According to an article by Mark Niquette, it was reported on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch this morning, April 4, 2006, that Republican Candidate for Ohio Governor, Ken Blackwell, currently serving as Ohio Secretary of State, disclosed that he’d sold his 178 shares of Diebold Stock only yesterday.
Diebold sells voting machines, folks.
Now, in my opinion, there are some coincidences that I’ve noticed over the last year and a half of reading the papers and watching the local news that I need to point out:
Coincidence CEO of Diebold, Walden O’Dell, hosted a $1000 a plate dinner to benefit Republican Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign. The invitations asked each attendee to donate or raise up to $10,000 each for the State GOP. Some of that money eventually will fall back out of the GOP’s pockets and into Blackwell’s campaign fund for his gubernatorial election campaign.
Coincidence As Republican Ohio Secretary of State, Blackwell recommended Diebold as the company to tabulate the 2004 Ohio election results
Coincidence Ken Blackwell qualified Diebold as one of three companies eligible to sell voting machines to Ohio for the 2004 elections
Coincidence Ken Blackwell was co-chairman of George Bush’s Republican 2004 Ohio Campaign.
Coincidence This just happens to be the deadline for filing financial statements for the Ohio May primaries. This is also the first reporting period since Republican Gov. Bob Taft and four former members of his administration were convicted of various crimes last year. And before you start screaming bias, The Dispatch has a track record of supporting most Republican candidates and their issues.
Coincidence Republican Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell filed a directive in January of 2005 stating that he’d closed a “best in the nation” deal for Diebold voting machines, resulting in a lawsuit filed by rival venders and several Ohio counties.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Georgio
Jet thanks for a very informative article..I think Blackwell and Mrs Harris from Fl should team up ..They both know how to screw the Democrats..
2 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Georgio, sorry about mispelling Coincidencess, I'm waiting to see how much fur flys. The poor cat should be bald on it's right side by morning
Jet
3 - Georgio
I never read your stuff before but after I seen your comments in the other thread I made a mental note as someone who is intelligent and level headed..I look forward to everything you have to say..
4 - Dave Nalle
One might argue that Blackwell's ownership of Diebold stock was a statement of his confidence in the quality of product they produce.
On the other hand, their stock has performed fairly poorly over the last few years. He would have been a lot better off selling it last summer when it was about 15% higher than it is now. Not knowing when he acquired it I can't be sure, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he took a loss on the Diebold stock.
In addition, comprehensive studies have shown that no fraud actually took place with the Diebold machines in Ohio. I refer you to this definitive CalTech/MIT study of the 2004 vote and the role voting machines played in it.
Dave
5 - Georgio
No fraud took place Dave but the smell is there just like Harris from FL and Tom Delay
6 - gonzo marx
in another Thread about Diebold i had posted a link to an article from Wired that showed the results of a college student able to effortlessly hack the system to make the voting machine produce ANY results desired...
examples were pressing for candidate "a" while the tabulation was for candidate "b"
that was the simplest, another was the ability to weigh the percentages of tabulations to turn out with whatever results were desired based on initial variables set
also the ease of which all traces of said programming coudl be wiped , either at a predetermined time/date or by command from within the console
plenty more, and the link no longer works, but anyone subscribed to Wired online can find it
just another piece to add
Excelsior!
7 - Dave Nalle
The fact that the potential for hacking was there doesn't mean that it happened. There's no evidence that those loopholes were used by anyone to skew the vote. And as we discussed before long ago, even if every possible disputed vote were switched to Kerry then the Ohio vote still would have gone to Bush.
Dave
8 - RedTard
I don't see why it is so hard to create a reliable voting system. Anyone with 2 brain cells could think for 5 minutes and come up with a near foolproof system. The fact that most systems are crap makes me wonder if people in power really want that at all.
Try adding one of those $30 credit card receipt printers onto the machine and a $100 ATM style surveillance camera (machines cost a ridiculous $4500 now). You have a copy of your vote with signature, the state has a hard copy with signature, your ugly mug is also there for independent review in case dead people come back to cast ballots.
The results are then posted publicly online or in publications where practical. You check your receipt against the public list to verify your vote counted as cast. System is next to foolproof.
Now if only I had industry connections and paid the new Jack Abramoff enough money I could start the next Diebold.
9 - gonzo marx
Red makes an excellent point, Diebold attempted to insist that no paper trail could be implemented, but the motherboard of the machine has a printer port inside it, so the diagnostic tech can have paper receipts of his checks
the other thing that rings alarms in this tech's head is the insistance by Diebold that ONLY their techs could be present when the machines were opened or programmed...the FEC had NO chance to check things or even observe procedures
also note that the basic motherboard is the
SAMe one used in Diebold ATM machines, which keep a perfectly accurate paper trail of billions of dollars of transactions a day...
just some more inconvenient facts
Excelsior!
10 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks for the techno info guys.
One of the other points I was trying to make is that Blackwell still has live connections to Diebold, I mean he only sold that stock yesterday.
You're right Dave, according to the article he did lose money, but my point in mentioning it was that he didn't sell it until yesterday, when he was required to list the ownership in his financial statement.
As for the "lost" votes going to Kerry, and Bush still winning, I was discarding that, and because of the reports that in some precincts, Bush actually got more votes (as much as twice) than there were registered voters for that precinct, I'd become a little suspicious. An investigarion turned up "software problems"
Hmmmmmm.
Another controversy had to do with Blackwell in his position of power, -not to mention being Co-chair of the Bush campaign-striking down a move, whereby voters could vote at the nearest poll station to where they worked. In Ohio, you can actually be taxed both by the city you work in and the city you live in, so by rights you should be able to vote in one or the other location -taxation without representation and all that. Blackwell was all for the change in voter rules, until he was told that most people who wanted to take advantage of it, worked in factories far from their homes, thus they'd be less likely to vote after work, and since most union members are democrat, it was a win win for his side.
thanks for the responses guys
I appreciate it
Jet
11 - Dave Nalle
I do think the distribution of machines is the single most questionable action in the Ohio election, but even that has been pretty successfully explained based on prior voter turnout in those precincts, all of which had substantially higher than normal turnout compared to previous elections.
Dave
12 - Matthew T. Sussman
What's funny is the following year Lucas County (Toledo) was quite late in tallying their election results and didn't get them out until early next morning.
And as if it mattered, both mayoral candidates were Democrats. But I think Pat Buchanan won a council seat.
13 - Dave Nalle
Red makes an excellent point, Diebold attempted to insist that no paper trail could be implemented, but the motherboard of the machine has a printer port inside it, so the diagnostic tech can have paper receipts of his checks
This was entirely because Diebold had contracted to provide the machines at a specific price and that price didn't include printers. The state didn't want to negotiate a new contract at a similarly inflated price for retrofitting the machines with printers and they ended up at a stand-off. IMO Diebold are scumsuckers. The real crime in this whole thing is Diebold's profiteering.
the other thing that rings alarms in this tech's head is the insistance by Diebold that ONLY their techs could be present when the machines were opened or programmed...the FEC had NO chance to check things or even observe procedures
Are you sure this is correct? Election observers were present during maintenance in at least a couple of documented cases. They were the ones who raised concerns about the activities of one of the maintenance guys which later proved to be a misunderstanding.
Dave
14 - gonzo marx
those incidents were post election....check the contracts, the terms Diebold insisted upon were clearly stated as well as objected to by minor FEC officials who were over ruled
Excelsior!
15 - Jet in Columbus
All true, but would he have sold his stock last monday if he didn't have to list it on his statement?
If he was losing money on the stock, (which he was) why was he holding on to it, unless it was to hold on to his influence with the company?
As I'm sure Dave is well aware of in his own research, the CEO of Diebold pledged in public to deliver Ohio to George Bush, and possibly to Ken Blackwell-NOW THE SECOND HALF OF THAT IS SPECULATION ON MY PART.
I'm emphasizing what's going on now, and asking about Blackwell's character, based on this research.
The man owes a lot to Diebold, Diebold owes a lot to him for millions of dollars of business to the State of Ohio, that he as Secretary of State authorized.
That the Diebold Company was, and probably still is welded to the Republican Party in Ohio and probably nationwide, is a given, but a side issue.
I'm speaking to his unwillingness to unload a losing stock he'd owned since just after the November elections of 2004, until he absolutely had to, then claiming he had absolutely no knowledge of even owning stock in a company that produced the very machines that are possibly going to elect him!
According to my research, the stock (178 shares) was purchased just after the 2004 elections (Coincodence?) at $53.67 a share for $9,553.
Now someone tell me please how Blackwell didn't (as he claims) know that purchase was made, if not through his accountant, then at least through his buddies he was so chummy with at Diebold?
All the while negotiating deals for machines from that very company?
He sold 95 shares of the stock sometime last year, but I can't find out when, maybe Dave Nalle has found it in his research, but they were sold at a loss for $15.68 a share, and the remaining shares were sold last Monday for $12.41 a share.
Now as intelligent as Blackwell is, you'd think he'd have canned his financial advisor for such a lousy deal, and sticking with it for so long.
Or, you can wonder what the purpose was for holding onto a stock so long at a loss, if it wasn't to have influence with Diebold for as long as he could possibly get away with, until he absolutely HAD to get rid of it.
I leave you to your own conclusions
...but that's only my opinion
16 - Dave Nalle
All true, but would he have sold his stock last monday if he didn't have to list it on his statement?
He should have. Whether he would have or not is debatable. I would have sold that crap stock a year ago if I had it.
If he was losing money on the stock, (which he was) why was he holding on to it, unless it was to hold on to his influence with the company?
Believe me, $7000 in stock doesn't give you any kind of say in how a multimillion dollar business is run. Last I checked Steve Jobs wasn't taking my calls just because I own some shares of Apple and Pixar.
As I'm sure Dave is well aware of in his own research, the CEO of Diebold pledged in public to deliver Ohio to George Bush, and possibly to Ken Blackwell-NOW THE SECOND HALF OF THAT IS SPECULATION ON MY PART.
That statement was made as a private citizen at a fundraising event and clearly had nothing to do with rigging the voting machines. He happens to be a politically active Republican, and was speaking in that context.
I'm emphasizing what's going on now, and asking about Blackwell's character, based on this research.
The man owes a lot to Diebold, Diebold owes a lot to him for millions of dollars of business to the State of Ohio, that he as Secretary of State authorized.
And was legally enjoined from profiting from. I have to wonder if he wasn't violating state regulations just by owning Diebold stock in the first place. I know that would be an ethics violation here in Texas.
According to my research, the stock (178 shares) was purchased just after the 2004 elections (Coincodence?) at $53.67 a share for $9,553.
Well, if he purchased it after the election, then Diebold was no longer an active state contractor so it was probably legal for him to buy the stock.
All the while negotiating deals for machines from that very company?
The election being over and the machines already being bought, wasn't this no longer an issue?
He sold 95 shares of the stock sometime last year, but I can't find out when, maybe Dave Nalle has found it in his research, but they were sold at a loss for $15.68 a share, and the remaining shares were sold last Monday for $12.41 a share.
Huh? Where do those figures come from? Diebold hasn't been under $40 a share in like 2 years.
Or, you can wonder what the purpose was for holding onto a stock so long at a loss, if it wasn't to have influence with Diebold for as long as he could possibly get away with, until he absolutely HAD to get rid of it.
I understand how this argument is appealing, but you really, really need to own more than a couple of hundred shares to have any influence in a company. In the case of Diebold my guess would be that he'd need at least 10,000 shares to get anyone to pay attention to him.
Dave
17 - Jet in Columbus
The stock prices are culled from yesterday's front page article of the Columbus Dispatch sir.
18 - Dave Nalle
What threw me off there was this line, Jet:
the remaining shares were sold last Monday for $12.41 a share.
What you meant to write there was "the remaining shares were sold last Monday for a loss of $12.41 a share"
Dave
19 - Jet in Columbus
WAIT WAIT WAIT, I was wrong, I miss read it, they were sold a a loss OF, not FOR. Prices per share weren't listed, only what he sold them at a loss of...
My bad!!!!
I'm wrong!!!
Thanks Dave. They were sold at a loss of the the amount of the prices listed, not at the prices listed.
sorry, and thanks again
20 - Jet in Columbus
Dave, if you don't already have it, I'd be happy to scan and e-mail you a copy of the article so you can use it for your own research
Jet
and thanks again
21 - Dave Nalle
No problem, I found the article and quickly determined that you had made a small but vital typo.
I also found some other interesting info on the Dispatch site. I didn't realize the Diebold was an Ohio based company. That makes giving them the contract for the machines a lot more innocent than it seems otherwise, because a lot of states try to favor local companies in contracts.
Dave
22 - Jet in Columbus
All true, thanks again. I think you'll like my new post on comedy scenes, check fresh comments. It's a series of about 10 I'll be doing, then go onto drama and sci fi.
Politics isn't really my specialty, though I'm rather opinionated about some things.
My main concern is how cozy Blackwell is with Diebold, how he favored them repeatedly, spawning lawsuits, and his timing regarding unloading the stock.
thanks again my friend.
For all of you distracted by all this please go back to comment 15, and Dave Nalle's response on 16.
...and thank you for your support.
now go by a wine coller
23 - Jet in Columbus
Excuse me-cooler
24 - Jet in Columbus
#21, thanks for keeping me honest...
25 - Nancy
Don't any of these shenanigans come under the heading "conflict of interest"? Of course the entire Ohio administration is Republican, but even so there must be SOME GOP members with a sense of legalities & honor...?
I believe in the tooth fairy, too, obviously.