Election Reform and Related News: Saturday, May 17, 2008

[livvy]

Election Reform and Related News

Saturday, May 17, 2008



Everyone is welcome to participate. Feel free to:

:graybox: Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

:graybox: Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

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

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

Recommendations for the Greatest Page are always welcomed. It's the best way to share the news with members who don't frequent this forum. It's the link below.



Seeking activists to post the Daily ER thread. Short hours. No experience necessary. Will train. Pleasant work environment and friendly co-workers. Salary negotiable within existing budget ($0.00). Contact Melissa G or any of the current staff if interested.
:evilgrin:

[livvy]

1. States n/t

[livvy]

2. OH: Report: Voting Errors Caused By Two Factors

Report: Voting errors caused by two factors
By Dave Greber

Staff Writer

Saturday, May 17, 2008

HAMILTON — Mistakes encountered during the Butler County primary election essentially boiled down to a combination of human and machine error, according to a report issued Friday, May 16.

Texas-based Premier Elections Solutions, which provides electronic voting machines to Butler and 55 Ohio counties, issued the report after officials found two errors during ballot-counting nearly three months ago.

The errors — which happened on special servers used exclusively for ballot-counting — were caught by Butler County Board of Elections personnel and did not affect the election outcome, according to officials.

Company spokesman Chris Riggall said the company has been free of similar reports across the country.

more...

http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/05/17/hjn051708boe.html#

Original post by Wilms and discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x502743

[livvy]

3. NJ: Judge Sets Tight Security on Voting Machine Tests

Judge sets tight security on voting machine tests
by Diane C. Walsh/The Star-Ledger
Friday May 16, 2008, 4:24 PM

Testing of the state's electronic voting machines will begin next week under tight security, a Superior Court judge in Trenton said today.

Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg ordered the testing to be conducted at the State Police's Regional Operations Intelligence Center in Ewing.

The judge also ordered that the machines' manufacturer will be able to videotape the machines whenever experts from Princeton University find a problem. But Feinberg said the lawyers and experts won't be allowed to comment publicly on the results until courtroom testimony begins in September.

The manufacturer, Sequoia Voting System, wanted to be there throughout the testing. But voting rights advocates said that would have a chilling effect on the tests. Feinberg agreed, saying it would leave "an uncomfortable air in the room."

more...

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/judge_to_rule_on_testing_proce.html

[FogerRox]

22. Recent email from NJ Activists

Of interest to voter activists are the requirements on the independent examiners and the examination.

The examination can not take place at the lab at Princeton that was built specifically to test voting machines from California. So the examination will take palace in a room at NJ State police HQ. The drive is 20-40 min away from the Princeton Labs so this will be inconvenient for the Princeton staff as they intend to work around the clock as they find the 30 days limiting on the tests.

All personnel will be recorded by camera going in and out of the lab.
No internet connections are allowed in the lab.
there is a Gag order on all 9 examiners from Princeton and 6 lawyers that will be allowed in the lab: 3 lawyers form the Plaintiffs, the Venetis team, 3 lawyers form the State AG's office and one representative from Sequoia.

The Gag order will cease after the trial in September 08- except for the proprietary secrets of Sequoia. The trail may have to proceed in camera- not opened to the public- to protect Sequoias proprietary secretes even though Prof. Andrew Appell has bought one of these machines off the Internet for a few dollars and taken it apart already. Sequoia needs to protect their secrets...go figure.

[livvy]

6. FL: To Browning, It's Horror Film

To Browning, it's horror film
By Steve Bousquet, Tallahassee Bureau Chief

Published Friday, May 16, 2008 8:48 PM


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With Recount set to debut on HBO television next week, it's worth asking: Is Florida ready for the next election?

Voter turnout in November is expected to be huge, and the technology for most Florida voters will change. Out with touch screens, in with paper ballots fed into optical scanners.

The eyes of the nation will again be on Florida, a pivotal swing state with 27 electoral votes.

"I find varying degrees of readiness, but nothing abnormal at this point," says the state's top elections official, Secretary of State Kurt Browning.

Nothing abnormal means this: Elections officials fretting over the prospect of long lines or a lack of trained poll workers. And there's ongoing legal challenges by groups that say Florida erects unfair barriers to voting.

more...

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article510906.ece

[livvy]

7. WV: Berkely Co. Affirms Validity of Election Results

05/16/2008
Berkeley Co. affirms validity of election results
By MATTHEW UMSTEAD
[e-mail]

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. — A five-hour review Friday of more than 200 regular, provisional and absentee ballots cast in Berkeley County's primary election affirmed the validity of unofficial results announced Tuesday night, officials said.


The Berkeley County Commission, convened as the county's Board of Canvassers, also allowed a number of provisional ballots and seven late-arriving absentee paper ballots to be added to the unofficial tallies after reviewing results from three randomly selected voting precincts.


The additional votes are not expected to affect unofficial results that gave practically every winning candidate an insurmountable lead.


The votes selected for review were from precincts 6, 14 and 44-H, said Bonnie Woodfall, voters registration supervising deputy clerk. Precincts 6 and 14 are in the City of Martinsburg, and 44-H was a temporary voting district created to exclude Town of Hedgesville residents from receiving ballots with zoning-related questions on them.

more...

http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=194096&format=html

[livvy]

8. HI: State Delays Contract For Voting Machines

May 17, 2008


State delays contract for voting machines

Procurement office won't allow temporary deal with company

By DERRICK DePLEDGE
Advertiser Government Writer

The state procurement office yesterday denied a request by the state's chief elections officer for an exemption from procurement law to move forward with a temporary contract for new voting machines.

Kevin Cronin, the chief elections officer, had wanted to give a $9 million contract to Hart InterCivic to provide paper eScan and electronic eSlate voting machines for the September primary and November general election. The temporary contract, according to Cronin, would have allowed the state Office of Elections and county clerks to continue work for this year's elections while a challenge to a long-term contract for voting machines was resolved.

But the state procurement office found that Cronin's request would have undermined an agreement reached last week between the elections office, Hart and Election Systems & Software, which is challenging the state's award of the long-term contract to Hart, on a timeline for settling the challenge.

"Any approval of this exemption at this time would be an act of bad faith by allowing (the elections office) to circumvent the signed agreement," the procurement office determined.

more...

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080517/NEWS03/805170335/1007/LOCALNEWSFRONT

[livvy]

9. WV: "Checking Everything"

‘Checking everything’
By Mallory Panuska
Times West Virginian


FAIRMONT Sat, May 17 2008

— Marion County’s canvassing board and four teams of poll workers convened at the county election center at 10 a.m. Friday morning to certify the results of Tuesday’s primary election.

The board, made up of the three county commissioners, first chose four precincts at random, 34, 62, 70, and 114, to be hand-counted by 16 poll workers.

A requirement issued under the state Legislature, the teams were set up equally with two Democrats and two Republicans on each one, explained County Clerk Janice Cosco.

The workers were tasked to go through the results by hand, count them, and compare them to the electronic results calculated Tuesday night from the Ivotronic voting machines.

more...
http://www.timeswv.com/intodayspaper/local_story_138021807.html?keyword=topstory

[livvy]

10. Kentucky Primary Looms: Choices Abound in Area Match-ups

Kentucky primary looms: Choices abound in area match-ups

By BARBARA GOLDMAN, Staff Writer


Friday, May 16, 2008 9:09 PM EDT

With only a few days left before Kentuckians go to the poll for the presidential primary on Tuesday, candidates are making last minute bids in the commonwealth, hoping to lure voters into their camp.

Locally, Democratic Party super-delegate David Wilhelm, a Barack Obama supporter will be at Chandler’s Restaurant beginning at 11:45 a.m., today to meet area residents and kick off Maysville canvassing. And on Monday, Sen. Hillary Clinton will be in town, appearing at the old Maysville High School gymnasium at 10 a.m., for a campaign rally.

snip...

Cotterill also said Kentucky voters should remember that this is a closed primary, which means voters may only vote for candidates in the party for which they are registered.

baby snip...

