Daily Election News Thread... March 8, 2006

[stillcool]

All members welcome and encouraged to participate

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Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.
2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.
4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.

Please
"Recommend"

[stillcool]

1. Texas...Election officials report only some minor glitches

By RENÉE C. LEE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Brazoria, Galveston and Liberty counties joined Montgomery in going digital. Waller and Fort Bend counties used the new systems for the first time in November. Harris and Chambers counties have been using electronic voting since 2003.

Paper or electronic?
Voters in Liberty and Galveston counties had a choice of paper or electronic voting. A precinct in Moss Bluff in Liberty County ran out of paper ballots late Tuesday, forcing voters to use a single electronic voting machine, election officials said. People coming to vote after work had to wait in a long line. Election officials had to extend voting until 8 p.m.

Liberty County officials also had major delays in tabulating votes. A disk with the paper ballot tallies was accidentally put into a sealed box with the actual paper ballots.
Election officials had to use special procedures to break the seal to get the disk so that the votes could be counted, said county clerk officials.
Counting was slower than expected in Galveston and Brazoria counties as well because of the new electronic counting methods for both paper and electronic votes.
County clerk Mary Ann Daigle said early voting was delayed because ''we're learning the system as we go."''There was some preliminary tests of the system we had to run before we started the counting," Daigle added.

In Montgomery County, final tabulations were delayed by a precinct in Porter, said elections administrator Carol Gaultney. At 10 p.m., officials were still waiting for the election judge to arrive at the central election office in Conroe with the votes. Gaultney said she did not know what held up the election judge.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/3708475.html

[stillcool]

2. Galveston County...New voting system, same problems

By TJ Aulds
The Daily News

Published March 8, 2006

Thousands of voters never received registration cards. It was a problem that had the phones at the county courthouse ringing with calls from frustrated voters across the county.
“It’s been a nightmare, it really has,” said County Tax Assessor-Collector Cheryl Johnson, who is also the county’s voter registrar.
Johnson blamed the problem on a glitch with new software that was required under state law. The cards printed fine, but postal service scanning machines had trouble reading many of the addresses, she said.

Problems retrieving data from the new eSlate system delayed the release of election results. The first returns, which included the results of the 5,700 early votes, did not emerge until 9:20 p.m. — two and half hours after the polls had closed.

Daigle said problems existed at at least two polling locations where the eSlate and eScan systems used in the election malfunction more than once. The systems shut down at the Municipal Utility District No. 12 in Bayou Vista and at Weis Middle School, forcing those wanting to cast ballots to do so using emergency ballots. Daigle said those equipment malfunctions though did not have anything to do with the delays.

Johnson promised an investigation into the irregularities with the voter registration.
http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=b5c1182c635f6be7

[stillcool]

3. Webb County...Editorial: Here we go again ... What's up in Webb?

Web Posted: 03/08/2006 12:00 AM CST

San Antonio Express-News

The lore of South Texas voting woes reared its ugly head again Tuesday night when Webb County officials reported a "technical glitch" in the ballot counting.

Early vote totals for the heaviest voting county in the district were not available for a brow-wiping 3½ hours after the polls closed.

Unknown was the outcome of one of the region's most anticipated races: Congressional District 28, pitting incumbent U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar against former congressman Ciro Rodriguez and Crandall schoolteacher Victor Morales.

Cuellar was winning late Tuesday night by a healthy margin once the Webb votes began trickling in, but a possible legal battle loomed as Rodriguez vowed to send attorneys to probe the situation.

Call it coincidence, but this race seems to have become the Bermuda Triangle of electoral contests.

Allegations of voter fraud were never substantiated, but many still believe something didn't smell right. There may be a perfectly good explanation for Tuesday night's glitch, but unfortunately, South Texas voting continues to be plagued by the specter of voter fraud.


http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/stories/MYSA030806.01O.congress2ed.3d2dbb4.html

[stillcool]

4. "Glitches' get blame in Webb "

Web Posted: 03/08/2006 03:27 AM CST
John Tedesco and Mariano Castillo
Express-News Staff Writers

On Tuesday, Webb County Elections Administrator Oscar Villarreal said equipment used to upload data from the electronic touch-screen machines hadn't been programmed correctly. “It's a new system for us, and we're getting used to it,” Villarreal said. “It's a learning process, but I think our totals are correct, and I don't see why anybody would have any problems with our results.”


The company that operates the touch-screen machines in Webb County, Election Systems & Software, also runs Bexar County's, where another glitch was reported.
he company had accidentally programmed the ballot machines to shut down at 8 p.m., not the correct time of 7 p.m.
When precinct judges tried to collect the votes at 7 p.m., the machines failed to comply and the judges “all panicked,” Callanen said. They had to be told how to manually collect the data, which Callanen said was a simple procedure.


Many precinct chairmen, especially Republicans, also are the election judges in charge of polling sites.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA030806.11A.glitches.4247ae5.html

[stillcool]

5. "No surprises in Nueces except for county Republican chair"

By Jaime Powell Caller-Times
March 8, 2006


Though the Nueces County Clerk's office had promised that the results of early voting would be on the county's Web site by 7:01 p.m., it was nearly 8 p.m. before the county's tabulations started making their way to the crowds waiting at the courthouse.

Nueces County Clerk Diana Barrera said the glitch had nothing to do with the county's new electronic voting machines; rather, the problem was loading those tabulations onto the county's web site - and to the giant screen hanging from the rail of the third floor of the courthouse.

"The system locked up and that is what generated the delay, but it never stopped us from tabulating," she said. "The tabulations ran smoothly."
Contact Jaime Powell at 886-3716 or [e-mail]

http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4523945,00.html

[stillcool]

6. "Larry Phillips survives nomination challenge "

By Kathy Williams
Herald Democrat

Although by midnight Tuesday the vote still was not official, State Rep. Larry Phillips survived a challenge to his nomination by the Republican Party. Phillips garnered more votes than his challenger, retired school superintendent Charlie Williams in both Grayson and Fannin counties.

Unofficially, because votes from one of the electronic voting machines did not transmit properly, Phillips attracted 5,100 votes in Grayson County to Williams’ 4,247. In Fannin County, Phillips beat Williams by 102 votes, 915 to 813. The number of votes not counted Tuesday night would not have been enough to change the results, County Clerk Wilma Blackshear Bush said.


Blackshear Bush explained the glitch in vote counting, “We have the unofficial results from all precincts except one precinct, a rural precinct. The electronic voting machine was not closed down so we have gone to the site to retrieve the votes. The machines were left at the polling sites and the cartridges that hold the data were brought here.”

She said otherwise, the voting and count went smoothly, especially given that voters used both the new computerized voting machines and paper ballots.

“ The paper ballots took some time,” Blackshear Bush said. “The electronic voting goes very quickly. After tonight we plan for November to go completely electronic. We had a good, clean, accurate election today.”

http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2006/03/08/local_news/news02.txt

[stillcool]

8. "Close race in Hidalgo County"

Wednesday, March 08, 2006 Posted: 03:13 PM NEWSCHANNEL 5 continues to track results in one of the closest races in Hidalgo County history

EDINBURG -- It appears there are about 40 votes that have not been added to the totals in the county judge race.

Those votes would not change the outcome of the race. J.D. Salinas edged past county judge Ramon Garcia Tuesday night. As it stands now, Salinas still leads by about 200 votes.

According to Elections Administrator Teresa Navarro, there were problems at a couple of precincts where election judges made procedural errors.

A campaign worker for Ramon Garcia said they are waiting for all of the votes to be counted. They plan to review returns precinct by precinct. Then they will decide whether to ask for a recount.


http://www.newschannel5.tv/2006/3/8/6694/Close-race-in-Hidalgo-County

[autorank]

27. Why somebody would have problems with Webb!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=416015&mesg_id=416071

http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/dem1race5.htm?x=0&y=565&id=996

HERE'S A PROBLEM.  THE MARGINS IN WEBB ARE 10.5 TO 1 CUELLAR.
IN ZAPATA THEY ARE 5 TO 1.

