Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday 01/14/06

[livvy]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:
1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.







Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[livvy]

1. Partisan Fights Over Election Administration Brewing

Electionline Weekly – January 12, 2006
Partisan fights over election administration brewing
New Year will renew old disputes in statehouses

By M. Mindy Moretti
electionline.org.

As legislatures across the country convene for the first sessions of the New Year, a fresh round of battles are brewing over election reform in a number of states.

With the Help America Vote Act deadline behind them, Congress has demonstrated almost no interest in reopening federal election reform. Changes to election administration will happen within states, without nudging from Washington.

The deadline for HAVA’s mandates only signaled the clock had run out for federal compliance. Election administration fights continue at the state level, including in Ohio and Wisconsin, where the legislatures and the governors are wrangling over voter identification laws.

Lawmakers in Maryland appear poised to have a much broader fight. >more

http://www.electionline.org/Newsletters/tabid/87/ctl/Detail/mid/643/xmid/170/xmfid/3/Default.aspx

[livvy]

2. US Threatens to Sue Albany Over Voting

January 12, 2006
U.S. Threatens to Sue Albany Over Voting
By MICHAEL COOPER

ALBANY, Jan. 11 - The federal Justice Department has threatened to sue New York State over its failure to modernize its voting system, saying New York "is further behind" every other state in complying with new guidelines stemming from the 2000 presidential election dispute.

The state has yet to decide what kind of new voting machines it will certify, leaving many local elections boards in uncertainty as they try to modernize their voting systems in time for next fall's primary elections. And the state missed the Jan. 1 deadline for creating a statewide database of registered voters, as required by the federal Help America Vote Act.

New York is behind all other states and territories in deciding how to spend its share of $2.3 billion in federal aid to modernize voting machines and other elections technology. So far the state has received $220 million to replace its 20,000 aging voting machines, train local election officials to use the new machines, and create the voter database. The money is unspent and collecting interest, officials say.

A Justice Department letter told state officials this week that it had authorized a lawsuit against New York for failing to comply with the law. The letter said that the department hoped to settle the matter by negotiating a court order with the state instead going to court but that "we are prepared to file a complaint if the matter is not resolved expeditiously.">more

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/12/nyregion/12vote.html

[livvy]

3. CT: Blumenthal Investigating Voting Machine Company

Blumenthal investigating voting machine company
EDWARD J. CROWDER [email protected]

BRIDGEPORT — State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday that his office is exploring whether a Simsbury company broke the law when it offered a failed bid to provide Connecticut's next-generation voting machines.

Danaher Controls was the state's first choice to upgrade 3,300 aging mechanical voting machines.

But Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz last week announced the state had dropped the company after learning its machines were not certified for use in national elections.

The development caused the state to miss a Jan. 1 deadline to line up new voting machines to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act in time for this November's elections.>more

http://www.connpost.com/news/ci_3390944

[livvy]

4. MA: Opinion: States' Antiquated Election Laws Need Reform

States' antiquated election laws need reform
By Madhu Sridhar and Sen. Edward Augustus Jr.
Thursday, January 12, 2006

Since 2000, many states have aggressively pursued changes to their voting systems. And while Massachusetts has a sterling election administration record it can be proud of, our state has done little to modernize its antiquated election laws. Comparatively, voting in Massachusetts is overly burdensome and our election system remains vulnerable to serious administration problems, such as those experienced in Florida and Ohio in recent election cycles.
To encourage the highest possible turnout and ensure every vote is counted, Massachusetts must make voting easier and more convenient. We must reduce registration problems, prevent long lines, and re-establish voter confidence that has been eroded by allegations of impropriety across the country.>clip
We must act now to address the erosion of public confidence in our system. We cannot continue to be complacent about low turnout and voter disenfranchisement. At a time when our country is working to secure democracy around the world, we must do everything we can to increase participation in our own democracy at home. America is changing; our communities are changing; we are changing. It follows that our institutions and the way we participate in those institutions must also change. With our proud democratic traditions, Massachusetts should be at the vanguard of free and fair elections, not a laggard weighted down by antiquated laws.Madhu Sridhar is president of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts. Sen. Edward Augustus Jr. represents the Second Worcester District in the Massachusetts Senate. This column was provided by the Massachusetts League of Women Voters. For information, visit www.lwvma.org.