Voting statistics and information for local counties includes:

Bracken County

-- Currently has 5,996 registered voters, 4,762 Democrats and 1,019 Republicans. That includes 2,958 males and 3,038 females. Bracken County has seen no change since 2007 elections in the number of registered voters. However, in 2007 there was an 18.1 percent turnout for the election. There are no local elections on the ballot.

-- Voters will cast their votes at one of the eight precincts and the opportunity to cast there vote on one of ten electronic 1242 voting machines or eleven Hart InterCivic eSlate machines.

more statistics listed....


http://www.maysville-online.com/articles/2008/05/16/local_news/1296primary.txt

[livvy]

11. KY: Logan To Use New Voting Machines in Upcoming Election

Logan to use new voting machines in upcoming election

By OJ Stapleton-Editor [e-mail]
Published:
Friday, May 16, 2008 12:11 PM CDT

When Logan Countians go to the polls Tuesday for the Primary Election Day, they will have a chance to vote using some brand new electronic voting machines.

The equipment, called eScans, is a precinct-based voting system that digitally captures voter selections on printed ballots and integrates vote totals from absentee-by-mail and electronic voting systems to produce a single set of election reports.

Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson was in Russellville on Monday to talk about and demonstrate the new machines.

“This new equipment is user-friendly and provides voters with a very important tool in today's elections - a voter verified paper record,” Grayson said.

more...

http://www.newsdemocratleader.com/articles/2008/05/16/news/news05.txt

[livvy]

12. WV: Counting Confusion... Tech, Poll Errors Snarl

Counting confusion... Tech, poll errors snarl
By TAMMIE TOLER
Princeton Times


Sat, May 17 2008

— PRINCETON — Mercer County voters expecting quick election returns Tuesday were quickly disappointed as technical difficulties and human error sent most citizens to bed wondering who won a wide range of races.

The polls in the county’s 61 precincts closed at 7:30 p.m., and the going was slow from the beginning. It was almost two hours before workers from County Clerk Rudolph Jennings’ office and Mercer County Sheriff’s Sgt. G.W. Woods distributed the first round of the highly-anticipated returns, at approximately 9:20 p.m.

Office hopefuls and supporters swarmed the printouts still warm from the copier, while a long line of harried poll workers stretched the span of the courthouse’s bottom floor and spilled onto the sidewalk, anxiously awaiting completion of their last Election Day duties.

It was there that Jennings said the delays began.

more...



http://www.bdtonline.com/princeton/local_story_137150201.html

[livvy]

13. MO: Proposed Photo ID Legislation Failed in Missouri

Proposed Photo ID Legislation Failed in Missouri
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2008-05-17 11:37. Elections

Constitutional Change to Restrict Voting Rights Faced
Groundswell of Opposition from Across the State

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – In a victory for all voters, Missouri lawmakers ended this year’s legislative session without a final vote on legislation that could have prevented up to 240,000 Missourians from voting. The proposed change would have altered Missouri’s constitution, allowing for strict citizenship and government-issued photo ID requirements that would make Missouri one of the toughest states in the country for eligible, law-abiding citizens to register to vote or cast a ballot.

“I am relieved that I will be able to vote this fall,” said Lillie Lewis, a St. Louis city resident, “I’ve been voting in every election since I can remember, but if I needed my birth certificate, that would be the end of that. I hope this is the last we hear of this nonsense.” Lillie Lewis was born in Mississippi, but the state sent her a letter stating they have no record of her birth.

Birdell Owen, a Missouri resident who was displaced by hurricane Katrina, also voiced her relief. “I should be able to participate in my democracy,” she said, “even if Louisiana can’t get me a copy of my birth certificate. I’m glad Missouri politicians had the sense to protect my right to vote.”

As the bill began to move, a broad coalition of groups and voters across the state worked to educate citizens and legislators about the negative impact of such policy changes on real voters. Missourians for Fair Elections reports over 4,200 calls were made to lawmakers in the past two weeks urging them to not consider this legislation. Catholic organizations, such as the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Mary, and the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas issued statements voicing deep concerns with the legislation. The AARP, League of Women Voters, labor organizations, disability advocates, community organizations and progressive leaders worked around the clock for the past two weeks to make sure the concerns of Missouri voters were heard.

more...

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/33478

Original posts by babylonsister and discussions here:

Election Reform

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x502762

and here:

General Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3300315

[Wilms]

20. IL: Voter ID Proposal Rejected Along Party Lines

Voter ID proposal rejected along party lines

By John Patterson | Daily Herald Staff

SPRINGFIELD -- An attempt to require Illinois voters to show identification before casting a ballot was rejected Thursday by Democratic lawmakers.

The proposal would have required an official ID in order to get a ballot. Those who didn't comply could cast provisional votes that would be counted so long as the voter could produce an ID within 10 days.

State Rep. David Reis, a downstate Willow Hill Republican, modeled the Illinois proposal after an Indiana law recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Supporters said in a day and age in which ID is required with so many daily activities, it's not out of line to add voting to the list.

"We have to prove who we are to get in this building," state Rep. Tim Schmitz, a Batavia Republican, said of working in the Capitol. "At some point we have to take responsibility for who we are."

But a laundry list of politically influential groups ranging from teachers unions to government ethics watchdogs opposed the ID requirement...

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=191856&src=3


Thanks to AtLiberty for posting the discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x502732

[flashl]

21. MT: Two stamps to vote

Political notes for Sunday, May 18
By Daniel Person

Absentee voting is easy, but it’s not as easy as licking a stamp and dropping it in the mailbox this primary season.

In Montana, voters are given both parties’ ballots, but can only vote on one. Still, absentee voters must return both ballots for their votes to count, putting the weight of the envelope past what a 42 cent stamp covers.

In truth you need 59 cents for sufficient postage, since the ballot materials weigh 1 pound, 2 ounces.

While insufficiently posted ballots would get returned to the sender, those cutting it close timewise might wind up disenfranchised because of unscrupulous stamp study.

So, if voting by mail, either throw a couple stamps on the envelope, take it to a nearby post office or drop it by the County Courthouse next time you’re downtown.

Bozeman Daily

[livvy]

4. Campaign Finance Issues n/t

[livvy]

5. Why a Free Press? Local Campaign Finance Info To Be On Web (AZ)

Published: 05.17.2008
Why a Free Press? : Local campaign finance info to be on Web
MARK EVANS
Tucson Citizen

Margaret Click, a family member of the Jim Click auto dealership empire, gave $2,300 to Arizona Sen. John McCain's campaign for president March 17.

snip...

How do I know about these donations? I looked them up. It took about five minutes of searching each on the Federal Election Commission's and the Arizona Secretary of State's Web sites.

snip...

There are two election cycles in any campaign: the one in which ballots are cast and the one in which checks are cashed, the latter mostly preceding the former.

Sources of money candidates use to persuade voters often reveal more about these candidates than any impassioned stump speech, no matter how much candidates deny that donated money buys or influences their votes.

more...


http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/85563.php

[livvy]

14. Election Commission Nominee Removes Name

Election commission nominee removes name
by Paul Kane - May. 17, 2008 12:00 AM
Washington Post

WASHINGTON - A controversial Bush administration nominee to the Federal Election Commission withdrew from consideration Friday, providing a likely breakthrough to an impasse that has sidelined the political watchdog agency at the height of the primary season.

Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department lawyer whose nomination became entangled in allegations that political considerations influenced decisions by the agency's Civil Rights Division, sent President Bush a letter withdrawing his name.

Senate Democrats had refused for a year to confirm von Spakovsky, torpedoing the nominations of three other nominees and denying the FEC a quorum. Since Jan. 1, only two of the agency's six commissioner slots have been filled. Bush, supported by GOP Senate leaders, had refused to withdraw von Spakovsky's name.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., claimed victory Friday and predicted that Bush would soon select a replacement who could quickly win confirmation along with four other pending nominees and put the FEC back on its feet.

more...


http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/05/17/20080517fec0517.html

[livvy]

15. The nominee flying under the radar...A Worrisome Nominee to the EAC

This is an older piece, but here is another of the nominees that Reid and all of us should be concerned with.


Friday, September 15

A Worrisome Nominee to the EAC

The White House has announced its intended nominee for the Republican slot on the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) being vacated by departing Chairman Paul DeGregorio. The prospective commissioner is Caroline C. Hunter, who is currently Deputy Director of the Office of Public Liaison at the White House. The press release announcing this intended nomination describes Ms. Hunter as follows:

Ms. Hunter currently serves as Deputy Director of the Office of Public Liaison at the White House. Prior to this, she served as Executive Officer of the Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman at the Department of Homeland Security. Earlier in her career, she served as Deputy Counsel of the Republican National Committee. Ms. Hunter received her bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and her JD from the University of Memphis.

Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), the EAC consists of four commissioners, two of whom are Democrats and two of whom are Republicans. Ms. Hunter would be appointed for a four-year term as one of the two Republican appointees.

What's troubling about this announcement, at first blush, is that it's not clear that Ms. Hunter possesses the qualifications for the job. All of the prior EAC commissioners, Democrats and Republicans alike, have been people with substantial relevant experience. Republican Commissioners Donetta Davidson and Paul DeGregorio, for example, were previously election officials at the state and local level for years. The EAC's current executive director, Tom Wilkey, is also someone with many years experience in election administration. Former EAC Vice-Chair Ray Martinez practiced administrative law -- clearly relevant experience for someone helping to get a new administrative agency started -- and had worked with state elected officials as Deputy Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs. Current Democratic Commissioner Gracia Hillman has a long history of promoting voting rights, including work with the League of Women Voters and the National Coalition on Black Voter Participation.

more...

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/blogs/tokaji/2006/09/worrisome-nominee-to-eac.html

[livvy]

16. FBI Agent Denies Bullying in Fieger Case

May 17, 2008


FBI agent denies bullying in Fieger case

BY DAVID ASHENFELTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

The FBI agent in charge of the campaign-finance probe of Southfield lawyer Geoffrey Fieger denied Friday that he tried to bully witnesses to provide damaging evidence against Fieger.

"There was no undue pressure," agent Jeffrey Rees testified on the 14th day of trial in a case that has become as much about the federal government's conduct as the guilt or innocence of Fieger and law partner Vernon (Ven) Johnson. The two men are accused of recruiting 64 people to contribute to John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign and reimbursing them with law firm funds.

Rees disputed the testimony of past or present Fieger employees who said Rees accused them of breaking the law or used other heavy-handed tactics to try to make them talk.

"I don't believe I told anyone they were guilty of a felony," Rees said under cross-examination by Fieger lawyer Gerry Spence. Rees said he was simply trying to encourage witnesses to tell the truth.

more...

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080517/NEWS06/805170321/1008

[livvy]

17. I may post more later, but for now....

[Wilms]

18. PA: Sellersville Joins Call for Paper Records of Electronic Voting

Sellersville joins call for paper records of electronic voting

With Doylestown Township, says they aren't totally reliable.

By Charles Malinchak | Special to The Morning Call

May 13, 2008

snip

Council unanimously approved the measure, which came to their attention through a letter from Doylestown Township officials. The letter urged the borough to join a movement to provide a paper record in light of several instances and studies showing the electronic machines can be unreliable or are vulnerable to tampering.

snip

''There has been quite a bit of discussion about this all over. It is not exclusive to Sellersville Borough,'' Castelli said.

snip

Ulrich said the electronic machines are programmed outside the county in secret by a private company, which adds to the perception that they can't be relied upon.

snip

According to the resolution, ''Federal and certain state commissioned studies and election evidence have shown that direct recording electronic machines (DREs) are not accurate or reliable and that votes have been lost, miscounted or wrongly attributed in elections and furthermore that DREs are not secure and are open and subject to undetected tampering.''

The resolution urges county election officials to consider buying a voter-marked paper record system ''to provide the most accurate, reliable, tamper proof, cost effective and accessible voting system for Bucks County.''

snip

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b4_2sellersville.6404705may13,0,758989.story


ER Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x502750

[Melissa G]

19. Great want ad, livvy! Off to greatest and PM me if you wanna join

The excellent crew that gets the word out about Election Reform!