Grim News: The Fix May Already Be In For GOOPs To Steal The 2016 Election

No, not by using the voter I.D. ploy, now popular in many Southern states, but by the same ES&S voting machines used to snatch the 2004 election from John Kerry in Ohio, as presented in the superb documentary 'As Ohio Goes, So Goes The Nation'.   At the time I recall being enraged that John Kerry and running mate John Edwards didn't fight to pursue an investigation when mounds of evidence were available (including tens of thousands of uncounted "provisional" ballots) that showed the OH electoral votes were stolen. But then, given Kerry didn't fight back after being slimed by the 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth', it made a kind of perverse sense he wouldn't raise a hue and a cry after being brought down by electronic voting machines in Ohio.

According to Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, in their latest piece on smirkingchimp.com:


"There are two things we all need to know about the upcoming 2016 election:

1. Millions of likely Democratic voters have already been stripped from the voter rolls in critical states like Ohio. The key reporting on this has been done by the great Greg Palast, who has shown that a computer program coordinated by the Republican secretary of state of Kansas is being used in some two dozen states to steal from a substantial percentage of the citizenry their right to vote. The raw numbers are high enough that they could have a significant impact on the presidential, US Senate, House and many other elections this fall. The ACLU has now sued Jon Husted, Ohio’s secretary of state, over the stripping of two million citizens from Ohio's voter rolls.

2. There is no way to verify the official tally on the electronic machines on which the majority of Americans will vote this fall. Nearly all the machines are a decade old, most are controlled by a single company (ES&S, owned by Warren Buffett) and the courts have ruled that the software is proprietary, making the vote counts beyond public scrutiny. In fact, they are beyond all independent monitoring altogether. In many key swing states (including Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Arizona) GOP governors and secretaries of state will have a free hand to flip the vote count to whatever they want it to be without detection or accountability. This could turn control of our government over to the GOP come November, as it did in 2000 and 2004.

These two critical markers of the upcoming national election are at center stage in our compendium The Flip & Strip Selection of 2016: Five Jim Crows and Electronic Election Theft (www.freepress.org / www.solartopia.org), which we’ll be publishing at the end of April.
For some reason many on the left have had a hard time accepting these realities. But they’re in fact far more critical than the question of who will make the better Democratic candidate.
In the interim, the usually solid Josh Holland has published a piece at The Nation with which we must take issue. It challenges writings that have put forward the idea that Hillary Clinton might be stealing the primaries from Bernie Sanders."

Why isn't there a mammoth, outsized outcry? As opposed to the smug MSM take that this election is "in the bag" for Hillary (as the most likely Dem nominee- especially if she wins New York by a sizeable margin)? The most likely reason is that this news simply isn't being reported - for whatever reason - in the corporate media. Perhaps that media doesn't believe the existing evidence validates it but if people aren't aware - they can't act in time (though the ACLU is trying to by filing suit in Ohio against Jon Busted.)

Watch this space, and for the piece in its entirety go to: www.smirkingchimp.com and look for the title header: 'Why Can't The Nation And The Left Deal With Election Fraud'.

D-Day: Democrats Be WARNED! You may have to CONTEST the Election!

One of the reasons I became an independent (to be specific, a Socialist, like Bernie Sanders) is that I've always doubted Democrats had the 'fire in the belly' especially to fight for their constitutents and demographic constituencies when the time arrived. We beheld this sort of wimpish behavior in both 2000, when Gore conceded too early and didn't demand ALL FLA counties to be recounted, and also in 2004, when obvious chicanery in Ohio to do with provisional ballots and Diebold voting machines went unaddressed by Kerry. Many on the Left, including me, took this to mean that Kerry truly was the wimp (as opposed to real warrior) depicted by the Swift Boaters. The sting of that failure still remains, which is one big reason we don't wish to see the Ds punk out again in arguably the most epochal election in our lifetimes.

Now, fast forward to today - election day, or D-Day for Democrats - demanding every scintilla of moxie and courage they have to fight on, to contest the election - if needed. This applies to four "battleground" states, including Ohio, Virginia, Florida, and Colorado ....where we know Hart Intercivic machines are ensconced, as well as the Diebold and ES&S systems that helped steal Ohio for Bush in '04. Already, massive voter suppression tactics - i.e. scaling back early voting days - have failed to work in Ohio and Florida as judicial rulings have tempered the negative effects. But that means the electronic machines are the last firewall for a Repuke theft, or as I prefer to call it ...a coup.

Don't believe me? I noted in a blog some days ago about Repukes in Colo. beseiging Reep Secretary of State Scott Gessler to "recalibrate" all the electronic machines. This was even before we learned of the so-called  uncertified "computer patch" implemented in Ohio compliments of their Repuke Troglydyte, Jon Husted (who worked with Karl Rove in '04 on the OH theft). See the previous blog for more details on this current "patch", including articles and signed affidavits by computer techs.

Then, at precisely 8.30 Mountain time this morning, wifey and I stared spellbound while watching KOAA-TV, as the newscaster noted two electronic machines in Adams County had 'switched' voters' choices for President - from Barack Obama to Mitt Romney! Like smart citizens who check their grocery receipts for errors after each purchase, the voters checked their paper printouts and sure enough.....there on the paper was 'Mitt Romney (R)- Paul Ryan(VP)' instead of 'Barack Obama(D)- Joe Biden (VP)'. The voters complained and precinct specialists attempted to replicate the errors, but to no avail. However, they then performed the legit fail -safe action (demanded) of taking the machines out of commission. (Btw, to see Machine Vote Switching in action, check out the video at: http://wonkette.com/488754/watch-this-pennsylvania-voting-machine-hilariously-refuse-to-accept-a-vote-for-barack-obama

Three blogs earlier I described how this switching could be done internally via program cards, and even disguised by bogus paper records. In this case, obviously, the machines hadn't been "recalibrated" enough to deliver a bogus paper copy but the switched record - which the voters could then complain to poll workers about. Fortunately, enough voters complained of the switching to take the machines out of service.

But how many thousands of these machines, many of them Romney-based Hart Intercivic,  Diebold, or ES& S remain taking ballots in Colorado, Virginia, Florida and Ohio  to steal votes by switching them from Barack to Romney? How many voters will even check their actually cast votes against the paper records? Or, in how many cases will phony paper duplicates be generated by the machines (i.e. thanks to the new Ohio patch)  which mirror the voters' choice, but which were actually switched internally by the machines' program cards? There would be no way to check in the latter case!

This morning, Obama advisor David Axelrod was almost giddy on 'Morning Joe' when asked about Obama's chances in Virginia and Ohio, and he kept on referring to "increased voter turnout" in both states. But no one on the panel, not even the usually alert Tavis Smiley, asked about how Axelrod would ensure all the votes were correctly and faithfully tallied. No one even addressed the new computer patch in Ohio which will affect tallies in 39 counties. It was evident Axelrod simply assumed they would be, but such an assumption is unwarranted, as seen from the previous blog.

Here's the point: If the election is razor- thin close and Romney "wins" in Ohio, Colorado, Florida and Virginia, but Obama wins in the exit polls - then Obama's legal team has to take this to the next level. They cannot accept the exit polls as "non-conforming" but  have to officially contest the tallied vote counts in all those states and in addition, demand access to the internal program card records of ALL the electronic voting machines- then tally them against the paper records delivered to voters in those states. I don't give a flying fuck if it takes an extra year to get this all done, they have to do it - refusing to concede early - or be declared wimps and washouts like John Kerry in '04.

Just as critical is to ensure ALL provisional ballots are counted, especially in Ohio and Florida. We know in Ohio, for example, Husted the R-punk changed the rules so when one delivers an absentee ballot of any kind he or she now is obliged to fill out a special information and identity sheet which in times past was done by poll workers. If there is even ONE error, no matter how minuscule - the voter will have to cast a provisional ballot instead. Some estimates have been upwards of 200,000 for these ballots - many of which weren't counted in '04 and likely cost Kerry the election...but wouldn't have if he'd had the balls to fight on.

In this case, Obama's margin for victory may be 130,000 or less, and if at least that many provisional ballots are uncounted, he could lose Ohio, and with it the election. What we do know - is that the deadline to tally all the Ohio provisional ballots is Nov. 17th, which means the Ohio results would not be known  - and likely the national result- until early December. This means Obama's team has to have lawyers and others overseeing the critical provisional ballot vote tally to make sure every vote cast for Obama is actually registered.

Now again, efficiency - a typical American syndrome -  isn't the priority here. We do not need to know for sure who the winner is by tonight or even tomorrow morning. Much more important, and to make it emphatically clear this isn't just a media side show, is that EVERY last vote is counted. If it takes until December or longer to get a result, so be it. I'd rather the final reckoning be done slowly, methodically and correctly than with Jack Spradle haste - to suit the race fetish media - with the wrong result.

Unlike in 2004, miillions of Democratic voters - many of whom have waited seven or more hours in lines in Ohio and Florida - want to make damned sure their votes are counted this time. Provisional ballots or not! If they are not, and the Dems punk out of legally pressing a contested election with unseemly haste, then why should anyone bother next time? Answer me that!

As for the other Reepo-Teepee obstructionists, the 'True the Vote' assholes, trying to intimidate voters in key swing states - if any of these fuckers approaches you in line and demands to see Voter ID tell them to STFU, and if they really want a piece of you...you will meet them in the parking lot after wards!

DEMS Need to Act NOW to Ward off OHIO THEFT!

 IN the wake of a bevy of new polling data showing President Obama's lead in swing states increasing, and also nationally, the degree of the Right-Romniacs' desperation has become ever more apparent. They are now prepared to not merely lie in their ads, but do a full court press to eliminate Democratic votes wholesale in the critical states of Florida and Ohio. THIS is the only way these disreputable turds can win tomorrow because they know a minority of Americans - mostly yahoos from the Old Confederacy, and rich 0.1% fucker-Plutocs-  accept their policy positions of "less government".

In two previous blogs I discussed at length the modus operandi for voter suppression at work in Florida, relying mainly on cutting the early voting days and thereby generating immensely long voter delay times which try voters' patience and lead all but the most determined and hardiest to bail out. With wait times in some Broward and Dade precincts as long as EIGHT hours, who in their right mind could expect a disabled voter, or one who's 7 or 8 months pregnant to stand in line so long, or one 75 or older. My mom, a frail 90, and unable to even walk two steps without a walker, has had to forego her franchise because of the long delays, times. This is not right.

Now, enter Ohio, which I warned in an earlier blog could be the scene of voter theft via electronic voting machines, e.g. http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-rove-romney-co-can-steal-election.html

While some dimwit bloggers on the Right have snidely dismissed this as "conspiracy theory"  (actually comparing it to the Oswald double in the JFK assassination), the fact is that these machines - as I showed - do have the potential to snatch votes or surreptitiously shift them using specially designed program file cards inserted in the machines. Anyone who'd dispute this is either in massive denial or a consummate dope who doesn't aprpeciate the nuances or design of many of these machines.

Now, as if to underscore this, we learn that the OHIO Repuke Reich has instigated the installation of a new "computer patch" which is uncertified and is being installed at the last minute on electronic vote tabulation systems in 39 Ohio counties. Enough to enable special program files in the "patches" to switch votes (see my description of how this can be done in the previous blog link) and toss the election to Romney. Along with Florida in his kit bag, he stands to steal this election. This we cannot allow!

How can this be? It can be because Obama's campaign and the Dems have kept their eyes off the ball. While mesmerized with ever more optimistic polls since Hurricane Sandy's arrival, they've forgotten that the only poll that really counts is the one actually counted tomorrow. It doesn't really matter then what Nate Cohn's or Nate Silver's (538 blog) models show, in terms of the probabilities increasing for an Obama victory, if the poll numbers don't translate into actual VOTE numbers - Obama loses. It's plain and simple!

Thus far, as with other reports and documents associated with machine hijinks, the national corporate media (other than tiny enclaves of the liberal and libertarian spectrum) haven't  picked up on this. I personally will be wartching Rachel Maddow tonight to see if she reports it, and I believe she will.

In the meantime, Bob Fitrakis and Gerry Bello at FreePress.org   already reported on what they described as “uncertified ‘experimental’ software patches” being installed in Ohio.  The story included a copy of the contract [PDF] between Republican Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office and ES&S, the nation’s largest e-voting system manufacturer, for a new, last-minute piece of software created to the custom specifications of the secretary of state.

The contract itself (please DL the .pdf, and read from p. 17  on)  describes the software as “High-level enhancements to ES&S’ election reporting software that extend beyond the current features and functionality of the software to facilitate a custom-developed State Election Results Reporting File.” A subsequent story at the Free Press the following day included text said to be from a Nov. 1 memo sent from the Ohio secretary of state’s Election Counsel Brandi Laser Seske to a number of state election officials confirming the use of the new, uncertified software on Ohio’s tabulator systems.

Then on Friday evening, Huffington Post journalist Art Levine followed up with a piece that advanced the story by breaking the news that Fitrakis and his attorney Cliff Arnebeck were filing a lawsuit for an immediate injunction against Husted and ES&S to “halt the use of secretly installed, unauthorized ‘experimental’ software in 39 counties’ tabulators.” Levine also reported that Arnebeck had referred the matter to the Cincinnati FBI for criminal investigation of what the Ohio attorney describes as “a flagrant violation of the law.”

As Attorney Arnebeck declared (and which all the simpletons who postulate "conspiracy theories" need to note):

"Before you add new software you need approval of a state board. They are installing an uncertified, suspect software patch that interfaces between the county's vote tabulation equipment and state tabulators."

Meanwhile, Jim March, a longtime Libertarian election integrity and software expert, as well as a member of the Pima County, Ariz., Election Integrity Commission and a founding and current board member of BlackBoxVoting.org, is highly suspicious of the last-minute installation of software. In an affidavit [PDF] submitted to Fitrakis and Arnebeck for their legal case, March says he believes “that this custom software is not necessary for the conduct of elections and is in fact highly dangerous.” (Note again, this is a Libertarian speaking, NOT a liberal!)

March has been involved in numerous cases involving suspicious elections and election software. In 2005 he received part of a multimillion-dollar settlement from Diebold as the result of a qui tam case with the state of California, after it had been discovered that the company had secretly installed uncertified software on its voting systems in the state. The secretary of state decertified the systems as a result.

“What ES&S has chosen to do here is extremely dangerous and exactly what you’d want to do if you wanted to plant a ‘cheat’ onto the central tabulator,” March declared in his affidavit.


But the spin from these thieving Repuke Ohio miscreants just keeps on keeping on! Matt McClellan, a spokesman for Secretary of State Husted's office, told theGrio blog site that "no patches were installed", describing instead a reporting tool software meant to "assist counties and to help them simplify the process by which they report the results to our system.’”

McClellan’s reported claim that “no patches were installed,” but rather it was simply “a reporting tool software” to assist counties, is in direct contradiction with the contract itself. (See .pdf)

At the bottom of Page 17, the contract states explicitly  that:

 “the current ES&S ERM Results Export Program (EXP) product version 2.0.6.0″ will be “MODIFIED to meet the Customers request.”

The contract goes on to say that it “shall be modified” into two different EXP versions, 2.0.7.0 and 3.0.1.0, to work with two different versions of the ERM software variously installed in different Ohio counties.

While it's not entirely clear how this new version of EXP will differ from the existing one, the contract does specify the older version created XML-formatted files instead of plain-text CSV files. The new version of the EXP program is installed onto the tabulation computing systems of the Ohio counties, which use the ES&S system, so this updated version is a new version of the existing software. Hence, it is either a “patch” or an upgrade or a new installation. Distinguishing between those descriptions, in this case, seems to be a distinction without a difference made by McClellan.   In either case, it’s new software being applied onto the existing central tabulation system computers, without either state or federal certification, just days before the 2012 presidential election.  

Only a total moron would not be suspicious of this move, given the desperation of the Romneyites and the fact that Husted was a Rove hireling when Ohio was also stolen in 2004 via electronic voting machines. (See the documentary 'So Goes the Nation').  

Anyway, Democrats - I am talking of the rank and file of the Obama campaign and administration (including top advisors like Plouffe and Axelrod), and even the Justice Department - ought to be getting involved right now, right this day. If not, and Obama loses both Florida and Ohio because of Repuke hijinks, the powers that- be,  counting exclusively on voter turnout,  will have missed the fact they also need votes  COUNTED and will have only themselves to blame for missing the opportunity to stop Mittens and the 'Pukes from succeeding in a well-orchestrated coup via black box electronic machines!

Remember that tomorrow - if Ohio falls to Romney - the 'smoking gun' will be the exit poll tally. If you see Obama has won the exit poll, but Romney has taken the state's 18 electoral votes - then you will KNOW something is rotten in Denmark.....errrrr......Columbus!