NY Times: Lawmaker Seeks Inquiry Into Ohio Vote [UPDATED]

Lawmaker Seeks Inquiry Into Ohio Vote
By TOM ZELLER Jr.

Published: December 15, 2004

The ranking Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, plans to ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a county prosecutor in Ohio today to explore "inappropriate and likely illegal election tampering" in at least one and perhaps several Ohio counties.

The request for an investigation, made in a letter that was also provided to The New York Times, includes accounts from at least two county employees, but is based largely on a sworn affidavit provided by the Hocking County deputy director of elections, Sherole Eaton."

(more at the link):
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/15/politics/15ohio.html?oref=login&oref=login

Expecting more details and as they become available I will post them as comments to this diary.

I have added a copy of a new article by Will Pitt, just posted at Truthout and a copy of Congressman Conyers' letter to the FBI [contained in Will's article, but copied here just to make it easily accessible]. Will also has posted the affidavit from Ms. Sherole Eaton.

•  Thanks again for staying with this

  and please consider recommending Plea for help from an Ohio activist

  It was posted on dKos earlier today and seems to have scrolled into oblivion before getting much notice.

  It came to my attention in an email.

  peace

  by peace voter on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:11:40 PM PDT

  •  Done (n/t)

    by understandinglife on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:17:13 PM PDT

•  Truthout: Proof of Ohio Election Fraud Exposed

  By William Rivers Pitt
  Wednesday 15 December 2004

      "Among activists and investigators looking into allegations of vote fraud in the 2004 Presidential election, the company always mentioned was Diebold and its suspicious electronic touch-screen voting machines. It is Diebold that has multiple avowed Republicans on its Board of Directors. It was Diebold that gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Bush's election campaign. It was Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell who vowed to deliver Ohio's electoral votes to Bush.

      As it turns out, everyone was looking the wrong way. The company that requires immediate and penetrating scrutiny is Triad Systems."

  (much more at the link):

  http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/121604Z.shtml

  by understandinglife on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:13:07 PM PDT

  •  Account of a conversation with Triad President

    is HERE. The thread was on the recommended list for a few hours, but has dropped off recently.

    I called the President of Triad last night, and unbelievably, he called me back at about 6:15 EST Tuesday.  

    Read what he had to say about this whole thing and weigh in.

    And if you think of it, please recommend, so others tomorrow might still be able to catch it.

    Thanks

    by duke1983 on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:25:57 PM PDT

    •  Interesting....I think I will be even more ....

      ...interested, as I'm sure you will, to hear what he has to say under oath -- an experience he is likely to be having real soon now.

      Recommended your diary and I've sent a link to it to Will Pitt and folk at DU.

      Peace.

      by understandinglife on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:32:29 PM PDT

      •  Thanks, I appreciate it n/t

        by duke1983 on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:39:16 PM PDT

•  From Will Pitt's article: Copy of Rep Conyers ....

  ....letter to the FBI:

  December 15, 2004

      As part of the Democratic staff's investigation into irregularities in the 2004 election and following up on a lead provided to me by Green Party Presidential Candidate, David Cobb, I have learned that Sherole Eaton, a Deputy Director of Board of Elections in Hocking County, Ohio, has first hand knowledge of inappropriate and likely illegal election tampering in the Ohio presidential election in violation of federal and state law.

      I have information that similar actions of this nature may be occurring in other counties in Ohio. I am therefore asking that you immediately investigate this alleged misconduct and that, among other things, you consider the immediate impoundment of election machinery to prevent any further tampering.

      On December 13, my staff met with Ms. Eaton who explained to them that last Friday, December 10, Michael Barbian, Jr., a representative of Triad GSI unilaterally sought and obtained access to the voting machinery and records in Hocking County, Ohio, modified the computer tabulator, learned which precinct was planned to be the subject of the initial test recount and made further alterations based on that information, and advised the election officials how to manipulate the machinery so that the preliminary hand recount matched the machine count. Ms. Eaton first relayed this information to Green Party representatives, and then completed, signed and notarized an affidavit describing this course of events, a copy of which is attached.

