6/2 SEC charges Diebold with fraud. McAllen voter fraud case fails. India election officials panic

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

SEC charges Diebold with fraud. McAllen voter fraud case falls apart. India election officials panic

June 2 2010

Diebold Accused by SEC of Fraudulent Accounting, Pay $25 M Penalty..Where Should Election Reformers Target Their Efforts?..California GOP will shift to caucus if open primary passes..Passaic County NJ elections sec charged in $384K ballot postage theft..Mahoning Co OH may cut 40-100 polling places..Hinds TN voting machine probs..McAllen voter fraud case finally falls apart..New "Protect Our Elections" campaign promotes national election protection laws..India's Panicky Election Commission orders Storage Audit of EVMs...

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

AL: Sec. of State responds to info about misleading ballots
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=12577432
The ballots are alleged to be in the same format and color of the Alabama Democratic Conference ballots but bear the name "Alabama Democratic Committee."

AZ: High court refuses to stop Clean Elections
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles
/2010/06/02/20100602supremeclean0602.html http://is.gd/cAkhq The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a one-sentence denial to an emergency request to halt the matching-funds portion of Arizona's publicly funded Clean Elections program. Within hours, the attorneys representing matching-funds opponents asked the high court to reconsider.

CA: "CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS WILL SHIFT TO CAUCUS SYSTEM IF OPEN PRIMARY INITIATIVE PASSES"http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016120.html (Prop 14)

FL: Sarasota. 6/03/10 10:30 AM. The Election Merry-go-round Continues.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/electionreform/message/13581
COURT EVENT SET Event: MOTIONS Date: 06/03/2010 Time: 10:30 am Judge: DEFURIA, FREDERICK A Location: Courtroom 7-C
If anyone was wondering what was going on with Kathy Dent's lawsuit against the Sarasota County Commission here it is.

GA: Fulton, Sandy Springs at odds over Voting Rights Act
http://www.ajc.com/news/north-fulton/fulton-sandy-springs-at-540446.html
Sandy Springs, the first Georgia city to try and bail out of of the Voting Rights Act, on Wednesday drew its first public rebuke, a Fulton County Commission resolution scolding its efforts

GA: Lee County Primary Elections *
http://www2.wrbl.com/rbl/news/local/article/lee_county
_primary_elections/156730/ http://is.gd/cAkjG there are about 300 votes that have not been counted. A data package was left on one machine and the Sheriff’s Department had to drive out to the poll and retrieve those numbers

ID: Coin toss decides Kootenai County precinct contest
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jun/01/coin-toss-decides-kootenai-county-precinct-contest/ Incumbent, challenger tied for votes in primary

IL: Final Arguments In Vote Fraud Trial. 50th Ward vote fraud trial wraps up.
http://www.lakeeffectnews.com/2010/06/02/final-arguments-in-vote-fraud-trial/


MA: National Popular Vote bill receives House approval (goes to Senate nxt)
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/
06/national_popula.html http://is.gd/cAkqc

MS: 2nd district results delayed due to polling problems *
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100601/NEWS0103/100601060/
Polling+issues+delay+2nd+district+results http://is.gd/cAkm6
Because of poll workers’ problems in Hinds County, a winner could not immediately be determined in the 2nd District GOP primary.

Election Commissioner Marilyn Avery says some poll workers had trouble transferring information from voting machines. Avery says the machines did not malfunction

ND: Mock, Jaeger disagree over choice of firm (ES&S doubling costs in some cases)
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_45c8f860-6e8a-11df-861a-001cc4c03286.html
“The secretary of state has taken away county control and replaced it with a top down approach,” that takes business away from North Dakota companies, Mock said.
...
In some cases ESS doubled the cost of services if counties did not use Synergy as their printer. In other cases fees were charged for using an alternative printing company when no cost was attached for using Synergy.

NJ: UPDATE: Passaic County elections secretary charged in $384K ballot mail theft*
http://www.northjersey.com/news/060110_Passaic_County_elections_office
_manager_accuse d_ of_stealing_384000_from_county.html http://is.gd/cAksr
A Passaic County elections secretary was charged Tuesday with stealing $384,000 through a fraud scheme in which she allegedly collected postage on ballots mailed to voters.
...
Di Lella said the alleged fraud was simply a moneymaking scheme and did not harm the integrity of the election process.

NY: S3584B: Establishes an instant runoff voting method for certain local elections
http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S3584B (in Election Law Committee 6/2)

NY: Dutchess lawmaker opposed to city share of Board of Elections payments
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2010/June/01/DC_BOE_cities-01Jun10.html
Forman said the cities are being “raped” by this proposal to divvy up elections expenses.

OH: Elections board looks at cutting precincts, staff
http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/jun/02/elections-board-looks-at-cutting-precinc/?newswatch
The Mahoning County budget crunch likely will result in the board of elections’ cutting at least 40 voting precincts — perhaps as many as 100 — as well as laying off or eliminating at least two clerk positions and possibly as many as four.

RI: Senate approves bill to make mail ballots more accessible
http://www.projo.com/generalassembly/MAIL_BALLOTS_06-02-10_0KINAHD_v73.1764596.html

SC: SC lawmakers consider voter ID, early voting (again)
http://www.theitem.com/news/ap_state_news/article_4ae801be-665e-591f-a8ac-34844da6e40e.html

SD: Settlement reached in South Dakota voting rights lawsuit
http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9255&Itemid=109
A settlement in a voting rights lawsuit calls for new procedures, training and education by the secretary of state’s office to protect the voting rights of certain felons.

TN: Election commission certifies May primary votes* (Cumberland County)
http://crossville-chronicle.com/local/x1414122315/Election-commission-certifies-May-primary-votes After being asked by a member of the public, Dennis Hatler, about some absentee ballots, York told commissioners there were 139 ballots that were trimmed in order to get them to fit in the state envelopes. In doing so, the numbers were inadvertently trimmed off and those ballots could not be scanned by the new machine.
...
said some voters complained because they felt the election workers could see them voting. The machines were facing outward rather than facing the wall as they have in previous elections during early voting.

TX: "MCALLEN VOTER FRAUD CASE FINALLY FALLS APART"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016117.html
Five years after sensational allegations of voter fraud in Texas, the cases fall apart. This kind of follow up of voter fraud allegations is so important but not done often enough.

WA: Little evidence in Washington that 'top-two' primary moderates politics
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/01/2789318/little-evidence-in-washington.html

WV: Cabell Election Canvass Video Now on Subject of Black Box Voting Discussion
Organization Links 2000 Bush/McConnell Interference with MESA Massey Energy Investigation in Martin County, Kentucky
http://www.huntingtonnews.net/local/100601-rutherford-localblackboxvoting.html
When Nina Mooney was county clerk, “the Mooney family kept the voting machines in a warehouse they owned, rent paid by Bullitt County taxpayers. Bullitt County no longer houses its voting machines in the Mooney family's warehouse, but 2007 Bullitt County financial documents show thousands of dollars in taxpayer money going to "Mooney's Auto Supply."


Diebold

Diebold Accused by SEC of Fraudulent Accounting (Update1)
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-02/diebold-accused-by-sec-of-fraudulent-
June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Diebold Inc., the bank teller-machine maker, was accused of inflating earnings through fraudulent accounting practices from at least 2002 to 2007, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SEC Files Lawsuit Against Diebold, Then Settles for $25m, Pursues Fraud by Three Diebold Executives http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7871
Company officers facing suit involved in apparent insider sell-off initially exposed by The BRAD BLOG
Woes continue for once-dominant e-voting vendor whose election systems assets were recently purchased by a Canadian firm with an ominous name..

SEC reaches $25M fraud settlement with Diebold
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/06/02/business-industrials-us-diebold-sec_7655089.htmlWASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission is pursuing fraud charges against three former executives of ATM maker Diebold Inc. after reaching a $25 million settlement with the company on Wednesday.

The SEC filed civil charges against former Diebold executives Gregory Geswein, Kevin Krakora and Sandra Miller, alleging they manipulated the company's accounting to meet earnings forecasts from 2002 through 2007.

National

WatchDog Groups Launch New Campaign Urging Congress To Pass Pending Election
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/prnewswire/2010/06/02/prnewswire
201006020957PR_NEWS_USPR_____DC14176.html http://is.gd/cAkxy
Protect Our Elections is using an inside/outside approach for its campaign, working directly with Congress members and urging millions of grassroots activists to contact Congress to pass this important legislation.
...
Citizens can get involved by going to the website, www.protectourelections.org, and signing the online petition. Organizations can become partners or endorsers.

Corporations May Not Be People, After All
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/06/corporations-may-not-be-people-after-all/57545/

Where Should Election Reformers Target Their Efforts?
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016125.html
Here is one suggestion: the reform community and supportive foundations should select a single state to focus on as a focal point for election-reform efforts.

Internet Voting Watch

Canada: London election won't use web voting (London has around 350K voters)
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/06/02/14230241.html
The price tag is also surprisingly high: It’s estimated it would have cost London $170,000 to offer Internet voting.

International

India: Panicky Election Commission orders Storage Audit of EVMs
http://www.indianevm.com/blogs/?p=185

Philippines: Null votes a ‘good case’ for poll protests, solon says
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100602-273464/Null-votes-a-good-case-for-poll-protests-solon-says About 2.6 million and one million votes are considered invalid for vice president and president,

Philippines: DND chief: Cheating, voting machine 'deficiencies' took place during polls
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/192441/dnd-chief-cheating-voting-machine-deficiencies-took-place-during-polls

Philippines: Dilangalen, Golez in heated exchange over compact flash cards
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/192439/dilangalen-golez-in-heated-exchange-over-compact-flash-cards A heated exchange took place between two members of a body canvassing votes in the May 10 polls one disagreed with the other’s claim that the authenticity of some compact flash cards used by voting machines was "compromised."

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