Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Thursday 1/26/06

[Wilms]

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.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

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).

[Wilms]

1. AZ: You won’t believe what GOP officials are pulling now

Pressure Tactics

You won’t believe what GOP officials are pulling now to try to keep Senator Jack Harper from discovering the truth about a local election!

By John Dougherty

Article Published Jan 26, 2006

Show us the ballots!

That's the only way to get to the bottom of a raging scandal that started with an obscure 2004 Republican primary election in the Ahwatukee Foothills and is now entangling six prominent Republican officials.

Speaker of the Arizona House Jim Weiers, Senate President Ken Bennett, Secretary of State Jan Brewer, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell and Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert all are on the wrong side of this issue.

snip

In a report released earlier this month that was first published by New Times, Jones concluded that one of two things happened in the District 20 election: Either Maricopa County's vote-counting machines suffered an even greater failure than he found during his tests, or someone tampered with the votes between the primary and the recount.

snip

Republican Senator Jack Harper, chairman of the Government Accountability and Reform Committee -- whose job it is to investigate such irregularities -- has been trying since last summer to find out what happened in the District 20 election.

snip

For several months, allegations have circulated that House Speaker Weiers offered Harper a job during a meeting last June in which Weiers also asked Harper to drop his investigation.

Weiers denies offering Harper a job as an inducement to end the elections probe that is angering the trio of Maricopa County elected officials, as well as Secretary of State Brewer, whose office certifies election machinery used throughout the state.

While Harper has not provided me details of what happened in the meeting with Weiers, he has made repeated comments that strongly suggest that he believes Weiers acted inappropriately.

Harper's reticence to disclose details about the meeting to me does not mean the second-term senator from Surprise will not discuss the question of what transpired with criminal investigators.

"I just know that other than being asked by a law enforcement agency, I would just rather not answer that question," Harper responded, when I asked him what exactly happened when he met with Weiers last summer.

snip

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/Issues/2006-01-26/news/dougherty.html

[Wilms]

2. Accupoll Pulls Out of Pennsylvania

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Union County is back to square one in voting machine adventure

by Mike Tischio, Staff writer

LEWISBURG — The Union County Commissioners were left holding an empty bag on Monday as the UNISYS Company, which makes the AccuPoll voting machine the county was set to buy, decided not to sell AccuPoll in Pennsylvania.

“We are now facing federal, and more importantly, state guidlines to use electronic voting machines in the spring primaries,” said commissioner John Showers. “A decision has to be made soon.”

snip

http://www.standard-journal.com/articles/2006/01/25/news/news3.txt

[Wilms]

11. Accupolls Stock Chart for the Last Six Months

Bring a Sled

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ACUP.OB&t=6m&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=

[Wilms]

14. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x410851

[Wilms]

3. NC: County at impasse on voting machine choice

County at impasse on voting machine choice

Leah Justice

January 25, 2006

Polk County’s selection of new voting machines appears to be in the state’s hands now, since neither the board of commissioners nor the board of elections plans to meet to change their votes from last week.

The N.C. Board of Elections suggested that Polk County reconsider its decision since the county commissioners chose touchscreen machines against the recommendation of the elections board.

snip

If a consensus cannot be reached, the matter will be referred to the state board for a decision, Wright says. He also says the state board has never had to make a decision for a county, since county boards of commissioners and boards of elections usually resolve the dispute themselves.

The Polk County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last week to purchase touchscreen machines, going against the recommendation of the Polk County Board of Elections, which voted 2-to-1 for the optical scan machines.

snip

http://www.tryondailybulletin.com/news/18221.asp

[Wilms]

4. CA: County's election system criticized - Recount costs cited

County's election system criticized

Keri Brenner

Thursday Jan 26, 2006

snip

As to the recount costs, he said they were based strictly on staff time needed to process the absentee ballots.

"Election costs have been going up," he said. He said he would support a change in state law to cover costs for an automatic recount in close elections - paid for by government, not the candidates.

But Newman said the Marin recount costs were so high, most candidates don't bother.

"Lots of recounts really needed to happen, but no one could afford to pay for them," Newman said.

Former Fairfax Councilman Frank Egger said the county elections office told him it would cost $13,000 to sort and recount the absentee ballots from the November council election where he came in third and failed to win re-election. He said a similar recount in Santa Cruz cost only $1,700.

snip

http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_3435831

[Wilms]

5. Vote-PAD: The Simple Voting Device that May Save American Democracy!

Vote-PAD: The Simple Voting Device that May Save American Democracy!

Yolo County, CA Spurns ES&S, Signs up to Use Vote-PAD for Voters with Disabilities, Other Jurisidications may be Right Behind!



Made of paper, plastic and NO SOFTWARE AT ALL, the device works with a paper ballot and costs about one-tenth of flawed, hackable electronic voting machines...Could this be the HAVA voting solution America has been waiting for?

by Brad

1/25/2006

State and County Elections officials from coast to coast to coast are now in a mad, confused, frustrated scramble trying to figure out how the hell to comply with and make sense of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) legislation.

HAVA has proven to be an unmitigated disaster, gamed as it was from the start by Congressmen like Ohio's Bob Ney working in cahoots with voting machine companies. The effort has shamefully employed disabilities groups like the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) and American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), who received more than a million dollars from companies such as Diebold, Inc., to help trump up the sympathy factor in order to force jurisdictions to purchase unreliable electronic voting machines (read: junk), said to be needed by disabled voters who would be unable to vote in secret without assistance from others.

As of the 1/1/06 HAVA deadline, Boards of Elections are now officially plunged into complete and utter disarray as they attempt to comply with the reckless and cynical legislation's mandated requirement (dreamt up by the American Voting Machines Vendors who stand to make billions) for at least one disabled-accessible voting device in every precinct around the country -- even in small precincts without a single disabled voter!

Touch-screen (DRE) voting machines created by mega-corporations like Diebold, Inc. and ES&S have been proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, to be unsecure, hackable, unreliable and finally, not fully accessible by many segments of the disabled community. Meanwhile, the one electronic-based device in which voters with disabilities have expressed the most interest, the AutoMARK system, has reportedly been kept largely out of the marketplace through a number of means. ES&S, the voting machine company who managed to secure exclusive rights to distribute the AutoMARK system, has reportedly been overpricing it in favor of their own DRE systems. As well, there have been a number of reports of ES&S sales reps being actively dissuaded from properly demonstrating that system in pitches to potential customers around the country.

snip

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002329.htm


Vote-PAD Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x409849

[Wilms]

12. More Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x410798

[Wilms]

13. New voting technique makes it 'simpler' for some

New voting technique makes it 'simpler' for some

January 26, 2006

By MONICA KRAUTH/Democrat Staff Writer

"It's a whole new way of voting. It's simpler. It's tactile. It's something that we can feel," said Woodland resident Lucinda Talkington, who is a legally blind senior who saw Vote-PAD for the first time Tuesday.

Vote-PAD is based on a plastic sleeve with voting positions marked by tactile bumps. Next to the bumps are small, precision cut holes correspond to the voting position. An ordinary ballot can be slipped into the sleeve and voters with vision problems can listen to a variable speed audio script them through the ballot. Votes are indicated by filling in the appropriate holes.

After voting, voters can confirm that their choices were correctly recorded by using a light sensing shivering pen that stops shivering when it hits the dark spot created by the voter's mark.

Vote-PAD will be used through out the country, however, the only California county that will use it is Yolo County, though it will be used in a mock election in Alameda County. It still needs approval from the Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.

snip

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_3436553

[Wilms]

6. bradblog/John Gideon - 'Daily Voting News' For January 24, 2006

'Daily Voting News' For January 24, 2006

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

The news has been full of ES&S having problems delivering optical-scan machines and now Diebold seems to have a problem delivering promised DREs to customers in Ohio.

For the third time, the New York Times has editorialized in favor of optical-scan voting.

In Alaska Diebold is doing all they can to cover-up the failures of their machines in 2004 by not allowing the state to release some files.

Maryland's SoS is finally showing 'great concern' about the Diebold machines she has been touting for years....

snip/links to many articles

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002328.htm

[Wilms]

7. CA: Electronic Transmission of Voting Data OKd by Riverside County

County may (does- see below) hasten election tallies


ELECTION IMPROVEMENTS

THE ISSUE: Riverside County officials will decide today whether to buy a secure computer system that would transmit votes from the desert to the city of Riverside on future election nights to speed up results.

PAST PROBLEMS:
During November's special election, the vote cartridges were physically driven from Indio to Riverside so tallies weren't counted and posted online until more than four hours after the polls closed.


Erica Solvig

The Desert Sun

January 24, 2006

The Registrar of Voters wants the county to invest in a secure computer network to make sure votes from the Coachella Valley are counted faster in future elections.

snip

The goal: Avoid the delays that occurred during November's special election when ballots were driven from Indio to the city of Riverside, leading to a four-hour delay before local tallies were released online.

"We heard loud and clear from the voters that it was unacceptable to have that delay," Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore said Monday. "We want to have that incremental update so voters and the candidates and interested parties can see how the vote count is progressing."

Riverside County officials today are asking county supervisors to approve spending $15,000 on the CORNET protected network and on enhanced security at the transmission site in Indio.

snip

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060124/NEWS0301/601240324/1006




IN BRIEF / THE REGION / RIVERSIDE COUNTY

Electronic Transmission of Voting Data OKd

From Times Staff and Wire Reports

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved plans for a remote transmission site to send votes electronically from Indio and desert precincts to the registrar of voters' office in Riverside. The new technology, which uses a dedicated cable that connects to the registrar's computer, is designed to speed ballot-counting and make results available faster.


snip

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rbriefs25.2jan25,0,1430271.story?coll=la-headlines-california

[Wilms]

8. MN running into problems with compatibility of new voting equipment

MN elections officials running into problems with compatibility of new voting equipment

By Charley Shaw
Staff Writer

With terms like ES&S and TSX, discussions at the state Capitol about new-fangled voting machines can sound like Star Wars movie fans talking about droids. And just as technology often failed to smooth out the wrinkles of life in the epic space movies, county and state elections officials are running into problems with the compatibility of their new equipment.

A group of elections officials brought their plight to the Senate Elections Committee on Tuesday. Kevin Corbid, Washington County's Elections Department director, recounted recent history in which his county purchased optical scanners made by Diebold Election Systems. Washington and three other Twin Cities suburban counties are saying they are now being squeezed by the state's adaptation of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Congress, which passed the law in 2002, requires each polling place to use "assistive voting machines" that allow disabled voters to cast their ballots in privacy.

State legislators put HAVA on the books in 2005, and Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer announced a contract for counties to buy the Automark machines made by Elections Systems & Software (ES&S). The equipment uses puff tubes and screens with large type to accommodate voters with disabilities. Minnesota has 83 counties that are utilizing the new Automark equipment and vote-counting machines made by ES&S. The state's HAVA bill allows assistive voting equipment to be used in combination with optical scan counting machines.

But only the ES&S vote-counting equipment has been certified, which poses a potentially expensive problem for counties such as Washington that bought optical scanners from Diebold. "Counties that in the past purchased vote counters from Diebold are in a difficult position," Corbid said. "We are facing the potential of purchasing Automark ballot markers for our assistive voting devices, but they are not compatible with our vote-counting equipment. This means we need to either replace our entire voting systems, basically wasting the investment in our current equipment, or use the two incompatible pieces of equipment. It can be done, and we will do this if needed, but we think we need to explore all other options."

The other three counties are Anoka, Dakota and Ramsey. They have about 500 precincts among them, Corbid said. It could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for each of the counties to replace the machines.

