RAW STORY’s Miriam Raftery opens up on the scam apparently being perpetuated by California Sec. of State Bruce McPherson in what appears to be a last-minute effort to quickly re-certify Diebold’s TSx touch-screen voting machines in California as the Jan 1, 2006 deadline for the Help America Vote Act looms.
A recent “Voting Systems Testing Summit” convened last week by McPherson in Sacramento appears to have been purposely rigged by the SoS’s office to tilt strongly towards the presentation of information that supports the return of Diebold’s buggy and unsecured voting machines to the state.
As reported by Raftery…
A massive public test of the machines held over the summer by Republican McPherson revealed that 20% of the Diebold machines had failed to perform properly (RAW STORY lists the number as 30%). But a subsequent test held privately, using machines specially prepared by Diebold gave only a reported 3% error rate.
Amonst the nuggets uncovered in Raftery’s report is this information from Diebold spokesperson, David Bear:
Bear had recently lied in an interview with The BRAD BLOG when he at first claimed that Diebold’s Central Vote Tabulator “isn’t accessable via modem.” When pressed further, he was later forced to admit that it was. He also claimed to be unaware of a “Cyber Security Alert” issued by a branch of the US Dept. of Homeland Security prior to last year’s Presidential Election warning about the security vulnerability in Diebold’s tabulation software.
Raftery outlines the overwhelming imbalance of the assembled panelist for the event last week where Voting Rights and Election Reform activists were largely shut out. That, despite a conversation The BRAD BLOG had just last Monday live on air with a spokesperson from the SoS office who had denied the allegation. The full audio and text transcript of that live on-air interview on KRXA 540am in Montery, CA is posted here.
Raftery found much evidence suggesting the heavily weighted pro-Electronic Voting factions and the apparent lock-out of Election Reform and Voting Rights advocates at the summit. For example, Raftery reports on several of the panelists who were allowed to attend and speak on the matter:
And more like the above:
Meanwhile, reformers and activists from California Elections Protection Network (CEPN), for example, were entirely shut out from even attending — much less presenting! — at the summit:
“We offered to pay a fee,” Healy said of the invitation-only event. “They assured us that our views are being represented.”
But after reviewing a list of attendees, CEPN found no activists and only three computer experts with views compatible with CEPN’s election reform goals. “Panels are stacked so as to be heavily pro-Diebold,” Healy noted. “Our side is heavily outnumbered.”
The letter referred to above, from the SoS’s office, as posted on the CEPN website says:
From: “McDannold, Bruce” bmcdanno@ss.ca.gov
To: [XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX]
Thank you for your interest in the Summit on voting system testing. We invited elections officials from across the country to participate, since this is a Summit designed specifically to discuss state-level testing of voting machines and to develop a best practices document on that specific subject. We’ve had a very good response; registrations are filling up fast so we are having to limit attendance to those already invited. The panels and panelists reflect the widest array of credible views, from outright skeptics to industry. Interested parties are encouraged to contribute written documents to the Summit to be reviewed as part of the final recommendations for testing to the states. They should send their written input to VotingSystemComment@ss.ca.gov.
States and counties around the country are keeping a close eye on the decision soon to be made by California which is, as Diebold regards it, the country’s largest “voting market.” What happens in this state, may well effect the decisions made by countless Boards of Elections around the country as they all face the impending deadline to receive federal funding for upgrades to their election systems.
Be sure to read RAW’s full story for much more!
To submit your own comment to the CA Sec. of State, visit http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_vs.htm, call (916) 653-6814 or email votingsystemcomment@ss.ca.gov.
tHIS IS BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD NEWS. wE ALL SAW IT COMING A LONG TIME AGO.
THE QUESTION IS NOW: WHAT DO WE CAN DO ABOUT IT?
OBVIOUSLY FOLLOWING THE RULES ISN’T GETTING US ANYWHERE. DRASTIC MEASURES ARE CALLED FOR. SUE THE STATE? SUE MACPHERSON? ANYONE OUT THERE IN A CA ATTORNEYS OFFICE WHO CAN INVESTIGATE CRIMINAL COLLUSION, CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA?
Hmm, "adding a paper receipt could have an adverse effect", Yeah like getting a populist elected
Thats exactly what the Bilderbergers don’t want to happen, a guy can almost see through the shit that their pulling off right now
This is making me very ill!
Canada?
But then I guess I should fight it, but as jIM cIRILE ponders – what can we do now?
I will never vote on one of those god damned machines.
Ever.
Just a comment on the Stalin graphic and quote. Nice graphic, but a quick search on the internet shows that Stalin did not make that famous quote about the voting and counting. It’s a nice correlation, but not factually accurate. Rather, that quote is attributed to the famous Anonymous.
This is the real quote as Beth "amazingly" pointed out….
"’Those who cast their votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything.’"
-Joseph Stalin
Link here
Doug
Brad
I sent this email to the address you provided:
To Whom it may concern,
Millions are watching your performance with regard to electronic voting systems.
We are aware that Diebold systems was handed an injunction by a California Court based upon filings by the Attorney General of California.
We emphatically demand that voting systems be at a minimum as good as ATM machines, with a verifiable and secure trail. We want democratic elections. We do not want to emulate Stalin and others who put on phony elections.
Please pay better attention to electronic voting machines. They are far less reliable than you assume and will be used to commit fraud if they are not redesigned substantially.
We need to stage a national protest against the use of these machines. Anyone out there able to coordinate that? These guys are stealing our democracy right out from under our noses. Let’s get going and show them they can’t.