Election Reform, Fraud, & Updates Thread for Thursday

[Melissa G]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Updates Thread for Thursday

In order to organize and document MelissaB thought it would be a good idea to have a daily thread to place items related to reform, fraud, protests, and other items. This also make it easier to "catch up" when we are away from the computer for a while.

If you see something that isn't here post it with a link to the thread and a thanks to the author. MelissaB is busy for a while so I'm taking over and Need Lots of Help posting news items!
Thanks,
Melissa G

Link to previous thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x367971

[Melissa G]

1. The Machines of Politics, Well Greased -NY Times

The Machines of Politics, Well Greased



By JOYCE PURNICK
Published: May 12, 2005
LET the games begin!

No, not the Olympics. Another kind of game in New York, which in some ways has higher stakes - the selection of 20,000 new voting machines for the state.

New York has lagged behind the whole country. Every state is overhauling its voting systems to conform with a new federal law enacted after the presidential election of 2000. This week, Albany finally made a move. It - punted.

Lawmakers decided to push a major decision down to the state's 57 counties and New York City. They will pick their voting machines, after the State Board of Elections certifies which machines meet federal standards.

"The fairest interpretation is, under enormous pressure from all sides, the State Legislature took the courageous position of kicking it to the localities," said Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/12/nyregion/12matters.html

[Melissa G]

2. 2 accused of falsifying voter registration cards

Arrests sought in election fraud
2 accused of falsifying voter registration cards
By DERRICK NUNNALLY and GREG J. BOROWSKI
[e-mail]
Posted: May 11, 2005

Two arrest warrants were issued Wednesday alleging election fraud by two voter-registration workers employed last year to sign up new voters.


According to warrants filed by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office, Urelene Lilly, 48, and Marcus L. Lewis, 23, both admitted to authorities that they filled out multiple voter-registration cards using fictitious information to earn money from Project Vote, which paid workers such as them $40 per day plus $1.75 for each registration above the daily quota of 24 new voters.

Project Vote registered about 40,800 names in Milwaukee County alone, according to a national spokesman.

snip

The warrant filed for Lilly says she was addicted to crack cocaine when the alleged fraud happened, and that she handed in "approximately 75 fraudulent voter registration cards," using names taken from the phone book, made-up birthdates and Social Security numbers, then had her 15-year-old daughter sign each card. She turned in no valid registrations, the warrant says, and is charged in connection with nine registrations for people who didn't vote in the November presidential election.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/may05/325342.asp

[Melissa G]

3. WI Gov Doyle responds to voter fraud

Doyle responds to voter fraud

by Jackie Johnson

The governor says anyone found to have voted fraudulently needs to be prosecuted. Governor Jim Doyle responds to news that authorities found clear evidence of voter fraud in the Milwaukee elections last November. "Voter fraud is a felony and anyone who voted illegally should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The federal prosecutor's office uncovered information showing at least 200 felons illegally voted -- and more than 100 people voted with phony names, addresses, or simply voted twice, but Doyle says the GOP Photo ID bill does not solve those problems. "Photo ID does not identify whether or not you are a felon. Photo ID is not definitive proof that you are a qualified voter. Photo ID does not identify whether you are a citizen. Photo ID is not proof of a voter's current address."

And, regarding those who voted twice, Doyle says the best thing to do is punish the culprits. "Well sure there's a ... I'll tell you the simplest thing to do is catch the people who did it and prosecute them. I mean I'm a prosecutor and the surest way to make sure people follow the law is to let them know there are real consequences for the violation of the law."

Doyle says his comprehensive reform package would address the problems with election fraud, including felony voters, mandatory training for poll workers, bureaucratic restrictions, waiting time and voter registration drives. Also Doyle reminds us that the statewide voter registration list will be available soon enough.

http://www.wrn.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=D750FE03-BE1C-4113-B6A10FB87D8E273E&dbtranslator=local.cfm

[Melissa G]

4. CA Bill would allow mail-in voting

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=1360
Bill would allow mail-in voting

On the heels of the Redwood City all-mail special election, San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum is pushing for the county to conduct all elections by mail.


And under the provisions of a bill under consideration in Sacramento, San Mateo and six other counties could soon implement an all-mail balloting system.


Slocum is spearheading an effort to get Assembly Bill 867, signed into the law. The bill, authored by Assemblywoman Carol Liu, D-Pasadena, has passed through the Assembly Elections and Reapportionment Committee.


The bill would allow Calaveras, Mendocino, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sierra and Ventura counties to conduct all-mail elections through the year 2011 as a demonstration project.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=1360

[Melissa G]

5. Will Pitt remarks- corporate control of the mainstream news media.

William Rivers Pitt: One of These Days
Thursday, 12 May 2005, 12:12 pm
Opinion: William Rivers Pitt

One of These Days

By William Rivers Pitt

t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Wednesday 11 May 2005

Truthout Editor's Note: The following remarks were delivered Tuesday night by William Rivers Pitt at an event hosted by the North Bridge chapter of the Alliance for Democracy in Concord, Massachusetts. The topic under discussion was corporate control of the mainstream news media.


http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00155.htm

[Wilms]

6. Diebold (De)Certification Delayed

Diebold (De)Certification Delayed

Thu May-12-05 12:59 AM

This just in...

Please be advised that the May 19th VSPP meeting has been cancelled. All the agenda items for that meeting, including the Diebold system, have been tentatively rescheduled for consideration at the June 16, 2005 VSPP Meeting.

Bruce McDannold
Election Specialist: Voting Systems

That info comes courtesy of the Open Voting Consortium newsletter, http://www.openvoting.org , and refers to the (de)certification meeting that election reformers have been planning to swarm. It also mentions a "rumor" that the delay may have come at Diebold's request.

Regardless, this is somewhat of a reprieve. We may be close to getting the Humboldt County Supes to create an election reform task force (see below) but we must still keep emphasizing No Deal With Diebold!
http://www.guvwurld.org//Election%20Re/Diebold_OVC%20Comparison.pdf


More in the GuvWurld Blog:
http://guvwurld.blogspot.com

[Melissa G]

7. Jim Lampley To Byron York and Other Ostriches

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/2005/05/to-byron-york-and-other-o.html

Jim Lampley
To Byron York and Other Ostriches
Byron York has treated me fairly and without rancor, and I am grateful for that. Certainly I am more in his wheelhouse than mine, and I'm honored that he saw fit to engage me in this little set-to we've conducted since Monday. I fired a lead right, Rep. John Conyers shouted encouragement from my corner, then York delivered a hook to the body. I shot back an uppercut, then he loaded up a right hand and attempted to bring an end to the discussion.

Byron York's most recent refutation of my charge that irregularities in the 2004 Presidential election demand criminal investigation cites quotes from the report of Edison/Mitofsky, the two-company partnership which provided exit polls to the major television networks, on the vast discrepancies between those polls and the official results of the election. The report, which Mr. York has helpfully highlighted in his second post and which runs to about eighty pages, essentially offered the conclusion that an five-and-a-half point gap between final poll numbers and the national popular vote tabulation-- a variance more than four times the statistical margin for error of 1.3%-- can be attributed to shy Republicans. The Washington Post summarized the conclusion: "procedural problems compounded by the refusal of large numbers of Republican voters to be surveyed led to inflated estimates of support for John Kerry." With this, in effect, York dismisses the exit poll variance argument.

I could go on at length here about the curious disconnect between the actual data in the report and its guesswork conclusion, how Edison/Mitofsky systematically validate all their sampling choices and their methodology, in effect eliminating any logical underpinnings for their ultimate summation, all the while selectively ignoring the lopsided skewing of pro-Bush discrepancies in the most critical swing states. I could spend some time dissecting what I believe is an obvious whitewash, a delicate sidestep away from the potential public relations disaster of being tied forever to the most notorious election theft in history.

But none of that is necessary, because the entire Edison/Mitofsky report is irrelevant to the argument, given that it is based on the assumption the final official vote tally is accurate. Make no mistake: my argument is that the final official vote tally is anything but accurate, that it is the product of massive vote fraud carried out through the programing of Diebold voting machines and various other machinations aimed at suppressing, destroying or losing Kerry votes. My argument is that what were accurate were the exit polls. As one Ivy League research methodologist has noted, "Apparently the pollsters at Mitofsky and Edison have found it more expedient to provide an explanation unsupported by theory, data or precedent than to impugn the machinery of American democracy."

Thanks to Tandalayo_Scheisskopf for the post!
DU discussion
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x368344

[autorank]

21. Self-Delete-sorry

[Melissa G]

8. Camden to seek approval to open 13 voting machines

Camden to seek approval to open 13 voting machines

Thursday, May 12, 2005

By LUIS PUGA
Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN

City Clerk Luis Pastoriza will seek a court order today to open 13 voting machines from two polling places in the 2nd Ward.

Pastoriza is seeking the total number of ballots cast Tuesday for city council candidates to determine if a run-off election is needed. In the mayor's race, none of the four candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote. The top two vote-getters - Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez, D-Camden, and incumbent Mayor Gwendolyn Faison - will run against each other June 14.

In the council race, at least one candidate must garner more than 50 percent of the vote in order for the top three candidates to be declared winners - otherwise, there will be a June 14 run-off among the six top vote-getters. Twelve candidates were on the ballot.

Councilman Ali Sloan El, who ran for mayor but did not garner enough votes to rank in the top two slots, said Wednesday he wants all the voting machines checked. He said he will call for a recount within a week. He said voters told him votes cast for one candidate were recorded for another.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m051205d.htm

[Melissa G]

9. NY Lawmakers reject idea of uniform state voting machine

Lawmakers reject idea of uniform state voting machine

YANCEY ROY
Gannett News Service

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALBANY -- Key politicians Tuesday all but killed the idea of selecting one uniform voting machine for New York state, a move good-government groups lambasted as potentially setting the stage for a Florida 2000-style election fiasco.

A legislative panel acknowledged it was poised to let each county select its preferred type of voting machines rather than the state. Backers, mostly from the Republican-led Senate, say it puts the power in the hands of local officials who are in tune with local preferences.

Critics said it undermines the major goal of the Help America Vote Act, which Congress imposed on states as a way to prevent the type of election upheaval in the disputed 2000 presidential contest.

Instead, New York is setting itself up for similar problems, said officials from Common Cause and the League of Women Voters. Using different machines from county to county "is what Florida was all about," said Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/news/stories/20050511/localnews/2132401.html

[Melissa G]

10. Optical scan still gets our support

Optical scan still gets our support



With less than a year before some type of electronic voting system is put into use in Ohio, there still is some confusion regarding which systems an elections board can opt to use.

The state's Board of Voting Machine Examiners approved Diebold Elections System's touch-screen machines for use in Ohio. However, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has yet to sign off on the machines ... and a rival company has sued to block Blackwell from doing so ... and closing arguments in that suit are set for next Tuesday ... four days after the deadline for state approval of voting systems.
It doesn't matter. We still like optical scan machines. Like the punch-card system used now, optical scanners would read actual paper ballots, which could be hand counted if need be. There just wouldn't be any chads.

With a touch-screen system, any discrepancy with the resultant digital data would apparently require ... a recount based on that same digital data.
http://www.advertiser-tribune.com/edit/story/0511202005_edtedit0511.asp

[Melissa G]

11. Voting machine acquisition process questioned

Voting machine acquisition process questioned


By JOHN LaPLANTE
[e-mail]
Capitol editor


Advocate staff photo by Arthur D. Lauck
Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, right, and Sen. Charles Jones, D-Monroe listen Wednesday to a report on the process being used to select voting machines for the state.
The head of a civic group Wednesday questioned the process of picking new voting machines for Louisiana elections.
State officials responded that the procedure is kosher, if somewhat confidential.

Jean Armstrong, president of the League of Women Voters of Louisiana, "is just grand-standing," First Assistant Secretary of State Al Ater said after a hearing before the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.

But Armstrong, who requested the hearing, said she got interested because of rumors that Ater's office is "steering" a potential $47 million contract for thousands of voting machines to a favored supplier.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/051205/pol_voting001.shtml

[Algorem]

12. Ohio House panel OKs election reform bill

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/111589023035220.xml&coll=2

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Julie Carr Smyth
Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus - A bill aimed at changing Ohio election processes to avoid delays, disputes and disagreements like those of last November cleared a critical House committee Wednesday.

The legislation allows Ohioans to vote by absentee ballot for any reason.

It would require certain voting information to be posted at polling places and made available through a toll-free number, and it defines what constitutes a valid ballot.

It also restricts the activities of election challengers...

[Wilms]

13. (OH) Approval of voting machine disputed

Approval of voting machine disputed

State OKs Diebold; competitor in court

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Reginald Fields and Julie Carr Smyth

Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus

-snip-

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's top aide on the state's voting-machine conversion, Judy Grady, told ES&S lawyers during a deposition filed in the case that she set the divisive deadline to accommodate funding and deployment deadlines -- as well as her own vacation schedule.

She said that she called none of the state's three certified voting-machine vendors -- Diebold, ES&S and Hart Intercivic -- to see if they could meet the new edict.

Yet, she testified, she did consult with Norm Cummings, the out-of-town political consultant overseeing Blackwell's campaign for Ohio governor in 2006.

Grady -- whose six-page strategy memo on an earlier directive surfaced Monday -- said she consults Cummings "for image, for message, for clarity."

-snip/more-

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1115804330139061.xml&coll=2

[Wilms]

14. (CA) Yolo's registrar takes on governor

Yolo's registrar takes on governor

She says only a judge could make her hold a $300,000 special election in November.

By Gary Delsohn -- Bee Capitol Bureau

Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, May 12, 2005

County officials around the state are griping about the costs of staging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election, but none has gone as far as Freddie Oakley, Yolo County's registrar.
Convinced a November statewide election would waste scarce county money, she's threatening not to hold it unless ordered by a judge.

"Maybe I should just go to jail," Oakley said Wednesday. "Martha Stewart came out 30 pounds lighter and looking 10 years younger. It's not the worst thing."

A special election, she said, would cost Yolo County $300,000 at a time it is already running a budget deficit. Statewide, the estimated costs are about $70 million.

-snip/more-

(Reg. Req.)

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/12877488p-13726500c.html

[Wilms]

15. Conyers: Academy Chicago Publ. Prints "What Went Wrong In Ohio"

Breaking Through?

The Ohio Report is Published, the Nuclear Option
And a Strange Day in Washington

I, along with many of you, have decried the lack of media coverage of the Downing Street memo. That may be turning around.

Tonight, CNN posted a story, though I am not aware if it has made on on the air. Please let me know if you have seen it. The LA Times has a very good piece as well. On the media front, my message to you is to pat yourselves on the back and then get back to work. Letters, calls and emails to your local newspapers and national media outlets make a difference. The Washington Post and New York Times have yet to cover this story in any serious fashion. Where is MSNBC? When Fox covers it in any serious way...that's when we take a break.

In other news, what has become known as the Conyers report (the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff's report, What Went Wrong in Ohio?) has been published. I received a complimentary copy today and, frankly, I was touched by the effort that must have gone into it. In addition to the report, which I suspect many of you have read, there is a truly humbling and amazing forward to the report by Gore Vidal, one of the great writers and thinkers of our time, and a really kind blurb about the book by former Senator Bob Kerrey, an American hero, who most recently served so nobly on the 9/11 Commission.

-snip/more-

http://www.conyersblog.us


Academy Chicago Publishers
http://www.academychicago.com/conyers.html

Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x368501

[Algorem]

16. Counties join lawsuit seeking delay of voting machine certification

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1115904968240390.xml&storylist=cleveland

5/12/2005, 9:49 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Two counties have joined a voting-machine maker's lawsuit against Ohio's elections chief and more were expected by Friday's deadline.

Officials in Allen and Franklin counties voted Wednesday to join the lawsuit filed by Election Systems & Software. The Omaha, Neb.-based company wants more time than Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has allowed to get its touch-screen voting machines with printers certified.

Only one vendor, Diebold Election Systems of North Canton, has been certified to offer touch screens with a paper record.

Elections boards in Mahoning and Hamilton counties were expected to meet Thursday to consider joining the case, said Keith Cunningham, director of the Allen County elections board and president of the statewide association of election board directors...

[Wilms]

17. Land Shark/Sequoia lawsuit: Sequoia removes lawsuit to Federal Court

They want to make a federal case out of this!

They have the "right" to do so, subject to our motion if we choose to make it to remand it to state court, and seek attorney fees and costs for the removal to federal court.

This has the effect of delaying discovery somewhat, but ultimately discovery goes faster in federal court because both sides are obligated to show their cards so to speak (through "laydown discovery") representing evidence of their claims and defenses without waiting for a request of some sort to do so.

However, if trade secrets are not part of Sequoia's claims or defenses they wouldn't have to produce them without receiving a request to do so....

We will weigh the ups and downs of federal court. The lawsuit is entirely state-law based though, and Sequoia is relying on brief reference to HAVA in a single state law claim, as well as the fact that we brought a federal law Magnusson Moss WArranty Act claim, but in order to bring such a thing in federal court there has to be over $50,000 at issue and we specifically pled that it was worth less than $50,000 (this concerns ONLY the denial of testing of Sequoia machines on the grounds it would "void" the warranty). Such damages (even though they would be ultimately donated or waived) are only whatever the denial of testing is worth, plus the injunctive relief (which is not a type of "damage") to void the contract because of its impact on public policy. Despite the narrower scope of the claim, Sequoia is claiming in its initial briefing that $5 million is at issue, so perhaps they think the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act claim is much bigger than planned.

The removal notice and their short brief is posted at www.votersunite.org (hit sequoia lawsuit link and scroll down, and also hit their link to give them a donation)

Really, all the claims in the complaint are just different ways or reasons to void the contract, if one looks at the relief requested at the end. Damages are purely incidental and beside the point in many ways.

Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x368511

[Wilms]

18. Court Eyes FEC Role in Campaign Finance

Court Eyes FEC Role in Campaign Finance

May 12, 11:42 AM (ET)

By PETE YOST

WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal appeals court Thursday questioned whether the Federal Election Commission is undermining the campaign finance law aimed at cleaning up abuses of money in politics.

Examining the FEC's rules implementing the 2002 reform act, a three-judge panel suggested the agency had defined terms on political fund-raising so narrowly that the statute was easy to circumvent.

Is a candidate's comment to prospective donors about the need for $100,000 donations to a state political party a solicitation? Judge David Tatel asked.

It's a "gray area," FEC lawyer David Kolker said.

"That's not gray," Tatel replied.

-snip/more-

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20050512/D8A1NIV00.html

Thanks to GreenPartyVoter for posting:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=368422#368530

[Wilms]

19. Common Cause on EVote Machines action alert

Are you passionate about the need for laws requiring voting machines to produce a voter verified paper ballot?

Here's an opportunity to make a real difference.

As of today, 20 states have passed "paper trail" laws - a tremendous achievement. (Two of these bills await the governor's signature to become law.) However, these laws are not equally effective; while some are terrific, others are weak. Some have a long waiting period before they go into effect.

There is a better way. As you know, Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Harry Reid (D-NV) have introduced bills in the House and the Senate respectively - H.R. 550 and S. 330 - that would make voter verified paper ballots mandatory across the country. Unfortunately, both bills are stuck in committee.

So let's get them moving! Come to Washington, DC, on June 9 and 10 to talk directly with members of Congress. With enough co-signers onboard, we can get this legislation to the floor for a vote.

Sign up to reserve your spot for our national paper trail lobby days by going directly to:

http://www.commoncause.org/RSVPforPaperTrailLobbyDays

Our coalition of organizations includes Electronic Frontier Foundation, Rock the Vote, Verified Voting, VotersUnite, VoteTrustUSA, and Working Assets. Join us and our coalition partners for Capitol Hill Lobby Days on June 9 and 10 to talk to our federal lawmakers in person and advocate for the passage of these crucial election reform bills:

http://www.commoncause.org/RSVPforPaperTrailLobbyDays

If you have never lobbied before, have no worries. It's fun! Besides, we're planning a training session on the morning of June 9, where you'll get all the information you'll need to feel like an old pro. We will also help you find lodging for your visit and there's a Capitol Hill party planned for Thursday night, too, with special guests.

It's even more fun if you come with a friend, so spread the word.

For more information about what Common Cause is doing to reform our broken election system, visit our Action For Elections center. If you have not done so, don't forget to sign our Save Our Elections petition.

We hope you can come to the Capitol Hill Lobby Days on June 9 & 10 - we'd love to meet you in person. In the meantime, thanks for your passion and commitment to election reform.

Sincerely,

The Election Reform Team
Barbara Burt
Election Reform Team Leader
http://www.commoncause.org/Elections

Alex, DJ, Ed, Jenny, Lisa, Mary, Mike, Murshed, Rachel, and Susannah

Thanks to Helderheid for posting the discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x368525

[Wilms]

20. Is the NIST Technical Guidelines Development Committee Working for You

Is the NIST Technical Guidelines Development Committee Working for You, the Voter?: Voting Machine Rulemakers Poised to Violate Their Public Interest Mandate

by John Gideon

www.dissidentvoice.org

May 5, 2005

Should the makers of voting machines set the standards that their voting machines must live up to in order to satisfy the public interest? Though the answer is obviously “No”, a recent meeting of a technical subcommittee of the Election Assistance Commission shows that this is happening, yet the EAC may reveal these new standards, on or about July 1, coupled with a claim that they adequately protect the heart of democracy.

By way of background, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) was chartered by the Elections Assistance Commission to provide updated standards against which all voting machines will be tested in order to be qualified for use. Presently voting technology is qualified to standards that were written in 1990 or 2002. The charter instructs NIST to form a committee to be called the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC). This committee is to operate with guidance from the EAC charter and with funding coming from the EAC.

The TGDC has been holding public meetings as they go through the suggested standards they have developed for qualifying all voting systems. They are modifying or deleting suggested standards in order to have a finished product that will set the standards for the industry.

Among the guidelines laid out for this committee by the EAC charter is a requirement, in law, that the committee operate in the public interest. The seventh of the "Administrative Provisions" shows a concern by the EAC that there be no conflict of interest in the decision makers.

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May05/Gideon0505.htm