Scandal: Did Expatriate & SoldierVote COUNT?

U.S. CitiZeNs; ON The FrontLines Of Int. Relations- DID Expat. & SoldierVote get Left Behind?... A Pivotal, Hotly contested 'election of a lifetime' spurring Worldwide interest saw OverSeas Voters registration increase fourfold as these Americans are the Country's spokespeople, and best face forward. Recalcitrant insistence on conflict creating perpetual war, was on the table for We Decide, you saw the BillBoards reminding US whose Will was to be measured- The People's! RiP van Winkle Voters came out of the woodwork, contributing herculean volunteer efforts & enthusiasm were unprecendented and encouraging. NEVER in U.S. Presidential politics have MASSIVE crowds shown up to endorse an incumbent. But to throw out, Reject malfeasence and Get Rid of incompetence! The 51st state, as American's abroad were called because of it's swing potential, an estimated 4million civilians and 500,000 military, of course many in dubious, difficult, dangerous and DeaDly situations, it's numbers giving it an impact larger than the 24 smallest states. Participation was cool this time, many expressing eager desire to voice their vote. Also though, a haunting anxiety that the systemic flaws characteristic of confusing procedures and snafus investigated by the GAO in previous efforts at smooth and fair election process run by a mosaic of federal & state agencies would DisCount NOT AcCount accurately the absentee Vote. Expatriates tend heavily liberal, outnumber military significantly and the soldiers especially rank and file were said to be more mixed, varied not so monolothic, or predictable as usually seen said veterans of multiple elections. However, the pentagon, which for some reason took over from the state department, the handling of ballots, was criticized for registration websites not working, unequal mishandling of the CivilianVote, absentee ballots mailed late in 8 of 15 swing states, ballots hard to get, too many hoops to jump through and doubts whether they would get back in time, count and be honored fairly as a private firm owned by a republican donor and of the reelection team, was handling ballots historically counted at local levels. Typically 8% of absentee votes are discarded, with Bush possibly winning the popular vote by 2-3%, HOW assured at Legit can we be? when you also ADD the percents lost of provisionals thrown out, the undervotes thrown out, unequal distribution of election hardware, not random in the stunting of turnout toward one of the choices, including GAINS from unreal certification of results with more votes than voters, when the long lines were in the democratic precints!. Registration going up, up, UP Machines going DOWN, down, down, DOH! What level of fraud is sufficient to BeSmirch Confidence? Reports below abound of systemic pre-election suppression and NOW BlackOut and silence of OverSeas results are Signs of a Sinister Scandal. These OverSeas American's are ambassadors, this vote should not be treated cavalierly but be traceable, honored and COUNTED, foreigners, frontlines in someone elses HomeLand, they REALLY understand Vote or Die. I asked my roomate for a historical quote which could speak to this unseemly realization, scenario we've allowed to happen? She said there is NONE, because it has never happened before. So I say, an UNprecendented, UNheard of, UNfair, UNacceptable, UNnatural Results can only be Remedied, Adjudicated, Balanced by SomeThing that hasn't happened before a, -NewVote to Ameliorate this WaterShed MoMent! POST AS COMMENTS WHAT YOU'VE HEARD, FOUND OUT, RESEARCHED ON THE ACCURACY & VALIDITY OF OVERSEAS VOTE COUNTS. NO SoldiersVote Left Behind! <!--break--> <img class="dada-image-center" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/migrate_dada/NoSoldiersVoteLeftBehind.jpg"><br><p class="article">WARNING: <br />31 It should be clear that more is at stake than the presidency <br />itself. Use of computerized vote counting <br />will only increase, as mandated by law. Vote counting is the <br />bedrock protocol of a democracy and <br />meaningful reform of a broken counting system is dependent on an <br />expression of public will ultimately <br />exercised at the ballot box and fairly, accurately, and honestly <br />tabulated. If the system has broken down <br />and is no longer counting accurately and honestly, there is no <br />effective democratic mechanism to bring <br />pressure upon a governing majority to reform a vote counting status <br />quo which is seen to work in its favor. <br />This is, as may be seen, a potentially crippling catch-22 for a democracy. </p><p class="article">*footnotes from statistical proof on examination of vote count data <br /><a href="http://www.spiral-stairs.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/30/223723/91"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.spiral-stairs.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/30/223723/91</font></u></a> <br />explanation of the ease of hackability at end of this post. </p><p class="article">Let’s Get Real <br />By Mark Crispin Miller </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1692/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1692/</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">To let ourselves believe that the “election” was legitimate because <br />this claim or that has been disproved(apparently) is to not honor <br />reason. On the contrary, a veritable sea of evidence, statistical <br />as well as anecdotal and circumstantial, supports the claim that <br />Bush, again, was not elected by the people. "(NOW documentation, <br />statistical affidavits, concealing records, log books, ducking <br />inquiries, subpoenas, delaying due-process in court cases, <br />orchestrated, unprincipled caustic attacks and denials to distort, <br />distract and divert away from the onus of those in charge <br />preventing legislation requiring paper trails which increase <br />transparency and trust) per CJCleveLand." </p><p class="article">To nod agreement that this was indeed an honest win is to forget <br />how Bush was shoehorned into office in the first place; to ignore <br />the ease with which electronic totals can be changed without a <br />trace; to suppress the fact that Diebold, Sequoia and ES&S—the <br />major manufacturers of touch screen voting machines and central <br />tabulators—are owned and run by Bush Republicans, who have made no <br />secret of their partisan intentions; to deny the value of the exit <br />polls, which turn out to have been “mistaken” only in the swing <br />states; to downplay the weird inflation of the Bush vote in county <br />after county, where the number of votes for president was somehow <br />higher than the number of voters who turned out; to ignore the bald <br />chicanery of the Bush supporters who ran the central polling <br />station in Ohio’s Warren County and forced out the press and poll <br />monitors so they could count the vote in secret; to forget the <br />numerous accounts of vote fraud coast to coast throughout the prior <br />weeks of early voting; to overlook the fact that every single <br />“glitch” or “error” that has been reported favors Bush; to ignore <br />the countless instances of ballots—absentee, provisional—thrown <br />away or left uncounted; to forget that the civilian vote abroad <br />(some four million Americans) was being mishandled by the Pentagon <br />(which had somehow become responsible for doing the State <br />Department’s job); and to ignore the many dirty tricks reported—the <br />polling places quickly relocated at the last minute, the fake <br />voter-registration drives, the thousands of Americans who found <br />themselves not on the rolls, the police road-blocks, the bullying <br />pro-Bush poll workers, the machines that kept translating votes for <br />Kerry into votes for Bush. And so on. </p><p class="article">To forget or ignore all this and to accept—on faith—the mere say-so <br />of Bush & Company (and our compliant media) is to make clear that <br />you are not a member of what the Busheviks deride as “the <br />reality-based community.” Those who help discredit false reports <br />are doing that community, and this erstwhile democracy, a precious <br />service. But, those who would abort the whole inquiry in the name <br />of science or journalistic probity and “closure” are putting that <br />community, and this nation, at grave risk. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1692/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1692/</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">Suppressing the overseas vote </p><p class="article">Record numbers of Americans abroad have registered, but <br />bureaucratic snafus may prevent many from actually voting, writes <br />Alix Christie </p><p class="article">Alix Christie <br />Monday October 25, 2004 </p><p class="article"><br />Guardian Unlimited </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5047076-114319,00.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0%2C3858%2C5047076-114319%2C00.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">~Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat is pumped. Two weeks ago, sitting in an <br />internet cafe on Munich's Odeonplatz, the software marketer who <br />crafted a hugely successful voter registration website, pulls up <br />numbers that show a remarkable spike in Americans overseas <br />mobilising to defeat George W Bush. Between her site and another <br />out of Hong Kong, Democrats have registered 140,000 new voters, 40% <br />of them from swing states - and that is just the tip of the <br />iceberg. Americans abroad, roused to a boiling fury by a Bush <br />doctrine that has smeared America's good name across the globe, are <br />looking like the "silent swing vote" in several key battleground <br />states. Overseas registration for both parties is up by 400% over <br />2000. </p><p class="article">~Then the panicked emails start flooding in. Today, less than two <br />weeks before the tightest presidential race in memory, untold <br />thousands of overseas voters still have not received their ballots <br />- and clearly won't be able to get them back in time. </p><p class="article">~The Government Accountability Office excoriated the agency for <br />losing thousands of overseas votes in 2000, but the FVAP insists it <br />has corrected its problems this year. Frustrated civilian <br />advocates, however, say the FVAP remains biased and ineffective. <br />Despite reforms, they attest, it still has not shaken its Pentagon <br />roots: It spends the bulk of its energy getting out a heavily <br />Republican vote among half a million service people - but has <br />failed the far greater numbers of civilians (an estimated 4 <br />million, by most counts) who tend to vote a different way. </p><p class="article">~The tsunami of overseas civilian voters this year has only made <br />the inequity more glaring. The agency was overwhelmed by a flood <br />that has clogged its fax lines, telephones and email. It has <br />blocked access to its website to civilian voters abroad, given <br />military voters access to electronic ballot-request systems that <br />civilians cannot use, and subcontracted sensitive election work to <br />a company with strong Republican ties. </p><p class="article">~In one pathetic twist, employees of DaimlerChrysler in Stuttgart <br />had to beg forms from the military at the gate of the base last <br />week, a voting officer said. </p><p class="article">~The overarching problem is the scant resources allotted civilian <br />voters, who outnumber the military overseas by at least eight to <br />one. While all applaud the goal of making sure men and women <br />fighting for our country can exercise their right to vote, <br />civilians point out that they are Americans, too. </p><p class="article">~More worryingly, a pilot email voting system signed on to by <br />Missouri, Utah and North Dakota, in which soldiers can email <br />ballots to a contractor that then faxes those ballots to local <br />jurisdictions, is being operated by Omega Technologies, headed by a <br />former Republican Party donor, according to the New York Times. <br />(MORE ABOUT THEM IN DemocracyNow InterView BELOW) </p><p class="article">~The Times also reports that earlier this week two Democratic <br />members of Congress, Henry Waxman of California and Carolyn B <br />Maloney of New York, asked the Government Accountability Office to <br />investigate the FVAP. Among their concerns is that the agency's <br />online ballot-retrieval system is not open to most civilians abroad. </p><p class="article">~Which way these hordes of new voters go is, in fact, the big <br />overseas question - assuming they get to vote. Democrats and <br />Republicans alike see gold in both the civilian and military camps. <br />What's undisputed is that the Bush administration has galvanised <br />overseas voters as never before. "The entire world is against Bush, <br />and we reflect that view that America has lost all its credibility <br />abroad," says McQueen of Democrats Abroad. "I was tired of cringing <br />in the supermarket whenever I spoke English to my kids, knowing how <br />much we as Americans were hated," says Dzieduszycka-Suinat. Hills, <br />for her part, reports that many Republicans, angered at what they <br />see as unjust attacks, are coming out in equal droves to support <br />the president. On both sides, stories abound of older Americans, <br />and dual citizens who've kept their American passports, emerging <br />like Rip Van Winkle to vote for the first time in 30 or 40 years. </p><p class="article">~"There's a definite interest in participating," echoes Charles <br />Keene of Democrats Abroad and the NAACP. "From almost everyone you <br />heard, it was, 'You better believe I'm going to vote.'" </p><p class="article">Despite several recent polls showing staunch support for President <br />Bush among high-ranking officers, soldiers on base and Pentagon <br />civilians active in Democratic politics say the mood in the <br />military is far more mixed. The controversial mission in Iraq has <br />brought a sea change in political attitudes on base, these <br />observers report. McQueen, a retired military civil servant, says, <br />"You're not seeing the kind of pressure to vote Republican you <br />always had in the past." </p><p class="article">The strong pro-Republican culture that emerged in the military in <br />the wake of Vietnam has begun to splinter, many observers say. A <br />report in the Washington Monthly last year described rank-and-file <br />soldiers, who are disproportionately non-white, working-class and <br />female, as increasingly diverging from an ideologically <br />conservative officer corps. "For a long time here, Democrats were <br />in the closet," concurs Trenton Browne, a military security <br />contractor who works on bases from Heidelberg to Kaiserslautern. <br />"Now in the lower ranks you hear people speaking openly about their <br />dissent." </p><p class="article">~The survey, however, concentrated on higher-ranking service <br />people, and is not representative of the rank and file. Along <br />Heidelberg's main street, off-duty soldiers, some fresh from combat <br />in Iraq, divided evenly between rejecting Kerry because "he doesn't <br />support the troops" and supporting him "because a lot of us feel <br />jerked around". "People think the military is totally Republican, <br />and that's definitely not true," says one strolling soldier, a <br />burly 30-year-old from Florida. "There's a lot of different views <br />within the ranks." Capt Maxwell-Borges, the Stuttgart voting <br />officer, agrees. "Surprisingly, it's been really mixed," she says. <br />"A lot of people support Kerry because he's a veteran and says he's <br />going to increase military spending, and others are the more <br />traditional pro-Republicans. But I've been on bases in the past <br />three elections and I have to say that this time [political views] <br />seem a lot more varied." </p><p class="article">~Thousands of lawyers on both sides are renting office space in <br />battleground states, ready to pounce on illegalities in stateside <br />balloting and absentee votes. For now, overseas voters groping <br />their empty mailboxes can only download the write-in ballot, send <br />it in - in the faith that local election officials will accept it - <br />and pray. </p><p class="article">·Alix Christie is a reporter and former editor of the foreign <br />service of the San Francisco Chronicle </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5047076-114319,00.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0%2C3858%2C5047076-114319%2C00.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">The Pentagon doesn't want you to vote overseas <br />A Web site maintained by the Department of Defense is blocking <br />access to non-military Americans. Could it be worried that <br />expatriates are leaning toward Kerry? </p><p class="article">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <br />By Farhad Manjoo </p><p class="article">Sept. 21, 2004 | </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/09/21/overseas_voting/index_np.