Religions > Atheism > Republicans in Ohio More Crooked Than the Ones In Florida. Is Such A Thing Possible?
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Michelle Malkin" |
| Date: |
28 Jan 2006 04:50:29 PM |
| Object: |
Republicans in Ohio More Crooked Than the Ones In Florida. Is Such A Thing Possible? |
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 07:28:12 -0800
From: Zepp <zepp@finestplanet.com>
Subject: #Ms. Noe's own scandal: Wife of Ohio GOP fundraiser does some
election reform of her own
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Ms._Noes_Own_Scandal_Wife_of_Ohio_GOP_fundraiser_does_some_election_reform_of_her_ow_0801.html
*Ms. Noe's own scandal: Wife of Ohio GOP fundraiser does some election
reform of her own*
*Larisa Alexandrovna*
In yet another surreal twist in Ohio's "coin-gate" scandal, the wife of
Bush's chief Ohio fundraiser, Tom Noe-who is currently embroiled in
campaign finance and money laundering probes-surprised poll workers and
observers alike by disrupting the ballot count during the 2004 general
election, RAW STORY <http://rawstory.com> has discovered.
Bernadette Noe, who served dual roles as chairman for the Lucas County
Republican Party and the Lucas County Board of Elections, sent twelve
"partisans" into a warehouse on Election Day, according a memo authored
by Ohio's Director of Campaign Finance Richard Weghorst who was present
at the time.
The assertion is part of a comprehensive investigation prepared for Ohio
Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell regarding reports of
irregularities in Lucas County. The report found gross failures on the
part of Ms. Noe's board in preparation for and administration of
November's election. (Read the memo in PDF
<http://rawstory.com/other/pdfs/lucasinquiryrawstory.pdf>)
The Board was "directly responsible for the inefficient and unorganized
election process" in the county, the report said. Weghorst found they
had failed to lock and secure ballots and voting machines; manipulated
the three percent hand recount; and failed to properly remove Ralph
Nader from county ballots.
But perhaps the most striking event directly linked to Ms. Noe was what
Weghorst described as "a note-worthy incident relating to security" on
the evening of the election.
Weghorst, who was present at a local warehouse where ballots were being
tabulated, says in his report that "two groups of partisan volunteers
totaling approximately twelve people" arrived, whose "purpose for being
there was not immediately known nor requested."
When the volunteers refused to leave the premises, Weghorst called the
police, who then escorted the group away from the warehouse. It later
emerged they had come at Ms. Noe's request.
A Diebold employee, Robert Diekmann, was also present at the warehouse
that night.
*Ms. Noe and the machines*
Ms. Noe was an advocate of Diebold's optical scan software as chair of
the Lucas County Board of Elections. In April 2004, she and another
fellow Republican board member voted to approve a $350,000 contract with
Diebold to lease machines for the election. The county was forced the
lease the equipment after a deadlock and a rebuke from Blackwell.
"It's going to cost us more than we thought it would, but it's going to
be a fair election," Ms. Noe said
<http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040622/NEWS09/406220342&SearchID=732159619585>
at the time. "I am confident with the system we will have with Diebold."
"Every vote is going to get counted, and it is going to be an efficient
election," she added.
The contract was no-bid. After Democrats on the board revealed a cheaper
bid from another company, the Lucas County board was forced to open the
contract for bidding, over Ms. Noe's objections
<http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040624/NEWS09/406240414&SearchID=732159571969>.
The contract was eventually awarded to Diebold.
Diebold has faced scrutiny in Ohio, particularly after comments
<http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0828-08.htm> by the firm's
chief executive in 2003 to Ohio Republicans in which he declared he was
"committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president
next year."
One Ohio election official recently admitted
<http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Diebold_lobbyist_tried_to_bribe_Ohio_county_with__0716.html>
a Diebold lobbyist offered him $10,000 in an effort to woo the county to
purchase Diebold machines, which he diverted to the local Republican Party.
