Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News TUESDAY, 10/25/05

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”You can corrupt some of the government some of the time
but you cannot corrupt all of the government all of the time.”



Never forget the pursuit of Truth.

Only the deluded & complicit accept election results on blind faith.

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News TUESDAY, 10/25/05

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.

If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391



All previous daily threads are available here:
http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm

Please

"Recommend"

for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

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1. DC: Great General Accounting Office – Election Assistance Comm. Story

Here is a news source and a reporter who deserve a following. Gross does a wonderful job hitting the highlights of the GAO report. Even better, and this is the fine reporting, he creates a dialog between GAO and the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which of course should be embarrassed with itself (not to worry, that’s not doing to happen). Read the whole article and save it. This is terrific reporting.

GAO questions progress on e-voting standards
Questions about security, accuracy likely to continue into the '06 elections

News Story by Grant Gross

http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/policy/story/0,10801,105684,00.html


\OCTOBER 24, 2005 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - Questions about the security and accuracy of electronic voting systems are likely to continue into the 2006 national elections, because the U.S. government has not yet completed work on electronic voting guidelines, according to a new government report.

With lingering concerns about the security of e-voting systems, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) needs to define security policies and set up a machine-certification program to help state and local election officials use e-voting equipment, according to a report issued Friday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
"Until these efforts are completed, there is a risk that many state and local jurisdictions will rely on voting systems that were not developed, acquired, tested, operated or managed in accordance with rigorous security and reliability standards -- potentially affecting the reliability of future elections and voter confidence in the accuracy of the vote count," the GAO report said.

The EAC, established with the Help America Vote Act passed by Congress in 2002, is working on several initiatives to help state and local governments improve their management of e-voting systems, the GAO said. The EAC is working on security and reliability standards and on programs to certify voting machines and accredit independent laboratories to test e-voting systems, the GAO said. But those efforts aren't finished and are "unlikely to have a significant effect in the 2006 federal election cycle," the report said.

The EAC "significantly expanded" the security system of proposed voluntary voting system guidelines, the EAC said in response to the GAO report. Those guidelines include a requirement that e-voting machine vendors submit software to the National Software Reference Library, a software repository with which voting officials could examine software for exploits.

"GAO asserted that electronic voting systems must be secure and reliable, and EAC agrees," the EAC statement said. "Security has always been a top priority at EAC, and we have already made significant progress on GAO's recommendations."
The EAC and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are developing a vulnerability analysis of e-voting systems, the statement said.

The EAC also questioned the GAO's reference to security and reliability questions about e-voting systems. The GAO report talks about security and reliability problems experienced, but it "does not provide a context of the pervasiveness or relative obscurity of these issues," the EAC wrote in a letter signed by EAC Chairwoman Gracia Hillman and Vice Chairman Paul DeGregorio.
Hey EAC, spin a little harder, you need practice ::rofl:

[Mnemosyne]

2. Got to give them credit for trying!

NOT!!

:rofl:

[knowbody0]

3. hey dude!

recommended. love the pic

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10. Pics R Us;)

You can't stand the Truth!

[knowbody0]

11. thankyou thankyou thankyou

you weeely wok!

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13. .

:evilgrin:

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4. OH: It’s all Hackett all the time! Hackett for U.S. Senate

Paul Hackett called Pres. Bush a “son of a bitch” and a “chicken hawk” on the radio and at public forums. He ran a real campaign and probably won the Ohio 2nd special election for congress. He carried rural all-white counties by 60-65% majorities running as a liberal. He is a great guy and a symbol for bouncing back from probable election fraud.

Ohio War Veteran Running for Senate

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/24/AR2005102400698.html
By DAN SEWELL
The Associated Press
Monday, October 24, 2005; 2:54 PM
CINCINNATI -- Paul Hackett, the Democratic veteran of the Iraq war who narrowly lost a special election in a heavily Republican congressional district in August, made his official entry into a U.S. Senate race Monday.

He faces a tough Democratic primary with Rep. Sherrod Brown in the race for the nomination to challenge second-term Republican incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine next year.

Hackett's only political experience is a stint as a small-city councilman.

