Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday, May 6,2006

[livvy]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News




All members welcome and encouraged to participate.



Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:
1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[livvy]

1. May 5th Election Reform Thread: Ohio Meltdown 2006

Ohio meltdown 2006

Welcome, our good friend Mr. Blackwell, he has truly screwed the pooch again. The way this guys run an election, he could get himself elected Governor . . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=426288&mesg_id=426288

[neoblues]

2. That was a good one! Never mind the man behind the curtain...

Regarding what we can do about it, here's one potential stragegy...

The Voter Receipt Program

Make Your Receipt (MYR)

Stop Voting Fraud Dead In Its Tracks Now!

If the GOP-controlled-Congress and state and county officials continue to refuse to purchase voting machines that issue a receipt, as is likely, we can still stop election fraud in 2006 and 2008 dead in its tracks by simply issuing our own election receipts. The 2006 election will only have Senators and members of the House as well as some important State positions.

What's required is this: you and each voter will fill his or her own receipt out and hand it to the Democractic Party Poll Watcher, designated the Vote Receipt Holder at each precinct in America. If exit polls indicate a problem, or if poll workers and watchers see evidence of vote counting misrepresentations, the receipts can be counted and if they differ from the "official" results of the precinct, county, or state, individual candidates and/or any voter or group of voters or party can file a lawsuit immediately--based upon the receipt count as evidence that all the votes were not counted! Also, the voter receipts will be evidence of a crime for the FBI or state officials to investigate. Sign up if you're willing to help!

more...

Sample Voter Receipt (PDF)

A related page: The Voter Receipt Program System Explained

Remember, whether by this means or some other, we must be able to document/verify our votes in the next election, no... matter... what... else... we... do!
:dem:

Disclaimer: I hope this is not too repetitive (if at all), but in my opinion, it and other such potential strategies for coping with the inevitable voter fraud cannot be posted too many times. This issue should be our primary concern until it has been resolved because it represents an insurmountable obstacle and infringement of our most basic Democratic power as citizens!

[livvy]

3. Stung by Election Losses, Blair Reshuffles Cabinet

May 6, 2006
Stung by Election Losses, Blair Reshuffles Cabinet

Stung by Election Losses, Blair Reshuffles Cabinet
By ALAN COWELL

LONDON, May 5 — Prime Minister Tony Blair sought to re-establish political authority on Friday after his Labor Party was mauled in local elections, ordering the biggest reshuffle of his cabinet since taking office nine years ago.

Mr. Blair switched the most senior jobs in his cabinet in the hope of reversing an accelerating slide in the Labor Party's fortunes. The most unexpected of the high-profile casualties was Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, a central negotiator in the Iran nuclear crisis.

Mr. Blair dismissed Charles Clarke, the home secretary, and ordered lateral moves or demotions for other ministers, including those responsible for defense, trade, education and transport.

John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, who is mired in a sex scandal, kept his title and cabinet seat but lost his responsibilities for housing, local government and other issues.

>more


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/06/world/europe/06britain.html

[livvy]

10. Did Tony Blair Fire Jack Straw Over Iran? Commentary: Direland

DIRELAND: Politics and Media- Analysis and Commentary From Veteran Political Journalist Doug Ireland

May 05, 2006
DID TONY BLAIR FIRE JACK STRAW OVER IRAN?

Tony Blair (right) did a major cabinet reshuffle yesterday, but too late to do him any good at the polls. In this week's British muncipal elections, Blair's scandal-plagued "New Labour" suffered a stinging defeat, losing more than 300 city councillors and 19 city halls, and saw its share of the vote plunge to just 26%, compared to the Tories' 40% and the Liberal Democrats'' 27% -- the worst showing for Labour since the Falklands War. And the openly racist British National Party, led by slick Nick Griffin, made "big gains" at Labour's expense.

My excellent confrere Ian Williams has a sharp-eyed post today on his Jack_straw blog, Deadline Pundit, saying that Tony Blair's firing of his foreign minister, Jack Straw (right), in the cabinet resuffle was because of Straw's too-vigorous and too-public opposition to military action against Iran, which Straw had called "completely nuts." Writes Ian:

"Under cover of yesterday's local elections, Tony Blair's cabinet reshuffle may be moving the UK closer to yet another idiotic war at the behest of George W. Bush. While some of the demotions in the cabinet shuffle were understandable because of the scandals surrounding the ministers being axed, Jack Straw, the foreign secretary had not been the focus of any headlines. That leaves the suspicion that he was axed because of the small print in what he has been telling the media. He had said that it was "inconceivable" for military operations against Iran "If you check the ever-informative sound of silence, this is not something that the Prime Minister had been saying.

