The online version of the Aspen Times had a glitch so this was seen in print version only. COMMENT A35 SATURDAY AUGUST 29, 2009THE ASPENTIMES. COM • GUEST OPINION The city’s waning credibility Paul Menter With the exception of how we choose to value ourselves, our friends, and our loved ones, virtually everything important is…
Sequoia sells voter reg. source code. In Iowa, 50 counties will begin using electronic poll books. Pima county Arizona Ballot Case Back in Court Friday Aug. 28. The push for voter ID continues in Mississippi. An Aspen official says the city can’t turn ballots over for independent audit because ballots are only anonymous when locked…
RTA Ballot Case back in court tomorrow Friday August 28thBill Risner Will Ask Judge Harrington for Stay to Preserve Ballots During Appeal. Attend Hearing Friday August 28th2:30pmPima County Superior Court110 West Congress, Judge Charles Harrington’s Court room- 4th floor, room 472. The Hearing topic is the Pima County Republican Party’s Motion for Judgment on the…
A non-partisan research team is studying Aspen’s May election for ways to improve election transparency and verifciation. For their review, they require copies of the anonymous ballot images on an existing CD. The City of Aspen has refused a Colorado Open Records Act request to make this disk available. This survey is to learn voter…
U.S. Supreme Court May Unleash Flood of Corporate Money into Elections. Georgia case challenging e-voting heads to Supreme Court for a ruling. Ohio SOS asked to investigate allegations against Lucas Co BoE including altering ballots. Former Hillsborough Co FL Elections Sup Buddy Johnson spent $401,000 in HAVA funds on his own campaign. Tennessee may see…
e-mail alert Public Citizen: Once upon a time, corporate titans bankrolled our elections with no limits. There were no social safety nets, no real labor laws, and no voting rights for most Americans. There were the haves and have nots. This fall, a century of modest limits on corporate influence in politics could be completely…
“Why does U.S. seemingly insist on electronic voting machines?” asks an IT professional in Japan. Indeed. The Philippines calls for review of Smartmatic source code. Good reason not to require voters to dip fingers in ink: Afghan election observers report finger amputations. West Virginia lawmakers hear expert testimony that their ES&S ivotronic touchscreens have “serious…
U.S. officials eye hanging chads — in Afghanistan. “The citizens of Aspen are asking: Whose election is this anyway? Does it belong to the government — made up of the very officials who are candidates in each election? Or is it the people’s election?”. That question posed by voting activists Harvie Branscomb and Al Kolwicz,…
Bombshell: Former New Mexico SOS Vigil-Giron is accused of embezzlement, money laundering scheme, soliciting or receiving an illegal kickback and offering or paying an illegal kickback. Over $2 million can’t be accounted for. Its ok to spend millions of $$ and “test” electronic poll books in Tennessee, but its too hard to implement paper ballot…
We’ve got another hack story today. Video shows NEDAP hack done in 60 seconds. In Aspen more calls to make May’s ballots available for independent audit. Voting activist Harvie Branscomb is part of the audit team. Economic downturn mean less early voting locations in an Indiana County and consolidation of voting locations in a New…
The economy continues to impact election administration. Shrinking voter rolls for Annapolis Maryland. Plaudits for (Post-Election) Audits (video) :} The push for voter id in Mississippi continues. In Minnesota, instant runoff voting tested. In New York, one out of every five would-be candidates for local office gets knocked off the ballot. Meanwhile, the PA Supreme…
A new voting machine hack, intercepts NEDAP voting machine signal. Online Poll: Should Aspen’s ballots be disclosed for an independent audit? There’s a new Research Database on the U.S. Voting System and Voting Technology by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. NC Verified celebrates 4 yr anniversary of paper ballot law. A NM…
More articles on the “new hack”. 2 excellent videos: Video of Computer scientist Hovav Shacham explaining what the new hack is and why it matters. Video of California SOS Bowen at OpenSource World event. CA’s SOS used cloud computing to handle peak election night loads on the SOS website. Alabama lawmakers defend voting the machines…
The new Sequoia hack triggers humor amidst alarm and renews calls for paper ballots. Argument for open source repeated in wake of the recent Diebold software patch. Florida election laws may address google ads. Illinois voters will be able to register up to 7 days before election if gov signs bill. TX two step primary…
Diebold Quietly Patches Security Flaw in Vote Counting Software. Ballot dispute: The Aspen Colorado City Council refuses to release ballots for an independent review while the Aspen Times supports it. Texas elections databases and other parts of the SOS computer system have been down since last week. The GA SoS asks again for the U.S.…
The US Supreme Court forces issue on overturning ban on corporate campaign donations. Tennessee voting machine mess continues. Warning: New Mexico voters received a voter guide that is ridden with errors. Minnesota TV Stations are suing Ramsey County over access to 2008 absentee ballots. A recount changes outcome of an election in Pennsylvania. See what…
New hack demonstrated on electronic voting machines. (video) Internet Voting whackamole as Defense Authorization bill allows pilot. Tennessee hot mess: The dispute over voting machines may head for the courts. Tenn. Secretary of State detained voting activist as a terrorist. Aspen voters still seek ballot images from May. Bad economy pushes an Ohio county to…
A perfect storm is brewing for Tennessee voters for the 2010 election.Tennessee is set up for an election debacle, thanks to the states’ reliance on paperless electronic voting. Currently 93 out of 95 counties in Tennessee use these machines.Unless the Secretary of State Hargett takes swift and certain prompt action, thousands of votes will be…
In Tennessee, State Rep Odum calls on State’s top election official to do his job – implement the paper ballot law. Microvote voting machines for sale in Indiana, Newark Ohio selling punch card machines. Some 866OURVOTE applauds Kansas’ move to allow online voter registration. New Mexico’s SOS wants people to register now to officials time…
There are several types of voting machines and election equipment for sale over at GovDeals. Click on Election Equipment to see the latest holdings. Here’s a list of what is up for auction today: Inventory IDDescriptionAsset LocationEnd Date/Time ETStart/Current Bid BOE9Board of Election Votomatics Newark, OH8/15/09 5:35 PMCurrent: $16.00 Bids: 2 BOE9Board of Election Votomatics…
The sour economy is impacting election administration. WVa approved early voting but provided no funding to pay for it. PA activists need volunteers to audit their paperless elections. Woodbury County, Iowa dropped plans for Vote Centers when Sioux City threatened to sue. A Tennessee County took inventory and learned they were missing 1 voting machine…
The Elections Assistance Commission gets a YouTube Channel. What next, the EAC on Twitter? New York Counties discover costs of switching to voting machines; EVoter Education Project says that for NY: “A bigger problem in our opinion is that the new ballot scanners are not ‘stand-alone’ devices at all, as many have been led to…
U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION1225 New York Ave. NW – Suite 1100Washington, DC 20005 EAC Newsline: August 3, 2009Public Meetings The EAC Standards Board will meet August 6-7 in Phoenix, Arizona.For more information, click here. EAC’s next public meeting will be Sept 2: agenda to be announced. Visit our Web site to view the webcasts of…
Sequoia/Dominion has succeeded in getting its machines in most New York Counties. The National Association of Letter Carriers) wants the the Postal Service to aggressively pursue “vote-by-mail” initiatives. Aspen is holding a special election by mail only, the town’s mayor worries voters will be caught unaware. A felon disenfranchisement case may head to the US…
It looks like Sequoia aka Dominion Voting Systems has taken NY. There are 62 counties in the State of New York, and 54 will be or are using the Sequoia Image Cast. Here’s a list from the New York State Board of Elections website: 1. Allegany County2. Broome County3. Cattaraugus County4. Cayuga County5. Chautauqua County6.…
The US House passed a bill that authorizes reimbursements to States that offer absentee ballot tracking services. Aspen Colorado activists hoping to audit a recent electon are still fighting for access to ballots after the city attorney said the ballots were not public information. In North Carolina, lawmakers consider a bill to allow teens to…
A Tennessee Supreme Court may decide if election officials must pass a religious or political test. This comes after the May firing of 28 election directors Hawaii considering Vote by Mail as a way to increase voter turnout. Maybe because Honolulu’s recent internet election was quite a dud with 6.5% turnout. Meanwhile, Michael Hamner (University…
The head of Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board wants internet voting for the state. The claim is that this would increase voter turnout, but we know better after Honolulu’s recent internet election with 6.5% turnout. Tennessee’s paper ballot law still under threat and may end up back at the legislature. An Texas County proposes reducing polling…
Ballots so private you can’t audit them: Colorado Voting Activist Harvie Brancomb leads a team conducting an independent audit of Aspen’s recent instant runoff voting election. The town’s attorney has denied a public info request to obtain the 2,600 ballots, citing that the ballots are “private”. It is ironic that ballots have to be stored…
The Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) just approved Everyone Counts, an Internet Voting Company to participate in the EAC Voting System Testing and Certification Program. E1C now joins several other EAC registered voting vendors. The whack-a-mole attacks on election transparency have stepped up a level. In a letter to Everyone Counts, dated July 21, 2009, the…