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Greens and Libertarians Team Up to Demand Recount

cyberformer writes "The Ohio election rules state that any losing candidate can demand a manual recount. Today, David Cobb and Michael Badnarik, the predidential candidates for the Green and Libertarian parties, announced that they are joining forces to do just that. A manual recount is important because it will include every ballot cast, whereas the first count only includes ballots that can be read by machine. It could even tip the state (and thus the election) from Bush to Kerry."

86 of 359 comments (clear)

  1. Filing fee by dtfinch · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Funny, I didn't think the first count was done yet.

    They want $110,000 in donations to pay the required fees. Looks like $10 per precinct.

    1. Re:Filing fee by FleaPlus · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you would prefer to donate the money via the Badnarik campaign instead, here's the link.

  2. What if Kerry won? by Vokbain · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What would happen if it turned out Kerry won? Would Bush be forced to concede the election to Kerry?

    1. Re:What if Kerry won? by phoenix.bam! · · Score: 4, Informative

      No one is ever forced to concede. the only reason a person makes a speech is for show. the speech itself has no legal force. If kerry does indeed win Ohio then Bush would lose those electoral votes, lose the election and be on his way back to texas in Jan '05. Even with the recount though, Kerry winning is a longshot, no need to get the hopes up.

    2. Re:What if Kerry won? by whoda · · Score: 5, Informative

      The electoral college doesn't meet to vote until December 13th this year.
      It's not officially over until they have voted. The results of that vote aren't unsealed and counted until January 6th.

      Conceding elections is just a nice way of saying, I won't personally oppose you any more.

      If the outcome changes thru some other process and the electoral college votes Kerry into the Presidency, that's it, Bush wouldn't have to concede anything.

    3. Re:What if Kerry won? by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Bush hasn't won yet. The Electoral College hasn't voted. Theoretically, if some electors didn't vote the way they were asked to, then Kerry could win.

      Kerry felt that it was not worth for him pursuing his victory (because of the odds), so he conceded. That doesn't prevent him winning through others' efforts.

    4. Re:What if Kerry won? by stinerman · · Score: 2, Informative

      IIRC, congress can refuse to accept the electors if they so choose. If you saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" you may note the part of the film when a dozen or so house members challenged the election. Of course they were missing an endorsement from a senator, so the challenge was void.

      Anyone else have any more info on this?

    5. Re:What if Kerry won? by sabNetwork · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm not sure, but I think they'll find a senator this year ;)

      --

    6. Re:What if Kerry won? by stinerman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm not so sure. Lieberman didn't stand up and challenge the election, and he was on the ticket with Gore.

    7. Re:What if Kerry won? by Quikah · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, congress cannot refuse the electors votes. The votes are collected in each state, sealed and sent to the President of the Senate. The Pres of the Senate opens them and counts them before both houses of congress.

      --
      Q.
  3. Re: by nmec · · Score: 5, Funny
    It could even tip the state (and thus the election) from Bush to Kerry."
    It could but I'll eat my tinfoil hat if it does
  4. Re:What they oughtta do by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    stop running for president, and help the Democratic campaign.

    Why? I would never have voted for Kerry. I might have voted for Badnarik (too young to be eligible). The Democratic philosophy is as different from the Libertarian one as it is from the Republican -- so much so that I find myself more or less half-libertarian and half-Republican, but nowhere near Democratic.

    You may as well say they should help the Republican campaign; the two seem to me ideologically closer, Bush himself notwithstanding.

  5. Re:Makes no difference by The+Briguy · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ohio doesn't use electronic voting. Over 70% of the state [including Cleveland, where I live and voted] still use the old "hanging chad" ballots.

    The only regions that use the electronic voting machines are the wealthy republican suburban areas. Therefore any recount will help Kerry. Whether it will help enough is anyone's guess.

  6. Conspiracy theories taken to their natural limit! by stevew · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've been listening to Air America lately - and mostly what I hear is disgruntled people not wanting to believe that Bush won. The conspiracy theories out there are amazing!

    So what happens if the FIRST recount doesn't make Mr. Kerry President? Do we ask for ANOTHER recount ala 2000? 100K votes ain't that close folks!

    --
    Have you compiled your kernel today??
  7. WHERE CAN I DONATE?? by Drunken_Jackass · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I heard this story on NPR - it was just on All Things Considered tonight, so npr.org doesn't have the link up yet. At the end, they commented that the Libertarian and Green party is currently raising the ~$130,000 needed for the recount.

    Where can i donate?

    Kerry got ~45,000 vites on our Slashdot poll. If i can PayPal $5 or do a $5 credit card donation, how many other people would?

    --
    There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.
    1. Re:WHERE CAN I DONATE?? by Strike · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ahahahahahaha, I know you're not trying to do anything in the "real world" with slashdot poll results, are you?

      Drunken Jackass indeed.

  8. Re:A quest to expose elections fraud? by bizpile · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think it's just a PR stunt, something the Libertarians have always been good at.

    Apparently they aren't very good at PR or maybe they'd have a better showing in the elections.