"There is a poetic justice here. One of the reasons that Blair had sacked Robin Cook as foreign secretary was to remove an obstacle to his war plans over Iraq, and his successor, poor Jack Straw is now paying a similar price. A newly appointed minister, whether Straw, in the run-up to Iraq, or his successor Margaret Becket, in the run up to Iran, is not in a position to block the wishes of a Prime Minister who is so cocky and self assured that while firing others, has overlooked the one big cabinet change that could have restored Labour to popularity--his own resignation." Read all of Ian Williams' tart analysis by clicking here.

>more

http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2006/05/did_tony_blair_.html

[livvy]

4. Mandate for ID Meets Resistance From States

It's not just for voting anymore. Let's go nationwide!!




Mandate for ID Meets Resistance From States

By PAM BELLUCK
Published: May 6, 2006

Reacting to the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress passed the Real ID law last year, intending to make it tougher for terrorists to obtain driver's licenses and for people without proper identification to board planes or enter federal buildings.

But with the deadline for setting up the law two years away, states are frustrated.

They say the law — which requires states to use sources like birth certificates and national immigration databases to verify that people applying for or renewing driver's licenses are American citizens or legal residents — will be too expensive and difficult to put in place by the May 2008 deadline. Another issue is the privacy impact of the requirement that states share, through databases, the personal information needed for a driver's license.

>snip

"There are unanswered concerns about privacy," said Pamela Walsh, a spokeswoman for Mr. Lynch. "There are a lot of questions about cost to states for implementing this, and there are the potential unintended consequences of turning our Department of Motor Vehicle workers into agents for the Department of Homeland Security."

>more
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/06/us/06id.html

[livvy]

5. Opinion by York: (Rove) A Huge Conflict of Interest

York: A huge conflict of interest
By Jean York/ Free Speech
Friday, May 5, 2006

The Bush administration is making some changes at the White House: a shake-up to bring new faces into the political fray.

Karl Rove has been re-assigned and will now concentrate exclusively on the upcoming congressional mid-term elections to ensure the Republican majority rule in the House and Senate lives on. He will retain his phony title for cosmetic purposes only.

The question arises: should Rove be paid by the American taxpayers to run a political campaign or should he be paid by the Republican National Committee and quit the White House?

This presents a huge conflict of interest: a paid staff member in the White House being officially assigned to run a political campaign because it's a task he does best.

>more

http://www2.townonline.com/holbrook/opinion/view.bg?articleid=488077

[livvy]

6. WA: Cantwell's Stance on Iraq Keeps Volunteers Away...

Friday, May 5, 2006 - 12:00 AM

Cantwell's stance on Iraq keeps volunteers away, party chief says

By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter

Sen. Maria Cantwell's continued support for the occupation of Iraq — and her lack of regret for voting for the invasion in 2002 — is making it hard to recruit volunteers for her re-election campaign, the chairman of the state Democratic Party says.

The liberal activists who dominate the party's grass roots oppose the war and have been looking for Cantwell to distance herself from President Bush's position.

>snip

Cantwell is making some effort to reach out to those voters. On Saturday she will meet with a group of anti-war demonstrators who staged a sit-in at her Seattle office last week. She published a guest column in The Seattle Times Thursday on her stance on the war, though it added few details and does not appear to have assuaged the anti-war forces.

"That's the complaint people have had with Cantwell since the beginning — she seems to have planted herself, boxed herself in, and has not been willing to move," said Howard Gale, one of the protesters who staged the sit-in.

>more
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002973154&zsection_id=2002111777&slug=cantwell05m&date=20060505

[livvy]

7. PA: Poll Finds Casey's Lead (over Santorum) Falling

Posted on Thu, May. 04, 2006
© 2006 Philadelphia Daily News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.philly.com


Poll finds Casey's lead falling

By CATHERINE LUCEY
[e-mail] 215-854-4172

U.S. SEN. Rick Santorum has slashed Democratic challenger Bob Casey Jr.'s once- double-digit lead and is now just 6 percentage points back, according to the latest Daily News/CN8 Keystone Poll. (See the complete poll results here (PDF))

"Everybody expected this race to tighten. Nobody expected it to tighten this quickly," said G. Terry Madonna, professor of public affairs at Franklin & Marshall College and director of the poll.

The survey of 578 registered voters conducted last week showed state treasurer Casey, who is expected to easily win the Democratic primary, as the choice of 47 percent to 41 percent for Santorum.

>snip

Negative television ads by pro-Santorum special-interest groups and attacks from his primary opponents have hurt Casey, Madonna said.

>more

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/14495983.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

[livvy]

8. AZ: Ex-GOP State Lawmaker to Join U.S. Senate Race as Dem

Ex-GOP state lawmaker to join U.S. Senate race as Dem

Robbie Sherwood
The Arizona Republic
May. 5, 2006 12:00 AM

The high-profile race between Republican U.S. Sen. John Kyl and Democrat Jim Pederson is about to get more crowded.

Former state Sen. John Verkamp, who served 10 years in the Legislature as a Republican from Flagstaff, has switched over to the Democratic Party and plans to run on an anti-war platform.

Verkamp, a 65-year-old attorney and Arizona native, will make a formal announcement Tuesday at the Capitol where he plans to lay out his platform. But Verkamp said he grew concerned because neither Pederson nor Kyl was talking about the war in Iraq.

"That's the Number 1 issue for me, that and the pending nuclear war on Iran," Verkamp said.

>more



http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0505verkamp0505.html

[livvy]

9. And now, a brief message from our sponsors....

My Bad: The Apology Anthology (Hardcover)
by Paul Slansky, Arleen Sorkin

This has absolutely nothing to do with election reform, but I found this in my search for news, and thought it looked like it might be an amusing read.



BUZZFLASH REVIEWS



At first, when we looked at the cover of "My Bad: The Apology Anthology," we had no idea what to make of the book: you see some guy in a suit and tie with a water pail covering his face.

What the heck is this all about, we asked ourselves and put it in the voluminous pile of premiums that we receive. But something about that image stuck with us and we retrieved the volume, started glancing through it, and haven't stopped laughing since.

And how doubly humorous when you don't even expect something hysterically funny in a book with such an ambiguous title.

What makes this such a hoot is that it is an actual anthology of apologies, divided by categories, that people (largely public officials and celebrities) have offered over 25 years for "appalling behavior."

>more of the review

http://www.buzzflash.com/store/?cmd=showreview&itemid=201

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

[livvy]

11. OH: Voting Glitches Will Be Probed in Cuyahoga Co.

Is anyone else getting really burned by this word "glitch"? According to Websters a glitch is:
1 a : a usually minor malfunction <a glitch in a spacecraft's fuel cell>; also : 2BUG 2 b : a minor problem that causes a temporary setback : SNAG

How can someone call the failure to accurately record the will of the people "a minor problem", and the inability of our voting procedures a "minor malfunction"?






Last Updated: 5:41 am | Saturday, May 6, 2006
Voting glitches will be probed in Cuyahoga Co.
BY M.R. KROPKO | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CLEVELAND - Ohio election officials will investigate the glitches that delayed ballot counting in the state's largest county, which struggled with its first election converting from punch cards to electronic voting.

Michael Vu, director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, said Friday the investigation authorized by Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell was expected because of the county's election problems.

The county, which includes Cleveland, continued searching for votes Friday.

"We welcome the secretary of state's office," Vu said. "We want to know what happened also. We're not going to start pointing fingers. It would be inappropriate and unethical to point fingers until we can research this issue. We do know something went wrong and we need to find out what."

There were several glitches. The main form of voting was on Diebold Election Systems touch-screen voting machines. Those votes are stored in several ways, including on memory cards, and some poll workers placed the cards in the wrong storage bags.

>more

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060506/NEWS01/605060409/1056

[FogerRox]

14. Ohio: Ballot problems- its the printers mistake...............

Ballot problems raise questions about bid choice

Saturday, May 06, 2006
Joan Mazzolini
Plain Dealer Reporter

No one knows yet whether problems with absentee voting in Cuyahoga County are traceable to the elections board's recent decision to give its ballot-printing business to a company with little experience in the field.

But the disastrous outcome of the absentee process -- votes could not be counted by machine as planned and are still being counted by hand -- has raised questions about why a Dayton-area company with decades of experience was dropped.

The official reason is that MCR Inc. of Mayfield underbid Dayton Legal Blank of Centerville, Ohio, which supplied ballots this week to 81 of the state's 88 counties.

"We were legitimately underbid by a legitimate company," said David Keeler, president of Dayton Legal Blank. "But they don't have the right equipment to produce this complicated of a job."

The unofficial reason his company lost the work -- after more than two decades -- is the animosity that seems to exist between him and county elections officials.

