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California GOP is on the Clock
Posted Aug 06, 2008 2:18pm
by Elliott D. Petty
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Election Protection California
This group encourages conversation about election protection, registration and irregularities with regard to California. We'll stay in touch with Secretary of State Bowen.
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Our friend Brad Friedman has advanced a potential method to count more of the "double bubble trouble" ballots. This is a fairly complicated issue, but let me give you the overview. The ballot design was so terrible that there was an overlap between the American Independent Party candidates and the Democratic candidates on the ballot. In precincts where there were there no voters who requested an AI ballot, all of the votes can be counted. In the others, those votes cast for candidates in the 8-10 bubble slots will not be counted because there is no way to tell if a person intended to vote for an AI candidate or a Democrat. Read More »
Great news! Dean Logan, the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters has agreed to count every possible "double bubble trouble" vote. He will follow suggestions made by the Courage Campaign and Secretary of State Debra Bowen. This is a huge victory that would not have been possible without you. The 32,776 Courage Campaign members who signed the petition to the registrar were crucial to our ability to keep up the pressure until he agreed to Count. Every. Vote.
Rick Jacobs just got done testifying at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and issued this statement to the press. Read More »
Rick Jacobs just got done testifying at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and issued this statement to the press. Read More »
Rick is on his way to the Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan's office right now. The press has been invited to watch Rick deliver the stacks of 31,798 petitions and books filled with stories from 591 voters who have written into the Courage Campaign, worried that their votes are not being counted.
While we await Rick's report, here is some news. Secretary of State Debra Bowen yesterday sent a letter (pdf) to Los Angeles Registrar Dean Logan, requesting that he do an analysis of each precincts Roster of Voters to determine how many Decline-to-State voters requested which ballot. Once he does that and those results are tallied then they can reconcile that information with the ballots cast by DTS voters in each precinct. From there they can make an informed decision about the ability to determine voter intent.
This is all pretty dense, but Bowen explains the goal and how this would work in practice: Read More »
While we await Rick's report, here is some news. Secretary of State Debra Bowen yesterday sent a letter (pdf) to Los Angeles Registrar Dean Logan, requesting that he do an analysis of each precincts Roster of Voters to determine how many Decline-to-State voters requested which ballot. Once he does that and those results are tallied then they can reconcile that information with the ballots cast by DTS voters in each precinct. From there they can make an informed decision about the ability to determine voter intent.
This is all pretty dense, but Bowen explains the goal and how this would work in practice: Read More »
(cross-posted on Calitics)
Dean Logan, the acting Registrar of Voters in Los Angeles issued a detailed report (pdf) yesterday evening, following a 1% sampling of the Decline-to-State vote. Unfortunately, he is still refusing to count every possible ballot. Following his report, the number of uncounted ballots is estimated at 49,500, since the sampling showed that a significant portion intended to just vote non-partisan. We do not know the hard number, since he has only done a sampling, not pulled and examined all of the ballots. AP
Wrong. Voter intent, as the Courage Campaign has argued all along is clear. These voters requested a Democratic ballot, voted for a Democrat and just because they missed an extra bubble does not mean that you can't determine voter intent.
28,000 people have signed our petition to the Registrar demanding he count every possible vote. Have you signed yet?
Check the flip for more, including excerpts from a letter our lawyers sent back to Logan that specifically discuss voter intent and his obligations under the state Constitution to count every vote. Read More »
Dean Logan, the acting Registrar of Voters in Los Angeles issued a detailed report (pdf) yesterday evening, following a 1% sampling of the Decline-to-State vote. Unfortunately, he is still refusing to count every possible ballot. Following his report, the number of uncounted ballots is estimated at 49,500, since the sampling showed that a significant portion intended to just vote non-partisan. We do not know the hard number, since he has only done a sampling, not pulled and examined all of the ballots. AP
Registrar Dean Logan said those improperly filled out ballots are impossible to count by hand because of the county's complicated voting system, which requires crossover voters to fill in two "bubbles": one to choose a political party and one to indicate their presidential choice.
"There's no way in looking at the ballot to discern voters' intent," Logan said after releasing preliminary findings about the flawed voting system.
Wrong. Voter intent, as the Courage Campaign has argued all along is clear. These voters requested a Democratic ballot, voted for a Democrat and just because they missed an extra bubble does not mean that you can't determine voter intent.
28,000 people have signed our petition to the Registrar demanding he count every possible vote. Have you signed yet?
Check the flip for more, including excerpts from a letter our lawyers sent back to Logan that specifically discuss voter intent and his obligations under the state Constitution to count every vote. Read More »
(cross-posted on Calitcs)
Here is the latest on the "double bubble trouble". Today the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors held a hearing. Several people testified including Rick Jacobs and the Registrar of Voters Dean Logan. The good news is that Logan sounded amenable towards counting the votes, but made no specific promises.
Any Decline-to-State voter who failed to mark the extra bubble indicating that they wanted to vote in the Democratic primary has not been counted thus far. There are no guarantees it will happen and so we are continuing to press the issue until every vote possible is counted.
The Courage Campaign is doing three things right now.
As to #3 on this list. If you are a DTS voter in Los Angeles County who asked for a Democratic Party ballot on Election Day and still have your paper receipt for voting ("voting stub") please let us know so our lawyers can insist that your ballot be counted.
OR
If you are a DTS voter in Los Angeles County and you had trouble at the polls and/or believe your vote may not have been counted.
Please use this form to report your story and receipt number if you have it on the Courage Campaign website.
Courage Campaign lawyer Steven Kaufman (of Kaufman Downing LLP) sent a new letter (pdf here) today to the L.A. ROV. Excerpts on the flip: Read More »
Here is the latest on the "double bubble trouble". Today the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors held a hearing. Several people testified including Rick Jacobs and the Registrar of Voters Dean Logan. The good news is that Logan sounded amenable towards counting the votes, but made no specific promises.
Any Decline-to-State voter who failed to mark the extra bubble indicating that they wanted to vote in the Democratic primary has not been counted thus far. There are no guarantees it will happen and so we are continuing to press the issue until every vote possible is counted.
The Courage Campaign is doing three things right now.
- Requesting that the L.A. ROV conduct a count of all DTS votes, precinct by precinct.
- Requesting that the L.A. ROV immediately take steps to fix the DTS ballot design flaw for future primary elections
- Asking DTS voters across Los Angeles County to hold on to the receipt of their vote ("voting stub") until further notice.
As to #3 on this list. If you are a DTS voter in Los Angeles County who asked for a Democratic Party ballot on Election Day and still have your paper receipt for voting ("voting stub") please let us know so our lawyers can insist that your ballot be counted.
OR
If you are a DTS voter in Los Angeles County and you had trouble at the polls and/or believe your vote may not have been counted.
Please use this form to report your story and receipt number if you have it on the Courage Campaign website.
Courage Campaign lawyer Steven Kaufman (of Kaufman Downing LLP) sent a new letter (pdf here) today to the L.A. ROV. Excerpts on the flip: Read More »
(cross-posted on Crooks & Liars)
The Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters decided in they could save a few bucks by creating a complicated ballot design for the presidential primary. In 2008, that decision has now lead to the disenfranchisement of countless voters. What we don't know is the scope of the problem.
Here is the deal:
Almost 20% of California voters are registered as "Decline-to-State" (DTS). About 776,000 of these DTS voters live in Los Angeles County. To vote for President, like other DTS voters across the state, LA County DTS voters had to ask for a "Democratic Party ballot" on Tuesday (see funny, now prophetic video here).
However, in Los Angeles County -- and only Los Angeles County -- these DTS voters were given a special "Democratic Party" ballot that required voters not only to fill out a bubble for their favorite Democratic Party presidential candidate, but ALSO to fill in a bubble at the top that they wanted to vote "Democratic" -- a redundant requirement. According to the Los Angeles County ROV, if the DTS voter didn't fill in the redundant "Democratic" bubble, their vote would not be counted.
This is what we are calling "double bubble trouble".
The Courage Campaign, thanks to our lawyer Steven Reyes' eagle eyes, discovered that a failure to mark the "Democratic" bubble resulted in the vote not being counted. Regardless of the clear-cut intentions of voters, the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters (ROV) is refusing to do what is necessary to count these ballots.
Now, under a national spotlight, the ROV must do the right thing and count these votes correctly. Voter intent is clear. Missing the top bubble (and it's easy to miss) after you already asked specifically for a "Democratic" ballot -- and voted for a Democratic candidate -- should not mean that your vote goes uncounted.
This is not about the candidates. This is about making sure every vote is counted.
Help us fight to make sure every vote is counted and that this never happens again.
The Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters decided in they could save a few bucks by creating a complicated ballot design for the presidential primary. In 2008, that decision has now lead to the disenfranchisement of countless voters. What we don't know is the scope of the problem.
Here is the deal:
Almost 20% of California voters are registered as "Decline-to-State" (DTS). About 776,000 of these DTS voters live in Los Angeles County. To vote for President, like other DTS voters across the state, LA County DTS voters had to ask for a "Democratic Party ballot" on Tuesday (see funny, now prophetic video here).
However, in Los Angeles County -- and only Los Angeles County -- these DTS voters were given a special "Democratic Party" ballot that required voters not only to fill out a bubble for their favorite Democratic Party presidential candidate, but ALSO to fill in a bubble at the top that they wanted to vote "Democratic" -- a redundant requirement. According to the Los Angeles County ROV, if the DTS voter didn't fill in the redundant "Democratic" bubble, their vote would not be counted.
This is what we are calling "double bubble trouble".
The Courage Campaign, thanks to our lawyer Steven Reyes' eagle eyes, discovered that a failure to mark the "Democratic" bubble resulted in the vote not being counted. Regardless of the clear-cut intentions of voters, the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters (ROV) is refusing to do what is necessary to count these ballots.
Now, under a national spotlight, the ROV must do the right thing and count these votes correctly. Voter intent is clear. Missing the top bubble (and it's easy to miss) after you already asked specifically for a "Democratic" ballot -- and voted for a Democratic candidate -- should not mean that your vote goes uncounted.
This is not about the candidates. This is about making sure every vote is counted.
Help us fight to make sure every vote is counted and that this never happens again.
Debra Bowen, the California Secretary of State, was interviewed last week on her in-depth, "top-to-bottom" review of California's voting machinery as well as the recent push by Republicans to "reform" California's Electoral College votes.
On the inquiry into voting machines, Secretary Bowen describes how and why she followed through on her duty to de-certify voting systems that shows inherent and persistent problems. She talks about how California is moving forward now that several voting machines are no longer acceptable in Califorina.
And on the so-called "Electoral College Reform" effort, which would give the Republicans 20 electoral college votes in the 2008 Presidential Election, Bowen says that such a change might be fair if it happened in all 50 states. But targeting only California for this kind of sweeping reform is clearly problematic because it only benefits the Republican party.
See the videos here -- first Secretary Bowen on her "top-to-bottom" review of election machines, and then her response to the Dirty Trick.
On the inquiry into voting machines, Secretary Bowen describes how and why she followed through on her duty to de-certify voting systems that shows inherent and persistent problems. She talks about how California is moving forward now that several voting machines are no longer acceptable in Califorina.
And on the so-called "Electoral College Reform" effort, which would give the Republicans 20 electoral college votes in the 2008 Presidential Election, Bowen says that such a change might be fair if it happened in all 50 states. But targeting only California for this kind of sweeping reform is clearly problematic because it only benefits the Republican party.
See the videos here -- first Secretary Bowen on her "top-to-bottom" review of election machines, and then her response to the Dirty Trick.
(also available at Calitics)
Secretary of State Debra Bowen is taking it to unscrupulous voting machine vendors, after having completed her investigation into the illegal sale of thousands of machines that were not certified for use in California. ES&S would be on the hook for millions if this suit is successful. Chron:
Bowen is simply enforcing existing laws. I am sure the counties would not mind a few extra million dollars. Read More »
Secretary of State Debra Bowen is taking it to unscrupulous voting machine vendors, after having completed her investigation into the illegal sale of thousands of machines that were not certified for use in California. ES&S would be on the hook for millions if this suit is successful. Chron:
"ES&S ignored the law over and over and over again, and it got caught," Bowen said in a statement after filing suit against the company. "I am not going to stand on the sidelines and watch a voting system vendor come into the state, ignore the laws and make millions of dollars from California's taxpayers in the process."
Bowen's decision could be a windfall for the affected counties. In the suit, the secretary of state is seeking a $10,000 penalty for each of the uncertified machines sold in the state, with half that fine intended to go to the counties that bought them.
ES&S also would have to reimburse the counties for the full cost of the machines, but the counties would be able to keep the AutoMARKs, which are now slated to receive full state certification in early December.
The reimbursement rule was added to the state election code in 2004 in an effort to boost the penalties against companies that ignore the state's certification rules, Bowen said.
Bowen is simply enforcing existing laws. I am sure the counties would not mind a few extra million dollars. Read More »
The audio from the September 16th conference call with Secretary Debra Bowen, Rick Jacobs and myself is now available. Below the fold is the transcript from the call.
Once again, we apologize to those who were not able to get on the call. Talk about problems with electronic vendors... Ironic really.
Here is the official apology from the vendor. They really did screw up and fessed up to it:
Very special thanks to Brad Freidman of BradBLOG for the audio and Emily Levy of VelvetRevolution.us for the transcript. Read More »
Once again, we apologize to those who were not able to get on the call. Talk about problems with electronic vendors... Ironic really.
Here is the official apology from the vendor. They really did screw up and fessed up to it:
All at Courage Campaign,
On behalf of the entire team here at Infinite Conferencing, we sincerely regret the mishap that occurred on Monday, September 17, 2007. We understand that the turnout was less than desirable due to the incorrect dial-in number Infinite Conferencing issued to you. We take pride in our 100% service guarantee and since you were not completely satisfied with our service, we will issue you a credit towards your account for the amount of this call.
Please accept our apologies.
Very special thanks to Brad Freidman of BradBLOG for the audio and Emily Levy of VelvetRevolution.us for the transcript. Read More »
Conference call with Secretary of State Debra Bowen, today at 4:00PM!
Details from Rick Jacobs, below:
Details from Rick Jacobs, below:
Debra Bowen was elected Secretary of State in November as a netroots/grassroots candidate, the only statewide elected woman and a true Courage Campaign progressive hero.Now, Secretary Bowen is responsible for assuring that California's votes count and are counted. She is already off to an incredible start and wants to tell you all about it.
Secretary Bowen has garnered headlines across the country for her "Top to Bottom Review" of California's electronic voting machines. The results, exposing gaping security holes, were so shocking that she moved immediately to decertify thousands of machines. Since then, she has started an investigation into the illegal sale of non-certified voting machines to numerous California counties.
Debra Bowen has been working hard to ensure we have fair, safe and secure elections. This is a rare chance for you to hear directly from Secretary Bowen about her work protecting our votes and her plans for the THREE, count them THREE, elections next year.
Join Courage Campaign and Debra Bowen for a special conference call on Monday at 4 p.m. Space on the call is limited so hurry to reserve a phone line before we run out:http://www.couragecampaign.org/BowenCall
More details are below.
What:
Courage Campaign conference call with the Honorable Debra Bowen
Who:
Secretary of State Debra Bowen and you
When:Monday, September 17, from 4:00- 5:00 pm.
How:Sign up now at Courage Campaign to receive the dial-in details:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/BowenCall
This is a great opportunity for a follow-up to the call we did with Secretary Bowen back in March.
Again, space is limited. I hope you will join us for this unique opportunity to speak with one of our own, a true progressive leader, Secretary of State Debra Bowen.
Thank you for all of the work you continue to do with the Courage Campaign to protect our democracy by protecting our elections.
Rick Jacobs
Chair
P.S. In March, Courage Campaign launched a special "Election Protection California" group on our web site. The purpose of this forum is to stay in touch with Secretary Bowen as well as empower you to work with each other on election protection issues in California. If you would like to join Courage Campaign's "Election Protection California" group, please click here:
An Important Message from Rick Jacobs:
Debra Bowen was elected Secretary of State in November as a netroots/grassroots candidate, the only statewide elected woman and a true Courage Campaign progressive hero.Now, Secretary Bowen is responsible for assuring that California's votes count and are counted. She is already off to an incredible start and wants to tell you all about it.
Secretary Bowen has garnered headlines across the country for her "Top to Bottom Review" of California's electronic voting machines. The results, exposing gaping security holes, were so shocking that she moved immediately to decertify thousands of machines. Since then, she has started an investigation into the illegal sale of non-certified voting machines to numerous California counties.
Debra Bowen has been working hard to ensure we have fair, safe and secure elections. This is a rare chance for you to hear directly from Secretary Bowen about her work protecting our votes and her plans for the THREE, count them THREE, elections next year.
Join Courage Campaign and Debra Bowen for a special conference call on Monday at 4 p.m. Space on the call is limited so hurry to reserve a phone line before we run out:http://www.couragecampaign.org/BowenCall
More details are below.
What:
Courage Campaign conference call with the Honorable Debra Bowen
Who:
Secretary of State Debra Bowen and you
When:Monday, September 17, from 4:00- 5:00 pm.
How:Sign up now at Courage Campaign to receive the dial-in details:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/BowenCall
This is a great opportunity for a follow-up to the call we did with Secretary Bowen back in March.
Again, space is limited. I hope you will join us for this unique opportunity to speak with one of our own, a true progressive leader, Secretary of State Debra Bowen.
Thank you for all of the work you continue to do with the Courage Campaign to protect our democracy by protecting our elections.
Rick Jacobs
Chair
P.S. In March, Courage Campaign launched a special "Election Protection California" group on our web site. The purpose of this forum is to stay in touch with Secretary Bowen as well as empower you to work with each other on election protection issues in California. If you would like to join Courage Campaign's "Election Protection California" group, please click here:
This message was written by Rick Jacobs and the Courage Campaign team.
Unless we act now, the White House -- and our democracy -- will be hijacked by a Republican "elaborate dirty trick" in June 2008.
So says a powerful editorial from the New York Times titled "Stacking the Electoral Deck".
Last Thursday, we told you about an unbelievable ballot initiative proposed for June 2008 in California -- a right-wing power grab straight out of Karl Rove's "dirty tricks" playbook. If passed, it would dictate that California divide up its electoral college votes by congressional district -- resulting in the Republican theft of at least 20 electoral votes in November's general election.
Game over. You might as well give the keys to the White House to Rudolph Giuliani, Mitt Romney or John McCain right now.
Will you take one simple action now to stop this dirty trick from being pulled on the American public?
Click here to stop the dirty tricks. Read More »
Unless we act now, the White House -- and our democracy -- will be hijacked by a Republican "elaborate dirty trick" in June 2008.
So says a powerful editorial from the New York Times titled "Stacking the Electoral Deck".
Last Thursday, we told you about an unbelievable ballot initiative proposed for June 2008 in California -- a right-wing power grab straight out of Karl Rove's "dirty tricks" playbook. If passed, it would dictate that California divide up its electoral college votes by congressional district -- resulting in the Republican theft of at least 20 electoral votes in November's general election.
Game over. You might as well give the keys to the White House to Rudolph Giuliani, Mitt Romney or John McCain right now.
Will you take one simple action now to stop this dirty trick from being pulled on the American public?
