BBV: Machine Takes One Vote In 100 From Candidate - WashPost

[althecat]

Machine Takes One Vote In 100 From Candidate - WashPost

This one is amazing... see what traction you get when you have a republican group complaining... and on page B01 now. I think this story is proof positive that the lid has now been lifted... increasingly nobody - even the republicans - are trusting these machines.

Al

***********

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6291-2003Nov5.html
Fairfax Judge Orders Logs Of Voting Machines Inspected

By David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 6, 2003; Page B01


... snip

School Board member Rita S. Thompson (R), who lost a close race to retain her at-large seat, said yesterday that the new computers might have taken votes from her. Voters in three precincts reported that when they attempted to vote for her, the machines initially displayed an "x" next to her name but then, after a few seconds, the "x" disappeared.

In response to Thompson's complaints, county officials tested one of the machines in question yesterday and discovered that it seemed to subtract a vote for Thompson in about "one out of a hundred tries," said Margaret K. Luca, secretary of the county Board of Elections.

"It's hard not to think that I have been robbed," said Thompson, whose 77,796 recorded votes left her 1,662 shy of reelection. She is considering her next step, and said she was wary of challenging the election results: "I'm not sure the county as a whole is up for that. I'm not sure I'm up for that."

MORE HERE
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6291-2003Nov5.html

[althecat]

1. Does anyone else find this deeply ironic...

CLICK TO SEE IMAGE...

http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I6737-2003Nov05L


"It's like Florida in many ways," Christopher Craig, attorney for Fairfax Republicans, left, said as lawyer Patricia Drain and county GOP Chairman Eddie Page look on. (Dayna Smith -- The Washington Post) "

[lysergik]

2. Maybe this will open repugs eyes in the HoR and cosponsor HR2239 n/t

[althecat]

3. That's a point... the implications of this are huge....

I think the Fairfax GOP - possibly inadvertantly - may have just declared open season on DREs without paper voter verified paper trails..

[DBoon]

12. Yeah, just like Florida

WE WON! YOU LOST!

nyanyanya

</sarcasm>

[DUreader]

4. Glitch or theft? Loyal Opposition?

Loyal to Diebold(Or whoever it was that made the machine)?

[althecat]

5. There are two lead in stories to this... Wash Post waking up to BBV

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1355-2003Nov4.html
Voting Machine Glitches Prompt GOP Challenge

Eric M. Weiss and David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 4, 2003; 11:52 PM


Widespread problems with new touch-screen voting machines delayed election results in Fairfax County Tuesday night and led to a legal challenge by Republican officials.


&

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1397-2003Nov5.html
Glitches Prompt GOP Suit Over Fairfax Tabulations

By Eric M. Weiss and David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, November 5, 2003; Page B04


Widespread problems with new touch-screen voting machines delayed election results in Fairfax County last night and led to a legal challenge by Republican officials.


*****

Note: there are two reporters working this story and it is being promoted forward in the paper... plus three stories in three days indicates it is being taken very seriously.

[seemslikeadream]

14. Touchscreen machines

were mentioned by two callers on C-Span this morning. One asked for Pedro to do a show just on them. I wonder who that was?

[cybildisobedience]

17. that was me!!

called in around 8 a.m. to answer the question about the most significant news story that took place over the past week. There are a million to choose from, but I wanted to get a request in to cover this topic. I've been trying for weeks to get through, and have been thwarted every time. It seems like C-Span is harder and harder to get through on these days.
At any rate, someone followed up on that call with another mention of electronic voting, and Pedro said someone called in earlier as well. I missed that one.

[lysergik]

22. Nice job! n/t

[althecat]

41. cybildisobedience....

You ROCK!!!

well done indeedy...

[Coldgothicwoman]

42. Good Job!!!

Is that the sound of dripping I hear? :)

:toast:

[jiacinto]

6. Not another Ellen Sauerbrey

Saubery, who lost in 1994 to Parris Glendening by 5,000 votes , dragged out her temper tantrum all the way to his inaguration.

I hope that Thompson doesn't do that.

[althecat]

7. What if she drags it out temperately :)

There is a bigger picture to consider here. It is not a partisan issue.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Hell, yes, let her tantrum!!!

All the more exposure for the BBV issue.

That's the perfect solution--let a Repug get burned by these machines. The press is all tuned up to play their songs.

