Election Reform, Fraud & Related News June 15, 06 Out-House Edition

[kpete]

Election Reform, Fraud & Related News June 15, 06 Out-House Edition

HUGE KUDOS TO AUTORANK FOR CONTINUING THE FIGHT
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=433720&mesg_id=433720




Stewart To RNC Chair Mehlman: “You're The Guy Who Has To Spray Perfume On These Turds”...



All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.
1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.
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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"
for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[kpete]

1. PA: Voting machines' accuracy questioned again

[e-mail]
Posted on Wed, Jun. 14, 2006
Voting machines' accuracy questioned again
By Jennifer Thomas

BELLEFONTE -- With a decision on voting machines for Centre County expected next week, concerns again surfaced at Tuesday's Board of Commissioners meeting about the accuracy of touch-screen machines.

Ben Brewer, 20, of Boalsburg, said he was concerned not only with accuracy, but also about the costs associated with the iVotronic touch-screen system, which does not produce paper verification for voters.

"I like to vote, and I would prefer that my vote be counted," he said.

The county leased voting machines, both the touch-screen and the optical-scan system that allows voters to fill in paper ballots, for the primary election. Part of its rental fee will be applied to the purchase cost, provided the commissioners make a decision on a voting system by July 1.

The technology will cost more than $1 million and need to last for the next decade or longer, said Commissioner Chris Exarchos.

"We can't afford to be buying these machines every other year as technology changes," he said.

more at:
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/14812219.htm

[kpete]

2. No democracy without trust

No democracy without trust
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says in Rolling Stone that the 2004 election was stolen.

Farhad Manjoo says in Salon that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is full of shit.

Steven F. Freeman says in Salon that Farhad Manjoo is full of shit.

I say, I need a drink.

Actually, over the last few years, a number of readers have urged me to speak out on the subject of paperless, computerized voting and related voting fraud issues; I’ve always resisted.

It isn’t that I’ve ever doubted the topic’s importance — without a doubt this is one of the most important issues facing our democracy: What I have doubted is my ability to add anything intelligent to the conversation, given my very rudimentary knowledge of the technical issues involved.

But, on second thought, maybe that isn’t what’s important. Because fundamentally this isn’t a controversy about the merits of any particular voting machine’s programming, or even as to the actual risk of the vote tally being corrupted.

This is about trust — and in particular, the role that trust plays in forming the democratic consensus, defined for our purposes as the willingness of the political minority to peacefully accept the judgment of the majority, subject, of course, to the guarantee of minority rights within a republican framework (different definitions exist).

more at:
http://www.lastchancedemocracycafe.com/?p=364

[mojowork_n]

30. Doris Kearns Goodwin

Just throwing out a name, saw her on MSNBC this morning, where she's a regular guest on The Hat's morning show.

...You're absolutely right that this whole process -- our democracy; the shared, personal sense of justice and values that bind us together, this game we sometimes call "politics" -- requires trust, fair play, and something more than lip service paid to the notion of a "common good".

But ever since Lee Atwater and Karl Rove have been playing the game, abusing that trust has become the norm in political discourse. The entire AM radio Noise Apparatus has been built on a self-sustaining commercial base that relies on turn-of-the-century, Atlantic City Boardwalk, "Squawking-Pitchman" style verbal assaults on gullible, unsuspecting listeners. Has anyone ever paid attention to, or made a study of the products that get hawked under the "As Heard On Rush/Sean/Michael Savage" label? Video cassettes or DVD's touting an exercise routine that will allow you to 'take responsibility' for your own bad eyesight, and throw away your corrective lenses. Videocassettes promoting fool-proof, 100% guaranteed ways to discipline and "control" your "unruly, rebelious" children. Gold coin investment schemes. (Did they hook Congressman Ney, in Ohio?) How to form Nevada or off-shore Bahamas corporations as a way of ducking taxes. (Excuse me, as a self-protective measure towards "wealth preservation".) It's absolutely frightening how dumb the producers for those radio audiences must think their listeners are, but it's apparently been working just fine. Because the commercial messages reinforce the editorial context of the programs. With 'talent on loan from <some Republican Deity or demi-urge>', and 'one hand tied behind their backs', these fast-talking guys are just "taking responsibility" to look out for their listeners best interests, no matter how silly, stupid or twisted their line of patter gets.

Which is how The Hat almost comes off looking good, by comparison, because all he ever does is pitch his non-profit, for-the-children southwest desert charity.

This morning he and Ms. Goodwin were discussing the presidential aspirations of Mssrs. Kerry and Gore in 2008 and The Hat brought up RFK's 'preposterous' (I really can't remember the precise wording of his slam) Rolling Stone article. Ms. Goodwin chimed in, "that's just red meat..." but I didn't think she sounded like she'd actually read the thing. There have been some awesome, extremely interesting discussions of this whole topic in the last few weeks. I think someone needs to be working to pull together the best of the posts/diaries (OK, there's been some great give-and-take on Kos, too) and forward them to people like Ms. Kearns Goodwin. So next time she's on a huge media stage, someone with credibility and good sense (our best presidential historian, say) can confront the ignorant, clueless, arrogant bastards who are in control of all the microphones.

Here's one from yesterday that had very technical feedback from actual statisticians:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x433720

[kpete]

3. Not all see Democratic landslide in November election

Not all see Democratic landslide in November election

WASHINGTON — The poll numbers are so bleak for congressional Republicans these days that Democrats already have started arguing over who will get what committee chairmanship when the House returns to their control after the November midterm elections. Surveys show the president and his party trailing in almost every category of voter, from Catholics to Wal-Mart shoppers.

The current minority is so optimistic that Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a 32-year veteran of Congress, has made it clear he would like to be majority leader.

What has mainly boosted Democrats' morale to near-hysteria is the abysmal overall performance rating of President Bush, brought about largely by a growing frustration over Iraq. The numbers leave little doubt that most Americans now believe the invasion was a mistake and don't see a clear way out of what to them is becoming more and more like a Vietnam-type morass.

But hold on. Counting the votes before they're cast is always dangerous, and at least one highly respected pollster, John Zogby, believes Democrats are some distance from "closing the deal." In fact, at this point he doesn't see the kind of landslide that would put the Democrats back in charge of the House after a 12-year hiatus. A major reason in addition to a lack of coherent programs is that they are "tongue tied" on Iraq. He says that 90 percent of those questioned who view the war as their No. 1 issue are opposed to it and that the failure of most Democrats to speak out has left these voters uncertain.

more at:
http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=13250

[kpete]

4. Webb Wins

June 13, 2006
Live Election Results
Updated at 10:00 pm ET

Webb Wins

Allen Readies For "Fight"
Who Calls Doug Wilder First?

Pragmatists Defeat Ideologists; Warner Calls To Congratulate Webb; Kerry Heads To Victory Party; Webb Issues Debate Challenge; Big NoVa Turnout Good News For Sen. Tom Davis (R) '08?

In SC, incumbent Gov. Sanford (R) survives strong challenge from Lovelace, demonstrating base discontent; St. Sen. Moore (D) wins convincingly but has little money and a skeletal campaign staff...


Webb: 53.3% | Miller: 46.69%
with 99% in.

Webb, in his victory speech, notes that he has hand surgery tomorrow. He mentions that the DSCC, per his conversation with Reid and Schumer, will help his campaign...Webb asks "How many bloggers we got here" and a huge cheer... (There are approx. 200 at the party... Probably 25 bloggers... ) Webb said the campaign "stood firm on our convictions and those convictions will cont to guide iin the coming months." Webb said Sen. George Allen "blindly" follows the Bush admin. "I wonder, George, what leadership?" Webb, asks noting Allens' TV ad tagline of "leadership and commonsense." Webb calls Iraq a "strategic blunder" and says it's not leadership to "remain silent" regarding domestic spying.

Webb then issued a debate challenge to Allen, asking for a series of forums on iraq, nat'l security, economy, immigration etc...

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/06/live_election_r.html

[kpete]

5. In Kansas, a Troubling Fissure for GOP

In Kansas, a Troubling Fissure for GOP
By Nicholas Riccardi, Times Staff Writer
June 13, 2006

TOPEKA, Kan. — Mark Parkinson got his start in Republican politics at age 19, as a precinct committeeman. He served six years as a Republican state legislator, eventually becoming state Republican chairman.