  9. Nader is also asking for a recount by Caseyscrib · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Independent Ralph Nader is also asking for a recount in Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. Kerry won NH, Bush won the rest. Polls had Kerry ahead by 10%, but he won only by 1%. I'd like to see a recount too, because we use those optical scan ballots that have been in controversy lately.

    1. Re:Nader is also asking for a recount by jemfinch · · Score: 4, Informative

      Funny, since Nader wasn't even on the ballot in Ohio because the signatures he (or rather, his paid "volunteers") collected for his petition to be placed on the ballot didn't hold under scrutiny, and were rejected by the Ohio Supreme Court.

      Jeremy

    2. Re:Nader is also asking for a recount by Skjellifetti · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Kerry was never 10 pts up in the NH polls except for early last spring. Same for Ohio and Florida. The exit polls had Kerry up, but the state-by-state pre-election polls were remarkably accurate across the US. This suggests that the exit polls were badly flawed.

      BTW, I voted for Kerry.

  10. Nationwide Recount by adelayde · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Personally, and interfering as one who isn't a US citizen and so has no right interfering in another country's affairs - ah but perhaps the current (sadly for another 4 years) US administration might like to respect that as well -, anyway. I reckon because a) this is so very important for the World and the American people and b) Bush and his cronies are basically a bunch of crooks, and now war criminals, that it should be essential to do a proper, manual recount of all votes cast and to have an investigation of all discrepencies (whoops we missed of a whole bunch of poor black people, never mind) before officially declaring a winner. At least that way the United States can demonstrate to the rest of the World that it is prepared to affirm it's democracy that it so willingly seems to be prepared to tout about and impose on others, heck if India can do it, so can the US.

  11. Re:Conspiracy theories taken to their natural limi by captnitro · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Agreed. Moreover, I've been hearing too many theories about how voters were forced, deceived or generally brainwashed into voting for Bush. I've heard similar gripes about 'stupid' vs. 'smart', and of course seen the standard IQ by state chart.

    Guess what, kids: sometimes in a democracy, other people win. This is what most of the American voters wanted, and that's the way it works.

    Disclaimer: Kerry voter.

  12. Kerry? pshaw! by BortQ · · Score: 5, Funny
    Screw Kerry, I am hoping that this tips the election in favor of Badnarik!

    Don't give up hope yet. Go Libertarians!!

    --

    A Multiplayer Strategy Game for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
  13. WHERE YOU CAN DONATE by cgenman · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here. And please do, it's worth every penny, even if just to confirm the ability / inability of the machines.

  14. Mod Parent up: New Hampshire Recount by Noksagt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The New Hampshire recount will really be the most interesting one. They used the Diebold machines, there was a large difference in the exit polls & the actual votes, and Kerry already won it (so right-wingers won't object to it on partisan grounds). Moderates and all concerned about evoting should watch that state closely. Partisans should also watch it, as it could be the first domino for the states where the outcome may actually change things. If anyone contests the New Hampshire recount, quietly chuckle that they don't care about voting & just care about their man. Kerry fans might protest because he did win & Bush fans might object in anticipation of those other states.

  15. Re:Makes no difference by The+Briguy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    because like I said before the ballots that have the highest fault rate are in highly democratic areas. The repulbican areas have ballots with lower margins of error / no paper trails and therefore recounts there would have less of an impact. PS - Great Grandparent post is just wrong - Ohio uses punch card ballots for the most part. Whomever modded it "informative" needs to check thier facts first next time.

  16. Re: by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Face it, BUSH WON.
    And I am thankful.

    You may not like it
    but I do.

    changing ohio STILL won't win it for Kerry.
    Good.

    I however would like to know that the votes were counted right. I like Bush being in office, but fair voting is more important than which politician holds the office.

    It's not just rabid Kerryists that want the recounts, and acting like a rabid Bushist doesn't help your argument any. The point here is not who won, but how fairly.

  17. Re:Makes no difference by BeyondHope · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Areas with E-Voting count all the votes.

    Areas that still vote with the old machines lose something around two percent of the votes to the machine not understanding "hanging chads" and other problems. A manual recount generally counts many of the machine rejected votes.

    So, assuming the e-voting districts were bush districts, and the machine voting districts are Kerry districts, Kerry has more to gain from a recount.

  18. Good reason for a recount by TheSHAD0W · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Should the votes be recounted because the Libertarians or Greens think they may win? No.

    Should the votes be recounted because Kerry may have won, and not Bush? Er, I doubt it, but maybe.

    Should the votes be recounted as a check on how well the new computerized systems tallied the votes? Definitely.

    1. Re:Good reason for a recount by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Exactly.

      The Ohio election rules state that any losing candidate can demand a manual recount.

      They can demand it all they want, it's an impossibility. There is no physical record of the votes in many places, they are just a number in a database somewhere. Good luck trying to determine whether the number is correct or not.

      No doubt this will be lampooned by the media as them being sore losers or something. I think that it's important to highlight the fact that the election is unverifiable.

    2. Re:Good reason for a recount by FleaPlus · · Score: 4, Informative

      Here's what Michael Badnarik himself posted in response to some comments in his blog:

      I find the percentage of negative comments here somewhat surprising given the number of "please ask for a recount" messages that I've alread gotten. However, I'd like to clear up a serious misconception that many of you apparently have.

