Diebold to Decide Tuesday's 'Toss-Up' Special Election for U.S. Senate in MA

[BradBlog]

Easily Hacked Diebold Systems to Decide 'Toss-Up' U.S. Senate Special Election in MA
My full coverage is now posted at Upstate NY's Right-leaning Gouverneur Times...

Since writing today's piece for Upstate New York's right-leaning Gouverneur Times, a new poll has come out this morning showing the Republican Scott Brown now leading the Democrat Martha Coakley by 4 points in the race for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by a Democrat named Kennedy for nearly 60 years.

As of last night, when I filed the story with them, the latest survey from a Democratic-leaning pollster showed Coakley up by 8, though a day or two earlier, Republican Rasmussen had Brown down only by 2 points.

Suffice to say it's now officially "a toss-up", at least according to the Rothenberg Political Report, and to all the Dems and Reps now sweating out what was previously thought to have been an easy Democratic win.

With the 60th "filibuster-proof" Senate seat now hanging precariously in the balance, I'm sure you'll be delighted to hear that the winner will now be whoever Diebold declares it to be. The near-entirety of the state will vote next Tuesday on paper ballots to be counted by Diebold op-scan systems. The same ones used dubiously in the New Hampshire Primary in 2008, and the same ones notoriously hacked -- resulting in a flipped mock election -- in HBO's Emmy-nominated Hacking Democracy.

And to make matters even worse, the notorious LHS Associates -- the private company with the criminal background, who has admitted to illegally tampering with memory cards during elections, and who has a Director of Sales and Marketing who embarrassed himself with obscene comments here at The BRAD BLOG some years ago, resulting in his being barred from CT by their Sec. of State -- sells and services almost all of MA's voting machines along with those in the rest of New England.

Read my detailed coverage of the entire sad affair over at Gouverneur Times today. And yes, here we go again...

FULL STORY AT GOUVERNEUR TIMES: http://tr.im/KvUb
Via BRAD BLOG: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7650

[Matariki]

1. hmmm. no wonder Brown is so confident

no wonder the polls are so wildly divergent.

[MUAD_DIB]

My area uses paper ballots.

[BeFree]

10. Paper ballots counted by.......

.....computers. Computers that can make mistakes, be hacked and programmed to put out whatever the programmers want.

Your vote is not safe.

[MUAD_DIB]

35. At some point the could also just burn the ballots.

MA has been using paper ballots for yeas so at least they exist to be re-counted if necessary.

A Diebold machine is just a magic box.

[BeFree]

39. heh

Yeah, they had paper ballots in Florida in 2000. And how did that recount work out?

Basically, the count is slanted and if no one paid attention, or was concerned, then what happened in 2000, and then again in Ohio 2004, it could easily happen again, and you can bet that since the pubbies are on the ropes and desperate, they will do anything they can to steal votes from democrats.

[MUAD_DIB]

42. Heh, MA doesn't use who punch ballots.

Again, thanks.

[BeFree]

43. Paper

Its all paper. It is a paper recorded vote, both then and now.

Your attitude is an example of how our votes can so easily be stolen... people just can't believe that their vote could be stolen, so in slip the crooks.
Thanks for nothing, Maud.

[Ohio Joe]

55. Computers do not make mistakes

They can be hacked, they will do exactly as programmed but they do not make mistakes.

[truedelphi]

12. Please call your local Registrar of Voters and ask

How much it would cost to actually visit the Registrar of Voters with a team of People should the stolen vote demand a truer tabulation. I bet you'll be shocked to find out how meaningless those paper ballots are!

You may find out that any group attempting such a recount does face the odious task of collecting
about $ 1.10 per every vote. (For instance in Marin Coaunty Calif, a recount effort costs more than $ 110,000!

And you have to have the money (or goodly portion of it) before the recounting even begins.

[diva77]

33. Once the ballots leave the precincts, there is a greater likelihood that the chain of

custody will be violated - so even if you have moola for a recount, you really can't be sure of the recount results either

remember Ohio 2004? http://www.iwantmyvote.com/recount/ohio_reports/ :crazy:

[truedelphi]

34. Oh yeah that is a very good point.

Once the ballots go out the door of the election site, it could all be over.

(BTW I was one of the first reporters to write an article on The Stolen Election, "We The People Do Not Concede." Published January 2005 in The Coastal Post. It was printed on over three hundred blogs within about six weeks.)

[MUAD_DIB]

36. Thanks for the concern.

So much of that here lately...

[truedelphi]

62. I am only trying to show that the "myth" that paper ballots

Are more acurate than digital votes is just that " a myth."

