Possible e-voting scam averted in El Salvador?

[Stevepol]

Bradblog has been made aware of a possible attempt to steal the election in El Salvador. It involves yet another shady e-voting company (UIS) with the outrageously Onionesque logo: "LET US KNOW WHAT RESULTS YOU ARE WAITING FOR AND WE'LL DO THE WORK TOGETHER." Here's Brad's report:




Challenging party wins despite 'dirty tricks' from D.C. Republicans and one creepy e-voting company.

Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher dropped me a note over the weekend to inquire if I'd heard anything about a company called Universal Identification Solutions (UIS) who was to be announcing the results of El Salvador's presidential elections over the weekend. A bunch of election observers down there had been "suddenly" informed that the company would be responsible for election night reporting, yet nobody had heard of them, and their website was "really sketchy and vague" at best, as Jane noted.

"Sketchy and vague" is right...

Based on their creepy James Bond villain-styled website, the company, which I'd never heard of, appears to use some kind of e-voting technology from a best guess --- though that's unclear --- with an emphasis on "identification". My favorite line from their creepy front-page introductory video (which takes forever to load for some reason): "Let us know what results you are waiting for, and we'll do the work together".

Seriously, go take a look at that scary 30-second-or-so promotional video. Make sure your sound is turned up as it's loading.

Check it out at the link:

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6991

Why doesn't somebody in Congress finally investigate the e-voting companies, UIS among them, whatever UIS is?

[EFerrari]

1. They use paper ballots. ETA:

But it's true that these UIS people are shady as hell.

/oops

[tbyg52]

2. Yeah, but paper ballots or not, it's scary that this crew was called in. nt

[L. Coyote]

3. WHOIS: Blarik Marketing Ltd., Calgary, CA

Working in the shadows!!!


Registrant:
Blarik Marketing Ltd.
416 Woodbriar Place S.W.
Calgary, AB T2W 6A5
CA

Domain Name: UNIVERSALIDENT.COM

Calgary??? Maybe the people hosting Bush today??

Universalident.com has a traffic rank of: No Data
# Speed: Not available
# Other sites that link to this site: No Data

Universalident lists, as addresses:
875 Third Avenue, 10th Floor New York, NY 10022-6225

That's:
# Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP New York, New York
Full-Service Law Firm
875 Third Avenue 10th Floor Phone: [phone]

International Square Center
1875 “I” Street, N.W., Suite 500, Washington DC,

That's:
Pierce Atwood's Washington, D.C. office focuses on international and energy matters.
1875 I Street NW, 5th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20006
Pierce Atwood LLP is a leading New England commercial law firm, recognized nationally and internationally in selected areas of expertise. Our non-metro location enhances the value of our services to our clients, who range from regional and local enterprises, utilities, financiers, middle-market companies, entrepreneurs and individuals to Fortune 500 companies, multinational corporations, and foreign governments.

[L. Coyote]

4. George Seebach

George Seebach
416 Woodbriar Place S.W.
Calgary, Alberta T2W 6A5
Canada
[e-mail]

Seebach is Advanced Voting Solutions Rep for Galaxy Commutech who manufactures AVS,s DRE electronic voting machine hardware in Hong Kong
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/73/44891.html

GALAXY COMMUTECH LTD (in HONG KONG)
Room 907
5-21 Pak Tin Par St
Tsuen Wan NT Hong Kong
Tel:
Fax: [phone]
Contact: Thomas Lee
(Galaxy manufacture all of Advanced Voting Solutions DRE electronic voting machines)

GEORGE SEEBACH
Calgary Alberta
Tel: [phone]

[EFerrari]

5. Imho, someone saw a chance to bleed some money from the oligarchs

by promising them? To shave the results? Because it was common knowledge that Funes was ahead and would likely win.

[L. Coyote]

6. IMHO, the e-vote companies are fronts, and any nation using e-voting is

allowing their elections to be fixed. Problems is, that sells like hotcakes!!!

[EFerrari]

7. Sure! But in this case, El Salvador doesn't use evoting.

So, there had to be some other trick that was promised. I'm thinking, vote shaving. Early in the day, the results were 53 -47. By the time the final totals were announced, it was 51-49 or so. Hmmm.

[L. Coyote]

8. If they don't use e-voting, this is all the more suspicious.

It points to right-wing connections for this company, perhaps.

That's not much shift in reported votes for a country with diverse populations in different regions.

[EFerrari]

9. Suspicious is too ambiguous a word.

:)

I know those people. They will do anything. In the countryside, they obviously threatened less educated voters because I saw one poll worker say on CH 21 that the people should not be afraid to come out and vote. Oh, and remember, 2 Republicans said on the floor of the House that if the leftist was voted in, they'd deport Salvadoran (legal) residents here, and cut off remittances.

Dante would need to come back and describe a new circle of Hell for these bastards. Which makes the FMLN victory all that more remarkable.

[Stevepol]

10. I think the machine was used to collate, transmit, and report results.

But the vote counting was at the local level and transparent, so this put a great constraint on the attempt to throw the election. It also illustrates that the machines don't have to be used to vote in order to throw an election, just to collate and report results. Very likely this is exactly how e-voting machines in the US were used to greatest effect in the 04 election to give Bush his margin of victory. OH was a different matter and required a little more skulduggery.

[EFerrari]

11. Exactly. Agreed. It also made it harder to steal that FMLN

started the "celebrations" before the counting was really done.

Whoever was working that FMLN election knew EXACTLY what they were doing. :shrug:

[L. Coyote]

12. Exactly. Precinct counting of paper ballots with transparency is the key to honest elections.

Anything less increased the risk of fraud. And, the ballot needs to have printed names, not fill-in numbered bubbles or such contrivances.

[kster]

13. The electronic/mechanical vote count gig is up, They may not get it yet

but IT IS UP, Hand Counting the Paper Ballots at the precinct with a direct video hook up to the INTERNET, pretty much puts an end to their BULLSHIT.

When THE PEOPLE can watch the count in person or from the privacy of their home on the INTERNET at the precinct of their choosing, the vote count SCAMMERS will need to find something else to SCAM.

Its pretty much that simple.

Its only a matter of time.

Hand Counted Paper Ballots At the Precinct, NOW!!!!




:)

[L. Coyote]

14. And, it is time to take this message global, to stop the rigging of other countries too!

Having a covert branch of our government fixing elections in other countries did not work out so well in our own!!