Levers of power

In 2004, I got a lot of hate mail for writing that there were serious issues around the November U.S. election.

Remember those exit polls promising a John Kerry victory?

Activists and journalists such as Mark Crispin Miller, Greg Palast and BradBlog tried to make their protests heard in the mainstream media -- but the story was anathema to news organizations afraid of losing access to the administration. Democratic candidate Kerry had given up. Why should anybody else fight?

Now, slowly, slowly, Americans may be waking up to the fact that their democracy may have been corrupted.

In the current edition of Rolling Stone, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asks Was the 2004 Election Stolen?  (The numbers are footnotes.)

Like many Americans, I spent the evening of the 2004 election watching the returns on television and wondering how the exit polls, which predicted an overwhelming victory for John Kerry, had gotten it so wrong. By midnight, the official tallies showed a decisive lead for George Bush -- and the next day, lacking enough legal evidence to contest the results, Kerry conceded. Republicans derided anyone who expressed doubts about Bush's victory as nut cases in ''tinfoil hats,'' while the national media, with few exceptions, did little to question the validity of the election. The Washington Post immediately dismissed allegations of fraud as ''conspiracy theories,''(1) and The New York Times declared that ''there is no evidence of vote theft or errors on a large scale.''(2)

But despite the media blackout, indications continued to emerge that something deeply troubling had taken place in 2004. Nearly half of the 6 million American voters living abroad(3) never received their ballots -- or received them too late to vote(4) -- after the Pentagon unaccountably shut down a state-of-the-art Web site used to file overseas registrations.(5) A consulting firm called Sproul & Associates, which was hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters in six battleground states,(6) was discovered shredding Democratic registrations.(7) In New Mexico, which was decided by 5,988 votes,(8) malfunctioning machines mysteriously failed to properly register a presidential vote on more than 20,000 ballots.(9) Nationwide, according to the federal commission charged with implementing election reforms, as many as 1 million ballots were spoiled by faulty voting equipment -- roughly one for every 100 cast.(10)

In this 10-page investigation, Kennedy makes one very damning case, covering all the bases starting with those exit polls.

As the last polling stations closed on the West Coast, exit polls showed Kerry ahead in ten of eleven battleground states -- including commanding leads in Ohio and Florida -- and winning by a million and a half votes nationally. The exit polls even showed Kerry breathing down Bush's neck in supposed GOP strongholds Virginia and North Carolina. Against these numbers, the statistical likelihood of Bush winning was less than one in 450,000. "Either the exit polls, by and large, are completely wrong," a Fox News analyst declared, "or George Bush loses."

But as the evening progressed, official tallies began to show implausible disparities -- as much as 9.5 percent -- with the exit polls. In ten of the eleven battleground states, the tallied margins departed from what the polls had predicted. In every case, the shift favored Bush. Based on exit polls, CNN had predicted Kerry defeating Bush in Ohio by a margin of 4.2 percentage points. Instead, election results showed Bush winning the state by 2.5 percent. Bush also tallied 6.5 percent more than the polls had predicted in Pennsylvania, and 4.9 percent more in Florida.

According to Steven F. Freeman, a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in research methodology, the odds against all three of those shifts occurring in concert are one in 660,000. "As much as we can say in sound science that something is impossible," he says, "it is impossible that the discrepancies between predicted and actual vote count in the three critical battleground states of the 2004 election could have been due to chance or random error."

So far, the MSM are silent. Even the not-so-MSM are quiet, notes the Left Coaster.

I find it a little troubling that a half hour after this story is online, not one of the A-list center-left blogs is even posting on it. Has possible election fraud now become taboo with the larger blogs?

If they don't jump in to encourage a serious look at this issue, who will?

Comments

[Tom Gray]

I recall a PBS interview program that included an FBI agent on a panel. The topic turned to an alleged conspiracy to cover up the true facts about the Kennedy assasination. The FBI agent observed that the most difficult crime to conceal is that one perpetrated by a large conspiracy. Someone will always get angry and talk.

So why after all this time are there still stories about rigged polling but no confessions?

