Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday 6/4/05

[MelissaB]

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.



Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.


If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391

Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x374761

All previous daily threads are available here:

http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm

(This is a new source. Please check it out.):applause:


Please consider recommending this thread for the "greatest".

[MelissaB]

1. A Florida Style Nightmare - North Carolina Citizens Demand Verified Voting

Money Plans, India

A Florida Style Nightmare - North Carolina Citizens Demand Verified Voting Measures

"NC has the worst election problem in the country RIGHT NOW." - November 11, 2004 Computer scientist Dr. David L. Dill of Stanford University.

"A Florida-style nightmare has unfolded in North Carolina in the days since Election Day, with thousands of votes missing and the outcome of two statewide races still up in the air." Steve Hartsoe, AP Newswire, Nov 13, 2004

How can we trust our key decision-makers when they ignore the seriousness of the problem?

"Except for the lost votes in Carteret County, Gary Bartlett, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, called the problems 'easily remedied and lessons learned.' " AP Newswire, Nov 13, 2004. This is definitely a rosy view to an election where citizens votes were lost, public totals were mis-tabulated, thousands of provisional ballots were generated, thousands of absentee and early ballots were “misplaced“, and two state-wide races still unresolved.

North Carolina’s election problems will not be so easily remedied as Mr. Bartlett says. The degree and severity of problems in North Carolina’s election system indicates the need for serious study. Many of the problems are compounded by the State’s reliance on non-verifiable voting systems. Problems with voting machines, central tabulators using outdated and secret software, registration confusion, poll worker training, provisional ballots and absentee ballots are not easily remedied. The Board of Elections must change its focus towards election management. If the State insists on being dependent on electronic voting, when it is clear that the officials know very little or nothing about it.

Lost: 4,500 votes in Carteret County - this is the consequence of e-voting without a proper paper trail.

Omitted: entire precinct of 1,209 votes in Gaston County left out of Nov 2 Count.

Missing: 12,000 votes not reported by Diebold Software in Gaston County.

Bamboozled: In 2003 Guilford County bought vote tabulating software that used over a decade old technology, it was already obsolete when purchased. This software released presidential vote totals that were off by 22,000 votes.

More votes than cast: Craven County reported 11,283 more votes for president than cast, voting software same as in Guilford County.

In the past, the NC BOE has relied on the advice of voting machine salesmen and turned a deaf ear to the good advice and warning of thousands of computer scientists across the country. The voting machine vendors gain access to some of our election officials via a private organization called The Election Center. This is a private, non-profit whose “mission” is to educate and inform election officials, yet this group admits to accepting money from the voting machine companies.

Just this August “The Election Center” hosted a conference for election officials. The voting machine salesmen wined and dined election officials from across the country, giving them parties, prizes and a dinner cruise on the Potomac. Gary Bartlett sits on the Board of Directors of the Election Center, an ethical situation that voting activists find troubling.

Who are we trusting our democracy to?
In 2002, Tom Eschberger, then at Global Business Systems accepted immunity in reward for his testimony in the bribery kickback conviction of then SOS of Arkansas, Bill McCuen.
Eshberger went on to be a key executive at the ES&S Voting machinery company.

In 1999, two Sequoia (Voting Systems) executives, Phil Foster and Pasquale Ricci, were indicted for paying Louisiana Commissioner of Elections Jerry Fowler an $8 million bribe to buy their voting machines. Fowler, is currently serving five years in prison. Voter advocate Bev Harris alleged that managers of a subsidiary of Diebold Inc. (voting machines), included a cocaine trafficker, a man who conducted fraudulent stock transactions, and a programmer jailed for falsifying computer records, Jeffrey Dean, who served time in a Washington correctional facility for stealing money and tampering with computer files.

More here: http://archives.moneyplans.net/frontend202-verify-9032.html

[MelissaB]

2. County auditor relieved testimony on election is over

County auditor relieved testimony on election is over

BY BRAD SHANNON

THE OLYMPIAN

WENATCHEE -- Her hands shook a little as she grabbed a glass of water shortly after getting onto the witness stand.

And by the time she was done testifying in the historic challenge of the governor's election, Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman was happy just to get out of there.

Called by Republicans as the trial's final witness in Dino Rossi's challenge of the governor's election, Wyman testified about the smooth way her county elections staff handled ballots in the Nov. 2 election. That included reconciling the number of absentee ballots received, counted and disqualified on a daily basis, and how she uses lavender colored provisional ballots so they don't get mixed in accidentally with absentees or poll ballots.

Wyman, herself a Republican, provided stark contrast to King County, where ballots 96 absentees recently were discovered, another 348 to 785 provisional ballots were put into voting machines before the voters' right to vote had been verified, and Republicans claim hundreds of other ballot irregularities put the election outcome in doubt.

"I tell my staff that our job is to convince our harshest critic that everything we did was fair and accurate ..." Wyman testified.

More: http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050604/NEWS/506040305

[MelissaB]

3. Both sides come to a close in election challenge

Both sides come to a close in election challenge

2005-06-04
by Rebecca Cook
Associated Press

WENATCHEE -- Throwing out the 2004 Washington governor's election is the only way to restore public faith in the election system, Republicans told a judge Friday in their closing arguments in the election challenge trial.

Democrats argued that upholding the 129-vote victory of Gov. Christine Gregoire is the only way to keep the faith with voters.

On Monday, Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges will decide who's right, and who's rightfully governor of Washington state. After a two-week trial, both sides delivered their closing arguments Friday afternoon.

During the trial, Republicans argued that election errors, illegal votes and fraud stole the election from GOP candidate Dino Rossi. Democrats countered that the errors were innocent mistakes, and that Republicans lacked the evidence they need to justify tossing a governor out of office.


More: http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/208794

[MelissaB]

4. Test shows voter fraud is possible

(I realize how most people here feel about Bev Harris, but I found this doing my usual google search for "voting machines". Since it made a MSM newspaper I decided to place it here.)



Posted on Sat, Jun. 04, 2005

Test shows voter fraud is possible

Machines are vulnerable to manipulation

By Tony Bridges

DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER


All it takes is the right access.

Get that, and an election worker could manipulate voting results in the computers that read paper ballots - without leaving any digital fingerprints.

That was the verdict after Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho invited a team of researchers to look for holes in election software.

The group wasn't able to crack the Diebold system from outside the office. But, at the computer itself, they changed vote tallies, completely unrecorded.

Sancho said it illustrates the need for tight physical security, as well as a paper trail that can verify results, which the Legislature has rejected.

More: http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/11811936.htm

[MelissaB]

5. Two firms refuse to bid

Two firms refuse to bid
Five companies vie on voting machines

By MARSHA SHULER
[e-mail]
Capitol news bureau

Two of seven companies bowed out of competition for a $47 million state voting machine contract, with one of them alleging the specifications for the project favor a particular vendor.
Hart InterCivic filed the complaint with state purchasing officials rather than respond to what is called a "request for proposals." Another company, Populex, also chose not to make a bid.

Meanwhile, a review team will begin assessing proposals from the five other firms. Contract award is scheduled for early July.

In the competition are Accupoll, Advanced Voting Systems, Diebold, Election Systems and Software and Sequoia Voting Systems.

The Hart submittal is the latest in a series of complaints that have dogged the voting machine selection process. Originally, some major voting machine companies were excluded from bidding.

More: http://2theadvocate.com/stories/060405/pol_bid001.shtml

[MelissaB]

6. Concerns expressed on voter database

Saturday, June 4, 2005

Concerns expressed on voter database

By GORDON FRASER Staff Writer
[e-mail]



...snip

Several residents raised concerns about such a database, however, both because elements of the program will be controlled by a private company and because it may allow the government to track individuals as they vote — although state officials were very clear that the database will only flag double voting, and not residents with two domiciles or voter registrations in two towns.

"I would feel extremely uncomfortable putting my right to vote in the hands of a private corporation," said Susan Ticehurst.

Nancy Tobi of Democracy for New Hampshire, agreed, explaining that private companies are not required to be as transparent as the state or federal government. "We just need to be eternally vigilant," she said.

Fitch responded to their concerns. "I would disagree with (the) characterization that we've given away the system (to a private corporation)," he said.

He explained that the state will administrate the computer program. And, if it ever became necessary, the state could seize the database through a process similar to eminent domain. He also explained that the cost to purchase full control of the system would be prohibitive at this time.


More: http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050604/CITIZEN0104/106040057/-1/CITIZEN

[Wilms]

7. (WI) Police captain picked as city elections chief

Police captain picked as city elections chief

Management experience touted; council's OK needed

By GREG J. BOROWSKI

[e-mail]

Posted: June 2, 2005

In the aftermath of an election with hundreds of fraudulent votes and a knot of other lingering problems, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Thursday appointed a 28-year police veteran to the city's top elections job.

Capt. Sue Edman would bring no election experience to the post, though she made a run for an open council seat in 2002.

Instead, Barrett highlighted Edman's management experience in the Milwaukee Police Department, including assignments overseeing extensive records.

Edman, 51, would replace Lisa Artison, who resigned March 1 amid heavy criticism of how the city handled the Nov. 2 presidential election.

-snip/more-

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jun05/330828.asp

[Wilms]

8. (FL) Test shows voter (uh-hum, Election) fraud is possible

Posted on Sat, Jun. 04, 2005

Test shows voter fraud is possible

Machines are vulnerable to manipulation

By Tony Bridges

DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

-snip-

Black Box Voting, the non-profit that ran the test and published a report on the Internet, pointed to the findings as proof of an elections system clearly vulnerable to corruption.

-snip-

They made 65,000 votes disappear simply by changing the real memory card - which stores the numbers - for one that had been altered.

And, while the software is supposed to create a record whenever someone makes changes to data stored in the system, it showed no evidence they'd managed to access and change information.

-snip-

Harris said her research turned up memos - obtained from the elections supervisor's office - that blamed the failure on an extra memory card that showed up, and disappeared, without explanation.

-snip-

Except that the security experts were given only as much opportunity as any other election worker would have. Less so, considering that Sancho did not provide them with passwords or any other way to actually get into the programming.

-snip-

Ion Sancho, supervisor of elections, will post a summary of the test results this weekend at www.leonfl.org/elect

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/11811936.htm

Thanks to Dirty Hippie for posting the LBN Discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1522598

[Wilms]

9. NEXT LIVE BRAD SHOW Saturday 6/4/05, 7p-11p ET (4p - 8p PT)

The BRAD SHOW On the Air!
Coast-to-coast and Around the Globe! Via RAW RADIO!

More Info, Listen Live Links, Archives, Ad Rates & More:
http://www.BradShow.com
or
http://rawstory.com/rawradio.htm

NEXT LIVE BRAD SHOW
Saturday 6/4/05, 7p-11p ET (4p - 8p PT)
(Rebroadcast Airs Sunday 6/5/05 @ 12noon ET, 9a PT)

Scheduled Guests So far...

Boston Attorney, JOHN BONIFAZ on the Downing Street Minutes "Resolution of Inquiry"

Newly-fired, Hocking County, OH recount whistleblower, SHEROLE EATON

White House Correspondent/Blogger, ERIC BREWER with BTCNews.com Blogmaster, WELDON BERGER

And much much more! Probably!

Tune In! Spread the Word! Keep this kicked! Call in and come on by the LIVE Open Thread at BradBlog.com during the show!

Please join us, spread the word, and see http://www.BradShow.com for live listening links on the net, archives of previous shows, and advertising information! Your support is greatly appreciated!

