Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org
The Florida Secretary of State has found someone to take the state’s Direct Recording Electronic voting machines and “de-manufacture” them. ES&S iVotronics will be resold, if possible. The state’s Sequoia machines will be scrapped for spare parts and recycle.
In a not surprising announcement today Secretary of State Coffman of Colorado announced that he is recertifying the state’s optical scan machines to go with the state’s DREs that he has already recertified. Essentially the state lost a court decision and had to recertify all voting systems used in the various counties. Coffman hired test labs at great expense to the tax payer to test the machines. They found problems with every system they tested. Coffman, after taking many positions, finally decided to recertify the DREs last week, even though they were decertified for good reason. Now, today, he has ignored the test labs, again, and recertified the optical scan machines. This includes the Hart Intercivic eScan that was decertified because it read stray pencil/pen marks on the ballot, even reading the mark and ignoring a correctly made vote. The tax payers in the state of Colorado need to ask, “Why did you waste our tax money to test machines and then ignore the tests and recommendations of the testers?” The state has come no where since the court found that they had not legally certified voting systems in the first place. Now they have the same machines and nothing is better now than it was in the past.
Those headlines, all the rest of the notable voting news stories, all follow below…
- NAtional: Provisional Ballots May Be the Hanging Chad of ’08
http://www.tcf.org/list.asp?type=NC&pubid=1817 - NAtional: Prof. pushes verifiable voting system
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/2/28/profPushesVerifiableVotingSystem - CA: Documentary Exposing Election Fraud Slated for Four Screenings In San Francisco
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/02/27/18482268.php - CA: Los Angeles County – Uncounted primary ballots to be tallied
http://www.wavenewspapers.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=71&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=7073&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1019&hn=wavenewspapers&he=.com - CA: Los Angeles County – L.A. County Registrar Prepares to NOT Count Thousands of ‘Double Bubble’ Ballots from Super Tuesday’s Democratic Primary
https://bradblog.com/?p=5746 - CA: Los Angeles County – LA Supervisors ask for full accounting of double bubble trouble
http://calvoter.org/news/blog/index.html - CO: Editorial – Paper ballots still are safest
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_8383424 - CO: Concerns rising about requiring a paper-ballot election
One senator promises to fight the bill, the result of problems with electronic terminals.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8387623 - CO: Coffman recertifies ballot-counting machines
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8396068 - CO: Scanners Used In 47 Counties Recertified For Elections
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15441752/detail.html - FL: Fla. secretary of state to discuss switch to optical scan voting
http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/437221.html - FL: State to ‘de-manufacture’ touch-screen voting booths
Reaches deal with recycling firm to sell off parts from 29,000 machines
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS0107/80228054/1075 - FL: Touchscreen machines headed for junk heap
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/437705.html - FL: Touch-screen voting machines to be recycled or resold
http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/022808/D8V3JKVO2.shtml - FL: Palm Beach County – 4,000 Palm Beach voting machines being sold for parts
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/02/28/0228touchscreen.html - MS: Senate passes watered-down elections bill
http://www.cdispatch.com/articles/2008/02/28/state_news/state03.txt - NJ: Opinion – Don’t extend ballot deadline
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/OPINION01/802280611/1029/OPINION - NM: Provisional Ballots to Decide NM Winner
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Feb07/0,4670,NewMexicoCaucus,00.html - NY: Board approves voting machines despite objections
http://capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/111359/board-approves-voting-machines-despite-objections/Default.aspx - NY: State OKs opposed voting machine
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280333/1002/NEWS - NY: N.Y. approves new voting machines
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280355 - OH: Elections spending called bad deal
Ohio secretary of state says voting-machine purchases poorly done
http://www.ohio.com/news/16065012.html - OH: Brunner defends removing elections board dissenters
http://blog.cleveland.com/plaindealer/2008/02/brunner_defends_removing_elect.html - OH: Crates not re-appointed to Board of Election by Secretary of State
http://www.adaherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=5&ArticleID=100725 - OH: Cuyahoga County – Will Your Vote Count?
Cuyahoga County Implements A New Electronic Voting System, After Wasting Millions On A Fantasy
http://www.freetimes.com/stories/15/43/will-your-vote-count - PA: Lackawanna County – Voting machine talks stumble
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19340164&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6 - TX: Upshur County has voting hearing
http://www.ketknbc.com/home/ticker/16058727.html - TX: Upshur County – Republicans File Suit Over Upshur Voting Machines
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7936786 - TX: Upshur County – Judge rejects Upshur request
Republicans will use paper ballots Tuesday instead of voting machines
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/02282008_Upshur_Republicans.html - UT: ACLU, League of Woman Voters oppose voter ID bill
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8389318 - UT: Bill would require ID to register for voting
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8385156 - VA: Chesterfield County – Handwritten primary votes won’t be counted
299 Chesterfield votes not on proper paper forms, says election board
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-02-27-0136.html - VA: Prince William County – ACLU Lawsuit Says Officials Unconstitutionally Prevented Man From Voting In Virginia
http://www.aclu.org/votingrights/gen/34244prs20080228.html - WI: Editorial – A case not made
Deal with making the actual voting system work better rather than impose unfair or self-defeating measures.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=722821
**”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**
You guys may already have seen this, but in case you haven’t:
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USA Today, no less!!!