Election Reform, Fraud and Related News. Sunday 01/27/08

TALLYING BALLOTS: Electronic polling machines rely on computer memory to store votes

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS • January 27, 2008

TRENTON — With no paper trail to document their votes, the bulk of New Jersey residents will place their faith in technology as they choose presidential candidates in the Feb. 5 primaries.

New Jersey's polling places are run on more than 10,000 electronic, push-button machines. Voters press buttons to cast votes stored on the computers' memory. In most cases, voters are not able to check paper receipts to verify the computers are properly recording their choices.

"You don't know if they're really working. You don't know if the right people are getting votes," said Penny Venetis, a clinical law professor at Rutgers School of Law in Newark who is representing voting rights groups that have sued the state over the machines.

New Jersey's voting machines were supposed to have voter-verified paper receipts by now, under a Legislature-imposed deadline. But lawmakers extended the deadline six months after New Jersey Institute of Technology researchers found flaws in paper printers for the machines.

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080127/NEWS03/801270373

Election Reform, Fraud and Related News. Sunday 01/27/08

Your participation is welcomed. If you can, please


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

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

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=407240

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For black voters, a sense of taking part in history

By James Rainey
Los Angeles Times
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - It's a dangerous thing to get ahead of yourself, to hope that times have changed. People around this small southern town say they know too well what it means to guess at history before it has happened.

But after voting for Sen. Barack Obama on a chilly winter day here yesterday, in a town with a history of racial unrest, many blacks could not help but let themselves feel they were taking part in something larger.

They saw their votes helping push a young black man to victory in the South Carolina Democratic primary, one that felt different from Jesse Jackson's win in the primary here 20 years ago. This felt like something that could become much bigger.

Yesterday, black schoolteachers talked about how an Obama in the White House would motivate students who complain that the deck is stacked against them. Parents hoped it would help them keep distracted sons on the straight and narrow. One woman said she felt it might even push those Confederate flags, occasional dots on the piney landscape, a little farther into the shadows.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20080127_For_black_voters__a_sense_of_taking_part_in_history.html

Banking evolves with Diebold

Mobile phone technology expanding services. Green company showcases branch of the future

By Jim Mackinnon
Beacon Journal business writer

Published on Sunday, Jan 27, 2008

Diebold Inc.'s vision of the future of banking includes an Apple iPhone.

Or any other similar hand-held gizmo with a touch screen that wirelessly connects to the Internet and cell-phone networks and can aid transactions between a bank customer and a bank branch.

The Green maker of automated teller machines and electronic voting machines showcases its latest thinking on the future of retail banking in its Exploration Center just off the lobby of its global headquarters on the Summit-Stark County line.

''We kind of refer to it as the branch of the future,'' said Jim Block, director of global advanced technology.

http://www.ohio.com/business/14462562.html

Recounting and recalling the N.H. presidential primary
By KEVIN LANDRIGAN Telegraph Staff
klandrigan@nashuatelegraph.com

Count on this: Multiple records were set at the New Hampshire primary Jan. 8.

There still are a few more towns to report, but among those that have, 61,244 registered to vote on the day of the primary.

Those were the lines you saw as you headed to the polls, especially at the beginning and close to the end of opening hours. This represents more than 10 percent of the total vote.

Meanwhile, it's looking as if the record number showing up is even more astounding, because only 5 percent of ballots cast were absentee or not in person.

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080127/NEWS01/332865883

At Florida Polls, Touch Screens and Crossed Fingers

By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 27, 2008; Page A08

MIAMI -- There will be no "hanging chads" this time around in Florida. The punch-card voting that plagued the 2000 presidential election in the state is long gone.

But with Florida's primary on Tuesday, some in the state are bracing for more potential ballot trouble because the new electronic touch-screen machines in much of the state have aroused doubts of their own.

Florida legislators voted essentially to ban them earlier this year, after confusion in a 2006 congressional contest in Sarasota wound up in court. But the next set of machines will not be ready until the general election in November, forcing election officials to press the controversial machines back into use one more time.

