At a minimum, it would be nice if the Hackett campaign would explain the basis for its conclusion that yesterday’s humidity-related "malfunction" was just that — instead of another demonstration of what Hackett on the campaign trail liked to call the Ohio GOP’s "culture of corruption."
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August 3, 2005
WB: Too Close for Comfort
Comments
I agree. It’s a little too convenient. The republican candidate is getting beat and all of the sudden the voting stops. Next thing we hear is that she’s got a recount-proof margin of victory.
I don’t buy it. I don’t.
Posted by: fourlegsgood | Aug 3 2005 12:42 utc | 1
Sure they gamed it. I’m not happy about it but it’s hard to get righteously indignant when the Dems recounted in the Washington Governors race until they got the results they wanted.
Speaking of grand juries this bunch is arrogant and stupid enough not to keep the stink away from the inner circle while under investigation. Here’s hoping Fitzgerald gets a whiff.
Posted by: ! | Aug 3 2005 13:23 utc | 3
My son’s baseball always tells the team that if they’re gonna win they better win by a lot cause you can never be sure how clean the ump is. It’s a conundrum–the key to reform is owning the state, but we’re going to keep getting chopped off at the knees unless we have an out-of-the-park candidates. Personally I think Hackett is that level of candidate, at state level though. My $50 donation? An investment in his future and the future of Ohio.
Posted by: JaneKnowles | Aug 3 2005 13:31 utc | 4
The voting system in the U.S. has been owned and operated by republicans since at least 2002.
Of course it was stolen.
Billmon, the sumbitch was stolen, and the evidence is more than circumstantial that this has happened repeatedly, since the Help America Vote Act was first implemented.
Apparently you’re not convinced.
We should all wise up and forget about winning elections at the polls, and start aiming for the head.
Sorry, that’s how I feel.
Matt Taibbi: ‘Highly irregular: The Ohio 2004 election story is going to come back’
Posted by: tgs | Aug 3 2005 14:15 utc | 6
Good on you Billmon for raising concerns many other prominent bloggers are afraid to touch, or worse, dismiss as whiny tin-foilhatism.
It’s not looney or conspiracy theorist to remain increasingly skeptical of these repeated ‘close but no cigar’ outcomes. (The MO is certainly by this time unmistakable.) Asking questions and pointing out suspicious patterns is the first step to finding out whether our electoral process is indeed compromised.
Unfortunately, for reasons I still can’t fathom, the lefty bloggers with the biggest megaphones simply refuse to get to first base on this issue, and choose to either simply ignore it or even go so far as to actively discourage audience discussion.
I’m glad that at least you aren’t one of these head-buriers Billmon. Cheers.
Posted by: Night Owl | Aug 3 2005 14:32 utc | 7
Thank you, Billmon, for making me laugh…schmud. LOL.
I’ve wondered if the dem blogs, the ones that want “credibility” within the machine are reluctant to raise the issue because, as Billmon noted, the dems haven’t always had the cleanest hands in elections either…LBJ in Texas with his dead voters and Daley making sure Kennedy carried Chicago.
They don’t want to dirty the myth of their glorious past.
Or, who knows, maybe all those tinfoilers are right and the Bushies have taken so many dems on ruffie dates and photographed them making nasty with dogs or something that this keeps them in line.
At the local level, I find all sorts of dems who are willing to question the issue of voting machines and voter suppression…and read about others in other places (Florida for sure) who do the same.
There is no quantifiable verification for the idea that Rove and Co are so corrupt you can put nothing beyond them, but that, imo, should be the starting point from which all questions and actions follow.
Posted by: fauxreal | Aug 3 2005 15:03 utc | 8
My appreciation, too, Billmon.
At other sites they’re crowing about our “victory” over technicalities and minor referendums that local Dems won.
It won’t matter, they lost the prize that counted, because of the same old electoral theft routine.
If Hackett doesn’t pursue this with lawyers, he might as well be taking orders from the DLC.
As always with Bu$hCo, Ignorance is Strength.
folks, this election is not over. there are 14,000 provisional ballots still left to be counted. it’s my understanding that the counting will begin today. hackett needs about 9K of those ballots to fall in his favor in order to eek out a win.
it ain’t over till it’s over. and then we recount. i am just not buying the humidity argument – seems very far fetched to me. i am sure mean jean won clermont, but i don’t think i trust the results from last night.
let’s keep an eye on those provisionals, then go from there.
as to the machines. clermont uses marksense type machines manufactued by ES&S in clermont county (FYI).
