I have editorialized quite a bit lately about the “mash-up” in Colorado. Secretary of State Coffman has made a mess of a court ordered recertification of voting machines. The state hired consultants and test labs to test the machines. The results from those tests were that none of the systems used in the state met state requirements for voting systems. Coffman then decertified every system except the Premier/Diebold system and immediately people pointed out that the lobbyist for the vendor is also Coffman’s advisor for his planned run for Congress.
Then Coffman began to “flip-flop” as he began telling counties to retest the machines themselves or just to appeal his decision and he would change his mind. Then, this past week, the state legislature, including the Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, began talk of new legislation that would make it easier for the state to certify their voting systems. Essentially the legislature wants to protect Coffman from any further lawsuits about voting machine certification. Ken Gordon, by the way, ran against Coffman for Secretary of State in 2006.
It is truly unbelievable that these politicians are cutting corners with elections. They don’t seem to care if the voters use secure, accurate, accessible voting machines. They do seem to want to protect themselves from voters’ lawsuits. I would argue that the voters should stand and vote these bums out of office but it’s hard to do when the voting system is corrupt.
That story, and the many other notable voting news item today, all linked below…
- CO: Columnist – Greenlee: Not every vote should be counted
http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/jan/13/not-every-vote-should-be-counted/ - CO: Editorial – Priority No. 1: retest voting machines
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/12/priority-no-1-retest-voting-machines/ - CO: Opinion – Hand-counting of election ballots is the tried-and-true method
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/12/speakout-hand-counting-election-ballots-tried-and-/ - FL: Paperless voting machines get last try
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jan/13/paperless-voting-machines-get-last-try/ - IL: Hancock County – Illinois County Asks for Federal Investigation of ES&S
Pushback as Strongarm Voting Machine Company Up to Same Old Tricks in Land of Lincoln…
https://bradblog.com/?p=5554 - NH: Doth The Courant Protest Too Much?
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=131 - NH: Diebold Voting Machine ‘Glitches’ Reported in Stratham, NH
Failure Caused Officials to Hand Count Ballots, While Questions Remain About Details of the Problems
https://bradblog.com/?p=5552 - NH: Diebold Voting Machine Failures Found Across State During New Hampshire Primary
Election Officials Confrim that Employees from LHS Associates, Diebold’s Sole Programmer, Vendor, and Service Provider in NH, Were Allowed to Access Vulnerable Optical-Scan Systems Throughout Election Day
https://bradblog.com/?p=5553 - NY: Costly stopgap looms in voting-machine changeover
http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-lipols135536562jan13,0,5882221.column - OH: Opinion – Don’t Scrap Voting Machines in Ohio
http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/504505.html - OH: Voting centers seem like a good idea but could be a problem
http://www.salemnews.net/editorials/articles.asp?articleID=9532 - OH: Cuyahoga County – Cuyahoga elections director Platten racing toward March primary
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1200216635105730.xml&coll=2&thispage=1 - OH: Hamilton County – New ideas may test voters
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/NEWS01/801130387/1056/COL02 - OH: Lucas County ““ Editorial – Making votes count
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/OPINION02/801130304 - OH: Tuscarawas County – Electronic vs. paper: Choice of ballots will cost county money
http://www.timesreporter.com/index.php?ID=77946&r=1 - PA: Northampton County – County weighs voting options
Five companies vying to supply county with electronic machines.
http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1200200763204690.xml&coll=2 - SC: South Carolina officials see no problems with touch-screen voting machines
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2008/jan/12/south-carolina-officials-see-no-problems-touch-scr/ - TN: Sevier County – Chancellor denies injunction
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1211&dept_id=169689&newsid=19192872&PAG=461&rfi=9 - WA: Reckless Plan: There is No Plan ‘B’
http://www.washblog.com/story/2008/1/12/20913/0929
**”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**
Gordon lost to Coffman in a election where there were problems with voting equipment around the state particularly in Denver where the amateurishly programmed Sequoia poll books screwed up so badly that perhaps over 20,000 people did not get to vote. The Colorado statewide and Denver elections of November 2006 are not valid due to this massive disenfranchisement.
What is really amazing about Ken Gordon is that he still does not seem to get what the real problem is with computers and voting. He may have lost solely because of computer malfunction. Nobody in the legislature of Colorado seems to get it. Even after massive disasters. Facts appear to be irrelevant to them.
Stunningly, it has been the Democrats in Colorado that have sponsored some of the worst legislation, such as trying to close off ballots from public scrutiny by making them exempt from the Colorado Open Records Act. Thankfully, that got stopped.
Anybody in Colorado reading this should consider running for office this year as the state desperately needs a new legislature and other officials such as county clerks.