Internet Voting - The End of Democracy?
by Lynn Landes
ecotalk.org
August 27th 2003
Despite inherent and increasingly blatant security risks, Internet voting companies are steadily gaining control over the U.S. electoral system and American civic life. The risk to democracy is very real.
"The voter has absolutely no control over the vote cast once it leaves his own computer system," writes Dr. Rebecca Mercuri, one of the nation's leading experts in computer voting technology. "He cannot check whether it has been subverted on the way to the count...(there are) problems with all forms of remote voting include the dangers of coercion, vote selling and impersonation. The Internet introduces additional authentication issues."
In the wake of recent voting machine fraud and assorted scandals, Internet voting - the most vulnerable technology to election fraud - is flying under the radar. That may not be an accident.
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30 August 2003
Voting machine controversy
08/28/03
Julie Carr Smyth
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus - The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."
The Aug. 14 letter from Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc. - who has become active in the re-election effort of President Bush - prompted Democrats this week to question the propriety of allowing O'Dell's company to calculate votes in the 2004 presidential election.
Editor's Note: Now, I ask you ... if you were the chief executive of a company that produces the machines that can literally control the fate of this country, and if the software for those machines had just been exposed nationwide to be as secure as a piece of swiss cheese, would you not think twice about sending out a letter brazenly announcing your devotion to an unelected fraud and your commitment to DELIVER Ohio's electoral votes to same? Not only should Diebold machines be legally banned from use in every state (and every country, for that matter!), but this crook should be investigated and forced to reimburse all states for money paid for these machines so that they can replace them with optical scanners or whatever THE PEOPLE decide is best for their state. Then there should be a full-blown investigation of ALL elections that have involved the use of Diebold machines to try to determine just how many elections that this criminal operation has DELIVERED to the republican corporate cartel already.
Who is going to FINALLY step up to the plate and start rounding up these criminals who have stolen our country and put them in the slammer where they belong? How can it be legal for ANYONE to own voting machines which have software that can tabulate the results in favor of anyone they wish without verifiable records and shamelessly donate large sums of money to the republican party, hold fundraisers for the republican party, and announce proudly that they will DELIVER the election to the candidate of their choice, all the while telling the whole country that their machines and software are perfectly safe and secure? And on top of that, having government contacts who will make sure that the states buy their machines exclusively? HOW can all that be LEGAL?
The people of the United States must wake up and understand that this issue is going to determine whether or not America will be a democracy governed by the people who choose their own representatives, or whether we have a dictatorship owned lock, stock, and barrel by the republican party. Unless and until they get that message, all the campaigning, donations, meetups, and hard work in the world is not going to make one bit of difference, because if the elections continue to be rigged, then our votes are useless, and our fate is already sealed.
Read Article
08/28/03
Julie Carr Smyth
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus - The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."
The Aug. 14 letter from Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc. - who has become active in the re-election effort of President Bush - prompted Democrats this week to question the propriety of allowing O'Dell's company to calculate votes in the 2004 presidential election.
Editor's Note: Now, I ask you ... if you were the chief executive of a company that produces the machines that can literally control the fate of this country, and if the software for those machines had just been exposed nationwide to be as secure as a piece of swiss cheese, would you not think twice about sending out a letter brazenly announcing your devotion to an unelected fraud and your commitment to DELIVER Ohio's electoral votes to same? Not only should Diebold machines be legally banned from use in every state (and every country, for that matter!), but this crook should be investigated and forced to reimburse all states for money paid for these machines so that they can replace them with optical scanners or whatever THE PEOPLE decide is best for their state. Then there should be a full-blown investigation of ALL elections that have involved the use of Diebold machines to try to determine just how many elections that this criminal operation has DELIVERED to the republican corporate cartel already.
Who is going to FINALLY step up to the plate and start rounding up these criminals who have stolen our country and put them in the slammer where they belong? How can it be legal for ANYONE to own voting machines which have software that can tabulate the results in favor of anyone they wish without verifiable records and shamelessly donate large sums of money to the republican party, hold fundraisers for the republican party, and announce proudly that they will DELIVER the election to the candidate of their choice, all the while telling the whole country that their machines and software are perfectly safe and secure? And on top of that, having government contacts who will make sure that the states buy their machines exclusively? HOW can all that be LEGAL?
The people of the United States must wake up and understand that this issue is going to determine whether or not America will be a democracy governed by the people who choose their own representatives, or whether we have a dictatorship owned lock, stock, and barrel by the republican party. Unless and until they get that message, all the campaigning, donations, meetups, and hard work in the world is not going to make one bit of difference, because if the elections continue to be rigged, then our votes are useless, and our fate is already sealed.
Read Article
20 August 2003
BULLETIN: Election put up for sale on E-Bay? New Diebold snafu in Georgia...
Tuesday, 19 August 2003 (PDT)
By Bev Harris – blackboxvoting.org
CONTAINED IN THIS BULLETIN:
1. Governor puts Secretary of State on hot seat over voting machines
2. Were Diebold machines certified by smoke signals? Sign language? Documents go missing. . .
3. Ohio may ask counties to buy uncertified Diebold system
4. New Diebold TSx system may be easier to hack than ever
5. Election put up for sale on E-Bay
6. Sonny Perdue centerfold in Diebold parody ad in August Hustler magazine
7. Diebold documents indicate few changes in new system - Were Hopkins flaws fixed at all?
8. Voting machine evaluator SAIC has financial ties to electronic voting industry
Read Article
Tuesday, 19 August 2003 (PDT)
By Bev Harris – blackboxvoting.org
CONTAINED IN THIS BULLETIN:
1. Governor puts Secretary of State on hot seat over voting machines
2. Were Diebold machines certified by smoke signals? Sign language? Documents go missing. . .
3. Ohio may ask counties to buy uncertified Diebold system
4. New Diebold TSx system may be easier to hack than ever
5. Election put up for sale on E-Bay
6. Sonny Perdue centerfold in Diebold parody ad in August Hustler magazine
7. Diebold documents indicate few changes in new system - Were Hopkins flaws fixed at all?
8. Voting machine evaluator SAIC has financial ties to electronic voting industry
Read Article
19 August 2003
Voting security questioned
Perdue seeks probe after study cites risks in new state system
By JIM GALLOWAY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
INDIANAPOLIS -- Gov. Sonny Perdue on Monday called for an investigation of charges that Georgia's new $54 million system of computerized voting machines is vulnerable to tampering.
"We're very concerned about the software, about the security of the ballots," Perdue said on C-SPAN while attending a gathering of the National Governors Association. "If [the machines] turn out to be not reliable or can be tampered with, then they're -- frankly -- useless."
ReadArticle
Perdue seeks probe after study cites risks in new state system
By JIM GALLOWAY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
INDIANAPOLIS -- Gov. Sonny Perdue on Monday called for an investigation of charges that Georgia's new $54 million system of computerized voting machines is vulnerable to tampering.
