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A challenge to the freepers!
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A plea for Steve Heller!
Hello to the family and friends of Steve Heller. My name is Peter Soby, Jr. I am a very close friend of Steve’s. I am writing on his behalf, with the advice and consent of his lawyer, because Steve is in serious legal trouble and he needs our help – not $$ help, but help by writing a letter, making a phone call, sending a fax or an email, things just about anyone can do.Steve is a whistleblower; he is alleged to have seen and then exposed legal documents showing that Diebold Election Systems, Inc., the country’s leading manufacturer of electronic voting machines and voting machine software, was using illegal, uncertified software in their California voting machines. He has been charged with 3 felonies, which is an outrageous abuse of the law and of power. Details on what is happening to Steve and how to help are in the following links. Please feel free to forward this email to anyone and everyone. Read on…
First, here is a link to a story in the Feb. 22 edition of the Los Angeles Times. If for some reason you cannot open the link, let me know and I will email you the text of the article.
Man Pleads Not Guilty in Voting Device Case
Now, here are more details on this situation, with corroborating links, from I post I wrote for Arianna Huffington’s blog. This is the link with important information on how to help Steve Heller.
Whistleblower Charged With Three Felonies for Exposing Diebold’s CrimesAnother way to help Steve is by writing a letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Times. You can use the same talking points from my post (the link above) in your letter to the editor. Directions on how to send a letter to the editor can be found at this link under http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/ Their snail mail address is Letters to the Editor, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. They want letters to be 150 words or less, with your name, address and daytime phone number.
The next link is to a post from the same blog written by Lyn Davis Lear
Whistleblower Hero is Threatened with Prison for Exposing Diebold
I thank you in advance for any help you might be able to give Steve. He is a patriot and a whistleblower and should not be prosecuted. And again, this email can be forwarded to anyone you think might be interested.
Sincerely,
Peter Soby, Jr.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Coaltion for Voting Integrity Announces People’s Filibuster to Save the Vote
Contact information:
Mary Ann Gould
votingintegrity@aol.com
(c) 215.588.5818
(h) 215.357.5206
Doylestown – The Coalition for Voting Integrity will be hosting a Filibuster to Save the Vote to take place outside the Doylestown Courthouse from 9am to 5pm on Monday and Tuesday, February 27 and 28.
Members of the Coalition for Voting Integrity and other concerned citizens will be gathering outside the Doylestown Courthouse throughout the day on Monday and Tuesday in anticipation of the Commissioners’ meeting on Wednesday.
The point of the two-day event is to remind the commissioners of their responsibility to the voters of Bucks County, who deserve an accurate, verifiable and cost-effective voting system, which will provide a voter-verified paper ballot.
The public is encouraged to attend. Citizens will be invited to speak. Coalition members will be available at various times throughout the day to answer questions about the issue of voter-verified paper ballots, voting machine options and the lawsuit brought by CVI against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Coalition for Voting Integrity
Coalition for Voting Integrity
From the Los Angeles Times
Supreme Court to Vote on Election-Law Cases
At issue are campaign spending caps in Vermont and redrawn voter districts
in Texas.
By David G. Savage
Times Staff Writer
February 26, 2006
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court will take up states’ rights – of both the blue- and red-state variety – in a pair of election-law cases to be heard this week that could have a big impact on the future of American politics.
Tiny Vermont, a true blue state, hopes to restore small-town democracy by greatly limiting the role of money in politics. If its new spending caps win before the high court, they could change how campaigns are conducted across the nation.
Meanwhile, Texas, the biggest of the red states, is defending its right to redraw its electoral districts to give its GOP majority more seats in Congress. If its extraordinary mid-decade shift wins in the high court, other states have signaled they will do the same.
27
Clint Curtis for Congress!
We in the Philippines Cultural Studies center strongly
endorse and support the statement of the PCPR attached.
E. San Juan, Jr. Philippines Cultural Studies Center
Storrs, CT 06268, USA
Philippines:
Statement of the PCPR (Promotion of Church People’s
Response) condemning the President’s declared state of
emergency
Statement on GMA’s Declaration of State of Emergency
February 24, 2006
NEVER AGAIN TO MARTIAL LAW! RESIST GMA’S EMERGENCY
POWERS WITH PEOPLE POWER! OUST GLORIA NOW!
Around 11:30 am today, Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
declared emergency powers effectively authorizing
warrantless arrests, dispersal of people’s assemblies
and systematic suppression of the Filipino people’s
right to participate in collective actions that go
against Arroyo’s wish to stay in power. Ironically, GMA
issued the proclamation on the very day that the nation
commemorates the 20th year of victory of the people’s
collective action for the ouster of a dictator.
Moments after GMA’s declaration, church people in front
of the multi-sectoral rally along EDSA reported the
picture of its immediate implementation: Priests,
pastors, seminarians, religious sisters and lay members
of Roman Catholic and Protestant congregations were
water cannoned and aggressively pushed by police forces
as they linked arms to maintain their peaceful
assembly.
We condemn in strongest terms GMA’s Proclamation 1017
which is short of formally declaring Martial rule. Let
us not allow the nation to be thrown into the dark days
when political activists and supporters of people’s
movements demanding regime change are arrested without
warrant, brutally killed and forcibly disappeared; when
freedom of the press is suppressed; and when all
instruments of the state are directed to quell the
dissent of people seeking urgent political and socio-
economic reforms. In fact, even before such
proclamation, GMA’s record of political killings and
violations of civil liberties, especially with her
Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR) scheme, is now the
worst since the downfall of Marcos.
We call on the governments around the world to withdraw
support to the Arroyo government which proved to be
best in stealing, lying and cheating rather than
governing the nation towards genuine progress and
democracy.
GMA’s Proclamation 1017 is grossly illegal, immoral and
serves no one but the illegitimate president who
refuses to heed the people’s demand for her to step
down. In her extreme desperation to hold on to power,
GMA ordered the heads of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police
(PNP) to implement the force of repression against all
civilians, military forces and politicians perceived to
be part of various movements demanding her ouster.
Contrary to GMA’s speech today that the protesters are
bringing down the economy and creating lawlessness, it
is her corrupt administration that has aggravated the
economic miseries of our people. GMA cheated her way to
victory in the May 2004 elections, using public funds
to secure votes in her favor and rig the election
results. She has now committed another grave crime by
robbing the people again of the least democratic space
they could have enjoyed after the EDSA I and II
uprisings.
To our friends and partners in the international
community, we urge you to speak and act again in
solidarity with the Filipino people in this challenging
period of our life as a nation. To the members of the
AFP and PNP, may you join the ranks of patriotic
officers and elements who side with the people in the
quest truth, justice and meaningful change.
***
EDSA Spirit Alive as Filipinos Unite in One Call to
Oust Gloria No permit, no rally policy defied
Today, as the nation marks the 20th year of the
people’s victory against the Marcos dictatorship, the
EDSA spirit is very much alive as thousands of
Filipinos congregate at the People Power monument in
Manila as well as various protest centers nationwide
with a single call: Oust Gloria Now! From 8:00 am,
church people from the Roman Catholic and Protestant
congregations gathered towards the People Power
Monument and joined other sectors in defying the
government’s no permit, no rally policy.
Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR)
NO, YES, NO: Alaska Now Refuses Release of 2004 Election Data Citing Security Concerns!
State’s Top Security Officer Refuses Public Record Release of Diebold GEMS Database Files
The Latest Chapter in the Rollercoaster Battle to Audit Puzzling 2004 Poll Numbers Continues…
A bizarre story concerning Alaska’s 2004 Election has taken yet another even more bizarre turn this week, The BRAD BLOG has learned.
A long-standing public records request for the release of Election 2004 database files created by Diebold’s voting system had been long delayed after several odd twists and turns, including the revelation of a contract with the state claiming the information to be a “company secret.”
But while it finally appeared as though the state had agreed to release the information (after reserving the right to “manipulate the data” in consultation with Diebold before releasing it), the state’s top Security Official has now — at the last minute — stepped in to deny the request. The grounds for the denial: the release of the information poses a “security risk” to the state of Alaska.
We couldn’t make this stuff up…
Full Story, including the Letters from Election & Security Officials and Much More:
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002467.htm
We are requesting help in attempting to confirm vote count discrepancies in Cuyahoga County, which could prove election fraud in the 2004 Presidential election. Here is the background to this effort, the current status of our efforts to audit the Cuyahoga County election returns, and details of our future plans and request for help.
