Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Sunday 12/25/05

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x406478

All previous daily threads are available here:

http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm

California Demands Repairs to Software for Voting Machines

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SACRAMENTO, Dec. 24 (AP) - California election officials have told one of the country's largest makers of voting machines to repair its software after problems with vote counts and verification surfaced in the state's special election in November.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Bradley J. Clark, the assistant secretary of state for elections, threatened to start the process of decertifying machines made by the maker, Election Systems and Software, if senior officials did not address the concerns immediately.

"The California secretary of state is deeply concerned about problems experienced by counties utilizing ES&S voting equipment and software," Mr. Clark wrote in a letter addressed to the company president, Aldo Tesi, nine days after the Nov. 8 election.

Software problems included incorrect counting of turnout figures, a malfunction that prevented voters from verifying that their choices were registered accurately and one machine recording the wrong vote in a test, according to the letter.


More: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/national/25vote.html

California Activists Call the Cops on Diebold

Sunday, 25 December 2005, 8:07 am
Opinion: Michael Collins

California Activists Call the Cops on Diebold:
The Campaign to Unite California Election Reformers

Movement for legal action against officials who allowed unauthorized software changes to voting machines starts in Northern California. Strong local support.
Special Report by for "Scoop"
Michael Collins
December, 2005

Humboldt Co., CA. A major challenge to election equipment maker Diebold Corporation began in California last week. Dave Berman is a nationally known internet activist who blogs under the name GuvWurld. He is calling on all Californians to ensure election integrity by holding public officials accountable for what he argues are gaping security holes and illegal alterations of Diebold voting machines. One part of the plan asks local activists to demand investigations of unauthorized changes to voting machines by the beleaguered election systems company. The plan has strong local support in a major Diebold territory, Humboldt County. Humboldt County includes Eureka, Arcata and Humboldt State University and is at the very top of the California coastline.

Concerns about Diebold practices in California

Berman cites multiple concerns about Diebold business practices but focuses on the combination of unauthorized installations of Diebold software patches in as many as 17 California counties and the acquiescence of local election officials to that practice, clearly barred by California code. Berman asked the following pointed questions:

Who allowed Humboldt's voting machines to have uncertified software installed in them? Was someone in the Humboldt county elections department complicit in this crime or merely negligent? Is this person still employed by the elections department, and if so, why?

Prior to the March 2004 California presidential primary, Diebold was scrambling to make its machines meet the needs of some large county customers. In this process, Diebold wrote several letters to then California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. The letters claimed that Diebold was about to get approval for new voting machine software from the Federal government. Diebold used this to request provisional certification allowing their equipment to be used in the primary.


More: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0512/S00246.htm

here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x406538

Calif. Officials Warn Voting Machine Co.

Last Updated:
12-24-05 at 11:36AM

Another voting machine company is in trouble with the state of California, this time over problems with vote counting and verification during the November special election.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Assistant Secretary of State for Elections Bradley J. Clark threatened to start the process of decertifying Election Systems & Software machines if the company didn't address the state's concerns immediately.

Those concerns included incorrect counting of turnout figures, a malfunction that prevented voters from verifying their choices and a touch-screen machine recording the wrong vote during a test.

It is imperative that company representatives "take corrective action as soon as possible," Clark wrote.

Ken Fields, a spokesman for Omaha, Neb.-based ES&S, said some of the problems were caused by operator error and misunderstandings, and none led to incorrect votes being recorded.


More: http://www.kfmb.com/story.php?id=31931

me up all night. If it does, I'll try to kick in tomorrow.

A look back at the year's top local stories

...snip

Dec. 16 -- Volusia County Council dumps its current optical scan voting system, manufactured by embattled Diebold Voting Systems, in favor a similar system from another manufacturer because the new company offered a promise of disabled-accessible technology that leaves a paper trail an Diebold did not.


Link: http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/03NewsHEAD01122505.htm

Voting Machine Demonstration Monday

BY FLORENCE GILKESON: Senior Writer


Moore County voters will have a chance to observe how a new voting machine operates in a special public demonstration next week.

The demonstration will be held Monday, Jan. 2, from 5:30 until 8 p.m. in the Agriculture Center in Carthage, said Mary M. Pope, chairwoman of the Moore County Board of Elections.

Although one voting machine vendor is certified by the state, two systems are available from that company, according to Elections Director Glenda Clendenin. Both of those systems, direct record and optical scan, will be demonstrated on Monday.

Plans for the demonstration were announced on the same day that state officials learned that one company has withdrawn from the North Carolina market, leaving the state with only one manufacturer certified to sell voting equipment.

...snip

News that Diebold Election Systems was withdrawing from the North Carolina market came as no surprise on Dec. 21. Nevertheless, it was a disappointment. Not only does it cut the choices to one company, it also raises questions about the ability of the one remaining company, Election Systems & Software, to supply equipment to all 100 counties in time for the May primary elections.

...snip

Few people are aware that Diebold manufactures voting equipment at a plant in Lexington.

She said this concern does not represent a recommendation that Diebold equipment be purchased but pointed out that the company’s withdrawal can also have an effect on the state economy.

More: http://www.thepilot.com/news/122505voting.html

State threatens supplier of e-voting machines
Software problems in special election lead to decertification warning

, FROM STAFF WRITER AND WIRE REPORTS


SACRAMENTO — California election officials have told one of the country's largest manufacturers of voting machines to repair its software after problems with vote counts and verification surfaced during California's November special election.
In a letter obtained by the Associated Press, Assistant Secretary of State for Elections Bradley J. Clark threatened to start the process of decertifying Election Systems and Software machines for use in California if senior officials didn't address the concerns immediately.

"The California Secretary of State is deeply concerned about problems experienced by counties utilizing ES&S voting equipment and software," Clark wrote in a letter addressed to company president Aldo Tesi nine days after the Nov. 8 election.

Software problems included incorrect counting of turnout figures, a malfunction that prevented voters from verifying that their choices were registered accurately and one machine recording the wrong vote during a test, according to the letter.

State Sen. Debra Bowen, a Marina del Rey Democrat expected to run for secretary of state, said the state's five-week delay in publicly revealing the problem was "as outrageous as it is unacceptable."

More: http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_3340462

Leflore County adds new voting machines

The Associated Press


GREENWOOD — Leflore County election commissioners have removed old lever voting machines to make room for 56 new touch-screen machines.

Diebold Elections Systems Inc. delivered the new machines on Thursday and tested their systems.

The touch-screen machines were brought in to ensure that Leflore County was in compliance with the Help America Vote Act.

Secretary of State Eric Clark presented a plan earlier this year to provide the machines through Diebold at no cost to counties.

more: http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051224/NEWS/512240356/1002/NEWS01

An open letter to the Election Assistance Commission

by John Gideon, Executive Director of VotersUnite.Org and Information Manager for VoteTrustUSA.Org
December 25, 2005

Dear Elections Assistance Commission

Today I write to express my disappointment with the non-responsiveness of the commission to the needs of the voters. You do well when it comes to the needs of the voting machine vendors, it seems, but the voters are being ignored.

You say that "the Commission serves as a national clearinghouse and resource for information and review of procedures with respect to the administration of Federal elections". I'm sorry to say that you fail as both a national clearinghouse and as a resource for information.

Let me give you a few examples of the failures. On October 17, 2004 a letter from VotersUnite.Org was given to, you, the commissioners. This letter expressed an idea that VotersUnite.Org had concerning your mandate to be a national clearinghouse and resource. It was VotersUnite.Org's idea that a communications network be established between all state, county, and local elections officials for the purpose of wide promulgation of information about voting system problems, solutions, and other issues that would have wide-spread interest. To this date VotersUnite.Org has never received a response to this letter even though I have personally spoken with your spokesperson about it and another copy of the letter was transmitted to this person for a response. It is, apparently, sitting on some EAC Counsel's desk for action; or being ignored.