http://www2.townonline.com/melrose/opinion/view.bg?articleid=406190&format=&page=1

[livvy]

5. TX: Test-Driving the County's New Electronic Voting Device

This is an older piece, but I thought some might be interested in the description of how this new voting machine works.

01/07/2006
Test-driving the county's new electronic voting device
By: Jim Fredricks

At first glance, it looked like someone's PDA on steroids, a King-Kong-sized Palm Pilot.
That was my first impression as I entered Montgomery County Election Central for my demonstration of the new eSlate electronic voting device. County election officials will be rolling out the new voting devices in the upcoming March primaries.
No more using a pencil to fill in the bubble next to your candidate for office. Instead, voters will be confronting an entirely new technology. Friday, I got my first taste of that technology.
At first, like any new device, it was a bit disorienting while I got my bearings. With its big, inviting display screen, I was tempted to touch it to punch in the special code they gave me. Wrong move - the key to this device is not a touch-screen, but something called the "SELECT" wheel, a white dial in the lower-right-hand corner that you use to dial through various options.>clip
Once you've dialed the wheel to the correct position, you hit an "ENTER" button to indicate your choice. Once you've dialed your way through the various ballot positions or races and made your choices in each, the device asks if you're ready to actually cast your vote, showing you your choices together on the screen on a "ballot summary page." Hit the red "cast ballot" button at bottom, and you're done.


http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1574&dept_id=532225&newsid=15889116&PAG=461&rfi=9

[livvy]

6. AL: Worley, Brooks Spar Over Voter Cards to Illegals

You might have to supply a zip, birthdate, and gender to read the entire piece. I found an interesting article filled with the typical spin from the Brooks side of the debate.

Worley, Brooks spar over voter cards to illegals
Secretary of state's instructions to registrars is the focus of dispute
Thursday, January 12, 2006
By JOHN PECK
Times Staff Writer [email protected]

Alabama Secretary of State Nancy Worley has accused Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks of lying and "political grandstanding" by saying that she told registrars to issue voter registration cards even if the applicants indicated they were not U.S. citizens.

Brooks, who made the claims in a late December letter billed as a news release, said he was only relaying what registrars heard from Worley at a recent training conference in Cullman. Two Huntsville-area registrars who attended the session said they believe that Worley instructed them to process voter applications without questioning citizenship.

Worley, a Democrat, and Brooks, a Republican, are ramping up their campaigns for state elections this spring. Worley is seeking re-election. Brooks is running for lieutenant governor. >clip
Part of the confusion may lie in the fact that there are two places on voter registration forms that ask about U.S. citizenship. One is a checkoff box at the top that asks the question outright. The other is a signature requirement at the bottom attesting that the applicant is a U.S. citizen, a resident of Alabama, at least 18 years old, has no felony convictions and has not been declared mentally incompetent by a court.>more

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1137060979317560.xml&coll=1

[livvy]

7. AZ: Voting Expert Says Ballots From Primary Should Be Examined

Voting expert says ballots from primary should be examined
Harper to face ethics panel

Casey Newton
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 13, 2006 12:00 AM

A voting-technology expert is calling for the examination of ballots cast in a District 20 primary election, saying it is the only way to quell concerns that the ballots were tampered with.

While the report gives support to those who have questioned the handling of the September 2004 recount, the circumstance of its release could mean trouble for the state senator who sponsored it.

"Without empirical examination of a random sample of voted ballots, there is no way to decide between the hypothesis that ballots have been altered and the hypothesis that ballots were miscounted by poorly calibrated machines," University of Iowa Associate Professor Douglas Jones wrote in a report released Thursday.>clip

It (the inquiry into the results of the election) has grown into a contentious fight over voting machines, Senate ethics and the role of the press in government investigations.>more

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0113capitol-harper13.html

[livvy]

8. NY: Putnam Hearing Focuses on Future of Voting

Putnam hearing focuses on future of voting

By SUSAN ELAN
[email protected]
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: January 13, 2006)

CARMEL — A state Board of Elections official said yesterday that commissioners are prepared to meet next week with federal representatives regarding a threatened lawsuit over New York's delay in bringing in new voting machines and complying with other requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act.

"Our obligation is to make sure that voting works in New York state and to insure the integrity of the system," Peter Kosinski, co-executive director of the state Board of Elections told the 65 participants from Putnam, Westchester, Rockland and Dutchess counties who attended a public hearing yesterday at Putnam's Emergency Services building.>clip

Only one speaker, Paul Loewenwarter of Croton-on-Hudson, advocated for touch-screen, ATM-style voting machines. "Optical scanners are not so clearly the best choice" because "people do not always mark ballots properly," Loewenwarter said. "The scanner tries to figure out whether a mark on a ballot is a voter's true choice or just an accidental smudge."

Koskinski, a Republican, said Loewenwarter's remarks were the only ones he and his Democratic counterpart, Stanley Zalen, have heard supporting touch-screen voting technology over the course of the four hearings.>more

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/NEWS02/601130390/1026/NEWS10

[livvy]

9. Video: Alito Ducks, Dodges, Dances on Bush v Gore Question

When asked about the judicial activism of the Supreme Court in the Bush/Gore decision, Alito skirts around the issue with a non-answer as he has done repeatedly in the hearing. The clip is not long, but interesting.

This is from the 10th, but I hadn't viewed it, and thought some others might not have seen the clip either. Just another question, he won't give a straight answer to.

The link to the video is from the BradBlog website 1/10/06. The video links are in the first box.

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002262.htm

[livvy]

10. GA: Voter ID Bill Clears House

Voter ID bill clears House

By CARLOS CAMPOS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/13/06

The state House approved changes to a voter ID law on Thursday in hopes it will withstand a legal challenge. But the four-hour debate lacked the drama that marked last year's discussion.

Senate Bill 84, which passed 110-64, still requires that all Georgians present a government-issued photo ID when voting. If the bill is approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, the state would be required to issue a photo ID for free to anyone who needs it to vote. Also, all 159 counties will be required to set up a location for residents to get the ID cards.

Republicans hope the changes to the photo ID bill will help it pass legal muster by addressing the questions of the affordability and accessibility of the cards. A federal judge in Rome temporarily suspended enforcement of the law in October after a lawsuit was filed by opponents including the ALCU and Common Cause of Georgia.

Democratic foes of the law argue that it's a political ploy aimed at suppressing the vote of the elderly, the poor and minorities — groups that tend to vote Democratic. The law had a provision allowing poor people to get a state ID for free, but they were required to sign a statement swearing their indigency.>more

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/0113legvote.html

[livvy]

11. CT: Supposed Voting Machine Rule Never Existed

2006-01-14
Supposed voting machine rule never existed

HARTFORD (AP) — After being forced to scrap plans to buy thousands of new high-tech voting machines because no company could meet Connecticut’s requirements, state officials revealed Friday that one of those requirements never existed in state law.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said there is nothing in state statutes or regulations that require a voting machine to show a full ballot on the screen.
“It has never appeared in our law,” he said. “There’s no provision in the statutes or regulations that a full-faced ballot be part of voting machines.” >snip
Connecticut does require that a person’s vote be verified by some sort of paper trail. >more
http://news.newstimeslive.com/story.php?id=78720&category=Regional

[Wilms]

14. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x409145

[livvy]

12. More Violence Predicted When Election Results Out

Published Jan. 13, 2006

More violence predicted when election results out
Final numbers delayed by complaints of fraud

BY PATRICK QUINN

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military predicted Thursday that more violence will engulf Iraq in the weeks ahead as the country’s splintered politicians and religious groups struggle to form a government.

The warning followed a week marked by what U.S. Brig. Gen. Donald Alston described as “horrific attacks,” amid deteriorating relations between the Iraq’s largest Shiite religious group and Sunni Arabs who make up the core of the opposition.

Alston, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition force, said attacks that have killed at least 500 people since the Dec. 15 elections were a sign insurgents were using the difficult transition to a new government to destabilize the democratic process. In the month since the elections, 54 U.S. forces also have been killed.>clip
Final election results have been delayed by Sunni Arab complaints of fraud, but are expected next week. Although leading politicians have expressed hopes a government could be formed in February, most experts and officials agree it could take two to three months, as it did after the Jan. 30 elections for an interim government.>more
http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/NEWS/60113009/1001

[livvy]

13. Discussion thread on the delay of results.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2041206

[FogerRox]

15. San Bernadino BUYS Sequoia EDGE DRE ?

Another paper trail
Neighbor adds vote printout
Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer



Confidence in the voting system is expected to build this year as San Bernardino and Riverside counties offer voters a paper printout to review their choices before casting their ballot.
Since state law requires that electronic voting machines provide a voter-verifiable paper trail this year, both counties are taking steps to ensure the June 6 primary runs smoothly.

San Bernardino County, which was the first in the state to use the technology on Election Day last November, has color-coded printer cables to ensure poll workers plug them into the correct port.

To keep pace with neighboring counties and state law, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to buy 3,700 new touch-screen voting machines equipped with printers to allow voters to review their choices.

"This will give the voter an extra bit of confidence that they can see the ballot on a paper record stored in our office," said Barbara Dunmore, Riverside County's registrar of voters.


more-
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3397781

[Wilms]

16. A Conversation With Bob Fitrakis. DU's Q & A Last Night In Summary

by OPERATIONMINDCRIME

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x139181

[Wilms]

17. Updates on Palo Alto, Diebold and Much More

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Updates on Palo Alto, Diebold and Much More

Palo Alto's Human Relations Commission (HRC) discussed but did not vote up or down on the Voter Confidence Resolution (VCR) on Thursday night. According to Commissioner Winifred Lew, "more wordsmithing" is in order. Lew will be working with Commissioners Jeffrey Blum and Shauna Wilson on the revisions. Wilson, the Commission Chair, assures me the resolution will appear again on the next HRC agenda for a Feb. 9 meeting.

Changes we might expect to see could include more localized context for Palo Alto and Santa Clara County, additional details about uniform standards (perhaps audit protocols or enforcement mechanisms), and maybe a nod towards a public forum on open source solutions. The version of the VCR considered by the HRC was almost identical to that adopted by the City Council of Arcata, CA. Actually, it included every single word, also adding four points to the election reform platform and tacking on a call for a Voter Confidence Task Force. The proposed new verbiage comes from a resolution adopted by Berkeley, CA in the aftermath of the 2004 "election":

* A requirement that the top elected official responsible for overseeing elections in each jurisdiction be elected in a non-partisan race, and may not serve in any capacity in any political campaign other than her or his own.

* Consistent national standards for security, including physical and electronic security, of election systems, including tallying systems.

* Uniform and inclusive voter registration standards and accurate and transparent voting roll purges, based on fair and consistent national standards.

* Consistent national standards for the number of voting machines and poll workers per 100 voters in each precinct, to ensure reasonable and uniform waiting times for all voters.

In passing this resolution, the City of Palo Alto, California will take concrete action to increase, protect, and ensure Voter Confidence through the formation of a City Voter Confidence Task Force or the appointment of a City liaison to an existing County Voter Confidence Task Force, whichever is appropriate.

snip

http://guvwurld.blogspot.com/2006/01/updates-on-palo-alto-diebold-and-much.html

[Wilms]

18. FL: ES&S Betrays Agreement with Leon County /Last Minute Pull-Out

Voting-machine firm backs out

Suspicious, Sancho consults lawyers

By Bill Cotterell
DEMOCRAT POLITICAL EDITOR

January 14, 2006

A reluctant turndown, recorded on Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho's cell phone, and a holiday greeting from a corporate giant that he'd chosen to provide Leon County's voting machinery are the latest twists in Florida's long-running struggle with election reform.

Faced with a deadline this month to comply with handicapped-access provisions of federal law in time for the September primaries, Sancho got the County Commission to dump the old ballot scanners late last year and let him bring in a new company to include a laser-printing system. But the new company, Election Systems & Software, has backed out of the plan - leaving Sancho suspicious of its motives and consulting lawyers.

Sancho said ES&S has been seeking Leon County's business since 2004. He said Diebold Election Systems, which provided the current system, had violated its agreement with the county by refusing to upgrade software unless he signed a new contract and agreed never to link Diebold equipment to any other machinery.

Sancho wanted to couple his 160 Diebold scanners with the "Automark" system that is marketed by ES&S.

Sancho said Friday he will negotiate with Diebold and ES&S first, but has consulted attorneys about taking legal action to make them come to terms.

"I'm going to acquire state-certified, HAVA-compliant equipment in time for this year's elections," Sancho said. "To me, that means getting the Automark."

But Ken Fields, a spokesman for ES&S in St. Louis, said the company isn't interested. He declined to give details but said "we just decided that we would not be able to have the most effective partnership with the county."

David Bear, representing Diebold's elections division, said the company won't back down from its ban on coupling Diebold equipment with any competitor's computers.

snip

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060114/NEWS01/601140324/1010


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x409147

[livvy]

19. New Yorkers Don't Much Like Their State Government

New Yorkers don't much like their state government




By MARC HUMBERT
AP Political Writer

January 14, 2006, 9:59 AM EST

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A new statewide poll out this past week has demonstrated, yet again, that New York voters don't think much of their state government and crave change.

The findings from the Siena College Research Institute help explain why candidates for statewide office, from governor on down, are tripping over each other to present themselves as reformers or, better yet, "outsiders.">snip
The potential appeal of being seen as a reform-minded or outsider candidate for the 2006 election has escaped none of the candidates and the political operatives managing their campaigns. They read their own polls.>snip
Others polls have found similar dissatisfaction with New York's state government and one think tank study proclaimed the state Legislature one of the least democratic in America. Despite such sentiments, legislation to create independent redistricting commissions, term limits and significant campaign finance reform has routinely withered on the vine in the Legislature.>more

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--marchumbert0114jan14,0,5887007.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

[livvy]

20. Election reform debated- Portsmouth

Portsmouth City Clerk Kelli Barnaby, right, reviews vote numbers in Ward 1 as a team performs a recount of the November election at City Hall.
File photo

Election reform debated

By Elizabeth Kenny
[email protected]

PORTSMOUTH - In many ways, City Councilor John Hynes could be called the "poster boy" for the four recount bills that have surfaced in Concord.

The bills, co-sponsored by a few local lawmakers, would require paper ballots throughout the state and are meant to make candidates and voters feel comfortable calling for a visual recount during close elections.

The underlying objectives are to reassure voters of the legitimacy of voting in the state and the need to take every vote seriously, lawmakers said this week.>snip

Splaine, who has co-sponsored a few of the bills on recounts, called Hynes a "poster boy" for the laws he feels are necessary to ensure credible elections. "We need to continue to guard the election process," Splaine said. "Having open and free elections and non-discriminatory ballot and voting access is vital, but 50 percent of the election process is to be sure that the votes are properly and accurately counted." >more

http://www.seacoast
online.com/news/01142006/news/82829.htm