Click here to stop the dirty tricks. Read More »
This summer, the only thing hotter than the weather seems to be election reform. Last week, Secretary of State Debra Bowen made significant strides in securing California's elections from faulty touch-screen voting machines by kicking the machines out of California. Then, perhaps concerned that old GOP stalwart Diebold isn't helping to count votes anymore, California Republicans have floated another election reform idea: to end the winner-take-all system for distributing California's 55 Electoral College Votes. Ostensibly, the GOP wants to make the Electoral College more representative. In reality, the Republicans are trying to steal the 2008 Presidential Election. The way to stop them, as always, is to get out the vote.
Here's how the GOP's election reform scheme would work. "Californians for Equal Representation" (an obvious GOP front group) submitted a plan that would would award only 2 Electoral Votes to the winner of the statewide popular vote. The remaining 53 votes would go to the winner of each of California's 53 Congressional districts. In other words, gerrymandered Congressional districts (which were designed to protect incumbents) would almost certainly give the GOP Presidential Nominee at least 20 Electoral College votes from California, even if a wide majority of Californians vote for the Democratic Nominee. (In 2004, for example, under the GOP system George W. Bush would have received 22 Electoral Votes from California -- enough to win the election even had he lost his razor-thin victory in the contested Ohio election.) The Republican proposal has gotten a lot of attention, and deservedly so. Dividing up California's block of Electoral College Votes would obviously send shockwaves through the 2008 and even 2012 Presidential campaigns, if the GOP somehow gets this proposal to pass. The good news is that electoral reform of this nature isn't easy -- the GOP will have to pay "volunteers" to collect enough petition signatures to put the plan on the June 2008 ballot, and then they'll somehow have to convince a majority of the voters to support the complex changes to a simple system.
In any event, with this latest scheme, the Republicans are banking on what they cherish the most about American electoral politics: most Americans don't vote. Every time the Republicans have been successful at gaming the system to win elections, the biggest part of the GOP's dirty tricks have been suppressing voter turnout. Florida in 2000: the Republicans engaged in widespread vote caging, they sent misleading "reminders" with the wrong date for Election Day to Democratic households, and they of course did everything they could to intimidate African-American voters throughout the campaign, including on Election Day. Ohio in 2004: Ken Blackwell, the Republican Ohio Secretary of State, did everything in his power to minimize the number of new voter registrations, and then the GOP pulled out its usual bag of vote-suppression techniques to keep turnout as low as possible.
So, while activism over how we "Count the Votes!" is important, if we want to stop the GOP from stealing elections, the best thing to do is to "Get Out The Votes!"
If the GOP's hair-brained plan to split up California's Electoral Votes ends up on the June 2008 ballot, it will be on the most boring ballot of the three elections that we'll have next year (February, June, and November). The GOP knows this, and they're counting on it to help pass this unpopular and complex plan. Progressive activists will have to work three times as hard to get votes out to make sure this plan doesn't come to pass.
And in November, no matter how the Electoral Votes are decided, we won't win California without getting out the vote. How we "Count the Votes!" doesn't matter if there are no votes to count.
Here's how the GOP's election reform scheme would work. "Californians for Equal Representation" (an obvious GOP front group) submitted a plan that would would award only 2 Electoral Votes to the winner of the statewide popular vote. The remaining 53 votes would go to the winner of each of California's 53 Congressional districts. In other words, gerrymandered Congressional districts (which were designed to protect incumbents) would almost certainly give the GOP Presidential Nominee at least 20 Electoral College votes from California, even if a wide majority of Californians vote for the Democratic Nominee. (In 2004, for example, under the GOP system George W. Bush would have received 22 Electoral Votes from California -- enough to win the election even had he lost his razor-thin victory in the contested Ohio election.) The Republican proposal has gotten a lot of attention, and deservedly so. Dividing up California's block of Electoral College Votes would obviously send shockwaves through the 2008 and even 2012 Presidential campaigns, if the GOP somehow gets this proposal to pass. The good news is that electoral reform of this nature isn't easy -- the GOP will have to pay "volunteers" to collect enough petition signatures to put the plan on the June 2008 ballot, and then they'll somehow have to convince a majority of the voters to support the complex changes to a simple system.