Keeler said he made no secret of his belief that the Cuyahoga board's longstanding managerial problems had worsened in recent years.

more-

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/114690436747620.xml&coll=2

[livvy]

12. OH: Ney: Unions Are Key to His Re-election Campaign

Ney: Unions are key to his re-election campaign
Saturday, May 6, 2006
By DAVID HAMMER ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WASHINGTON - A humble U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, fresh off a strong win in his first primary challenge since 1994, said a battle for labor support would be crucial to his re-election in November.

The Ohio Republican, who has been implicated in a widening federal probe of super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s influence-peddling in Congress, won 68 percent of Tuesday’s vote against an unknown and unfunded opponent.

On Friday, he praised local unions and Republican Party officials for ignoring his mounting ethical and legal problems.

“Being battered and bruised with the Abramoff thing as I was, it would have been very easy for them to leave me, and they didn’t,” he said. “I’m very humbled by that.”

>more

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=284501&Category=13

[livvy]

13. WV:Editorial: Be Prepared For Election Problems

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Be Prepared For Election Problems

By The Intelligencer

East Ohio elections officials thought they were ready for the primary election on Tuesday. They knew they would be dealing with new voting equipment, with a major number of votes for a write-in candidate and possibly with a high voter turnout. Yet they thought they were ready. But there still were delays in counting votes in Belmont County.

Contrast that with the situation here in West Virginia, and the potential for serious problems is obvious. It isn’t that local and state elections officials have not been working hard to prepare new voting machines and to educate both the public and elections workers concerning how to use them. They have. At both the county and state levels, elections officials deserve a hearty pat on the back for their efforts to bring the new machines on line.

What is worrisome is the fact that the Nebraska company that provided new voting machines and software for them doesn’t appear to have done a good job. Secretary of State Betty Ireland already has expressed her frustration — more than once — at the firm, Election Systems & Software.

We urge West Virginia elections officials, then, to have backup plans in place — if that is possible — should serious problems occur during the Mountain State’s primary election next Tuesday. Some, we are aware, already have been thinking of such plans. Though time is short, any “insurance” local and state elections officials can provide may be very good to have on Tuesday.

(That's all folks!)

http://www.news-register.net/editorials/articles.asp?articleID=5711

[livvy]

22. WV: Another Editorial- "No, ES&S is Not a Division of FEMA:....."

May 6, 2006

COMMENTARY: No, ES&S is Not a Division of FEMA: It Just Seems Like It in Wake of Foul-ups

By David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network

Hinton, WV (HNN) – No, contrary to what some may think, Election Systems & Software (ES&S) is not a division of FEMA.

ES&S has gotten West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland’s Irish up with delays in providing software to run the new touch-screen voting machines, but thanks to above and beyond the call of duty service on the part of the state’s 55 county clerks and their staffs, all might be well on election day, Tuesday, May 9.

On Friday, May 5, 2006, Ben Beakes of the Secretary of State’s office told HNN that 25 to 30 counties are set to go on Tuesday, with all the electronic ballots delivered to all the machines. Raleigh, Logan and Kanawha counties are among those ready, with Cabell County expected to be fully operational by election day. Summers County is ready to go, too, according to County Clerk Mary Beth Merritt. She said the software was delivered on Monday, May 1 – well behind schedule – but long hours of work have paid off and all the machines are working properly.

Beakes said the statewide situation is in a state of flux and his office is calling all the clerks for periodic updates. He suggested that HNN call back on Monday, May 8, the day before the primary.

>more

http://www.huntingtonnews.net/columns/060506-kinchen-comment.html

[livvy]

15. OH: Voting Problems Called Par For the Course

Voting problems called par for the course
The first punch-card free election across the state had some blips, but officials said none were major.

By Shaheen Samavati

Staff Writer

COLUMBUS — Tardy poll workers, misplaced memory cards, paper jams and other mishaps were reported throughout the state in what was Ohio's first punch-card free election.

But according to James Lee of the Ohio secretary of state's office, the problems in Tuesday's primary were nothing out of the ordinary.

"Overall we seemed to have had a successful election. In those cases where there were problems, they were isolated incidences," he said.

>snip

At a polling site in Washington Twp., a touch-screen machine died in the middle of the day, said Steve Harsman, director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections. About 10 people used the machine and the board is working with the manufacturer, Diebold, to determine how the votes should be counted, Harsman said.

Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, concerned by the problems, requested public records on Wednesday that would show how the secretary of state's office spent the $132 million in federal money it received to bring Ohio in compliance with the Help America Vote Act.

>more
http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0506voting.html


November 24, 2001 by Paul Winkelmann http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/01/11/24_moveon.html

[livvy]

16. Mississippi: A Novel Solution - Will a Dem Primary Be Held?

Well now, here's a novel solution to the problem!
When all else fails....




Local races attract few candidates
Saturday, May 06, 2006
By NATALIE CHAMBERS

>snip of much of the article to get to the point

The stage also was set Friday for the June 4 party primary when four Democrats will seek their party's nomination in an attempt to unseat incumbent U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., in the Nov. 7 general election.

>more snipping

What remains undecided is whether a Democratic primary will be held in Jackson County.

Melton Harris, chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Executive Committee, said the committee will not handle its party primary because poll workers have not been adequately trained to use the new Diebold Touch Screen voting machines. The committee's request to use paper ballots was turned down.

Jackson County Circuit Clerk Joe Martin, said primaries are handled by parties but in this case, "the Secretary of State's office did not give the parties training and ample time to run an election using those new machines. Circuit clerks and elections commissioners have been trained, but the parties didn't get any training on these machines until April 21 and absentees were supposed to ready on the 22. That's the problem and (Secretary of State) Eric Clark won't talk to anybody about it."

>more unrelated to the point

http://www.gulflive.com/news/mississippipress/index.ssf?/base/news/1146910524321150.xml

[livvy]

19. Push Comes To Shove in Demo Primary

Posted on Sat, May. 06, 2006


Push comes to shove in Demo primary

By KAREN NELSON
[e-mail]

PASCAGOULA - Melton Harris, head of Jackson County's Democratic Party, is sticking to his belief that next month's primary would be run best if the party used paper ballots.

Secretary of State Eric Clark disagrees and wants Jackson County Democrats to use the new high-tech voting machines with touch screens, like other counties in the state, because he says the law requires it.

That's a matter of interpretation, Harris says. Paper ballots were fine in 2004 and the U.S. Justice Department tentatively gave its approval to use them now, at least until the secretary of state interfered and complained, Harris said.

With one month until the June 6 primary, Harris says he's not going to run the election if he can't use paper, and Clark says, through his official spokesman, that if Jackson County Democrats refuse to run the election it's a criminal misdemeanor.

>snip
(I love this part: )
Harris said that trying to get the new voting machines, never before used in Jackson County en masse, up and running in a month is not a sound strategy. He said he feels like a guinea pig, doesn't have the help he needs to pull it off and feels that the new machines will be overkill.

He said it's like using an 18-wheeler to pull a gallon of water. And with such a small voter turnout (somewhere between 500 and 2,000 predicted), he said it won't help them evaluate the new system.
>more

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/14515421.htm

[livvy]

17. OH: Counties Not Upset By State Order to Delay Reporting El. Results

Last Updated: 5:14 am | Saturday, May 6, 2006

Counties not upset by state order to delay reporting election results
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBUS - Elections officials in counties with closely watched races and voter advocates aren't upset at an election-night order from Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's office to delay reporting of statewide results while one precinct out of 11,300 stayed open late.

"There are numbers of things I get unhappy with the secretary of state's office about, but this isn't one of them," said Peg Rosenfield, elections specialist with the League of Women Voters.

>snip

Rosenfield and election law experts agreed with the secretary of state's argument that releasing results early might have discouraged voters from going to the polling place in Cleveland.

"He has the right to protect the integrity of the election, and the duty," said S. Candice Hoke, director of the Center for Election Integrity at Cleveland State University.

With Blackwell away at his own victory party Tuesday, his elections and legal staff huddled and decided to delay results. State Elections Director Judy Grady sent an e-mail to county elections boards, ordering them not to report because of an order by a "federal judge."

>more

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060506/NEWS01/605060407/1056

[livvy]

18. FL: Opinion - Reasons For Voting Trail Abundant

Finally, a voice of reason!




Saturday, May 6, 2006

Reasons for voting trail abundant

Touchscreen machines were supposed to be Sarasota's answer to the "hanging chads" and other miscount debacles. But they aren't, because they don't provide for voter verification. Don't underestimate this shortcoming! These machines could mean inaccurate elections due to breakdowns, errors and glitches that might never be detected. The biggest concern is that voting machines are vulnerable to hacking and outright fraud.

Forty-two pages of problems using machines by ES&S (the manufacturer of the touchscreens used in Sarasota County) have been documented by VotersUnite.org:

In January 2004 in Broward County, the machines showed 134 blank ballots. The winning margin was 12 votes. Because Florida law required an examination of the invalid ballots, and no ballots were available to examine, the county could not comply with Florida law.

In November 2004 in Lexington County, S.C., officials couldn't figure out how to retrieve 200 electronic votes from a malfunctioning machine.

>more

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060506/OPINION/605060636/1029

[livvy]

20. NJ: Voting Glitch Creates Tension (Ho Hum response from Sequoia)

Jeesh...so what's the big deal? :sarcasm:





Voting glitch creates tension
Company knew of situation
Saturday, May 06, 2006
By JOSEPH DEE
Staff Writer

TRENTON -- The deficiency in Mercer County's electronic voting machines comes as a surprise to practically everyone except the people who made them.

The 600 machines for which the county paid $4 million in 2003 lack counters to track the number of people who vote in particular elections. Such a count is essential to the preferred method for determining whether a runoff will be required in Trenton's at-large city council election Tuesday.

Michelle Shafer, vice president of communications for machine manufacturer Sequoia Voting Systems, said the company is aware of the problem. "This is something in the queue to be updated," she said. "Obviously, if we're not already in touch with Mercer County on this, we soon will be."

Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said the county has been hounding Sequoia to retrofit the machines with paper ballots that can be counted in the event of a computer glitch, and said he will ask that the voter-count problem also be fixed.

>more

http://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1146902786181880.xml&coll=5

[livvy]

21. Arkansas: Electronic Machines in Some...Not Others...Ready for...Voting

This should not be a experience for the voters or the election officials. It doesn't have to be.
now



Electronic machines in some 2nd District counties, not in others, ready for early voting
Saturday, May 6, 2006

By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK - Election officials in the eight counties that comprise the 2nd Congressional District scrambled Friday to try and get electronic voting machines operating in time for the state primary early voting period that begins Monday.

"Things are changing by the hour," Janet Harris, deputy chief to the secretary of state, said late Friday.

As of about 4:30 p.m., it appeared that five of the eight counties would have at least one new machine available when early voting begins at 8 a.m. Monday. Those counties are Conway, Perry, Saline, White and Yell.

>snip

Early voters in Faulkner, Pulaski, Van Buren counties will probably see nothing but paper ballots Monday because of delays in getting proper equipment and software delivered and tested, Harris said.

"We're pulling our hair out," White County Clerk Tanya Burleson said Friday when asked about being ready for early voting.

>more

http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2006/05/06/News/335966.html

[livvy]

23. NH: Lynch's First Veto This Year Kills Voter ID....

Future voter identification technique:





Article published May 6, 2006
Lynch's first veto this year kills voter ID Also, Senate tables Right-to-Know revision
Staff and wire reports

G
ov. John Lynch, in his first veto of the year, killed a bill yesterday that would have required people to show photo identification before they could vote.

"Our responsibility as elected officials is to protect every citizen's constitutional right to vote and to ensure that any proposed changes to our voting system do not create unnecessary barriers to voting. We should be encouraging people to vote, not discouraging them," he said in his veto message.

> tiny snip

Lynch said that allegations of voter fraud in 2004 were unfounded, and he cited a report from the attorney general's office that found, "New Hampshire's local election officials are the front line of defense against voter fraud and our investigations support the conclusion that most local officials do an excellent job."

Some lawmakers also objected to a provision allowing election workers to give ballots to people they know without requiring identification.

The bill arose, in part, out of the 2004 election after reports of people voting twice, nonresidents voting and problems with vote counts. The House bill was introduced by Rep. Howie Lund, a Republican from Derry. The measure passed the House in February by a vote of 205-153. The Senate approved the voter I.D. bill 14-9.

>more on unrelated legislative actions

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060506/REPOSITORY/605060328/1037/48HOURS

[livvy]

24. S.C. Puts Voters on Inactive List

Darn inactive voters!





Saturday, May 06, 2006 - Last Updated: 7:30 AM

S.C. puts voters on inactive list
State finds duplication in registration rolls with Kentucky and Tennessee

Associated Press


COLUMBIA ? More than 5,600 voters were put on South Carolina's inactive list after the state recently compared registration rolls with Kentucky and Tennessee.

More than 14,000 names on South Carolina's rolls were duplicated on Kentucky and Tennessee voter registration lists, State Election Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire said Friday.

Whitmire said when a name was duplicated, it was kept on the rolls of the state that had the last contact with the voter.For example, if a person had voted in Kentucky more recently than in South Carolina, that name stayed on Kentucky's list.

"We are working to and would like to compare our lists with all other Southeastern states," Whitmire said.

The joint effort was announced late last month and was designed to protect against fraud.

>more

http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=85762§ion=stateregion

[livvy]

25. IN: Democrats File Appeal on Voter ID Law

Photo ID's can be very helpful. Consider the following:






May 06. 2006 6:59AM
Democrats file appeal on voter ID law
Party says it has received hundreds of complaints.


DEANNA MARTIN
Associated Press Writer

INDIANAPOLIS -- Democrats challenging the state's voter identification law say they received hundreds of complaints about a new requirement to show a photo ID before casting a ballot.

They also predict even more problems could emerge this November if the law is not overturned before the general election, with its frequently contentious campaigns.

The Indiana Democratic Party on Friday asked the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to overturn a decision by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker, who ruled in April that the law could stand because Democrats failed to show it was too burdensome.

Voters in Tuesday's primary elections were required, for the first time, to show a state or federally issued identification card with a photo before casting ballots.

The Democratic Party says hundreds of people called their hot line to report problems with voting. Although such complaints may not be relevant to the appeal, Democrats say the calls are proof that voters are being hurt by the law.


http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060506/News01/605060354/-1/NEWS01/CAT=News01

[livvy]

26. Fitrakis and Wasserman: "Ohio 2004 Election Thief Grabs Gov Nod....

May 5, 2006

Ohio 2004 election thief grabs Gov nod while (surprise! surprise!) voting machines malfunction

By Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman

Ohio's Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell has grabbed the GOP nomination for governor in a vote count riddled with machine breakdowns. In Franklin and Delaware Counties, election officials had to "shut down and recalibrate throughout the day," according to the Columbus Dispatch. Election officials use recalibration as a code word when machines are malfunctioning including the recording of votes for wrong candidates.

>snip

Blackwell is the first African-American nominated by a major party for the Ohio governorship. The nod is widely considered a pay-back for his role in stealing the 2004 election, just as Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris was handed a safe Congressional seat after handing the state to Bush in 2000. Harris is currently a US representative is now a candidate for the US Senate. Both Harris and Blackwell simultaneously oversaw their state's vote count while serving as co-chairs of the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Blackwell has courted the extreme right wing fundamentalist church network in Ohio. He now advocates an absolute ban on abortion, even in the case of rape or endangerment of the mother. His Democratic opponent, Congressman Ted Strickland, is the first ever Methodist Minister nominated for Ohio governor. Blackwell's campaign has deliberately flown under the radar. He has refused to disclose his public schedule as he nurtures a network of far right wing theocrats with unannounced church and Christian school appearances.

>snip

But while Blackwell was handily defeating Attorney General Jim Petro for the nomination, Diebold and ES&S voting machines, both companies with partisan ties to the Republican Party, were at center stage. Electronic and mechanical breakdowns delayed poll openings throughout Franklin (Columbus) and Cuyahoga (Cleveland) Counties. In some cases faulty plugs were blamed. In others the machines just did not seem to work.

>quite a bit more, including the reason that guy smashed the machines, if you haven't already heard. Well worth reading the entire piece.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_bob_fitr_060505_ohio_2004_election_t.htm

[livvy]

27. Brad Blog: Guest blogged by John Gideon- On the Diebold Security Threat

'Daily Voting News' For May 05, 2006

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

The big news for today was the big news yesterday also. Diebold TS and TSx have an existing security problem and all states and/or counties who use these machines must fix this problem. Computer scientists and others who have information on this issue strongly suggest that all states involved should contact Diebold or the Pennsylvania Secretary of State's office for more information. Don't let Diebold tell you there is no problem. It is there and it is something that needs to be dealt with. Pulaski County Arkansas got their new machines on Thursday morning finally. They got their software on Thursday afternoon. The software does not work on the machines. It's back to square one and paper ballots. “I am absolutely appalled by ES&S’ delays and the hardships ES&S has placed upon this state and our county officials” said West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland. Also in West Virginia two more counties have announced they will not use ES&S voting machines in next week's primary. They will use paper ballots. ...

(Many other election news links are on the page)


http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002790.htm#More

[livvy]

28. Why Republicans and the Corporate Media Attack...McKinney

May 6, 2006

Why Republicans and the Corporate Media Attack US Rep. Cynthia McKinney

By Richard Searcy

This commentary article courtesy of Atlanta Progressive News.

For the answer to the question of why the right-wing pays so much attention to Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), look no further than the recent congressional votes on the Iran Freedom Support Act. Congressman Dennis Kucinich called this bill "a stepping stone to the use of force." It passed in the House 397-21. This bill sounds strikingly similar to the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, and it comes at a time when the Bush Administration is not only considering attacking Iran, but using nuclear weapons to do so. Why would Democratic Members of US Congress, who complained they were tricked by the Bush Administration into signing the Iraq Resolution of 2002, now sign onto a bill that Bush may use to set the world on fire with a nuclear attack on Iran? Although the bill contains two sentences stating the bill is not an authorization for war, how do they know that Bush won't interpret it differently as he did in 2002 when that bill required him to first get authorization from the United Nations

How do the Democratic Members of the US House, including the "progressive" ones who also voted for it, know Bush won't have his fingers crossed behind his back when he signs it? How do they know he won't issue one of his infamous signing statements he thinks allows him to interpret the language of any bill or law any way he chooses to? According to The Boston Globe, Bush has claimed the authority to break more than 750 laws. He is the first President in US history never to veto a bill; yet, after signing a bill, he quietly reinterprets it with a signing statement to fit his agenda and the voices he is hearing in his head. His agenda this time is nuclear war. After the catastrophic results of the US Invasion of Iraq, how were the Democrats tricked into signing this insidious and unconscionable piece of legislation?

The bill calls for "promoting Democracy" in Iran. Sound familiar? The problem with that is Iran is already a democracy. Iran was a democracy way back in 1953 when the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) orchestrated an overthrow of the democratically elected President of Iran. The CIA then installed the Shah of Iran and SAVAK, one of the most brutal secret police forces in human history.

The entire Congressional Black Caucus, whose constituents have been the most opposed to the US Invasion of Iraq, all voted for it, except, as expected, Cynthia McKinney.

>large snip

In a democracy, nothing could be more important than the right to vote with confidence and integrity. McKinney led the fight for voting integrity in Georgia, and was the first politician her to take a stand against Diebold and paperless voting, and once again she has been proven correct. Even Georgia's Secretary of State, Cathy Cox, now admits that a voter verified paper audit trail is needed in all elections, which is exactly the position that McKinney fought for.

>a bit more

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_richard__060506_why_republicans_and_.htm

[livvy]

29. MI: Machines To Accommodate Disabled Voters

Published May 5, 2006
Machines to accommodate disabled voters
Electronic system assures privacy with solo ballot casting

Associated Press

Voters with disabilities will be able to use special voting machines starting with the Aug. 8 primary elections that let them cast their votes without assistance.

Each precinct will have at least one AutoMARK electronic voting system that lets voters mark their ballot by using a computerized screen, a Braille keypad or a foot pad.

Voters will be able to magnify information on the screen to make it easier to see, and also may use headphones, a wand or a personal sip-puff tube to help them mark their ballots.

Once they mark their optical scan ballots with the special device, their ballots will be scanned in along with other voters' ballots.

They will be able to maintain the privacy of their vote because they won't have to ask for help with regular voting machines.

>more

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/NEWS04/605050322/1005/opinion

[livvy]

30. Take Action:VotersUnite Citizen Activist Tool - Deliver to Local Officials

Take action. It's a time honored American tradition....



Here's a simple thing you can do to help inform yourself and your local election officials. It is a free download. This link takes you to a page to see if a copy has been delivered to your county:
http://www.votersunite.org/takeaction/mb2-counties.asp



A non-partisan national grassroots resource for fair and accurate elections!
We believe in the power of facts.

Myth Breakers: Facts about Electronic Elections
2nd edition - designed for County Officials

Myth Breakers is a tool for citizen activists. Myth Breakers will enable you to speak with confidence about the issues. Then ... Spread the Truth! Deliver "Myth Breakers: Facts about Electronic Elections" to your local election officials and legislators. Give them the information they need to make wise decisions.

Participants have confirmed that Myth Breakers (first and second editions together) have been delivered to thousands of election officials and legislators.

Do your local and state officials have the updated facts?


http://www.votersunite.org/

[livvy]

31. IL: State Assails DuPage Over Voting Data (Machine records destroyed)

State assails DuPage over voting data

By John Biemer
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 5, 2006

For decades, the DuPage County Election Commission has failed to seek permission from a state office before destroying key polling machine records detailing how residents voted, said an official from the Illinois secretary of state's office.

Other election authorities comply by asking the Local Records Commission, a division of the secretary's office, said Gloria Huston, archival program administrator for the Records Management Section of the Illinois State Archives.

The Local Records Act states that "no public record shall be disposed of by any local governmental agency unless written approval of the Local Records Commission is first obtained." A violation is a felony, according to state statute.

But the DuPage County Election Commission argues that it can destroy ballots and other election materials without getting permission from anyone. The state's Election Code supersedes the Local Records Act, the commission says, by entitling election authorities to destroy ballots two months after an election and instructing them to keep tally lists of votes at an individual precinct for a year.

>more (registration may be required)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0605050210may05,1,2969535.story?coll=chi-newslocal-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

[FogerRox]

32. Whadiya waiting for? VOTE THIS UP