Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Sunday, 09/07/08

[tbyg52]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Sunday, 09/07/08

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[tbyg52]

1. Caveat - I may be posting gradually, and may finish tomorrow.

I've got so many tabs open (since I'm now going back a week) that it's bogging down my computer.

I'll do what I can stand today, probably a little here and a little there until bedtime, and maybe finish tomorrow, depending on how it goes tonight.

If you want to see everything I've collected all at once, you might want to go away and come back in a few hours.... ;)

[tbyg52]

2. States (and sometimes territories) Not alphabetical - just in the order I found them.

I'll probably never do it this way again - I'm having trouble remembering which states I've already posted a header for, and I'm afraid I'll wind up with duplicate headers. Oh well, live and learn.... ;)

[tbyg52]

8. CO nt

[tbyg52]

9. 'In Bed With Voting Vendors': Details Revealed on the Abrupt Resignation of CO's Election Director

Last night we offered the quick skinny on the abrupt resignation of Colorado's state Election Director, Holly Lowder, just 60 days out from what promises to be one of the largest and most important --- and potentially closest --- elections in the state's history.

We summarized some of the dizzying background on the exceptionally embarrassing and dysfunctional state of certification, decertification and recertification of e-voting systems in the Centennial State over the last two years, under current Sec. of State, Republican Mike Coffman (who is overseeing his own election for the U.S. House this November), and in previous years under two former Republican SoS' (one of whom was promoted by George W. Bush to do the same lousy job of e-vote testing for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission).

We also suggested, based on information from sources in the states, that the old euphemism about "election officials being in bed with voting vendors" may well become more than just a euphemism when the full explanation for Lowder's sudden departure became known.

More:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6360

[tbyg52]

71. County Election Equipment Needs More Upgrading

Because this November’s election is so large on the local, state and national levels, the Colorado Secretary of State notified San Miguel County Clerk and Recorder Peggy Nerlin last week that the county’s eScan voting devices should be upgraded once again. The upgrades need to occur sometime within the eight weeks remaining before the Nov. 4 election – a task that has Nerlin scrambling in the 11th hour.

“I am trying to keep a sense of humor,” Nerlin said at Wednesday’s San Miguel Board of County Commissioners meeting. Nerlin told the commissioners that she had received an email from the Colorado Department of State’s legal specialist on Saturday, Sept. 30 notifying her that State Secretary Mike Coffman has temporarily certified Hart Voting System version 6.2.1 for use in Colorado, which is an upgrade from version 6.0, the version the county currently uses for its voting machines.

The reason for the upgrade? As of today there are 13 presidential candidates, 13 initiatives and four referendums on the ballot with two more initiatives awaiting determination of sufficiency. This does not include elections at the county level. This November’s ballot will have multiple pages, or “orphan ballots,” and the newer 6.2.1 version “will allow for easier processing of multiple page ballots on your eScan voting devices,” stated the email from Coffin’s office.

More:
http://www.telluridewatch.com/pages/full_story?page_label=news&id=214745-County-Election-Equipment-Needs-More-Upgrading&widget=push&article-County-Election-Equipment-Needs-More-Upgrading%20=&instance=secondary_stories_left_column&open=&

[tbyg52]

74. A push for fiered elections

After Stu Fraser was elected Telluride’s mayor in a three-way race last November, some people around Telluride wondered what would have happened if only two candidates had been on the ballot. Would Fraser have won? Did Chance Leoff’s candidacy play a Nader-like spoiler effect?
These lingering questions are a major factor behind a ballot question that will call for Telluride to adopt a new kind of voting system in its mayoral elections.

That system — instant runoff voting — allows voters to rank candidates when more than two people are vying for an elected office. The theory is, if no one receives a majority of votes, then the candidate with the fewest votes is tossed out, and the polls instead count voters’ second choice candidates.

More:
http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x359565394/A-push-for-tiered-elections

[tbyg52]

10. OH nt

[tbyg52]

11. REGISTRATION CHALLENGES Disputed voters to get hearing, Brunner orders

Ohio voters can't have their registration canceled without a hearing if their eligibility is challenged before the election this fall, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said yesterday.

Brunner issued the directive regarding voter challenges, a controversial issue in the 2004 presidential election in Ohio that could become a factor again this year, to county boards of elections.

She concluded that a 2006 state law is unconstitutional because it could allow elections boards to cancel a voter's registration without a hearing based only on mail being returned as undeliverable.

More:
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/09/06/copy/challenges.ART_ART_09-06-08_B1_8FB8CBQ.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

[tbyg52]

29. Nearly 600,000 Subject to Possible Caging in Ohio

How many voter-registration mass mailers are "returned to sender" in the run-up to Election Day may determine how many Ohio residents are eligible to vote.

Ohio election officials are sending out a mass mailer stamped “do not forward” to all registered voters today (Sept. 5) with an absentee ballot application and other important notices for Nov. 4.

What’s important here is not so much what’s going out as what’s being returned to sender.

Unbeknownst to the would-be recipients, the same mailer — just 60 days before the election — has the potential to determine their eligibility to vote, challenged not by election officials but by partisan opposition.

A similar mailer in March netted nondeliverable mail from almost 600,000 registered voters in just five Ohio counties who could now have their ballots thrown out for voting under the wrong address.

More:
http://www.miller-mccune.com/article/662

Discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=507730&mesg_id=507730

[tbyg52]

47. Ohio's election reforms praised

Ohio will again be ''the center of the storm'' in this year's presidential election, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner predicted Thursday during an Akron Press Club luncheon.

But this time, Brunner hopes that — thanks partially to steps her office has taken — the results won't be questioned, as they were in 2004.

''When the rest of the world looks at us, they will see a much different election system in Ohio,'' she told the sold-out crowd at the University of Akron's Martin Center.

Brunner said she will again require the 53 county elections boards that have electronic voting machines, including those in Stark, Medina, Portage and Wayne, to have paper ballots on hand. When Brunner mandated that boards provide paper ballots for the March prim

More:
http://www.ohio.com/news/27898674.html

[tbyg52]

53. Election chief in Ohio at ease with paper

For the often embattled elections director in Cuyahoga County, the coming presidential election is like a hurricane on the horizon. Getting ready requires a lot of anticipation and preparation, but Jane Platten is staying calm.

Platten will be dealing with a continued transition to optical scanning of paper ballots. The county scrapped its touch-screen voting system before the March primary.

She anticipates 700,00 to 750,000 ballots to be cast in Cuyahoga County in the November election.

(A little) more:
http://www.wtte28.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.oh/2d55b4d8-www.wtte28.com.shtml

[tbyg52]

60. Ohio elections chief challenges registration law

Republicans passed an unconstitutional law when they allowed Ohio counties to cancel a voter's registration solely because some election notices mailed to a home address come back undeliverable, the state Democratic elections chief said Friday.

Voters must be given a chance to respond ahead of the Nov. 4 election to avoid potentially disenfranchising them, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said in a directive issued to county boards of elections. The problem could be as simple as a typo on the home address or a mail delivery error, she said.

Voting rights groups have argued that the tactic of challenging voters based on returned mail singles out the homeless, who may not have a mailing address -- or change addresses frequently -- and others living away from home, such as soldiers and college students.

Brunner said her directive challenges a law passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2006 that gives counties the authority to cancel registrations on any undeliverable election notice without giving voters due process.

More:
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x1724960982/Ohio-elections-chief-challenges-registration-law

[tbyg52]

12. TX nt

[tbyg52]

13. Critics worry voter ID proposal would disenfranchise citizens

Proposed changes in the state's voting laws could force thousands of South Texans to prove their citizenship in order to vote in local, state and national elections.

During the coming legislative session, Texas Republicans plan to introduce a measure that would target perpetrators of voter fraud, especially non-citizens. The stringent voting regulations -- dubbed the "voter suppression bill" by opponents -- are already being discussed by Texas state representatives.

On Friday, members of the House's elections committee met at the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College to take testimony related to voting reform.

If voters are required to provide proof of citizenship - as last year's failed House Bill 626 would have mandated -- South Texans will likely be among the most adversely affected.

More:
http://www.themonitor.com/articles/voter_16896___article.html/texas_voters.html

[tbyg52]

49. Travis County voting allows write-in picks

Is it possible in Texas to vote for a write-in candidate with our new electronic voting machines? The only information I can verify in Texas is absentee voting, but not on Election Day. - J.K.

Yes, it is possible to vote for a write-in candidate on eSlate, Travis County's electronic voting system. According to information on the Travis County Clerk's Web page, voters can select "Write-in," at which point an alphabet will appear on the screen to allow for the candidate's name to be spelled and submitted. For more information on the eSlate system, visit www.co.travis.tx.us and click on "Elections" on the right side of the page.

Be aware that if you were planning on writing in Mack Brown or Tom Cruise, your vote will not be counted. Write-in candidates must register with the state before the election, and only votes for declared write-in candidates will be tabulated, according to Ashley Burton, spokeswoman for the Texas Secretary of State. A list of registered candidates will be available at your polling place. For more information, including a list of write-in candidates for president and state offices, visit www.sos.state.tx.us and click on "Elections."

More (but this is all on this particular question):
http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/other/09/08/0908peter.html

[tbyg52]

14. WI nt

[tbyg52]

15. Voter database mistakes won't affect voting next week

Election officials are assuring voters in Dane County they won't have any problems at the polls next week.

Counties across the state are trying to clean up a hiccup in a new statewide anti-fraud voting system. Starting in August, according to federal government rules, Wisconsin started cross-referencing voter registration lists with driver's license records. It was supposed to prevent fraud.

(A little) more:
http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8940338&nav=menu1362_2

[tbyg52]

16. NC nt

[tbyg52]

17. Election documentary to be shown at temple

Temple Emanuel's Social Action Committee will present the documentary Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections at 7 p.m. Thursday at the temple, 201 Oakwood Drive.

Afterward, there will be a panel discussion with Joyce McCloy of the N.C. Coalition for Verified Voting and Eric Elliott, the chairman of the Forsyth County Board of Elections.

More:
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/sep/07/election-documentary-to-be-shown-at-temple/

[tbyg52]

51. N.C. expands ballot-scanning program statewide

The North Carolina State Board of Elections is going to roll out a statewide ballot-scanning program from CDW Government it used in a pilot program during the May presidential primaries, CDW-G officials announced today.

During the primaries, optical scan voting machines in nine counties let voters record their choices by directly marking the ballot. Poll workers used Motorola Symbol P460 bar code scanners to verify that each voter had received the proper ballot.

North Carolina uses more than 100 different kinds of ballots, CDW-G officials said. The state needed a voting system that would prevent human error in ballot distribution at polling sites and streamline the process.

“With CDW-G’s expert advice and Motorola’s leading technology, North Carolina can ensure that each voter receives the right ballot,” said Marc Burris, North Carolina State Board of Elections IT director. “Not only is the scanner solution extremely easy to use, but it could save our North Carolina election jurisdictions the cost of re-running an election due to ballot distribution errors. Based upon the projected cost avoidance and the overwhelming success of the pilot program, we made the decision to expand the program statewide this fall.”

More:
http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/47064-1.html

[tbyg52]

18. AZ nt

[tbyg52]

19. Election Scuffle Leads to Arrest

A Pima County political scuffle leads to an arrest.

