Election Reform News: 4-28-06. Grab your Paper Ballots,hold on tight

[FogerRox]

The HAVA induced E-Voting Train Wreck is steaming down on America

-Some Election Officials GET IT, and don't have any faith in the vendors and are preparing Paper Ballots.

-While like in NJ, ELection Oficials are twideling thier thumbs, Essex, Monmouth & Passiac Counties are still owed nearly 2000 Sequoia Advantage voting machines, and the NJ Primary is just weeks away in June.

Welcome to todays installation of the E-Voting Train Wreck
otherwise known as the "ERD"

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




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=203x397093

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

for MAC users-- IIRC its hold down control- and click on the image to view its source.

[FogerRox]

1. ILL> Sequoia's Jack Blaine in apologizing to County Board

Long ballot could be split in 2

April 28, 2006

BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter
Cook County voters might cast votes on two smaller ballots this November, instead of a ballot even more enormous than the one that was used in the March primary.

That possibility was raised during a County Board hearing on problems experienced in March.

The meeting, which lasted six hours, bore few new arguments or concerns than what were raised three weeks ago in a similar City Council hearing.

Chicago Board of Elections Chairman Langdon Neal and Cook County Clerk David Orr joined Sequoia Voting Systems President Jack Blaine in apologizing to County Board members for results that were delayed for days as machine snafus slowed the process.

>snip<

After the meeting, Orr spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said with a lengthier November ballot -- due to judicial retention votes -- it's possible that those voting on optical-scan machines will see candidates spread over two ballots

more-
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-county28.html

[FogerRox]

3. Sequoia's Jack Blaine: defending his products to angry election officials

Voting-machine maker on defense
Election trouble puts exec on the hot seat

By John McCormick
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 27, 2006


Jack Blaine, president of the company that made the voting machines used in Cook County's glitch-filled March primary, is used to jetting around the country selling election equipment.

These days, however, the head of Sequoia Voting Systems is racking up frequent flier credits defending his products to angry election officials and testifying before committees.

Outcomes in Chicago's March 21 primary went undetermined for days, and the problems cast doubts on more than $50 million of new Sequoia equipment.

Besides shaking the confidence of voters, the problems have also tarnished Sequoia's reputation, providing the latest hit for an industry that is the frequent target of electoral conspiracy theories.

more-

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northwest/chi-0604270319apr27,1,1287757.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorthwest-hed

[spag68]

2. Election reform?

Sorry, I don't think any of that is going on in our congress. Maybe in some states?

[mod mom]

4. OH: AG/Candidate Petro to Probe Blackwell's leak of SS #s.

Petro to probe Blackwell's leak of Social Security numbers

Friday, April 28, 2006
Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau Chief
Columbus -- Attorney General Jim Petro is investigating why his main rival for the GOP nomination for governor distributed voter lists that accidentally included Social Security numbers.

"I don't think it's a political issue, but I think, in reality, it's an issue of security of data of our citizens," Petro told reporters Thursday.

Hours later, it became a political issue when his campaign debuted a new radio commercial that accuses Secretary of State Ken Blackwell of "making it too easy for criminals and illegal aliens to steal your identity."

<snip>

A union representing state troopers fanned the flames by releasing a letter Thursday that asks Petro to launch an inquiry.

"Law enforcement knows better than most that having a name, address and Social Security number of any citizen is an open invitation to invade their lives and gain access to the plethora of records that are generated in today's world," Herschel Sigall, general counsel to the Ohio State Troopers Association, wrote in a Wednesday letter to Petro.

<more at link>

http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isope/1146224007136170.xml&coll=2

[FogerRox]

5. Chuck Herrin: I want Paper ballots

I am as big a computer geek as they come, and I hold multiple high-level industry certifications in the areas of networking, engineering, auditing, and security, and I am here today with one message.

I want paper ballots.

There is no reason for computers to be involved in our electoral process. They have not solved any problems, but only created new ones. This is not surprising news to anyone involved in the tech industry, nor is it a surprise for criminals. It used to be that you had to put on a ski mask and run down to the bank in person in order to rob it, but now criminals can pull it off using a web browser and free AOL account. Now, these are not new crimes- high tech crimes are merely improvements on old, low tech crimes. New and Improved Fraud, now with anonymity! It used to be that con-men had to show up and lie to you in person to steal your money, but everyone should know that computers make it much easier to commit fraud on a grand scale. One statistic I saw recently showed that last year, $80 million was stolen in paper money, but over $800 million was stolen using computers. There's one thing that everyone can agree on - computers are great for efficiency! You simply can't have high tech crimes without high technology.



