Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Friday 3/31/06

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1. OPEd News: A Bit of a Quandary

March 31, 2006

by Joan Brunwasser, Voting Integrity Editor, OpEdNews

Well, I knew the day would come. I just didn’t expect it to come so soon. From the get-go, I had doubts about my suitability for this job of Voting Integrity Editor for OpEdNews. I voiced those concerns to my future boss, Rob Kall, but I guess he couldn’t find another obsessed person willing to dedicate molto hours to the endless task of trying to bring the voting news to OpEdNews’ readership. I almost said “thankless”, but that would not be true. Since starting as editor, I have been amazed and uplifted by the words of encouragement coming from all corners of the country, including seasoned activists with lengthy resumes. My sole claim to fame was my “Invisible Ballots” lending library project, which I’m happy to say is still going strong.

But, that brings me back to the feeling that I’ve had all along that I am an imposter. Isn’t an editor supposed to be an expert? That’s certainly not me. It is true that I am dedicated wholeheartedly to the daunting task of trying to secure free, fair and transparent elections for myself, my children and my fellow citizens. But, I am a techno-illiterate, a nouveau activist and a middle-aged, trifocaled, postmenopausal suburban mom. Not exactly a mix to inspire the masses.

And I’m still not even exactly clear about the best way to bring about election reform. That is the simple, unvarnished truth. I know that without an informed electorate, the corporate interests will overrun the system and make our democracy a shadow of its former self, struggling along on life-support. It’s already happened. State by state, communities have rushed to take advantage of too many tax dollars and not enough time (surely this is no coincidence) and are making unwise decisions they will regret sooner or later.

Let’s look at a sampling of recent revelations. In December, Ion Sancho, Supervisor of Elections in Leon County, Florida, invited Finnish security expert Harri Hursti to hack into the Diebold optical scanner used by Leon County voters. The shockwaves caused by Hursti’s quick success spread to California, which uses the same machines and software. Instead of being feted for his dedication to his voters, Sancho was maligned and tag-teamed by the Big 3 electronic voting machine corporations contending for contracts. They teamed up with Gov. Bush and his Secretary of State to try to oust Mr. Sancho from his position of many years. Only the loyalty of his county commissioners with their unanimous vote of confidence and some media attention (finally!) stopped Sancho from being tossed out on his ear. And California? Various groups have now sued McPherson to halt the use/purchase of Diebold machines.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_joan_bru_060331_a_bit_of_a_quandary.htm

[PATRICK]

21. Simple unvarnished

truth is that if it takes an expert to extricate understanding and trust out of a voting system THAT voting system is wrong. Not the other way around.

Making it easy does not mean a touchscreen instead of a pencil. Making it simple does not mean burying the count in secret computer software.

I encourage the editor not to take the defensive as so many advocates are forced to do because of the dominance of fraud salesmanship and government coercion.

It only take s few minutes perhaps less than a minute to demonstrate or argue to the common person what is fundamentally wrong with the machines. Arguing with conmen or the conned takes a little more skill, but their minds just might be closed. So simple are the arguments that putting the opposite question, why on earth do we need these machines anyway at this cost? becomes the truly overwhelming question.

The only reason this hard because we are simply fighting against power clothed in common lies that people
won't like to face and feel helpless when told.

The sole caveat is not to become too much of a zealot or fan of every single anti-e-voting issue out there in such a way as to make a cause more important than the simple truth and go out on a limb for points that may be small or wrong. The overall national picture too has to kept as the backdrop and that picture is not good at all yet. Promulgation of the simple truth and what citizens can do must always be contained in the message.

[FogerRox]

2. Was I late? Opps.

Welcome to the "ERD"

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=203x397093

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

for MAC users-- IIRC its hold down control- and click on the image to view its source.

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24. FogerRox, for some reason I was looking for MelissaB to start the post....

self :spank: that was Sunday

I am on PST so I started... Ooops

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3. LA: Electronic voting machines readied for Saturday races

ouch screens replace lever-driven systems
Friday, March 31, 2006

By Paul Bartels
River Parishes bureau
Instead of twisting tiny levers next to sometimes difficult-to-read names, St. John the Baptist Parish voters will be able to reach out and touch the candidates of their choice in Saturday's special elections.

St. John is among the parishes that recently received the new Sequoia AVC Advantage full-face direct recording electronic voting machines. They already are in place in at least a dozen parishes, including Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany.

LaPlace area voters -- and their counterparts elsewhere in the New Orleans area -- literally will touch the names on the computerlike screens that display the entire ballot for the specific election at hand.

Absentee voters got a sneak preview last week with smaller versions of the machines that, in the case of longer-list elections, require the voter to "turn" each "page" to cast a ballot.

