Holy Moly!

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 [P class=day01][A href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bob_fitr_060419_free_press_uncovers_.htm"]http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bob_fitr_060419_free_press_uncovers_.htm[/A]

 [P class=day01]Wednesday, April 19:

 [P class=column_text]Bob Fitrakis:
[A href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bob_fitr_060419_free_press_uncovers_.htm"][FONT color=#000080]Free Press uncovers evidence of ballot tampering in Warren County, Ohio[/FONT][/A] [SPAN class=columntextsm]Two election workers told the Free Press that the ballots had been diverted to an unauthorized warehouse where they had been possibly stuffed. That is, punched for Bush only. Maps were supplied to the Free Press showing the locations of the warehouse and the Board of Elections[/SPAN]

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[Trollio]

Hmmm.... I wonder.... no, I'm stumped.
 
 Can anyone guess who Hub Spinner really is? What a mystery!  

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A bunch of shocking videos!

  [A href="http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=blackboxvoting.org"]http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=blackboxvoting.org[/A]

[tenkani]

LOL

Hooray!!!!

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[FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"]FROM [/FONT][A href="http://www.bradblog.com"][FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"]www.bradblog.com[/FONT][/A][FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"] :[/FONT]

   [DIV class=ItemHeadline]Columnist Asks 'Could a Sharp Eighth Grader Swing a Florida Election'?

[DIV class=ItemSubHeadline]We Believe the Sharp Columnist Knows the Answer...

Ralph De La Cruz writes today in his South Florida Sun-Sentinel column titled [A href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/columnists/sfl-ralph25apr25,0,5802098,print.column?coll=sfla-features-col"][FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #3b5738" color=#fed958]"Could a sharp eighth grader swing Florida election?"[/FONT][/A][FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #3b5738"]:
[/FONT]
 [BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"] [DIV class=media]Tallahassee· There's always a word or phrase.

Something that captures the mood of the moment. The ear, if not the imagination, of a legislative session.

[FONT color=#0000ff]Last year it was "living will." Or, depending on your take on the Terri Schiavo case, perhaps it was "judicial tyranny."

This year, it may be "transparency."

That word has been surfacing a lot in Tallahassee. Unfortunately, it's not coming from the Capitol.

It's become the favored word of Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho, who's become a lightning rod for concerns about electronic voting machines.
...
Now, it's already bad enough to consider that our voting systems can be corrupted by a sharp eighth grader who might be able to access an elections office.

Think of what a savvy, committed adult could do.[/FONT][/DIV][/BLOCKQUOTE]

As Mr. De La Cruz writes for a South Florida paper, and includes his email address and phone number at the bottom of [A href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/columnists/sfl-ralph25apr25,0,5802098,print.column?coll=sfla-features-col"][FONT color=#407f00]his column[/FONT][/A], perhaps a few of you may wish to thank him for his coverage of Ion's story, and suggest to him that he cover Clint Curtis' story in a future column as well.

After all, in [A href="http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001024.htm"][FONT color=#407f00]Curtis' affidavit[/FONT][/A][FONT color=#407f00],[/FONT] he says he was told that the vote-rigging prototype Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) asked him to create was meant "to control the vote in South Florida."

For those unfamiliar with Curtis' amazing story, a good primer is always available at this address: [A href="http://www.bradblog.com/ClintCurtisSummary.htm"][FONT color=#007f40]www.BradBlog.com/ClintCurtisSummary.htm[/FONT][/A][FONT color=#007f40].[/FONT]

While we're on the topic, please remember that Curtis is now running for Congress against Feeney and his massive DeLay/Abramoff/Top-Tier-GOP Money Machine and your support is needed if he is to stand a chance of beating Feeney in the very "conservative" district which Feeney carved out for himself when he was Florida House Speaker. See below for more details on how you can help him take on one of Congress' [A href="http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/pressclip.php?view=672"][FONT color=#007f40]most corrupt[/FONT][/A] Friends-of-the-Bushes...

 [DIV class=BBTOORepost]For more info on [A href="http://www.bradblog.com/"][FONT color=#007f40]The BRAD BLOG's [/FONT][/A]continuing investigative series on
The Clint Curtis/Tom Feeney/Yang Enterprises Vote-Rigging Scandal series, please see:
- A [A href="http://www.bradblog.com/ClintCurtisSummary.htm"][FONT color=#007f40]Quick Summary[/FONT][/A][FONT color=#007f40] [/FONT]of the story so far.
- An [A href="http://www.bradblog.com/ClintCurtis.htm"][FONT color=#007f40]Index of all the Key Articles & Evidence[/FONT][/A][FONT color=#007f40] [/FONT]in the series so far.
- Curtis is now running for U.S. Congress against Feeney.
To support or for more info, see: [A href="http://www.clintcurtis.com/"][FONT color=#007f40]www.ClintCurtis.com[/FONT][/A]

[FONT color=#fed958][/FONT] [DIV class=BloggedByMain]Blogged by [A href="mailto:[email protected]"][FONT color=#007f40]Brad[/FONT][/A][FONT color=#007f40] [/FONT]on 4/24/2006 @ 10:25am PT...

