California Voting Systems Panel Public Hearing January 15, 2004

[GregD]

California Voting Systems Panel Public Hearing January 15, 2004 - Let's fill the room this time!

http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/vsp_011504.pdf

The next meeting of the California Voting Systems Panel will be held on January 15, 2004 at 10:00 AM. If you have followed recent events, an audit of installed Diebold hardware, firmware and software produced ZERO fully certified installations when reviewing random systems over 17 counties. However, information provided to the State's offices arrived too late to be fully scrutinized in time for the most-recent meeting. Further, the State has now ordered a wider audit - covering all counties.

This is a critical meeting that all verified voting advocates should attend. In the last meeting, we were literally outnumbered by voting manufacturer employees and management. It would be best if we reversed that at the upcoming meeting.

The VSP encourages the public to submit written comments on agenda items. Comments must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on January 6th to ensure their delivery to the VSP members prior to the meeting. If you wish to provide information or present an oral statement at the meeting, please contact Michael Wagaman at [phone] or [e-mail].

1500 11th Street
1st Floor - Auditorium
Sacramento, CA 95814

Directions: http://www.calvoter.org/legguide/directions.html


I may post this again in a week or so, but if you can attend please put the 15th on your calendar.

Keep this kicked for everyone please. Thanks much!

[Eric J in MN]

1. The Vote Trakker by Avante International Technology seems great

http://www.aitechnology.com/votetrakker2/overview.html

I know that people would prefer if they used the term paper-ballot instead of receipt to make it clear that the paper should be used in recounts, but anyway, this is from their website:

"AVANTE pioneered the use of voter verifiable paper record (or “receipt”) as part of an
independent verification and audit. This paper record is printed for voter to review before
leaving the voting booth. They are protected in an enclosed window.
The VOTE-TRAKKER™ paper record incorporates a random voting session identifier that is
one-to-one tied to the electronic memory of the ballot images. The unique identifier is bound to
the selections to form an encrypted check code as part of electronic verification. The printed
style is also relationally encrypted.

The paper record is cut into individual records without time-stamp or other information that can
be used to identify the voters in anyway.

The use of this voter verifiable paper records had resulted in over 96% of voters feeling confident
in casting their ballots and belief that their votes are counted correctly. This is a good 26%
higher than those systems without voter verified paper records. "

[JohnGideon]

4. AVANTE is one of three voting systems that give a paper ballot

They are certified by NASED and certified in over a dozen states and have been used in two elections.

Another excellent system is one that is being worked on right now by the Open Voting Consortium. The OVC is a group of volunteers from around the world who are working on a voting system that is completely open source, has a printer for voter verified paper ballots, and is secure. They are non-profit to boot. They may be ready to do their first test next month.

[Eric J in MN]

2. I've found that putting the phrase "BBV" at the start of

I've found that putting the abbreviation "BBV" at the start of a post on Black Box Voting helps people interested in the subject to notice it.

[gristy]

3. Definitely post this a couple more times

I've a notion to fly out there. I'm very, very busy right now. But if some of you CA DUer's don't get on the stick here, I'm comin' out and I'm gonna hit you all with my rythm stick!

[GregD]

5. Standing offer to travelers

You folks all know how to reach me. If you feel you would like to come to CA for that meeting, I will do my best to help with transit from the airport, accomodations and a ride to the meeting.

It may not be more than making arrangements for you to be on the airporter to the appropriate dropoff point, sleep on an airbed, and a thermos of coffee for the 2-hour drive to Sacramento early that morning; but we'll have fun anyhow.

And yeah, I should have made it BBV but we will have to post this a few more times before the meeting - it's still 3 weeks away.

[GregD]

6. BTW - Operation Enduring Vote is not going well at the moment

I know it's been the Holidays, but this effort has effectively been a non-event; we have heard nearly nothing from folks. We are really hoping that people will take the e-voting issue to their legislators while they are on recess.

http://www.verifiedvoting.org/resources/town_meeting_resources.asp

If folks can kick this one into gear, we'd really like to hear of anyone's attending meetings and what you learned.

Thanks!

[RedEagle]

7. Want Happier Holidays?

Get with it folks.

Corporate sponsored distractions or a real democracy?

Which would you prefer?

[MoonRiver]

8. kick

[Eric J in MN]

9. kick

kick

[DUreader]

10. kick

[cirej2000]

11. I'm all for it as long as it's not about minorities being too dumb...

To vote with paper ballots. That really pissed me off. But this sounds like a good plan...receipts (hopefully tamper/spoof resistant) would be great as well.

[RedEagle]

12. Nope- It's about Honest, Accurate Voting

In Sacramento? Take a break and make an election officials day!;-)

[RedEagle]

13. Common California!

Maryland voting activists picked up the ball for all of us at the recent NIST meeting. Given we can't lobby like the big boys, we have to depend on locals who can get to these types of meetings.

California needs you, let's get the west coast rockin' on this issue too.

Contact friends, neighbors, relatives, and get to this meeting.

Kick!

[GregD]

14. Coming?

If you plan to attend, let us know.

[dusty64]

15. Important!

:kick:

[GregD]

16. December 30, 2004

Where will you be? Will there be a "there" there? And just what did happen last November on election day? Was the election counted fairly? Or are there still challenges? Is it worse than November 2000, or did we head it off and save democracy?

We can head this off NOW by getting involved today!

If you are in California, attend this meeting.

If you are not in California and want to attend, let us know and we will help in whatever way possible.

And if you have not become active and engaged in this e-voting issue, time's a wasting.

www.VerifiedVoting.org

[RedEagle]

17. Time to act

If you are in California and can make this meeting, please go.

Maryland activists went to NIST and made quite an impression on congressional staffers, I hear, who were sure they were just going to sit through conspiracy theory types. They went away with an entirely different point of view, I'm told.

We don't have the money to fly people to and fro like the big companies, but we sure marshall the local troops to carry the day in their area when these meetings come up.

California, for your state and for the country, please attend this meeting if you can at all.