"Tiered Election Audits", Election Reform & Related News, 1/26/07

[rumpel]

RELEASE:

Tiered Election Audits: An Improved Approach to Accurate Election Results

A recent report released by the National Election Data Archive entitled "Tiered Election Audits" suggests a tiered tabulation system for audits may be the solution to making sure votes counted more closely match the votes cast.

A bill sponsored by Rush Holt (D-NJ) dealing with election reform is possibly being released on the House floor this week. In light of the increase in contested elections since 2000; the 18,000 missing votes in Sarasota FL in 2006 <1>; the introduction of new voting technology that many reputable scientists insist is flawed <2>; the fact that the testing lab that certified a majority of US voting machines was recently decertified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission <3>, and that two election officials in Ohio were convicted on January 24, 2006 of rigging the 2004 presidential recount <4>, concerned citizens are questioning the integrity of our voting systems.

According to Kathy Dopp, President of National Election Data Archive (NEDA), citizen oversight of manual election audits are needed to make sure that votes are counted accurately. * Dopp says that "If the goal of elections is to ensure the will of the voters, then election audits should be designed to ensure that voters determine who represents them. However, the US Congress may be planning to require election audits that are designed instead to ensure that a certain percentage of votes are accurately counted. For instance, if Congress requires audits to ensure that 95% of votes are accurately counted, this would allow 5% of votes to be switched wrongly from one candidate to another, leaving any race with less than 10% margins between candidates wide open to vote fraud."

How many ballots have to be hand counted to detect vote counting errors that are big enough to change the outcome of an election? When the margin between candidates is smaller in close elections, a smaller amount of vote miscount can wrongly alter the outcome. Central to the concerns regarding accurate vote counts is whether or not manual counts of a flat 2% of vote counts are sufficient to ensure the integrity of election outcomes or whether higher audit rates are needed when races are close.

According to Dopp, it is not enough to specify election audit percentages. A minimum number of vote counts must be audited because some election races involve fewer total number of vote counts. For example, if one-in-20 vote counts were corrupt, then at least 20 vote counts must be sampled to detect at least one of the corrupt counts. Although a 10% audit of 500 vote counts would sample 50 counts and be sufficient, a 10% audit of 20 vote counts would sample only 2 counts and have little chance of detecting the corrupt vote count.

On January 26th, the National Election Data Archive (NEDA) released a new paper, "Tiered Election Audits" that provides a table to look up the margin between the leading candidates and find a percentage and a minimum audit amount needed to ensure that election outcomes are accurate.

document in it's entirety is here:
http://electionarchive.org/ucvInfo/release/Release-TieredElectionAudits.pdf
(emphasis, mine)

* On citizen oversight and comments by Land Shark here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=465777&mesg_id=465777

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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

If you can:

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

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

3. If you have information from an election reform activist organization outside of DU feel free to post (local or national)

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


If you want to know how to post "News Banners" or other images, go here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/faq.html#image

[Stevepol]

1. DU-ers need to flood Rush Holt with mail urging these ideas, not the too simple 2% minimum.

An audit is the only way to insure a fair vote count, and when the differences are small, the audit needs to be much more robust to detect discrepancies than if the differences are large.

This is an absolutely essential issue to get out there.

Extremely important!!

I sent Rush Holt an email about this a couple days ago. His email address is easy to google.

[rumpel]

2. Totally agree.

thanks :)

[BeFree]

18. Me three

A tiered audit schedule is what is needed. Kudos to Kathy for having the foresight and vision to process this. I wish she posted on DU, we sure could use her in our good faith struggle to recover free and fair elections.

Can anyone invite her to DU?

[rumpel]

20. I think

at some point she was.. ?

I can e-mail her, but maybe she is quite busy, I do not think she has a big budget and is understaffed. She may be able to at least post any news into the forum....

[BeFree]

22. Was she tombstoned?

That's awful if she was, we should could use her here. Like Bill Bored OP'ed a while back this place is dead city.

[rumpel]

23. i have no clue

I don't think she was tombstoned -

I know - everyone is totally after discussing investigations etc. which is fine in a way - it will pick up
maybe we have to cross-post often to keep on the subject.

:)

[BeFree]

26. Ain't it great?

That we have a forum like this? Really, its too bad we don't have a hundred posts a day here, then I'd rest assured that people were tuned in and turned on to saving their votes.

Well at least before the last election we did have all of DU talking about the situation.

It's also great to see that we have near 100% uninamity when the forum agrees that HCPB is the way to be counted.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rumpel]

3. SD: Bill Would Extend Period For Voter Registration

01/26/2007

South Dakotans who want to vote must be registered within 15 days of elections, or they're out of luck.

Some state lawmakers think that deadline should be changed so people have a little more slack. They've offered legislation that says people can vote if they have registered at least seven days ahead of an election.

Another bill would require signs that clearly identify polling places. It says those signs must be conspicuously displayed at the entrance to all buildings where people vote.

this is the entire report
http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6375.cfm?Id=0,54182

[rumpel]

4. IN: ELECTION: Vote challenge delayed to April

Chronicle Tribune

The final outcome in the race for Grant County Council District 2 won't be known until at least April, more than five months after the election.

The hearing for the recount appeal filed by Democrat challenger Dan Brock was changed to April 13, according to officials in Grant Superior Court 3, because that was the first day the court had available for the hearing, which would take up a full day.

The hearing was supposed to take place this month.

The ongoing deliberations in the race started when initial vote tallies showed Republican Myron Brankle beating Brock by one vote. A recount in December showed the two tied, though, and Brankle kept his seat after the Grant County Council took their own vote to break the tie.

http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070126/NEWS01/701260316/1002

[rumpel]

5. NY: Voting machines switch likely to be put off till 2009

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

Joseph Spector
Staff writer


(January 26, 2007) — New York's goal of having new voting machines in place for this year's elections is a fleeting hope, and now some elections officials are eyeing not 2008 but 2009 to have the machines operational.

So for a state that already trails the other 49 states in meeting federal election standards and is under court order to speed up the process, New York remains far from replacing all of its 200,000 lever machines with a computerized voting system.

The problems are complex and varied, ranging from issues with the state's computer contractors to simply deciding which machines to use.

On Thursday, the Monroe County Board of Elections displayed five types of machines from which it will likely choose. The county hoped to pick a machine soon, but the state on Tuesday delayed until May a decision on which machines counties can use.

While state elections officials haven't officially thrown in the towel, they recognize that it will be practically impossible to get the machines installed this year. Machines would have to be certified by the state in May, ordered and delivered to the counties by summer and workers would have to be trained in time for the September primaries.

"At this point, it's all but official that it can't happen this year," said Bo Lipari, executive director of New Yorkers for Verified Voting.

Lipari and elections officials say the delay isn't necessarily a bad thing: With reports across the country of voting problems, New York should wait until it's sure the machines can accurately tabulate votes and are tamperproof.

"You don't want do it fast, you want to do it right," Lipari said.

That sentiment is prompting some county elections officials to lobby for 2009 as the startup time for the new machines, fearing that a start in 2008, in a critical presidential year when turnout will be at its height, has the potential for serious problems.

Already, Nassau County is asking a federal judge to push back the deadline in New York to 2009. And Monroe County officials say 2009 may make the most sense.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070126/NEWS01/701260377/1002/NEWS

[rumpel]

6. ComputerWorld: Unlocking new e-voting security horrors (and DIY laptop) Blog

Fri, 01/26/2007 - 6:56am
Unlock today's IT Blogwatch: in which Diebold comes under fire for lousy security (again). Not to mention making your own laptop...

Angela Gunn angles for a pun:

Key concepts in e-voting security ... Don't go flashing your keys around where anyone can get a good look at them for duplication purposes. And I'm not talking about any sophisticated encryption-type keys here, people -- I mean the actual metal hotel-minibar-type keys that "secure" (maybe I should phrase that 'hold closed") that company's touchscreen voting machines ... it turns out that Diebold has helpfully provided photos online of the actual keys ... enough to make copies.
That's right. If you have Internet access and know how to cut keys, you too can open a Diebold touchscreen electronic voting machine ... And you say these guys talked how many voting precincts into spending money on those kiosks? And how many ATMs did my bank purchase from them? The mind. Simply. Boggles.

Brad Friedman has all the detail:
Good lord in heaven. How dumb are these guys at Diebold?! ... the key unlocks the compartment on each voting machine where one would slip a memory card containing a virus.

continues:
http://computerworld.com/blogs/node/4447

[rumpel]

7. NY: Elections official takes federal panel to task

Commissioner says state was "stonewalled" in attempts to get information about vendor's troubles


By JAY JOCHNOWITZ, State editor
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Friday, January 26, 2007

ALBANY -- A co-chairman of the state Board of Elections this week accused the head of the United States Elections Assistance Commission of "stonewalling" the state's request for information on a vendor hired to help test new voting machines.
Doug Kellner, a Democratic state elections commissioner, issued a scathing letter suggesting Thomas Wilkey, executive director of the EAC and former executive director for the state Board of Elections, is helping Ciber Inc. gloss over problems with its testing operation.

But on Thursday, a day after Kellner circulated the letter, Ciber gave the state board paperwork it had been demanding on why the EAC hasn't certified it to test election machines.
"I was miffed," Kellner said. "But Ciber must have gotten the message."
The state this month was surprised to learn, in a New York Times article, that the EAC had not accredited Ciber. The firm is working for New York under a $3 million contract to test machines that will replace the lever-style devices still used in most of the state. The state needs to approve new machines before county elections boards can buy them.
Kellner said the delay means New York won't have a list of approved machines until May, at the earliest. The Jan. 1, 2006, deadline under the Help America Vote Act to replace machines has long since passed, jeopardizing $50 million in federal funds.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=557420&category=REGION&newsdate=1/26/2007

[rumpel]

8. WY: Recount confirms Cubin win

Casper Star-Tribune

Friday, January 26, 2007

MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press writer

SHERIDAN -- A nonbinding review of November's U.S. House race in Sheridan County has confirmed Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin's narrow victory over Democrat Gary Trauner.

The two-day hand review of more than 11,000 ballots turned up only six ambiguous votes that had not been counted by electronic election machines.

County officials said Tuesday the results confirmed the accuracy of the machines and the integrity of Wyoming's election system. The state purchased new voting machines for counties last year.

The three Democrats who sought the recount said they had hoped in part to expose problems that would prompt the state Legislature to rewrite election laws. Official hand recounts are not allowed under Wyoming law.

Cubin and Trauner could not be reached immediately for comment.

The "document review," as county officials insisted on calling the effort, yielded the same results as the original tally except for six ballots that were improperly filled out. Cubin captured 5,883 votes in Sheridan County and Trauner 5,255.

"We know the machines do what they're supposed to do," said Sheridan County Attorney Matt Redle. Referring to the ambiguous votes, he added, "Sometimes the voters don't vote properly, but the machines do work."

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/01/26/news/wyoming/2de14485f17e16948725726c00823e07.txt

[rumpel]

9. VA: Measure on felons' voting rights OK'd

Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jan 26, 2007

The Virginia Senate passed 29-10 yesterday a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the General Assembly to set procedures in law for restoration of voting rights to nonviolent felons.

Currently, only the governor can restore felons' civil rights. People seeking to have their rights restored must go through a laborious process to have the governor review their case.

Felons in Virginia automatically lose their right to vote when they are convicted. More than 200,000 have lost the right, and the largest number live in Richmond.

Sen. Yvonne B. Miller, D-Norfolk, sponsor of the proposal, said some of those convicted have plea-bargained away their rights in return for a lighter sentence.

Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, noted that some people were convicted of felony drug charges in the 1970s. Today, with more tolerant community standards, those same crimes would be a misdemeanor, he said.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&%09s=1045855935264&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192857738&path=!news!politics

[rumpel]

10. Tauscher's name taken off PAC Web site

Inside Bay Area

Two other House targets also removed
By Josh Richman, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 01/26/2007 02:41:24 AM PST

A new liberal Democratic lobbying and political action coalition was launched this week, naming Rep. Ellen Tauscher its "top offender" potentially targeted for a 2008 primary election challenge.
By Wednesday, however, Tauscher, D-Alamo, and two other House targets had been removed from the Working For Us PAC's Web site. PAC treasurer and organizer Steve Rosenthal — also president of the They Work For Us lobbying entity affiliated with the PAC — didn't return calls Wednesday and Thursday seeking comment.
"I guess they realized what Representative Tauscher's constituents in the 10th District and her colleagues in Congress have known all along — that she is a loyal, hard-working and committed Democrat," Tauscher press secretary Kevin Lawlor quipped Thursday.
Not likely, given an avalanche of
"netroots" blogger criticism leveled at Tauscher recently for what they say is her coziness with President Bush and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; an excessively pro-business voting record; and other reasons.
Yet, while the Working For Us PAC's board includes the most prominent of those bloggers, it also includes officers of at least two groups that have given Tauscher campaign money consistently for a decade. And the PAC's main criticism of Tauscher also can be made against some top Democratic leaders of the 110th Congress.
The PAC's Web site says many Democrats in Congress "have abandoned basic progressive values and voted against the best interests of their constituents. And that's why we've formed Working For Us PAC — to help whip Democrats who stray back in line."

http://origin.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_5092139

[rumpel]

11. MO: Ruling confirms Rardin’s victory

Kansas City Star

Posted on Wed, Jan. 24, 2007

The Democrat won the 16th District race for the Kansas House by two votes, a judge says.
A Johnson County judge reaffirmed Tuesday that Democrat Gene Rardin of Overland Park beat his Republican opponent for the 16th District seat in the Kansas House.

District Judge Steve Tatum found that Rardin — who is already serving in the House — beat Republican John Kriegshauser last fall by two votes.

But the judge’s finding is not the last word.

The matter now goes to House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, an Ingalls Republican who must appoint a committee to study the election challenge and issue a recommendation to the full House on whether Rardin can continue to serve.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/16529934.htm

[rumpel]

12. AZ: Native American Democrats of Arizona select officers

Native Times


FLAGSTFF AZ
Joshua Lavar Butler 1/26/2007

The Native American Democrats of Northern Arizona (NADNA), a recognized organization of the Coconino County Democratic Party, selected its officers on Wednesday, January 9 during a meeting held at the Coconino County Democratic Party’s headquarters in downtown Flagstaff. NADNA is now ready to officially begin their work across the Nations in Indian Country.

PHOTO: Pictured are the newly selected officers of NADNA. Back row: Christina Carr- Secretary, Genevieve Begay- Executive Committee Member. Front row: Winona Reid- Chairwoman, Anslem Yazzie- Vice Chair and Joshua Lavar Butler- Executive Committee Member.

Winona Reid was selected as the new NADNA Chairwoman and she was nominated by fellow member Joshua Lavar Butler. The new Vice-Chair is Anslem Yazzie, Secretary is Christina Carr, members-at-large include Joshua Lavar Butler and Genevieve Begay. NADNA is currently searching for a Treasurer and there is currently a vacancy for another executive committee member which needs to be filled as soon as possible.

NADNA members are very excited and have already begun brainstorming of ways to increase outreach to recruit new members. NADNA will plan events that will encompass their mission to raise political and civic consciousness of Native American issues while preserving the cultural heritage of all indigenous people.

NADNA strives to increase political participation across Indian Country by increasing voter registration and escalating their outreach efforts.

http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8559

[rumpel]

13. (Hmmmmm....)On the legislative coup against the right of initiative

Sound Politics
Sound Commentary on Current Events in Seattle, Puget Sound and Washington State

January 26, 2007

At this hour, the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee is holding a hearing on HB 1087, the bill which would outlaw per-signature compensation on initiative petitions. The broadcast is live on TVW. I wasn't able to appear in person, but sent this statement:

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee -
The sponsors of HB 1087 claim that it is necessary to prohibit per-signature compensation for initiative petitions because such compensation "increases the possibility of fraud". But this seems disingenuous. I contacted several of the sponsors and none of them could produce any evidence of this claim. Neither could the office of our Secretary of State.

As it turns out, many of the bill's sponsors have also sponsored other bills this session that are designed to limit, co-opt or otherwise weaken the citizen's constitutional right of initiative.

I infer that the sponsors simply don't like the right of initiative very much and want to prevent it from being used very often. In fact, that's basically what the sponsors told me in their e-mails. I can understand why some legislators might not like initiatives. Initiatives can second-guess the legislature's decisions and serve as a check on its power. And that's exactly how initiatives were intended to be used, and why the initiative is enshrined in the Constitution as a fundamental right. And that is why the Constitution characterizes that right, more than once, as "reserved by the people", as opposed to "delegated by the people to be regulated by the legislature at the legislature's discretion and for the legislature's convenience". To this non-lawyer, HB 1087 appears to be a flagrantly unconstitutional attempt to limit that cherished right.

But the sponsors of this bill do raise some legitimate concerns in the bill language and in their e-mails about the bill.

http://soundpolitics.com/archives/007942.html

[rumpel]

14. GA: Georgia investigates Chattooga 2006 vote

Election official: State gathered data about absentee ballots
01/25/07
By Diane Wagner, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer


Click here to see a summary of the 2004 Georgia Supreme Court ruling on Chattooga court appointments.

The Secretary of State’s office is investigating charges of voting irregularities in Chattooga County during the 2006 general election.

Probate Court Judge Jon Payne, also the county’s election superintendent, said an investigator did not provide specifics about the complaints but gathered information about how absentee ballots were handled.

“The issues seem to be how they went out, what happened to them when they went out and how they came back in,” Payne said.

Vicki Gavalas, spokeswoman for newly elected Secretary of State Karen Handel, said the office is cautious about releasing details that could damage the ongoing investigation. A report of the findings will go to the State Election Board, which will decide in an open meeting if action is warranted.

“Voter fraud is something Karen is taking very seriously, so she’s going to be very aggressive about any investigations,” Gavalas said.

In counties without a dedicated election board, the probate judge orders printed ballots and oversees the counting on Election Day while a part-time Board of Registrars is in charge of fulfilling absentee ballot requests and maintaining the returns until the count.

http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news777966.html

[rumpel]

15. CA: Registrar report: Voter turnout overwhelming

Watchdog group says voter costs soar over decade

Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun
January 24, 2007

The Riverside County Registrar's report to county supervisors Tuesday cited a large and late voter turnout and absentee ballots for voting irregularities in the Nov. 7 election.
Supervisors accepted the report without discussion.

Some members of the public at Tuesday's meeting concluded County Registrar Barbara Dunmore was blaming voters in her lengthy election review report.

Dunmore disagreed.

"That is absolutely not the case," she said. "I take full responsibility.

"I'm not blaming the voters. We weren't prepared for the influx of voters."

Also Tuesday, members of SAVE R VOTE met in Riverside to discuss the recently formed blue ribbon committee - appointed by county supervisors to examine the election problems - and conditions Supervisor Jeff Stone has attached to a December challenge to hack the county's voting machines.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070124/NEWS0301/701240325/1006

[rumpel]

16. As well we shouldn't.

Swing State Project

There are so many reasons not to dump money into Florida at either the Congressional or Presidential level (especially the latter). Sure, the population is growing, but it's growing away from us. Look at the results of the last three presidential elections:
'96: Clinton win.
'00: Gore probably won, but actually "lost" due to fraud.
'04: Bush "wins", 51-48, networks call FL unusually quickly. So much for all of the time and millions of dollars Kerry spent campaigning there instead of in IA,NM, and CO - all of which he could've won, to the tune of more EVs than Ohio.

Bush probably would've won Florida in '04 even without Little Brother rigging the vote on his behalf. Our '06 pickups here aren't particularly telling, either. Sure, we won FL-22, which is a D district we should've won about three cycles earlier, but we only won FL-16 due to Foleygate, and we had FL-13 taken away from us due to fraud.

And there lies the rub - even when we win in Florida, we "lose". Jeb Bush has left behind a legacy of GOP vote manipulation that's well-ingrained in the state bureaucracy, from the outsourcing of voter roll eligibility checks to a private, entirely GOP-controlled corporation (ChoicePoint/DBT) to their almost exclusive use of touchscreen Diebold machines in Democratic precints (while using optical scan in GOP precints), to the extreme complicity of SOS Sue Cobb and new Gov (ex-AG) Charlie Crist, both GOP hacks and Jeb veterans keeping Jeb's banana republic alive and well. The sooner Democrats who make campaign decisions realize that campaigning in Florida is a zero sum game, the better. Add on top of this the incredible financial and psychological cost of campaigning in Florida - it's an extremely expensive media market, plus we'd almost certainly have to pony up millions in legal fees for at least one court case, plus the media goes out of their way to work against Democrats who contest recounts, especially in Florida, because, obviously, Christine Jennings is a sore loser for exercising her constitutional right to a trial.

http://www.swingstateproject.com/showComment.do?commentId=2033

[rumpel]

17. ND: Valley City administrator suspended after Web site spoof

The Bismarck Tribune

01-25-2007: news-state

VALLEY CITY (AP) - The city administrator has been suspended for two weeks without pay after complaints about a Web site spoof that linked one city candidate to the Ku Klux Klan and made another appear like Adolf Hitler.

Administrator Dave Johnson was suspended after a closed meeting Monday night in which city commissioners decided his conduct was "unbecoming to a municipal employee," City Attorney Nicholas Simonson said.

Johnson has not admitted creating the Web site, Simonson said.

Johnson declined comment on his suspension, which runs from Feb. 1 to Feb. 14.

Three failed candidates for city office say the punishment was not harsh enough.

"That's basically saying that the Valley City Commission supports the Ku Klux Klan by not firing that guy," said Bob Drake, who run unsuccessfully for city commissioner.

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/01/25/news/state/127690.txt

[rumpel]

19. CA: Is it high time for an e-voting test in California? (on Hack test)

The Daily Independent

Published: Friday, January 26, 2007 12:13 PM CST

Little or no analysis has accompanied the ever-increasing phenomenon of absentee voting in California elections (more than 43 percent of all ballots cast last fall were absentee). Rather, politicians of all stripes are more interested in how to exploit the trend than in why it's happening.

Reasons like traffic, convenience and flexibility are usually given for the vast upsurge in voting off-site, a practice that has doubled during the last three election cycles.

But there may be one other cause no one has noted: trust, or the lack of it.

For the spike in absentee voting coincides with the introduction of electronic voting machines into California elections. For several years, there was not even the guarantee of a voter-verified paper trail when votes were cast on touch-screen machines. Many voters believe absentee ballots can be trusted more than those cast by machine because they are paper, and can be physically recounted when election results are in doubt.

Lack of trust also might be a reason many eligible persons don't bother to vote at all.

Even with paper trails, which were required for the first time in last year's June and November votes, problems occurred. Printers malfunctioned, paper jams messed up some vote slips, and a few machines obstinately refused to print at all.

Meanwhile, doubts arose over the reliability of both the touch screen machines and optical scanners that counted paper ballots in many places. There were questions about the security of voting machines taken home by poll workers days and weeks before Election Day, both in a summertime special election and in the full November vote.

All of which means it's high time for an official, highly public test of the reliability of electronic voting. And what better place for such a test than Riverside County, which pioneered electronic voting during the late 1990s?

http://www.ridgecrestca.com/articles/2007/01/26/news/columnists/colo02.txt

[rumpel]

21. BradBlog : Subpeonas May be Issued by NY State After 'Outrageous' Snub by U.S. Elections Assistance

BLOGGED BY Michael Richardson ON 1/26/2007 9:35AM

Election Board Ire as EAC Fails to Disclose 'Soiled Laundry' on Failure to Accredit Voting System Test Lab
Guest Blogged by Michael Richardson

Tom Wilkey, former executive director of the New York State Board of Elections, and now the executive director of the Election Assistance Commission, has refused to answer questions from New York election officials about the non-accreditation of voting machine test lab Ciber, Inc. A letter from a state election official describes the lack of response for requested information as "truly outrageous and scandalous." That refusal "to open the curtain that hides their soiled laundry," may lead to subpoenas by the State Board.

The ongoing secrecy, and apparent duplicity, of the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) surrounding the failure of Ciber to be given federal accreditation to testing voting machines began last summer causing an unknown number of voters around the country to vote on improperly tested electronic voting machines in last November's election. The EAC failed to notify elections officials or the public about what they had already discovered concerning the poor state of testing conditions and procedures by the lab.

The EAC secrecy has been particularly troublesome in New York where Ciber has been testing equipment specifically under contract with the state. The EAC was created by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002 and is charged with accrediting "independent testing authorities" to examine and certify electronic voting machines. Ciber failed to gain interim accreditation when the testing duties shifted from the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) to the EAC last July.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4077

[freedomfries]

25. Thanks for your thread, rumpel!

Sorry I missed checking it before posting my headline!
:toast: