tagged w/ Voting Machines
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The United States' largest voting equipment vendor just bought the second-largest, Diebold. 120 million registered voters live in jurisdictions using one of these two companies' systems
Yesterday the United States' largest voting equipment vendor, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), announced the purchase of Premier Election Solutions, our nation's second largest vendor, and a product of the Diebold Corporation's North American operations. If this sale goes forward, ES&S will control a huge majority of the voting equipment market in the United States. According to Verified Voting, more than 120 million registered voters live in American jurisdictions using one of these two companies' systems. In contrast, the nation's third largest elections vendor, Sequoia Voting Systems, provides equipment in jurisdictions with only some 26 million registered voters -- and seems to be on shaky ground, having been sold several times in recent years and still waiting to have its latest optical scan system certified by the federal Election Assistance Commission.
Whether the sale goes through remains a question. Election integrity activists at Black Box Voting have pledged to fight it. ES&S (then called American Information Systems) previously attempted to consolidate the voting industry in 1997 with a purchase of Business Records Corporation (BRC), but the U.S. Department of Justice on anti-trust grounds required that acquisition of BRC to be split between ES&S and Sequoia.
Regardless of its ultimate outcome, this latest potential consolidation in ownership of our voting equipment highlights the broken nature of American election administration. We run democracy on the cheap at the national level, and pay for it with lost votes, untrustworthy software and exorbitant costs for public interest improvements due to companies recouping expenses by abusing their local monopolies.
FairVote has long suggested a full public ownership model, similar to what the state of Oklahoma and nations abroad have done. We should keep pursuing this "public option," but also consider additional ways to gain control of the election process and foster better, more reliable equipment. Some groups are seeking to hold vendors legally accountable for past failures to uphold election integrity. Looking forward, one straightforward step would address a glaring problem: the process of certifying equipment. To open up the market to more competitors and secure certain basic rights of transparency and quality control, the public should pay for the costs of certification.
Better certification processes for voting equipment of course are absolutely essential, as underscored by how more rigorous certification processes in recent years have exposed major problems with proposed equipment. Election results also keep demonstrating how systems already certified for our most important elections can have serious flaws. For example, the Humboldt County (CA) Election Transparency Project discovered that a Premier/Diebold optical scan paper ballot system dropped 197 ballots in 2008, while a FairVote analysis this year found that the same system dropped 0.4% of ballots in an election in Aspen (CO).
But each new revelation and each new good idea for updating certification standards at the federal level and state level makes it harder for companies to comply, in turn stretching out the timeline for certification and greatly increasing companies' costs. Paying for companies' costs of certification would cost taxpayer dollars, of course, and should have some reasonable limits. But these upfront costs promise to pay big dividends for our democracy in the long-term. It would allow new companies to get a competitive product on the market before they know for sure they will be able to sell it - resolving the catch-22 that today makes it so difficult for any new company to compete with the dominant companies. It also would make it easier to justify ongoing updates to the voting standards, rather than essentially adding new "unfunded mandates" on the vendors who either go out of business or, more typically, give up after barely getting started. The quality of voting equipment and software should also rise as companies would be required to do more than just "get by," and county and state governments would pay less for better equipment and upgrades - right now they typically face excessive fees for equipment, ongoing services and upgrades from vendors trying to recoup their certification costs and able to take advantage of their near monopoly of the industry.
In exchange for paying for the certification process, the public also should secure greater rights of transparency and general ownership of the process. For example, New York State's latest contracts for new equipment include a sensible provision that any additional contracts for services and new features involving the equipment will be open to competitive bidding rather than the jurisdiction having to accept the vendor's monopoly power. Taxpayers also should require much greater access to the software code, if not full open source software, and a requirement for "modular" components that would make it easier to piece together separately certified systems for an election rather than rely on just one company for election services.
Exclusive focus on pre-election certification will never be sufficient , as we must also focus on post-election verification and audits. By verifying all election counts, the certification process would become part of a "belt and suspenders" approach. With the latest optical scan paper ballot systems having the capacity to create redundant records of every ballot, these records can be made publicly available, as they are in cities from San Francisco (CA) to Burlington (VT). When coupled with manual audits and appropriate privacy safeguards, they will allow the public to verify vote tallies and immediately identify errors.The bottom line is that the existing regime is broken. Let's stop outsourcing democracy and make sure that citizens are in control.The United States' largest voting equipment vendor just bought the... more
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When programmer Don Relyea tried to choose one candidate on his voting machine, the computer chose a different candidate—plus four other candidates from the same, incorrect party—right in front of him. He captured the whole thing on video.
Voting! Don't you just hate it?? Luckily, in the future, the machines will go ahead and do it for us. They'll even choose the candidates!
As you can see in the video, Relyea is trying to cast his vote for Rick Perry, the Republican candidate for Governor (I know, I know). But when he presses his finger to Rick Perry's name, the machine selects Deb Shafto—the Green Party's candidate. And not just her, either: the Green Party candidates for each of the other offices are also selected. He tries again, and the same thing happens. Isn't that, you know, a little bit weird?
Relyea says he "had to raise a stink" but that he was "put on another polling machine." He recorded his creepy experience, and one of his coworkers posted the video to the link-sharing website Reddit.
So: Do the Greens finally have their shit together enough to effect a massive hack of electronic voting machines? Probably not. I mean, why would a machine intent on changing votes show the victim that his votes are being changed? (And, I mean, come on: The Green Party?) Based on the video it seems most likely that somehow the "Rick Perry" button is being mapped to the button that allows you to select all Green Party candidates.
But: It should go without saying that regardless of intent (and regardless of the fact that Rick Perry sucks), it's a troubling situation. This Washington Post infographic about the difference in security between slot machines in Las Vegas and electronic voting machines is a quick and easy way to see how scarily relaxed the security standards are with systems currently in use. (The infographic is four years old, but I haven't been able to turn up anything to indicate that the regulations it references have changed.)
Relyea, for what it's worth, wasn't the only Texan who had trouble with a voting machine. Reddit user KaitouKid detailed his experience:
I had the same problem with a voting machine in Collin County, still right outside of Dallas. It was Diebold, and very different from the one in this video.
Another difference was that mine took some convincing to let me vote for Bill White. Every time I would press it, it would select Bill White for a second, then switch to Rick Perry. I eventually did it enough times that it stuck.
Well, at least I hope it stuck. There's really no way of knowing how it recorded the vote, is there?
How sad is the future? You thought there would be a grand electronic conspiracy for one candidate or party, didn't you? Sorry, turns out we're too stupid to do that—instead, you get a bunch of broken-down, useless machines that no one can figure out.
http://gizmodo.com/5670480/watch-this-voting-machine-change-someones-voteWhen programmer Don Relyea tried to choose one candidate on his voting machine, the... more
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A security researcher in India has been arrested after he refused to provide authorities with the name of a person who supplied him with an electronic voting machine that was used to discover vulnerabilities in the system. The researcher had used the machine to demonstrate how someone could hack voting systems to easily subvert an election.
At 5:30 Saturday morning, nearly a dozen police converged on the home of Hari Prasad, managing director of Netindia, to question him about the source of the voting machine he received. After refusing to identify his source, he was reportedly arrested under suspicion of theft and receiving stolen property.
The voting system was allegedly taken from a storage facility at the district election office in Mumbai. It was reported missing on May 12, after Prasad disclosed on a television program in India that he had received a machine from an anonymous source. It’s not clear why it took authorities so long to act on the report, but the arrest comes about a week after two representatives of the India Election Commission got into a heated debate about the country’s machines, during a panel discussion at an electronic voting conference (.mp3) in Washington, D.C.
Following that discussion, 28 computer security researchers signed a letter to India’s election commission (.pdf) stating that the country’s voting machines “do not today provide security, verifiability, or transparency adequate for confidence in election results.”
India uses proprietary paperless electronic voting machines nationwide. The systems were developed by two government-controlled companies.
Despite concerns expressed by a number of the country’s political parties, election officials have insisted that the machines are secure and tamper-proof. In a press release following Prasad’s arrest, the election commission wrote:
“While the Commission has every respect for technologists and is always open to suggestions for improvement in the voting system, it cannot overlook any illegal act, especially the theft of a public property like the EVM given in its custody for conduct of elections.”
Last year Prasad challenged the election commission to prove that the machines were secure, but the commission refused to allow the voting systems to be independently examined. Then in February this year, an anonymous source provided Prasad with a machine that had been used in elections.
