Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, FRI. Sep. 21 & 22, 2006

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The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the time of adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added, and as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution;

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States; all or any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the said Constitution, namely:

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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

If you can:

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All previous daily threads are available here:
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1. National Voting Rights Group Condemns Anti-voter Legislation Passed by

House of Representatives (Press Release)



National Voter ID Will Keep Many Eligible Voters from the Polls; Voting Rights Experts Available for Interview

9/21/2006 5:29:00 PM

To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor

Contact: Tim Rusch or Cole Krawitz, 212-633-1405 or [e-mail], both of Demos

NEW YORK, Sept. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Demos, a leading national public policy organization, denounced the passage of the House of Representatives bill (H.R. 4844) also known as the "Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006," which would require all voters to obtain and present government-issued photo ID by 2008, and present proof of citizenship before voting in 2010.

All contemporary evidence suggests that the real source of voters' election concerns are obscured by all of the attention and energy Congress spends on Voter ID. Instead, American voters deserve attention to serious challenges faced at the ballot box - - keeping voting lists up-to-date, making sure that provisional ballots are implemented correctly, ensuring that there are adequate and secure voting machines that count votes properly, providing for adequate poll workers training, eliminating voter suppression and others.

Instead of taking up reforms that could ensure that the types of problems found in 2000, 2002 and 2004 election will not occur again, the House has passed a bill that, if also passed by the Senate and signed into law, could roll back voting rights a century, disfranchising millions of eligible voters -- particularly voters who are elderly, disabled, low-income and of color.

Facts about H.R. 4844:

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=72958

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2. CA: Upon Further Review, Supes Fumbled

LA Times

Dana Parsons

September 21, 2006

They played a college football game in Oregon last Saturday that would seem to have nothing in common with Orange County government.

That's what I'm here for.

The Oklahoma Sooners lost the game in the final minute when the Oregon Ducks were awarded possession of an onside kick that everyone now concedes should have gone to Oklahoma. The Pac-10 Conference has suspended for one game the entire officiating crew on the field, as well as two instant replay officials in the booth who reviewed the play and still blew it.

The Pac-10 commissioner apologized to Oklahoma and, with the suspensions, attached accountability for the mistake.

Here in Orange County, an important public official made at least a couple of significant mistakes in a contentious recall election and didn't even draw a five-minute detention in the corner.

Instead, the Board of Supervisors this week basically conceded that Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley misread state law but told him to be more diligent in the future.

That doesn't even qualify as the proverbial slap on the wrist. More like giving Kelley a pat on the head, followed by some cookies and hot chocolate.

I'm not trying to play the phony tough guy. I don't like to see people lose their jobs, and I won't lose sleep over Kelley keeping his.

But would a little censure from the supes be out of the question? A bit of lamenting that the county's top election official didn't know the law that governs his own office? An apology to recall proponents who justifiably are aggrieved by Kelley's mistakes?

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parsons21sep21,0,2334021.column?coll=la-home-local

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3. KY: Attorney General Stumbo Works to Ensure Voting Rights for Armed Forces

All American Patriots/Kentucky News

September 20, 2006 -- Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo today concluded his review and approval of an emergency election regulation allowing our service men and women to cast ballots electronically.

“Our brave men and women overseas defend our democratic form of government with their lives,” said Stumbo. “The least we can do is to ensure that their voice is heard loud and clear at election time. This emergency regulation will protect their fundamental constitutional right to vote.”

By statute, the Attorney General is responsible for the enforcement of all election laws. He works with the State Board of Elections “to preserve the absentee voting rights of military personnel service on active duty outside the United States” (KRS 117.079).

In 2004, Attorney General Stumbo also made clear that he is enforcing the Service Members’ Civil Relief Act, which became federal law in 2003. The focus of the act is to provide protections to service members who are unable to defend legal actions due to military service. The law replaced the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act of 1940. Legal services needed to resolve matters related to the Relief Act are provided by the Attorney General’s Office, free of charge, to all present-day active duty military and those who have just returned from duty overseas.

http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/m-news+article+storyid-16454.html

check out the poll :) on same page to the left

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4. OpEd: National Poll Tax Passes the House - An October Surprise Coming?

September 20, 2006 at 21:34:12

by Joyce McLoy

National Poll Tax Passes the House - An October Surprise Coming?

The Voter ID Bill did pass in the house, mostly along party lines. The Senate would have to vote for it
in order for it to become law. This is extremely serious.

HR 4844 would require government issued photo id for all voters by 2008, and proof of citizenship to vote in 2010.
This will mostly affect seniors, minorities and poor. Imagine paying to vote. A voter registration card should be all that
a voter needs in order to vote, and they are free - received after the voter registers to vote.

9/20/2006 Pelosi: Voter ID Bill Is an Attempt to Suppress the Votes of Millions of American Citizens
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor this afternoon in opposition to H.R. 4844,
the Republican voter suppression bill. Below are Pelosi's remarks:

"'This cannot be.' With those words, Judge Jackson Bedford yesterday struck down the infamous
Georgia voter photo ID law. Let me repeat: 'This cannot be.' Let these words guide us here,
because right here in this House of Representatives, we take an oath to up hold the Constitution of the United States.
That Constitution guarantees all America citizens the right to vote and the right for their vote to be counted.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/getrelease.asp?id=72849

9/20/2006 4:31:00 PM Hastert Praises Passage of Voter ID Act
The bill passed 228-196.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_joyce_mc_060920_national_poll_tax_pa.htm

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5. FL: Judge May Ask To Redraw Voting Districts

Local 6

POSTED: 11:39 pm EDT September 20, 2006
UPDATED: 11:42 pm EDT September 20, 2006

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A federal judge is saying that there's no evidence that county election procedures unfairly diluted the voting power of Hispanics, but he may still issue a ruling to redraw voting districts in Osceola County.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell did not issue a formal ruling Wednesday in the federal case filed against Osceola County by the federal government last year.
The federal government claims that the county's current system of electing commissioners -- by voting countywide instead of by districts -- dilutes the voting strength of the county's growing Hispanic population.

http://www.local6.com/news/9897915/detail.html

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WA: A strong vote for ballot access

Seattle Times (Opinion)

Guest columnist
Thursday, September 21, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

By Debbie Cook
Special to The Times

Touchscreen voting was used during California's 2004 primary.
This fall, for the first time in my life, I am doing something most Americans take for granted. By using a new electronic voting machine that helps people with disabilities, I am voting on my own, indicating my preferences for who should run things in my area and how, without relying on someone to translate or convey my preferences for me.

This simple yet transformative activity is the result of years of effort by many people (some disabled like me, some not) who have been actively involved in our state's implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) on behalf of voters with disabilities.

