100% Unverifiable Diebold Touchscreens Save the Day for GOP in GA06!

[Amaryllis]

(Lots of links in article on website)

On today's BradCast, not that we enjoy saying "we told ya so," but, yeah, another election result goes south on 100% unverifiable Diebold touch-screen systems in a key election for Democrats, as we've been warning for weeks (years, really). [Audio link to full show follows below.]

In Tuesday's U.S. House special election in Georgia's 6th Congressional District, Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff appears to have soundly defeated a split Republican field in a very Republican district, in the "jungle primary" race for a House seat held by the GOP since 1978 and recently vacated by Trump's appointment of Rep. Tom Price as Director of Health and Human Services.

However, the final results of Tuesday's contest, as taken from the state's 100% unverifiable Diebold touch-screen voting systems, report that Ossoff just failed to go over the 50% threshold by which he would have won the seat outright. Instead, he'll compete in a run-off in June against the second place finisher on Tuesday, Republican Karen Handel, former GA Sec. of State.

So, are the reported results accurate? It is impossible, in fact, to know, as I've long been warning. That fact is made even more maddening by the fact that a reported central tabulator "error", said to have been caused by a faulty memory card from one of the voting machines, stopped all results from being reported for hours in Fulton County, as Ossoff results were stuck at 50.3%.

At the time, all counties in the district but Fulton (Handel's home county) had reported 100% percent of their results. Hours later, after the computer tabulator problem was said to have been corrected, and results started coming in again from Fulton, Ossoff's numbers dropped to 48.6%, below the threshold that would have prevented a run-off.

So, was the election stolen? Or was the all-too familiar problem during the tally just a routine error on the state's unverifiable, easily-manipulated, oft-failed voting system? The state's Diebold voting systems and tabulators were first installed in 2002. They are, shamefully, still used today, despite multiple massive vulnerabilities, including one that allows results to be flipped without detection, as first reported by The BRAD BLOG as early as 2006. At the very least, as I noted last night on Twitter during the hours long freak-out over the reported faulty memory card(s): "If I'm Ossoff, I get to court and have ALL of those memory cards in Fulton locked down and sequestered for forensic inspection."

Adding to the concerns in that GA-06 election: The reported "massive data breach" last month at the facility which programs both the voting machines and the state's electronic pollbook systems and, over the weekend, the theft of a number of those e-pollbooks from a poll workers car. (Widely mis-reported as a theft of "voting machines".)

http://bradblog.com/?p=12112

[elleng]

1. 'Are the reported results accurate? It is impossible, in fact, to know,

as I've long been warning. That fact is made even more maddening by the fact that a reported central tabulator "error", said to have been caused by a faulty memory card from one of the voting machines, stopped all results from being reported for hours in Fulton County, as Ossoff results were stuck at 50.3%.'

[Amaryllis]

2. I wondered about it last night when he dropped down below 50. We should not have to question

the accuracy of our election results.

[elleng]

3. but we have for years.

[Amaryllis]

9. I wish we could get the Dem leadership to take it seriously. It is so frustrating to hear

the endless discussions about where Dems went wrong with their message, etc. while this is not being addressed.

[elleng]

14. and they had YEARS to address it, in congress.

[zentrum]

17. Agree 100%

What is going on that they will not address this? Can you imagine if it was the other way around? The Repugs would raise hell.

I just don't get it. Along with why they don't address voter-suppression.

[TheFrenchRazor]

37. agreed; there is no issue more critical than election security, and dems act like they couldn't care

less. i'm willing to believe a lot of things about politicians, but i have to think that most of them are just completely clueless about the technical details of the myriad ways that voting machines could be compromised. i wish some bona fide expert in the field could get them all together and explain it to them.

[diva77]

21. It can't be a "glitch" or "error" when the bias favors GOP in majority of cases

Just like we did for the illegitimacy of the Gorsuch nomination, we citizens and our representatives must RESIST use of computerized voting!

The act of voting has become an exercise in theatrics while elections continue to be stolen in broad daylight with these devices.

Dems need to put forth legislation to revoke computers from the voting process - whether marking ballots or tabulating votes. Voter rolls need to be done by elections officials, not outsourced to biased corporations.

[elleng]

24. Right.

[dlk]

4. Why Do We Put Up With These Awful Voting Machines?

Surely, there is a way to provide voting machines that can't be hacked and can be accurately audited. This Diebold debacle defies logic and reason. Iif we are truly a democracy, such a partisan company shouldn't be control of so many election outcomes. Something definitely smells funny!

[volstork]

15. Diebold makes ATMs

How long do you think the company would last if THOSE didn't work properly? The fix is in with voting machines.
We need to return to paper ballots. If an ATM can give you a receipt, a voting machine should be able to as well.

[Ms. Toad]

19. It is not a matter of capability - it is a matter of public policy.

A physical receipt that you can carry away with you is prohibited, because of the possibilty of vote selling (it provides proof to the buyer that you voted as you were paid to do). It isn't a matter of capability, it is a matter of public policy.

[Bettie]

43. But those receipts could be put into a ballot box

in the event of the results being contested.

Honestly, I think we need to ensure that there are random hand counts done in every election to spot check.

We should be able to believe our elections are legit, but it is hard to believe when the majority of the "errors" go toward one side only.

[Ms. Toad]

47. That's not a manufacturing matter. It is a public policy matter.

I was responding to the claim was that a company that makes ATMs should be able to make a voting machine that gives a receipt.

[Amaryllis]

46. There are many alternatives to hackable voting machines. In Oregon and WA, we have paper

ballots.

[Ms. Toad]

48. Unless they are hand counted, they are susceptible to error

intentional or deliberate.

Spend some time looking at patents that explain how bubbles are determined to be marked or not. it is a complicated process that is far more complex than registering a touch on the screen (aside from anything else, the touch screen gives immediate feedback to the voter that the touch was detected. There is no such voter feedback loop for paper ballots. It is more of an art than a science, and far from 100% accurate.

I'm not saying touch screen is better - just that it is far more complex than most people realize.

But - back to the point I was making, it is a matter of public policy - not technical capability (as is the choice to create, count, audit, etc. a paper trail).

[YOHABLO]

5. The fact of the matter is our voting methods are not secure in the U.S.

Until we resolve this problem the Republicans can steal any election they want.

[Amaryllis]

6. Truthout: THe shocking truth about election rigging in America. Link here:

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/37486-the-shocking-truth-about-election-rigging-in-america

[oasis]

7. No voting machine remedy after the 2002 Cleland vs. Chambliss

Georgia US Senate race, Diebold theft?

[Amaryllis]

12. Ohio 2004 with the help of Ohio SOS Ken Blackwell.

[oasis]

27. Yup, Ken Blackwell was instrumental in handing Bush Ohio in 2004

by various illegal, underhanded means. The Ohio votes that were criminally denied to John Kerry, proved to be the key to Bush's "win".

[JCMach1]

22. 2002 was a test run I believe in many states

2002 was very weird year and while it looked like the R's would win, I think the results were hacked.

[oasis]

28. If I recall correctly, the state of Georgia bought 23,000 Diebold

machines which replaced the existing machines in every precinct. All were paperless so voters had to trust "the system".

[TheFrenchRazor]

34. yep; gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "faith-based voters." nt

[JCMach1]

44. I was running for the Legislature in Florida...

despite normal historical trends, my percentage was almost the same as the Dem. Candidate for Governor and other Dem's in the state which was historically low.

Keep in-mind JEBtm was running for re-election and taking NO chances.

I finished about 10pts. lower than I believed I should have as did everyone else.

[oasis]

45. Instead of getting to work on obvious voting machine manipulation,

the focus of Dixie legislators has been on "voter fraud" which is non-existent.

[Permanut]

8. Unverifiable because they were designed that way..

Diebold also makes ATM machines, which provide 100% verification, secure channels and paper receipts. The Diebold Nixdorf CS 280, for example is advertised with the following features:

Enhanced Security

Consumer awareness mirrors
Anti-card trapping functionality
Intelligent operator authentication via CryptaStick
Anti-Manipulation card slot


Encrypting PIN Pad
Secure Channel

Saying the machines are somehow faulty or inferior through just darn bad luck is 100% bullshit.

[Amaryllis]

10. You got that right.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Universal Vote By Mail/Paper Ballots.

Best solution I think there is available.

[diva77]

23. Unfortunately this creates a breach in the chain of custody between your ballot & ballot box

Ideal situation is to mark paper ballot and insert it directly into ballot box at precinct on election day. But I like that you're in favor of paper ballots!

[TheFrenchRazor]

29. correct; we need all paper ballots, all hand-counted. it was done for centuries before computers. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

40. I don't think they need to be hand-counted as long as there's a paper trail.

I think it's unrealistic to think 70 million ballots are going to be hand-counted on election night. However, if the ballots are paper they can be checked and double checked against machine results.

It's not realistic to think there won't be machines or computers involved in the process; but there should be enough redundancy and double or cross-checking to catch any errors or tampering.

[TheFrenchRazor]

49. paper receipts will never see the light of day 99.9999% of the time, so they are useless; the ballot

ballots must be counted by hand/eye the FIRST TIME. i don't think it's unrealistic at all from a technical standpoint, but maybe from a political one. the problem with paper receipts or some such thing is that in order to get a meaningful recount of the paper, you have to prove that one is needed, and you can't do that without first having the hand recount, so it's a catch-22. throw in the fact that a lot of the funny business goes on in districts/states that are controlled by GOP, so of course they are going to obstruct all efforts to get a recount, and all they have to do is run out the clock until the votes are certified, and it will be virtually impossible to have those election results reversed later.

[Warren DeMontague]

50. I hear what you're saying.

But I still think you're talking about too many votes in terms of sheer #, and I think there have to be technical means to double-check the results. The fear of being caught because of the paper trail would conceivably deter tampering. With no paper trail, there's no fear of being caught, or almost none.

[Warren DeMontague]

39. It works just fine here in Oregon. And the US Postal Service is already protected by Federal law.

But like I said, we have zero problems with our system here in OR and as an added bonus people have several weeks in which they can vote, which eliminates the issue of folks having to take hours off of work on election day. Also turnout far exceeds the national average.

[Worktodo]

13. It's a national security threat

People in both parties need to be concerned over this. There are hostile actors who would benefit simply from causing chaos. These machines are, from many reports, highly vulnerable.

[Amaryllis]

16. Hostile actors like maybe Russia, for example? Who are experts at hacking?

[TheFrenchRazor]

31. exactly, they have motive, means, and opportunity. we're just supposed to "trust" that the ruskies,

or the GOP, wouldn't do something like that..... right...

[Worktodo]

42. Yes and much more

State actors (Russia, North Korea, Iran, possibly others). Non-state actors (hacktivists, organized crime, terrorists, militia, "hacktivist", hackers-for-hire, etc.). Motivations might be influence, revenge, money, blackmail, amusement, to simply cause chaos, to prove a point, or-- paradoxically to try to "correct" the system (because there is perceived hacking by others).

[ProudLib72]

18. This sort of news pisses me off to no end

First the idiot who put the machines in his car and went into the grocery store.
Then the faulty card.
Now the fact that the machines were crap to begin with.

Is it possible to have any kind of political race that isn't rigged in favor of rethugs?

[OldRedneck]

20. Electoral Assistance Commission

The Electoral Assistance Commission (EAC) was established by the 2002 Help Americans Vote Act.

The principal mission of the EAC is to oversee the security of voting systems . . . that is, the EAC sets security standards for voting machines, electronic pollbooks, and other technology associated with voting. The EAC sets standards for and certifies labs that inspect and certify voting equipment.

House Republicans introduced HR634, Electoral Assistance Commission Termination Act, on January 24 -- less than a week after the new Congress convened. The bill has passed out of committee on a party-line vote. It has not been scheduled for a floor vote.

EVERYONE needs to contact your Congressperson and insist they: (1) publicly state their support for the EAC; and, (2) vote against HR634.

Here's a script for contacting Congress about HR634:
https://www.indivisibleguide.com/resource/election-assistance-commission/

[TheFrenchRazor]

32. nothing to see here folks, move along... nt

[mythology]

25. More conspiracy nonsense

They offer nothing but supposition and claims that things could be wrong. How is this any different than Republicans claiming in person voter fraud is a widespread problem? Both are baseless bullshit and should be treated as such.

