BBV Press Conference - Summary

[Kelvin Mace]

I just posted the files covering the press conference to both BBV web sites:

www.blackboxvoting.com
www.blackboxvoting.org

The summary of the conference is:

1) 10 states have been using uncertified software

2) A convicted embezzeler has been writing voting machine software, and that software has gone straight from his computer to voting machines with no review or certification.

3) A convicted cocaine dealer has been directly involved in printing ballots used in elections.

I would say that Diebold really failed in its "due diligence" requirement when it decided to buy Global Election Systems.

David

[ParanoidPat]

1. Thanks for the update David!

:evilgrin:

More of those 'Family Values' we hear so much about!

:kick:

[nostamj]

2. full text of Andy's statement

for anyone PDF-challenged:

As a candidate for secretary of state, I feel that protecting voting is the most important responsibility of the secretary of state. The secretary of state is charged with maintaining the public trust in the systems that run and count elections. Assuring that the vote is FAIR and that EVERY citizen's voice is heard is an overriding concern of election officials.

Today I call on these officials to make a clear and public accounting of their own systems. The public has a right to know when uncertified, and unapproved software is counting an election, and it also has a right to have those elected officials explain clear
violations of the law. For the law states that software running these machines must be approved, and tested, and analyzed by independent testing authorities (ITAs) before it is used in voting machines. And when a software technician installs a “patch” or does an
“upgrade” to any part of the system, then that system has been compromised, unless that patch or upgrade is also approved and certified.

David Elliott, State of Washington Director of Elections.

David Elliot, the director of the institution charged with certifying software, has to date not provided a full and complete accounting of approved and certified software versions. Mr. Elliott is also reportedly responsible for entering the computer room on primary night
2000 and uploading a tabulation software update that was not approved nor certified. Bob Terwilliger of Snohomish County, admitted on the Mike Webb show that he allowed one of his programmers to install a modification onto his county’s voting equipment.

The "patch” was supposedly an update to a function that presents the raw number data into “reports.” But without a public disclosure of versions, patches, and feature numbers, one is forced to assume that these numbers are being withheld for a reason. What we are
talking about is that systems in Washington and all across the country which we have found are using untested, unverified software, and the people in charge of the systems refuse to acknowledge the versions they are running on.

Today Sam Reed current secretary of state, announced that we will have a “paper trail.” What we need is a voter verified paper ballot, and then we must put robust, fraud-deterring audit procedures in place. Today’s announcement falls far short of the needs
we have right now to ensure a fair and valid election.

As most of you already know, the touch screen systems around the country, being implemented under the auspices of the HAVA act, have come under fire by many in the academic, political, and scientific arenas, and recently, the media, for good reason. The
reason is that these systems, these companies and our election officials are quietly trying to bamboozle the public into accepting these machines.

These machines that are so grievously flawed that people around the country have banded together to counter this threat to democracy in the United States. The media has written hundreds of articles about these problems and computer scientists around the world from
such noted institutions as John Hopkins University, have documented these security threats in lengthy papers that detail hundreds of security flaws.

The security breaches with the software also transfer to the people programming, installing and running the system. Those charged with ensuring that only certified software is running during elections cannot tell us with any amount of certainty whether or not the system is in fact running certified software.

• Diebold Election Software was left unprotected on a public website.

• Leaked internal Diebold e-mail's show a pattern of deception, but looking deeper what’s really going on is nothing less than an outrageous abuse of the public trust.

• In King county your absentee ballot is handled by a private firm and the chain of custody cannot be ensured.

• I have requested the version numbers in use in Klickitat via a public records request and numerous follow-up phone calls. The information is still not available. I was told by Jean of El Paso County Texas that the version number running on their Diebold equipment was "None of my business".

• The outright stonewalling of election officials, such as Dawn Weaver, election administrator of Klickitat county Washington, is something that the media should be looking into.

• These officials sit in meetings, and tell state house and senate committees, that “paper-jams” are a serious concern. But their concerns are not valid. My concerns about unauthorized programs, stonewalling public officials and the lack of security in our absentee ballot counting, are of much higher priority.

[impeach the gop]

7. Thanks

n/t

[blm]

3. Salute to all you good patriots.

.

[Melinda]

4. More on Jeffrey Dean and John Elder, please.

I've read the documents re their criminal history, but see nothing regarding their current involvement in BBV... summary, please?

[Kelvin Mace]

8. conviction summary

Edit: added one guy I left out.

John Elders - convcited coke dealer, now involved in the porinting of ballots.

Jeffrey Dean - Convicted embezzler, formerly a senior VP at GES, currently a consultant to Diebold.

Michael Graye - Charged with tax fraud, fraud and money laundering. GES secretary/treasurer.


From a Diebold memo:

To: "Announce" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Printed Products General Manager
From: "Steve Moreland" <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 17:01:29 -0600

I am pleased to announce that effective today, John Elder will be
assuming the role of General Manager of the Printed Products department of Diebold Election Systems, Inc. John brings a wealth of knowledge along with a passion for success to this role which will be essential as we strive to gain market share and improve profitability.
Jeff Dean has elected to maintain his affiliation with the company in
a consulting role, reporting to Pat Green. The Diebold Election
Division management team greatly values Jeff's contribution to this business and is looking forward to his continued expertise in this market place.

Please join me in congratulating both John & Jeff in these responsibility changes. Your assistance in making this transition efficient is greatly appreciated.

[althecat]

37. The Diebold Election Division management team greatly values Jeff's

... experience in embezzlement.

ROTFL

Very droll david.

:)

[althecat]

5. Very cool David..... *and bev and andy!!!!

These people never cease to amaze me....

:)

[catzies]

6. I salute you all! Thanks for your hard work!

[Spazito]

9. Wow, the Eron Mortgage scandal was VERY big here in Canada...

Here is some more info on it, with lots of names:

Ontario Securities Commission
*OSC
Thursday August 15 2002
Street Wire
Also Securities and Exchange Commission (*SEC) Street Wire
by Brent Mudry
In a major bombshell sure to reverberate through penny stock markets in Canada
and the United States, suspended Toronto brokerage head Mark Valentine, his
offshore front Paul Lemmon, controversial former Vancouver lawyer Martin
Chambers, and other Howe Street players, including promoters John (Jack)
Purdy, Les Price, Kevan Garner, Ronald Horvat and Ken Liebscher, are among
58 individuals indicted in the broadest U.S.-Canadian joint probe of
stock-market-related money laundering in recent history. The case was unveiled
by the FBI and the RCMP in Miami and Vancouver. Birthday boy Mr. Purdy
turned 52 the same day.
"We were able to reach the highest level of those criminal organizations," RCMP
Vancouver spokeswoman Danielle Efford told Stockwatch. The overall operation
includes 23 separate grand jury indictments, with several individuals named in
more than one indictment.

<snip>

MARTIN CHAMBERS AND OTHER ALLEGED DRUG-MONEY
LAUNDERERS
The biggest catch in the drug sting was Mr. Chambers, a former Vancouver
lawyer with an impressive knack for turning up in intriguing situations. Mr.
Chambers, described as a purported management and financial consultant residing
in Vancouver, Howe Street promoter Mr. Garner, a principal of
Vancouver-based Garner Purdy Venture Capital and Diacam Ventures Ltd., and
accountant Mr. Hepburn, an offshore banker for Keywest Swiss Investment Bank
Inc. in St. Michael, Bahamas, face a total of five counts in one grand jury
indictment, sealed Aug. 6 in Miami.

more

http://www.mary.cc/tk/4.htm

[Kelvin Mace]

15. Eron - Enron? How interesting...

And no, I am not seriously seeing a connection, it was just an amusing coincidence.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[Spazito]

19. LOL I noticed the same thing, the slip of ONE letter and...Yikes!

They both seem to have the same sleazy set of ethics though!

[Rose Siding]

17. Geez, all that's missing is a link to the CIA

drugs, money, politics. I'm just saying...

I'm very anxious to see how this is rec'd. What was the turn out like?

[creativelcro]

10. Somebody is gonna go to jail...

[Kelvin Mace]

12. You mean go BACK to jail...

[creativelcro]

14. LOL! Yes, that's what I meant...

[loudsue]

18. Lots of people SHOULD go to jail, Creativelcro....

but this is a new world....where crooks run the country, and honest citizens are harrassed...and not really allowed to vote.

Man, I hope this gets a fire built under some people so that we can take our Democracy back from the corporations.

O8)Many blessings on Bev, Andy, Dave, Nostamj, Althecat, Eloriel, DemActivist, bpilgrim, and all the wonderful activists who are giving direction to our collective efforts.O8)

:loveya:

:pals: Keep up the good work! :pals:

:kick::kick::kick::kick:

[Kelvin Mace]

11. Another curious memo

http://www.princeton.edu/~cpence/diebold/source/resign.html

Just stumbled across this one, though I believe it has been discussed in the past.

For the past three years I have worked for Spectrum then Global. Over that time I have become increasingly concerned about the apparent lack of concern over the practice of writing contracts to provide products and services which do not exist and then attempting to build these items on an unreasonable timetable with no written plan, little to no time for testing, and minimal resources.

Sound familiar?

What is Spectrum?

Global acquired Spectrum Print & Mail Services, Ltd. in September 2000 and added the ability to print ballots as a service it provides to its customers. In January 2002, the Company was acquired by Diebold, Incorporated.

http://finance.lycos.com/qc/research/marketguide.aspx?pg=corp&symbols=AMEX:GLE

[creativelcro]

13. sounds familiar because that's the way most software

companies work :( ... If they have the expertise to deliver, I think it's not so terrible. But if they are incompetent, then it becomes a problem, obviously...

[Kelvin Mace]

16. Oh, I know

vaporware is par for the course. I was thinking of the other parts of the memo.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[GregW]

20. So if someone "serves their time"

They can no longer be trusted or employed as a programmer?

WTF is this? Do we live in some sort of police state?

[lysergik]

22. When they've been convicted of crimes..

..which are similar to that of the work which they are doing currently does that not concern you?

Embezzling money or embezzling votes, whats the difference?

[Kelvin Mace]

24. I also believe part of his release requirements

were to stay away from computers. Though I don't see how you equate this with a "police state".

Do you allow a child molester to work in day care?

Anyway, Diebold seems to have overlooked or ignored these security concerns when it bought GES, a very bad thing to do.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[Cocoa]

30. you believe that?

or you know it?

If hiring him is a violation of his release requirements, then why didn't you say that? I had the same reaction as GregW, "so what?"

Are the release papers among the documents?

[lysergik]

34. Why should someone who doesn't have the right to vote..

.. be allowed to interact with the core of the voting system? They shouldn't.

[Cocoa]

41. these people can't vote?

is that the law in Canada?

And even so, is there a law against them working for voting machine companies?

If not, is there a movement to pass such a law? Maybe it's a good idea, was this propoed at the press conference?

If so, then there's the relevance, but I didn't hear anyone propose such a thing. Sounds like ordinary smear so far.

[stickdog]

74. Nope. At minimum it's an extraordinary smear.

Contrast this with the 80,000 largely black voters Florida knocked off the voting rolls to "protect" against the minute possibility that a few of them were felons.

Then recognize a critical story hook when you read one.

Then realize what's at stake and ask yourself why you're always on the Diebold side of this battle. Because that's what the rest of us are asking ourselves.

[althecat]

31. Mirrors here for when BBV.com gets slashdotted...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0312/S00156.htm

It wouldn't do any harm for the press statement to be posted all over indymedia methinks.... I will post the source as a code snippet as a reply to this message if anybody wants to get Indymedia Happy around the place....

[althecat]

Press Release In HTML ready for Indymedia Posting....

