Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Wednesday 7//9/08

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All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

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

If you can:

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1. States:

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3. Template: Research Forum

Template by: achtung_circus.

A | C | D | | F | G | H | I | | K | L | M | N | O | P | | R | S | T | U | V | W |

========== A ==========
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas



AL: Group wants voting records

A public interest voting watchdog group has ruffled some feathers in Alabama with open record requests for information about problems in the June 3 party primaries.

BlackBoxVoting.org, in a June 13 letter to county voting officials, asked for records of election law violations and reports of problems with computerized or electronic voting machines.

Secretary of State Beth Chapman told registrars, who do not manage elections in Alabama, that Attorney General Troy King has advised not to respond to requests for information about voting fraud since information may be part of a criminal investigation, according to Chapman spokeswoman Emily Thompson.

King is investigating a relatively high number of absentee ballots being cast in three counties during the June 3 party primaries.

Times Daily

AL: As Republican election looms, Bright keeps campaigning

While Republican Congressional candidates Jay Love and Harri Anne Smith have been spending tons of money trying to defeat the other in next week’s runoff election, Democratic nominee Bobby Bright has been raising money.

And some think a district that was once believed to be one of the safer Republican districts in the country could be up for grabs for the first time in more than 40 years.

...

Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District has been decidedly Republican in recent history

...

However, recent Democrat upsets in heavy Republican districts in Louisiana and Mississippi have Democrats believing this district could be vulnerable as well.

Dothan Eagle

AL: Representative could become Alabama’s first African-American governor

SELMA, Ala. (AP) - U.S. Rep. Artur Davis says he’s looking very seriously at running for governor of Alabama in two years.

Davis is a Democrat from Birmingham. He made the comments to the Selma Times Journal Tuesday while visiting his district office in Selma.

Davis said he is working to see if he has the support and if he can raise the money needed to mount a statewide race for governor.

If elected, Davis would become the state’s first black governor. Davis said 2010 is the ideal time for him to enter the governor’s race. He said one reason is that for the first time since 1986, an incumbent governor will not be on the ballot.

Dothan Eagle

AZ: Shocking Affidavit regarding Election Tampering in Pima County, AZ

BREAKING NEWS: Further evidence of tampering with the RTA results has been exposed by a former Pima County employee. He will testify, under oath, that Bryan Crane, election computer operator, feared discovery of the fact that he, at the direction of Elections Director Brad Nelson, had tampered with the data from the RTA election, materially “fixing” the election to approve rather than reject the RTA proposition.

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AUDIT AZ, on behalf of the public and election integrity activists, demands a complete RE-investigation of the RTA Election by AG Terry Goddard’s office, including these steps:

1. To preserve the actual ballots

2. To do a full hand count, with witnesses, of all the RTA ballots

3. To determine whether there are criminal acts to be prosecuted

###

AUDIT-AZ (Americans United for Democracy, Integrity, and Transparency in Elections, Arizona)

OP ED

========== C ==========
California
Colorado
Connecticut




CA: State Republicans cool to youth-voting bills

A pair of Assembly bills designed to bring more young people into the voting booths are being fought by Republicans who worry that too many of those new voters will be liberal Democrats.

One of the measures would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to "preregister" to vote, while the other would allow 17-year-olds to vote in a primary election if they will be 18 by the date of the next general election. Both bills have prompted straight party-line votes, with no hint of GOP support.

While Democrats sponsoring the bills say they are merely good-government measures, studies show that their party would get a major election-day boost if more young voters cast ballots.

Exit polls done during this year's presidential primary season showed that the number of voters younger than 30 has more than doubled since the 2004 and 2000 elections, with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, drawing an enthusiastic and growing response from those young voters.

SF Gate

========== D ==========
Delaware
District of Columbia



DC: Future voters raise their voices outside White House

WASHINGTON --More than half a million people are living in the nation's capitol, but they do not enjoy the same rights as most citizens in the United States. That's why a group of children in Washington marched in front of the White House rallying for full voting rights.

Medill Reports

========== F ==========
Florida



FL: Voting right restored, but they don't know it

Florida restored civil rights to Coleman Felts, 67, of Miami on May 23, but the former construction worker had no idea.

"I really want to vote this year, it's an important year," said Felts, a potential Barack Obama supporter who lost civil rights 20 years ago after felony convictions.

Felts is one of tens of thousands of former felons now eligible to vote under Florida's slimmed down process for restoring civil rights for nonviolent offenders. But the cumbersome bureaucracy lags far behind in letting the potential voters know.

The lag suggests the full impact of Gov. Charlie Crist's bold push to reverse a history of disenfranchisement won't be seen this November.

A St. Petersburg Times analysis found that while some 88,000 former nonviolent felons are newly eligible to cast a ballot for the first time in this presidential election, less than 10 percent, or roughly 8,200, were registered to vote as of the end of May.

Tampa Bay

FL: Lawmaker cleared of campaign charge

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida House of Representatives will not pursue action against a state lawmaker accused of using his office to undermine a political opponent.

Rep. Paige Kreegel, R-Punta Gorda, did not engage in electioneering — asking people to vote for or against someone — when he raised questions about the education background of his opponent, a panel of his peers determined Tuesday after a probable cause hearing.

The three lawmakers on the House panel quickly dispensed of the case, but the sole Democrat said the incident left much concern.

"I hope, if nothing else, that this sends a message to our colleagues in the Legislature, future legislators, that this kind of action is troubling," said Rep. Curtis Richardson, D-Tallahassee.

Tampa Bay

========== G ==========
Georgia

========== H ==========
Hawaii

========== I ==========
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa

========== K ==========
Kansas
Kentucky

KS: PARTY HOPPING: Election stokes interest

County Clerk and Election Officer Karen Brooks said she has noticed more people than usual switching political parties in preparation for the Aug. 5 primary election.

...

Primary elections are held for the political parties to select their candidates for the general election.

...

The last day to register or change party affiliation for the primary election is July 21. A voter who has moved or changed their name since they last voted must also re-register.

There are 6,501 registered Democrats in Cowley County; 9,263 Republicans and 6,752 unaffiliated voters as of July 8. An unaffiliated voter must declare a party in order to vote a Republican ballot in the primary.

"They can do that election day at the poll," Brooks said. "They can choose which ballot they want only if they are unaffiliated."

On the other hand, voters don't have to be a Democrat to vote a Democratic ballot. Unaffiliated voters can vote a Democratic ticket, party leaders decided this year.

Newscom

KS: HAWVER: Does primary date change Republican results?

TOPEKA —For years Kansans — mostly Republicans, though Democrats chime in, too — have talked about the split in the Republican Party that makes interesting but predictable news stories.

It’s the “social conservatives” vs. the “moderates” who battle every cycle in primary elections to win the nomination and the right to put the still respected “Republican” party behind their names on the general election ballot in a state that is overwhelmingly Republican by party registration.

In dozens of Kansas House and Senate districts across the state, the “R” behind a candidate’s name is good for about 45 percent of the vote. The label “Democrat” is worth, by registration, 27 percent of the vote statewide. Now, that’s just registration, and it doesn’t mean that Republicans vote only for Republicans or that Democrats vote only for Democrats. But there’s an inclination for Republicans and Democrats to stick to their party label when they don’t know something specific about the candidates.

That leaves, at least this year, statewide, about 27 percent of voters who don’t have a party affiliation, show up just for the November general election and essentially decides who wins in House and Senate districts and ultimately which party holds the majority in the Legislature.

The Kansan

========== L ==========
Louisiana

========== M ==========
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana



MA: House to consider bill to eliminate Electoral College

House lawmakers will consider legislation today that could someday rid the state of the Electoral College system and put presidential elections more directly in the hands of voters.

Massachusetts would become the fifth state to join a movement toward switching to a popular vote, an initiative that would be implemented only if states representing a majority of the nation's 538 electoral votes approve similar legislation.

The plan would not affect the 2008 election and would not be put into place until 2012, at the earliest.

The House is planning to vote today, and the Senate will likely follow next week. Both House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray support the idea, which makes its approval by the Legislature possible. Governor Deval Patrick has given it a tentative thumbs up, pending further study.

Boston

MA: Require Some Sex Offenders to Vote Absentee

WATERTOWN - (H 4546) - The House gave initial approval to legislation prohibiting Level 3 (high-risk) sex offenders from voting at schools and libraries and requiring them to vote by absentee ballot. Supporters said that the bill would keep these dangerous sex offenders away from young children in schools and libraries. Opponents argued that the ban is unconstitutional and does not conform to state law that allows absentee voting only if the voter will be out of town on Election Day, holds religious beliefs that would prevent him or her from voting on that day or is disabled.

Watertown Local

MD: Greenbelt residents oppose district voting system

No decisions were made concerning a change to the Greenbelt voting system at a well-attended City Council work session Monday night.

Over 100 residents packed into the meeting room to hear the presentation by the American Civil Liberties Union and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People officials Monday night on their analysis of the Greenbelt at-large voting system.

After discovering that Greenbelt has not had minority representation on the council in 70 years, the ACLU has been delving into the issue of the minority vote in Greenbelt since February.

As part of the analysis, Deborah Jeon, ACLU of Maryland legal director, compared voter turnout in municipal and national elections since 2004 to see how many people in general were voting for city council. They found that turnout was extremely low for municipal elections, especially in the largely minority Springhill Lake Apartment complex area.

Gazette

MI: Gov. Granholm unsure about entire ballot issue

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm likes parts of a ballot proposal that would make sweeping changes to state government, but said Tuesday she has doubts about other portions of it.

Reform Michigan Government Now say the constitutional changes it proposes would make state government more efficient by cutting the number of legislators and judges and trimming pay for many state elected officials.

The measure appears to have been developed by Democratic strategists, although none has acknowledged being behind it. Republican leaders say it's a stealth attempt to make the state's top courts and the Legislature more Democratic.

The Democratic governor told reporters she likes the provisions that allow people to vote absentee without a reason, but is worried black voters could lose representation if legislative seats are cut.

MLive

MN: Blocking democracy in St. Paul elections

The City Council will try to block IRV from the ballot, despite community support.

Over the last year, instant runoff voting supporters organized as the St. Paul Better Ballot Campaign collected more than 7,000 signatures from voters in favor of IRV. The petition was certified by the Ramsey County Elections Office earlier this month; however, the City Council has been trying to nullify the voice of the people who wish to see this important issue on their ballot.

The Council has declared that it will vote today to keep the measure from the ballot this year, after seeking the advice of City Attorney John Choi, whose opinion is that IRV "might be" unconstitutional. St. Paul's Charter states that only measures found to be "manifestly unconstitutional" can be blocked.

IRV, however, is a constitutionally proved voting method in other cities across the nation. IRV is currently used in San Francisco; Cambridge, Mass.; Burlington, Vt.; Takoma Park, Md., and in Cary and Hendersonville, N.C. It will soon be implemented in almost two-dozen other cities. In Minneapolis, the City Council voted 12-1 to put IRV on the ballot in 2006, where it overwhelmingly won, and will be used for the first time next year. Why, then, would the St. Paul Council act so obviously against the people and the law? If implemented, IRV would be the new process through which St. Paul elects City Council members and the mayor.

By voting to keep IRV from its proper place on this year's St. Paul ballot, the City Council will attempt not only to violate the Charter, but also to abuse the power given to them by the people.

Minnesota Daily

MN: U student faces felony charge

Max Sanders was charged after he tried to sell his vote for the presidential election on eBay.

Max Sanders' vote does matter. At least it does to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

Sanders, a 19-year-old University student, was charged with a felony for bribery, treating and solicitation Thursday after attempting to sell his presidential election vote to the highest bidder on eBay more than a month ago.

"The rules are simple," Sanders explained on the eBay post. "The highest bidder will tell me who to cast my vote for in the election. I will vote for any candidate of any party, as long as they are on the ballot."

Sanders also offered to abstain from voting if the winner desired.

Minnesota Daily

========== N ==========
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota



NC: Budget cuts looming in Hamilton County

Hamilton County's top budget official is telling all county departments except for the Board of Elections to prepared for budget cuts of just under 6 percent, or a combined $6.9 million, saying the cuts are needed to avoid a fiscal emergency.

...

In a Jan. 8 e-mail, Sigman outlined cuts that he expects will be part of a revised budget document to be considered by Hamilton County Commissioners July 17. The Board of Elections would be exempted "because the department is already projecting a shortfall of $239,000 due to new voting requirements based on federal law," Sigman's memo explained.

