Articles By: John Gideon

'Daily Voting News' For April 25, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/25/2007 6:35pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

While legislation that would essentially do away with DRE touch-screen voting in Florida in favor of optical scan voting, sailed through the House without problem a Senate bill has been amended 14 times with amendments that try to help some legislator’s agenda to make it harder for people to vote. Added to the bill were unheard amendments that would limit the ability of groups to register voters and that would prohibit unions from political activity. Support for the legislation was immediately withdrawn by the Democratic party, League of Women Voters, ACLU, AFL-CIO and many others. So why this change? Is it an act to put in a poison pill to kill the bill or is it a hope that there is enough strength in the bill that it can carry these restrictive, disenfranchising amendments?

That voting news story, and many more, linked below...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 24, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/24/2007 8:00pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

According to an article in USA Today this morning:

State and local officials have begun a coordinated campaign to stop Congress from requiring a paper record of ballots cast on electronic voting machines, arguing it could cause more problems in next year's presidential election than it would solve.

Groups representing secretaries of state, state legislators and county leaders are working together to block legislation headed for a House committee vote and Senate hearings soon. Their letters, phone calls and meetings with lawmakers in recent weeks are likely to prompt changes, supporters and opponents say.

Links to that, and all the other notable voting news stories today, follow below...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 23, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/23/2007 8:00pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

In an article on the EAC, Congressional Quarterly had this to say:

After the turmoil over the 2000 presidential election, Congress created a bipartisan commission that was supposed to do nice, non-controversial things: hand out some federal grants, do some studies, certify voting machines, promote voting practices that seem to work well.

Instead, the Election Assistance Commission is now surrounded by controversy and tough questions. And the same lawmakers who could barely be bothered to pay attention to its creation four years ago are putting it under the microscope now.

And the National Journal reports:

In the wake of reports that the agency scuttled and even distorted two major research studies, several members of both the House and Senate have called the agency on the carpet. Senate Rules and Administration chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has scheduled an oversight hearing on the EAC for June 13.

Links to those stories, and more, all below...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 21 - 22, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/22/2007 5:05pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

The Pensacola [FL] News-Journal begins an editorial this way:

There is little of more importance in a democracy than that each qualified voter who appears at the polls on an Election Day will be able to vote --- and that this vote will be recorded and counted accurately.

Many states, including Florida, are switching from paper ballots to high-tech, ATM-like electronic voting machines. With the increasing use of the new machines, there is mounting evidence suggesting that touch-screen machines present a far graver threat to the integrity of America's elections.

We urge state lawmakers to consider two election reform bills that require a paper trail of all votes. Repeated studies have shown that touch-screen machines, which provide voters with no paper record of their ballots, are highly susceptible to tampering.

That, and links to other notable voting news stories from over the weekend, linked below...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 20, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/20/2007 8:00pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

It is amazing that different media sources can read a report (or not read it) and report on it and those reports are totally different. The recently released Cuyahoga County, Ohio report told that vote-memory card totals failed to match electronic voting machine ballot tallies in more than one quarter of the samples checked. The report also found that hundreds of votes were lost, that others were recorded twice and that software used to count the ballots was vulnerable to data problems. The New York Times reported the problems. Meanwhile the local Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the audit is good news for touch screen and that the audit showed that a tally matched the official record. It makes one question who read what in the report....

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'Daily Voting News' For April 19, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/19/2007 4:27pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

In written testimony presented to the US House Information Policy, Census, and National Archives Subcommittee, Government Accountability Office representative Randolph Hite said in part:

The integrity of voting systems --- which is but one variable in a successful election process equation --- depends on effective system life cycle management, which includes systems definition, development, acquisition, operations, testing and management. It also depends on measuring actual voting system performance in terms of security, reliability, ease of use and cost effectiveness, so that any needed corrective actions can be taken. Unless voting systems are properly managed throughout their life cycle, this one facet of the election process can significantly undermine the integrity of the whole.

Election officials, computer security experts, citizen advocacy groups, and others have raised significant concerns about the security and reliability of electronic voting systems, citing vague or incomplete standards, weak security controls, system design flaws, incorrect system configuration, poor security management and inadequate security testing, among other issues. Many of these security and reliability concerns are legitimate and thus merit the combined and focused attention of federal, state, and local authorities responsible for election administration.

That story, and many other voting related stories from today, all linked below...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 18, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/18/2007 5:35pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

The Associated Press reports:

Two computer science professors said they found "significant gaps" in the state investigation into allegations electronic voting machines in Sarasota County failed to count about 18,000 votes in a contested congressional race decided by only 369 votes. David Dill, a Stanford University computer science professor and critic of electronic voting, compared the state audit of Florida's 13th Congressional District race to a plane crash in which investigators comb through specific sections of wreckage and ignore other key areas. "I think the investigation is incomplete. The state of Florida was trying, but I think they missed some things," Dill said Wednesday.

That voting news story, and many others from today, all linked below...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 17, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/17/2007 4:24pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

In a “Wired News” article today, Kim Zetter reports in part:

Symptoms consistent with a known software flaw in a popular electronic voting machine surfaced widely in a controversial election in Sarasota County, Florida, last November, despite county officials' claims that a bug played no role in the election results, according to documents obtained by Wired News.

Activists say the flaw might have contributed to the high number of lost or uncast votes in a now-contested congressional race.

Incident reports from the election reveal Sarasota County poll workers from at least 19 precincts contacted technicians and election officials to report touch-screen sensitivity problems with the I-Votronic voting machine. In those incidents, voters were forced to press the screen harder and repeatedly to register a vote. The complaints mirror the symptoms of a bug that the machine's maker, Election Systems & Software, revealed prior to the election in a warning unheeded by the county.

As ever, links to that story, and today's other notable voting news, all below...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 15 and 16, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/16/2007 4:48pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

As reported by BRAD BLOG:

While revelations surrounding the mysterious 18,000 "undervotes" in the November 2006 U.S. House election between Christine Jennings and Vern Buchanan in Florida's 13th Congressional district continue to inform the nation about the dangers of electronic voting machines, new information has recently come to light exposing a shocking lack of responsible oversight by those entrusted with overseeing the certification of electronic voting systems at the federal level.

An investigation into what may have gone wrong in that election has revealed a serious security vulnerability on some, and possibly all, versions of the iVotronic touch-screen voting system widely used across the country. The iVotronic is a Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) touch-screen voting machine manufactured by Elections Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S), the nation's largest distributor of such systems.

That story, and today's other notable voting news, all linked below...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 14, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/14/2007 7:58pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

What is it about elections administration that the names never change, just their jobs? Tom Wilkey moved from the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) to the Election Assistance Commission. Donetta Davidson was on NASED panels and now she is Chair of the EAC. Brit Williams and Steve Freeman were both working for Wilkey at NASED and are now consultants for the EAC. And then there is Michael Vu who was under fire and a complete failure as an election administrator in Cuyahoga Co., OH. He finally resigned before he got fired and now he is the assistant registrar in San Diego Co., CA with a $10,000 a year raise. And these people all talk about voter confidence. We are supposed to have confidence in them? The EAC? Michael Vu? I don’t see how....

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'Daily Voting News' For April 13, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/13/2007 8:00pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

A press release from the office of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) begins:

In the wake of a news report that the Election Assistance Commission altered its findings to overstate the pervasiveness of voter fraud, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today asked the Senate Rules and Administration Committee to look into the matter. Menendez has written Committee Chairwoman Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), expressing his concern over the revelations and asking her to examine the process by which the EAC report was produced. Menendez maintains that the use of the EAC to advance a political agenda is a blow to the integrity of the electoral system and that an investigation into the motivations behind the panel's report is warranted.

Links to that item, and all the other notable voting news stories today, follow below...

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Sen. Menendez Asks Sen. Feinstein to Investigate EAC's Altered, Buried Report on 'Voter Fraud'

UPDATE: Feinstein Sends Letter of Inquiry on both Matters to the EAC...

By John Gideon on 4/13/2007 11:55am PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon

As previously reported by The BRAD BLOG (here and here) the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is being accused of altering a report that they commissioned and that did not meet their expectations.

In this case the EAC was apparently hoping to show widespread voter fraud had taken place in recent elections but the report that they commissioned revealed just the opposite. The EAC buried the report and issued one of their own that came to no conclusion at all.

Today Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) sent a letter to Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which has oversight over the EAC, "expressing his concern over the revelations and asking her to examine the process by which the EAC report was produced. Menendez maintains that the use of the EAC to advance a political agenda is a blow to the integrity of the electoral system and that an investigation into the motivations behind the panel's report is warranted."

Mendendez's press release on the matter is now posted here...

LATE UPDATE: Feinstein sends letter of inquiry on these matters to EAC, demanding all communications and processes leading to the alteration and/or hiding of both the EAC's "Voter Fraud" report and the report showing that Voter ID laws depress voter turnout. Announcement and Letter to EAC posted here...

ADDITIONAL NOTE: The BRAD BLOG will have an EXCLUSIVE new report next week, on yet another recently discovered and astounding failure by the EAC on the heels of a few questions we had ourselves for them over the past week or two...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 12, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/12/2007 6:51pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Yesterday the New York Times reported:

Five years after the Bush administration began a crackdown on voter fraud, the Justice Department has turned up virtually no evidence of any organized effort to skew federal elections, according to court records and interviews. Although Republican activists have repeatedly said fraud is so widespread that it has corrupted the political process and, possibly, cost the party election victories, about 120 people have been charged and 86 convicted as of last year.

Why is it that the main-stream media can report this yet the supposedly bi-partisan Election Assistance Commission refuses to release a report that says the same thing?

Also late yesterday San Diego Co, CA announced that they had hired Michael Vu to be their assistant registrar of voters. Vu resigned under fire from his last job as the election director of Cuyahoga Co, OH where two of his employees were convicted of election fraud for pre-counting precincts in a scheme to cherry-pick precincts to be recounted with no problems. Vu still refuses to believe that the employees did anything wrong. Perhaps Michael Brown will be San Diego county's next emergency preparedness director?

And today voters in Pennsylvania won a suit brought by the state who attempted to stop a suit brought by 26 voters. The original suit challenges the use of electronic voting machines “that provide no way for Electors to know whether their votes will be recognized” through voter verification or independent audit.

Those voting news stories, and many others on a busy day, all lined below...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 11, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/11/2007 4:28pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

The Election Assistance Commission has again taken deserved flack for hiding commissioned reports that do not meet the political aims of some. Instead the commission has released versions of the reports that more closely represent those aims. The New York Times reports:

A federal panel responsible for conducting election research played down the findings of experts who concluded last year that there was little voter fraud around the nation, according to a review of the original report obtained by The New York Times. Instead, the panel, the Election Assistance Commission, issued a report that said the pervasiveness of fraud was open to debate.

Meanwhile Congressman Hinchey (D-NY) has said:

The EAC has an obligation to be forthright with the American people and operate transparently and in a non-partisan manner. The draft report was commissioned with taxpayer dollars upon a mandate from Congress so that we could learn more about voter fraud and intimidation.

Those stories, and many many more today, all linked below...

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'Daily Voting News' For April 10, 2007

By John Gideon on 4/10/2007 4:48pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Yesterday the Maryland legislature voted unanimously to ban the use of paperless voting machines by 2010. The legislation requires an optically scannable paper ballot marked by hand or with the help of a ballot marking device. This news leaves one questioning the demise of MD's State Board of Elections head Linda Lamone who has sworn that the state would go to paper “over my dead body.”

“Newer isn't always better. The Harrison County [Mississippi] Board of Supervisors has decided the new touch screen voting system isn't worth the hassle, the expense, or the nightmare it would create in a contested election. The board voted Monday to revert back to scanning machines on the recommendation of Circuit Clerk Gayle Parker. There are several reasons why Parker is no fan of the touch screen system. She says she'd rather stick to what works well than sit on the cutting edge of technology under a flawed system.” Among those reasons are that the Diebold TSx DREs are not “user friendly” and the system is “a headache.”

Those, and the other notable voting news stories, all linked below...

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