It is a myth I once believed myself, and only after others showed me how false the belief was did I realize how much our voting systems are beyond our control.

Pls do not shoot the messenger.

[CakeGrrl]

2. Never forget: All the Rs need to do is get it close enough to steal

...and they're still in charge of the purse strings to make it happen.

[moondust]

38. That was my first thought.

"No wonder it's so close." (According to some pollsters and media, whether it really is or not.)

[HopeHoops]

3. Yeah, now THAT should be fair.

:sarcasm:

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Paper ballots where I vote.

[BradBlog]

22. READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Sounds like you remain with your head in the sand on this one.

We're talking about paper ballots "counted" by optical-scan machines that are easily hacked. As per the film clip from HBO's "Hacking Democracy", as included in the article.

[TheCowsCameHome]

29. Other than nasty replies to posts.....

....what's your solution - granite slabs and chisels?

I vote in my town using the method they have chosen to use.

[BeFree]

41. Ahhh

The old "Good German" excuse.

The solution is for everyone to demand that the votes be counted in a way that there is no question that the votes were counted correctly.

Basically the count is guilty until proven innocent.

The means, the motive, and the opportunity is all right there.
Ready to be taken down off the shelf and used again to steal our votes.

[BradBlog]

47. Apparently you missed the point (twice?)

My point was not to be nasty. My point was to inform you that using paper ballots in this case, as you said you did, has nothing to do with whether your vote will be counted accurately or not.

What's my solution? I've offered many for years. Here's, perhaps, the most important one, written several months ago:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7417
...but it's not likely to do you MA folks much good this Tuesday.

So, for the moment, I suggest you actually INFORM yourself about the dangers of the voting system you're about to use, so when you have a question about the results, you'll understand what needs to happen (like get copies of poll tapes via public records request, be present at the polls before election day for public L&A testing, keep an eye out for tampering and broken seals on memory cards and voting systems on election day, get copies of precinct poll tapes and results *before* they all move back to central headquarters, etc. etc. etc.)

Granite slabs and chisels are fine. But if they don't count those either, like they won't with your paper ballot, then it makes little difference.

Again, please start by READING THE ARTICLE so you can begin to understand the vulnerabilities in the system you are about to trust (with little reason) on Election Day next week.

Thanks!

[TheCowsCameHome]

56. Well, since the system will not change between now and Tuesday morning

all I can do is fill out my ballot for Martha Coakley and hope for the best.

[KittyWampus]

59. I think you could also be prepared to demand your vote be counted. By hand.

[City Lights]

5. Well that's just swell.

x(

[boston bean]

6. As far as I know, most of MA votes on paper that is tallied using optical scan. nt

[boston bean]

9. although in boston they do use the lever machines. nt

[BradBlog]

23. And again... READ THE ARTICLE

(Sorry to have to repost this, but apparently folks here just aren't getting it...)

Sounds like you remain with your head in the sand on this one.

We're talking about paper ballots "counted" by optical-scan machines that are easily hacked. As per the film clip from HBO's "Hacking Democracy", as included in the article.

[WI_DEM]

7. yeah, if she loses that will be the excuse of some.

[BradBlog]

48. yeah, and if HE loses, it'll also be the excuse for some. And a damned good one (n/t)

[Blue Owl]

8. Things are smelling mighty funny in this election

n/t

[diva77]

11. I wonder whether they've figured out how to make the "win" happen before midnight yet

Makes me recall John McCain's infamous claim that he would "guarantee" a win on Nov. 4, 2008

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14951.html

McCain guarantees victory

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he can “guarantee” a win on Nov. 4 in a squeaker victory that won’t be clear until late that night.

McCain spoke amid signs of a tightening race, and reports of renewed determination among his staff, which is badly outgunned in both money and manpower.

“I guarantee you that two weeks from now, you will see this has been a very close race, and I believe that I'm going to win it,” McCain told interim "Meet" moderator Tom Brokaw. “We're going to do well in this campaign, my friend. We're going to win it, and it's going to be tight, and we're going to be up late.”

snip:argh:

[truedelphi]

13. Thank you for your continued efforts on this.

Our democracy has been hacked in every single way that it can.

The voting machinery, owned by companies in bed with politicians.

The auctioning off of every important issue such that the President is a mere spokesperson spinning how well the new Corproate Policies will beneift We the Peon. (no longer are we "We the People." In fact, maybe we are only "We the Peed On")

[rhett o rick]

14. We arent living in a constutitional run democratic republic, so what'd you expect? nt

[drm604]

15. Shit. n/t

[winyanstaz]

16. Why are we still using diebold? We KNOW its a bad system...

and that they cheat.
This is not a fair election..I can tell that already.

