung said, "Asian American voters were subjected to racial profiling at the polls, since they were routinely asked for identification in order to establish their eligibility to vote, even when it was not required." Asian American Voters Not Given Provisional Ballots * Asian American voters were challenged at polling places because their names were not found in voter lists. AALDEF monitors reported that poll workers at PS 100 in Richmond Hill, Queens; PS 250 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; IS 131 in Manhattan's Chinatown and Rosenthal Senior Center in Flushing, Queens refused to offer provisional (affidavit) ballots to voters who requested them. For those voters who cast provisional ballots, many were surprised that their voter registration forms had not been processed correctly, and did not know why their names were not included in voter lists. After provisional ballots were completed, poll workers often did not know what to do with them, sometimes debating among themselves in front of confused voters. Inadequate Number of Bilingual Poll Workers and Interpreters At numerous polling sites throughout New York City, AALDEF monitors reported that polling places were understaffed and unable to provide assistance to Asian-language voters who needed interpreters, contributing to long lines outside polling places. Under section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act, three boroughs in New York City are required to staff polling sites with Chinese- and Korean-language interpreters; severe shortages were reported at many poll sites. *At IS 131 in Manhattan's Chinatown, the City was required to place 10 Chinese-language staff at this busy polling place; only 4 Chinese interpreters were observed during the day. Despite several calls to the NYC Board of Elections about the need for more bilingual election workers, no additional staff were dispatched. At 1 pm, when one voting machine broke down, a line of 40 mostly Chinese American voters waited for assistance as the responsible poll worker walked out to take a lunch break. These Asian American voters were never offered emergency paper ballots while the machine was down. *At PS 20 in Flushing, Queens, several Korean American voters needed interpreters to assist them, but all 4 Korean interpreters did not show up at this site. * At PS 2 in Manhattan's Chinatown, only 2 Chinese interpreters were present at a site that required 6 Chinese interpreters under the NYC Board of Elections own targeting plan. * At PS 189 in Flushing, only 2 Korean interpreters were present at a site where 4 Korean interpreters had been assigned by the NYC Board of Elections. AALDEF staff attorney Glenn Magpantay reported that Asian American voters faced long lines at polling places in Boston's Chinatown (at Franklyn Institute, over 1-1/2 hours' waiting time outside the polling place), Philadelphia's Chinatown (over 1 hour) and Ann Arbor, Michigan (over 45 minutes). AALDEF also conducted multilingual exit polls of Asian American voters at polling sites in 8 states (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Illinois, Michigan). In the 2000 Presidential Election, AALDEF surveyed over 5,000 Asian New Yorkers about their voter preferences and problems they experienced at the polls. Preliminary results from AALDEF's 2004 exit polls will be released on Thursday, documenting how Asian Americans voted in the Presidential election and what issues mattered the most to them. * * * The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is a 30-year old New York-based organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, legal advocacy and community education in the areas of immigrant rights, civic participation and voting rights, economic justice for workers, racially-motivated violence and police misconduct, youth rights and educational equity, affirmative action, and language rights. --- Margaret Fung[/size] [size=-2]Executive Director mfung@aaldef.org 212.966.5932 x201 ************************************************************************ ASIAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND 99 Hudson Street, 12th floor, New York, NY 10013-2815 Defending the civil rights of Asian Americans since 1974 T 212.966.5932 F 212.966.4303 www.aaldef.org[/size] [size=-2]******************************************************************* > Vote Fraud 2004 Round Up > Posted > <[/size][size=-2]http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_crime&Number[/size][size=-2] > =293078189> Nov 5, 2004 09:27 PM PST > Category: > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021794> VOTE > FRAUD <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > > Stolen Election? > Posted > <[/size]http://66.39.111.188/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/UltraBoard.cgi?action=Read&BID=1&[size=-2] > amp;TID=8500&SID=338> Nov 5, 2004 09:23 PM PST > Category: > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021793> VOTE > FRAUD <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > Turns out one County in Ohio, equipped