Election Reform Daily News: Robert Kennedy EDITION, June 2nd, 2006

Welcome to the "ERD"

Recently the Wall Street Journal and the NY Times pieces on E-Voting problems have introduced the country to the problems we have known about for years. Now Rolling Stone mag has published a Robert Kennedy expose on the 2004 stolen election.

Do not forget to listen to Kennedys radio show on Air America Radio this weekend. http://shows.airamericaradio.com/ringoffire/


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

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x397093

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.


If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391

for MAC users-- IIRC its hold down control- and click on the image to view its source.

Thanks to DUer "dzika" for posting this.
VIDEO - Robert Kennedy Explains Stolen Election to Tucker Carlson
broadcast on June 1, 2006


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x430915

Thanks to DUer "kpete" for posting this, discussion here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1328708


ROLLING STONE: WAS THE 2004 ELECTION STOLEN (COMPLETE ARTICLE)
Was the 2004 Election Stolen?
Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House. BY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. Page 1 2 3 4

The complete article, with Web-only citations, follows. For more, see exclusive documents, sources, charts and commentary.

Like many Americans, I spent the evening of the 2004 election watching the returns on television and wondering how the exit polls, which predicted an overwhelming victory for John Kerry, had gotten it so wrong. By midnight, the official tallies showed a decisive lead for George Bush -- and the next day, lacking enough legal evidence to contest the results, Kerry conceded. Republicans derided anyone who expressed doubts about Bush's victory as nut cases in ''tinfoil hats,'' while the national media, with few exceptions, did little to question the validity of the election. The Washington Post immediately dismissed allegations of fraud as ''conspiracy theories,''(1) and The New York Times declared that ''there is no evidence of vote theft or errors on a large scale.''(2)

But despite the media blackout, indications continued to emerge that something deeply troubling had taken place in 2004. Nearly half of the 6 million American voters living abroad(3) never received their ballots -- or received them too late to vote(4) -- after the Pentagon unaccountably shut down a state-of-the-art Web site used to file overseas registrations.(5) A consulting firm called Sproul & Associates, which was hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters in six battleground states,(6) was discovered shredding Democratic registrations.(7) In New Mexico, which was decided by 5,988 votes,(8) malfunctioning machines mysteriously failed to properly register a presidential vote on more than 20,000 ballots.(9) Nationwide, according to the federal commission charged with implementing election reforms, as many as 1 million ballots were spoiled by faulty voting equipment -- roughly one for every 100 cast.

much more at:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen

Thanks to DUer "ProSense" for posting this here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2657156

Thanks to DUer "kpete" for posting this here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1328487

Thanks to DUer "cal04" for posting this here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1332218

http://www.conyersblog.us/default.htm

Thanks to DUer "Presense" for posting this here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2657740

good peice with sources at DU thread here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x214715

Voting machines ready for election: Long-awaited, often-debated electronic models
Thursday, June 01, 2006

By ERICA ZARRA
of The Montclair Times

With the June 6 primary election fast approaching, Essex County’s new electronic voting machines are ready for their long-awaited, often-debated debut.

All 700 touch-pad models from Sequoia Voting Systems have been inspected, certified and are being shipped to polling sites this week, despite lawyers’ and activists’ continued questioning of their quality and legality.

“The electronic machines are inaccurate, highly subject to manipulation and not tested thoroughly,” Penny Venetis, co-director of the Rutgers Constitutional Law Clinic in Newark, told The Times. “I am not against one manufacturer or another. We need machines that accurately record votes and can be audited.”

Last month, a state appeals court in Morristown heard Venetis’ arguments that electronic voting machines are so dubious that they infringe on voters’ constitutional rights.


More--

http://www.montclairtimes.com/page.php?page=12233

Board may decide on June 14, agenda not ready yet

By Alex Hummel
of The Northwestern


What was to be a June 14 committee meeting will now start with an election-technology test drive for Winnebago County's 38 county board supervisors. They'll get an hour of one-on-one time to tinker with controversial touch-screen voting machines with a representative from the favored vendor on hand.


It could lead up to a decision later that night to buy or bypass the equipment intended for voters' use this fall.


With local and national questions about computerized touch-screen voting mounting, the Winnebago County Board of Supervisors chairman said he'll alter what was to be a public committee meeting on the issue into a full-blown county board session.


"I think it's quite possible (supervisors) will vote at that meeting so they can get on with it," Chairman David Albrecht of Oshkosh said. "I felt as though it could be better handled with the board rather than in committee with everybody shouting at each other."


more-

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/OSH0101/605310365/1128/OSHnews

Touch-screens to reduce ballot errors, officials say

By Shelia Byrd
The Associated Press

It has been an election problem for decades. People go to the polls and cast their ballots, but because of some error, the votes aren't counted.

Residual voting - ballots cast during an election on which voters failed to mark a choice or machines did not record it - will be greatly reduced in Mississippi as counties begin using state-of-the-art voting machines, officials said.

The old punch card and lever machines have been replaced by new touch-screen voting machines made by Diebold. Of Mississippi's 82 counties, 77 have bought new machines under the Help America Vote Act, a federal law that requires states to replace outdated election equipment.

more-

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060602/NEWS/606020352/1001/NEWS

Thanks to BRAD BLOG for Posting this, here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2317430

June 2, 2006
By Joe Hanel | Herald Denver Bureau
DENVER - A group of Colorado voters has sued La Plata and eight other counties, claiming their electronic voting machines are vulnerable to fraud.

The voters also sued Secretary of State Gigi Dennis for certifying machines made by Diebold Election Systems, Sequoia Voting Systems, ES&S and Hart InterCivic.

All of the machines have serious flaws, but the Diebold machines used by La Plata County have the longest history of security problems, said Lowell Finley, a lawyer from the group Voter Action, which is supporting the suit and has filed cases in other states.

"The system has repeatedly been exposed to glaring security holes that have not been fixed," Finley said.

The lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, asks the judge to forbid Colorado counties from using machines from the four companies.

La Plata is the only county in Southwest Colorado named in the lawsuit, but if the plaintiffs are successful, the ruling would apply to all Colorado counties.

La Plata County received new Diebold machines last week, said County Clerk Linda Daley. The county is not replacing its current machines - also made by Diebold. Instead, it will use the new machines to help comply with laws on access for disabled people.

But Noel Runyan, a blind engineer who will testify for the plaintiffs, said the machines Dennis certified are difficult for disabled people to use. He started scrutinizing voting machines a few years ago, after he had a series of problems in trying to vote in another state.

He examined one machine he said "looks so poorly put together that it really looks like a junior high school science project."

http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/06/news060602_8.htm

Colorado Daily.com

By RICHARD VALENTY Colorado Daily Staff Writer
Thursday, June 1, 2006 7:39 PM MDT

Boulder County is beginning to receive new electronic voting machines, but citizens and staff might not know for a while if the county can actually use the equipment in 2006.

A bipartisan group of citizen plaintiffs has filed a legal complaint against Secretary of State Gigi Dennis and the county commissioners of eight Colorado counties, including Boulder County, regarding the possible use of Direct Record Electronic (DRE) voting equipment in 2006.

Boulder County has completed a lease-to-purchase contract with voting system vendor Hart InterCivic to use the Hart “eSlate” DRE in 2006. The county plans to put at least one DRE in each 2006 precinct polling place for use by voters with disabilities, per the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

But the citizens' complaint seeks a declaration that it is unlawful for county election officials to purchase or lease Hart, Diebold, ES&S or Sequoia DREs, and seeks an injunction prohibiting the use of said DREs in Colorado elections.

The action also alleges that Dennis' office unlawfully certified the DREs for use and says the machines don't satisfy state requirements for “reliability, security, accuracy, verifiability and accessibility.”

Several plaintiffs and lawyers representing the plaintiffs spoke during a press conference held Thursday at the Wheeler Trigg Kennedy (WTK) LLP law office in Denver.

WTK attorney Andrew Efaw said independent examinations of some DREs have shown that it is possible for people to defeat the digital security safeguards. He said examiners have been able to “flip” results, or get the machine to record a cast vote for one candidate as a vote for a different candidate.

“More disturbingly, they've been able to do this in five to ten minutes,” said Efaw.

He also said there have been reports of DREs producing undervotes or even “phantom voting,” where the system would record more cast votes than the number of voters who came to a polling place.

http://www.coloradodaily.com/articles/2006/06/01/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt

Thanks to DUer "kpete" for posting this here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1334063

Larisa Alexandrovna: OH Recount Volunteers Allege Legal Violations.

DEMAND AN FBI INVESTIGATION!!!

Ohio recount volunteers allege electoral tampering, legal violations and possible fraud

Larisa Alexandrovna
Published: Thursday June 1, 2006

Serious new election tampering allegations have emerged from an Ohio county, where witnesses allege that stickers were placed on presidential election ballots, RAW STORY has learned.

Several volunteer workers in the Ohio recount in Clermont County, Ohio have prepared affidavits alleging serious tampering, violations of state and federal law and possible fraud. They name the Republican chief of Clermont’s Board of Elections Daniel Bare and the head of the Clermont Democratic Party Priscilla O’Donnell as complicit in these acts.

These volunteers, observing the recount on behalf of the Greens, Libertarians and Democrats, assert that during the Dec. 14, 2004 hand recount they noticed stickers covering the Kerry/Edwards oval, whereas the Bush/Cheney oval seemed to be “colored in.”

Some witnesses state that beneath the stickers, the Kerry/Edwards oval was selected. The opti-scan ballots were then fed into the machines after the hand recount.

Thanks to DUer "kpete" for posting this Greg Palast article from BUZZFLASH.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x430919

The Berkeley Daily Planet

Issue Updated:
Friday, June 2, 2006
8:30 AM

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor


With Alameda County Supervisors coming down to the wire on a decision for the purchase of a permanent new voting system, local voting activists are hoping for what they call an “interim solution” that will not commit the county past the November elections.
“We want them to adopt a minimalist approach” to the current schedule of purchases said Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club Voting Rights Task Force member Michele Gabriel in a telephone interview.

“We won’t have another major election for another two years,” she said. “There could be a change in the California Secretary of State after the November elections, which means there could be a complete change in which voting machines receive state certification, and which ones don’t. In addition, Alameda County doesn’t have a permanent Registrar of Voters, and it would seem that the new ROV should be in place before the county makes a decision on a permanent voting system.”

County supervisors are scheduled to vote at a special Thursday morning meeting on June 8 at 11 a.m. between $17 million contract proposals for voting machine purchases from Diebold Election Systems of Texas and Sequoia Voting Systems of Oakland.

The contract negotiations were authorized on a 3-2 vote by superivisors last March, but even supervisors who voted for the negotiations at the time cautioned that they did so in large part to move the contract proposal forward, and left room to change their minds when the time came for the vote on the actual contract.

Under the original proposal, Alameda County would operate what they are calling a “blended” voting system, with most voters marking paper ballots that would be counted on optical scanners at each precinct. Each precinct would also have an electronic touchscreen voting machine available for any voter who wished to use them, an option which is aimed primarily at disabled voters.

The proposed contracts call for the purchase of the optical scanners and electronic touchscreen voting machines from either Diebold or Sequoia in time for implementation during the November general election and beyond.

Alameda County will operate a similar voting system for next Tuesday’s election, with the exception that all of the paper ballot voting will be counted by the county’s current handful of scanning machines at a central location in Oakland, and electronic touchscreen voting will be done at each precinct on machines leased for the June election only from San Diego County.

http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=06-02-06&storyID=24303

News In Carroll

Dated: June 2, 2006 -- by Keith Rydberg

Carroll, Iowa -- A new voting process in Carroll County will let residents’ fingers do the work when they go to the polls.

The county received $145,000 through the federal Help America Vote Act, which allowed for the purchase of 13 touch screen voting machines for the county. With the funding, a touch screen machine will be available in each voting precinct during the primary election.

Joan Schettler, director of elections for Carroll County, said new federal legislation has required at least one touch screen machine be available per precinct whenever there is a federal election. Even though the touch screen system will be available for all voters, Schettler said voters may still use paper ballots if they are unsure of the new technology. Also, with only one machine available at each precinct, Schettler said the wait may be long for people wanting to use the new technology.

“With the Carroll wards, we can have 12 to 15 people voting at once if they use their paper ballots,” Schettler said. “If the touch screen system were used, people would be waiting in line because we simply can’t afford to have 12 to 15 machines in a precinct.”

When a voter chooses to use the touch screen system, they receive an access card that is programmed by a volunteer county precinct worker before each person votes. This card is then inserted into the machine and the ballot information is displayed on the screen. The voter may then touch anywhere on the line containing the candidate’s name to register his or her vote with all other candidates “locked out” to prevent improper voting. If necessary, the voter may return to the previous page to correct an error. Also, if a person wishes to enter the name of a write-in candidate, they may press a button for that option and type the candidate’s name on a touch screen keyboard.

http://www.newsincarroll.com/archive05/may06touchvoting.htm

Friday, June 02, 2006
— Time: 12:42:44 AM EST

Recount confirms New Waterford levy defeat

By MARY ANN GREIER/Salem News staff writer

LISBON - Columbiana County election officials validated the accuracy of their new voting equipment Thursday, with New Waterford's levy still failing after a ballot recount.

"So it stands - at least we feel better," New Waterford Mayor Sherry Felger said.
Felger and members of village council requested the recount for the 5-mill renewal levy for operating expenses at a cost of $50 after the results showed the levy lost by just five votes.

According to the final tally certified by the Board of Elections two weeks ago, 123 voters were against the tax and 118 voters favored the tax. The new optical scan system also recorded two under votes, meaning two voters cast ballots but chose not to make a decision on the levy.

In a special session at board offices in Lisbon, board members, Director Lois Gall and Deputy Director John Payne divided all the ballots into piles "for the levy" and "against the levy," then handcounted the results, coming up with the same numbers certified. The village includes one precinct.

"It's nice to be able to count the ballots when we have to," board member Jerry Ward commented.

http://www.salemnews.net/news/story/062202006_new08recount.asp

KDKA Channel 2

Jun 1, 2006 9:31 pm US/Eastern

(KDKA) PITTSBURGH Voters went to the polls all over Pennsylvania in May and for some it was a frustrating experience with a brand new method of voting.

“I think the county has a lot of work to do to streamline and continue to train poll workers and to make good decisions about the kinds of machines to use in the fall,” said Kenneth Miller, an election protection volunteer.

Led by People for the American Way Foundation, organizations like the League of Women Voters, Vote PA, the Black Political Empowerment Project and the League of Young Voters have listed their major concerns at the polls.

“We’re thinking this report today would serve as a good basis for the county to understand how many problems there were on May 16 and they correct these problems before the November elections,” said Celeste Taylor, who works for the People for the American Way.

Election day critics say that problems – like delayed poll openings, lack of voter privacy, inadequate help for the disabled, different types of voting machines and no paper trail to verify votes all need to be corrected now to avoid a disaster in November.

“I think if we just wait until November, I think we may see a lot of the same problems,” said Khari Mosley, from the League of Young Voters. “There was a very small turnout in the primary, but in the general with the governor’s and senator’s race, it’s going to be a lot more turnout.

http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_152212743.html

The Californian

Last modified Thursday, June 1, 2006 11:56 PM PDT
By: CHRIS BAGLEY - Staff Writer

Riverside County Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore said she will open tallies from individual voting machines to public scrutiny in the days after the June 6 election, reversing years of practice and putting the county more clearly in compliance with the state's murky elections code.

