3/15. ES&S Final Judgement. School $ to fund Hawaii spec election. Internet voting debate

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

ES&S Final Judgement. School $ to fund Hawaii spec election. Internet voting debate

March 15, 2010

"Our leaders have slowly taken away our rights to control our elections as we mindlessly shirked our responsibilities of oversight, assuming that the government would substitute for us." ~ Marilyn Marks in response to judge's dismissal of case to review ballot images...A top UK election official is promoting internet voting, meanwhile citizens and groups from around the world will meet this week in Munich to debate the pros and cons of internet voting among other things...A New Hampshire town has banned any concealed vote counting...A Corporation wants seat in Congress...

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

CA: Santa Clara County elections panel has yet to meet -- 15 months after inception *
http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_14661895
On the historic day Barack Obama was elected president, dozens of electronic voting machines for the disabled broke down in Santa Clara County. Monitors observed poll workers inappropriately asking voters for ID and failing to assist non-English speakers, as required by law...

CO: A blow to election transparency (Guest Opinion)
http://bit.ly/9VQMqX
In recent years, Aspenites have been overlooking their rights and responsibilities to oversee their local democratic process

CO: Worcester comments miss the mark (LTE)
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/letter-editor/139693
the greater issue is the importance of all citizens in a free society to have the opportunity to question our government.

CT: Testimony: Rescanning On Same Type Scanner Would Gut Post-Election Audit
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2961

FL: Florida: Group sues for Spanish-language ballots
http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/west-volusia/2010/03/14/group-sues-for-spanish-ballots.html

HI: School repair fund raided to help pay for Hawaii special election
http://bit.ly/btOylH

HI: Military voting law could affect Hawaii primary
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/03/ap_military_hawaii_primary_031410/

IL: Local officials eye probe of voting machine merger
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/2086498,2_1_AU06_VOTING_S1-100306.article
But for Kane County, which uses competitor Hart InterCivic, the worry is that a new mega-company will drive Kane's vendor out of business.
...
Among the concerns raised in the 22-page complaint is a mention of DuPage County Election Commission Executive Director Robert Saar. Saar is cited as an example of the problematic revolving door between public officials and vendor personnel.

According to the complaint, Saar was receiving royalties for a polling place device while DuPage was doing business with the company that sold the device. Saar helped write the software for "Ask Ed," an election device. He failed to disclose this relationship to the county, the complaint says.

MA: Millville hopes to recover from election mistake
http://bit.ly/bqhPkZ

MD: Campaign stunt launches a corporate 'candidate' for Congress
http://bit.ly/9esnrp
William Klein, a "hired gun" who has been enlisted as Murray Hill's campaign manager, said the firm appears to be the first "corporate person" to run for office and is promising a spirited campaign that "puts people second, or even third."

MD: Murray Hill Incorporated is Running for Congress
Corporations are people too!
http://murrayhillincforcongress.com/

MD: Murray Hill the Corporate Candidate
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/03/your-daily-dose-of-news-12.html

NH: New Hampshire Town Citizens Prohibit Concealed Vote Counting by Computers or Any Other Method http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7744

NY: Owego elections revive hand-counts
Lack of scanner training forces move
http://bit.ly/cXHx9m Once the training is completed, programming will be done by county election board officials

WA: Gregoire inks ballot design improvements (House Bill 2496)
http://bit.ly/cgFXuY
Governor Gregoire has approved legislation aimed at improving ballot design in Washington, making it less likely a voter will miss important issues.

Internet voting watch:

Munich: This Week’s iVoting Battleground
http://www.trustthevote.org/munich-this-week%E2%80%99s-ivoting-battleground

WV: National Guard to Experience the Future of Voting
http://bit.ly/d6PCZy

UK: Voting system rated not fit for purpose (promoting internet voting)
Electoral Commission chair urges whole-weekend voting and polls online in radical redesign for elections http://bit.ly/9QOo56

UK: Online voting would reform Victorian electoral system, watchdog says
http://bit.ly/9AzyM5

ES&S Antitrust

United States, et al. v. Election Systems and Software, Inc.; Proposed Final Judgment and Competitive Impact Statement
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/03/15/4672203.htm
Public comment is invited within 60 days of the date of this notice...

A good move against monopoly power
http://bit.ly/dfDYNT (Nebraska paper)
An indication of its poor reputation is that the ES&S was able to purchase the company for only $5 million, even though it reported more than $88 million in revenue in 2008.

Break up ES&S
OUR OPINION: Anti-trust suit should end voting monopoly
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/12/1525584/break-up-ess.html
The message should be clear to interested buyers and Justice officials: Monopolistic control of voting equipment is persona non grata in the USA.

National

Covering the Coverage: Reaction to ACORN 'Pimp' Hoax, Condemnation of NYTimes, Clark Hoyt Continues... http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7745

Will MOVE affect the outcome of primary elections by forcing primaries into August?
http://electionupdates.caltech.edu/?p=3134

Transparency Camp 2010 (March 27 8:00 am - March 28, 2010 5:00 pm )
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/?p=8679
Two upcoming tech and transparency events in Washington #tcamp2010 #dcweek
March 14, 2010 ..."to share knowledge on how to use new technologies to make our government transparent, accountable and meaningfully accessible to the public. Digitial Capital Week is set for June and is “a 10 day festival in Washington DC focused on technology, innovation and all things digital in our nation’s capital.”

International

Philippines: 50,000 techies hired to help man PCOS machines
http://bit.ly/cnbetp

Thailand: Sea of protesters demand new elections in Thailand
http://bit.ly/9igM3Y

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