BOWEN ANNOUNCES PAPER BALLOTS FOR CALIFORNIA DRE'S DECERTIFIED

[BradBlog]

Source: BRAD BLOG




PAPER BALLOTS FOR CALIFORNIA!
SECRETARY OF STATE ANNOUNCES DE-CERTIFICATION/RE-CERTIFICATION PLANS FOR E-VOTING SYSTEMS
Debra Bowen Announces DRE (Touch-Screen) Machines to be Used Only One Per Polling Place for Disabled Voters with 100% Manual Count of Paper Trails
Dramatic Late Night Press Conference Held at 11:45pm in Sacramento...

-- Blogged by Brad Friedman from Plano, TX, with help from Emily Levy of VelvetRevolution.us and Tom Courbat of SAVE R VOTE...

In a dramatic late-night press conference, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen decertified, and then recertified with conditions, all but one voting system used in the state. Her decisions, following her unprecedented, independent "Top-to-Bottom Review" of all certified electronic voting systems, came just under the wire to meet state requirements for changes in voting system certification.

Bowen announced that she will be disallowing the use of Direct Recording Electronic (DRE, usually touch-screen) voting systems on Election Day, but for one DRE machine per polling place which may be used for disabled voters. The paper trails from votes cast on DREs manufactured by voting machine companies Diebold and Sequoia must be 100% manually counted after Election Day.

As The BRAD BLOG has been reporting in great detail for the past week since, "Top-to-Bottom Review" had found that all Electronic Voting Systems certified in California were easily accessible to hacking. A single machine, the testers discovered, could be easily tampered with by an Election Insider, Voting Machine Employee, or other individual in such a way that an entire election could be flipped without detection.

The Certification/Recertification documents for each of California's voting systems, including security mitigation procedures and other requirements for use, are now posted on the CA SoS website.

The late-night press conference, following her decisions, was held in Sacramento at 11:45pm PT, just in time to meet the state law requiring a six-month notification, prior to an election, for changes to certification of voting systems. California's Presidential Election Primary was recently moved up several months by the state legislature to February of '08.

The BRAD BLOG was able to listen in to the presser via a poor cell phone connection out of Bowen's office. As best as we were able to transcribe, these are our notes from Bowen's announcement and the questions from the media which followed...

FULL REPORT, NOTES FROM PRESS CONFERENCE:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4914



---
Brad Friedman
Publisher/Editor, The BRAD BLOG
http://www.BradBlog.com

Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4914

[aquart]

1. Wow.

Wow.

[Demeter]

17. Another Wow

As goes California, so goes the country.

[The Wielding Truth]

61. Can I get a "Hallelujah"?

[obiwan]

126. Thank God. I am an election official at the precinct level...

...and I never trusted our Inka Vote tabulators (ES & S) especially since the precinct boss was a COMPUTER PROGRAMMER and LA County allows sleepovers of this machine.

[Tab]

2. Couldn't get the transcript but

good for her!

[Joe Bacon]

69. Here's the web link

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vsr.htm

[Tab]

118. The link I had

I just think the site was bogged down with traffic.

I've since managed to see it, but thanks!

[icymist]

99. Good for her? I think more properly; Good for American voters!

Now every state must look closely at these machines. The states that say, "Vote on them anyway because the mistakes or whatever else were in California", well I'd say you've got trouble there. Question boils down to 'Do we want free and independent elections or do we want election party members telling us what we voted for?'

There needs to be election reform.
Starting with these machines and winding to the finance of elections, themselves.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Sounds so good. Thanks for the report. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

4. All of California?

Fantastic! This is a landmark decision!

Time to start putting pressure on Ohio, Florida and New Mexico......

[avrdream]

5. Absolutely amazing.

California leads the way again. Thank you Ms. Bowen.

[tom_paine]

6. And amisdt the rubble of what was left the Old Republic, a new hope arises!

At this point, anything which gives hope is as a glass of water to a dying man lost in the desert.

Asd always, thanks Brad, for letting us know.

And thank YOU Sec. of State Bowen.

[marmar]

12. Princess Debra Organa?

:)

[tom_paine]

24. LOL. Isn't it ironic that, since the seizing of power and converting it to tyranny

is such an old story, repeated in so many ages and with so many different political faces, Left & Right alike, that we as a Nation should have as one of our Central Entertainment Myths (The Starw Wars Saga I-VI) the very story that outlines EXACTLY what is happening to Amerika RIGHT NOW.

We are telling the story to ourselves, and the story is really, about OURSELVES (well, now it is...it wasn't when the first Episode IV came out in 1977).

Irony overload. :puke:

Complete with Dukoo Bin Laden.

[Trajan]

36. YAY for Secretary Bowen ....

Bout time someone 'officially' recognized what we have always known .....

Where ya been Tom ? ..... Haven't seen much of your passionate and learned posts the last 2 years ....

DU needs Tom Paine ....

[Popol Vuh]

7. Excellent

This is exactly why a bunch of friends and myself voted for her.


:thumbsup:

[xxqqqzme]

53. As did I. At least we have ONE elected

office that made good on her promises. The Secretary of State race was the one I watched last November. Once I knew she had a lead mcpherson couldn't over come, I went to bed satisfied.

[Popol Vuh]

115. Same here as well

When I could tell she had the vote, I too was able to relax. Now with the cheating repubs trying to gimmick the elections in our state to still electoral votes. I am that much more happy to see at least the Secretary of State holding true to her word...


:toast:

[Stevepol]

8. This is the greatest news for democracy in recent memory. Debra is a "Paper" tiger!!

I mean that in the best possible sense. Go Debs!

[izzie]

9. Good

I never saw the reason for the rush any how. So a 'talking head' will have to stay up a few hours more. With 40 percent not voting it would be nice to count the 60 percent who do right. Now to get rid of the college and go for who gets the most votes wins. LIke to see that dragged out in one of these town hall meetings to these people running for office.

[dbt]

10. Damn! Let me rush over and turn on CNN!!!

I'm sure THIS will be all over the Alleged News just any minute now! (But seriesly folks, whatcha wanna bet we don't hear a peep about this on Terrorvision?)

[broadcaster]

14. I agree with you and observe also that...

if its not on TV, it didn't happen, in the minds
of most people. We need a TV channel that does
report news, and presently few do.
It's mainly propaganda TV.

Americans are not schooled to realize this.

[shanti]

131. have you check out

Free Speech TV and World Link TV channels? I have Dish and get them. They are excellent non-propaganda news channels.

[4dsc]

11. This is a victory for the people

Now we need to make sure all the votes count in the next election!!

[MasonJar]

13. There is obviously no reason that the Congress cannot implement this

change nation-wide immediately.

[cboy4]

15. This is exactly why we fought so hard here to make sure she

defeated that horrible Republic who wouldn't have done a damn thing about all of the GOP's dirty voting tricks.

Good for you Debra!

[Summer93]

16. Kick and Recommend

[Zorra]

18. Perfect, Thank you, Secretary of State Bowen.

This is a giant step forward.

[Nimrod2005]

19. KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

[fed-up]

20. "Diebold Election Systems, Inc...is found and determined to be defective or unacceptable..WITHDRAWN"

hip, hip, hooray!!!!!

[NuttyFluffers]

21. wonderful! and when alameda recently voted this way it was a breeze!

worked the polls for several elections now in alameda. went through pushpin, touchscreen, and now paper ballot w/ touchscreen for disabled. by far the paper ballot w/ optic scan was the easiest method. it processed so quickly, had paper ballots at the end for recounts, there were no confusions, complains, weird computer errors, etc. it was the most painless voting process i helped judge.

and now it seems this method that alameda and others have been pioneering will now be the state standard! huzzah!

[The Doctor.]

132. Optiscan aren't much better... the conditions must be met.

[kansasblue]

22. Some great news. I needed it after the FISA sell-out in Congress.

Bowen! You are the best!

[RestoreGore]

23. Great news...

Let's hope the Republican scheme to redistrict now fails.

[Zandor]

25. *** "Elections chief gives OK to vote machines" ***

Despite security concerns, she clears them for use in February

California counties will be able to use their electronic voting systems in February, subject to tough new security conditions and other restrictions, Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced Friday night.

While "investigators found serious vulnerabilities in all systems," Bowen said, the machines could be made safe and secure, although counties would face plenty of extra work complying with her rules.

Bowen officially decertified all the machines and then recertified them with the new conditions. She also said her office will have to approve all county election security plans.

The decision also limits the number of most of the touch- screen voting machines to one per polling place, to accommodate disabled voters...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/04/MNG2ERD1HJ1.DTL

[aquart]

74. Wow, that rephrases mightily.

Does it say the new recertification conditions have been met? Because I didn't notice that.

[bearfan454]

26. NATIONWIDE NOW !!!!

If we could ever get this passed nationwide the fucking pukes would never get in again, ever.

[bearfan454]

27. I'm sure the pukes will be framing her for some crime fairly soon

They do not want the votes to be legally counted. California is setting a bad precedent here for the rest of the country.:sarcasm:

That is if you are a criminal enterprise(BFEE, Cheney, Halliburton, military industrial complex, etc) that can't stay in power and steal from the treasury with no bid contracts if the votes are legally counted.

[ginnyinWI]

28. Amen!!

Since California usually sets the pace for what the rest of the states do, this is FANTASTIC news!!!

[YvonneCa]

112. Yes, it is...

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! :7

[truedelphi]

29. Yippee! n t

[Cleita]

30. Oh, happy day! I hope Arnold can't veto her.

Now what do we do about this scam to appropriate the majority of our electoral votes for the Republicans?

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2007/08/06/070806taco_talk_hertzberg

[Cronus Protagonist]

32. I wondered why Arnold was so happy and eager to move the voting day up

I bet he was trying to beat the deadline for changing the voting systems. Thanks to the voters of CA, we now have a person in charge who is not incompetent like our last one who was either totally clueless or was on someone's payroll that she shouldn't have been.

It is a good day for the state, and as goes California, so goes the nation! Onward!

[cboy4]

38. The last one was a "he" and he was an idiot with an (R)

[Cronus Protagonist]

47. I must have been thinking of the one before

She was a fucking idiot.

[xxqqqzme]

54. the last elected SoS was

Kevin Shelley (D) who was forced from office by innuendo/distortions/lies cooked up by the rethuglicans. No charges were ever brought against him although he was being 'investigated'. The CDP did NOTHING to help him and allowed the man to be hounded from office....then they approved steroid boy's choice (mcpherson)unanimously.

You are probably thinking of Fong, who was SoS for numerous terms.

[Cronus Protagonist]

59. I guess I'm going way back then

I remember when the machines were first coming into Ca and Fong, if that was her name, was so clueless and so trusting of Diebold and ES&S it was as if she were on their payroll. Numerous attempts to educate her failed and during testing she did not allow citizens and the press to watch other than through a glass pane in a window in a door. And Shelley certified the machines also, despite the clear violations of CA statutes regarding election integrity.

I'm glad we finally have someone there who's not either a dumb-ass or in the pocket of the corporations.

[ronnykmarshall]

81. March Fong was not SOS then either

[aquart]

77. Ah, typical Rove ploy.

[Melissa G]

31. WOW! Debra Bowen, American Patriot!

[Norrin Radd]

33. Outstanding!

[ooglymoogly]

34. Debbie, at last an honest politicion who follows up on her promises

that she got elected for while no one else seems to be doing the same. The pugs must be going apesh!t Thanx bradblog for posting this.

[disndat]

35. A giant step forward

and don't forget the paper ballot scanners also have computer chips and can also be tampered with. Oklahoma started to buy their own scanners with Open Source system chips. Way to go. Maybe we will finally move toward having every vote counted.

[Joanne98]

37. Gawd Bless Debra Bowen! K&R!

[Kajsa]

39. Hurray! Debra Bowen is a true patriot!

Just when things look bleak, and the state senate Repugs
are sitting on our state budget,

we get this wonderful news.

Paper ballots and paper trails for all votes cast!

Ms. Bowen, you're my nominee for Person of the Year.


:toast:

[Bozita]

40. This is a topic today on "This is Hell" -- listen live now -- link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1510947

[Peggy Day]

41. I'm gonna have to call her office to thank her.

I was worried last night-it seems we can't get a break anywhere.

[Evergreen Emerald]

42. this has to happen across the country before the next election

or the coup will continue. This is the most important issue of our day.

[coffeenap]

43. YES!!!!!! Thank you to all here who helped this happen!

Now, let's hope this is a precedent other states will use. Hooray!

[MsKandice01]

44. I was SO proud to cast a vote for this lady in November..

Because I knew that she would do great things to change the way we vote here in California. I'm so glad she didn't let us down. I have such tremendous respect for her.

[sce56]

45. LA Times Story

State decides to secure electronic voting machines
Full story

Secretary of State orders more precautions be taken against tampering, and withdraws support of the InkaVote Plus machines used in Southern California.
By Jordan Rau and Hector Becerra, Times Staff Writers
August 4, 2007


SACRAMENTO -- Expressing concern that several brands of electronic voting machines used in California were vulnerable to tampering, Secretary of State Debra Bowen late Friday ordered new security protections be added and limited the use of two types of machines that were to be used in next year's elections in several Southern California counties.

Bowen also withdrew state approval of the InkaVote Plus machines used in Los Angeles County, saying that the machines' maker, Election Systems and Software, had failed to submit its equipment to her office in time to analyze its vulnerability to hacking.

She said her office would examine the InkaVote machines and expressed optimism that they would win approval in time to be used in next year's elections, but did not say what would happen if the machines failed her tests.

"When NASA discovers a flow or a potential safety concern in the space shuttle, it doesn't continue launching the missions...," Bowen said. "It scrubs the missions until the problem is fixed."

Her announcement, made just nine minutes before a midnight deadline, was condemned by the head of the state's county registrar's association, Contra Costa Registrar Stephen Weir.

See full story at link posted above

[aquart]

76. Another total distortion.

Dear me. Wonder why we go to the internet for news.

[Le Taz Hot]

46. We should ALL contact her office

and shout out a big thanks!

http://www.sos.ca.gov/contacts.htm

I KNEW those campaign dollars were well spent.

[Ellipsis]

48. Cool...

...and New York Keeps their lever machines.

Time to focus on Florida, Ohio and Missouri.

[aquart]

73. LOVE THE LEVERS!

[Old and In the Way]

49. The 1st step in restoring our democracy is believing the results.

This is a real HAVA moment.

[YvonneCa]

50. Thank you...

...Sec. of State Debra Bowen!

[lonestarnot]

51. Woot!

:applause:

[Fiendish Thingy]

52. Excellent! A politician with courage keeps a promise! Call your local govt.!

My fear is the various county's registrars of voters will sue the state due to the expense and inconvenience this will bring to their jobs. Everyone should call their local govt. -registrar, board of supervisors, etc. and tell them you support Bowen's actions, and that they shouldn't fight this, but find a way to make it work, even if it means 1) raising taxes, and 2) voting results won't be available the night the polls close.

My other fear is that Rove's "voter fraud" squad of US Attorney's will prosecute this to force compliance with HAVA; I hope Bowen has the wherewithal to fight this...

[BradBlog]

55. Rekicked...

[Misskittycat]

56. I kept checking Bradblog all evening until I fell asleep. This was the

first news I wanted to check this morning. I was feeling very discouraged yesterday about the FISA issue in Congress, and this really is great news.

[1776Forever]

57. Florida Moved to Paper Ballots May 3, 2007 - More States to come I hope!!!!!!!!!

Florida Voters Coalition congratulates Governor Crist and legislature for ending paperless voting
May 3rd, 2007

http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6462

Charlie Crist is the first Republican I may vote for in the future since I started voting in 1968. We need more like him that take this seriously for both parties!

[whistle]

65. Not the same as decertification of electronic vote stealing machines..

...plus we here in Florida are still subject to all sorts of vote fraud such as caging, poll blacklisting, voter precinct tampering, and the list goes on and on. Charlie Crist is a reThuglicon distraction. He has 40 months left in office and can do a lot of damage in the state. He needs to be held accountable on every step.

[orleans]

58. k&r thank god. n/t

[Gelliebeans]

60. Thank you Ms. Bowen

K&R

[whistle]

62. The rest of the country must follow this example...NO MORE WHOLESALE STEALING of ELECTIONS!

[whistle]

63. P.S. Also, bring in the a U.N. task force for oversight of 2008 election

[Dervill Crow]

64. Huzzah! nt

[knight_of_the_star]

68. Huzzah! nt

[Pooka Fey]

66. Great news! K&R

[maryallen]

67. YES!!!

49 states to go!!

[Maat]

70. Yahoo!

This proud Californian zealously campaigned for her.

I'm sure that the Companies will just introduce a modified system; we need to keep on this.

[kaygore]

71. She did take our input into consideration--Wow!

I am so happy that I supported her campaign. She is one of the few (Jim Webb being another).

This is huge!

[trashcanistanista]

72. This is wonderful news for California.

We can all add another layer of protection to fair elections by volunteering for election day duty. They are taking names for volunteers now and you can sign up for all three elections. All dems should be working on election day either as poll workers or poll watchers. Put in for your time off NOW and recruit your friends. Let's walk the walk and get Sec. of State Bowen's back on this and show the rest of the country how it's done!:-)


I wanted to add if you are employed by the State of California and work election day as a poll worker you will get a full days pay for the day off.

[GreenTea]

84. This is GREAT news for the whole entire country! If CA decertified the rest of

the states will now be forced to take a long hard look at their easily hackable, republican owned companies owning the proprietary software in their electronic voting machines! Purposely designed to steal elections for the republican....This is no bullshit...they hack them in their favor as they have obviously done in so many races across the country....and there is no way to verify either way....and that's the reason Diebold & ES&S fight tooth and nail never to allow their software be publicly open for scrutiny...and is also why when there has been obvious voting decrepencies & manipulations....Republicans have benefited from the machines 100%of the time!!!

[shance]

75. HOWEVER, if the ballots are still tabulated with optiscans and tabulated by those

with vested interests, it essentially is irrelevant. The shell game continues.

If I am wrong someone please tell me that the optiscans have been removed as well and that there are now nationwide citizen hand counts taking place.

The problem and the voting fraud will still exist.

Sorry everyone but Ms. Bowen I believe is being somewhat misleading as are others to elude to the fact that this issue is resolved.

Building a false sense of security is pretty shameful in my book.

The optiscans are a primary source of fraudulent/inaccurate tabulation and are still welcomed with a red carpet and equally who are the individuals counting the votes?

It should be citizens (ie you and me*) and not those with vested interests telling us simply to 'trust them'.

[trashcanistanista]

79. This is true, however it is

dependent on the security measures she has initiated. I think we are assuming she will be tightening the security on the "hack-ability" of the optiscans based on the info she got from the computer scientists who were asked to hack them. The only way to really determine the effectiveness of it is to compare print outs from the optiscans that are posted on the precinct after the election to what poll watchers can determine during the election. It requires massive citizen help. If there are discrepancies, there should be a way for a citizen group to call for manual recount on a specific precinct or do the recount. At least there is paper to fall back on where the touch screens literally give you a print out only, after the fact. Unless you were to review the printout with the voter (from the touchscreen) immediately after the vote is cast you don't know if the vote was counted accurately. This type of reviewing is not done due to time constraints. You are correct, in that it is not perfect, but it remains to be seen what more needs to be done. Ideally, we should switch companies and go with an open source code.

I want to add that going with ALL PAPER is an enormous step towards accountability. The more paper ballots there are, the more likely any precinct could be subject to a clean recount for any reason, so this is, in fact, a very big thing that she has done. It also brings this issue to the forefront and makes it that much easier to discourage voters, even handicapped voters from using touch screens which at this time is permitted (at least in my district}. There are ways to assist handicapped voters that do not involve touch screens to get their votes on paper. It is better, though, if they, themselves, demand paper.

[disndat]

137. YES. Open Source

even with opticsanners is key. Oklahoma, the only state, commisioned their own Open Source, optical system and have reported no problems in any election database for recent elections.

[BradBlog]

110. Who said it's "resolved"?

You said:

"Sorry everyone but Ms. Bowen I believe is being somewhat misleading as are others to elude to the fact that this issue is resolved."

I'm not sure anyone has said "this issues is resolved."

This is, however, an incredibly positive step in the right direction (for a change). But if you're looking for a silver bullet, there ain't one. If there's one thing we've come to learn, is that democracy requires vigilance, oversight, transparency and citizens willing to work tirelessly towards all of those ends.

The bad guys will find *any* hole to exploit. Forever. The best we can do is make it as hard as possible for them to do so.

The Titanic is beginning to turn around with this move. At least for now. And at least as I see it. But nothing is "resolved" and likely never will be...

[GreenTea]

130. Changed my tune...

[byronius]

78. BOWEN FOR GOVERNOR.

I'm so proud of my SOS, I can't even tell you.

[ronnykmarshall]

80. Debbie Bowen for GOV!!!

[Lindsey]

82. Someone to be proud of!!!!!!!!! n/t

[Mrspeeker]

83. Bowen was the only reason I voted last election

On DieBold touch screen machines here in Santa Cruz, Because the rest of the Democrats are simply playing footsies with their counterparts!

[GreenTea]

85. Exactly the way I felt...I knew her race was the most important race in

the whole country....I knew Rove with his slimy ways, the way he got rid of ELECTED Democrat, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley (who hated the Diebold hackable machines and didn't want to allow them in CA) and Rove had republican Guv Arnold, (Arnold too, a Rove set-up by getting rid of Democrat Davis, though it was ENRON who caused the problems in CA) APPOINT a republican Secretary of State, republican Bruce McPherson to certify the hackable Diebold, (and the rest) electronic voting machines, this would assure they would be able to steal California, (as they had in so many other states with the republican owned electronic voting machines being certified purposely to be able to turn elections as they needed). which the republican couldn't do up to that point, the republicans couldn't win California, even when Gore & Edwards didn't even have to campaign in California and still won CA by 12 & 11 points respectively...the republican slime was going to steal California, they had to, that's the big prize.

Some of us knew getting Debra Bowen elected against overwhelming odds was going to be tough and the only way to slow BusCo fascist march on the west coast.... I also knew and preached to anyone who would listen and many did, and agreed and already knew this.... That indeed this was the most important race in the whole country in 2006 - especially for the up coming national election of 2008 - and how the republicans wanted to steal those CA electoral votes. (And they absolutely would of if appointed republican Bruce McPherson a shoe-in, got elected)... However, if NOT without the hard work and donations and letter writing and calls and screaming on forums like this one (DU) by many of us, Bowen wouldn't of won...Out of all the candidates running in California her race was the closest and wasn't determined until early in the morning...Man, I was up hitting the refresh button on the vote totals until early in the morning when 99% of the precincts were in and Debra Bowen was the winner!!!

Because when I heard Debra Bowen speak I knew she got it! and she proved it!!!!

[trashcanistanista]

87. Amen to that!

We may even discover through upcoming elections that CA is a lot bluer than we were lead to believe over the last few years!

[GreenTea]

93. Maybe, but Democratic Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley was counting the votes...

and he despised the Diebold machines, and then Shelley was forced out, and replaced with APPOINTED republican, Bruce McPherson as Secretary of State, who now counted the votes and who did preside over that disastrous, bullshit, slimy congressional race in San Diego...That's when I absolutely knew McPherson had to go.

But, you may be right...we may find California under Debra Bowen a lot "bluer"...certainly it will be a more accurate count!

[Rainscents]

86. Bowen... Beautiful Creator of GOD!!!

Thank you!!! Victory for people of CA and let your (Bowen) LIGHT and LOVE shine the whole nation!

[proud patriot]

88. Thank You D Bowen , I'm proud to have voted for you

:woohoo:

[rumpel]

90. me, too

:bounce:

[proud patriot]

89. Oh and whoops THANKS BRAD

:loveya: :yourock:

[RadiDem]

91. HURRAH! Thanks Deb! (and Brad)

[Gonzo Gardener]

92. hip hip

HURRAY!!!:applause:

[ms liberty]

94. So that's what a heroine looks like....beautiful! Awesome news! n/t

[BeFree]

95. As California goes

So goes the nation.

[fooj]

117. Yes, indeed.

:thumbsup:

[LaPera]

96. WOW! Stayed up early this morning waiting and reading this....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=479573&mesg_id=479577

And now I see it was worth every bit of time and effort to help get the wonderful & excellent Debra Bowen elected as California Secretary of State!

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vsr.htm

CHEERS! :hi:
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

:kick:

:woohoo: :headbang: :applause:

[datadiva]

97. I just wrote her a letter and its in the mail

I couldn't wait to type it and mail it. Such great news and I knew I was right to vote for her. Now on to the Nation! Could you just see her replacing Rice? Someone with integrity who works hard and keeps her promises.

[GreenTea]

98. And a big THANKS to you Brad, for your continued efforts & dedication!!!

http://www.BradBlog.com

:bounce:

[Raine]

100. YIPPEEEE

Bowen is TERRIFIC she used to be my rep and I always liked her! :-) This is just WONDERFUL news! :bounce:

[lovuian]

101. WooHoo

:woohoo:

[sutz12]

102. Sort of makes you wonder....

about the real reason they rushed to push the date of the primary up....doesn't it?

It seems she barely got this in.

:evilfrown:

[peabody71]

103. YES!!!!

That's all I have to say.

[MasonJar]

104. Our Congress has dropped the ball on this, the most crucial issue

of the 110th Congress. We must inundate them with calls to do the same nation-wide. It is the only way to be sure Rove will not steal another election. How can the Congress avoid doing this when California is doing it so easily?

[diane in sf]

105. I emailed Debra Bowen today.

Thank you Ms. Bowen,
I voted for you and contributed to your campaign and I'm so happy about it and proud of you.

You have helped fulfill my dreams of the restoration of our democracy and voting rights by your actions.

I know we have a long way to go and a lot to do, but this is such an important step.

As California goes, so goes the nation,
Diane
San Francisco

[L. Coyote]

106. K & R, X-posted on GD & ER

This will place the issue on the national front burner.

Tell your own SoS to follow this example, to "Save the nation from real HACKS."

[CaliforniaPeggy]

107. I am so proud to have voted for her!

Thank you for this thread...

What an enormous relief for all of us Californians...

And for the nation as a whole too...

Now the truth is out, perhaps these diabolical machines will vanish from the political landscape...

Debra Bowen has spine, and she's not afraid...

[marions ghost]

108. This is Hugh !!!!

Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who had anything to do with making this happen in California!!

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[Kurovski]

109. K&R!

Brilliant.

[Nothing Without Hope]

111. Outstanding! K & R with thanks n/t

[fooj]

116. I'm proud to have been a part of her campaign team.

I live in McPherson's neck of the woods and I worked my arse off to help get Debra Bowen elected as California's next SOS! I can't even begin to tell you how many DTS (decline to state) voters I phoned! It was quite the experience to be certain. It was TIME WELL SPENT, imo. She makes me proud.

Thank you, Debra for your courage and integrity. You have modeled the behavior of a true leader. :patriot:

[Nothing Without Hope]

128. Wow, Fooj, you deserve some major props too!

:applause: :patriot: :applause:

Good work! One person CAN make a difference.

[flyarm]

113. wonderful news!!!! Great job Debra Bowen!!! and great Job Calif!!!

wooooo hooooooooo!!!!

great great great!!!

fly

[benld74]

114. Can I hear a HELL YEAH?

[dailykoff]

119. Buh-bye Arnie

you fat POS! :hi:

[caligirl]

120. DiFi's replacement? Bowen for Senator of California

[dailykoff]

122. seconded.

:thumbsup:

[freedomfries]

121. way to go Debra Bowen!

:loveya:

[Tom Joad]

123. Results of grassroots efforts.

For example, the folks at Sacramento for Democracy
http://sacramentofordemocracy.org/

[Mind_your_head]

124. Hallelujah!!!!!

:applause: :bounce: :applause: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :applause:

[jgundrey]

125. One of the cool things about this...

...is that vote counts from California elections will be deadly-accurate from now on. So when exit polls are conducted, voting patterns measured and other statistical methods applied to the results of elections here, outcomes of these results can be correlated to results from other states in order to show fraud elsewhere. California can serve as an accuracy baseline for the validation of statistical methods in vote analysis.

For example, if multiple exit poles conducted across California come within one-percent of actual votes in every case, but exit poles in other states mismatch their actuals by three percent, five percent or more, then you're probably looking at fraud in the other state.

I use the example of exit poles, because they have been proven time and time again to be very accurate predictors of outcomes. But, in both the '00 and '04 elections, the actuals were way off of the predictions based on exit polling in Florida and Ohio, thus pointing to some kind of cheating. But, Republicans held to the myth/lie that people were willfully mis-reporting who they voted for upon exiting their polling place, and that's what led to the bad correlations.

Good job Secretary Bowen. California will lead the way in vote-counting accuracy.

[Mind_your_head]

127. California has always been maligned.....as a bunch of hippy, end-of-the world

types. Yet, as California goes....so goes the nation. It's been shown time and time again.

Hallelujah!!!!!

California is maligned b/c the rest of the nation is basically jealous of you and your bounty......(strong, independent, successful truth-seekers have ALWAYS been maligned, so consider it a compliment, in a way :-) )

[shanti]

129. woo hoo!!!!

:woohoo: awesome!!

[althecat]

133. Fantastic news indeed.... three cheers from downunder

the worm is turning...

[Peggy Day]

134. The Sacramento Bee Voting Decision Creates Turmoil

I live in Contra Costa County, and already I am suspicious of Stephen Weir. I am so happy this happened, and I was thinking it wouldn't. Just a sliver of hope.

http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/309719.html

[BradBlog]

138. Steve Weir has been atrocious...

...In the comments he's made to the media. As Registar of Contra Costa, and President of the California Assoc. of Clerks and Election Officers, you folks in CC ought to be raising hell about this guy, frankly, until he sees the light of day.

Have you all set up protests outside of his office yet? If not, what's keeping you? He needs to sue the voting machine companies who lied to him, get some of the counties tax-money back, instead of lying on *behalf* of the companies!

Please get that message to him, and send him my best regards.

[Peggy Day]

141. I tried to call his office yesterday, but they don't take messages

This may sound stupid, but does he get elected or appointed? He must be a Republican, but that is no excuse.
He questioned why she didn't wait until Monday, failing to mention that she had to give them 6 months notice. He's probably wanting her job.
I'll do what I can when the office is open.

http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/depart/elect/clerk/

[Mountainman]

135. This is one of the greatest things in my lifetime. Finally someone is serious about the right to

vote. I am so glad I voted for her.

[mvd]

136. Great to see

Thanks for posting. That FISA vote had me quite agitated, and this lifts my spirits a little.

[donkeyotay]

139. Congratulations to all who have labored in the election trenches

Thank you!
:patriot: :toast:

[youngharry]

140. Papedr Ballots for California

BRAVO, BRAVO, BRAVO... Debra and Brad, you are true American Heroes. Hopefully, the rest of America will wake up and realize they don't have the right to have their votes counted properly as long as they have electronic voting in their States. Paper Ballots and hand counting. There is no other way. Yes, it's possible that that system is not 100% secure, but at least it wont be wholesale vote cahnging in an entire county or an entire State.

For those that say the investigation that Debra Bowen conducted a week ago and proved that all machines in California were hackable is only becuase she had the codes and the various sources. Are you so ignorant that you don't understand that those who would corrupt our voting would have access to those same codes also. YOUR OUTRAGE IS NOTHING MORE THAN PHONY PROPAGANDA IN DEFENSE OF THE INDEFENSIBLE. YOU ARE NOT HONEST OR AMERICANS IN BELIEF OF A SECURE ELECTION SYSTEM AND YOU ONLY WANT TO GAME THE SYSTEM BY KEEPING A CORRUPT ONE IN PLACE.

[Misskittycat]

142. Thanks to Brad, also. I forgot to mention him in my earlier post. n/t