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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Michigan Daily

FBI investigating handling of Detroit ballots
Print | E-mail | Letter to the editor

Published November 10, 2005

DETROIT (AP) - The Justice Department is investigating allegations that votes were cast in the names of dead people and that the city clerk improperly helped incapacitated people to vote by absentee ballot.


At the request of the FBI, Chief Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Mary Beth Kelly late Tuesday ordered the secretary of state to preserve all absentee ballots, the applications to get them and the envelopes in which they were sent.

The order, which came shortly before the polls closed Tuesday, said the ballots must be held by the state after being counted.

"Now we can be satisfied that the ballots will be there and that the documents will be there," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Helland, who sought the order, said after the hearing.

The judge also ordered preservation of records of City Clerk Jackie Currie's Project Vote program, in which ambassadors go into the community and help senior citizens and disabled people prepare absentee ballots. Records to be preserved include Project Vote telephone logs and weekly work-force reports of the project's volunteers.

Steven Reifman, attorney for Currie, called the order an unnecessary intrusion into the clerk's power and said the FBI investigation is based on allegations from a disgruntled candidate who has sued Currie.

"I think it is much ado about nothing," Reifman said.

Meanwhile, Currie lost her re-election Tuesday to challenger Janice Winfrey. With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Winfrey had 53 percent to 47 percent for Currie.

The state and Wayne County reviewed about 45,000 absentee ballot applications and determined that 1,500 to 2,000 apparently were handled by ambassadors, the state and county said.

Last week, Kelly ruled that Currie had been breaking state law in how she handles absentee ballots. The judge ordered the secretary of state and the Wayne County clerk to oversee the absentee ballots.

On Tuesday, a three-judge Michigan Court of Appeals panel denied Reifman's emergency request to return oversight of absentee ballots back to Currie.

Currie's appeal accused Kelly of violating due process by "running the proceedings in an 'ambush' mode, leading to the 'kangaroo court' style proceedings and the 'witch hunt' that has ensued."

The motion, filed on behalf of Currie and the City of Detroit Election Commission, said Kelly lacked jurisdiction in the matter. It also said Kelly improperly reinstated portions of an order deemed "null and void" by the appeals court and ignored violations of Federal Voting Rights statutes and the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

On Friday, Kelly held an emergency hearing and said there was credible testimony that Currie's workers violated a previous court order to stop the ambassador program.

Earlier, Kelly found Currie guilty of criminal contempt of court for defying her order and mailing 132,000 absentee ballot applications to people who didn't request them.

Kelly made her rulings in a lawsuit filed by Maureen Taylor, a City Council candidate who lost in the August primary but sued alleging that fraud kept her from winning or getting a recount.

Stephen Wasinger, attorney for Taylor, said he could not believe that Currie's office opposed preservation of the records.

"I can't understand why a public official would not want documents maintained," he said.

In late October, The Detroit News reported that Currie's handling of absentee ballots was questionable. The newspaper found that people cast ballots even though they listed addresses at abandoned nursing homes or in one case, a vacant lot. The paper also said a master voter list included people who died or left Detroit.
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Problems encountered in counting absentee ballots
Print | E-mail | Letter to the editor

BY THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Published November 8, 2001

DETROIT (AP) Absentee ballots in the city"s election were still being tallied yesterday after a problem counting absentee ballots halted the process for hours.


Paul Wong


Elections officials temporarily stopped their count shortly after noon Tuesday, after the state said the city failed to use software designed to identify flawed ballots.

The count resumed at 7 p.m., City Clerk Jackie Currie said.

"The votes will be counted and everybody who voted by absentee, as long as they didn"t overvote, their votes will be counted," Mayor Dennis Archer said.

Secretary of State spokeswoman Elizabeth Boyd said elections officials expected to be finished counting the absentee ballots by noon yesterday.

Despite the counting problems, Kwame Kilpatrick defeated Gil Hill to become one of the youngest elected mayors in Detroit"s history.

With 91 percent of precincts reporting, Kilpatrick had 104,287 votes or 54 percent to Hill"s 88,992 votes or 46 percent.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Cynthia Stephens ordered the clerk"s office to count the absentee ballots using the state-mandated software, including re-counting 13,000 ballots that already had been tabulated using an electronic scanning system.

In order to make sure every vote counts, state officials directed clerks to use software that kicks out problem ballots, allowing clerks to determine if it is a valid vote, state elections director Chris Thomas said.

The state did not order the city to stop counting absentee ballots, but told them to start using the software, he said. Regular ballots from polling places were not affected.

Flawed ballots include so-called overvotes, in which too many candidates are selected for a specific race, and ballots that are filled out by a pen or pencil that can"t be read by a machine.

Overvoting one race did not void an entire ballot, so few if any ballots would be thrown out entirely, Currie said. She did not know how many absentee ballots contained errors.

State officials found out Tuesday morning that Detroit election workers weren"t following the state"s mandate, Thomas said.

"The fact that it must be implemented is not their option," he said.

"We have uniform standards, and we certainly intend to enforce them," Secretary of State Candice Miller said.

Currie, who was running for re-election, said earlier that city officials started using the same procedures Tuesday that they had used during the September primary. They had no indication there was a problem until the state intervened in the middle of the count, she said.
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 7:25 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Similar Pages


Why elected officials should not comment on blogs | Middle of the Left

Jul 10, 2014 ... At that point, Golembiewski said, the mistake was missed – by him and by ... The
Michigan Bureau of Election says that the votes on the incorrect ... This is not just
a city election where our city clerk is in charge of the ballots.

http://www.middleoftheleft.com/why-elected-officials-should-not-comment-on-blogs/ - 56k
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 7:33 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Why elected officials should not comment on blogs

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Middleoftheleft



Should elected officials comment on blogs or underneath news articles? Do they give up their right to speak once they are elected to office? Normally, they do not, but sometimes their comments can create a perception that is unintentional…or is it?

cfBackground

The entire Dascola saga is a complete clusterf**k!!!!!

In previous posts here and here, I wrote about why I was upset that Bob Dascola was suing the City of Ann Arbor in order to run for city council even though he did not meet the residency eligibility requirements in our city charter. Now thanks to our County Clerk’s office we have an election nightmare that no one could have imagined.

After all the court filings and judge decisions that allowed Dascola to run for city council, the county clerk’s office screws up and omits Dascola’s name from the absentee ballots that were sent out. Notice that I said WERE SENT OUT.

The Civic News ticker on the Ann Arbor Chronicle reported this:

Dascola’s name was initially not included in the information provided to the county’s third-party ballot programmer – Government Business Systems (GBS). But when a federal court ruling was made last month on May 20, 2014, that the city charter’s eligibility requirements were not enforceable, the new Ward 3 candidate slate – including Dascola – was provided to GBS. Proofs of the ballots were then sent to the county clerk and the city clerk as well as to the candidates. Those proofs included Dascola’s name – so the ballots survived those checks.

Then, a change to the ballots was requested by the city of Ypsilanti – to remove city council races from Ypsilanti ballots where there was not a contested race. This is a city charter provision – that when there’s not more than one candidate for a primary race, it’s not included on the ballot. But instead of removing the Ypsilanti council races, GBS removed the city of Ann Arbor council races. The proofing process identified that error. But in restoring the Ann Arbor city council races to the ballot, GBS reverted to the initial slate – which did not include Dascola’s name.

At that point, Golembiewski said, the mistake was missed – by him and by the county election commission, which consists of the county clerk (Larry Kestenbaum), county treasurer (Catherine McClary) and the chief probate judge (Darlene O’Brien). A resident who received the incorrect ballot identified the error.

Un-frickin-believable!!

ballotThere were 400 incorrect absentee (AV) ballots mailed out to voters. A correct ballot was mailed to each of these voters along with instructions to use this replacement ballot to vote or to send in this ballot as a replacement in case the incorrect ballot was already cast.

So what happens now if a voter files an incorrect ballot but never sends in the correct ballot? The Michigan Bureau of Election says that the votes on the incorrect ballot will be counted. As reported by Ryan Stanton on mlive.com¹:

“The Bureau of Elections reviewed the matter further and determined that a vote cast for a Ward 3 City Council candidate via an incorrect ballot will be counted if a voter does not send in a corrected ballot,” said Fred Woodhams, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of State.

“Voters who cast votes in Ward 3 and only return the original ballot cannot have their votes voided due to the ballot printing error,” reads the official letter from Christopher Thomas, the state’s director of elections, to the city clerk on Monday.

“Each of the voters is being given an opportunity to cast a replacement ballot and every attempt should be made to encourage these voters to return the replacement ballot,” he added. “However, there may be voters who would not change their vote in Ward 3 or will be out of town and unable to return the replacement ballot by Election Day. Neither situation can result in the disenfranchisement of these voters.”

So now once again Dascola and his lawyer Tom Wieder are suing the city in federal court to insist that all incorrectly printed ballots not be counted. Yes, they are suing the city, not the county, but the city. It appears now that the city wants the court to decide how the ballots will be counted, but we shall see what actually happens in the next couple of weeks as the case proceeds through the court.

Election Commission responsibilities

According to the ELECTION OFFICIALS’ MANUAL, Michigan Bureau of Elections, Chapter 9, Updated January 2014 (excerpts)

Election ballots must always be carefully proofed to ensure that 1) they conform to all required legal and technical standards and 2) they are free of errors and omissions. The importance of the ballot proofing cannot be over emphasized!

County Election Commission’s Responsibilities: Ballots prepared for use at federal, state and countywide elections and certain school district elections are printed by the authority of the County Election Commission.

Local Election Commission’s Responsibilities: Ballots prepared for use at city, township, village and certain school district elections are printed by the authority of the City, Township or County Election Commission.

Before the ballots are printed, the printer returns copies of the ballots to the appropriate Election Commission. The Commission is responsible for checking the various proof ballots to make sure that they are free of errors and omissions.

Proofing ballots is a tedious and time-consuming task – but the problems and embarrassment a complete proofing job can save on Election Day makes the task well worth the effort. If the Commission delegates ballot proofing to members of the clerk’s staff, the task should be assigned to those in the office with the best eye for detail.

Responsibilities of Candidates and Department of State: Immediately after the proof ballots are delivered to the Election Commission, they forward the proofs to the Department of State’s Bureau of Elections in Lansing for approval. The Commission also sends each candidate a proof ballot which lists the candidate’s name.

