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Today there were reports this morning (the 27th) and in the evening about Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell’s demand for counties to pick one of two optical scan manufacturers., , Regarding the morning report, I urge your reporter/s to look closely at the Cobb/LaMarche Website http://www.votecobb.org/recount/ , and especially, look at the Recount Reports here http://www.votecobb.org/recount/ohio_reports/ . ALL 88 counties were recounted (not “Some” as reported in the morning) – but this recount was not handled the way that Ohio Law dictates. There are too many incidents that took place to report here, but I urge you to look at this website., , The other important issue was the report today about Kenneth Blackwell’s push for all Ohio districts to choose an optical scan manufacturer by the February deadline.

We need to be aware of the choices being made for Ohio, and demand forums so that we can speak about the choices being made, however, since Kenneth Blackwell won’t even give the Board of Elections a forum to discuss options, there is no chance that the public would be involved in such a debate. One benefit of Optical Scan is that they give a paper ballot, so if a recount is necessary, it can be completed, however that’s provided that the Secretary of State and/or the Board of Elections in each district plays by the rules, which did not occur for the recount in December, as referenced above., , Optical Scan machines are not without their problems. Besides the two vendors, Diebold and ES&S having strong partisan ties (among other problems – see this FAQ http://www.chuckherrin.com/hackthevoteFAQ.htm for more information) there have been other issues with the use of optical scan machines as well.

Case in point – Just this week it was reported that Ohio recount volunteers have prepared affidavits about observations of several problems during the recount in Clermont County (see report following) that alleges * actual vote tampering * (stickers were placed over some optical scan ovals, and in at least one case, a Bush/Cheney bubble was filled in, while the sticker covered a filled in Kerry/Edwards oval. It seems that more information is coming about problems in Ohio, although to listen to some politicians, "nothing improper happened" here at all. And that may be the case, but without the proper recount protocol followed, and without investigations by the proper law enforcement officials, we will never know.

It is important for the sake of all future elections in all states, that Ohio is given the in-depth investigation it deserves and its citizens the proper respect they deserve. It is important that the decisions being made about the methods in which we conduct our elections are done openly and with input from the people as well as the Election Boards., , The investigations that are still occurring in Ohio are not about changing the election – they are about finding people who broke the law, and making them accountable for their actions!

We cannot say we have free, honest and fair elections if there are questions still lingering, and if information is still appearing. And we have absolutely NO business going to other parts of the world to "spread democracy" if we can't even get it right here. , ,

From Raw Story: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=7, , 1/26/2005, Ohio recount volunteers allege electoral tampering, legal violations and possible fraud, Filed under: General— site admin @ 6:48 pm Email This, , , ‘Why were there stickers on ballots in Clermont County, Ohio?’, , By Larisa Alexandrovna RAW STORY Staff, , "Correction: Due to Editor error, the story as it appears is slightly different from the reporter’s original story. The reporter has corrected the final version which appears below, , "Serious new election tampering allegations have emerged from an Ohio county, where witnesses allege that stickers were placed on presidential election ballots, RAW STORY has learned., , "Several volunteer workers in the Ohio recount in Clermont County, Ohio have prepared affidavits alleging serious tampering, violations of state and federal law, and possible fraud. They name the Republican chief of Clermont’s Board of Elections and the head of the Clermont Democratic Party Priscilla O’Donnell as complicit in these acts., , "These volunteers, observing the recount on behalf of the Greens, Libertarians and Democrats, assert that during the Dec. 14, 2004 hand recount they noticed stickers covering the Kerry/Edwards oval, whereas the Bush/Cheney oval seemed to be “colored in. ", , See rest of article here: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=7

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