Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday 8/1/06

[Melissa G]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday 8/1/06

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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

If you can:

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.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

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.



If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391



Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[Melissa G]

1. WORST EVER SECURITY FLAW FOUND IN DIEBOLD TS VOTING MACHINE

Thanks to wilms for the post and DU discussion found here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x444279


Subject: WORST EVER SECURITY FLAW FOUND IN DIEBOLD TS VOTING MACHINE
Contact: Alan Dechert
Reference: http://www.openvotingfoundation.org/ts


SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- "This may be the worst security flaw we have seen in touch screen voting machines," says Open Voting Foundation president, Alan Dechert. Upon examining the inner workings of one of the most popular paperless touch screen voting machines used in public elections in the United States, it has been determined that with the flip of a single switch inside, the machine can behave in a completely different manner compared to the tested and certified version.

"Diebold has made the testing and certification process practically irrelevant," according to Dechert. "If you have access to these machines and you want to rig an election, anything is possible with the Diebold TS -- and it could be done without leaving a trace. All you need is a screwdriver." This model does not produce a voter verified paper trail so there is no way to check if the voter's choices are accurately reflected in the tabulation.

Open Voting Foundation is releasing 22 high-resolution close up pictures of the system. This picture , in particular, shows a “BOOT AREA CONFIGURATION” chart painted on the system board. (note: after clicking this link, remove the comma at the end of the url in the address bar an hit enter.)

The most serious issue is the ability to choose between "EPROM" and "FLASH" boot configurations. Both of these memory sources are present. All of the switches in question (JP2, JP3, JP8, SW2 and SW4) are physically present on the board. It is clear that this system can ship with live boot profiles in two locations, and switching back and forth could change literally everything regarding how the machine works and counts votes. This could be done before or after the so-called "Logic And Accuracy Tests".

A third possible profile could be field-added in minutes and selected in the "external flash" memory location, the interface for which is present on the motherboard.

This is not a minor variation from the previously documented attack point on the newer Diebold TSx. To its credit, the TSx can only contain one boot profile at a time. Diebold has ensured that it is extremely difficult to confirm what code is in a TSx (or TS) at any one time but it is at least theoretically possible to do so. But in the TS, a completely legal and certified set of files can be instantly overridden and illegal uncertified code be made dominant in the system, and then this situation can be reversed leaving the legal code dominant again in a matter of minutes.

http://www.openvotingfoundation.org

[Melissa G]

2. Mexico City at standstill

Mexico City at standstill
Crowds of election protesters block the streets, anger commuters.
By Mark Stevenson, Associated Press



MEXICO CITY - Supporters of Mexico's leftist presidential candidate brought rush-hour traffic to a crawl Monday, causing the stock market to drop and forcing office workers dressed in business suits and high heels to hike for miles to work.
The sprawling tent cities in the financial heart of the Mexican capital were another sign that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his supporters won't accept anything less than victory from the top electoral court.

The tribunal is weighing allegations that fraud gave ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon a slight advantage in the July 2 election. It has until Sept. 6 to declare a president-elect or annul the elections.

Lopez Obrador is demanding a vote-for-vote recount, and has vowed to block the city center until the Federal Electoral Tribunal rules on his request.

snip
Encinas said Monday his government wouldn't forcibly remove the protesters. President Vicente Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, said federal authorities also won't step in, unless the city requests help.

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_4118805

[Melissa G]

3. Pressure for New Recount Mounts in Mexico

Pressure for New Recount Mounts in Mexico
MEXICO CITY. - More than 2.4 million people took part Sunday in a march called by the coalition that backed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the July 2nd presidential elections.
The rally was the third to take place in the capital since the elections in demand of a vote-by-vote recount over alleged widespread irregularities.

Lopez Obrador began the march at the entrance of Chapultepec Woods on route to the Zocalo Square, the city's main plaza, where he was awaited by hundreds of thousands of followers since very early in the morning.

The former mayor of Mexico City was accompanied during the march by leaders of his political party, (Party of the Democratic Revolution, PRD) and sympathizers that shouted " vote-by-vote, polling booth by polling booth.”

The protest exceeded by more than a million participants the demonstration that took place along the Paseo de la Reforma avenue of Mexico City on July 16.

http://www.periodico26.cu/english/news_world/mexico073106.htm

[Melissa G]

4. Mexico's Stocks, Bonds Fall as Lopez Obrador Steps Up Protests

Mexico's Stocks, Bonds Fall as Lopez Obrador Steps Up Protests
July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico's bonds, stocks and currency fell on concern protests by supporters of presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador may turn violent.

The benchmark 10-year bond fell by the most in almost four weeks as supporters staged 47 separate demonstrations in Mexico City, blocking access to main roadways. Lopez Obrador and protesters plan to camp out at the locations while the electoral court weighs a petition to recount ballots from the July 2 elections.

``These camps create a fear that it could become something more unruly, and it's that uncertainty that is causing some concerns in the markets today,'' Christian Stracke, head of emerging-market fixed-income research at CreditSights Inc., said in a phone interview from New York. For financial markets, ``these protests could make life difficult.''

The yield on the 8 percent bond due in December 2015 rose 10 basis points, or 0.10 percentage point, to 8.55 percent. The price, which moves inversely to the yield, fell 0.61 centavo to 96.47 centavos, the biggest decline since July 5, according to Santander Central Hispano SA.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aN3Vh5kYoeuo&refer=latin_america

[Melissa G]

5. RAW STORY Coverage of Busby/Bilbray Contest, Exclusive Interview with Atto

BLOGGED BY Brad ON 7/31/2006 10:18AM
RAW STORY Coverage of Busby/Bilbray Contest, Exclusive Interview with Attorney Paul Lehto
Lehto on San Diego County Registrar's Inability to Deploy Voting Machines Securely: 'If he can’t handle it, he should get a new job.'
ALSO: Lehto Now Scheduled to Appear on Ed Schultz Today at 5:30pm ET (2:30pm PT)
Blogged by Brad on the road…

RAW STORY's Miriam Raftery offers more details on today's filing of an Election Contest in the Busby/Bilbray race (covered by The BRAD BLOG late last night). Her excellent coverage includes an exclusive interview with attorney Paul Lehto who is speeding to the courthouse in San Diego even as I write this, with a press conference to follow at 10:30am PT as reported previously.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3155

[Melissa G]

6. GIs made sure votes counted in 'Battle of Athens'

GIs made sure votes counted in 'Battle of Athens'
By BILL POOVEY, Associated Press
August 1, 2006


ATHENS, Tenn. - If video of U.S. soldiers fighting in the name of democracy a world away isn't enough to inspire voters in an election year, Harold Powers thinks they should know about the day when GIs just back from war took up arms at home to make their votes count.
The "Battle of Athens" began Aug. 1, 1946, when veterans in the GI Non-Partisan League opened fire on the local jail to stop a courthouse ring from stealing an election.


The GI rallying cry: "Why fight overseas for freedom and come home and be denied the right to have your ballot counted?"

Felix Harrod, 84, was a 25-year-old poll watcher at the courthouse during the shootout between GIs - some using weapons seized from an armory - and law officers, including one with a machine gun.

At the time, Harrod said, it was common for incumbents in the county about 45 miles northeast of Chattanooga to "take the ballot boxes to the jail and stuff them with pre-marked ballots."

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_4884588,00.html

[Melissa G]

7. DU discussion Here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203

[Melissa G]

8. Group Of 50th District Voters Asks For Recount

Group Of 50th District Voters Asks For Recount
Suit Alleges `Sleepovers' With Voting Machines

POSTED: 6:44 pm PDT July 31, 2006
UPDATED: 7:01 pm PDT July 31, 2006



SAN DIEGO -- A group of voters in the 50th Congressional District filed a lawsuit Monday asking for a recount of all the ballots.

Republican Brian Bilbray defeated Democrat Francine Busby in the June special election and the suit alleges the County Registrar of Voters violated procedures.

An attorney for the voters claims the Registrar sent voting machines on what he called ``sleepovers'' to the homes of volunteer poll workers.


Paul Lehto said that could have led to several irregularities violating state and federal law.

``It could have been ballot definition fraud,'' Lehto said. ``That's when they flip the results so that if you vote for one candidate, it's recorded as a vote for another candidate. It could have been absentee voter fraud; there are reports of up to 10,000 absentee ballots submitted in the last few days of the election. very high numbers."

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/9605603/detail.html

[Melissa G]

9. Voting machine vendor vows to improve communications with Ark.

State News

Voting machine vendor vows to improve communications with Ark.


By ANDREW DeMILLO
Monday, July 31, 2006 8:51 PM CDT

LITTLE ROCK - The chief of a Nebraska company that provided electronic voting machines to Arkansas' counties on Monday said the firm would improve communications and take steps to prevent problems in November similar to the delays that plagued the May 23 primary.

Aldo Tesi, president and CEO of Election Systems & Software, told a panel of election officials that the company would address several recommendations made in an independent review of the primary election.

"For more than 25 years, ES&S has partnered with Arkansas election officials to carry out the election prcoess," Tesi said Monday. "We are strongly committed to the state, and to enhancing the voting experience for all Arkansas voters."

A bipartisan committee of state and local election officials accepted a report issued July 20 on how ES&S performed under a $15.9 million contract with the state. Secretary of State Charlie Daniels ordered the review following a problem-plagued primary riddled with delays that stretched out vote-counting for days.

http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/2006/07/31/ap-state-ar/d8j79gtg0.txt

[Melissa G]

10. State examines local voting problems

State examines local voting problems



Posted 7/31/06
BAKERSFIELD - A State Senate committee is examining voting problems that have occurred around the state, including here in Bakersfield.
For most voters in Kern County, memories of the voting snafus in the June primary have faded. However, for state lawmakers asked to examine voting problems throughout the state, it’s just the beginning.

On Monday, the panel focused on the technical glitches that surfaced the morning of June 6 and halted voting at numerous precincts throughout the county. The culprit was believed to be faulty security access cards.

By midday the problem was fixed, but not before the damage had been done and county supervisors were demanding answers from elections officials. In addition, there was a 3 1/2 hour delay in election results that night.

In Bakersfield, witnesses were called on to testify including representatives of Diebold Elections Systems, county elections officials and precinct workers.

Chief Deputy Registrar, Sandy Brockman, was grilled by the panel, asking her why precinct workers were told they didn't need to test their machines before election day, and why volunteers weren't trained in the use of paper ballots should their machines fail and why inexperienced workers were allowed inside the elections secure area that night.

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=70F4DAC3-7BFA-4108-AF0F-433341C890A0

[Melissa G]

11. There will be an AUDIT this November in Vermont!

Thanks to Garybeck for the post and all his Great Work! DU discussion here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x444302
From Gary...


I just got off the phone with the Secretary of State's office. They told me that our SoS has decided there will be an audit on our Diebold Opscan system this November! They don't have any details yet on number of precincts, how they will be chosen, etc, but they will release public statement soon and more details as they are decided.

We still have a ways to go but this is a significant step in the right direction. This is not a mandatory audit; it is being conducted at the discretion of the Secretary of State Deb Markowitz. Vermonters for Voting Integrity will watch very closely for the details of the audit and raise alarms if it seems it will not be conducted properly (in public view, chosen randomly, quantity counted...)

And we will continue to push for mandatory audits on all elections, so we don't have to knock down the SoS's office door every year asking for it.

We are still waiting for a response to Deb's statement that we are in compliance with the Brennan recommendations, which is not true. Brennan states there should be automatic mandatory audits on every election, while this is voluntary and there is no assurance that there will be another audit next time. I (we) feel that Deb has misrepresented the facts by stating we are in compliance with Brennan when we are not. My guess is they'll get back to us and say that they made a mistake in claiming we are in compliance.

Read more here..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x444302

[Kurovski]

12. Kick to the top.

Thank you, Melissa G!

[freedomfries]

13. K & R

:patriot:

[Melissa G]

14. Conyers:Electronic Voting Machines: The Worst Ever Security Flaw

Thanks to Cal04 for the post and the DU discusssion here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x444440

Conyers:Electronic Voting Machines: The Worst Ever Security Flaw
The Open Voting Foundation recently got its hands on an electronic voting machine from Diebold, took it apart,and found some very troubling things about the security shortfalls of these machines.

Featured on slashdot.com, a blog for technology experts and enthusiasts who spend little time on politics, the commenters on this subject were aghast at how simple hacking such a machine would be.

While the slashdot audience may not hold politics in the highest regard, it is very illuminating to see how an audience of technologically gifted people regard our voting systems with such disdain. Their disgust is well-deserved and suggests all Americans should be aware of these machines' vulnerability.

http://www.conyersblog.us/default.htm


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Subject: WORST EVER SECURITY FLAW FOUND IN DIEBOLD TS VOTING MACHINE
http://www.openvotingfoundation.org/index.html

Worst Ever Security Flaw in Diebold Voting Machine
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/31/1646246

[rumpel]

15. Voter registration board scrambles to meet deadline

July 31, 2006 03:04 PM

Sandra Chapman/Eyewitness News
Indianapolis - Efforts to eliminate voter fraud in Marion County will move forward despite a political battle that had workers working against each other. A late intervention now has the county scrambling to meet a Wednesday deadline.

In a 2-1 vote, the Election Board ruled Marion County's Voter Registration team can purge duplicate voters from the rolls. But it comes with a deep divide along party lines.

"That is absolutely totally wrong for one party to go in and disenfranchise voters," said Ed Treacy, Marion County Democratic Party chairman.

"It's this board that gets blamed in the end if there are errors in that poll book," said Dan Ladendorf, Election Board attorney.

Last Friday, city attorneys issued an opinion calling the Voter Registration Board to immediately cease removing voter registrations. But as one group took names off, another put them back on.

"My staff did reinstate some people on Saturday," said John Riordan, Voter Registration Board. "We had a ruling from counsel telling them to stop and they wouldn't so we had to come up with a tactic to basically make them stop taking people off the rolls."

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=5220985&nav=9Tai

[rumpel]

16. Discussion: IN: GOP purging voter rolls

Thanks to kpete

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x444504

[rumpel]

17. Electronic Engineering Times: Voting exposes cracks in IEEE process

Electronic Engineering Times

Posted : 01 Aug 2006

The IEEE's temporary suspension of activities at the 802.20 Mobile Broadband Wireless Access Working Group has unmasked festering policy problems within the broader 802 standards effort. The suspension is the first in the 802 group's 20 years of existence. But it is just the latest consequence of a long legacy of questionable practices by IEEE members that undermine the voting structure at the heart of 802's success.

Recently—and controversially—fallout from the voting issue landed on the 802.15.3a task group, which disbanded after failing to settle on a UWB approach. It also struck the 802.11n task group on next-generation WLANs, when companies launched an external consortium in a perceived attempt to muscle through a standard.

"This is a crisis. The IEEE 802 process may be broken unless the IEEE standards board can force companies to play nice," said one consultant who has attended 802 meetings since the early days of Ethernet. "And why should they need to in the aftermath of the big corporate scandals? Companies should be going out of their way to appear to play fair."

Meanwhile, progress made by such industry consortia as the Wi-Fi Alliance and WiMAX Forum suggests successful specifications can be developed outside the IEEE's working group structure.

In an interview with EE Times, IEEE standards board chairman Steve Mills and 802 chairman Paul Nikolich said the unusual 802.20 action was warranted because of the high degree of alleged irregularities within the working group.

When the suspension was announced, Qualcomm Inc.'s role in the working group took center stage, with allegations that the group's chairman, consultant Jerry Upton, had not fully disclosed his affiliation with Qualcomm. In appeals to the 802 standards board and executive committee, Intel Corp. and Motorola Inc. claim their draft proposals for the sub-3GHz licensed broadband standard were given short shrift compared with Qualcomm-based approaches.

http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800427731_499488_6eed423c200608_no.HTM

[rumpel]

18. MS: Judge orders special election for Greenwood mayor

Sun Herald

Posted on Mon, Jul. 31, 2006

Associated Press
GREENWOOD, Miss. - Incumbent Harry Smith and a challenger from the 2005 general election will meet in a court-ordered special election to determine who will be mayor of Greenwood.

In a ruling announced Monday, Circuit Judge Ann Hannaford Lamar ordered a new election between Smith and Sheriel Perkins, saying a number of votes cast in the June 7, 2005, race had been called into question.

It could not be determined whether the votes were cast for Smith or Perkins, the judge said.

Smith, a Republican, has been mayor since 1993. Perkins, a Democrat, seeks to become the first black and the first female mayor of the Delta city of 17,300.

Under the ruling, the Greenwood Election Commission has 30 days to decide on a date for the special election.

"I felt the trial should have gone in my favor," Smith told The Greenwood Commonwealth.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/state/15165379.htm

[rumpel]

19. MS: Voter fraud concerns raised

Hattisburg American

Originally published August 1, 2006

By Reuben Mees

With a special election less than a month away that could shift the balance of Hattiesburg's power structure, representatives of candidates and political interests are trying to make sure the potential for voter fraud is minimized.

Scott Tyner and Clint Martin, Hattiesburg residents who worked as poll watchers for Mayor Johnny DuPree in the 2005 election, spoke to the Hattiesburg Election Commission Monday and asked what would be done to address claims Tyner made following the June 7, 2005, municipal election. Tyner was a poll watcher at the Woodley precinct.

Tyner, whose complaint will be heard next week, has alleged that white poll workers at Woodley allowed a few white residents to vote more than once while steps were taken to prevent a few black residents from voting there.

"I take issue to certain people being denied their inalienable rights," Martin said.

Election commission chairwoman Karlynn Courtney said that with the Aug. 29 election confined to one precinct, it should be easier for the commission to respond to any reported incidents.

"If a poll worker sees something they need to call one of the election commissioners immediately or City Hall, and we will do our best to respond and resolve it," she said.

Tyner said he would like the commission to have a more diverse group of poll workers in this and future elections.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060801/NEWS01/608010305/1002

[Melissa G]

20. Advanced Copy: Conyers Report on presidential law-breaking

Thanks to hang a left for the post and DU discussion here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2428120



http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/conyers-report/?resultpage=1&

[rumpel]

21. World: Nigeria: Task ahead of politicians

The Tide Online

Tuesday, Aug 1, 2006
Not a few persons have expressed apprehension over the ability of the country to successfully transit to civil rule again. This fear is founded on certain fundamental premises.

Firstly, many have opined that transition to civil rule on May 29 2007 may not be a very easy task to accomplish because of the texture of Nigerian politics.

These persons contend that Nigerian politicians are not civilised and refined enough to cope with the challenges of transiting from one democratic dispensation to another.

To further expatiate on this opinion, these political pundits have argued that most of our politicians lack the spirit of sportsmanship given the fact that they play politics of bitterness. To them, Nigerian politics is about blackmail, intimidation, exchange of “Ghana-must-go” and assassination. Given this position therefore, they see a successful transition by May 2007 as wild goose chase.

These persons also feel that crisis of unimaginable proportion would mar our quest for a successful transition by May 2007 because the 2007 elections is very much likely going to witness new entrants into the murky waters of the Nigerian politics.

Not a few well-intended persons have posited that they did not participate in the 1999 elections because they feared that the Khaki boys would truncate the 1999 democratic venture. In 2003, they also entertained fear as to whether the 2003 elections would be successfully conducted. Of course irrespective of certain shortcoming, the elections were held and this witnessed a situation where the Peoples Democratic Party, P.D.P carried the day.

http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=08/01/2006&qrTitle=Task%20ahead%20of%20politicians&qrColumn=FEATURES

[rumpel]

22. S. Africa: DRC post-poll challenge: 'Keep the peace'

August 01 2006 at 10:56AM
Independent Online

By Michelle Faul

Mbuji Mayi - Congolese electoral officials backed by riot police faced down stone-throwing boycotters to allow voters a second chance, underlining the challenge to democracy in Africa: keeping ethnic, regional and political disputes from reigniting into war.

While polls were opened an extra day Monday in central Congo, it appeared that few voters took advantage in what officials agreed was a massive boycott called by one candidate.

The party of another candidate, a former rebel leader, meanwhile claimed a lead in over 50 percent of the nation's provinces, while decrying alleged irregularities across the vast Central African country.

The Congolese Liberation Movement said Jean-Pierre Bemba, a vice president in the postwar administration, had a firm lead in six of Congo's 11 provinces and was confident of victory. "I can't say for sure, but it's an eventuality," party official Moise Musangana said.


Final results were not expected for several weeks, though none of the 33 presidential candidates was expected to win the outright majority needed to avoid a run-off, which would likely be held in October.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1154419201970A162

[rumpel]

23. Congo: Central Congo Polls Open for Extra Day

By MICHELLE FAUL
The Associated Press
Monday, July 31, 2006; 9:33 PM

MBUJI-MAYI, Congo -- Polls opened for an extra day Monday in central Congo but it appeared that few took advantage of the second chance to vote in what officials said was a massive boycott called by one candidate.

Electoral officials backed by riot police faced down stone-throwing boycotters to reopen polling stations in the area where many had stayed away in Sunday's election, apparently heeding the boycott call.

Authorities protected by truckloads of armed police had intended to reopen 174 of the 1,041 polling stations in central Congo Monday, said Hubert Tisuaka, an election official. But by the end of the day, it was not clear how many stations had actually opened.

Sunday's vote was for a new president and legislature to replace Congo's transitional administration, which took power after back-to-back wars that lasted from 1996 to 2002. It was the first multiparty election in 45 years of strife and dictatorship in the country the size of Western Europe, whose people remain poor despite the country's diamond and mineral riches.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/31/AR2006073100948.html

[rumpel]

24. Mexico: Mexican Election Commission Accepts Appeals

Mexico, Jul 31 (Prensa Latina) Mexico's Federal Judicial Election Commission (TEPJF) informed Monday it has accepted ten percent of the 359 accusations of fraud filed by the coalition Por el Bien de Todos on behalf of presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

On addressing a coalition assembly, Lopez Obrador warned of pressure on the TEPJF and called for the people to be alert to help the judges do an honest and decent work.

Beginning today the judges are under tighter security and Army Chief of Staff personnel are protecting the ballots that are in their appropriate jurisdictional archives.

http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B38666022-6026-45F4-9E55-7C477F5B365A%7D&language=EN

[rumpel]

29. Majority of Filipinos want impeachment case against Arroyo revived

Aug 1, 2006, 15:33 GMT
Manila - A majority of Filipinos want the impeachment charges against scandal-tainted Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to be resurrected, a nationwide survey showed Tuesday.

According to Pulse Asia Inc, which conducted the survey last month, 56 per cent of the 1,200 respondents 'are of the opinion that the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo should be reactivated.'

About 43 per cent think otherwise, the research firm added.

Pulse Asia said the most often cited reason for reviving the impeachment case against Arroyo was the need to determine the truth behind allegations that she cheated in the 2004 presidential vote.

It added that respondents complained that the decision of the House of Representatives to junk the impeachment complaints last year was highly partisan and did not resolve the issue of Arroyo's legitimacy as president.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/article_1185910.php/Majority_of_Filipinos_want_impeachment_case_against_Arroyo_revived

[rumpel]

25. Ny: Election official: Pirro's committees taking illegal contributions

By GLENN BLAIN
[e-mail]


THE JOURNAL NEWS

Original publication: August 1, 2006)

Republican attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro's use of multiple fundraising committees has sparked a complaint to the state Board of Elections from a top Assembly Democrat.

Assemblyman Keith Wright, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Election Law, charged in a complaint to the election board that Pirro should have already closed three campaign committees she created earlier this year to compete in Independence, Conservative and Republican primaries. Pirro has already become the nominee of those parties and faces no primary challenges.

"Ms. Pirro is the clear candidate of all three parties and thus has no business having primary committees and, more to the point, collecting contributions for those committees," said Wright, a Harlem Democrat, in a letter sent late last week.

Wright also argued that some contributors gave substantial sums to multiple Pirro committees. Those contributions, when combined, exceed the $33,900 limit for an individual to give in a statewide race.

Richard Weill, a lawyer for Pirro's campaign, rejected Wright's criticism and accused him of "false and baseless accusations."

