Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Thursday 3/30/06

:kick:

Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) Meeting

This event was held March 29, 2006

Archived Webcast Includes


9:15 AM EAC Commissioners address TGDC (EAC)

- Comments by EAC Commissioners

- Questions and Discussion


9:45 AM Update and status of VVSG and NIST/EAC activities (Mark Skall, NIST)

- Review of NIST delivery of VVSG and summary of activities since Sept. 2005

- EAC perspective and Update Strategy (Tom Wilkey, EAC)

- EAC voting system certification plan (Tom Wilkey, EAC)

10:30 AM Inclusion of Supplemental Guidance in Requirements (John Wack, NIST)


11:00AM Core Requirements and Testing (CRT) Subcommittee preliminary reports for next VVSG iterations (Alan Goldfine, David Flater, NIST)

- Cast, Count and Report Requirements

- Conformance Clause and Classes

- Performance and Workmanship Requirements, Electrical/RF, and Quality Assurance/Configuration Management

- Discussion


1:30 PM Human Factors and Privacy (HFP) Subcommittee preliminary reports for next VVSG iterations (Sharon Laskowski, NIST)

- Status of current research

- Issues

- Discussion


3:00 PM Security and Transparency Subcommittee (STS) preliminary reports for next VVSG iterations (Nelson Hastings, John Wack, John Kelsey NIST)

- Preliminary Requirements for Cryptography & Access Control

- Open Ended Vulnerability Testing

- VVPAT

- Discussion


4:15 PM Introduction of resolutions and discussion by the TGDC (Dr. William Jeffrey, NIST)


http://www.eastbaymedia.com/nist/tgdc-032906

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Minor glitch found in Allegheny County voting machines

Expert tricks county's new electronic system but calls the problem a minor one

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

By Tracie Mauriello, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- After four hours of testing yesterday, a glitch was found in the voting system Allegheny County is planning to use in the May 16 primary.

"So far, it's not fatal," said Michael Shamos, the Carnegie Mellon University professor who will recommend whether the system should be certified in Pennsylvania.

"You do have some diagnosing to do," he told representatives of Sequoia Voting Systems, the Oakland, Calif.-based manufacturer of the AVC Advantage voting machines tested yesterday.

snip

"I've got the correct vote totals, but I've got a very strange, apparently corrupted audit trail," Dr. Shamos said. "The totals are all correct but the audit trail is completely haywire."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06088/677611-85.stm

Emery County clerk takes back his resignation

Now what? But the feud over election machines heats up, and commissioners say the clerk is out of a job

By Glen Warchol
The Salt Lake Tribune

snip

The commissioners maintain that County Clerk Bruce Funk resigned Monday night after the commission met behind closed doors with state elections officials and representatives of Diebold Elections Systems over Funk's allowing election activists to test the machines.

But Funk, who had no legal representation, says he was emotionally drained by Monday's confrontation when he said he would step down from his 23-year post. "At that point I just wanted out," he said.

But by Tuesday, Funk changed his mind. Instead of confirming his resignation in writing, Funk hired a lawyer and says he will fight for his position.

snip

"As far as I'm concerned, it will stick," Hatch said. "The legal beagles may look at it differently."

Funk says he plans to monitor Diebold's retesting of the voting machines and even videotape it to protect the integrity of the Emery County vote - and himself.

"I don't think Diebold wants anyone to know what they do to the machines," Funk said. "It needs to be documented as to what they do and and why, and videotape everything they did."
But Hatch said that is unlikely to happen.

"I told him if he was a county employee, he could do that," Hatch said. "As of April 1, he is not going to be an employee of the county."

snip

Election officials may be reluctant to entrust the Diebold machines to a clerk who has so zealously opposed them.

snip

http://sltrib.com/utah/ci_3649394

Secure Voting: What To Do, What Not To Do

by Dan Tokaji

Monday, March 27

snip

While I don't condone the companies' refusal to do business with Leon County, it was poor judgment for Sancho to work in conjunction with the Black Box voting folks in conducting a test. These are folks who have clearly demonstrated that they have an agenda -- showing that voting technology is unsafe -- and are not above sensationalism in promoting this agenda. Thus, it shouldn't come as a great surprise that voting machine vendors aren't too anxious to sell their wares to Leon. It would have been more prudent to have had someone like Dr. Shamos conduct such a test, and the results obtained would've had much more credibility.

snip

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/blogs/tokaji/2006/03/secure-voting-what-to-do-what-not-to.html

Vote-PAD

Port Ludlow inventor helps disabled vote in private

2006-03-28
by EVAN CAEL

PORT LUDLOW

snip

Computerized voting machines didn't seem to be the answer to 15-year Port Ludlow resident Ellen Theisen, 60, because they malfunction.

