The Buck Must Stop with Linda Lamone OR Connecting Maryland's Election Debacle Dots

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By Joyce McCloy (about the author) Page 2 of 6 page(s)

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Maryland Board of Elections' website says that voters who vote after 8 p.m. will have to cast a provisional ballot "according to federal law."

Turns out this is from HAVA... here's a citation: 42 U.S.C. 15482(c) or §302(c) of HAVA

Blind voters still not able to vote unassisted in Maryland.

A Republican candidate for Lt. Governor in Maryland, who has been blind
since age 13, was unable to vote independently (again).
It appears that poll workers weren't trained in how to activate this feature.
Washington Times

Ironically, Diebold is "partners" with the National Federation of the Blind, which calls itself "the voice of the nation's blind." I am sure that the $million that Diebold gave them had nothing to do with that endorsement at all. Voters Unite

Unqualified help?
Maryland elections were serviced by Rovers supplied by a PDS, a temporary agency.
Looks like anyone off the street might be elligible:

PDS placed an add for Election Rovers at www.Monster.com

EXTRA $$ working on elections!

Earn Extra Cash ? Statewide
Maryland Counties
Minimum requirements -
Must have valid driver's license, and proof of auto insurance.
Education Desired: Some High School Coursework
Experience: Less than 1 Year

Diebold adds a new twist to voting - a 2 minute timer.I have neither faith or trust in the machines to handle this properly given that the machines already have a gigantic failure rate.

Machines add features to help system, voters
Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2006 If a voter goes two minutes without making a choice, the system will time out, which election officials say will resolve problems that tied up the system in the last election

If only Maryland had gotten those optical scanners with paper ballots that
the governor had pushed for. But True Vote Maryland, a dedicated group of
advocates for verified voting tells the sad story of an election bill that received unanimous support in the state house, but was killed by the senate.

With optical scanners, voters would not have to be turned away even if the machines broke down. Every voter would have been able to cast their vote on paper ballots, and the ballots could be scanned later or easily counted by hand.

Anyone who's fed up with the embarrassment that Maryland Elections has become -
should gather by the county seats (where I'm sure the press will be gathered) with huge signs

FIRE LINDA LAMONE
and/or
HUMAN ERROR = LAMONE'S FAULT

This problem will NOT go away as long as Linda Lamone is overseeing elections. She will be an impediment to any hopes of having verified voting as long as she is in office.

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