VotersUnite: The biggest problem is privatization of elections. VVPAT doesn't resolve DRE disease

[philb]

VVPAT does not resolve the DRE disease in elections. The biggest problem is privatization of elections.

http://www.votersunite.org/info/LegislationRecommendation.asp
We have learned from the 2004 demo of the Sequoia Edge in Sacramento and the use of ES&S iVotronics in the 2006 election in Washington County, Arkansas that the VVPAT does not always match the screen. We have learned from the ESI report on Cuyahoga County that the Diebold VVPAT does not always match the record in memory. This new information demonstrates that the VVPAT is nothing more than a placebo for the disease of DREs, and VotersUnite.Org is unwilling to support any bill mandating VVPAT or giving credence to any use of equipment that directly records votes electronically.
What we have learned in the last three years has changed our thinking. We have come to see that one of the most dangerous threats to democracy is the continued corporate involvement in elections. Not only is election software a trade secret — an undemocratic situation, but there are many other dangers as well:

Privatization of Elections. Jurisdictions have become so dependent on voting system vendors that vendors now provide ballots, ballot programming, testing services, maintenance services, and even election administration — all without the oversight of the public.

A shining example of this appalling situation can be seen in Delaware County, Indiana, where MicroVote provides the equipment, maintains and services it, programs the ballots, tabulates results, even counts provisional ballots, and has now asked county officials to obtain a release from all candidates saying they will abide by the final results that MicroVote reports.

Cover-up of Equipment Problems. The dependency of election officials on their vendors causes them to defend vendors and their equipment beyond all reason — emphasizing, for example, that a problem was "human error" even when it was a ballot programming error or a severe flaw in the usability of the system.


No one votes unassisted on a computer;
everyone is "assisted" by anonymous programmers.

[mom cat]

1. We must take back our electiond. The level of fraud is what one

would expect in a dictatorship!

[philb]

2. Firm's role in voting at issue: Pinellas relies heavily on Sequoia to run elections

Firm's role in voting at issue
Pinellas relies heavily on Sequoia to keep its voting system running.
WILL VAN SANT St. Petersberg Times | 9 November 2006

On Tuesday night, the Pinellas elections office needed eight private contractors to provide support for its electronic voting system. For the primary election, the number was 13. The dependence on outside contractors concerns voting integrity activists, who argue that election officials around the country have ceded control of the ballot box to private companies that are too free of public oversight.
"Very few people understand that ... the mechanics of the elections are being handled by a private entity," said Warren Stewart, policy director of the national advocacy group Vote TrustUSA. "I think there is going to be a time when people say this is insane." Pinellas is a hot spot for the debate

http://www.voteraction.org/States/Florida/News/11-09-06_2.html