A few brief vote notes

Between the holiday cheer, caring for a sick puppy, repairing a sick computer, and keeping the wolf from the door, I haven't had much time for holiday blogging. Here are a few things I've learned during this holiday: Chocolate-covered strawberries are among the finest things in all creation, MSI mainboards should be avoided, and vets are the nicest people in the world.

Kerry files. William Rivers Pitt reports that John Kerry has filed motions to preserve possible evidence of electoral fraud in Ohio. I'm glad that he is getting into this, and I'm glad that the dialogue is turning to "fraud," as opposed to "problems."

Of course, as anyone who has ever been involved with a lawsuit knows, the filing of a motion does not mean that a judge will allow it. But if it is allowed, Triad will have to offer a sworn deposition. It'll be interesting to see who pays the bills for his lawyer.

Unconcession? you may have heard a rumor that Kerry will "un-concede" on January 6 (the feast of the Epiphany and Joan of Arc's birthday). If that happens, I'll eat the hat I got for Christmas.

Revote in Florida and Ohio! Sign the petition! Do I think that these petitions serve much purpose in real life? Um...hard to say. At any rate, big numbers will hearten everyone who cares about this issue.

Feeney sues. Representative Tom Feeney has filed a lawsuit against the Seminole Chronicle for the story they did on Clinton Curtis, the programmer who has claimed under oath that he was Feeney tasked him to come up with a prototype vote-rigging program. I strongly suggest that you read not just Brad Friedman's in depth reportage, but also the very revealing reader commentary.

Computer vote fraud in Texas. The office is a small one, but the issues loom large:

"As I look back over the General Election held on Nov. 2, 2004, I know that voting is a 'right' that is being taken away everyday," writes Brenda Denson-Prince. But she is not writing about far away places like Ohio or Florida. She is writing about her own attempt to become the first woman in Kaufman County, Texas to sit on the County Commissioners Court.

Bottom line: The central tabulators stole the election from her. The problem was, of course, labeled a "glitch." She called for a recount, which was also gamed:

On Wednesday morning, Nov. 10, Joan D. Neeley represented the Democratic Party at a sorting of early ballots. Of 30,000 votes cast in Kaufman County, 16,000 were early votes.

“We kept noticing ballots in the wrong piles [voting boxes] as we continued through our process and because of this we all decided we would double check each pile [voting box] for accuracy after sorting was complete," noted Neeley in a signed statement, dated Nov. 16. But according to Neeley's statement, the double-checking was never completed. It was interrupted on Nov. 10, and when on Nov. 12 Neeley requested a resumption, she was informed that a court order would be needed to break the seals on remaining boxes.

The hand-count of ballots showed clear signs of erasures (despite the fact that voting booth pencils have no erasers attached) and even white-out.

Sometimes a small story casts light on a larger one...

Dominion. As you know, the vote-riggers justify their criminality through a belief in Christian Reconstructionism, or Dominionism. This is the weltanschauung of the Ahmanson family, which runs ESS, the company that counts so many of our votes. I urge you to check out this video on the Dominionist menace.

The term "Christo-Fascist" has seen some recent currency. I think the label works, and I hope to increase see it in greater circulation.