“It seems the Registrar is the judge and juror, the decider and the arbiter and is accountable to no one. Clearly, we’ve been stonewalled by the Registrar,” opined Barbara Gail Jacobson in regard to having little or no legal recourse to challenge the seemingly arbitrary rules set by San Diego County Registrar Mikel Haas concerning her requested hand count of ballots in the special U.S. House election held in California’s 50th district on June 6th.
Jacobson’s request to hand count paper ballots and “paper trails” in the disputed CA-50 Busby/Bilbray election to replace the jailed Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham looks to have hit a brick wall. The SD Country Registrar of Voters office has refused to provide chain of custody documents sought by Jacobson in relation to her request, filed after the revelation that the election employed Diebold optical-scan and touch-screen voting machines in apparent violation of both state and federal law.
In a letter sent Tuesday by Jacobson to Registrar Haas’ office, in reply to an email the office had sent late that day, the San Diego resident requested a written commitment that the requested documents would be provided before a hand count would begin, and prior to the payment of the $6000 as demanded by Haas — by 3pm Tuesday — to cover the costs of the first day’s counting on Wednesday.
As well, her letter sought explanation and accounting for the three disparate cost estimates for the count as supplied by Haas’ office. Two different sets of varying numbers were supplied by officials to voters, while another number, nearly half the amount of the other two quotes, was supplied to a reporter at the North County Times.
The “official” estimate for the cost of the count, as given to Jacobson finally in a FedExed letter from Haas last Saturday, set the price at an estimated $120,000 to $150,000 for the entire count.
Haas’ estimate equates to just under $1 per vote, as opposed to the .14 per vote as charged in neighboring Orange County for a similar hand count request, as reported yesterday by the North County Times.
The email sent late Tuesday from the Registrar’s office, and Jacobson’s letter in reply, are both posted in full at the end of this article.
According to the California Election Code, the requester of a hand count under the recount provisions is entitled to determine the order and manner of such a count and to review the documents necessary to make that determination. Jacobson has contended that documents such as chain of custody logs for ballots and voting machines are needed in order for her to exercise that right, particularly given Haas’ demonstrated lack of adherence to state and federal rules, laws and provisions as her original hand count request had explained.
As reported many times here, the Diebold optical-scan and touch-screen systems used in the “bellwether” special election — the first federal race to be run since the new security requirements were enacted, and the last to be run prior to this November’s general election — were sent home for overnight “sleepovers” with poll workers for days and weeks prior to the election, in contravention of both state and federal rules.
Haas has claimed to various media outlets (most of whom have failed to explore his claims more thoroughly) that such “sleepovers” have happened for years. That much is true. But that was before recent discoveries of the extraordinary vulnerabilities found in Diebold voting systems, which in turn has prompted extraordinary new security measures. It was also before even the California Secretary of State’s own leading computer science advisor, David Jefferson of Livermore National Laboratories, warned that “you can affect multiple machines from a single attack. That’s what makes it so dangerous.”
Recently, the responsible Registrar-Clerk of Yolo County, CA, Freddie Oakley, gave a statement to The BRAD BLOG, saying that procedures for deploying voting machines used in the past were no longer applicable given what we’ve learned about the lack of attention given to security matters in these new hackable, largely untested voting machines.
“I am strongly of the opinion that it is exactly this kind of practical issue that should give election officials serious reservations about deploying electronic voting machines,” Yolo wrote. “If, as a practical matter, they can’t be secured, then perhaps they ought not be used at all. Period.”
Mikel Haas is no Freddie Oakley.
Haas told me in an interview some weeks ago that he wasn’t particularly concerned about the practice of sending home voting machines with poll workers, even though it’s now been shown in report after report that these systems can be gamed in just two minutes of unsupervised time. No password necessary. Haas wasn’t concerned because, as he told me, someone would “have to want to commit a felony” to do any such thing, “which knocks out most of our poll workers in San Diego,” he added.
Haas’ colleague Monterey County, CA Registrar of Voters, Tony Anchundo, who had explained to me on air last October that “There is obviously going to have to be some trust and faith in the elections official, or in this case, it’s me,” was not available for comment. He was charged last Wednesday on 43 criminal counts from forgery to embezzlement to grand theft.
“What is the purpose of a Registrar of Voters?,” Jacobson asked incredulously in a phone discussion on Wednesday. “Are they public servants or not? Is their role to prevent citizens from having access to information? To make it difficult for voters to find out how elections were run? Or is it supposed to be to serve the taxpayers who entrust them with this duty?”
Jacobson added, “the Registar is simply being obstructionist instead of allowing individuals, who they are supposed to be serving, the ability to determine whether or not our elections are accurate.”
Indeed, even Jacobson’s request for the results of a state-mandated 1% audit of ballots and “paper trails” in the race — which she had filed to see as part of a public records request prior to her filing for the hand count — have still not been fulfilled by the Registar’s office. At this time, we are unaware of anybody having seen the results of that 1% audit. Which, unfortunately, again raises the question; What is the San Diego County Registrar’s office trying to hide?
The letter sent to the RoV’s office on Tuesday was in reply to an email, received just hours earlier, responding to Jacobson’s letter from Monday which also sought clarification about the costs demanded by the RoV: $6,000 by 3pm Tuesday as payment for the costs associated with expenses of the following day’s hand count. Jacobson received her reply at 2:43pm. By California law, a count requester must pay the following day’s expenses in advance. The Registrar, of course, may only charge for the actual expenses of the count each day. Haas has failed to give any accounting for his numbers.
Fundraising led by VelvetRevolution.us, an election integrity organization, has so far raised about $10,000 towards the overall expenses of fighting for accountability in the Busby/Bilbray election. Jacobson’s letter was appropriately cautious in demanding a written response from the Registrar that the documents would be supplied before being forced to commit $6000 of those funds towards the effort without any assurances or accountability from Haas. (DISCLOSURE: The BRAD BLOG is a co-founder of VR.)
“Please be aware that we are not necessarily in agreement with you regarding what constitutes relevant material,” wrote Asst. Registrar Tim McNamara in the email sent to Jacobson just minutes prior to the Tuesday 3pm deadline. “We can discuss that when we meet” on Wednesday morning, he wrote.
Nonetheless, Jacobson would be forced to pay the $6000 up front, according to the emails, with no guarantees of anything from the Registrar’s office.
Jacobson’s letter from Tuesday has gone unanswered by the RoV’s office. As of 8am Wednesday morning, the time at which the hand counting was supposed to have begun, the other participants were notified of the cancellation of the count by Haas’ office. Jacobson had been told nothing.
Haas had succeeded in running out the clock. The time allowed by law for such a count to begin — which, at Haas’ discretion, started over the holiday week prior — had ended.
In our phone call yesterday, Jacobson also wondered why Secretary of State McPherson’s office hadn’t enforced their own new rules and security mitigation requirements as set out in his February 17, 2006 “conditional certification” of the Diebold voting systems. She wondered why McPherson hadn’t bothered to hold the San Diego County Registrar accountable for failing to meet those requirements.
“What is the role of the Secretary of State? To make sure his Registrars keep the letter of the law? And if there were new laws to make sure elections were safe and secure in light of new vulnerabilities found in the machines, isn’t his job to make sure those RoV’s follow those new laws?”
“It seems like nobody is accountable here, and the voters are just left out to dry,” she added in frustration.
Organizers on the ground who are fighting the battle for accountability in Busby/Bilbray CA50 — a rag-tag group of concerned citizen patriot volunteers currently made up of mostly San Diegans and local reps from groups such as California Election Protection Network, Democracy for America, Progressive Democrats of America and VelvetRevolution.us, all of whom have declared “No Confidence” in the results of the Busby/Bilbray election as announced — are now exploring further legal options as they continue to fundraise to pay for what will likely be an extremely costly effort in the weeks ahead. The funds raised so far are now earmarked to be put towards attorney fees and other expenses related to such legal options. But publicity efforts, and demonstrations to raise awareness about what the hell is going on here, are currently in the works.
The email sent late yesterday from the RoV’s office to Jacobson, just minutes prior to the Registrar’s imposed 3pm deadline for payment of $6,000 is below. It is followed by Jacobson’s reply which has gone unanswered by the office of San Diego County Registrar of Voters, Mikel Haas…
To: [email address redacted for privacy]
Subject: FW: Response to your letter to the ROV today——————————————————————————–
From: McNamara, Tim
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 1:49 PM
To: [email address redacted for privacy]
Cc: Haas, Mikel; Roberts, Monique
Subject: Response to your letter to the ROV todayMs. Jacobson,
We are in receipt of your letter dated today that you delivered to the ROV office.
A $6,000 deposit shall be due at 3 p.m. today to commence any part of the recount including the gathering and review of relevant material. This is based on a labor estimate cost to begin to gather all or part of the material that you have requested and/or counting actual ballots.
We invite you to have further discussion when you make your deposit by 3 p.m. In the alternative, we may discuss these issues at some other time today or at the 8 a.m. meeting tomorrow or before that meeting.
Please be aware that we are not necessarily in agreement with you regarding what constitutes relevant material. We can discuss that when we meet.
Thank you.
Tim McNamara
Assistant Registrar of Voters
858-694-3403
I received a forwarded copy of the email you sent to me at 2:43 pm today from Ms. Monique Roberts which is in response to my letter to Mr. Haas dated July 11, 2006. For some reason the original email from you did not go through to me. However, I do see that there is a “reference” in the top line of Ms. Robert’s email to me that an email was “sent” from you to my email address at 1:49 pm. However, I would appreciate receiving another forwarded copy of this email from you showing the time it was sent to me the first time you sent it. I do not understand why I did not receive it when you sent it at “1:49.”
Based on the content of your email to me that I received from Ms. Roberts at 2:43 pm today, I cannot in good faith respond intelligently about the manual hand count request since you have refused to commit to which materials you will provide to me and other interested voters to review in order to properly determine the precincts that should be counted first per my right under California Election Code 15622. California Election Code 15622 states: “The request may specify the order in which the precincts shall be recounted.”
In addition, you have refused to guarantee that the key relevant materials regarding “chain of custody” and audit logs will be given to us. This relevant information is mandatory in order for us to review the extent that voting machines were compromised and to determine if the total vote is accurate for the 50th Special Run-off Election of June 6th.
As indicated in my letters of July 5th and July 11th to Mr. Mikel Haas, Registrar of Voters, I requested a detailed list of the materials you would be willing to provide to me regarding the manual hand count as well as a reasonable time frame to include reviewing materials before the count took place.
If you were in my place, would you agree to pay for something that you had no idea you might ever receive? Your lack of specific information in response to my clear and specific requests leads me to believe that there would be no guarantee that we would receive relevant materials to the recount process as guaranteed to a requester of a recount in Section 15360 of California Election Code where it states:
“All ballots, whether voted or not, and any other relevant material, may be examined as part of any recount if the voter filing the declaration requesting the recount so requests.”
In your email to me today you stated,
“Please be aware that we are not necessarily in agreement with you regarding what constitutes relevant material. We can discuss that when we meet.”
However, it is unclear that you would be willing to discuss this without us first giving the ROV a $6,000 deposit. I would never pay for a car sight unseen. That is what you are asking of me and it is inappropriate. If there are reasonable charges to gather the information before the counting begins, then we would be happy to pay for those charges. However, you are asking us to pay for something without the guarantee that we will ever receive it and this is totally unacceptable.
In addition, there is no mention in your message whether there would be any delay of counting of the ballots to give me and other interested voters a reasonable amount of time to review the documents. It is my understanding that a hand count under the recount provisions can be considered to begin by reviewing all documentation requested. It is inefficient and a waste of money to pay counting boards to stand by while I and other concerned voters review the documentation. I am paying for the recount and as a voter it is only reasonable that I should know specifically what I am paying for. While reviewing relevant materials, it is unnecessary to pay counting boards.
Finally, it is unclear how you are arriving at the figure of $6,000 for “gathering materials” and counting on the first day.
You say that you would be willing to have a meeting “in the alternative” today at some time or tomorrow at 8 am. Does that mean that if we do not provide the $6,000 deposit to you today, you will still hold a meeting?
In addition, it appears that you have not begun to gather the information we requested on July 5th. Does that mean that you would start the recount before we have even gathered the necessary information? In your email to me today you state:
“A $6,000 deposit shall be due at 3 p.m. today to commence any part of the recount including the gathering and review of relevant material. This is based on a labor estimate cost to begin to gather all or part of the material that you have requested and/or counting actual ballots.”
Based on the lack of specific information from the Registrar of Voter’s Office I received in response to my request for a Manual Count of the 50th District’s Special Run-off Election on June 6, 2006 including specific relevant materials, it is clear to me that the conditions the Registrar of Voters, Mr. Haas, has put on our exercise of our right to a recount are unacceptable.
Sincerely,
Barbara Gail Jacobson
Maybe someone should tell him that the money we’ve put together better be used for a recount, or it’s going to be used instead to fund a personal lawsuit against him for malfeasance and damaging our rights to vote. Perhaps if he feels he might be made broke in certain courts, he might think differently.
Damnit, where is Busby and the Democratic Party? They surely have money, and it is going to take money to fight these damn crooks. Sue the Hell out of everyone complicit in this fiasco! Get as much attention as possible to the corruption going on by the f—–g Republican scum! Where’s Debra Brown on this? Boxer, Feinstein, etc.?
Well, if this is an indication of what’s going to happen “en masse” Nov. 2, the only alternative people will have is to riot. What else can they do, if election officials aren’t following the law and the will of the people? The people now know elections are being stolen blatantly in front of their faces. The election officials are saying, “Fuck You, American voters!!! What are you gonna do about it?”
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. Is this official Haas saying, “Fuck You” to the voters of San Diego??? Yes or No???
Brad, post a video of Anchorman Ron Burgundy saying, “Fuck You, San Diego!”
I think Busby, the DLC, et many alia should be named as codefendants in any law suits. What a scandal! What kind of hay do they think KKKarl would be raking in over this were the roles reversed? I don’t think we’ll have to riot actively, Big Dan, but I do think an enormous number of people will have to take peacefully to the streets and surround the corrupt individuals, preferably until they starve to death! I’ll be the aging hippy artfully fashioning stunning tinfoil hats for allies and trolls alike 😉
Has anyone forwarded any of this info to Jon Stewart? Does anyone have any video he can show?
Though, he usually only seems to have things on that can be made into “short funnies”.. he might not be willing to talk about how our Democracy is being locked in a vault and kept away from .. um.. the voters..? Course, he -might- send someone to SD to try and get some interviews, which would give him something to “show” his viewers.
And I’d guess the Democrats aren’t “making a stink” or “fronting any money” because they don’t care about “this election” or it’s results.. I mean, they would be spending money on a candidate that would only have power for a few months, why do that? ….. Oh.. Right.. because we’re not talking about “candidates”, we’re talking about the integrity of our Elections, something the Dems clearly don’t care about.. Flag burning, now THERE’S a topic that the Dems can get behind.. Fair and transparent Elections? Na, pass.. not worth the trouble. Too bad those morons don’t understand that this is “a preview” of what will be happening in 2006, and when they try to make a stink about THAT, they will be “crying over sour grapes” and ignored.. just like in 2004 in Ohio (where the election was stolen for Shrubby).
Where was it that I get a passport, again?
PS – You have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat Ole Brad to the punch!!!!
czaragorn, the problem has become that Americans (in general) don’t have the time (or will) to “march peacefully”. They have jobs all day, then kids to feed/clothe/entertain. Kids today don’t care about anything but playing games or surfing the net, and parents today don’t have the time to teach their kids much more than that.
In order for people to “march in the streets”, they would have to take off of work. If employers find out about the plans (and support BushCo, like most good business owners do) and mandate that their people “be at work or be fired”, most people won’t risk it.. and a LOT of states have “no fault termination policies”, which means the boss can fire you withOUT cause.. and there by makes it a risk most people won’t take. Losing your job in this market means losing everything (but still having to pay for it, thanks to the new bankruptcy laws).
And, most people still have NO CLUE as to what’s going on around them. They are willfully ignorant because admitting to the truth is a painful endeavor. People don’t want to admit that they have helped create this monster by their greed and lack of regard for their fellow man and/or planet.
I appreciate your misgivings, Savanster, and it’s true that many people couldn’t dare take time off, but there are a bajillion small business employers out there. Please forgive me for feeling thankful for the human race, warts and all. And, yes, I think there are lots of people who would put lots more than their jobs on the line if it came to a last stand. I submit, plagiarizing from the Walrus, “The time has come… to think of many things,” etc… Or if you insist on some other walrus, Koo koo ka choo! Seriously, what if we could arrange for 250,000 concerned citizens a day demonstrating on the Mall, with reinforcements coming in regularly, in fact surrounding the Capitol, and giving no indication of giving in, ALL THIS IN A KEY ELECTION YEAR, no less. Consider how hard it’s gonna be to turn a 70-30 exit poll advantage to a 51-49 “actual count” loss! “Drat! Missed it by that much!” Help, 99, I forgot the password, and I stepped my shoe phone into some dog poop. Msaybe we could follow Plan B and all 6 or 7 of us sending little bags of pretzels to the WH
Clue
File a petition for a writ of mandamus in the superior court of San Diego County.
Ask that the court to order Haas to comply.
Most likely the reason he’s not turning over the chain of custody logs is because they are incomplete or non-existent.
Yo Dredd, Brad’s future Attorney General! Go get ’em, dood! (Did you hear that DoJ flack? ” … the president is always right”!)
I promised I wouldn’t do this again, but I can’t resist.
MIKEL HAAS = LIKE, A SHAM
BRAD FRIEDMAN = MAD FIREBRAND
Aaaaaaaaggggh
Of course they had to run out the clock or the fraud would have been uncovered. What else could they do. Add Haas to the list of bad guys on the take.
Yeah, I say file a lawsuit against him PERSONALLY.
Never underestimate the power of Freeway Blogging and the Whispering Campaign.
I believe the time is right, we are in the majority now.
The masses are awakening and are ready to listen – we have to make them hear us.
Hang in there y’all, they may win some battles, but they won’t win this war.
I am not a constitutional lawyer or any kind of an attorney by any means, I am just a live sound engineer,
It seems to me there is an extremely logical legal avenue to force these corrupt Fascists to comply with The Constitution…..
1.) It is my RIGHT as a Citizen of the United States of America, under the Constitution of the United States, to be represented in the Government of the United States, by Representatives selected to office by ELECTED representatives.
2.) The Congress of the United States writes the laws that protect my inalienable rights as guranteed me under the Bill of Rights as attached to the Constitution of the United States. The Congress of The United States designates how much, and for what reasons my Taxes are spent.
3.) The Congress of the United States Passes or Defeats legislation based on majority opinions through voting on various legislative measures within Congress, therefore, The fact that I don’t even live in the 50th Congressional District is immaterial as to damages to MY PERSONAL Civil Rights by Mr. Hass. An illegally sworn in Representative to Congress can cancel the power of the vote of MY representative when the illegally confirmed congressman votes in opposition to my LEGALLY elected Representative.
4.) On it’s face, this is a direct Violation of MY Civil Rights as guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States.
5.) Hass doesn’t even have to be party to, or have knowledge of, direct complicity in the Electronic Election Fraud at the base of this whole thing. He becomes an accomplice “After the Fact” by refusing to comply with Ms. Jacobsons legal request for the Recount, Therefore, He is as potentially guilty of election malfeasence as any individual or group of individuals, that directly falsified election results through electronic means.
6.) These things combined spell out Criminal Violation of My Civil Rights as Guranteed under the Constitution of the United States.
Why isn’t the ACLU persuing this line of argument to bring forward a case? This seems to me like a plausible argument for a case with teeth and in addition to real jail time for Mr. Hass if convicted, opens the door to a MASSIVE Civil Suit and the potential for Huge Punitive Monetary Dammages to be awarded to the Plaintif(s)in the suit.
Czaragorn #12
Yep, it is a simple lawsuit specially made in California. I have done it myself.
Yes I noticed that a DoJ official testified before the Senate Judicial Committee that “the president is always right” to which I would say “far right”.
The republican dictatorship continues to dismantle and destroy the election integrity (link here).
Floridiot and I are doing a little Lemme thingy on this thread:
https://bradblog.com?p=3052
You are invited … and anyone else who wants to get to the bottom of the reality that one person for the past decade or so has certified EVM’s even tho there have been as many as 10 ITA companies “doing the certifications”.
If this were Mexico or the Ukraine or any place that actually gave a fart about Democracy, there would be a mob outside Haas’ office and he would have to literally drive through crowds of people with a police escort just to get to work. His house would be picketed, and he would have to hustle off his family to an “undisclosed location” to protect them.
It will either come to that here in the USA or we will wake up one morning in 2009 to discover that we live in a country we don’t recognize.
I keep wondering how different this country would be and how much more seriously people like Haas would take this “game” they play if somebody had offed Harris after 2000 or Blackwell after 2004. If the “consequences” of criminal destruction of Democracy in the name of expediency (or partisan victory) were more blatant and clear (like they are in the streets of Iraq) then maybe people like Haas would re-consider their actions.
Savantster, did you find out where to get that passport? Let me know. Have they started putting the RFID chips in them yet?
Somebody, please tell Busby that she is THROUGH.
She is NOT going to be the candidate in November. Her political career is FINISHED.
If she thought she was “keeping her powder dry” she’s going to discover just how dry it’s gonna get. The spigot of MONEY is going to dry up. This woman and the DNC that funded her has sold us out. They are no better than the opposition.
I will personally move to San Diego and set out on the single-handed mission of totally destroying her career in politics or any other public venue if she ever tries to run for so much as dog catcher.
She had her chance, and now she has given up the right to represent ANYBODY. Maybe the Republicans will take her in.
IrishAmerican #16
The standard procedure in California is to petition the Superior Court, in this case in San Diego, for a Writ of Mandate or a Writ of Prohibition.
Here is an example of such a petition in an election context (link here).
Not sure about that Passport thing, but I’ve noticed a (mildly disturbing, on the surface) post about HAARP? Something about the government playing with very high power “ratio transmissions” that might be able to be used to control weather and mind-control? I have to read up on it more, the links I had didn’t make a lot of sense to me… presuming HAARP doesn’t cause my brain to not want to learn about it 😀 Perhaps we’ll lose our interest in getting out of the country, and will muddle through the day doing menial labor for peanuts..
Presuming my brain stays working as is, fleeing a sinking ship will be an activity that occurs “soon”.. Just not sure where to go!
“Paper is kept rolled up in a machine, kept for a recount or any election dispute.”
Mikel Haas quote
Well, it looks like old Erma was right and knew what she was talking about last week when I (Erma) said this wasn’t going to go anywhere and was a grand waste of time and money.
All I got on here last week was being called a troll. Just because someone does not share your wishful thinking does not make them a troll, folks.
Now do you understand why I said it is time for a “peaceful” revolution? Nothing will change without one. You can do all the lawsuits you want. A waste of time these days in this political context and climate.
As I said last week, our voting system is fradulent and broken and our corrupt one-party system in DC has no intention of fixing it. Period. And we have an injustice court system.
Oh, I guess that makes me a troll then for saying all that. Oh well, I’ve been called far worse than that.
Time for revolution. Time to get up out of your chairs and stop your wishful thinking that things are going to change through the traditional means.
But you know, I bet nothing will change. You’ll continue on with your wishful thinking and talk about how the worthless and useless Dems need to be supported no matter what.
RLM re #13 I can’t believe you’ve got me doing this too, Mr. Mills, but I promise this will be my last time:
ROBERT LOCKWOOD MILLS = TROLL MISER WOOD BLOCK
Has anyone tried looking into the email or see if there has been any pivate meetings with these election officials? I can’t think of any logical reason they are all sticking their heads in the sand like this, and going out of their way to keep people OUT of the democratic process. The onlything that makes any sense to me is they are either (a) all paid off by the voting companies, or (b) they are being warned by the companies or the Republican party that this “oversight” is a liberal ploy. Either way, someone from outside is trying to illegaly control and exert influence over the democratic process.
