19,000 MOSTLY GORE BALLOTS TOSSED OUT BY PALM BEACH ELECTION OFFICIALS ON ELECTION NIGHT...PALM BEACH RESIDENTS PETITIONING FOR NEW ELECTION...RESIDENTS FILE LAWSUITS...BUSH LEAD NOW UNDER 1,000...PINELLAS COUNTY ORDERS RECOUNT OF RECOUNT 26,000 GORE VOTES LOST IN VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA. "A Florida Democratic Party official has raised a concern that thousands of votes for Gore may have been omitted from the Democratıs vote total because of a computer error in Volusia County. The problem was due to a faulty computer disk that contained results from a particular precinct, but county officials have not yet said specifically what the trouble was. According to Bob Poe, state chairman for the Florida Democratic Party, Democrats had received reports of an instance in which a preliminary voting count this morning for Gore in Volusia County, reported by Florida election officials, actually decreased by about 10,000 over time [between 2 and 2:15 a.m.], before climbing again.... A Volusia county court judge said today there is nothing to indicate Volusiaıs unofficial vote count is flawed or that appropriate procedures were not followed. The countyıs Canvassing Board will meet today to discuss the matter and the judge directed that three members representing the Democratic and Republican parties be present. State election officials could not be reached for comment. Judge Michael McDermott also ordered Volusiaıs election office secured and all ballots were locked in the office vault." --ABC NEWS "Another possible balloting quirk was in Volusia Country, where James E. Harris, an obscure Socialist candidate, polled 9,888 votes out of his statewide total of 10,471. State Democratic Party officials raised concerns that a computer error may have caused the outsized ballot for Harris in Volusia County, south of Daytona Beach on Florida's East Coast. In other counties, Harris received 0, 1, or 2 votes." --CBS NEWS "The Volusia County elections office was locked and put under guard Wednesday until the countyıs canvassing board can meet to recount ballots. One of the reasons given for the lockdown was an incident early Wednesday morning in which an elections office was spotted leaving with two bags. The employee later was stopped and searched by deputies who suspected the bags might contain ballots. Deputies turned up only personal items and a single blank sample ballot but said it was one of the reasons why the elections office is locked down this morning. There was crime scene tape around the office and several deputies were posted outside. In addition, officials with the Republican Party - some of whom would not identify themselves - were outside the elections office Wednesday morning trying to find out what was happening with the recount." --ORLANDO SENTINEL "A judge ordered the special protection while officials figure out what happened to 16,000 votes. This all began around 11 o'clock Tuesday night when election officials noticed that Democratic Presidential candidate Al Gore lost 16,000 votes that had previously appeared on the computer screen. County leaders say they isolated the problem to a faulty computer disk in precinct 216 in DeLand. Now, Volusia County's unofficial tally gives Gore 97,063 and Bush 82,214 votes. County spokesman Dave Byron believes that tally is correct. He says the canvassing board went back and manually counted the votes of the precinct in question.." --ISF Questions. If the above reports are correct, Gore lost 16,000 votes around 11 p.m. and an additional 10,000 votes around 2 a.m. Have both loses been accounted for, made up, and verified.? Does the tally of 179,000+ total votes cast in Volusia County jibe with the various statistical comparisons that could be made? Do the actual ballots jibe with the figures? Have the officials and workers been vetted with respect to their activities? Have the glitches in the numbers been explained to and accepted by computer systems experts? Have the Dem observers understood and accepted the explanations? Are further investigations needed? --Politex, 11/9/00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ this just in...AP..."Lawyers for the Democratic Party say a two-page ballot listing presidential candidates on different lines is illegal under state law and they may ask for a revote in Palm Beach County. The ballots would have to be challenged in court. As of late Wednesday afternoon, no lawsuit had been filed.... Florida law specifies that voters mark an X in the blank space to the right of the name of the candidate they want to vote for. On the Palm Beach County presidential ballot, six candidates were listed on one page facing a listing of four candidates on another page.Buchanan's name was listed first on the right page, opposite and between Bush and Gore's names. Although Gore's name was listed second on the first page, voters had to punch the third whole in a middle column to cast a ballot for Gore. Lawyer Jeff Liggio, a lawyer for county Democrats, called the ballot ``illegal.'' ``Right means right, doesn't it? The state law says right, it doesn't mean left,'' said Liggio, one of several lawyers representing the Democratic Party.... A former head of the Federal Elections Commission said if state law says all candidates must be listed vertically on a page and the voting marks must the made to the right, the county election is moot.``If that's the way it is worded it would, in fact be an ineffective ballot,'' said Washington D.C. lawyer Kenneth Gross, an election law specialist." SOMETHING'S ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA On your left is a graph showing Florida votes for Pat Buchanan in yesterday's election. Listed by county, the longest blue line is a total of the votes from Palm Beach County. Although this version is not very clear, a larger version may be seen HERE. Not only is Buchanan's vote total in Palm Beach County his highest county vote, but it is 350% higher than the next hightest vote total for Buchanan in any Florida county. Buchanan is reported to have gotten nearly 3500 votes in Palm Beach County, while his next highest county vote is in Pinnellas County at 1000. Yet, Palm Beach County is not Buchanan country. In fact, it's just the opposite, one report has it filled with elderly Jewish Democrats, another, with jet-setters and blacks, with the black precincts furnishing Pat's votes. Take your pick, but none of these groups are Pat voters. Buchanan, a Christian conservative, has been accused by members of the mainstream press of making racist comments in the past. How can this contradiction be explained? The only explanation offered thus far is that the layout of the county's confusing ballot led voters to punch the hole in their ballot next to Buchanan's name, thinking they were voting for Gore. Later realizing what had happened, many Palm Beach County voters became very angry, feeling they were duped.. (See a photo of the ballot below.) Creating such ballot confusion is, of course, an old political trick. In fact, some e-mailers claim that a similar ballot problem came up in North Carolina during the tough primary battle between Bush and McCain earlier in the year. Perhaps Bush political guru Karl Rove recalls earlier examples than that of such ballot manipulations, having even presented, according to newspaper reports, lectures on the subject to GOP party members some years ago. Right now, Bush is leading in Florida by under 1800 votes. As you can see on the graph, the Buchanan discrepency in Palm Beach County is around 2500 votes. it's difficult to believe that any of the votes are honestly Buchanan's. Perhaps a new vote should be taken in Palm Beach County. Given the nature of Florida politics, it's not surprising to learn that there is precedent for doing just that. Jeb Bush, the Republican candidate's brother who also happens to be the Governor of Florida, sees things differently, In a CNN interview this afternoon he suggested that those voters in Palm Beach County who are feeling duped should have challenged the format of the ballot in advance of the election. In the presence of Florida Attorney-General Butterworth, he asserted that Florida law demands that the ballot be publicized in advance, and that would have been the time for the voters to complain. However, he said the voters have the right to complain if they want to, and let "the process" decide. In a later CNN interview, Gore's campaign guru Bob Daley agreed that voters in Palm Beach County did have the right to "take action if they feel their rights have been violated." Daley reported that he and former Secretary of State Warren Christopher were on their way to Florida to observe such actions. --Politex, 11/8/00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ GORE LEADS 260-246 CNN has now called Wisconsin for Gore, but Oregon is still too close to call. Meanwhile, with nearly all of the vote counted in Florida, Bush leads by around 2,000, which happens to equal the number of votes Palm Beach voters feel was taken from them. (see below) In heavily Democratic precincts of Palm Beach with a large Jewish population, Pat Buchanan, who has previously been castigated for his anti-Jewish stances, received a much higher percentage of the vote than he did in other areas of Florida. The confusion the Palm Beach voters allude to has to do with Buchanan's name placement on the ballot. (see below) Also, a locked ballot box in a Dem precinct was found in a school room used in the election and has been sent to the proper authorities. The state of Florida wants to complete the required recount of the votes by late Thursday, but former Secretary of State Warren Christopher has been sent to Florida to oversee an investigation of a number of reported voting irregularities. --Politex, 11/8/00 If you observe any activity on Election Day that you feel is questionable, please report it directly to your local election officials and your political party officials. Also, here is a watchdog group that monitors voter fraud. If you have specifics about what happened in Florida, contact them. Deborah M Phillips, Chairman and President, THE VOTING INTEGRITY PROJECT, "Defending Your Freedom By Protecting Your Vote," www.votingintegrity.org, (888) 578-4343, PO Box 6470, Arlington VA 22206 On CNN's "Burden of Proof" today, a caller said an elections supervisor in his Missouri precinct handed him Christian Coalition campaign material with his balllot and told him, "God wants you to vote for George W. Bush." When the voter said he thought the supervisor's actions were illegal, she told him that the Christian Coalition wanted her to educate the voters in this way. The voter reported the supervisor to the police. This is only one of the many complaints that are rising to the surface in what was a highly-contested presidential race in Missouri. --Politix, 11/8/00 ABC: DEMS COMPLAIN OF MISINFORMATION, IRREGULARITIES, POSSIBLE TAMPERING. SS: PAT BUCHANAN GETS HUNDREDS OF JEWISH VOTES IN DEMOCRAT PALM BEACH PRECINCTS. As to Palm Beach's confusing ballot: I did the math: in Palm Beach (as per CNN) Buchanan received 3,407 of 431,836 votes. However, in the state of Florida it was Buchanan 17,372 of 5,955,919 If Buchanan got the same percentage in Palm Beach as statewide, he should have gotten 1100 votes! And Palm Beach is Gore country, so it doesn't make any sense that Buchanan would do extra well there. Gore and the DNC need to demand a run-off, particularly in Palm Beach. We're talking at least 2127 votes in Palm Beach, alone. --Bush Watcher Something similar to this happened during the primary fight between Bush and McCain in North Carolina. --Politex Congressman Robert Wexler who represents the Dade County/Palm Beach area was interviewed on CNN this morning and he said he witnessed total voter confusion at the polls yesterday in southern Florida. He said that there were voters in his area who weren't sure where to vote or if they selected the right hole on the ballot. He thinks 3,000 or so votes could have been affected just in his area. ......Warren Christopher is heading down to Florida for the Gore camp to oversee this mess. You have to wonder what happened with those ballot boxes that were lost for a while in Southern Florida. They were found by a police officer.--Bush Watcher PHOTO: SOME PUNCHED OUT A BUCHANAN VOTE WHEN THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE SELECTING A GORE VOTE BECAUSE THE BUCHANAN SLOT IS DIRECTLY BELOW THE BUSH SLOT. 6:45 a.m. ET summary: No winner in presidential race, with Florida still too close to call. Bush leads in Florida by 1,200. Official Florida results to be released Wednesday, automatic recount required by law. Gore leads national popular vote. Republicans hold House. Senate 50-50 split possible."--Orvetti PRESIDENTIAL POPULAR VOTE: Al Gore (Democrat) 48,133,915 (48%); George W. Bush (Republican) 47,918,308 (48%); Ralph Nader (Green) 2,638,204 WP: 2 CLOSE 2 CALL ! NYT: "SEND LAWYERS, GUNS, AND MONEY..." CNN: HEY, WAKE UP ! GORE WINNING POPULAR VOTE ! ABC: GORE REFUSES TO CONCEDE ! FLORIDA IRREGULARITIES? "They just reported on CBS (Gloria Borger and Dan Rather) that the Democratic Party is sending 150 lawyers down to Florida immediately to investigate all of the complaints and may challenge the election in Florida. There were many reports of voters having problems, etc. A big mess to say the least. Dad Rather has really been fired up all night. He has been just going on and on.....He is riled up." --Bush Watcher, Wednesday morning "I am from Fl South Palm Beach (Gore Country) and I went to bed not knowing the result and I woke up not knowing the result. But I see that it is still too close to call, but it looks like Gore won the popular vote nationwide (Orvetti.com). If True no mandate for Bush! Please note there have been questions on local NPR about the ballot in Palm Beach ballot, that the ballot was misleading and that it was very easy to vote for Buchanan instead of Gore by mistake. I am not kidding. I don't know how that has been resolved. I do know that I put the stylus next to (DEM) all the way down the ballot. My wife said she felt it was misleading as well and looked twice before punching." --Bush Watcher, Wednesday morning ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BUSH TAKES FLORIDA, WINS ELECTION BUSH VICTORY SPEECH My fellow 'mericans. Tonight was a great night. "Think about that. Two hundred and eighty-five new or expanded programs, $2 trillion more in new spending, and not one new bureaucrat to file out the forms or answer the phones?" Think about that. "My opponents, they want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program" But I want the states to do it. "They said, 'You know, this issue doesn't seem to resignate with the people.' And I said, you know something? Whether it resignates or not doesn't matter to me, because I stand for doing what's the right thing, and what the right thing is hearing the voices of people who work." Anyway, "after we went out and worked our hearts out, after you went out and helped us turn out the vote, after we've convinced the good Americans to vote, and while they're at it, pulled that old George W. lever, I'm the one, when I put my hand on the Bible, when I put my hand on the Bible, that day when they swear us in, when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to notto uphold the laws of the land." "My election marks a chapter, the last chapter of the 20th, 20th, the 21st century that most of us would rather forget. The last chapter of the 20th century. This is the first chapter of the 21st century. So we must spread the word. It's important for us to explain to our nation that life is important. It's not only life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet." And furthermore, "I don't want nations feeling like that they can bully ourselves and our allies. I want to have a ballistic defense system so that we can make the world more peaceful, and at the same time I want to reduce our own nuclear capacities to the level commiserate with keeping the peace." And Mr. Vice President, Dick, "in all due respect, it isI'm not sure 80 percent of the people get the death tax. I know this: 100 percent will get it if I'm the president. And I'm gonna give it to 'em." I'll give it to 'em real good, so help me. And "about my finances, my finances, I will have my secretary of treasury be in touch with the financial centers, not only here but at home. Also, a tax cut will be really one of the anecdotes to coming out of an economic illness." And so on. Listen, "Al Gore was a very tough opponent. He is the incumbent. He represents the incumbency. And a challenger is somebody who generally comes from the pack and wins, if you're going to win. And that's where I'm coming from." And that's why I won. "The fundamental question is, 'Will I be a successful president when it comes to foreign policy?' I will be, but until I'm the president, it's going to be hard for me to verify that I think I'll be more effective." But you'll see. "The only things that I can tell you is that every case in Texas I have reviewed I have been comfortable with the innocence or guilt of the person that I've looked at. I do not believe we've put a guilty ... I mean innocent person to death in the state of Texas." But "I promise you that I'm gonna talk about the ideal world. I've readI understand reality. If you're asking me as the president, would I understand reality, I do." So that you and...and good night, my fellow 'mericans, and pray, pray real hard. [All quotations from the speeches of George W. Bush] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BUSH WATCH: THE NOVEL by Jerry Politex I drove my silver Audi down Mesa Drive, the spine of Cat Mountain, hung a left at the cat's tail, drove quickly up the hilly, winding 2222 in low gear, took a right onto Balcones Drive, and came to a stop in the rear parking lot of Che Zee. Another sunny, warm early spring day in Northwest Austin, Texas. The lunch crowd was pretty much thinned out by now, so I had choices of parking spaces. I got out of the car (love to hear those turbines winding down) and stood by the rear entrance to the restaurant, a pretty-good place for not very expensive Southwestern food. I didn't have long to wait. He came into the parking lot in an old, rattletrap Nissan pickup. Paint worn off in places, rusty, dusty, squeaky. I recognized him from the description the moment he got out. Looked to be in his fifties. Grizzled. Kind of rusty, dusty, and squeaky. A stringbean of a guy with pale white skin, reddish hair, which was short but unkempt. He was wearing a black polo shirt with the tail out. Denim shorts that had shrunk to a tight fit over his bony hips, short enough for the front pockets to stick out of the frayed cuffs. A pair of old, once-white but now gray, paint-spattered tennis sneakers. Austin casual for a yuppie restaurant, ten minutes from the glass buildings of the city's burgeoning silicon gulch , a world of high tech hopes in buildings springing up like overnight mushrooms. "Name's Wayne," he said with a crooked, good-natured smile, coming across the parking lot with his arm outstreatched like a spear, eager to shake my hand. "Recognized you right away, Jerry. Good description." to be continued next Wednesday... 'toons... news... polls... stories... cheney... gore... nader... archives... site map... us... e-mail... taxes ... education... health... environment... foreign policy... social security... supreme court... other issues... Nader..... Flynt, CNN, Drudge..... More Flynt, BBC... Daily Headlines Page. 30-50 New Stories Each Day. Today's Electoral College Map.... '76 DWI.... '96 License.... '96 Statement.... Jury Duty.... Military Records.... AWOL ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Views of Bush...LOOK MORE, SEE LESS.....WHAT YOU'D GET.....FAMILY HYPOCRISY ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WEB SITE ALLEGES NAMES RE BUSH ABORTION ALLEGATIONS.... SIX DOCUMENTS ON BUSH AWOL STORY.... BUSH MILITARY RECORDS MISSING.... BUSH TEAM DISCUSSED DRUNK ANSWER "FOR YEARS".... PAGE TWO OF BUSH WATCH