"I'm asking all the people of this great state, regardless of political affiliation, to consider my message and to consider joining me in the fight to take back our government from the career politicians and their special interest support groups who have hijacked our government," he said as he announced his campaign at his home in suburban Indian Hill.

Hackett decided to run for Congress earlier this year after completing a seven-month tour of duty in Iraq as a Marine reservist. That special election in southern Ohio's seven-county 2nd District was to replace Rep. Rob Portman, who left his seat to become the U.S. trade representative.

Hackett won the Democratic nomination, then battled Republican Jean Schmidt, a former state legislator, in a campaign in which he linked her to embattled Republican Gov. Bob Taft while sharply criticizing President Bush's handling of the war.

Schmidt won on Aug. 2 with 52 percent of the vote, though Portman had consistently won re-election in the district with more than 70 percent and Bush had carried it in 2004 with 64 percent.
<snip>
NOT IN THE WaPOST

”The Veteran Of Fallujah Defeated By OH's Humidity”

It’s payback time Paul, kick some serious ass!

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5. Internet: truthout|Report is Rokken! GAO Summary, Go There

This was one of the original sites nailing down stories of election fraud. I’m not hip enough to know what the new deal is at Truthout but it’s certainly looking very good lately. This report nicely summarizes the GAO findings. Thanks truthout|Report.

GAO Report Finds Flaws in Electronic Voting
t r u t h o u t | Report

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/102105Q.shtml
Friday 21 October 2005

Rep. Waxman led twelve members of Congress today in releasing a new GAO report that found security and reliability flaws in the electronic voting process.

In a joint press release, Rep. Waxman said, "The GAO report indicates that we need to get serious and act quickly to improve the security of electronic voting machines. The report makes clear that there is a lack of transparency and accountability in electronic voting systems - from the day that contracts are signed with manufacturers to the counting of electronic votes on Election Day. State and local officials are spending a great deal of money on machines without concrete proof that they are secure and reliable."

The GAO report found flaws in security, access, and hardware controls, as well as weak security management practices by voting machine vendors. The report identified multiple examples of actual operational failures in real elections and found that while national initiatives to improve the security and reliability of electronic voting systems are underway, "it is unclear when these initiatives will be available to assist state and local election authorities."

Rep. Waxman also released a fact sheet summarizing the report's key findings.

Fact Sheet

Overall Findings

In October 2005, the Government Accountability Office released a comprehensive analysis of the concerns raised by the increasing use of electronic voting machines.

Overall, GAO found that "significant concerns about the security and reliability of electronic voting systems" have been raised (p. 22).

GAO indicated that "some of these concerns have been realized and have caused problems with recent elections, resulting in the loss and miscount of votes" (p. 23).

According to GAO, "election officials, computer security experts, citizen advocacy groups, and others have raised significant concerns about the security and reliability of electronic voting systems, citing instances of weak security controls, system design flaws, inadequate system version control, inadequate security testing, incorrect system configuration, poor security management, and vague or incomplete standards, among other issues. ... The security and reliability concerns raised in recent reports merit the focused attention of federal, state, and local authorities responsible for election administration" (p. 22-23).

<snip>
Actual Examples of Voting System Failure

GAO found multiple examples of actual operational failures in real elections. These examples include the following incidents:

* In California, a county presented voters with an incorrect electronic ballot, meaning they could not vote in certain races (p. 29).

* In Pennsylvania, a county made a ballot error on an electronic voting system that resulted in the county's undervote percentage reaching 80% in some precincts (p. 29-30).

* In North Carolina, electronic voting machines continued to accept votes after their memories were full, causing over 4,000 votes to be lost (p. 31).

• In Florida, a county reported that touch screens took up to an hour to activate and had to be activated sequentially, resulting in long delays (p. 31).

[flpoljunkie]

22. Why have we not seen this important story in the M$M? It's apparently

all CIA Leak case, all the time--except, of course, for CNN's overthetop hurricane Wilma coverage (their reporters look like idiots).

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6. DC: Dean Comes Out Against Election Fraud…in Iraq.

That’s a start. Now if he will just listen to the great DFA people who work hard to stop election fraud, we’ll be in good shape. Keep kicking ass Howard. You’re just getting warmed up. We want you back representing the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. You’re electric…!

It's Not About Rove, It's About Bush's Dishonesty, Dem Says

http://www.townhall.com/news/ext_wire.html?rowid=13048
By Susan Jones
Oct 24, 2005

(CNSNews.com)
Election fraud?

On Sunday, Dean pointed to news reports indicating that the recent Iraqi election, where people went to the polls to vote on a constitution, wasn't "completely honest." Dean cited as proof an ABC News report saying that one Iraqi man had filled out seven ballots and stuck them all in the box.

"If that's what we're fighting for in Iraq, we don't belong there," Dean said. "If this election was corrupted, it's time to figure out how to get out."

"This Week" host George Stephanopoulos reminded Dean that early indications show "there was no widespread fraud."

Dean responded, "All I know is an ABC correspondent saw it and talked about it on television. That's what I know. Let's find out more. When you have 99 percent of the people voting yes, that's always some indication that things may not quite be exactly as they seem."

The Republican National Committee criticized Dean's criticism of the Iraqi election, saying he "displayed a troubling unwillingness and inability to acknowledge the real progress occurring in Iraq.

"Chairman Dean's criticism of an election where Iraqis turned out in record numbers to approve a constitution illustrates that many in the Democrat party are still focused on pessimism and defeatism when it comes to advancing freedom in the Middle East and winning the war on terror," the RNC statement said.

"Continually explaining what you are against and tossing out negative attacks is not an agenda, despite Chairman Dean's claims."

On Sunday's show, Dean told Stephanopoulos that "Democrats are the party of moral values" and that most Americans agree with those values.

He said those values include "honesty in government": balancing the budget; restoring jobs; "a health care system that benefits everybody"; and a "decent public education system."

"We want ethics legislation and campaign finance reform and health care reform. We will be the party of change, and we're serious about this and Democrats will have to live by these changes just like Republicans. We want fundamental reform in the United States."

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7. PA: Patriot Voting System Rejected Again…and again…and again.

Who do these guys know to even get considered: lousy security, no documentation. What next, empty boxes arriving just before election day.

Pa. rejects Patriot voting system again

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/12988187.htm
Posted on Mon, Oct. 24, 2005
www.vanguard.com Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. - For the second time this year, a touch-screen voting system used by three western Pennsylvania counties has failed to be certified by the state.

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes said in a report that even an updated version of the UniLect Corp.'s so-called Patriot voting system does not meet the state's standards, the Beaver County Times reported.

In April, the state banned Beaver, Mercer and Greene counties from using the Patriot systems they've had for several years. The ban was prompted after all three counties had higher than normal "undercounts" - the difference between the number of voters casting ballots and the total number of votes counted - in last November's election.

A subsequent test found problems with the system and all three counties had to use paper ballots in the May primaries. The counties will have to use paper ballots in the upcoming November election as well.

Cortes decertified the system after those tests earlier this year; after the company asked for another test of an updated system, the state tested it again in August.

But Cortes' latest report, issued Friday, said the new, color-screen version of the system had many of the same problems as the older, black-and-white screen version.

His report said the Patriot system's scanner didn't work properly, the system's encryption standards didn't meet recommendations, and UniLect didn't provide documentation to prove that it followed industry guidelines on security management and software development.

UniLect President Jack Gerbel said he was unaware of Cortes' decision, telling the newspaper "I've long since given up trying to figure it all out."

A phone message left by The Associated Press on Monday at UniLect's Dublin, Ca., office was not immediately returned.

So far, only the Accupoll system, manufactured by Unisys Corp., has been certified by the state, but several other companies are also waiting for the state's final word.

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8. OH: Great Story on Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Citizen Fest!

What a board! They actually let citizens talk, months after they ruined the 2004 election and the recount; after they created a national disgrace; and after they screwed citizens all over the Cleveland area

You Can Vote, But The Election’s Over : County election board forum gives electronic voting skeptics chance to rant, but little else.

http://www.freetimes.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2688

By Charu Gupta
MONDAY’S CUYAHOGA COUNTY Board of Election forum at Myers University on electronic voting had all the trappings of a public hearing: an attentive panel, a podium and microphone for citizens to speak, video cameras and a court reporter. But what it didn’t offer — a chance to influence the board — weighed heavily on the minds of many in attendance.