As in many other California counties, poll workers in Riverside County haven't posted precinct-level results at voting sites for at least six years, and probably much longer. The posting is required by a California law that was written for the first generation of mechanical voting machines. As counties across the state adopted more sophisticated voting systems, most stopped posting at the precincts.

Most counties do show how individual precincts voted, but in most cases, the numbers are tallied inside a single, central computer where ---- some say ---- error or fraud might go undetected.

Dunmore's decision Thursday drew praise from local elections watchdogs who had earlier demanded that she require the results to be tallied and posted at 587 precincts from Jurupa Valley to Banning, as they say the law requires.

"This is part of a move toward transparency and openness, to provide the public with as much information as possible," said Tom Courbat, a leader of Temecula-based Save R Vote, which formed in April to monitor the elections process.

A two-month struggle over the posting requirement is at the intersection of two of the most important aspects of democratic elections. On one hand, Courbat's group has demanded that ordinary citizens be able to guard against error and fraud in the counting process. On the other, Dunmore has said the counting process already includes safeguards against fraud, and that voters' privacy should take precedence over further safeguards.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/06/02/news/californian/21_05_466_1_06.txt

Recorder Online, Porterville

Friday, June 02, 2006

By Joann Groff, The Porterville Recorder

Attention voters!

Significant changes at the polling stations may throw some voters for a loop at Tuesday's primary election. But poll workers with training say the slight alterations won't wreak havoc on the voting public - they may even make the process a little bit easier.

The most noticeable change is the infiltration of touch-screen monitors. The polling place at Porterville College will have one electronic voting machine accompanied by several traditional voting booths. The machine can provide instructions through earphones and a remote control with various-shaped buttons for the visually impaired.

And for those with a phobia of electronics, organizers like polling place chief Jeff Keele, a professor at PC, say not to fear - there's a lot of paper backing up those machines.

http://www.portervillerecorder.com/articles/2006/06/02/news/local_state/news02.txt

Baxter County Bulletin

ARMANDO RIOS
Bulletin Staff Writer

The Baxter County Election Commission on Thursday certified primary race results in the Republican, Democrat and nonpartisan races, making the results from the recent election official.

Officials had until today to certify results under election rules.

Meanwhile, election commissioners and Baxter County Circuit Clerk Rhonda Porter hope to be able to start early voting Monday for the June 13 run-off election. Marion County voters started early voting Tuesday.

The top two vote-getters in races where no candidate received at least a 50 percent plus one majority vote in the primary election advanced to the run-off election.

Local run-off races include the Constable, District 2 seat race between incumbent Tom Fischer and Gary Arwood. Fischer received 39.20 percent of the vote, and Arwood received 35.18 percent. The third candidate, Dennis Goc, received 25.63 percent of the vote. In Marion County, incumbent County Judge Charles Trammell is in a run-off with challenger Kenneth Oxford. Trammell received 27.16 percent of the vote to Oxford's 48.90 percent.

There are a number of statewide races on the ballot in the Democratic party primary run-off, as well.

They include the lieutenant governor's race between Bill Halter and Tim Wooldridge, the attorney general's race between Paul Suskie and Dustin McDaniel, and the state treasurer's race between Mac Campbell and Martha Shoffner.

Baxter County Election Commissioner Christi Wharton said Porter was at the courthouse until after 9 p.m. Wednesday preparing results into a format required by the Arkansas secretary of state's office. The three election commissioners signed the certification letter Thursday.

Meanwhile, in preparation for the run-off election, Wharton said she had received a call from the secretary of state's office Thursday and was told paper ballots were being printed for absentee and provisional votes. Wharton said election officials still planned to use Election Systems & Software's touch-screen voting machines for voters on election day June 13.

http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060602/NEWS01/606020312/1002/NEWS01

The Daily Sentinel

By Carolyn Acree
The Daily Sentinel

Published June 2, 2006

Playing catch up after helping with rescue efforts during Wednesday's courthouse shooting, Jackson County's voting-machine custodian scrambled to finish placing the county's 84 machines yesterday in time for Tuesday's primary election. Since Monday is a state holiday, there aren't many preparation hours left.

No one's exactly sure why the county's Emergency Management Agency director doubles as guardian of its voting machines, but EMA Director Victor Manning seems quite sure of his task in preparing them.

He keys and pokes and prods at the machines, changing the ink and checking the tape rolls (these look a lot like the receipts you get at the grocery store) that tell poll workers how many ballots have been processed. He makes sure the machines are set at zero and ready for ballots.

This year, the number of machines Manning manages has more than doubled, due to the county's compliance with an American with Disabilities Act mandate that voters with vision impairments or conditions that might make it difficult to mark a ballot be provided with equipment to aid them at the polls. At least one ES&S (Election Systems & Software) AutoMark voter-assist terminal will be added to the machines allotted for each of the county's 39 voting precincts.

While Manning headed out to Paint Rock Valley with its machines, back at the courthouse on Thursday, the circuit clerk's office was busy helping walk-in voters cast absentee ballots before the 4:30 p.m. absentee deadline. "We've had a steady stream of people," said Circuit Clerk Ken Ferrell.

http://www.thedailysentinel.com/story.lasso?ewcd=c83062fe67ae5d25

Statesman Journal

Ethan J. Leib
June 2, 2006

The people have spoken: Taylor Hicks is our newest democratically elected American Idol. Americans cast 63.4 million votes in last week’s election — nearly as many as were cast in the 2002 congressional elections, and more votes than George W. Bush got in 2004. Judging from the level of participation it inspires, “American Idol” isn’t just a wildly successful television program — it’s also a successful democracy.

