Electronic voting machines

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    • New Laws and Machines May Spell Voting Woes

      Posted by Billbar from New York Times

      As dozens of states are enforcing new voter registration laws and switching to paperless electronic voting systems, officials across the country are bracing for an Election Day with long lines and heightened confusion, followed by an increase in the number of contested results. Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania are among the states considered most likely to experience difficulties, according to voting experts who have been tracking the technology and other election changes. New computerized registration rolls and litigation over new voter identification laws in states like Arizona, Georgia, Indiana and Missouri have left many poll workers and voters unclear about the rules, including whether they are in effect, as the courts have blocked many of the new laws. “We’re expecting arguments at the polls in these states that will slow everything down and probably cause large numbers of legitimate voters to be turned away or to be forced to vote on provisional ballots,” said Barbara Burt, an elections reform director for Common Cause.

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    • A Vote We Can Believe In

      Posted by Billbar from Washington Post

      Good news. A bill being sponsored by Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), with strong support from Reps. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.) with 219 co-sponsors, which happens to be a majority of House members, requires that voting machines produce a permanent paper record that voters themselves can verify. It requires random, unannounced hand-count audits in 2 percent of all precincts to make sure the machines recorded votes properly. It prohibits connecting any voting machine component to the Internet and bans political and financial conflicts of interest among manufacturers, test laboratories and political parties. It also includes protections for voters with disabilities.

      2 comments

    • Major Problems At Polls Feared

      Posted by Billbar from Washington Post

      In a polarized political climate, in which elections are routinely marked by litigation and allegations of incompetent administration or outright tampering, some worry that voting problems could cast a Florida-style shadow over this fall's midterm elections. "We could see that control of Congress is going to be decided by races in recount situations that might not be determined for several weeks," said Paul S. DeGregorio, chairman of the federal Election Assistance Commission, although he added that he does not expect problems of this magnitude. Further clouding the election process is the fact that, in many states, the administration of elections remains in political hands -- run by secretaries of state or other officials who run for office with partisan affiliations and who often have designs on higher office. ... questions remain about whether the machines are vulnerable to vote fraud by hackers.

      1 comment

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      Penn. Sued Over Electronic Voting Machines

      Posted by Billbar from Associated Press

      The suit asks the state's Commonwealth Court to decertify machines used in 58 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. The other counties use optical scanning systems, in which voters fill in bubbles on paper forms that are counted in scanning machines; the plaintiffs say such systems should be in use statewide. "Whatever the initial promise may have been for electronic voting, we now know ... that they are simply not ready for prime time," said Lowell Finley, an attorney with the nonprofit group Voter Action.

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  1. thumbnail

    Damianmann comments on:

    A Vote We Can Believe In

    Stolen elections are nothing new. But, the scale is considered to be the big thing.

    I don’t know how we stop them.

    Back in the day, Unions and employers use to force people to vote a certain way. The system may have been broken LONG before we became aware of it.

    Reply »

    6:09 pm 10/14/06
  2. thumbnail

    Jeff comments on:

    A Vote We Can Believe In

    Regardless of how this November’s elections turn out – we all need to become fair election activists. We need to push for accessible voter registration and authenticated voting whether paper or electronic.

    Reply »

    5:35 pm 10/14/06
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    Billbar comments on:

    Major Problems At Polls Feared

    WaPo didn't mention the Diebold electronic voting machine tampering proof-of-concept from Princeton scientists, but they covered the bases.

    Reply »

    7:06 am 9/17/06
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