BREAKING: HUNDREDS OF VOTING MACHINES BREAK DOWN IN PHILLY!

[BradBlog]

BREAKING: HUNDREDS OF VOTING MACHINES BREAK DOWN IN PHILLY!
Train Wreck in Progress as Today's Primary Elections in PA Run Into Big Trouble...
Paper Ballots Being Passed Out, 'We're Dead' Says One Official ...
(Who could have forseen such problems?!)

Pennsylvania is having their primary elections today and, as expected, the train wreck is underway. As reported by Philadelphia Daily News, hundreds of machines (in this case, those made by Danaher Guardian) have failed...

BREAKING NEWS: 100 voting machines broken

More than 100 voting machines are reported to be broken across the city, the Daily News has learned.

Apparently, the machines were broken when polls opened this morning -- they keep spitting out the paper tape that keeps the tally of the vote. It is the largest breakdown since we started using the new voting machines.

The broken machines were first reported in the weblog for TheNextMayor.com. Expect more on this story in tomorrow's Daily News.

Philly News: http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/14593675.htm

Many more details and related reports: http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002836.htm

[AX10]

1. I have a good use for the National Guard...

they should raid and shut down every electronic "voting" machine company in existance!

[Blutodog]

4. Electronic theft machines

Computerized voting ala Diebold et al. is nothing more then the DEATH of democracy in this country and has to be stopped. We need a Boston Tea Party event to burn these machines in public to show our rage at the up front robbery going on of our francise. The Bu$hiviks and their fascist Corp/Religious allies HATE "real" democracy and are a long way down the rode to replacing it with a "Diebold democracy" It's one of the great ironies of the 2000 election that the GANG that has control of our country now used that fiasco to push the infamous HAVA act through Congress mandating these election stealing machines.

[Kikosexy2]

7. Revolt and

re-vote!!

[goclark]

2. But all the machines worked in the minority neighborhoods?

Either way ~ sounds like the fix is in.

[Waistdeep]

3. Only one thing to do

Replace them all with reliable Diebold machines without all that paper stuff to get messed up ............

[Joe for Clark]

5. K AND R

I really hope the voting gets tabulated correctly -

But if this can't get sorted out by November, we better be prepared to go another way to get to the truth.

Good post!!!

Joe

[jn2375]

6. Our voting place only had 1 damn voting machine!!!!!!!!

We're a small rural area but we had 3 to 4 machines before they switched to the touch electronic machines. People had to learn to use the new machine which also took extra time and there was NO PAPER TRAIL. Good god and this is in PA with a Democratic governor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tblue37]

17. Some Democrats are on the take, too,

especially state level officials. They get payoffs from the companies that make the machines, so they are all about pushing for them. Also, I suspect some Dems in office got there by way of tricky electronic voting machines. The ones in office are already IN OFFICE, so they have no great need to fix the problem.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

27. Probably why they were all silent after the last election theft -nt

[marions ghost]

42. more like embarassment

for the Dems--that they got sold an expensive lemon-- thinking they were making voting systems better and "state of the art"....not willing to admit they participated in a boondoggle.

I disagree that Dems are benefitting directly from touchscreens. In most of the states where they have been sold so far, touchscreens have ensured Repug victories.

[theHandpuppet]

63. Are there no other options?

In my WV county we have several options for voting: early voting (including Saturdays); paper ballot (Optiscan) and electronic (iVotronic), available at all polling places. Then there are the absentee and provisional ballots. This is also a rural county. I just find it weird that the system is so clunky in PA!

[Tiggeroshii]

8. Why does pennsylvanis still have them?

I thought they were trying to get rid of them!

[Amaryllis]

87. The activists worked really really hard to get rid of them but the

money and power won.

[SoCalDem]

9. More screw ups..sheez.. what are the odds?

Why don;t all these elections officials just decertify them ALL and demand their money back?

That would buy a lot of paper ballots and pay for a lot of people to run the elections..

[marions ghost]

43. that's what they should do...

but at local level not many want to admit they got bamboozled for millions of taxpayer money. They got sold that e-voting with touchscreens is the way to go. It's 5X as expensive as opti-scan.

[robbedvoter]

10. Since rendell has a two digit lead, it had to! read Palast - there are

many way to steal an election.

[orleans]

52. and Fooled Again--Mark Crispin Miller (great book) n/t

[Jacobin]

11. We live in a fucking banana republic

That is all

[SammyWinstonJack]

65. And the rank and file repugs don't care so long as their party

keeps "winning".

[stepnw1f]

12. So What Now?

Do we have get violent on these machines? I'm getting sick and tired of this bullshit. NO MACHINES!

[Stinky The Clown]

13. Ohio ... now Pennsylvania. ATTENTION DEM LEADERSHIP!!!!!!!!!

Put your 2008 'plans' up your sorry asses and FIX THE FUCKING VOTING SYSTEM.

EVERY FUCKING ONE OF YOU.

OR DO YOU ******WANT****** TO LOSE??????????????

/rant

[orleans]

53. exactly how i feel about it too! n/t

[Blutodog]

84. UR right !!

That's telling them! It makes me laugh to watch the DC DEMOS planning to cash in on the Repuke meltdown. Not going to happen the repukes will steal every one of the 30 or so districts that the Demos need and the DC Demos will blame values voters or some such BS. Clueless, spineless losers.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

14. Voting machine problems in Pittsburgh too!

:kick:This is not an Upper middle class community. http://www.post-gazette.com/ Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette
Majority inspector Mary Ann Buggey, right, tries to call about a problem with voting machines at a Perry Hilltop polling place this morning,:grr: while Larry Goss, judge of elections, left, stands watch. Ms. Buggey said the electronic machines wouldn't print a "0" result when turned on. Paper ballots are being used until the problem can be corrected.:grr:

Are we ready for new machines?
:grr:
VOTE TODAY
7 a.m. - 8 p.m.
See the PG's 2006 Voter's Guide
Today, 62 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties will make transitions to new voting technologies presenting enormous challenges for state and local officials.
ONLINE CHAT TOMORROW: Brian O'Neill on the legislative pay raise

[sarcasmo]

79. Looks like Santorums job is safe in PA no matter how far he is behind.

[sarcasmo]

80. Looks like Santorums job is safe in PA no matter how far he is behind.

[Copperred]

15. Why is this not THE SINGLE BIGGEST DEMOCRATIC ISSUE, PERIOD?

Can someone explain to me why the Democratic core and public is not pushing absolute federal election reform and standards as THE number one issue of all time if they are EVER to get back in long term power?

I am dismayed and honestly fed up with a public that seems not to follow their own instincts. If the voting machines are not fully made open and standardized across the Union how are we ever to get any where?

Hello the machines don't work...end of story. There is a group of ameircans who don't want them to EVER be standardized and simple to use..etc etc... THEY ARE THE ENEMY. Yes, it IS a black and white issue.

Why is federal election reform NOT the FRONT issue for the DNC and whomever they hoist in '09?

SOMEONE?

If villagers in India can vote and be sure its counted, why can't I?

IS ANYONE TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY?

[DianaForRussFeingold]

19. I agree,We should have stayed with Lever-style machines

Lever-style machines that have been used since the 1960s,worked fine for me.I would have sooner stayed with the old machines. I guess they were not happy with our voting last time.:grr: New voting machines suffer software snag

By Glenn May
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, March 30, 2006

Allegheny County's plan to buy electronic voting machines in time for the May 16 primary could be in trouble.

Unspecified software problems discovered during state testing Wednesday will require the manufacturer, Sequoia Voting Systems, to make changes before certification tests can resume, said Michelle Shafer, spokeswoman for the Oakland, Calif.-based company.

Tests on the Sequoia Advantage voting machines by state tester and Carnegie Mellon University professor Michael Shamos were supposed to wrap up yesterday. Shamos had hoped to be able to deliver a verdict on whether the machines meet state law next week.

Voting machines cannot be used in any state election without certification.

Shafer did not know how long it will be before tests can resume, but said the company still hopes to have the machines ready in time for the primary.

"We're very hopeful that the equipment will be certified by then," she said.

County Manager Jim Flynn is scheduled to talk with Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes today to discuss how the county will run its primary.

Sequoia has promised to supply Allegheny County with alternate machines that already have state certification if the Advantage machines fail tests. Details of such an alternate plan have not been worked out, but Flynn said the county will have an election May 16.

The county plans to buy a total of 2,800 Sequoia Advantage machines for $11.8 million to replace lever-style machines that have been used since the 1960s.:cry:

Allegheny County is one of many local governments that must buy new voting machines to comply with federal law. If new machines are not in place for the primary, the county stands to lose up to $12 million in federal money to help pay for them.

Glenn May can be reached at [e-mail] or 412-391-8650.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_438226.html
:rant:

[enlightenment]

28. I loved those -- the whole experience was so

"votey."

Stepping into the booth with the massive red curtain weighted with lead shot and suspended from big metal rings.

Pulling the huge lever that initiated your experience -- the heavy swish, the rattle of the metal rings, and ka-thunk of the curtain sliding closed.

Pushing the lever for your vote - ka-chunk, ka-chunk.

Pulling the huge lever -- this time you hear the clatter of the gears recording your vote -- the red curtain slides back with a flourish -- you've VOTED!!

Dang, I miss those machines.

Okay, so no paper record of the vote -- but I never felt like I need one.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

39. LOL,You described my very first'voting experiance,perfectly!

:rofl: Sort of like going to church on Christmas,I felt proud.I was an adult.That year they changed the age to 18,My first time voting, Ford vs.Carter. I voted for Ford. Looking back I dont understand why.I didn't do drugs, I must have been a real daddy's girl, Or maybe because he had better looking sons. I think kids today are much brighter,than I was. :hippie: Great nostalgic video 18' Alice Cooper 1972'I didn't like him then,now I know why,he was drugged up all the time,Great song though. http://youtube.com/watch?v=O_vF3pd0UNw :kick:

[MockSwede]

81. Daughter

The next generation just registered. My daughter went down to city hall on her birthday to register DEMOCRAT - in between end of school day and start of track practice - the only thing she wanted for her birthday. Her first vote is out primary June 16th.

[Ms. Toad]

48. Never heard of vote shaving?

Comes from shaving the wheel on the lever voting machines to prevent it from catching and turning so a few votes were "shaved" from the candidate associated with the shaved wheel.

[enlightenment]

50. Actually, no, I hadn't -- the hazards of being an

18th century historian! That is fascinating, though -- can you give a time period? I'd love to dig up more information.

Thanks!

[Ms. Toad]

56. I've been searching for solid references recently

I recall that it was a print article in which I first read it, but unfortunately I have been unable to find the article again (which had a fairly detailed description of the fraud and a connection to the origin of the phrase). The references I have found recently are rather skimpy:

http://www.wanttoknow.info/electronicvoting (search the text for shave)

http://www.alternet.org/story/16874/ (search the text for shave)

http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingSecurity.htm (Item 17)

The connection to the origin of the term is not express in any of them - but it's what I've been able to track down.

[enlightenment]

72. Thank you, Ms. Toad -- I'll do some checking on this end.

I am now seriously intrigued.

If I find a definitive source (as definitive as history gets, in any case), I'll post back and let you know!

[Amaryllis]

88. Check out votescam.com

[marions ghost]

45. complain within your state

that's where the changes are being made. At Federal level...well, all they did was give us HAVA (Help America Vote Act--ramrodded through by Repugs) which allowed for the proliferation of Diebold, Sequoia, ES&S machines. A few in Congress--Conyers, Clinton, Holt, Reid and Boxer have made serious reform efforts. Right now the Congress is so overwhelmed they can't cope with this. It's in the States. And the problem there is entrenched local politics and partisan election officials.

Some groups are trying, for example:

Common Cause is working with civil rights and other organizations for passage of the extension of critical sections of the Voting Rights Act. We are working in several states to take the important task of redistricting out of the hands of partisan politicians. Common Cause supports extending voting representation in Congress to citizens of the District of Columbia.

http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=672335

Common Cause supports federal policies and legislation that will:
* Address the problems voters face when registering to vote;
* Prohibit voter suppression and/or intimidation;
* Reduce partisanship and conflict of interest in election administration;
* Ensure adequate and permanent funding for replacing, testing and maintaining voting machines, for accessibility to all polling places, and for the training for poll workers;
* Develop uniform standards for provisional ballots;
* Promote voting equipment that provides a voter verified paper ballot;
* Provide for re-enfranchisement for felons who have served their time.

Common Cause endorses the following legislation currently before Congress:
* H.R. 550, Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005. Sponsor: Rep. Holt (NJ).
* S. 450, Count Every Vote Act of 2005. Sponsors: Sens. Clinton (NY), Boxer (CA).
* S. 330, Voting Integrity and Verification Act of 2005. Sponsors: Sens. Ensign (NV), Reid (NV).

[AnneD]

94. I think that the public has yet to wrap their mind...

around the fact that someone could steal a major election. I think that reform has been slow because of this. We are a trusting lot and outside of a few incidences, we have not had the degree of corruption other countries have experienced in their elections. This is not covered to the degree it deserves in MSM (why would they want too). Most of America is just NOW waking up to the level of corruption that has been going on and are just NOW getting an inkling of the voting fraud. Heck, if I didn't know about DU-I wouldn't know as much as I do. I don't judge folks too harshly on this. However, if the GOP retains power in 2006-I think accurate ballot counts will be an issue prior to 2008. I intend to vote early to have a paper ballot. I will demand a paper trail.

[Sapere aude]

16. Why do we keep waiting until election day to find out the machines don't

work?

We need to have an election week not an election day. We need to test all procedures and machines before the day of the election. We should have mail voting as much as possible. All votes should be counted and recounted if necessary.

[alcibiades_mystery]

18. They asked me if I wanted paper or computer

I went with paper, and I don't even believe all that Diebold nonsense!

They had a young guy with the old folks administering the polls. Why don't you want the computer, he asked kinda rudely.

Because it's not transparent, I said. You get some open source voting machines and I'll be happy to use them. Voting machines with proprietary code are bullshit, and I'll never use one if I can help.

He looked shocked.

[orleans]

54. my daughter signed up to be an election judge (from her high school

class)and she had to go to a training session regarding the machine.

now--i detest these machines but i voted on one for the first time (because my kid was being trained on it--and because i detest them.)

my impression--basically--it was okay--enough to get people to use them.

there was a paper trail--i could read the printout in a little window.

now i'm wondering....how long does the paper retain the ink
(receipts at best buy and office max and grocery stores--they tend to use that disappearing ink--after time the detail goes away)

i think these machines are alluring and dangerous as freakin hell.

[Peace Patriot]

20. This was a BUSHITE MANDATE, pushed through the Anthrax Congress

by its biggest crooks, Tom Delay, Bob Ney and Christopher Dodd, as a $4 billion boondoggle for Bushite electronic voting corporations. What do you expect from a Bushite Mandate except Bushite bullshit?

The biggest prob is not breakdowns. The biggest prob is the 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code in voting machines AND the central tabulators--code so secret that not even our secretaries of state are permitted to review it. And virtually no audit/recount controls.

Made. To. Order. For. Election. Fraud.

Sad tale of Democratic Party leadership failure, too. Only two U.S. Senators voted against this OBVIOUS, NON-TRANSPARENT, ELECTION THEFT SYSTEM, and you will be surprised by who they are: Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer. 63 House members, mostly Dems, voted against. The DNC maintained SILENCE on this EGREGIOUSLY bad election system until it was too late, AFTER '04, when Terry McAulife and the other DNC main crooks and colluders were gone. Sickening. And Dean is even soft-pedaling the matter now, but he probably does not have a clean house, and also he's got one helluva problem, with entrenched electronics and entrenched corruption. Many elected officials are now afraid of Diebold/ES&S and the corrupt state/county election officials who control the vote. Saw that in Calif--state Dem fear of overly powerful, corrupted county election officials who colluded with Bushites to "swiftboat" our good Sec of State Kevin Shelley.

What a mess! THAT's what Bushite Mandates create--a mess. Deliberately. So much corruption you don't know where to begin. Meanwhile, one hacker, a couple of minutes, leaving no trace, can flip any election, and a few hackers can flip the country. And the war profiteering corporate news monopolies are doing exit polls as a "consortium" (one pollster) that are designed not to verify the election and check for fraud--as exit polls are used worldwide--but rather are designed to CONFIRM the non-transparent results of Diebold/ES&S's secret vote tabulation software. I'm not kidding. That's what they did in 2004. Kerry won their exit polls; so they DOCTORED the numbers--in impossible ways--to hide this evidence of election fraud. (Remember when the reporting system shut down late in the day, and everything changed from Kerry to Bush--that was it).

Anyway, whatever you can use to get rid of these machines, USE IT--whether it's the crapass machines themselves, that breakdown, or the partisanship of these Bushite corporate vendors, or the lack of a paper ballot for recounts, or that little junket your county election official took to the Beverly Hilton last year (sponsored by Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia), or whatever evidence and arguments you can muster.

Throw Diebold, ES&S and ALL election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

And if you can't do that...

Tell people to request absentee ballots--not the total answer, by any means--but the paper record helps with investigations (it did in 2004), and it IS a protest against the machines. If enough people do it, the machines will be obsolete--then we can work on getting rid of the central tabulators.

Demand that the Dem Party fund INDEPENDENT EXIT POLLS. Badly needed. And they certainly owe us.

AND, MONITOR the elections. Gather evidence. Watch them like hawks. Document everything. Think long-term! We've got a big fight on our hands for our democracy. It's not just about one election. It's about the future of our country.

-----------------------------------

SOME RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN REVOLUTION II:

www.votetrustusa.org (news of this great movement from around the country)
www.votersunited.org (good general info, and state links)
www.verifiedvoting.org (great activist site)
www.UScountvotes.org (statistical monitoring of '06 and '08 elections--they need donations)

www.solarbus.org/election/index.shtml (fab compendium of all election info)
www.freepress.org (devoted to election reform)
www.bradblog.com (also great, and devoted to election reform)
www.TruthIsAll.net (analysis of the 2004 election)

Michael Collins (Autorank)'s searing election reform article for New Zealand's Scoop.com
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x971363

Bob Koehler (-- four recent election reform initiatives in Ohio, predicted to win by 60/40 votes, flipped over, on election day, into 60/40 LOSSES!--the biggest flipover we've seen yet; the election theft machines and their masters are now dictating election policy! Title: "Poll Shock" 11/24/05)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col321.htm

Bob Koehler's latest: "Trust us: Take this box and stuff it" (3/16/06)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col337.htm
More Koehler:
www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?file=20051124ctnbk-a.txt&catid=1824&code=ctnbk

Amaryllis (Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia lavish lobbying of election officials - Beverly Hilton, Aug. '05)
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x380340

HOWARD DEAN remarks on electronic voting machines 04/06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x994507

------------------------------------------------

Throw Diebold, ES&S and ALL election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

:think: :patriot: :woohoo: :patriot: :think:

-------------------------------------------------

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." --Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

[Peace Patriot]

22. BUMPER STICKER: "Help us beat the machines--VOTE!"

One other piece of advice: We CAN overwhelm the machine advantage to Bushites and warmongers by sheer turnout, in some cases, and we MUST tell people the truth and engage them in beating the machines. They NEED to know what's going on. It will help them and empower them, not hurt them. Do not discourage voting! ENCOURAGE voting, vigilance and followup.

[fooj]

44. Well said.

:applause:

[orleans]

55. and we need to be exit polling like crazy! n/t

[Copperred]

21. R they getting violent in Philly?

When is enough enough........

[Patsy Stone]

23. SOP for the SOBs

K&R!

[AnnieBW]

24. Tricky Ricky Locked Out!

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06136/690556-100.stm

U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum was among those locked out of his polling place at Forbes School in Penn Hills when an elections worker failed to show up. Mr. Onorato said the worker, at the last minute, couldn't get a ride. :rofl:

[kick_them_hard]

57. LMAO...good catch n/t

[wildflowergardener]

25. strange

That is strange that things happened to all the machines at once. It makes me wonder if a hacker could have done something to them - or perhaps a virus. Just too many things can go wrong with computers - some days they just decide to make your life miserable for some reason.

Meg

[drfresh]

26. What the deuce is wrong with paper ballots?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Fuck.

[marions ghost]

47. paper ballots are so...

you know, LOW-TECH. This is how they've done the big boondoggle---insinuating that paper ballots are behind the times and really backward.

[LibDemAlways]

51. Nothing is wrong with paper ballots.

Paper ballots counted at the polling place with observers of all political parties present are no doubt the safest, surest way to a fair election. That's exactly why HAVA was pushed through. Fair elections are the last thing these criminals want.

[LostinVA]

29. Hmmmm.... Philly and corrupted offical.... what a new thing!

Hey, I grew up by Philly, I know how it goes... and my first cousin once removed, "Little Freddy," is in waste management in Philly. And no, it's not really waste management....

[Tiggeroshii]

30. This bullshit shouldn't be happening

...help america vote, my ass!

[nguoihue]

60. bullshit happening

surprise, surprise !!!

[napi21]

31. Philly's mostly Pug isn't it?

It used to be ewhen I lived in Pgh. If that's still true, just maybe we can get a combined Party rally against the electronic voting machines!

[AlinPA]

33. Philly is heavily Democratic.

[napi21]

36. Am I just thinking about the rich in the suburbs then?

I know the Central part of the State has always been very Pub, but it's so sparsly populated, it never really mattered much, but I know there's a lot of very wealthy folks living in the Philly area, and since Pgh. has always been a Dem city, somone has to be making that State a swing state.

[LynneSin]

67. And as for another fact pulled out absolutely nowhere with no proof

The suburbs are moderate to democrat. The four suburbs around Philly including my ex-home of Bucks County have voted democratic for president, senator and governor since I had lived in the area. In fact there were some Philly suburbs that had a higher percentage for ex-Philly mayor Ed Rendell than in Philadelphia.

I lived in the region - please, next time ask someone who lives in the area instead of making up dumbass baseless facts. It would be better to have asked then just assume

[LynneSin]

66. Philly is mostly pug? And George Bush's approval is 82% right?

I've lived in the Philly area and the strategy for winning Pennsylvania is getting a large voter turnout in Philadelphia because it's so overwhelmingly democrat that the high voter turnout will offset the "T-zone" (middle of PA where it's pretty conservative).

Please, don't just put facts out of your ass and post them. What next, we'll call Boston a haven for neo-con fundamentalists?

[Patiod]

76. Good news about "rich Philly suburbs"

From a recent article in the "Norristown Time Herald"

"There are 252,683 Republicans registered to vote on May 16. This is a 1,439 voter decrease from those eligible in Nov. 2005.

There are 209,026 Democrats registered to vote on May 16. THIS IS AN INCREASE OF 1,276 VOTERS!

A total of 1,193 Republicans switched to Democrat since the last election. 684 voters switched to Rebuplican. 2,272 switched to non-partisan.

Overall, Democrats in this registration cycle out-registered their GOP coutnerparts, registering 2,215 new Democrats to the GOP's 1, 670 new voters."

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

32. For some reason ever ballot entered...

ending up reading George W. Bush/ Richard Cheney

[dysfunctional press]

34. i guess they should have gone with Diebold...

they'll rectify that mistake by november.

[Doctor_J]

35. Damn - is Swann's wife picking out curtains yet?

[McCamy Taylor]

37. Conspiracy to keep the urban vote down in the primaries.

[LibDemAlways]

38. I received my ballot the other day for the CA primary.

My area has just switched to new opti-scan (or is that "opti scam") machines manufactured by Sequoia. You use a pen to complete an arrow pointing to the candidate you want to vote for, and then feed your completed ballot into a machine that looks like a paper shredder (probably because it is a paper shredder.) The machine is supposed to let you know it has accepted your ballot. What it does not let you know is that your vote was recorded properly as you intended.

Absentee voters get the same ballot. Only they don't get an approved pen and have to take their chances that whatever pen they have around the house will be read by the machine. They then return their ballot by mail to the county registrar's office where it goes into the same device.


I had a terrible feeling when Ahnold installed his own repuke Sec. of State that my vote would be a casualty. After seeing this new set-up, I'm confident of it.

[marions ghost]

46. opti-scan

has been around for a long time and has the best accuracy of any machine counted system. It works like standardised tests, very simple. And of course it uses paper ballots. It is possible to tamper with the scanner, though if a system of random hand-counts is used to verify the scanner, it is less vulnerable.

Regardless of type of precinct voting machine, there is even more vulnerability at the central tabulator, usually in the state capital, where votes from all the precincts are counted in secret using proprietary software owned by Diebold et al.

[bobbieinok]

58. optiscan used in Tulsa OK......and all of OK????

when I left IA in 89 we were using levers, but I think that changed

[marions ghost]

61. optiscan is used in a lot of states

I've never voted with anything else. It's a big improvement over lever machines. Very simple and easy to administer. Mark a card, feed it into the scanner. Many voters can use the one machine. Much cheaper than touchscreens and low maintenance.

The issue with opti-scan is that random hand-counts absolutely must be done during and after the voting to ensure the machine has not been tampered with. But of course you always have the ballots to do that.

[harpboy_ak]

62. Opti-Scan was bought by Diebold

unfortunately. Before then, the software was subject to random EDP auditing according to terms of the State of Alaska's contracts with vendors.

The advantage is that the ballots can be recounted by hand. The Repugs would like to kill hand recounts, of course. Alaska has had some very close hand recounts.

[marions ghost]

69. right

but we COULD take back this technology and the software auditing process. Somewhere along the line, officials have agreed to Diebold's terms. They have shot themselves in the foot with this (which is why we are hearing the crickets chirping now). The basic opti-scan technology is a cost-effective and useful tool WHEN used with a system of random hand counts. Much better than touchscreens and much easier maintenance. Right, it's all about transparency and verification. And election officials that aren't complicit with Diebold.

[Amaryllis]

89. That's why they had to do the orchestrated smear campaign on Kevin Shelley

becasue he was cramping their style with his rulings requiring far more accountability and transparency. He was also well on the way to getting rid of Diebold in CA, which would have had national impact. He gave the CA attorney general all he needed to do a criminal prosecution of Diebold, but Lockyer didn't pursue it and left Shelley hanging out to dry.

[shance]

40. Are we seeing American patriotism in action??? One can hope!!

Go Pennsylvanians!!

Shut EM DOWN****************

[rpannier]

41. Broken huh?

Translation:
They're counting the votes correctly.

[marions ghost]

49. thanks Brad

I hope you'll continue to bring us other election-related news.

This type of machine breakdowns will I expect, be magnified in November.

[Liberty Belle]

59. Hmm...what if on election day we all voted early and...

some folks just happened to spill drinks into the machines, or drop coins or gum that jammed up the works...

or we just had a massive power surge that fried all the circuits?

I'm not suggesting any civil disobedience or vandalism here, of course. But the possibilities are mind boggling if a whole lotta people just happened to be very clumsy on election day.


:think:

[goodboy]

64. REMEMBER THIS MAN!(on the right)REMEMBER THESE FOUR WORDS!>>>>>

VOTER-VERIFIED

PAPER-BALLOTS

Your spirit is still with us, Andy. Shine through us. Inspire us. Motivate us to love our freedom, our liberty, our democracy, and our country as you did. Guide us as we learn from and use the knowledge you left with us to protect our most valuable freedoms. Give us the strength to fight those evil bastard fascist right-wing vote-stealing ballot-snatching scum-bag wretchid war-mongering worthless wastes of human flesh who would take them away from us to make America the new Repuke States of Taliban-America

<>


Your spirit is still with us, Andy. Shine through us. Inspire us. Motivate us to love our freedom, our liberty, our democracy, and our country as you did. Guide us as we learn from and use the knowledge you left with us to protect our most valuable freedoms. Give us the strength to fight those evil bastard fascist right-wing vote-stealing ballot-snatching scum-bag wretchid war-mongering worthless wastes of human flesh who would take them away from us to make America the new Repuke States of Taliban-America

[goodboy]

70. he's just appears to be on the right, but was, in fact stand on my left

[goodboy]

78. IF YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE, READ THAT POST ^^^^^

[BREMPRO]

68. uuhh.. HUNDREDS!!! that's not just a fluke, that's deliberate FRAUD! n/t

[In Truth We Trust]

71. Paper ballots and Hand counts NOW!!! Impeachment NOW!! or Revolution NOW!!

[Virginian]

73. I asked someone in that area about it. She hadn't heard.

Her response:

There was nothing on the front page, this morning, of the Inquirer.
This morning, I just paid attention to our county vote. I'll check the inner page with Philly voting news.

There are always problems with machines in Philadelphia. I would be amazed if there weren't any.

The Blog did not say if anyone was turned away.


The major MSM of the area didn't think it was front page news.

[JPZenger]

74. Back in the Days of Mayor Rizzo

Back in the days when Rizzo was mayor of Philadelphia, the oldest and worst maintained lever voting machines were placed in the Black wards. Guess what happened? They broke down.

[Gregorian]

75. Fuck the machines. Every Democrat use an absentee ballot.

Shouldn't that be our mandate? Every Dem vote with an absentee ballot?

These machines are just a republican sandbagging. We're in a race that they don't want us to win. So sandbag. Cheating is the only way republicans know.

[Merrick]

77. At least the machines dont

come alive and murder you for voting democrat... not yet.

[Zorra]

82. Torches, pitchforks...and big-ass fucking hammers.

We have to stop the use of these machines nationwide, immediately.

[KansDem]

83. I think you're on to something here. Let's form the "John Henry Society"

and big-ass fucking hammers

...and use SLEDGEHAMMERS!!!

[Zorra]

91. DU has a sticky: The Hammer Rebellion

Destroy the
Voting
Machines
Join the
Hammer
Rebellion

[Blutodog]

85. Agreed!!

What's needed is a modern version of the Boston Tea Party !! The Repukes are bunch of thieves in suits and until we take our country back by getting rid of the machines were going to be stuck with these bastards laughing in our faces. Right now u can bet Karl Rove and his friends at Diebold et al. are making damn sure that the DEMOS win zip in the fall no matter what the pre-election polls say or the exit polls. The repukes own the MSM so they can easily cover up any fraud simply by making sure their robbery get's no serious coverage. They stole the election's of 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2005 and with each passing election cycle their job gets easier and easier as the HAVA act mandates these odious crooked machines replace existing voting technology. It's all part of the Corp/Neo-Con/Religious Right takeover of our society. The same crooks that sit on the boards of directors of the 4 major voting machine companies also own the Texas company that purges voting rolls of Demos. from state to state and also oversees the NSA spying!!! The repukes are rapidly creating an information age Police State using the latest super computer technology. They could care less about ME terrorists their real goal is An American Christian Empire with Bu$h as Emperor and Jeb Bu$h as the heir apparent. If we don't stop them at the polls by getting rid of the key part of their plan the computerized voting fraud system there putting into place we will NEVER be free again in our lifetime. They are the real thing 21st century FASCISTS !!

[Amaryllis]

86. kick

[Copperred]

90. Lest we forget......

[Copperred]

92. Kick!!!!

[FighttheFuture]

93. ahhh... prelude to the theft of 2006 and 2008 $elections.

Will the sheeple ever catch on and have open and fair elections? Not as long as corrupted politico's keep buying this junk.

Imagine the temp jobs that could be created with paper ballots and the counting of them! Not only would we get a better election result, we would also get boosts to the local economy instead of ES&S, Diebold, Sequoia, etc.