Guest Blogged by John Gideon (with some additional updates/info from Brad)
Updated with much more information…
Secretary of State McPherson seems to have a thing for making major announcements late on Fridays just before holidays. Following in what seems to be a pattern of his, he announced late this afternoon that he was certifying Diebold Optical Scan and AccuVote TSx (touch-screens) for use in elections in the state.
The re-certification (they had been originally decertified in California in 2004 when it was revealed Diebold had installed illegal software updates on the machines) is conditional on some items but not on the one thing point he had announced last December when he sent the system back to federal authorities for further testing. At that time he said he was sending the machine’s memory cards to the federal Independent Testing Authority (ITA) Lab for reinspection in light of the news out of Leon County, Florida that the cards used “intepreted code” which is specifically banned by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). A “hack test” in that county revealed that an entirely election could have its results flipped by a hacker exploiting that “interpreted code” — without a trace being left behind.
McPherson made his announcement today without waiting to hear back from the ITA lab.
Last summer, after a massive mock election test with Diebold touch-screen machines revealed that 10% of them failed entirely with screens freezing and printers jamming — later reports would reveal that as many as 30% of the machines actually failed! — McPherson said, “We certainly can’t take any kind of risk like that with this kind of device on California voters.”
Apparently the Secretary of State of America’s largest “voting market,” as Diebold refers to it, was just kidding about that.
State Senator Debra Bowen, (D-Redondo Beach), the chairwoman of the Senate Elections, Reapportionment, & Constitutional Amendments Committee issued the following Press Release after learning of McPherson’s remarkable decision.
CONTACT: Evan Goldberg (###) ###-4028/(###) ###-9176
February 17, 2006
BOWEN ON SECRETARY OF STATE’S DECISION TO RE-CERTIFY DIEBOLD MACHINES FOR USE IN CALIFORNIA
SACRAMENTO ? “How the Secretary can re-certify the Diebold machines when they don’t comply with California law, they violate the standards set by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) that the Secretary said he intended to follow, and he still doesn’t have the report back from the ITAs that he said he was waiting for is beyond me.”
That’s how Senator Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach), the chairwoman of the Senate Elections, Reapportionment, & Constitutional Amendments Committee, reacted to today’s decision by the Secretary of State to re-certify Diebold’s electronic voting machines for the 2006 elections.
“Last December, the Secretary announced with great fanfare that he was sending the Diebold machines back for review by the Independent Testing Authorities (ITAs) because the memory cards those machines rely on hadn’t been reviewed,” continued Bowen. “Now, contrary to what he said two months ago, he’s approving the Diebold machines without waiting for the report from the ITAs. Instead, he’s basing his decision on a supposedly ‘independent state audit’ that no one has seen before today. There’s a March 1 public hearing for four other voting machine vendors before their machines can be certified for use in California, so what was the rush to certify Diebold and side-step a public hearing on this issue?”
Seventeen California counties rely on the Diebold optical scan machines and a number of other counties have bought or are planning to buy the Diebold TSx touch-screen machines to use in the 2006 elections in order to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The Secretary’s decision is only good for the 2006 elections and comes with a number of conditions.
“In August, the Secretary said any machine approved in California would have to comply with all federal standards and regulations, yet the EAC bans machines that contain interpreted code and these Diebold machines rely on that type of code to operate, so he’s gone back on that commitment,” continued Bowen. “In December, he said he’d wait for a report from the ITAs before acting on the Diebold re-certification request, yet now he’s re-certified the Diebold machines without hearing from the ITAs. He says he’s acting based on the recommendations of an ‘independent state audit’ that came out on Tuesday, but the California State Auditor hasn’t issued any reports on this issue and hasn’t been asked to do a report. Asking a board appointed by the Secretary to make recommendations doesn’t constitute an ‘independent state audit’ in my book.
“The other thing that no one has mentioned is the fact that the Diebold machines don’t comply with the state’s paper trail law because they don’t provide blind or visually impaired voters with a ‘read-back’ of what the paper trail recorded, they only read back what the machine recorded electronically,” noted Bowen. “That’s not what the law requires, yet the Secretary has decided to go ahead and approve these machines for use anyway. If the Secretary wants to say he’s changing his mind and lowering the safeguards California voters are entitled to have to ensure their votes are accurately counted, that’s certainly his decision to make, but saying these Diebold machines comply with state law and with all federal regulations and requirements simply isn’t accurate.”
Under Elections Code Sections 19250 and 19251, all direct recording electronic (DRE) voting systems have to come with an accessible voter verified paper audit trail (AVVPAT). The AVVPAT must be “provided or conveyed to voters via both a visual and a nonvisual method, such as through an audio component.” The Diebold TSx doesn’t contain that feature, therefore making the AVVPAT that all DREs are required to have as of January 1, 2006, useless for blind or visually-impaired voters.
###
VOTING SYSTEMS HEARINGS, MARCH 1:
Also of note is the announcement of public hearings (as mentioned in Bowen’s release) persuant to the certification of various voting systems, many of which are still not federally qualified. This announcement is not accompanied by any of the test reports necessary for citizens to go to this hearing with any knowledge of what the state found in their testing. Perhaps this is because none of these systems have been tested by the state yet?
…DEVELOPING…MUCH MORE BELOW…UPDATES, ACTION ITEMS, ADDITIONAL INFO…
Voting Systems Technology Assessment Advisory Board Report Posted:
The report that McPherson used as a basis for his decision to recertify Diebold has been posted. This report is a pretty scathing report into the severe security problems that are present on Diebold voting machines. This includes the use of banned “interpreted code”. How McPherson turned this report into a reason to recertify Diebold is beyond common sense.
Also note the following from this report:
This is not the ‘1111’ password that was discovered by the Compuware inspection for Ohio, as previously reported. Instead the above discusses a hard-coded key that was reported by a research group from Johns Hopkins and Rice Universities and reported by them. This report was the first in a string of reports from Compuware and RABA.
…MORE…
Guvwurld points out still more incredible information regarding this virtually inexplicable move by McPherson. Here’s a few highlights from GuvWurld after reviewing McPherson’s “Security Analysis of the Diebold Interpreter” [PDF]. Remember, while reading the following, that this report was used to okay the use of Diebold’s machines!…
It’s pointed out that McPherson claims to have devised “10 strict standards” that must be in place for Diebold to receive re-certification in CA. Those standards are posted on the SoS website here [PDF]. GuvWorld points out step #3, seemingly ignored entirely by McPherson:
Again, apparently McPherson was just kidding about those “strictness” of those “standards”.
JIM MARCH OUTLINES STEPS YOU CAN TAKE REGARDING ALL OF THE ABOVE!…
…AND MORE…
In McPherson’s letter to Diebold the Secretary of State acknowledges the fact that the AccuBasic code on the Diebold voting systems had never been inspected by the Federal ITAs. The letter says:
This, clear evidence that the Secretary of State knows the Diebold AccuBasic was not properly federally qualified. And ?
Inexplicably, the Secretary of State did not wait for that ITA review. What will they do when the ITA recommends that Diebold be federally disqualified? Or does the Secretary of State already know something the EAC is not telling us?
UPDATE 2/21/06: Much more, including exclusive video-tape of McPherson promising NOT to do what he did, now right here…
Looks like he bought the bait!!! Time to file in an injunction, I knew the likes of McPherson weren’t serious.
By the way…..you might want to point out when going to court, the relevant statutes and also the fact Diebold is facing numerous prosecutions and could be sold off, aka dissolved…..In fact, thats exactly whats happening. They are going to be out.
So why allow their machines at all if the division is going under?
Another argument for court. Make it stick like glue.
History of the voting machine…
Doug
brick by brick, this democracy, this country, is being dismantled. most of the american public won’t know until its too late. WAKE UP!!!
This is part of a pattern of things going on in California that are NOT GOOD at all. Black Box Voting has more details and action items:
http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bi...954/19353.html
Jim March
BBV Staff
It’s time to get busy boys and girls.
Jim March was too modest to reprint his whole article here, but it tells you exactly what to do. He knows: He spent the last week negotiating his butt off in Sacramento.
Forget injunctions. Forget calling the governor. Call the California Senate Rules Committee, who are all ears but need to log call volume to demonstrate political support. Ask them to subpoena the bastards. This will happen, so get your dialling fingers ready by Tuesday please.
Below are their numbers and exactly what to do, plus all the information you need about why now is the time. Send this to your friends, post it to your lists, because this is big:
– – – –
This is a very important news post, with national implications because — with YOUR help — today’s miscarriage of democracy will give you the first good shot at subpoena-induced sworn testimony from voting machine makers and testing labs. Vendors and voting machine examiners: Enjoy the reprieve that McPherson just handed you, because the American citizenry — with the help of some California senators — is about to make sure it stops right now.
Citizens: Instructions are provided in this article.
Red flag: Meet bull
THE RED FLAG: Today California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson certified Diebold’s entire product line, including the TSx touchscreen machine with its "toilet paper roll" paper trail — you know, the design that removes the privacy of your vote. He also approved the Diebold optical scan system, knowing it can be hacked, and he approved the Diebold GEMS system, knowing it can be hacked, and all accessories and accompaniments.
The system was approved despite 100 percent public opposition and despite not having the ITA report back. (Welcome to Black Box America.)
YOU’RE THE BULL: It’s time for you and everyone you know to make phone calls for subpoenas!
We are seeing a pattern of obfuscation and cover-up. YOUR help will be needed to get to the bottom of it all.
The Feb. 16 California Senate Elections Committee hearing on certification was hit with no-shows by ALL FOUR major vendors (Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia and Hart Intercivic).
Representatives from Wyle and Ciber testing labs declined to appear. Both the technical staff and the PR flaks for the California Secretary of State’s office blew off the Senate Elections Committee.
The Secretary of State’s office is now "legally late" on a series of public records requests made by California Elections Committee Chairperson Debra Bowen.
This lack of response to a California Senate hearing is a potential disaster in the making. With no election insiders willing to answer questions, the vendors as a whole (and Diebold in particular) along with the now-infamously inadequate test labs start looking like they’re coated with non-stick Teflon.
It’s not nice to blow off democracy, and we are asking you, the taxpayer, to refuse to allow testers and vendors to thumb their noses at the California Senate. It’s your tax dollars that are paying for this equipment, which you have asked NOT to be purchased at all.
That Senate hearing on 16th could end up doing more harm than good, because if subpoenas don’t happen, it tells American citizens that they are impotent and that laws, federal regulations and standards don’t matter. That is, unless you and your friends make some phone calls to gouge that Teflon.
This is your best shot to drag the right people to the questioning table, kicking and screaming if necessary.
Complicating things: the head of the Senate Elections Committee (Debra Bowen) has to get permission from the California Senate Rules Committee to have subpoenas issued.
Fortunately there are good people at Rules. Of their five members, the chair (Sen. Don Perata-D) has a good record in electronic voting issues and Sen. Cedillo-D also has a decent grasp of these issues. Sen. Bowen is the 3rd Democrat on Rules and we know where she stands. The two Republicans (Sen. Jim Battin (Vice-Chair) and Sen. Roy Ashburn) are approachable on this issue too. Only three of these Senators are needed to invoke port subpoenas (or letters containing promises of subpoenas upon failure to appear).
YOUR PHONE CALLS ARE NEEDED to Rules Committee members
Urge support for subpoenas of election industry and certification insiders who didn’t testify on the 16th.
Contact list:
Senator Don Perata (Chair)
(916) 651-4009
Senator Jim Battin (Vice-Chair)
(916) 651-4037
Senator Roy Ashburn
(916) 651-4018
Senator Debra Bowen
(916) 651-4028 (Yes, call her too so she can log the support calls, it’s important since it allows her to back her position from the grassroots.)
Senator Gilbert Cedillo
(916) 651-4022
Black Box Voting Inc. seldom puts out calls for grassroots pressure, as we feel this powerful tool can be diluted with over-use. But now is the time.
How to deliver your message
Be quick, be polite, be professional. Here’s your message: ask for "Rules Committee support for subpoenas of election industry and certification insiders who won’t otherwise inform the Elections Committee as to what’s going on".
This is about volume of calls logged.
Therefore, not only should YOU make calls, but this needs to go out to your list.
Why this certification is a red flag
California does NOT have the Wyle Labs ITA report back on the memory card and interpreted code. McPherson sent the code back to the labs after issues were triggered by Black Box Voting in a June 20, 2005 "19202 request".
To recap, Wyle should never have approved the use of interpreted code OR "electronic ballot box" memory cards that can be pre-stuffed with negative and positive votes, especially when you can use Diebold’s funky private "AccuBasic" code to fake the zero report that’s supposed to catch such manipulations.
Black Box Voting asked the Secretary of State’s office to review this issue, per California Election Code 19202. Shortly before Thanksgiving, the Calif. Sec. State’s office formally requested Black Box Voting to do a review but under contrived and ridiculous test conditions written by Diebold.
This turkey shoot led to a bit of squabble. The Secretary of State’s office buck-passed the situation to Wyle, and Wyle still hasn’t responded.
Not surprising: If Wyle says interpreted code is OK, they’ve violated the FEC 2002 published standards yet again. If Wyle says it’s a problem, any reasonable person will ask "how did you approve it in the first place!?"
This is a classic Catch-22 which Wyle appears to be unable to resolve.
Members of the Voting Systems Technology Assessment Advisory Board (VSTAAB) two UC Berkeley researchers tested the code for Secretary of State McPherson and blasted the system. It is stunning that McPherson is still certifying the system, which is clearly out of compliance with FEC standards.
Because Black Box Voting made the 19202 request we believe we have every right to that data, especially since Election Code 19202 requires the Secretary of State’s office to "report on it’s accuracy and efficiency."
The public commentary in California on this system is running 100 percent against certification. The federal testing authority appears to be dumbstruck. With your help, Black Box Voting WILL get to the bottom of this if it takes a backhoe and bulldozer to do it.
California Sec. State staff reports late AGAIN
A hearing on 3/1/06 at the Secretary of State’s office will take public commentary on a slew of new or revised voting machines from ES&S, Sequoia, Hart and Populex. The agenda and other information has been posted here:
http://ss.ca.gov/elections/voti...a_20060301.pdf
What’s significant by its absence is the legally required staff reports on these machines to allow the public to give informed testimony. The California SecState’s office has consistently promised to make these available a month ahead of time (again, as required) but as of today they’re a no-show:
http://ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_vs.htm
This agency doesn’t appear to care much about informed commentary.
Item three: What? No regulations YET!?
This one is important, folks. Almost a year ago the activist community in California discovered something important in California Election Code 19205:
19205. The Secretary of State shall establish the specifications for and the regulations governing voting machines, voting devices, vote tabulating devices, and any software used for each, including the programs and procedures for vote tabulating and testing. The criteria for establishing the specifications and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) The machine or device and its software shall be suitable for the purpose for which it is intended.
(b) The system shall preserve the secrecy of the ballot.
(c) The system shall be safe from fraud or manipulation.
"Regulations" has very specific meaning in California: it means the agency in question has to write a set of rules, submit them for public comment and hold meetings with public input on them.
Without regulations the agency can make up the rules as they go along, which in times past (admittedly prior to the McPherson administration) we’ve seen as they play favorites in fairly obvious fashion, with the treatment of Avante voting systems as opposed to major vendors with more political clout being classic across 2003 and 2004.
Worse, at present the Secretary of State’s office blocks all questions from the public during the "public commentary" meetings. We can’t question their certification staff or the vendors. This is a travesty which we could fight in a proper regulatory wrangling process but the McPherson administration has ignored this vital reform for the nearly a year they’ve known about the legal requirement.
They’ve ignored the law on this for nearly a year, folks. ALL future certifications appear to be illegal on their face until this is fixed.
Conclusions: We’re seeing a horrifying pattern of obfuscation and illegality wrapped together and supporting each other. We have reason to think that the California Rules and Elections committees acting together can shed light on this series of backroom dealings and we’re asking YOUR help in making it happen.
Any one of these items viewed individually would be bad news.
Together? Well folks, WE better hang together on this. If democracy as a transparent and lawful concept cannot be restored in California, the rest of the nation will go with it and our Republic is doomed.
This ain’t a drill folks. Grab a phone, start dialing. Polite, professional, short clear message, FIRM is what works.
—————-
BREAKING UPDATE:
The Secretary of State’s office has released the Berkeley report on the Diebold product line:
This document borders on the bizarre. We find the following quotes of particular interest:
Harri Hursti’s attack does work: Mr. Hursti’s attack on the AV-OS is definitely real. He was indeed able to change the election results by doing nothing more than modifying the contents of a memory card. He needed no passwords, no cryptographic keys, and no access to any other part of the voting system, including the GEMS election management server.
…and:
Interpreted code is contrary to standards: Interpreted code in general is prohibited by the 2002 FEC Voluntary Voting System Standards, and also by the successor standard, the EAC’s Voluntary Voting System Guidelines due to take effect in two years. In order for the Diebold software architecture to be in compliance, it would appear that either the AccuBasic language and interpreter have to be removed, or the standard will have to be changed.
California can only run software certified by the Federal ITA process, by state law. The "Berkeley team" is saying flat-out that such certification was NOT done correctly, therefore the entire Diebold product line is illegal under state law.
IF YOU BELIEVE CITIZEN OVERSIGHT OF ELECTIONS IS IMPORTANT, PLEASE JOIN THE 2006 ELECTION CLEANUP CREW. WORK STARTS NOW. WE WILL PROVIDE ONE ON ONE CONSULTING TO HELP YOU UNCOVER WHAT’S GOING ON IN ELECTIONS NEAR YOU. E-MAIL crew@blackboxvoting.org. (Allow a few days for a response, due to our heavy travel schedules.)
PERMISSION TO REPRINT GRANTED, WITH LINK TO http://www.blackboxvoting.org
JIM: Its this point where we bring in the big guns…..
Prepare to file for court, now that you have them in direct violation of the law. Perfect timing: If one or two injunctions is filed, they can be duplicated in other states. Then we can smash their doors down, Diebold is going belly up with our collective work.
Doug E.
Bev
I passed it on to the Washington FBI office also, we will get subpoenas. The offices in CA are closed for now, but I still encourage everyone who can to call the offices, leave a message or two and stand firm. We’re going to get these boys with the gloves off.
Doug
The NeoCons want California bad. It is the world’s 5th largest economy. You can see Rove and Cheney salivating over California.
LOTS of bad news today. The shutdown of the investigation into the NSA eavesdropping by the Senate seems to have gone completely unnotced by the MSM, as has Mike DeWine’s drawing up a bill to make it legal to bypass the FISA court for domestic wiretapping.
The only bright spot is that finally this stuff might convince the Dems that it is no longer business as usual in DC. That the NeoCons really ARE bad, bad guys.
Beyond that we got nothing. Everyone get ready to be herded into those domestic detention areas Kellong, Brown and Root just got almost a billion dollars to build. Bye, America. Hello, Fascism.
Thanks for nothing, mainstream media. Go fuck yourselves.
Bev, also an e-mail blast to your list, and maybe if VR comes on board also, with concise directions of who to call and what to say on Tuesday, would be a big help on this one.
Fuck the neocon spies….We got them cornered now, the bastards have nowhere…..I’m going in for the KILL!!!
Doug E.
Will get busy making calls. Thanks Bev for the heads up!! Somehow I’m not surprised with the shenanigans!! Their plan for 06 and 08 are clear – more rigged elections!!
Is Secretary of State McPherson a Republican?
Doug E #9
They are evidently not shaking in their boots. Instead they are in your face.
Even tho Bev, Jim, and the crew at BBV beat them in court and have an injunction in place.
All of this is due to the failure to have a real accountability in American politics.
I salute one republican who knows who to punish for wrongs (link here).
He, instead of blaming democrats for not discovering and stopping NSA spying on Americans, blamed the Bush regime and sued them.
Wow, what a concept. Put the blame on the perpetrators … where is this nation heading?
For Doug E.: If Diebold goes under, their voting machine division will either go out of business or be sold off to another company as part of the liquidation process. In fact, they’ve given hints that they plan to sell it off anyway.
McPherson’s motives are suspect. But the best challenge to his action isn’t to question his motives, because then the burden of proof is on the questioner. It’s to ask, "Mr. McPherson, if these machines are used in 2006, but Diebold is no longer standing behind them because they’re out of the business, who is responsible to the citizens of California for flaws that might develop?"
In other words, it’s like buying a car from American Motors or Studebaker. The guarantee is worthless.
To all the BradBlogians who think it’s OK for soldiers to murder because they’re following orders, "What on earth is wrong with you???"
Big Dan #14
I am not one of them … for damn sure. That is a fascist defense which the NAZI party relied upon at Nuremburg.
It is a viewpoint from those who do not have a strong self image or concept of indivicual responsibility.
All responsibility, and therefore accountability, rests upon the foundation of the individual behavior.
Upon that we can build national accountability and international accountability.
America is fast loosing the notions we were founded upon … individualism … individual rights and individual accountability.
The current regime and the current congress are group think which means anti individual.
Therefore when one of them gets in trouble, like a criminal gang, they all come together to cover up, stall, and try to get the criminal off.
The American thing to do is hold anyone to the law no matter if they are one of "us" or one of "them".
Soldiers are aware of the military law making it wrong to obey any wrong order. And officers are aware that the military law holds them accountable as well.
Both the soldier and the officer are culpable for giving or following an order to murder.
The "devil made me do it" defense is invalid and worthless.
And when the republican regime orders NSA spying on Americans the soldier who obeys is just as guilty as the one giving the order … the president.
And when the republican congress lets the president off because he is one of them, the whole notion of accountability and a nation of laws is just a pipe dream.
Blaming the democrats for these acts of the commander in chief is also just as immoral.
Folks, does anyone think this kind of shit is leading to civil war? Anyone out there thinks it’s time to arm ourselves and start a revolution? Disclaimer: Not that I would actually ever advocate taking up arms against the gov’t, but does anyone see that happening?
I personally feel, we are already living under a dictatorship. Just look at what the democrats did to Hackett. Both parties are totally corrupt. Where is our Oliver Cromwell???????????????
Big Dan #14
I second that emotion. I’ve been ten rounds with my father over this. He is ex-Air Force. Did not vote for Bush this term, thinks the war is a travesty, but holds the troops entirely blameless – they are just following orders. Can’t seem to get beyond that. These differences are straining the family bond, to be sure.
A campaign should be started NOW to encourage California voters to vote BY ABSENTEE BALLOT ONLY until and unless the State gets its sh*t together and the voters can be sure their vote will be counted.
THAT will ensure beyond doubt that a paper trail will exist to verify the count.
PLEASE START THE MOVEMENT HERE AND LINK IT TO AS MANY BLOGS AS POSSIBLE AND MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE VOTE TO BE RIGGED.
ABSENTEE BALLOTS ONLY UNTIL THESE CURSED MACHINES ARE GONE!! PAPER VOTES ONLY!!
For Soul Rebel: Does your dad think torture is O.K. if the soldiers are "just following orders?"
If so, please give him a one-word message from me. NUREMBERG.
Bill, the absentee thing won’t work. Those absentee votes are either fed into Diebold machines to be counted or simply not counted at all and left to pile up in a warehouse. Nice try.
No, we are screwed no matter how you slice it.
Nelson: Just wait till the NeoCons sic the bird flu on us (coming in as soon as 30 days, and likely making landfall in Florida (land of Jeb!) Then the NeoCons will roll out their martial law and use the military to "quarantine" us in their shiny new KB&R detention centers they just got hundreds of millions to build.
Yes, there is some sick shit coming down the pike, and not one Dem is standing up to do anything about it. Have none of them even READ the goddamn PNAC manifesto? It’s out there in the open, you moron head-in-the-sand Dems.
But a revolution? Well, the problem is that much of America still buys the Bushco 9-11 lie and would never even dream they’d sic bird flu on us because that is just too messed up to even conceive of. So how can we rebel when the enemy is us?
There’s only one thing for sure–things are GRIM. Anybody expecting things to change in the 2006 elections is living in fairy land.
For everyone: I got through!!! Now is the time to flood their offices, let them know they will serve subpoenas and fight these little freaks back from whence they came!!!!!
Robert; yes this is a perfect time to tell them that Diebold won’t be around…..not worth having machines if the company is going under that *owns* them….
Doug E.
Bill Arnett #18 –
From Bev at kos last night:
WHO’S COUNTING
Sorry – should have "refreshed" before posting… Thanks jIMcIRILE !
Thought the following was an interesting interview, explaining why our illustrous Dem leaders don’t mention election fraud… I don’t agree with everything he says, but his views on why everyone’s so unwilling to speak out explains a lot.
Rewriting Our Rotten History of Elections
"When you look into the background of the two US companies that supply 80% of the electronic voting machines in use here, what you find is, to put it mildly, shocking: an incestuous web of ultra-right-wing connections."
History Of Electronic Voting Machines
OOPS! I didn’t realize I posted an Abu Ghraib comment in this voting article. Sorry! Comment 14.
Brad, could you take out StupidDan’s comments & subsequent torture/murder comments, and put them in the Abu Ghraib article? I don’t want to mess up this important voting related article. I’m glad too see more BradBlogians than I originally thought, are against murder, though.
Well, is it revolution time yet? Hey. OUR Founding Fathers recommended it. So’s I guess I can repeat it.
I simply wonder where the repukes got so many friendly fascists to do the machines and all the other crap they’ve done… like 911 etc.
Or is the bulk of em simply clueless dupes thinkin they’re doin something good. I always knew fully one half are below the mean on IQ and a quarter to a third of those above the mean are mostly crazy for one reason or another and with psych ops directed towards the ‘homeland’….. how many are left who can actually think?
In any case, ah’m getting more pessimistic by the minute…..
Anybody got any cheer to pass around?
The FBI can’t issue a subpoena on their own. Only courts (civil and criminal) and the state/federal legislatures can subpoena *testimony*.
The FBI or other forms of cops can do search warrants for documents or other evidence. The equivelent in the world of subpoenas is the "subpoena duces tecum" which is Latin for "hey you, get your butt in here and bring the following documents/items with you while you’re at it".
With McPherson’s people blowing off public records requests by Bowen’s office and the Elections committee, the stage is set for subpoena duces tecum against the SecState’s office for the documents.
Basically folks, we have a chance here to get to the bottom of things much faster than we could in court.
Okay, Californians…
Fight these fuckers!
I saw a Diebold truck at my local B of A just the other day…and I see Haliburton vehicles daily at the oilfields near my home in the Baldwin Hills, just southwest of downtown Los Angeles. This is downright scary. We’re surrounded!
So is the best strategy to vote absentee? I’m always afraid my absentee ballot will never be counted.
The Bush Administration was extremely disappointed that the Palestinians adopted their own version of Diebold for the recent elections… Hamas won by a landslide!
We need a group to draw serious attention to this issue (and a thousand other related issues).
Please, someone reading this who has free time and access to other people who also see the potential for great harm to our nation detailed in the story above, please organize some sort of public protest we can all join in.
We must draw attention to the crucial nature of this issue. Certainly the American public will stand up and do something in order to remain free, or will we?
We must stand againt this… while we still have enough freedom to stand at all.
Hear me.
# 27 – Rickie asked — …ah’m getting more pessimistic by the minute…..Anybody got any cheer to pass around?
Well, you don’t have to agonize over what to do with your life. It’s pretty clear. Help save democracy. That is our meaning – and what a meaning.
It gets me up every morning to face the day. (That and a hunger for justice.)
Folks:
This is really serious. spread the word and make those calls Tuesday. Public input still has an effect around here.
If you live around Sacramento, pay them a visit.
I would greatly appreciate getting email instead of phone calls … it gives us an audit trail (!!!) AND we are going to be very busy for the next few weeks. Plus you’ll save my staff the time of logging calls, and you can be sure we have plenty of work to do.
Please address email to debra@debrabowen.com, and you sign up at http://www.debrabowen.com – we’ll get news and action alerts out as quickly as we can.
This is the time to protect our democracy!
Sorry to be so brief, but I have a big stack of documents to read this weekend.
Thanks, John, for blogging this — and thanks in advance to all who will help change this.
Senator Debra Bowen
http://www.debrabowen.com
For CW: That was my first reaction when I heard that Hamas had won. They were trailing 46%-40% in the early returns, then somehow won by a landslide.
Well, it means the neo-cons are right about one thing. Those Middle Easterners do crave democracy according to American methods.
Senator Bowen and Jim March
"The FBI or other forms of cops can do search warrants for documents or other evidence. The equivelent in the world of subpoenas is the "subpoena duces tecum" which is Latin for "hey you, get your butt in here and bring the following documents/items with you while you’re at it"."
I passed it on to them to go ahead and do some searches…they can’t get anyone under oath, but the rules committee can.
And I’ve been getting everyone to call, the thing is Senator Bowen is not accepting the calls and will take email instead. So I’ll have to tell everybody about that.
Yeah I noticed your answering machine is the only one not working Senator Bowen!!!! Well, this is the time to get busy.
🙂
Doug
Thank you Sen Bowen. E-mails are better. I just thought they were easier to delete and no record – I always heard letters, faxes, phone calls, and e-mails last.
Jim # 28
Almost.
Under the "patriot" act, and it is an act, the FBI can issue orders to those who have any information about any person they want to spy on. That order will also include sub-orders that they not tell ANYONE about it, not a lawyer, judge, mom, pop, wife, or anyone else on pain of 5 years in prison.
That is one of the provisions the democrats have tried to get changed. The republicans and the white house have sought to have that provision stay in it. Who knows why since they don’t use it anyway … they use a "presidential order" as a warrant.
Doug, Mugzi, all —
I’m only asking you to email me because you’re supporting someone who’s already on your side! My team and I are working on strategy this weekend, and we’ll let people know (by email) where and when we need support and advocacy.
We will be answering our phones as usual when the office is open. But it is not necessary to call me (especially if you’ve emailed).
I’m skimming Bruce Schneier’s book on security this morning in addition to my other reading. I’ll blog about it on my own website – http://www.debrabowen.com
–Senator Debra Bowen
http://www.debrabowen.com
Is there anything we can do here in North County of San Diego to get an injunction to prevent this mess from hitting us on April 11th special election to replace Duke Cunningham? The announcement indicated that this would be their first "deployment" of these bastards’ machines! I fear that they will a) try to control the votes to keep Francine Busby from getting a majority that she might be actually going to get with the voter dissatisfaction here, and b) they’ll try to tweak the votes for the second place finisher to not be an "extremist" Republican in the field of 12+ Republicans and someone more like Jerry Sanders was in the mayoral election that won’t lose moderate votes to Busby in a June runoff if that is necessary without her claiming the majority.
I can probably enlist the help of "foot soldiers" here with some Dem groups living here in this area to help stop this. Just want to know what some folks here feel would be constructive and not a waste of our time doing… If perhaps we can take a stand and do something that is "visible" with this election, perhaps we can alert the rest of California of the monster that’s heading for us later in June and in November! Jim March, perhaps we can operate with the assumption that this will happen, and we can campaign early to make sure that the central tabulator machine is at least within visible eye scrutiny and can have other "checks" on it too, so that you don’t have to get arrested like you did in the special mayoral election here earlier. I’ll volunteer to observe stuff too. Should we try and take absentte ballots with us when walking neighborhoods in the coming weeks to encourage that instead?
Calipendence That’s a good idea for that area. But I would just really plan on shutting your elections offices down. Shut it down until things are cleared up, when I mean that I say get the ITA examiners under oath. Spread the word to all your friends and support issuing subpoenas. The ITA must be under oath, not Diebold, to explain the full scope of this.
Doug E.
I made my calls and everyone was glad to hear from me and said they are receiving a lot of calls. Everyone was glad that a lot of people are calling because they want to investigate this too. YAHOOO!
dear good people of california . I am here to solve your prtoblems right now. first of all get yourself 1200 good notor republics at each voting station and simply sign in your vote for whoever you want and have the noter republics stamp it . therfore you have not only absolute veriffication of your vote but its signed i by you with your signature , any handwriting expert will or can verify taht that is your signature, otherwise get activists to go door to door and sign a pition witnessed and endorsed by noter republics. hence forth you have the whole popular vote of the state on paper signed sealed and delivered. sincerely
dane p eisenman :O
THREE ACTION ITEMS researched, tried & true:
1) demand sec state Bruce McPherson reverse his illegal re-certification of Diebold NOW:
http://www.ss.ca.gov/executive/contact_exec.htm
a) call (916) 653-7244 exec office, leave message w/ his receptionist, then
b) ask to transfer to Legislative Constituent Services
(direct 916-653-6774 / fax 916-653-9675
webmail form http://www.ss.ca.gov/cgi-bin/print_form.cgi
2 ask Sen. Debra Bowen to issue subpoenas of election industry and certification insiders ASAP, and other members of the Rules Committee to support those subpoenas:
Debra@debrabowen.com 916-651-4028 / 327-2187 fax (attn: Evan Goldberg)
Senator.Perata@sen.ca.gov 916-651-4009 / 327-1997 fax
Jim.Battin@sen.ca.gov 916-651-4037 / 327-1997 fax
Senator.Ashburn@sen.ca.gov 916-651-4018 / 322-3304 fax
Senator Gilbert Cedillo 916-651-4022 / 327-8817 fax
3) WED 3/1 Public Hearing @ sec. state office in Sacramento, 11th & ‘O’ Streets 10am-1pm, public can testify to:
a) put Diebold back on the agenda;
b) embarass/shame sec of state McPherson for secretly and intentionally breaking state & federal laws, regulations, standards;
c) demand immediate restitution to protect millions of California voters and the democratic system in general.
I know I am not in California but North Carolina instead. Nonetheless, I think this situation is very very bad for California. How can someone simply bypass California laws and approve the Diebold equipment. Though I must add that a very similar thing has happened here in NC. The Director of NC Board of Elections approved use of some new Diebold equipment and software in NC that does NOT meet NC certification requirements. Which state is going to be the next Florida or Ohio? This is all very crazy and ridiculous.
Having voted in numerous election’s in past year’s, both local and national I had always marveled at how well the punch card voting machine,s worked.I could walk into a voting booth with my choice,s jotted down on a piece of paper and be done voting in less then two minute,s, see my vote card placed in a sealed box and walk out with a receipt. Just because jeb bush allowed these machine,s to be tampered with in florida why did Calif. feel it necessary to replace a perfectly good voting system. California should replace our punch card machine,s immediately. They can and should be replaced before the next election. " No man is good enough to govern another man without that others consent." Abraham Lincoln.
Brad, I recently wrote SoS McPhearson urging him to reverse his Diebold certification.. this is his response:
hank you for your e-mail regarding Diebold’s OS and TSX equipment and its certification with conditions for the 2006 elections.
Secretary McPherson shares your concern that we have only the most secure, reliable voting systems, and he is committed to ensuring the accuracy and integrity of every vote cast. That is why he has established the most stringent requirements for voting systems in the nation.
The recent Diebold certification decision comes after the touch screen and optical scan systems have met the most rigorous federal and state standards. In addition, both the independent panel of experts from the University of California and the federally-approved Independent Testing Authorities have indicated that the Diebold AccuVote Optical Scan and the AccuVote TSX systems can safely be used for our elections, with the additional security and use procedures we have in place in California. These stringent use procedures and security measures include requirements that the elections official reset the encryption key prior to programming any units; that each memory card have a permanent serial number assigned to it and be programmed in a secured facility under the supervision of the registrar of voters/registrar of voter’s staff; and that each unit be sealed with a serialized, tamper-evident seal. These security measures must be in place before the June 2006 election. For a more complete list of these enhanced security and use requirements, please visit our website at
Secretary McPherson has established clearly articulated expectations and standards required of voting systems and their vendors so that all who wish to be considered for use in California now know, for the first time, exactly what will be expected of them.
The Secretary remains committed to ensuring the reliability and accuracy of every vote, and that is precisely why he has set such high performance criteria to ensure that the integrity of the vote has been protected. With these qualifications for our voting systems, we believe voters can have confidence in the electoral process and the equipment used to capture their votes.
Thank you again for your feedback and for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Elections Web Mail Representative
ROVE’s hand is at work in CALI. !!
Okay, Gov. Arnold has low poll numbers now….but with the help of his Republican appointed Sec. of State (McPherson)—and recertification of the Diebold machines…..watch him have a "close" or "comeback" victory in Nov……….
Republican candidates will have more wins this fall…….and CA. will be closer to being a "red" or Republican state…with its crucial 54 electoral votes going to Republican candidates—-virtually assuring defeat of any Dem. presidential candidates……"Ahnold" then becomes a MAJOR power in politics for delivering this feat….and is that much closer to getting the rules changed so he can run for President……..this nightmare could happen…….STOP DIEBOLD NOW !!
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