      This demand for a recount is not expected to change the outcome. I may be "Quixotic", but I'm not crazy. David Cobb and I have no expectation that the results of the election will be changed in the slightest. What we ARE hoping to do is to find out just how corrupt the system really is. Why bother voting for anyone if the electronic machines are going to report a pre-determined outcome.

      I saw a bumper sticker that expressed the idea very well. It said: DIEBOLD - MAKING MACHINES THAT VOTE SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO.

      Comment by Michael Badnarik -- 11/11/2004 @ 6:23 pm

    3. Re:Good reason for a recount by siriuskase · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ohio didn't use computerized voting systems. They decided to use whatever they used last time because their nice new computerized systems didn't have a paper trail.

      --
      If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
  19. Re:What they oughtta do by pilot1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Greens might, but the Libertarians don't.
    Democrats and Libertarians are very very different when it comes to economic policy.

  20. Re:What they oughtta do by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 2, Insightful

    most libertarian and green voters lean closer to the dems

    That's why there are separate parties: so D-like libertarians like a lot of Slashdot and R-like libertarians like myself can have a party that's a lot closer to our common beliefs instead of being shuffled off into the Democratic and Republican parties. The libertarian philosophy is not part of the linear left/right spectrum (that incidentally dates from the French Revolution, where there were about 3 major ideological factions, and the third was centrist).

    Besides, I didn't consider Kerry that good a candidate, even if I did agree with the Democratic platform. Given the choice between Kerry and Badnarik, I would've undoubtedly chosen Badnarik. There's enough difference in philosophy that allows me to agree with the latter but not the former. I don't think it's fair for them to endorse Kerry.

    On the other hand, I do agree that the third parties should concentrate first on local elections, where parties matter less and it's easier to find an independent (or barely partisan) candidate who fits the third-party ideology better; yet they should keep running some presidential candidate to keep their representation up.

  21. Re: by cicatrix1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Um, changing Ohio WOULD be enough electoral votes for Kerry to win it over Bush. You sound like a Bush supporter, so it's no wonder you have no understanding of Politics or fancy numbers.

    --

    I know more than you drink.
  22. Linear Independence? by div_B · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, this may be the way you feel, but most libertarian and green voters lean closer to the dems.

    I watched an interview of a British MP the other night, whose was a 'left-libertarian'. This was considered to be somewhat of a contradiction apparently. However, the world's smallest political quiz puts libertarianism diametrically opposite statism, on a different axis from conservatism-liberalism.

    I always thought that libertarianism was about individual freedoms, and not so much economic policy? Couldn't a libertarian quite legitimately have left- OR right- leanings in terms of economic policy, without compromising their libertarianism? (Note that I'm talking about what they believe in, not who would be more prudent to vote for given both those beliefs and present circumstance)

    1. Re:Linear Independence? by YOU+LIKEWISE+FAIL+IT · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Those individual freedoms are generally considered to extend to business practice, and hence, Libertarianism in principle endorses free market capitalism, enterprise bargaining, etc etc. There are however, "compassionate libertarians", "social libertarians" or a variety of other banners ( "Liberalatarians" is my favourite ) who espouse the Libertarian view of personal freedom, while still maintaining some leftist economic and social ideas.

      I myself am in this group, and I'm the first to admit it entails some contradictions and arbitary choices. Inflexibility is the hobgoblin of small minds. My view is that while government programs, minimum wage, etc are all good things, the government should not intercede in the life of Citizen N unless asked to do so explicitly by Citizen N.

      YLFI
      --
      One god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
  23. Re:Conspiracy theories taken to their natural limi by Karma+Farmer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, if you think libertarians like Bush, then you're beyond all reason.

    Regardless, neither party is doing this to help Kerry. They're doing it because many of us don't have a lot of faith in the election "system" in the United States. If this helps improve the process, it's worth a thousand times what they're spending to do it.

  24. Re:What they oughtta do by FooAtWFU · · Score: 2, Informative
    Libertarians are all about liberty, and about getting the government out of everything. To that end, they are somewhat interested in Republican goals (theoretically, smaller government, tax cuts, less regulation stuff) but are also interested in some Democratic ones as well (positions on matters such as gay marriage).

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Libertarianism is a political philosophy which advocates individual rights and a limited government. Libertarians believe that individuals should be free to do anything they want, so long as they do not infringe upon what they believe to be the equal rights of others. In this respect they agree with many other modern political ideologies. The difference arises from the definition of "rights". For libertarians, there are no material "positive rights" (such as to food, shelter, or health care), only "negative rights" (such as to not be assaulted, abused or robbed). Libertarians further believe that the only legitimate use of force, whether public or private, is to protect these rights.

    --
    The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
  25. Here's a wild-assed guess... by HotNeedleOfInquiry · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He's smart enough to not want the Democratic Party to look like a bunch of sore losers two elections in a row.

    --
    "Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
    1. Re:Here's a wild-assed guess... by torpor · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What is the point of democracy if it isn't to be fair to all, winners and losers both?

