People for the American Way (PFAW) just released the following update on the latest goings on in the FL-13 battle where their lawsuit (filed along with several Election Integrity organizations) has now been joined by the court with Democratic candidate Christine Jennings’s own suit. Both are calling for a revote.
The press release (posted in full below) says that the state-run audit testing of a few of the machines in use on Election Day is an “excercise in futility” due to the small sampling size of the tests and the fact that the commission chosen to carry it out has reasons to ensure that nothing is actually found to be “wrong” with the paperless ES&S voting machines on which some 18,000 votes disappeared in the U.S. House race down there.
By the way, I recently spoke with Lowell Finley, the lead attorney from VoterAction.org, one of the groups filing the lawsuit on behalf of voters down there. He confirmed that the machines being used for today’s testing — two chosen by Buchanan, two by Jennings (from precincts with the highest undervote rate) — will essentially be compromised by today’s state-run audit testing. Though Finley and the others tried to make that point to the judge assigned to the matter, that testing these machines in this way would corrupt the original data, the court decided to allow the state to use them in this way nonetheless.
PFAW’s news release, issued moments ago, also gives details and a link for more info concerning this Sunday’s planned “Revote Rally” in Sarasota, as well as a link to video testimony from more than 50 voters who had trouble voting in the Jennings/Buchanan race on November 7th.
The PFAW press release follows in full below…
December 1, 2006
CONTACT:
Nick Berning or Drew Courtney at 202-467-2369 or 202-467-2307
SARASOTA””After the second day of the state’s audit of Sarasota County voting machines apparently failed to yield useful information, People For the American Way Foundation’s Florida Legal Counsel, Reggie Mitchell, issued the following statement:
“Another day of auditing, and we still don’t know anything more than when we started. No surprise there. This audit was doomed from the start. The election officials overseeing the audit have a vested interest in its outcome. They looked at only five of the 1,500 machines used on Election Day. And even with these limitations, the testers still can’t seem to get it right. What could we possibly learn from this exercise in futility?
“We don’t need an audit to tell us that something went terribly wrong. We’ve heard from dozens of voters about the problems they experienced. If you listen to what these very credible longtime Sarasota County citizens have to say, it’s clear that Sarasota’s voting machines malfunctioned, and votes somehow disappeared.
“Too many Sarasota County voters were denied their fundamental right to vote in this election. Nothing less than our democracy is at stake. A revote is the only fair solution to this problem, and momentum is growing to make it happen.”
REVOTE RALLY PLANNED FOR SUNDAY: Voters will gather in Sarasota at 2 p.m. on Sunday to demand a revote in Sarasota County’s portion of the 13th Congressional District. The rally, which will take place at Bayfront Park, is being organized by the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections, and numerous nonpartisan voter advocacy groups including People For the American Way Foundation.
SARASOTA COUNTY VOTERS TELL THEIR STORIES””VIDEO NOW ONLINE: More than 50 voters who encountered problems voting in Sarasota County provided testimony at a November 16 public hearing in Sarasota sponsored by People For the American Way Foundation. Now, video of some of those voters’ testimony is available online (click here).
VOTER AND JENNINGS LAWSUITS CONSOLIDATED: A Tallahassee judge has consolidated the lawsuit filed on behalf of Sarasota County voters by the independent, nonpartisan organizations Voter Action, People For the American Way Foundation, the ACLU Foundation of Florida, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the lawsuit filed by the Jennings campaign. Both lawsuits seek a revote in the election. The suits will now be considered together by the court as they move through the legal process.
In response to General Clark’s call to action to Help Christine fight for electoral justice, WesPAC raised the targeted $20,000 in just over 24 hours!
You can still chip in. Here’s Clark’s post today at Clark Community Network:
The only reason they could possibly not get it is corruption.
It doesn’t matter how SMALL the sample is going to be, the votes are gone. The only thing left is an unvalidatable record.
Electronics are invisible.
Paper is visible.
The election officials are in effect saying, fuck your vote, it don’t mean shit, and you don’t have the right to vote under the constitution.
The election officials are domestic terrorists. General Clark (If he still is a General, I haven’t checked) Should uphold his sworn OATH to protect the fucking constitution.
This isn’t a media issue anymore, it’s a national security issue.
And if the people who swore oaths to protect the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic ain’t doing their job, then they have broken their fucking OATH.
SPRAY PAINT THAT ON THE SIDE OF YOUR LOCAL MEDIA.
IT IS TIME TO TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY.
I about had it with this shit.
Phil,
I may have said it less crudely, but I sure couldn’t have said it better.
Or, in other words, me too.
Wes Clark is a true American hero. He has stepped up to the biggest problem in America. He seems to be the only Democrat to truly understand how important Fl 13 is to our democracy. Wes Cl;ark for President.
In addition to everything else, he will clean up Iraq and get us out of Bush’s total hellish mess.
As more and more information keeps coming in, it seems to me that there’s really only one difference between FL-13 and a lot of other congressional races in FL, like districts 24, 7, 5, & 8. In 13, the person or persons who hacked the vote screwed up and made it completely obvious. It’s becoming clear that the other districts around had their votes tampered with as well, but proving that is taking a lot of time and leg-work. So if we can’t get a re-vote when the tampering is completeley obvious, there certainly won’t be one in other districts where numbers aren’t rediculously wrong, and proof of the hack is harder to come by. I know the entrenched powers are going to do everything they can to avoid fairness becoming injected into our voting system, but with enough support, we can make this interminable foot-dragging by election officials politically ruinous, and they’ll be forced to comply. So, go to Sarasota on Sunday! I’ll see you there.
#5;
Right on, but it is not only Florida but most other states as well. Only “close” results get any attention at all despite the fact that “close” results may be only a measure of the closeness of the magnitude of the fraud needed to win any election and the amount of fraud used in that election. The closeness of the voter’s choices can not be determined by the closeness of any fraudulent count. Nobody seems to let that fact bother them at all!
As a Floridian, let me tell ya – we need to start something like NABPAC (Never Another Bush Political Action Committee).
We need a couple hundred million dollars stored up that can be used against Jeb Bush and any other bloodsucking Bush relative that ever again seeks state or federal office.
If the Republicans lose the presidency in 2008 – you can be your bottom dollar that Jeb Bush is running in 2012.
And if we don’t have voting machines with intregity by then, he’ll win. Take it from a Floridian, you DON’T want that to happen.
Good for Wes Clark! That is great news!
A democrat who takes votes seriously. There is hope.
When they test the machines they should set the date to Nov 7.
… Miss P said…
“When they test the machines they should set the date to Nov 7.”
That won’t help if malicious code was involved because the code can have done one of two things:
Either it can have watched the dates and known the date change for what it was and ignored it (virus writers easily handle this sort of trick all the time)…
…Or (and the most likely option) the code will have deleted itself after the election thus making a cursory audit futile… and for all of the security theater being handwaved for the benefit of the press this audit has “cursory” stamped all over it.
If they truly meant to actually audit the machines they would have taken a fair sampling apart and examined them… including the source code.
But as our democracratic process is a “proprietary tade secret” they won’t do the right thing.