Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Thursday May 4

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.
2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233
3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.
4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.

Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

Speedy renewal of Voting Rights Act sought
5/3/2006, 1:13 p.m. ET
By ANDREW MIGA
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Key Democratic and Republican lawmakers pressing for speedy renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, including safeguards for minority and non-English speaking voters, say they are hoping for success as soon as this summer.

"We are going to get the job done and get it done soon this year with the president of the United States signing it," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. "This issue transcends party lines."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the measure's sponsor in the House, said he wants to put a bill on President Bush's desk by the end of July.

The legislation is crucial to ensuring voting rights for all, including those who have limited English skills, Sensenbrenner said.

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/washington/index.ssf?/base/politics-9/1146677095316680.xml&storylist=washington

White County not affected by election glitches, says clerk

By Warren Watkins

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 5:31 PM CDT

The Daily Citizen

Election problems referred to by Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels Tuesday are not expected to affect White County, said White County Clerk Tanya Burleson.

“It appears as of today that we will see a limited use of electronic voting machines for early voting and that instead, most Arkansans will be voting early using paper ballots, just as they have been accustomed to doing in the past,” Daniels said in a press conference.

Early voting for the primary election begins Monday, May 8.

“This does not affect White County,” Burleson said Wednesday. “We are waiting for Election Systems and Software to get us the rest of our ballots for absentees. They called today and said they have gentlemen coming today to look at our machines with election coordinator John Nunnelly. Yesterday afternoon we received ballot proofs, and I made arrangements for ballots to be sent to overseas voters. We had four of those, and they were sent out yesterday afternoon. We’re working on trying to get the rest of our absentees mailed.”

http://www.thedailycitizen.com/articles/2006/05/04/news/local_news/news03.txt

Solano unlocks voting independence

New machines can lead blind and disabled voters through the process of casting their ballots.
By Jason Massad/Staff Writer


During the last three years, Solano County has changed its voting systems nearly as often as the leaves turn in autumn.

The county's time-tested punch cards gave way in 2003 to Diebold electronic voting machines. The controversy surrounding those machines led to the county's current system - "optical-scan" machines that tally a ballot on which voters make choices by filling in those familiar bubbles.

But, as should be no surprise, the county's optical-scan system was not a final solution.

According to federal regulations, each of the county's 115 polling places must be equipped to allow handicapped voters to cast their ballots with independence.

http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_3784413

Absentee ballots hold up results
By Nathan Blackford-Warrick Publishing Online

Warrick County's first election on electronic equipment didn't go flawlessly, but clerk Shannon Weisheit is satisfied with the overall results.

Final results didn't come in until 9:45 on Tuesday night, but the delay wasn't caused by the new voting machines. Instead, a new method of counting absentee ballots put off the tallying of the machine votes until over an hour and a half after the polls had closed.

“We didn't get all of the absentee ballots counted until after 7 o'clock, and we started on the regular ballots at 7:30,” said Weisheit. “We just felt like it would be faster for us, and it takes a lot of pressure off the poll workers.”

In the past, absentee ballots were counted at individual precincts. But this year, six vote counters in a canvassing team at the county election office went through all 481 absentee ballots.

http://www.tristate-media.com/articles/2006/05/04/warricknews/news/04ballots.txt

At least officially, Randolph election results on hold

By JOY LEIKER
jleiker@muncie.gannett.com

WINCHESTER -- Three out of the four Indiana counties that used election equipment from Voting Technologies International, including Randolph County in East Central Indiana, were still waiting on complete election totals as of late Wednesday.

In Randolph County, election workers gave up trying manually to tally the results from each precinct just before midnight Tuesday. On Wednesday morning a second official from the Wisconsin-based election machine company was supposed to fly to Indianapolis and travel to Winchester to help retrieve the county's election data. But County Clerk Claudia Thornburg said the employee's plane was grounded because of thick fog in Detroit, and his arrival in Winchester was delayed to late in the evening.

Thornburg now plans to resume tabulation at 9 a.m. today, with both a Democratic and Republican representative of the election board on hand. She hopes to have results by noon.

"We haven't done anything. There's no point," she said Wednesday afternoon when asked if staff had resumed its effort to manually add the totals from each precinct. "Why make ourselves crazy trying to do it?"

http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/NEWS01/605040325/1002

Delaware's switch to electronic voting goes smoothly

By RICK YENCER
ryencer@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE -- The first real-life test of Delaware County's new electronic voting system went off without an immediate challenge or recount on Wednesday.