with Diebold electronic voting > machines, reported NEGATIVE 25,000 votes. > > Machine Error Gives Bush Thousands of Extra Ohio Votes > <http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1105-23.htm> > Posted Nov 5, 2004 09:22 PM PST > Category: > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021792> VOTE > FRAUD <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > > Palm Beach County Logs 88,000 More Votes Than Voters > <http://www.washingtondispatch.com/spectrum/archives/000715.html> > Posted Nov 5, 2004 09:16 PM PST > Category: > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021791> VOTE > FRAUD <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > > Voting Group Finds Irregularities In Southern States > <http://www.theneworleanschannel.com/politics/3895899/detail.html> > Posted Nov 5, 2004 09:16 PM PST > Category: > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021790> VOTE > FRAUD <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > > BBV: Our position is that fraud took place. > Posted > <[/size][size=-2]http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_politics&Num > ber=293077503#Post293077503> Nov 5, 2004 09:15 PM PST > Category: > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021789> VOTE > FRAUD <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > > Voting irregularities found in 7 Southern States > <http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4598911,00.html> > Posted Nov 5, 2004 09:06 PM PST > Category: > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021788> VOTE > FRAUD <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > > Stolen Election 2004 <http://stolenelection2004.com/> > Posted Nov 5, 2004 09:00 PM PST > Category: > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021787> VOTE > FRAUD <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > In Election 2000, the Bush regime stole the election and got away with it. > Now, in Election 2004, there is new evidence that Bush and the Republicans > have stolen the 2004 election by electronic voting fraud in states with > E-Voting without paper trails, scrubbing the voter rolls of Democratic voters, > and destruction of paper ballots in heavily Democratic areas. > > NOBODY ALLOWED TO WITNESS OHIO VOTE TALLY > <http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/11/05/loc_warrenvote05.html> > Posted Nov 5, 2004 08:59 PM PST > Category: > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021786> VOTE > FRAUD <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > Citing concerns about potential terrorism, Warren County officials locked down > the county administration building on election night and blocked anyone from[/size]
[size=-2]> observing the vote count as the nation awaited Ohio's returns. > > CBS Shows Tie In TEXAS...Bush wins by 31 points??? > <http://www.ultimatetaxi.com/board/messages/389.html> > Posted Nov 5, 2004 07:00 PM PST > Category: > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021785> VOTE > FRAUD <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > > Outrage in Ohio: Angry residents storm State House in response to massive > voter suppression and corruption > <http://michiganimc.org/feature/display/7644/index.php> > Posted Nov 5, 2004 06:58 PM PST > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html#021784> > Category: VOTE FRAUD > <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html> > This is not going to go away, people. [/size][size=-2]4+++++++++++++++++++ November 4, 2004 Ohio Whitewash [/size][size=-2]http://www.spectrumz.com/z/fair_use/2004/11_04.html Basic report from Columbus From a lawyer who was in there in Ohio. A database of voter irregularities is reportedly being assembled, and hopefully there will be web sites devoted to documenting what really happened. I worked for 3 days, including Election Day, on the statewide voter protection hotline run by the Ohio Democratic Party in Columbus, Ohio. I am writing this because the media is inexplicably whitewashing what happened in Ohio, and Kerry's concession was likewise inexplicable. Hundreds of thousands of people were disenfranchised in Ohio. People waited on line for as long as 10 hours. It appears to have only happened in Democratic-leaning precincts, principally (a) precincts where many African Americans lived, and (b) precincts near colleges. I spoke to a young man who got on line at 11:30 am and voted at 7 pm. When he left at 7 pm, the line was about 150 voters longer than when he'd arrived, which meant those people were going to wait even longer. In fact they waited for as much as 10 hours, and their voting was concluded at about 3 am. The reason this occurred was that they had 1 voting station per 1000 voters, while the adjacent precinct had 1 voting station per 184. Both precincts were within the same county, and managed by the same county board of elections. The difference between them is that the privileged polling place was in a rural, solidly Republican, area, while the one with long lines was in the college town of Gambier, OH. Lines