      The Triad official sought access to the voting machinery based on the apparent pretext that he wanted to review some "legal questions" the officials might receive as part of the recount process. At several times during this visit, Mr. Barbian telephoned into Triad's offices to obtain programming information relating to the machinery and the precinct in question. I have subsequently learned that Triad officials have been, or are in the process of intervening in several other counties in Ohio - Greene and Monroe, and perhaps others (see attached).

      There are several important considerations you should be aware of with respect to this matter. First, this course of conduct would appear to violate several provisions of federal law, in addition to the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. 42 U.S.C. §1973 provides for criminal penalties against any person who, in any election for federal office, "knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by . . . the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held." 42 U.S.C. § 1974 also requires the retention and preservation, for a period of twenty-two months from the date of a federal election, of all voting records and papers and makes it a felony for any person to "willfully steal, destroy, conceal, mutilate, or alter" any such record. Further, any tampering with ballots and/or election machinery would violate the constitutional rights of all citizens to vote and have their votes properly counted, as guaranteed by the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

      Second, the course of conduct would also appear to violate several provisions of Ohio law. No less than 4 provisions of the Ohio Revised Code make it a felony to tamper with or destroy election records or machines.1 Clearly, modifying election equipment in order to make sure that the hand count matches the machine count would appear to fall within these proscriptions.

      Moreover, bringing in Triad officials into other Ohio Counties would also appear to violate Ohio Revised Code § 3505.32 which provides that during a period of official canvassing, all interaction with ballots must be "in the presence of all of the members of the board and any other persons who are entitled to witness the official canvass," given that last Friday, the Ohio Secretary of State has issued orders to the effect that election officials are to treat all election materials as if they were in a period of canvassing,2 and that "Teams of one Democrat and one Republican must be present with ballots at all times of processing."

      Third, it is important to recognize that the companies implicated in the wrongdoing, Triad and its affiliates, are the leading suppliers of voting machines involving the counting of paper ballots and punch cards in the critical states of Ohio and Florida. Triad is controlled by the Rapp family, and its founder Tod A. Rapp has been a consistent contributor to Republican causes.4 A Triad affiliate, Psephos corporation, supplied the notorious butterfly ballot used in Palm Beach County, Florida, in the 2000 presidential election.

      Sincerely,

      John Conyers, Jr.

      Enclosures

      cc: The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.

  by understandinglife on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:16:15 PM PDT

  •  There's good stuff in there

    In particular, I am heartened to see that he found applicable federal statutes in the U.S.C., as this will make it much easier to get the FBI involved.

    Thanks for posting this!

    -AG
    

    by AlphaGeek on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:24:50 PM PDT

    •  Yes, I'd say he's "laser focused" ....

      ....on the issues, and I've read some strong comments from Congresswoman Maxine Waters (from her time on Randi Rhodes) earlier today.

      I think 6 Jan 2005 is going to be very different from 6 Jan 2001.

      Thank you.

      by understandinglife on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:29:49 PM PDT

  •  The .pdf file of the letter

    http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/brockbealohelecltr121504.pdf

    "I'm a patriotic American, not a pro-fraud theocrat"

    by understandinglife on Wed Dec 15, 2004 at 10:40:18 AM PDT

•  BradBlogToo comments....

  "Welcome 'NY Times' to Election 2004!
  And other notes from Ohio...

  "After a few choice words for The NY Times (and even some helpful ones) by The BRAD BLOG over the past several weeks, we're glad to see our new best friend, Tom Zeller Jr. pick up where only us conspiracy-theorists and dissidents have feared to tread over the last 5 and a half weeks!

  In a refreshingly tinfoil-reference-free article in tomorrow's Times Mr. Zeller smartly covers the troubling reports ...."

  http://bradblogtoo.blogspot.com /

  Peace.

  "When Did Bush Know?"

  by understandinglife on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:26:45 PM PDT

•  reccommending

  this conspiricy-mongering tin-foil wrapped speculitive... Oh, the ranking Democrat calling in the FBI to investigate vote tampering in Ohio. That's a lot of foil.

  Now Wapo goes from tinfoil to Lessons for 2008

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64737-2004Dec14.html

  This is one of the most repulsive pieces of reporting I've read in the last... 20 minutes.

  by moon in the house of moe on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:40:42 PM PDT

  •  My letter to Powell and Slevin

    15 Dec 2004

    Good evening Mr Powell and Mr Slevin,

    "OH offers lessons for 2008" - perhaps, but much more immediate issues should be the focus of your journalism and should have been since 2 Nov 2004.

    The national election of 2004 is far from over, gentlemen. And, many, many of us have every intention of bringing the process to a halt by 6 Jan 2005. We must not allow the systematic attack on our American franchise of democracy to succeed; we will not permit systemic disenfranchisement to prevail.

    Where have you and all your media colleagues been since the 'red shift' of 2 Nov 2004? Where were you when folk from OH to NM were being disenfranchised? Why have you not been at the front of the line demanding Mitofsky release all raw exit poll data from 2 Nov 2004? Why have you not been reporting on the extensive Republican linkage to Diebold, Sequoia and ES&S? Why have you not been reporting to the 30 % of voters on 2 Nov 2004 that they have no way of knowing if their vote was recorded as they intended; counted as they intended? Where is your outrage over what was done to African American and student voters?

    I suggest you listen to what Congresswoman Waters had to say on Randi Rhodes on 14 Dec 2004. Read the full text of Moss v Bush. Study carefully Congressman Conyers letter to the FBI regarding Triad.  Begin defending our Constitution; our franchise of democracy before it is too late.

    Sincerely,
    xxxxxxxx

    by understandinglife on Wed Dec 15, 2004 at 12:22:06 AM PDT

    •  Michael Powell responds, and so do I

      Very kind of you to respond Michael.

      My point is, we are still engaged in the national election of 2004. Hour by hour, since ~ 9pm EST, 2 Nov 2004, many of our fellow citizens have been gathering and analyzing and recognizing that what is happening in this national election must not be permitted to stand.

      By 6 Jan 2005 we should have halted a fundamentally fraudulent process and begun the process of rectifying it. Anything less is to forsake our American franchise of democracy.

      You might find the following of interest:

      "Folks Don't Get It"
      http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/15/9734/4841

      "Why Ohio Matters"
      http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/15/12545/041

      A tragic lack of commitment to our democracy and our Constitution was witnessed in the US Senate on 6 Jan 2001. The consequences of that lack of fortitude; that lack of courage on the part of every single member of the US Senate to stand with their patriotic colleagues from the House of Representatives are abundant and grotesque.

      Regarding the current status of the national election of 2004, a simple historical summary suffices --  "Besides, sir, we have no election."

      We will prevail.

      Peace.
      xxxx

      -----Original Message-----
      From: Michael Powell [mailto:[e-mail]]
      Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 9:05 AM
      To: xxxxx
      Subject: Re: "lessons for 2008"

      xxxx,

      While the headline--over which we have no control--may have spoken of 2008, we were very much focused on the 2004 election, and explicitly raised the question of voter disenfranchisement and how black voters suffered disproportionately.

      Thanks for your note.

      Michael Powell
      New York Bureau Chief
      Washington Post
      [e-mail]
      212 445 5298

      by understandinglife on Wed Dec 15, 2004 at 09:23:47 AM PDT

•  praise the lord -

  this is all good stuff.

  by b6 on Tue Dec 14, 2004 at 11:45:23 PM PDT

•  Election fraud in Washington State...

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4675358,00.html

  by GoRight on Wed Dec 15, 2004 at 03:31:04 PM PDT