Is it a coincidence that within the last 5 or 6 years the exit polls have all of a sudden gotten unreliable and wrong, which just happens to coincide with the introduction of electronic voting machines?

Is it a coincidence that a man convicted of 23 felony counts of theft in the first degree was employed by Diebold as Senior Vice President of Development?

So, some felons can't vote, but they can write the software to count my vote? THAT's a good idea.

MORE-
http://www.chuckherrin.com/paperballots.htm

[FogerRox]

6. "Paper ballots are surprisingly resistant to fraud"

Paper Ballots
By Glenn Harlan Reynolds


People will say that voting machines were rigged, or confusing. People will complain about tabulation errors and hanging chads and outright fraud. To these problems (well, most of them, anyway) I have a technological solution. The technology is good. It is easy to understand. It is surprisingly resistant to fraud. And it is inexpensive. Its the paper ballot.

Paper ballots are easy to understand - just put an X in the box next to the appropriate candidates name. I dont find voting machines especially hard to understand, but I do always have to read the instructions on the ones I use, and Im a law professor who works as a sound engineer on the side. So others may find them more confusing than I do. Everyone, on the other hand, can make an X. Paper ballots are surprisingly resistant to fraud. Actually, it shouldnt be that surprising.

A paper ballot encodes lots of useful information besides the obvious. Not only is the information about the vote contained in the form, but also information about the voter. Different colors of ink, different styles of handwriting, etc., make each ballot different. Erasing the original votes is likely to leave a detectable residue. Creating all new ballots with fraudulent votes requires substantial variation among them or the fakery is much more obvious; thats hard work. And destroying the original ballots in order to replace them with fraudulent ones isnt that easy theres a lot of paper to be disposed of, and shredding it, or burning it, or hiding it is comparatively easy to detect. (Protecting the ballots before counting doesnt require fancy encryption, either: just a steel box with a lock, a slot on the top, and a seal.) Whats more, because people are familiar with paper documents, fraud is easy to understand when it occurs. Paper ballots are both robust (resistant to fraud) and transparent (easy to understand).

MORE-
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=110502A

[FogerRox]

7. Move on: Voter-Verified Paper Ballots

"Every voter should be able to verify his or her vote on a paper ballot. Election officials must make sure electronic voting terminals produce Voter-Verified Paper Ballots, and they must provide backup paper ballots in case the terminals aren't working. "

more-

http://civic.moveon.org/protectourvotes//

[FogerRox]

8. CALI. Seven counties promise to use paper ballots

Seven counties promise to use paper ballots



SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Seven of 18 counties who were sued to prevent them from using Diebold Election Systems' electronic voting machines in November's election were removed from the lawsuit after agreeing to use paper ballots instead.

The seven counties are Humboldt, Marin, Placer, San Luis Obispo, Trinity, Tulare and Santa Barbara counties.

They were dropped from the suit yesterday after giving assurances to a judge they would use the paper ballots.

The suit also names California, which this year approved the use of the disputed voting machine built by Diebold Election Systems. The lawsuit alleges the touchscreen voting machines lack adequate security and aren't easily used by the disabled.

The company stands by its machines.

The suit now names the counties of Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Lassen, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Modoc, Plumas, San Diego, San Joaquin and Siskiyou.


More-

http://www.kget.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=78D3D476-F735-4E3E-A13F-7384DEEAEDCC

[FogerRox]

9. Indiana , ES&S to reprint screwed up paper ballots for free

Indiana ballots confuse left, right

April 26, 2006

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- About 80,000 ballots in Porter County for next week's primary tell voters to fill in the ovals to the right of the candidates they choose.

The problem is, the ovals are to the left of the candidates' names.

Patrick Lyp, the Republican representative to the county's election board, said the supplier, Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Neb., is replacing the ballots at no cost. The Indiana Election Commission said last week it would investigate Election Systems & Software, which supplies voting systems to 27 Indiana counties.

AP


http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-ballot26.html

[FogerRox]

10. TEXAS: Early voters, be prepared to write on PAPER BALLOTS

Early voters, be prepared to write
By Robert Morgan/Times Record News
April 28, 2006

Wichita Falls' early voters will use pen and paper - not electronic voting machines - to cast ballots in the joint municipal and school district election beginning Monday.

City Clerk Lydia Ozuna said Thursday afternoon early voters would mark their X's on emergency paper ballots because the county's electronic voting machine vendor, Electronic Systems and Software, failed to provide the needed election information.


Ozuna said the problems were because of ES&S overextending its capabilities and customer base in Texas.

"I think they realize they were ... not prepared to deal with that many entities," Ozuna said.

Amanda Brown, ES&S spokeswoman, confirmed paper ballots would be used during early voting but hoped her company could find an "alternative solution" before it ended. Brown said her company was "working really hard to make sure everything was ready for May 13."

ES&S's lack of election readiness prompted a letter from Secretary of State Roger Williams. In the letter, Williams threatened to withhold state money, decertify ES&S as a Texas vendor and find the company in breech of contract if it did not increase its election efforts in Texas, according to Trey Trainor, general counsel for the secretary of state.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_4656840,00.html

[FogerRox]

11. NC: Voters will receive paper ballots, "You must fill in the oval "

Voting Equipment To Debut
BY FLORENCE GILKESON: Senior Writer


Clendenin said the new voting equipment is simple to operate.

Voters will receive paper ballots and will be directed to an enclosed voting booth. They must fill in the oval space beside the candidate of choice in each race. An illustration is provided at the top of the ballot.

The process is almost identical to the old paper ballot system. The only significant difference, other than the method of counting, is the requirement that the oval be inked in. On the old paper ballots the voter placed a large X in a square box beside candidate of choice.

“You must fill in the oval completely,” Clendenin said. “Check marks won’t do it.”

Once the voter has filled in the ballot, the next step is to feed the ballot into the tabulator, which will scan the ballot and drop it into a box (or bin) connected with the machine.

more-

http://www.thepilot.com/news/042806Voting.html

[FogerRox]

12. PA: Judge: County Can Use New Voting Machines

Judge: County Can Use New Voting Machines

(KDKA) PITTSBURGH A federal judge in Pittsburgh has ruled that Allegheny County can use new voting machines in the upcoming May Primary election.

Allegheny County agreed to buy 4,700 machines from Election Systems and Software, but the company can only deliver 2,600 for the May Primary.

A group filed suit to prevent the new machines from being used because they said there’s not enough time to train poll workers and educate voters, especially senior citizens.

However, the County argued poll workers are being trained, and there are ongoing clinics to get voters familiar with the new machines.

The County could have lost $4 million in grant money if they weren't able to have the new machines in place.

http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_118072001.html

[FogerRox]

13. PA. : How Voter-Friendly Are Electronic Voting Machines?

CHANNEL 6 NEWS INVESTIGATION:

How Voter-Friendly Are Electronic Voting Machines?


You may know who you want to vote for when you get to the polls, but can you trust the new voting machines to make your vote count in the May primary?

Voters this year will use iVotronic voting machines. Through a Channel 6 News investigation, we found that every state which uses this type of voting machine has reported some kind of computer glitch during voting.

Problems have been reported in Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. But because of their user-friendly system, the iVotronic system was still chosen locally.

However, many are concerned about the validity of the machines in the long run.


more-

http://www.wjactv.com/news/9019604/detail.html

[FogerRox]

14. Diebold Re-Elects Board Members, Declares Cash Dividend

Diebold Re-Elects Board Members, Declares Cash Dividend
Thursday April 27, 3:34 pm ET


NORTH CANTON, Ohio, April 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Shareholders of Diebold, Incorporated (NYSE: DBD - News) today re-elected the board of directors at the company's annual meeting. In addition, the board declared the second- quarter cash dividend and re-elected company officers.

DIRECTORS RE-ELECTED
Re-elected to the board of directors were:
- Louis V. Bockius III, retired chairman, Bocko Incorporated, North
Canton.
- Phillip R. Cox, president and chief executive officer, Cox Financial
Corporation, Cincinnati.
- Richard L. Crandall, managing partner, Aspen Partners, LLC, Aspen,
Colo.
- Gale S. Fitzgerald, director, TranSpend, Inc., Palm Bay, Fla.
- Phillip B. Lassiter, non-executive chairman of the board, Ambac
Financial Group, Inc., New York.
- John N. Lauer, non-executive chairman of the board, Diebold,
Incorporated, Canton, Ohio.
- William F. Massy, president, The Jackson Hole Higher Education Group,
Inc., Jackson Hole, Wyo.
- Eric J. Roorda, former chairman, Procomp Amazonia Industria Eletronica,
S.A., Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- Thomas W. Swidarski, president and chief executive officer, Diebold,
Incorporated, Canton.
- Henry D.G. Wallace, former group vice president and chief financial
officer, Ford Motor Company, Detroit.
- Alan J. Weber, retired chairman and chief executive officer, U.S. Trust
Corporation, New York.

