Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News 03/20/06 – Amazing MSM Fraud Story

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(No news on TIA. Please keep positive thoughts and prayers coming. This
Daily News is dedicated to TruthIsAll. He might actually approve;)

The “next new thing” to screw voters – centralized registration databases.
They’re coming to a Republican controlled state near you. This is very important thread on the “next” Ohio.

“MEET THE NEW BOSS!

Never forget the pursuit of Truth.
Only the deluded & complicit accept election results on blind faith.

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News March 20, 2006

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.
2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233
3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.
4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.

Please

"Recommend"

for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

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1. CENTRALIZED VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASES. Exposed by the Media!!!!!

The articles subordinate to this post provide a remarkable journey through the process of one state selecting a centralized registration database. There’s incompetence, stealth in full view, Republican money, outsourcing form one state to another, and of course, more incompetence.

It is well worth reading the full articles. WISH TV Channel 8 of Indianapolis does an amazing job of finding the problems, calling the shots, and generally exposing the Republican process of controlling our ability to vote.

THIS IS THE BEST REPORTING I HAVE SEEN ON ELECTION FRAUD, PERIOD.

Please take a look because it’s going on in 7-8 other states, all Republican controlled, all with the same formula, more or less.

Enjoy.

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2. IN: Centralized Registration Database PROBLEMS. Test May 2nd.

Channel 8 in Indianapolis did an AMAZING series on the problems with the centralized registration database in Indiana. Of course, former Mitch Daniels is the Republican Governor, a * protégé. The Indiana story is part of a national trend in centralized registration databases, they are all, save one, in Republican controlled states).
Read the full article AND the follow ups to get the whole story.

New Voter Registration System Won't Solve Old Problems

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4543981&nav=0Ra7
Feb 24, 2006, 10:41 AM

By Rick Dawson
Produced by Loni Smith McKown

The new database won't eliminate the wrongful removal of your name from the voting list.

"Are we removing the right people from the list?" asked Miller.

Also, the new database won't ensure that if you registered at the BMV you'll show up in the poll book.

"Are we gonna eliminate every instance of that? I don't know. I mean, we gotta step into this new world and find out," said Bill McCully of Quest Information Systems, which built the new database.

Finally, the new database won't always place you in the right precinct.

[wakeme2008]

8. Sidenote:

Before Mitch Daniels became Gov he worked for Bush's Budget ppl in DC. And it was HE that cut Corp of Eng. spending on the NOLA levees. :grr:

[IndyOp]

18. And now I am going to be

:puke:

I did not know that the governor of my fair state was in charge of Corp of Engineering funds on NOLA levees. The rot goes all the way to the core, don't it?

:grr:

[Usrename]

19. I remember him. He used to testify before the Senate.

He swore under oath that the Bush tax cuts wouldn't create deficits, back when they were projecting surpluses as far as the eye can see. Sen. Conrad asked him if he was going to come back later, after massive deficits occurred, and claim that the projections were wrong, since he was now claiming that they were right. He swore under oath that he would not do that. Yet, surprise, surprise, two years later he did exactly what he swore an oath not to do.
:mad:

[rumpel]

30. IN: Voter registration system fails, again

Rich Van Wyk/Eyewitness News

Marion County, March 20 - The system worked in the afternoon. Yet earlier during a statewide test Indiana's first ever voter registration system failed. Marion County workers couldn't enter voters' names and address.

Joel Miller with the Marion County Board of Voters Registration says, "Two days into the system we've had two failures. It is scary to think what could happen for the election."

Until now, each county kept their own voters registration records. The statewide system, mandated by Congress, is intended to reduce voter fraud and insure reliable results. Dozens of counties are participating in a simulated election, a six-day test.

Everyday county workers get a playbook that tells them what to do that day. It is a surprise so they can't plan in advance.

Friday error messages surprised workers when the system failed.

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=4657680&nav=menu188_2

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3. IN: Favoritism in Vendor Selection—Winner Gave to IN Scty of State (R)

Oops. It seems that the centralized voter registration database contract was awarded to a local firm that had given campaign funding to the Secretary of State, whose division made the deal with Quest Information Services. Interesting, other vendors with much more experience lost out to a company that had NO EXPERIENCE. Could it have something to do with Republican funds. This brilliant report continues. Again, please look at the entire article. It’s amazing.

An I-Team 8 Investigation
Rokita Denies Favoritism in Choice of Local Company

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4544682&nav=0Ra7

Feb 24, 2006, 10:45 AM

By Rick Dawson
Produced by Loni Smith McKown

Quest Information Systems of Indianapolis had never built a voter registration system before, but it beat out six other competitors for a contract worth more than $10 million.

<snip>

That's not all they took advantage of. I-Team 8 examined Indiana's campaign finance database. Quest and competitors made political donations to Secretary of State Todd Rokita. Quest spent the most, nearly double all others combined. As the state's chief election officer, Rokita helped choose Quest.

"I'm a Republican, so I supported Republican candidates. I've also supported Todd Rokita because I believe, very strongly, that he has had the right vision for being able to take this state forward in election reform," said McCully.

I-Team 8 asked Rokita about the appearance of favoritism. He told us he has hundreds of campaign contributors.

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4. IN: System May Crash. Private Voter Info. Public; ID Theft; Not Secure

Channel 8 is soon to be in Pulitzer territory. They’re predicting that the centralized voter registration database, the one with the privacy and security problems selected by an official who received fund from the vendor, MIGHT FAIL. Pretty bold, don’t you think. These Hoosiers are practical and smart. The larger counties are developing electronic back up systems and the smaller ones are getting their paper records out.

Indiana's New Voter Registration System May Crash. ID Theft Possible!!!

