Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org
An expert was included as part of a contingent present while the Kentucky State Board of Elections recertified the voting systems used in the state. His report to the state’s Attorney General is revealing and his recommendations would be good for most states.
As we reported yesterday, the GAO presented their report on the Sarasota Co., Florida, undervote to a committee of the House of Representatives. The report has been released and one researcher said, “We disagree that the prior test results adequately demonstrate that the voting systems could not have contributed to the undervote.” The GAO has been given authorization to accomplish three more tests prior to finalizing their inspection.
Those stories, and all the other notable voting news today, linked below…
- NAtional: Democrats prepare to battle voter fraud
http://media.www.keeneequinox.com/media/storage/paper537/news/2007/10/04/News/Democrats.Prepare.To.Battle.Voter.Fraud-3008546.shtml - NAtional: The Senate Should Care About Truthful Witnesses
http://www.clcblog.org/blog_item-173.html - AL: Pork Spending of Help America Vote Act Funds
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bev_harr_071003_pork_spending_of_hel.htm - CA: Opinion – Election security that works
California should become its own vendor
http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=4684&catid=4&volume_id=317&issue_id=318&volume_num=42&issue_num=01 - CA: Alameda County – Judge’s ruling reflects county’s election bumbling
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_7070552 - CA: San Joaquin County – County might upgrade elections
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071003/A_NEWS/710030324 - CO: Summit County – New voting centers to debut locally in November election
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20071003/NEWS/71003003 - FL: Sarasota County – GAO Wants to Test Florida Voting Machines
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/gao-calls-to-te.html - FL: Sarasota County – More tests called for in disputed District 13 election probe
http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/100207/D8S1DAF01.shtml - FL: Sarasota County – FL-13: GAO Finds Prior Tests Do NOT Offer ‘Reasonable Assurance’ That Touch-Screen Machines Were Not at Fault in Sarasota’s November 2006 Election
https://bradblog.com/?p=5125 - FL: Sarasota County – Congress orders new tests of voting machines
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071003/NEWS/710030441 - FL: Sarasota County – More Tests Needed in Disputed Florida Race, Panel Says
http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/10/more_tests_needed_in_disputed.html - KY: Attorney General Stumbo Releases Expert’s Report to Improve Electronic Voting System Certifications
http://ag.ky.gov/news/votingsystemreport.htm - NY: Another delay expected in N.Y. voting machine switch
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071003/NEWS01/710030364 - TX: Jasper County – HAVA changes face of election process for area residents
http://www.jaspernewsboy.com/news/2007/1003/Front_Page/004.html - UT: Complaint Filed Against Utah Top Election Official
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0710/S00093.htm - Ireland: E-voting plans hit by decision in Dutch court
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/evoting-plans-hit-by-decision-in-dutch-court-1114882.html
**”Daily Voting News” is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in “Daily Voting News” may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or BradBlog.Com**
John Gideon–you ROCK! Gracious thanks for doing so much gathering of sources/links to help us assimilate so many grievous infractions here in Sarasota. Vital work.
My cherished Bradbloggers: please forgive me for double posting, but I fear my last comments were posted too late to weigh in. In the last FL-13 thread, JODY HOLDER (#9) was DEAD ON when she wrote:
“Once again the burden of evidence has been placed on the wrong parties. The undervote rate was statistically impossible without error or manipulation. That should place the burden upon the vendor and the county to provide evidence that the undervotes were not caused by the DRE’s. The fact is there was a massive undervote reported just for that race in that county. It is up to the county and vendor to prove why.”
YES!…Amen. I thought everyone might like to know:
There were much higher rates of undervotes by precinct than you might imagine; NORTHPORT, for example, was noted as a “precinct of interest” for it’s disproportional undervote rate–yes, mostly black and minority precincts *(118 was a whopper, I recall.)
There is a great 2 min. clip of KATHY DENT reading out the undervotes by precinct here, for an excruciating sense of proportion:
(“449 undervotes in a minute thirty):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxI5iD6-39E
As for the machines, we know from the testimony presented at the Evidentiary Hearings from CHARLES STEWART that the machines prepared AFTER OCT. 17th produced a SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER undervote rate, which increased by percentage THE CLOSER WE GOT TO NOV. 7th. That one floored me…and yet, no word about it anywhere, EXCEPT here on BRADBLOG.
YOU CAN WATCH THE WHOLE MIND-BLOWING CLIP right here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4acC583ZfWc
…Prof. Stewart presents BUBBLE CHART showing the undervote rate INCREASING from the machines as they were prepared for the election. OCT 17th–the busiest day of implementation, the machines produced 17.5 percent undervote rate/ increases to 20 effin’ percent on the 20th…
When security tapes of the warehouse for those dates were requested through FOIA, well within the proper amount of time, we were told they had been erased.
It’s all in the above video, so no surpise to us that the GAO is dragging it’s feet. Put this together with the DAN RATHER info–betcha we got those 15,000 defunct machines from Manilla. (Yes, John! So glad you mentioned that in relation to the problems described by the workers in that horrifying report. THAT is what I wish the damn papers down here would follow up on!) The Filipino workers’ describe a “pillowing” of the touch screens, which would be a likely cause of the kinds of calibration problems voters reported experiencing here in Sarasota.
And yet we need to RETEST? All their testing has shown is that there has been insufficient testing? C’mon…we knew that by just showing up! Vendors controlling the process, Partisan State Officials with everything to lose counting our votes in back-rooms, all players unwatched and unaccountable, no video records, no public observation allowed, no BALLOTS to count, sweatshop labor and insufficient testing and NO MEDIA covering it…?!
Well now, everything is becoming crystal clear to me EXCEPT WHAT IN THE SAM HELL HAPPENED TO THOSE 18,412 MISSING VOTES?…
… the votes were buried in a shallow unmarked grave just outside of town…
On the plus side… “Cave-In” Reid just had his plans to fast-track Spakovsky’s tonomination to the FEC put on hold by Sen. Obama:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004381.php