Guest blogged by John Gideon

Late last night the Arizona Legislature took the steps necessary to pass legislation that will guarantee the voters in the state have more transparency and auditability in their elections. The bill passed the House of Representatives 51-0 then immediately went to the Senate who passed it 25-3.

I received an email that originated from Arizona state Representative Ted Downing last night that says:

The Arizona Daily Star article mentioned in Representative Downing's email can be found here.

The number of organizations and individuals now declaring "No Confidence" in the reported results of the Busby/Bilbray special election to fill the U.S. House seat of the jailed Randy "Duke" Cunningham is now increasing exponentially. The race, as we've reported since it was held on June 6th, was run on easily-tamperable Diebold voting machines that were effectively illegal and decertified on both the state and federal level after they were sent home with poll workers for days and weeks prior to the election in contravention of laws, regulations, and of course, common sense.

I'd continue to encourage you to support candidates and organizations who are willing to speak up on these issues! As well as not support those who don't! And feel free to let them know why!

So far today, joining the burgeoning list of groups and individuals and candidates who have already declared "No Confidence" in the race and who are demanding a manual hand count of the ballots (you can do so yourself via VelvetRevolution.us' petition here) are the following:

Massachusetts Secretary of State candidate, John Bonifaz --- who's also a Constitutional attorney --- joins the "growing number of citizens" in declaring "No Confidence" in the unverified Busby/Bilbray election results. In his statement, he declares, "We face today a crisis in public confidence in the integrity of our elections. This crisis threatens the foundation of our democracy."

His statement then goes on to add...

In Maryland, U.S. Senatorial candidate Kevin Zeese calls for a hand count and says in his full statement:

The recently formed Election Defense Alliance, dedicated to bringing together and helping local groups fight for issues of electoral integrity, has also issued a "No Confidence" statement in the Busby/Bilbray election:

The folks above, with more to come as I understand it, join several other notable groups and individuals who have already declared "No Confidence" in the announced results and have demanded a manual hand count of the ballots used in the race. Some of those groups currently include the California Election Protection Network (CEPN), Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), VelvetRevolution.us, Tribune Media columnist Robert Koehler and U.S. House nominee (CA-49) Jeeni Criscenzo.

As we reported (both here and here) the media must stop reporting what they can't actually verify. There exists no proof that Brian Bilbray won the special election in the CA-50th U.S. House race. And yet, nobody holds AP or anyone else in the MSM accountable for reporting to that effect. (Never mind what they'd say about us bloggers if we reported something that couldn't be independently verified! So we try not to do that here. Ever! Of course, they still dismiss us despite the fact that we try only to report veriafiable facts, and they don't bother to do so.)

Given what we've learned since the still wholly unverified Busby/Bilbray election then, the following photo is from a rather prescient Election Night press conference held by Dave Berman and his "We Do Not Consent" folks up in Humboldt County before the polls closed on the evening of June 6th in California. As printed in the Humboldt Advocate on 6/9/06...

(Click photo to read the whole story)

As readers have likely noticed, the Busby/Bilbray issue has sucked me into its vortex (or vice versa?) for the moment. Necessarily. I'll hope BRAD BLOG readers with interests in other non-Busby/Bilbray items will understand, forgive and realize that it's just me here for the most part at this time, though David Edwards and John Gideon are able to jump in with other items as their time allows.

Further, I believe the Busby/Bilbray issue merits the attention currently being given to it, both on the blog and behind the scenes, since it has ramifications for every election in this country come November (after which it will be too late to do anything about what needs to be done now concerning the security of unsecure electronic voting machines).

With that then, two small points for now about which I'll have more details in the days ahead..."Emergency Townhall Meetings" are now being organized to deal with these issues both in Los Angeles and San Diego. In LA, there will be such an event with myself, and several other speakers (details soon) on Tuesday the 27th at 8pm @ the Venice United Methodist Church. In SD on Wednesday the 28th, there will be another event, specific time/location to come shortly. A press conference may be held in conjuction in San Diego next week as well. As mentioned, details forthcoming on all of the above. If you're anywhere in the area, I hope you will turn out. It matters.

Also, yes, as some have asked, I can confirm the item now posted at RAW STORY wherein Bobby Kennedy is quoted as saying in an interview: "I would say that very soon we'll be announcing lawsuits against some of the individuals and companies involved."

Such litigation is, in fact, in the works and has been for some time. Beyond that, it would be imprudent of me to give any further details at this time for a number of reasons. But you've now got still more to look forward to.

Beyond that, feel free to use this as an Open Thread to discuss any or all of the above...or anything else about which I haven't had time to do any reporting over this past week....

The California Election Protection Network (CEPN) has issued a 'No Confidence' Resolution in regard to the Busby/Bilbray Election held on June 6th in San Diego County.

The non-partisan election watchdog network, comprised of more than 25 election integrity groups, has also issued a press release this morning announcing that the elections held in SD County "were conducted under illegal conditions" due to the Registrar having sent voting machines home for overnights with poll workers for days and weeks prior to election day, in direct violation of state and federal rules, laws and provisions.

The statement goes on to call for a manual hand count of the ballots to be paid for by the SD County Registrar, charging that the office has the "obligation to conduct a proper election, not bill the people to pay for his blunder."

A few grafs from that news release today:

-- CEPN's complete press release can be read here...
-- CEPN's 'No Confidence Resolution' can be read here...

CEPN is urging citizens and members to sign Velvet Revolution's petition demanding a manual hand count of all ballots in the race.

In their statement and declaration, CEPN has joined several other organizations and individuals who have declared 'No Confidence' in the race who are demanding that the ballots be counted by hand. Included amongst those are Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), VelvetRevolution.us, and Tribune Media columnist Robert Koehler. As well, VoteTrustUSA has condemned the "egregious violations" in the election and U.S. House Nominee (CA-49) Jeeni Criscenzo has come out to discuss the "outrageous breaches in security" during the election, in which she also ran on June 6th (and won!).

Guest Blogged by Jeeni Criscenzo

EDITOR'S NOTE: Jeeni Criscenzo is now the Democratic nominee running against incumbent Republican Rep. Darryl Issa for the U.S. House seat in California's 49th congressional district. In her guest blog below, she speaks about some of the horrendous outrages and other disastrous election administration she witnessed in San Diego County's Election on June 6th. She was a primary candidate that day, the same day as the now-questionable Busby/Bilbray race which was run on easily-hacked Diebold voting machines sent home overnight with poll workers prior to the election. Those "sleepovers" are in direct contravention of both state and federal laws and regulations implimented specifically in regard to Diebold voting systems. Thus, ignoring those rules and laws rendering them illegal for use in that election.

I spoke with her at some length last night, and I'm happy to see that, unlike so many Democratic candidates --- including Busby --- she is now more than willing to stand up and raise hell about these very clear outrages. While I have several concerns about her short-term suggested solution of using Absentee Ballots to fight back against the rise of the machines, her perspective is a unique one which deserves to be heard. She makes many points about which I wholeheartedly agree. I'll let you (and her) discuss any concerns in comments here.

No matter the nuanced quibbles, I'd urge you to support candidates like Criscenzo who are willing to speak out loudly and clearly about what the hell is going on here as we all work to find possible solutions to the ongoing and rapid crumbling of our current electoral system. Her campaign website, for more info or to send your support, is right here. --- BF

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Want Voting Integrity - Just Mail It!
by Jeeni Criscenzo

There has been a lot of talk since the California elections last week about the integrity of the vote count, particularly in the run-off election in the 50th District between Francine Busby and Brian Bilbray. It's not surprising that Busby's supporters are dubious of the results: polls showed Busby ahead by 3 to 7 points in the days before the election. An apparent Bilbray win is explained away as the result of a last minute blunder by Busby. If you plan to fix an election where the candidate you want to win is behind in the polls, you need to create a reason for the sudden change on election day, and there it was - Voila! - a last minute slip-of-the-tongue blasted throughout the country by the lock-step right-wing media.

As a candidate who won by a landslide (I was unopposed for the Democratic nomination for Congress, CA District 49), I'm in the fortunate position of being able to look into the election process in San Diego without being called a sore loser.

I made some troubling discoveries on Election Day when I visited 37 precincts in Oceanside as a roving poll monitor (or as Carol Hilton, my friend and monitoring partner, dubbed us --- "Poll Cats"). So last Friday, I visited the Registrar of Voters office to ask questions and to see for myself how the count was being handled....

The Fox 'News' Republican Spin Machine was up bright and early on the day following the Busby/Bilbray election (which was conducted on illegal/decertified voting machines) to ensure the predictable party line was heard loud and clear. No matter whether they had any actual facts to bear out their reporting.

BRAD BLOG commenter, "Stop_George" has put together a great Flash Presentation for Huffington Posts's "Contagious Festival" to help set the record straight.

Please watch it, and then use the "Send to Friends!" link at the bottom of the page to spread the word and help the presentation climb up the festival rankings so thousands of more Americans will see it and learn what went on here!

Join PDA, The BRAD BLOG, Tribune Media's Bob Koehler, VelvetRevolution.us (and now, CA Election Protection Network!) and thousands of Americans so far, in declaring NO CONFIDENCE in the reported results of the Busby/Bilbray special U.S. House of Representative run-off election last week in California's 50th congressional district!

See how poll workers taking the voting machines home for overnights days before the election rendered them uncertifed and illegal for use by both State and Federal standards, leaving the announced results wholly unverifiable at this time.

Take your democracy back! Declare "No Confidence!" Sign the VR petition...

From today's Indianapolis Star...

PBS' News Hour with Jim Leher covered electronic voting as it occurred in last week's California primary. Suffice to say, while the report was "balanced" strongly towards a pro e-voting position, there were a number of points worth noting, and which underscore the points I've been making re: the illegalities in the Busby/Bilbray election fiasco.

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UPDATE: Thanks to David Edwards, the video of the report is now available here: Video in Streaming Flash format...
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1) Virtually every shot of a Diebold touch-screen voting machine shown in use on Election Day last week in the story, clearly reveals the (nearly-inexplicably) opaque plastic door designed into these systems as being closed over the view window of the so-called "Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail" (VVPAT) printer --- begging the question of how many voters actually bothered to verify their so-called "paper trail" when using these machines.

2) One long-time poll worker is asked what he's seen so far this year with the new voting machines. "Confusion," he replies. Then he goes on to report that voters are supposed to confirm their choices on the screen instead of via the "paper trail"...

3) Computer Scientist David Jefferson from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, who examined the systems for CA Sec. of State Bruce McPherson, in light of the recent Utah analysis of Diebold touch-screen systems revealing they could be hacked with two minutes of physical access and no password necessary says (Francine Busby campaign, please take note!)...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

It has been a very slow news day even with "No Confidence" press releases from various groups in response to security breaches in San Diego Co. California during the recent state primary. / The one bit of news is a new "Quick Start Management Guide for New Voting Systems". The "Quick" in the title seems to point to how fast the document was rushed out. There is nothing there but a reminder of things most elections officials probably got in classes held by the Election Center. The EAC needed to look at the melt-down in recent primary elections and put out a guide to officials with emphasis on how to keep from being affected by poor vendor service....

Joining a growing drumbeat of individuals and organizations, including The BRAD BLOG, Tribune Media's Bob Koehler and VelvetRevolution.us, the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) has just issued a declaration of "No Confidence" in the reported results of the Busby/Bilbray special U.S. House of Representative run-off election last week in California's 50th congressional district!

We are told that other organizations will likely be issuing similar statements and declarations on this matter soon.

TO REVIEW: The election was run on highly hackable Diebold voting machines that were sent home overnight and unsecurely with poll workers for days prior to the election which rendered the machines both illegal and uncertified for use in the election under both federal and state laws, requirements and statutes. The GOP has since rushed to swear-in Bilbray before the votes were counted, or the election even certified by the state of California.

PDA's strongly worded declaration of "No Confidence" posted on their website and is currently being emailed to all of their 60,000+ national members, urging the public to sign VelvetRevolution's Petition demanding a manual hand count of the ballots.

Emily Messner, a blogger at WaPo, has picked up on what's been going on in the Busby/Bilbray election fiasco and asks "How could this be allowed to happen?"

She explains why sending home Diebold voting machines with poll workers, overnight and unsecured for days, is outrageous (and, as we reported yesterday, also illegal) underscoring the point with this graf from NEWSWEEK's Steven Levy just a week or two ago:

She forgot to give us credit for breaking and continuing to cover the story. But we're not really looking for credit, we're just looking for some democracy.

VelvetRevolution.us declares 'No Confidence' in the reported results of the Busby/Bilbray Election. Here's why.

Sign the VR petition demanding a manual hand count of paper ballots and paper trails to assure the election was tabulated correctly even though it was carried out on uncertified Diebold voting machines in contravention of state and federal law.

Election reform starts here. It's up to you now to spread the word!

(DISCLOSURE: The BRAD BLOG is a co-founder of VelvetRevolution.us)

I just got off the phone with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) who reportedly wowed 'em a few hours ago during her speech (posted in full below) on the closing afternoon of the "Take Back America" conference being held in Washington D.C.

In her remarks, Schakowsky apologized for "not taking seriously enough the allegations that the 2004 election was stolen." She now feels it was, and claims that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) will be launching an initiative. From today's speech:

Raise a stink? Can do. So can you! Sign Velvet Revolution's petition declaring "No Confidence" in the Busby/Bilbray race!

(Hat tip to my buddy Peter B. Collins, who is in DC to cover the conference, for his quick phone call alert after Schakowsky's speech earlier this afternoon!)

Schakowsky's prepared statement from today's Take Back America conference speech follows in full...