No Stolen Democracy

Song: Yikes McGee, Reporting For Duty

Reporting For Duty (mp3)

You can also go here to listen.

Also check out the Yikes McGee's other Protest Songs for the New Millenium.

Photo: Kerry Vigil Day 6

Day 6 of  Coalition Against Election Fraud vigil outside Senator Kerry's home, BeaconHill, Boston, 1/2/05.

(Cick on photo for larger image.)

(photo by Joeseph A. Lopisi)

BROADCAST COVERAGE TIMELINE JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS FOR COUNTING OF THE ELECTORAL VOTES

http://www.house.gov/radiotv/TimelineElectoralVotes%202005.htm

BROADCAST COVERAGE TIMELINE

 

JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS FOR

 

COUNTING OF THE ELECTORAL VOTES

 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 2005

 

 

NOTE

All aspects of the proceedings described are based on Title III U.S.

Code Sections 15 thru 18 and information provided by the House Parliamentarian John. V. Sullivan. When using terms right and left, it is intended to indicate to the right and left of the people on the dais facing the seated members.

 

 

11 AM

(Regular House broadcast system coverage)

 

• House called to order by Speaker Dennis Hastert

• Prayer offered by House Chaplain Daniel Coughlin

• Approval of Journal

• Pledge of Allegiance led by House Member to be determined

• Any new members not previously sworn in may be sworn in at this time

• Some housekeeping resolutions may be brought up at this time

• Speaker announces names of House tellers – TBA

• Speaker announces recess until approx.

12:55 pm

.

 

1 PM

(Additional camera coverage)

 

• House called to order by Speaker Dennis Hastert

• House Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Livingood announces arrival of the Senate

• Four Senate Pages carrying two mahogany box containing the “certificates of vote” from the states are followed by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms William Pickle, Secretary of the Senate Emily Reynolds, Vice President Richard Cheney, Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin, Senate Tellers Senators Trent Lott (MS) Chris Dodd (CT) and other Senators

• Vice President Cheney takes his place to the Speaker’s right and calls Joint Session to order

• Vice President Cheney invites tellers to take their places at the desk in front of the Speaker’s rostrum.

• The Senate Parliamentarian opens and hands the first certificate of votes (from Alabama) to the Secretary of the Senate, who hands it to the House Parliamentarian John Sullivan; he hands it to Vice President Cheney, who hands it to one of the tellers. The tellers alternate reporting on the authenticity and proper form of each certificate and the number of votes designated for President and Vice President. Each teller records the result on a paper tally sheet.

• At the end of the reading of results from all 50 states and DC, the tellers compare the results on their four tally sheets and ALL sign all four tally sheets. Vice President Cheney then announces the result totals and orders them inserted into the respective journals.

• This entire session generally takes approximately 45 minutes…

…UNLESS…

• If there is an objection to any certificate, it must be raised by both a House and Senate member in writing as a state’s certificate is opened. The Senate must then “withdraw” to the Senate Chamber and each body can discuss each objection related to that state for up to two hours after which time each body votes separately on each objection. Each body would then return to the Joint Session to report its respective action on the objection.

 

THE HOUSE MAY THEN CONTINUE WITH ONE MINUTES OR OTHER LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS

(Back to Regular House broadcast system coverage)

Skip the Title and the Lead Paragraph and We Finally Have a Good Article in the Mainstream Press

Analysis: Protesters try last hurrah

By Marie Horrigan
UPI Deputy Americas Editor

Washington, DC, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Electoral-reform advocates and protesters who allege the Nov. 2 election was either rigged or marred by widespread irregularities are launching the last desperate measures to effect change before Congress certifies the Electoral College vote Thursday.

Citizen Web logs, which have largely sustained the calls for vote recounts, are leading a frenzy of activities including rallies, vigils, online petitions and mass e-mail messages as the Jan. 6 deadline looms.

Citizens calling for Congress to launch an inquiry into the vote before certifying it face the same hurdle as the 2000 election, in that a member of each chamber of Congress must call for the inquiry. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., spearheads a group of more than a dozen members of the House in calling for a recount, but so far no senators have stepped up to the plate.

Massachusetts native Sheila Parks has set up vigils in front of Sen. John Kerry's residence in Boston, which she said are attended by 10 to 15 people each day. Parks also is part of a delegation that is scheduled to travel to Washington Tuesday to make its case personally to a "dream team" of senators they think might be willing to hold up the vote certification.

Her group, Coalition Against Election Fraud, also is scheduled to meet Wednesday with representatives from Kerry's Senate office, who they will give copies of online petitions, letters and postcards from supporters and citizens asking Kerry not to certify the vote.

Despite their efforts, Parks said she is not sure what will happen Thursday when both chambers of Congress convene to certify the vote.

