Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Thursday 11/16/06

[EFerrari]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Thursday 11/16/06

House Democrats pick California Rep. Nancy Pelosi as speaker-elect in a unanimous vote.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats picked Rep. Steny Hoyer to be House majority leader on Thursday, spurning Rep. Nancy Pelosi's handpicked choice moments after unanimously backing her election as speaker when Congress convenes in January.

A Marylander and 25-year veteran of Congress, Hoyer defeated Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania in a vote of 149-86.

His election to the No. 2 job came just a short time after the Democratic caucus put Pelosi in line to become the first woman to be speaker, a position which is second in line of succession to the presidency. It marked a personal triumph for Hoyer.

Earlier, an ebullient Pelosi declared: "We made history and now we will make progress for the American people."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/16/congress.leaders.ap/index.html



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[EFerrari]

1. National: House member wants e-voting paper trail

House member wants e-voting paper trail

By DONNA DE LA CRUZ, Associated Press Writer Wed Nov 15, 6:43 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Citing the disputed vote in a Florida congressional district, a Democratic lawmaker on Wednesday urged Congress to approve his measure requiring a paper trail for electronic voting.
ADVERTISEMENT

Rep. Rush Holt (news, bio, voting record), sponsor of the bill, said the inaccuracy of electronic touch-screen voting machines "poses a direct threat to the integrity of our electoral system." The New Jersey congressman argued the Florida district, in which more than 18,000 votes have gone uncounted, has exposed the system's flaws.

Florida law requires a recount in all five southwest Florida counties in the 13th Congressional District. But scrutiny is focused on Sarasota County, where touch-screen voting machines recorded that 18,382 people — 13 percent of voters in the Nov. 7 election — did not vote for either Republican Vern Buchanan or Democrat Christine Jennings, despite casting ballots in other races on the ballot. That rate was much higher than other counties in the district.

Rep. Robert Wexler (news, bio, voting record), D-Fla., said he found it "unfathomable" that more than 18,000 people would cast votes in other races but not in the congressional race. He added there's a host of theories that could explain what happened to those votes, but without a paper trail no one knows the truth.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061115/ap_on_go_co/electronic_voting

[EFerrari]

2. AR: Candidate requests recount

Candidate requests recount

By Jennifer Turner Staff Writer // [e-mail]
Posted on Thursday, November 16, 2006

BENTONVILLE — Justice of the peace candidate Cheryl Murphy on Wednesday formally requested a recount of the District 2 race.

Her action came at the urging of the Arkansas Democratic Party and dozens of county residents.

The state Democratic Party on Tuesday announced it would seek the recount, but election rules require that a candidate or the Election Commission make the formal request.

Murphy already had decided not to request the recount, and she urged members of the Benton County Election Commission on Wednesday to call for the recount themselves.

“ This has been a real struggle for me, ” Murphy said Wednesday morning to a gathering that included election commissioners John Brown, Russ Odell and Lynn Chinn, plus District 2 Republican candidate Frank Winscott and his wife, Carolyn Winscott.

“ I don’t believe the numbers are going to change, but I don’t believe people have confidence in the process anymore, ” Murphy said. “ I’d like to try to bring some faith back to the process. ”

(snip)

Murphy’s letter originally requested a hand count of all paper ballots, but she crossed out the word “ hand” at the last minute. Now the commission will simply run all paper ballots through the scanners again and review every paper receipt printed from all electronic voting machines used in District 2 precincts.
:rofl:

http://nwanews.com/bcdr/News/42192/

[EFerrari]

3. CA: Election results remain on hold (Mendocino Co.)

Election results remain on hold

Official blames absentee ballots, court order for slowing count

By GLENDA ANDERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The head of Mendocino County's election office blamed the large number of late-arriving absentee ballots and a court-ordered sealing of some votes for the failure of election officials to complete the vote count.

Clerk-Recorder Marsha Wharff came before Mendocino County supervisors Tuesday to explain why local races remain unresolved, a full week after the election.

Results of the race for Ukiah City Council and for sheriff remain unknown. The race for district attorney is also unknown, but that decision came from a judge, not the election's office, and was partially to blame for slowing the vote count, Wharf said.

Incumbent District Attorney Norm Vroman was locked in a runoff with challenger Meredith Lintott when he died Sept. 21. Vroman's former Chief Deputy District Attorney Keith Faulder is seeking to block the runoff in favor of a special election, contending it's required by law.

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061115/NEWS/611150333/1033/NEWS01

[EFerrari]

4. CA: Paper trail mandate snarls vote process

Paper trail mandate snarls vote process
Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun
November 14, 2006

The many ballot initiatives this election cycle kept nearly 100 technicians countywide busy keeping the paper trail moving in electronic voting machines.

