One poll worker summed it up like this: ?If this election isn't thrown
out, I'll eat my hat.?
::::::::
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Black Box Voting : From BBV:: Latest voting rumbles: Hear the train a'comin',
comin' round the bend...
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Posted by Bev Harris on Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 05:48 pm:
We ain't seen the sunshine since, we don' know when
We're stuck in Blackbox prison, this ain't democracy
But that train keeps a rollin´, over you and me.
http://www.blackboxvoting.org: UPDATES EVERY 15 MINUTES ON ELECTION
NIGHT
(But first: Check this out - Diebold employee secretly involved in
election reform attack Website:
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/30502.html#post24190 )
NEW: Machine records vote for wrong candidate in Iowa - A Drake
University law professor, Neil Hamilton, reported confusion with the
new touch-screen voting machines, which are designed to help voters
with disabilities who can't use a pen to fill in the ballot ovals.
Hamilton, who voted in Dallas County, said the electronic print-out of
his vote showed a different candidate than the name he?d touched on
the screen.
?I went and told the officials, ?You?ve got a problem. This isn?t who
I
voted for,?? he said.
Election officials marked two of Hamilton?s ballots as spoiled before
he was sure his third ballot had been tallied correctly.
Officials in the Dallas County auditor?s office could not be
immediately reached for comment, but Polk County Auditor Michael Mauro
said he?d heard a couple similar reports from around the area.
?They think the voting machine?s broke. They?re not,? Mauro said.
?Let?s put this to bed right now. It?s a marking device, it doesn?t
count any type of ballot. They?re not voting machines at all. Think of
the marking device as an electronic pencil. All you do is turn off the
marking device and use the regular pencil.?
* * * * *
Turnout light frustration heavy in Warren County Mississippi - Turnout
light; frustration heavy...Frustration was clear at the American
Legion box. That precinct had six of the new machines but none was
working for the first 25 minutes polls were open, and at least 10
voters were delayed. ?They're not working at all,? manager Marilyn
Patterson said. ?We're having problems.?
Voters were offered the chance to cast affidavit ballots or to return
later in the day.
One poll worker summed it up like this: ?If this election isn't thrown
out, I'll eat my hat.?
* * * * *
Voters told to return later in Alabama - All but one promised to do
so. Some problems were reported at the polls in Lee County early
Tuesday morning. Voters were told they couldn't enter the Loachapoka
precinct because of problems with the machines. Lee County Probate
Judge Bill English said there was a mix up with voting machines
between the Loachapoka polling place and Farmville. But it was all
straightened out about an hour later. We're told all of the voters
except one made plans to return later.
* * * * *
Voting machines stolen in Alabama: Voting was delayed at Mount Andrew
after two voting machines were reportedly stolen...Williams added they
have no leads on who might have stolen the machines.
* * * * *
Voting machines down 5 hours in 2 Mississippi counties
Blount said all voters in the two counties cast their votes on paper
ballots while the machines were down.
While the new machines had their most serious trials in Leflore and
Jackson, other problems ? ranging from computer problems to human
failings ? are being reported across the state.
Blount said problems with the new system are to be expected.
Hancock County Democratic Party chairman Chuck Tolar said a printer
error has shut down many of the machines across the county.
?At least one machine per precinct is up and going,? he said. Tolar
said he is unimpressed so far with the Diebold machines.
?If you ask me these machines are kind of fragile,? he said.
...Voting was delayed across Madison County when poll workers found
they had not been given the keys to unlock the Diebold machines.
?The keys were not in the little bag with everything else that we were
supposed to have,? Madison County Democratic chairman Rob Martin said.
?If you don?t have the keys, you can?t use the machines.?
[Well, the keys we saw in Emery County Utah were all the same and of a
generic variety you can buy at the local hardware store. Perhaps they
should add that to the pollworker's manual just in case of emergency.]
* * * * *
Rock slides threaten voting machine power in California Crews
relocated power lines threatened by a huge rock slide near Yosemite
National Park, creating a slight snafu in today's election. Mariposa
County elections officials kept the polls open downstairs at the
school, but the voting machines only had limited power and one backup
battery. Officials kept paper ballots on hand in case the machines
went dark.
* * * * *
Funnel clouds threaten voting machine use in Iowa - A burst of storms
this afternoon prompted the Johnson County auditor to advise the
temporary closing of polling places for today's primary election.
...Slockett advised poll workers to suspend voting and take shelter
late this afternoon as storms rolled through the area, spawning funnel
clouds but no tornadoes and no serious damage.
Slockett said the poll closing was unprecedented in his experience.
?I?ve never experienced them closing before,? he said.
Slockett said he had not heard of any problems caused by the storm to
the county?s new electronic voting machines.
* * * * *
Kern County California Diebold system gets airborne rescue:
Kern County Voting Snafu
Early word is that voting machines in some parts of Kern County
weren't ready for the voters this morning... forcing an airborne 11th
hour fix in some rural areas.
... Some of Kern's electronic touchscreen machines didn't have voting
access cards that had been properly programmed..."The problem was
resolved quickly in Bakersfield, but Kern County is huge and has some
towns as far as 2.5 hours away...they had to use sheriff's department
helicopters to fly the reprogrammed cards out to some of these areas.
Apparently, the issue was largely resolved by mid-morning."
* * * * *
LINKS TO STORIES:
Voting machine marks wrong candidate -
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20060606/news/60606016/1 001/NEWS
Turnout light, frustration heavy in Warren County MS -
http://www.vicksburgpost.com/articles/2006/06/06/news/news01.txt
Voters told to return later in Alabama -
http://www.wsfa.com/global/story.asp?s=4996808&nav=0rde
Voting machines stolen in Alabama -
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16747054&brd=2235&pag=461&dept_id=4396 76&rfi=6
Voting machines down 5 hours in Leflore, Jackson counties -
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20060606/news/60606010and
LeFlore County problems -
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16744914&brd=1838&pag=461&dept_id=1046 21&rfi=6
Rock slides threaten voting machine power -
{
http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2006/06/06/ap-state-ca/d8i2v6i83.txt
Funnel clouds threaten voting machine use in Iowa -
http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20060606/news01/60606005 /1079
Kern County California Diebold system gets airborne rescue -
http://www.kqed.org/weblog/capitalnotes/2006/06/kern-county-voting-snafu.jsp
* * * * *
Black Box Voting is a nonprofit, nonpartisan election watchddog group
supported entirely by citizen donations. To donate, go to
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/donate.htmlor mail to:
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Submitter: Joan Brunwasser
Submitters Website: http://www.opednews.com/author/author79.html
Submitters Bio:
Joan Brunwasser is a co-founder of Citizens for Election Reform (CER) which since 2005 existed for the sole purpose of raising the public awareness of the critical need for election reform. Our goal: to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public. Because the problems with electronic (computerized) voting systems include a lack of transparency and the ability to accurately check and authenticate the vote cast, these systems can alter election results and therefore are simply antithetical to democratic principles and functioning.
Since the pivotal 2004 Presidential election, Joan has come to see the connection between a broken election system, a dysfunctional, corporate media and a total lack of campaign finance reform. This has led her to enlarge the parameters of her writing to include interviews with whistle-blowers and articulate others who give a view quite different from that presented by the mainstream media. She also turns the spotlight on activists and ordinary folks who are striving to make a difference, to clean up and improve their corner of the world. By focusing on these intrepid individuals, she gives hope and inspiration to those who might otherwise be turned off and alienated. She also interviews people in the arts in all their variations - authors, journalists, filmmakers, actors, playwrights, and artists. Why? The bottom line: without art and inspiration, we lose one of the best parts of ourselves. And we're all in this together. If Joan can keep even one of her fellow citizens going another day, she considers her job well done.
When Joan hit one million page views, OEN Managing Editor, Meryl Ann Butler interviewed her, turning interviewer briefly into interviewee. Read the interview here.
While the news is often quite depressing, Joan nevertheless strives to maintain her mantra: "Grab life now in an exuberant embrace!"
Joan has been Election Integrity Editor for OpEdNews since December, 2005. Her articles also appear at Huffington Post, RepublicMedia.TV and Scoop.co.nz.