[Mark Bourrie]

I have a friend who used to work for Eelctions Canada and was in Cleveland during the 2004 election as a Kerry volunteer/election observer. Ohio was, that time, the state that put Bush over the top.
he said it was like the Third World. In downtown Cleveland (the black areas) lines went around the block and just never seemed to move because every voter was challenged. In the rich white suburbs, election staff were friendly, helpful, and there were no line-ups at all. The issue of Diebold voting machines aside (casino slot machines have better software security), there are some very simple, tried and true ways to subvert an electyion.

[Intcord]

Ok Zerb....I'd expect "tinfoil hats" to be worn by a few Americans, but you? Come on. And Robert F. Kennedy as a reputable source? Again, come on! You don't really think that enough people could be convinced to a) carry out a conspiracy that would thwart American's right to pick their own President AND b) keep their mouths shut about it. In the land of the almighty greenback, someone would have sold their story by now to Micheal Moore or Jerry Springer or someone. There is a good reason why the MSM haven't touched it....it didn't happen. No matter how badly some folks want to find something or someone to blame for their side losing. Exit polls, opinion polls, anything except the actual ballots are not worth much these days has as been proven time and again.

[sheena]

Cafferty on CNN was on fire tonight.

[Jay Currie]

One of the reasons why the A list leftie blogs are hanging fire is that people have been rolling on the floor laughing at this sort of tripe for so long. The American voting system is desperately screwed up. It has beeen for a while. Whether it favours the Republicans or the Democrats is a matter, largely, of who has the most sophisticated E-day effort - both black and white hat.

If the loonier shores of the left where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hangs his hat, want to refight the 2004 election great. But all that will do is ensure that Hillary gets the nomination and, likely, loses.

It might be more useful for the Dems to com up with a response to Islamic terrorism a little less nuanced that Johnny Cambodia's "police matter" approach and it might be wise to actually hold the Republicans feet to the fire on the debt, deficit and trade deficit issues. But the silly left of the party, mad with BDS, want to refight Ohio.

Well good luck with that.

[Antonia Z.]

Intcord .... uh ... what ballots??

Can you say ''touch-screen'' voting?

[Diana-Marie]

Mark Bourrie, you mention Diebold and security. Imagine my surprise yesterday when I went to get some cash and bank has new ATM (TD Canada Trust) manufactured by, yes, Diebold! Very fancy, all neon flashing lights and suspicious looking black space (camera?)......... got my cash from human cashier.
As far as the election fiasco down south is concerned it's up to the American people; if they don't care enough to demand change, whither 'democracy'?

[Dana]

Isn't it marvellous to see the instincts of the rightwing fatheads in action as they defend democracy?

Robert F. Kennedy is "the source", irrepective of the number of citations he provides: the only people who could possibly be concerned about electoral integrity are the "loony left": wondering about the health or longevity of democracy is a "tinfoil hat" activity.

Every time I read these assholes' remarks I'm thankful we have a non-partisan electoral system - although given the right's eagerness to americanize confederation it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see them initiate a move to politicize elections here. What better way eh goombahs?

[Ti-Guy]

Shoot. I lagged behind Jay Currie's propellor-hatted apologia.

How early do you have to get up to say someting dumb before Jay Currie out-dumbs it?

[Huge Seagull]

Even Bush-lovin' Christopher Hitchens thinks there's something fishy about Ohio 2004:

http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/articles/050214roco05?page=1

http://www.makethemaccountable.com/articles/Ohio_s_Odd_Numbers.htm

More interesting reading:

http://www.markhertsgaard.com/Articles/2005/RecountingOhio/

[amj]

In December 2005, Diebold's CEO Wally O'Dell left the company following reports that the company was facing securities fraud litigation surrounding charges of insider trading. His replacement, Thomas Swidarski, was reported to have given the maximum allowable $2000 contribution to George W. Bush's campaign despite Diebold having instituted a corporate policy disallowing involvement in political campaigns by senior executives, instituted after O'Dell had written, "I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year," in a fund-raising letter to Republicans dated August 13, 2003.

----
That distasteful tidbit is on wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold

But, you can find O'Dell's comment in a hundred other places, look it up.

O'Dell really delivered for Dubya, didn't he, and not just Ohio it seems.

For more:

http://www.billionairesforbush.com/cards.php

[Intcord]

"Intcord .... uh ... what ballots??

Can you say ''touch-screen'' voting?"

