I haven't seen a separate diary on this, though it has come up in the comments of the Olbermann diaries.
Anyway, this is cross-posted from The Stinging Nettle.
Call me crazy, but is it too much to ask for an explanation of these numbers from Cuyahoga County, Ohio?
REGISTERED VOTERS - OAKWOOD VIL 2746
BALLOTS CAST OAKWOOD VIL 7099
REGISTERED VOTERS - MORELAND HILLS VIL 2990
BALLOTS CAST MORELAND HILLS VIL 4616
REGISTERED VOTERS - MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS 12713
BALLOTS CAST - MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS 14854
These numbers are available at the official website of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
MUCH MORE below the fold...
Take a look a little further down, and notice that the numbers on the initiatives which were on the ballot in Moreland Heights Village are in line with reality:
ISSUE #55 - MORELAND HILLS VIL PRO'D RESOLUTION Vote for 1 (With 6 of 6 precincts counted) YES 1011 50.32% NO 998 49.68%
ISSUE #56 - MORELAND HILLS VIL PRO'D RESOLUTION Vote for 1 (With 6 of 6 precincts counted) YES 1230 63.01% NO 722 36.99%
ISSUE #57 - MORELAND HILLS VIL PRO'D CHARTER AMENDMENT Vote for 1 (With 6 of 6 precincts counted) YES 1114 56.29% NO 865 43.71%
Isn't that interesting? The numbers on these separately tabulated community specific questions show a fairly believable 2009, 1952 and 1979 votes, while the "total votes cast" shows 4616 votes in a 2990 voter community. Hmmmm. The same holds true for Oakwood, where 1667 votes were cast on Issue #62 (it failed) but 7099 total votes were cast in the precinct. Double hmmmmm.
More interesting results are tabulated at this site, which does the math, and determines that there are 30 areas in Cuyahoga County where tabulated votes cast exceed 100% of registered voters. 97,489 votes were cast over 100% in those areas. Now, perhaps there is something completely explainable about this. Maybe it's an anomaly which can be explained by the definition of precinct or ward or whatever. Maybe the numbers are not meant to be compared.
I don't know.
I don't even care who these alleged extra votes were cast for. Chances are, in Cuyahoga County, home of Congressman Kucinich, if these were actual votes cast, they probably went for Kerry. If so, I still want to get to the bottom of it.
But if they took Bush from an 80-20 blowout in Cleveland to an only marginally more respectable, but perhaps election-saving 66-33, then I will be REALLY curious as to what happened in other Ohio counties. Like Mercer Warren, a Republican stronghold, where the election officials declared an emergency under Homeland Security regulations and kept all media and observers away from the count.
The only person covering this in the SCLM is Keith Olbermann on Countdown, and on his Bloggerman page on MSNBC.com. Olbermann is covering it hard, spending 17 minutes tonight on this subject, and promising to keep doing it, noting "Senator Kerry, kindly don't leave the country."
Meanwhile, I know that in past hard times, Elizabeth Edwards has gone to the Internet seeking community and solace. She has even posted here in a comment thread during the primaries (for which I was flattered beyond belief.) But if this is really Elizabeth Edwards posting on DU, then I can't wait to hear more about it:
"And as for voter fraud, we are still piecing together the same stuff you
are piecing together."
"Love this "rejoin your unit at the
front" post because it says it all:
there is a front in this war, and you
can absolutely count on the fact that John
and I will be there."
Just some interesting issues. No tin foil hat. No hopes up. I just want to know who the phantom voters of Moreland Hills are. Don't you?
UPDATE: Poster Jennifer Poole lists this site as the official tally, and the numbers add up better:
http://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/boe/results/history/2004/110204_GE_Canvass.TXT
I just want an explanation for the weird numbers on the webpage. If I get one, I'll yank this diary, because I don't want bad info going around.
UPDATE II: Several posters below appear to have figured it out. On the webpage, absentee ballots are allocated to different precincts, making those precincts appear to have more than 100%. But when you go to the tally on the canvass report (currently unavailable), the numbers add up better. I'll leave it up to you to decide.
NOTE WELL: I DO NOT PRESENTLY THINK THERE IS FRAUD. THERE WERE JUST WEIRD NUMBERS. But many have asked that this thread stay up, so I will leave it up.