Why Was Uncertified 'Experimental' Software Installed on ES&S Tabulation Systems in 39 OH Counties

[midnight]

Just Days Before Presidential Election?



By BRAD FRIEDMAN on 11/5/2012, 5:35am PT


The story included a copy of the contract [PDF] between Republican Ohio Sec. of State Jon Husted's


office and ES&S, the nation's largest e-voting system manufacturer, for a new, last minute piece of software created to the custom specifications of the Sec. of State. The contract itself describes the software as "High-level enhancements to ES&S' election reporting software that extend beyond the current features and functionality of the software to facilitate a custom-developed State Election Results Reporting File."

A subsequent story at The Free Press the following day included text said to be from a November 1 memo sent from the OH SoS Election Counsel Brandi Laser Seske to a number of state election officials confirming the use of the new, uncertified software on Ohio's tabulator systems. The memo claims that "its function is to aid in the reporting of results" by converting them "into a format that can be read by the Secretary of State's election night reporting system."

On Friday evening, at Huffington Post, journalist Art Levine followed up with a piece that, among other things, advanced the story by breaking the news that Fitrakis and his attorney Cliff Arnebeck were filing a lawsuit for an immediate injunction against Husted and ES&S to "halt the use of secretly installed, unauthorized 'experimental' software in 39 counties' tabulators". Levine also reported that Arnebeck had referred the matter to the Cincinnati FBI for criminal investigation of what the Ohio attorney describes as "a flagrant violation of the law."http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9698

[djean111]

1. I am assuming that is a rhetorical question. (n/t)

[midnight]

7. I suppose it's a given after reading the story...

[louis-t]

2. They found the new software made it easier to

flip votes?

[questionseverything]

4. tis the repub way

husted has done everything he could to suppress the vote in ohio,now it is time to control the outcome...potus needs to be ready to impound the machines and the ballots and watch the accumulation of totals

[Blue Owl]

3. Maybe Kathy Nickolaus could bring her laptop over from Wisconsin

and conjure up just enough votes for Rmoney to win, the day after the results are posted.

[midnight]

8. I'm sure they are using her for over-time here in Wisconsin...

[Frustratedlady]

5. The combination of voting machines owned by Repugs,

the name of Husted and changes a few days before the election? Explosive combination.

Someone needs to be very alert with Husted. Remember 2004?

[Texin]

9. Wonder who Husted's "Third Man" is this year?

The last True Believer in all things GOP who carried their water for them and designed the software patch used to steal Ohio in '04 was Michael Connell. His wife picked up his body parts following his airplane "accident" a few days before Christmas in '08. Wonder who they paid to martyr himself this time.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. because our elections are a corrupt joke.

And these sorts of shenanigans occur on a regular basis with zero remedy. Note that even if there is a criminal investigation, charges, convictions and punishment, the election results will likely stand. The risk of actual criminal charges is near zero. There is almost no downside to doing this stuff.