— Brad Friedman, from Denver, CO…
16,632 votes are unaccounted for in a Palm Beach County election recount following last Tuesday’s state primary, according to Ellen H. Brodsky, non-partisan candidate for Supervisor of Elections in Broward County and a long-time Election Integrity advocate.
The machine recount was completed early Saturday morning in the Circuit Court race between Judge Richard Wennet and challenger William Abramson, Brodsky reports via email. The machine recount was completed at 4:30am, in the race in which Wennet and Abramson were separated by just 18 votes in the initial machine tally. Palm Beach County recently changed voting systems again, moving from faulty touch-screen voting systems to — apparently — faulty optical-scan paper-ballot systems made by Sequoia Voting Systems, Inc. [PDF].
The still-unexplained “disappearance” of votes in the machine recount “has severe repercussions,” Brodsky wrote in an email alert this afternoon describing the re-scan of some 90,000 ballots.
“With 16,632 less votes on summary report,” she writes, it “portends dire consequences for the November election and all elections.”
The question remains as to how many votes were lost in other races on the same ballot which were not included in last night’s re-tally. Florida state law disallows hand-counting of paper ballots which have already been counted by machine, other than in special circumstances. We’ll see if this ends up being one of those circumstances. Theoretically, a hand-count would determine the correct totals for the race, where the machine-count has misreported totals. [UPDATE: Palm Beach Post reports the machine recount was close enough to allow for a hand-count of over votes and undervotes. See more in the update at end of this article.]
Sequoia’s voting machines have seen notorious failures of late, including lost votes and other problems, around the country…
Most recently, their touch-screen systems misreported vote totals on Super Tuesday in New Jersey. That, after some of their machines refused to start up at all that day, causing embarrassment when Gov. John Corzine’s attempt to vote was delayed while the machines were down for trouble-shooting.
Vote-counting problems have become notorious across the Sunshine State since 2000 and continuing through last Tuesday’s state primary. Earlier this week, news broke of thousands of ballots not counted by the Diebold voting systems in Sarasota County, which has also recently switched to paper ballots following the still-unexplained loss of some 18,000 votes on ES&S touch-screen voting systems in a 2006 Congressional race that was ultimately decided by just 369 votes. Some 10,000 ballots were counted by hand this week in Sarasota, following this most recent failure. Major problems on Diebold systems were also seen in Hillsborough and Brevard counties this week as well.
Last week, Diebold finally admitted that all of their voting systems, used in 34 states across the nation, lose votes during upload to the tabulator, even though no warning message is given for the loss to system administrators.
Ohio’s Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner announced last month that she is suing Diebold over the problem voting systems. [NOTE: We sat down with Brunner for an exclusive in-depth interview with her in Denver. We’ll have that interview posted at The BRAD BLOG next week.]
In 2000, Volusia County Florida reported negative 16,022 votes for Presidential Candidate Al Gore, as tabulated on voting systems made by the company which would become Diebold Election Systems. The unusual negative vote tally was never explained, but the discovery of the odd reported total led to Gore’s rescission of his earlier concession to George W. Bush on Election Night. That race in Florida led to 36 protracted days of political fighting, in which Republicans were eventually successful in their bid to see the U.S. Supreme Court order the state’s ballots from being counted at all.
A post-election tally [PDF] by a media and academic consortium found that had all of the state’s ballots been counted, by any conceivable counting standard, Al Gore would have been named the winner in Florida, and thus, would have become the President of the United States.
[Note: We’re on the road back from Denver, and may not be able to update this item until later tonight, at best, with any additional details.]
UPDATE 9:50pm PT: Palm Beach Post reports varying numbers of note in the recount, including that “the candidates had lost 4,700 votes” on the “larger counting machines” said to be “more sensitive”. Their report also says that 16,500 of the 90,000 ballots in the contest, which had been reported by the machines as either overvotes (too many selections in the race) or undervotes (no selections in the race), were reviewed by hand:
The larger counting machines are more sensitive, he said, and reject more ballots.
(Those “larger counting machines” would be the high-speed optical-scanners used to count mail-in absentee ballots at county headquarters, rather than the precinct-based op-scan machines. If they “are more sensitive” and lose more votes, that would seem to indicate that more absentee ballots are miscounted than those scanned at the polling places. As most counties around the country use a similar system — high-speed op-scanners for mail-in absentees — does this indicate absentee ballots are counted at a lesser (unequal) rate than those counted at the precinct?)
Attorney Darren Shull, a Wennet supporter, said he saw ballots on which the vote appeared clearly, and wondered why the counting machines did not register them.
“Sometimes you’re looking at it, going, ‘Huh?’ ” Shull said. “You don’t know why.”
Are those 16,500 ballots the ones referred to by Brodsky? Or are the 4,700 that the Post reports as “lost” during the high-speed machine re-tally? We’re trying to get more info from from Brodsky, but have yet to hear back on several follow-up questions. We’ll do our best to continue to keep up even as we’re on the road out here…
All recounts should be by hand at the very least.
This is a good read at Mother Jones:
Why CIA Veterans Are Scared of McCain
Somebody should look into whether it was really 16,384 votes that they are missing… or, in terms of computers, 2^14 = 16,384…
{Ed Note: Comment by Brent Turner of Open Voting Consortium — last posting as “Sam Wiseman” — now posting as “tim” again deleted. Mr. Turner has been banned here for refusing to follow the rules and posting under multiple identities, spamming his advocacy for his voting company, Open Voting Consortium, in every post. If you are unable to follow the few simple rules for posting here, Mr. Turner, I can’t see why anybody would think your company, OVC, should be entrusted with counting *anybody’s* vote, open source or otherwise. – BF}
so where are all the lawyers that are supposedly on standby in case of election irregularities??
OT:
Brad – Have you seen this video of Palin?
http://alaskapodshow.com/index....juneau-alaska/
Purportedly 7 months pregnant, in heels, drinking coffee, looking trim and fit? Gimme a break – the woman lied to become VP and protect her “abstinence only” BS. McCain had to know.
HERE’S MY TAKE:
This entire Palin selection is a Rovian head fake. It was designed by Rove to accomplish two goals. First and foremost, to take ALL of the air out of the media that the Obama camp was destined to carry into the GOP convention. It did that, in spades. The echo just simply stopped. The news cycle yesterday was absent of any analysis or follow-through on Obama’s speech…itself a major coup for Rove. It’s as though the entire media machine stopped speaking of anything “Democratic,” in unison.
Secondly, the (apparent) selection of Palin throws a bone to the Puma’s and to women generally”¦one that McCain doesn’t have to necessarily follow through with, but made for a nice (disingenuous) photo-op.
Third; they’re just not that stupid not to have known about the controversy – and her familial requirements and responsibilities (Downs Syndrome newborn to care for). In short, their unbelievable choice is in fact, unbelievable…”a straw-woman.”
By the time the convention occurs, news will come out that the GOP’s own investigators have determined that, while no proof of wrong doing exists, the mere investigation of it is a distraction that the GOP simply cannot afford so close to the election. As such, the announcement that either Lieberman or Romney have become McCain’s choice will come as a massive relief to the GOP base, and capture the entire news cycle for weeks to come. If Rove thought it would be impossible for a McCain/Lieberman ticket to succeed without some form of trickery, he would have dreamed this up, making Lieberman look good by comparison. All of the push-back will already be out of the system.
He’s pulled these same stunts in the past ““ like putting Bernie Kerik’s name into nomination only to pull him and install Chertoff as Homeland Security Dictator. Remember when the name of Harriet Miers was put forward for a Supreme Court position? Remember? A fire storm of push back erupted, only to be followed by the swift and easy confirmation of Roberts, who looked like a breath of fresh air BY COMPARISON. THEY ARE GAMING YOU!
I’m in central Florida and this was my first election with the optical scanner. After completing the ballot, it goes into a machine with a screen, but the screen does not show my selection. A grey screen that says nothing. Of course, I was reassured the ballots will be saved for 4 years. There was this old guy by the machine and I challenged how do I know the machine recorded my selection. He didn’t answer -I did send an e-mail to the supervisor of elections, who in the past has always been a straight arrow. What to do??
What is the problem with Palm Beach & Broward counties?!!!!!
What is the problem with Florida (and Ohio)?!!!!!
It isn’t enough to live in infamy; only to be known for Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris, and a stolen Presidential election?!!!
You would think these places would be under a microscope when it comes to anything regarding voting, ballots, and elections.
But then again we were promised that there would be ‘Truman Hearings’ in the 110th Congress as well.
ENOUGH!!!!!!!
OBAMA, OH-EIGHT, OR ELSE!!!!
Plunger, yes, I’ve been on afew blogs that suggested her youngest child is actually her daughter’s. Who knows?? Supposedly, the daughter was out with mono??? It could be verified without breaking confidentiality. I don’t really care one way or another, but from the party that proclaims holier than thou, it is really hypocrisy!Also, how can you trust anything from someone flying under false colors – deception. Oh, I forgot…their the repugs. Nuf said!!
Once again, incredible work by Ellen Brodsky~! A Florida Election Heroine Extraodinaire…
Even when her D.O.E. won’t let her anywhere near the tabulation room as the OFFICIAL GREEN PARTY DESIGNATED observer, (as one of our most renowned Florida election experts who has been barred from observation due to some tricky, sicky legal parsing of election law by our Secretary of State, Kurt Browning)–nothing gets by this remarkable lady.
Her tenacity inspires me daily. So proud of her I gvell like a speckled mother hen.
For the record, Ellen B. is currently on the ballot in November, running for Supervisor of Elections in Broward Co as NON PARTISAN, Independent (Ah! Like a breath of fresh air to imagine such an antiquated thing!) I’m hoping her community fully appreciates and values her Herculean efforts towards transparent elections on their behalf, and votes her in forthwith. What a stupendous victory that would be for all Florida voters!
Ellen Brodsky just called to say she is standing outside the Broward County elections office and is being denied access to the recount there and even access inside the elections office itself! The reason? Because, according to Ellen, they are “afraid she MIGHT cause a disturbance!”
I immediately called an attorney who confirmed that this is, of course, a violation of Florida’s Sunshine laws. They can’t lawfully prevent Ellen from entering the building on the trumped up fear that she MIGHT cause a disturbance.
Furthermore, Broward County has a history of obstructing citizens who try to monitor elections or who try to get public election records. In this case, Ellen told me that she asked them what would constitute a disturbance, and they said, “standing up” would be a disturbance.
In my opinion, this is also in violation of Florida Statute 104.29, which reads as follows:
104.29 Inspectors refusing to allow watchers while ballots are counted.–The inspectors or other election officials shall, at all times while the ballots are being counted, allow as many as three persons near to them to see whether the ballots are being correctly read and called and the votes correctly tallied, and any official who denies this privilege or interferes therewith is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
Not only is Ellen a longtime election integrity activist, she is also a candidate for Broward County Supervisor of Elections. This is an appalling violation of her rights as a citizen, as a voter, and as a candidate.
Susan Pynchon
Florida Fair Elections Coalition
(and candidate for Volusia County, FL Supervisor of Elections)
Super-Jeezus-Crispies-on-Toast. Susan, what can we do? Anyone I can call?…
QuestionAuthority (#7)~
I know. Great question. I obsessively wondered the same thing which is why when I moved to Florida I thought I’d just go down to my Board of Elections and find out. Now I wish I could wash my brain.
I actually developed a perma-crease in my forehead during my two years following the shenanigans in Sarasota. My face DID, in fact, somewhat freeze in a fixed “WHA?…” expression.
But I’m so glad you asked, and have no wish to dispel your all-too-rare curiosity. It does seem beyond the palest pale that the state is still in such Hellish disarray. Allow me save you the forehead-trench:
1. Florida and Ohio are both critical swing states, in which the crucial swing counties (50-50 districts) are a vital gain to any winning candidate of either party. They are highly prized, “micro-targeted” districts; susceptible to robo-calls, voter purging, downed phone lines on election day, strange SLQ slammer worms, and all kinds of other deceptive, snake-y, mostly illegal practices.
2. Florida is Ground Zero for the Help America Vote Act, where GOV. JEB BUSH and his HAVA buddies/ supporters in the State Legislature (can I get a ‘Feeney’, anyone?) made sure the State Division of Elections was well on board with the voting machine vendors’ insidious control over the municipalities and their voting systems.
And this is the one that STILL shocks and saddens me, Q.A., and may have the most bearing:
3. An disproportionately ambivalent voting public that rarely takes it upon themselves to monitor their own elections, or at least take an interest in the information/ data that the hard-working men and women who DO have made available. Sorry, kids, but it’s too true.
“DIEBOLD MANUEAL OVERRIDE/ FL-13 pt.1: Observing the Lack of Observation”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SkbY9B3oI
It is important to note that Florida has some of the most brilliant, pro-active, vigilant, computer science/ election law experts in the country (Ellen Brodsky/ Susan Pynchon are the Ruth and Gehrig of our Florida All-Star League; our very own BEV HARRIS-Y, Non Partisan, Nancy Drews) but too often they are lone voices in a torrential tar-pit of corruption that trickles down from the STATE LEVEL.
Even more disturbing, as cited above, they are constantly obstructed by their local S.O.E.’s (and even their NON-LOCAL ones) from doing their civic duty on BEHALF of the sleeping rest. Branded by the bad guys as bad guys.
It’s truly maddening.
Maybe Florida is where people move when they don’t want to care anymore. (Floridiot excepted, of course.)
Let’s take a quick look at a disturbing aspect of Florida election law: the aspect that says once a vote is machine counted, it cannot be hand counted except under special circumstances.
Here is an effect of this law: it is possible tht it could allow tampering with paper ballots to go undetected. Why? One common way to determine whether ballots have been tampered with is to compare downticket totals with key race totals. Think about how complex it would be to change the outcome of a key race while having downticket races that make sense when compared to the upticket races. LIkewise, the total votes cast have to work out.
In other words, to use an unlikely but obvious example, if a Dem or GOP candidate won by a landslide, but the opposite party was heavily winning on the other races, it would tend to raise some questions. A common place you would find undervotes would be on multi-vote races (such as, in New England, selectmen or town committeee or school board races) or downticket races with unknown candidates and little-highlighted offices, NOT key races like governor or senator. IF you could see scads of undervotes on the top of the ticket, and less undervotes on the downticket races, it might raise questions about the accuracy either of the machine count or make you wonder if the proper chain of custody on the paper ballots was observed.
IfI understand the story properly and recounting of machine cast votes is not in any way easily accomplished, then I have to say, I cannot see the sound reason for limiting the recount of machine counted votes. I do, however, see some unscrupulous reasons for restricting manual counting.
re #10 Susan,
In addition to an attorney, why not the police? A law’s clearly being broken. If I saw someone breaking into someone’s house, I’d call the police, no? They’ve broken into our democracy.
Right on, Joan. I keep screaming this stuff is why we have police, but nobody ever seems to think of it….
Now I see why crist allowed the state to get rid of the touch screen pieces of vote stealing crap. They still had a way to steal votes with the opscans by only recounting paper ballots in special circumstances?!? What the f***, continued ELECTION FRAUD! You can have paper ballots, but you can’t recount them unless we say so…generally speaking, we’ll tell you who wins. BS! I know there is a large elderly population there, but elderly doesn’t necessarily have to mean brain dead! Who the hell exactly was responsible for that legislation? They should be run out of office pronto .