The Voting News Daily: To EAC: Fix problems BEFORE voting systems certified, Tenn. can avert election fiascos, New Jersey Bad Ballot

TTBR Investigators letter to EAC – fix vulnerabilities before systems are certified and sold…More Media complaining about a low turnout elections but as usual forget their own part in stoking voter interest….Minneapolis election could take 8 weeks to count…Recount Confirms Voting Machines’ Tally In Pott County Nebraska…Instant Run-Off Voting Debate Returns in Burlington.. Common Cause TN op-eds supporting paper ballots for 2010: “the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act must, and can be, implemented for the 2010 election…The strongest argument for adoption was that paperless systems are subject to unintended errors and possible hacking and that votes might not be recorded as intended by the voter.”
The news is brief today, we’ll have a big day tomorrow….

All of that and more in today’s Voting News below…

CA TTBR Investigators Send Letter to the EAC
Today we sent a letter to the Election Assistance Commission signed by a number of the investigators involved in the California Secretary of State’s Top-to-Bottom Review of voting systems.
The letter points out that the EAC, and a lab that performs certification testing of voting systems, disregarded technical information about voting system security from state-level evaluations of a particular voting system
http://josephhall.org/nqb2/index.php/2009/10/13/ttbreacletter
“The EAC should use its VSTL oversight to require test labs to conduct thorough evaluations of voting system vulnerabilities during conformance testing, so that vendors will fix vulnerabilities before systems are certified and sold.”
http://accurate-voting.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ttbr-letter-eac-200910.pdf

CT. How Much Are Election Officials Paid In Norwalk?
October 13, 2009 Part-time workers hired by registrar may get pay hike
The argument for a raise seem to make sense:
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2445

FL. Election costs thousands; hundreds elect Thrasher
Taxpayers spent thousands so hundreds of voters could choose a new state senator for a district that includes Amelia Island
http://www.fbnewsleader.com/articles/2009/10/12/news/00newselectioncosts.txt

GA. ACLU Urges Department Of Justice To Object To Changes In County Board Elections In Georgia (10/13/2009)
The proposed changes would alter the boundaries of two commissioner districts, reducing their minority populations, and implement an at-large election system for the chair of the board. Currently, the chair is elected by the commissioners who represent individual districts.
http://www.aclu.org/votingrights/minority/41278prs20091013.html

MN. Not again? Minneapolis says city election next month could take 8 weeks to count
Oct 12 2009 As if we haven’t suffered enough with delayed election counts, Minneapolis officials now say it could take up to eight weeks to determine the winners in next month’s city election.
http://www.minnpost.com/politicalagenda/2009/10/12/12382/
not_again_minneapolis_says_city_election_next_month_
could_take_8_weeks_to_count or use this tiny url
http://tinyurl.com/mn-irv-slow

MN. How will Instant Runoff Voting work? (+ podcast)
Broadcast: Midday, 10/12/2009. MIDDAY offers a primer on what’s also called Ranked Choice Voting, which will be used in the Minneapolis general election in November. St. Paul voters will decide if they want to employ IRV in future elections.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/10/12/midday1/?refid=0

NE. Recount Confirms Voting Machines’ Tally In Pott. County
Recount Confirms Machines’ Tally; Bates Ousted (+ podcast) Recount Requested By Ousted City Councilman Darren Bates A recount of primary election ballots in Council Bluffs has found no changes, upholding the removal of Darren Bates from the city council…Not a single vote changed, said election officials.

Verified Voting Blog: California Top-to-Bottom Reviewers Letter to the Election Assistance Commission

We write to you on behalf of those individuals listed below from the California Secretary of State’s Top-To-Bottom Review (TTBR) in 2007. The TTBR was an unprecedented, in-depth evaluation of California’s voting systems, which allowed investigators to gain a better understanding of their vulnerabilities. As you know, the EAC recently certified Premier’s Assure 1.2 voting system as conforming to the 2002 Voting System Standards (VSS). This system was tested by iBeta Laboratories (iBeta), one of the accredited Voting System Test Labs (VSTLs). According to the posted test plan—the roadmap for a VSTL’s evaluation of a voting system during certification testing—for Premier Assure 1.2, iBeta interpreted the TTBR studies of the Premier system’s predecessor to have “concluded that the vulnerabilities within the system depend almost entirely on the effectiveness of the election procedures.” On the basis of this interpretation, iBeta developed a test plan that called for “no additional testing” of the Premier system’s security properties. The EAC approved this plan. Taken together, iBeta’s misunderstanding of the significance of the TTBR findings and the EAC’s approval of a test plan that was designed around this misunderstanding, represent a missed opportunity to use the testing and certification process to improve voting system integrity and reliability.