"We're very concerned about the software, about the security of the ballots," Perdue said on C-SPAN while attending a gathering of the National Governors Association. "If [the machines] turn out to be not reliable or can be tampered with, then they're -- frankly -- useless."
ReadArticle
16 August 2003
Bad software could make recount a mess
August 15, 2003
BY RACHEL KONRAD
SAN JOSE, Calif.--As if California officials don't have enough to worry about ahead of the bewildering gubernatorial recall vote Oct. 7, computer scientists say shoddy balloting software could bungle the results and expose the election to fraud.
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August 15, 2003
BY RACHEL KONRAD
SAN JOSE, Calif.--As if California officials don't have enough to worry about ahead of the bewildering gubernatorial recall vote Oct. 7, computer scientists say shoddy balloting software could bungle the results and expose the election to fraud.
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13 August 2003
Could the Next Election Be Stolen at the Ballot Box? A Look at the Electronic Voting Machine Controversy
Democracy Now!
Wednesday, August 13th, 2003
Millions of voters will be using electronic voting machines for the first time in upcoming elections and questions about their security are rife. We speak with computer science professor Dan Wallach and author Bev Harris. [Includes transcript]
Excerpt:
AMY GOODMAN: Bev Harris, what about the company Diebold? Can you talk about who they are, their connections to those in power, to the Republican Party?
BEV HARRIS: First of all you need to understand that the voting division of Diebold is a subsidiary. It used to go under the name of Global Elections Systems, out of Mckinney Texas, actually they were out of Canada but they called themselves out of Mckinney, Texas. Debold, what they did was they bought this small company in Texas and kind of, they didn't really merge it in particularly they just let it continue to run in Mckinney,Texas with all its same people, its same software and so forth. But the Diebold company itself is interesting, it does have very strong Republican ties, specifically to the Bush administration. They have a C.E.O. named Wally Odell He is a close crony of Dick Cheney, in fact just recently in July he had Cheney come to his house and he held a fundraiser for Cheney that raised $500,000. They have a board of directors member who is one of the Bush Pioneers. That is a small and elite group that gives huge amounts of money to the presidential campaign. This fellow's name is W.H. Timcan. You may remember that Bush had a trip to Ohio. In this trip indeed who he went to visit was Timkin and toured around in Timkin’s company, of course Timkin is also one of the directors of Diebold. And it just seems – the other thing that we noticed, we put together a spread sheet of the contributions that were made by Diebold and Diebold employees. And they have a really unusual pattern of contributions which ends up funneling literally hundreds of thousands of dollars to a few Republican candidates. Very little to any other party.
Read Article
Democracy Now!
Wednesday, August 13th, 2003
Millions of voters will be using electronic voting machines for the first time in upcoming elections and questions about their security are rife. We speak with computer science professor Dan Wallach and author Bev Harris. [Includes transcript]
Excerpt:
AMY GOODMAN: Bev Harris, what about the company Diebold? Can you talk about who they are, their connections to those in power, to the Republican Party?
BEV HARRIS: First of all you need to understand that the voting division of Diebold is a subsidiary. It used to go under the name of Global Elections Systems, out of Mckinney Texas, actually they were out of Canada but they called themselves out of Mckinney, Texas. Debold, what they did was they bought this small company in Texas and kind of, they didn't really merge it in particularly they just let it continue to run in Mckinney,Texas with all its same people, its same software and so forth. But the Diebold company itself is interesting, it does have very strong Republican ties, specifically to the Bush administration. They have a C.E.O. named Wally Odell He is a close crony of Dick Cheney, in fact just recently in July he had Cheney come to his house and he held a fundraiser for Cheney that raised $500,000. They have a board of directors member who is one of the Bush Pioneers. That is a small and elite group that gives huge amounts of money to the presidential campaign. This fellow's name is W.H. Timcan. You may remember that Bush had a trip to Ohio. In this trip indeed who he went to visit was Timkin and toured around in Timkin’s company, of course Timkin is also one of the directors of Diebold. And it just seems – the other thing that we noticed, we put together a spread sheet of the contributions that were made by Diebold and Diebold employees. And they have a really unusual pattern of contributions which ends up funneling literally hundreds of thousands of dollars to a few Republican candidates. Very little to any other party.
Read Article
E-Vote Machines Face Audit
By Kim Zetter
Wired News
Aug. 12, 2003
After weeks of defending itself against charges of bad programming and lax security, Diebold Election Systems is facing an independent, third-party audit of the software for its touch-screen voting machines.
Maryland Gov. Robert L. Erhlich Jr. ordered the review after researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Rice University released a report (PDF) last month revealing numerous programming flaws and security vulnerabilities in the source code for Diebold's AccuVote-TS voting machines.
--snip
The audit is the first to be conducted on the entire range of AccuVote-TS software -- the Johns Hopkins report focused only on software for the touch-screen terminal and not on backend software that tabulates, compiles and prints final votes.
Editor's Note: I was going to say that I'd like to give the Governor of Maryland a big old smooch for demanding this audit, until I found out he is a republican. It is hard to believe that a republican would approve of transparency in our voting system, let alone initiate it himself. Let's hope he is a different breed than the rest of the attack dogs that devour more of our freedom every day that they are allowed to stay in power. There's a lot riding on this, Gov ... don't let them intimidate you or entice you with offers you can't refuse! I know they will try to do both, but you MUST stand up for democracy!!
Read Article
By Kim Zetter
Wired News
Aug. 12, 2003
After weeks of defending itself against charges of bad programming and lax security, Diebold Election Systems is facing an independent, third-party audit of the software for its touch-screen voting machines.
Maryland Gov. Robert L. Erhlich Jr. ordered the review after researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Rice University released a report (PDF) last month revealing numerous programming flaws and security vulnerabilities in the source code for Diebold's AccuVote-TS voting machines.
--snip
The audit is the first to be conducted on the entire range of AccuVote-TS software -- the Johns Hopkins report focused only on software for the touch-screen terminal and not on backend software that tabulates, compiles and prints final votes.
Editor's Note: I was going to say that I'd like to give the Governor of Maryland a big old smooch for demanding this audit, until I found out he is a republican. It is hard to believe that a republican would approve of transparency in our voting system, let alone initiate it himself. Let's hope he is a different breed than the rest of the attack dogs that devour more of our freedom every day that they are allowed to stay in power. There's a lot riding on this, Gov ... don't let them intimidate you or entice you with offers you can't refuse! I know they will try to do both, but you MUST stand up for democracy!!
Read Article
12 August 2003
Jolted Over Electronic Voting
Report's Security Warning Shakes Some States' Trust
By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 11, 2003
The Virginia State Board of Elections had a seemingly simple task before it: Certify an upgrade to the state's electronic voting machines. But with a recent report by Johns Hopkins University computer scientists warning that the system's software could easily be hacked into and election results tampered with, the once perfunctory vote now seemed to carry the weight of democracy and the people's trust along with it.
