Nice try, Moscow Mitch, on the election security head fake. It won't work

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/9/21/1886816/-Nice-try-Moscow-Mitch-on-the-election-security-head-fake-It-won-t-work

Nice try, Moscow Mitch, on the election security head fake. It won't work
Joan McCarter for Daily Kos
Daily Kos Staff
Saturday September 21, 2019 · 4:00 PM EDT


Moscow Mitch McConnell is so desperate to shed that nickname that he actually broke (partially) this week and announced his support for an amendment adding $250 million in election security spending for states.

That's not a victory, warns Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, who points out "This money can be used for anything relating to elections. Including giving states taxpayer dollars to buy insecure voting machines." He continued "This isn't election security, it's a sham."

And that's why it’s necessary for the legislation in the House to pass, because it actually secures elections. It requires paper ballot backups for federal elections. It also mandates that the states shore up their systems to meet security requirements. To accomplish that, it provides $600 million for states to beef up their security now, and gives states $175 million biannually to help keep their infrastructure secure.

We're smack-dab in the middle of another attempt by Trump to use a foreign power to interfere in elections. That's what we see happening in front of our very eyes: Trump extorting Ukraine n order to damage a potential opponent. What we don't see is what Russia or some other foreign adversary could be doing behind the scenes to taint the 2020 election.

That's what we have to guard against, and until Moscow Mitch brings that legislation to the Senate floor with an up-or-down vote, he will remain Moscow Mitch.

[diva77]

1. Too bad the House legislation doesn't say "hand-marked paper ballot" and/or "the ballot of record"

I don't know what

"It requires paper ballot backups for federal elections"

means exactly -- does this mean having paper on hand if the machines break down? Does it mean the bar code printout from a BMD? This needs to be clarified, otherwise the result, as worded, could be the difference between having 100% verifiable versus 100% non-verifiable "paper ballots."

And regarding Moscow Mitch's approval of the $$$$$$$$$ - just a gift to rethug corporate voting machine companies and the elections officials who represent them.

[AllyCat]

2. Well, this sounds spot on.

[Captain Zero]

5. Several cycles back I worked at polls in Indy.

The paper record was a little grocery store size receipt one of which was handed to the Republican clerk and one handed to the Democratic clerk at the precinct at the end of the day. The little receipt showed the totals that were on the electronic module taken from the machine to go downtown and be inserted in a tabulating machine that would calculate totals for the county. At that time the county clerk was Republican. The precinct captain whose car trunk the module went in was a Republican. The Democratic clerk was a sweet little old lady who had no idea what she was handed. I was democratic observer, one of each party allowed per precinct. I asked the sweet dem clerk who she was going to give that too. She had no idea. She asked me if I wanted to take it and I said ok I would. Later downtown I asked our township trustee if she wanted it and /or where it should go. She took it and said she would see how it compared to the precinct totals in the following days. Interesting, huh?

[diva77]

9. unfortunately there is no way to know whether the paper "receipt" reflects what's actually on the

memory card; and the electronically stored "votes" can be manipulated any number of ways by the time the election "results" get released.

The only way to have 100% transparency is with hand-marked paper ballots hand-counted with public oversight at the precinct level followed by a well-defined chain of custody of the ballots once they leave the precinct.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

12. paper ballots need to be the primary, not "backup"

As you say, "hand-marked and hand-counted with public oversight".

Nobody can watch electrons flitting through so-called voting machines.

[Mr.Bill]

3. They've been showing us for years

what "election security" means to them. It means purging the voter rolls. It means impossible ID demands for some proplr to register. It means shutting down polling places in Democratic areas.

[ronatchig]

4. Of it's up to me

It will go on his tomb stone,with TRAITOR above it in 20 pt. Print

[ancianita]

6. He'll remain Moscow Mitch forever. He'll send it to battleground and blue states. Wyden knows.

[marble falls]

7. Even if rightously used, $250M can not be enough for security upgrading ...

in all 50 states.

He's still Moscow's Mitch.

[diva77]

10. LA County approved close to $300 million last year for machines and to create further chaos by

doing away with precincts and instead creating voting centers -- this removes the check & balance you would have in your neighborhood precinct -- i.e. you would be more likely to know if there were problems there on election day; also, with people from different locations voting early, it makes it easier for an insider or hacker to round up election result data prior to election day and extrapolate to create any outcome.

The machines they approved are being "developed" -- ballot marking devices which create a non-verifiable bar coded result printed on paper

[sprinkleeninow]

8. Every, every thing they do is false. And has ulterior motive.

Never to be trusted. No way, no how.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

11. don't let Moscow Mitch get away with such piss-poor window dressing

Call Moscow Mitch (and call him that).