*Additional allegations against Ms. Noe*
Reminiscent of an account reported on by RAW STORY <http://rawstory.com>
regarding ballot tampering in Clermont County
<http://gnn.tv/headlines/947/_Why_were_there_stickers_on_ballots_in_Clermont_County_Ohio>,
Ohio, Ms. Noe was involved in an incident through which Republican
volunteers were brought in to "assist" processing returned voter
confirmation postcards. On her authority and that of several other board
members, partisan volunteers were allowed to copy the returned cards.
They were subsequently caught by a Lucas County Democratic official
peeling the return stickers off the voter confirmation cards, and were
told to leave. Weghorst's inquiry found no evidence they had been
supervised.
The investigator's report was submitted in April 2005.
Bernadette Noe resigned from the Lucas County Republican Party and from
her position as head of the Board of Elections in December, saying she
wanted to spend more time with her family.
In April, the Toledo Blade reported
<http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050701/NEWS24/50701016>
Ms. Noe acted improperly as chairman of the Lucas County Republican
Party in accepting $65,000 in loans for the party from her husband. She
is also involved in a scandal surrounding an aide to Ohio governor Bob
Taft (R) staying for a reduced rate at her vacation home
<http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050731/SRRARECOINS/307310018>.
Bernadette Noe is married to the now-infamous
<http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050403/NEWS24/504030349>
Tom Noe, who invested millions of dollars of state funds into rare coins
and who is currently the target of a wide-ranging inquiry. Noe, a Bush
Pioneer, also allegedly laundered money into President Bush's reelection
campaign by paying others to donate.
Tom Noe, the owner of several shady business ventures, including Vintage
Coins and Collectibles, funneled an estimated fifty million dollars into
his own personal and business accounts as well as to the state's GOP
candidates. Noe's rare coin venture came at the expense of The Ohio
Bureau of Workers' Compensation, for whom he acted as the sole fund manager.
The Noe coin scandal has widened to include investigations into Taft as
well as other GOP candidates from across the state, including several
Ohio Supreme Court justices.
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) is expected to ask the Justice Department to
appoint a special counsel today.
"The facts that have come out indicate a culture of corruption in the
Ohio Republican Party," Conyers in a statement to RAW STORY
<http://rawstory.com>. "An investigation such as this, which is rife
with conflicts of interest, begs for the appointment of an independent
prosecutor who would be immune from the partisan gamesmanship we have
seen so far."
Conyers' letter to the Justice Department is available here
<http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Conyers_to_call_for_special_prosecutor_to_investigate_Noe__0801.html>.
#
For additional reading on the ongoing investigation, see the following
references:
Special Counsel sought in Noe case
<http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050801/SRRARECOINS/308010013>
Taft stays mum
<http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050731/SRRARECOINS/307310018>
Noe Transfers $3.8 Million to his own firm
<http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050723/SRRARECOINS/50723003/-1/SRRARECOINS2>
Rare Coin Fund spurs calls to revise Ohio law
<http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050406/NEWS24/504060400>
--
"Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking
about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has
changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're
talking about getting a court order before we do so"
-George W. Bush, April 20, 2004
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Pay your taxes so the rich don't have to.
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--
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BAAWA Knight & Bible Thumper Thumper
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| User: "J Young" |
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| Title: Re: Republicans in Ohio More Crooked Than the Ones In Florida. Is Such A Thing Possible? |
29 Jan 2006 11:15:52 PM |
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"Michelle Malkin" <hypatiab7@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:nPWdnYn6dty7aEbeRVn-rA@comcast.com...
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 07:28:12 -0800
From: Zepp <zepp@finestplanet.com>
Subject: #Ms. Noe's own scandal: Wife of Ohio GOP fundraiser does some
election reform of her own
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Ms._Noes_Own_Scandal_Wife_of_Ohio_GOP_fundraiser_does_some_election_reform_of_her_ow_0801.html
Are you people ever going to stop crying about losing the election? My
candidate didn't win either and I got over it that same day.
.
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