The arrest revolves around a new security procedure in Pima County. Now, members of all political parties must observe a hand count of the paper ballots from Tuesday's election to compare to the machine count of the same ballots to make sure every vote counts.

One of those observers today had some questions, those questions ended up getting him arrested.

The ballots are counted and compared to electronic results from Tuesday's election.

That count hit a snag early Saturday morning.

More:
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?s=8965445

[tbyg52]

20. MI nt

[tbyg52]

21. Election recount is Friday

Wayne County elections officials will gather in Plymouth Township Hall on Friday to recount votes cast during the 2008 Republican Primary Election for Plymouth Township Clerk.

Beginning at 8:30 a.m. election officials will recount the 3,690 votes cast during the Aug. 5 election. In the disputed election, Plymouth Township Deputy Clerk Joe Bridgman defeated challenger Mary-Ann Prchlik by a 1,920 to 1,770 margin of 150 votes.

Claiming errors in recording and transferring votes from machines to poll books as well as “other errors of tampering” Prchlik filed a petition with Cathy M.Garrett, Wayne County Clerk on Aug. 8 challenging the election.

More:
http://www.journalgroup.com/Plymouth/8313/election-recount-is-friday

[tbyg52]

22. CT nt

[tbyg52]

23. "Hacking Democracy" Playing In New Britain Sept. 9

The screening is at 7 p.m. in the community room of the library's main branch, 20 High St.

Admission is free. The film is 93 minutes and unrated.

(A little) more:
http://www.courant.com/entertainment/movies/hc-altscreenb0904.artsep04,0,7303568.story

[tbyg52]

24. HI nt

[tbyg52]

25. Lack of Support for Hawaii Elections Chief Kevin Cronin Led to My Resignation

from the State Election Commission

This letter of resignation was sent on August 25, 2008 to Senator Fred Hemmings, by Susan Russell, a member of the State Election Commission. Russell was appointed by Hemmings. Your confidence shown in me by my re-appointment to the State Election Commission is greatly appreciated.

It was my desire not to accept but was lead to re-consider by persons I greatly admire for the following reasons:

Mr. Cronin is highly qualified, honest and ethical man who could lead the office and the state to a position of respect and confidence. He was hired by a unanimous vote from the bipartisan election commission. I was so encouraged by his hiring. It is my belief that through his leadership we could restore pride and good faith for the public and the integrity of the voting process.

The day of his hiring the attacks began. It came from within and without the office, from people who have no respect for the fairness of the election process. It is clear that the attacks will continue. The timing has been very calculated and effective.

More:
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?8b175771-a733-429f-abbf-45d4d2310e03

[tbyg52]

50. Hawaii Election Integrity Lawsuit Update

Our lawsuit for integrity in Hawai'i elections continues. Judge Cardoza denied our motion for preliminary injunction because he believed the harm to intervening in the current election outweighed the possibility of election fraud -- since "legally" election fraud can be challenged after an election. However, the issue of the overall illegality of the voting system has yet to be determined by the court. We are optimistic that we will prevail and thereby improve election integrity here in Hawaii.

The case is very simple. There is a law here in Hawaii called the Hawaii Administrative Procedures Act (HAPA) (aka Chapter 91, HRS) which requires all state agencies to promulgate "administrative rules" for their agency whenever the public is affected by actions their agency takes. Public hearings are required, the Attorney General must then approve the rules from a legal standpoint and then the Governor must sign the rules to make them law.

The Office of Elections has taken numerous actions that affect the public without promulgating administrative rules including transmitting votes from Maui to the state count center in Honolulu over telephone and internet connections and the use of electronic voting machines in general. We are simply asking the judge to order the Office of Elections to comply with the law by legally promulgating the necessary rules.

More:
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?8c7ee46f-80cf-4782-a66f-50aea61195fc

[tbyg52]

26. FL nt

[tbyg52]

27. Obsolete touch screen voting units get few buyers

Like rusty Plymouths in a salvage yard, the ghosts of Florida elections past are gathering dust in a Tampa warehouse.

Tens of thousands of touch screen voting units, rendered obsolete by the state's switch to optical scan voting, are awaiting new homes. Many of them won't get there in one piece.

It has been six months since the state hired a private firm to safely remarket touch screen machines in the hopes that both can make some money. But business is slow in a presidential election year with historic implications.

"We have made some progress," said Jon Yob, president and chief executive of Creative Recycling Systems. "It's an interesting process, marketing voting machines."

Fifteen counties — including Martin, Indian River and Palm Beach — were ordered to get rid of nearly 30,000 touch screens after the 2008 Legislature ordered the switch to optical scan voting.

More:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/sep/03/obsolete-touch-screen-voting-units-get-few-buyers/

[tbyg52]

36. Tampa company reselling, recycling old voting machines

The state of Florida is trying to figure out what to do with thousands of touch-screen voting machines now that they've been replaced by optical-scan machines.

In February, the state announced they had contracted with electronics recyclers Creative Recycling Systems to handle nearly 30,000 touch-screen voting machines.

At the CRS warehouse in Tampa, a huge shredder breaks computer components down into small pieces for recycling. Parts of nearly 12,000 touch-screen voting machines will meet this fate.

Company president Jon Yob said that some parts of the machines, like the LCD screens and the printers, can be resold. The rest of the machine will be shredded and recycled.

More:
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2008/9/7/380096.html?title=Tampa+company+reselling,+recycling+old+voting+machines

[tbyg52]

28. 16,632 Votes 'Unaccounted For' in Florida Recount

Just 18 Votes Separate Candidates in Circuit Judge Race Where Votes Are Said Lost in Re-tally on Sequoia Optical-Scan Voting Systems

'Severe Repercussions, Dire Consequences for November Election and All Elections,' Says Broward County Election Supervisor Candidate...

