Ohio Voters report fake elections board calls

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

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 calls
  Instructions 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, 2004

http://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.



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