Dems must wait for (Diebold) election files (Alaska)

[harpboy_ak]

Dems must wait for election files

//www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7459851p-7369985c.html

2004: Elections Division again delays release of records.

The Associated Press

The Alaska Democratic Party will have to wait to obtain results it wants from the 2004 general election.

The Division of Elections in a letter to Democrats this week said that sensitive information within electronic voting records will require another delay in releasing data sought by the party.

Elections director Whitney Brewster, who has been on the job since Nov. 1, wrote that a delay of 10 working days will allow the division to determine how to handle information that has the potential to compromise the integrity of future elections.

The delay is the latest episode in a dispute that started Dec. 19 when Democrats, claiming published results were riddled with discrepancies, asked for details on how votes were tabulated.

The request for public records has been delayed too long, party spokeswoman Kay Brown said Wednesday.

snipped for brevity

Once again, Loopy Loren Leman, Alaska's Repuke Lite Gov., stonewalls Alaskans who want fair elections. All we want to is to know HOW the votes were tallied and who logged into the counting computer.

[windy252]

1. I honestly can not say I am surprised

by the stalling. It's nice to hear from Missouri, home of the $35 poll tax, that Alaska's Democrats seem to be trying for a fair election.

[leQ]

2. will ya take a listen to the excuse they're using?

In a letter to Metcalfe, however, Brewster said she was advised that sensitive information is in the files: encrypted passwords, user identifications and phone numbers used to "modem in" results.

and this:

"They say they are unable to break down the votes," Brown said. "They are not able to 'unbundle' those votes and attribute them back to the district."

i can't believe that's the real reason. are they, or should they be, afraid of something else? i always say, if they're not afraid of what the information sought is saying, why would they delay the release of it?

[windy252]

3. As someone who has some experience in programming

it would be very easy for them to fix the results with a paperless machine. I thought Diebold said they didn't modem in the results as well. Maybe they should consider changing their encrypted passwords.

[Fredda Weinberg]

7. Diebold always used modems

Their machines are not supposed to be hooked up to networks.

[HuffleClaw]

4. they need time to do some creative accounting?

or those time-honoured 'clerical errors' ?

[RogueBandit]

5. What sensitive information?

"sensitive information within electronic voting records"

Just what sensitive information might that be? Do they keep track of the voter registration number for each vote? That's the only sensitive information I can think of. If they keep that then there ain't no secret ballot.

Any ideas out there in DU land?

[harpboy_ak]

6. The squawk is about the statewide counting computer

The dispute is about the tallying software in the statewide accounting computer, and access to the raw ballot data and the system's access logs. It hasn't gone to court yet, since they are still in the state FOIA request phase. If the state continues to stonewall I have no doubt that the Party will sue. They are being helped by experts from Black Box Voting.

Almost all Alaskans vote on machine-readable paper ballots, so it's possible to go back to the ballots for a hand recount, the exception being the few touch-screen machines purchased for use by blind voters. Ballots are counted when placed in the electronic ballot boxes, a Diebold product (picked up when they merged with Accuvote, a competitor). After the polls close and the last ballots are counted, the precinct's ballot box calls the statewide tallying computer and dumps the data.

Fortunately, our state Dem chair is an attorney (Chief Counsel for the statewide IBEW local). Our Repug loopy Lite Gov. has demonstrated numerous times that he doesn't have a clue about conducting elections, one of his duties along with waiting for Gov. Frank (the Bank) Murkowski to keel over from a heart attack.

[Fredda Weinberg]

8. Diebold waived proprietary rights

From the article ...

Diebold Election Systems of Canton, Ohio, which provided Alaska's electronic voting machines, waived proprietary rights to files in a letter Jan. 31.