   

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 [A href="http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/index.php?sId=viewArticle&ArticleID=5120&prevTitle=Top+Stories&prevURL=index.php"]http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/index.php?sId=viewArticle&ArticleID=5120&prevTitle=Top+Stories&prevURL=index.php[/A]



NJ Trial Court Finds That Electronic Voting Machines Can't Be Upgraded to Meet State-Mandated Deadline

April 25, 2006

Newark, NJ, April 25, 2006 – In an opinion issued on Wednesday, April 19, Judge Linda Feinberg, the Assignment Judge of the New Jersey Superior Court in Mercer County, found that nearly 10,000 electronic voting machines currently in use in New Jersey cannot be upgraded to produce a voter-verified paper ballot by January 1, 2008, as is required by State law.  "The evidence we presented," said Professor Penny Venetis of the Constitutional Litigation Clinic at Rutgers School of Law-Newark, "was overwhelming that New Jersey's electronic voting machines are dinosaurs which do not have the capacity to produce a voter-verified paper ballot. We will ask that they be de-commissioned immediately." Venetis, who tried the case before Judge Feinberg, filed the lawsuit in October 2004 on behalf of several individuals who encountered computer malfunctions when attempting to cast their votes electronically and on behalf of the Coalition for Peace Action.  The inability of the machines to produce a voter-verified paper ballot is just one of their many deficiencies, said Venetis. She noted that New Jersey's electronic voting machines "have been deemed among the most insecure and unreliable in the country by the National Academies of Sciences. They have been rejected and de-commissioned by California, Ohio, New Mexico, Nevada, and New York City. It is a violation of the New Jersey Constitution to continue to use these faulty voting machines."  The New Jersey Appellate Division will use the trial court's findings to decide the fate of New Jersey's electronic voting machines. Oral argument is set for May 24. The Appellate Division retained jurisdiction over the case when it reinstated the case in February. "This is a huge victory for the citizens of New Jersey" Venetis added. "It demonstrates that the State's courts are willing to hear their growing concerns that their votes are not being counted as cast."

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 [DIV class=ItemHeadline]Go to [A href="http://www.votersunite.org/"][FONT size=5]http://www.votersunite.org/[/FONT][/A] for a [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"]FREE BOOK[/FONT]

[DIV class=ItemHeadline]

[DIV class=ItemHeadline]'Daily Voting News' For April 25, 2006

[A href="http://www.votersunite.org/"][FONT color=#fed958][img hspace=6 src="http://www.bradblog.com/Images/DVNLogo.jpg" align=right vspace=3 border=0][/FONT][/A]"Over a very short period of time, we and West Virginia counties are working to literally revolutionize the way elections are run in the state," according to ES&S spokesperson Jill Friedman Wilson in an email to the Associated Press. Revolutionize as in don't meet contracted dates? Disabilities accessible voting machines are not programmed going into the second week of early voting. Also Pulaski County, Arkansas joins the ES&S hit-parade today as they announce that there is no software for their DREs. The last round of testing of the Summit County memory cards found 17 more failures. And how does ES&S plan on covering an problems in the county? They are hiring 19 University students, giving them a days training and sending them out to represent the company....

[kitten]

Reading your posts makes me gladder than ever to be Canadian.  We still have our paper ballots, as well as the scrutineers from each party to monitor the count.  The American system sounds like a disastrous mess, and should have never happened.  It seems like a very deliberate move by the Republicans to make sure the vote continues to go their way.  Impeachment should start as quickly as possible before the next election so that the people have conclusive proof of  the vote rigging that went on in the last election.

[Gopher]

Hear, hear Kitten

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 [DIV class=ItemHeadline][A href="http://www.bradblog.com"]www.bradblog.com[/A]

[DIV class=ItemHeadline]

[DIV class=ItemHeadline]'Daily Voting News' For April 26, 2006

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of [A href="http://www.votersunite.org/"][FONT color=#00bf60]VotersUnite.org[/FONT][/A] and [A href="http://www.votetrustusa.org/"][FONT color=#00bf60]VoteTrustUSA.Org[/FONT][/A]

[A href="http://www.votersunite.org/"][FONT color=#fed958][img hspace=6 src="http://www.bradblog.com/Images/DVNLogo.jpg" align=right vspace=3 border=0][/FONT][/A]Nevada County (California) Registrar of Voters/County Clerk-Recorder Kathleen Smith recommended against contracting with ES&S for AutoMark deployment for the June 6, 2006, election, at the Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday. Mr. Tom O'Brien of ES&S said ES&S would not agree to the County's request for contract terms regarding shared cost of upgrades or specific trade-in terms on future improved equipment. Now, 41 days before California's Primary Election, Lou Dedier of ES&S refuses to provide services to Nevada County (software coding for optical scan ballot tabulation equipment) for the June 6 election without a service agreement. A typically arrogant act by a company that does not care if they lose business because they have much more than they can possibly handle....

[A title="Click to read the entire story on 04/26/06: "'Daily Voting News' For April 26, 2006"" href="http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002738.htm#More"][SPAN class=MoreText][FONT color=#ffffff]-- Click here for REST OF STORY!... --[/FONT][/SPAN][/A]

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 [H2 class=date-header][FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ff0000" size=4]MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF AMERICAN TAXPAYERS' HARD-EARNED MONEY SQUANDERED ON BAD VOTING MACHINES[/FONT][/H2] [H2 class=date-header][A href="http://www.arkansasleader.com/2006/04/top-story-readying-of-voting-machines.html"][FONT size=2]http://www.arkansasleader.com/2006/04/top-story-readying-of-voting-machines.html[/FONT][/A][/H2] [H2 class=date-header]Wednesday, April 26, 2006[/H2][!-- Begin .post --] [DIV class=post][A name=114607474219668766][/A] [H3 class=post-title]TOP STORY >> Readying of voting machines is lagging [/H3] [DIV class=post-body]  [DIV style="CLEAR: both"][/DIV]By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer

In an emergency meeting Tuesday morning, Pulaski County Election Commissioners authorized Susan Inman, the director, to order additional printed ballots because Electronic Systems and Software has not yet made good on its contract to provide programming for the county's new voting machines in time for early voting for the May 23 primary.

Early voting begins May 8.

Even more pressing, the absentee ballots must be delivered to the county clerk by the end of this week without the commission having had an opportunity to test the ballots against the ballot scanners, because ES&S hasn't programmed them either, she said.

Those ballots may have to be hand counted, Inman said.

Inman, who along with Pulaski County Clerk Pat O'Brien, extricated Pulaski County elections from disarray, said she guaranteed that early voters would have something to vote on by May 8, but "It may not be a touch-screen."
"It's out of our hands," said Inman.

"We've been trying to get something out of the vendor on a daily basis."
ES&S did not return calls from the Leader Tuesday.

"We had expected to have enough Ivotronic machines delivered (and programmed) to allow one per polling location and five for each of the early voting sites," said Inman. "The state cut back their numbers. We'll be getting a reduced number. It could affect the number we place for early voting."

The commission will meet again at 8 a.m. Friday to get an updated status report on the situation, she said.
The county has taken delivery of 156 of the 173 machines promised, but a voting machine without a program is like a car without gas, she said.

The new machines will fulfill a federal mandate, not only allowing blind voters to cast their ballots without help, but also providing a paper trail for verification and recount purposes, according to Inman.

Congress mandated the new voting machines and scanners and paid for the first round. Any additions to the 173 will be the county's responsibility.

If they are programmed in time, there will be at least one of the new, touch-screen voting machines at each of the 124 polling places in the county, said Inman, for use by disabled voters or anyone preferring them to the paper ballots.

In northern Pulaski County, early voting will be done at Jacksonville City Hall or the Sherwood Senior Center, according to Inman. Each polling place also will have a new optical scanner to read paper ballots she said.

Right now, the old scanners will be used, she said, but ESS still needs to program them.

The plan is for the county to have 173 touch-screen machines, allowing for one at each of 124 polling places and five at teach of nine early-voting polling places, with four spares, Inman said.[/DIV][/DIV]

       

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[DIV align=center][FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ff4040"]MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF TAXPAYERS' HARD-EARNED MONEY SQUANDERED ON CRAPPY VOTING MACHINES[/FONT]

   [DIV class=document] [P align=center]

 [P align=left]TO: Elections Officials

FROM: Ann McGeehan, Director of Elections

DATE: April 24, 2006

RE: Status of Ballot and Programming Card Orders for the May 13, 2006 Elections

We have heard from many of you that you have not received your programming media or, in some cases, your ballots, for the May 13, 2006 elections. We recognize that this kind of service from a certified voting systems vendors is completely unacceptable and disturbing. We will be pursuing all appropriate remedies from a state level that are available to us.

In the meantime, if you are one of the entities affected, the Secretary of State's office authorizes you to create emergency ballots. If you do not receive your ballots in time to properly prepare for early voting, you may create your own paper ballots or, if you received a proof from your vendor, you may use PDF format to print copies of the ballot.

After you print a copy of the ballot, you will need to put a ballot number at the top of the ballot beginning with the next ballot number of the last number of your original ballot order. In other words, if you ordered 15,000 ballots numbered 1-15,000, any ballots you create would be numbered beginning with the number 15,001. You will need to put your initials on the back of the ballot so you can determine it was an official ballot provided by you.

If you do not receive your ballot programming in time to conduct your required Logic and Accuracy tests, you will no option but to begin early voting using the emergency paper ballots. Once you have received your programs and have conducted a successful L&A test, you must begin using the electronic voting equipment. Guidelines for conducting Logic and Accuracy were mailed out to county election officials in Election Advisory 2006-05, dated February 21, 2006, and are posted on our website at [A href="http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/laws/advisory2006-05.shtml"][FONT color=#000080]http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/laws/advisory2006-05.shtml[/FONT][/A].

Once you have prepared the emergency ballots, you will handle the voter in the regular manner as if paper ballots were being regularly used. If you intend to use optical scan ballots for election day, then the emergency ballots can either be hand counted by the ballot board or the manager of the central counting station can decide to have them duplicated for counting at the central counting station. There are no special lists or other record keeping you need to keep, except to adjust your ballot distribution form.

If you use only a DRE system,

Emergency Ballots
PAGE 2

will have to manually count the paper ballots and add your manual totals to the electronic count produced from your DRE central tabulating system. Of course, you will also need to secure ballot boxes for the placement of these paper ballots for the beginning of the early voting period. You may need to hire additional clerks to assist with any hand counting.

Once you have received your programming materials and have conducted a successful Logic and Accuracy test, you must begin to use your electronic systems during early voting, if possible. If a voter with disabilities attempts to vote while using the paper ballots, please advise the voter of the assistance procedure available and when the accessible voting systems will be available in the event the voter chooses to wait until the machines are available. We should also recommend that you contact your local disability groups, AARP chapters and Area Agencies on Aging, and ask them to advise their service populations that they might want to vote later in the early voting timeframe or on Election Day.

Again, we regret the unacceptable position that many political subdivisions are in due to poor performance by their contracted vendor. We appreciate how hard you all have worked to be compliant with the accessibility requirement. We will apprise you of any progress that we make to ensure that vendors perform the services they have promised and contracted to perform.

If you have any questions about this memorandum, please call us at 1-800-252-8683(VOTE).

[/DIV]

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 [A href="http://www.bradblog.com/"]EXCLUSIVE - [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"]ES&S MELTDOWN[/FONT]: Texas SoS Office Advises Election Officials to Create 'Emergency Paper Ballots' for Upcoming Elections![/A]



[DIV class=ItemSubHeadline]Director of Elections Sends Letter Authorizing Measure in Light of Latest Failure by Electronic Voting Machine Vendor

[DIV class=ItemSubSubHeadline]Says Company's Performance in Most Recent -- of Many Similar Incidences Around the Country -- is 'Completely Unacceptable and Disturbing'

[img hspace=6 src="http://www.bradblog.com/Images/ESS_Meltdown.gif" align=right vspace=3 border=0]On Monday, Texas Director of Elections Ann McGeehan sent a letter to all state Election Officials authorizing them to create "emergency paper ballots" in light of statewide failures by Election System & Software, Inc. (ES&S) to provide ballots in time for the state's upcoming May 13 Runoff Elections, [A href="http://www.bradblog.com/"][FONT color=#00bf60]The BRAD BLOG[/FONT][/A][FONT color=#00bf60] [/FONT]has learned.

Early voting begins on Monday for those elections and counties across the state do not yet have ballots and, in many cases, programming for their optical-scan and touch-screen voting machines. ES&S has contracts with more than 140 Texas counties.

McGeehan has instructed officials to create and number their own paper ballots, secure boxes to store them in, and hire additional workers to manually hand count ballots as an emergency procedure to deal with the rapidly deteriorating situation.

The letter from McGeehan (posted in full exclusively at the end of this article) -- which does not mention ES&S by name, but refers to the Omaha, Nebraska-based company only as "a certified voting systems vendor" -- was sent in response to complaints from officials around the state that "programming media or, in some cases, your ballots" had not been received yet by officials.

In a [A href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA042706.01A.Paper_Ballots.f8b39b2.html"][FONT color=#00bf60]statement[/FONT][/A] to the San Antonio's Express-News this morning, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff says, "It sure is exasperating...We are looking at avenues to hold them responsible for this." Bexar County is just one of more than 140 in Texas with whom ES&S has contracts.

"They made their priorities," Wolff says, "and I think Texas certainly wasn't one of them."

[A href="http://www.bradblog.com/"][FONT color=#00bf60]The BRAD BLOG[/FONT][/A][FONT color=#00bf60] [/FONT]has also received statements from officials in other states who were still more direct in expressing their frustration with the company's business practices now being described by some as including "coercion" and "threats."