Election Reform, Fraud and Related News. Sunday, 4/6/08

[EFerrari]

Measuring country's political pulse now an electronic pursuit
By Frank Davies
San Jose Mercury News

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Evidence abounds this presidential election year that the Internet is increasingly competing with TV, newspapers and other traditional media outlets — and sometimes beating them — as a primary source of political news. | INTERACTIVE: Primary map, calendar

The trend is having a big impact on how candidates run their campaigns, and it’s also launched new ways to help trend-spotters measure voter interest in candidates and issues.

Consider:

• At last count, Sen. Barack Obama’s entire, 37-minute speech on race in America had been viewed 3.9 million times on YouTube. That set a record for a presidential candidate video and surpasses the total of people who watch cable news on a typical night.

• In Pennsylvania, with less than three weeks to go before the Democratic primary, interest in Obama is surging among Internet users in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but Hillary Clinton rates the higher “Yahoo buzz” in Reading and smaller cities. In New Hampshire, Yahoo searches shifted significantly to Clinton among older Web users just before an upset victory attributed to older voters.

http://pantagraph.com/articles/2008/04/06/news/doc47f71b716ad55873084728.txt

Election Reform, Fraud and Related News. Sunday, April 6, 2008


Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread. If you can:


1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web. Here's the link to the News Directory:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240


2. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

3. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.


Recommendations are much appreciated.

[EFerrari]

1. National.

[EFerrari]

6. Slashdot: The Cost of Electronic Voting

The Cost of Electronic Voting

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday April 06, @12:08PM
from the also-known-as-moneyflushing dept.
Government The Almighty Buck Technology

Wired's Threat Level blog is reporting on an analysis of the cost of electronic voting compared to traditional methods of vote tallying. A group named SaveOurVotes examined Maryland's budget allocations for elections during their switch from optical scanners to touch screens, and found that contrary to official claims, the cost was higher for e-voting (PDF) — much higher. "Prior to purchasing the touch-screen machines, about 19 of Maryland's 24 voting districts used optical-scan machines. SaveOurVotes examined those counties and compared the cost of the optical-scan equipment they previously used to the touch-screen machines they were forced to buy. The cost for most counties in this category increased 179 percent per voter on average. In at least one county, the cost increased 866 percent per voter — from a total cost of about $22,000 in 2001 to $266,000 in 2007."

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/06/1427241&from=rss

(Links in original for Wired and SaveOurVotes refs. -ed)

[Wilms]

22. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x500089

[EFerrari]

14. Siegelman challenges Rove to give congressional testimony

Siegelman challenges Rove to give congressional testimony
Last Edited: Sunday, 06 Apr 2008, 8:17 PM CDT
Created: Sunday, 06 Apr 2008, 8:17 PM CDT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman in a brief interview Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," just over a week after his release from federal prison on appeal bond, challenged Republican strategist Karl Rove to give congressional testimony about his prosecution.

Siegelman, a Democrat, maintains the case that led to convictions on bribery-related and obstruction charges and a seven-year prison sentence was politically motivated. The House Judiciary Committee has been investigating that claim.

Rove, a former political adviser to President Bush who declined to appear before the House committee, has denied talking to anyone at the Justice Department or the White House about Siegelman, according to the "60 Minutes" report.

"What we need is Karl Rove to get himself over to the Judiciary Committee and put his hand on the Bible and take an oath and give testimony," Siegelman said Sunday. "And he can either tell the truth or take the Fifth, either one will satisfy me."

http://www.myfoxal.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6236093&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

(:woohoo: Kick @ss and take names, Governor!)

[EFerrari]

15. Martin Luther King Jr. 40 Years Later

Martin Luther King Jr. 40 Years Later

By Katie Ussin
Story Published: Apr 6, 2008 at 7:15 PM MDT
Story Updated: Apr 6, 2008 at 7:15 PM MDT




BILLINGS - Thousands of people across the nation stopped to reflect on and remember the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King who was assassinated 40 years ago Friday.