But two weeks ago, Parkinson announced he was running for lieutenant governor — as a Democrat. He said he no longer felt welcome in the increasingly conservative Kansas Republican Party.

Parkinson became the third Republican politician in the last nine months to startle this red state by switching to the minority party. The other two are targeting GOP incumbents in the attorney general's office and in the state House of Representatives.

Political observers say the fracture within the Kansas GOP may foreshadow the future for the national party. The division between moderates and social conservatives is expected to define the contest for the party's 2008 presidential nomination.

Kansas has been at the forefront of the culture wars that helped the Republican Party gain national dominance this decade. Twice in the last seven years, its Board of Education voted to teach alternatives to evolution in public schools. Voters in 2005 overwhelmingly approved a ban on gay marriage. The state's attorney general last year subpoenaed medical records of abortion patients.

more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-kansas13jun13,0,5844578.story?coll=la-home-nation

[kpete]

6. Bilingual ballot fate debated

Bilingual ballot fate debated
English-only bills gain; Voting Act scrutinized
BY LISA FRIEDMAN, Washington Bureau

Betty Goldman was 4 when her family fled the Russian Revolution, immigrated to America and settled in Eureka, Calif.

As an adult with only a primary-school education, Goldman spoke and wrote English well enough to become a naturalized U.S citizen.

But at election time, Goldman always relied on her children to translate California's lengthy and complicated ballot measures.

"She could never really fully understand the propositions," Goldman's daughter, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, recalled at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday on the future of bilingual ballots.

"I don't know what she would have done if she didn't have us to read it and discuss it with her."

As Congress debates whether to strip provisions requiring states to provide multilingual election materials from the Voting Rights Act, personal stories like Feinstein's appear to be playing a pivotal role for those on both sides of the emotional English-only issue.

But Feinstein and others said that while they don't believe the provision will be cut, it could come in for revision.

The hearing came on the heels of two Senate amendments to the pending immigration bill making English the official language of the United States.

Both passed by large margins.

more at:
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_3933736

[kpete]

7. Democrats Abroad wants you to exercise your right to vote.

Democrats Abroad wants you to exercise your right to vote.
I'd like to ask people to remind Americans overseas to register to vote.
http://www.votefromabroad.com/

[kpete]

8. Link to latest polling results on senate races

http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/polls06.htm

Link to latest polling results on senate races- just move your cursor to the state you want to see.

It’s getting a little better.

Dems need to take:

Pennsylvania
Montana
Ohio
Missouri
Rhode Island
and Tennessee (or some other state)

and hold their own states- New Jersey, Minnesota, and Maryland are all vulnerable. If they pull this off- it’s bye bye gooper majority leader.

[kpete]

9. Colbert and RFK Jr. on the Stolen Election

Colbert and RFK Jr. on the Stolen Election

Posted by Jennifer Fox at 9:10 AM on June 13, 2006.

Stephen Colbert interviews RFK Jr. about his recent Rolling Stone article on the theft of the 2004 election.

Stephen Colbert opened his interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by saying, "You have caused quite a stir sir." He is of course talking about RFK's article that appeared in 'Rolling Stone' several weeks ago claiming that the Republicans stole the 2004 election.

The interview focuses mostly on Ohio, where Kennedy states that official tallies do not match up to "voter intention." He crunches some numbers to support his claim, namely that 80,000 residents had their votes switched. Colbert interjects at this point that, "Maybe those 80,000 people were just like Kerry and they flip-flopped."

When Colbert asks how you can determine voter intention, RFK tells him, in short, that African American community vote tallies were inconsistent with the general consensus of the African American community to vote for Democrats over Republicans. When Colbert points out that Lincoln was a Republican, RFK quickly responds, "But the parties have switched since then."

RFK concludes, "We're over in Iraq fighting a war ... to create a democracy over there, but we should have democracy in Ohio and these other states as well."

VIDEO AT:http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/37521/

[kpete]

10. Thoughts from Someone who LIVES in Ohio

Thoughts from Someone who LIVES in Ohio
Posted by: 3reddogs on Jun 14, 2006 8:18 AM

.............. Kennedy isn't alleging VOTER fraud, he's alleging ELECTION fraud. (There's a big difference!) There may not be much new in RFK Jr's article but it's the first one I've read that pulls together ALL of the things that went on here in 2004, little things and not-so-little things, most a matter of public record and some a matter of COURT record as the Ohio courts kept ruling against one Blackwell disenfranchisement effort after another (but only after most of the damage had already been done).