The Department of State’s Bureau of Elections inspects the form of the proof ballots received from each Election Commission. (The Bureau of Elections does not check candidate name spellings or that all required offices are on the ballot.) If the ballots are in the proper form, the Bureau of Elections grants its approval of the ballots; if the ballots are not in the proper form, the Bureau of Elections forwards the necessary corrections to the Commission

Final Inspection by the County Election Commission: After the ballots are printed, they are given a final inspection by the County Election Commission. If the ballots pass the final inspection, they are wrapped and delivered to the county clerk. The county clerk is then responsible for the delivery of the ballots to the local jurisdictions in the county. If convenient, the county clerk can arrange for the printer to send the ballots to the local jurisdictions. The printer must not ship ballots to local jurisdictions before the County Election Commission has inspected the ballots a final time. It is strongly recommended that the city or township clerk carefully inspect the ballots again after the ballots are received on the local level to make sure that the County Election Commission has not overlooked an error or omission on the ballot.

Correction of Ballot Errors and Omissions After Ballots are Printed: The objective of the ballot proofing procedures is, of course, to spot and correct all ballot errors and omissions before the ballots are printed. If a ballot error or omission is found after the ballots have been printed, the County Election Commission must reprint the ballots before the election if feasible. If it is determined that the reprinting of ballots is not feasible, the Michigan Department of State’s Bureau of Elections should be contacted immediately for further instruction. It should be noted that a candidate can, under certain circumstances, petition for an election to be held again by mail if a ballot defect is found after the polls open on Election Day. (MCL 168.831-839)

This is not just a city election where our city clerk is in charge of the ballots.. The county clerk/county election commission is the one responsible for the final ballot proofing and for the printing of the ballots for this election. So why is the city getting sued instead of the county? I think it is because the city runs the elections and counts the ballots, but the county clerk’s office prints the ballots. Despite the fact that the county clerk’s office is the party that screwed up, the city has to handle the fallout.

gavel2On July 9, 2014 the City of Ann Arbor responded to the lawsuit by filing this brief with the court. (as posted on the Ann Arbor Chronicle). What is interesting in it is that the city was never given a proof of the ballot after the initial mistake. It was all handled behind the scenes. Yet Dascola and his lawyer keep insinuating that this was the city’s fault.

My issue

My first problem with this is that the Larry Kestenbaum, our County Clerk, has been silent about this whole situation. At least I have not seen or read any public statement from him. The buck should stop with him. He needs to explain how this could happen.

Considering everything the city went through with the court hearing about the eligibility requirements, you would think that he would step up and explain that the mistake happened on his watch and had nothing to do with the city or the previous court case and decision. But we hear silence. He is throwing the city clerk under the bus in order to save his hide.

When the ballot was corrected due to the Ann Arbor/Ypsi races being edited incorrectly the city clerk was never presented with a second ballot to proof. Why not? Should she have to always second guess the competence of the county clerk’s office and check and re-check all their work instead of trusting that her counterparts are doing their jobs after she already proofed the city ballot? No, she shouldn’t have to, but I bet she will do that now and forevermore.

Was the rest of the county election commission told of the omission and the correction related to the City of Ypsilanti? It appears that they just blindly assumed everything was normal. Why didn’t Larry Kestenbaum who is part of the county election commission explain what happened? And if he did explain, then why didn’t the election commission notice the mistake? We deserve some public answers.

Was this simply a mistake? Was this incompetence? Was this intentional? I hope not.

You can’t make this stuff up or can you?

Normally, I would just chuck this up to “you can’t make this stuff up” sort of weird circumstance, but I gotta tell you….. Larry Kestenbaum likes to comment on blogs/websites. He does it often and even gives quotes about his opinion on elections to local media. Plus, he likes to support specific candidates openly in elections that occur under his watch. He likes to support candidates who are listed in races on ballots that he and his office are responsible for printing.

That is all well and good until…..the county clerk’s office screws up and you now look biased or worse.

Larry Kestenbaum wrote this under an Ann Arbor Chronicle article regarding the Dascola win in court:

By Larry Kestenbaum
May 20, 2014 at 5:35 pm | permalink
I am very pleased to see this result, and I am just baffled as to why the city government sought to enforce this void requirement.
In 1999, I was able to run for city council from the 4th ward, even though I had not been a registered voter in that ward for the supposedly required one year. In other words, the city used the rule against Bob Dascola, but not against me!
Kudos to Tom Wieder for his handling of this case.
Thanks also to the judge for a timely ruling. We will soon be printing ballots for the August 5th primary.

(There were 2 residency requirements in the charter. One was residency in the ward, the other was registered voter in the city. I don’t know the details of Kestenbaum assertion, but obviously he met one of the requirements. Is he asserting he was given a known “pass” or was it just unknown by the city clerk 15 years ago.)
Perception: Old lady or young lady
Perception: Old lady or young lady

So it appears that Kestenbaum is a Dascola supporter. Would 400 disqualified AV ballots help his preferred candidate? Considering he is the underdog in this race I think so. You decide. It sure has the look of impropriety to me even if there is none there. Does perception influence reality? Does perception determine reality?

