BBV: The EAC - Brings Back Part of Cast Responsible for Electoral Mess

[RedEagle]

Will they never learn? Do they want to learn?
I am offended that the EAC would bring back to the technical standards fold long-time members of NASED's Voting Systems Board, who for years let flagrant problems just go by and put the final stamp of approval on flawed systems:

Donetta Davidson
Britt Williams
Paul Craft

Williams, of course, of Diebold/Georgia fame and Craft is hugely responsible, behind the scenes, for Florida. Why are these people being "rewarded" for letting down the voters and the country?

Anyone else on this list that needs to go?

I think Ron Rivest is a good guy but why not Barbara Simons? And where are the experts in checks and balances, some good accountants? Where are offcials with their eyes open, like Freddie Oakley and Kevin Shelley? And where are the CITIZENS? Why don't we have any representation? Susan Marie Weber, Bev Harris, Lynn Landes, Victoria Collier- where are the people who will ask the questions and demand accountability that can be employed by ANY citizen? (Voter verified paper ballots and lots of random auditing)

Citizens at the grass roots level are responsible for exposing the dangers and continue to unravel the threads of problems in our electoral system.

It's OUR vote, dammit, and why are WE not represented on this committee?

You don't have to be a "technical" expert (I sincerely doubt Davidson is) to provide the input needed to insure a balanced, accountable system, to say, "Wait a minute, this is a representative democracy and as such, every citizen should be able to participate in the process- and that is NOT just voting."

With all due respect to the others, without some balanced, outside-of-the-technical-realm input, we're going to end up with another technological, anti-democratic boondoggle.

I think that the EAC should reconsider Davidson, Williams, and Craft. Employing the same people that had a hand in the system as it currently is, is counter-intuitive. Time for some new blood. We can't come up with new solutions with the same old ingredients.



U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION1225 New York Ave. NW ­ Suite
1100Washington, DC 20005

U.S. EAC FORMS TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
TO CREATE NEW VOTING STANDARDS


For Immediate Release
Contact: Bryan Whitener

June 17, 2004

[phone]


The Chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) announced the formation of the 15-member Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC)during his testimony before the House Administration Committee today. EAC Chairman DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. said that the TDGC will be charged to work during the next nine months to draft important standards for all voting systems
used in the United States. “The appointment of this committee marks the very first time the federal government has become involved in voting on this level. We spent much of our nation’s history determining who should vote. We now turn to the issue of how people vote,” said Chairman Soaries.

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requires the EAC to develop voluntary voting system guidelines for voting systems and voting equipment used in the States, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. It also requires the EAC to oversee the testing, certification and decertification of election equipment used in federal elections. HAVA mandates that the TGDC draft these important
guidelines for consideration by the EAC Standards Board and Board of Advisors, and for ultimate consideration and adoption by the EAC.

Voting System Standards were last adopted in the United States by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) in 2002. EAC Commissioner Paul DeGregorio, a former local election official from Missouri, stated: “State and local election officials, as well as voter advocates eagerly await the adoption of these important voting system guidelines. The crucial research and open discussion that will take place by the TGDC and the EAC over the next year will be helpful
to all election officials, advocates and all Americans. The intense scrutiny that newer voting systems are now receiving makes it clear that these guidelines are sorely needed.”

The guidelines drafted by the TGDC will enable the EAC to offer guidance to States and election authorities that will use some of the $2.3 billion dollars of federal HAVA funds year to purchase new voting equipment in 2005.

As required by HAVA, The TGDC will be chaired by Dr. Arden Bement, the Director of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST will provide technical and administrative support to the Committee. Other members of the TGDC come from HAVA-required groups, including representatives from the American National Standards Institute, the National Association of State Election Directors, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the
Architectural and Transportation Barrier Compliance Board (commonly
referred to as the Access Board), the EAC Standards Board, the EAC Board of Advisors, and individuals with technical and scientific expertise.

A list of members of the TGDC is attached.


###

*The U.S. Election Assistance Commission was created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). The Commission is charged with administering voluntary guidelines for election requirements under HAVA, maintaining a clearinghouse of information regarding election administration procedures including testing and certification of election equipment, and administering the Election Assistance
and Help America Vote Programs. The EAC commissioners are DeForest B.Soaries, Jr., Chairman; Gracia M. Hillman, Vice Chair, Paul DeGregorio and Ray Martinez III.


Technical Guidelines Development Committee

Chair
Dr. Arden Bement
Acting Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF)
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Gaithersburg, MD

Donetta Davidson
Colorado Secretary of State
Standards Board ( EAC )
Denver, CO

Alice Miller
Director of Elections-District of Columbia
Standards Board ( EAC )
Washington, DC

Sharon Turner Buie
Director of Elections-Kansas City
Board of Advisors ( EAC )
Kansas City, MO

Helen Purcell
Maricopa County Recorder
Board of Advisors ( EAC )
Phoenix, AZ

James (Jim) R. Harding
Architectural and Transportation Barrier Compliance Board
Tallahassee, FL

James Elekes
Architectural and Transportation Barrier Compliance Board
North Plainfield, NJ

Ann Caldas
Director Procedures and Standards Administration
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
New York, NY

H. Stephen Berger
TEM Consulting, LP- Chair, IEEE SEC 38 (Voting Syst. Stds.)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Georgetown, TX

Dr. Brittain Williams
Retired professor- Kennesaw State- University of Georgia
National Association of State Election Directors (NASED)
Tucker, GA

Paul Craft
Florida Department of State, Voting Systems Division
National Association of State Election Directors (NASED)
Tallahassee, FL

Dr. Ronald Rivest
Professor, MIT-Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Cambridge, MA

Dr. Daniel Schutzer
Vice President & Director of External Standards and Advanced Technology,
e-Citi, CitiGroup
Stamford, CT

Patrick Gannon
President and CEO,
OASIS
Billerica, MA

Whitney Quesenbery
President-Usability Professionals' Association
High Bridge, NJ



Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or

concerns at 866/747-1471 (toll free) or directly at 202/566-3118.

Bryan Whitener

U.S. Election Assistance Commission

[RedEagle]

1. The Fix is Going Down Again

If you care, write the EAC and Congress.

Kick!

[BevHarris]

2. Steven Berger is part of the old guard too

for some reason, in the IEEE thing setting the standards, he was serving along with the president of ES&S.

I'm still not seeing anything to indicate that real change is likely with that organization.

Bev Harris

[RedEagle]

3. Nope, Going to the Same Well...

....we'll be treading in the same water.

If they couldn't do it last time, why give them a second chance?

[Andy_Stephenson]

4. They are trying to

"win one for the gipper"

[Bushfire]

5. When writing Congress, can we steal some of your language?

Please??? :yourock:

[BevHarris]

7. When you find phrases that resonate, use them

A significant part of persuasion is finding the right sound bytes and images.

I've borrowed more than a few from Jim March, though I try to credit him as often as I can. For example, when asked if this is a partisan issue:

You can look at it like there are a few parties. The Republicans, the Democrats, and the corrupt. The corrupt draws from all parties.

Bev

[RedEagle]

8. If I Posted It Here, Use It

This whole piece of garbage is like trying to get a new result with the same methods- wait, maybe that's the point, new result isn't what they want.

Logic would imply that if the old guard messed it up, you chuck the old guard.

Logic would imply that if you have two people involved in some of the most shady states election wise- you don't use their "expertise"- whoops, wait a minute, might be just the "expertise" desired....

Could they do anything more to say that nothing is going to change? Put a few good guys on the board but make darn sure they are outnumbered.

You can't have any valid revue without someone from the outside of the "in" group looking at it, especially as deep as some of these are buried in it.

I think we need to take some shovels to D.C., the kind you clean barns with.....

[loudsue]

6. This Makes Me Sick!!!!!

These phucking WEASELS!!! How do they keep getting "hand picked" for this Commission? They're just a front organization for the black box manufacturers, and they are continually empowered by the very people they've managed to get into elected office!

WTF is wrong with this picture???? Are they just circling the wagons since we've got them in our sites?

:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick: