Riverside/SanBernardino County DRE woes.. (Money & Recounts)

http://www.pe.com/localnews/riverside/stories/PE_News_Local_recount12.9fe25.html

County seeks aid for recount

SUPERVISORS: The board will be asked to hire outside lawyers because of a candidate's letter.

08:57 AM PDT on Monday, April 12, 2004


By MICHAEL CORONADO / The Press-Enterprise

In a move to preempt a possible legal fight challenging Riverside County's electronic voting machines, County Counsel Bill Katzenstein will ask the board of supervisors on Tuesday to hire an outside law firm specializing in election matters.The move comes in response to a seven-page letter sent to the county registrar's office by Linda Soubirous, asking for a manual recount in the March 2, District 1 supervisorial race, which she lost to incumbent Bob Buster. The letter outlines 44 different requests for notes, logs, tapes and other information related to the voting machines and the March election. In addition, Soubirous has hired a law firm to represent her interests during the recount.

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"There is certainly exposure to litigation," Rank said. "This is a relatively new area. We've never dealt with this. Bill (Katzenstein) felt it appropriate to address it upfront." Three four-member boards began the recount Thursday. They finished manually recounting paper ballots on Friday and this week will continue counting electronic ballots cast on the county's 4,250 Sequoia voting terminals. In the 1st District race, Buster narrowly avoided a November runoff by one-tenth of a percentage point. Of the 49,196 votes cast, Buster received 50.10 percent of the total, or 24,647 votes. Soubirous received 16,971 votes and former Lake Elsinore Mayor Kevin Pape received 7,578 votes.

The county's electronic voting machines and security procedures have come under heavy scrutiny by Soubirous supporters and Web sites critical of electronic voting systems. In addition, the recount comes in the midst of controversy surrounding electronic voting systems across Southern California.

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In San Bernardino County, elections officials did not properly prepare a computer to process the results. It took hours before any numbers could be posted from the $13.8 million touch-screen voting system. Still, the Riverside County electronic voting machines have proven error-safe, Registrar Mischelle Townsend said. According to Townsend, there have been no glitches and no incidents that have hampered any election since the the electronic machines' 2000 debut, Townsend said.

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http://www.pe.com/localnews/sanbernardino/stories/PE_News_Local_bsupes12.9fb00.html

Vote machine money at risk
COUNTY: Officials worry that promised funds may be held back due to state concerns over tallies.

11:57 PM PDT on Sunday, April 11, 2004


The Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino County's Registrar of Voters voiced concerns Friday that state politicians might unplug the county's new $14 million electronic voting system. Registrar Scott Konopasek said hearings in Sacramento April 21 and 22 may force voting system changes that could cost San Bernardino County taxpayers more than $1 million. The county would have to spend that much to buy paper ballots and ballot-reading machines and to replace the ballot boxes and voting booths made obsolete when it switched to touch-screen voting machines.

Problems tallying votes in the March election in Orange, San Diego and Alameda counties problems have prompted two state senators to introduce SB 1723 to ban machines used in Riverside, San Bernardino and 12 other California counties.

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About 40 percent of Californians voted on touch-screen machines in the March primary election. The Sequoia brand of voting machines used in Riverside and San Bernardino counties worked well, both counties' registrars have said. Mistakes preparing the machines to count the votes delayed results from the March primary election in San Bernardino County.

A hearing on SB 1723 is April 21. On that day and the 22nd, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley will also have hearings on what voting equipment should be used in November.

Staff writer Michael Coronado contributed to this article.

Support the ban on touch screens without voter verified paper ballots.

Attend the Shelly hearings in Sacramento.

I wish the candidates in Georgia would start some lawsuits. After the 2000 and 2002 elections, there's NO WAY Georgia has any clue. That's one state that's been bought and paid for.

:kick:

:)