David Rosen, I am
wondering if you, too, will have a change of heart and opt out of pursuing the "story
of the century," as you once called the Defiance rigging. I sure hope not. You are
really under the gun now, and your fear is palpable in ""Boom
Goes the Dynamite," aired February 21. To me it looks as if those who are involved in
the rigging are after you - and big time, planting a knife in your hands and a
dead body beside you in bed on the episode aired February 14. Nice Valentine Day present! Red blood everywhere for the color of the
day.
Of the cabal of five who
had the election rigged in Ohio,
Verna has been murdered by Fitz. Do we
have four more to be murdered? Or will
they depart by suicide? Or live and tell
the truth? Mellie is cozying up to Fitz. She is knifing Cyrus in the back, and
he got a good one into her finally. Olivia stays down, way way down. Wait until
she finds out Fitz has had her apartment bugged and so she is under
surveillance by at least newcomer Jake (Scott Foley).
David and James - for
courage on your journey on behalf of truth and justice, I thought perhaps you
would both like to know some real life backstory problems with electronic
voting machines over the years and also more about the solution.
SOME PROBLEMS
Computer scientist Professor
Edward W. Felten (Princeton University) reported in 2006 that his research on
Diebold AccuVote-TS [touch-screen-] electronic voting machines showed that keys
from hotel mini-bars, juke boxes, electronic equipment, an office furniture
store key shop and those bought freely on the Internet
could open these machines, leaving no trace.
Computer scientist
Professor J. Alex Halderman (University
of Michigan) and Ariel J. Feldman (Princeton University) reported in 2010 that to celebrate
the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man, they "reprogrammed the AVC Edge to run
Pac-Man." The Sequoia AVC Edge is a touch-screen DRE electronic
voting machine. Without breaking any
tamper-evident seals, they did this in three afternoons.
Reporting in USA TODAY in 2011, Gregory Korte wrote that the Election
Assistance Commission [an independent agency of the United States government] warned
about errors during voting [emphasis mine] with ES&S DS200
IntElect optical scan electronic voting machines. For example, Korte reports that this optical
scan electronic voting machine "can freeze up without warning, fail to log
errors and misread ballots." This machine was used in all or parts of Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, New
York.
THE SOLUTION
In 2006, I observed in
real time the hand-counting of three elections in two New
England states. The one I
liked most was the general election on November 7, 2006 in Acton,
Maine. People came in at the end of the
day to hand-count. Each team was composed of a Democrat and a Republican; there
were six teams. The teams hand-counted
944 ballots, with seven races and two initiatives, two times in four
hours.
In 2008, I did
considerable research in New
Hampshire about hand-counted paper ballots. On
January 8, I observed in real time, the hand-counting of the US presidential primary election in Walpole,
New Hampshire. Eleven teams of two people (a veteran and a new person) did
the hand-counting. There were 1,786
ballots -- Democrats 1,057 and Republicans 729.
The hand-counting was done in a timely manner.
Hand-counted paper ballots
(HCPB) elections are the best possible assurance that our votes are counted as
cast - in secure, honest, accurate and
transparent elections. Some necessary elements for hand-counted paper ballots elections
can be found in Chapter XIV of my book WHILE WE
STILL HAVE TIME: The Perils of Electronic Voting Machines and Democracy's
Solution: Hand-Counted Paper Ballots (HCPB) Elections. Here is a sneak peak: The hand-counting is
videographed and livestreamed. It is
done twice. The hand-counting is done by all parties on the ballot, with the
counters chosen by the parties themselves.
It is done for all races, not only federal. The entire process can easily be understood
by a fifth grade student. The ballot boxes will be clear plastic. There will be
a clear chain of custody. There will be
public oversight of the entire process. Hand-counting is done at the polling place,
immediately after the polls close and the results are posted.
See also the book by Nancy
Tobi, another pioneer for hand-counted paper ballots.
Hey, such a wonky paper. Happy reading.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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