BBV: Today Indiana, Tomorrow Your State

[Bushfire]

Top state election officials tend to work closely with the vendors of voting equipment. Republican Kathy Richardson, an Indiana State Representative who was Indiana's Hamilton County Clerk, purchased $1.3 million worth of electronic voting equipment from MicroVote (ES&S), and says she plans to purchase $700,000 more. She told WISH-TV, “When you work with a vendor, you develop a relationship.” She works closely indeed. MicroVote's president, James Ries Jr., has donated to Richardson's campaign. Apparently, voting equipment companies don't see that as a conflict.

Wendy Orange, who recently resigned her job as project manager at ES&S (another voting equipment company), was working with Indiana election officials, with her office inside the election board's warehouse. She stated that voting equipment companies say “trust us,” and they have been trusted for years. But has that trust been earned? Can voters really “trust” the products and the companies who make them?

When Ries, the MicroVote President, was asked how a citizen could know if his/her voted counted, he replied, “It's one of those areas of a leap of faith. You really do have to have a faith in your local jurisdiction, that they are conducting equitable elections in the best faith of the voters. The security for the voter, once again, is the acceptance of good judgment by a local board. Quite frankly, it's very difficult to convince somebody how do I know my vote counted…. There is no way to link that individual ballot back to that individual voter.”

Is it any wonder Orange resigned her position after she blew the whistle on ES&S when the company asked her to cover up a software problem it had? “I was faced with a moral and ethical dilemma, and I felt the only thing that I could do was come forward and tell the Marion County Clerk what had happened,” Orange continued in her interview with WISH-TV.

more...

http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=767

[dusty64]

1. es&s is pure EVIL!

:kick:

[Bushfire]

2. late night kick n/t

:kick:

[struggle4progress]

3. kick

:kick:

[Duncan Grant]

4. California Secretary of State Kevin Shelly - 4/30/04

Thought you would appreciate this - it's the best declarative statement I've seen on BBV.

<snip>
Friday, April 30, 2004

"I want to state clearly and unequivocally: there will be a paper trail for every single vote cast in the state of California, and it will happen on my watch, " Shelley said.

<snip> http://www.ss.ca.gov/executive/press_releases/2004/04_030.pdf

California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley 2004 News Releases:
http://www.ss.ca.gov/executive/press_releases/news_releases.htm


edit: sp

[dusty64]

5. It is a contrast

to Florida where they are up to the same old same old again. Unfortunately, many officials in California are fighting this idea tooth and nail which really leads one to believe who they truly represent.

[RedEagle]

6. Make election officials, down to the local level, file disclosure....

....and I think that disclosure ought to be on public view.

You get a campaign donation AND buy their system?

How blatant does it have to get before local officials act?

[Kid_A]

7. Tomorrow my state...

Wait a minute! Indiana IS my my state! Holy shit! I used to really like voting, even though it doesn't count in Presidential elections. Dammit!

[Bushfire]

8. Glad it caught your attention

and can only hope you forward this article to your friends in the Hoosier state, and have everyone you know call their congresspeople to support HR2239, and S1980. Election manufacturers donating to elected candidates of any office is wrong, but not having paper ballots is even worse. See the Verified Voting link in my sig line, or go to blackboxvoting.org for more info.