E-VOTING MACHINE HEARINGS IN DC TODAY - ACTION & LIVE WEBCAST! >>>>>

[helderheid]

Wednesday July 19, 2006
Science Committee and House Administration Committee – Joint Hearing
Voting Machines: Will New Standards and Guidelines Prevent Future Problems?
2:00p.m. – 4:00p.m.
2318 Rayburn House Office Building (WEBCAST)

Contact: Republican Staff: Olwen Huxley, 225-8844
Democrat Staff: Mike Quear, 225-6375

Is your representative on this committee? CONTACT THEM with your concerns!

Find them here:
http://www.house.gov/science/committeeinfo/members/index.htm

Click on their name to contact them!

Thank you!

View the webcast LIVE at 2 pm Eastern here: http://boss.streamos.com/real-live/science/11535/100_science-science_060607.smi

[helderheid]

1. kick for webcast address

[Bozita]

2. Thanks for the heads-up!

[helderheid]

9. No problem - should be an interesting show to say the least! Hope

it isn't infuriating!

[stepnw1f]

3. kick

[helderheid]

4. 2 Hours to go to contact your representative!

[helderheid]

7. 2? Obviously I needed more coffee when I said that.

[helderheid]

5. kick

[marions ghost]

6. KICK

:argh:

[helderheid]

8. kick

[helderheid]

10. This will ALSO be on C-SPAN 3 - just an FYI

[helderheid]

11. just a half hour until it begins

[helderheid]

12. 15 more minutes to go

[helderheid]

13. 10 more minutes to go!

[helderheid]

14. This is it guys! Any minute!

[renate]

15. thanks for keeping us posted!

:yourock:

[Spazito]

16. Am watching now, thanks for the heads-up and the link! n/t

[helderheid]

22. glad not to be alone!

:hi:

[helderheid]

17. WE'RE ON!!! Click on the link in the OP for the live webcast!

[helderheid]

18. I hope they shed light on the problems - I am worried this will turn

into a pat each other on the back for doing so well kind of meeting.

[helderheid]

19. By the way, I sent this info to all my lists - heard back from our

County mayor who said he planned on calling my rep :)

[helderheid]

20. Mentioned that demonstrators are there wearing t-shirts advocating

paper trails - said it most likely won't be discussed in this hearing but will be discussed in a seperate hearing in September

[helderheid]

21. I missed her name - who is this speaking now?

[Spazito]

25. Rep. Melinda something MacDonald? I had to check on CSPAN

to see if they had a name on screen, they did but it was hard to read.

Now it is Rep. Sherwood Boehlert on.

[helderheid]

26. thanks!

[hedda_foil]

31. Millender-MacDonald from CA

She's the ranking member on the House Admin Committee and she's been really resistant to signing on to HR 550.

[Swamp Rat]

23. k&r

[helderheid]

24. hi!

:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

32. Not watching, but I care.

:hi:

[helderheid]

33. We'll keep ya posted!

[Swamp Rat]

thanks n/t

[hedda_foil]

27. This is HUGE.

Common Cause, VoteTrustUSA, EFF, Voters Unite and Verified Voting had a press conference before the hearing to point out some of the problems with the standards. And some of the reps on the committees should be asking questions we've given them.

[helderheid]

30. my Rep is there (Matheson) - I'm very curious as to what he'll say

as he has been such a disappointment in so many ways.

[helderheid]

28. Funny they said we'll have a seperate hearing on paper trails but

so far everyone is mentioning it. Of course paper trails aren't the answer without meaningful audits.

[redqueen]

29. how much is democracy worth?

:applause:

i love this caveat to bringing up costs!

:patriot:

[helderheid]

34. "We're behind schedule" also mentioned Mexico

[redqueen]

37. yes, and we won't see any progress by this fall

or so he said

:mad:

[helderheid]

35. Rush Holt briefly spoke but I missed it

[Norquist Nemesis]

36. Here is a terribly dumb question

How is it the jurisdiction of the SCIENCE committee, or the House Administration committee for that matter? While I'm happy to hear there are some hearings going on, am I missing something about the appropriate committee here?

[helderheid]

38. Not sure - had the same thought - perhaps because it has to

do with technology and equipment? Not sure.

[Norquist Nemesis]

41. You're probably right...

I was thinking there is a technology subcommittee. :shrug:

[redqueen]

39. perhaps because the HAVA legislation came from that committee?

or because the electronic voting machines are often shown to be hackable via scientific methods?

:shrug:

[Norquist Nemesis]

40. Considering the stellar job performance on "science" thus far

with this administration and Con majority, I'm not very hopeful.

[redqueen]

42. i sympathize with the sentiment behind your statement

i truly do. however, it is not helpful. the onus is on us to do all we can to ensure our votes are counted.

i hope, despite your pessimistic outlook, that you still have the energy to fight HARD for this issue!

[redqueen]

43. the elections official from MN... she said "VVPAT" didn't she?

*sigh*

ballots! we need ballots, not an audit trail!

[Spazito]

47. Correct me if I heard wrong but did she just say handicapped people

like the blind could not verify their vote in privacy when there are voter verified paper ballots. Ummmm, how do they verify their vote with ONLY a Diebold voting machine. Did I miss something?

[redqueen]

48. woops wrong person

i answered thinking you were asking about the lawyer from MD... the elections official i don't recall saying much about handicapped voters... the main thing that i recall is that she said "VVPAT" :(

[hedda_foil]

50. Linda Lamone bought megabucks worth of Diebold DREs

and has been defending Diebold ever since. She's the MD State Election Director, a Dem and appointed by the Dems practically for life. Not a friend.

[Spazito]

53. Thanks, hedda_foil, I thought I must have heard wrong because

her argument, as I heard it, was patently ridiculous.

[redqueen]

44. the lawyer from MD

first she balks at spending another $50M on another election system... as if that's even necessary!

speaking against voter-verified ballots! bringing up the 'what about blind voters' canard!

i don't like her AT ALL!

:nuke:

[helderheid]

45. she was terrible.

[redqueen]

46. professor wagner i like! :)

YES! He said it!

Voter-verified paper records! (not ballots but it's closer!)

[redqueen]

49. is the ESS guy only there to kiss butt?

:wtf:

[Kip Humphrey]

51. Message from ES&S: You want accuracy and reliability but can't afford it??

Hey, we can afford paper and pencil!

[helderheid]

54. no shit!

:yourock:

[hedda_foil]

52. Groh who is testifying now is the head of ES&S.

The ITAA, which he is representing today, is a lobbying association for the dompanies and he heads their elections section. They've consistently diluted the standards and then not fulfilled many of the ones that are in place. He's also on the Technical Guidelines Development Committee.

[debbierlus]

55. Linda Lamone - Hack from Maryland is being SUED

http://www.truevotemd.org/litigation_complaint.asp

Why the hell is this hack testifying?

We can't have paper ballots because of BLIND people?

HUH?

It was EMBARRASSING TO WATCH HER TESTIFY

[hedda_foil]

59. Believe it or not, the Dems got one slot and she was it!

[debbierlus]

69. You are kidding me. Tell me you are kidding me.

[helderheid]

56. Asking about security

[Spazito]

57. Rep. MacDonald is asking some very good questions, imo

I will be interested to hear how the voting machine supporter "experts" answer them or, rather, fill time with obfuscation.

[helderheid]

58. Absolutely.

[helderheid]

60. SNAP!

[helderheid]

61. AUDITS AUDITS AUDITS!

[Spazito]

62. Wow, the guy asking the questions is a repub, right?

He also is asking some good questions, I have to admit I didn't think there were any repubs who would do anything other than rah rah Diebold, etc.

[helderheid]

64. TRUE Republicans would ask questions - just not the neo cons. They

asked questions here in Utah and Emery County County Clerk, a Republican, has been fighting Diebold and made national headlines.

[Spazito]

65. Good point, one I need to remember, there are some REAL repubs

still in government.

[redqueen]

66. he deserves some positive feedback for this!

LOTS of it!

[helderheid]

63. PAPER BALLOTS!

[helderheid]

67. Ms. Hooley, OR

[redqueen]

70. LOVE her questions!

:D

[helderheid]

71. me too me too!

[redqueen]

68. "that's the official answer..."

"let's get to the answer as a citizen"

:bounce:

:loveya:

[helderheid]

72. I sure hope my rep is paying attention to the problems!

[helderheid]

73. Wonder if they will bring up Busby/Bilbray election?

[redqueen]

74. i thought they might...

talking about CA having better testing / the possibility of hacking... so it fits the topic to a T

[redqueen]

75. who's this guy?

'there's no evidence it's been abused, but there's potential it could be'

yeah, let's worry about stuff that's not happening yet... cause we don't have enough problems that are actually happening to worry about

grr

oops i had it paused or a bit so i'm probably not watching what everyone else is.

[helderheid]

76. I had to step away

[helderheid]

77. Rep. Brady PA up

[helderheid]

78. "Do we have the will to abide by the will of the people?" YES!

[helderheid]

79. APPLAUSE!

[redqueen]

80. thanks again for the link...

i'll give 'em a day to digest that, then start making calls :P

[eomer]

81. I guess this is better than what we've seen in the past, but...

still leaves a lot to be desired.

Even Dr. Wagner, who was probably most on the side of verifiable elections of anyone on the panel, was fairly clueless. For example, he said that his concerns about problems with the machines have been mitigated by the extreme extent of safety procedures that have been put in place in his state (CA). I wonder if he includes sending hackable machines home for sleepovers with pollworkers for a couple of weeks before the election, some of them without the required safety seals in place. Or how about his SOS certifying machines that he knew did not comply with requirements that they should have by law. Could he be that misinformed?

It is a very sad state that this hearing could be called an improvement. What a joke.