Here at home, groups like Not In Our Town, People's Action and the The Black Heritage Foundation work to keep his message alive every day. Reverend Teresa Swift said she sees great strides being made.

"If we look at the presidential election, you have a white woman running for president and a black man running for president and I think his legacy speaks, not just to blackness, but to everyone and things that are going on Friday are developing into his dream and his legacy," said Swift.

Reverend Swift said she hopes people reflect and live Dr. King's message every day.

http://www.kulr8.com/news/local/17341314.html

[EFerrari]

16. Dems press for youth vote in aging Penn.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are competing for the youth vote in Pennsylvania as if they have never heard this is a state where the old hold sway.

Campuses in the cities and mountainsides are alive with political activism, stirred most notably by Obama in student registration drives aimed at replicating his success with young voters dating to the Iowa caucuses that he won in January to leadoff the primary season.

How motivated are his youthful supporters? So motivated that Alyssa Beasley, 20, endured an encounter with the Department of Motor Vehicles so she could switch her driver's license from New Jersey and register to vote at the same time.

And how high are their expectations? In Beasley's case, very.

"I feel like my entire hope and dream for America lies on this man's shoulders," she said on the tree-lined campus of the Jesuit-run University of Scranton.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-04-06-pa-youth-vote_N.htm?csp=34

[EFerrari]

18. DNC: Deal to seat Florida, Michigan delegates unlikely before June

DNC: Deal to seat Florida, Michigan delegates unlikely before June
Posted on Sun, Apr. 06, 2008

BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Associated Press

WASHINGTON --
A deal to allow delegates from Florida and Michigan to participate at the Democratic National Convention is unlikely before summer, party chief Howard Dean said Sunday.

Dean said that was partly because presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama want to focus on the coming round of contests. Next on the schedule are Pennsylvania on April 22 and Indiana and North Carolina on May 6, followed by several other states and U.S. territories. Voting ends June 3.

But he continued to express confidence that an agreement would be reached to seat delegates from both states.

''It's going to take some time to work that out because these candidates are really focused on these primary battles in ... Pennsylvania and West Virginia and North Carolina and so forth and so on,'' Dean told ''Face the Nation'' on CBS. ``And so it's going to take some time to work this out.

''But I think we can work it out, and I want to work it out,'' he said.

http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/485580.html

[EFerrari]

2. States.

[EFerrari]

5. OH: United Technologies eyes takeover of Diebold

United Technologies eyes takeover of Diebold

Caitlin Kollar
Created: 4/6/2008 5:21:38 PM
Updated:4/6/2008 5:21:52 PM

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Ohio-based Diebold says an unsolicited $2.6 billion offer is too low.
United Technologies Corp. said last month that it would pay $40 a share for the company. UTC says that price is a 66 percent premium on the company's stock price.

Diebold chairman John Lauer says the UTC offer was opportunistic and inadequate.

Spokespeople say the two companies remain at an impasse.

Diebold makes automatic teller machines and electronic voting equipment. It had more than $86 million in earnings in 2006.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/rss_article.aspx?ref=RSS&storyid=86576

[EFerrari]

7. OH: Cuyahoga facing another voting system overhaul

Cuyahoga facing another voting system overhaul

CLEVELAND (AP) - The beleaguered voting system in Ohio's biggest county isn't finished remaking itself.

This November, for the third straight major election, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections faces a major change. The board already had spent $1.5 million renting equipment that compiled votes at central locations in the March primary.

That came after the county in December scrapped, at the order of the state's elections chief, a $21 million touch-screen electronic system that was less than two years old.
Cuyahoga needs different equipment for the November presidential election because the state is abandoning the central count procedure because it does not allow a voter who filled out a ballot incorrectly to change it at the polling place.

Cuyahoga needs different equipment for the November presidential election because the state is abandoning the central count procedure because it does not allow a voter who filled out a ballot incorrectly to change it at the polling place.

http://www.coshoctontribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080406/NEWS01/804060313

[EFerrari]

9. MO: County voting system tamper-proof

County voting system tamper-proof

by Steve Birmingham
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 2:24 PM CDT

Voters should be confident when they cast ballots next week that St. Louis County has the most secure voting system available and not worry their vote won't be counted.

St. Louis County election officials said the system itself and the multiple layers of security that go into collecting and tabulating votes makes it impossible to tamper with election results.

St. Louis County Board of Election Chairman John J. Diehl said physical security measures, coupled with the checks and balances of a bi-partisan system of collecting and tabulating votes, eliminate the worry of anyone tampering, not counting or changing votes from any of its 1,850 touch-screen or optical-scan machines during an election.Diehl said the county received $9.6 million in federal funds in 2005 to buy the equipment, which included a blend of touch-screen and scanning machines to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and to give voters a choice in how they cast their ballots.

When the county used the punch card system, the election board headquarters building had both a tabulation room and ballot room that featured separate alarm systems and a perimeter alarm system. Each of the rooms had 'bi-partisan access" which featured two locks on every door, one that was unlocked only by a Republican and one that was unlocked only by a Democrat. No one was allowed to be in the room unless someone from the other political party was also in the room.


http://southcountyjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/04/06/news/sj2tn20080331-0402fen-voting0.ii1.txt

[EFerrari]

10. (Shades of gearing up for November). PA: First-time voters must produce identification

April 5, 2008

First-time voters must produce identification on day of primary


By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – An avalanche of registrations by first-time voters has heightened concern that many of them may not realize they will have to produce identification on primary day.

Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, chairwoman of the House State Government Committee, said ignorance of the rules may end up disenfranchising some of the more than 156,000 people who have signed up as new voters since the start of the year.

"I'm worried about it a lot, because they don't know," Josephs said after a two-hour hearing in Harrisburg on Thursday that examined Pennsylvania's readiness for what is expected to be a high-turnout primary on April 22.

"If we don't have an enormous amount of provisional ballots (and) if they are not readily available on the spot, then we have a big problem," she said.

http://www.tnonline.com/node/294531

[EFerrari]

11. OH: Electronic voting will stick around this fall (Franklin Co.)

Electronic voting will stick around this fall
Scanners for paper ballots wouldn't be ready by November

Saturday, April 5, 2008 3:10 AM
By Robert Vitale
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Franklin County couldn't switch to paper ballots by the fall even if it wanted to, county elections officials said yesterday.

That means voters will use 2-year-old electronic machines -- which Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner opposes -- to register their choices for president, Congress and local offices on Nov. 4.

"The practical considerations have trumped anyone's political concerns," Franklin County Board of Elections Chairman Doug Preisse said.

Elections board Director Dennis L. White said manufacturers of the scanners that are used to count paper ballots say they can't fill an order in time for use in November.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/04/05/Certified.ART_ART_04-05-08_B3_KS9RD1N.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101

[EFerrari]

12. AZ: Critics: Pima vote report a 'fantasy'

Critics: Pima vote report a 'fantasy'
GARRY DUFFY
Tucson

Parts of a report issued Thursday by Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry on election procedures and security was derided by plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the county over elections records as "simply fantasy."

The plaintiffs said the thick report to the Board of Supervisors on steps the county has taken and will take to beef up elections security contains statements in conflict with testimony by witnesses in the lawsuit, filed about a year ago by the Pima County Democratic Party. The Democrats sought access to electronic elections databases.

Democrats filed the lawsuit after county officials refused their request for databases dating back to the late 1990s that they want to examine for vote tampering.

