To All The Paragons Of Democratic Virtue On DU Slamming Democrats

[KittyWampus]

for refusing to take the GOP bait and question Junior's legitimcy...

Why don't you open your eyes and realise that those Senators just made the GOP members who spoke look like Fascists who could care less about Voting Rights?

The Democratic Senators I heard speak touched on the need for Paper Ballots, Constitutional Right To Vote and Civil Rights.

They pointed to bills they've been trying to get to the floor dealing with the very issues we all know need addressing.

Maybe if you put a lid on your sanctimonious hyperventilating you'd actually be RELEVANT to the cause of establishing a citizen's Right To Vote.

[NVMojo]

1. I just got slammed by a DUer for telling the truth about the election

system in place in Nevada on November 2nd and challenging the lie Reid just told the nation ....

[mzmolly]

5. What lie?

He promoted a paper trail ... ALL THE HUMANITIES!

[NVMojo]

8. here's what the paper trails did in my county ...

I was the one who requested printed precince totals from them and then they found the uncounted votes.

http://www.elkodaily.com/articles/2004/12/08/news/local... http://www.elkodaily.com/articles/2004/12/08/news/local...

Missing votes found in machines

By DAVE WOODSON, Free Press Staff Writer

ELKO - Elko County Clerk Win Smith said 271 votes in November's general election were not counted because of a "computer glitch" with the new touch-screen machine system.

Smith said three result cards from machines used at the Elko Convention Center, the voting location for the City of Elko, were found to have had problems.

However, she said those votes have since been recovered from the computer cards and added to the final totals.

"The good thing is that they found it," Elko County Manager Rob Stokes said.

Smith said the recovered votes did not impact any election results.

"No votes were lost," she said. "No races were changed."

Smith said the missing votes were discovered late Thursday when county employees inputting voter history into the system discovered that the number of voters and the number of votes did not match.

"We found out all the votes were not counted," she said.

Smith said she contacted Sequoia Voting Systems Inc., the Oakland, Calif.-based hardware and software firm that provided the touch-screen system, and the company provided assistance in finding and correcting the problem.

"We walked it through," she said. "We easily got the votes out of those cartridges."

Smith said the ability to quickly correct the problem was a positive aspect of the new machines, which were used for the first time this year.

"It proves that this system was very reliable," she said.

Smith said the Nevada Secretary of State's office has been notified. She also said an amended vote canvass would have to submitted.

Stokes said the county board will meet in special session at 1 p.m. Thursday at the county courthouse to approve the amended canvass results. He said those results would then be sent to the Nevada Secretary of State so statewide totals also can be amended.

In only two races did the losing candidate pick up more votes than the winning candidate, but it was not enough to alter the outcome of the balloting.

In the contest for Elko County School Board of Trustees District 4, Gordon Fobes added 129 votes to Bill Wilkerson's 58 additional votes.

Despite Fobes cutting into Wilkerson's margin, Wilkerson still won the seat with 7,399 votes to Fobes' 5,981 votes.

In the Elko Civic Auditorium race for Seat C, winner Dave Huckaby added 122 votes while John Collett collected 123 votes. Huckaby still won the seat by a 6,081 to 5,225 margin.

With the amended results, President George W. Bush's winning margin in Elko climbed by .5 percent to 77.98 when he picked up an additional 204 votes while Democratic challenger John Kerry added 55 votes to his total. Bush carried Elko County with 12,142 votes over Kerry's 3,106.

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Harry Reid picked up 107 additional votes but Republican Richard Ziser added 135 votes.

Ziser continued to carry the county with 8,047 votes in his losing bid to unseat Reid, who polled 6,191 votes.

GOP Rep. Jim Gibbons gained 199 votes in his near landslide win over Democrat Angie Cochran, who added 42 votes, with the final total showing Gibbons with 12,008 to Cochran's 2,324.

State Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, mainted his lead over Independent American Party candidate Thomas Jefferson, when Rhoads added 198 votes to Jefferson's 68 votes.

Rhoads' winning margin was 11,794 to Jefferson's 3,060.

State Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, who ran unopposed, upped his ballot total by 206 votes to 12,030.

Also running unopposed was Elko County Commissioner Democrat Mike Nannini for his fourth term from District 1, who picked up an additional 215 votes to bring his total to 11,536.

Incumbent Republican John Ellison in District 3 added 191 votes while his challenger, IAP candidate Dorothy Jefferson, added 72 votes that gave Ellison a margin of 11,313 to Jefferson's 3,413 ballots.

Another incumbent Republican, Warren Russell, in District 5, collected an additional 176 votes while his challenger IAP's Michael Smith added 80 votes for a final tally of Russell with 10,347 votes to Smith's 4,305 votes.

In the Elko County School Board of Trustees race in District 3, winner Annette Kerr picked up 157 votes while Jerry Williams added 50 votes to make the final total Kerr with 7,651 to Williams' 6,045.

Incumbent District 7 school board member Lou Basanez added 160 votes while her challenger Mary Polish picked up 97 votes. Basanez defeated Polish by a 7,653 to 5,863 margin.

[mzmolly]

24. Thankfully the missing votes were "found" due to a paper trail.

There is no excuse for votes not to be counted with a paper trail. I used to balance ATM machines, I have an idea how it works.

[NVMojo]

15. and this is what got me slammed ....

THE LIE BEGINS
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/text/2003/dec/10/515999082.html

Nevada has long been a pioneer in the implementation of new voting technology. Clark County (Las Vegas) was one of the nation's first large voting jurisdictions to utilize electronic voting when they purchased the full face AVC Advantage from Sequoia Voting Systems nearly ten years ago.

http://www.sequoiavote.com/article.php?id=55

Heller's decision was music to the ears of state Democrats, as their state chair penned a letter to the secretary of state a day before his announcement. However, the party is disappointed that 2,100 machines in Clark County won't have a paper trail until 2006. They plan to fight for voter verifiable receipts at Clark County polling areas for next year's election.
"Nevada has a history of close races, and 2004 is probably going to be another one of them," said state Democratic Party spokesman John Summers. "People just want to make sure their vote counts, and a paper trail is the best way to do that."

http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2003/12/17/local_news/shrapnel/shrapnel.txt

When the Gaming Control Board's Electronic Services Division reports to me that one system is superior to another, I'm going to place my confidence in that equipment," Heller said. "They are responsible for verifying the security and integrity of various electronic gaming machines throughout Nevada and, therefore, accountable for millions of dollars on a daily basis. My level of confidence in selecting Sequoia was greatly increased after receiving this report."
Heller said there were several other factors in his decision to select Sequoia Voting Systems for the entire state, including the fact that 70% of the state's voters already utilize Sequoia DRE voting machines. "Clark County has successfully used Sequoia DRE's for the past 10 years," Heller said. "That means the majority of Nevada voters are already comfortable and experienced in using this style of DRE machine."

http://sos.state.nv.us/press/121003.htm

CONCERNS:
 “Nevada has a history of close elections. As one of the top battleground states in the upcoming Presidential election in 2004, it is almost certain that the outcome of the vote in Nevada will be as close as ever. It would be irresponsible to have 2,100 machines in Clark County unable to verify the count of thousands of votes - in the case of a recount - by virtue of this decision, and prevent our ability to recount in Clark county, from where the majority of Democratic votes will come.” – NV State Dems to Heller & Lomax asking for printers on the old Clark County machines.

http://www.nvdems.com/action.php?actionid=5

Oct. 29, 2003 PT
Software used by an electronic voting system manufactured by Sequoia Voting Systems has been left unprotected on a publicly available server, raising concerns about the possibility of vote tampering in future elections.
Snip…
The security breach means that anyone with a minimal amount of technical knowledge could see how the code works and potentially exploit it. According to a computer programmer who discovered the unprotected server, the files also contain Visual Basic script and code for voting system databases that could allow someone to learn how to rig voting results. The programmer spoke on condition of anonymity.

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61014,00.html

 Clark County may have to spend as much as $12 million by 2006 to replace 2,100 older electronic voting machines that cannot be upgraded to allow printing of each ballot cast, Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said Wednesday. They already purchased 700 of these newer "Edge" machines.
 Heller and Lomax initially thought the older Clark County Sequoia machines used for the last decade could be retrofitted with paper trail devices. But Lomax said he has had numerous discussions with Sequoia officials and they are not certain they can retrofit the older machines with the devices. He added he notified Heller and Clark County officials of the potential problem six months ago.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jun-17-Thu-2004/news/24119915.html

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
BACKGROUND

http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,63618,00.html

Although the VeriVote printers will be used in every Nevada county, only about 30 percent of Nevada's voters will vote on them. That's because Clark County, home of Las Vegas with 70 percent of the state's population, owns an older model of Sequoia touch-screen machines that can't be modified. The county will have to install at least one new machine with a printer in each polling place to give voters the option of having a paper trail. But Clark County won't have enough new paper-trail machines to accommodate more than a fraction of voters, and the deadline for replacing the remaining machines is the federal election in 2006.
The machines and procedures for using them need to be in place by Aug. 21, when early voting for the Sept. 7 primary begins. If the printers don't pass testing, the seven rural counties that plan to use them exclusively will get Sequoia optical-scan equipment instead. These machines require voters to fill out a paper ballot with a pen before it's scanned into an electronic machine.
Snip..
Although Nevada voters may take comfort in their new printers, there is a glitch in the plan. Under Nevada law, if the election results have to be recounted, the printed ballots would not be used because they don't meet the current specifications for paper ballots. Current law refers only to standard-size paper ballots that voters use for absentee, provisional or optical-scan voting.
Stanford's Dill said a paper record is pointless if officials aren't required to count it.
"It is crucial that paper ballots have precedence over electronic records," he said. "The voters had a chance to verify the paper ballots but not the electronic records, so the paper ballots are more trustworthy."
The Nevada legislature could eventually change the law to accommodate the new technology, but the legislature meets only every other year and won't be in session again until February 2005.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20041003-124752-2729r

