Election Reform, Fraud & Related News Thursday Aug 17 2006

[EFerrari]

Election Reform, Fraud & Related News Thursday Aug 17 2006

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.
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.


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

[EFerrari]

1. New Web Site for Veterans and Members of the Armed Services

New Web Site for Veterans and Members of the Armed Services

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced the launch of a new Web site designed to safeguard the civilian employment rights, voting rights and financial security of members of the Armed Services and veterans. The Web site, http://www.servicemembers.gov is a partnership between the Justice Department and other federal agencies that oversee these protections.

"Every day, men and women of our nation's armed forces put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms we enjoy, and it is our responsibility to ensure that their rights are protected in return," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "Through this new website, members of the armed services will have the information they need about the rights guaranteed to them by law. At the Justice Department, we are proud to help those in uniform both know about the rights they have and vigorously defend those rights under the rule of law."

The Web site, launched today, offers information and resources about three laws passed specifically to protect servicemembers. The Uniformed Services and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against an employee or applicant for employment because of past, current, or future military obligation. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) requires that states allow certain groups of citizens, including servicemembers and their families, to register and vote absentee in a timely manner in elections for federal offices. The Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act (SCRA) provides civil protections for military personnel while on active duty.

http://www.technologynewsdaily.com/node/4088

[EFerrari]

2. Top vote counter becomes prize job

Top vote counter becomes prize job



By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY
The political battle for control of the federal government has opened up a new front: the obscure but vital state offices that determine who votes and how those votes are counted.

The state post of secretary of State was a backwater until 2000, when Florida's Katherine Harris became a central figure in the presidential recount controversy. Now national Democratic groups and White House prospects, unhappy about Harris' decisions and those of Republican Kenneth Blackwell in Ohio two years ago, are pouring resources into contests for the job.

At least three Democratic political action committees are spotlighting secretary of State candidates, most of them in states where they expect the presidential vote to be close. Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and Ohio top their lists.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-08-16-secretary-state-democrats_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

[EFerrari]

3. AZ: Grijalva eyes national use of Ariz. rules on e-voting

Grijalva eyes national use of Ariz. rules on e-voting

By Erica Meltzer
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.17.2006


Voter distrust has been a plague to election officials around the country trying to make the conversion to electronic voting machines.

Voter-verified paper ballots and automatic hand recounts would be a good start toward relieving some of the concerns, activists say.

Arizona recently adopted legislation adding those requirements, and Democratic Congressman Raúl Grijalva appeared in Tucson on Wednesday with a fellow Democrat, New Jersey Rep. Rush Holt, to promote a bill to implement those changes across the country.

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/142488

[EFerrari]

4. AZ: Arizonans go online to register for election

Arizonans go online to register for election

Chris Ramirez
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 17, 2006 12:00 AM

The numbers aren't final just yet, but the data state and county elections officials have at this point tells them one thing for sure: More Arizona voters are turning to the Internet to register.

The Arizona Secretary of State's Office on Wednesday reported one-day and single-month primary election voter registration records.

On Monday, the last day to register for the Sept. 12 primary, 6,491 people registered using the state's EZVoter system, said Kevin Tyne, a secretary of state spokesman.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0817VoterReg0817.html

[EFerrari]

5. AZ:Logic, accuracy test of County touch screen machines goes well

While this isn't the first time a L and A test has taken place in Pinal County, it is the debut of the new touch screen voting machines to be used by voters who are visually impaired and disabled.

The L and A is performed by the Secretary of State's office to insure the accuracy of the voting machines to be used in the upcoming election. The testers usually arrive with pre-voted ballots in hand and insert them into the scanning equipment and then count the vote to make sure the count comes out correctly.

While the basic nature of the L and A has stayed the same, the method of the test has changed a bit with the new touch screen devices.

This time the four members of the Secretary of State's office came in, fingers at the ready, to push predetermined candidates in various precincts to see if the equipment would keep contenders, political parties and precincts in the correct positions for the upcoming primary election.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17061697&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=222089&rfi=6

[EFerrari]

6. CT: New Voting Machines Due in 2007

New Voting Machines Due in 2007
By DON CASCIATO

Unless there is some unforeseen development, voters in Westport and other voting booths in the state will be saying goodbye to lever-style voting machines when they vote this November.

The machines are old and, according to Westport Town Clerk Patricia Strauss and many other town clerks, they don't provide a paper trail a requirement under the new voting law legislation.

Installation of new optical-scan machines in Connecticut's 769 polling places by November 2007 will cost $15.7 million, according to Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz. About half of the cost will be covered by a federal grant to the state under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), a federal law that went into effect in 2002.

http://www.westport-news.com/ci_4195008

[EFerrari]

7. FL: Election Employees Test Electronic Voting Machines

Election Employees Test Electronic Voting Machines

POSTED: 1:07 pm EDT August 16, 2006
UPDATED: 3:14 pm EDT August 16, 2006

Miami-Dade County Elections Department employees spent Wednesday playing the role of voters in a mock election.

By state law, 2 percent of electronic voting machines must be tested. During the four-hour test, voters filled out a script that they follow throughout the day. Once the test is completed, the actual election results should match the scripted election results, reported NBC 6's Hank Tester.


"Elections in Miami-Dade County have become a common topic," said Miami -Dade County Supervisor of Elections Lester Sola. "Everyone is integrally involved and familiar with it. My job as the supervisor of elections is to make sure that the elections are conducted accurately and represented correctly."

There will be 4,600 electronic voting machines in polling locations for the Sept. 5 primary.




http://www.nbc6.net/news/9689015/detail.html

[EFerrari]

8. GA: Groups sue challenging voter registration rules

Groups sue challenging voter registration rules

DOUG GROSS
Associated Press

ATLANTA - A coalition of civil rights and voting rights groups has sued the state elections board, claiming a pair of rules makes it harder to register Georgians to vote.

The coalition is complaining about rules preventing so-called third-party groups that hold registration drives from photocopying voter forms or double-checking the forms before they are sealed in envelopes. The third-party groups include small community organizations and larger ones like the NAACP.

"It makes it impossible for an organization to determine whether an application collected by one of their workers is complete, whether there are spaces missing on it or, in the worst case scenario, whether there's anything on the application at all," said Brian Mellor, attorney for Project Vote, a Little Rock, Ark.-based group that seeks to register poor and minority voters.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/politics/15288763.htm

[EFerrari]

9. MO: Carnahan holds voter ID info

Carnahan holds voter ID info

By Matt Bird-Meyer
The Sedalia Democrat

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan is awaiting the outcome of a court hearing before mailing information to people who may not have photo identification required to vote.

Jackson County officials, along with a group of voters and a Missouri advocacy group, filed a lawsuit to stop the new voter identification law, which takes effect Aug. 28. It requires Missourians to show a photo ID before voting in November. Judge Richard G. Callahan is scheduled to rule on a request for a preliminary injunction Monday in Cole County Circuit Court.

Ms. Carnahan said her office has information about getting voter identification for some 200,000 people who may not have one.

http://www.sedaliademocrat.com/News/295598180485410.htm

[EFerrari]

10. NV: Glitches and delays frustrate voters

Glitches and delays frustrate voters
GERALDA MILLER and SUSAN VOYLES
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 8/16/2006

A voter enters the polling station Tuesday at Reno High School

DAVID B. PARKER/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

Washoe County officals couldn't provide final election results until early this morning because six polling places had not submitted voting cartridges and 6,000 absentee ballots remained uncounted.

Earlier, several dozen Washoe County voters were turned away Tuesday morning when about 100 election workers didn't show up for work at 10 or more polling places.

Greg Neuweiler, election certification board chairman, said about 6,000 absentee ballots were being processed late Tuesday, about half of a total of 11,600 absentee ballots. He expected the turnout to exceed 30 percent. Latest results can be found at RGJ.com

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060816/NEWS10/608140359/1016/NEWS

[EFerrari]

11. NJ: Voters testify in absentee-ballot trial involving A.C. councilman

Voters testify in absentee-ballot trial involving A.C. councilman

By DEREK HARPER Staff Writer, [phone]
Published: Wednesday, August 16, 2006

MAYS LANDING — The so-called voters included new citizens who worked in Atlantic City's hospitality industry, noncitizens who knew they couldn't vote and a sickly widow and former election poll worker who thought she was signing a petition to get a good Democrat on the ballot.

And even though Atlantic City Coun-
cilman Marty Small was sitting just a couple of dozen feet away, no one recognized the popular City councilman who purportedly handled their ballot.

The second day of Small's absentee-ballot trial included hours of testimony from the nine people for whom records said Small delivered absentee ballot applications in the June 2005 primary.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Ed Jacobs tried to undercut the testimony while emphasizing that more people than Small worked the election.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/atlantic/story/6645908p-6513370c.html

[EFerrari]

12. OH: Can we trust the voting results?

Can we trust the voting results?
Diebold defends touch-screen machines, but a study fans debate over their reliability

Thursday, August 17, 2006
Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


* The Hot Issue: Do you trust election results from electronic voting machines after the accuracy of some was questioned by an independent study?

Diebold and many elections officials yesterday downplayed an independent study that questions the accuracy of touch-screen machines used by more than half of Ohio voters, saying the units are sound.

But critics and the study’s director say more review is needed to answer a fundamental question: Can Ohioans trust results from those Diebold machines, especially when there’s a close election or recount?

"We need to further investigate, and only when we have the outcome of that investigation will we know," said Steven Hertzberg, founder of California-based Election Science Institute.

Hertzberg said such a review cannot be completed before Ohio’s nationally watched Nov. 7 general election, and it was unclear yesterday what additional investigation might be done in coming weeks.

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/?story=dispatch/2006/08/17/20060817-A1-00.html

[EFerrari]

13. OH: Democrats seek probe of e-voting

Democrats seek probe of e-voting

Diebold disputes study of Cuyahoga machines
By Patrick Cain
Beacon Journal staff writer

Democrats criticized Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell on Wednesday for potential electronic voting machine mishaps in Cuyahoga County.

Democrat Jennifer Brunner, who is running for Blackwell's job, called for an investigation into a charge by the Election Science Institute that electronic voting machines made by Green-based Diebold lost ballots in Cuyahoga County's May primary election.

Her Republican opponent, Greg Hartmann, would not say whether the company was at fault. Instead, his spokesman, Mark Weaver, called for a complete audit of the Secretary of State's Office.

Diebold takes issue with the study's findings.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/15293430.htm

[EFerrari]

14. OH: Diebold: Elections report conclusions simply wrong'

Diebold: Elections report conclusions simply wrong'

Thursday, August 17, 2006
Joan Mazzolini
Plain Dealer Reporter

The maker of Cuyahoga County's touch-screen voting machines, Diebold Election Systems, issued a stinging rebuttal of a report that examined the accuracy of voting machines used in the May 2 primary.

"The initial review and conclusions reached by ESI (Election Science Institute) . . . simply are wrong," said the statement, attributed to Mark Radke, director of marketing for Diebold Election Systems. Radke called the testing procedures by the San Francisco-base company flawed.

The Cuyahoga County commissioners contracted with ESI before the disastrous May primary to assess whether Diebold's touch-screen machines accurately tallied votes.

The consultants compared the paper receipt with votes recorded on memory chips inside the machines as well as on removable memory cards.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1155804618289971.xml&coll=2

[EFerrari]

15. OH: Elections employees' trial stalls; new judge named

Elections employees' trial stalls; new judge named
Schedule conflicts point to Jan. start

Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Jim Nichols
Plain Dealer Reporter

The election-rigging trial of three Cuyahoga County Board of Elections employees that was to start this week now could stall for months after the judge stepped aside amid the prosecutor's claims of bias.

Judge Judith Kilbane Koch recused herself last week after Special Prosecutor Kevin Baxter complained that she has political vendettas that led her to prejudge the case in favor of the defendants.

Presiding and Administrative Judge Nancy McDonnell reassigned the case to Judge Peter Corrigan on Monday, the day the trial was set to begin.

http://www.cleveland.com/election/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isele/1155727979203290.xml&coll=2

[EFerrari]

16. PA: County details new voting districts

County details new voting districts

Wednesday, 16 August 2006
By PAUL KRUPSKI
Standard-Speaker

WILKES-BARRE — Election Bureau Director Leonard Piazza doesn’t yet know how many election workers will be eliminated in Hazleton through the consolidation of voting districts.

Piazza said Tuesday that the number would “depend on how many machine operators we pick up with the consolidation” plan that must be approved by Luzerne County Court.

“We will have a better idea in about a month,” Piazza said.

The plan approved in June by the county commissioners, who comprise the Election Board, consolidated 24 voting districts in Hazleton into 11.

http://www.standardspeaker.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2677&Itemid=2

[EFerrari]

17. WA: Voter guides clarify election confusion

Voter guides clarify election confusion
Pick-a-party means three ballots arrive in the mail

By BRAD SHANNON

The Olympian

In a bid to ward off voter confusion, Thurston County elections officials are sending new and improved primary-election voter guides in the mail next week to the county's more than 136,000 registered voters.

The guide explains - among other things - that voters who don't want to pick a partisan ballot in the primary can vote a nonpartisan ballot that includes judicial races.

The deadline to register to vote in the primary is Saturday.

http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060817/NEWS01/608170364

[EFerrari]

18. Rob Kall: Grassroots Sweating for Democracy.... and Paper

Grassroots Sweating for Democracy.... and Paper
Tell A Friend

by Rob Kall

http://www.opednews.com

I spent most of the day today at the Bucks County grange fair-- antique tractors, hog and sheep judging, a lot of country music, 4-H club contests, blue ribbon baking... and we were working for the Coalition for Voting Integrity, advocating for paper ballots.

We're having a great response. It was fun. When I got there, the other folks in the booth were waiting for people to walk into the book, or were timidly handing out pamphlets. When I arrived, I asked Ruth, who has done an amazing job finding herself as a leader in the organization, what here goals were. She looked at me, like, hmm, what a good question. I'd asked it because I knew that a lot of people new to exhibiting really don't know how to define goals and work the people who they encounter.

We quickly determined that she had a petition she wanted signed, that had not been signed by more than a few people, though they'd given ou close to 500 brochures. And she said she wanted to build their mailing list and find more volunteers.

She handed me a pile of petition sheets and told me she'd be happy if we got two pages-- about 16 or 20 signatures. I took it, and started approaching people, trying out different wording.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_060817_grassroots_sweating_.htm

[EFerrari]

19. Mexico's poll loser wins support for high-risk plan

Mexico's poll loser wins support for high-risk plan of non-stop opposition

By Adam Thomson in Mexico City

Published: August 16 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 16 2006 03:00

Andrés Manuel López Obrador's latest address to thousands of supporters in the Zócalo, Mexico City's main central square, was a scene Mexicans have grown used to since the leftwing leader lost out to Felipe Calderón in the country's closest election.

But beyond his criticismof the electoral authorities, his constant snipes at President Vicente Fox and his insistence that the July 2 vote was fraudulent, the thrust of the leftwing candidate's speech contained a notable change of tone.

"Never again will we allow them to install an illegal and illegitimate government in our country," he told a baying crowd. "Here and now begins a new period in Mexico . . . with the sovereign power of the people we will undertake the changes and transformations that this country needs."

For Jorge Zepeda, a political analyst in Mexico City, the speech signalled the start of a more radical phase in Mr López Obrador's campaign to reverse the result of last month's election.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7c453956-2cc3-11db-9845-0000779e2340.html

[EFerrari]

20. OH: What Are the Requirements to Vote Absentee in Ohio?

Section 5.2 - Absentee & At-Home Voting


What Are the Requirements to Vote Absentee in Ohio?

Daniel P. Tokaji

Assistant Professor of Law

Associate Director, Election Law@Moritz

Chad Eggspuehler

Moritz Class of 2008

In 2005, the Ohio legislature enacted Substitute House Bill 234, which significantly altered the rules for voting by absentee ballot. Specifically, the state adopted “no fault” absentee voting, under which voters may cast ballots by mail, whether or not they have an excuse for not going to the polls. These requirements were slightly revised by Substitute House Bill 3 passed in early 2006.

Here’s how the new procedure works. Any U.S. citizen who is a resident of Ohio at least 30 days in advance of an election can register to vote in the election by absentee ballot, by making a written request to the director of elections of the county in which they reside. The application must include all of the following:

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/ebook/part5/procedures_absentee01.html

[Kurovski]

21. Kick to the top!

Thank you sfexpat20000000000!:loveya:

[EFerrari]

22. Sorry about banners today. My PC is sick and Mr. Powerbook

still doesn't know me very well. :hi:

[Kurovski]

23. Well, the Norman Rockwell is very nice.

:-)

[autorank]

24. You did a great job. I'm the one that's sorry... (Right Prince?)

:hi: (remember Dr. Strangelove. US President: "Dimitri, I'm sorry...yes,Dimitri, I know you're sorry...but I'm sorrier.";)

The Mexico story is a perfect one. You saved me research time. For that, you get the following:

[Kurovski]

25. Listen to autorank on this one.

He's been a bum this week.

Thank you, Sir auto.:-)

[autorank]

26. ;)

[Kurovski]

27. Speakin' of bums,

look at me! I ain't put out a plug nickle fer da' fund drive.

Next time, I promises.