Prasad examined the system with two other researchers, J. Alex Halderman, a computer scientist at the University of Michigan, and Dutch hacker and longtime e-voting activist Rop Gonggrijp.
They demonstrated two attacks (see below) that could be conducted against the machines. One involves replacing a digital display board on the machine with a look-alike part that could be used to receive instruction from the hackers — sent wirelessly via a mobile phone — to steal votes for a candidate. The second attack uses a small device that connects to the machine’s memory to change votes stored on a machine after the election, before the votes are counted.
Halderman says the researchers believe the person who gave them the voting machine had legal access to it and provided it in the interest of transparency and scientific study. Halderman spoke with Prasad on the phone while he was in the back of a police car on Saturday (see audio above). Prasad told Halderman that the police had no choice but to arrest him, since they were receiving pressure from above.
“This kind of intimidation will hit the hearts of volunteers, and no volunteer will come forward if this kind of thing happens in future,” Prasad said during the phone call. “That’s the reason I’m going to take it on and I’ll face it, so that the volunteers get inspired by me. And the ultimate goal is we have to achieve that these machines are not fit enough for elections.”
Read More http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/08/researcher-arrested-in-india?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29#ixzz0xVFxAR2v
Read More http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/08/researcher-arrested-in-india?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29#ixzz0xVF8Cd00A security researcher in India has been arrested after he refused to provide... more
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Shortly before six o’clock on the evening of December 19, 2008, a man standing outside his home in Lake Township, Ohio heard the whine of an engine in the sky above him.
Moments later two red lights broke through the low clouds, heading almost directly toward the ground. It was a light aircraft, and for a second, as it descended below the tree line, the man thought it would climb back up. Instead, there was a terrible thud, and the sky turned orange. When the fire crews arrived, they found the burning wreckage of a Piper Saratoga strewn across a vacant lot. The plane had narrowly missed a house, but the explosion was so intense that the home’s plastic siding was on fire. So was the grass. The pilot had been thrown from the plane and died instantly. Body parts and pieces of twisted metal were scattered everywhere. A prayer book lay open on the ground, its pages on fire.
The crash would have remained a private tragedy confined to the pages of the local press and the hearts of the pilot’s widow and four children, but within days the blogosphere was abuzz with rumors and conspiracy theories: The plane, it was said, had been sabotaged and the pilot murdered to cover up the GOP’s alleged theft of the Ohio vote in the 2004 presidential election. At the center of this plot was the Saratoga’s pilot, a prodigiously gifted IT expert named Michael Connell, whose altar boy charm and technical brilliance had made him the computer whiz of choice for the Republican Party. Left-wing Web sites openly referred to Connell as “Bush’s vote rigger” and claimed that his fingerprints were on all the most controversial elections in recent history. There were dark whispers of electronic pulses or sniper fire being used to bring down the plane—a black ops attack designed to keep him from testifying against his former cronies. Right-wing bloggers and talk show hosts derided such claims as the twisted delusions of liberal nut jobs and tinfoil hatters. The mainstream press sat on its hands.
But while the rumors, innuendos, and allegations continue to swirl through the ether, evidence has recently emerged that suggests the Ohio vote may have been hacked, and that Connell was involved.
More...Shortly before six o’clock on the evening of December 19, 2008, a man standing... more
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Dear President Obama,
The Facts below clearly show that homicide was committed to cover up criminal acts of an organized well funded covert criminal plot to commit voter fraud.
Joseph Stalin said:
“It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”
So then why are the people behind these capital crimes and, criminal acts not been prosecuted? These people today are free to walk the streets continuing their ongoing illegal activities and acts of treason against the citizens of United States.
As voters, the citizens who voted for you voted you into office for a reason... "to correct the wrongdoings and criminal acts of the past administration." Not, to continue with the covert coverups and on going status-quo of the past eight years. We expect and, also demand more.
Today, we find ourselves at a critical turning point... Our Nation is only as great the integrity of it's laws, the fairness of our Judicial System and, as strong as the pillars of our Constitution...
As citizens, we need to realize, that our nation has reached that point where our Judicial System has been twisted, bought and subverted by large corporations to where it no longer protects the rights of "All People" as was intended by our founding fathers. We have reached the point... where our country is no longer... "Our Country" anymore.
As a nation, we can't let these crimes; as mentioned by Clint Curtis and others in the attached documentary continue to go on unpunished. For the sake of justice and our credibility and our Nation. YOU, Mr. Obama were elected by the Citizens of this land to give you the power as Commander and Chief and as President " To mandate change". To act... To provide leadership to save our Democracy and our Nation from the acts of corporate and judicial misconduct and criminal corruption. A mandate given to you... to give the country back to it's people, " all its people". A clear mandate to balance the scales of Justice. A clear mandate to see that laws be enforced and crimes be punished and not overlooked with a wink and a nod to the highest bidder... as it is today.
Before you, is an opportunity to do Great Things... An historic opportunity... that should not be waisted.
Gérard Angé
President CEO,
G.A.P. International Inc. &
World Indigenous Network Corporation
(Both California Corporations)
Palo Alto, California 94306
http://www.win-tv.net
About the Author:
Gerard Ange' knows crime first hand, because, he was a victim of corporate crime. Crimes that began with Interstate Wire Fraud § FBI Case: ICC # I05071411389175 § Crimes that continued for six years, yet still these multiple crimes remain" un-punished and un-prosecuted."
For More Information about Mr. Ange's Case FBI Case:
http://www.win-tv.net/GAP_WINTV_Site/GAP_WIN-Tv_Website_Theft.html
========== HERE ARE THE FACTS: Murder Spies and Voting Lies ==========
Homicide & Murder to cover up the Criminal Acts of Voter Fraud
The Clint Curtis Story is an incredible documentary which tells the story of a computer programmer who was contacted by a private company-Yang Enterprises- who have ties to accused chinese spies, to write a program that could be used to rig elections...what follows is the breaking of a massive conspiracy in which there would be hard evidence of vote manipulation via electronic voting machines-whether using Curtis's program or the twenty year old bootloader hack which, as show by students at Princeton University, could be loaded onto any of these machines in less than a minute; the sketchy firing of two employees-one being Curtis himself- from the Florida Dept of Transportation; corrupt ties to leading members of Diebold-one of two companies responsible for vote counting in the US; and a dead Florida DOT investigator- Raymond Lemme RIP- who was privately investigating the claims made by Curtis...who conveniently commited suicide in Georgia, where autopsies are not done on suicide victims, as opposed to Florida where an autopsy would have been automatic. What really happened in 2000 to Al Gore and Ohio & Florida, and again in 2004.....now you can finally know the truth, and it ain't pretty! 7 partsDear President Obama,
The Facts below clearly show that homicide was committed to... more
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A top Republican internet strategist who was set to testify in a case alleging election tampering in 2004 in Ohio has died in a plane crash. Michael Connell was the chief IT consultant to Karl Rove and created websites for the Bush and McCain electoral campaigns. Michael Connell was deposed one day before the election this year by attorneys Cliff Arnebeck and Bob Fitrakis about his actions during the 2004 vote count in Ohio and his access to Karl Rove’s email files and how they went missing.
Follow link to complete transcript and video of Amy Goodman's interview with Mark Crispin Miller.A top Republican internet strategist who was set to testify in a case alleging... more
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jimmyp
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3 years ago
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I have compiled the 20 tips that will help you make sure that your vote will get counted... this time! Check it out and spread! www.AmericanPoliticsAllYouCanEat.com (a documentary film by Jordi Ortega & Johl Smilowski)I have compiled the 20 tips that will help you make sure that your vote will get... more
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Blogged by David Safier
Tool Developed to Detect Possible Fraud in Election Tabulating Software
Pima County, AZ, Election Integrity Group Creates Software to Analyze Diebold GEMS Databases, Wants to Share Capability With Others...
Guest Blogged by David Safier of Blog for Arizona
Just in time for the elections, the Pima County, Arizona, Election Integrity Committee has developed computer tools to examine election databases created by the Diebold/Premier system. The EI group is offering to examine data from any jurisdiction in the country that uses Diebold's faulty GEMS (Global Election Management System). GEMS will tabulate about half the nation's votes on November 4th...
Last year, the Pima County EI group won a groundbreaking legal case which gave it access to all the county’s computer-generated databases since 2002. Recently, computer programs were completed to examine the databases. They have already revealed problems and inconsistencies that warrant further examination. For example, they found that a few dozen memory cards from optical ballot scanners were uploaded twice, causing changes in vote counts. (A document by Tom Ryan gives more details about the capabilities of these tools and possible problems they have uncovered.)
The programs search for such things as unusual increases in vote tallies, changes in configuration information, and similar indicators that could point to vote flipping or other inappropriate activity. They go through the election from start to finish --- from the Logic and Accuracy tests to the early voting and election day counting to the final wrap up. The results can then be displayed in a spreadsheet.
Anyone interested in more information should email ElectionIntegrity@earthlink.net.
This program isn’t a magic bullet that will prove an election has been rigged. By pinpointing specific problem areas, the results allow investigators to focus on the portions of the GEMS database where possible election fraud is most likely to have occurred.
When the Pima County EI group won access to GEMS databases dating back to 2002 in a court ruling, it was also granted access to all databases from future elections. As a result, it’s likely that Pima County will have the most carefully monitored elections in the nation.
Election Integrity groups outside of Pima County that suspect election fraud have a huge hurdle in front of them – gaining access to the GEMS databases. Hopefully, the newly available tools will encourage them to put pressure on local officials to make the data available.
The long term objective of the Pima County EI Committee is to distribute the programs widely, but currently the data examination is only being done in Tucson. The programs are still evolving in their scope and sophistication, and the analysis team in Tucson is still learning how to use the tools to maximum advantage. Years of work has given the team a familiarity with the GEMS systems that usually isn’t available elsewhere.
This PDF goes into more detail about the computer tools. The Pima County EI group can provide more information, including technical details about the GEMS databases. Please email questions to ElectionIntegrity@earthlink.net.
Blogged by David Safier
Tool Developed to Detect Possible Fraud in Election... more
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Voters' presidential preferences remain favorable to a Barack Obama win on Tuesday, with 51% of traditional likely voters supporting the Democratic nominee for president, and 43% backing John McCain. An additional 1% say they support some other candidate, leaving 5% undecided.
With the last day here, does current think the Gallup Poll matters?Voters' presidential preferences remain favorable to a Barack Obama win on... more
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Eight years on from the Florida chaos that introduced hanging chads to the world there have been reports of problems with touch-screen machines recording the wrong candidates in early voting.
These machines, which will be used by a third of American voters, have a simple interface that allows voters to cast ballots by pressing coloured areas on a screen.
Complaints first surfaced in West Virginia and have been repeated in Colorado, Tennessee and Texas. A number of voters in several Texas counties said that the machines flipped their votes from Democratic choices to Republican ones, and vice versa. In several instances officials were ordered to check the calibration of their machines.
Voting watchdog organisations wrote to 16 secretaries of state last week advising them of a problem with one make of electronic machine that caused votes for one candidate to be recorded as a vote for the rival.
Andrew Appel, a professor, said the touch-screen machines used in 18 of New Jersey’s 21 counties could be hacked into in seven minutes. He added that someone could replace a machine’s memory chip with one containing a fraudulent computer program capable of changing the results.
The machines’ manufacturer, Sequoia Voting Systems, disputed the findings and New Jersey state election officials expressed complete confidence in the security of its machines.
Many believe that optical scanners – especially ones that count the ballots at the election precinct, not at a central office – are the most reliable method. Those error rate for those systems in 2004, according to a University of Missouri study, was 0.7 per cent. The study found that touch-screen machines had an error rate of 1 per cent. Eight years on from the Florida chaos that introduced hanging chads to the world there... more
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Ben heads to UC Santa Barbara to talk to the professors behind a study on Sequoia Voting Systems, a voting machine used in seventeen states as well as Washington DC. The study led to the machine being decommissioned in the
state of California. This is serious investigative journalism, which means a clip of a farting baby was used only twice.
The infoMania Tech Report is a weekly segment where technology guru Ben Hoffman takes a look at the newest tech products, gadgets and video games. It has been called “the funniest tech show on the web.” (No source for that quote is available at this time. In fact, there’s a good chance it was made up.)
infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Sarah Haskins, Ben Hoffman, and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at current.com/infomania. And make sure to check out our facebook profile for special features at infomaniafacebook.com.
Ben heads to UC Santa Barbara to talk to the professors behind a study on Sequoia... more
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Once again, Monday got away from us. I assure you it's for a good cause.