Larry Lomax, registrar of voters in Clark County, Nev., which includes Las Vegas, is equally as confident of a successful election in his battleground state.
Nevada election officials tapped Sequoia Voting Systems Co. of Oakland, Calif., to provide touch-screen and other computerized voting machines, specifically because Sequoia could provide an ATM-style printer, which allows a paper trail.
Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller used HAVA funding to buy more than 1,000 printers, which cost $500 per unit, as well as 1,935 touch-screen voting machines, priced at $2,500 each.
Mr. Lomax said touch-screen machines will be used exclusively in all counties except his own, Clark, which includes 70 percent of Nevada's voters.
"We're using 740 touch-screen machines, plus another 2,000 computerized machines. Of the touch-screens, we bought 200 in 2002 and 540 this year," he said.
A razor-thin outcome could have prompted a recount, but it would have likely been challenged in court because votes cast on touch screens — everywhere but in Nevada — cannot be manually recounted owing to the lack of a paper trail. Nov. 04

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=31213

Ray Martínez, who until becoming an EAC commissioner was an Austin attorney, says that time constraints limited the EAC's work. Still, he's happy that provisional voting is now offered nationally, because in 17 states prior to the act, if people's names were mistakenly left off the voter rolls, they lost their vote, period.
But he allowed that more work may be needed, such as creating uniform rules about which provisional votes are actually counted, a distinction now left to each state.
He also addressed the issue of providing an auditable paper trail for electronic voting machines.
"Every jurisdiction provides what works best for them and the majority did not provide a paper trail, but they have their own ways to secure their systems," he said by phone from Cleveland, where he was monitoring the election.
"On the other hand, the state of Nevada decided that they feel best if they provide their (electronic voting) machines with a voter-verified paper ballot. They did that in September with their primaries and it was successful and they have implemented that system throughout the state."
Why only Nevada would demand such a trail from voting machine vendors is unclear. But it may be that since that state regulates hundreds of thousands of computerized slot machines, its officials know computers can go haywire.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/global-includes/printstory.jsp?path=/news/metro/stories/MYSA110704.1B.Guerra.307bafe7.html

From the airport, Bush rode with Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval and Secretary of State Dean Heller to the convention center. He briefly discussed Yucca Mountain, vowing to support any court decision on the proposed repository. He also touted Nevada's successful primary election, the first in the nation with the use of voting machines with verifiable receipts, Sandoval and Heller said."

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Sep-15-Wed-2004/news/24771397.html

Secretary of State Dean Heller, the state's top election official, should stop speaking at Republican-sponsored campaign events to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, a liberal advocacy group said Thursday.

"He should be a statesman, not a politician," said Terence Tolbert, director of America Coming Together-Nevada.

The group, which backs Democratic candidates and liberal causes, charged that Heller was a "Republican operative" who would lose the confidence of voters should the election be particularly close in Nevada. "
The group also charged that, as a Republican, Heller would have knowledge of what they called Republican-backed voter suppression efforts in Nevada.

"You want to have confidence that the person in charge of elections in this state is not partisan," Tolbert said, acknowledging he had no evidence that Heller had done anything illegal. --LVRJ (10/08/04)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Oct-08-Fri-2004/news/24943832.html

Nevada's top Republican political leaders, including Gov. Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Brian Sandoval, who is the state chairman for the Bush-Cheney re-election effort, also oppose the Yucca Mountain repository.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jun-18-Fri-2004/news/24129885.html

Nevada's top Republican political leaders, including Gov. Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Brian Sandoval, who is the state chairman for the Bush-Cheney re-election effort, also oppose the Yucca Mountain repository.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-gov/2004/nov/12/517815076.html

"For this year's general election, Nevada is the only state where virtually every voting machine has a paper backup that could aid in a machine malfunction, an audit or a recount.

"If you want to talk about security, I would say right now the electronic voting devices in Nevada are the most secure devices in the country right now," Heller says."
Nevada voters have been using the Sequoia touchscreen machines with the paper trail in Clark County -- which includes Las Vegas -- during early voting that began October 16.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/10/28/nevada.evote/

Nevada was the only state to use "statewide" voter-verified paper ballot printers attached to electronic voting machines on Election Day. –LVSun 11/12/04

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-gov/2004/nov/12/517815076.html

Interesting actions since the Bush re-election:
As a politician, Sandoval gave more than 75 public speeches this year. His position as co-chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Nevada earned him more than one ride with President Bush in the presidential limousine.
And he landed a prime-time speaking slot at the televised Republican National Convention.
U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and U.S. Sen. John Ensign have recommended him for the federal bench — a move that has Sandoval preparing himself for what he called a “cloistered existence” as a judge.

http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2004/12/18/87940.php?sps=rgj.com&sch=LocalNews&sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News&sp5=RGJ.com&sp6=news&sp7=local_news

[LoZoccolo]

27. Nah, no you didn't.

You got slammed for something else.

Your strategy of falsely attracting pity is...well, pitiful.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. I'm with you.

Wake the fuck up. That goes out to a small, vocal minority at DU.

[mzmolly]

3. I agree. Hilary Clinton made an outstanding case paralleling the US

to India.

... if the worlds largest democracy can have an election sans the issues we had, we can too. ...

[el_gato]

4. boo fuckin' hoo

[WilliamPitt]

6. Bingo

[Straight Shooter]

7. As a sanctimonious paragon of Democratic virtue

Who held the gun to our Senators' heads and compelled them to say that bush won? Huh? Was that really necessary?

Nope. Didn't think so. They could have made the points they were making damn well without that patronizing BS. You don't give extra points to the opposition when they don't respect you anyway.

[KittyWampus]

11. The GOP & The Media Held A Gun To Their Heads, Or Haven't You

been paying attention?

[Straight Shooter]

16. I've been paying attention.

And I'll tell you what, I've been in a situation where everything was on the line, depending on whether I did the right thing or not.

You know what? I did the right thing. I lost everything by doing so, except my self-respect. But then again, I'm not into the powerful ego trip of being a high-level politician, either.

[KittyWampus]

18. Oh, So Losing The High Ground & The Ultimate Wedge Issue Is

a GOOD thing then?

After all,Democrats WANT to stay Minority Party, right?

[Straight Shooter]

21. I have absolutely no idea where you're coming from on this.

Ultimate wedge issue? Yeah, right. All the public will remember is how the media spins this issue like a tornado.

I can't wait to see the Dems fighting to preserve Social Security. Health care? Stopping another preemptive war? Ha ha.

United we stand, divided we roll over.

[Cheswick2.0]

17. poor babies

:cry:

[saracat]

20. Thank you!

[Lisabtrucking]

9. I would agree, but there were only a handful of democrats who

stood up. Where were all the others? Yes I am very happy with the ones who stood up, but we all know power is in numbers. I want the democrats who were absent from this discussion to explain.

[KittyWampus]

14. 1st. There Was Only 2 Hours & Many Who Spoke Had Legislation

on the very Issue of Voting Reform or helped write PAST Legislation on this Issue.

[Patsy Stone]

10. Only today?? :)

They did good. I'm proud.

:)

[Cheswick2.0]

12. I am a FUCKING PARAGON OF DEMOCRATIC VIRTUE

and I will not list all the reasons why. But I will tell you that I am sick and tired of the bully routine here foisted on all of us by those of you who think you can decide what PROPER speech is. If you think you are going to shut me up from criticizing democrats who I think failed in some way to stand up the way I think they should, you can guess again.

What is WITH all of you who seek to shut up people who disagree with you? What are you afraid of?

[pbartch]

13. santimonious???? ME? I'm just asking them to TELL THE TRUTH!!!

IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR?

THE DEMS WERE CHICKENS!!!

[loritooker]

19. What do you all think of Barbara Boxer's vote?

Do you think she took the bait? Was she, in your opinion, wrong to vote affirmative?

[KittyWampus]

22. She Was Being Consistent With Her Original Intent

[No Exit]

25. Boxer is a HERO!!! n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

23. Don't try to justify what went on. These people did not stand up NOW

For all of the people that lost their votes. They stood up for an illusion of one in the future.

Sorry, better get ready to learn how to goosestep. America is now officially Amerika.

[Wilms]

26. May I quote you?

"Maybe if you put a lid on your sanctimonious hyperventilating you'd actually be RELEVANT to the cause of establishing a citizen's Right To Vote."

Jusy maybe, pretty please...

[bread_and_roses]

28. The cowards voted YES to racism and income discrimination

when they voted to certify. I don't care about their speeches. No one held any gun to their heads, and they had nothing to lose, nothing. Do they think they earned GOP votes? What a laugh. If they genuinely cared about the issues they were speechifying about they would have voted with Boxer.

That they left Boxer standing alone weakens any case that the "irregularities" in Ohio were a serious threat to democracy and require any urgency in addressing them.

I will say it over and over. Had the disenfranchised been White people of means, they would have voted differently.