The Voting News Daily: Sarasota FL: ES&S is baack!, Lucas Co OH forgotten ballots, ACORN good and bad
Sarasota County officials thought they saw the last of ES&S after booting them out 2 years ago. Now, unless the Justice Dept intervenes, Sarasota officials will once again have to deal with a vendor they ditched thanks to ES&S’ purchase of Diebold:
“I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt as much as I can,” he said. “But I kind of feel like Charlie Brown with Lucy holding the football. How many times do you go to kick the ball and ‘Swoosh!’ through the air and end up on your derriere.” ~County Commissioner Jon Thaxton
Absentee ballots and audits: “…most absentee ballots are not subject to the Connecticut Post-Election Audit Law – an opening for errors to go undetected and an opportunity for fraud.” ~ Luther Weeks, CT Voters Count.
Meanwhile, Lucas Co Ohio forgot to count 166 absentee ballots.*
ACORN in North Carolina: “The negative costs so much aggravation, it almost takes away the good work [ACORN] did,”…”Because they registered a lot of people. But a few bad apples hurt the good work they did.” ~Mike Ashe, Election Director, Durham County NC.
“A day as a poll worker”: “After lending a helping hand within this election, I felt empowered as an African American and honored to continue the legacy which once was prohibited for Blacks in America.” ~ Aisha Brown.
Workshop Aims to Establish Standards for Voting Machine Data
CT. Absentee Ballots Can Be Decisive – yet Unaudited
September 24, 2009 Story in ConnPost, Primary loser declines to challenge absentees…As we and others have pointed out, there are many issues and risks with any type of mail-in voting, including absentee voting.
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2419
FL. Trial lawyers group admits role in racially charged election flier
September 24, 2009 TALLAHASSEE — In a highly embarrassing mea culpa, Florida’s powerful trial lawyer lobby admitted Wednesday that it was behind an ugly race-baiting flier in a recent North Florida Senate election.
http://tampabay.com/news/politics/legislature/trial-lawyers-group-admits-role-in-racially-charged-election-flier/1038739
FL. 3 years after vote furor, machine vendor is back (ES&S purchase of Diebold)
MERGER: ES&S, once again the provider in Sarasota, now dominates the field
September 24, 2009 Two years after being shown the door for its role in an election that local officials would just as soon forget, voting machine maker ES&S is once again overseeing the system Sarasota County residents will use to cast their votes.
…Opposition locally, though, is less legal and more emotional, stemming from the role of the ES&S iVotronic voting system in the disputed November 2006 election.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090924/ARTICLE/909241064/2055/NEWS?Title=3-years-after-vote-furor-machine-vendor-is-back
FL. Editorial: The votes are in the mail
September 24 Given the choice between a mail election and a special election that asks voters to go to the polls to decide on the proposed new Pensacola city charter, voting by mail is more likely to draw a higher turnout, which is needed on such a crucial decision…The City Council’s committee of the whole approval of a mail ballot makes sense…But there are drawbacks.
Voting by mail is vulnerable to fraud. No one can know for sure who is filling out a mail ballot.