The case will return to Superior Court Judge Michael Miller on April 21, when the judge will rule on a motion by the Democrats to reconsider an earlier ruling in which the judge ordered the county to release only a portion of the databases sought by party officials.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/local/81753.php

[EFerrari]

17. FL: NAACP youth aim to 'stomp' the vote

NAACP youth aim to 'stomp' the vote
Group seeks to register 1,000 voters

BY JESSICA GREENE
STAR-BANNER
Published: Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 11:42 p.m.

OCALA — To influence just one person could greatly impact the future.

This could easily be the official motto of the Marion County chapter of the NAACP's Youth Council as it endeavors to demystify the voting process and register more than 1,000 people to vote in just one week.

Students of Marion County Public Schools are on spring break beginning Monday. Instead of idly hanging out, watching television or playing video games, student members of the local NAACP youth council are spearheading the "Voter Registration Spring Break Stomp."

Their goal is to register at least 1,000 voters during the weeklong, nonpartisan initiative. To help them accomplish this, the youth activist group has enlisted the help of other local youth, ministry and community organizations.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20080406/NEWS/804060341/1001/NEWS01&tc=yahoo

[Wilms]

23. FL: Felons' Voting Requests Pile Up

Felons' Voting Requests Pile Up

Florida's Process
To Restore Suffrage
Illustrates Haze

By GARY FIELDS
March 31, 2008; Page A4




MIAMI -- Republican Gov. Charlie Crist went against his party a year ago and made it easier for felons to regain their voting rights. The process has been slow, however -- stirring controversy in a state expected to be closely fought in this fall's elections.

Florida's clemency board has restored voting rights to nearly 75,000 residents. But nearly 96,000 requests are pending, according to information through March 20. Activists say there might be an additional 400,000 people who have been rejected without explanation, making it impossible for them to be reinstated.

The fate of these votes is especially sensitive in Florida, where George W. Bush claimed the presidency by a mere 537 votes in 2000. But similar tensions are playing out across the country, with 5.3 million U.S. citizens unable to vote because of felony convictions -- including four million people who are no longer in prison, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.

Maine and Vermont are the only states that allow felons to vote while incarcerated. Thirteen others and the District of Columbia allow inmates to regain the right to vote after their release, according to the Sentencing Project, a Washington advocacy group. Other states limit voting based on factors including the severity of a crime, the completion of probation and the payment of fines.

snip

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120692447687975721.html



Thanks to question everything for posting this in GD:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3117027

[EFerrari]

3. International.

[EFerrari]

8. Philippines: Automation of 2008 ARMM voting key to clean 2010 polls

Automation of 2008 ARMM voting key to clean 2010 polls

INQUIRER.net
First Posted 17:34:00 04/06/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- The Commission on Elections should exhaust all efforts to automate the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao this August as it is an important step toward the computerization of the 2010 national and local elections when the next president will be elected into office.

This is what Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel said Sunday, even as he expressed concern that the contract for the automation project, including the acquisition of vote counting machines, has not been awarded by the Comelec Bids and Awards Committee up to now.

The opposition senator visited the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila Friday, and conferred with newly appointed Chairman Jose Melo, fellow commissioners, and technical people involved in the poll automation project.

“They informed me that one of the bidders was disqualified for not complying with certain requirements. But there is still one bidder being assessed by the Comelec,” he said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080406-128748/Automation-of-2008-ARMM-voting-key-to-clean-2010-polls

:crazy:

[EFerrari]

13. Zimbabwe's high court to rule on vote results

Zimbabwe's high court to rule on vote results

Updated Sun. Apr. 6 2008 9:05 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Zimbabwe's high court will rule Monday on whether it has the authority to release delayed presidential election results, which the country's opposition says will reveal that President Robert Mugabe has lost control of the country.

The court has begun hearing an opposition application to have the country's presidential election results posted immediately. Sunday's hearing had already been delayed twice. Reporters were not admitted to the hearing.

The actual election took place on March 29, and the opposition believes that Mugabe is trying to buy time to either organize a fightback or rig the election.

On Sunday, the state Sunday Mail newspaper reported that Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party has demanded a recount and a further delay in the release of presidential election results.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080406/zimbabwe_elxn_080406/20080406?hub=TopStories&s_name=

[EFerrari]

4. OpEd.

[EFerrari]

19. Brunwasser: Basketball, shopping for colleges, and the impending empty nest

April 5, 2008

Basketball, shopping for colleges, and the impending empty nest
By Joan Brunwasser

Basketball, shopping for colleges, and the impending empty nest

Even dedicated activists need to take a break once in a while. In case you haven’t noticed, no one can go at it 24/7 without suffering from major burnout. I liken the struggle for change to a marathon, rather than a sprint, and urge all concerned citizens out there to pace yourselves. (Otherwise, your effectiveness will be very limited and you will soon have to drop out of the race. And that would be a terrible waste because we badly need each and every one of you.)

I’m happy to report that I was able to take my own advice and recently treated myself to a much-needed break. I attended a basketball tournament in New York City that my son participated in. He and his teammates, two coaches and a pair of chaperones traveled from suburban Chicago for this high school competition that included eighteen teams from all over the country. It was the first time that Mick’s school had been invited. CJHS is quite small and only around seven years old but the administration, joined by several incredibly generous souls, kicked in over $7,000 to make this happen. That is really quite amazing and wonderful and I simply didn’t want to miss out. So, I decided to tag along.

The trip coincided with my birthday; that plus the fact that this was Mick’s swan song clinched the deal. I’ve very much enjoyed following my son’s basketball career and I wasn’t ready to let it go a minute sooner than absolutely necessary. Another bonus was the fact that I could stay with my dear friend in nearby Teaneck. All in all, it was a great idea with lots going for it. And, in case it felt too self-indulgent, I was able to conveniently combine the tournament with visiting a few colleges in the general vicinity that Mick was interested in.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_joan_bru_080405_basketball_2c_shopping.htm

[EFerrari]

20. A Sampling of Misconceptions & Outright Lies About Elections

April 6, 2008

A Sampling of Misconceptions & Outright Lies About Elections
By Pokey Anderson

A SAMPLING OF MISCONCEPTIONS &
OUTRIGHT LIES ABOUT ELECTIONS
by Pokey Anderson
April 6, 2008

"We wouldn't be able to get enough people to count real ballots" is just bogus, when viewed in the context of all the energy and money the whole rest of elections are piled high with.

"These voting machines work."

"Well, they work well enough."

"They have been federally certified."

"They have triple redundancy."

"If anything was wrong, the logic & accuracy test would show it."

"If anything went wrong, it was the fault of the voters. They don't know how to vote."

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_pokey_an_080406_a_sampling_of_miscon.htm

[EFerrari]

21. Protecting Democracy isn't Nutty

Protecting democracy isn't nutty

By Paul Jacobs | Saturday, April 5, 2008 6:24 PM PDT ∞

On two separate occasions, Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione has referred to Secretary of State Debra Bowen as "nuts" or "nutty" for having the audacity to test and conditionally recertify voting systems found to be vulnerable to tampering.

While Tavaglione resorts to name-calling, last month Ms. Bowen was named a winner of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for challenging the reliability of electronic voting systems. The award is presented annually to public servants who have made decisions of conscience without regard for personal or professional consequences.

It confounds me how Tavaglione and Supervisor Jeff Stone act like babies when it comes to these voting machines. Babies will cry when you take away a favorite toy after you discover it's dangerously coated with lead paint. Voting machines have the potential to poison the well of democracy.

Stone is a pharmacist by trade and relies heavily on science in his occupation. How can he reject the science that analyzed a number of voting systems and found them to be insecure?

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/04/05/opinion/jacobs/a4102262d2dcd6248825742000697b57.txt

[Kurovski]

24. Kick to the top.

And thank you! :thumbsup: