Election Reform and Related News: Saturday, April 26, 2008

[livvy]

Election Reform and Related News
Saturday, April 26, 2008



Everyone is welcome to participate. Feel free to:

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

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

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

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

:redbox: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. Editorials, OpEds, Opinion, Blogs....n/t

[livvy]

2. Is E-Voting As Safe As E-Banking?

April 25, 2008

Is e-voting as safe as e-banking?

By Stephanie Frank Singer

People who say that electronic voting is as safe or safer than banking are missing two key points.

First, in every banking transaction, both sides get to audit the results: the bank controls the electronic information, and the customer can check the bank's monthly statement against her own records. In e-voting, the County, and often the machine vendor, control the electronic information, and the customer (voters, watchdog organizations, candidates) cannot check the end result -- the vote tally -- against anything at all.

Second, banks operate in the free market. If you don't trust your bank, you can go to the competition. Elections, on the other hand, are by their nature run by monopolies. So while election officials have every incentive to make their elections run smoothly, the only outside incentives to make the process transparent and accountable come from watchdog organizations (such as VotePA) and active citizens.

As a Ph.D. mathematician with advanced training in computer science, I know that democracy can be accountable only if each citizen marks her intent on a record that can be preserved without the interference of technology, and only if the votes are counted in a way that every citizen may see and understand.



Authors Website: www.campaignscientific.com

Authors Bio: Stephanie Frank Singer is a mathematician, an author and an entrepreneur. She is Managing Partner of Campaign Scientific LLC.


http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_stephani_080424_is_e_voting_as_safe_.htm

[livvy]

21. Election Systems Upgrade: Money's Gone To Iraq

Election Systems Upgrade: Money's Gone To Iraq
Posted April 24, 2008 | 03:10 AM (EST)
by James Freedman

This article is not about the absurd complexity of our current election system, although that topic is just as worthy of consideration. It is about exploring the possibility that we severely underfund the election process in the United States, leading to myriad potential and actual problems, while spending dearly overseas to bring democracy to other nations.

Bringing democracy to Iraq will end up costing America trillions of dollars, according to some estimates. In the wake of the 2000 election and its butterfly ballots, the federal government took the unprecedented step of allocating nearly $4 billion to help pay for new voting systems across the country with the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA).

"The Help America Vote Act, which is what provided a lot of the money to buy the technologies that we use today, authorized a few billion dollars... to buy new voting machines," said Edward Felten, a Princeton University computer science professor who demonstrated that electronic voting machines are vulnerable to hacking. "At the federal level, on the scale of spending for the federal government, that's pretty small. I mean, obviously it's a lot of money, but compared to the amount of money that the federal government spends on a lot of things, that seems like a bargain."

While the amount spent on Iraq blows away the amount spent on U.S. elections, there were a number of other reasons for going into Iraq, such as WMDs and Saddam Hussein. HAVA's $4 billion isn't all we're spending on elections at home, either. States and local governments also spend heavily each time we vote -- we often hear the vociferous complaints of secretaries of state when there's a last minute change and a few million bucks go down the drain reprinting ballots. But, at the end of the day, we are still spending less on elections -- a bedrock of our prized democracy -- than on a multitude of other no doubt important government services.

more...



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-freedman/election-systems-upgrade_b_98357.html

[livvy]

22. Exclusive Interview w/D. Earnhardt, Producer/Director of "Uncounted"....

April 25, 2008

Exclusive Interview with David Earnhardt, producer/director of "Uncounted"�, Chicago premiere Tuesday, April 29th

By Joan Brunwasser

Exclusive Interview with David Earnhardt, producer/director of “Uncounted” – Chicago premiere Tuesday, April 29th

I’m really disappointed. For months, I’ve been looking forward to David Earnhardt coming to Chicago with his documentary “Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections”. Since its Nashville premiere last November, Earnhardt has been on the road, with screenings before appreciative audiences taking place in theatres across the country.

It’s official: “Uncounted” will be shown downtown next Tuesday, April 29th, at Landmark's Century Theatre, 2828 N. Clark St. at 7:00 p.m. There will be a Q & A afterwards with Earnhardt and Bob Koehler, syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services.

The film is professionally done and quite compelling, as befits the work of an award-winning producer and director. I know; I’ve seen it several times and wrote a review for OpEdNews which you are welcome to peruse. The bad news is that, because of a minor but inconveniently scheduled surgery, I will neither be able to put Earnhardt up nor attend the event.

So, in order not to feel totally out of the loop, I’ve done an extensive interview with filmmaker Earnhardt and offer snippets of it here for your reading pleasure. I’m hoping that it will get you thinking. If you live in the Chicago area or have friends who do, please spread the word. I guarantee that you will not walk out of the theatre unmoved.

