New York Times set to report elections officials are getting “cold feet” about electronic voting. Gosh, what to ’em so long? (both the elections officials and NYTimes!)
“A growing number of state and local officials are getting cold feet about electronic voting technology, and many are making last-minute efforts to limit or reverse the rollout of new machines in the November elections,” reports Ian Urbina.
…
“Paperless touch-screen machines have been the biggest source of consternation, and with about 40 percent of registered voters nationally expected to cast their ballots on these machines in the midterm elections, many local officials fear that the lack of a paper trail will leave no way to verify votes in case of fraud or computer failure,” reports the Times.
…
“Less than two months before voters head to the polls, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. of Maryland this week became the most recent official to raise concerns publicly. Ehrlich, a Republican, said he lacked confidence in the state’s new $106 million electronic voting system and suggested a return to paper ballots.”
…
“But some election officials and voting experts say they fear that the new technology may have only swapped old problems for newer, more complicated ones. Their concerns became more urgent after widespread problems with the new technology were reported this year in primaries in Ohio, Arkansas, Illinois, Maryland and elsewhere.”
Nice going waiting until it’s pretty much too late to do a damned thing about it. NY Times has, once again, failed the American people. Jerks.
(Though there’s still time to demand Congress mandate Emergency Paper Ballots!)
The full NYTimes story is now here.
UPDATE: Now that I’ve read the full story, it looks like the following graf refers to the buzz we’ve help generate on Capitol Hill for our proposed LET AMERICA VOTE ACT (Emergency Paper Ballot legislation)…[emphasis added]
Also worthy of condemnation is Vermont’s Democratic Sec. of State Deborah Markowitz, president of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) who seems to be continuing the disingenously positive spin of too many state elections officials of late…
“The real story of the recent primary races was how few problems there were, considering how new this technology is,” said Ms. Markowitz, a Democrat. “The failures we did see, like in Maryland, Ohio and Missouri, were small and most often from poll workers not being prepared.”
Though we like to encourage folks to be poll workers, we might recommend that those in Vermont simply stay home this year. Your Secretary of State, who is clearly not prepared to do her job, thinks it’s all your fault! So why bother? Take the day off!
CORRECTION: We had originally reported Markowitz as being a member of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED), the group given the responsibility of certifying (and so far, rubber stamping on behalf of the voting machine companies) electronic voting machines at the federal level. Markowitz is President of NASS, not NASED. We regret the error.
the willful blindness of the folks entrusted with our elections just boggles the mind.
my fave quote is at the end of the artice:
anyone wanna bet on whether or not the NYT will deign to cover the Let America Vote Act specifically? it’s only an election for the entire House of Representatives with the future of the country at stake, so i can see how they might not be interested….
Thank you Brad for your tireless work against this group of paid for posturing electronic voting machine criminals. Following the take over of our elections since the 2000 Presidential theft, it still makes me so angry knowing that the Bushit neo-con fascists have been in bed with a majority of corporate sellout Democratic enabler robots since all along. So we got the REPUBLIDEM government for a Bush’s new Amerika.
To quote once again: i let the DEMOCRAT speak!
LIE #1:
Deborah L. Markowitz, the Vermont secretary of state and the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, said that while there might be some problems in November, she expected them to be limited and isolated.
SETS UP LIE #2:
“The real story of the recent primary races was how few problems there were, considering how new this technology is,” said Ms. Markowitz, a Democrat. “The failures we did see, like in Maryland, Ohio and Missouri, were small and most often from poll workers not being prepared.”
Excuse me Ms. Markowitz can you please confine spreading your Diebold rheteric of bushit to your naive kids or someone who would slam your head on an electronic voting machine for each lie until you tell the truth. Since your leader George W. Bush advocates unlawful torture, i believe we need to exercise this type of activity on the homefront and see if it gets the desired results on people like you.
The New York Times seems to be getting much more serious about this. Here’s another article from today!
Sure hope you’re right about that update Brad! Front page coverage at NYT and Lou Dobbs!
Maybe this battle isn’t lost!
I like the new ad here with the picture of Mark Crispin Miller beaming a smile. I love that guy!
If you mean by “serious”…5 years after the fact, and 30 days before an election when there’s not enough time to have elections stolen AGAIN! What makes us think the NYTimes didn’t purposely time this to be too late to do anything, but still look good by reporting on it???????????? The timing reeks.
