Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Monday 04/07/08

[tbyg52]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Monday 04/07/08

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Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page!

[tbyg52]

1. States nt

[tbyg52]

6. FL: Boldly Go: An Exclusive Interview with Election Integrity Advocate, Vote-Rigging Whistleblower

and Congressional Candidate Clint Curtis


Clint Curtis doesn’t know when to quit.

The Florida computer programmer turned infamous whistleblower was allegedly asked by Jeb Bush crony (and future FL-24-R Congressman) Tom Feeney to write vote-flipping software for him in 2000 (here's the quick summary version of BRAD BLOG's coverage of the scandal) At the time, Curtis, then a loyal Republican, delivered the vote-rigging prototype to Feeney under the assumption that his software would be used to prevent e-voting manipulation by Democrats. When Curtis learned that true purpose was to game the election results in South Florida, he blew the whistle.

A stacked-deck investigation by the Florida Ethics Commission --- where 6 of the 8 members of the panel either Bush or Feeney appointees, or closely tied to one or both --- dismissed Curtis’ allegations without allowing him to testify, and without examining email and other evidence in the case, in violation of FL law. But Curtis would not go quietly.

He became a crusader, speaking at election integrity events around the country, eventually delivering stunning testimony (video here) to a stunned Congressional committee (who did nothing in response.) Curtis even passed a lie detector test administered by the retired chief polygrapher for of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Meanwhile, Feeney has been branded among the “Top 25 Most Corrupt in Congress”, for three years straight, by CREW, the non-partisan DC ethics watchdog group, most notably for his involvement --- and golf junket to Scotland --- with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

More:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5866

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

22. he was very good in "Uncounted"

Uncounted is making its way around the country. It was fun to see
people I knew from their writing, or through emails or phone calls.

A real story with real people about a very real situation.

[tbyg52]

7. Miss. secretary of state says voter fraud hurts poor people

From the "ummm-hummmm" department.....

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says poor people are hurt the most in cases of voter fraud.

snip

He is trying to persuade lawmakers to enact a sweeping package of changes in election laws, including tighter restrictions on who can help people cast their absentee ballots.

(A little) more:
http://www.sunherald.com/306/story/473936.html

[tbyg52]

11. Felten: Some New Jersey voting machines can't add

A printed tape offered as evidence of the integrity of a Sequoia Voting Systems machine failed a very obvious test last week, as a Princeton professor noted a simple column of numbers actually added up to 105, not 106.

The Princeton University professor who has received national acclaim for his efforts to assess the true integrity of electronic voting machines, discovered one very simple error amid the evidence one manufacturer, Sequoia Voting Systems, had actually offered in its own defense. In recent weeks, Sequoia has found itself in hot water again for as many as sixty separate discrepancies reported in a single election in New Jersey last February 3.

More:
http://www.betanews.com/article/Felten_Some_New_Jersey_voting_machines_cant_add/1207586076

[tbyg52]

14. TX: Electronic voting machines considered

From the "oh dear" department. It's not entirely clear from this little blurb, but it sounds like they are going to buy more eSlates....

Fort Bend County Commissioners appear ready to purchase more electronic voting machines at their regular weekly meeting Tuesday.

Former elections administrator J.R. Perez in February made a public call for greater capacity to handle voters in the county, though his suggestion of replacing voting machines with optical scan paper ballots did not win over commissioners.

More:
http://www.herald-coaster.com/articles/2008/04/07/news/news03.txt

[tbyg52]

16. Maryland Funds New Voting System

Yesterday the Maryland General Assembly approved the Fiscal Year 2009 budget, including funding to move Maryland by 2010 to a less expensive, recountable voting system based on optically scanned paper ballots. This highly popular switch, favored by nearly two thirds of voters statewide, was enacted last year in matching bills sponsored by Sen. Edward Kasemeyer (D - Baltimore and Howard Counties) and Del. Sheila Hixson (D - Montgomery County) and passed unanimously by both chambers of the General Assembly, contingent on funding in this year’s budget.

“We are pleased that our lawmakers have acted wisely to protect our elections as well as our pocketbooks,” said Rebecca Wilson, co-director of SAVE our Votes, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working for Secure, Accessible, Verifiable Elections for Maryland . “The touch-screen voting system has raised our election costs to nearly ten times what they were previously, while providing no way to independently verify that our votes are counted correctly.”

More:
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2814&Itemid=113

[tbyg52]

17. IL: Governor signs bill to bypass electoral college for popular vote

Illinois is officially ready to say bye-bye, Electoral College.

Governor Rod Blagojevich signed into law today a measure designed to ensure that the presidency always goes to the winner of the popular vote.