[SoCalDem]

17. Media has already "decided" it.. No matter what "some" polls said,

they ONLY reported (repeatedly) the right wing polls that showed his "closing".."catching up".."passing"..."tied".."in a statistical dead-heat", etc.

Even if she wins, like most people expected her to do, she is weakened because he "almost beat her"..if she loses, it's PROOF that health care is a very baaaaad idea, and he'll be a "wonnnnnnderful" senator...a "breath of fresh air"..

This stuff writes itself :puke:

[SnakeEyes]

63. One thought.

Can't part of that be because a Republican getting their ass handed to them over Kennedy's seat is not news, it's expected? It only became news when Brown got close.. which shouldn't happen.

[SoCalDem]

64. Brown's "closeness" may be hype & magnification of that hype

from ONE poll a few days ago.. Media picks it up and runs with it..and never mentions that ALL the other polls show him behind by 8..

and then other media types report on what they are all saying..

it's an echo chamber..

Pollsters can get any result they want, but tailoring their call lists and their questions, so one poll can get a converse result to the others, and then if the media chooses to believe that ONE poll, to the exclusion of the others, it feeds on itself..

[Froward69]

18. Fuck!

I had been optimistic... now I think I will have a 12 pack dinner... Motherfuckersonofabitch!

[WhiteTara]

19. we are screwn n/t

[humbled_opinion]

20. Why is it even this close?

Did the country forget already about the devastation left by Bushco?

[rox63]

21. Most ballots are paper ballots in Mass

Lived here all my 40+ years, and I've never voted on anything but a paper ballot. Most polling places do have a touch screen machine available. But I never see anyone using them at my polling place.

[BradBlog]

24. And one more time ... PLEASE READ THE ARTICLE

I won't repost my comment that I've already posted twice in reply to folks saying "We use paper ballots here, so no probs!"

If that's your understand, than either you folks haven't been paying attention, or I haven't done a very good job over the last 5 years or so!

So, again, READ THE ARTICLE!!!

Pretty please?

[avaistheone1]

25. You missed what the article said:

Quoting Brad's post on this thread:

"We're talking about paper ballots "counted" by optical-scan machines that are easily hacked. As per the film clip from HBO's "Hacking Democracy", as included in the article."



This race appears to be in deep dodo.

Thanks for all your work on this Brad.

[BradBlog]

28. Yup, and...

...Thank YOU for actually bothering to read it! :-)

[GreenPartyVoter]

30. I hope it's enough to offset the dibold factor in other places.

[arthritisR_US]

26. well then, Mr Skin will have the race handed to him on a silver platter...n/t

[Duval]

27. That is outrageous!!

Can't Somebody DO something??

[Guilded Lilly]

31. Diebold...no!

Burying my face in my hands. No. not Diebold.
Having lived for thirty years within ten minutes of their headquarters in Ohio, all I can do is shake my head and put my hands to my face. No. Damn.
Diebold.

[MoonRiver]

32. O.M.G.!

Deja vu all over :puke: again.

[The Wizard]

37. The magic words

proprietary code.
There's no logical reason for proprietary code in voting machines. Open source code where anyone can inspect the software is the answer.
We're talking about counting votes, not defense secrets.
This is why we were victims of the Bush cartel for eight years. This is how Max Cleland lost his Senate seat.
When the public loses faith in the voting process the demise is soon to follow. Elections are a hoax unless we have hand counted paper ballots with the counting witnessed by anyone who's interested.
Kiss health care reform goodbye, and the Republicans will have total control again Jan.20, 2013.

[bikingaz]

40. It aint the voters that count, it's ones who count the votes - Joseph Stalin

[BradBlog]

49. The Magic Words ... are not what you say they are...

"There's no logical reason for proprietary code in voting machines. Open source code where anyone can inspect the software is the answer."

Open Source does little to give the transparency a self-governing democracy needs. TRANSPARENCY gives that. There are all kinds of ways to gain source code which counts votes in secret, even if it's open source.

"We're talking about counting votes, not defense secrets."

Right. So eyeballs, lots of 'em, with all the video cameras in the world rolling, will suffice. It works in really really close elections, so why not every election? Just saying. Your open source "solution" is a mirage, I'm afraid.

[Blasphemer]

44. hmmmmmm

Well, that certainly adds a different spin to this story. I'm having a hard time believing this election is as close as so many polls are saying it is. My tin foil hat is working overtime right now and not just because of Diebold and the GOP.

