I received a reply from Cathy Cox (Dem candidate Ga. Gov.)

[napi21]

when I asked her for her position touch screen voting machines...the machines the SHE pushed through here! I'm going to call her campaign manager who actually sent the reply and ask for specifics. Please read the reply and let me know what YOU think I should say. My first question is going to be "What makes you think the printout matches what the voter entered from the screen? If the chip inside switched a Dem vote to a Pub one, THAT'S what you will see on the printout!"

Greetings,

In an email you sent a couple of weeks ago, you asked for Cathy Cox's position on touch screen voting machines . Cathy Cox inherited a voting system that was outdated and unreliable. In 2000, the percentage of mistakes made by the old system was one of the worst in the country. With the new system, independent experts say there's been a stunning improvement to the integrity of reporting of votes across the state. In fact, the MIT study showed Georgia's voting machines to be some of the nation's most accurate and secure. Secretary Cox lead a bi-partisan group of experts and community leaders in her effort to overhaul Georgia's voting machines. Today, she continues to upgrade the technology and security of the system & is currently exploring options to add paper receipts to increase voter confidence even more.

Additionally, though many people are unaware of the fact, there is already an auditable paper trail record in place. Current results are not "paperless". Paper records are printed on each voting unit before voting begins, and multiple paper vote tallies are printed on each unit after the polls close election night. Three separate auditable paper records of the vote tallies are kept by the Secretary of State's Elections division for two years.

For any additional comments, I am happy to inform you that you will be able to read Cathy's position papers, her views and vision for Georgia's citizens. Cathy will be unveiling her positions on her www.cathycox.com website, under the "New Covenant" webpage, including the voting machines. She is in the final stages of completing and the webpage should be up & running in a couple of weeks. Keep an eye on her website.

Cathy is as concerned about these issues as you are and believes that we must make improvements now so that Georgia can become the premier state we all believe it can be. Georgia must become a national leader in education, economic development and healthcare. Cathy's goal as Governor is to unite all Georgians regardless of party label and to promote opportunity, responsibility and progress for all Georgians.

We are please that you, like Cathy & the rest of us at the Cox for Governor headquarters, care enough about the future of our state to get involved. Together we can build a better Georgia.


Joan Q. Scott
Deputy Campaign Manager
Cox for Governor
404.633.2006
[e-mail]

[MadMaddie]

1. I would ask the following questions...

1. What testing methods were used?
2. Who performed the testing?
3. If the company that created the machines performed the testing...that is okay up to a point but an audit by an outside party needs to examine the code of the machines.
4. The test results should be transparent the public should have a right to view the results because after all it is tax money paying for the machines...
5. During the elections who will gather the votes...will it be the company that created the machines...(big no no)

These are a few things that come to mind...

[acmejack]

2. Some people asked her some hard questions in this press release

snip>
In Atlanta today, voters concerned about the integrity of Georgia’s elections marched the capitol and demanded that the state’s chief election official, Secretary of State Cathy Cox, back her words on paper trails with immediate action. At the same time, they asked for an opportunity to prove the vulnerability of the system and show how the machines themselves were illegal, contradicted federal standards and are easy to corrupt.

“Voting is one of our single most important rights…Recent events in Florida have shown how vulnerable Georgia is to election tampering. In the past, these charges have been dismissed, but there is now even more compelling evidence that Georgia is ignoring. We write to you today to respectfully request that you address these very important issues immediately,” the group, led by Roxanne Jekot, said in a letter of request to the democratic gubernatorial candidate who runs the office that manages elections.

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=840&Itemid=113

[RubyDuby in GA]

3. I am good friends with an IT professor who knows exactly how to hack

into these systems. Also, my father, who used to work for GA DOAS, says he could easily hack into them too. He was involved in the building of the infrastructure before it was gutted.

I'll still support her over Mark Taylor, but no more donations from me and it's basically a hold your nose and vote for the least offensive at this point. She lost me when Mark Taylor called her a liberal for taking money from Emily's List and she returned it. Every time I get called to donate, I tell them I don't have any money for her, but I'm happy to make a donation to Emily's List in her name.

I'm very active in state politics and I know that she refuses to answer questions about the voting machines when asked about them. It's becoming a deal breaker for many people.

[napi21]

4. Do you think she really has a chance against Perdue?

I actually sent my questions to her to prod her into giving me amunition in arguing with friends and neighbors in her favor, but she didn't help at all!

It didn't reference it in her response, but I asked her a second question in my email. "How are you going to argue against Perdue when he can ligitimately brag about bringing a new car manufacturing plant to Ga? It's going to sure help all thise who lost their jobs when Ford pulled out of Hapeville!" I guess she decided to dodge that question!

[RubyDuby in GA]

5. All internal polling from both sides show her either tied with or beating

Perdue. There are rumors today of Republican county parties telling their members to cross over and vote for Taylor in the primary, but I think those are just that - rumors. The repukes have a hotly contested race for Lt. Gov. and Sect of State and I doubt they'd ruin their chances to pick their candidates for a chance to screw over CC. But then again, the Governor's seat is the whole ball of wax, so they just might.

[napi21]

7. I didn't think things were going very well for Reed.

All that gambling $$ and taking illegal funds and all. I haven't heard anything aobut even who they're running for SS. I just want to see this crowd limited to ONE TERM!

[RubyDuby in GA]

8. You'd be surprised

Check out a site called The Peach Pundit www.peachpundit.com
It's a conservative site and just like every race, you have your die hard RR supporters and your die hard Casey Cagle supporters. It's fascinating to get a glimpse into their craven little souls sometimes.

[RubyDuby in GA]

9. To answer that question for you

CC publically stated that Perdue needed to go to Detroit and ask for our plant to stay open. Every other governor who was facing a plant crisis went and begged for it and their plants stayed open. Sonny boy didn't and we lost it. We're also losing the GM plant, all those military bases and now there is a huge controversay in Korea about the Kia plant and the Kia people taking bribes so they may not build it - on top of the huge tax breaks that Sonny boy gave to get it. He basically gave away the farm for it.

[Boredtodeath]

6. Here's the TRUE answer

Provide for a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail on all Electronic Voting Machines, Audits and Software

Voters should have the ability to review their ballot both electronically and manually on paper, with the opportunity to correct their ballot, before it is officially cast. Unfortunately, the electronic voting machines currently used in Georgia’s elections are already obsolete and cannot feasibly be retrofitted with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) device . Therefore, implementing VVPAT will require the replacement of all of the current voting machines. As we need to ensure that the new electronic voting machine platforms meet federal guidelines and are scalable and flexible to accommodate future enhancements.