Illinois joins Maryland and New Jersey in promising to award its 46 electoral votes to the candidate with the most support nationwide.

But dozens more states would have to join before the plan could take effect.

More:
http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=8128851&nav=menu132_6_2

[tbyg52]

2. National nt

[tbyg52]

18. Diebold a Reluctant Takeover Target

A month after Diebold Inc. received an unsolicited bid to take it over, the 149-year-old maker of automated teller machines, security systems and electronic voting devices continues sit tight, maintaining the offer is too low.

Meanwhile the pursuer, Hartford, Conn.-based United Technologies Corp., hasn't budged from its March 2 position, arguing its $40 per share cash offer, about $2.6 billion, is more than fair, representing about a 66 percent premium compared with the Diebold stock price Feb. 29.

More:
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/04/07/ap4861784.html

[tbyg52]

3. Foreign nt

[tbyg52]

8. Zimbabwe election officials arrested

Zimbabwean police have arrested seven election officials for undercounting votes cast for Robert Mugabe in the Presidential election.

"We're still investigating, but we have established that there was deflation of figures in respect of one candidate ... the ZANU-PF presidential candidate (Mr Mugabe)," said Wayne Bvudzijena, a police spokesman.

Those arrested,who were working for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in four provinces, will be charged with fraud.

As the results of the election remain unannounced, speculation is mounting that Mr Mugabe is planning a strategy to overcome a majority won by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

More:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/07/wzim307.xml

[tbyg52]

9. UK: Three jailed over rigged election

Labour's Mohammed Choudhary, 49, former mayor of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was jailed at King's Lynn Crown Court.

Party candidate Maqbool Hussein, 52, was jailed for three months and Tariq Mahmood, 40, received a 15-month term.

All three from Peterborough, were convicted of forgery over a scheme to fabricate votes for the Peterborough city council election in June 2004.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/7335364.stm

[tbyg52]

4. Blogs, Editorials, LTTEs, etc. nt

[tbyg52]

10. Touch screen voting is stupidly expensive

From the "do tell" department....

TOUCH SCREEN electronic voting machines are not only highly vulnerable to vote counting fraud, they're also extremely costly, compared to alternatives.

A study (pdf) conducted by the Maryland voting integrity group SaveOur Votes found that touch screen electronic voting machines are ridiculously expensive.

More:
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/06/touch-screen-voting-expensive

[Wilms]

13. More on that, here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x500089

[tbyg52]

12. Protecting democracy isn't nutty

On two separate occasions, Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione has referred to Secretary of State Debra Bowen as "nuts" or "nutty" for having the audacity to test and conditionally recertify voting systems found to be vulnerable to tampering.

While Tavaglione resorts to name-calling, last month Ms. Bowen was named a winner of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for challenging the reliability of electronic voting systems. The award is presented annually to public servants who have made decisions of conscience without regard for personal or professional consequences.

More:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_paul_jac_080407_protecting_democracy.htm

[tbyg52]

5. The Youth Vote nt

[tbyg52]

15. Obama and Clinton press for youth vote in aging Pennsylvania

Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are hustling for the youth vote in Pennsylvania as if they've never heard this is a state where the old hold sway.

Campuses in the cities and mountainsides are alive with political activism, stirred most notably by Obama in student registration drives aimed at replicating his success with young voters dating to the Iowa caucus in January.

How motivated are his youthful supporters? So motivated that Alyssa Beasley, 20, endured an encounter with the DMV so she could switch her driver's license from New Jersey and register to vote at the same time.

And how high are their expectations? In Beasley's case, very.

More:
http://origin.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_8831155

[tbyg52]

19. Students register more than 100 to vote

A group of Ball State University students has looked beyond campus to find young people wanting to vote before today's registration deadline.

Junior Joe Huber said he and five others began working on a project in February for their telecommunications ethics class that expanded beyond the assignment's guidelines.

The students visited the Atrium, Burris Laboratory School and Muncie Central High School to sign students up to vote before.

"Our campaign was not just for campus voters, but voters in Muncie throughout, including high school and college students," Huber said. "We thought young people want to vote, they just don't understand the process."

The group registered more than 100 students, he said, which surpassed its goal.

More:
http://media.www.bsudailynews.com/media/storage/paper849/news/2008/04/07/News/Students.Register.More.Than.100.To.Vote-3306217.shtml

[tbyg52]

20. That's all, folks! (The pickings were pretty slim today.) nt

[OnTheOtherHand]

21. off to greatest... n/t

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

23. thank you for putting this together

I know it takes alot of work.

Thank you!

:yourock:

[tbyg52]

24. Thank you for the thanks and recs! nt