Democracy Lost: a Report on the Fatally Flawed 2016 Democratic Primaries
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Democracy Lost: A Report on the Fatally Flawed 2016 Democratic Primaries Election Justice USA | ElectionJusticeUSA.org | [email protected] Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL........................................................................................................2 A. ABOUT ELECTION JUSTICE USA...............................................................................................2 B. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...............................................................................................................2 C. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................................................7 II. SUMMARY OF DIRECT EVIDENCE FOR ELECTION FRAUD, VOTER SUPPRESSION, AND OTHER IRREGULARITIES.......................................................................................................7 A. VOTER SUPPRESSION..................................................................................................................7 B. REGISTRATION TAMPERING......................................................................................................8 C. ILLEGAL VOTER PURGING.........................................................................................................8 D. EVIDENCE OF FRAUDULENT OR ERRONEOUS VOTING MACHINE TALLIES.................9 E. MISCELLANEOUS........................................................................................................................10 F. ESTIMATE OF PLEDGED DELEGATES AFFECTED................................................................11 III. LEGAL ACTIONS TAKEN BY ELECTION JUSTICE USA AND OTHER PARTIES.........11 A. LAWSUITS FILED OR YET TO BE FILED.................................................................................11 1. ARIZONA....................................................................................................................................11 2. NEW YORK................................................................................................................................12 3. ILLINOIS.....................................................................................................................................13 4. OHIO............................................................................................................................................14 5. CALIFORNIA.............................................................................................................................14 B. THE IMPACT OF SHELBY COUNTY VS. HOLDER ON VOTING IN THE 2016 PRIMARIES ..............................................................................................................................................................16 IV. DOCUMENTED TYPES OF VOTER SUPPRESSION AND ELECTION FRAUD IN THE 2016 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES...........................................................................................19 A. DIRECT VOTER SUPPRESSION.................................................................................................19 1. REDUCTION IN POLLING PLACES DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTS SANDERS’ VOTE SHARE.................................................................................................................................19 2. SIX DIFFERENT WAYS OF TARGETING NO PARTY PREFERENCE (NPP) VOTERS IN CALIFORNIA.................................................................................................................................20 1 B. REGISTRATION TAMPERING....................................................................................................26 C. ILLEGAL VOTER REGISTRATION PURGES............................................................................32 D. INACCURATE VOTING MACHINE COUNTS..........................................................................34 1. EXIT POLLS AND COMPUTERIZED VOTE COUNTS.........................................................34 2. CLINTON’S VOTE SHARE INCREASES WITH PRECINCT SIZE, INDEPENDENT OF DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS..........................................................................................................46 3. HACKABLE MACHINES..........................................................................................................63 E. THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE (DNC) OBSTRUCTED THE SANDERS CAMPAIGN AND COLLUDED WITH MEDIA OUTLETS TO MARGINALIZE AND SMEAR SENATOR SANDERS........................................................................................................................69 1. USE OF SUPERDELEGATE PRE-POLLS TO SHAPE MEDIA NARRATIVE ABOUT PRIMARIES....................................................................................................................................69 2. EVIDENCE FROM THE WIKILEAKS DNC EMAIL ARCHIVE............................................69 V. EVIDENCE FOR FRAUD OR SUPPRESSION IN EACH PRIMARY PHASE, STATE-BY- STATE.....................................................................................................................................................71 A. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................71 B. EARLY STATES.............................................................................................................................72 C. SUPER TUESDAY (MARCH 1)....................................................................................................76 D. MARCH 2 – MARCH 15...............................................................................................................80 E. ARIZONA.......................................................................................................................................87 F. NEW YORK....................................................................................................................................88 G. APRIL 26........................................................................................................................................89 H. MAY CONTESTS...........................................................................................................................89 I. JUNE CONTESTS...........................................................................................................................90 J. STATES REQUIRING FURTHER ANALYSIS..............................................................................93 V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................................................93 A. CONCLUSIONS.............................................................................................................................93 B. RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................93 2 I. INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL A. ABOUT ELECTION JUSTICE USA Election Justice USA (EJUSA) is a national, non-partisan team of seasoned election integrity experts, attorneys, statisticians, journalists, and activists. The circumstances surrounding Arizona’s presidential primary on March 22nd, 2016—widely acknowledged as one of the most disastrous election days in recent memory—were the lightning rod that catalyzed the formation of EJUSA. Throughout the course of the 2016 presidential primary season, EJUSA has emerged as a leader in the fight for honest elections, pursuing legal action in several states in an attempt to counteract specific forms of targeted voter suppression and election fraud. This report summarizes the work of the Election Justice USA forensics and legal teams during this period. EJUSA is working not only to expose the voter suppression and election fraud taking place during the 2016 presidential primaries, but to build a mass movement calling for three simple, affordable reforms that will render direct fraud and suppression impossible, safeguarding US elections for future candidates. B. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On April 19th, a judge in New York grudgingly agreed that someone may have tampered with Alba Guerrero's voter registration. Judge Ira Margulis changed his decision from moments earlier that Guerrero would be denied the right to vote in New York’s Democratic primary, after evidence emerged that Guerrero's signature had been forged, switching her to Republican without her knowledge or consent.1 Had she not been willing to take several hours to appear before a judge that day, Alba would not have been able to vote for Senator Bernie Sanders. Video evidence available online confirms the forgery.2 Ms. Guerrero states: “It just boggles my mind that it could happen that easily to so many people and without them even knowing that they are being manipulated like that...I never would have thought something like that could happen.” Guerrero was more than willing to have her story included in Democracy Lost. She added, “This is a problem that obviously has gone for too long and with no consequence.” A forged legal document cannot be attributed to an unfortunate mistake or a clerical error. Someone intentionally tampered with Alba Guerrero’s voter registration. Photo 1: Alba Guerrero Another New York resident, Chloe Pecorino, attempted to register as a first-time voter by submitting the relevant paperwork to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Brooklyn more than a week before the March 25th, 2016 deadline. Attempts to verify her registration status online were unsuccessful. On the 1http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/19/failure-fraud-and-more-in-new-york-s-punk-rock-voting-disaster.html