Shelley created 'crisis,' elections official says

[MelissaB]

Shelley created 'crisis,' elections official says

Counties must get machines certified in time for 2006 voting

By Dan Smith, Sacramento Bee
February 5, 2005

SACRAMENTO --A top county elections official says Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's administration has created a "full-blown crisis" that threatens the state's compliance with federal law and its ability to conduct the 2006 elections.

In testimony prepared for a legislative committee, Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters Conny McCormack blasted Shelley's process for approving voting machine systems the counties must purchase and suggested he had manipulated the system "to favor or punish some equipment vendors." She called on the Legislature to step in and take over the process.

>>>snip

Shelley spokeswoman Caren Daniels-Meade defended Shelley's certification process, calling any suggestion of political manipulation "absolutely bunk." McCormack, Daniels-Meade said, simply disagrees with Shelley's support of a requirement that electronic voting machines have a verified paper trail.

>>>snip

McCormack said she is asking lawmakers to pass emergency "narrowly crafted" legislation to override Shelley's office and temporarily certify 2004 systems for use in the 2006 elections. Such legislation also would have to suspend a state law requiring a paper trail.

More: http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/state/article/0,1375,VCS_122_3526025,00.html

(I think I'm going to be sick now.):puke:

[MelissaB]

1. Also from the article

Allegations of favoritism

McCormack suggested Shelley's office appears to have favored Oakland-based Sequoia Voting Systems in a series of voting machine certification decisions while a competitor, Ohio-based Diebold Inc., was not treated fairly.

McCormack would not elaborate on what she believed motivated the secretary of state's actions.

>>>snip

Diebold, meanwhile, has drawn criticism from Shelley's fellow Democrats nationally for the fund raising and partisan comments of its chairman, Walden O'Dell. Company officials have given $46,000 to President Bush and the Republican National Committee since 2003, according to federal campaign records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. In a 2003 fund-raising letter to Ohio Republicans, meanwhile, O'Dell wrote that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year" at the same time his company was seeking voting systems contracts from Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican.

>>>snip

"The bottom line appears to be that there is resentment among a handful of elections officials because the secretary of state has imposed extremely strict security requirements," Daniels-Meade said.

[DBoon]

2. We are witnessing a coup d'etat in progress

I have this sinking feeling that I no longer live in a democracy.

[MelissaB]

3. I keep trying to do a reality check myself.

I keep thinking it can't be as bad as it seems, and then I read something else. Now I'm wondering what the h*ll can even be done. I know we can't just roll over. We had better get organized and fast.

[Al-CIAda]

11. More astonishing is how the Dems are NOT RAISING UNHOLY HELL ABOUT THIS!!!

We are being taken over by a Christo-fascist cult, and the 'opposition' is fine with that.

[Helga Scow Stern]

13. Part of it is because they have personal gain at stake...

one already declared back in September she wanted Shelley's job. Also one of his main Dem persecuters -- yes, Dems are just as activdely involved in the blood fest as are Pubs-- is from Kern County, a main Diebold county whose machines Shelley refused because Diebold had lied and they weren't certified.

Also, we don't have contest elections in any district in California, except one. All others are set by redistricting, so no one need worry about their job. All this may change if Arnold gets his way and it is redistricted again. The ones who should worry about voting are the statewide candidates, Boxer and Feinstein, and national candidates who need California.

[genius]

14. The elections officials were the bad guys. Most of the were Diebold

employees. The Diebold people amazingly have gotten most of the top jobs at the county level as elections officials. Bev Harris and other have exposed this. This is why these guys fought so hard for the bad voting machines and why they tried their best to get around the new rules.

[berniew1]

4. Problems Shelley was concerned about are real and documented to have

occurred widely in the 2004 elections. Touchscreen fraud has been documented to have occurred widely in the 2004 elections, being documented in at least 15 states including California.
So Shelly clearly was not overstating the problem.
The real problem is that those in power like things the way they are
and aren't unhappy with the widespread fraud as long as they win and stay in power. And they are attacking those who point out the obvious widespread fraud, systematic dirty tricks, and manipulation of absentees, provisionals, etc. in the current system. But the problems are real and documented, but the huge non-partisan election hotline call in systems that had thousands of reported incidents of fraud and irregularities in many states. (EIRS(EP), Common Cause, etc.)

http://www.flcv.com/ussumall.html

[Peace Patriot]

5. Don't believe anything you read in the Sacramento Bee.

An extremely untrustworthy newsapaper.

Today I'm going to post LETTER OF THE WEEK #4, aimed at CA legislators, warning them what is coming (the Texification and Dieboldisation of California--in which Democrats are going to find themselves mysteriously losing elections), educating them with our information on election fraud, and urging them to resist a bad Bush Cartel replacement appointee for Shelley; also urging them to support Shelley.

I believe that THIS IS IT. CALIFORNIA is where we going to win or lose the election reform fight.

[MelissaB]

7. I didn't know that about the Bee.

It comes up a lot when I search. Why do you think it is unreliable?

[helderheid]

6. HAVA doesn't require we go electronic AT ALL

http://www.votersunite.org/takeaction/mythbreakers.pdf

(I'll just post the table of contents - this document should be sent to all senators and congresspeople and election officials)

Contents
Preface iii
Overview viii
1 Facts about The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) 1
HAVA Does Not Require the Use of DREs 1
HAVA Does Not Prohibit Punch Card and Lever Systems 1
HAVA Preserves States' Right to Use Paper Ballots 2
HAVA "Audit" Requirement is Not a Meaningful Recount 2
HAVA Allows Partial Replacement of Old Systems 3
HAVA Preserves States' Rights to Establish Voting Equipment Standards 3
2 E-Voting Problems in Recent Elections 4
Ten Common Electronic Election Problems 4
1) Electronic Voting Machines Lose Ballots 4
2) Electronic Election Equipment Inexplicably Adds Ballots 5
3) Tabulation Software Reaches 32,767 Votes and Counts Backwards 7
4) Votes Jump to the Opponent on the Screen 8
5) DREs Provide Incorrect Ballots 9
6) Election-Specific Programming Miscounts Votes 9
7) DREs Break Down During the Election 10
8) Electronic Voting Machines Fail to Start Up 11
9) Registration Data Transmission Fails 11
10) Memory Cards and Smart Card Encoders Fail 12
Other Electronic-Election Phenomena 13
1) Election Officials Provide a Default Presidential Candidate 13
2) Totals Dip into the Negative Numbers 13
3) Voters Cast Non-Existent Ballots 14
4) DREs Require Voters To Scroll Through The Ballot Backwards 14
5) Report Shows 300 Registered Voters For Every Precinct in One County 14
3 Breaking the Myths about Testing and Certification 17
Words from Experts 17
A Look at the Current Process 18
Inadequacy of the Standards 19
Secrecy of the Qualification Process 19
State Certification — Seeing if the Functions are There 20
Org
The Myth of Pre-Election Testing 20
The Realities of Conducting Logic & Accuracy (L&A) Testing on DREs 22
If DREs Fail the L&A Test ... 23
How's it Working? 24
4 Election Complexities Increased by Electronic Voting 25
Software Complexities 25
A Word about Source Code and Programming 25
ES&S iVotronic — Case Study of a Tiny Programming Bug 26
Safeguarding Votes: Paper vs. Electronic Data 27
Complexities that Make Government Oversight a Myth 27
Officials Cannot Oversee the Vote-Counting Process in Electronic Elections 27
Election Directors Rely on Vendor Technicians During Elections 28
Lack of Information about Malfunctions Handicaps Election Officials 30
Illegal Use of Uncertified Software 32
Software is Uncontrollable 33
Electronic Data Has No Substance That Could Resist Alteration 34
Administration Complexities 35
Chain of Custody Complexities Increase Exponentially with Electronic Data 35
Increased Problems from Human Error in Electronic Elections 36
Violation of Ballot Secrecy with the Use of DREs 38
Running an Electronic Election - a Ballot Judge's Summary 38
Running an Electronic Election – an Election Official's Report 39
Management Complexities 41
Saving Money by Combining Precincts May Decrease Voter Turnout 41
Potential DRE Problems Inherent in Electronic Devices 41
Touch Screen Misalignment 41
Power Surges or Static Electricity Discharges 42
Electrical Outages and Inadequate Battery Charges 42
Maintenance Challenges 43
Rapid Obsolescence and Toxic Waste Disposal 43
5 HAVA-Compliant Alternatives to Paperless Voting 44
Voter-Verified Paper Ballots (VVPB) 44
Precinct-Count Optical Scan Systems 45
Ballot-Marking Devices for the Disabled 46
Tactile Ballot Templates for the Blind and Reading Impaired 46
Open Voting Consortium Software 47
DREs with Integrated Printer for Printing Voter-Verified Paper Ballots 48
Ballot Integrity Project Proposal 48
6 HAVA-Compliant Voting System Costs 49
DRE Systems 49
Increased Cost Per Ballot when DREs are Used 50
Hidden Costs of DREs 50
Precinct-Count Optical Scan System + Ballot-Marking Device 51
Precinct-Count Optical Scan System + Tactile Ballot Templates 52
Open Voting Consortium System 53
DREs with Integrated VVPB Printer 53
Estimated Capital Cost Comparison for Voting Systems 53
7 Distinguishing Truth from Misinformation 54
Reports by Computer Experts Discredit DRE Systems 54
Some Officials' Claims about Electronic Elections Don't Match the Facts 56
Some DREs Don't Provide Accessibility to the Disabled 58
Cleaning up Misconceptions about VVPB 59
No systems require voters to verify their ballots 59
No System Provides a VVPB for the Voter to Remove from the Polls 59
No system requires poll workers to assist voters in verifying their ballots 60
VVPB does not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act 60
Financial Ties of DRE Advocates to Vendors Suggests Bias 60
Influential Advocate of Paperless DREs Received Large Donations from Vendors 60
ES&S Paid Commissions to Officials who Endorsed Their Products 61
Fortune's Worst Technology of 2003: Paperless Voting 61
Afterword 62

[MelissaB]

8. Our election officials seem to need educating about

this one, and we need to make it clear that we don't want electronic machines.

[bardgal]

10. They KNOW. Shelley's exit=fait accompli. California, so goes the nation...

Coup Complete. E-voting will be universal. Democracy is dead. Next step is them outlawing the Democratic party, and all things Un-Republican.

[Helga Scow Stern]

9. When I read this yesterday I tried to find some substantiation

that Shelley favored Sequoia...after all it is a California company. If he did favor it, it seemed it was because their equipment provided a paper trail.

Reading through all the articles it became apparent that he was more concerned with having decent elections--if any pork came about because of it, well, that's politics. And this impression came through very biased reporting.


This Sacto Bee article is in the Ventura County Star, where $700, 000 has just been appropriated to buy DRE's.

[KaliTracy]

12. ironic. Sequoia sued Blackwell in 2003 for his specifications... and

a vendor is Suing Blackwell for choosing Optiscan this time (Blackwell is only allowing Diebold or ES&S).

2003 Information
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030823/NEWS24/108230151&SearchID=7319839392204

Article published Saturday, August 23, 2003

Voting-machine firm claims Blackwell unfair
Secretary of state dropped company from bid process

"By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU


COLUMBUS - A California-based voting-machine manufacturer yesterday accused Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell of improperly locking it out of competition for more than $100 million in business.

Lawyers for the state told Ohio Court of Claims Judge Fred J. Shoemaker that Sequoia Voting Systems, Inc., tried to manipulate the bidding and negotiation process to its benefit and was eliminated at a late stage because its price was "very high.""

Then reverses decision a month later
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030911/NEWS24/109110167&SearchID=7319839392204

Article published Thursday, September 11, 2003

Blackwell does about-face on bid
Calif. firm submits $105M quote for advanced voting machines

"By JAMES DREW
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF


COLUMBUS - Ohio's chief elections officer reversed course yesterday, announcing that an Oakland, Calif., firm is among four vendors that can sell voting machines to county boards of election.

On Sept. 3, Judge Fred Shoemaker of the Ohio Court of Claims ordered Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to consider a bid from Sequoia Voting Systems. The state had eliminated Sequoia, saying its price was too high.

The state appealed Judge Shoemaker's ruling, but Mr. Blackwell decided to scrap the legal battle.

Sequoia's latest bid was opened on Monday, and a final price was negotiated, said Dana Walch, Mr. Blackwell's director of elections reform.

"The implementation of election reform in Ohio is far too important to be sidetracked by mounting litigation and legal appeals," Mr. Blackwell said in a written statement."

***

Is there any way to get a "real" reporter on the similarities/differences between Ohio and California -- looking at least 4 years back?

See thread here... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x319163

in original post there is an Archive list of over 90 Articles discussing Diebold and Blackwell http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/search?Category=SEARCH&SearchID=7319839392204&Max=94&Krit=Diebold&Kat=%25&Simple=0&SearchCategory=%25&Start=1

edited to add additional links/info, clarity