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Fight Back: Dr. Fitrakis Interviews Richard Charnin Statistician On Exit Polling And Election Irregularities

Bob Fitrakis on “Fight Back”: With the 2012 election fast approaching, is the U.S. election system designed for election fraud?
Bob interviews election fraud expert Richard Charnin discussing the importance of exit polls and evidence of election irregularities from past elections.
Richard Charnin (“TruthIsAll”) began his career as a numerical control engineer/programmer for a major defense/aerospace manufacturer. In 1976, he moved on to Wall Street as manager/developer of corporate finance quantitative applications for three major investment banks. For the 2004 presidential election, he projected that Kerry would win 337 electoral votes and 51.8% of the two-party vote, closely matching the unadjusted exit polls.

Listen and call in this Wednesday, November 30
7 – 8 PM
http://talktainmentradio.com
Call 877-932-9766
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Here’s how to call in to the LIVE INTERNET radio show:
(on your computer – not on your broadcast radio dial)
On Wednesday nights at 7:00 pm
Go to: http://talktainmentradio.com
Click on “Listen Live”
Call 877-932-9766

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Fight Back On WCRS Link and November 2011 Shows

http://wcrsfm.org/audio/user/157

WCRS Podcast – fightback

Fight Back Nov. 22, 2011 – Columbus Coalition for Responsive Government’s petition drive to expand Columbus City Council

Submitted by fightback on Tue, 11/22/2011 – 6:40pm

Bob and Connie interview James Moore and talk about why Columbus City Council needs district representation to be more responsive to citizen needs and stop doing things like bailing out the hockey arena

29:58 minutes (27.44 MB)

Fight Back Nov. 17, 2011

Submitted by fightback on Thu, 11/17/2011 – 10:09pm

Bob Fitrakis and Connie Gadell-Newton interview filmmaker Kaveh Nabatien whose film is a Columbus International Film Festival Award winner – Vapor. Also, they interview actor Praq Rado, who is in another festival film, Dreaming American.

29:55 minutes (27.39 MB)

Fight Back 11012011 Keystone pipeline

Submitted by fightback on Tue, 11/01/2011 – 5:27pm

Bob interviews Alec Johnson on the Keystone pipeline

29:35 minutes (27.09 MB)

Fight Back October 25, 2011 – Occupy movement

Submitted by fightback on Tue, 10/25/2011 – 5:34pm

Bob and Connie talk about the Occupy movement, anti-corporatism and modeling classes

29:58 minutes (27.44 MB)

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Join the Native American Center for Thanksgiving potluck this Wednesday

Turkey time everyone……I would like to formally invite everyone to join us to celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday here at NAICCO on Wednesday November 23, 2011 @ 5pm. We would be honored with your presence and hope that you will come to enjoy the comradery with the Indian Community. Please feel free to bring a dish or drinks or a baked good. We do wish everyone the best and hope that you have a wonderful and safe holiday.

Happy Holidays,

Masami Smith
Executive Director
Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio
P.O. Box 07705
Columbus, Oh. 43207
614-443-6120
fax 614-443-2651

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Free Press FREE Movie: Pricele$$

Free Press FREE Movie: Pricele$$
Tuesday, November 22• 7:30pm – 9:00pm
From Emmy-nominated Habitat Media (Empty Oceans Empty Nets and Farming the Seas) comes PRICELE$$, a film exploring the consequences of an electoral system that can obligate our leaders to the special interests bankrolling their election campaigns. The filmmakers follow a river of money through two national policies that affect the everyday lives of most citizens: agriculture & energy. In addition to time spent with farmers and an unusual group of Iraq War veterans, the filmmakers visit seasoned lawmakers, lobbyists and some dauntless citizen watchdogs. A classroom full of savvy civics students help provide comic relief. PRICELE$$ also takes a behind-the-scenes look at Arizona’s road-test of an electoral reform that some observers believe can free Congress from the corrosive influence of big-money donors and lobbyists. Narrated by filmmaker Steve Cowan, PRICELE$$ was made on location in Washington D.C., New York, Iowa, Arizona, California and Oregon. Winner of the Columbus Institute of Contemporary Journalism Award and the Silver Chris Award.
Drexel Theater, 2254 E. Main St., Bexley — 253-2571 — truth@freepress.org

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Fight Back Live Radio Call-In With The Inimitable Greg Palast

Bob Fitrakis on “Fight Back”: Greg Palast
Greg Palast will talk about his new book Vultures’ Picnic: In Pursuit of Petroleum Pigs, Power Pirates and High-Finance Carnivores.
Listen and call in this Wednesday, November 16
7 – 8 PM
Call 877-932-9766
*************************
Here’s how to call in to the LIVE INTERNET radio show:
(on your computer – not on your broadcast radio dial)
On Wednesday nights at 7:00 pm
Go to: http://talktainmentradio.com
Click on “Listen Live”
Call 877-932-9766

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The Crisis In Capitalism Speaker Monday Night With Bill Barclay

Monday, November 14th, 2011, 7:00 PM.
The Crisis in Capitalism. A Program with Bill Barclay

Bill is a DSA member and founder of the Chicago Political Economy Group (CPEG). He has also been active in the Oak Park Coalition for Truth and Justice. He worked for 22 years in financial services before retiring in 2004. For more information on CPEG – see http://www.cpegonline.org/aboutus.html

This event is jointly sponsored by the Franklin County Green Party and the Democratic Socialists of Central Ohio. Free and open to the public.

Location: Northwood Building, room 100, 2231 North High St. (corner of Northwood and N. High St.), parking available in visitor spaces behind the building. For more information, please contact smorgen@juno.com or website www.dsco.org

GREAT Occupy Movement Song: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11208667

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Can We Transform Labor’s Buckeye Victory Into A New Era Of Election Protection?

by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
November 12, 2011

The crushing defeat Ohio’s working people dealt 1% politicians this week has critical implications for a whole other issue—election protection.

In a voting process that might otherwise have been stolen, a concerted effort by citizens committed to democracy—NOT the Democratic Party—guaranteed an official Ohio tally that finally squares with reality. The defeat of millionaire Republican Governor John Kasich’s union-busting Issue 2 by more than 20% actually squared with exit polling and other reliable political indicators.

In the 2008 election, Richard Charnin has demonstrated how there was a more than 5% shift towards the Republican presidential candidates John McCain than predicted by the highly accurate exit polls, the gold standard for detecting election fraud. In Ohio’s 2010 election, exit polls revealed a 5.4% unexplained “red shift” towards the Republican Party. The shift led to the defeat of Democratic Governor Ted Strickland as well as Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.

But both of those elections were administered under a Democratic governor and secretary of state. This year’s reasonable vote count on Issue 2 came under Republican Secretary of State John Husted and Republican Governor John Kasich who had a strong interest in seeing the opposite outcome. For those of us in Ohio, that was the REAL groundshaker of Issue 2’s defeat.

The most shocking news from Ohio’s 2011 election was the inability of Franklin County Board of Elections officials to post election results at the precinct level due to faulty software programming. In a close election, this could have been pivotal in allowing electronic election fraud. See: Election night computer software meltdown in Franklin County

Can we now build on this to bring reliable vote counts to the entire nation? See the proposal below.

But first understand: Since 2004, Ohio has been the poster chlld for the art and science of stealing elections. When Karl Rove and then-Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell flipped a 4%-plus victory for John Kerry into a 2%-plus victory for George W. Bush, they forged overnight a new frontier of high-tech election thievery. See New court filing reveals how the 2004 Ohio presidential election was hacked

The fraud was carried out with a stunning array of techniques. More than 300,000 likely Democratic voters were knocked off the registration rolls. Grassroots registration efforts were intimidated and shredded. Voting machines were shorted, manipulated and flipped. Voters were misled and misguided. Whole bags of ballots disappeared. Electronic screen tallies jumped from Kerry to Bush. Polls closed illegally and often. You name it, the GOP did it….and then some. In our HOW THE GOP STOLE AMERICA’S 2004 ELECTION….we documented well over a hundred different ways the Republicans robbed the process to give George W. Bush a second term.