Kestenbaum’s comments about Dascola are now read in a different light now that his office may have given Dascola up to 400 votes if the court rules that no incorrectly printed ballots can be counted.

ann_arbor_observer_coverKestenbaum is also featured in a Ann Arbor Observer July 2014 article speaking about the judge races for the August 14 election. He gives his opinion on who has the better chance at prevailing in the election and who he endorses. Really? Is this appropriate? Should the person in charge of printing the local election ballots be giving his opinion on who is his preferred candidate or on who might win the race?

Some would argue that the county clerk is still a voter and should be allowed his opinion no matter what, but don’t you think that the county clerk’s office above any other political office locally should stay neutral in the races that the clerk’s office is responsible for listing on the ballots? Especially after this situation. What happens if another ‘mistake’ happens in a race that he has publicly made comments on?

Those of us who work in the private sector would never be allowed to comment publicly about our work in such a fashion. Should teachers be able to publicly comment about how well certain students perform on tests in their classrooms…before they even take the test? Would an employee at company A be able to post all over the internet how company B has better products and yet still be able to keep their job at Company A? I think not.

I am not actually saying that Kestenbaum did this on purpose, intentionally, with any ill will in mind, but the pro-Dascola commenting along with his comments in news articles sure makes you ponder the question. It sure makes him look biased. Too biased in my opinion for him to be in charge of elections that require neutrality and fairness. Too biased for him and his office to make such an egregious mistake with the ballot printing.

Yes, I know that this is a partisan office, but maybe it shouldn’t be? Of all elected officials, the one who runs the elections and prints the ballots should be neutral in the race, don’t ya think? Judges, who are elected on the non-partisan ballot, must stay neutral in elections why not have the county clerk’s office be non-political as well

The Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct says judges and judicial candidates should refrain from political activity that is “inappropriate to judicial office.” It also says they shouldn’t make speeches on behalf of a political party or nonjudicial candidate or publicly endorse a candidate for nonjudicial office. (but they can endorse for judicial races)

Notice I said non-political NOT non-partisan necessarily. Or maybe we can still elect them on a partisan ballot, but include an ethics or integrity clause in their job description that says they have limited public political behavior just like the judges have. Why not?

I wish Kestenbaum and the county clerk’s office would be more vocal and public about how this happened. I wish they would take real responsibility instead of indirectly insinuating that the city clerk was at fault. Dascola and his lawyer have now responded to the City’s response brief regarding the new lawsuit and are trying to pin the blame directly on the city. The county clerk’s office could and should set the record straight.

I don’t like it when any elected official comments on articles and blogs especially on controversial topics. Yes, they can add information to the conversation or correct errors that others may be propagating, but they should not be strident in their activism. They should not argue or debate the public in a forum setting. They should not show that their mind is made up before all the facts about an issue are brought forward. They are supposed to listen to the public and take all opinions in to consideration. How can they actually listen if their strident opinions are being forced on to the public in a comment under an article or a blog? Some of our current elected officials can’t seem to figure out the difference between adding facts and information and being strident and accusatory. I tend to really dislike it.

Elected officials should not comment on blogs or news articles IMO. As I said before, giving facts and information is good, debating the public not so good, showing bias not so good. It hurts the integrity of the office they hold and can set them up for a public relations disaster such as we now have with the Dascola ballot fiasco. You may think you have the right to speak your mind, but when your actions call the integrity of your office in to question, whether it is only perception versus reality, then maybe…just maybe…you should stop.

obliti privatorum, publica curate

-MOTL
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 7:37 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

"I don’t like it when any elected official comments on articles and blogs especially on controversial topics. Yes, they can add information to the conversation or correct errors that others may be propagating, but they should not be strident in their activism. They should not argue or debate the public in a forum setting. They should not show that their mind is made up before all the facts about an issue are brought forward. They are supposed to listen to the public and take all opinions in to consideration. How can they actually listen if their strident opinions are being forced on to the public in a comment under an article or a blog? Some of our current elected officials can’t seem to figure out the difference between adding facts and information and being strident and accusatory. I tend to really dislike it. "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I have heard a great deal of criticism about Genesee County Clerk making repeated media comments and speaking at the hearing in Lansing.
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:08 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Burying Heads in Detroit's Recount Sandbox Fail Fixing Problems ...

Sep 25, 2013 ... Michigan System of fair and just elections is at risk. ... fraud and mistakes
occurred in Detroit's Primary Election on August 6th. ... Detroit's Department of
Elections under the guidance of City Clerk Janice M. Winfrey August 6th.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/25/1241208/-Burying-Heads-in-Detroit-s-Recount-Sandbox-Fail-Fixing-Problems-with-Michigan-Elections-System - 166k - Cached
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:19 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Wed Sep 25, 2013 at 12:41 AM PDT.

Burying Heads in Detroit's Recount Sandbox Fail Fixing Problems with Michigan Elections System


by
IUNewsTalkFollow
for
IUNewsTalk.

Originally Published at Independent Underground News & Talk
What's happening in Detroit is a travesty of the highest order. Definitive statements of fact not fiction is necessary to wake up masses at this point. Michigan System of fair and just elections is at risk.

Since March 2013 our alternative news resource - Independent Underground News & Talk - has followed the election process leading up to Detroit's August 6th Primary and beyond. After a contest were The People answers on if Michigan's largest city election was performed with the highest ethics expected by a functional society, others demand silence.


