Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org
Yesterday we provided a link to an opinion piece by Dr. David Dill of Stanford University and Verified Voting. Dr. Dill gave his opinion on why he supports HR-811. Today I have provided you a link to Dr. Dill’s article as posted to OpEdNews and a counter opinion from Nancy Tobi of Democracy for New Hampshire. Read them both and make up your own mind.
And for links to many of the other notable voting news stories today, see below…
NAtional: Point – It’s Time to Outlaw Paperless Electronic Voting in the US LINK
NAtional: CounterPoint – Rebuttal to Dill’s support of the HR 811 Trojan Horse LINK
NAtional: Democratic EAC Commissioner Responds to Request by ‘Voter Fraud’ Report Author to Have Gag-Order Lifted LINK
NAtional: Will Voting Reforms Discourage Minority Voting? LINK
CA: San Mateo County – E-voting receives good marks
Human error, not machines, caused most problems, report says LINK
FL: EAC Interferes With Florida Decision To Rid the State of Touch-Screen DRE Voting Systems LINK
FL: Senate passes election reforms, but House support is waning LINK
FL: State senate approves elections package LINK
FL: Senate passes bill with voting machine money, earlier primary LINK
IN: Hamilton County – Officials trust new voting machines LINK
MA: Shrewsbury – Voting machines to be unveiled LINK
NY: Urgent Action Alert from New Yorkers for Verified Voting LINK
OH: Brunner says communication is key LINK
WA: King County – King County, WA May Buy Diebold Tabulators As New Election Director Pronounces Them ‘The Solution With Least Amount of Risk’ LINK
**”Daily Voting News” is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in “Daily Voting News” may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or BradBlog.Com**
John, you suggested that we “read them both and make up your own mind”. I trust that includes some comments here too.
The article and counter article are both shallow and frilly. To some degree that means they are foggy.
They both miss the civics 101 import upon the subject matter, that being the reality of how laws are forged in this great nation.
There is a Senate counterpart, S 559, which singularly has one of the more valuable aspects of the legislation, and must be considered in any comprehensive discussion of the matter.
Neither article mentioned S 559, or that congress is bi-cameral. Neither article mentions that both bills must be morphed into one bill during the conference committee (and that only happens if both bills pass committee and then pass a floor vote … and there is no filibuster in the Senate).
Both articles miss the substance of these bills. The end to the Ken Blackwell syndrome is provided in the Senate version. Both bills require open source code for the public perusal, and both limit network access. And both mention paper ballots.
The articles do not link to or refer to the text, nor do the articles discuss the text in the timeworn method for analysis of text (legal exegisis and legal hermeneutics or “statutory construction” as it is called in the lawbooks).
There are distinct rules for interpreting statutes, and those rules should be followed at all stages. Neither article seems to be aware of such professional techniques, and thus suffer in their depth.
What I like about the bills is getting rid of the Ken Blackwell syndrome, making the source code open, and the prohibitions against networking. I interpret the text to also provide for paper ballots, not merely electronic ballots.
The criminal element of the EVM companies, to the extent they still exist, would be absolutely destroyed if these bills are fused, passed, and signed by the president.
That is because everything will be exposed to us simply by looking at the source code. Any nefarious machinations will at once become obvious. There is no doubt that this is far better than a paper trail, because it exposes all, All, ALL!
Since the EVM companies are republican controlled, I expect the Senate version to be filibustered (the House has no such thing as a filibuster), and I expect the president to veto the bill.
What this means is clear. These bills are a step forward, are progressive, and would leave the EVM landscape orders of magnitude better than it is now.
But there is still time to improve those elements some are objecting to. There have been no hearings yet on S559 in the Senate, even tho the House committee has had hearings.
Those who want to have further impact on the legislation should focus on the Senate hearings and stop the one trick pony HR 811 repetition. It is not a one trick pony, it is a two trick pony.
A controversial comment thread concerning Cuyahoga County Election Fraud Special Prosecutor Kevin Baxter can be viewed here: http://www.sanduskyregister.com...ont/254276.txt
A recent 6th District Appellate Court Decision concerning Island Express Ltd., a company that was funded by a federal grant, of which Kevin Baxter is part owner, can be viewed here: http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/r...-ohio-1041.pdf
Although you might try this cached link, as the Ohio Supreme Court site is undergoing maintenance today and the site is down.
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=...d=1&gl=us
Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner has been embroiled for the last several years in a sort of legal vortex where the law and the constitution do not matter. One of the reasons is because she went to a Port Clinton Council meeting in January 2002 to complain about Kevin Baxter’s ownership interest in Island Express. Island Express was funded by a federal grant made possible by Senator Ted Stevens. Senator Ted Stevens received a $50,000 campaign donation for his trouble and the boat was purchased from a company in Alaska. Elsebeth had sworn statements from eyewitnesses concerning other illegal activities that Mr. Baxter was allegedly involved in which she presented at the meeting. The city council members went ahead with their deal with Baxter anyway. Elsebeth was prosecuted and jailed for true statements that were made at this meeting. This prosecution was used by Lori Brown and the Disciplinary Counsel as the basis to disbar Dr. Baumgartner. Dr. Baumgartner’s pharmacy license was taken based on innuendo regarding her mental health with no evidence to back it up. Dr. Baumgartner has been mentally evaluated at least 7 times with no finding of mental illness. That retaliatory prosecution continues to this day. To date, Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner has been jailed 522 days. There will be another attempt in Cuyahoga County on Monday, April 30, 2007 to send her to prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI in the Northern District of Ohio have known about Elsebeth’s case for many years and yet, they have done nothing. That makes sense in light of the recent U.S. Attorney’s firing scandal in that Greg White’s office was not a target. He was doing just as the Bush administration wanted. Greg White was protecting the mechanisms that could effect a national election, among other things, and also, keep a lid on the extent of the problem by not intervening in the misuse of special prosecutors at a local level. Greg White was promoted to Washington. Visiting judges are appointed at the discretion of Chief Justice Thomas Moyer. Sandusky Ohio is Chief Justice Thomas Moyer’s hometown. Elsebeth Baumgartner has been and continues to be “Kasarised” which is the same as being “Nifonged”.
EXCERPT FROM THE BAUMGARTNER CHRONOLOGY:
January 2, 2002
Baumgartner appears at Port Clinton City Council meeting and makes public statement against Kevin Baxter. Baumgartner delivers motions to members of Port Clinton City Council in order to prove that she has requested a special prosecutor to look into matters concerning Kevin Baxter.
You can read the entire Baumgartner Chronology as prepared and documented until August 4, 2005 by her former business partner Brian DuBois at this link. http://www.northcountrygazette....Chronology.pdf
Also, you might want to view this article.
http://www.asohiogoes.com/index...years_in_jail/
You can also read more about the retaliatory prosecutions Elsebeth has endured since August 4, 2005, including Mr. Baxter’s role, in the North Country Gazette. http://www.northcountrygazette.org If you go to the Site Map and do a search on “Elsebeth Baumgartner” all of the articles will pop up.
Remember Democrat Prosecutors Kevin Baxter, Bill Mason, and Mark Mulligan played ball for years with the Republican Party that dominated Ohio for 12 years. Their entire bad behavior was protected by those powers. Do you think for one second that 3 low level election workers are the whole story of election fraud in Cuyahoga County? I believe they were sacrificed to appease all of the restless natives just as Tom Noe was the sacrifice in “Pay to Play”. This is just the tip of the iceberg in these matters. “Pay to Play” includes the Judiciary Branch of government in Ohio. Exchanging special prosecutors can keep a lid on things. Visiting judges are key players in this agenda. We need a federal investigation into all of these matters in Ohio.
Do you think that anything is going to change by passing more laws if the entire Ohio government system is flawed and corrupt to begin with?
“Do you think that anything is going to change by passing more laws if the entire Ohio government system is flawed and corrupt to begin with?”
I always thought paper ballots were best. Old fashioned, you might even call it conservative. Hear that conservatives, paper ballots a conservative issue. What are they afraid of? Loosing? If they believe in their beliefs, then why do they have to cheat? Wouldn’t every body want what they have to offer if it was so great? My cartoon “The Monster That Ate My Vote” unfortunatly is still current. It can be seen at my website. http://www.whatnowtoons.com/#063
this link takes you to the specific cartoon on voting machines.
Cartoons with a progressive edge
http://www.whatnowtoons.com