<$BlogRSDUrl$>
Read. Think. Contribute

More Proof of Election Fraud

Friday, July 22, 2005

If you still harbor any doubts about the claims of voter fraud, tampering and/or official misconduct during the 2004 elections here in the great State of Ohio, the recent revelations concerning a $10,000 check from Diebold given to Matt Damschroder, the director of the Franklin County Board of Elections should put those doubts to rest. Forget Damschroder’s line of bull that the check was for the Ohio Republican Party and that the Diebold lobbyist, Pat Gallina, had no idea who to give it to, this was a BRIBE pure and simple. That’s right, I said it, a BRIBE!

According to an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Damschroder describes the meeting this way, “Pat Gallina came into my office at the Board of Elections and said, ‘I’m here to give YOU $10,000. Who should I direct it to?’” (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) To which, Damschroder replied,”’Certainly not to me. But, I’m sure the Franklin County Republican Party would appreciate a voluntary donation.” (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Voluntary donation! What a load of hooey! This is not an abject lesson in English grammer. When Gallina said, “I’m here to give you $10,000,” he wasn’t saying you in the formal sense, meaning “I’d like to give you and your Republican pals a little money for a pizza party.” He meant, “Here’s $10,000 for you from my friends at Deibold, and by the way, here’s a brochure on our fabulous new voting machines that can be programmed to register whatever outcome you want and have no paper trail, so no one can prove you rigged the election.”

Think I’m nuts? Damschroder admitted in the same article that he had spoken with Gallina about Norman Cummings, a Ken Blackwell campaign adviser, who Gallina had met in Washington D.C. where they had spoken about the impending decision regarding the voting machines. Gallina told Damschroder that he and Cummings had agreed on an arrangement for Diebold to undercut a competitior’s price on voting machines and Gallina, on behalf of Diebold would give $50,000 to “‘Blackwell interests.’”

Let’s see;

$10,000 + $50,000 = $60,000

But wait there’s more. Worried that a mere $50,000 wasn’t enough to buy off a state secretary, Gallina gave another $10,000 to Citizen’s for Tax Repeal, a Blackwell group formed to repeal the penny on the dollar sales tax approved in 2003. So, $70,000, that’s seems like a fair price to pay to buy an election. There’s people in Ohio. I got a buck who’s with me?

To be fair, I should hear Diebold’s side of the story. According to Deibold hired liar, Mike Jacobsen, Diebold had no involvement in either contribution. “Just because we contract with a lobbyist and they make a contribution doesn’t mean, in any way, that we use them as some sort of political back door to curry political favor.” No, heavens forbid! I’m shocked at the very notion!

Blackwell spokeshole, Carlo LoParo claimed that the bargain basement pricing on the Diebold machines was just a result of their excellent haggling skills. What the hell is this a Turkish bazaar? “‘We got them to agree to the lowest prices in the nation, then we forced them to take another $200 off their price after that,” said LoParo. Well done! I need a new car, is your negotiator available?

There is ample evidence that the Ohio GOP is, like a month old apple, rotten to the core. Between Coingate, Taft’s golf outings and now these new revelations proving that the fix was in in 2004, do the Republicans have a leg to stand on in 2006? One would have to say no, but then Karl Rove is innocent and John Roberts is a moderate, so what do I know?