When elections officials are going ut of their way to NOT follow their own laws and not be open and accountable to voters you know something extremely corrupt is going on.
HOnestly, Brad, I think this is where we need to be looking right now. Moreso even than the voting machines themselves. Once these “officials” are proven to be influenced/corrupted then we can get them out of the way and focus on the machines. Becuase right now, there will be no checking out the machines in a timely manner so long as these people are blocking them with every action.
I seriously suspect that Democracy has been sold out or unduly influenced. I’d like to be open minded and blame the Democrats and Republicans BOTH…but one side seems to be favoring from all these issues and it certainly ins’t the Dems. And we all know that as soon as a few REpublicans lose their seats this NOvemeber, suddenly the whole Republican party AND the MSM will be talking about voting problems. By then it will be too late (again) for the rest of us.
Okay. The standard when the law is broken is to take it to the DA or the AG, through the police or directly. If you can’t get them to force the law to be followed or upheld, then you go in with your writs for court orders, go the administrative law route. That is how you attempt to make the right thing happen in time. Then, if that has failed, you sue the pants off them, and Bilbray is in office illegally the whole time you’re doing it.
It did not sound to me as if softball was the set-up here, but maybe it was just a bluff and it got called.
Hey! This isn’t a little county administration spat. The players in this little opera better get real, get serious as a heart attack, or we are all effectively steamrolled by one punk in one county.
I will note again, that one long standing concern that our local Dem groups here in San Diego that we’ve been concerned abou since well before this election is that the local Board of Supervisors has been a monopoly of Republicans for about a decade now. This is the body that has oversight over Mikel Haas and Sally McPherson (relation to Bruce McPherson????) before him, that also gave Dick Murphy the mayor’s office earlier when they chose not to look at voter intent when they chose not to count the write-in votes for Donna Frye that didn’t have the bubble checked but had her name written out that would have given her the office.
In this last election, we thought we could break through this barrier with Richard Barrera, a decent Democrat running for this board, in a district that arguably had a majority of registered Democrats versus Republicans. He wasn’t well known enough to beat Ron Roberts who was well known from that earlier mayoral election, and who also was “endorsed” as a “Democratic Choice” through a slimey campaign flyer that made it sound like it was from the Democratic Party. I’d like to find out who put out that flyer, as I’d bet that they are part of what appears to be this increasingly criminal looking body of politicians.
Re: Comment #26:
Rosencrantz said:
QUOTE: Has anyone tried looking into the email or see if there has been any pivate meetings with these election officials? END QUOTE
What kind of drugs are you looney people on? How on Earth does “anyone” look into PRIVATE emails of election officials? How does one look into private emails of other people? Unless you are the NSA.
LOL. I swear, you people are looney on here with your pie-in-the-sky suggestions.
To the rest of your post including the part about “you seriously suspect democracy has been sold out”, as my grandson would say:
Well duh. You just now figured that out?
Okay, now it’s time for the thin-skinned people to drag out the old “troll card” for Erma. lol.
I don’t disagree with Emma, but I wonder what a “peaceful” revolution will look like?
Revolution implies a total change of power.
Power like this does not give up easily.
I can imagine these corrupt Republicans in power easily ignoring or spinning 1 million or even 5 million people in the streets as merely “agitators” or “troublemakers” or worse. Wait, I don’t have to imagine it — that’s exactly what they did when millions of people marched in February/March 2003 against the War in Iraq.
I’m not sure how we will stop this train wreck that is so clearly in progress. It’s like watching in slow motion and not being able to do ANYTHING about it. First the debacle in 2000, then the stolen mid-terms in 2002, then the Blackwell mess in 2004, then Hacket and a second “Warren County problem”, then NC, Utah, Georgia and Iowa, now CA-50. And at every turn, we get stonewalled, we get pissed, we write, we yell, sometimes we march, they keep stonewalling, we never kill anybody or even turn violent, and in the end they get away with it.
I can see November 2006 as clearly as if it was HISTORY already writ. The polls will show discontent against Republicans running at 65-70% against and yet they will win most races by 51% to 49%. The ones they lose, they will claim election fraud (they really have NO sense of irony) so that we will not be able to.
With a “mandate” from the re-election of their Rubber Stamp Republican Congress, the neo-cons will finish up the solidification of their “unitary executive” while the MSM will push either a DINO or somebody they brand “unelectable” as the Democratic candidate for ’08, guaranteeing a “can’t lose” for the Neo-cons.
After that, it would take an outside intervention by a foreign power(s) to restore Democracy to the USA, and I can’t see any force on the planet interested enough to do it.
Please, tell me I’m wrong.
I know that it’s buying a pig in a poke, but I wish that Jacobson had put in the check for $6000 before the deadline. That would put a stopper in the whole “you didn’t make the deadline argument” that will come out next…
There really is a part of the movie “Anchorman”, where Will Ferrell accidentally signs off by saying, “Fuck You, San Diego”. Because it was on the teleprompter.
Can you think of a video clip more appropriate to all of these GOP shennannigans going on in San Diego?
They should change their football team from the “Chargers” to the DIE-BOLTS”, and keep the lightning bolt on their helmets.
Erma, what’s happening in our country, is that it seems those who break the laws, nothing happens to them…so they break the law!!! Why not???
Now, if some black guy somewhere broke a law, they’re right on it! Laws seem to be applied selectively.
Robert (#2): Good question. Where ARE the Democrats?
As somebody wrote recently, they are SCARED of the blogosphere and those who inhabit it, because we can’t be easily controlled by their “talking points” but actually read and think. Many Dems still believe the system works and that if they just shut up and wait, they will get their chance to be in power. They don’t understand that the rules have changed and that they will find themselves in a gulag before they will hold power under a corrupt system.
Maybe if WE ask often enough “Where are the Democrats? Where’s Busby?” then the media covering this story will repeat it once or twice (as in “Many in the blogs are wondering where the Democrats are during this process, as well as where Ms. Busby herself has gone. They insist that if she is going to run again in November she has an obligation to those who voted for her to see this manual count through, if only to restore confidence in the electoral process.”) and it will force them to get into the fray.