"Every place in Florida with the touch screens should be doing the election supervisors' prayer -- 'Oh, please, God, don't let this election be close,' " said Ion Sancho, election supervisor in Leon County and a longtime critic of the touch-screen machines. "They simply don't work well enough."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/26/AR2008012601839.html?wpisrc=rss_technology

ABC

Clerks worried about long election day lines

Posted: Jan 26, 2008 01:29 PM
Updated: Jan 26, 2008 01:29 PM

BY: CRYSTAL JENKINS
CJENKINS@KJCT8.COM

Some county clerks are concerned opening up polling places for election day could cause long lines, delaying election results.

Most of the state's electronic voting machines have been de-certified although the Secretary of State's office thinks the problems could be fixed in time for them to be used this election.

Uncertainty has prompted the governor to propose voters cast paper ballots in person on election day and vote by mail.

County clerks say they don't know how many electronic voting machines they'll be able to use.

http://www.kjct8.com/Global/story.asp?S=7778477

Few wrinkles reported at Greenville County polling places

Published: Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 10:42 am
Updated: Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 7:30 pm


By Nathaniel Cary
STAFF WRITER

Saturday’s Democratic primary ran smoothly in Greenville County, although there were some voters who hadn’t given notification of address changes and that led to lines at County Square, according to Conway Belangia, director of voter registrations and elections.

"We’ve got voters who don’t bother changing their address and correct their address so they come down here (to County Square) and sit in line," Belangia said.

At 6:30 p.m. a half-hour before polls were to close, the line stretched to an hour-long wait. Belangia said voters who registered address changes were allowed to vote if they were in line by 7 p.m.

Statewide, voting overall ran more smoothly than last week’s Republican primary, which was marred by voting machine problems throughout the morning in Horry County. Machines hadn’t been cleared of practice votes before polls opened and dozens of precincts were forced to shut electronic voting machines down and use paper ballots, officials have said.

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080126/NEWS03/80126013

Voter verification database will be ready by election
By CHARLES ASHBY
CHIEFTAIN DENVER BUREAU

DENVER - The state's new voter registration database will be ready for use during this year's elections, but county clerks and elections officials are concerned just how well it will work.

The Statewide Colorado Registration & Elections program, known as SCORE II, is part of a federal mandate to ensure those who are voting are actually eligible to do so.

Under the program, voting officials would be able to cross-check eligible voters and automatically purge those who aren't, such as convicted felons, duplicate registrations and deceased voters.

County clerks, who are already embroiled in a controversy over thousands of decertified electronic voting machines and ballot scanners, are questioning whether rolling out an untried program in an election year on top of all their other worries is a good idea.

http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1201348811/2

States slow to embrace online voter registration
Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 01/27/2008 02:39:57 AM PST

SEATTLE — Arizona began allowing voters to register online in 2004. Three years later, Washington became the second state to do so.

Given the migration to the Web of so many administrative tasks, like banking, what's with the holdup in other states?

Primarily, the roadblocks are technical. There is no national voter database and, until very recently, there weren't even statewide ones.

Voter rolls were kept in county offices, each with its own computer set-up. Funding for technology upgrades at the county level was scarce, according to Edgardo Cortes of the Election Assistance Commission.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_8093046?source=rss

Feb. 5 to 'test' ID law
Primary vote

By Blake Aued
blake.aued@onlineathens.com
Story updated at 3:02 AM on Sunday, January 27, 2008

The upcoming presidential primary will be the first time most Georgians will need to bring photo identification to the polls.

Voters in a handful of special and municipal elections were required to show a photo ID before voting, but the Feb. 5 primary and a week of early voting leading up to it will be most voters' first experience with the new rule. It could cause confusion, Athens-Clarke Election Supervisor Gail Schrader said.

"Those other elections have been so small, there's never been a big test," Schrader said.

The state law, passed in 2005 and revised in 2006, finally passed muster with a federal judge in August and went into effect in September. It requires voters to show a driver's license, U.S. passport, military or tribal ID or other type of government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot.

http://onlineathens.com/stories/012708/news_20080127088.shtml

Berman Heading Up Voter ID Effort
By ROY MAYNARD
Staff Writer

AUSTIN - A House Elections Committee clearly divided along party lines heard evidence Friday on the prevalence of voter fraud in Texas.

It's the start of a new battle over a voter identification law, something Republicans say is needed to preserve the integrity of elections, and Democrats say will suppress the votes of the elderly and minorities.

The committee is chaired by state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler. The question Friday was whether widespread voter fraud exists.

"Voter fraud is a rare offense that we already have the legal framework for dealing with," said Rep. Joe Farias, a San Antonio Democrat. "Today I would hope we move cautiously so that we don't erect any barriers to voter participation."

http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20080127/NEWS08/801270304/-1/NEWS

If people who lacked identification voted republican, believe me they would be hell bent on protecting that "sacred right to vote".

In case you didn't already know it. Leo Berman R-Tyler is anti-immigration to an irrational hysterical frame of mind. I think he stays awake at night fearing he'll wake up and he'll be the minority population in the state. It is coming of course. So if Leo lives to 2030 he's got a lot to worry about.

:eyes:

Sonia

WASHINGTON - They love using their iPods, laptops and cell phones for political information, yet many young adults say they aren't quite sure how to get a ballot in the first place.

On top of that, information overload from all the tech toys gets in the way of finding news sources they can trust. Confusing absentee ballots and a lack of faith in the system also may turn young voters into no-shows at the polls.

Andy Weisman, a 23-year-old research analyst from Arlington, Va., simply looks up information in a newspaper about the candidates. Still, he says, plenty of people his age are turned off voting by "not knowing enough about the candidates and not knowing how to find out about the candidates."

More than 20 million people younger than 30 cast their votes in 2004's presidential election. But, at 49 percent, that's still lower than the overall turnout of 64 percent.

"They are so overwhelmed with all the different information," says Abby Kiesa, youth coordinator for the University Maryland's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, which has studied why young people don't vote.

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2008/01/27/features/synergy/synergy990.txt

Councilman Says Discrimination, Election Commission Says No

(Batesburg-Leesville) - Councilman Stephen Cain knows the importance of voting. "I would encourage a lot of voters moving forward to go ahead and update your voter registration info as soon as possible," he says, as a message to his constituents.

But, he says he has also seen the obstacles. "This is a chronic problem for Lexington County, particularly in the Batesburg precinct," he says.

He says the problem is discrimination at the polls, and the long-term effects it may have. "I was very concerned that voters were being disenfranchised," he says.

Cain says some voters were denied the right to vote Saturday because of errors in their addresses or their names not being on the role. "The staff here was not going the extra yard to kinda confirm whether folks were registered to vote or not," he says of the issues.

http://www.wltx.com/sports/story.aspx?storyid=57765

Voting rights advocates await justices' ruling

BY SYDELLE MOORE
Medill News Service | Sunday, January 27, 2008 |

Record numbers showed up for early voting across Cook County, bringing more than just concerns about politics, but voter fraud.

Immigrant advocates like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights have been stalking naturalization ceremonies and community centers for months registering new Americans to vote. But they are now worried that these new voters could be stopped if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a strict Indiana voter identification law. Justices heard arguments on the case earlier this month.

"I'm afraid that if the law is upheld in Indiana, then Illinois will be next," said voting rights advocate Cristina Garcia. "We registered people to vote and now they will go to the polls where they could face racial profiling because they look Hispanic or have an accent."

The Indiana law requires voters to show state-issued photo IDs at the polls in an attempt to prevent voter fraud.

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2008/01/27/news/illiana/docf7fa19c7ffb7f4ff862573dd000c2641.txt

Study supports touch-screen voting machines

By BEN MEYERSON
Capital News Service
Published January 27, 2008

WASHINGTON - Maryland's recent decision to dump touch-screen voting machines in favor of a paper ballot system may have been a poor choice, said the lead researcher on a study of voting technology.

The new report found that while every voting system tested had flaws, touch-screen machines - which Maryland uses - met the top criteria of the study: They were the most user-friendly.

Paul Herrnson, the study's principal investigator and a University of Maryland professor, said that in light of the report, Maryland's choice to change from touch-screen machines to an optical-scan system is ill-advised.

"In terms of improving the voting process, I think it's a mistake, and there's a lot of evidence to speak to that effect," Mr. Herrnson said. "The most common voting error that we found is actually voting for the wrong candidate by mistake," a phenomenon he said is easier detected with touch-screen systems that show voters all their choices before finishing the ballots.

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/01_27-14/REG

January 26, 2008

Ohio Secretary of State agrees with Voting Activists
By James Strait

True to form, the rapidly growing audience of the nationally recognized “Voice of the Voters” radio broadcast was as interactive as ever when program host Mary Ann Gould interviewed Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer L. Brunner. This interview represents what may be the highest ranking official who is open to a candid dialogue with his/her constituents concerning voting integrity.

Secretary Brunner opened the broadcast by thanking Mary Ann for her suggestions about how to count votes at the precinct level and use that as a check against subsequent counts. Ohio’s adoption of a procedure recommended by one of the voting integrity movements leading voices is meaningful and is hopefully representative of a narrowing of the divide between them and us.

The program was filled with callers from all over the United States. Brent from San Francisco, June and Jane from Cincinnati, Dan from Columbus, Victoria from Cincinnati, and Ellen from Washington state were some of the callers asking pointed questions of the Secretary of State. To Secretary Brunner’s credit, her answers were rendered in what seemed a completely honest and open manner. Listening to Jennifer Brunner speak reveals why she has steadily climbed the political ladder. At the moment she is one of the handful of elected officials that understands that the elective process is under attack, and like her California counterpart Secretary of State Catherine Bowen, New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt, and Florida Governor Charley Christ she has the professionalism and character to invest the time, money and effort into seeking a voting mechanism that provides the obvious need for accuracy, accountability, and transparency. She wants to do the right thing.

The right thing of course being that thing which best serves to secure a transparent voting process. We need to hold her close and educate her as to why the pursuit of transparency is not simply the right thing to do as an American, but also that it will ultimately be the smart thing to do as a professional politician. To be that standard bearer known for having the character to do the right thing while many other of her peers were whistling the corrupt tune of the DRE vendor(s), will ultimately make her look like a visionary heroine.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_james_st_080125_ohio_secretary_of_st.htm

Paper ballots before March: Cure or cause for more grief?

BY: Lila Hanft Staff Reporter
The new board and director “have made such huge strides.” Adele Eisner, voter rights activist

Between 2004 and 2006, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections (CCBOE) earned an unenviable reputation not just for mismanaging its elections, but for doing so with a conspicuous degree of arrogance, secrecy and partisan politics.

Stories of our county’s mishandled elections cropped up in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Mother Jones, Salon.com, NPR, and in particular, on the HBO documentary “Hacking Democracy.” Ohio was so riddled with reports of voter suppression that many people believed the 2004 election had been “stolen” by the Republicans.

But in 2007, new Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner cleaned house at the CCBOE, appointing new members who chose Jane Platten as director.

As a result, some of the CCBOE’s toughest local critics are now singing its praises.

http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2008/01/25/news/local/acover0125.txt

Officials: Brunner shaking voter trust

Sunday, January 27, 2008 3:36 AM
By Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

One of the reasons Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner sought a comprehensive study of Ohio's voting equipment last fall was to address her top goal for the office: restoring trust in Ohio elections after the tumultuous 2004 election.

But some local elections officials are questioning whether she's doing the opposite instead, in the wake of controversy over her recommendations to address the problems found in the study.

"What she is indirectly doing is undermining the confidence of Ohio voters -- and I don't know why," said Barbara E. Martin, the Republican chairwoman of the Darke County Board of Elections.

"Changes at this late date into the '08 election cycle would further cause voter confusion, and I feel that would cause voters to question the accuracy of the entire voting process," Maggie Barth, a Democratic member of the Crawford County Board of Elections, wrote on a survey that Brunner conducted.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/01/27/voting_confidence.ART_ART_01-27-08_B1_P4963GI.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101

Precincts face higher election costs
Electronic voting machines more expensive to maintain

By Kalen Ponche
Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:50 PM CST

St. Charles County voters have used electronic voting equipment since April 2006, but the Election Authority is starting to feel the pinch of maintaining that equipment.

For the past three years, the Election Authority has charged political subdivisions - the municipalities, fire districts and school districts with items on the ballot - $4,500 per precinct to run an election.

But the new electronic voting machines are more expensive to use and maintain, said Rich Chrismer, director of the St. Charles County Election Authority. As a result, the price to put on the election is going up by $1,000 per precinct this year.In 2005, St. Charles County ordered 180 new optical voting machines and 180 touch-screen voting machines. The federal Help America Vote Act paid for counties across the country to get rid of the punch-card method of voting.

"(The federal government) wanted to have voting equipment that allowed the disabled to vote independently," Chrismer said. "Then they also wanted to replace punch cards. ….. The optical scan is faster, considerably faster, and the accuracy is unbelievable."

http://stpetersjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/01/26/news/sj2tn20080126-0127stc_elect_1.ii1.txt

Back to the future for N.Y. voters
By Cara Matthews
Albany Bureau

ALBANY — Before lever machines were first introduced in the late 19th century and spread throughout the state and country, New York voters filled out paper ballots to elect leaders.

The practice was abandoned because of rampant fraud. Ballot-box stuffing was common. So was chain voting, in which a voter armed with a stolen, marked ballot cast it at the poll, sneaked out with a blank one and got money or liquor in exchange for giving it to the political appointee, said Bo Lipari of New Yorkers for Verified Voting. The process would continue throughout the day.

“This was a very common thing that political parties did,” he said.

A decision this week by the state Board of Elections makes it likely that people who have spent a lifetime pulling levers will be handed a pencil when they go to vote in 2009.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080126/NEWS01/801260354

Most Ohio election officials oppose quick voting machine fix

Updated at 9:43 a.m.

COLUMBUS, O. (AP) – Most of Ohio's county election officials question the pressing need for the significant voting machine changes proposed by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a newspaper reported Friday.

A mail poll conducted by The Columbus Dispatch found that 55 percent of election officials of both parties view the Democratic elections chief's voting machine recommendations as an "overreaction," a word included in the survey that Brunner characterized as biased against her plan.

Only one in 10 county election officials believe her proposals, which include scrapping touch-screen voting machines for paper ballots before the November election, should be implemented right away.

"Give our present system a chance to work," said David Bihl, chairman of the Fayette County Board of Elections. "Changes are not always as good, as we have found out. And changes keep costing more money, and more money that counties can't afford."

http://www.timesreporter.com/index.php?ID=78581&r=13

January 26, 2008

Citizens Pull Back the Curtain on Election Mishaps

By Roy Lipscomb

This press release describes a "clearinghouse" for publicizing election problems, one that's intended for direct use by everyday citizens. Next month's primary will be the fifth election that has been monitored by our clearinghouse here in Illinois.

The service is easily launched and managed, but it nonetheless has the potential to make a big impact. It provides not only PR value for election integrity, but also collects solid first-hand data for analysis of election malfunctions and abuses.

A service like this ought to be set up in each State. If you'd like to set up one for your State, feel free to use our website as a model. I'm also available to answer any questions that you may need. --Roy

---------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: For further information, contact
Roy Lipscomb,
Director for Technology,
Illinois Ballot Integrity Project
773/338-3564
lipscomb@ballot-integrity.org




Authors Website: http://ballot-integrity.org

Authors Bio: Director for Technology, Illinois Ballot Integrity Project

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_roy_lips_080125_citizens_pull_back_t.htm

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/5488507.html

NEW ORLEANS — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's campaign said Saturday that it has filed a complaint with the state GOP over what it calls problems and inconsistencies in Louisiana's process of choosing delegates. "At this point right now, we're not going to charge anything nefarious is going on, but it's a very confusing process, and there have been inconsistencies, and we're voicing our complaints now" and hoping to work out their concerns with state party leaders, Paul spokesman Jesse Benton said.

Messages left for state party leaders Saturday were not immediately returned.

More than 10,000 Republican voters met Tuesday, the state party said, to choose delegates to the state Republican Convention — a step in choosing delegates to the national convention.

The party listed results as preliminary on its Web site because they did not include about 500 votes from people allowed to cast "provisional ballots" even though they did not show up on the rolls as registered Republicans. Also, many candidates ran on "more than one slate," resulting in overlap, the party said.

Thank you, dear sfexpat2000. :thumbsup:

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2008/01/28/ap/us/d8uf4fdg1.txt

The American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge on Monday to block the March 4 presidential primary in Ohio's biggest county if it switches to a paper ballot system that doesn't allow voters to correct errors.

In a follow-up to a suit it filed Jan. 17, the ACLU of Ohio asked for a preliminary injunction against any election in Cuyahoga County if the switch is made.

The lawsuit argued that the proposed paper-ballot system would violate voters' constitutional rights because it doesn't allow them to correct errors on ballots before the ballots are cast.

Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland and has more than 1 million registered voters, plans to send all paper ballots from precincts to a central location to be scanned and counted.