Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Summit Co. Ohio is now considering following in the foot steps of Douglas Co. Nebraska. Douglas Co., the home of ES&S, purchased a digital printer and now prints their own ballots for their ES&S op-scans. Douglas Co bought the printer for $120,000 and saved $75,000 in printing costs in the just completed election. And, they did not have to rely on ES&S to make any deadlines. They were in complete control. ...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

It seems that the Sarasota election problems along with the overwhelming vote by the people of that county who spoke out and told the county that they want a paper ballot, has influenced other counties in the state. There is now talk of converting from DREs to paper ballots or including a vvpat on the DREs in Volusia, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. ...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

"By the 2008 presidential election, voters around the country are likely to see sweeping changes in how they cast their ballots and how those ballots are counted," write Ian Urbina and Christopher Drew in today's NYTimes, "including an end to the use of most electronic voting machines without a paper trail." / The totally partisan EAC Commissioner Donetta Davidson has been named "Chairman" of that commission. "Ms. Davidson, speaking in her role as EAC commissioner, has publicly advocated for paperless electronic voting machines and opposed legislation that would require that electronic voting machines provide an independent means of verifying the accuracy of electronic vote totals. In addressing the recent TGDC meeting, Commissioner Davidson specifically urged the committee not to adopt a resolution that would require a voter verified paper audit trail for direct recording electronic voting machines."...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

The folks in Alaska may have a good idea that needs to be discussed (see the first article below). Essentially they are suggesting a separate, national, hand counted, paper ballot for President. Any registered voter can vote anywhere on that single race. The immediately apparent advantage is that it will enfranchise voters who may be away from home as they can walk into any polling place on election day, prove they are registered and vote the presidential ballot and that ballot would be counted, by hand, right along with every other ballot gathered at the polls. Of course, a glaring argument against is that this would require a national voter registration data base and states are having trouble just getting it right for themselves without joining all 50 plus the territories together into one. It may be an idea worth discussion and thought though. ...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

A county supervisor in Riverside Co. California has opened his mouth and may regret it. He has challenged the local advocacy group, SaveRVote, to bring in a computer expert and hack their Sequoia voting machines. They say it can't be done and are challenging someone to come in and prove them wrong. Any takers? / Recently EAC Commissioner Donnetta Davidson spoke before the "Florida State Association of Supervisor of Elections". Witnesses to that speech have reported that Ms. Davidson expressed concern that Democrats won control of the Senate in the recent election. Her concern? She stated that she had promises from Republicans in the Senate that legislation requiring a voter verified paper audit trail and audits would never come to the floor. Ms. Davidson's statements seem to be neither independent nor bipartisan and show a willingness to play politics rather than work for the good of the voter....

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

"Donetta Davidson, a member of the Election Assistance Commission, said only a few dozen of about 6,700 election jurisdictions in the United States reported voting problems on Election Day. She said local governments undertake exhaustive testing on their computer equipment before and after elections. "Our voters should feel very confident," she said." [See Below - PA: Doubts persist on electronic vote machines] It's apparent that Ms. Davidson has ignored the results of this past election. It's time she opened her eyes and saw what is happening around her. ...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Citizens in King Co. Washington wanted to exercise their right within state law and asked for a hand recount of two precincts in the county. They filed the proper paper work and turned over a down payment of $.50 per ballot for the 922 ballots that would be included in the recount. The county accepted the money and the paper work and then informed the citizens that they needed $2500 per day with a minimum of four days for security. These are ballots that have already been counted. The citizens are not contesting an election, just asking for their state's given right of a hand recount. The county clearly does not want that recount to take place. What is the county hiding? / One of the TGDC members who voted against "Software Independence" had this to say today; "I'm not sure that we've really proven that the processes that state election officials have used for a few decades now of testing and verifying that the systems work ... are failing," said Paul Miller, voting systems manager at the Washington state Secretary of State's Office. "Now we're adding another requirement." It seems Miller has joined the throng of vendors and elections officials who have their heads buried in the sand and ignore the election failures going on around them....

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

"Among the supposed benefits of electronic voting ---- of which Riverside County was a pioneer, and for which it spent in excess of $30 million ---- were greater accuracy, reliability and speed. What we appear to have gotten for that money was less reliability and slower results. The question of accuracy remains unanswered and here we are, almost four weeks after the election, and the Registrar of Voters office just posted what appear to be final numbers late Saturday." / “What is the point if you run it through the machine again?” said Mary Kiffmeyer, the Minnesota secretary of state, who instituted hand recounts in 2000. “If you do it by hand, you’re doing an audit on the machine.”...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

"The most important thing for Congress is to take a deep breath," says Dan Tokaji, an election-law expert at Ohio State University. He worries that momentum is building for something that could prove to be a mistake. "Passing paper trails at this stage, based on what we know right now is really fool's gold. It may provide an initial sense of confidence. But that confidence won't be long-lasting unless we resolve some deeper issues." Tokaji is absolutely correct. He just didn't go far enough and say that with no confidence in the paper trail there should also be no confidence in Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines. They are both, together or singly, "fool's gold". / In Maryland "Barbara Samorajczyk, who lost to Ronald A. George by 53 votes in House of Delegates District 30, said she conceded by phone yesterday after deciding that "there wasn't any meaningful way to do a recount" with electronic voting machines. "We cannot recount the machine," Samorajczyk said." ...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

There is already a scheduled recount in the OH-15 District that will begin next Tuesday. Now a Franklin Co judge has also asked for a recount of her loss due to suspected machine problems. / It seems that Sequoia VP Howard Cramer may have been less than honest in statements made to the Denver Election Commission which is investigating why they had miserable failures in last month's election. He tried to say that Sequoia was only asked for "voter registration" software and the county misused that software as an e-poll book. Documents now show that Sequoia was contracted to provide what is clearly e-poll book software. Oh what a tangled web we weave…… / ...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

"In a decision that could have far-reaching effects on the way Rhode Island conducts elections, Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunato Jr. ruled yesterday that any ballot that cannot be read by electronic voting machines during an election recount must be made available for public scrutiny to determine if a voter’s intent can be discerned. “We’re dealing with a fundamental right,” Fortunato said. “Surely we cannot surrender elections to machines.”' / "Software that Denver used to check in voters on Election Day did not "meet, or even approach, professional standards," consultants told a city investigative panel Wednesday. Experts hired to study Denver's problem-plagued election also criticized election officials for failing to catch obvious problems, and they expressed surprise at the "casual" attitude of those running a critical system of democracy." / There is a lot in the news today about the finger-pointing between Denver officials and those officials and Sequoia....

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

"The question most frequently asked after the election is whether it was a success," said Doug Chapin, electionline.org's director. "Success can be measured in a two ways. If success is measured through picking winners, then yes, there were few races in which polling-place problems could have affected the outcome. But, on the other hand, if it is measured through whether every voter who showed up at a polling place had an opportunity to cast their vote without problems or obstacles, then the answer is no." We agree with this assessment and we encourage everyone to read electionline.org's newly released report. / Apparently the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) appears to have decided that the new (2007) voting systems standards decertify all Direct Recording Electronic voting machines....

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

A recount has been requested by a candidate for Senate in Indiana. / Riverside Co. California has announced an intent to form a panel to investigate their voting problems. / Ron Rivest visited Georgia on Nov. 7 and has recently reported on what he saw as he visited with the head of the state's elections and some polls in different counties. He was told by Kathy Rogers, the state elections boss, that the state did illegally use uncertified software in 2002. Rivest also found that the state seems to have decided it's OK to violate federal law as they turn voters with questionable registrations away from the polls without offering them a provisional ballot....

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

"The Commission will receive presentations on public comments received for the DRAFT Procedural Manual for Voting System Testing and Certification Program and the proposed final document will be considered for approval. The Commission will receive presentations from election officials, community interest groups, academicians and technology experts regarding the 2006 election. The Commission will elect officers for 2007 and consider other administrative matters." Notice of a Public Hearing of the Election Assistance Commission. The meeting, on Dec. 7 in Washington DC. That's Pearl Harbor Day. Let's hope the EAC doesn't do more to torpedo our election process....

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

"One of the great hazards of the way electronic voting has been introduced in the United States is that it could end up undermining democracy by producing unreliable election results that cannot be truly audited or corrected. This month, that nightmare became a reality. Voting machines in a Congressional race in Florida — where else? — may have swallowed about 18,000 votes, far more than the nominal winner’s razor-thin margin of victory. Because those votes were in the loser’s strongest county, if there was a computer glitch it probably changed the outcome of the race." NYTimes Editorial. ...