// VC2 Leaderboard Winner //
Anyone who's been following the election has probably heard the name, Bill Ayers. Whether being labelled a domestic terrorist, or being championed as Citizen of the Year, the one voice that has failed to be heard is Ayers' own. Luckily for us, VC2 producer Mulcahey scored an exclusive interview with Bill Ayers and put together this VC2 leaderboard winning pod. Take a look and leave Mulcahey some kudos!
View Who is the real Bill Ayers?: http://current.com/items/89410378_who_is_the_real_bill_ayers
See more contributions from Mulcahey: http://current.com/people/Mulcahey
// Top 5 Contributors on Current.com //
Once again, here are your top 5 contributors from last week:
Apocalipstick (166 items)
http://current.com/people/Apocalipstick
goldenways (119 items)
http://current.com/people/goldenways
TravG73 (99 items)
http://current.com/people/TravG73
wlwatkins (83 items)
http://current.com/people/wlwatkins
abeer58 (67 items)
http://current.com/people/abeer58
Apocalipstick and goldenways ran away with it this week, but we are happy to welcome wlwatkins to the pack. Thanks for all your contributions.
// Most Commented Stories //
Here are the top commented stories from each day last week, in case you missed them the first time around:
Monday
W.Va. Machines are switching votes to GOP
http://current.com/items/89426453_w_va_machines_are_switching_votes_to_gop
Several voters in West Virginia have reported that the electronic voting machines have been flipping votes for Barack Obama to John McCain.
Tuesday
Remove In God We Trust from our Money
http://current.com/items/89446200_remove_in_god_we_trust_from_our_money
Should our money have say "In God We Trust?" Some suggest it shouldn't, and that citizens can take action simply by using a pen to cross out the phrase on their bills.
Wednesday
Dead bear covered with Obama signs found at school
http://current.com/items/89431665_dead_bear_covered_with_obama_signs_found_at_school
Police at Western Carolina University and wildlife officials were investigating the discovery early Monday of a dead bear cub draped with a pair of Barack Obama campaign signs
Thursday
Man finds racial slur printed on receipt
http://current.com/items/89433001_man_finds_racial_slur_printed_on_receipt
A Kansas city man found a racial slur printed on receipt after returning a pair of shoes.
Friday
3,000 professors sign to support William Ayers
http://current.com/items/89438971_3_000_professors_sign_to_support_william_ayers
Over 3,000 educators nationwide have signed a statement supporting William Ayers in response to the McCain campaign's focus on Ayers' radical acts in the 1960s and 1970s.
Saturday
McCain volunteer lied about attack
http://current.com/items/89444216_mccain_volunteer_lied_about_attack
The McCain volunteer who claimed she was attacked by an Obama supporter admitted that she lied about the attack.
Sunday
Graphic abortion pictures on trucks stir people to call cops
http://current.com/items/89451536_graphic_abortion_pictures_on_trucks_stir_people_to_call_cops
Billboard size pictures of aborted fetus on trucks were so graphic that some Fort Meyers citizens called the police.
10 myths about Atheism
http://current.com/items/89448441_10_myths_about_atheism
A recent poll showed that only 37% of Americans would vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for president. This article examines some of the common myths about atheism.
We're three days in and it's already shaping up to be a great week. See back here for the next recap!
Best,
Mario
Online Community Team
Subscribe to our blog: http://recp.rm05.net/servlet/SignUpForm?f=154944
Connect on Current.com: http://current.com/people/mario_a
Follow the Current.com team on Twitter: http://twitter.com/current
Follow me on Twitter? http://twitter.com/manima
Once again, Monday got away from us. I assure you it's for a good cause.
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In this disturbing video, the potential problems voting machines could cause on Election Day is seen in stark light.In this disturbing video, the potential problems voting machines could cause on... more
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ANP: Voters to sue the state over voter rights.
Earlier this week, ANP reported that come November, Pennsylvania voters could face substantial delays at the polls. Now, voters are suing the state of Pennsylvania. With the help of Voter Action and the NAACP, they filed a complaint in the Philadelphia federal court, specifically citing an interview between the American News Project and Philadelphia Deputy City Commissioner Fred Voigt.
ANP: Voters to sue the state over voter rights.
Earlier this week, ANP reported... more
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NAACP, Voting Rights Coalition Demand Paper Ballots If 'Majority' of Voting Machines Fail
Sec. of the Commonwealth Had Previously Decried Paper Only Necessary if ALL Voting Machines Break Down in a Precinct...
Finally! A lawsuit [PDF] has finally been filed today in federal District Court in Pennsylvania, against the Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth, Pedro A. Cortes and the Commissioner of the state's Election Commission, Chet Harhut, over Cortes' recent decree that paper ballots only need be given out to voters in the event that every voting machine in a precinct breaks down.
That stunning decry was in opposition to PA's state law which allows election officials the discretion to give emergency paper ballots to voters if even a single machine breaks down in a precinct.
That neither Obama nor the DNC have said a word about this in the month or so since Cortes issued his decry has been maddening, and should be an outrage to voters of all parties in the Keystone State, sure to be another battleground state this November. The lawsuit was finally filed today by the state's NAACP in concert with the 866-MYVOTE1 Election Reform Network.
While the complaint should call for paper ballots to be made available to any voter who wishes one, or, at a minimum, to be given out if just one machine breaks down in a precinct, or even if the wait time in line is longer than 30 minutes, unfortunately, the suit calls very conservatively for emergency paper ballots to be given out if 50% or more of the voting machines in a precinct break down. But at least it's something, we guess, particularly in lieu of Obama and/or the DNC taking any action at all here, given they have the most to lose by the ridiculous action from state Democrats.
Pennsylvania uses unverifiable Direct Recording Electronic (DRE, usually touch-screen) machines across most of the state, and saw machine failure after failure, as we documented in detail during their April primary this year. The failures resulted in untold numbers of disenfranchised voters, as noted in news reports, and logged by calls to the 866-MYVOTE1 hotline...
"Voters should not be forced to wait hours in line in order to exercise their fundamental right to vote," said John Bonifaz, legal director for VoterAction.org and co-counsel for the plaintiffs in a statement issued today. "While the use of electronic voting machines continues to pose a separate threat to the integrity of the vote-counting process, federal court intervention is necessary to ensure that voters will not be disenfranchised by long lines on Election Day in Pennsylvania, when these machines become inoperable."
In a declaration filed with the suit, J. Whyatt Mondesire, the president of the NAACP State Conference of Pennsylvania, notes: "One of the major impediments to members exercising their right to vote is the long lines frequently encountered on election day...Thousands of members have faced serious delays in voting when machines have broken down in the past and this problem will be much more severe this year when unprecedented numbers of voters will be coming to the polls."
NAACP, Voting Rights Coalition Demand Paper Ballots If 'Majority' of Voting... more
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Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.
This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain".
In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.
They also blamed voters for not being more careful.
"People make mistakes more than machines," said Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright.
Shelba Ketchum, a 69-year-old nurse retired from Thomas Memorial Hospital, described what happened Friday at the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield.
"I pushed buttons and they all came up Republican," she said. "I hit Obama and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines.
"I asked them for a printout of my votes," Ketchum said. "But they said it was in the machine and I could not get it. I did not feel right when I left the courthouse. My son felt the same way.
"I heard from some other people they also had trouble. But no one in there knew how to fix it," said Ketchum, who is not related to Menis Ketchum, a Democratic Supreme Court candidate.
Ketchum's son, Chris, said he had the same problem. And Bobbi Oates of Scott Depot said her vote for incumbent Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller was switched to GOP opponent Jay Wolfe.
"I touched the one I wanted, Rockefeller, and the machine put a checkmark on the Republican instead," Oates said of her experience Thursday.
She said she caught the mistake, called over a worker in the county clerk's office and was able to correct her vote. But she worries other voters may not catch such a mistake.
When asked if she is sure she touched the box for Rockefeller, she said, "I'm absolutely positive."
Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood said on Saturday that he is upset there are "so many negative stories out there and not enough positive ones. We want people to vote. People need to know the facts.
"But we haven't had any major issues. We try to explain to voters how the machines work then they come in," Wood said.
In Putnam County, early voters have the option of asking for either touch-screen machines or optical scan ballots -- paper ballots on which people mark in their election choices.
Wood said some voters might not realize that touch-screen voting machines may take a few seconds to record their choices
Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from... more
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"The electronic voting machines used in 18 of New Jersey's 21 counties can be hacked into in as little as seven minutes and manipulated to alter votes or fix elections, a new report by a Princeton University professor shows.
The report, by Andrew Appel of the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton, was released Friday following a hearing in an ongoing lawsuit to void the machines as unreliable.
"The AVC Advantage is too insecure to use in New Jersey," Appel concluded of the machine he tested over the summer. "New Jersey should not use any version of the AVC Advantage that it has not actually examined with the assistance of skilled computer-security experts."
Appel, a computer expert, tested New Jersey's most often-used touch-screen voting machine over the summer after questions arose about the accuracy of vote totals on some machines used in the Feb. 5 presidential primary.
His tests involved two machines that were used that day, including one that malfunctioned, said Penny Venetis, a law professor at Rutgers School of Law-Newark and co-director of its constitutional litigation clinic. Venetis represents the Coalition for Peace Action and others who have sued to force New Jersey to scrap its 10,000 electronic voting machines and return to paper balloting.
"We want these machines to be decommissioned. Enough is enough," Venetis said.
"The landmark is that for the first time a 100 percent independent review of the technology took place," said Irene Goldman, chairwoman of the coalition and one of the plaintiffs. "Everybody should be very happy there is a report that tells the truth about these machines."
With a trial date set for January, millions of New Jerseyans will vote on those machines in the Nov. 4 presidential election. Venetis said at least 20 states have banned touch-screen voting machines similar to those used throughout New Jersey.
New Jersey has tried for at least three years to address critics concerns by retrofitting the machines with printers that provide paper receipts. Voters could check their choices against what the machine recorded.
However, the state has missed several deadlines for retrofitting the machines because of technological glitches.
The case got a boost Friday, when Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg authorized the release of Appel's critical report.
Appel said the machines, manufactured by California-based Sequoia Voting Systems, contain design flaws that could allow votes to go uncounted and cartridges that can be manipulated to change votes.
Sequoia disputes the findings.
"Throughout our report response, we show how simple, established, and previously used accuracy and security protections ... make the items in their report next to impossible," company spokesman Edwin Smith said. "Many of the scenarios painted by plaintiffs depend on the existence of crooked, malicious, and corrupt poll workers, while the success of some scenarios depends on both corrupt poll workers and inattentive voters."
The New Jersey Secretary of State's office, which oversees elections, did not respond Friday to a request for comment.""The electronic voting machines used in 18 of New Jersey's 21 counties can... more
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A judge of the New Jersey Superior Court has prohibited the scheduled release of a report on the security and accuracy of the Sequoia AVC Advantage voting machine. Last June, Judge Linda Feinberg ordered Sequoia Voting Systems to turn over its source for a thorough examination. At that time she also ordered a report 30 days after delivering it to the Court - which should have been today.
Three weeks after the report was delevired, on September 24th Judge Feinberg ordered it not to be released. This is part of a lawsuit filed by the Rutgers Constitutional Litigation Clinic, seeking to decommission of all of New Jersey's voting computers. New Jersey mostly uses Sequoia AVC Advantage direct-recording electronic (DRE) models. None of those DREs can be audited: they do not produce a voter verified paper ballot that permit each voter to create a durable paper record of her electoral choices before casting her ballot electronically on a DRE. The legal basis for the lawsuit is quite simple: because there is no way to know whether the DRE voting computer is actually counting votes as cast, there is no proof that the voting computers comply with the constitution or with statutory law that require that all votes be counted as cast.
This report needs to be released now, not after the election. "Of the people, by the people, and for the people" is not just a slogan, it is supposed to be the core value of the law.
Strangely enough, the last armed revolt against the government in the US was in Athens, Tn. in *1946*. The cause? Voting issues ...
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1985/2/1985_2_72.shtmlA judge of the New Jersey Superior Court has prohibited the scheduled release of a... more
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Day two of Live From Main Street and GRITtv’s special programming on voting in the United States. Registration deadlines loom and there are many obstacles. From reading tests to ID challenges, felon disenfranchisement laws and the endless purging of voter rolls the U.S. is almost alone among industrial world democracies in having no uniform federal voting law. WHY IS THAT?
As early voting begins in states across the country, we are joined by Wendy Weiser who directs the Brennan Center's work on voting rights and elections; Docia Buffington, the lead organizer for the Youth Voter Collective; renowned author and professor, Frances Fox Piven. She has written many books including Why Americans Still Don't Vote; and Dr. Divine Pryor the Executive Director of the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions.Day two of Live From Main Street and GRITtv’s special programming on voting in... more
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