MSNBC: Elections chief urges citizens to demand vote accountability

[MelissaB]

Elections chief urges citizens to demand vote accountability

News-Journal Online.com
DAYTONA BEACH -- A maverick elections official made clear Saturday that two things remain constant: the state's flawed voting system and his passion for trying to fix it.

Eyes glinting, hands gesturing boldly, Ion Sancho, Leon County's elections supervisor, accused the state's political leaders of undermining democracy.

First, they forced counties to adopt electronic voting machines that can be tampered with, then, last year, they made it illegal to use paper ballots to recount close races, Sancho told 100 people gathered at Daytona Beach Community College.

"We need more audits. We need recounts," Sancho said. "Trust no one. If it can't be verified, it can't be used."


More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12895134/

[IndyOp]

1. YES! Two BIG scores this weekend - Newsweek & MSNBC !

More about Ion Sancho - including news video:

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1143671&mesg_id=1143832>

:applause:

[acmejack]

2. We need to get him honored and elevated to National Notoriety!

LTTE time? How can we do this? Submit his name to all these citizen award panels? Ideas, folks?

[neoblues]

12. In Complete Agreement

I agree! Local American Heroes like Ion Sancho, Leon County, Florida Elections Supervisor need to be supported--and in a big way. Anti-Vote Fraud organizations should be uniting together as well.

I wonder if one of those organizations couldn't tap him for leadership in more than just his county--though he probably is affecting some part of the rest of his state and beyond (limited only by the amount of coverage he gets).

[eomer]

3. Excellent article! K & R (eom)

[roseBudd]

4. click through and rate it a 5!

it only has 3 votes

[DemReadingDU]

11. I rated it 5!

thanks for the reminder!

[bleever]

14. Done!

:hi:

[Time for change]

21. Done - Rating is 4.5 now

[Patsy Stone]

5. Oh, Ion!

K&R!

[Coexist]

6. What - no floaty hearts from the KOEB?

Here's some for Ion from me!

:loveya:

He deserves them!!

[Patsy Stone]

10. My very bad! You're so right.

:loveya::loveya::loveya::loveya::loveya::loveya:

[SmileMaker]

7. My comments to MSNBC

All of the time that MSNBC spends on covering elections as far into the future as 2008 is useless unless we can audit votes.

It's wierd that the issue of auditability is not covered at all - also wierd when I hear that "Bush won, get over it" from pundits. There is more evidence that Bush did not win either election fairly than there is that he did. His poll numbers, and complete failure to lead, put his status as elected leader in further doubt.

If you want to remain credible with sentient Americans, please spend more time covering this important issue.

[Stevepol]

8. K&R!! Wow! Maybe the MSM will catch fire before November.

[seafan]

9. Mentions Clint Curtis' software vote diversion request from *lawmakers* !

Holy moley, did y'all see this in the article? This is a direct reference to Republican Rep. Tom Feeney's request to Curtis, to design a vote switching software!

This is very important that it is finally hitting the mainstream. Curtis gave sworn testimony at John Conyers' hearing in the Capitol basement after the 2004 *election* about this, and the whole thing was buried by MSM.

By catering to companies such as Diebold, the state has privatized the voting system, Sancho said.

"There is no government oversight of elections. Private vendors are not accountable to the citizenry."

Equally troubling is a state law passed in 2005 that makes it unlawful to use paper ballots in official recounts, Sancho said. Electronic votes must stand on their own.

"I could go to jail if I examine the paper ballot," he said.

Clint Curtis, a computer programmer, said lawmakers asked him to develop software that could divert a vote from the item a person chose to another on the page. The idea was to boost voting security, Curtis said, although now he's not so sure.

He designed the program so the erroneous vote would show up everywhere in the electronic system. An independent paper trail is the only way to beat it, Curtis said.

This is tremendous.


And it's big as life in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

[seafan]

13. Kick. n/t

[ArmchairMeme]

15. K & R

[BrklynLiberal]

16. Another kick for more attention.

[happydreams]

17. I'd like to see the numbers of errors that went to the Repugs

Wonder if Sancho has records of this?

[Miss Chybil]

18. "Eyes glinting, hands gesturing boldy..."

Sounds like they're trying to say he's either passionate, or mad, (as in crazy.) Wonder which one it is.

[catrose]

19. Kick, and kick again n/t

[Digit]

20. K&R

[Patiod]

22. Hilary Clinton's family owns a voting machine company

Not true, but let's put that story out there and see how fast Republicans all of a sudden discover a passion for accountability

[paparush]

23. TRUST NO ONE!!!

Woo Hoo!! The truth is out there.