--snip
Since being released two weeks ago, the Hopkins report has sent shock waves across the country. Some states have backed away from purchasing any kind of electronic voting machine, despite a new federal law that has created a gold rush by allocating billions to buy the machines and requiring all states, as well as the District of Columbia, to replace antiquated voting equipment by 2006.
Editor's Note: This story on the front page of the Washington Post truly is an encouraging sign ... at least for me. So far North Dakota, Michigan, Maryland, and now Virginia, have all, thankfully, taken this issue seriously enough to refuse to accept these machines before they get more information and assurances that they are secure. There may be other states that I have not read about yet. We can only hope that this urgent message will cause enough alarm for all 50 states to follow their lead and use every precaution to insure that the election in 2004 will not be corrupted, even if it means a temporary return to voting with plain old pencil and paper in order to produce a verifiable record.
Read Article
Report's Security Warning Shakes Some States' Trust
By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 11, 2003
The Virginia State Board of Elections had a seemingly simple task before it: Certify an upgrade to the state's electronic voting machines. But with a recent report by Johns Hopkins University computer scientists warning that the system's software could easily be hacked into and election results tampered with, the once perfunctory vote now seemed to carry the weight of democracy and the people's trust along with it.
--snip
Since being released two weeks ago, the Hopkins report has sent shock waves across the country. Some states have backed away from purchasing any kind of electronic voting machine, despite a new federal law that has created a gold rush by allocating billions to buy the machines and requiring all states, as well as the District of Columbia, to replace antiquated voting equipment by 2006.
Editor's Note: This story on the front page of the Washington Post truly is an encouraging sign ... at least for me. So far North Dakota, Michigan, Maryland, and now Virginia, have all, thankfully, taken this issue seriously enough to refuse to accept these machines before they get more information and assurances that they are secure. There may be other states that I have not read about yet. We can only hope that this urgent message will cause enough alarm for all 50 states to follow their lead and use every precaution to insure that the election in 2004 will not be corrupted, even if it means a temporary return to voting with plain old pencil and paper in order to produce a verifiable record.
Read Article
11 August 2003
BlackBoxVoting.org Petition to President Carter
The Honorable Jimmy Carter
The Carter Center
1 Copenhill Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30307-1406
Dear President Carter:
This is a plea: you may be our democracy's last hope..
As one of the most trusted and respected Americans, you have monitored elections in other countries. America now needs your help in what many are afraid is an impending election disaster - a fraud of unimaginable proportions.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION!!
The Honorable Jimmy Carter
The Carter Center
1 Copenhill Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30307-1406
Dear President Carter:
This is a plea: you may be our democracy's last hope..
As one of the most trusted and respected Americans, you have monitored elections in other countries. America now needs your help in what many are afraid is an impending election disaster - a fraud of unimaginable proportions.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION!!
To win contract, Diebold offers the state a carrot
Julie Carr Smyth
Plain Dealer Bureau
08/10/03
Columbus - In the cutthroat battle over Ohio's election-machine upgrade, Ohio-based Diebold Inc. upped the ante on its competitors last week by playing the hometown card.
Diebold - under fire nationally for purported security flaws in its touch-screen voting system - offered to consider building all its voting machines for Ohio in-state if it wins a statewide contract, a company spokesman confirmed.
--snip
Diebold's proposal was significant because none of its rivals in the war over rights to sell voting machines in Ohio can match such an offer. Not one has a production facility, as Diebold does, in Ohio.
--snip
Competitors theorized that Diebold made the attractive offer to Blackwell's negotiating team because the company is nervous over bad publicity it has received nationally.
--snip
Just last week, Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. ordered a review of Diebold's touch-screen voting system, putting a just-reached $55.6 million contract with 19 Maryland counties in limbo.
--snip
Political insiders say it would be virtually impossible - given the firm's political connections - for Blackwell, a Republican, to not have Diebold on his final list.
Diebold chief executive Walden O'Dell is a generous contributor to Republican campaigns and fund-raisers, from the Republican National Committee and White House on down.
He and his wife donated a combined $8,500 to Gov. Bob Taft between June 2001 and October 2002, state records show, and Taft subsequently appointed O'Dell to the board of trustees at Ohio State University.
W.R. "Tim" Timken, one of Ohio's most influential Republicans, is on Diebold's board. Members of the Timken family contributed almost $66,000 to Republican campaigns in Ohio from 2000 to 2002.
Also, former White House chief of staff John Sununu, a longtime political supporter of Blackwell's, visited Ohio at one point to discuss forming a joint venture to help promote Diebold in its former incarnation as Global Election Systems.
Editor's Notes:
Holy conflict of interest! I smell some big, fat, republican RATS, don't you?
And way to go, Maryland, for having the brains to put the brakes on!
Read Article
Julie Carr Smyth
Plain Dealer Bureau
08/10/03
Columbus - In the cutthroat battle over Ohio's election-machine upgrade, Ohio-based Diebold Inc. upped the ante on its competitors last week by playing the hometown card.
Diebold - under fire nationally for purported security flaws in its touch-screen voting system - offered to consider building all its voting machines for Ohio in-state if it wins a statewide contract, a company spokesman confirmed.
--snip
Diebold's proposal was significant because none of its rivals in the war over rights to sell voting machines in Ohio can match such an offer. Not one has a production facility, as Diebold does, in Ohio.
--snip
Competitors theorized that Diebold made the attractive offer to Blackwell's negotiating team because the company is nervous over bad publicity it has received nationally.
--snip
Just last week, Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. ordered a review of Diebold's touch-screen voting system, putting a just-reached $55.6 million contract with 19 Maryland counties in limbo.
--snip
Political insiders say it would be virtually impossible - given the firm's political connections - for Blackwell, a Republican, to not have Diebold on his final list.
Diebold chief executive Walden O'Dell is a generous contributor to Republican campaigns and fund-raisers, from the Republican National Committee and White House on down.
He and his wife donated a combined $8,500 to Gov. Bob Taft between June 2001 and October 2002, state records show, and Taft subsequently appointed O'Dell to the board of trustees at Ohio State University.
W.R. "Tim" Timken, one of Ohio's most influential Republicans, is on Diebold's board. Members of the Timken family contributed almost $66,000 to Republican campaigns in Ohio from 2000 to 2002.
Also, former White House chief of staff John Sununu, a longtime political supporter of Blackwell's, visited Ohio at one point to discuss forming a joint venture to help promote Diebold in its former incarnation as Global Election Systems.
Editor's Notes:
Holy conflict of interest! I smell some big, fat, republican RATS, don't you?
And way to go, Maryland, for having the brains to put the brakes on!
Read Article
08 August 2003
Report critical of security in vote machines
County, company officials contest claim that hackers could rig Diebold system
By Jeff McDonald
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 4, 2003
San Diego County is pushing ahead with plans to invest tens of millions of dollars in an electronic voting system despite dire warnings from experts that the technology may not be safe from ballot-rigging.
Critics say government agencies nationwide are ignoring the warnings, in part because of close relationships between elections officials and the handful of companies that manufacture voting equipment.
The nation has moved rapidly toward electronic voting since the 2000 presidential election controversy in Florida.
But activists and at least one member of Congress have called for more scrutiny of the technological shift in the way democracy is exercised.
--snip
A panel convened by California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to review touch-screen voting recommended last month against requiring a voter-verified paper record. Task force member Kim Alexander dissented, saying that without a hard copy, voters can never be certain their ballots were counted properly.
"Legitimate government in this country happens when people are able to exercise their right to vote with confidence," said Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit elections watchdog group based in Sacramento. "Consent of the governed cannot be won if elections are conducted in secret."
Editor's Note: Ignoring warnings? Dispite DIRE warnings? Recommended AGAINST a verified voter paper record? What's wrong with these people??!!!!! Oh, let me guess.... they're all republicans, perhaps?
Read Article
County, company officials contest claim that hackers could rig Diebold system
By Jeff McDonald
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 4, 2003
San Diego County is pushing ahead with plans to invest tens of millions of dollars in an electronic voting system despite dire warnings from experts that the technology may not be safe from ballot-rigging.
Critics say government agencies nationwide are ignoring the warnings, in part because of close relationships between elections officials and the handful of companies that manufacture voting equipment.
The nation has moved rapidly toward electronic voting since the 2000 presidential election controversy in Florida.
But activists and at least one member of Congress have called for more scrutiny of the technological shift in the way democracy is exercised.
--snip
A panel convened by California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to review touch-screen voting recommended last month against requiring a voter-verified paper record. Task force member Kim Alexander dissented, saying that without a hard copy, voters can never be certain their ballots were counted properly.
"Legitimate government in this country happens when people are able to exercise their right to vote with confidence," said Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit elections watchdog group based in Sacramento. "Consent of the governed cannot be won if elections are conducted in secret."
Editor's Note: Ignoring warnings? Dispite DIRE warnings? Recommended AGAINST a verified voter paper record? What's wrong with these people??!!!!! Oh, let me guess.... they're all republicans, perhaps?
Read Article
Trustworthy Voting
August 4, 2003
We believe in the power of software and its ability to execute daunting tasks. However, we are also aware that all software has flaws and that, sooner or later, these flaws will appear. Because of this, there are some tasks for which software alone should not be trusted. The process of voting in electoral contests is one of them.
--snip
We believe that software should be only part of the election process. We agree with security researchers at verifiedvoting.org who argue that there must be a paper audit trail in any election. While software and touch-screens can help avoid selection problems such as hanging chads, they should create a paper document that a voter can verify and that can be stored like any paper ballot. The voting machine should stop at creating the ballot, and standard ballot counting procedures should remain in place.
If these software-based voting systems stay in place, it is likely that a flaw will be exploited to change the results of an election—making Florida in 2000 look like a minor occurrence. As technology professionals, we must make sure our congressional representatives understand the serious problems presented by these software-based voting systems.
Read Article
August 4, 2003
We believe in the power of software and its ability to execute daunting tasks. However, we are also aware that all software has flaws and that, sooner or later, these flaws will appear. Because of this, there are some tasks for which software alone should not be trusted. The process of voting in electoral contests is one of them.
--snip
We believe that software should be only part of the election process. We agree with security researchers at verifiedvoting.org who argue that there must be a paper audit trail in any election. While software and touch-screens can help avoid selection problems such as hanging chads, they should create a paper document that a voter can verify and that can be stored like any paper ballot. The voting machine should stop at creating the ballot, and standard ballot counting procedures should remain in place.
If these software-based voting systems stay in place, it is likely that a flaw will be exploited to change the results of an election—making Florida in 2000 look like a minor occurrence. As technology professionals, we must make sure our congressional representatives understand the serious problems presented by these software-based voting systems.
Read Article
07 August 2003
Sedition & Treason in the US Imperial State
by Al Martin
--snip
To put this in some context, the president now has the absolute authority, under the expansion of the War Powers Act of 1947 therein contained in the USA Patriot Act. This expansion of these powers means, in this case, that once the president declares a State of National Emergency, which he did on September 14, 2001, three days after the 9-11 incident, that effectively authorizes the president to do a variety of things—postpone elections, cancel elections, impose a state of martial law, order the arrest of any legislative or judicial members of government, etc. Those powers had always existed. However the president couldn’t act without the consent of Congress. He couldn’t assume these imperial powers without a super-majority vote in Congress and without a majority opinion from the Supreme Court.
The USA Patriot Act, however, sidelines the legislative and judicial branches from their oversight role – legislative oversight or judicial review after the President declared a state of National Emergency. It gives the president the power to act by edict.
Editor's Note: This has to be one of the most terrifying statements that any of us has ever heard in our lives.
Read Article
by Al Martin
--snip
To put this in some context, the president now has the absolute authority, under the expansion of the War Powers Act of 1947 therein contained in the USA Patriot Act. This expansion of these powers means, in this case, that once the president declares a State of National Emergency, which he did on September 14, 2001, three days after the 9-11 incident, that effectively authorizes the president to do a variety of things—postpone elections, cancel elections, impose a state of martial law, order the arrest of any legislative or judicial members of government, etc. Those powers had always existed. However the president couldn’t act without the consent of Congress. He couldn’t assume these imperial powers without a super-majority vote in Congress and without a majority opinion from the Supreme Court.
The USA Patriot Act, however, sidelines the legislative and judicial branches from their oversight role – legislative oversight or judicial review after the President declared a state of National Emergency. It gives the president the power to act by edict.
Editor's Note: This has to be one of the most terrifying statements that any of us has ever heard in our lives.
Read Article
New Security Woes for E-Vote Firm
By Brian McWilliams
Wired News
Aug. 07, 2003
Following an embarrassing leak of its proprietary software over a file transfer protocol site last January, the inner workings of Diebold Election Systems have again been laid bare.
A hacker has come forward with evidence that he broke the security of a private Web server operated by the embattled e-vote vendor, and made off last spring with Diebold's internal discussion-list archives, a software bug database and more software.
Read Article
By Brian McWilliams
Wired News
Aug. 07, 2003
Following an embarrassing leak of its proprietary software over a file transfer protocol site last January, the inner workings of Diebold Election Systems have again been laid bare.
A hacker has come forward with evidence that he broke the security of a private Web server operated by the embattled e-vote vendor, and made off last spring with Diebold's internal discussion-list archives, a software bug database and more software.
Read Article
05 August 2003
Bev Harris: Voting Company Reverses Stand
Tuesday, 5 August 2003, 8:17 pm
Press Release: Bev Harris
NEWS RELEASE
From: Bev Harris - www.blackboxvoting.com
Voting Company Reverses Stand:
Flawed software WAS used in Georgia and other elections
- There are “kinks” in touch screens
According to an Aug. 4 article in Wired.com: Diebold company spokesman Mike Jacobsen “confirmed that the source code Rubin's team examined was last used in November 2002 general elections in Georgia, Maryland and in counties in California and Kansas.”
Actually, the software may have been used in as many as 13 states and 197 counties, according to Diebold documents given to Santa Clara County in Feb. 2003 - list of counties at bottom.
Earlier, Diebold had told reporters that the software which contained “stunning security flaws” that made hacking easy, was an older version and never used in any election.
Yet it was used, and provably so. The Diebold software version was easily verifiable:
- The FEC requires certification of voting machine software by version number
- The certified version number matches what was studied by the Johns Hopkins scientists.
STILL “KINKS” IN THE TOUCH SCREENS: John Silvestro, a voting machine representative in Boston who sells Diebold machines, said the touch-screen system would cost the city about six times as much money as optical scan machines which have a paper audit trail, and that companies like his are still working the kinks out of the touch-screen machines. Silvestro told the Boston City Council that Boston was better off with optical scanners.
Georgia, perhaps hardest hit by the growing Diebold scandal, is now facing renewed questions about missing memory cards and other irregularities. On election night during the 2002 general election, 67 memory cards, containing thousands of votes, went missing in Fulton County. Also, according to documents provided to Santa Clara County, Diebold machines experienced “buffer overrun” problems during the election, requiring poll workers to turn them on and off, and if not done properly, this can also cause loss of votes.
Read Article
Tuesday, 5 August 2003, 8:17 pm
Press Release: Bev Harris
NEWS RELEASE
From: Bev Harris - www.blackboxvoting.com
Voting Company Reverses Stand:
Flawed software WAS used in Georgia and other elections
- There are “kinks” in touch screens
According to an Aug. 4 article in Wired.com: Diebold company spokesman Mike Jacobsen “confirmed that the source code Rubin's team examined was last used in November 2002 general elections in Georgia, Maryland and in counties in California and Kansas.”
Actually, the software may have been used in as many as 13 states and 197 counties, according to Diebold documents given to Santa Clara County in Feb. 2003 - list of counties at bottom.
Earlier, Diebold had told reporters that the software which contained “stunning security flaws” that made hacking easy, was an older version and never used in any election.
Yet it was used, and provably so. The Diebold software version was easily verifiable:
- The FEC requires certification of voting machine software by version number
- The certified version number matches what was studied by the Johns Hopkins scientists.
STILL “KINKS” IN THE TOUCH SCREENS: John Silvestro, a voting machine representative in Boston who sells Diebold machines, said the touch-screen system would cost the city about six times as much money as optical scan machines which have a paper audit trail, and that companies like his are still working the kinks out of the touch-screen machines. Silvestro told the Boston City Council that Boston was better off with optical scanners.
Georgia, perhaps hardest hit by the growing Diebold scandal, is now facing renewed questions about missing memory cards and other irregularities. On election night during the 2002 general election, 67 memory cards, containing thousands of votes, went missing in Fulton County. Also, according to documents provided to Santa Clara County, Diebold machines experienced “buffer overrun” problems during the election, requiring poll workers to turn them on and off, and if not done properly, this can also cause loss of votes.
Read Article
Voting Suit Gains Momentum
By Joanna Glasner
Wired News
August 5, 2003
A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of computerized touch-screen voting systems has moved to a higher-profile venue in federal appeals court.
According to Susan Marie Weber, a Palm Desert, California woman who is suing the state for sanctioning voting machines she alleges are open to manipulation, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco indicated this week that it plans to hear oral arguments in her case.
The suit, originally filed in 2001, charges that California's former secretary of state and election officials in Riverside County, where Weber lives, deprived citizens of constitutional rights by deploying touch-screen voting systems that do not provide a paper record of each vote.
"They're not allowing us to verify our votes," said Weber, an accountant who has been representing herself in the case. She claims that the computerized terminals manufactured by Sequoia Voting Systems and used in her home precinct are more vulnerable to fraud than other accepted voting methods. Such claims have been disputed by Sequoia, which says it employs extensive security measures to ensure accurate elections.
Editor's Note: MUST READ!!
Read Article
By Joanna Glasner
Wired News
August 5, 2003
A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of computerized touch-screen voting systems has moved to a higher-profile venue in federal appeals court.
According to Susan Marie Weber, a Palm Desert, California woman who is suing the state for sanctioning voting machines she alleges are open to manipulation, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco indicated this week that it plans to hear oral arguments in her case.
The suit, originally filed in 2001, charges that California's former secretary of state and election officials in Riverside County, where Weber lives, deprived citizens of constitutional rights by deploying touch-screen voting systems that do not provide a paper record of each vote.
"They're not allowing us to verify our votes," said Weber, an accountant who has been representing herself in the case. She claims that the computerized terminals manufactured by Sequoia Voting Systems and used in her home precinct are more vulnerable to fraud than other accepted voting methods. Such claims have been disputed by Sequoia, which says it employs extensive security measures to ensure accurate elections.
Editor's Note: MUST READ!!
Read Article
Voting-machine concerns prompt changes in state plan
By DALE WETZEL, Associated Press Writer
Spooked by reports that new, sophisticated voting machines may be vulnerable to tampering, North Dakota election officials have changed plans to install them within three years.
A state blueprint for complying with a new federal voting access law no longer includes references to county use of "touch screen" machines for casting ballots.
Editor's Note: Now, that is what I call good news! Way to go, North Dakota!!!
Read Article
By DALE WETZEL, Associated Press Writer
Spooked by reports that new, sophisticated voting machines may be vulnerable to tampering, North Dakota election officials have changed plans to install them within three years.
A state blueprint for complying with a new federal voting access law no longer includes references to county use of "touch screen" machines for casting ballots.
Editor's Note: Now, that is what I call good news! Way to go, North Dakota!!!
Read Article
More Calls to Vet Voting Machines
Louise Witt
Wired News 08/04/03
A recent report that showed touch-screen voting machines could be vulnerable to hackers spurred the National Association of Secretaries of State, a majority of whose members are in charge of their states' elections, to consider whether the standards for the machines should be beefed up to prevent tampering.
Voting machine standards weren't on the agenda at the association's annual meeting, held in late July in Portland, Maine. But after the study by Johns Hopkins University researchers was publicly released, the group discussed asking the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, the government's standards-setting organization, to prepare a white paper on security standards for the new generation of computerized voting machines.