Deputy Secretary of State Alberto Quintela said he finds it hard to believe the equipment isn't compatible. "This option is workable. The option is do-able now," Quintela told the committee. A significant difference between the Diebold and ES&S vote counters has state officials concerned. Diebold's AccuVote-TSX touchscreen system doesn't create an optical scan of the ballot, but rather creates a paper record, similar in appearance to a grocery store receipt, of the vote cast.

In the meantime, Corbid suggested the state grant experimental certification for Diebold or that the Legislature make a change in state law so that an optical scan of the ballots isn't required. Elections Committee Chairman Chuck Wiger, DFL-North St. Paul, asked the Secretary of State's Office to work with the counties as they continue to search for remedies. Quintela and Corbid both noted a solution needs to be reached because this year's elections are nearing. "Let me say the timing is difficult. Even if the Legislature is interested in relaxing the state requirements to allow additional vendors into the Minnesota marketplace, the timing is very tight," Corbid said.

http://www.legal-ledger.com/viewStory.cfm?recID=154014

[Wilms]

9. MD: Assurances on security of voting are sought

Assurances on security of voting are sought

By Kelly Brewington
Sun reporter

Originally published January 26, 2006

snip

Lamone wrote the letter after California's secretary of state declared that some of that state's voting machines were prone to errors and would not be certified for use. In an interview yesterday, Lamone said that Diebold touch-screen machines used here are secure and that she anticipates smooth fall elections.

snip

In her letter to Diebold Chief Executive Officer Thomas Swidarksi, Lamone requested daily telephone briefings with company officials, copies of California test results and documentation showing whether California's technology is the same as that used here.

snip

Lamone said yesterday that she has spoken with Diebold regularly but has not received documents from the vendor on the tests.

snip

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.voting26jan26,1,620952.story?coll=bal-local-headlines


Additional Article and Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x410604

[Wilms]

10. NY Republican Slams HAVA and Proposed Voting Regulations; Cites Jones

In a letter to NY State Board of Elections citing the Affidavit of Dr. Douglas W. Jones, "Regarding the Voting Systems Standards Proposed by the New York State Board of Elections", Republican Attorney Larry Rockefeller challenges HAVA saying, "I submit these comments because the regulations, if adopted, will unconstitutionally and illegally impair New Yorkers' fundamental right to vote."

Copies of the letter were sent to NY AG Eliot Spitzer, and the DoJ Civil Rights Division.

These are pdf's

Rockefeller's Letter
http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/voting/NYvssLRletter.pdf

Douglas Jones' Affidavit
http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/voting/NYvssCritique.pdf


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x410769

[Wilms]

15. PA Rep. Fitzpatrick wants to delay HAVA - plans to introduce legislation

January 26, 2006

Rep. Fitzpatrick wants to delay voting machine law

He says time would give counties choices. Federal aid is at stake.

By Hal Marcovitz
Of The Morning Call

U.S. Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick plans to introduce legislation in Congress next week to delay implementation of the federal law that has caused a scramble among area counties to replace or upgrade their voting machines by the spring primary.

In announcing his proposed amendment to the U.S. Help America Vote Act, the 8th District Republican was joined at a news conference Wednesday in Doylestown by about 25 members of the Bucks County Coalition for Voting Integrity who asked for his help in delaying implementation of the law.

snip

Fitzpatrick's bill would delay implementation of the law until the November election. Under the legislation, the responsibility for obtaining the delay falls on the state government, which would have to prove ''good cause'' for postponing the effective date.

