Election Reform news for 4-21-06. Special Sequoia Train Wreck edition.

[FogerRox]

Welcome to the "ERD"

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



Its spring time . . . ! !


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

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If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:
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for MAC users-- IIRC its hold down control- and click on the image to view its source.

[FogerRox]

1. Sequoia in NJ:

By MARGARET K. COLLINSSTAFF WRITER
PEQUANNOCK -- From triumphant victory, to exasperation, to confusion.
The roller-coaster ride in the township's school district continued Wednesday with talk of voting machine irregularities and a possible second election.
After voters turned out in overwhelming numbers to pass the two-question budget tax proposal -- and the celebration that followed -- questions about the voting machines arose.

>snip<

"There was a problem, in my opinion, with the technician who programs the machines," Morris County Clerk Joan Bramhall said Wednesday. " has every right to challenge this."
Bramhall said the machines in all four Pequannock polling locations were affected.

>snip<

The machines are made by California-based Sequoia Voting Systems, but spokeswoman Michelle Shafer said Wednesday that since the issue is a programming one, the company is not responsible. She said the county contracts technicians from New Jersey-based Election Graphics Inc. to program the machines. That company couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

More:

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5MjEyOTUmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkz

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2. Sequoia in Essex county NJ: Late delivery of DREs, may use levers.

By Lauren DeFilippo, Staff Writer Wednesday, April 19, 2006 10:34 AM EDT


ESSEX COUNTY, NJ - Essex County is in a voting machine predicament. What else is new?
With a primary election coming up in just eight weeks, the county is still short more than 600 new electronic voting machines.

Last week the Board of Chosen Freeholders, along with Superintendent of Elections Carmine Casciano and voting machines vendor Sequoia Voting Systems, went into an hour-long, closed-session meeting to discussion their options, including the possibility of seeking legal action.
>snip<

“We’ve lost buildings in this county because of contracts that were not enforced,” Freeholder Ralph Caputo said. At the April 5 meeting, Casciano said he had a verbal response from the company, in reference to the letter, saying they would deliver the machines, no later than June.

Jones was not satisfied with that commitment from the firm.

“It’s Sequoia that I’m really upset with,” Freeholder Samuel Gonzalez said. “No business is run like that.”

Casciano then noted that his office had just had a “major” telephone call with the Office of the Attorney General.

“They’re under the impression we have done everything possible,” Casciano said of the state office.

He also noted that the attorney general had also been contacting Sequoia, who also owes machines to both Monmouth and Passaic counties, about the status of the deliveries.

>snip<

Freeholder Clark, who did not vote in favor of the Sequoia contracts, said that she was just thankful that the county did not end up selling off its old machines for scrap metal before the new ones arrived.

More:

http://www.localsource.com/articles/2006/04/19/shared/essex_county_news/doc4446420b09f53806735342.txt

[FogerRox]

5. Sequoia in Passiac NJ, Late delivery, county could use levers

PASSAIC COUNTY
New machines not ready yet

Wednesday, April 19, 2006 By PAUL BRUBAKERHERALD

When the Passaic County Board of Freeholders earmarked $1 million last summer to purchase voting machines, officials had hoped voters would be able to use them in yesterday's school board elections. But when voters headed to the polls on Tuesday, they discovered the same machines that were used in last year's elections.

Maria Havasy, acting clerk of the freeholder board, said the fault rests not with the county but with the machines' manufacturer, Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. of Oakland, Calif. "The vendor was not able to deliver the component that we needed," Havasy said Tuesday.

The component was an "audiokit" that enables visually impaired voters to use the electronic voting machines, as is required by the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, she said. County Administrator Anthony J. De Nova said he expects 600 machines with built-in audiokits to be delivered later this week.

>snip<

More:

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1NiZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NjkyMTEwOCZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTM=

[FogerRox]

7. Sequoia, recent failures in PA, not so long ago........

Does this sound familiar? "Sequoia Hacked"

Blogged by Brad on 3/30/2006 @ 6:18pm PT...

Sequoia E-Vote Systems Found 'Hackable' in PA, Testing Shut Down After Machine Failures!
'Software Clearly Unstable,' Says Testing Official Who 'Transformed Handful of Votes into Thousands...in an Instant'!
Ten-Year Old E-Voting Systems from NV Planned for First Time Use in PA This Year

Meanwhile...in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County, where plans to use Diebold's hackable Electronic Voting Equipment have recently been nixed, Plan B seems to be failing too. The machines they'd hope to use instead, as made by Sequoia Voting Systems, have now been shown to be hackable as well.

Pittsburgh's Post-Gazette picked up on the story yesterday, and followed up today on the testing being run in Allegheny County by Dr. Michael Shamos, a Carnegie Mellon University professor, on the "new" Sequoia Voting Machines. The county had hoped to use these systems -- ten-year old Sequoia "Advantage" machines as purchased from Clark County, Nevada who is moving to a different Sequoia system -- in their upcoming Primary Elections in May. That plan, now may be in grave doubt.

The testing of the machines has found so many problems -- including Shamos' findings during "tampering tests" that he was able to instantly "transform a handful of votes into thousands" -- that he has now simply shut down the entire process described as "pointless" due to all of the errors in the software.

More:

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002626.htm

[FogerRox]

8. Sequoia, recent failures in Chicago, Not so long ago...

Sequoia / Smartmatic e-voting fiasco in Chicago

By Aleksander Boyd

London 24.03.06

Somewhat I feel vindicated. In August last year I posted an extremely thorough piece of investigative blogging regarding Smartmatic; the e-voting machines vendor, which owns Sequoia, that has proven so useful to Venezuela's wannabe dictator Hugo Chavez. The recent e-voting fiasco in Chicago comes to prove the hypothesis that one thing is to observe how rigged electoral processes in far away lands, which do not affect Americans, are overlooked, or simply ignored, by the mainstream media and an entirely different matter when similar problems corrode the transparency and outcome of elections in US soil.

>snip<

It now seems, as reported by the Chicago Tribune, that Cook County and Chicago Board of Election officials will withheld payments to Sequoia due to its appalling performance, saying that the company "did not perform adequately." What a wonderful development, isn't it? Of course it did not perform adequately, what were these people in Chicago expecting, transparency, performance, from a company linked to Hugo Chavez? Just like Venezuelan elections conducted with Smartmatic machines, it never had "performed adequately" it never will. That is precisely the point. Furthermore, European and OAS electoral observers witnessed how utterly unreliable those machines are, as demonstrated in Venezuela on November 23 2005 by Leopoldo Gonzalez.

The difference in Chicago though, is that there are still some officials exercising due diligence in the conduction of public affairs, and so the whole thing blew up in Smartmatic's face, as it would have been the case in Venezuela, had its officials any resemblance of integrity left and respect for democratic processes. Hopefully some party will sue Sequoia / Smartmatic for breach of contract and negligence, so that never again will that joint be allowed to provide 'e-voting solutions' in the USA.




More:

http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200603240714

[FogerRox]

9. “What happened in Ill. & PA, has absolutely nothing to do with New Jersey,

“What happened in Chicago and Pennsylvania has absolutely nothing to do with New Jersey,” said Michelle Shafer, Sequoia Voting Systems’ vice president.

