Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Thursday 11/02/06

[EFerrari]

Thursday, 11/02/06

Solidarity with the people of Oaxaca, their stolen election and their struggle today as federal forces surround the University

Mexican PFP Assaulting University of Oaxaca, Radio APPO, Right Now: Minute By Minute Update

11/02 | Major assault underway on autonomous university; radio reports helicopters landing inside campus. By in Oaxaca

The Federal Police have entered the university campus, violating university autonomy. They are using tear gas on the students on the university campus. They have detained the staff of Radio Universidad who reporting the events.


9:35 Otros 200 policías de la PFP se suman al operativo contra ciudad Universitaria de Oaxaca. Hay colonos solidarizándose, saliendo desde las colonias aledañas. Se está escuchando la campana de cinco señores, alguien logró que saliera de su enmudecimiento. La gente grita consignas y está pacificamente.

9:35am- Another 200 police from the PRP have joined the operative against the University of Oaxaca. There are towns people coming from far away communities coming to the aid of the others at the university clashing with police. The church-bells of the “Five Lords” are ringing- someone has it to start ringing to alarm. Chants and being yelled and are being passive.

9:56 El rector de la Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez declara al aire."la universidad no merece un allamiento de esta naturaleza, es una universidad pobre, marginada por el gobierno federal, es una universidad de donde han salido grandes hombres, grandes científicos, personas valerosas." "Retírense de ahí, por que están atentando contra la historia."

9:56am The director of the Autonomous Univeristy Benito Juarez (U of Oaxaca) declares” the University does not deserve this type of raid, it is a poor university, marginalized by the federal government- it is a university that has graduted great people (men), great scientist, valorous people- Leave this place (to the police), you are attacking history”

More: http://publish.nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/11/78609.html


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[EFerrari]

1. National: Close races to magnify problems at the polls

Close races to magnify problems at the polls
BY AUDREY DUTTON
Newsday Washington Bureau

November 2, 2006

WASHINGTON - Several close races that could determine which party controls the House face another challenger on Election Day next Tuesday: trouble at the polls.

In at least six toss-up congressional races in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, experts anticipate confusion at the polls, faulty recounts or post-election lawsuits.

With the number of close races at more than three dozen, and the Democrats' need of just 15 victories to take over the House, even the usual voting glitches will be magnified.

"Problems are most likely to appear in places where the races are very close, very contested, and you have a number of changes in the voting laws and the voting machines," said Tova Andrea Wang of The Century Foundation, a think tank.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usvote024956498nov02,0,5230403.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-print

[EFerrari]

2. National: Many eyes will watch the polls

Many eyes will watch the polls

By Richard Wolf and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Thousands of lawyers, election monitors and volunteers with video cameras will be mobilized on Election Day in an effort to guard against problems at the polls.

The Justice Department will dispatch more than 800 observers, a record for a non-presidential election year, to look for evidence of discrimination, intimidation and other obstacles to voter accessibility in at least 20 states.

The Democratic Party has a 50-state voter-protection effort and an estimated 7,000 lawyers at the ready. Liberal groups have set up hotlines for voters to call if they are denied the right to vote. And hundreds of people plan to film interviews at polling places where voters are being challenged that day.

Fueling the activity this year: dozens of close elections that could decide control of Congress and the potential for problems caused by electronic voting machines, statewide databases and identification requirements.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/2006-10-31-voting_x.htm

[EFerrari]

3. Diebold: HBO election movie inaccurate

Diebold: HBO election movie inaccurate

NOV. 1 6:02 P.M. ET An Ohio-based company that makes voting machines says a documentary that explores problems with electronic voting is inaccurate and unfair.

Diebold Inc. sent a letter to HBO Chief Executive Chris Albrecht expressing concern about "Hacking Democracy," an 81-minute film debuting Thursday night that claims the company's voting machines can be tampered with and can manipulate election results.

Diebold Elections Systems President David Byrd wrote that the documentary incorrectly says that the North Canton-based company's machines counted more than 40 percent of the votes cast in the close 2000 presidential election and that the machines wrongly subtracted or added votes.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8L4IF9O1.htm

:rofl:

[EFerrari]

4. With Sequoia, voter fraud easy as pushing a button, critics say

With Sequoia, voter fraud easy as pushing a button, critics say
By Ian Hoffman
MEDIANEWS STAFF

Days before the election, state officials have learned that California's most widely used electronic voting machines feature a button in back that can allow someone to vote multiple times.

