The coverage of Voting and Electronic Voting issues is increasing exponentially at this point due to 1) the impending November election (read: coming train wreck) 2) the fact that an electoral meltdown occured in last Tuesday’s Maryland primary (they’ve been happening in every primary so far this year as BRAD BLOG readers know, but now that they’ve occured in Montgomery County, MD, where the DC media and politicos live, the problem suddenly “exists”!) and, of course, 3) the news of the VelvetRevolution.ussponsored Princeton University Diebold Virus Hack.
I’m doing my best to keep up, but there is now much to cover and as well, I’m now being asked to do many media events which are time-consuming but also necessary. So, expect much more cover here shortly on all of the latest, even if some of that coverage must (necessarily) be a bit more abbreviated than in “the old days” when none of this stuff actually “existed”.
One such new story worth covering is on the front page(!!!) of today’s Sunday Washington Post. It begins this way:
Some Officials Say Voting Law Changes And New Technology Will Cause Trouble
An overhaul in how states and localities record votes and administer elections since the Florida recount battle six years ago has created conditions that could trigger a repeat — this time on a national scale — of last week’s Election Day debacle in the Maryland suburbs, election experts said.
…That’s a good start — if it took Maryland for WaPo to “notice” what’s been going on now for months (in fact, years!), I’ll take it! But the “truthiness” of the WaPo coverage goes quickly downhill from there.
Little wonder it’s linked from Drudge Report right now!
The framing of the problems as mostly “human error” is exactly the type of coverage that Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia, Hart InterCivic and friends are no doubt delighted about. The facts of the matter, however, are far different from the incredibly “Fair and Balanced” (read: uneven playing field, levelled inappropriately to the advantage of bad guys who don’t deserve it, so WaPo stays out of trouble) spin given to the story. Even the WaPo’s own coverage defies their own attempted spin, bias or failure (whatever you wish to call it)…
One example. In a sidebar-graphic included with the story, WaPo reports:
However, as BRAD BLOG readers well know, that’s simply and wholly untrue.
In state after state, primary after primary, electronic failures with the new machines have caused one meltdown and train wreck after another. WaPo’s own story details several of them!
…
In Ohio, results from the May primary election were delayed for nearly a week in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) when thousands of absentee ballots were incorrectly formatted for electronic scanners and had to be counted by hand.
…
[A]n analysis of Cuyahoga County’s paper trail by the nonpartisan Election Science Institute showed that a tenth of the receipts were uncountable.
We’ll add just a few more such mechanical failures that occurred — at no fault of poll workers — beginning with the very first 2006 primary on March 7th in Texas and continuing virtually every week and in every state since then!
That’s just a few, of course, of the scores of such problems The BRAD BLOG has already reported this year, and doesn’t even include malfeasance by Elections Officials such as San Diego County’s Mikel Haas, who defied both state and federal law by sending pre-programmed, election-ready Diebold voting machines home with poll workers for days and weeks prior to the election — which means other “mechanical problems” (such as the virus Princeton University recently demonstrated can be added easily and undectably implanted during such voting machine “sleepovers”) were likely introduced that voters (and WaPo) may never know about (since WaPo never bothered to investigate the problem!)!
WaPo even goes so far as to print quote after quote from such officials, backing up that same horseshit with long-ago debunked points from officials who have a personal stake in making such disprovable claims. Like this one:
WaPo doesn’t bother to mention that it’s Kennedy’s own organization (NASED) who is responsible for putting that “federal” stamp of “qualified” approval on the machines in the first place. Sort of a conflict of interest, it would seem to me. Yet they didn’t bother to call me, or any of the other hard-working folks who know better and could have given them quotes to the contrary. We would have quickly shown them that the equipment doesn’t work, that NASED knows it, and yet they approved them anyway because they were responsible for giving such federal approval to the very machines they’d already purchased and planned to use!
Instead, they just blame the poll workers for their own failings.
Look…If you manufacture and sell a shitty car — let’s say a Ford Pinto — that blows up during the course of its normal use when predictable things happen to it — let’s say a rear-end collision — you don’t blame the drivers for the failure!
Blaming the poll workers, as is now the de facto, last desperate excuse of America’s Electronic Voting Machine Vendors — and the Elections Officials who have disastrously staked their careers on backing them by believing their horseshit and unsupported claims that their systems were safe and accurate for use in elections — is reporting of the worst and most irresponsible kind.
The media — especially one such as The Washington Post — should damned well know better!
(Hat-tip to BRAD BLOG reader Ryan D. for the heads up!)
Here’s an excellent comment from a commenter at Raw Story:
“”””
Ask Yourself One Question
How is it possible to believe that these deliberate and myriad subversions of the United States constitution, the codified negation of judicial authority even at the Supreme Court level, the rollback of the bill of rights, brazen violations of international law, suspension of habeas corpus and ultimate concentration of power in the executive branch will all culminate in a normal election in ’08? Answer: It isn’t possible. They are not creating a fascist dictatorship and re-carving the middle east so they can all just walk away quietly in 08. What will it take to wake people up ? Even those who purport to be on the side of reason, god,constitution and country are zionist infiltrators. What better example; what better metaphor than the New York Times?
“””””””
I couldn’t have said it any better. Do we all just think, after what they’ve started, that they are all just going to “walk away” in 2008???
I’ll take the front page over nothing. I was astounded to see it this morning after sooooooo long! I’m hoping they said enough to open some eyes! I’m willing to bet they did. Hopefully just the beginning here in Maryland. Thanks Brad, John, WP for keeping everyone honest!
bu$$hco’s ass is on fire,..
over at the International Court of Justice.
It is “CUT AND RUN TIME” for bu$$h at the World Court,.. Link
O.T.
A Republican Patriot
This is way OT, but does anyone else see a resemblance here:
link
link
heh.
Twins!
Sent to: letters@washpost.com
9/17/06
Re: Major Problems At Polls Feared (9/17/06, p.A1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/w...600885_pf.html
Dear Editor:
The same September 17, 2006 issue with the front page headline “Major Problems at Polls Feared” also reported on the complications with Maryland’s Primary Election and the ongoing series of electoral “train wrecks” nationwide this year. Poll problems are not just feared, they have begun. Your “Feared” article is reminiscent of stories prior to the November 2004 election in which the public was told to expect lawsuits and delayed vote counting. Yet immediately after that election, citizens were vilified for trying to spotlight the very problems we were told to expect.
This November, more than one third of the votes will be cast on paperless electronic machines that cannot be recounted. At least an equal number of votes will be counted on optical scanners using secret proprietary computer programming. In a recent survey, Zogby International found 92% of Americans believe we have a right to know and see how our votes are counted. But by design, we cannot know or see how our votes are counted. The problems the Washington Post says we should fear do not stem from results yet to be reported, but rather from the very election conditions that are already in place. Listen closely and you’ll hear Americans saying “We Do Not Consent” to secret vote counting that requires blind trust and provides no basis for confidence in the results reported.
Dave Berman
Eureka, CA
Protest at the college level? My daughter, who is starting mentioned that students in her class were chatting about setting of a “Diebold – evoting” protest.
Hopefully they can find a free speach zone.
The Republican neo-cons did NOT set up the executive branch as a dictatorship…so they could have a Democrat president in 2008. Think about it…
Sept. 18, 2006
The Un-Breaking Story of Bruce Funk
Last week, Mr.Bruce Funk, clerk and auditor in Emery county Utah until his, for lack of a better word, separation from those duties on April 1st 2006, testified, under oath, that the largest circulation newspaper in Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune, had misstated his claim that he had notified county commissioner Ira Hatch that he intended to keep his job of 23 years. Although he admitted he had verbally quit that job the night before, he was left with the strong impression that, because of the highly charged emotions present, he would have until the next day to decide whether to submit a formal resignation. Indeed, just minutes after he left that contentious meeting, Glen Warchol of the Tribune called Mr. Funk to say that he understood he had resigned. Funk told Mr. Warchol that he had been given the night to think things over, and Warchol printed that statement in a story about the incident the next day.
In a consequent story by Mr. Warchol, instead of printing Funk’s assertion that he had simply notified Mr. Hatch of his desire to stay on the job, stated in an article for the Tribune that “Funk changed his mind. Instead of confirming his resignation in writing, Funk hired a lawyer and says he will fight for his position.” Funk had admittedly “visited” Doug Short, a prominent attorney who, having been through a similar situation, told Funk he should stay in his position.
David Blackwell, who was representing commissioner Ira Hatch before the state records committee last Thursday was extremely intent, and almost seemed to be bluffing to get Funk to say that he had verbally issued an intent to take legal action against the state or certain personalities either in recorded session or “in passing in the hall”. Funk admitted that things had been going “ninety miles an hour”, and that he couldn’t recall all of the things that might have been said.
Mr. Funk is calling for the public release of the recorded sessions to clear things up.
Patricia Smith-Mansfield, who presided over the commission, made it clear throughout, that she didn’t think it was under the committee’s jurisdiction to release the archives. Funks attorney made it clear that he believed the records should be released because the names of those voting to take the discussion of Mr. Funk into closed session had not been, under law, properly documented in the minutes of those meetings.
Mr. Blackwell claims that this was merely a technicality and since it was known there was a unanimous decision made to go into closed session, should be allowed to, and would be willing to correct the mistake. Funks attorney, Phillip W. Dyer, claims that the commission has had six months to correct the records and that they should be released. Two members of the commission agreed with Mr. Dyer, and one said she had noticed a pattern of this sort of thing happening in the past. The full vote resulted in a further withholding of the documents.
Now I would like to talk about the title of this post on the “blogosphere”, The Un-Breaking Story of Bruce Funk. I am by, profession, an optician but have also published one computer program. The reason I got up at 7 a.m. and took my camcorder down to the State Archives Building last Thursday was because I was worried the press would not cover this very important story. It seems I was correct in that assumption.
Those who have been following the willful ignorance of both the television and print media on the most fundamentally important right of a nation that calls itself a democracy, the right to vote, and to have that vote counted, are watching in disbelief , and an increasing sense of anger at what is nothing less then a complete blackout on even a discussion of the voting fraud being wrought by the Republican party since the stolen election of 2000.
The Utah press’s very spotty coverage, although somewhat dignified some three years ago has devolved to the point that one reporter, Jay Evensen, of the Deseret Morning News referred to Mr. Funk as being “not too bright”, for having called in a third party to inspect the machines without state oversight, knowing full well, it might result in wide government scrutiny of his actions. What Funk couldn’t have known at the time, is that his brave action would shortly result in full vindication of, not only himself, but also the Black Box Voting organization which for many years, had been ignored, vilified, made fun of, and even had their website illegally shut down by Diebold.
For the first time, the terrible threat of the voting machines had received full national coverage! Something hundreds of computer scientists and voting rights activists had been fighting for. Even wider acknowledgment, and proof of the dangers of computerized voting, came shortly after, when the Brennan report was released.
Diebold had sent a letter to state officials stating that Mr. Funks actions may have breached the contract entered into between themselves, the Lt. Governors office, and Emery county, and that the warranty of the machines might be in jeopardy. When asked by Blackwell if he could understand why the county thought they might be headed into litigation, he answered, under oath, “No. Because I had tried to do everything on my own to protect Emery county. I protected Emery county to the best of my ability from any liability.”
Mr. Funk made sure that BBV’s inspection of the Diebold voting machines, was properly documented on videotape. One of the reasons he decided to keep his job was to make sure the same kind of documentation was preformed when Diebold had access to Utah’s voting equipment. Remarkably, the BBV efforts revealed that closed door access to the machines would not even be necessary to change the results of an election.
Diebold has been sued at least three times, and had already lost two of those lawsuits before the state made the purchase of the machines. The state continues to give Diebold unrestricted access to the machines and refuses to let Funk do his job protecting the integrity of the elections he’s been charged to oversee.
In my opinion, the state is not throwing any argument out in their defense of removing Funk from his position, and preventing him and us from access to what transpired in those secret meetings with Diebold, but it was obvious they are not comfortable with, publically impugning his character, professional competence or mental health, and seem to be grasping at his inability to “fairly run an election.”
Where is the press and television media? If it wasn’t Bruce Funk who said he was going to “hire” a lawyer. Who gave Glen Warchol that information?
Larry, Thank You for the update on Bruce Funk. Do you think he’ll be able to retain his job?
You’re looking at the media attention brought to the story. The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Morning News have decided not to cover it at all, apparently.
Not surprising though, The two large circulation papers here have been printed out of the same offices for decades. Salt Lake Tribune used to compliment the Deseret Morning News by offering a more liberal side, but shortly after Bush took over, ownership was transfered to Bush-friendly owner Dean Singleton. The Deseret News has become interesting lately, because of almost constant coverage of Steven Jones. Other then that, the two papers are usually hard to tell apart.
Anything that happens will be in court and Funk hasn’t even made a decision on whether to go forward with that. If he does, it might get interesting.
He was not going to continue with the election clerk job anyway, so It’s very unlikely that anything’s going to happen there. For some reason, they continue to give him health coverage, and paid him after leaving the job. There seems to be something strange about that fact. They offered him a package of benefits to quit, but he didn’t do that.
The following post is an amended version of the above post about Bruce Funk.
As I said, I’m an optician, not a writer, and there was a confusing mixup of the words “commission” and “committee” among other things.
Sorry!
Sept. 18, 2006
The Un-Breaking Story of Bruce Funk
Last week, Mr. Bruce Funk, clerk and auditor in Emery county Utah until his, for lack of a better word, “separation” from those duties on April 1st 2006, testified, under oath, that the largest circulation newspaper in Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune, had misstated his claim that he had notified Emery county commissioner Ira Hatch that he intended to keep his job of 23 years. Although he admitted he had verbally quit that job the night before, he was left with the strong impression that, because of the highly charged emotions present, he would have until the next day to decide whether to submit a formal resignation. Indeed, just minutes after he left that contentious meeting, Glen Warchol of the Tribune called Mr. Funk to say that he understood he had resigned. Funk told Mr. Warchol that he had been given the night to think things over, and Warchol printed that statement in a story about the incident the next day.
In a consequent story by Mr. Warchol, instead of printing Funk’s assertion that he had simply notified Mr. Hatch of his desire to stay on the job, stated in an article for the Tribune that “Funk changed his mind. Instead of confirming his resignation in writing, Funk hired a lawyer and says he will fight for his position.” Funk had admittedly “visited” Doug Short, a prominent attorney who, having been through a similar situation, told Funk he should stay in his position.
Emery County District Attorney, David Blackwell, who was representing commissioner Ira Hatch before the state records committee last Thursday was extremely intent, and almost seemed to be bluffing to get Funk to say that he had verbally issued an intent to take legal action against the state or certain personalities either in recorded session or “in passing in the hall”. Funk admitted that things had been going “ninety miles an hour”, and that he couldn’t recall all of the things that might have been said.
Mr. Funk is calling for the public release of the recorded sessions to clear things up.
Patricia Smith-Mansfield, who presided over the archives committee, made it clear throughout, that she didn’t think it was under the committee’s jurisdiction to release the archives. Funks attorney made it clear that he believed the records should be released because the names of those voting to take the discussion of Mr. Funk into closed session had not been, under law, properly documented in the minutes of those meetings.
Mr. Blackwell claims that this was merely a technicality and since it was known there was a unanimous decision made to go into closed session, should be allowed to, and would be willing to correct the mistake. Funks attorney, Phillip W. Dyer, claims that the Emery county commission has had six months to correct the records and that they should be released. Two members of the archives committee agreed with Mr. Dyer, and one said she had noticed a pattern of this sort of thing happening in the past. The full vote resulted in a further withholding of the documents.
Now I would like to talk about the title of this post on the “blogosphere”, The Un-Breaking Story of Bruce Funk. I am by, profession, an optician but have also published one computer program. The reason I got up at 7 a.m. and took my camcorder down to the State Archives Building last Thursday was because I was worried the press would not cover this very important story. It seems I was correct in that assumption.
Those who have been following the willful ignorance of both the television and print media on the most fundamentally important right of a nation that calls itself a democracy, the right to vote, and to have that vote counted, are watching in disbelief , and an increasing sense of anger at what is nothing less then a complete blackout on even a discussion of the voting fraud being wrought by the Republican party since the stolen election of 2000.
The Utah press’s very spotty coverage, although somewhat dignified some three years ago has devolved to the point that one reporter, Jay Evensen, of the Deseret Morning News referred to Mr. Funk as being “not too bright”, for having called in a third party to inspect the machines without state oversight, knowing full well, it might result in wide government scrutiny of his actions. What Funk couldn’t have known at the time, is that his brave action would shortly result in full vindication of, not only himself, but also the Black Box Voting organization which for many years, had been ignored, vilified, made fun of, and even had their website illegally shut down by Diebold.
For the first time, the terrible threat of the voting machines had received full national coverage! Something hundreds of computer scientists and voting rights activists had been fighting for. Even wider acknowledgment, and proof of the dangers of computerized voting, came shortly after, when the Brennan report was released.
Diebold had sent a letter to state officials stating that Mr. Funks actions may have breached the contract entered into between themselves, the Lt. Governors office, and Emery county, and that the warranty of the machines might be in jeopardy. When asked by Blackwell if he could understand why the county thought they might be headed into litigation, he answered, under oath, “No. Because I had tried to do everything on my own to protect Emery county. I protected Emery county to the best of my ability from any liability.”
Mr. Funk made sure that BBV’s inspection of the Diebold voting machines, was properly documented on videotape. One of the reasons he decided to keep his job was to make sure the same kind of documentation was preformed when Diebold had access to Utah’s voting equipment. Remarkably, the BBV efforts revealed that closed door access to the machines would not even be necessary to change the results of an election.
Diebold has been sued at least three times, and had already lost two of those lawsuits before the state made the purchase of the machines. The state continues to give Diebold unrestricted access to the machines and refuses to let Funk do his job protecting the integrity of the elections he’s been charged to oversee.
In my opinion, the state is not throwing any argument out in their defense of removing Funk from his position, and preventing him and us from access to what transpired in those secret meetings with Diebold, but it was obvious they are not comfortable with, publically impugning his character, professional competence or mental health, and seem to be grasping at his inability to “fairly run an election.”
Where is the press and television media? If it wasn’t Bruce Funk who said he was going to “hire” a lawyer. Who gave Glen Warchol that information?