12/14. Nat Expert warns FCC of internet voting dangers, Vendor put on EAC advisory panel. Tenn stall

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

National Expert warns FCC of internet voting dangers, Vendor put on EAC advisory panel, Tennessee stall n crawl

Dec 14, 2009

In answer to the question “With existing technology, is it possible to enable and ensure safe and secure voting online today?”, Verified Voting responded, “in a word, no.” It is likely that no one in the country has studied the subject of internet voting more intensely than David Jefferson, senior scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Jefferson warns: "Even if an Internet election is apparently 'successful', the results are absolutely unauditable in any meaningful sense of the word....You may hear claims that many elections and election pilots have been conducted in the past without the loss or misrecording of a single vote. This claim is false on several levels." Internet voting seems even more insane as the Guardian UK reports that "Russia and US in secret talks to fight net crime"...

Hawaii Oh No: Hawaii's election dept faces new budget woes - the state will have to come up with $2 million to run a special election to replace U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who is leaving congress to run for governor. Add this to the fact that Hawaii's election dept is woefully under funded, is in the process of creating new election rules, is considering cutting half of its polling places and does not have a voting system in place...Randolph County Indiana's 2 year struggle to get SOS to reimburse costs of voting machines that should be paid by HAVA funds...

The End of Innocence -- NY State Board of Elections Says Ballot Scanners Switched Votes in 2009 General Election...Local Groups Urge VA Gov Kaine to Restore Voting Rights... Tennessee continues 'stall 'n' crawl' tactics...

BradBlog reports: "Disgraceful: Discredited E-Voting Vendor VP Appointed to U.S. EAC Advisory Panel"

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

CT: Secretary of the State Candidate Criticizes Exploratory Committees
December 12. "In our view exploratory committees represent a loophole in the current public financing law. Candidates can collect and spend huge sums in the name of exploring runs for office."
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2671

FL: The Advancement Project warns of problems with upcoming elections
A report released Thursday by the Advancement Project calls for changes in poll hours and voter registrations rules.
TALLAHASSEE -- Even though Election Day last year went relatively smoothly across Florida, a civil rights advocacy group that focuses on elections warned that stricter voter registration laws could prevent thousands of eligible voters from joining the rolls in upcoming elections.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1376506.html

HI: Abercrombie will quit Congress to focus on Hawaii governor race
Quitting Congress to prepare for likely battle with mayor
...Abercrombie's decision throws a curve into the 2010 elections and triggers a special election to fill the remaining months of his two-year term.
...
The unexpected vacancy could lead the state Office of Elections to try to come up with as much as $2 million to pay for a special election and scramble to find a voting system because legal challenges have left the state with no voting machines.
http://twi.cc/HDjv

IN: County Council OKs voting reimbursement
Randolph County Council Tuesday approved County Clerk Claudia Thornburg's submission of an application for the county to be reimbursed $194,048 for the purchase of its current voting machines. The application will be submitted to Secretary of State Todd Rokita's office.
...
Thornburg has led a concerted effort to be sure the county was reimbursed for the new voting machines. Over a nearly 2-year period she has exchanged letters and phone calls with the Secretary of State's office and has made six trips to Indianapolis.
http://www.winchesternewsgazette.com/articles/2009/12/12/news/news1.txt

MA: Mayor wants to move elections to the fall
December, 10, 2009 MILLERTON — Has Election Day ever passed you by, only to make you realize you’ve forgotten all about your planned trip to the polls? Surely that’s more likely to happen in the springtime, during village elections, when one’s mind is far from thinking of such things. That’s one of the many reasons Millerton Mayor John Scutieri is determined to have village elections moved from the third Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday in November.
http://www.tcextra.com/news/publish/millertonnews/Mayor_wants_to_
move_elections_to_the_fall/1148500.shtml
or use this url http://twi.cc/kQyP

MO: Brad Appearing at Q&A Following Screening of 'Murder, Spies & Voting Lies' in St. Louis Tuesday.
I'll be appearing for a Q&A in St. Louis on Tuesday (12/15 @ 7:30pm), after a screening of Patty Sharaf's award-winning documentary, Murder, Spies & Voting Lies: The Clint Curtis Story featuring both myself, and our reporting here at The BRAD BLOG on the Republican computer programmer turned vote-rigging whistleblower.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7573

MT: Forward Montana, UM students fume over proposal to shutter 13 voting locations
University of Montana students and a local voter advocacy group are up in arms over Missoula County’s recent announcement that it may close the campus and courthouse polling places.

The proposal, they say, unfairly targets young voters.
http://www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_3293bc36-e7ac-11de-af27-001cc4c002e0.html

NY: The End of Innocence -- NY State Board of Elections Says Ballot Scanners Switched Votes in 2009 General Election *
The Help America Vote Act does not require computerized vote counting. But earlier this year in U. S. District Court, the New York State Board of Elections (SBoE) and the U. S. Department of Justice agreed that the Board would certify a new optical scan computerized voting system by December 15, 2009. As that date approaches, the Board is displaying a dismissive attitude toward the risks and problems encountered with the systems they say they will certify.
http://e-voter.blogspot.com/2009/12/end-of-innocence-ny-state-board-of_14.html

NY: Schumer urges NYSBOE to implement federal election management guidelines
Dec 14, 2009 - As New York State makes the conversion from lever voter machines to a new, optical scan machine system, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer wrote to the Board of Elections urging them to review and implement federal election management guidelines to ensure privacy for voters.
http://www.empirestatenews.net/News/20091214-2.html

OH: Elections board wins case against county
December 12, 2009 Visiting Judge Judith Cross has ruled in favor of the Ashland County Board of Elections in its lawsuit against the Ashland County Commissioners.

The Summit County judge ordered commissioners to increase the board's 2009 appropriations by $25,684. Also, Cross ordered that any and all attorney expenses for the board of elections be paid by the county commissioners and not be charged against the board of election's appropriations.
http://www.times-gazette.com/news/article/4728382

NY: The End of Innocence -- NY State Board of Elections Says Ballot Scanners Switched Votes in 2009 General Election *
The Help America Vote Act does not require computerized vote counting. But earlier this year in U. S. District Court, the New York State Board of Elections (SBoE) and the U. S. Department of Justice agreed that the Board would certify a new optical scan computerized voting system by December 15, 2009. As that date approaches, the Board is displaying a dismissive attitude toward the risks and problems encountered with the systems they say they will certify.
http://e-voter.blogspot.com/2009/12/end-of-innocence-ny-state-board-of_14.html

TN: State continues 'stall 'n' crawl' tactics
...Hargett continues his “stall ’n’ crawl” until the January session, when they’ve pledged to either delay or overturn the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act — regardless that they voted for it before they were against it. Gov. Phil Bredesen seems to be our last hope in breaking what Mr. Williams accurately calls a “logjam” of political procrastination.
http://twi.cc/uubD

VA: Local Groups Urge Kaine to Restore Voting Rights
Governor Kaine has already restored the voting rights of more former felons than any governor in Virginia's history.
http://www.wtvr.com/news/wtvr-felon-voting-rights121209,0,1994868.story

National

FCC Comments re Internet Voting
Voting Matters Blog. Yesterday was the deadline to submit comments to the FCC regarding the use of the internet for voting as well as other broadband issues.
...
A mere handful of these comments to the FCC seem to have focused on the civic participation aspect of the broadband, particularly internet voting and these can be divided into two groups — election integrity activists on one side and private companies hoping to make a profit from internet voting on the other.
...
The sales pitch of these companies sounds remarkably like that offered by purveyors of DRE voting machines when they touted the features, advantages and benefits of doing away with all those “messy” paper ballots and going paperless – it was the wave of the future, they said then...
http://votingmatters.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/fcc-comments-re-internet-voting/

Verified Voting Comments to FCC on Internet Voting
Sunday, December 13, 2009 FCC Internet Voting Comments
On December 10, 2010 the FCC issued a request for comments “on how broadband can help to bring democratic processes—including elections, public hearings and town hall meetings—into the digital age, thereby encouraging and facilitating citizen opportunities to engage and participate in their democracy.”
http://blog.verifiedvoting.org/2009/12/13/250

Verified Voting's Comments on NBP Public Notice #20
December 10th, 2009
Comments—NBP Public Notice #20. GN Docket Nos. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7020352491

David Jefferson’s Comments to the FCC on Internet Voting
Monday, December 14, 2009...Some people argue that the barriers to voting faced by our overseas military are so high that they justify, or require, online voting as the only reasonable solution. While it is true that those barriers are indeed unconscionably high, it is not true that there are no other good solutions besides Internet voting. We can go a long way toward reducing those barriers by carefully implementing Internet-based voter registration systems, and but using the Internet to distribute blank ballots electronically. But we really must draw the line at permitting the electronic return of voted ballots. That is the stage of the voting process at which all of the critical security dangers are concentrated, and there is no good solution at this time, nor is there likely to be in the foreseeable future...
http://blog.verifiedvoting.org/2009/12/14/254

Here is NC Coalition for Verified Voting filing to FCC
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?z=s4doa&id=6015502188

Russia and US in secret talks to fight net crime
13 December 2009...The potential for online warfare has become a hot topic after a string of major incidents in recent years
...
With a rising tide of strikes by hackers on major institutions – including banks, businesses, government agencies and the military – diplomats are attempting to forge an international consensus on how to deal with cybersecurity problems.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/dec/13/russia-us-internet-security-cyberwarfare

"Hear that giant sucking sound?"
That's all of your time being sucked away as you delight in using Dave's Redistricting App
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006336.html

Redistricting the Nation
http://www.redistrictingthenation.com/default.aspx

Disgraceful: Discredited E-Voting Vendor VP Appointed to U.S. EAC Advisory Panel
Federal body tasked with overseeing U.S. certification of e-voting systems appoints scammer Edwin Smith, VP of e-voting companies Sequoia, Dominion, Hart-Intercivic...
Smith is the guy who, after years of paying a crackpot contractor named Mike Gibbons to do this and that for Sequoia with loads of federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) tax-payer cash, assigned him to do an "independent" analysis of Sequoia's touch-screen machines after they failed in NJ's 2008 Super Tuesday election. That was just after Smith had sent a letter threatening two Princeton computer scientists with legal action "to stop any infringement of our intellectual properties, including any non-compliant analysis", if they performed the actually independent analysis of the machines as they were tasked by NJ election officials to do.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7575

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