Email from Bev Harris of Black Box Voting

babsbunny

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Mon May-01-06 06:54 PM
Original message

Email from Bev Harris of Black Box Voting

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Black Box Voting : Ohio Bulletins: URGENT: Get the evidence: Ohio May 2
election
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Posted by Bev Harris on Monday, May 01, 2006 - 11:56 am:

DISTRIBUTE TO ALL OHIO ELECTION MONITORS

This is for your use in Ohio: Two pieces of evidence to gather for the
May 2, 2006 election.

(We know there are many things to look for, many things to do -- and
hats off to the CASE Ohio adopt a BOE project, and all other
independent citizen efforts.)

IT'S TIME FOR THE MOST MASSIVE EVIDENCE GATHERING CAMPAIGN EVER. Let's
get the goods on Ohio.

Here are TWO EASY KINDS OF EVIDENCE THAT EVERYBODY CAN GET - each is
explained below:

1. Tape Record Ohio elections (instructions below)
2. The "Brown Door Check"

Here's the magic password for more information -- go to
http://www.blackboxvoting.org and hit the "forum" tab. The Ohio
election section is right on top. You'll need to Log In -- see left
column. It is a private forum (general public cannot see it) -- Lots
more good info there:

username: buckeyes
password: votehound

1. Tape record Ohio Elections

Ohio is a "single party consent" state for audio recording. What this
means is that it is legal for you to discreetly tape record evidence
-- and it is entirely ethical in any public place.

What to unobtrusively tape record:
Urgent: If you can get there when the polls open - tape record and/or
photograph any situation where machines could not be booted up,
especially if it prevents people from voting. If voting is delayed it
is critical to get attorneys on it immediately to extend the polling
times! Papers generally have to be filed before 11 a.m.

TAPE RECORD THE FOLLOWING:
a. Tape record any interaction you can overhear with any vendor's
staff
b. Tape record any weird, confused or obstructive procedures
c. Important: Get the other person talking, keep your own words to a
minimum. Elicit information with questions:

POLLING PLACE QUESTIONS: Start with innocent-sounding questions:
- "What's this brown door for?"
- "Who's that guy?"

IF APPROPRIATE:
- "Who do you call to fix this?
- "Do you fix it?"
- "Why isn't it working?"

AT THE END ONLY (AFTER INNOCENT QUESTIONS ASKED)
- "Have you seen any problems today?"
- "Do you sign the zero tapes and the end of day tapes?"
- "I know Blackwell told you not to post the poll tapes, but can I
come back and take a picture of it before it leaves here?"

CENTRAL TABULATOR AREA QUESTIONS:

It is typically at the END OF THE EVENING VOTE-COUNTING SHIFT that the
critically important glitches show up. Generally, from 9:30-midnight.

Also: The tendency is to start socializing after the first half-hour,
because it's boring. Suggest having "watch shifts" at central
tabulator where the person recording activity agrees to focus solely
on the counting, avoiding talk. Person on watch should keep themselves
occupied by logging time, who's there, what's happening. If you log
nothing else, get the LAST shift!

TAPE RECORD ANSWERS TO THESE INNOCENT QUESTIONS:
- "What's that?"
- "Who's that guy?"
- "How come he's..."
- "What's he doing?"
- "How often do we get results reports?"
- "Where's he taking that?"
- "What's that new thing he's plugging in?"
- "Where do those cables go?"
- "How do the results get on the Internet?"
- "Where are the guys?"
- (modems) "What are those red circles for? Are those error
messages?"
(GEMS gives green circle when results being modemed from a given site;
red circle means modem problems)

IF APPROPRIATE:
- (If people are huddled) "What's going on/What are they doing?"
- (If GEMS crashes, which happens a lot -- LOG THE TIME, take a
photo/video) : "Can I get the logs tonight regarding that error?"
(GEMS Audit Log)
- (If they bring memory cards in to upload directly, which happens a
lot due to modem problems) "How does the chain of custody work? How do
you know these are the same memory cards?"

At the very end, so you don't get camera confiscated or told to leave
early:
Take photographs of everything you can.
You want the layout of the room, show how visible (or not) the screens
are, and photograph any Diebold people and other people with access to
the tabulator.

2. The Brown Door Check: The Diebold TSx touch-screen has a brown door
hiding the voter verified paper trail. If the door is closed, people
can't verify their vote.

GUESS WHAT? Some jurisdictions have a procedure to keep the door
closed -- and there will not be any signs telling the voter to open
the door.

IT'S YOUR RIGHT AND DUTY TO OPEN THE BROWN DOOR!

Please document the following:

a. Machine serial number(s)/polling place/time when you see the door
closed
b. Any signs telling voters to open the door
c. Get evidence if the doors are closed: Here's how -- (i) Cell phone
photo (ii) pocket tape recorder as you ask the poll workers about it.
d. Submit BROWN DOOR REPORTS to the Ohio Evidence Hunt thread at BBV.

See more (like photos of the brown door, and examples of a good $39
tape recorder) in follow up posts in this thread.

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To be removed from any Ohio bulletins, type "REMOVE" in subject line
and return to crew@blackboxvoting.org

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