It also meant some voters spent more time in the booth - up to three times as long compared with other elections - and in line.

"We knew that going into this election that managing the paper would be our greatest challenge," said Riverside County Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore.

And it was.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061114/NEWS0301/611140322

[EFerrari]

5. CO: "Shocking" election omission

"Shocking" election omission

VOTER-VERIFICATION CAPACITY NEVER TESTED
By Katy Human
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated:11/16/2006 12:44:26 AM MST

Denver election officials never tested the capacity of the troubled computer systems they used to verify voter registrations on Election Day - an omission one computer expert called "shocking" and others said seemed shortsighted.

Elsewhere, county technicians or contractors load-tested communication lines and central servers to make sure they never neared capacity, so election workers could process voters quickly and keep lines moving.

Denver officials, however, never monitored election computer performance, even during the Aug. 8 primary, when Denver first used vote centers and revised software, Denver Election Commission spokesman Alton Dillard said Wednesday.

"The type of capacity report you request would have had to be set up before November 7," Dillard wrote in response to a request for the information. "If you know of any way capacity can be retroactively determined, please let me know."

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4668163

[EFerrari]

6. CO: Panel Formed To Prevent Future Election Fiasco

DENVER -- A panel formed to prevent a repeat of Denver's election mess held its first meeting Wednesday.

The group, co-chaired by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, wants to come up with proposals that will reduce voting lines and delays in the future.

An elected clerk and recorder could be one of the panel's recommendations that would focus responsibility for city elections on one person.Many voters who waited in lines for hours to cast their ballots said something needs to be done.

The group was formed to be a short-term, action-oriented investigative panel.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/10330657/detail.html

[EFerrari]

7. CT: Recount underway of some optical scanning machines

Story By Jodi Latina

(WTNH, Nov. 15, 2006 6:30 PM) _ The recount may be over in the Second District, but the election process is still under scrutiny.

Several communities tested out the optical scanning machines, but did they count every vote correctly?

That question has the Secretary of the State calling for an audit.

* by News Channel 8's Jodi Latina

"First polling district Wethersfield voting district ten."

Pulled at random from the Charter Oak box on the Secretary of the State's desk in Hartford the checks and balances have begun.

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=5688420&nav=3YeX

[EFerrari]

8. FL: As part of test program, Bibb trying to verify electronic election results

As part of test program, Bibb trying to verify electronic election results

By Phillip Ramati
TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER

Bibb County election volunteers spent Wednesday tallying votes by hand as part of a state program to verify electronic election results.

Volunteers with the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections checked the paper trail left by new Diebold voting machines for any discrepancies between the paper copy and the electronic numbers recorded by voters at Hill Elementary School last week.

That precinct is the only one in Bibb County that used the new machines during last week's elections, officials said.

The counting is part of a pilot program sponsored by the state to see the effectiveness of the new machines. Bibb County is one of three counties involved in the program, along with Cobb and Camden.

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/16022426.htm

:wtf: Better late than never?

[EFerrari]

9. FL: Florida officials begin manual recount of 18,000 ballots

Florida officials begin manual recount of 18,000 ballots

By Jim Stratton

The Orlando Sentinel

(MCT)

SARASOTA, Fla. - As officials begin a manual recount Thursday of more than 18,000 disputed ballots in the race for the 13th Congressional District, a handful of voting-rights and ballot-reform groups seeking to force a new election have put out a call to unhappy voters.

The organizations are holding a public hearing Thursday at a downtown hotel to hear from residents who fear their votes were incorrectly recorded or who failed to choose a candidate in the race because the ballot design was confusing.

The voting system "failed on a massive scale," said Lowell Finley, a California attorney and co-director of Voter Action, which has criticized touch-screen voting. "It's unacceptable to design a machine that the voter has to sort of wrestle to the ground just to make sure their vote counts."

More than 18,000 ballots cast in Sarasota County showed no choice was made in the hotly contested congressional race between Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Christine Jennings. The so-called "undervote" in that race - which Buchanan now leads by 401 votes - was about 15 percent among voters who used computer touch-screen machines. That compares to undervotes of less than 3 percent in parts of the district with different voting machines.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/nation/16025197.htm

[EFerrari]

10. FL: Touch-screen voting tossed in Sarasota

Touch-screen voting tossed in Sarasota
County voters mandated 'verified paper ballots.' Meanwhile, a recount continues.

Mark K. Matthews | Washington Bureau
Posted November 15, 2006

SARASOTA -- Sarasota County will abandon its touch-screen voting machines in 2008, replacing the controversial $4.7 million system with paper ballots before the next presidential election.

The change comes amid a recount of the disputed race for U.S. House District 13 here that has raised questions about the reliability of the touch-screen-voting system.

Critics blame the machines for more than 18,000 unrecorded votes in the race between Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Christine Jennings, who trails by fewer than 400 votes.

But the disputed election is not the main reason Sarasota is scrapping the new system, Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent said Tuesday. Dent said she is simply listening to voters and following a charter amendment Nov. 7 in which they demanded "verified paper ballots."


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-voteprobs1506nov15,0,7763441.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state

[EFerrari]

11. ID: You've punched your last

You've punched your last

BY SHEA ANDERSEN

Voters of Ada County, you've punched your last card. The county, reportedly among the last in the country to use old-fashioned punch card voting machines, will be switching to newer technology now that the 2006 elections are over.

According to Chris Rich, chief deputy clerk for Ada County, the old-fashioned punch card system is so out of date, only one company--the one that invented them--is still around to service them if things go awry.

"It's like having a Betamax," Rich said. "It's a great product but nobody supports it."

It's not exactly a hanging chad problem--Idaho's old-fashioned punch cards have not so far created any such election-time brouhahas--but Rich said the machines are just too old. They did keep Brian Cronin up later than he intended on election night, however; the chairman of the Ada County Democratic Party got out of his PJ's and headed down to Ada County to sort out a brief confusion when the county's vote tallies started going backwards, something that happened after midnight when a new date rolled over on the the counting systems. The glitch was later resolved.

http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A214114

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12. IN: County Clerk Wenger says ballot problems her fault

By RICK YENCER
[e-mail]
StoryChat Post Comment

MUNCIE -- Some missing ballots were found Wednesday while others remained unaccounted for as the Delaware County Election Board moved toward Friday certification of final election results.

"I accept full responsibility for these problems," said County Clerk Karen Wenger, county election administrator. "I realize the buck stops with me."

Wenger, along with county election and voter registration staff, worked Wednesday to solve the cases of missing ballots and vote miscounts, finding 17 provisional ballots that had not been counted from Precinct 44, where voters cast ballots at Ivy Tech Community College.

Those ballots had been incorrectly added to the count in Precinct 23, which votes at Forest Park Senior Citizens Center, Wenger said.

(Read on. This is a great illustration of the nuts and bolts of ballot counting.)

http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061116/NEWS01/611160340/1002

[EFerrari]

13. KS: Close race leads to re-count

Close race leads to re-count

With only four votes separating candidates in the race for the 16th District Kansas House seat, Overland Park Republican John Dennis Kriegshauser has requested a re-count.

After provisional ballots were counted Monday, Democrat Gene Rardin of Overland Park appeared to win by the slim margin.

The state will pay for the re-count under a statute that allows the action if the margin is less than 0.5 percent, and if the candidate requests a re-count using the same method under which the ballots were originally counted.

Johnson County Election Commissioner Brian Newby said the time-consuming portion of the re-count will be separating 16th District paper ballots from among the 30,000 or so paper ballots cast.
| Melodee Hall Blobaum, [e-mail]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/16014172.htm

[EFerrari]

14. ME:Ballot-counting errors prompt recount request

Ballot-counting errors prompt recount request

By TREVOR MAXWELL, Staff Writer
Portland Press Herald Wednesday, November 15, 2006

CAPE ELIZABETH - Election officials made errors while counting ballots by hand on Nov. 7, prompting one legislative candidate Tuesday to request a recount.

Town Clerk April Cohen-Tracy said the errors were limited to 271 or fewer ballots and apparently would not change the outcomes of any local or state races or ballot questions.

But Republican Jennifer Duddy, who lost to Democrat Cynthia Dill by 176 votes out of about 4,700 cast, will challenge the results in House District 121.

She made the official request just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Duddy said she doesn't expect a reversal of the outcome but feels strongly that accuracy is important.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/061115capeelect.html

[EFerrari]

15. MT: Dems seek recount in HD77 contest

Dems seek recount in HD77 contest

By MIKE DENNISON
Gazette State Bureau

HELENA - Montana Democratic Party officials said Tuesday that Democrat Sheila Hogan will ask for a recount of votes cast in House District 77, where she lost by 24 votes to Republican Rep. Scott Mendenhall.

"I just want to make sure that the people get a fair vote," said Jim Farrell, executive director of the Democratic Party.

Democrats currently have a tenuous 50-49 edge in the Montana House. If the recount gave Hogan a victory, the Democrats' margin over Republicans in the House would increase to 51-48.

But Mendenhall, of Clancy, said it's highly unlikely that a recount will change a 24-vote margin, and he's disappointed that Hogan and the Democrats are requesting a recount.

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/11/15/news/state/60-dems.txt

[EFerrari]

16. NJ: Problems Found on 24 Voting Machines

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ - Essex County’s new electronic voting machines got their first real test last week as most of them made it out of the warehouse and into polling locations throughout the county.

The machines, which had previously been used in the June primary, handled approximately 166,263 voters on Election Day, or 33.2 percent of the county’s 500,481 registered voters.

The election also marked the first time the county could remotely tally the votes as a result of using the new machines, County Clerk Christopher Durkin said.

However, 24 machines experienced problems, Superintendent of Elections and Commissioner of Registration Carmine Casciano said Nov. 7.

http://www.localsource.com/articles/2006/11/15/shared/essex_county_news/doc455b476560640140490001.txt

[EFerrari]

17. NM: Wilson's lead narrows, county still counts provisional ballots

Wilson's lead narrows, county still counts provisional ballots

By MELANIE DABOVICH | Associated Press
November 15, 2006

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - Democrat Patricia Madrid has chiseled away at Republican Rep. Heather Wilson's lead in the race for the 1st Congressional District now that Bernalillo County election workers have finished tallying hundreds of in-lieu-of ballots.

It might be good news for Madrid, but it's also good news for Wilson's campaign.

County workers have been busy reviewing more than 3,700 provisional and in-lieu-of ballots. They disqualified more than one-fifth of them Wednesday, leaving Madrid with fewer ballots to overtake Wilson.

"These numbers mean that Congresswoman Wilson's victory is more certain today than it was when she declared victory last Thursday," spokesman Enrique Carlos Knell said, noting that the percentage of votes by which Wilson leads is greater than that of congressional candidates in Virginia and other states where opponents have already conceded.

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/52195.html

[EFerrari]

18. NY: Voting choice: DREs or scanners?

11-16-2006



oting choice: DREs or scanners?
Story text size
By Tom Grace

Cooperstown News Bureau

COOPERSTOWN _ A panel of five debated the merits of DREs and optical scanners Wednesday night at the Otsego County Office Building and at least one mind was changed.

Otsego County Rep. Stephen Fournier, R-Milford, who had been thinking the county should buy direct -recording-electronic voting machines said he now believes scanners are a better bet.

``I was leery of the vender because he sells scanners, but he knew what he was talking about and he made sense to me,’’ said Fournier as he left the forum, which followed the mid-month meeting of the county board.

The vender Fournier spoke of is Ken Hajjar of Diebold Elections Systems, who said that the DREs made for New York State will be experimental because they are being designed just for the state, while scanners have proven reliable for several years in many states.

http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2006/11/16/tgvote11153.html

[EFerrari]

19. NY: Mayor Says State’s Delays May Muddle 2007 Elections (NYC)

By DIANE CARDWELL
Published: November 16, 2006

New York City risks creating chaos at the polls next year or having to forgo roughly $20 million in federal money because the state has failed to meet new requirements to overhaul its election system and replace thousands of aging voting machines, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday.

The state has been under increasing pressure since the Justice Department sued it earlier this year for failing to comply with guidelines enacted by Congress in 2002. Those guidelines, in the Help America Vote Act, were intended to spur states to modernize their voting systems and avoid another election debacle like the one that occurred in Florida in the 2000 presidential election.

Lagging behind the rest of the nation, New York State did not pass legislation to begin complying with the act until last year and then fell behind in replacing its creaky old machines for the 2006 fall elections.

The Justice Department agreed to an interim plan for that election, although department officials said in court papers that the state could still be liable for the federal money it received to upgrade the system. That includes about $50 million for new voting machines, of which the city’s share is 38 percent, or about $20 million, according to John A. Ravitz, executive director of the city’s Board of Elections.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/nyregion/16vote.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1163706386-zorN5xb7GTnRvS2qnNZirw

[Peace Patriot]

30. "Creaky old machines." "Lagging behind." "Fell behind." "Creating chaos."

"Failed to meet new requirements." "Failing to comply." "Another election debacle" (like FLA '00).

I had to comment on this. What New Yorkers are defending---by "lagging behind," risking "chaos," and "failing to comply"--are their old, reliable and VIRTUALLY UNRIGGABLE, mechanical lever voting machines. And what they are resisting is electronic voting run on TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code--code so secret that not even our secretaries of state are permitted to review it--owned and controlled by Bushite corporations, using extremely insecure and insider hackable voting machines and central tabulators. Stay with the tried and true and unriggable clunky old things, or go with the slick, new, expensive, proven "lemons" that are wide open to fraud?

The language of this NYT article is so loaded against the old unriggable machines, and in favor of the new highly riggable ones, as to be funny--if it weren't so vile, deceitful and destructive of American democracy.

[EFerrari]

31. I just finished explaining the reporting habits of the NYTs.

I really hate knowing that the old gray lady is a whore.

[EFerrari]

20. NY: Caution urged on new voting machines

Caution urged on new voting machines

By ALBANY BUREAU
(Original publication: November 16, 2006)

Dan Wiessner

ALBANY - Calling hundreds of voting mishaps across the country on Election Day a "disaster," voting experts yesterday stressed the need for New York to be cautious in deciding what new voting machines to buy.

Most of the errors, some of which involved enough votes to potentially swing elections, were caused by the failures of electronic touch-screen voting machines, said Aimee Allaud, a voting expert with the League of Women Voters.

The errors included recording votes for the wrong candidate, recording more votes than there were registered voters and double-counting some ballots.

"Over 200 machine-malfunction problems of different types for this past election have been documented," she said. "Election officials in New York should take advantage of the experience of other states when considering their choice for replacing lever voting machines."

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061116/NEWS05/611160383/1021

[EFerrari]

21. OH: Agreement reached on Ohio's provisional ballots

Agreement reached on Ohio's provisional ballots
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Organizations that challenged Ohio's new voter identification law have reached an agreement with state officials on how provisional ballots from last week's election should be counted, the attorney general's office said.

The agreement was reached Tuesday after two days of negotiations between Attorney General Jim Petro, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and groups challenging the law, Petro spokesman Mark Anthony said.

The conflict arose after Election Day, when poll workers did not allow some voters with proper ID to cast regular ballots, instead forcing them to cast provisional ballots, which generally are not counted until a voter's eligibility is verified.

Under the agreement, approved by U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley, provisional ballots cast in error will be counted without any additional investigation into their eligibility.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/state/16015053.htm

[EFerrari]

22. OH: Two weeks after election, county's votes should all be counted

Two weeks after election, county's votes should all be counted
2006-11-16
By Nick Claussen
Athens NEWS Associate Editor

All of Athens County's votes should be counted by next Tuesday (Nov. 21), two weeks after they were cast.

On that day, all of the absentee votes that were not counted in the original tabulation because of a problem with the ballot-scanning machine will be counted, and all of the provisional ballots and the absentee ballots that came in late also will be added to the total.

Debbie Quivey, director of the Athens County Board of Elections, said Tuesday that up to 3,039 votes could be added to the totals. They expect, however, that many of the provisional ballots and some of the absentee ballots will not be counted because of problems with the ballots, she added.

The two races that could be affected by the additional ballots are for state representative and county auditor. Incumbent Republican Jimmy Stewart leads Democrat Debbie Phillips by 1,373 votes (by a count of 19,186 to 17,813) in the race to represent the 92nd District in the Ohio House of Representatives. In the race for Athens County Auditor, incumbent Republican Jill Thompson leads Democrat Patricia Sikorski by 1,004 votes (8,997 to 7,963).

http://www.athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=26664

[EFerrari]

23. PA: Voting machine suit seeks answers

Voting machine suit seeks answers
25 citizens claim electronic units in state are unreliable. Judges ask about challenges to their use.
By Paul Muschick Of The Morning Call

Several Commonwealth Court judges on Wednesday questioned whether the state has a fair process for citizens to challenge the use of controversial touch-screen electronic voting machines.

The questions arose during a 40-minute hearing at Temple University on a lawsuit filed by 25 citizens who say the machines are unreliable.

They want the systems decertified in 57 counties, including Lehigh, Northampton and surrounding counties, alleging the state's certification process of the equipment was insufficient. They want the systems modified to produce paper printouts so voters can verify that the equipment accurately records their choices.

The Pennsylvania Department of State argued Wednesday that the lawsuit should be dismissed before trial. It said the lawsuit is based on rehashed allegations that have failed in other courts and on speculation that errors could occur or machines could be hijacked by computer hackers.



http://www.mcall.com/news/local/allentown/all-b1-3vote-5rnov16,0,6199763.story?coll=all-newslocalallentown-hed

[EFerrari]

24. TN: Few voting machine complaints

Few voting machine complaints

Only 20 problems filed in 3 counties
By Cliff Hightower Staff Writer

Only a few Southeast Tennessee voters had problems with electronic voting machines during last week’s general election, election officials said.

A handful of voters in three Southeast Tennessee counties had problems with eSlate, an electronic voting machine that has a button on the bottom that automatically casts the ballot when pushed, officials said.

"I had one lady who was very upset because her husband cast his ballot after voting for governor and didn’t get to vote on the amendments," said Cathy Lauer, Rhea County election administrator.

