Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Thursday 3/16/06

[Wilms]

[Wilms]

1. NM: County clerk is subject of (election fraud) investigation

County clerk is subject of investigation

Martinez says she welcomes probe

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Cibola County Clerk Eileen Martinez is under investigation by the New Mexico Attorney General's Office and New Mexico State Police.

snip

A second former employee, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Martinez was involved in ballot shredding activities in Cibola County following the 2004 presidential election.

snip

The second former employee alleges that during the presidential election, provisional ballots which were received in time by the county were not available for election day. Martinez had to print provisional ballots in her office and take them to the precincts.

Not enough provisional ballots were made available to voters at a number of precincts, especially in the Pueblos of Acoma and Laguna, causing a furor from the pueblos and the Cibola County Chapter of the Democratic Party, alleging disenfranchisement of voters.

Missing ballots

At a board of commissioners meeting following the election, Martinez told the board she could not find the provisional ballots that were supposed to have been sent by the Secretary of State's Office.

Following election day, the missing box of provisional ballots was found in another room of the county complex.

The second former employee and another employee, who is also no longer with the clerk's office, were directed to shred the ballots by Martinez, the second former employee said.

snip

http://www.gallupindependent.com/2006/mar/031406cntyclrk.html

[Wilms]

2. Voting Systems Batch Test Results – Reliability

Voting Systems Batch Test Results – Reliability

By John Gideon and Howard Stanislevic

March 15, 2006

In the recently released paper, "DRE Reliability: Failure by Design?" by Howard Stanislevic, we learn that the 2002 (and 1990) voting systems standards require all voting systems to have a reliability, or Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), of 163 hours, or a 9.2% failure rate in a 15-hour election day. We also learn that this is a woefully inadequate standard especially when compared to everyday items like an incandescent light bulb, which has an MTBF of 1,000 hours, a standard PC, which has an MTBF of 30,000 hours, and even New York City’s aged mechanical lever voting machines.

snip

It should also be noted that, according to the Sequoia test reports, ballot “fatigue” was probably a factor in some of the optical-scan failures, because the same ballots were scanned at least seven times each during the test (twice to verify the test decks, and five more times to perform the scanner tests). Employing only 10 test decks to test 50 scanners calls into question the accuracy of the optical-scan reliability measurement.

snip

While this study shows that none of the tested voting systems are desirable for reliability reasons, it also shows that some Direct Recording Electronic machines may be more reliable than Optical-scan voting systems if the scanners are not tested with pristine ballots. However, we should not forget that every failure of a DRE may result in disenfranchised voters or lost and irretrievable votes. A like failure of an optical-scan voting system only means that the paper ballots may have to be scanned later or hand counted.

snip

http://votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1054&Itemid=26


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=416789&mesg_id=416789

[Wilms]

11. Another year of vote-counting anxiety?

Another year of vote-counting anxiety?

By Eric J. Sinrod

March 15, 2006

Before the 2000 presidential election, practically nobody would have predicted that in a country of tens of millions of voters, a major election could turn on just a few hundred votes.

Thus, ahead of election day that year, any potential for inaccuracies or irregularities in vote counting did not loom large as a real issue.

Of course, as we now know, every singe vote in that election truly mattered. Who can forget the hanging and dimpled chads, the uncertainty for weeks as to who won the election, and the multiple lawsuits all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court? And quite ironically, the very U.S. Supreme Court that had supported states rights took away the Florida Supreme Court results in favor of Al Gore and effectively resolved the election in favor of George W. Bush, even though history tells us that Gore nationally received over 500,000 votes more than did Bush.

snip

As a result, almost 82 million registered voters will have seen voting systems changes over the past six years. The number of counties using hand-counted paper ballots this November will be only about half as many as in 2000.

What the Election Data Services study tells us is that the methods for vote counting are changing significantly. Does this mean that problems with vote counting are solved? Of course not. As most of us know from daily experience, the various forms of electronic technology are reliable--or unreliable--to varying degrees.

snip

http://news.com.com/Another+year+of+vote-counting+anxiety/2010-1047_3-6049311.html

[Wilms]

12. A small (we hope) problem with voting machines

A small (we hope) problem with voting machines March 14, 2006

by Mark Binker

A couple folks have sent me this story and others like it from Ohio in recent days.

The main thrust is this: A bunch of memory cards that are used as part of ES&S's optical scan voting equipment malfunctioned when tested in Ohio.

ES&S is the lone vendor of voting equipment here in North Carolina. So, one might ask, are the same problems happening here.

First off, this is an issued with the optical scan machines - those where voters mark their choice down on paper and then those papers are counted by an automated scanner. The Direct Record machines, the ones where you plug you mark your choice on a little computer screen, are not affected by this particular issue.

snip/links

http://blog.news-record.com/staff/capblog/archives/2006/03/a_small_we_hope.html

[Wilms]

16. (ES&S) Voting system's (memory card and battery) troubles spread (to NC)

Voting system's troubles spread

North Carolina reports issues similar to those in Summit; data read-back failures add to problem of low batteries

Mar. 16, 2006

By Lisa A. Abraham
Beacon Journal staff writer

A North Carolina election official says 1,000 memory cards delivered to that state from Election Systems & Software had problems similar to those seen in Summit County.

