Black Box Voting

Diebold KNEW about this flaw and said nothing until caught red handed.  The latest flaw - the audit logs on Diebold voting systems do not work all of the time. So in effect they are useless, because you cannot trust them.  The shame of it is that Diebold will keep doing this over and over again until states toughen up their laws, as we in North Carolina did. You see, in North Carolina, Diebold would have faced criminal and civil penalties for hiding this.

Diebold Admits Systemic Audit Log Failure; State Vows Inquiry

By Kim Zetter March 17, 2009 | 6:29:04 PMCategories: E-Voting  

SACRAMENTO, California — Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systems) admitted in a state hearing Tuesday that the audit logs produced by its tabulation software miss significant events, including the act of someone deleting votes on election day.

The company acknowledged that the problem exists with every version of its tabulation software.

...The GEMS software is used to tabulate votes cast on Premier/Diebold touch-screen and optical-scan machine, and is used in more than 1,400 election districts in 31 states...

But to know Diebold is to not trust Diebold anyhow. Personally I think Diebold Voting Systems is the scum of the earth, especially after Diebold tried to gut North Carolina's Public Confidence in Elections Law.  When Diebold couldn't gut our law, they packed up their little briefcases and left. 

In North Carolina we took measures to deter this dishonest, unethical and shady behavior by making it ILLEGAL. 

The real reason Diebold ran 

Friday, December 23. 2005 David Allen at BlackBoxVoting.com

Yesterday was the deadline for signing the affidavit mentioned here:

§ 163‑165.9A. Voting systems: requirements for voting systems vendors; penalties.
...
(3) The chief executive officer of the vendor shall sign a sworn affidavit that the source code and other material in escrow is the same being used in its voting systems in this State. The chief executive officer shall ensure that the statement is true on a continuing basis.
...
b) Penalties. - Willful violation of any of the duties in subsection (a) of this section is a Class G felony. Substitution of source code into an operating voting system without notification as provided by subdivision (a)(2) of this section is a Class I felony. In addition to any other applicable penalties, violations of this section are subject to a civil penalty to be assessed by the State Board of Elections in its discretion in an amount of up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per violation. A civil penalty assessed under this section shall be subject to the provisions of G.S. 163‑278.34(e)."

Who do we owe for this section of the Public Confidence in Elections Law? 

David Allen of High Point and owner of this blog!

Wouldn't these be good federal standards? 

Along with this tough section of law, we also tip our hat to the many activists (and some computer scientists) around the state who lobbied their County Commissioners and county Boards of Elections as well as  attended many of the public demos for Diebold.  Very few counties were willing to purchase Diebold as a result so it just wasn't worth the hassle and the potential lawsuits for Diebold. 

I am proud to guest blog here for David from time to time when not doing other things.

Numerous incidents of vote flipping, voter purges, and voter supression were reported during the 2008 Presidential election.  And of course the "experts" say that the same old thing - that " the outcome of the election was not affectee" (by inaccurate counting?).   Psych!  

But a group of 60 international observers have monitored our elections and found that US Democracy is basically in good health.  The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had an election observing mission to the United States. 

Press release

US elections showed all fundamentals of a democratic vote, but electoral reform efforts should continue

WASHINGTON, 5 November 2008 - Yesterday's elections in the United States demonstrated the essential principles of a pluralistic democracy characterized by transparency and the respect for fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, but efforts to enhance public confidence in the election process should continue, the observer mission deployed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded in a statement released today.

Voters were able to make informed choices in a competitive and vigorously fought election. Free and pluralistic media and extensive campaign activities provided voters with a wealth of information about the candidates, their platforms and the election process. These elections generally met OSCE commitments. But the observers also said that the concerns that arose during previous elections have not been fully addressed in some states.

"We have seen an election that displayed all the fundamentals of a genuinely democratic vote," said Ambassador Audrey Glover, the Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission....

When a touch screen voting machine tried to steal Oprah Winfrey's vote for President last Thursday, the public and media noticed.  Oprah was voting on a touchscreen voting machine paid for by funds from ironically named "Help America Vote Act" (HAVA).

This week, Tim Robbins found to his shock and anger that his name had been purged from New York's voter rolls.  His right to vote was being stolen by the voter registration databases - also required by HAVA. Robbins refused to vote an "affadavit ballot" or similarly named provisional ballot, because he felt that (rightly so) such a ballot might not be counted.  Robbins went to court, and after a few hours obtained a court order stating that he was indeed a registered voter.  Robbins had voted regularly and at the same location for years, and had not changed residence.  Robbins was then able to cast a regular ballot.  Most of us would not be able to do this.

"This is just one example of how difficult it is to vote in the United States," he said.

There seems to be a common thread in these federal laws with the catchy names, like the "Clean Skies Act", "No Child Left Behind Act", and others.  The common thread - these acts do the opposite of what their name says. 

The Ohio Secretary of State's website has hacked.  This October surprise seems aimed to harrass and intimidate.  The bigger concern is that the attacks could threaten sensitive records and functions of the site. And the SOS is taking precautions.  In a press release Monday, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner announced that "the state website has been set in a static mode with limited functionality as a precaution."  The press release also cites "denial of service" attacks against both phone and email, and which include threats of harm and or death, as well as a suspicous package.

These attacks follow a fight by the GOP to purge voter rolls in the state.  SOS Brunner's recent victory in court to prevent unfair purging of the voter rolls due to database mismatches was a blow to the state GOP party. There is a tug of war between the Democratic Secretary of State verses the Ohio State GOP Party over control of Ohio's elections. Meanwhile, the governor has accused the Ohio GOP of scare tactics. “In the last few days the Republicans have tried to instill fear in Ohio voters about whether their registrations to vote will be challenged and whether they will be able to cast a ballot,” said Strickland.

"John in Cincy", a long time verified voting activist in Ohio opines that: 

My guess is this is at least a “denial of service” attack taking place on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website and office. The threatening package is pretty scary too. This type of operation was detailed by Republican operative and convicted felon Allen Raymond in his book, “How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative” (2008).

Read the SOS' press release after the jump:

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.

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.

The great thing about the 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline is that you will get a live person to help you on election day.  This hotline also coordinates with many others, so there is no need to worry about duplicate efforts. 

All you need to remember is 1-866-OUR-VOTE and www.866OURVOTE.org . You can get help at the hotline, and you can share your voting experiences at the website. This helps identify problems and trouble spots.

Nation's Largest Election Protection Coalition Launches Hotline, Website By Kat Zambon, electionline.org. Posted September 29, 2008.

More than 100 partner organizations prepare to help voters for November

With record voter turnout expected at the polls this November, the Election Protection coalition, which includes the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and Rock the Vote say they have prepared the largest and most comprehensive election watch effort ever undertaken.

"We’re confident that we can help millions of Americans overcome obstacles to make sure their votes count," said Jonah Goldman, director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections, part of the Lawyers’ Committee.

The primary tool will be a toll-free phone number, 1-866-OUR-VOTE (and its Spanish counterpart 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA), a nonpartisan confidential voter services hotline.... more at the link 

Common Cause is worried that the internet will be used for dirty tricks and deceptive election information.  They are asking that you report any misleading or deceptive emails or websites to them so that they can track and expose these scams. Please pass this on.

We've already seen how misinformation spread over the Internet can have an impact on the political campaign: the emails falsely claiming Obama is a Muslim; fake Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani websites with misleading statements; a website offering to register people to vote for $9.95, a process that is free; and the head of the NAACP having to release a statement that an email listing "10 Reasons Not to Vote for Hillary Clinton" supposedly authored by him was a hoax.

Will we see similar online misinformation campaigns regarding how to vote, who can vote, where to vote, and when to vote?
Think about how fast rumors and misinformation can circulate on the Internet. We can't afford to have this year's election called into question because of online dirty tricks.

If you see a website or receive an email with questionable voting information between now and Election Day, please let us know about it. 

We're on the lookout for:
* Emails that appear to be from the Secretary of State or other election official, advocacy organizations, or some other supposed authority that contains false information about the voting process.
* Spoofed election administrator, government or advocacy organization websites with misinformation on the voting process.
* False information about how, when or where to vote spread through social networking sites like Facebook.

We're not looking for:
* Emails containing false information about a candidate, his/her record, or his/her policies.

Please let us know about any online deceptive practices that you see by going to www.commoncause.org/DeceptivePractices or forwarding suspect email messages to DeceptivePractices2008@gmail.com.  And please share this message with your friends.

Florida SOS Kurt Browning puts lipstick on a pig in his Oped Even the unverified can vote Browning is talking about decision to enforce the "No Match No Vote" law during the last few weeks of voter registration.  The "No Match No Vote" law orders that a registrant provide either a drivers license or the last four digits of their social security number, and then the Elections dept tries to match that against the DMV or the Social Security databases. 

By waiting until the last minute, Florida makes it harder for voters who don't match - to clear up the bureaucratic mess.

The law will only apply to the newest voters - only those registering after Sept 8 are singled out for this database "verification".  Many through no fault of their own will fail to match.  The law won't apply to the 10.7 million voters who registered before September 8. Arbitrary? Unfair? Bad Law? Exactly! Boneheaded!  45 other states either never adopted the "no match no vote" law, or abandoned it. Browning says that no one is disenfranchised because the those who didn't get the matching problem cleared up can always vote a "provisional ballot".  What Browning doesn't tell you is that provisional ballots are not counted on election day, in fact often arent counted for several days, or that as many as 30% are rejected and not counted. He didn't mention the recent report by the Advancement Project outlining how states like Florida and Ohio had disenfranchised voters by over using provisional ballots, ballots which often don't count!

Funny, Florida will let you clear this up BEFORE the election, or up to 2 days AFTER the election, but WON"T let you clear it up ON election day.  Your ID is not good enough! But you must have it or you can't vote!  Hipocrisy anyone?  Aribitrary law, anyone.

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.

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.