--snip
Computer scientists have raised concerns about the security of computerized voting machines for the past few years, but they haven't been able to gather much support from election officials, who remain confident that the systems are basically secure from tampering and breakdowns. The Johns Hopkins study is the first piece of evidence that current touch-screen technology could be seriously flawed.
While stressing that more studies will have to be conducted to find out just how vulnerable these are, "there is a sense that in the past (critics of computerized machines) were part of the black box crowd and conspiracy theorists," Albowicz said. "No one is saying that now."
Editor's Note: Well, halleluiah ... now we are getting somewhere! The National Association of Secretaries of State putting this on the agenda is very good news and means that this issue is finally beginning to be taken seriously by the people who have some power to get something done about it! Now we just have to keep this on the front burner and in the news so that it will be impossible for them to ignore it or sweep it under the rug! It is imperative that we get something done about these machines before election 2004!
Read Article
Louise Witt
Wired News 08/04/03
A recent report that showed touch-screen voting machines could be vulnerable to hackers spurred the National Association of Secretaries of State, a majority of whose members are in charge of their states' elections, to consider whether the standards for the machines should be beefed up to prevent tampering.
Voting machine standards weren't on the agenda at the association's annual meeting, held in late July in Portland, Maine. But after the study by Johns Hopkins University researchers was publicly released, the group discussed asking the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, the government's standards-setting organization, to prepare a white paper on security standards for the new generation of computerized voting machines.
--snip
Computer scientists have raised concerns about the security of computerized voting machines for the past few years, but they haven't been able to gather much support from election officials, who remain confident that the systems are basically secure from tampering and breakdowns. The Johns Hopkins study is the first piece of evidence that current touch-screen technology could be seriously flawed.
While stressing that more studies will have to be conducted to find out just how vulnerable these are, "there is a sense that in the past (critics of computerized machines) were part of the black box crowd and conspiracy theorists," Albowicz said. "No one is saying that now."
Editor's Note: Well, halleluiah ... now we are getting somewhere! The National Association of Secretaries of State putting this on the agenda is very good news and means that this issue is finally beginning to be taken seriously by the people who have some power to get something done about it! Now we just have to keep this on the front burner and in the news so that it will be impossible for them to ignore it or sweep it under the rug! It is imperative that we get something done about these machines before election 2004!
Read Article
03 August 2003
GRAND THEFT AMERICA
MUST SEE FLASH ANIMATION!!! Absolutely Fabulous!
GRAND THEFT AMERICA
"Theft of the Presidency" - Greg Palast
The Bush Family - Greg Palast
Five indicted in vote-buying
Charges stem from '02 election
By Jay Cohen, The Associated Press
Thursday, July 31, 2003
A federal grand jury indicted five people Wednesday on charges they bought votes for the November election in Caldwell County.
A grand jury in Charlotte handed down the indictments on nine counts of conspiracy to commit or committing vote buying against each person.
The indictment charges that Wayne Shatley, Anita Moore, Valerie Moore, Richard C. Hood and Ross Banner offered and paid people in some cases $25 to vote for all of the Republicans on the ballot or just for Republican sheriff's candidate Gary Clark.
Read Article
Charges stem from '02 election
By Jay Cohen, The Associated Press
Thursday, July 31, 2003
A federal grand jury indicted five people Wednesday on charges they bought votes for the November election in Caldwell County.
A grand jury in Charlotte handed down the indictments on nine counts of conspiracy to commit or committing vote buying against each person.
The indictment charges that Wayne Shatley, Anita Moore, Valerie Moore, Richard C. Hood and Ross Banner offered and paid people in some cases $25 to vote for all of the Republicans on the ballot or just for Republican sheriff's candidate Gary Clark.
Read Article
02 August 2003
Excerpts from the book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (Penguin 2003) by Greg Palast
This series is part of the WorkingForChange campaign, in cooperation with Martin Luther King III of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, to prevent the theft of the presidential election of 2004. With each excerpt we are including links to sign onto the WorkingForChange/King petition
[In the opening excerpts from Palast's book we learned that five months before the November 2000 election, Governor Jeb Bush of Florida and his Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, moved to purge 57,7000 people from the voter rolls, supposedly criminals not allowed to vote. Almost every one was innocent of crimes -- though the majority were guilty of being African American. Palast's discovery of the ethnic cleansing of the voter rolls, which gave George Bush the White, was front page news in Britain, where Palast reports for the Guardian papers. But the report remained hidden from Americans.]
Part 1 - Jim Crow in Cyberspace -- The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 2 - Silence of the Media Lambs: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 3 - A Black-List Burning for Bush: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 4 - Disappeared Voters: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 5 - From Planning to Execution to Inauguration: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 6 - McKinney Nails the Confession: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 7 - Voting Machine Apartheid: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 8 - Katherine Harris -- 'Twisted': The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 9 - 'The Katherine Harris Touch: Vote Rustling by Computer'
Part 10 - "Conclusion: Theft of the 2004 Election"
Get the book - The Best Democracy Money Can Buy - Greg Palast
This series is part of the WorkingForChange campaign, in cooperation with Martin Luther King III of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, to prevent the theft of the presidential election of 2004. With each excerpt we are including links to sign onto the WorkingForChange/King petition
[In the opening excerpts from Palast's book we learned that five months before the November 2000 election, Governor Jeb Bush of Florida and his Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, moved to purge 57,7000 people from the voter rolls, supposedly criminals not allowed to vote. Almost every one was innocent of crimes -- though the majority were guilty of being African American. Palast's discovery of the ethnic cleansing of the voter rolls, which gave George Bush the White, was front page news in Britain, where Palast reports for the Guardian papers. But the report remained hidden from Americans.]
Part 1 - Jim Crow in Cyberspace -- The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 2 - Silence of the Media Lambs: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 3 - A Black-List Burning for Bush: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 4 - Disappeared Voters: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 5 - From Planning to Execution to Inauguration: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 6 - McKinney Nails the Confession: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 7 - Voting Machine Apartheid: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 8 - Katherine Harris -- 'Twisted': The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida
Part 9 - 'The Katherine Harris Touch: Vote Rustling by Computer'
Part 10 - "Conclusion: Theft of the 2004 Election"
Get the book - The Best Democracy Money Can Buy - Greg Palast
01 August 2003
Suit Says Machines Missed 60,000 Votes in 2000 Race
By Winnie Hu
New York Times
The votes of as many as 60,000 people in New York City may not have been counted in the 2000 presidential election because of an adjustment made to city voting machines back in 1964, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday by advocacy groups.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Working Families Party and a group of community advocates and minority voters, accuses the city and state boards of elections of disenfranchising these voters, who represented about 2.7 percent of the overall city turnout. The advocates say voters in poor and immigrant communities were more likely to have been among those whose votes had not been counted.
At issue was the decision to disable special sensor latches designed to prevent people from accidentally pulling back the levers to record their votes before they had finished picking their candidates.
For reasons that still remain a mystery, the city's election workers disabled those latches in 1964, taking away a built-in safeguard that advocates say would have prevented thousands of residents from losing their votes in every election.
Read Article
By Winnie Hu
New York Times
The votes of as many as 60,000 people in New York City may not have been counted in the 2000 presidential election because of an adjustment made to city voting machines back in 1964, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday by advocacy groups.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Working Families Party and a group of community advocates and minority voters, accuses the city and state boards of elections of disenfranchising these voters, who represented about 2.7 percent of the overall city turnout. The advocates say voters in poor and immigrant communities were more likely to have been among those whose votes had not been counted.
At issue was the decision to disable special sensor latches designed to prevent people from accidentally pulling back the levers to record their votes before they had finished picking their candidates.
For reasons that still remain a mystery, the city's election workers disabled those latches in 1964, taking away a built-in safeguard that advocates say would have prevented thousands of residents from losing their votes in every election.
Read Article
Scoop's GREAT BIG LIST of E-Voting Story Links 1.0
Black Box Voting, Gaining Media Traction
List of Media Links To Stories About The Diebold FTP Files
Compiled on the DemocraticUnderground
"I guess this should be enough to prove that you don't need to prove out and out fraud for the people and the media to take notice! Way to go BEV! "– list compiler Sun Jul-27-03 12:32
Scoop's GREAT BIG LIST of E-Voting Story Links 1.0
Black Box Voting, Gaining Media Traction
List of Media Links To Stories About The Diebold FTP Files
Compiled on the DemocraticUnderground
"I guess this should be enough to prove that you don't need to prove out and out fraud for the people and the media to take notice! Way to go BEV! "– list compiler Sun Jul-27-03 12:32
Scoop's GREAT BIG LIST of E-Voting Story Links 1.0
Hack the Vote
How to stop someone from stealing the 2004 election.
By Paul Boutin
July 31, 2003
After the hanging-chad fiasco of the 2000 presidential election, Congress funded a nationwide drive to replace punch-card ballots and lever-operated voting machines in time for November 2004. The Help America Vote Act of 2002, or HAVA, authorized $3.9 billion over three years to help state and local governments upgrade their election equipment. The only replacements being considered seriously are electronic voting booths: stand-alone kiosks for which voters are given an encrypted smartcard that identifies them to the computer and lets them vote exactly once. But a report released last week by the Information Security Institute at Johns Hopkins University says the touch-screen machines are Swiss cheese—full of holes—for hackers. "Common voters, without any insider privileges, can cast unlimited votes without being detected," the report claims. It's based on an analysis of the software source code for voting machines made by Diebold Election Systems, a division of a company that makes automated teller machines. Someone at Diebold accidentally placed the code on a publicly accessible Internet server in January, resulting in its dissemination around the Net.
Read Article
How to stop someone from stealing the 2004 election.
By Paul Boutin
July 31, 2003
After the hanging-chad fiasco of the 2000 presidential election, Congress funded a nationwide drive to replace punch-card ballots and lever-operated voting machines in time for November 2004. The Help America Vote Act of 2002, or HAVA, authorized $3.9 billion over three years to help state and local governments upgrade their election equipment. The only replacements being considered seriously are electronic voting booths: stand-alone kiosks for which voters are given an encrypted smartcard that identifies them to the computer and lets them vote exactly once. But a report released last week by the Information Security Institute at Johns Hopkins University says the touch-screen machines are Swiss cheese—full of holes—for hackers. "Common voters, without any insider privileges, can cast unlimited votes without being detected," the report claims. It's based on an analysis of the software source code for voting machines made by Diebold Election Systems, a division of a company that makes automated teller machines. Someone at Diebold accidentally placed the code on a publicly accessible Internet server in January, resulting in its dissemination around the Net.
Read Article
WE NEED MODERN AND SECURE VOTING SYSTEMS
by Joan Blades and Wes Boyd
In the wake of the 2000 election debacle, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which was intended to ensure that all Americans have an opportunity to vote and have their vote counted.
What's happened since HAVA was passed? When will old voting machines be retired? Can we trust the new touch screen voting systems, which promise better accessibility and reduced voter error?
In this bulletin, we present a series of articles that dig into these issues. Voting reform is now largely in the hands of the states, so we also encourage you to contact your local Secretary of State and check into the status of HAVA implementation in your state. The states need to hear the concerns of voters.
For us, the bottom line is that we must push for modernized voting systems, because we know that the bad old days of ballot manipulation and voter intimidation must be put behind us. But, at the same time, security concerns about touch screen voting are real and must be taken much more seriously by the states and counties as they work to implement HAVA.
AFTER REVIEWING THE ARTICLES BELOW, CONTACT YOUR SECRETARY OF STATE
You can find contact information for your state election officer at:
State Election Officer Contact Info
All the states are working to implement HAVA, and though they are lobbied every day by voting machine manufacturers, they almost never hear from the general public. Make your call today.
If you wish to weigh in on the Federal legislation proposed to require a voter verifiable audit trail you can contact your Representative in Congress. Congressman Rush Holt is seeking cosponsors for HR 2239, which calls for a voter verifiable audit trail. The bill can be found at:
Rush Holt Bill
The main switchboard for the House of Representatives is
House Switchboard: 202-224-3121
------------------------------
A VOTING AND DEMOCRACY PRIMER
Don Hazen, AlterNet
Election 2000 introduced a host of new voting issues for Americans to worry about, from flaws in electronic voting machines to voter roll purges. Now, with voting reform opportunities imminent, this overview will give you an introduction to the issues at hand and highlight the articles to follow.
Read Article
------------------------------
BEYOND VOTING MACHINES: HAVA AND REAL ELECTION REFORM
Miles Rapoport, AlterNet
The details of the Florida 2000 election proved, to Americans of all political persuasions, that our election laws are broken. Yet the debacle also created an opening for voting reform that we have not seen for decades. Today we have a real and concrete chance to shape the way America votes. Effective organizing over the next several months will create genuine new opportunities to expand the vote -- but there is no time to waste.
Read Article
------------------------------
THE VOTING RIGHTS STRUGGLE OF OUR TIME
Kim Alexander, AlterNet
The biggest problem with computerized voting systems is that they are not transparent. Some who think we don't need a paper trail tend to portray those of us who insist we do as paranoid conspiracy theorists. But any reasonable person who takes a moment to think about it quickly understands why it's not a good idea to trust 100 percent computerized, paperless voting systems run on secret software.
Read Article
------------------------------
ADVOCATES' GUIDE TO THE HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 impacts every part of the voting process, from voting machines to provisional ballots, from voter registration to poll worker training. Here are some hands-on suggestions to ensure that HAVA will be properly implemented by election officials, legislators and advocates in each state.
Read Article
------------------------------
JIM CROW REVIVED IN CYBERSPACE
Greg Palast and Martin Luther King III, GregPalast.com
While the media chased butterfly ballots and hanging chads after the 2000 election, a more sinister and devastating attack on voting rights went almost undetected: the computerized purges of legal voters from the registries. The overwhelming majority were innocent of any crime -- and just over half were black or Hispanic.
Read Article
------------------------------
BALLOTS CAN KEEP BULLETS FROM FLYING
John Moyers and Elizabeth Ready, TomPaine.com
A register-for-peace drive and a massive get-out-the-vote effort aimed at peace-minded citizens could bring a groundswell of new voters to the polls in 2004. Find out what several progressive groups are doing to educate, activate and involve everyday Americans in the electoral process.
Read Article
Editor's Note: The above articles were found posted on the moveon.org bulletin. The list below of all the links on the moveon.org bulletin include some articles that I have already posted on this blog previously, therefore I did not repost those, but you can find them either on the homepage of this blog, or in the archives pages.
VOTING AND DEMOCRACY: THE CHALLENGES AHEAD
MoveOn Bulletin
Tuesday, July 29th, 2003
Co-Editors: Tai Moses and Don Hazen, AlterNet
Subscribe online at:
moveon.org bulletin
CONTENTS:
1. Joan Blades and Wes Boyd: We Need Modern and Secure Voting Systems
2. Don Hazen: A Voting and Democracy Primer
3. Miles Rapoport: Beyond Voting Machines
4. John Schwartz: Computer Voting is Open to Easy Fraud, Experts Say
5. Thom Hartmann: The Theft of Your Vote is Just a Chip Away
6. Kim Alexander: The Voting Rights Struggle of Our Time
7. LCCR: Advocates' Guide to the Help America Vote Act
8. Greg Palast, Martin Luther King III: Jim Crow Revived in Cyberspace
9. John Moyers, Elizabeth Ready: Ballots can Keep Bullets from Flying
10. About the Bulletin
by Joan Blades and Wes Boyd
In the wake of the 2000 election debacle, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which was intended to ensure that all Americans have an opportunity to vote and have their vote counted.
What's happened since HAVA was passed? When will old voting machines be retired? Can we trust the new touch screen voting systems, which promise better accessibility and reduced voter error?
In this bulletin, we present a series of articles that dig into these issues. Voting reform is now largely in the hands of the states, so we also encourage you to contact your local Secretary of State and check into the status of HAVA implementation in your state. The states need to hear the concerns of voters.
For us, the bottom line is that we must push for modernized voting systems, because we know that the bad old days of ballot manipulation and voter intimidation must be put behind us. But, at the same time, security concerns about touch screen voting are real and must be taken much more seriously by the states and counties as they work to implement HAVA.
AFTER REVIEWING THE ARTICLES BELOW, CONTACT YOUR SECRETARY OF STATE
You can find contact information for your state election officer at:
State Election Officer Contact Info
All the states are working to implement HAVA, and though they are lobbied every day by voting machine manufacturers, they almost never hear from the general public. Make your call today.
If you wish to weigh in on the Federal legislation proposed to require a voter verifiable audit trail you can contact your Representative in Congress. Congressman Rush Holt is seeking cosponsors for HR 2239, which calls for a voter verifiable audit trail. The bill can be found at:
Rush Holt Bill
The main switchboard for the House of Representatives is
House Switchboard: 202-224-3121
------------------------------
A VOTING AND DEMOCRACY PRIMER
Don Hazen, AlterNet
Election 2000 introduced a host of new voting issues for Americans to worry about, from flaws in electronic voting machines to voter roll purges. Now, with voting reform opportunities imminent, this overview will give you an introduction to the issues at hand and highlight the articles to follow.
Read Article
------------------------------
BEYOND VOTING MACHINES: HAVA AND REAL ELECTION REFORM
Miles Rapoport, AlterNet
The details of the Florida 2000 election proved, to Americans of all political persuasions, that our election laws are broken. Yet the debacle also created an opening for voting reform that we have not seen for decades. Today we have a real and concrete chance to shape the way America votes. Effective organizing over the next several months will create genuine new opportunities to expand the vote -- but there is no time to waste.
Read Article
------------------------------
THE VOTING RIGHTS STRUGGLE OF OUR TIME
Kim Alexander, AlterNet
The biggest problem with computerized voting systems is that they are not transparent. Some who think we don't need a paper trail tend to portray those of us who insist we do as paranoid conspiracy theorists. But any reasonable person who takes a moment to think about it quickly understands why it's not a good idea to trust 100 percent computerized, paperless voting systems run on secret software.
Read Article
------------------------------
ADVOCATES' GUIDE TO THE HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 impacts every part of the voting process, from voting machines to provisional ballots, from voter registration to poll worker training. Here are some hands-on suggestions to ensure that HAVA will be properly implemented by election officials, legislators and advocates in each state.
Read Article
------------------------------
JIM CROW REVIVED IN CYBERSPACE
Greg Palast and Martin Luther King III, GregPalast.com
While the media chased butterfly ballots and hanging chads after the 2000 election, a more sinister and devastating attack on voting rights went almost undetected: the computerized purges of legal voters from the registries. The overwhelming majority were innocent of any crime -- and just over half were black or Hispanic.
Read Article
------------------------------
BALLOTS CAN KEEP BULLETS FROM FLYING
John Moyers and Elizabeth Ready, TomPaine.com
A register-for-peace drive and a massive get-out-the-vote effort aimed at peace-minded citizens could bring a groundswell of new voters to the polls in 2004. Find out what several progressive groups are doing to educate, activate and involve everyday Americans in the electoral process.
Read Article
Editor's Note: The above articles were found posted on the moveon.org bulletin. The list below of all the links on the moveon.org bulletin include some articles that I have already posted on this blog previously, therefore I did not repost those, but you can find them either on the homepage of this blog, or in the archives pages.
VOTING AND DEMOCRACY: THE CHALLENGES AHEAD
MoveOn Bulletin
Tuesday, July 29th, 2003
Co-Editors: Tai Moses and Don Hazen, AlterNet
Subscribe online at:
moveon.org bulletin
CONTENTS:
1. Joan Blades and Wes Boyd: We Need Modern and Secure Voting Systems
2. Don Hazen: A Voting and Democracy Primer
3. Miles Rapoport: Beyond Voting Machines
4. John Schwartz: Computer Voting is Open to Easy Fraud, Experts Say
5. Thom Hartmann: The Theft of Your Vote is Just a Chip Away
6. Kim Alexander: The Voting Rights Struggle of Our Time
7. LCCR: Advocates' Guide to the Help America Vote Act
8. Greg Palast, Martin Luther King III: Jim Crow Revived in Cyberspace
9. John Moyers, Elizabeth Ready: Ballots can Keep Bullets from Flying
10. About the Bulletin
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