AP: Extra Checks on Voting Machines Rejected

[Eugene]

Extra Checks on Voting Machines Rejected

By STEPHEN MANNING
The Associated Press
Monday, December 4, 2006; 6:38 PM

GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- A federal advisory panel on Monday rejected a recommendation
that states use only voting machines whose results could be independently verified.

The panel drafting voting guidelines for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission
voted 6-6 not to adopt a proposal that would have required electronic machines used
by millions of voters to produce a paper record or other independent means of checking
election results. Eight votes were needed to pass it.

The failed resolution, proposed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer
scientist and panel member Ronald Rivest, closely mirrored a report released last
week that warned that paperless electronic voting machines are vulnerable to errors
and fraud and cannot be made secure.

Some panel members who voted against the proposal said they support paper records
but don't think the risk of widespread voting machine meltdowns are great enough
to rush the requirement into place and overwhelm state election boards.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120400991.html

[BattyDem]

1. Screw the "advisory panel" - the Dems need to make it a FEDERAL LAW!

It should be on the agenda for the first 100 days!

[Vincardog]

2. Second that. The First thing is to fix the damn BBV fiasco. Number 1.

[Junkdrawer]

3. Prediction:

If the machines are made honest, Gore wins the 2008 Dem primary,

If not, Hillary wins.

[scarletwoman]

4. We need to know the names of the members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission,

so we can research what ties they may have to voting machine manufacturers.

Maybe there are no ties, but at the very least we ought to check out who these people are, don't you think?

sw

[Lone_Star_Dem]

7. .

Paul S. DeGregorio
Ray Martinez III
Ms. Donetta L. Davidson
Gracia M. Hillman

[scarletwoman]

10. Thanks! But how do 4 members compute to a 6-6 vote?

Now I'm even more confused. I read about each of the four at the links you provided, they seem mostly on the up and up. All nominated by the (p)Resident, I see.

Obviously, however, there are more than these four involved -- there are apparently at 12 altogether. Where did the other 8 votes come from?

sw

[Lone_Star_Dem]

12. I don't know

I found those names and the quick bios and was just trying to help. I thought for sure someone would post the others. Now you made me more curious and I went looking and this is what I found.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Assistance_Commission#References
EAC Chairmen and Commissioners

Paul S. DeGregorio was nomitated by President Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on December 9, 2003. He had previously served as Vice Chairman. He is limited to a two year term expiring December 12 2006.

Prior to his service with the EAC Chairman DeGregorio served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), and was Director of Elections for St. Louis County, Missouri from 1985 to 1993.

Chairman DeGregorio replaced the EAC's original Chairman, former New Jersey Secretary of State, Rev. DeForest Soaries.

Current commissioners include Gracia Hillman, former executive director of the League of Women Voters of the United States; and Donetta Davidson, formerly Colorado Secretary of State.


------------------------
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Election_Assistance_Commission

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) was created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and "charged with administering voluntary guidelines for election requirements under HAVA, maintaining a clearinghouse of information regarding election administration procedures including testing and certification of election equipment, and administering the Election Assistance and Help America Vote Programs," according to the EAC's April 27, 2004 press release. The EAC, made up of four members chosen by party leaders and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, held its inaugural meeting on March 23, 2004.

[scarletwoman]

17. Thank you for researching this! I hope I didn't come off as ungrateful in my 1st reply!

I was in a hurry -- which is why I didn't attempt to research all this myself.

I really do appreciate you finding what you did! Thank you again for taking the time to look up these people. The more we all know, the better off we are!

sw

[nicknameless]

14. The panel isn't the EAC, it was formed to advise the EAC.

That said, it's undoubtedly correct to suspect both the EAC and their advisory panel of being "disinterested" in clean elections.

Excerpt from the WaPo article for clarification:

Congress created the panel after vote-counting problems in the 2000 presidential election to advise the Election Assistance Commission.

[scarletwoman]

18. Thank you very much. I understand much better now -- missed that "advisory" bit.

This no doubt bears further researching, and I'll try to find some time to look further into as soon as feasible. ("Real life" kinda full right now, online stuff has to be on back burner for awhile yet...)

sw

[nicknameless]

28. You're very welcome.

I think any research will just turn up names of reich-wing tools who are interested in maintaining the corrupt status quo.

Anxiously awaiting January....

:)

[w4rma]

5. Paper records won't help. It must be paper *ballots*. I agree with the panel.

However, those electin supervisors HAVE to know that these DREs are going to get scrapped soon. They would be stupid not to know. So, I'm not sure that these people will get overwhelmed by any change from DREs.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Unbelievable!

"Some panel members who voted against the proposal said they support paper records
but don't think the risk of widespread voting machine meltdowns are great enough
to rush the requirement into place and overwhelm state election boards."

Odd that there was no such consideration when HAVA was rammed down the throats of election boards across the nation. What a farce.

[annabanana]

8. highly suspect ruling. .

Why shouldn't the US shoot for the safest possible system?

[stillcool]

9. I don't understand twelve votes

what do they form little groups of anonymous members to decide how we vote?

Charter of the US Election Assistance Commission Board of Advisors.

Membership:
The board shall consist of the following:
-Two members appointed by the National Governors Association
-Two members appointed by the National Conference of State Legislatures
-Two members appointed by the National Association of Secretaries of State
-Two members appointed by the National Association of State Election Directors
-Two members appointed by the National Association of Counties
-Two members appointed by the National Association of County Recorders, Election Administrators and Clerks.
-Two members appointed by the United States Conference of Mayors.
-Two members appointed by the Election Center
-Two members appointed by the International Association of County Recorders, ElectionOfficials and Treasurers
-Two members appointed by the United States Commission on Civil Rights
-Two members appointed by the Architectural and Transportation Barrier Compliance Board under section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29U.S.C. 792)
-The Chief of the Office of Public Intergrity of the Department of Justice, or the chief's designee
-The Chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice or the chief's designee.
-The director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program of the Department of Defense
-Four members representing professionals in the field of science and technology, of whom-
(A) one each shall be appointed by the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; and
(B) one each shall be appointed by the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader of the Senate.
-Eight members representing voter interests, of whom-
(A) Four members shall be appointed by the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives, of whom two shall be appointed by the chair and two
shall be appointed by the ranking minority member; and
(B) four members shall be appointed by the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, of whom two shall be appointed by the chair and two shall be appointed by the ranking minority member (HAVA title II section 214(a)

2. Vacancy appointments shall be made in the same manner as the original appointments
3. Members of the Board shall serve for a term of 2 years and may be reappointed.
4. The Board shall elect a Chair from among its membershttp://www.eac.gov/docs/Board%20of%20Advisors%20Charter%206-1-04.pdf

Election Assistance Commission
1.Paul S. DeGregorio was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on December 9, 2003, to serve an initial two-year term on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Mr. DeGregorio was elected Chairman of the EAC for 2006, after serving as the Agency's Vice Chairman in 2005.
2. Ms. Donetta L. Davidson was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on July 28, 2005 to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Her term of service extends through December 12, 2007. Ms. Davidson, formerly Colorado's secretary of state, comes to EAC with experience in almost every area of election administration - everything from county clerk to secretary of state.
3. Gracia M. Hillman was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on December 9, 2003, to serve an initial two-year term on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Ms. Hillman served as Chair of the EAC in 2005, after serving as the Agency's first Vice Chair in 2004.
4. Vacant

[Wilms]

11. My guess is we're talking about the Technical Guidelines Development Committee.

AKA: The TGDC.

Among their members is one Brit Williams, quoted in the WaPo article.

Google him.

[stillcool]

13. thanks.. n/t

[mhatrw]

16. He's a known DRE shill. He pimped for Diebold in Georgia. n/t

[mhatrw]

15. What a crock!

Elections have to manually auditable or you might as well just throw darts to pick the winners.

[superconnected]

19. I was trying to figure out why we didn't hear of mass voting

machine scandal the last election.

Then I realized they're saving it for the presidential elections.

Why chance getting caught on the midterms.

Smth tells me the dems are going to get one heck of a pay back in '08 for the repukes losing last novembers elections. And, it will be voting machine fraud again. Maybe they're hoping the bad press will go away between now and then.

[DeepModem Mom]

20. WP: Federal Panel Rebuffs Guidelines That Insist on Electronic Voting Systems Paper Trail

Federal Panel Rebuffs Guidelines That Insist on a Paper Trail
By Cameron W. Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; Page B06

A federal advisory group rejected a measure yesterday that would have discouraged states from using electronic voting systems that lack an independent means of verifying their results, according to a spokeswoman for the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Members of the Technical Guidelines Development Committee, a group created by Congress to advise the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, deadlocked 6 to 6 on the proposal at a meeting held at the NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg. Eight votes are needed to pass a measure on the 15-member committee.

NIST spokeswoman Jan Kosko said the proposal was introduced by Ronald Rivest, a computer science professor at MIT who heads a subcommittee on transparency and security.

Rivest told committee members that software errors in paperless machines could go undetected, leading to a situation in which "an election result is wrong and you have no evidence to show that it's wrong."

Committee member Brit Williams, a computer scientist who has conducted certification evaluations of Georgia's paperless electronic voting system, opposed the measure. "You are talking about basically a reinstallation of the entire voting system hardware," he said....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401290.html

[ashling]

21. wELL, THAT'S JUST TOO DAMN BAD.

"You are talking about basically a reinstallation of the entire voting system hardware," he said...

:puke:

[Little Star]

22. What the hell!!!! Do they think we shouldn't have a

receipt from the atm too????? What idiots!

[MasonJar]

23. Who wants to bet me that 6 of the committee are Pukes, including

Mr. Williams? We spend 11/2 billion a week in Iraq and we cannot provide a paper trail for the most important democratic function. Balderdash. Let's hope that the democratic majority in Congress gets right on this; we must insist that they do so we can be ready in 2008.

[Monkeyman]

24. Yep

[unc70]

25. If compromised, the hardware must be replaced to resecure,

so why bother with even using the hardware for voting systems.

I just posted in LBN more information about how the Naval War College has been compromised for several weeks and that they are probably replacing the hardware completely. Even that is not enough if you can't secure the hardware manufacturing and delivery because pre-infected hardware is really hard to detect (video card, disk controller, network controller).

The DoD is aware that if you don't start by securing the chip foundries (now mostly offshore), you really can't be secure. Actually, you need to start with the chip design phase (think what you can hide in a modern microcoded cpu chip). In the past when the US controlled much of the technology, we had a big advantage doing things like shutting down telephone and computer systems around the world. Not anymore.

Think about being able to disable the US's command and control or weapons systems using trojaned hardware that has been dormant for years. Or controlling our elections.

[Barrett808]

26. What will it take, the election of President Mickey Mouse?

Oh, sorry, we already have him.

[The Wielding Truth]

27. Free elections too expensive? Paper ballots aren't. Make our gov.

get smart!

[badgervan]

29. Dammit!

Maybe it will take mass demonstrations to do the people's will. If our electoral system can't be trusted 100% ( which it certainly isn't at present ), then our democracy will unravel. Florida. Ohio. Now Florida again. We must demand that our legislators pass a law providing all with a paper receipt of their vote. Nothing less.