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The evidence comes directly from the official website of GOP Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell Blackwell website. But researchers wishing to verify the number of uncounted ballots from that web site should do so immediately, as Blackwell is known for quickly deleting embarrassing evidence. In 2004, Blackwell deleted the evidence of excessive uncounted votes after the final results were tallied.
Of all the viral members of the media who have been suggesting that the Dems cooperate with their political opponents, the one who rendered me almost unconscious with surprise was Newt Gingrich.
Newt Gingrich, the Boy Scout. Newt Gingrich, the man who sat there and watched Congress impeach and try Bill Clinton for lying about having an extramarital while he, Newt Gingrich, was lying about having an extramarital affair. (This all took place during his second marriage. The first one ended when he told his wife he was divorcing her while she was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment.)
The most significant long-term outcome of the nationwide vote last Tuesday may be the coming of age of a grass-roots election-protection movement.
Based on the experiences of Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, citizens across the country contributed intense scrutiny of electronic voting machines, voter registration requirements and other essentials of our modern democracy.
By and large, their efforts have been well respected and reported.
There is no way to know exactly how this volunteer police work might have affected the results of Tuesday's election. And it is disturbing to see the use of exit polls severely restricted, as they were in reporting the results.
But it is gratifying to see both Republicans and Democrats refusing to concede close races until the last vote is recounted. And it is reassuring to know that a salutary national debate has begun in earnest about exactly what is needed to guarantee a full and fair electoral process.
In the long run, this could make American democracy itself the election's biggest winner.
Harvey Wasserman
Bexley, Ohio, Nov. 8, 2006
His plan is called a Bolivarian Revolution, named after Simon Bolivar, the 19th century liberator of Venezuela, Columbia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. His ideas are that natural resources are for the benefit of all citizens, the state is guardian and promoter of civic and social human rights, and that the citizens are fundamental protagonists on political life.
Don’t buy all the crap coming from GOP talking-point memos or the blather from mainstream pundits. The midterm elections do not signal a move to the center. Yes, a few conservative Democrats were elected, but the big gainers were progressives. In particular, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is on the rise.
Your column about the momumental victory of the election protection movement and its success this year was heartening. All that hard work is paying off.
Thanks to you and Bob and Steve and many others for keeping this issue alive. Without fair elections, nothing else matters.
Helen W Slater
The first problem of the morning was that we were asked to be there at 5:30 AM and the supervisor didn't show up until 6:15 AM. The training we had was not adequate without experienced help and should have been more hands-on so a late supervisor was a negative. However, she really was not very knowledgeable and in my opinion should not have even been a supervisor. She also had the keys for the machines so little could be done before she arrived. Fortunately, we all managed to be up and running on time with a little extra stress being the main problem.
The supervisor had a special cell phone so the election commission could call in with info. or we could call them. It was not charged and had to be studied on the spot to use. Calls all day long to the election commission were put on hold for 10 minutes or so and some of the problems dealt with waiting voters so this created some anger.
Let me direct you to a recent series of polite coughs, reminiscent of a sheep quietly clearing its throat somewhere on a fog-bound hillside in the north of England. Aforementioned coughs emanated at the start of this week from the Financial Services Authority, (FSA), a body set up under the purview of the British Treasury a few years ago to monitor financial markets and protect the public interest by raising the alarm about shady practices and any dangerous slides toward instability.