Diebold in Florida: "I Saw It Hacked"

[Karmadillo]

Sorry if this is a dupe. Shouldn't the Democrats be at least a little concerned about this stuff?

http://www.counterpunch.com/pynchon01232006.html

I was one of ten people present at the "hack" of the Leon County, Florida voting system, which took place on Tuesday, December 13, 2005 around 4:30 in the afternoon at the county elections warehouse. Leon County's voting system is the Diebold Accu-Vote OS 1.94w (optical scan).

The Leon County Supervisor of Elections, Ion Sancho, authorized a "test" of his Diebold voting system to see if election results could be altered using only a memory card. Harri Hursti, a computer programmer from Finland facilitated the test and it has come to be known as the "Harri Hursti Hack."

What follows is my description of that hack and its significance for our nation, which I hope will correct much of the misinformation circulating regarding this event.

<edit>

Then eight of us voted, filling in the oval on our paper ballot. Six of us voted "No," the election could not be hacked. Two of us voted "Yes," it could be hacked. Then, one by one, we inserted our ballots into the voting machine. Ion checked after each voter to make sure that the counter on the machine was counting properly as each ballot was inserted. So, we ended up with an accurate count of 8 ballots cast on the screen on the front of the voting machine. Then Ion placed an "ender card" in the machine to end the election and printed the poll tape.

Instead of two "Yes" votes, the poll tape showed seven "Yes" votes.

Instead of six "No" votes, the poll tape showed one "No" vote.

more...

[Coexist]

1. We need the Stephenson Amendment introduced NOW!

I am sick of the entire touch-screen argument. GET RID OF THEM.

[jackster]

2. Thanks - !

n/t

[Fredda Weinberg]

3. The system couldn't be hacked remotely

and the physical access the hackers got would have left paper ballots just as vulnerable.

[bullimiami]

5. and if florida never looks at the paper ballots?

and if laws are passed to keep you from ever using or auditing the paper ballots?

welcome to jebland.

[Fredda Weinberg]

6. I survived jebland

and am very happy to be back in NYC, despite the lever machines that leave no audit trail and where broken machines are routinely placed in minority 'hoods. I watched in horror while 50,000 affidavit ballots were discarded in a primary run-off where the Democratic candidate prevailed by 20,000 votes and our "liberal media" stood satisfied.

I'm trying to explain why officials won't respond to this demonstration - I've worked in government offices a long time and know that it raises hackles to suggest that their own employees are security risks.

[Fovea]

9. well, there is an audit trail with the paper ballots

and that is the critical difference.

[stickdog]

21. What does that mean? The smart card could be programmed

remotely, and switched/inserted by any stooge.

[Breeze54]

22. How to Hack the Vote: the Short Version

How to Hack the Vote: the Short Version
http://www.chuckherrin.com/hackthevotedemo.htm
Chuck Herrin, CISSP, CISA, MCSE, CEH
http://www.chuckherrin.com
Enron was a conspiracy theory, too. Were their whistleblowers "Crackpots"?
Were the people who lost their retirements to those corporate criminals just "sore losers"?
I've never been part of the "Tin Foil Hat" conspiracy theory crowd.
I'm just a voter who happens to be a Professional IT Auditor.
~~~~~~~~~
That’s right –
even if you used the older systems like optically scanned ballots,
your vote can still be Hacked when the numbers all come together.

Wanna see how easy it is?

I am going to show you, step by step and with screenshots,
how an attack against our election system could very easily steal
a Statewide or even a National election without leaving a trace.
This attack would be easy to carry out, difficult to detect,
and exert enormous influence on the results,
leaving the humble voter coldly left out of the decision-making process.

More at LINK........

Here we go…. Oh wait – let me do some CYA stuff first.

[stoneisland]

4. Voting Technology

As Conny McCormick, the CC-RR of Los Angeles County says, there was nothing wrong with punch cards.

NOTHING

There was, however, something wrong with Florida. They didn't clean their machines, they didn't have any guidence as to what counted as a vote. Here in Los Angeles, it isn't a vote, voter intentions be damned, unless the chad is fully detached. No ifs, ands, or buts. A level playing field that allows for no "interpretation".

Ms. McCormick has been going slowly with the introduction of new technology because everything that is around now is expensive, and it's not clear that testing has been done to fully ensure that the new technology is as reliable as the old punch cards.

[Greyhound]

18. The 'on the ground' management of LA consistently amazes me.

As a former LA resident I think it is just great that LA manages, somehow, to find people that are relatively in-corrupt and capable and make wise decisions. I was there through the Northridge quake, a gazzilion fires and floods, riots, the whole OJ thang, the looting of the state by Evergreen/Enron etc. and the city of Los Angeles just deals with it. Quickly efficiently and without too much fanfare. I've lived all over the country and LA, in spite of its major faults (pun intended), is the best run city I've seen.
(for qualification I have lived in Denver, Chicago, San Jose, Atlanta, New York, LA, Phoenix, Los Gatos, Long Beach, and traveled extensively on medium-term contracts to many other regions)

[mirrera]

7. It finally made the Washington Post.

I am so glad to see this make the greatest page. This is a great article that explains what it all means:

http://votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=645&Itemid=26

This is the Washington Post article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/21/AR2006012101051.html

The main point is this cheat (pre loading a memory card) doesn't show. If someone wins by a wide margin there is no REASON to count the paper Ballots. Most people mis-understand and think this is just a problem with touchscreen and the scanner is OK because it has a paper record. This hack points out that the only way to truly know how people intended to vote is to HAND COUNT THEM.

The other insinuation, especially from Diebold, is that it would take an invitation, and that the election officials can protect the cards. That is Bull...there are things that election officials cede to the vendor and the vendor's tech people. There is NOTHING in place to stop a vendor from introducing a "patch" as happened in Georgia in 2002. I am finding it harder and harder to understand the Democrats silence on this issue. The old "sore looser fear" or "fear of being marginalized" is weak. Marginalized???? Ahem, caint get no smaller then this silence.



http://NoBullshiRt.com

[lonestarnot]

19. marganalized is a promotion from where dems and middle class America

will be if something isn't actually done to prohibit the use of these machines. Thanks for posting the link to the Post Article.

[FreedomAngel82]

8. Send to Dean and the local Florida chair person

[RazzleDazzle]

10. Should our Dems be concerned?

Nahhhh. They haven't been up til now, why should they start? Much better to play footsie with Republicans, continuing to believe -- against ALL evidence -- that they are nice people who just happen to have different ideas about things.

Now excuse me while I go puke my guts out.

[suziedemocrat]

11. This makes me cry too. What happened to my beautiful country? eom.

[LittleClarkie]

12. Maybe I'm being silly, but I wish Bev hadn't been there

Makes me wonder if she and Susan are affiliated in any way.

[sunnystarr]

13. Guess you didn't read the original article

Earlier, Ion had given ONE Diebold memory card to Hursti. Bev Harris and Kathleen Wynne of Black Box Voting were also present at the test.

See how easy it is to get what you wish for? :toast:

[Fredda Weinberg]

14. Seriously ... Google 'em together

and remember Bev Harris runs her own PR firm.

[Susan43]

15. OK

I googled them together and didn't find anything that made me think we should back off. I did find this interesting article at Black Box.

Let me end by saying that we post here under our own names for a reason. It seems that every time BBV.org exposes another factual piece of this complex puzzle, a small but vocal group of extremists, from both major political parties, show up on several popular political web sites to bash Bev and BBV.org. They hide behind assumed screen names and make absurd, easily refutable claims.

They claim that "Bev stole other peoples research and claimed it was her own" when she wrote the Black Box Voting book. To refute that claim all one needs to do is read the book. It's free and available in pdf format on the front page of this site. I challenge anyone to read the book and point out a single line in it that is not properly attributed to the original source within the text, the hundreds of end notes, or on the acknowledgments page in the back of the book.

http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-profile.cgi?action=rate&topic=1954&page=15595&post=15164

It wouldn't surprise me if the RW slime machine has gone to work on either woman. Did you have something else in mind?

[Stand and Fight]

16. Good God... K&R

[Usrename]

17. Nothing to see here.

Move along.

K&R

[Peter Frank]

20. K & R...

:kick:

[AtomicKitten]

23. This stuff makes my head explode.

Why aren't the Democrats standing before the cameras on C-SPAN screaming to the rooftops?

They have tried repeatedly to introduce legislation putting a leash on EVM fraud to no avail.

We can't wait a moment longer. There's no point voting EVER until this is dealt with.

[stlsaxman]

24. Morning K & R n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

25. You'll just have to trust Diebold...

Just like you'll have to trust Bush.

Several top democrats in Washington, STILL, trust Bush and Diebold's crooked voting devices. Those faithful people are way too ignorant, to serve the public's interests or to speak up for you and me. The deadbeat politicians in Washington are more worried about their golf outings and dinner parties than about the criminal behavior of the Royal Chimperor. It's total faith based folly, for any damned fool, to STILL believe, in the GOP's "GOOD INTENTIONS" and "MORALITY".