Interview follows...

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_joan_bru_080425_exclusive_interview_.htm

[livvy]

3. States n/t

[livvy]

4. NY: Counties Buying New Voting Machines

Counties buying new voting machines

Published: April 26, 2008 08:04 am

By Tom Grace

Cooperstown News Bureau

PHOENIX MILLS _ Local counties are receiving new optical-scan voting machines, although elections officials are not certain who will use them this year.

"As it stands right now, they'll probably be used only by persons with disabilities, but we'd like to have everyone use them.'' said Sheila Ross, Otsego County's deputy Republican elections commissioner.

Otsego County has received four scanners, out of 40 ordered.

"We have 33 for polling places, four for training and three for back-ups,'' Ross said.

The new $11,500 machines, Sequois ImageCasts, may not be widely used this fall because their tabulators _ the part that actually counts votes _ has not been certified as accurate by the state.

"As things stand now, the new machines can't be used to count votes; we'll have to do that by hand,'' said William Campbell, Delaware County's Republican elections commissioner.

more...

http://www.thedailystar.com/local/local_story_117080426.html

[livvy]

10. Iowa: Secretary of State Big Winner in '08 Session

Secretary of State big winner in '08 session
Saturday, April 26, 2008, 1:00 AM
By O.Kay Henderson

Secretary of State Michael Mauro has been one of the big winners at the statehouse this year. Lawmakers approved a series of election law changes that Mauro sought and provided millions to help Iowa counties buy new voting equipment.

Representative Mary Mascher, a Democrat from Iowa City, says Mauro didn't let the trappings of office prevent him from meeting often with legislators to work through election-related issues that had stalled in previous years. "I think Michael Mauro has really put himself on the line, spent a lot of time with us in working through those bills and trying to get people on board," Mascher says.

Mascher has been chairwoman of the House State Government Committee which dealt with election-related matters. "It was a good year for the secretary of state and I believe for the people of Iowa," Mascher says. "I think the people of Iowa were the ones who won."

Mauro was Polk County Auditor and ran elections in Iowa's largest county before he was elected secretary of state in 2006. Senator Mike Connolly, a Democrat from Dubuque, is chairman of the Senate State Government Committee which also handled voting-related legislation. "I think Michael Mauro has done a fantastic job and I think Iowans are fortunate to have somebody in that position who brings to it the experience he has," Connolly says.

more...

http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=87365268-99A5-FC76-808ADA39F9D4F044

[livvy]

11. MI: Fight to Recall Dillon Grows Nasty

Fight to recall Dillon grows nasty
Accusations of harassment fly

BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF and DAWSON BELL • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • April 25, 2008

On paper, the campaign to recall House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, is hard-nosed democracy in action.

On the streets of Redford Township and Dearborn Heights, it has been a seething, name-calling scrum of public rallies, court fights, verbal confrontations and charges of deception, law-breaking and police harassment.

Once aimed at a dozen lawmakers who voted for tax increases last fall, the recall effort has narrowed to make an example of Dillon alone.

The stakes are large: The possible demise of a House leader who was considered a potential candidate for governor, or vindication of Democratic control and the $1.4-billion tax increase to balance the state budget.


big snip to over-the-limit very interesting part of the article...

Undercover investigators hired by the Democratic Party observed Detroit residents being paid to sign and circulate petitions in violation of state law, said party Chairman Mark Brewer.

Brewer said the investigators chronicled campaign law violations in affidavits. The alleged violations, he said, will be presented in court "at the appropriate time," a sign that the legal fight will be renewed if the recall submits its signatures.

Drolet said some campaign workers were fired for improper signature-gathering. The campaign hires people from outside Dillon's district to comb neighborhoods for potential signers, he acknowledged, but then they turn the names over to district residents to gather their signatures, as required by law.

Drolet said the recall effort is paying $10,000 to National Ballot Access, a Georgia firm that has coordinated petition drives for conservative ballot issues in other states. National Ballot will get another $3,000 if the drive succeeds, Drolet said.

more...


http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/NEWS06/804250408

[livvy]

12. Worth Noting: Phantom Voter Stalks Ala. State House

Friday, April 25, 2008
WORTH NOTING: Phantom voter stalks Ala. State House
By Christine Vestal, Stateline.org Staff Writer

It’s pretty basic, but not everyone in the Alabama State House seems to know you can’t cast votes on behalf of other legislators. State Rep. Duwayne Bridges (R) complained someone used his voting machine when he was out of the country. The Goldilocks voter, later identified as Democratic Rep. Randy Hinshaw, admitted to voting on Bridge’s machine and confessed he had voted on other members’ machines in the past. He told the Huntsville Times, he did it because it what was the right thing to do for his district.


http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=304138

And from the Huntsville Times earlier this week:

House member files vote complaint
Wednesday, April 23, 2008By BOB LOWRYTimes Staff Writer [e-mail]
MONTGOMERY - A Republican House member whose electronic voting machine was voted in his absence last week by a Madison County Democrat filed a formal complaint Tuesday with the House clerk.

Rep. Duwayne Bridges, R-Valley, said he was on a job recruitment trip to China and Korea when the House passed a proposed constitutional amendment to remove the state sales tax on groceries.

Bridges said he opposed the measure, even though the record showed him as voting for it.

House Minority Leader Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, identified Rep. Randy Hinshaw, D-Meridianville, as voting Bridges' machine.

On Tuesday, Bridges filed a dissent with House Clerk Greg Pappas, noting his opposition to the bill on the House's official journal.

more...

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1208942220161530.xml&coll=1

[livvy]

13. FL: House Session Ends After 12-Hour 'Read-a-thon'

This is an older piece, but I don't recall seeing it, and I found it amusing.

OrlandoSentinel.com
LEGISLATURE 2008
House session ends after 12-hour 'read-a-thon'
Spat over proposal spurs Dems to invoke maneuver
Aaron Deslatte and John Kennedy

Tallahassee Bureau

9:10 AM EDT, April 19, 2008

TALLAHASSEE

They sat mostly silent, eyes forward, mouths shut.

It wasn't a sulking kindergarten class, but the Florida House of Representatives. On Friday, Republicans and Democrats -- normally collegial, if occasionally testy -- engaged in a daylong version of a schoolyard stare-down.

It began before lunch, when minority Democrats -- accusing the Republican leadership of trying to squelch debate -- used their parliamentary muscle to require that each bill on the agenda be read in full.

They had tried to promote a proposal to make the FCAT less of a factor in the letter grades given the state's schools and had sought to amend a Senate bill that would do that on to an educational-standards bill favored by House Speaker Marco Rubio, R- West Miami.

But House leaders -- shooting for a 1 p.m. adjournment to allow Jewish members to go home for Passover and black members to attend a legislative gala -- invoked a rule limiting debate time to three minutes.

Enraged, Democratic leader Rep. Dan Gelber, D- Miami Beach, demanded all bills be read in full, and Republicans didn't have the two-thirds vote to deny him.

As a clerk began reading aloud from an 86-page condo-association bill, a visibly angry Rubio slammed down his gavel, ordered the House sergeant-at-arms to make sure all 119 members were in the chamber, then lock the doors.

"I want everyone in their seats. It's important that we give the clerk our attention," Rubio said. He then ordered the staff to turn off Internet access to the members' laptops. Lawmakers soon started pecking at their BlackBerrys.

But soon, BlackBerry access was cut off.

In the midst of huddle of lawmakers, Gelber advised his members not to drink water -- so they wouldn't have to go to the bathroom.

Half an hour into the droning recitation of condo law, Rubio slammed the gavel again when he saw Rep. Franklin Sands, a Broward County Democrat slated to take over as minority leader, crossing the floor. "The clerk will stop reading until Rep. Sands takes his seat."

more...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-tally1908apr19,0,2835447.story

[livvy]

16. Kansas: Ease-of-Voting Bill Among New Laws

Posted on Fri, Apr. 25, 2008

Ease-of-voting bill among new laws
BY JEANNINE KORANDA
Eagle Topeka bureau

Casting a ballot will be easier for residents of long-term care facilities under a bill signed into law by the governor Thursday.

Nursing facilities, assisted living facilities and hospitals' long-term care facilities can serve as voting locations for registered residents under Senate Bill 562, the governor's office said.

"Kansans, who may not have been able to otherwise, will now have the opportunity to have their voices heard, and their vote count," Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said in a news release.

The law goes into effect after it is published in the Kansas Register.

There is more, but unrelated to election reform/news...

http://www.kansas.com/news/state/story/383666.html

[livvy]

17. LA: Senate Refuses To Suspend campaign Finance Law Change

Apr 24, 1:55 PM EDT

Senate refuses to suspend campaign finance law change

By MELINDA DESLATTE
Associated Press Writer


BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The Louisiana Senate refused to suspend the Saturday start date of a new law requiring outside, third-party groups that try to influence elections to detail their contributors and their expenses.

Supporters of the delay said Thursday that the state ethics board doesn't have the ability yet to deal with the reporting requirement and that the board believes the campaign finance reporting requirement goes well beyond what the Legislature intended when it passed the law.

"If the ethics folks say they can't implement it, what's the point of having the law?" said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge.

Opponents argued attempts to stall the new reporting requirement would backpedal on new, tougher ethics laws and would let the groups that lawmakers wanted to report to get through another election cycle without disclosing specifics of their spending and contributors.


more...

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/politics/18118634.html

[livvy]

18. NM: County Clerks Unhappy With Voting Machine Vendor

Possible re-post

County clerks unhappy with voting machine vendor
By BARRY MASSEY Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 04/24/2008 12:45:23 PM MDT


SANTA FE—Secretary of State Mary Herrera assured lawmakers Thursday that her office was prepared for the June primary election, but county clerks worry about the possible failure of memory cards in voting machines used across New Mexico.

Representatives of the state's 33 county clerks said they need extra memory cards to protect against failures during the election. The cards hold ballot information and are necessary for vote tabulators to operate.

Ballots must be hand counted—a potentially source of delays in reporting the outcome of races—if tabulators aren't working.

"If we could have extra memory cards ... that would greatly relieve our stress," said Sheryl Nichols, chief deputy clerk in Los Alamos County and president of the Association of County Clerks. Each vote tabulator has two memory cards, with one serving as a backup.

more...

http://www.lcsun-news.com/region/ci_9040975

[Wilms]

27. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=501391&mesg_id=501391

[livvy]

19. House Bill Cuts Rhode Island Polling Hours

House bill cuts Rhode Island polling hours

10:50 AM EDT on Friday, April 25, 2008

By Cynthia Needham

Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE — If you’re planning to vote this September, you might want to mark your calendar.

The House last night passed a bill that would, if approved by the Senate, require all polling places statewide to close at 8 p.m. instead of the regular 9 p.m. cutoff that’s been in effect for decades.

The goal is to make Election Day less taxing for poll workers and local boards of canvassers while allowing Rhode Islanders to find out the results of local and national elections at a more reasonable hour.

Bill sponsor John Patrick Shanley Jr., D-South Kingstown, said communities are having increasing difficulty recruiting poll workers for a day that begins before breakfast and ends close to bedtime.

more...

http://www.projo.com/news/content/HOUSE_WRAP_04-25-08_589TFKF_v21.1a0534a.html

[livvy]

20. Complaints Grow About Utah Politics

Complaints grow about Utah politics
GOP: Leaders accused of trying to stack deck

By Tad Walch
Deseret News
Published: Friday, April 25, 2008 1:11 a.m. MDT

PROVO — Widespread complaints continue to swirl that entrenched Republican Party leaders are breaking party rules and stacking the deck to help their party legislators win re-election, even after one major controversy was resolved Thursday.

Jackie deGaston, who is challenging powerful Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo, announced in an e-mail Thursday that she had dropped her effort to disqualify 17-year-old Hannah Lockhart as a delegate to Saturday's Utah County Republican Convention.

DeGaston had filed an official complaint against Lockhart that would have been heard today. DeGaston said in a release that she still believes party rules disqualify Lockhart because the girl was elected as a delegate from a precinct where she does not live.

The most inflammatory new allegation is that an unnamed party official tried to block someone from becoming a delegate because the person would oppose Bramble at the convention.

more...

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695273661,00.html

[sonias]

28. TX-Probe over whether students' voting rights violated still ongoing

AAS 4/26/08
Probe over whether students' voting rights violated still ongoing

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — Some students at a historically black university are wondering why an investigation by the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott into alleged voting rights violations is still not finished.

Abbott's office began its probe in December 2006 after allegations were made that about 300 students at Prairie View A&M University had to cast provisional ballots when their names were not on voting lists.

A provisional ballot is cast when someone shows up to vote and credentials for voting in a particular district cannot be verified on election day. Such a ballot is counted only after a voter's eligibility is verified.

Local black leaders also contended that more than 1,000 voter-registration forms may not have been processed by Waller County officials.

"Something should have been done by now," student Ashley Slayton told the Houston Chronicle. "I don't know think there is a logical explanation for why there hasn't been anything done."

Remember the story of the students in Prarie View A&M that walked more than 7 miles to vote early on the 1st day of early voting in the Texas Primary? Well this is another story of the same county, same school but earlier voter suppression tactics they engaged in.

Something sure should have been done by now, but don't wait for our Texas AG Abbot to do anything to defend minority voting rights. He's all about the voter suppression side of it. :grr:

Sonia

[livvy]

5. World n/t

[livvy]

6. Zimbabwe: After Authorities Release 10 Recount Results, Oppostion Still Controls Parliment

After authorities release 10 recount results, opposition still controls parliament

The Associated Press
Published: April 26, 2008


HARARE, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe's electoral commission on Saturday confirmed the results in 10 disputed votes, making it unlikely that President Robert Mugabe's party can wrest control of parliament from the opposition.

The commission said recounts confirmed that six seats were taken by the opposition and four by Mugabe's ZANU-PF party in the March 29 election.

The remaining 13 seats subject to recounts are mostly held by the opposition; Mugabe's party needs a virtual clean sweep to win back majority control of the 210-seat parliament.

Results of the presidential vote have not been released and the recount has been widely seen as a delaying tactic by Mugabe's party and state election authorities.

Original results from the voting showed that opposition groups won 110 seats to Mugabe's 97. Three seats are vacant, awaiting by-elections after the deaths of candidates.

more....

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/26/africa/AF-POL-Zimbabwe-Elections.php

[livvy]

7. Iran: Conservatives Secure Majority in Parliament As Ahmadinejad Criticized

Check out the first ad banner. Talk about a sick sense of "humor", an advertisement paid for by the candidate who would be most inclined to blast the humanity out of the country. :banghead:

April 26, 2008

Iran: Conservatives secure majority in parliament as Ahmadinejad criticized

Conservatives consolidated their control of Iran's parliament in run-off elections, according to partial results announced Saturday by state media. Of 82 seats included in Friday's run-off, there were final results for 56, said Iranian state television and the official news agency IRNA.

Supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won 12 seats, his conservative critics seven, reformists 12 and independents 25, according to partial results provided by state media. Conservatives also looked well-placed to pick up 10 seats and reformists one in the capital Tehran.

Conservatives won 132 seats in the first round of voting in March, meaning they would maintain a majority in the 290-seat parliament after the run-off elections.

Turnout for Friday's run-off in Tehran appeared to be low.

more...

http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Iran/226347

[livvy]

8. National n/t

[livvy]

9. GOP Objects To Bill Allowing Recounts

GOP objects to bill allowing recounts
By: Ben Adler
April 25, 2008 12:26 PM EST

Voting rights activists who hoped the federal government would help local governments pay for paper trails and audits for electronic voting machines have gone from elation to frustration as they watched Republicans who supported such a proposal in committee vote against bringing it to the House floor.

The result: The elections in November will likely be marred by the same accusations of fraud and error involving voting machines that arose in the aftermath of the 2004 presidential race.

When New Jersey Democratic Rep. Rush Holt’s Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act came up for a vote in the House Administration Committee on April 2, the Republicans on the committee gave it their unanimous support. But two weeks later, those same Republican members voted against moving the bill to the House floor. It would have taken a two-thirds vote to push the bill to the floor; with most House Republicans opposed, the bill didn’t make it that far.

Larry Norden, director of the voting technology project at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s law school, called the vote “a sad statement on how little Congress has done on the issue of making sure elections are as secure and reliable as possible.”


more...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9841.html

[livvy]

14. Election '08 n/t

[livvy]

15. 2 Station in N.C. Will Not Air GOP Ad

Posted on Fri, Apr. 25, 2008

2 stations in N.C.
will not air GOP ad

DAVID INGRAM

A Charlotte TV station says it will not air an advertisement from the N.C. Republican Party that uses a sound bite from Barack Obama's retiring minister.
"I just don't think it's appropriate to be on our air," said Joe Pomilla, general manager for WSOC-TV. "I think it's offensive, and I'm not real comfortable with the implications around race."

Pomilla said the station has declined other advertisements in the past. The station is not under a legal obligation to run the ad, as it might be if a candidate and not a party were sponsoring it.

The decision came amid a continuing whirlwind of state and national reactions to the ad, which Republicans released Wednesday on the Internet.

Raleigh television station WRAL also said it will not run it.

Charlie Black, a senior aide to John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said the party would pull the ad, though the party said that isn't true.

And the minister in question said it is unfair for the media to air only snippets of his sermons.

more...
http://www.charlotte.com/540/story/595572.html

[livvy]

23. Snake recovery update...

And that's all I know for now about her slithery whereabouts.



Have a good weekend, All!

[Kurovski]

24. I hope she shows up soon, livvy.

But also remember the DUer who said their snake didn't show up until weeks later. :hug: Thank you.

[livvy]

26. You and me both.

I'm setting up a heat lure for her tonight. It's supposed to get quite cool here next week, so that may work in my favor.

Come back, Maizie!

[amihol]

25. i love to vote and elecT!