Stanislevic: N.Y.'s Elections Being Floridized

[Wilms]

N.Y.'s elections being Floridized

First published in print: Tuesday, July 13, 2010

snip

This error, known as overvoting, makes it impossible to count such votes. It's one of the reasons George W. Bush won Florida in the 2000 presidential election. The plaintiffs are right; New York's elections are being Floridized. But their complaint is the tip of the iceberg.

New York's ballot scanners do not comply with the state Election Law that requires machines approved by the Board of Elections to notify voters of "the effect of casting multiple votes for the office."

The U.S. Justice Department and federal Judge Gary Sharpe may have undermined the state's certification process by rushing it, but state attorneys never mounted a credible defense. Instead, they consented to the replacement of our lever voting machines with computers that, unlike lever machines, facilitate both overvoting and vote switching between candidates and political parties.

The extreme moral hazard introduced by this new system of voting is being challenged by Nassau County in state and federal courts. But New York voters remain unrepresented, except for the effort to correct the overvote notification bug -- the tip of the iceberg.

Howard Stanislevic

Founder

E-Voter Education Project

New York City

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=950057&category=LETTER#ixzz0tcc6t1Vf

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

1. ok I slipped up

forgot to put in today's news but its in tomorrows, which is already half done.
Sorry

[Wilms]

2. I think Judge Sharpe let himself get painted into a corner.

The DoJ drags the NYSBoE into court and tells them to computerize their elections. The NYSBoE sticks all four in the air. The Judge figures it settled. Perhaps His Honor should have considered the interveners more thoughtfully, rag tag as I think they may have been.

I would have thought it's a red flag for the bench when prosecution and plaintiff are getting along so well. They're both government entities, and neither served the public. If Sharpe were really sharp, he might have picked-up on that. Now I fear he might really let loose on levers just to save face. Judges are lawyers.

[Bill Bored]

3. This may provide some insight into Sharpe's behavior:

Judge tells Former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno: I'm boss here, pal

BY Glenn Blain
DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU

Friday, November 13th 2009, 4:00 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/11/13/2009-11-13_judge_tells_bruno_im_boss_here_pal.html

ALBANY - Former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno got a judicial smackdown at his corruption trial Thursday.

"Let me explain something to you once, Mr. Bruno, and I will not explain it again," said a scowling U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe just after he sent the jury home for the day.

"For once in your life you don't control something - I do," Sharpe told the former Republican kingpin. "If you ever do what you just did in the presence of that jury again, which is question any of my rulings, I will take measures to make sure you don't repeat that."

Sharpe's scolding came after Bruno appeared to express frustration with Sharpe for allowing prosecutors a final chance to question a witness before leaving for the day.

-snip-

Bruno's supporters have been critical of Sharpe, suggesting he's biased for the prosecution because his son works for the U.S. attorney's office in Albany.

Bruno spokesman Kris Thompson later told reporters that Bruno was simply trying to speak with his attorney Abbe Lowell and his remarks were misinterpreted as an attempt to communicate with the judge or the jury.

-snip-

[Bill Bored]

4. .