ARE THOSE COUNTIES THAT DIFFERENT?  IF SO, NO PROBLEMS.  
IF NOT, BIG ONES.

Something like this should trigger an automatic investigaiton.
 It won't;)
...	        Henry	Victor	Ciro D.
County	        Cuellar	Morales	Rodriguez	Total	   Precincts	
...	...	...	...	                Votes	Reprot   Total
ALL COUNTIES	18,315	2,563	17,268	        38,146	  239	  276
Early	        12,772	1,334	 7,923	        22,029	

WEBB	        8,145	454	  789	        9,388	    0	   30
Early	        8,145	454	  789	        9,388	  

WILSON	        1,198	249	1,503	        2,950	   25	   25
Early	          374	 90	  561	        1,025	 

ZAPATA	        1,410	 58	  242	        1,710	    1	    8
Early	        1,410	 58	  242	        1,710	   ...	

I have some questions.  Webb & Zapata were the counties
in question.

Why does Webb have "O" "precincts
reported"?

Is Cuellar related to every person in WEbb and Zapata
Counties?  Why the huge margins there?

Why are Cuellar voters so much more adamant about voting
"early" than Rodriguez voters?

10 to 1 in Webb and 6 to 1 in Zapata raise some questions.

I'm not familiar with the politics down there.  But if Webb
and Zapata were held back then maybe we're talking about a
good old case of "Texas hold 'em."  Keep the
ballots in your "controlled" locality held back,
e.g., through machine problems or "humidity" (OH,
2nd, Hackett).  Find out how many votes you need, and, as if
by magic, Flutie throws a 90 yardlong bomb.  Well Flutie
really did it.  This looks strange.

Good luck Texans!

[stillcool]

10. Dallas County "Thief nabs voting machine"

2:00 AM CST on Tuesday, March 7, 2006
From Staff Reports


A $3,000 electronic voting machine was stolen from the home of a Dallas County elections judge during the weekend.


Sgt. Peritz said the theft could have happened Saturday, when the judge left the machine on the driveway and was distracted by neighborhood kids.

Dallas County Elections Administrator Bruce Sherbet said the 14-pound machine will not function without an additional piece of hardware called a personalized electronic ballot, or PEB.

Mr. Sherbet said his employees identified the serial number of the stolen machine and have blocked it from any access to the elections system, reducing the risk of vote fraud.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-elexmachinesside_07met.ART0.North.Edition2.2d04.html

[iconoclastNYC]

14. Hopefully it was taken by a WHITE HAT hacker.

To look for some tricks.

I think the best chance at blowing open this story is when some patriot riggs a whole bunch of elections and we get tons of elections with more votes than voters.

[stillcool]

19. I am pretty surprised....

by the amount of articles with "glitches" on this little-bitty election. Things are not lookin good.

[rumpel]

18. TX: Larry Phillips survives nomination challenge

http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2006/03/08/local_news/news02.txt

By Kathy Williams
Herald Democrat

Although by midnight Tuesday the vote still was not official, State Rep. Larry Phillips survived a challenge to his nomination by the Republican Party. Phillips garnered more votes than his challenger, retired school superintendent Charlie Williams in both Grayson and Fannin counties.

Unofficially, because votes from one of the electronic voting machines did not transmit properly, Phillips attracted 5,100 votes in Grayson County to Williams’ 4,247. In Fannin County, Phillips beat Williams by 102 votes, 915 to 813. The number of votes not counted Tuesday night would not have been enough to change the results, County Clerk Wilma Blackshear Bush said.

“I sure wish it were official, but I’ll take it. It’s great to come out on top,” Phillips said. “It’s been a busy campaign. I think people got involved for the first time and that’s really good, or, not the first time, but they were really energized. I’m thrilled I will have the opportunity to work for the citizens for two more years. I think it’s an honor and a humbling experience to serve for 3-1/2 years. It’s good to know I can continue to build on my experience because there is such a learning curve in this process.”

Blackshear Bush explained the glitch in vote counting, “We have the unofficial results from all precincts except one precinct, a rural precinct. The electronic voting machine was not closed down so we have gone to the site to retrieve the votes. The machines were left at the polling sites and the cartridges that hold the data were brought here.”