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060801/NEWS05/608010346/1026/NEWS10

[rumpel]

26. MI: Congress bungles voting machine reforms

Detroit News



Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Lawmakers waste billions on unreliable, balky equipment

T he spectacle of the botched 2000 presidential election, with malfunctioning punch card voting machines and hanging chads, led Congress to enact reforms. As usual, however, Congress imposed an expensive, one-size-fits-all solution on the nation.
As a result, it has actually made the voting situation worse here in Metro Detroit.
Congress, in its Help America Vote Act, appropriated nearly $4 billion and then gave voting machine contracts for the whole nation to only a few providers.
Michigan clerks had to choose models from only three vendors. Some of the models did not even receive paper ballots, so if there was an electrical glitch of some sort, there would be no way to count ballots by hand as a check against a possible malfunction.
Fortunately, notes Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson, no clerk in Michigan chose that voting machine. Still, she added, local city and township clerks had to give up perfectly good optical scanning machines for models of a similar but inferior design.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060801/OPINION01/608010304/1008

[Melissa G]

27. DeLay still trying to abandon the ballot - Lone Star Project PoliClips

I'm posting in full a political mailing that I received on Delay STILL trying to get off the ballot in Texas where he is likely to get his behind kicked. There are lots of good articles excerpted here by the lone star project.




[phone] - Fax [phone]
August 1, 2006
On the web at www.LoneStarProject.net

PoliClips
DeLay Ballot Challenge Heard Before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
Decision will determine whether DeLay's ballot gambit works

To avoid an embarrassing defeat in November and handpick a replacement candidate, Tom DeLay and the Republican Party of Texas engaged in an elaborate effort to manipulate Texas law and overturn the results of the 22nd Congressional District Republican primary. DeLay’s effort to abandon the Texas ballot by staging a phony move to Virginia was undermined by GOP appointed judge, Sam Sparks, who sided with the Texas Democrats in June, saying, “there is no evidence that DeLay will still be living in Virginia tomorrow, let alone on November 7, 2006, the only day that matters under the Qualification Clause of the United States Constitution.” (United States District Court, TDP v Tina Benkiser Chairwoman of TRP, June 26, 2006, page 15)

DeLay and the Republicans chose to appeal the decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, who heard arguments from Democratic and Republican attorneys yesterday. A decision from the court is expected soon. The newspaper clips about the case are included below. Click the link for the full article.

Houston Chronicle
Questions give hints in DeLay appeal
2 judges seem to be leaning to Democrats' stance of not changing ballot
By R.G. RATCLIFFE

"This is a case where the district court found manufactured evidence, a manipulation of the system, and therefore a fraud against the voters," said Democratic attorney Chad Dunn.
Under state election law, political parties are not allowed to replace nominees once opposing political parties have chosen their nominees for office.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4085319.html

Quorum Report
5TH CIRCUIT PANEL HEARS DELAY BALLOT REPLACEMENT CASE
Both sides applaud thoughtful questions

Attorneys on both sides of the Tom DeLay ballot eligibility case emerged from oral arguments today in New Orleans encouraged by the "thoughtful" and "engaged" lines of questioning from the three-judge panel hearing the case.

Neither side would hazard a guess, though, as to how the federal appeals court will rule on the currently stymied efforts by Republicans to replace DeLay on the ballot.

Democrats, who had prevailed in U.S. district court, were upbeat. In a conference call, Democratic attorney Chad Dunn said he believed the lines of questioning from the three-judge panel were friendlier toward his side. He said he thought that the questions for Jim Bopp, counsel for the Republican Party of Texas, were "robust."

Republican attorney Jim Bopp said that experience has taught him that it is foolish to read too much into the questions raised in oral arguments. He said he believed the court was "engaged, they were asking the right questions as far as delving into the issues."

He said he was hopeful that a decision would come down within two weeks. He said that the more the case stretches out, the more the Republican nominee (whoever he is) is harmed.

"All of this is election by litigation," Bopp said.

Democrats counter that the Republicans have played a game of "cut and run" by trying to fraudulently replace the candidate who won the March primary. Party Chairman Boyd Richie said he believed the prolonged court case is harming the Republican Party. "What I’ve seen from Republican responses is that they’re disgusted with his behavior," he said. "And that they’re trying to game the system to allow the party bosses decide who the nominee is going to be."

Bopp said that argument went over like a lead balloon in court. "That created the biggest laugh in the courtroom when they said how sorry they felt for Republican voters. Aside from that being ludicrous, they don’t give a damn about Republican voters."

Also up in the air is whether the appeals court panel is the end of the road in this case. The losing side can appeal to the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Neither side could say if they plan to appeal.
Copyright July 31, 2006 by Harvey Kronberg, http://www.quorumreport.com/, All rights are reserved

Burka Blog
Taking the Fifth
Monday, July 31, 2006
Paul Burka

I attended the oral arguments, and I thought the Democrats had the much the better of the give and take. Counsel for the RPT had barely completed his first statement -- "Election law should be construed to give voters the greatest possible choice" -- when one of the three judges interrupted: "What do we do with the constitutional provision known as the 'when elected' clause?" I'm sure the Ds lawyers wanted to start doing backflips at this moment. This clause is the basis for their argument that DeLay is not ineligible.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/community/blog/paulburka/2006/07/taking-fifth.php

Fort Bend Now
GOP Lawyer In DeLay Case: 'We're Not Going To Let The Democrats Steal This Seat'
by Bob Dunn
Jul 31, 2006, 01 41 pm

Chris Feldman, who also represents the state Democrats, described judges’ questions Monday questions for Bopp as “robust” and as “more friendly” for the Democrats’ attorneys.

Bopp said he “thought the judges were very involved, they were knowledgeable and asking the right questions.”
http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/1576/regardless-of-5th-circuit-ruling-gop-wont-let-democrats-steal-this-seat-lawyer-says

Austin American-Statesman
Texas GOP asks judges to take DeLay off ballot
Democrats say he can't be removed
By Janet McConnaughey
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS — Former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, must be replaced on the November ballot to give Texas voters a choice, Republican attorneys told a federal appeals court Monday.

"Texas voter choice demands that he withdraw and be replaced," Republican Party attorney James Bopp told a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Democrats countered that Texas law requires either DeLay's name or none appear as the GOP nominee for his old seat. They say his recent move to Virginia was orchestrated solely to get him off the ballot. http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/1delay.html




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Contributions or gifts to the Lone Star Fund are not tax deductible. All contributions are subject to the prohibitions and limitations of the Federal Election Campaign Act. Federal Law requires us to use best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year.

Paid for by The Lone Star Fund, 6 E St, SE, Washington, DC 20003.
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

[rumpel]

28. NV: Heller touts work as secretary of state

Reno Gazette Journal

ANJEANETTE DAMON
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 8/1/2006

Dean Heller, a lifelong fixture in Carson City, is betting his track record as secretary of state will propel him to Washington, D.C., in November.
"Frankly, I think I get elected to Congress if the public feels I did a good job as secretary of state," he said. "I believe I did an exceptional job as secretary of state."
Heller, 46, is one of five Republicans competing in the Aug. 15 primary to replace U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Reno, who is running for governor. His opponents are former Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons, the incumbent's wife; Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno; Minden retiree Glenn Thomas and Las Vegan Richard Gilster.
Gilster couldn't be reached by the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Heller said his office has become a national model for implementing new federal voting regulations that were born of the 2000 election. Nevada was the only state in 2004 to have a paper trail on its new electronic voting machines and election officials from across the nation came to watch how it worked.
But Heller missed a federal deadline to implement a federally-required statewide voter registration database earlier this year. His critics accused him of botching the $4.6 million contract with a company to design the system. The company has had similar problems in other states across the nation

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060801/NEWS07/608010367/1002

[rumpel]

30. CO: Early voting available in Chaffee County

The Mountain Mail

8/1/2006 8:54:00 AM

by Jason Starr
Mail Staff Writer

Early voting in the primary election is available to Chaffee County residents through 5 p.m. Friday in the county clerk's office in Salida.

New voting equipment from Hart Intercivic is set up in the clerk's office at the county courthouse, 104 Crestone, Ave.

Early voting is designed for people who will be out of town during the Aug. 8 primary election or others who would rather vote early, county clerk Joyce Reno said.

Three centers - Salida Middle School, Chaffee County Fairgrounds and Colorado Mountain College - will be open Aug. 8 for voting. Electors must bring a photo identification for early or regular voting.

Only registered Republicans and Democrats are eligible to cast ballots in the primary.

Of 12,129 registered voters in Chaffee County, 3,218 are Democrats, 5,161 and are Republicans and 3,706 are unaffiliated according information from the Colorado Secretary of State.

The local primary features one contested race - the Republican nomination for the 5th Congressional District. Other nominees on the Democratic and Republican ballots are uncontested.

http://www.themountainmail.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=8567&TM=42072.81

[Cookie wookie]

31. Will Your Vote Count in 2006?

By Steven Hill
Special to washingtonpost.com's Think Tank Town
Tuesday, August 1, 2006; 11:56 AM

Watching Mexico live through a controversial presidential election was like holding up a mirror to our own election difficulties in recent years. As we round the corner and head toward the upcoming November elections -- with control of the Congress up for grabs -- what can Americans expect? Will our votes count? There is both cause for worry, as well as signs that effective voting reform advocacy is paying off.

The root cause of our troubled elections is that, unbelievably, the U.S. provides less security, testing, and oversight of our nation's voting equipment and election administration than it does to slot machines and the gaming industry. Our elections are administered by a hodgepodge of over 3000 counties scattered across the country with minimal national standards or uniformity. Widely differing practices on the testing and certification of voting equipment, the handling of provisional and absentee ballots, protocols for recounts, and training of election officials and poll workers makes for a bewildering terrain.

The three federal laboratories testing voting equipment and software operate with little government oversight. They are called "independent testing authorities," even though two of them have donated tens of thousands of dollars to GOP candidates and the Republican National Committee. The shoddy testing and certification procedures are greased by a revolving door between government regulators and the industry. Former secretaries of state from California, Florida and Georgia, once their state's chief regulator, became paid lobbyists for the corporate vendors after stepping down from public office, as did a former governor of New Hampshire. Several secretaries of state in 2004 served as co-chairs of the George W. Bush re-election campaign for their state; one of these oversaw the election in which he ran -- successfully -- for governor.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR2006080100561.html

[Bill Bored]

32. BradBlog, MSM and VoteTrustUSA report on THE ABSOLUTE WORST...

...e-voting SECURITY FLAW EVER (IN A MILLION YEARS)! This is it folks! (Seriously!)