The forum, filled with appointed and elected public officials, representatives of a voting machine manufacturer, reporters and activists, was largely an effort by county election officials to justify their actions. But if anything, the event underscored the continued lack of confidence many Ohioans have in their election officials, electronic voting and Cuyahoga County’s vendor of choice, Canton-based Diebold.

The CCBOE and Diebold focused much of a morning session on telling a 60-member-plus audience why electronic voting is the best choice for Cuyahoga County. In the afternoon, about 20 people took the mic for the public testimony phase (time ran out before 14 more could speak). Most questioned Diebold’s integrity, the security of its machines and cost analyses. Few, if any, left satisfied.

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9. LA: NOLA Mayors Race Ripe for Election Manipulation—Steal a City?

Watch how this election unfolds. It’s a real opportunity to steal an entire city by stealing an election. Do I think there are those who would do this? Of course there are. They may be indicted or out on good behavior or pardoned, but they’ll show up. So will we.

Mayor's race begins to draw candidates, rumors

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20051024y

By Christopher Tidmore, Political Columnist
October 24, 2005 talkback

The rumors of the candidacy of former Orleans Council President Peggy Wilson for Mayor are now confirmed. In an interview with The Louisiana Weekly, Wilson confirmed that she had met with a group of consultants and has begun fundraising for a bid for the city's chief executive post.

Three months ago, the idea that a Republican, much less a white Republican, seeking the Mayor's office would have brought nothing but the proverbial "guffaws" of the impossible or quixotic. Yet, with a February election looming, and most of the city's population gone, perhaps permanently, the former Council President's quest seems less unlikely.

A large portion of Wilson's former Council District A, silk stocking Uptown, was relatively unharmed by Katrina, and the term limits advocate is one of the few Republicans with populist enough appeal to pick up white votes in the normally Democratic bastions of the French Quarter, Fabourg Marigny, and Algiers-areas that survived the storm with little damage or population loss.

Race, however, plays the dominant card. The recent post-Katrina survey done by the Red Cross shows, however, that at best 40% of the population of Orleans Parish will be Black by February. Perhaps even less.
<snip>

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12. USA: Larry C. Johnson, Patriot and Retired Intelligence Agent—Speaks Trut

We need more truth around here. Johnson and his fellow retired intelligence agents have told Bush and the public the truth since day one. Since nobody else is doing much to cover Iraq, I figure why not? This is just another reason to have free and fair elections.

http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/10/iraq_slips_away.html

Iraq Slips Away

by Larry C. Johnson

Tired of the drum beat of bad news surrounding TreasonGate and the outing of CIA officer Valerie Wilson. How about some good news from Iraq? Sorry, nothing to report. Before you remind me about the apparent success of the recent election, keep reading.

The delusional happiness reflected in Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's remarks this week to Congress about the so-called progress in Iraq ignores hard facts that point to a debacle. The international media appears to be finally catching on that the Washington spin about the purple thumb as a sign of democratic progress is pure nonsense. It is true that more people in Iraq voted in this election than last January. What Rice and other folks out of touch with reality ignore is that the increased number of Sunnis who voted came out to defeat the constitution. Unfortunately, the fix was in. Vote fraud was rampant. U.S. TV crews caught one Shia on tape casting seven yes votes. That's sort of an old style American politics a la Chicago's Daley machine--you know, vote early, vote often. And, results are now, once again, being withheld to "investigate" the irregularities.

Here is a bold prediction: The Constitution will pass and Shia politicians will have a lock on the new Government of Iraq. Consequently, the civil war currently underway will escalate. As the Iraqi Army grows, comprised mostly of Shia and Kurds, attacks against Sunnis will also increase. And that will put the United States in an impossible situation. If we allow the Shia Army and militias to attack Sunni targets we will continue to be the target of Sunni insurgents. If we intervene to try to aid the Sunnis, the Shia's will turn on us. If you doubt that I would ask you to recall what happened in the Shia enclave, Sadr City, in April of 2004. That battle killed Casey Sheehan and left my cousin's son with a shattered leg.

Oh, speaking of the war. The road from downtown Baghdad to the International Airport still has not been secured and remains the most dangerous road in the world. Meanwhile, as of 21 October, Americans are dying in Iraq at a rate of almost three per day. This is the highest loss of life since January 2005. So much for Rosy Scenario and the dawn of peace and understanding.

Finally, there is the ham handed attempt to pass off as legitimate a letter alledgedly written by Bin Laden's number two guy, Ayman Zwahiri, to the Jordanian terrorist, Abu Musab Zarqawi. This appears to be a rather crude "Information Operation" designed to sow confusion in the ranks of the jihadists battling U.S. forces in Iraq. While well intentioned (i.e., trying to create confusion among the insurgents) the execution of this op was pitiful. Having the newly christened National Director of Intelligence release this travesty ends up calling into question the professionalism and competence of the organization that was supposed to fix the mess in the intelligence community. Rather reparing damage, Negroponte and his crew seem to be causing more mayhem.

Taken as a whole, a lousy week in Iraq as that country slips to a new level of hell and the competence of US authorities to mange this debacle is called increasingly into question.

Posted by Larry Johnson on October 21, 2005 at 06:12 PM | Permalin

[kster]

14. ALL ABOARD, next stop the Greatest..nt

[Wilms]

15. Survey to Examine Threats to Election Process

Survey to Examine Threats to Election Process

electionline.org Staff

A new survey released today seeks to identify and assess a wide range of potential threats to the electoral process.

electionline.org, the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project (VTP) and the University of Utah Center for Public Policy and Administration will jointly distribute and analyze the five-page survey, which asks respondents to give their assessment of potential threats ranging from deliberate threats (fraud, intimidation, etc.) to accidental/unintentional threats (malfunction, mistakes, etc.)

“Public awareness of the vulnerability of the voting process to various threats has continued to grow,� said Michael Alvarez, professor of political science at Caltech and a co-sponsor of the survey. “This survey is consistent with other efforts to provide objective, research-based information to policymakers and election officials as they seek to meet those threats and ensure the continued security of the voting process.�

In particular, for each potential threat respondents will be asked to assess:

*
The level of disruption the threat could cause;
*
The likelihood the threat could materialize in elections this fall;
*
The likelihood the threat could materialize in elections in 2006; and
*
The ease with which the threat could be mitigated.

Respondents will also have an opportunity to identify and assess additional potential threats not mentioned in the survey.

Finally, respondents will be asked to rank the relative chance that problems will occur in each of six areas: Illegal or double voting, coercion or deception in voting, voter registration, precinct voting, absentee voting, and post-election tabulation.

The survey is designed to be widely distributed and is not limited to any particular community. Doug Chapin, director of electionline.org, noted that “with regard to the survey, the more the merrier; in fact, a larger number of responses will contribute to the quality of the end product. I therefore encourage readers to share this survey widely with friends and colleagues.�

snip/more and links

http://electionline.org/Newsletters/tabid/87/ctl/Detail/mid/643/xmid/159/xmfid/3/Default.aspx

[Wilms]

16. Tomorrow's Voting Rights Act Hearing

Monday, October 24

Tomorrow's Voting Rights Act Hearing

The third in a series of congressional hearings on the Voting Rights Act is scheduled to take place before the House Judiciary Committee tomorrow morning. An overview may be found here, and a press release from the committee here.

Tomorrow's hearing will focus on the continuing importance of Section 5 of the VRA in deterring discriminatory voting practices. Among those testifying are Laughlin McDonald of the ACLU, Anita Earls of the University of North Carolina, Nina Perales of MALDEF, and Richard Engstrom of the University of New Orleans. All of these folks are people of enormous knowledge regarding the real-world, continuing impact of the VRA.

Meanwhile, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights has released this summary of testimony from earlier hearings, including historical background on the VRA's implementation.

