Election Reform, Fraud and Related News. Sunday 02/03/08

[EFerrari]

Paper ballots likely to mean late nights, slow results

By: JOHN HUNNEMAN - Staff Writer

It will be different.

Voters head to the polls Tuesday to help pick their political party's presidential nominee, decide several statewide propositions and, in Wildomar's case, determine if the time has come for cityhood.

Once there, they will find things have changed since ballots were last cast in November.

And the changes likely mean more time in the voting booth and a longer wait before the winners and losers are declared.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/02/03//news/californian/21_00_722_2_08.txt

Election Reform, Fraud and Related News. Sunday 02/03/08

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

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.


Recommendations for the Greatest Page are always welcomed. It's the link below.

[EFerrari]

1. GA: State ready for first real test of voter ID law, official says

State ready for first real test of voter ID law, official says

By BEN SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/03/08

Georgia's new voter ID law faces its first major test Tuesday. So does the woman responsible for making sure that the state's presidential primaries run smoothly.

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel says she's ready.

"So far everything has gone very smoothly," Handel said Friday about her office's preparations for the elections.

The voter ID law has been on the books only since Sept. 6, when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit to overturn the statute. It was in effect for local elections around the state in September and November.

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2008/02/03/voteready_0204.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13

[EFerrari]

2. CA: California officials face unique set of election challenges

California officials face unique set of election challenges
Registrars dealing with record absentee ballots, voting machine changes, logistical problems
By Allison Hoffman

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Article Launched: 02/03/2008 03:09:24 AM PST

SAN DIEGO -- Days ahead of an election without precedent, California officials are scrambling to cope with record absentee ballots, voting machine changes and logistical headaches.

Myriad complications arising from California's earliest-ever statewide election have left registrars worried that they will end Election Night with up to 2 million ballots left uncounted, about 22 percent of the expected vote total.

The challenges are as diverse as the state's electorate:

Testing last year by the secretary of state's office found that many electronic voting machines could be hacked, forcing 21 counties to revert to paper ballots. That has left a shortage of the high-speed optical scanning machines needed to read the ballots quickly, which is expected to cause a backlog on Election Night.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8157074?source=rss

[Peace Patriot]

16. Please see my report: "California Election Integrity Assessment 2008"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=141x29363

I mention all this bullshit in the media, put out by corrupt county election officials, in a corporate media narrative that looks like a set-up to blame "slow" election results on Sec of State Bowen's reforms!

And San Diego is one hotbed of county election corruption, with county Registrar, Deborah Seiler, formerly Diebold's chief salesperson in California. And Steve Weir--Contra Costa Registrar, but, more importantly, head of the CA county election officials' lobbying group--is right in the thick of it. Both of them quoted in this article. Jeez.

Not only that, several more of the bad actor counties--Riverside, San Bernardino--are mentioned as also facing the horror of actually having to count some ballots, and all the disruption this may cause.

San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties recently sued Sec of State Bowen to prevent the minimal auditing improvements that she has promulgated (a 10% audit--handcount check on the machine totals--in contests with a 0.5% margin or less, and other new rules). They oppose even the most minimal transparency measures. They opposed having any ballot at all. They wanted highly error/fraud-prone, paperless touchscreens! They lost this lawsuit on appeal (1/29/08), but it is paradigmatic of their attitude. Expect trouble. And this is where it will likely occur: San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, possibly Contra Costa, and a few other counties, notably, Los Angeles--whose Diebold shill elections head, Connie McCormack, just resigned (Dec 07), amidst a storm of controversy.

My report contains some of the tools needed to analyze the situation on Feb 5. I give California a rating of +1, on an election integrity scale of -5 to +5. Despite Bowen's reforms, California remains highly vulnerable to electronic tampering, and other forms of disenfranchisement--such as deliberate sabotage of the Feb 5 Primary (disruptions, machine breakdowns, long lines, not enough ballots, "rain" getting on ballots, etc.)(--Weir mentions the "rain" item), in a possible move to slow down, or reverse, reforms, before November. These county election officials are very likely on board for a long term corporate scheme to undo the current reforms and prevent any more.

Sacramento--interestingly, also included in this article--last week saw all of its ES&S optiscan counters suddenly and mysteriously fail logic and accuracy tests, so the county is going to use much less safe centralized tabulation. The above counties--except Contra Costa--all use centralized tabulation--the least safe method (as opposed to precinct-based tabulation with local posting of results--which, although it, too, is a machine tally, is somewhat safer, as to tampering and disruption). The article writer says nothing about the shoddiness of ES&S voting machines (nor, indeed, about ES&S fraud and criminality--SoS Bowen just sued them over it), nor about the added insecurity of centralized tabulation, but, instead, adds this into the "hysteria" about slow vote counts that is being built up, by this gaggle of anti-transparency county election officials.

A tragically typical corporate "news" performance. As for Seiler, Weir and company, I hope they soon go the way of Connie McCormack, driven from office by an aroused citizenry.

[robinlynne]

20. Thank-you Peace Patriot!

[EFerrari]

3. IA: Culver, Mauro disagree on how to update voting systems

Culver, Mauro disagree on how to update voting systems
By JENNIFER JACOBS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Copyright 2008, Des Moines Register and Tribune Company

February 3, 2008


In one corner of the ring: Chet Culver.

In the other corner: Michael Mauro.

There's some professional sparring going on between the former top election official in Iowa and the current one. It runs deeper than just their differences over how exactly to update Iowa's voting machine equipment before the high-stakes presidential vote in November.

Both men downplay the tension, but it intensified last week.

http://www.altoonaherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/NEWS10/802030340

[EFerrari]

4. CO: Election uncertainty not weighing on Broomfield

Election uncertainty not weighing on Broomfield

By Jolie Breeden (Contact)
Sunday, February 3, 2008

In the topsy-turvy world of Colorado voting, Broomfield has remained a veritable sea of tranquility -- and a recent plan by Colorado lawmakers to hold paper ballot elections isn't likely to make waves.

A plan to use paper ballots at polling places in 2008 could leave county clerks across the state without a paddle as they struggle to find the money to buy ballot counting devices, staff election judges and secure election locations. But Broomfield should be able to weather any coming storms, City and County Clerk Russ Ragsdale said.

"We've stayed pretty agile here in Broomfield," he said. "We've not made any huge investment or locked ourselves into any particular system."

The push for paper ballots was introduced last week by Gov. Bill Ritter and legislators in hopes of defining a system that would allow votes to be cast without the looming shadow of possible technology failures.

http://broomfieldenterprise.com/news/2008/feb/03/election-uncertainty-not-weighing-on-broomfield/

[Peace Patriot]

17. "Swimming without a paddle"? Is that like voting without a ballot? nt

[EFerrari]

5. OH: Voting change costly for Wayne, Holmes counties

Voting change costly for Wayne, Holmes counties
8 hours ago

By BOBBY WARREN
and KATY GANZ
Staff Writer

WOOSTER -- Wayne County's top election official and her colleagues from around Ohio are asking the secretary of state to back off on her decision to eliminate touch-screen election machines this year.

Director Patty Johns spoke with the county commissioners Wednesday informing them of the response from the Ohio Association of Election Officials to a study about election equipment.

The EVEREST Report concluded none of the three voting systems in place are secure or safe from potential tampering. Consequently, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is looking to have county boards use high-speed optical scanners to read paper ballots.

The move will cost taxpayers more money. Commissioner Cheryl Noah attended a County Commissioners Association of Ohio meeting where Brunner talked about plans for getting rid of the direct recording electronic equipment, which is commonly referred to as touch-screen voting machines.

http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/3243002

[EFerrari]

6. AK: Officials Expect Smooth E-Voting

Officials Expect Smooth E-Voting
Training aims to avoid past troubles
This article was published on Saturday, February 2, 2008 6:24 PM CST in News
By Don Dailey

Benton County election officials avow they learned from the vote-counting problems that grabbed a lot of publicity in the 2006 primary and general elections. A repeat is unlikely in this year's presidential primaries, they assure.

"You have to remember everything was brand new to us that year," said Benton County Election Commission Chairman John Brown Jr.

That year the state used touch-screen machines for the first time, and Benton County had trouble counting the votes cast on those machines in both the May primary and November general election.

Officials said the rush to get the machines in service left too little time to train poll workers properly, resulting in delays and mistakes in the counting process.

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/02/03/news/020308azpolltech.txt

[EFerrari]

7. CA: Ex-county clerk lists system faults, job rigors

Ex-county clerk lists system faults, job rigors
By Mike Sprague, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 02/02/2008 09:51:12 PM PST

WHITTIER - Conny McCormack, the former Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk, hadn't planned on retiring in 2007.

But when confronted with an atmosphere that McCormack believes was not conducive to teamwork, she decided it was time to leave.

McCormack, 58, has lived in Whittier since 1995, when she took the Los Angeles County job. In an interview last week, she discussed what she's doing now and why she decided to retire.

"The amount of work in a presidential election year is exponential," she said. "You basically never go home.

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/ci_8153626?source=rss

:nopity:

[EFerrari]

8. WA: County to cut 230 names off voter list (Pierce)

County to cut 230 names off voter list
DAVID WICKERT; [e-mail]
Published: February 3rd, 2008 01:00 AM

Pierce County plans to purge 230 names from voter rolls this week as it completes an investigation of what might be the worst voter-registration fraud in Washington history.

None of the apparently fraudulent voters ever cast a ballot. And deputy prosecuting attorney Allen Rose said the arrest and prosecution of those responsible shows that state and county safeguards to prevent voter fraud work.

“These people were caught and prosecuted because you can’t defraud the system,” Rose said.

The investigation centers on voter registrations submitted by employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The Louisiana-based ACORN is a national advocacy group for low-income people.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/272772.html

[EFerrari]

9. IL: Activists reach out to immigrant voter population

Activists reach out to immigrant voter population

February 3, 2008
By Sophia Tareen
The Associated Press

CHICAGO -- Nearly 30 years after immigrating to Illinois from Mexico, 54-year-old Frederico Gutierrez plans to vote in his first U.S. election.

Gutierrez, who became an American citizen in May, is among at least 11,800 U.S. citizen immigrants in Illinois who have registered to vote in the past six months, according to organizations that have led registration drives. Even more may have registered at local municipal offices and elsewhere.

Immigrants have been courted by activists in mosques, churches, at naturalization ceremonies and through door-to-door campaigns in an effort to get them to the polls for the 2008 presidential election -- part of a nationwide effort particularly reflected in states with rapidly changing demographics.

"We are experiencing an unprecedented era of mobilization among immigrant voters," said Arturo Vargas, the executive director of the Los Angeles-based National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/774104,3_1_EL03_A4VOTERS_S1.article

[EFerrari]

10. BLACK HISTORY MONTH: For most of 20th century, laws robbed many of vote

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: For most of 20th century, laws robbed many of vote
By: DEE DIXON , The Enterprise

In 1870, five years after Texas slaves learned they had been freed, Congress passed the 15th Amendment giving black men the right to vote.

Thirty-two years later, Texas enacted the Black Codes, effectively disenfranchising black voters until the passage of the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act during the administration of President Lyndon Johnson. It was not the only state to find ways to keep blacks from the ballot box.

"Such disenfranchising laws included poll taxes, literacy tests, vouchers of 'good character,' and disqualification for 'crimes of moral turpitude,'" according to the U.S. Department of Justice Web site. "These laws were 'color-blind' on their face, but were designed to exclude black citizens disproportionately by allowing white election officials to apply the procedures selectively."

During Reconstruction, freed slaves became self-educated, politically savvy and established their own schools and churches.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19258593&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6

[EFerrari]

11. Congress asks Blackwell to detail election

Congress asks Blackwell to detail election
Posted : Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:12:15 GMT
Author : General News Editor

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 2 A former Ohio elections official says he has declined a congressional panel's request he appear to discuss alleged problems with the 2004 presidential election.

The House Judiciary Committee wants former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to testify about alleged election discrepancies in Ohio four years ago, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Blackwell's testimony on the topic of "voter suppression" was to take place next Friday in front of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, according to a letter sent to the former Ohio state official.

Blackwell confirmed he had received the panel's request but noted "my schedule will not permit me to attend the hearings."

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/182017,congress-asks-blackwell-to-detail-election.html

[EFerrari]

12. Lipari: DREs Take It To Court

February 2, 2008

DREs Take It To Court

By Bo Lipari

Court Asked to Reverse State Ruling Eliminating DREs
Judge Expected to Rule on 2/4/8

The DRE vendor LibertyVote argued in New York State Court that the State Board of Elections acted “ arbitrarily and capriciously” when it decided the DRE does not qualify for use as a Ballot Marking Device in 2008. Now the Court must decide whether to overturn the Board's decision that the DREs do not satisfy the requirements of New York State Election Law. The DRE vendor wants the Court to authorize their machine despite the Board ruling that it provides no usable way for voters with disabilities to verify their ballot.

I was surprised to see that LibertyVote had set up one of their DREs in the Courtroom, clearly preparing to demonstrate it for the Judge. Normally the focus of an Article 78 hearing is narrow, determining if the Board's decision was reasonable, not substituting the Court's opinion on DREs for the decision of the Board. As it turned out, the attempt to ‘demo' the DRE may have worked against LibertyVote's lawyers.

The DRE vendor argued that the Board's decision was “subjective, biased, and unfair to LibertyVote”. Going further, the attorneys argued that it was “a violation of LibertyVote's rights” and that the Board's determination was “arbitrary and capricious”. They claimed that the Board's vote on January 24 eliminating DREs was invalid because all four commissioners weren't present at the vote. Finally, LibertyVote's lawyers concluded by asking the Court to disregard the Board's decision and determine that their DRE “meets Federal and State laws”.

Attorney Paul Collins, representing the Board's Democratic commissioners, countered that New York Election Law explicitly allows certification of voting equipment by specifically requiring “a determination by a majority of the commissioners”, so the Board's vote was clearly legal. He also argued forcefully against LibertyVote's contention that the decision was arbitrary. Citing the affidavit of Commissioner Doug Kellner (D), he argued that the LibertyVote DRE does not meet the standards set by New York law. The Kellner affidavit describes the deliberations involved in evaluating the DRE, citing the requirements of HAVA, my evaluation for the Citizens Advisory Committee, and comments from NYSILC and the Brennan Center.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bo_lipar_080202_dres_take_it_to_cour.htm

[EFerrari]

13. CO: Signature verification machines for mail ballots 2/2/08

February 2, 2008

CO: Signature verification machines for mail ballots 2/2/08

By Charles Corry

There are some simple, well-known rules for election fraud that have been tried and tested over a couple of centuries in the United States:

* The smaller the election, the easier it is to steal, i.e., local elections are easier to corrupt than state elections, state elections are easier to corrupt than national ones (Deliver The Vote, p. 24).
* Absentee or mail ballots are the current method of choice for election fraud and have been widely used for such fraud.
* A secret ballot cannot be maintained when mail ballots are used.
* The Chicago Rules of Election Fraud are widely available for anyone tempted to try their hand at this game.
* Once an election begins any attempt at election fraud is virtually certain to succeed if it is not forestalled by protections already in place. The likelihood of prosecution is historically near zero and it is extremely rare for an election to be overturned even when fraud is proven.

Any rational individual concerned about honest elections would conclude that mail ballots should be strictly limited and not used at all, if possible, in small counties, towns, or special district elections.

However, after the Colorado Secretary of State, six months behind schedule, decertified many of the electronic voting machines used in this state in December 2007, there arose a statewide clamor from county clerks for all-mail-ballot elections in the 2008 presidential race, though that is prohibited under current law. While many of the large counties have little problem with conducting a precinct election using hand-marked paper ballots, the large majority of the smaller counties continue to claim the only way for a "successful" election in 2008 is by using mail ballots. The discerning reader will note from the above that these are exactly the locales where election fraud is most likely. However, it is often impossible to separate election fraud from simple incompetence, although the results are, coincidentally, usually the same.

What carefully isn't mentioned in the clerk's clamor is that the only way mail ballots can be counted is by electronic voting machines, the same ones that have been decertified and are widely distrusted by citizens. But now the count is to be done in a backroom, usually out of public view. Further, the most vocal clerks tend to be the most technologically challenged. As a result, it is common for them to simply contract with a voting machine vendor to run elections for them. Obviously these vendors, LHS in New Hampshire is a recent example, are going to do everything in their power to make the election appear flawless. Citizens are then left taking the unverifiable word of a private contractor as to the results of their election.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_charles__080202_co_3a_signature_verifi.htm

[EFerrari]

14. Officials move toward new voting machines

NY: Officials move toward new voting machines
Decision last week triggers choices to be made by Friday.
February 3, 2008

By Ray Finger
[e-mail]
Star-Gazette


Even though county election officials throughout the state were initially given the choice of three voting machines for use by handicapped voters, only one is now being permitted.

State elections commissioners last week approved three paper-ballot marking devices and optical scanners, rather than ATM-style touch-screen machines, for use by the disabled.

They are Sequoia Imagecast, Premier Automark and ES&S Automark.

County elections commissioners across the state faced a Friday deadline to choose one of the machines.

http://www.stargazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/NEWS01/802030305

[EFerrari]

15. NY: 59th Historical Marker Celebrates City’s Long Electoral Heritage

59th Historical Marker Celebrates City’s Long Electoral Heritage

By The Post-Journal Staff
2/3/2008 - [e-mail]


The city’s 59th historical marker, which was recently unveiled along Jones and Gifford Avenue, celebrates Jamestown’s long history in the election industry.

The marker is located at the former site of Automatic Voting Machine Corp., a Jamestown company that manufactured the first practical voting machine beginning in the late nineteenth century, according to Dolores Thompson, city historian.

While the machine was designed by a Rochester inventor in 1892, manufacture of the machine was moved to Jones and Gifford Avenue in Jamestown in 1895 — and by 1929, the operation had evolved into Automatic Voting Machine Corp., according to a historical account of Jamestown’s role in the industry provided by Ms. Thompson.

‘‘In addition to manufacturing the machine, the company continued to pioneer in the research and development of voting machines established by their predecessors, as well as servicing them at the site,’’ the account reads. ‘‘During the ensuing years, other companies across the country continued to develop and manufacture voting machines, which were used with limited success. The Jamestown-based company, however, dominated the industry, manufacturing over 100,000 machines — which, in the 1950s, were in use in 32 states.

http://www.post-journal.com/Sports/articles.asp?articleID=24463

[Kurovski]

18. K&R. Thank you sfexpat2000!

:hug:

[Mnemosyne]

19. Thanks Beth! KnR n/t