We KNOW they suppressed several major stories until after elections, we KNOW this.
Conveniently, they look good reporting at all about it, but have known about it for YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here’s what the NYTimes is accomplishing, by reporting on e-vote fraud at such a late date: Now more people will know elections were stolen. The elections will still be stolen and nothing will be done about it, but at least more people will know.
There’s the “cavalry arrived” crowd, every time the NYTimes does what they’re SUPPOSED to do, I don’t fall for it anymore.
I’m in the “stop watching corporate TV news and getting NYTimes, and get LINK-TV and FSTV, read Brad Blog & Raw Story, and subscribe to American Free Press” crowd… The crowd that gave corporate news entities too many chances.
Hey Brad, I’ve actually spent some time with her and Deb is a very nice woman, and is certainly not in cahoots with Diebold. I would actually recommend that you just call her office, chances are (it’s Vermont), you’ll probably be able to get through to her and express your concerns- she’ll listen.
The comment about torturing her was incredibly, incredibly out of line. And she is also a very partisan Democrat, so I wouldn’t say that Bush is her “leader”.
Comment #8:
How incredible can you be a Secretary of State AND the PRESIDENT of the National Association of Secretaries of State and be so UNeducated and UNinformed on these machines which have proved to be hackable machines by black box voting, hacking election outcomes including 2004 Presidential election, outstanding evidence that they can be hacked UNdetected by 1 person to alter the outcome, AND election after election which encounter endless problems with verifiable numbers.
Do you remember ever hearing your vote is your voice? Does being American stand for anything anymore than being part of the largest group of energy wasters in the world and allowing greeding oil barrons and corporations to run our planet into the ground?
If your friend Deborah is so in the dark about how electronic voting machines have and still are destroying our American system of Democratic elections you best contact her that she MUST GET up to speed.
When a doctor passed his final exam it doesn’t mean he never studies AGAIN. He MUST UPDATE his current knowledge about his line of work and we should expect that from a Secretary of State let alone the President of Secretaries of State.
If this is a case of total ignorance than she owes her state and our country an appology in addition to restating an informed opinion on electronic voting machines with/without a verifiable paper trail.
http://www.bradblog.com
http://www.blackboxvoting.com
Lou Dobbs and Kitty Pilgrim almost every night (covered on bradblog as well)>
Comment #9:
By the way, i don’t believe Ms. Deborah Markowitz words are a case of ignorance no more than the corporate owned mass media is looking out for the best interests of the American people and citizens of the world by not telling the truth.
i hate f*cking liers which is why i hate Bush more than Hitler even though he caused the death of less civilians so far.
i tell you this boy, we got 2 years to quickly stop the Global Warming crisis if Bush doesn’t cause the world to blow up before that time or a million different types of species and millions of humans will be screwed in about 45 years. Heed my warning.
i’ll tell you what Matt Cunningham-Cook don’t hold any Americans elected for the priviledge of representing us “we the people” who MUST take an oath to preserve and protect our Constitution ACCOUNTABLE before our next rigged elections in NOVEMBER. DO NOT hold anyone except a few “pawn” fall guys responsible for these radical changes under the Bush administration such as ATTACKING IRAQ, torture, wire tapping Americans, reversing over 200 environmental laws, AND destroying our system of any accountability over our electoral system until the fix is in.
Then you can thank the corporate mass media for another glazed over HUMAN MISMANAGEMENT STORY.
If even ever reported!!!
Send Ms. Markowitz who by your account has simply been living in a cave without ever taking qualified opinion or legitimate academic acknowledgement of serious cracks and flaws in our BUSHIT system of electronic held elections controlled by criminals in secrecy (SINCE BEFORE THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL THEFT) to release a statement retracting her words with regret and i will retract mine with a genuine apology.
GBD
dmarkowitz@sec.state.vt.us
READ ALL COMMENTS and enjoy your 1st amendment freedom speech to respond while it still exists.
Thought you might be interested in this article from The BRAD BLOG!
Check out ‘Sunday NYTimes: Elections Officials Get ‘Cold Feet’ About E-Voting (The ‘Paper of Record’ Reports Years too Late!)’ at:
big dan #6
Of course, you’re absolutely right. I still try to latch on to some hope these well read publications are going to switch to our side.
One good thing though!
THE DEMOCRATS SEEM TO BE GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE since Clinton attacked Chris Wallace!