The state would have to make its case to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the panel set up by Congress to administer the act and disburse the federal funds to the states, which in turn make them available to counties.

snip

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/quakertown/all-b1_2votingjan26,0,1660651.story?coll=all-newslocalquakertown-hed

[Wilms]

16. Fitzgerald To Introduce Bill To Delay HAVA Deadlines Until November

Fitzgerald To Introduce Bill To Delay HAVA Deadlines Until November

By Warren Stewart, Director of Legislative Issues and Policy, VoteTrustUSA

January 26, 2006

Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) has announced his intention to introduce legislation that would adjust the deadlines of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Currently states are required to meet numerous requirements for voting system upgrades and statewide voter registration databases in time for the "first election for Federal office held after January 1, 2006”. Fitzgerald’s bill would amend the HAVA to push the deadlne back until “the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in November, 2006”.

At a joint press conference with representatives of the Coalition for Voter Integrity, Rep. Fitzpatrick said that the legislation would protect local governments who act in good faith to follow the letter of the law in updating their voting machines, but are unable to meet the deadline before primary election this Spring from possible penalties.

In his press release, Fitzgerald stressed that “The “Help America Vote Act” was written to strengthen our election process and bring it up to date nation-wide – an important and necessary endeavor. However, elections are the domain of the states and local governments and this Act has trampled over their rights. The Act is pressuring counties … to adopt untested equipment in an unreasonable timetable. Something must be done to give more time to local communities to make such an important decision and respect their rights at the same time.”

A delay in the deadlines would relieve pressure on counties in many states, notably New York, which has been threatened with a lawsuit by the Department of Justice, Connecticut, where state officials recently re-opened their voting system procurement process after cancelling their contract with Danaher Corporation, and Fitzpatrick's home state of Pennsylvania, where many counties have yet to make decisions about voting systems.

snip/important links

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=842&Itemid=26

[Wilms]

17. Sign the Voter Confidence Petition in Support of H.R. 550

Sign the Voter Confidence Petition in Support of H.R. 550

"Anything of value should be auditable. Votes are valuable, and each voter should have the knowledge-and the confidence-that his or her vote was recorded and counted as intended. Passage of this bill (H.R. 550) will be a big step in restoring that confidence, which is the very foundation of our democratic republic."

- Rush Holt on The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005

http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html


Please Kick & Recommend this Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x410882

[Wilms]

18. .

[Algorem]

19. Cuyahoga County,Ohio-Leaders split over electronic voting

http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1138354781287440.xml&coll=2

Friday, January 27, 2006
Joan Mazzolini
Plain Dealer Reporter

...But Cuyahoga County commissioners won't spend the money until after the May primary at the earliest, saying they want to see how the Diebold machines already on hand do in their first test. The machines will replace a punch-card system that has been used for years.

Ohio-based Diebold's electronic voting machines have been at the center of a nationwide controversy over concerns that the machines could be manipulated to alter election results.

Commissioner Tim Hagan said he is willing to buy additional machines if they operate properly and are needed. Commissioners Chairman Jimmy Dimora said he wants to hire an expert not tied to Diebold or the elections board to analyze the reliability of the machines in the May primary...

But the controversy about Diebold machines has deepened because an elections chief in one Florida county showed how easy it is for hackers to manipulate the equipment. Several times over the past year, Leon County supervisor of elections Ion Sancho asked computer specialists to see if they could change vote results on his Diebold system, and each time they did...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=410977&mesg_id=410977

[Algorem]

20. OH-Full ballot, I.D. rule planned for fall

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1138354353287440.xml&coll=2

Friday, January 27, 2006
Reginald Fields
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus

-- Ohio's new voter identification requirement, the most controversial piece of an elections bill that could clear the legislature early next week, would get its first real test during this November's busy election.

Also part of about a dozen amendments to House Bill 3 from a joint legislative committee on Thursday was the elimination of a cap on contributions from government workers to their employers running for office.

The bill is expected to be approved by both chambers Tuesday and then immediately signed into law by the governor, making it the state's new authority for all things elections-related. The bill contains provisions on everything from voting machines to ballot counting to rules for who can serve as petition circulators.

With a 90-day period before a bill becomes law, a signature from the governor by Tuesday would leave just enough time to implement some provisions before the May primary, said Rep. Kevin DeWine, the bill's sponsor...