Electronic Frontier Foundation just Won a Case For Voting Rights in NC!

[KoKo]

EFF is a nonprofit group of passionate people — lawyers, technologists, volunteers, and visionaries — working to protect your digital rights.


If America's founding fathers had anticipated the digital frontier, there would be a clause in the Constitution protecting your rights online, as well.

Instead, a modern group of freedom fighters was necessary to extend the original vision into the digital world.

That's where the Electronic Frontier Foundation comes in.

Just as Patriots fought for liberty and freedom, we fight measures that threaten basic human rights. Only the dominion we defend is the vast wealth of digital information, innovation, and technology that resides online.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a group of passionate people — lawyers, technologists, volunteers, and visionaries — working in the trenches, battling to protect your rights and the rights of web surfers everywhere. The dedicated people of EFF challenge legislation that threatens to put a price on what is invaluable; to control what must remain boundless.Electronic Frontier Foundation: Because being able to share ideas and information is the reason the Web was created in the first place!

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Diebold Attempts to Evade Election Transparency Laws
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is going to court in North Carolina to prevent Diebold Election Systems, Inc. from evading North Carolina law. In a last-minute filing, e-voting equipment maker Diebold asked a North Carolina court to exempt it from tough new election requirements designed to ensure transparency in the state's elections. Diebold obtained an extraordinarily broad order, allowing it to avoid placing its source code in escrow with the state and identifying programmers who contributed to the code.
Full story, Filed Brief
November 18, 2005

http://www.eff.org/

[Bill Bored]

1. Recommended! nt

[MelissaB]

2. Got mine, too. Thanks, KoKo!

:hi:

[IndyOp]

9. THE STORY IS POSTED HERE: Diebold Forced to Comply with Laws

EFF Convinces North Carolina Judge To Throw Out Diebold E-Voting Case
<http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_11.php#004171>

"The North Carolina legislature showed great leadership and courage in passing one of the most robust voting machine transparency laws in the country," said EFF Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman. "The court decision reiterates what EFF had been arguing on behalf of our client all along: Diebold is not entitled to special rules."

EFF intervened in the case on behalf of North Carolina voter and election integrity advocate Joyce McCloy, with assistance from Don Beskind and the North Carolina law firm of Twiggs, Beskind, Strickland & Rabenau, P.A. EFF argued that Diebold had failed to show why it was unable to meet election law provisions requiring source code escrow and identification of programmers, and asked the court to force Diebold and every other North Carolina equipment vendor to comply.

Diebold could appeal the ruling, go forward with its bid, or withdraw from the process. However, Diebold told the court that it would likely withdraw the bid if the company did not have liability protection.

North Carolina experienced one of the most serious malfunctions of e-voting systems in the 2004 presidential election when over 4,500 ballots were lost in a voting system provided by Diebold competitor UniLect Corp. The new transparency and integrity provisions of the North Carolina election law were passed in response to this and other documented malfunctions that have occurred across the country.

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[texpatriot2004]

12. Wooooo Hoooo! Awesome. Way to go EEF. Yeah for NC nm

[IndyOp]

19. Yikes! I gave the wrong link - here is the correct link:

EFF Convinces North Carolina Judge To Throw Out Diebold E-Voting Case
<http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_11.php#004203>

[KoKo]

22. Thanks IndyOp....Raleigh Paper won't have it out yet...so thanks for post!

We also had the "Independent" news folks there, so there should be a good story when it comes out since they lean left.

Is that Greensboro's new Blog on their Newspaper they were experimenting with? It sounded like a great idea. I wish our "News & Observer" here in Raleigh would do that.

[Burried News]

33. Very good. Proud to be a Heel.

"EFF argued that Diebold had failed to show why it was unable to meet election law provisions requiring source code escrow and identification of programmers, and asked the court to force Diebold and every other North Carolina equipment vendor to comply."

[IndyOp]

3. The hearing was supposed to be today, I can't find results on the EFF site

Link please or cut and paste your email from EFF --

Permalink for Diebold Attempts to Evade Election Transparency Laws
<http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_11.php#004171>

On November 4, the day that voting equipment bids to the state were due, Diebold obtained a temporary restraining order from a North Carolina superior court, exempting it from criminal and civil liability that could have resulted from its bid.

On behalf of North Carolina voter and election integrity advocate Joyce McCloy, EFF asked the court to force Diebold and every other North Carolina equipment vendor to comply with the law's requirements. A hearing on EFF's motion is set for Monday, November 28.

"The new law was passed for a reason: to ensure that the voters of North Carolina have confidence in the integrity and accuracy of their elections," said EFF Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman. "In stark contrast to every other equipment vendor that placed a bid with the state, Diebold went to court complaining that it simply couldn't comply with the law. Diebold should spend its efforts developing a system that voters can trust, not asking a court to let it bypass legal requirements aimed at ensuring voting integrity."

[KoKo]

5. We just won it! (so far so good) I don't have local newspaper link yet

because the case went on into the late afternoon. But, because of NC Grassroots Activists and support from EFF we were able to beat Diebold Back!

I'll post when I have more info...Thanks for replying. I sometimes think Voter Issues on DU get buried. :toast: to all of us out here still working on this!

[IndyOp]

6. Your post is on the Greatest page already -- it won't get buried.

And a HUGE ''Thank You!'' to everyone who helps educate, legislate, investigate, and adjudicate all things relating to election fraud.

Let's take our country back!

:patriot: :yourock: :patriot: :yourock: :patriot: :yourock:

[pat_k]

10. Was November 4th order vacated or modified? (i.e., 100% win or less?)

Could you clarify the nature of the victory? The motion was to vacate OR modify.

Did you win the whole hog? (i.e., was the November 4th order vacated?)

[IndyOp]

18. I am not a lawyer, but I believe it was vacated --

"Responding to arguments made by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a North Carolina judge today told Diebold Election Systems that the e-voting company must comply with tough North Carolina election law and dismissed the company's case seeking broad exemptions from the law."

Is that 'vacated' - the whole hog?

More:
<http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_11.php#004203>

[pat_k]

20. Hip Hip Hoorah for people power! n/t

[KoKo]

23. DU deserves a Big Toast, too. It's helped us

connect with each other, share info and resources and without the links and info here, we couldn't have hoped to have a chance against these DRE Companies. The ability to communicate and find resources for quick help on the internet and through links from fellow DU'ers made this battle possible.

:toast: to DU!

[DemReadingDU]

27. Great news!

Thanks for all your work & dedication to voter issues

[MasonJar]

4. Yea! Can they now make stops in Ohio, Florida, etc.?

[IndyOp]

8. EFF is nationwide and can use all the help you can give! ;-)

http://www.eff.org

:kick:

[sonias]

7. Thanks EFF

Looks like we won one for our side. Congratulations to North Carolina voting activists like NC Coalition for Verified Voting.

Related blog post:

http://blog.news-record.com/staff/capblog/archives/2005/11/diebold_case_th.html
November 28, 2005
Diebold Case Thrown Out
For those who haven't been following, I'm updating this post.
The judge in the case brought by Diebold Election Systems against the state dismissed the suit.
Diebold had asked that the court clarified what the law meant.
The judge, in essence, said that the law was pretty clear and that without some sort of ongoing controversy (someone getting arrested or sued for damages) there wasn't anything for him to rule on anyway.
Diebold's lawyers said they expected their clients to withdraw from the state contracting process as a result of the decision.
More on this in tomorrow's paper.

:applause:
Sonia

[AmBlue]

11. YYYeeeeehHHAaaaWWWww!!!!

Best news I've heard all day! Gotta love EFF. Thank you! (okay, so it's a small victory..... even the very small victories feel big to me these days)
:party: :toast: :bounce: :party: :toast: :bounce: :party: :toast: :bounce: :party: :toast: :bounce: :party: :toast: :bounce: :party: :toast: :bounce:

[BeFree]

13. The North Carolina Law

Was pretty clear, and IIRC, demanded a Voter Verified Paper Ballot. Whether it was just paper, scannned, or a DRE with paper printout, any system had to have paper at least as a backup.

So, it appears Diebold couldn't stand the scrutiny demanded of the long arm of the law, and tried to skirt the issue. As it is, it looks like Diebold Election will indeed end up hiding behind the skirts of it's mother corp!

Could their coding be so awful bad to have to take it off the market before it could be examined? Is Diebold such a bad sport that it will now take it's ball and go home? Nah...not you Diebold! Say it ain't so!

We will, we will, Rock you!

[Twist_U_Up]

14. Kick-Ass!

[Wilms]

15. Here's a tiny link...

November 28, 2005

Diebold Case Thrown Out

For those who haven't been following, I'm updating this post.

The judge in the case brought by Diebold Election Systems against the state dismissed the suit.

snip

The judge, in essence, said that the law was pretty clear and that without some sort of ongoing controversy (someone getting arrested or sued for damages) there wasn't anything for him to rule on anyway.

Diebold's lawyers said they expected their clients to withdraw from the state contracting process as a result of the decision.

snip/more

http://blog.news-record.com/staff/capblog/archives/2005/11/diebold_case_th.html

[kansasblue]

16. Go EFF! Anybody who can win these fights will get my donations!

[kansasblue]

17. ACLU for computers!

[pat_k]

21. Hey, this one deserves more than 17 votes... Kick it! Recommend it! n/t

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

24. NC judge dismisses voting machine case, vendor may pull out

N.C. judge dismisses voting machine case, vendor may pull out
November 28. 2005
By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press Writer
link to article

One of the nation's leading suppliers of electronic voting machines may decide against selling new equipment in North Carolina after a judge declined Monday to protect it from criminal prosecution should it fail to disclose software code as required by state law.
Diebold Election Systems is worried it could be charged with a felony if officials determine the company failed to make all of its code - some of which is owned by third-party software firms, including Microsoft Corp. - available for examination by election officials in case of a voting mishap.

The requirement is part of the minimum voting equipment standards approved by state lawmakers earlier this year following the loss of more than 4,400 electronic ballots in Carteret County during the November 2004 election. The lost votes threw at least one close statewide race into uncertainty for more than two months.

About 20 North Carolina counties already use Diebold voting machines, and the State Board of Elections plans to announce Thursday the suppliers that meet the new standards. Local elections boards will be allowed to purchase voting machines from the approved vendors. "We will obviously have no alternative but withdraw from the process," said Doug Hanna, a Raleigh-based lawyer representing North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold Inc.
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051128/APN/511280948&cachetime=3&template=dateline

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

25. NC activists had one row in courtroom packed...

We packed the first row of the courtroom today.
We got there before 10:00 when the docket was to be read.

A longwinded case went on part of the morning, and the judge finally realized that our entire row was there for the Diebold case, and announced that we could come back at 2:00 and our case would be heard.

the Row behind us had plenty of media!
The AP, NEWS-Record, News and Observer, The Independent Weekly,
and more.

Some media went to lunch with us to spend more time with our EFF attorney,Matt Zimmerman. Matt is the lawyer who kicked Diebold's a$$ out of Volusia County Florida. EFF also obtained a NC attorney with excellent credentials to act as local counsel.

The fact that our group doesn't have any money may have helped us to get some of the best possible help in the country.

Verified Voting also sets up action alerts for us, and even has just created a county official action alert for us.
Stay tuned, and Die Diebold Die!

[DemReadingDU]

26. Great news!

We need you guys in Ohio

[FogerRox]

28. Sounds like a real ass kicking --- awe - frekin-- some

[Ellipsis]

29. Boot! (Kick)

[In Truth We Trust]

30. Paper ballots NOW!!! Hand counts NOW!!! k&r

[rumpel]

31. Big kick! & Recommendation

[emlev]

32. Al Franken is doing his Air America show from NC on Weds.

Asheville, specifically.

I don't know what he's planning to talk about, but how about some some emails beforehand suggesting he talk about the topic? And does he take calls? (I'm rarely able to listen to his show and don't remember.)

Send an email from Franken's site:
http://shows.airamericaradio.com/alfrankenshow/feedback