Regular readers of DailyKos do not need a
reminder of the nefarious role
Diebold has played in undermining our democracy.
The latest news is that on Monday, February 13, a key motion in a class action securities fraud case is going to be filed against Diebold and some of its officers and directors in the Northern District of Ohio. The complaint alleges that defendants violated securities laws, causing artificial inflation of the Diebold's stock price. According to the complaint, Diebold "lacked a credible state of internal controls and corporate compliance and remained unable to assure the quality and working order of its voting machine products." Also alleged are false and misleading statements about internal company problems, and over $2.7 million in insider trading proceeds.
When the story breaks on Monday morning, let's be sure to call, write and blog our local news outlets so that they get on this story and, more importantly, give it the importance it deserves. If you agree, please recommend this diary so we can alert our Sunday bloggers as well.
(more after the jump)
As if that is not enough to whet your appetite about this story, consider this: as of this evening, the only news outlets printing the lawfirm's press release on the class action are the German financial network
Finanzen.net and the French investor site
Boursorama.com
VoteTrustUSA, the Brad Blog, and Green Party Ohio gubernatorial candidate Bob Fitrakis have links to the release from their sites, but I cannot find any coverage in the MSM.
Here are the key points we should make on this story:
- Diebold machines were involved in many irregular voting issues during the 2004 election.
- The latest example of why many voting machine and elections experts question election outcomes from Diebold machines happened in Carlise, Ohio, where voters last Tuesday went back to the polls to vote for or against a referendum on a proposed levy for the Carlise Fire Department because Diebold machines recorded more votes than voters during the November 2005 election.
- Elections officials in California, Florida and other places recently have found Diebold machines to be susceptible to hacking, and not worthy of being purchased by their jurisdictions.
- In 2003, Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold, announced that he had been a top fund-raiser for President George W. Bush. In a letter dated August 14, 2003 in which he invited guests to a $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser at his suburban Columbus mansion, O'Dell stated that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." In the invitation, O'Dell also asked guests to consider donating $10,000 each to the Bush reelection campaign. The letter went out the day before Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a Cincinnati Republican, was to qualify Diebold, as one of three companies eligible to sell upgraded electronic voting machines to Ohio counties in time for the 2004 election. (The Plain Dealer, August 28, 2003, Voting machine controversy Head of firm seeking Ohio contract committed to Bush victory, Julie Carr Smyth.)
This is not just a story about the stolen 2004 election. This is about how the GOP has systematically worked with voting machine companies to try to subvert democracy. If we don't stop them now, they will do it again in 2006, 2008 and beyond.
Any other key points you want to add?
[UPDATE 2006-02-12 07:53AM PST] One comment below notes that the class action lawsuit itself was filed in December and that Monday's development is the latest development in the class action process, namely, a Motion for Lead Plaintiff and Lead Counsel status. This is a legal distinction that Kossacks might want to make when they talk to the MSM on Monday. But the point remains that very few people outside places such as DKos and Bradblog are discussing this. Why not? Hell, Yahoo News just posted something on the story but listed it as "Financial News." Why is this simply a story for investors? What about "Democracy News?" What about "Taxpayer News" (because our tax dollars are being used to pay for these hackable machines)? For more details, see my comment near the end of the thread. Let's get the word out!