Actually Zerb, depending on which state you are voting in, it could be touch-screen, mechanical-lever, (remember the "chads"), or actual pencil to paper ballots. Also, the reference to ballots was a generic reference to several of our own elections in the past number of years, provincial and federal where a lot of the opinion polls were off..by a lot.

[Tom Gray]

OK I've read all the stories here. On some technical boards, I've read all the stories about how electronic voting machines with no paper records can be subverted.

Now I am just waiting for the confession. With a conspiracy that included the Penatagon,local polling officials across 11 states, senior officals in the governemnt and probably even Azuk, King of the Planet GomGom, beaming his disintegrator rays at John Kerry ballots, why is no one talking?

Why are tehse reports all conjecture and statistical analysis. The proponents of this view cannot even prodice a gun let alone a smoking gun. It is all arm-waving and bombast.

[Bill-Muskoka]

I, at least, now understand why PM Howard of Australia made a back to back visit with Bush and Harper. It was to update them on the latest Ostrich electoral techniques!

Just gotta keep the people distracted, make them keep their heads in the sand. See no evil, fear no evil. Of course their petards are still well exposed and that's precisely where they will get it in the 'end'!

[Kingharvest]

What was it Yossarian said in Catch-22? It's not that I'm paranoid, but why are all those people following me?

I'm afraid I don't put too much stock in what the FBI has to say about concealing large conspiracies. Or even small ones.

As we have seen over and over again (the lack of WMD, for example) the easiest thing in the world to do today, lacking -by-and large- a credible independent media- is do whatever you want to do and then deny it ever happened.

The media controls the message and if they decide it is time to move on to another message, they move on.

The public goes along for the ride. We are, for the most part, too busy or dull or hapless to question anything other than our primal shopping desires.

[Bill-Muskoka]

Kingharvest,

'The public goes along for the ride. We are, for the most part, too busy or dull or hapless to question anything other than our primal shopping desires.'

You have that one right. Really important things like running all over for hockey and soccer games, and watching Survivor, Idol, silly meaningless on the boobtube wasteland.

[Scotian]

Antonia:

Thank you very much for this post and the link to RFK's article. I am a member of what some here sneeringly refer to as "the looney left" because I do not accept the 2004 Presidential election results as either honest nor accurate, I never have. I do not know about others here but one of my ways of performing my civic duty in this country has been to act as an agent monitoring and counting election results at the polls. I have done this because I consider making sure the integrity of every vote is maintained is a cornerstone of keeping our democratic system healthy and honest.

I watched the 2004 results come in, and I was amazed at the wide variances between the exit polls and the results. One of the most well regarded and accurate tools for ensuring election integrity has been exit polls, which as you so correctly noted are not the same as any other kind of polls since they deal with actions already taken as opposed to possible future intent. Yet the GOP suddenly found exit polls to be inherently flawed and no good for determining the results of an election in America, yet a matter of weeks later the same people were using the exit poll results in Ukraine to argue that their election was a fraud. So in other words when Bush is shown to be the loser in exit polls but wins that is an honest election but when the exit polls in Ukraine show one man the winner but the other guy wins in the count (same as with Bush and Kerry) then it is clear proof of election fraud?!? I never understood how that inherent contradiction was managed by Bushco and accepted without comment by the American news media and public myself.

Unlike some I also followed this story throughout including reading the Conyers report among others. I noted the inherent improbability to near impossibility to have as many mistakes and statistical anomalies work for one candidate and against the other as was seen in that Ohio election. To any honest person this is clearly a stolen election result and anyone that claims to be more interested in fact than spin can determine this for themselves, unless of course they are placing their partisanship before their principles and belief in the importance of an honest electoral process.

General:

To those here claiming this is tin foil hat material, why not actually go through the article, go through the footnotes and measure the credibility of the research contained in those footnotes? If you are truly principled and believe in the importance of honest electioneering then instead of simply being dismissive because it would not suit your political partisanship to find out this is a fraud actually do the in-depth research which clearly shows just how dirty and corrupted that election was, especially in Ohio but far from limited to it.

The integrity of the vote count is crucial to whether a country is democratic or not in how it governs itself. Indeed it is at the core of all that we take pride in when we talk about living in a free and democratic society. So to place any partisanship before the principle of honest voting and counting is not only a betrayal of principles but one could make is evidence of contempt for democracy itself and the average voter.

Take in this country for example, many of us on the left did not want a Harper government and clearly we were not happy with the results. Yet there never was any hue and cry about how the CPC/Harper rigged the vote in their favour because we saw no evidence of it. We are able to have confidence in our system of paper ballots and monitors from all parties involved in each riding to prevent such fraud from happening, or if not entirely prevent to expose it soon after. That is what enables the CPC to be a legitimate government in the eyes of Canadians even those of us that would prefer otherwise. This is why this principle is so important and should in all citizens of a democracy be seen as fundamentally more important than which political party one prefers to be the victors.

Indeed any that do not place this above their own partisanship are demonstrating that the result matters more to them than the integrity and honesty of the process. This in other words is inherent contempt and blatant disregard for a cornerstone of an honest and democratic society. So why not instead of being partisan shills why don't the doubters actually prove why the case for voter fraud in 2004 is clearly wrong, and do it in a manner that provides actual evidence to support it as well as evidence that answers the questionable behaviour well documented in the footnotes of the linked article Antonia has provided.

I bothered to do the studying and I am convinced the 2004 election was stolen pure and simple. The degree of intentional minimizing of the Dem vote and the maximizing of the GOP vote in terms of eligibility, access, and access to the ballots after counted makes this clear. The distribution of voting machines by clear preference of party loyalty over actual need based on numbers of people voting in a given precinct is also clear. Ken Blackwell's repeated attempts to toss the vote to his candidate (remember he was also the reelect Bush 2004 co chair for Ohio at the same time as being responsible for maintaining a fair election process) is also clearly documented. Only those with blinders and preferring the comfort of denial to the harsh reality of truth can claim this is tin foil hat stuff.

As to why this hasn't been covered more, well that is a good question, especially given the amount of people that have been deposed showing clear wrongdoing, clear massive statistical anomies unheard of in the exit polls and in the results themselves (as in the downticket doing better than the Presidential ticket). The evidence is there, but there is a curious unwillingness of the American MSM to look at it, could it be because their corporate owners prefer that this is not examined? This is certainly as plausible an explanation as any, especially given the wealth in tax cuts and government contracts these owners have received under the Bush43 Administration.

[Antonia Z.]

Thanks Scotian but here's some reasonable disagreement, instead of the usual screeds:

http://www.thepoorman.net/2006/06/02/here-we-go-again/
http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2006/06/02/make-every-vote-countor-not/

And here is an example of the expected ''tin foil hat'' dismissal:

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/007107.php

[dave]

America is going back to its roots. Tammany Hall roots.

[arthurdecco]

"How early do you have to get up to say something dumb before Jay Currie out-dumbs it?" Posted by: Ti-Guy

I'm assuming this is a rhetorical question requiring no answer, Ti-Guy.

"To any honest person this is clearly a stolen election result and anyone that claims to be more interested in fact than spin can determine this for themselves, unless of course they are placing their partisanship before their principles and belief in the importance of an honest electoral process." posted by Scotian

As far as placing their partisanship before their principles, Scotian, are you suggesting that they have principles? I see no evidence of principle in the postings by Jay Curry et al on this subject - just more of the same blowing smoke and obfuscation that we regularly are subjected to from the wingnuts who adore all things Rethuglican.

I have saved 244 separate MSM stories related to election fraud in the 2004 elections.

244! (I just went to the file and counted them.)

How many pieces can Jay or the other confused thinkers posting here provide links to, that don’t come from their regularly-lying right wing propaganda sites or from the pens of known right wing, neo-con apologists who write for the (Ha Ha!) “Left wing media”? (I’m not looking for “opinion” pieces, Jay – rather I’m pleading with you for factual reporting. Got even one you can lay on us?)

The 2000 election was stolen. Period

The 2004 election was stolen. Period.

Only the uninformed and dishonest could deny it or ridicule those who refuse to lie down and roll over about it. The tin-foil hats are all being worn by the other side in this discussion, I'm afraid.

If anyone who disagrees with my contention that the electoral process in the United States is worse than most in most 3rd world countries wants a CD compilation of the stories I've collected, provide your snail mail address here and I'll be happy to send them along to you. You definitely need to read them. As soon as possible.

More lies from the Pajama-Ramas Site that you provided the link to, Antonia, wtf? This is simply another propaganda piece disguised as news – did you read it to the end? How can you claim this link is "reasonable disagreement"?

“Groups like the NAACP (paying for voter registration with crack cocaine), (Links please!) ACORN (massive voter registration fraud resulting in the arrest and conviction of several of their Ohio employees who were paid $5 for each new voter signed up) (Hey, what about the massive Republican sign up frauds where they were paid money to sign up and DISCARD Democratic voters’ applications all over the United States?) , Americans Coming together (ACT), and the nation’s oldest purveyor of voter registration fraud, the AFL-CIO all sought to game the system and hand Ohio to the Democrats in a blatantly illegal scheme to place fraudulent or non-existent names on the voter list so that operatives would be able to vote several times. (Prove it! Provide the links!) This is a time honored scheme in Democratic states and appears to have taken place in Wisconsin a state the President lost by a mere 11,000 votes.aaaa” (Yeah, sure.)

You’re bending over backwards farther than I could if I wanted to retain some of my balance, Antonia, if you consider this posting by the Pajama-Ramas a balanced take on election fraud.

As for the other link you provided, the “intelligent responses” to the “editors” are what make it worth reading – certainly not the lackluster article that attempted to downplay the criminal actions of Ohio’s Republican electioneering juggernaut.

If this is the best you can dig up on the net to explain away what happened in the 2004 elections, I have to ask: Why aren’t more Americans up in arms against the vermin destroying their country and all it has stood for until now? And why aren’t more of us furious with this blatant hijacking of American democracy?

Mr. Tom Grey, You are obviously an intelligent man looking for rational answers to your questions. Tell me why you're waiting for a "confession" when anyone who "confesses" is going to prison for a very long time. Life isn't like TV or the Movies, Tom. Criminals don't confess - they're exposed. And most of the legal process in the United States has been co-opted by the hard right political machine right now. The national legal machinery in the US is too busy justifying torture and spying on fellow Americans to have much time to expose the electoral fraud sponsored by their ideological soulmates and BOSSES.

[Jim Trautman]

Want twisted, right wing logic, if you can find a repeat of the McNeil News Hour tonight, watch and catch the comments of David Brooks.
The US invasion of Iraq is a success, because the Iraqi government leaders are now anti-American and demanding the US investigation of many murders and other actions. Karzai in Afghanistan better get on that wagon quick.
Brooks pointed out the war was the most successful I guess in US history and it was a noble enterprise.
Saddam was anti-American too, so what was the invasion about. Maybe I'm the one that lives in the nuthouse. Justification of a war and 600 attacks aweek is a success. What is failure?

[Elvid]

I thought that it was more likely going back to Illinois and Texas in 1960 which gave RFK Jr. most of his limited cachet.
Or his uncle, Stephen Smith, going around West Virginia with suitcases of cash for Democratic wardheelers during the do or die primary for JFK. Famous story about him leaving a briefcase of cash in a barbershop.
1960 was the grandmother of stolen elections. 1876 was the great-grandmother.
Considering some of the horror stories that I've heard over the years about people registering at the polls in Canada's big cities on election day with not much more than a Jumbo Video card, Canadians have nothing to boast about.

[Tom Gray]

All of this comentary about stolen elections and still not a shred of evidence.

[Bill-Muskoka]

arthurdecco,

'Rethuglican' Yes, that's the term...perfect!

I truly like it.

[Bill-Muskoka]

Elvid,

Regarding:

'Considering some of the horror stories that I've heard over the years about people registering at the polls in Canada's big cities on election day with not much more than a Jumbo Video card, Canadians have nothing to boast about.'

I totally concur. The past two elections amazed me that all one has to produce is their Elections Canada card received via Canada Post, no ID required to verify the person presenting it is that person.

While I appreciate the trust, I abhor the possibilities. Mail can so easily be received by the wrong person, especially, with Canada Postees, and our local ones in particular.

I even offered ID and was told 'Oh, we don't need that!'

So, you are quite correct Canada has nothing to brag about. The results of the last election required a recount, and the difference was a mere 29 votes. The tightest race in the entire country. Andy Mitchell lost to Tony Clement.

Is it important? I will let the others decide that one. It is to me as a citizen.