Annotated Bibliography of 15 Expert Reports on Voting Systems and Fair Vote Counts
Summarized by Rady Ananda On behalf of J30 Coalition Columbus, Ohio January 18, 2007
In response to the numerous failings of electronic voting systems, as summarized below, the majority of these experts offer electronic audit solutions, enhanced security protocols, greater enforcement of existing laws, and proposals for new law, election procedures, and backup systems, at additional exorbitant cost to taxpayers.
The well-financed and most visible portion of the election integrity movement agrees with these solutions.
None of these solutions, however, meet the Fair Vote Count standard enumerated by international authority (OSCE, below, to which the US is a signatory. See page 9). Humans cannot observe the vote count when it is conducted inside a machine, be it touch screen, optical scan, mechanical lever, or any other machine tabulator. No amount of audits, security protocols, or paper trails will change the fact that machines count the vote secretly.
Key policy makers, on the other hand, see no urgency in reconsidering electronic voting systems. Warren Stewart of www.VoteTrustUSA.org recently advised,
"The incoming chair of the Committee on House Administration (which crafted HAVA), Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA), has let it be known ... that it will not mandate any voting technology changes until 2011."
This position simply ignores the science.
As to the most appropriate and best next step, a vocal portion of non-experts envisions an entirely different solution. We rely on expert conclusions about what doesn't work, and we rely on expert descriptions of what constitutes a democratic election: hand-counted paper ballots, at the precinct, before all who wish to observe.
Emphasis in the annotations below appeared in the original document.
Compuware Corp. DRE Technical Security Assessment Report for Ohio, November 2003.
Congressional Research Service, Election Reform and Electronic Voting Systems (DREs): Analysis of Security Issues. (Order Code RL32139) November 4, 2003. click here
Cuyahoga Election Review Panel, Final Report, July 20, 2006 www.cuyahogavoting.org/CERP_Final_Report_20060720.pdf Reviewed by Kim Zetter of www.wired.com
In 2004, Rady Ananda began contributing to the Web, as part of the growing community of citizen journalists. Focusing mainly on elections, her blogs also address religious, gender, sexual and racial equality, as well as environmental issues; and are sprinkled with book and film reviews on various topics. She currently serves as a senior editor at OpEdNews.
All material offered here is the property of Rady Ananda, copyright 2006, 2007, 2008. Permission is granted to repost, with proper attribution including the original link.
"It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies." ~ Noam Chomsky http://www.wisdomquotes.com/001925.html
This is an excellent list of resources. Your solution about precinct hand-counting of paper ballots with public observation is, in fact, the only way we will be able to regain honest elections in this technological age. Thanks much for this good work you have done.
by
Michael Richardson (74 articles, 15 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 27 comments)
on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 3:56:08 PM
Any active or passive involvement in the intentional disenfranchisement of a U.S. Citizen should be a Class A felony FOR EACH INSTANCE.
If this crime is committed by anyone holding ANY government position, they should lose all their estate and they and their progeny should be denied ANY government funds in perpetuity.
If more than 100 counts are involved, the death penalty should be an option.
I think THAT would get a few Republican Secretaries of State or Electoral Commissioner's attention. I'm thinking of people like Ken Blackwell or the Republicans in Warren County or in the FL-13 or just about ANYWHERE where Republicans are allowed anywhere near the registration or voting process.
Most of the corrupt LOCAL, REGIONAL and NATIONAL Republicans who have conspired (and acted solely) to cheat and steal votes have done so believing that they were "fighting a moral battle against evil." But I wonder how many would do it again if they thought they could go to jail, lose everything, sentence their children to destruction, or even DIE for it. Sure, some would, but many would wimp out if they thought it wasn't going to be as easy as we've made it.
Time to change the rules of the game and make cheating a LOT harder.
CharlieL
Portland, OR
by
Charlie L (2 articles, 2 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 614 comments)
on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 6:20:23 PM