She began to worry about the democratic voting process.

With 22 years experience as a technical writer of computer software, Theisen knew the limitations of computers and what their pitfalls are.

``What got my interest was when I found out democracy was dependent on the correct alignment of ones and zeros,'' said Theisen of the digits that provide digital data.

snip

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited/story/html/233820

Lawyer warns city to prove its criticism of voting-system

By John McCormick
Tribune staff reporter

Published March 29, 2006

Chicago election officials were told Tuesday that they can legally withhold payments to Sequoia Voting Systems, but only if they can prove the California company failed to live up to the terms of its contract.

Short of that, members of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners were warned by their lawyer to watch what they say about the equipment manufacturer.

Chicago and Cook County officials have acknowledged a lack of training for election judges who faced the daunting task of using a new and complex system in last week's primary. But they have also previously pointed fingers at Sequoia, saying the firm did not perform adequately.

In a memo obtained by the Tribune, the board's lawyer told members, meeting for the first time since the primary, that they are entitled to "withhold or offset payments to Sequoia if there has been a breach of contract." But James Scanlon also said "serious repercussions" could result from making comments about the company that are not fully supported

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/north/chi-0603290267mar29,1,810491.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorth-hed


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x419738

Sequoia Voting Systems Supports Review of Primary Election Process and Procedures

OAKLAND, Calif.
(BUSINESS WIRE)

March 29, 2006

Sequoia Voting Systems supports the decision of the City of Chicago Board of Elections and Cook County to review all aspects of the March 21 election. The company anticipates that the results of these examinations will confirm that the equipment and support provided by Sequoia has met or exceeded the contractual and ethical obligations set forth by the City and County.

snip

Sequoia has direct responsibility for the technical performance of the voting equipment in Cook County and the City of Chicago. Company officials are confident the tabulation technology worked appropriately and will be making the necessary adjustments to ensure that the machines are more user-friendly for election judges.

snip

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060329005935&newsLang=en

This BoE, Ryan Ronco, thinks OpScan isn't electronic and that the use of the Diebold OS OpScan will have him dropped from the Voter Action lawsuit. Er. He and the reporter might want to check that.

Placer won't count on Diebold voting

By: Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer
gust@goldcountrymedia.com

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Placer County may be bumped from a lawsuit attempting to prevent the use of Diebold Election Systems' electronic voting machines in the November election.

The county uses an optical-scan system that employs a paper ballot as backup. And there are no plans to change over to a fully electronic system. County Clerk Jim McCauley is continuing to examine options for electronic machines that also provide a paper backup, Assistant Registrar of Voters Ryan Ronco said Monday.

The group Voter Action filed a lawsuit earlier this month in San Francisco Superior Court against the state of California and 18 counties, including Placer County. It alleges that Diebold's touch-screen system lacks adequate security against hacking.

Ronco said the county would be using the Diebold Accuvote OS system in June - not the contentious Diebold TSX system. The optical system could be augmented by another vendor's system that will continue to provide paper ballots as backups, he said.

"Our system is not hackable," Ronco said.

snip

http://www.auburnjournal.com/articles/2006/03/28/news/top_stories/06diebold28.txt

DEMOCRACY CRUMBLING: New Electronic Voter Registration Database Rejects 43% of New Los Angeles Voter Applications! 26% Rejected State-Wide in California!

Applications That Don't Match EXACTLY With DMV Records are Automatically Dumped by New System!

California's League of Women Voters Sends Letter of Objection to Secretary of State

by Brad

3/29/2006

It's an entirely new can of worms in the Electronic Rape of American Electoral Democracy. The next wave -- beyond the electronic voting machines, and perhaps even more alarming -- in the arsenal of those out to game the system for partisan advantage.

California, and other states around the country, including Ohio, have now implemented the new voter registration databases called for by HAVA. They've used an "exact match" value which results in simply rejecting names like "Brad Friedman" if they don't match "Bradley Friedman" as found in the state's motor-vehicle registration database.

As such, today it was announced that the new system has rejected 43% of the voters who registered from Jan. 1 to March 15" in Los Angeles County alone! And state-wide, some 26% of new registrations and re-registrations have been summarily dumped!
Even worse, guess who's writing the software for the new system in California, Ohio and elsewhere? That's right...our old friends at Diebold, Inc...

FULL STORY, STATEMENT FROM LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS AND MORE:

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002619.htm


K&R Brad's GD Thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x786054

K&R nicknameless's ER Thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x419485

Florida Attorney General Subpoenas Voting Machine Companies

By Charles Crist, Florida Attorney Genral

March 29, 2006

The following announcement was released by Florida Attorney Genreal Charles Crist on March 29, 2006.