[jonathon]

45. In our district, we do have paper scan ballots

They should be pretty easy to verify, if there needs to be a recount. I am kind of dumb on this stuff, does the whole state have the same system or does it go county by county or even city by city?

[BeFree]

46. Yes

A lot of it is local decisions that then go up to state levels.

But they way it is set up verification is not easy. Basically, the election officials hate it when citizens are looking over their shoulders. It is one reason why the machines are so popular, they can just point at the machines and wash their hands of it.

Problem is all the machines are controlled and programmed by secret and private individuals whom, evidence has proven, to be closely connected to republicans.

A great battle was waged and the most secret of the machines, the ones sans any paper, were nearly outlawed after 2004. However, the paper scanners are still owned by the same private and secretive individuals.

They have the means, the motive and the opportunity to steal votes. What makes anyone think that they wouldn't steal votes given half a chance?

[sabrina 1]

50. K&R

Thanks Brad ~ I wish Mike Capuano had won the primary. He is a very good progressive candidate who might have inspired people to get more involved. I don't know why he lost to Coakley in Mass as I didn't follow that race.

Hopefully it won't be close enough for Diebold to be able to decide once again. But right now, it doesn't look good.

[Chisox08]

51. When the News media started going on about

the race being a toss up. I figured that the Repukes will attempt to steal this election. I'm starting to think that this is a warm up for November.

[Betty Karlson]

53. It is. This is democracy being overturned one vote at the time.

[annabanana]

54. You are absolutely correct...

When it comes to the machinery... all the supporters of the status quo have to do is make the election appear close enough to steal..

If it's not a blow-out, it is at risk.

[Betty Karlson]

52. O my God,

this is what I have been afraid of all along.

[Hubert Flottz]

57. Maybe they will get caught cheating this time?

I trust them about as much as I trusted Bush...ZERO.

[ooglymoogly]

61. They have already been caught dozens of times

It just does not matter; Which says a lot about our pretend "democracy"

[KittyWampus]

58. kick

[ooglymoogly]

60. The sad and scary thing is, Coakley is a prosecutor and a wet mop to boot

who has been given nothing to run on except that she is not a pug. The absurd healthcare bill is not appreciated here, as folks see it for what it is; Yet she is still trying to run on that and the fact that she is not a pug. I blame this on O and Rahm and the W ealthcare bill and their drive to promote bluedogs and DINO's. Brown is nothing more than a beefcake sham saying whatever folks want to hear, hiding his true agenda and should not be even a close challenge to any true progressive dem in the mold of a lion like Kennedy; I just wish Coakley was in fact a progressive dem. I myself and virtually all the folks I am in contact with, will vote for her without enthusiasm, for one reason only and that is, she has a D after her name and we cannot afford any more R's and that is the talk around the water cooler.

[bertman]

65. Thanks for your tireless efforts to alert us to these problems, Brad.

Too late to rec, but here's a kick.

First we have to overcome the political "machines" that control WHO can even get the support of the national party just to run.

Next, we have to spend our hard-earned cash on some candidate who MIGHT vote the way we want her/him to, but probably will not if it means going against his/her corporate donors.

Then, we have to overcome the corporate media who broadcast and print WHATEVER they want to to support the right-wing candidate and undermine all others.

Finally, we do our duty as citizens by voting, only to find that it means nothing.

Very scary and very discouraging.

[jbnow]

66. MA had some peculiar results on Super Tuesday

I first heard about it watching some journalists on the Saturday cable show Tim Russert had. They were really thrown by the results in MA and NJ but especially MA. It was something like results didn't just seem strange but impossible. They didn't go into it much but looked and sounded so perplexed.

It took me a while to look into it... but it had to do with the infamous exit polls (the earlier ones we aren't suppose to see any more)
The 7 PM exit polls in MA had Obama up by 3. He lost by 15.
The odds were something like 1 in billion+
(In NJ he was up by 5 in 7PM polls, lost by 10)

Not accusing Clintons of anything but in retrospect I hope it was them and not republican funny business as I suspected. The machines were tied to gop and I figured if they had to face Obama they wanted less of a tidal wave going on...

Anyway it is all the more troubling now.

Found a link about numbers I noted
http://progressiveindependent.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=120&topic_id=3801

[jotsy]

67. Yes, that was soon, and I now understand the afraid part better.

I had suspected you might be looking into how a Rovian foot soldier in Arkansas could be the front runner for a seat in the house. This is worse. I look forward to the day your blog has huge headline about how all these pirates of the public will are finally made to face the proverbial music.