It’s not a perfect democracy, of course. When Chris Daughtry was eliminated despite his talent and popularity — and the heroic pleas on his behalf from the grass-roots “Chrisaders” at www.DaughtryGang.com — many learned the hard way that participatory democracy can produce results that seem terribly unfair, or that give rise to suspicions of rigging.

But the show still inspires more water-cooler conversation than this year’s hotly contested House races in Colorado or Connecticut. Moreover, 35 percent of the show’s voters believe that casting a vote for a contestant on this juggernaut of a television program counts “more than or as much as” voting in a presidential election, according to a recent survey.

So if we look at how “American Idol” works, we might pick up a few cues for a better way to run our real elections and inspire some passion for politics. Consider these four lessons of American Idol democracy:

— Technology makes voting easy. Nothing could be more convenient than “Idol” voting. You don’t have to get to a polling place, wait in line or interact with any clumsy bureaucracy. “Idol” democrats simply pick up the phone or send a text message to vote. No hanging chads here. “American Idol” democracy is so easy that it repeatedly racks up high levels of participation — as the vote totals in the tens of millions from week to week attest.

Our political contests, meanwhile, routinely fail to drum up comparable excitement. Why not take a page out of the “American Idol” book and make it easier for citizens to vote by telephone or text message? Introducing new technologies is always tricky — our first experiments with electronic voting machines have hardly been problem-free — but we need to think outside the ballot box.

If we all voted by phone or over the Internet, we could have avoided the fiasco in Florida after the 2000 election. We wouldn’t have to bus any voters to the voting booth. We could stop harassment and electioneering at polling places. And we could end the brouhaha that always surrounds absentee ballots.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060602/OPINION/60601016

Clarion Ledger

June 2, 2006

By Shelia Byrd
The Associated Press

It has been an election problem for decades. People go to the polls and cast their ballots, but because of some error, the votes aren't counted.

Residual voting - ballots cast during an election on which voters failed to mark a choice or machines did not record it - will be greatly reduced in Mississippi as counties begin using state-of-the-art voting machines, officials said.

The old punch card and lever machines have been replaced by new touch-screen voting machines made by Diebold. Of Mississippi's 82 counties, 77 have bought new machines under the Help America Vote Act, a federal law that requires states to replace outdated election equipment.

snip

Representatives from Utah Lt. Gov. Gary R. Herbert's office will observe the Mississippi elections because voters in that state will go to the polls on June 27.

"We just want to come check it out, see how it's going and see if there's anything we can learn from what Mississippi is doing," said Joe Demma, Herbert's chief of staff.

Demma said the Diebold machines have been used in two municipal elections in Utah, but this month's primaries are the first statewide elections.

David Bear, a spokesman for Allen, Texas-based Diebold Election Systems, said the machines already have been used in Ohio and Pennsylvania elections this year. So far, there haven't been any complaints, he said.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060602/NEWS/606020352/1001/NEWS

The Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated: 06/02/2006 07:41:49 AM MDT

By Glen Warchol
The Salt Lake Tribune

Emery County's former and would-be future county clerk, Bruce Funk, is many things to many people.
To electronic elections giant Diebold Election Systems, Funk is a nuisance in an obscure rural Utah county who asks embarrassing questions.
To the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office, he is a renegade election official who put a pothole in the $27 million transition to electronic voting.
To anti-electronic voting activists, the 23-year veteran clerk, forced out of office in March after he allowed independent computer experts to examine an Emery County voting machine, is nothing less than a martyr to democracy.
To shocked computer experts and electronic voting certification officials from California to Pennsylvania, Funk is a whistle-blower who uncovered a severe security problem in Diebold's machines.
One thing appears certain: Funk is the only election official in the country skeptical - Diebold would say, credulous - enough to invite computer scientists from Black Box Voting, a Washington state-based nonprofit group critical of electronic voting, to examine one of his units. Data gathered during that examination in tiny Emery County has generated concern by some computer experts, whose findings have been reported in The New York Times and Washington Post. Election officials in California and Pennsylvania have called for an immediate security fix.
That's not the case in Utah, where voters in the June 27 primary will be using the new Diebold machines. State election officials say there is no reason to suspect the integrity of the balloting and they are not demanding any corrective action by the company.

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3890918

Dear Friends of Open Voting:

OVC has work to do. Open Voting is a great idea. Sometimes great ideas take a while to be assimilated. We must plow ahead.

It's a challenge to reach all of our communities. Citizens/voters, elected officials, election officials, political groups, grassroots activists, and the scientific community -- to name a few.

We have gained a following in the scientific community, and we are expanding awareness here. Our paper on the OVC prototype and related security issues has been accepted for presentation at a workshop co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This workshop (June 8-9) will focus on "Threat Analyses for Voting System Categories."

OVC co-founder Dr. Arthur Keller will present the paper at this workshop, which is being held at George Washington University. http://vote.cs.gwu.edu/vsrw2006/ Professor Arnold B. Urken will assist with the presentation.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Arthur Keller for taking the initiative. Also, thank yous go to the other co-authors David Mertz (OVC board member and Chief Technology Officer), Karl Auerbach (OVC board member), and Amy Pearl. I am generously listed as a co-author.

While we couldn't name everyone in the acknowledgments section, many people receiving this message right now also deserve credit. Here's what this section of the paper says,

We acknowledge the efforts of the volunteers of the
Open Voting Consortium who contributed to the
design we describe. In particular, Alan Dechert
developed much of the design and Doug Jones
provided significant insights into voting issues.
Arthur Keller organized the development of the
software and arranged for the demonstrations. The
demonstration software was largely developed by
Jan Kärrman, John-Paul Gignac, Anand Pillai, Eron
Lloyd, David Mertz, Laird Popkin, and Fred McLain.
Karl Auerbach wrote an FAQ on which parts of this
paper is based. Amy Pearl also contributed to the
system description. Joseph Lorenzo Hall contributed
useful background and was a coauthor on an earlier
version. Ron Crane gave useful feedback.

Our work was inspired by Curtis Gans, Roy Saltman,
Henry Brady, Ronnie Dugger, Irwin Mann, and others
who have spoken out on the need for auditable,
consistent, secure and open election administration.
In the last two years, David Dill and Bev Harris have
been especially helpful. David Dill referred several
people to the OVC, and he and Bev Harris have
helped the public recognize the need for a voter-verified
paper audit trail.

In addition to this important presentation, Arthur Keller and David Mertz will be giving a presentation at the 8th Open Source Convention (OSCON), July 24-28, 2006 at Portland Oregon. See http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/os2006/view/e_sess/8606

These presentations, coupled with the previously announced DemocracyFest event in San Diego <1>, July 14-16, mean that OVC will continue to get good exposure in the next couple of months in these communities. We will also continue to work hard in our other target communities.

Thank you and best wishes for a happy Election Day in California, June 6.

Alan Dechert
http://openvoting.org

2006 Election Plan for 'True Conservatives'
Written by J. B. Williams

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27266164.shtml

and another print

http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=21541&catcode=13

Civilrights.org

June 2, 2006

Eric Hsu
Bergen County Record

When voters cast their ballots next week in the June 6 primary, Dong Kim worries there won't be enough Korean-Americans among them.

Kim, the head of a Korean-American advocacy group in Fort Lee, says despite an exploding population of Asian-Americans in North Jersey, voter registration and turnout rates are still hampered by a lack of foreign-language materials and polling place interpreters.

Bergen County has seen an influx of 26,000 Asian-Americans between 2000 and 2004, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, making Asians the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the county.

But many of those voters would benefit from an increase in Asian-language materials and interpreters, according to results of a exit-poll study released Thursday. Many New Jersey counties have been offering Spanish-language materials for years, but none is required to offer Asian-language services.

http://www.civilrights.org/issues/voting/details.cfm?id=43833

full story at:

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5NDI3MzcmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkz

Endorsement of City Council candidate causes confusion
June 2, 2006

By Michelle Mahfoufi
mmahfoufi@gannett.com

John Albritton is a Democrat.

Really.

Even if he was endorsed by a Republican councilman.

Earlier this month, Albritton announced he is running for the southwest Shreveport District E City Council seat at the encouragement of outgoing Councilman Jeff Hogan, a Republican.

After Albritton's announcement appeared in The Times, some voters began to question his party affiliation and whether Hogan is aware he is backing a Democrat.

"I misunderstood that. I assumed incorrectly that he was a Republican, but I don't regret my stance," Hogan said. "I don't get too hung up on party lines, especially if I know the person has a track record of voting in a conservative way. This is a situation like that. John Albritton is a true conservative."

Albritton, a three-term Caddo School Board member who ran as a Democrat and was affiliated with that party in his failed 1990 bid for the District E City Council seat, said he has been asked what party he belongs to since announcing he's trying for City Council again.

"I've never promoted it. But if anyone asked me, I've told them. I didn't think it was relevant."

He's still a registered Democrat and, in fact, never has changed parties, according to the Caddo registrar of voters office.

But that didn't stop the national Republican Party from contacting Albritton to be listed in a Republican Who's Who directory.

:evilgrin:

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060602/ELECTION/606020330/1002/NEWS

Ruidoso News

DIANNE STALLINGS dstallings@ruidosonews.com
Jun 2, 2006, 02:48 am

Republicans will face all of the local choices in the Lincoln County primary election Tues-day, but Democrats can voice opinions on state races, including those contested for public lands commissioner and attorney general.

The decisions that will most directly impact the future of Lincoln County are tied to the selection of three people to fill seats on the County Commis-sion. Each of the districts drew multiple candidates in the Republican primary.

Democratic challengers, un-contested in their primary, are waiting in the wings, and independent or minor party candidates may emerge later, to run in the November general election.

In District 2, which includes the west side of Ruidoso and the northwest areas lying just outside of village, incumbent Republican Mauriece "Maury" St. John, who lives on Cedar Creek Drive, faces Don Williams, a Ruidoso village councilor.

In District 4 that covers Alto, parts of Capitan and Ranches of Sonterra, Republicans Dave Parks, a former teacher and insurance agent, and Frank Higgins, a retired corporate negotiator, will face off.

District 5, which includes the eastern side of the county from Glencoe and north to State Highway 246 past Arabela, is the prize vied for by four Republicans; water activist Jackie Powell, attorney David Stevens, former county commissioner and orchard owner Monroy Montes and excavation and building contractor Dennis Nosker.

Other contested local Republican races include Magistrate Judge District II between incumbent William Butts and Salvador L. Beltran, both former state police officers.

Republicans also are battling for the District 56 and District 59 positions of state representatives.

http://www.ruidosonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060602/NEWS01/606020337/1001

Timesnews.net

Published 06/02/2006
By KEVIN CASTLE -Kingsport Times-News
GATE CITY - Special prosecutor Joel Branscom claimed a moral victory in February although a jury ruled against his case accusing Gate City's former mayor of conspiracy to commit voter fraud.

"The scheme was exposed," said Branscom Thursday about the first trial of Charles Dougherty Jr., regarding allegations from witnesses' testimony that said the town official paid for absentee ballot votes with cash and cigarettes.

The commonwealth's attorney from Botetourt County will make another trip into Scott County next month when Dougherty is scheduled to be tried once more in circuit court, this time on 18 charges of allegedly helping voters violate absentee vote procedures.

Dougherty was originally indicted last August on 37 counts of election law violations following a series of unprecedented political and judicial events in Scott County.

By the time the grand jury returned the true bills against the former mayor last year, a three-judge panel headed by Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leroy Hassell voided the May 2004 town election and ordered the three judges of the 30th Judicial District to appoint an interim town council, which would in turn appoint a new mayor.

A month after the indictments, the council appointed Dougherty's opponent in the contested election, Mark Jenkins, to the town's highest political office.

Jenkins retained that post last month in a 37-vote win over challenger Doug Gillenwater in the first town elections held in Gate City since the controversy.

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=3640673

Rob Hodgkinson announces bid for Secretary of State

A former Buhler man announced his candidacy Thursday for Secretary of State. Rob Hodgkinson, now of Stilwell, is running as a Libertarian.

Hodgkinson, who runs his own small business in Johnson County, has seven years' experience in computer technology as a network administrator, systems analyst and project manager.

In a press release, Hodgkinson stated a lack of safeguards with the state's current voting system is a major concern. He also supports eliminating franchise fees and business filing fees in the state.

http://www.hutchnews.com/news/regional/stories/hodgkinson060206.shtml

06/02/2006; 02:32:21 AM

al.com

Friday, June 02, 2006
By BILL BARROW
Capital Bureau
MONTGOMERY -- None of the three candidates for Alabama secretary of state oppose extension of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, but two of them actively support it and say it's still needed.

The differing views break down along party lines.

Democrats Nancy Worley -- the incumbent -- and Ed Packard, an elections official in Worley's office, argue that Congress should extend the four-decades-old body of law as a continued precaution against voter discrimination and intimidation.

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1149240538129370.xml&coll=3

and

Worley touts state's new ballots
Secretary of state says every county will use same type
Friday, June 02, 2006
By STEVE CAMPBELL
Times Staff Writer eintern@htimes.com
Alabama Secretary of State Nancy Worley said Tuesday's primary elections will be the first of its kind - every county in the state will vote on the same kind of ballots.

Addressing a small gathering of the Madison County Democratic Women's Division at the Holiday Inn downtown, Worley said every Alabamian will vote on the same optical ballots accompanied by a voter-verifiable paper trail. Also, disabled voters will be able to cast ballots without assistance, she said.

"We know that using paper ballots is a good system of checks and balances," Worley said. "We want to make sure we have a way to audit our elections."

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1149240295129450.xml&coll=1

Gwinnett Chamber Candidate Forum

The Weekly

The June 7 Forum is First in the Summer 2006 Candidate Forum Series to Offer an Opportunity to Meet and Greet with Candidates for the Upcoming Elections

Duluth, GA (June 1, 2006) – Gwinnett Chamber members and guests will have the opportunity to meet and greet with candidates for Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State at the Governmental Affairs prelude to the Summer 2006 Candidate Forum Series on June 7 from 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at the Gwinnett Chamber. Confirmed candidates include Allen Buckley, Casey Cagle, Karen Handel, Griffin Lotson, Shyam Reddy, Ralph Reed, Bill Stephens and Rufus Terrill. The event is open to the public.

“The Lieutenant Governor and the Secretary of State are two very important positions in our state government. It is important that Gwinnett’s citizens have the opportunity to hear from the candidates for these positions so that they may constructively evaluate the candidates and make informed decisions at the election polls. The Summer 2006 Candidate Forum Series gives people the opportunity to meet one-on-one with candidates who will potentially have an impact on their business, community, and quality of life,” said Jim Maran, President & CEO, Gwinnett Chamber.

http://www.theweekly.com/news/2006/June/01/candidate_forum.html

Gazette.com, Colorado Springs

June 02, 2006

By KYLE HENLEY THE GAZETTE

DENVER - Marc Holtzman’s bid for governor is hanging on by a thread after the secretary of state announced late Thursday that he didn’t have enough valid signatures to qualify for the Republican primary in August.

Holtzman has five days to protest the decision, but if the ruling stands, one of the most contentious statewide Republican battles will be over.

Holtzman needed 10,500 valid signatures, 1,500 in each of the state’s seven congressional districts, to qualify for the primary ballot.

“He fell short in congressional districts 1 and 7,” said Gigi Dennis, the state’s top elections officer. “The petition does not appear to contain the required number of valid signatures necessary to gain access to the primary ballot.”

The 1st Congressional District encompasses most of Denver and is heavily Democratic. Election officials counted 1,167 valid signatures in that district, tossing out 705 as invalid.

The 7th District covers the northern Denver suburbs, which are almost evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters. It is the home district of U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, Holtzman’s rival for the GOP nomination.

In the 7th, election officials counted 1,090 valid signatures and threw out 524.

Holtzman campaign officials said Thursday that the fight isn’t over, vowing to take Dennis to court if the candidate is barred from the primary ballot.

“We’re supremely confident that what we have and what we turned in are going to be enough to work with,” said Bob Gould, Holtzman’s campaign manager. “We are not just going to say, ‘I guess we are insufficient, and we are going to go home now.’”

http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1318046&secid=1

thanks to Skinner:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x430980

http://www.democraticunderground.com/archive/2006/hava/remedialorder-endorsed.pdf

Thank you "rumpel of the daily" and Foger(totally)Rox! :bounce:

Thanks rumple, ehem, would you like to take over the friday ERD?

:hi:

Florida: Election Integrity Group Challenges Uncertified Voting Machines

By Florida Fair Elections Coalition

June 02, 2006

Links at the link:

Complaint to Attorney General with all Exhibits
Cover Letter to Attorney General
Supplemental Evidence

A complaint filed today with Florida ’s attorney general challenges the shipment of uncertified voting machines to Volusia, Putnam, Polk, and Glades counties, a felony under Florida law. Florida Fair Elections Coalition (FFEC), the Volusia-based election watchdog group that brought the complaint, has asked the attorney general to initiate an investigation of the actions of both the state officials who gave permission for the delivery of the equipment and those of Diebold Election Systems, Inc., the supplier of the machines.

FFEC’s action came in response to the recent discovery by Volusia elections’ staff that the voting machines delivered by Diebold were not certified by the state as called for in the county’s contract with the vendor and as required by state law. According to Volusia Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall, a member of her staff, Laurie White, discovered the problem during routine acceptance testing. When McFall confronted the vendor about the issue, the company produced a letter signed by David Drury, chief of the Bureau of Voting Systems Certification, giving it permission to ship the uncertified Model D, Accu-Vote TSx (touch-screen) voting machines to its customers in Florida.

snip

It is a third-degree felony for a supplier to provide an uncertified voting system, component or upgrade to a local governing body or supervisor of elections. Florida law also requires the supplier to sign a sworn statement attesting to the certification of any equipment provided. A Diebold representative did, in fact, sign an "Affidavit of Certification" for the uncertified equipment.

For nearly a year, Volusia County tried unsuccessfully to buy the AutoMark ballot-marker to meet disabled accessibility requirements, but was told by the state that it could not buy the equipment because it lacked state certification. Volusia County Council Chair Frank Bruno commented on the irony of the situation. “First, the state says I can be put in jail for buying uncertified equipment. Now they want to tell me that it is just fine.”

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1334&Itemid=113


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x431122

Not Quite a Blog
Complications with Sequoia's VVPATs, tapes in CA counties

05/31/06

snip

Riverside has asked for an exception to the provision in the California Election Code (§19370 and possibly §10260) which mandates the posting of results tapes at each precint (from "County in good (and bad) company"):

snip

In addition to arguing above that results posting could implicate voter privacy, Barbara Dunmore, Registrar of Riverside Co., argues that people can "walk off" with these reports, eliminating their usefulness. First, there should definitely be concerns about precincts so small that all ballots cast might be identical. Researchers here at Berkeley, Christopher Crutchfield, David Molnar and David Turner, point this out in a forthcoming paper entitled "Approximate Measurement of Voter Privacy Loss in an Election With Precinct Reports", forthcoming at the NIST/NSF Voting Systems Rating Workshop next week in Washington, D.C. One idea for solving that problem is to consolidate precincts where one of the precincts would have cast uniform ballots otherwise.

snip

It's clear to me that these counties have chosen to de-emphasize the importance of this provision of California Law, not because of concerns with voter privacy or the utility of posting results records but because the design of their voting machinery. The counties mentioned in this story all use the Sequoia AVC Edge DRE with VeriVote printer (for paper-trail compatibility according to CA law). Instead of designing a printer where poll workers change paper rolls or cartridges, Sequoia has designed the system such that entire printers are meant to be swapped out. These printers are difficult to open. The state's consultant who reviewed the system for the California Secretary of State, Paul Craft, had the following to say in February (from "California Secretary of State Consultant’s Report Sequoia's Voting Systems"):

snip

I have a hard time believing that the Registrars in Riverside, Napa and San Bernardino counties are being as forthcoming as they should be in their moves to waive or disobey this aspect of California election law. I would really like to hear what their real concerns are. Are the procedures for opening the printer too complicated? too complicated for the aging poll worker population? Does opening the printer subsystem at the end of the day unreasonably compromise the chain of custody for the paper trail inside? Basically: On what basis are these decisions really being made?

snip/links

http://josephhall.org/nqb2/index.php/2006/05/31/casequoiavvpat


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x431130