      Its pathetic that on the one hand, people propose that democracy is the 'solution' to mans mob-mind dilemna, but on the other hand, spare no second in applying that same mob-mind to the destruction/derision of 'The Unpopular".

      Pathetic. Bring back monarchs, I say!

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  26. Re:A quest to expose elections fraud? by andreMA · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It could also be related to maintaining ballot status, which exempts a party from needing to collect massive numbers of signatures if they got X% in the previous election.

  27. Re: by phoenix.bam! · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And you are the reason the democrats weren't able to win. Calling the otherside stupid isn't the best way to sway their opinion.

  28. Not newsworthy? by shankar2k · · Score: 2, Interesting

    A quick search of Google News and a couple other websites revealed that this isn't being given all that much importance. It's probably because A.) Kerry doesn't have much of a change of winning in Ohio and B.) The major media outlets don't care about third parties.

    That said, I agree with the many who said this is a worthwhile endeavor to see how well elections proceeded this time around.

  29. Re:Why are the Libs and Greens footing this? by Dr.Dubious+DDQ · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They're not paying for it yet - they're "raising funds" to pay the large fee for it.

    Personally - I can only think that we've got two political parties still "unencumbered" by incumbent political games and still able to actually act out of principle (egad, that's a FAR less cynical statement than usually comes from me on political matters...). It's all I can figure - there's obviously no chance that the recount will show the Greens or Libertarians winning the election, and in fact I honestly suspect the vote recount won't change the final result, but I do think it's important to get an accurate accounting of the votes. In so doing, we'll also get a good picture of how innacurate the initial count was. If it's way off, even assuming the recount still shows Bush winning, we'll have proof that there is something wrong with the voting procedures, and probably some idea of WHAT is wrong. And then, next time around, there's a chance there'll be fewer problems...

    Besides, bear in mind that while the Democrats can't reasonably make this demand or formally donate money to the effort without being accused of being big babies and spreading political FUD about the vote in Ohio...but INDIVIDUAL Democrats ought to be able to easily donate to the cause. Maybe somebody should call that rich Soros guy.

    And, yes, I DID vote for Michael Badnarik in this election...

  30. But I almost have this conciliatory poem down! by artifex2004 · · Score: 5, Funny
    The election is over, the results are now known.
    The will of the people has clearly been shown.
    We should show by our thoughts, our words and our deeds
    That unity is just what our country needs.
    Let's all get together. Let bitterness pass.
    I'll hug your elephant.
    You kiss my ass.


    From here.
  31. Re:Why are the Libs and Greens footing this? by DeComposer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I suspect that the DNC is doing their part to contribute to the re-count fund. Hell, if they emailed their base with nothing more than the news--not even asking for donations, they'd probably get enough folks to contribute to the fund that the GL consortium would have enough cash on hand to demand re-counts in as many states as they'd like.

    --


    Karma
  32. Non sequiteur... by jonadab · · Score: 4, Insightful

    > It could even tip the state (and thus the election) from Bush to Kerry.

    Statistically, no, it couldn't. In fantasy fiction, it could, but in real life,
    with Bush leading by over a hundred thousand votes, it ain't gonna happen. For
    Gore in Florida in 2000, trailing by about a thousand votes, the recount was a
    bit of a longshot, although it was not beyond the realm of possibility that it
    could, against the odds, pan out -- but here, the margin is plainly way too
    large. (Kerry knew this, presumably, which is why he conceded.) Do all the
    recounts you want. Recount from now till inauguration day if you like -- but
    don't hold your breath waiting for any big announcements reversing the outcome.
    130 thousand votes is close, yes, but it's not so razor thin that a recount
    has any realistic chance to alter the outcome. The counting process just
    isn't as sloppy as that. (Yes, there are ballots that weren't counted, but
    statistically they aren't going to deviate as wildly as all that from the
    rest. Even if 100% of them are valid and countable, and even if there are
    250 thousand of them outstanding (the highest, most optimistic estimates for
    the Dems; the Blackwell figure of 175 thousand is probably much closer), and,
    indeed, even if Kerry gets a wildly unlikely 70% of those 250 thousand (in
    Ohio, where it is very unlikely for either party to top 60%), Bush would
    still have a comfortable enough margin of victory to be confident of the
    outcome of any recount (at least, any recount observed by representatives
    from both parties).)

    I'm all for the hand recounts. They will verify what we already know.

    (What we do not know is what would have happened if it hadn't rained all day
    statewide. There are always unknowns in life.)

    --
    Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    1. Re:Non sequiteur... by reverius · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The purpose of a recount this time around is a bit different than the purpose in 2000. The recount in 2000 was to get around that pesky margin of error, and as such, 1000 votes was feasible (though improbable) and 100,000 votes would have been statistically impossible.

      However, the recount this time is being called for because of potential tampering with voting machines. Such tampering statewide could easily produce the 100,000 vote difference, because although it's outside the margin of error, it's certainly not ouside the margin of (ALL VOTES) which is potentially (mathematically speaking) the number of votes changed.

      It is highly unlikely that 100,000 votes were changed by voting machines, but not as unlikely as you make it sound.

      What IS unlikely, however, is that a hand recount will turn out differently, because the ones changed (if any) would probably be those with no paper trail and no verifiability.

  33. Re:Why are the Libs and Greens footing this? by Brandybuck · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The only logical reason I can see for this move is to retain ballot access (eg. they're very close to the number of votes needed to stay on the ballot for next election). But I see no mention of this anywhere. So I don't believe it's true.

    There's no way in hell I'm contributing to this. Badnarik was my candidate, but any donations now do absolutely NOTHING to help any Libertarian candidate or cause. I don't even care if they're right or wrong in their suspicion, because even if hell did freeze over and they were proven right, it still doesn't help any Libertarian candidate or cause.

    It's like a dog shitting on your lawn. In many jurisdictions you can take the dog owner to court. But why spend $110,000 to sue the owner of a shitting dog? It's a waste!

    Let me be perfectly clear here. I did not vote for Kerry, I voted for Badnarik. If I wanted Kerry to win I would have voted for him. It doesn't matter to me if Bush wins over Kerry or Kerry wins over Bush, I lose either way.

    --
    Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
  34. Re:What they oughtta do by Dr.Dubious+DDQ · · Score: 4, Interesting
    [...]most libertarian and green voters lean closer to the dems.

    Greens, yes. Libertarians, no. Libertarians until recently always seemed to lean mildly "Republican" (if you must compare them with "The Two Parties"). Being for less government influence, political authority being devolved down towards State (and smaller) levels from the Federal level, non-interference in free commerce, and so on.

    The only reason they may seem more Democrat this time around is that Bush, quite frankly, seems to be pushing the aspects of Republicanism that Libertarians disagree with (speech-restricting "Campaign Finance Reform", "Foreign Entanglements", attempts to amend the constitution for things like allowing congress to criminalize "desecration of the flag" and "banning gay marriage", restricting civil liberties (e.g. the "PATRIOT" act) in the name of "security" and "patriotism"...) while slacking badly on most of the issues Libertarians tend to agree with (reducing the size and power of the Federal government, fiscally responsible government policies, etc.).

    Typically, on social freedoms, Libertarians lean slightly "Democrat" - except that Democrats are more likely to want to use government force to "require" social freedoms (i.e. through legislation -as an example, perhaps a hypothetical federal law requiring all states to recognize any other state's legal marriage contracts, including "gay" ones if the state where it was issued allows it), where Libertarians tend to prefer non-coercive approaches (i.e. it's none of the Federal government's business at all WHAT kind of social arrangement adults give informed consent to enter into...). . Any power not explicitly granted to the Federal government by the Constitution belongs to the states or the people...

    Or at least that's my (simplistically-stated) understanding of the political philosophy, anyway.

  35. Libertarian Idealist Philosophy... by Dr.Dubious+DDQ · · Score: 2, Informative

    ...in the form of a flash animation may be found on newgrounds.com here...

    Obviously in the real world, practical matters soften the idealistic concepts in the animation, but it gives you a good idea of the direction that Libertarian political philosophy takes.

  36. Re:Makes no difference by Quarters · · Score: 3, Interesting
    In everyone's mind, Bush won.

    Yeah, and let's all be good little Neo-Con ditto-heads and only believe what they tell us instead of using our Constitutionally granted rights to question everything the Government does.

    "Mandate My Ass" will be a great rally-cry for the next four years. The 'Pubs are already hot to inform everyone, ad nasuem, that Bush had the largest number of ballots cast for him in any Presidential election. But, you know who the person with the second largest number of ballots cast for him is? Kerry. That means that Bush had the largest number of votes cast *against* him in any presidential election in US history.

    His margin of victory is the smallest in a US Presidential election since Wilson beat Taft in 1913.

    "Mandate My Ass" and who gives a flying $#@! about who thinks who won. We need the recount just because we can do it.

  37. Re:Conspiracy theories taken to their natural limi by ReaperOfSouls · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Libritarians ally themselves with Republicans on in the sence that there are still many Paleo-cons out there. Bush is anything but a Paleocon, he is a neocon. Lets look.

    Libritarians hate anything that has to do with making the government bigger. Well lets look, the largest deficit(number not % of GDP, but still huge) in history.

    Libritarians are generally about liberty and human(negitive) rights. Bush and his new appointment to Attorny General think human rights are up for discussion(ala Gitmo, Abu Grab). The Patiot Act certianly doesn't make us libritarians happy campers.

    Lets see, faith based inititives, i.e funding churches do create social programs, which is no better then when the government does it.
    Heck in his 2003 budget, he proposed and increase in NEA funding, which is a hot button issue for palocons and libritarians.

    Libritarians see the purpose of the Military for defence, not nation building or premtive/preventive war. Even Bush said in 2000 that he didn't believe in nation building.

    Ultimately the only thing that Bush has done right by libritarians is cutting taxes, but all the other stuff he has done soooo out weighs that.

    I have been a libritarian for as long as I have been interested in politics. I supported and worked for campains in 1994 to put the conservatives in control of the house and senate. Heck I even voted for Bush the first time around. The fact of the matter for me is, Bush's performance has been anything but remotely close to "libritarian" ideals. This year I voted for Kerry, because at least with Kerry we would have dead lock, and if 1994-2000 is any measure, it was the only chance to stall the growth of government.

    --
    Shameless self promotion : The Misadvetures of the in
  38. Re:Conspiracy theories taken to their natural limi by Kris_J · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Ever raised a kid?
    If you're implying that the goverment treats the population like children I couldn't agree more.
  39. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who needs math when you've got Jesus?

  40. Re:but... by N3WBI3 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    For the past four years I have been listening to the left moan and cry that because Gore won the popular vote bush was not really the president. Spokesmen for the DNC like Jessie Jackson have cried "let the winner win, and the loser lose but never again let the loser win and the winner lose".

    If the recount goes kerry's way (and I doubt they'll find 130K votes) he will be the president, Ill have no complaints about it (I voted 3rd Party). What I will love to see is the left embrace their guy and ignore the partisan crap they have been spewing for four years..

    --
  41. Just thought something funny (tinfoil hat on) by Lisandro · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Remember the ill-famed John Titor story. It said things would get ugly with "civil unrest" after the 2004 US election. Well, what would happen if, by some reason, the recounts come back wildly different - or even declaring Kerry winner of the elections?

    I'm bored, and that site is a fascinating read. It's like watching a trainwreck, you know you're not supposed to enjoy it but just can't look away.

  42. Re:What they oughtta do by DavidTC · · Score: 2, Informative

    Real libertarians want the government to get out of the institute of marriage.

    --
    If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
  43. Re:What they oughtta do by DavidTC · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Well, there are a lot of complete morons out there who rant and rave about tax-and-spend liberals and vote Republican because of that, completely missing the point that the Republicans have become borrow-and-spend.

    (Please note I didn't call all Republican voters idiots, just ones who voted for them because they promised to (and did) lower taxes. Lowering taxes and raising spending is worse than raising taxes and raising spending.)

    You are correct, the Republican party has managed to get as far away as possible from the Libertarian party, very very recently. Which is, of course, why the LP is asking for a recount of Ohio...they disagree with Kerry on 50% of his platform, but they disagree nearly completely with Bush.

    --
    If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
  44. Cobb's votes 10k down to 0 by hitchhacker · · Score: 2, Interesting


    At a bit less than 40% of the precincts reporting in Ohio, I saw David Cobb's votes go from around 10,000 down to ZERO. After that, I started taking screenshots of the Ohio state departments website.

    you can see a few of them here: http://64.71.168.78/

    Was Cobb a write-in in Ohio? Maybe that explains it. The ohio state department's website still only shows Cobb with 24 votes

    -metric

    1. Re:Cobb's votes 10k down to 0 by jc42 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Some machine overcounted Cobb by a bunch of votes. This was later fixed.

      Well, that's reassuring!

      It's funny how often people say such things, and seem to expect that it will calm the discussion. But such things should tell you something about how many problems there are in the voting system.

      All the "machine error" and "user error" reports coming from Ohio just tell me that their voting system (using the term lightly) is so screwed up that no thoughtful person would expect that the results are accurate to within a few million votes.

      Funny thing is, American-made electronic voting equipment is being used in several other countries, where they demand full auditing and accountability. American companies know full well how to build such equipment. If our own elections don't use the good equipment, we should have strong suspicions about the reasons. And it's not likely that stupidity or incompetence explains it. There is a lot at stake in an election, and there are strong motives for doctoring the results. If there's a way to do it, most of the candidates will attempt it.

      Of course, the two major parties both have long histories of voting fraud. So the Ohio results could be off by millions in either direction.

      We have a lot of work to do before American elections can be trusted.

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
  45. Re:but... by GryMor · · Score: 2, Informative

    The whole stolen election thing isn't with regards to winning or losing the popular vote. It's the opinion that Bush one Florida in 2000 on Fraud.

    So long as there is the appearance of impropriaty, thats all you'll get. Same goes of Kerry, except it wasn't people close to Kerry disenfranchising the voters of Ohio and it wasn't people close to Gore disenfranchising the voters of Florida.

    --
    Realities just a bunch of bits.
  46. Republicans are the opposite of Libertarian by jayveekay · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I believe in smaller government, less taxes, less intervention in people's lives (at home and abroad) by the government.

    Republicans have shown themselves to be the opposite of that.

    One theory is that the Republicans are trying to reduce the entitlement programs (like Medicare) by growing them (and other government spending) in an uncontrollable fashion while cutting taxes, to the point where force cutbacks across the board become mandatory. I doubt that it is intentional. I think that the Republicans are just incompetent fiscal managers.

  47. Re:Makes no difference by mwlewis · · Score: 5, Informative
    But, you know who the person with the second largest number of ballots cast for him is? Kerry. That means that Bush had the largest number of votes cast *against* him in any presidential election in US history.
    Ummm, no, that's wrong. First, since Bush had more votes than Kerry, Kerry had more votes cast against him than were cast against Bush. But let's assume that you meant to say that Bush had the most votes cast against him and still won the election. You'd still be wrong. In 1992, there were almost 60 million votes against Bill Clinton, compared to almost 57 million against Bush in 2004.
    --
    JOIN US FOR PONG!
  48. Re:Bush? BUSH? by flyingsquid · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I'm sick of liberals who think that the President and his staff are the only officials that we hold accountable in this country.

    When has Bush ever been held responsible? When has he ever admitted to a mistake? Was he held responsible for ignoring warnings about Osama bin Laden being determined to strike inside the United States? Was he held accountable for not planning the occupation of Iraq? Has he been held accountable for the massive deficit caused by his tax cuts? Has he been held accountable for the massive cockup of Falluja (when we first went in)? Quite the contrary, he's actually managed to capitalize on these errors.

    Maybe I'm completely wrong about Bush being bad for the nation... all I can say is, check back in a few years, and if he's fucked up completely (like he's done the first four years) don't say we didn't warn you.

    I'm not sure it matters anymore. The problem is, democracy depends on an informed public making decisions, but the public isn't informed, and doesn't want to be informed.

  49. Re:Conspiracy theories taken to their natural limi by j-turkey · · Score: 2, Informative
    Bush is anything but a Paleocon, he is a neocon.

    Bush may have neoconservatives on his staff, but he is not a neoconservative. He's a social conservative who spends like a Democrat (a Democrat in Republican's clothing?).

    Bush was never a neoconservative. It's my belief that after September 11th, he pulled a Kennedy and said (something along the lines of) no idea should be left off the table, and the worst thing that we can do here is nothing. (I suppose that he also took a page from Jimmy Carter's failure in the hostage crisis on the dosomethingism ideal). I can't say that I agree with his decision to listen to the neoconservatives, but I seriously do not believe that he's a neoconservative. Neocons don't care much about a conservative social policy like he does. Neocon's are like libertarians who don't care about domestic policy (well, as long as the policy is good for business and the economy) and also believe in preemptive wars, as opposed to Nixon's foreign policy which revolved around diplomacy.

    --

    -Turkey

  50. Re: by Shakrai · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And you are the reason the democrats weren't able to win. Calling the otherside stupid isn't the best way to sway their opinion.

    Because it's not like anybody on the right-wing ever calls us stupid or cowards or anything like that. Oh wait....

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  51. Re:Bush? BUSH? by Leftist+Troll · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You're already bitching about Gonzales? He's not even a conservative! Let's just be honest. You would complain if Bush appointed Papa Fucking Smurf to AG.

    Not everything is about "social issues".
    Gonzales is a social liberal. But he wrote memos authorizing torture.

    Not exactly Papa Fucking Smurf.

    And don't worry, after this election, the Catholics are definitely not on their way to any camp. Most of them voted the right way.

    The margian really wasn't that big. 47% of Catholics voted for Kerry.

  52. Re:A quest to expose elections fraud? by jilles · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think the rumours alone warrant a recount. If only just to disprove them. The fact that nobody seems to be interested in disproving what are very serious allegations is more worrysome then any outcome of the election.

    --

    Jilles
  53. It would be hilarious by 4of12 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What would happen if it turned out Kerry won?

    Suddenly, the Democratic support for abolishing the electoral college, which, in the 2000 election permitted Bush to win despite Gore carrying a majority of the popular vote, would vanish in a puff of smoke.

    And it would be the Republicans complaining because a mere 60,000 vote switch in Ohio gave Kerry the presidency through the electoral college system despite Bush having won the popular vote by over 3 million.

    It would be hilarious to watch as strident principled Democrats fell silent while the vocal Republicans would begin attacking positions that they themselves previously held onto with great fervor.

    As if the whole thing weren't farcical enough already.

    --
    "Provided by the management for your protection."
    1. Re:It would be hilarious by zCyl · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And it would be the Republicans complaining because a mere 60,000 vote switch in Ohio gave Kerry the presidency through the electoral college system despite Bush having won the popular vote by over 3 million.

      If there are enough votes in error to cause the election to shift, then much of the rest of the country would have to be recounted for this popular vote tally to be considered valid. The unadjusted final exit polls were also showing the popular vote in the other direction.

    2. Re:It would be hilarious by Golias · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Personally, as a Bush voter, I would completely support the election of Kerry if he won enough electoral votes. It's how we do things here. Clinton never won a popular majority, but I still considered him my legitimate President.

      That said, I think people are probably getting worked up over nothing. Bush won Ohio before all the absentee ballots were counted. I suspect that a recount will probably show an even wider margin of victory for Bush in that state.

      Now, call for a recount in a few other close states, such as Iowa, and you might be able to string something together.

      Kerry gets my official Class Act Recognition Award for doing the right thing here and not whining about it. Even if he throws that award over the White House fence, I'll still always remember the graceful way in which he accepted a relatively narrow defeat. I hope he considers running again in 2008.

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  54. ANN COULTER! by Rares+Marian · · Score: 2, Funny

    sorry the blog lists her as columnist worth reading. I think I lost a kidney processing the shock (ok so it wasn't really a surprise) of that one.

    --
    The message on the other side of this sig is false.
  55. Re:Bush? BUSH? by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 2, Informative

    And Congress did declare war.

