Election Eve in Alaska. Again. Sort Of. - THE MUDFLATS. PLEASE READ.

[Blue_In_AK]

I remember the issues with Bev Harris back in 2004. Does she know what she's talking about here? Is this true, and if the tampering has happened or is happening, will it be detectable? This really kind of freaks me out.

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/election-eve-in-alaska-again-sort-of/

Alaska’s election is not over. There is no rest for the weary. The giant bottle of Tums still sits just to the right of my keyboard.

But, tomorrow, a chunk of the 91,000 outstanding ballots in Alaska will be counted.

For days, the count has been frozen. Sen. Ted Stevens leads Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by about 3,000 votes with roughly 30 percent of the ballots remaining to be counted, including:

• 61,000 absentee votes.

• More than 20,000 questioned ballots.

• 9,500 early votes.

Of those, at least two-thirds of the absentee votes and nearly all the early votes are expected to be counted Wednesday, said Division Director Gail Fenumiai.

Election workers began poring over questioned ballots Monday in Anchorage, a process that will likely continue through the final count, which is expected Nov. 19.

Meantime, absentee votes are still arriving in the mail and precincts are sending in more questioned ballots.

Here are the squeakers:

With a little more than 90,000 ballots left to count:

U.S. SENATE: Sen. Ted Stevens (R) leads Mayor Mark Begich (D) by about 3,257 votes.

STATE HOUSE (District 19): Pete Petersen (D) leads Rep. Bob Roses (R) by 136 votes.

STATE HOUSE (district 27): Rep. Bob Buch (D) leads Bob Lewis (R) by 67 votes.


Bev Harris, election guru from Black Box Voting was on KUDO today, urging Alaskans and all Americans not to “get complacent.” According to Harris, when numbers don’t add up, when books don’t reconcile, we need to act. She points out the dangerous mindset of only caring about election
issues when it appears as though the outcome of the race will be affected. Regardless of the closeness of the race, or whether our candidate is ahead, we need to challenge these anomalies on principle. Every vote should count, and be counted properly regardless of the other votes surrounding it. And just because the leadership changes, don’t assume the problems get fixed.

So, what about Alaska? Harris was circumspect, but indicated that there were several red flags, and things which would need closer scrutiny….after the final numbers are in. The thing that concerns her most of all is the fact that all Alaska votes are counted on a central tabulator in Anchorage.

This particular system, explains Harris, has “a number that you never see, an internal number that identifies which candidate is which.” As absentee votes come in, and are counted, this number can be manually flipped back and forth by the individual operating the machine. Harris characterizes this type of system as “reeeally dangerous” because there are no checks & balances.

The fact that Bev Harris calls our system “really dangerous” is enough to make me think I may not sleep well tonight.

In addition, when an Anchorage voter votes in the polling place, there’s a tape at the end of the day that is associated with each particular voting machine. With absentee voting there is no voting machine tape. Totals can literally be adjusted as they come in. A manual entry screen allows anyone with access to the machine to type over the old totals and make new ones. Scary, but true.

So, what do Alaskans need to do? Harris has counseled an engaged group in Alaska to get audit logs, and copy information from the database as often as possible during the counting process. Why? Because it is our right to do so, and because we KNOW that they were tampered with in Alaska in 2004. We just don’t know who did it. There are eyeballs in the right places this year, but vigilance by all citizens is critical.

There is much we don’t know. But we DO know that Bev Harris and Black Box Voting is paying close attention to our results. And while she has said that in Alaska “there are some very interesting issues to be looked at”, she’s playing her cards close to her chest until the numbers are all in. More than half the uncounted ballots will be tallied tomorrow, and the final numbers are due in on November 19th, one week later.

We wait and watch.

-----------------

Your thoughts, election experts?

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. I am not an election expert but I don't trust Bev Harris at all

And if you are reading this, Bev, FUCK YOU.

[kirby]

2. Why? n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4443190&mesg_id=4443278

Plus, Google 'Bev Harris Randi Rhodes'

[kirby]

10. I was unaware of that...

I had just watched the movie on HBO called 'Hacking Democracy' and I thought she was central figure in that movie. She seemed to have worked hard for the cause.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Bev works hard for Bev

And if it wasn't for DU, I wouldn't know anything about her either.

[mcranor]

18. Geez, this is tiresome

Why do people feel compelled to respond every time her name is brought up? It's like OTOH and the exit polls. Lay down that burden, folks. Let it go.

[EFerrari]

20. Nope.

[mcranor]

21. OK then, never mind. Hang on to that hate. n/t

[EFerrari]

22. Do you always speak in the imperative? While you're defending grifters?

Enjoy your stay at DU.

[mcranor]

23. Hey sfexpat...

...I'm not defending grifters. I'm finally giving vent to a little irritation. Despite my pitifully small post count, I've been here for 10 years or more, and have read thousands of posts on the Bev and Andy stuff. I've read hundreds of yours, on countless subjects, and include you among the DU-ers worth paying attention to. Every time BH comes up, there's a tiresome chorus of 'we hate her' messages. BH irritates you, and you've let it be known in hundreds of messages. Tiresome choruses irritate me. I posted about it once (well, twice now, I suppose).

Sorry you take offense at my use of the imperative; it's succinct, which I like to be, but it can seem pushy. Just offering advice, not giving orders.

And in my experience, you're not usually so flip. (I've enjoyed my stay immensely, thanks.)

mc

[EFerrari]

25. This person is still out there preying on people.

I don't like to tote garbage around. But, while she's still active, I guess I will be.

And this isn't about being irritated with the grifter. She did her best to throw Andy's medical care off course and to invalidate my dying friend. It's much bigger than simply allowing an irritant to get to you. It's more like identifying a vector in the environment.

Andy wasn't the only DUer she attacked. Find Kelvin Mace's story and also, TroubleInWinter. Heck, find what Skinner said. She's tried to rehabilitate herself here many times even after we had a formal exorcism. It will never work.

[mcranor]

26. I Missed an Exorcism?!?

Damn! Can you point me to it?

I can see how any attempts at rehabilitation would get under your skin; it's clearly very personal for you. Don't mind me (imperative); I won't bitch about it any more.

[EFerrari]

27. You might light a fragrant candle and sit in a southern light when you read this;

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=478549

lol

I understand that it can look excessive.

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. You've been here 10 years or more?

That's interesting since this website has only been up for not quite 8 years.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. Andy Stephenson

That's why.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

3. Bev Harris is a grifter and persona non grata here at DU. She conned thousands

of people out of their money and screwed our beloved Andy.

She was also personally banned from DU.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. I understand that part, and I certainly wouldn't give her money,

I just wondered if the information she was passing along was correct or incorrect. I was here when all that blew up, I just don't recall whether she had valid info or she's completely off base.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

16. I think she has just enough knowledge to sound as if she knows something, but I do

not believes she's thoroughly versed.

[eridani]

24. The election integrity movement is much larger than Bev Harris

Many more people are aware of the problems this year compared to 2004.

[Seedersandleechers]

5. I would be more trusting of bradblog

Perhaps you could look at his wonderful site

http://www.bradblog.com

[Blue_In_AK]

6. I know Brad is watching this closely, as well.

I have a great deal of admiration for him. I guess I'm just jumpy, like most of us are here. We know that someone tampered with the database in 2004. Hopefully, after tomorrow things will become more clear, but if the totals start jumping in Ted Stevens' direction, I'm not going to believe it.

[Blaze Diem]

7. All this considered, ummMaybe Sarah Palin actually wasn't the choice of popular vote??

Maybe she was 'selected'as Ak Gov.
Just saying...

[Blue_In_AK]

8. It's possible, but she did have kind of a groundswell behind her.

We never saw her more fruit cakey side during the campaign for governor, and she was a refreshing change after the previous governor, Frank Murkowski. I think she probably did win it fair and square, much as it pains me to say that.

The election I really doubt is Murkowski/Knowles in 2004. Tell me if this makes sense to you. We were all so furious that Frank Murkowski appointed his daughter Lisa to his vacated Senate seat in 2002 that we passed a citizens referendum in 2004 mandating special elections in the future -- but in that same year we re-elected the same Lisa Murkowski!?! That just doesn't make sense to me, it never has.

[Winterblues]

11. It wasn't Murkowski / Knowles, it was Murkowski / Ulmer

It was Palin / Knowles and I agree with you on the 2004 election being questionable. I felt Ulmer was by far the best candidate.

[Blue_In_AK]

12. No, Winter, I meant the Senate race in '04.

Lisa and Tony. Fran ran against Frank in 2002, and I agree with you that she was a far superior candidate. I was down in California on election day (I voted early), and I cried over that one.

[Winterblues]

13. Sorry about that

I forgot there was a Senate race in '04. When I think of Murkowski it is Frank I think of and not Lisa...Who knows maybe we will end up with two women Senators...:-(

[Blue_In_AK]

14. Maybe if it were Lisa and Fran Ulmer or something.

I could live with that. Lisa's not my favorite, but at least she's reasonable and somewhat intelligent. I wish Sarah would just disappear. I've never been more disappointed in a politician in my life, and that's the truth, and my daughter, who actually voted for her in 2006, is more upset than I am. She's really let a lot of Alaskans down who trusted her.

[yowzayowzayowza]

15. I wouldn't trust her personally with a task as techincal as...

sizing my shoes.

"Harris was circumspect..." "...playing her cards close to her chest until the numbers are all in."

Sounds all too familiar.

[EFerrari]

19. Bradblog, Mark Crispin Miller, our own Election Reform forum

are good sources. That horrible grifter, not so much. When she plays cards close to the chest it's because she's calculating how much she can scam with them. If nothing, they generally disappear.