"I think things went very well," said Delaware County Clerk Karen Wenger, county election administrator.

Mike White, Democratic election board member, said the real heroes of Tuesday's primary were the hundreds of poll workers and other election helpers who made did so well with the new electronic voting machines and requirements for a photo identification.

"All the poll workers I talked to said this was the easiest and smoothest election," White said.

http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/NEWS01/605040340/1002

Election woes continue in Parke County
By Sue Loughlin
The Tribune-Star

Election woes continued in Parke County on Wednesday, with the county clerk declining to release a copy of election results because of problems related to the new computerized voting system.

That and related problems have prompted one candidate to ask for a new election.

Clerk Sue Ann Woody declined to release election results Wednesday; she said a recount was necessary because of technical glitches.

“We need to have a recount to make sure we have the right numbers” before they are cert

http://www.tribstar.com/local/local_story_123231320.html

Overload triggers election glitch
Clerk plans to buy second computer before Nov. 7
BY BARRY WILLIAM WALSH
bwwalsh@marion.gannett.com

Wednesday morning came quickly for Carolyn Mowery.

The Grant County clerk was at her office until 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, following computer glitches that delayed the vote tallies in Tuesday's primary race.

But a short night's sleep didn't stop her from coming to a conclusion as to what caused the delay.

"It really wasn't anything to do with the Internet or Microvote (the program that counts the votes)," Mowery said. "It was just an overload on the system."

http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/NEWS01/605040325/1002

Polling sites cause most voter confusion
Location changes brought more uncertainty than new machines.

By Cindy Larson
clarson@news-sentinel.com

New voting machines, new polling locations and a new requirement to show a photo ID all could have created chaos in this year’s primary. “I had no idea what was going to hit us Election Day,” said Pam Finlayson, director of the Allen County Election Board.

But Finlayson, who worked from 5 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, said overall the day went well. Confusion over 57 new polling locations caused the most problems, she said. Several people had trouble finding one location in particular — Harvest Freewill Baptist Church on Dupont Road, which hosted three precincts. Jeanne Nicolet, an election board worker, said a note with a map will likely be sent to registered voters in those precincts so they can find the location more easily in November.

“People were very confused about where to vote,” said Kevin Knuth, Allen County Democratic Party chairman. Several people called party headquarters on Tuesday wanting to know where to vote — despite the election board sending cards to registered voters in Allen County shortly before the primary notifying them where their polling location was.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/14493913.htm

Ehrlich targets elections contract
By Andrew A. Green
Sun reporter
Originally published May 4, 2006
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. tried yesterday to block a service contract for the software that runs the state's elections as part of his campaign to take down a series of early-voting laws the legislature passed over his veto this year.

Elections officials said the contract, which was up for approval at the Board of Public Works, had nothing to do with the early voting and that rejecting it would have delivered a fatal blow to their efforts to hold an orderly vote in November.

After Ehrlich's budget secretary, Cecilia Januszkiewicz, argued against the governor's plan to reject it at yesterday's meeting, the board agreed to extend the contract for two weeks, when it would be up for approval again.

Ehrlich has promised a legal challenge against the early-voting bills, which he said are a partisan power grab by Democrats and "an open invitation to voter fraud." Under the plan, select precincts will be open for five days before the Sept. 12 primary election and Nov. 7 general election.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.elections04may04,0,1792854.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Double counting causes election confusion in Coopersville

Carin Windom

Created: 5/3/2006 8:36:27 AM
Updated: 5/3/2006 8:41:13 AM

Coopersville - The Superintendent of Coopersville Schools said Wednesday, the school bond issue passed by two votes. That's better news for the school, than the results reported last night, which showed the bond issue failed.

The superintendent tells WZZM 13 News votes in Wright township were counted twice, resulting in an incorrect tally. The bond will allow the district to raise $41 million for a new middle school, improve existing school buildings and athletic fields, and upgrade technology.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/local/grmetro_article.aspx?storyid=53741

Glitches, low turnout mark election

Web-posted May 4, 2006

By CHARLES CRUMM
Of The Oakland Press

PONTIAC - Voting machine glitches and low voter turnout epitomized Tuesday's school elections.

New voting machines required by federal law had some problems, but local clerks say they're confi dent the August primary will be smooth sailing.

Meanwhile, Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson said the low voter turnout means it makes more sense to require schools and villages to hold elections in November, a move she says will save the county $600,000 and the state $5 million a year.

"You could hire 100 teachers with that money," said Johnson, who supports pending legislation to change village and school election dates to November. "There's no reason for schools to have annual elections. It should be every two years and, in my opinion, they should be combined with other elections. That would save $5 million a year on its own."

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/050406/loc_2006050404.shtml

Machines hang up poll work

By Alex Keown Daily Times Staff Writer

The new voting equipment adopted by Wilson County caused some delays in the tallying of votes during Tuesday's primary election.

Once the polls closed at 7:30 Tuesday night, the telephones at the Board of Elections offices began ringing off the hooks as precinct workers sought instructions on how to close out the new machines. Over the telephone, deputy elections directors Joann Hickman and Rena Morris calmly walked each precinct through the close-out procedures. As soon as one call ended, the duo began work on another call.

"I think it's the newness of everything," said Ann Cone, director of elections in Wilson County. "I think people are very wary of the new machines and feel intimidated. After they've used the machines a few times, there shouldn't be any problems."

Before the election, Cone spent hours training precinct officials in the use of the machines.

http://www.wilsondaily.com/Wil_region/Local_News/288691933513192.php

Voting machine rollout lauded
New system shines in Tuesday's vote

Mike Baker, The Associated Press

North Carolina's new voting machines worked remarkably well Tuesday, despite a sharp learning curve for officials and legitimate worries about faulty equipment, elections chief Gary Bartlett said Wednesday.

The new machines, a product of the legislature's overhaul of voting rules last summer, arrived in February, giving election staffers two months to distribute and test the systems while also working quickly to instruct poll workers. Still, Bartlett cited only minor machine glitches.

"For a first-time rollout, we've got to be pleased," he said.

Officials had expected up to 150 failed memory cards, based on problems they had before the primary with the cards failing to properly read data programmed into the machines, Bartlett said. Instead, he knew of only 13 flawed cards, which were quickly replaced.

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/435595.html

Counties' preparations pay off on Election Day
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Grant Segall
Plain Dealer Reporter

Ohio's first all-electronic election had 87 winners - every county but Cuyahoga.

"Overall, it was a very successful deployment," said James Lee, spokesman for the Ohio secretary of state's office, which oversees elections.

Most counties reported scattered snags in Tuesday's primary, but nothing like the mistakes by the lake. Cuyahoga's woes idled some polling places for hours, forced one to stay open late, and delayed the release of results statewide until 9:30 p.m.

Elsewhere, the problems were much fewer and further flung.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1146732307187630.xml&coll=2

Election disaster was not 1st time
Cuyahoga has seen many meltdowns
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Michael O'Malley
Plain Dealer Reporter

Election Day glitches and even meltdowns are nothing new to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

Tuesday's meltdown, which pushed the vote counting into today, was not the first, the second or even the worst in the board's history.

Cuyahoga County will be the last county in the state to count its primary votes, but in 1972 and 1992 presidential primaries, it was the last in the nation.

The mother of all meltdowns occurred in the presidential primary election of 1972, when the nation watched Cuyahoga County drag out the vote count for a week.

http://www.cleveland.com/election/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isele/1146742550308560.xml&coll=2

( Via a Kent State Radio Station)

Cuyahgoa County Election Problems

Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Election workers in Cuyahoga County are still hand-counting thousands of ballots following a host of technical and personnel problems at the polls Tuesday. It was the first time electronic voting machines were used countywide. They are also looking for some missing memory cards containing votes.

http://www.wksu.org/news/story/19243

they never say how many.A Cleveland councilman's calling for firing of Michael Vu.Why noone calls for the resignation of Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Chairman/Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert Bennett I don't know.

http://www.gop.com.nyud.net:8090/images/StateLeadership/Robert-Bennett-OH.jpg
Robert Bennett

http://www.cleveland.com.nyud.net:8090/photooftheday/images/today.jpg
Michael Vu, director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, rolls up computer tapes early Wednesday while trying to verify results.

Elections: New system can’t touch old punch cards for speed
Thursday, May 4, 2006
BY Tim Botos REPOSITORY STAFF WRITER


CANTON - Six-and-a-half hours after polls closed Tuesday, Stark County elections workers finished counting ballots.

For those who camp out at the downtown elections board office, pacing the floor and waiting for ballot results, the wait can be excruciating. Win or lose? Pass or fail? In or out?

Elections officials finished counting at 2 a.m. Wednesday — hours later than it often took to count in the old days, with supposed antiquated punch-card ballots. Shouldn’t the counting go much faster with the new touch-screen machines Stark County began using in November?

“I think we’re in a learning curve,” said Jeanette Mullane, deputy director of the Board of Elections.

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=284139&r=0&Category=9

:eyes:

Ohio lawmaker demands vote accountability
Thursday, May 4, 2006
By PAUL E. KOSTYU COPLEY COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF


COLUMBUS - In the aftermath of problems at polling stations in Tuesday’s election, a state lawmaker wants to know how Ohio spent federal money.

State Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, also wants the makers of voting machines, including Diebold Election Systems, to turn over documents about how they trained election workers.

Fedor said Wednesday she asked Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell for documents that trace how federal dollars from the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) were spent in Ohio.

“It’s obvious that not enough money went towards poll-worker training,” she said. “Election after election, our poll workers and boards of elections staff are not trained properly on the new machines.”

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=284153&Category=13

Phone woes stalled vote tally
Electronic machines handled major test reasonably well, elections official says
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Robert Vitale
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Problems with the phone system, not the new voting machines, delayed final primary election returns until 2 a.m. yesterday.

Board of Elections Director Matthew Damschroder said a phone outage that began around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday slowed communications between poll workers and board offices just as the polls closed.

The phone problems were at a Board of Elections warehouse on Alum Creek Drive, where about a dozen workers were prepared to take questions from poll workers.

But the phones rolled into an automated voice-mail and the poll workers couldn’t reach a person.

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/?story=dispatch/2006/05/04/20060504-E1-01.html

Voting total takes 6½ hours
Human problem holds up Hamilton Co. count
BY KIMBALL PERRY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

If you were frustrated about Hamilton County's failure to complete its vote count until 61/2 hours after polls closed Tuesday, be thankful you weren't in Cuyahoga County - where the counting still wasn't completed Wednesday evening.

Because of printing issues, as many as 20,000 absentee ballots had to be hand-counted in Cuyahoga County, said Ohio secretary of state spokesman James Lee.

Hamilton County Board of Elections officials note their 100 percent count concluded at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday, but results weren't posted for 15 or 20 minutes after that.

The problems weren't related to the new voting machines being used, Lee said.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/NEWS01/605040346

Voting machine warning issued

Schuylkill, Carbon bolster security efforts after glitch found.
By Chris Parker
Of The Morning Call

Alerted late Tuesday that new electronic voting machines that many counties bought are vulnerable to tampering, election officials in Schuylkill and Carbon counties say they will keep the equipment locked up tight until the May 16 primary.

A ''potential security vulnerability'' in machines sold by Diebold Election Systems Inc. of McKinney, Texas, could let ''unauthorized software to be loaded on to the system,'' Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortez said in a warning issued to the counties.

Diebold found the glitch and will fix it, but ''to mitigate any immediate risk, all counties using shall install the authorized software during system start-up prior to installing, testing and sealing the election data card into the unit,'' Cortez's memo says.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/lehighton/all-1schuylkillmay04,0,7235865.story?coll=all-newslocallehighton-hed

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

New voting machines work like a charm
2006-05-04
by Lesli Bales-Sherrod
of The Daily Times Staff

Blount County precincts reported no problems with the new voting machines during Tuesday's primaries, Administrator of Elections Becky Harrill said Wednesday.

``Everything went real good,'' Harrill said. ``Voters liked the machines. Workers liked the machines. They thought it ran faster with the machines.''

Plenty of extra help was on hand to train voters how to use the machines on demonstration units available at each precinct, Harrill said. Though some thought this may make voting slow, Harrill noted all the returns were in about 10 minutes after 9 p.m.

``It went excellent, considering we had new voting machines,'' she said. ``The workers were well schooled, but we were still surprised (the results) came in as quickly as they did.''

http://www.thedailytimes.com/sited/story/html/256610

Sticky ballots delay returns in Gibson County primary
County to change to electronic voting by August

TRENTON - "Sticky" ballots made for a late night in Tuesday's Gibson County Democratic primary.