Keith Long, North Carolina voting system manager, said he read Akron Beacon Journal articles about problems with the memory cards in optical-scan voting equipment and called ES&S to see if any of the cards had been sent to his state.

``All 1,000 (memory cards) that had been shipped here had the same problems,'' Long said.

snip

ES&S officials contend that bad batteries were to blame for the problem memory cards, but Summit County officials now say that low batteries were the problem in only about one-third of the hundreds of faulty memory cards here.

``The majority of them were read-back errors, not a battery issue,'' Bryan Williams, director of the Summit County Board of Elections, said Wednesday.

``About one-third were battery errors. Two-thirds were read-back errors,'' Williams added.

He said after new batteries were installed in the memory cards, many still failed to work.

Marijean Donofrio, deputy director of the Summit elections board, said memory cards reading ``low battery'' began to work properly when new batteries were installed. But others that read ``dead battery'' still did not work when the batteries were changed.

She said the more common problem was the ``read-back error,'' which occurred when testers were attempting to run a mock election. The memory cards could not read the data programmed onto them.

Williams said the consulting firm hired by the Ohio Secretary of State's Office to test all the new voting equipment is expected to finish its work today.

snip

He said ES&S officials also are expected to issue a report that will detail all the problems seen.

snip

``In that case, that could be an issue when we go to program the election. We have no information that is in fact happening, but that is a legitimate question,'' Williams said.

North Carolina's Long said ES&S officials told him low batteries were behind the problems with the memory cards in his state, which raised concerns for him about the life expectancy of the batteries and whether they could fail in the middle of an election.

``Why is the battery low? Is it being discharged because of another problem,'' he said.

ES&S spokeswoman Ellen Bogard said batteries in the memory cards should last between three and five years.

Questions remain

She said the company had no explanation for why the batteries were not holding a charge but believed it was a problem with the batteries, not the memory cards.

However, she also could not explain why the new batteries worked in only some of the Summit cards.

Bogard also could offer no explanation about the ``read-back errors'' that were the main problem in Summit.

snip

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/14111596.htm

[Wilms]

34. WTF: "Toggle switch glitch likely caused some ballots to be counted twice"

Voting machines removed in Grafton

By CAROL ROBIDOUX
Union Leader Staff

3/16/06

Grafton – No matter how you do the math, 193 “yeas” plus 198 “nays” don’t add up to 369 votes.

McDow, who is trained to operate the voting machine, said she learned more after placing a call yesterday to LHS Associates of Methuen, Mass., the company that services the town’s Accu-Vote machine.

“They told me one of the dip switches let go, or the problem had to do with one of the dip switches not being set — that’s what LHS told me after I read them the information from the tally sheet,” McDow said.

The toggle switch glitch likely caused some ballots to be counted twice, McDow said.

“It’s really crazy. Now we will just have to wait and find out for sure,” she said.

snip

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Voting+machines+removed+in+Grafton&articleId=37f3b7dd-a9de-4bd8-99d4-f3a60b903754


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417128

[stillcool]

37. I'm not surprised it's happening...

..but the "excuses" floor me....sans logic...or common sense...and delivered as comedy....like it's all one big joke.

[Minnesota Libra]

42. Might the votes that got counted twice be republican by any chance nt

[EFerrari]

3. (PA)The new systems are here to stay, but we still want our ballot stub.

Editorial

The issue: The new electronic voting machines will be used in the upcoming primary election.


We suggest: The new systems are here to stay, but we still want our ballot stub.


Electronic voting is coming to a booth near you thanks to the federal Help America Vote Act adopted by Congress in 2002 and implemented this year by Clarion County with its purchase of 122 touch screen voting machines for use in 41 precinct polling places. The total system cost $429,000, but a $431,000 federal grant more than covered the bill.

We are concerned by at least three issues related to the change – there is no paper receipt provided to voters, the state constitution requires any changes in voting systems to be approved via public referendum in the county where the change is being made and the heavy-handedness of the federal government instructing states on how they will conduct their elections.


http://www2.theclarionnews.com/Opinions/51899.shtml

[EFerrari]

4. (NY) Advocate: Don’t rush voting machines

Local woman says those with, without disabilities should use same devices

Cooperstown News Bureau

Chris Zachmeyer, director of the Catskill Center for Independence, said Wednesday that rushed efforts to comply with federal voting standards in New York State are ill-advised.

"Better to get it right in 2007 than to get it wrong this year," said Zachmeyer, who chairs the Election Reform Committee of the New York Association on Independent Living.

Zachmeyer said she has been dismayed to watch how New York state has taken so long to upgrade its voting procedures and machines to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act.

http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2006/03/16/vote10.html

[autorank]

5. Nice News Resource. SolarBus.Org "Election Justice

http://www.solarbus.org/election/index.shtml

New report at Berkeley confirms beyond doubt: Diebold voting machines can be rigged without any means
100,000 errors found on Palm Beach County voting machines. More on this here.

Governor of Maryland 'No Longer Has Confidence' in Diebold

Patriotic man facing charges for blowing whistle on Diebold

Electronic voting machines heading to the Supreme Court !!! Read the official lawsuit here. Bev Harris comments.

Volusia County FL: new evidence shows manipulation of vote counts, memory card errors
Pennsylvania heating up:
Citizens file lawsuit against electronic voting machines

Second group sues PA Secretary of State

Allegheny County PA passes motion against Diebold

U.S. Justice Department threatens to sue Pennsylvania

New Mexico lawsuit goes forward

John Kerry raises concerns about electronic voting systems, and admits 2004 election was stolen
New SMOKING GUN EVIDENCE that Ohio 2004 was stolen. Read the full report.

Diebold woes continue:

California refuses to certify Diebold machines. Then quitely reverses the decision. Senator Bowen then releases statement that the recertification is illegal and the machines are in violation of the law.
Diebold machines produce more votes than voters in Ohio, resulting in re-vote.
Under pressure in Alaska, Diebold agrees to a limited view of their central tabulator code. Bev Harris comments.
New information about Diebold's convicted felon who wrote the vote counting software code, including evidence he may have written some of the code while still in prison
Diebold CEO resigns
Diebold faces stockholder lawsuit
Leon County FL bans Diebold machines because of security problems
Law Firm announces investigation into Diebold security fraud
Video shows Diebold knew of defect in central tabulator
Big security holes found in Diebold optical scan systems
Election Justice advocate announces bid for Ohio Governor, will oppose Blackwell
New documentary film on 2004 election released
"Election Justice Kits" now available
What is wrong with this picture?
Strong evidence of fraud in the 2005 Ohio elections
Government Accountability Office report confirms problems with electronic voting. Official report here.
LA Election Official Connie McCormack exposed
New Mexico lawsuit delves into voting machines
DIEBOLD WHISTLEBLOWER SPEAKS OUT
Investigation into 2004 Ohio election scandal widens
Two Cuyahoga County election workers indicted in presidential recount
Diebold employee donations to George W. Bush
Connection found between voting machine companies and defense contractors
Convictions and sentencing of GOP leaders in election scam
Evidence of ballot tampering - stickers found on ballots, covering Kerry votes

[EFerrari]

6. (TX) No free second count of votes

No free second count of votes
By ANNA M. TINSLEY
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

About half a dozen candidates in both parties have requested free recounts of primary election votes, but state and local officials say the politicians will first have to plunk down deposits of as much as $4,500 for the do-over.

This comes despite promises last week that free recounts would be available in Tarrant County, where a computer programming error counted some votes multiple times and boosted the final tally in both primaries by as much as 100,000 votes.

"The secretary of state's office ... told me the recount procedures are very clear in that you do charge for them and there would be legal issues in not charging," said Gayle Hamilton, Tarrant County's interim elections administrator. "I notified both parties that I was told I could not offer the free recount, as much as I wanted to.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/dfw/news/14112464.htm?source=rss&channel=dfw_news

[autorank]

7. Another Great Collection of Election Fraud Info:

http://2004electiontheft.com/

by DUer Organik

004 ELECTION THEFT: GENERAL LINKS

New Material:

DIEBOLD - 2008 "The fix is in" - Moscow Times - kster (Mar-04-06)
"Definitive Proof" of Election Fraud? - LongTomH (Mar-06-06)
AP picks up Sancho story today ! This is MSM reporting, guys! Don't faint. - Amaryllis (Mar-05-06)
Florida newspaper finds thousands of mysterious entries in voter database - seafan (Mar-07-06)
5.4 million Americans disenfranchised - SophieZ (Mar-06-06)
Exit polls 2004 discrepancies made quick & EASY for the math impaired ! - Amaryllis (Mar-08-06)
Bradblog: VERY good news RE: Diebold in MD! Go get 'em, gov & MD house! - Amaryllis (Mar-06-06)
Miami Herald: Election official hammered for telling truth about Diebold - Amaryllis (Mar-08-06)
Shit. FIRST STOLEN ELECTION OF 2006: Voting Machine Problems in TX... - IndyOp (Mar-08-06)
"Why should we trust the results of elections?" David Dill - kpete (Mar-08-06)
"NO, YES, NO: Alaska Now Refuses Release of 2004 Election Data Citing Security Concerns!" - BradBlog (2/24/06)
"AP: 100,000 ERRORS REPORTED ON SEQUOIA VOTING MACHINES IN PALM BEACH, FL 2004 ELECTION!" - BradBlog (2/23/06)
"Why do Diebold's Touch-Screen Voting Machines Have Built-In Wireless Infrared Data Transfer Ports?" - BradBlog (2/22/06)
An Appearance of Guilt - By Ernest Partridge, The Crisis Papers (March 7, 2005)

Recent History:
KERRY PREPARING GROUNDS TO UNCONCEDE, AS TRIAD VOTE CRIMES DETAILED from BreakForNews onDU(12/24)
KERRY PREPARING GROUNDS TO UNCONCEDE (Thread 2) from shraby on DU (12/26)
Kerry Files Motion to Protect Ohio Vote Evidence By William Rivers Pitt (12/27)
Ohio GOP election officials ducking subpoenas as Kerry enters stolen vote fray by Bob Fitrakis (12/28)
Background on New Action by Kerry/Edwards in Federal Court (12/27)
Documentation that Kerry Won Ohio; (the recount will prove it) from berniew1 on DU (12/9)
Proof of Ohio Election Fraud Exposed By William Rivers Pitt (12/15)
Was the 2004 Election Stolen? By Joel Bleifuss (12/10)
Saudis, Enron money helped pay for US rigged election By Wayne Madsen (11/25)
More on the buying of electoral fraud by the Bush campaign by Wayne Madsen (11/26)
Votergate: More details emerge By Wayne Madsen (11/30)
Texas to Florida: White House-linked clandestine operation paid for "vote switching" software By Wayne Madsen
EXPOSÉ: THE “CHRISTIAN” MAFIA By Wayne Madsen (2/12/05)
ALERT: Madsen story strong/incomplete, WE HAVE AFFIDAVIT from rawstory on DU (12/6)
WHISTLEBLOWER AFFIDAVIT: Programmer Built Vote Rigging Prototype at Republican Congressman's Request! (12/6)

[EFerrari]

8. (OH) Warren County has a new way to vote

Warren County has a new way to vote
To debut in local precincts in May 2 primary

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Warren County residents will use new optical scan voting machines when they cast ballots in the primary May 2.

The changes — mandated by the Help America Vote Act approved by Congress in 2002 — will make voting easier and help prevent voter fraud and over voting, said Susan Johnson, Warren County Board of Elections executive director.

The machines, which were used in a Carlisle and Monroe special election last month, were demonstrated at the board of elections last Thursday.

http://www.western-star.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/03/16/ws0316votemachines.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=7

[mod mom]

9. OH: Blackwell Plan Flawed

not exactly election reform but since it is Blackwell and he is running his own election:

Blackwell plan called flawed
Cuts would have hurt school taxes
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau Chief
Columbus - Had Ken Blackwell's plan to curb government spending been in place over the past three years, most school taxes that passed would have failed, critics of the amendment contend.

For example, they say, West Geauga's 2003 school tax would have lost in a landslide, not won in a squeaker in 2003; Fairview Park and Rocky River wouldn't have succeeded last year; and just 12 of the 114 school taxes that won approval in 2002 would have gone down to defeat.

For decades, school districts across Ohio have raised or renewed taxes by winning support from a majority of those who show up Election Day.

But a portion of Blackwell's November ballot proposal ap- pears to require support from a majority of all registered vot ers, not just a majority of those who vote.



<snip>



http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1142502242100950.xml&coll=2

[mom cat]

10. Kick for TIA! Get well buddy. You need to be able to fully celebrate this.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[Wilms]

13. CT: GOP's 6th Recount (After Equipment Failure) Counts

Good thing they had Paper Ballots to Hand Count

GOP's 6th Recount Counts

March 15, 2006

By DAVID FUNKHOUSER, Courant Staff Writer

CLINTON -- After six recounts, the results of the Republican town committee's primary election are in, and the verdict is that the town's new electronic voting machine is not to be trusted.

snip

There were many close votes, triggering a recount. Clerks recounted the ballots four times last Friday and got inconsistent results, so a second recount was held Tuesday.

The source of the problem apparently was an electronic voting machine, a new addition to the town's rack of lever-operated machines. The new machine had trouble reading some ballots correctly, Marsden said.

Electronic machines have been touted as more accurate than other voting methods. Marsden disagreed.

"Dealing with electronic equipment, nothing is 100 percent," she said. "In the 19 years I have been here, we have never had a discrepancy in recounts," including counts done manually.

snip

http://www.courant.com/news/local/sr/hc-clirtc0315.artmar15,0,1472981.story


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417001

[Wilms]

19. TX: Election uproar; County officials say there were plenty of red flags

Election uproar; County officials say there were plenty of red flags

By: JULIE DAFFERN, LAREDO MORNING TIMES

03/14/2006

A representative of Election Systems and Software was blasted Monday at Webb County Commissioners Court for errors in programming and inadequately training county staff. The county paid almost $900,000 in federal grant money for the electronic machines, and officials fear that problems in the March 7 election could lead to more voter apathy and distrust.

"Someone needs to be held accountable," said Commissioner Jerry Garza. "We, here in Webb County, have an apathy problem. We stand to lose more voters and that certainly does not help the democratic process."

snip

When Chris Moody, the Texas director for Election Systems and Software, came to the podium to offer an explanation, he simply stated that they had not expected to use flash cards to record the votes. The plan was to use the personal electronic ballots (PEBs) that they trained county officials to use.
A flash card is installed in each electronic machine, and records the votes cast. A PEB is a device that is used to read all the machines from a particular precinct. Due to a programming error, the PEBs could not be used and tabulators had to read each individual flash card, significantly delaying the vote tally.

After Moody's brief explanation Monday, dead silence ensued. Then Carlos Villarreal, county executive administrator, stormed to the podium and angrily told the court, "I think you need more explanation."
Garza responded that he remembered officials with the company coming to Webb County every two weeks to lobby the county to buy their equipment.

"Then we cut you an $800,000 check, and that's it," Garza said. "That's not acceptable.

snip

"I have no confidence in your (Villarreal's) office and I have no confidence in your (Moody's) machines," Bruni said. "You've disgraced this county."

snip

http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=16299334&BRD=2290&PAG=461&dept_id=473478&rfi=8

[Wilms]

14. Washington Post: How To Steal an Election

Bet on a Bet but Not on a Ballot

By Richard Morin

Thursday, March 16, 2006; Page A02

snip

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/15/AR2006031502318.html

How To Steal an Election

March 16, 2006

It's easier to rig an electronic voting machine than a Las Vegas slot machine, says University of Pennsylvania visiting professor Steve Freeman.

That's because Vegas slots are better monitored and regulated than America's voting machines, Freeman writes in a book out in July that argues, among other things, that President Bush may owe his 2004 win to an unfair vote count.

We'll wait to read his book before making a judgment about that. But Freeman has assembled comparisons that suggest Americans protect their vices more than they guard their rights, according to data he presented at an October meeting of the American Statistical Association in Philadelphia.




GD-P Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2517038


ER Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417082

[Wilms]

33. You can never have enough ER Discussion, so here's another.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417125

[EFerrari]

15. When the Electronic Voting Buy Comes to MY County

Editorial

When the Electronic Voting Buy Comes to MY County

Betrayed, outraged, that the worst, most corruption-prone Vote system is Foisted upon my own community

by Rob Kall

http://www.opednews.com

Tonight I found out that my county's supervisors decided, along party lines, to dump its old, reliable, trustworthy lever machines and replace them with unreliable, electronic machines, with no verifiability, no paper ballots.

I feel horrible-- betrayed, exposed and outraged. Local activists have done yeomans' jobs of educating both the public and the commissioners about the liabilities and negatives of electronic "DRE" machines and the strengths of optical scanning (OC)machines with paper ballot records. The more verifiable, higher integrity OC machines have a lower cost over time, by millions of dollars.

In the recent OpEdNews/Zogby Peoples poll, Pennsylvania voters said that they favored paper ballor or lever machines over electronic machines 84% to 13%.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_060316_when_the_electronic_.htm

[EFerrari]

17. Many states struggling with election changes

Many states struggling with election changes

By Deborah Barfield Berry
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON — Despite a federal mandate to upgrade state election systems, voters in New York will use the same antiquated lever machines they have used for decades. And election officials will rely on a statewide voter registration list that may not be up to date.

New York is so out of compliance with the federal election law that the Justice Department recently sued the state — the first such case under the Help America Vote Act. The first court date is scheduled for Tuesday.

In response to concerns that sprang from the Florida debacle in the 2000 presidential election, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002 and gave states $3.1 billion to upgrade equipment, develop computerized registration lists and improve access for the disabled and language-impaired. The measure also created the Election Assistance Commission to oversee implementation and provide guidance to states.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060316/GPG0101/603160744/1207/GPGnews

[EFerrari]

18. (KY) Poll sites will move for coming primaries

(I'd love to know which way these precincts vote . . .)

Poll sites will move for coming primaries
Accessibility rules lead to changes

By Sheldon S. Shafer
[e-mail]
The Courier-Journal

Nearly one in five Kentucky voters -- including more than 83,000 in Jefferson County -- will have new places to cast their ballots in the May 16 primary.

Chiefly to comply with tougher handicapped-access laws, Kentucky is moving voting sites in 620 of its 2,427 precincts.



The result is new polling places for nearly 20 percent of the state's more than 2.6 million registered voters, said Les Fugate, spokesman for Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

[EFerrari]

20. Georgetown Voice: Can't Touch This

Can’t touch this
Dave Stroup

Controversies over electronic voting are nothing new. Each year here at Georgetown there are calls to abandon on-line voting for GUSA elections in favor of paper ballots. Only through constant improvement in its reliability and transparency does the on-line system remain the primary option.

