Election Reform and Related News: Saturday, April 5, 2008

[livvy]

Election Reform and Related News

Saturday, April 5, 2008





Joel Pett / Lexington Herald-Leader (March 31, 2008)


Please be sure to check out Vickiss's excellent thread from Friday for more very recent news.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=500039&mesg_id=500039

Everyone is welcome to participate. Feel free to:

:bluebox: Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

:bluebox: Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

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

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

Recommendations for the Greatest Page are always welcomed. It's the best way to share the news with members who don't frequent this forum. It's the link below.

[livvy]

1. OpEds, Editorials, Opinions, Blogs, etc. n/t

[livvy]

2. The War On Voting Rights: Voter Fraud Smears, Voter ID And Corruption At DOJ

April 4, 2008 at 15:38:30

The War On Voting Rights: Voter Fraud Smears, Voter ID And Corruption At DOJ

by Project Vote Page 1 of 4 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com


The history of democracy in the United States is one marked by the steady, though intensely contested, expansion of the right to vote. Where once only male landowners were permitted the right to choose their representatives, the United States now proudly extends that right to all adult citizens. The most recent expansion of the franchise were the result of years of struggle through the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement. The seminal Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 26th Amendment ratified in 1971 created enforcement mechanisms to protect minority voting rights and extended the right to vote to 18 year olds.

But these struggles are not over. Despite these advances, enshrined in the Constitution itself not just in the 26th Amendment, but also the 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments, attempts by powerful forces to exclude historically disenfranchised populations from the electoral arena have not abated. Perhaps the most vivid and pervasive of these attempts in recent history is encapsulated in the exposure of the US Attorneys scandal that engulfed the Department of Justice starting the late winter and early spring of 2007.
America's Unrepresentative Electorate


But first, let's give some context to the stakes at risk in this fight for America's democratic legacy. It is no secret that the electorate does not equally represent all Americans. In fact, if minorities voted at the same rate as whites, there would be an increase of 7.5 million voters on Election Day. One of the biggest reasons minority voting rates are so much lower than those of whites, the most enfranchised group in the electorate, rests with their lower rates of voter registration. Only 61% of African-Americans and 54% of Latinos are registered to vote compared with 71% of whites. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that the American electorate reflects the make-up of America's citizens, groups like Project Vote engage in large-scale voter registration efforts among historically underrepresented groups. (Indeed, over the last two election cycles Project Vote, working with local field partners such as unions and community organizations, has helped 1.6 million people register to vote and will assist another 1.2 million do the same in time for Election Day 2008.)

Creating an electorate that accurately reflects America has important implications for public policy choices as candidates are forced to compete for the votes of these new voters by addressing the issues that resonate most deeply with them. However, the intense focus that progressives put on Election Day dirty tricks and the problems of electronic voting machines is wasted if they do not also recognize that systemic attempts to lock entire groups out of the process months and years before Election Day pose just as much - if not order of magnitude more - risk to representative democracy in the United States.


more...

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_project__080403_the_war_on_voting_ri.htm

[livvy]

7. Editorial: Brunner's Courage

Article published Saturday, April 5, 2008

Brunner's courage


ALMOST lost among the continuing presidential election buzz was the news last week that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious "Profile In Courage Award" from the John F. Kennedy Foundation.

The award, named for the 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by the late president, is given annually for selfless exercise of political courage by elected officials. Ms. Brunner will be honored in a ceremony May 12 at the Kennedy Library in Boston for the risk she has taken to ensure that all the votes in Ohio elections are cast and counted in an accurate manner.

Elected in 2006, Ms. Brunner quickly became concerned about the reliability of electronic touch-screen voting machines. She commissioned a study last year that indicated the devices are subject to unnecessary risk of unexplained malfunction or, worse, being maliciously hacked, to the point that vote totals could be secretly altered or lost in electronic oblivion.

Her solution, to switch counties from touch-screen machines to paper ballots tallied by scanners, was successful in a trial in Cleveland in the March 4 primary. But her plan to convert the rest of the state has been met with strong opposition from lawmakers in Columbus who don't want to pay for the change, county election officials who don't want to be inconvenienced, and last, but not least, vendors who don't want to lose their lucrative contracts to supply the machines.

more...

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080405/OPINION02/804050311

[livvy]

13. Motion Filed to Ban Georgia Voting Equipment

Motion Filed to Ban Georgia Voting Equipment
By VoterGA
April 04, 2008

Citizens in an electronic voting lawsuit announced that they have filed a summary judgment motion seeking to ban the voting equipment currently used in Georgia. The motion contends that there are no issues of fact at dispute that would warrant a trial for certain counts of the lawsuit.

