OH SOS has at least 15 E-VOTING MACHINES LOCKED-UP TREATED AS A CRIME SCENE

[mod mom]

County's voting machines examined
Brunner triggers state probe by reporting that fall ballot apparently masked a name
Sunday, March 16, 2008 3:22 AM
BY BARBARA CARMEN
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
When Jennifer Brunner cast her vote last fall, she is certain she saw something so odd on her touch-screen voting machine that it prompted a state criminal investigation into the Franklin County Board of Elections.

At least 15 of the county's electronic machines are under double-lock at an Alum Creek warehouse. It is being treated as a crime scene.

County elections officials asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation to seize the machines during the investigation by Attorney General Marc Dann and forensics consultants.

In all, the state is expected to spend as much as $48,000 to divine what Brunner saw -- or didn't see. Investigators already have found that many of the county's voting machines weren't tested before the November election. And a function that tracked changes to the machines was purposely turned off.

Brunner isn't the average voter. As secretary of state, she is in charge of making sure Ohio's elections are properly conducted.


[e-mail]

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/03/16/BOEPROBE.ART_ART_03-16-08_B1_9F9LIV3.html?sid=101

[Vincardog]

1. Oh come on. Does anyone believe there was anything the least bit odd in Ohio's BBV?

[mod mom]

2. Here is some background on the case:

MY Letter:

I AM WRITING IN REGARDS TO THE NOV 8 DISPATCH ARTICLE IN WHICH FRANKLIN COUNTY BOE OFFICIALS CLAIM THAT A LATE DATE FOR DROPPING OUT OF A RACE WAS TO BLAME IN THE BALLOT ERROR THAT OCCURRED IN THE FRANKLIN COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT RACE. IN THE ARTICLE IT IS STATED THAT JAY PEREZ DROPPED OUT ON SEPT 28, 2007. THERE IS PRECEDENT THAT A NAME REMOVAL WAS ORDERED AT A LATER DATE. SOS KEN BLACKWELL ORDERED THE REMOVAL OF NADER/CAMEJO ON SEPT 29, 2004 IN LUCAS COUNTY (I HAVE LINKED TO THE 2005 SOS INVESTIGATION OF LUCAS COUNTY BOE -NO LONGER AVAILABLE AT THE OHIO SOS WEBSITE). THIS IS AN INEXCUSABLE ERROR THAT MAY HAVE COST A CANDIDATE A RACE. PLS INVESTIGATE AND SEE IF THERE WAS WRONG DOING INVOLVED.

THANK YOU.

XXXX
XXXXXX, OH

LOSS IN MUNICIPAL COURT RACE
Democrats miffed over name on ballot
Thursday, November 08, 2007
BARBARA CARMEN AND BRUCE CADWALLADER
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



When Jay G. Perez went to cast his ballot Tuesday, he said he was shocked to see that Patsy Thomas, his party’s endorsed judicial candidate, had a Democratic challenger: himself.

Perez had bowed out of the Franklin County Municipal Court race on Sept. 28 to clear the way for Thomas.

Yesterday, Democrats questioned why the Franklin County Board of Elections failed to remove Perez from the computerized, touchscreen ballots — an omission they think handed Republican David Tyack a win.

Perez, who didn’t campaign because he didn’t know he was running, netted 7 percent of the vote for Franklin County Municipal Court judge. Thomas lost to Tyack by about 5 percent.

-snip

William A. Anthony Jr., chairman of the Franklin County Democratic Party, said he’d tried to get Perez to pull out earlier. But he doesn’t blame Perez for ending up on the ballot. "The timing was bad," Anthony said. But Perez is upset. He didn’t want to hurt Thomas or voters. "What’s so sad," he said, "is that the citizens who voted for Jay Perez, their vote didn’t count."

http://wwwphp.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/11/08/20071108-B1-02.html



PRECEDENT FROM 2004 FOR REMOVING NAMES FROM THE BALLOT:

Removal of Nader and Camejo From Ballot


On September 29, 2004, J. Kenneth Blackwell, Secretary of State, issued Directive 2004-
37 to all Boards of Elections. (Exhibit J) That directive stated: “Consistent with my
Order below rendered yesterday, you are to remove Nader/Camejo from the ballot
immediately. You will receive more detailed instructions by the close of business today.”

Later that same day, you issued Directive 2004-38 to all boards of elections. (Exhibit K)
This directive, in relevant part, stated, “Boards of elections shall remove the names of
these joint candidates for president and vice president from the
ballot to the extent practicable in the time remaining before the election and according to
the instructions below.” The directive continued by saying,


A board of elections shall do one of the following:

(1) Reprint the ballots without the names of these joint
candidates for president and vice president.

(2) Remove these names from existing ballots by use of
stickers or other method adopted by the board as in the case
of a withdrawn candidate.

(3) Post a notice in each precinct where the candidates’
names remain on the ballot informing voters that any vote
cast for these two candidates will not be counted, if the
board determines it is not feasible to remove the two names
from the ballots.

Directive 2004-38 states that, “In determining which method to use, a board of elections
shall consider all of the following factors: (a) The type of voting system used by the
county; (b) The number of precincts and number of ballots, including absentee ballots yet
to be distributed; and, (c) The time remaining before election day.”

Because the Lucas County Board of Elections used an optical scan voting system in the
2004 general election, the second option given to Boards for handling the removal of
Nader and Camejo from the ballot was not feasible. Optical scan tabulating equipment
will not read ballots with stickers affixed to them. Ballots with stickers affixed to them
will jam optical scanners. Therefore, the Lucas County Board of Elections had only two
options available to them. They could have either re-printed their ballots or they could
have posted notices in precincts where the candidates’ names appeared on the ballots. On
the day these directives were disseminated to the Boards, September 29, 2004, Dayton
Legal Blank, Inc. was in the midst of printing Lucas County’s ballots. When word was
received that Nader and Camejo were to be removed from the ballot, Dayton Legal
Blank, Inc. had already printed approximately 96,000 ballots for Lucas County, some of
which were absentee voter ballots and some of which were precinct ballots.

On September 30, 2004, the Board met in special session to consider and discuss
Directive 2004-38. In this meeting, Ms. Ross moved that the Board direct Dayton Legal
Blank, Inc. to stop printing its ballots until the Board could obtain additional information
on the matter. The motion was seconded by Mr. Thurber and passed 4-0. (Exhibit L)
The next day, October 1, 2004, the Board again met in special session. In this meeting,
three motions were made and passed in regard to the Nader/Camejo issue. First, Ms.
Ross moved that the Board produce ballots on demand for all military and overseas
voters without Nader and Camejo appearing on them. The motion was seconded by Mr.
Thurber and passed 4-0. Then, Mr. Ross moved that, of the 96,000 ballots that Dayton
Legal Blank, Inc. had already printed with Nader and Camejo appearing on them, the
Board should only accept delivery of those that were absentee voter ballots (which
comprised approximately 13,360 ballots) and, further, that these absentee voter ballots
would only be used on the conditions that Nader’s and Camejo’s names be crossed out in
red, a bright-colored notice be sent with every absentee voter ballot warning that a vote
cast for Nader and Camejo would not be counted and, finally, that a similar warning
sticker be placed on every identification envelope. The motion was seconded by Mr.
Thurber and passed 4-0. Ms. Brown then offered the last motion on this matter. She
moved that the Board instruct Dayton Legal Blank, Inc. to re-print all precinct ballots
bearing Nader’s and Camejo’s names that were part of the initial 96,000 ballots already
printed and that all future ballots to be printed should also have Nader’s and Camejo’s
names removed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Thurber and passed 4-0. (Exhibit M)
Thus, rather than comply with directive as given, the Board chose to pursue a “hybrid”
strategy in regard to the Nader and Camejo dilemma.

pgs 12-13
2005 Lucas County BOE Investigation
found at:



http://www.solarbus.org/election/docs/lucas.pdf



Current Ohio Voting Systems by County

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/info/everest.aspx

At the time I was told by someone at the Franklin Co Dem Party that after certification, a suit would be filed. I later found out the Democrat who lost, Patsy Thomas was given a promotion at AG Marc Dann's office and NO SUIT would be filed.