We are being “Kerry’ed” again.
The more I think about how the Democrats have left us to fight for Democracy by ourselves (for heaven’s sake, the San Diego Democratic Party probably spends more than $6,000 a month on LUNCHES) it just makes me want to spew.
Charlie L said
“We are being “Kerry’ed” again.”
This morning I recieved an email from Kerry. It started out:
“Over the last 19 months, when you could have walked away, you dusted yourself off, got back on your feet, dug deeper, and you have fought even harder.”
It was of course a call for money for the Democrats running this fall.
I replied:
“Why did you walk away and concede without a fight over all the fraud in the last 2 presidential elections, Ohio and Florida in particular, but elsewhere as well?”
Who wants to bet he sees it? – NOT
Erma, shut up and quit being such a quitter! Sheesh. Yah shame me, babe. The tides will turn.
— Chris Hooten
Kerry won’t see your reply, BLUEBEAR2, because he only takes input from “advisors” like the Republican Lawyer who told him to concede in Ohio (Ref: Fritikas).
But, the Democrats (and Kerry in particular) will see our discontent in the fall when they come begging and find the spigot turned off. Even if they send Dean, he’ll have to SHOW ME before he gets any bread.
Kerry sold us out. As far as I am concerned (and many progressives I know) he is finished on the national level. He can pretend to be an “elder statesman” or somehow “wronged” but really he proved to me that he was an easily swayed and lying sack of crap when he gave up and left $50million on the table.
“We’ll fight for every vote.” “We have lawyers on the ground in every state.”
Oh yeah, how about those 250,000 “spoiled” in Ohio (Bush won by half that)? How about the 35,000 spoiled in New Mexico (Bush won by 4,000)?
I sent a similar letter when they asked me for money early last year. I keep telling the Democrats: NOT A PENNY UNTIL YOU PLEDGE TO FIGHT FOR EVERY VOTE TO BE COUNTED.
I made a mistake with Busby and gave her $25 (from Oregon, no less), and now I regret it. When she combs her list this fall to ask for more, I’ll give her one hell of a piece of my mind, the lazy and scared coward that she is.
IrishAmerican says: “. . .These things combined spell out criminal violation of my civil rights as guranteed under the Constitution of the United States.”
Actually, I believe there is no right in the fed constitution ensuring that your vote is counted. Also, complex legal “standing” issues make it almost impossible for anyone other than an electoral candidate to challenge election results. The rules that govern elections at the state level are largely administrative regs, which means they are more difficult to enforce, and easier to change on the fly. This Haas dude knows very well that his potential liability here is miniscule, which is why he can pretty much do what he wants.
I hate to agree with Erma above, but lets get real here folks: the probability of a succesful lawsuit in this area is very small, and even a principled judge who tries to insist on an accurate vote will likely be overturned on appeal. Only real legislation or constitutional amendment will have any effect, and since we can’t get anyone elected to the legislature using the current system, we’re pretty much screwed. Maybe the best we can hope for is that they are forced to overreach in their fraud this nov (only reason to even bother voting), and it gets picked up at a more significant media level. The stage is perhaps being set for this with the current media attention, so lets postpone our despair and plans for non-violent revolution at least until maybe early december.
I’m not saying these lawsuits aren’t worthy in principle, and as PR, I just dont believe the judicial branch is going to be much help solving this problem. Hope I’m wrong. (& pray that shrub doesn’t get another supreme ct nomination b/c then it might really be THE END.)
Charlie L. #29
You are wrong. Get with the program. It isn’t history *yet*.
–Chris Hooten
#37 red-haired guy (?)
Any discussion of elected, or election or electorate implies votes being counted. A democracy on its face implies votes being counted. Don’t be an idiot.
— Chris Hooten
Aww shoot. red-haired guy is IrishAmerican :-). I meant Brock. (Is that a real name? Sheesh)
— Chris Hooten
Incredible as it may seem, in California anyway, going in with writs on administrative law, when properly made, make a BIG impact. State government agencies have been stopped in their tracks by this means, and very determined petitioners CAN get satisfaction in an amazingly short time.
C’mon kids, there HAVE to be plenty of very avid public interest lawyers just dying to take this one on! If any of you down in CA-50 are not on this one yet, HURRY IT UP, PUH-LEEZE.
Kerry and Bilby: 2 good REPUBLIDEM PATSIES. LOSER LOSER LOSER LOSER FCKBUSH! HASS IS ACTING AS A good little BUSHIT MAN so WATCH FOR HIS PROMOTION. u can bet HIS REWARD CHECK IS IN XCS OF 60K. THE SAN DIEGO DIE BOLDS ARE WINNING THE BATTLE however, THIS WAR IS NOT OVER.
Chris Hooten – I dont disagree (except maybe re idiocy), just pointing out that current US law doesn’t in practice guarantee votes being accurately counted. That much should be pretty clear by now.
Sheesh – doesnt anyone watch adult swim? (GO TEAM VENTURE!)
Kinda out of character for you, Grizzly Dancer.
— Chris Hooten
Trust me, US law guarantees voting, and thusly votes being counted.
— Chris Hooten
“I am most intolerant of intolerance itself.”
CH #44 State what is out of character.
Grizz
Dunno, but I can guess Chris had you confused with Bluebear2.
i have no respect for someone who lays down to quote “save face” to avoid a controversy when evidence exists to support a fraudulently run contest. “Losers” not for losing the election, NO! “Losers” for going along with the program as a complicent sheep without the utterance of a single word of discontent . If people like these bastards served in George Washington’s army, then the U.S. would still be part of the Britain.
Most excellent point, Grizz.
#42 Content good. Delivery bad.
And, actually, now, with Ms. Crier on the subject, Erma and Brock, there is a likelihood that super-public-interest lawyers will be stepping all over each other to nail this one. Prima facie, “democracy”, the very word itself, implies properly counted votes… no need whatever for that clause in the Constitution. Quit being so defeatist and start working to make it happen NOW, because the threat of yet another monarchist Supreme Court Justice is very real, and, of course, because WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK! Every minute wasted on defeatism or negativity in the face of this difficult challenge serves only to help insure it is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Chris Hooten told me:
QUOTE: Erma, shut up and quit being such a quitter! Sheesh. Yah shame me, babe. The tides will turn. END QUOTE
Yet another wishful thinker.
For days now I’ve been seeing requests on this site and on Velvet Underground saying to please donate to support the recount effort. Are we just being played to give money to this cause? Why wouldn’t she pony up the earnest money? We can argue about what the total cost of the recount should have been, but we do know it will cost something well in excess of $6000. So I don’t get it. I’m sorry, but her position looks bad to me. Particularly the part about wanting a delay so that she can review the documents. If she had just paid the money as requested, wouldn’t she then be in a much better position to demand the documents and so on?
I think this is a very bad outcome. I could see it coming when she made all those demands that had to be met before whe would pay the $6000.
Now what?
#50 Perhaps. You know i am so sick of the politicians and media ignoring our environment in crisis, our constitution in crisis, our elections in crisis, and our wild lands being stolen and raped that my language has deteriorated once again for which i appologize.
On the contrary CH, this is somewhat characteristic of me. i have very little patience for these morally bankrupt/greedy bastards and rather enjoy slicing these bad actors politicos with my words of pure angst. I will take any of these rusters on. I refuse to sit smug as another day goes by where our country is being run by the biggest bunch of loser criminal liers hell bent on destroying my home, your home and the homes of all other species for which i speak.
John Dowd
There is a clip from the Thom Hartmann Show up on the front page that has Ms. Jacobson explaining why she didn’t just fork over the money. I think that was a judgment call. Every reason to expect Haas would simply drain the coffers and not put up the goods, just as there was every reason to expect he would stonewall and not put up the goods. Haas is the offender here.
Personally, I thought her letter was very good, well advised, and now that he has refused to cave-in to the demand for proper procedural treatment, lawyers should be scaring the wits out of him next.
Charlie L #36
It was an earlier post of your’s, where you mentioned sending a reply to their money request, that spurred me to send mine. Of course it is probably just some automated email thing and no one will read it, but it felt good just typing out the words and hitting “send”!
Thanks 🙂
Where the fuck can I direct my fucking anger?
#57 Have you ever gone to a Korn concert?
Good for you, Erma, not letting yourself sound like a senile old woman, but you sure do sound like someone DETERMINED to be a drag. With your kind of thinking, it’s a wonder we made it as long as we did. Are you too old to LEARN, to open your mind to a more positive point of view, EVEN if it might not pan out? I’m not 87 yet, but I can say for certain that I will be dead before I let my attitude get like yours.
Aww, well f*ckin’ eh, maybe we should just forget about all these silly “democracy” concerns. Hey! how about we all ignore any possible security vulnerabilities that could entirely dismantle our very democratic way of government. Shoot! Who cares about the future?
— Chris Hooten
#57 — On the phone to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters?
#60 — Erma doesn’t!
Chris Hooten
You just haven’t seen Griz with his hackles up before have you! Look out, he can tear ya ta pieces. I don’t blame him one bit and have joined him with raised hackles before while dealing with ignorant trolls. Griz has his irons in many fires and they are all red hot! 😉
I don’t live in SD, but the logical step is to organize a sit-in at this scumbag Mikel Haas’ house. Get a few hundred/thousand/whatever out there ahouting slogans and embarrassing him in front of his family and his neighbors. Then file suit against him. We’ve got to make these bastards aware that we WILL rise up when they take away our rights. They’re counting on complicit media to keep us silent. (That’s why they’re setting their sights on the Internet).
99 #61
🙂 🙂 🙂
Sorry Grizz. I’m not doggin’ patriots! I may have misunderstood.
— Chris Hooten
Thank you #62 for the kind words. Fighting Bears will win this one.
And Agent, regarding your comment #51,
It’s already happened. The Bush Dictatorship. It’s already here. If you have eyes, please open them NOW.
I’ve been accused of defeatism and negativity before. I’ve heard all that stuff before. It runs right off my back.
I just look at the pure reality which is something many of you aren’t real big on. You’re this wishful thinking cult. You actually thought that something was going to come out of this Busby thing. LOL. I said last week it was a major waste of time and money. Yet you all kept on with your wishful thinking talk and old Erma turned out to be correct. As far as lawyers being successful in this case, well, I’ll believe it when I see it. This is probably the last you’ll hear about it. As I said before, we have an INjustice system, not a justice system especially when it comes to this stuff.
You also don’t seem to have a clue as to who and what these evil and nasty neocon people in power are and what they will do to stay in power. They will take up arms to stay in power.
We already have a Bush Dictatorship NOW, Agent. Wake up! It’s already in place. Where have you been? A DoJ lawyer (who Leahy questioned) told Leahy that “the president [sic] is always correct.” In other words: DICTATORSHIP. And our sham “elections” with easily-hackable and rigged e-voting machines which are owned by Republicans will not change a damn thing. Remember the Busby “election?”
But keep on with your grandiose wishful thinking. By the way, how has it served you up to now? Disappointment after disappointment?
You can bitch and moan to and about Erma all you want but that accomplishes NOTHING.
No people, YOU MUST GET IN THE STREETS BY THE MILLIONS. YOU MUST GET IN THE STREETS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BY THE MILLIONS. YOU are the defeatist for refusing to do what is needed. Sitting here on this blog and eating Brad’s ass out every day ain’t going to do it.
Get out in the streets people. Quit being so damn lazy.
#65 While i don’t exactly know where you’re coming from i don’t find you offensive as of yet. If you are a real patriot, U R with us.
#61, I sent an email. It was short and technically polite, but…
#63
I’ve got a slogan for the Haas protest:
DO YOUR JOB!!
DO YOUR JOB!!
DO YOUR JOB!!
Erma
I agree with your last two paragraphs, but I’ve had many a complete victory where EVERYONE was telling me it was impossible. Lots of experience under my belt with victories against all odds, with paradigm shifts in the status quo, and with defeats as well.
YOU need to reassess your position a bit, instead of just coming back more strongly with your insulting comments.
#69 — I’m thinking venting your rage/wrath over the phone, where a human can hear. If you do it right, they won’t hang up right away.
The president is always right (in reality terms). The Bushit administration has gotten away with everything as in EVERYTHING they have taken/stolen/and destroyed. Last i checked they are still eating at the White House not a Federal prison so i would tend to agree that the fcknut lying murderer is always righteous 7/13/2006.
Agent,
There was nothing “insulting” about what I said. From my observations, it is the truth as far as I am concerned. I just told it like it is. And I am very secure with my position, thank you very much.
“… wishful thinking cult…” is not insulting? Really, quit being so rude and consider other angles.
Grizzly #62
You’re most welcome! When the brown and blue fur starts flyin’ they’ll know how serious we are.
Erma: It’s a nice thought to want to take to the street. Ultimately you are right but who wants to be in the poster boy in the front lines getting shot at and who is organizing this march? Certainly not the Republidem party.
What i give this Rovian Bushit administration props for is being the great dividers and using the illuminati wealth to champion their cause in the mass media while maintaining this illegally obtained control. What they don’t have is a secret weapon (and it ain’t a bomb). FYI: It’s that black area in the back of your head . For now Bradblog is where it’s at.
#75 Our day in battle is coming and all the world will rejoice.
Man, am I ever getting to be a Bears fan!
How about a recall campaign for Mikel Haas?
If coupled with a “re”count campaign for Busby/Bilbray, I’m with ya!
The best use of a little money short term would be to hire a good private detective to investigate Haas & Family & use the info to ruin him. That stupid smirk of his has to have some dumb behavior behind it.
It’s the fastest way to bring him down.
Of course, it won’t solve the election fraud.
BUT it still would feel good AND serve as a warning to any other foolish public servants that decide it’s fine to shit on the People. Kind of the People’s mafia.
I wonder how much a good PI costs?
As I’ve said, there IS a way to fix our corrupt nation besides revolution or hunting down officials & killing them & their families…
it’s by amending the Constitution by popular vote to give the People law-making power equal to the other branches. A new check & balance–since we have no real opposing party, just the Corporate Party, & since Dubya is now a dictator, ignoring laws & dissing the other 2 branches.
It will take all the corruption out of government all at once, because they can’t make a law without our ok, nor declare wars, raise taxes, etc.
It is called the National Initiative for Democracy.
Both parties will fight it because it takes their power away.
If you go to http://www.ni4d.us you can look into it for yourself.
There is Constitutional precedent for this–our founding fathers used it. Switzerland began using this form of government in 1848, when it was a cow path & now it is one of the richest, best educated, best health care system, with one of the highest standards of living. About 23 of our own states have been using this too.
It will work. LOOK AT IT!
Have you got the gonads to get out of this mess or you just want to keep stewing?
I vote for the Bear and agent 99. Referring to yourself in the third person denotes schizophrenia. I get a little out there myself calling people fascists and stuff.Can’t seem to shake it., Since 2000. So hang around Erma, you will find the smart people so into reality, it rubs off on you. Helps me.
Charlene, He kinda looks like hes got one of them “stoopid” chips planted in him like Bush and Santorum
I like Charlene’s idea.
If Jacobson had really wanted a recount, she would have paid the $6000. Then Haas would be on the hook to actually do something, and she could have sued him over breach of contract if he had not come through with all those things that she was supposed to get, under CA law. But no, just run out the clock, after many people sent in money *just for this purpose*.
Whine and complain, but fail to show any spine when it’s time to have one. That’s so new-democrat. Aren’t there any real liberals left?–the kind who gave their lives in the South in the ’60s–who could pony up the money and get the job done?
Is there anybody out there in San Diego who could just pony up the money and file a new request to get this done? If there was anyone willing to go the distance and they had a P.O. box (a Pissed-Off box at the Post Office) I’ll bet that small checks and little green pictures of Hamilton and Lincoln, and Grant would start showing up there, as thank-you notes.
Ok, so now I’ll sit back and wait for this comment to be diluted by more idle banter, from you cyberfolks who just want to talk about this and whine and entertain each other.
Angry liberal on the other Coast.
How can this “used car salesman” stymie democracy? One used car saleman??? What kind of a system do we have set up, then? That one used car salesman can stymie a hand count? This means there’s no democracy. Our election system is a joke. There’s no democracy in America. Yet, we’re “spreading democracy” to Iraq??? That’s the 3rd reason now, Bushco is telling us we’re in Iraq. We don’t even have it here, therefore, we’re spreading our cancerous election system to Iraq. That’s the only conclusion of what we’re spreading there. We have to have it HERE first, to spread it elsewhere. So, therefore, the Iraq War is also a joke, to those of you who now believe the 3rd reason we’re in Iraq (the first 2 were debunked: WMD’s & ties to Al Queda. I AM DEBUNKING THE 3RD REASON!!!!!!!!).
If we are spreading what Bushco calls “our democracy” to other countries like Iraq, I have no other conclusion than we are spreading corruption to other countries, at the expense of the lives of civilians of those countries and our soldiers.
Nice going, GOP…
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Hey cat people. Big Dan you’re comments about Iraq are dead on although i assume you probably had this conclusion before today. All the same it’s a new day so lets see if we can get any closer to taking back our country by exposing election fraud and promote state amendment to ban electronic voting machines.
Everyday is important to bring down the human caused off the chart CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS in our fragile atmosphere which is melting glaciers twice as fast right now in Alaska . All humans must learn what they can do to reduce Global Warming to avoid a catastrophic climate change. Check out the book 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change by Guy Dauncy and Patrick Mazza: http://www.earthfuture.com/stormyweather
WE CAN DO IT and WE WILL WIN!
If we had had 10 special forces patriots back in the day, who were committed to ending Hitler&Co.’s evil fascist reign & if they had been successful–would it really have been wrong? Or would the world have given all 10 men a medal & kudos for saving thousands of innocent people?
True patriotism can be in many forms.
Grizzly,
Two more signs of the global warming of which you speak:
So far year 2006 warmest on record (link loads slowly)
Eiger mountain collapse (This collapse has now happened today)
A brand new Eiger Sanction. 🙁