The full-face units will be used parishwide April 29 for the school system's property tax renewal election. The parish has been assigned a total of 86 full-face and smaller units.

The voting results are electronically tabulated on digital cartridges for each machine. The cartridges are taken to a vote tally center, where the "file" is downloaded, read, printed out and uploaded to the secretary of state's central computer system.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1143788840269270.xml

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4. PA: Montco's voting machine fixes fail to gain state certification

Morning Call Online

March 31, 2006
Montco's voting machine fixes fail to gain state certification

Company given until April 11 to work out bugs in software.
By Pervaiz Shallwani
Of The Morning Call

With the state primary six weeks away, Montgomery County was dealt a setback this week when its electronic voting machines failed tests in Harrisburg that would have certified them as meeting new federal law.

The blow put Montgomery County commissioners and election officials in the position Thursday of having to reassure the public the election would not be affected, as a voters group scrutinized their decisions.

''We will be compliant,'' Election Board Chairman Tom Ellis said. ''We will not lose federal money. I am not happy about it, but we will be ready on election day.''

After testing the computerized machines for 12 hours over Tuesday and Wednesday, state examiner Michael Shamos determined they could not be certified until the problems are fixed.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/quakertown/all-b1_2montcomar31,0,5073120.story?coll=all-newslocalquakertown-hed

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11. PA:Voting machines fail primary test

COURTHOUSE - Montgomery County officials Thursday said it is too early to determine the impact that this week's failure by county voting machines to gain state certification will have on the May 16 primary elections.

By: MARGARET GIBBONS, Times Herald Staff

During the two-day certification process, a certification examiner discovered a problem with the software. Sequoia corrected the problem overnight but, as a result of that correction, new problems were detected including one that raised the possibility that votes could be tampered with on the machine.
At that point, the examiner halted the certification process, declaring the new software "not stable," according to Passarella, who witnessed the first day of testing but was not there for the second day because of other duties.
Passarella said he has discussed the situation with Sequoia officials, who he said have assured him that the software problems can be corrected in time for a new certification review several weeks from now.
If the software does not win certification at that time, he said the county has a "Plan B."

The county would use the software and machines it has used in previous elections, he said. In addition, Sequoia has promised to lend the county new already-certified machines with audio capacity for each of the county's 407 polling places.
However, still unresolved on Thursday was whether the county's voting machines without the audio capacity still retained their certified status and could be used in the May 16 elections.

Members of the Election Reform Network, a non-partisan grassroots citizen organization dedicated to election reform and the integrity of the voting process, claimed that the county's faith in sequoia "is misplaced."
David Heitler-Klevans, a county resident and member of the organization, attended the Wednesday's certification process, called the failures of the software "fairly dramatic."

"The most significant failures dealt with security," said Heitler-Klevans, whose organization has repeatedly called on the county to add a paper component to the voting process so that voters could be assured that the machine was actually recording the way they were voting. "When the examiner tried to show us that the system could not be hacked, it showed the opposite. They corrected that but that correction showed even greater vulnerability."

"We have six weeks until the primary and I think we have significant problems," he said. "We are concerned about the chaos that could ensue in our primary election."
Another concern cited by county officials is whether the county will still be eligible for some $1.2 million in federal grant funds to upgrade the voting machines to include the audio component if those machines are not available for use in the May primary election.


full story

http://www.timesherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16408180&BRD=1672&PAG=461&dept_id=33380&rfi=6

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17. PA- Voting software vulnerable to hackers

Voting software vulnerable to hackers

The flaw affects Montco's central election computer. Officials are scrambling for a fix before the May primary.

By Jeff Shields and Nancy Petersen
Inquirer Staff Writers


Elections officials in Montgomery County are working on contingency plans for the May 16 primary after a state expert said an updated voting system is vulnerable to hackers.

The primary vote could be held using the existing equipment provided by Sequoia Voting Systems, though that would not comply with federal handicapped-accessibility requirements, said Joseph Passarella, the county's director of voter services.

State officials plan to retest the new Sequoia software - an upgrade necessary to add an audio option for visually impaired voters - on April 11.

The problem arose not in individual voting machines, but in a central control unit that compiles votes from each precinct.

Michael Shamos, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said in an interview he was able to hack in and change totals during a state test. The machines are also being purchased by Allegheny County.

"I found that by altering one file I could change vote totals from 10 to over 8,000," he said. "It easily let me do that, so the security mechanisms associated with county central are deficient."

In another test involving a referendum question, the system would not allow a "no" vote.

"I told them to do a comprehensive fix and a comprehensive test and come back in two weeks," he said. "If they fix it, we can distribute one copy to Allegheny County and one copy to Montgomery County and we're good to go."

Full story--

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/bucks_county/14229311.htm

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23. Background on Dr. Shamos.

Professor to try to hack voting machines

Monday, March 27, 2006

By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



"If you can hack into a touch-screen voting machine undetected, Michael Shamos will give you $10,000."




Michael Shamos

Dr. Shamos, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who has spent more than two decades testing electronic voting equipment, first made that offer several years ago. To this day, no one has tried to collect.

"Because they know they can't do it," he said last week.

But Dr. Shamos, ......Sequoia, based in Oakland, Calf., has already sent the professor a packet of information about its Advantage, including a disk containing the machine's computer coding.

This isn't the first time Dr. Shamos has tested the Advantage,...........
...... They echo the concerns of the Verified Voting Foundation, a California-based organization that has taken a leading role in calling for voting machines with paper trails that voters can check before leaving the polling place.

The organization's founder is Dr. David L. Dill, a professor of computer science at Stanford University and one of Dr. Shamos' former students.

Full story-

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06086/677130-103.stm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Jerome L. Sherman can be reached at [e-mail] or 412-263-1183. )

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5. ABC: 1965 Voting Rights Law Set to Expire

ABC News

Debate on Whether to Renew Provisions of 1965 Voting Rights Law Heats Up

By MARCUS FRANKLIN

NEW YORK Mar 31, 2006 (AP)— On what would become known as "Bloody Sunday," voting rights marchers in March 1965 reached the highest point on the Edmund Pettus Bridge near Selma, Ala., and saw a blue sea of uniforms awaiting them at the end of the bridge.

Television would show images of Alabama State Troopers armed with guns, night sticks, bull whips and tear gas severely beating marchers. Days later, President Lyndon Johnson promised to bring Congress an effective voting rights bill, and that August he signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965, considered one of the most significant laws in the nation's history.

Now, more than four decades later, sections of the act are set to expire. The looming expiration date Aug. 6, 2007 has ignited debate over the provisions' effectiveness and relevance, and over whether they should be extended.

It also has generated rumors, mostly on the Internet, that black Americans will lose the right to vote en masse next year. The rumors have prompted officials at the U.S. Justice Department to post a notice on their Web site.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1789457

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6. MO: Secretary of State Refers Boone County to U.S. Department of Justice

Kansas City Infozine

Friday, March 31, 2006
Secretary of State Refers Boone County to U.S. Department of Justice to Enforce Help America Vote Act

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's office announced that the Secretary of State's office has referred Boone County to the United States Department of Justice for enforcement of the federal law known as the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

Jefferson City, Mo. - infoZine - The federal law requires each state to implement a "single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list defined, maintained, and administered at the state level..." Previously, each county and local election authority was responsible for keeping their own, separate list of the registered voters in their jurisdiction. However, under the federal Help America Vote Act, the State of Missouri is required to have one list of all the registered voters in the state.

So far, 115 of Missouri's 116 election jurisdictions have agreed to be part of this voter registration database. Boone County is the only jurisdiction not participating in the statewide system.

"Federal law requires Missouri to have one, comprehensive list of all the registered voters in the state," said Carnahan. "With one county refusing to participate, it could jeopardize the integrity and accuracy of the entire statewide voter list. Therefore we are asking the U.S. Department of Justice to step in and take the appropriate legal action."

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/13936/

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7. CA: Voting machines will be ready by June (El Dorado County)

Tahoe Daily Tribune

Susan Wood, [e-mail]
March 31, 2006

Comments (0) Print Email

El Dorado County wants to keep e-voting from becoming an e-ticket ride.

The county has begun to receive its electronic voting machines in time for the June primary that will, among other things, determine the supervisor for the next four years for Tahoe District 5. Supervisor Norma Santiago is running against City Councilman Ted Long for the seat.

In what's considered the 11th hour for elections departments, the Diebold machines were recently certified for use by the federal government and California Secretary of State.

But the machines haven't been without controversy as the former Texas-based Diebold chief moonlighted as a Bush campaign fundraiser and delays in the computer security coding required more tweaking of the system. In Ohio, which determined the 2004 presidential election, questions were raised about the accuracy of the system.

According to the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the law makes the nation's punch-card version obsolete. Congress offered the states $3.9 billion to buy the modern-day voting equipment, and this county is using $1.7 million on the venture. The voting act came about after the 2000 presidential election in which thousands of ballots were not counted because of problems with Florida's punch card system. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a challenge from Bush opponent Al Gore, who argued for a recount.

http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20060331/NEWS/103310053

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26. CA.: Electronic voting machines facing legal challenge

Electronic voting machines facing legal challenge

By Paul Boerger
Published: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 6:45 PM CST

During a recent visit to Siskiyou County March 21st, Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said California voting machine requirements are “the strictest standards in the nation.” Siskiyou County Clerk Colleen Baker has been named as one of the defendants in a lawsuit that seeks to prevent the use of Diebold AccuVote TSx touchscreen electronic voting machines in the June and November 2006 elections.

Filed by 24 individuals and the not-for-profit organization Voter Action, the lawsuit names 19 California county election officials and Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.

Although Siskiyou County does not currently use the Diebold machines, Baker said with new federal guidelines for disabled voters the county may have to move to touchscreen machines. The county currently uses an optical scanning system.


McPherson recently certified the Diebold machines under a new state law that requires all voting machines leave a paper trail and undergo a 10 step testing process to ensure reliability and be secure from manipulation.

Full story--

http://www.mtshastanews.com/articles/2006/03/29/news/area_news/01votingmachines.txt

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8. MD: Voting-by-mail plan meets criticism

Capital Notebook
Baltimore-Sun

Originally published March 31, 2006

A new plan for Maryland voters to cast ballots by mail this fall received a cool reception from advocates who have been pushing for the state to ditch its current electronic voting machines.
With the proposed system, modeled after Oregon's, paper ballots would be mailed to voters who would fill them out and send them in. The system is identical to absentee voting in Maryland, where paper ballots are mailed and tabulated through optical-scan machines.

"Mail-in voting has a significant downside," said Linda Schade, with TrueVoteMD, an advocacy group opposed to the state's electronic touch-screen machines manufactured by Diebold Elections Systems. Widespread use of absentee ballots or their equivalent invites fraud, she said.

The House of Delegates voted unanimously several weeks ago to abandon the state's touch-screen voting equipment and switch to a one-year lease of optical-scan machines. The measure is stalled in the Senate.

Sen. Paula C. Hollinger, a Baltimore County Democrat and the chairwoman of a committee that oversees election issues, said the mail-in option is among many under consideration.

Hollinger said she worries the state may not be able to overhaul its voting system in time for the fall elections and is troubled by news reports that other states have had trouble with the vendor of the optical-scan equipment.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.notebook31mar31,0,6568907.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

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9. PA: Sullivan County officials decide on voting machine

The Daily & Sunday Review
Towanda, PA, div of nepanews.com

By: James Loewenstein 03/31/2006

LAPORTE - In the 11th hour, the Sullivan County commissioners have chosen a different company to supply the county with new touch-screen voting machines.

At a special meeting on Thursday, the Sullivan County commissioners voted unanimously to purchase 135 touch-screen TSX voting machines from Diebold Election Systems of McKinney, Texas.
The commissioners also voted to void their contract with the company that was originally going to supply the county with voting machines, Advanced Voting Solutions Inc.
The Diebold machines will completely replace the county's paper ballot system before the May 16 primary, said Joyce Panichi, Sullivan County elections director.
"Advanced Voting Solutions said they may not be able to complete our order for voting machines in a timely fashion, which would put us out of compliance with the Help America Vote Act, so we feel obligated to void our contract with them," said Wayne Gavitt, chairman of the Sullivan County commissioners.
Under federal law, the county must have at least one voting machine that complies with HAVA at each polling place by the May 16 primary.
If the county does not meet that requirement, it risks losing the $145,000 state grant that was awarded to the county to purchase the new voting machines and to provide training on the machines, Gavitt said.
Advanced Voting Solutions' WINvote machine, which the county was originally going to purchase, and Diebold's TSX machine both comply with HAVA, Panichi said.
Kenneth Levitzky, Sullivan County solicitor, said he had been on a conference call recently with the president of Advanced Voting Solutions, who said he did not think the company would be able to deliver the machines to Sullivan County in time for the May 16 primary.
The Diebold TSX machine was one of three machines which had been demonstrated to Sullivan County officials in February, said Betty Reibson, county commissioner.
The Diebold TSX "is a machine that will serve Sullivan County well," she said.
It operates in very much the same way as the WINvote machine, she said.
The Diebold machine was a little more expensive than the WINvote machine, so the county will only be purchasing 135 Diebold machines, Gavitt said. The county was originally going to purchase 138 WINvote machines, he said.

http://www.thedailyreview.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16408441&BRD=2276&PAG=461&dept_id=465049&rfi=6

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10. OpEdNews: The new face of apartheid: J. Kenneth Hackwell's Ohio

March 31, 2006

by Bob Fitrakis

http://www.opednews.com

The most unprincipled and opportunistic man in the history of Ohio, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, stands poised to claim the Republican primary for governor. Blackwell and his far-right theocratic “rapture-ready” Christian dominionists will doom the Buckeye State to further despair.

It should come as no surprise that the Free Press is the only newspaper in Ohio willing to out Blackwell for appearing before white supremacists in the secretive Council on National Policy. Blackwell understands power; he understands that there’s plenty of money in putting a black face on the new politics of high-tech Jim Crow. Blackwell also understands that in order for his strategy to succeed, he must convince a significant number of black ministers to join him in his open bigotry against gays and lesbians.

