Holt asks Holder to ensure viability of voting systems

[Bill Bored]

Congressman Rush Holt asks AG to ensure 'viability of voting systems'

By RAJU CHEBIUM • Gannett Washington Bureau • August 13, 2010

WASHINGTON – A New Jersey congressman is asking the U.S. Justice Department to monitor the November elections for potential vote-counting problems.

Rep. Rush Holt, D-Hopewell Township, is asking Attorney General Eric Holder, urging him to “ensure the viability of voting systems and that votes are counted as cast.“ Seventeen other lawmakers signed the letter, including Reps. Frank Pallone, D-Long Branch, and Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn.

Holt is turning to the Justice Department after four unsuccessful attempts this decade to get Congress to adopt his voting-verification bill.

-snip-

In the letter sent Thursday, Holt wrote that six states – including New Jersey – will use electronic machines that can’t produce paper backups come November. There were some voting problems reported during the primaries in South Carolina, one of those six states, the letter said.

-snip-

Holt wants the Justice Department to make sure all votes are backed up by paper ballots and to audit random samples of those ballots to ensure their accuracy. That is, Holt wants the agency to do what his bill calls for.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100813/UPDATES01/100813053/NJ-congressman-urges-Justice-Department-to-monitor-voting-accuracy

[snot]

1. K&R'd

[DFW]

2. Holt is one of the few in Congress still actively pursuing this

He needs all the support he can get.

[Land Shark]

3. But, AG Holder can't 'insure' any such thing without leg power to remove computerized voting

But Holder can perhaps help provide the fig leaf that Holt proposes in his various bills.

[Bill Bored]

5. They want Holder to use that clause in the Votign Rights Act that says...

...the feds have to be allowed to see that votes are being counted as cast.

I'm sure you can just picture this actually being enforced by federal agents walking into Brooklyn poll sites and hand-counting the scanned paper ballots at the close of the polls, right?:sarcasm:

On the other hand, the DoJ could go to court and claim that paperless DREs are illegal because they make this section of the VRA unenforceable.

I believe Nancy Tobi and Bev Harris have been saying the same thing for a while now. I wouldn't expect them to get any credit for the idea though, and this section of the VRA may not even apply to ALL voters in ALL jurisdictions.

What do ya think?

[demodonkey]

6. The correct word is "ensure" as used by Rep. Holt.

http://www.translegal.com/common-mistakes/ensure-vs-insure
http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/definitions/assure-vs-ensure-vs-insure/

Of course Holder can't "insure" anything. He doesn't work for Nationwide or SafeAuto.


And by the way there are a lot of guys that need fig leaves. Look about you.

:grr:

[Bill Bored]

7. I like "ensure" too. But the real question is: what will the Executive Branch do?

So far, we have the EAC, who although Congress has given them no rule-making authority, have said that "paperless" DREs are as auditable as any voting system needs to be.

Then we have the DOJ telling the State of NY you-know-what, citing the EAC's non-rule-making opinion about lever machines, which includes the above opinion about "paperless" DREs.

I'm glad the EAC has no rule-making authority in such matters. They don't seem to know their asses from their elbows. But the DOJ acts as if the EAC can make the rules.

I don't expect consistency from public officials on these issues, but if the DOJ honored Holt's request, the first thing they'd have to do is stop citing EAC opinions as if they were facts or rules.

The second thing would be to figure out how to enforce the part of the VRA that Harris, Tobi and now Holt have been citing. I don't think it could be enforced by hand-counting scanned paper ballots weeks after the polls close. How do you think it could be done?

[Wilms]

8. Perhaps this will force the DoJ to rethink the EAC.

Holt knocks on the DoJ's door and says, "Enforce the law!". Maybe the DoJ then turns to the EAC only to realize they're part of the problem.

Couple it with both the EAC saying levers have to go, and the US Eastern District Court ruling that nothing in HAVA bans levers.

Good analysis, there, Billy Bored. :hi:

[Bill Bored]

12. I hope those aren't crickets I'm hearing. nt

[Wilms]

13. Well it certainly isn't a lever flipping. n/t

[NYC_SKP]

4. kick (nt)

[demodonkey]

9. I'm kicking this. It's important.

First time a US Congressman has called for enforcement of the Voting Rights Act against DREs.

We should get his back.

[Wilms]

10. Welcome to the thread.

;)

[truckin]

11. Agreed. We should give Holt allthe help we can. nt

[AtLiberty]

14. Has Holder done much for us so far?

Does anyone know if Holder has done much for election integrity since he took office?

[Bill Bored]

15. The DoJ got Diebold Election Systems to merge with Dominion intead of ES&S.

Whether that was "for us" or not, I can't say.

Smartmatic and good old Sequoia are also part of this cabal.