I'm Worried About Touchscreen Paperless Voting. Can Someone Calm

[Dinger]

me down? Imagine what it could mean if we take the House & the Senate?

[dogman]

1. Sorry.

Everyone should be worried about it.

[Lost4words]

2. I will never use them again, I will vote absentee, at least there will be

at least there will be a document with my vote on it, even if it ENDS UP in a trash can.

Without verifiable voting there IS NO DEMOCRACY in the USA! And we all know that there is no legitimate voting these days.

8643

[texpatriot2004]

3. Absentee voting is restricted in Texas, you can only vote like

that in a very specific set of circumstances. I wonder how many other states are like that too?

[Lost4words]

8. I didnt know that, I thought that if for any reason you cannot be at your

voting location on election day you have the option to vote absentee. There does not seem to be any restrictions currently in New Mexico. And I am curious what the required circumstances are in Texas.

But you pose an interesting question, I would like to know how it varies from state to state as well.

[texpatriot2004]

11. I am in NM too now but I was in TX and worked during the 2004

"election." I was also an official who could register people to vote. I learned of these limits during that time and I was surprised; not every state allows voters to vote absentee just because they can't be there on "election" day.

I remember OR can vote absentee pretty much cart blanche. I don't know about other states.

[Breeze54]

15. To be eligible to vote early by mail in Texas, you must:

http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/reqabbm.shtml

Request for Application for Ballot by Mail

To be eligible to vote early by mail in Texas, you must:

* be 65 years or older;
* be disabled;
* be out of the county on election day and during the period for early voting by personal appearance; or
* be confined in jail, but otherwise eligible.

Fill out the form below, and not later than the next working day,
an application for ballot by mail will be mailed to you.
You must mail the application to early voting clerk of the authority conducting the election.

[Benhurst]

4. Stop whining and asking questions. There is nothing to see here.

Move on!

You're in BushAmerica. PTL! and be thankful.

[texpatriot2004]

5. Check this out...verify your 2006 vote here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2796477&mesg_id=2796477

[texpatriot2004]

6. Forbes says pull the plug on Diebold...link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1978679

[Lost4words]

10. Hey thanks for the links texpatriot2004!

:hi:

I bookmarked them both, and the article in Forbes was encourging to read! Its not just whispers anymore.

cheers! 8643
:toast:

[Eric J in MN]

7. If you want to do something, you can donate to

..."Verified Voting" or meet with people in your state.

But we should be worried.

[BeFree]

9. Well, we did take the house and senate, and presidency

But the machinery, owned, operated and programmed by republicans stole away with those positions.

So what can we do? Well, if you don't have a paper trail, all you can do is raise hell about how the votes are counted in secret with no back-up and no chance to double check the results. Tell everyone.

If you do have a paper trail, demand that the vote count is double checked. If you have a machine that counts 300 ballots, demand that an audit of 50 of those ballots be undertaken to determine if the machine is counting correctly. It is that simple.

Demand, in all cases, that your vote be counted - not in secret - but openly and publically. Who would deny you such a thing?

[gulliver]

12. Voted on one a couple of weeks ago.

It was designed by idiots. I write software for a living. This thing was contemptible.

I was able to figure out its unique, idiosyncratic navigation arrows to get from issue to issue, but it was annoying. They couldn't just use tabs for pages of issues or something that looks like a normal ballot. They had to be creative. It was kindergarten in sophistication...difficult in a stupid way. Condescending, yet moronic.

When I was finished voting, it took me to a page that informed me that I had failed to vote for all issues. That's what I had intended, but the machine didn't tell me that I didn't have to vote for all issues. The wording was such that a normal person would feel they had to go back and vote on issues that they probably did not want to vote on.

I sat at that screen, disgusted with the design, and it started to beep. Apparently it thought I was confused and was beeping to call someone over to help me. I knew I could just hit the OK/Next button, of course, and get it to stop beeping, but I wanted to emphasize to the poor guy monitoring the situation just how stupid it is to have a user interface that won't stop beeping. Just plain stupid... rude and stupid. People will feel rushed and embarrassed by this piece of crap.

After I let it beep for about a minute (I was prepared to let it beep a lot longer), the guy says "Just hit the OK button, sir." And I thought, "Great, the thing was beeping at me and that guy just told me to cast my votes without verifying them just to get the noise to stop."

Breathtakingly stupid usability. I don't like to use the word stupid, but this was stupid, stupid, stupid.

We need an open source, universal voting UI. This machine was sold by charlatans to imbecile buyers.

[Peace Patriot]

13. Vote Absentee wherever you can! It's fairly easy in most states, and not

in some. If it's restricted, try to meet the restrictions. Look into your options. IS there a paper ballot option provided--that is not a "provisional" ballot? In Calif we have the right to demand a paper ballot at the polling place (thanks to our late great Sec of State Kevin Shelly--who sued Diebold, and got "swiftboated out of office on entirely phony corruption charges, as his reward). Some corrupt county officials conveniently "run out" of such ballots, and sub in a "provisional" ballot, so they can toss it. Beware!

If you have NO other options than voting on touchscreens with no paper trail (or even with a paper trail), take a video or still camera with you when you vote. Take pictures of the screen if it changes your vote. And if you are able to, monitor the entire procedure; check with other voters on the screen changing; and HAUNT election officials with your presence. What's happening is that electrons (supposed 'votes') are being fed to central electronic tabulators to be manipulated by Diebold, ES&S or other TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code. Check voter sign-in numbers. Compare to results. Go to central registrar offices and demand to watch the computer screens. Look for changes to the numbers and statistical anomalies (--too many 'votes,' too few 'votes,' unexpected 'vote' totals). Watch for unauthorized personnel--Diebold employees "servicing" machines; take their pictures. Document everything you do and see as well as you can. Give info to election reform group (or work with a group). If you can go the distance, get a lawyer. Sue the corrupt bastards for secrecy in vote counting and an illegitimate election.

DON'T VOTE ON OPTISCANS EITHER! Don't cooperate with this electronic voting systems in any way! If you have other options, use them! Optiscans are ALSO run on TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code, with virtually no audit/recount controls. Some states have NO audit requirement at all. So what good is the paper ballot that they scan into their electronic system? The REAL ballot will never be seen again. Your vote is separated from the evidence of your vote, and your vote then becomes electrons, just as manipulable as the electrons in a touchscreen. The paper ballot may be a slight deterrent to fraud, but don't count on it. Once you vote, your vote has GONE OUT OF PUBLIC CONTROL and seeability. Other states have very inadequate audits for this high speed environment. (These systems really require 100% audits for at least a couple of elections--but they were rushed into production, with only secret industry "testing" of the machines, and spread like the plague before the public could catch up with them and demand rigorous testing or dumping them into 'Boston Harbor'.)

AB votes are NOT "safe." In some cases, they are scanned right into the electronic system and are no safer than an optiscan vote. They are also subject to disqualification if you don't fill them out correctly. Finally, some registrars count them last--so Diebold/ES&S gets the first word on who won, that goes out to the media, and we know how that works--fait accompli Bushite winner; challenges are ridiculed; recounts are made very costly and difficult.

With all this, AB voting is A PROTEST. It is a refusal to cooperate. It is a BOYCOTT. It is a message--and if AB voting gets big enough--a powerful message to election officials: A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE IN NON-TRANSPARENT VOTE COUNTING.

AB voting has gotten up to 50% in Los Angeles. People don't trust these machines and are trying to find a way to get a PAPER BALLOT, HAND COUNTED. That's what they want. So I say GO WITH THIS DESIRE and this NATIVE DISTRUST. Make it big. Push it. Spread the word. This is THE protest we've all been waiting for. The people are speaking and they are not happy!

A big AB vote will also bring better scrutiny to how AB votes are handled--and to the whole system. It will HELP voter turnout. To those who don't vote because "it's all rigged," we can say, but this is PROTEST aimed at UN-rigging the system. It turns voting into a active protest, rather than a passive act of despair. It is a motivator.

And, truly, if enough people do it, what are these officials going to do with these crapass machines? Let the election theft machines sit idle! Show these election officials up for the corrupt fools they are! And FORCE reform NOW.

Bust the Machines--Vote Absentee! And if you don't have that option, do what you can! For instance, help promote AB voting in ANOTHER state. If we make this protest big enough nationwide, it will pressure YOUR state offcials to reform. Concentrate on Calif, for instance, a bellweather state. We have a big problem here with the Diebold invasion. We have a very good Sec of State candidate, DEBRA BOWEN, but a Diebold shill currently in that office, APPOINTED by Schwarzenegger. A donation to Bowen's campagn may do as much for election reform in YOUR state, ultimately, as your touchscreen vote might do, or your monitoring elections or lobbying for election reform, against a brick wall of corrupt officials. If Bowen gets elected, we're going to see a flood of reform, nationwide. But she has to beat a 5% to 10% "thumb on the scales" for Diebold shill McPherson, from the Bushite-controlled electronic voting systems. And she needs money, publicity and word of mouth to gain that edge.

Don't give up on your right to vote! Never give up! It is your most precious heritage as an American! We MUST and we WILL take it back!

[Peace Patriot]

14. SOME RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN REVOLUTION II: Election Reform

I particularly recommend www.votersunite.org and their easy-to-read pamphlet "MythBreakers" designed to educate election officials on electronic voting.


Hopeful signs - latest news:

San Diego voters sue over the CA-50 election
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1980238
California voters sue the state over Diebold:
www.VoterAction.org is suing the state of California and 18 Calif county registrars on behalf of 25 California voter/plaintiffs, on the illegal Diebold "certification" by Schwarzenegger appointee Bruce McPherson.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2180496

Maryland rejects Diebold:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x418263

Florida - anti-trust accusations against Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia, re: heroic Florida election official Ion Sancho:
(FLA AG subpoenas the companies)
http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,110192,00.html
http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/MGBKSY8W8LE.html
(info & discussion)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2183630

Utah county clerk fights back!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x419226

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More resources for American Revolution II:

www.votersunite.org (MythBreakers - easy primer on electronic voting--one of the myths is that HAVA requires electronic voting; it does not.)
www.UScountvotes.org (statistical monitoring of '06 and '08 elections--they need donations)


(Activist sites with links to state activist groups or info)
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.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)* :patriot: :applause: :patriot:
www.votepa.us (well-organized local group of citizen activists in Pennsylvania, where important legal issues are at stake, including state's rights over election systems)
Provisions of the PA lawsuit:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x423739

The Voter Confidence Resolution
http://tinyurl.com/rlnr2 (“We Do Not Consent”)
http://guvwurld.blogspot.com (GuvWurld blog main page)
http://tinyurl.com/amryg (Voter Confidence Resolution

www.debrabowen.com (Calif Senator running for Sec of State to reform election system)
www.johnbonifaz.com (running for Massachusetts Sec of State on strong election reform and antiwar platform)

Congressional bills:

Russ Holt's HR 550 requires a real paper ballot, bans secret software in "voting machines", and has more than 170 co-sponsors, but the audit required is too weak, it promotes electronic voting and centralized power, and the secret software might be permitted to continue in the central tabulators (the bill is not clear). To sign the HR 550 petition: http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html
At lot of discussion at DU of the loopholes/pitfalls in HR 550:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x422926
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x421136
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=422967&mesg_id=422967
(Note: Senate Bill-SB 330 and House-HR704 simply require a "voter verified paper audit trail" (VVPAT), which may be best for the moment.)


Also of interest:

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!)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col321.htm
Bob Koehler's latest: "Take this box and stuff it" (3/16/06)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col337.htm

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

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

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