- posted by Dan Tokaji @ 10:07 PM

snip/links

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/blogs/tokaji/2005/10/tomorrows-voting-rights-act-hearing.html

[Wilms]

17. Voting Rights, in South Carolina and Elsewhere

Sunday, October 23

Voting Rights, in South Carolina and Elsewhere

On Friday, I attended a conference on the Voting Rights Act entitled The Promise of Voter Equality, graciously hosted by the University of South Carolina Law School. It was an excellent conference, featuring some lively exchanges on both the past and the future of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Few would dispute that the VRA was enormously successful in dismantling barriers to participation, such as literacy tests that kept African Americans from voting throughout most of the South. Voter registration increased dramatically in South Carolina and other southern states within two years of the Act's passage. But the elimination of direct barriers to participation achieved only limited success in integrating state legislative bodies and Congress.

During the 1980's and 1990's, the U.S. Department of Justice exerted pressure on state legislatures to create majority-minority districts. This resulted in a substantial increase in the number of African Americans and Latinos elected to office. In 1992, for example, the State of North Carolina elected its first African Americans to Congress since the turn of the century, both from majority-black districts. These districts were almost immediately challenged by whites, who emphasized their "bizarre" shape and argued that their creation violated the "colorblindness" principle upon which the Supreme Court had relied in its cases striking down race-conscious affirmative action programs. In a series of cases starting with Shaw v. Reno (1993), the Court recognized a new type of claim, allowing white voters to challenge majority-minority districts if race was the "predominant factor" in their creation.

There are still those who believe that the "bizarre" shape of these majority-minority districts is more offensive than the fact that minorities were absent from state congressional delegations before those districts were drawn. Looking forward, it's far from clear that the gains that have been made in minority representation will continue, unless states are compelled to take race into consideration in drawing district lines. The racial polarization of the electorate remains an unfortunate fact of life -- many whites are still unwilling to vote for minority candidates. As long as that continues to be the case, the Voting Rights Act will continue to play a vital role in democratic politics.

snip/more

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/blogs/tokaji/2005/10/voting-rights-in-south-carolina-and.html

[Wilms]

18. Report finds e-vote promise, problems

Report finds e-vote promise, problems

GAO analysis calls on makers to design machines with security, verification in mind

By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER

In a report released Friday, the investigative arm of Congress found that fully electronic voting machines hold promise for U.S. elections but still have security and reliability problems.

E-voting failures in elections have been a problem in California, and the state's experiences are mentioned several times in the latest report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Analysts for the GAO found that crucial vote-recording and tallying files could be altered, that voting software often had weak or nonexistent password protections and that manufacturers had installed unapproved software in several places, including California.

Yet fixing those problems could be years away.

snip/more

http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_3141939

[Wilms]

19. AZ: Group sues Brewer over voting machines

Group sues Brewer over voting machines

TUCSON, Ariz. Secretary of state Jan Brewer is accused in a lawsuit of having no rules to determine if voting machines are accurately counting every vote.
Brewer dismisses the lawsuit filed in Pima County as bogus.

The suit was filed by Thomas W. Ryan, the leader of a group called Arizona Citizens for Fair Elections. It claims Brewer is not following state law requiring her office to have standards in place for certifying election machines.

Brewer says she's working on the standards on her timetable, not that of the group suing her. She also says the suit may be politically motivated.

snip/no more

http://www.kpho.com/Global/story.asp?S=4019100&nav=23Ku

[Wilms]

20. CO: Smudge on ballot puts kink in vote-counting

Smudge on ballot puts kink in vote-counting

Scott N. Miller

October 24, 2005

EAGLE — This is why they practice.

During testing of the county’s voting equipment last week, Eagle County Clerk and Recorder Teak Simonton and her crew discovered a glitch.

Due to a printer’s error, a light smudge runs across the line for Rohn Robbins, a candidate for the Eagle County Home Rule Charter Commission.

The vote-counting machines picked up the smudge as a vote for Robbins. To remedy the mistake, employees from the clerk’s office for the last several days have been hand-counting Robbins’ part of the ballot — all the candidates for the two “at large� seats on the charter commission.

snip/more

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20051024/NEWS/51024003

[PDittie]

21. Candidates hearing on Paper Ballots (Houston)

http://www.houstondemocrats.com/archives/2005/10/reminder_housto.html