"I wish I had a feel for how it was going," she said with a sigh. "It depends what minute you get me."

Parks said her group was not composed of conspiracy theorists or diehard Kerry supporters, but of "very concerned citizens" who believe the election was fraudulent.

"The cornerstone of American democracy (is) one person one vote ... so our democracy is destroyed as far as we're concerned," she said.

It is the same requirement that stymied calls for an investigation into the 2000 election results, when members of the Congressional Black Caucus appealed to their Senate colleagues to no avail. The session was presided over by Vice President Al Gore, who had lost the Electoral College vote and, it was later reported, asked Democratic senators not to contest the vote.

Supporters of the recount effort were dealt a blow last month when Ohio's electors certified that state's vote. Despite that, however, groups rallied Monday in Columbus to continue pressing their calls for a recount. A consortium of civil-rights groups, the We Do Not Concede Coalition, was scheduled to head out with disenfranchised Ohio voters on a "Freedom Ride" from Columbus to Washington.

"There's a real human side of this," said coalition Director Kat L'Estrange. "These people were kept from voting and they were kept in lines for hours and it was terrible the way they were treated. ... We're going to put a face on the issue."

A spokesman for Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., one of several Democratic senators named on blog lists as a possible candidate to repudiate the vote, said he was out of the running.

In response to an e-mail message from a friend involved in the recount movement, Durbin thanked him for his interest but wrote that with the Ohio vote certified, "It is clear that Sen. Kerry was correct in announcing his concession on November 3rd."

"The basic test hasn't been met," said spokesman Joe Shomaker. "There is no compelling evidence of massive voter fraud." He added that Durbin is a strong proponent of electoral reform and supports abolishing the Electoral College but said that "tilting at the windmills" about November's outcome would not help his credibility on the issue.

No amount of petitions, faxes or phone calls would likely change Durbin's stance, he said.

A spokeswoman for another possible ally, Sen. John Kennedy, D-Mass., said it was a time "to come together as a nation, not to further divide it."

Kennedy had not been contacted by protesters, she said, but added the senator expected the election results to be certified on Thursday.

A spokesman for Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., meanwhile, said the office had received a number of petitions Monday but would not comment on how Boxer intended to vote on the certification.

Parks said she couldn't imagine why no Democratic senator had stepped forward. "Maybe it's what we always said, that once they get in there they lose their integrity," she said.

But if no one does so, she added, she was going to start voting Green.

Action Memo from Truth In Voting (OREGON)

Friends of democracy and Truth in Voting,

The final push is on to tell Senator Wyden that we won't stand for dishonest elections!

HOW YOU CAN HELP
As you know from previous emails, we have started a vigil of Senator Wyden’s office to convince him to step forward on January 6th (this Thursday) and reject the certification of the electoral college on the floor of Congress. There are already plans by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) to step forward and challenge the same. He will certainly be joined by other brave Representatives, but, as yet, no Senator has pledged to step forward. There is hope still to encourage our own Sen. Wyden to be one of the Senators that step forward. (We hope he won’t be alone this time!). How can you accomplish this?

1) The most effective way: Come in person to his Eugene office and join our vigil! If you don’t have any of the three key days off: Monday Jan. 3rd through Wednesday the 5th, then, by all means, come during your lunch hour and show solidarity with those that are there. Visit any or all three days if you can. Office address: 151 West 7th (parking on Charnelton just to the West of the building) Office hours: M-F  8:30 am to 5 pm

2) Second best: Call Sen. Wyden’s office to express your grave concerns about the validity of the Presidential election and ask the senator to join Rep. Conyers in his vote against certifying the electoral college vote. Washington, D.C. office: 202- 224-5244 (if you need to call from home before the Eugene office opens at 8:30 am PST) Eugene office: 541-431-0229

ALSO: Lobby the local news media to cover this issue and the vigil of Sen. Wyden’s office! Let them know you are very concerned about the validity of the Nov. 2nd Presidential election, especially in key swing states like Ohio and Florida.

2 basic questions for the media: Have you covered these concerns of voting irregularities and the potential of vote fraud in the national election? If not, why not? and Will you cover the local efforts of Truth In Voting to bring awareness of this issue and specifically the vigil in Senator Wyden’s office? All of the News Departments listed for phone calls below have received emails with the latest Press Release on the vigil. You can pass along the information to them by referring to this web page: http://www.truthinvoting.org/D30PressRelease.htm (the link is also listed on the left side of the home page)

Phone numbers to call:
Eugene Register-Guard:
KEZI-9 News: 541-485-5394
KVAL-TV: 541-342-4961; ask for the news department
KMTR-TV News Department: 541-741-2097
KLCC radio News Department: 541-463-6022
KPNW radio: 541-485-1120, ask for News Department

For talking points for your lobby calls (media or Sen. Wyden), you may want to print out this email and this page from the web site: http://www.truthinvoting.org/TalkingPoints.htm

For more information, contact: Doe Tabor (vigil organizer) via cell phone: 912-5485 / Via email: [email protected]

(via Ohio Election Fraud.)

Talking Points for January 6th Objecting to Electors

Talking Points for January 6th Objecting to Electors from Union County for Democracy and The Dean People.

January 2, 2005 CLEVELAND: PRESS CONFERENCE ON PRO DEMOCRACY - COUNT EVERY VOTE - VOTER IRREGULARITIES IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church

The meeting started a little after 2 PM with about a hundred in attendence. Rev. Jesse Jackson came past the front row to shake hands, so I got to shake his hand, too. Reverand Otis Moss welcomed us all to his church for this very important meeting. WOIO CBS Ch. 19 was there with a camera and several print reporters/photographers were also in attendence, including the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Rev. Moss introduced U.S. House Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH CD 11) as the first speaker.

Rep. Tubbs Jones reminded us that much of the HAVA Act had not been implemented for this election and serious voting irregularities plagued Cuyahoga County and all of Ohio. She cited more numbers like >30% of provisional ballots were rejected ( >50% in some African-American neighborhoods), 600+ registered voters' ballots were discarded, yet still the vote was certified. She also reminded us of the rally on Monday at the Vernon Rife Center in Columbus, OH, the same site where SOS Blackwell had issued his various "directives" like the 80 lb. paper for registration, etc. Rev. Jesse Jackson was introduced to a standing ovation.

Rev. Jackson recalled that it was here, in this very church, that he visited in 1965 with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (immediately after Selma and Chicago) to begin an unprecedented voter registration drive, culminating with the election of Carl B. Stokes as Mayor of Cleveland (Mayor Stokes was the first African-American to lead a major U.S. city). He explained that the same people who were against the Voting Rights Act of 1965 have only changed parties, but not stripes. He described the November 2, 2004 election as a "train wreck of the Underground Railroad", with even more irregularities in Ohio this time than in Florida 2000. He said over 30,000 names have been removed from the voter rolls. Blackwell, as chair of B/C in Ohio is the Katherine Harris of 2004. He wants us all to email or call our senators now, before this Thursday, starting with John Kerry! He listed Sen. Clinton, Sen. Boxer and Sen. Reid as well. He is demanding a thorough investigation of the machinery and wondered aloud how we, as a society, could have possibly allowed our voting machines to be from highly partisan companies like Diebold, ES&S and Triad.

Rev. Jackson questioned how it could be that the highly accurate InstaPoll exit polling caused a new election in Ukraine, when the exit poll gap in OH, PA & MI was, in fact, much larger than in Ukraine, yet hardly a word pointing this out from the media. He reiterated yet more numbers: 77 machines broke down in Franklin County alone, yet none in GOP areas; 92,000 ballots thrown out as overvotes because the ballots were previously marked for b/c; 65 precincts with 12,900 ballots remain uncounted; turnout in 30 precincts here was 40% while the rest of the state was around 70%. "Cleveland was a target market for voter irregularity schemes," he said.

About the recount, Rev. Jackson said this was a political recount, not a scientific one. He called for SOS Kenneth Blackwell to testify before this Thursday's EV count and strongly believes John Kerry should lead the drive for the challenge, to "end the theivery" and "stop it from happening again". He called for a federal election standard as a Constitutional Amendment that guarantees one voter, one vote and that it is time to abandon the Electoral College altogether. We should all remember Martin Luther King Jr.'s protest in Selma 40 years ago this March. And we should rekindle this spirit. Rev. Jackson fully expects The Congressional Black Caucus to contest the vote on Thursday. Next came Bob Fritakis and Cliff Arnebeck.

Fritakis began with his disbelief that the vote was certified in Perry County with 124% voter turnout! He went into detail how our elections became privatized and slammed Wally O'Dell (CEO of Diebold and b/c ranger/pioneer). He presented more evidence of remarkable election-day errors, all happening in strong Dem areas, like 42 machines missing on orders from Blackwell and Diebold machines "freezing up". In one district of 566 registered voters, a better than 98% turnout was reported, meaning only TEN people did NOT vote. Their canvass in just ONE afternoon turned up 25 people who did not vote!

Attorney Arnebeck asked the audience, "What's new about this election?". Is it Bush, Rove & Co. stealing the election? No - that happened in 2000. Is it about election officials ignoring the law? No - 2000 again. Were facts ignored? No - 2000 yet again. What was different then? This time they made it "not close". They are continuing their lawsuits and pressure and concluded that, unless these issues are addressed and rectified, we will no longer live in the democracy the whole world looks to as a fair, just, open, lawful society.

Gregory Moore of the NAACP Voter Fund told us about the 80,000 new voters they got registered for this election, about 1/7 of all in Ohio. There were 92,000 spoiled ballots and 157,000 provisional ballots not recounted. When John Kerry spoke at the NAACP back in July 2004, he got ONE standing ovation when he promised "All votes will be counted".

Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell implored us to be with Rep. Tubbs Jones on this. She told us of her election-day experiences, identifying Woodbury School as Ground Zero. When her police detective escort went to vote, he waited two hours only to find they had his SON's name on the voter rolls (same name, different birthday) and was given a provisional ballot, which he doesn't think has ever been counted. In every white neighborhood she visited that day, lines weren't longer than about 30 minutes, but in minority precincts, the lines were astoundingly long.

Mark Namet (sp?) of the PD asked if there is a pattern that they can show. Fritakis answered by explaining how virtually ALL irregularities happening in minority areas across Ohio AND at the same time favored b/c, a 135 million to one improbablity. "This was NOT an accident!" Bob argued. He referred to a Popular Mechanics/Popular Science Nov. 04 issue that discusses the "private software". He also cited "deliberate, calculated actions by SOS Blackwell" as another reason.

Another questioner asked about what the local, county & OH Dem party was doing about this. Tomorrow's rally in Columbus will be after all the state legislators are sworn in. They hope to have several Dem members of the OH House & Senate take part. But mostly, everybody was wondering where the Dems were in all of this. Rev. Jackson said this story has to reach a critical mass before the MSM will pick it up. He expects this to happen when the contest happens this Thursday. The election is not over nor is this story. It will take a lot of effort by everybody to make this issue mainstream and it is a long-term project. We must stay focused and comitted.

After a few more questions, Rev. Jackson took the podium again to lead us in prayer. He reminded us that this issue is one that crosses all lines, that we need to email and call all 100 senators (202-224-3121) before this Thursday, beginning with John Kerry. He likened this struggle to the Confederacy against the Union, where whites crossed the racial lines to help fleeing slaves with the Underground Railroad, to fight back slavery. We said a prayer for Robert T. Matsui (D-CA-05) who passed away today and Rev. Jackson asked the Good Lord for strength in our struggle.

REMINDERS:

The bus for Columbus leaves from CLE OH Monday at 10 AM from 3250 Euclid Ave. UAW Hall. Those interested in going can ride the bus or caravan behind.

Call those US Senators: 202-224-3121, John Kerry FIRST!

Expect more than one Senator to stand up this time. This will only happen if we do our part to express our concerns.

(Source.)

Tuesday, January 4th - Cambridge, Massachusetts - Recount 2004: "From Selma to Montgomery to Miami, FL, and Miami County, OH" - Movie Night

Recount 2004 presents:         

From Selma to Montgomery,
to Miami, FL and Miami County, OH                

A Movie Night
About the Voting Rights Struggle             
  in the New Millennium.       

  Tuesday, January 4th, 7-10pm             
           @38 Cameron          
38 Cameron Ave, Cambridge

[Note: there are two 38 Cameron Ave addresses since they start over in Somerville... be sure you're on the Cambridge side, which is closer to Mass Ave]

Attempting to put the 2004 Presidential election in its proper context, we examine voting rights struggles of the Civil Rights Era, the theft of the 2000 Presidential election in Florida, digitization of voting and vote-counting, and voting rights violations and disenfranchisement in Ohio in 2004.

This movie night will support the efforts of the Coalition Against Election Fraud (CAEF) locally, and other groups nationally, working to challenge the certification of the vote on January 6th in the Joint Session of Congress. The media whitewash on these vital issues forces us to find other means of communication to expose the systematic, racist, and illegal violations of our fundamental right to vote.

Discussions and action steps will follow the viewings.
 

(via Ohio Election Fraud)

Important Ohio Documents

Transcript of December 13th Testimony at Congressional Hearing in Columbus, Including Clinton Curtis Sworn Testimony:
http://www.freepress.org/images/departments/Congressional.pdf

List prepared by Secretary of State of distribution of voting machines in Ohio:
http://www.freepress.org/images/departments/machine_distribution.pdf

Expert Witness Testimony submitted by petitioners in election contest litigation:
Dr. Ron Baiman
http://freepress.org/images/departments/Dep_Baiman.pdf

Dr. Werner Lange
http://freepress.org/images/departments/Dep_Lange.pdf

Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips
http://freepress.org/images/departments/Dep_Phillips.pdf

(via Ohio Election Fraud.)

House Members Jackson and Tubbs-Jones to Challenge Ohio Electors

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones will be challenging the Ohio electors. http://blog.democrats.com/node/2269
 

(via Ohio Election raud)