Site news

The state of California has made allowances for Instant Runoff Voting Software three times. First the state allowed San Francisco to knowingly purchase uncertified software for the sake of instant runoff voting, and then the state went on to grant 2 exemptions to use that uncertified software.  And the vendor, Sequoia still hasn't gotten its crappy software certified yet.

Then the hippocracy and irony come to play. California sued ES&S for selling a new version of the Automark ballot marking device, a federally certified machine but not yet examined by the state of California.

Voting-machine company settles suit with state  Wire Report 3/20/09

...A voting-machine manufacturer has agreed to pay California $3.2 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it sold unauthorized machines to San Francisco and four other counties.

...In a statement, ES&S said the A200 had been approved for federal use and was “inadvertently deployed” in California. The machines have since been authorized.

ES&S must have really sorry lawyers if they can get beaned for $3.2 million for machines the state ultimately certifies and that were already federally certified. Especially when the state knowingly and deliberately allowed the city of San Francisco to purchase and then use uncertified software to tally highly complex elections such as instant runoff voting.

Why did California allow all of the exceptions for San Francisco's new Sequoia software? Because its so darn hard to count IRV ballots, especially if you have a few hundred thousand.  For Instant Runoff Voting, the standards suddenly don't matter:  election integrity, requirements for voting systems, and transparency all get thrown away. Because its more important to give the image that IRV "is as easy as 1-2-3" than it is to hold all voting systems to high standards and protect all votes equally.   

Another waiver issued for voting system  

New voting equipment The City is using under a $12.6 million, four-year contract has yet to be fully certified by the state, which nonetheless gave San Francisco a waiver to use the system again in May.

San Francisco is the only municipality in California that uses ranked-choice voting, so the software it is using, from Oakland-based Sequoia Voting Systems, has been modified.

San Francisco previously used machines from Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software, which never received certification, only waivers.  It was later determined that the most recent version of the equipment was unauthorized.

With the Sequoia equipment, Secretary of State Debra Bowen issued a one-time waiver last year that allowed San Francisco to use the modified version of the software for the November election.

However, the Secretary of State’s Office issued another one-time waiver March 5 allowing The City to use the modified software in May.

Although there are no local races on the spring ballot, voters will use the Sequoia system, according to Elections Department Director John Arntz.

“We’re confident that the system is counting votes accurately,” he said.

— John Upton

Ah yes, there's that old saw - "We're confident... blah blah blah... " thanks, I've heard that crap before, and finally, after the debacle where 4,400 votes were lost on machines that officials were oh so confident in, we in North Carolina passed a law.  We passed a law that sets high standards for ALL voting systems and to ALL voting vendors to protect ALL of the votes.

The EAC has been audited and deficiencies found.  The US EAC Office of Inspector General has issued a scathing report of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC).  The Election Assistance Commission is charged with serving as a national resource for administering Federal elections and establishing standards for State and local governments.

Keep in mind that the The EAC has impact on setting standards, providing guideance to states and auditing the use of  Help America Vote Act funding to states.

An excerpt from that report dated March 31, 2009

"...We contracted with Clifton Gunderson LLP (Clifton Gunderson), an independent certified public accounting firm, to audit the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's (Commission) financial statements as of September 30, 2008 and for the year then ended. In conjunction with its audit, Clifton Gunderson noted certain matters involving internal control and other operational matters that should be brought to management's attention.  These matters, which are discussed in the attached letter, are in the addition to those reported in Clifton Gunderson's audit report on the Commissino's financial statements. (Assignment No. I-PA-EAC-01-08) and do not constitute significant deficiencies as defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

The EAC gets audited - maybe now they will understand why we want our elections audited. Someone? Buehler. Buehler?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

5-Year-Old Gets Voter Registration Application In Mail September 17, 2008   
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville woman said she recently opened her mailbox 
to find voter registration documents addressed to her son -- a kindergarten student 
who won't be old enough to vote for another 12 years. Meegan Suggs said she 
became suspicious when information with the header "Voter Registration Documents Enclosed"
 
Well, does that mean that Florida will be getting back their old voting machines?
 

But seriously, could this be "Women's Voices Women Vote" at it again?

McCain-Palin campaign press release announcing election transparency measures. Draws reactions.  It is interesting how the dueling parties define honest and open elections. Its a start, though. Rick Hasen at Election Law Blog says the step is encouraging, but asks "...Will It Make A Difference in the Election Administration Wars?"  Maybe the committee could take a look McCain's Absentee Ballot Mailer Fiasco...

McCain-Palin 2008 Launches "Honest and Open Election Committee"

Sept 15. 2008 ARLINGTON, VA -- The McCain-Palin 2008 campaign today announced the formation of the Honest and Open Election Committee, with a mission to ensure that every qualified citizen has the opportunity to vote in a fair and transparent manner. The committee will work with state and local election officials to anticipate, and where possible resolve in advance, problems likely to arise on Election Day.

The advisory committee will be co-chaired by former United States Senators John C. Danforth and Warren B. Rudman. The committee also includes current and former members of Congress and former state secretaries of state, election officials, and state attorneys general, along with prominent academic experts in election law. The diverse composition of the committee reflects the McCain-Palin campaign's desire to put partisan politics aside in the hope of seeing a fair and transparent election in November.

Lawyering up is part of the plan

The committee will advise the campaign with respect to policy and actual or potential legal proceedings involving the campaign laws and practices in various states working towards avoiding litigation when possible.

Rich Hassen over at Election Law Blog says that the effort is a step in the right direction, but he wonders  Will It Make A Difference in the Election Administration Wars?

...Note that the first goal of the group is one Democrats would endorse; the second goal, "No qualified voter should have his or her vote canceled or diluted by illegal votes," echoes Republican (but not Democratic) calls for voter identification laws and a concern (in my view, mostly unfounded) about voter fraud.)

My initial reaction to this is that in spirit this is a step in the right direction, but I don't expect it to stop one bit aggressive efforts to challenge election administration laws in the battleground states.

To explain, while I don't know everyone on the impressive list of members of the committee, those I know personally (along with Trevor Potter, Sen. McCain's general counsel), are people of the highest integrity.

The Federal Elections Assistance Commission is urging all voters to check to make sure they are still registered to vote!  The EAC has also provided a new tool to give the voter more information on who to check with and when is the deadline for registration in each state and territory.

Many in the activist community have long been urging people to check to make sure they are still registered to vote. Too many voters have "fallen" off the rolls, and are disenfranchised as a result. 

The national organization Voters Unite has been warning voters for months and also has a handy link for people of all 50 states to check their registrations. The North Carolina organization NC Verified Voting is also urging every voter to check their registration online or to call their county elections office.  This needs to be done before your state's registration cutoff. In NC that cutoff is 10/10 but voters can also register during their early voting period of 10/16 - 11/1

EAC Chair Calls on Voters to Prepare and Confirm before November Election

Calling All Candidates for Public Office!
As a candidate, you want voters to know what you stand for.
We the People want you to Stand for Voters!

Having troops vote by internet is just a gateway to spreading this highly insecure voting method. This is another disaster waiting to happen.  Well, the US has a history of putting troops in danger, sometimes in error. This is no surprise given that a former EAC chair is now promoting internet voting for a living.....

Troops may lead in online voting

Federal testing missed this, what else did they miss?  $1.8 billion has been spent on voting machines since 2003.  Many of those machines went before a "federal certification" process, a sort of "Good Housekeeping" seal of approval. The testing agency, NASED was paid by the vendors who make the machines. Now Diebold, whose machines were approved by that process - admits that because of a software flaw, their systems can cause "drop" entire precincts of votes. Turns out that this flaw is 10 years old and NASED has had many opportunities to detect it but didn't. The flaw was first identified this year by alert election officials in Butler County Ohio. 

Milwaukee software tester John Washburn says these faulty machines will have to be replaced, in a process he compared the early 20th Century Teapot Dome scandal "as just the epitome of how government money goes down a rat hole.."

As many States throw out costly electronic voting machines Guilford County North Carolina continues to build its inventory of the machines in anticipation of the impending Presidential election. Ed Cone is upset with the attitude North Carolina's election officials in EdCone.com: Voting machine mess.  But What could go wrong in North Carolina's 20 + touchscreen counties? This is what happens in a touchscreen jurisdiction as your population grows:

All good things must come to an end, including the inprisonment of the disgraced former congressman.  Nominal HAVA author Bob Ney is a free man.  Is the former member of congress aware that “ex-felons” regain their right to vote in Ohio, but must re-register?