Background
It was well known in the days prior to the 2004 Presidential election that a Kerry/Edwards victory was almost certain if they carried either Ohio or Florida. Central to Kerry’s chances of carrying Ohio was a good turnout in Cuyahoga County, and especially in Cleveland, the most heavily Democratic city in the state.
Therefore, Cleveland was very heavily targeted by Democrats, with a massive voter registration drive and an intense voter turnout effort on Election Day. And these efforts appeared to be highly successful by Election Day, with 230 thousand new voters registered in Cuyahoga County in 2004, the success of the voter turnout effort evidenced by the presence of impressively long voting lines throughout Cleveland, and the Ohio exit poll showing a comfortable Kerry lead throughout the day. Even CNN’s right wing hack, Robert Novak, acknowledged that it would be an uphill climb for Bush.
The Justice Dept. said counties must comply with a federal law on voting systems by the May primary.By Nancy PetersenInquirer Staff WriterThe U.S. Department of Justice has waded into Pennsylvania’s growing crisis over voting systems, threatening to sue the state if its counties fail to be in compliance with federal law by the May primary election. In addition to the potential lawsuit, Wan J. Kim, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, also warned in a letter to Pennsylvania Attorney General Thomas Corbett dated Feb. 21 that $23 million in federal funds might be at risk. He said he plans to file a complaint in federal court within 10 days.
“We hope to resolve this matter through a negotiated consent decree,” Kim wrote.
It is not clear with whom the U.S. Justice Department would negotiate a consent decree, and the federal agency did not return phone calls seeking to clarify the letter. In addition to Corbett, Kim’s letter went to the Pennsylvania Department of State and the solicitor of Westmoreland County, which was successfully sued in Commonwealth Court to block the switch to new
voting machines without voter approval.
The Westmoreland case has been appealed to the state Supreme Court, which is expected to issue its ruling next week.
Triggering the threatening missive from the federal agency is the Help America Vote Act, passed by Congress in 2002 in the wake of the 2000 election debacle in Florida. The law, which standardized voting procedures, mandates that all jurisdictions upgrade to electronic machines in time for the 2006 federal primaries. Levers and punch cards do not meet that standard. The law also mandates that each precinct in the country have at least one voting machine that can be used by handicapped voters. A similar letter was sent last month to New York, which is also struggling to comply with the federal law.
Three counties in the Philadelphia region need to replace their voting machines for the May primary: Delaware and Bucks Counties, which have lever machines, and Chester County, which has punch cards. Kim noted in his letter that several counties in the state that use lever machines and punch cards have failed to upgrade their systems as the federal law requires. That includes Bucks and Chester Counties; Delaware County has purchased new equipment.
Yesterday, Chester County officials said that for the May primary, they are considering running the punch-card system and augmenting it with a single electronic machine in each precinct that would comply with the federal requirements. Commissioner Don Mancini said a final decision could come next week after the full board meets with its solicitors and special counsel Lawrence Tabas.
“It’s murky; it’s just murky,” Mancini said. “We’re just trying to come to the right decisions.”
Last week, Delaware County, which is in the midst of rolling out its new Danaher electronic voting machines, decided to haul its old lever machines out of storage and get them ready for the primary. That move came in response to the Commonwealth Court ruling in Westmoreland County.
The Department of Justice letter will not interfere with the court proceedings in that case, Department of State spokeswoman Allison Hrestak said. She said the letter confirms the state’s position that the federal law trumps the state election code.
“The DOJ letter serves to reinforce our belief that we have chosen the correct course of action since the beginning,” she said.
In addition to the purchase of new equipment in Delaware, Chester and Bucks Counties, one other county in the region – Montgomery – had to upgrade its equipment to comply with the federal law.
Joe Passarella, director of voter services in Montgomery County, said that at least one machine in each precinct will be outf
itted with a special audio device by Election Day so that blind voters can use them. The device, which will allow the blind to vote without assistance, is in the federal certification process now and is expected to be certified by the state by mid-March. As with Montgomery County, Philadelphia will also add equipment to its existing electronic machines to comply with the federal law.
But given the problems around the state, he said the date for compliance – which in Pennsylvania’s case is May 16 – should be pushed back. A bill to that effect has been introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) but appears to be languishing in committee.
“Counties are being rushed into a decision,” Passarella said. “That is not the best way to do business.”
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