There are at least two factors that should allow this case to move forward. First, there's a legal doctrine called "spoliation." Defendants are denied a reward for destroying evidence that may point to their guilt or culpability in a pending law suit, either announced or anticipated. The destruction of evidence can be taken as a sign of guilt. Second, much of the evidence has been documented through the meticulous research of Richard Hayes Phillips, PhD.

Proving Election Fraud with Hard Evidence: The Declaration of Richard Hayes Phillips and the Federal Law Suit

Phillips has an intense involvement in documenting and analyzing election fraud with over 40 articles on the subject. He analyzed data from 9,343 of Ohio's 11,323 precincts conducting research for this case. The Declaration of Richard Hayes Phillips was the opening document filed in federal court. It is a powerful narrative of election fraud and voter suppression. (Summary of the declaration evidence)

When Phillips visited Deleware County to examine ballots and other evidence (his right under Ohio law), election officials must have been terribly upset. They called the police five times and the county prosecutor twice seeking to stop the legal request for ballot review. Why?

Hamilton County shredded all of its unvoted and soiled ballots making it difficult to determine if any of those unvoted ballots were marked and substituted for voted ballots. Then there's the practice of the illegal pre-punching ballots and the impact on election results in Cincinnati. The county offered an incomprehensible excuse which included "inadvertent" ballot shredding. "Inadvertent?"

Clermont County lost all of its unvoted ballots, every single one. Were any of those unvoted ballots marked and substituted for voted ballots? We may never know that or why Phillips found absentee ballots stuck under phone books; or why the county failed to segregate voted spoiled and unused ballots as required by law; or why Phillips' repeated requests to examine unused ballots were turned down. What else should we know about Clermont County?

Phillip's analysis uncovered the fact that Miami County's ballot count was off in each and every one of its 82 precincts. A return of soiled ballots might have helped sort this out but they were destroyed. Why?

Three counties, Stark, Summit, and Warren, failed to return any unvoted ballots making it difficult to determine if unvoted ballots were marked and substituted for voted ballots. Stark and Warren said it was standard procedure to destroy unvoted ballots 60 days after an election. Summit didn't bother to offer an explanation.

Trumbull County claimed to have returned all of its ballots. This contradicts a report that Phillips received during his field work indicating that Trumbull's unused ballots were destroyed. Who would you believe?

Montgomery County failed to return one single ballot from 2004, including more than 290,000 voted ballots from 2004. That was most unfortunate since Montgomery County was responsible for a disproportionate number of the 1.5 million destroyed or lost ballots.

Phillips documented reports that technicians from voting equipment vendor ES&S visited county election divisions, in some cases programming vote tabulators. ES&S technician Sam Hogsett is a named defendant in the federal law suit. He stands accused (p. 21) of "adjusting computer software in tabulators and by other means to officially count more votes for Bush in predominantly Republican suburban and rural counties than were in fact cast for Bush in those counties in the 2004 general election in Ohio." The Free Press reported Secretary of State Blackwell dispatched Hogsett by name to help with the 2004 Fairfield County recount. Why?

A critical theme that runs throughout the evidence gathered is the attack on minority citizens, specifically those who chose to vote. Successful suppression of the Democratic vote requires a concerted attack on the voting rights black citizens. The evidence gathered and documented lends credence to the immoral and unconstitutional practice in Ohio.

Of the 11 counties in the Phillip's declaration, 10 reported that some or all destroyed or lost Election Day 2004 ballots. Not one of these counties indicated any regret for the loss. Not one of them took any responsibility for failure to obey the law on secure storage of election materials. And several either lost or destroyed ballot evidence while Phillips was conducting his research. Why?

Due to the evidence gathered by Phillips and associates, the amended filing for KLBNA v. Blackwell et al documents even more instances of election fraud and voter suppression. Of 27 counties where election fraud and voter suppression took place according to the suit, 19 failed to return all or some of the ballots and other evidence that they were ordered to produce. Why? (See summary of the KLBNA v. Blackwell et al evidence)

Maybe this was just a series of coincidences. It happens all the time. Right? Defendants routinely destroy evidence while they wait for trial. There's nothing to see here. Move along.

 1  |  2  |  3  |  4