We reported earlier this week about an ad placed on the Internet by Kelly Services seeking temporary workers for the upcoming California primary elections in San Francisco.

The ad sought workers to "assist in dropping off election voting machines and picking these machines up when voting is complete." (See our full story and the complete text here.)

That ad has now been removed from Monster.com. We'll try and offer some updates if we can gather any additional information about the removal of the ad.

As we noted in our original story on Tuesday, the ad was notable given CA Sec. of State Bruce McPherson's recent approval of Diebold voting machines shortly after it was revealed, and then confirmed by his own independent analysis [PDF], that those machines were vulnerable to hackers. After the revelations, McPherson implemented what he described as increased physical security procedures to protect such machines from tampering --- procedures which would seem to be out the window by allowing $11.99/hour temporary workers hired from the Internet to shuttle California's electronic voting machines, unsupervised, before and after the election.

Apparently the systems in question in San Francisco are reportedly made by Diebold's "rival" company ES&S. Unlike Diebold's systems, ES&S's have never faced the rigorous independent "hack testing" that systems made by Diebold have undergone. Given our lack of knowledge, therefore, about the security in ES&S electronic voting systems and whether or not they are any more or less prone to hacking than Diebold's systems, it would seem that allowing unknown individuals to have unsupervisored access to those machines is equally as irresponsible as McPherson's own less-than-safe security measures as recently prescribed for Diebold systems.

We will, of course, keep you updated with new developements as we are able to acquire them.

A sample from the original screen shot of the Internet ad posted by Kelly Services on Monster.com. Click the graphic below for the complete story...

Guest blogged by David Edwards of Veredictum.com

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On Wednesday, May 24th at about 3:43 pm ET, CNN broadcast this odd little story. There seems to be no reference to it on CNN's website and we haven't seen any encore broadcasts since.

Here is the short version of the story... Geronimo's great grandson is making a plea to President Bush to facilitate the return of the remains of the Apache chief. The heir to Geronimo decided to make this request to Bush after a researcher found proof that Bush's great grandfather, Prescott Bush, had robbed Geronimo's grave. The skull, bones and other relics are now part of initiation traditions in the secret society of the Skull and Bones.

Read on for more of this story...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

Mississippi officially joins the "Train Wreck" today as SoS Clark explains why their Diebold TSx machines are secure; "[It's]�.not a concern in Mississippi, where the machines leave a paper trail. "If there is ever a question, then there is a piece of paper to go back to. That is lock down security about the accuracy of the machine," Clark says." Note that Mississippi has no audit requirement. ES&S has admitted to their failures in Arkansas by replacing their state management team. West Virginia's SoS has sent a questionnaire out to all of the state's counties to determine the monetary losses incurred by those counties, and other problems, due to failures by ES&S. MSNBC released a story on voting machines but, unfortunately, they only spoke to NASS, Doug Lewis, and Electionline so they got none of the facts of why the system was failing and not one word about the Diebold security vulnerabilities. Allegheny County Pennsylvania just found hundreds of ballots that had never been counted before. They were counted yesterday over a week after the primary election...

ADDITIONAL INFO FROM BRAD: See our recent video exclusive of Mississippi Sec. of State Clark in 2005 --- prior to most of the latest Diebold disasters --- announcing during a public meeting with a Diebold rep concerning their hackable touch-screen systems:

That video is here, and amusing if you've yet to see it. (Now back to your previously scheduled 'Daily Voting News'...)

After an otherwise encouraging headline on MSNBC's just posted "Optimism about voting reform wanes: New machines and procedures have been introduced, but problems persist" the article, by NBC News' Huma Zaidi goes curiously downhill thereafter.

Zaidi cursorily mentions early "a group of experts and election officials" who met in DC last month to discuss election reform and "the picture most of them painted wasn't very optimistic". As well, he reports that "Almost a dozen states that have already held primaries this year have experienced problems."

But enough with the facts of the matter. From there, it's time for the Pro E-Voting spin to commence...

Zaidi goes on to quote three different Electronic Voting supporters and not one of those previously mentioned un-optimistic "experts and election officials."

As well, while the article discusses the problems of "a handful of companies who produce voting machines" and who have had trouble fulfilling their contractual obligations to multiple states and counties in primary elections so far this year --- along with a nod to a one or two of the "wrinkles" and "glitches" caused by the machines so far this year --- not a single voting machine company is mentioned by name (not Diebold who has failed enormously, nor ES&S who has failed enormously, nor Sequoia Voting Systems who has failed enormously, nor Hart InterCivic who has failed enormously!)

On the other hand, the pro-electronic voting folks are named, and even have their websites plugged. Go figure.

We guess if you downplay problems by private companies who have access to millions of dollars and teams of attorneys ready to go, and don't bother to mention them or their failings by name, you're far less likely to be sued. Why else would NBC cover the issues this way after all?

As ever, we're glad to see attention finally being given to the most important matter of the legitimacy of our votes in our electoral democracy --- particularly by an outlet as large as MSNBC and NBC News --- but these articles that end up doing little more than saying "there's some problems, but everything will be just fine, nothing to worry about here" are getting absurd.

See NPR's report (text transcript now included) from over the weekend for a far more responsible --- and yes, "fair and balanced" --- report on this issue.

For more thoughts on all of this, see mass media maven Danny Schecter's "Why is the Media Downplaying Our Voting Scandal?" editorial as posted on Monday!

Investigative journalist and best-selling author, Greg Palast has given The BRAD BLOG a few exclusive audio clips from the studio sessions of the audio version of his new book (to be released June 6), ARMED MADHOUSE: Who's Afraid of Osama Wolf? China Floats, Bush Sinks, The Scheme to Steal '08, No Child's Behind Left, and Other Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Class War.

Last month we wrote about our amusing and completely factual experience in the recording studio laying down one of the chapters for the audio version ourselves (and a few additional characters for elsewhere in the book) along with Ed Asner and Janeane Garafalo. If you missed it, you may want to check out our scandalous reporting from that crazy afternoon.

At right, you'll note the distinguished bunch of folks (plus us) listed on the cover as reading for the book (we're smartly placed in the middle between Larry David and Janeane.)

The exclusive clips Palast has provided to The BRAD BLOG for your listening pleasure including passages by both yours truly and the great Ed Asner.

Asner's a master, of course, and reads about what Palast describes as "The Network" in this clip:

(NOTE: The references to "Mr. Friedman" in Asner's clip is to Thomas of The New York Times as opposed to Brad of The BRAD BLOG, just for clarity sake

For our part, we get to rant a bit about electronic voting machines and other ways of gaming the system in Florida by Gov. Jeb, Katherine Harris and friends. As well, in the reading Palast pokes some fun at guys like me, and lauds "Lord of the Voting Universe, Ion Sancho" (about whom you may learn some things you didn't previously know!):

Please enjoy the clips, and then go and buy the book! You can pre-order either the text or the abridged audio versions here.

Audio Excerpts from...

Chapter 3: "THE NETWORK" - The World as a Company Town
As read by Greg Palast & Ed Asner
-- Streaming Audio Version...
-- MP3 Version...

Chapter 4: "THE CON" - Kerry Won. Now Get Over It...
As read by Greg Palast & Brad Friedman
-- Streaming Audio Version...
-- MP3 Version...

Guest blogged by David Edwards of Veredictum.com

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The Special Prosecutor investigating the outing of CIA officer, Valerie Plame-Wilson, has indicated in a court filing that Vice President Cheney is likely to be a witness in the Libby trial.

The New York Times quotes Fitzgerald writing, "Contrary to defendant's assertion, the government has not represented that it does not intend to call the vice president as a witness at trial." (see: Muckraker). Cheney's testimony is expected to reflect the state of mind in the Office of the Vice President during the organized attack on Joe Wilson's credibility and the outing of Plame-Wilson. The testimony will likely show that Libby had motive to leak selective information to reporters to smear Wilson and bolster the Administration's justification for war on Iraq.

Fingering Cheney as a possible witness may lead to questions about a conspiracy secret illegal scheme planned and executed within the Vice President's office.

As controversy swirls again around House Speaker Dennis Hastert and whether he is or isn't under investigation by the DoJ on bribery related charges as ABC News is reporting (and standing by), now might be a good time to remind of you this earlier exclusive which The BRAD BLOG reported in February concerning FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds' charges that Hastert may be involved with yet another bribery scandal.

In light of today's new story, it may well be worth taking a look back at that previous piece including a detailed statement from Edmonds wherein she calls on Hastert to "come clean" in regard to $500k in un-itemized campaign donations and his relationships with various Turkish interest groups.

Guest Blogged by John Gideon, with Brad Friedman

Elections Systems and Software (ES&S) has finally shown us why they should not be in the elections business. The disgraceful primary election in Arkansas yesterday is a prime example. It was, and continues to be, an utter disaster today. The day after.

Brad and I both have been overwhelmed all day with the number of reports coming in on the complete failures by ES&S in the state yesterday. So much so, that it's difficult to even know where to begin. Thus, tonight's late report --- with general details and enough links to set you on your way to inform yourself about what the hell is going on here.

In our best (if fruitless) attempt at brevity, however...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

Yesterday I pointed out a problem in Luzerne County. Unfortunately I moved that county from it's home state, Pennsylvania, to Ohio. My apologies to both states and the people of Luzerne County. Over 200 Danaher 1242 DREs are now reported to have failed on primary day in Philadelphia, PA. These are the same machines that Bucks County PA has now announced they want to buy, except they want used ones. As far as Arkansas goes, yesterday's primary election was a complete disaster for elections officials, poll workers and most of all for the voters in the state. iVotronic machines did not work properly, would not start, and would not shut down on time. Some precincts just ignored the machines and used paper ballots because the machines were not working. Paper ballots could not be read by some optical-scan machines due to lack of proper software. Some voters were turned away from the polls because they ran out of paper ballots. Yes, they were denied their right to vote because of a lack of paper ballots....

The Young Turks had NEWSWEEK's Steven Levy as a guest on their show yesterday to discuss his article on the Diebold disaster from this week's issue. (See our item discussing his article here, including an update with a response from Levy concerning our coverage.)