In any event, with this latest scheme, the Republicans are banking on what they cherish the most about American electoral politics: most Americans don't vote. Every time the Republicans have been successful at gaming the system to win elections, the biggest part of the GOP's dirty tricks have been suppressing voter turnout. Florida in 2000: the Republicans engaged in widespread vote caging, they sent misleading "reminders" with the wrong date for Election Day to Democratic households, and they of course did everything they could to intimidate African-American voters throughout the campaign, including on Election Day. Ohio in 2004: Ken Blackwell, the Republican Ohio Secretary of State, did everything in his power to minimize the number of new voter registrations, and then the GOP pulled out its usual bag of vote-suppression techniques to keep turnout as low as possible.
So, while activism over how we "Count the Votes!" is important, if we want to stop the GOP from stealing elections, the best thing to do is to "Get Out The Votes!"
If the GOP's hair-brained plan to split up California's Electoral Votes ends up on the June 2008 ballot, it will be on the most boring ballot of the three elections that we'll have next year (February, June, and November). The GOP knows this, and they're counting on it to help pass this unpopular and complex plan. Progressive activists will have to work three times as hard to get votes out to make sure this plan doesn't come to pass.
And in November, no matter how the Electoral Votes are decided, we won't win California without getting out the vote. How we "Count the Votes!" doesn't matter if there are no votes to count.
Washington, DC based media watchdog group Media Matters has noted that articles appearing in several newspapers repeat misleading criticisms of Secretary Bowen's "top-to-bottom" review of electronic voting machines.
Citing Courage Campaign Chair Rick Jacobs' article in Huffington Post, Media Matters documents how the LA Times, SF Chronicle, Washington Post, AP, and other news outlets uncritically repeated the false accusation that the test used by computer scientists were "unrealistic." This accusation suggests that the computer scientists who were easily able to break in to California voting machines were given "too much" information about the voting machines in advance. But the scientists themselves addressed this concern in their report: "the statement that attackers could not replicate what red team testers [computer scientists] do, because the red team testers have access to information that other attackers would not have, profoundly underestimates the ability and the knowledge of attackers, and profoundly overestimates the infallibility of organizations and human nature." In short, an attempt to compromise voting machine security could very well come from the inside with the same inside knowledge that the computer scientists had in their tests of the system.
The news outlets who uncritically reported the accusations against Bowen's tests failed to provide the responses as given by the official report. Media Matters notes that this is lazy journalism at best.
Support Secretary Bowen in the media now by writing a letter to your local newspaper. Click here to get started.
Citing Courage Campaign Chair Rick Jacobs' article in Huffington Post, Media Matters documents how the LA Times, SF Chronicle, Washington Post, AP, and other news outlets uncritically repeated the false accusation that the test used by computer scientists were "unrealistic." This accusation suggests that the computer scientists who were easily able to break in to California voting machines were given "too much" information about the voting machines in advance. But the scientists themselves addressed this concern in their report: "the statement that attackers could not replicate what red team testers [computer scientists] do, because the red team testers have access to information that other attackers would not have, profoundly underestimates the ability and the knowledge of attackers, and profoundly overestimates the infallibility of organizations and human nature." In short, an attempt to compromise voting machine security could very well come from the inside with the same inside knowledge that the computer scientists had in their tests of the system.
The news outlets who uncritically reported the accusations against Bowen's tests failed to provide the responses as given by the official report. Media Matters notes that this is lazy journalism at best.
Support Secretary Bowen in the media now by writing a letter to your local newspaper. Click here to get started.
Posted August 7, 2007 | 10:06 PM (EST) (Cross Posted From Huffington Post)
Over the weekend, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen took the courageous step of decertifying Diebold Hart and Sequoia electronic voting machines. She did this after an exhaustive study by the University of California that demonstrated clearly the violability of such machines. In short, she acted to assure when we vote for president beginning with the primary on February 5 and then finally in November of next year, we'll know that our votes are counted.