[Gin]

19. Rage on....this issue needs all the publicity it can get.

:)

[TruthIsAll]

9. The Repuke programmer goofed...+/- signs reversed

startrun:
if vote ="" then goto exitrun:

for nvote = 1 to 100
if vote="Dem" then Dem =Dem+1
if vote="Rep" then Rep =Rep+1
next

Dem=Dem+1 ' subtract from dem
Rep=Rep-1 ' add to rep

endif
goto startrun

exitrun:
' you lose, Dem sucker

[ParanoidPat]

11. Thanks TIA!

It's about time someone noticed! :evilgrin:

:kick:

[ComerPerro]

10. So now it looks like they are aware there will be a problem

But I wonder how long it takes for them to blame the Democrats.

[grasswire]

13. she won't dare to challenge the results...

...because the BFEE would be mightily displeased!

[Robb]

16. Watch for it

It'll go like this. Fill in the talking head of your choice:

"First, the Democrats steal the code to our secure voting machines, post it on a bunch of pirate websites. The ISP's had to shut the sites down because of court orders. Next, they start trying to rig elections! Shocked I am, I say! Goes to show you the Democrats will do anything to win an election after all the whining they did about getting trounced in 2000...."

:eyes:

Yep. I think we've effectively lost this issue.

[Bozita]

15. BBV was mentioned by 3 callers to C-SPAN this morning

Host said that Washington Journal would consider doing a segment on BBV.

[Gin]

18. Just sent the page to Gov. Warner in VA......thanks

gin

[ElsewheresDaughter]

20. some of those programmers that have souls..and want this to get OUT!

[DUreader]

21. kick

[spotbird]

23. Thank God this finally happened to a Republican!

I wish it had been in California but we’ll take what we can get. The big question is how will they avoid correcting the problem now?

It may be that they will say that what happened in Fairfax was unique because it happened to a Republican, so the problem only needs to be corrected there. They will get out of this somehow.

[RedEagle]

24. Kicking back up

Time to show this IS a non-partisan issue.

[althecat]

25. WashPost editorialises in favour of VVPT

WashPost editorialises in favour of VVPT

"Why leap? In Maryland and Virginia, independent reviews ought to proceed. In the meantime, before any more elections, touch-screen systems at least should be outfitted with printers that can produce accurate paper records of votes cast. The technology exists and ought to be pursued."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14217-2003Nov7.html

Touch-and-Go Elections
EDITORIALS
Sunday, November 9, 2003; Page B06


ARE TOUCH-SCREEN voting machines fast and flawless, or glitch-prone and vulnerable to tampering? No one can say for sure, which is reason enough for Maryland and Virginia localities to conduct more extensive testing before totally embracing the new systems they have inaugurated with mixed results. On Tuesday it took Fairfax County more than 21 hours to get final election results from its new computerized machines; when all was cast and done, enough doubts existed to prompt legal action by some Republicans who lost.

..Snip...

Why leap? In Maryland and Virginia, independent reviews ought to proceed. In the meantime, before any more elections, touch-screen systems at least should be outfitted with printers that can produce accurate paper records of votes cast. The technology exists and ought to be pursued.

MORE..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14217-2003Nov7.html

[althecat]

26. Yip BBV is all the rage down at the Wash Post these days...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8635-2003Nov6.html

The above is a link to the latest Govt IT review report. This thing is a weekly blog thingamy, contains hotlinks and all - I expect it is a hot read amoung Govt. IT professionals. In the past it has covered BBV a few times... in passing... this time the subject makes up well over half the column.

First there is ...

Crock the Vote

Ohio-based Diebold is embroiled in a new brouhaha over its e-voting machines. Recall that a group of researchers led by a team at Johns Hopkins called the quality of the machines into question earlier this year. Now there's fresh angst for the company.

+ MORE
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8635-2003Nov6.html

SNIP...

& On page two..

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8635-2003Nov6_2.html

California's Widening E-Voting Embrace, But Problems Elsewhere

California'sSanta Clara County started using electronic voting machines on Tuesday, joining a number of other precincts in the Golden State. "Since Florida's debacle during the 2000 presidential election, counties across the nation have been ditching punch cards and the notorious hanging chads for other voting systems such as optical scanners and touch screens," The San Jose Mercury News said in an article yesterday (the same article that mentioned the Diebold case).

SNIP.....

&

Avoiding E-Voting Woes

As Diebold and consumer privacy groups duke it out over the pros and cons of using the machines, Australia is using a different approach for its elections. Instead of proprietary software running e-voting machines, Wired reported that the country is using a system based on open-source software.

******

Yip as much as you need to know and more about the hottest story in Govt IT contracting on the block.

[Bushfire]

37. Did anybody else notice Wash Post article links to...

the controversial memos? Will Diebold send a C&D order to the WP?

[althecat]

27. Fox News: Group Calls for Decertification of Maryland Touch Screen Voting

Fox news joins the fray....

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,102366,00.html

Group Calls for Decertification of Maryland Touch Screen Voting
Thursday, November 06, 2003
By Michael Duck

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — An activist group critical of Maryland's touch-screen voting machines wants the state Board of Elections to decertify the system because it doesn't create a paper trail.

The formal complaint, made by the Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland (search), cited machine breakdowns in Fairfax County, Va., elections Tuesday as evidence of the voting equipment's weakness.

"If they had a paper audit trail, it would be very easy" to determine if any tampering occurred while machines were being fixed, said Kevin Zeese, the complaint's author. "Now they have to try to piece it back together."

MORE..
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,102366,00.html

[lysergik]

31. Whats a better audit trail than a voter verifiable paper ballot?!

Nothing, a receipt is nothing but a receipt. A ballot is a legal record and there are laws regarding its uses in elections and for recount and auditing purposes.

We really all need to get on the same page with our demands.

Some say trail, some say ballot.

Just need to cut to the point and demand a Voter Verifiable Paper Ballot!

[RedEagle]

35. Stories increasing in frequency

Wow Althecat, thanks for finding all of these stories.

We just have to not let up. The momentum is building.

[ParanoidPat]

28. The F.B.I. should seize the machines.....

......and examine them VERY closely! :evilgrin:
I wonder what version software was running during the election?
While they're at it, they should check out GEMS 1-17-17!
Remember Georgia?

Way to go Bev! :)

:kick:

[leftchick]

29. you got that right Pat....

sheesh....now that repubs are involved in getting fleeced perhaps the feds may find the time to look in to it??

:eyes:

[lysergik]

32. Lets have a bonfire!

I'm not sure crap burns very well though, someone will need to bring a lot of gasoline ;)

[Silverhair]

30. Hey, the Freepers are strongly against these things too.

If you cruise some of the RW sites, (Yeah, I know, Ya gotta hold your breath. Like swimming underwater.) you will find that they don't like the idea either. They are afraid of the machines being hacked by Lefties. At least we have one thing in common with them.

Write to you congressperson and tell them to support that bill that requires a paper trail. I don't have the number of the bill handy. Maybe somebody else can put it up here.

[lysergik]

33. HR2239

Volunteer with verifiedvoting.org and call those lawmakers who haven't yet co-sponsored this bill. Especially Rep. Ney who has it locked up in committee and it needs to be put to the floor before this session adjourns for the year.

Here is a list of the lawmakers and their position on this subject:

http://verifiedvoting.org/houseofreps.asp

The current status of HR2239, it has 66 co-sponsors and it grows weekly, but we need to get more folks behind this.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR02239:@@@N

All the information is on verifiedvoting.org its a toll-free phone call and it only takes a small amount of time to call a couple lawmakers and ask them to sponsor this important bill.

[DUreader]

34. Where are all of the debunkers? Not 1 accusation of Conspiracy Theory

on the whole thread.

When it goes against Dems, contention abounds

Now it goes against some Pub. and not one comment

[ParanoidPat]

36. Geee, there's a surprise!

NOT! :evilgrin:

[Andy_Stephenson]

38. Don't worrry

Carlos will be along soon to call us all crazy for screaming BBV.

[SaddenedDem]

39. Could it be...

that the researchers and activists have done their job and even the most rabid disbeliever is finally convinced that we have a problem here?

I'm sorry, but I don't see these kinds of "calling out" of people productive. Nor do I see the effort to make this partisan productive.

I do think the DUers who have worked so hard on this issue deserve to be credited and congratulated for their efforts and hard work. The world is paying attention and they have turned the corner toward achieving their goal.

Kudos to all who have worked so hard.

[DUreader]

43. And kudos to anyone who has even just kicked one of these threads

[frank frankly]

40. wow wow wow

a :kick: for Bev Harris and all others who are fighting!