Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Monday 7/25/05

[MelissaB]

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x385366

All previous daily threads are available here:

http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm




Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page after it has several replies.

[IndyOp]

1. Listen to Harper's Forum "What Went Wrong in Ohio" here:

I just found the MP3 of the "What Went Wrong in Ohio" forum at <http://www.harpers.org/WhatWentWrongInOhio.html>.

On July 21, 2005 Harper's Magazine hosted a forum on voter rights as they related to the 2004 federal election. The forum was held at the U.S. Capitol, and was moderated by Harper's Publisher Rick MacArthur. The panelists were John Conyers, Jr., Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Sherrod Brown, Eleanor Clift, and Mark Crispin Miller. Miller's piece “None Dare Call it Stolen” appears in the August 2005 issue of Harper's Magazine.

[MelissaB]

2. Lila Lipscomb's hopeful remark on election reform...

I was just listening to Lila Lipscomb on the Tony Trupiano show...

Tony allowed one caller to ask Lila a question. He asked if she would please make election reform part of her message across the country... He added that until the elections are cleaned up and we get rid of the vote-rigging machines, there will be no progress.

Lila assured the caller that election reform was a big part of the issue everywhere she traveled...

Could it be that we're getting somewhere?

XOXOX to that caller, whoever he was.


Thanks to AtLiberty here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x385538

[MelissaB]

3. Buggy Software: Up From a Low-Quality Quagmire

Buggy Software: Up From a Low-Quality Quagmire

By using application life-cycle management, some companies are trying to exterminate software bugs and reduce the costs they incur.

News Story by Sue Hildreth

JULY 25, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) - The horror stories have become all too familiar:

In April, a software glitch resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars for US Airways Group Inc. when some tickets were mistakenly priced at $1.86.

In the latest U.S. presidential election, reports of incorrect tallies surfaced in several districts that were using new computerized voting machines.


More: http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/software/story/0,10801,103378,00.html

[MelissaB]

4. Utah County Seeks Voting-Machine Alternative

Utah County Seeks Voting-Machine Alternative

Jul. 25, 2005
PROVO, Utah (AP) -- Utah County officials are looking for a cheaper alternative to the state's plan for replacing all punchcard voting machines with direct-recording electronic equipment.

County officials put out their own request for bids on election equipment in June, and got two bids before the July 5 due date.

Kim Jackson, county clerk-auditor, said they are now investigating the companies, and will have their evaluations done in time for a meeting next month with Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert to talk about the equipment.

Election Systems & Software has done a demonstration for county officials, and IVS LLC will do a demonstration on Aug. 5. ES&S also bid for the state contract but lost to Diebold.

MOre: http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=5&sid=221028

[MelissaB]

5. NY: New voting machine law is “insane,” says Kirwan

New voting machine law is “insane,” says Kirwan

When New York State recently adopted its Help America Vote Act provisions, it enabled the state to collect on a total of $220 million dollars from the federal government.

While the feds wanted to prevent another situation like the 2000 presidential election in Florida, New York’s decision to let each county select what brand of new voting machine to buy doesn’t make sense to Hudson Valley Assemblyman Thomas Kirwan of Newburgh.

“This is insane, but of course, what is good about it is for the lobbyists in New York,” he said. “After of spending zillions lobbying us in the capital, they can now local elections commissioners. The rear growth industry in New York State is probably lobbying.”

Kirwan said New York has had no problems with its voting machines in recent years, even though many of them were antiquated.


Link: http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/votemach_law-25Jul05.htm

[MelissaB]

6. Mohegan Ballots Still Being Counted

Mohegan Ballots Still Being Counted

Published on 7/25/2005

Mohegan — The Mohegan Tribal Election Committee was still counting ballots Sunday night for its tribal council primary.

The committee had attempted to use voting machines for the first time but the machines failed. This meant that the committee had to count the votes by hand which delayed the results for several hours.

More: http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=0ED7008C-AC4B-4885-895F-659ED8C1312F

[MelissaB]

7. Imagine voting at local mall, uptown hotel

Imagine voting at local mall, uptown hotel

Plan would let you cast ballot at a place more convenient to work

SHARIF DURHAMS

Raleigh Bureau

RALEIGH - Forget lining up before or after work on Election Day.

Instead, imagine popping over to a mall, a shopping center or an uptown hotel ballroom and voting during lunch rather than trekking back to a polling place near your home.

That's the way state elections officials and some lawmakers -- mostly Democrats -- are selling the idea of voting "super precincts." They want to experiment with letting voters cast ballots at sites anywhere in a city or county. It would be impossible to go to the wrong precinct.

The experiment would start in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, either for this fall's local elections or during the primary vote in 2006. The state Senate approved the change 48-0, and the House plans to debate a similar version today.


More: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/12215323.htm


Discussion here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x385519

[MelissaB]

8. County still holding out for cheaper voting machine option

County still holding out for cheaper voting machine option

Amie Rose DAILY HERALD

Utah County officials are waiting for an August meeting with Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert to talk about election equipment, but not idly.

County officials put out their own request for bids on election equipment in June, to find out if they can comply with federal law and spend less federal and county money than the state's proposal to replace all punchcard voting machines with direct-recording electronic equipment from Diebold.

...snip

The state already has chosen direct-recording electronic voting equipment -- ATM-like machines -- made by Diebold to replace the state's punchcard system, and Herbert is making the rounds, talking to all 29 counties about buying the machines -- about $3,000 each. He's also going to be talking about how the state is going to distribute the $3.7 million shortfall between how much money the state has and what the replacement machines will cost.

More: http://www.newutah.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=60450&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[MelissaB]

9. Election reforms worth considering

Election reforms worth considering

Monday, July 25, 2005 State government has become corrupt. It is the misfortune of the Republican Party that its officeholders have become the fat and greedy crowd that has produced the coin scandal, the golf scandal, the vacation rental scandal and — well, let’s keep an eye on the state news pages this week for the latest scandal.

We say the Republicans have had the misfortune of being responsible for the scandal. If the Democrats had held power for as long as the Republicans in Columbus, the problems would likely be the same. Only the names and the districts would be different.

...snip


And taking the supervision of elections out of the hands of the secretary of state is worth consideration, especially considering how the incumbent, Kenneth Blackwell, has become so involved in partisan election issues.

Reform Ohio Now is fresh air in the stale room that has become state government.

More: http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=3&ID=234168&r=0

[MelissaB]

10. Ohio: Redistricting plan draws question

Redistricting plan draws question
Lawmakers ask whether state would send fewer blacks to Columbus, Washington

By William Hershey

Dayton Daily News

COLUMBUS | — State Sen. Ray Miller, D-Columbus, on Sunday questioned whether a proposed constitutional amendment to change how Ohio draws up state legislative and congressional districts would reduce the number of blacks elected.


Miller, one of four black state senators, raised the issue during a session on redistricting and election reform at the Democratic Leadership Council's "National Conversation," which concludes today with speeches from U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, and other potential 2008 Democratic presidential candidates.

...snip

State Rep. Kevin DeWine, R-Fairborn, an opponent, said that Miller's concern is real. DeWine said that if the amendment were approved it would be harder for a black candidate to win a Democratic primary in one of the new districts.

The proposed amendment is one of three that a group called Reform Ohio Now is trying to put on the Nov. 8 ballot by gathering signatures from 322,899 registered voters and submitting them to Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell by Aug. 10.


More: http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0725dems.html