.



Wayne County Board of Canvassers Majority Decisions Add To Existing Election Integrity Questions Wayne County Board of Canvassers (WCBOC) Chair Carol Larkin and Vice Chair Krista Haroutunian. Canvassers Larkin and Haroutunian have made a series of highly questionable decisions impacting the ability to determine if alleged fraud and mistakes occurred in Detroit's Primary Election on August 6th.Canvasser Leatha Larde to date is the sole member of this body raising motions and points of clarity about Detroit's Primary Election August 6th. Canvasser Joseph Xuereb to date has been absent during meetings involving Detroit's recount taken place at Cobo Hall.

The video below recorded on September 17th, Canvassers Larkin and Haroutunian effectively shut down an investigating how twelve computer-generated absentee write-in ballots with candidate Mike Duggan name misspelled as "Micheal Duggan" appeared in one precinct.



WCBOC Meeting 09/17/13 - Recount Detroit Primary Election: Untested/Uncertified AutoMARK Machines - Video Credit - Mac Speaking




Detroit Public School (DPS) Building Engineer Maurice Badgett, Sr. provided testimony before WCBOC upon subpoena. Badgett's entire statement to the WCBOC was interjected when Chair Larkin abruptly adjured the meeting on September 17th.


WCBOC Meeting 09/17/13 - Recount Detroit Primary Election: Public Comments - Maurice Badgett, Sr. - Video Credit - Mac Speaking





Bagdett, Sr.testimony noted The William Beckham Academy in the DPS district was not a precinct location or election ballots transfer point. Anonymous resources informed Independent Underground News & Talk, Detroit Public School Security personnel destroyed security film normally retained for a period of 90 days.

Richard Dooley employed by Sodexho Alliance was also subpoenaed to give his statement before the WCBOC's September 17th. Dooley, represented by legal council at the hearing testified that he did not see or hear anything unusual at school location on August 6th. Soxexho Alliance was granted a contract with DPS for all of district's school properties remote site management after a merger with Universal Ogden Services in 2000 including security at the William Beckham Academy.



Investigation Of Unauthorized Election Challengers Entering Polling Location/Write-In Ballot With Consistent Handwriting Styles Halted

During September 17th WCBOC meeting, Canvasser Leatha Larde made a motion to refer for further investigation the charge that unverified election challengers entered Detroit Primary Precinct locations on August 6th.


WCBOC Meeting 09/17/13 - Recount Detroit Primary Election: Unauthorized Election Challengers - Video Courtesy - Mac Speaking






Unauthorized challengers worked for a organization dubbed as "Citizens for Fair Elections". The "Citizens for Fair Elections" group failed to file the proper paperwork required by Michigan's Statutorial Laws to send volunteer or paid election challengers in polling locations, CFFE workers used unauthorized credentials to query ballots cast for Detroit Mayoral Write-In Candidate, Mike Duggan.


Canvasser Larde motioned for the unauthorized election challenger issue to be sent to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for review. However, the motion failed by a 2 to 1 vote, lacking support from Chair Carol Larkin and Vice-Chair Krista Haroutunian.

Questions exist why write-in ballots with remarkably similar handwriting styles was found in at least one canister opened for review by WCBOC's.

On Monday September 23rd WCBOC Chair Carol Larkin read a letter forwarded on behalf of Robert D. Kullman with East Lansing consulting firm Speckin Forensic Laboratories as testimony before the board and public members in attendance at the meeting.

Chair Larkin recited the following statement on Kullman's behalf, according to the Detroit Free Press.



“My microscopic examinations of handwriting features of each entry on each of the 19 ballots and my side-by-side comparisons of like letters and letter conbinations between the 19 ballots revealed ... there are a number of significant differences between the 19 ballots,” Larkin read from Coleman to the board.
It is unknown if Kullman's statement read by WCBOC Chair Larkin was notarized documentation or the reason the forensic handwriting expert was unable to give his conclusions in person before the Public Board.



Ability To Conduct Election Recounts In Michigan at Peril As Mistakes Made During Detroit Primary Surfaces
For state voters concerned about integrity elections in Detroit and statewide, a measure passed by Michigan's House of Representatives Thursday, September 19, 2013 by a 95 - 9 vote is designed to add up to a 115% usage tax for conducting future recounts. House Bill 4833. Michigan's Senate Chamber has not taken action on measure this week.


In a letter send out on September 17th, obtained by a anonymous resource by IU News & Talk, details how city poll workers are required to attend meetings throughout this week to review errors made during August 6th Primary about tallying of poll books. The letter cited poll workers failing to attend one of scheduled six meetings would risk losing employment opportunities in future elections. Detroit's Department of Elections under the guidance of City Clerk Janice M. Winfrey August 6th.





Detroit Department of Elections 9.17.13 Letter

Photo Credit - Anonymous Resource
The appearance an letter acknowledging mistakes were made on behalf of certain poll workers employed by Detroit's Department of Elections presents a controversial turn in the City's on-going August 6th Election saga. On August 27, 2013, State Elections Director Christopher Thomas and the State Board of Canvassers was summoned to eliminate confusion when WCBOC made its' first attempt to certify Detroit's Primary.
.

"State elections workers dive into Detroit ballots to re-examine write-in votes" - Detroit Free Press - August 27, 2013




Director Thomas in a September 3rd statement to the Detroit Free Press cited Michigan's Board of Canvassers decision to certify the City's Primary corrected a problem should not have occurred.


“This process has stopped the most massive disenfranchisement in the history of this state,” Michigan elections director Christopher Thomas said. “What this board did and what this board agreed to was to correct a problem that should not have occurred.”
So, how did Michigan's Board of Canvassers under the authority of Director Thomas manage to certify a election were some of Detroit's Poll Workers erred to tally write-in votes in poll book unless explanations were given on behalf of these errors?


According to Receiving Board Guidelines provided by the Michigan Department of Elections - last updated October 17, 2012, Corrective Action is required to rectify poll book errors during or directly after an election.



"If the number of name entered into the Poll Book does not balance with the number of ballots counted by the tabulator, a full explanation must be recorded in the Remarks section of the Poll Book. If no explanation was provided, the Receiving Board inspectors should assist the election inspectors in determining the cause of the imbalance and instruct the election inspectors to fully document the cause in the Remarks section of the Poll Book. The remarks must be signed by both the election and Receiving Board inspectors."
According to a statement made to Independent Underground News & Talk by Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey on August 21, 2013, all poll workers with the City's Department of Election were properly trained and prepared to execute their duties.


"We instruct our poll workers to use tally marks just for they don't lose their way in counting," Clerk Winfrey stated. "Sometimes when you are counting large numbers you can forget if I am at 37 or 47, so if you use the tally marks and then go back and count your tally marks it's a way to check your work, if you will."
A comment made on The University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs website by a person named Chris Thomas reveals more questions than answer exist if poll workers were properly trained to tally write-in votes in poll books, and others who might not have been instructed how to perform this task of high importance.


"Regarding training, it is clear the precinct inspectors were trained as there are roughly 615 precincts and 179 didn't use hash marks. Why the 179 didn't use them remains to be seen," Chris Thomas wrote."

Tossing Outstanding Evidence Aside WCBOC Is Set to Certify Detroit Primary Unless A Court of Review Rules Otherwise


Despite outstanding questions about Detroit's August 6th Primary Election, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers is set to certify and end any further investigations into all of the above matters by Thursday, September 26. One of the eight former named Detroit Primary Ballot candidates requesting the recount, Tom Barrow, on September 24, 2013 filed a lawsuit against the WCBOC.


"We have just served the Wayne County Board of Canvassers with a lawsuit demanding that they open the absentee cases and compare the number of ballots to the number of names of people who sent them back!!" former Detroit Mayoral Candidate Barrow wrote on Facebook. Also account for the unused ballots from the printer."
A judicial hearing will be held Wednesday, September 25, 2013 at 9am ET by Judge Robert J. Columbo. The hearing is scheduled will determine if all the absentee voter canisters used during Detroit's August 6th Primary be opened to compare the number ballots received in comparison to official poll book tallies and the handwriting recorded on absentee voter applications..

Tags
Black Kos
Detroit
Election Fraud
Election Integrity
Elections
Elections 2013
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:24 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Union Township ballots recounted following poll worker errors

Nov 5, 2014 ... A delay in Union Township election results was caused by several ballot ... to
quiz three poll workers, the township clerk, township deputy clerk, ...

http://www.themorningsun.com/general-news/20141105/union-township-ballots-recounted-following-poll-worker-errors - 101k - Cached - Similar Pages
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:29 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Union Township ballots recounted following poll worker errors



Lisa Yanick-Jonaitis -- The Morning Sun Carol Rard, chairperson of the Isabella County Board of Canvassers, listens as the election night ballot handling process for Union Township is questions during a review on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014.


By Randi Shaffer, The Morning Sun


Posted: 11/05/14, 5:11 PM EST | Updated: on 11/05/2014
10 Comments




A delay in Union Township election results was caused by several ballot handling errors Tuesday night.




The Isabella County Board of Canvassers met Wednesday afternoon to quiz three poll workers, the township clerk, township deputy clerk, county clerk and attorneys acting on behalf of both the Democratic and Republican parties, on what exactly went wrong during Tuesday’s election.




“The board does not take this lightly,” said Carol Rard, chair of the Isabella County Board of Canvassers. “It’s the sanctity of the vote. That is the one thing that keeps our democracy for the people.”




The board found three issues with Union Township ballots.






Several township ballots were taken from township precincts to the county building without the use of a mandatory locked transfer case, a ballot was counted twice in Precinct 2 and a count on absentee ballots was off by seven ballots.




Ballots from Precinct 2 were retabulated after a poll worker admitted that a ballot was damaged during processing, re-sent through the counting machine and counted twice.




While all voting discrepancies are required to be reported by poll workers, the poll worker in question, Dale Moore, said he did not feel as though the error warranted documentation.




“That should have been noted in the comment section,” Rard said. “Had it been, we would have read it as a group. We would have looked back and it would have made sense to us, and we would have understood what happened.”




The board was also concerned about a seven-vote miscount in absentee ballots.




That was resolved when township representatives stated the count that was turned into the county did not include seven absentee ballots that were turned in throughout Election Day.




Finally, Rard said, the board was concerned that several absentee ballots were taken from the precincts into the county office without the use of a required locked transport box.




The ballots were immediately placed in a county building vault and a security officer was hired to stand guard overnight, and Union Township officials were asked by the board to foot the bill for the security officer.




Township clerk Margie Henry, a Republican, said both she and deputy clerk Peter Galliant, a Democrat, accompanied the ballots from the precincts to the county buildings.




“I think they were looking at expediency ­— I’m only guessing,” Rard said.




Rard said all involved parties concerned, including the attorneys from each party, state representatives, township clerks, county clerk and county canvassing board, were asked about their feelings regarding the validity of the election.




“They all felt ... that the questions were resolved,” Rard said. “Everyone seemed to agree that those questions were answered.”




Rard said that election results will be certified when the board reconvenes 10 a.m. Thursday in the county commission chambers.



About the Author

Randi Shaffer
Randi Shaffer has been the Isabella County reporter for the Morning Sun since 2012. An alumna of CMU, she is in the process of obtaining her MSA degree. Obsessions include hockey, yoga and vegetables. Reach the author at rshaffer@michigannewspapers.com .
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:32 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Fired city clerk suing GR for $1 million | WOODTV.com

Dec 15, 2014 ... United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan clerk Tracey
Cordes told 24 Hour News 8 it's not unheard of for mistakes to be ...

http://woodtv.com/2014/12/15/document-fired-city-clerk-suing-gr-for-1-billion/ - 197k - Cached - Similar Pages
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:35 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A former Grand Rapids city clerk has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the city.

Lauri Parks is suing the city and Mayor George Heartwell for $1 million, according to a federal court document.

The details of the suit haven’t yet been filed with the court, but a docket sheet shows Parks is representing herself and is suing for employment discrimination.

Federal court documents for the suit initially showed Parks was suing for $1 billion — a number either erroneously entered by Parks or her attorney. However, on Tuesday, that number was changed to the actual amount — $1 million. United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan clerk Tracey Cordes told 24 Hour News 8 it’s not unheard of for mistakes to be made on filings, and it happens from time to time. However, in this case, that mistake got a lot of public attention.

Parks — the granddaughter of the city’s only African-American mayor Lyman Parks — was fired in October 2013. City commissioners cited a number of complaints and poor job performance over a number of years. The city hired a private coach to help her, but officials said they didn’t see enough improvement.

“We’ve never done that for anyone else, any appointed city official at any point that I’m aware of in the history of this city. So I would like to say the city commission went out of it’s way to try to ensure that Lauri Parks would succeed as the city clerk,” Mayor Heartwell said in November 2013.

Parks was given two options: She could either leave and receive six months’ salary or take another job at the city that paid close to $80,000 per year, which was a step down from the $95,000-per-year city clerk position. She did not stay on with the city.

Supporters of Parks said at the time that her dismissal was discriminatory. The mayor denied that.

“At no time was Miss Parks’ race or gender a factor in the commission’s decision,” Heartwell said in November 2013.

The city commission appointed Darlene O’Neal to replace Parks as city clerk. She is also African-American.

The city’s statement, sent in an e-mail to 24 Hour News 8 also states the city has not received a lawsuit at this time, if it does, the city will have no comment as it will be considered pending litigation.

24 Hour News 8 was unable to reach Parks and Heartwell for comment Monday. However, Tuesday morning, Grand Rapids Communications Director Steven Guitar released the following statement:


“The City of Grand Rapids has not yet received a reported lawsuit filed by former City Clerk Lauri Parks. If it does, however, the City will have no comment on this matter of pending litigation. The City of Grand Rapids firmly believes that it did everything possible to ensure that Ms. Parks would succeed as the city clerk prior to the decision last year not to reappoint her to a new term of office. The City will review the suit when received and respond appropriately.”



***Editor’s note: Tuesday morning, court documents changed the requested amount in the lawsuit from $1 billion to $1 million. We have updated our story to reflect that change.
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:36 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Michigan's election system needs to be improved | Michigan Radio

Apr 28, 2014 ... Remember back to the nightmare election of 2000, when for five weeks ... were in
Escanaba on Election Day, a clerk could instantly print out a ballot for me ... One
study of two elections in Allegan County showed mistakes and ...

http://michiganradio.org/post/

michigans-election-system-needs-be-improved - 51kMichigan's election system needs to be improved

By Jack Lessenberry • Apr 28, 2014

Remember back to the nightmare election of 2000, when for five weeks after the voting, we did not know who our next president would be?

The culprit, of course was Florida.

You’ve probably seen those photos of confused poll workers trying to recount the ballots, holding defective punch cards up to the light and squinting to see if the holes were punched through.

Well, back then I felt sort of smug. Michigan, I believed, had no real problems as far as elections were concerned. Our state cleaned up a lot of irregularities after a problem with a couple close gubernatorial elections in the 1950s. We avoided punch cards after a disastrous experiment in Detroit in 1970.

I thought we were clean, efficient, state of the art when it came to voting. Well, turns out I was very wrong. I didn’t know how wrong until I attended a presentation the other night by an attorney named Sharon Dolente.

She is director of something called the Michigan Election Coalition, a loose and shifting alliance of organizations from the ACLU to the NAACP to the Sierra Club, plus many voter and election law projects.

With the use of a short and effective PowerPoint presentation, Dolente quickly showed me how wrong I was.

In California, our most populated state, the average time someone had to wait in line to vote in the last presidential election was a mere five minutes, but in Michigan, it was more than 20 minutes.


In crowded urban areas, especially poor ones, the wait time was sometimes four or five hours or more. Many working people can’t take off from their jobs or leave their kids that long, even if they were willing to.

Does that prevent people from voting? Of course it does.

We are, in fact, the sixth-worst state in the nation in this regard.

There are ways to easily fix this problem. We could open the polls and allow early voting on certain days, as Ohio and many other states do. We could simply say that anyone who wants an absentee ballot can have one, a privilege we severely limit today.

The computer technology exists whereby if I were in Escanaba on Election Day, a clerk could instantly print out a ballot for me that would include all my local races 600 miles away.

Most states have modernized their voting registrations and/or election methods in recent years in some way, but not Michigan.

Additionally, Jan BenDor of an allied group, the Michigan Election Reform Alliance, told me our integrity is further threatened by our technology: old machines using unreliable optical-scan tabulators.

One study of two elections in Allegan County showed mistakes and irregularities large enough to change outcomes in some races.

So Michigan elections badly need reforming.

There are few signs of this happening, however. There are those in government with a vested interest in not having more people vote, especially the poor.

Additionally, the Michigan Election Coalition seems too decentralized and weak to have much power to push the lawmakers to do the right thing. But things need to change, both in the interest of simple fairness, and to prevent something from happening to make us a national disgrace.
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:40 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

One study of two elections in Allegan County showed mistakes and irregularities large enough to change outcomes in some races.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looks like the Michigan Legislature has some serious issues to deal with.
Post Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:43 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

http://www.mlive.com/n

Signature challenge could push Burton mayor off November ballot

Roberto Acosta | racosta1@mlive.com By Roberto Acosta | racosta1@mlive.com
Follow on Twitter
on June 04, 2015 at 5:50 AM

BURTON, MI -- A potential problem with signatures on nominating petitions could knock incumbent Mayor Paula Zelenko off the November ballot as she tries for a second four-year term as the city of Burton's top official.

Attorney Glenn Cotton has filed a lawsuit against City Clerk Teresa Karsney, on behalf of mayoral challenger and former Burton City Councilman Danny Wells, stating Karsney did not respond in a timely manner to a Freedom of Information Act request. The suit also claims petitions for Zelenko's re-election bid were not signed by the person who circulated them.

If so, those signatures would be invalid, pushing Zelenko off the November ballot and leading her to file as a write-in candidate.

"We're trying to protect the integrity of the process," said Cotton. "We have election law. Everybody has to play by the same rules. We're going to say that Mrs. Zelenko, we believe, didn't play by those rules."

Cotton said if someone else signed the circulating petitions, the action would constitute a violation of state election law.

Zelenko needed to obtain 42 signatures -- or one-half percent of the number of people who voted for the Secretary of State race in the last election.

"The laws of the state of Michigan are very clear," he said, adding if the allegations are true, Zelenko's name would not appear on the November ballot. "The circulator has to sign the nominating petition."



Wells said the legal action came after he was advised by the state Bureau of Elections a complaint would have to be filed with the city, not Genesee County or the state.

He said he has enough affidavits from voters verifying the claim to get Zelenko off the ballot.

"What we're doing is we want to make sure the process is same for everyone," said Wells. "We're trying to hold elected officials to a higher degree of lawfulness. Ethically, we should be the top of the heap."

He alleges that while out knocking on doors residents told him they were being told no one was running against the mayor and several people had come to solicit signatures.

That led Wells to file a Freedom of Information Act request for Zelenko's petitions that include the residents' signatures and addresses.

While she certifies the signatures, Karsney said, at this point "I have no authority to take her name off the ballot." The ballots for August and November have yet to be printed.

"The judge is going to have to order it," she said. Part of the legal action by Wells states Karsney did not fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request in a timely manner, leading him to file a complaint with the county clerk's office instead of meeting the April 28 deadline to file one with the city.

But Karsney said she attempted to contact Wells by phone on April 27 to let him know the request for petitions was completed.

Regarding the claims Wells made, city Attorney Amanda Doyle said, "Procedurally I don't believe it's where it's supposed to be at this point. I think his complaints and all of his claims therein are completely merit-less. There is no relief to be gained by suing the city clerk."

"I firmly believe the complaint is, I would go so far to say, it's frivolous," she said.

Mayor Zelenko declined comment on the issue. She has hired an attorney.

Cotton reiterated "All we're trying to do again is to respect the integrity of the process. Those who didn't follow the rules shouldn't be on the ballot."

"If one candidate follows the rules, everybody has to follow the rules," he said.

A Monday, June 8, motion hearing has been scheduled in front of Genesee Circuit Judge Archie L. Hayman.
Post Thu Jun 04, 2015 8:05 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

http://flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=12244 See this link for a discussion of Burton politics and a corrupt Genesee County Elections Supervisor. He left the state and got fired there for his shenanigans.

Coffman was previously sued along with Greg Eason and Jackie Foster over sexual harassment at Jobs Central (Career Alliance).
Post Thu Jun 04, 2015 9:07 am 
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