Voting machine smartcards missing: GOP

[TexasLawyer]

Voting machine smartcards missing: GOP

Nov 3, 2006 11:54 AM CST


Electronic voting cards, used to cast ballots, are missing from a Memphis polling place, according to a claim made by the Tennessee Republican Party.

The smartcards apparently went missing from Bishop Byrne High School on East Shelby Drive in Memphis. A spokesperson for the Tennessee Republican Party said a poll watcher made them aware of the situation.

In a letter to the Shelby County Election Commission, Tennessee GOP Chairman Bob Davis said, "the lack of oversight and control over these smartcards has created a situation that could allow voter fraud."

The letter alleges that votes cast on a reprogrammed smartcard would be indistinguishable from a legally cast vote. It goes on to demand the commission locate the missing cards, secure a procedure to ensure no more cards are lost, and ensure that any voter who has a smartcard return it to the commission, and that there are no attempts to use a smartcard from an outside location on election day.

<snip>

http://www.wmcstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=5630606

edited to add link to GOP letter referenced in the article:

http://files.wmctv.com/jp/shelbycountyletter.pdf

[Turbineguy]

1. Meaning?

that if the Democrats win it will be due to vote fraud?

[TexasLawyer]

4. That's what it looks like

If GOP is swept out of office, missing Smart Cards are to blame. Even if the accusation is untrue, it will take a lot of time and $$$$ to fight the challenge.

Yet more reason for paper ballots.

[Turbineguy]

20. My county

(Snohomish county WA) went back to paper ballots since the 2004 election. We shall see. It will be kind of strange if the Dems win on paper ballots and the Repubs win in Diebold.

In the 2004 election 2/3 of paper ballots were for Kerry, 2/3 of electronic votes were for Bush in this (predominantly Democratic) county. I think that (plus a lawsuit) was the reason for switching back to paper. At the time I thought the discrepancy in the outcome was because Dems were worried and voting paper, and since the repubs were cheating anyway, were voting electronic. But last month I was told that 2004 paper ballots had a heavy republican following.

[cui bono]

23. but are those paper ballots being optically scanned?

If they're not counted by hand and are scanned there can still be fraud.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

29. Hmmm...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2003254979_websnohoballots12.html

[Turbineguy]

32. Actually....

It turned out that I used a different signature on my envelope on the Primary ballot. I got a nice letter from the Auditor advising me and went into the Courthouse and got it straightened out.

Yes.... by all means, read and follow the instructions. You vote at home, nobody is waiting in line behind you.

[Le Taz Hot]

9. That one's been in the works

for quite some time now.

[Hugin]

2. Check their pockets first...

Keep in mind the criminal is usually the first one at the scene of the crime.

[lumberjack_jeff]

34. You got it. They're preparing their cover story now. n/t

[EFerrari]

3. Here we go. Now that everyone has been primed about the

machines for the last two weeks after ignoring it for years, we have the GOP piping up.

Stinks to heaven.

[blm]

26. I predicted this - GOPs have arranged a set up to track machine fraud to a Dem.

.

[TexasLawyer]

5. Drudge Report

This is a huge banner headline on the Drudge Report.

[Hugin]

6. Which cinches it as a 'contingency plant'...

I swear Rove has editing permissions on Drudge's front page.

Next stop... FOX NEWS!

[Uben]

7. Yeah, but, but, but......

......there is no executable code on those cards, remember? Well, we know that's BS now, thanks to Bev and Andy.

Aren't the GOP assholes the ones who said the machines were secure? I guess they can't bitch if Tennesse registers a negative vote for Bush and Corker, can they? Ha ha ha!

[MGKrebs]

8. Tennessee you say? Memphis?

Close Senate race?

In the future, we should just appoint a special prosecutor in advance. Get them cranked up in every state about a month before the election, have a "rapid response" team, a judge standing by for injunctions.

[SoCalDem]

28. Yep.. you snake a number of Ford's votes from memphis

and the rest of the state does its thing.. :puke:

[Mark E. Smith]

10. Will the GOP blame their defeat on electronic voting?

Now there's a twist ..

[humbled_opinion]

12. Don't be surprised. I think they plan to challenge..

Every race that is close. They will spin that there was fraud, disenfranchisement, manipulation... Anyway if they go that route prepare for a long battle. Besides Obviously we are going to win a majority but if any of our races are close with suspicious activity the GOP is hedging its bets..

Regardless, Bottom line I think our democracy is in serious danger...

[fasttense]

13. They will maneuver the elections that are close into the

Dancing Supremes' hall so their black-robed politicos will dance for their masters. They want elections in front of their stacked court so that the Dancing Supremes will hand the elections over to them like they did in the 2000 presidential election.

[Strelnikov_]

25. Yep. And I Bet You Can Guess The Demographics Of The Precincts

that they will allege fraud in.

Wanna bet the precinct addressed in this article is majority Dem.

[alcibiades_mystery]

15. Of course...that's why it's suddenly become an issue in the media

And all the demented voting machine activists here will have served as the biggest pack of dupes in recent memory.

Congrats, "researchers"!

[Barrett808]

17. So, citizens shouldn't have researched the electronic vote-rigging issue?

Seems a peculiar position to take.

[Barrett808]

18. Yes, on November 8th, the suits will fly...

...alleging massive vote-fraud on the part of Democrats. This will keep the election in the courts for months, and the GOP in power, by default.

[bklyncowgirl]

35. I think so. They'll do anything to regain power--and stay out of jail

Expect the real election to begin after the votes are counted and Republicans lose. They will cry to the heavens about these machines that THEY lobbied for, that THEY refused to allow a vote in Congress requiring paper trails for and that THEY have used to "win" elections in the past.

As for the Democrats. Past performance indicates that they will fold and start fighting each other as opposed to the Republicans. Hopefully past performance won't hold true in this election. Howard Dean may be more aggressive than previous DNC chairs and he understands how bad the machines are but other leaders in the party would prefer to form up a circular firing squad than fight the Republicans.

Either way, it will be one big lawsuit, Kiddies, all the way to the Supreme Court which is now nicely packed with conservatives.

[candice]

11. Karl sees the polls we don't see and KNOWS that the Repugs will win

both the House and Senate. The Republican voting machines aren't all of the problem, the lists maintained by the electronic voting machines have disenfranchised god knows how many votes. See the interview with Fritakis and Wasserman on Democracy Now on October 31st. Available as a podcast download from iTunes.

[ShortnFiery]

14. This smarmy crook is about to "pay the fiddler." eom

[jobycom]

16. Damn, they set up their lies early. nt

[louis-t]

19. Clinton did it!

:eyes:

[Parche]

21. I FOUND IT

The missing card is in Karl Rove's desk.....

[Miss Chybil]

22. So, somebody's realizing a double-edged sword cuts both ways... nt

[yellowcanine]

24. My guess is a search warrent on that poll watcher's car might turn them up.

But that's just me. What do I know?

[HuffleClaw]

27. oh suuuuuuure, NOW they are worried about electronic voting fraud

what a sham

[robinlynne]

30. How about the obvious, paper ballots?

[Canuckistanian]

31. This story just got big play on CNN radio news

Up to this point, I've never heard them mention anything about problems with electronic voting machines.

Now they think this is worthy of a story?

Something's up.

[heliarc]

33. They must not have gotten the memo!

Rove picked them up yesterday.

Scary.