Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday January 31, 2006

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Only the deluded & complicit accept election results on blind faith.

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday January 31, 2006

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:

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All previous daily threads are available here:

And the House bill is sponsored by two REPUBLICANS and it’s a good bill!!! Probably get spiked too! With Alito and the Senate postponing the verified voting bill, lets just say it’s been a difficult day. The glass is half empty and toxic as well;)



States - Virginia
Written by Warren Stewart, Director of Legislative Issues and Policy
Monday, 30 January 2006
Focus Shifts To Companion Bill In The House
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=769&Itemid=30

In a disappointment for citizens concerned about the accuracy and security of elections in Virginia, the Campaign and Elections Subcommittee of the Senate's Privileges and Elections Committe has voted to recommend that SB 424 be carried over until the 2007 legislative session. While the full committee could still take nthe bill up in this session, it is unlikely. The bill, which arose from hearings held by a special joint committee over the past two years, had been introduced by Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-34th). The bill would established requirement for a voter verified paper record of every vote, mandatory random audits, and the disclosure of voting system software.

The vote to effectively stop the bill from moving forward in this session was 3-1. Voting against action on the bill in this session were subcommittee chairman Jay O'Brien (R- 39th), Phillip Puckett (D-38th), Mark Obenshain (R-26th). Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville 25th), a consistent champion on election integrity issues, voted against the recommendation.

Attention is now focused on the companion bill in the House of Delegates, HB 1243, which was introduced by Rep. Tim Hugo (R-40th). Virginia Verified Voting, The New Electoral Reform Alliance for Virginia, VerifiedVoting.org, and VoteTrustUSA have all endorsed both HB 1243 and SB 424. For more information about the bills click here.

Damn, that’s harsh. I suppose things could get worse here.



JPost.com » Middle East » Article
Jan. 24, 2006 13:53 | Updated Jan. 24, 2006 18:28

Vote-related shooting kills Fatah leader

By JPOST.COM STAFF
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605905376&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


A leader of the ruling Fatah Party in Nablus was shot to death Tuesday in violence related to upcoming elections for the Palestinian parliament.

Nine gunmen, also affiliated with Fatah, pulled up in two cars to the house of Abu Ahmed Hassouna, 44, around 1:30 a.m. and began firing at posters of election candidates on his house, relatives said.

Hassouna leaned out a window, shouted at them to stop, and they shot him in the head, they said. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died shortly after. The gunmen fled, some by car and some on foot, after one of their cars broke down, relatives said.

Cynical interpretation—by alleviating the HAVA deadlines, they probably postpone any verified paper ballot implementations. I’m too tired to check it out but, what the heck, it’s a thought.

Fitzpatrick To Introduce Bi-Partisan Bill To Delay HAVA Deadlines Until November

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=842&Itemid=26
by Warren Stewart, Director of Legislative Issues and Policy, VoteTrustUSA - January 29, 2006

Holt, Patterson, and Schwartz Join In Bi-Partisan Introduction

Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) has announced his intention to introduce legislation that would adjust the deadlines of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Currently states are required to meet numerous requirements for voting system upgrades and statewide voter registration databases in time for the "first election for Federal office held after January 1, 2006". Fitzpatrick's bill would amend the HAVA to push the deadlne back until "the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in November, 2006".

Representatives John Patterson (R-PA, Rush Holt (D-NJ), and Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) will join Fitzpatrick as original co-sponsors. At a joint press conference with representatives of the Coalition for Voter Integrity, Rep. Fitzpatrick said that the legislation would protect local governments who act in good faith to follow the letter of the law in updating their voting machines, but are unable to meet the deadline before primary election this Spring from possible penalties.

In his press release, Fitzpatrick stressed that "The Help America Vote Act was written to strengthen our election process and bring it up to date nation-wide - an important and necessary endeavor. However, elections are the domain of the states and local governments and this Act has trampled over their rights. The Act is pressuring counties … to adopt untested equipment in an unreasonable timetable. Something must be done to give more time to local communities to make such an important decision and respect their rights at the same time.”

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/9/182646/7738

Very nice article from Daily KOS. Glad to see they're talking about ELECTION FRAUD again.

Abramoff: The Deeper Scandal Within
by lichtman
Mon Jan 09, 2006 at 04:26:46 PM PDT

Dig beneath the surface of the Abramoff affair and you find the deeper scandal within: the systematic corruption by wealthy corporate interests of a once principled conservative movement. The result is a supposedly conservative Republican administration that has trampled every principle that conservatives once held dear: family decision making, privacy, individual liberty, fiscal responsibility, limited government, and respect for the rule of law. Instead, George W. Bush and his allies have served their corporate clients by building the biggest, most intrusive, and least responsive government in our history.

Although its roots run more deeply into the recent past, the Gingrich Revolution of 1994, when Republicans captured both houses of Congress, marks the rise of bought and sold conservatism, as business tightened its grip on conservative organizations and the Republican Party. Corporate donors began expecting and receiving value returned for contributions to the American Right, not just the advancement of conservative principles, but direct action to boost profits.

The flagship Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) exemplified this new trend by serving corporate donors as combination think tank, lobbyist, advertiser, and grassroots agitator. With C. Boyden Gray, formerly Ronald Reagan's White House Counsel, monitoring its work, CSE served corporate priorities. According to information uncovered by the Washington Post, CSE joined with donors from the oil, gas, and coal industries in 1994 to kill a proposed energy tax. CSE opposed a multi-billion dollar federal project to restore the Everglades that threatened cane-growing land, netting it $700,000 from Florida sugar cane companies. CSE received $175,000 from Exxon after it derided theories of global warming as "junk science" and it received $75,000 from the Florida auto rental industry to back legislation that limited renter's liability from lawsuits. Scores of kindred groups followed the CSE model nationally and locally.

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/business-5/1138719244155950.xml&storylist=cleveland

1/31/2006, 10:41 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

NORTH CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Diebold Inc. said on Tuesday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 76 percent, hurt by restructuring charges as the maker of automated teller and voting machines looks to overhaul its business following the resignation of its chief executive...

In December, Walden W. O'Dell resigned after several years of controversy surrounding Diebold's touch-screen voting machines and O'Dell's ties to President Bush...

Ivestors are suing Diebold, claiming the Ohio company made misleading comments about its electronic voting machine business that led to artificially high share prices. The lawsuits filed in December in U.S. District Court in Cleveland claim Diebold was unable to assure the quality and working order of its voting machines...

The company became aware Monday night of a possible adjustment of election systems revenue in the fourth quarter that may lead to an unspecified revenue adjustment.


___

On the Net:

http://www.diebold.com

Ah hah! They’re done. What good news, read the bold line at the end of the article. We’re in for trouble in Indiana, but we are everywhere.


State voter rolls online
Centralized database of registrations should reduce risk of fraud; some question efficacy
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060130/NEWS02/601300402/1008

By Jason Thomas
January 30, 2006

When voters cast their ballots in the May primary, the trip to their precinct may be a little smoother, thanks to the largest voter registration initiative in Indiana history.

For the first time, a statewide voter registration system will store the names of every registered voter -- from Munster to Madison -- in one centralized location: the Internet.
Problems that have plagued local election officials in recent years, such as duplicate registrations and names mistakenly purged from voter rolls, should at least be easier to detect with the online system, officials say.

<snip>

"This is the biggest project in the history of the secretary of state's office, bar none" said Secretary of State Todd Rokita, a Republican.

Although all systems are go, some on the front line worry that kinks in the system could mar future elections, with security being a top long-term concern.

Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Winning the Election –The Republican Way: Racism, Theft and Fraud in Florida

http://www.gregpalast.com/printerfriendly.cfm?artid=217
by Liam Scheff

When future historians want to know what happened to America in 2000, they’ll read Greg Palast’s The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. The book follows the paper trail of perjury, deception and incompetence left by the Bush family, and the billionaires who fund them, as they trample through the world – from mining disaster cover-ups to the California energy scandal to the pre-9/11 intelligence black-out that let a handful of Saudi terrorists slip past the NSA, FBI and CIA.

The book also uncovers inside documents on the IMF and World Bank, Pat Robertson‘s unholy money-schemes, and the co-opted US media that won‘t report what the rest of the world gets on the front page.