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/09/21/overseas_voting/index_np.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">~"This is a completely partisan thing," one Defense Department <br />voting official told Salon. The official, who asked to remain <br />anonymous for fear of being fired, is one of the many people in the <br />department assigned to help both uniformed military personnel as <br />well as American civilians register to vote. The offical described <br />the Pentagon as extremely diligent in its efforts to register <br />soldiers stationed overseas -- for instance, voting assistance <br />officers have been told by the department to personally meet with <br />all of the soldiers in their units in order to help them register. <br />But the department has ignored its mandate to help overseas <br />civilians who want to vote, the official said. </p><p class="article">Not surprisingly, political pollsters believe that uniformed <br />military personnel, especially military officers, lean toward <br />Republicans in their voting habits; American civilians who live <br />abroad, meanwhile, are particularly progressive. One recent Zogby <br />survey, for example, showed that voters with passports supported <br />Kerry over Bush by a margin of 55 to 33 percent. </p><p class="article">The official -- a self-described Democrat who adheres to <br />requirements of non-partisanship as a voting officer -- could see <br />no explanation other than pure political trickery in the Pentagon's <br />decision to block the FVAP Web site. "There is no way in hell that <br />this is not a deliberate partisan attempt to systematically <br />disenfranchise a large Democratic voting bloc," the official said. </p><p class="article">It's easy to see why the Bush administration might be worried about <br />the prospect of huge numbers of American civilians living abroad <br />exercising their right to vote. In efforts to register Americans <br />living overseas, the official has come across a host of people who <br />say they're signing up specifically to hasten Bush's defeat. "I've <br />had so many old people coming to register say, 'I haven't voted in <br />such a long time,' or 'The last time I voted in an election was <br />when Kennedy ran, but we've got to get rid of this man. This man <br />makes me ashamed to be an American.'" </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/09/21/overseas_voting/index_np.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/09/21/overseas_voting/index_np.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** <br />FOUND THIS BY ACCIDENT AND MOVED IT TO THE FRONT OF THIS REPORT! </p><p class="article">November 08, 2004 <br />Can I still vote? It depends... <br />A highly unusual email sent from the Pentagon to Voting Information <br />Officers at US military installations around the world ON ELECTION <br />DAY contained a very specific reminder that it was not too late to <br />vote in OHIO, clearly explained why, and encouraged one last bit of <br />taxpayer-funded GOP GOTV. Is this criminal? It should be. It is <br />certainly unpatriotic and un-American. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/can_i_still_vot.html#more"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/can_i_still_vot.html#more</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">September 29, 2004 <br />ABSENTEE VOTES </p><p class="article">Hurdles Remain for American Voters Who Live Overseas <br />By MICHAEL MOSS </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/29/politics/campaign/29military.html?ei=5090&en=bb18d7c4c5718420&ex=1254110400&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=print&position"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/29/politics/campaign/29military.html?ei=5090&en=bb18d7c4c5718420&ex=1254110400&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=print&position</font></u></a>= </p><p class="article">~Election officials concede that tens of thousands of Americans <br />overseas might not get ballots in time to cast votes. Late <br />primaries and legal wrangling caused election offices in at least 8 <br />of the 15 swing states to fail to mail absentee ballots by Sept. <br />19, a cutoff date officials say is necessary to ensure that they <br />can be returned on time, a survey by The New York Times shows. In <br />Florida in 2000, late-arriving ballots became a divisive issue when <br />some were counted and others were disqualified. </p><p class="article">~Republicans and Democrats are pushing hard to solicit these voters <br />after some assessments indicating that President Bush's support <br />among the estimated 500,000 members of the military and their <br />families overseas may have weakened. There is little direct polling <br />of soldiers, but Peter D. Feaver, a sociology professor at Duke <br />University, says surveys have shown that while most officers are <br />staunchly Republican, the rank and file newest to the military has <br />been more closely divided between the parties. </p><p class="article">"Kerry will do better in this group than Gore did,'' Mr. Feaver <br />said, "but he will not reverse the Bush advantage." </p><p class="article">There is also little polling of the 3.9 million civilians abroad. <br />But last month, a Zogby poll of Americans who had passports found <br />that they supported John Kerry over Mr. Bush, 58 percent to 35 <br />percent. </p><p class="article">~Of the eight swing states that missed the 45-day mailing mark, <br />only three will accept ballots that arrive after Election Day. <br />Overseas voters have until Nov. 10 to send their ballots to <br />Florida, which experienced problems four years ago that prompted <br />widespread calls for improvements to overseas balloting. </p><p class="article">In 2001, the General Accounting Office examined overseas voting and <br />found numerous problems, from inadequate public education on the <br />subject to late ballot mailings. In surveying small counties <br />throughout the country, for example, the G.A.O., now the Government <br />Accountability Office, found that 8.1 percent of the overseas votes <br />had been thrown out mostly because they were late or not properly <br />completed. </p><p class="article">~In recent weeks the federal effort has also been clouded by a <br />series of missteps that appear to have affected mostly civilian <br />voters. </p><p class="article">~New questions have also arisen about the private contractor hired <br />by the Pentagon to handle these faxes and unsealed completed <br />ballots at its offices in Alexandria, Va. The company, Omega <br />Technologies, was sued last year by Adams National Bank, which <br />accused it of failing to pay off a loan of more than $500,000. In <br />court records the bank also said Omega improperly gained access to <br />a Pentagon computer to reroute payments to the company's new lender. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://vote2004.eriposte.com/overseas.htm"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://vote2004.eriposte.com/overseas.htm</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">Tuesday, October 26th, 2004 <br />Making Votes Count: Is a Theft of the 2004 Election Already Underway? </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/144227"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/144227</font></u></a> </p><p class="article"><br />AMY GOODMAN: The military. How does the military vote? </p><p class="article">ADAM COHEN: Well, again, it's shocking how little transparency <br />there is about this. You would think that people who are handling <br />federal votes in a presidential election would have it all written <br />down somewhere, and we would all be able to see how it's done and <br />be sure it's fair. Completely not true. In this year's election, <br />there was a little bit of a dust-up over the fact that two states <br />said they would allow the military to e-mail non-confidential <br />ballots. A bunch of us wrote about that. </p><p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean, “non-confidential ballots?” </p><p class="article">ADAM COHEN: When you e-mail a vote, if you are a soldier and e-mail <br />your vote, it's not a secret ballot. Your vote is an attachment to <br />an email that anyone along the way can read. There's controversy <br />about that, but then it led us to realize, 37 states allow the <br />military to vote by fax. Also not a secret ballot. </p><p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: Where are you faxing to? </p><p class="article">ADAM COHEN: You have two choices. You can fax to your local <br />elections office, but what the Pentagon has done for your <br />convenience, you soldiers around the world, is they have set up a <br />hotline that you can fax to, which goes to Washington. So, I called <br />the Pentagon and I said, could you explain to me where these <br />non-secret ballots that come in from soldiers go? Do they go into <br />the Pentagon? How do we know that you're -- they're supposed to <br />then send these ballots to the correct states, to the correct <br />county offices. I said, could you please explain how we know that <br />you're sending them off the way they should be sent? That you're <br />sending all the votes for both candidates? They said, actually, <br />these ballots, the faxed ballots from soldiers and the e-mailed <br />ballots from soldiers don't come to the Pentagon, they go to a <br />defense contractor called Omega Technologies. Well, I had never <br />heard of Omega Technologies. It seems that it had been never <br />described anywhere. It was not in any written materials that I <br />could find. I talked to Omega Technologies. It turns out it is a <br />Pentagon contractor. The CEO of it is a contributor to the <br />Republican Congressional Re-election Committee. In this cycle, <br />she's given $6,600. She's on a committee of this Republican <br />Congressional Re-election Committee. She's handling the non-secret <br />ballots, and there's no oversight of any kind. There's no ability <br />for the parties or the candidates to go in and make sure that the <br />ballots are being handled correctly, and that they're all being <br />transferred to the states. I mean, we don't know that they're not, <br />say, throwing out the John Kerry ballots. It's just shocking. The <br />other thing we don't know is how many ballots get handled in this <br />way. There seem to be no reporting requirements. We have no idea <br />how many ballots go in, how many come out. One little disturbing <br />thing that I learned is that this is the process that was used in <br />2000. Remember when the military ballots came in at the last minute <br />in Florida and may have changed the outcome of the election? We <br />don't know how many went through this office. Now, I should say, <br />many of them went directly to county elections offices, and it may <br />be that this office only handled a few ballots, but we really don't <br />know. </p><p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: Do they say? Have you talked to the head of Omega Technologies? </p><p class="article">ADAM COHEN: I talked to the head of Omega Technologies, and all I <br />can say is it was very confusing. She said to me that she was very <br />angry because we had written that she handled the actual ballots <br />because this was not true. And I said to her, “Well, the Pentagon <br />says that you are handling them this year and you have in the <br />past.” When I talked to her again, she admitted that they had <br />handled actual ballots, but she seemed unaware of that the first <br />time. They now say that it's a matter of hundreds of ballots an <br />election. I think they said 300 or so. We have no idea if that's <br />true. We have no idea if they have taken all of the ballots -- if <br />they have reported them accurately and transferred them accurately. </p><p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: And if these are not secret ballots, what does it mean <br />if you decide not to vote for your commander in chief? </p><p class="article">ADAM COHEN: Well, people who know the military have said to me this <br />is a huge issue. It could mean a lot. Because it's not only not <br />secret at the Pentagon level, it may not actually be secret at your <br />base, wherever you are. You may have to take your ballot into the <br />commanding officer's office. That might be the only fax machine on <br />the base. His secretary or he himself may be leaning over the fax <br />machine. Absolutely, there could be ramifications. It's often said <br />that the commanders in the military are very Republican, that the <br />lower-level soldiers less so. It can have a lot of ramifications. <br />There is no legitimate reason for having this not be a secret <br />ballot. It's not clear to me that, you know, that isn't one of the <br />intentions in all of this, is to make sure that, you know, voters <br />in the military feel they are being watched a little bit. </p><p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: We're talking to Adam Cohen, New York Times editorial <br />writer. What about non-military -- what about civilians overseas? <br />How do they vote? </p><p class="article">ADAM COHEN: This is another problem with the system. The way it was <br />set up, there's one office, the Federal Voting Assistance Program, <br />that's supposed to help military and non-military voters overseas. <br />The office is part of the Pentagon. It's not clear to me why, if <br />you are in the Peace Corps or spending a year abroad in France, why <br />the Defense Department should be involved in your voting. Also, <br />it's not clear that the Pentagon is as interested in other overseas <br />ballots. They seemed very interested in getting the military to <br />vote, less so for all these other groups. There was a bit of a <br />partisan dust-up over this recently, because the military vote is <br />heavily Republican. The other overseas vote tends to be more <br />Democratic. It appears that the people in charge of helping <br />overseas voters vote have made it quite a bit easier for military <br />voters to vote than non-military voters. </p><p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: Pushing soldiers to vote. </p><p class="article">ADAM COHEN: Pushing soldiers to vote and making it much harder than <br />it should be for those people in the Peace Corps or taking that <br />year abroad in Europe to get their registration materials, to <br />register, and get absentee ballots, and to vote. </p><p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: How does it work on the website? Wasn't there an issue <br />about where you could vote online? </p><p class="article">ADAM COHEN: Yeah, you can’t actually vote on the Internet, but you <br />can use it to get your voting materials and so forth, and yes, the <br />military was making it available only to members of the military, <br />saying it was easier for them to verify the ID of military voters. <br />But again there should be no discrimination. Any service like that <br />should not be weighted towards some voters and against other voters. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/144227"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/144227</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">~ </p><p class="article">NEWS | By Bob Neer - Sunday, 31 October 2004 <br />Republicans Say Kerry Will Win up to 80% of U.S. Voters in Canada <br />Canada. </p><p class="article">The head of Republicans Abroad Canada estimated that up to <br />80% of the approximately 500,000 U.S. citizens who live in Canada <br />will vote Democratic, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported. The <br />paper said Democrats Abroad Canada alone have distributed over <br />40,000 absentee ballots to their supporters in the country.[+] <br />Battleground States. Reuters reported large numbers of expatriates <br />are returning to volunteer for the final days of the U.S. election <br />campaign.[+] The Washington Post said most volunteers of this kind <br />appear to support Kerry.[point] Japan. U.S. troops in Japan were voting <br />in record numbers.[+] The Chicago Sun-Times, however, reported on <br />widespread concern that many military ballots will not be <br />counted.[+] Singapore. Channel News Asia reported on the race for <br />U.S. votes in Singapore.[+] Munich. The Munich chapter of Americans <br />Overseas for Kerry (AOK) completed their last Run Against Bush on <br />the sunniest day of October.[+] Draft. The satirical website <br />Enjoythedraft.com presented a blistering critique of the Bush <br />administration's military policies.[+] </p><p class="article">[point]=Bush sued to stop any recounting of the votes, and, on <br />Tuesday, December 12th, the United States Supreme Court gave him <br />what he wanted. Bush v. Gore was so shoddily reasoned and <br />transparently partisan that the five justices who endorsed the <br />decision declined to put their names on it, while the four <br />dissenters did not bother to conceal their disgust. There are rules <br />for settling electoral disputes of this kind, in federal and state <br />law and in the Constitution itself. By ignoring them—by cutting off <br />the process and installing Bush by fiat—the Court made a mockery <br />not only of popular democracy but also of constitutional <br />republicanism. </p><p class="article">A result so inimical to both majority rule and individual civic <br />equality was bound to inflict damage on the fabric of comity. But <br />the damage would have been far less severe if the new President had <br />made some effort to take account of the special circumstances of <br />his election—in the composition of his Cabinet, in the way that he <br />pursued his policy goals, perhaps even in the goals themselves. He <br />made no such effort. According to Bob Woodward in “Plan of Attack,” <br />Vice-President Dick Cheney put it this way: “From the very day we <br />walked in the building, a notion of sort of a restrained presidency <br />because it was such a close election, that lasted maybe thirty <br />seconds. It was not contemplated for any length of time. We had an <br />agenda, we ran on that agenda, we won the election—full speed <br />ahead.” </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?041101ta_talk_editors"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?041101ta_talk_editors</font></u></a> </p><p class="article"><br />October 31, 2004 in NEWS | Comments (1) </p><p class="article">Conservative Newspapers Endorse Kerry <br />An unprecedented collection of right-wing periodicals and leading <br />conservatives have turned away from George W. Bush's reckless <br />economic policies and religious fundamentalism to endorse John <br />Kerry as the conservative choice for America in the coming <br />election. Kerry is supported by among others the Editor of The <br />American Conservative, The Orlando Sentinel (its first Democratic <br />endorsement since 1964), John Eisenhower, son of the former <br />Republican President, and The Economist. For an exhaustive <br />collection of Republicans who have abandoned Bush and switched to <br />Kerry visit RepublicanSwitchers.com. Other periodicals that have <br />endorsed Kerry include The New Yorker, Bush's hometown newspaper <br />the Crawford Texas Lone Star Iconoclast, and The Yale Daily News. <br />For a catalog of 2004 presidential endorsements by periodicals, <br />including a list of those that endorsed Bush in 2000 but now favor <br />Kerry, visit Editor & Publisher magazine. </p><p class="article">October 31, 2004 in NEWS | Comments (0) </p><p class="article">Group Urges Bush to Re-open GeorgeWBush.com <br />THE HAGUE, LONDON, NEW YORK, SAN FRANCISCO, SEATTLE, STOCKHOLM, <br />TORONTO— This week the Bush campaign decided to block its web site <br />to visitors from outside the USA. The World Speaks <br />(<a href="http://www.theworldspeaks.net/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.theworldspeaks.net</font></u></a>) urges them to change their policy. Kajsa <br />Klein of The World Speaks says: “It’s a fine example of world <br />leadership; what kind of signal does this send to the rest of the <br />world – not to mention the millions of US Citizens with voting <br />rights living abroad? It’s not only an aggressive and undiplomatic <br />gesture, it makes America look like a closed undemocratic country.” </p><p class="article">Solana Larsen of The World Speaks says: “It’s blocking our efforts <br />to encourage understanding. Thousands of people have visited our <br />web sites and we know they are thirsty for information and dialogue <br />about the election. Why would the Bush administration purposefully <br />stand in the way of international dialogue with concerned world <br />citizens?” </p><p class="article">The World Speaks’ pre-election message: “Without dialogue there is <br />no understanding. Americans need to hear the concerns of non-U.S. <br />citizens as much as non-Americans need to understand the decision <br />of American voters, regardless of who is elected. World peace <br />depends on it. The United States isn’t alone on the planet.” </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.usabroad.org/2004/10/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.usabroad.org/2004/10/</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">The Silent Vote <br />As Election Day approaches, Americans abroad are determined to make <br />their voices heard. Will their ballots make a difference? </p><p class="article"><br />Courtesy Donkeys in the Desert <br />'Donkeys in the Desert': Kerry supporters show their colors in Baghdad </p><p class="article"><br />The overseas Web site peaked in mid-September with 5,000 <br />registrations in one 24-hour period. Privately sponsored Web sites <br />are proving a valuable alternative for both sides: the government’s <br />Federal Voting Assistance Program’s site was blocked in <br />mid-September to Internet service providers in at least 25 <br />countries, in what the Pentagon initially said was an effort to <br />deter hackers. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6257852/site/newsweek/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6257852/site/newsweek/</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">NEWS | By Bob Neer - Wednesday, 20 October 2004 </p><p class="article">Democrats Barred from U.S. Korea Bases </p><p class="article">The Los Angeles Times reports today that Democratic voter <br />registration workers have been barred from U.S. military bases in <br />South Korea -- but Republicans were allowed on to the bases. "In <br />South Korea, the Democrats have been barred from U.S. military <br />bases, while Republicans have been allowed in to set up booths and <br />tents. "We're there on a nonpartisan basis…. I cannot tell them who <br />to vote for," said John Lee, chairman of the Korea chapter of <br />Republicans Abroad. But his booths have small "Republicans Abroad" <br />signs on them, he acknowledged. "Whoever comes to our tent, most of <br />them are Republicans." </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">United States <br />The Global Battleground <br />Americans abroad are registering in record numbers, and their votes <br />could swing the U.S. election <br />BY BRYAN WALSH | HONG KONG </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501041025-725177,00.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501041025-725177,00.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">~The last time Chris Shannon voted for a President, it was for a <br />Republican, Ronald Reagan, and the year was 1980. This time, the <br />42-year-old former U.S. special-forces soldier, who has lived in <br />Japan for the past seven years, will be casting his ballot for <br />Democrat John Kerry. Shannon is eager to vote because he thinks <br />President George W. Bush has mishandled the Iraq war. But Shannon <br />is doing much more than exercising his own civil rights: he's also <br />helped register some 200 other Tokyo-based Americans and is leading <br />a group of them to Florida, the state that narrowly gave Bush <br />victory over Al Gore in 2000, to canvass and "do whatever they need <br />us to do to make sure Kerry wins." </p><p class="article">~ Casting a vote from overseas can be "really complicated," says <br />Jeffrey Wilson of AmDems in Shanghai. "In the U.S. it's simple: you <br />just register and walk down to the polling place. But here you have <br />to jump through a bunch of hoops." </p><p class="article">Those complications, however, haven't stopped the political <br />sparring overseas. Last Thursday the Democrats and Republicans <br />Abroad held a debate in Hong Kong's Ritz-Carlton hotel attended by <br />a spirited audience more than double the size that showed up in <br />previous election years. One spectator was Tom Goetz, a former <br />member of Republicans Abroad whose anger over Iraq, where his son <br />is a U.S. intelligence officer, has prompted him to support Kerry. <br />"I never saw this much interest and conflict among the two sides," <br />he says, looking around the crowded ballroom. For Americans in <br />2004, political passion doesn't stop at the water's edge. </p><p class="article">—With reporting by Chaim Estulin/Hong Kong </p><p class="article"><br />From the Oct. 25, 2004 issue of TIME Asia Magazine </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501041025-725177,00.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501041025-725177,00.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">September 23, 2004 </p><p class="article">(Dis)Counting Overseas Votes <br />We're continually being told that every vote counts, but if you're <br />an American overseas, don't count on the U.S. government to protect <br />your right to vote. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/09/09_522.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/09/09_522.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">~Following an uproar among Democrats, the Pentagon issued a rapid <br />reversal of the Internet blockade on Wednesday. This was <br />remarkable, not least because the block seems to have been in place <br />for months, if not years. However, the Pentagon continues to refuse <br />to explain why the blockade was in place in to begin with, and now <br />claims it had been left in effect "inadvertently." </p><p class="article">~Given that the civilian overseas vote is predicted to go in <br />Senator John Kerry's favor, Democrats were quick to cry foul, <br />questioning the Defense Department's motives. It is estimated that <br />there are around 6 million American civilians and 500,000 military <br />troops overseas. According to a recent Zogby poll, Americans who <br />hold a passport favor Kerry 58 percent compared to 35 percent who <br />favor Bush, and requests for overseas ballot are way up this <br />election. </p><p class="article">~In fact, however, the Democrats have high hopes for picking up <br />more than their usual share of the Republican-leaning military <br />vote. The non-existent WMDs, continuing violence in Iraq and <br />Afghanistan, extended tours of duty, the calling up of the National <br />Guard troops and retirees, and scrutiny of Bush's Guard days, may <br />all mean gains for Kerry with this constituency. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/09/09_522.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/09/09_522.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">The Pentagon's Troubling Role </p><p class="article">by Editorials/Op-Ed, story here <br />September 3rd, 2004 </p><p class="article"><br />Article available at: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/31/opinion/31tues1.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/31/opinion/31tues1.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p class="article">The Pentagon's Troubling Role </p><p class="article">Published: August 31, 2004 </p><p class="article">~The Missouri and North Dakota announcements call attention to the <br />larger issue of why the Pentagon is directly handling so many <br />presidential ballots. The Federal Voting Assistance Program, a unit <br />of the Defense Department, is charged with helping not only <br />military voters, but all eligible voters overseas, a total of about <br />six million people. But it is a fundamental aspect of the American <br />election system that handling and counting of votes is supposed to <br />occur at the local level. The Defense Department should stop <br />handling actual ballots, and instead help military and other <br />overseas voters send them directly to local elections officials. </p><p class="article">In the 1960 election, there was widespread skepticism when Mayor <br />Richard Daley waited until hours after the polls closed to release <br />the Chicago vote, and it turned out to be almost precisely what was <br />needed to put Illinois in the Democratic column. [It invites <br />cynicism about our democracy to operate a system in which employees <br />who answer to the secretary of defense could control the margin of <br />victory in a close presidential election.] </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=2668"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=2668</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">Overseas military votes could sway outcome, but will they be counted? </p><p class="article">The Associated Press <br />October 30, 2004 </p><p class="article">~Hills and other election watchers say that failing to count <br />military ballots in this election is even more unforgivable than in <br />2000 because the votes now represent Americans risking their lives <br />in battle. </p><p class="article">~More than a dozen states -- including those too close to call -- <br />missed the recommended deadline to mail ballots overseas. One of <br />the reasons: legal arguments over whether independent candidate <br />Ralph Nader should be listed on ballots. </p><p class="article">~Nearly 30 percent of registered military voters did not get a <br />ballot 2000, or got it too late. This year, Wright estimates <br />between 20 percent and 40 percent of servicemembers will not have <br />their vote counted because of slow mail and differing state rules. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/election/20041029233826.shtml"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/election/20041029233826.shtml</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">October 26, 2004 <br />The military vote <br />I just got an email from my brother, a specialist in the 1st <br />Armored Division, who as I've mentioned here before is disgusted <br />with both sides of The Most Important Election Ever (boom, boom, <br />ba-boom, boom!). </p><p class="article">Anyhoo, I had assumed his vote for the voice of Kit was an <br />abberration among the military absentees, usually a stalwart GOP <br />bloc, but among the mechanized grunts in the 1st Armored Division, <br />at least, it's fairly typical: </p><p class="article">{D}on't fret about the absentee military vote. It won't be nearly <br />as Republican as usual. It's hard to find anyone who spent 15 <br />months in Iraq who is voting Bush. There's a machine-gunner down <br />the hall with a t-shirt picturing our Commander in Chief, bearing <br />the inscription "Operation Enduring Stupidity." <br />Can't say how true this holds for the military as a whole. (If any <br />bunch of soldiers has a good reason to hate Bush, it's the 1st <br />Armored: their Iraq tour was extended at the last minute by 90 <br />days, a move that had some transport planes turning around <br />mid-flight and some other soldiers enjoying a few hours of false <br />relief on the ground in Germany before they were told they had to <br />go back. I'd be bitter, too.) But I thought I'd pass it on. </p><p class="article">Posted by Danimal at October 26, 2004 12:53 PM <br /><a href="http://www.oregoncommentator.com/archives/000358.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.oregoncommentator.com/archives/000358.html</font></u></a> <br />***** <br />OverseasVote.com Predicts Huge Overseas Turnout <br />OverseasVote.com yesterday predicted an unprecedented turnout of <br />approximately two million overseas voters. The website estimates <br />there are five million overseas Americans and that 80% are of <br />voting age: four million potential voters. Most observers estimate <br />that 22% of overseas Americans voted in 2000: about 880,000 votes. <br />This year, according to OverseasVote.com, turnout will be at least <br />50%, which implies 104,000 votes from abroad in Florida, 85,000 in <br />Pennsylvania, and 52,500 in Ohio, based on registration patterns <br />observed at the site. "Our calculations indicate that Kerry easily <br />wins the overseas vote with 60% to 65% of Americans abroad. This <br />includes the military vote which, even with a 90% turnout, accounts <br />for just 23% o f the overseas vote. More than 40% of the overseas <br />votes are in swing states," said the site's Brett Rierson. Kerry's <br />overseas voting edge will be about 599,900 votes, Rierson added. <br />Voters have until 10 November to send their ballots to officials in <br />Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Click here to visit the <br />USAbroad.org Last Minute Overseas Voting Information Center. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.usabroad.org/news/index.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.usabroad.org/news/index.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">I found a link during this research to report problems with <br />OverSeas Voting, when you go to check out what happened , THIS PAGE <br />SHOWS UP! </p><p class="article"><br />Error 403: Access Forbidden <br />You do not appear to have permission to access this part of the site. </p><p class="article">You should be able to easily find all of the publically available <br />information on the site by starting at the main page. If you have <br />problems or believe that you should have permission to access this <br />page please contact webmaster (at) democratsabroad.org. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.democratsabroad.org/problems/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.democratsabroad.org/problems/</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">November 09, 2004 <br />From the Desk of Diana Kerry: </p><p class="article">Dear Overseas Voter: </p><p class="article">But I want you to know that as disappointed as I am about the <br />election’s outcome, I am downright angry about the way US citizens <br />living abroad have been treated by those charged with helping them <br />exercise their right to vote. Despite millions of dollars in <br />taxpayer funding, the Pentagon’s Federal Voter Assistance Program <br />defaulted on their obligation to serve two important groups: <br />civilian overseas voters and local election officials. </p><p class="article">Poor customer service, inaccurate, conflicting and outdated <br />information, blocked websites, last minute rules changes and all <br />the rest: it was an unmitigated disaster. As a result, many voters <br />saw their absentee ballot requests wrongly denied, and a large <br />number of duly registered voters did not receive ballots from their <br />States in time, or at all. Based on preliminary results reported by <br />local election officials, perhaps as many as 30% of registered <br />overseas voters did not return their ballots in time to have them <br />count. A great many of you have been effectively disenfranchised <br />during this election, either deliberately or through blunders, <br />bureaucratic negligence, and worse. Whatever the reason, depriving <br />you of your vote, never mind how you intended to cast it, is wrong. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/from_the_desk_o.html#more"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/from_the_desk_o.html#more</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">November 08, 2004 <br />Can I still vote? It depends... <br />A highly unusual email sent from the Pentagon to Voting Information <br />Officers at US military installations around the world ON ELECTION <br />DAY contained a very specific reminder that it was not too late to <br />vote in OHIO, clearly explained why, and encouraged one last bit of <br />taxpayer-funded GOP GOTV. Is this criminal? It should be. It is <br />certainly unpatriotic and un-American. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/can_i_still_vot.html#more"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/can_i_still_vot.html#more</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">UOCAVA Horror Stories: Chapter 1 <br />We learned a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of the UOCAVA <br />voting system this past year. Despite all the talk and money <br />lavished on the topic of "Uniformed and Civilian Overseas Voting" <br />since the 2000 election we still have a system that is scandalously <br />inept, and maddeningly inefficient. Almost makes you think there <br />are people who don't want US civilians living overseas to vote. <br />Here's a story from Foster's Online written by Marc Fortier, <br />pictured here with his NH ballot, which reached him in Turkey so <br />late he couldn't get it back in time for it to be counted. It was <br />sent with insufficient postage the first time. And it seems that <br />no one in his local election office ever thought to tell him about <br />his UOCAVA rights, including the emergency "Federal Write-in <br />Absentee Ballot." AOK and OverseasVote will be compiling a report <br />of voting problems and calling for reforms in the process, so if <br />you have a story to share, please send to Jim (at) AOKerry.com. Thanks. </p><p class="article">November 7, 2004 at 10:27 AM | </p><p class="article">Missing the election by an absentee ballot </p><p class="article">Editor’s note: Newmarket resident Marc Fortier is spending a year <br />in Turkey with his wife, his 1-year-old daughter, and his in-laws. <br />Fortier, 31, wrote for Foster’s from 1995 to 1998. His column <br />appears monthly in Foster’s Sunday Citizen. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://www.fosters.com/november_2004/11.07.04/news/home_11.07.04b.asp"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.fosters.com/november_2004/11.07.04/news/home_11.07.04b.asp</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">Soldiers overseas hope ballots will count <br />Massive effort under way on U.S. bases to get out the vote <br />By Andy Eckardt <br />Producer <br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5697049/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5697049/</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">~The military asks its active duty members not to openly display or <br />voice their political opinion while in uniform. Yet, many soldiers <br />and airmen still exercise their right to freedom of speech these <br />days. <br />"Even though active duty members tend to be nervous about open <br />political involvement, I have seen people wearing VOTE KERRY <br />T-shirts on base," Ronald Schlundt, the chairman of “Democrats <br />Abroad,” who lives near Ramstein Air Base. </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">In the military, out of the ballot loop </p><p class="article">By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr. <br />SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST </p><p class="article">If a man or woman is willing to take a bullet for the country, his <br />or her vote ought to count. </p><p class="article">Period. </p><p class="article"><a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/205686_robert29.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/205686_robert29.html</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">~Every ghost in the political machine becomes a screaming banshee. </p><p class="article">But the broader issue here is one worth visiting. </p><p class="article">Regardless of party affiliation, it is only fair that a fighting <br />chance be given to ballots belonging to the men and women we <br />readily send off to war. </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article"><br />American Legion Commander Says </p><p class="article"><br />On the eve of his 11-day Far East trip, which will include <br />Thanksgiving supper with U.S. troops in the Korean demilitarized <br />zone, American Legion National Commander Ray G. Smith issued the <br />following statement in regard to the discounting of more than 1,400 <br />absentee ballots from U.S. military personnel assigned overseas. <br />Smith, a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War, was in Florida <br />for a weekend gathering of The American Legion Department of <br />Florida. The 2.8-million member American Legion is the nation's <br />largest veterans organization. </p><p class="article">ORLANDO (SUNDAY, Nov. 19, 2000) - "It is un-American to deny the <br />protectors of democracy their constitutional right to participate <br />in the electoral process. I therefore urge Florida election <br />officials to reverse the wholesale invalidation of more than 1,400 <br />absentee ballots submitted by U.S. military personnel stationed <br />abroad. Further, I urge members of Congress to look into this <br />shameful situation. </p><p class="article">"The men and women whose votes have been disqualified are part of <br />the tradition of the American citizen-soldier whose sacrifices <br />preserve the right to vote for all of us. There is nothing partisan <br />about counting the votes of these citizens who took an oath 'to <br />support and defend the Constitution of the United States against <br />all enemies'... </p><p class="article">"Unless an absentee ballot is so mutilated that the choices cannot <br />be determined, the ballot should count. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, <br />Marines and Coast Guardsman must not be penalized because the <br />system that delivered those ballots was protracted. American troops <br />are deployed to more than 130 different countries and on ships on <br />the high seas around the world. </p><p class="article">"I am especially sensitive to the patriotism of the troops serving <br />abroad as I plan to spend Thanksgiving thanking our troops between <br />the two Koreas for their service. I cannot look those troops in <br />their eyes and turn my back on the invalidation of their votes." </p><p class="article">Stars and Stripes <br />Letters to the editor </p><p class="article">Investigate election results </p><p class="article">With widespread election irregularities, how can we as a nation try <br />and impose democracy around the world when our own democracy is in <br />shambles? There must be an investigation into the election results <br />in Florida and Ohio and other states to instill integrity into our <br />elections. We as a nation used to joke about this type of stuff in <br />elections in Communist Russia and Third World countries. This does <br />not happen in my country. </p><p class="article">Gabriel Rodriguez <br />Yokohama, Japan </p><p class="article">Jesus was a liberal </p><p class="article">Some conservatives think they have a monopoly on Christianity. They <br />have even turned “liberal” into a dirty word. Liberals were against <br />slavery, segregation and child labor, and for equal rights <br />regardless of gender and race. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert <br />Kennedy were liberal. Strom Thurmond and George Wallace were <br />conservative. If you had to choose a side, which one would you be <br />on? </p><p class="article">I consider myself a centrist, but my favorite liberal is Jesus. No <br />matter how hard you thump your Bible, Jesus wasn’t orthodox or <br />liberal. He wasn’t a hard-liner, hawk or warmonger. Jesus believed <br />in peace, love and the Golden Rule. He didn’t support pre-emptive <br />war, the death penalty or tax breaks for the rich. </p><p class="article">Jesus was liberal. What’s wrong with that? </p><p class="article">Chuck Mann <br />Greensboro, N.C. </p><p class="article">Wounded are forgotten </p><p class="article">I was so glad to read “Disabled vets get red tape, not ticker tape” (Oct. 20). </p><p class="article">The soldier, Tyson Johnson III, was wounded in the same attack that <br />got another from my unit killed. Over the year since it has <br />happened, the soldier that was killed has been made into virtually <br />a saint; his family has been showered with blessings and flown here <br />to attend a prominent building dedication ceremony to him; he’s <br />been used as a model soldier in formation speeches, and things like <br />soldiers wearing his name on memorial bracelets. </p><p class="article">However, other soldiers, like Johnson, who were wounded to the <br />point of being disabled for life, are all forgotten and never <br />mentioned. Many soldiers don’t even know who they are (and it’s not <br />like this unit had many wounded, either). Even worse, just a day <br />after the article was printed, a senior enlisted noncommissioned <br />officer who knew him actually decried Johnson’s situation like he <br />had nothing to be complaining about. What does that say and what <br />message does that send? </p><p class="article">The movie “Fahrenheit 9/11” pointed out this very thing, regardless <br />of what may be thought of the film itself — that while the dead are <br />counted, the wounded are done so almost secretly. It breaks the <br />heart when confronted with the reality of it. </p><p class="article">Sgt. Samuel Provance <br />Heidelberg, Germany </p><p class="article">Fight for America goes on </p><p class="article">The re-election of President Bush brings a sad and fearful morning <br />to America. His words of unity and conciliation ring hollow. As the <br />Bush administration continues its arrogant agenda of isolation and <br />ignorance, freedom-loving Americans who oppose those attempts to <br />further limit civil liberties and who fight an administration <br />grounded in fear and intolerance will find themselves labeled as <br />uncooperative and unpatriotic. It is and old and scary game, one <br />that the Bush machine plays masterfully. </p><p class="article">As Sen. John Edwards said on Wednesday, the fight to save America <br />has only just begun. </p><p class="article">Laurel Samson <br />Ramstein Air Base, Germany </p><p class="article">Stripes is nonpartisan </p><p class="article"><a href="http://cf.rrstar.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=14&threadid=4293"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://cf.rrstar.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=14&threadid=4293</font></u></a> </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">Did every vote count? <br />Many overseas Americans did not receive absentee ballots even <br />though they applied well in advance. This is the story of one US <br />citizen's bum rush against a disenfranchising bureaucracy to become <br />one of 116 million opinions <br />Trista di Genova </p><p class="article">~They checked our bags, and made Jennie drink some of her water "to <br />test it." For some unknown reason, a Taiwanese lady guard <br />suggested, "Why don't you come back tomorrow?" <br />"No. Today is election day," I said. "Tomorrow will be too late." </p><p class="article">A white security official in civilian clothes, presumably in the <br />foreign service came out and interviewed me. Who do you work for? I <br />told him I was a freelance journalist, covering issues of voting - <br />and voter intimidation. Who do you sell your work to? I said <br />"anyone that wants to buy it." Information is free, right? </p><p class="article">They took away my bag with the camera, and the security tool took <br />us aside and took down all our passport information - very, very <br />slowly. It was 3:15pm, and it seemed he was trying to delay us. I <br />told Jennie to go ahead. He said "You're not going anywhere until <br />I'm finished with you." </p><p class="article">"What's your name?" I asked. When he didn't say anything, I tried <br />to turn over his badge to see it. He wouldn't let me. </p><p class="article">~Then they all closed in around me. I moved away and held my hands <br />behind my back when they tried to take my arm in passive <br />resistance. The white tool tried to twist my arm behind my back, <br />but as Jennie noted later, "he wasn't very good at it, and didn't <br />know how to do it right." She said he was shaking and was <br />intimidated, but I didn't notice, because these people were trying <br />to drag and force me out the door. I got out of his lame grip, then <br />he tried to hurt my left hand. He broke one of my prayer bracelets <br />in the struggle, and my hair band came off. As I was being forced <br />out the door toward the stairwell, I noticed a young black guy in <br />civilian suit standing in the doorway, watching. I was saying, "I <br />want to vote. I want her to vote." </p><p class="article">They took me into the stairwell, and just held me there, standing. <br />I started to cry, and the Taiwanese lady guard patted my back. They <br />all stood holding on to me, keeping me still. But I was already <br />still, sobbing, with shock and grief. Why? The trauma of being <br />forcibly removed by a gang of people, maybe. But it was more than <br />that. It was grief about the things to come, for all of us. </p><p class="article">~my own case was alarming. I had received two ballots, one from <br />heavily Democratic Washington, DC and another from my home state of <br />Arizona - a swing-state. I managed to send the Arizona ballot back <br />in order to arrive Nov. 1. It was tempting to vote twice, but the <br />prospect of a US$10,000 fine was daunting, ultimately. So I voted <br />once last week, and crossed my fingers it would be counted. And <br />wondered - don't they cross-check voter registrations between <br />states? Can anybody vote several times? </p><p class="article">~Trista di Genova is a writer in Taipei: trista2000 (at) yahoo.com. You <br />can see video of Jennie's Election Day at <a href="http://www.rentacrowd.com/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.rentacrowd.com</font></u></a>. </p><p class="article">***** </p><p class="article">June 08, 2004 <br />Donkeys In The Desert <br />by Gary Farber of Amygdala at June 8, 2004 12:09 AM </p><p class="article">(Gary Farber's home blog is Amygdala.) </p><p class="article">As The New Yorker notes, not everyone in Iraq working for the CPA <br />or to help Iraqis is a Republican. </p><p class="article">"In late April, a group of Americans serving in Iraq sent a letter <br />to John Kerry, appealing to the candidate as both an ex-soldier and <br />a peace seeker. It read, in part, “Put bluntly: we believe you ne<img class="dada-image-center" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/migrate_dada/JkerryJ20.jpg"><br> <img class="dada-image-center" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/migrate_dada/WorkerLady.jpg"><br>

<p>U.S. CitiZeNs; ON The FrontLines Of Int. Relations- DID Expat. &amp; SoldierVote get Left Behind?... A Pivotal, Hotly contested 'election of a lifetime' spurring Worldwide interest saw OverSeas Voters registration increase fourfold as these Americans are the Country's spokespeople, and best face forward. Recalcitrant insistence on conflict creating perpetual war, was on the table for We Decide, you saw the BillBoards reminding US whose Will was to be measured- The People's! RiP van Winkle Voters came out of the woodwork, contributing herculean volunteer efforts &amp; enthusiasm were unprecendented and encouraging. NEVER in U.S. Presidential politics have MASSIVE crowds shown up to endorse an incumbent. But to throw out, Reject malfeasence and Get Rid of incompetence! The 51st state, as American's abroad were called because of it's swing potential, an estimated 4million civilians and 500,000 military, of course many in dubious, difficult, dangerous and DeaDly situations, it's numbers giving it an impact larger than the 24 smallest states. Participation was cool this time, many expressing eager desire to voice their vote. Also though, a haunting anxiety that the systemic flaws characteristic of confusing procedures and snafus investigated by the GAO in previous efforts at smooth and fair election process run by a mosaic of federal &amp; state agencies would DisCount NOT AcCount accurately the absentee Vote. Expatriates tend heavily liberal, outnumber military significantly and the soldiers especially rank and file were said to be more mixed, varied not so monolothic, or predictable as usually seen said veterans of multiple elections. However, the pentagon, which for some reason took over from the state department, the handling of ballots, was criticized for registration websites not working, unequal mishandling of the CivilianVote, absentee ballots mailed late in 8 of 15 swing states, ballots hard to get, too many hoops to jump through and doubts whether they would get back in time, count and be honored fairly as a private firm owned by a republican donor and of the reelection team, was handling ballots historically counted at local levels. Typically 8% of absentee votes are discarded, with Bush possibly winning the popular vote by 2-3%, HOW assured at Legit can we be? when you also ADD the percents lost of provisionals thrown out, the undervotes thrown out, unequal distribution of election hardware, not random in the stunting of turnout toward one of the choices, including GAINS from unreal certification of results with more votes than voters, when the long lines were in the democratic precints!. Registration going up, up, UP Machines going DOWN, down, down, DOH! What level of fraud is sufficient to BeSmirch Confidence? Reports below abound of systemic pre-election suppression and NOW BlackOut and silence of OverSeas results are Signs of a Sinister Scandal. These OverSeas American's are ambassadors, this vote should not be treated cavalierly but be traceable, honored and COUNTED, foreigners, frontlines in someone elses HomeLand, they REALLY understand Vote or Die. I asked my roomate for a historical quote which could speak to this unseemly realization, scenario we've allowed to happen? She said there is NONE, because it has never happened before. So I say, an UNprecendented, UNheard of, UNfair, UNacceptable, UNnatural Results can only be Remedied, Adjudicated, Balanced by SomeThing that hasn't happened before a, -NewVote to Ameliorate this WaterShed MoMent! POST AS COMMENTS WHAT YOU'VE HEARD, FOUND OUT, RESEARCHED ON THE ACCURACY &amp; VALIDITY OF OVERSEAS VOTE COUNTS. NO SoldiersVote Left Behind!</p> <!--break--><p><img class="dada-image-center" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/migrate_dada/NoSoldiersVoteLeftBehind.jpg" /><br /><br /> </p><p class="article">WARNING: <br />31 It should be clear that more is at stake than the presidency <br />itself. Use of computerized vote counting <br />will only increase, as mandated by law. Vote counting is the <br />bedrock protocol of a democracy and <br />meaningful reform of a broken counting system is dependent on an <br />expression of public will ultimately <br />exercised at the ballot box and fairly, accurately, and honestly <br />tabulated. If the system has broken down <br />and is no longer counting accurately and honestly, there is no <br />effective democratic mechanism to bring <br />pressure upon a governing majority to reform a vote counting status <br />quo which is seen to work in its favor. <br />This is, as may be seen, a potentially crippling catch-22 for a democracy. </p> <p class="article">*footnotes from statistical proof on examination of vote count data <br /><a href="http://www.spiral-stairs.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/30/223723/91"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.spiral-stairs.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/30/223723/91</font></u></a> <br />explanation of the ease of hackability at end of this post. </p> <p class="article">Let’s Get Real <br />By Mark Crispin Miller </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1692/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1692/</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">To let ourselves believe that the “election” was legitimate because <br />this claim or that has been disproved(apparently) is to not honor <br />reason. On the contrary, a veritable sea of evidence, statistical <br />as well as anecdotal and circumstantial, supports the claim that <br />Bush, again, was not elected by the people. "(NOW documentation, <br />statistical affidavits, concealing records, log books, ducking <br />inquiries, subpoenas, delaying due-process in court cases, <br />orchestrated, unprincipled caustic attacks and denials to distort, <br />distract and divert away from the onus of those in charge <br />preventing legislation requiring paper trails which increase <br />transparency and trust) per CJCleveLand." </p> <p class="article">To nod agreement that this was indeed an honest win is to forget <br />how Bush was shoehorned into office in the first place; to ignore <br />the ease with which electronic totals can be changed without a <br />trace; to suppress the fact that Diebold, Sequoia and ES&amp;S—the <br />major manufacturers of touch screen voting machines and central <br />tabulators—are owned and run by Bush Republicans, who have made no <br />secret of their partisan intentions; to deny the value of the exit <br />polls, which turn out to have been “mistaken” only in the swing <br />states; to downplay the weird inflation of the Bush vote in county <br />after county, where the number of votes for president was somehow <br />higher than the number of voters who turned out; to ignore the bald <br />chicanery of the Bush supporters who ran the central polling <br />station in Ohio’s Warren County and forced out the press and poll <br />monitors so they could count the vote in secret; to forget the <br />numerous accounts of vote fraud coast to coast throughout the prior <br />weeks of early voting; to overlook the fact that every single <br />“glitch” or “error” that has been reported favors Bush; to ignore <br />the countless instances of ballots—absentee, provisional—thrown <br />away or left uncounted; to forget that the civilian vote abroad <br />(some four million Americans) was being mishandled by the Pentagon <br />(which had somehow become responsible for doing the State <br />Department’s job); and to ignore the many dirty tricks reported—the <br />polling places quickly relocated at the last minute, the fake <br />voter-registration drives, the thousands of Americans who found <br />themselves not on the rolls, the police road-blocks, the bullying <br />pro-Bush poll workers, the machines that kept translating votes for <br />Kerry into votes for Bush. And so on. </p> <p class="article">To forget or ignore all this and to accept—on faith—the mere say-so <br />of Bush &amp; Company (and our compliant media) is to make clear that <br />you are not a member of what the Busheviks deride as “the <br />reality-based community.” Those who help discredit false reports <br />are doing that community, and this erstwhile democracy, a precious <br />service. But, those who would abort the whole inquiry in the name <br />of science or journalistic probity and “closure” are putting that <br />community, and this nation, at grave risk. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1692/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1692/</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">Suppressing the overseas vote </p> <p class="article">Record numbers of Americans abroad have registered, but <br />bureaucratic snafus may prevent many from actually voting, writes <br />Alix Christie </p> <p class="article">Alix Christie <br />Monday October 25, 2004 </p> <p class="article">Guardian Unlimited </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5047076-114319,00.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0%2C3858%2C5047076-114319%2C00.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">~Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat is pumped. Two weeks ago, sitting in an <br />internet cafe on Munich's Odeonplatz, the software marketer who <br />crafted a hugely successful voter registration website, pulls up <br />numbers that show a remarkable spike in Americans overseas <br />mobilising to defeat George W Bush. Between her site and another <br />out of Hong Kong, Democrats have registered 140,000 new voters, 40% <br />of them from swing states - and that is just the tip of the <br />iceberg. Americans abroad, roused to a boiling fury by a Bush <br />doctrine that has smeared America's good name across the globe, are <br />looking like the "silent swing vote" in several key battleground <br />states. Overseas registration for both parties is up by 400% over <br />2000. </p> <p class="article">~Then the panicked emails start flooding in. Today, less than two <br />weeks before the tightest presidential race in memory, untold <br />thousands of overseas voters still have not received their ballots <br />- and clearly won't be able to get them back in time. </p> <p class="article">~The Government Accountability Office excoriated the agency for <br />losing thousands of overseas votes in 2000, but the FVAP insists it <br />has corrected its problems this year. Frustrated civilian <br />advocates, however, say the FVAP remains biased and ineffective. <br />Despite reforms, they attest, it still has not shaken its Pentagon <br />roots: It spends the bulk of its energy getting out a heavily <br />Republican vote among half a million service people - but has <br />failed the far greater numbers of civilians (an estimated 4 <br />million, by most counts) who tend to vote a different way. </p> <p class="article">~The tsunami of overseas civilian voters this year has only made <br />the inequity more glaring. The agency was overwhelmed by a flood <br />that has clogged its fax lines, telephones and email. It has <br />blocked access to its website to civilian voters abroad, given <br />military voters access to electronic ballot-request systems that <br />civilians cannot use, and subcontracted sensitive election work to <br />a company with strong Republican ties. </p> <p class="article">~In one pathetic twist, employees of DaimlerChrysler in Stuttgart <br />had to beg forms from the military at the gate of the base last <br />week, a voting officer said. </p> <p class="article">~The overarching problem is the scant resources allotted civilian <br />voters, who outnumber the military overseas by at least eight to <br />one. While all applaud the goal of making sure men and women <br />fighting for our country can exercise their right to vote, <br />civilians point out that they are Americans, too. </p> <p class="article">~More worryingly, a pilot email voting system signed on to by <br />Missouri, Utah and North Dakota, in which soldiers can email <br />ballots to a contractor that then faxes those ballots to local <br />jurisdictions, is being operated by Omega Technologies, headed by a <br />former Republican Party donor, according to the New York Times. <br />(MORE ABOUT THEM IN DemocracyNow InterView BELOW) </p> <p class="article">~The Times also reports that earlier this week two Democratic <br />members of Congress, Henry Waxman of California and Carolyn B <br />Maloney of New York, asked the Government Accountability Office to <br />investigate the FVAP. Among their concerns is that the agency's <br />online ballot-retrieval system is not open to most civilians abroad. </p> <p class="article">~Which way these hordes of new voters go is, in fact, the big <br />overseas question - assuming they get to vote. Democrats and <br />Republicans alike see gold in both the civilian and military camps. <br />What's undisputed is that the Bush administration has galvanised <br />overseas voters as never before. "The entire world is against Bush, <br />and we reflect that view that America has lost all its credibility <br />abroad," says McQueen of Democrats Abroad. "I was tired of cringing <br />in the supermarket whenever I spoke English to my kids, knowing how <br />much we as Americans were hated," says Dzieduszycka-Suinat. Hills, <br />for her part, reports that many Republicans, angered at what they <br />see as unjust attacks, are coming out in equal droves to support <br />the president. On both sides, stories abound of older Americans, <br />and dual citizens who've kept their American passports, emerging <br />like Rip Van Winkle to vote for the first time in 30 or 40 years. </p> <p class="article">~"There's a definite interest in participating," echoes Charles <br />Keene of Democrats Abroad and the NAACP. "From almost everyone you <br />heard, it was, 'You better believe I'm going to vote.'" </p> <p class="article">Despite several recent polls showing staunch support for President <br />Bush among high-ranking officers, soldiers on base and Pentagon <br />civilians active in Democratic politics say the mood in the <br />military is far more mixed. The controversial mission in Iraq has <br />brought a sea change in political attitudes on base, these <br />observers report. McQueen, a retired military civil servant, says, <br />"You're not seeing the kind of pressure to vote Republican you <br />always had in the past." </p> <p class="article">The strong pro-Republican culture that emerged in the military in <br />the wake of Vietnam has begun to splinter, many observers say. A <br />report in the Washington Monthly last year described rank-and-file <br />soldiers, who are disproportionately non-white, working-class and <br />female, as increasingly diverging from an ideologically <br />conservative officer corps. "For a long time here, Democrats were <br />in the closet," concurs Trenton Browne, a military security <br />contractor who works on bases from Heidelberg to Kaiserslautern. <br />"Now in the lower ranks you hear people speaking openly about their <br />dissent." </p> <p class="article">~The survey, however, concentrated on higher-ranking service <br />people, and is not representative of the rank and file. Along <br />Heidelberg's main street, off-duty soldiers, some fresh from combat <br />in Iraq, divided evenly between rejecting Kerry because "he doesn't <br />support the troops" and supporting him "because a lot of us feel <br />jerked around". "People think the military is totally Republican, <br />and that's definitely not true," says one strolling soldier, a <br />burly 30-year-old from Florida. "There's a lot of different views <br />within the ranks." Capt Maxwell-Borges, the Stuttgart voting <br />officer, agrees. "Surprisingly, it's been really mixed," she says. <br />"A lot of people support Kerry because he's a veteran and says he's <br />going to increase military spending, and others are the more <br />traditional pro-Republicans. But I've been on bases in the past <br />three elections and I have to say that this time [political views] <br />seem a lot more varied." </p> <p class="article">~Thousands of lawyers on both sides are renting office space in <br />battleground states, ready to pounce on illegalities in stateside <br />balloting and absentee votes. For now, overseas voters groping <br />their empty mailboxes can only download the write-in ballot, send <br />it in - in the faith that local election officials will accept it - <br />and pray. </p> <p class="article">·Alix Christie is a reporter and former editor of the foreign <br />service of the San Francisco Chronicle </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5047076-114319,00.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0%2C3858%2C5047076-114319%2C00.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">The Pentagon doesn't want you to vote overseas <br />A Web site maintained by the Department of Defense is blocking <br />access to non-military Americans. Could it be worried that <br />expatriates are leaning toward Kerry? </p> <p class="article">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <br />By Farhad Manjoo </p> <p class="article">Sept. 21, 2004 | </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/09/21/overseas_voting/index_np.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/09/21/overseas_voting/index_np.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">~"This is a completely partisan thing," one Defense Department <br />voting official told Salon. The official, who asked to remain <br />anonymous for fear of being fired, is one of the many people in the <br />department assigned to help both uniformed military personnel as <br />well as American civilians register to vote. The offical described <br />the Pentagon as extremely diligent in its efforts to register <br />soldiers stationed overseas -- for instance, voting assistance <br />officers have been told by the department to personally meet with <br />all of the soldiers in their units in order to help them register. <br />But the department has ignored its mandate to help overseas <br />civilians who want to vote, the official said. </p> <p class="article">Not surprisingly, political pollsters believe that uniformed <br />military personnel, especially military officers, lean toward <br />Republicans in their voting habits; American civilians who live <br />abroad, meanwhile, are particularly progressive. One recent Zogby <br />survey, for example, showed that voters with passports supported <br />Kerry over Bush by a margin of 55 to 33 percent. </p> <p class="article">The official -- a self-described Democrat who adheres to <br />requirements of non-partisanship as a voting officer -- could see <br />no explanation other than pure political trickery in the Pentagon's <br />decision to block the FVAP Web site. "There is no way in hell that <br />this is not a deliberate partisan attempt to systematically <br />disenfranchise a large Democratic voting bloc," the official said. </p> <p class="article">It's easy to see why the Bush administration might be worried about <br />the prospect of huge numbers of American civilians living abroad <br />exercising their right to vote. In efforts to register Americans <br />living overseas, the official has come across a host of people who <br />say they're signing up specifically to hasten Bush's defeat. "I've <br />had so many old people coming to register say, 'I haven't voted in <br />such a long time,' or 'The last time I voted in an election was <br />when Kennedy ran, but we've got to get rid of this man. This man <br />makes me ashamed to be an American.'" </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/09/21/overseas_voting/index_np.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/09/21/overseas_voting/index_np.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** <br />FOUND THIS BY ACCIDENT AND MOVED IT TO THE FRONT OF THIS REPORT! </p> <p class="article">November 08, 2004 <br />Can I still vote? It depends... <br />A highly unusual email sent from the Pentagon to Voting Information <br />Officers at US military installations around the world ON ELECTION <br />DAY contained a very specific reminder that it was not too late to <br />vote in OHIO, clearly explained why, and encouraged one last bit of <br />taxpayer-funded GOP GOTV. Is this criminal? It should be. It is <br />certainly unpatriotic and un-American. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/can_i_still_vot.html#more"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/can_i_still_vot.html#more</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">September 29, 2004 <br />ABSENTEE VOTES </p> <p class="article">Hurdles Remain for American Voters Who Live Overseas <br />By MICHAEL MOSS </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/29/politics/campaign/29military.html?ei=5090&amp;en=bb18d7c4c5718420&amp;ex=1254110400&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;pagewanted=print&amp;position"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/29/politics/campaign/29military.html?ei=5090&amp;en=bb18d7c4c5718420&amp;ex=1254110400&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;pagewanted=print&amp;position</font></u></a>= </p> <p class="article">~Election officials concede that tens of thousands of Americans <br />overseas might not get ballots in time to cast votes. Late <br />primaries and legal wrangling caused election offices in at least 8 <br />of the 15 swing states to fail to mail absentee ballots by Sept. <br />19, a cutoff date officials say is necessary to ensure that they <br />can be returned on time, a survey by The New York Times shows. In <br />Florida in 2000, late-arriving ballots became a divisive issue when <br />some were counted and others were disqualified. </p> <p class="article">~Republicans and Democrats are pushing hard to solicit these voters <br />after some assessments indicating that President Bush's support <br />among the estimated 500,000 members of the military and their <br />families overseas may have weakened. There is little direct polling <br />of soldiers, but Peter D. Feaver, a sociology professor at Duke <br />University, says surveys have shown that while most officers are <br />staunchly Republican, the rank and file newest to the military has <br />been more closely divided between the parties. </p> <p class="article">"Kerry will do better in this group than Gore did,'' Mr. Feaver <br />said, "but he will not reverse the Bush advantage." </p> <p class="article">There is also little polling of the 3.9 million civilians abroad. <br />But last month, a Zogby poll of Americans who had passports found <br />that they supported John Kerry over Mr. Bush, 58 percent to 35 <br />percent. </p> <p class="article">~Of the eight swing states that missed the 45-day mailing mark, <br />only three will accept ballots that arrive after Election Day. <br />Overseas voters have until Nov. 10 to send their ballots to <br />Florida, which experienced problems four years ago that prompted <br />widespread calls for improvements to overseas balloting. </p> <p class="article">In 2001, the General Accounting Office examined overseas voting and <br />found numerous problems, from inadequate public education on the <br />subject to late ballot mailings. In surveying small counties <br />throughout the country, for example, the G.A.O., now the Government <br />Accountability Office, found that 8.1 percent of the overseas votes <br />had been thrown out mostly because they were late or not properly <br />completed. </p> <p class="article">~In recent weeks the federal effort has also been clouded by a <br />series of missteps that appear to have affected mostly civilian <br />voters. </p> <p class="article">~New questions have also arisen about the private contractor hired <br />by the Pentagon to handle these faxes and unsealed completed <br />ballots at its offices in Alexandria, Va. The company, Omega <br />Technologies, was sued last year by Adams National Bank, which <br />accused it of failing to pay off a loan of more than $500,000. In <br />court records the bank also said Omega improperly gained access to <br />a Pentagon computer to reroute payments to the company's new lender. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://vote2004.eriposte.com/overseas.htm"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://vote2004.eriposte.com/overseas.htm</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">Tuesday, October 26th, 2004 <br />Making Votes Count: Is a Theft of the 2004 Election Already Underway? </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/144227"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/144227</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: The military. How does the military vote? </p> <p class="article">ADAM COHEN: Well, again, it's shocking how little transparency <br />there is about this. You would think that people who are handling <br />federal votes in a presidential election would have it all written <br />down somewhere, and we would all be able to see how it's done and <br />be sure it's fair. Completely not true. In this year's election, <br />there was a little bit of a dust-up over the fact that two states <br />said they would allow the military to e-mail non-confidential <br />ballots. A bunch of us wrote about that. </p> <p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean, “non-confidential ballots?” </p> <p class="article">ADAM COHEN: When you e-mail a vote, if you are a soldier and e-mail <br />your vote, it's not a secret ballot. Your vote is an attachment to <br />an email that anyone along the way can read. There's controversy <br />about that, but then it led us to realize, 37 states allow the <br />military to vote by fax. Also not a secret ballot. </p> <p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: Where are you faxing to? </p> <p class="article">ADAM COHEN: You have two choices. You can fax to your local <br />elections office, but what the Pentagon has done for your <br />convenience, you soldiers around the world, is they have set up a <br />hotline that you can fax to, which goes to Washington. So, I called <br />the Pentagon and I said, could you explain to me where these <br />non-secret ballots that come in from soldiers go? Do they go into <br />the Pentagon? How do we know that you're -- they're supposed to <br />then send these ballots to the correct states, to the correct <br />county offices. I said, could you please explain how we know that <br />you're sending them off the way they should be sent? That you're <br />sending all the votes for both candidates? They said, actually, <br />these ballots, the faxed ballots from soldiers and the e-mailed <br />ballots from soldiers don't come to the Pentagon, they go to a <br />defense contractor called Omega Technologies. Well, I had never <br />heard of Omega Technologies. It seems that it had been never <br />described anywhere. It was not in any written materials that I <br />could find. I talked to Omega Technologies. It turns out it is a <br />Pentagon contractor. The CEO of it is a contributor to the <br />Republican Congressional Re-election Committee. In this cycle, <br />she's given $6,600. She's on a committee of this Republican <br />Congressional Re-election Committee. She's handling the non-secret <br />ballots, and there's no oversight of any kind. There's no ability <br />for the parties or the candidates to go in and make sure that the <br />ballots are being handled correctly, and that they're all being <br />transferred to the states. I mean, we don't know that they're not, <br />say, throwing out the John Kerry ballots. It's just shocking. The <br />other thing we don't know is how many ballots get handled in this <br />way. There seem to be no reporting requirements. We have no idea <br />how many ballots go in, how many come out. One little disturbing <br />thing that I learned is that this is the process that was used in <br />2000. Remember when the military ballots came in at the last minute <br />in Florida and may have changed the outcome of the election? We <br />don't know how many went through this office. Now, I should say, <br />many of them went directly to county elections offices, and it may <br />be that this office only handled a few ballots, but we really don't <br />know. </p> <p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: Do they say? Have you talked to the head of Omega Technologies? </p> <p class="article">ADAM COHEN: I talked to the head of Omega Technologies, and all I <br />can say is it was very confusing. She said to me that she was very <br />angry because we had written that she handled the actual ballots <br />because this was not true. And I said to her, “Well, the Pentagon <br />says that you are handling them this year and you have in the <br />past.” When I talked to her again, she admitted that they had <br />handled actual ballots, but she seemed unaware of that the first <br />time. They now say that it's a matter of hundreds of ballots an <br />election. I think they said 300 or so. We have no idea if that's <br />true. We have no idea if they have taken all of the ballots -- if <br />they have reported them accurately and transferred them accurately. </p> <p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: And if these are not secret ballots, what does it mean <br />if you decide not to vote for your commander in chief? </p> <p class="article">ADAM COHEN: Well, people who know the military have said to me this <br />is a huge issue. It could mean a lot. Because it's not only not <br />secret at the Pentagon level, it may not actually be secret at your <br />base, wherever you are. You may have to take your ballot into the <br />commanding officer's office. That might be the only fax machine on <br />the base. His secretary or he himself may be leaning over the fax <br />machine. Absolutely, there could be ramifications. It's often said <br />that the commanders in the military are very Republican, that the <br />lower-level soldiers less so. It can have a lot of ramifications. <br />There is no legitimate reason for having this not be a secret <br />ballot. It's not clear to me that, you know, that isn't one of the <br />intentions in all of this, is to make sure that, you know, voters <br />in the military feel they are being watched a little bit. </p> <p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: We're talking to Adam Cohen, New York Times editorial <br />writer. What about non-military -- what about civilians overseas? <br />How do they vote? </p> <p class="article">ADAM COHEN: This is another problem with the system. The way it was <br />set up, there's one office, the Federal Voting Assistance Program, <br />that's supposed to help military and non-military voters overseas. <br />The office is part of the Pentagon. It's not clear to me why, if <br />you are in the Peace Corps or spending a year abroad in France, why <br />the Defense Department should be involved in your voting. Also, <br />it's not clear that the Pentagon is as interested in other overseas <br />ballots. They seemed very interested in getting the military to <br />vote, less so for all these other groups. There was a bit of a <br />partisan dust-up over this recently, because the military vote is <br />heavily Republican. The other overseas vote tends to be more <br />Democratic. It appears that the people in charge of helping <br />overseas voters vote have made it quite a bit easier for military <br />voters to vote than non-military voters. </p> <p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: Pushing soldiers to vote. </p> <p class="article">ADAM COHEN: Pushing soldiers to vote and making it much harder than <br />it should be for those people in the Peace Corps or taking that <br />year abroad in Europe to get their registration materials, to <br />register, and get absentee ballots, and to vote. </p> <p class="article">AMY GOODMAN: How does it work on the website? Wasn't there an issue <br />about where you could vote online? </p> <p class="article">ADAM COHEN: Yeah, you can’t actually vote on the Internet, but you <br />can use it to get your voting materials and so forth, and yes, the <br />military was making it available only to members of the military, <br />saying it was easier for them to verify the ID of military voters. <br />But again there should be no discrimination. Any service like that <br />should not be weighted towards some voters and against other voters. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/144227"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/144227</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">~ </p> <p class="article">NEWS | By Bob Neer - Sunday, 31 October 2004 <br />Republicans Say Kerry Will Win up to 80% of U.S. Voters in Canada <br />Canada. </p> <p class="article">The head of Republicans Abroad Canada estimated that up to <br />80% of the approximately 500,000 U.S. citizens who live in Canada <br />will vote Democratic, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported. The <br />paper said Democrats Abroad Canada alone have distributed over <br />40,000 absentee ballots to their supporters in the country.[+] <br />Battleground States. Reuters reported large numbers of expatriates <br />are returning to volunteer for the final days of the U.S. election <br />campaign.[+] The Washington Post said most volunteers of this kind <br />appear to support Kerry.[point] Japan. U.S. troops in Japan were voting <br />in record numbers.[+] The Chicago Sun-Times, however, reported on <br />widespread concern that many military ballots will not be <br />counted.[+] Singapore. Channel News Asia reported on the race for <br />U.S. votes in Singapore.[+] Munich. The Munich chapter of Americans <br />Overseas for Kerry (AOK) completed their last Run Against Bush on <br />the sunniest day of October.[+] Draft. The satirical website <br />Enjoythedraft.com presented a blistering critique of the Bush <br />administration's military policies.[+] </p> <p class="article">[point]=Bush sued to stop any recounting of the votes, and, on <br />Tuesday, December 12th, the United States Supreme Court gave him <br />what he wanted. Bush v. Gore was so shoddily reasoned and <br />transparently partisan that the five justices who endorsed the <br />decision declined to put their names on it, while the four <br />dissenters did not bother to conceal their disgust. There are rules <br />for settling electoral disputes of this kind, in federal and state <br />law and in the Constitution itself. By ignoring them—by cutting off <br />the process and installing Bush by fiat—the Court made a mockery <br />not only of popular democracy but also of constitutional <br />republicanism. </p> <p class="article">A result so inimical to both majority rule and individual civic <br />equality was bound to inflict damage on the fabric of comity. But <br />the damage would have been far less severe if the new President had <br />made some effort to take account of the special circumstances of <br />his election—in the composition of his Cabinet, in the way that he <br />pursued his policy goals, perhaps even in the goals themselves. He <br />made no such effort. According to Bob Woodward in “Plan of Attack,” <br />Vice-President Dick Cheney put it this way: “From the very day we <br />walked in the building, a notion of sort of a restrained presidency <br />because it was such a close election, that lasted maybe thirty <br />seconds. It was not contemplated for any length of time. We had an <br />agenda, we ran on that agenda, we won the election—full speed <br />ahead.” </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?041101ta_talk_editors"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?041101ta_talk_editors</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">October 31, 2004 in NEWS | Comments (1) </p> <p class="article">Conservative Newspapers Endorse Kerry <br />An unprecedented collection of right-wing periodicals and leading <br />conservatives have turned away from George W. Bush's reckless <br />economic policies and religious fundamentalism to endorse John <br />Kerry as the conservative choice for America in the coming <br />election. Kerry is supported by among others the Editor of The <br />American Conservative, The Orlando Sentinel (its first Democratic <br />endorsement since 1964), John Eisenhower, son of the former <br />Republican President, and The Economist. For an exhaustive <br />collection of Republicans who have abandoned Bush and switched to <br />Kerry visit RepublicanSwitchers.com. Other periodicals that have <br />endorsed Kerry include The New Yorker, Bush's hometown newspaper <br />the Crawford Texas Lone Star Iconoclast, and The Yale Daily News. <br />For a catalog of 2004 presidential endorsements by periodicals, <br />including a list of those that endorsed Bush in 2000 but now favor <br />Kerry, visit Editor &amp; Publisher magazine. </p> <p class="article">October 31, 2004 in NEWS | Comments (0) </p> <p class="article">Group Urges Bush to Re-open GeorgeWBush.com <br />THE HAGUE, LONDON, NEW YORK, SAN FRANCISCO, SEATTLE, STOCKHOLM, <br />TORONTO— This week the Bush campaign decided to block its web site <br />to visitors from outside the USA. The World Speaks <br />(<a href="http://www.theworldspeaks.net/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.theworldspeaks.net</font></u></a>) urges them to change their policy. Kajsa <br />Klein of The World Speaks says: “It’s a fine example of world <br />leadership; what kind of signal does this send to the rest of the <br />world – not to mention the millions of US Citizens with voting <br />rights living abroad? It’s not only an aggressive and undiplomatic <br />gesture, it makes America look like a closed undemocratic country.” </p> <p class="article">Solana Larsen of The World Speaks says: “It’s blocking our efforts <br />to encourage understanding. Thousands of people have visited our <br />web sites and we know they are thirsty for information and dialogue <br />about the election. Why would the Bush administration purposefully <br />stand in the way of international dialogue with concerned world <br />citizens?” </p> <p class="article">The World Speaks’ pre-election message: “Without dialogue there is <br />no understanding. Americans need to hear the concerns of non-U.S. <br />citizens as much as non-Americans need to understand the decision <br />of American voters, regardless of who is elected. World peace <br />depends on it. The United States isn’t alone on the planet.” </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.usabroad.org/2004/10/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.usabroad.org/2004/10/</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">The Silent Vote <br />As Election Day approaches, Americans abroad are determined to make <br />their voices heard. Will their ballots make a difference? </p> <p class="article">Courtesy Donkeys in the Desert <br />'Donkeys in the Desert': Kerry supporters show their colors in Baghdad </p> <p class="article">The overseas Web site peaked in mid-September with 5,000 <br />registrations in one 24-hour period. Privately sponsored Web sites <br />are proving a valuable alternative for both sides: the government’s <br />Federal Voting Assistance Program’s site was blocked in <br />mid-September to Internet service providers in at least 25 <br />countries, in what the Pentagon initially said was an effort to <br />deter hackers. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6257852/site/newsweek/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6257852/site/newsweek/</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">NEWS | By Bob Neer - Wednesday, 20 October 2004 </p> <p class="article">Democrats Barred from U.S. Korea Bases </p> <p class="article">The Los Angeles Times reports today that Democratic voter <br />registration workers have been barred from U.S. military bases in <br />South Korea -- but Republicans were allowed on to the bases. "In <br />South Korea, the Democrats have been barred from U.S. military <br />bases, while Republicans have been allowed in to set up booths and <br />tents. "We're there on a nonpartisan basis…. I cannot tell them who <br />to vote for," said John Lee, chairman of the Korea chapter of <br />Republicans Abroad. But his booths have small "Republicans Abroad" <br />signs on them, he acknowledged. "Whoever comes to our tent, most of <br />them are Republicans." </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">United States <br />The Global Battleground <br />Americans abroad are registering in record numbers, and their votes <br />could swing the U.S. election <br />BY BRYAN WALSH | HONG KONG </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501041025-725177,00.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501041025-725177,00.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">~The last time Chris Shannon voted for a President, it was for a <br />Republican, Ronald Reagan, and the year was 1980. This time, the <br />42-year-old former U.S. special-forces soldier, who has lived in <br />Japan for the past seven years, will be casting his ballot for <br />Democrat John Kerry. Shannon is eager to vote because he thinks <br />President George W. Bush has mishandled the Iraq war. But Shannon <br />is doing much more than exercising his own civil rights: he's also <br />helped register some 200 other Tokyo-based Americans and is leading <br />a group of them to Florida, the state that narrowly gave Bush <br />victory over Al Gore in 2000, to canvass and "do whatever they need <br />us to do to make sure Kerry wins." </p> <p class="article">~ Casting a vote from overseas can be "really complicated," says <br />Jeffrey Wilson of AmDems in Shanghai. "In the U.S. it's simple: you <br />just register and walk down to the polling place. But here you have <br />to jump through a bunch of hoops." </p> <p class="article">Those complications, however, haven't stopped the political <br />sparring overseas. Last Thursday the Democrats and Republicans <br />Abroad held a debate in Hong Kong's Ritz-Carlton hotel attended by <br />a spirited audience more than double the size that showed up in <br />previous election years. One spectator was Tom Goetz, a former <br />member of Republicans Abroad whose anger over Iraq, where his son <br />is a U.S. intelligence officer, has prompted him to support Kerry. <br />"I never saw this much interest and conflict among the two sides," <br />he says, looking around the crowded ballroom. For Americans in <br />2004, political passion doesn't stop at the water's edge. </p> <p class="article">—With reporting by Chaim Estulin/Hong Kong </p> <p class="article">From the Oct. 25, 2004 issue of TIME Asia Magazine </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501041025-725177,00.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501041025-725177,00.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">September 23, 2004 </p> <p class="article">(Dis)Counting Overseas Votes <br />We're continually being told that every vote counts, but if you're <br />an American overseas, don't count on the U.S. government to protect <br />your right to vote. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/09/09_522.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/09/09_522.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">~Following an uproar among Democrats, the Pentagon issued a rapid <br />reversal of the Internet blockade on Wednesday. This was <br />remarkable, not least because the block seems to have been in place <br />for months, if not years. However, the Pentagon continues to refuse <br />to explain why the blockade was in place in to begin with, and now <br />claims it had been left in effect "inadvertently." </p> <p class="article">~Given that the civilian overseas vote is predicted to go in <br />Senator John Kerry's favor, Democrats were quick to cry foul, <br />questioning the Defense Department's motives. It is estimated that <br />there are around 6 million American civilians and 500,000 military <br />troops overseas. According to a recent Zogby poll, Americans who <br />hold a passport favor Kerry 58 percent compared to 35 percent who <br />favor Bush, and requests for overseas ballot are way up this <br />election. </p> <p class="article">~In fact, however, the Democrats have high hopes for picking up <br />more than their usual share of the Republican-leaning military <br />vote. The non-existent WMDs, continuing violence in Iraq and <br />Afghanistan, extended tours of duty, the calling up of the National <br />Guard troops and retirees, and scrutiny of Bush's Guard days, may <br />all mean gains for Kerry with this constituency. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/09/09_522.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/09/09_522.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">The Pentagon's Troubling Role </p> <p class="article">by Editorials/Op-Ed, story here <br />September 3rd, 2004 </p> <p class="article">Article available at: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/31/opinion/31tues1.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/31/opinion/31tues1.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p> <p class="article">The Pentagon's Troubling Role </p> <p class="article">Published: August 31, 2004 </p> <p class="article">~The Missouri and North Dakota announcements call attention to the <br />larger issue of why the Pentagon is directly handling so many <br />presidential ballots. The Federal Voting Assistance Program, a unit <br />of the Defense Department, is charged with helping not only <br />military voters, but all eligible voters overseas, a total of about <br />six million people. But it is a fundamental aspect of the American <br />election system that handling and counting of votes is supposed to <br />occur at the local level. The Defense Department should stop <br />handling actual ballots, and instead help military and other <br />overseas voters send them directly to local elections officials. </p> <p class="article">In the 1960 election, there was widespread skepticism when Mayor <br />Richard Daley waited until hours after the polls closed to release <br />the Chicago vote, and it turned out to be almost precisely what was <br />needed to put Illinois in the Democratic column. [It invites <br />cynicism about our democracy to operate a system in which employees <br />who answer to the secretary of defense could control the margin of <br />victory in a close presidential election.] </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=2668"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=2668</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">Overseas military votes could sway outcome, but will they be counted? </p> <p class="article">The Associated Press <br />October 30, 2004 </p> <p class="article">~Hills and other election watchers say that failing to count <br />military ballots in this election is even more unforgivable than in <br />2000 because the votes now represent Americans risking their lives <br />in battle. </p> <p class="article">~More than a dozen states -- including those too close to call -- <br />missed the recommended deadline to mail ballots overseas. One of <br />the reasons: legal arguments over whether independent candidate <br />Ralph Nader should be listed on ballots. </p> <p class="article">~Nearly 30 percent of registered military voters did not get a <br />ballot 2000, or got it too late. This year, Wright estimates <br />between 20 percent and 40 percent of servicemembers will not have <br />their vote counted because of slow mail and differing state rules. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/election/20041029233826.shtml"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/election/20041029233826.shtml</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">October 26, 2004 <br />The military vote <br />I just got an email from my brother, a specialist in the 1st <br />Armored Division, who as I've mentioned here before is disgusted <br />with both sides of The Most Important Election Ever (boom, boom, <br />ba-boom, boom!). </p> <p class="article">Anyhoo, I had assumed his vote for the voice of Kit was an <br />abberration among the military absentees, usually a stalwart GOP <br />bloc, but among the mechanized grunts in the 1st Armored Division, <br />at least, it's fairly typical: </p> <p class="article">{D}on't fret about the absentee military vote. It won't be nearly <br />as Republican as usual. It's hard to find anyone who spent 15 <br />months in Iraq who is voting Bush. There's a machine-gunner down <br />the hall with a t-shirt picturing our Commander in Chief, bearing <br />the inscription "Operation Enduring Stupidity." <br />Can't say how true this holds for the military as a whole. (If any <br />bunch of soldiers has a good reason to hate Bush, it's the 1st <br />Armored: their Iraq tour was extended at the last minute by 90 <br />days, a move that had some transport planes turning around <br />mid-flight and some other soldiers enjoying a few hours of false <br />relief on the ground in Germany before they were told they had to <br />go back. I'd be bitter, too.) But I thought I'd pass it on. </p> <p class="article">Posted by Danimal at October 26, 2004 12:53 PM <br /><a href="http://www.oregoncommentator.com/archives/000358.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.oregoncommentator.com/archives/000358.html</font></u></a> <br />***** <br />OverseasVote.com Predicts Huge Overseas Turnout <br />OverseasVote.com yesterday predicted an unprecedented turnout of <br />approximately two million overseas voters. The website estimates <br />there are five million overseas Americans and that 80% are of <br />voting age: four million potential voters. Most observers estimate <br />that 22% of overseas Americans voted in 2000: about 880,000 votes. <br />This year, according to OverseasVote.com, turnout will be at least <br />50%, which implies 104,000 votes from abroad in Florida, 85,000 in <br />Pennsylvania, and 52,500 in Ohio, based on registration patterns <br />observed at the site. "Our calculations indicate that Kerry easily <br />wins the overseas vote with 60% to 65% of Americans abroad. This <br />includes the military vote which, even with a 90% turnout, accounts <br />for just 23% o f the overseas vote. More than 40% of the overseas <br />votes are in swing states," said the site's Brett Rierson. Kerry's <br />overseas voting edge will be about 599,900 votes, Rierson added. <br />Voters have until 10 November to send their ballots to officials in <br />Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Click here to visit the <br />USAbroad.org Last Minute Overseas Voting Information Center. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.usabroad.org/news/index.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.usabroad.org/news/index.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">I found a link during this research to report problems with <br />OverSeas Voting, when you go to check out what happened , THIS PAGE <br />SHOWS UP! </p> <p class="article">Error 403: Access Forbidden <br />You do not appear to have permission to access this part of the site. </p> <p class="article">You should be able to easily find all of the publically available <br />information on the site by starting at the main page. If you have <br />problems or believe that you should have permission to access this <br />page please contact webmaster (at) democratsabroad.org. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.democratsabroad.org/problems/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.democratsabroad.org/problems/</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">November 09, 2004 <br />From the Desk of Diana Kerry: </p> <p class="article">Dear Overseas Voter: </p> <p class="article">But I want you to know that as disappointed as I am about the <br />election’s outcome, I am downright angry about the way US citizens <br />living abroad have been treated by those charged with helping them <br />exercise their right to vote. Despite millions of dollars in <br />taxpayer funding, the Pentagon’s Federal Voter Assistance Program <br />defaulted on their obligation to serve two important groups: <br />civilian overseas voters and local election officials. </p> <p class="article">Poor customer service, inaccurate, conflicting and outdated <br />information, blocked websites, last minute rules changes and all <br />the rest: it was an unmitigated disaster. As a result, many voters <br />saw their absentee ballot requests wrongly denied, and a large <br />number of duly registered voters did not receive ballots from their <br />States in time, or at all. Based on preliminary results reported by <br />local election officials, perhaps as many as 30% of registered <br />overseas voters did not return their ballots in time to have them <br />count. A great many of you have been effectively disenfranchised <br />during this election, either deliberately or through blunders, <br />bureaucratic negligence, and worse. Whatever the reason, depriving <br />you of your vote, never mind how you intended to cast it, is wrong. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/from_the_desk_o.html#more"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/from_the_desk_o.html#more</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">November 08, 2004 <br />Can I still vote? It depends... <br />A highly unusual email sent from the Pentagon to Voting Information <br />Officers at US military installations around the world ON ELECTION <br />DAY contained a very specific reminder that it was not too late to <br />vote in OHIO, clearly explained why, and encouraged one last bit of <br />taxpayer-funded GOP GOTV. Is this criminal? It should be. It is <br />certainly unpatriotic and un-American. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/can_i_still_vot.html#more"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.aokerry.com/aok/2004/11/can_i_still_vot.html#more</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">UOCAVA Horror Stories: Chapter 1 <br />We learned a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of the UOCAVA <br />voting system this past year. Despite all the talk and money <br />lavished on the topic of "Uniformed and Civilian Overseas Voting" <br />since the 2000 election we still have a system that is scandalously <br />inept, and maddeningly inefficient. Almost makes you think there <br />are people who don't want US civilians living overseas to vote. <br />Here's a story from Foster's Online written by Marc Fortier, <br />pictured here with his NH ballot, which reached him in Turkey so <br />late he couldn't get it back in time for it to be counted. It was <br />sent with insufficient postage the first time. And it seems that <br />no one in his local election office ever thought to tell him about <br />his UOCAVA rights, including the emergency "Federal Write-in <br />Absentee Ballot." AOK and OverseasVote will be compiling a report <br />of voting problems and calling for reforms in the process, so if <br />you have a story to share, please send to Jim (at) AOKerry.com. Thanks. </p> <p class="article">November 7, 2004 at 10:27 AM | </p> <p class="article">Missing the election by an absentee ballot </p> <p class="article">Editor’s note: Newmarket resident Marc Fortier is spending a year <br />in Turkey with his wife, his 1-year-old daughter, and his in-laws. <br />Fortier, 31, wrote for Foster’s from 1995 to 1998. His column <br />appears monthly in Foster’s Sunday Citizen. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://www.fosters.com/november_2004/11.07.04/news/home_11.07.04b.asp"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.fosters.com/november_2004/11.07.04/news/home_11.07.04b.asp</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">Soldiers overseas hope ballots will count <br />Massive effort under way on U.S. bases to get out the vote <br />By Andy Eckardt <br />Producer <br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5697049/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5697049/</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">~The military asks its active duty members not to openly display or <br />voice their political opinion while in uniform. Yet, many soldiers <br />and airmen still exercise their right to freedom of speech these <br />days. <br />"Even though active duty members tend to be nervous about open <br />political involvement, I have seen people wearing VOTE KERRY <br />T-shirts on base," Ronald Schlundt, the chairman of “Democrats <br />Abroad,” who lives near Ramstein Air Base. </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">In the military, out of the ballot loop </p> <p class="article">By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr. <br />SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST </p> <p class="article">If a man or woman is willing to take a bullet for the country, his <br />or her vote ought to count. </p> <p class="article">Period. </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/205686_robert29.html"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/205686_robert29.html</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">~Every ghost in the political machine becomes a screaming banshee. </p> <p class="article">But the broader issue here is one worth visiting. </p> <p class="article">Regardless of party affiliation, it is only fair that a fighting <br />chance be given to ballots belonging to the men and women we <br />readily send off to war. </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">American Legion Commander Says </p> <p class="article">On the eve of his 11-day Far East trip, which will include <br />Thanksgiving supper with U.S. troops in the Korean demilitarized <br />zone, American Legion National Commander Ray G. Smith issued the <br />following statement in regard to the discounting of more than 1,400 <br />absentee ballots from U.S. military personnel assigned overseas. <br />Smith, a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War, was in Florida <br />for a weekend gathering of The American Legion Department of <br />Florida. The 2.8-million member American Legion is the nation's <br />largest veterans organization. </p> <p class="article">ORLANDO (SUNDAY, Nov. 19, 2000) - "It is un-American to deny the <br />protectors of democracy their constitutional right to participate <br />in the electoral process. I therefore urge Florida election <br />officials to reverse the wholesale invalidation of more than 1,400 <br />absentee ballots submitted by U.S. military personnel stationed <br />abroad. Further, I urge members of Congress to look into this <br />shameful situation. </p> <p class="article">"The men and women whose votes have been disqualified are part of <br />the tradition of the American citizen-soldier whose sacrifices <br />preserve the right to vote for all of us. There is nothing partisan <br />about counting the votes of these citizens who took an oath 'to <br />support and defend the Constitution of the United States against <br />all enemies'... </p> <p class="article">"Unless an absentee ballot is so mutilated that the choices cannot <br />be determined, the ballot should count. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, <br />Marines and Coast Guardsman must not be penalized because the <br />system that delivered those ballots was protracted. American troops <br />are deployed to more than 130 different countries and on ships on <br />the high seas around the world. </p> <p class="article">"I am especially sensitive to the patriotism of the troops serving <br />abroad as I plan to spend Thanksgiving thanking our troops between <br />the two Koreas for their service. I cannot look those troops in <br />their eyes and turn my back on the invalidation of their votes." </p> <p class="article">Stars and Stripes <br />Letters to the editor </p> <p class="article">Investigate election results </p> <p class="article">With widespread election irregularities, how can we as a nation try <br />and impose democracy around the world when our own democracy is in <br />shambles? There must be an investigation into the election results <br />in Florida and Ohio and other states to instill integrity into our <br />elections. We as a nation used to joke about this type of stuff in <br />elections in Communist Russia and Third World countries. This does <br />not happen in my country. </p> <p class="article">Gabriel Rodriguez <br />Yokohama, Japan </p> <p class="article">Jesus was a liberal </p> <p class="article">Some conservatives think they have a monopoly on Christianity. They <br />have even turned “liberal” into a dirty word. Liberals were against <br />slavery, segregation and child labor, and for equal rights <br />regardless of gender and race. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert <br />Kennedy were liberal. Strom Thurmond and George Wallace were <br />conservative. If you had to choose a side, which one would you be <br />on? </p> <p class="article">I consider myself a centrist, but my favorite liberal is Jesus. No <br />matter how hard you thump your Bible, Jesus wasn’t orthodox or <br />liberal. He wasn’t a hard-liner, hawk or warmonger. Jesus believed <br />in peace, love and the Golden Rule. He didn’t support pre-emptive <br />war, the death penalty or tax breaks for the rich. </p> <p class="article">Jesus was liberal. What’s wrong with that? </p> <p class="article">Chuck Mann <br />Greensboro, N.C. </p> <p class="article">Wounded are forgotten </p> <p class="article">I was so glad to read “Disabled vets get red tape, not ticker tape” (Oct. 20). </p> <p class="article">The soldier, Tyson Johnson III, was wounded in the same attack that <br />got another from my unit killed. Over the year since it has <br />happened, the soldier that was killed has been made into virtually <br />a saint; his family has been showered with blessings and flown here <br />to attend a prominent building dedication ceremony to him; he’s <br />been used as a model soldier in formation speeches, and things like <br />soldiers wearing his name on memorial bracelets. </p> <p class="article">However, other soldiers, like Johnson, who were wounded to the <br />point of being disabled for life, are all forgotten and never <br />mentioned. Many soldiers don’t even know who they are (and it’s not <br />like this unit had many wounded, either). Even worse, just a day <br />after the article was printed, a senior enlisted noncommissioned <br />officer who knew him actually decried Johnson’s situation like he <br />had nothing to be complaining about. What does that say and what <br />message does that send? </p> <p class="article">The movie “Fahrenheit 9/11” pointed out this very thing, regardless <br />of what may be thought of the film itself — that while the dead are <br />counted, the wounded are done so almost secretly. It breaks the <br />heart when confronted with the reality of it. </p> <p class="article">Sgt. Samuel Provance <br />Heidelberg, Germany </p> <p class="article">Fight for America goes on </p> <p class="article">The re-election of President Bush brings a sad and fearful morning <br />to America. His words of unity and conciliation ring hollow. As the <br />Bush administration continues its arrogant agenda of isolation and <br />ignorance, freedom-loving Americans who oppose those attempts to <br />further limit civil liberties and who fight an administration <br />grounded in fear and intolerance will find themselves labeled as <br />uncooperative and unpatriotic. It is and old and scary game, one <br />that the Bush machine plays masterfully. </p> <p class="article">As Sen. John Edwards said on Wednesday, the fight to save America <br />has only just begun. </p> <p class="article">Laurel Samson <br />Ramstein Air Base, Germany </p> <p class="article">Stripes is nonpartisan </p> <p class="article"><a href="http://cf.rrstar.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=14&amp;threadid=4293"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://cf.rrstar.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=14&amp;threadid=4293</font></u></a> </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">Did every vote count? <br />Many overseas Americans did not receive absentee ballots even <br />though they applied well in advance. This is the story of one US <br />citizen's bum rush against a disenfranchising bureaucracy to become <br />one of 116 million opinions <br />Trista di Genova </p> <p class="article">~They checked our bags, and made Jennie drink some of her water "to <br />test it." For some unknown reason, a Taiwanese lady guard <br />suggested, "Why don't you come back tomorrow?" <br />"No. Today is election day," I said. "Tomorrow will be too late." </p> <p class="article">A white security official in civilian clothes, presumably in the <br />foreign service came out and interviewed me. Who do you work for? I <br />told him I was a freelance journalist, covering issues of voting - <br />and voter intimidation. Who do you sell your work to? I said <br />"anyone that wants to buy it." Information is free, right? </p> <p class="article">They took away my bag with the camera, and the security tool took <br />us aside and took down all our passport information - very, very <br />slowly. It was 3:15pm, and it seemed he was trying to delay us. I <br />told Jennie to go ahead. He said "You're not going anywhere until <br />I'm finished with you." </p> <p class="article">"What's your name?" I asked. When he didn't say anything, I tried <br />to turn over his badge to see it. He wouldn't let me. </p> <p class="article">~Then they all closed in around me. I moved away and held my hands <br />behind my back when they tried to take my arm in passive <br />resistance. The white tool tried to twist my arm behind my back, <br />but as Jennie noted later, "he wasn't very good at it, and didn't <br />know how to do it right." She said he was shaking and was <br />intimidated, but I didn't notice, because these people were trying <br />to drag and force me out the door. I got out of his lame grip, then <br />he tried to hurt my left hand. He broke one of my prayer bracelets <br />in the struggle, and my hair band came off. As I was being forced <br />out the door toward the stairwell, I noticed a young black guy in <br />civilian suit standing in the doorway, watching. I was saying, "I <br />want to vote. I want her to vote." </p> <p class="article">They took me into the stairwell, and just held me there, standing. <br />I started to cry, and the Taiwanese lady guard patted my back. They <br />all stood holding on to me, keeping me still. But I was already <br />still, sobbing, with shock and grief. Why? The trauma of being <br />forcibly removed by a gang of people, maybe. But it was more than <br />that. It was grief about the things to come, for all of us. </p> <p class="article">~my own case was alarming. I had received two ballots, one from <br />heavily Democratic Washington, DC and another from my home state of <br />Arizona - a swing-state. I managed to send the Arizona ballot back <br />in order to arrive Nov. 1. It was tempting to vote twice, but the <br />prospect of a US$10,000 fine was daunting, ultimately. So I voted <br />once last week, and crossed my fingers it would be counted. And <br />wondered - don't they cross-check voter registrations between <br />states? Can anybody vote several times? </p> <p class="article">~Trista di Genova is a writer in Taipei: trista2000 (at) yahoo.com. You <br />can see video of Jennie's Election Day at <a href="http://www.rentacrowd.com/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.rentacrowd.com</font></u></a>. </p> <p class="article">***** </p> <p class="article">June 08, 2004 <br />Donkeys In The Desert <br />by Gary Farber of Amygdala at June 8, 2004 12:09 AM </p> <p class="article">(Gary Farber's home blog is Amygdala.) </p> <p class="article">As The New Yorker notes, not everyone in Iraq working for the CPA <br />or to help Iraqis is a Republican. </p> <p class="article">"In late April, a group of Americans serving in Iraq sent a letter <br />to John Kerry, appealing to the candidate as both an ex-soldier and <br />a peace seeker. It read, in part, “Put bluntly: we believe you ne<img class="dada-image-center" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/migrate_dada/JkerryJ20.jpg" /><br /><br /> <img class="dada-image-center" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/migrate_dada/WorkerLady.jpg" /><br /></p>