Another bloody election, cover-ups, official statements

In Ohio, it's still 2004:

56 of 88 Ohio counties defied a federal court order and failed to return some or all of the 2004 presidential ballots that they were ordered to retain indefinitely. Over 1.5 million ballots were destroyed or lost, key evidence for major federal law suit charging election fraud and voter suppression in the 2004 presidential contest. For example: "fraudulent votes … cast for George W. Bush; inflating of vote tabulations in areas that tended to vote for George Bush."

What impact will the massive destruction of evidence by Ohio counties have on the federal case charging criminal election fraud in the 2004 presidential election? Some, but the case is still viable. Devastating findings by researchers for the plaintiffs are reviewed and a motive the destruction is provided. But first here are two more outstanding "Letters from the Edge" courtesy of Ohio elections officials trying to explain the mishandling and destruction of evidence.

Political dirty tricks have been around forever, and there are many who think the Democrats cheated in '60. But in the last 15 or so years, the dirty tricks bar has been lowered almost to the ground as Republicans think of less clever and more blatant ways to influence elections.

In this case, we had State and local elections officials violating Federal Laws, in plain sight, with seemingly no chagrin or embarrassment:

Hamilton County shredded all of its unvoted and soiled ballots making it difficult to determine if any of those unvoted ballots were marked and substituted for voted ballots. Then there's the practice of the illegal pre-punching ballots and the impact on election results in Cincinnati. The county offered an incomprehensible excuse which included "inadvertent" ballot shredding. "Inadvertent?"

Clermont County lost all of its unvoted ballots, every single one. Were any of those unvoted ballots marked and substituted for voted ballots? We may never know that or why Phillips found absentee ballots stuck under phone books; or why the county failed to segregate voted spoiled and unused ballots as required by law; or why Phillips' repeated requests to examine unused ballots were turned down. What else should we know about Clermont County?

Phillip's analysis uncovered the fact that Miami County's ballot count was off in each and every one of its 82 precincts. A return of soiled ballots might have helped sort this out but they were destroyed. Why?

Three counties, Stark, Summit, and Warren, failed to return any unvoted ballots making it difficult to determine if unvoted ballots were marked and substituted for voted ballots. Stark and Warren said it was standard procedure to destroy unvoted ballots 60 days after an election. Summit didn't bother to offer an explanation.

Don't forget, this is the state where Kenneth Blackwell was Secretary of State, in charge of election supervision, and also GWBush's local Campaign Manager.

Passion for a cause is noble, cheating is treason. Or at least it should be.

Bastards.