Election Reform, Fraud and Related News Thursday 1/10/07

[EFerrari]

Election Reform, Fraud and Related News Thursday 1/10/07

*****TODAY!*******
America Says NO
more troops!
Thursday, Jan. 11th


Let's deliver an immediate and direct response to the president’s call for escalation of the Iraq War: NO!

Volunteers will host actions in cities and towns across the country within 24 hours of the president’s speech with a simple message: "America says NO more troops in Iraq!

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/truemajority/event/distributedEventSearch.jsp?distributed_event_KEY=242&tag=attend2



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

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


2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

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

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




Please Recommend for the Greatest Page

[Kurovski]

1. Thanks, sfexpat2000!

How did the protest go? Did you get a pink shirt?

[EFerrari]

2. Ack! Machine failure, back up connectivity and then log in weirdness

:scared:

Okay, I'm going to try this again. If DU explodes, it's probably my fault. :hi:

[EFerrari]

18. Oh, and it's the frickin 11th, not the 10th!

Geeze.

[EFerrari]

3. CA: Interim registrar gets permanent post

Interim registrar gets permanent post
By Chris Metinko
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

For the first time in nearly 11/2 years, Alameda County has a permanent registrar of voters.

The county's board of supervisors unanimously agreed to promote interim Registrar Dave Macdonald to the position.

Macdonald, who was named interim registrar last May, also is the county's longtime director of information technology. He will continue in both roles on a permanent basis.

"My goal now is to build on the many accomplishments we've made over the past eight months in the Registrar of Voters office," Macdonald said in a statement. "I am convinced there are many things we still can do to improve elections in Alameda County: for the people who help us time and again by serving as poll workers and for the residents who rely on us to help them exercise their fundamental right to vote."

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/16434335.htm

[EFerrari]

4. FL: House Seat Hangs by a Byte

House Seat Hangs by a Byte

By Kim Zetter| Also by this reporter
02:00 AM Jan, 11, 2007

As the 110th Congress settles into the Capitol building this month, one congressman won't be able to get too comfortable in his chair, with a controversy over the electronic voting machines that put him in office boiling down to a battle over the source code.

Republican Vern Buchanan claimed Florida's 13th Congressional District seat last November by fewer than 400 votes, while some 18,000 ballots cast in Sarasota County mysteriously contained no vote either for Buchanan or his Democratic opponent Christine Jennings -- an anomaly that prompted Jennings to challenge the election results in a lawsuit against state election officials, Buchanan and the company that makes the machines.

The case brings to a head a long-running tug of war over how to handle the software code that increasingly runs U.S. elections. Advocates for transparent elections, including voting activists and some candidates, have sought to examine the source code for election software to ensure that machines are accurately presenting the ballots, recording and counting every vote. On the other side, voting machine companies like Election Systems & Software and Diebold Election Systems have consistently claimed their source code is a trade secret, a position to which U.S. courts have generally deferred.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72452-0.html?tw=wn_technology_1

[EFerrari]

5. FL: Poll glitches

"We'll Print Anything!"

Poll glitches: Check plug, try paper clip
Trouble calls from poll workers on Election Day offer a glimpse of nitty-gritty issues with electronic voting.
BY TRENTON DANIEL
[e-mail]

After the polls closed in November's gubernatorial voting, South Florida election officials were relieved at avoiding the major meltdowns that had tainted elections past.

Still, there were some glitches.

Logs of phone calls from the poll workers to Broward County's technical call center on Election Day reveal that some had trouble starting or operating the electronic voting machines and that dozens of machines froze up or malfunctioned.

Elections officials say no votes were lost due to the problems, but the snags renew questions about the accuracy of electronic voting and whether a paper trail should be added.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/16431412.htm

[EFerrari]

6. FL: Voting Machine Maker Blasts Politician

Voting-machine maker blasts politician

The dispute over the race to replace Rep. Katherine Harris continued with a voting machine manufacturer accusing a congresswoman of trying to intimidate the courts.
BY LESLEY CLARK
[e-mail]

WASHINGTON - The manufacturer of voting machines under scrutiny in Sarasota County accused a House Democrat Tuesday of trying to ''intimidate'' and ''unduly influence'' a Florida appeals court.

The move by Election Systems & Software comes days after Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, wrote a letter to the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee. She said she was ''concerned'' that a lower court judge had declined to give Democrats access to the software used in voting machines in the contested District 13 congressional election.

Democrat Christine Jennings is challenging the results of the November election. She contends in a lawsuit that the ATM-style machines malfunctioned and gave the election to Rep. Vern Buchanan, the Republican who last week was sworn into office.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16423159.htm

[EFerrari]

7. IL: Equipment problems and bad testing lead to vote delays

Equipment problems and bad testing lead to vote delays

January 10, 2007
By Jonathan Lipman Staff writer

Voting equipment suppliers built faulty machines and election officials failed to test it properly, say studies released Tuesday about the slow vote count in November's election.

A laptop-sized piece of equipment at each polling place that was supposed to total up and transmit the results from each precinct apparently had multiple problems.

And county officials -- unused to the complicated way their new voting systems had to interact -- didn't see it coming and didn't have good enough backups in place.

Those are the conclusions of both an expert panel convened by Cook County Clerk David Orr and a separate report from a technical consultant to equipment supplier Sequoia. Both Orr and Sequoia ordered the reports shortly after the November election, which saw hours of delay in tabulating suburban county votes.

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/204318,101NWS3.article

[EFerrari]

8. IA: Iowa Group Calling for Return to Paper Ballots

A group of Iowa residents is urging the Legislature to upgrade election procedures by returning to paper ballots.

Iowans for Voting Integrity would like lawmakers to require the use of paper ballots, routine manual audits (hand counting) of ballots in randomly selected precincts, a more rigorous, state-based system of testing vote tabulation software, and other measures to strengthen the transparency and integrity of elections.

Touchscreen machines and electronic counting machines have been questioned by some because of problems in recent elections.

Iowans for Voting Integrity encourages paper ballots, marked either by the voter with a pen, pencil or ballot marking device. An optical ballot scanner then can count the paper ballots.

http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070111/NEWS01/701110326/1079

[EFerrari]

9. KY: Voter Paper Trail

Voter Paper Trail

Secretary of State Trey Grayson says an advisory committee will delve into whether Kentucky should implement a paper trail to back up electronic voting machines.

Grayson says he is confident Kentucky’s voting machines are dependable. But election officials should do whatever is necessary to eliminate doubt about the accuracy of vote counts.

The committee will discuss information on the benefits of adding paper printers to election machines so voters can verify their selections.

Grayson says the group will meet after the general assembly adjourns in March.

http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/5031496.html

[EFerrari]

10. OH: New secretary of state hires ousted elections chief

New secretary of state hires ousted elections chief
Associated Press

WAPAKONETA, Ohio - A former county elections chief removed from office by former Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has been hired by his replacement.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has brought on former Auglaize County elections director Jean Burklo as a field representative who will assist election boards in nine western Ohio counties.

Burklo, who oversaw the election office for 12 years, lost her job in April following a state report that cited her for improper conduct. The report said she allowed a judge to alter his declaration of candidacy after it had been filed.

A special prosecutor, though, found Burklo did not break the law or attempt to defraud voters or gain an advantage for another candidate.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/16429376.htm

[EFerrari]

11. OH: Board scolds ballot printer

Board scolds ballot printer
Some forms made out of state; others arrive late
By Kymberli Hagelberg
Beacon Journal staff writer

Problems with the ballots received by the Summit County Board of Elections for recent elections go much deeper than untimely delivery.

On Tuesday, board members grilled a representative from Election Systems & Software -- makers of the county's optical scan voting system -- about a number of security, delivery and customer service problems of which they were not initially aware.

Board members found out by accident that ballots for an August special election were printed by an out-of-state vendor, which the board contends was illegal.

Elections Board Director Bryan Williams said the board learned that the ballots were printed by ES&S in Des Moines, Iowa, instead of the company's regular printer in Cincinnati. A board employee learned of the switch in a chance conversation with a subcontractor.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/16433989.htm

[EFerrari]

12. TN: Former Gate City mayor gets jail-term, fine

Former Gate City mayor gets jail-term, $51,000 fine for vote fraud

Published 01/09/2007 By CLIFFORD JEFFERY

GATE CITY - Former Gate City Mayor Charles Dougherty Jr. was sentenced Tuesday on a host of charges involving fraudulent applications for absentee ballots in the 2004 town election.

Dougherty was sentenced by two judges to 196 days in jail with 90 days of electronically monitored probation, and payment of $51,000 in fines.

Dougherty was convicted of 16 charges of vote fraud in July and of another 13 charges in December.

The judges who presided over his trials, Judge Birg E. Sergent and Judge Charles B. Flannigan II, presided over the sentencing.

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=3717983

[EFerrari]

13. UT: Orem Council votes for paper ballots

Orem Council votes for paper ballots

OREM — The Orem City Council agreed Tuesday night that using paper ballots read by an optical scanner would be a far more cost-effective way of voting than borrowing expensive touch-screen machines from the county.
City Recorder Donna Weaver presented pros and cons to the council about the different voting methods, recommending the paper ballot as the most logical choice.
Borrowing 143 touch-screen Diebold machines and the corresponding encoders and memory cards from Utah County would cost the city between $28,000 to $33,000 for a primary election. The cost would increase to $38,000 to $43,000 for a general election — far greater than the city's annual election budget of $56,000.
The paper ballots where voters fill in small ovals with a pencil are a significantly less expensive choice, Weaver said, yet still maintain the speed and accuracy of results because of the optical scanner.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650221750,00.html

[EFerrari]

14. VT: Board spurns voting scanner

Board spurns voting scanner
By PATRICK J. CROWLEY, Reformer Staff

Thursday, January 11
NEWFANE -- The town is asking people not to vote -- by machine, leastwise.

For the Selectboard, it goes against an age-old tradition that they would like to hold on to.

The town has always counted votes by hand and officials don't see why they need to change.

So when the state asked Newfane if it wanted a free voting machine, the first reaction was uh-uh.

http://www.reformer.com/headlines/ci_4990993

[EFerrari]

15. Joan Brunwasser: Building Bridges, Amending HR 550

Building Bridges, Amending HR 550 and What I Did Over Winter Break

by Joan Brunwasser

Tell A Friend

Building Bridges, Amending HR 550 and What I Did Over Winter Break


I went back to work when my son was entering kindergarten, but with the understanding that when he had school vacations, I would take off, too. It was wrenching enough giving up my stay-at-home-Mom status. Having gone through motherhood once already (or twice, if you count having twins as double) and seeing how fast little ones grow up, I was unwilling to make more compromises than was absolutely necessary.

In the beginning, my son was still young enough to enjoy spending time with his mother. We would use the vacations to go out for lunch, and to the bowling alley, library, movie theater, water parks, or whatever else struck our fancy. I found him a charming companion and cherished our time together. It was such a breeze to care for a singleton after having twins! I reveled in the sense that I was doing something well. With the girls, I had often felt overworked, overwhelmed, and at a huge disadvantage. I was always outnumbered.

Now, my incredibly cute little boy has morphed into a very tall, often mysterious teenager – albeit one who still has many charming moments. While I like to be around in case he wants to spend time with me, the truth of the matter is that he's often more interested in the car that we share. Still, I'm unwilling to give up this tradition. He's a junior in high school, and the clock is ticking. It won't be long before he, too, leaves the nest.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_joan_bru_070110_building_bridges_2c_am.htm

[EFerrari]

16. ******NY******* Voting Machine Demo Tonight @ Fordham U

Voting Machine Demo Tonight at Fordham U.

by Press Release

Tell A Friend

Tonight, Jan. 11, 2007, VOTING MACHINE DEMO at Fordham University near
Lincoln Center (see below)

Oppose Electronic Voting!
Support paper ballots/optical scanners!

NYC's Election Commissioners must choose paper ballots/optical scanners
(PBOS) or electronic voting machines (DREs) to replace our current lever voting
machines. We need YOU to help us support the choice of PBOS!!

Please attend these events!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_press_re_070111_voting_machine_demo_.htm

[EFerrari]

17. Mark E. Smith: Like Asking the Mob to Reverse a Hit, Paul Lehto in Appeals Court

Like Asking the Mob to Reverse a Hit: Paul Lehto in Appeals Court

by Mark E. Smith

ORAL ARGUMENTS ON CA50 ELECTION LAWSUIT HEARD IN APPELLATE COURT

Monday, January 8, 2007, San Diego, CA

A three-judge panel heard oral arguments on the CA50 case today in appellate court.

Sitting on one side of the visitor's gallery were the plaintiffs, Gail Jacobsen and Lillian Ritt, Lillian's husband Don, an eminent physician, Judy H., a local political activist, Linda P., a PR consultant, Brina-Rae S., an election reform activist, and about a half dozen others interested in the case, including myself and kpete from DU.

Sitting on the other side of the gallery was San Diego Registrar of Voters, Mikel Haas.

Each side had two attorneys, and Bilbray's lawyer, David King, argued that once Congress has sworn in a Member, the courts have no further jurisdiction. The attorney for Haas only spoke briefly.

Ken Simpkins and Paul Lehto represented the plaintiffs, and Paul, who is extremely knowledgeable about Constitutional law and passionate about democracy, was brilliant, as he usually is.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mark_e___070110_like_asking_the_mob_.htm

:toast: to Landshark. :loveya:

[Melissa G]

19. Thank you, sfexpat!!! Great perseverance in the face of computer chaos!

:yourock: :applause::applause::applause:

[EFerrari]

21. I'm so sorry! Upgrading, retooling, fixing, etc.

:blush:

[kster]

20. K&R

B-)

[EFerrari]

22. Thanks, kster.

:smoke: