Complications with Sequoia's VVPATs, Tapes in CA Counties

Not Quite a Blog
Complications with Sequoia's VVPATs, tapes in CA counties

05/31/06

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Riverside has asked for an exception to the provision in the California Election Code (§19370 and possibly §10260) which mandates the posting of results tapes at each precint (from "County in good (and bad) company"):

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In addition to arguing above that results posting could implicate voter privacy, Barbara Dunmore, Registrar of Riverside Co., argues that people can "walk off" with these reports, eliminating their usefulness. First, there should definitely be concerns about precincts so small that all ballots cast might be identical. Researchers here at Berkeley, Christopher Crutchfield, David Molnar and David Turner, point this out in a forthcoming paper entitled "Approximate Measurement of Voter Privacy Loss in an Election With Precinct Reports", forthcoming at the NIST/NSF Voting Systems Rating Workshop next week in Washington, D.C. One idea for solving that problem is to consolidate precincts where one of the precincts would have cast uniform ballots otherwise.

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It's clear to me that these counties have chosen to de-emphasize the importance of this provision of California Law, not because of concerns with voter privacy or the utility of posting results records but because the design of their voting machinery. The counties mentioned in this story all use the Sequoia AVC Edge DRE with VeriVote printer (for paper-trail compatibility according to CA law). Instead of designing a printer where poll workers change paper rolls or cartridges, Sequoia has designed the system such that entire printers are meant to be swapped out. These printers are difficult to open. The state's consultant who reviewed the system for the California Secretary of State, Paul Craft, had the following to say in February (from "California Secretary of State Consultant’s Report Sequoia's Voting Systems"):

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I have a hard time believing that the Registrars in Riverside, Napa and San Bernardino counties are being as forthcoming as they should be in their moves to waive or disobey this aspect of California election law. I would really like to hear what their real concerns are. Are the procedures for opening the printer too complicated? too complicated for the aging poll worker population? Does opening the printer subsystem at the end of the day unreasonably compromise the chain of custody for the paper trail inside? Basically: On what basis are these decisions really being made?

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http://josephhall.org/nqb2/index.php/2006/05/31/casequoiavvpat

the state on elections. Republican-dominated, of course (although electronic voting corruption is not limited to Repubs). They joined with Diebold shill Connie McCormack (L.A. county) as advocates of Diebold and other Bushite-controlled electronic voting corporations in the "swiftboating" of our good Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley. Shelley had sued Diebold and de-certified the worst of their election theft machines (the DREs/touchscreens) prior to the 2004 election. (This reduced the Bushite election fraudsters' capability in California. Kerry won the state by a 10% margin, but should have won it closer to Barbara Boxer's margin of 20%. All of the difference between Kerry and Boxer occurs in Republican counties, these two among them.) This cabal of corrupt county election officials then sued Sec of State Shelley, in their hysteria to pay off Diebold and brethren (ES&S, Sequoia) in lucrative contracts in exchange for lavish lobbying perks and power. Shelley had withheld their Fed money to purchase these crapass, insecure, hackable voting machines. McCormack told the state legislature she wanted to "drive a bulldozer" into the Sec of State's office to get their money. Shelley (an elected Democrat) was then driven from office on entirely bogus corruption charges, in 2005, and Schwarzenegger appointed Diebold /electronic voting shill Bruce McPherson as Sec of State, who has now illegally re-certified Diebold DREs.

The "Help America Vote Act" corruption--the $4 billion electronic voting boondoggle engineered by the biggest crooks in Congress, Tom Delay and Bob Ney (abetted by Bilderberg 'Democrat' Christopher Dodd)--has spread across the land, so that elections are now characterized by secrecy, exclusion of the public and non-transparent vote counting. It's no surprise to me that these corrupt county officials don't want to post the results.

Sequoia is the third big player in the highly corrupt election theft industry. There is Diebold, who, until recently was headed by Wally O'Dell, a Bush/Cheney campaign chair and major fundraiser (a Bush "Pioneer") who promised in writing to "deliver Ohio's electoral votes to Bush/Cheney in 2004." And ES&S, a spinoff of Diebold (similar computer architecture), initially funded by rightwing billionaire Howard Ahmanson (who also gave one million dollars to the extremist 'christian' Chalcedon Foundation, which touts the death penalty for homosexuals, among other things.) And Sequoia, which employs former Republican Calif Sec of State Bill Jones and his chief aide Alfie Charles, to peddle their machines--an outrageous example of highly corrupt "revolving door" employment. (Jones and Charles were the ones who first authorized this election theft machinery in Calif.--then jumped from public service into electronic voting sales and promotion). (Shelley banned "revolving door" employment in his office.)

These are the people counting all our votes under a veil of secrecy. Is it any wonder that we have state and federal rulers who are doing everything conceivable that is NOT in the interests of ordinary people--$10 TRILLION deficits, raiding public employees' pensions funds, multiple tax cuts for the super-rich, torturing people, spying, sending our National Guard to Iraq (apparently to train them in shooting civilians), permitting gas gouging, credit card gouging, medical cost gouging and higher education cost gouging.

It seems like a no-brainer to me. You allow rightwing corporatists to run your elections with "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code and virtually no audit/recount controls, and this is what you get--not just corrupt election officials but the corruption of EVERYTHING.

California needs to clean this nest of vipers out of our election system--McPherson, McCormack and the 18 corrupt county election chiefs--or they really will turn overwhelmingly Democratic/leftist California into a "red" state.*

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*"Red" used to mean communist. Now it means Republicans with no paper trail. (Or, government budget in the RED--communism for the rich!)

You're right on, Peace Patriot!