The Last News Summary Before Election Day

TrueVote.us, November 3, 2008
Straight to the Source

Friends:

This will be the last news summary before Election Day and it is one that will make you uncomfortable.

The last few days of voting news, see below, have some real pre-election scares in them. Perhaps most frightening is a letter published by the U.S. Election Asstance Commission from a Michigan election official describing how an ES&S optical scan machine got inconsistent votes in logic and accuracy testing. The October 24th letter, published today, raises serious doubts about the machines. The Michigan official wrote:

"While problems with the performacne and design of the M-100s have been documented, this is the first time I have ever questioned the integrity of these machines. The issue is this - four of our communities or eight percent - reported inconsistent vote totals during their logic and accuracy testing with the ES&S machines. The same ballots, run through the same machines, yielded different results each time."

Kim Zetter from Wired notes "ES&S tabulators were responsible for counting 50 percent of the votes in the last four major U.S. elections, according to the company. Some 30,000 of them are now deployed in 43 states."

The problem is the machines get dirty during use (like on busy election days!) and cannot be cleaned as maintenance voids the warranty. ES&S is the same company that makes touchscreen machines that have reportedly flipped votes in five states. Combining the ES&S problems with Diebold's (aka Premier) admission that their machines can lose the votes of entire precincts and it is difficult to be confident about the vote count.

Other news shows the beat goes on -- long lines in multiple states, officials and judges refusing to extend the voting day to make up for it, purging of voters continued in Colorado after a judge ordered it stopped and leaves Colorado voters confused., a variety of people put forward various ways in which the election could still be stolen. Even Oprah Winfrey found her voting machine failing to count her presidential choice! But, election integrity activists are also doing what they can. Black Box voting puts out several videos on what you can do to protect the vote and numerous obervers, poll watchers and election hot lines will be in force tomorrow, along with army's of lawyers inside and outside the campaigns. If you want to get a visual of how arrogant election officials can be, watch the video associated with the last story from Philadelphia.

It is hard to imagine how Election Day can go smoothly. Why would it be anything but a concentrated repeat of early voting -- long lines, registration challenges, voter suppression, machine problems and litigation. Is this any way to run an election? Is this really the greatest democracy on Earth!?

If you haven't taken action on our last two alerts (1) urging the networks and AP to keep the exit poll results before they are reconfigured to match the voting results (something that could be the most effective audit of the election we have); and (2) seeking the intervention of international observers for any post-election battles -- there is still time to do so. See http://truevote.us/action.php
KZ

Judge Refuses Last-Minute Election Changes in Va.
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=659%3E

November 03, 2008

By Anita Kumar
Washington Post

RICHMOND, Nov. 3 -- Hours before the polls open, a federal judge Monday refused to order any last-minute changes to Virginia's voting procedures in response to allegations by the NAACP that the state is not prepared to handle the predicted historic voter turnout in Tuesday's election.

But U.S. District Judge Richard L. Williams will consider Tuesday a separate request by Republican presidential nominee John McCain to allow overseas absentee ballots an extra 10 days to arrive in Virginia.

McCain sues to force Va. to count military ballots
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=658%3E

November 03, 2008

By Bob Lewis
The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. -- Republican John McCain's presidential campaign sued the Virginia election board Monday, claiming absentee ballots weren't mailed on time to military members serving overseas.

The complaint asks the U.S. District Court in Richmond to order the state to count absentee ballots postmarked by Tuesday and received by Nov. 14. It contends that thousands of troops' ballots _ many of which would go to McCain _ will not be counted.

Georgia: Fulton, Clayton won't extend voting hours, urge patience
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=657%3E

November 03, 2008

Minimum 2-hour waits expected in Fulton

By Mary Lou Pickel, Megan Matteucci
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Officials in Fulton and Clayton counties Monday morning decided against seeking permission to extend polling hours on Election Day.

The Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections voted unanimously not to extend hours, saying that they think the number of voting machines per person is sufficient to handle the load.

Colorado's Purged voters in the dark over Election Day status
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=656%3E

November 03, 2008

Thousands potentially could be denied right to cast ballots over bureaucratic snafus

By Naomi Zeveloff
Colorado Independent

Thousands of purged Colorado voters have no clue that they've been removed from the state’s rolls. And that could make for some dramatic scenarios on Election Day tomorrow when would-be registered voters are denied a regular ballot at the polls.

Last week, voting rights experts scored a win to protect these voters who were removed from the rolls by allowing them to vote by provisional ballot. The Advancement Project, a national voter protection organization, filed suit against Secretary of State Mike Coffman for illegally removing as many as 30,000 voters after a 90-day no purge federal deadline. In a settlement, Coffman agreed to provide provisional ballots to purged voters who show up at the polls on Election Day. These special provisional forms will be verified before any others in the two weeks after the election.

Combat Vote Suppression posted
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=655%3E

November 03, 2008

By Peter Rothberg
The Nation

This longest election campaign in American history, soon to be concluded, has seen a record number of new voters registered.

In Connecticut, more than 300,000 new voters have added their names to the rolls since January 1, and a higher percentage of registered voters are expected to participate in tomorrow's election than at any time since John F. Kennedy faced off with Richard Nixon in 1960.

Could voting meltdown history repeat itself?
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=654%3E

November 03, 2008

By Deborah Hastings
Associated Press

In 2000, the presidential election was marred by hanging chads in Florida. Four years later, it was malfunctioning machines in Ohio. With record numbers of voters expected yet again, the fundamental question remains whether the country's embattled election machinery will stand up to the pressure.

This year's unprecedented primary turnout has already exposed cracks in the infrastructure. In Texas, lines stretched for hours and ballots ran out. Voters in Virginia were told to submit slips of paper — which were later disqualified — when ballot deliveries didn't arrive, and overwhelmed poll workers in Washington, D.C., hid electronic machines because they were afraid of the contraptions.

Concerns continue to shadow e-voting
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=653%3E

November 03, 2008

Security Focus

As the United States readies for a historic presidential election, voting and security experts continue to push for better checks on the machines that will record and tally up the ballots.

Over the past month, scattered reports of electronic voting machines that have "flipped votes" -- marking a vote for a different candidate than the one selected -- has worried some election experts. The issues have been reported in Colorado, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia, although an online video that appeared to show the problem has been assailed as misleading, according to Wired News.

Short-Circuiting the Vote
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=652%3E

November 03, 2008

Tuesday's election will be the most technologically advanced in American history. But will it be the most reliable?

Newsweek

Eight years have passed since the autumn of the hanging chads. Most punch-card voting machines have been retired, and several billion dollars have been spent on new election hardware as well as the preparation of updated, computerized, statewide registration lists. A major federal elections law was passed in 2002 (the Help America Vote Act); a new agency (the Elections Assistance Commission) was created; and state officials across the country have been working hard to insure that "Florida" will not happen again.

Touchscreen Voting Machines Cause Long Lines and Disenfranchise Voters
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=651%3E

November 03, 2008

Authors: William A. Edelstein, Arthur D. Edelstein
aRxiv.org
http://arxiv.org/abs/0810.5577%3E

Abstract: Computerized touchscreen "Direct Recording Electronic" DRE voting systems have been used by over 1/3 of American voters in recent elections. In many places, insufficient DRE numbers in combination with lengthy ballots and high voter traffic have caused long lines and disenfranchised voters who left without voting. We have applied computer queuing simulation to the voting process and conclude that far more DREs, at great expense, would be needed to keep waiting times low. Alternatively, paper ballot-optical scan systems can be easily and economically scaled to prevent long lines and meet unexpected contingencies.

Black Box Voting on Protecting the Vote Count on Election Night
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=650%3E

November 03, 2008

By Bev Harris
Black Box Voting

Black Box Voting was asked by YouTube to prepare an easy to follow public education program for Protecting the Count on ELECTION NIGHT and the days that follow. We also collaborated with Videothevote.org and Election Defense Alliance. YouTube has created a Channel called Video Your Vote. The Black Box Voting Protect the Count series contains important information and several video clips never before made public.

EAC Publishes Michigan Letter Raising Doubts About ES&S Machine
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=649%3E

November 03, 2008

A Michigan election administrator sent an letter to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission on October 24, 2008 which raised serious questions about the ES&S electronic voting machine. The letter is one week old but was only posted to the EAC website today.

Some highlights of the letter (you can read the full letter in the pdf link below).

"While problems with the performacne and design of the M-100s have been documented, this is the first time I have ever questioned the integrity of these machines. The issue is this - four of our communities or eight percent - reported inconsistent vote totals during their logic and accuracy
testing with the ES&S machines. The same ballots, run through the same machines, yielded different results each time."

Well, that should make voters confident -- different results each time the ballots were run through the same machines. Why? The letter goes on to say:

Glitch reports mount for e-voting machines
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=648%3E

November 03, 2008

By Angela Gunn
BetaNews

It's six days until the American elections. Do you know whether your electronic voting machines are behaving?

The overwhelming majority of voters on Tuesday will encounter machines from Premier Election Systems, Hart InterCivic, Sequoia Voting Systems, or Election Systems and Software (ES&S). For your consideration, we present a roundup of problems currently known to be manifesting or to have recently manifested in testing and early voting, sorted by vendor.

On Eve of Election Day, Is the Nation's Voting System Ready?
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=647%3E

November 03, 2008

Reports of Irregularities Pour in from Across US in Record Early Voting

Democracy Now

Election Day is one day away. Tomorrow, tens of millions of Americans will head to the polls. Is the nation’s voting system ready for the unprecedented turnout? In record early voting, more votes have been cast before Election Day than ever before. Already, reports of voting irregularities, long lines, malfunctioning machines and badly managed polling stations are pouring in from across the country. We speak to NYU professor Mark Crispin Miller, author of Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy.

How McCain Could "Win"
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=646%3E

November 03, 2008

By Greg Palast
Truthout

It's November 5 and the nation is in shock. Media blame it on the "Bradley effect": Americans supposedly turned into Klansmen inside the voting booth, and Barack Obama turned up with 6 million votes less than calculated from the exit polls. Florida came in for McCain and so did Indiana. Colorado, despite the Democrats' Rocky Mountain high after the Denver convention, stayed surprisingly Red. New Mexico, a state where Anglos are a minority, went McCain by 300 votes, as did Virginia.

That's the nightmare. Here's the cold reality.

Report: ES&S Voting Machines Can Be Maliciously Calibrated to Favor Specific Candidates
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=645%3E

November 03, 2008

By Kim Zetter
WIRED

Touchscreen voting machines at the center of recent vote-flipping reports can be easily and maliciously recalibrated in the field to favor one candidate in a race, according to a report prepared by computer scientists for the state of Ohio.

At issue are touchscreen machines manufactured by ES&S, 97,000 of which are in use in 20 states, including counties in the crucial swing states of Ohio and Colorado. The process for calibrating the touchscreens allows poll workers or someone else to manipulate specific regions of the screen, so that a touch in one region is registered in another. Someone attempting to rig an election could thus arrange for votes for one candidate to be mapped to the opponent.

Carper calls for re-evaluation of voting system
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=644%3E

November 03, 2008

Several voters say machines switched their selections

By Paul J. Nyden
Charleston Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Electronic voting machines put the responsibility for elections into the hands of private vendors, Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said Sunday.

"We are held hostage to whatever they wish to do, whatever they want to charge and whatever technical support they want to provide," Carper said. "They build the machines, they program the machines and they are the only ones who can fix the machines at the end of the day."

How is Jennifer Brunner, Ohio's embattled Secretary of State, holding up as the election (and the likely accusations of impropriety) approach? http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=643%3E

November 03, 2008

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

By Seyward Darby
New Republic

COLUMBUS, OHIO--Less than a week before Election Day, the buzz in Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's office is about a Halloween mask. On Thursday morning, The Other Paper, a local news and entertainment weekly, had published a cover plastered with a picture of Brunner's face, complete with dotted lines where readers could cut it out to wear for the holiday. The headline read, "Be A Future Movie Star For Halloween," and an article inside suggested that Meryl Streep should play Brunner, an elected Democrat, in the movie that's sure to be produced if Ohio is a nail-biter.

"My son called me this morning and said, 'Hey Mom, I cut you out and hung you up on my desk,'" Brunner says with a chuckle, sitting on a couch in her 16th-floor corner office in downtown Columbus. She's wearing the same pearl stud earrings featured in the mask photo. "I asked, 'Did you cut out the eyes?'"

Some towns still swear by hand-counting the ballots
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=642%3E

November 03, 2008

By Anna L. Griffin
Worcester Telegram

Often it has been said that every vote counts.

But votes don't count themselves, a fact that is especially meaningful to election officials in those towns that still lack modern voting machines and rely on hand-counting the tally.

Florida Democrats file lawsuit against GOP
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=641%3E

November 03, 2008

The Florida Democratic Party has accused the GOP in a lawsuit of planning to challenge the rights of voters on the basis of bad addresses. The Republican Party called the lawsuit `bogus.'

By Jay Weaver
Miami Herald

It may be the peak of the 2008 presidential election season, but the Florida Democratic Party is taking a trip down memory lane with the first voter lawsuit filed against the GOP.

This time, it's not about ballot recounts, as in Bush v. Gore in 2000. It's a Democratic legal salvo accusing the Republicans of plotting a last-minute challenge of registered voters with potentially bad addresses, which may prevent them from casting a regular ballot at the polls Tuesday.

Colorado Voting Machine Removed, Quarantined, After Vote Flips Multiple Times to McCain
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=640%3E

November 03, 2008

Quid-pro-quo: Corruption, The Vote, Video, Vote 2008

By J.E. Robertson
CafeSenTido

An electronic voting machine made by Premier Election Solutions (Diebold) has been found to flip votes repeatedly to Republican candidate John McCain. A local election official in Adams County responded to the complaint by halting the machine's use and sequestering it, so it could be examined for evidence of tampering and/or persistent malfunction.

The Colorado Independent reports that:

"An electronic voting machine in Adams County repeatedly failed to accept a vote for a Democratic state Senate candidate--instead registering the vote for her Republican opponent--at an early voting site last week and has been removed from service, the Aurora Sentinel reports Wednesday. Adams County Clerk and Recorder Karen Long told the newspaper the error doesn't reflect wider problems in the county's voting systems, but the candidate said the incident could lead to a lawsuit."

Advocates demand ballots for all
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=639%3E

November 03, 2008

LA Daily News
Wire Services

Obama, McCain in final sprint for White HouseRepublicans warning of Democrats controlling Congress and White HouseCampaign comes to churches on final SundayWith voter turnout expected to exceed 80 percent Tuesday, voting rights advocates demanded Sunday that Los Angeles County officials supply enough ballots for a 100 percent turnout.

The demand came as Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan asked voters to cast their ballots at off-peak hours Tuesday to avoid lines of two hours or more.

UCSB Put Finishing Touch on State’s Touch-Screen Voting Machine Ban
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=638%3E

November 03, 2008

By Rob Kuznia
Noozhawk

Due largely to the findings of UCSB computer scientists, Californians will vote the old-fashioned way Tuesday: by filling in paper-ballot bubbles.

Remember "hanging chads"?

Not long after the infamous 2000 presidential election debacle managed to turn that unfortunate combination of words into a household phrase, voters in California and across the nation began to notice the emergence of touch-screen voting machines at their local polling stations.

Poll monitors set to play vital role
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=637%3E

November 03, 2008

By Mary K. Reinhart
Tribune

With a last minute surge of new voters, record foreclosures uprooting families and a historic presidential election hanging in the balance, hundreds of poll monitors will be in place Tuesday to ensure that everyone who's registered is able to cast a ballot and have it counted.

While Arizona hasn't been plagued with the kinds of problems reported elsewhere claims of registration fraud and voter intimidation, for example civil rights groups and the major political parties will be watching for potential problems, and encouraging voters to report anything that seems amiss.

The State Of The Ballot Fight In Battleground States
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=636%3E

November 03, 2008

Five Key Electoral Prizes May Be Even More Fiercely Contested If Recent Voting Controversies Reemerge

By Eliza Newlin Carney
National Journal

Ready or not, here they come. As a record number of voters test the nation's shaky election infrastructure, the question is not whether problems will arise, but where.

Of course, long lines, voting machine shortages, mechanical breakdowns, disputes over voter lists and legal challenges could cause Election Day headaches virtually anywhere in the country. But in a few states, a worrisome combination of legal, administrative and partisan controversies spells trouble. Here are the most problematic battleground states to watch as the ballots roll in:

Pitfalls at the polls
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=635%3E

November 03, 2008

Congress and the president need to create uniform, national standards for voting procedures and ballots.

LA Times

Republicans are worried that Tuesday's presidential election will be tainted by fraudulent votes; Democrats fear that minority voters will be disenfranchised. About the only thing the two sides agree on is that the election promises to be messy because of a record turnout and a huge number of newly registered voters -- so messy, in fact, that it could call into question the validity of the outcome and produce another meltdown like Florida in 2000.

A Brief History of Ballots in America
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=634%3E

November 03, 2008

By M.J. Stephey
TIME Magazine

Since the country's colonial days, concerns of voter fraud have inspired ever-more complicated ways to cast one's ballot. Depending on where you live, you may vote tomorrow with a lever, a punch card, a marker or a touchscreen. As election scholar Andrew Gumbel notes, the U.S. has been both a "living experiment in the expansion of democratic rights" and a "world-class laboratory for vote suppression and election-stealing techniques."

Ed Felten on E-voting: What Can Go Wrong
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=633%3E

November 03, 2008

By Marc Ferranti
IDG News Service

Voting machines of all stripes have remarkably similar flaws and though geographically scattered, inaccurate tallies of votes are not likely to flip a whole presidential election, there is a "nightmare scenario" that could. Meanwhile on the state level, security issues have already popped up in the wake of various states' deployments of direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines.

Edward Felten, a go-to expert witness on some of the major security and software issues of our time, tackles these and other e-voting topics in the following interview.

E-voting Groups Are Watching a Handful of States
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=632%3E

November 03, 2008

By Gross
IDG News Service

Pamela Smith, a longtime critic of electronic voting machines, is worried more about long lines on Tuesday, election day in the U.S.

Any kind of equipment breakdown in places like Pennsylvania and Virginia could cause problems, said Smith, president of Verified Voting, an advocacy group focused on improving voting systems. Those two states don't have polls open for early voting, and there has been a record number of new voter registrations in many parts of the country, particularly among Democrats energized by presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign.

Fears of US ballot-box overload trigger citizens' army
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=631%3E

November 03, 2008

AFP

WASHINGTON -- Armies of volunteers, lawyers and federal agents will fan out across the US for Tuesday's elections amid mounting fears a record turnout will overload the voting system, sparking a ballot-box meltdown.

Memories of the bitter 2000 election battle between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which was decided in the Supreme Court, still haunt Americans, and many believe systems adopted in its wake have merely complicated the process.

E-Voting's Biggest Test
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=630%3E

November 03, 2008

The 2008 presidential election could be shaken by flawed electronic voting technology.

By Kurt Kleiner
Technology Review

As the US heads into a historic and contentious presidential election, concerns over electronic voting technology could be about to stir up controversy over the legitimacy of some results.

Ironically, electronic voting machines were meant to make elections more reliable and secure. After the 2000 presidential election, when spoiled ballots and "hanging chads" sent the disputed result all the way to the Supreme Court, Congress began dispensing billions of dollars to help states replace punch-card ballots with more-sophisticated voting technology. Since then, however, concerns over the trustworthiness of electronic voting system have steadily grown.

Researcher teases out truth of election ballots
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=629%3E

November 03, 2008

Election forensics, the post-mortem study of elections, was useful in ferreting out the truth of the 2004 presidential race. This time, it might again be brought to the fore in a tight race.

By Lara Zielin
Spero News

The election was in turmoil. The Democratic nominee had won the popular vote, but the electoral vote proved harder to tally. Especially in Florida. An Electoral Commission was appointed to devise a solution. After 16 weeks of heated debate, the Commission put the Republican nominee into the White House, a controversial decision that left a large segment of the United States’ population crying foul.

Voting Rights Watch: FL and GA leading states nationally for voter complaints
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=628%3E

November 03, 2008

Facing South

Some big voting rights stories today:

* FLORIDA AND GEORGIA: 80,000 voters so far have called the Election Protection hotline -- 1-866-OUR-VOTE -- the national number set up by non-profits to handle voter problems, according to the Huffington Post. Election Protection reported yesterday that Florida and Georgia have been leaders nationally in complaints:

Five-Hour Wait for Richmond Voters
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=627%3E

November 03, 2008

By Anne Bartlett
Washington Post

In heavily-Democratic Richmond City, there was a five-hour wait today to vote in-person by absentee ballot. Hundreds of people, many in walkers and wheelchairs, waited in a line that snaked around City Hall.

"I wouldn't be able to come Tuesday cause I need assistance, I just had knee replacement," said Ella Garland, 64, who waited 5 hours. "It was worth it. Obama is worth it. I'd do it all again."

VA NAACP to take lawsuit over voting machines to federal court http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=626%3E

November 03, 2008

Associated Press

Hours before Virginia voters head to the polls, the NAACP will go to federal court to demand that more voting machines be placed in minority polling places.

A hearing in federal court was set for 3:15 p.m. Monday after the organization renewed its motion Friday to redistribute voting machines, extend voting hours and make paper ballots available in some precincts.

Shawnee, Oklahoma Election, Software Glitch Lend New Angle To National Vote
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=625%3E

November 03, 2008

By Gloria Trotter
Shawnee Sun

What's being touted as the most important election of a lifetime on a national level will be an unusual one in Pottawatomie County.

When voters go to the polls Tuesday, they can expect long lines most places and maybe a bit of confusion in Shawnee precincts. Because of a software problem, pink City of Shawnee ballots will not be fed into the automated vote counting machines this year.

Ohio: Paper-ballot must be offered if poll is busy
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=624%3E

November 03, 2008

By Mark Niquette
Coloumbus Post-Dispatch

If lines get "unreasonably long" on Election Day, voters in Franklin County and other counties using touch-screen machines must be told that they have the option of casting a paper ballot, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said last night.

Brunner's directive to counties, three days before Tuesday's election, changes her previous position that poll workers would not have to notify voters of the option after they sign in at the polls.

Can N.C. handle 4.5 million voters? http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=623%3E

November 03, 2008

Concerns: Turnout, registration, software issues

By Christopher D. Kirkpatrick
Charlotte Observer

Long lines continued Friday at early voting sites in Mecklenburg County. At the South County Regional Library, the line stretched across the parking lot, making for a two-hour wait midday.

With record turnout predicted, new voting technology and good old human error in the mix, there can be challenges to voting. Not to mention the state's odd ballot design just in presidential years.

Georgia's Secretary of State Promotes Voter Challenges and Refuses to Extend Early Voting Hours
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=622%3E

November 03, 2008

By Kate Klonick
TPM Muckracker

Add Georgia to the list of states where Republican officials are actively engaged in voter suppression efforts.

In the midst of a record turnout for early voting in Georgia, that has led to long lines, discouraged voters and exhausted poll workers, Secretary of State Karen Handel, a Republican, has claimed federal law ties her hands, preventing her from extending early voting hours.

Voting Machine Incident Roundup, 11/1 http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=621%3E

November 03, 2008

By Joseph Lorenzo Hallon
Our Vote Live

In my last voting machine incident roundup, I talked briefly about new voting machine incidents from the OurVoteLive call database. Three days later, there are about 100 or so incidents specifically tagged by call center operators as being a possible machine issue.

Here are some incidents that recently caught my eye and why (these are in order of decreasing seriousness, in my opinion):

Voting Machine Incident Roundup, 10/29
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=620%3E

November 03, 2008

By Joseph Lorenzo Hallon
Our Vote Live

Since I'm an expert in election technology, I'm going to focus my comments here over the coming week about those kinds of issues. I'll do a periodic "Incident Roundup" where I highlight things interesting to an academic from the new incidents showing up in the OurVoteLive database.

Here are some that caught my eye this morning:

Voter, election fraud charges fly as Election Day nears
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=619%3E

November 03, 2008

By Greg Gordon
McClatchy News

WASHINGTON – Hailing legal victories in Colorado and Michigan, election watchdog groups say that they think they've thwarted efforts to prevent tens of thousands of students and poor minorities from voting on Tuesday.

"It really does look as if most of the efforts to knock people off the rolls will not come to fruition," said Michael Waldman, executive director of New York University's Brennan Center for Justice. "At this point, voters who are eligible will be able to vote."

The Technical Term for Voting Flaws: Human Error
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=618%3E

November 03, 2008

By John Wellington Ennis
The Public Record

A video produced by my group Video the Vote was featured this week on Huffington Post, Brad Blog, Daily Kos, and on blogs around the world. It showed a county clerk in West Virginia demonstrating the reliability of his county’s ES&S machines when they are properly calibrated, versus out of calibration in response to complaints from early voters that they saw their vote flip from Democrat to Republican.

Civil rights group renews Va. election lawsuit http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=617%3E

November 03, 2008

By Bob Lewis
Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The NAACP on Friday resumed efforts to force Virginia to put more voting machines in minority polling places, setting up a court hearing 15 hours before voters head to polls in the battleground state.

The Virginia chapter of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's will return to federal court on Monday afternoon to argue the state is inadequately prepared to handle an enormous voter surge expected Tuesday.

Texas Civil rights group expresses concerns that machines are 'flipping' votes from Obama to McCain
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=616%3E

November 03, 2008

By Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times

EL PASO - The Texas Civil Rights Project on Friday announced concerns about voting machines and complaints of flipping in eight Texas counties, including El Paso.

In light of the complaints, the nonprofit civil rights advocacy organization sent out a news release Friday about the problems.

Some PA Counties May Ignore Paper Ballot Court Order
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=615%3E

November 03, 2008

By Brad Friedman
AlterNet

Pennsylvania was ordered to provide emergency paper ballots if voting machines fail. But some local officials say they can't do it. Tools

In the suburban county of Montgomery, just outside of Philadelphia, election officials have, inexcusably, been caught off guard by a new, court-mandated directive by PA's Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro Cortes.

NC Voter complains about refusal to allow use of paper ballot
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=614%3E

November 03, 2008

Sun Journal

A New Bern woman complained to the Craven County Board of Elections when she was refused a paper ballot during one-stop early voting this week. She said her mother had voted on a paper ballot last week.

Election officials say using the paper ballot was a departure from procedure. Craven County's one-stop plan calls for using only electronic machines except in extenuating circumstances.

Mississippi Voter Coalition Debut Massive Voter Watch; Criticizes Hosemann
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=613%3E

November 03, 2008

Jackson Free Press

Mississippi’s NAACP President Derrick Johnson today accused Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann of “fear-mongering” and of failing to give adequate instructions to help ensure a smooth vote as he announced Friday that at least 250 attorneys have volunteered to protect the vote in the state on Election Day. “We will have at least two attorneys in every county and a panel of legal experts to resolve legal questions that may arise as people go to the polls,” Johnson said, criticizing the priorities of Hosemann. “Unfortunately we’re at a time when our elected officials are fear-mongering and chasing discredited allegations of widespread election fraud instead of educating local election workers on how to carry out an effective election. Because of that gap in leadership we have to be there to help the voters.

Indiana Judge rules for GOP on absentee ballots
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=612%3E

November 03, 2008

By Jon Murray
Indianpolis Star

A Marion County judge ordered Friday that absentee ballots challenged at the polls on Election Day be set aside for review by bipartisan teams later in the week.

County Republicans said the ruling, issued in response to their lawsuit, is likely to end up affecting few ballots and would follow a process in place in Marion County under the previous clerk.

Voting machine lands in driveway
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=611%3E

November 03, 2008

May have been stolen in 2002

By Tim Chitwood
The Ledger-Enquirer

A Russell County woman had a voting machine delivered to her home Thursday.

But she didn't ask for it, couldn't use it, and had no idea where it came from.

Federal Court in Georgia Intervenes in Handel's Voter Purge http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=610%3E

November 03, 2008

By Jonathan Springston
The Atlanta Progressive News

(APN) ATLANTA – A three-judge federal panel ruled October 27, 2008, that Georgia should have sought approval from the U.S. Department of Justice before using Social Security and driver’s license information to check the citizenship status of thousands of voters.

The ruling, handed down by the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, ordered Secretary of State Karen Handel to immediately notify any voters whose registrations remain "flagged" that they can vote November 4, 2008, with "challenge" ballots, which are generally cast on paper, put aside, and not counted until the discrepancies are sorted out.

Long Lines in Georgia
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=609%3E

November 03, 2008

GA Voting Problems
Associated Press

ATLANTA -- Hundreds of voters in southwest Atlanta were waiting in line until nearly 10:30 p.m. Thursday because of computer problems at an advanced voting location.

Matt Carrothers, spokesman for the Georgia Secretary of State's office, said some of the computers at the Adamsville recreation center had trouble connecting to the state's voting system throughout the evening. He said the problem was isolated to the center and most polling locations across the state were running smoothly on Thursday.

Will This Election Be Stolen?
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=608%3E

November 03, 2008

As both parties battle over just how fraud could taint this election, two analysts with very different viewpoints look at voting abuses from the beginning of the republic to the present day.

By Hans A. Von Spakovshy

In 1742, riots broke out in Philadelphia on Election Day over claims that German immigrants were being used to illegally increase vote totals. George Washington won a race for the Virginia House of Burgesses after buying gallons of liquor for voters; by contrast, James Madison refused to engage in this common practice and lost his election.

New York City was infamous for ballot stuffing throughout the 1800s. In 1844, for example, 135% of the eligible voters turned out to vote. William "Boss" Tweed's ability to steal elections in New York through the Tammany Hall machine was rivaled only by Mayor Richard J. Daley's Chicago operations in the latter half of the 20th century, although other cities had corrupt vote-stealing machines. Tammany Hall delivered fraudulent votes by buying them, through intimidation, by sending individuals from precinct to precinct to vote, and by using illegal aliens, fictitious voters and ineligible penitentiary inmates to cast ballots.

Will This Election Be Stolen?
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=607%3E

November 03, 2008

As both parties battle over just how fraud could taint this election, two analysts with very different viewpoints look at voting abuses from the beginning of the republic to the present day.

By Mark Crispin Miller

The GOP's attack on the integrity of voters, carried out by party leaders -- a sitting president included -- on the eve of an election, is unprecedented.

The day after John McCain charged the community-based organization Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) with planning "one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country," Sarah Palin told a boisterous crowd in Bangor, Maine: "In this election, it's a choice between a candidate who won't disavow a group committing voter fraud, and a leader who won't tolerate voter fraud."

North Carolina Voters Report Machines Switching Votes
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=606%3E

November 03, 2008

Today's voting could set a record

By David Nivens
The High Point Enterprise

Volunteers at the Archdale "Get Out the Vote" office work the phones. From front to rear are Barbara Ewings, David Burnette and Vernel Gibson.
GUILFORD COUNTY - If trends hold, early voting could end today with the largest single-day turnout ever.

More than 15,000 people voted Thursday in Guilford County to bring the total to 118,368 voters since early voting began in mid-October, breaking the previous record of 77,857 set in 2004.

South Floridians line up for hours, stay late to cast early ballots http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=605%3E

November 03, 2008

4.2 million Floridians already have voted
By Mark Hollis and Joel Marino
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

A record-shattering 4.2 million Floridians already have voted by casting absentee ballots or going to polls early, including thousands who stood in lines for hours across South Florida on Sunday.

Fourteen days of early voting finished with spectacular displays of patience by voters and poll workers alike.

Oprah Votes Early Waits More Than an Hour, Has Problems With Voting Machine
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=604%3E

November 03, 2008

Huffington Post

Oprah Winfrey announced on her live show Friday that she took advantage of Illinois' early-voting laws and voted Thursday in Chicago - but not without a voting booth scare and near emotional meltdown.

"I was worried that there's gonna be such long lines, and I have a live show," Winfrey said, justifying her decision to vote early.

She waited 72 minutes to vote, only to have a near-meltdown in the booth.

Palm Beach Co. Ballot Creases Cause Chad-Like Blunders
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=603%3E

November 03, 2008

Canvassing Board Hopes To Iron Out Problems

WPBF.com

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Some Palm Beach County voters who have voted by absentee ballot faced a wrinkle in their plans on Saturday.

President George W. Bush cast his absentee ballot, and then urged Americans to get out and vote.

Florida Democrats file lawsuit against GOP over vote caging
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=602%3E

November 03, 2008

By Jay Weaver
MiamiHerald

It may be the peak of the 2008 presidential election season, but the Florida Democratic Party is taking a trip down memory lane with the first voter lawsuit filed against the GOP.

This time, it's not about ballot recounts, as in Gore v. Bush in 2000. It's a Democratic legal salvo accusing the Republicans of plotting a last-minute challenge of registered voters with potentially bad addresses, which may prevent them from casting a regular ballot at the polls Tuesday.

Voter Integrity Group Urges Preservation of Unadjusted National Exit Poll
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=601%3E

November 03, 2008

Widespread Voting Problems in Early Voting Indicate that Independent Documentation May Be Needed to Audit Election

True Vote

Today, the national election integrity project TrueVote.US urged media outlets participating in the National Exit Poll to preserve the unadjusted poll results. The group cited a range of problems in more than a dozen states during early voting that indicated a need for an independent record to compare to the vote count. TrueVote.US urged that the unadjusted results be made public and, if adjustments are made that they be explained publicly.

Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International will again conduct a National Exit Poll for a media pool comprised of ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC and the Associated Press. The exit polls will involve polling tens of thousands of actual voters. It will remove sources of polling error and be extremely accurate. In 2004 the unadjusted exit polls were "adjusted," i.e. changed so as to conform to the vote count assuming the count was correct and the exit poll was not. Investigations into the election in Ohio later raised serious doubts about the accuracy of the actual vote in comparison to the unadjusted polls (which showed a Kerry victory).

URGE MEDIA TO ARCHIVE ALL EXIT POLL RESULTS
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=600%3E

November 02, 2008

Please take action to urge the media to report the unadjusted exit polls for the 2008 election.

Palm Beach, FL New Wrinkle.. That is, Crease.. in Tabulating Votes
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=599%3E

November 02, 2008

By Chuck Weber
News 12

The election isn't until Tuesday, but already there is a vote counting problem in Palm Beach County. Some absentee ballots are apparently being kicked out of counting machines because of-- creases.

When you vote absentee you have to fold, or crease, your ballot before placing it in the proper envelope for mailing or dropping off at an elections office. Those creases are causing the rapid scan tabulating machines to read a double vote in some races, and reject the ballot.

Election fraud crackdown -- Proactive efforts key to ensuring fair process
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=598%3E

November 02, 2008

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Reports of intense scrutiny of potential election fraud or voting rights violations by federal officials in West Virginia is heartening news in these few days before most residents cast their ballots on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

As with many societal and cultural issues, West Virginia has too often been the subject of jokes stereotyping the state as a hotbed of political corruption. But, even more disheartening, is that it has been true in too many cases through the decades.

Virginia Groups raise concern about new election rule
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=597%3E

November 02, 2008

Civil liberty organizations threaten to sue State Board of Elections after organization banned political apparel at polls
By Cameron Feller
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Possible Class 1 Misdemeanor charges, punishable by as much as a year in jail and a $2,500 fine at the Commonwealth’s attorney’s discretion, await voters who choose to wear their political party affiliations to the polls during Election Day, according to a recent clarification to the Code of Virginia by the Virginia State Board of Elections. Several free expression and civil liberty organizations are now considering possible lawsuits against the Board because of the rule.

Civil rights group expresses concerns that machines are 'flipping' votes from Obama to McCain
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=596%3E

November 02, 2008

By Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times

EL PASO - The Texas Civil Rights Project on Friday announced concerns about voting machines and complaints of flipping in eight Texas counties, including El Paso.

In light of the complaints, the nonprofit civil rights advocacy organization sent out a news release Friday about the problems.

Documents reveal how Ohio routed 2004 voting data through company that hosted external Bush Administration email accounts
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=595%3E

November 02, 2008

By Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane
By Raw Story

Newly obtained computer schematics provide further detail of how electronic voting data was routed during the 2004 election from Ohio’s Secretary of State’s office through a partisan Tennessee web hosting company.

A network security expert with high-level US government clearances, who is also a former McCain delegate, says the documents – server schematics which trace the architecture created for Ohio’s then-Republican Secretary of State and state election chief Kenneth Blackwell – raise troubling questions about the security of electronic voting and the integrity of the 2004 presidential election results.

New Mexico High court orders law followed on vote-counting
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=594%3E

November 02, 2008

By Deborah Baker
Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M.—Less than a week before Election Day in this presidential swing state, the state Supreme Court issued an order optimizing the chances for ballots to be counted when voters don't mark them properly.

The high court upheld the constitutionality of a section of state law that says a vote must be counted if election judges in a precinct unanimously agree what the voter's intent was.

Indiana Judge to hear ballot suit today
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=593%3E

November 02, 2008

Election officials say lawsuit over absentee voting is overreaction; Republicans say they just want to see the law followed

By Jon Murray
Indianapolis Star

Marion County election officials said Thursday that a Republican Party lawsuit seeking more scrutiny of absentee ballots was overblown and based on a misunderstanding of early-voting procedures.

Marion Circuit Judge Theodore Sosin will hear both sides today in the dispute, which is based on potential challenges of ballots cast early, either by mail or in person. County GOP Chairman Tom John said the party took action over concerns that improper absentee ballots would be counted as valid by poll workers Tuesday even if they lack the voter's signature or have other defects.

U.S. Rep. John Lewis offers to help clear the way for emergency weekend voting
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=592%3E

November 02, 2008

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This from a statement by U.S. Rep. John Lewis this morning, during a state Capitol press conference to discuss those long waits to vote:

“We are requesting that the Secretary of State [Karen Handel] use Florida and North Carolina as an example. We ask that she extend early voting in Georgia through Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We believe the number of poll workers should be increased at polling sites where a large turnout is expected.

Judge orders Colorado's Coffman to stop continued voter purge
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=591%3E

November 02, 2008

Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman's office has purged 146 more voters from the rolls since Wednesday.

By John Ingold
The Denver Post

A federal judge Friday angrily ordered Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman to stop deleting names from the state's voter registration rolls.

The judge's order came in a telephone hearing this afternoon that was the latest clash between Coffman and a trio of advocacy groups who had sued Coffman over the purging of the voter rolls so close to the election.

Wednesday night, the two sides reached a settlement designed to ensure voters whose registrations were wrongfully canceled within the 90 days before the election wouldn't be disenfranchised on Election Day.

But state officials acknowledged today that 146 more names had been purged since the settlement was reached.

U.S. District Judge John Kane said that was a violation of federal law. Kane warned that if Coffman doesn't stop the practice, "he'll be listening to me personally."
He ordered the 146 voters to be put back on the rolls.

Memo to new president: Act to restore confidence in voting
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=590%3E

November 02, 2008

By Dan Rather

NEW YORK -- In just two days, this historic campaign will finally come to its close and we'll know -- barring a replay of the 2000 election -- whether Barack Obama or John McCain will be our next president. But no matter who wins the race, festering uncertainties about the sanctity of the vote mean that the American people stand to lose.

The people will lose because accusations that one side or the other is planning to steal the election have become a staple of our recent politics, and these accusations threaten to rob our next president of the full share of legitimacy he will need to tackle our many serious challenges at home and abroad.

709 Duval County Ballots Rejected So Far
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=589%3E

November 02, 2008

Absentee Rejected For Signature Problems, 'Overvotes'

News4Jax

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Election officials scrutinizing absentee ballots in Duval County have rejected 709 ballots out of the 51,151 received by Friday.

Most of those were rejected because they lack signatures or the signatures don't match the voter's signature on file.

Election woes: Double ballots, slow counting machines
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=588%3E

November 02, 2008

By Bryan Johnson
KOMO News Seattle

The election hasn't even taken place yet, but problems already are cropping up.

KOMO News has learned that some voters have received two ballots in the mail. And other problems are cropping up as well.

Dual registrations surface in Virginia
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=587%3E

November 02, 2008

Virginia voters have requested Pennsylvania absentee ballots.

By Hugh Lessig
Daily Press

RICHMOND - A GOP official in Hampton has found what he believes is a potentially troubling trend: newly registered voters in Virginia who have also requested absentee ballots in Pennsylvania.

Mike Wade, chairman of the GOP 3rd Congressional District Committee, has turned over his findings to the State Board of Elections. The board, in turn, has contacted the state police and Pennsylvania officials.

Va. GOP Fights Election Lawsuit
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=586%3E

November 02, 2008

Party Says NAACP's Bid for More Resources Favors Democrats
By Anita Kumar
Washington Post

RICHMOND, Oct. 30 -- Virginia Republicans are fighting efforts by the NAACP to extend the hours that polls will be open and allow the use of paper ballots in Tuesday's election, calling the proposal a "ploy" to get more Democratic supporters to vote.

Republican leaders across the state are asking a federal judge to let them intervene in a lawsuit filed against state officials whom the NAACP accuses of failing to provide the resources to accommodate the record voter turnout that is expected.

Long line snaps in spat over vote
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=585%3E

November 02, 2008

By Jason Spencer
GoupState.com

This election is getting ugly sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, outside of the controversy ...Spartanburg County Office of Registrations and Elections Director Henry Laye estimated more than 13,000 absentee ballots would have been cast by the end of Thursday.

Four Counties Ban Cameras From Voting Polls
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=584%3E

November 02, 2008

Cell Phone Cameras Banned, Too

WTAE-TV Pittsburgh

WESTMORELAND CO., Pa. -- Planning to take your cell phone along with you to vote? You may want to leave it at home. At least four local counties have decided to ban cameras from the polls, and not just cameras from the media, but anyone carrying a cell phone, too.

If you have a cell phone it probably has a camera. But you will have to keep in your pocket or purse on Election Day in some local counties, who want no part of a national effort to chronicle polls.

Cortes Says Court's Decision Affirms Department's Position in Voter Activity Case
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=583%3E

November 02, 2008

Pennsylvania Department of State

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct 30, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortes today said that a decision by Commonwealth Court today affirms a Sept. 4 memo by the Department of State providing guidance on voters' Election Day activities.

In the memo, the department advised that the Election Code provides for the counties to make determinations about Election Day activities at the polling places.

Fear of system crash halts Ohio registration-fraud check
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=582%3E
November 02, 2008

By Reginald Fields
Cleveland Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS -- Ohio's voter database was poorly constructed and cannot handle a massive check for fraud among the state's 700,000 newly registered voters, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said Thursday.

The Democratic secretary said her office tried to cross-check the new or revised registrations filed since Jan. 1, although she was not required to do so after beating back an Ohio Republican Party lawsuit that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Justice Dept. sides with Ohio's Brunner on registrations
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=581%3E

November 02, 2008

By Mark Niquette
The Columbus Dispatch

The U.S. Department of Justice is not expected to intervene in a dispute about verifying new voter registrations in Ohio before Tuesday's election, apparently rejecting Republican entreaties to it and President Bush.

"That is our clear understanding," Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said at a Statehouse news conference yesterday to discuss preparations for the election.

Lawyers eye Missouri on Tuesday
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=580%3E

November 02, 2008

By Dave Helling
The Kansas City Star

The first thing we do, let’s hire all the lawyers.

William Shakespeare didn’t write that, exactly — he suggested a more drastic prescription — but he never watched an American election, either.

Democrats join lawsuit to block GOP challenges to Florida voters
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=579%3E

November 02, 2008

Bu Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel

The Florida Democratic Party on Thursday joined in a lawsuit aimed at the Republican Party of Florida and the Republican National Committee to prevent an excess of voter challenges during the presidential election.

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman applauded Gov. Charlie Crist for extending early voting hours and urged him to warn his fellow Republicans against abusing their rights to challenge voters who, for instance, may not be voting at correct polling place.

Avalanche of attorneys arrive to monitor state polls
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=578%3E

November 02, 2008

By Steve Bousquet and Alex Leart
St. Petersburg Times

FORT LAUDERDALE — Eight years after Florida's election debacle, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have mobilized thousands of lawyers to monitor polling places across the state in search of irregularities.

Both sides insist their goal is not litigation — only to safeguard voters' rights. But, as in the 2004 presidential race, the army of lawyers has put both sides on the defense, girding for possible challenges of voters at the polls.

Colorado: Provisional ballots are piling up, but many may never be counted
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=577%3E

November 02, 2008

By Myung Oak Kim
Rocky Mountain News

They're the second-class citizens of votes - ones that require extra scrutiny by election workers to make it to the final tally.

Piles of provisional ballots have been growing every day during the past two weeks of early and mail voting. Many more will be cast throughout the state on Tuesday.

Top Officials 'Doing The Right Thing' For Voters
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=576%3E

November 02, 2008

By R. Patrick Wyllie
Brennan Center for Justice

Over the last couple of months, there have been countless media reports of officials and partisan operatives erecting barriers to voting—many of questionable legality. Less attention has been paid to the fact that multiple state and local officials have worked very hard to ensure that everybody who has the right to vote will be able to cast a ballot and have it count. Here's our "honor roll" so far:

Former ACORN staffer testifies Obama Campaign provided donor list
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=575%3E

November 02, 2008

By Brad Bumsted
Pittshburg Tribune-Review

HARRISBURG -- A former staffer for an affiliate of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now testified today that the organization was provided a "donor list" from the presidential campaign of Barack Obama in late 2007 for fundraising efforts.

Anita Moncrief, a former Washington, D.C. staffer for Project Vote, which she described as a sister organization of ACORN, said her supervisor told her the list of campaign contributors came from the Obama campaign. Moncrief said she has a copy of a "development plan" that outlines how Obama contributors who had "maxed out" under federal contribution limits would be targeted to give to Project Vote, and that it was her job to identify such contributors.

Petition for International Election Observers
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=574%3E

November 01, 2008

On October 30, TrueVote.US went to seven embassies in Washington, DC to deliver a "Petition for International Observers for the U.S. Presidential Elections 2008." The petition was submitted by TrueVote.US, No More Stolen Elections, the Economic Human Rights Project, Chesapeake Citizens and Global Exchange. The petition is being delivered to the United Nations. We want to make sure that if the election results are contested steps have been taken so that the U.N. is able to participate in ensuring the integrity of the U.S. election. You can see a summary of the petition here http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=536%3E , and the full petition here http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=537%3E . Watch a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxS9cLg82hU%3E of our delivery of the petition in Washington, DC.

Election Administration Arrogance in Philadelphia, Pennsylanania
http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=573%3E

November 01, 2008

Those of us who have been working for election integrity in recent years have seen the arrogance of some of those who administer elections. Sadly, it is all too common.

In the video below Philadelphia's election administrator, Margaret M Tartaglione, compares waiting in line to vote to be the same as waiting in line to buy baseball tickets or an I Pod. She does not seem to put a lot of weight on the right to vote.

In this case, long lines for the primary and machine breakdowns during the primary did not move the election administrators.

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