Matthew Cardinale of Atlanta Progressive News has the details
By Winter Patriot on 8/11/2006, 6:03am PT  

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

From BREAKING: McKinney Pursuing Legal Challenges to Elections in Georgia (with a few links added):

US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) is pursuing numerous legal avenues to challenge the so-called "results" of not only her recent Primary and Runoff Elections, but also the fundamental reality that the current E-voting system in Georgia does not provide us with "results" that are in any way meaningful.

The Congresswoman and her attorneys and campaign are looking at ways in which they can either join or support Donzella James’s legal election contest filed last week, Donzella James, who is working closely with the Congresswoman, told Atlanta Progressive News. The US Department of Justice is already said to be investigating as well.

As APN previously reported in detail, the Donzella James election contest lawsuit is contesting her apparent loss in the 13th Congressional District based on election irregularities, plus the principle that there is no way to know whether the E-voting machines are counting votes accurately.

The James lawsuit is essentially applying the VoterGA lawsuit to a specific election and is believed to set a national precedent; it has attracted support from across the country from concerned citizens and advocates alike. The VoterGA lawsuit, the coverage of which has also been led by APN, ultimately seeks an injunction against Georgia elections because all physical evidence of voter intent has been removed from the process.

McKinney's campaign has been the target of a smear campaign by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and its parent, the so-called "Cox media empire". One example of the so-called newspaper's attacks against the Congresswoman --- and against election integrity advocates in general --- was shredded on this very page just last week.

In addition, voters attempting to vote for McKinney have reported various forms of resistance from Diebold TS voting machines, both in the first round of the primary and in the runoff.

As pointed out by "Big Dan" on a recent BRAD BLOG thread, the so-called "results" from the runoff on Tuesday indicate that the runoff attracted 14,265 more "voters" than the first round of the primary, of whom 13,649 "voted" for Hank Johnson, while only 616 "voted" for McKinney. McKinney attracted 47% of the "votes" in the first round, to 45% for Johnson, but in the runoff McKinney's share dropped to 41%, with Johnson taking the other 59%. These numbers appear "fishy" to those of us who have been watching, but of course we have no way to verify them. Neither do the candidates, nor the State of Georgia.

APN's Cardinale did a good job of covering the first round, and it's not surprising to see him continuing to cover this story, which has the potential to rock our so-called "democracy" to its electronic core.

If McKinney cannot join James’s lawsuit, her campaign may file their own lawsuit, file "friend of the court" briefs in James’s case, and/or provide evidence of elections irregularities in the 4th District, James said. McKinney may file her own suit, and a multiparty class action lawsuit is being pursued as well, James said.

The US Department of Justice is already reviewing the affidavits and letter sent by Karon Edge-Fitzpatrick, a lead pollwatcher for the Congresswoman, Fitzpatrick told Atlanta Progressive News. APN has obtained a copy of the letter and is in contact with the USDOJ for details.

The Atlanta Progressive News Board of Directors today unanimously declared "no confidence" in any elections in Georgia conducted by E-voting without a voter verified paper audit trail.

Until this happens, our reporting will not use the word "results" in any article without quotation marks and the prefacing words "so-called," in any Georgia election. We believe other news agencies should adopt similar language so as not to mislead the public.

That's a great idea. I wish the MSM would pick up on it. I can't wait to hear this on a national news broadcast:

There's been another so-called "election" in Georgia, and here are the so-called "results"...

But I'm not holding my breath, and neither should you. Instead, please read the whole article.

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