The child molester running for the U.S. Senate isn't the only weird thing going on in Alabama

[CousinIT]

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THE ENTIRE THREAD: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/940510156894425089

The child molester running for the U.S. Senate isn't the only weird thing going on in Alabama politics right now. Let's talk about some of that... <thread>

Last Thursday, a lawsuit was filed in an Alabama circuit court on behalf of 3 voters (a Republican, a Democrat, & an Independent). They asked the court to order election officials to preserve electronic ballot images from the upcoming #ALSen race.

/1/




Alabama uses paper ballots...BUT the paper ballot is not actually what's counted.

Here's how it works: The paper ballot is scanned. A digital image is created. Then, that digital image is used to count your vote.

/2/

Judge orders Alabama not to destroy voting records in Tuesday's Senate election
A judge directed Alabama election officials Monday afternoon to preserve all digital ballot images in Tuesday's hotly contested U.S. Senate special election.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/12/judge_orders_alabama_not_to_de.html



So, if the #ALSen race is really close (or if there are irregularities) and a recount is ordered, those digital ballot records would be needed — because although the paper ballots show who YOU voted for, they don't show if the machine accurately recorded/counted your vote.

/3/

Fast-forward to Monday (yesterday). In the early afternoon, a judge sided with the plaintiffs and ordered Alabama election officials to preserve all digital ballot records from Tuesday's #ALSen race.

But that's not the end of the story.

/4/




Just after 4:30pm on Monday, Alabama's Republican AG Steve Marshall filed a motion in the state Supreme Court to stay the earlier order.

i.e., the state filed a court motion to halt the order that required election officials to preserve electronic ballot records.

/5/




Why would state officials have a problem with maintaining electronic ballot records from today's #ALSen race?

Republican Sec. of State John Merrill says he doesn't have the authority to maintain those records or to tell local election officials to do so. 🤨

/6/


First of all, the Sec. of State routinely directs local officials on matters related to elections. He has the authority. Secondly, maintaining electronic ballot records is not hard. 85% of Alabama voting machines are equipped to do it with the push of a button. Literally.

/7/


Voting machines have 3 options regarding the preservation of digital ballot images:
-None
-All processed images
-Processed write-in images only

One of these options must be selected. The Sec of State simply needs to send an email telling election officials which to select.

/8/

Despite claiming that he doesn't have the authority to do so, Alabama's Sec of State *did* tell local election officials to select the option to preserve write-in records.

But he says he can't tell them to preserve all digital ballot records from today's #ALSen race.

/9/


The #ALSen race is likely to be close, which means a recount is a very real possibility. Because the digital image of the paper ballot (not the ballot itself) is used to tabulate votes, the image would be needed for an accurate recount (& to look for mistakes/miscounts).

/10/


Failure to preserve digital ballot images may also violate public records laws. They are basically photocopying a ballot, then using that photocopy to tabulate votes... and then destroying the photocopy that was actually used in vote-counting, but keeping the paper ballot.

/11/



Alabama's ballot design has also been called into question. The ballot lets you select 2 ways to vote; if both options are selected, the machine might read it as an "overvote" — in which case it wouldn't be counted.

To resolve this, the digital & paper ballot are needed.

/12/


There's no good reason *not* to maintain digital ballot images, and it's extremely concerning that Alabama's Sec of State is fighting to destroy these records.

And that's not all...

/13/


Even more concerning than the fact that #Alabama Sec of State John Merrill wants to destroy digital ballot images is the fact that many voters will never cast a ballot in the first place because of voter suppression.

/14/

#Alabama Sec. of State John Merrill has admitted that he doesn't believe voting is a right. He believes it's a privilege that has to be earned.

/15/


Earlier this year, #Alabama passed a law allowing some ex-felons to vote. These people were told that they could never vote again — and Sec. of State John Merrill decided that he wouldn't make any effort to notify them that they are eligible.

/16/

Don't blame black voters if Roy Moore wins. Blame this guy.
"As long as I’m secretary of state of Alabama, you’re going to have to show some initiative to become a registered voter."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/12/the-republican-overseeing-the-alabama-election-doesnt-think-voting-should-be-easy/#



#Alabama Sec. of State John Merrill co-sponsored the state's 2011 voter ID law. GOP state lawmakers didn't even try to hide their intentions. One of them literally told a newspaper that the ID law would dismantle the state's "black power structure."

/17/

The Alabama Senate Race May Have Already Been Decided
Blame the state’s voter suppression campaign.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/opinion/roy-moore-alabama-senate-voter-suppression.html



Then, after passing the voter ID law, #Alabama started closing drivers license offices.

Every single county in which blacks make up more than 75 percent of registered voters saw their driver license office shut down.

*Every. Single. One*

/18/

Alabama sends message: We are too broke to care about right and wrong
Every single county in which blacks make up more than 75 percent of registered voters will see their driver license office closed. Every one.
http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/09/alabama_sends_message_we_are_t.html

Currently, it's estimated that about 10% of all registered voters in #Alabama are unable to vote because they lack the required photo ID. African American voters are about 2.5 times as likely as white voters to be disenfranchised by voter ID laws.

/19/

Voting restrictions could affect Alabama's special U.S. Senate election
Recent efforts to limit voting in Alabama could play a critical role in what's shaping up to be a closer-than-expected race between far-right Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones to fill the …
https://www.facingsouth.org/2017/10/voting-restrictions-could-affect-alabamas-special-us-senate-election

[bluecollar2]

1. Alabama is a textbook example of

Everything that is wrong about the way we vote.

A national voting standards act must be the first priority of the Democratic House of Representatives if we take the house in 2018.

[world wide wally]

4. I absolutely agree!

[Juliusseizure]

15. Agree

Along w/impeachment

[Scarsdale]

2. If this is allowed to stand

in Alabama, the gop will put it into action in the next election, nationwide. This is a test. They KNOW Moore is on shaky ground, and could lose, so they are helping to give him a victory.

[Hoyt]

3. No reason not to keep scanned ballots, but the original paper ballots are preserved and would be

what are reviewed in event of a recount. So, not keep the scanned ballots is really not that big of deal.

[Lucky Luciano]

6. It would be very interesting to see differences between

...the paper and digital image.

[Whiskeytide]

9. It is. The paper ballots are ...

... preserved, true. But preserving the digital images of the paper ballots allows us to compare and see if the machine is correctly reading the ballots. It’s an anti-hacking measure (part of the basis of the lawsuit).

You can still compare the totals to the paper ballots, but this would allow you to actually track how the machine misreads the paper. Might be interesting.

[Hoyt]

12. That's simple. Count the paper ballots and if the machine total is different, you got a problem.

One would not audit or recount from the digital images.

[Whiskeytide]

16. Agreed. It would just allow you...

... be more precise in the diagnostics. It’s the difference between knowing there is a problem and perhaps knowing specifically what the problem is.

I also think it might have some value as a vote rigging prophylactic. Not much - but an election official might think twice before stuffing the ballot box with some extra freedom if he/she thinks that dadgum musheen might be looking.

[Hoyt]

18. As a preference, I would keep the digital scans. Apparently -- if you believe election officials --

it is too late to do whatever they have to do to set the machine to keep the scans. I think it is more than checking a box at this point, but I don't know.

As long as they have the paper ballots, one could determine if things were fudged, and that is the best way to recount or audit results. And apparently Alabama does keep the paper ballots for a period of time.


Also, if people are really concerned about the voting process, go volunteer to work at the polls. My late wife used to do that and really enjoyed it, although it was sometimes a 20 hour straight job. She even got paid a little.

[questionseverything]

20. we are not allowed to look at the ballots..that is the entire point

Why not just fight to view the actual paper ballots? Brakey explains: "You cannot get at the original ballots. They will not let you touch them. In order to get to them, you have to prove fraud first. And how are you going to prove fraud if you can't get to the ballots? That's the Catch-22. The ballot images are a tool to get us to the originals."

http://bradblog.com/?p=12395

[Hoyt]

22. I'm sorry, I don't believe anyone should be able to look at ballots. With that said,

I don't think valid investigators or research entities should be kept from looking a ballots.

[questionseverything]

23. you are a hoot....earlier you said,just count the paper ballots

now it's only "special" peops should be able to look

[Hoyt]

25. You miss the point, and are a perfect example of why just anyone shouldnt be

allowed to look at ballots.

[questionseverything]

26. i am old enough to remember when CITIZENS counted their own votes on election night

i don't understand why you don't believe in transparency or in citizen oversight

your insults aside , we are not asking to take the ballots anywhr, just to count them

exactly why am i the perfect example of why that should not happen?

[dalton99a]

5. Kick

[Initech]

7. If Florida is America's penis, does that make Alabama America's asshole?

[NoMoreRepugs]

8. When the courts become totally partisan

does Democracy really exist anymore?

[SeaDoo77]

10. Siegelman's ballots are stilll sealed even after fraud

He was screwed and they sealed the paper ballots. He complained and was locked up for 10 years by a kangaroo crap partisan court.

[dchill]

13. Cheating is the only way Republicans can win...

We can't take their tools away from them!

[Sam McGee]

14. Let's take a deep breath . . .

I'm secretary of the electoral board in a poor, rural VA county.

I'm not certain what an order to preserve the digital images of ballots is supposed to do. Not every voting machine maintains a digital image of paper ballots.
-- Old optical scanners do not make digital images. They count the marks on the ballot, tally the marks, and drop the paper ballot into the ballot box to which the scanner is fastened.
-- Newer digital scanners -- some models, that is -- make a digital image of each ballot and store that image on a hard drive inside the scanner. As far as I know, those images are accessible only by factory technicians. The paper ballot, after running through the scanner, drops into a ballot box.
-- DRE voting machines do not use paper -- DRE: Direct Reading Equipment. These are the touch-screen machines that are being trashed nationwide because they don't leave a paper trail, but, that are still in use in many places. There's no way to count the votes on DRE equipment except by relying on the tally tape printed by the machine -- there's no paper ballot to start with.

Many years ago, our ballots were paper, hand-counted. In close elections, losers pissed and moaned and demanded recounts, which happened from time to time.

We then went to mechanical voting machines that did not leave a record of the individual ballots -- they simply added the number of times a lever was pulled. There was no back-up of any kind, you just took the machine's word for the count. In close elections, losers pissed and moaned and demanded recounts, which happened from time to time.

Then came optical scanners. Everyone is familiar with the optical scanner -- it's the machine that grades you SAT, ACT, LSAT, GRE, etc. scores as well a counting other mark sensing forms. The optical scanners were good technology -- sturdy, reliable, proven. All the optical scanner voting machines I've seen include a memory card on which the results are written. The machine also prints a results tally at the end of the day. Thus, there were two methods of counting: (1) Count the paper ballots that were scanned by the machine, or, (2) retrieve the stored data from the memory card and read it on a computer, or, on the machine.

Optical scanners have been replaced by digital scanners. In our 2013 general election, some of our old optical scanners gave us problems, most of them traced to old drive mechanisms that did not pull the ballots into the machine smoothly. No parts were available, so, our county got up off $100,000 and purchased new scanners from Hart Verity.

The new scanners being used today are digital scanners. They count the votes the same was as the old optical scanners -- that is, they read the marks on the paper ballot and tally those marks onto a digital memory card (a proprietary thumb drive). The digital scanners also: (1) print a tally tape after voting has ended and the polls are closed; (2) store the tally on the removable thumb drive; and, (3) store an image of each ballot on a hard drive built into the machine and accessible only by company technicians. The hard drives on our scanners have sufficient capacity to store the last four years' of elections. In close elections, losers piss and moan and demand recounts, which happens from time to time.

Also -- if someone marks the ballot for a write-in candidate, the digital scanner makes and stores an image of the name that is written in. At the end of the day, poll workers print a write-in tape along with the tally tape. On that write-in tape are images of all names written in and those votes are hand-counted.

I don't know about Alabama, however, in Virginia, we are required to bundle up all the paper ballots from the scanners along with the results tapes and thumb drives, seal them in boxes wrapped with security tape and signed by all officials at the respective precinct. The boxes of paper ballots then go the the Clerk of the Circuit Court before noon the day after the election where they remain in the Clerk's vault for two years after which they are destroyed.

So -- I'm not certain what they mean by preserve the digital images. What happens in precincts where there or optical scanners or DRE, which do not produce a digital image and which may not even require a paper ballot?

All the more reason for the nation to go to digital scanners with paper ballots. Period.

[questionseverything]

21. scanners can be programmed to spit out a false result

Why not just fight to view the actual paper ballots? Brakey explains: "You cannot get at the original ballots. They will not let you touch them. In order to get to them, you have to prove fraud first. And how are you going to prove fraud if you can't get to the ballots? That's the Catch-22. The ballot images are a tool to get us to the originals."

http://bradblog.com/?p=12395

[NotASurfer]

17. This sounds like a textbook application of the 14th Amendment

If a state disenfranchises eligible voters, it loses representation in Congress in proportion and as a result (this is one place the Electoral College is useful) Electors for purpose of choosing the next President

Sounds widespread enough that it ought to knock at least one Representative off their Congressional delegation

[Bengus81]

19. This is an ELECTION--our RIGHT as Americans. Every damn scrap of paper or otherwise...

should be preserved from those who voted. Anyone fighting to destroy ANY of it has a reason for doing so.

[Gabi Hayes]

24. if this becomes close enough to examine ballots, this story becomes the most important one

of this entire, perverted horrorshow

I was trying to explain this to someone, and they refused to believe it

[bluestarone]

27. need to check out this assholes background

who's his boss and who can file lawsuits?? OH THAT'S RIGHT IT'S ALABAMA forget it