Oak Ridge National Labs (one of the US national energy labs, along with Sandia, Livermore, Los Alamos, etc) had a bunch of people fall for a spear phishing attack (see articles in Computerworld and many other descriptions). For those not familiar with the term, spear phishing is sending targeted emails at specific recipients, designed to…
When Wisconsin voters flocked to the polls on April 5, one of the factors driving the high turnout was the State Supreme Court contest between incumbent Justice David Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. Prosser, whose term ends July 31, often casts the deciding vote on the seven-member court. He is a conservative Republican former Speaker of the Assembly seen as closely allied to Wisconsin’s controversial Gov. Scott Walker. Kloppenburg, a virtual unknown who was given little chance of success when she entered the race several months ago, was buoyed by the high passions stirred by Walker’s actions to strip government employees of their collective bargaining rights. Though the race is officially nonpartisan, it was seen as both a referendum on Walker and a chance to affect the Supreme Court’s ruling on Walker’s actions, which are likely to be reviewed by the Court in its next term. Election night results were considered too close to call, but the next day when seemingly all the votes had been tallied, Kloppenburg claimed victory with a margin of 204 votes of the more than 1.4 million total votes cast. A recount seemed inevitable.
[pullquote align=”left”][media url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldCVBB-ruKY” width=”360″ height=”240″ jwplayer=”controlbar=bottom”][/pullquote]Then one day later, County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus of Republican stronghold Waukesha County suddenly announced in a dramatic press conference that she had forgotten to include the votes of the county’s second-largest city, Brookfield, in her tabulation. The more than 14,000 votes she added now gave Prosser a lead of almost 7,316 votes of the 1,498,880 votes cast, or 0.488%. Wisconsin picks up the tab for recounts where the margin of victory is less than 0.5%, so this falls just barely within the margin of a state-funded recount.
It has been nothing short of astonishing that, within a few weeks, the brave people of Tunisia and Egypt toppled corrupt dictators who ruled for decades. One of the protesters’ key demands was for democratic elections — the right to choose a government that is responsive to the people’s needs. That is also what protesters in Bahrain, Yemen, Iran, Jordan and Libya are demanding as they call for the dissolution of their autocratic and oppressive governments. As the protesters know all too well, voting does not mean that one’s vote will be counted. In Egypt’s 2005 elections, Hosni Mubarak was reelected with 88.6 percent of the vote. In 2009, Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was reelected with an 89.6 percent landslide victory. In both cases allegations of fraud and corruption surrounded the elections.
What nobody is talking about is how votes will be cast in emerging democracies. For elections to be legitimate in such countries, it is critical to use voting technology that counts votes accurately. In the 21st century, chances are high that computers will be used in some form in the coming elections in Egypt and Tunisia. But voting computers, like heads of state, must be held accountable to the people they serve. It is a tenet of computer science that computers can be programmed to do anything, including play “Jeopardy!” and steal votes.
A bill aimed at reducing restriction to voting for military and other overseas voters passed the Washington State Senate by a 47-1 vote on Friday. Senate Bill 5171 contains many provisions that will certainly make voting easier for Washington citizens living overseas including moving the primary election date two weeks earlier and meeting requirements of…
“In many cases, we see security devices or electronic voting machines where we really have to wonder, ‘Did anybody spend 60 seconds figuring out the security issues?” That question was posed by an Argonne National Laboratories security expert in an interview published today. There is a good deal of news to share today: Oklahoma has…
Montana’s Legislature will once again consider vote by mail legislation, Missouri’s will consider early voting, and unopened ballots may change a recount result in New Jersey. All this and more in today’s Voting News below. AR: Martin names top aids for secretary of state’s office Martin announced his leadership team Thursday, including Family Council lawyer…
AK: Miller Will Not Appeal Federal Ruling; Concedes Alaska’s U.S. Senate Race to Murkowski – The BRAD BLOG (Dec. 31) In a press conference held this afternoon in Juneau, Alaska’s GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, Joe Miller, finally conceded the election to write-in candidate and incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski. He has decided not…
CA: Secetrary of State Bowen unveils four-year strategic plan – Kim Alexander’s Weblog http://kimalex.blogspot.com/2011/01/sos-bowen-unveils-four-year-strategic.html At her inauguration ceremony today, Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced that her office was implementing a four-year strategic plan focused on three priorities: ensuring fair and secure elections, doing business, and protecting rights and state treasures. She also listed six…
Happy New Year! The first few days of 2011 have been busy news days (despite apparent quiet regarding Internet voting). Tonight’s edition covers articles published since our December 31 edition, unless otherwise noted. Among the news highlights: Oklahoma election officials are looking to replace their 18-year-old optical scanners with new precinct scanners for the 2012…
Alaska’s US Senate race appears to have ended as 2010 winds down. Georgia’s Secretary of State says that a new appointed election reform advisory panel will look at vote centers and ways to achieve cost savings, and New York’s new voting system, and its implementation receive ongoing scrutiny. All this and more in today’s Voting…
The Swiss federal government expresses caution about Internet voting and limits its scope, while some local officials push for expanded Internet voting. India’s political parties reportedly agree to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) going forward and the Election Commission has appointed a technical committee to study voter-verifiable paper records. On a more local but important…
Iowa election officials reach an agreement to close the books on the EAC audit of Iowa’s HAVA funds, the Albany Times-Union calls for an automatic recount law for New York State, and security experts predict Stuxnet-like viruses to infect electronic voting systems in the near future. [Editor’s Note: If you have suggestions for articles to…
A lighter news day for electronic voting issues. Close state legislative elections in Texas and Missouri remain contentious, a Federal Court rules on the challenge to the U.S. Senate election in Alaska. All this and more in today’s voting news below. AK: ‘Election Integrity is Vital’: Joe Miller Makes a Federal Case Out of it…
We’re back from a short holiday break! Tonight’s edition covers news published since our last full edition on Monday December 20. State news is organized by state and then by date. State news is followed by sections for national, Internet voting, and international news. Internationally, online voting in Ahmedabad, India is provoking discussion. At home…
We wish you all safe and happy holidays, and for those who celebrate, a Merry Christmas. The Voting News will resume regular postings on Monday December 27 after a short holiday break. (News from this week will be archived.) Today, though, we’d like to pass on several news stories that are a gift to those…
New York State’s highest Court has upheld lower Court decisions to stop any further counting of ballots and declare a winner in the 7th Senate District race. The decision is unfortunate on many levels, not the least of which is that it sets legal precedent in the State for how we verify election results by auditing and recounting paper ballots. New York’s Courts have now ruled, in essence, “We do not use paper ballots to verify elections.” The Court, displaying a lever-machine mindset, believed it’s okay to trust the machine. It never was of course, but New York has never had a way to verify election results before. The Court didn’t understand why we need to compare machine reported results with a manual inspection of ballots in the audit, failing to grasp that the way we get to the real result is counting the paper, not avoiding it at all costs.
New York’s highest court rejects petition for manual recount in the close State Senate District 7 race; top candidate gains votes in North Carolina’s instant-runoff judicial race; Russian officials take a close look at India’s electronic voting system… All this and more in today’s voting news below. CA: Cheaper, popular mail-in ballots worry criticshttp://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/cheaper-popular-mail-ballots-worry-critics-7479 CO:…
In New York, an Appellate Court sends a suit for a full hand recount of the ballots cast in the State Senate District 7 race to the State Court of Appeals. in Washington, D.C., a Federal court turns back a challenge to a major provision of the Voting Rights Act, and Minnesota closes the books…
In the first test case of how we verify election results using New York’s new paper ballots, the State Judiciary is in the process of setting an egregious precedent – Judges are free to nullify audits and recounts in the interests of having a quick decision. In Nassau County’s contested 7th Senate District (SD7) race, two State Courts that have heard the case to date have made very bad decisions. Ruling that even if New York’s audit laws require a further hand count of paper ballots, accepting the machine results and declaring a winner outweigh the public’s right to know who really won the election. [ See news reports here and here.]
The Johnson and Martins dispute demonstrates the typical dynamic in close political contests when paper ballots are available to inspect – regardless of party affiliation, the candidate in the lead wants to stop further ballot counting, the candidate behind wants to continue. And the Courts almost always become involved in one way or another. In the SD7 case, Johnson asks the Court to order a full manual recount, since several machines failed the initial 3% audit. Martin’s legal team on the other hand argues that “At the end of the day we must balance accuracy with finality”. The meaning here is hardly disguised – stop counting ballots, we’re more interested in winning than getting an accurate result.
More news from India, Indiana to review voter registration complaints, North Carolina recount of IRV race continues… Editor’s Note: Verified Voting extends the deepest thanks to Joyce McCloy for her amazing work on the Voting News. We hope to maintain the Voting News at the high standard she has maintained. AK: Murkowski Camp Expects Vote…
India reportedly issues visas to e-voting researchers by mistake; recounts wind down in Maine, Oregon, and New Jersey; California turnout exceeds projections. All this and more in today’s Voting News below. CA: Capitol Alert: 2010 election produced high voter turnouthttp://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/12/2010-election-produced-high-vo.htmlThe turnout was about five percentage points, or 800,000 voters, higher than the pre-election estimate made…
Maryland Report – Scanners Cost Less than DREs..EAC has $2,000,000 in grants for voting system pre-election logic & accuracy testing & post-election audits…Wikileak describes actual attacks on a Estonia’s first internet election in “SUBJECT: ESTONIA’S CYBER ATTACKS: LESSONS LEARNED”…Yesterday we ran a news article saying that US voting machine expert Alec Halderman was deported upon…
A new study commissioned by the state of Maryland has just taken a close look at the relative cost of optical-scan paper-ballot voting systems compared with electronic touch-screen systems, and found that optical-scan paper-ballot systems are less expensive . These findings are timely and important not only for Maryland, but for other states as well. With Maryland’s direct-recording electronic voting machines (DREs) approaching the end of their useful lifespan, the report by the Department of Legislative Services notes that using the systems becomes increasingly risky as the machines age. The report recommends that the State should move to implement optical scan systems for “long-term cost-effectiveness and cost control.” and that “Maryland would spend $9.5 million less on an optical scan system than it would on a DRE system. Both [Operations and Maintenance]and capital costs are expected to be lower over the long term under an optical scan system.”
Using current costs of service contracts and cost proposals submitted to the State, the study concludes that “Overall, the cost of continuing to use the state’s current voting system will be higher than transitioning to an optical scanning system.” The study compared price quotes submitted to Maryland with five other states and ascertained that “the proposed purchase of the optical scan devices and related equipment appears to be in line with what other jurisdictions have paid for identical equipment. In all cases where direct comparisons can be made of ES&S pricing on software and hardware from past contracts, the price quotes in the Maryland response are comparable or better.”
10 yrs after Bush V Gore: “HAVA has been misinterpreted and misused from the moment of its passage.”~ Joe Richey, Colorado SOS Elect. Best Pract.Commission..CT Post: Recount shows widespread miscalculations. “If you cast a photocopied ballot in last month’s gubernatorial election in Bridgeport, there’s a 1 in 4 chance your vote was miscounted.”..India: US prof…
Alaska Judge rules for state, against Miller. What does it mean? ..Johnson to appeal NY 7th Senate District loss: “The procedures governing these new voting machines are uncharted territory..What happens here could very well govern how all future close elections are decided. That is why I intend to take my request for a full hand…
Kudos to Humboldt County CA Registrar Carolyn Crnich, Yolo County. CA Registrar Freddy Oakley, for adopting innovative methods to increase transparency & public involvement in elections..Big applause to Columbia Co New York Election Commish Virginia Martin for hand counting the votes, leaving no doubt about the results….Credibility of Minnesota’s election process vindicated.. Nassau SD 07…
Michigan recount mess: 1000s of ballots in Huron & Tuscola Cnty weren’t secured properly so cant be recounted…NC Statewide IRV contest faces recount..MY City, How Do You Lose Nearly 200,000 Votes? “This calls into question the whole validity of the process.” — Sam Roberts..India missing 4,000 electronic voting machines..Dr. Barbara Simons on internet voting…All out…
Saturday a judge ruled against manual count of NY’s Sen Dist 7 contest. Prof. Philip Stark (Dept of Statistics, UC Berkeley)expert witness for Nassau Cnty DEMS was not allowed to testify but some remarks were read into the record: “The potential for error in this contest is large: In total, the 242 unaudited machines could…
Seriously? Politico piece slams Minnesota recounts, says they should be harder to get…Meanwhile judge rules against Dems quest for Nassau recount in Johnson-Martins NY 7th Senate race. Johnson to appeal..Value of recounts learned in Texas House Dist 48: “That recount has become like turning over a big rock to see all the unpleasant things that…
Champaign Ill Cnty Clerk compares return rate of emailed vs snail-mailed blank overseas military ballots….MN GOP candidate Emmer to withdraw some ballot challenges..MN counties await payment for election docs political parties demanded..Steven Schlesinger,atty for Johnson(D) count..said New York’s new optical scanning machines “suck,” and estimated 40 percent failed a required audit..Report: Barriers to Voting Access…