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| 3-27-07 - Elections give you: The jud... |
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| Author |
Message |
    
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6167
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? 
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, April 9, 2007 - 8:11 pm: | 
|
 Kathy Greenwell
Bullitt County, Kentucky |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6028
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? 
Votes: 23 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 6:29 pm: |
|
"Watch your back," warned the voice on the phone.
"You know what can happen around here," said another man, paying a visit to her workplace. "I don't want to read about them finding you in a ditch."
For some people, elections are serious business. For some citizens, democratic elections are a serious matter too.
Ever since Nov. 2006, Kentucky's Kathy Greenwell has been trying to verify the election results, and like all citizens, she should have that right.
"I know I sound like a hillbilly," she says in a Bullitt County drawl. "I got a deep voice. I might sound country, but that don't mean they shouldn't pay attention to what I got to say."
Kathy took the time to add up all the numbers coming out of Bullitt County on Election Night during the 2006 general election. They made no sense. Nothing added up, and the story kept changing about what was going on. What she found illustrates the broken connection between elections and the citizenry.
Kathy had a good reason to be interested: Her husband Dave, now a police lieutenant for the town of Pioneer Village, was running for Bullitt County Sheriff. Sheriff races are always of great interest to the locals, and are a traditional target for election fraud. The sheriff controls contraband, like guns and drugs.
In Nov. 2006, it wasn't just the sheriff race that was contentious. Bullitt County had at least two tight house races. (1)
A mayoral candidate (Sherman Tinnell) and a candidate for sheriff (Donnie Tinnell) were members of the same family. Both won.
As is customary in Bullitt County, a candidate for clerk would later take custody over the audit records for his own election.
ELECTIONS ARE ABOUT A LOT MORE THAN PRESIDENTS
Kathy's husband, Dave Greenwell was running against Donnie Tinnell. He'd made a campaign promise to reopen a botched murder investigation. All you do is search for "Bullitt County" and "sheriff" and a lot more information shows up on that controversy:
In 1999, Dave Greenwell was the first deputy on the scene of the heartbreaking abduction of a teenage girl. Seventeen-year-old Jessica Dishon's parents had come home to find her car in the driveway, with her keys, purse, and cell phone still sitting in the car, along with one shoe. Jessica was nowhere to be found. Alarmed, Jessica's parents called the sheriff's office. Then-deputy Greenwell arrived, took photos, and sized up the situation as a possible abduction. Twice, Greenwell requested an investigator; both times the assigned official refused to come.(2)
This story illustrates that elections are absolutely NOT just about presidencies. Elections ultimately govern public safety. And as you'll soon see, Kathy Greenwell's research into this election turned up elections anomalies in nearly all the races in Bullitt County's 2006 general election.
In Bullitt County, Kentucky the sheriff, the prosecutor and the judge all hold elected positions.
Neither the sheriff nor the prosecutor did much to secure the Dishon crime scene. Greenwell called in the investigators; none came; yellow crime scene tape was reportedly put around the neighbor's car instead of Jessica's. During the 72 hours that the investigator was refusing to come to the scene, the forensic evidence was contaminated. At one point a reporter had sat in the front of the car to shoot a newscast. Onlookers touched the car. Greenwell had taken several photographs, which he submitted into evidence. Those photos disappeared, along with the notes written by another investigator (Jim Adams).(2)
Seventeen days after Jessica's abduction, her body was found beaten and apparently strangled in a location known as the Salt River Bottoms.(3) Not long afterward, that area was bulldozed and cleaned up. Apparently someone decided this was a good time to begin excavation for a new bridge.
Satellite photo - Greenwell Ford Road Bridge
link to photo: http://www.bbvdocs.org/KY/bridge.jpg
Three separate witnesses testified that they had seen Jessica Dishon with two young men in a black Camaro.(4) The young men were identified as "persons of interest" but were never charged. The items in the Camaro were never sent to the crime lab for testing. One of the young men has since died in a car accident.(5)
Instead, a man named "Bucky" Brooks whose IQ hovers around 70 was accused of the crime. During the year Bucky Brooks was held in prison, Dave Greenwell's crime scene photos disappeared, a videotaped statement by a witness was lost, and the original notes by investigator Jim Adams vanished.(2) The case against Bucky Brooks was dismissed after some illegal testimony wasn entered into the record.(4)
Crime investigations are supervised by elected officials.
Construction projects are authorized by elected officials.
The prosecutor holds an elected position.
Link to photo: http://www.bbvdocs.org/KY/bullit-elections.jpg
As the elections approached, Kathy's husband Dave decided Bullitt County might benefit from a different approach to law enforcement. He announced his intention to run for sheriff. He was fired the same day he announced it.
Greenwell sued for wrongful termination, on the grounds that any citizen has the right to run for office without getting fired; the sheriff at the time, Paul Parsley, testified that he was not about to pay a deputy who was running against him for office. The judge dismissed the case, saying there was no indication Greenwell had been fired for political reasons.(5)
With the Dishon murder sitting in the cold case files, Greenwell made a campaign promise to reopen the case, and also to put the brakes on the Bullitt County habit of staffing itself with family members of elected officials.
On Nov. 7, 2006, in a Bullitt County election that the press characterized as "mass confusion," Greenwell was defeated by Donnie Tinnell. (7)
Maybe the citizens of Bullitt County voted Donnie Tinnell into the sheriff's office. Maybe Sherman Tinnell was voted in as Shepherdsville mayor as well. What we do know for sure is that assorted family members of various players in the Bullitt County dramas have been hired and are sprinkled throughout the courthouse.
The problem is, no one can check to make sure ANYONE in Bullitt County was actually elected.
Shortly after the election, Kathy Greenwell called Black Box Voting.
"We first started joking a year ago, that something would be off," Kathy said. "Donnie Tinnell was running against my husband. Everyone was being told that Tinnell was going to be the new sheriff. Tinnell had already told them they weren't going to have a job when he came in. The current sheriff (Paul Parsley, who lost to Tinnell in the primary) had it as such a sure thing that a lot of the deputies quit months before the election. People who had years in quit."
Link to photo of Bullitt County Courthouse: http://www.bbvdocs.org/KY/courthouse.jpg
Election Night Nov. 7, 2006
"Paul Parsley's granddaughter was there. Every time they brought in a satchel of the tapes, in goes the granddaughter with two clerks to a filing room. Then they'd come back out and announce the results," says Kathy. "But when they gave someone a total Tuesday night, the first total they tried to make everybody believe that 6,000 people voted. They acted like it was the final count. People raised Cain, they went back and checked, then said it was 13,000 votes. Then a day or two later, it was 17,000 and now it's supposedly 20,000 votes. Each time they said it was the final. We were also told there were missing votes and they couldn't find them."
THE BULLITT COUNTY RECORDS HUNT
Black Box Voting suggested some documents for Kathy to request. While she did that, we filed public records requests all over Kentucky.
Black Box Voting got a good sampling of election-related records and responses from Boyle, Caldwell, Calloway, Carroll, Christian, Daviess, Franklin, Gallatin, Garrard, Grayson, Hardin, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Hopkins, Jefferson, Laurel, Lawrence, Lewis, Meade, Menifee, Metcalf, Muhlenburg, Owen, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Trigg, Trimble, Warren and Woodford counties, but we never got a thing from Bullitt County.
Can you find a more vivid example for why citizens are right to be concerned about elections? If citizens can't get access to the records, we can't oversee our government!
But Kathy Greenwell is nothing if not persistent. She finally got copies of the voting machine results tapes, only to find out that about half of them weren't signed by the poll workers as required.
It gets more interesting. The results tapes that lack signatures correlate with the machines that had "special attention" from Harp Enterprises, the Kentucky subcontractor for Hart Intercivic. Harp employees had showed up the day after the election to correct "glitches."
And then it gets just plain odd: After calling County Clerk Kevin Mooney's attention to the fact that dozens of the results tapes lack signatures, Moonry "certified" them (even though he wasn't working there in 2006) and also gave Kathy copies of various pages of signatures (but not written on the results tapes). Mooney simply stuck copies of blank pages containing various signatures here and there within the results tape records he had "certified."
KENTUCKY FRIED ELECTIONS
In Kentucky, the same polling place typically features machines by two different manufacturers. In Bullitt County, older purchases of ELECTronic 1242 touch-screen machines from Danaher/Shoup/Guardian are combined with newer purchases of e-Slate paperless touch-screens by Hart Intercivic.
Bullitt County claims that nearly all of its poll workers signed the results tapes from the ELECTronic 1242s, and at the same time, nearly all the poll workers "forgot" to sign the results tapes from the e-Slate machines. Why would every poll worker in Bullitt County "forget" to sign results tapes only from one brand of machine?
In addition, Kathy noticed that while the ELECTronic 1242 results tapes all contained votes, some of the e-Slate results tapes had dozens (but not all) races with "zero" votes.
Here is a copy of the poll results tapes and other information from Bullitt County Kentucky for Nov. 7, 2006:
http://www.bbvdocs.org/KY/Bullitt-Nov06.pdf
(large - 22 394 KB)
And
http://www.bbvdocs.org/KY/KY-Bullitt-2006.pdf
(7,728 KB)
Kathy does not have access to the Internet. She's not been privy to the vast amount of information on how to audit elections. Still she persisted.
She took the "certified" copies of the polling place results tapes to a friend with a computer. Together they spent hours entering every single result into an Excel spreadsheet. There were no election integrity groups nearby, no moral support network. Together Kathy and her friend added up every one of the numbers on every one of the poll tapes. They compared them with the official results provided by Bullitt County, including the absentee votes.
They don't match.
Here is a pdf copy of the Excel spreadsheet Kathy and her friend labored over, showing that the totals don't match:
http://www.bbvdocs.org/KY/KATHY.PDF
So Kathy called Black Box Voting again, and she called the assistant secretary of state for Kentucky. But by the time Bullitt County gave her the records, no remedy under the law was available – even though the results don't match.
State officials told Kathy they don't know what they can do for her. They told her she had to file a complaint within 14 days.
That's not entirely true. It's true that the deadline for contesting elections has passed but the statute of limitations for fraud has not passed.
Kathy Greenwell has now expended hundreds of dollars for overpriced records missing their signatures which don't match the final tally, "certified" as accurate by a clerk that wasn't even working there in 2006.
And now she's getting threats.
Link to photo: Welcome to Bullitt County
http://www.bbvdocs.org/KY/welcome.jpg
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Bullitt County Kentucky will have another election this coming May. If you live in Kentucky (or even in Cincinnati, which is nearby), now would be a good time to put together a small group of citizens to help Kathy keep an eye on Bullitt County elections.
It would help Kathy a lot if she could communicate cost effectively with others, through e-mail. If anyone in the Louisville or Cincinnati area could donate a computer that is Internet-capable, Kathy Greenwell would have a good home for it. If someone who is tech-savvy can visit to show Kathy how to use e-mail and the Web browser, Black Box Voting will contribute a year's worth of dial-up Internet access for her. (E-mail angels@blackboxvoting.org if you can help, and we'll make the introductions.)
NOW ABOUT THOSE THREATS
Because Kathy is involved in trying to ensure that local citizens are having their votes counted properly, including those of minority voters, any acts of intimidation may fall under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which would put prosecution under the auspices of the US Dept. of Justice.
If anything at all happen to Kathy Greenwell, we need to make sure we are just as persistent as Kathy is. Together with Ohio and Kentucky election integrity activists, we will urge immediate action by the state attorney general's office and/or the US Dept. of Justice.
BULLITT COUNTY IS BEAUTIFUL IN MAY -- Right around election time.
Link to image: Kentucky map with Bullitt County
http://www.bbvdocs.org/KY/ky-map.jpg
If a posse of friendly citizens would like to head over to Bullitt County to watch for Kentucky fried elections, this year might be a good time to do so.
Bullitt County – 20 miles south of Louisville, about an hour from Cincinnati: http://www.travelbullitt.org/
For a story on Kentucky fried elections in another location, click here: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/32958.html
(1) The Lexington Herald-Leader - Thin margins could prompt reviews of 4 legislative races, By Ryan Alessi And Jack Brammer; Nov. 9, 2006
(2) Courier-Journal Louisville, KY - Dishon investigation was rocky from start, trial shows, by Jason Riley; Feb. 3, 2003
(3) Courier-Journal Louisville, KY -
Brooks' attorney says investigators ignored other suspects in Dishon slaying, by Jason Riley; Jan. 24 2003
(4) The Courier-Journal Louisville, KY
- Charges dismissed in Dishon slaying, by Brian Moore and Jason Riley; Sept. 6, 2003
(5) The Courier-Journal Louisville, KY
- W. Ky. crash kills man with linked to Dishon case, by Brandy Warren; Apr. 6, 2006
(6) The Courier-Journal Louisville, KY
- Suit against ex-Bullitt sheriff dismissed, by Brandy Warren; Jan. 26, 2007
(7) The Courier-Journal Louisville, KY - BULLITT COUNTY; Vote machine problems create 'mass confusion', by Melissa Gagliardi and Brandy Warren; Nov. 8, 2006
PERMISSION TO REPRINT OR EXCERPT GRANTED, WITH LINK TO http://www.blackboxvoting.org
|
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 3762
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 1:17 am: |
|
Extraordinary article. Kathy Greenwell is doing remarkable work.
Thanks for pointing out so vividly why some of the reasons why local elections matter.
(P.S. The link to the Excel spreadsheet doesn't work. I'd love to see the discrepancies in the election numbers.)
(from admin: Fixed link, thanks) |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6029
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 6:48 am: |
|
I meant to get some of the articles from the footnotes posted as well. This one, at least, sheds more light on the election night mess:
(7) The Courier-Journal Louisville, KY - BULLITT COUNTY; Vote machine problems create 'mass confusion', by Melissa Gagliardi and Brandy Warren; Nov. 8, 2006
quote:
Winners unclear amid irregularities
Victory celebrations were on hold and candidates were frustrated when Bullitt County election results still were not available late last night.
At about 11 p.m., the Bullitt County Clerk's office said official results couldn't be released because of a problem with machine counts.
The vote totals counted at the precincts did not match the totals at the election office, said Stacy Warner, chief deputy with the Bullitt County Clerk's office.
Sheriff Paul Parsley said every vote would be counted by hand today and official results would be released in the afternoon.
Tina Drury, a voting machine technician with the county clerk's office, said the county used two different voting machines, and the computer that reads the cartridges from the machines didn't total all the votes.
The problems created what one candidate called "mass confusion."
Republican Scott Ellis, candidate for Shepherdsville mayor, said he didn't know whether to celebrate or concede.
"There are so many discrepancies it's not even funny. I don't know what to do," he said, adding that friends at the courthouse relayed numbers showing 76 people had voted for the mayor, but 369 had voted for the City Council candidates.
Unofficial numbers had his opponent Sherman Tinnell ahead with 74 percent of the votes, but Ellis said he did not trust those figures.
"It's strange. This needs investigating," Ellis said.
At 10:30 p.m., Republican judge-executive candidate Melanie Roberts said she and her supporters were packing up for the night. They'd been awaiting election results since 5 p.m. in the gymnasium at First Baptist Church in Shepherdsville.
Roberts said some of her supporters will be at the courthouse in the morning to wait and find out if she won. Roberts has to teach at Cedar Grove Elementary and won't be able to go.
"This is disappointing. I've been waiting over one year to find out what the outcome would be and now to wait until the next morning, it's disappointing," she said.
Larry Porter, candidate for Mount Washington mayor, originally was told he'd lost by 76 votes, but then got a call that he'd won.
He said it's frustrating not knowing the results.
"I don't know if there's a mix up or what ... I'll just have to wait and see," he said.
Parsley, who was announcing the results over a loud speaker, said later that he hopes he didn't leave any candidates with the "wrong perception, somebody leaving thinking they won."
"I wish we could do better, Parsley said, "but we're doing the best we can."
The unofficial results that Bullitt released also came late in the evening because of a large voter turnout, estimated at 45 percent, Drury said.
At 6 p.m., there were lines at five precincts with more than 200 people in each , she said, adding that election official
officials did not receive the last precinct ballots until 9:30 p.m.
Joetta Bass Calhoun said she had heard she'd won the Mount Washington mayor's race by 100 votes, but late in the evening she heard her opponent Larry Porter was ahead in the race.
She said she'd heard two different kinds of voting machines were being used, some of which people may not have been familiar with, and that may have contributed to the confusion.
"I'm not sure how it could happen," she said, adding that she planned to continue celebrating the victory she had thought she had in the bag.
The unofficial results showed school board candidate Douglas Walls as the winner in District 4.
"I don't want to say anything right now," Walls said. "It's unfair to my opponent. There's something seriously wrong that needs to be addressed with the election results."
“There are so many discrepancies it's not even funny."
SCOTT ELLIS, Republican candidate for Shepherdsville mayor: "There's something seriously wrong that needs to be addressed."
|
theresa joan hardesty
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Friendofkathy
Post Number: 1
Registered: 03-2007
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 9:52 am: |
|
the spreadsheet from excel is not working. this would be great information. could you check on this? there are other links not working also.
(from admin): link is now fixed -- wow, I had forgotten to upload some pics -- all links are now fixed, thanks -- and welcome to Black Box Voting! |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6030
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 10:19 am: |
|
Catherine and Theresa Joan,
Thanks for catching that. The link now works (I had it uploaded as pdf instead of PDF, but changed the name on the upload, so the original link in the article is now fixed)
Also, I thought it might be useful to have the spreadsheet in Excel format for those who might want to do some calculations in it.
Here is the link to the file in Excel:
http://www.bbvdocs.org/KY/KATHY.XLS
In the poll tape file (the big one), the ELECTronic 1242 poll tapes have kind of a
COURIER font
and the e-Slate poll tapes have a
smaller font like arial or helvetica
You'll see that both types of machines are in the same polling places. |
Jed Vankrieken
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Piggy
Post Number: 12
Registered: 11-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 5:24 pm: |
|
Disturbing story. |
Brant Lamb
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Brantl
Post Number: 1272
Registered: 01-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:56 am: |
|
This is why I call the unrecorded ballots (or the honest results, take your pick) in an election a 'staked goat'; we sometimes know that the goat's been injured or that the goat is actually dead. But we often don't know what the uninjured goat should have looked like, and sometimes we don't know for a fact whether the goat is injured or even dead (Ohio) until well after the decisions that were based on the goat being alive and well, have long since been made and are irreversible.
Once someone's screwed up an anonymous ballot election, how can it be repaired? |
Tim Gooch
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Timthefoolman
Post Number: 62
Registered: 11-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 5:44 am: |
|
Bev,
Not too long ago, I mentioned concerns about the things that go on in rural counties, specifically with regard to you writing:
"... the most corrupt areas will attract the most scrutiny"
I suggested that, in KY, the most corrupt areas would NOT attract the most scrutiny, but my opinion was dismissed rather quickly.
This story suggests behaviors that, in my experience, are pretty tame. Also, keep in mind that in many parts of the state, Bullitt County is NOT considered rural, because of its proximity to Louisville and Jefferson County. Bullitt County is a "best case scenario" in terms of being rural enough for weird stuff to happen, but close enough to an urban center to have commuter residents asking lots of questions.
Unfortunately, I suspect that this is one of the few times that unscrupulous behavior in my state is going to see the light of day. That was my concern when I posted my comment, and it remains my concern today.
I may not audit elections much, but I've lived here all my life. I wish this surprised me, but it doesn't. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6035
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 5:46 am: |
|
Brant, I think it's fair to say that Bullitt County, Kentucky is the last place you'd want to do away with the anonymous ballot! In fact, Bullitt County isn't the only place with an established power structure built around one or two families.
Why should a voter have to worry about threats and murder for voting the "wrong" way?
On the positive side: Black Box Voting was contacted by a generous individual last night, who has asked to remain anonymous, who has volunteered to donate a computer to Kathy Greenwell to help get her wired in to other citizens who are on the front lines! |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6036
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 6:07 am: |
|
Tim, I didn't realize you are from Kentucky. Thank you for your insights -- but I still don't actually agree that the troubled areas won't tend to attract citizen oversight. The key is to have ways to inform the citizenry.
There are two things that have made it more challenging in Kentucky. One is that many of the excellent citizens that have been working on this do not have computers and are not familiar with using e-mail, listservs and the Web to connect with each other. That's going to change. That relates to the second obstacle, which is the intimidation factor.
As we can see, Kathy Greenwell refused to be intimidated and, even more important, refused to give up. It helps to build a number of interested citizens who can offer support, keep the ball rolling, and share skills and strategy. I believe that is exactly what's going to happen in Kentucky.
I also think it's inaccurate to imply that it requires an urban center to have commuter residents asking lots of questions. Kathy Greenwell is not a "commuter resident" and the Greenwell family was one of the first three families to settle in Bullitt County. They literally chopped their way in, back in the day.
It is the ordinary citizens who will bring America back to democratic elections. Or, as I like to say, the extraordinary citizens.
Glenda Young, from Whitley County Kentucky is another example of a citizen who rises to the occasion. She and several other Whitley County citizens have taken legal action -- she contacted Black Box Voting last year, spoke several times with Kathleen, then Kathleen prevailed on attorney Paul Lehto to go to Whitley County and offer his expertise. The Whitley County citizens are continuing to build strength for citizen oversight actions, and one of the next things Black Box Voting will do is to make introductions between the Whitley citizens and the Greenwells.
It STARTS and CONTINUES with the local citizens. |
Tim Gooch
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Timthefoolman
Post Number: 63
Registered: 11-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 6:25 am: |
|
Bev,
For my state's sake, I hope you're right and sincerely hope that I'm wrong. It stinks for me to have such low expectations, but the "good ol' boy" network is so firmly entrenched, and there are so many "company towns," that I am pessimistic.
As I've said elsewhere, regardless of my feelings about technology advances, the ultimate storage medium for the voter's selection needs to be sheets of paper. To the extent that this is the case (and not the "memory card shuffle"), we at least have a reasonable chance of detecting fraud, assuming enough people are interested in doing so. This particular case highlights such issues, perhaps more effectively than any theoretical debate. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6038
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 7:00 am: |
|
Well Tim, I certainly think you ARE right about the level of corruption in Kentucky. Another Kentucky Fried Election:
The Lexington Herald Leader - Mar. 29 2007
BATH OFFICIAL TO ASK FOR NEW TRIAL
Former Bath County [Kentucky] Judge-Executive Walter Shrout plans to ask a federal judge for a new trial. Earlier this month, a Lexington federal jury convicted Shrout on three counts related to vote-buying during the May 2006 primary. Shrout resigned from the county's top position after his conviction; Gov. Ernie Fletcher has not yet named a replacement. In court documents filed last week, Shrout's lawyers say some evidence should not have been admitted during the trial and that prosecutors made reference to Shrout not putting on a defense or testifying on his own behalf, which the defense says is improper. Shrout's lawyers are asking for an extension to file a motion to ask for a new trial. Shrout is one of 12 Bath County residents charged in connection to what residents and prosecutors called widespread vote-buying during the absentee voting period for the May primary. |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 3766
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 7:10 am: |
|
Tim,
If your point is that, historically, the most corrupt areas have not necessarily attracted the most scrutiny, you may well be right.
Perhaps Bev's point is that from her experience, once citizens in such areas get some information (crucial first step) they are often highly motivated and willing to scrutinize, investigate and take action. They know all is not well in their local area and they want to put things right, once they have some idea how to go about it. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6039
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 7:21 am: |
|
For any citizens interested in traveling to the very scenic state of Kentucky in May, there are many election events to observe and report about. For guidance on observing voting machine testing, election day, vote tabulation, the canvass, requesting public records etc, see the Black Box Voting Citizen's Tool Kit:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit.html
Here is a calendar of events relevant to citizen oversight for the May election in Kentucky:
(Source: Kentucky Secretary of State Web site)
4/23 to 5/17
County clerks to test automatic tabulating equipment (not more than 30 nor less than 5 days prior to election day)
KRS 117.389
5/14
Last day for county boards of election to give written notice of appointment to precinct officers (10 days before primary)
KRS 117.045(7)
[Which means the roster of precinct officers is subject to public records requests on 5/14]
5/15
Last day for state board of elections to furnish county clerks with lists of registered voters (5 days before primary)
KRS 117.025(3)(b)
5/17
Last day for clerks to notify county boards of elections that machines are ready for use (Thursday before election)
KRS 117.165(1)
5/17
Last day for county clerks to publish copy of ballot (not less than 3 days before primary)
KRS 424.290(1)
5/17
Last day for county board of elections to publish notice of time when the machines are to be examined by the board (not less than 24 hours before examination)
KRS 117.265(1)
5/18
Last day for county boards of elections to examine machines (Friday before primary)
KRS 117.165(1)
5/22
Primary Election Day (first Tuesday after third Monday in May)
Polls open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
County boards of elections to be in session all day
Mail-in absentee ballots must be received by clerk before 6 p.m.
County boards of elections to meet at clerk’s office at 10 a.m. to count absentee ballots
KRS 118.025(3)
KRS 118.035(1)
KRS 117.035(4)
KRS 117.086(1)
KRS 117.087(3)
5/23 through 6/1
Voting machines to be locked (10 days following primary)
KRS 117.295(1)
5/25
Last day for precinct sheriffs to file report (3 days after primary)
KRS 117.355(1)
5/29 4 p.m.
Deadline to request recanvass (before 4 p.m. on Tuesday after primary)
KRS 117.305(1)
5/31 9 a.m.
County boards of elections shall conduct any requested recanvass (at 9 a.m. on Thursday after deadline to request a recanvass, and not sooner)
KRS 117.305(1)
6/1
Last day for county boards of elections to file post-election reports to the State Board of Elections and county Grand Jury (10 days after primary)
KRS 117.355(2)
6/1
Last day to file petition to contest election (10 days after primary)
KRS 120.055
6/1
Last day to file petition for recount (10 days after primary)
KRS 120.095(1)
6/11
Last day for state board of elections to meet to tabulate votes and make out certificates of election (third Monday after election)
KRS 118.425(4)
6/21
Last day for county clerks to send precinct rosters and recapitulation sheets to State Board of Elections (30 days after any primary or general election)
Note - at the time of this posting, the Kentucky Secretary of State's Web page seems to be down. I pulled the above schedule off the cache file. |
Tim Gooch
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Timthefoolman
Post Number: 64
Registered: 11-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 7:27 am: |
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Catherine,
I hope my previous comment didn't appear to be a slam on Bev's experience, which is, no question, much deeper than my own in terms of auditing and monitoring elections. I wasn't trying to be snarky, and hope it didn't sound that way.
My point was/is that, the most corrupt areas, specifically in relatively rural states, are going to be the most difficult for outsiders to penetrate, and areas least likely for insiders to talk, for reasons of safety. People like Kathy Greenwell are outstanding examples of citizens sticking to their guns, but when push comes to shove, a lot of folks are going to put the continued safety of their family first, and their democratic ideals second.
Again, that's just my perspective as a resident of the state, but clearly "a city boy," and not to be trusted (in rural areas). My fear is that it's much worse than I realize.  |
Tim Gooch
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Timthefoolman
Post Number: 65
Registered: 11-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 7:32 am: |
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Bev,
You missed pointing out that the first Saturday in May is the KY Derby. Two weeks before that is "Thunder Over Louisville" (the largest regular fireworks display in North America).
Maybe we need some new tourism slogans.
"Come for the fireworks over the river, stay for the fireworks in the County Clerk offices."
Or maybe...
"Come see the most exciting two minutes in sports, and stay for the REAL horse races later in May." |
HARRY DAVID GREENWELL
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Harry
Post Number: 1
Registered: 03-2007
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 11:53 am: |
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KATHY GREENWELL is my wife and im very proud of all the hard work she is doing to insure that future elections in Bullitt county are conducted in a more professional manner.The election process is sacred to me I am a army veteran and a law enforcement veteran of more than 17 years.I Want to make sure that every one understands that we are not accusing any one person of any wrong doing.We are simply stating that we have severe problems with the way our elections are being conducted in our county.Kathy has ask for help from every department on every level from local to the state level and no one as of yet has taken any action or showed any concern.I do hope if any puplic official has the nerve or the decency to investigate our problems out here and criminal acts are found the people responsible will be given a fAIR trial and then hung.Please forgive my spelling and warped humor but I to just as my wife am a ky. hillbilly and just dont know any better.And I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO BLACK BOX VOTING AND BEV HARRIS and thanks to all of you guys that have written in with youre support it gives hope where some times it seems as if nobody cares.It truely shows how mutch you all love america.And always remember no matter how bad or messed up our system is America will always be worth fighting for . Thanks Lieutenant HARRY D GREENWELL |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6040
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 12:34 pm: |
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Mr. Greenwell,
It is an honor to see you post here. We have now lined up a computer for Kathy. Another Black Box Voting participant has ascertained that there is no high speed connectivity, most likely, around where you live. That leaves dial-up, but that's fine for e-mail!
There is another group of citizens in Whitley County, Kentucky and I'm going to connect you up with them. A wonderful and luminous activist in Sarasota Florida, Kindra Muntz, who is somewhat famous for her successful effort to get a paper ballot initiative on the ballot (it won!), wrote me to let me know she's passed along information to some election integrity people with Kentucky relationships.
I happen to know from our Web statistics that the state of Kentucky has visited this story seven times in 24 hours, as well as four other states and the US House of Representatives.
I spoke with Kathy today about another situation she will be following up with, that we won't go into here.
There is a citizen in Ohio who has volunteered to launch a nationwide petition to urge the state of Kentucky to launch an investigation, and there are many other possible avenues that could be followed. But I want to avoid making any more of a circus out of things than is absolutely necessary, so we'll hold off on that, for now.
I have identified 21 other Kentucky counties that had problems last November, and the very best thing that can happen for the long term is for the citizenry to become more and more informed, and to meet each other.
So for starters, my priority is to get you connected with the others in Kentucky and Ohio (and I have also talked to one of the best of the best in Riverside, Art Cassel, and one of Wisconsin's finest, John Washburn, and an attorney in election rights, Paul Lehto and several others about you and Kathy).
And of course, continue to watch your back, and report weird things, including the latest harassment, to the individual mentioned between Kathy and I this morning on the phone.
Good things will happen, but we also need to put the citizen connections in place to prepare for the long haul.
Give Kathy a hug for us.
Bev |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 3767
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 12:46 pm: |
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Tim,
Your comments weren't snarky. You are right about outsiders in rural areas, and you are right about people in difficult environments often choosing to lay low and protect their families.
This is where Bev's comment above has much wisdom:
quote:. . . the very best thing that can happen for the long term is for the citizenry to become more and more informed, and to meet each other.
There is strength in information and in numbers. Even two people can provide moral support and enough safety to give one of them the courage to take action. (Welcome Harry and I'm sure you've been just such a support for your wife Kathy.) With BBV helping KY/OH folks to get to know one another and to have contact with people elsewhere who have experienced similar situations, things can start to happen to create new possibilities. Even in rural areas. |
HARRY DAVID GREENWELL
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Harry
Post Number: 2
Registered: 03-2007
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 6:40 pm: |
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Bev just in the last few hours you would be amazed at all the rumors that are spinning around Bullitt co.The politicians and a certain few elected officials are allready attempting to put a spin on things.Since so many people from our county are now going to this web page I think it would be a perfect time to clear up a rumor or two before they get going very good.There has allready been attempts to make this a democrat-republican issue and its not,it is a issue of the people of Bullitt co.Another rumor I was told about is Kathy and myself are only angry because we lost the election.I had to laugh about that one.The reason I had to laugh is in the beginning I knew my chances were not good for winning the election for sheriff and after sheriff Parsley fired me I felt as if I had no chance at all ,however for me it wasn't about winning it was about standing up for what I believe in and wanting to make Bullitt Co. a better and safer place for my children and for the citizens of Bullitt co.Kathy and me had no money after I was fired, times were really hard for the next few months we nearly lost our home,food,electric and all the basic day to day needs became a struggle. Something that hurt more than anything was the same police officers and deputy sheriffs that I had worked with for so many years and I had put myself in harms way for, would turn their backs to me out of fear from the past administration and fear of what would be our present administration of today .For the first time in my life I felt beaten and suicidal,I had no income, I had no medical insurance for Kathy and she has a crippling bone disease. I had no one to talk to and nowhere else to go and I found myself in the middle of my field that I was plowing on my knees and in tears asking my God to forgive me for those thoughts and to give me the strenth and the wisdom to carry on. My prayers were answered I found my strenth that day and my courage to continue.
And Im proud to say Kathy and me took only 2800.00 dollars and only her and my self knocking on doors and nearly defeated the powers that be.The oposition spent thousands and thousands of dollars and had a army helping him to campaign.WE should place our highest values on the act of running for public office.FREE SPEECH means absolutely nothing if there are no individuals to put their money where their mouths are,and to attempt to vindicate their ideas by action.And running for office is a waste of time if our votes can't be tabulated correctly and our election officals ignore the crys of its people and fail to enforce our election laws.
thanks Dave greenwell |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6045
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 7:05 pm: |
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Dave,
It can be so very difficult sometimes just to stand up for what you believe in. And when times get really tough, especially publicly with situations like a wrongful termination, as you went through, the most painful thing is always the people. But a hidden blessing is that it is revealed who your friends really are. And that's something you never forget.
One of the things you told me that I wanted to put in the story was the part about you and Kathy spending just $2800 on your campaign. I suppose it will be another month or two before the final figures come out, but it would be interesting to see how much money you were going up against.
Win or lose, you have a role to play, and sometimes putting up a fight for fairness, on behalf of other citizens and our kids, can act as a catalyst that triggers a lot more changes.
My pastor once told me, when I was going through a difficult patch, that no matter what people say or who has your back here, the Almighty sees, knows, and "gets it."
And that's a good thing, because getting votes counted where we can see them and getting access to the information we ask for about elections is going to take more than a minute, and we'll need more than a few more prayers to get there.
But hey, I hear that your County Clerk found some more votes today! Maybe he took lessons from Dean Logan, who used to run elections in my county. In 2004, Dean Logan "found" more ballots during the governor's recount not once, not twice, not three times, but FOUR times.
I'll be interested to hear about the newly found Bullitt County poll tapes. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 6050
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, March 30, 2007 - 8:02 am: |
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Brant, your brief comment needs to go into a different thread, so I deleted it. It attempts to deflect this discussion into a discussion of whether we should have an anonymous ballot or not, which is an appropriate topic for Black Box Voting discussions but not for this thread. I recommend re-posting your point in General Discussion. |
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