2004 election

When I hear people say "get over it" regarding the dubious elections of 2000, 2002 (Georgia) and 2004, it makes me wonder what they think a democracy is all about. The civil rights of voters were probably infringed upon with some regularity in those elections by a variety of methods possibly leading to stolen elections. THAT is un-American and un-democratic, and election fraud is NOT something I intend to "get over."

I want to make it clear that I don't know if any of those elections were outright "stolen." And that is the problem. If we don't have confidence in our own election system, then we have a big problem, and buying overpriced, unreliable, hackable machines to privatize our elections is NOT the solution.

So here is the latest piece of the puzzle of Ohio's very messed up election in 2004. From the San Diego Union-Tribune: (note: San Diego is another place where elections are suspicious, according to former mayor of San Diego Roger Hedgecock)

CLEVELAND – Two election workers were convicted Wednesday of rigging a recount of the 2004 presidential election to avoid a more thorough review in Ohio's most populous county.

Jacqueline Maiden, elections coordinator of the Cuyahoga County Elections Board, and ballot manager Kathleen Dreamer each were convicted of a felony count of negligent misconduct of an elections employee. They also were convicted of one misdemeanor count each of failure of elections employees to perform their duty.