Like most voters, we want fair elections and the opportunity to vote independently and have that process work well — not just the equipment, but the whole process, from casting the ballot to having it counted accurately.

The driving forces behind the Help America Vote Act were, in fact, issues around voter intent in elections. There have been frustrations, mistakes and questions about voter intent that delayed and cast doubt on election results in recent years and led to long-delayed action on this issue.

Despite that, as I vote this fall, these will be the most fair elections that I have ever voted in. I have never had the right to vote an independent ballot before now and had no way of knowing that my vote was ever cast accurately, until now.

The new voting equipment makes this possible. As an information-technology professional and person with disabilities, I am extremely excited about the positive impact this will have on voting access in our state.

So, when people debate the validity of the whole election process, remember that an independent ballot — something that most voters take for granted — is something that many Americans with disabilities have not had at all.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003267888_vote21.html

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6. WA: A strong vote for ballot access

Seattle Times (Opinion)

Guest columnist
Thursday, September 21, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

By Debbie Cook
Special to The Times

Touchscreen voting was used during California's 2004 primary.
This fall, for the first time in my life, I am doing something most Americans take for granted. By using a new electronic voting machine that helps people with disabilities, I am voting on my own, indicating my preferences for who should run things in my area and how, without relying on someone to translate or convey my preferences for me.

This simple yet transformative activity is the result of years of effort by many people (some disabled like me, some not) who have been actively involved in our state's implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) on behalf of voters with disabilities.

Like most voters, we want fair elections and the opportunity to vote independently and have that process work well — not just the equipment, but the whole process, from casting the ballot to having it counted accurately.

The driving forces behind the Help America Vote Act were, in fact, issues around voter intent in elections. There have been frustrations, mistakes and questions about voter intent that delayed and cast doubt on election results in recent years and led to long-delayed action on this issue.

Despite that, as I vote this fall, these will be the most fair elections that I have ever voted in. I have never had the right to vote an independent ballot before now and had no way of knowing that my vote was ever cast accurately, until now.

The new voting equipment makes this possible. As an information-technology professional and person with disabilities, I am extremely excited about the positive impact this will have on voting access in our state.

So, when people debate the validity of the whole election process, remember that an independent ballot — something that most voters take for granted — is something that many Americans with disabilities have not had at all.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003267888_vote21.html

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7. GA: Student political groups smooth voter registration

Red&Black.com
Serving the University of Georgia Community


By AUBREY SMITH
Published , September 21, 2006, 06:00:01 AM EDT

University students wanting to make their voices heard this election year won’t have to go out of their way to register in Athens-Clarke County.

Both the College Republicans and the Young Democrats are making it easier for students to call Athens their political hometown by helping them register to vote.

The College Republicans will host a nonpartisan voter registration drive on Brumby Beach from 5 to 7 p.m. this Sunday. There will be certified registrars on the scene in addition to free food.

Katie Flanigan, president of the College Republicans, said Sunday’s drive will target freshmen, but she hopes the entire University community will come.

Kristen Bernhard, one of the registrars who will be on hand for the drive, said registering to vote in Athens — whether the student has registered before in a different district or not — is simple.

Bernhard said students can complete the form in a matter of minutes and will not be asked to present a photo ID since registrars will be present.

http://www.redandblack.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/09/21/451205b9b5ed3

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8. IL: Ethics get emphasis in secretary of state race

Belleville News Democrat

Posted on Thu, Sep. 21, 2006

White touts integrity in local visit
BY MIKE FITZGERALD
News-Democrat
BELLEVILLE - Jesse White, Illinois' secretary of state, came to town eager to show he's not just another Chicago-area Democrat and to tout his achievements for the past eight years -- and to make the case for why he deserves another four-year term in November.

White, 72, ticked off a litany of highlights. He took credit for making it easier for motorists to donate their organs; for dramatically increasing fines for scofflaws caught parking their cars in handicapped zones; and for making it more difficult and time-consuming for teenagers to get their drivers' licenses.

One of the themes White pounded the hardest, though, was in drawing a distinction between himself and the scandal-plagued tenure of his predecessor in that post -- George Ryan, the ex-Illinois governor who earlier this month was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison after being convicted on corruption charges related to his years as secretary of state.

White referred to the work Jim Burns, his inspector general, has performed in rooting out corruption in the secretary of state's office. "We restored some integrity to it," White said.

White made this boast only two days after a federal jury in Peoria convicted a former top official in White's office on charges of aiding three janitors in cheating the state out of $150,000 for work they didn't perform.

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/local/15572372.htm

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9. OH: Voting Rights Groups Sue Ohio Officials for Violating Federal Voter

Registration Law (Press Release)



Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell and DJFS Director Barbara Riley Named as Defendants in Lawsuit

9/21/2006 11:05:00 AM

To: National Desk

Contact: Timothy Rusch of Demos/NVRI, 212-389-1407 or [e-mail], Lisa Danetz of the National Voting Rights Institute, 617-624-3900, ext. 11 or 617-256-6266 (cell), Benjamin Blustein of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, 202-662-8320, Katy Gall of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, 614-638-1562 Neil Steiner of Dechert LLP, 212-698-3822

CLEVELAND, Ohio, Sept. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A federal lawsuit filed in Cleveland today charges that Ohio's Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, and the Director of its Department of Job and Family Services (DJFS), Barbara Riley, have violated the rights of thousands of low-income Ohioans by failing to provide voter registration opportunities in public assistance offices as required by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The NVRA is a federal law enacted 13 years ago to encourage voter registration and turnout in elections.

The lawsuit, brought by Carrie Harkless, Tameca Mardis and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), alleges that offices of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services failed to provide Harkless, Mardis and thousands of other low-income Ohioans with the opportunity to register to vote or change their voter registration address during visits to DJFS offices to apply for or recertify their eligibility for public assistance benefits. Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the National Voting Rights Institute, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Dechert LLP, Brian Mellor of Project Vote, and Cleveland attorney Donna Taylor Kolis.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=72889

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10. The 'Harder To Vote' Act

TomPaine.com

Wade Henderson
September 21, 2006

Wade Henderson is the executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

Just two months ago, the nation watched Congress, both House and Senate, overwhelmingly reaffirm a commitment to voting rights when it reauthorized the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The law guarantees access to the voting booth for all Americans for the next 25 years.

So it boggles the mind why we are having yet another national discussion about who can and cannot vote in this country.

Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the “Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006” (HR 4844), sponsored by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., which would require all voters to obtain and show government-issued photo IDs proving their citizenship before they could vote.

Proponents of this ill-advised legislation say it is necessary to prevent voter misrepresentation—people showing up at the polls pretending to be someone they’re not.

