Diebold's Lobbyist: Dem Senate Nominee from Virginia?

[Wilms]

Diebold's Lobbyist: Dem Senate Nominee from Virginia?

By Greg Priddy

Jan 07, 2006

"We oppose the idea of a voter-verified paper trail." -- Harris Miller

Most of you haven't heard of Harris Miller, who departed earlier this week as head of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), a lobbying group for big information technology corporations. But you will certainly hear about him next week, as he is expected to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, as a Democrat from Virginia, running against George Allen. In fact, the media trial balloons this week have treated him as a presumptive nominee, who has the backing of the party leadership, even though they haven't made any formal endorsement.

The quote above, obviously, gets at the reasons why this should concern us, as Democrats.

As head of the ITAA, Miller specifically lobbied Congress against verified voting, on behalf of the interests of Diebold and other manufacturers of paperless e-voting machines -- members of ITAA. From the article in CIO:

"The vendor community doesn't like it. "We oppose the idea of a voter-verified paper trail," says Harris Miller, president of the trade group Information Technology Association of America. Introducing paper into the mix, he says, defeats the improved efficiency and reliability e-voting promises. "There was never a golden age when paper ballots were accurately counted," Miller says. Adding paper to e-voting will only make the process of administering elections more costly and time-consuming without improving accuracy, opponents assert."

snip

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2006/1/6/23532/17147

[mitchtv]

1. let me guess...

A "moderate" Dem?

[TheGunslinger]

12. Is he a GOP plant?

[Oversea Visitor]

2. Eeeeek

A wolf in sheep cloathing.

[Misskittycat]

3. Whoa. Harris is one of my oldest friends. He's a good guy.

He ran for Congress from Pa. many years ago.

I have to say that his position as head of that trade association has concerned me a bit, inasmuch as the membership have taken a position or two I don't like, like saying outsourcingis ok.

I haven't seen him or talked to him in a few years.I'll have to check this out

But basically believe me he's a smart competent guy and other than this trade association gig he's always been a good solid Democrat.

[Jim Sagle]

6. You need a better taste in friends. DINO traitors ain't worth a goddamn.

[Steve A Play]

8. With friends like that, who needs enemas

Check out this Google search for "Harris Miller", voting

Results 1 - 10 of about 27,600 for "Harris Miller", voting. (0.11 seconds)

E-Voting Does Work
By Harris Miller September 13, 2004 E-voting is "proven and practical." 2 comments
posted Add your opinion. In his Aug. 23 commentary, "E-Voting: It's ...
www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1645028,00.asp - 82k - Cached - Similar pages

CIO | The Lowdown on E-Voting
The only point the two sides seemingly agree on: E-voting is coming soon. ...
“We oppose the idea of a voter-verified paper trail,” says Harris Miller, ...
www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;558873322;fp;4;fpid;21 - Similar pages

ITAA Fires Back at Critics of E-voting - Computerworld
The debate over electronic voting security and the need for paper audit ...
Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America ...
www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,94608,00.html - 81k - Cached - Similar pages

ITAA fires back at e-voting critics - Computerworld
The debate over electronic voting security and the need for paper audit trails
... about the security of e-voting systems, and ITAA President Harris Miller ...
www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/story/0,10801,94584,00.html - 81k - Cached - Similar pages

A Short but Tragic History of E-voting Public Relations - Center ...
ITAA president Harris Miller is quoted in the call notes as saying that their
... the benefits of electronic voting to every citizen," Harris Miller said, ...
www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2004Q2/history.html - 42k - Cached - Similar pages

Scoop: Inside An E-Voting Whitewash Conference Call
ITAA professional lobbyist Harris Miller talking to Voting Machine manufacturers
in a conference call, Friday 22nd August 2003 ...
www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0308/S00175.htm - 43k - Cached - Similar pages

PCWorld.com - E-Voting Vendors Seek Credibility
... October gubernatorial election, added Harris Miller, ITAA president. ...
Tech.gov: The Computer Ate My Vote · Online Lotteries: Risky Business? ...
www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,113823,00.asp - Similar pages

PCWorld.com - E-Voting States Brace For Problems
E-Voting Problems Found in Maryland · Study Claims E-Voting Irregularities Found
in Florida · More E-Voting Problems Reported · E-Voting Problems Crop Up ...
www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,118205,00.asp - Similar pages

Displaced Techies
Someone wrote a fantastic editorial calling Harris Miller out on his idiotic
statements about e-voting machines. posted by gmminks 8/24/2004 ...
www.displacedtechies.com/ - 11k - Cached - Similar pages

AlterNet: Painting Happy Faces on Black Boxes
Harris Miller told Computerworld, "It's not about voting machines. It's a religious
war about open-source software vs. proprietary software. ...
www.alternet.org/story/19423/ - 25k - Cached - Similar pages

Need I say more?

Steven P.

[Bill Bored]

17. Wow! Welcome to DU Mr. Play! nt

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

14. he is a shill

he is a shill - noone should be opposing election transparency.

Nothing solid about a guy that does that.

Something terribly wrong with him.

He's another Joe Andrews.

Anything for money.

Or else he is not that bright.

Most certainly he should not be a lawmaker.

[Virginian]

15. Another carpetbagger huh?

I know Virginia is the mother of presidents, the largest contributer of presidents of all the states in the union, but now it seems to have become a springboard for candidates from other states. Why can't we seem to have any homegrown candidates any more? Our current Governor was born elsewhere, both the candidates for Gov in the most recent election were born in other states and George Allen, he isn't from around here either. He's a bigot from California who is giving the Old Dominion a bad name. That's all. I will get back on topic, now.

Miss Kitty Cat, can you link back up with him and find out if he is still a good guy? If he is the Dem candidate, I will vote for him. I would vote for dog poop out in the yard before I would vote for Allen or before I would sit home and not vote against Allen. Purr in his ear and let him know we don't need outsourcing. Purr and inform him that verified voting does not mean that we retrogress to paper, but that we have a solid paper trail to back up the electronic election process.

If he is opposed to honest, verified voting, I won't support him in the primary. But I'm an Anybody But Allen in the general election.

[Bill Bored]

24. Don't you have an ambitious congress member who'd like to run for Sen? nt

[Virginian]

25. Not in my district. You should see how the state is gerrymandered.

We have a republican congressman representing part of a blue county. I will vote against him forever and never get rid of him because he has more constituents in a red county.

Another part of our county has a Dem. He had a tough race in his primary. Might not be strong enough for the Senate. I would have to check but I think we only have 3 Dem congressmen in the entire state.

[Bill Bored]

18. No room in our party for election privatization advocates!

Sorry but gotta draw the line somewhere and it might as well be here!

He needs some serious de-programming before he can claim to be a Democrat.

Tell hem to read Chapter VII of Democracy at Risk: The 2004 Election in Ohio http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/06/democracy_at_ri.php

Then get a gig for 5 years or so as a solar or wind energy lobbyist. (He might have more credibility doing that than taking up something like election reform at this point!)

And then he can come back and try to run for office on a platform of renewable energy and independence from foreign oil or something.

Only then can he call himself a Democrat.

[Wilms]

19. You're a tough NYer, Bill.

;)

[kansasblue]

21. can you check a little closer... do you 'really' know him?

[Historic NY]

4. He needs a wakeup call...........

"We oppose the idea of a voter-verified paper trail." -- Harris Miller

His position on e-voting:

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1645028,00.asp

[abluelady]

5. It is Very Troubling

not only because he's running as a dem, but with the knowledge he SHOULD have of computers, he should be very aware how easy they are to hack into.

[David Dunham]

7. This guy is a sure loser. Someone get James Webb to run.

[Virginian]

16. Who is Webb?

The Zogby poll was asking if I would vote for Allen or Webb and would I vote for Allen or Miller. Answer: Anyone But Allen.

Can you post more info on Webb? Where is he from? What are his views? What has he been doing for a living for the past decade or so? Does he have a web site that explains all this?

[kster]

9. We need to

throw him the harbor with the e-voting machines.

[Bill Bored]

10. Well, if we still had a VIABLE DU Election Forum,

we could organize a massive letter writing campaign in about 5 mins. and deluge him with a few thousand calls, emails and faxes in an effort to get him to choose between supporting his industry or supporting democracy. Then we'd write some to Chuck Schumer, Chair of the Dem Senate Campaign Committee with similar comments telling him not to fund anyone who goes against the DNC's position of voter-verified paper ballots and discontinuation of the use of DREs as expressed in the DNC Ohio Report Chapter VII, or the watered down consensus DNC position of simply requiring a voter-verified paper audit trail.

And then, we'd write to the DNC itself, Howard Dean in particular, turning this guy in and asking them not to support his candidacy.

And then we'd get some more deserving person from VA to run and support that candidate.

But of course, that's if we had a viable DU election forum, with Front Page Privileges and all that stuff. Right now, there isn't much we can do except to wait for the next stolen election.

Maybe the folks at Free Republic would be interested in this job? Some of them actually oppose fake elections too you know. At least they did before 2000 when they started winning so many!

[Steve A Play]

20. A better alternative

that requires fewer people to start with and may be even more effective than sending hundreds of e-mails to him. Considering his past, I think it's unlikely he's going to change his position on the e-voting issue any time soon. We need to target the party.

First, I think we should draft a letter that high lites his previous affiliations with the vendors and his positions on the issues. Then we should post the final draft on DU and get as many people as we can to sign it to give it some weight. We can then send that letter to every voting rights group in the country requesting them to join us in a targeted action to keep him from getting the party nomination.

I think 100's of letters from voting rights organizations on behalf of their members will get a lot more notice than 1000's of letters from individuals. But then again, we could always encourage both.

According to one article I read, he's willing to spend up to $3,000,000.00 of his own money for the position. How much will he make every year if he gets elected and how long would it take for him to just break even? I get the feeling he wants this job really bad and not necessarily because of the pay or his extreme civic mindedness.

We need to fight this.

Steven P. :kick:

[Bill Bored]

23. OK! nt

[Wilms]

11. More discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2355806http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2355806

[MelissaB]

13. Thanks, Wilms! n/t

[Misskittycat]

22. I googled all last night and --yes-- I'm very disturbed

by what I read.

Election reform is my number one issue.

Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to proceed from here, if at all.