Sequoia lawsuit: Vote the next move! (paypal info for those who asked)

[Land Shark]

ok, all parties were served by thursday the 14th, they have twenty days to file a formal answer to the complaint. But in the mean time there are some options.

1. rest and collect breath.
2. file first round of discovery requests, seeking information (if so what would you seek INITIALLY and why) (traditional option)
3. file appearances for numerous other lawyers as co-counsel on our side. (helps, and emphasizes public interest)
4. Amend the complaint to add more or different claims, including but not limited to a claim regarding sole sourcing the voting machine contract (no competitive bidding) to Sequoia. (easier to do now than later, a few typos need to be cleaned up anyway)
5. file a motion to declare the "cooperation" (gang-up-against-citizens) clause of the contract void as against public policy, and seeking an injunction requiring the govt to represent the public and not follow Sequoia's marching orders.
6. Other?

Now's your chance to vote! Your vote will be counted publicly and openly below. My attorney can not promise to run the case by majority vote, but all advice helps! ; )

Someone asked about PAYPAL:

Yes, there is an account under [e-mail] that is reserved for the out of pocket costs of litigation. All damages and attorneys fees are either being waived or will be donated in their entirety to charity. Although we've been able to get lawyers to work for free, we have not been able to get OfficeMax, Public Disclosure officers, ricoh, etc. to work for free! So that's why the paypal account is set up. "Costs" are always accounted for separately from attorneys fees, and have many more examples than those given above, if you have any questions about what costs are, please write for an explanation. to the extent any costs are reimbursed by a judgment, if any, those costs will also be donated to charity and not refundable to the donor (you). This is a litigation costs fund that is placed in a trust account and then drawn down as receipts are available or as needs arise.

[NVMojo]

1. is this a Washington state only case??

[Land Shark]

2. Technically yes, but there's another case like it in NJ and other

states are expected to use similar theories in the very near future

[FogerRox]

19. The NJ case is about open gov/sunshine IIRC.

The plaintifs sued the GOverner.
I'm hoping that we can take Jeffs tactic and use it NJ--sue the vendor.

WIthout talking to our lawyers yet -- it would seem that with 2 pending cases-The existing NJ case and a new one like the Sharks----filing an injunction to delay or Void the contract w/Seqioua is possible. I Think the odds are better w/2 pending --- IMHO--

fight fight win win

Roj in NJ, Essex County

[keepthemhonest]

3. that sounds great Landshark

that will make it much easier to donate,not that it is that hard to send a check though. Unfortunely,since I asked you that my grandmother has passed away and I need to return to NY and will be spending the big bucks.

As far as I am concerned you have pioneered a lawsuit ,the first domino(I hope) and the rest will fall.When I first about this type of lawsuit,I thought someone was looking at this in a fresh new way and I was very encouraged.

[Land Shark]

4. PLEASE VOTE / Thanks I'm very excited to talk to the NJ folks ...

(anyone out there from NJ?) to see how similar and different we are.

The general approach I identified at least independently from NJ and without knowing about them, was to more or less ignore trying to prove fraud or malfunction (even though i have that evidence and do fraud litigation for a living) and instead focus on the illegality of the purchase contract and the elections regime the contract sets up without due process of law (the institution of secret vote counting, trade secret software, and alliances of "cooperation" between vendors and governments) to show that the contracts violate the state constitution, state statutes, and state public policy.

Because the contracts are void they are of no effect, and there's a good chance the court would order a refund, though there is no guarantee of a refund and refunds ultimately depend on the specific facts of the case as well as the law in the specific state in question regarding the availability of restitution when there is a finding of a void contract.

Recognizing the contracts are void also prevents companies from claiming that their contractual rights are in any way interfered with either by court actions or by legislation (which could, if people don't realize there are no contracts here, possibly give vendors the right to sue for damages when their contracts are impaired or their trade secret "property" taken). Once again, activists pushing legislation to force codes open by law may be walking into a litigation "trap", whether the trap was laid intentionally, or would just be a likely response....

[mgr]

18. I think your tactics are sound

Sole source contracting is what sank the Oracle contract with California. There were no allegations of fraud with it. What are the standards for sole source? Here, you can pretty much justify a sole source contract based on uniqueness of product and studies that identify the need. I will wager that the weakness in accepting the contract is in the second criteria if Washington's practice is similar.

I don't know if Washington has any sunshine laws, but I would also look for public meeting violations. If you beat up on the local government people (in the press), other governing bodies will pay attention.

I am not sure what advantage you provide the movement to have a transparent election process. I recall Citizens for a Better Environment taking on Monsanto regarding environmental studies for Round Up that Monsanto claimed were trade secrets. Based upon what is going on now with designer corn and the like, I don't think they got very far back then.

Mike

[mgr]

24. #3 n/t

[Land Shark]

5. Keepthemhonest, best wishes and condolences to you and your family nt

[keepthemhonest]

6. thanks Landshark n/t

[LatePeriduct]

7. kick

[Amaryllis]

8. #1 for long enough for you to recover; a burned out Land Shark isn't as

useful to the cause. :)
Then, does it have to be only one of the others, or can it be more than one?
I don't feel like I know enough to have an intelligent, informed opinion...I am a writing teacher, not a land shark. :)

[LatePeriduct]

21. Wow good point too.

I didn't look at that.

[Land Shark]

22. land Shark feeling better; imminent feeding frenzy? n/t

[Amaryllis]

25. I like it...where's that theme from Jaws?

[rigel99]

29. Here's Theme to Jaws and a good MonkeyFace Jaws Graphic

http://www.sharkattackphotos.com/Jaws_Theme_Song.htm

also good graphic



Keep up the good work landshark...

[LatePeriduct]

9. 1 and 5.

Make this the american people against Sequoia, no more corrupt voting. Use the combined power of the Divestiture to take away their priveledges.

[Land Shark]

10. that's why we won't settle it, can't compromise the rights of others

so in a realistic sense it is a class action on behalf of all the citizens.

[Wilms]

11. :) n/t

[Melissa G]

13. Too Cute Wilms! n/t

[Wilms]

16. I know!

He's all, "Look! Things were bad enough without DRE's. Now I have to come over here and...(thrashing sounds)".

[Melissa G]

12. #1! take care of Landshark! By order of the Fan Club!

Sounds like 4 is the most time sensitive it might influence what you ask for in 2. Definitely 5. It is the people's case and you are our WA champion!:loveya:

Thanks for the paypal account info. Will make a donation next paycheck!

[LatePeriduct]

14. kick

[Bill Bored]

15. #2!

Initially, I would seek the ballot definitions, race definitions, voter group definitions, jurisdictional definitions, party definitions and the candidates' linkages to them, as shown in the configuration of the Sequoia system on election day and on any early or absentee voting systems used. This would ideally take the form of the actual software configuration from the election management system used to program the DREs and the paper voting system and would include the application software used to create, edit and view such configuration. An image of the actual drive(s) of the computer(s) used would be best so you'll have all of it, along with a User Guide.

As to why: Because this is how the election was actually programmed. Any errors or deliberate mis-configuration of any of these parameters could have changed the electoral outcome. Opening the source code to public inspection may not detect any of this, but reviewing the actual setup for the election probably would. And don't forget the audit logs!

[LatePeriduct]

17. Got to say I agree about this.

It would open up all the processes for transparency, and show the public just how much fraud was really pulled off. Its absolutely neccesary no matter what, Sequoia should be willing to comply if they think there's nothing to hide...

[Wilms]

20. kick n/t

[Chi]

23. Not sure if it's doable....

But, if there was anyway to make them susceptible to a FOIA request, like making the point they were acting as a representative of the people by counting the votes without citizen supervision.
It might offer a treasure trove of internal memos, and employee depositions.
(Chi points to himself and says...'not a lawyer')

So I'll take a #2 large, with a coffee. 8)

[Land Shark]

26. the "you've become the govt" point is a key point in the suit n/t

[FogerRox]

27. NJ suit and memo here

This is the pending case that may help us in Essex--
------------------------------------------------------
this is the complaint--in PDF
Note that the plaintiffs included Coalition for Peace action and NJ
Peace action.

http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/20041021_NJ_complaint.pdf

This is the Memorandum, it is a scarry/good read---LOL:

http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/20041021_NJ_memorandum.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------

[Chi]

28. ooops...I guess I should have read more

I'll assume that means it was a good idea though, heh. ;-)