DIEBOLD DECLARED CASH DIVIDEND
The board of directors declared a second-quarter cash dividend of 21.5 cents per share on all common shares. The dividend is payable on Friday, June 2, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Friday, May 12.

more--

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060427/clth104.html?.v=2

[FogerRox]

15. Restructuring hurts Diebold profit

Restructuring hurts Diebold profit

First-quarter income drops despite 17 percent rise in sales. More cuts, as well as openings, planned in U.S., Europe.

By Mary Ethridge
Beacon Journal business writer
Despite an increase in sales, Green-based Diebold Inc., the world's second-largest seller of automatic teller machines, had a disappointing first quarter.

Profit fell 55 percent as the company closed offices and consolidated operations.

Net income declined to $12.7 million, or 18 cents a share, from $27.9 million, or 38 cents, for the same period a year earlier, said Mike Jacobsen, a spokesman for the company.

Still, sales rose 17 percent to $623.7 million.

Diebold shares closed up 39 cents at $41.89.

Chief Executive Thomas Swidarski, who took over in December from Wally O'Dell, is cutting $100 million in costs during the next three years to eliminate excess capacity across the country and Western Europe.


more-
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/business/14430737.htm

[Algorem]

16. OH- Democratic lawyer team scrutinizing Ohio election situacion

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers /

A team of Democratic lawyers plan to closely review any directives issued by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell in the coming months and, if necessary, challenge anything that could tend to disenfranchise voters.

The lawyers are reviewing the legal battles and issues that marked the 2004 presidential election, trying to head off a recurrence...

Gilligan said the lawyers are examining, among other issues, Blackwell rulings on the handling of ballots cast by voters at the wrong polling locations, known as provisional ballots, and on the allocation of voting machines, which was blamed for long lines at some locations.

He said they are will pay particular attention to new laws requiring that some voters present identification at the polling locations and at the use of electronic voting machines...

[livvy]

17. WV: Sec of State Wants To Push Deadline Back

Secretary Of State Wants to Push Deadline Back
Posted 4/28/2006 03:44 PM

The May primary is just a few weeks away in West Virginia and in many counties across the state the new voting machines are ready to go, but there is a problem.

Tey have no electronic ballots. (Ummm...I think they mean they, but far be it from me to edit what I paste.)

West Virginia Code requires machines be tested one week before an election. However, due to a delay in programming electronic ballots, some counties may not be able to meet that deadline.

Election System's and Software is the company responsible for those ballots and the state's voting machine vendor. (My, my, what a surprise!)
>more


http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=10506

[livvy]

18. VT: Senate Advances Instant Runoff Voting

Senate advances instant runoff voting

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Senators gave preliminary approval Friday to a bill addressing instant runoff voting, although they did not agree to adopt it.

Instead, they voted to direct Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz to draw up the procedures for how the system would be operated to elect statewide officeholders, including members of Congress.

Sponsors of the measure said they would use that report to determine whether to launch the initiative, which was used in March to elect the mayor of Burlington.

"This bill as written does not assume anything," said Sen. James Condos, D-Chittenden. "All it's doing is asking for more information on the logistics and mechanics of how it would operate."

>more

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=4834377&nav=menu183_15_7_3

[livvy]

19. TX: Early Vote on Charter Changes is Monday

Early vote on charter changes is Monday
By BRENDA ALLUMS [e-mail]

Early voting for the May 13 special election begins Monday, May 1, and continues through Tuesday, May 9.

Karen Custer, city clerk and election official, said early voting will be held at Kilgore City Hall. On Monday, May 1 and May 8, voting hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m

>snip

New electronic voting machines, first used in the last primary election, will be used.

"We will also have paper ballots for those who feel uncomfortable with the electronic voting," Custer said.

>more

http://www.kilgorenewsherald.com/news/2006/0428/Front_Page/005.html

[livvy]

20. IN: Voting Machines Certified;Doubts Remain

April 28, 2006

Voting machines certified; doubts remain

By Mary Beth Schneider
[e-mail]

The Indiana Election Commission voted today to certify voting machines made by Indianapolis-based MicroVote General Co., clearing the way for the equipment to be used in Tuesday's primary election.

Commission member Tom John said the commission was making this last-minute certification of MicroVote's equipment not for the sake of the company "but for the sake of hundreds of thousands of voters who otherwise would have had to vote on pieces of paper."
But commission chairman Thomas Wheeler warned that MicroVote is "not off the hook" for having sold the equipment to Indiana counties while it was uncertified. The commission will decide after the primary election whether to revoke the company's license to do business in Indiana for up to five years.

"We can put them out of business," Wheeler said.
Secretary of State Todd Rokita also is investigating MicroVote, which has equipment in 47 Indiana counties, and Election Systems & Software. That company, which also does business in many Indiana counties, has come under fire particularly in Marion, Johnson and St. Joseph counties for numerous ballot problems that caused missed legal deadlines in the counties.

That's it. I stole it all. A concept we are all quite used to at this point.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060428/NEWS01/60428036/1006

[livvy]

21. Ok, this may be a fluff piece, but if it's good enough for kids.....

Children get to vote in Gothenburg referendum

Published: 28th April 2006 14:35 CET

Children in Gothenburg are to become the first in the world to be given the vote in a referendum.

wo official referendums will be held in which only children between 5 and 12 will be eligible to vote. The results of the polls will decide two local issues - the appearance of a new tram and the design of a new library card. They will run concurrently with the Swedish local elections and general election, with polls open from 30th August to general election day, 17th September.

>clip

The process of voting will be similar for children as for adults. Each child will get a ballot paper and an envelope and will fill it in behind green, triangular screens resembling those in adult elections in Sweden. The only difference will be that the screens will be scaled down to take account of the diminutive citizens standing behind them.

>more

http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=3677&date=20060428

[livvy]

22. Arkansas: Voting Machines May Be Primary Absentees

Voting Machines May Be Primary Absentees

By Rusty Garrett
Friday, April 28, 2006 8:41 AM CDT

TIMES RECORD
# [e-mail]

The company Arkansas contracted with to provide touch-screen voting technology may not be able to deliver in time for the state’s May 23 primary, Sebastian County election officials said Thursday.

County Election Coordinator Jerry Huff told members of the Sebastian County Election Commission at a noon meeting Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems & Software has not prepared the programming needed for the iVotronic touch-screen machines the county had planned to have in place for early voting and at each county polling site for the upcoming election. Early voting begins May 8.

Huff said the county has received 52 of the 55 touch-screen machines, but cannot operate them without the programmed software. None of the next-generation Model 100 electronic tabulators has been received.

ES&S has also failed to provide final, corrected proofs of the 15 variations of paper county ballots that will be used in combination with the touch-screen machines and tabulated in Eagle electronic counting machines the county now owns and uses.

>more

http://www.swtimes.com/articles/2006/04/28/week_in_review/news/friday/news06.txt

[livvy]

23. Opinion: LA- election in Orleans Meets News Standards

OPINION

Election in Orleans meets news standards

Sara McAdory
April 28, 2006

I was at home Sunday when I picked up my parents' copy of The Clarion-Ledger and saw in bold, one-inch-tall letters the front-page headline: "Landrieu, Nagin look to runoff."

The headline, which topped a story about New Orleans' recent mayoral election, hit home with me a year ago. I never imagined seeing that three-line, two-column headline on the front page of Mississippi's largest newspaper. A year ago, the paper would have placed the story on an inside page and topped with a header in a 45-point font.

According to the article, 20,000 of New Orleans' 297,000 registered voters cast ballots early by mail, fax or at satellite voting stations across the state. Others traveled by bus or car from cities such as Houston, Dallas and Atlanta to vote in the election.

These people who, before Hurricane Katrina, lived in New Orleans-people who still consider themselves residents of New Orleans even if they live for now in Jackson, Houston, Atlanta or elsewhere-voted in the mayoral election. These voters needed to be informed on the candidates before Saturday's election and need to continue receiving information about candidates as next month's run-off election looms.

>more

http://www.reflector-online.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/04/28/44517c8898df7

[flyingobject]

24. Choo choo

[FogerRox]

25. Looks like a train wreck, choo choo.