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Tag(s): 2004 Election; Election Recounts Protests; Fraudulent Elections; Ohio; Republican GOP Dirty Tricks; Warren
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March 18, 2008 at 22:20:59

Headlined on 3/18/08:
What really happened: lockdown in Warren County, OH, 2004

by Mark Crispin Miller (Posted by Mark Crispin Miller) Page 3 of 3 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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"I'm pretty sure that that was a ranking from emergency management,'' South said Thursday. She thought it came from Young via the FBI.

In an interview last week, Ariss insisted that Young "would never talk to anybody (from the FBI) in a parking lot, because they wouldn't know who the hell he was. But I better keep my mouth shut," he said with a laugh. "I won't even touch it. Just knowing the FBI, they would have no reason to be up here. . . Had there been any concern, it should have been addressed to us because we are the provider of security on the county buildings.''

"Well, he wasn't there,'' Young said of the sheriff.

"It's terribly disconcerting,'' Daniel J. Hoffheimer, a Cincinnati attorney, said of the discrepancies about whether the FBI was involved or not.

Hoffheimer, who was Kerry's legal counsel in Ohio, said, "Here you've got two people Š who have two different recollections, or two different stories about what happened, and at least, for now, no way of resolving which is the truth.''

AS OHIO GOES. . .

After returns were certified, Bush won Ohio by 118,601 votes out of more than 5.6 million cast statewide. The Republican president beat Kerry by nearly 42,000 votes in Warren County, including a 14,000-vote boost early Wednesday morning that prompted television news networks to project him as the winner in Ohio.

Bush won Ohio by 50.8 to 48.7 percent and Warren County by 72.3 to 27.7 percent.

In a federal lawsuit and subsequent books, Richard Hayes Phillips, a scientist from Canton, N.Y., and Columbus attorneys Cliff Arnebeck and Robert J. Fitrakis, among others, documented what they described as abnormalities in the county's punch-card ballot counts, including high numbers of Republicans who voted in favor of gay marriage in Southwest Ohio - contrary to elsewhere in the state - and supporting a Democratic candidate for chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. They contend the anomalies indicate ballots were mishandled, miscounted or tampered with, and that the Warren County "lockdown'' allowed this to happen undetected. Their lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Columbus.

Hoffheimer said no one may ever know the full story of what happened in Warren County, or Ohio that night.

"But Bush still carried the state by a large enough margin that it seems unlikely Š that even with all of these errors that Kerry could have won Ohio,'' Hoffheimer said.

Changes recommended by South and others are now in place: A window for media and other observers was installed overlooking the boardroom where vote tabulations take place, according to current Board of Elections Director Michael E. Moore. And three polling precincts that had been in the county administration building in 2004 have been removed.

Warren County will never lock down its administration building during an election again "unless there was well-documented, unquestionable'' cause, South promised.

"Could things have gone smoother here? Yup, we learned some lessons,'' Young said. "It's just like any fire, flood or tornado that you would have. Sometimes you sit back and you say, 'What could we have done better to approach that situation?' I learned to stay the hell away from itŠ. The only time (since 2004) I had anything to do with the polling place is when I walked in to vote. That was it.''

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In 2004, Rady Ananda joined the growing community of citizen journalists. Focused mainly on elections, her blogs also address religious, gender, sexual and racial equality, as well as environmental issues; and are sprinkled with book and film reviews on various topics. She spent most of her working life as a legal investigator for private lawyers, and five years as an editor. She currently serves as a senior editor at OpEdNews.

All material offered here is the property of Rady A...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Rady AnandaIn 2004, Rady Ananda joined the growing community of citizen journalists. Focused mainly on elections, her blogs also address religious, gender, sexual and racial equality, as well as environmental issues; and are sprinkled with book and film reviews on various topics. She spent most of her working life as a legal investigator for private lawyers, and five years as an editor. She currently serves as a senior editor at OpEdNews.

All material offered here is the property of Rady A...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Shifting the Boxes

Thanks for this piece, Mark.

I led the team of 6 activists who went into Warren County to photograph the ballots (punchcards) and signature books, after the 04 fiasco. (Going by memory now - with much apology to anyone whose name I forget, this team was made up of Bob Pohowsky, Jo Anne Karassek, and another Bob, all from Cincinnati; and, I believe, Victora Parks and Stuart Wright from Columbus.)

Two members of the Board of Elections, along with the Director gave us all a tough time. First, they made us wait despite our appointment to be there and photograph the records. They wanted to interrogate us first. I kept deflecting their hostilities, practicing non-attachment.

But finally, in a burst of anger, one Board member (a Democrat), demanded, "Why are you here? Is it because of the lockdown?"

I looked at him across the room and smiled sadly, "To be honest, yes."

That seemed to be what they wanted. The Board member stormed out of the room and didn't return.

The Director then left to get the boxes of election records. When she came back, she and another worker stacked the requested records on the table facing us and began passing out one precinct's records to each team.

The room was set up with long folding tables, forming a large square. Citizens sat on the outside of the tables, with our camera equipment, and election workers sat on the inside, handling the ballots we shot.

After several minutes, Bob Pohowsky noticed they had brought out records from a different election. I immediately questioned the director who smirked, and apologized. We all turned in what we had been working on, and she left to get the correct records.

[[wolf]] (oh, hell, the pic doesn't come thru in a comment. So, I posted this diary piece: http://snipurl.com/223qb

They must have a pattern of shifting boxes as their motives dictate.

by Rady Ananda (124 articles, 283 quicklinks, 36 diaries, 1060 comments) on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 8:15:13 AM

Charlie Levenson is a writer and activist in Portland, Oregon. In addition to serving as the Manager of Electronic Communications for a social/athletic club in Portland, he instructs in Digital Media at Portland State University, consults on communications strategy, and occasionally writes/directs videos.
Charlie LCharlie Levenson is a writer and activist in Portland, Oregon. In addition to serving as the Manager of Electronic Communications for a social/athletic club in Portland, he instructs in Digital Media at Portland State University, consults on communications strategy, and occasionally writes/directs videos.

The Simple Fact

It has been proven in court that most of the elections officials are criminal scum who are at BEST guilty of not giving a damn about their responsibilities to the law and at WORST (in most cases) guilty of TREASON AGAINST DEMOCRACY.

Our democracy would be much better if each and every single election official in the state of Ohio was raptured tomorrow.

by Charlie L (2 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 715 comments) on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 10:15:22 AM

waldopaper is an insignificant teacher, informed reader and professional writer... living in dominionist crackerland... with two women, one young man, three cats and two dogs... alarmed at a failing state controlled by corporate psychopaths armed with nuclear weapons. There's a light on. Somebody's home.
waldopaperwaldopaper is an insignificant teacher, informed reader and professional writer... living in dominionist crackerland... with two women, one young man, three cats and two dogs... alarmed at a failing state controlled by corporate psychopaths armed with nuclear weapons. There's a light on. Somebody's home.

To quote...

...what William Rivers Pitt wrote back in 2005:

The frustration I feel personally knowing that I and everyone else are being deliberately deceived and misdirected is topped by only one thing: The rage, horror and sorrow I feel when I finally do manage to carve through the crap and get to the truth. Because the truth, friends and neighbors, is so much worse than you can possibly imagine.

...and I don't know about you... but I can imagine a lot... and what should be deadbone obvious by now to anybody with a pulse takes very little "imagination."

The elections were stolen. DUH. The war (which one? doesn't matter) is a lie. well, DUH. "911" was an inside job. Oh... dur-de-duh DUH. Know what? By now... it really doesn't matter. Suppose you came up with ironclad, irrefutable run-it-through-the-science-lab PROOF of election theft, war fraud and false flag? And then God, Jesus, Buddha and Mohamed came down out of the clouds on roller skates with a golden billboard the size of the moon that said, "yep- it's all a fact, Jack." Then what? Then NOTHING.

First of all, at least 25% still wouldn't believe it... because they don't WANT TO... and even if they did, so what? "Impeach?" "Elect Ron Paul?" "Revolution?" Hey- good luck with that. The concentration camps are in place and so is the legal framework to fill them. As Gould said: "I can hire one-half the working class to kill the other half." This is precisely what the Neofeudalists all over the world are doing RIGHT NOW.

So... what's the "answer?" There IS NO "answer." The fatties have known the die-off has been approaching for a long time... and that's just fine with them. It's an "opportunity" to set up "private" fiefdoms and let "nature" eliminate the "useless eaters."

Survive. Endure... and REMEMBER.

by waldopaper (11 articles, 3 quicklinks, 25 diaries, 430 comments) on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 1:55:23 PM

'The people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.' Thomas Jefferson 1787
Munich'The people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.' Thomas Jefferson 1787

Re: "What really happened: lockdown in Warren County, OH.

Thank you Ms. Ananda for your noble efforts, and to professor Miller for his continued diligence in reporting these despicable and contrived election improprieties. This surely isn't Conservatism and it certainly isn't American.

Professor Miller, you warned us of this fascist Bush-Cheney take over back in 2004 with Cruel and Unusual as did many other brilliant writers. And again in 2007 with Fooled Again, a damming indictment of our hideous election process. Granted there's been some progress, we continue to see this blatant malfeasance in our elections.

Not too long ago I was fortunate to have a remarkable conversation with Mary Ann Gould, a brilliant woman and the host of Voice of the Voters. We spoke at length of the ongoing election improprieties, and where exactly our country is headed. Just Astonishing! If left unchecked this indecorous behavior can only assist in the abdication of American Democracy. Then again we might already have crossed the Rubicon!

by Munich (0 articles, 74 quicklinks, 13 diaries, 900 comments) on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 7:48:54 PM