>snip<

While Shafer maintained that the problems that occurred in other states are unrelated to New Jersey, some local people still have reservations.

Katherine Joyce, a Montclair resident and member of the Essex County Task Force on Voting, a citizens group formed by residents concerned with Essex County’s purchase of electronic ballot boxes, believes the Sequoia Ad-vantage is seriously flawed.

“There is no difference between the machine that failed in Pennsylvania and the machine that we will use. And, if there is a difference, I’d like to see the documentation,” said Joyce, who spoke on behalf of the citizens’ task force.


Here:
http://www.montclairtimes.com/page.php?page=11809

[stillcool]

10. that's a beauty..... n/t

[FogerRox]

18. BREAKING, NJ, Judge doubts Sequoia voting machine timetable....

Judge doubts voting machine timetable
Friday, April 21, 2006
BY KEVIN COUGHLIN

Star-Ledger Staff

By 2008, all electronic voting machines in New Jersey must print paper receipts that let voters confirm their choices before casting final ballots.

But the state's most commonly used machine may not meet that deadline, according to a judge in Mercer County.

It is "questionable" whether the 8,000 or so Sequoia AVC Advantage machines used across the state can be upgraded by Jan. 1, 2008, Assignment Judge Linda Feinberg said in an opinion this week.

Feinberg also said the state may have "grossly underestimated" the cost of replacing or retrofitting the Sequoia AVC Advantage machines. The state pegged the expense at $21 million, said the judge, who heard testimony last month.

Her findings now go to a state appeals court, which is trying to gauge whether these machines are so unreliable that they violate vot ers' constitutional rights. The panel asked Feinberg to determine if the advent of paper audit trails would render the issue moot.

Activists hailed Feinberg's findings as a victory. Next month, they plan to ask the appeals court to halt shipments of Sequoia machines ordered by Essex and Mon mouth counties.

"We believe those orders should be stopped immediately. They cannot comply with the law. We shouldn't use them a single day longer," said Penny Venetis, co-di rector of the Rutgers Constitutional Law Clinic in Newark.

Representatives from Sequoia Voting Systems could not be reached for comment last night.

More-

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1145601072291410.xml&coll=1

[FogerRox]

38. Equipment shortages, late deliveries of Equip., & the Sequoia Train Wreck

Check out the TRAIN WRECK thread that includes a shameless request for an ERD Plug:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2582166&mesg_id=2582166

Roger

[FogerRox]

3. Brad BLog: Oregon sues ES&S. . . . .

BLOGGED BY BRAD ON 4/20/2006 @ 12:41PM PT.

LATEST E-VOTE LAWSUIT: OREGON SUES ES&S FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT!

2006 ELECTION 'TRAIN WRECK' CONTINUES AS COMPANY FAILS TO MEET OBLIGATIONS IN YET ANOTHER STATE
COMPLAINT LATEST IN GROWING STRING OF LEGAL BATTLES, HAVA-RELATED E-VOTING MELTDOWNS AROUND THE COUNTRY...

In the latest amongst a spate of lawsuits being filed against Electronic Voting Machine Companies around the country, the Oregon Sec. of State has announced today that they have filed a complaint against Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S) for breach of contract in failing to provide the state with disabled-accessible voting machines, as promised, in time to meet the January 1, 2006 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) deadline.

The complaint, filed yesterday on behalf of the state of Oregon in Marion County Circuit Court, is downloadable here in full .

In a statement just issued by the office of Bill Bradbury, Oregon's Sec. of State, he said, "I'm disappointed in ES&S. They agreed to provide us with voting machines, they didn't follow through on that agreement, and that failure directly punishes people with disabilities."

>snip<

More:

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002714.htm

[Wilms]

6. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x424517

[FogerRox]

15. Oregon: State sues over voting machines for the disabled

State sues over voting machines for the disabled

Friday, April 21, 2006

Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury has filed a lawsuit against a Nebraska company that failed to provide voting machines for disabled voters following a contractual dispute.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Marion County Circuit Court, contends that Election Systems & Software of Omaha refused to provide the machines after the state refused to change the terms of a contract the company had accepted.

Because of the dispute, the state has missed a federal deadline to provide assistance to the disabled so they can vote with privacy and independence, said Anne Martens, a Bradbury spokeswoman. The state could face federal financial penalties, but the dispute won't affect the validity of the May 16 primary, she said.

more-

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1145582718199980.xml&coll=7

[Wilms]

4. IN & Elsewhere?: MicroVote & ES&S Negligence Places Primaries in Jeopardy

MicroVote and ES&S Negligence Places Indiana Primaries in Jeopardy

Uncertified Software and the Potential for "Vote Volatility" Threaten the Integrity of Primaries Less Than Two Weeks Away

By Warren Stewart, VoteTrustUSA

April 20, 2006

"In situations where we have not performed up to our own high expectations we apologize. Personally I apologize for that," John Groh (pictured at right), vice president, Election Systems and Software (ES&S)

(The MicrVote Infinity equipment sold to 47 Indiana Counties) "is not an application capable of guaranteeing a primary election on May 2, 2006, without any problems … because of potential vote volatility issues." MicroVote Infinity President James Reis


Indiana Election Commission was informed at a hearing yesterday that the Indianapolis-based MicroVote has installed uncertified voting system software in 47 counties. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported today that MicroVote filed only on Tuesday - two weeks before the primary election – for federal certification that is required as a prerequisite for state certification. According to the newspaper, MicroVote “is waiting on required documentation from an independent testing lab that the software meets federal election standards. That testing could be completed by Friday or next week.”

snip

Meanwhile it was also revealed that in 27 other Indiana counties Election Systems & Software (ES&S) had also installed uncertified software in addition to a relentless series of “glitches ranging from missing ballot instructions to software that can‘t handle school board races. The failure of the two vendors leaves 74 0f the state’s 92 counties scrambling to find a way to legally conduct elections on May 2. Both vendors face fines as high as $300,000 for each violation and could be prevented from doing business in Indiana for up to five years.

snip

An article in the Decatur Daily Democrat, entile "Election Thrown Into Disarray, reported:

“Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the IEC, said yesterday, “We’re going to make sure these elections work for anybody,” then added, “The most disturbing thing I heard here was these guys knew it wasn’t certified and they went out and installed it. That can’t be tolerated.”

The vice-chairman of the IEC, S. Anthony Long, remarked, “We have operated for years on the credibility of our vendors. That credibility, in my mind, has been severely shaken. If we find overt and willful violations, I want the world to know that is not something I’m going to tolerate.”

snip/link

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1212&Itemid=113


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x424594

[FogerRox]

11. New Orleans Residents Travel Home to Vote in La. Elections

Displaced New Orleans Residents Travel Home to Vote in La. Elections

Friday, April 21, 2006


ATLANTA — Hundreds of displaced New Orleanians living in Atlanta will trek through the night and across four states to be among those casting their ballots in the Louisiana primary elections Saturday.

The evacuees' journey is the idea of two Atlanta-based pastors, including the head of a megachurch formerly based in The Crescent City that was forced to relocate after Hurricane Katrina. The Freedom Caravan will leave from historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, the spiritual home of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Even if our effort in the end turns out to be more symbolic in terms of the impact on the election, I think that's still an important symbolism," said Ebenezer's senior pastor, Raphael G. Warnock, one of the trip's organizers.

