Action: Californians say NO to Vote Pirates--Showdown with ES&S, Diebold

[Amaryllis]

June 16th Show-Down with ES&S and Diebold

The following are two PDFs and one Word doc that we need to get on every website, newsletter and all media outlets.

1) Press release regarding the California Election Protection Network to Oppose Diebold and ES&S at a June 16th Sacramento Hearing. Everyone is invited for the fun: http://www.dfa-marin.org/June16HearingPressRelease.pdf

2) Here is a short blurb on the 6/16 event in a Word doc format: http://www.dfa-marin.org/DriveDiebold.doc

3) Here is the California Election Protection Network’s position statement submitted to the Election Assistance Commission in response to their request for input (before May 25, 2005) on how to implement the Jan. 1 2006 Centralized Voter Registration as mandated by HAVA: http://www.dfa-marin.org/CEPN_sm.pdf

Californians Say "NO" to Vote Pirates
The California Election Protection Network (“CEPN”), over 25 citizen groups across California working together to achieve their mutual election integrity goals, invites you to join them at the Voting Systems & Procedures Panel (“VSPP”), Thursday, June 16th, 9 AM, in front of the Secretary of State's office, 1500-11th Street, Sacramento, 95814. Testify in favor of open and clean elections at the 10:00 am VSPP hearing. The VSPP approves voting systems for California.

Rock the boat.
Protect our vote!

For more info & to read CEPN's full press release,
contact Sherry Healy: [e-mail]

[Helga Scow Stern]

1. kick

[Peace Patriot]

21. *IMPORTANT NOTICE*: Yes, McDannold's email IS working, and YES, the...

...public CAN submit comment on the VSPP Agenda BY EMAIL!!!!

I just got word DIRECTLY from the Secretary of State's office, in answer to these two questions (which arise in the thread below, and in the new DU thread (entitled "URGENT! June 9 deadline...")).

So...get your comments in by June 9, at 5 pm, and they will be included in the VSPP members packet (for the June 16 meeting), whether you can attend or not.

And if you are able to attend the June 16 meeting, email your comments by June 9, 5 pm, to be included in the members' packet.

(I do not know the VSPP policy for accepting longer written comments at the hearing itself, but we do know they're going to try to limit each speaker to two minutes, and are disallowing giving your speaking time to anyone else for longer presentations.)

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

EMAIL your comments to Bruce McDannold in the Secretary of State's office, to:

[e-mail]

See my Post #9 below for other contact info.,

and go here (the new thread) for further discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x375744

[Wilms]

2. kick n/t

[Peace Patriot]

3. Could you post where/when to give written in-put?

I will be in going into the hospital that day, to deal with a medical problem, and can't go to the hearing. But I could do a letter, and get others to do so. What is the deadline for getting written in-put into the VSPP's meeting folder? Where to send? And is email okay (it used to be, when Shelley was Sec of State)?

Also, people who can't go, can help by spreading the word, and blasting media--which I will do.

I'll see if I can find answers to these questions about written in-put myself--but if you have the answers handy, please post.

[autorank]

4. Way to go. This is exactly what we need. You're GREAT!

I grew up in CA and ws there through my early 20's. I was a political junkie back then, just loved it. There was never any controversy about the honesty of the elections, vote count, etc. NEVER. The contests were hotly contested at times and controversial but no cheating questions were raised to my recollection.

The crooks need CA to pad Republican victories. There are so many votes there that a few hundred thousand from the Democratic winner of a presidential contest may not go noticed.

It just occurs to me that the polls showing * doing well here were probably connected to any of that sort of thing in 2004, legitimize a "narrower" Kerry victory.

[PsyOpsRunsOurCountry]

5. I hear Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown is gonna run for Attorney General.

How do you suppose that figures into the GropenFuhrer's plans to steal California for the GOP with BBV?

[Peace Patriot]

6. Kick! I'll post written in-put contact info here, shortly. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

7. Notes on the above urls:

I can't get the second url to load: http://www.dfa-marin.org/DriveDiebold.doc

I can't get the web site to load: http://www.dfa-marin.org

[Peace Patriot]

8. Note on the third url:

Re: http://www.dfa-marin.org/CEPN_sm.pdf

On the third url, regarding CEPN's position statement to the federal EAC on the centralization of the voter database by CHOICEPOINT (evil!!!), CEPN is trying to get some accountability into to, and ChoicePoint out of it, and is trying to keep the centralized voter database linked to local precinct and county jurisdictions. But I think we should be opposing ALL CENTRALIZATION of voting databases! The Bush Cartel will "centralize" then they will control. No accountability measures will hold up under their assault. That's my feeling--"centralization" itself is a "Trojan horse"!

CEPN in general is trying to make electronic voting acceptable, by means of strong verification and accountability measures, and by opposing miscreant voting machine vendors. But I'm afraid that electronic voting in general is a "Trojan horse." We will be fighting these battles forever--over and over again--as Diebold/ES&S get more and more of their political operatives into office. And we're STARTING from a position of TOTAL UNACCOUNTABILITY ALREADY IN PLACE, AND ONE IF NOT TWO STOLEN ELECTIONS (2004 presidential, and 2002 in Georgia, and probably others).

So, people who believe in democracy are very much on the defensive, in this fight. We have to UNDO their many election crimes and setups for future crimes--as well as UNDO the vast corruption of both DEMOCRATIC and Republican election officials that HAVA money and Diebold/ES&S have instigated.

Of course I support as much accountability as we can get--and all of CEPN's proposals. But I think that these accountability proposals should be PREFACED with opposition to ALL electronic voting and tabulation, and all "centralization" of vote counting and voter registration, given the vast, existing corruption of our election process.

That said, KUDOS to CEPN for taking up this critically important fight--and organizing for June 16! SUPPORT THIS ACTION! ATTEND, if possible...

...and, see below for how to write to VSPP, if you cannot attend.

[Peace Patriot]

9. How to write to the VSPP: DEADLINE THURS., JUNE 9

DEADLINE FOR WRITTEN COMMENTS (to insure delivery to VSPP panel members prior to the meeting) is THURSDAY JUNE 9, 2005, BY 5:00 PM. (the Thursday before the meeting--the meeting is scheduled for Thurs. June 16).

Send written comments to:

Sec of State/VSPP, Attn. Bruce McDannold
FAX [phone] - Tel. [phone],
or mail to: 1500 11th St, 5th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814
or email to: Bruce McDannold at [e-mail] (see WARNING, below).

Notify VSPP of intention to speak or present information, call Bruce McDannold, at [phone], or email [e-mail]

WARNING! The previous VSPP contact, Michael Wagaman, accepted written in-put for VSPP hearings by EMAIL. He printed it out and put it in their packets. I don't know if Bruce McDannold will do so. Be sure to check with Mr. McDannold if you intend to use email only. (Let him know you sent it; ask if email is sufficient.) If you go to the hearing and wish to speak, be sure to SIGN UP TO SPEAK at the door ahead of time.

The CA Voting Systems and Procedures Panel (VSPP) AGENDA: June 16, 10:00 am

1. Diebold Election Systems

a. GEMS central tabulation software
b. AccuVote TSx (touchscreen) DRE system
c. Spyrus voter card encoder
d. Key Card Tool software
e. VC Programmer software
f. AccuVote-OS optical scan system (& AccuFeed)

2. Election Systems & Software

a. Unity election management system
b. Model 100 precinct scanner
c. Model 550 central scanner
d. Model 650 central scanner
e. AutoMARK Voter Assist Terminal
f. AutoMARK Information Management System

3. Federal Qualification Process Report


(WARNING: They can rearrange the agenda, postpone items and postpone the hearing at their will.)

(COMMENTS ON THE ABOVE: Diebold GEMS central tabulation software is probably how they stole the 2004 election. This is likely where all our votes got rearranged, with Kerry votes tossed or re-assigned to Bush, etc., in small percentages here and there across the country, giving Bush his phony popular 'majority' (also done by the touchscreen voting machines themselves). Before he was destroyed by Bush Cartel 'black ops,' CA Sec of State Kevin Shelley was trying to get Diebold's secret, proprietary software disclosed. I don't know what the status of that demand is. This ought to be a key demand of any letters: NO secret, proprietary software or computer components of any kind. Also, throw Diebold out of this state! Period. And ES&S as well.) (Both run by rightwing Bush partisans.)

-------

Here is a SUMMARY of CEPN positions (as matter for your letter or presentation):

NO to vendors who use convicted felons for writing software, and who permit convicted felons access to election information.

NO to proprietary and/or secret computer components of any kind.

NO to remote access of any kind (such as modems or wireless--no "open back doors").

NO to private maintenance of machines.

NO to paper trails or ballots that are NOT archival.

NO to paper trails or ballots read by private entities.

NO to cash register roll type paper trails or ballots (can destroy secrecy of the ballot by tracing sequence of voting).

NO to vendors who have installed illegal voting equipment in CA.

NO to equipment that doesn't meet CA and Fed certification standards for all equipment.

NO to overly complex voting equipment that requires extra training or expense.

NO to modular data components vulnerable to exchanges with malicious data.

Additional CEPN positions:

CEPN affirms the goals of HAVA--the Help America Vote Act (Note: I do not support HAVA--I think HAVA was a deliberate setup of a fraudulent election; it may have beneficial stated goals, but it did not work out that way!)

CA's HAVA budget (hundreds of millions of dollars) should not be squandered on new equipment that doesn't meet all common sense and open election standards.

Don't spend that money if no acceptable equipment is presented at the June 16 meeting.

CEPN will vet the equipment to be presented, prior to the meeting
(contact Lara Shaffer, Open Voting Consortium, at [e-mail], or tel [phone]).

CEPN supports accessible, voter-verified, paper ballots on archival paper that can be shuffled to retain secrecy of the ballot, and

Five Star Audit

--mandatory audits of ALL elections
--genuine random sampling
--minimum 5% sampling of paper ballots (or paper audit trails) and ALL provisional and absentee ballots
--hand-counted
--non-partisan oversight in a public forum

----

CEPN'S Announcment re: June 16

The California Election Protection Network ("CEPN") invites all citizens to join us in attending the Voting Systems and Procedures Panel ("VSPP") hearing on June 16, 2006.

This VSPP hearing will feature Diebold and Election Systems & Software ("ES&S") voting equipment manufacturers, seeking approval of their wares.

Thurs., June 16

9:00 am -- convene at Sec of State building: 1500 11th St., 1st Floor (Auditorium), Sacramento, CA 95814

10:00 am - the hearing; upon adjournment, go to citizen forums

If VSPP hearing is postponed (a trick they often pull), then citizen rally and lobby of the legislature. For further info.:

Marc Keenberg: [e-mail]
Sherry Healy: [e-mail]

[Peace Patriot]

11. Note to non-Californians:

Yes, you can ATTEND this hearing (if possible) and you can WRITE or CALL.

Your interest as a citizen of the U.S.--or indeed as a citizen of the world!--is very much at stake in these California decisions regarding election integrity. For one thing, what California does is very influential across the U.S. It's a huge state--bigger than many countries. And it often initiates both political and social trends. Secondly, California is a very anti-Bush state, and the Bush Cartel is very clearly trying to take it over, through the fraudulent Recall election in 2003, which installed Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor (friend of Enron and Kenneth Lay), through a vile campaign against our former, popularly elected, Democratic Sec of State Kevin Shelley and installation of a Schwarzenegger patsy APPOINTEE in the Sec of State position, and through the installation of fraudulent election systems.

We now have a Governor AND a Sec of State both installed in highly irregular circumstances--a transformation of the Sacto scene from its prior, all-Democratic, and all popularly elected, admin & legislature. Schwarzenegger is now going after the remaining Democratic power--mostly in the legislature--by yet more undemocratic means, an untimely and expensive Special Election to redistrict the state and artificially reduce Dem seats, much as Bushite criminal Tom Delay and Bush "pod people" did in Texas.

(During the Recall, which likely occurred in order to prevent Davis from demanding return of the Enron theft money ($9 billion), Time magazine put Schwarzenegger on its cover and Larry King and other news monopolists gave him millions and millions of dollars in free air time and publicity. The other candidates could hardly compete against this. And Schwarzenegger's connections to Enron and the Bush Cartel were not well known--and were certainly not revealed by the news monopolies.)

If you oppose Energy Cartel thievery, unjust war, the filthy rich getting filthier, and Bushites imposing their fascist rule on California, on the U.S. and on the world, you have a vital stake in whether or not California can achieve honest, verifiable elections.

Write to the CA VSPP! Or attend!

[Amaryllis]

17. Yes, our interest in what happens in CA is huge. If we lose CA the way of

Fl, well, shudder...

[Einsteinia]

10. Thanks for posting this!

I'll be there & BTW, I think, they're expecting us--they just changed the rules. No longer can we waive our time to those with longer presentations. The VSPP rules say 2 minutes comment limit per person and no waiving of time to others.

Is this legal?

[Peace Patriot]

12. Fascists don't care about legal!

Maybe you could just DO IT--pass the baton as you get up to speak--and risk arrest, I guess. OR--to remain this side of the armed guards--have others present the main speakers' speeches in 2-minute segments, read by each speaker who has signed up, in succession. This may fragment the presentation--and maybe delivery won't be as good, but at least it will all get in.

Prepare ahead of time, so each long presentation is written out clearly and can be read by anyone.

Try to submit comments by the DEADLINE, 5 pm, June 9, to get it into the VSPP booklet for the day--so they can't ignore it, and/or so that it has official status for later lawsuits.

Some gov't panels permit you to submit comment and extra info on the day of the hearing, if you're there--and/or submit longer comments directly to the panel, even though they let you speak for only a couple of minutes. I don't know if this one does.

Two minutes is ridiculous! They should EXTEND the hearing to another day, or to a week if necessary--if CITIZENS want to speak! JEEZ!!!

WHO THE @#$% DO THEY THINK THEY ARE!!!!

[Einsteinia]

16. YES, June 9th at 5 is the deadline!!!

Everyone better submit their comments to be integrated into the record. Isn't it at their discretion if you actually get to be on the agenda?

I'm still unclear about this. . . .

[LightningFlash]

23. Two minutes?

That's not legal under california code, everyone should write every represenative they know in CA that the VVSP is breaking the law!!!

They can only say you may have "upwards of 2 minutes" not "exactly 2 minutes" since they are a guest of the state, and the state can choose to void their contract.

[Peace Patriot]

13. Amaryllis, I think this should be re-posted here at DU with a...

...better focused title: "ACTION! California showdown with Diebold/ES&S June 16"

Mainly so we can recommend for the Greatest Page. (Time to recommend has expired.) This is SO IMPORTANT!

I would include

a. your original post (above)

b. my comment #9 (above)--which includes info for written comment, contact info., deadline for inclusion in VSPP packets (June 9), and discussion points for letters/comments.

c. link to this page (to read previous comments)

[Amaryllis]

18. Go for it! Do whatever you think best. Someone sent this to me in an email

but you CA people know what's best so take it and run with it, and pm me and I'll kick it. Make the title URGENT Action if it will fit.

[Peace Patriot]

14. Kick! n/t

[Peace Patriot]

15. KICK AGAIN! This is extremely important, DUers! Please keep this...

...kicked through June 16!

Please write to the CA VSPP! Or attend if you can!

[Amaryllis]

19. kick

[Peace Patriot]

20. I've re-posted this as: "URGENT! June 9 deadline on CA showdown with...

...Diebold/ES&S!!!"

at

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x375744

I'm urging a flood of letters to VSPP--from Californians AND others. I've referenced this site.

[evolvenow]

22. Wrote huge letter, lots o evidence/articles, and kicking for De-mock -racy

[Amaryllis]

24. Did you see Peace Patriot's post right above yours; a re-post? Has

more info. We needed a title with more juice; this one wasn't getting enough hits.

[Peace Patriot]

26. Good work, evolvenow! Why don't you post your letter with mine at...

the new thread: "URGENT! June 9 deadline on CA showdown with Diebold/ES&S"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x375744

Or post it here. I'd like to read it.

[Wilms]

25. kick n/t