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Tag(s): Election Reform; Election Reform HR 550; Election Theft; Election-Voting Issues; Electronic Voting; Vote Theft; Voting Integrity; Voting Laws Federal HAVA; Voting Machines; Voting Reform; (more...) Voting Technology (less...)
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June 29, 2007 at 22:20:50

Headlined on 6/29/07:
Congress about to "Just say yes" to Permanent Secret Vote Counting

by Nancy Tobi Page 1 of 2 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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Centralized control of voting is a form of tyranny, pure and simple. Joseph Stalin is said to have explained why: "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."

Meet the New Boss

Congress is about to pass an election "reform" bill, HR811 (the Holt Bill). The bill will enshrine secret computerized vote counting, controlled by the White House.

The Holt bill would tempt the likes of the late Mayor Daley of Chicago and vote villain Boss Tweed of New York City's Tammany Hall.

How will our modern vote villains resist?

A "yes" vote on the Holt bill allows the federal government to erect an impenetrable wall between American voters and their votes. It will lock in secret vote-counting technology owned by corporations. The public will be shut out for good.

That's why our NH Secretary State, the NH City and Town Clerks Association, and the DFNH Fair Elections Committee all oppose the bill.

They're not alone.

National organizations for the chief voting officials in all 50 states, state legislators, and the nation's counties all oppose the Holt bill. There are more than 100 national and regional voting rights groups who oppose the bill as well.

So, why is Congressman Paul Hodes (D-NH) a cosponsor of the Holt bill? And, why is Congresswoman Carol Shea Porter (D-NH) undecided on the issue?

Lobbyists like Common Cause are promoting HR811 to "get it straight by 2008". But HR811 is primarily drafted for a 2010 effective date. It will never protect our 2008 elections.

Grassroots activists have drafted a simple bill that really can make a difference for 2008. They need a Congressional sponsor but have yet to find any takers.

Congress is stuck on HR811, dangerous flaws and all.

"Power Corrupts. Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely"

The Help America Vote Act, passed in 2002, created the Election Assistance Commission. This shadow White House agency, four presidential appointees, wields total control over voting system standards. They design the computerized voting machines, and even the paper ballots, used in our nation's elections.

HR811 cements voting system control in the hands of the president, shifting the balance of power in elections from the citizenry to The Commission.

This is a complete reversal of the founders' vision of dispersed power.

1 | 2

Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Vote No on HR811

Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers

Nancy believes in the principles embodied in our Constitution, and that groups like Election Defense Alliance and DFNH can play a unique role by empowering ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

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4 comments

-Jason V. is a writer / web blogger with an agenda of uncovering corruption and elite modification of the financial / political realm.As the editor of several web sites, including a housing market web site (www.realestatedecline.com) and a political truth website (www.fight4Truth.com), he reaches over 8,000 visitors every week, who seek truthful insights and news that the mainstream media tends to shy away from or black-out.
J. Vorhees-Jason V. is a writer / web blogger with an agenda of uncovering corruption and elite modification of the financial / political realm.As the editor of several web sites, including a housing market web site (www.realestatedecline.com) and a political truth website (www.fight4Truth.com), he reaches over 8,000 visitors every week, who seek truthful insights and news that the mainstream media tends to shy away from or black-out.

scary stuff.

I want paper ballots! So it might take a week or two to count them all. I can wait a few days to find out who the REAL winner will be!

This secret vote counting is a scam and we cannot trust these liars and cheats with it.

great article!

by J. Vorhees (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 66 comments) on Sunday, July 1, 2007 at 12:56:59 PM

Director, Public Affairs, ChoicePoint
Chuck JonesDirector, Public Affairs, ChoicePoint

ChoicePoint responds to inaccurate comments

Nanci Tobi makes several inaccurate statements in this piece about ChoicePoint which we must correct.

First of all, ChoicePoint has no corporate interest in H.R. 811 -- nor have we engaged in any lobbying on it -- so it is inaccurate to imply that our company is a "champion" of this bill.

Secondly, Ms. Tobi has cited the oft-repeated -- but false -- myth about ChoicePoint's alleged role in the 2000 Florida election.

ChoicePoint was not involved in the 2000 election and has never been involved in any election in any country. The confusion arises from the fact that ChoicePoint bought Database Technologies (DBT), a company that was under a publicly bid contract to review Florida voter registration rolls from 1998 (before Katherine Harris took office) through 2000.

To be clear, ChoicePoint was not in the voter registration review business before the DBT acquisition and discontinued providing that service after the acquisition. These charges are seven years old and don't get any more legitimate with age.

As to the specifics of what DBT did for the State of Florida, the best source is clearly the U.S. Civil Rights Commission report on the 2000 president election:

www.usccr.gov/pubs/vote2000/report/ch5.htm

Ms. Tobi seeks to further connect ChoicePoint with the Republican Party. Again, not true.

By checking the public record, she would have learned that the political contributions of ChoicePoint's executives and Board of Directors -- while diverse in their support of causes and candidates -- actually favor Democrats. We hope your readers will personally review the contributions rather than rely on old, inaccurate characterizations.

www.fec.gov/

For additional detail on this and other topics, please review two pages that are posted on the Company Statements page of ChoicePoint's Web site, including "ChoicePoint's Mythical Role in Elections, Past and Present" and "The Truth About ChoicePoint, DBT and the 2000 Elections in Florida."

www.choicepoint.com/news/statements.html

Finally, it is simply absurd to suggest that ChoicePoint could use our technology to "overlay their vast demographic and other election data maps over a map of our nation, put together their game plan, and they'll own every election."

It makes for an interesting column, so long as it is labeled as fiction.

-- Chuck Jones, ChoicePoint

by Chuck Jones (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4 comments) on Tuesday, July 3, 2007 at 2:05:10 PM

Nancy Tobi is cofounder, former Chair, website editor for Democracy for New Hampshire (DFNH), and Chair of the NH Fair Elections Committee. Nancy is the author of numerous articles on election integrity, including "The Gifts of HAVA: Time to Ask for a Refund," "What's Wrong with the Holt Bill," "We're Counting the Votes: An Election Preparedness Kit," and "Hands-on Elections: An Information Handbook for Running Real Elections, Using Real Paper Ballots, Counted by Real People". Her article about...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Nancy TobiNancy Tobi is cofounder, former Chair, website editor for Democracy for New Hampshire (DFNH), and Chair of the NH Fair Elections Committee. Nancy is the author of numerous articles on election integrity, including "The Gifts of HAVA: Time to Ask for a Refund," "What's Wrong with the Holt Bill," "We're Counting the Votes: An Election Preparedness Kit," and "Hands-on Elections: An Information Handbook for Running Real Elections, Using Real Paper Ballots, Counted by Real People". Her article about...

to see more of bio, click on member name

My responses in ALL CAPS

First of all, ChoicePoint has no corporate interest in H.R. 811 -- nor have we engaged in any lobbying on it -- so it is inaccurate to imply that our company is a "champion" of this bill.

THE ARTICLE STATES THAT VOTETRUSTUSA IS A CHAMPION OF THE BILL. ARE YOU CONFUSING VTUSA WITH CHOICEPOINT? EASY TO UNDERSTAND. EVEN THEIR LIST SERVS GET CROSSED NOW AND THEN, WITH ALL KINDS OF CRAZY STUFF LIKE CHOICEPOINT EMPLOYEES IN GEORGIA SHOWING UP ON FLORIDA VOTING INTEGRITY GROUP LIST SERVS, AND WHAT NOT.

Secondly, Ms. Tobi has cited the oft-repeated -- but false -- myth about ChoicePoint's alleged role in the 2000 Florida election.

ANSWERED BY BEV HARRIS IN HER COMMENTS.

Ms. Tobi seeks to further connect ChoicePoint with the Republican Party. Again, not true.

IS THIS SOME SORT OF ROBO-RESPONSE YOU HAVE POSTED HERE? NOWHERE IN THE ARTICLE IS THE WORD REPUBLICAN EVEN MENTIONED.

THIS IS NOT SO ABSURD AT ALL. YOU HAVE BOATLOADS OF DATA. ELECTION FRAUD IS NOT PERPETRATED BY TAKING A BIG OLD HACK ACROSS THE NATION. IT IS PERPETRATED STRATEGICALLY BY KNOWING EXACTLY WHERE YOU HAVE "PEOPLE" TO DO YOUR BIDDING, WHERE THE DEMOGRAPHICS ARE THAT NEED TO BE SUPPRESSED ( A LA FLORIDA 2000 AND OHIO 2004), AND BY ASSOCIATING VOTER DATA WITH THE NECESSARY FIXES.

It makes for an interesting column, so long as it is labeled as fiction.

I THINK WE ALL WISH IT WAS FICTION. THEN WE COULD ALL GO BACK TO VOTING ON OUR HAND MARKED PAPER BALLOTS, HAND COUNTED IN PUBLIC VIEWING, AND RETIRE TO OUR GARDENS IN THE AFTERNOONS, INSTEAD OF TRACKING THIS KIND OF STUFF AND FIGHTING OUTRAGEOUS PATRIOT ACT FOR ELECTIONS-TYPE LEGISLATION BEING PUSHED FORWARD BY THE CONGRESS.

by Nancy Tobi (69 articles, 4 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 53 comments) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 10:44:09 PM

Bev Harris is executive director of Black Box Voting, Inc. an advocacy group committed to restoring citizen oversight to elections.
Bev HarrisBev Harris is executive director of Black Box Voting, Inc. an advocacy group committed to restoring citizen oversight to elections.

Choicepoint fact vs spin

It is a Choicepoint stakeholder who is providing financial support for HR 811. This article refers to Donna Curling, wife of Doug Curling, who is head of Choicepoint along with many of its subsidiaries. Doug Curling, head of Choicepoint, confirmed this to me.

It was Database Technologies that did the Florida felon purge in 2000; Choicepoint was already in the acquisition process during the felon purge, and during acquisition one action required of all public companies is due diligence. It was Choicepoint's fiduciary duty to know about the large contracts and activities of Database Technologies during the acquisition process. Choicepoint has a duty to its shareholders to be aware of controversial issues like this.

Even after the acquisition, Choicepoint never came clean about what Database Technologies did until investigative journalist Greg Palast exposed the story.

It is precisely accurate to say "Donna Curling, a Choicepoint stakeholder and wife of the head of Choicepoint, has been funding lobbying for HR 811 and has participated on listservs under a false name."

by Bev Harris (78 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 21 comments) on Tuesday, July 3, 2007 at 4:13:07 PM