Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Thursday June 22 2006

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Thursday June 22 2006

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

first rec again darlin'. :)

:)

'tis truly. :)

Wish I could do more.

House Delays Renewal of Voting Rights Act

Article Tools Sponsored By
By CARL HULSE
Published: June 21, 2006

WASHINGTON, June 20 — House Republican leaders today abruptly canceled a planned vote to renew the Voting Rights Act after a rank-and-file rebellion by lawmakers who say the civil rights measure unfairly singles out Southern states and promotes multi-lingual ballots.

The reversal represented a significant embarrassment for the party leadership, which has promised a vote on the landmark anti-discrimination law and hailed its imminent approval in a rare bipartisan press event on the steps of the Capitol last month.

But lawmakers critical of the bill mutinied in a closed meeting of House Republicans this morning just hours before the vote was expected to occur and several said it was uncertain whether a majority of Republicans would back the legislation at this point.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/21/washington/21cnd-votes.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Electronic ballots: Will your vote be counted?
Critics fear hackers, system failure could strike

BLAKE MORLOCK
Tucson Citizen

Pandora seems to have a brand new box. It's called the Diebold TSX voting machine.

Touch-screen voting has become a touchstone for concerns about reliability, system failure, hacking and outright conspiracy to write election results into computer code.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors dived into the fight this month when it voted 3-2 to buy 409 of the machines, one for each precinct, in part because the state pays the $2 million tab for the system, selected by Secretary of State Jan Brewer.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/16741.php

Bad feelings persist about touch-screen voting

By JOHN WILDERMUTH
San Francisco Chronicle
21-JUN-06

While 21 more California counties made the leap into touch-screen voting in this month's primary election, problems continued to surround the controversial electronic systems.

Across the state, troubles linked to the high-tech systems delayed voting, slowed counting and left people questioning the results of tight elections.

"I'm still feeling that electronic voting is not ready for prime time," said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, a nonpartisan group that deals with issues of voting and technology.

While the election featured the usual glitches and hiccups that accompany any statewide vote, a number of problems stood out:

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=TOUCHSCREENS-06-21-06

Kern County elections chair discusses voting woes with Board of Supervisors
By Staff Reporter
Published: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 3:15 PM CDT


JOHN V. CIANI/jciani@ridgecrestca.com

“According to the Secretary of State, the county took reasonable measures to quickly navigate the problem. The county had solid infrastructure, and training took place to deal with this issue,” said Kern County Auditor-Controller Ann Barnett in her report to the Kern County Board of Supervisors yesterday regarding problems encountered during June 6 primary election.

She said the Kern County Sheriff's Department delivered voting cards to polling places in Ridgecrest, and other businesses and governmental offices offered assistance.

“Things were fairly uneventful for the rest of the day,” said Barnett.

She said the counting began at 9:22 p.m. “We uploaded the server at 9:59, and we showed 100 of precincts reporting. The results were uploaded to the web server at 10:40 p.m.”

http://www.ridgecrestca.com/articles/2006/06/21/news/news06.txt

Outcome of close races is not likely to change, official says
By Michele Clock
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

June 21, 2006

The county registrar's office has counted all but 850 of the votes cast in the June 6 primary, effectively closing the door on the last two close races.

In the five-way Republican primary in the 77th state Assembly District, Padre Dam water board president Joel Anderson narrowly beat Santee City Councilman Jack Dale. And in North County, the Proposition F Tri-City Medical Center bond fell just short of a needed two-thirds majority.

The registrar's office expects to finish counting the remaining votes by June 30, when the final tallies are to be certified. But county registrar Mikel Haas said it's unlikely any outcomes would change.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060621-9999-1m21ballot.html

City auditor sees election trouble
New letter to mayor claims problems plague agency


By Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News
June 21, 2006
The city auditor wrote Mayor John Hickenlooper on Tuesday to warn of a "tsunami" of chaos at the election commission - rumors of more missing voter information and new voting machines not working - that could imperil Denver's upcoming elections.

"I am extremely concerned that the situation at the Denver Election Commission is such that the August Primary election - and concurrent municipal election - as well as possibly the November General Election are in jeopardy," City Auditor Dennis Gallagher wrote in his second letter in five days warning the mayor of problems at the independent election agency. "I do not raise this issue lightly."

The auditor's first letter, sent June 15, cautioned the mayor about rising public anger over a perceived "laissez-faire attitude" by the Hickenlooper administration in reaction to news reports that the commission had lost more than 150,000 voter records that could be exploited by identity thieves during a February move to new headquarters. Since then, the agency found microfilm for nearly 87,000 voter registration records left behind at its former office but has been unable to locate the file cabinet that held the rest of the files.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_4790361,00.html

Wexler may take voting machines case to U.S. Supreme Court
BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler said Wednesday he was considering an appeal of a federal court ruling that said Florida could use electronic voting machines that don't leave a paper trail.

In 2004, Wexler sued Florida's secretary of state and Palm Beach County's elections supervisor, alleging the state disenfranchised voters by approving the machines that don't create a paper record for use in a recount in close elections.

Wexler said he was considering asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case after the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his claim in ruling Tuesday that paperless machines don't violate Floridians' constitutional rights.

Fifteen of Florida's 67 counties, including Palm Beach, use paperless touch-screen voting machines. The remaining counties use optical scan machines where a voter marks a paper ballot with a pencil and it is electronically scanned.

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/breaking_news/14869941.htm

Poll workers train with new voting equipment

06/22/06
Agnes Hagin


Polk is one of Georgia's counties where poll workers will be using the ExpressPoll electronic poll books to automate and streamline the check-in process at all of its 11 precincts during the General Primary on July 18.

The ExpressPoll-4000 units will be used in conjunction with Diebold Election Systems touch-screen voting technology.

Jennifer Johnson, Polk's election manager, has been training poll workers in small groups to familiarize them with the new equipment, used for the first time during the upcoming election.

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=728&NewsID=727861&CategoryID=3481&show=localnews&om=1

Voter rolls get computerized

Wed, Jun 21, 2006

By KEITH LAING
The Brunswick News

In recent Glynn County elections, voters have gone from casting their ballots on paper to doing so electronically.

Now, they'll be signed up to receive those ballots digitally, too.

The Glynn County Board of Elections began holding sessions Tuesday to familiarize poll workers with its new ExpressPoll system that will be used to identify voters when they arrive at polling places on Election Day. The systems will be used for the first time in the July 18 partisan primary elections, when voters will decide four of the seven available school board seats and three county commission races in the Republican primary – contests where no Democratic opposition will await the winner.

"It's going to speed up the process and everyone's going to love it," said Patricia Gibson, election board chair. "(The ExpressPoll machines are) replacing the book and numbered electors list and the manual encoders."

http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/front/293592900670168.php

Election judges in short supply

BY NICK KATZ | STAFF WRITER
nkatz@pioneerlocal.com

Niles Township may be short as many as 150 judges for the November general election, a repeat of the March primary when county officials had to draft judges on election day to man polling places throughout Cook County.

"I was told we're about 150 judges in the hole," said Carol Fritzshall, Morton Grove village clerk. "It's really a bad situation."

Bad, maybe, but not new.

Kelley Quinn, a spokesman for Cook County Clerk David Orr, said the office has had an ongoing problem finding enough election judges. About 12,000 judges are needed to provide the optimum five at each precinct in the county.

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/lw/06-22-06-959306.html

Early-voting foes' petition drive falls short
Effort to meet first deadline for referendum fails by 138 signatures
By Kelly Brewington
Sun Reporter
Originally published June 21, 2006, 9:56 PM EDT
A Republican-led petition drive to thwart Maryland's early-voting provisions hit a major snag Wednesday when the state Board of Elections said the effort fell 138 signatures short of moving forward.

The news was a blow to Marylanders for Fair Elections, a volunteer group backed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who both complain that the legislature hastily enacted early voting without safeguards to prevent voter fraud. Democrats considered it a victory, calling the drive a ploy to suppress voter turnout.

The volunteer group is seeking to overturn two bills adopted by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly that allow some polling sites around the state to open five days before Election Day and names the locations. The group needs 51,185 signatures of registered voters to put the issue on the ballot as a referendum in November. It had to produce the first third of them by May 30.

Opponents of early voting said they were surprised to learn the drive came up short in meeting the first signature threshold. Earlier this week, state elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone had announced the group was close to achieving its goal.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-voting0621,0,4381881.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Department of revenue to offer free photo IDs

By Brandon Cone
BDN Staff Writer
bcone@bransondailynews.com

The state is taking steps to ensure that all Missourians will be able to vote.

Late last week Gov. Matt Blunt enacted a law requiring voters to have a photo ID before casting their votes in the November 7 election.

Officials from the Missouri Department of Revenue said through its 183 contracted offices it will be offering free “nondriver licenses” to any residents who do not have an acceptable photo ID.

“Nearly 96 percent of Missourians have one form of identification that that will allow them to vote, but we are ready to work with that small number of customers that do not already have one of the most common IDs, a driver license or nondriver license,” Department Director Trish Vincent.

http://www.bransondailynews.com/story.php?storyID=1320

Colts Neck vote totals unchanged in computerized machine election

Recount confirms Barnett's loss to Schatzle in GOP primary
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/22/06
BY BOB JORDAN
FREEHOLD BUREAU

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Monmouth County election officials spent about an hour Wednesday examining computer printouts of summaries from electronic voting machines in the county's first recount since switching to the new computerized machines.

But the new process failed to help Carol L. Barnett, a candidate in June's Colts Neck Republican primary for one of two open Township Committee seats. She had requested the recount. Barnett's six-vote loss to James C. Schatzle in the race was verified, and she telephoned Schatzle to concede the result.

The June 6 primary was the first time Monmouth County voters cast ballots on new electronic voting machines, which use touch-screen technology. The new voting machines cost more than $8 million, but the federal government paid 75 percent of the cost under the Help America Vote Act, County Clerk M. Claire French said.

Colts Neck has eight voting districts, and one machine was assigned to each district for the primary, French said.

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060622/NEWS01/606220429/1004/OPINION

Elections law changes to boost costs

By MARY ANN GREIER/Salem News staff writer

LISBON - The Columbiana County Commissioners received a recent invitation to hear about election law changes causing unforeseen costs for the Board of Elections this year.
The board will meet at 2 p.m. Friday to discuss the implications of Amended Substitute House Bill 3, which was signed into law in January, with requirements now taking effect.

Those requirements included a mandate for the Board of Elections to mail notice of the election to every registered voter in the county in an even-numbered year, with the requirement expiring in 2009.

The board already mailed notices to voters in the Leetonia school district concerning the special election in August for a levy for the proposed library construction. The cost was $1,100.

http://www.salemnews.net/news/story/0622202006_new08vote.asp

Three Shelby County poll workers charged with election fraud

By Marc Perrusquia

June 21, 2006
Three Shelby County poll workers and three others have been charged with election fraud in connection with Ophelia Ford’s razor-thin Dist. 29 state senate victory last fall.

Poll workers Gertrude Otteridge and Mary L. McClatcher have been indicted on multiple counts of making false entries on election documents, official misconduct and other crimes.

A third poll worker, not yet in custody, also was charged.

Three voters also were indicted late Tuesday by a Shelby County grand jury for illegally registering or voting in the Sept. 15 special election.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/politics/article/0,1426,MCA_1496_4791035,00.html

Clallam establishing disabled voters advisory board

June 22nd, 2006 - 6:34am

(Port Angeles) -- The Clallam County Auditor's Office is establishing an advisory board to address the needs of disabled voters.

Auditor Cathy McKeown is looking for citizens of Clallam County to serve on the panel.

Persons with disabilities, those who serve as advocates for disabled citizens and nursing home residents are encouraged to apply.

The WA State Legislature found that vote by mail can create a barrier that restricts the ability of many voters with disabilities.

http://www.konp.com/local/2164

Voting Rights Act Preclearance: Why Process Matters

Daniel P. Tokaji June 20


Yesterday, civil rights advocates organized a "National Call-In Day" to urge a floor vote on Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 (H.R. 9). This bill would renew the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) that are set to expire in 2007. It would also make a significant change to the legal standard under Section 5 of the VRA. In this post, I suggest that the lively debate over VRA renewal has overemphasized Section 5's legal standard while underemphasizing the importance of the process followed under Section 5.

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/comments/2006/060620.php

June 21, 2006 at 11:02:33


WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE OVER BUSH'S ELECTION FRAUD?

by Randolph T. Holhut

http://www.opednews.com

DUMMERSTON, Vt. ? Ever since the somewhat murky outcome of 2004 presidential election in Ohio, there have been numerous reports of how Republicans engaged in widespread and intentional cheating and fraud to ensure that George W. Bush would win.

Unfortunately, the story has never gained traction in the mainstream press. Just like it is considered impolite to say that the Bush administration repeatedly lied to gin up a war with Iraq, it is considered equally impolite to say that Bush stole both the 2000 and 2004 elections.

Maybe that might change with the publication of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s story in latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Kennedy put together a lengthy and well documented summation of the extent of the vote manipulation in Ohio. There was very little new in the Rolling Stone piece, but it is the most complete examination of voting fraud to appear so far in a major American publication.

The mainstream press, particularly in Ohio, pooh-poohed Kennedy's story.

http://www.websiteadv.com/articles/opedne_randolph_060621_where_s_the_outrage_.htm

Today (6/21) Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) co-founders Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis announced the planned launch of a voter registration campaign this year in the Philadelphia area.



The official kickoff for the HSAN campaign will begin at the Hip-HopSummitNationalTown Hall meeting, which is being held on Wednesday July 12th at 7 p.m. at the University of Pennsylvania's Irvine Auditorium. Like previous HSAN voter registration efforts the campaign will be non-partisan.

The organization has already set a goal of 10,000 new registrants for this year. Chavis and Simmons have also gained the support of U.S. Representative Chaka Fattah as well as Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street and Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell.

"I am pleased to join Russell Simmons in working to use hip-hop as a tool to empower our youth," Congressman Fattah said via statement. "Regardless of party affiliation or ethnicity, true empowerment comes when we can combine the desire for obtaining a high-quality education with an understanding that the ability to exercise the right to vote is not only a privilege, but a necessity."

http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/9232

(Anyone tried to recruit Mr. Simmons? He's awesome.)

Voting rights hearing will have local impact
Federal court hears Orange County case
By DAWN WITHERS
The Salinas Californian

Monterey County slow-growth advocates, who faced a series of legal setbacks this spring, are pinning their hopes on a federal court hearing that begins today.

Voting rights advocates, too, are eagerly waiting to learn the outcome of the proceeding, which could significantly advance their cause by requiring materials used to qualify measures for the ballot to be circulated in minority languages as well as English.

Colonial Mantels & Fireplace Services
Judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments today as they reconsider Padilla v. Lever, an Orange County case previously decided by the court in November.

In its earlier ruling, a three-judge panel determined recall petition materials must be translated into minority languages to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. This time, the full court will consider the matter.

http://www.californianonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060622/NEWS01/606220311

Blackwell’s Web site becomes issue


Campaign dismisses voter-registration questions as mere ‘conspiracy theories’
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Jennifer Brunner, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state, met with reporters yesterday to raise questions about Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, but Blackwell’s campaign quickly dismissed them as "conspiracy theories."

Brunner wanted to know why Blackwell, the Republican candidate for governor, was using his campaign Web site to register voters in Tennessee, Florida and Hawaii. She said voters could pull up a form for those three states on Blackwell’s Web site that allowed them to enter registration data, which she suggested Blackwell could retain and mine for contributions or other campaign purposes.

"You’ve got to wonder what the secretary of state is doing registering voters in other states," Brunner said.

But Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo noted there are no instructions on the Web site for accessing registration forms for states other than Ohio, raising questions about how anyone would know how to get them.

http://www.dispatch.com/?story=dispatch/2006/06/22/20060622-D4-01.html

Hey, Carlo,

New Report Shows 17 States at High Risk For Compromised Election Results Due to Electronic Voting Machine Problems

To: National Desk

Contact: Mary Boyle of Common Cause, 202-736-5770

WASHINGTON, June 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A new report released Thursday by Common Cause concludes that the push to use direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines was misguided, has resulted in serious security and reliability concerns, and should be reversed. The report also assesses states at greatest risk of having elections compromised due to problems with voting machines, presents information on voting systems used by each state and makes recommendations on safeguarding votes to citizens who must use a DRE in November.

"With nearly 40 percent of voters in 37 states expected cast ballots on DRE voting machines in less than five months, Congress needs to stop ignoring the problems and take action to assure that citizens votes are counted as cast," said Common Cause President Chellie Pingree. "We need legislation passed that would mandate random manual election audits of voting machines and require voter-verified paper trails, and citizens need to come to the polls knowing how to safeguard their vote."

The report, "Malfunction and Malfeasance: A Report on the Electronic Voting Machine Debacle," finds that 17 states, including critical swing states such as Pennsylvania, are at "high" risk of having election results compromised due to problems with voting machines known as DREs. States designated as high risk because they use DREs with no paper backup are: Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Twenty-three states are at mid-level risk of having election results compromised. Those states use a voter-verified paper trail, but do not conduct manual audits. Eleven states are at "low" risk for a compromised election because they require mandatory audits and use voting systems that have a voter verified paper ballot.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060622/pl_usnw/new_report_shows17_states_at_high_risk_for_compromised_election_results_due_to_electronic_voting_machine_problems139_xml

Not Quite a Blog

PBS' California Connected on recent Diebold vulnerabilities

by Joseph Lorenzo Hall

06/22/06

California Connected, a PBS news magazine with an emphasis on California issues, has recently published the last in a special series by Thomas Kelley on the recent security vulnerabilities discovered in voting systems manufactured by Diebold Election Systems, Inc. (DESI).

It starts off with an interactive piece that sets the issue up ("Interactive: Ballot Boxes and Black Holes") and then goes in depth in a four-part series:

1. "Shortcircuits in our democracy?"
2. "Backdoors to Castle Diebold"
3. "Voting machines and hailstorms"
4. "Two sides speaking in code"

snip

They also quote (in alphabetical order) Kim Alexander (California Voter Foundation), Paul DeGregorio (Chairman of the EAC), Barbara Dunmore (RoV for Riverside Co.), Lowell Finley (VoterAction), Bev Harris (Black Box Voting), Doug Jones (Univ. of Iowa, ACCURATE), Susan Lapsley (California Asst. Sec. of State for Elections) and Mark Radke (Spokesman for DESI). There are mp3 files of interviews Thomas did linked off of this main index site for the series.

The series does a great job of explaining the issue in basic terms and parsing its complexity to make it more accessible to those who might not be election technology geeks. I especially like how it highlights the tensions between the various parties and values involved in the discussion.

snip/links

http://josephhall.org/nqb2/index.php/2006/06/22/caconn_desivulns


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x435809

Actually what "defies all logic and reason" is the assumption by some absentee proponents that an absentee vote will be counted, counted accurately, and hand-counted, at that. Who said?

Distrust Spurs Absentee Voting

By: The Californian - Commentary:

June 20, 2006

There is a growing trend in this country toward voting by absentee ballot.

Year after year, the percentage of the electorate choosing to vote by this method increases. In the June 6 primary election in Riverside County, the birthplace of electronic voting, 49 percent of those voting used an absentee ballot.

There is little question that a large percentage of these voters have selected to do so due to concern about the accuracy of electronic voting. No election passes without the horror stories of machine failures from touchscreen anomalies to machines recording more votes than registered voters using them.

There is another alternative for those not trusting the touchscreens. Despite being poorly publicized, paper ballots were available to those visiting their polling places in Riverside County.

snip

How were their votes counted? In an act of disrespect that defies all logic and reason, Riverside County Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore decided that she would cast their ballots into the very machines they chose to avoid instead of tallying them by hand.

snip

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/06/21/opinion/commentary/20_51_146_20_06.txt


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x435812

http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=12363

Group rejects San Diego results
6/22/2006

A Voters’ Resolution of No Confidence, drafted by Dave Berman of the Voter Confidence Committee, was recently adopted by the California Election Protection Network, a statewide nonpartisan coalition of groups working for election integrity.

The CEPN is currently focusing its efforts on the June 6 primary election in San Diego, calling for an invalidation of the Congressional runoff election results and a full hand-count of all ballots and paper audit trails.

The problem, the CEPN asserts, is that poll workers were allowed to store the Diebold electronic counting machines in their homes in the days before the election — a violation of election procedure. Further, the machines themselves evince security vulnerabilities that remain unaddressed, elections advocates believe.

Many of those issues apply in Humboldt County as well, Berman emphasized in a news release, and the VCC continues to reject the results of the local election until a complete hand-count is performed for verification.

The Voters’ Resolution of No Confidence adopted by the CEPN lists the qualifications of a legal, legitimate election and enumerates violations of those standards in San Diego. Unless a hand recount of the ballots — a “Free-Count,” as the CEPN has named it — is performed, “We, the People, DO NOT CONSENT to transferring power and authority to candidates claiming victory in this illegitimate election,” the resolution states. More information is available at www.califelectprotect.net or www.voterconfidencecommittee.org .