Theirs a big difference between the rethug machine the GOP uses today and the machine LBJ and Daley used. They payed people to vote in their favor and threw in some extra dead bodies for a secure margine.
Todays machine is governmental and election board corruption from the bottom up. It is much more stealth. In the old days people knew what was happening and they gladly went along for favors. Today it is complete control of the whole statewide apperatus.
LBJ did do one thing that US should now regret. He Texafied the whole f-ing country. Texas is corrupting the whole country. It’s time to give it back to Mexico.
Posted by: jdp | Aug 3 2005 16:55 utc | 11
“…folks, this election is not over. there are 14,000 provisional ballots still left to be counted…”
Call me cynical, but Hackett’s people should demand to be involved in counting the ballots.
Posted by: susan | Aug 3 2005 16:56 utc | 12
After Billmon wrote his article I saw it in a lot of other places and wondered if he is now setting the agenda in our world. That would be pretty cool and gives me just a little bit of hope in an otherwise dark world.
Guess I was wrong about Hackett, I figured he would lose the old fashioned way and just not get enough votes. Now it seems that the republicans had to steal this one in what is a very secure area for them.
Please keep up the good work Billmon and don’t let your awesome power corrupt you 🙂
Posted by: dan of steele | Aug 3 2005 19:09 utc | 14
Harper’s Magazine August cover story by Mark Crispin Miller:
“None Dare Call it Stolen: Ohio, the Election, and America’s Servile Press”
will make you crazy (with frustration, not that you’re not already), but it could add support to a recall of Ohio-02.
The evidence is out there.
Posted by: Hamburger | Aug 3 2005 19:28 utc | 15
I am pessimist: if we prove feasibility but not fraud itself, we may as well start playing dirty too – to even up the field. Opportunity and motive are enough to start playing defensive. It will be wonderful day when Republicans are calling for a more rigorous voting system.
The complacent alternative (to wait until they make a mistake) will be disastrous.
Posted by: aschweig | Aug 3 2005 19:44 utc | 16
“Hackett’s people should demand to be involved in counting the ballots.”
You mean to say all parties are not represented while ballots(when there are any to count that is. Electronic voting must go.) are counted? This can’t be.
“we may as well start playing dirty too”
Made me laugh out loud.
Posted by: gmac | Aug 3 2005 21:03 utc | 17
Thanks for commenting on this Billmon. Most of the left blogs went from the “there is only a 900 vote difference,and it’s tied 50/50!” to suddenly “hey, there’s a 4000 vote difference, and we came really close and should be proud!”
WITHOUT noting the fast increase from 900 to 4000.
What is the recourse when one party controls the voting machines though? What’s the recourse?
Posted by: JC | Aug 3 2005 21:23 utc | 18
While I agree that the Clermont county process and results look a bit fishy, making a big stink out of it probably wouldn’t win the OH-2 seat, and will drown out the Big Message ™: Democrats who fight hard on clear principles can win. The energy from this campaign, and that of Hackett himself, would be better spent on the 50 state strategy, rather than picking over these results. If I were Hackett and the Ohio Dems, I’d put a few discreet and independent researchers on the case for a time, but not too long, as there is the Coingate scandal to push along and the 2006 election approaching.
Posted by: Tom DC/VA | Aug 3 2005 21:44 utc | 19
@Tom
The point is that Hackett and others will NEVER win (unless perhaps the margin is 60/40, or something too big for even the media to hide) unless the systemic problems are cleared up.
Another log for the fire….
In a district known for being one of the reddest of the red, Hackett barely lost despite being smeared as someone who would raise taxes on Ohioans. Republicans alledgedly are vociferously against raising taxes..the NRCC tells us in their memo today.
Which clearly didn’t matter because every single tax levy on the ballot in which Hackett/Schmidt appeared…PASSED.
What gets me more than anything is the calm acceptance of stupid reasons–you can’t watch because the FBI declared a local terrorism watch of 10; there is only once precinct with a humidity problem that stops the machines for the last hour.
We are supposed to be so elitist with our critical thinking and knowledge data basis and we accept crap with dignity.
It disgusts me. Until we stop this I am not banging my head against the wall and expect it to stop hurting.
I will remain depressed and uninspired to action.
Posted by: Janine Lauren | Aug 4 2005 1:15 utc | 22
In the excitement of the vote and the great showing Hackett made, I was happy to bask in the knowledge that Americans may be sick and tired of Bush and his Republican (and some Democratic) cronies. But in the cold light of day, based on the demographics of Hackett’s ‘victory,’ I wonder if the strong showing he made in the rural counties is less his platform and more his military service. Rural areas nationwide tend to gravitate toward the military in general, and possibly to Hackett in specific. So far so good. I don’t care why they voted for him; just that they did.
But what if the Repubs run McCain in 2008? Will that military bent run against us just as easily?
.
Posted by: Ensley | Aug 4 2005 1:44 utc | 23
aschweig wrote: “if we prove feasibility but not fraud itself, we may as well start playing dirty too – to even up the field. Opportunity and motive are enough to start playing defensive. It will be wonderful day when Republicans are calling for a more rigorous voting system.”
JC wrote: “What is the recourse when one party controls the voting machines though? What’s the recourse?”
jdp wrote: “In the old days people knew what was happening and they gladly went along for favors. Today it is complete control of the whole statewide apperatus.”
Well, now… and I am certainly not advocating anything like this… but I do have to wonder how long electronic voting would be considered viable when someone outside the party in power hacked into it and those who “control the machines” consistently found themselves losing by ludicrous margins. Not that I am suggesting anything, I am just idly speculating. If someone took my words here as some kind of a call to action, they would be acting terribly, terribly irresponsibly and undemocratically. And I would never want someone to act irresponsibly or undemocratically… even if it were to correct gross imbalances. I’m just saying.
thepuffin wrote: “We should all wise up and forget about winning elections at the polls, and start aiming for the head.”
Somebody, somewhere once said that a system/nation/individual that made peaceful change impossible made violent change inevitable. But I am sure they were talking about something entirely different than this. I mean, our hands are tied, sure, and we have watched everything we hold dear become stolen from us… but I certainly would never advocate that we do anything untoward about it. I mean, really, I’m sure that at some point the playing field will just level itself out and the disenfranchised majority will suddenly be heard and there will be apologies and restitutions and no hard feelings. We just need to keep being patient and playing by the rules, because even though the system might seem to be unfairly stacked against us and exploited and abused by hypocritical self-serving rich people, we have just GOT to be wearing plutocrats down with our lobbying and our pickets and our candidates. Of course they will eventually just cave in and make the world a more equitable place. We just need to be patient and never, never, never do anything that is not in the interests of the machine.
Posted by: Monolycus | Aug 4 2005 2:02 utc | 24
Rigged? Who woulda thunk? Bradblog & Mark Crispin Miller, in addition to freepress are the best I’ve found on this topic.
But then again, what indicates that Hackett is a Dem anyway. I certainly don’t see any. Looks like a conservative Repug, the elite recruited ‘cuz his party is now fascist. Read his interview w/Amy Goodman today, then Karen Kwiatkowski’s new column. I haven’t found any indication that he’s pro-choice, so that definitely makes him a Repug. Secondly, what the hell is he doing putting his life on the line voluntarily when he has children who need a father? That’s horribly irresponsible. Not to mention participating in the War Crime that is Fallujah. He yammers on about duty, like some mindless robot, some cog in a machine. Karen reminds us that it’s not just about duty, but also about honor & country. On those latter 2 accounts he fails & hopefully will be driven out of political life in favor of more thoughtful balanced Americans.
Then it’s on to the rigged elections problem.
Posted by: jj | Aug 4 2005 5:02 utc | 25
I am disgusted by Democrats that will not “fight to the finish” to protect the voting process.
The words Hackett should have spoken: “I am very concerned about many of the strange reports out of certain counties, and I am sure my opponent is as well. We both want whomever wins this race to be viewed as having been legitimately elected, so I will fight on until every vote has been counted and every count verified and every irregularity investigated and put to rest. I believe in the Constitution and Bill of Rights and will fight to the death to protect it — that is Democracy, and that is what I fought for in Iraq and that is what I will fight for here in Ohio, so that every voter will have faith in the Democratic process in Ohio.”
THAT is what Kerry should have done. That is what Hackett should have done. That is what any Democrat who expects to get a penny of my money or a second of my volunteer time will need to pledge to do.
IF Hackett stands up and demands a full and open and transparent accounting, then I will stand with him.
2006 won’t matter if the “keep swapping votes when you’re behind until the margin is 51-49” vote counting software and/or manual process is well entrenched and overseen by corrupt and not-really-bi-partisan election boards.
Charlie L
Portland, Oregon
CLL2001@gmail.com
Posted by: Charlie L | Aug 4 2005 6:40 utc | 27
Greetings,
While I’m happy that Paul Hackett did so well I’m NOT C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-N-G. We was robbed…again.
Check out Billmon 8-03-05 (too close for comfort) here on past election irregularities in Clermont, Warren, and Butler Counties.