The main thrust of the motion centers on a lack of equal protection and due process that the plaintiffs claim Election Day voters have when compared to absentee voters who use optically scanned paper ballots. The motion contends that retention of tangible paper ballots is required for voters to verify their actual ballot choices, for election officials to provide true recounts as needed, to investigate voting discrepancies, to prevent fraud and to produce evidence for contested elections.

In addition, the motion seeks to ban database servers used to tabulate electronic and optical scan votes at county and state levels because of admissions from officials that the equipment does not detect fraudulent manipulation of votes.

The landmark motion further seeks to ban the newer sequential roll technology used in three precincts for the 2006 audit trail pilot on the grounds that it jeopardizes secrecy of the ballot, a point that was stated in the 2006 Audit Trail Pilot Report produced by the office of the new Secretary of State in April of 2007.


a bit more...

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2807&Itemid=113

[livvy]

19. Demise of ‘Motor Voter’in California-- Another G.O.P. Political Crime

Demise of ‘Motor Voter’in California-- Another G.O.P. Political Crime
By Bill Cavala
Posted on April 05, 2008

A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento, Mr. Cavala manages election campaigns for Democratic candidates.

Today’s Bee editorial, "Voter registration law isn't working well here", whines about the lack of voter registrations being generated by County welfare offices. The Bee notes that federal law instituted 15 years ago mandated that state offices administering federal programs take a responsible role in registering voters.

But they don’t.

The federal law was labeled “motor voter” because one piece of it was designed to automatically put drivers on the voter roles when they applied for licenses or renewals – unless the driver “opted out”.

The law was the result of years of lobbying by an old colleague of mine at Berkeley, Professor Raymond Wolfinger. Ray’s research had convinced him that the low turnouts characteristic of American Democracy were the result of artificial impediments to voting – chief among them the requirements of registration. Make it easier to register and people would. Then they would vote, and our elections would better represent the sentiments of the people.

But Republicans don’t want the people to vote.

more...

http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/04/demise_of_motor.html

[livvy]

21. 40 Years after MLK's Death: DOJ's War on Black Voters

40 Years after MLK's Death: DOJ's War on Black Voters
Posted April 4, 2008 | 03:01 PM (EST)

Art Levine

While remembering the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King, it's worth noting that Republican operatives and the Bush administration's Department of Justice have turned back the clock on civil rights. They have created a new set of Jim Crow-like policies and strategies with a still-active goal: stopping blacks, who lean Democratic, from casting ballots that count.

Have Justice Department officials and GOP loyalists become essentially an upscale, white-collar version of the Klan, armed with voting lists on their Palm Pilots rather than burning crosses and guns to keep blacks from voting?

This week, a series of articles have been published online underscoring the ways that the racist restrictions of the past have been revived, in often disturbing ways. In the Huffington Post, I reported how the FBI ignored threats to jail voters in Dallas during a hard-fought 2006 state legislative race. The Campaign Legal Center today demanded an in-depth Justice Department probe of its failure to investigate this blatant violations of civil rights.

The full story behind these sorts of vote-suppressing schemes is told in the latest issue of The American Prospect, which explores, in "The Republican War on Voting," how local, state and federal officials and GOP operatives targeted the community group ACORN with phony claims of voter fraud because of its successful voter registration drives. The claims of widespread voter fraud live on in briefs supporting the Indiana photo ID law filed by the federal government, the state and conservative Republicans now before the Supreme Court.

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-levine/40-years-after-mlks-death_b_95116.html

[livvy]

3. States n/t

[livvy]

4. Colorado AG Expecting Suit Over Electronic Voting Machines

4/4/2008
Colorado AG expecting suit over electronic voting machines
by Chris Rizo


DENVER-Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has warned that the Centennial State could be sued over a decision by the secretary of state to allow counties to use electronic voting machines in this year's elections.

The Republican attorney general said he expects groups who challenged the state's use of electronic voting machines in the 2006 election cycle to file another lawsuit to prevent their use, The Grand Junction (Colo.) Sentinel reported Friday.

Suthers told the newspaper although he doesn't expect the case to be resolved until after the 2008 election, he said he doubts a judge would "derail the election" if county clerks say there is no way for Coloradoans to vote using paper ballots.

Colorado was sued during the 2006 election cycle over claims that the state's electronic voting machines were not tamper-proof.

more...


http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/210360-colorado-ag-expecting-suit-over-electronic-voting-machines

[livvy]

5. Sen. Nelson FL: Reform the Primary System and Abolish the Electoral College

Article published Apr 5, 2008

Reform the primary system and abolish the Electoral College

Here are excerpts of remarks made by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., to the Florida Senate in Tallahassee on March 27.

It's fitting that we come together in this city, in this state. For I wish to discuss an issue all too familiar to Florida -- and sacred to our democracy: the right to vote -- and to have that vote count as intended!

A year ago, you passed a bill to move Florida's presidential primary to an early date on the national election calendar. Your thinking was to give our large and diverse state -- a microcosm of America -- more of a say in the selection of the presidential nominees.

And we all know what happened: Both national parties decided to punish Florida, because their rules reserved early presidential contests to a handful of other states.

For eight months now, I have been immersed in a fight to get the chairman of my party to end a stalemate -- to seat Florida's delegates and honor the state's Jan. 29 primary. In what was on that date a historic turnout, some 3.6 million citizens, headed to the polls and cast ballots in Florida's Democratic and Republican presidential primaries.

For me this issue is simple: It's a case of fundamental rights vs. party rules.

more...

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080405/COLUMNIST13/804050741/-1/newssitemap

[livvy]

6. OH: Cuyahoga Set To Trade Vote System Again

Cuyahoga set to trade vote system again
State requires new equipment

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Joe Guillen Plain Dealer Reporter

Cuyahoga County is set to overhaul its voting system for a third straight major election.

The county spent $1.5 million renting "central count" optical-scan voting equipment for the March primary, after scrapping, in December, a $21 million touch-screen system that was less than 2 years old.

Cuyahoga needs different equipment for the November presidential election because state legislators have outlawed the "central count" method because it does not inform a voter at a polling location if a ballot was filled out incorrectly.

The county Board of Elections wants a system that lets a voter scan a paper ballot at the polls. Scanners are a check for errors before memory cards record votes.

Board officials, though, are not sure if they will rent or buy. County Administrator Dennis Madden wants a decision soon, to budget for the cost.

Purchase could run between $10 million and $15 million, not including buying ballots. Rental costs are unknown.

more...

http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isope/1207400108268140.xml&coll=2

[livvy]

10. FL: Election Officials Show Off New Optical Voting Machines

Election officials show off new optical voting machines
By Henry A. Stephens (Contact), Jim Turner (Contact)
Friday, April 4, 2008

For most voters in Indian River and Martin counties, voting skills now must go from being able to withdraw money from an ATM to filling out a Pick Six ticket.

The counties put their new voting equipment on display Friday as Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning visited the Treasure Coast as part of a tour to help the 15 counties transitioning from touch screen voting machines to the optical-scan system.

"With the touch screens, there was no way you could have an overvote," Browning said. "But the trade-off with the paper ballot is now we're going to go back and deal with overvotes." :eyes:

Although the optical scanner put on display for the media was not operational, the idea was to showcase the new voting method that long has been used in St. Lucie County.

For Martin and Indian River county voters, the change shifts the method from using fingertips to scroll through electronic pages to using a pen or Sharpie to fill in spaces. Once the ballot is filled out, each is put into a scanner for an electronic tabulation and than collected in a ballot box in case a manual recount is requested.

"All you need to know is that you have to draw in the oval," Browning said. "It's a lot like the lottery."

more...



http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/apr/04/30gtelection-officials-show-off-new-optical/

[livvy]

14. PA: State Preparing For Huge Voter Turnout

State preparing for huge voter turnout
BY ROBERT SWIFT

HARRISBURG — With a record voter turnout possible for the April 22 presidential primary, state Secretary of State Pedro Cortes is banking on what he calls an insurance policy.


He told lawmakers Thursday that state liaisons trained in voting procedures and election law will be stationed at each of the 67 county election bureaus on primary day.

Mr. Cortes expressed confidence that state and county election officials are well prepared to handle a flood of voters as the Democratic presidential race sparks intense interest in the Keystone State, but he said having state liaisons at the courthouses will provide additional insurance in case problems crop up.

“(The liaisons will) provide an additional communications channel between the counties and commonwealth during a likely high-turnout primary,” added Mr. Cortes in testimony before the House State Government Committee.

Mr. Cortes’ statement that at least 156,000 new voters have registered in Pennsylvania since the start of the year, -thereby swelling total rolls to 8.27 million, drew the most questions.

Panel chairwoman Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, voiced concern that first-time voters may experience trouble since they are required to show ID at their polling place. The plans call for giving voters in that predicament the choice of leaving right away to obtain their ID and then returning to vote, or filling out a provisional ballot that can be tallied later once the voter has provided ID. ( :crazy: law - Why would someone fill out a provisional when they would have to come back anyway for it to count? Wouldn't they just get the ID and vote? Voting should not be such a hassle. It's a right, not a chore.)

Ms. Josephs said polling places routinely have a short supply of provisional ballots.

Mr. Cortes said it’s the responsibility of county election bureaus to have an adequate supply of provisional ballots. He said the state is working with them to ensure that’s the case.

more...

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19453238&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416046&rfi=6

[livvy]

15. Democrats' Numbers Up in Wayne

Democrats’ numbers up in Wayne
BY MEGAN REITER

April 5, 2008

HONESDALE — Democrats are increasing their presence in Wayne County, but Republicans still have a stronghold among nearly 31,000 registered voters here.


Since Jan. 1, the number of Democratic voters has increased by nearly 1,000, from 9,058 to 10,054, said Wayne County Bureau of Elections Director Cindy Furman, who spoke at Thursday’s Board of Elections meeting.

Republicans lost about 200 voters since Jan. 1, dropping from 17,142 to 16,943, she said.

Ms. Furman described the month leading up to March 24 — the last day to register to vote or change parties — as “hectic.”

snip...

Next week, the county will start training workers on the new voting machines from Elections Systems & Software, which include two central ballot tabulators and 40 used machines for disabled voters. The majority of voters will be using paper ballots.

With the new tabulators expecting to read 18,000 ballots per hour, the county is hoping for Election Day to end early.


http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19453306&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416046&rfi=6

[livvy]

16. Snoopy Votes Add To Quirky Moments During Official Election Tally

Snoopy votes add to quirky moments during official election tally
By Lyn Jerde


Democracy can be tedious.

And, at times, it can evoke a chuckle.

The process of turning the unofficial tally from Tuesday's nonpartisan election into Columbia County's official, final vote took almost eight hours, a lot of paper-flipping, three pots of coffee and a container of orange-cranberry muffins.

Now and then, there were quirky moments — such as the discovery that, in the town of Arlington, not just one voter but three cast write-in votes in the District 23 Board of Supervisors race for "Snoopy." That vote was not sufficient to threaten the victory of incumbent Robert Andler of Rio, who was on the ballot unopposed and garnered 204 votes — 48 of them in the town of Arlington.

snip...

There were plenty of would-be ballot-box comedians scattered throughout the county's precincts.

Action actor Chuck Norris got one vote for County Supervisor District 3, and another for Wisconsin Court of Appeals judge, in the town of Caledonia.

Daffy Duck got a vote in the town of Courtland for the County Supervisor District 13 seat.

Mickey Mouse got one vote for County Supervisor District 17 in the town of Pacific, and another for the state Court of Appeals in the town of Randolph.

a bit more... :rofl: What no votes for Lucy, or Charlie Brown?

http://www.wiscnews.com/pdr/news/280232

[livvy]

18. NJ Election Discrepancies Worse Than Previously Thought, Contradict Sequoia's Explanation

NJ Election Discrepancies Worse Than Previously Thought, Contradict Sequoia’s Explanation
By Ed Felten, Princeton University
April 05, 2008
This article was posted at Ed Felten's Freedom to Tinker Blog and is reposted here with permission of the author.

I wrote previously about discrepancies in the vote totals reported by Sequoia AVC Advantage voting machines in New Jersey’s presidential primary election, and the incomplete explanation offered by Sequoia, the voting machine vendor. I published copies of the “summary tapes” printed by nine voting machines in Union County that showed discrepancies; all of them were consistent with Sequoia’s explanation of what went wrong.

This week we obtained six new summary tapes, from machines in Bergen and Gloucester counties. Two of these new tapes contradict Sequoia’s explanation and show more serious discrepancies that we saw before.

Before we dig into the details, let’s review some background. At the end of Election Day, each Sequoia AVC Advantage voting machine prints a “summary tape” (or “results report”) that lists (among other things) the number of votes cast for each candidate on that machine, and the total voter turnout (number of votes cast) in each party. In the Super Tuesday primary, a few dozen machines in New Jersey showed discrepancies in which the number of votes recorded for candidates in one party exceeded the voter turnout in that party. For example, the vote totals section of a tape might show 61 total votes for Republican candidates, while the turnout section of the same tape shows only 60 Republican voters.

Sequoia’s explanation was that in certain circumstances, a voter would be allowed to vote in one party while being recorded in the other party’s turnout. (”It has been observed that the ‘Option Switch’ or Party Turnout Totals section of the Results Report may be misreported whereby turnout associated with the party or option switch choice is misallocated. In every instance, however, the total turnout, or the sum of the turnout allocation, is accurate.”) Sequoia’s memo points to a technical flaw that might cause this kind of misallocation.

The nine summary tapes I had previously were all consistent with Sequoia’s explanation. Though the total votes exceeded the turnout in one party, the votes were less than the turnout in the other party, so that the discrepancy could have been caused by misallocating turnout as Sequoia described. For example, a tape from Hillside showed 61 Republican votes cast by 60 voters, and 361 Democratic votes cast by 362 voters, for a total of 422 votes cast by 422 voters. Based on these nine tapes, Sequoia’s explanation, though incomplete, could have been correct.


more...

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2813&Itemid=51

[livvy]

8. Election '08 n/t

[livvy]

9. McCain Preachers Merit Scrutiny, Too

McCain preachers merit scrutiny, too
The Rocky
Saturday, April 5, 2008

snip of beginning...

Uygur wonders why the media have devoted so little attention to John McCain's association with mega-church leader Rev. James Hagee (who has made a variety of strongly anti-Catholic statements) and with the Rev. Rod Parsley, who believes that one of God's purposes in creating America was to fight a holy war against Islam. McCain had sought and received Hagee's endorsement, and had praised Parsley at one campaign event in Ohio.

Yet the only mention of Hagee or Parsley in either the Rocky or the Post has been in letters to the editor (and in Dick's plagiarized Op-Ed).

After the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights began a public campaign on the Hagee issue, McCain on March 10 stated: "I repudiate any comments that are made, including Pastor Hagee's, if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics." Catholic League President Bill Donohue responded: "Sen. McCain has done the right thing and we salute him for doing so. As far as the Catholic League is concerned, this case is closed."

Uygur's March 19 article should have noted McCain's March 10 statement about Hagee. McCain has not issued a similar statement about Parsley.

Uygur (and Dick in plagiarizing Uygur) theorized racism as the explanation for the disparate media treatment of Wright and Hagee/Parsley, but added, "I'm willing to listen to other possible explanations."

the rest....


http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/05/mccain-preachers-merit-scrutiny-too/

[livvy]

11. National n/t

[livvy]

12. The Cost of E-Voting

I suppose this could've/should've gone in the blog category, but whatever. :shrug:

The Cost of E-Voting
By Kim Zetter
April 04, 2008 | 5:29:00 PM
Categories: E-Voting, Election '08

One reason election officials around the country have given for purchasing touch-screen voting machines is that they say the systems save money -- both in the cost of printing paper ballots and in storing them after an election. Officials have made this claim, despite the fact that the machines carry a steep price tag (about $3,000 per machine).

So SaveOurVotes (.pdf), a voting integrity group in Maryland, decided to see if the 19,000 touch-screen machines their state purchased really did save money. The results aren't really a surprise -- the machines are wildly more expensive than anyone anticipated. But just how expensive they are makes their analysis mandatory reading for any legislators and state or county budget committees that approve voting equipment purchases.

Maryland uses one system statewide -- touch-screen machines made by Diebold Election Systems -- which it purchased in batches in 2002 and 2003. A loan of about $67 million was taken out from the state treasury to pay Diebold for the machines, which counties are still paying off. They'll continue to pay for the machines through 2014, even though the state has since decided to scrap the touch-screen machines, due to security concerns, and change to optical-scan machines by 2010.

Nonetheless, according to SaveOurVotes' figures, by the end of the presidential election this year, Maryland will have spent more than $97.5 million on the machines it's abandoning, but only about half of that can be attributed to the actual cost of purchasing the machines.

At least $44 million of it went to Diebold just for operation and maintenance of the machines, which covered repairs (the cost of which increases as machines age), storage of the machines as well as programming, testing and transporting them to precincts on election days. In the case of transportation, the state contracts with Diebold to deliver the machines from warehouses, but Diebold doesn't do the deliveries itself; instead it subcontracts the service to other vendors (see this story about one of the delivery companies Diebold hired whose owner is the former chair of Maryland's state Republican Party).

more...

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/the-cost-of-e-v.html

[Wilms]

17. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x500089

[livvy]

20. Thanks, Wilms!

:hi:

[livvy]

22. That's it for today.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

[Kurovski]

23. K&R. Thanks, livvy!

:thumbsup:

[Mnemosyne]

24. A kick for Sunday!

:hug: