Hi All - Here's some info we've put together FYI.  Let us know if it's useful, what you do and if you have further info. This is not about  parties and partisanship, Bush or Kerry.  It's about democracy and the integrity and credibility of our electoral system.
Jim Hedddle and Mary Beth Brangan
====================

What do we know about this presidential election? What can we do?

• Evidence of glaring voting  irregularities and  vote tabulation discrepancies is mounting in a large number of states - especially in key swing states like Ohio and Florida. (See links below for details)
• It's not really over, legally or technically until the Electoral College votes on Dec. 13th.
• John Kerry conceded too quickly to suit many, with CNN reporting about 6 million ballots still uncounted in the country.
• The Bush people are in a hurry to 'move on' and are putting pressure on officials around the country to certify vote counts without following the usual safeguards and legal procedures.
• Cameron Kerry, the candidate's brother has sent out a letter saying 'send voting problem info to DNC.  The letter says in part, "Å I want to you to know we are not ignoring it. Election protection lawyers are still on the job in Ohio and Florida and in DC making sure all the votes are counted accurately. I have been conferring with lawyers involved and have made them aware of the information and concerns people have given me. Even if the facts don't provide a basis to change the outcome, the information will inform the continuing effort to protect the integrity of our electionsÅ ." www.buzzflash.com/alerts/04/11/ale04089.html
• Exit poll data - asking voters which way they voted as they leave the polls - are used around the world as excellent predictors of actual vote counts - usually accurate within a fraction of a point.
• Exit polls in this election seemed to be accurate, as usual, except in those areas using touchscreen voting or other software or modem-mediated electronic systems with no paper trail - used by approximately one third of voters, many in swing states.   Exit poll results were later changed to conform with alleged vote counts.
• Some counties reported many more votes than there were registered voters.
• Many thousands ( 31,046 as of 11-9-04 ) of incidents of voter problems have been reported by voters in every state to Voteprotect, an on-line organization,  www.voteprotect.org.  Other organizations are also collecting reports of voter problems.
• Types of incidents range from minor snafus to large scale direct voter intimidation, mishandled absentee and provisional ballots, malfunctioning or inaccurate machines and/or apparent hacking and vote tampering.
• Bev Harris and her team at Blackboxvoting  www.blackboxvoting.org have filed the largest number of FOIA's - Freedom of Information Act requests -  in history.  She is asking 3,000 counties for the internal audit logs of their voting machines , which are public records, as well as for other key data.
• Thomas Crampton in the International Herald Tribune Thursday, November 4, 2004 reported, "The global implications of the U.S. election are undeniable, but international monitors at a polling station in southern Florida said Tuesday that voting procedures fell short in many ways of the best global practices. Å The observers said they had less access to polls than in Kazakhstan, that the electronic voting had fewer fail-safes than in Venezuela, that the ballots were not so simple as in the Republic of Georgia and that no other country had such a complex national election system." http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/11/03/news/observe.html
• A Washington Post Article of Sept. 27 quoted Jimmy Carter, "Å some basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in  Florida. Å It is unconscionable to perpetuate fraudulent or biased electoral practices in any nation. It is especially objectionable among us Americans, who have prided ourselves on setting a global example for pure democracy. With reforms unlikely at this late stage of the election, perhaps the only recourse will be to focus maximum public scrutiny on the suspicious process in Florida."  www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52800-2004Sep26.html
• Despite all the anomalies and growing evidence of potential massive vote fraud, most journalists within the media establishment have been  silent.  There has been a report from a MMOB member on a 'lockdown' on covering the story, coming from executive levels within the media.  However, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann featured a good story about the vote discrepancies on his Nov. 8th show.
• A number of organizations are on the story, gathering data. See links below.
• Paul Ray, an expert pollster and statistician has laid out, in a letter to Mark Ritchie at Vote Protection, a simple scientific approach to verifying the outcome on a moderate budget. [ paulhray@aol.com ]
• Nader/Camejo has requested a hand recount of the vote in New Hampshire because of reports of anomalies favoring President Bush in towns that used the Diebold AccuVote optical scan machines. A hand recount would either rule out the possibility of machine error or show a discrepancy between the Diebold machines and the actual vote-either way voters need to know. To review the request for a hand recount in New Hampshire visit www.VoteNader.org . Similar inexplicable results have been found in other states, including Ohio. Nader has called on John Kerry to demand that every vote be counted accurately.  Kerry's campaign has remained strangely silent on the matter. According to one report by Maureen Ferrell of BuzzFlash, Nader's  request has been turned down on a technicality.
• Green Party's candidate Cobb has the right to call for a recount in Ohio. (Don't know if he has or will.)
• The Kerry campaign reportedly has $45 million to spend on legal defense.
• Representative John Conyers of the House Committee on the Judiciary  and six other legislators are urgently pressing for an investigation by David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the US,  and the US General Accountability Office. According to the letter's six signatories, "There is substantial concern that much of the primary evidence needed to evaluate these allegations will not be preserved without immediate action."  Signatories: Representatives John Conyers, Jr.; Jerrold Nadler; Robert Wexler; Robert C. Scott; Melvin Watt; Rush Holt.
• www.democrats.com has launched an on-line petition calling for a joint Congressional investigation.  The petition says in part "Å Such inquiries should not be limited to any particular state, precinct or district but strive to examine the voting process in any and all areas in which there is even the slightest indication of impropriety, but especially in the states of Florida, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Arkansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas and New Hampshire, and not limit such investigation, and expand such investigations to cover Senatorial races as well, especially those in Kentucky, Florida and South DakotaÅ ." Sign on at: www.petitiononline.com/uselect/petition.html
• Focusing on Ohio - the Secretary of State, J. Kenneth Blackwell, is also the Chair of the Re-elect Bush Committee and the Election Commissioner.
• According to Bev Harris of Blackbox Voting, Blackwell's office claims not to know how many provisional ballots have been submitted - could be from 50,000 to 500,000, says Harris.
• Ohio's 20 electoral votes alone, if shifted by an actual count, or recount, could give the election to Kerry (whether he wants it and is willing to fight for it or not.)
• Walden 'Wally" O'Dell, the chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."
• 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.
• There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.
• The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers.
• 35% of ES&S is owned by Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who became Senator based o-n votes counted by ES&S machines.
• Diebold's new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in by voters.
• Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail. [www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=950 ]
• With a major media blackout, timid or collusive Democrats, and hesitant left opinion-makers, pressure for an accurate count depends on grassroots pressure and action.

• Gather and collate verifiable evidence - enough to convince opinion leaders and serve as a basis for demanding transparent official action.
• Convince major organizations, like MoveOn, ACT, TrueMajority and CommonCause to use their networks and resources to mount a popular campaign demanding a recount in at least Ohio. Here's where you can tell ACT that you'd like them to work on investigation of election errors and fraud: www.actforvictory.org/act.php/home/feedback
• Convince major opinion leaders and key Congress people to lend their influence and good offices to the campaign.

• Inform yourself of the existing facts.  Some useful websites are listed below.
• Sign the on-line petition requesting a joint Congressional investigation mounted by www.democrats.com - www.petitiononline.com/uselect/petition.html
• Contact TrueMajority and MoveOn and CommonCause and tell them to help pursue a post-election challenge to the vote tallies. Offer to donate money to these organizations to do this.
• Write to your local newspapers to inform the public at large what is going on. Tell them to cover the election debacle and tell them to use the "F" word - FRAUD - liberally.
• Call mainstream media outlets and demand that they lift the 'lockdown' on covering this story. Some fax #'s:

Associated Press - 212-621-7520
NPR - 202-513-3329
60 minutes - 21-975-2019
LA Times - 213-237-4712
Seattle Times - 206-464-2261
Boston Globe - 617-929-3186
Washington Post -
San Francisco Chronicle -
NBC/MSNBC- Nightly@NBC.com & viewerservices@msnbc.com
CNN- http://www.cnn.com/feedback/
CBS- 212-258-6000 - 60II@cbsnews.com, evening@cbsnews.com, 48hours@cbsnews.com,
earlyshow@cbs.com

• Write to John Conyers (D - Mich), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee on the Constitution, who has requested a joint Congressional Hearing on the 2004 election, and an investigation by the Office of Accountability. Tell him you support the request and that you want him to push for the hearing to be held as soon as possible.

Washington DC E-Mail Address:
john.conyers@mail.house.gov
http://www.house.gov/writerep;

Washington DC Address
2426 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2214
Phone: 202-225-5126
Fax: 202-225-0072

• Contact the Cobb campaign, (www.gp.org )urge them to file for recounts and reexaminations of the tally in the states in which they were on the ballot.  Pledge what support you can.
• Write to the DNC and ask why Senator Kerry capitulated so quickly - before the information on the vote tallies was even beginning to come in. Tell them that Senator Kerry needs to take back his concession. Democratic National Committee, 430 South Capitol St SE, Washington, DC 20003. Their phone number is 202-863-8000. Their web-site is: www.democrats.org.
• Contact the Kerry campaign and tell them that he has done a great disservice to the American people by capitulating so quickly - before information could be gathered. Tell him to reconsider in light of all that is coming to the surface.

Contact National Headquarters
Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.
P.O. Box 34640
Washington, DC 20043
202-712-3000
202-712-3001 (fax)
202-336-6950 (TTY)

• Call and e-mail your own Congressional representatives.  Request them to support the growing Conyers contingent pressing for investigation.  Tell them you've signed the www.democrats.com petition.
• Mark Ritchie of VoteProtect says: Find 20-30 minutes today to call and/or email the following list of people and agencies and tell them that you are outraged and concerned about the possibility of election fraud and votes not having been counted properly in your state and others that may have altered the outcome of the election.
• Mention that you are aware of reports from counties around the country (in particular OH and Florida) that reported the following:  a) More votes recorded than there are voters in counties using electronic voting machines; b) that not all military, provisional and absentee ballots have been counted.
• Let them know you consider this to be serious violations of your rights as a citizen and that you want them to undertake an investigation.

People and Agencies to Contact regarding this matter:
 
1) Your two Senators & elected Representative - here is the main switchboard number for the House and Senate:
    202-224-3121
 
2) Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader:
    202-225-4965

These members are reportedly looking into the issue - urge them to introduce a bill to investigate voter fraud:
Rep. Henry Waxman of CA - 202-225-3976
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of OH - 202-225-7032
Rep. Dennis Kucinich of OH - 202-225-5871
Rep. Tim Ryan of OH - 202-225-5261
 
4) Democratic & Republican Members of the House Judiciary Committee:
Rep. Robert Wexler of FL -  202-225-3001
Rep. Maxine Waters of CA - 202-225-2201
Rep. Chabot of OH (R)- 202-225-2216
Rep. King of IA (R)- 202-225-4426
 
5) Democrat & Republican Members (call both) of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
Sen. Patrick Leahy of VT - 202-224-4242
Sen. Ted Kennedy of MA - 202-224-4543
Sen. Joe Biden of DE - 202-224-5042
Sen. Russ Feingold of WI - 202-224-5323
Sen. Charles Schumer of NY - 202-224-6542
Sen. Arlen Specter of PA (R) - 202-224-4254 (thank him also for having urged the Pres. to not choose anti-abortion judges and taking the body blows)
Sen. Mike DeWine of OH (R) - 202-224-2315
Sen. Chuck Grassley of IA (R)- 202-224-3744
 
6) Federal Elections Commission:
Audit Division
Joseph Stoltz, Assistant Staff Director Telephone:
800-424-9530 (press 0, then ext. 1200)
Inspector General
Lynne McFarland, Inspector General Telephone:                                        
800-424-9530 (press 0, then ext. 1015)

7) The news media - we have to put pressure on them:
   
 
8)  Call the Secretary of State's office in the state of OH and FL -
Tell them that you demand under the HAVA law to have all votes counted - especially the absentee, military and all provisional ballots counted
and verified - tell them you suspect foul-play.
 
Phone # to OH Sec. of State Kenneth Blackwell's Office:  toll free - 1-877-767-6446 or email: election@sos.state.oh.us or 614-466-2585
 
Phone # to FL Sec. of State Glenda Hood's Office:  850-245-6500
 
9) Donate $5 to Bev Harris at http://www.blackboxvoting.org - she has been filing 1000's of information requests under the "FOIA-Freedom of
Information Act" to account for the various voting machines across the country.

 
10) Email Ralph Nader - Å .http://www.votenader.org/media_press/index.php?cid=400 Contact Ralph at - 202-265-4000
 
11) Call/email Jimmy Carter at the Carter Center:  carterweb@emory.edu or call at (800) 550-3560

• Write to George Soros and ask him to help fund litigation in Ohio and Florida to challenge the vote tallies.

c/o Open Society Institute--New York
888 7th Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10106
United States of America
Telephone: +1-212-757-2323
Fax: +1-212-974-0367
E-mail: osnews@sorosny.org
Web: http://www.soros.org/gsbio.html

www.blackboxvoting.org
www.votescam.com/home1.php
www.bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=4175
www.voteprotect.org
www.democraticunderground.com
www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0411/S00072.htm
www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_vote_fraud.html
www.ledgeofliberty.com/2004/11/its_official_el.html
www.votersunite.org
www.forum.therandirhodesshow.com/index.php?act=ST&f=12&t=35255&s=6b1b8ee16c1731d8a3a28a11c0e89c1f
www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=58757
www.nov3.us
www.solarbus.org/stealyourelection
www.radtimes.blogspot.com
www.eff.org
www.verifiedvoting.org
www.ballotintegrity.org
www.electoral-vote.com/index.html
www.votenader.org
www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0411/S00072.htm