    Uh, no, they didn't declare war. They gave the President the authority to use force, but stopped short of a true Declaration of War- the likes of which we have not seen since WWII

    If Congress had declared war, by international treaty our soldiers would be facing international war crimes tribunals rather than simple court martials for Abu Gharib and the like- and such international tribunals would not stop with low-ranking soldiers, but travel up the chain of command to Bush himself. Do your really want that?

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  56. Re: by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Besides, changing ohio STILL won't win it for Kerry.

    According to the final tallies at http://www.electoral-vote.com/, Kerry currently has 252 EVs, Bush 286. Flip Ohio's 20 votes- and Kerry has 272 Evs to Bush's 266. Thus Kerry will win. So sorry- you're wrong- changing Ohio WOULD win it for Kerry. Of course, the FIRST count in Ohio isn't done yet (absentee and provisional ballots legally will be able to be counted tomorrow), so we'll have more data then.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  57. Re:Bush? BUSH? by Exitthree · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If Congress had declared war, by international treaty our soldiers would be facing international war crimes tribunals rather than simple court martials for Abu Gharib and the like- and such international tribunals would not stop with low-ranking soldiers, but travel up the chain of command to Bush himself. Do your really want that?

    If soldiers and commanders committed war crimes, why wouldn't we want that? Would we not want it to happen just because it's "our guys"?

  58. Okay, fine. Let's recount all the close states. by H0NGK0NGPH00EY · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Fine. Re-count Ohio. It won't change anything. While we're at it, why don't we recount Pennsylvania, whose vote count was actually closer than Ohio? Or Wisconsin, which was even closer?

    Oh, that's right. We only want to recount states that may cause Kerry to win.

    Is it really every vote that we want counted, or is it just every vote in certain states?

    Ohio: Bush by 136,483 votes, 2.5%
    Pennsylvania: Kerry by 128,869 votes, 2.3%
    Wisconsin: Kerry by 11,813 votes, 0.4%

    --
    Do not read this sig.
  59. fuck the recount by flyingsquid · · Score: 2, Funny
    I'm starting an armed resistance movement, supported by a Canadian-based group of fighters called the "Free American Forces", modeled on Chalabi's "Free Iraqi Forces". We'll get the French to fund the whole thing.

    Join me in the hills, democratic brothers! Any freedom fighter who dies in the glorious fight to liberate our country goes straight to Democratic Heaven, where nubile, liberal virgins await!

    1. Re:fuck the recount by geminidomino · · Score: 2, Funny

      And with a single post, User #813711 becomes prisoner 655321.

      FlyingSquid, we hardly knew ye...

  60. There's a reason Kerry et al aren't pursuing this by KalvinB · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Internet is abuzz with speculation that there were so many voting irregularities this election that President Bush may not have won after all.

    But the man who headed the Democrats' team of 3,600 attorneys, spread across the country to address irregularities, says, "that ain't the case." Kerry adviser Jack Corrigan, quoted by the Boston Globe, says, "No one would be more interested than me in finding out that we really won ... I get why people are frustrated, but [Republicans] did not steal this election. There were a few problems here and there in the election. But unlike 2000, there is no doubt that they actually got more votes than we did, and they got them in the states that mattered."

    Other Kerry campaign officials agree.
    --------

    You can find that quote in a number of news sources now. That blurb is from FoxNews.com but you can also find it here:

    http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/11/11/news/elec t. html

    He Lost, MoveOn.

    Ben

  61. Why a recount is important by robindmorris · · Score: 2, Insightful
    There is a great deal of evidence that the precincts that had the highest rate of "spoiled" ballots where predominantly African American. Whilst a ballot-counting machine can't determine the "will of the voter" if there is a hanging chad, a manual recount certainly can. Also, a punch card is rejected if any ballot is unclear - so even if the chad for dog-catcher is hanging, the one for president may be very clear indeed. It's important that these spoiled ballots are counted.

    And then there's the situation with the provisional ballots.

    See Just count the ballots at the back of the bus.

  62. Re:Makes no difference by avaric3 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Correction Bush had more people vote against him than any other sitting President. Clinton was not a sitting President in 1992.

  63. Re: by fenris_23 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Why does that matter when so many of them think their God wants them to elect George Bush? Regarding the non-"values" Bush voters, if they are not one of the few rich individuals set to gain big these next four years, then what else should we call them?

    The irony is that one of the biggest voting groups for Bush is the lower middle class. Most of these people are either not college-educated, possess a two-year degree, or work in a trade. These people are the primary victims of Bush's tax cut bonanza and his lack of concern for outsourcing.

    If God didn't make them do this to themselves, then what should we call them?

  64. Can non-Americans donate? by relaxmax · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was curious to know if non-Americans can donate as well. As for all of us who're not in the US, we feel that mankind as a whole stands to pay the price for Bush's reelection.

    -- rxMx --

    --
    Love all, Trust few, Follow one.
  65. Open-up the source? by relaxmax · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I was genuinely wondering if there's a way for the e-voting machine manufacturers to reveal the exact code that was used on the physical voting machines. This could put to sleep quite a bit of the often-unpleasant debating going around all over the world (apart from /., of course).

    -- rxMx --

    --
    Love all, Trust few, Follow one.