Embezzlers, Drug Dealers & Uncertified BBV Voting
Systems<br>
<br>
<center><h3> Embezzlers, Drug Dealers &
Uncertified BBV Voting Systems In 10
States</h3><br>
Press Statement From<br>
Bev Harris &  Andy Stephenson<br>
<a href= http://www.blackboxvoting.org>
http://www.blackboxvoting.org</a><br>
<br>
Supporting Documentation (In PDF format -  at
Blackboxvoting.com)<br>
<a href=
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PRESSKIT (221kb)</a> - <a href=
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/bbv/1216documents.pdf>
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (3.2 mb)</a></center><br>
<br>
<small> Supporting Documentation (In PDF format – Mirror
Files Hosted at Scoop)<br>
<a href=
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PRESSKIT (221kb)</a> - <a href=
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ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (3.2 mb)</a><br>
</small><br>
<br>
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<br>
Bev Harris, author of <a
href="http://shop1.got.net/plan9/Detail.bok?searchpath=7f000001f69455dfe692&category=Political+Commentary&start=1&total=1&no=206"
target="_blank"> Black Box Voting</a>, and
Andy Stephenson, Democratic candidate for Washington Secretary
of State, have uncovered information that brings concerns
about electronic voting to a new level. This information
affects both optical scans and touch-screens; it also affects
the security of absentee ballots.<br>
<br>
What we have, in Washington State, is this:<br>
<br>
We’ve got the state election director misstating when versions
were certified, somebody at the secretary of state’s office
signing off on software with no NASED number, and when we try
to find out what software is actually authorized, we get the
buffalo shuffle. We’ve got a convicted drug dealer printing
our ballots, a 23-count embezzler programming our voting
system, and our absentee ballots are being funnelled through a
private company that hires mainly immigrants but also people
straight out of prison.<br>
<br>
We’ve now documented 10 states that are using unauthorized
software, and internal memos that indicate that five Diebold
programmers uploaded these unauthorized programs, knowing that
this was not allowed.<br>
<br>
- Bev Harris & Andy Stephenson<br>
<br>
<center>***************<br>
<br>
<b> STATEMENT FROM ANDY STEPHENSON CANDIDATE FOR
SECRETARY OF STATE WASHINGTON
STATE</b></center><br>
<br>
As a candidate for secretary of state, I feel that protecting
voting is the most important responsibility of the secretary
of state. The secretary of state is charged with maintaining
the public trust in the systems that run and count elections.
Assuring that the vote is FAIR and that EVERY citizen's voice
is heard is an overriding concern of election
officials.<br>
<br>
Today I call on these officials to make a clear and public
accounting of their own systems. The public has a right to
know when uncertified, and unapproved software is counting an
election, and it also has a right to have those elected
officials explain clear violations of the law. For the law
states that software running these machines must be approved,
and tested, and analyzed by independent testing authorities
(ITAs) before it is used in voting machines. And when a
software technician installs a “patch” or does an “upgrade” to
any part of the system, then that system has been compromised,
unless that patch or upgrade is also approved and
certified.<br>
<br>
<b> David Elliott, State of Washington Director of
Elections.</b><br>
<br>
David Elliot, the director of the institution charged with
certifying software, has to date not provided a full and
complete accounting of approved and certified software
versions. Mr. Elliott is also reportedly responsible for
entering the computer room on primary night 2000 and uploading
a tabulation software update that was not approved nor
certified. Bob Terwilliger of Snohomish County, admitted on
the Mike Webb show that he allowed one of his programmers to
install a modification onto his county’s voting
equipment.<br>
<br>
The "patch” was supposedly an update to a function that
presents the raw number data into “reports.” But without a
public disclosure of versions, patches, and feature numbers,
one is forced to assume that these numbers are being withheld
for a reason. What we are talking about is that systems in
Washington and all across the country which we have found are
using untested, unverified software, and the people in charge
of the systems refuse to acknowledge the versions they are
running on.<br>
<br>
Today Sam Reed current secretary of state, announced that we
will have a “paper trail.” What we need is a voter verified
paper ballot, and then we must put robust, fraud-deterring
audit procedures in place. Today’s announcement falls far
short of the needs we have right now to ensure a fair and
valid election.<br>
<br>
As most of you already know, the touch screen systems around
the country, being implemented under the auspices of the HAVA
act, have come under fire by many in the academic, political,
and scientific arenas, and recently, the media, for good
reason. The reason is that these systems, these companies and
our election officials are quietly trying to bamboozle the
public into accepting these machines.<br>
<br>
These machines that are so grievously flawed that people
around the country have banded together to counter this threat
to democracy in the United States. The media has written
hundreds of articles about these problems and computer
scientists around the world from such noted institutions as
John Hopkins University, have documented these security
threats in lengthy papers that detail hundreds of security
flaws.<br>
<br>
The security breaches with the software also transfer to the
people programming, installing and running the system. Those
charged with ensuring that only certified software is running
during elections cannot tell us with any amount of certainty
whether or not the system is in fact running certified
software.<br>
<br>
• Diebold Election Software was left unprotected on a public
website.<br>
<br>
• Leaked internal Diebold e-mail's show a pattern of
deception, but looking deeper what’s really going on is
nothing less than an outrageous abuse of the public
trust.<br>
<br>
• In King county your absentee ballot is handled by a private
firm and the chain of custody cannot be ensured.<br>
<br>
• I have requested the version numbers in use in Klickitat via
a public records request and numerous follow-up phone calls.
The information is still not available. I was told by Jean of
El Paso County Texas that the version number running on their
Diebold equipment was "None of my
business".<br>
<br>
• The outright stonewalling of election officials, such as
Dawn Weaver, election administrator of Klickitat county
Washington, is something that the media should be looking
into.<br>
<br>
• These officials sit in meetings, and tell state house and
senate committees, that “paper-jams” are a serious concern.
But their concerns are not valid. My concerns about
unauthorized programs, stonewalling public officials and the
lack of security in our absentee ballot counting, are of much
higher priority.<br>
<br>
<center>*** ENDS ***</center><br>
<br>
<a name=a><center># # # #
#</center><br>
<br>
Bev Harris is author of <i> Black Box Voting: Ballot
Tampering In The 21st Century </i>… See <a href=
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/>
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/</a> and it's activist arm
<a href="http://www.blackboxvoting.org/">
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/</a><br>
<br>
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For more background and live news links on this news subject
see also Scoop's Special Feature – <i> A Very American
Coup…</i><br>
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<center>******* ENDS ********</center><br>
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