The letter was also given, months later, to members of the Government Accountability Office as testimony prior to their report on your successes and failures since you were formed. I'm sure you have noticed that the clearinghouse idea was mentioned several times in their report. It is hoped that you will not treat the GAO as you have treated the public and ignore their advice.


More: http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1662

Group calls for phased entry of electronic voting machines

Sunday, December 25, 2005

By Karen Kane, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

How comfortable would you be if your bank asked you to deposit cash into an automated banking machine that doesn't give you a receipt?

Itzi Meztli wants Butler County voters to think about that as the county switches to a computer touch-screen voting system that doesn't have a paper trail that verifies balloting.

The Slippery Rock University English professor was among about a dozen people who asked Butler County commissioners last week to derail plans to switch from punch cards to touch-screens.

Commissioners, however, voted 2-1 in favor of a resolution to make the change and receive more than $900,000 in federal funds to purchase the balloting machines, most likely before the May primary election.

Dr. Meztli, vice president of the Butler County Democrats for Change, asked that the county consider phasing into the touch-screen system by purchasing only one unit per voting precinct. There currently are 82 precincts in the county, but that will increase to 85 in 2006.

More: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05359/626710.stm

Voting machines likely to be OK'd

Saturday, December 24, 2005
By JEB SCHRENK
Staff Reporter

The Mobile County Commission is set to vote this week on purchasing new voting machines, changing the way residents go about electing their representatives.

A proposal to allocate $1.7 million to purchase 140 optical scanners from Election Systems & Software is expected to be approved by commissioners Tuesday. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at Mobile Government Plaza.

"I think that there is an urgent need for a decision to be made," Probate Judge Don Davis told commissioners at an agenda-setting meeting last week.

More: http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1135477237265050.xml&coll=3

It's the thought that counts, and these gifts show it

Published December 25, 2005


Today's a big day, Judeo-Christian heritage-wise.

It's Christmas morning.

And at dusk, Hanukkah begins.

And here I am, caught short once again by the holidays' arrival without getting all my shopping done.

I'm feeling terrible about it. There are so many people I wish I had gifts for.

All I can say is, guys, I'm sorry. Here's what I would have given if only I had the time:

...snip

Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson: A big roll of paper. This guy needs a reminder that people voted for him to fight for a paper trail on electronic voting machines.


More: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-phoward25dec25,0,3743892.column

Voters Seek Order Barring Touchscreen Purchase

Sunday, 25 December 2005, 7:50 am
Press Release: Voter Action NM
For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Voter Action info@voteraction.org
December 21st, 2005
Voters Seek Order Barring Purchase of More Touchscreen Voting Machines

Albuquerque - December 20th 2005 - Eight New Mexico voters asked District Judge Eugenio Mathis for an emergency order blocking the Secretary of State from spending millions of dollars on Sequoia AVC Edge touchscreen voting machines for use in Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Santa Fe and 11 other counties. The plaintiffs allege that the machines are not accessible by disabled voters and violate a state law requirement for voter verifiable paper trail printers, necessary for meaningful audits and recounts. Plaintiffs also submitted substantial evidence that the Sequoia touchscreen voting systems are inaccurate and unreliable, having lost thousands of votes and switched countless others in recent elections.

The motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction was filed in the case of Patricia Rosas Lopategui, et al. v. Rebecca Vigil-Giron, et al. The case was filed in January of 2005, and seeks a permanent injunction against use in future New Mexico elections of the Sequoia AVC Edge touchscreen and other “direct recording electronic” (DRE) voting machines sold by Election Systems & Software and by Danaher Controls.

A better solution is readily available. The Secretary of State has certified a superior voting system, the Automark, which was selected over the Sequoia Edge by county clerks in 19 New Mexico counties. The Automark is truly accessible by the disabled, including blind and low vision voters as well as voters with severe dexterity disabilities( The Sequoia does not make accommodations for voters with dexterity disabilities like Cerebral Palsy) The Automark also produces paper ballots which are counted by an optical scanner, like the ballots of all non-disabled voters. Following elections, these paper ballots are available for audits that are vital to ensuring the integrity of elections.

The 19 New Mexico county clerks who chose the Automark join a growing national trend away from DRE touchscreen voting machines and toward optical scan paper ballots, with the Automark for disability access. Numerous counties across the country have gone so far as to abandon recently purchased, problem-plagued touchscreen systems in order to switch to the Automark with optical scan ballots.

More: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0512/S00376.htm

EVM issue: Cong to file more petitions

Express News Service

Ahmedabad, December 24: Though being tagged as a ‘lost battle’ by a section of the Congressmen, more than 50 Congress candidates from the five cities where elections were held recently, have approached courts and filed election petitions with regard to the tampered Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

GPCC spokesperson Hasmukh Patel on Saturday said that while more than 50 election petitions — at Bhavanagar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara — have already been filed, more are expected to be filed early next week. ‘‘The last day to file the petitions is Wednesday and we expect at least 50 more candidates to approach the courts. Since this has to be done at the candidate level, as and when the candidate are ready with the required documents, they are filing their petitions,’’ he said.

More: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=162731

Summit voters will use optical scanners at polls

Secretary of state chooses pencil-and-paper method over touch-screen devices from Green-based Diebold
By Doug Oplinger

Summit County voters next year will give up their punch-card ballots and begin using pencil and paper on Election Day.

Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell on Friday said he will impose the cheaper optical-scan voting system -- as opposed to touch screens -- on the county's 369,000 voters after the Summit County Board of Elections failed to pick a system by the state deadline.

As a result, Summit voters will be among the minority statewide using the pencil-and-paper, optically scanned ballots.

Among the state's seven other largest urban counties, all but Hamilton County (Cincinnati and its suburbs) decided to use touch-screen voting, as did the four other counties in this region: Medina, Portage, Stark and Wayne.

Blackwell's announcement says the Summit County package of machines from Election Systems and Software Inc. and AutoMark will cost at least $1 million less than the touch-screen machines produced by Diebold, headquartered in Green.

More: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/community/13463539.htm

I'm going to bed in hopes of getting a present tomorrow. I've been good...really I have.




:cry:

Holiday Poem for Voter Activists

Contributed by Susan Pynchon,

Executive Director, Florida Fair Elections Coalition

December 24, 2005

I wish for you all as the New Year encroaches,
Bold and creative strategic approaches
To defeating the lies by election officials,
Whose major concern is filling their satchels
With bundles of goodies like payoffs and bribes,
And friendships with vendors who do not subscribe
To audits or paper or trivial matters
Like accurate results and similar blather,

But push for solutions to fill up their coffers
Like touchscreens and printers and other such offers
Of machines that lose votes and breakdown and fail;
Who sell us elections without paper trails.
And no one would listen for years upon years
To the small group of people expressing real fears
Of votes lost and stolen, of breakdowns and freezes,
of vulnerable systems with holes like Swiss cheeses.

But then in a twinkle in 2005
When scarcely a soul thought freedom alive,
Santa came through -- A surprise in his sack!
He brought in a Finn to conduct a bold hack.
He brought in his elves in the form of investors
To sue for their rights ‘gainst crooked divestors.
He brought a suprise, an election top honcho
with courage to spare -- the brave Ion Sancho,

Who challenged the crooks with the help of Bev Harris
And did worse to Diebold than simply embarrass
A group so dishonest they even hired felons
Who could program and alter our votes by the millions.
California came through and NC and New York,
small pockets of wins to end HAVA pork.
VerifiedVoting and VotersUnite,
With others like-minded continue the fight.

The times they’re a’changin,' real change is in sight;
The darkness is lifting to let in some light
on problems that threaten the country we love.
At this holiday season, may angels above
Shine down on your efforts
And give you good cheer
In what looks to be
A most Happy New Year!!

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=635&Itemid=27


Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x406569

There are five LTTE's on Sunday's editorial page dealing
with stolen elections, paper trails, corrupt electronics, etc.
Generally all the issues raised here on DU and by all the
activist groups across the country. Methinks this is good
news for 2006...public awareness and demand for honest
auditable voting systems. As far as honest BoE officials,
well, that's another tough issue.