Swing State Project 8-02-05
SSP UPDATE (7:39): via SSP: “56 precincts of 753 reporting PAUL HACKETT 6,562 51% JEAN SCHMIDT 6,276 49%
SSP UPDATE (8:12): WCPO: 305 precincts of 753 reporting PAUL HACKETT 23,957 51% JEAN SCHMIDT 22,846 49%
SSP UPDATE (8:40) 56 precincts of 753 reporting PAUL HACKETT 6,562 51% JEAN SCHMIDT 6,276 49%
08:51 PM 175 precincts of 753 reporting PAUL HACKETT 13,512 51% JEAN SCHMIDT 12,802 49%
SSP UPDATE (9:06) 259 precincts reporting of 753 — Paul Hackett 52.18% to 47.81%
—————————————————————————————————————
09:07 PM UNOFFICIAL RESULTS SPECIAL ELECTION HAMILTON COUNTY, OH
PRC CNT – TOTAL -776 – 250 32.22%
Registered Voters – TOTAL 470858
Registered Voters – 2ND CONG DIST 456161
Ballots Cast — TOTAL 36252 7.70%
Ballots Cast – 2ND CONG DIST 35540 7.79%
PRC CNT – 2ND CONG -753 — 245 32.54%
PRC CNT – ADAMS CO. —35 – 12 34.29%
PRC CNT – BROWN CO. —35 – 18 51 .43%
* PRC CNT – CLERMONT CO. (—191 — 0 0.00%)
PRC CNT – HAMILTON CO. —342 – 97 28.36%
PRC CNT – PIKE CO. —24 -12 50.00%
PRC CNT – SCIOTO CO. —70 -50 71.43%
PRC CNT – WARREN CO. —79 -61 77.22%
DEM – PAUL HACKETT 18476 51.99% REP – JEAN SCHMIDT 17064 48.01%
————————————————————————————————————
Check out the time line. Everybody is on the board by 09:07 PM via UNOFFICIAL RESULTS HAMILTON COUNTY, OH
EXCEPT PRC CNT – CLERMONT CO. -191 -0 -0.00%
09:08 PM -195 of 753 precincts Hackett 52% 15,154 – Schmidt 48% 14,008
SSP UPDATE (9:13PM) -305 precincts of 753 Hackett leads 51% 23,957 – Schmidt 49% 22,846
SSP 9:30 PM -305/735 Hackett 23,957 51% – Schmidt 22,846 49%
———————————————————————————————————————————————
SSP 10:25 PM 91 precincts remaining out of 191 in Clermont County is all that’s left. Paul is down 800 votes.
NOTE! 10:29 PM Clermont County Board of Elections http://www.clermontelections.org/Message: Internet Service Unavailable
Counting was delayed due to humidity said an election official- in a freeking air-conditioned building?
I checked and Accuweather says for Batavia, Ohio 20 miles away.
Time Temp (° F) RealFeel (° F) Rel Hum.
Noon 91 98 41
1pm 92 104 35
2pm 94 105 35
3pm 93 98 36
4pm 95 97 33
5pm 90 94 46
6pm 92 91 36
7pm 84 87 60
8pm 79 83 64
9pm 77 81 68
10pm 72 78 87
11pm 71 76 86
Mid 70 75 89
10:41 PM (91 precincts left to count), by hand? or installing a pre-programmed PROM? (which added another 9,451 votes for Schmidt, compared to just 6,300 or so for Hackett. (The BASE)
——————————————————————————————————–
08/02/05, 10:49:17 PM (8 minutes later)
Special General 2005 Clermont County Board of Elections Official report.
Representative to Congress 2nd District 191 of 191 Precincts Reporting
Early Voting Election Day Provisional Total Percentage
JEAN SCHMIDT 1158 16162 0 17320 58.09%
PAUL HACKETT 750 11689 0 12439 41.72%
Write In Votes 3 56 0 59 0.20%
Total Votes Cast 1911 27907 0 29818 100.00%
—————————————————————————————————————————–
On 8-03-05 for 08-02-05 10:54:01 PM UNOFFICIAL RESULTS SPECIAL ELECTION HAMILTON COUNTY, OH
PRC CNT – TOTAL -776- 776 100.00%
Registered Voters – TOTAL 470858
Registered Voters – 2ND CONG DIST 456161
Ballots Cast – TOTAL 119814 25.45%
Ballots Cast – 2ND CONG DIST 114296 25.06%
PRC CNT – 2ND CONG -753- 753 100.00%
PRC CNT – ADAMS CO. -35- 35 100.00%
PRC CNT – BROWN CO. -35- 35 100.00%
PRC CNT – CLERMONT CO. -191- 191 100.00%
PRC CNT – HAMILTON CO. -342- 342 100.00%
PRC CNT – PIKE CO. -24- 24 100.00%
PRC CNT – SCIOTO CO. -70- 70 100.00%
PRC CNT – WARREN CO. -79- 79 100.00%
** 2ND CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES **
REP TO CONGRESS – 2ND DIST DEM – PAUL HACKETT 55151 48.25% REP – JEAN SCHMIDT 59132 51.74%
Just enough spread not to require a recount.