If you're in complete denial about the possibility of elections being stolen in America, YOU'RE the one who needs to "get over it", not me. Is there really any difference between tampering with vote counts (PROBABLY happened in Ohio) and disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters (DEFINITELY happened in Ohio) when the end result is the same? This doesn't require some giant conspiracy -- it just takes a few dedicated election officials and a state government controlled by a single party. (In 2004 Ohio had a Republican governor, attorney general and secretary of state AND a Republican-controlled house and senate.) Election fraud happened in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 and you can be damned sure the wheels have already been set in motion to try to keep the GOP stranglehold on the Federal government good and tight this November!

Parting thougt: Exit polls used to be completely accurate and reliable (within +/- 1%) . Stop and ask yourselves why exit polls that used to be so damned accurate suddenly stopped being reliable in 2000. Instead of finding excuses for why exit polls were way off the mark in 2000 and 2004 why not at least start investigating the obvious alternative explanation -- that vote counts were tampered with!! (Our secretary of state, Ken Blackwell, has fought tooth and nail against any complete recount of our 2004 election results and in 3 months ALL 2004 Ohio ballots will be destroyed, along with any proof that fraud was perpetrated!) Oh, by the way, in February 2006 our Republican governor, Bob Taft, signed into law legislation written and passed by our Republican-controlled legislature that among other voter suppression provisions eliminates the state statutes that have allowed citizens to challenge the outcome of Federal elections within the state. The only apparent recourse for those wishing to officially question the vote count in a presidential, US Senate or US Congressional race in Ohio would be to petition the United States Congress to initiate a challenge!! (If you don't believe me, google "Ohio HB3" )

As for me, I'll be voting in November using Ohio's ABSENTEE BALLOT process -- at least I'll get a paper ballot to complete. Ken Blackwell may throw it in the garbage but at least my vote won't get "switched" to a Republican candidate or wind up in some cyber sewer system.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/37521/?comments=view&cID=136767&pID=136722#c136767

[mod mom]

18. eliminates the ability citizens to challenge fed elections: Frightening

isn't it? HB 3 was protested by a small group of Election reform activists. While Dem state senators and representatives spoke out about about this, where were the party faithful in screaming how UN AMERICAN this is? A relatively small number of activists can not carry the burden alone. We need everyone to rise up and show their outrage.

[kpete]

24. mod mom

I hear you.
I am relatively new to this issue.

I feel more and more alone
and more and more afraid.

I am Outraged that there is so little outrage...

Thanks for your comment.

[mod mom]

26. I have children, so I am emboldened to fight for their future. We are not

alone, we just have to convince others that we ALL must stand up to these thugs.

Funny but my daughter is 8 yo, so you will have to excuse the poor musical reference, but she has been listening to the soundtrack from High School Musical and in particular a song called "We're all in this Together". Definitely a pop song, but has a catchy beat. I have to hear over and over and over. The message strikes a chord: We are all in this together!

[robinlynne]

31. what is HB3?

[kpete]

11. Recipe For A Fair Election

Recipe For A Fair Election
Steven Hill
June 12, 2006


Steven Hill is author of the recently published 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy and director of the Political Reform Program of the New America Foundation.

Part II of a two-part series, Part I appeared on June 5, 2006.

Heading into the 2006 congressional and state elections, fair election advocates need to remain vigilant, particularly in the handful of close races where a swing of a small number of votes could change an election outcome. Longer term, activists must turn their efforts to a more visionary agenda that will ensure fair and secure elections in the 21st century. Here are the reforms necessary for modernizing our elections and making sure that every vote is counted.

......................

4. Develop “public interest” voting equipment. At the very least, advocates of fair elections should demand a voter-verified paper trail so that any recounts will have a chance of uncovering errors or fraud. We have such an audit trail for ATM transactions; are our votes less important? Better still, the Holy Grail of election administration practices is what I call “public interest voting equipment”—the states and/or the federal government develop their own voting equipment and become vendors themselves. Instead of the nuts and bolts of our democracy being in the hands of private for-profit companies, a government commission would contract with the sharpest minds in the private sector to develop open source software that would be owned and managed by the state or federal government. That voting equipment then could be offered, either in competition with the private sector or solely as part of a statewide system deployed to rich and poor neighborhoods alike, to ensure that every voter is using the same, best equipment. Also, the testing and certification process would be fully public, subject to the rules and disclosures of open government, instead of how it is now, usually behind closed doors with little accountability.

Lest this suggestion seem radical, other nations such as Belgium, India, Argentina and Brazil already do this. India— the world’s largest democracy with twice as many voters as in the United States—held nationwide elections with voters from New Delhi to the Himalayas, illiterate voters and polyglot communities, nearly all of them voting on the same computerized equipment owned, developed and operated by the government in conjunction with the private sector. It is hard for a nation as proud as the United States to admit that we are playing catch-up to India and Brazil when it comes to election administration, but that is in fact the case. This is not rocket science, yet the United States lags woefully behind.

more at:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/06/12/recipe_for_a_fair_election.php

[kpete]

12. Orange County residents examine voting machines of the future

Orange County residents examine voting machines of the future

A large number of Orange County residents Tuesday attended demonstrations to learn more about possible new voting machines under the federal Help America Vote Act.

Each county’s elections commissioners in New York, and there are two per county, will select the machine to buy.

Republican Orange County Elections Commissioner David Green said they want the input from county residents before he and Democrat Elections Commissioner Susan Bahren make their choice.

“Every person who came through to look at the demonstration was given a handout where they could rate the equipment they looked at,” he said. “We’ll take that into consideration.”

Bahren also wants voter input. “We have an idea of the type of machine we are leaning today, but we are going to wait until we find out what the population here today is going to tell us what the easiest is to use.”

The two basic new machines are computerized. One uses a paper ballot that is scanned by a computer, with the paper retained. The other uses a computer touch-screen to record votes.

http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/OC_vote_mach-14Jun06.htm

[kpete]

13. 17 votes from primary discovered

17 votes from primary discovered

By Lara Brenckle
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Allegheny County election officials combing through a warehouse a final time Monday discovered 17 missing optical scan ballots from the city's 12th Ward stashed in an equipment-carrying case.

Elections Director Mark Wolosik announced the discovery at the Board of Elections meeting, where the three-member panel was meeting to certify the results of the May 16 primary.

After questioning from voting rights advocates and individual voters about verifiability, the board voted unanimously to conditionally accept the results of the primary election. The results, the board said, will not be fully certified until the 17 found ballots are officially tabulated.

By conditionally accepting the votes, there is no need for a second meeting.

more at:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_457758.html

[kpete]

14. Voting Machine Company Apologizes To Kern County

Voting Machine Company Apologizes To Kern County

POSTED: 9:21 pm PDT June 13, 2006
UPDATED: 9:21 pm PDT June 13, 2006

BAKERSFIELD -- The company whose voter access cards led to last week's election fiasco apologized to Kern County Tuesday.

Diebolt Vice President Steven Moreland took full responsibility for the snafu.

The company makes the electronic voting machines and voter access cards.

The mishap led to long lines and voters were turned away from the polls.

Moreland said they didn't know the enhanced security measure on their voting machines would reject old voter access cards.

"In no way should this reflect on your election staff," said Moreland. "The staff you have here is extremely professional, very talented, and passionate about their job there is no way could they have fore seen the circumstance happening because we did not know about it or communicate it internally."

Next week, the board will meet to discuss whether to strop County Clerk Ann Barnett of her duties with the election department.

more at:
http://www.turnto23.com/news/9366552/detail.html

[kpete]

15. Election Results are in for 2006

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Election Results are in for 2006

In an unusual departure from tradition, Diebold Inc. today announced the results of the 2006 congressional races months before any actual votes have been cast or tabulated. As predicted by Fox News, Republicans did surprisingly well and have not only maintained their majorities in both houses but have slightly added to their numbers. In the Senate, Republicans gained one seat with Hillary Clinton's loss to Britney Spears. In the House of Representatives Republicans gained two seats with the election of the Bush twins who eked out narrow victories over the Barbi Twins.

Ken Mehlman, a spokesperson for Diebold, said "the old way of doing elections is so archaic. This new technology from Diebold that counts the votes before they are cast saves money and time. It is the wave of the future."

http://assimilatedpress.blogspot.com/2006/06/election-results-are-in-for-2006.html

[kpete]

16. Vote-Switching Software Provided by Vendors

Vote-Switching Software Provided by Vendors

Posted By John Gideon On 14th June 2006 @ 09:11 In Diebold, ES&S, Election Irregularities, Hart InterCivic |



The above map shows recent ballot programming flaws across the country.

These are just some of the places where the failures will be in Nov. 2006. How can companies that can't program a couple state's machines for a primary election do 20 to 50 states all at the same time?

Trainwreck ahead. Don't say we didn't warn you.

larger map + more info at:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=2960

[autorank]

17. Kennedy's Challenge:... Salon & Mother Jones he Tortured Dialog

althecat Donating Member (Wed Jun-14-06 06:21 AM
Original message

AUTORANK Kennedy’s Challenge - Salon, Mother Jones & the Tortured Decalogue

Kennedy’s Challenge:
Salon, Mother Jones & the Tortured Dialog
On Election Fraud 2004

Michael Collins
“Scoop” Independent News
Washington, DC
Co-Published at
www.electionfraudnews.com

ink: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/print.html?path=HL0606/S00193.htm

[kpete]

19. Rove mum on phone-jamming scandal

June 13th, 2006 2:49 am
Rove mum on phone-jamming scandal

By John Distaso / Union Leader

MANCHESTER, NH -- Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove refused last night to talk about the 2002 Republican phone-jamming scandal that has led to the convictions of three GOP operatives.

Before speaking to about 500 activists at the New Hampshire Republican State Committee's annual dinner, Rove was asked by the New Hampshire Union Leader to comment on the operation, in which Democrats allege he may have had a role.

"Listen to my speech," Rove said. "It will be a good one for you." The speech was a defense of Bush administration economic and foreign policy and did not mention phone jamming.

more at:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7240

[kpete]

20. Diebold Dumps Deloitte Outsourcing Contract

Diebold Dumps Deloitte Outsourcing Contract
Takes back implementation and support for its Oracle ERP system

Michael Cooney

Maybe it's not exactly life imitating art, but it's as close as you can come in the outsourcing world. Diebold has dumped its outsourcing contract with Deloitte Consulting to bring those IT functions back in house.

The ironic part was that in April 2005, Deloitte issued results of a study that found few organizations had realized the benefits they expected and many were bringing outsourced projects back in-house. In fact, the survey of 25 large organizations with a combined US$50 billion in outsourcing contracts found that 70 percent have had negative experiences with outsourcing projects and are now taking a more cautious approach. One in four companies has brought outsourced functions back in-house and nearly half have failed to see the cost savings they anticipated as a result of outsourcing.

In the Diebold case, the automated teller machine company is taking back implementation and support for its Oracle global enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and the IT-related functions, effective June 1. The contract cancellation will cost Diebold around $7 million in termination fees, as the original contract with Deloitte was to run seven years.

In a statement, Diebold said it wanted to retain control of its key applications and that the strategy will bring back to Diebold approximately 80 IT employees, the majority of whom were employed by Diebold prior to the original outsourcing agreement.

http://www.oswmag.com/news/viewArticle/ARTICLEID=1592

[kpete]

21. Tallahassee is nervous about prospect of still more security flaws

Published Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Tallahassee Meddles Locally

Silly us; we thought that county elections supervisors were elected officials sworn to uphold the integrity of the democratic process. But local supervisors are being bound by everconstricting bureaucratic strings to Tallahassee's will.

The state Division of Elections is proposing rules that will require local elections supervisors to get pre-clearance before they do anything rash -- like subject their optical-scan voting machines to independent testing to find out whether they can be hacked.

Not only will supervisors be required to submit a "testing plan" to Tallahassee, but they will also be obliged to notify the machines' manufacturer before any independent testing can occur.

"The purpose is to make the process more transparent," Jenny Nash, spokeswoman for the Department of State, told The Miami Herald last week.

So why the new rules? Probably because one supervisor, Leon County's Ion Sancho, agreed to let computer hackers penetrate the security system in his Diebold optical-scan voting machines. "The flaws exposed by the effort eventually led California, and then Florida, to devise new security procedures that prohibit one person from ever being alone with voting equipment," the Herald reported.

Officials, Sancho told the newspaper, "don't want to be embarrassed by any supervisor of elections finding something wrong." The rules will also spell out credential requirements for eligible testers, to further restrict the ability of supervisors to hire just any computer experts.

That Tallahassee doesn't want any more embarrassments in regard to suspect voting machines this election year is no big surprise. When it comes to maintaining public confidence in the integrity of elections, the credo of Florida's political leadership seems to be "what they don't know won't hurt them." Despite several tests, in Florida and elsewhere, that have pointed to the vulnerability of optical-scan machines, the Legislature refused to pass a bill this year that would require those ATM-like machines to include a paper audit trail.

So of course Tallahassee is nervous about the prospect of still more security flaws being exposed this close to another election.

more at:
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060614/NEWS/606140336/1036

[Algorem]

22. Ohio Republican State Representative responds(lies) in letter to editor

http://www.freetimes.com/story/324

Letters
Published June 14, 2006

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG

Last week's City Chatter repeated allegations made against Secretary of State Ken Blackwell regarding the 2004 presidential election ("So Dark The Con of Ken" http://www.freetimes.com/story/285 ). Many of these accusations have been made before. As vice chairman of the Ohio House Elections and Ethics Committee, I have had the chance to hear some of these allegations and find some answers.

Additionally, I participated in the election and can say from firsthand experience that there absolutely were problems with the 2004 election, but most of those problems were associated with mechanical problems, vagaries, and human failings not affiliated with any political party or candidate...

Editor's note: While it's tempting to dismantle Rep. Trakas's letter line by line, we'll stick to the two most important points. First, he claims that the 2004 election in Ohio suffered only from "mechanical problems, vagaries and human failings not affiliated with any political party or candidate." Strangely, however, virtually all of those "vagaries" benefited one candidate: President Bush. As writer Christopher Hitchens, no fan of John Kerry's, put it in Vanity Fair in March 2005: "But what strikes my eye is this: In practically every case where lines were too long or machines too few, the foul-up was in a Democratic county or precinct, and in practically every case where machines produced impossible or improbable outcomes it was the challenger who suffered and the actual or potential Democratic voters who were shortchanged, discouraged, or held up to ridicule as chronic undervoters or as sudden converts to fringe-party losers … Whichever way you shake it, or hold it to the light, there is something about the Ohio election that refuses to add up."

Secondly, Rep. Trakas is either lying or displaying gross ignorance when he claims that "these allegations have been thoroughly investigated and found to be not true." The only thorough investigation of the 2004 Ohio election — conducted by the Democratic staff of the House Judiciary Committee, at the request of Congressman John Conyers — found "massive and unprecedented voter irregularities and anomalies in Ohio," many of them "caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior, much of it involving Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio." The full report is available at
www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohiostatusrept1505.pdf.

...


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x432136

[kpete]

23. Oh boy,

some company

Thanks!!!

[Kurovski]

25. K&R. And the odd thing about "spraying perfume on turds"

is that some of that perfume has an even more disagreeable odor.

[fooj]

27. Here's a good election reform thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=433908&mesg_id=433969

It has over 5 votes...don't know why it isn't on the greatest!

[autorank]

28. kpete, Thank you!!! I was langhing so hard at that pic, I failed to

notice the delux placement of the link to the "Scoop" article.

I've tried to stay above the fray at times but I'll always know that to one DUer, I belong
above the little wooden houses. That is a great pic;)

[Wilms]

29. VR: Petition Demanding 100% Hand Recount of Busby-Bilbray Special Election

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION BELOW TO DEMAND THAT THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY CALIFORNIA REGISTRAR OF VOTERS CONDUCT A 100% RECOUNT OF THE BALLOTS IN THE BUSBY-BILBRAY SPECIAL ELECTION TO ENSURE CONFIDENCE IN THE RESULTS

Demand That The Busby-Bilbray Election Results In CA-50 Be 100% Hand Counted To Ensure That The Results Are Accurate In Light Of Improper Procedures On Diebold Machines Used In The Election

snip/sign it

http://www.velvetrevolution.us/content/busby-bilbray/busby-bilbray.php


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x434003