Thread by @jennycohn1

1. Voting Machine Mega Thread Part 2 - #GA06 and the Paperless Diebold Voting Machines (2002-2017) - 200+ sourced posts

2. Key players in Voting Machine Mega Thread Part 2 - #GA06 and the Paperless Diebold Voting Machines (2002-2017)

3. GA politician Tom Price left his GA06 House seat vacant when he joined the Trump administration. washingtonpost.com/powerpost/repu…

4. The vacancy Price left behind represented one of the 1st realistic opportunities for D's to “flip” a House seat from red to blue in 2017

5. The GA06 special election was the most expensive House race of all time.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…

6. GA06 pitted (R) Karen Handel (who is anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ, & against all gun control) against (D) Jon Ossoff (who is the opposite)

7. Handel opposes abortion and called for eliminating money to Planned Parenthood nytimes.com/2012/02/08/us/…

8. Handel is anti-choice and opposes same-sex marriage; she voted against domestic-partner benefits advocate.com/politics/2017/…

9. Handel opposes same-sex adoption slate.com/blogs/outward/…

10. The NRA endorsed Handel. nraila.org/articles/20170…

11. Ossoff is pro-choice on abortion and pro-gay rights washingtonexaminer.com/jon-ossoff-def…

12. Whereas Ossoff was against a campus carry measure, Handel was for it. politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/04/30/oss…

13. The GA06 special election was described as a “referendum on Trump.”
nytimes.com/2017/06/18/us/…

14. Business Insider called the GA06 special election "the first major referendum on Trump's presidency." businessinsider.com/georgia-6th-di…

15. The Chicago Tribune likewise hyped the GA06 special election as a "referendum on Trump" chicagotribune.com/news/nationwor…

16. News outlets like CNN called the GA06 special election "a bellwether for 2018."
cnn.com/2017/06/19/pol…

17. National observers also saw GA06 as a "bellwether," explaining the "extraordinary attention" they gave it. nationalreview.com/article/448533…

18. On the eve of the historic GA06 runoff, polls called the race a dead heat.
usatoday.com/story/news/pol…

19. But the official results showed that Handel had defeated Ossoff 51.9% to 48.1%. nytimes.com/elections/resu…

20. Evangelicals from Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Coalition (Koch $$) said the GA06 outcome meant that “God won.”
newsweek.com/ossoff-georgia…

21. The mainstream media and even some Democrats said the GA06 outcome meant that Nancy Pelosi was toxic.
npr.org/2017/06/21/533…

22. But voters and election integrity activists wondered about the voting machines.

23. Because GA's voting machines are PAPERLESS, its election system is a "prime target" for "hackers." time.com/4500216/electi…

24. With paperless voting machines like those in GA (and in 13 other states), hand recounts are impossible.
thenation.com/article/touch-…

25. Per IT expert Halderman, there is no way to know if a paperless EVM has been hacked w/o a forensic analysis.
medium.com/@jhalderm/want…

26. Forensic analysis requests r usually denied bc private voting machine vendors claim their code is PROPRIETARY
bradblog.com/?p=8986

27. With paperless EVMs, "It's impossible 2 know 4 sure" if reported results "accurately reflect voters' choices.." cleveland.com/opinion/index.…

28. Thus, we have had "elections in which it is IMPOSSIBLE 2 BE CERTAIN the right candidate was declared the winner" nytimes.com/2008/07/31/opi…

29. Here's an MSM article explaining that forensic audits are blocked by claims the EVM code is "proprietary." thenation.com/article/touch-… …

30. Georgia bought its paperless machines in 2002 from Diebold Election Systems.
politico.com/magazine/story…

31. Diebold was founded by three CRIMINALS in 1991 under the name “Global Election Systems.”
freepress.org/article/felons…

32. In 1997, Global’s EVMs (“Accuvote-TS”) were found 2 use an “outdated encryption scheme proven to be insecure.”
wired.com/2004/11/e-voti…

33. In 2000, Global brought on FELON Jeffrey Dean (embezzlement & ALTERING COMPUTER RECORDS) & made him SR VP people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/voting/… …

34. J. Dean of Global/Diebold was no ordinary criminal; his crimes involved a "HIGH DEGREE OF SOPHISTICATION." wired.com/2003/12/con-jo…

35. FELON Dean programmed GEMS central tabulator system, which counted 1/3 votes in 37 states in Bush-Kerry race theguardian.com/politics/2005/…

36. Georgia bought the GEMS central tabulator system programmed by FELON Dean as part of its original 2002 contract. georgiapol.com/2017/06/22/yes…

37. Soon after hiring Dean, Global hired a convicted drug trafficker to oversee punch card printing people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/voting/… …

38. We all remember the punch card recount fiasco of the 2000 election.

39. Few realize that a Global/Diebold EVM inexplicably lost 16k Gore votes in Volusia County, Florida in 2000.
motherjones.com/politics/2004/… …

40. Volusia error was caught only bc an alert poll monitor noticed Gore’s vote count going down, which is impossible motherjones.com/politics/2004/…

41. The Volusia error “led several networks to incorrectly call the race for Bush.” motherjones.com/politics/2004/…

42. Internal Global/Diebold memos acknowledged the Volusia error but did not explain it motherjones.com/politics/2004/… …

43. The Global/Diebold memos concerning the Volusia error can be seen here. books.google.com/books?id=pY1DC…

44. During election 2000, Volusia County (where Global EVM lost 16k Gore votes) was in Rep. Tom Feeney's district ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetai… …

45. Programmer Clint Curtis later stated under oath that Feeney asked him 2 design a vote flipping program several mos. b4 election 2000

46. Here's a link to the sworn affidavit of Clint Curtis stating Feeney asked him 2 design a vote flipping program. bradblog.com/Docs/CC_Affida…

47. Curtis apparently passed a polygraph given by the retired chief operator of FLA Dept. of Law Enforcement en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Cur…

48. Curtis was a SR programmer at Yang Enterprises when Feeney allegedly asked him 2 design a vote flipping program bradblog.com/Docs/CC_Affida…

49. Curtis was a registered Republican when Feeney allegedly asked him 2 design a vote flipping program. bradblog.com/Docs/CC_Affida…

50. Curtis said that Feeney asked him 2 design the vote flipping progam in Sept. or Oct. of 2000 bradblog.com/Docs/CC_Affida…

51. Note that this would have been around the same time that Global brought on convicted felon Jeffrey Dean. people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/voting/… …

52. Curtis said the Inspector General at the FLA Dept. of Transportation, Raymond Lemme, investigated his claims. (Affidavit, Para. 12.)

53. Curtis said Lemme told him he'd tracked the corruption “all the way 2 the top" & story wld break in a few weeks. (Affidavit, Para. 12)

54. But a few weeks later, Lemme was found dead with his arm slashed in a hotel room. (Affidavit, Para. 12.)

55. Lemme's death was ruled a suicide, but the circumstances were suspicious as explained in this article.
bradblog.com/?p=1244

56. As for Feeney (who allegedly asked 4 a vote flipping program), he was a “favorite of Christian conservatives.”
nytimes.com/1996/03/24/us/… …

57. Feeney gave "outspoken support 4 [a] school district's movement 2 teach the superiority of American culture." cbsnews.com/news/tallahass… …

58. A watchdog group named Feeney one of Congress's "Most Corrupt Members" at least three years in a row. bradblog.com/?p=5084

59. A Religious Right networking group called the Council for National Policy (CNP) gave Feeney an award. cfnp.org/page.aspx?pid=…

60. The CNP is a secretive networking group for the Religious Right.
washingtonpost.com/local/educatio…

61. The CNP networks wealthy right-wing donors with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy
washingtontimes.com/topics/council…

62. The NYT has called CNP “a little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country…” nytimes.com/2004/08/28/us/…

63. I discuss the CNP in detail here.

64. I discuss the CNP in detail here as well.

65. By 2020, CNP wants 2 assure governance that restores religion & Judeo-Christian values under the Constitution splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016… …

66. CNP is anti-choice. It once threatened to run a 3d party candidate if the R candidate in 2008 was pro-choice. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_f… …

67. The CNP has long opposed same sex marriage. nytimes.com/2004/08/28/us/… …

68. The CNP also wants to defund public education in favor of Christian schools.
washingtonpost.com/local/educatio…

69. The CNP appears to have formed an alliance w/ the NRA, as Wayne LaPierre is a member. splcenter.org/sites/default/…

70. Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon, and Betsey DeVos’s husband are in the CNP as well.
splcenter.org/sites/default/…

71. In March 2017, 150 CNP members signed a letter urging Trump to sign an anti-LGBTQ executive order. alternet.org/news-amp-polit…

72. Thus, it's no surprise that Pence is in the CNP as well.

73. Per the New Yorker, the Mercers are in the CNP as well. newyorker.com/magazine/2017/…

74. Democrats have "nothing comparable" to the CNP. abcnews.go.com/Politics/story… …

75. “The CNP was conceived in 1981 by at least five fathers…”. abcnews.go.com/Politics/story…

76. The CNP’s founders included Nelson Bunker Hunt & Paul Weyrich (who also co-founded Heritage Foundation & ALEC) splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016…

77. Weyrich’s ALEC organization(funded by the Koch Bros) is central to current push for a Constitutional Convention nytimes.com/2016/08/23/us/…

78. Weyrich (who co-founded the CNP w/ Hunt) also actively promoted ties between the GOP and Russia.

79. I discuss Weyrich's Russia ties in posts 6-11 here.

80. Weyrich (CNP co-founder) freely acknowledged that he didn’t want everyone to vote.

81. Nelson Bunker Hunt, Weyrich’s CNP co-founder, funded voting machine company Business Records Corporation.
yesmagazine.org/issues/whose-w…

82. BRC (voting machine co. funded by Nelson B. Hunt of the CNP) merged w/ AIS to form voting machine titan ES&S. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_…

83. Howard Ahmanson was another prominent early member of the CNP. seekgod.ca/cnp.ho.htm

84. Hunt & Ahmanson were big contributors 2 the Chalcedon Foundation, Christian Reconstruction’s main think tank motherjones.com/politics/2005/… …

85. The goal of Christian Reconstruction is to transform America into a theocracy. salon.com/2015/07/31/sec…

86. Per Mother Jones, the families of Hunt & Ahmanson (proponents of Christian Reconstruction) funded ES&S. motherjones.com/politics/2005/… …

87. ES&S is related 2 Global/Diebold in that it was started by 2 brothers, 1 of whom moved 2 Global/Diebold in 1997 & was made its president

88. Source for post 87. omaha.com/columnists/kel…

89. Another source for post 87. verifiedvoting.org/resources/voti…

90. ES&S and Diebold (now known as Premier; formerly Global) currently account for 70% of US voting equipment. bradblog.com/?p=7906

91. I discuss ES&S in my Mega Thread Part 1, starting w/ post 10 (below).

92. Another early member of the CNP was a lobbyist named Jack Abramoff. seekgod.ca/cnp.a.htm#abra…

93. Abramoff (who was in the CNP w/ Ahmanson & Hunt per above post) was a lobbyist for Diebold. gregpalast.com/its-magic/

94. The Rolling Stone: Abramoff’s firm “received at least $275k from Diebold to lobby for its touch-screen machines” alien-earth.com/articles.php?c…

95. Abramoff worked for a Russian energy group and apparently wanted to work for the Russian govt. truth-out.org/archive/item/6…

96. @patrickLSimpson discusses Abramoff's ties to Russia in detail here. bluedotdaily.com/yes-trumps-rus…

97. @patricklsimpson discusses Abramoff's ties to Russia here as well.

98. Abramoff was also a member of Bush’s Rangers & Pioneers. books.google.com/books?id=Vtmok…

99. Rangers & Pioneers were a group of loyalists who raised at least $100k each for Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign nytimes.com/2003/11/09/bus…

100. Like Abramoff, Diebold’s CEO, Walden O’Dell, was in Bush’s Rangers & Pioneers.nytimes.com/2003/11/09/bus…

101. Diebold’s other executives donated EXCLUSIVELY to the Republican party in 2003. nytimes.com/2003/11/09/bus…

102. Diebold entered the election business by acquiring Global (the co. founded & managed by FELONS) in Jan. 2002 wired.com/2009/09/diebol… …

103. Diebold told the AP that convicted felon Dean left the company when it acquired Global. blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-14…

104. But internal memos show that Dean maintained a consulting relationship w/ Global/Diebold after the acquisition blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-14…

105. Diebold bought Global concurrent w/ passage of Help America Vote Act, which allocated $$$$ 4 states 2 buy EVMs wired.com/2009/09/diebol…

106. Touchscreen EVMs, like Diebold's, were expensive & few counties had them until funds became available thru HAVA wired.com/2004/03/how-e-…

107. HAVA was passed during Bush’s first term when his senior advisor was Karl Rove. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove…

108. Rove dreamed of creating a “‘permanent Republican majority.’”
vanityfair.com/news/politics/…

109. “Rove tried 2 avoid any record of meetings…& [thus]…used Abramoff to deliver messages to the House leadership..” (The Architect, p. 8.)

110. Abramoff used to meet Rove on STREET CORNERS to avoid detection.
nytimes.com/2006/10/15/boo…

111. HAVA’s chief sponsor was Republican Bob Ney from Ohio, the must win state of 2004. congress.gov/bill/107th-con…

112. Abramoff influenced Ney in the drafting of HAVA.
gregpalast.com/its-magic/

113. Ney tried to insert 4 amendments into an “election-reform bill [presumably HAVA] to benefit Abramoff’s clients” washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content…

114. In Aug. 02 & 03, Abramoff took Ney (OH), & Feeney (FLA) by chartered jet on trips to St. Andrews’ golf links. articles.latimes.com/2005/mar/09/na…

115. Recall that Ney was the Fla. Rep. who allegedly asked Clint Curtis to design a vote flipping program for the 2000 election.

116. Ney used his position in Congress to defeat a bill that would have banned paperless EVMs such as Diebold's. democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboar…

117. One of the men who accompanied Abramoff on his golf trips w/ Ney & Feeney was Ralph Reed (R) of Georgia. articles.latimes.com/2005/mar/09/na…

118. Reed was former executive director of the Christian Coalition and was in the CNP with Abramoff.
seekgod.ca/cnp.r.htm

119. Reed and Abramoff were close friends. nytimes.com/2005/11/03/pol…

120. Here’s an article describing the $$ that Reed & Abramoff made by double crossing Abramoff’s gaming clients. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

121. Ralph Reed of Georgia and Karl Rove were close as well.
motherjones.com/politics/2004/…

122. All three men (Reed, Rove, Abramoff) had been leaders of College Republicans. newrepublic.com/article/61560/…

123. All 3 men (Rove, Reed, Abramoff) were graduates of a right-wing youth group called the Leadership Institute alternet.org/story/147784/d… …

124. Reed was from Georgia, which “was key in the game plan of Karl Rove.”
washingtonpost.com/archive/opinio…

125. In 2001, Reed (close w/ Rove & Abramoff) was chairman of the Georgia Republican party.
washingtonpost.com/archive/opinio…

126. But Georgia’s Secretary of State at that time was Cathy Cox, a Democrat. thenation.com/article/karen-…

127. Diebold did not use Abramoff, a Republican, to lobby in the state of Georgia.

128. Diebold retained Lewis Massey (D)-who was Cox’s former boss & predecessor as GA Secty State—to lobby in GA gareport.com/story/2002/05/…

129. Source stating that Massey was once Georgia Secty of State. google.com/search?q=%22le…

130. Diebold lobbyist Massey had once managed one of the most heavily fined campaigns in Georgia history.
savannahnow.com/features/democ…

131. During that campaign, Massey “received a $14k campaign-paid car that was the subject of ethics allegations.”
savannahnow.com/features/democ…

132. As a Diebold lobbyist, Massey stood to profit if Georgia chose Diebold’s voting machines.

133. In May 2002, Cox announced that Diebold had won the $54 M contract to supply more than 19k EVMs gareport.com/story/2002/05/…

134. Georgia had received bids from nine equipment manufacturers.
nytimes.com/2002/10/30/us/…

135. Diebold was not the low bidder.
nytimes.com/2002/10/30/us/…

136. Cox said "Diebold won bc its machines were easy to use & the company would provide extensive technical support” nytimes.com/2002/10/30/us/…

137. Cox said Massey didn't influence her & that she didn’t know of any influence the lobbyists had in the process gareport.com/story/2002/05/…

138. Diebold’s EVMs were paperless & thus did not comply w GA law, which required “an independent audit trail”
voterga.org/history/

139. Here’s a 2002 photo of Cox demonstrating Diebold’s unverifiable touchscreen voting machines during their rollout.

140. Cox recently told NPR in an interview that no EVMS at that time had a paper audit trail. But that's not true.

141. When GA chose Diebold, there were at least two vendors that had voting machines w/ paper audit trails. voterga.org/history/

142. TruVote's voting machine with a paper audit trail was demonstrated in Atlanta, Georgia in Nov. 2001.
apfn.net/messageboard/0…

143. Here’s a video about TruVote’s owner, Athan Gibbs, and his desire to submit a bid to the state of Georgia.

144. Article re: Athan Gibbs’ TruVote EVMs & how he died on 3/4/04 when his car inexplicably veered into a truck. freepress.org/article/death-…

145. Gibbs died 1 week after he was the source 4 an article predicting Bush wld win OH due 2 ties 2 Diebold & ES&S columbusfreepress.com/article/it-doe…

146. Back in 2002, Cox bizarrely claimed that an EVM “paper trail will create more opportunity for fraud, not less” creativeloafing.com/home/article/1…

147. Cox set up the Kennesaw Univ. Election Ctr to conduct quality control tests on every EVM & train poll workers nytimes.com/2002/10/30/us/… …

148. The ensuing 2002 elections in Georgia yielded major Republican upsets.

149. Saxby Chambliss, a favorite of Christian Right & Bush, DEFIED POLLS 2 defeat Max Cleland in GA 02 Senate race web.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/class…

150. Rove and Reed had PERSONALLY recruited Chambliss to run against Cleland in that 02 Georgia race.
atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/ma…

151. Cleland, a decorated Vietnam vet, LOST by 7 pts even tho polls on "eve" of election had him AHEAD by 2-5 pts. fourfreedomsblog.com/Blog.php?Act=V…

152. Harpers reported that Zogby & AJC had Cleland AHEAD by 1-3 pts two days b4 the election, but Cleland LOST by 7 web.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/class…

153. The Nation reported that AJC had Cleland ahead by 5 a week b4 voting, but that he lost by 7, a 12-point swing thenation.com/article/how-th…

154. In GA's 02 Senate race, abt 60% of state’s electorate switched party allegiance btwn primary & the general rawstory.com/news/2005/Dieb…

155. Surprise winner Saxby Chambliss (GA Senate race 2002) is exceedingly anti-choice en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxby_Cha…

156. Surprise GA 02 winner Chambliss opposed gay marriage, stating, "I'm not gay. So I'm not going to marry one." theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

157. The NRA gave an A+ to surprise winner Saxby Chambliss (Georgia Senate)
ontheissues.org/Domestic/Saxby…

158. Another major Georgia 2002 upset involved CONFEDERATE FLAG DEFENDER Sonny Perdue's defeat of Democratic incumbent governor Roy Barnes.

159. When Perdue defeated Barnes in 2002, he became Georgia's first Republican governor in 130 years. landmarkcommunications.net/when-georgia-s…

160. Source for Post 158 re: Perdue (who won the 02 GA gubernatorial race) being a CONFEDERATE FLAG PROPONENT newyorker.com/news/news-desk…

161. Coincidentally, Diebold lobbyist Lewis Massey had once himself opposed Barnes in a GA Dem. primary for governor—that Barnes won in 1998

162. Polls on eve of the 02 election had Barnes LEADING by 9-11 pts, but he LOST to Perdue by 5, a 14-16 pt swing populist.com/03.20.dispatch…

163. Pundits credited a surge of "angry white men" punishing Barnes 4 removing the Confederate symbol from GA's flag populist.com/03.20.dispatch…

164. But per the GA SOS's own report, the only subgroup w/ a modest increase in voter turnout in 02 was BLACK WOMEN populist.com/03.20.dispatch…

165. As governor of Georgia, surprise Republican winner Perdue was ardently anti-choice on abortion. rewire.news/article/2017/0…

166. As governor of Georgia, surprise Republican winner Perdue was pro-gun & said guns shld be allowed in airports nbcnews.com/id/25680821/ns…

167. Perdue promoted Christian schools thru a tax credit & possible deduction for "school choice" donations. georgiachristian.org/admissions/sch…

168. Sonny Perdue (the surprise winner of the GA 2002 gubernatorial race) even once prayed for rain. politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/01/10/tha…

169. Trump has since made GA's Sonny Perdue (the guy who PRAYED FOR RAIN) the head of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture rewire.news/article/2017/0…

170. In 02, Brian Kemp (current GA SOS) defeated D. Haines, a liberal incumbent in a left-leaning state House seat onlineathens.com/stories/123010…

171. The Georgia House seat that Brian Kemp won had been held by DEMOCRATS for MORE THAN FOUR DECADES. redandblack.com/news/democrats…

172. Brian Kemp defeated Doug Haines in the 2002 GA House seat race by only 486 votes. juro.uga.edu/2004/sheriff2.…

173. In fact, many of the Republican victories in Georgia’s 2002 election involved EXTREMELY SMALL vote margins.
chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2004/0…