When Dennis was in Cleveland last week he stressed that voter fraud may be more immenent in this year's coming election. The company to blame for that is Ohio's own Diebold, the Canton-based company that produces ATM and voting machines.
Kucinich told Cool Cleveland last week that voters need to be very concerned about the new contract with Diebold. The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections unaminously approved the $18 million dollar contract to replace punch-card voting with touch-screen computers, although many flaws have been discovered and the CEO of the company is a strong monetary and public supporter of President Bush.
When asked how close Diebold is to the Bush Administration, Kucinch told Cool Cleveland, "Close enough that one of (Diebold's) execs has spoken about the imperativeness of the 2004 election. We need to protect our right to vote . The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has just givent them a contract for touch screen voting for 2005. We need to find out why it is so imperative to change to a technology that is unproven. There are a lot of questions."
Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell has has single-handedly raised over $100,000 for President G. W. Bush. The New York Times and the Columbus Dispatch reported that O'Dell invited Bush supporters to a $1,000 per person fundraiser and urged them to raise at least $10,000 for the Rebublican Party. "I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year," said O'Dell.
Although all of the Democratic Presidential candidates are criticizing the way the 2000 election was decided and an accurate vote count will be imperative for whoever wins the nomination, it has been Cleveland's own Dennis Kucinich who has been exposing the flaws and and the dangers that could lead to illiminating fair, accountable voting. Several nationally published studies have found that the Accu Vote? machine flaws would allow a person to vote more than once, see ballots that have already been cast, change party affiliation after the counting of votes, and change the vote count entirely. Information about Diebold was found on John Edwards' site, with less information on John Kerry's. Any information discovered on the sites were found through a search engine, while Kucinich has a "Voting Rights" link of his issues menu.
Kucinich has been the one exposing the flaws and coverups of Diebold. He has published on his site inter-office memos which prove that Diebold is aware of the inaccuraceies of Accu Vote?:
(for the the memos' web links, visit: http://www.kucinich.us/e-voting/page06.php )
Kucinich has also published excerpts from Diebold's Election Support Guide, instructing 3,000 Ohio employees to misrepresent such flaws when questioned: "3.2. Communication: You will generally be considered to be a high-ranking election specialist and a paragon of knowledge and solutions, which may be disconcerting when things go wrong. Do not promote your ignorance - in case of doubt, call a designated contact who may be more knowledgeable than you."
"Do not to offer damaging opinions of our systems, even when their failings become obvious." (pg. 10) "Do not promote the fact that the Accu Vote?-OS is anything but absolutely accurate in this case - in case you encounter numerous undefined marks, indicate that ballot printing is at fault." (pg. 13)
"The following two cases are the worst-case scenarios when using the Accu Vote?-OS. Be very diplomatic in both cases, offering the minimal amount of information necessary to officials: - Counter did not increment when ballot was processed: Possibly workers were not observant when using the Accu Vote?-OS. Otherwise, indicate that you are not able to provide an appropriate explanation, but will contact your superiors in this matter."
Kucinich is the only candidate taking action to fight the politically biased company and its flawed voting equipment. He is co-sponsor of H.R. 2239, otherwise known as the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003".
If instated, this bill would:
In this election, already 8 percent of voters are expected to use Diebold machines to vote for president, including all voters in Georgia and Maryland and voters in California, Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Arizona, and Kansas.
Kucinich National Campaign Manager Dot Maver told Cool Cleveland that the campaign is taking steps locally to ensure fair voting, "We have a program with interns to assist voters in their precincts so they can ensure a fair clean election and Dennis is leading the way on that. Cleveland needs to know that Dennis is taking the message of the hard working Clevelanders to the country. This is about service. This is about people coming first, fair voting, jobs for all, health care for all and looking towards the future for our children's well being well into the future is the highest priority. So this campaign will continure in order for Dennis Kucinich to be a voice in politics in America as he leads the way to peace, prosperity and economic justice."
Dennis Kucinich will return to Cleveland this week before the March 2 primary. You can see Dennis at noon Mon 3/1 at the City Club Forum and at 2:30 p.m. at the Helen S. Brown Senior Center in East Cleveland.
To read the endorsements from The San Francisco Bay Guardian and The Nation, visit: http://kucinich.us/guardianendorse.php http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040301&s=dugger http://kucinich.us/endorsements.php For more information on Dennis and Diebold, visit: http://www.kucinich.us/e-voting/intro.php
Kucinich Supporters Sponsor Local Events: You are invited to attend a special showing of a video interview of Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate and Bill Riedler, President of Global Relationship Centers, Inc. discussing the Department of Peace. It will be shown at Global Relationship Centers locations throughout the United States and Russia over the next few months.
The dates for the location in Ohio are:
The Cleveland Global Relationship Center When: Sunday February 29, 2004 Time: 2:00 PM Location: at the Home of Bruce & Nicole Price 5691 Nicholson Drive, Hudson, OH 44236
Contact information: Bruce & Nikki Price 330-463-0238 or 330-463-5188 (cell) For more information on Global Relationship Centers Visit http://grc333.com
from Cool Cleveland correspondent Charlene Coates (:divend:)