of 4 and 5 hours were the order of the day in many African-American neighborhoods. Touch screen voting machines in Youngstown OH were registering "George W. Bush" when people pressed "John F. Kerry" ALL DAY LONG. This was reported immediately after the polls opened, and reported over and over again throughout the day, and yet the bogus machines were inexplicably kept in use THROUGHOUT THE DAY. Countless other frauds occurred, such as postcards advising people of incorrect polling places, registered Democrats not receiving absentee ballots, duly registered young voters being forced to file provisional ballots even though their names and signatures appeared in the voting rolls, longtime active voting registered voters being told they weren't registered, bad faith challenges by Republican "challengers" in Democratic precincts, and on and on and on. I was very proud of the way so many Ohioans fought so valiantly for their right to vote, and would not be turned away. Many, however, could not spend the entire day and were afraid of losing their jobs, due to the severe economic depression hitting Ohio. I do not understand why Kerry conceded and did not fight to ensure that all Ohioans would have a chance to vote, and for their vote to be counted. Ray Ray Beckerman Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP 99 Park Ave (Ste 1600) New York, NY 10016[/size]
is there anything that can be done, or is being done, about this? is there anything average citizens can do, or someplace to write or call, to assure that something is done?
ron, i know you're probably already aware of this but i'm posting it for people who aren't. here is the website of one organization that is making sure the truth is not silenced: http://www.nov3.us/ here are 4 things from their webpage that you can do: here are more, practical things that you can do (especially those in ohio) from the email update i recived from them this morning. go to the websites, call the numbers. here in rochester, i arrived at my polling place and was informed my name was missing from the list. i voted on a paper ballot. the poll worker told me that many people who had registered or updated their registration downtown at the mobile DMV were missing from the list.
i know the commisioner of the county board of elections on a first name basis now...tony (don't laugh) as far as doing something, i really only want to pass on information. if anything my goal is to make people aware of the wrongs done, but i don't know how i feel about attempting to get our system to help right the wrong. i think the action needs to be holistic not judicial. personally i have faith bush will be going down. i have been waiting to see how the universe played these cards and now i am almost excieted to see how this all goes down and how we finally learn the lesson bush has to teach us. trust the force luke....
According to this article- http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111304V.shtml They are raising money to do a recount in Ohio and only have five more days to do so. If you have the money, or you know George Soros, please donate.
jeez, you would think they had the money by now. i will contribute if needed, i want to see how that plays out. here is a good link, updated daily http://www.solarbus.org/stealyourelection/index.html
looks like the link-posting gremlins have cursed you, ron. that one doesn't work, either. edit: aha! it looks like if you click on the link in my quote you can get there, but for some reason the one in your post doesn't work. this is an excellent site, thanks for posting.
i must agree with ina. no one who showed up and was properly registered was turned away. and the ones that showed up at the wrong location were checked and sent to the right place. the only people i know who didn't get to vote were the ones that weren't registered.
I think making people register in advance is a disgrace to democracy. We need federal legislation that requires same day registration to be allowed in all 50 states. It is not a coincedence that we had the highest turnout in the country here in MN, and you can register at the polls here. Also, elections should be run entirely by the feds, and every precinct in the country should use the same voting machine and ballot technology. We have no way of verifying the ohio results; even if enough money was raised for a recount there is no way to recount touch screen votes. As you may have guessed by now, I voted for Kerry, and I am perfectly willing to accept the fact that he lost, as long as he honestly lost and not because some machine fucked up. I truly hope these incidents were simply the result of machine error and not part of some Republican conspiracy to rig the election. Peace, Alex
with all the hype this year about registering to vote, do you sincerely believe that such huge numbers of people were turned away because they all "forgot"? get real! what about the people who thought they registered, only to have their registration forms destroyed? do you consider them "too fucking lazy?"