Feb 27, 2006, 10:41 AM
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4549928

<snip>

The state's new system may crash on or before Primary Day. Your private information is public record. Your sensitive information is vulnerable to identity theft and it might not be secure or accessible when you need it.

<snip>

The state's new voter registration system could crash under the weight of May primary demands. It's a question of reliability.

"Worst-case scenario would be that everything is based on a centralized system and the server crashes," said Eugene Spafford, Purdue computer expert.

<snip>

As Primary Day approaches, some of the larger counties, including Marion, have a back-up plan. They'rekeeping their old voter registration systems up to date. Other counties plan to fall back to the original paper files.

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5. IN: Here’s how the data base did: It CRASHED. Sorry, move along,no votes

I’m nominating them for a Pulitzer tomorrow! They outlined the problems; showed the path (small company selected, financial ties to decision makers in the state); and called the failure. I’m asking them will win Belmont and if that horse will be a “Tripple “Crown” winner…

Voter Registration Database Crashes in Mock Election

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4646627&nav=menu35_3
March 17, 2006, 05:37 PM

Before state election officials could even begin a mock election Friday, the new statewide voter registration database crashed. An I-Team 8 investigation just last month warned of such a crash.




"And what we discovered when we came in this morning was that we couldn't even log onto the system," said Joel Miller, Democratic Marion County voter registration board member.

Nobody in the state could log onto the new statewide voter registration system.

The company hired by the state to build it inadvertently caused a two-hour shutdown for the counties preparing for the mock election.

"We should really be disturbed by the fact that six weeks out from the primary and we don't know if we're going to be able to have this primary and whether we're going to have any confidence in it," said Dan Parker, Indiana Democratic Party chair.

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6. IN: Vendor, the one whose system FAILED brags a bit.

There is nothing as successful as a Republican elections failure. This is a snip from the Qeust Informaiton Systems press release on the “mock” election. They should have called it the “Mockery of Elections.” They fail the test and they get paid.



Statement from Steve McNear, president and CEO of Quest Information Systems, Inc. which runs the statewide voter registration system.

PLEASE NOTE that he says5600 incarcerated registrants were removed from the registration records. Lovely (now for a Sam Kennison moment

STEVE, IF THEY’RE IN JAIL HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK THEY COULD EVER VOTE.

THEY’RE IN JAIL!!!!! THEY DON’T LET PEOPLE IN JAIL VOTE.

EVEN IF THEY DO, 5600 REGISTANTS PURGED HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR SYSTEM.

WE KNOW THAT YOUR SYSTEM ***FAILED*** ITS FIRST TEST. AND THE ONLY REASON THERE WAS
A TEST IS SOMEONE OTHER THAN YOUR FIRM ASKED FOR IT!!!

4.5 MILLION VOTERS ARE AT RISK.

IT FAILED!!! IT FAILED STEVE!!!

http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/SVRSFactSheet.pdf

Statement from Secretary of State Todd Rokita on the Quest outage

IN: Net Result—5600 Incarcerated registrants identified; 4.5 million at risk not to vote.


- Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS) Fact Sheet –

<snip>

For the first time in Indiana history, here is a preview of the immediate return on investment gained from the software known as FirstTuesday®.

* 5,645 Incarcerated voters identified by SVRS*
* Since February 9, 2006, 5,645 potential incarcerated voters have been identified with
94% of reviewed records cancelled thus far.

“This, for the first time ever, is a universal window (NOTE THEDOUBLE SPEAK) to the more than four million voters in Indiana. With this previously unavailable technology, we are now able to improve the integrity and accuracy of Indiana’s voter rolls in a way that has never before been possible.” – Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita (He’s a source touting his own FAILURE. Amazing!!!)

Praise for Indiana’s SVRS
"Here in Indiana they are, perhaps one could say, ahead of the game for most states quite frankly." - Ray Martinez, Commissioner, Election Assistance Commission to Indianapolis from WISH-TV Channel 8

“We are a role model right now. We're so ahead of schedule.” - Laura Herzog, president of the Indiana Voter Registration Association to Indianapolis from WISH-TV Channel 8

Wow, WISH-TV Channel 8 is just creaming these folks and they get cute by listing WISH letting the reader imply WISH endorsement. Clever.

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7. IN: Who is this Vendor Quest Information Systems, Inc. teaming with Unisy

Well, you’ll have a hard time finding out from their web page. They have a section on “Company” and “Company History.” Find out who owns Quest Information Systems,? Who is in “governance/” They’re not too generous with names.

http://www.questis.com/PressReleases/PR_050228_VASVRS_Quest.asp

(Here’s a PR Blurb about partnering with UNISYS and getting the VA Contract. Ugh. We have a strange state elections division, appointed by Democrats, they don’t believe in paper ballots. Quest Information Systems needed a host to handle all this data. Because they’re so lean and mean, they outsource it. Where? Well of course, a TEXAS company called Data Return of Las Colinas, Texas (Dick Armey’s old district I believe next to Irving, TX. HOW CONVENIENT!

So now we have a large state putting giving its voter registration database to a local company that contributed to the Secretary of State who selected them. Said local company then turns around and hires a hosting firm in Texas, which also has the Texas centralized registration database and probably Virginia’s too!

See the next post to understand why this is significant.

Indiana-based Quest extends partnership with Unisys to create Virginia’s new statewide voter registration system based on FirstTuesday (Company press release)

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (February 28, 2005) - Quest Information Systems, an Indiana-based consulting and technology services company, today announced that it has signed an agreement with Unisys (NYSE:UIS), to provide its FirstTuesday solution to serve as the new statewide voter registration system for the Virginia State Board of Elections. The total value of the contract remains undisclosed.

Unisys has been selected by Virginia as the primary contractor to implement the new Virginia Election and Registration Information System (VERIS).

Quest will provide the FirstTuesday software and application customizations for VERIS. Quest will also provide training for the end users of the state’s 134 localities. VERIS is being implemented to comply with the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). The FirstTuesday application is a new software package developed by Quest based upon the Microsoft .NET platform.

“We selected Quest because they have established a solid reputation – both in the industry and within Unisys –for delivering quality software and services on-time and on-budget. FirstTuesday offers many substantive advantages over other solutions on the market. We believe that by combining Unisys expertise in consulting and the FirstTuesday application from Quest, we’ll be able to deliver a superior election management solution,” said William K. Batcher, director of election services at Unisys.

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9. IN: Who is this vendor, Quest Information Systems, in Quest’s own words.

They don’t seem to know or they don’t make it easy to find.

IN: Quest Information Systems—Newcomer with Interesting Affiliations

http://www.questis.com/company/history.asp

COMPANY HISTORY

Quest’s roots were formed in the development and support of system performance software for very large computer systems. Quest’s original product set (TP/Analyzer) enjoyed worldwide usage and was unique in its capacity to evaluate not only performance of the hardware and system software platform but also performance of application software that resided up on it - including measurement of end-user service levels and reliability.

As Quest evolved into a project-oriented services provider, developing custom business software and providing IT consulting, our technical focus has likewise evolved: embracing the PC revolution, then developing client/server applications, now riding the wave of Internet-based technologies that are washing through our industry.

As the influence of Internet-based computing standards becomes pervasive, business and government are poised to capitalize on the skin of networks that wrap the globe. Quest combines leading edge, multi-tier development skills with discipline and sensitivity from our heritage of developing and supporting systems for very large communities of users. Development of powerful e-business solutions requires a broad set of skills. Quest’s combination of technical and functional expertise and project experience across a broad range of computing environments and business scenarios has
prepared us well to help our clients capitalize on the web and its flourishing opportunities.

(Any names here or am I missing something)

COMPANY

http://www.questis.com/company/

Since 1989, Quest Information Systems has developed and supported business-critical applications for large organizations in the private and public sectors. Our strengths lie in:

* Investment in the development of people
* Dedication to repeatable processes
* Commitment to quality
* Depth and experience of leadership and senior consultants
* Strong relationships formed over many years with partners and clients, representing industries ranging from pharmaceutical manufacturing to insurance to state and local government

Quest focuses on developing custom software solutions that deliver tangible business value to our clients by addressing unique business problems.

The systems we develop leverage the burgeoning power of today’s servers, desktop PCs, and network technologies, and capitalize on revolutionary changes in information technology that have emerged with the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Quest is among an elite group of Microsoft Gold Certified Partners who distinguish themselves through the application of Microsoft technologies to solve real-world business problems. To achieve Gold Certified status, Partners must meet rigorous criteria to demonstrate successful, large-scale customer IT implementations based on Microsoft technologies.

(What kind of company are you: privately held, a LLC? Who owns you? Why are you making it so hard?

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10. TX Firm to handle IN Reg. Data!!!Republican Trend: Centralized Reg; DBs

Florida passed legislation recently for an “elections czar” – probably the person going after Sancho; Indiana has a centralized database; and Texas has one too: these are ALL REPUBLICAN STATES. THIS IS A TREND NATION WIDE.

For the purposes of our study, the Texas hosting firm, Data Return, mentioned in this article is of real interest.

And who might be behind Data Return, a once public company now gone private. Review this and then see the next post.

TEXAS CIVILI RIGHTS REVIEW

http://texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=201

Brought to You by the Party in Power

By Greg Moses

While we study Texas efforts to produce a statewide database of voters by Jan. 1, other states have breaking news on the issue, too. The move to centralize voter registration in all 50 states is being accompanied by Republican-led efforts to centralize election powers and tighten up voter identification.

Florida passed legislation recently for an “elections czar” – probably the person going after Sancho; Indiana has a centralized database; and Texas has one too: these are ALL REPUBLICAN STATES. THIS IS A TREND NATION WIDE

The Texas location of the server worries county officials in Indiana. "They want to know what will happen if the server in Texas can’t handle Election Day traffic when every county is trying to access data." And therefore, they want permission from the Indiana Secretary of State to keep a copy of their voter rolls in the county. Says the Journal-Gazette editorial board: it is a reasonable request.

<snip>

"It's not much of a story," McCully (of Quest) chuckles. Quest has a good relationship with hosting service, Data Return, which is headquartered on trendy Las Colinas Blvd. in the Dallas suburb of Irving. "They are world renowned, fully bunkerized, and have a service level that Quest likes." In the cyber age of information flow, says McCully, "the physical location of data isn't all that relevant."

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11. TX/IN: Texas Firm and Its Republican Ties – Doing TX, IN, and VA Reg. DBs

We have a little more paper trail here. DATA RETURN was public but now private. It’s obviously in need of investments and Saratoga Partners, headed by John Birklunde is there to help. Birklunde gave a lot of money during 2004 and it was almost all to the Republican Party.

I’m at a loss as to why Virginia’s elections division is doing business with these folks. The Secretary was appointed by Warner and Kaine seems to be leaving her alone. She says she doubts the need for paper ballots. Wow!

So we have the IN Secretary of State, a Republican, getting campaign contributions from the company his department selected to do their centralized registration database. He contracts with a Texas company to host the database and they are funded by a firm whose managing partner is giving the Republicans very large sums of money.

AND the centralized registration database program is national and its in Republican states (save VA). Terrific!

Data Return was once traded on NASDAQ . See below for last quote. It’s now an LLC with heavy duty private funding from Saratoga Partners. Who runs Saratoga Partners, Managing Director John P. Birklunde

Data Return, Las Calinas, TX Once traded on NASDAQ now a LLC.
2/16/2005 4:00 PM (minimum 20 minutes delayed)
Stock Quote Security: DRTN (Common Stock)

$00.0001 Minimum 20 minutes delayed

Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
NOTE: The stock price performance shown on the quote above is not necessarily indicative of future price performance.


Who Funds Data Return? Saratoga Partners. John B. Burkelund, Co-Founder, Managing Director

John P. Birkelund, the former Chief Executive of Dillon Read, is presently Senior Adviser to UBS Warburg LLC. He has served as Chairman of the Polish-American Enterprise Fund since its inception in 1990.

REPUBLICAN CONTRIBUTIONS IN 2004: $60,000 PLUS.
DEMOCRATIC CONTRIBUTIONS: $1,000

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. INDIANA REPUBLICAN SECRETARY OF STATE SELECTS INDIANA NEWBIE TO ELECTIONS TO RUN THE MOST IMPORTANT DATABASE PROJECT EVER. THEY DON’T HAVE A HOST BUT, BY CHANCE, TEAM UP WITH A TEXAS COMPANY THAT DOES HAVE ONE. THIS COMPANY IS FUNDED BY A HEAVY DUTY REPUBLICAN.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN. WELL, YOU KNOW, IT’S JUST ONE OF THOSE MANY “COINCIDENCES..”

2004 Elections

1) Contributions to Political Committees

BIRKELUND, JOHN, Managing Partner, Saratoga Investments, formerly Chief Executive Dillon Reid, UBS Warburg
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/qind/

1) Contributions to Political Committees

ARIZONA REPUBLICAN PARTY
11/02/2004 1487.00 25971441900
REPUBLICAN PARTY OF IOWA
10/25/2004 1042.00 25970781426
MAINE REPUBLICAN PARTY
11/01/2004 595.00 25980445404
REPUBLICAN FEDERAL COMMITTEE OF PENNSYLVANIA
11/05/2004 3125.00 24981707300
COORS, PETER
07/30/2004 1000.00 24020761058
BRADLEY, BILL
VIA BILL BRADLEY FOR PRESIDENT INC
02/26/1999 1000.00 99990016406
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE
05/26/2004 25000.00 24961580581
BUSH, GEORGE W
01/22/2004 2000.00 24990536090
NEW HAMPSHIRE REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE
10/27/2004 595.00 24981607475
BUSH, GEORGE W
04/10/2000 1000.00 20990123470

Total Contributions:

$37844.00

2) Joint Fundraising Contributions

These are contributions to committees who are raising funds to be distributed to other committees. The breakdown of these contributions to their final recipients may appear below

BIRKELUND, JOHN MR.
2004 JOINT STATE VICTORY COMMITTEE
10/01/2004 25000.00 24991248525

Total Joint Fundraising:

$25000.00

Recipient of Joint Fundraiser Contributions

These are the Final Recipients of Joint Fundraising Contributions
WASHINGTON STATE REPUBLICAN PARTY
10/19/2004 817.00 24981478886
MICHIGAN REPUBLICAN PARTY
10/30/2004 2530.00 24981465012
MISSOURI REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE-FEDERAL
11/04/2004 1637.00 25990114135
NEVADA REPUBLICAN STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
11/05/2004 745.00 24991458763
OREGON REPUBLICAN PARTY
11/04/2004 1042.00 25970778477
REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA
10/01/2004 4017.00 25990817848
WV REPUBLICAN STATE EXEC COMMITTEE
10/18/2004 745.00 25980384774
OHIO REPUBLICAN PARTY STATE CENTRAL & EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
10/25/2004 2975.00 25980488278
ARKANSAS LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE 2004 FCRC
11/04/2004 892.00 24981911046
REPUBLICAN PARTY OF MINNESOTA
11/22/2004 1265.00 24991349277

Recipient Total: 16665.00

TRY A: NEW QUERY

[freedomfries]

34. thanks to you, auto, for highlighting the important info

the part about the TX outsourcing is truly ominous! They are highjacking the electoral system piece by piece right under the noses of the clueless electorate!
The Texas location of the server worries county officials in Indiana. "They want to know what will happen if the server in Texas can’t handle Election Day traffic when every county is trying to access data." And therefore, they want permission from the Indiana Secretary of State to keep a copy of their voter rolls in the county. Says the Journal-Gazette editorial board: it is a reasonable request.
Luckily they junkware doesn't even work!

[Mnemosyne]

17. Excellent thread autorank! Wish I could recommend it twice! n/t

:applause:

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21. SPECIAL THANKS to DUer "freedomfries" for the tip and hot WISH-8 links!!!

:patriot:

[Senator]

33. IN: McCully of Quest -- Not Just Any Republican (Reagan Elector from IN)

This thug McCully's been a partisan hack for decades. Not just anyone gets to be a presidential elector. McCully (or his dad?) was a Reagan elector in 1984.

One blogger's comment on the WISH report of this Pay-to-Play-Dirty contract includes:

"McCully is a former member of the Republican caucus staff of the Indiana House of Representatives. He has also worked for the Indiana State Republican Central Committee."

Indiana is selling its voter records to a an uber-partisan who's thrilled to have them "bunkerized" in Texas.

--
www.january6th.org

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12. UT: Problems with UTAH DRE’s – Great Site, Great Effort.

Check out the UtahCountsVotes.Org Site. It’s a model for state based efforts. It seems that there are real problems with touch screens in Utah. The paper trail can’t be counted by anyone other than Diebold! How convenient! The citizen activists are fighting back and the’ve got great information.. Check out the site.