While our electoral system isn’t perfect, the supporters of this bill are inflating voter fraud into a problem that just doesn’t exist. Congress and the states have proven extremely successful at preventing non-citizens from voting and ensuring that voters are who they claim to be.

Far greater problems loom over the electoral system than voter misrepresentation—scarcity of polling places, ill-prepared poll workers, faulty voting machines and lack of language-appropriate voting materials, to name just a few.


http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/09/21/the_harder_to_vote_act.php

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11. NY: Islip supervisor candidate calls voting system flawed

Newsday

Newsday Staff Writer
September 21, 2006, 10:11 AM EDT

Calling the system "incredibly flawed," Suffolk County legislator Thomas F. Barraga, the apparent loser in the Republican primary race for Town of Islip Supervisor, yesterday criticized the Suffolk Board of Elections and said more than 100 affadavit ballots were disallowed without explantion, denying voters their right to vote.

Echoing the Georg Bush-Al Gore battle over "hanging chads" in Florida in the controversial 2000 U.S. Presidential Election, Barraga said: "The whole system isn't clean."

"There are people, as we speak, who really think their vote is in the count -- and it's not," Barraga said. "And they really deserve an explanation."

The criticism came the same day a recanvas of the primary vote by officials at the Board of Elections in Yaphank showed Islip councilwoman Pamela J. Greene leading Barraga, 4,874-4,748 -- a margin of just 126 votes -- with fewer than 70 absentee and affadavit ballots still uncounted. The results likely will not be certified until at least next week, a source at the Board of Elections said.

Earlier this week Greene, who had been declared the unofficial winner on Sept. 12 by a margin of 4,827-4,633, told Newsday the outcome of the election was "in bigger hands than ours" and said she would not comment further until the recount was finalized.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lisupe0922,0,3151673.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines

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12. WA: King Cantcounty still struggling to tabulate its mail ballots, still

struggling to tabulate its mail ballots, still lying about the problem

Soundpolitics.com

September 21, 2006

King Cantcounty yesterday tabulated only another 52,724 mail ballots, after a mere 45,521 on Tuesday, compared with 90,709 on primary day alone in 2005. Why is this year's count going so slowly?

On Tuesday Ron Sims blamed voters who failed to "pick-a-party" in the primary. Yesterday Sims cited the phoney-award-winning "ballot count accuracy improvements". All nonsense. 2005 also had a partisan primary and the same "accuracy improvements". Sims is simplly dancing to cover up the fact that his tabulation technology is inadequate for the workload.

The problem is that the tabulation system (Diebold's GEMS) uses a dinky Access database and it can't handle the complexity and variety of ballots that exist in King County. The partisan primary increases complexity, but the presence of PCOs on the ballot in even years (not odd years), also exacerbates the problem and is nothing new and has nothing to do with "pick-a-party". The inadequacy of the Access database has been a known issue since the county first started using GEMS in 1999, but Ron Sims has brushed off staff concerns and never bothered to get it fixed. Here's how one observer described it to me on Tuesday:

Big database issues--vote count likely to be delayed, possibly today but almost surely in November. Of course they've known about the problem for MANY months, but in typical KC fachion, positively NO planning too place to deal with it.
Evidently Diebold set up the system in Access which is far too small for the number of votes in KC and they've failed to reprogram for SQL or another more robust database. Instead, they count as many as possible before the program fills up, then they bring everything down for 2-3 hours while they compress the data and begin again. Diebold has a BUNCH of people on site and they & KC both have their spins all ready to roll out when stuff starts to get away from them

In spite of this problem, which Sims hasn't been able to fix in 7 years, he wants to force everybody to vote by mail even though he has no plan for managing the increased load on the system. At least he's got the spin-control down.

http://soundpolitics.com/archives/006942.html

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13. MD: Officials Look Into Montgomery Co. Voting Problems

CBS Channel 13

Sep 20, 2006 11:22 pm US/Eastern

Elections Chief Resigns After Polling Problems

Pat Warren
Reporting

(WJZ) BALTIMORE WJZ.COM has learned Baltimore elections chief Gene Raynor has resigned.

The Board of Elections tells Eyewitness News Raynor resigned Wednesday morning after a weeks worth of controversy over primary voting.

Upon hearing of the news today, many state government officials were quick to point out that there were many areas of the state where primary polling places ran smoothly.

"There were many elections that ran smoothly, many counties that did things appropriately, and I think you build off of those and find out what they did right and what the other ones did wrong and try to cut out those mistakes," says House Speaker Michael Busch.

City Council members grilled top election officials during a meeting Tuesday, asking them what went wrong in the primary.

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_262231558.html

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14. CO: SysTest gets voting system accreditation

The Denver Business Journal - 12:50 PM MDT Thursday

SysTest Labs received interim accreditation for voting system testing and qualification from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC).

With the accreditation, the Denver-based software-testing company says it is the only lab certified to test voting hardware and software for the EAC.

"As we gear up elections in November, nothing is more important to the health of our nation's democracy than ensuring that every person's vote is counted accurately," said Brian Phillips, president of SysTest Labs, in a news release.

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2006/09/18/daily41.html?jst=b_ln_hl

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15. BradBlog: NEW RFK JR. ARTICLE ON DIEBOLD SAYS 'ELECTRONIC VOTING

CAN'T BE TRUSTED'!

Spetember 21, 2006

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who filed a landmark article last June in Rolling Stone concerning evidence of a stolen 2004 Presidential Election in Ohio, is set to rock the country again in tomorrow's Rolling Stone, The BRAD BLOG can now report.

The issue is currently on the stands in some sections of LA and NY, and will be available across the nation tomorrow.

Through interviews with a number of BRAD BLOG insider sources over the past several months, Kennedy, along with co-writer Dick Russell, will expose a plethora of new details concerning the scandalous and outrageous overtaking of our public election system by private companies such Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia and others.

The article is titled: "Will The Next Election Be Hacked? - Fresh disasters at the polls — and new evidence from an industry insider — prove that electronic voting machines can't be trusted".

Many of the items covered may be familiar to readers here, as a good number of them were originally broken on these very pages over the last year or so. We worked closely with Kennedy and Russell on this story during its development over the past several months.

http://www.bradblog.com/?cat=146

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16. Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x450235

thanks to kpete

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17. WAPO: Election Officials Seek Out Data Cards

Washington Post

Pr. George's Looks For Missing Votes 1 Machine at a Time
By Rosalind S. Helderman and Eric Rich
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 21, 2006; Page B01


In a cavernous warehouse in Upper Marlboro, the Prince George's County Board of Elections cracked open voting machines yesterday in search of dozens of data cards filled with still uncounted votes from the Sept. 12 primary election.

They acknowledged that the memory cards from each of more than 2,000 voting machines used at the county's 206 polling stations should have been delivered by election workers to a central office shortly after voting concluded Sept. 12.

Instead, in the days since then, supervisors discovered that nearly four dozen cards -- holding potentially hundreds or more votes -- had not yet been uploaded into a central server.

Although unlikely in the major contests, those votes and thousands of provisional ballots still being counted created the mathematical possibility -- tantalizing to candidates who came up short in close races -- that outcomes could shift.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092001908.html

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18. GA: Cox: Millions needed to add paper ballot at polls

Ledger-Enquirer

DOUG GROSS
Associated Press
ATLANTA - Adding a paper ballot to Georgia's electronic voting machines could cost plenty, Secretary of State Cathy Cox has told the governor and state lawmakers.

Cox said outfitting the state's current computerized machines with printers would cost about $19.5 million, while buying new machines would cost the state more than $66 million.

Politicians from both parties have called for a paper trail to assure voters that their ballots have been recorded correctly.

The numbers, along with an outline of Cox's spending requests for the secretary of state's office, were presented Wednesday to a House subcommittee taking an early look at next year's budget.

Cox sent a letter to Gov. Sonny Perdue outlining the predicted costs earlier this month.

Cox, who lost a bid for the Democratic nomination for governor to Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, ends her term in January. She did not take a position on which option, if any, would be best.

"Really, what she's about is presenting options at this point," said Cox spokesman Chris Riggall. He said Cox favors "the most security in the system as possible in the most cost-effective way possible."

He added, "This is to start the conversation as to what direction the state will want to go."

In the letter to Perdue, Cox said she submitted the estimates because "you, both candidates for Secretary of State, many legislators and other elected officials have voiced support for the addition of such a component to our voting machines."

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/politics/15574652.htm

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19. WA: King County says taking it slow will mean more accurate count

Seattle Times

By Sharon Pian Chan
Seattle Times staff reporter

King County chose to be the tortoise rather than the hare in Tuesday's primary.

To avoid ballot-handling mistakes that led to a legal challenge after the 2004 gubernatorial election, county officials said they sacrificed speedy ballot-counting and online result-posting for accuracy.

As a result, workers on Tuesday counted fewer absentee ballots than in any primary election in recent years, and about 36 percent fewer than the 2004 primary, when election workers counted through the night.

"That's the trade-off," said Jim Buck, who has served as acting elections director since Dean Logan quit in July. "We learned in 2004 the importance of every vote being accurate, and that has to be the overarching goal. Certainly we understand the need — either from candidates or media or any other entity — for speed, but we don't think we can take that risk."

That's a philosophy the office plans to adhere to as it converts to all-mail voting in 2008, he said.

"It was more important to them to get it right than to get it fast," said Nick Handy, director of elections for Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed. "This is a conscious effort by King County to make a bit of a culture shift, and quite frankly it's welcomed."

Slow machines, ballot accounting procedures and the decision to end absentee ballot-counting earlier in the night contributed to the low absentee-ballot count.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2003268473_votefolo21m.html

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20. CO: Expert: Voting machines not accessible

Article Last Updated: 09/21/2006 02:08:45 PM MDT

By Colleen Slevin
The Associated Press

A judge refused to let attorneys call Secretary of State Gigi Dennis to testify today in a lawsuit alleging that some electronic voting machines aren't secure and that the state didn't do adequate tests before approving them for use in Colorado.

A lawsuit by 13 voters asks a judge to bar the use of the machines. With the election only six weeks away, the plaintiffs also suggested stopgap measures to help ensure the machines count votes accurately if they are used.

Plaintiff's attorney Paul Hultin, who asked to question Dennis under oath, said another state official's testimony didn't fully explain why one type of voting machine was approved.

Denver District Judge Lawrence Manzanares refused, saying testimony had already established that officials were under political pressure to approve the machines.

"The question is not their motivation but whether those motivations led them to fail to follow the statutory requirements," Manzanares said.

A computer scientist testified for the plaintiffs today that none of the four electronic machines identified in the lawsuit can be used by voters who are both deaf and blind, and two are inaccessible to paraplegic voters.

Noel Runyon of Campbell, Calif., said more accessible electronic voting machines are available but have not been approved for use in Colorado.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4374791

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21. CO: State goes to bat for vote machines (suit)

Article Last Updated: 09/20/2006 10:45:44 PM MDT
Officials defend in court the electronic devices that plaintiffs claim can be hacked. That's unlikely, election authorities says.
By Katy Human
Denver Post Staff Writer

State officials defended their approval of four brands of electronic voting machines for Colorado in district court Wednesday, saying that at least 18 other states have also approved the machines and that fears of hackers and fraud are overstated.

The state is trying to fend off a lawsuit by 13 citizens claiming state officials improperly certified the machines without adequate documentation or attention to security.

The state relied on security guarantees from the manufacturers, the plaintiffs said.

Testifying for the plaintiffs, Doug Jones, a computer expert at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, said it would be easy to reprogram one of Colorado's electronic voting machines.

"You could turn it into a Nintendo machine," Jones said.

Every Colorado county used at least one of the devices in this year's primary.

If Denver District Judge Lawrence Manzanares finds for the plaintiffs, it could result in limited use of electronic machines in the Nov. 7 election or force counties to print hundreds of thousands of paper ballots.

County clerks have been purchasing electronic voting machines since 2002 to adhere to a federal voting law passed after the contentious 2000 presidential election.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4370714

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22. MD: Md. Governor: Dump Electronic Poll Books

Forbes.com

By TOM STUCKEY , 09.21.2006, 09:46 AM
AP

Gov. Robert Ehrlich proposed that Maryland scrap new electronic machines that check voter registrations at the polls in November, instead returning to a paper system.

"I'm not sure we can afford another experiment with e-poll books at this time," the Republican governor said Wednesday, referring to the machines.

The machines, used for the first time in last week's primaries, were partly blamed for that election's myriad problems.

It was unclear whether state law would allow the old system, which used printed lists of registered voters at each polling place, along with cards signed by voters before they cast their ballots. Linda Lamone, state elections administrator, said the law mandates the new system during the Nov. 7 vote.

Ehrlich raised the possibility of calling the Legislature into special session to amend the law, a suggestion that was not well received by legislative leaders.

Democratic Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said he favors a paper backup and assurance that poll workers know how to use the machines. Democratic House Speaker Michael Busch said he would back a special session only if officials have a clear plan in mind.

http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/ap/2006/09/21/ap3034972.html

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23. AZ: Hand count of primary vote looks clean

TUCSON, Ariz. A check of last week's primary election ballots failed to turn up any significant discrepancies.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors requested the hand audit after political activists and the supervisors themselves raised questions about the election.
No one said they thought any races had been stolen.
But concerns were raised about voting machines that weren't turned in until the next day and machines whose seals had been tampered with.

