Press Release - Emerging Scandal on MD Voting Machine Performance

[JohnGideon]

PRESS RELEASE TrueVoteMD.org
Contact: Linda Schade 301-270-6665


Emerging Scandal on MD Voting Machine Performance


All MD Diebold Machines on Lockdown
Under Investigation for Widespread Statewide Election Day 2004 Failures
MD Election Group Calls for Independent Investigation and De-Certification of Machines


Montgomery County, Maryland. According to county election officials and other sources,
all Maryland voting machines have been on "lockdown" since November 2,
2004 due to statewide machine failures including 12% of machines in Montgomery County,
some of which appear to have lost votes in significant numbers. The State Board
of Elections convinced the media that Election Day went smoothly, when in fact there
were serious statewide, systemic problems with the Diebold electronic voting machines
-- so serious that the SBE and Diebold still have not figured out how to prevent
the loss of votes in the future.


"Election Day was anything but smooth. Votes were lost, computer cards storing
votes were unreadable, thousands of error messages were reported, machines froze
in mid-voting and machines refused to boot up. The problems with the machines were
so widespread and serious that efforts to hide the problems have failed," said
Linda Schade, director of TrueVoteMD.org. "It is not sufficient for Diebold
and the SBE to investigate themselves. They have misled the public about this problem
and an independent investigation is needed. Further, these problems indicate that
the Diebold machines should be decertified as required by Maryland law and as provided
for in the Diebold contract. This is an opportunity to correct the mistaken purchase
of paperless electronic voting machines. Diebold should refund Maryland tax dollars
and we should start anew with a system that voters trust because it can be independently
audited and recounts can be meaningful."


VOTES LOST According to the IT Report to the Montgomery County Election Board, dated
December 13, 2004 there were two broad levels of problems. Seven percent of units
(189) failed. This included failure to boot up, screen freezes and a variety of
other problems. Screen freezes, which occurred on 106 voting units were "the
most serious of errors" because many "froze when the voter pressed the
Cast Ballot button." As a result "election judges are unable to provide
substantial confirmation that the vote was in fact counted." In addition there
were "122 suspect units (5%) were identified because the unit had few votes
captured compared to other voting units in the polling place. A unit was considered
suspect if it had 25-50 votes captured when all other units in the polling place
had over 150 votes," the report stated. The IT report includes other details
of Diebold machine failures including smart card and encoder problems as well as
thousands of yet unexplained error messages,!
now called 'ballot exception errors."


UNREADABLE PC MEMORY CARDS Multiple sources also have revealed that the computer
memory cards where vote totals are stored inside each voting machine were unreadable
in multiple counties.


DIEBOLD UNABLE TO RESOLVE TECHNICAL FAILURE FOUR MONTHS AFTER ELECTION After IT
examinations within Maryland failed to decipher the root of these problems, the
State Board and Diebold sent voting machines to several out-of-state locations in
Texas and Ohio for further testing, according to a Diebold memo dated February 16,
2005. As of the March 3, Montgomery County Election Board meeting, the PC memory
card problems as well as those listed above cannot be explained by Diebold, according
the IT report.


MACHINE FAILURES STATEWIDE Montgomery County Elections official Sam Statland has
acknowledged that local boards around the state are gravely concerned about the
Diebold system's performance and are pressuring the State Board of Elections for
answers. In testimony before the State House Ways and Means on February 24, 2005,
Mr. Statland cited the facts above and asserted that "Since the 2000 election
cycle, the State of Maryland has become and still is a 'test site' for electronic
voting." In the January State Board of Elections meeting, Linda Lamone discussed
the "performance problems" and confirmed that "once was] finished they will start the same process in the other counties, beginning
with Baltimore County."


TRUEVOTEMD CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT REVIEW AND DECERTIFICATION OF MACHINES AS REQUIRED
BY LAW TrueVoteMD.org, an election integrity organization, is now calling for an
independent investigation and for de-certification of the machines as required by
Maryland election law (MD Code, Election Law § 9-102(c)(1)).* TrueVoteMD.org is
a founding organization for VoteTrustUSA a national network of state election integrity
groups and has been raising the alarm that the electronic Diebold voting system
has serious vulnerabilities to computer malfunction and fraud for nearly two years.
This information is confirmed by TrueVoteMD's Election Day report "When the
Right to Vote Goes Wrong: Md Voters Tell The Story of Election Day 2004" http://www.truevotemd.org/Resources/MDproblems04map.pdf.


"If the gubernatorial race in 2006 is as close as 2002 it would only take four
errors per precinct to change the outcome of the election. Maryland cannot risk
the election disaster that is impending. Maryland was lucky the presidential election
in Maryland was not close; otherwise we would be embroiled in scandal to this day.
It is time to put in place a system that is reliable and that voters can trust,"
concluded Schade. "Three independent reports have raised serious concerns with
the security of Diebold machines, now we have seen the worst come to pass. These
machines are unreliable and insecure. How many more warnings to Maryland officials
need in order to take action to protect the vote?"


*MD Code, Election Law § 9-102(c)(1) (emphasis added). The SBE â??shall decertify
a previously certified voting system ifâ?? that system â?? protect the
security of the voting process,â?? and â?? count and record all votes
accurately.â?? Id. § 9-103(a)(2) (emphasis added).


Copies of the source documents mentioned in this release are available upon request
by contacting TrueVoteMD.org.




###

[skids]

1. How about cross-posting this to the MD forum... n/t

[meganmonkey]

2. When is this Press Release from?

I want to make sure I get it... Is there an investigation, or is this just that TrueVote is 'calling for an investigation'??

It says the machines have been on 'lockdown' since the election. Does that mean the Board of Elections have them locked down (e.g. no one knows what has or hasn't happened to them in the last 4 months) or they have been in a safe place where we can be assured that they have NOT been tampered with since the election?

Also, I can't get the link to work - I went to their hoepage and poked around a little but I don't see this on there (the 'Find Out What's Happening in Maryland NOW was last updated in Feb. 04...).

[skids]

3. I'd say call Linda.

The phone numbers in this post and on the website today match; it's likely genuine so give her a call if you need a copy sent.

[meganmonkey]

4. I wasn't questioning if it was genuine

Just trying to get more info, or a link, or at least how the OP got it and the date (press releases should always have a date on them, maybe the OP copied/pasted and missed that part).

on edit: on my first post when I said 'get it' I meant 'understood it' - sorry I should have been clearer! :)

[AtLiberty]

5. I'd like the date, too...

Is this today? Is it on the website?

[Wilms]

6. John

Do you know which Diebold Touch Screen model was used in Maryland??

[JohnGideon]

7. Answers to Questions

I just got off the phone with Linda Schade in Maryland. The date is today. She forgot that but it is now added. The press release is also on their website. She did that after she got phone calls from people in Georgia because the Georgia legislature is very interested in this.

Rep.Rush Holt is also very interested in this issue and may use this information in a "Dear Colleague" letter to the rest of Congress in support of his voter confidence bill.

There is an investigation. Unfortunately the investigation is being carried on by the SoS office and Diebold. Diebold has the cards and machines so any votes lost will stay lost. There is plenty of documentation that is in the hands of Linda Schade and will be put on their website just as soon as they can get it scanned in.

They use Diebold Election System AccuVote-TS

This story has been picked up by the media so there will be more, like denials from Linda Lamone that there is anything wrong.

[meganmonkey]

12. Awesome! Thank you JohnGideon!

:bounce:

[sandnsea]

8. Glitchgate

It's the angle we should have taken all along. I hope we can still get people's attention on how badly this machines work, instead of trying to convince the public there's a Republican conspiracy. Much easier to get the public to care about getting answers to unexplained computer glitches.

[marions ghost]

16. Semantics...

...the most negative picture has been planted by the media use of the "conspiracy theorists" label, not by voting reform activists.

??What's a better word to describe the following:
1) Willful promotion of electronic systems that are inherently flawed and auditless.
2) Substantial evidence to indicate that independent operators within the system may have had the same obstructive goals in mind, and carried it out in a variety of ways.
3) Evidence that our whole election system is painfully vulnerable to corruption.
4) Elections since 2000 that offend one-third of the voters (a conservative estimate).

While this is not a conspiracy in the classic sense, it certainly seems to be a club of like-minded opportunists interested in the status quo (never mind what they think of George Bush). It's fair to see that that kind of opportunism points more towards Republicans, although Democrats around the country have not been particularly effective so far in countering, which needs to be evaluated.

I think most people here are trying to get the facts out about a sick system, and let others draw their own conclusions. One person's "felonies" are another person's "irregularities"-- (when it's all 'just business'). With direct quotes like Diebold's Walden O'Dell committing himself publicly to "helping Ohio deliver it's electoral votes to the president"...?! we have created an environment of socially acceptible collusion. Anything to win.

Doesn't matter what word you use, THIS ain't right. You're suggesting tactics for selling a concept, not simply exposing truth. At this point I think we've got nothing to lose by looking for truth. Yes, maybe "unexplained glitches" sell better to the public, but with investigations still going on in Ohio, and with strong bills thwarting this kind of collusion coming up in congress and in state legislation--machine malfunctions cannot be the whole story.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030903/OPINION02/109030080&SearchID=7319839392204

[sandnsea]

23. "selling a concept"

Maybe that's what the left is missing. You have to sell. The number of people who are interested in the technical details is incredibly small. Before you can get someone to listen to the features of a product, you have to get people to believe it will benefit them, that it concerns them. Computers eating votes concerns everybody. A pile of statistics and stolen election conspiracy theories don't connect to the majority, obviously.

Glitchgate would have worked. Fake News would have worked.

They beat us because the left refuses to tailor their message to the majority.

[ihelpu2see]

26. Glitchgate sounds great but unfortunately the MSM

would want more.... Like the Diebold mach. failed because the hard drive was loaded with porn due to M Jackson putting it there ok better if Tom Delay did it. But remember that the pres. of Diebold promised a Bush win. ;)

but i give you credit with Glitchgate. Great stuff.

[mgr]

9. This sounds unique

Most of the issues with Diebold were vote switching and the like. Out and out failure to perform seems to be unique to Maryland, though I would not be surprized to hear that this occurred in Florida.

Mike

[MissWaverly]

10. How do we know?

I know that the machine I voted on in Baltimore City keep defaulting to Bush when I pressed Kerry, I asked for my precinct results and found that there were only 944 votes listed for my precinct, now I waited in line for 2 hours to vote, and I estimated that there were at least 400 people there while I waited to vote, that's a conservative estimate, everyone said the place was packed all day. My sister worked as a pollworker in a Republican suburb, they handled 2100 votes that day. How does anyone know how many votes were "lost." I estimated that we had at least 2100 votes in my precinct in Baltimore City, that would be a loss rate of over 50%, we're supposed to feel good because they are talking about getting a refund. I wanted a vote not a rebate.

[msongs]

11. "stolen" things are NOT "lost"...........eom

[AtLiberty]

13. Thanks!

[KaryninMiami]

14. Wow-- this is quite a story. Can't wait to see how it unfolds.

We should keep this kicked- this is a really important piece.

[Wilms]

15. kick n/t

[AtLiberty]

17. *kick*

[JohnGideon]

18. Voting machine bills may advance

In an email I just received from Linda Schade of TrueVoteMD she says, "Significant and positive developments. We put out a major press release yesterday and it's getting good traction. MD Gazette, THE state political paper, quotes that House Speaker Busch has come out for a paper trail - in opposition to Hixson and Lamone - our major opponents. The importance of this cannot be overstated. He is a very strong Speaker and Annapolis is very top down. And, to have him support our position in the state's primary political paper means all of Annapolis and the politicos throughout the state will be aware of it.

"TrueVoters had a very positive meeting with him last week and I got him all the source documentation yesterday so he would be informed when this hit. Clearly his support could have a positive effect on legislation on litigation, once that is re-started.

"We are talking to the New York Times and other media are working on it. The Post published a bland excerpt from the rushed and inadequate AP story (below) after sitting on it for a day.

"Also important, its already creating national ripples. Rep. Rush Holt, originator of the gold standard federal paper trail bill, would like to use our release as the basis for a Dear Colleague letter. Also Georgia legislators are reacting as they are worried they are next."

The Gazette article can be found here:
http://www.gazette.net/200510/montgomerycty/state/263915-1.html

[Chi]

19. Locations of the failures should be telling.

If this was an intentional act designed to change the outcome of an election.
The location of those failures would be very telling.

I hope Linda knows that, if she has any say on what documents to attain or publish.

Thanx for the post JohnGideon
Thanx for the article Linda Schade

[trudyco]

20. Kludge. Garbage in-Garbage out. FUBAR voting?

Even if there wasn't election Fraud it's pretty obvious that these computer programs were not ready for prime time. Glitchgate sounds too mild. "Irregularities" has been overused and makes me think of Immodium AD.

Wasn't MD the state that got really milked on the pricing, too? Maybe they were one of the first so the product wasn't ready and the price was outrageous.

Has anybody done a cost analysis of DRE, optiscan, and hand counting votes? With technical costs and training costs and upgrade costs and hardware replacement costs... I wonder how expensive hand counting at the precinct level is (like they do hand recounts with R,D,Other all each taking a turn counting).

Maybe we need big plexiglass walls to block off streets on election day (it'd be a holiday anyway) where people go in to vote in the big plexiglass "room" and then the votes are counted right after closing with anybody who wants to watching through the "walls".

[JohnGideon]

21. trudyco - There are cost comparisons on VotersUnite.Org

http://www.votersunite.org/info/costcomparison.asp

Use of DREs more costly in Sarasota County

http://www.votersunite.org/MB2.pdf

Myth Breakers: Facts About Electronic Elections Chapter 6

By the way! We now have a bound copy of "Myth Breakers" that can be purchased by activists for a donation of $10 or more to VotersUnite.org. http://www.votersunite.org/takeaction/order-mythbreakers.asp

[trudyco]

22. Thanks JohnGideon, I was wondering what the cost of hand

counting would be in comparison. You'd only need to pay during elections. Ideally it would be at the precinct level so it would be less likely the votes got votenapped.

[wiggs]

24. Let's not forget the NY senate race...

...in which a recount discovered that NEARLY EVERY MACHINE contained more votes for the democratic candidate than was initially reported on election day. Cannot be random error. Many (22) of the machines had broken or missing seals. Don't know the status now, but this whole issue ended up in court, to be resolved long after the election of course.

We can't forget these examples of machine irregularties anywhere. Discussed individually in the media, their impact is minimized and forgotten.

[JohnGideon]

25. wiggs - right you are.....

"Discussed individually in the media, their impact is minimized and forgotten."

That's why we started keeping track of problems as they were being reported by the media and beginning back during the primary.
http://www.votersunite.org/electionproblems.asp

That is our list of media reported problems (not all machine problems)This list was quoted in one of the Conyers letters to the GAO.

[kster]

27. kick.........n t