[FreakinDJ]

3. Great Post

Too Bad everyone is too busy argueing over candidates to read it.

The election is still too close to count out the "Election Fraud Factor"

[Ellipsis]

4. K&R n/t

[usregimechange]

5. Follow the money...

[mod mom]

6. CAN SOMEONE W TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE EXPLAIN THIS (MASKED A NAME):

Brunner said consultants from SysTest Labs in Colorado, however, were skeptical. When she described the gray box with the faint words "candidate withdrawn," the investigators told her, "That's exactly what you'd see if someone masked a name."

A SysTest report notes that voters in other precincts -- in Victorian Village, Clintonville and Hilliard -- also reported seeing "candidate withdrawn" on their machines.

SysTest investigators also found that the board had not performed a routine test of the computer software on each machine, instead testing just one machine in each precinct.

-SNIP

SysTest investigators also found that the board had not performed a routine test of the computer software on each machine, instead testing just one machine in each precinct.

-SNIP

Investigators also discovered that a board programmer turned off "audit logs" in the voting machines in April 2007, hindering investigators from reconstructing software changes. White found that the vendor had instructed a board employee on how to disable audits to speed programming.

[Wilms]

8. Don't know about masking but the last snip you got there really pops out!

Investigators also discovered that a board programmer turned off "audit logs" in the voting machines in April 2007, hindering investigators from reconstructing software changes. White found that the vendor had instructed a board employee on how to disable audits to speed programming.

Is that even legal?

[mod mom]

9. White's (who just happens to be Wally O'Dell's neighbor in a VERY high rent district) statement

sounds to be dismissive despite all this:

"I don't know of any way that could happen. It would take the great-grandson of Al Capone and the great-grandson of Albert Einstein working in collusion to pull this off."

Dennis L. White
director of the Franklin County Board of Elections (BTW he is the former Chair of the Democratic Party whose office was broken into in 2005 through an open window and which he had his computer & blackberry stolen.)

[mod mom]

10. Break-in at ODP thru open window into White's office

Article published Saturday, July 2, 2005
Ohio Democrats victims of break-in
Thieves grab computer from party headquaters in Columbus

By STEVE EDER and JAMES DREW
BLADE STAFF WRITERS

COLUMBUS — Thieves targeted the Ohio Democratic Party Headquarters this week, stealing a computer and a high-tech communications gadget belonging to party chairman Denny White.

Police said yesterday one or more burglars appeared to have climbed a wall Monday and crawled through an unlocked second-story window overnight at the party headquarters about three blocks from the Statehouse.

-snip

Some Democrats also say the break-in is eerily similar to a burglary at the Lucas County Democratic Party Headquarters last fall, in which three computers were stolen.

Police, though, said it is unclear if the theft had anything to do with politics, or the investigations into investments at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

The items belonging to Mr. White were a Dell computer valued at $800, a flat-screen monitor valued at $250, and a $250 BlackBerry communications device.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050702/NEWS03/50702005

The Ohio Bureau of workers comp they mention was Bush/Cheney Pioneer/Money Launderer Tom Noe.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

7. Come November, we had better be unified should this type of occurrence give the GOP a "win".

[tbyg52]

11. I find this the most interesting

'And a function that tracked changes to the machines was purposely turned off."

Surely there was a chain of custody and it can be determined *who* did this.....?

[mod mom]

12. 3/9: Brunner Accused of Punishing Elections Officials

THER IS A CONCERTED EFFORT BY THE OHIO GOP TO ATTACK BRUNNER:

Brunner accused of punishing elections officials
Sunday,  March 9, 2008 4:45 AM
By Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
?

Jennifer Brunner says her decisions have not been based on politics or to punish officials for dissent.

Ousted

Elections officials who have been removed or rejected for reappointment by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner:
• Robert T. Bennett, former chairman of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections and chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. Resigned under pressure in April 2007.

• Sally Florkiewicz, Republican member of the Cuyahoga board. Resigned under pressure in March 2007.

• Edward C. Coaxum Jr., Democratic member of the Cuyahoga board. Resigned under pressure in March 2007.

