The headline Andy Stephenson was waiting for.

[WilliamPitt]

Security Of Electronic Voting Is Condemned
Paper Systems Should Be Included, Agency Says

By Cameron W. Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 1, 2006; Page A01

Paperless electronic voting machines used throughout the Washington region and much of the country "cannot be made secure," according to draft recommendations issued this week by a federal agency that advises the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

The assessment by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, one of the government's premier research centers, is the most sweeping condemnation of such voting systems by a federal agency.

In a report hailed by critics of electronic voting, NIST said that voting systems should allow election officials to recount ballots independently from a voting machine's software. The recommendations endorse "optical-scan" systems in which voters mark paper ballots that are read by a computer and electronic systems that print a paper summary of each ballot, which voters review and elections officials save for recounts.

Voters in Maryland cast ballots on electronic machines that produce no paper record of each vote; in the District and Loudoun County, voters can choose between using such machines and optical-scan systems. Other Northern Virginia jurisdictions, and many counties across the state, use electronic voting systems exclusively.

NIST's recommendations are to be debated next week before the Technical Guidelines Development Committee, charged by Congress to develop standards for voting systems. To become effective, NIST's recommendations must then be adopted by the Election Assistance Commission, which was created by Congress to promote changes in election systems after the 2000 debacle in Florida.

If the commission agrees with NIST, the practical impact may not be felt until 2009 or 2010, the soonest that new standards would be implemented. The standards that the Election Assistance Commission will adopt are voluntary, but most states require election officials to deploy voting systems that meet national or federal criteria.

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/30/AR2006113001637.html

[blm]

1. I said the same in another thread. Smile, Andy - we're smiling with you.

.

[XboxWarrior]

64. Not to rain on the parade

Can u enlighten me?

Was he waiting for this in the Jesus realm?

E-voting is gonna be here for a LONGGGGGGG TIME......

Kinda like the computer, it will happen.

Can you all imagine a day without the internets?

Nothing wrong with voting electronically....if it's real

Question is......can we make it safe? and secure?

just sayin'

[xultar]

2. To Andy! They are listening!

O8)

Thank you Andy!

[madrchsod]

3. i`m sure he is...

andy was one of those who led the fight. thanks andy!

[havocmom]

4. Andy worked for safe ballots. Kef, tried to bring us all the news.

Electronic voting gets bad reviews and corp-media fails at keeping a lid on truth.

Makes me wonder if our work continues after our bodies give out.

To Truth, and all who serve it! (Present company included) :toast:

[dweller]

58. and Nostamj gave us something to laugh about

it the midst of the tears.

:toast: to them all!

dp

[PDittie]

5. Raising a toast to the warrior

even though it's breakfast-time.

You fought the good fight, Mr. Stephenson. And we carried it on after you had fallen. The battle isn't over until the last DRE has been cast into the sea, but an important victory was won.

We salute you. :patriot:

[mom cat]

9. I think that we should throw at least one DRE into the Boston Harbor!

However, we should immediately then fish it out so it does not poison the water.

[PDittie]

19. I'll take care of the Gulf of Mexico, if

you (or Will P) can covah the Hahbah.

[Norrin Radd]

59. I would love to beat a DRE to smithereens with an aluminum ball bat.

And then recycle the wreckage, of course.

[PDittie]

60. Like the copier that gets killed in 'Office Space".

I'll supply the bats.

[Norrin Radd]

63. Oh, yeah! I forgot about that scene.

Exactly like that.

[myrna minx]

6. Andy, your hard work is now bearing fruit.

Thank you Andy. We miss you. :hug:

[catmandu57]

7. I wish he was here to see it

To Andy :toast:

[fooj]

40. Oh...but he IS here...

O8)

[BonnieJW]

8. I have sent this article to

The head of elections in Virginia, Gov. Tim Kaine and our wonderful newly elected Jim Webb. Please do the same in each of your respective states.

[Nikki Stone1]

10. Great idea!

Have to send this to Boxer and Feinstein.

[xxqqqzme]

21. and Debra Bowen -

this gives her fight ammunition.

[porphyrian]

11. I'll kick that. - n/t

[KaryninMiami]

12. Trust me- he is fully aware of what is taking place right now and he is smiling!

Wherever he is, he's cheering and celebrating- as should we all. It took a bit longer then we had anticipated but WE DID IT. All of the emails, all the phone calls, all the letters to the editor, all the passionate reporting and relentless research -- we became the media and the media woke up (and now, thank goodness, so has America). I hope everyone understands this-- if we would have not made so much noise, those machines would never have been questioned and we'd be "staying the course with rigged elections."

We have much more work to do to protect our votes but we've clearly broken through and the light is beginning to shine!

This new year let's drink a toast to celebrate Andy and celebrate each other and celebrate hope-- something that many of us have been afraid to invest any emotional energy in for fear that it would, lead to more disappointment. This year we can all hope for a new beginning.

Cheers, Andy, Cheers Will Pitt and cheers to everyone who helped propel this revolution.

[Fovea]

13. Finally we can see the top of the hill

I cant wait till we push that big rock over the top, and the Pols and vendors have to try and keep it from rolling them over.

[pacalo]

14. Sign this petition asking Nancy Pelosi to add paper ballots to the first 100-hr. agenda...

From Jim Dean, Democracy for America:

On Election Night, DFA-endorsed candidate Barbara McIlvaine Smith was down by 19 votes in her race for the Pennsylvania state house. She refused to concede, saying, "It is not about winning or losing... It's about making sure our democracy is intact."

Earlier this week the count of absentee and military paper ballots concluded, and Barbara won by 23 votes -- switching the Pennsylvania House from Republican to Democratic for the first time in 12 years.

This powerful victory happened because every paper ballot was counted. But across America votes are increasingly being cast electronically with no paper record. Had the election in Pennsylvania been conducted electronically there is no saying how the race might have been decided.

You helped elect a new Democratic House and Senate in Washington, D.C. It's time to put our majority into action. Ask Speaker Nancy Pelosi to put paper ballots on the agenda in the new Congress's first 100 hours:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/paperballots

The danger of paperless elections is clear. Look at Sarasota County, Florida. They use paperless touch screen voting machines. In the hotly contested Congressional race there, Election Night ended with Republican Vern Buchanan ahead of Democrat Christine Jennings by less than one-quarter of one percent. This triggered an automatic recount.

On November 20, state election officials certified Buchanan as the winner by 369 votes, despite the fact that there were 18,000 "under-votes" in the county. An under-vote is when a machine reports a vote cast for another office, but not for the Congressional seat. The percentage of under-votes in Democratic leaning Sarasota County was far higher than in surrounding counties. And many voters reported that their votes were not recorded on their electronic ballot. Some said the machine skipped the race while others couldn't find the race listed at all.

Currently this contest is being litigated in the courts. But the results of this election will be forever in doubt because there are no paper ballots to review.

This is unacceptable. Congress has the power to mandate that all elections take place using paper ballots. Ask the new Democratic majority to make it a priority:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/paperballots

The Democrats are committed to an impressive agenda in the first 100 hours of the Congress. They will raise the minimum wage, require Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices, implement the 9/11 Commission security recommendations, cut the interests rates on student loans, and broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds. But Democrats can't stop there.

Let's restore America's faith in Democracy too. Let's make sure that in the first 100 hours the Democratic majority makes paper ballots mandatory:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/paperballots

[klook]

43. Done - Thanks. (n/t)

[pacalo]

51. Thank you, klook!

[shrike]

15. Andy knew

He also screamed bloody murder about voting irregularities in Ohio before it became fashionable to do so.

What a legacy he left. I hope it's a comfort to his family and friends.

[w4rma]

16. Wow. That sounds right on target: "paper ballots" "optical-scan", "voters mark" (nt)

[midnight]

17. We can't afford to wait till 2009-2011 for the NIST findings

to affect this flawed voting system.....

[sonias]

35. That's the part that concerned me too - 2009!

Why not 2008. Why can't we fix this by the 2008 presidential election?

Sonia

[JudyM]

38. Why would this take more than 6 months? Then the machines still must be produced and purchased. n/t

[SharonRB]

18. This is wonderful news,

but what took them so damn long? And isn't it convenient that they can't do anything by 2008? I think our new Congress needs to find a way to get something in place before '08.

I signed the DFA petition this morning when I got their e-mail.

[merh]

20. ..

:)

[brainshrub]

22. Verifiable paper ballots.

oem

[bleever]

23. Here's to you, Andy:

:toast:

[Botany]

24. "They" have know about this problem for years.

"DELAND, Fla., Nov. 11 - Something very strange happened on election night to Deborah Tannenbaum,
a Democratic Party official in Volusia County. At 10 p.m., she called the county elections department and
learned that Al Gore was leading George W. Bush 83,000 votes to 62,000. But when she checked the
county's Web site for an update half an hour later, she found a startling development: Gore's count had
dropped by 16,000 votes, while an obscure Socialist candidate had picked up 10,000--all because of a
single precinct with only 600 voters

- Washington Post Sunday , November 12, 2000 ; Page A22

This was done on Diebold Machines and President Gore got those negative 16,000 votes after
he was declared the winner of Florida by CBS, ABC, & NBC.

I worked election day in Columbus, OH in 2006 and those EES machine suck ...
not starting in the AM, not zeroing out before they open, printer errors, 30 were
"found" 2 weeks after the election not to have recorded any votes due to
mistakes in closing them down and so on.

Those machines are made to steal elections .... end of story.

[Hissyspit]

25. Didya ever notice how over the past six years DUer's have been correct about everything?

Pretty much. Way ahead of the curve. True wisdom instead of the popular conventional wisdom.

Here's to Andy. I only communicated with him for a short time, but I feel honored to have had that short time.

[annabanana]

53. about "conventional wisdom". . .

If you examine it a bit, it becomes clear that most, if not ALL "conventional wisdom" is manufactured out of whole cloth for the purposes of population manipulation.

[VelmaD]

26. He would be so pleased...

to see this. I can almost hear him laughing. :)

[Marnieworld]

27. To Andy!

Paper Ballots Now!

:patriot:

[SoCalDem]

28. True, but they still muddied it up with the word "included"

He'd be doing backflips if they printed the proper one...



Security Of Electronic Voting Is Condemned
Paper Systems Should REPLACE Electronic Voting.

Here's hoping they eventaully realize it..

[RestoreGore]

29. To all those who have worked for true Democracy...

Thank you. We must never give up that fight.

[xxqqqzme]

30. yes, indeed Andy would be laughing.

Seeing him properly credited in HBO's Hacking Demcracy made me feel good.



I was cleaning out my wallet the other day and came across his black box business card. Made me mushy & misty.

[MADem]

31. The recommendations endorse "optical-scan" systems

Geez...we hold these truths to be self-evident. What could be more logical? An OCR counter to count up all those ballots, handy when you have a slew of ballot measures and candidates, AND a paper trail!

I hope Andy sees and smiles down on us.

[flyarm]

32. I BELIEVE FROM WHERE ANDY IS..HE IS PLANTING MANY

bees in many bonets!!..stinging bees!!..

ahhh ANDY is very happy in his "other place"...i just feel it!!

HERE'S TO YOU ANDY!!

we miss you horribly!!

fly

[Generic Other]

33. Tears in my eyes over this

Andy's legacy. And so many others who have fought so hard.

Grassroots activism at its best.

DUers can be proud of having been a part of the fight.

[Janice325]

34. k&r

for Andy.
We miss you, Andy, but thanks for looking out for us.

[Hekate]

36. KnR. A toast to Andy, our patron saint of free elections. Thank you, Andy.

:toast:

I have hope again.

Hekate

[fooj]

41. "patron saint of free elections"...

Wow. That's beautiful. Thanks, Hekate. You nailed it.

[Hekate]

48. You're welcome, fooj. I've been calling him that at DU for awhile...

... It just fits. And I hope that somehow he knows that the tide has turned.

Hekate

[Hekate]

37. Can someone please PM me with the whole article? My screen has hung twice now...

... I have no idea why. I've always been able to get to the WaPo without any difficulties -- but today I've had to crawl under my desk twice to turn off my computer because the screen has hung and frozen all action.

Hekate

[bagrman]

39. VOTE BY MAIL-VOTE BY MAIL- VOTE BY MAIL - Change now before next election.

[mzmolly]

42. I think Andy is pulling some strings "upstairs."

Wow! What excellent news.

I feel like hope is trickling in slowly but surely ~ drip, drip, drip.

:)

[Uncle Joe]

44. Thanks for posting William

Kicked and recommended

[troubleinwinter]

45. Thank you, Andy. We have a beginning, and much work yet to do.

[sinkingfeeling]

46. I'm sure Andy is smiling, ear to ear.

[KoKo]

47. Raise a Toast to ALL who fought EARLY and FOUGHT HARD!

Toast to Andy! :toast: and even a toast to you, Pitt :toast:

[greatauntoftriplets]

49. I thought of Andy when I heard this on NPR.

He has to be damn happy over proof that he was right. :D

[lavendermist]

50. Just...

:cry: and :toast: for Andy and for us. He has to be watching.O8)

[KT2000]

52. Indeed.....

:toast:

[catrose]

54. Thank you, Andy!

The founder of my sect of Christianity decided when she was about 85 that it was time to die. "But you're not sick!" "We need you!" said everyone she said good-bye too. The first comment she ignored--she died of natural causes 2 weeks after she decided it was time. To the 2nd, she said, "How do you know I couldn't do more if I passed on?

That's what I think of whenever we lose someone wonderful like Andy...Fred Rogers...Paul Wellstone. They're still with us, still giving of themselves...and doing more than ever.

Cheers, Andy, and blessings of comfort to Ted and your wonderful mother.

[buddysmellgood]

55. Amen and kick.

[Liberal In Texas]

56. YES, Mr. Pitt

And damn happy to put the #70 rec. on this.

We have a long way to go, but at least it's starting.

LinTx

[dweller]

57. not sorry i can't join the party

with Andy in his well-deserved honors party, but will raise a :toast: to him and all who have fought for our right to a free, fair vote.

to our red-headed patron saint of FREE ELECTIONS!
:toast:
dp

[Rhiannon12866]

61. Thank you! Great post! And another kick for Andy!

One of my first friends on DU, God_bush_n_cheney!!!:toast:O8)

[lonestarnot]

62. Hell yeah ANDY!

This one has him smiling with the sunshine!