Brad

- - -
Brad Friedman
THE BRAD BLOG - The uprising continues...
http://www.BradBlog.com
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*** The BRAD SHOW On the Air via RAW RADIO!
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*** Now LIVE on Saturday Nights from 7p - 11p ET!
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[Wilms]

10. (LA) Two firms refuse to bid - Five companies vie on voting machines

Saturday, June 4, 2005

Two firms refuse to bid

Five companies vie on voting machines

By MARSHA SHULER
[e-mail]

Capitol news bureau

Two of seven companies bowed out of competition for a $47 million state voting machine contract, with one of them alleging the specifications for the project favor a particular vendor.
Hart InterCivic filed the complaint with state purchasing officials rather than respond to what is called a "request for proposals." Another company, Populex, also chose not to make a bid.

Meanwhile, a review team will begin assessing proposals from the five other firms. Contract award is scheduled for early July.

In the competition are Accupoll, Advanced Voting Systems, Diebold, Election Systems and Software and Sequoia Voting Systems.

The Hart submittal is the latest in a series of complaints that have dogged the voting machine selection process. Originally, some major voting machine companies were excluded from bidding.

-snip-

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/060405/pol_bid001.shtml

[Wilms]

11. California receives election money held up during investigation

California receives election money held up during investigation

By JENNIFER COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, June 2, 2005

(06-02) 12:48 PDT SACRAMENTO, (AP) --

The federal agency that oversees election preparations will release nearly $170 million to California that was potentially in jeopardy because of questions over how federal money was spent under former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley.

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, Shelley's replacement, and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission publicly announced the release of the $169.7 million on Thursday.

The move followed a visit McPherson paid to the commission last month to lobby for the money — California's 2004 share of some $3 billion being sent to states under the Help America Vote Act to upgrade voting equipment and procedures.

-snip-

McPherson appeared with registrars from Los Angeles, Madera and Orange counties. The joint gathering offered a public contrast to Shelley's sometimes troubled relationship with local officials, many of whom had called for Shelley's authority over the federal funds to be given to someone else.

-snip/more-

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/06/02/state/n100549D04.DTL

[MelissaB]

12. Reminder of 18,181

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%2218%2C181+votes%22&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&fl=0&x=wrt

Thanks to ck4829 who has it on all of his posts.

[MelissaB]

13. My own state takes the Diebold plunge :(

Local TV news site posted this:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The state has hired a firm to oversee Alabama's new statewide voter registration system.

Diebold Election Systems put in a bid for $2.3 million and won the contract, NBC13 reported.

The effort is a part of the federally mandated "Help America Vote" act.

The new system will replace a system that was implemented nearly 20 years ago.

Various counties across the state use their own independent voter systems, too.


Link: http://www.nbc13.com/news/4545041/detail.html?subid=10101622



Thanks to Firenze777 here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=137x1877

[Wilms]

14. (NY) Voting for access

Sunday, June 5, 2005

Voting for access

By Amaris Elliott-Engel / The Citizen

AUBURN - When Sally Johnston and fellow disability rights advocates faced too many stairs to readily access Onondaga County Legislature or Syracuse Common Council meetings, they held a disability awareness day - inviting county legislators and councilors to spend a day in wheelchairs.

Those leaders had to face being carried up the stairs - and the fear of being dropped - to get to the meetings, the same plight Johnston and others had to endure. Johnston spoke of her experience at a workshop during the Options for Independence's annual conference held Friday at Auburn's Holiday Inn.

Such advocacy helped get those leaders to understand the importance of having access to public buildings for people with disabilities - before the American Disabilities Act of 1990 legally required it, Johnston said. Today, advocates are pushing for similar progress when it comes to voting.

The 1980s and 1990s disability rights campaign for better physical access to public space cited the importance of people with disabilities being democratically involved, and current disability rights advocacy is looking at the best way to implement the Help America Vote Act of 2002. HAVA is offering reimbursement to states if they upgrade voting machines, including improved disability access, by the November 2006 election.

-snip/more-

http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2005/06/04/news/news01.txt

[Wilms]

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[Wilms]

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