Remember Ken Blackwell? Ken and his cohorts choreographed a comprehensive plan to steal the vote.
He got away with Ohio elections shennanigans. This can't happen again. Or can it?
John Conyers investigated the 2004 Ohio Election and specified each item used to steal the 2004 Ohio vote. Conyer's team detail each and every item of the plan. His team's report is a Virtual Handbook on How to Steal an Election.
I read through the report to extract their findings for you. It was a three-part plan: Pre-Election, Election Day, and Post Election steps taken to steal the election.
Here's a link to the entire report. Beneath the orange croissant are the steps taken. It's really quite brilliant, albeit illegal on so many levels. And yet, Blackwell and the GOP got away with it. I thought we should be aware of the tactics, prepare for them, and send a loud, clear message: Never Again, Not in 2012!
Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio
The GOP would name the Conyers' report: What Went Right in Ohio. Ken Blackwell was their hero. He now sits on right wing NRA board.
And Blackwell's book The Blueprint: Obama's Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency is a blather.
You can listen to Blackwell's twisted meaning blather on this Daily Show appearance. Jon tears up his convoluted thinking. You can listen to Jon for tips on How to Talk to Deluded GOP Talking Points. This three part conversation is a primer.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Exclusive - Ken Blackwell Extended Interview Pt. 2
Exclusive - Ken Blackwell Extended Interview Pt. 3
Know the steps that Ken Blackwell took to steal Ohio and begin preparing to insure no State gets away with any of the shennanigans. Use the list to establish counter measures.
If the list of Steps to Take to Steal an Election that follows is missing any items, let me know. I will update and add them.
Here is the list of how the Election was compromised from Conyers report. I look at these findings as a HEADS UP on how the mostly Republican states could try to compromise votes in 2012. Why not? They got away with Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004.
Pre-Election Tactics
Restrict provisional ballots
Reject voter registration applications based on paper weight.
Engage in pre-election caging tactics
Organize thousands of partisan challengers concentrated in minority and Dem areas to intimidate voters
Prevent voters who requested absentee ballots but did not receive them on a time basis from being able to receive provisional ballots
Set the vote tally deadline late, delay declaration of results, insuring that time for completing recounts is pushed to a date AFTER the Electoral College meeting.
Give personnel from the company access to their Electronic Voting Machines just prior to election day.
Buy voting machines from companies whose owners are staunch GOP supporters.
Don't clearly let each voter know exactly where they are supposed to go to vote.
Election Day Tactics
Widespread intimidation and misinformation
Send the thousands of partisan challengers chosen prior to election day to concentrated minority and Dem areas to intimidate voters
Declare spoiled ballots, and don't inspect or count them
Use electronic voting machines with a history of transferring votes
Provide inadequate number of voting machines to insure extremely long lines to discourage participation. This works well for people who have to work.
Tell voters they may cast their ballots in any precinct.
Send voters to the wrong precinct.
Post-Election Tactics
Do not articulate clear and consistent standards for counting provisional ballots, especially in traditionally Democratic voting areas.
Fail to issue specific standards for a recount.
Provide "cheat sheets" to those counting the ballots to avoid doing a county-wide hand recount.
Refuse to initiate investigations.
Leave location where ballots and machines are stored unlocked, unmanned (Greene County, see page 87)
Recommended legislation, see page 101 - 102 to prevent this from happening again. I don't think any of it got passed.
Like all Bills GOP, the Help America Vote Act could have been called Help Obfuscate Elections to the Favor of the GOP, according to this OPEN CONGRESS REPORT
Scroll down to read the Controversy and implementation section which ends with:
The 2006 election between Vern Buchanan and Christine Jennings was decided by 370 votes. In 17,000 to 18,000 ballots voters did not choose either candidate.
In election administration terminology this is known as an 'undervote' and may indicate a failure of Sarasota counties direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 was passed to correct election administration errors, and has yet to alleviate those problems.
In May of 2007 the House Committee on House Administration launched a special task force to investigate the administration of the election.
This year stealing the election can be done very easily. All the voting machines have to do is NOT record a % of votes in highly Democratic voting areas.
Seems simple enough to steal the vote to make Obama a one time president, especially if states follow the Handbook created by Ken Blackwell.
Is there cause for concern? The red states are controlled by GOP Governors who assign control over the election processes:
With all the additional pressure to make voting more difficult, can Democrats ever win back these states? Can we be assured for a legal vote count this year?
Stalin: (quote supposedly verified):
You know, comrades," says Stalin, "that I think in regard to this: I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how.
This was posted today at the Department of Justice website.
The Department of Justice will observe Ohio election.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, March 6, 2012
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that the Civil Rights Division will monitor elections today in Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Lorain Counties, Ohio. The monitoring will ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Each year, the Justice Department deploys hundreds of federal observers from OPM, as well as departmental staff, to monitor elections across the country. To file complaints about discriminatory voting practices, including acts of harassment or intimidation, voters may call the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.