Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

In California, SoS Bruce McPherson reached down and deep and certified Diebold for use in the state with some conditions. Note that there has still been no report from the federal ITA that was asked to reinspect the Diebold memory card. At the same time, in Maryland, Diebold and Linda Lamone have taken to ignoring the truth, or misrepresenting it as they ignore proof of lost votes in elections and try to assure voters that there are no problems. And good news from New Mexico where the state legislature has passed a voter verified paper ballot bill....

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.

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...

I'm guest hosting The Young Turks radio program again tonight from 6p-9p ET (3p-6p PT), this time along with Michael Shure for a Campaign '06 Preview Special!

Rest assured, we'll be talking plenty about Impeachment, Election Reform issues and the Battle Royale in the Dem party about direction along with it!

Please tune in via Sirius Satellite Channel 146 or watch/listen to the video webcast at www.TheYoungTurks.com. Call in to say hey, if you like, at 866-99SIRIUS!

Special Guests to include: Political Analyst Larry Sabato, Jon Solz from Iraq/Afghanistan Vets of America PAC (IAVAPAC), and Congressional Candidates Francine Busby (running for Duke Cunningham's seat in CA's 50th), Chris Murphy (CT's 5th), Ed Perlmutter (CO's 7th) and our old friend Tony Trupiano (MI's 11th)!

Please join us! And Open Thread right here throughout the show as you like!

It got pushed way down today with a lot of other breaking news and video, so this is a reminder to check out our story on what happened yesterday in Maryland. It's huge. And there is much more to come out of that state and that story soon. So be sure to get up to speed on it!

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

The news today is full of news from Maryland in regards to the letter from Gov. Ehrlich to the State Elections Board. Is this another nail in Diebold's coffin? The fact that they have raised their maintenance charges 1000% over four years is astonishing. Also, counties in Pennsylvania are still trying to decide what they can do in the aftermath of the court decision of earlier in the week. And, the DoJ has given their opinion to Connecticut and they have promised to work with them to meet HAVA mandates....

Guest blogged by David Edwards

WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES AND NUDITY THAT SOME MAY FIND OFFENSIVE OR DISTRESSING

On Wednesday night, Australia's SBS Dateline aired the following report containing new graphic images and videos of abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The report, which contains full motion video documenting mistreatment of prisoners, is more disturbing even than the various still photographs which have been posted elsewhere on the web.

Video in Streaming Flash format...

Since the announcement of Dick Cheney's shooting of Harry Whittington during a hunting outing over the weekend, the White House has failed to post the video of its daily Press Briefings on their website, The BRAD BLOG can report.

The video of briefings given by White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan in the James S. Brady Briefing room are usually posted along with the written transcript of those briefings. So far, despite daily promises on the front page of the White House website that the video will be posted "shortly", none of the posted text transcript pages since the shooting have included the promised video from the recent contentious briefings.

"Today's Press Briefing with White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has concluded. Video from the Press Briefing will be available on the web site shortly," says the front page each day (see screenshot below), and yet as of today, 2/16/05, the video of the briefings from both 2/13, 2/14 and 2/16 have not been made available on the White House website. We wonder why

Video from briefings held for the White House Press Corps in the main James S. Brady Briefing Room, as opposed to teleconferenced briefings or "Press Gaggles" aboard Air Force One, are routinely posted along with the text transcript.

In October of 2004 --- just prior to the November Presidential Election --- The BRAD BLOG discovered that the White House had been removing or "scrubbing" various embarrassing information from their website. The information surreptitiously removed, in apparent violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978, included a web page listing countries described as part of the "Coalition of the Willing" in Iraq. A massive amount of audio and video, such as George W. Bush's press conference in which he said he was "not that concerned" about Osama bin Laden, was subsequently discovered to have been removed as well.

The Washington Post picked up on our reporting at the time, and eventually, after pressure from the MSM, the White House restored all of that audio and video in the week just prior to the election. Though they never restored their list of "Coalition Member" countries reportedly fighting with the United States in Iraq.

When we contacted the White House for comment at approximately 6:15pm ET, the switchboard operator informed us that there was nobody available to give comment on the matter since "office hours are 9 to 5pm Eastern time" and that we'd have to call back tomorrow. We were told she could not take a message for us, "since nobody is in the office."

When the operator asked where we were from, and we told her BradBlog.com we were immediately put through to a woman in the Media Affairs office.

When we asked about the reason for the missing video, we were put briefly on hold before she returned to report that a "spokesperson" in the Media Affairs office said, "They're actually working on getting that video up right now," but she was able to receive no explanation for the delay. The woman identified herself as "an intern" in the office.

UPDATE: Within an hour of our contact with the White House, they have now added the video from Monday and Tuesday's (2/13 & 2/14) briefings to the transcript pages. Presumably video from today's briefing (2/16) will be added as well, though we didn't catch the front page of the website this morning to see if it had been promised as the previous ones had been.

A United Nations report on the Guantánamo Bay detention center found that evidence of detainee abuse "amounts to torture". The report also said that the United States is violating international law and said that the prison should be closed "without further delay."

Compare the quality and content of these video reports from BBC and NBC News. Why does the NBC report spend a large portion of the time discrediting the findings while BBC digs deeper by interviewing U.N. officials and human rights advocates?

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Video in Streaming Flash format...

On Tuesday, a former NSA employee, Russell Tice, testified before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations. Tice told the committee that he was concerned that undisclosed domestic spying programs were far more widespread than the recently exposed Bush/NSA warrantless wiretap program.

One or more still classified "Special Access" surveillance program may be monitoring the communications of "millions of Americans". While Tice could not share classified details of the program(s), he believes that the Constitution and FISA laws are being violated.

An article published by UPI has more information about the widespread domestic surveillance programs.

The hearings focused on protection for whistleblowers and a pattern of retaliations by the Bush Administration. This article from the Christian Science Monitor provides an excellent summary of testimony from whistleblowers appearing before the committee.

Maryland was the "model state" for Diebold. It was amongst the first to roll out a near state-wide adoption of the new paperless Diebold DRE (touch-screen) voting machines after the 2000 election.

Diebold plowed millions into advertising campaigns across the state in order to declare the dawn of their new electronic voting age. "It's Here!" screamed billboards on buses, billboards, mall kiosks and television commercials --- "Maryland's Better Way to Vote".

Diebold's dream has become a nightmare for the once-great company.

As of yesterday, and a letter from the Governor [PDF] of the state obtained by The BRAD BLOG, indications are that the dream may soon be on the way towards a crashing and fitting end.

In the letter sent by Maryland's Republican governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. to the State Board of Elections on Wednesday, he declares that he "no longer [has] confidence in the State Board of Elections' ability to conduct fair and accurate elections in 2006."

Citing the "widespread national concern about the reliability and security of electronic voting systems," the decertification and denial of certification of Diebold around the country, and the need to "get aggressive in responding to citizens' concerns over public confidence in the elections system," Ehrlich says it's time to demand paper ballots once again in the State of Maryland.

"It is my personal belief," writes Ehrlich in a letter to BoE Chairman, Gilles Burger, "that the voters of Maryland should be allowed to vote a paper ballot or have a voter verification paper-trail to electronic voting as reassurance to voters that their votes are being accurately cast."

In his excoriating letter to Burger, the Governor goes on to cite the 78% increase in base cost for the system over original estimates and the --- sit down for this --- "1000% increase for estimates of the annual maintenance costs for this system."

"The cost of Maryland's Diebold voting machines has skyrocketed as our confidence in the system has plummeted," wrote the Governor.

Finally, the letter concludes with a brutal condemnation of the MD Elections Administrator, Linda Lamone, charging that her work and that of her staff, has been "primarily on behalf of partisan legislators and their interests and not on the interests of the citizens of Maryland."

Lamone, who is currently President of the National Association of State Elections Directors (NASED) has been a champion of Diebold's paperless touch-screen machines in the state. She recently testified to the state Senate that there was not enough time or money to add "voter-vefied paper trails" to Maryland's touch-screen machines prior to the 2006 election. As well, she has maintained for years that the system is safe, reliable and secure. Those claims are not well-founded.

An internal review by the state Elections Board after the 2004 election titled "Lessons Learned" [PDF] reveals that "189 voting units (7%) of units deployed failed on Election Day. An additional 122 voting units (or 5%) were suspect based on number of votes captured."

Those documented failures, of course, are just the ones we know about. In Leon County, Florida, when Diebold machines were hacked last December, it was done without a trace being left behind.

Washinton Post's Thursday coverage of Ehrlich's letter quotes him as telling reporters, "Maryland is not prepared to conduct an election."

Some Democrats in the Maryland Senate, however, are critical of Ehrlich who, they point out, had previously blocked efforts to include "voter-verified paper trails" on Maryland's paperless touch-screen machines.

That, however, was several months, and many "Diebold hacks" ago. Despite Diebold spokesman David "Baghdad" Bear's predictable response that there is still nothing to worry about and these machines work just great! --- there is most definitely something to worry about and the machines are terrible. Democrats in Maryland would be wise to recognize that, and be wary of getting lost in partisan politics, even if they were the ones responsible for deploying these crappy systems across the state in the first place.

The BRAD BLOG cannot overstate the devastating impact of Ehrlich's letter on the future of Diebold's Electronic Voting Machine hopes for this country. And it comes not a moment too soon.

[UPDATE: RAW STORY reports Maryland used Diebold machines in 2002 Gubernatorial Election and 2002 primary without certification, in violation of the law! And more...]

The entire 4-page letter from Ehrlich is here [PDF]. Extended "must read" selections follow...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

Today has been another busy day. There has been a lot of fallout from the court decision in Pennsylvania and that has caused a lot of counties to question what they can or cannot do as far as buying new machines. Some are just ignoring everything and they plan on continuing to sign contracts. There is also talk of an appeal to the courts ruling by the state. In Alaska the state is delaying releasing any election records to the state Democrat party. In New Mexico a paper ballot bill has passed the House and is near to going for a signature and to becoming state law. And Utah has turned their back on 'Early Voting'. And late breaking from Maryland is news that the Governor has joined Reps and Dems in the state legislature who are all asking for a voter verified paper ballot....

I'll be sitting in to Guest Host with The Young Turks radio program tonight from 6p-10p ET (3p-7p PT) with a show so big they had to add an extra hour! (Usually, it's a three hour program). Listen in on Sirius Satellite Channel 146 and/or watch the Video WebCast at www.TheYoungTurks.com --- Tonight's Guests to include: Sibel Edmonds, Clint Curtis, John Conyers, a Live Feed from Dead-Eye Dick, and much more! Call in to the show at: 866-99SIRIUS

Otherwise consider this an Open Thread for discussion during the show and/or on any of the other Breaking News items you wish to blog about!

NOTE: In his first broadcast interview since the news of his potential run against Tom Feeney has been made public, Clint Curtis will be one of our guests this evening on The Young Turks radio program, where I'll be sitting in as Guest Host. Tune in via Sirius Satellite Channel 146 or at www.TheYoungTurks.com to listen, watch and call in from 6p-9p ET!

On Monday, we broke the story that vote-rigging whistleblower Clint Curtis is exploring a run for the U.S. Congress in Florida's 24th district. He hopes to challenge Rep. Tom Feeney, the man who Curtis alleges asked him to create a vote-rigging software prototype back in 2000 when they both worked at the same firm. Curtis was a software programmer, Feeney was the company's general counsel and registered lobbyist, even while he served as speaker of the Florida Legislature.

Curtis has now officially set up a website to support the campaign and raise much needed funding to take on both Feeney and an opponent in the Democratic primary race (Curtis was previously a life-long Republican until his experience with Feeney and friends left him with a distaste for Republican party politics).

See our previous item for more details on Curtis' extraordinary story and Feeney's alleged corruption and continuing failure to tell the truth about any number of things. If you're not familiar at all with Curtis' story, it's a remarkable one, and worth the read. A Quick Summary is available here.

I have been talking to Curtis for a while about running against Feeney since not long after The BRAD BLOG broke his story. In fact, I first brought up the notion with him back in January of 2005 when I met him in person for the first time at the Freedom Cinema Festival in Park City, UT where I was interviewing him on stage for a live festival event.

In hearing about Curtis' decision to finally go ahead and announce an exploratory campaign in hopes of running against Feeney --- and first against primary opponent Dr. Andy Michaud --- I sent several questions to Curtis via email last weekend. Here are those questions and his answers --- on his reasons for running, his chances of winning, how he plans to take Feeney head-on and confront him directly about corruption from the vote-rigging allegations to Feeney's cozy relationship with Tom DeLay. And of course, whether or not he'll ask Feeney to take a polygraph test, as Curtis himself has successfully done on questions relating to these matters...

According to the Palm-Beach Post, it looks like Ann Coulter, everyone's favorite hate-monger, may now be facing felony charges. For Voter Fraud!

Well, the Republican phonys have been trying to make a case for Voter Fraud in this country (in order to distract from the real issue of Election Fraud) for some time. Looks like they've finally got a case to make for it!

Will the GOP front group "American Center for Voting Rights" be funding a lawsuit against Coulter the way they've attempted (and failed) everywhere else in the country? (But only where they see Dems as having committed fraud?)

We'll not hold our breath. But we'll hope someone brings such a case to the State Attorney's office in Palm Beach!

(Hat tip to Jane at FireDogLake for the heads up!)

UPDATE: Reporter says Coulter's denial of fraud charges is a lie...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Video in Streaming Flash format...

The GAO has release a report that details how the Bush Administration has spent over $1.6 billion on "advertising campaigns" in the last 30 months alone.

The report was requested by Congressional Democrats about a year ago after press reports indicated that the Bush Administration was engaged in using "covert propaganda" on the American people.

The GAO report list the following among a long list of abuses:

• Spending on contracts with public relations firms increased 128% between 2000 and 2004
• More than $1.1 billion PR was spent by the Department of Defense. This included $35 to promote golf courses and $10k to promote recreational cruises.
• $179 million for Air Force recruiting. In all, about $1 billion was spend by the DOD to in an attempt to bolster military recruiting
• The Army spent $2.5 million to promote its' global war on terrorism.
• $86 million to promote the failed Medicare prescription drug benefit

The RAW STORY has some comments from House Democrats: