A Mainstream Media Voice & an ES&S Whistleblower

[George W. Hayduke]

got this from Cannonfire:

SNIP>>>

I've discovered one television news outlet that has devoted an astonishing amount of time to this issue, both before and after the election. They've concentrated on the local angle, of course; local, in this instance, means Indianopolis. WISH-TV has taken a rare and radical step: They have committed journalism. Just take a look at this page, overflowing with juicy stories about problems with voting equipment.

They've also uncovered a whistleblower named Wendy Orange, who quit ES&S when the company (she says) asked her to cover up "problems" with the software.


In her letter of resignation, Orange said she found the corporate philosophy at ES&S to embody unethical and disreputable practices. She said she had "personally witnessed open discussions of potentially illegal procedures."
That quote comes from a story broadcast on May 11. Just today, WISH-TV delivered a follow-up report:


Marion County Clerk Doris Anne Sadler revealed Tuesday that the company installed illegal software before last November's election.

The I-Team first met Wendy Orange last January, when we conducted a test on Marion County's new optical-scan voting machines. Orange is the ES&S project manager for Marion County. She's the one who blew the whistle on ES&S for installing illegal software, the same software used to tabulate November's election results.

"The company with which the Marion County election board has contracted to provide its voting machines and software has willfully and purposely deceived me and the Marion County election board by installing uncertified election software and then ordering their employee to withhold that information from me," said Sadler at a Tuesday press conference.

But Wendy Orange didn't withhold that information. Her husband, Doug Orange, used to work for ES&S as Johnson County's project manager. He was fired after refusing a superior's order to zero the counters on voting machines at the courthouse instead of the polls. “I felt those procedures were illegal,” said Orange.
More:


"The software in question is called data acquisition manager and is used to compile the votes," said Sadler.

The illegal software could still be seen in the computer when the I-Team tested the system in January. Wendy Orange showed us how she takes the individual results from each card and accumulate them into one place to give overall totals for each race.
I'm still not sure I understand the technical details of this story, and I hope to hear more from Ms. Orange.

<-----SNIP

Cannonfire: http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/


WISH TV
Channel 8, Indianapolis
Wendy Orange story:
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1857668

more election stories here:
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/category.asp?C=49590&nav=0Ra7JXq2

edit: i added the specific Wendy Orange story URL

[genieroze]

1. Kick

[Broken Acorn]

2. Holy crap!

Is it me or is it getting more and more obvious that these Repuke software vendors all have fixed code to alter the election for the chimp? This is fucking amazing.

[George W. Hayduke]

3. Contact them

to give kudos/support:

WISH TV Channel 8 Indianapolis:
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/category.asp?C=37054&nav=L8aO

[TexasChick]

5. Hasn't a lot of people been wondering where this Wendy Orange has

been? I wonder if she will finally come forward with all the info she has?

Also, does that News station have a copy of her resignation letter? Don't know if the resignation letter is pertinent enough, but just wondering since it seems to have a lot of reasons why she had a problem with that company. Thanks.

[drthais]

14. DONE! thanks nt

[pacalo]

17. Just wrote them...

At a time when half of the voters in this country are wondering why the media doesn't find election fraud as newsworthy as the Scott Peterson case, we are most appreciative of WISH-TV's commitment to investigative journalism. A special thanks to Eric Halvorson and Loni Smith McKown for the story on Wendy Orange, who has helped to restore my faith in personal ethics. We voters treasure our right to vote; it's our power to hold our public officials accountable. Our elections should be held to the same scrutiny as our banks, particularly in auditing procedures. With the growing evidence of nationwide election fraud, we could have a Watergate II in the making. Thanks, again.

Oh, & welcome to DU, George!:hi:

[pacalo]

30. And here's a reply from Loni McKown...

Thanks for taking the time to write. It’s always nice to receive plaudits for one’s work.

For your information, our original investigation “Will Your Vote Count?” first aired in February 2004. We continued to investigate election-related issues through the Nov. 2, 2004, election. If you are interested in looking at the stories, you can log on to www.wishtv.com, click on I-Team 8 and then click on “Will Your Vote Count?” The original series stories are in the box on top; follow-up stories are listed below, from most recent to least.

Loni McKown
I-Team Producer
WISH-TV News 8

:toast:

[mod mom]

4. Sent WISH-TV a thank you under news comments!

there is hope for integrity in reporting!

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

6. big kick

[SueZhope]

7. I love this part of the Cannonfire blog

"I was a little surprised to learn that Arnebeck's lawsuit (which has been refiled) names Bush, Cheney, Rove and Blackwell as defendants. Consider: Arenebeck, it is said, is a friend to John Kerry. A lawyer associated with a losing presidential candidate has sued the opposing candidate and his chief of staff. Does this situation have any precedent in American history?" :)

[texpatriot2004]

8. kick it for WISH-TV

[Pithy Cherub]

9. WISH - making ALL the faux msm look ridiculously mediocre by

doing real investigative journalism/work in Indiana!

WISH TV :yourock:

[sabra]

10. This is great!

Have you sent this to KO @ MSNBC? It's very inspiring to see some who are doing their jobs...

[George W. Hayduke]

13. yes-

emailed to KO...

[understandinglife]

11. trying to nominate for front page (n/t)

[Political_Junkie]

12. kick

:kick:

[zimba]

15. Done with a heartfelt thank you

Just when I feared that investigative journalism was dieing out in this country I discovered WISH TV (thanks to an earlier DU thread). They are the Washington Post of the Votergate (or whatever its called by journalists) debates.

[pacalo]

16. Wendy should be recruited as a witness

somewhere in the fraud investigation; so should her husband Doug. The evidence is growing nationwide!

Thanks for providing the links, George.

[Straight Shooter]

18. I wrote the reporters responsible for this article

[e-mail] (Eric Halvorson)
[e-mail] (Loni Smith McKown)

Dear Mr. Halvorson and Ms. McKown:

This May 11, 2004 article is apparently just now receiving some of the more widespread attention it deserves. Would you consider a follow-up story on Ms. Orange and her husband, and the clerk, Ms. Sadler? I think it would be interesting to get a perspective of their positions now that we are past November 2 and especially in light of Mr. Arnebeck's filing suit in Ohio, alleging election tampering.

Please keep up the good work, and keep digging to get the truth. Although many of the voices of those who question the election are not strident, and although they may not write letters such as I do, there are far more than you would imagine who believe this was a tainted election, particularly as concerns Ohio.

Thank you.

Regards,
(Straight Shooter)

[bmoney07]

19. Copy of resignation letter?

Also has all of this been validated?

[roseBudd]

20. NASED Qualified Voting Systems 2003 to the present

The National Association of State Election Directors

Hmm, Triad is not mentioned.

Google has a cached html version, the PDF is gone.


http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:zyZcj1bYOZ8J:www.nased.org/NASEDQualifiedVotingSystems12.03.11.04.pdf+%22data+acquisition+manager%22&hl=en

[roseBudd]

21. Vote tabulation hardware & software certification process

http://www.nased.org/ITA%20Information/NASEDITAProcess.pdf

Some interesting information here

[roseBudd]

22. Triad is not approved by the NASED

http://www.nased.org/ITA%20Information/NASEDApprovedSystems1.03.pdf

[roseBudd]

23. Triad not listed on this list of approved vendors either

http://www.nased.org/ITA%20Information/NASEDQualifiedVotingSystems12.03.11.04.pdf

[Zan_of_Texas]

26. Hmmmm. Nice work, Rosebud.

I had never run across those NASED pages before.

It all sounds so official and bureaucratic, but it's a bunch of mush, the whole "certification" system.

[roseBudd]

27. might be mush, yet Triad doesn't even make the cut...

and 41 counties in OH used Triad

[corbett]

24. Kick For Real Journalism!

I'm in shock – real journalism!

[Straight Shooter]

25. Reporters definitely appreciate (and respond to) positive feedback

Here's my email message I received from Ms. McKown:

"Dear (Straight Shooter):

Thanks for taking the time to write. It's always nice to receive plaudits for one's work.

For your information, our original investigation "Will Your Vote Count?" first aired in February 2004. We continued to investigate election-related issues through the Nov. 2, 2004, election. If you are interested in looking at the stories, you can log on to www.wishtv.com, click on I-Team 8 and then click on "Will Your Vote Count?" The original series stories are in the box on top; follow-up stories are listed below, from most recent to least.

Because we are a television station in Indianapolis, our responsibility is to central Indiana viewers. We will continue to examine issues of election administration -- especially since 2005 is an "off" year for Indiana elections -- as state and local officials continue efforts to reform the election process.

Again, thanks for writing.

Loni McKown"

I wrote Ms. McKown back and thanked her for the quick response. It's nice to know that reporters have feelings, too :)

[vireo]

29. They've been nominated for a duPont Award!

The I-Team 8 report being honored is entitled “Will Your Vote Count?” It examined changes in Indiana’s voting policies and procedures as a result of the 2000 Presidential Election and the 2002 Help America Vote Act. The original investigation, which aired in February 2004, explored the voting technology in all 92 Indiana counties. Their investigation into the business practices and ethics of the companies hired to develop this new technology turned up some major problems. An I-Team 8 on-site test of the optical-scan voting machines exposed issues with accuracy and reliability. This report punched holes in federal and state certification and testing of the technology.
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2661093&nav=0RaDTvjQ

[Kellis]

28. Thanks for posting~

This is good news.Good news indeed.

I sent it out and to KO as well.Also sent a note to them thanking them for their reporting.

:kick:

[proudbluestater]

31. Awesome!