Humboldt Republicans Call For Public Discussion of Proposed Voting Machine Switch

[GuvWurld]

Originally blogged at We Do Not Consent:
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2009/01/humboldt-republicans-call-for-public.html

Humboldt Republicans Call For Public Discussion of Proposed Voting Machine Switch
By Dave Berman
1/9/09

This is the second of two breaking stories from the Humboldt County, CA election integrity scene on the evening of January 8...

The county Republican Party has issued a press release, shown in full below, announcing their adoption of a resolution in support for a "public discussion process" before the Board of Supervisors votes on the proposal from Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich to switch from Diebold/Premier "election" machines to similar equipment made by Hart InterCivic.

The We Do Not Consent blog broke the news of the Registrar's proposal in a December 17 exclusive. A subsequent WDNC exclusive ran earlier this week revealing Crnich had previously divulged her plan at a public meeting of the Election Advisory Committee, requesting that attendees keep it secret.

In those articles, as well as my letters published in the Eureka Times-Standard and North Coast Journal, I have been advocating for a public process to evaluate multiple alternatives to the Diebold system currently used in Humboldt. Of course, I don't think we're going to see anyone cry or even resist giving up on Diebold. In fact, we ought to have a damn party! The way I see this unfolding situation is as a giant victory slathered in opportunity.

Parke Bostrom, who has been involved in most if not all developing Humboldt election integrity stories in recent months, authored a petition featured in my last post that outlines a specific public process for the county to consider.

The Republican resolution below stems from their Thursday night meeting, which Bostrom attended as part of a broader outreach effort to media, community groups, and local elected officials aimed at creating more support for encouraging the Board of Supervisors to take this path next Tuesday, January 13, when the Registrar's proposal is expected to appear on their agenda. If you can lend your voice, please be at the county courthouse at 5th and I Streets in Eureka at 9am. You can also scroll to the bottom of this page to find phone and e-mail info for the Supes. Let them know:

We love the idea of getting rid of Diebold but we must slow down and have a public evaluation of alternatives rather than rushing into another secret corporate vote counting system as the Registrar of Voters, Carolyn Crnich, is recommending - secretly, at that.

Bostrom is also a pivotal player in the Election Transparency Project, a volunteer citizen-developed and Registrar supported audit project that uses an off the shelf office scanner and open source software to make images of all the ballots cast in an election. An initial review of the data from this past November's election revealed that Diebold's central tabulation program, GEMS, had secretly deleted 197 ballots, causing the Registrar to certify inaccurate results. The news became a national story. The ETP has now found another discrepancy, the second of the two breaking stories...

* * *
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: M. Parke Bostrom, 707.733.4201, [e-mail]

At the January 8th meeting of the Republican Party of Humboldt County,
central committee member M. Parke Bostrom moved that the following
resolution be passed:

----

Resolved

The Republican Party of Humboldt County calls upon the Humboldt County
Board of Supervisors to delay voting on the proposed plan to purchase
new elections equipment until there has been a reasonable period of
time for a public discussion process.

----

Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich was present at the
meeting to swear in all the committee members. Crnich stayed for and
participated in discussion with Bostrom regarding his resolution.

Prior to a vote on the resolution, party chairman Patricia Welch left
the chair and said, "As a Republican, I believe that anytime the
taxpayers' money is spent, it is important that there is an
opportunity for public discussion, and therefore I urge committee
members to vote in favor of the resolution."

The resolution passed in a nearly unanimous vote. The Republican
Party of Humboldt County is the first organization to pass a
resolution on this very important matter.


Additional contact info:
Patricia Welch
Chairman, Humboldt County Republican Party
Northwest Regional Vice Chairman, California Republican Party
707-227-6562 Cell
# # #

Permalink:
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2009/01/humboldt-republicans-call-for-public.html

[Ian David]

1. What are they REALLY up to? n/t

[GuvWurld]

2. perhaps you misunderstood

they are on our side in calling for public discussion.

[Wilms]

3. So how do you turn this into HCPB.

Sounds like the repubs are concerned about money, if not Diebold or Hart.

Are they willing to keep Diebold? Without convincing them that keeping Diebold is an idea can they be dissuaded from considering Hart since McPherson's volume testing revealed reliability issues?

Are HCPB an economical alternative?

[GuvWurld]

5. process, friend, process

since the transparency project first found the deleted 197 ballots in early December, my goal has switched from focusing on hand counting as the solution, to focusing on a public process that would allow fair consideration of options. when we get there, all of a sudden, the work we've done for years to get hcpb considered will get more consideration than we've ever been able to bring it before.

in classic GuvWurld terms:

what would be better? - better than buying Hart? not buying Hart.

what is the least we can do? - to stop the purchase of Hart we don't need to convince anyone of what to purchase instead; we only need to convince them not to buy Hart - and that's the least we can do.

or another way...

what would be better? - better than advocating hcpb for years and not having it taken seriously? having hcpb get serious consideration.

what is the least we can do? - to get people to want to consider hcpb, we can lead them to want to evaluate multiple possibilities because that is better than having no choice at all - the least we can do is empower people to say we want and are entitled to a choice.


My three principles of a well chosen goal:

1. immediate tangible impact
2. future influence, ripple effects
3. change relationship of power between People and government

Peaceful revolution is necessary, NOW!

[kster]

6. In the words of John E...

muservinJohn Ervin is a freelance writer who has written extensively about voting fraud and corporate crimes and he has been the radio guest of Jim Hogue at www.wgdr.org, where he also made his solo debut, a year ago Bastille Day, singing all 7 verses of La Marseillaise. As a member of the American Federation of Musicians (local 4) he has performed as a concert pianist for the French; and he has also recorded for EMI and in broadcasts for the BBC and with the Cleveland Orchestra as a member of its choru...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Awesome Enthusiasm, Keep it Rolling........!


Thanks for the Year End Zeal: it's your kind of attitude that will roll this to fruition. I'm going to take your advice, and mine, as well as your great techniques for getting the word out enough on time. Even at 2AM EST, there should be more people moving this forward. Whatever differences in jot and tittle, or title, for this, the change.org page title says enough, and says it all: "Hand Count Paper Ballots NOW"

That's all Obama needs to hear from us, the rest is gravy. But we need to shout this out, as part of the Twelve Days of Christmas (or last day of Hannukah). Make this our gift to his incoming ears: Let citizens, not machines and private companies, count OUR votes. It's ludicrous that it should be any other way, and people do not realize the gravity or depth of the danger we face, if we continue to let it be done any other way. We can't ask, we must demand. And a good way to start that, is to vote the s*** out of it.

Let them hear the rumble.

Peace: John E


K&R :)

[Wilms]

8. Oops. Gotcha.

:blush:

[GuvWurld]

9. nice graphic

thanks for the excuse to post that explanation above. you know I am going to be using that stuff much more overtly now. in fact, coming soon...the GuvWurld/We Do Not Consent glossary.

actually, it is already done and I just haven't posted it yet. if anybody would like to see it, PM me and I'll send it. if you are reading this more than a few weeks after I'm posting, then just go to the We Do Not Consent blog and there will be a link in the left sidebar.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

4. sounds like you can stop her in her tracks

going from Diebold to Hart is not an improvement.

Getting rid of Diebold is great, now the solution is the trick.

[Vektor]

7. There are Republicans in Humboldt County?

Whoa. :smoke: