I just spoke with Chris Vance. He's not yet able to release the actual deposition transcripts until the court reporter issues a clean, proofread and redacted copy on Monday. In the meantime, he is able to characterize the essence of Dean Logan and Bill Huennekens testimony, without actually quoting them. Here are the amazing highlights --
Dean Logan admitted that --
1) provisional ballots were processed and counted before all the absentee ballots were verified, in violation of the WAC.
2) the absentee ballot audit trail did not account for all the ballots that were returned into the building, allowing ballots to go missing or appear from nowhere with no internal audit controls
3) there was inadequate accounting on blank ballots. How many were printed, how many were returned unused; how many ballots were printed "on demand" in the office, or which of the office staff even had the access and ability to print ballots on demand
4) polling place inspectors (who were appointed by the Democrat Party this year) got blank ballots to take home on Friday before the election; the number is known only to the nearest 20. The inspectors were not asked to account for and return any remaining unused ballots after the polls closed. They were simply instructed to destroy them.
5) he knew before certification that some number of provisionals went through the Accuvote.
6) when asked if he was certain whether the number of errors that were made did not exceed the margin of victory, he said he was not certain
7) 3 other uncounted ballots were discovered in election facilities after final certification that have never been reported
Bill Huennekens admitted --
1) After he receives the notice of a felony conviction, he cancels the felon's registration (if already registration), but doesn't retain the information. There's nothing to prevent the felon from re-registering immediately after the registration is cancelled.
2) In addition to the "348" provisionals that had earlier been acknowledged to have gone through the Accuvote (it was really closer to 380 all along), they now know of another 437 (official total of 785). Of these, 96 of the original batch and 82 of the newer batch cannot be linked to any registered voter, for a total of 178 acknowledged illegal votes.
Other news from Chris Vance --
1) Sam Reed has filed a brief supporting the Republicans' proportional analysis of attributing illegal votes to candidates by precinct.
2) The original report from Profs. Katz and Gill that estimated a 100 vote margin of victory for Rossi was conservative. The number of illegal votes is now known to be higher than the number used in the analysis and therefore the estimated margin for Rossi is likely to be higher.
3) The Democrats are desperately trying to chase down offsetting irregularities in other counties but without much luck. Other county auditors are confirming that King County is an anomalous, out-of-control mess.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 22, 2005 11:01 AM | Email ThisWhat did Logan say about the reports submitted to the Canvassing Board prior to certification?
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on April 22, 2005 11:20 AMDid Vance have any insight about the Dems 12th hour efforts to scour the state looking for votes to offset the R's findings???
Is it too late for the Dems?????
THERE'S one probable source of your voterless ballots right there!
And is Ron Sims' election task force looking a little useless at this point?
Posted by: Michele on April 22, 2005 11:26 AMBy "WE" you mean the voter in general, right?
Posted by: Editor on April 22, 2005 11:28 AMOf course, this will also be a good thing for the general electorate.
Posted by: ScottM on April 22, 2005 11:36 AMObviously, any bank would be proud of this kind of accuracy.
Posted by: Mike H on April 22, 2005 11:44 AMIn all seriousness though, it's looking more and more like this is going to be a slam dunk. And the timing is actually working out well for us too. With this hitting the news again in late May, and the election likely being overturned in June due to massive irregularity and incompetence in King County Elections, I imagine that old King Sims will have a difficult time tyring to hold on to his position come the November elections.
Posted by: Jason on April 22, 2005 11:53 AMI remember listening to John Carlson when he said, "I'm going to say either they were grossly incompetent or they committed fraud." That kind of shook me up. It had hit the mainstream, and it wasn't just us kooks in the grassroots thinking it.
Now we have Logan admitting to fraud. That's what he did when he knowingly submitted incorrect information. That's what fraud is, pure and simple.
I love the debate now. It's so easy to win.
Me: Logan et al committed FRAUD, pure and simple.
Them: There's no evidence!
Me: Under legal deposition, Logan admitted such when he said that he knowingly submitted false documents and certified them. If this isn't fraud, then what is? That's what Enron and all the others got in trouble for: knowingly submitting false documents. That's FRAUD. Logan committed FRAUD.
Them: But so did other!
Me: Show me! What other county knowingly certified false reports? Which administrator ADMITTED to knowingly submitting false reports? You can't name one, because it didn't happen anywhere but here. Logan committed FRAUD, pure and simple.
Posted by: Jonathan Gardner on April 22, 2005 11:55 AMObviously the WA Democrats intend to use that defense for County Auditors in general, claiming that "it's no big deal, EVERY County Auditor screws up election counts". But for them it's OK as long as the right party wins.
And they won't be able to pull it off when most of the other counties (don't include Pierce here) come up clean.
Posted by: Insufficiently Sensitive on April 22, 2005 11:57 AMBTW: Don't overlook the importance of item # 1 in the 'Other news from Chris Vance' at the bottom of Stefan's extended entry:
----------------------------------------
1) Sam Reed has filed a brief supporting the Republicans' proportional analysis .....
----------------------------------------
Trying to persuade Judge Bridges to turn down the proportional analysis argument (which is the only rational way to do it) is IMO the last real chance the (D) lawyers have to avoid a ruling that turns Gov-4-now Gregoire out of office. The SOS gains some points back in the positive direction. :-]
Methow Ken
Let's hope the Rossi legal team and the State Republican Party together with lawyers from the GOP nationally have reviewed Reed's brief carefully or are preparing their own brief.
Reed's brief or any other that supports proportional assignment must be STRONG! emphasis added. It will be the document that Judge Bridges and the appeal to the State Supreme Court base their decisions on. So it must not be flawed in the least amount.
Given Reed's abysmal track record and lack of 'moxie', I am not confident that this very important brief is as strong as it needs to be unless the legal team behind Rossi have reviewed it.
I do have confidence in Judge Bridges in any case, in his ability to take a potentially flawed brief and correct those flaws.
Not saying that Reed's brief is flawed, just pointing out that it would make me more confident if he received and responded to input from the Roddi camp. His office is however the proper office to submit such a brief.
Posted by: Michael on April 22, 2005 12:08 PM"Dean doesn't lie, he doesn't play games, he's forthright," Sims said. "Dean is an honest, candid, caring person who is a professional in his job. Dean has impeccable integrity."
My prediction is that Sims will say: He is dismayed by recent events. He will call Dean Logan a disappointment and claim he is determined to "fix" problems.
Can you hear the bus Dean?
Therefore the fraudulent voting must be subtracted before proportional assignment and therefore Rossi loses again.
smile!
dB
Posted by: dB on April 22, 2005 12:32 PMThe fact is, as Ron Sims so eloquently stated, "Dean Logan is a nationally recognized election expert!" Other County Auditors were prepared to sign a BLIND endorsement letter attesting that Logan did everything according to State Law!!!! Remember that charade?
Logan's ego and image will work against him when he starts to play dumb. He is screwed.
His only hope is:
1) The Weird Al Yankovic defense where Logan claims he was abducted by space aliens and Weird Al was put in his place for the entire election process. Logan was only recently returned from outer space just prior to depositions.
This whole mess is the fault of space aliens and their willing accomplice, Weird Al Yankovic!
2) Twinkee Defense
Take your pick
Actually, I think it's doable because Sims is in deep. He's backed Logan all along, and he's made very public and very momorable statements. He's bet big and he's fully committed.
It's going to be very easy to mount a massive PR campaign agasint Sims, and as soon as we are finished with Her Illegitimacy, that's exactly what we will do. All we have to do is use his own words to point out how poor his leadership has been. And, let's not forget that the KC Council has requested a real and independent audit that has further exposed Sims appointed commission as less than a less than objective and partisan composed body. And the CAO has been a massive debacle that alone will cause Sims great pain.
The only flaw might be that although Irons is a good guy, and he's got circumstances in his favor, he's not exactly a charismatic, bold figure that people can really rally around. If I were him, I'd be beefing up my image and spicing up my speeches. He should make a lot of appearances and really befriend Seattleites. If he does this, he stands a very good chance.
Posted by: Jeff B. on April 22, 2005 12:46 PMPolitical Party A wants to stuff 10 ballots in favor of their candidate. They go to precints that will vote 60/40 for Candidate B.
If the stuffed ballots do not come to light, Candidate A has 10 more ballots in the canvas.
If the stuffed ballots DO come to light, then in the judicial phase, then Candiate B will lose 6 VALID votes from the canvas, and candidate A will loose 4 votes from the total which INCLUDES 10 stuffed ballots. Candidate A gains 6 ballots in the judicially tested canvas. Net result, the lead of Candidate A over B is now 12: the 10 stuffed ballots plus two valid vote thrown out in the proportional process.
That is leverage! 10 fraudulant votes netting a 12 vote gain.
Don't give up on option A: every error must be compared to the margin of victory.
Posted by: StephenR from Houston on April 22, 2005 12:47 PMHow absurd the DumboRats are. I say, Lock Them All Up and misplace the freaking key!
My recommendation would be to bring back Bruce after Logan is fired. Between everyone watching KC like a hawk, and the fact that the election will most likely generate a much stronger sentiment towards one candidate or the other, it's unlikely that the election will be close or that the mistakes will be large. Election workers now know that if they screw up, it's going to cost them their jobs.
But we should definitely post a security guard at the door to check their backpacks and briefcases for stacks of blank ballots that they may be trying to bring home.
Posted by: Jeff B. on April 22, 2005 12:52 PMHe should have stated that systematic checks should prevent errors. Every error must be treated as a presumed fraudulant vote in a contest. If there are more errors than the margin of victory for either candidate, then the system broke and the election cannot be trusted.
Reed's Friend of the Court brief simply enables more fraud.
Plus, this time we'll be expecting it, and we'll be watching them much more closely.
Posted by: ScottM on April 22, 2005 12:57 PMKing County elections were held with fairly tight document control right up to the advent of Ron Sims' inserting his cronies into the process.
So the big answer had better include the removal of the cronies, and resurrection of such elderly personnel who can remember how to run a tight ship.
Or maybe a Federal Court could take over supervision, as they did the Kansas City Schools?
Coda: where are all the cute little trolls today? Burning their spare blank ballots?
Posted by: Insufficiently Sensitive on April 22, 2005 12:58 PM4) polling place inspectors (who were appointed by the Democrat Party this year) got blank ballots to take home on Friday before the election; the number is known only to the nearest 20. The inspectors were not asked to account for and return any remaining unused ballots after the polls closed. They were simply instructed to destroy them.
If this is true, it represents a significant change from procedures used two years ago when I was an inspector. It is true that on the Friday or Saturday before the election, the election inspectors pick up their poll place materials, including all of the blank ballots in bundles of 100, sealed in cellophane wrap. An unscrupulous inspector would have an opportunity to palm some ballots in the privacy of her home. But then again, depending on the security maintained at the polling place, it would not be too difficult for any inspector, any pollbook judge, or for that matter, any member of the public, to palm a ballot on election day.
What is new in the statement above is the part about the inspector destroying unused ballots. In the past, a part of the closing procedure was to destroy unused, unwrapped ballots by tearing them almost in two, and putting them in an unused ballots bag to retturn with the election material. Unused, unwrapped ballots are also returned. The county could count the number of regular ballots cast, the number of provisional ballots cast, and the number of spoiled ballots, and subtract that from the number of ballots issued. This number should match the number of destroyed ballots returned to the county. I'm sure this was rarely if ever done, but it was a control that in theory could put a check on fraud.
If this simple procedure was eliminated, and election inspectors are free to do whatever they want with unused ballots... well that is just mind-boggling!
Some dems may be wearing orange jumpsuits, yet.
Typically, they've got their collective heads in the sand ... not one single word about Logan's bombshell in admitting fraud.
Wonder if they're using the time to cook up some UFO story.
Posted by: lee egg on April 22, 2005 01:16 PMDean Logan's admissions clearly show that not just one or two people messed up; the entire staff engaged in sloppy, fraud-friendly behavior. I mean, printing ballots "on demand"? "Hey, Sally, my date cancelled tonight, so how's about printing up a few dozen ballots for me to fill out while I'm watching American Idol?"
It is one thing to know and believe Stefan, it is another to be actaully proven. I was hoping (naivity at its best) that it couldn't be proven.
Posted by: swatter on April 22, 2005 01:20 PMHeadless - Your comment shows how little the dems think of democracy. If you can equate an spelling error that goes out for some book with that of knowingly certifying an election that you know is wrong you seriously need help. If a proofreader knew of mistakes in the transcript and didn't bother to change it I can assure you he would be fired.
Posted by: Fred on April 22, 2005 01:21 PMYou're still wasting our tax dollars by posting from your public school job? Is it more important to write illogical posts than to educate children. No wonder 'vouchers' and 'homeschooling' are such popular vocabulary words lately.
As for proofreading - is that the crutch you want to prop yourself up on now? There wasn't any fraud, nothing was certified that wasn't audited with checks and balances? It's the proofreaders and the administrative assistants that are to blame? I'm sure Judge Bridges will believe that. What's next, blaming it on Microsoft Word?
Posted by: Larry on April 22, 2005 01:21 PMBUT, to follow your arguement, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if the court reporter is sloppy to the point of incompetent in their reporting, sloppy to the point of incompetent in their proofing, does not follow proper legal procedures for the whole process, and then submits the transcripts knowing that it is incorrect in such a way as to possibly change the context of the testimony and the outcome of the suit... isn't that considered a crime somewhere? Or at least legal grounds to have the testimony and/or entire suit thrown out?
Posted by: Mike H on April 22, 2005 01:29 PMAndy: Nelson's mama called him in to pick up his dirty clothes.
Headlice: Completely unintelligible (as usual). Keep it up!
Posted by: alphabet soup on April 22, 2005 01:31 PMBut the more I think about it the more it makes sense to distract her from her class by continually confronting her here. Time away from class equals time away from brainwashing the students. The less time she has to share her views with impressionable young minds the better. Less contact with the students will increase the chance that these students will have successful futures!
Posted by: Joe on April 22, 2005 01:35 PMHow about within that 'reasonable doubt' thing. Maybe that should be the standard for legal issues? I know I've heard of that concept somewhere. Would that satisfy you, or only if that wasn't sloppy enough to get the outcome you want?
Posted by: Fred on April 22, 2005 01:43 PMCynical & Splatter--yes! Sims' et.al. reaction--shock and anger--like the gambling in Rick's Cafe American; I'm waiting for the "I'll spring into action" part--nice diversion from the REAL solution--fire them all & start again;
Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on April 22, 2005 01:45 PMHave the Democrats ever heard of integrity, responsibility, and accountability? Of course not.
The trolls are running scared because the handwriting is on the wall, and Judge Bridges knows how to read.
Time to find out exactly what Ms. Fraud-o-ire and whining Paul knew about the election mess in Krook County.
I am sure they were kept in the loop of all the problems with this election,
and perhaps directed the obfuscation that obviously occurred.
It’s like the thundering void among the various Islamic groups in the wake of 911. Where are the voices of protest within the left????
In my first election, I actually voted for Scoop Jackson. But the way things are now; it’s hard to imagine that he would have a “D” next to his name now. Heck, I used to think of Evans as being to the left of Scoop.
The Dems for decades have tried to portray the R/D chasm as have/have not. It’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy, only its integrity/non-integrity, not property.
Rhetorical question: How come no dems come to the conservative boards and say (about luce, joe, nelson, etc.) don't bother with the trolls, they’re trying out for the part of Gollum in the school play? That their fixation with “my precious” has corrupted them to such an extent as to remove them from any connection with reality?
That the trolls have become this way is sad. But what is truly tragic is that the Dems show no comprehension of the wisdom of reeling in their extreme.
This is bad for the Dems, and even worse for the country. It’s an institutionalization and broadening of the same destructive anti-Americanism of the 60’s, and has become the litmus test for lib-thought.
You forgot the others that did what Delay did - Stephanie Tubbs Jones of OH, and our favorite Nancy Polosi. Sorry - the Dems allegedly did it, Delay did do it - I thought I would put it closer to terms that libs understand.
Posted by: Fred on April 22, 2005 01:59 PMThe fallout of this is going to be huge and the reverberations are going to carry far and wide, by the time this shakes out the name Gregiore will have a negative connotation throughout the country if not the western world.
Democrats have been using this model for fixing elections for decades and now the gig is up, sucks to be them not only are they in serious legal jeopardy the National Democrat leadership is also going to despise them for getting caught and ‘killing the goose that laid the golden egg.’
I agree with you. It always amazes me that people become so partisan that it interferes with their ability to be rational.
Instead of demanding accountability and distancing themselves from the stink of King County they defend it. I don’t know what makes a person chose to defend an indefensible argument. At this point I dont know how any semi-intelligent individual could not have serious concerns about this election.
I think its part of liberalism. They must defend liberals no matter what. I know there are conservatives that will defend conservatives no matter what but this phenomenon seems to be most prevelant on the left.
The ultimate result though will be instead of just a few people stinking in KC the entire Democratic party is going to be soiled by the actions of Dean Logan and Ron Sims. If this serves to move this state to the right then Dean Logan and Ron Sims may end up being owed a thank you by many conservatives.
Isn't it about time for Ron Sims to boot his buddy Dean out and make him the scapegoat for the whole election mess? Do you suppose that Ron may actually believe what he has been saying about Dean Logan and the whole election mess? If he does, that is even more reason to get rid of not just Dean Logan, but Ron Sims as well.
Posted by: Gary on April 22, 2005 02:42 PMBased on what you guys have published, look for this case to disappear off the face of the earth as quickly as possible to avoid further embarrassment (hardly possible) to the GOP.
Posted by: Nelson on April 22, 2005 03:04 PMThe recount is showing Rossi ahead, dem poll workers fill out a few ballots, enough put Gregoire ahead.
Wash - rinse - repeat - 9 times.
How many ways does it have to be said.
Captial F Fraud.
Posted by: jcm on April 22, 2005 03:25 PMPLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.
It only causes them to waste more of your time.
Posted by: Jason on April 22, 2005 03:26 PM"A stupid man cannot learn, an ignorant man has not had the opportunity to learn, but a foolish man is able to learn, has the opportunity, and does not do it." ~ Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Posted by: Splatter on April 22, 2005 03:29 PMI knew sooner or later Tom Delay would come up. It is on the MoveOn.Org script after all is it not?
Well, please ask the corrupt Nancy Pelosi who took a lobbyist junket to Puerto Rico in 2001 when she will straighten up. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Ohio Democrat and member of the House ethics committee, listed a registered lobbyist as the trip's sponsor. Or how about asking DEMOCRAT Bernie Sanders of Vermont when he will stop hiring his family for his campaigns. Those seem to be the horrible crimes that the Democrats are accusing Delay. Get your own house in order before you start pointing fingers.
Posted by: VCRW on April 22, 2005 03:39 PMYou job as a paid lobbyist for the Democrat party will soon be ending. All your patrons are going to jail!
Posted by: VCRW on April 22, 2005 03:45 PMWow, the Dems must be in worse shape than I thought.
Posted by: ScottM on April 22, 2005 04:31 PMI am assuming Nelson must get paid. No one could actually be stupid enough to beleive the rubbish that comes from his keyboard. In the 2004 elections the Democrat couldn't get volunteers so the AFLCIO had to pay college students to stand out in front of West Lake Center distributing propaganda. I know, I asked several of them about it.
Nelson has to hurl at least 20 insults at Republicans a day or he doesn't eat.
Posted by: VCRW on April 22, 2005 04:35 PMMany many more voters are now aware of the opportunities for mischief, screwups, and cheating, so there is that much more pressure to eliminate those gaps.
Many more voters must have also noticed by now which party defends these gaps and which doesn't.
I doubt the election margin will be so close next time. After all, as Hugh Hewitt said, if it's not close, they can't cheat. And people really really don't like being ripped off.
Posted by: Bostonian on April 22, 2005 04:59 PM"polling place inspectors (who were appointed by the Democrat Party this year) got blank ballots to take home on Friday before the election; the number is known only to the nearest 20. The inspectors were not asked to account for and return any remaining unused ballots after the polls closed. They were simply instructed to destroy them."
You just have to wonder how many of those inspector blank ballots got filled in and run through the vote reader machine as provisional ballots or mystery ballots.
FRAUD, FRAUD, FRAUD, FRAUD
Note to self, don't bank where Ron Sims banks as this was not an expample of accuracy that would make a bank proud.
Posted by: Bob on April 22, 2005 05:25 PMRCW 29A.44.270
Unused ballots.
At each precinct immediately after the last qualified voter has cast his or her vote, the precinct election officers shall render unusable and secure in a container all unused ballots for that precinct and return them to the county auditor.
Possible answers:
(a) The least reliable source of information about the laws which govern a bureaucrat's job is the bureaucrat whose job is governed by those laws. (That is, Logan doesn't know beans about election laws.)
(b) Obeying the law reduces the opportunity for stuffing the ballot boxes.
(c) (This space intentionally left blank for the more creative of you to fill in.)
Posted by: Micajah on April 22, 2005 05:37 PMI almost had to pull over when I heard this on the car radio today! Especially the part about the Poll inspectors taking blank ballots home!! These are the same Poll inspectors who thought it was OK to feed Provisional ballots through the accuvote machines! (As verified by their notes on the polling documents)
After listening to the attitude of Logan on those KC Canvass tapes....It is my belief that he..
1. Does not know election law
2. Does not care to know election law..unless he can spin it..
3. Tried very hard to get every *questionable* ballot approved....
Todays revelations are incredible! (Incredible because the Democrats actually thought they could get away with this!)
Posted by: Deborah on April 22, 2005 06:33 PMWell, LARRY AND BLONDE COUNCILWOMAN, you owe Steve and the Republicans one big apology right about now. We're waiting......Hey, we all ought to email Larry Phillips and badger him to do just that.
Meanwhile, at the governor's mansion: X-tine o'Gregoirov is feeling more and more sorry that she didn't agree to Dino's suggestion up front for a revote, as the humiliation of being kicked out of the governor's mansion will be so embarrassing that she'll wish she hadn't moved in in the first place....
She'll go down in shame like she never imagined. But she reaped this. Now she'll sow it.
Posted by: Michele on April 22, 2005 10:50 PMThe great thing is, the Dems have tried to draw this thing out, but it has only served to keep the bad news for Ron Sims and Dean Logan in front of the public that much longer.
Posted by: Michele on April 22, 2005 10:59 PMWe could have a video tape of Dean handing out blank ballots 'on demand' to Mexican citizens while Ron lites a bong with Republican ballots and Queen G turns tricks for homeless votes and still these people would cling to power. They will point fingers, garner sympathy, deny, delay and distract until it is safe to make their big Marion Berry comeback.
Progressive DemoRATs tolerate diverse crimes.
Posted by: Splatter on April 23, 2005 12:57 AMAnother total effort to deflect from the what Logan's crew actually did vs. what the law and their own policies and procedures require and what they attested to before certification.
When will we read about the trumped up absentee ballot reconciliations where Weird Al "plugged" numbers to make it balance???????
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on April 23, 2005 10:20 AM'I love it when a plan (like catching all the LIARS ) comes together.'
Cut and Dried, Black and White.
End of DNC OBSTRUCTION!?
For those who are intimidated by having to prove their identity, too bad. It's part of your responsibility for your participation in the system. In our society you have rights, but you also have responsibilities. We have people giving their lives to protect our society. It's not too much to ask someone to prove their identity to be able to vote.
Posted by: PW on April 23, 2005 04:55 PMMy old country was (unfortunately) a part of former Eastern Europe. It was a common sense of the oppressed people (under Socialism/Communism) to use that saying. The saying is very true - if you don't want to be stained with 'shit' you do not associate yourself with 'it' or do any bussiness with 'it'. That goes for the trolls like Nelson, Headless, etc.
Posted by: E.W. on April 23, 2005 11:27 PM