-- Brad Friedman, from Denver, CO...

16,632 votes are unaccounted for in a Palm Beach County election recount following last Tuesday's state primary, according to Ellen H. Brodsky, non-partisan candidate for Supervisor of Elections in Broward County and a long-time Election Integrity advocate.

The machine recount was completed early Saturday morning in the Circuit Court race between Judge Richard Wennet and challenger William Abramson, Brodsky reports via email. The machine recount was completed at 4:30am, in the race in which Wennet and Abramson were separated by just 18 votes in the initial machine tally. Palm Beach County recently changed voting systems again, moving from faulty touch-screen voting systems to --- apparently --- faulty optical-scan paper-ballot systems made by Sequoia Voting Systems, Inc. .

More:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0809/S00023.htm

[tbyg52]

35. Former elections chief finds mix-ups 'incredible'

Jackie Winchester just can't help herself.

Although it's been more than a decade since she ended her 24-year reign as Palm Beach County's elections chief, she still closely follows the local election process.

She's had much to watch and read about: The infamous butterfly ballot. Hanging chads. Uncounted votes. Late-night results. Record-keeping problems. Computer glitches.

And now: Missing ballots.

"To see it messed up over and over again, it's just incredible," Winchester said recently from her Lake Clarke Shores home.

More:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/09/06/a7c_winchester_0907.html

[tbyg52]

37. Election Chaos Strikes Palm Beach Again

Welcome to Recount 2008!

The scene: Palm Beach County, where the search continues for thousands of missing ballots that were apparently cast on Aug. 26. At least one race is heading to court. More may follow.

It's not quite the infamous Bush versus Gore recount of 2000. There are no hanging chads, no presidential race at stake. But once again, Palm Beach County is ground zero for electoral chaos, lawsuits and bad publicity for Florida's long-suffering election system.

All this, after a primary that turned out only 18 percent of Florida voters. What happens in November, when record numbers of voters in the presidential election are expected to tax election office resources in Palm Beach and across the state?

"I think we have to go on the premise that November's going to be fine," said Secretary of State Kurt Browning, Florida's top election official.

But election watchdogs are alarmed.

More:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/sep/06/na-election-chaos-strikes-palm-beach-again/news-politics/

[tbyg52]

44. 3,400 Ballots Missing in Florida Election: Recount Flips Race

Palm Beach County, Florida, is in the news again for another election mishap. This time the culprit isn't the county's infamous butterfly ballot that made headlines in the 2000 presidential race. Instead, the problem is ballots used with the county's new $5.5 million optical-scan machines made by Sequoia Voting Systems.

More than 3,000 optical-scan ballots have mysteriously disappeared since the county held an election last Tuesday.

According to tallies a week ago, a total of 102,523 ballots were cast in the election. But according to a recount of one of the races, which was completed this last Sunday, the total number of cast ballots was only 99,045 -- a difference of 3,478. Election officials say they can't explain the discrepancy, though critics are concerned that this is a precursor to problems that could arise in the November presidential election.

More:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/3400-ballots-mi.html

[tbyg52]

48. Lost ballots leave trail of explanations

The first sign that Palm Beach County was involved in another chaotic election mess occurred more than a week ago when ballots vanished.

Eight days later there is still no winner in a closely contested race. County circuit court candidates Richard Wennet and William Abramson are heading to court, and Palm Beach County is back in the national spotlight for its voting woes.

"Is it the technology? Is it human error? What is it?" asked Mark Hoch, political director for the local GOP. "Otherwise, we can't be confident in the election process."

While elections officials and canvassing board members sort out what went wrong after the Aug. 26 primary, experts point to three factors that have contributed to the fiasco:

More:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/09/06/a1a_recount_0907.html

[tbyg52]

67. Florida's latest e-voting crisis likely due to human error

At first, it seemed like just the latest in Florida's long string of voting machine misadventures: almost 3,500 optical scan ballots appeared to have vanished between last week's photo-finish election for a seat on the state's 15th Circuit Court and a recount on different machines—yielding a different result—that was completed over the weekend. But a spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board now tells Ars Technica that the fault may lie not in the scanners, but in the humans: as of midnight Thursday, a hand count of the paper ballots had turned up some 2,700 that never made it to the recount machines.

The initial tally in the Palm Beach County election, held on new Sequoia Voting Systems optical-scan machines, had given challenger William Abramson a 17-vote edge over incumbent Judge Richard Wennet. But in the recount over the weekend, a different set of high-speed ballot scanners yielded a 60-vote victory for Wennet—and a shortfall of 3,478 ballots cast, compared to the first count. An irked Abramson almost immediately threatened to sue.

In an interview with Ars Technica, however, board spokeswoman Kathy Adams revealed that officials had been retallying the ballots—the number of sheets, not the results—by hand, in an attempt to explain the discrepancy. By Wednesday evening, they had already turned up approximately 2,700 ballots that appeared never to have been fed into the high-speed scanners used in the recount.

More:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080904-floridas-latest-e-voting-crisis-likely-due-to-human-error.html

[tbyg52]

31. VA nt

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32. Deal struck in election fraud case

The courtroom drama that became the election fraud case against Mark D. Tate, a former state Senate candidate, was scheduled to play out in court next week.

Instead, a plea agreement was reached Sept. 2 between the candidate and Matt Britton, the prosecuting attorney.

Tate, a Middleburg restaurateur, was charged in January with nine felony counts of election fraud for misfiling campaign finance reports during his 2003 and 2007 Republican primary campaigns for the 27th District Virginia Senate seat.

As part of the plea deal, seven of the nine felony counts were dropped, and the remaining two were lowered to misdemeanor charges.

More:
http://www.loudountimes.com/news/2008/sep/02/deal-struck-election-fraud-case/

[tbyg52]

70. Haven't voted lately? You might not be able to vote in the presidential election

If it's been awhile since you've voted in a presidential election, it might be a good idea to find out if you're still registered.

Election officials across the country expect record numbers of voters at the polls for the historic Nov. 4 election. And Barbara Cockrell, director of operations for the Virginia State Board of Elections, said that some people might be surprised to learn that their voter registrations have become inactive.

Waits in line at the polls could get even longer if large numbers of potential voters find their registration is lapsed, said Pat Harrington, voter registrar in Virginia Beach. "One of the most disappointing things to do is tell someone they can't vote," she said.

Under the National Voter Registration Act, anyone who is registered but hasn't voted in two national elections is given an inactive status. Notices are sent to check the voter's status.

More:
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/09/infrequent-voting-could-lead-lapsed-registration-official-says

[tbyg52]

38. NY nt

[tbyg52]

39. Disabled voters finally have an option

Area voters will have their first exposure to ballot-marking devices in Tuesday's primaries.

Almost six years after the Help America Vote Act was signed into law by President Bush on Oct. 29, 2002, the machines will be available to disabled voters in New York. The devices are said to resolve problems caused by punch-card voting systems in the 2000 U.S. presidential election.

Locally, there are primaries in Otsego and Schoharie counties, but voters in Delaware and Chenango counties will have to wait until November to see the automated voting machines in action.

All four counties are planning to have one new machine available at every polling place for disabled voters, but the majority of voters will still use the old-fashioned lever-operated machines this year.

More:
http://www.thedailystar.com/local/local_story_250040032.html

[tbyg52]

57. Some New York officials worry about voting access

Cliff Perez is legally blind and would like to vote without help this fall. Instead, he will have to count on his wife's assistance with New York's ancient pull lever machines, rather than use brand new $12,000 voting devices designed to give independence to the disabled.

"We're heading in the right direction, but I think for this election, there might be some problems," said Perez, a systems advocate for the Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley, which seeks to help those with disabilities live more independently.

New York has spent millions of federal dollars on the new ballot marking machines for the disabled to comply with federal laws. But a week before primary state elections, many have watched machines fail to turn on, freeze up, or automatically store paper ballots in metal containers vulnerable to tampering.

More:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jxTZTtgkBijDiF5ApBFqJ4-9hPagD92UF9380

[tbyg52]

45. AL nt

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46. Security worriers make case for paper vote

This election season, Eugene Spafford is making a case for accountability.

But he's not talking about the candidates.

Spafford, a cybersecurity expert at Purdue University, says it's time election officials take a look at voting systems being used and the potential for errors they create.

"People shouldn't worry about voting, because in general the systems work," he said. "But that's not a guarantee that they will. And we know how to do better."

Spafford will speak Monday night in West Lafayette about the concerns that arise from electronic voting, especially without including a paper record in the process.

snip

Eugene Spafford, the executive director of Purdue's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, will present "Will Your Vote Be Counted? How Do You Know?"

The program will run from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Morton Community Center, 222 N. Chauncey Ave., West Lafayette. The event is free and open to the public.

More:
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080907/ELECTION01/809070370

[tbyg52]

72. How Democrats stole an election in Alabama By Hans A. von Spakovsky

From the "know your enemies" department....

In the 1990s in Greene County, Alabama, citizens, local political candidates, federal and state prosecu­tors, and a local newspaper joined together to fight absentee ballot fraud in the county, one of the poorest in Alabama. Unfortunately, liberal groups like the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Con­ference worked equally hard to undermine the effort.

Even as the investigation uncovered massive wrongdoing, so-called civil rights groups objected at every turn, alleging a plot to disenfranchise poor and minority voters. But in the end, justice prevailed with the convictions of 11 conspirators who had fixed local elections for years. The Greene County case is proof that absentee ballot fraud is real and not a cover story for an imagined voter-disenfranchisement conspiracy.

The most important lesson of Greene County is that absentee ballots are extremely vulnerable to voter fraud. The case shows how absentee ballot fraud really works, and it is a reality very different from the claims of partisans and advocacy groups. More broadly, the case shows how voter fraud threatens the right to free and fair elections and how those most often harmed are poor and minorities. This directly rebuts the usual partisan conspiracy theories about voter fraud.

More:
http colon //www dot speroforum dot com/site/article.asp?idarticle=16078

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55. WA nt

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56. A brand new system: It's popular and it works

Democratic and Republican party leaders may be grumbling all over the state, but the voters sure seem to like the political freedom the new "top-two" ballot gives.

It was lawsuits by the two parties that took away Washington's popular "open primary" in 2003.

The parties sued after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such contests illegal in a separate decision.

It resulted in a 2006 primary election that forced state voters to pick a party in the primary and vote for members of that party only.

Or they could remain independent (many did) and vote only in the nonpartisan and "issue" races.

If you checked the box "Republican" and voted for even one candidate who was a Democrat, your ballot didn't count.

More than 18,000 complaints were registered about the system.

More:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/962/story/308241.html

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63. GA nt

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64. Change in law allows voting 45 days out

Voters will get an extra 45 days prior to the Nov. 4 to cast ballots due to a change in state law.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office hopes that 25 percent of voters take advantage of early voting in a year that could see record numbers show up at the polls.

The procedure will work the same as the advance voting that is offered for the week prior to elections in the state, but will extend 45 days prior to the election.

If that goal is realized it will reduce waits for voters who do vote on election date, said office spokesman Matt Carrothers.

More:
http://www.moultrieobserver.com/local/local_story_248215147.html

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3. National nt

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30. Election Fraud Bibliography

Here's a list I've compiled - mostly focused on software driven elections, but with some choice books covering paper ballot fraud. I strongly recommend the history books, tho - something all American voters should be required to read if they want to involve themselves in honest election administration.

Richard Hayes Phillips. Witness to a Crime: A Citizens' Audit of an American Election, Rome, New York: Canterbury Press, 2008.

Mark Crispin Miller. Loser Take All: Election Fraud the Subversion of Democracy 2000-2008, Brooklyn, NY: Ig Publishing, 2008.

Greg Palast. Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans--Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild, Plume, 2007. And see http://www.gregpalast.com/

More:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Election-Fraud-Bibliograph-by-Rady-Ananda-080831-788.html

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33. Class Action Shareholder Lawsuit Against Diebold Dismissed

As previously disclosed on December 16, 2005, five shareholder lawsuits were filed against Diebold, Incorporated and certain current and former officers and directors, alleging violations of federal securities laws. These cases were consolidated into a single proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. On August 22, 2008, the court granted the company's motion to dismiss the consolidated cases, and entered a judgment in favor of Diebold and the other defendants, dismissing the complaint with prejudice.

A separate class action suit against Diebold and certain current and former officers and directors filed by participants in the company's 401(k) plan, alleging breaches of duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, remains outstanding.

More:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/class-action-shareholder-lawsuit-against/story.aspx?guid=%7BE778237E-9857-4425-B8F5-8F1979CF0335%7D&dist=hppr

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34. How Will You and Your State Cast Ballots in November?

This year, as a result of a lot of changes in voting machines around the country, numerous voting districts across many states will be using new voting equipment that has either never been used in an election or has never been used in a national election involving millions of voters.

When new systems are used, problems often arise either with the equipment itself or with election officials and voters who are unfamiliar with it.

To see what equipment you and your state will be using in November and to familiarize yourself with it before the election, VerifiedVoting.org, an election integrity group that led the movement to get voter-verified paper audit trails added to touch-screen voting machines, has produced a comprehensive interactive map identifying the voting systems being used in election districts across the country. As far as I know, this is the most up-to-date list of voting equipment that exists.

More:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/how-will-your-s.html

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40. Protecting Your Vote With Invisible Ink

Voting machines are one of the few areas where technology has decidedly taken us a step backward. The electronic voting ma­chines that one-third of American voters will be using in November are no more reliable than your home computer.

Direct-recording electronic voting machines are incredibly easy to hack; Princeton University security expert Ed Felten proved it by accessing a Diebold machine’s memory card with a hotel minibar key he bought online. In less than one minute, Felten was able to install undetectable vote-stealing software. Then there is the garden-variety computer error. Touch-screen machines in Sarasota, Florida, recorded an 18,000-vote undercount in a congressional race decided by fewer than 400 votes. Paper itself was never foolproof (remember those chads?), but a stolen, lost, or stuffed ballot box risks mere hundreds of votes while a hidden computer glitch risks millions. And since viruses can spread, one machine’s infection can quickly cross county lines.

Unfortunately, our current digital democracy leaves massive fraud and massive error imperceptible and untrackable. And transparency—not just of the software code, but of the whole voting system—has never been more important. Each voter should be able to verify that his or her own vote has been counted correctly from the booth all the way to the final tally. But how can you lay bare the secret ballot without sacrificing the privacy that makes democracy work?

Computer scientists led by crypto grapher David Chaum claim to have the solution. Their latest scheme, called Scantegrity II, would make elections both transparent (to catch error or vote-alteration fraud) and private (to prevent coercion, intimidation, and vote buying). They presented Scantegrity II (the “II” stands for “invisible ink”) at the USENIX/ACCURATE Electronic Voting Technology Workshop in July and plan to test it in a municipal election in 2009. Here's a step-by-step guide to how it works:

More:
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/oct/04-protecting-your-vote-with-invisible-ink

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65. Big Gains in Voter Registration for Democrats

One of the main reasons, Democrats have argued for years, that they have lost so many presidential elections in recent decades, is that they have not been able to get Americans who support them out to vote. As a result, Democrats ignited major get out the vote efforts, but this still did not result in victories.

The reason, many people who would vote Democratic if they would vote are not registered voters.

So, instead of just bringing their supporters to the voting boots, Democrats came up with ways to register those people first. According to the latest reports, they have now indeed made big gains in this regard.

More:
http://poligazette.com/2008/09/07/big-gains-in-voter-registration-for-democrats/

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68. Wanted Immediately: An Editor for our Election Protection Work on SourceWatch

Background

As the world learned in 2000 and 2004, the very integrity of the voting process in the United States has come under suspicion with dubious outcomes. Fair and honest elections with properly counted results that can be documented and trusted are essential to democracy. But can we really trust the results today? Who is watchdogging elections at the local, state and national level? Will hanging chads and unaccountable electronic machines determine the outcome of the 2008 vote?

To help answer these questions, and to play a role in improving the process, we at the Center for Media and Democracy will soon be launching a new project on our www.SourceWatch.org website, our Election Protection portal. Watch for it in the weeks ahead.

SourceWatch, our online encyclopedia of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda, will soon become a clearing house of vital current information, research and reports for examining the US election process. The new Election Protection portal will be a key "first stop" online resource for information about election officials, polling places, procedures and regulations.

More:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7710

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4. Foreign nt

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69. Effi's e-voting 'shadow report' in English (Finland)

Electronic Frontier Finland's (Effi's) 'shadow report' on the Finnish e-voting pilot has been translated into English and is available now on Electronic Frontier Finland web pages.

The original Finnish version was published on the 19th of June, 2008. The English version has been updated to include commentary on the University of Turku audit report.

Finland is piloting a direct recording electronic (DRE) type, polling station based (non-remote) e-voting system in its municipal elections in October 2008. In the proposed system, we argue that ensuring the correctness of the results is extremely difficult. The voting results may be affected by multiple components of the e-voting system, and observing the counting process of ballots is impossible in the traditional sense. The results may be affected by a small group of people, either involuntarily through programming errors, or with malicious intent. The inspections and audits of the system presently only apply to parts of the system, and even in these cases, citizens must trust specialists as major parts of the system software are considered to be trade secrets.

More:
http://www.effi.org/blog/2008-09-01-evoting-report-in-english.html

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5. Blogs, Editorials, LTTEs, etc. nt

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41. It was Florida in 2000, Ohio in 2004, where will it be in 2008?

The whole world is learning the tactics of hijacking power in the name of democracy from the American politics. All that you have to do is to manipulate a State of two in a tight race and the Whitehouse is hijacked for four more years.

The Florida in 2000; and Ohio in 2004 experienced what will be recorded in independent history books of our times as the biggest mockery of Democracy. The principle overt method of vote suppression in Ohio was to short-change inner city precincts of sufficient voting machines to allow a timely balloting. In precinct after precinct, virtually all of them predominantly black, poor, young and Democratic, the lines stretched for two, five, eight, even eleven hours. The elderly and infirm were forced to stand in the rain while city officials threatened to tow their cars. No chairs or shelter were provided. Crucial signage was mysteriously missing. Thousands came to vote, saw the long lines and left. Ohio hearings showed massive GOP vote manipulation, but where the hell were the Democrats & John Kerry?

The manipulating biased Supreme Court is ready to secure the hijacking again in 2008. The biggest question is where will it be this time? Who will lead the charge?

To find the answer you must understand that Karl Rove is no longer in Whitehouse any more. He is spearheading the cheating game that he mastered in 2000, 2004, and is ready to deliver the real punch in 2008. His ticket to Europe is already booked just in case he is caught.

More:
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/20018.asp

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43. A Message From RFK Jr. on Election Fraud: Don't Let `Em Steal `08!!!

Dear Fellow Democrat:

Like many Americans — especially those of us who worked on John Kerry’s presidential campaign — I spent Election Night 2004 wondering how the exit polls, which had overwhelmingly predicted defeat for George W. Bush, got it so wrong.

Baffled — and sick at heart that a President so unpopular and incompetent was heading for a second disastrous term in the Oval Office — I heard the rumors of a Republican campaign to suppress Democratic votes.

And then, painstakingly, page-by-page, with no agenda in mind but finding the truth — the same skills I have employed in my career as an attorney — I began to examine the evidence. What I found shocked me to the core — and by the time I pieced it together in an expose for Rolling Stone magazine, I was convinced beyond all doubt:

More (yes, this is kinda circular, but it *did* show up in a news search):
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/RFKin2008/129

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52. Find ballots using alerts that flash, milk cartons (FL)

To: Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning

From: A Palm Beach County voter

Subject: Help!

Dear Secretary Browning:

snip

We need to find solutions - and all those missing ballots - before the nation's bloggers following the presidential campaign accuse us of trying to rig the Florida vote because we're racists (Democratic bloggers), or sexists (Republican bloggers.)

As you well know, the simple truth is that we're just plain screwed up.

So here are my recommendations for how to proceed from here:

More:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/local_news/epaper/2008/09/06/a1c_bino_0907.html

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54. Right to vote too important to trust electronic voting machines

So, you thought you voted and that your vote would count — we did too, until we voted in the primary last month.

When we walk into the voting booth and cast our secret ballot on Election Day, we are filling a responsibility that comes with being an American citizen and living in a democracy. Filling this responsibility, however, is only possible if the machines that register our vote are true and accurate.
Advertisement

My wife and I voted at different times and each of us had very different experiences — neither was good for this right we hold so dear.

More:
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080903/OPINION03/809030405/1008/OPINION01

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58. Voting software does not ensure accountability (NY)

The state Board of Elections needs to immediately cease its plans to use optical scanners and return to safer lever machines or hand-counted paper ballots used successfully across our nation.

Software experts have proven that votes cannot be secured on any electronic voting equipment. Vote manipulation was found despite these machines being certified, which discredits the position of New Yorkers for Verified Voting that optical scanners can be "verified" as secure. Recently, top Internet security specialist and FBI consultant Stephen Spoonamore came forward with new evidence that our e-voting system is hackable.

So why do NYSBOE and NYVV keep ignoring experts? The elections board has a duty to run transparent public elections. Scanners, memory cards, and USB ports are not transparent. It's secret vote counting.

More:
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=718371&category=OPINION

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59. Touch-Screen Voting: It's Been Tried, but Can It Be Trusted?

Less than a decade ago, it seemed touch-screen had the touch.

In the years after the 2000 Florida general election controversy, election officials worried about public confidence in voting and, fueled by US$3 billion in federal funding for election improvements, presided over a swift transformation of the American voting experience.

In just six years, the number of counties using electronic direct-entry voting systems tripled, while those using punch cards and paper ballots fell by two-thirds, according to Election Data Services, which tracks the usage of voting equipment.

Direct-entry machines -- those ATM-like touch-screen machines where votes accumulate on a memory card -- seemed to have so much going for them. They were fast, easy to use and quick to count votes. Paper ballots, it seemed, were so passe.

But since 2006, of the 100 jurisdictions that have switched from one technology to another, not one has chosen a direct-entry system, EDS President Kimball Brace told TechNewsWorld.

More:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/must-read/64341.html?wlc=1220804476

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61. LTTE: Gerrymandering goes way, way back (PA)

As a long-time reader, I would like to congratulate the Pocono Record for finally taking a vociferous stand on the gerrymandering inflicted upon Monroe County for the past three decades. Apparently, some folks have figured out the gerrymandered district has been left out of vital infrastructure improvements, because of the lack of a Senate seat, improvements, long overdue, which could help grow the local economy and job market.

But, the Pocono Record is also partly responsible. By printing more accurate information, the Record could improve the likelihood of equitable reappointment.

Two prime examples are as follows:

More:
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080905/NEWS04/809050330

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75. Parts of a system: beyond the e-voting case

Probably the most common response to my blogs about e-voting last week was that fixing the voting machine doesn’t fix the process. Here’s how Erik Engbrecht put it in one of his responses:

So hack the servers

…or better yet get someone with access to subvert the results.

You’re just shuffling the problem around in order to obtain an incremental improvement in security. Which from a practical perspective is probably fine, but it’s not meeting your theoretical standard.

Other people, including devguy, offered broader versions of the same response: emphasizing that the issue is overall system integrity, not simply fixing the voting machine.

More:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Murphy/?p=1233

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6. Campaign Finance nt

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76. Ben & Jerry's co-founder joins campaign finance lawsuit

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream co-founder, Jerry Greenfield, is the latest plaintiff to join a lawsuit over Vermont’s campaign finance laws.

He and his wife Elizabeth contacted Burlington lawyer, John Franco, over the weekend about the case, joining three other Vermont residents who claim the state laws violate their federal civil rights, according to the docket.

All of the plaintiffs are supporters of Independent gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina who has encountered troubles with the Secretary of State’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office interpretations of campaign fundraising laws.

“I don’t think the ruling that they gave Anthony is correct,” Jerry Greenfield told PolitickerVT.com on Tuesday. "I feel like beyond it not being legal it’s just completely unfair. It’s a basic fairness issue as well.”

More:
http://www.politickervt.com/jenniferdepaul/1576/ben-jerrys-co-founder-joins-campaign-finance-lawsuit

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7. The Youth Vote nt

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42. College orientations get political

Welcome to college. Your first assignment: Register to vote.

Politics is perhaps unavoidable for students arriving on campus during a major presidential race. But college administrators and student organizers are supersizing the efforts this year to encourage them to cast their ballots.

"Orientation is a huge opportunity to register new voters … sends a great message … that civic engagement matters if one of the first things are asked to do is register to vote," says Sujatha Jahagirdar, program director of the New Voters Project, an initiative of Student PIRGs (Public Interest Research Groups).

Many campuses are going beyond registration drives in an attempt to turn Election '08 into the educational opportunity of a lifetime:

More:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0902/p03s04-uspo.html

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62. Did they register to vote before they headed off to college?

The Class of 2008 is by and large scattered hither and yon by now. Graduates of Geneva High School are attending school in Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, Illinois (naturally), Indiana, Colorado and many of our other 50 states.

But before they left home, did they register to vote first?

After all, the presidential election is less than two months away.

"The best thing they can do is get in and register now," said Jay Bennett, chief deputy clerk for the Kane County Clerk's office. "Don't wait.

More:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=232382

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66. Chasing the youth vote

To Gauriel Cutipa-Zorn, who was born in 1990, it seems like the '60s again.

The 17-year-old is among the record number of young people who have registered to vote, mobilized by growing opposition to a foreign war and an unpopular president, and energized by a youth-oriented presidential candidate.

"For the past 40 years, ever since Bobby Kennedy, young people haven't been as active in politics," said Cutipa-Zorn, who will turn 18 in time for the November presidential election. "But it's a very big difference this year than any other year."

Many young voters see this election as much as a contest between generations as conservative versus liberal, Republican versus Democrat.

More:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/community/news/ucf/orl-lidyouthvote07x08sep07,0,4470616.story

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73. Secretary of State to bring registration van

With the Secretary of State voter registration van coming to NMU next week, students will have the opportunity to register to vote without ever leaving campus.

Due to the election year, voter turnout is expected to be high, Dave Dodds, manager of the voter registration van, said.

"Voter turnout fluctuates each year from 100-400 people per visit," Dodds said. "On voter registration, we do notice a substantial increase in a national election."

The presidential election is looming nearer and nearer, so it is more important than ever for students to vote and have their voice heard, ASNMU President Hobie Webster said.

"Students have a lot at risk: Health care costs are exploding, there are two wars going on, the economy's in shambles, education costs are exploding, we're graduating with enormous debt and the housing market is crumbling," Webster said. "I'm not going to try to push one way or the other, but those are the issues that at most in four years students are going to have to start dealing with."

Webster also noted the importance of students doing their research and knowing what a candidate stands for before voting.

More:
http://media.www.thenorthwindonline.com/media/storage/paper1202/news/2008/09/04/News/Secretary.Of.State.To.Bring.Registration.Van-3415567.shtml

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77. That's all, folks! (For tonight at least.)

I will try to get the rest of them posted tomorrow. Obviously I should have started earlier....

Some more recs for the news would be most appreciated - a) this stuff is important (at least I think so) and b) it's the only reward I get for several hours of work....! ;)

[Wilms]

78. .

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79. Oops, well, as it turns out, this is all for this week, really really

I thought that if I forced a shutdown of Firefox with Task Manager, it would remember my tabs. Well, it *would*, but apparently if I turn the computer off after that, it forgets them again. Live and learn.

If there was any single earth-shaking item in the remainder, I hope someone finds it this week....!

I will return next Sunday or so - since we're down to twice a week, I'm just aiming for sometime or another over the weekend.

More recs would be greatly appreciated, for the reasons listed above. :hi: