It’s incredible (or is it at this point?) but the lawsuit filed by several Colorado voters to ban touch-screen voting machines manufactured by Diebold, ES&S, Hart InterCivic and Sequoia in the state has revealed that the state’s appointed “expert” — responsible for certifying voting systems — has no actual college training in computer science and failed to do any actual testing of the systems before certifying them!
As reported in an excellent article from Rocky Mountain News news this morning…
The plaintiff’s attorneys say Gardner’s security checks on the four systems did not include attempts at hacking. Instead, Gardner merely checked whether the manufacturers included security documentation.
“Of course” Gardner should have tried hacking, [plaintiff attorney Paul] Hultin said. “Isn’t that the idea of a test?”
The issue was also covered quickly in a Denver Post article last night:
The information comes from the deposition of John Gardner – the man appointed by [Colorado Sec. of State] Gigi Dennis as an expert and charged with certifying the machines.
But Gardner testified he is not an expert in the areas required by state law. He also admitted that the Secretary of State’s office was under pressure to certify the voting machines because counties had already purchased them.
The Democratic Party in the state has now called on voters to vote by absentee ballot this November, although that strategy is fraught with risk as well because the optical-scan systems used to tabulate those paper ballots have been determined to be both hackable and inaccurate to boot.
According to the News article, the results of two recent Colorado elections have been reversed after a handcount was taken on races which had been previously scanned on optical-scan equipment made by ES&S.
Their report also says that the Republican candidate for Sec. of State, Mike Coffman, has announced that “his first act if elected would be a full review of all voting systems in Colorado.”
The current Sec. of State Gigi Dennis appears to be a hardcore Republican. She took over in the role after Donneta Davidson was appointed to the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC), as mandated by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The EAC is the body — theoretically — responsible for overseeing such matters for the federal government. They have failed miserably at that, however, as the first head of the commission, the Bush-appointed, now-resigned Rev. DeForest Soaries has expressed in several recent interviews.
In a related matter, the Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government (CCEG) has called for an investigation of Dennis, in a news release issued Wednesday, for contravening state law by allowing votes to be transferred from one candidate to another without the voters’ knowledge.
John Gideon, the Executive Director of election watchdog organization VotersUnite.org (he is also a frequent BRAD BLOG Guest Blogger) has described Dennis as “the Blackwell of Colorado”, referring to the corrupt Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell who helped game the state’s 2004 Presidential Election in favor of George W. Bush.
The Rocky Mountain News article quotes the plaintiff’s attorney as fearing that the state is “headed for a train wreck” this November. Now where have we heard that phrase before?
As well, the News also covers the revelations from the Princeton Report, broken by The BRAD BLOG on Wednesday, which demonstrated that a virus can be added in one minute’s time to a Diebold touch-screen system, which can then flip votes, steal an election, and be spread from machine to machine without ever being noticed by voters or elections officials.
More on the Princeton Report, it’s broad coverage in the media over the last day or two, and Diebold’s silly, misleading and disingenuous response to it, later today.
(Hat-tip to Theron H. for the initial heads-up on this news item.)
This looks like a compelling story, I ummmmmmmmmmm, wonder, like, when do you think they will mention it at kos, atrios, c&l, fdl, digby, americablog, you know, cuz honest elections are important and it always seems the “errors” go to the neocon/repugs.
hhhhmmmmmmmmmm……..
The last paragraph of the Rocky Mountain article is quite SCARY.
The Democratic strategy of absentee voting is not just dangerous because those machines that count the absentee votes can be hacked (or tricked, or labels can be put over the Dem votes and the Rep votes chosen instead (Ohio) or a thousand other ways). The bigger problem is that it will make the races look closer and easier to steal and the Rethuglican Fascists will simply fly the “assumptive winner” to DC and swear them in (like in the CA-50) and that will “be the end of that” without the absentee votes EVER getting counted.
Voting absentee is INSANE!
Vote in person. Destroy the electronic machine before you vote (a razor blade or a coke will probably do the trick) and then wait for them to hand you a non-provisional paper ballot. If (when) they run out of paper ballots, just sit there and wait for them to bring you a paper ballot to cast your legal vote on. How long will you have to wait? Hours? Definitely. Days? Most likely. Weeks? Quite possibly.
Do NOT accept a provisional ballot. Do NOT accept an absentee ballot (after all, it is not YOUR fault that they didn’t have enough paper ballots for each and every person registered in that precinct — it’s not like they cost that much). Just wait for your paper ballot to arrive. Call all your friends and the ACLU while you are waiting.
Make a “party” out of it — a “Democracy Party.”
There aren’t enough police, national guard, army (posse comitatus? What’s that? “just a damned piece of paper”) or even rent-a-cops (“Hi, I’m from Kellog Brown Root and I’m here to take you into custody.”) to arrest ALL of us, especially if there are five or six or ten or fifty of us in every single precinct in the country.
bigjohn (#1) I see this discussion all the time lately and it is totally useless discussion.
Those of us who care about honest elections KNOW where to find the information about the issue — HERE. Those who do not, will, eventually, as long as this is the only place where it is being talked about. Even some of the MSM know that if there is an important election fraud issue, here is where they will find the facts and get solid discussion.
There are many blogs, boards, and sites that are clearly trying to be the “mainstream blogosphere” by deciding what will be discussed and what will not. I don’t know if they are hoping some day to be bought by the MSM or if they just want the kind of “access” that being mainstream gets you. Your list is pretty accurate, but changes nothing.
If you know where to get your news, then you are ahead of the masses. Telling people HERE that KOS won’t cover election fraud is preaching to the choir. If you are really trying to change KOS, then you have to do it there (though, obviously, very carefully) not here. If you want people to know where to go, make up posters and pamphlets and bumper stickers and bathroom signs and point them here.
Most of all, quit whining it’s unbecoming. (This is not specifically to you, bigjohn) but to all those who post repeatedly about how “the others” aren’t covering election fraud. GET OVER IT! and GET MOVING!
Looks like Rove might have to cross Colorado off the list.
Comment #1: Big Dummy: Who gives a Bushit? Last thread you posted the same bla bla bla about other blogs and tried to IMPLY incorrectly Bradblog was removing posts which offered an opposing viewpoint until Agent 99 and later Brad told you the rules of posting and allowable free speech at this blog.
Here’s your Big Dumbass again parroting the same bitch.
SUGGESTION: Why don’t you start your own blog about the state of voting in Bushit America and include a list of blogs which don’t carry the same stories and or your opinionated spin you choose to add.
The only thing the Republican appointees are experts at is brown-nosing.
LOL
Either brad’s info is bad (which I doubt) or the superblogs are doing “liberal” causes a serious diservice by flaming, deleting, banning, and ignoring these issues.
You can’t have it both ways.
If you agree that brad is doing important work and that these issues are important, then saying “get over it” is just another way of saying “its close enough”.
Sorry, don’t buy your analysis at all – you are exactly like the people that said what really happened in 2000 (Gore won FL) no longer matters and we need to “get over it”
That’s how we got the chimperor. If you can’t handle real dialog about vote fraud, WHY BOTHER TO EVEN COME BY? WHAT GOOD DOES IT DO TO KEEP THIS INFO IN A VACUUM? Does it make you feel superior to others?
Of course, most of us would say that those that can’t handle the truth or dialogs about it don’t have the “high ground”
Grizzly – bradblog has removed posts – just cuz you didn’t see them before they were removed doesn’t mean they weren’t there – only a fool would even make such a proclaition!
BigJohn, GBD was pointing out there was cause for the removal of your posts, and expressing the wish for you to get over it, move on, and quit irritating people so much. This has been expressed to you a number of times, by a number of people, and STILL you don’t take the hint. It tends to make people want to start attacking you, which is not allowed, and when you start attacking them for it, it really gets to be as SERIOUS pain in the ass. STOP IT.
BigJohn: Why didn’t you respond to me in the previous thread? I thought you wanted a dialog?
I have put up info from bradblog on C & L and they didn’t ban it and lately they have been following this. Micheal Moore has links to Bradblog. I haven’t checked lately but have seen Dkos put up election news.
Looks like bigjohn/anonymous etc. is trying to change the thread.
IGNORE back on…click
BigJohn,
I can’t speak for other bloggers but for myself I have no intention of avoiding controversial issues. Many blogs are and certainly my own is mostly about other things than those principally discussed here. So once in awhile, in fact probably as often as every few days, I see something here worth pointing out to people and I link it. Then people who are interested come over and learn all about the rest of the story.
Never be discouraged because others aren’t talking about the same things as you are, as long as they aren’t trying to silence you. Be encouraged by everyone who comes here to read and sometimes comment.
If others aren’t bringing these things up elsewhere, bring them up in the comments, and hopefully they will be discussed. You might get a few more people to link here, and BradBlog might get added to a few more blog rolls.
Oh, and my priority is ending cannabis prohibition. So if you want to talk about that, feel free to come visit.
Remember the movie “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. We need aliens to stop all the voting machines this November! The ones in this movie were friendly and that’s the best way they could help us!
Here’s a great caption somebody put on a picture from that movie!
What is a proclaition?
Grizzly Bear Dancer #13
I don’t know, but only a fool would make one.
As I currently understand voting in my Colorado county-the only reason there even is an electronic voting machine for each precinct is HAVA. Voters will choose paper or touchscreen when they first come in. So at least in this county, no one is forced (or even encouraged) to use the touchscreen–except during early voting which is another issue. I too have issues with absentee ballots–I remember them being problematic from too many previous elections.