Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday, March 18

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.



Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:
1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.


4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

Friday
March 17, 2006

Supervisors Approve Voting Machine Negotiations,
By: J. Douglas Allen Taylor

Caught between a steady chorus of warnings by local voting rights activists and a looming deadline to begin preparations for the November elections, Alameda County Supervisors voted narrowly this week to begin negotiations with two companies for the poss ible purchase of paper-verified electronic voting machines. But even supervisors who supported the negotiations cautioned that the vote does not necessarily mean that new electronic voting machines will actually be bought.

Acting Alameda County Registra r of Voters Elaine Ginnold told supervisors that nothing in the contract negotiations would prevent the county from adopting a paper ballot system for the November election similar to the one that will be used for the June election, if the supervisors lat e r choose to go that route.

Berkeley Peace and Justice Commissioner Phoebe Anne Thomas Sorgen, one of several county residents who urged supervisors to abandon electronic voting machines during two days of presentations at the county administration buil ding, said following the vote that “we’re disappointed. We are going to have to regroup and decide what to do next.”

Thomas Sorgen predicted that activists would return to the supervisors meeting en masse when the report on the contract negotiations come s back.
More

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=03-17-06&storyID=23653

Friday, March 17, 2006
Clark shows off new toys


Secretary of state on barnstorming tour with voting machines

By DAVID LUSH - Delta Democrat Times

GREENVILLE - With a new Diebold Touch Screen and Optical Scan Voting System machine on hand, Mississippi Secretary of State Eric Clark gave members of the Greenville Rotary Club a first hand look at what is the future in voting in Mississippi.

But the major effort underway in the secretary of state's office right now, is gearing up for primary elections and educating voters on the new voting machines.

Clark praised the Help America Vote Act, which he said goes a long way in “improving elections in Mississippi. We knew we had problems here but this act helps a lot. It's the first major election reform effort in a generation.”

Thus far, 72 out of Mississippi's 82 counties will be using the new Diebold voting machines with several other counties already using another brand of touch voting machines.
More





http://www.ddtonline.com/articles/2006/03/17/news/news2.txt

Gov. Seeks Funds For Paper Ballot Voting System

POSTED: 6:18 am EST March 17, 2006

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Gov. Robert Ehrlich asked the legislature for $21.8 million Thursday to implement a paper ballot voting system, but a Senate committee quickly voted to use the money instead for an electronic poll book system that election officials could use to make sure Marylanders do not vote twice in this year's primary and general elections.

The governor and legislature are embroiled in a dispute over whether to scrap the state's Diebold AccuVote-TS touchscreen machines, which critics say are unreliable and subject to fraud.

Ehrlich wants to use paper ballots with optical scan machines that count votes as voters insert their ballots in the scanners. The House of Delegates agrees with the governor and has voted to require use of the optical scan system while the state determines the reliability of the Diebold machines and whether they could be fitted with printers to provide a paper record of each vote for future elections.

State election officials continue to defend the Diebold system, and some key Senate leaders agree, making it uncertain what will happen during the final three weeks of the legislative session.
More


http://www.thewbalchannel.com/politics/8077528/detail.html?rss=bal&psp=news

Paper or plastic?

You get to choose between conventional and controversial touch-screen ballots

By Kathy Cichon
STAFF WRITER

Snip of intro stuff

X marks the spot

"There is a group of people who are concerned about any electronic voting," Saar said. "They want to go back to the days of marked paper ballots."

"Sounds good to me," Kaczmarek said. "Most democracies do it that way, and it works for them. I would take humans over computers any day. I'm in favor of hand-counting on the precinct level and studying how other countries involve the people in the community in the process."

"We just have to ask citizens, 'Would you be willing to wait a few extra hours for results that you can trust?'" Kaczmarek said. "I would be."

Paper ballots, Saar said, "are not even an option."

"Counting ballots by hand is a very tedious process that can be susceptible to error itself because people get tired," DeGregorio said.
More


http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/wheaton/top/du17ballots.htm

03/17/2006
The blame will be bouncing around if $3 million for computer voting is lost


Get ready to duck, Len Piazza. There’s a fast freight train a-comin’ and you’ve got a target on your back.

If, as now seems likely, Luzerne County is forced to dust off the old crank-and-lever voting machines to conduct the May primary election, Piazza could be the fall guy when the county loses $3 million in grant money tied to the federal Help America Vote Act’s requirement that new touchscreen voting machines be in place for this year’s elections.

Well, the company Piazza and the county commissioners selected to do the deed has sandbagged them — and us — but good. If, as the company promised it could, it cannot deliver the machines in time for the May primary election, the county is in dire prospects of losing the $3 million grant it should be receiving to offset the costs associated with purchasing the new machines. That would stand Piazza, as county director of elections, in the direct path of the stampede of indignation that will be released with the public’s perception that the politicians have blown another call and cost county taxpayers $3 million. The county commissioners, historically, rarely have accepted blame for such snafus. The traditional, time-tested — and politically expedient — means of dealing with such potential unpleasantness is to pass the buck along to the guy on the obvious hot seat. Uh, that’s you, Len. Remember that this is a public still seething over the General Assembly’s midnight, behind-closed-doors passage of a bill to make themselves the most highly paid legislators (counting benefits and perks) in the nation.

But, in ironic fashion, it seems that Piazza may very well be the victim of his own conscientiousness rather than a slacker who was asleep at the switch.

Moreover, discussions between Piazza and ES&S apparently did not begin to get frosty until Piazza started pressing the company about extended warranties, service contracts and other issues. Piazza’s research persuaded him that many of the touchscreen voting machine vendors around the country have demonstrated that they are much more adept at selling their wares than they are at providing service and post-purchase support — leading to a situation in which many counties have found themselves saddled with huge maintenance and repairs bills.
More



http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16322565&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6

Article published Mar 17, 2006

Voting machine problem caught in NC

By Mark Binker
Staff Writer

RALEIGH -- A glitch that could have resulted in some votes not being counted has been found in gear that was shipped to North Carolina for use in the May primary.

The problem, which was first noticed in Ohio earlier this month, has been traced to memory cards used in certain types of voting machines.

Officials with the N.C. State Board of Elections and machine maker Election Systems & Software, based in Omaha, Neb., said this week that the affected equipment has been identified and most has been returned to the company.

About 1,000 cards that were part of the bad batch were shipped to North Carolina's state warehouse in Goldsboro. Of those, about 30 of the potentially faulty cards were shipped with machines to three different local boards of elections in Durham, Forsyth and Wake counties, Friedman said.
More




http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060317/NEWSREC0101/603160335/-1/NEWSRECRSS

FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2006

Computer problem calls for election recount

By Marilyn Tennissen/The News staff writer

Last week's Republican and Democratic Party primary elections may not be a done deal after all.

Monday afternoon the party chairmen have requested a recount of all the votes cast on March 7.

The Jefferson County Clerk's office said a problem with the county's new electronic voting system caused a discrepancy of around 5,000 votes.

On Tuesday night there had been two ballot boxes that had problems, and following the instructions of ES&S, the company who sold the electronic touch screens to Jefferson County, the software had to be cleared and retabulated. During the process however, not all the previously counted votes were cleared.
More

http://www.panews.com/articles/2006/03/17/news/recent%20news/03elnrecount.txt

Special elections not exempt from HAVA

Heather Leinen Park Rapids Enterprise
Published Friday, March 17, 2006

At the Wednesday board meeting, county auditor/treasurer Pam Heeren suggested petitioning the state for exemption from Help America Vote Act (HAVA) mandates for special county elections.

In order to save money, county auditor Pam Heeren suggested excusing special elections from HAVA requirements, such as if a county commissioner resigns mid-term.

“So in a special election, handicapped people can’t vote?” asked commissioner Lyle Robinson.

“They are more than welcome to vote and we already have provisions in place (to help them),” Heeren said.

“After buying all the equipment and putting up with all the crap, we might as well use the machines,” Robinson said, referring to the drawn-out process of buying and funding the HAVA machines. (My, such language!) :rofl:
more



http://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166§ion=News

This is a nice primer page for current concerns with election/voting issues. It also has links at the bottom to other sites with information, like the Conyers and the GAO reports, reports from US Count Votes and the California Voter Foundation, and several others.
I thought it might be a good link to give to people who are just beginning to ponder if there really are some problems with the system.

