Kathy Dopp <kathy@directell.com> wrote:
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In recent years the integrity and accuracy of the voting process in America have been a continuing source of controversy. The integrity of the election process is the cornerstone of democracy; and open investigation of alleged vote counting irregularities is a matter of vital civic importance.
In order to objectively investigate the accuracy of elections in America, a group of independent mathematicians, statisticians and computer professionals have formed a new, volunteer scientific research project: US Count Votes. We have just Launched our new web site at
http://USCountVotes.org We propose to create and analyze - for the first time - a single database containing precinct-level election results for the entire United States. This rich mine of data will be analyzed by our project's affiliated mathematicians, computer programmers, pollsters and statisticians, as well as by independent peer-reviewers. Our goal is to use this data to develop and test mathematical techniques to reliably detect precinct-level vote counting errors worthy of investigation.
What you can do:
If you agree with us that restoring public trust in the voting process is a worthwhile goal, consider joining our group of sustainers, who are willing to donate $10 per month to help underwrite our expenses.
http://www.uscountvotes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=40 As a newly-formed non-profit we are currently seeking 501c(3) tax-exempt status, and will adhere to the highest standards of fiscal responsibility - including conducting and publicly publishing the results of independent financial audits, on a quarterly basis. Please consider helping with this vital civic project.
Thanks to the 40 persons from many states across America who have already contributed a total of $2,000, USCountVotes has made excellent progress designing a public archival system and database, purchased and set up a 150 GB database server, and set up the content management system for our web site
http://uscountvotes.org Our database design will handle redistricting and presidential to city-wide races.
We rely on volunteers in every state to gather the data we need. USCountVotes has created an email list for each state’s volunteers. If you are already helping investigate a particular state and would like to connect with others who would like to investigate the same state, please visit our state email list sign up page.
http://www.uscountvotes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=70 If you can donate $10/month or any one-time amount, and you give us your name and address, we will add your name to our public contributors page:
http://www.uscountvotes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=46 http://www.uscountvotes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=40 We are close to having the election document archival system up and running, but we need support to get it done quickly. USCountVotes needs $4,000+/month to hire a talented technical person full-time so that we can make timely progress on the archival, database, database programming, and statistical contentmanagement systems. If half of the people receiving this email were to become sustaining members, that would do it. Restoring democratic elections for your children and their children to enjoy is worth $10/month.
What is the problem with voting in America?
More than 27,000 anecdotal reports of irregularities in the 2004 election were submitted to the independent "Election Incident Reporting System". A pattern of discrepancies between exit poll results and final tallies in several key states is still regarded with suspicion by many observers. The General Accounting Office plans to launch an investigation into the security and accuracy of voting technologies, distribution and allocation of voting machines, and counting of provisional ballots.
It is currently extraordinarily difficult and time-consuming to reliably detect where errors may have occurred - and precisely where a recount should be performed. Concerns about potential problems with un-auditable electronic voting machines are widespread in the computer science community. In a recent survey of US members of the ACM – the world's oldest and largest computer society - 95% of respondents opposed deployment of un-auditable voting machines.
What do we propose to do about it?
Our goal is to develop reliable mathematical indicators of all probable vote count error incidents, regardless of the parties involved. We will publish our data and analyses, and will provide public archives to allow anyone to perform and replicate our work. We encourage robust scientific debate and criticism, and some of our early critics have since agreed to participate in our peer review process.
If the analyses of the 2004 election can be completed and the database and analytic tools can be put in place by the national election in November 2006, for the first time ever, it could be possible for candidates to be reliably warned of indications of machine or human-caused vote count errors, in time to challenge the results. With a sound scientific approach and methodology, it may be possible for our project staff to serve as expert witnesses, or to help develop statistical evidence in support of legal filings. Please visit
http://www.uscountvotes.org for additional information, and consider contributing to our project.
http://www.uscountvotes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=40 Whether you can donate or not, you can help: Sign up now on any state’s individual email list to begin collaborating w/ other people who are working to gather election data or investigate the elections in any state.
http://www.uscountvotes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=70 Please ask your friends to join us election-subscribe@uscountvotes.org Thank you very much. With your help, we will win our battle to restore the public faith in democratic elections by 2006.
Sincerely,
Kathy Dopp, Park City, UT, President, USCountVotes
Bruce O’Dell, Minneapolis, MN, VP, USCountVotes
Jim Druffner, Park City, UT, Treasurer, USCountVotes
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