Several computer scientists said Wednesday that the vulnerability found in all touch-screen machines sold by Oakland-based Sequoia Voting Systems was not especially great because using the yellow button for vote fraud would require reaching far behind the voting machine twice and triggering two beeps.

"If the machine beeps loudly and someone has their arms wrapped around the machine, the poll workers are going to become suspicious," said David Wagner, a computer security and voting system expert at UC Berkeley.

"It's kind of hard for me to see how this could be used very widely," he said. "It's retail fraud, so it's onesies and twosies and can only affect very close races."

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/15909284.htm


PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT BUTTON BEHIND THE MACHINE!

:hide:

[rumpel]

16. BradBlog: McPherson denies knowledge

California's Secretary of State Bruce McPherson Denies Knowledge of Vulnerability Well After His Office Had Been Notified…

snip

"It's not the voters we're worried about doing this," Courbat said. "It's the Precinct Captains and Elections Officials across thousands of precincts across the country. This isn't unique to Riverside or Tehama. Tens of thousands of votes can be stolen across the country," he added.

Courbat was furious at Sec. of State McPherson who has been touting his record on security issues for voting systems on the campaign trail. A record, we might add, that seems to have little in common with McPherson's frequent public claims. He has certified system after system in the Golden State despite scores of vulnerabilities, inaccuracies, failures and malfunctions found in each of them.

McPherson is currently in a tight race with his Democratic challenger, State Sen. Debra Bowen who has been a long time champion of Election Integrity and security issues as well as transparency for such systems and in government as a whole. She has also been critical of McPherson's lax security standards, such as allowing hackable Diebold voting systems to be sent home with poll workers on "sleepovers" for days and weeks prior to elections despite serious vulnerabilities, more than 16, found by McPherson's own team of computer scientist advisors at UC Berkley.

"If McPherson says he didn't know about this on Tuesday during that interview, after his office had been notified long ago, then he's lying," Courbat charged. "McPherson had to know by Monday. He either knew about it or his staff never told him, in which case they need to be fired on the spot."

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3714








Great OP sfexpat2000 -:hi:

[EFerrari]

5. AZ: Judge orders count of people with no ID who leave without voting

Associated Press
Nov. 1, 2006 04:07 PM

A federal judge on Wednesday refused to let critics of Arizona's voter identification law station observers inside polling stations but ordered election officials to count how many people without ID walk away without voting.

U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver said the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona and other challengers to the 2004 law have a legitimate interest in learning how many people are affected by the requirement that people casting ballots at polling places produce specified types of identification.

The judge ordered election officials to count instances where people who do not have required identification leave a polling place without casting a conditional provisional ballot.
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Silver said she denied the challengers' request to be allowed to station their own observers in polling places because state law permits only certain people in polling places in order to prevent interference, intimidation and harassment.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1101az-voterID01-ON.html

[EFerrari]

6. AZ: Ariz. voting under scrutiny

Ariz. voting under scrutiny: Film director, lawyers among many watching for errors, complaints

Chris Ramirez
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 1, 2006 12:00 AM

Lawyers, civil rights groups, even a documentary film director, are lining up to send observers to Arizona voting precincts for Tuesday's election.

They want to discover and document errors in Arizona's polling places, including those related to the state's new voter-identification law

A national voter advocacy group, Videothevote.org, will send volunteers to Arizona to check out complaints and videotape voting irregularities. Arizona is one of seven states the group will monitor. The states, which include Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey and Maryland, were chosen because they are expected to experience the most voting problems.
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Additionally, a group of lawyers and volunteers from within Arizona plans to document complaints in places such as Maricopa and Pima counties and on Indian reservations. The lawyers are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Proposition 200 voter-identification provisions. They hope to bolster a court challenge to the requirement that Arizonans must present identification in order to vote. About 75 volunteers have been trained so far, said Linda Brown, executive director of the Arizona Advocacy Network. A goal is to talk to voters who get turned away from the polls.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1101poll-monitors1101a.html

[EFerrari]

7. CA: Secretary of state praises Butte voting machines

Secretary of state praises Butte voting machines
By LARRY MITCHELL - Staff Writer

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson appeared in Chico on Wednesday, dropping in at a center that serves people with disabilities.

McPherson and Butte County Clerk-Recorder Candace Grubbs talked about how the county's touch-screen voting system allows disabled voters to cast their ballots privately and independently.

Grubbs said McPherson has been visiting centers that serve the disabled around the state to demonstrate how the voting machines work.

"I think this is the most critical factor of the Help America Vote Act," McPherson told about 25 people who had gathered at the East Avenue office of Independent Living Services of Northern California.

http://www.chicoer.com/newshome/ci_4589657

[EFerrari]

8. CO: (Eagle) County ballots will be in English, not Spanish

County ballots will be in English, not Spanish

By John Colson
November 2, 2006

Spanish-speaking voters in the Roaring Fork Valley will have to vote on English-language ballots, although photocopied translations will be available on request to voters in Eagle County.

The clerks of Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties are not legally required to provide Spanish-language ballots to voters, according to the Colorado secretary of state. That's because the Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires the printing of ballots in translation only in those counties where 5 percent or more of the population speaks a foreign language.

According to Kathryn Mikeworth, of the secretary of state's office, only eight counties in Colorado meet that requirement - Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Crowley, Denver, Otero, Rio Grande and Saguache. In addition, Mikeworth said, two counties must produce ballots in Native American tongues: Both La Plata and Montezuma counties provide ballots in both the Navajo and Ute languages.

Dana Williams, public information officer for the secretary of state's office, said it is up to the individual counties to determine whether there is sufficient need for them to provide Spanish translations of the ballots or other information concerning election procedures.

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20061102/NEWS/111020040

[EFerrari]

9. FL: (In 5 counties) Voting runs into untimely glitch

Voting runs into untimely glitch
Clocks on machines flip back 1 hour when touch-screens turn off

Denise-Marie Balona and Rebecca Mahoney | Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted November 2, 2006

A new glitch with a version of the already-controversial touch-screen voting machines has turned a simple computer function into a major headache for election officials in at least five Florida counties days before Tuesday's general election.

Election supervisors in Volusia, Polk, Putnam, Leon and Glades counties just found out the clocks in the Diebold Model D machines apparently are malfunctioning this week. That's a problem because the clocks serve a critical function, recording when polls open and close during early voting -- which continues this week -- and on Election Day.

Election employees in Polk County, which started using the machines countywide in September, discovered the problem Monday morning, when they checked to see if their clocks fell back an hour to coincide with the end of daylight-saving time.

Election supervisors said some clocks they have been able to check are turning back an hour every time the touch-screens are turned off and on, which is at least once a day during early voting.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-vvoting0206nov02,0,6921202.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

[EFerrari]

10. IL: Early voters finding new machines aren't without faults (vote flipping)

Early voters finding new machines aren't without faults

November 2, 2006
BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter
Corrine Stoker pushed the button for one candidate, but her voting machine showed she voted for the opponent.

She said it happened two more times as she voted early Monday at the Skokie courthouse, shaking her confidence in a voting system that has been under fire since a problem-plagued March primary. "I don't know what caused it to misvote, but I know I didn't press the button," said Stoker, of Wilmette. "I caught it, but I would urge people to be very careful."

'There are going to be glitches'
That's good advice for any voter, election officials said Wednesday, as they unveiled new voting machines to be used in Tuesday's election.

Problems like Stoker's are "extremely rare," officials said, but can happen with electronic machines.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/121097,CST-NWS-vote02.article

[EFerrari]

11. IN: Parke County officials confident election will go smoothly

Parke County officials confident election will go smoothly
By Sue Loughlin
The Tribune-Star

Rockville — More voting machines, more training for election personnel and other measures should make for a smooth general election, Parke County Clerk Sue Woody said Tuesday.

Problems in the May primary resulted in controversy and a legal petition seeking a special election in the Republican sheriff’s race.

In the primary, use of a new, touch-screen voting system, fewer polling places and long lines plagued the election process. Some people had to wait two hours to vote, and others didn’t have an opportunity to vote at all.

There was a weeklong delay in the release of “final” election results, which later had to be re-certified because some votes weren’t counted.



http://www.tribstar.com/local/local_story_304233954.html

[EFerrari]

12. MD: Maryland balloting beset with doubts, vulnerability

Maryland balloting beset with doubts, vulnerability

By Jon Ward
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 2, 2006

Maryland is on track to repeat the chaos of the 2000 election in Florida.

Even without "butterfly" ballots and hanging chads, Maryland faces several elections-related problems that threaten the accuracy and promptness of Tuesday's results.

Uncertainty looms about the state's electronic voter rolls, the number and training of poll workers, and anticipated challenges in the aftermath of Election Day.

"I am very concerned," said U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Democrat. "I don't want anything to undermine this democracy."

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20061101-115939-5848r.htm

[EFerrari]

13. MD: U.S. Attorney's Office: We're ready to investigate election fraud

U.S. Attorney's Office: We're ready to investigate election fraud
Baltimore Business Journal - 3:17 PM EST Wednesday
by Robert J. Terry
Staff

In a preemptive move that underscores the highly partisan and tightly contested races for public office that will be decided next week, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's office said Wednesday that federal prosecutors and FBI agents are prepared to review and investigate allegations of election fraud.

A federal task force has been formed to look into any allegations of ballot forgery or theft, voter intimidation, campaign finance violations and corruption, among other federal election crimes, Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement.

The task force has consulted with Maryland Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran and Special Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh on how it will handle fraud or voting rights violations, and will have a team of federal prosecutors and FBI agents at the ready while polls are open Nov. 7.

"Our goal is to prevent election fraud and preserve public confidence in the integrity of the democratic process," Rosenstein said in a statement. "Fair elections are the foundation of American government. Because elections involve high stakes and strong emotions, allegations of wrongdoing frequently arise. We will review all allegations in a nonpartisan manner and pursue any evidence that warrants criminal prosecution."

http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2006/10/30/daily27.html?surround=lfn

[Algorem]

14. Cuyahoga County Ohio Possibly Exposed Election System to Virus

Cuyahoga County Ohio Possibly Exposed Election System to Computer Virus

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_44962.shtml

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3715

By: Election Science Institute
Published: Nov 2, 2006 at 08:04

The memory cards that will be used to store votes on Election Day in Cuyahoga County, Ohio were stuck into ordinary laptop computers in September, possibly exposing the county's election system to a virus infection. This serious security lapse was caught on video through the efforts of Cleveland resident Adele Eisner and Cleveland-area filmmaker Jeffrey Kirkby, who has graciously made his raw footage available on the Internet for personal viewing here.

Just one month ago a Princeton evoting study (available at http://itpolicy.princeton.edu/voting) showed that the memory cards used in Diebold touchscreen voting systems could carry computer viruses that would infect voting machines and steal votes on the infected machines.

"Diebold has repeatedly stated that this type of security breach is virtually impossible due to security practices employed by the vendor and election officials," said Edward Felten, Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs at Princeton University. "Anyone who watches the video can now see for themselves that a virus could penetrate the election system via tasks performed by election staff."

The new video shows a group of election workers sitting at tables, each with a laptop computer. An official explains that these laptops were gathered from around the office, and some are the personal laptops of election workers. Each worker has a laptop and a stack of memory cards, and is inserting the memory cards one by one into the laptop. Cuyahoga County officials claim that every one of the county's memory cards gets this treatment, in order to archive vote records from the May 2006 primary election onto CD-ROMs.

Ordinary laptops are of course vulnerable to computer viruses and other malicious software. Given the number of ordinary laptops in the room, it is reasonably likely that at least one is infected with spyware, a virus, or other malware. This puts at risk the memory cards, and the votes they will record from next week's election.

Given the vulnerability of touch screen voting systems, election procedures must be stringent and consistently followed. Safe procedures call for memory cards to be inserted only into computers that are carefully secured and never connected to the Internet. Using ordinary laptop computers, borrowed from offices and homes, to process memory cards is dangerous. The video shows that this practice is not the isolated act of a few election workers, but an official plan put in place by election officials.

"Not only does this video demonstrate how potential security threats can be realized, this is yet another illustration of how election officials are forced to develop their own processes and procedures in order to operate their new election systems," said Steven Hertzberg, Project Director at Election Science Institute. "Often we find that critical procedures and essential tools were not developed or deployed with this new election system, leaving election officials to fend for themselves. Diebold should have provided an archiving system as part of their delivery to jurisdictions, before this system went live nationally."

Voting machine vendors and election officials often argue that rigorous procedures can compensate for the technical weaknesses of voting machines. Some jurisdictions implement such procedures well, but many do not. Talking about procedural controls is easy. Putting them into practice is much harder.

"I first raised concerns to the Cuyahoga County Board of Election in mid-Summer, after Secretary of State Blackwell released an advisory about transferring electronic election data to CD ROM. After I witnessed the transfer, I raised concerns a potential security breach to Cuyahoga Board of Elections Chairman Bennett and the rest of the board on October 2nd," said Adele Eisner. "Unfortunately, the board simply defended its dangerous practice."

[EFerrari]

15. MD: Md. Democrats Say GOP Plans to Block Voters

By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 2, 2006; Page B06

A recently distributed guide for Republican poll watchers in Maryland spells out how to aggressively challenge the credentials of voters and urges these volunteers to tell election judges they could face jail time if a challenge is ignored.

Democrats said yesterday they consider the handbook, obtained by The Washington Post, evidence of a Republican effort to block people from voting Tuesday.

The tenor of the material is that they are asking folks, if not directing them, to challenge voters," said Bruce L. Marcus, an attorney for the state Democratic Party. "It's really tantamount to a suppression effort."

Advocacy groups including the National Campaign for Fair Elections, Common Cause and the NAACP, as well as a George Washington University professor who is an expert on voter suppression, agreed with that assessment.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/01/AR2006110103202.html

[EFerrari]

17. NM: Domenici criticizes decision not to use election auditor

Domenici criticizes decision not to use election auditor


By Steve Terrell | The New Mexican
November 2, 2006
U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici on Wednesday criticized the secretary of state's decision not to hire an auditor to canvass this year's statewide election results.

"All New Mexicans, whether Democrats, Republicans, members of the Green Party, Independents, every last voter in New Mexico must have confidence that their votes are going to count," Domenici, R-N.M., said in a news release. "I would respectfully request that the secretary of state immediately commit to an open and transparent state canvass with the media and interested parties in attendance."

Last month, the Secretary of State's Office secured $200,000 from the state Board of Finance to hire an independent auditor.

However, earlier this week, the office announced that the only two bidders to submit proposals were rejected. Ray Baray, a spokesman for Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, said the two proposals didn't score high enough on the criteria set forth on the request for proposal.

Vigil-Giron, a Democrat, declined to respond Wednesday to the senator's comments.

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/51496.html

[EFerrari]

18. NY: Board of Elections delays voting-machine decision

Board of Elections delays voting-machine decision
By Dan Wiessner
Gannett News Service

ALBANY — The state Board of Elections Wednesday once again pushed back the deadline for the certification of new voting machines — but didn't decide how far.

Wednesday's decision may upset the state's plan, set forth earlier this year in an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, to have new voting machines ready for the 2007 primary elections next September. New York stands to lose almost $50 million of the $190 million the federal government granted to the state to test and purchase new machines.

“By postponing the deadline for certification, potential vulnerabilities can be examined and evaluated,” said Aimee Allaud, a voting expert with the League of Women Voters.

The state must first certify machines before county election boards can choose which ones to buy. The plan is to scrap the current lever machines and replace them with either optical-scan devices or touch-screen machines.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061102/NEWS01/611020395

[EFerrari]

19. OH: Absentees drive cost hike

Absentees drive cost hike
By: David W. Jones

[e-mail]
11/01/2006

Area county officials are predicting costliest election in Ohio history

As absentee voters continue to cast ballots in record numbers, Northeast Ohio county officials say it probably will be the costliest election in state history.

Elections boards, county commissioners and budget directors say such early voting probably will make this election cost more than the 2004 presidential election, the most expensive election in Ohio to date.

"It's a two-page ballot. Each page costs 32 cents to print. It costs 87 cents to mail it. We're talking $1.51 per voter request by mail," said Janet F. Clair, the Lake County Elections Board director.

"I have also already issued almost as many absentee ballots as I had in the last presidential election. The more this county is driven to paper voting and optical scan, the more it is going to drive up costs of conducting elections."

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17404633&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

[EFerrari]

20. OH: High-Tech Voting Raises Election Anxiety

Hundreds Of Counties Re-Training Poll Workers To Run Electronic Machines
NORTH CANTON, Ohio, Nov. 1, 2006

(CBS) Like hundreds of counties, Lehigh, Pa. is re-training its poll workers to run electronic, touch-screen voting machines, CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.

Sal Cordaro is a veteran election judge suffering a bit of election anxiety. He's nervous because Pennsylvania, like 14 other states, does not offer voters a way to see their votes on paper before machines count them.

"What concerns me is after the person voted, I have no way of verifying what that voter did," Cordaro explains.

With 1.4 million poll workers now averaging 70 years of age, man — not machine — could hold the key November 7.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/01/cbsnews_investigates/main2143697.shtml

[EFerrari]

21. OH: Ohio suspends voter ID law for absentees

Ohio suspends voter ID law for absentees

Wed Nov 1, 11:58 PM ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Lawyers for the state and groups that opposed Ohio's voter identification rules claimed victory Wednesday in a settlement that suspends the law for absentee voters and clarifies and expands it for voting in person.

The agreement clears up confusion in key areas and allows more citizens to vote, said Subodh Chandra, one of the lawyers who filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law.

The plaintiffs, including the Service Employees International Union and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, had argued that county elections boards were disenfranchising voters by inconsistently applying the law.

"We have never contended that a system of voter ID is unconstitutional, but what we have said is, if there is a constitutional system, this isn't it," Chandra said. "This was a train wreck and we have diverted the train from derailment."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061102/ap_on_re_us/ohio_election_lawsuit

[EFerrari]

22. PA: Mistakes affect absentee ballots

Mistakes affect absentee ballots

David Pierce
Pocono Record Writer
November 02, 2006
STROUDSBURG — Two errors involving absentee ballots — one caused by the Pocono Record — were among issues taken up Wednesday by the Monroe County Elections Board.

Voter Registration Chief Sara May-Silfee said the paper absentee ballots — used by registered voters who won't be available to vote at election precincts during next Tuesday's general election — came back from the printer without providing a space to record write-in votes for governor or lieutenant governor.

She said absentee voters who want to vote for a gubernatorial candidate not listed on the ballot should write in the name close to where that race is posted.

(snip)

A story in Wednesday's Pocono Record about the new electronic voting machines incorrectly stated that voters had until the end of the day "today" to file an application for an absentee ballot.

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061102/NEWS/611020341

[EFerrari]

23. PA: Voting machines, key races cast election spotlight on Pa.

Voting machines, key races cast election spotlight on Pa.

Thursday, November 02, 2006
By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

WASHINGTON -- Republicans and Democrats plan to deploy a legion of poll watchers and lawyers Tuesday as voters take new electronic machines through their first hotly contested general election, with Democrats hoping to defeat several vulnerable Pennsylvania Republicans.

All but four of the state's 67 counties are using new machines this year because of a law enacted by Congress in the wake of Florida's 2000 election debacle. Nationwide, one-third of all voters will use new voting equipment for the first time in a general election.

The nonpartisan group electionline.org has placed Pennsylvania among 10 states on a "watch" list for Tuesday because of its potential for voting problems.

"We're not saying, 'Look at Pennsylvania -- it's the next Florida,'" said Dan Seligson, editor of the Web site, which tracks election reform efforts. But along with new machines, "Pennsylvania has several high-stakes races that are going to be close. Put those ingredients together and there's a reason to watch."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06306/734962-178.stm

[EFerrari]

24. SD: S.D. voting machines not linked to probe

S.D. voting machines not linked to probe
By Carson Walker, Associated Press Writer

SIOUX FALLS — South Dakota’s new electronic voting machines were not made by a company being investigated for possible ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Secretary of State Chris Nelson said.

Sequoia Voting Systems of Oakland, Calif., said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States was conducting a formal inquiry into it and its parent company.

The inquiry was focusing on last year’s acquisition of Sequoia by Boca Raton, Fla.-based Smartmatic, which is owned by three Venezuelans, and whether Chavez’s leftist government has any influence over their operations.

Sequoia denies any connection to Chavez and said it wants the inquiry to dispel the rumors.

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/11/02/news/state/state03.txt

Whew! That was CLOSE!

:)

[robinlynne]

31. good one. didn't think anyone could make me laugh today, but you did.

[EFerrari]

25. TX: Federal court orders Abbott to stop enforcing an election law

Nov. 1, 2006, 2:22PM


Federal court orders Abbott to stop enforcing an election law

By POLLY ROSS HUGHES
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN — A federal court has ordered Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott to stop enforcing a change in Texas election law that Democrats say has led to intimidation of minorities, seniors and disabled voters.

The provision, the object of a federal voting rights lawsuit against Abbott and Secretary of State Roger Williams, makes it a crime to mail or possess another person's sealed ballot.

Democrats complain that Abbott's agents have even peeped into a woman's bathroom window while investigating mail-in ballots.

"This injunction will stop Abbott's aggressive prosecution of well-meaning citizens, who are simply helping their neighbors vote, and allow seniors and disabled individuals to cast their vote in the upcoming election without fear of being arrested," Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie said today.

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4302959.html

[EFerrari]

26. UT: Early Voting Brings Some Long Lines, Complaints

Nov 2, 2006 7:37 am US/Mountain
Early Voting Brings Some Long Lines, Complaints

SALT LAKE CITY Salt Lake County says it doesn't have enough of the new touch screen voting machines and expects long lines for Tuesday's general election.

Elections Director Julio Garcia says the number of touch screens assigned Salt Lake County by the lieutenant governor's office isn't enough.

He says that will make for long lines on Election Day, despite early voting.

Utah bought more than 74-hundred touch screen voting machines. Each county was allotted one machine for every 174 "active voters" from the last two general elections. The allotment was also adjusted for population changes.

State elections officials say Salt Lake County got the same allotment as all other counties - and no other counties are complaining.

http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_306093854.html

[EFerrari]

27. VA: Electoral Board questioned about minutes, machine test

Electoral Board questioned about minutes, machine test

JIM TALBERT
Richlands News-Press/Clinch Valley News
Wednesday, November 1, 2006

TAZEWELL - With the election just days away the chairman of the Tazewell County Republican Party is claiming she was not properly notified of the testing of the voting machine being used for absentee balloting.

Pat Martin said Oct. 24 that she did not receive a letter informing her of the date and time the machine was being tested until the day of the testing. State law specifies that the chairman of the two parties be notified in writing of the date and time the equipment is being tested and sealed.

The code states this shall be done and that the parties each may have one representative present when the equipment is tested. Voter Registrar Deborah Barrett said the machine was set and sealed Sept. 25. Barrett said she mailed a letter to Martin, who resides on Fincastle Turnpike on Friday, Sept. 22 prior to the testing.

Martin, whose husband Bryan Martin is chairman of the county Electoral Board, said they were out of town over the weekend of Sept. 22-24 and did not check their mail until Sept. 25. Martin said both she and her husband had obligations that day and could not attend the setting.

http://www.richlands-news-press.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RNP/MGArticle/RNP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191453476&path=!frontpage

[EFerrari]

28. Bradblog: HERE WE GO AGAIN: 'Just Push the Yellow Button

HERE WE GO AGAIN: 'Just Push the Yellow Button and Vote as Many Times as You Want' on Sequoia Touch-Screen Voting Machines!

New Vulnerability Discovered on Touch-Screen Systems Made by One of Country's Largest Voting Machine Companies Will Affect Elections in Dozens of States!
California's Secretary of State Bruce McPherson Denies Knowledge of Vulnerability Well After His Office Had Been Notified…

"Just push the yellow button and you can vote as many times as you want," Tom Courbat, an Election Integrity advocate from Riverside County, California informed The BRAD BLOG tonight. Not that we're in any mood to report more such stories, but this seems to be a big one. A very big one.

It seems there's a little yellow button on the back of every touch-screen computer made by Sequoia Voting Systems, that allows any voter, or poll worker, or precinct inspector to set the system into "Manual Mode" allowing them to cast as many votes as they want.

Concerns about the flaw were first reported some thirty days ago to California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson's office by Ron Watt, a Tehama County, CA precinct inspector who has been a poll worker in the county for the last fifteen years. And yet, as recently as a radio interview last Tuesday, McPherson — who has been crowing about having the country's most stringent security process for voting systems — denied he was aware of any security issues with Sequoia systems.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3714

[EFerrari]

29. Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2548010

[kimpossible]

30. Rec #5, and a kick!

[lala_rawraw]

32. fyi

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/HBOs_October_Surprise_in_November_1102.html

[Algorem]

33. PBS NewsHour - Electronic Voting Raises Fears of Glitches, Fraud

PBS NewsHour - Electronic Voting Raises Fears of Glitches, Fraud

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec06/electronic_11-02.html

After the problems of the 2000 presidential elections, electronic voting machines were designed to make casting and counting ballots easier and more accurate. But recent problems encountered in several states using the new machines have raised concerns about their reliability and susceptibility to fraud.

KWAME HOLMAN: In a new major studio movie, Robin Williams plays a marginal presidential candidate who, shockingly, wins, aided by a computer glitch in electronic voting machines.

CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, Actor: Whoops.

LAURA LINNEY, Actress: You're going to be president of the United States...