Hmmmm...I see your point.




http://www.openvotingconsortium.org/the_problem

Campaign 2006
Key Senate, House and Governor Races
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign06/keyraces.html
Click on a shaded state below to see key races.

Clicking on a state gives a list of the key races. If you then click on the complete analysis, it will link you to more info.
Here's an example:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign06/migov.html
Key Race: Michigan Governor

By Chris Cillizza
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
February 16, 2006

Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) came into office four years ago as a rising star on the national stage but now finds herself battling wealthy businessman Dick DeVos (R) for her political life. DeVos, whose family founded the Amway corporation, went on the air in mid February with his first statewide television buy, a sign that the campaign will now really begin to engage. Granholm must figure out a way to avoid being blamed by voters for the dismal state of the economy if she hopes to win. >more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign06/keyraces.html

Quite amusing! Poor Katherine :sarcasm:

March 17, 2006
Katherine Harris

Welcome back to the BuzzFlash.com GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

After much speculation, Katherine Harris has announced that she is not dropping out of the Florida Senate race.

That groan you here is from Karl Rove. It's not that the Busheviks are ungrateful for Harris's role in helping to steal the 2000 election from Al Gore. It's just that Harris is currently carrying a lot of baggage that includes a history of accepting tainted money.


Oh, yeah, and did we mention that Ms. Harris is bombing in the polls, even though she's trying to attract the male vote by thrusting her chest out like a porn-star at photo-ops?
more

http://www.gophypocrites.com/2006/03/hyp06011.html

Vote fraud training called legit

Web Posted: 03/17/2006 12:00 AM CST

Guillermo Contreras
Express-News Staff Writer

The Texas attorney general's office this week defended examples given in materials used to train law officers to watch for voter fraud, saying viewers must look at them in the proper context.

Critics took issue this week with two examples in a PowerPoint presentation used by the attorney general's office to train law officers to recognize election fraud. The critics argued the examples give poll monitors huge discretion that could result in voters inappropriately being turned away.

One example pictured apparel with logos of the Dallas Cowboys as a possible violation of a section of the state election code that bars in polling places badges, insignias and emblems that relate to any candidate, measure or political party on the ballot.

The other example gives law officers tips on what to look for when examining documents for fraud, including "unique stamps" on mail-in ballots. Appearing next to those words is a postage stamp of a black woman kissing a black child. The stamp promotes testing for sickle cell disease. The racial undertones of that example riled some critics.

more

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/stories/MYSA031706.03B.ag_training.1c6b62e1.html

Election Bill Tracker

"The Common Cause Election Reform Team announces the implementation of a new Election Bill Tracker. This interactive database allows you to search for election-related bills in a particular state legislature, link to the bills' web sites for their exact language, and also find out the current status of the bills. Or, if you are interested in a particular election issue, you can find out about bills focusing on that issue all across the country, again with links to the bill's web sites and information about their current status.

If you find that we've left any election bills off, or if you have suggestions of ways to improve the site, please post the information on our blog by clicking here. This tool is for all of us and will become more useful with input from you."

http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=473101

When you click on a state on the map, or you can use the pull-down menus, it takes you to a list of all current legislation concerning election/voting issues. Here's an example from my state, Michigan:

Michigan

Absentee Ballot Bills



House Bill 4056

An Act authorizing elections by mail after conducting pilot elections by mail.

Sponsor: Rep. Jeff Mayes

Status: In-Committee (House Oversight, Elections, and Ethics)



House Bill 4093

An Act to allow issue of absentee ballot upon voter's request without requiring justification.

Sponsor: Rep. Pay Byrnes

Status: In-Committee (House Oversight, Elections, and Ethics)

http://www.commoncause.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=473081&ct=511397

More information can be obtained about the bill by clicking on the bill title, including the actual bill itself, sponsoring legislators, and the history.
Very cool!

Ok, so this isn't an earth shattering event, but the point is with these machines, the will of the people is not being supported.



Voting machines removed in Grafton

By CAROL ROBIDOUX
Union Leader Staff
Thursday, Mar. 16, 2006

Grafton – No matter how you do the math, 193 “yeas” plus 198 “nays” don’t add up to 369 votes.

That faulty equation — results of a warrant article vote from Tuesday’s election ballot — was the first clue for Grafton town officials that something was wrong.

As a result, two voting machines used to collect ballots in the annual town and school district meetings are now in the custody of the Attorney General’s Office, removed from the town yesterday, said Grafton Selectman Jennie Joyce.

McDow, who is trained to operate the voting machine, said she learned more after placing a call yesterday to LHS Associates of Methuen, Mass., the company that services the town’s Accu-Vote machine.

The margin of error could end up changing the outcome of two important warrant articles, McDow said — one for a new police cruiser and the other for a compactor for the town’s recycling center.
more

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Voting+machines+removed+in+Grafton&articleId=37f3b7dd-a9de-4bd8-99d4-f3a60b903754

Must have been an interesting little gathering!



Election uproar; County officials say there were plenty of red flags

By: JULIE DAFFERN, LAREDO MORNING TIMES
03/14/2006

A representative of Election Systems and Software was blasted Monday at Webb County Commissioners Court for errors in programming and inadequately training county staff.
The county paid almost $900,000 in federal grant money for the electronic machines, and officials fear that problems in the March 7 election could lead to more voter apathy and distrust.

When Chris Moody, the Texas director for Election Systems and Software, came to the podium to offer an explanation, he simply stated that they had not expected to use flash cards to record the votes. The plan was to use the personal electronic ballots (PEBs) that they trained county officials to use.

After Moody's brief explanation Monday, dead silence ensued. Then Carlos Villarreal, county executive administrator, stormed to the podium and angrily told the court, "I think you need more explanation."
more

http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=16299334&BRD=2290&PAG=461&dept_id=473478&rfi=8

Mar 16, 5:08 PM EST

Justice Dept. clears New Orleans election plan

By CAIN BURDEAU
Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Over the objections of some black leaders, the U.S. Justice Department on Thursday approved a plan for New Orleans' first elections since Hurricane Katrina devastated most of the city and displaced more than half of the population.

The department still needs to approve a few polling place changes, but Thursday's announcement was significant because it gave the department's blessing to an election plan approved by the Legislature during a special session held after the hurricane.

Department officials also said they would send observers to monitor the April 22 election for mayor, city council seats and other positions. If necessary, a runoff will be held on May 20.

"Two thirds of the eligible population has been disenfranchised," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said in a telephone interview. "This is more onerous than the poll tax laws of 1965."

Jackson reiterated plans to organize marches and a lawsuit against the elections.
>more

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LA_KATRINA_NEW_ORLEANS_ELECTIONS_LAOL-?SITE=LABAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Trust us
Take this box and stuff it

By ROBERT C. KOEHLER
Tribune Media Services

March 16, 2006

Something fundamental about who we are as a nation is dribbling away, it seems, without alarm or even debate. We torture prisoners - it's out in the open, a done deal. We're fighting an unnecessary war that, well, yes, was launched on a lie, but too late now; we're in, we can't get out. And our neighbor's phone is being tapped.

But the worry that trumps all others is the state of this proud, imperfect democracy. We may be surrendering our power to change the national direction or demand that government be responsive to us. My fellow Americans, our voting machines don't work, at least not all the time. The mechanism of our democracy is in chaos, and almost everyone is going along with it.

Thanks to the allegedly well-intentioned, but disastrous, Help America Vote Act, the country is shifting, county by county, to electronic voting machines, which are not only glitch-prone on a spectacular scale (e.g., 100,000 phantom votes were recorded in Tarrant County, Texas, during the state's primary last week), but work, like God, in mysterious ways, which we're not supposed to question. The results they give us are all too often unverifiable.

And here's the clincher: The process isn't even public anymore.

more

http://commonwonders.com/archives/col337.htm

Article published Mar 17, 2006
AP joins Democrat protest of closed meeting

The Associated Press has joined the Tallahassee Democrat in objecting to a closed meeting earlier this week in the office of Secretary of State Sue Cobb, as well as her efforts to have police remove those she barred from the meeting.

Both news organizations sent letters to Attorney General Charlie Crist and State Attorney Willie Meggs expressing outrage that a county commissioner and reporters were barred from the meeting Monday. Secretary of State Sue Cobb and Leon County officials were discussing a looming deadline on getting voting equipment for the disabled.

