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Calm Before the Storm

by Open-Publishing - Friday 12 November 2004
1 comment

Demos-Actions Elections-Elected USA

Rick Gagliano | 11/12/04

Is the sizzle off the steak, or are we on a break?



Today feels like a typical Friday in some ways, in others it is quite unusual. It’s gotten quiet in my email box, though citizens across America continue to sign the petition at a steady, measured pace not unlike that of a growing, advancing army.

The media still has not picked up on the petition, though I note that all efforts - including Moveon.org’s petition to Congress, Ralph Nader’s call for a recount in New Hampshire, the Green and Liberal party candidates call for a recount in Ohio, the now "urgent" request for an investigation by the GAO by members of the House, Bev Harris’ BlackBoxVoting.org massive "Help America Audit" effort, Kerry’s lawyers "fact finding" in Ohio, and all that’s happening out in the blogosphere - are moving forward at a similar, deliberate pace.

It’s good to see that this is not hysterical or rabid, though I know that the spirit is high and blood is running rich through the veins of patriots on either side of the issues.

Almost forgotten in the recent crush of news, the give and take of the internet versus the mainstream media, is the extraordinary work being done by the staff and volunteers at verifiedvoting.org, the group that manned the phones before, on and after election night and also had field workers throughout the country, logging problems and "incidents" related to the 2004 vote.

In a report on their website updating the Election Incidence Project, they note that the "Election Protection Hotline received 175,213 calls of which 46,219 used the automated polling place locator provided by the phone system. On Election Day itself, the Hotline received 87,841 calls of which 23,957 used the polling place locator."

States receiving the most Hotline calls were:

1. Florida (16475)
2. New York (15395)
3. California (15359)
4. Ohio (14974)
5. Pennsylvania (14062)
6. Texas (7375)
7. Michigan (6306)
8. Georgia (6134)
9. Illinois (5339)
10. New Jersey (4857)

Those are impressive totals and possibly an indication that there was widespread voting disturbance in a wide variety of locales. That three of the top five states on the list were "battlegrounds" is of some note, though verifiedvoting.org has kept a low profile and officially has found no egregious tampering or malicious intent.

Nevertheless, their site is worth visiting if only to read the volumes of incident reports from Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and elsewhere on their EIRS (Election Incident Reporting System) database. Does it add up to anything? Voter intimidation, odd worker behavior and changing rules do not add up to anything, but we know there were at least some people bent on denying access to polls at the very least. The EIRS database will provide solid background for any investigation that may be forthcoming.

Meanwhile, Keith Olberman, host of MSNBC’s "Countdown" continues to be the lonely voice in the wilderness of cable TV news. Olberman has given both sides of the "voting fraud" issue ample coverage, despite there being no hard evidence to date. Olberman bears watching, however, as one does not know whether he’s following a reporter’s gut instinct or simply especially tuned into what he calls the "blogosphere."

One gets the feeling, on this quiet Friday afternoon, like the calm before the certain storm, that something big is about to happen.

Meanwhile, the internet does its job, silently, dutifully logging the names of the now more than 32645 people who have electronically signed the petition calling for a Congressional investigation into the 2004 election.

Originally posted at Downtown Magazine

Forum posts

  • Hardball’s David Shuster and Chris Mathews covered the story in its last ten minutes Friday also, though Mathews was pretty skeptical. Itsstarting to spread. When I write to the media I just make the point that the recounts are happening in Ohio, New Hampshire, possibly Florida, the re-vote in N. Carolina, and the illegal blocking of witnesses to the canvassing in Warren co. Ohio are FACTS that need to be investgated. No wild-eyed conspiracy theories, just factual events that deserve coverage. Please journalists, do your job in investigating and letting the public know what’s going on.

    JamBoi