Says host Cenk Uyger during the interview: "The bloggers have apparently been right about this all along."

Other items that jumped out at us: When asked how many states have "reliable systems", Levy said, "26 states have instituted some sort of paper trail."

We'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he understands that a "paper trail" law, particularly when it's never actually counted, and it almost never is, means nothing (as we pointed out in our piece covering his article a few days ago.)

And this from Levy, who does, I think, generally "get it" --- even if he may somewhat underestimate the full gravity that this issue deserves, as it underscores our entire democracy: "The big thing would be to take the election system out of the private sector, and put it into the public sector."

On that score, of course, he's right on the money.

One more note: They discuss the "blogosphere" several times in several ways in relation to this issue. No names mentioned (can't imagine who they may be referring to.) And co-host Ben Mankiewicz --- who I've sat in for once or twice while he was gone, so haven't gotten to speak with him much on this --- seems to be the most skeptical of the bunch. I've told Cenk this morning that I'd be delighted to go back on the show to answer any and all of Ben's (or his) questions, skepticisms, concerns or anything else on this matter. Hopefully, we'll be able to arrange something along those lines soon.

-- Watch/Listen to the complete interview with Steven Levy here...

(Thanks for the heads up, Cenk!)

Guest blogged by David Edwards of Veredictum.com

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Yesterday, The New York Daily News reported that two top CIA officials discussed Valerie plame with Cheney's former Chief of Staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby. If true, the CIA officials' testimony will show that Libby knew of Valerie Plame's status at the CIA at least a month prior to Robert Novak's column which first publicly exposed Valerie Plame's undercover status. The testimony of the two top CIA officials is expected to bolster the charge of perjury against Libby. Libby has previously testified that he first learned about Plame from a reporter.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann takes notice that this story had been originally reported 2 months earlier by Jason Leopold, an internet journalist writing for Truthout. On May 13th, Leopold reported that Karl Rove, like Libby, had been served with an indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice. This report has not been confirmed by other media sources, triggering a fierce debate on the internet about the accuracy Leopold's report that Rove has been served with an indictment. Truthout editor, Marc Ash, is defending the accuracy of the report.

Another Primary Election Day. Another E-Voting Mess. This time in Arkansas.

Mind you, this comes on the heels of earlier announcements that several major counties in Arkansas would be forced to use paper ballots instead of electronic machines after ES&S failed to deliver ballots and programming on time for the start of elections (something like the 10th state in which this has happened with ES&S so far this year, as regular BRAD BLOG readers know. But shhh...don't tell anyone!)

On Monday, the day before the election, at least one county election director in Arkansas pleaded with voters to choose paper on Election Day. "Grab a paper ballot, vote it and put it in the ballot box. It will go smoother," Benton County's election coordinator told voters on Monday.

Well, now it looks like ES&S has failed even further (we're shocked, shocked!) as tabulators in some counties failed to work at all, so ballots can't be counted until tomorrow at the earliest. And now the AR Secretary of State wants some answers about all of it.

From AP tonight...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

"We need more audits. We need recounts. Trust no one. If it can't be verified, it can't be used": Ion Sancho. Why is it that newspapers in Virginia talk about their new voting machines and mention they are AccuVote Touch Screens but the papers never utter the name "Diebold"? Official results for Luzerne County Ohio's primary race are down by 10 percent from unofficial count done on election night. This mistake by an ES&S employee's failure to reset a counter to zero has resulted in a change in at least one race. It will also surely result in recounts and/or lawsuits. Poll workers in Arkansas seem to be having some problems getting voters to try the new iVotronics. Up to 75% of the voters have opted to use paper ballots. And, Arkansas SoS Daniels has no stated that he will be talking with ES&S about their failure to support elections in his state. Of course, the DoJ is in Arkansas and one of the things they are surely looking at is that four counties are still using their old lever machines because of ES&S's failures....

So much for those vaunted claims by California's Sec. of State Bruce McPherson and his partners at Diebold, Inc. about increased security surrounding the physical access to electronic voting machines in light of newly revealed vulnerabilities to easy tampering.

A tip received by The BRAD BLOG on Monday reveals that Temp Workers are currently being sought in San Francisco for California's upcoming primary election to "assist in dropping off election voting machines and picking these machines up when voting is complete," as the says.

A classified ad seeking the workers is currently posted on the Internet at Monster.com by Kelly Services. (A screenshot of the complete ad is posted at the end of this article.) The salary offered to temp workers hired for the job --- who will have private unsupervised access to the state's voting machines before and after election day --- is $11.99/hour according to the posting.

A litany of recent studies and independent scientific analyses of electronic voting machines, in California and elsewhere --- and reportedly widely in the mainstream media of late --- have warned that such systems and the data they contain are easily alterable via such physical access.

State and voting machine company officials have now admitted as much, but claim that stringent security procedures ensure that the danger posed by such access can be mitigated.

The ad, however, seeking temp workers for three weeks beginning on May 31, the week prior to California's June 6th primary election, would seem to belie official claims, while serving to underscore the extraordinarily precarious and dangerously vulnerable state of our current electoral system...