About two weeks before the election the AP reported the following...

"Presidential votes from Ohio's predominantly black precincts, most of which use punch-card ballots, went uncounted at three times the rate of those from predominantly white precincts in the 2000 election, according to a newspaper analysis.

The pattern could repeat on November 2, The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday based on its precinct-by-precinct computer analysis comparing 2000 election results from U.S. Census race data.

Ohio had 94,569 uncounted presidential votes in 2000..."

Source

No surprise that "this year [Ohio] lost 92,672" to punch card errors.

Source

In 2000, 91% of African American voters in Ohio voted democratic.

Source

Using these numbers, one can build an equation...

From the first article, the figure: "Three times the rate" or 2/3 of 92,672, means that about 61,781 of the spoiled ballots were cast in "predominantly black precincts". Using the 91% figure we can approximate that about 56,221 of these votes were for Kerry equating to a net gain of at least 50,000 votes. With this information we can accurately lower Bush's lead in Ohio from 136,000 to 86,000.

Moving on...

Immediately after the election it was announced that there were anywhere between 150,000 and 250,000 provisional ballots that would not be counted for another eleven days. As of today, those ballots have still not been counted and the number of how many there actually are remains in dispute; but what we do know is that there were a minimum of 156,977. About a week after the election it was reported that...

"In 2000, an estimated 9% of Ohio’s provisional ballots were rejected and not counted, according to Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. Many election observers are predicting the number will be much higher this year due to directives from Blackwell’s office.

Source

Sure enough, it was reported today that...

"Ohio counties finished certifying votes in the Nov. 2 presidential election Wednesday, and the results showed that officials accepted about 77% of the provisional ballots that were cast.

Ohio's 88 counties reported validating 121,598 provisional ballots from 156,977 checked, according to an Associated Press tabulation."

Source

That's a 14% increase in "thrown out" ballots! AND...

"Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for Blackwell's office, said there would be no available breakdown of how many provisionals went to Bush and how many to Kerry."

Source

But thanks to The Free Press, we can make a few estimates...

"An earlier analysis in the Free Press of the 155,428 unofficial provisional ballots recorded at the Secretary of State’s website found that a clear majority, 85,096, came from the 15 counties Kerry won. An additional 17,038 came from urban Hamilton County, home of Cincinnati, and Wood County, where Bush won with 53% and 53.5% respectively. Traditionally, Hamilton County’s provisional ballots are disproportionately cast in the African American majority wards of the central city and not in the affluent Republican-dominated suburbs. Thus, nearly two-thirds (65.7%), or 102,134, provisional ballots come from areas where the provisional ballots are likely to be pro-Kerry."

Source

That is a net gain of over 90,000 votes. This number eliminates Bush's lead and proves that the intent of the voters was not expressed on November 2nd.

And this all goes without mentioning that Bush's original lead of 136,000 votes is a statistical impossibility (mathematically proven here) that, in my opinion, could only have been caused by an intentionally placed biased computer "glitch." I must be crazy, right? Well consider this...

"C. Ellen Connally, an African-American Democratic candidate from Cleveland for Ohio Chief Justice, received 257,000 more votes than Kerry."

That's right...a bottom of the ticket, African American, democratic candidate for Ohio Chief Justice received 257,000 more votes than the Democratic Presidential Nominee!

"There were 15 Ohio counties where Connally’s margin was 5,000 votes or more better than Kerry’s unofficial results. In five counties, Connally had a 10,000-vote margin or better. These counties used punch card, optical scan, and touch screen voting machines – with most using punch card systems."

"A negative sign immediately below means that the margin for Kerry (in his race) was less than the margin for Connally (in her race) by the indicated amount. All counties where Connally's margin exceeded Kerry's by 2,000 votes or more should be on this list. There are 37 such counties."


County | Margin | Voting System
Adams -2,299 punch card
Allen -4,579 optical scan
Auglaize -6,592 DRE
Brown -4,363 punch card
Butler -45,457 punch card
Champaign -2,252 punch card
Clermont -22,998 optical scan
Clinton -3,429 punch card
Crawford -2,891 punch card
Darke -6,549 punch card
Defiance -2,050 punch card
Delaware -10,431 punch card
Fairfield -4,104 punch card
Geauga -4,433 optical scan
Greene -9,480 punch card
Hamilton -16,289 punch card
Hancock -5,424 optical scan
Highland -3,588 punch card
Holmes -2,393 punch card
Lawrence -2,567 punch card
Licking -6,265 punch card
Logan -3,610 punch card
Madison -2,394 punch card
Medina -3,768 punch card
Mercer -7,127 punch card
Miami -8,869 optical scan
Morrow -2,057 punch card
Pickaway -2,587 DRE
Preble -3,077 punch card
Putnam -5,327 punch card
Richland -3,464 punch card
Shelby -7,544 punch card
Stark -7,300 punch card
Union -2,339 punch card
Warren -24,785 punch card
Washington -2,203 optical scan
Williams -2,662 punch card

Source

And I can't forget...

"In Ohio, at the Gahana 1 Precinct, Bush received 6,253 votes, Kerry 1,916 votes, and the others, 23. This totals 8,192 votes, which is strange, since only 4,346 people voted.

At another Precinct in Gahana, Ohio, 4,258 votes were cast for Bush and only 260 for Kerry, while only 638 people were registered as having voted...

Ohio purchased e-voting machines from the Diebold Corporation, whose CEO Wally O'Dell is a Bush fundraiser, who promised "to help Ohio deliver its votes to the President"."

Source

More:
Diebold's Political Machine

And here is something else to think about...

http://copperas.com/machinery/

ballot counting machines, right?

So you're attributing errors to them that can't possibly be associated with them.

Punch ballots are fraught with errors. If you are REALLY concerned about voters in Ohio, I'd suggest you push for optically scanned ballots which have the lowest error rate (and a paper trail) of any current voting method.

Catz

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I'll get nicer when you get smarter.

Actually Catz.......Buckley is simply thowing out anything he can find and hoping something sticks. Pretty pathetic, actually.

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“I’ve been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career. Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work.” — Barack Obama, Speech to ACORN, November 2007

I'm amazed none of the links point to a piece by Palast. He's the king of this stuff.

How disappointing. I would've thought that a "Guru" such as yourself would be able to debate the facts. But I guess when it comes to sources you just close your eyes and pretend that you can't see the truth.

Were there not…

1. 92,000+ spoiled ballots cast in overwhelmingly democratic districts?

2. 155,000+ overwhelmingly democratic votes never counted?

3. 255,000+ Kerry votes misplaced? (Connally Race)

4. Statistical impossibilities in the final tally in relation to the exit polls; as well as in the final tally of multiple counties in relation to the demographics of the population?

And so you're asking us to believe that something is wrong here......and that John Kerry and all his lawyers just let it go, eh?

Look. I have worked in elections before. THERE ARE ALWAYS SPOILED BALLOTS AND SOME BALLOT THAT NEVER GET COUNTED. ON BOTH SIDES!!!!!!!!!! In our precinct, you could "spoil" up to 3 ballots by making errors. That was it. IF you screwed up your 3rd ballot, you didn't get anymore.

How stupid does someone have to be to NOT be able to figure out how to vote properly???? There are instructions in every booth.....all over the walls when you enter and get in line.....and in the local newspapers in the weeks prior to the election.

Get over it. Your guy lost. Fair and square.

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“I’ve been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career. Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work.” — Barack Obama, Speech to ACORN, November 2007

Who was responsible for replacing the faulty machines?

Ken Blackwell

Who is Ken Blackwell?

Ohio Secretary of State and Bush-Cheney campaign co-chair. (Not a lazy stupid democrat)
Again, you've ignored the facts. You've briefly addressed the spoiled ballots, claiming that it was democratic retardation that led to the disenfranchisement of over 90,000 voters. Like I said before and as I pointed out in my original post: Ken Blackwell was responsible for upgrading the machines in the minority and lower class districts and he did not do so. He even admitted prior to the election that he was "inviting a Florida like calamity" by not replacing the machines on time. This proves that the Bush-Cheney campaign co-chair is responsible for the loss of over 90,000 overwhelmingly democratic votes. But even if this were not the case, there would still be ample documentation that the intent of the voter was not expressed. You've failed to mention the provisional ballots, the computer errors, or the statistical anomalies and impossibilities. Should I assume you have no defense?

Couple of questions,

What is the legal threshold before an election is declared undecided?
When does the election window for 'no-backsies' close?


I'm asking because I wonder if any of this bean-counting will have any effect on the election. If not, then it's time to move with more practical matters.. such as what can be done to have a more perfect election process in the future.


BTW, on your tagline

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

Dec. 7 is the unofficial date but Dec. 13 is when the electors officially cast their votes.

All recount efforts will fail; absent public outrage anyway. And until people start getting pissed, it will be the same story for every "election" to come. That's why spreading the information is so important.

Public outrage? Umm.. yeah. not gonna happen, beancounting is not something normal americans do for fun. Thats what we have accountants and lawyers for...what are kerrys' doin?






Now this can be productive.. for future elections. Couple of things:

Have voters re-register as NPA (no party affiliation)... this will avoid being targeted by whichever political party.

Work on laws that will promote a more perfect election process. For instance right now casino slotmachines get more testing and certification than polling machines used in the USA.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts