NAACP vote hearing details new flaws

[Algorem]

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051120/NEWS09/511200359

Lawmakers learn of frustration, call for changes to county elections process

Article published Sunday, November 20, 2005

In the midst of three hours of testimony detailing confusion and frustration in Lucas County's Nov. 8 election, Eddie Small's story drew gasps from a panel of elected officials and NAACP leaders yesterday.

Mr. Small, who was a presiding judge in the Old West End, reported that at the end of election night the paper record was blank on the two busiest voting machines at the Girl Scouts of Maumee Valley.

The rovers who came to close his precinct told him they hoped the votes were stored on the memory cards or in the machines themselves, but did not appear as concerned as Mr. Small. He said he left with no confidence that the votes from those machines were counted.

Mike Badik, Lucas County Board of Elections deputy director, took notes, but did not speak during the NAACP-sponsored hearing in Warren A.M.E. Church on Collingwood Boulevard. Afterward, he said he had not heard of that problem until yesterday...

[emlev]

1. Thank you for posting this! n/t

[Bill Bored]

2. Damn this is a good story! Kick, kick, kick. nt

[demodonkey]

3. The "paper trail" INside the machine isn't worth the paper it's printed on

"Paper trails to you,
So we can steal your vote

Paper trails to you,
we'll do it by remote

Cryptography's hipocracy it's secret
What we really wants a paper ballot

Paper trails to you
So you'll think you won."

-- Andy Stephenson (sing to the tune of "Happy Trails")

The ONLY possible hope of getting any kind of accurate count at all out of these vote-gobbling machines is a true Voter-Verified Paper Record or Voter-Verified Paper Ballot coming out of all machines WITH AN AUDIT OF ALL ELECTIONS!

(And though it will help, this obviously won't be totally foolproof, NO voting system is including 100% hand-counted paper ballots!)