Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, FRI. 11/3/06 Power To The People

[rumpel]

The concerns surrounding this election is large and personal. Back in 2004, I was one of many here trying to help scrutinize the raw data. I downloaded the election results data as reported on the Secretary of State website, which was broken down into counties and compared them with the registration data base also posted on the site. I continued updating this until all counties posted certified results.

Oddity that stood out was the fact, that in an overwhelming number of counties people voted for Barbara Boxer, however the same people did not seem to have voted for Kerry according to the results. Why?
Further, the final registered voters posted by the Secretary of State's website for my county, Los Angeles, did not reflect the same number later posted as final and certified by McCormack, registrar of Los Angeles. There were 70,000 less voters registered, as previously stated on the SOS website.

This year, my daughter has turned 18, just in time to vote. She has been wanting to vote now for 2 years now, patiently waiting to have a say in the process.
She did what all new registrants and people changing addresses do. Requested a registration form and mailed it in, kept a stub. The registration was mailed three weeks ago.

As of yesterday, she was still not in the database. I was told, the county is still inputting thousands of registrations, according to that particular division, into the database. Are they going to finish in time?
So, today, I will have to drive an estimated 45 minutes according to mapquest, which implies no traffic, (highly unlikely) to Norwalk, and assert her right to vote. What happens, will remain to be seen.

However, the bigger picture here is, are people being denied the right to vote, because of ignorance, incompetence or apathy at the registrar's office? Did they not project a high rate of requests and are understaffed? Are they by "error", disqualifying registrations? I did not have the impression that people answering the phone, knew much about election laws or anything at all. So how are they going to answer voters questions?
Is this business as usual, at the registrar's office? and is this leading to people, who are absolutely within their right to vote, denied a vote at the polls on Tuesday 2006, is this what happened to the 70,000 in 2004 in Los Angeles?

What is going on? When are they printing the poll books, are all these people, who are yet to be placed into the database going to be on an addendum sheet or a separate book? Are they going to have to use provisional ballots? I will ask them this, when I go and will report back on this.

The Secretary of State, (at this time, McPherson, who, as in my previous posts of his e-mail responses tend to delegate his responsibilities to each registrar), and certainly the registrars have a duty to inform us in a professional manner as to how they are handling the elections, from the registration intake to the final certification. We have the Sunshine Law, and everything they do should be made available for the public to see and be informed about.

Let's all cover each others' back, I care for your right to vote, I care for my daughter's right to vote just as I care for my right to vote, and have them counted.

To all candidates:
As I cast my vote for you to act as an elected official, I expect you to make decisions and suggestions based on the highest principles of benefiting All that harms no one.
You are to uphold the US Constitution in it's entirety.
As a public servant, you vow, you will leave your self-interests behind, and you understand that I will hold you accountable, if you breach your vows to me for my vote.

Power To The People

rumpel


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[rumpel]

1. OpEd: Secrets Secrets Everywhere

and all The Board did Shrink (with apologies to Samuel Coleridge)

November 2, 2006 at 22:19:55

by Mary Kiraly

Secrets, Secrets Everywhere and all the Boards did Shrink...
(With apologies to Samuel Coleridge)

by Mary Howe Kiraly

It seems like months ago that secrets began to tumble from the Boards of Election in Maryland, and land simultaneously in the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun, and then onto the national consciousness. So much has happened. But it has been less than two weeks since the first of three curious secrets appeared.

On October 20, 2006, it was reported that a former Maryland State Legislator had received three discs, delivered anonymously, that purportedly contained secret Diebold source code. A letter, accompanying the discs, disparaged the Maryland Elections Administrator. Her office claimed that the discs were not theirs. Diebold Corporation claimed that they had not produced the discs. Labels on the discs made it appear that they had come from testing laboratories; but Wyle and Ciber claimed that they were not missing any discs. A Diebold spokesperson quickly put out a statement that said that we should rest assured because the source code on the discs was protected by secret encryption.

The Washington Post reported that it had given copies of the discs to Avi Rubin to examine; but admonished him not to make further copies- or to attempt to uncover the secrets protected by passwords. The encryption was so secret that Mr. Rubin apparently never found it on the disc he examined. Diebold issued a statement saying that the FBI had been notified and was examining the chain of custody of the discs. This investigation was so secret that the Baltimore office of the FBI claimed to know nothing about it.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_mary_kir_061102_secrets_2c_secrets_eve.htm

[rumpel]

2. HuffPo: The Two Faces of Diebold

The Huffington Post

Stunning Document Surfaces to Show That America's #1 Voting Machine Manufacturer Hides Security and Operation Flaws from The State of Maryland and the Country


In September, 2003 Linda Lamone, the Administrator of Maryland's State Board of Elections and President of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) hands over a critical study on the security of the Diebold Election Systems machines that count all of Maryland's votes.

Between the time that the State of Maryland commissioned the highly respected Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to evaluate the effectiveness and security of their electronic voting machines and the time that the study is made public, critical pieces of information have been edited, omitted and, in some cases words added, to fundamentally alter the original meaning of the report's conclusions.

Enter the world of electronic voting machines, the "cure" to hanging and dimpled chad.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-abrahams/the-two-faces-of-diebold_b_33138.html

[rumpel]

3. BradBlog: EXCLUSIVE: LEAKED 2003 REPORT ON MARYLAND'S DIEBOLD VOTING SYSTEMS REVEALS SERIOUS

SECURITY CONCERNS WERE WITHHELD FROM ELECTION BOARD, GOVERNOR, PUBLIC!

Long-Sought Document Finally Surfaces Showing America's Largest Voting Machine Company, MD State Election Director, Hid Major Flaws From State, Country!
Original 200-Page Security Report — Said to be 'The Pentagon Papers of Electronic Voting' — Previously Released Only in 38-Page Highly Redacted Form…Until Now…
Special to The BRAD BLOG by Guest Blogger and Freelance Network News Producer, Rebecca Abrahams

In September, 2003 Linda Lamone, the Administrator of Maryland's State Board of Elections and President of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) hands over a critical study on the security of the Diebold Election Systems machines that count all of Maryland's votes.

Between the time that the State of Maryland commissioned the highly respected Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to evaluate the effectiveness and security of their electronic voting machines and the time that the study is made public, critical pieces of information have been edited, omitted and, in some cases, words added, to fundamentally alter the original meaning of the report's conclusions.

The original SAIC report, coming in at nearly 200 pages, was reduced, redacted and altered such that the only version the public — or even state officials including the Governor and the full State Board of Elections — would ever be allowed to see was a wholly sanitized 38-page version of the report.

http://www.bradblog.com/

[rumpel]

4. Discussion:

thanks Brad!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2559007

[rumpel]

5. VA: With voting machines, accuracy counts

The Roanoke Times

Roanoke.com
Friday, November 03, 2006

Area election officials are putting electronic voting machines through their paces to be sure they're functioning properly.
Laurence Hammack

It is five days before Election Day, and Lavern Grigsby is down on her knees.

Grigsby is not some desperate candidate trailing by double digits in the polls. She is the deputy voter registrar in Roanoke, and her job is to make sure the city's electronic voting machines -- 116 of the city's stock of 134 units will be used Tuesday -- are all working properly.

With a checklist in hand and security codes committed to memory, Grigsby took each machine through a series of calibrations, trial runs and test votes Thursday before approving it to be sent out to a precinct. It is a painstaking process that has kept Grigsby, registrar Beryl Brooks and other election officials in the office past 9 p.m. this week.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-89767

[rumpel]

6. AL: More evidence on need for court election reform

EDITORIAL

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2006

There are dozens of theories on how best to select state judges, but one thing is certain: Alabama's method does not work.

The most recent demonstration of the failures of our system of electing judges came with two announcements by state Supreme Court Justice Drayton Nabers Jr.

In the first announcement, the court declared that Justice Nabers would not participate in Exxon Mobil's appeal of a $3.6 billion verdict for the state. The statement was obviously in response to accusations by Mr. Nabers' opponent in the race for chief justice, Judge Sue Bell Cobb. Many of her advertisements have focused upon Nabers' campaign contributions, saying they came in part from "Big Oil."

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/opinion/editorials/061103a.shtml

[rumpel]

7. Seattle Times: We must restore trust in nation's election system

The Seattle Times

Editorials/Opinion
Friday, November 3, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

By Richard Borkowski
Special to The Times

Confidence in American elections is so low our democracy is at risk. Trust, coupled with checks and balances, is essential if we are to have credible voting results. Unfortunately, that combination is lacking.

On Nov. 7, this shortcoming may result in a nightmare for our country. Every seat in the U.S. Congress is up for grabs, at the same time faith in the election systems across the country has evaporated. The political parties have played havoc with our election systems, and the American public recognizes that.

A poll conducted Sept. 22 by Strategic Vision revealed that only 14 percent of Washington residents are confident that this state's election problems have been solved. Polls show that confidence in elections is lower than it was in 2000, the year our elections were sold to voting-machine companies.

The first step to take our elections back from the private corporations is for voters of all ages and political parties to turn out at the polls in crushing numbers to show they care about democracy.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003339320_borkowski03.html

[rumpel]

8. PA: Distrust of voting machines is running high

The Philadelphia Enquirer

Posted on Fri, Nov. 03, 2006

By Thomas Fitzgerald and Nancy Petersen
Inquirer Staff Writers

An overhaul of the nation's creaky electoral machinery, inspired by the Florida presidential recount in 2000, will get its biggest test so far in the midterm congressional elections Tuesday - and some worry the cure might be as bad as the disease.

Citing problems in the spring primaries and the sheer magnitude of the changes, experts warn of possible problems at the polls.

Many voters and election officials will be grappling with new electronic voting machines, new computerized registration databases, and, in some states, stricter voter-identification requirements.

One third of the U.S. electorate will cast ballots on electronic machines that have never been used before.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/15915891.htm

[rumpel]

9. LA Times: E-voting may be scarier than hanging chads

Computer bugs, paper backups, hackers -- some fear electronic balloting will be a whole new headache.
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Times Staff Writer
November 3, 2006

WASHINGTON — After the 2000 presidential election in Florida exposed the dangers of relying on punch-card ballots and other vintage voting systems, the federal government spent more than $3 billion to help state and local authorities overhaul the way Americans record their votes. When the polls open for Tuesday's midterm election, 90% will be equipped with new high-tech systems.

But instead of bringing the accuracy, efficiency and reliability of the corner ATM, the wholesale makeover of the nation's voting system has brought a new set of concerns: the possibilities of software bugs, freeze-ups, vulnerability to hackers and new forms of human error that could bring their own chaos and controversy.

In Maryland, for instance, doubts about the state's touch-screen system are so serious that Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has urged voters to cast absentee ballots instead of going to neighborhood precincts. And in Pennsylvania, one-third of voters believe it would be easy to rig touch-screen machines to change election results, a recent university-sponsored poll found.

Both states are battlegrounds in the struggle for control of the Senate.

http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-na-vote3nov03,1,370214.story?coll=la-headlines-technology&ctrack=1&cset=true

[rumpel]

10. SC: Election officials are confident in machines

Posted on Fri, Nov. 03, 2006

MyrtleBeachOnline

Simulated balloting shows few problems
By Steve Jones
The Sun News

Get details on candidates, tax referendums and constitutional amendment proposals, and find out where to vote in The Sun News voter's guide in Sunday's newspaper.

SHALLOTTE, N.C. - Clint Humphrey of Sunset Beach, N.C., says he's heard the stories about concerns that problems with new electronic voting machines could stain the 2006 election in ways unimaginable before computers took over.

Yes, he said, he has concerns, too, but what can you do?

"I hope it's counted accurately," he said Wednesday afternoon, minutes after casting his ballot in North Carolina's early voting.

Elections officials in Brunswick, Horry and Georgetown counties would tell Humphrey and others who share his worries to relax. Yes, they're working with new voting machines. Yes, there may be problems. But all are confident the machines they bought and the training they've given poll workers will lead to an accurate count on Tuesday.

"Everybody wants to know their vote counts," said Sandy Martin, Horry County's director of Registration and Elections.
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/15917805.htm

[rumpel]

11. CA: Latest poll: Democrats could take secretary of state's office

The Desert Sun
Palm Springs

Jake Henshaw
Desert Sun Sacramento Bureau
November 3, 2006
As the 2006 campaign wraps up, Republicans are making a spirited bid for insurance commissioner and lieutenant governor but are in danger of losing the secretary of state's office, according to the latest poll being released today.
Aside from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republicans hold only one statewide office, with Bruce McPherson as secretary of state - and he was appointed to that position after the Democratic officeholder resigned amid investigations into misuse of funds.

Now, McPherson faces a strong electoral challenge from Democrat Debra Bowen, who is leading in the new Field Poll 40 percent to 36 percent.

The strongest GOP candidate for a "down ticket" statewide office is wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Poizner, who has a nine-point lead over Democrat Cruz Bustamante for insurance commissioner.

Republican Tom McClintock is in a virtual dead heat with Democrat John Garamendi for lieutenant governor after trailing Garamendi by 10 points in July.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061103/NEWS10/611030389/1024

:woohoo: Debra!

[rumpel]

12. NJ: Computer scientists alarmed by voting system for troops

Friday, November 03, 2006
BY KEVIN COUGHLIN
Star-Ledger Staff
A new electronic system meant to simplify voting for overseas troops may compromise their confidentiality and expose them to identity theft, computer scientists warn.

Citing those concerns, Rep. Rush Holt (D-12th Dist.) yesterday asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to establish more secure voting procedures for next week's elections.

A Pentagon spokesman said the system is intended as a convenience for service members, who are advised of security tradeoffs up front and voluntarily waive their rights to a secret ballot.

In September, the Federal Voting Assistance Program announced the Integrated Voting Alternative Site, a Web site that explains fax and e-mail alternatives to casting absentee ballots by mail.

Because the program does not encrypt e-mails, soldiers' votes, or personal information submitted in ballot requests, could be revealed if messages are intercepted, according to the computer scientists.

E-mails and faxes traveling through foreign countries also may be more vulnerable to hackers and ballot-tampering, they asserted. And, despite the secrecy waiver, Holt and the scientists questioned the wisdom of having troops' votes handled by their employers, the Defense Department.

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1162536860121120.xml&coll=1

[rumpel]

13. TX: A matter of trust

Star Telegram

Posted on Fri, Nov. 03, 2006

Star-Telegram
The foundation of a vibrant, fully functioning democratic republic -- a system of government in which the people elect individuals to represent their interests in government -- is trust.

Trust that the men and women who run for office are being truthful when stating what they believe. Trust in the people tasked with the responsibility for conducting fair elections in which every vote counts. Trust in the actual methods used to collect and count votes.

With a crucial midterm election just days away, a disturbing number of Americans are reporting that they don't trust the voting systems they will be expected to use Tuesday.

Thirty-seven states and almost 40 percent of the voting population will be using equipment known as direct-recording electronic (DRE) systems, according to the open government advocacy group Common Cause. Many of those voters will be seeing such machines for the first time in a general election.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/15919727.htm

[texpatriot2004]

14. K & R nm

[rumpel]

15. ComputerWorld: E-voting: paging Dr. DRE (and kiss my monkey)

Fri, 11/03/2006 - 6:55am
Yay! It's IT Blogwatch, in which we examine accuracy concerns about the upcoming mid-term vote. Not to mention monkeying around with a bogus lip-balm spot...

Angela Gunn presents our interactive map:

Many Americans will head to the polls for November's midterm elections with less certainty than ever about how -- or whether -- their votes will be counted. Two years after the controversy-plagued 2004 elections, four years after HAVA (the Help America Vote Act) was passed, and six years after the Supreme Court and America romanced the hanging chad, experts are bracing for yet another wave of challenges to regional vote-counting systems.
One-third of us will use voting machines that have never before served in a general election. Legal challenges to paperless DRE (direct-recording electronic) voting technologies are proliferating across the country, and as computer scientists demonstrated earlier this year, hacking challenges to many of these machines can bear fruit even faster than demands for recounts.
...

http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/comment/reply/3886

[rumpel]

16. MT: Program will provide free rides to the polls

Great Falls Tribune

By PETER JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Writer

Voters who don't have a car or can't drive can get a free ride to their polling place on Election Day Tuesday by calling a toll free number.

The Montana Council on Developmental Disabilities is providing the rides through a federal Help America Vote Act grant.

The program also will pay people willing to give rides, provided they coordinate their efforts through MCDD.

Those wishing either to get a ride to the polls or to provide the rides should call the MCDD/HAVA transportation toll free help line at 1/866 443-4332.

Program officials urge those wanting to participate to call well in advance of Election Day to allow time to set up the ride.

The rides are not just for people with disabilities or senior citizens, said program official Dee Burrell.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

[rumpel]

17. IL: Early voting gaining traction

Chicago Tribune

30,000 ballots cast in DuPage and Kane, officials estimate

By Joseph Sjostrom and William Presecky
Tribune staff reporters
Published November 3, 2006

It's not too late to vote--just too late to vote early.

With the close Thursday of the 18-day period in which Illinois voters were allowed to cast ballots in advance of next Tuesday's election, officials in Kane and DuPage Counties said early voting appears to be taking hold.

Officials in the west suburban counties projected that once the complete tally is known, more than 30,000 ballots will have been cast in DuPage and Kane ahead of the Nov. 7 general election.

Early voting began Oct. 16.

Robert Saar, director of the Du Page County Election Commission, said about 18,000 people had voted at 18 early-voting sites. The total was expected to reach about 20,000 by the time voting concluded Thursday, he said. DuPage County has nearly 530,000 registered voters.

"We thought the figure would be 20,000 to 25,000, so the turnout is pretty much what we expected, pretty much what other states suggested," said Saar.

"It takes a while for people to understand what early voting is, but we expect the numbers will build from here in future elections," he said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/chi-0611030283nov03,1,5511810.story?coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

[rumpel]

18. MD: I-Team Investigation Reveals Absentee Ballot Voting Problems

WBAL TV Channel 11, (NBC)

POSTED: 6:09 am EST November 3, 2006
UPDATED: 7:37 am EST November 3, 2006

BALTIMORE -- The 11 News I-Team discovered voters who were unable to cast their ballots in the September primary. When they were asked why, the voters revealed some disturbing answers.
WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter David Collins said Janet Williams mailed her application for an absentee ballot nearly three weeks before the September primary. She was expecting to receive it before she went on vacation but the ballot came too late.
"It was the first time I haven't voted since I was 21," Williams said.

Collins reported an absentee ballot is no guarantee your vote will be counted. A database compiled by the I-Team showed nearly 13,000 voters who requested absentee ballots for the September primary, but didn't return them.
The I-Team contacted nearly 200 voters from Baltimore City, Baltimore, Howard and Anne Arundel counties. 40 percent of the voters in Baltimore County said they sent their applications in plenty of time, but they received their absentee ballots too late to vote.
Collins asked Jackie McDaniel, director of the Baltimore County Board of Elections, why ballots were sent out so late.
"We were a week late in getting our ballots this year -- election year," McDaniel said. "And then we didn't get all of our ballots and that throws us even further behind."

http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/10230104/detail.html

[rumpel]

19. IN: New voting system eases experience

8:26 AM November 3, 2006

State hot line, Web site to aid voters

A telephone hot line and a Web site will be available to help voters on election day Tuesday, Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita said.


The hot line number is 1-866-IN-1-VOTE (1-866-461-8683), and the Web site will be at http://www.sos.in.gov.
The hot line is for voters to ask questions about polling procedures, and report complaints about election fraud and accessibility. The web site has more information on voting law and lets voters find their polling place.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061103/LOCAL19/611030520

Hope it's better than ours! rumpel

[rumpel]

20. IN: Voting system raises security questions

The Purdue Exponent

By Alex Mascia
Publication Date: 11/03/06
Staff Writer Print View

An expert on voting security said the new electronic voting systems implemented for the Nov. 7 elections may present security concerns.

Barbara Simons, an electronic voting expert, said Diebold voting systems, which will be used in the Tippecanoe County elections, have the possibility of being tampered with. She spoke about the risks in a Thursday lecture before about 30 professors.

She said although independent testing agencies use a checklist to check for bugs in the system, that doesn't mean the machine is safe for voting.

"You can't do security by checklist," said Simons. "Bugs are not always found."

She said it's believed an attacker who has physical access to a machine could install a malicious virus in as little as one minute.

In an effort to reduce security concerns, Tippecanoe County uses printed reports of vote tallies, said Laurie Wilson, co-director of the Tippecanoe County Board of Elections and Voter Registration.

Wilson said after the polls close, the machines print off a report archive. The paper archive, along with a memory card, are then sealed and delivered to county headquarters.

In a recent Diebold voting test, the printed archive of the ballots were tallied by hand. It resulted with a correct counting of the pre-selected votes.

But Eugene Spafford, professor and executive director of the Center for Education and Research in Information, Assurance and Security, said this may not reduce the risk of failure.

http://www.purdueexponent.org/index.php?module=article&story_id=2739

[rumpel]

21. NY: E-Voting, As it Takes Hold, Faces Big Risks

Baseline

November 3, 2006

By Robert Hertzberg

With Tuesday's midterm elections nearing, computer experts are sounding an alarm about possible problems with the electronic systems that two in every five voters will be using.
And more recently, there has been criticism of the Defense Department's decision to let some overseas military personnel send in their votes via E-mail.

The Defense Department's program, called the Interim Voting Assistance System, was put together between June 15 and Sept. 1. That is a tight timeframe for a system of such complexity, said Barbara Simons, a former scientist at IBM Research who co-authored a paper criticizing the IVAS system last week.

While allowing voting over the Internet may seem like a natural way to get younger voters involved, Simons said "there is a fundamental problem" that might not be appreciated by people who have come to regard the Internet as safe for other kinds of transactions, such as buying a book at Amazon.

"That's not a secret transaction—you want Amazon to know who you are," Simons said. By contrast, voting is supposed to be a private affair. "I'm personally offended that people who are fighting and dying for our country are being told they have to give up their right to vote in secret."

http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,2051184,00.asp

[rumpel]

22. OK: Agent Smith of ‘The Matrix’ to head Federal Election Commission

Kevin Sesock


Opinion Columnist

While states such as California, Ohio and Florida suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous electronic voting systems (such as those from Diebold), we can be proud Oklahoma uses an optical voting system instead of random numbers that disappear into the ether.

Diebold is a publicly traded company, and I am under no illusion they nor any other publicly traded company exists other than to profit.

But when Diebold’s now former CEO said he promised to deliver Ohio to Bush in 2004, it does not inspire confidence in our right to vote.

Oklahoma uses an archaic yet proven system. Remember when it comes to new technologies, the bleeding edge bleeds for a reason, so archaic doesn’t necessarily mean bad.

Despite my faith that my vote might actually be counted, I’ll show up at the Payne County Election Board Monday to cast my fully recountable absentee ballot.

I’ll even come with the sample ballot provided, with my selections, which have been researched thoroughly in advance, highlighted and ready to copy lest I punch the wrong holes under a previously undiagnosed wicked urge to vote Buchanan.

And while I’m faithful my vote will be counted, I quickly lose faith it will count.

http://www.ocolly.com/read_story.php?a_id=31096

[robinlynne]

23. Rumpel, I'm in LA county and we have videothevote crews. if you had registration

problems and are going to norwalk, can we get one of our teams to accompany you to witness what happens? contact me directly please.

[rumpel]

30. ok, I'll PM you

[rumpel]

24. GUAM: GEC scrambles for more workers (poll)

Pacific Daily News:

By Dionesis Tamondong
Pacific Daily News
[e-mail]


The Guam Election Commission might not have enough precinct officials for the General Election this Tuesday, one of the concerns raised during yesterday's GEC meeting.

Brenda Untalan, GEC program coordinator, said about 20 to 30 precinct officials -- most of whom are trained and seasoned officials -- have called to say they can't work on Election Day because it is a workday. She noted that most of the precinct officials are government of Guam employees, and many expressed their concerns early on when it was unclear whether Nov. 7 would be a government holiday.

"I'm trying to scramble with the applications that we do have left and I'm trying to set up a training session for them," she told board members.

Untalan said she is more concerned about others who may not have called the commission office to tell them they cannot take leave and just decide not to show up to their polling site on Election Day.
Executive Director Gerald Taitano had expressed similar concerns a few weeks ago, when he asked the governor to declare Nov. 7 a government holiday.

Gov. Felix Camacho this past week said Election Day will not be a government holiday, and, in a memo to government agencies, urged employees to vote during the two hours afforded them by federal law.

http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/NEWS01/611040308&GID=hpRVFjXoAcbJyEFTooT3y2gN0C2HWWXZj5YvGRTIU1o%3D

[rumpel]

25. GUAM: Judge: Proposal results to be kept secret (also on e. challenge)

By Mark-Alexander Pieper
Pacific Daily News
[e-mail]


Voters will be able to cast their ballots on Proposals A and B on Tuesday and those votes will be tabulated, but a judge yesterday said the results for both voter initiatives will be kept secret from the public.

However, the results for Proposal B, which seeks to legalizing slot-machine gambling at the Guam Greyhound, will be made available to selected representatives of the three parties involved in the pending lawsuit against the slot-machine initiative.

That was among the many decisions made by Superior Court of Guam Judge Arthur Barcinas in the ongoing court challenges to the elections yesterday. Three days remain before more than 50,000 voters are expected to cast their ballots in the General Election.

Barcinas, earlier yesterday, threw out the court challenge to the Sept. 2 Primary Election, saying the discrepancies noted by plantiffs in that case wouldn't have an effect on the final election results.
He also decided that iVotronic voting machines will not be used during Tuesday's General Election.

Attorneys representing the two legislative candidates and three voters who filed the Primary Election challenge said they will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Guam and will ask for an emergency injunction to prevent the General Election on Tuesday from being conducted.

http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/NEWS01/611040305

[rumpel]

26. Newswire: NAACP and Human Rights Groups Set to Monitor Elections

Voters Can Report Problems by Calling a Special Hotline, 1-866-OUR-VOTE


11/2/2006 5:42:00 PM

To: State Desk

Contact: John C. White of NAACP, 410-580-5125 or Meredith Curtis of ACLU of MD, 410-889-8555 or Kim Alton of Lawyers' Committee, 202-662-8317 or Nick Berning of PFAW Foundation, 202-202-467-2369

BALTIMORE, Nov. 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The NAACP, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, People For the American Way Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland have set up a hotline for voters to call in case problems occur on Election Day, Nov. 7. The groups are all part of Election Protection, the nation's largest non-partisan voter protection coalition, and they are working to head off problems similar to those experienced on primary Election Day Sept. 12.

Lawyers will operate from the NAACP Election Day Voter Command Center at the NAACP national headquarters in Baltimore and from Prince George's County.

"There should be no obstacles to voter participation and the NAACP and its allies are standing by to make sure in fact there are no obstacles to citizens who want to exercise their right to vote," said NAACP General Counsel Dennis Courtland Hayes. "We owe it to the many civil rights activists who went to extraordinary lengths to earn the right for African Americans and others to vote. Some lost their lives. Their sacrifices should not be in vain."

Volunteers will observe targeted precincts in the Baltimore metropolitan area, Prince George's and Montgomery counties. From the NAACP Election Day Voter Action Center, lawyers, volunteers and partnering organizations will monitor complaints of voter irregularities and advise voters experiencing problems at the polls. If necessary, this information will be forwarded to the U.S. Department of Justice.

"The 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline serves as a lifeline to voters and is available now to help navigate our electoral system as well as answer questions about voter eligibility or the location of your polling place," said Jon Greenbaum, director of the Voting Rights Project for the Lawyers' Committee.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=75629

[rumpel]

27. OH: Issue 4 petition workers accused of election fraud

The Beacon Journal

Posted on Fri, Nov. 03, 2006

Associated Press
BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio - Ten people are accused of submitting petitions with names of dead people and forged signatures for a state issue on Tuesday's ballot that would ban smoking in most buildings, authorities said Friday.

The 87 petitions containing 2,003 signatures were declared invalid by the Logan County Board of Elections in August and turned over to authorities, said Lucinda Holycross, the elections board's director. It was not clear how many signatures were invalid.

The 10 have been charged with election fraud, a felony that carries a sentence of up to a year in prison, authorities said. All live in the Springfield and Dayton areas and most collected the signatures while working for a temporary agency.

Eric Stewart, assistant Logan County prosecutor, said the charge accuses the 10 of not witnessing the signatures put on the petitions as required by law

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/15922328.htm

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28. Election Fraud and Totalitarian "Democracy"

The John Birch Society

By Wayne Olson
Published: 2006-11-03 18:15

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS:

An election integrity advocate/computer programmer reviews HBO's unsettling new documentary "Hacking Democracy," a look at election fraud through computerized voting machines. "Hacking Democracy" premiered Thursday evening, November 2.

Follow this link to the source article: "Hacks, lies, and videotape"

COMMENTARY:

"Democracy," or rule by the people, is the constant mantra of many politicians, academics, and news commentators world wide, including Marxists formerly known as Communists. It is unfortunate that few in the media or high places ever mention the "Republic" – "for which we stand, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

The word "Democracy" seems to have supplanted "Republic" as the form of government to be associated with "liberty and justice for all." Is our "democracy," which has strayed far from the checks and balances of the original U.S. Constitutional Republic, metamorphosing into another form?

http://www.jbs.org/node/1553

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29. Bring Democracy Home

The Nation

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Former President Jimmy Carter, who is arguably more identified with the struggle to guarantee free and fair elections than anyone in the world, gets an interesting response these days when he talks about observing voting overseas. "The Carter Center has monitored more than fifty elections, all of them held under contentious, troubled or dangerous conditions," he says. "When I describe these activities, either in the US or in foreign forums, the almost inevitable questions are Why don't you observe the election in Florida? and How do you explain the serious problems with elections there?"

The American people are waking up and realizing that for all the Bush Administration's talk of promoting democracy abroad, the US electoral system fails to do the same at home. With the approach of the midterm elections, there is justified alarm about how easy it is to hack electronic voting machines and that in many states these machines have no paper trail.

While it is heartening to see the increased focus on the vulnerabilities and flaws of these machines, these are not the only problems that cry out for reform. What about voting districts that are rigged to be uncompetitive? What about loopholes in campaign finance law that give corporations huge influence over legislation? What about partisan secretaries of state who decide who can vote and which votes will be counted? What about modern-day Jim Crow laws and tactics that suppress the vote?

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061120/kvh

[Algorem]

31. Ohio Elections Commission hearing set for Taylor(R), auditor candidate

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/15918645.htm

Statements about being business owner reviewed
By Lisa A. Abraham
Beacon Journal staff writer

...The Ohio Democratic Party filed the complaint against Taylor, claiming that she stated on her Web site that she and her husband Don ``own and operate a construction management firm in the Akron area.'' Welty, however, has issued a formal statement that Taylor has no ownership interest in the company...

Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, said in a statement following Wednesday's decision that Taylor's ``loose ethical conduct is not something that Ohioans want in a state auditor, and she should be ashamed by her campaign tactics.''...

The issue of whether Taylor had an interest in Welty came up because of a letter she wrote in March 2005 asking House Republicans to restore operating funds to the University of Akron's Global Business Program.

At about the same time she sent her letter, UA was mothballing a $14 million building for the program. Taylor's husband, Donzell, had a financial interest in the project. Welty had been tapped to be the construction manager...




http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_openers/archives/2006_11.html#200823

...And for state auditor, Democrat Barbara Sykes narrowly leads the GOP's Mary Taylor, 40-37...


Friday, November 03, 2006

Montgomery and Dann square off at the City Club

With the latest Plain Dealer poll showing their race is neck-and-neck, state Auditor Betty Montgomery and Sen. Marc Dann came out swinging Friday in their first and only debate before Tuesday’s election.

Dann compared Montgomery’s role in the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation scandal to an overstuffed housecat, too lazy to chase the mouse lounging right under her nose...


...

The big surprise is in the race for attorney general, which the poll suggests is dead even. Democrat Marc Dann and Republican Betty Montgomery each claimed the support of 44 percent of respondents.

[Algorem]

32. AP BS article-Mudslinging, expectations dampening voters' enthusiasm

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/politics/15925963.htm

JOHN McCARTHY
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Voters are showing apathy about Tuesday's election, either because of the Democrats' perceived victory in major races or repulsion over the nonstop supply of negative TV ads. Some say the outcome is a foregone conclusion; others say they are too busy to vote.

"What we've got running for office is a bunch of hogwash - on both sides," said Jerry Wriston, 44, a Columbus cab company owner.

Republicans Ken Blackwell, running for governor, and U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine have their weekend schedules loaded with GOP strongholds, a sign they are not looking for last-minute votes. Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown, DeWine's challenger, also is working to rally his base in northeast Ohio...


"What's hard to read in Mahoning, for example, is we're getting a huge early vote," Binning said. "It's hard to find any signs of disinterest out there."(but I thought "voter's enthusiasm was dampened".What the?)...