Rainy, humid weather, such as Tuesday's, makes the punch-card ballots "sticky" so the machines don't pick them up as fast during counting, said Molly McWherter, Gibson County's administrator of elections. But election workers know that every ballot was counted because the number that machines indicate were counted has to match the number distributed at the polls, McWherter explained.

Results started trickling in one to three precincts at a time at about 9 p.m., with totals from the last of 36 precincts coming in just after midnight Wednesday.

Sticky ballots made for a much later election night two years ago, when vote totals weren't in until about 2 a.m., McWherter said. Her colleagues in other counties said they are very familiar with the problem.

http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/NEWS01/605040312/1002

Thursday May 4, 2006
Crunch time arrives for voting machines

by ROBERT SNYDER martinsburg@herald-mail.com

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Despite assurances that Berkeley County's new electronic voting machines would be available in time for next week's primary election, continuing problems are casting the machines' readiness in doubt, a county elections official said Wednesday.

Berkeley County Voter Registration and Elections Supervisor Bonnie Woodfall said that the county's store of touch-screen voting machines, of which one was to be placed in each of the county's 65 precincts, have not been able to be successfully tested.

"We're having a few problems," Woodfall said of efforts to test the machines this week.

Woodfall said two components of the touch-screen machines that prevented their being used at the start of early voting- a prepared election ballot cassette and a flash card which is mounted to the top of the machines- have been programmed and installed, but problems persist in being able to score vote tallies from the machines during testing.

http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=137310&format=html

Interesting new developments with "Invisible Ballots" DVD project!
by Joan Brunwasser, Voting Integrity Editor, OpEdNews

http://www.opednews.com

I never dreamed that I would do so much writing on this job. I sort of pictured myself with a pencil perched rakishly behind one ear, going through the various articles, OpEd pieces and reviews that came my way, looking studious, focused and very, very professional. But, this lending library project has taken on a life of its own, one that demands constant attention. And updates. And appeals.

I feel like shouting “BREAKING NEWS!” since the latest development happened this very afternoon. It looks quite likely that we will be able to distribute the DVD to delegates at the “Take Back America” Conference this June in Washington, DC. I mentioned previously that I will be attending the conference on a press pass. Rob Kall (my boss at OpEdNews) suggested contacting the conference to see if they might be interested in the DVD for their delegates. What a great idea! Think how much more efficient it would be: several thousand copies, neatly tucked into the welcome packets. The other option is to bring cartloads of the DVD and try giving them out at the conference: unwieldy, impractical and incredibly heavy. How would I explain my excess baggage of several hundred pounds? How would I shlep it? Who would cover my chiropractic bills?

The good news is that they’re interested. I just sent off a copy of “Invisible Ballots” for the ‘go to guy’ to peruse to make sure the documentary isn’t “fascist”. Since it’s not, I’m assuming we’re on. The bad news is that the financial burden is ours alone.

The chance to saturate this audience with the DVD is a great one. At the very least, it will get people talking about electronic voting. Optimally, it will galvanize the many activists there to focus on election reform as a pressing need. It could make a big difference. Several thousand Progressives, Democrats and elected officials under one roof… It would be criminal to pass up the opportunity.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_joan_bru_060504_interesting_new_deve.htm

Blackwell Wins, or Steals Ohio GOP Gubernatorial Primary
Tell A Friend

by Rob Kall

http://www.opednews.com

Ken Blackwell, a criminal who was one of the prime perpetrators of the theft of the 2004 presidential election, has been confirmed as the Republican candidate for the governorship of Ohio.

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman commented, "I have often said that the Republican Party -- the Party of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass -- cannot be truly whole until it welcomes more African Americans back home. Great candidates like Ken Blackwell are one of the many ways we are doing exactly that. The Republican Party is united in its support for Ken Blackwell and will work together to ensure his historic election."

What a surprise. The corrupt Republicans pick a despicable, corrupt criminal to use as their African American showpiece. Well, what would we expect, someone with real integrity? We're talking the friends of Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay.

Blackwell ran against his opponent, attorney General Jim Petro, 56% to 44%. Blackwell used attack ads claiming his opponent was a part of "coingate," which has sullied much of Ohio politics.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_060503_blackwell_wins_2c_or_s.htm

Via OpEdNews.



Electronic voting "dead in the water"

This week's report from the Dáil Public Account Committee (PAC) which is highly critical of the E-voting system that this Government attempted to introduce has been welcomed by Sinn Fein general election candidate, Maurice Quinlivan.

He said it is now time to finally abandon electronic voting as there is no cross party support to implement electronic voting at this time.

"The minister must act quickly and end this waste of tax payer's money. he added.

"This report again reconfirms our opinion that the system is unsafe and vindicates not using it in the 2004 Local elections. Electronic Voting has been a disaster since it‚s inception. Following yesterday‚s PAC report Electronic voting in this country is now 'dead in the water'. The one ray of sunshine now emerging from this whole sorry mess is that it may be possible to sell the system as there seems to be some interest in purchasing it from abroad. The Government has squandered over 50 million euro of taxpayer's money on the system which nobody wanted. We along with others at the time opposed the introduction of Electronic Voting on a number of grounds all of which have been vindicated. We believed it was too expensive, would lead to a fall in voter turnout and was unsecure."

http://www.limerickpost.ie/dailynews.elive?id=7294&category=Daily-Wed

From Election Law Blog:

Breaking News: En Banc Second Circuit Court Holds NY Felon Disenfranchisement Law Does Not Violate Section 2 of Voting Rights Act

Howard Bashman offers this report:

En banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit holds that the federal Voting Rights Act does not apply to New York's prisoner disenfranchisement law: Thirteen judges participated in today's ruling, which consists of ten separate opinions.
The majority opinion explains, "Our holding is based on our conclusion that Congress did not intend or understand the Voting Rights Act to encompass such felon disenfranchisement statutes, that application of the Voting Rights Act to felon disenfranchisement statutes such as these would alter the constitutional balance between the States and the Federal Government, and that Congress at the very least did not clearly indicate that it intended the Voting Rights Act to alter the federal balance in this way."

http://howappealing.law.com/050406.html#014271

In a second, related case, the en banc Second Circuit today unanimously dismissed the case because the plaintiff lacked standing.

http://electionlawblog.org/ (Sorry, no permalink.)

Diebold Not to Blame for Diebold Disasters Says Diebold

As you know, those "glitches" in our elections are never Diebold's fault, or that of any of the Electronic Voting Machine Vendors who supply the equipment that doesn't actually work. It's always an untrained pollworker, or a voter who didn't read the instructions, or too darn much humidity.

So it wasn't Diebold's fault when Diebold's machines failed to work or to count absentee ballots by the thousands on Tuesday in Cuyahoga County, Ohio's Primary Election.

Look! Here's proof!

First of all, electronic optical scanners made by Diebold could not count absentee ballots. But Diebold said it was an issue with the printing of the ballots, not their machines.

Secondly, some precincts have more machines on the blink that those that were working. This was due in part to dozens of Election Day technicians, or EDTs, not showing up on Tuesday.

The EDTs are volunteers trained to fix any problems with the electronic Diebold voting machines.
...
Mark Radke, a spokesman for Diebold, said, "In fact, we went out to some of the precincts to direct some of the poll openings because some people didn't show up. Within two or three minutes with a little direction, people would have had the equipment up and running with no problem at all."

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002778.htm

Net censorship spreads worldwide
By Mark Ward
Technology Correspondent, BBC News website

Repressive regimes are taking full advantage of the net's ability to censor and stifle reform and debate, reveals a report.

Written by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) pressure group the report highlights the ways governments threaten the freedom of the press.

The report has a section dedicated to the internet and the growing roster of nations censoring online life.

This censorship is practised on every continent on Earth, said the report.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4973114.stm

If the election was held Tuesday . . . Why are we still counting?
Thursday, May 04, 2006

Diebold didn't deliver its optical scanning machines (used to tally absentee ballots) until two weeks ago. Elections workers decided Tuesday morning that they made too many mistakes, and so more than 17,000 absentee ballots had to be counted by hand -- which was to continue today.

Ballots had printing problems.

81 of Ohio's 88 counties had the absentee ballots printed by Dayton Legal Blank, a firm that has printed ballots for a century. Cuyahoga used a Mayfield firm with little ballot experience. Diebold said printing problems blocked scanners from reading the ballots. The printing company said it does not know why errors happened.

Polling places were not ready.

In 20 percent of the county's polling places, machines were not ready when voting began at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. Some voters were turned away. Others filled out paper ballots. A judge ordered one polling place to stay open two hours later, delaying results.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1146742415308560.xml&coll=2

New Diebold CEO gets contract that will pay up to $1.7 million
Associated Press

GREEN - Voting-machine maker Diebold Inc. will pay its new chief executive up to $1.7 million annually, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.

Thomas Swidarski will make a base salary of $550,000, with bonuses of up to 200 percent, according to the contract he reached with the Green-based company last week.

Swidarski is nearly five months into leading the company as CEO after serving as president and chief operating officer. He took over Dec. 12 for Walden W. O'Dell, Diebold's former chairman and CEO, who resigned suddenly from both posts.

One of Swidarski's early actions was to announce in January a plan to cut about $100 million in costs over three years and improve pricing. The savings would come through streamlining processes, improving the supply chain and adjusting manufacturing operations.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ohio/business/14479048.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_business

Ballot Boxes Open For Public View



Ballot Boxes Open For Public View
By CHRIS ALLEN BAKER, Times News Editor
Saturday, April 8, 2006 9:35 AM CDT

FOREST--The next time voters go to the polls their ballot will look nothing like it did in the last election when new voting machines will be used for the first time to electronically record votes.

In an effort to help voters familiarize themselves with the new machines, state and county officials will sponsor a public information forum next week to provide guidance on how the machines work.

Representatives from Secretary of State Eric Clark's office will join Circuit Clerk Joe Rigby at the Scott County Courthouse from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday to show Mississippi's new touch-screen voting machines to all interested voters.

"We want everyone in Scott County to have a chance to see and touch the new voting machines before the election," Clark said. "We're traveling to all 77 counties which are receiving the new machines purchased by the state. This is the most thorough and complete voter outreach program ever undertaken in Mississippi. We'll be happy to answers questions, let folks go through the voting process, and get acquainted with these new, more accurate machines."

http://www.sctonline.net/articles/2006/05/04/news/local/news85.txt

Officials to discuss election night snafu

Meeting may take place next week
By DAVID MANN
newsroom@news-tribune.net

County election officials will meet next week to determine what, if any, recourse will be taken against Election Systems & Software company, after a computer glitch slowed down election results Tuesday night.

“It’s something we’re concerned about,” said County Clerk Keith Groth. “We want answers from Election Systems & Software.”

The meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday morning, although that date isn’t certain.

Software and equipment provided by Nebraska-based ES&S failed to accept data packs from the precinct voting machines after Tuesday’s election, officials say. Clark County election workers were left to manually count hard copies of the voting records. Election results were not made official until near 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.

http://www.news-tribune.net/news/local_story_124105400.html

Election law quirk spurs protests
Preschool initiative backers want to know where foes got funds.
By Andy Furillo -- Bee Capitol Bureau

Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, May 3, 2006

For the second year in a row, business-oriented political action committees are coming under fire for making big campaign contributions without having to immediately disclose where they're getting their money.

This time, supporters of actor-director Rob Reiner's preschool initiative have filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission accusing four business PACs opposed to the measure of not fully disclosing the source of their campaign funds.

Campaign finance experts say that a quirk in state election law enables "general purpose" recipient committees - those that support multiple candidates or ballot measures, such as the four PACs - to get around reporting their last-minute political cash transactions.

"Not knowing before (Election Day) - that, to me, is very important," said Bob Stern, the president of the Center for Governmental Studies and author of California's Political Reform Act of 1974. "This is a loophole in the law, clearly."

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/14250725p-15067340c.html

Sunshine brings local voters out

West Midlands
Police keep a watching brief in the West Midlands
Early signs suggest turnout will be above average in the local elections in England, as voters stream to polling stations in bright sunshine.

Some 144 English authorities and all 32 of London's boroughs are holding votes, as 4,360 council seats are contested.

Thirty-six metropolitan authorities and 20 unitary authorities are electing a third of their council members, while 88 districts are also holding polls.

Watford, Hackney, Newham and Lewisham are holding mayoral elections.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4970794.stm

If this isn't applicable here, pls. let me know and I'll delete. Thanks!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2606904&mesg_id=2606904