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Electronic Voting & Fair Vote Counts: 15 Expert Reports

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Transportation of ballot boxes commonly gives rise to fear of substitution... Confidence in the process can be enhanced by the presence of party representatives both at the count and during any interim period of transport.

As to citizen-run parallel elections, the International Parliamentary Union explains:

Parallel voting tabulation has also proven its value as a means of independently verifying the results reported by electoral authorities. In this process, monitors record results obtained from selected polling sites, and compare them with the official results: The monitoring of vote counts as part of an overall election-observation effort

• Can boost the confidence of voters suspicious of possible fraud;
• Permit results to be projected more quickly than the official results;
• Allow for the identification of actual winners; and
• Allow for the consequent exposure of any attempted manipulations.


REBECCA MERCURI, PhD., Affidavit attached as Exhibit A to Squire v. Geer Complaint, Franklin County (Ohio) Court of Appeals, 06APD-12-1285.
Dr. Rebecca Mercuri has been studying electronic vote tabulation since 1989, and has published over 40 scientific papers on electronic voting technology. She observed the partial recount of Frankin County, Ohio's November 7, 2006 election. She also oversaw the Signature Audit of 25% of Franklin County's records.

Her report found systemic problems, concluding "there cannot be full confidence in the results of these (35) problematic precincts."

She describes Franklin County's recount process as constituting "a breach of procedure that thwarts any meaningfully appropriate and independent recount of the election from the RTALs" (real time audit logs that serve as the ballot of record in Ohio.)

"The recount methodology used by Franklin County did not conform, and in fact significantly varied from the method prescribed by Ohio Secretary of State's Directive No. 2006.50 in many respects."

Dr. Mercuri concludes:

"In summary, there are numerous reasons why there cannot be confidence in the election process, the recount, and the vote totals for the Franklin County, Ohio November 7, 2006 election. These reasons include:

a) the denial of an appropriate recount from the VVPAT/RTAL materials for the requested precincts;
b) significant evidence that parts of original RTALs and end tally reports were missing;
c) evidence the voting system was inappropriately configured and improperly used during the election
d) indication that election procedures were violated, including the possibility of password overrides during setup, and use of the machines to cast ballots after RTAL paper supplies has run out;
e) evidence of inappropriate impounding and handling of election materials at the County warehouse following the election, including improper exposure of the VVPAT/RTALs;
f) unexplained disparities between the public counters of ballots cast and the number of voters who signed the poll books in many precincts; and
g) misleading information provided to voters, and not properly followed up by the County, regarding the safety and examination of the voting machines and system."


OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe): Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, 2005, Election Observation Manual, http://www.osce.org/publications/odihr/2005/04/14004_240_en.pdf.

Seventeen Criteria for a Fair Vote Count (p. 62) precludes machine tabulation:

1. Is the count performed by polling-station officials, or are other persons involved?

2. Do election officials appear to understand and adhere to the required procedures?

3. Are ballots counted in an orderly and secure manner?

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Rady Ananda Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

In 2004, Rady Ananda joined the growing community of citizen journalists. Initially focused on elections, she investigated the 2004 Ohio election, organizing, training and leading several forays into counties to photograph the 2004 ballots. She officially served at three recounts, including the 2004 recount. She also organized and led the team that audited Franklin County Ohio's 2006 election, proving the number of voter signatures did not match official results. Her work appears in three books.

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 spent most of her working life as a researcher or investigator for private lawyers, and five years as an editor.

She graduated from The Ohio State University's School of Agriculture in December 2003 with a B.S. in Natural Resources.

All material offered here is the property of Rady Ananda, copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009. Permission is granted to repost, with proper attribution including the original link.

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." Tell the truth anyway.

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