If you want to claim election fraud, you have to come up with something approaching actual proof. Not just it could be bullshit.

[diva77]

26. For starters, have a look-see at http://electiondefensealliance.org/

forensic analysis of 2014 election -- just as one example

Also, think of what happened with the Volkswagon emissions scandal as an analogous situation:

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-volkswagen-probe-20150918-story.html

snip...Volkswagen and Audi vehicles from model years 2009 to 2015 have the software, which uses an algorithm that automatically detects when the vehicle is undergoing pollution tests and changes the way it performs...snip

[TheFrenchRazor]

33. ha ha, you're funny. nt

[diva77]

36. regarding voter fraud - fabricated by gop, read this article

http://www.gregpalast.com/election-stolen-heres/


The Election was Stolen – Here’s How…

Friday, November 11, 2016

snip...Before a single vote was cast, the election was fixed by GOP and Trump operatives.

Starting in 2013 – just as the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act – a coterie of Trump operatives, under the direction of Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State, created a system to purge 1.1 million Americans of color from the voter rolls of GOP–controlled states.

The system, called Crosscheck, is detailed in my Rolling Stone report,
“The GOP’s Stealth War on Voters,” 8/24/2016.

Crosscheck in action:
Trump victory margin in Michigan: 13,107
Michigan Crosscheck purge list: 449,922

Trump victory margin in Arizona: 85,257
Arizona Crosscheck purge list: 270,824

Trump victory margin in North Carolina: 177,008
North Carolina Crosscheck purge list: 589,393

On Tuesday, we saw Crosscheck elect a Republican Senate and as President, Donald Trump. The electoral putsch was aided by nine other methods of attacking the right to vote of Black, Latino and Asian-American voters, methods detailed in my book and film, including “Caging,” “purging,” blocking legitimate registrations, and wrongly shunting millions to “provisional” ballots that will never be counted.

Trump signaled the use of “Crosscheck” when he claimed the election is “rigged” because “people are voting many, many times.” His operative Kobach, who also advised Trump on building a wall on the southern border, devised a list of 7.2 million “potential” double voters—1.1 million of which were removed from the voter rolls by Tuesday. The list is loaded overwhelmingly with voters of color and the poor...snip

[DallasNE]

30. Some Statistical Analysis Would Be Helpful

How many registered Democrats are there in each County.
What percentage of Democrats voted in each County
Repeat that for Independents and Republicans.

Does Fulton County have more than one central tabulator? If so, Fulton County would have to be sub-divided by central tabulators failing and not failing.

The results I saw had Ossoff having 50.1% of the vote with 50% reporting. A new update came in and the lead nudged up to 50.3% with 67% reporting and only Fulton County was left with votes to count.

With that data you should be able to tell whether the vote totals counted by the failing tabulator were in line with results elsewhere. That wouldn't give you proof of fraud or anything else but it should help with the confidence factor if the statistical analysis does not turn up any vote total abnormalities with the failing central tabulator.

[L. Coyote]

35. The red county voted red and reported last. Good time for a tin foil party.

Of course, if we had paper ballots we could save a lot on tin foil.

[Liberty Belle]

38. Remember the arson fire that burned Houston's votnig machines?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2010/08/30/suspicious-fire-ignites-houston-voting-fraud-scandal/#6c62ee7a5339

A drastic solution, not recommending it and not sure who was behind that blaze. But I could see where voters might be driven to such desperate measures to take back democracy that's been stolen. If all those machines went up in smoke we'd have less dishonest elections.

[Dink123]

41. Die old machines

I mentioned in a earlier post we as Democrats need a national plan to get rid of these hackable machines. We need a well funded national strategy to have attorneys on hand to secure defective failing machines, get the machines audited,and get the effected elections corrected.Anybody doubt what just happened to Ossoff wasn't a little suspicious? Remember Ohio in 2004?

[CrispyQ]

51. "Hours later, after the computer tabulator problem was said to have been corrected..."