Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

In his article, “Electric Boogaloo”, Art Levine begins:

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

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

A few years ago the government of Ireland purchased Liberty voting machines, the same machines that are being marketed, unsuccessfully so far, in New York and other eastern states. After receiving the machines from the vendor Irish computer scientists found that http://www.belfasttelegr...ics/article2430307.ece\">the machines were not secure. Unlike in the US where we continue to use DREs that are insecure, the Irish government put the machines into warehouses. So far the Irish tax-payer has spent 51 million euros for this scheme. Some local jurisdictions have purchased leases of up to 25 years for storage of machines and now the government wants to bring all of the machines in the country together into an unused aerodrome for storage. This means buying out leases and no one knows yet how much all of this is going to cost.

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

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Voters of the United States have certain rights as American citizens. Among those rights is the right to vote for people who represent us in the local, state or federal government and to have our vote counted as we cast it. We also have the right to have our vote cast in secret. Presently our rights are in danger due to HAVA and its promoting the use of Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines which are not accurate and may not maintain the secrecy of our vote. HR-811 does nothing to safeguard our rights, in fact it helps to remove those rights by allowing the further use of DRE voting machines. Some in the Election Integrity community speak about compromises that would allow the continued use of DREs but with some restrictions. Any compromise of a right is a violation of that right. (With a tip of the hat to Paul Lehto)...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Today’s top news item, in my mind anyway, is a column written by Bob Koehler who is an editor for Tribune Media Services and is a friend and fellow Election Integrity activist. Today Bob wrote an article about another friend and activist who many of you know, Bernie Ellis. Bernie was one of the movers and shakers in the EI movement in Tennessee and one of the organizers of the “Gathering To Save Our Democracy” in Nashville in 2004. I hope you read and enjoy Bob’s article and that it moves you to help Bernie. Thank you.

In other news the Virginia House of Delegates rejected a proposed amendment from the Governor to a bill that would require a phase-out of DRE voting machines and replacement by optical-scan machines. The Governor wanted the legislation to not take effect until July, 2008. If Virginia can vote to ban DREs why is Congress dragging their feet?

Those, and links to other worthy voting news stories, follow...

As recently as October of 2004, the first voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) printer was qualified for use on Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines used in this country. These printers came about due to the insistence of the voters that there be a means of auditing elections. However, even in that short time, we have found that the printers often do not work as we expected them to. The printers have proven to be a placebo rather than a reliable tool. In fact the printers fail as often as the DREs they are mounted on and because of those failures they cannot be relied upon to produce ballot printouts to be used for audits.

It is clear that VVPAT printers don’t serve their purpose. Why were there problems in Cuyahoga Co.? Why didn’t the voters notice that their votes were not being recorded on the VVPAT’s? That’s the problem. Voters tend not to look at the VVPAT tapes for a number of reasons. A new, improved VVPAT printer will be no different and if the voter doesn’t verify the paper audit trail the paper audit trail may be worthless. The answer is to use only voter marked paper ballots and ban the use of electronically marked electronic ballots that unverifiable because no one can review internal data inside a computer.

Note: There are many handy items that you can use to learn more about the danger of DRE voting machines and why they should be banned here: http://www.votersunite.o...11AmendmentResources.asp

Links to many more voting stories from today follow below...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

In a March 30 news release reposted today on VoteTrustUSA, ProjectVote reports:

Just why is the commission that is supposed to be a “clearinghouse” for information about elections only a “clearinghouse” for information that meets their narrow political viewpoint? Why is it that projects that show that voters are disenfranchised by Voter ID laws, or that voter fraud is nearly non-existent, get minimized by the EAC? Is it because the EAC is partisan? It clearly appears that is the case and its time the EAC do what’s best for the voters and not for one political view point.

That, and many more voting stories today, linked below...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Many on all sides of the discussions over HR-811 point to the “Hursti Hack” as proof of their arguments. Those who back HR-811 without any ban on DREs tell us that the “Hursti Hack” in Florida proves that optical-scan systems are equally as bad as DREs. Those on the opposite side of the argument, and for hand counted paper ballots make the exact same argument. What does Harri Hursti have to say? Harri says that DREs are not safe for use in elections, even with a voter verified paper audit trail. He also says that hand counting paper ballots is not feasible in the US because of the complexity of our ballots. It may work in Finland, or other countries, where the ballots are simple and may only have one or two races; but not in the United States with ballots that are pages long.

That story, and many more today, all linked below...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

The rise of electronic voting has created new ways to disenfranchise African-American voters—through high-tech ethnic profiling, inequitable allocation of equipment, and discrimination against non-computer-users and the elderly.

The solution? Prohibit the use of electronic voting systems, and replace them with voter-marked paper ballots, optical scanners, and stringent audits — a combination that provides the most secure safeguards available today and in the foreseeable future.

The opportunity to ban electronic voting is before Congress now. HR 811, the “Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007,” does not prohibit electronic voting but must be amended to do so, in order to protect the voting rights of African-Americans.

“Many national organizations are pushing electronic voting machines, in spite of evidence that the machines are disenfranchising African-Americans and other minorities. Everyone must take a closer look at this — and soon.”
Velmanette Montgomery, New York State Senator...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Recent reports that Voting Technologies International has gone out of business have apparently been premature but now the company is being sued by past employees, vendors, and Wisconsin labor regulators, all of whom say the company did not pay them for accrued time off, services rendered and reimbursable expenses. How much longer can it be for VTI?

Meanwhile a congressional task force will meet April 17, for the first time, to begin discussions of the election in Florida CD-13. The GOP has, so far, chosen to not have any members on this task force. The group will meet with or without a GOP representative.

And speaking of Florida, the Governor and Senate seem to be in agreement that DRE voting must go. The state House seems to be holding out. The Speaker of the House is concerned that state funds are going to be used by the counties to correct their bad decisions. And then late this afternoon the GOP majority in one House committee voted to axe any funds for the state to purchase new machines to replace their DREs.

Also today, true to its seemingly partisan position the EAC has decided to disown a commissioned study on VoterID and do it again in an attempt to get the result that they want.

All those stories and more linked below...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Just why is the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation (SCI) asking counties for all paperwork that applies to their dealing with Sequoia Voting Systems? They want “all bids, contracts, licenses, canceled checks and warranties relating to the purchase of voting machines from Sequoia.” Of course no one at SCI is saying anything while the investigation is under way.

And in more vendor news St Joseph Co, Indiana is paying an ES&S bill under protest and they may follow their check with a notice of a lawsuit. It seems the company may have made software updates contrary to county instructions and then when ES&S corrected the mistake they decided to charge for that correction.

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

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Since October of last year, The Coalition for Voting Integrity has been producing a radio show, “Voice of the Voters” - available on WNJC1360 AM and the Internet - devoted to the exploration not only of the impact of electronic voting but also the nature of Democracy and our role in it as American citizens.

The list of guests has been nothing short of astounding. From a Pulitzer-Prize winning historian to national experts on the issues and science behind electronic voting, every week has brought a wealth of information to the public. Mary Ann Gould has interviewed internationally known computer scientists and electronic voting experts, Dr. Avi Rubin, Dr. Dan Lopresti and Dr. Rebecca Mercuri. She’s talked to polling expert Dr. Steven Freeman of UPENN. She got the latest news about pending electronic voting litigation, including some in Pennsylvania, from attorneys and voting experts John Bonifaz, Marian K. Schneider and Lowell Finley. She’s talked to Congressmen Rush Holt (NJ-12) and Ron Paul (TX-14).

I highly recommend this weekly one-hour radio program. It airs on WNJC and on the Internet every Wednesday from 8PM to 9PM EST. Go to Coalition for Voting Integrity for more information on each week’s program and to find the archives of previous programs.

Aside from that, notable voting stories from today are linked below as usual...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

The House Administration (full committee) is planning to markup Rep. Holt's Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007 (HR. 811) on Thursday, March 29th at 10am. Any letters in opposition to this bill’s lack of a ban of DREs should be addressed to House Administration and faxed to them today or tomorrow so they can be inserted in the Record. Meanwhile a judge in Orange Co. California ruled in a contested election that the "voter verified paper audit trail" [VVPAT] did not have to be counted. And one more Cuyahoga Co. Ohio board of elections member has resigned leaving just one member to be removed from his position by the Secretary of State.

Those, and many more voting stories of note from today's media coverage, all linked below...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Today, Monday, the state of Massachusetts goes to court to defend themselves in a lawsuit brought by Diebold. Diebold claims that the state should have bought their accessible voting machines rather than the AutoMark that was offered by ES&S because the Diebold voting machine was the best of the two. Perhaps Diebold will offer to explain to the judge what makes their voting system accessible. I doubt that will happen because they would have a lot of problem proving the imaginary.

That story, and many more today, linked below...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

First I want to welcome Kim Zetter to the “blogosphere”. She has been a respected reporter for Wired News and has covered voting technology for a few years now. You can find her work at Informed Consent.

As reported by both Kim and The BRAD BLOG:

That story, and much more from around the country today, all linked below...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

In what may be the first local action to HR-811, Westmoreland Co. Pennsylvania is asking for more state or federal funds to allow them to change voting systems if their present system is affected by federal legislation.

Meanwhile Florida’s Governor, Charlie Crist, has announced that he wants to use new ballot on demand technology for early voting thus allowing the state of Florida to go to 99% paper ballots in any election.

In Ohio newly elected SOS Jennifer Brunner warned members of the Cuyahoga Co. Board of Elections that they all need to resign. The two Democratic members of the board have taken this advice but the two Republican members have decided to ignore Brunner’s warning that she will air their dirty laundry if they don’t resign. True to her word, and as reported here on The BRAD BLOG, Brunner has sent an 18 page document to each of the hangers-on that spells out their failures and makes those failures public. The failures include numerous instances of misfeasance, nonfeasance, and violations of state election law in five distinct areas. The big question now is who is going to conduct elections in this county? The Board is gone, the election director was fired, one manager is now going to prison for 18 months along with one employee, and there have been many resignations. And all of this is on top of yet another criminal investigation to find out whether vote counts from early and absentee voters were totaled before Election Day. ...