Biz Journal

========== O ==========
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon



OH: Ohio official mulls new voting machine rule

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s elections chief is reconsidering a plan to prohibit poll workers from taking voting machines home for safekeeping in the days before the November presidential election.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is facing opposition from county elections officials who say the custom makes it easier to transport machines to the polls. Brunner said before the March primary that taking the machines home was a security risk and that she would seek to end the practice.

A spokesman said Wednesday that Brunner is studying the issue and hasn’t decided what she will do.

County officials who have used the practice for years have complained that making a change just a few months out from a massive election would disrupt their preparation schedules and budgets.

Lancaster Eagle Gazette

OH: Secretary of State, veteran bonuses: Ohio political news

COLUMBUS -- Ohio's elections chief is reconsidering a plan to prohibit poll workers from taking voting machines home for safekeeping in the days before the November presidential election.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is facing opposition from county elections officials who say the custom makes it easier to transport machines to the polls.

Brunner said before the March primary that taking the machines home was a security risk and that she would seek to end the practice.

A spokesman said Wednesday that Brunner is studying the issue and hasn't decided what she will do.

Cleveland

OH: Will Foreclosures Affect Voting Rolls?

(AP) Election officials worry that the state's home foreclosure problem will pose a problem this November for voters still registered at their former address, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Voters in pivotal Ohio with outdated addresses face possible pre-election challenges and trips to multiple polling places. They also are more likely to cast provisional ballots that might not be counted.

"It's a real issue," said Daniel Tokaji, an Ohio State University law professor who specializes in elections. He wonders whether foreclosures might explain the increasing percentages of provisional votes cast between 2004 and Ohio's latest election, the presidential primary in March.

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Nearly 3,700 people are registered to vote at Columbus addresses the city lists as vacant, according to records maintained by the city's code-enforcement office and the Franklin County Board of Elections, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

CBS News

========== P ==========
Pennsylvania

========== R ==========
Rhode Island



RI: Elections board postpones plan to restrict ballots

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—The state Board of Elections has postponed voting on a proposed rule that would not count the votes of people who show up at the wrong polling place on Election Day.

The board on Thursday put off a vote on the plan until after the November election.

The American Civil Liberties Union had opposed the change because it said people who cast a ballot at the wrong polling place will not have any of their votes counted.

Under current rules, people who show up at the wrong precinct can still have their votes for federal office counted.

Boston

========== S ==========
South Carolina
South Dakota

========== T ==========
Tennessee
Texas



TX: Appeals court hears Texas electronic voting case

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Texas Democratic Party today asked a federal appeals court to revive its lawsuit over alleged flaws in a widely used electronic voting system.

A lawyer for the party told the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that thousands of voters in dozens of counties could be disenfranchised unless the format for eSlate machines is changed.

Democrats claim the machines use a confusing interface and are prone to undercounting "straight-party" votes when a voter chooses all candidates in one party in one action.

The party sued the Texas Secretary of State's office, but a federal judge in Austin threw out the lawsuit last year.

KCEN TV

TX: Commissioners approved purchase of more voting machines for November election

Collin County Commissioners approved purchasing an additional 410 voting machines on Tuesday to prepare for the November 4 presidential election, and agreed to ask the McKinney City Council to help pay for a feasibility study for a tunnel to be built on US 380 at US 75.

The additional voting machines are needed due to the expected increase of people who will be voting in the Nov. 4 presidential and local election, said elections administrator Sharon Rowe.

David Smith, election administrator for the Democratic Party of Collin County, spoke in the public comment period of the meeting, and asked the commissioners to approve the purchase of the additional voting machines. Smith said that many people had to wait in line to vote in the Democratic Party primary election in March at various polling locations.

...

Victor Manuel, the Democratic Party candidate for County Commissioner for Precinct 3, said that people in Precinct 3 have told him that they are concerned that the county will not have enough paper ballots for people to use in the November election. Manuel, who has been an election judge, asked the commissioners to approve the purchase of the machines.

Courier Gazette

TX: Democratic advisory group reviews 'Texas Two-Step' voting system

AUSTIN — The complicated system of allotting presidential delegates swamped the Texas Democratic Party during record voter turnout in the spring and needs to be improved, party Chairman Boyd Richie told an advisory committee today.

Texas Democrats distribute the state’s 193 delegates to the national convention using a hybrid system that includes the primary election and a caucus, with distribution favoring state Senate districts that had high voter turnout in the most recent presidential and gubernatorial elections.

But precinct convention workers accustomed to just a trickle of caucus-goers were overwhelmed by this year’s record turnout of more than a million voters in a historic race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton for the party’s presidential nomination.

...

Richie was addressing the Advisory Committee on the Texas Democratic Party Convention/Caucus System, which will convene several more hearings around the state to study the so-called “Texas Two-Step” and possibly make recommendations for improvement.

Dallas News

========== U ==========
Utah

========== V ==========
Vermont
Virginia



VA: Social activists hunt for congressional seats ... in G.O.P. districts

Tom Perriello of Virginia is among a new breed of Democrats competing strongly in places that usually vote Republican.

Scottsville, Va. - Except for the 10-year-old work boots he wears to every campaign stop, Tom Perriello – a netroots "social entrepreneur" – doesn't look like a close fit with the rural Virginia district he hopes will send him to Congress.

He's not donning hunting garb or toning down his support for same-sex marriage. His credentials are not in elected office or business, but mainly in creating social-action groups over the Internet, working for reform in places that aren't exactly top of mind in Virginia's Fifth Congressional District, such as Sierra Leone, Kosovo, and the Sudan.

But in an election when voter sentiment is running high against traditional politics and politicians, Mr. Perriello's unconventional résumé – and those of a handful of other Democratic hopefuls with backgrounds similar to his – could be an unexpected asset for strategists hoping for a "blue" wave in November. Last week, two Washington-based handicappers upgraded the competitiveness of this race, from "solid Republican" to the less-certain "likely Republican."

"It's not a traditional profile for a political candidate, but ... it is playing very well," says Fred Hudson, chairman of the Democratic Party Committee in Virginia's Fifth.

Christian Science Monitor

========== W ==========
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming



WA: State officials: 'Top two' primary still OK

Washington's Secretary of State and the state Attorney General say the U.S. Supreme Court has validated this state's top-two primary and they plan to proceed with the scheduled election in August.

But the attorneys for the state's major parties are now arguing that upcoming election would be in violation of a federal court order and the results would be subject to legal challenges.

The legal wrangling over the state's primary has become a protracted ride that has been a bur under the saddle for the voting public.

In 2003, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the state's long-standing blanket primary, which allowed voters to choose any candidate for each office regardless of their political affiliation, unconstitutional.

Seattle PI

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14. NY: Mark Crispin Miller: No Opscan in New York!

News From Underground

NO op-scans in New York!

July 09, 2008

As a friend of Bo Lipari, and longtime champion of New Yorkers for Verified Voting (NYVV),
I do regret that I must disagree profoundly with them on the matter of how New York casts
its votes. While they call for replacing this state's lever system with op-scans, I see op-scans
as unacceptable. As computerized machines, they don't permit the sort of open vote-count
that democracy requires, but only partial and belated audits--a lousy substitute for the
simplest and most honest counting method of them all: one that we can all observe together.

snip

As Andi Novick reminds us here, the hackability of op-scans was made crystal-clear in HBO's
great documentary Hacking Democracy (which, as she notes, will be screened this Sunday
in Poughkeepsie, for those concerned about the question of New York's voting system).

In the following open letter, Andi makes a powerful case against the use of op-scans in
New York.

MCM

snip


Dear friends and particularly the Voters of New York State,

New Yorkers are the only U.S. citizens who have a protected right to vote. Incredible but true. Almost every other American (except for those pockets of the country that hand count) are using software-driven DREs or Optical Scanners, both of which have been proven to vulnerable to undetectable tampering. So voting on them is a crap shoot- you have no idea if your vote will count. Speaking of crap- please go to http://re-mediaetc.blogspot.com/2008/07/eyes-wide-shut.html to see what your state election commissioners think of this crap (crap is a direct quote from one of the commissioners).

So why are we abandoning our secure lever voting system for crappy, theft-inviting software-driven optical scanners? To ponder this further see http://re-mediaetc.blogspot.com/2008/07/eyes-wide-shut.html

And the answer is-- there is no legitimate reason to give up our safe, reliable lever voting system for this unsafe crap. That's why we have to sue the State and the State Board of Elections to stop computerized vote counting software from coming into our state. That's what I've been working on (and that's why you don't get quite so many emails any longer). Here's a two page summary of the complaint LitigationSummary.pdf. we'll be commencing WITH YOUR HELP. Unlike all the other times I've said we could really use your help- this time it's more important than ever. If it's not everyone of you and everyone you know supporting this litigation effort than who are we doing this for?

Software-driven systems can steal your vote and you'd never know. That's a fact and here are the 2 dozen scientific studies Sci Studies in 6-21v.doc corroborating how unsafe and unreliable this crap is. Forcing us to vote on undetectably mutable software is unconstitutional! It is the essence of disenfranchisement! If we're going to fight to preserve our sovereignty we all have to mobilize behind this litigation now.

I had hoped to send around a Petition tonight asking you all to circulate widely and to sign up as plaintiffs to the litigation, but the Petition on Line people have yet to get back to me, so for now- read and learn and in a few days I will hopefully be able to send out the Petition and more about what you can do to help.

In addition to the litigation summary and Eyes Wide Shut, read NY Loves Its Levers as New Systems Fail and LET'S CLEAR THE AIR- clarifying the misinformation out there, distilling the facts from the myths. And check regularly into our Re-Media Election Transparency blog http://re-mediaetc.blogspot.com/ which we'll update to keep you apprised.

There's your homework assignment until the next email asking you to be a Plaintiff in this historic lawsuit and sending you the Petition to sign and circulate.

If you want to talk about this more, after you've read the articles linked above, I'll be at a showing of Hacking Democracy this Sunday at 2:00, July 13th, at the Muddy Cup 305 Main St, Poughkeepsie, NY.

For more information, http://www.activistresource.org/calendar/cal_event.php?id=11078. If you haven't seen how an optical scanner can be rigged without detection, come out and see Hacking Democracy this Sunday. PLEASE CIRCULATE TO YOUR LISTS

thanks
andi novick


http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/2008/07/no-op-scans-in-new-york.html


Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x505319

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2. Commentary, Op Ed, etc.

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4. Project Vote Smart Bus Tour Schedule

"A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives."
-- President James Madison

After 16 years of work by 6000 volunteers, at the cost of twelve million dollars, the Voter’s Self-Defense System is finally complete, and ready to be presented to American voters from across the nation.

To deliver the system Project Vote Smart has acquired a 45′ bus that we will be using to tour the nation to teach voters how to defend themselves against the rhetoric and misinformation that come out of political campaigns today.

We are currently looking for places to bring the bus. If you would like to volunteer on the bus at one of our confirmed stops or have an event or place you think we should bring the bus to in the cities listed on our schedule below, please e-mail [e-mail] and tell us about it. We need to know where it is, what it is, how many people are expected to attend, contact information for the event or function, and any other information that will help us to bring the bus to your community, so that we can arm you and your neighbors with these essential tools to defend yourselves.

Project VoteSmart

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5. Vendor misinformation in the e-voting world

July 1st, 2008 by Dan Wallach

Last week, I testified before the Texas House Committee on Elections (you can read my testimony). I’ve done this many times before, but I figured this time would be different. This time, I was armed with the research from the California “Top to Bottom” reports and the Ohio EVEREST reports. I was part of the Hart InterCivic source code team for California’s analysis. I knew the problems. I was prepared to discuss them at length.

Wow, was I disappointed. Here’s a quote from Peter Lichtenheld, speaking on behalf of Hart InterCivic:

Security reviews of the Hart system as tested in California, Colorado, and Ohio were conducted by people who were given unfettered access to code, equipment, tools and time and they had no threat model. While this may provide some information about system architecture in a way that casts light on questions of security, it should not be mistaken for a realistic approximation of what happens in an election environment. In a realistic election environment, the technology is enhanced by elections professionals and procedures, and those professionals safeguard equipment and passwords, and physical barriers are there to inhibit tampering. Additionally, jurisdiction ballot count, audit, and reconciliation processes safeguard against voter fraud.

You can find the whole hearing online (via RealAudio streaming), where you will hear the Diebold/Premier representative, as well as David Beirne, the director of their trade organization, saying essentially the same thing. Since this seems to be the voting system vendors’ party line, let’s spend some time analyzing it.

Freedom to Tinker

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7. Fighting For Basic Voting Rights

States Struggle to Register Veterans, Former Felons and Minorities

By: Erin Ferns - July 03, 2008
Weekly Voting Rights News Update

In the aftermath of the presidential primaries, stories of unprecedented voter registration and turnout are drifting to the back burner. But with an exceedingly imbalanced electorate, the fight to create access to the voting rolls and enforce the voting rights of all Americans continues. With historic voter registration drives underway and a preview of the types of problems that could occur in November, the focus of the media is beginning to shift towards the less sexy, but crucial elements that work to maximize voter participation while ensuring eligible voters can cast their ballots and have them counted. In Project Vote’s view, this is a welcome development since many of the potential issues require more time to sort out than is available if problems are noted only weeks in advance of the election. This week, election officials, advocates and a presidential candidate worked to assist in or restore voting rights for hospitalized veterans in Connecticut, minority citizens in Georgia, and former felons in Tennessee.

In protest of a ban on voter registration drives issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in May, Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz and state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal held an impromptu registration drive outside of a VA center on Monday, according to the New Haven Register. Last week, Bysiewicz's office had been verbally denied access to the VA centers to conduct registration drives on site.

...

But state-by-state interpretation of the new directive creates more worries. According to Roger Johnson, director of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, nonpartisan voter registration drives are indeed acceptable and Bysiewicz's denial was a mistake. Other states deny all voter registration activity, according to the Register.

“What you have here is either a colossal misunderstanding, or an unconscionable misreading of this directive,” said Blumenthal. “The VA has to have its act together when it is talking about basic rights.”

VoteMatters

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8. Study: Electronic Voting Increased Counting Errors in France

Polling stations using electronic voting systems suffered more voting discrepancies than polling stations using traditional paper votes in four recent French elections, according to a study sponsored by two groups campaigning for free and transparent elections.

Chantal Enguehard, a researcher at the University of Nantes specializing in electronic voting, looked at discrepancies between the number of electors who signed the electoral register to confirm that they voted and the number of votes subsequently counted for each polling station. The study compared discrepancies at 6,427 polling stations using electronic voting machines and 14,624 using paper ballots, in both rounds of the 2007 presidential election and two subsequent elections.

There were discrepancies between the number of signatures and the number of votes at around 29.8 percent of polling stations studied using electronic voting machines, compared to just 5.3 percent of those using paper ballots, and those discrepancies were larger in the stations using voting machines, Enguehard found. It's unlikely that voters' unfamiliarity with the machines is to blame, for two reasons, said Enguehard. The ratio of discrepancies between electronic and traditional stations got worse, rather than better, with time, and there was no correlation between the bureaus with discrepancies and the bureaus that received the most complaints about difficulties with the voting machines.

PC World

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9. Florida Voting: Third Time's the Charm?

For more than half of Florida's voters, including residents of the state's five largest counties, Election Day in November will mean choosing a President using a third new voting system in as many presidential elections. First it was those notorious punch cards; then it was ATM-style touch-screen machines. Now these Floridians will have the optical-scan ballot. Will 2008 be the year Florida finally gets it right?

In February 2007, less than a month into his governorship, Charlie Crist announced a proposal to eliminate all touch-screen machines in Florida, including the ones Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pinellas and 10 other smaller counties spent millions of dollars on them after the 2000 election (in many cases, the counties still had millions left to pay off). The trouble: the machines did not produce a paper trail, a fact that critics pounced upon. Furthermore, a botched Sarasota County congressional election in November 2006 produced more than 18,000 "undervotes" (or nonvotes) using the machines in a race in which the contenders were just 400 votes apart. It was time to change methods. Again.

With the latest system, voters will receive ballots at polling places and use a pen to color in a bubble of their choice or connect a line between two arrows. They then submit the ballot to a poll worker who will run it through a scanning machine. Although the actual ballot is considered the voter's "receipt" — a term the governor used while touting the system last year — voters walk away with nothing. Votes are still tabulated electronically. The ballots are used as a backup for auditing and recount purposes.

TIME

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10. Choice voting form of “PR” boosted in Cincinnati (OH) & Port Chester (NY)

Good news for advocates of fair elections from Cincinnati, Ohio and Port Chester, New York.

Cincinnati has a proud history with its choice voting form of proportional representation, which was used every two years to elect its city council for three decades, ending in a 1957 repeal driven by concerns about how the system provided fair representation to racial minorities. My early activism for proportional representation was highlighted by spending two months in Cincinnati in 1991 volunteering on a campaign to bring choice voting back — it won 45% on a small budget. The issue has continued to simmer and nearly come to a boil, as Cincinnati has at-large, winner-take-all elections that provide uneven representation.

Now the Cincinnati NAACP is working with long-time advocates on a petition drive to put choice voting on the ballot. This time, it should have a real chance to succeed– keep an eye on this effort.

Meanwhile, in New York State, we are thrilled to have the Brennan Center for Justice representing our amicus brief arguing for choice voting in a voting rights case in Port Chester, New York. The judge is weighing allowing the Brennan Center to represent our perspective in upcoming oral arguments. As background, Port Chester has lost the case on liability and has suggested cumulative voting as a remedy. We believe cumulative voting would be better than the current winner-take-all system, but argue that choice voting is a more reliable remedy and one with a history of being used successfully in New York State and upheld in state courts. Oral arguments on remedy will take place later this month.

Fair Vote

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11. Click of a mouse, younger democracy

Internet usage is up this election year - and young Americans are leading the way.

Arguably not since Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" pamphlets literally revolutionized colonial thought in 1776 has a form of media been as politically potent in America as the Internet is during the 2008 elections.

Consider findings the Pew Internet and American Life Project recently released : Roughly 40 percent of Americans are using the Internet for political information or participation - up nearly 10 percent from the 2004 presidential race. Leading this virtual charge is the ubiquitous voting bloc labeled, sometimes disdainfully, as the "youth vote." The poll says that 18- to 29-year-olds comprise nearly 60 percent of Americans who use the Internet to exchange and consume political information this election year.

This could indeed be the redemptive year for young voters, whom politicians have been able to use as conciliatory door-knockers without having to pay serious attention to their demands - mainly because of a weak polling-attendance record. To be sure, the Barack Obama and John McCain camps are channeling youth activism through the Internet like never before (particularly Obama). But likewise, the Internet provides young voters a means to partake in, and therefore shape, the political debate like never before.

...

So maybe as this historic election plays out on computer screens across the nation we are testing the wisdom of the First Amendment. Young voters, particularly college students, should continue to write that test. The youth, after all, don't even have to take to the streets to voice dissent anymore like the raucous baby-boomers before them. No, today's revolution is at the click of a mouse and it heralds a more youthful, informed and participatory democracy.

MN Daily

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12. Preparing For Armed Forces Voters Week

AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

The November 4, 2008 General Election is quickly approaching, and that means it is time for Voting Assistance Officers (VAO) to make their last push to get out absentee voting information. The 2008 Armed Forces Voters Week (AFVW), this coming August 31-September 7, is the perfect opportunity for VAOs to coordinate workshops and information sessions in order to provide absentee voting assistance.

AFVW marks the last safe week when military and overseas citizens can send in the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) (SF-76) to register as an absentee voter with their Local Election Offices and to receive their absentee ballot in time to vote in the November election. Remember that specific information regarding registration and absentee ballot request form deadlines is located in the 2008-2009 Voting Assistance Guide as well as online at the FVAP website www.fvap.gov under State by State Instructions.

1 Organize workshops to be held during AFVW and advertise sign-up sheets for these classes during the few weeks prior. Use those workshops as an opportunity to help your fellow service members complete FPCAs as well as to answer any of their questions regarding absentee voting.
2 Remember to emphasize the importance of requesting an absentee ballot early! When addressing individual questions regarding differing states and their regulations be sure to consult the Voting Assistance Guide (VAG).
3 Remember that many states allow for various types of electronic transmission of election materials. Be sure to inform service members of their electronic alternatives during the ballot requesting process.
4 Encourage individuals to contact their Local Election Offices immediately when they do not receive their ballots in a timely manner.

Voting Information News

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6. delete

[rumpel]

13. flashl

great template - how does it work? i have not been here for a while - does it collect in the DU research forum?

thanks for continuing the effort :hi:

:yourock:

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15. Hi, its a copy of an open edit template from the Research Forum similar to the one below ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=358&topic_id=190&mesg_id=190

If I understand it correctly, although the template is based on the Research Forum's "open edit" function. The "open edit" capability is only active in the Research Forum. So, to answer your question, here in Election Reform, the ability to "open" the entry for future additions is not available.

One day, when I get the courage, I will leave the "talk box" in the template to 'see' what happens.

[rumpel]

16. sounds good

:)