This is simply the old apartheid politics of divide and conquer. Blackwell wants to rule the new Buckeye State Bantu stand.

Blackwell’s recent trip to Cleveland to appear before members of the United Pastors Mission at the Antioch Baptist Church seemed to be scripted by Karl Rove. Blackwell – the notorious co-chair of the Bush-Cheney Re-election Committee, who was shameless and blatant in his partisan suppression of minority and poor voters while mugging for the camera and claiming he was just like “Gandhi and King” – told the big lie. He blamed the suppression on black voters in Columbus on the likeable but lame William Anthony, Chair of the Franklin County Democratic Party and the County Board of Elections.

So distressed was Anthony that the Franklin County Dems actually issued a stinging rebuke entitled, “Blackwell Breaks the Ten Commandments.” Anthony understated the obvious when he called Blackwell’s outrageous lie a “deceitful misdirection.”

“Franklin County and many other counties throughout the state did not have nearly enough voting machines because Ken Blackwell mismanaged the HAVA-implementation process from the start. The only HAVA funds spent in Franklin County during 2004 was Gene Pierce’s no-bid contract. No HAVA money was spent on voting machines,” the Franklin County Democratic Party charged.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bob_fitr_060331_the_new_face_of_apar.htm

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12. TN: Anderson County to purchase new voting machines

By News Sentinel staff
March 31, 2006

CLINTON - Anderson County Election Commissioners Thursday voted to buy 90 new "eSlate'' electronic voting machines from Hart InterCivic of Austin, Texas.
The commission's 5-0 decision came after weeks of comparing four brands of machines and fretting over whether to update the county's 10-year-old devices or seek all-new ones.

Administrator of Elections Jo Ann Garrett said she recommended the eSlate machine "after much agonizing.''

Garrett said the machines are "poll-worker friendly,'' support services are readily available, and 10 other East Tennessee counties are buying them.

"I think of all the machines we saw, this will be the easiest for the voters to use,'' election commission chairwoman Mary Matheny said.

Garrett said $312,500 in federal Help America Vote Act funds are available to help pay for the 55 regular voting machines and 35 machines outfitted for use by voters with disabilities.

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_4584034,00.html

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13. Ukraine: Ukraine, free and fair

Scripps Howard News Service

Ukraine, free and fair

By JOHN HALL
Media General News Service
31-MAR-06

WASHINGTON -- The struggle for democratic self-rule on Russia's borders may be a far bigger story in the long run than anything happening in the Islamic world.

On the surface, Ukraine's election is a foreign policy setback for the United States, and some analysts are already reading it that way.

Yet, an important goal has been reached. That huge country, a doorway to Russia, has had a free, fair election without intimidation from its gigantic neighbor, which fears an infection of such free spirit.

What a change this is for Ukraine.

In 2004, international observers found Ukraine's national election to be a complete ballot-stuffing fraud, rigged with the complicity of Russia's KGB successors to give a victory to Viktor Yanukovych, the handpicked choice of the old communist-era bosses from Kiev.

Street demonstrations in Kiev, called the "Orange Revolution," forced Ukraine to hold a second election for president. That brought to power a popular reformer, Viktor Yuschenko, whose face was mysteriously scarred from dioxin poisoning by an unknown assailant.

Now, two years later, Ukraine has held an election for who gets to organize a new government. This time, Yanukovych and his pro-Russian eastern Ukraine party came out on top, but barely, with 27 percent of the vote. The reason he won at all is that the Orange Revolution reformers were divided and squabbling. A bloc led by Yulia Tymoshenko, a blond-braided populist who was fired as prime minister by Yuschenko last summer, came in second. And Yuschenko's party fell to third place, a humiliation that now makes his future look dim.

It's always possible that the Orange bloc can get back together again to organize a government. But for now democracy is producing a back alley brawl between the pro-Western orange cats that may hand things right back to the pro-Russian blue bears.

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=HALL-03-31-06

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14. PA:Luzerne County gets ready for electronic voting

citizensvoice.com, a division of nepanews.com

BY TOM LONG STAFF WRITER 03/31/2006

WILKES-BARRE — With a spat settled between the county and voting machine provider Electronic Systems and Services, elections director Leonard Piazza has been working with the company to get the machines delivered and make sure there are people here who know how to use them.

The touch-screen machines should be at the Water Street warehouse by April 21, Piazza said Wednesday. Rows of green lever voting machines still crowd the building.

Last week, ES&S said it could only deliver one touch-screen machine per precinct — supplementing them with paper ballots and optical scanners. Now, the Nebraska-based company tells Piazza it might be able to deliver more than 100 additional machines by the May 16 primary.

With the voting method finally decided, the county is beginning a two-pronged effort to prepare its trainers and poll workers, as well as to educate the public about the new machines.

The county has opened applications for 30 positions as trainers. ES&S will train these individuals, who will then help Piazza train poll workers. The elections bureau has also added an educational video and presentation about the new machine, called the iVotronic, to its Web site.

Piazza asks that computer savvy people make an effort to show their families the video. As voting machines arrive and become available, the Bureau of Elections will set up demonstrations at public events. Groups can request a demonstration on the bureau’s Web site or by telephone. A machine is also available at the bureau’s Penn Place office on Market Street in Wilkes-Barre for viewing.

http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16409350&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6

[Pryderi]

15. Al Franken will be discussing voting machines today.

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25. Debra on Air America Radio 9:30-10:00 a.m

http://www.debrabowen.com/blog/?p=19

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16. OH: County voting machines replaced by scan ballots

County voting machines replaced by scan ballots

by Dianne Selden
For The Post

Athens voters will see some changes at the upcoming May 2 election.

Athens County Board of Elections recently purchased ES&S Optical Scan ballot counters to replace the punch-card system and improve voting procedures. These ballots are processed in the same way as Scantron tests.

Following the 2004 elections, Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell mandated that punch-card voting machines be updated by 2006, although specific replacements were not designated. Athens County received a grant of roughly $657,000 for new machines and purchased 69 optical counting machines for $5,500 each. The county also bought two additional machines from their budget.

“I am very pleased with the machines. I think we picked the best that were available,” said Susan Gwinn, Athens County Board of Elections chairwoman. Gwinn said she also hopes for a great voter turnout, especially because a new law makes absentee ballots easier for voters to obtain. The county never had problems with the punch-card machines, which have been used since 1979, said Penny Brooks, deputy director of the Board of Elections. Therefore, she said she doesn’t think this change will have much direct effect.

http://thepost.baker.ohiou.edu/show_news.php?article=N3&date=033006

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18. TX: County, cities remain at odds

The Oldest Newspaper in Central Texas · Last Updated Thursday, Mar 30, 2006 - 11:25:47 am CST


By Curtis Chubb
Special to The Herald

City and school board elections are scheduled for May 13.

That is known.

What is not known, however, is how the votes are going to be counted.

The problem with the new electronic voting machines was crystallized at Monday's meeting of the Milam County Commissioners Court.

First, some background.

In response to the mandates in the federal "Help America Vote Act of 2002" (HAVA), state and local governments must have at least one handicapped-accessible Direct Recording Electronic voting machine in each polling place.

The federal government allocated $103 million to the State of Texas to assist in the purchase of the electronic voting machines; most of which was passed directly to the counties according to Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams.

Milam County has already agreed to allow the cities and school districts to use their voting machines on May 13.

The problem is that no one outside the Milam County Clerk's office has been trained to use the electronic voting machines.

This fact was forcefully articulated by Rockdale Mayor John Shoemake at Monday's meeting.

Shoemake said that Milam County Clerk Laverne Soefje had told him that she would not provide voting machine training to the cities.

Subsequently, cities and school districts within Milam County banded together and agreed to pay about $10,000 to Hart InterCivic, the Austin-based manufacturer of the voting machines, for the needed training.

According to Shoemake, Hart InterCivic backed out of the deal last Friday due to liability issues. But, they did verbally commit to programming the voting machines for the city/school elections.

http://www.cameronherald.com/articles/2006/03/31/news/news03.txt

[kpete]

19. States Pressured to Certify Voting Machines

States Pressured to Certify Voting Machines
By Sari Gelzer
t r u t h o u t | Report

Friday 31 March 2006

The 2006 deadline has passed, and pressure is being placed on states to comply with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). HAVA requires states to transition all voting machines to electronic and optical scan technologies in time for primary and mid-term elections of this year.

As states are rushing to spend millions of dollars for this transition, controversy over the accuracy and security of the new machines is creating obstacles to reaching this deadline.

Twenty-six states have already created legislation or regulations that require paper ballots, reported the Verified Voting Foundation. Thirteen more states have proposed voter-verified paper records (VVPR), but have not yet enacted legislation, and 10 states have still not proposed this legislation.

"The only feasible solution to the insecurity of electronic voting is a universal requirement for voter-verified paper records (VVPR) of all ballots," says David Dill, a computer scientist at Stanford and founder of the Verified Voting Foundation, "

In an article titled, "Making Democracy Transparent" Dill says that VVPRs, also known as a paper trails, are necessary because electronic voting is "totally opaque - no one can observe the handling of the (electronic) ballots."

The demand for VVPRs is the source of much controversy in states like Maryland, which voted to spend millions of dollars replacing its machines for the upcoming mid-term elections.

Following is a brief account of current key state battles over voting machines, a debate that has resulted in missed HAVA deadlines and continued inquiry into the technology that is shaping America's electoral process.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/033106L.shtml

[FogerRox]

20. Brad BLog: Daily Voting News

Thanks to John Gideon for his persistance.


http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002628.htm

[rumpel]

22. UT: Let us also keep an eye on this -

Utah State Capitol Complex
East Office Building, Suite E220
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220

March 29, 2006

Dear Governor Jon Huntsman:
I am writing to apprise your office of a breech of the public trust within the Utah Lt. Governor's Office. Election Director Michael Cragun and the Lt. Governor have been colluding with Diebold to commit fraud and to cover up fraud committed against the state of Utah.

Utah paid Diebold for new voting machines but the evidence clearly shows that Diebold delivered a combination of new and used voting machines, some of which had been rejected after use in other states; and others which were rejected in other states' acceptance testing.

Utah Election Director Michael Cragun appears to be colluding with Diebold against Utah's interests in several ways:

1. Diebold has been given access to Utah's voting machines in several counties and other locations where the voting machines are stored to possibly cover up the evidence of the fraud that Diebold has committed against the state of Utah and its citizens.

2. It appears that Michael Cragun approves of the fraudulent charge to Emery County of $40,000 by Diebold to “repair” the voting machines after a world prominent computer security firm whose clients include like Microsoft and the National Security Administration (NSA) examined two of Emery County's voting machines upon the diligent request of Emery County Clerk Bruce Funk. We think that this punitive charge that is possibly meant to discourage expert examination of any voting machines in the future.

3. Michael Cragun arranged a special commission meeting with an executive session, barring the public, on March 27, 2006. Present at that meeting were Emery County Commissioners, Emery County Attorney, Emery County Sheriff, Lt. Governor Chief of Staff Joe Demma, legal counsel from the Utah State Attorney General's Office, Diebold representative Dana LaTour, Diebold technician, Andrew Kahl, Emery County Commissioners, Utah Chief Election Official Michael Cragun. Arriving at the Huntington airport at the same time were Cragun, Demma, the two Diebold representatives, and the AG counsel. Did they use your private jet? Barred from the meeting, unbelievably, was Emery County's Elected Election Official, Bruce Funk!

4. It appears that Michael Cragun had no problem with the changing of the locks on the Emery County storage room for its voting machines and the refusal to give a key to Emery County's Elected Election Official Bruce Funk.

more at

http://utahcountvotes.org/Ltr2GovernorHuntsman.html

[FogerRox]

27. UT.: Voting machine deal smells. Opinion.

Voting machine deal smells

I read Paul Rolly's “A real shock for voters" column in the March 24 Tribune about the Emery County official's complaint about possible weaknesses and outright flaws in the Diebold voting machines that the state of Utah purchased.

That purchase was made in what appears to be great haste and with little or no comparison with other voting machines which have shown no such problems. The smell of lobbyist influence and an insider deal still lingers over this interesting bit of Capitol Hill news.

It seems odd that Utah government officials would use contractual obligations to override findings of major flaws in the equipment. Would they require Highway Patrol officers to use cars with faulty brakes because of contractual

obligations? It seems to me that the same argument could be used against our elected de facto officials who have failed to make their required de jure obligations to the U.S. and Utah State Constitutions.

Ron Safsten

found here-

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_3653161

[FogerRox]

28. UT.: County Attorney Short long on battle advice

Short long on battle advice

Voting machine fight: The controversial former S. L. County official says mediation is the answer
By Glen Warchol
The Salt Lake Tribune



Emery County Clerk Bruce Funk, who is battling county commissioners for his job, is getting help from a man whose name alone strikes fear - and anger - into county officials: former Salt Lake County Attorney Doug Short.

"This is the perfect case for mediation because everyone is trying to do the right thing, but everyone is bumping heads," said Short, who is not a professional mediator, but says he has the background for the job. "Having gone through this myself I know what lies ahead if these guys keep bumping heads."

The former county attorney had famous battles in the late 1990s with the then-Salt Lake County Commission, including filing a federal civil rights suit, claiming commissioners barred him from meetings, seized his office, interfered with his duties, cut his pay and ultimately ousted him by erasing his position.

Funk, a 23-year veteran of running elections, has just begun his battle with commissioners by outspokenly opposing the state's new Diebold Elections Systems voting machines. He ran afoul of commissioners and the Lieutenant Governor's Office when he invited voting rights activists to test the machines earlier this month.

>snip< full story--

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3658052

[3ringcircus]

29. my letter to the editor

Do you wonder how it is that 80+ % of people are against: foreign countries operating our infra-structure, allowing illegal aliens to invade our country, running up a debt none of us will live to see paid off, sending jobs overseas, sending soldiers to war for no reason except to enrich the industrial war complex, selling off national forests, diverting social security payments to stock brokers on Wall Street etc. yet that is not how our representatives vote. Are the congressmen representing us? NO! Our votes are being counted in secret in a little black box. We need People Counted Paper Ballots. Let’s make sure we are getting who we are voting for. Let’s count our own ballots and not leave it to voting machine companies whose owners are politically motivated and congressmen who are subject to bribes.


Declaration of Independence:
Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these Ends--the self-evident truths that we are created equal with unalienable Rights to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness--it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such principles and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness
And so we must say, to such unacceptable election conditions: WE DO NOT CONSENT

#####################################################################################################

I borrowed the last part from Govworld! I am speaking to our election commission in April to try to convince them to People count Paper ballots. am working on a folder of articles to give each commissioner and would appreciate any suggestions, also have been invited to speak at local university political science classes next fall!

[Land Shark]

35. Nice letter 3ringcircus, do you have GuvWorld's book? sounds like yes

you might also enjoy my new thread posted today Election fraud Tip: DOomsday Device for Democracy...

Hope you have time to comment on this thread, there's 5-10 really key points in there, most of them new....

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x420067#420104>

[EFerrari]

30. CA: New voters being rejected

New voters being rejected
Many didn't provide the identification that's now required

John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writer

Friday, March 31, 2006

Problems with a new statewide voter registration system could keep tens of thousands of Californians from showing up on election rolls this June.

More than 25 percent of the new registration forms sent to the state since Jan. 1 have been returned to the counties, most because they lack the driver's license, state identification or Social Security numbers now required by federal law.

"It's part of the new validation requirements that are pretty stringent,'' said David Tom, election manager for San Mateo County. "Any information that doesn't match exactly gets rejected.''

In San Mateo County, more than a third of the registrations turned in to the state since the first of the year have been rejected. The number is even higher in sprawling Los Angeles County, where 43 percent of the registrations this year have been sent back to the county.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/31/MNGC1I1ARQ1.DTL&hw=California+voting+database&sn=001&sc=1000

[GuvWurld]

31. Kick

[rumpel]

32. TN: Election Commission: 12 Commissioners will remain on May ballot

Knoxville (WVLT) - Twelve Knox County Commissioners now know their names will remain on the ballot; at least in May.
Commissioners Diane Jordan, David Collins, Billy Tindell, Wanda Moody, John Schmid, Phil Guthe, John Greiss, Mark Cawood, Mary Lou Horner, Mike McMillan, John Mills and Larry Clark will be on the ballot in May.

That’s because the election commission did not take any action on the State Supreme Court’s ruling on term limits today. They won’t remove names because they say, according to law, they don’t have the ability to do so; at least not yet.

Here's what will happen. The commissioners in question will remain on the ballot for the May primary. But, that doesn’t mean they are eligible for the general election.

After the primary the board will refer to a statute that says an ineligible candidate can be removed from the general election ballot and replaced by someone appointed by the party’s committee.

Here's a look at how we got to this point. In 1994, voters approved an amendment making term limits constitutional in the Knox county charter.

http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4710299

[rumpel]

33. HI: SAMOA: 2006 Election Official Website Goes Live

Pacific Magazine

Friday: March 31, 2006


The 2006 Samoa Election official website is http://elections.samoa.ws.

The election results will be live on the Internet with a live feed from the Office of the Electoral Commissioner updating results confirmed by the Commissioner.

The official website will have full details of candidates, which party they belong to and which Territory Constituency they represent.

There is also a special multimedia page that will broadcast the results every five seconds. This page will be on display at the Office of the Electoral Commissioner and at Samoa.ws Internet Café (SLAC Building) during the official count.

The website will also reflect the status of each party as the results come in.

The official website was designed by the dynamic, professional team from Computer Services Ltd. All media queries regarding the results should utilise the website for updated results.

Source: Samoa Govt Media Release

http://www.pacificislands.cc/pina/pinadefault2.php?urlpinaid=21148

[rumpel]

34. MO: Livingston County's new voting equipment gets first test

Constitution Tribune

By Angel Roxx, Special to the C-T
Friday, March 31, 2006 2:04 PM CST

Members of the Democratic and Republican parties met at the Livingston County Courthouse yesterday (Thursday), to try out the new voting equipment that will be used in the election next week. The test is required by state statues.

The machines are called Optich Insight Optical Scan Precinct Counters, and cost $4,500 per machine. The county purchased 16 of them with funds from a Help America Vote Act grant. Each county is allotted $140,000 of HAVA money for upgrading their respective voting system.

Livingston County Clerk Kelly Christopher, said this is the first stage and more upgrades will be made in August when the county will receive additional equipment.

http://www.chillicothenews.com/articles/2006/03/31/news/local_news/news2.txt