This is just ludicrous.
Time to call in the lawyers.
Posted by: Beetlejuice | Aug 4 2005 7:32 utc | 28
If someone took my words here as some kind of a call to action, they would be acting terribly, terribly irresponsibly and undemocratically.
About this sentiment I concur. However, I do expect that my party should try to get the maximum leverage for me and my vote – and I expect it to have a reasonable plan to minimize the other team’s advantage. If there is a systematic advantage, I want it corrected. Billmon’s quote about LBJ got me thinking that, vote fraud or no, there really is a game theory problem here and a compelling argument for the Electoral College: imagine a single red state acting like that peculiar district in Ohio.
Posted by: aschweig | Aug 4 2005 12:24 utc | 29
“Fraudster, Fraudster Fraudster!”
Billmon, this is making all of us look really bad. Brit Hume, Peretz’s parrots, and most importantly the “vital center” up in Southhampton and Chilmark and at 14th and I NW will say we have become moonbatshit crazy conspiracy nuts like Bev Harris.
By definition it cannot be fraud and talk like this will always be beyond the pale of “responsible discourse” until a candidate who is paying Kos and his padnuh gets cheated. Then again, Rahm the Great cannot be too happy about losing his best shot at this seat in 30 years-so the monkey brigade over their could be looking for a revised cue.
And take comfort in knowing we have Hitchens on our side according to a piece he did on the stealing of Ohio in 12/04 “Vanity Fair.”
One thing for certain, Hillary will not put up with this shit in 08. Terry Lenzner and Pellicano are already dossiering the favorite strippers, gay lovers and financial pecadiiloes of local election potentates in the Fuckeye state as we speak.
Posted by: cap’n redneck | Aug 4 2005 13:03 utc | 30
John Kerry was absent the day Congress held a session on whether to challenge the 2004 vote count. All through his campaign he promised to “get the best lawyers in the country” to challenge any irregularities. He failed us.
It looks like the special election in Ohio was rigged. In all probability Paul Hackett won…no need to dance around this issue out of fear of being called a conspiracy nut and kicked off Daily Kos.
Like John Kerry, Paul Hackett doesn’t have the guts to challenge it.
If these guys can’t find the courage to challenge the theft of OUR votes why the hell should we support them.
Billmon, you got scammed ask for your fifty bucks back.
Posted by: jd | Aug 4 2005 13:30 utc | 31
So what they’re really saying is, it’s not so much the heat, as it is the humidity . . .
Questions:
1. They don’t have air conditioners in Ohio? You know they do…
2. Where’s the Democratic Party on all this? Looking the other way…
Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 6 2005 19:11 utc | 32
Unless I am very, very wrong, ES$S is owned by the brother of the
owner of the Diebold machines…same family, same robbers…
I would hope someone would send this information re the elections to
Rep. John Conyers who has headed the fraud in Ohio and has even written a book on it….and also get ahold of Hackett and have him
demand a look see at the ballots…especially if the provisional ballots put him back in the contest…
I also agree with some of the above writters that someone gave
Hackett the bad advice to conceed so early…he should have
waited at least 24 hours inorder to look into any irregular voting
in any of the precincts.
I don’t know if it is too late, but once the provisional ballots are counted (Must be by now), but maybe someone can begin to question.
I agree with another writter that these fraud problems MUST be
investigated and corrected before the 06 elections…otherwise,
it will be a repeat of the past five years….enough is enough.
Like Billmon, I also contributed $50.00 to this young man and
this entire scenario is as fishy as any other election……
I don’t even live in Ohio, but I pay attention to what is going on
country wide and it makes me mad to see this happen over and over.
Let’s see if we can’t all join ranks and get to the bottom of this
fraud business and finish it once and for all!!
Thanks Billmon for your insight into what is happening in this
country. It is truly appreciated.
Posted by: Maureen Maloney | Aug 7 2005 3:04 utc | 33