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Ohio Voters report fake elections board calls
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 14:52:39 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Randall <rvh40 () insightbb com> Date: October 23, 2004 2:05:50 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Subject: Ohio Voters report fake elections board calls [From Strangelove] -----Forwarded Message----- From: coco <coco () smash tv> Remember when Thieves hit Democratic Party offices in Toledo Ohio last week? [see below] Seems they stole computers containing sensitive data. Guess the data is coming in mighty useful for this next round of Ohio's voter 'hankypanky'...http://www.dispatch.com/election/election-local.php?story=dispatch/ 2004/10/22/20041022-A1-00.html
Voters report fake callsInstructions to change polling place don't come from board of elections
Friday, October 22, 2004 Suzanne Hoholik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The caller interrupting a North Side couple's dinner earlier this week said he was from the Franklin County Board of Elections. He told the elderly woman that her voting site had changed and that on Nov. 2 she and her husband should cast their ballots at a South Side precinct. The caller even left the phone number of the board. Her husband, who didn't want their names published out of fear of retribution, called the board, sat through a long menu of automated options and finally spoke with an employee. "They said there was no way in the world they would make such a call," he said. "I think it's hankypanky and somebody in the election is trying to kill some votes." At no time, Elections Director Matthew Damschroder said, does the board call voters. "The only communication from the board of elections is printed on official board of elections paper with the logo," he said. "If they're saying they're the board of elections, that's a violation of the law. My recommendation to them would be to cease and desist." His office has received about a dozen calls since last week from voters checking on similar calls. Damschroder said there are two scams: The caller tells voters their precincts have changed or the caller offers to pick up an absentee-ballot application, deliver the ballot to the voter and return the completed ballot to the elections office. By law, the elections board mails absentee ballots and the only deliveries are made to voters in nursing homes by both a Republican and Democratic elections worker. The only person who can return an absentee ballot, besides the voter, is an immediate family member. "People are calling saying, 'I got a call last night when I was watching Oprah from this group,' " Damschroder said. "By law, the board of elections does not give anybody a ballot to deliver." Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, said he hadn't heard about the scams. But he said he was glad to hear that voters who had received calls reported them to the elections board. "Election fraud, voter intimidation or providing voters with wrong information is unacceptable," he said. "Anyone engaging in this activity will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."Anyone contemplating this type of malicious activity should think twice."
All county boards of elections already had planned to send cards informing voters of their voting precinct, Damschroder said, a move that could combat some of these calls. "The cards will be dropped (in the mail) next Monday for delivery Wednesday," he said. shoholik () dispatch com ============================ Copyright © 2004, The Columbus Dispatch Article published Wednesday, October 13, 2004http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041013/NEWS03/ 410130378
Thieves hit Democratic Party offices; computers containing sensitive data removed By ROBIN ERB Thieves shattered a side window overnight at Lucas County Democratic headquarters in Toledo, stealing computers with sensitive campaign information and triggering concern of the local party's ability to deliver crucial votes on Nov. 2. Among the data on the stolen computer of the party's office manager were: e-mails discussing campaign strategy, candidates' schedules, financial information, and phone numbers of party members, candidates, donors, and volunteers. Also taken were computers belonging to Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak and to a Texas attorney working with the Kerry/Edwards presidential campaign to ensure election security. The thefts have prompted the Kerry/Edwards campaign and Democrats in Washington to offer help and have left local officials fretting about the crime's impact on the upcoming election, in which Ohio plays a high-profile role. "This puts us behind the eight ball," party spokesman Jerry Chabler said. "This can affect our entire get-out-the-vote operation." Ohio's Democratic Party pledged to deploy volunteers, lend computers, or "provide whatever source of assistance they need," said spokesman Dan Trevas.The political importance of Lucas County cannot be overstated, Mr. Trevas said.
"It's a major Democratic county in a swing area, surrounded by Republican and moderates," Mr. Trevas said. "A lot of votes come out of northwest Ohio." Both President Bush and Sen. John Kerry have campaigned throughout the region repeatedly. With a saturation of television ads by both parties in the local market, it has become one of the most contested regions in the country. Barbara Koonce, the office manager, said information on her computer had not been backed up since August. "I try to do it at least once a month, but we've been so extremely busy here, it's not the first thing on our minds," she said. Beyond the missing data, the break-in also might have lasting "collateral damage" because 25 to 50 volunteers come to the headquarters to make phone calls, send out campaign information, and "do the necessary grunt work," in any campaign, Mr. Chabler said. Toledo police took fingerprints at the scene with the hopes, in part, that they may be identified or matched to unidentified prints at other crime scenes. Neither Chief Mike Navarre nor other investigators would elaborate on the details of the case, although lead investigator Jim Dec confirmed, "We collected valuable physical evidence." At Democratic headquarters, officials stopped short of publicly blaming partisan politics, but at the same time, they all but ruled out run-of-the-mill criminals. Two other computers, holding less sensitive information, were untouched, as were a petty cash box that usually holds $80 to $100, televisions, portable radios, and other electronics. Moreover, other offices inside the building, 1817 Madison Ave., were not entered. Files, papers, and pamphlets remained in neat piles, and campaign signs leaned, apparently undisturbed, against a wall. "They knew what they wanted," Mr. Chabler said, calling the incident a 'third-rate burglary,' " a not-so-subtle reference to the break-in at National Democratic Committee offices in 1972 that began the Watergate scandal that eventually led to the President Nixon's resignation. Meanwhile, activities at Democratic headquarters, usually in a frenzy just three weeks before the election, were temporarily stalled yesterday. Volunteers had left the building about 11 p.m. Monday, believing they had set the alarm, officials said. But another worker may have unintentionally interrupted a beam from a motion sensor, preventing the alarm's activation, Mr. Chabler said. The crime was discovered about 7 a.m. Guardian Alarm manager Kris Zielinski said she could not discuss a customer's account, but she confirmed that such a situation could occur. Still, the alarm's user would be alerted to the trouble by a light or some other indicator, she said. With the election three weeks away, other headquarters around the country have been the targets of suspected political shenanigans, although there was no immediate link made between those cases and the Toledo break-in. "It's wrong," said Chris Vance, chairman of the Republican Party in Washington State, where intruders have stolen or attempted to steal computers from at least two campaign offices recently. "It's not how Americans conduct their elections." The sentiment was echoed by local Republican chairman Bernadette Noe, who noted that two Republican billboards were defaced by vandals overnight. "It'd be so disillusioning to think our [political] process could stoop to such lows," she said. Sandy Isenberg hugged workers as she walked into the building about 9 a.m. She said that workers had to rebuild the databases in May after Ms. Isenberg took over the party chairmanship from Paula Ross. The move followed a bitter public dispute that had divided much of the party. "When we took over the leadership of the party, we had to reconstruct everything," Ms. Isenberg said. "We'll do it again." The party is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. If the information is provided before the election, the reward is $5,000. Contact Robin Erb at: robinerb () theblade com or 419-724-6133. _______________________________________________ Cuckoosnest mailing list ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Ohio Voters report fake elections board calls David Farber (Oct 23)