I'm in tears, 76 counties in Mississippi will have Diebold by next year.

[Melodybe]

I just got off the phone with DEMOCRAT SOS Eric Clark's office.

I can't believe it, please call and complain their number is 601 359 1350.

[fooj]

1. Are you kidding? Why the hell can't we stop these bastards?

Peace.

[Melodybe]

2. I'm too heartbroken right now to even think about it.

I didn't even know it was an issue for MS until Saturday, I called today and it's a done deal.

[fooj]

3. Have faith, Melodybe! ShrubCo is slowly DESTROYING themselves

and IMO, they won't be seeing a FULL SECOND term! As soon as we can remove them from office, we may have a better chance of getting rid of Diebold. Aren't they implicated in bribing an Ohio Voting Official? Have faith, my friend. One thing at a time.

[merh]

4. Clark doesn't make that call - the individual counties do.

Last week the circuit clerks (the voting officials for the county) had a convention and a good many were unsure of the diebold equipment and were concerned about fraud.

Mississippi Circuit Clerks
http://www.mslawyer.com/mssc/circlerk.html

[Melodybe]

5. I'll be calling them, and demanding verified voting.

[Melodybe]

6. MS Duer's lets all call these people and give them a dose of truth.

[merh]

7. I'm calling the ones I know to find out what happened at the

convention. There was a lot of disagreement with the machines Clark was supporting. I wonder how the ones I talk to will react when I let them know that Clark's office is telling callers that 79 counties will go diebold.

BTW - Clarks is insisting that printers be included with the machines the state purchases. He wants the voter to have a paper receipt of their vote.

I prefer voter verified paper ballots and I know that Clark is trying to compromise. :shrug:

[Melodybe]

8. We'll see. If their is no reciept then no deal from me.

I talked to a friend about getting a group of people together to sue the state if we do not get verified voting.

I'm still very upset about this.

[merh]

9. I am upset about it too.

I was very upset until I realized that they were trying to get SOS Clark out of office with the carrot of the College Commissioner job. That tells me they see him as an obstruction to their efforts. A repuke admin (with majority of repuke college board members) considering a dem? It is as if they want him out. They want to put their own guy in the post. Also, I heard a couple of clerks during the interview saying that they and other clerks did not like electronic equipment, they did not trust it and the fraud issues concerned them.

By no means should we rest. We need to let them know that we want voter verified paper ballots.

[merh]

10. Spoke to one of the clerk's I know.

Their county uses punch cards, so they must change, they want voter verified paper ballots, the system they want is E&S (opti-scan). Clark has told them that if they go with a system other than Diebold, they will not receive the full amount of money allocated to assist in the purchase & implementation of the new equipment. Their deadline is August 15 to make a decision.

Clark in essence is strong arming the clerks, go with Diebold or you lose funding.

[SSX]

11. check out this story at dembloggers

http://dembloggers.com/story/2005/7/19/232324/915
It appears from the story that Georgia got offered the same deal as we are getting in Ms. Their tests which were run during an election were fraught with problems. I don't know if they got the same machines as they are proposing for us(need to do some research on that) but the problems and the way they were addressed by Diebold and their Secretary of State could be of use to us. Check the comments sect. for a list and Sen. Mckinney's comments. I'm putting together a ltte to Clarion Ledger. Will post when completed for comments.

[SSX]

12. Here's the letter

I'm sending to all the major MS. papers and edited copies to Clark and Bennie.
Remember Diebold? This is the company run by Walden O'Dell, a Bush "pioneer" who raised over $100,000. for the Republican Party and is quoted as saying he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to President Bush.".
This is the same Diebold who provides the state of Georgia their contract for voting machines.Their machines were beta- tested during the 2002 state elections. During a recent press conference, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Mr. Sam Barber, owner of American Computer Technology (ACT) reported through internal memos between the state of Georgia and Diebold that the voting machines used in the 2002 election were not adequately tested, the training provided by Diebold for Georgia election officials was seriously flawed, and in some cases nonexistent. It appears that the election was almost completely turned over to Diebold by the State of Georgia.
And here we are today, in Mississippi our Secretary of State is ready to purchase 5000 AccuVote TSX touch-screen voting machines and technical support services for five years.
As a voter in Mississippi, I'm tired of our state always bringing up the rear. We have an opportunity before us that could lead the nation in voting reform. We must require a firm commitment to voter-verifiable voting trails.An audit trail must be a requirement, not an option. We must demand a receipt when we leave the booth. We must require the state to get the machines and have them thoroughly independently tested and verified to work correctly before they are put into service.
Contact you Congressmen ,contact Eric Clark and demand a paper receipt when you vote.
Having used these machines in Hinds County, every time I leave the booth having used the Popsicle stick to touch the screen, I get the sad feeling that I've just "faith-based" voted. It is not a good feeling.

[merh]

14. My county told him to keep his machines.

There are counties opposing him

[tinfoil tiaras]

13. My mom used to work with him...

and she said that he was a jerk and WAY more Repbub than he is a Dem. Maybe he should just switch parties like Amy Tuck did.
It is sad though that he's giving MS Diebold machines when already lots of people know the history of the company's ties with Bushco.

[Sgent]

15. Well

my county went with Clark... after delaying for a while and making me think they may not.

I don't understand why we have to change anyway, we have had opti-scan for years (connect the arrow). It works well, its fast, its electronically counted, and its got a ballot when/if needed.