• Loree K. Soggs, Democratic member of the Cuyahoga board. Resigned under pressure in March 2007.

• Alex R. Arshinkoff, Republican chairman of the Summit County Board of Elections and chairman of the county GOP. Not reappointed in February for allegations of questionable temperament and partisan political activity.

• James L. Crates, Republican chairman of the Hardin County Board of Elections. Not reappointed in February for voting against enforcing a directive issued by Brunner to provide paper ballots at the polls in last Tuesday's primary.

• Mary M. Wipert, Republican member of the Lawrence County Board of Elections. Not reappointed in February for allegations of partisan political activity during office hours.

• Keith Cunningham, Republican member of the Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners. Fired in February because he said he would never vote to decertify touch-screen voting machines.

Sources: Ohio secretary of state, Dispatch files
In nearly five years on the Franklin County Common Pleas Court bench, Jennifer Brunner developed a reputation as a fair-minded judge.

After a little more than a year as Ohio secretary of state, critics say, she is getting a different reputation: Oppose her plans or criticize her in public, and you'll pay the price.

Brunner so far has refused to reappoint, sought to remove or fired at least eight county elections officials -- for reasons ranging from improper political activity to failure to follow the law.

But critics suggest the real motivation, at least in some cases, was politics or retaliation for dissent -- especially against the changes she wants to make in state voting equipment.

-snip

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/03/09/brunner.ART_ART_03-09-08_B1_Q49J2DK.html?sid=101

[mod mom]

13. Specifically on Damshroeder:

Matthew Damschroder wasn't removed but lost his job as director of the Franklin County Board of Elections after tangling with Brunner on issues including his criticism of her plans to revamp Ohio voting when he was the state election association president.

"Some really positive things are happening between the state and county boards of elections, and it's being upstaged by this unfortunate tension," said Damschroder, a Republican who was named deputy director last week.

from the 3/9 article

[autorank]

14. Well then, what else do you expect fromthese county boards. Good for Brunner.

It's aobut time The 56 who destroyeevidence whouldhave been prosecuted but this is a very good start.

K*R

[mod mom]

15. Hey Auto, any insight on what this means (masking & turned off audit logs):

I can guess but thought you might have some concrete info :hi:


Brunner said consultants from SysTest Labs in Colorado, however, were skeptical. When she described the gray box with the faint words "candidate withdrawn," the investigators told her, "That's exactly what you'd see if someone masked a name."

A SysTest report notes that voters in other precincts -- in Victorian Village, Clintonville and Hilliard -- also reported seeing "candidate withdrawn" on their machines.

SysTest investigators also found that the board had not performed a routine test of the computer software on each machine, instead testing just one machine in each precinct.

-SNIP

SysTest investigators also found that the board had not performed a routine test of the computer software on each machine, instead testing just one machine in each precinct.

-SNIP

Investigators also discovered that a board programmer turned off "audit logs" in the voting machines in April 2007, hindering investigators from reconstructing software changes. White found that the vendor had instructed a board employee on how to disable audits to speed programming.

[bleever]

16. K&R.

[emlev]

17. On a related note,

were any voting machines quarantined in this month's primary?

Ohio: "Quarantine That Machine!":Ohio Election Justice Campaign Calls for Malfunctioning Voting Machines to Be Handled as Evidence in A Crime Scene!

[mod mom]

18. We're just hearing about the 15 from the November election now-my guess is that

there is an ongoing investigation and with the recent dismissals of Republican BOE officials, and recent coordinated backlash in attacks against Brunner and her actions-she was forced to give the media something of an explanation.

[emlev]

21. This would have been a local-level thing

at least that's how the OEJC was organizing it.

[New Earth]

19. wow

even SHE had a problem voting?

this is hugh......and i AM series....

[mod mom]

20. Actually Brunner encountered problems twice since Nov. In Nov her screen differed from

her husband's at the same precinct, then on the March 4 Primary:

"Ironically, Brunner requested a paper ballot in the March 4, 2008, primary, but a poorly trained poll worker gave her a provisional ballot instead. Two other staffers from her office were also given the wrong ballots. Brunner has since pledged to upgrade the training for Buckeye State poll workers. "

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2008/3054