Embezzlers, Drug Dealers & Uncertified BBV Voting Systems<br>
<br>
<center><h3> Embezzlers, Drug Dealers & Uncertified BBV Voting Systems In 10 States</h3><br>
Press Statement From<br>
Bev Harris & Andy Stephenson<br>
<a href= http://www.blackboxvoting.org> http://www.blackboxvoting.org</a><br>
<br>
Supporting Documentation (In PDF format - at Blackboxvoting.com)<br>
<a href= http://www.blackboxvoting.com/bbv/1216presskit.pdf> PRESSKIT (221kb)</a> - <a href= http://www.blackboxvoting.com/bbv/1216documents.pdf> ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (3.2 mb)</a></center><br>
<br>
<small> Supporting Documentation (In PDF format – Mirror Files Hosted at Scoop)<br>
<a href= http://www.scoop.co.nz/BlackBoxVoting/1216presskit.pdf > PRESSKIT (221kb)</a> - <a href= http://www.scoop.co.nz/BlackBoxVoting/1216documents.pdf > ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (3.2 mb)</a><br>
</small><br>
<br>
<a href="http://shop1.got.net/plan9/Detail.bok?searchpath=7f000001f69455dfe692&category=Political+Commentary&start=1&total=1&no=206" target="_blank"><img src="" width="306" height="396" border="0"><br>
<small>http://www.blackboxvoting.com<br>
<i> Read The Book…Support The Cause - Pre-Order Your Copy Today</i></small></a></center><br>
<br>
Bev Harris, author of <a href="http://shop1.got.net/plan9/Detail.bok?searchpath=7f000001f69455dfe692&category=Political+Commentary&start=1&total=1&no=206" target="_blank"> Black Box Voting</a>, and Andy Stephenson, Democratic candidate for Washington Secretary of State, have uncovered information that brings concerns about electronic voting to a new level. This information affects both optical scans and touch-screens; it also affects the security of absentee ballots.<br>
<br>
What we have, in Washington State, is this:<br>
<br>
We’ve got the state election director misstating when versions were certified, somebody at the secretary of state’s office signing off on software with no NASED number, and when we try to find out what software is actually authorized, we get the buffalo shuffle. We’ve got a convicted drug dealer printing our ballots, a 23-count embezzler programming our voting system, and our absentee ballots are being funnelled through a private company that hires mainly immigrants but also people straight out of prison.<br>
<br>
We’ve now documented 10 states that are using unauthorized software, and internal memos that indicate that five Diebold programmers uploaded these unauthorized programs, knowing that this was not allowed.<br>
<br>
- Bev Harris & Andy Stephenson<br>
<br>
<center>***************<br>
<br>
<b> STATEMENT FROM ANDY STEPHENSON CANDIDATE FOR SECRETARY OF STATE WASHINGTON STATE</b></center><br>
<br>
As a candidate for secretary of state, I feel that protecting voting is the most important responsibility of the secretary of state. The secretary of state is charged with maintaining the public trust in the systems that run and count elections. Assuring that the vote is FAIR and that EVERY citizen's voice is heard is an overriding concern of election officials.<br>
<br>
Today I call on these officials to make a clear and public accounting of their own systems. The public has a right to know when uncertified, and unapproved software is counting an election, and it also has a right to have those elected officials explain clear violations of the law. For the law states that software running these machines must be approved, and tested, and analyzed by independent testing authorities (ITAs) before it is used in voting machines. And when a software technician installs a “patch” or does an “upgrade” to any part of the system, then that system has been compromised, unless that patch or upgrade is also approved and certified.<br>
<br>
<b> David Elliott, State of Washington Director of Elections.</b><br>
<br>
David Elliot, the director of the institution charged with certifying software, has to date not provided a full and complete accounting of approved and certified software versions. Mr. Elliott is also reportedly responsible for entering the computer room on primary night 2000 and uploading a tabulation software update that was not approved nor certified. Bob Terwilliger of Snohomish County, admitted on the Mike Webb show that he allowed one of his programmers to install a modification onto his county’s voting equipment.<br>
<br>
The "patch” was supposedly an update to a function that presents the raw number data into “reports.” But without a public disclosure of versions, patches, and feature numbers, one is forced to assume that these numbers are being withheld for a reason. What we are talking about is that systems in Washington and all across the country which we have found are using untested, unverified software, and the people in charge of the systems refuse to acknowledge the versions they are running on.<br>
<br>
Today Sam Reed current secretary of state, announced that we will have a “paper trail.” What we need is a voter verified paper ballot, and then we must put robust, fraud-deterring audit procedures in place. Today’s announcement falls far short of the needs we have right now to ensure a fair and valid election.<br>
<br>
As most of you already know, the touch screen systems around the country, being implemented under the auspices of the HAVA act, have come under fire by many in the academic, political, and scientific arenas, and recently, the media, for good reason. The reason is that these systems, these companies and our election officials are quietly trying to bamboozle the public into accepting these machines.<br>
<br>
These machines that are so grievously flawed that people around the country have banded together to counter this threat to democracy in the United States. The media has written hundreds of articles about these problems and computer scientists around the world from such noted institutions as John Hopkins University, have documented these security threats in lengthy papers that detail hundreds of security flaws.<br>
<br>
The security breaches with the software also transfer to the people programming, installing and running the system. Those charged with ensuring that only certified software is running during elections cannot tell us with any amount of certainty whether or not the system is in fact running certified software.<br>
<br>
• Diebold Election Software was left unprotected on a public website.<br>
<br>
• Leaked internal Diebold e-mail's show a pattern of deception, but looking deeper what’s really going on is nothing less than an outrageous abuse of the public trust.<br>
<br>
• In King county your absentee ballot is handled by a private firm and the chain of custody cannot be ensured.<br>
<br>
• I have requested the version numbers in use in Klickitat via a public records request and numerous follow-up phone calls. The information is still not available. I was told by Jean of El Paso County Texas that the version number running on their Diebold equipment was "None of my business".<br>
<br>
• The outright stonewalling of election officials, such as Dawn Weaver, election administrator of Klickitat county Washington, is something that the media should be looking into.<br>
<br>
• These officials sit in meetings, and tell state house and senate committees, that “paper-jams” are a serious concern. But their concerns are not valid. My concerns about unauthorized programs, stonewalling public officials and the lack of security in our absentee ballot counting, are of much higher priority.<br>
<br>
<center>*** ENDS ***</center><br>
<br>
<a name=a><center># # # # #</center><br>
<br>
Bev Harris is author of <i> Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering In The 21st Century </i>… See <a href= http://www.blackboxvoting.com/> http://www.blackboxvoting.com/</a> and it's activist arm <a href="http://www.blackboxvoting.org/"> http://www.blackboxvoting.org/</a><br>
<br>
<center><a href="http://shop1.got.net/plan9/Search.bok?category=Political+Commentary" target="_blank"> <img src=" " width="200" height="259" border="0"><br>
Pre-Order your copy of Black Box Voting today…</a></center><br>
<br>
For more background and live news links on this news subject see also Scoop's Special Feature – <i> A Very American Coup…</i><br>
<br>
<center><a href=http://scoop.co.nz/mason/features/?s=usacoup> <img src=" " width="200" height="300" border="0"></a></center><br>
<br>
<center>******* ENDS ********</center><br>
<br>

[althecat]

32. Press Release In HTML ready for Indymedia Posting....

Embezzlers, Drug Dealers & Uncertified BBV Voting
Systems<br>
<br>
<center><h3> Embezzlers, Drug Dealers &
Uncertified BBV Voting Systems In 10
States</h3><br>
Press Statement From<br>
Bev Harris &  Andy Stephenson<br>
<a href= http://www.blackboxvoting.org>
http://www.blackboxvoting.org</a><br>
<br>
Supporting Documentation (In PDF format -  at
Blackboxvoting.com)<br>
<a href=
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/bbv/1216presskit.pdf>
PRESSKIT (221kb)</a> - <a href=
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/bbv/1216documents.pdf>
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (3.2 mb)</a></center><br>
<br>
<small> Supporting Documentation (In PDF format – Mirror
Files Hosted at Scoop)<br>
<a href=
http://www.scoop.co.nz/BlackBoxVoting/1216presskit.pdf >
PRESSKIT (221kb)</a> - <a href=
http://www.scoop.co.nz/BlackBoxVoting/1216documents.pdf >
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (3.2 mb)</a><br>
</small><br>
<br>
<a
href="http://shop1.got.net/plan9/Detail.bok?searchpath=7f000001f69455dfe692&category=Political+Commentary&start=1&total=1&no=206"
target="_blank"><img
src="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0307/381a0dc5c015016c5ddb.jpeg"
width="306" height="396"
border="0"><br>
<small>http://www.blackboxvoting.com<br>
<i> Read The Book…Support The Cause - Pre-Order Your
Copy
Today</i></small></a></center><br>
<br>
Bev Harris, author of <a
href="http://shop1.got.net/plan9/Detail.bok?searchpath=7f000001f69455dfe692&category=Political+Commentary&start=1&total=1&no=206"
target="_blank"> Black Box Voting</a>, and
Andy Stephenson, Democratic candidate for Washington Secretary
of State, have uncovered information that brings concerns
about electronic voting to a new level. This information
affects both optical scans and touch-screens; it also affects
the security of absentee ballots.<br>
<br>
What we have, in Washington State, is this:<br>
<br>
We’ve got the state election director misstating when versions
were certified, somebody at the secretary of state’s office
signing off on software with no NASED number, and when we try
to find out what software is actually authorized, we get the
buffalo shuffle. We’ve got a convicted drug dealer printing
our ballots, a 23-count embezzler programming our voting
system, and our absentee ballots are being funnelled through a
private company that hires mainly immigrants but also people
straight out of prison.<br>
<br>
We’ve now documented 10 states that are using unauthorized
software, and internal memos that indicate that five Diebold
programmers uploaded these unauthorized programs, knowing that
this was not allowed.<br>
<br>
- Bev Harris & Andy Stephenson<br>
<br>
<center>***************<br>
<br>
<b> STATEMENT FROM ANDY STEPHENSON CANDIDATE FOR
SECRETARY OF STATE WASHINGTON
STATE</b></center><br>
<br>
As a candidate for secretary of state, I feel that protecting
voting is the most important responsibility of the secretary
of state. The secretary of state is charged with maintaining
the public trust in the systems that run and count elections.
Assuring that the vote is FAIR and that EVERY citizen's voice
is heard is an overriding concern of election
officials.<br>
<br>
Today I call on these officials to make a clear and public
accounting of their own systems. The public has a right to
know when uncertified, and unapproved software is counting an
election, and it also has a right to have those elected
officials explain clear violations of the law. For the law
states that software running these machines must be approved,
and tested, and analyzed by independent testing authorities
(ITAs) before it is used in voting machines. And when a
software technician installs a “patch” or does an “upgrade” to
any part of the system, then that system has been compromised,
unless that patch or upgrade is also approved and
certified.<br>
<br>
<b> David Elliott, State of Washington Director of
Elections.</b><br>
<br>
David Elliot, the director of the institution charged with
certifying software, has to date not provided a full and
complete accounting of approved and certified software
versions. Mr. Elliott is also reportedly responsible for
entering the computer room on primary night 2000 and uploading
a tabulation software update that was not approved nor
certified. Bob Terwilliger of Snohomish County, admitted on
the Mike Webb show that he allowed one of his programmers to
install a modification onto his county’s voting
equipment.<br>
<br>
The "patch” was supposedly an update to a function that
presents the raw number data into “reports.” But without a
public disclosure of versions, patches, and feature numbers,
one is forced to assume that these numbers are being withheld
for a reason. What we are talking about is that systems in
Washington and all across the country which we have found are
using untested, unverified software, and the people in charge
of the systems refuse to acknowledge the versions they are
running on.<br>
<br>
Today Sam Reed current secretary of state, announced that we
will have a “paper trail.” What we need is a voter verified
paper ballot, and then we must put robust, fraud-deterring
audit procedures in place. Today’s announcement falls far
short of the needs we have right now to ensure a fair and
valid election.<br>
<br>
As most of you already know, the touch screen systems around
the country, being implemented under the auspices of the HAVA
act, have come under fire by many in the academic, political,
and scientific arenas, and recently, the media, for good
reason. The reason is that these systems, these companies and
our election officials are quietly trying to bamboozle the
public into accepting these machines.<br>
<br>
These machines that are so grievously flawed that people
around the country have banded together to counter this threat
to democracy in the United States. The media has written
hundreds of articles about these problems and computer
scientists around the world from such noted institutions as
John Hopkins University, have documented these security
threats in lengthy papers that detail hundreds of security
flaws.<br>
<br>
The security breaches with the software also transfer to the
people programming, installing and running the system. Those
charged with ensuring that only certified software is running
during elections cannot tell us with any amount of certainty
whether or not the system is in fact running certified
software.<br>
<br>
• Diebold Election Software was left unprotected on a public
website.<br>
<br>
• Leaked internal Diebold e-mail's show a pattern of
deception, but looking deeper what’s really going on is
nothing less than an outrageous abuse of the public
trust.<br>
<br>
• In King county your absentee ballot is handled by a private
firm and the chain of custody cannot be ensured.<br>
<br>
• I have requested the version numbers in use in Klickitat via
a public records request and numerous follow-up phone calls.
The information is still not available. I was told by Jean of
El Paso County Texas that the version number running on their
Diebold equipment was "None of my
business".<br>
<br>
• The outright stonewalling of election officials, such as
Dawn Weaver, election administrator of Klickitat county
Washington, is something that the media should be looking
into.<br>
<br>
• These officials sit in meetings, and tell state house and
senate committees, that “paper-jams” are a serious concern.
But their concerns are not valid. My concerns about
unauthorized programs, stonewalling public officials and the
lack of security in our absentee ballot counting, are of much
higher priority.<br>
<br>
<center>*** ENDS ***</center><br>
<br>
<a name=a><center># # # #
#</center><br>
<br>
Bev Harris is author of <i> Black Box Voting: Ballot
Tampering In The 21st Century </i>… See <a href=
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/>
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/</a> and it's activist arm
<a href="http://www.blackboxvoting.org/">
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/</a><br>
<br>
<center><a
href="http://shop1.got.net/plan9/Search.bok?category=Political+Commentary"
target="_blank"> <img src="
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0307/7d58efddbe34ef6a78e8.jpeg"
width="200" height="259"
border="0"><br>
Pre-Order your copy of Black Box Voting
today…</a></center><br>
<br>
For more background and live news links on this news subject
see also Scoop's Special Feature – <i> A Very American
Coup…</i><br>
<br>
<center><a
href=http://scoop.co.nz/mason/features/?s=usacoup> <img
src="http://www.scoop.co.nz/ad_html/banners/jul03/coup.gif
" width="200" height="300"
border="0"></a></center><br>
<br>
<center>******* ENDS ********</center><br>
<br>

[RedEagle]

58. Why Concern About Criminal History

Musings from the SO:

Why should we be concerned about a criminal history for someone involved in our elections system?

Could a person in a state or federal level office position have a criminal history?

The question came up that Diebold didn't do good due dilligence. But maybe they did excellent due dilligence. Maybe they wanted somebody in a management position with a track record of working outside of the law. Such an individual would not be likely to become a whistleblower.

We need to be concerned because a company that is approaching our voting systems with that attitude might have no compunction in violating public trust.

Companies that purchase other companies assume the liabilities of that staff and it appears some of these people were rehired. Job applications ask, "Have you ever been convicted of a crime?"

Could you bond these people? Should they or the companies they represent be involved in our elctoral system?

[Junkdrawer]

25. Keep working. Try to wrap the "disabled access" message in there...

I don't think the "rights of ex-embezzelers" angle is going to fly.

:evilgrin:

[alfredo]

26. It is about the culture of the companies who own the

rights to our vote.

[ParanoidPat]

28. As a programmer of video games or other software, NO.....

......As a programmer of 'mission critical' software being illegally fast tracked into voting machines without any testing or peer review, yes. They should no longer be trusted!

When it comes to writing code that will be used to elect the 'leader of the free world' and 'Commander in Chief' of the most powerful military forces on the planet, I think it's prudent to demand the most honest people with the highest skills available.

Do you have a problem with that? :shrug:

IOW, would you hire a rapist to baby-sit your daughter just because he served his time? :evilgrin:

BTW, as far as living in a 'police state' goes, have you been to any good 'first amendment zones' lately?

[stickdog]

67. Don't you see the irony, dude? We don't even allow convicted felons to

vote in many states.

But Diebold managed to pay one quite well to steal our votes.

[aquart]

105. A child molester serves his time.

You'd okay him for school work?

[cthrumatrix]

21. this deserves alot of eyes..... it's about time the law enter the picture

[Junkdrawer]

23. Why do you suppose they hire so many ex-cons?

1.) Because Thugs hire Thugs

2.) Because honest, law-abiding programmers wouldn't do what these programmers did.

:shrug:

[frank frankly]

27. kick

kick

[althecat]

29. The felony angles will attract the newseditors... but the guts..

I guess is in the uncertified use of software.

I have mirrored the PDFs here

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0312/S00156.htm

I expect they will get hammered especially once they get slashdotted...

Plus I note that the second PDF the press kit is not linked on BBV.org yet. The supporting documentation is hard to make sense of without Bev's succinct explantion which is in the presskit.

al

[Cocoa]

33. is that the way it works?

I'm not a news editor, but the seemingly irrelevant criminal backgrounds of seemingly irrelevant employees detracts from the credibility of the story. Smells like a smear to me, makes it look like you've got nothing.

[Junkdrawer]

35. "straight from his computer to voting machines with no review or...

certification"

Don't you think it's about time to examine the R. Doug Lewis/Election Center/Software "certification" black box?

[Cocoa]

43. why is it any different if the programmer is a drug dealer?

if it's a security breach, it would be the same breach if the programmer was a boy scout.

The ad hominem stuff doesn't help, it actually hurts, it looks like you're more interested in taking down Diebold than in improving the election system.

[Junkdrawer]

45. It's all about openness and trust Cocoa...

R. Doug Lewis, The Election Center and the whole voting machine software "certification" process is shrouded in secrecy. Trust us, they say. And when you open the box a crack, you find bypasses and convicted embezzlers - experts at gaming poorly audited systems.

Not good.

[althecat]

36. But Cocoa you always think that....

To nearly everybody else it is clear by now that the issue of Diebold's pathological incompetence is not a smear, but a syndrome.

As has been pointed out....

The fact that the felon in question was writing code that was being placed on systems without being certified kind of brings it into issue.

As for newseditors.. they always like stories and headlines with words like embezzle, felony and drugs in them.

[Cocoa]

40. then why are these new revelations necessary?

why the need for more dirt?

Anyway, wasn't a smoking gun found months ago, doesn't a couple of convictions pale in comparison to PROVEN vote stealing?

Even the lack of certification pales in comparison to the fact that it's been proven that elections were stolen with these machines.

[ParanoidPat]

44. For the same reason that......

.....you feel compelled to respond to these threads, some people still don't get it! :evilgrin:

:kick: OUR VOTE, OUR CHOICE! :kick:

We don't want felons counting our votes any more than
we want child molesters watching our children!

[althecat]

60. Couldn't agree more...

However... getting the mainstream press interested in this story has been like drawing blood from a stone.

In addition... with the media's attention span being considerably worse than a toddler with ADHD it is important to constantly feed the meme more information.

al

[stickdog]

85. "Smells like a smear to me, makes it look like you've got nothing."

Do you ever watch the news on TV or read American newspapers?

Just wondering.

[Kelvin Mace]

47. Actually, I posted

her summary as the intro to the PDF's.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[althecat]

62. There is much more in that Presskit PDF than you posted..

leastways I think there is... you have to scroll down to see it all..

al

[Kelvin Mace]

70. You are correct...

fixing!!

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[Kelvin Mace]

78. Fixed!!

Sorry 'bout that. For some reason she had big spaces between pages.

Thanks for pointing it out, Bev would 'a skinned me!

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[info being]

38. Yes

That's right.

[RedEagle]

39. On the front page

Kick!

[proud patriot]

42. Hey thanks for posting

:hi:

[Junkdrawer]

46. kick

:kick:

[WarNoMore]

48. glory be!

kick!!

[greatauntoftriplets]

49. Thanks David.

Andy has been so damned close-mouth with me, and usually I can get most info out of him.

[nostamj]

50. oh yes!

he was ZIPPED tight

LOL

[Robbien]

51. Nine minutes ago this story was posted in the Florida Herald

Critics: Convicted felons worked for electronic voting companies
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031216/APN/312161067

At least five convicted felons secured management positions at a manufacturer of electronic voting machines, according to critics demanding more stringent background checks for people responsible for voting machine software.

Voter advocate Bev Harris alleged Tuesday that managers of a subsidiary of Diebold Inc., one of the country's largest voting equipment vendors, included a cocaine trafficker, a man who conducted fraudulent stock transactions, and a programmer jailed for falsifying computer records.

The programmer, Jeffrey Dean, wrote and maintained proprietary code used to count hundreds of thousands of votes as senior vice president of Global Election Systems Inc. Diebold purchased GES in January 2002.

According to a public court document released before GES hired him, Dean served time in a Washington correctional facility for stealing money and tampering with computer files in a scheme that "involved a high degree of sophistication and planning."

more. . .

[nostamj]

52. oh, the SMILE just splits my face

Brava Bev! and Bravo Andy!

this is courage

[Robbien]

54. Yep, Yay! and here, just in, is one more for you in San Jose

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7507193.htm

article seems the same as the first one in Florida

[ParanoidPat]

55. And two more!

Critics: Convicted felons worked for electronic voting companies Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL

Security an issue in ballot machine Tacoma News Tribune, WA

[ParanoidPat]

53. KOOOOOL! 3 hours from the start of the news conference.....

.....to the first newspaper pickup! :thumbsup: :evilgrin:

Go Bev and Andy! :toast:

[Kelvin Mace]

56. Bloody amazing

Kudos to Rachel Konrad at the AP, one of the few reporters on this from the start.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[creativelcro]

57. Front page of agonist.org has a link to the story

http://www.agonist.org/

[greatauntoftriplets]

63. Damn it to hell.

Just checked the Chicago Tribune website. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Grrrrrrrr.

[Beetwasher]

132. Holy Fucking Shit!

This is unbeleivable, well not really, but still!

"According to a public court document released before GES hired him, Dean served time in a Washington correctional facility for stealing money and tampering with computer files in a scheme that "involved a high degree of sophistication and planning.""

They certainly found the right guy for the job.

[ParanoidPat]

59. Back to the top with you!

:kick:

[Kelvin Mace]

61. How should it be done?

I keep getting this question from people. Rather than get in a long discussion of details, let me just make one suggestion:

Treat the creation of voting machines and voting machine software the same way we treat creation of our money. Everyone involved in every step of the process is closely vetted and watched. Every step of the process is carefully documented and carefully checked, double-checked and triple-checked. Any outside vendor is rigorously screened and regularly re-screened.

Why is confidence in our vote note equated with confidence in our money?

Don't answer, rhetorical question.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[creativelcro]

64. It is a rethorical question indeed....

But the answer is that the operational definition of how important the government believes elections are is the effort they are willing to put in to make sure there are conducted properly.

[ParanoidPat]

65. The security of each of our votes......

......should be as high a priority as the security of our governments most highly guarded secrets! :evilgrin:

[JohnGideon]

66. I Attended the News Conference

Great job by both Bev and Andy. I was disappointed in the number of the press who were there. One local TV News cameraman, AP, Indymedia, Slashdot, and a few others. The news will get out though. This was too big to be swept under the carpet. Plus, this news conference was going at the same time as the Calif. SoS meeting on Diebold Certification. In the middle of that meeting someone came out carrying a stack of Bev's press releases and passed them out to everyone.

[Kelvin Mace]

68. Oh, jeez...

I would have LOVED to have been in that room when they read that aloud.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[Cocoa]

81. how do you feel about the Barbara Boxer legislation?

it was mentioned in one of the articles linked to in this thread, it was the first I'd heard about it.

It was for stricter requirements for employees of voting machine companies.

I think that could solve the problem with the felons at Diebold, like the Holt legislation could solve the problems that the scientits found.

[Andy_Stephenson]

69. Hi everyone Bev and Andy here...

Did we miss anything? :)

[greatauntoftriplets]

71. How the hell are you guys????

Jeez.

[Andy_Stephenson]

73. Oh fine...

Why?

[greatauntoftriplets]

75. Boring day today?

:yawn: LMAO.

I am taking a day off tomorrow, getting my car serviced, doing some Christmas shopping. Really exciting stuff!!!! LMAO.

;)

[greatauntoftriplets]

88. Well, hope you sleep well, considering what a dull day you had today.

:sleepy:

[Kelvin Mace]

90. BTW, GreatAunt

Where in Ireland do you live?

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[greatauntoftriplets]

91. Chicago, LMAO.

Wish I lived in Westport, County Mayo.

[Kelvin Mace]

93. We'd be neighbors,

I want to live on Achill.

<s>

David Allen
www.plan9.org

Diebold voting Machines
We vote for you, so you don't have to!

[Andy_Stephenson]

94. I love

Dublin.

[Kelvin Mace]

95. My aunts live

in Enniskillen in the North. My mom was born in Dublin.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[Andy_Stephenson]

96. I had more fun there

than in any other place I have ever been.

Must be the warm Guiness.

[ParanoidPat]

72. You guys didn't miss a trick!

BRAVO! BRAVO! :thumbsup: :toast:

You made the print press in less than 3 hours! Way to go!

[Andy_Stephenson]

76. Was it worth

the wait?

[nostamj]

77. i think so, hon

i think so...

[althecat]

80. Yip... a rip-snorter of the highest order...

Just as we have become accustomed too...

Plus Cocoa thinks its stink, so that's proof that you have struck more gold dust. :)

[nostamj]

82. ah... the C/TFHP seal of disapproval!

it's a good thing

[Kelvin Mace]

79. Story already all over the AP wire

More papers picking up as time moves on.

If we can find out what happened when it was dropped in Diebold's lap in the California meeting, my day will be complete.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[alfredo]

86. It was passed to major TV stations in Kentucky, but it will not

hurt to hit them again.

The ABC affiliate in Lexington, WTVQ passed it on to New York.

It went out to my new Moveon.org buddies.



A Big

THANK YOU

to you guys

[creativelcro]

83. Did you get enough sigs Andy ??

[Andy_Stephenson]

84. Yes...now I need to fund raise like a madman!

But I think that will be a bit easier.

[creativelcro]

89. Congrats!!!

[Cocoa]

87. how is this related to the Barbara Boxer biil?

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031216/APN/312161067

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., announced a bill last week that would require stringent background checks on all electronic voting company employees who work with voting software. The bill, which the California Democrat plans to introduce in January, would toughen security standards for voting software and hardware, and require touch-screen terminals to include printers and produce paper backups of vote counts by the 2004 presidential election in November.



Were the revelations about the criminal records motivated by support for this legislation? If so, then it makes some sense.

Does anyone know what motivated Boxer to include this provision? Are felons in voting machine companies a known problem? Before today's revelations, that is?

[ParanoidPat]

92. I can't take credit for what Ms. Boxer did but......

.....in previous e-mails and letters to all of my reps here in California I have mentioned that as citizens we deserve the same level of security in our electoral system that those we elect to wield the power of our military get. After all, have you ever seen the background check that a janitor in a military contractors factory has to undergo just to sweep the floors? :shrug:

It only makes sense. :evilgrin:

[Cleita]

130. I exchange mail with Barbara occasionally and I

mailed her all the links to the BBV question when irregularities showed up in my county after the 2002 election although I don't think I was the only source she heard from.

[never cry wolf]

97. Great job guys!!

You are all wonderful!! I am pissed cuz I have to head out and can't read everything but AP has this on the wires.

NATIONAL COVERAGE Andy!!!

We can beat these pukes!!

[Andy_Stephenson]

98. I could never have done it

on my own....

Thanks go to

Bev
Termite
and of course

DU

[JohnGideon]

99. You Should Have Heard The Cheers

over the phone as I told Bev and Andy about the call I had just made to Calif. and the news from the Diebold Certification meeting down there.

[creativelcro]

100. So, what happened at the meeting in CA?

[Andy_Stephenson]

102. The shit hit the fan

so ta speak.

[BevHarris]

101. Is it true that the secretary of state said "this is just bullshit!"

pertaining to Diebold's use of uncertified, not even close to being certified, and not even certifiable software?

Bev

[Andy_Stephenson]

103. Bev!!!!!

Your home and safe.
Good!

[Vadem]

104. We're waiting on bated breath, Bev! Tell us! Way to go to you ..

and Andy. We are so proud of you both. Please tell all!

[JohnGideon]

107. I Was Hoping That GregD Would Be On Somewhere

to tell us exactly what was said, but I according to him (on the phone) the panel that was supposed to make a decision was not at all happy with the report. I don't know if Shelly used any expletives but he too was not at all happy. GregD says that Shelly made an impassioned speach about voting and how it is the people's right.

I think that was after they brought out Bev and Andy's press release and passed them out, including one to Bob Urosevich. God I wish I was there to see the blood drain from Urosevich's face when he saw that press release. He must have gone pasty white.

[Andy_Stephenson]

108. And prolly needed

Tums...bad.

[Pocho]

106. CROSS BORDER COOPERATION?

A while back Cauhtemoc Cardenas, Mexico's populist presidential candidate, seemingly had his election here stolen by Carlos Salinas. In the next election ex US president Jimmy Carter came across the border to ensure our elections would be fair. The joke here when Bush was in the process of overthrowing the US government was that we must have reciprocated and sent Salinas north to teach them how.

Haven't heard much about him lately. Wonder if he may have secured employment with Diebold.

Keep it up Andy. You are doing great.

[Vadem]

109. kick to the top, while waiting for Bev.....

:kick:

[oasis]

110. kick

[dusty64]

111. Frightening stuff.

How much more will these companies be allowed to get away with? How much more obvious does it need to be that they are crooked, partisan, and completely untrustworthy?

[cthrumatrix]

112. kick

[RedEagle]

113. Washington State's Law Has Weasel Clause!

"Finally, the bill will also include language to permit electronic verification if such technology is approved by the Federal Elections Assistance Commission and is practical and acceptable to voters."


This is what the news outlets are NOT reporting.

Here is the door for VoteHere, long time associate of Washington State's election officials, and by partnership, includes Sequoia.

Oh, will they get certification? Their head promoter, Jim Adler, wrote the standards for certification.

The fix is still in.

[RedEagle]

114. This is Where Change is Made Possible

Kick!

[Andy_Stephenson]

115. One last kick

:kick:

[SeattleRob]

116. great work.....

Thanks for your efforts. I see there was a "Pre=emptive" news conference by the WA Secretary of State about paper trails. The Seattle Times mentioned some of the info from Bev and Andy's News conference, but the Seattle PI barely mentioned it.


:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[Andy_Stephenson]

117. The PI did a hatchet Job

and I have called them for a correction.

[RedEagle]

118. I've called the PI too

Man, do they just print everything they hear without a little followup investigation?

Reed and gang never wanted a paper trail. It took 8 months of hard work, legislators threatening it, and this news conference to put them in CYA mode.

[BevHarris]

119. I sent the following request for correction to PI writer and managmt

CORRECTION PLEASE: You made factual errors in your story

First, the technology for a voting machine that has a paper ballot is already in place, is certified in other states, and has been tested in other states. The secretary of state's office has blocked certification in Washington of this system without explaining why. I will provide you with names and contact info for people who can provide the facts if you wish.

By the way, Reed only offered the "paper trail" because he was told by members of the Washington State legislature that they were giving him no choice. One senator said something to this effect, in a recent hearing, "My constituents want it and I am NOT losing my job over this." They said basically, "We don't care what you have to do, you're going to have a paper trail." Reed and Elliott and Snohomish County's Bob Terwilliger have been opponents of the paper ballot until literally backed into a corner by the Washington state legislature.

Next: This is damaging to my credibility and I expect a retraction and correction:

"Also yesterday, activist Bev Harris and Andy Stephenson, who wants to be the next secretary of state for Washington, questioned the certification of some software programs on electronic voting machines, and whether officials properly accounted for absentee ballots in King County. Elections officials said the two had never contacted them about their concerns. A King County official said the absentee process has undergone review, and state Elections Director Dave Elliott said that Reed's proposed legislation addresses certification concerns and that the machines' software is tested for accuracy before every counting."

Had you read the press packet provided yesterday, and still available at http://www.blackboxvoting.org, you would have the actual e-mails, which go back and forth; in addition, an interview with Paul Miller on this topic has been posted on the Web since February; and I have contacted King County officials at least 10 times. Not only that, but I actually addressed this to David Elliott, Bob Terwilliger, AND THE WASHINGTON LEGISLATURE and then specifically addressed the issue of unauthorized software again in front of 12 witnesses in front of Senate Room 1 in Olympia.

The certification concerns aren't solved by proposed legislation because Washington state officials have persistently broken our existing law, and by the way, these were not minor changes, they were major changes. Please look to what happened in California yesterday for a hint on things to come in Washington state. There, the secretary of state found that after an audit it was determined that NOT ONE system was in compliance, and the violations were egregious. Their findings were that software that was not certified was used, and software that was not even close to being certified, and software that was actually uncertifiable.

In King County, the changes involved rewriting the guts of the program, not once, but at least twice. This is documented from the software programmers' own notes.

You do your profession a grave disservice when you do not check the facts. I'm sorry that they are not as pretty as the officials have said. Sometimes you have to clean up a turd when it's sitting on your front porch, and you are simply telling people do go out the side door instead.

Now, as for absentee balloting, exactly when did they "review" it? Between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. yesterday? Because the information on absentee balloting was obtained from an insider who actually knows what they are doing in King County. Reviewing the absentee system might be nice; ask for specifics as to what has been changed. The two very serious problems we have are that 1) We do not count incoming ballots before turning them over to a private firm with a history of hiring felons, leaving the door wide open for "losing" some ballots in key precincts, and 2) we do not have criminal background checks in place for the people handling our absentee ballots.

My number is xxxxxxxxxx. I will await your call. I also look forward
to your coverage of the fact that Diebold lied to AP Wire service yesterday, when they said that convicted embezzler Jeffrey Dean didn't work for them after their takeover of Global Election Systems -- their own memos specifically reference both the continuation of convicted cocaine trafficker John Elder and their enthusiasm for the work of Jeffrey Dean and their announced plan to keep him on as a consultant. My question: Why did we hand an embezzler the keys to the King County voting system and provide 24-hour access to the computers, plus the passcode? King County voters deserve an answer.

Bev Harris
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

[Andy_Stephenson]

120. Oh this statement made me spit coffee.

"Sometimes you have to clean up a turd when it's sitting on your front porch"

You go Bev!

[BevHarris]

122. Stole that line from Alastair Thompson

:)

My favorite new line: (We share this one, Andy, I've been saying the first half but it's your second half that makes it resonate. Just used it on radio twice: "It's time to get everyone out of the pool. We have to disinfect it."

Even if we have to go back to paper ballots, hand-counted, for the next primary races, that's what we've got to do.

Bev Harris
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

And my favorite new one of my own, for the felon story: "We found five felons. Three were from Vancouver...perhaps there are more; we only had time to find three before the courthouse closed that day."

mmm. It is too bad the courthouse closed. And we didn't even get to the civil litigation section, couldn't even finish the criminal records section checks.

I'm thinking another Canadian records jaunt would be run. What we talked about.

[Andy_Stephenson]

124. I am thinking your right

a weekday trip. Oh and BTW I am taking a trip to Olympia tomorrow. Want to go? You don't have to...but it could be very interesting.

[Andy_Stephenson]

121. Mr Buchannan's Editor's are

Chris Grygiel mailto:[e-mail]
Acting Metro Editor 206-448-8363

Rita Hibbard [e-mail]
Metro Editor 206-448-8129

Roya Camp [e-mail]
Assistant Metro Editor 206-448-8179

Laura T. Coffey [e-mail]
Assistant Metro Editor 206-448-8050

Bill Miller Assistant [e-mail]
Metro Editor 206-448-8048

Scott Sunde [e-mail]
Assistant Metro Editor 206-448-8331

DU Knock yourself out

[BevHarris]

125. Actually, he's new in town. I'm asking him to meet with us and

do the real story. Just left a message. He used to report for the Lewiston paper in Idaho. Maybe just doesn't know the turf yet, let's be nice and give him a shot to show us he is a journalist.

Bev Harris
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

[Andy_Stephenson]

126. Ok I'll trust you on this...you have been right so far...

but I will add...being new is no excuse for sloppy journalism. Especially after what you have taught me about fact checking.

[RedEagle]

127. Lewiston Paper

That little paper in Lewiston used to have a bang up reputation. But then, that was 28 years ago....geesh, I'm getting old!

[Andy_Stephenson]

128. No your not...

your getting better. Like a fine wine you improve with age.

:)

[nostamj]

123. oh, pity the fool, pity the fool

who misquotes Miss Bev........

bang! zoom! splat!

now, i listen to the recording!

[RedEagle]

129. Hey, They Misquote ALL of us

Now I think the Washington SOS has borrowed from the citizens bill for honest voting- and twisted it, of course.

Kick!

[Zan_of_Texas]

131. hmmmm

Okay, something just occurred to me.

The same principle has been used numerous times. The principle of Too Many to Realistically Check.

Especially potent behind The Curtain of Secrecy.

1. Too much code to realistically read and check.

David Dill told me months ago, when I asked him if it was realistic to expect any certifying authority to review code that might be 800,000 lines, like Diebold's code, and find a bug:

David Dill, of the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University: "It is practically impossible for someone to review software of any length at all -- even 10,000 or maybe even 1500 -- lines of code to make sure that's 100% error-free. The certification is done by organizations called independent testing authorities. They couldn't do it, no matter how hard they tried. Now, from what I have learned, they don't try hard enough. There are claims that the code is inspected line by line. I know that that is not sufficient to find bugs and certainly not to find tampering that is deliberately hidden in that software. In fact, the tampering may not even be in the software that's presented to the independent testing authority."

Of course, who does the checking, how it's done, and even whether it's done is pretty much an unknown -- but less so now, thanks to Bev and Andy and the CA auditors!

2. Legislation too long to expect anyone to read it.

This has been used with the USA Patriot Act -- 300+ pages introduced after 9-11 and during a time when Congress was in disarray due to anthrax. Later, Rep. Ron Paul has said there were only two copies circulating, no way there were enough copies for all members of Congress to read it.

We have to be very careful that legislation to "fix" the bbv problem doesn't hide little back doors in the language.

Lately, when citizens have made a huge ruckus about something (like the media consolidation), there is a bit of an official backing off, waiting a few months until the ruckus subsides, then sneaking virtually the same thing past. Or, Congress passes something that's partway decent, then administrative officials undo it.

3. Corporate structures too complex for anyone to understand (and thus money trails too convoluted to track)

Enron had several thousand entities. I can't remember how many were offshore, but IIRC it was in the hundreds. So, lots of entities hidden where there was no oversight. This enabled them to pull virtually every kind of accounting shenanigan, moving money here there and everywhere.

The voting equipment companies have used Russian doll-like structures and also changed names and ownership rather often. American corporate structure protects individuals who do harm in their capacity in the corporation, leaving the corporation (and the public) holding the bag.


So, the principles remain the same. If you have a lot of complexity built in, or just a lot of material, the public and the press will not have the time or focus to delve into it. And, then add a layer of secrecy, and bingo -- instant success at thieving of money, democracy, fairness.....


Vigilance and persistance and stubbornness -- we gotta keep using those to short-circuit these creeps.

Kudos to the vigilant, persistent, and stubborn posse!

[RedEagle]

133. Back up

Kick!

[creativelcro]

134. This is a VERY good point!

It also supports an apparently unrelated point I usually make about all the crap we hear from various "clinical psychologists" that everybody should be "normal" to have a fullfilling life in society etc.
We NEED people with obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Nobody else can be determined enough to go through these piles of crap diligently. I believe that many of the most effective activists have this type of personality.
Oh, you forgot to mention the recent Medicare Bill... The Senators could barely lift it because of itse weight. And they were supposed to study it over the weekend... It is generally easier to write up crap than to debunk it...
-CV

[BevHarris]

135. Zan - this was an excellent, thoughtful piece.

Damn, I almost missed it.

Thanks.

bev

[RedEagle]

136. Still Worth the Read

Kick!