The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Diebold Election Systems, Inc. which provides e-voting machines to many states including Maryland. Lawmakers led by State Delegate Anne Healey in Annapolis have voted to replace the Diebold touchscreen e-voting system with optical scan paper ballots for the 2006 elections.

Security flaws in the Diebold system are lawmakers’ main concern. Critics of the Diebold system in California and Maryland cite reports that vote totals are easily manipulated. The Maryland resolution has banned the use of the Diebold machines until they are modified to provide a paper vote record.

http://www.georgetownvoice.com/2006-03-16/news/can-t-touch-this

[Wilms]

21. TX: Groups blast election fraud (dis-enfranchisment) training aid

Groups blast election fraud training aid

03/15/2006

Guillermo Contreras
Express-News Staff Writer

Could showing up to the polls in your Emmitt Smith jersey or sending in your mail-in ballot with a stamp promoting testing for sickle-cell disease get you in hot water?

Some watchdog groups claim it could, depending on who's interpreting training materials on voter fraud provided by the state attorney general's office.

Common Cause Texas, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and some state Democrats highlighted the concerns after obtaining copies of a PowerPoint presentation used to train law officers to monitor the primary elections for fraud.

A 36-page printout of the presentation features summarized portions of the state election code and lists examples of conduct deemed to be election fraud.

Suzy Woodford of Common Cause Texas claims some of the examples cited are poor or misleading, while others contend the approach could worsen already low voter turnout. One political analyst described the examples as "extreme to the point of being ludicrous."

snip

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA031506.01B.election_fraud.1259dfd9.html

[EFerrari]

22. Venezuela's records suggest vote fraud

(Misleading headline: no fraud found but illegal immigrants)

EX-OFFICIAL UNCOVERS IMPROBABLE PATTERN
By Steven Dudley and Phil Gunson
Knight Ridder

MARACAIBO, Venezuela - It was the 32nd birthday of 1,921 Gonzálezes registered to vote in the western state of Zulia on Wednesday. But instead of celebrating with balloons and cake, many Venezuelans have been shouting fraud.

Every one of these Gonzálezes obtained their first government ID -- and simultaneously registered to vote -- in 2004, just before President Hugo Chávez defeated a recall referendum. And many of them registered on the same day, at the same registration center.

The case is ``one for the Guinness Book of Records,'' said Roberto Ansuini, a former opposition representative on the National Electoral Council who stumbled on it while looking into the registry's reliability. He said the most Gonzálezes ever born on one day in one year in Venezuela is 89.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14112110.htm

[EFerrari]

23. Salvadoran Woman FMLN Capital Mayor

Salvadoran Woman FMLN Capital Mayor

San Salvador, Mar 16 (Prensa Latina) The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) confirmed on Thursday that Violeta Menjivar of the progressive Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), won the San Salvador mayor´s office after Wednesday night disturbances.

Menjivar won with 44 votes, after 84 disputed votes were recounted, official sources reported.

This is the fourth three-year period that the FMLN will govern San Salvador, having won also in 11 cities on the edge of the capital. Menjivar is the first San Salvador woman mayor.

Incidents occurred after FMLN demonstrators spent 36 hours in the center of the capital protesting a possible electoral fraud, and decided to march to Radisson hotel.

http://www.plenglish.com/Article.asp?ID=%7B33499AA5-F799-4FE1-B24B-ACF7E7473A9B%7D&language=EN

[EFerrari]

25. Fuller account from al jazeera: ES Poll Ends in Violence

El Salvador poll ends in violence

Thursday 16 March 2006, 13:47 Makka Time, 10:47 GMT

Police clashed with protesters in El Salvador after closely fought municipal elections, with a former guerrilla movement claiming victory in the capital's mayoral race.

Police used rubber bullets and tear gas on Thursday when supporters of the declared winner, Violeta Menijavar, approached a hotel in San Salvador where the final results were being declared.

The election tribunal said Menjivar, of the left-wing former guerrilla Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), won the election by only 59 votes. Menjivar had 64,881 votes to 64,822 for Rodrigo Samayoa of the right-wing ruling Arena party.


http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9D301232-1D9C-4B9E-8EAD-98851F24173C.htm

[EFerrari]

24. Stop the Election Day cheating - or it will spread further

Editorial

Stop the Election Day cheating - or it will spread further
BY ROBERT STEINBACK
Knight Ridder Newspapers

If you bet on a racehorse, and later heard about serious allegations that the winning horse may have been illegally doped to gain an advantage, would you demand an investigation?

You know the answer. It would depend on whether or not you bet on the winning horse.

That's what has made much of America so hesitant to demand accountability regarding a growing ledger of allegations that the November 2004 election was so badly tainted that one could fairly question the outcome of the biggest race of all - the one for the Oval Office.

Anyone who questions the reliability of the election is assumed to be a sour-grapes bad sport who has fallen into the thrall of aluminum-foil helmeted conspiracy theorists. And the media, ever tremulous about affirming their critics' allegations of liberal bias, would sooner remove a hot radiator cap than make a mission of investigating the anomalies.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/14112877.htm

[EFerrari]

26. (AZ) All-mail ballots, bond draw voters

Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 16, 2006 12:00 AM

Voter turnout in Phoenix was higher than expected Tuesday, as a controversial $878.5 million bond program drew 15 percent of the city's registered voters.

Mayor Phil Gordon said that the pro-bond campaign went to great lengths to encourage voters to participate, including mailing about 150,000 notices to registered voters who don't usually cast a ballot. Nearly 80,000 people voted in the election.

In other elections throughout Maricopa County, the turnout ranged from 6 percent in Gilbert to as high as 50 percent in Litchfield Park. More than 100,000 people voted.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0316bondelection0316results.html

[EFerrari]

27. ( MS) Precinct consolidation headed to Justice after public hearing

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Precinct consolidation headed to Justice after public hearing

By DEBBIE BURT MYERS
Managing Editor
[e-mail]


Neshoba County�s proposed precinct consolidation plan will soon be headed to the Justice Department following a hearing last which when drew no opposition and only one public comment.

The plan reduces the county�s precincts from 38 to 27 and moves a supervisory district line several feet to encompass part of the Hope Volunteer Fire Department.

The change was made so that the fire department could be utilized as a polling place for both the Hope precinct in District 4 and the Zephyrhill precinct in District 1, Board of Supervisors Attorney Wade White said.

http://www.neshobademocrat.com/Main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=297&ArticleID=12185

[EFerrari]

28. (TX) Election officials try to work out bugs

BEAUMONT - Election officials in Jefferson County and with Election Systems & Software, the company that sold the county its new electronic voting system, are hoping to make changes to prevent future problems like the one that prompted a Monday recount.

Jefferson County was not alone in its election glitches as counties around the state moved to new systems to comply with federal law.

However, Scott Haywood, spokesman for the Texas Secretary of State's office, said the number of problems was comparatively small considering that the state had more than 500 elections March 7, a Democratic and a Republican primary in each of the state's 254 counties.

"There were only a handful of counties where we saw any problems occur and most of those involved tabulation of vote totals," Haywood said by telephone. "We are working with the counties and the vendors to ensure that we do increase training and increase communication to try to prevent this from happening in the future."

http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16305289&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6

[EFerrari]

29. (PA) Counties told to move on machines

VOTING MACHINE CRISIS. If vendor can't promise delivery, find one who can, election officials say.
Wednesday, March 15, 206
By PETER HALL
The Express-Times

State elections officials told Pennsylvania counties on Monday to get tough with voting machine suppliers who say they can't deliver in time for the May 16 primary election.

Northampton County is among 10 counties in Pennsylvania that planned to buy machines from Advanced Voting Solutions of Frisco, Texas. Last week, the company informed county officials it was doubtful of its ability to deliver the machines in time for the county to train poll workers and familiarize voters for the primary.

At least one other company, Election Systems & Software, of Omaha, Neb., has informed officials of its inability to guarantee timely delivery.

http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-4/11423996418300.xml&coll=2

[EFerrari]

30. (PA) Luzerne stuck without voting machines

Luzerne stuck without voting machines
BY TOM LONG STAFF WRITER
03/15/2006

WILKES-BARRE — Jilted by the company it chose to upgrade its voting machines, Luzerne County now finds itself in a $3 million bind.

County Director of Elections Leonard Piazza III told the county elections board Tuesday morning that Electronic Systems and Software had apparently backed out on an agreement to provide 750 electronic voting machines, along with the training to use them.

Negotiations with Omaha, Neb.-based ES&S have “broken down,” Mr. Piazza told the board. The blow puts the county in serious danger of failing to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act, which is tied to a $3 million grant for buying new machines.

The company had consistently assured the county it would be able to provide machines, said Mr. Piazza. But on March 8, an ES&S representative abruptly said the company would be unable to provide training for the machines — a requirement under HAVA. Two days later, a Pittsburgh-based printing company that contracts with ES&S told Mr. Piazza it couldn’t provide the machines, either, and recommended the county look elsewhere.


http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16306292&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416046&rfi=6

[EFerrari]

31. State plans to install some voting devices by Sept.

Machines would enable disabled to cast votes without assistance

By Tom Grace

Cooperstown News Bureau

The New York State Board of Elections, under fire from the federal Justice Department, plans to have new ballot-marking devices in place throughout the state by September.

If installed on time, these devices will permit disabled persons to vote at polling places without assistance from other people, as mandated by the federal Help America Vote Act.

Originally, the BOE had planned to replace all of the state’s lever-type voting machines before September, when primaries will be held in advance of the general elections. However, the state Legislature was slow to enact laws outlining the conversion, and the BOE has faced criticism over its proposed voting regulations, leading to multiple revisions.

Many elections officials have said it is too late to convert all polling places this year, but state officials have come up with "Plan B," Lee Daghlian, a spokesman for the state BOE, said Tuesday.

http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2006/03/15/vote4.html

[EFerrari]

32. (Indiana) Clerks discuss elections

Clerks discuss elections

By THOMAS B. LANGHORNE Courier & Press staff writer 464-7432 or [e-mail]
March 15, 2006

A little light gambling and a little election talk was enough to bring 75 county clerks and their deputies from the bottom half of Indiana to Evansville on Tuesday.

The Southern District Clerks Association, a 31-county division of the Association of Indiana Clerks, is having its biannual meeting at Casino Aztar. The group also held meetings in Evansville in 2001 and 2003.

With May 2 party primaries fast approaching, the daylong conference was primarily about election issues. Many clerks said they came to Evansville with questions - in some cases, nervous questions - about staging the first election under the state's new computerized record of voter registrations. The system is required by the federal Help America Vote Act.

The clerks heard talks by Secretary of State Todd Rokita and several officials of the Indiana Election Division, State Board of Accounts and State Court Administration. Several vendors were on hand outside the conference rooms, trying to interest the clerks in software for courts and election data.

http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_4542270,00.html

[JimDandy]

35. IL: Diebold a 'lightning rod' for criticism

DuPage County, Illinois took their Diebold TSx (touch-screen with VVPAT printer) machines out for a first spin during their 18-day early voting period which ends tonight. On election day next tuesday, DuPage County voters will have a 'choice' between voting on one of two Diebold systems--the county's older op-scanners or their new TSx machines. What a choice -- Hmmmm, this black-box voting system, or this one.......


Diebold a 'lightning rod' for criticism
by Kathy Cichon

03/15/06

While critics of the technology are skeptical of electronic voting in general, a lot of the criticism is aimed at voting equipment manufacturer, Diebold Election Systems.

snip

Paul DeGregorio, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in Washington, D.C., said the Diebold equipment is a certified system and the state Board of Elections allows it to be used in Illinois.

"It's a system that's being used in many counties in the country," he said.

To become certified, equipment must go through considerable evaluation, DeGregorio said.

"What I don't give much credence to is some of the so-called tests to let somebody into your office and have full access to your system," he said.

We do though!! Thank you Ion Sancho!


http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/news/n15diebold.htm

[Wilms]

36. Arizona SOS: So Sue Me

Arizona SOS: So Sue Me

March 16, 2006

by Dan Tokaji

That's not exactly how Arizona's Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer responded to the Election Assistance Commission's opinion on the state's registration requirements ... but it's pretty close. In this letter to the EAC's Chair, Secretary Brewer takes issue with the EAC's conclusion that it violates federal law for the state to demand greater proof of eligibility requirements -- specifically, citizenship -- than is provided for by the federally approved form. Brewer labels the position of the bipartisan EAC "completely inconsistent, unlawful, and without merit," and says that she'll instruct counties to do exactly what the EAC says federal law forbids. The Arizona Daily Star has more on this showdown.

What's most interesting about Brewer's letter is that she doesn't provide any reasons for believing that the EAC got the law wrong; she just asserts it. In its March 6 letter to Brewer, analyzed here, the EAC relied on the National Voter Registration Act ("NVRA") which provides that states "shall accept and use the mail voter registration application prescribed by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission." That federal form, in turn, sets the applicable proof requirements. The EAC's letter concluded that states aren't at liberty to impose more onerous requirements. Unfortunately, that's just what Arizona has sought to do through its enforcement of Proposition 200.

snip

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/blogs/tokaji/2006/03/arizona-sos-so-sue-me.html

[jillan]

40. very impressive :)!!! n/t

[Wilms]

38. Electionline Assists In Covering Up Election Meltdown In Texas

Electionline Assists In Covering Up Election Meltdown In Texas

By John Gideon, VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA

March 16, 2006

Electionline's newsletter, read by election officials across the country, led off this week with an adticle by Mindy Moretti with the upbeat title "Texas primary goes well, state officials say; glitches reported locally". The article reads like a PR piece from the voting machine vendors - it might as well be just that. The primaries in Texas last week were an unmitigated disaster as John Gideon's letter to Ms. Moretti points out. Thankfully we have John's Daily Voting News to let election officials and the voters they serve know what really happened last week in Texas. And just what is it that makes it okay if it was just a "glitch"?


Ms. Moretti,

Thank you for the work you put into writing this article. Unfortunately you probably should have spent a bit more time researching and then telling the whole story.

snip

You mention that voters liked the machines. You didn't speak about the fact that where voters had a choice between paper or electronic, they overwhelmingly chose to use paper ballots. When precincts completely run out of paper ballots and there are e-voting machines sitting there, that seems to point to voters making a choice.

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1059&Itemid=113


Go see the rest of the letter and the headlines Gideon wall-papered the author with.

Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417187

[Wilms]

39. .

[Wilms]

41. .