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5438806&nav=HMO6

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25. Maryland elections judge speaks out

Computerworld Q&A: Go back to paper ballots, says e-voting expert
Avi Rubin, a Maryland elections judge and professor, cites security woes

This week, Rubin talked with Computerworld about e-voting, last week's elections and his new book. Excerpts from that interview follow:

Can you talk about that original study you made of Diebold's AccuVote TS machine code?

"The software in the AccuVote TS machine was really bad. One comment I made at the time was that if a student had turned in a program like that, he'd have gotten an F. It had outdated encryption, which was used in wrong places and in the wrong mode of operation. The list goes on and on. Some are comical. Diebold said they have a new system that fixes them, but I have no way to find out. That's their track record -- they're always saying, "It's an old system." They're saying that about the Princeton study. We asked for the new machines but were never given access. All I can say is that they say they fixed them, but I can't tell if they did, and some of the fixes are nontrivial..."

Read the rest of the story: http://www.computerworld.com/continuing_coverage/000/001/000/continuing_coverage_000001012_primary_article.jsp?intsrc=kc_cont

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24. CA: Governor signs bill for voter-registration fraud investigations

OC Register
Thursday, September 21, 2006

Legislation makes it easier to track down signature gatherers.
By BRIAN JOSEPH
The Orange County Register
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed legislation to make investigating voter-registration fraud easier.
The bill, by state Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, was passed partly in response to claims of voter-registration fraud in Orange County.
Early this year, dozens of local voters complained to election officials that they had been switched to the Republican Party without their consent. An Orange County Register investigation independently confirmed that more than 100 voters were duped into changing their party affiliations by signature gatherers.
Battin's bill makes it easier for investigators to track down the signature gatherers behind fraudulent registration cards.
Current law says that paid signature gatherers collecting registration cards are required to sign attached affidavits with their name, address and phone number. Oftentimes, however, the affidavits are not actually signed by the signature gatherer themselves – they're signed by contractors or subcontractors paying the signature gatherers.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1283250.php

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26. CO: Gazette runs weekly column by Republican secretary of state but no

column by Democratic opponent

Colorado MediaMatters

Thu, Sep 21, 2006 6:18pm MST
Summary: The Gazette has published weekly opinion columns by Republican secretary of state candidate Mike Coffman titled "Over There" based on his recent tour of duty in Iraq. But the newspaper has not published any columns by his Democratic opponent, Ken Gordon.

Since August 9, the The Gazette of Colorado Springs has published weekly opinion columns by Republican secretary of state candidate Mike Coffman but has not published any columns by his Democratic opponent, Ken Gordon. Coffman, who temporarily gave up his role as Colorado state treasurer in the spring of 2005 to serve in Iraq, has been writing weekly "Over There" columns in The Gazette based on his recent tour.

Coffman apparently has used his Gazette columns as part of his election campaign, featuring five of the seven on his campaign website. (The columns are available in the website's "newsroom" section.)

Coffman's Gazette columns include descriptions of his service in Iraq in addition to such statements as "I strongly believed that once the United States made the commitment to go into Iraq we had to finish the job" (from his August 9 Gazette column) and "The press characterizes Iraq as having descended into a bloody civil war that has irreparably fractured the country. Nothing could be further from the truth" (from the September 20 Gazette column).

http://colorado.mediamatters.org/items/200609220002

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27. NJ: Attacks continue on elections chair

Opponents explore legal options. Garvin says Angle has vendetta.
Friday, September 22, 206
By SARAH CASSI
The Express-Times
EASTON | The campaign to remove county Election Commission Chairman Walter Garvin isn't dead yet, according to county Solicitor Leonard Zito.

At county council's meeting Thursday, Zito said he's researching whether the removal or forfeiture of a commission seat would be heard at an administrative hearing conducted by council or before the court of common pleas.

In a Sept. 15 memo, County Councilman Ron Angle called for County Executive John Stoffa to remove Garvin, a Democratic committeeman, from the election commission.

Under the charter, commission nominees cannot be a candidate for public office, hold public office or be an officer in a political party. Garvin was elected a party committeeman in May.

Zito said either council or the court of common pleas would be the place to determine if Garvin has violated the Home Rule Charter.

Angle also took offense to Garvin's radio show, "Checks and Balances: Reclaiming Democracy," on WGPA-AM, Sunny 1100, the same station that broadcasts Angle's show, "At Issue."

Garvin "conducts a radio show where he nonstop bashes Republican candidates. He pays for the show, and it is definitely a political show," Angle said in the memo.

Garvin was appointed to the election commission in February 2005, and Stoffa renewed his seat in January.

http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1158898152284830.xml&coll=2

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28. TX: Caravan to promote voter registration

By John Tompkins
The Facts
Published September 22, 2006

DAMON — In an effort to reach out to what they term disenfranchised voters, the West of the Brazos Democratic Club will start a caravan of almost a dozen cars that will drive to certain cities west of the Brazos River to promote voter registration.

The caravan is scheduled to start at 12:45 p.m. in Damon at the parking lot of Kathy’s Country Kitchen off Highway 36. From there, the caravan will split up and make stops in West Columbia, Sweeny, Old Ocean and Brazoria.

“We’re going to break up and go business to business and ask to put up posters about voter registration,” said Ralph Collins Jr., vice president of the Democrats Club of Brazoria County. “Our objective is to make people aware the voter registration deadline is coming up.

The deadline to register to vote for the Nov. 7 general election is Oct. 10.

Vernon Mack, president of the West of the Brazos Democratic Club, said the caravan is an effort to engage voters in an area he said is experiencing low voter participation.

“With the low voter turnout in the past, the whole idea is to try to elevate the awareness,” Mack said.


http://thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=e543515a66751438

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29. FL: Paper-trail voting system still long shot (Court)

Twelfth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Robert Bennett ruled last week that there was nothing unconstitutional about the referendum proposal that would require voter-verified paper ballots in Sarasota County, but leaders of the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections still figure they face a steep uphill battle.

Sarasota Elections Supervisor Kathy Dent openly opposes the group's challenge of the all-electronic touch-screen machines she championed and purchased for the county in 2001 for nearly $5 million.

Her office's lawyer and lawyers for the county commission and Florida's secretary of state challenged SAFE's ballot language as unconstitutional, and attempted to block the Nov. 7 referendum backed by more than 14,000 citizens' petition signatures.

If passed by the voters, it would change Sarasota's charter to require voter-verified paper ballots -- read by optical scanners -- so that auditors could examine any suspected voting irregularities after the fact.

Bennett ruled that the proposed charter amendment was constitutional in its entirety, and that it "must be submitted to the electorate."


Tamper-proof

Thus far, 14 Florida counties besides Sarasota use the paperless touch-screen machines, much like ATM screens, for voting. But four of those counties are going back to machines with paper auditing trails.

The other 52 counties, including Manatee, use fill-in-the-box paper ballots read by optical scanners, which look much like an SAT test answer sheet, which SAFE favors.

SAFE says that the optical scanners -- only one is required for each precinct -- would cost $1.25 million. But operating costs would be $800,000 less per year than the touch-screens, savings that would quickly pay for the simpler, cheaper optical-scanning machines.

Dent says the replacement costs would be much higher.

And the elections supervisor also insists that it doesn't matter that there is no way to independently audit the vote count supplied by the ES&S iVotronic touch-screen machines, because she believes they are 100 percent accurate, and tamper-proof, if well-trained people are watching and strict procedural protections are in place, and followed.

National tests have shown the touch-screen machines -- and all computer-based machines -- are vulnerable to vote-altering hackers.


'Little Indians'

SAFE President Kindra Muntz said her group has virtually no money to mount an education campaign to prove to voters the need for paper ballot backups and audits to ensure safe elections.

"And their lawyers could appeal Judge Bennett's ruling now, or sometime later. They could pay for an ad campaign," she said. "We're just a bunch of little Indians trying to do something for democracy, and we're up against some pretty powerful forces who don't want us to succeed."

http://www.venicegondolier.com/NewsArchive3/092206/tp2vn5.htm

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30. AL: County gets funds for equipment

The Selma Times Journal

Thursday, September 21, 2006 8:56 PM CDT

Submitted to The Times-Journal

Alabama Secretary of State Nancy L. Worley delivered a check for $204,850 to Dallas County Wednesday night as part of her work to reimburse Alabama counties for the money they spent on new voting equipment in order to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.

Over the next month, Worley will distribute $23 million to counties that have completed reimbursement forms as required by the state and have complied with HAVA's requirements for purchases.

"Dallas County officials have worked hard to update the county's voting equipment and comply with the Help America Vote Act," Worley said. "I'm happy to be able to give them this money."

Dallas County purchased approximately 34 new voting machines.

Local officials selected Automark machines, manufactured by Election Systems and Software (ES&S), which produce paper ballots that can be verified by the voter.

The machines will be used by all of the state's 67 counties.

http://www.selmatimesjournal.com/articles/2006/09/21/news/local/news%201655.txt

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31. Intermission with Mark Fiore

http://www.markfiore.com/animation/decider.html

"I'm The Decider"

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32. ND: Secretary of State candidates spar over voting promotion, machines

Contra Costa Times

Posted on Thu, Sep. 21, 2006

DALE WETZEL
Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D. - In their first campaign debate, North Dakota's candidates for secretary of state argued about voter identification rules, candidate financial disclosures and whether the job's duties include encouraging people to go to the polls.

Democrat Kristin Hedger, who is challenging incumbent Republican Al Jaeger's re-election bid, said Jaeger's voter education efforts have given some North Dakotans the false impression that they need a driver's license to vote.

New voting rules, which first took effect during the 2004 election, emphasized the need for voters to bring identification to the polls that shows where they live, so election workers may check whether the voter is in the correct precinct.

A frequently broadcast television advertisement shows the driver's licenses of three people who have the same name to underscore the usefulness of a photo identification. However, Hedger said state law does not require a photo ID, only information that shows where a voter lives.

"Taxpayer dollars, I believe, should be spent to convey the right information the first time to our voters," Hedger said. "The fact is, much of this money has been spent inefficiently, in the way of promoting ads that convey the need for a photo ID, which has alienated many of our voters."

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/politics/15576935.htm

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33. CO: Voting machines are secure, says Garfield County clerk

Post Independent

Donna Gray
Post Independent Staff
September 22, 2006

Despite concerns about possible fraud in the November election with the use of electronic voting machines, Garfield County Clerk Mildred Alsdorf said she's confident that won't happen here.

A group of 13 citizens has filed a lawsuit in state court that challenges the security of machines made by four companies, including Hart InterCivic, Inc., which manufactures the machines used in Garfield County. The suit contends the machines were certified improperly by the Secretary of State's office and are vulnerable to tampering and thereby to fraud and error.

Alsdorf said the machines - there will be one each of the ESlate and EScan machines in each of 10 county polling places on Nov. 7 - are kept under lock and key until the election judges take them to the polling places.

The ESlate shows the ballot on a computer screen and voters move through the ballot using a wheel device on the front of the machine. Paper ballots are fed into the EScan, which tallies them automatically.

"They are kept in a locked room and I have the key," Alsdorf said. She also said the counting mechanism in each machine is removed and also kept in a locked room.

On election night, "my judges will be sitting there and watching every move," she added.

Voters will have the option to use the electronic machines or vote on a traditional paper ballot. When they come in to the polling places, if they wish to vote electronically, each voter will be given an access code they will enter into the machine before they can begin voting on the ballot, Alsdorf said.

http://www.postindependent.com/article/20060922/VALLEYNEWS/109220032

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34. OR: Voter ID bill finds foes in Oregon

Friday, September 22, 2006
JEFF KOSSEFF
WASHINGTON -- An election reform bill moving through Congress could require voters in Oregon and Washington to send copies of their driver's licenses or other identification every time they vote by mail.

The Federal Election Integrity Act, in an effort to combat election fraud by noncitizens, would require voters to provide photo identification and proof of citizenship every time they cast their ballots.

In most states, that provision just requires showing identification at the polling place. But in vote-by-mail systems, the bill requires the ballot to be accompanied by "a copy of a government-issued, current and valid photo identification."

"It just raises a host of problems for Oregonians," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.

The bill reflects a growing concern in Congress over potential fraud because of illegal immigration. With elections in November, Republicans aim to show they're serious about stopping the flow of illegal immigrants across the Mexican-U.S. border, while Democrats claim measures such as this one are a way of obscuring the lack of comprehensive immigration reform.

The bill passed the House on Wednesday in a 228-196 vote, largely along party lines. It has yet to be voted on in the Senate. If it receives final approval in Congress, the law wouldn't begin to affect elections until 2008.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., the only Oregon representative to vote for the bill, said he has received an assurance from House leadership that the final version will address Oregon's concerns.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1158902868159970.xml&coll=7

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35. CA: E-voting plan hits roadblock

The Daily Journal - San Mateo County

By Michelle Durand

Concern that voters and poll workers need more time to acclimate to electronic voting machines is crippling plans to widely use the systems in November, a stumbling block which will leave ballots uncounted until the wee hours of the following morning.
Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum wants to use a phased-in approach to introduce the Hart Intercivic eSlate machines to San Mateo County rather than using three to six of the machines in the Nov. 7 general election. The plan will place one device at each precinct, leaving many voters to use paper ballots. The completed ballots will be brought back to the elections office for a central county process which, due to the size and projected turnout, could take until 4 a.m. to finish, according to Slocum’s estimates.

The lengthy count is contrary to past elections in San Mateo County which are often noted for their relative speed. Slocum, however, believes the trade off of integrity over speed is necessary to implement the electronic system in a more palatable way.

“The integrity of the vote and voter confidence are essential to the long-term acceptance of the county’s electronic voting equipment,” Slocum informed county officials earlier this week.

The revised plan gives precinct workers more time to familiarize themselves with the new system over time instead of managing a completely different process from beginning to end on Election Day.

On Aug. 15, the Board of Supervisors unanimously backed a contract for the new machines despite protests from some worried about privacy and security. Most of the system’s approximately $10 million cost is borne by federal and state grants but the county will spend approximately $1.3 million on its share.

http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=64568

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36. NY: State could be $50M in hole for voting machines

The Ithaca Journal

By Cara Matthews
Gannett News Service

ALBANY — Without intervention from Congress, New York is set to lose $50 million in federal funds this year because it has failed to replace its more than 20,000 decades-old lever machines.

State Board of Elections officials said Thursday they are appealing to members of Congress to help New York hold onto the money, even though the deadline for spending it has passed.

States received federal grants to replace all lever and punch-card machines by Nov. 2, 2004, or obtain a waiver until the first federal election of 2006. New York, which received an extension, did not have new equipment in place by the Sept. 12 primary, so it is out of compliance with the Help America Vote Act.

State Elections Commissioner Douglas Kellner said he is hopeful the state can work out a deal so the $50 million doesn't have to be replaced with state money. States routinely miss deadlines for spending federal funds and Congress rolls them over, he said.
“If the goal is to bring New York into full compliance with the Help America Vote Act, seeking a return of the federal funds will only make it that much more difficult to comply,” he said.

New York is on track to have new machines in place by the fall of 2007, a year late. A letter from the Board of Elections to New York's members of Congress said the $50 million loss would be a “devastating blow” to the state. The national debate about the security and accuracy of computer-based voting systems caused New York to delay its implementation of the HAVA law, the letter said.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060922/NEWS01/609220351/1002

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37. MD: It's too late to fiddle with Maryland's election system

Herald-Mail (Opinion)

Friday September 22, 2006

Tinkering with Maryland's election process will apparently be a bipartisan process in Maryland this year.
That's evidenced by Gov. Robert Ehrlich's hint that he might call the legislature back into session to get the OK to scrap a glitch-prone electronic voting system.
But it would be a mistake to further confuse the process this close to the Nov. 7 general election, when there is a simpler solution available.
There is no doubt that the electronic voting system has some major flaws. Machines abruptly shut down and rebooted themselves, which caused election judges to believe they had crashed.

In other instances, human error contributed to the confusion. In some cases, the electronic cards needed for voters to operate the electronic voting machines weren't sent to the polling places.
In other areas, cables to connect machines didn't get to the polls or were hooked up incorrectly.
But to scrap all of the technology and return to the old system of checking in voters using computer printouts and a sign-in system would mean retraining election officials and those who volunteer to work at the polls.
Instead, we suggest a simpler solution that is legal. At each polling place, there should be a supply of provisional ballots. These are usually used only when it's not clear that the citizen is eligible to vote.
But the ballots were used in a number of counties when machine problems occurred. The disadvantage is that they will certainly take longer to count.
On Tuesday, The (Baltimore) Sun reported that the primary race between Rep. Albert Wynn and challenger Donna Edwards is still in doubt, and that two state legislative races await a final count.
In a statement, Maryland Senate President Thomas Mike Miller said the state had paid millions for the system and should concentrate on fixing it instead of scrapping it.

http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=147772&format=html

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38. BradBlog: An Election Official With Integrity and Who Cares

BLOGGED BY John Gideon ON 9/22/2006 9:28AM

San Mateo Co. California's Warren Slocum Makes The Right Decision For The Right Reason
While we don't shy away from talking about the corrupt, the wrong thinking, the un-caring elections officials in our country we don't often get a chance to recognize those who actually do a good job and show that they really do care. I would guess that 90% of the elections officials fall into the category of the caring but it is that 10% who get talked about. I want to change that a bit and talk about one who has made a good decision.

Warren Slocum is the Chief Elections Director of San Mateo County, California. The county has recently decided that they will use Hart Intercivic eSlate Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines at the polls from now on. That's not a good decision because the eSlates are just as bad as the rest, but it was a decision made and we have to move on.

It has just been reported in the San Mateo Daily Journal that Slocum has decided that there is not enough time for him to be assured that his voters and poll workers can become acclimated to the new voting machines by the general election in November. The polls were supposed to have three to six of the eSlates but now voters will find only one eSlate and paper ballots. Slocum is giving up quick results reporting for integrity and we applaud that.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3510

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39. NV: EDITORIAL: The integrity of the electoral process

Review Journal

Sep. 22, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Demanding photo identification could guard against fraud

Governments cannot, by law, put insurmountable hurdles before citizens who have a right to vote. But citizens also have a right to know their vote won't be nullified by a fraudulent ballot.

If a vote lacks integrity, the propriety of the representative governments selected in that election can come into question.

The 2000 debacle in Florida launched a nationwide movement to institute reasonable safeguards that ensure public confidence in the election process. The centerpiece of these reforms is the requirement that voters produce photo identification to receive a ballot. So far, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, South Carolina and South Dakota -- a mix of "blue" and "red" states -- have enacted this common-sense protection.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would require all Americans to show government-issued photo identification to vote in federal elections. The standard set by the Federal Election Integrity Act would take effect in 2008, and by 2010, only photo identification obtained through proof of citizenship would be accepted by poll workers.

Similar standards were recommended last year by a bipartisan commission chaired by former President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, a Republican.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Sep-22-Fri-2006/news/9769158.html

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40. MD: Gov. Ehrlich Suggests Wider Absentee Voting In November

NBC 4

Ehrlich Continues Criticism Of Voting Procedures

POSTED: 1:43 pm EDT September 22, 2006
UPDATED: 2:21 pm EDT September 22, 2006
Email This Story | Print This Story
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Continuing his criticism of voting procedures, Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich is calling on voters to use no-fault absentee ballots in November's general elections -- a system he derided as "an invitation for greater voter fraud in the state" when he vetoed the bill last year.
The Legislature overrode the veto, allowing Marylanders for the first time to use absentee ballots without giving a reason. In the past, they were available only for people who could not go to the polls on Election Day.
Ehrlich said Thursday that using absentee ballots is one option being discussed to provide a greater sense of security for voters who do not trust the electronic touchscreen voting machines that were first used in Maryland four years ago.

http://www.nbc4.com/politics/9911844/detail.html

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41. CNN's Lou Dobbs: The Governor Of Maryland Is Concerned About E-Voting Mach

Machines

BradBlog

BLOGGED BY John Gideon ON 9/22/2006 11:06AM

ast night Lou and Kitty tackled the argument in Maryland over whether Linda Lamone should just let Diebold do an investigation of what went wrong last week or whether Gov. Ehrlich should get his way and have the voters vote on paper ballots.

The text-transcript of tonight's segment on Lou Dobbs Tonight follows in full…


DOBBS: Democracy at risk, and new developments tonight in electronic voting machines in Maryland. The recent primaries were such a debacle and disaster that the governor is now arguing that the state should altogether scrap the entire electronic voting system and return immediately to paper ballots. Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT (voice over): $106 million for electronic voting machines in Maryland and the governor is basically calling them worthless. He wants the state to revert to a paper ballot system for the in November elections. But the election administrators says that is crazy. They fought publicly about it.

LINDA LAMONE, MARYLAND STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS: Whatever has happened in the past right now is irrelevant. We need to move forward.

GOV. BOB EHRLICH, (R) MARYLAND: Well, it's not irrelevant in the sense — that's not pointing fingers — this is why not have just a paper system, the old system, ready for backup.

LAMONE: You're assuming that the voting system is not going to work, that has never proven to be the case.

PILGRIM: Maryland is fully electronic with no paper trail. And the Maryland primaries last week were a litany of what can go wrong with electronic machines. Machines malfunctioned, election workers were flummoxed by breakdowns and missing access cards. New problems are found every day.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3511

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42. WI: Ethics accusations fly in race to Nov. 7

The Badger Herald
University of Wisconsin

by Dan Powell
Friday, September 22, 2006
U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., fought a State Elections Board ruling he return $468,000 in campaign money in court Thursday, the same day questions about lobbying from Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s campaign involving the SEB ruling surfaced.

Dane County Judge Richard Niess heard from Green’s attorneys and attorneys from the Wisconsin Department of Justice before deciding he would issue a written ruling Monday. The ruling will decide whether to comply with the Green campaign’s call for a temporary injunction to stop enforcement of the SEB’s order.

On Aug. 30, the SEB decided in a 5-2 vote to order Green to rid his campaign of $467,844 in political action committee money he transferred from his federal account to his state account. The order cited the money was from PACs not registered in Wisconsin and the amount of money exceeded the $450,000 limit for PAC contributions.

Luke Punzenberger, spokesperson for Green’s campaign, said the campaign has not yet decided on a plan of action.

“We will have to wait until Monday to see the decision,” he said.

Also meeting at the courthouse were the College Democrats of Madison. The group organized a rally in opposition to Green’s decision to keep the allegedly illegal money, marching from Library Mall to the Dane County Courthouse.

“One of our biggest goals is to raise the level of public awareness on campus about Mark Green’s illegal money,” Eli Lewien, chair of College Democrats of Madison, said. “We are not going to be at everything on campus, but when things like this come up, we want to let people know what we think.”

Lewien added the group, along with chanting slogans and waving signs, called on people going in and out of the courthouse to care about the issue of Green’s money and demanding that he give it back.

According to Anne Lupardus, deputy press secretary for Doyle’s campaign, agreed with the College Democrats and added there might be more illegal money than previously reported.

http://badgerherald.com/news/2006/09/22/ethics_accusations_f.php

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43. Consumer Affairs: Identity Thieves Exploit Voter Registration Process

Consumer affirs.com

September 22, 2006

In Arkansas, the attorney general is warning citizens of his state that an identity theft scheme has begun operating under the guise of a voter registration operation.

Attorney General Mike Beebe says state officials have received a report of an elderly Little Rock woman who was asked to provide unnecessary personal information by someone who came to her door claiming that he could help register her to vote.

In the Little Rock case, the woman was asked to provide her full Social Security Number and information about her health-insurance coverage.

Beebe says while citizens signing up to vote must include an ID number on their application, that number is usually from an Arkansas driver's license.

If a Social Security Number is used, only the last four digits are required. Health-insurance information is never required.

"Identity thieves often look to current events in their attempts to deceive potential victims," Beebe said. "The common arrival of unannounced visitors during a campaign season can provide such an opportunity. If someone comes to your door offering to help you register to vote, ask to fill out the paperwork yourself and give only the information asked for on the state-issued registration form."

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/09/ar_id_theft.html

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44. Survey Indicates House Bill Could Deny Voting Rights to Millions of U.S.

Citizens



Low-Income, African American and Rural Voters at Special Risk

9/22/2006 1:34:00 PM

To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor

Contact: Michelle Bazie of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 202-408-1080 or [e-mail]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- On Sept. 20 the House passed a bill (H.R. 4844) that would, starting in 2010, effectively deny the vote to any U.S. citizen who cannot produce a passport or birth certificate (or proof of naturalization). Although the bill's supporters present it as a measure intended to prevent non-citizens from voting, the bill's main impact will be on U.S. citizens themselves. A national survey finds that approximately 11 million citizens currently lack the required documents. A substantial number could have difficulty obtaining or affording them.

The national survey, conducted in January 2006 by Opinion Research Corporation and sponsored by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, also indicates that the bill would affect certain groups disproportionately -- including people with low incomes, African Americans, the elderly, people without a high school diploma, rural residents and residents of the South and Midwest. Substantial numbers of these and other citizens could potentially be disenfranchised by the bill.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=73001

Full analysis
http://www.cbpp.org/9-22-06id.htm

[Melissa G]

45. TX DELAY TRIAL UPDATE

Quorum Report


September 22, 2006 4:28 PM
DELAY TRIAL UPDATE
Oral arguments likely after the election
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has until Oct. 13 to file his briefs asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reinstate a charge against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay alleging a violation of the elections law.

Oral arguments won’t be set until DeLay’s attorney has had a chance to file his brief sometime after Oct. 13. A state district judge late last year threw out the elections law charge, a decision that was upheld earlier this year by the Third Court of Appeals. Last week, the state’s highest criminal appellate court agreed to hear Earle’s appeal.

DeLay still faces money laundering charges related to the funneling of corporate money into state legislative races in 2002.



ã Copyright September 22, 2006 by Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved

[kpete]

46. Rumpel Rocks

K&R