Attorney General Charlie Crist today announced that his office has issued investigative subpoenas to the three companies certified to provide voting machines to Florida’s counties. The subpoenas seek copies of documents relating to sales of voting machines by Diebold Election Systems, Inc., Election Systems & Software, Inc., and Sequoia Voting Systems, Inc. in Florida since January 2003.

The Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division will be assisting the Antitrust Division because of the importance of securing accessible voting systems for all Floridians. The subpoenas are seeking information about whether the companies agreed among themselves not to do business with the county.

Copies of the subpoenas are available

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1140&Itemid=113

Perhaps putting the squeeze on, is the only thing that works with them.


Diebold agrees to talks with Leon


By Jeff Burlew and Bill Cotterell
March 29, 2006


Officials of Diebold Election Systems have agreed to meet again with Leon County officials to discuss the possibility of selling their voting equipment for handicapped voters to the county.

>snip<

Earlier this month, County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor asked Secretary of State Sue Cobb, the state's top elections official, to try to set up a meeting with Diebold. Cobb was successful in doing so Tuesday, Jenny Nash, a department spokeswoman, said today. The meeting could happen as soon as Tuesday.

Attempts to reach Leon County Elections Superintendent Ion Sancho for comment on the latest development have been unsuccessful this evening.

In a related development today, Attorney General Charlie Crist issued subpoenas to Diebold and the other two companies that refused to sell the voting equipment to the county.

>snip<


http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060329/BREAKINGNEWS/603290368

Gorge Personality

Tale-Spinning Leads To Charge of Election Fraud

War Hero? Movie Mogul? Baseball Broker? Nope. How About Election Fraud, Instead?

By Dan Richardson, 3-29-06

Craig Marquardo, once of Florida and now of Hood River, is a pitchman
of extraordinary ambition. Just ask him: He's a war hero, a movie
mogul, and savior of Portland's baseball dreams. Except that none of
it's true. He is, one might say, a creative genius when it comes to his
resume.

Marquardo's flimflam has gotten him heat before; he's had bad press
over his claims of being a mover and shaker, over bringing the Montreal
Expos to Portland, over being a war hero, over... well, just about
everything he says.

Then, Marquardo moved into politics, running for a Hood River Port
Commission Seat last year. (He lost against Kathy Watson, 3,255 votes
to his 424. It didn't help his campaign, one supposes, when news
organizations punctured Marquardo's claim of having won a Purple Heart

This time, however, the stakes are higher than a bit of bad press:
According to the Hood River News, the Oregon state Attorney General's
Office is pressing a charge against Marquardo for election fraud for,
essentially, inflating his qualifications. Marquardo calls the legal
action "absurd" and is vowing to continue efforts to launch some grand
ventures, including a new newspaper and feature film about...drum
roll...his life.

snip

http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/7335

Number of mail-in ballots sparks Duval County complaints

SAN DIEGO, Texas -- Allegations of voter fraud have surfaced in Duval
County, where records show one of every two voters who cast a ballot in
the Democratic primary did so away from the polls, using the mail.

Longtime county clerk Oscar Garcia Jr. said the number of mail-in
ballots in the primary was unusually high in the South Texas county,
the San Antonio Express-News reported Wednesday.

More than half the 5,641 votes cast were through absentee balloting.
That amounts to 2,958 ballots sent by mail, more than all the early
voting in the county's 2004 primary when about 2,800 ballots were cast
both in person and by mail.

Jon West, assistant district attorney for Duval County, said he called
for a state investigation after receiving complaints about mail-in vote
irregularities.

snip

http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4699788&nav=Bsmh

Election day hassles spark dialogue

Training, staffing crucial, say some

3/28/2006 10:00:00 PM

By BILL DWYER

Last week, 188,983 people voted for Cook County Clerk David Orr. However, if that election was held again today, it’s doubtful Orr would receive anywhere near that number of votes after the trying experiences many voters in Forest Park, River Forest, Oak Park, and dozens of other county municipalities had casting their vote.

According to local officials working that election, inadequately trained election judges and a lack of technical assistance combined with the debut of two new voting technologies that frequently malfunctioned or didn’t function at all caused endless headaches for election judges and voters.

