A Definition:
Suppression -
forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority; "the suppression of heresy"; "the quelling of the rebellion"; "the stifling of all dissent" .
Wow what a great thesis by Major Tom. I hope we hear more from him!
Major Tom on "Actionable Fraud" and More!
A passage I noted
So to all those who are screaming "where is the indisputable facts or truth, because I haven't heard any yet," I say to them, "that at this point in the proceedings, indisputable proof is not required whatsoever."
I thought this would be a good time to recount some Diaries that review instances of problems with [Suppression] in this election, you may have missed or would like to reread.
Kos Diaries
Open Letter to Democrats....
In the wake of Election 2004, daily reports of voter suppression and possible voter fraud in predominately African-American precincts continue to roll in from across the country. Investigations and lawsuits are taking place in Ohio and Florida, with supportive findings from lawyers and scientists from prestigious institutions such as Thomas Jefferson Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, and the University of California at Berkeley.
"The Da Vinci Code"
Just read it. I found so many similarities between the suppression of the Holy Grail and our political system. Even those who know the truth are afraid to let the people have it. They allegedly fight for it but in the end, they back off so that those who abuse the people, can continue to abuse them.
Election day statistics: voting errors analyzed nationwide.
More than 4,000 votes vanished without a trace into a computer's overloaded memory in one North Carolina county, and about a hundred paper ballots were thrown out by mistake in another. In Texas, a county needed help from a laboratory in Canada to unlock the memory of a touch-screen machine and unearth five dozen votes.
First Hand Reports from Ohio Volunteers
After the polls closed, I talked to an Election Protection project worker who told me of the polling place in Youngstown where he worked that day. It had only three electronic touch screen voting machines. The lines were extremely (at the very least 3 to 4 hours) long. People were leaving and coming back multiple times trying to vote. Some were complaining that they had to work and could not miss the time from work or they would lose money that they could not afford to lose, or worse, lose their jobs. Youngstown is a very depressed, high-unemployment city.
Notes on Ohio Voter Supression Hearings...
UPDATE: SOLID Proof of Vote Suppression in OH
VIP voter parking for Republicans ---- Long voter lines for hard workers and college students
In Franklin County, where Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matt Damschroder is also the former Executive Director of the county's Republican Party, the county Board of Elections building looked like a bunker. Scores of city buses blocked parking spaces on the street outside, numerous concrete barricades surrounded the parking lot, and a metal detector was stationed at the only entrance. A phalanx of armed deputy sheriffs swarmed the only site where provisional voters could cast a guaranteed ballot. The Columbus Dispatch confirmed an Election Day Free Press story that far fewer voting machines were present in predominantly black Democratic inner-city voting wards than in the recent primary election and the 2000 presidential election, with their lighter turnouts. The reduced number of machines caused voters to wait up to seven hours and wait an average of approximately three hours. One Republican Central Committee member told the Free Press that Damschroder held back as many as 2000 machines and dispersed many of the other machines to affluent suburbs in Franklin County.
Kos Diary Oct 31
Voter fraud and disenfranchisement
Makes you glad to be a Democrat, huh? We all knew College Republicans were slime. Now we have hard evidence. I hope to see some of those scum carted off to jail. But I digress, since cheating the elderly of their life savings isn't really voter fraud or supression.
Kos Oct 28
Voter suppression time
Seriously, the GOP must keep voters away from the polls in order to have any chance to win.This flyer is being distributed around Milwaukee's African American communities.
Kos Oct 23
Check your ballot!
Yesterday a friend voted early at a polling location in Austin. She voted straight Democratic. When she did the final check, lo and behold every vote was for the Democratic candidates except that it showed that she had voted for Bush/Cheney for president/vice pres.
Other Blogs
Sample Right-wing Voter Suppression Letter
For any of you who doubted the reports of Right Wing voter suppression campaigns, here's a sample letter that was sent out targeting Democrats in an Ohio county:
The details about "Caging" and what the Republicans have planned to do are coming into view. The Republicans have been compiling lists (probably in the tens of thousands) of voters whom they have culled from lists of those newly registered, mailing registered mail to them, preparing lists of those who did not accept the Republican Party mailing, and then challenging their right to vote.
Voter Suppression Rap Sheet
In Jacksonville, Florida a private investigator filmed African American voters who were voting at early vote sites from a vehicle with its windows blacked out. (GOP Accused of Planning to Obstruct Blacks at Florida Polls, Los Angeles Times (free subscription required), 10/28/04)
Other
Here are also a few Press articles:
More Ohio voter Suppression Testimony Prompts Upcoming Legal Filing for Statewide Recount
Jerry Doyle, Franklin County:
"I voted at precinct 13, and I got there around a quarter till nine, and I didn't get out of there until about ten minutes to one. And there is a lot of, you know, my wife and I, we both went to vote, and so there is a lot of people, elderly people behind me that couldn't stand, that was in worse shape than I was, and they were not offered any assistance, and I thought that was wrong, you know. And I was there for all of that time, over four hours, and I wasn't offered any assistance, you know. And there was a lady about three, four people behind me, she was arguing on her cell phone, I guess to her employer, and she asked, she said well, I have been in this line for two hours, you know, and it looks like it is going to be another hour, and she was telling him -- I am telling you what I heard her say, you know, she was on the cell phone. And she said, I will make it up, the time I lose, no matter what, or no matter how long, I will make it up, please let me stay here, and I guess he said no, because she got very upset and she had to leave to protect her job, you know."
Review of nationwide problems
Our Government at work in 2000
In summary if we were in a Court of Law would this be considered evidence? Isn't this at least proof that we should investigate these problems more thoroughly. Does the silence by the majority of the RWCM make them accomplices in denying voters their right to have their vote counted.
I am sure there will be a few journalists a year from now saying how sorry they were for not at least investigating these issues immediately after the election. If there are any journalists with a conscience out there, please join the few who have already spoken out ( Bloggers Too ! ). We need your voice to be heard Now! The time to act is Now! The next election cycle will be too late.
I am glad John Kerry has joined in the recounts. I look forward to hearing more from him in the coming weeks. The growing case that our votes were not properly counted is just too great for the media to ignore or to refer to them as Tin-Foil voting issues that didn't make a difference in the outcome.