Vote Tampering in Georgia / Florida Media Cover-up
Ezekiel J. Krahlin
11-29-00: Vote tampering in Georgia and a media cover-up in Florida?
By Bev Conover
November 29, 2000 | In the ever-escalating revelations about Election
2000, two more potential bombshells for the Republicans turned up in
our mailbox this morning: What appears to be vote tampering in Georgia
and an effort by the media to cover up Florida Governor Jeb Bush's and
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris's alleged adulterous
affair.
Apologies if this sounds like Drudge sludge, but, unlike the notorious
Matt, we don't make this stuff up and the implications of a Jeb-Harris
affair go beyond anything Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky did. The
Florida governor, after all, is the brother of the Texas governor who
has anointed himself president-elect thanks to Harris who certified
him as the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes.
But first the Georgia incident in the words of our source:
"The machine they sent me to was not working properly. That's the
first time this has ever happened to me. No matter how hard I
punched, I couldn't get the needle to go through to make a hole at all
(yet, curiously, there was a satisfying but erroneous sound as if the
needle were going all the way through). Then, imagine my surprise
when I pulled out the only partially-punched ballot to check it,
numbers against names, only to find that the machine had deftly
misaligned my card so that I had voted for one person above each name
I had actually intended, including that it made me vote for shrub for
prez. I was shocked beyond words! I could NOT believe this had
happened. I immediately sought a new ballot, complained about the
machine, and wondered what the hell was going on that they left an
obviously defective machine in place all day like that... The poll
workers said that our poll
had long lines all day; and that this machine had been 'working fine
all day -- as far as [they] knew.'
"I've voted all over the country, never missed a chance once ever
since I was legal to vote, and I'm 50 now -- such an odd thing has
never happened. Then, the poll workers said, no problem, they would
tell people 'not to use the machine, that it indeed was broken.' Ah,
but they did nothing to take it out of action (they did not move it
back, cover it, put a sign on it, nothing). It stayed right there in
the middle of the other machines, obviously to be left in full use. I
felt powerless to do anything more about it. The poll was rather busy
and confused, so I took some names, as this distressed me.
"And as I left the poll, I had an eerie feeling. I was quite struck
by the whole thing in a very funny way (intuition?). This was still
election day (late afternoon), before all the other stories started
pouring in. You can imagine how I felt when I heard what had happened
to others.
"Do I believe there was a concerted effort to have some machines
rigged so that the ballot goes askew, making you vote for the wrong
candidate (such as Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan in [Palm Beach
County] Florida)? You bet. Not a doubt in my mind that all of this
cannot possibly be 'coincidence,' or old and imperfect machines, or
confused people, or anything regular at all. Not a doubt in my mind."
An isolated incident? Coincidence? Either seems a stretch in view of
what we know happened in Florida. The corporatist major media, though,
are playing deaf, dumb and blind about what went on in other states,
while letting every Republican hack repeat the lie ad nauseum how the
Florida vote was counted, recounted and counted again - that is, when
the media aren't beating the Bush drum to force Al Gore into
conceding.
Little by little, it's all seeping out. Florida. Texas. Georgia.
Tennessee…
The Tennessee Tribune reported:
"African-American voters in Nashville cited missing pages in books at
Gra-Mar Elementary voting precinct. African-Americans in Chattanooga,
Brownsville, and Maury County reportedly went to vote at familiar
spots, then found that suddenly these locations were no longer
designated voting sites. Some voters in Memphis have signed and
submitted affidavits saying that they were turned away despite having
proper credentials, and that rosters were being purged of eligible
voters. Memphis has also reportedly been one location where voters
who participated in the motor-voter registration program were not
allowed to vote either if they didn't know their particular precinct
or their names couldn't be found on the list.
"There are also several reports of mistreatment involving students in
Nashville and Wilson County. Some student voters in Wilson County
charged they were told to either remove NAACP signs from their
vehicles or move their vans from the premises. Nashville students
assert they were denied the chance to vote although they were
registered.
"Some voters have even reported incidents that smack of overt
discrimination. African-Americans cited one instance in Murfreesboro
where white voters were placed ahead of a black women, and an official
reportedly said, 'You (African-Americans) know what it means to sit at
the back of the bus.'
If the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of voters wasn't
enough, another source alleges, "Newsweek is sitting on allegations
that Jeb Bush and Kat Harris have had an adulterous affair" and that
CNN has instructed its newswriters "not to report the affair."
The source claimed the following was issued "Tuesday in cnni.readme (a
constantly updated file on CNN's computer network):"
"Guidance
"Newsweek has an item on an alleged personal relationship among two of
the top players in Florida. Under NO circumstances should this be
reported on CNN without the approval of senior management.
"We'd also recommend that we be prepared in case this gets brought up
during a live interview or news conference."
If this allegation proves to be true and even the Bushes can't keep it
buried forever, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why
George W. and the Republicans are screaming for Gore to concede.
Surely even William Bennett would scream, "Where's the outrage?" if
Jeb Bush, who promised to deliver Florida to his big brother, and
Katherine Harris, who had the gall to tell the Florida Supreme Court
it was wrong as she brazenly certified the election results to give
George W. Florida's 25 electoral votes, were sleeping together.
"CNN and the rest of the media are digging hard -- but they're
squelching it from the public until they can cover their tails," said
our source.
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