PROBLEMS IN UTAH!!!
http://www.utahcountvotes.org/

Utah's MOCK ELECTION was March 30,2005 ES&S AutoMark Op-Scan system for voters, and Diebold DRE paper-rolls-under-plastic voting systems were displayed. It had been announced that voters would be asked to fill out surveys giving their opinions on the equipment, but after a certain number of required surveys were filled out, many voters reported being told that there were no more surveys, so many voters were not able to give their input.

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13. UT: Summary Utah Voting Equipment Selection Advice. Excellent Resource

This is an outstanding letter from some of the best election integrity people in the country. Copy it and use this in your state or county.


Summary: Utah Voting Equipment Selection Advice (Note: Public Document, No Copyright restrictions apply. Provieded in Full).
http://utahcountvotes.org/voting_system_advice.pdf

Date: October 20, 2004
Note: This letter primarily addresses direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines because Utah's state election reform plan and its original July 9th RFP required DRE voting machines. If by any chance bids for optical scan voting systems have been submitted and are under consideration by Utah's Election Office, then this letter may be less relevant. Utah must implement Help America Vote Act (HAVA) provisions by its June 2006 election<./b>

The voting equipment arena is currently in such great turmoil that delaying the acquisition process would greatly reduce the state's risks and probably its costs. Available equipment, its costs, the standards, the laws, judicial rulings, and public opinion are all in great flux. It is in the interests of no one, including the disabled, to have to revisit the selection, or to be stuck with an inaccurate or insecure system by rushing in too early.

Utah has the time to do the right thing and benefit from other states' collective experience and research. The (voting equipment) RFP is an invitation for vendors to tell the State what it needs. That is a poor way to do purchasing in general, but in the case of something as important as voting equipment, it is downright dangerous.

(Utah's state election reform plan and the original July 9) RFP stated: "The proposed voting solution must include at least one DRE (direct recording electronic voting machine) per polling place .." This requirement may have discouraged other presently available voting systems that meet HAVA (Help America Vote Act)'s accessibility requirements from submitting bids.

DREs require a much higher level of security than machines that don't actually record the votes, because if an unauthorized (or even authorized) person were to access the code, he or she could impact the results reported by the DREs. The same is not necessarily true for (precinct-based) optical scan and ballot marking and generating systems.

Errors of (purely) electronic voting machines may often be undetectable and there are many instances of (purely) electronic voting systems reporting highly improbable outcomes, forcing the relevant voting officials to explain the seemingly impossible results with comments that boil down to "the computer says it's true, so it must be." Problems as simple as a computer bug or configuration error by election workers can and have caused serious errors in recording votes. Over 2000 technologists endorsed Verified Voting's resolution saying "Computerized voting equipment is inherently subject to programming error, equipment malfunction, and malicious tampering..."

Expert computer scientists can help to create specific criteria for all aspects of our voting systems. (The Utah Election Office) can ask computer security experts about computer security questions, not end users, who may like the look and feel of the machines but have no way of knowing if they are really secure. The State has the opportunity to amend the RFP to ... provide time and resources for a complete and independent review of proposals, given the present state of DRE security and reliability. Security evaluation of voting machines is entirely inadequate under this RFP.

The current generation of electronic (DRE) voting machines are not secure, do not provide voters with a way to know that their votes are being tabulated correctly, and do not provide a mechanism for effective recounts when errors arise. As such, they represent an unacceptable technical risk, regardless of how people feel about them. The only way to effectively guard against errors is to have a redundant system for counting votes. The authors of this response strongly feel that the only technology currently available that provides this necessary redundancy is Voter Verifiable Paper Ballots (VVPB). In fact,
- 2 -
security is so hard to achieve that most Computer Scientists who have looked at the problem have concluded that the only way to prevent problems is to ensure that you provide a method for auditing the results, provide for independent recounts.

The present RFP does not sufficiently specify how those costs (for storage, transportation, set up, connectivity, physical security, cleaning, maintenance, and upgrades) are to be identified and calculated.

The State has the opportunity to make the entire process as open as possible in order to avail itself of public resources, and look to share costs and form partnerships with other governmental and non- governmental entities. Open Source solutions by their very nature: a) inspire greater public confidence, as they are open for the world to review and critique, b) due to that broad review, have a much better record of security and correctness.

Utah can join multi-state open source development efforts and write a more specific RFP that details the State's real requirements, including a VVPB, and allow sufficient time for a thorough review, including outside experts, to ensure that Utah's voting system is the most secure and trustworthy in America.

Signatories:

Erik Brunvand, Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Utah
John Carter, Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Utah
Alan Dechert, Open Voting Consortium, Founder and President
David L. Dill, Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University
Kathy Dopp, MS Mathematics, University of Utah and Utah Count Votes Founder
Samuel H. Drake, Research Associate Professor, School of Computing and
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah
Ganesh C Gopalakrishnan, Professor of Computer Science, Universi ty of Utah
Michael Jones, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Brigham Young University
David Hanscom, Professor, Clinical, School of Computing, University of Utah
Arthur Lee, Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Utah
Dow W. Patten, Esq.
John Regehr, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Utah
Kent Seamons, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Brigham Young University and
Director, Internet Security Research Lab
Peter Shirley, Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Utah
Barbara Simons, IBM Research (ret) and
Former President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Pamela Smith, National Coordinator, Verified Voting Foundation
Phillip Windley, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Brigham Young University and
Former Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the State of Utah


This document was condensed from our previous submissions to Utah's Election Office:

July 19, 2004
http://utahcountvotes.org/Voting_systems.pdf
September 24, 2004
http://utahcountvotes.org/response.pdf
- 3 -
Send mailed responses to this letter to: Utah Count Votes, P.O. Box 680192, Park City, UT 84068

[autorank]

14. Belarus: Cheater cheating again.."wins" convincingly.

The varieties of election fraud continue to amaze all of us. The leader of Belarus, beloved by the Russians and living in an artificial economy based on subsidized Russian emergy, just so happened to win when...well, you know.


http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-20T040823Z_01_L19343419_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BELARUS.xml

Lukashenko re-elected Belarus president: officials

Sun Mar 19, 2006 11:47 PM ET
By Olena Horodetska

MINSK (Reuters)

<snip>

The full results were announced just hours after some 10,000 people rallied in heavy snow in the central October Square of the capital when polls closed on Sunday, a protest unmatched in recent years. Lukashenko had pledged to "wring the necks" of anyone threatening public order, but police took no action.

The opposition rejected the returns as blatant fraud and said campaigning was marred by the arrests of dozens of opposition activists and mass intimidation.

Protesters stood in bitter winds waving flags and placards reading:

"We believe!

We can do it! We shall win!"

"We have already achieved a colossal victory. People have overcome their fear. Our objective is new and fair elections," he said at the start of the rally.

His calls were reminiscent of events in the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine, where opposition activists mounted campaigns of mass protest against election results they said were fraudulent. In both countries, leaders were ultimately forced from power and replaced by pro-Western opponents.

[autorank]

15. NY Times Covers Fraud…In Belarus, former Soviet Union. Thanks NYT.

They're trying out election fraud coverage in Belarus. That's sort of like opening in Connecticut to see how you'll do on Broadway; or like Jerry Lewis taking France by storm when his career was down and then returning truumphantly to the US. The NYT knows it's stuff. They study hard. They'll get around to convering election fraud in the USA about the time we crown * King and we're all referring to ourselves as "grateful serfs." Thanks for NOTHING NYT.

Protesters Charge Fraud in Belarus Presidential Election

Thousands rallied as snow fell in Minsk Sunday to protest the re-election of President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, who has been in office 12 years
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/20/international/europe/20belarus.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1142830800&en=c910ceeef6c5c446&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin

By STEVEN LEE MYERS and C. J. CHIVERS
Published: March 20, 2006

MINSK, Belarus, Monday, March 20 — An expected landslide for President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko drew several thousand Belarussians into the streets on Sunday, as protesters ignored swirling snow and official threats of arrest to denounce the election as a clumsily orchestrated sham.

With 32 percent of ballots counted shortly before midnight on Sunday, Mr. Lukashenko, a former collective farm boss who has been in office 12 years, had won 88 percent of the total, said the secretary of the central election commission, Nikolai I. Lozovik. That figure exceeded even the state's own surveys of voters leaving the polls and hardened assertions by Mr. Lukashenko's opponents that the results were fraudulent.

"They say we want a revolution," the leading opposition candidate, Aleksandr Milinkevich, told thousands of protesters who gathered peacefully in October Square, the central square in Minsk, as the polls closed at 8 p.m. "No. We want only free and fair elections. What happened here was a farce. We do not recognize this election."James Hill for The New York Times

[autorank]

16. CA: Our hero, the actor turned temp who “outed” Diebolds fraud Feel Good!

He's still there, we're still here. :)HAVE A NICE DAY:)

MONTEREY HERALD

Election watchdog faces theft charges

3/19/06
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/14136708.htm
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A 43-year-old actor has become a hero to digital rights and political activists who they claim is a whistle-blower who helped exposed a threat to the election system.


The alleged “thief” or “hero” of clean voting, Steve Heller, also a
part time actor.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles last month charged him with three felonies for allegedly stealing damaging documents about voting machine manufacturer Diebold Election Systems.

''My wife would never describe me as someone on the front lines of anything, and I wouldn't either,'' Heller said. ''I'm not politically active except I've voted since I was 18.''

Prosecutors say Heller, of Van Nuys, took more than 500 pages of Diebold-related documents, including memos from the company's lawyers at the Jones Day law firm. The memos suggested that Diebold may have broken state law by providing Alameda County with voting machines that had not been certified by the state.

[alfredo]

20. K&R

[eppur_se_muova]

22. Geez, sorry I can only recommend once -- even AWSOMER than usual!!

Going for a taste of Pulitzer yourself?:evilgrin:

You had to remind me I miss Sam Kinnison.:cry: Maybe tonight I'll dream about him roasting **.

[DFW]

23. This is not news...

which is scary. It was obvious since the 2002 mid-term elections that the electronic voting machines in use tended to hand underdog Republican
candidates "unexpected upset" victories, and none to Democrats. It happened again in 2004, and the Ohio referendum farce is just more evidence
that the makers of these machines are getting bolder and bolder about what they are willing to put over on the public: http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1593

My brother is involved in some heavy Defense Department hi-tech stuff, and he says that to manipulate the electronic voting machines is first
grade level stuff, and can be made to be detectable only by a forensic check of the machine afterwards. However, the makers of the machines went
before a Republican judge years ago and got their machines declared porivate property. In other words, the results (as they reported them) were
public domain, but not the machines that reoprted them. No verification. Until these things are banished, our democracy is in greater peril than
all the conspiracy theories could have possibly imagined.

[autorank]

24. Not "news" until the "News" covers it...but reality, yes. n/t

Interesting points you make. Why don't you do a post on the Elections Forum outlining this in detail.

This is a news thread and discussion is generally very limited. Do a post to the Elections Forum with some evidence, anecdotes, etc. We'll be fascinated.

Welcome to DU.

[Vadem]

25. I recommended! It only needs 5 more votes so K&R! n/t

[rumpel]

26. OR: New voting machines hit delay

Access - Supply issues may prevent Oregon from offering machines to disabled people in May, as required by law
Monday, March 20, 2006
MATTHEW PREUSCH
People with disabilities in Oregon probably won't get to use specially designed voting machines in the May primary as planned, putting the state in violation of sweeping federal reform law.

A contract dispute with the supplier has delayed delivery of the voting machines, required under the 2002 Help America Vote Act.

"We spent a year trying to put this together," said Gene Newton, a state election official coordinating changes spurred by the new law. "To hit this snag at the end was really unexpected."

At least 21 other states also missed the Jan. 1 deadline to offer the machines, according to electionline.org, a nonpartisan election database. The law requires states to have a machine in every polling place by this year to allow disabled people to vote independently and privately.

Oregon, the only 100 percent vote-by-mail state, had planned to buy a minimum of two AutoMARK machines per county -- one to be placed in a county building and one mobile unit, with additional terminals in more populous areas.

Each machine is about the size of a large suitcase, with a touch screen and Braille key pad. Voters with disabilities would feed their paper ballots into the machine, then vote with the help of attached headphones, large print, or, for those with limited use of their arms or hands, a "sip/puff" tube.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1142825126230010.xml&coll=7

[rumpel]

27. IL: Officials upbeat on voting machines

The State Journal Register Springfield
By BERNARD SCHOENBURG
POLITICAL WRITER
Published Monday, March 20, 2006


New voting machines will greet Sangamon County voters Tuesday as they head to polls to cast ballots in primary races that will choose candidates for offices from governor to precinct committeeman.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

With the help of federal funding designed to help end the use of punch cards, Sangamon County officials bought voting machines from a company called Populex Inc., of West Dundee. Sangamon County Clerk Joe Aiello and the director of elections in his office, Stacey Kern, said that people who voted early this year and those who have tried the system in demonstrations seem to like the machines. The devices have computer touch-screens, but the voting process produces a coded paper ballot that the voter then returns to the election judges.

"The feedback that we've gotten from the public is that they are surprised at how easy they are to use," Kern said of the new machines.

A description of the machines and instructions on their use is available on the Internet at www.votingdemo.com.

Kern said just under 1,000 people in the county cast ballots during the early voting period.

Aiello is predicting turnout in the county of 33 to 35 percent.

There are 128,743 registered voters in the county.

http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/81565.asp

[rumpel]

28. FL: PALM BEACH COUNTY, Ballot review finds voter, tallying flubs

Miami Herald

Posted on Mon, Mar. 20, 2006
PALM BEACH COUNTY
Ballot review finds voter, tallying flubs
Discrepancies and voter errors were rampant in tallies from last week's Palm Beach County municipal elections.
BY GEORGE BENNETT
Palm Beach Post
Punch-card voting lives on in Palm Beach County, at least for one Delray Beach voter.

Disregarding instructions to mark an absentee ballot by drawing a line to connect two segments of an arrow, the voter in last week's municipal election instead punched holes next to the names of city commission candidates Nick Loeb and Brenda Montague.

It was one of many flubs by voters and poll workers that emerged from a review of ballots and precinct reports from last week's municipal elections in 16 cities and towns, four years after the county dumped punch cards.

The votes on the improvised punch card ended up getting counted.

Although the punctured ballot couldn't be read by an electronic optical scanner at the county elections office, elections workers figured the voter's intent was clear and made up a duplicate ballot with properly marked votes for Loeb and Montague to feed through the scanning machine.

Similar duplicates were made for 32 other mismarked absentee ballots and for 20 provisional ballots that were rejected by optical scanners. The problem ballots accounted for 2.6 percent of the 2,017 paper ballots cast in last week's municipal elections.

More than 31,000 ballots were cast electronically in the elections amid a smattering of complaints about faulty activator cards, machines that didn't work and some poll-worker reports that showed discrepancies between the number of voters who signed in and the number of ballots cast.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14139804.htm

[rumpel]

29. IL: Touch screens simplify voting (Knox County)

New machines help voters with disabilities


Monday, March 20, 2006

The Register-Mail

By BEN BOTKIN
The Register-Mail

GALESBURG - Voting just got easier.
In Tuesday's primary election, voters will have touch-screen voting machines to use when casting ballots. The technologically advanced machines are a first for Knox and Warren counties and come from the Help America Vote Act, a federal law.

Part of the law's changes requires voting machines that make casting ballots easier for disabled people.

With these machines, there are a couple ways that goal is accomplished. With an audio system, voters can hear a recording telling them how they voted.

There's also a way to enlarge the text on a screen so voters with poor eyesight don't need to squint. There's also a number keypad with buttons to press for voting choices.

Although it's a change from the old style of vote, Knox County Clerk Scott Erickson said the machines were popular in recent weeks during early voting for the primaries.
"We've had a real good response," he said. "I was expecting a lukewarm response to it."

http://www.register-mail.com/stories/032006/MAI_B99E8IQ0.GID.shtml

[rumpel]

31. TX: County looks at needed voting equipment (Port Arthur)

By Marilyn Tennissen/The News staff writer Posted: 03/20/06 - 11:20:18 am CST

After the recount of votes from the March 7 primary elections last week, the county is still trying to work out equipment problems and purchases relating to the new electronic voting system.

On Monday's agenda of the Jefferson County Commissioners Court, there is an item to execute a sales agreement with Election Systems & Software in the amount of $58,764 for additional equipment.

Deputy Chief County Clerk Theresa Goodness said the item relates to an ongoing effort to get all of the proper equipment for the new system.

“After we made the purchase of the equipment and the system, we discovered that there was some equipment that we had that we didn't need, and others that we needed but didn't have,” Goodness said.

Among the things needed are 12 more M100s, which are the precinct scanners, along with start-up kits and security lids. Those items account for the $58,000 bill.

The county is also returning several items, including supervisor terminals.

“They sent us 10, but we only needed three. We are returning seven,” Goodness said.

The refund for the seven terminals comes to more than $15,000. Other returned items come to a total of $91,894.

Goodness said the ES&S system has been full of problems from the beginning.

During the early voting period, ES&S had not completed the coding of the ballots, so paper optical scan ballots were used for the first week.

http://www.panews.com/articles/2006/03/20/news/moncounty.txt

[rumpel]

32. Sensenbrenner: Time to Terminate Foreign-Language Ballots

Human Events Online
The National Conservative Weekly

by Phyllis Schlafly
Posted Mar 20, 2006

Led by U.S. Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y. and Steve King, R-Iowa, 56 members of the House of Representatives are urging House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., to oppose the renewal of the section of the Voting Rights Act that mandates foreign-language ballots.

The two Kings say that these ballots "divide our country, increase the risk of voter error and fraud, and burden local taxpayers."

Their letter correctly explains that foreign-language ballots encourage linguistic separatism - which would give us problems like Canada has with the French language - and "contradict the melting pot ideal that has made the United States the most successful multiethnic nation on earth."

Foreign-language ballots don't make civic sense. Only citizens can vote - at least legally. To become a naturalized U.S. citizen, the law requires that a person demonstrates "an understanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write and speak ... simple words and phrases ... in ordinary usage in the English language."

Foreign-speaking citizens have the same legal protection of their right to vote as have millions of English-speaking U.S. illiterates. They can request assistance in the polling place, or take a crib sheet or interpreter into the booth, or get an absentee ballot and obtain help translating it.

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=13362


:puke:

[paineinthearse]

39. Effective immediately, all US ballots will be printed in the native tongue

Abenakis, Accochannock, Alabama Coushatta, Abanki,
Alaska Natives, Apache,* Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboine Sioux,

Blackfeet,

Caddo, Carrier, Catawba, Cayuga , Cheyenne, Chickasaw,
Chicora, Chilcotin, Chippewa, Chippewa Cree, Chitimacha,
Chocataw, Cherokee*, Chumash, Coharie, Comanche,
Costanoan, Cowlitz, Cree, Creek, Crow,

Dakota, Delaware, Dene,

Edisto, Essellen, Goshute , Gros Ventree, Gwitch'In ,

Haida, Haliwa-Sponi, Hidatsa, Ho Chunk , Hohokam, Hopi,
Houma, Hupa, Huron,

Illinois, Innu, Inuit, Inupiaq, Iowa, Iroquois,

Kalispel, Kaw, Kiowa, Klallam, Klamath, Kootenai, Lakota,
Lumbee, Maidu, Makah, Mandan, Mattaponi, Meherrin,
Menominee, Metis, Miami, Mingo, Miwok, Mohawk, Mohegan, Monacan, Montaucketts, Munsee Delaware,

Nansemond, Navaho, Nez Perce, Nisga'a, Nootka,

Ohlone, Ojibwe, Omaha, Oneida, Onondaga, Osage, Ottawa,

Paiute, Pamunkey, Pawnee, Peoria, Pequot, Pima,
Potawatomi, Powhatan, Pueblo,

Quapaw, Quinault,

Ramapough,

Sac and Fox , Salish, Saponi, Secwepemc, Seminole,
Seneca, Shawnee, Shinnecock, Shoshone, Shuswap, Siletz,
Sioux, Spokane, Steilacoom, Suquamish, Susquehanna

Tlingit, Tonkawa, Tsilhqot'In, Tuscarora,

Umatilla, Umpqua, Ute,

Wabanaki, Waccamaw-Sioun, Wampanoag, Warm Springs Indians, Washoe, Wea, Wendat, Wichita, Wiyot, Wyandot,

[rumpel]

35. Supreme Court rejects Puerto Rico voting rights appeal

Jusrist
Legal News & Research, Univ. of Pittsburgh

Monday, March 20, 2006


Supreme Court declines Whitewater, tobacco, Puerto Rico voting rights appeals
Krystal MacIntyre at 2:49 PM ET

The Supreme Court also rejected a bid to give residents of Puerto Rico the right to vote in United States presidential elections, declining an appeal from an August 2005 decision of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit holding that to allow Puerto Ricans the right to vote would require amending the US Constitution or making the island the 51st state. Puerto Rico has voted in several referenda to keep its current territorial status. AFP has more. Read Monday's full Order List .

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/03/supreme-court-declines-whitewater.php

[rumpel]

36. LCCREF to Study D.C. Voting Issues

Civilrights.org

By civilrights.org staff
civilrights.org
March 20, 2006

For residents of the District of Columbia, "taxation without representation" is more than a historical concept schoolchildren study in class; it is their modern reality.

Civil rights groups have long protested the disenfranchisement of D.C. residents. D.C. residents are required to pay federal taxes and abide by federal laws, but do not have voting representatives in the U.S. House or Senate.

A new study conducted by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF) will address the practical impact of political disenfranchisement on the more than 600,000 residents of Washington, D.C.

The nine-month project will research historical and contemporary examples of disenfranchisement and conduct interviews with past and current D.C. elected officials, economic experts, activists, and lobbyists.

Results from the study will be included in a booklet for distribution to policymakers and advocates.

http://www.civilrights.org/issues/voting/details.cfm?id=41436

[Patsy Stone]

37. K&R! n/t

[paineinthearse]

38. OH: Ken Blackwell Calls Republican Government a Regime

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060319/NEWS09/603190341

[blm]

40. K&R.

.