Daily Voting News For March 9-10, 2007

A recent report from the Wisconsin State Elections Board says, “The three major vendors (Diebold Election Systems, Elections Systems and Software and Sequoia Voting Systems) have minor upgrades that would improve the administration of elections for local election officials.” The report goes on to say, “The new federal certification process developed by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (US EAC) is in place, but no voting systems are currently under review. The SEB staff believes that these changes should be evaluated by a contract reviewer to avoid the delays attendant with the federal certification process.” In other words, the vendors say changes need to be made but the EAC and the federal certification process cannot be relied upon in the state’s opinion so they will, instead, turn to a contractor to review the equipment. History tells us that as bad as the ITA process is; contractors have been much worse....

• NAtional: US Gov warned on messed up e-voting systems LINK
• National: H.R.811: Fact & Friction -- Part II LINK
• California: Kern County - Unofficial McFarland results; Council must approve its own election LINK
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• New Mexico: Gallup - Recount ends, runoff begins LINK
• Ohio: Montgomery County - Election officials probe touch-screen complaints LINK
• Pennsylvania: Northampton County - Workable voting machines primary concern for election LINK
• Pennsylvania: Northampton County – Columnist - Embattled official brings lawyer along LINK

**"Daily Voting News" is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in "Daily Voting News" may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or Scoop.**

Johns-Hopkins University Professor Avi Rubin reports the following in his blog about his recent congressional testimony; “Finally, I was asked if I thought that a DRE with a paper trail was an adequate voting system. I replied that when I first studied the Diebold DRE in 2003, I felt that a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) provided enough assurance. But, I continued, after four years of studying the issue, I now believe that a DRE with a VVPAT is not a reasonable voting system. The only system that I know of that achieves software independence as defined by NIST, is economically viable and readily available is paper ballots with ballot marking machines for accessibility and precinct optical scanners for counting - coupled with random audits. That is how we should be conducting elections in the US, in my opinion.”...

• NAtional: AVI RUBIN: 'After Four Years of Study, I Now Believe that a DRE (touch-screen) with a VVPAT (paper-trail) is Not a Reasonable Voting System' LINK
• National: My Congressional Testimony LINK
• California: Kern County - McFarland election still in question LINK
• California: Kern County - Flawed ballot count delays McFarland election results LINK
• Connecticut: ‘Scorecard’ to aid election reform LINK
• Florida: Florida Plan Gives Citizens Real Paper Ballots LINK
• Massachusetts: New voting machines give all voters privacy LINK
• Maryland: The Student Voting Rights Act would be victory for students who want more electoral involvement. LINK
• New Mexico: Gallup - Misread ballots force election hand-count LINK
• Ohio: Montgomery County - Inquiry sought on voting errors A group says it has 20 complaints of errant tallies by touch screen voting machines. LINK
• Ohio: Montgomery County - Election officials probe complaints about touch screens LINK
• Ohio: Montgomery County - 20 Voters File Complaint Alleging Touch-Screen Vote-Flipping in Montgomery County, OH LINK
• Pennsylvania: 54 counties may be poll-axed New federal standards could make most voting machines in Pa. obsolete after 1 year LINK
• Pennsylvania: Montgomery County - Voting machine design gets criticism LINK
• Texas: Potter County - Voting machines damaged LINK

**"Daily Voting News" is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in "Daily Voting News" may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or Scoop.**

John Gideon
Executive Director www.votersunite.org and
Member www.votetrustusa.org

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