I just saw the HBO’s new film, Recount, which dramatizes the count-the-ballots battle in Florida after the 2000 election. I usually have a hard time with popular  on subjects about which I am knowledgeable, because of errors, shortcuts and important omissions which seem inevitably to be part of the process. But I saw no errors or inaccuracies in Recount. Almost everything and everyone was portrayed consistent with my understanding of what happened and the cast of characters. It was amazing actually that they touch on every important point despite the standard length film time and story-line constraints.

And it's a great story, tightly told and cut with many powerful scenes, including the final scene of ballots (that weren't counted) in boxes in a warehouse. The acting is as good as it gets.  Whether or not you think you already know what happened, this is a highly compelling film.

There are of course things that can be expounded upon, and I’m thinking about doing a Q&A about Florida 2000. If anyone has questions about what happened in 2000 or the aftermath please ask them here. (Feel free also to post comments about the film.)

Thanks, Steve

According to the New York Times,

"Wounds from the Florida recount, still healing for many Democrats, are being ripped open again for some prominent former advisers to Al Gore. They say that a coming HBO film dramatizing the ballot battle after the 2000 election unfairly blames them for the Democrats’ failure to secure the White House.

Warren Christopher, the former secretary of state who served as the public face of the Gore team in the early days of the recount effort, said this week that he believed the film, “Recount,” was “pure fiction” in its portrayal of him as a weak strategist unprepared to stand up to the aggressive tactics of James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state who was the chief Republican adviser....

The film, which has its premiere on May 25 on HBO, stars John Hurt as Mr. Christopher, Tom Wilkinson as Mr. Baker, Mitch Pileggi as Mr. Daley and Laura Dern as Katherine Harris, then the Florida secretary of state. Kevin Spacey plays Ron Klain, the Gore lawyer who led the on-the-ground recount effort and through whose eyes much of the action is seen."

This could be a useful form of advocacy for election integrity reforms. 

The Election Assistance Commission is hiring Alice Miller, who has been investigated for fraud, then the investigation was blocked, and now she is to be rewarded with a new job, as chief operating officer for the EAC.  More information on her and this story is provided below.

Here is an easy way to sign on as protesting this hiring to your senators and representatives and your local newspapers.  Please click on this below link, take the needed 1 to 2 minutes, and fill out the form and send it off.  If you have time, call your Senator and Representative also.  I called mine, Senator Sherrod Brown today, and asked that congressional hearings take place on Alice Miller's EAC job in light of the issue of alleged fraud in her past and the apparent theft of tens of thousands of dollars. 

Thank you for your quick response!  Her start to work date is scheduled as June 2, 2008.

http://www.usalone.com/cgi-bin/petition.cgi?pnum=837

More on the story (from DC Watch):

"Scheme to obtain unlawful pay raises and back pay. After the BOEE General Counsel received a pay raise (from $109,515 to 121,406) based on recently enacted legislation designed to ensure retention of practicing attorneys in the District government, legislation that would permit raises to the Director of OCF by removing the statutory cap was sought by OCF but not obtained.

Because the salary of the OCF Director is capped at the highest step of DS-16 ($109,515) of the District's excepted service schedule, attempts to process such a raise through normal channels would have been rejected by the Office of Personnel unless the cap were removed.

For this reason, the technical assistance of a computer security technician employed by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) was enlisted to make the salary changes directly to the District's computerized payroll system. This change to the electronic payroll unlawfully effectuated the raise by circumventing the administrative safeguards that ensure that employees receive appropriate salaries."

http://www.eac.gov/News/press/eac-picks-d-c-elections-director-for

This above site points to the promotion of the fraudsters via the EAC press release on this.  DC Watch site below has a big report on the whole investigation situation.  Those of you able and willing to go beyond filling out and sending in the above form, are asked to call your representative and/or Senator and ask that hearings are called on this issue, in this very important election year.

 http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/ig030522.htm

The Ohio Election Justice Campaign hopes you will speak up on this important issue, ASAP.  The press release dated 5-9-08 reports that Miller will start to work on June 2, 2008.  Unless the citizens of this country stop it.  Go fast, do something meaningful.

Those of you in the Boston area may wish to attend the Profile in Courage award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Monday, May 12.

Debra Bowen, Secretary of State of California, and Jennifer Brunner, Secretary of State of Ohio, will be presented the award for political courage by Caroline Kennedy and Senator Edward M. Kennedy at a ceremony (I’m not sure what time -- Further information: Brent R. Carney (617) 514-1662, Brent.Carney@JFKLFoundation.org)

From the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation press release:

Two public officials who challenged the reliability of electronic voting systems in a bid to ensure the integrity of the vote in their states have been named this year’s recipients of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award,…

“As we prepare to cast our ballots for the next President of the United States, our confidence in the integrity and reliability of the voting process has never been more important,” said Caroline Kennedy, President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation “Secretaries of State Debra Bowen and Jennifer Brunner have each demonstrated exceptional leadership in working to ensure that voting systems provide a full and accurate count of the vote. Our democracy depends on voter trust.  Debra Bowen and Jennifer Brunner’s efforts to earn that trust have made them true profiles in courage….

The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award is presented annually to public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences. The award is named for President Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers, incurring the wrath of constituents or powerful interest groups, by taking principled stands for unpopular positions.

Debra Bowen, Secretary of State, California

After a $450 million investment by California counties in electronic voting systems aimed at modernizing elections, newly elected Secretary of State Debra Bowen ordered an independent review of the new voting technologies to ensure they adequately protected the integrity of the vote.  When the study revealed troubling flaws in the systems, Bowen strictly limited the use of direct-recording electronic voting machines, and imposed significant security and auditing requirements on systems to be used in California’s February 5 presidential primary election. Bowen’s decision was met with resistance by voting system vendors and many county elections officials.

Jennifer Brunner, Secretary of State, Ohio

A series of voting irregularities in several major Ohio counties that use electronic voting systems led newly elected Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to order that paper ballots be provided to any voter who requested one during the state’s March 2008 presidential primary.  Furthermore, Brunner called for the replacement of all of the state’s electronic voting systems – used in 53 of Ohio’s 88 counties – with paper ballots and optical scan technology before the November 2008 presidential election.  Critics have objected to the cost and questioned the necessity of Brunner’s proposals.