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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

National Election Data Archive Supports Election Reform

But Recommends Changes to Senate Election Reform Proposal

http://electionarchive.org/ucvInfo/release/ReleaseS1487Amendments.pdf

http://electionmathematics.org/em-legislation/S1487Amendments.pdf

Says Senate Election Reform Proposal Needs Changes to Increase Effectiveness

Salt Lake City, UT; 21 June 2007 -- The National Election Data Archive believes that America is at a crossroads. Kathy Dopp, Executive Director of the National Election Data Archive asks, "Do we move forward with serious voting reforms before November 2008 or leave U.S. voting systems vulnerable to error and fraud?"

The National Election Data Archive is an educational group of mathematicians and statisticians which promotes fair and accurate elections. To strengthen the provisions of proposed election reform legislation, the National Election Data Archive is recommending changes to the "Ballot Integrity Act of 2007" (S1487). The act's purpose is "to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require an individual, durable, voter-verified paper record under title III of such Act, and for other purposes." The act is sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein and its co-sponsors include three presidential candidates, Senators Clinton, Dodd, and Obama. It is currently being considered by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.

The National Election Data Archive issued "21 Amendment Suggestions for the 'Ballot Integrity Act of 2007' (S1487)" plus an analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of election audit proposals to detect error or fraud in US House and Senate races. "21 Amendment Suggestions" recommends improvements to the election audit provisions of the "Ballot Integrity Act" (S1487) and urges public oversight and procedures that are necessary to verify the accuracy of election results. The National Election Data Archive also advocates removing unfunded mandates; reducing secrecy in the vote counting process and other changes to reduce the vulnerability of the electoral process to electronic error, failure, and hacking; while retaining states' rights to determine voting system standards.

Dopp explained why election reform legislation is urgently needed: "Federal election outcomes determine who controls budgets worth trillions of dollars and affect lives worldwide. There is a temptation to manipulate votes since winning is so valuable; and our mathematical analysis of election data suggests wide-spread vote fraud has occurred." Dopp proclaims "There are dozens of ways for undetected electronic vote count error to alter election outcomes and an absence of independent checks (audits) of vote count accuracy. Only one state currently performs independent audits of vote count accuracy for federal elections." She added, "We independently audit banks to make sure they are counting our money correctly. Shouldn't we be as careful with our votes?"

The "21 Amendment Suggestions for the Senate Ballot Integrity Act of 2007" is found at:
http://electionmathematics.org/em-legislation/S1487Amendments.pdf

And "Comparison of Proposed Federal Election Audits" is found at:
http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/US/paper-audits/ComparisonFederalElectionAuditProposals.pdf

The National Election Data Archive supports the election reform legislation proposed by Representative Rush Holt, D-NJ in the House, the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act" (HR811) which has 215 bi-partisan co-sponsors. However the organization is withholding support for the Senate version and recommending improvements.

The House version of election reform legislation, HR811, requires more substantial election audits, from 3%, to 10% in close races, whereas the Senate version requires a flat 2% audit. By analyzing election results from the 2002 and 2004 US House and Senate races, Dopp found that a 99% success-rate audit would better protect all federal races from vote fraud and yet require manual audits of fewer precincts overall than the House or Senate audit versions. According to Dopp's analysis HR811's audit would not have protected 4 and 8 U.S. House races from possible outcome-changing vote fraud in 2004 and 2002 respectively. On the other hand, S1487 requires an internal audit conducted by election officials of their own work and its 2% amounts would not have protected 4 US House races and 1 South Dakota Senate race in 2004, and 13 House races and 1 New Hampshire Senate race in 2002 from possible outcome-changing vote fraud.

Many groups in addition to the National Election Data Archive support the House version of election reform (HR811) including People For the American Way, Common Cause, Move On, The Service Employees International Union, The National Education Association, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Brennan Justice Center, The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Vote Trust USA, Verified Voting Americans United for Democracy, Integrity, and Transparency (AUDIT) - Arizona, True Vote Maryland, Georgians for Verified Voting, Presidential Candidate Governor Bill Richardson, and prominent voting technology experts Avi Rubin of John Hopkins University Department of Computer Science, Doug Kellner, Co-Chair New York State Board of Elections, and Ed Felten of Princeton University Department of Computer Science.

About the National Election Data Archive:

The National Election Data Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Utah Corporation, USCountVotes. The National Election Data Archive has been organized for educational and scientific purposes of promoting fair and accurate elections by promoting public access to election records and data; and developing technology and mathematical methods to detect any voter disenfranchisement or vote count inaccuracy. Such methods include independent manual vote count audits, exit poll discrepancy analysis, and the public release and scientific analysis of election data along with public release of election records necessary to verify the integrity of the data.

The National Election Data Archive believes that sufficient, timely, verifiable, independent election audits and public access to election records and detailed data are necessary to detect voter disenfranchisement and to evaluate the integrity and accuracy of the electoral process and election outcomes.

Press Contact:
Kathy Dopp, Executive Director, National Election Data Archive, kathy@electionarchive.org
435.658.4657 (office)
(nuked the mobile # by blogmaster)

Additional Information:

The Ballot Integrity Act of 2007
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.01487 :

A reliable, verifiable vote in 2008, Governor Bill Richardson
http://thehill.com/op-eds/a-reliable-verifiable-vote-in-2008-2007-06-19.html

HR 811: Separating Truth from Fiction in E-voting Reform, Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 13, 2007
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005308.php#005308

The Campaign for Secure Elections (HR811), Lawrence Norden, June 13, 2007
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-norden/the-campaign-for-secure-e_b_51986.html

The "Ballot Integrity Act" Sponsor is Feinstein, Dianne, D-CA,
http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.Home

Co-sponsors

Boxer, Barbara D-CA, http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.Home

Brown, Sherrod, D-OH, http://brown.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Clinton, Hillary Rodham D-NY, http://clinton.senate.gov/contact/

Dodd, Christopher J. D-CT, http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/3130

Inouye, Daniel K. D-HI, http://inouye.senate.gov/

Kennedy, Edward M. D-MA, http://kennedy.senate.gov/senator/contact.cfm

Leahy, Patrick J. D-VT, http://leahy.senate.gov/ senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

Menendez, Robert D-NJ, http://menendez.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

Obama, Barack D-IL, http://obama.senate.gov/contact/

Sanders, Bernard, I-VT, http://sanders.senate.gov/comments/

Senate Rules Committee Members who could make the recommended amendments while the S1487 is being considered in committee

Robert C. Byrd, D-WV, http://byrd.senate.gov/byrd_email.html

Daniel K. Inouye, D-HI, 202-224-3934 or http://inouye.senate.gov/

Christopher J. Dodd, D-CT, http://dodd.senate.gov/

Charles E. Schumer, D-NY, http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/contact/contact.html

Richard J. Durbin, D-IL, http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm

E. Benjamin Nelson, D-NE, http://bennelson.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Harry Reid, D-NV, http://reid.senate.gov/contact/

Patty Murray, D-WA, http://murray.senate.gov/contact/

Mark L. Pryor, D-AR, http://pryor.senate.gov/contact/

Ted Stevens, R-AK, http://stevens.senate.gov/public/

Mitch McConnell, R-KY, http://mcconnell.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Thad Cochran, R-MS, http://cochran.senate.gov/contact.htm

Trent Lott, R-MS, http://lott.senate.gov/public/

Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX, http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.html

C. Saxby Chambliss, R- GA, http://chambliss.senate.gov/public/index.cfm

Chuck Hagel, R-NE, http://hagel.senate.gov/

Lamar Alexander, R-TN, http://alexander.senate.gov/

Action Items
As a 501(c)(3) the National Election Data Archive may spend a limited fraction of its income on efforts to lobby for election reform legislation. Therefore, we will be depending on you, the voters, to take action such as:

1. Please call your Senators' legislative staffers who handle election reform legislation and mail, email, or fax copies of "21 Suggested Amendments" to their legislative staffers who handle election reform legislation, hopefully after speaking with them; or

2. Travel to Washington DC to speak with your Senators and with the Senators on the Rules Committee.

--
Kathy Dopp

The material expressed herein is the informed product of the author Kathy Dopp's fact-finding and investigative efforts. Dopp is a Mathematician, Expert in election audit mathematics and procedures; in exit poll discrepancy analysis; and can be reached at

P.O. Box 680192
Park City, UT 84068
phone 435-658-4657

http://utahcountvotes.org
http://kathydopp.com
http://electionmathematics.org
http://electionarchive.org

Election Audit Mathematics Bibliography
http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/US/paper-audits/KathyDoppAuditMathBibliography.pdf

Support Clean Elections in 2008
http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/US/SupportCleanElectionsIn2008.pdf

Important Facts About The Voter Confidence & Increased Accessibility Act (HR811)
http://electionarchive.org/ucvInfo/US/FactsAboutHR811.pdf

"Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day," wrote Thomas Jefferson in 1816

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Stop voter suppression, Hans von Spakovsky, to FEC

From Steve Silverman:


I just learned from ColorOfChange that President Bush has nominated Hans von Spakovsky--one of the worst perpetrators of voter suppression in recent history--to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), an agency charged with enforcing election law. Under Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, von Spakovsky led the effort within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to win elections for Republicans by disenfranchising minority voters.

It's important that members of the Senate take a stand for voting rights by refusing to confirm von Spakovsky. Can you take a moment to send a brief message to your senators?

http://www.colorofchange.org/vonspakovsky/?id=2233-148956

Congressional investigations into the actions of Alberto Gonzales and the firings at the Justice Department have pointed to an even bigger scandal: that for years, the Republican party has been suppressing the vote of minority and low income voters---those most likely to vote Democratic. And Hans von Spakovsky has been at the center of the suppression strategy.

During his first term, Bush installed von Spakovsky in the Justice Department's voting rights section, which enforces the Voting Rights Act. There, von Spakovsky undermined the DOJ's historic mission of protecting minority voting rights, and actually transformed the department into a tool to suppress the vote.

When long-term, career employees at the Justice Department unanimously recommended rejecting Tom Delay's infamous Texas redistricting plan because it discriminated against minority voters, von Spakovsky led the charge to overrule these voting rights experts, and approved the plan. The Supreme Court later ruled that the plan violated the Voting Rights Act.

Similarly, when career attorneys recommended rejecting a discriminatory Georgia voter ID law -- a law that even the Republican Governor said would disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Georgians -- von Spakovsky overruled them to approve the law. Again, the law was later struck down by the courts, with the ruling judge likening it to a Jim Crow-era poll tax.

Last week, seven of von Spakovsky's former colleagues at the DOJ said that he blocked career attorneys from filing at least three lawsuits against local governments that had violated the voting rights of Black people and other minorities, and that he derailed at least two DOJ investigations into discriminatory election laws.

Von Spakovsky's career in suppression didn't start at the DOJ. In 1997, he set the stage for Florida's 2000 voter purge when he wrote an article that called for purging felons from voter rolls. Serving on the board of the "Voter Integrity Project" (VIP) he quickly put his ideas into action -- VIP met with the company that designed Florida's purge to disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters, most of whom were Black.

As shocking as these examples are, they only scratch the surface. Hans von Spakovsky has made it his life mission to solidify Republican control by disenfranchising untold thousands and subverting our most fundamental democratic right.

A vote for von Spakovsky is a vote for voter suppression. Anything less than the strongest condemnation of his nomination will send a message to President Bush that the Senate will turn a blind eye to Republican attacks on our voting rights. Let's demand that our senators send the opposite message -- that they will fight tooth and nail to defend the right to vote, and that their strong rejection of von Spakovsky's nomination is only the beginning of a much needed reckoning for the assault on voting rights over the last six and a half years.

You can help make sure your senators do the right thing and oppose von Spakovsky's nomination. It takes only a moment.

http://www.colorofchange.org/vonspakovsky/?id=2233-148956

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Bill Richardson gets it in terms of voting process

Article in "The Hill", is by Governor Bill Richardson, Candidate for U.S. President.

Richardson is from the only state in America which currently conducts independent audits of vote count accuracy, New Mexico. Richardson is a long-time proponent of paper ballots for all voting systems. He even wrote all 50 states to urge them to use paper ballots for elections.

http://utahcountvotes.org/US/GovRichardsonLtr20060301.pdf

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Pondering (HR811)

Proposed federal election reform legislation (HR811) from Lawrence Norden of NYU Law School Brennan Center Think Tank and from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, both debunk some of the disinformation which has been unfortunately
ubiquitously been spread on the Internet by opponents of HR811.

1.
HR 811: Separating Truth From Fiction in E-voting Reform June 13, 2007
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005308.php#005308

[Comments by David Dill re. the EFF article: This is generally a good
essay, but the legal analysis, especially on NDA , deserves special
attention. EFF is run by world class intellectual property lawyers,
and has been involved in providing legal backup on NDAs for various
source-code reviews. They know trade secret law. This article should
put to rest the arguments that HR 811 somehow creates new trade
secrets or otherwise makes voting machine software less accessible (of
course, I know those claims will continue to be repeated incessantly
as though they were established fact, but I hope that some of the
people who see them will also see the EFF post).]

HR 811: Separating Truth From Fiction in E-voting Reform
June 13, 2007

After years of painstaking lobbying, e-mail and phone campaigns,
congressional hearings, and committee markups and amendments, Rep.
Rush Holt's Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act finally
appears poised for a floor vote in the House of Representatives. With
an impressive 216 bipartisan co-sponsors, the bill has a real chance
of passing. If signed into law, HR 811 would dramatically improve the
electoral process in both the short and long term. While it would not
solve the immense shortcomings in the current system, HR 811 would
take a giant step towards returning much-needed transparency and
accountability to the process.

Not unexpectedly, now that the bill has gained traction in the 110th
Congress, critics have descended onto the bill with a fury,
complaining that it is too weak or too strong, that its deadlines are
too ambitious or too distant, that it takes too much autonomy away
from the states or not enough.

HR 811 is not perfect. Few bills are. And honest debate about a matter
as important as election integrity is always helpful to the process.
However, much of the ostensibly pro-transparency criticism of HR 811
has sadly taken a detour away from being useful and descended into
hyperbole, fear-mongering, and uninformed posturing. Returning to the
substance of the bill and its actual consequences is long overdue.

What would HR 811 do? Among other things:

* Raise the floor, not a create a ceiling. The higher standards
required by HR 811 would provide the beginning, not the end, of
serious election reform. States wishing to, say, ban all electronic
voting machines, impose stricter audit requirements, or force vendors
to publicly disclose all of their source code will remain free to do
so, as they are today. If HR 811 becomes law, however, states would
not be permitted to lag behind in many important areas as so many do
today.

* Require the generation of a voter-verified paper ballot. HR 811
would forbid in federal elections the use of direct recording
electronic voting machines (DREs) that do not generate voter-verified
paper ballots (VVPBs). See proposed Sec. 301(a)(2)(A)(i): "The voting
system shall require the use of or produce an individual, durable,
voter-verified paper ballot of the voter's vote that shall be created
by or made available for inspection and verification by the voter
before the voter's vote is cast and counted." States wishing to impose
additional requirements regarding what to do with VVPBs, such as a
mandatory hand-count of all paper ballots, would be able to do so.

* Require manual audits of every federal election. HR 811 would not
mandate (or forbid) the counting of VVPBs in all circumstances.
Instead, HR 811 would require, for the first time in American history,
across-the-board manual audits of federal elections. See proposed Sec.
321(a)(1): "[E]ach State shall administer, without advance notice to
the precincts selected, audits of the results of elections for Federal
office held in the State (and, at the option of the State or
jurisdiction involved, of elections for State and local office held at
the same time as such election) consisting of random hand counts of
the voter-verified paper ballots ..." Specifically, HR 811 would
require audits of 3-10% of all precincts in every federal election
(see proposed Sec. 322), depending on the apparent margin of victory
and except in the case of landslide victories. This would be a
breathtaking and unprecedented achievement. By contrast, federal law
currently contains no audit requirement at all. States believing that
initialhand counts or more robust audit protocols are more appropriate
for their voters would have every right to impose such requirements.

* Require the disclosure of voting system source code in limited
circumstances. HR 811 would, for the first time under federal law,
explicitly mandate the disclosure of voting system source code to
certain "qualified persons," identified as (among others) parties to
litigation and individuals who "review[], analyze[], or report[] on
the technology solely for an academic, scientific, technological, or
other investigation or inquiry concerning the accuracy or integrity of
the technology." See proposed Sec. 301(a)(8)(C). Individuals seeking
such access would, in some circumstances, be required to sign a
non-disclosure agreement. Just as now, however, individuals who
lawfully acquire voting system source code independent of the
(non-exclusive) procedures set forth by HR 811 (see, for example, Avi
Rubin's groundbreaking analysis of Diebold source code that was leaked
onto the Internet) would be free to analyze the code accordingly.
States wanting even greater transparency could mandate broader
disclosure requirements (see proposed Sec. 301(a)(8)(B)(ii)(II)),
including disposing of any non-disclosure requirement or even
mandating the use of open source software. Moreover, vendors
themselves could dispense with the non-disclosure agreement
requirement, either by explicitly granting permission to share
otherwise secret source code or by utilizing open source systems.

What would HR 811 not do? The misconceptions and misrepresentations
are, unfortunately, widespread.

* "HR 811 doesn't ban all DREs." True, but misleading. DREs, paperless
or otherwise, are already permitted under federal law. HR 811 would
ban the use of paperless DREs in federal elections unless they are
retrofitted with printers that generate voter-verifiable paper
ballots. An outright ban on DREs may or may not be possible with this
Congress, but it is irrelevant to whether or not this bill should
pass. Rep. Holt's strategy -- to convince Congress of the need to
improve transparency in U.S. elections, regardless of technology -- is
a sound one, one that many volunteers have expended extraordinary
efforts to bring to fruition and one that could be on the verge of
succeeding. Nothing has prevented or currently prevents now-vocal
critics who are calling for an outright DRE ban from going through the
process of drafting the appropriate legislative proposal and then
soliciting the necessary support for it. But attempting to derail or
hijack HR 811 as a vehicle to ram through an unlikely-to-pass DRE ban
unnecessarily risks the passage of other important substantive
requirements. And once again, nothing in HR 811 prohibits states from
limiting the use of DREs of any kind or banning them altogether.

* "HR 811 reinforces secret vote counting." False. On the contrary, HR
811, if passed, would begin to open up the process. Federal law
already permits the use of paperless DREs. Only 27 states currently
require the use of voter-verified paper ballots (or voter-verified
audit trails), and only 13 of those require audits. The lack of robust
federal requirements, and the failure of straggler states to implement
restrictions of their own, has led to the widespread use of suspect
voting equipment like DREs. If enacted, HR 811 would, for the first
time, place real restrictions on the use of electronic voting
equipment. Again, if states think that HR 811's requirements aren't
robust enough, they can pass legislation of their own.

* "HR 811 prohibits the disclosure of voting system software." False.
HR 811 would for the first time federally mandate the disclosure of
election-specific source code. The disclosure provision that emerged
from committee is certainly not as broad as it could be. Public
disclosure is not required, as the original language of HR 811
demanded. Yet as discussed above, HR 811 would explicitly protect the
right of access for certain reviewers who currently have no such such
guaranteed right and who have been routinely denied access to any
software in some of the many battles that EFF has fought in the courts
and elsewhere since 2003. The software industry fought long and hard
behind the scenes to scuttle any disclosure requirement. That the
current disclosure language emerged from committee at all is a
testament to the many individuals, organizations, and lawmakers
dedicated to election integrity who stood up in support of the bill
instead of trying to tear it down. Make no mistake: this disclosure
requirement is simply one of many initial steps in a long struggle
towards full transparency of elections. But it is a critically
important step, nonetheless. And once again, states may mandate any
kind of additional disclosure, including an open source requirement,
that they wish.

* "HR 811 makes voting system source code a trade secret." False, and
demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of trade secrecy law. HR 811
does not, in any way, "create" trade secrets or transform voting
system source code into a trade secret. Information either meets trade
secret criteria -- created by each individual state, and not the
federal government -- or it doesn't. As EFF and others have repeatedly
experienced, the lack of guaranteed access to this code due to trade
secrecy claims has been a major impediment to litigation over voting
system failures, like the ongoing litigation brought by voters in
Sarasota County, Florida, for which EFF serves as co-counsel. Far from
"creating" trade secrets, HR 811 actually limits the protections
offered by state trade secrecy laws to voting system source code. For
example, the bill identifies "trade secrets" as one of the categories
of information, protected in some circumstances by a mandatory
non-disclosure agreement, that must be disclosed to qualified
individuals who would have the newly-created right to review the
software. Absent HR 811, litigants (such as those involved in the
ongoing Sarasota County litigation) and computer science experts
interesting in testing system integrity would have no guarantee of
obtaining access to the source code at all. Individuals who do not
enter into the non-disclosure agreements discussed in HR 811 would not
be affected, and efforts to obtain access to code by other means would
proceed as they always have. Critics may desire greater access to this
code, as would EFF, but assertions that the bill would somehow "make
the source code a government-recognized trade secret" are
disingenuous. And here too, states can decide to step in and limit or
even rescind the protections offered by their own trade secrecy laws.

* "Source code reviewers could be sued if they make false claims about
source code obtained via the disclosure requirements of HR 811." True,
but misleading. Individuals who make damaging false claims about any
product, voting system-related or otherwise, subject themselves to
potential liability but also enjoy the protections of the First
Amendment which generally allows for honestly mistaken claims but does
not protect malicious intentional lying. HR 811 would not, and should
not, protect individuals who knowingly lie. On the other hand, HR 811
would explicitly permit code reviewers to publicly report their
findings: the NDA signed by code reviewers must "allow[] the signatory
to perform analyses on the technology (including by executing the
technology), disclose reports and analyses that describe operational
issues pertaining to the technology (including vulnerabilities to
tampering, errors, risks associated with use, failures as a result of
use, and other problems), and describe or explain why or how a voting
system failed or otherwise did not perform as intended." See proposed
Sec. 301(a)(8)(D)(viii). HR 811 wouldn't change the First Amendment,
nor could it. But the First Amendment doesn't ordinarily protect
knowing misrepresentations and neither would HR 811.

* "Experts who sign NDAs will be prohibited from reviewing other
voting technology in the future." False. HR 811 would specifically
require otherwise: a legal NDA "does not prohibit a signatory from
entering into other nondisclosure agreements to review other
technologies under this paragraph ..." See proposed Sec.
301(a)(8)(D)(ii).

I could, unfortunately, go on.

Attempts by certain vendors and election officials to derail
meaningful reform that would implicate their existing technology, or
underscore the potentially high cost of replacing it, are
understandable and expected. However, advocates of more open and
transparent elections do themselves and the voters of this country a
disservice by attempting to undermine, with claims about the bill that
are plainly wrong, the passage of important legislation that would
make real and important gains.

EFF strongly supports the passage of HR 811 and hopes that you will as
well. Don't just take my word for it: read the bill for yourself and
then make your own decision. If you don't think that HR 811 goes far
enough, then push for passage of complementary legislation, either in
Congress or with your own state legislatures. EFF will continue to
support sensible legislative proposals that can build on the
foundation of HR 811. But whatever you do, don't fall for the false
choice offered in the breathless rhetoric of the "all or nothing"
contingent. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. And HR 811
is good.


2.
The Campaign for Secure Elections June 13, 2007
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-norden/the-campaign-for-secure-e_b_51986.html

Lawrence Norden, counsel in the Brennan Center for Justice Democracy
Program and was the Chair of the Brennan Center Task Force on Voting
System Security, writes in support of passing Rush Holt's bill.

Please read the legislation yourself if you have any questions about it.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h811rh.txt.pdf

As the presidential candidates' ramp up their campaigns, it's hard to
resist asking, 'can't give us a break?' Didn't the last federal
election cycle just end? Isn't November 2008 awfully far away?

Perhaps. But there is one campaign for all future federal elections
that must begin in earnest immediately. And that is the campaign to
make elections as secure and accurate as possible. After Florida's
hanging chad debacle in 2000, voting irregularities in Ohio in 2004,
and the mysterious loss of 18,000 votes in a House race in Sarasota in
2006, there is little room for another divisive national election
marred by voting machine glitches.

The good news is that experts agree on what steps must be taken to
make voting systems more secure and more reliable. In fact, the House
of Representatives is about to vote on a bill introduced by
Congressmen Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Tom Davis (R-VA) that would mandate
many of these steps.

Most dramatically, the Holt-Davis bill would ban all paperless
electronic voting in federal elections. By November 2008, all states
would have to use voting systems that produce a voter verifiable paper
record. In other words, voters would vote on systems that give them an
opportunity to review or fill out a piece of paper that contains a
record of their votes. Currently, voters in 18 states are denied that
opportunity.

Just as importantly, Holt-Davis mandates random manual counts
comparing the voter verified paper to the electronic tallies, in order
to "check" the electronic count and ensure that programming errors,
software bugs or other corrupt software did not cause the electronic
voting machine to miscount federal election results. Only 13 states
require this important security measure today.

The bill also bans the use of most wireless components on voting
machines. Security experts have warned that wireless components can be
particularly dangerous, because they can allow a member of the general
public to send or receive signals from the voting machines from a
distance -- potentially triggering attacks against the voting systems
with a hand held device such as a Palm Pilot or other personal digital
assistant. Only two states ban such components for all machines.

Finally, the bill would immediately end the practice whereby vendors
pay and choose the testing labs that certify their machines. Voting
integrity experts have long decried this system, which creates a
serious conflict of interest for testing lab: pass a system or risk
the loss of future business? Not surprisingly, this system has
produced terrible results. The testing labs have certified many
machines that had serious security defects, violated federal
guidelines, and broke down on Election Day, losing thousands of votes.
Under Rep. Holt's bill, the Election Assistance Commission will hold
money for testing labs in escrow, and assign testing labs for machine
certification at random.

None of these proposed changes should be controversial. Nevertheless,
opposition to the bill has built in recent weeks.

Many election officials have complained that the bill's deadlines are
unrealistic. They also fear that they may not receive adequate funding
to make the needed changes. Fortunately, the most recent version of
the Holt-Davis bill moves many of the deadlines to more realistic time
frames (while still mandating an end to paperless electronic voting by
November 2008). It also significantly increases federal funds to local
jurisdictions to make equipment changes. Ultimately, the objections of
some election officials are not reasons to oppose this critical bill.
If need be, deadlines can be adjusted as the legislation moves
forward, and appropriators can be held accountable if they fail to
provide sufficient funds to get the job done.

Some have used these objections as an excuse to make sure Congress
does not do anything to make voting systems more secure and accurate.
Last week, Congressman Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) introduced the so-called
"Voter Enhancement and Security Act of 2007," urging his fellow
Republicans to vote for it instead of the bipartisan Holt-Davis bill.
Unfortunately, Congressman Ehlers' bill does nothing to address the
serious voting system security vulnerabilities experts have
identified.

We cannot allow election integrity and security to become a partisan
issue addressed with public relations messages instead of honest
analysis of the risks and serious implementation of the solutions.
Congress has an opportunity to act now. Voting system fiascos in each
of the last several federal elections suggest that if it fails to do
so, we will see more divisive Election Day debacles -- all too soon.

Lawrence Norden is the author of the just published The Machinery of
Democracy: Protecting Elections in an Electronic World (Academy
Chicago Press). He is a counsel in the Brennan Center for Justice
Democracy Program and was the Chair of the Brennan Center Task Force
on Voting System Security.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

E-Voting Threatens Election Integrity — AMERICAN.COM: A Magazine of Ideas, Online

E-Voting Threatens Election Integrity — AMERICAN.COM: A Magazine of Ideas, Online


Notes from a local friend follow:

This is a good piece. I think it characterizes H.R. 811 very well.

It would be useful for people to drop a line to their congresscritters in support of H.R. 811 (for House members) and "similar legislation" (for our Senators).

Please feel free to forward this on to the state list.

Dave Eckhardt