[rumpel]

21. Jefferson County: Confusion mars new voting process

http://www.panews.com/articles/2006/03/08/news/election%20news/confusion.txt

By Roger Cowles/The News editor Posted: 03/08/06 - 01:03:32 am CST

Voting for the first time on the new touch screen voting machines may have been an enjoyable experience for most Jefferson County voters, but the new system created confusion, long lines and delays at the vote counting station Tuesday night.

County Clerk Carolyn Guidry, whose office handles elections, said election workers skipped a step and had to start the counting process over.

“The program is all new and certain steps had to be followed,” Guidry said at about 10:45 p.m., when only about two-thirds of the ballots had been tallied. “In order to make sure the count is accurate, they're running them (the ballots) through again.”

Guidry said ES&S, the company that sold the $3 million electronic voting system to the county, was on hand to help poll workers tally the results for the Democratic and Republican primaries.

There were no problems reported with the machines at the polling stations, Guidry said, although some poll workers reported difficulties getting the new system set up in time for the 7 a.m. opening of the polls.

Guidry said the early voting boxes that had become the center of an investigation when security seals were discovered to be missing or tampered with were delivered to the counting station under court order by the Beaumont Police Department. The votes in the boxes were tallied and included in the early-vote totals.

[rumpel]

26. San Angelo Times: Election official: Paper ballots will stay despite delay

http://www.sanangelostandardtimes.com/sast/home/article/0,1897,SAST_4943_4524711,00.html

Election official: Paper ballots will stay despite delays
By By PAUL A. ANTHONY [e-mail] or 659-8237
March 8, 2006

Although Election Night problems in Tom Green County can largely be traced back to paper ballots, the county’s top election official said today he has no intention of doing away with them.

The federal law that required counties across the country to provide computerized voting machines also requires precincts to provide handicapped-accessible voting, Tom Green County Elections Administrator Mike Benton said.

Although the county has computers available to fulfill the law’s requirements, Benton said, election workers will continue to make paper ballots available to those who feel uncomfortable using computers.

"If someone wants to vote by ballot, we’ll provide it," Benton said.

Some machines designed to read the paper ballots refused to shut down when prompted, causing problems because the machines must be turned off to access the voting results. The machines — five or six in all, Benton said — were brought to the elections office, where a representative from Hart InterCivic, which provided the machines, fixed the problem.

Additional problems also led to a delay in the tallying of election results, which were not released until 1:30 a.m. today.

[Wilms]

7. FL: Ion Sancho Initiates Legal Proceedings Against Diebold

Shelley supporters: take note of the bolded text.

Florida: Ion Sancho Fights Back

By Susan Pynchon, Florida Fair Elections Coalition

March 08, 2006

Ion Sancho, besieged Supervisor of Elections in Leon County, Florida, initiated legal proceedings today against Diebold Election Systems for breach of contract. The lawyer bringing the action is Lida Rodriguez Taseff, an attorney with Duane Morris in Miami. Lida is also the Chair of the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition.

Diebold has refused to return phone calls to Leon County election staff, refused to honor its existing contract with Leon County for maintenance and upgrades of its voting system, and further refused to sell Leon County touch-screen voting machines to meet state and federal requirements for disabled acessbility.

At a Leon County Commission meeting on February 28, 2006, county staff revealed that Chuck Owen, Division Counsel for Diebold Election Systems, met with county staff behind closed doors on February 27. According to staff, Owen stated that Diebold would sell its touch-screen voting machines to the county if, and only if, the county removed Supervisor Sancho from office.

There are only three companies that have state-certified voting systems in Florida: Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia. All three vendors have refused to sell disabled-accessible voting systems to Leon County, quite apparently in retribution for the series of "red team" security tests authorized by Sancho in 2005 to determine if there were security vulnerabilities in the Diebold voting system used in Leon County. Tests conducted in the spring of 2005 by Florida computer scientist Dr. Herbert Thompson determined that the voting system password could be bypassed, thus permitting unauthorized manipulation of election data. A test on December 13, 2005, now commonly known as the "Hursti hack," definitively proved that election results could be altered without detection using only a memory card. The security vulnerabilities exposed in the Leon County tests have since been confirmed in an independent test conducted by a team of computer scientists from the University of California at Berkeley and California's Voting Systems Technology Assessment Advisory Board. The California tests, while not a thorough examination of the Diebold system, revealed numerous additional security flaws in addition to confirming the tests conducted in Leon County.

snip

At Leon County Commission meetings on February 14 and February 28, the two Republican members of Leon County's seven-member county commission blasted Sancho for failing to provide Leon County with accessible voting machines in attacks that Sancho believes are politically motivated. The commission meetings may be viewed here. http://www.co.leon.fl.us/ADMIN/Agenda/realmeetings.asp

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1015&Itemid=113


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x416163

[rumpel]

22. ST. Peterburg Times: No conspiarcy needed to support paper trail

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/03/08/Columns/No_conspiarcy_needed_.shtml

By HOWARD TROXLER, Times Columnist
Published March 8, 2006
Since the 2004 election, an energetic and mostly Democratic group of folks has alleged (1) the election was rigged and (2) we need better safeguards for our electronic voting machines.

As long as we are putting questions (1) and (2) together, we are going nowhere.

Mainstream America is not going to buy the conspiracy theory unless President Bush gets caught on tape saying, "Me and Diebold stole the election, heh, heh."

Neither does the conspiracy theory give Republicans (who, after all, are the majority in our Legislature) much room to support better safeguards. Republicans have been forced by default to defend the touch-screen machines used in 15 Florida counties.

So where we go from here depends on the goal.

If the goal is for Democrats to keep on accusing Republicans of stealing the last election, and Republicans to keep on calling Democrats sore losers and nutbags, then we don't need to do anything else.

But if the goal is to get better safeguards in place for Florida's voting machines, then we have to make it possible for the rest of us, Republican, Democrat and everybody else, to get behind it.

[stillcool]

9. Pennsylvania "Voters file challenge to machine purchase"

They take issue with cost and security of equipment for Northampton County.
By Paul Muschick
Of The Morning Call

A Hanover Township physician and several other voters are challenging Northampton County's purchase of electronic voting machines.

Dr. Alan Brau questions the equipment's cost, accuracy and security.
He said he mailed the challenge Tuesday to the Pennsylvania Department of State, asking it to re-examine its Feb. 17 certification of the machines. Brau e-mailed a copy to The Morning Call.

''I feel that current circumstances and the potential consequences of losing our rights to democratic representation require such action,'' Brau wrote to Commonwealth Secretary Pedro Cortes.


Registrar Deborah DePaul said the county stands by the machines. She said they have separate data memories to store and back up data. She said last-minute critics of the national move from paper ballots and lever machines to electronic units are creating panic.


DePaul said paper ballots are illegal because they cannot be used by blind people. One reason for the federal voting law was to provide systems for disabled people to vote without help.



http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-3votemar08,0,1083027.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed

[Up2Late]

11. California Tests Find Diebold Touch-Screen Voting 100 Percent Accurate...

(This is from the Diebold website, unfortunately, I can't seem to find any "...report released by the California Secretary of State in early January..."

:hi:If you read this carefully, you'll see that it is written so vaguely and it is almost completely devoid of ANY firm examples of what they claim or imply in the headline, it's total BS/PR.)

<http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=106584&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=807176&highlight=>

News Release

California Tests Find Diebold Touch-Screen Voting 100 Percent Accurate During November 2005 Election
Parallel monitoring procedures during live election validate accuracy of Diebold system

ALLEN, Texas, Jan 23, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- A report released by the California Secretary of State in early January indicates that the Diebold Election Systems touch-screen voting systems used in California proved to be 100 percent accurate during the thorough Parallel Monitoring accuracy testing conducted during the November 8, 2005 statewide election. A directive from the California Secretary of State requires Parallel Monitoring accuracy testing of all touch-screen voting systems during each election conducted within the state.

The Parallel Monitoring testing procedure includes the random selection of touch-screen voting stations the morning of an election from various precincts within counties using the technology. Once selected, the touch-screen units are thoroughly tested for accuracy and reliability by designated California Secretary of State election personnel. The accuracy testing runs the entire duration of the election. Election result reports are then generated from each touch-screen unit once the election concludes so the accuracy of the system can be validated. The accuracy of Diebold's touch-screen technology has been tested several times within California and in other states as well, and results of these Parallel Monitoring tests have proven the technology to be 100 percent accurate each and every time.

"We are extremely confident in the proven performance of our touch-screen technology, and the successful results of the California Parallel Monitoring accuracy testing substantiate the reliable operation of our voting systems," stated David Byrd, vice president of operations, Diebold Election Systems.

"The performance of Diebold's touch-screen technology was also verified during the extensive system volume testing conducted in September in California, when more than 11,000 votes were cast on 100 touch-screen stations with voter-verifiable paper audit trail printers with 100 percent accurate election results and very reliable system operation. The California Elections Division determined that the volume test would be deemed successful if no more than 1 percent of the machines experienced a failure that affects the record of the vote on the AccuVote-TSX or on the VVPAT paper trail. Diebold surpassed these test criteria with flying colors."

The performance of Diebold's touch-screen voting systems have proven to be the most accurate in the industry as documented by a comprehensive Cal Tech/MIT study completed following the November 2004 election. In the state of Georgia, as an example, voter error was reduced nine-fold once Diebold's touch-screen systems were deployed statewide. More than 103,000 additional votes were accurately counted during the November 2004 election that would not have been counted if legacy voting systems remained in use within Georgia jurisdictions. Each Diebold touch-screen voting station offers market leading accessibility, including voice guidance capability, so blind and physically challenged voters can independently cast their ballot.

Diebold Election Systems, Inc. is a wholly owned operating subsidiary of Diebold, Incorporated, a global leader in providing integrated self-service delivery systems and services. Diebold Election Systems provides high-quality voting technology to jurisdictions of all sizes, along with comprehensive service and support capability, and is committed to elections accuracy, security and integrity. For more information on Diebold Election Systems, visit the company's Web site at http://www.dieboldes.com, or call 1-800-433-VOTE.

SOURCE: Diebold Election Systems, Inc.

Media, David Bear of Diebold Election Systems, Inc., [phone], ext.1112, or
Cell, [phone], or [e-mail], or Investors, John Kristoff of
Diebold, Incorporated, [phone], or [e-mail]

<http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=106584&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=807176&highlight=>

[Wilms]

28. 12/05/05 PARALLEL MONITORING PROGRAM: REPORT OF FINDINGS

Haven't read the above press release or this report. Perhaps "early January" was an inaccuracy, er, typo, as this is from early December. As we know, Diebold machines aren't particularly accurate. Or, like good Nazi's, they're just following orders.


Secretary of State
BRUCE MCPHERSON
STATE OF CALIFORNIA

PARALLEL MONITORING PROGRAM
California SPECIAL STATEWIDE ELECTION
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
REPORT OF FINDINGS

PREPARED BY:
R&G ASSOCIATES, LLC

DECEMBER 5, 2005

pdf

http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/2005_pmp_report_final.pdf

[Up2Late]

29. You're probably right about which report they are referring to, but typo?

I doubt it was a typo. Knowing what I know about Diebold, you can safely bet that it was deliberate, with the intention of causing confusion or to make it difficult to use in court, or both, which ever you prefer.

[stillcool]

12. Florida : " Absentee vote count 'will not be a problem' in elections"

By MAURICE TAMMAN

With just days before elections, state officials were scrambling this week to determine whether they had a problem that could call into question tens of thousands of absentee votes.
The problem surfaced in the state's newly minted central voter database, a multimillion-dollar project that is supposed to cleanse the voter rolls of errors and prevent voter fraud.
The Herald-Tribune on Wednesday found thousands of mysterious entries in the tally of historic votes that suggested people had already voted in elections that haven't yet occurred.

"This is not a problem," division spokeswoman Jenny Nash said late Friday afternoon. "There will not be a problem."

The local elections Tuesday will be the first real test of the centralized voter system since it was activated in January.
The central database has been years in the making and has been plagued by problems. The database provides a central warehouse that for the first time records all registered voters at the state level. The database also tracks each time a person in the state votes in an election.

There are local elections scheduled in 14 Florida counties in the coming weeks. For those elections, 23,000 absentee ballots had been recorded in a way that at first made it appear the ballots had been cast.

If there is a problem, it will be particularly acute in a handful of counties: According to the state's January data, there were 7,750 absentee ballot requests in Collier County at the end of January; 3,883 in Escambia County; 3,028 in Okaloosa; and 2,342 in Pinellas County.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060304/NEWS/603040424

[stillcool]

13. Alabama:State election law doesn't give soldiers enough time to vote

By M.J. Ellington
DAILY Staff Writer
[e-mail] · [phone]

MONTGOMERY — Alabamians fighting overseas have as much right to vote as someone in line at the local voting booth, and election laws need to change for that to happen, officials said.
At a Tuesday meeting, officials said June primary and runoff votes might be disrupted either by extending the time between the primary and the runoff or some other means to comply with new federal edicts.

The Justice Department suggested that Alabama accept faxed ballots to help military people in areas where mail is unreliable, a recommendation that King said was puzzling. The Justice Department edict applies only to federal elections.

King said he disagrees with the Justice Department recommendations, as does Secretary of State Nancy Worley, whose office administers elections. Voter privacy issues and the absence of fax equipment in many war zones contribute to their concern.

King also wants a legislative remedy rather than waiting until the Justice Department requests an opinion from a federal judge that forces a remedy on the state.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/060308/vote.shtml

[FogerRox]

15. KnR

[rumpel]

16. SF: Will use ESS as talks with Sequoia fails

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/03/08/BAGD6HKEOU1.DTL

SAN FRANCISCO
Talks fail over voting machines
City lacks contract with Oakland firm for June primary
Charlie Goodyear, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 8, 2006

An Oakland manufacturer of voting machines will not administer the June primary in San Francisco because contract talks broke down Tuesday.

"The fact is that we mutually determined that we will not be working together for this June election, because we don't have a signed contract in place," said Michelle Shafer, a spokeswoman for Sequoia Voting Systems.

Sequoia had won as much as $15 million worth of business to install new voting machines, including touch-screen terminals that could be operated by disabled voters.

But the company had yet to be certified to conduct elections in San Francisco and 19 other jurisdictions by California's secretary of state and was working without a formal contract with the city.

[rumpel]

17. MD: Our say: Voting switch likelier to cause problems than avoid them

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2006/03_08-19/OPN
Opinion

Our say: Voting switch likelier to cause problems than avoid them
By THE CAPITAL EDITORIAL BOARD

Messing with a state's voting machines six months before an election? Ideas don't come much worse. But it's what the governor and Maryland legislators are considering, as they voice second thoughts about the state's electronic voting equipment.

It's not the second thoughts that bother us. Elected officials have every right to insist on voting machines they're confident in. But where were all these doubts years ago, when Diebold Inc.'s machines were approved and purchased? The machines haven't changed and haven't malfunctioned. So why are we facing a last-minute decision now?

Legislators and Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. felt comfortable with the machines when they were introduced. In July 2004, the governor was letting his spokesman say "The governor feels that the newly purchased voting system will provide the integrity that Maryland voters expect and deserve." The year after that, he was vetoing a bill to study adding paper records to the machines.

The legislators and Mr. Ehrlich appeared fully vindicated in 2004, when the election went off with few problems. But now there's a growing national movement to plug printers into electronic machines to create a paper trail for recounts. More than 20 states now require such paper trails. And there's no practical way to modify the Diebold machines for this in time for this year's election.

[rumpel]

20. CO: Commissioners approve buying new vote machines

http://www.themountainmail.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=7450&TM=44469

by Jason Starr
Mail Staff Writer

New electronic voting machines sold by Hart Intercivic of Austin, Texas, were authorized for purchase Tuesday by Chaffee County Commissioners during their regular meeting.

Hart demonstrated its voting system at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds last month for county officials from throughout the state.

Equipment produced by the company was recently certified by the Colorado Secretary of State. Chaffee County will purchase ballot counting devices and electronic voting machines for disabled voters to comply with the Help America Vote Act.

During the meeting Tuesday, county clerk and recorder Joyce Reno said she will use most of a $131,000 grant from the secretary of state to buy the equipment.

About $10,000 remaining will be used to pay Hart employees to train local residents and election officials to use the equipment.

“They will have someone on site here who will be working with us,” Reno said. “They will be available when we need them.”

[rumpel]

24. Denver Post: editorial Vote machines on quick ship

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_3578590

With 93 days before the August primary, Colorado's county clerks might be in better shape than they realize. Secretary of State Gigi Dennis recently certified two types of voting machines that have passed state and federal requirements. A third certification is expected by next Monday.

Altogether, Dennis has reserved 3,060 new voting machines from the three vendors and has commitments for delivery by June 1.

That would give counties 60 days for testing and training, less than the 90 days they hoped for but still enough time if they take a deep breath and focus their attention.

Many clerks are worried that there won't be adequate time for testing machines and staff training. Many are so busy grappling with the red tape that goes with such a huge purchase that they haven't even ordered them. There's still time, but not much.

Some clerks would like lawmakers and the governor to waive current law prohibiting mail ballots in partisan elections for this year only. Larimer County Clerk Scott Doyle, co-chair of the County Clerks Association legislative committee, said 74 percent of clerks would prefer to hold off ordering machines this year and instead use mail ballots for the August primary and Nov. 7 general election.

But Dennis disagrees. "We don't have to have a mail ballot this year," Dennis said. "There should be adequate time for clerks to get training and get acquainted with the new equipment. We're pressing forward. I don't believe this is unreasonable."

[rumpel]

23. PA: Northampton voters challenge machine purchase

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/easton/all-b3_3vote4mar08,0,7382773.story?coll=all-newslocaleaston-hed

March 8, 2006
Northampton voters challenge machine purchase

They take issue with cost and security of county equipment.
By Paul Muschick
Of The Morning Call

A Hanover Township physician and several other voters are challenging Northampton County's purchase of electronic voting machines.

Dr. Alan Brau questions the equipment's cost, accuracy and security.

He said he mailed the challenge Tuesday to the Pennsylvania Department of State, asking it to re-examine its Feb. 17 certification of the machines. Brau e-mailed a copy to The Morning Call.

''I feel that current circumstances and the potential consequences of losing our rights to democratic representation require such action,'' Brau wrote to Commonwealth Secretary Pedro Cortes.

Northampton County has ordered 600 WINvote touch-screen voting machines from Advanced Voting Solutions in Frisco, Texas, to replace its lever machines by the May 16 primary election, as required by federal law. The equipment costs about $2.1 million, with about $1.5 million paid by the state.

While the equipment has been ordered, a contract still has not been signed by County Executive John Stoffa. The contract is being reviewed by Advanced Voting Solutions, and Stoffa said he will sign it after the company does.

Registrar Deborah DePaul said the county stands by the machines. She said they have separate data memories to store and back up data. She said last-minute critics of the national move from paper ballots and lever machines to electronic units are creating panic.

[rumpel]

25. IN: St. Joseph County looks to downsize number of polling places

http://www.wndu.com/news/032006/news_48470.php

Posted: 03/08/2006 06:09 pm
Last Updated: 03/08/2006 06:41 pm

< Watch Broadband Video >

Story filed by NewsCenter16 Reporter
Mark Peterson

St. Joseph County, IN - Democracy is being downsized in St. Joseph County.
A plan for a 15% reduction in the number of polling places is close to being finalized.

The next election will have about 30 fewer polling places than the last one, which could be just the beginning of the downsizing trend.

Tradition, no more
Tradition is something they take very seriously at the BK Club.

While the time honored Belgian bowling leagues will roll on, a long history of voting here will come to a halt.

[Wilms]

30. Great thread Still Cool and Rumpel

Kinda has a ring to it. :D