"People are getting discouraged because they can’t vote," said Forest Park resident Brian Krutsch after attempting to vote at a polling station set up in the Park District of Forest Park’s Building #4 at Hannah Ave. and Sansone Drive. Krutsch also complained that when he sought answers from election judges concerning the problems, he was met largely with indifference, and said he did not receive a call back when he attempted to file a complaint with Orr’s office.

snip

"From my observations, it was the equipment, not people," she said Thursday.

snip

http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=38&ArticleID=1143&TM=9092.064

Voting machine dilemma grow$

By Dave Lewis Managing Editor

snip

Pa$ket $aid the fru$tration ha$ been $tatewide among local entitie$. “I've heard of $mall place$ telling the $ecretary of $tate they aren't going to u$e electronic voting to comply with the Help America Vote Act becau$e they can't afford it,” $aid Pa$ket.

snip

http://www.navasotaexaminer.com/articles/2006/03/28/news/news02.txt

Tallahassee Democrat
March 30, 2006

Officials of Diebold Election Systems have agreed to meet again with Leon County officials to discuss the possibility of selling their voting equipment for disabled voters to the county.

Diebold is one of three companies certified by the state to sell voting equipment to Florida counties, but all three have refused to do business with Leon. The county already lost $500,000 in state grants for missing a January deadline to have the equipment, which is required by the federal Help America Vote Act.

Earlier this month, County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor asked Secretary of State Sue Cobb, the state's top elections official, to try to set up a meeting with Diebold. Cobb was successful in doing so Tuesday, Jenny Nash, a department spokeswoman, said Wednesday. The meeting could happen as soon as Tuesday.

Attempts to reach Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho for comment on the meeting with Diebold were unsuccessful. In a related development earlier Wednesday, Attorney General Charlie Crist issued subpoenas to Diebold and the other two companies that refused to sell voting equipment to the county.

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060330/CAPITOLNEWS/603300324/1010/NEWS01

Emery County clerk takes back his resignation
Now what? But the feud over election machines heats up, and commissioners say the clerk is out of a job
By Glen Warchol
The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune

The state's $27 million transition to touch-screen voting machines has triggered an ugly dispute between the Emery County Commission and its elections chief.

The commissioners maintain that County Clerk Bruce Funk resigned Monday night after the commission met behind closed doors with state elections officials and representatives of Diebold Elections Systems over Funk's allowing election activists to test the machines.

But Funk, who had no legal representation, says he was emotionally drained by Monday's confrontation when he said he would step down from his 23-year post. "At that point I just wanted out," he said.

But by Tuesday, Funk changed his mind. Instead of confirming his resignation in writing, Funk hired a lawyer and says he will fight for his position.

"I plan to fulfill the term of my office," Funk said. "I was elected to this position by the people of Emery County."

Commissioner Ira Hatch said oral or not, Funk resigned.

"As far as I'm concerned, it will stick," Hatch said. "The legal beagles may look at it differently."

Funk says he plans to monitor Diebold's retesting of the voting machines and even videotape it to protect the integrity of the Emery County vote - and himself.

"I don't think Diebold wants anyone to know what they do to the machines," Funk said. "It needs to be documented as to what they do and and why, and videotape everything they did."

more at:
http://www.sltrib.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3649394

Permission for extended quotation provided by the author & copyright holder Michael Collins

Kerry Won!!! Statistical Tools Everyone Can Use

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0512/S00242.htm

The 2004 Election Controversy will not stop. Statistical analysis of polls is now more accessible with free interactive Excel-based election models available on the Internet. Plus an interview with TruthIsAll.

Special for “Scoop” Independent Media
from Washington DC
Michael Collins
Dec. 21, 2005

USEFUL RELATED LINKS:
# The Law of Large Numbers & Central Limit Theorem: A Polling Simulation

# Excel Polling Simulation Model

# 2004 Election Model Projection; Exit Poll Collection; Excel Interactive Election Simulation; Other links.

The Kerry concession speech on November 3, 2004 marked the beginning, not the end of the controversy over the 2004 election. Just hours before the speech, Vice Presidential Candidate John Edwards emerged and said that, “John Kerry and I made a promise to the American people that in this election every vote would count and every vote will be counted."

Democrats were in a state of shock. 2004 was a banner year for new registrations, party financial support, and activism. Reported new registrations favored Democrats all over the country. Democrats were well ahead of Republicans in new registrations in Ohio. South Florida, the “scene of the crime” in 2000, saw major Democratic efforts and a lackluster Republican response.

Democrats matched and exceeded Republicans in funds raised. For the first time, the internet proved to be a highly potent form of fund raising. The Democrats collected $10 million a month for the Kerry Campaign on the Internet alone. Other groups supporting the Democrats raised substantial funds. MoveOn.Org and New Democratic Network ran parallel campaign commercials and provided other support with the $25 million they raised during the election cycle.

Activism was at an all time high. People who had never worked in elections volunteered in large numbers and local Democratic parties throughout the country saw a surge in citizen participation.

While Kerry may have conceded the election at 2:14 p.m., Nov. 3, a large portion of the population failed to accept the final results. They knew something was wrong.
As one Virginia activist said, “This is simply not possible, the national results or here in Virginia.”

Captured truth—the four National Exit Polls

Just as Election Day 2004 was winding down, the server at Edison – Mitofsky (EM) crashed. EM was the firm conducting the National and State Exit Polls for a media consortium consisting of the four major networks, CNN, the Washington Post and other major media concerns. In an historical article, "Scoop" Independent Media outlined the process that allowed Jonathan Simon to capture elements of the National Exit Polls that were never intended for public consumption. Between 11 p.m. election night and 1:33 a.m. November 3, 2004, EM’s servers were out and so was a major portion of the truth.

Using the national and state exit polls as a basis, TruthIsAll began a detailed analysis of the exit polls that demonstrated again and again the extremely high odds that Bush could have won the popular or electoral vote without a 24 hour suspension of the laws of mathematics and statistics.

Election Commission restores Russell polling site

By Warren Watkins

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 4:52 PM CST

The Daily Citizen

The White County Election Commission restored the Russell polling site to Russell City Hall, and is still considering restoring Garner. A lawsuit concerning the changes was filed in White County Circuit Court Friday.

“This weekend I did a road trip,” Dianne Thomas, chairman said.

She said she visited several sites and gained valuable insight and information.

At a regular work session Monday, commissioners poured over maps, studied charts and brainstormed as 25 citizens watched and waited for the pubic comment time.

http://www.thedailycitizen.com/articles/2006/03/29/news/local_news/news01.txt

Voting law deadline 'impossible'
County elections chief claims machines for disabled cannot be installed by June; units to be rented
By Laura Ernde, STAFF WRITER


ELECTIONS CHIEF Warren Slocum (left) and Letta Seiuli of East Palo Alto look at the voting machine Slocum would like San Mateo County to use. (LANELLE L. DURAN)
San Mateo County can't comply with a federal law that requires handicapped-accessible voting machines at every polling place by the June 6 election, Elections Chief Warren Slocum said Tuesday.

Instead, the county will rent about 10 of the new electronic voting machines for the primary, with the goal of equipping all 270 polling places by November.

Most voters will continue to use the same paper ballots and optical scan counting machines that have been in place for 15 years.

Slocum blamed the delay on the 11th-hour certification of the eSlate machine the county wants to use. Manufacturer Hart InterCivic of Austin, Texas, said it can't deliver the machines by June 6.

http://insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_3650183

Touch-screen voting coming to S.C. County

By GENEVIEVE BOOKWALTER
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

Touch-screen voting machines are on the way, after county leaders Tuesday approved spending $2.3 million to buy them.

The 165 machines should be in polling stations in November, with some making an early debut this June.

"It's going to be busy to say the least," said County Clerk Gail Pellerin.

The money comes from state and federal funds, and the new machines — from Sequoia Voting System, Inc. — are required by both state and federal law to help some disabled voters cast their ballot privately and independently.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/March/29/local/stories/05local.htm

Katherine Harris Refuses to Meet Constituents To Discuss Election Reform

By Warren Stewart, VoteTrustUSA
March 28, 2006

They are willing to fly to Washington, D.C. to speak with their Representative but Katherine Harris isn’t interested in their concerns about the security of our elections. In fact no one in her staff can make the time to meet them. Apparently the concerns of citizens from Florida’s 13th District just aren’t important to Katherine Harris. At least not if they're concerned about fair elections.

Apparently Katherine Harris just doesn’t have the time to consider the warnings of the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Research Service. Nor has she noticed the recent actions of Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich of Maryland, who has lamented the lack of voter confidence and his own personal lack of faith in the accuracy of these machines, as well as pointing out the huge costs to purchase and maintain them. She doesn’t even want to hear from her own constituents.

Perhaps Ms. Harris has not seen the report issued by the advisory board of computer security experts requested by California’s Republican Secretary of State Bruce McPherson. That report confirmed voting system security flaws uncovered in tests in Rep. Harris’s state last year that proved that a single individual could alter election results without detection using a single memory card. A recent Technical Advisory issued by the Florida Division of Elections notes that these security vulnerabilities pertain to all voting systems in use in Florida, not just to Diebold.

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1134&Itemid=26

Election legislation leads to partisan debate

Democratic senators reject GOP amendments said to target fraud
By Tom Stuckey
The Associated Press
Originally published March 29, 2006, 7:18 PM EST
A partisan battle over the September primary and November general elections erupted in the Senate today as Democrats beat back a series of amendments that Republicans said would guard against fraud.

Democrats said the proposed changes would undermine Maryland's efforts to increase voter turnout.