LOU DOBBS: More evidence tonight that the security of our elections, the integrity of our democracy are at risk from electronic voting machines. A county in Iowa has just come close to putting the wrong candidate in office because of a massive programming error.

-snip-

KITTY PILGRIM: Computer experts point out in this case how the ballot was programmed was a mistake. But misprogramming ballot tabulation could also be done on purpose if someone wanted to tamper with an election.

-snip-

Says Dobbs in his closing remarks to Kitty Pilgrim: "If this message is not getting through that's emanating from every corner of the country using these voting machines, I don't know what it will take."

Enjoy:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3159

Discuss here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x444406

[Wilms]

33. Summit Cty, OH Determines Real Winners After Certifying -Denies Candidates

Candidates find missing votes

Their write-in ballots put in wrong pile and never counted by board

By Lisa A. Abraham
Beacon Journal staff writer

Aug. 01, 2006

snip

But both insisted something was wrong. They maintained they accurately voted for themselves, even if no one else did, and they asked to review the ballots. Monday's inspection showed that board error resulted in the pair not getting elected.

``Where's my certificate of election?'' Worhatch asked board employees who gathered around to watch his inspection of the ballots.

Despite the board error, that certificate won't be coming.

The board adopted rules last week that the public can inspect ballots as public records only after the time to challenge and change the official election results has expired.

snip

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/community/15169776.htm


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x444605

[Wilms]

34. Bonifaz: Count the Vote in CA-50

Guest Editorial: Count the Vote in CA-50

By John Bonifaz, founder National Voting Rights Institute

August 01, 2006

I join the growing numbers of citizens across this country who are declaring "no confidence" in the machine tally results of the special election held on June 6, 2006, for the 50th Congressional District in California. I further join their call for a full hand-count of both the paper ballots and the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail in that election.

We face today a crisis in public confidence in the integrity of our elections. This crisis threatens the foundation of our democracy. Now more than ever, we must return to a basic truth: In order for voters to trust the outcome of our elections, they must be able to trust that their votes are properly counted.

It is clear that too many voters in California's 50th Congressional District do not trust that their votes have been properly counted in the June 6, 2006 special election.

In the wake of Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004, we must stand up and prevent further erosion of the public's trust in our democracy. Following the November 2004 election, I went to Ohio and led the fight in the federal courts for a full recount of the presidential vote in that state - a recount that Ohio election officials resisted and ultimately refused to conduct in a manner consistent with the due process and equal protection guarantees of the U.S. Constitution.

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1594&Itemid=113


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x444607

[Wilms]

35. Touch Screens Are Not The Best Choice For Disabled Voters

Touch Screens Are Not The Best Choice For Disabled Voters

By AJ Devies, Handicapped Voters of Volusia County

August 01, 2006

A key point has been lost in the various arguments for and against touch-screen voting machines. The spirit and intent of the accessible voting law are to allow every disabled person the opportunity to cast his or her privately and independently.1 The key word in the preceding sentence is “every.” It is not acceptable to accommodate some members of the disabled population and expect the rest of us to live with “business as usual.” That is discrimination, which is not legal.

snip

The majority of touch screen machines which produce a voter-verifiable paper record either print the record on a toilet-paper-like roll which remains inside the touch screen machine and is viewable through a small window, or prints an ATM-like receipt which is ejected or torn from the touch screen machine’s printer. How can people with visual impairments verify their votes on these touch screen machines?

Neither of the above methods produces a voter-verifiable paper record usable in manual recounts or audits. That introduces the possibility of a separate-but-not-equal issue whereby people with disabilities have no recountable voter-verifiable paper record comparable to the paper ballots used by people without a disability. Touch screens introduce an unnecessary disparity compared to the assistive ballot marking machine described above.

The 2002 U. S. Census analysis claims 20.8% of people aged 15 and older as having one or more disabilities. The blind and visually-impaired account for 3.5% of people with disabilities (ages 15 and older,) according to the 2002 U. S. Census analysis.6 Do the math: that leaves 17.3% of people with disabilities other than visual impairments.

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1595&Itemid=26


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x444609

[Algorem]

36. Ohio Senate Dems to file amicus brief in Project Vote v. Blackwell case

MEDIA ADVISORY

Senate Democrats to file amicus brief in Project Vote v. Blackwell case

Press conference to be held tomorrow morning in Cleveland

Event: Press conference

Date: Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Time: 11:00 a.m.

Location: Carl B. Stokes U.S. Federal Courthouse, 801 W. Superior Ave. Cleveland.

Details: State Senator Marc Dann (D-Liberty Twp.) will hold a press conference to discuss the amicus curiae brief the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus will file this week in support of Project Vote’s legal battle to overturn the voter registration rules Secretary of State Ken Blackwell developed and imposed earlier this year.

###



Paid for and authorized by the Ohio Democratic Party,
Chris Redfern, Chair, 271 East State St, Columbus, Ohio 43215