Read More »
Over the weekend, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen took the courageous step of decertifying Diebold Hart and Sequoia electronic voting machines. She did this after an exhaustive study by the University of California that demonstrated clearly the violability of such machines. In short, she acted to assure when we vote for president beginning with the primary on February 5 and then finally in November of next year, we'll know that our votes are counted.
Read More »
Unbossed brings us the preliminary report issued by the General Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative branch of the US Congress, into irregularities in the results of the election for Florida's 13th Congressional District in 2006.
Specifically, 18,000 people, or nearly 15%, either did not vote for a Congressional candidate or didn't have their votes counted. Read More »
Specifically, 18,000 people, or nearly 15%, either did not vote for a Congressional candidate or didn't have their votes counted. Read More »
The Los Angeles County Democratic Party has joined with the Courage Campaign and Progressive Democrats of America in supporting Secretary Bowen’s review of California’s electronic voting systems. LA County Democratic Party Chair Eric C. Bauman has signed the Courage Campaign's petition in support of Secretary of State Debra Bowen as she secured the vote, putting strict new requirements for voting machines.
Speaking out against county officials who apparently don't want to take the time to do their most basic job right, Bauman wrote, "This is pretty simple: if we have time to vote, we damn well want those [county election] officials to make the time to count our votes."
Sign the petition now to show your support for Secretary Bowen in her courageous actions to make sure our votes count!
Secretary of State Bowen has done exactly what she said she would do when we elected her in November. She conducted the nation's first full, "top-to-bottom" independent review of electronic voting machines. After finding serious flaws with the system, she decertified them. And now there are strict new security measures in place to reassure all Californians that we will not be the next Florida or Ohio.
Despite heavy opposition from county elections officials, who didn't want to lose face with their constituents (and apparently wouldn't mind getting a job with Diebold's PR department), Secretary Bowen has acted with courage and done the right thing.
But we need to have her back going forward. As progressive activist David Dayen said today, "Bowen is going up against some really powerful forces and needs our support. The registrars are going to scream holy hell about this, and we'll hear that we don't have the money to up and change everything now. That dog shouldn't hunt."
Thank you, Secretary Bowen, for making sure our votes count. We've got your back.
Written perhaps minutes or hours before the big announcement, after having looked at the source code reviews, along with the red-team results, there really is no other way to assure fair and not rigged elections in CA.
On May 9, Secretary of State Debra Bowen unveiled her unprecedented plan for a top-to-bottom review of California's elections systems. This is exactly what she promised to do as Secretary of State and she is delivering in a big way. Echoing language she used on the campaign trail last year, she said in a statement:
“California voters are entitled to have their votes counted exactly as they were cast. This top-to-bottom review is designed with one goal in mind: to ensure that California’s voters cast their ballots on voting systems that are secure, accurate, reliable, and accessible.”
The review, which is scheduled to begin this week and will continue through late July, will test the Los Angeles County Ink A Vote Optical Scan system as well as systems by Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia among others, a total of 8 in all on a randomly determined schedule. The review is being conducted in cooperation with the University of California and entails the following:
- UC will provide specialists from its campuses, as well as experts from public and private universities and private sector companies throughout the United States to create three teams of experts to conduct the reviews.
- Each system will undergo a thorough document and source code review, red team penetration testing, and a review to determine whether it’s accessible to all voters.
- The review teams will provide an independent technical evaluation of the voting systems that the Secretary of State will use to carry out her statutory duty with respect to voting systems in determining whether the systems comply with current state and federal law.
In plain terms, the sitting Secretary of State of the largest state in the nation, which has to date spent $480 million on electronic voting systems, has enlisted a team of experts to hack into the voting systems to determine whether or not they are secure. And who better to hack into these systems than those who've done it before including Ed Felten from Princeton and Harri Hursti of 'Hursti Hack' fame.
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