Embezzler programmed system to connect ballot to voter

[BevHarris]

Just posted this --

http://www.blackboxvoting.org

Everybody out of the pool — we need to disinfect it
— Bev Harris

An embezzler who specialized in sophisticated alteration of records of computerized systems was programming our voting system, and also had access to the printing of the ballots, and ties to the private company that sorts King County absentee ballots. Let’s look at some of the features he put into the voting system software:

Jeffrey W. Dean, January 22, 2002 RE: serial numbers on ballots: “The BOD application that we have been running in King County since 1998 does put serial numbers on the ballots (or stubs) along with a variety of optional data. The application also will optionally connect the ballot serial number to a voter.”

It turns out that Jeffrey Dean had his hands on a lot more than King County. He also was involved with the Windows CE software used in all Diebold touch-screens, and apparently it was Jeffrey Dean who rewrote the optical scan software for the new 1.96 version.

For those who haven't yet read through all the press materials, linked at the site, we have also uncovered a huge, gaping security hole with absentee ballots. It seems that in some large urban areas, at least, the incoming absentee ballots are sorted by a private company before they are counted by the elections office. Because we know how many absentee ballots go out -- but not how many are sent back, this is a high-risk attack point. All you do is "lose" incoming ballots in key precincts and your candidate wins.

In King County, and perhaps in your city as well -- this will be a good thing to check -- presorting on both outgoing and incoming absentee ballots was subbed out to PSI Group, an Omaha-based firm that has hired felons straight out of prison.

And why does everything seem to come out of Omaha?

Bev Harris

[La_Serpiente]

1. WHOA!!!!

That truly is scary.

[punpirate]

2. And not just absentees...

... it's vote-by-mail, as well. Do a search for Boulder CO and "Al Kolwicz" and see what comes up with their vote by mail problems....

GES's VoteRemote was being handled largely by Spectrum, Ltd., as well, I think. Problems there, too.

Cheers.

[BevHarris]

3. And for those who haven't followed along -- Spectrum, now Diebold

Jeff Dean left prison with $87 and a judgment against him for $380,000 in restitution. Within months, he ends up with his own business, Spectrum Print & Mail. In 2000, he sold Spectrum to Global for $1.6 million.

It also appears that he has not yet paid his restitution for 23 counts of embezzlement.

[proud patriot]

17. Thanks Bev. I'm trying to stay on top of the breakthroughs

You and everyone who has helped you derverve
America's gratitude .

[grasswire]

41. remember the history of FIXERS

People with compromised pasts (and often criminal pasts) are sometimes hired as FIXERS (such as medical examiners, prison doctors, etc.) specifically because they will do the bidding of their benefactor.

[dusty64]

4. Kick!

I guess this is not considered as important as that animal rights basher thread, pretty sad!

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. *head thunking on table*

We could be decades away from a viable and verifiable election system at this rate.

[BevHarris]

10. Not decades. We need an immediate, temporary moratorium

on electronic counting of votes. In the upcoming elections, we need to hand-count the paper ballots. This may sound radical, but to simply trust a system that we now know is broken -- we just don't know how many parts of it are broken -- is irresponsible.

In Iowa and New Hampshire, we need to hand-count the paper ballots using a system similar to that used in France or Canada.

Black Box Voting activists were great -- they documented the rampant and out of control use of unauthorized software in at least 10 states (probably 50, by the time we get done). One of our next projects will be to identify all locations that sub out any segment of absentee balloting.

Bev

[alfredo]

31. got a disturbing reply from our election commission

I got a reply from the board of elections in Frankfort. According to the person there, they do not have the software version number nor do they have the firmware version number used on the voting machines in Kentucky. she says I have to go to the counties to get that info.

So if that is true, there is no way to certify voting machines state wide. Either that or she is lying to me. Her response is totally unsatisfactory. I guess it is time to take off the gloves.

[Spazito]

6. Kick!

:kick:

[shirlden]

7. A big kick

n/t

:kick:

[nostamj]

8. well, this certainly need a kick.....

and if you missed this yesterday...