Warnock got the idea for the Freedom Caravan while in New Orleans on April 1 speaking at a march and rally organized by the Rev. Jesse Jackson to rebuild New Orleans and protest the upcoming elections. Warnock said he realized then that the elections were likely inevitable, and focused his attention on how to proceed.

"The logical next step was to get as many voters from Atlanta to New Orleans as possible," Warnock said.

More-

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192532,00.html

[FogerRox]

12. IN Chicago, New Orleans Residents Ponder their Future

New Orleans Residents Ponder their Future
by Hazel Trice Edney and Zenitha Prince
April 21, 2006

Sandra Robertson is just the kind of resident New Orleans needs to rebuild. At 36 years old, she was working as an urban planner there when Hurricane Katrina turned her life upside down. She is now living in Dallas, not knowing when – or, if – she’ll return to the place she once called home.

“It’s very stressful not knowing where we stand with a lot of things,” she says, softly. “I have so many emotions about it and on a daily basis, it changes.” Summing up the fate of more than 800,000 displaced residents, some relocated as far away as Alaska, she said: “Having to be forced to be somewhere or being somewhere that is not our choosing is emotional. But you deal with it.”

Merian Gross, a retired schoolteacher, first dealt with post-Katrina New Orleans by moving in with a daughter in Washington, D.C., 955 miles away. Now, she has moved to Baton Rouge, 76 miles away from New Orleans but a lifetime away from the New Orleans she had come to know and love.

To Donna Gross McDaniel, her only daughter, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita washed away more than the city’s faulty levees.

“She’s always been the rock,” McDaniel said of her mother. “Now, almost every day, my Mom is crying. I keep asking her, ‘What is it, Mom? What is it that I can do?’ I think there’s no answer because there is no answer. She wants her life back. And I can’t buy that for her. I can’t fix that.”

The people who can fix it – at the local, state and national level – have failed residents of the Gulf areas, especially the most vulnerable – African-Americans and the poor – and are now asking the people they failed, to trust them to make things right.



More-

http://www.chicagodefender.com/page/national.cfm?ArticleID=4956

[FogerRox]

13. NOLA, Officials go all-out to safeguard vote

Officials go all-out to safeguard vote

Every move is recorded in case of challenges
Friday, April 21, 2006
By Brian Thevenot
Staff writer

As the city headed into the final two days before its first post-Katrina election, state and local election officials blanketed New Orleans in an all-out effort to ensure the legitimacy of an election in anticipation of threatened court actions.

For months, Secretary of State Al Ater has fended off multiple challenges, both in court and in the court of public opinion, from a litany of civil rights groups pushing to delay the election or institute more extensive measures to ensure access for the massive number of displaced citizens.

Now, after months of pre-election hype and controversy, "It's time to play the game," Ater said.

And state officials plan to record every second of the game with a paper trail they plan to use as a sort of instant replay to rebut court challenges. They've marked down the details of every one of the more than 13,000 calls they've received on the state's toll-free help line; used a post office tracking service to follow every absentee ballot; and even photographed every single sign redirecting voters from their old polling place to a relocated one.

New Orleans Clerk of Criminal Court Kimberly Williamson Butler has followed the state's lead by requiring every poll custodian to sign when they receive voting machines that they know what time they are expected to open the doors on election day. Meanwhile, Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan will staff a complaint desk on election day to monitor potential problems.

Seeking to blunt voting rights challenges -- which continued to play out in federal court on Thursday -- state and local election officials have taken a host of unprecedented steps to alleviate voter confusion expected because of the large number of voting sites that have been moved or combined into so-called "mega polling places." The four largest polling sites -- where displaced voters are more likely to be sent -- will be the University of New Orleans on the Lakefront, Jesuit High School in Mid-City, St. Dominic Catholic Church in Lakeview and the Voting Machine Warehouse in eastern New Orleans.

more-

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1145598997266320.xml

[FogerRox]

14. Q & A: How is New Orleans pulling it off? AP story

Q & A: How is New Orleans pulling it off?

By CAIN BURDEAU
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


Pete Rousso with the Secretary of State's office opens a voting machine during an inspection in New Orleans, Wednesday April 19, 2006. On Saturday, New Orleans will hold its first municipal election since Hurricane Katrina, using fax machines and other stopgap measures to pull off one of the trickiest exercises in democracy in modern times. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans will hold its first municipal election Saturday since Hurricane Katrina obliterated polling places, scattered thousands of voters and led a plethora of candidates to jump into the race. Some questions and answers about the election:

Q: What offices are being filled?

A: Many of the city's top elected jobs - mayor, City Council seats, sheriffs, clerks of court, tax assessors. If no one gets a majority for a particular post, the top two finishers will compete in a runoff May 20.

Q: How many people are expected to vote?

A: There are 297,991 registered voters in New Orleans. Typically, turnout is about 40 percent to 45 percent, but it could be much higher this time because of how much is at stake. For example, a similarly important election, the 1991 gubernatorial election between ex-Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and former Gov. Edwin Edwards, drew 77 percent of the city's electorate.

Q: How many voters are displaced and will send or fax in absentee ballots?

A: No one knows for sure, but more than 16,000 people have requested absentee ballots so far. That number is expected to go up significantly.

Q: Can the city hold a fair election under the circumstances?



A: Election officials are confident enough provisions were put in place - including an easing of mail-in voting rules and allowing displaced residents to vote at polling places in 10 Louisiana cities outside New Orleans during an early voting period. But civil rights leaders such as the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have claimed many displaced blacks face too many barriers.

More-

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1135AP_New_Orleans_Election_QA.html

[rumpel]

16. OH: New machines, more training for primary

Posted on Fri, Apr. 21, 2006

JULIE CARR SMYTH
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A costly and often emotional battle over whether America's voting machines are accurately recording the people's will culminates this spring, when Ohio and other states face a federal deadline to replace the type of equipment that faltered in 2000.

In addition to the unfamiliar machines, new Ohio rules on voter-receipt technology, absentee voting and required IDs for some voters kick in for the May 2 primary.

The worst fear of county election officials who will administer the election is that all the novelty will confuse or disenfranchise voters. They are working overtime to see that doesn't happen, said Allen County Elections Director Keith Cunningham, president of the Ohio Association of County Elections Officials.

"It is new software, it is new machines, it is new processes, it is training not only poll workers but staff and voters," Cunningham said. "Quite frankly, it's really a massive job."

County boards are spending hours training staff members and poll workers on the new systems. In Franklin County, for example, poll worker training classes were scheduled at a rate of three a day every day from late March until Election Day. Cunningham had 72 hours of training scheduled the week of April 10 alone for precinct judges and has tripled the number of "rovers" he will make available to handle Election Day problems.

Forty-four of Ohio's 88 counties tried out their new voting equipment in the fall. Problems reported ranged from voters' privacy being jeopardized by the machines' design, to vote counting being clumsier, to memory cards holding votes going missing.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/14392207.htm

[rumpel]

17. PA:Uncertified voting machines to be used

Centre Daily

Posted on Fri, Apr. 21, 2006
By Cindy Larson
[e-mail]

Faced with an impossible choice, the Allen County Election Board has decided to use the new Infinity voting machines in the May 2 primary — even though using them might violate state law.

The board held an emergency meeting Thursday after learning Wednesday the 339 Infinity electronic voting machines it had acquired through a company called MicroVote have not been certified by the state. Allen County isn’t the only one in this predicament; 46 other Indiana counties are in the same boat.

The electronic machines, which have audio capabilities, allow a visually impaired person to vote without assistance. They were acquired to fulfill a requirement of the federal Help America Vote Act, or HAVA. Allen County got $1.2 million in federal funds to buy the machines.

Although the county’s Infinity models have been tested locally, the Indiana Election Commission hasn’t certified the software. If that isn’t done before the primary, the state has instructed county election boards not to use them. To do so would violate state law.

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/14391021.htm

[rumpel]

19. PA: Fayette voters to try new electronic machines

Herald Standard

By Amy Zalar, Herald-Standard
04/21/2006

Fayette County voters will have an opportunity t test out the new electronic machines they will begin using in the upcoming primary at the first scheduled public demonstration next week at the Public Service Building.

Fayette County Commission Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink said Thursday the demonstration will be held from 4 to 8:30 p.m. on April 27 to coincide with The Fayette Civic Forum's Candidate's Forum at the State Theatre Center for the Arts on Main Street in Uniontown. That forum will feature legislative candidates from the 51st and 52nd districts and will begin at 6 p.m.

The Public Service Building is located across Main Street from the State Theatre. Zimmerlink said the demonstration would be held beside the elevators in the hallway of the Public Service Building.

Zimmerlink said she and Laurie Nicholson, director of the Fayette County Election Bureau, are now in the process of scheduling additional demonstrations, and they will be held in locations in Bullskin Township, Connellsville, Wharton Township, Smithfield, Penncraft and in North and South Union townships before the May 16 primary. Zimmerlink said she is hoping to announce the official public outreach schedule next week.

Last month the county commissioners voted to purchase 268 eSlate voting systems from Hart Intercivic of Texas. The voting machines are not touch-screen machines; instead, voters must turn a dial and push buttons to register their choices on the screen.

http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16512295&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6

[rumpel]

20. IN: Voters annoyed, but who's to blame?

Indystar.com

April 21, 2006

TODAY'S EDITORIAL

Our position: Voters have every right to be highly frustrated by problems still plaguing elections in Indiana.


State and local election officials, along with the private companies hired to provide equipment, may still have time to resolve problems bedeviling voting machines in several Indiana counties ahead of the May 2 primary.
But public trust in the state's voting system already has been shaken, even if counties can dodge having to use paper ballots.
In fact, at this point, some voters might have more confidence in paper rather than an electronic system. Johnson County Clerk Jill Jackson told the state Election Commission on Wednesday that voters have been asking for absentee ballots because "they don't trust the machine."
Which is an outrageous development given the resources state and local governments have poured into improving the voting process since the Florida debacle during the 2000 presidential election.
Yet, it's not entirely clear who the villains are in this sorry spectacle. The Election Commission may end up revoking the license of Indianapolis-based MicroVote General Corp. The company is scrambling to have software that it installed on voting machines certified before the primary.
Marion County Clerk Doris Anne Sadler, meanwhile, complained to the commission that her office has had to work on 14 sets of ballots because of mistakes made by Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060421/OPINION/604210331

on edit: changed from dupe

[FogerRox]

30. IN. Kosciusko County to use voting machines with non-certified software:

County to use voting machines with non-certified software
From staff reports

Pam Finlayson, Allen County’s director of elections, said Thursday afternoon the Election Board has decided to proceed with using its new Infinity digital voting machines, despite the state not yet certifying their software.

The board’s other option would have been to use paper ballots for the May 2 primary, which Finlayson said her office would not be capable of processing.

Finlayson said the board will just have to hope the state certifies the county’s returns. By going ahead with the new machines, the board also leaves itself open to the possibility of a lawsuit from someone questioning the validity of the election returns.

For more information on this story, check back later on www.news-sentinel



here-

http://www.wane.com/Global/story.asp?S=4798441&nav=0RYb

[rumpel]

35. OH: Punch-card ballots discriminate, courts rules

Toledo Blade

Article published Friday, April 21, 2006

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

COLUMBUS — Ohio's continued use of punch-card ballots like those called into question after the 2000 presidential election in Florida discriminates against African Americans whose votes are less likely to be counted, a federal appeals court ruled this morning.

The 2-1 ruling by the Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals may soon be moot since, as of the May 2 primary election, no voter in Ohio should be casting a punch-card ballot.

"Hopefully, the state will do this year what the 6th Circuit is telling them, which is, in effect, to get rid of its punch-card and central-count optical-scan systems,'' said Dan Tokaji, an Ohio State University law professor. He argued the case on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and plaintiff voters from Sandusky, Hamilton, Montgomery, and Summit counties.

"Every year for the past three years, the state has said it would replace those systems,'' he said. "Every year, the state has said one thing and done another. I hate to sound like Thomas, but I'll believe it when I see it.''

Last November, half of Ohio's 88 counties were converted to modern voting machinery-either computerized touch-screen or precinct-count optical-scan devices.

The conversion is expected to be complete with the other 44 counties on May 2, meeting a deadline set by the federal Help America Vote Act. HAVA was enacted in the wake of the 2000 presidential election that made terms like "hanging chad'' part of American lexicon.

During the 2000 presidential election in Ohio, 69 counties were using punch cards.
"The era of the punch card in Ohio is over,'' said James Lee, spokesman for Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. "We are keeping in compliance with HAVA, which requires states to move away from antiquated voting by the first federal election of 2006, which is the primary.''

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060421/NEWS02/60421021

[rumpel]

21. Right-Wing Organization in Focus (ACVR) A must read!

Something to watch!

People For The American Way

American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund

Throughout this nation’s history various barriers have been erected to restrict the civic participation of certain groups of citizens.Historic laws like the 1965 Voting Rights Act were passed to break down these barriers and encourage participation by all eligible citizens. However, some of these barriers are being resurrected in updated styles, yet with the same result – the disenfranchisement of eligible voters. Burdensome identification requirements are an example.

And organizations founded and run by Republican loyalists – like the American Center for Voting Rights – are sprouting up to promote the restrictive laws.

A GOP Wolf in Non-Partisan Sheep’s Clothing

In March of 2005, the U.S. House Administration Committee held hearings in Columbus, OH to collect testimony regarding problems with the 2004 election and implementation of the Help America Vote Act or HAVA. However, the committee provided no opportunity for public testimony and no well-known voting rights organizations were among the witnesses.<1>

One of those who was invited to testify was St. Louis, MO attorney, Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, II, general counsel for the American Center for Voter Rights (ACVR). According to news reports, Hearne told the committee that ACVR was a “voting rights legal defense and education center committed to defending the rights of voters and working to increase public confidence in the fairness of the outcome of elections.” He then proceeded to identify “massive registration fraud” at the hands of Democrats and progressive non-partisan organizations as Ohio’s key problem.

With its list of lofty sounding goals like “equal access to the ballot” and “defending the rights of voters,” the Center attempts to sound like a non-partisan, expert organization whose sole goal is to help all voters. However, at the time of Hearne’s testimony, his group was barely five days old. An investigation into the backgrounds of its principals strongly suggests that it is little more than a front group for Republican operatives and a mouthpiece for a right-wing partisan agenda.<2>

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=21014

[rumpel]

22. Sacramento Bee: Editorial: Fox at the henhouse (FEC)

The Sacramento Bee

Give FEC the lobbying enforcement role

Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, April 21, 2006
Story appeared in Editorials section, Page B6

Despite multiple lobbying scandals, Congress is poised to enact piddling reforms. The Senate voted for scant reform in March; the House votes next Tuesday.
The one reform that would matter is missing: Handing oversight and enforcement to an independent agency. Both the House and Senate continue to rely on a failed self-regulation model in which members of Congress are supposed to police their colleagues. This "fox-guarding-the-henhouse" approach is what needs fixing most.

snip

Members of Congress continue to make the laughable claim that their internal ethics committees can do the job. Yet an April 2005 study from the Center for Public Integrity shows conclusively that the lobby disclosure law is "glaringly unenforced." Nearly 14,000 lobbying documents that should have been filed periodically with the Senate Office of Public Records were missing; nearly 300 individuals and entities lobbied without registering; 49 of the top 50 lobbying firms failed to file required forms; nearly 20 percent of forms were filed late. The study concludes: "When it comes to lobbying in Washington, D.C., those paid to influence America's laws have a habit of disregarding them," and nothing happens.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/14246112p-15064039c.html

[rumpel]

23. FL: Miami-Dade voter registration changes hours

Herald Today
Posted on Fri, Apr. 21, 2006

By JASMINE KRIPALANI
[e-mail]
The hours for Richmond Heights residents to register to vote today without having to go to the downtown Miami elections office have changed.

A Miami-Dade Elections Department mobile unit will set up in Richmond Heights this morning from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at 11225 SW 152nd St.

Election employees will also be available from 9:00 am to 1:00 p.m. at Miami Northwestern Senior High Fair, 1100 NW 71 Street, and several other locations throughout Miami-Dade County. For more information, call 305-499-8683.

Residents may apply for a new card to replace a lost voter's card or to change their address.

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/14397151.htm

[FogerRox]

29. FL., Allen County to use voting machines with non-certified software

FL. County to use voting machines with non-certified software:
From staff reports
Pam Finlayson, Allen County’s director of elections, said Thursday afternoon the Election Board has decided to proceed with using its new Infinity digital voting machines, despite the state not yet certifying their software.

The board’s other option would have been to use paper ballots for the May 2 primary, which Finlayson said her office would not be capable of processing.

Finlayson said the board will just have to hope the state certifies the county’s returns. By going ahead with the new machines, the board also leaves itself open to the possibility of a lawsuit from someone questioning the validity of the election returns.

For more information on this story, check back later on www.news-sentinel

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/14389916.htm

[rumpel]

24. LA: Bill axed to appoint secretary of state

Capitol News Bureau
Published: Apr 21, 2006

A House panel narrowly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to make the elected secretary of state’s job appointive.

Secretary of State Al Ater pushed for the legislation, arguing that the overseer of elections should not be involved in fund raising and partisan politics.

The House and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 5-5 on House Bill 429, effectively bottling up the legislation sponsored by Rep. Hollis Downs, R-Ruston.

But there were objections to making another statewide elected office appointive — taking it out of the hands of voters. Most recently the commissioner of elections, which had been in an elected position, was merged into the Secretary of State’s Office.

Ater already has announced he is not running for the secretary of state’s job in the September special election.

At least two lawmakers have said they intend to run.
Voting for the HB429 were: Reps. Peppi Bruneau, R-New Orleans; Billy Montgomery, D-Haughton; Loulan Pitre, R-Cut Off; M.J. “Mert” Smiley, R-Port Vincent; and Charlie Lancaster, R-Metairie, the committee chairman.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/2670146.html

[rumpel]

25. Haiti: Haitians begin voting in critical legislative poll

Alternet

21 Apr 2006 10:46:08 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, April 21 (Reuters) - Haitians trickled to the polls on Friday as voting began in parliamentary elections that will decide if President-elect Rene Preval has enough support to govern the troubled Caribbean nation.
Polls opened on time at 6 a.m. (1000 GMT) in the capital, Port-au-Prince, with election workers in place but only a few people there to cast ballots.
"We are waiting for the voters. Compared to the first round, things are better organized," said Maxerne Senat, manager of a large polling center in Port-au-Prince.
Preval on Feb. 7 won Haiti's first presidential vote since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in an armed revolt two years ago, but he will need supporters in parliament, and an ally in the prime minister that parliament will pick, in order to chart a course for the country.
Only two seats in the 99-seat Chamber of Deputies were decided in the first round of the election in February, with the rest going to the second round on Friday. All 30 Senate seats will also be decided in the runoff.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20393071.htm

[rumpel]

47. Radios report problems at some polling stations in Haitian election

BBC Monitoring

21 avril 2006

Electoral operations have been going on normally at the National School of Sarasin where many people have gone to vote and citizens in Lascahobas have voted peacefully, Port-au-Prince Radio Galaxie correspondent Mirabeau Louis reported in Mirebalais at 1547 gmt. However, he said the situation was different in the voting centre located in the public high school of Lascahobas, where he explained that there had been fights among partisans of opposing candidates and that law and order forces had intervened to restore order.

Port-au-Prince Signal Radio correspondent Berthony Geneus, reporting live from Martissant, Port-au-Prince at 1554 gmt, said people whose names did not appear on the electoral lists called on Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) officials to take an exceptional measure like the one taken on 7 February in order to allow them to vote in today’s elections. A CEP official who wished to remain anonymous proposed that the names of those people be taken and that they be allowed to vote, according to Geneus. "A solution formula has been found for the voting centre of Fontamara where a CEP official told the officials of this centre that they can allow voters whose names are not on the electoral lists to vote," said Signal’s studio announcer.

Signal Radio correspondent Joachim Marcel reporting live from Cap-Haitien at 1557 gmt reported a problem that had occurred at a polling station in the city. A witness said a Struggling People’s Organization (OPL) representative had prevented a citizen from voting more than once. Marcel also reported voters as saying they wanted to vote for change and were determined to vote for their candidates.

At 1602 gmt, a citizen interviewed at the Signal Radio studio said he went to vote at Republic of Guatemala National School and was surprised to learn that somebody had already voted using his name. He had not yet voted, but he was not allowed to vote because his name had already been checked off. Signal Radio correspondent Berg Dorelus reported that some voters were surprised to find that they were prevented from voting under the pretext that their names were not on the list even though they had seen that their names were listed at the entrance to the polling stations. He reported a conflict at Elie Blaise Private High School in Carrefour where supporters of President-elect Preval were trying to force voters to vote for certain people. This problem was solved after security guards intervened.

http://www.haiti-info.com/article.php3?id_article=4358

[rumpel]

26. Europe: Nothing Sprouts from Brussels (On Berlusconi, Prodi & beyond)

April 21, 2006, 6:06 a.m.
Nothing Sprouts from Brussels
A paralyzed Europe.

Wherever you look today in Western Europe today, the political diagnosis is the same: paralysis.

For Italy, the popular vote percentages in last week's elections say it all: Silvio Berlusconi's outgoing conservative coalition won 49.7 percent of the total vote and the incoming center-Left coalition led by former "Eurocrat" Romano Prodi gained a victorious 49.8 percent! Italy is divided right down the middle politically.

Under the rules of the Italian constitution — which give the winning party additional seats — Prodi will be handed a secure parliamentary majority. But that will not in fact remedy the stagnation of the popular vote.

Prodi's coalition is so divided between former Christian Democrats, former Communists, and still-faithful Communist true believers that it cannot unite around any reform program that is seriously contentious. It opposed Berlusconi's modest labor market reform — temporary contracts for younger workers to reduce youth unemployment — in the election campaign. So there is little or no prospect of Prodi adopting the wider labor market flexibility, pension reform, or tax cuts that Italy badly needs.

Result: paralysis.

Almost the same is true of Angela Merkel's "Grand Coalition" of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats in Germany. Ms. Merkel is winning golden opinions for her deft handling of foreign policy which, among other achievements, has restored good relations between Berlin and Washington.

That is because Merkel, as Chancellor, enjoys a relatively free hand on diplomacy. On domestic economic reforms, however, she will need to win the support of both her socialist ministers and a parliament that has a left-wing majority. Many observers forget that the center-right actually lost ground in last year's German elections when the combined parties of the Left — the social democrats, the Greens, and the Left — gained an extra forty seats.

http://www.nationalreview.com/jos/osullivan200604210606.asp

[rumpel]

27. Voting Rights Revisited

Gotham Gazette, New York

by Doug Israel
April, 2006

When earlier this month thousands of immigrants and their supporters rallied throughout the streets of lower Manhattan, many were carrying signs that said “Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote.”

For those old enough to remember, or attentive enough to history, the sentiment expressed in those signs recalled events decades old, largely in the rural South, that led up to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

But the Voting Rights Act has more connection to the recent marchers than just sentiment. Some provisions in it continue to affect parts of New York City directly. And, set to expire in 2007, they are being debated by some of the same people who are arguing over immigration.

The Voting Rights of 1965

On March 7, 1965 state troopers attacked and beat marchers in Selma, Alabama, en route to the state capitol in Montgomery. The marchers were demanding a repeal of poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses – all forces that effectively denied them their right to vote under the fifteenth amendment -— when they were met by law enforcement officers also intent on denying them their constitutional right to peaceful protest protected by the first amendment.

http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/voting/20060421/17/1826/

[rumpel]

28. NY: State struggles to meet election overhaul deadlines

Star-Gazette

By CARA MATTHEWS
Gannett News Service
April 21, 2006

ALBANY — In the latest snafu with New York's compliance with new federal election laws, the state Board of Elections has failed to meet two of the earliest deadlines in a new agreement with the U.S. Justice Department.

The federal agency is suing New York for not complying with federal legislation designed to modernize the voting process and give people with disabilities better access to the polls.

The Board of Elections filed a compliance plan with the judge in the case April 10 and had not finalized the process by which it would certify initial machines for the disabled, which was supposed to have been completed by Monday.

Because of that, the agency could not meet a Tuesday deadline of reserving a place to test the equipment.

When Elections Commissioner Douglas Kellner learned Thursday of the missed tasks, he questioned whether agency staffers were taking the agreement seriously. He described the situation as “unacceptable.”

http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060421/NEWS01/604210326

[rumpel]

31. NC: E-Voting? Primary voters approve of new machines (Lenoir County)

The Kingston Free Press

April 21,2006
MICHAEL ABERNETHY
Staff Writer

Lenoir County voters should expect only subtle changes in voting machines when casting votes in this year’s primary election.

Voters questioned at the Lenoir County Board of Elections during one-stop, no excuse voting Thursday said the county’s new direct record touch-screen voting machines are easy to use and similar to the ones the county previously used.

“I’m technologically a Forrest Gump. If I could understand how to use them, anyone could,” said Marion Harrington after he cast his ballot. “It seems foolproof.”

Meredith Golembieski also stopped in Thursday to vote and liked the new machines.

“It’s easier than the old way,” Golembieski said. “There are no gray buttons down the side and the colors are brighter, so it’s easier to know what you’ve checked.”

The county’s machines were required by state law this year after several counties experienced difficulties counting votes cast without paper ballots in previous elections. All counties were required to use one of two machines approved by the state.

The three ES&S iVotronic machines set up for one-stop voting through 1 p.m. April 29 at the county’s elections building have been used steadily since voting began on April 13. The machines record votes

Please turn to tally, but also store ballots on a printed receipt scrolled and locked inside the computer.

About 150 of the county’s 35,888 voters had cast ballots as of Thursday afternoon, said Dana King, Lenoir County Board of Elections director. King said the last comparable primary, in 2002, had a 28 percent voter-turnout. She expects voting to pick up this year since one-stop voting was introduced to primary elections in 2004.

Before the May 2 primary, King will program about 50 more machines and train staff members to assist voters. Elections offi cials already had the hang of guiding voters through the touchscreen system Thursday.

http://www.kinston.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=35767&Section=Local

[rumpel]

32. MA: Jack jumps at board seat

Millford Daily News

By Theresa Freeman
Thursday, April 20, 2006

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories profiling the candidates for selectmen in the May 2 election.
ASHLAND -- Phil Jack says he will bring a sense of vigor and a can-do attitude to the Board of Selectmen.
The board needs a shot of new ideas and energy, Jack, 38, an attorney who owns his own firm in Framingham, said during a meeting yesterday with Daily News editors.
Jack, who sits on the Zoning Board of Appeals, is facing incumbents Cassandra Sammons and David Teller in a race for two open seats on the board.

snip

He said he is also interested in exploring the idea of "e-voting," or enabling voters to vote on Town Meeting measures via the telephone or Internet.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=90243

[rumpel]

44. NC: Stiffer Voter Registration Requirements Sought

NBC 17
POSTED: 7:18 pm EDT April 21, 2006
UPDATED: 8:07 pm EDT April 21, 2006

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina needs to strengthen its voter application process to prevent illegal immigrants from registering, a conservative political group says.
The state's Spanish-language voter registration form doesn't require applicants to provide identification, only a utility bill or other proof of address. If a person doesn't have an address, they're allowed to draw dots on the registration form to show what structures are on the block where they live.
"Clearly, a utility bill or a rental bill is not proof of citizenship. It proves you have electricity or somewhere to live," said Thomas Stith, a Durham City Council member and vice president of the Civitas Institute. "The concern from the citizens of North Carolina is (the right to vote is) being compromised."
Early voting is underway statewide for the May 2 primary. Cherie Poucher, the director of the Wake County Board of Elections, said local elections officials aren't aware of any problems with the Spanish-language voting forms, but she said there's no way to tell if an illegal immigrant registers.

http://www.nbc17.com/politics/8892095/detail.html

[rumpel]

33. Italy: Berlusconi claims "political victory" in Italy vote

Reuters UK
Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:24 PM BST

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who narrowly lost last week's general election, said he won more votes than the centre-left and so its leader Romano Prodi must accept what he called his "political" victory.

Berlusconi, who has alleged voting fraud and has still not conceded defeat after the April 9-10 vote, said in a newspaper interview published on Friday that Prodi should acknowledge he had at best won a hollow victory.

Italy's supreme court confirmed on Wednesday that Prodi had won the election.

But Berlusconi told Piccolo, the local newspaper of the northeastern city of Trieste, that the centre-right had won some 220,000 votes more than Prodi's bloc, if all votes cast in both houses of parliament and abroad were taken into account.

"It is therefore clear that the person who wants to be recognised as the winner for having got more seats ... must in turn necessarily recognise the centre-right's political victory in terms of votes," Berlusconi said.

Official figures show that Berlusconi's bloc won more votes in the Senate, but gained two seats fewer than the centre-left because the electoral system distributes seats on a region-by-region basis. Only people over 25 can vote for the upper house.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-04-21T142350Z_01_L21784184_RTRUKOC_0_UK-ITALY.xml&archived=False

[rumpel]

34. NJ: Pequannock hopeful cites voting glitch

The Daily Record

04/21/06 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom

School board candidate concedes; Morris Hills seeks ballot recount

BY LAURA BRUNO
DAILY RECORD

A Pequannock school board candidate who may have lost votes because of glitches in the voting booths Tuesday, conceded the election Thursday.

Rather than drag out the election, cost the town money and stall action in the school district, Robert Friedman said he would not contest the results and will wait to try again next year.

"I'm angry, but I'm directing my anger toward the technician who programmed the machines,"Friedman said. "I don't want to take my anger out on the school district."

Meanwhile, officials with the Morris Hills Regional High School District said Thursday they would ask for a recount of Tuesday's balloting.

Rejected by 2 votes

The regional district's $51.7 million spending plan was rejected by just two votes out of more than 6,000 cast.

In Pequannock, Friedman, 43, a married father of three, came in last place among five candidates vying for three, three-year terms on the board.

Morris County Clerk Joan Bramhall confirmed that a technician incorrectly programmed voting booths in Pequannock, causing a light next to Friedman's name to go out when people voted for the candidate listed below him, Jeannette Andreula, who ran uncontested for a one-year unexpired term.

The errant light generated confusion. Some people reported that they tried to go back and fix their vote for Friedman because the light went out.

The initial vote had been recorded, Bramhall said, but voting a second time for Friedman would have voided the initial vote, Bramhall said.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060421/COMMUNITIES/604210325/1150/NEWS01

[rumpel]

46. NJ: Pequannock candidate rules out new vote

NorthJersey.com

Friday, April 21, 2006

By MARGARET K. COLLINS
STAFF WRITER

PEQUANNOCK -- School board candidate Bob Friedman has given up a possible second chance at winning a board seat, putting the entire district ahead of his personal ambition.

Malfunctioning voting machines in Tuesday's board election provided him the opportunity to ask for a new vote. But Friedman dropped that option Thursday, saying he didn't want to potentially ruin a good thing -- voter passage Tuesday of the tax proposals for the 2006-07 school year.

"I never wanted this to be about me," Friedman said Thursday. "And that's what a revote may turn into."

Friedman, who placed last in Tuesday's vote for three full board seat and trailed the nearest winner by more than 300 votes, also cited the potential cost to the district of holding a new election.

The Morris County clerk said Wednesday that electronic voting machines in the township were programmed incorrectly. As a result, in certain cases when a voter selected Friedman's name on the ballot and then selected another ballot name, the mark next to Friedman's name disappeared.

County Clerk Joan Bramhall said that Friedman had every right to challenge the results and ask a judge to order a revote.

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5MjE4MDAmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkz

[rumpel]

36. CO: Fearful of being kept off ballot, Holtzman readies petition drive

By STEVEN K. PAULSON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER - A day after saying the state GOP convention might be rigged against him, gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman filed papers Thursday that would let him petition his way onto the August primary ballot.

Holtzman stopped short of launching a petition drive but said he wants to keep that option open because he owes it to his supporters to be in the primary.

‘‘We’re going to go ahead and get our petition certified so he we decide to gather signatures, we can do it quickly,’’ Holtzman spokesman Dick Leggitt said.

Leggitt said Holtzman will decide later this week whether to begin gathering the 10,500 signatures he needs to guarantee a spot on the primary ballot.

The secretary of state’s office said it would take about 24 hours to certify that the petition meets the requirements of state law.

Holtzman sent a letter to state Republican Party Chairman Bob Martinez demanding to know why the party is refusing to require a single ballot for all candidates and have ballots given directly to delegates. They are now handed out to county officials to distribute.

Holtzman cited concerns of potential fraud in how the party picks its candidates at the annual conventions and issued 10 demands that included secure voting areas, electronic voting machines and a single ballot for candidates. Party officials said negotiations are continuing.

http://www.chieftain.com/national/1145629645/3

[rumpel]

37. CO: New Compliant Voting Machines for Primary

The Telluride Watch

Published:4/21/06

“This is crazy government, absolutely crazy government,” declared San Miguel County Commissioner Art Goodtimes two weeks ago during discussion by the board of commissioners about new election equipment that the county is required to purchase even though the equipment may not yet have been fully certified by the Colorado Secretary of State.

The secretary of state, as part of enacting legislation that implements the federal Help America Vote Act, has ordered that all counties in the state purchase compliant voting systems and have them in place by the Aug. 8 primary elections. Unhappy about the circumstances but seeing no alternative, the BOCC approved by a 2-1 vote on

April 5 an intergovernmental agreement with the Colorado Department of State for reimbursement, and directed county staff to move ahead immediately to contract with a certified vendor. Goodtimes was the dissenting vote.

BOCC chairperson Elaine Fischer said the vote in favor was “subject to many doubts and bureaucracy in its worst form.”

This week, on Wednesday, county clerk Doris Ruffe recommended to the BOCC that it enter a contract for a new voting system with Hart Intercivic.

“They have a better track record than most,” Ruffe told the commissioners.

County attorney Steve Zwick was not so complimentary.

“I have to say that this is one of the most outrageous contracts I’ve seen in my life,” Zwick said. “But they’ve been approved by the Secretary of State and you don’t have much choice.”

“We’re in a bind,” agreed Fischer. “The system was set up so they could do whatever they want.”

Although he fulminated against “unfunded mandates” at the state and federal levels of government, Goodtimes joined the “ayes” this time and the BOCC was unanimous in voting to follow Ruffe’s recommendation.

The total purchase price for the equipment is $111,355 with an additional charge of $15,000 for software.

http://www.telluridewatch.com/042106/county.htm

[FogerRox]

39. Daymn, rumple is a posting machine, DUDE, take a friggin break.

LOL

[meganmonkey]

40. GA: Justice Department OKs Georgia Voter ID Law

(Posted in LBN: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2240396 )

ATLANTA (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department gave its approval Friday to a Georgia law requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls.

Supporters - including Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue, who signed the measure earlier this year - say it is needed to crack down on voter fraud. Opponents say it unfairly discriminates against minorities, the poor and the elderly, who are less likely to have a driver's license.

Under the law, voters who do not have a license can get a state-issued photo ID for free.

The law makes Georgia one of seven states to require photo identification at the polls.

more at link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5771357,00.html

[Patsy Stone]

41. UK: Controversial Lib Dem donor arrested on fraud charges

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17129-2145240,00.html

By Jenny Booth

Snips:

The Liberal Democrats’ biggest and most controversial political donor has been arrested in Spain on 53 charges of forgery and dishonesty, it emerged today.

Michael Brown, a businessman who gave £2.4 million to the party before the last election, was detained by Spanish police in Majorca on Wednesday, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.

Proceedings started in January when HSBC, Mr Brown's bank, launched a private criminal action in the UK. The 53 charges allege forgery, perjury, dishonesty, perverting the course of justice and obtaining a passport by deception.

This is not the first time that Mr Brown has found himself under investigation. Last year the Electoral Commission investigated after it emerged that Brown had bankrolled the Lib Dems’ election campaign, despite not being registered to vote in the UK.

[FogerRox]

42. Kickin for the Train Wreck....

[FogerRox]

43. recommend the Train Wreck .. . please.

[rumpel]

45. OpEdNews: Reality Check: reporting from Maryland

April 21, 2006

Mary Howe Kiraly in Maryland

For voting integrity activists in Maryland, the 2006 Legislative Session ended as a disappointment and a reality check. We began the session believing that, if we could pass a paper ballot bill in the House of Delegates, this legislation was a certainty in the State Senate (where similar legislation had 23 of 47 Senators on board as co-sponsors). How wrong we were.

The dream bill, which included leasing optical scan for the fall, passed the House unanimously. The Governor changed positions and supported a paper ballot, backing up that support with a funding request. Then the legislation moved to the “friendly” Senate, where it languished, never to move to a floor vote before the session ended.

What happened? We cannot say for certain but here are some facts that can be assembled a number of ways, depending on one’s degree of cynicism.

Fact One: The Diebold Corporate Component. Diebold had a strong presence in Annapolis. Their lobbyist is the former aide to the (D) Senate President. Their PR person is a former staffer for (D) U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, as strong a political personality as Maryland has produced. Diebold’s election division, as we know, is in financial disarray. Maryland got out in front of the nation in 2002, investing between $90-100 million in the Diebold AccuVote TS system. Maryland would be the only state to will vote entirely on Diebold paperless touchscreen machines in 2006. Linda Lamone, the Administrator of the State Board of Elections, and the President of NASED, has become a national spokesperson for Diebold DREs. So the corporation and the head of the Board of Elections had a great deal of prestige- and corporate and political capital- at stake in Annapolis in 2006.

Face Two: The Democrat’s Legislative Agenda. Democratic leaders in the Legislature had, as their primary election focus, the implementation of an early voting system. They had passed legislation in 2005, which the Governor vetoed. Early in the 2006 session, that veto was overridden. Early voting will be in place in Maryland, at locations specifically designated by the Legislature in each county. Objectively, early voting will benefit shift workers, voters with multiple jobs and long hours, who have trouble getting to the polls during voting hours. Subjectively, the polling stations have been placed in locations and communities to maximize turnout for Democratic voters and candidates. Republicans are furious and anticipating the fulfillment of that old adage: vote early and vote often.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_mary_how_060421_reality_check_3a__repo.htm

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48. LA: New Orleans' complex election

Chron.com

April 21, 2006

New Orleans' complex election

It's hard to imagine a more racially-charged environment than the special election in New Orleans tomorrow. I've even read articles screaming "Apartheid!", and certainly no one has forgotten Nagin's "Chocolate City" gaffe.

For months, activists, pundits and poll predictors have been working on the assumption that those who have been dispersed all across the country want nothing more than to voice their anger at the social and governmental failures at the polls, and to insist on a return to their city.

Will they? For folks in the Houston area, which took in approximately 150,000 evacuees, it's an important question. From the Wall Street Journal:

For months, many city leaders and activists have predicted that displaced voters -- angry about their personal losses and determined to return home -- would defiantly insist on voting regardless of what that required. The publicized criticism from the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and black Louisiana politicians, who unsuccessfully lobbied for satellite polling sites placed in major Southern cities, contending the voting process will exclude many of the city's displaced residents, was expected to energize those voters further.

Major mobilization efforts were planned in cities where large numbers of blacks moved after the storm as a dramatic demonstration that black voters would retain their dominance of New Orleans politics. But in Houston, which took in an estimated 150,000 New Orleans residents, the activist organization ACORN says it has managed to fill one bus with no more than 50 people. It delivered just about 110 people to Louisiana for the six days of early voting last week. The Houston chapters of the NAACP decided not to lease any buses because only 20 people signed up after it leased 10 buses to take voters last week. "If they're going -- and that is a question -- they are going with their friends and families in their own cars," said Sylvia K. Brooks, president of the Houston Area Urban League.

Are the displaced New Orleans voters being treated unfairly, as some have said?

http://blogs.chron.com/polimom/2006/04/new_orleans_complex_election.html

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49. TN: Knox Co. Election Commission seeks answers on key questions

April 21, 2006
By JEFF LENNOX
Good Morning Tennessee Reporter



KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- The Knox County Election Commission is seeking legal answers after a lawsuit filed by five incumbent county commissioners over term limits and the county charter.

On Wednesday, the commissioners filed a lawsuit that argues the county's charter is invalid. On Friday, the election commission held a public meeting to respond to that lawsuit.

With its attorney advising via speaker phone from Nashville, the election commission requested answers to three questions.

1. Is the county charter legal?

2. If so, can the election commission remove term-limited commissioners' names from the August general election ballot?

3. Do term limits apply to other elected offices, such as sheriff or trustee?

"From the commission's standpoint, we need to have these issues resolved so that we can get ballots printed, get them out to the military, get the absentee ballots out and that whole process starts a month and a half before August 1," says election commission Chair Pam Reeves.

The commissioners' lawsuit was filed on behalf of Diane Jordan, David Collins, Billy Tindell, Phil Guthe and John Griess.

A state Supreme Court ruling in March stated that voters could impose term limits on their legislative county officials.

The commissioners' names are on the May 2 primary ballot. But after the Supreme Court ruling, the election commission said they may be removed from the August 3 general election ballot.

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=4801166

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50. Jamaica: Gov't says voting rights for overseas J'cans not on agenda

Observer Reporter
Saturday, April 22, 2006

DEPUTY Foreign Minister Delano Franklyn says that although the government has been working to strengthen relations with citizens living overseas, the issue of affording voting rights to overseas Jamaicans, while they were residing abroad, is not on the agenda at this time.

"I believe that it will become a very real issue some time in the future, as we can't be seeking to deepen and strengthen the linkages with Jamaicans overseas...and not face this particular issue of whether or not they will be able to exercise their franchise from where they are living," he said.

Senator Franklyn, who was speaking this week with the Jamaica Information Service, said that currently, Jamaicans living overseas can exercise their franchise, and many have come home to Jamaica to vote in national elections.

"For them to be able to do so, however, they need to be registered in Jamaica and they need to come home at the appropriate time to ensure that they are re-verified at the addresses, which they would have filled out on the form here in Jamaica," he said.

He said the issue of having overseas nationals vote in their current countries of residence was raised at the first Diaspora Conference and at the time, the director of elections Danville Walker outlined to the delegates the complex nature of the issue, and the challenges it would pose to the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ).

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20060421T210000-0500_103059_OBS_GOV_T_SAYS_VOTING_RIGHTS_FOR_OVERSEAS_J_CANS_NOT_ON_AGENDA.asp

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51. ....

:bounce:

:hi:

nite