Not only did John Kerry and the Democrats said nothing about it. Kerry conceded with nearly a quarter-million votes uncounted, then used a Republican law firm to attack election rights activists’ attempts to reveal what had been done.

Then, in 2005, Blackwell and Rove outdid themselves. A grassroots-based election reform referendum ran right up to voting day with a 25-plus margin of victory. It mandated extended voting access for all Ohio citizens and a range of other reforms. With clear benefit to the vast majority of Ohio voters, all major polls showed that year’s Issue 2 passing with ease. See Has American Democracy died an electronic death in Ohio 2005’s referenda defeats?

But somehow, on election day, it went down in flames. Ohio’s electoral process remained a thieves’ paradise.

In 2006, amidst massive GOP scandals and Blackwell’s impossible run for the statehouse, the Democrats swept in. They oversaw Obama’s victory in the Buckeye state, a key to all presidential elections.

They did virtually nothing to reform the structure of Ohio’s electoral process. But the grassroots strength of those committed to democracy became established.

This year, democracy advocates were again out in force. Independent monitors showed up at polling stations throughout the state, sponsored by the Free Press’ Election Protection project and Green Party observers were active as well. A careful eye was kept on electronic voting machines. Ballot custody was tracked and potential fraud was challenged. Numerous pollworkers contacted the Free Press when they were unable to post precinct-level results.

And thus this critical election was not stolen, as well it might have been. Labor’s critical victory was preserved, and perhaps a new era has opened in our national politics, aimed at rolling back the reactionary tide of corporate personhood and its minions of mammon.

But it cannot proceed without election protection. Our voting process is non-transparent, inherently corrupt, unfair and prone to theft by the highest briber.

So we are now in the process of drafting a constitutional amendment. It can go state by state, and nationwide. Language will vary and evolve. We hope you will join the process and use it to define the electoral process in years to come:

AN ELECTION PROTECTION AMENDMENT FOR THE STATES AND NATION:

1. All citizens shall be automatically registered to vote upon turning 18 years old. Registration is lost only upon revocation of citizenship or death.

2. A legal signature, accurately provided under penalty of felony law, shall be sufficient to procure a ballot.

3. Voting shall take place by mail, as prescribed by local officials, and at voting stations open on a designated four-day period including Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

4. All ballots shall be printed on recycled paper.

5. All ballots shall be hand counted, and preserved for at least ten years after every election.

6. All polling places shall host exit polls conducted by independent agencies under the supervision of an independent non-partisan agency.

An informed, committed citizenry will still be needed to guarantee fair elections. Reform of the financial aspects of election campaigns also needs to be addressed.

But in terms of guaranteeing an accurate vote count, we believe these six measures are key. We are sure these reforms will come over a long, difficult process.

But paper ballots are used in Germany, where vote counts square to within 0.1% of exit polls, and in Japan, Switzerland, Canada and elsewhere. Elections on paper can certainly be stolen, but it’s a lot harder to do than with the absurdly corruptible electronic voting machines and non-transparent hardware and software manufactured by partisan corporations.

No system is flawless. But think about where America would be right now if the 1% had stolen Ohio’s labor law and destroyed its public unions.

Our survival as a nation depends on establishing a fair, reliable voting process. We believe this is a start. Won’t you join us?

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Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman have co-authored four books about election protection. Bob’s Fitrakis Files are at Freepress.org, where this article was first published. Harvey Wasserman’s History of the US is at HarveyWasserman.com, along with Solartopia! Our Green-powered Earth.

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Election Night Computer Software Meltdown In Franklin County

Dr. Robert Fitrakis
November 11, 2011

On election night 2011 during the evening and into the next morning, Franklin County pollworkers contacted the Free Press telling the paper that they were unable to make the electronic voting machines print out precinct-level results as required by law. This prevented pollworkers from posting election totals at the polling sites at the end of the night.

One pollworker of 35 years reported that “programming errors” had prevented “many precincts” in Franklin County from being able to print their totals for display on the windows of the voting locations.”

A concerned citizen also wrote that he was aware of “an unknown number of Franklin County precincts which could not print out their precinct totals last night, due to a ‘glitch.’ These precincts included mine, where the results were not posted inside the window of the shelter house, as has been customary every preceding election I’ve lived here.”

The Free Press has obtained a Veteran’s Day email to polling officials, including precinct judges in Franklin County. In the email, the Franklin County Board of Elections admits to programming software problems that made it impossible to print out precinct result tallies at the end of election night.

The email explained that “In error the programmers for this election inadvertently specified two (2) ‘Zero Tapes’ and zero (0) ‘Results Tapes.'”

[The entire email is posted below this article]

Were this a close presidential election, Ohio’s largest city would have lacked any way to verify precinct level tallies. Official vote totals are electronic and come from the memory cards collected from each voting machines, sent to five regional county centers and run through central tabulators to determine the results. The voting machine print-outs provide the only way to check if the county central tabulators are reflecting the actual precinct-level vote by the people. Without exit polls in this year’s election, there is no way to know in many Franklin County precincts that the county vote totals are correct.

By posting and storing the printed election results, the Board of Elections provides checks and balances on the election results. If electronic computer votes are being tampered with at a county or state level, the precinct level print-outs serve as a check as to their accuracy.

A pollworker also noted that “The “programming errors” at the Windermere Elementary School went well beyond not being able to print the totals at the end of the day. We also had problems opening the machines at the beginning of the day and closing the machines at the end of the day. The “master” Personal Electronic Ballots [PEBs] [an electronic device about the size of a hockey puck that is inserted into the machines only when opening them at the beginning of the day and when closing them at the end of the day] been not been “recognized” by several of the machines that we had been attempting to open and close.”

The pollworker went on to write: ‘We had been able to open all machines in the morning after having figured out which of the machines would recognize which “master” PEB; at the end of the day, however, we had been unable to close three of the machines because they would no longer “recognize” the “master” PEB that had opened them.”

One Green Party election observer also found that at the Columbus City Preparatory School the pollworkers had trouble with their PEB’s when opening the polls in the morning.

The Franklin County Board of Elections needs to explain to their voters why this electronic computer “glitch” occurred and what they plan to do to guarantee that the necessary checks and balances on the vote totals are in place to prevent electronic theft of the 2012 presidential election.

An electronic voting machine programming “glitch” of this magnitude should give voters pause over the upcoming presidential election. As we know from the 2000 presidential election results in Florida, in a close election those who claim victory first – or are projected the winner regardless of the actual vote count – end up winning the election.

It was a so-called “computer glitch” shifting an estimated 20,000 votes from Gore to Bush that allowed Fox TV News to proclaim George W. Bush the winner of Florida’s electoral votes and hence, the U.S. presidential election. ——————————–

Bob Fitrakis led the Election Observer project this year in Ohio, and in the years 2005-2010.

If you have any information about voting irregularities or voting machine glitches this Election Day, please contact the Free Press at truth@freepress.org or 614-253-2571.

——————————–

EMAIL FROM FRANKLIN BOARD OF ELECTIONS:

November 11, 2011

Dear Polling Official:

On Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at about 7:45 p.m. the machine trouble phone bank suddenly became overwhelmed with calls reporting that you, our poll workers were unable to print results tapes from the last voting machine for the voting locations once all voting machines had been closed. Once we started taking the calls about being unable to print results tapes it took several minutes (an eternity) to determine the cause of the problem, discuss how to most efficiently address the problem to get results reporting and get all operators informed on a backup plan so they could better answer your calls and relay the information. The next problem was that while we were trying to assess the issue, the calls in the queue grew and unfortunately many of you were still waiting for answers.

In the hour from 7:45 to 8:45 p.m. over six hundred calls came to the machine trouble call center and many of the locations probably tried multiple times to get their call through. Our thirteen operators were able to answer three hundred sixty calls and inform the polling officials to pack up their supplies and deliver them to the warehouse without results tapes. In that same period two hundred seventy two calls were abandoned. A robo call was made to all of the Board’s PEO cell phones about an hour into this situation.

Let us explain the reason for the problem. As each election is begun there is an election preferences page where the programmers define how voting machines will function for the current election. There are choices on this page for each jurisdiction using the voting system to define. Two of the items on that page that the programmer are to address is whether “Zero Tapes” and “Results Tapes” are to be printed for the election. To have a tape or tapes printed the programmer insert the number of tapes needed in the space provided next to the tape type. Some of you may remember that in past history, the board required two “Zero Tapes” printed as the polls were opened in the morning and two “Results Tapes” as the polls were closed. We eliminated the opening zero tape several years ago and retain the practice of printing results tapes (one to post and one to be returned) with supplies. In error the programmers for this election inadvertently specified two (2) “Zero Tapes” and zero (0) “Results Tapes”. The values entered should have been reversed. During the programming and testing of our database settings we open polls on a few machines, put test votes on machines and print results tapes to insure all aspects of the system work. However because we do this testing up to five weeks prior to election day, we use an override pass code rather than the actual process a poll worker would follow to generate the results tape since the date and time on the voting machine is set to a date and time other than 7:30 p.m. (polls closing time) on the date of the election.

We apologize for the mistake that caused this frustration as the end of a very long day. Let me assure you that additional procedures will be implemented to insure that these setting are set properly for future elections. Let me also commend you on the exemplary way you dealt with this challenge and finished out your duties the best that you could. All Franklin County election returns had been checked in, were processed and unofficial results for 324,515 voters were posted by 12:21 a.m.

We thank you for your service to the voters of the county and your understanding in this matter.

Sincerely,
William A. Anthony, Jr., Director
Nathan D. Burd, Deputy Director
Karen S. Cotton, Manager of Election Operations

—
Article originally published by The Columbus Free Press, https://freepress.org.

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Bob Fitrakis on “Fight Back”: Culture Jam

Bob Fitrakis on “Fight Back”: Culture Jam
Live broadcast from Columbus State Community College
Columbus State student performances – music, poetry, and more!
Listen and call in this Wednesday, November 9
7 – 8 PM
Call 877-932-9766
*************************
Here’s how to call in to the LIVE INTERNET radio show:
(on your computer – not on your broadcast radio dial)
On Wednesday nights at 7:00 pm
Go to: http://talktainmentradio.com
Click on “Listen Live”
Call 877-932-9766

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Three important events for you from the Free Press

ELECTION DAY – if you have any problems, call 614-253-2571 or 614-374-2448. Suzanne will be at 1021 E. Broad Street all day, if you want to help with Election Protection, Video the Vote, or you have a problem at the polls.

MOVE TO AMEND HOUSE PARTY: November 9th, 2011, 7:00 PM. Move to Amend Democracy House Party. Conference call with Bernie Sanders. Friends and neighbors will come together to plan local actions for the January 21 anniversary of the Citizens United ruling. Move to Amend’s goal for these house parties is to orchestrate massive collective action on January 21 to educate our communities about the negative impacts of Citizens United and Corporate Personhood and to demand a decisive end to corporate rule with a Constitutional amendment that clearly states that a corporation is NOT a person and money is NOT speech! Hosted by the Free Press. Location: 1021 E. Broad Street, side door, parking in front or rear. RSVP to truth@freepress.org or call 614-253-2571.

FREE PRESS SECOND SATURDAY SALON: Saturday, November 12th, 2011, 6:30 PM – Midnight. Second Saturday Salon at the Free Press. Special screening and discussion of the 30-minute video “The Response” on Guantanamo. More information at http://www.theresponsemovie.com. Enjoy food, drink, music, art, good friends and acquaintances for socializing, networking, and just relaxing and having fun. Location: 1021 E. Broad St., east side door, parking in rear. Contacts: truth@freepress.org or call 614-253-2571.

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