Advertisement
The debate was part of a continuing struggle over the coming elections that usually, but not always, divides the Senate and House of Delegates along party lines.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-voting0329,0,4316350.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Democrats Fighting Hard For Diebold in Maryland

By Warren Stewart, VoteTrustUSA
March 28, 2006

That's Right - Democratic State Senator Paula Hollinger Is Diebold's Best Friend In The Maryland Legislature!



There is overwhelming support for verifiable elections in Maryland. The House of Delegates recently unanimously passed a bill that would require a voter verified paper record of every vote and a mandatory random manual audit of 5% of those records. The bill included an amendment that calls for leasing optical scan equipment for this year’s elections. Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich has strongly supported the switch to a paper ballot optical scan system. The New York Times weighed in with an editorial calling for “common sense” in Maryland.

So why isn’t anything happening? Two powerful state Senate Democrats – Senate president Mike Miller and the char of the committee to which the bill was referred Senator Paula Hollinger (pictured at right) - seem to be determined to protect Diebold in Maryland – and they’re willing to waste millions of Maryland taxpayer dollars to do it!

It is the official position of the Democratic National Committee that a paper ballot optical scan voting system is more accurate, affordable, and with the use of ballot marking devices, provides the same accessibility for disabled voters. However, it is Republicans who are working on behalf of Maryland’s voters to ensure confidence in the state’s elections. Governor Ehrlich has twice asked for funding to be appropriated for leasing optical scan equipment for this year. Senator Hollinger took the first request - $21.8 million – and diverted the money to purchase electronic pollbooks from – you guessed it – Diebold.

Maryland: Dissing Diebold

By Alexandra Walker,executive editor, TomPaine.com
March 29, 2006

This article appeared on Tom Paine.com. It is reposted here with permission of the author.



Diebold, dubbed an "e-voting recidivist " by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, may soon be blocked from operating their voting machines in Maryland. Two weeks ago, the Maryland House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly to require paper ballots—not electronic voting machines—be used in this year's elections. The Maryland Senate will consider the measure any day now.

Even Maryland's very Republican governor, Robert Erhlich, has publicly expressed his concern about the integrity of Diebold's e-voting technology. As he should. Today, in an editorial, The New York Times urges the Maryland Senate to support the bill. The Times described why opposition is growing in Maryland to Diebold's technology:

Maryland was one of the first states to embrace Diebold. But Maryland voters and elected officials have grown increasingly disenchanted as evidence has mounted that the machines cannot be trusted. In 2004, security experts from RABA Technologies told the state legislature that they had been able to hack into the machines in a way that would make it possible to steal an election. Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat, informed the State Board of Elections in 2004 that voters had complained to her that machines had mysteriously omitted the Senate race.

Last week, Kevin Zeese—founder of the nation's leading citizen groups working to end paperless electronic voting—explained why Maryland's move is significant to the rest of the country:

Maryland is of national interest because Lamone is the President of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) and the most vociferous advocate for paperless voting in the United States. John Gideon Information Manager of VoteTrustUSA.org says “NASED presently controls all federal voting systems qualifications. They control the panel that reviews the testing results from the Independent Test Authorities and because of that they control who gets qualified and who doesn't.” Indeed, unless Maryland passes legislation immediately, it will be the only state to use a statewide paperless Diebold system as Georgia, the other statewide paperless state, has announced it is changing its system.

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1139&Itemid=113

Irate Chatham voters sound off


BY JENNIFER FERRIS : The Herald-Sun
jferris@heraldsun.com
Mar 28, 2006 : 9:17 pm ET

PITTSBORO -- The Board of Elections meeting Tuesday did not get off to a good start.

Unhappy voters were jam-packed into the tiny, 34-person capacity room and more were peering through an open window. Dissonant murmurs spread through the crowd as the board members shuffled through papers and tried their best to stick to an agenda.

Finally a voice cried out. "How about just, sort of, including us in the meeting?" challenged Sally Kost, who held a brightly colored sign of protest.

Inclusion -- or a lack thereof -- is the rallying cry from a group of Chatham citizens who have started to believe their votes do not count.

http://www.herald-sun.com/chatham/13-718049.html

Wanted: More poll workers

By Julie Ann Grimm The New Mexican
March 29, 2006

Do you want to see the inner workings of elections? You’ve got a prime opportunity this summer because poll workers for the June primary election are in short supply in Santa Fe County, the county clerk reported Tuesday.

Of about 600 poll workers needed to help voters cast ballots on June 6, Election Day, about 180 positions still have not been filled, and the Elections Bureau is getting desperate, Clerk Valerie Espinoza said.

One factor in the underwhelming response to calls for workers is the fact the county has paid the lowest rate of compensation of any county in the state for past elections. Espinoza said she found wiggle room in her budget to increase the payment for each worker by about $20. Now, instead of earning $95 per day, poll workers will earn $115, she said. Presiding judges, who are in charge at each polling place, will make $130.

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/41519.html

Minor glitch found in Allegheny County voting machines
Expert tricks county's new electronic system but calls the problem a minor one

Wednesday, March 29, 2006
By Tracie Mauriello, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- After four hours of testing yesterday, a glitch was found in the voting system Allegheny County is planning to use in the May 16 primary.

"So far, it's not fatal," said Michael Shamos, the Carnegie Mellon University professor who will recommend whether the system should be certified in Pennsylvania.

"You do have some diagnosing to do," he told representatives of Sequoia Voting Systems, the Oakland, Calif.-based manufacturer of the AVC Advantage voting machines tested yesterday.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06088/677611-85.stm

Commissioners play hardball and win

By JOHN LATIMER
Staff Writer

Lebanon Daily News

The Lebanon County Commissioners are breathing easier today after signing a purchase order guaranteeing the delivery of 267 electronic election machines in time for May’s primary election.

“We did sign a purchase order at 5 (p.m. Monday) ... and we are going to get all the machines promised,” Chairman Bill Carpenter said yesterday.

Last week, that delivery was in doubt when Election Systems & Software, the Nebraska company that manufactures the iVotronic touch-screen voting system, told the county it could only deliver about half of the order. The company was able to fill the order after convincing other counties that placed their orders after Lebanon County to take a cut in their deliveries, said Carpenter.

All counties in the state must have an electronic voting system in place by the May 16 primary election to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002. The minimum requirement for counties is to have two electronic voting machines in each precinct, one of which must be handicapped-accessible.

http://www.ldnews.com/news/ci_3651141

Supplier can’t guarantee delivery of all voting machines
By Jeff Greenburg

Counties all across the country are scrambling to secure new electronic voting systems required by the federal Help America Vote Act in time for the primary elections, which in Pennsylvania is May 16. So it should surprise no one that those machines are going to be difficult to acquire even under the best of circumstances.

In reaching a formal agreement with Election Systems and Software Inc. last week, Mercer County officials learned that the Nebraska-based company would guarantee the delivery of only 200 of the 290 iVotronic touch-screen machines the county ordered.

County elections chief Dr. Tom Rookey emphasized, however, that Election Systems and Software left the door open that more could be delivered in time for the primary. The company just didn’t guarantee it.

http://www.sharon-herald.com/local/local_story_088112727.html

Election workers still hope for machines' timely arrival
Thursday, March 30, 206
By PETER HALL
The Express-Times

EASTON | Although the company supplying Northampton County's new voting machines still isn't making any promises it can deliver, election workers will prepare for the May 16 primary election as if the new machines will be in place, Chief Registrar Deborah DePaul said Tuesday.

Northampton County is one of the last in Pennsylvania still hoping Advanced Voting Solutions, of Frisco, Texas, will deliver federally mandated electronic voting machines. Of the 10 counties under contract with the company last week, only three remained committed to their orders Tuesday, President Howard Van Pelt said.

"We have told all of the counties and the state of Pennsylvania that we cannot guarantee delivery in time for the primary," he said. "We will do what we can as soon as we can, but there's no guarantees."

Van Pelt said the company's ability to deliver machines in time for the Pennsylvania primary was hurt by the state's late certification of its machines

http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1143609220286170.xml&coll=2

Kurita, Johnson question state election commission findings

By Gary Burton
The Ashland City Times

Some members of the Cheatham County Election Commission are still undecided about how to proceed with orders from the state to either resign their posts or show just cause why they should not be removed.

But, members across both party lines have received support from area lawmakers.


“We have an election commission made up of fine and decent people,” said Sen. Rosalind Kurita in an interview last week. “I believe there have been some circumstances where Brook Thompson could have done things a different way.”

Thompson, state coordinator for elections for the Tennessee Election Commission, spearheaded a recent investigation into the practices of the local commission regarding the November 2004 election after allegations of fraudulent voting came to light from a former employee.

http://www.ashlandcitytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060329/MTCN0101/303290067/1291/MTCN01

CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN TX SUPREME COURT JUSTICE TO FILE ELECTION CONTEST TODAY!
Former Judge Finds March 7th Texas Primary Results Fraught With 'Absolutely Egregious' Electronic Voting Machine Errors!
May Lead to First Independent Examination of Electronic Machines Made by Hart InterCivic and ES&S!

Blogged by Brad on the road...

As The BRAD BLOG reported last week, a Conservative Republican former Texas Supreme Court Justice had been considering an Election Contest after electronic voting machine problems and inexplicable tallies plagued the first-in-the-nation March 7th primary in the Lone Star State.

Steve Smith -- who ran for election to the state Supreme Court, Place 2, in the Republican primary against an opponent backed by both Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry and the Bush family -- will be filing an official Election Contest this afternoon in Travis County District Court, The BRAD BLOG has learned.

Since our previous report, the Smith for Supreme Court campaign has been examining election tallies around the state and report that they continue to find anomolies in virtually every county they look into.

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002615.htm

Electronic balloting fight might go to court
By: Beth Gallaspy, The Enterprise

BEAUMONT - Jefferson County's dispute with the Nebraska company that provided its new electronic voting system could move to court today.

Election Systems & Services has refused to program the county's equipment for the April 11 runoff until its $1.95 million bill is paid. The county has refused to pay the bill, contending payment is not yet required under the contract and citing problems with equipment, training and support for the March 7 primary.

Assistant District Attorney Tom Rugg e-mailed a letter to ES&S officials Tuesday, but said he received no response before leaving the office. He said he likely will seek a court injunction today if no resolution is reached in the dispute that threatens to disrupt the runoff. Early voting starts Monday.


http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16393463&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6

Utah State Capitol Complex
East Office Building, Suite E220
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220


03/28/06

Dear Governor Jon Huntsman:


I am writing to apprise your office of a breech of the public trust within the Utah Lt. Governor's Office. Election Director Michael Cragun and the Lt. Governor have been colluding with Diebold to commit fraud and to cover up fraud committed against the state of Utah.


Utah paid Diebold for new voting machines but the evidence clearly shows that Diebold delivered a combination of new and used voting machines, some of which had been rejected after use in other states; and others which were rejected in other states' acceptance testing.


Utah Election Director Michael Cragun appears to be colluding with Diebold against Utah's interests in several ways:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_kathy_do_060329_open_letter_to_utah_.htm

Election Defection
A county clerk’s claim that new voting machines are broken may put Utah at the center of a national debate on electronic voting.
by Ted McDonough


Emery County Clerk Bruce Funk might become the hanging chad of Utah’s next elections.

Just as the last shipment of new electronic voting machines were delivered to Utah’s counties and readied for this summer’s primary elections, Funk brought in Black Box Voting, a national voting-rights group, to test the equipment. He did so without the blessing of county commissioners or the lieutenant governor’s office, which oversee elections.

Now Black Box Voting is trumpeting its Emery County investigation on the Web, claiming the Diebold electronic touch-screen voting machines can be tapped in 60 seconds using equipment readily available at Radio Shack. Funk is in a standoff with the lieutenant governor’s office.

He pledges not to use the new voting machines in the next election, potentially violating an agreement between the county and the state.

http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2006/cityweek_1_2006-03-30.cfm

Voting machine transparency costs one county clerk
Posted by Phil Windley @ 10:00 am
Digg This!

Emery County, in Eastern Utah isn't a very big place, at least by population–there are only around 10,500 people. So you wouldn't expect Emery County to be a hotbed of voting activism, but one person, the County Clerk, has taken a courageous stand that has landed him in some hot water.

Last year Utah's Elections office determined to use electronic voting machines and selected Diebold as the vendor. There are lots of people who have questions about the integrity of electronic voting machines and especially those that you can't inspect. One of those people was Bruce Funk, the Emery County Clerk–the person charged with running elections in the county

On December 27, 2005 Bruce took possession of 40 Diebold TSx touch-screen machines as part of a statewide change to the new machines. Upon unpacking the machines Bruce noticed that the "new" machines has some problems "crooked paper feeds that jam, memory card bay doors that wouldn't close, parts getting stuck, coming loose, falling off, etc." Moreover, two of the machines failed their initial, Diebold run, acceptance testing.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/index.php?p=2785

Is the Mainstream Media Finally Getting Half the Rigged Voting Machine Story?
by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman

The fact that electronic voting machines don't work may finally be sinking into a segment of the mainstream media. The fact that e-voting machines can, have been, and will be used to steal elections, continues to go unreported.

At least the corporate media has moved from framing the allegations of e-voting fraud as “conspiracy theory” into reporting epic errors in election results.

Both USA Today and the New York Times have run recent articles on the mechanical problems surrounding electronic voting that mirror much of what happened during the theft the presidential election in Ohio 2004.

On March 28, USA Today's front page reported, that "Primary voting-machine troubles raise concerns for general election." The story focused on primaries in Illinois and Texas, where all-too-familiar problems include more votes being counted than there were registered voters, and thousands of votes missing from a recount.

Even Texas voters couldn’t ignore the fact that an initial ballot tally in Ft. Worth showed 150,000 votes “. . . even though there were only one-third that many voters,” according to USA Today.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0330-22.htm