Lowell Finley, leading election attorney, up at 6:30 pm CST

[SophieZ]

It's your world. Understand it!
March 26, 2006: The Monitor


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<> 6:00 pm CST -- Otis McClay will join us to discuss the importance of independent news shows, and tell the tale of how The Monitor got started. We will be asking for your support. The number to call is 713 526-5738.

<> ~ 6:10 pm CST -- CHRISTOPHER PYLE on reports that the NSA seeks to collect data on every phone call in the U.S.



Monitor co-host Mark Bebawi will discuss with Christopher Pyle the NSA phone data collection story, and place it in the context of the Pentagon's spying on peace groups, the domestic phone taps without FISA approval, the President's 750 signing statements, and the National Security Letters.

Pyle is Professor of Politics at Mt. Holyoke College, he was a whistle blower on US Army spying on civilians during Vietnam, he has taught intelligence agents in the army, and has been a frequent witness before congressional committees. He has written extensively on freedom of expression, equal protection of the laws, rights of privacy, investigative journalism, terrorism, the detention of aliens and citizens without trial, and President Bush’s plan to try alleged terrorists before military tribunals.

Pyle’s articles on military surveillance of civilian politics won the Polk and Hillman awards for investigative journalism in 1971 and 1970, respectively. In 2004 he received the Luther Knight Macnair Award from the ACLU of Massachusetts for his contributions to civil liberties as a “teacher, scholar, and model citizen activist.”


<> ~ 6:30 pm CST -- LOWELL FINLEY on the worst Diebold flaw yet, and lawsuits in several states



Monitor co-host Pokey Anderson will discuss with attorney Lowell Finley the latest bombshell about Diebold's electronic voting systems, as well as ongoing lawsuits attempting to secure transparent, accurate, recountable voting systems.

Lowell Finley is based in Berkeley, CA and has practiced election law for over 20 years. He is the nation's leading attorney in litigating for transparent, reliable, recountable election systems. Working with Black Box Voting and the state's Attorney General, he won a lawsuit against Diebold in California resulting in a settlement from Diebold of $2.6 million.

Voter Action, which Finley co-directs, got the State of New Mexico to back down and to require a paper record of each ballot cast in NM.

Voter Action recently filed suit on behalf of voters in California and New York to block the purchase and use of the types of voting machines that are most error-prone and vulnerable to tampering, This week, citizens in Arizona filed suit against their secretary of state to halt the purchase and use of Diebold TSx and Sequoia Edge II touch-screen electronic voting systems due to security, verifiability, and disability access problems with these systems.

In addition, this week Finnish computer expert Harri Hursti, who previously hacked the Diebold optical scan voting equipment at the invitation of the Leon County Florida election official, has issued a brand new report documenting even more serious security flaws in Diebold DREs.

Computer experts around the country are very concerned; for instance, expert Michael Shamos said: "It's the most serious security breach that's ever been discovered in a voting system." So far, three states are responding to this with emergency measures. Several articles and a link to the actual report are below.

WEBSITES:
www.voteraction.org
www.blackboxvoting.org
www.bradblog.com
www.votetrustusa.org

DVD:
"Help America Vote on Paper" A 15-minute briefing video on the dangers to democracy posed by the privatization of the US election system and by electronic voting machines and what citizens can do about it. Includes attorney Lowell Finley, US Reps. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, Cynthia McKinney, Lynn Woolsey. Video proposes either an optical scan system, which it acknowledges can be hacked, or a hand counted paper ballot. 2006 $15 http://www.eon3.net/pages/main.html [phone]

ARTICLES ON LATEST DIEBOLD DRE VULNERABILITY:

New security glitch found in Diebold system; Officials say machines have 'dangerous' holes
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER, May 10, 2006
http://www.insidebayarea.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3805089

"This one is worse than any of the others I've seen. It's more fundamental," said Douglas Jones, a University of Iowa computer scientist and veteran voting-system examiner for the state of Iowa. "In the other ones, we've been arguing about the security of the locks on the front door," Jones said. "Now we find that there's no back door. This is the kind of thing where if the states don't get out in front of the hackers, there's a real threat."

Scientists Call Diebold Security Flaw "Worst Ever"
By Ian Hoffman
Inside Bay Area, Thursday 11 May 2006
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051206F.shtml

"I think it's the most serious thing I've heard to date," said Johns Hopkins University computer science professor Avi Rubin, who published the first security analysis of Diebold voting software in 2003.

Michael Shamos, a Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor and veteran voting-systems examiner for the state of Pennsylvania:
"It's the most serious security breach that's ever been discovered in a voting system. On this one, the probability of success is extremely high because there's no residue.... Any kind of cursory inspection of the machine would not reveal it."

New Fears of Security Risks in Electronic Voting Systems
By MONICA DAVEY
Published: May 12, 2006, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/us/12vote.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

THE ACTUAL REPORT
Issued by Harri Hursti, Black Box Voting.org
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/BBVtsxstudy.pdf

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[nicknameless]

1. K/R

[emlev]

2. Thanks for the link, good interview! Important stuff.