Sequoia lawsuit, April 20: Auditor's office explains delay: technology!

[Land Shark]

THought of the Day:

Why attack the secrecy inherent in electronic voting? Joseph Pulitzer wrote: " There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle which does not live by secrecy. Get these things out in the open, describe them, attack them, ridicule them in the press, and sooner or later public opinion will sweep them away."

Below is an email string from today, discussing two pending document requests, one for ballot envelopes (no ballots allowed) and the other for documents related to the Sequoia contract process. I haven't decided whether to order the envelopes but i had reviewed and marked the contracting documents. The email string below is reversed in order, so you can read it from top to bottom:

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul R. Lehto
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 3:12 PM
To: Scrapper, Betty
Cc: Terwilliger, Bob
Subject: documents Seq. contracting process due last Monday
Dear Ms. Scrapper,

Last time we talked (on the phone early Monday afternoon) you had forgotten that the ballot envelopes was the only thing that would wait for later and that I wanted the contract documents ordered, except for those with “duplicate” on them.

After looking at them a bit, we talked again and you said you didn’t see any stickers on them, but then on closer inspection you did see that there are a few “duplicate” post-its on them, which indicate that those particular sheets (and if stapled, those documents) are the only ones NOT to be copied. Though you said they looked like your handwriting, unless you recall adding any post-its, the post-its should be the same.

We then talked about a deadline, which was originally Monday, but there was a computer problem with payroll so you felt you couldn’t get to it until 5 p.m. Monday. It is now 3 p.m. Wednesday and I haven’t heard anything about a status.

Will it be possible to pick up the copied contracting documents today? If there are any questions at all that might result in forgetting to copy documents, I will come in and personally supervise the copying, should that become necessary. Alternatively, none of this would be necessary if I can bring my scanner in, per the previous practice. Thank you.

Paul Lehto

________________________________________
From: Scrapper, Betty
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 4:51 PM
To: [e-mail]
Cc: Goldsworthy, Lisa; Terwilliger, Bob
Subject: RE: documents Seq. contracting process due last Monday

I am sorry that I was unable to meet my previous deadline. I have been extremely busy with our new payroll system. You will be able to pick up your documents tomorrow at 4 pm. We will have the invoice at that time as well. Thanks for your patience.

Betty Scrapper
Snohomish County Auditor's Office
425-388-3693
[e-mail]


________________________________________
From: Paul R. Lehto
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 5:23 PM
To: 'Scrapper, Betty'; 'Terwilliger, Bob'; 'Goldsworthy, Lisa'
Subject: RE: documents Seq. contracting process due last Monday

Yeah, I understand that new technological systems like a payroll system can create more problems than one would think.

[Wilms]

1. Trouble with the new payroll system, eh?

A software glitch, perhaps?

(More thrashing sounds.)

[LatePeriduct]

2. I wonder who is actually in charge?

Accenture doing payroll systems now maybe? Seems a bit convenient that Sequoia is in such a process....