(To the tune of “Blame It On The Bossa Nova”)

JUST DEMAND A PAPER BALLOT
AT YOUR VOTING PLACE.
JUST DEMAND A PAPER BALLOT,
VERIFY THE RACE!
UNTIL THE SHADY SOFTWARE’S CERTIFIED,
WILL WE KNOW THE COUNT IS BONA-FIDE?
JUST DEMAND A PAPER BALLOT
AND JOIN THE FIGHT!

JUST DEMAND A PAPER BALLOT
NOT A PAPER TRAIL.
JUST DEMAND A PAPER BALLOT,
OR THEY’LL TIP THE SCALE.
WHEN PURGING VOTER ROLLS IS NOT ENOUGH,
ELECTRONICALLY THEY WILL GET TOUGH.
SO DEMAND A PAPER BALLOT
AND DON’T SHUT UP!

[Beetwasher]

9. Omaha, Nebraska=Chuck Hagel

A man who won 80% of the vote on machines produced by a company he hid his connections to? Just a guess...

[BevHarris]

12. The CEO of PSI Group Omaha is a man named Krohn

Who at one time headed a McCarthy Group company. McCarthy Group is a primary owner of Election Systems and Software. However, that connection is not drawn tightly enough to be useful.

What will be very useful will be to find out exactly who bankrolled Jeffrey Dean into the ownership of Spectrum, the firm that is busy printing ballots and subbing out the presorting of absentee ballots. You don't have a guy with a prison bank account of $87 and a judgement against him of $388,000 funding a business. I noticed that he obtained a loan for $50,000 from a bank. How the hell did he do that?

I want to know who bankrolled him.

Bev Harris

[Beetwasher]

13. How hard is it to follow a money trail like that?

Do you ever get tired of people telling you how much you rock? :yourock:

[BevHarris]

16. I cannot see how this one won't unravel

It's got threads hanging out all over and we're going to tug on them.

[Beetwasher]

18. Schweet!

Power!

[DUreader]

20. Is There a PSI/ Thomas Keane Connection

I just went browsing because I could swear I read a thread on the boards

this a.m. with a reference to Thom Keane (Gov. and 911 head) and

a business called PSI.

If anyone having DU search feature wants to look for it.

[BevHarris]

23. Refresh me -- Who is Thomas Keene? And careful

There are several "PSI" businesses. This one is PSI Group, supposedly founded in 1991 by Irv Dana (Bill Dana's dad) in Omaha. It was purchased by Pitney Bowes in 2002.

What I'm seeing about the Omaha guys is that they are on the leading edge of privatization efforts. PSI likes contracts that privatize portions of the U.S. Post Office functions.

However, there are very legitimate reasons to have firms that specialize in mailing and presorting. Anyone who's done bulk direct mailing knows that you don't want to sit and presort 100,000 items.

There is another little wrinkle in this. At one time, I found a reference to a World Investments company (ties to Omaha World-Herald, which is another main owner of ES&S and also owns part of McCarthy Group, which is an owner of ESS). This World Investments Company, can't remember the name, I think it was based in Dallas or Texas, was one of the largest direct mail and database firms in the world.

When you get a firm that specializes in direct mail databases, and you start linking up to the walking lists that anyone can buy with voter registration (and often, political affiliation), you skate pretty close to inapproprate ties to firms that actually DO the voter registration. The database could be used to selectively favor one party.

However, I haven't done a damn thing to develop this line of inquiry, and probably won't in the forseeable future.

Bev

[DUreader]

25. ARRGH!!, Nevermind, it is PSA not PSI

More coffee please.

BTW, Thom Keane is former NJ Governor and now head of 911 investigation

[Judi Lynn]

11. Unbelievable! Diebold needs to answer for these people

(snip) Jeffrey Dean was released from prison in August, 1995 and Elder was released in November 1996. In their prison release documents, both wrote that they had lined up employment at Postal Services of Washington, Inc., the firm that sorts 500,000 mail-in absentee ballots for King County. (snip)

It's like seeing a train wreck. What kind of company would dream of connecting these people to U.S. elections? How can they justify themselves?

They need a lot more pressure befure November, 2004: enough to force them to operate a clean process.

[BevHarris]

15. Correction: not before November. Before Iowa and New Hampshire

Let's make sure our votes count in the primaries.

Three imminent Black Box Voting projects (meeting with organizers today)

1) Go after hand-counting the paper ballots in all primary states with elections in January and February.

2) Legal work on injunctions and RICO suits

3) Jump on the security of absentee and mailed in ballots, especially in those locations where they have subbed this out to middlemen.

[ParanoidPat]

14. Bev, You're AWESOME!

Damn, I don't EVER want to get on your bad side! :evilfrown:

I can never thank you enough! :thumbsup:

Oh, and a BIG thank you to your husband for supporting your efforts! :)

:kick:

[BevHarris]

19. I also know who tinfoil hat programmer is.

It's not Tab Iredale. This adds a whole new wrinkle, makes me want to go read all his old posts, now that I know. I'll probably send him a book -- wait -- he's asked for one. Wonder what address he'll give me?

This was totally not who I thought. He's a cool but conflicted guy who's a better writer than me. Damn. Next time I'll read his proofreading comments more carefully.

[hunter]

28. Ahhhh, JC...

BTW, did he finally confess? Or did you have to hunt him down?

[BevHarris]

30. Well, Hunter,

he either confessed or I hunted him down or none of the above.

[ParanoidPat]

33. LOL! You little 'cyber stalker' you!

:spank: :evilgrin: Check your inbox.

[hunter]

34. On usenet we would say things like...

"He seems to have a real life..."

Which was pretty condescending of us, seeing as how we ourselves were wasting all that time in the computer lab at two o'clock in the morning playing silly space-war games, and writing pornographic stories about James T. Kirk, the pony, and the alien woman.

Okay, if we can't trust that some of the people we meet on the internet are "real," just how in the hell are we supposed to trust that the bits that represent our votes in a computer are real?

[BevHarris]

35. All of the people we meet on the Internet are real

It's just that some are using their creative writing skills.

[ParanoidPat]

37. And some of us get real results!

This just in from my inbox.....

December 19, 2003

Pat XXXXXX
XXXX XXXX XXXXXXX Road
Felton, California 95018

Dear Pat,

Thank you for contacting me about H.R. 2239, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003. I'm proud to be a cosponsor of this bill.

In the 107th Congress, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was passed and it is currently helping states throughout the country replace out of date and unreliable punch card and butterfly ballot voting systems. H.R. 2239 takes this plan one step further. H.R. 2239 requires all voting machines to produce an actual paper record by 2004 so that voters can view and check the accuracy of their votes, and election officials can verify votes in event of a computer malfunction, hacking, or other irregularity.

H.R. 2239 has been referred to the House Administration Committee. The stakes are high. Billions of dollars have been invested in our voting system in order to restore public confidence in the election process and I shall continue to fight for an accurate voting system.

If you have any other questions or comments, let me hear from you. I always appreciate hearing from my constituents and ask that you continue to inform me on issues you care about. I need your thoughts and benefit from your ideas.

If you'd like to receive information on other issues, I've created an e-newsletter to keep constituents informed on a variety of topics. If you'd like to receive it, go to my website at http://www.house.gov/eshoo and click on "Monthly E-Newsletter Sign-Up."


Sincerely,

Anna G. Eshoo
Member of Congress

Keep writing them folks, together we CAN make a difference! :evilgrin:

:kick:

[BevHarris]

44. Great job, Pat. One question:

If we say that just making a bill with the words "paper trail" is not giving us what we need -- it needs to be "voter-verified paper ballot" -- and we are fighting against the bills that have the weasel language in them that allow a paper ballot to turn into a ballot simulation and VoteHere...then why are we getting excited about a bill that doesn't audit?

Someone needs to step up to plate and address the auditing issue. If not, we'll win a battle and lose a war. Folks HR 2239 needs revision, NOW, to include an appropriate method of auditing and they need to draw upon a panel of auditors and historians, who understand fraud-prevention procedures and the vision of the founding fathers. So far I haven't seen such a panel convened. We are building products without the end goal defined, and we are pushing a bill that lacks the ability to safeguard elections.

HR 2239 does nothing to protect us from optical scan fraud. It does nothing to protect us from absentee ballot fraud. And it does not protect us from touch-screen fraud either, because it does not have a meaningful, fraud-deterrent auditing procedure in it.

I'm waiting (foot tapping...)

Bev

[ParanoidPat]

45. This was a response to a letter sent earlier this week.....

.....pointing out just that, the loopholes in the wording. :)
They are reading our e-mails and they are starting to respond!

Right now I'm just a little more concerned with Clintons "Protecting American Democracy Act of 2003" and the recent backing for it she received from the UAW, NYPIRG, Common Cause and others! LOTS of flowery wording in the press releases and a complete GUTTING of the provision for a VVPB in the actual legislation! A complete and utter sham. And it's gaining some pretty strong backing. :(
I see the need for some more 're-education' for Ms. Clinton and her backers! Come on New Yorkers!

In every letter I send, I make sure to explain the importance of the paper ballot, that it is a MUST regardless of the system used and that the laws should require an adequate audit of the machine results against the paper ballots in all elections. I also explain the need for legislation requiring that the paper ballots be used in all recounts and list the reasons why.

Trust me, the letters I send are not simply 'atta boy, nice to have you on board!' letters! They're more like politely meddlesome 'well that's a nice start but you seem to have forgotten what we want and need' letters.

What do you think of Barbara Boxers legislation? :shrug:
She's another one I've been writing to relentlessly since she's in my state. It's nice to see that she's getting active in this.

You can stop tapping your foot now. I'm doing all I can do to help while my world slowly falls apart around me. Just wish I had the time and finances to do more. :evilgrin:

[BevHarris]

53. Oh I know -- Pat, you are one of the driving forces

I'm not tapping my foot at you, my tapping is happ'ning for the benefit of the legislators.

And obviously, your efforts are paying off. Regarding the PM you sent me -- where did they get the footage?

Barbara Boxer's proposal was great. Amazing that we haven't had criminal background checks required before, isn't it?

So I'm running into more and more stuff with these documents -- for example, PSI Group processes the absentee ballots for Los Angeles and Fresno -- and you know what keeps going through my head: Nothing happened to Worldcom when they lied about 9 billion dollars. Ken Lay is still running around being a millionaire.

A politician could do very well indeed with a platform of holding the crooks accountable, I think.

[ParanoidPat]

66. Amazing doesn't begin to describe.....

.....how screwed up all of this is! :evilgrin:
Check your inbox. :)

[hunter]

38. Creative bookeeping skills...

...creative vote counting skills, etc.

Computers have greatly enhanced human creativity.

[TinfoilHatProgrammer]

47. This ought to be hilarious...

"He's a cool but conflicted guy who's a better writer than me."

Well, two out of three's not bad... it's way better than your usual average, at any rate.

Feel free to 'reveal my identity' to your adoring fans -- your typical factless innuendo is as uninteresting as usual. Post away, you have my amused permission.

Also, thanks for remembering that you owe me a copy of your book... I've been wondering for the past 4 or 5 months when I'd be receiving my copy (and indeed whether it would ever be available at all). Just send it to the address you have on file or maybe deliver it in person with a fruitcake on the side. ;)

unconflictedly,
JC

[ParanoidPat]

49. Merry Christmas TFHP!

The book's been out for a while now.

Chapter 1 (PDF)
Chapter 2 (PDF)
Chapter 3 (PDF)
Chapter 4 (PDF)
Chapter 5 (PDF)
Chapter 6 (PDF)
Chapter 7 (PDF)
Chapter 8 (PDF)
Chapter 9 (PDF)
Chapter 10 (PDF)
Chapter 11 (PDF)
Chapter 12 (PDF)
Chapter 13 (PDF)
Chapter 14 (PDF)

Sorry I didn't have time to wrap it for you! :evilgrin:

As far as fruitcake is concerned, I'm certain there's enough of that at your house already! (No one ever eats the damn things.)
How 'bout a nice rum cake instead? :)

[BevHarris]

55. tinfoil: Is it true that you have a maid?

Actually, I'm not sure I have the right address -- I heard that you had moved. I may just visit, now that you have invited me.

It's against DU rules to out people's identities and I wouldn't dream of doing so.

Suggest you edit your post if not too late. Your pun also violates the rules, ain't that subtle, and makes me wonder if your temperament is becoming more like your mother.

Bev

[Andy_Stephenson]

58. Woah!

Did she go there...yup she sure did...

Woah! :thumbsup:

[hunter]

60. That's a 15 yard penalty in football, Bev, Andy...

"Unnecessary roughness."

Here's an article from the Tri-Valley Herald for my kick:

Diebold e-voting system not approved by feds

By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER

Banking on Diebold Election Systems' assurances that its new electronic voting machine had federal approval or soon would, four California counties are shelling out $45.5 million to use the latest in digital democracy for the 2004 presidential election.

Three counties -- San Joaquin, Solano and Kern -- already have thousands of the new Diebold TSx machines sitting in warehouses. Solano elections officials showed them off Thursday to Christmas shoppers in a local mall.

Yet as the March primary approaches, the TSx remains unapproved by any federal authority.

http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86%7E10671%7E1841090,00.html

[Andy_Stephenson]

61. I wonder

what kind of hacks are built into the latest model?

[TinfoilHatProgrammer]

62. you crack me up

More like my mother? I think my posts are a little more lifelike than that. ;)

I don't think my post needs any editing, I think you may have just read a little too much into it. You know... much like you do on such a regular basis with your stolen stash of emails.

I would be greatly amused (and even more surprised!) by a visit. Perhaps we could use the occasion to discuss the proper way to deal with a turd when it's sitting on the front porch (my favorite Bev Harris sound bite of the week, lol). But since you basically suggest that you've successfully managed to stalk me (er, track me down) through the internet, it's probably easiest to just mail me my book. I'd offer to come pick it up in person, but that seems like a whole lot of time, discomfort and expense when a) I'm skeptical that an actual "book" exists, and b) I can just download most of your ravings for free off the internet.

JC

[creativelcro]

22. Same here!!!

persistence pays off.

[madfloridian]

21. Well, I hate to source NewsMax, but it is up there already.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/12/18/223758.shtml
I just did a google and found it.

Kudos, Bev and Andy.

:toast:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. Thank you, BBV activists!

Having recently lived in a vote-by-mail state, I am concerned about this.

Bev, when we finally get a Democratic president, I'm going to nominate you and your associates for some sort of national award, because you are doing no less than trying to save our democracy.

[nostamj]

26. Thomas Kean

he was in the news big time for saying the 9/11 could have and should have been prevented on CBS News, then, kinda pulled back on ABC Nightline last night...


Thomas Kean, chair, is former governor of New Jersey (1982-1990) and, since 1990, the president of Drew University. Kean also served for ten years in the New Jersey Assembly, rising to the positions of majority leader, minority leader, and speaker. As governor, he served on the President's Education Policy Advisory Committee and as chair of the Education Commission of the States and the National Governor's Association Task Force on Teaching. While president of Drew, Kean has served on several national committees and commissions. He headed the American delegation to the UN Conference on Youth in Thailand, served as vice chairman of the American delegation to the World Conference on Women in Beijing; and served as a member of the President's Initiative on Race. He also served on the National Endowment for Democracy. He is chair of the Newark Alliance and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and former chair of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Educate America, and the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation. Kean is on the board of a number of organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund. He holds a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.A. from Columbia University Teachers College, as well as more than 25 honorary degrees and numerous awards from environmental and educational organizations.

[Kelvin Mace]

27. Revisiting Hagel

Hey Bev, I sent you an Email last week about a Cox News Service story Lex sent me where Hagel claims he hid nothing and his ties to ES&S were disclosed. I know they've claimed this, but we have never seen a scrap of supporting evidence. I am betting the ink on the disclosure is wet.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org

[BevHarris]

29. Yeah, I saw the story. He's probably referring to

that temporary interim 1995 statement which magically appeared when the Seattle Times reporter was going after him in July.

Won't wash, and I'd love to see him trot that out in front of a real journalist (or in front of a trial attorney):

Questioner: So, Mr. Hagel, you say you did disclose your position as chairman of the voting machine company. I have your 1995 and 1996 statements, and each says to go back two years and disclose every position, paid or unpaid.

Hagel: Well I have this other statement, my interim 1995 statement that you have to file within 8 weeks of declaring your candidacy. It is the statement that you file before the official one is filed at the end of the year. In that, I did disclose.

Questioner: You disclosed one position, not both, and you did not disclose either your income or your stock, even on that. If you disclosed the position on your interim statement, why did you omit it in your final statement and also omit it the following year?

Hagel: I don't know but Bev Harris is lying when she says I didn't disclose my position with AIS.

Questioner: It says here to disclose the income you received from any position. You disclosed your income from McCarthy Group, but not your income from the voting company. Did you work for free?

Hagel: Hey, I disclosed my position on the interim statement. Now look here, I'm gonna run for president pretty soon...let's just put this behind us.

Questioner: So you did not disclose the income you received, even on your interim statement. You were the CEO of AIS from November 1993 to June 1994, correct? The instructions say to go back two years. I cannot find this on your 1995, 1996 or the interim 1995 statement. Can you show me where you disclosed that position on any of your documents?

Hagel: Bev Harris is just trying to sell a book.

Questioner: Mr. Hagel, your campaign finance director, Michael McCarthy, admits that you owned stock in AIS Investors Inc., a group of investors who directly owned AIS. Can you show me where that stock ownership was disclosed on any of your statements, including your temporary interim statement?

Hagel: But the Senate Ethics Counsel is not criticizing me. I mean, now that we had that meeting with the other one, who was criticizing my actions, and he resigned in the middle of the day. This new guy is really nice. Oh, and by the way: "I sold all my stock in that."

Questioner: Yes, I understand you said that to Channel 8 News in Lincoln, Nebraska. What entity, specifically, are you referring to when you say "that?" And in your disclosure documents, it requires a transaction record showing what you have bought, sold and transferred. Can you please point me to the transaction where you "sold all your stock in that?"

Hagel: Look, this is all in the past.

Questioner: But not as far in the past as when they accused you of rigging the licensing lottery for cell phone territory in the 1980s. That's how you made your millions, isn't it? That, and all those installations you did in Saudi Arabia?

Hagel: You are impertinent. I have friends in high places. Did you know I worked for the first president Bush and I hope to be president after the current president Bush? They are grooming me. I look pretty good, don't you think?

[creativelcro]

32. Don't mean to defend Hagel, obviously he can do that himself :)

But he's one of the few Repubs who's been saying rather bluntly that Bush & C have screwed up badly... Perhaps it's only because of his 2008 ambitions, don't know, but a total slimeball would be better off not say anything, no ?...

[BevHarris]

36. Poppy Bush also feels junior has screwed up.

Hagel worked with the Poppy Bush crowd. In fact, he went directly from working with Poppy in the D.C. area to running the voting machine company, and then headed back to D.C. where he was fast-tracked through the most powerful committees.

Bev

[creativelcro]

40. I understand that, but Poppy Bush has not given a ton of interviews

Saying basically that junior is an idiot... As I said, it is probably just smoke, but I was very surprised when I heard those interviews by Hagel... I mean, I was expecting a DeLay type of blind party line barf...

[RedEagle]

46. The party can afford to let Hagel play good cop

Hagel can look like he opposes Junior. If you have enough votes on issues, then one or two votes the other way, to make a potential candidate look good, are quite possible.

The party comfortable enough right now to give Hagel as much latitude as he needs. He doesn't have to vote issues, he can vote "appearances."

It's going to be very fashionable, especially by 2008, if Junior sticks around, to appear to be 180 degress different. The key word here is, "appear."

[TinfoilHatProgrammer]

48. Clarification

ALERT ALERT ALERT

For the benefit of those who may have missed it, the preceding interview is entirely fictional -- none of those quotes are actually from Chuck Hagel; please refrain from using it as supporting documentation for anything.

(Is it a tad egocentric to assume he will mention your name in every other answer?)

JC

[nostamj]

50. oh dear....

only the fatally sarcasm-impaired could have missed it.

did you really?

(i don't think so. this is SO desperate, so laughable...

are you just handing us a pinata?

bashing these 'arguments' guarantees a rain of candy!

[ithacan]

39. unbelievable!

the number of suspicious and outright dirty things Diebold is doing it seems to me should disqualify it from providing voting machines at all!

[Frank Rose]

42. This would be useful in drawing districts

Not only would they know how you vote, they would know IF you vote.

[donsu]

43. kick

nt

[Military Brat]

51. Kickety-kick

:kick:

[MrBenchley]

52. Write to your Congresspeople

Here's what I sent...

I am writing to you to express my concern over this report in Wired Magazine...

"SAN FRANCISCO -- At least five convicted felons secured management positions at a manufacturer of electronic voting machines, according to critics demanding more stringent background checks for people responsible for voting machine software.
Voter advocate Bev Harris alleged Tuesday that managers of a subsidiary of Diebold, one of the country's largest voting equipment vendors, included a cocaine trafficker, a man who conducted fraudulent stock transactions and a programmer jailed for falsifying computer records.
The programmer, Jeffrey Dean, wrote and maintained proprietary code used to count hundreds of thousands of votes as senior vice president of Global Election Systems, or GES. Diebold purchased GES in January 2002.
According to a public court document released before GES hired him, Dean served time in a Washington state correctional facility for stealing money and tampering with computer files in a scheme that "involved a high degree of sophistication and planning." "

http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,61640,00.html

As you may know, earlier news stories reported that the current chairman of Diebold had written to Republicans in Ohio pledging that he would do all he could to capture Ohio's electoral votes for George Bush.

Clearly, if true, this is a threat to the fairness and impartiality of the electoral process which is the bedrock of our country. I hope you will look into this situation, and perhaps call for a Congressional investigation.

Thank you.

[WaterDog]

54. Kick

This needs to stay at the top!

:kick:

[althecat]

56. Hi Bev, This is fantastic.... I especially like this bit

Trust is critical, so transparency must become a requirement. The Declaration of Independence does not say “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the computer programmers.”

LOL

[BevHarris]

59. Hi, althecat -- and the latest, just in...

PSI Group processes the absentee ballots for Los Angeles, Fresno...I just posted the California processing they do.

Bev

[althecat]

63. So now we have an Canadian embezzeler counting west coast votes from

LA all the way up to Seattle...

I suspect this will be the final nail in Diebold's relationship with the state of CA. Shelley is probably itching for an excuse to kick them for touch by now....

At the very least I don't think he will be getting an Christmas card from Urosevich. I loved Kim Zetter's report about him being put on the spot at that Voting meeting on Friday.

Hope all is well.

Al
:)

[althecat]

57. kick n/t

[Vitruvius]

64. Kick

:kick: for the Saturday morning crowd.

[The Zanti Regent]

65. YOU GO, GIRL!

Kick this till Chucky Hagel answers Bev!

[Unforgiven]

67. Kick!

Will the books be ready for X-Mas? I need 60 now.

[HootieMcBoob]

68. just when you think it couldn't get any worse

this just gets uglier and uglier. I'm amazed that the media doesn't seem to think all this stuff is news at all. It's only the our entire democratic system at stake.