The book opens with the crime that keeps on stealing – the 2000 presidential election. George Bush lost the popular election by 500,000 votes, but won the electoral vote by winning hotly contested Florida, the state that tipped the scales, and the state where his brother Jeb is governor. His tiny 500-vote win there was accompanied by a torrent of hanging chads and unhappy voters, who claimed their votes were stolen. Last week Palast came to Boston to promote the new edition of The Best Democracy… I asked him exactly what he uncovered.

Another group sues to stop voting machine purchases

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A second group of voting rights activists is suing Pedro A. Cortes, secretary of the commonwealth, to prevent Pennsylvania's 67 counties from purchasing a new generation of high-tech voting machines.

The lawsuit, filed in Commonwealth Court on Friday, contends that the state constitution guarantees voters a chance to decide if they want electronic machines. Butler and Cambria counties also are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

snip

A hearing in the Westmoreland County lawsuit will be held Feb. 7 in Harrisburg.

snip

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06031/646967.stm


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x411466

Reps of New Yorkers for Verified Voting are expressing concern about optiscans after the Hursti hack in FL. They realize that optiscans are better since they use paper but they can be as easily mis-coded or programmed, hacked and so on as the touchscreens.



"Hacking" and the Paper Ballot-Optical Scan Voting System
Written by Wanda Warren Berry, New Yorkers for Verified Voting
Monday, 23 January 2006
This article is posted at New Yorkers for Verified Voting on January 22, 2006. It is reposted here with permission of the author.

Some alarm has been expressed at learning that the recent test in Florida that disproved the Diebold claim that its machines could not be “hacked” was carried out on an optical scanner (Diebold’s Accu-Vote OS 1.94w). New Yorkers for Verified Voting again has been asked to justify its support for the paper ballot-optical scan system (PBOS). NYVV has never denied that optical scanners are computers and that they are subject to accidental or deliberate miscoding and “hacking.” NYVV has argued that the hand-marked paper-ballots that are the foundation of the PBOS system provide security to elections because the scanners can be checked by hand-counting the paper.


Let’s be very clear that the PBOS system is far superior to direct recording electronic voting machines (DREs) in spite of our knowledge that scanners can be hacked. Keep in mind that scanners only count votes; therefore they provide many fewer opportunities for miscoding and/or hacking than do DREs, which must be programmed for recording, verifying, and counting votes as well as for accessibility. Note that the programming of the scanners for the one task of counting can be transparently tested by running a test deck of ballots that have been publicly hand-counted as many times as are necessary to convince the observers that the scanner is correctly programmed. After an election, the original hand-marked paper ballots are the official record and are available for manual recounts whenever law or circumstance requires it.


An observer of the famous “Harri Hursti hack” in Florida has pointed out that that test revealed “only one vulnerability in an almost unlimited number of potential flaws” that computer scientists recognize to be characteristic of electronic voting systems (both optical scanners and DREs). Revelation of this flaw was important because it exposed a vulnerability that must have been purposefully programmed into the system. Most significantly, the observer’s report goes on to correctly argue that “the Hursti hack shows, above all, the importance of having paper ballots.” The Hursti hack demonstrates that “there must be an independent paper trail that can be manually audited to confirm (or discredit) machine results.”

Link:

http://votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=828&Itemid=113

centralized voter registration bases, the crowning jewel of the Kill American Votes Act - a revolution in D-voter reduction management!

NM seems to be really headed in the right direction right now, and I think it's because of the activists there, not Richardson, who had to be dragged kicking and screaming. Now that he's there and sees the appreciation of voters, he's become a tiger. We can only hope it continues. This article gives the lowdown at the moment.



New Mexico: Not Paper Trail, Not Paper Record - Paper Ballot!

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=831&Itemid=113

Two weeks ago, Governor Bill Richardson, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, and State Election Director Ernest Marquez held a press conference to call on the legislature to establish a statewide paper ballot optical scan voting system. At the conference Richardson explained that his plan "makes the most sense and resolves many of the problems that have plagued New Mexico elections for far too long."

State Senator Linda Lopez (photo at left), chair of the Senate Rules Committe and co-chair of the Election Reform Task Force has obliged with SB295. An identical bill, HB 430,has been introduced in the State House by Rep. Mary Helen Garcia (D-Las Cruces, photo at right). Both bills would amend the existing law to read "ll voting systems used in elections covered by the Election Code shall use a paper ballot on which the voter physically or electronically marks the voter's choices on the ballot itself."

That's right - not paper trail, not paper record, but paper ballot! Andy Stephenson would be so proud!

snip

And it gets better. The bill goes on to establish that "he paper ballot shall be used … to check either the veracity of a machine count or the count itself and shall be used in a recount proceeding as are absentee ballots, and in case of a discrepancy, the paper ballot shall be considered the true and correct record of the voter's choices."

The bill includes an emergency clause: "It is necessary for the public peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately." Truer words were never written about the urgency of verifiable elections!

Link:

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=831&Itemid=113

This forum is fantastic. Thanks for all the tireless work. This is my first post ---yay! I am writing to ask you all to point me to the single most persuasive, definitive article stating the conclusion that Gore won Florida in 2000. Now --- I know there is a lot of stuff on this that came out in 2001. But what I want to find is the more recent material, and a discussion about the way the NYT buried the revelation when it came out. I seem to recall that Jimmy Carter also came out publicly and stated Gore won during the same time frame in 2005 when this NYT issue was being discussed.

Please and thank you for any help. PS: The wingnuts I need to respond to are fouling up this thread over here in Oregon, and I'd like to wrap up my comments there with some definitive links on 2000 and 2004 when I give them a final satirical dose of truth. (Note: If you go there, please note that the moderator has asked us to knock off the E fraud talk on that thread because the discussion is about Alito & Wyden's late acquisition of spine concerning his vote, etc. so I'd like to respect that. Thanks DU team!)

Nice introduction by Jerry Pollitex at the excellent www.bushwatch.com

http://www.bushwatch.com/gorebush.htm

Comprehensive piece at www.demomcrats.com

http://archive.democrats.com/display.cfm?id=181

These don't even begin to cover the real scandal in Florida 2000. Spoiled ballots, disenfranchised black voters, registration data base purges that went wrong.

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=342&row=0

This one really kicks!

http://math.temple.edu/~wds/crv/Spoiled.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/1/8/05317/12357

Press Release Source: Lynn Landes

Voting Systems Lawsuit Reaches U.S. Supreme Court

Monday January 30, 11:01 am ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- A little-noticed voting rights lawsuit has made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court (Docket No. 05-930). It constitutes the first legal challenge to the widespread use of nontransparent voting systems. Specifically, the lawsuit challenges the use of voting machines and absentee voting in elections for public office.

The lawsuit was originally filed by freelance journalist Lynn Landes in July of 2004 in Philadelphia federal court (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania). The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Landes on November 2, 2005.

In her lawsuit Landes claims that, as a voter and a journalist, she has the right to direct access to a physical ballot and to observe the voting process unimpeded. Voting by machine or absentee, Landes claims, introduces obstacles and concealment to a process that must be accessible and transparent in a meaningful and effective manner.

snip

"I tried to get civil rights organizations interested in this case, but had no luck. Their disregard for this issue is incredible. It's clear to me that without direct access to a physical ballot and meaningful transparency in the process, our elections have no integrity whatsoever," says Landes.

The defendants in the Landes lawsuit are Margaret Tartaglione, Chair of the City Commissioners of Philadelphia; Pedro A. Cortes, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States.

snip

Early American history seems to favor the Landes position. Prior to the Civil War, voting was a public and transparent process. It was only after the war, as the elective franchise expanded to minorities and women, three changes to state and federal election laws were adopted that eventually made the voting process a private and nontransparent enterprise: absentee voting was allowed (1870's), the Australian secret ballot method was adopted (1880's), and voting machines were permitted by Congress (1899).

snip

The defendants' response is due at the Supreme Court no later than February 24, 2006. The Landes lawsuit can be found at the following url: http://www.EcoTalk.org/lawsuit.doc.

snip

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060130/phm029.html?.v=38&printer=1


Discussion

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Jan. 31, 2006

Diebold reports 76 percent decline in fourth-quarter earnings

Associated Press

NORTH CANTON, Ohio - Diebold Inc. said on Tuesday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 76 percent, hurt by restructuring charges as the maker of automated teller and voting machines looks to overhaul its business following the resignation of its chief executive.

Diebold earned $14.6 million, or 21 cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, down from profits of $62.8 million, or 87 cents a share, a year ago. Sales were up 15 percent to $817.6 million from $711.6 million.

snip

"Many states and jurisdictions continue to see the benefits of electronic voting as evidenced by the way our equipment performed in the November 2005 election," Swidarski said.

snip

Investors are suing Diebold, claiming the company made misleading comments about its electronic voting machine business that led to artificially high share prices. The lawsuits filed in December in U.S. District Court in Cleveland argued that Diebold was unable to assure the quality and working order of its voting machines.

snip
snip

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/13755507.htm


Discussion

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California: Memo And Questionaire To Registrars of Voters

By Bruce McDannold, CA Office of Voting Systems Technology Assessment

January 31, 2006

The following memo and questionaire were sent to Registrars of Voters in California counties on January 24, 2006 (although incorrectly dated 2006).


January 24, 2005

To: County Clerks/Registrars of Voters
From: Bruce McDannold, Interim Director, Office of Voting Systems Technology Assessment
Subject: Status of Voting Systems and Questionnaire

As we approach the June 2006 primary, it is critical that we maintain an open line of communication between the Office of the Secretary of State and each county elections official. In an effort to ensure that you are aware of the status of each voting system pending certification for use in California, we are providing you with the following voting system application status report.

As you know, the Office of the Secretary of State has given each voting system vendor a target date of January 20, 2006 for submission of a completed application, and January 31, 2006 for completion of federal testing. These target dates were provided to the voting system vendors in accordance with deadlines provided by each of you for placement of new systems prior to the June 2006 primary. We will continue to provide each of you with updates as the review and certification process for each system progresses. Additionally, for regular updates on the status of individual systems, please also check the Secretary of State's website. (PDF)

As of Friday, January 20, 2006, the following applications for certification have been received by the Secretary of State’s Office:

• DIEBOLD – GEMS/AV-OS/AV-TSX w/ AVPM
• ES&S - Unisyn/InkaVote PBC
• HART INTERCIVIC - System 6
• SEQUOIA VOTING SYSTEMS - AVC Edge Voting System Version 5.0
• POPULEX – Digital Paper Ballot Voting System

The current status of the above applications is as follows:

• SEQUOIA VOTING SYSTEMS - AVC Edge Voting System Version 5.0
Sequoia has not completed federal testing. Sequoia has advised the Secretary of State’s Office that they anticipate federal testing will be completed on or about January 31, 2006. Based upon this representation, we have tentatively scheduled Sequoia’s state and volume testing to begin February 6, 2006.

• DIEBOLD – GEMS/AV-OS/AV-TSX w/ AVPM
As you are aware, Diebold has successfully completed both state and volume testing, the public hearing has occurred, and public comment has been taken. However, we have required the memory card to be sent back to the ITA to review the AccuBasic code. We are also conducting our own independent source code review, with the assistance of the Voting Systems Technical Assistance Advisory Board. A determination on certification will be made once the reviews have been completed and the reports issued.

• ES&S - Unisyn/InkaVote PBC
The ES&S InkaVote system began state testing this week.

• HART INTERCIVIC - System 6
The HART system is currently scheduled to resume state testing on February 1, 2006, and volume testing to occur on February 20-21, 2006.

• POPULEX – Digital Paper Ballot Voting System
Populex has been asked for additional information to complete their application.

For your information, we have been informed by ES&S that they do not anticipate having their iVotronic DRE voting system certified for future use in California elections. However, they are planning to apply in February for a modified version of their optical scan system that includes the AutoMark.

Within the next few days you will be receiving a Notice of Public Hearing regarding each of these systems (excluding Diebold, which has already had a public hearing as indicated above). The tentative date for the public hearing is March 1, 2006.

We have been moving, and continue to move, as expeditiously as possible throughout this certification process.

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=863&Itemid=113


Discussion on this thread

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