County supervisor draws fire in quest to ensure valid elections

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Sat, Mar. 25, 2006

County supervisor draws fire in quest to ensure valid elections
BRENT KALLESTAD
Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Elections controversies just seem to stick to Florida.
With the memory of a botched 2000 presidential election still etched in the minds of most elections supervisors in the state, Leon County's Ion Sancho is now finding he can't get the equipment he says he needs to guarantee an honest election.

Vendors of the ATM-like electronic voting machines, tired of Sancho's criticisms over the level of security in their software, no longer want to do business with him or the county. All three companies certified to do business in Florida - Diebold Inc., Election Systems & Software Inc. and Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. - have said "no."

Sancho's insistence on quality also has angered several Florida officials, including Gov. Jeb Bush, and has already cost his county more than a half million dollars.

Nonetheless, the feisty 55-year-old has his share of supporters, with the Tallahassee Democrat dubbing him "a zealous solider in election reform battles."
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/14186057.htm



~click~
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I12863-2004Oct30L

[rodeodance]

1. do paper ballets and get a reciept.

[Raster]

2. I think jebbie and his cronies will do ANYTHING to hamper a paper ballot

election for several reasons: (1) the election probably won't go the way the jebbistas predict or forecase and they would be forced to honor said election under the world spotlight; and (2) it will expose just how flawed previous Florida elections have been. The only way to have a clean election in Florida is to mandate paper ballots and bring in Jimmy Carter and the UN to supervise.

[Lochloosa]

3. I proudly was able to vote for this man twice

before moving from Tallahassee. I think I'll move back just to support him.

[roseBudd]

4. For the love of a goddess be sure to click thru for traffic analysis

Click throughs (page views and unique visitors and stickiness (how long you stayed) are all being measured. We vote with our mice!!!

[Sgent]

5. This guy

needs to run for Flordia Sec. State.

[1monster]

6. Unfortunately, the Secretary of State position is no longer an elected

office. The Governor appoints the Secretary of State... Something Jebbie pushed for.

[AuntiBush]

7. What A Good Guy!

And in Jeb-Country, at that. Hats off to Sancho!

"Ion is one of the few to ask the questions," said Herbert Thompson, chief security strategist for Boston-based firm Security Innovation. "Like, what is this thing actually doing to my vote? How is it processing my vote?"

How dare Ion ask such questions and piss-off Jeb. :sarcasm:

[dusty64]

8. The headline says it all.

Why do they fear fair elections? Aren't they SUPPOSED to be accurate and verifiable?

[Wilms]

9. K&R n/t

[maddezmom]

10. kick

[BeFree]

11. Elections Official's Demand For Valid Vote Draws Fire

"An honest man with integrity is probably not the person you want to bet on in the American political system" Sancho said.

From the AP wires, is this story of a Florida Elections Supervisor who exposed Diebold several months ago. He now is taking the heat. An honest man, this Ion Sancho. An honest man. Will he survive?

http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/MGBKSY8W8LE.html

[greekspeak]

12. Ion Sancho is a real mensch....I wish he would run for governor

I would like that very much.

[Peace Patriot]

13. Must reading! This is where our democracy is being won or lost--

right there in Leon County--where Ion Sancho's courage, intelligence and integrity are prompting him to buck the entire nationwide corruption of our election system, brought about by the two biggest crooks in Congress, Tom Delay's and Bob Ney, and their $4 billion electronic voting boondoggle known as the "Help America Vote Act." Har-har on us. It's the "Help Bush Steal Another Election Act"--which resulted in two rightwing Bushite corporations controlling 80% of the nation's votes in 2004 with 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code and virtually no audit/recount controls.

The war for our democracy is being fought in other venues as well--by the few honest election officials and legislators left in the country, and by numerous fired up citizens. Let there be no mistake. A man like Ion Sancho is putting his life on the line for our right to vote. In California, the Bush junta in collusion with corrupt county election officials--like Connie McCormack in Los Angeles--corrupt or fearful Democratic state legislators, and the corrupt craprag, the San Francisco Chronicle--destroyed one of the country's few honest election officials, Kevin Shelley, our former Secretary of State, who had sued Diebold for lying to him about the security of their machines, and had decertified the worst of their election theft machines (the touchscreens) prior to the 2004 election. And they will destroy Ion Sancho if they can.

Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia have ganged up on him--likely in violation of anti-trust laws, as pointed out in this article--to deny him "certified" disabled access voting machines. They have likely agreed among themselves to punish him for questioning their hackable, insecure, highly riggable, and highly expensive election theft machines. These are bad dudes of the worst kind, with close ties to the Bush junta.

Diebold had as CEO Wally O'Dell, until a few months ago, a Bush/Cheney campaign chair and major fundraiser, who promised in writing to "deliver" Ohio to Bush/Cheney in 2004. ES&S, a spinoff of Diebold (similar computer architecture) was initially funded by rightwing billionaire Howard Ahmanson, who also gave a million dollars to the extremist 'christian' group, the Chalcedon Foundation (which, among other things, touts the death penalty for homosexuals). Diebold and ES&S have an incestuous relationship--they are run by two brothers, Tod and Bob Urosevich. Sequoia hired former Calif Republican Sec of State Bill Jones, and his chief aide Alfie Charles, to peddle their election theft systems--showing a complete lack of ethics on the part of both the company and these former public officials--the very one who brought the election theft system to Calif, and authorized the purchase of many millions of dollars in the company's election theft equipment.

Utterly filthy, all them, and utterly unscrupulous. And Ion Sancho, like a ancient white knight in shining armor, has raised his sword to these monsters and is doing battle on our behalf.

We need to show this man support! He cannot do it alone. Floridians, and other Americans, to the charge! We CANNOT let this terrible corruption of our election system stand. We MUST stop it!

-------------------------------------

Some resources for American Revolution II:

Breaking news:

California voters sue the state over Diebold:
www.VoterAction.org--just announced--is suing the state of California and 18 Calif county registrars on behalf of 25 California voter/plaintiffs, on the illegal Diebold "certification" by Schwarzenegger appointee Bruce McPherson.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2180496

Maryland rejects Diebold:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x418263

Florida - anti-trust accusations against Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2183630

www.votersunite.org (MythBreakers - easy primer on electronic voting--one of the myths is that HAVA requires electronic voting; it does not.)
www.verfiedvoting.org (great activist site)
www.votetrustusa.org (news of this great movement from around the country)
www.UScountvotes.org (statistical monitoring of '06 and '08 elections)
www.solarbus.org/election/index.shtml (fab compendium of all election info)
www.freepress.org (devoted to election reform)
www.bradblog.com (also great, and devoted to election reform)
www.TruthIsAll.net (analysis of the 2004 election)* :patriot: :applause: :patriot:
Sign the petition (Russ Holt, HR 550, great bill-has 169 sponsors). http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html
www.votepa.us (well-organized local group of citizen activists in Pennsylvania, where important legal issues are at stake, including state's rights over election systems)

www.debrabowen.com (Calif Senator running for Sec of State to reform election system)
www.johnbonifaz.com (running for Massachusetts Sec of State on strong election reform and antiwar platform)

*Some tributes to TruthIsAll, who is very ill:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417007
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417231
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x675477

Also of interest:

Bob Koehler (-- four recent election reform initiatives in Ohio, predicted to win by 60/40 votes, flipped over, on election day, into 60/40 LOSSES!--the biggest flipover we've seen yet; the election theft machines and their masters are now dictating election policy!)
www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?file=20051124ctnbk-a.txt&catid=1824&code=ctnbk

Bob Koehler's latest: "Take this box and stuff it" (3/16/06)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col337.htm

Amaryllis (Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia lavish lobbying of election officials - Beverly Hilton, Aug. '05)
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x380340

------------------------------------------------

Throw Diebold, ES&S and ALL election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

:think: :patriot: :woohoo: :patriot: :think:

-----------

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." --Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

[MelissaB]

14. more:

Elections Official's Demand For Valid Vote Draws Fire
By BRENT KALLESTAD The Associated Press

Published: Mar 26, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - Elections controversies seem to stick to Florida.

With the memory of a botched 2000 presidential election still etched in the minds of most elections supervisors in the state, Leon County's Ion Sancho is now finding he can't get the equipment he says he needs to guarantee an honest election.

Vendors of the ATM-like electronic voting machines, tired of Sancho's criticisms over the level of security in their software, no longer want to do business with him or the county. All three companies certified to do business in Florida - Diebold Inc., Election Systems & Software Inc. and Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. - have said no.

Sancho's criticism also has angered several Florida officials, including Gov. Jeb Bush, and has cost his county more than a half million dollars.

Nonetheless, the feisty 55-year-old has his share of supporters, with the Tallahassee Democrat dubbing him "a zealous soldier in election reform battles."

[Peace Patriot]

15. Please kick and recommend this thread! DUers need to know about this!

Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia are GANGSTERS! Gangsters are running our elections! Gangsters kept the Bush junta in power! Nothing but a bunch of gangsters, trying to "rub out" an honest man!

[Stevepol]

16. K&R!!

[IndianaGreen]

17. K&R

A righteous man is so rare nowadays!