''It goes without saying that the subject matter was of significant public importance and interest,'' Democrat Executive Editor Robert C. Gabordi wrote in a letter that was hand-delivered Wednesday. ''Florida law demands that this type of business be conducted in the sunshine.''

The two news organizations also protested Cobb's attempt to have police officers remove their reporters.

''As if the closure of the meeting was not enough, to then put our reporter in the position of being threatened with arrest is intolerable,'' Gabordi wrote.

>more

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060317/BREAKINGNEWS/603170360

How Do Slot Machines and DREs Compare?
By Washington Post
March 16, 2006
The following graphic was published in The Washington Post.




http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1056&Itemid=26

Election Integrity Action Center
"Click an issue below to continue. You will then input your name and address, preview and personalize the message, and the rest will be done for you."


Here's a sampling of actions requested:
Ion Sancho needs our help!
Pennsylvanians: Urge Your Representative to Support HB 2000 and your Senator to Support S 977 and Ensure Verifiable Elections in Pennsylvania
US Congress: Demand that Congress Ensures Accessible and Verifiable Elections in 2006 and Beyond!
Demand Verifiable Elections in Iowa - Urge your Representatives to Support SF 351

http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA

There are several more on the page, with all the links you'll need. So put down that bag of popcorn, turn off the tube, turn on AirAmerica, and get to work! This election reform stuff will give you a workout!

Voting machines demonstrated

By Kevin Pierson


Some Washington County voters got a taste of what it’s going to be like to vote in the May 2 primary during a special demonstration of the county’s new voting equipment at the Marietta Kroger store Thursday.

With a ballot featuring questions such as, “What’s your favorite ice cream?” or “Who’s your favorite singer?” Mike Hackett, former deputy director with the Franklin County Board of Elections, performed demonstrations on how to use the voting machines for county residents.

“I’m just giving them each type of scenario of what can happen with a ballot I have already voted,” Hackett said in explaining how he demonstrated the new machines.


http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new55_317200673241.asp

More voting machines added to mix

Watchdog, disability groups bring in additional selections

By ANNE PAINE
Staff Writer

A new breed of voting machines is being shown off around the state, including this week at Legislative Plaza, but often the events don't include the "scanners" favored by some safe voting groups or equipment for the disabled.

Scanners are the machines that use paper ballots and keep them in case a recount is needed.


So two groups, Safe Vote Tennessee and Gathering to Save Democracy, took things into their own hands and arranged for two scanners, a Diebold and an ES&S, to be at the plaza on Tuesday for officials and the public to try.

"This equipment is far less expensive," said Deborah Narrigan of Gathering to Save Democracy.

http://www.rctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060317/NEWS01/603170392/1006/MTCN0301

March 16, 2006

Nevada election official promises new voter registration system

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Despite problems that halted a deal for a statewide computer registration system, Secretary of State Dean Heller said Thursday that Nevada will have an backup system in place for the 2006 elections.

Heller said his office has been "working diligently for several months" with registrars and county clerks on the alternate system "that will soon be operational" and will comply with requirements imposed by the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 in efforts to prevent voter fraud.

"We're shooting for late April, early May," said Renee Parker, chief deputy secretary of state. Nevada's primary is scheduled for Aug. 15, and the general election is Nov. 7.

Heller in February had to suspend a $4.6 million contract with Covansys Inc., of Farmington Hills, Mich., after the company missed various deadlines for building a statewide computer registration system.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/mar/16/031610275.html

County Board to explore electronic voting
BY MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star

The Lancaster County Board will explore the possibility of getting an electronic system for recording votes at its meetings.

The issue was raised this week at a staff meeting by Commissioner Bob Workman, who said he got the idea from talking to a Douglas County commissioner.

Douglas County has a computerized voting system that was included as part of a major upgrade of audio-visual equipment in its chambers. Workman said he was told the system works well.

Other governmental bodies, such as the Sarpy County Board and the state Legislature, use less sophisticated systems that involve boards with lights that indicate when someone has voted.

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/03/17/local/doc441a08d8bb27f248565350.txt

From Bradblog:

ES&S Vote Machine Memory Card Failures Spread to Other States!

1000 Cards Fail Tests in N. Carolina After Massive Failures Discovered in Ohio!
ALSO: Testing Reports Say Voting Machines One-Third as Reliable as Incandescent Light Bulb!

Guest Blogged by John Gideon

As reported on March 9 and March 10 by The BRAD BLOG the folks in Summit Co. OH have discovered massive problems with memory cards on ES&S Electronic Voting Machines in recent tests. Some 30% of the cards completely failed.

ES&S, the largest voting machine provider in the country, attributed the problem to low or dead batteries on the PCMCIA memory cards. At the time, we inquired as to whether other states using ES&S equipment might be experiencing similar problems. The reporter covering the story for the Akron Beacon Journal told us she was able to get no response from ES&S -- but was then given an assurance that ES&S had contacted their customers to inform them about the concerns.

A week ago Tuesday, Texas experienced loads of problems (or "glitches" as Voting Machine Vendors and Election Officials enjoy minimizing them as) in their Primary Elections. Just a few of those reported in newspapers the day after are listed here.

Then yesterday the Akron Beacon Journal reported that, in fact, ES&S had contacted North Carolina. North Carolina, who lost some 4,500 votes completely via an electronic voting machine in Cartaret County during the 2004 Presidential Election, began checking their ES&S memory cards and have so far found more than 1,000 cards that to be bad!

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002565.htm

March 18. 2006 10:31AM

Actor cast as whistle-blower and thief in Diebold case

The Associated Press
Advertisement
Click to learn more...

A 43-year-old actor has become a hero to digital rights and political activists who they claim is a whistle-blower who helped exposed a threat to the election system.

Stephen Heller, however, also is alleged to be a thief. Prosecutors in Los Angeles last month charged him with three felonies for allegedly stealing damaging documents about voting machine manufacturer Diebold Election Systems.

"My wife would never describe me as someone on the front lines of anything, and I wouldn't either," Heller told the Los Angeles Times. "I'm not politically active except I've voted since I was 18."

http://www.dailycomet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060318/APN/603180641

:woohoo:

Whistle-Blower or Thief in Diebold Case?

Stephen Heller's alleged theft of papers about the firm's electronic voting machines spurs praise and scorn as he faces felony charges.
By Hemmy So, Times Staff Writer
March 18, 2006

A whistle-blower to some, a thief to others, Stephen Heller says he's a regular guy, not an activist or a member of any political group.

But charged last month in Los Angeles with three felonies for allegedly stealing damaging documents about voting machine manufacturer Diebold Election Systems, Heller has become a hero to digital rights and political activists who say he helped expose a threat to the election system.

"My wife would never describe me as someone on the front lines of anything, and I wouldn't either," Heller said in a recent interview. "I'm not politically active except I've voted since I was 18."

Prosecutors say Heller, a 43-year-old actor and resident of Van Nuys, took more than 500 pages of Diebold-related documents, including memos from the company's attorneys at the Jones Day law firm. The memos suggested that the company might have broken state law by providing Alameda County with voting machines that had not been certified by the state.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-heller18mar18,1,6906584.story

Voters enjoy getting a head start at polls
• Early voting: New law lets Kane Co. residents try out election equipment

By Steve Lord
STAFF WRITER

The early returns on early voting look good.

It appears the first time Illinois voters were able to vote early was well-received and went smoothly, according to local election officials.

"Oh, yeah, I think it went excellently," said Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham.

In the end, 3,103 voters came early to the polls in Kane County.

The early voting period started 22 days before the March 21 primary election and ran up to five days before — meaning Thursday was the last day for early voting, although that does not include absentee voting.

With absentee votes, Cunningham said about 4,300 Kane residents will have voted before March 21. But absentee voting has always been allowed; this was the first year Illinois voters could come to a polling place and vote before the March 21 primary without a reason.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/top/3_1_EL18_A1VOTING_S1.htm

Humboldt Registrar To Recommend Vote-PAD, Forego Diebold Purchase

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Late Friday afternoon, Humboldt County Recorder, County Clerk & Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich circulated a document intended to be presented to the County Supervisors next Tuesday. The document (.pdf), also posted to the County website in the Supervisors' meeting agenda, is titled "Progress Report of the Humboldt County Elections Advisory Committee March 21, 2006." It concludes with two recommendations:

snip

The primary objection is that our votes are recorded by optical scanners that use illegal interpreter code. There is no basis for confidence in the results reported once the data has been converted into the non-human readable, proprietary AccuBasic programming language of Diebold (or any other vendor). The scanners will review all votes, including those cast on Vote-PAD. Sad but true, while Vote-PAD is far superior to touch screen machines, the method of counting renders it a false alternative.

Let us also not forget the known problems with the GEMS central tabulator software, also made by Diebold, and used to aggregate the numbers from various polling places. See for yourself in Votergate, the movie.

So for Tuesday's meeting, we've dodged the need to deal with Diebold on one front but not another. Our opportunity will be to bring the Supervisors into a discussion about how the votes are counted, ideally by hand in public with witnesses. Given the issue with the interpreter code, it is also worth asking why the elections department is so determined to comply with the disability requirements of HAVA while ignoring the fact that the scanners do not comply (.doc) with state or federal law.

snip

http://guvwurld.blogspot.com/2006/03/humboldt-registrar-to-recommend-vote.html


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417491

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Mandated switch means heavier load on election board

By TOM GIAMBRONI Journal Staff Writer

LISBON - The cost of voting in Columbiana County is going up.
New election requirements mandated by Congress and the state legislature could cost the county as much as $100,000 extra annually.

"Times are tough enough without getting burdened with these extra costs," said John Payne, deputy county election board director.

Most of the increases are associated with the county's switch to an optical-scan paper ballot voting system resulting from legislation passed by Congress in response to the 2000 presidential election problems in several Florida counties.

As a result, $1.2 million in federal funding was received by the county to purchase optical scanner units and ballot boxes for each of the 103 voting precincts, plus 90 handicapped voting machines and the vote tabulator used to tally the results.

http://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/story/0317202006_new01news11.asp

(Okay, so this is either WWIII in the making or, we can vote in clean elections in Pakistan . .)

New Pak chief election commissioner wants to create history!
Islamabad, March 18, IRNA

Pakistan-Elections
The newly-appointed Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan Justice (Retd.) Qazi Mohammad Farooq has vowed to hold free, fair and transparent election and thus create history.

Barring the electoral process in 1970, which was described as the most free, fair and transparent election, afterwards, controversies have been blotting the sanctity of the ballot.

Qazi, after taking oath on Thursday, remarked,"I will make it sure that the general elections are held in such a way that it becomes a precedent for others to follow."
He was a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from February 4, 2000 to December 30, 2003.

Media reports and international observers have been alleging increased interference of the government apparatus during the elections.

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-235/0603180585175713.htm

Anti-War movement becoming political force that cannot be ignored
3/18/2006 6:30:00 PM GMT

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan attends a peace march as part of International Women's Day


By: Kevin Zeese

A new national poll shows that a near majority of voters either strongly or somewhat agree with a pledge not to vote for pro-war candidates. This makes the anti-war movement's potential impact on elections larger than pro-gun, anti-abortion, or anti-gay marriage voters. Politicians will have to pay heed to this new political force.

• The pledge states:

“I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or President who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression a public position in his or her campaign.”

The national poll found that 45.9% of U.S. voters agree – 20.1% strongly agree and 25.8% somewhat agree. Among Democrats 67.1% agreed – 33.3% strongly, 59.2% of Independents – 25.3% strongly and even 25.7% of Republicans agreed – 5.5% strongly. The poll was conducted by ICR Survey Research of Media, Pa., which also polls for ABC News, The Washington Post and many corporations and research organizations.

http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=10954

Saturday, March 18, 2006

It's unfortunate that again a court must be used as the stick that drives the state of Alabama to do the right thing. State leaders knew long before the recent threats from the Justice Department that military personnel overseas have had problems voting.

State leaders have quickly come up with a solution to fend off the threatened and now-realized lawsuit. However, their solution is aimed more at getting the Justice Department off our collective back than providing a meaningful solution to the plight of military voters.

Moving the primary runoff election back several weeks will give servicemen and servicewomen more time to receive and mail back their ballots. However, this change still leaves military voters at the mercy of mail delivery -- especially if they do not decide to vote until late in the absentee voting period.

http://www.al.com/opinion/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/opinion/114267723714930.xml&coll=3

(I wonder how widespread this is.)

(DoJ has already denied this but article has good info and this story must not go away. EF)

National Black leaders act to stop ‘illegal’ election

by CC Campbell-Rock


NAACP President Bruce Gordon declared that “the elections scheduled for April 22 are in fact illegal elections.” If they go forward, most Black voters will probably be excluded and unable to participate in determining New Orleans’ future.
Photo: NAACP

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), on March 13, asked the U.S. Department of Justice to block the scheduled elections in New Orleans because there is not enough time to ensure a fair election process before the scheduled date of April 22.

“I am convinced that at this point in time the elections scheduled for April 22 are in fact illegal elections,” said NAACP President Bruce S. Gordon. “The state cannot guarantee or provide some level of insurance that a substantial percentage of New Orleans voters will be able to vote either by absentee ballot or in person.”

“Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, pre-clearance from the Justice Department must occur before an election in Louisiana can be held. The state has not yet received this pre-clearance,” Gordon added.

http://www.sfbayview.com/031506/illegalelection031506.shtml

Senate OKs measure to ensure accuracy of electronic voting

By Howard Fischer

Capitol Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.17.2006

PHOENIX — State senators Thursday approved procedures to make sure electronic machines count each Arizonan's vote accurately.

Procedures given preliminary approval require an "audit" of 10 randomly selected voting precincts in both Pima and Maricopa counties each election. In each precinct, the ballots would be examined and counted by hand.

snip

No matter what the audits show, however, the original machine-counted results would remain official, and an election could not be overturned.

Huppenthal said the audit would still serve a purpose by identifying discrepancies and paving the way for examining the software in the machines used to see whether there was evidence of tampering.

snip

http://www.azstarnet.com/news/120464


Discussion

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Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 11:50 pm:

Bev Harris
Board Administrator

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There will be a brief report issued tomorrow (Sat.) by Black Box Voting regarding testing performed on the Diebold TSx touch-screen machines.

The testing was performed for an elections official who noticed anomalies in the county voting machines. It was underwritten, videotaped and photographed by Black Box Voting and performed by Harri Hursti and Security Innovation, Inc.

Look for more details here shortly. Another elections integrity hero has stepped up to the plate to join Ion Sancho in championing more secure voting machines. You will learn more about this tomorrow.

Thank you also to the citizens who assisted us in educating county officials and helping us achieve testing of the TSx.

more...
http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/1954/19667.html

<http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16322565&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6>
The blame will be bouncing around if $3 million for computer voting is lost

Get ready to duck, Len Piazza. There’s a fast freight train a-comin’ and you’ve got a target on your back.

If, as now seems likely, Luzerne County is forced to dust off the old crank-and-lever voting machines to conduct the May primary election, Piazza could be the fall guy when the county loses $3 million in grant money tied to the federal Help America Vote Act’s requirement that new touchscreen voting machines be in place for this year’s elections.

Well, the company Piazza and the county commissioners selected to do the deed has sandbagged them — and us — but good.

-snip-

discussions between Piazza and ES&S apparently did not begin to get frosty until Piazza started pressing the company about extended warranties, service contracts and other issues. Piazza’s research persuaded him that many of the touchscreen voting machine vendors around the country have demonstrated that they are much more adept at selling their wares than they are at providing service and post-purchase support — leading to a situation in which many counties have found themselves saddled with huge maintenance and repairs bills.

The old voting-lever machines were not only low-maintenance — they were virtually no-maintenance.

Guests: Ion Sancho and Brad Friedman

Thursday, March 16, 2006


Archived for 60 days

Play: http://archive.kpft.org/pls.php?mp3fil=1866688

Download: http://archive.kpft.org/mp3/060316_190001pf.MP3

Archive Page: http://archive.kpft.org


Discussion

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:grr:

:D

Arizona Citizens for Election Reform has filed an initiative to require paper ballots and a 5% audit. We need > 122,000 signatures by July 6 to get it on the ballot. If you know Arizonans who are interested in making every vote count in AZ - have them go to aceronline.org and check out the petition and help us circulate it.

If you are not in AZ, but would still like to help, we need donations (if every petition sheet were filled and every signature valid, we would need to print over 20,000 pages - not to mention pamphlets and materials to help get the word out). We have paypal on our website - any amount greatly appreciated.

We have had many election issues in AZ and we are almost certain it would pass if we can get it on the ballot.

Thank you to those working for integrity all across the country,
Dan
dan@aceronline.org

:toast: