Black Box Voting

Oops. He told ya wrong! The Larimer County elections dept has been giving voters the wrong information about postage costs to mail in their ballots. The head elections official, Scott Doyle says he is working with the post office to try to prevent ballots from being returned to sender.

Mail-in ballot postage cost 59 cents, not 42 cents

Return to sender

...“It has come to my attention this morning (Oct. 6) that the calculations determining the postage for returning a mail-in ballot by mail to our office were incorrect,” said Doyle. “In fact, the postage for returning a mail-in ballot is 59 cents, rather than the 42 cents stated in our earlier press release.

...This early catch also allows us to work with the post office prior to their receiving any returned ballots, to ensure all ballots are delivered to our office properly.”

...“I regret any inconvenience this may have caused Larimer County voters.” Larimer County Colorado Elections Clerk Scott Doyle on putting wrong postage advisory on absentee ballots.

Ohio-duh steals Flori-duh's Butterfly Ballot Design.  Ohio may go down in history this November when 12 counties use a butterfly ballot.  The design is hauntingly similar to the one that made Florida notorious in November 2000.  Recently the Brennan Center for Justice urged Ohio election officials to redesign a ballot planned for 12 counties. The problem - the design is a modern day butterfly ballot, splitting the presidential contest over two columns on their paper ballots for this November's election. The difference between the Ohio butterfly ballot and the Florida butterfly ballot is that Ohio is using optical scanners, and Florida was using punch card. I guess this proves that there is more than one way to spoil an election.

Potential Ballot Trouble In OH: Split Contests

By Lawrence Norden – 10/01/08

By our count, at least twelve Ohio counties have split the presidential contest over two columns on their paper ballots for this November's election. This "column split" often confuses voters and results in double voting in the presidential race — and an uncounted vote. Today the Brennan Center urged election officials and advocates in Ohio to make sure that voters are aware of the split, and to make sure they vote only once for president. Unfortunately, the design meets legal guidelines and a directive issued by the Secretary of State.

The twelve Ohio counties whose ballots spilt the presidential race over two columns are: Ashtabula, Athens, Auglaize, Champaign, Delaware, Lawrence, Logan, Madison, Ottawa, Seneca, Shelby, and Wyandot.

A picture of the butterfly ballot and some further comments after the jump

Marybeth Kuznik, Executive Director of VotePA warns "Plan On Long Lines In Bucks Co, PA". In her testimony to PA lawmakers, she warned that officials that state there  will not be enough voting machines in counties using paperless computerized machines. The state is basing its estimates on the use of lever machines, instead of considering the fact that it takes much longer vote on computerized machines.  The Intelligencer backs this up in an article today.  

Is Bucks County more concerned about their own convenience and budget, instead of making sure that all voters can cast a ballot?  Bucks County did not purchase enough machines, probably because they chose the  more expensive electronic machines. Buck's electronic machines cost from 5-10 times more optical scanners.    Bucks County's Election Director Deena Deen isn't sure how many machines Bucks County will need in November, but thinks the county would need 808 machines. The county currently has 765. But the state Elections Commissioner Chet Harhut recommended that counties using  like Bucks that use the Danaher electronic machines should have one machine per 350 voters. Deen plans  to allocate half as many machines as that in most cases.

According to today's Philadelphia Intellgencier:

Dean said polling places with 1,400 or fewer voters need two machines, 1,401 to 1,900 voters mean three machines and more than 1,900 voters require four machines.

Marybeth Kuznik, Executive Director of VotePA issues a dire warning about circumstance on the ground in PA:

"Plan On Long Lines In Bucks Co, PA". 

Yes, we are expecting long lines in a lot of places in Pennsylvania next month. With fifty of our most populous counties are using DREs (all without VVPAT, btw) and with many of these counties having purchased machines based on an excessively high recommended voter-to-machine ratio,  we know this will happen. My own county, Westmoreland (suburban Pittsburgh) is likely to be one place this will occur, but there are many more counties that will probably be affected.

Marybeth Kuznik, Director of VotePA is worried about the voting systems in Pennsylvania. She has good reason to be. In 2004, in Pennsylvania, 7 or 8 out of every 10 votes for President were thrown away in 41 precincts. Thanks to alot of hard work of Pennsylvania activists, two voting systems were decertified.  Unfortunately, the state has certified some different yet also unreliable voting systems to take their place. Marybeth, who is in the movie Uncounted, tells why you should see this movie, and why more of us need to host viewings of this movie:

Here in Pennsylvania, we have been using "UNCOUNTED" to grow our 
organization with new sign-ups for mailing lists, etc.

If this film can get citizens who otherwise wouldn't be aware of 
those problems to get involved and put pressure on our officials that 
results in improvement, it will have done us all a great service.  To 
that end, we are doing everything we can to get as many screenings as 
we can.

Pennsylvania has decertified two DRE systems since 2004 -- Unilect 
and WINvote....

Rady Ananda has posted a review of The Clint Curtis Story over at OpEdNews that has me heading right over to Link TV to watch it. It has appearances by Attorney Bob Fitrakis, computer security expert Harri Hursti, Gore Vidal, Mavis Georgalis, Cynthia McKinney, and Richard Hayes Phillips. Read Rady's view over at OpEdNews and you'll want to watch this movie.

I saw Clint in the movie Uncounted, so I know I want to see this movie.  Clint Curtis is a fascinating and compelling figure in the e-voting movement, a computer programmer, hired to develop some vote switching source code. He is notable chiefly for making a series of "whistleblower" allegations about his former employer and about Republican Congressman Tom Feeney, including an allegation that in 2000, Feeney and Yang Enterprises requested Curtis's assistance in a scheme to steal votes by inserting fraudulent code into touch screen voting systems.  Read the review and you'll want to see the movie.

Murder, Spies & Voting Lies: The Clint Curtis Story

WARNING:  Graphic images included. 

Released on DVD and now airing on Link TV, Murder, Spies & Voting Lies: The Clint Curtis Story, is the most explosive documentary produced in recent memory, involving murder, espionage, coverup, electoral cyber fraud and a United States Member of Congress with ties to the Bush Administration.... more at the link

Provisional Voting – Fail Safe or Placebo? 

““Our investigation reveals that instead of functioning as a fail-safe means of voting, provisional voting often creates a serious risk of disenfranchisement,” Elizabeth Westfall, Voter Protection Program deputy director, Advancement Project.   

The Advancement Project just issued a report on how Provisional ballots, rather than helping voters, may in some cases be disenfranchising thousands of voters.  The report focuses on Florida and Ohio in particular, noting that there was an over use or perhaps an inappropriate use of provisional ballots in those states. In some states (Florida is one) a provisional ballot only counts if the voter is at the “right” precinct. In those cases, giving a voter who is at the wrong precinct a provisional ballot will disenfranchise them.  Many voters could vote a regular ballot instead of accepting a provisional ballot, if all they needed to do was go to the correct polling place or perhaps bring ID. Few voters realize that a provisional ballot will not be counted on election night, and will have to be reviewed and approved before it can be counted. Not all will be approved, and the rate of approval varies by state. 

Advancement Project Report Shows Provisional Ballots May Disenfranchise Voters

September 24, 2008 (September 24, 2008, WASHINGTON DC) — Today, Advancement Project, a leading voter protection organization, released “Provisional Voting: Fail-Safe Voting or Trapdoor to Disenfranchising Voters.”...

Bad timing or last ditch effort to supress new voters? A recent alert by the Social Security Administration announces that the agency plans to shut down its databases for maintenance from October 11 through October 13. How will this hurt new voters?  Election officials would lose 4 days of processing time needed to handle new registrants.  Elections staff are already overworked at this time of the year and this is another straw on the camel's back.

This 4 day shutdown occurs at a critical time for most states - it is just past the average cutoff date to turn in new voter registrations. (25 days before the election). Thanks to the "Help America Vote Act" passed in 2002, officials now must check either the registrant's last 4 digits of their social security number against the government database, or the voters drivers license number against the DMV. This shut down would mostly hurt voters who do not have a car or drive.

Voter Registration Shut Down? By Wendy R. Weiser – 09/24/08

Updated (5:30pm): Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) writes to Social Security Administration seeking delay of shutdown. A copy of the letter is here. 

A recent alert by the Social Security Administration announces that the agency plans to shut down its databases for maintenance from October 11 through October 13. While this might not sound like an election issue, it turns out that this could significantly impede registration of first-time voters as well as the re-registration of eligible citizens.

I have seen email after email warning Obama supporters that if they wore their "Obama Gear" to the polls, that they would be blocked from voting. Or they would be told they could stay and vote if they "turned their shirts inside out" or other rubbish. 

None of those rumors are true, but please don't take my word for it. If you wear your Obama t-shirt, McCain t-shirt,  Bob Barr t-shirt, or Cynthia McKinnie t-shirt, will you get turned away from the polls? To clear matters up, I emailed Don Wright, the General Counsel for the North Carolina State Board of Elections today.  He replied in a matter of minutes:

From: Don Wright

To: Joyce McCloy

Subject: RE: electioneering question

Date: Sep 24, 2008 3:16 PM

This rumor has been circulating for several days.

We allow voters to wear items inside the polling place in North Carolina. But other
states may differ (I understand Tenn. does not allow it)

A NC voter may enter a voting place to vote wearing political items as long as they...

In John Gideon's Daily News today, he says the Palm Beach County Florida nightmare is FINALLY over.  I can't say it better than John, and frankly it was getting WAY too confusing, so here's John: 

"The election nightmare may be over in Palm Beach Co Florida. After seven
recounts, machine and hand, the election for a county circuit court seat
has been certified. The losing candidate, of course, is considering
legal actions. Still not explained is how ballots were lost then found
and how the machines just couldn’t seem to get an accurate count.
Sequoia should have some explaining to do beyond just “No, no, no, it
wasn’t us”.

Here's the latest media report:

Recount gives Abramson Palm Beach County Circuit Court seat Canvassing board certifies judicial race after third recount  By Brian Haas | South Florida Sun-Sentinel  September 24, 2008

Our long electoral nightmare is over.

Twenty-nine days after Palm Beach County voters actually went to the polls, members of the election Canvassing Board wiped their hands clean of a disputed judicial race and certified the election.

Challenger William Abramson unseated Circuit Judge Richard Wennet by 61 votes — the same margin Wennet was once winning by after one of three sets of recounts the election has endured. The board ended up not being able to account for only four votes, a far cry from the 3,500 that were thought to be lost in the days following the Aug. 26 primary.

"I'm overwhelmed," Abramson, a lawyer, said by phone Tuesday night. "This is why we're the greatest country ... We were faced with adversity and we all rose to the challenge."

I was getting overwhelmed too.  We tried to keep up with the Palm Beach counting and recounting fiasco here, but it got more and more frustrating:

September 12. 2008 Palm Beach Elections Goes from Missing Ballots to Having too Many This could all change, but here's the latest update on the Palm Beach Elections mess:

September 12, 2008 Palm Beach Fiasco: Officials Say Ballots Not Trashed Palm Beach County Florida still can't account for 3,400 missing ballots.

September 10. 2008 Florida Voters Coalition Calls on State to Secure Palm Beach Elections The Florida Voters Coalition, The League of Women Voters, and Democratic and Republican leaders call on the State of Florida to take emergency action to secure November’s General Election.

September 4. 2008 Palm Beach Election Desperation Part III - 2500 ballots missing now Well, things have just gotten worse, perhaps coming to a head. The new number of missing ballots as of today is 2,500. 

September 4, 2008 Palm Beach Election Fiasco - 2+2 now = 3 1/2: 2,700 ballots found overnight I guess someone checked the "lost and found" department last night, and discovered 2,700 of the 3,478 missing ballots we discussed yesterday...

September 3. 2008 Palm Beach Elections: 2+2 = 3 or The ballots are missing, so start finding answers In Palm Beach County Florida, 2 + 2 = 3 if you are counting votes, and it gets worse from there.  The editors of the Palm Beach Post want to know where the 3,478 missing votes went...

September 2. 2008 Oops - 3,400 votes disappear in Palm Beach County Fl recount Maybe Florida elecions are just plain cursed. Even with brand new paper ballot based machines in Palm Beach County Florida, they can't count votes.  In the initial contest, the two candidates in the judicial contest were a mere 17 votes apart...

So we should all thank John Gideon of www.VotersUnite.org for providing the best election integrity related news content in the United States.  You can receive the Daily News for free by emailing DVN@votersunite.org

Another puzzling McCain mailer.  This time it seems really strange.  The Florida Republican Party mailed an absentee ballot request (for a Sarasota Florida ballot) to a Democrat in Murfreesboro Tennessee. The form has one name, Mr. William R. “X” with the person having two addresses, one in Tennessee, and one in Sarasota Florida. In actuality, these are two different men with the same first and last name. They both use the same middle initial, but upon further research, they have different middle names. The Mr. X in Tennessee is William Randy X  .  The Mr. X  in Florida is William Rob X. Ms. "X" in Tennessee wondered if this was a scheme to somehow void voter registrations for some people.  (Last name and street addresses redacted for privacy. ).

See Ms. X's email and our findings after the jump:

Silence is not golden when it a federal agency knows but says nothing about voting machine failures.  The GAO reports that at least ten swing states will be using voting machines and electronic poll books with known defects in their systems. The ten states known to be affected are Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin.  These defects could skew the vote or disenfranchise voters.  The defects silence on the part of the EAC is disturbing. The Elections Assistance Commission knew but said nothing. 

State Election Officials Not Told Of Voting Machine Failures

Friday, Sep 19, 2008

A Government Accountability Office report on voting system testing shows many of the problems that plagued the last election still exist.  And Missouri is one of the states with remaining problems.

   CNN reports a study by Common Cause and the Century Foundation indicates that ten vital swing states have significant voting glitches that have not been addressed.

   It also shows that the Election Assistance Commission has failed to inform election officials around the country about electronic voting machine shortcomings....

Florida is at it again, not ashamed to knowingly throw people's votes away.  No Match? No Vote! Typos to keep voters off the rolls

Who needs voter caging when you have a legal way to block the vote?  In the 11th hour before registration windows close, Florida is again enforcing a arbitrary state law that will disenfranchise thousands. At issue - the state's law that requires a voters personal voter registration information to match up with the state Dept of Motor Vehicles and or the Social Security Dept's database.  The problem - many voters do not match, through no fault of their own. Something as small as a clerk's typo, another voter with same last 4 digits of social security number, or a different way of writing the name - could keep voters off the rolls.  Election supervisors are supposed to try to contact voters when this happens, but this is the busiest time of the year and they would have thousands of voters to contact. Florida is one of about 5 states that has mis interpreted the "Help America Vote Act" to mean "Block Vulnerable Floridians From Voting Act".

  VOTER REGISTRATION 'No match, no vote' law to be enforced A controversial voter registration law that requires Floridians to have their identification match up with a state or federal database will be enforced. Posted on Tue, Sep. 09, 2008 

...Secretary of State Kurt Browning sent notice to the state's 67 supervisors of elections on Friday that the 2006 law, which has been on hold for the last year pending court rulings, would take effect again Sept. 8.

The result is that voters whose identification doesn't match with state files on Election Day will be given a provisional ballot and two days to prove their identity for their ballot to count.

Crist defends the indefensible:

Crist defends "no match, no vote law", voters leader disagrees By Bill Cotterell • Florida Capital Bureau • September 18, 2008 the head of the League of Women Voters of Florida said the new requirement will disenfranchise thousands of legitimate voters. Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho called it a "partisan manipulation of the process," aimed at reducing the impact of new voters registered this month, and League President Marilynn Wills said it will place an "onerous" burden on inexperienced voters...

Many will fail to match through no fault of their own. In fact, state election officials in Wisconsin tested out the "no match no vote" rule on their own registrations.  Four of its six members' names failed to check when the members' names were run through new voter identification system as a test. (for a match).  More than half of the state Government Accountability Board's members failed when their names were run through new voter identification checks as a test.

Still developing!

Background:  , September 15. 2008 McCain's Absentee Ballot Mailer Fiasco Spreads - Could Disqualify Some Voters, September 12. 2008 Unsolicited Absentee Ballot Requests Surface in Virginia, Ohio, and Florida, September 9. 2008 Florida Voter Caging Warning: McCain mailer w/absentee ballot requests 

"In the meantime, we need to tell voters—especially those registered 9/8 or later-- to check and double check their voter’s registrations with their county elections office to be sure they are good to go for November."

Late evening addition:  "We have you registered as a Republican.."

Democrats, Florida elections officials criticize GOP mailing By Steve Bousquet, Tallahassee Bureau Chief Sep 16, 2008

TALLAHASSEE — A new pitch for John McCain's presidential campaign aimed at older Democratic voters is causing complaints by Democrats and concern by elections officials.

The piece, paid for by the Republican National Committee and authorized by McCain, tells voters it is seeking to double-check their "unconfirmed" party affiliations while asking for money. A letter signed by McCain tells the Democrats: "We have you registered as a Republican."

...Two top Florida elections officials, both Republicans, faulted the GOP mailing, calling it "confusing" and "unfortunate" because of a potential to undermine voter confidence by making them question the accuracy of their registrations.

"It is unfortunate, because it does put a lot of doubt in people's minds," said Secretary of State Kurt Browning, the state's top elections official.

After his office received dozens of calls, Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland issued a media alert that his office had nothing to do with it. "They were upset folks and they were very concerned," said Holland, a Republican. "They mainly said their party (listing) was different than it was."

...The letter asks recipients to note changes on an "RNC File Card" and return it to the party by Sept. 26. The card shows a nine-digit "voter ID" number, but the supervisor of elections in Jacksonville's Duval County said the numbers are wrong and do not match the state's voter database....

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.

Reports from around the country advise that John McCain's campaign has sent confusing or incorrect absentee ballot request forms to voters in ten states at least. Affected so far are Florida,  Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon (reported by blogger, not confirmed) Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin so far. In each state, the mailers have a different error, in any of these cases, the voter could be disenfranchised by the error. In at least one state a voter could disqualify themselves or be vulnerable to election challenges if they mailed these forms in.  Mailers sent to Wisconsin voters are encouraging voters to send their applications to clerks in communities where they do not live. If you receive an absentee ballot request form from the McCain campaign ( or any private entity) and you do want to vote absentee, then instead check with your County Board of Elections to get the correct information. 

Florida..