12/2. Ballot Transparency Project for AZ?Smartmatic does Mexico,Stopping MOVE Internet voting trojan

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Ballot Transparency Project for Arizona? Smartmatic does Mexico, Stopping MOVE Internet voting trojan

Dec 2, 2009

Arizona Election Transparency Project is seeking graphic ballot image scanning to protect against and expose fraud...Should the city of Aspen release the ballots from the spring City Council election to anyone who wants to see them?(the ballot images, which are already recorded)...Hawaii's Chief Election Officer Cronin resigns, Hawaii plan would slash number of polling places....Judge won't end NJ order targeting voter intimidation...More on NY-23 good and bad... OVF and Scytl Announce - The Power to MOVE: will this slow down or stop internet voting pilots/trojans in MOVE act and provide safer solutions?...Did Smartmatic mislead Mexican authorities, by presenting itself as a Dutch company?...

All this and more in today's voting news below....

AZ: Ballot Image Scanning Sought as “Prospective Relief” in Pima County
As matters stand today, having strong evidence of election fraud is not sufficient to obtain legal remedy. Even if proof is obtained (such as a sworn statement that a computer operator had been ordered to rig the election and did so), a Pima County Superior Court judge has decided that the Court is powerless to act.
...
That's why the Arizona Election Transparency Project (AZTP) of EDA and AUDITAZ, is seeking graphic ballot image scanning as “prospective relief” to fix what's broken in our electoral process, and protect the integrity of future elections. Graphic ballot image scanning can reliably expose attempted election fraud, no matter what method might be used to try to cheat. The following short video explains how.
http://electiondefensealliance.org/eda-blogs/john_r_brakey/310809/ballot-image-scanning

CA: Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
12/02/2009 The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to certify the county's results from the November election, leaving anyone who feels they have a gripe a five-day window to request a recount or contest the final numbers.

But, before diving headlong into demanding and paying for a recount, Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich suggests anyone who thinks there may be a problem with the results to check for themselves with the Humboldt County Election Transparency Project.
...
The first-of-its-kind Transparency Project sends every ballot cast in an election through an optical scanner after it is officially counted. Images of the ballots are then placed online and available for download, allowing any member of the public to view, sort and count all the ballots in a given election as they please.


http://www.times-standard.com/ci_13906913?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com

CO: Aspen Times poll about releasing ballots
As of Dec. 02, 2009: Should the city of Aspen release the ballots from the spring City Council election to anyone who wants to see them?
http://aspenelectionreview.blogspot.com/2009/11/aspen-times-poll-about-releasing.html

HI: State elections chief announces resignation
Kevin Cronin, the state's chief elections officer, has told the state Elections Commission that he will resign at the end of the year
...
The state Office of Elections was hit with challenges to an award for new electronic voting machines last year that has left the state with no voting machines for the 2010 elections.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20091201
/BREAKING01/91201075/State+elections+chief+announces+resignation
or use this url http://twi.cc/Oo8x

HI: Hawaii plan would slash number of polling places
HONOLULU -- Hawaii's chief elections officer on Tuesday proposed closing more than a quarter of the state's polling places in response to deep budget cuts imposed by the Legislature and the state's governor. Then he abruptly resigned.
...
Cronin's plan would shut 97 of the 339 polling places the state operated during the 2008 elections
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_us_elections_office.html

NJ: Judge rejects RNC bid to end minority voter protections
12/1/09 A federal judge in New Jersey on Tuesday rejected an attempt by the Republican National Committee to end nearly three-decade-old restrictions on GOP "ballot security" programs that historically discriminated against minority voters.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30082.html

NY: Because Your Vote Should Count
Commentary Written by Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
Most, perhaps all, of the false counts reported on Election Night may have been corrected during recanvassing, especially in Oneida County where lever machines were still used. But that is not the point. The results reported on Election Night should never have been so terribly wrong in the first place.
http://tr.im/Gn8K

NY: First the Impossible, Now the Improbable, in NY-23
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 December 2009

Editor's Note: Based on additional information provided by the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections, Dr. Phillips revised this article to improve clarity and accuracy.

CANTON, NY – As reported last week, impossible numbers were found in the St. Lawrence County election results for the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District. 93 “phantom votes,” more votes counted than the number of ballots cast, were reported in six election districts, and negative numbers reported for the “blank ballots,” or “undervotes.”

These were not the certified results. The author deeply regrets having said that they were. The numbers, which the Board of Elections attributes to data entry errors, have since been corrected. However, scrutiny of the certified election results reveals numerous districts (precincts) where the results, although not always mathematically impossible, are not credible.
http://www.gouverneurtimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8461:first-the-impossible-now-the-improbable-in-ny-23&catid=60:st-lawrence-news&Itemid=175
or use this url http://twi.cc/57Vu

NY: Commissioners tell legislators that election went smoothly
12-02-2009 Oswego County’s two election commissioners reported that November’s General Election ran smoothly despite a few problems.
http://www.valleynewsonline.com/viewnews.php?newsid=87499&id=1


OH: Athens Co. Dem Party chair indicted in connection with alleged voter bounties *
30 November 2009 Already facing multiple felony counts for alleged mishandling of funds in a political campaign, Athens County Democratic Party Chair Susan Gwinn was indicted on two more charges Monday, for her alleged involvement in a plan to pay student campaign volunteers a $5 bounty for every voter they brought out for early voting Oct. 30 in Athens.
http://www.athensnews.com/news/local-news/29791-athens-dem-party-chair-indicted-in-connection-with-alleged-voter-bounties

TN: Op Ed: In Response to Tennessee Voter Confidence Act
December 2, 2009 — The nonpartisan national election integrity organization, the Verified Voting Foundation, ranked Tennessee as one of the dozen states most vulnerable to voting abuse. When the TVCA is implemented, Tennessee will join almost 20 states with the most secure voting systems, not simply because we will switch to paper ballots and optical scan machines but also because the TVCA mandates random manual recounts in a handful of precincts in every county to verify the accuracy of the optical scan machines
http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2009/12/02/op-ed-in-response-to-tennessee-voter-confidence-act/

National

OVF and Scytl Announce - The Power to MOVE December 1, 2009 Election Technology Leaders Launch "The Power To MOVE"
New Solution To Help Implement Legislation
that Protects Military And Overseas Citizens' Right To Vote
...
OVF's SHS program offers specialized voter service websites to the states. Each SHS provides the complete suite of OVF voter tools customized for the state including registration and ballot request, write-in ballots, help desk support, election information and express ballot return through FedEx.
...
On the other hand, Scytl's ballot administration system, Pnyx.SB, offers secure blank ballot delivery and voter status tracking information....
https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/press-2009-Media-Releases-Power-to-MOVE

Political discrimination case at the Election Assistance Commission settled
December 2, 2009 The U.S. Office of Special Counsel issued this press release regarding a settlement involving the Election Assistance Commission’s appointment of a new General Counsel.
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/?p=6568


12-01-2009 - ACORN Forum From Republican House Hearing
Monday, 30 November 2009 ACORN Forum Documents
Witnesses:
David Caldwell, Deputy Director of the Criminal Division for the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office
Todd Rokita, Indiana Secretary of State
Hans A. von Spakovsky, Former Member of the Federal Election Commission and Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation
Anita MonCrief, "ACORN Whistleblower"
http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=397:12-01-2009-acorn-forum&catid=12:full-committee-hearings&Itemid=1
or use this url http://twi.cc/VN9a

From Project Vote: Representational Bias in the 2008 Election
Doug Hess and Jody Herman of Project Vote have just released this report detailing the increase in diversity in the 2008 electorate.

The report finds that although older, wealthier White voters continue to make up a disproportionately larger amount of the electorate, a rapid increase in the diversification of the adult citizen population since the 2004 election contributed to increased voting among minority groups in 2008.
http://nonprofitvote.blogspot.com/2009/12/from-project-vote-represenatational.html

International

Smartmatic does Mexico
27.11.09 In spite of having won contracts worth millions of dollars in different countries, Smartmatic seems incapable of shaking allegations that mar its reputation. And the reason is quite simple: the more business it gains, the greater the lack of transparency. Take for instance what has recently happened in Mexico, where the government is planning to gather biometric data to produce ID cards
...
Smartmatic won the tender to provide such technology, despite having submitted the highest bid. Smartmatic mislead Mexican authorities, by presenting itself as a Dutch company...
http://alekboyd.blogspot.com/2009/11/smartmatic-does-mexico.html

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