"New Hampshire's voting machines are not linked in any way" New Hamp. SOS

[kansasblue]

Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan said his office had received several phone calls since Tuesday, mostly from outside the state, questioning the results. New Hampshire's voting machines are not linked in any way, which Scanlon says reduce the likelihood of tampering with results on a statewide level. Also, the results can be checked against paper ballots.

http://www.ktvu.com/politics/15028550/detail.html


That's interesting. Some of the fraud theories are based on the corruption of data at the central tabulator.

This recount is going to be very interesting.

[yourout]

1. More likely a self replicating virus passed via memory cards.

Or part of the standard operating system.

[Wilms]

2. Well. Yes.

I don't know what, if anything happened, but those machines ARE linked via their operating system alone.

Then, like you say, are the memory cards.

[kansasblue]

3. Lots of other ways to do it. Just makes it tougher.

I wonder if they had dial-up support?

I was wondering about the recount schedule too.

[laconicsax]

4. It's official

If someone tampered with the vote, they would have to have organized quite the feat.

[yourout]

6. Not as tough as you think as far as the tabulators and Opscans.

I single individual could effect all of the machinery.

Getting the recount to match the Opscans is the tough job.

That would require access to stored ballots and would be nearly impossible for one person.

[laconicsax]

7. The statement by the NH SoS

Gives me the message that they're not using a central tabulator. He stated that "people from out of state don't completely understand how our process works and they compare it to the system that might exist in Florida or Ohio, where they have had serious problems," and that the system they use doesn't readily allow for statewide tampering of results.

The easiest way (while still using the Diebold machines) to reduce the ability of anyone to tamper with an election on a statewide level would be to not use a central tabulator, but rather rely on poll workers at each voting location to tally the results printed on the poll tapes generated by each individual machine, then report the totals. That way, anyone wanting to rig the election would have to rig the individual machines all over the state. While it's not impossible for that to ever happen, it's just very unlikely.

If they're using a central tabulator, then yes, it'd be obscenely easy for anyone to rig the election, and the SoS would seem to be a complete idiot.

[Wilms]

8. What about the Ballot Definition File??

[laconicsax]

9. What about it?

I only know what it is and what it's "supposed" to do (read: how it can corrupt results). I don't know (at all) when its introduced to the machine. Is it pre-loaded on the machines? If so, then you're talking about lots and lots of individual machines needing to be tampered with well in advance. Is it part of the memory card? If so, then you're talking about lots and lots of tampered memory cards. Do I think that there's a lot of coincidences and such, yes. Do I think that someone may have rigged the vote? It'd be possible under specific circumstances. Do I think that there's conclusive evidence that the election was rigged? No, there isn't. Just a lot of coincidence and justified suspicion of the electronic voting systems.

Call me crazy, but since they're moving forward with the recount, let's wait and see what happens. There'd have to be a conspiracy of epic proportions to get a manual recount of paper ballots to match a vote rigged by electronic machines. It's entirely possible that the recount will show only that a very small percentage of votes were mis-recorded, and if that happened, we'd need to look into how it happened. If the recount does result in a major discrepancy, then find out who did it, and see that they, and anyone else involved are held accountable for their actions. Ditching the damn machines would be a good thing to do no matter what the result of the recount is.

[Wilms]

11. Purposely tampering, or innocently mis-typing could flip an election.

Here's an example of one (of many) that was caught.

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1460&Itemid=113


As to this episode, I've jumped to no conclusion. But I did want to contribute to the dialog.

[OnTheOtherHand]

14. can't explain New Hampshire

2008 primary results are correlated with 2004 primary results in hand-count and op-scan precincts alike.

If the '08 results were flipped on scanners and not in hand-count precincts, then the correlations would point in opposite directions.

Of course some BDFs might be munged, although I don't see any sign of it.

[Wilms]

15. Fair enough.

And I'm playing devil's advocate. With the reported activities of LHS techs, there seems ample opportunity for 'munging' a handful of machines.

Again, I'm not saying something happened, but I admit to bristling over assertions that nothing could have, as much as I'm annoyed by those insisting that something did while providing mistrust as a substitute for proof.

[OnTheOtherHand]

16. my turn: fair enough

Where an outside vendor is trusted to swap memory cards during the election, scrutiny is warranted.

Wouldn't it be cool if we all stopped Knowing what we don't know, just for a day?

(edit to try to clarify -- I like it when we realize what we don't know...)

[Wilms]

17. Let me put it this way...

Having the right question is as...or even more...important as having an answer.

[OnTheOtherHand]

18. I think so too n/t

[Tiggeroshii]

5. I have a feeling that if the results are significantly different

Diebold will be permanently kicked out of New Hampshire. At least I hope they will.

[loveangelc]

10. when is the recount?

[Tiggeroshii]

12. Wednsday.

[EFerrari]

13. Look over there -- the machines aren't linked!

We should call him back and ask him if he knows where his ballots are.

[BeFree]

19. Not linked??

This guy is an idiot or corrupt.

The machines are linked by the use of the same software. The memory cards are also links, as each memory card is burned from the same internet site.

Either this gut is a total dufus, or a diebold shill. Either way we are screwn.