Election officials said about 20 people complained of the machines in Marion, McMinn and Rhea counties.

http://www.tfponline.com/QuickHeadlines.asp?sec=l&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fepaper%2Etfponline%2Ecom%2FWebChannel%2FShowStory%2Easp%3FPath%3DChatTFPress%2F2006%2F11%2F15%26ID%3DAr01202

[EFerrari]

25. VA: Computer expert: Scrap all paperless voting machines

Computer expert: Scrap all paperless voting machines

By Tonia Moxley


BLACKSBURG -- Any computerized voting machine that cannot be modified to produce a verifiable paper trail probably should be scrapped.

That's what University of Virginia computer science professor David Evans said Wednesday at a forum sponsored by the Montgomery County League of Women Voters.

No one knows the rate of error of electronic voting machines, Evans said at the forum, held in the Blacksburg Town Council chambers.

No ballot-by-ballot recounting is possible, and widespread problems, caused by malfunction, flaws in computer software or tampering, likely go undetected, he said.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-91818

[EFerrari]

26. WI: Privacy vs. protection: Some Wisconsin voters offended when asked for birth date

Privacy vs. protection: Some Wisconsin voters offended when asked for birth date
Ron Brochu, Forum Communications, Co.,
Published Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Some voters were baffled and others offended last week when they were asked for their birth date at the polls.

People who have been registered for many years were asked for the information -- a piece of data that Wisconsin hasn't requested until recent years. Birth dates will remain confidential. For instance, they won't be included on standard voter lists that candidates for public office may purchase from local clerks. Still, some voters felt their privacy was being violated in such a public setting.

"The lady in front of me -- you could tell she was very upset," said Pat McKone, who votes in Superior. McKone, too, was taken aback by the request (see related letter to the editor, Page A4), especially because there's little privacy at registration tables. McKone said she called the city clerk's office but wasn't happy with the explanation she received.

Wisconsin's Elections Board decided in September to allow birth dates to be collected, said public information officer Kyle Richmond. It's part of a larger effort to minimize voter fraud and comply with the Help America Vote Act. HAVA was enacted to prevent the type of problems that emerged in Florida during the 2000 presidential vote count.

http://www.riverfallsjournal.com/articles/index.cfm?id=20453§ion=Wisconsin%20News&property_id=9&forumcomm_check_return&freebie_check&CFID=6370578&CFTOKEN=78682959&jsessionid=8830532f38dc1d464777

[EFerrari]

27. OpEd: POST ELECTION AUDIT A FARCE IN ARIZONA

November 14, 2006 at 14:05:41

Straight from the Shoulder of Michael Shelby


POST ELECTION AUDIT A FARCE IN ARIZONA

Not unlike the 18,000 missing votes or counties reporting more votes than citizens or vote flipping in Florida, double votes counted in New Jersey, Republicans impounding all electronic voting machines from 27 counties in Pennsylvania, machines unable to be turned on causing waits hours long in Colorado, Ohio, South Carolina, Indiana, Georgia, and North Carolina resulting in polls held open longer so voters could return to vote, sleepovers of election machines in California and Arizona, and I could go on but I'll refer you to www.BradBlog.com, warning of the problems with electronic voting; the post-election audit law in Arizona to manually count 2% of the precincts was made a farce by Arizona's Secretary of State Jan Brewer.

Perhaps I was too optimistic, perhaps I wanted to believe we had made some progress despite my writing about and knowing that nothing really had changed; that the machines were just as flawed, vulnerable to hacking and vote manipulation, that pre-testing the machines would reveal nothing of bugs, vote flipping programs, Trojan Horses, or trap doors in the secret software. Maybe I wanted so desperately for the message of the dangers of electronic voting to have made an impact that even when I personally observed at our Maricopa County Elections Department the transfer of data between electronic tabulating machines would be performed by "thumb drives" upon which it would be easy to insert a virus to infect all the machines and manipulate votes, that there was no security applied to the custody of the thumb drives before, during, or after the vote counting, that even then, I showed up for the post-election audit skeptical but hopeful that it would happen despite the rigid, nonsensical, arbitrary requirement that a quorum of 72 auditors from each major party participate or the audit could not be performed. Even though I knew that almost every conceivable obstacle to conducting a post-election audit of the electronic voting machines was inserted into SB 1557, Arizona's Election Reform Bill, by the Secretary of State Jan Brewer, a Republican dominated legislature, a small-minded power-mongering Democrat, and elections officials who wanted nothing of this burden added to their already overloaded responsibilities; I thought that just maybe because of the outcome of this election with its the repudiation of an illegal war and of the politics of cronyism, corruption, and greed by a coalition of American voters and not just the party faithful or the base voters, that just maybe, this time, we might have a go at accountability. Sadly, it was not to be.

The first day of the audit was spent scrambling for the necessary quorum to even conduct the audit. Needing 72 auditors from each major party the Democrats fielded an initial 80 and the Republicans only 50 by the initial start time of 1:00PM. To her great credit Elections Director Karen Osborne gave a one hour grace period for each party to beat the bushes (no pun intended) for more bodies. For a moment it appeared as if the operatives from both parties had trolled the local public golf courses for retirees. Then the entire staff of "20 and 30 something's" from the AZ Democratic Party Headquarters paraded in as if displaced from a scene in Animal House. Add to that some mothers with sleeping infants in their carriers, a college freshman here or there, some other late comers, and a wonderful lady whose first vote was probably cast for FDR and VOILA! The quorum was exceeded, there would be an audit! That was the first day.

Returning on the second day well before the 9:00AM drop-dead start time to avoid being shut out from the audit, I had expectations of the time and tedium that would be involved in the manual counting and reconciling of the ballots with the machines. This was going to take several days and be painstaking, boring albeit important work. A statistically significant procedure in SB 1557 for counting the ballots had been negotiated vigorously between the obstructionists and the proponents of real election reform in which I participated. My first hand knowledge came by way of being in support during the negotiations and testifying before the legislature as an election integrity activist and advocate for SB 1557. My experience in dealing with some of the obstructionist legislators, the Secretary of State choosing to manipulate the proceedings insidiously behind the scenes , in negotiating toward a value-added audit procedure can best be described as trying to nail Jell-O® to a wall! The Republican led opposition (SB 1557 having actually been sponsored by a Republican State Senator) embodied an uncanny ability to deny factual evidence presented right before their eyes and to dismiss statistical methodologies universally accepted by the fact-based scientific community. They stubbornly forced their zero sum agenda of "we win you lose or no deal" into the process. The perceived need to have at least something for the 2006 election led to compromises that should never have been allowed. No deal and public exposure of those entrusted with protecting the public, outing them as election reform denying, self-serving, obfuscating, ethically-challenged politicians would have been better! Still, we got what we got so we could proceed. Then, when all was said and done, the bill passing unanimously in the House, with only three no votes in the Senate (all Republican), and the Governor signing the bill as emergency legislation so it could fast-track through the Department of Justice, Arizona being a Jim Crow state, they manipulated the procedures manual so as to make the post-election audit a travesty.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_michael__061114_post_election_audit_.htm

[EFerrari]

28. Bradblog: Votes Counted Three Times Each on ES&S E-Voting Machines in Williamson County, TX!

Votes Counted Three Times Each on ES&S E-Voting Machines in Williamson County, TX!
As Usual, Company Blames Software Failure on 'Human Error'…

According to the Austin American-Statesman today America's largest Electronic Voting Machine Company, ES&S, has failed again. This time just north of Austin, Texas…

Voting problems in Williamson County
Problems with software cause incorrect numbers, county says

Williamson County elections officials are again having voting problems, and they're blaming the computer software that they say has caused hiccups in the past.

When final voting results were counted last week, county officials discovered that the actual number of votes cast was lower than the initial totals compiled after the Nov. 7 elections.

Williamson County spokeswoman Connie Watson said that computer software counted each electronic vote three times, making the initial reported vote total about 6,500 more than the actual total.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3797

[EFerrari]

29. NY Times editorial: Counting the Vote, Badly

Counting the Vote, Badly
Published: November 16, 2006

Last week’s elections provided a lot of disturbing news about the reliability of electronic voting — starting, naturally, with Florida. In a Congressional race there between Vern Buchanan, a Republican, and Christine Jennings, a Democrat, the machines in Sarasota County reported that more than 18,000 people, or one in eight, did not choose either candidate. That “undervote” of nearly 13 percent is hard to believe, given that only about 2.5 percent of absentee voters did not vote in that race. If there was a glitch, it may have made all the difference. Ms. Jennings trails Mr. Buchanan by about 400 votes.

The serious questions about the Buchanan- Jennings race only add to the high level of mistrust that many people already feel about electronic voting. More than half of the states, including California, New York, Ohio and Illinois, now require that electronic voting machines produce voter-verified paper records, which help ensure that votes are properly recorded. But Congress has resisted all appeals to pass a law that would ensure that electronic voting is honest and accurate across the nation.

Fortunately, that may be about to change. With the Democrats now in control of both houses, there is an excellent chance of passing tough electronic voting legislation. Representative Rush Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, had more than 200 co-sponsors for a strong electronic voting bill before this month’s election, and support is likely to grow in the new Congress. In the Senate, Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who will be chairwoman of the Rules and Administration Committee, which oversees elections, plans to develop a similar bill.

The problems with elections go well beyond electronic voting. Partisan secretaries of state continue to skew the rules to favor their parties and political allies. States are adopting harsh standards for voter registration drives to make it harder for people to register, as well as draconian voter identification laws to make casting a ballot harder for poor people, racial minorities, the elderly and students. Some states have adopted an indefensible rule that provisional ballots cast at the wrong table of the correct polling place must be thrown out....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/opinion/16thur1.html

Discussion: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x458928
Thanks to DeepModem Mom.

[Peace Patriot]

32. Diane Feinstein? Ye gods!

"In the Senate, Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who will be chairwoman of the Rules and Administration Committee, which oversees elections, plans to develop a similar bill."

-----

And that's where the Holt bill ban on "trade secret" code will die--in the Senate. Or the loophole in HR 550 (no secret code in the "voting machines"--but no mention of the central tabulators) will be widened. And the 2% audit (already woefully inadequate) will likely be dumped out. Mark my words. Feinstein is a thoroughgoing Corporatist and warmonger. And you can't have Corporate Rule, and unjust war, in a democracy, without rigging the elections.

My advice: The huge Absentee Ballot vote in the midterms--a big voter BOYCOTT and PROTEST against the machines, indicating widespread awareness of the rigged electronics--provides a constituency that, if provided with some leadership and organization, could spur a grass roots movement to pressure LOCAL state/county election officials to, a) HAND-COUNT the Absentee Ballot votes, and b) POST the results BEFORE any electronics are involved. If successful, such a movement could create a paper ballot system BY DEFAULT, avoiding a head-on collision with the bipartisan corruption connected with the e-voting contracts, and circumventing what will surely be a U.S. Senate blockade of any real election reform. (The Senate could also make things worse--beware!). We may have only a narrow window of opportunity to restore transparent vote counting. We had better get on it. If we wait until Feinstein kills real reform, the '08 primaries will be upon us, and I think that will be about it, for our democracy. (It will be a tough choice between the candidate who wants to "stay the course" in Iran, vs the candidate who pledges a more efficient slaughter of Iranians and less looting.)

[EFerrari]

33. Headlines yahoo! sent for "electronic voting" keyword

Notice with me that there is a tug of war here between "no problem!" and "big problem!" with "big problem" slightly ahead. That's new as far as press goes for this issue.

Paper trail sought for electronic voting
The Buffalo News Thu, 16 Nov 2006 6:07 AM PST
WASHINGTON (AP) - Citing the disputed vote in a Florida congressional district, a Democratic lawmaker Wednesday urged Congress to approve his measure requiring a paper trail for electronic voting.

Bill seeks scrutiny of electronic voting
The Philadelphia Inquirer Thu, 16 Nov 2006 0:19 AM PST
Citing the disputed vote in a Florida congressional district, a lawmaker urged Congress yesterday to approve his measure to require a paper trail for electronic voting.

Electronic voting problems in Fla. give officials pause
The Wichita Eagle Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:12 PM PST
Two longtime congressional critics of electronic voting machines on Wednesday seized on the turmoil in Florida to renew a call for a paper trail of voter ballots.

E-voting glitch turns up in Texas
CNET Thu, 16 Nov 2006 7:21 AM PST
Blog: As elections officials continue their post-mortems on last Tuesday's race, another irregularity in electronic voting machine tallies...


So, Whatever Happened To All Those Problems With Electronic Voting Machines?
KXMA-TV Dickinson Thu, 16 Nov 2006 4:09 AM PST
Weird how, in an election full of close races, we aren’t seeing a lot of stories about possible election fraud isn’t it? Like claims the U.S. was responsible for 9/11 and Republicans were fixing gas prices, the media promoted the left-wing electronic vote-rigging conspiracy.

Minor Error In Electronic Ballot Summaries
KXAN 36 Austin Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:32 AM PST
When you go vote in Travis County, you might only notice partial names on your electronic ballots. The eSlate voting machines are chopping off candidates' names longer than about 15 letters.

Election officials say voting machines pass muster
The Salt Lake Tribune Thu, 16 Nov 2006 5:46 AM PST
Posted: 6:31 AM- Salt Lake County election officials wrapped up a two-day audit of its first electronic general election Tuesday, finding no discrepancies between the ballots on Diebold touch-screen voting machines' electronic memory and the paper backup. County elections director Julio Garcia (accent over "I") said that other than a couple of human recounting errors that were ultimately

18,000 Votes Lost in Tight Race Exposes Electronic Voting Flaws
Kansas City InfoZine Thu, 16 Nov 2006 4:07 AM PST
Revote of Florida's 13th Congressional District Election Called for by National Voting Rights Groups

[kpete]

34. Thanks sfexpat2000

It would be easy to give up

but those of us on this forum

know better

Peace!!!

[rumpel]

35. .....

:yourock:

[happydreams]

36. K&R. For all the hard work.