Be vigilant, be vocal, be vociferous...November 2004
is probably the last chance for the redemption of the
Republic...Are the "red states" really "red'?
Elaine Kitchel, Intervention Magazine: WISH TV, an
Indiana television station, did a recent in-depth
investigation of the election woes plaguing some
Indiana counties after some precincts ran out of
republican ballots shortly after the polls opened, and
after some counties reported thousands more votes than
registered voters...What the WISH-TV news team
uncovered was something far deeper even than a lack of
ballots. A look beyond the present failings toward the
fall election revealed possibilities for tampering
that would scare even the most complacent of voters.
Top state election officials tend to work closely with
the vendors of voting equipment. Republican Kathy
Richardson, an Indiana State Representative who was
Indiana's Hamilton County Clerk, purchased $1.3
million worth of electronic voting equipment from
MicroVote, and says she plans to purchase $700,000
more. She told WISH-TV, “When you work with a vendor,
you develop a relationship.” She works closely indeed.
MicroVote's president, James Ries Jr., has donated to
Richardson's campaign. Apparently, voting equipment
companies don't see that as a conflict.
Wendy Orange, who recently resigned her job as project
manager at ES&S (another voting equipment company),
was working with Indiana election officials, with her
office inside the election board's warehouse. She
stated that voting equipment companies say “trust us,”
and they have been trusted for years. But has that
trust been earned? Can voters really “trust” the
products and the companies who make them?
Thwart the Theft of a Second Presidential Election,
Show Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=767
An investigation into electronic voting in Indiana has frightening implications for the presidential election in November.
By Elaine Kitchel
It's no secret that the new voting
technology--paperless, electronic voting machines--has
increased the risk of fraud and incorrect totals. You
have only to read the daily newspapers to see story
after story of possible tampering and elections gone
wrong.
Take Indiana, for instance. WISH TV, an Indiana
television station, did a recent in-depth
investigation of the election woes plaguing some
Indiana counties after some precincts ran out of
republican ballots shortly after the polls opened, and
after some counties reported thousands more votes than
registered voters: click here and click here.
What the WISH-TV news team uncovered was something far
deeper even than a lack of ballots. A look beyond the
present failings toward the fall election revealed
possibilities for tampering that would scare even the
most complacent of voters.
Top state election officials tend to work closely with
the vendors of voting equipment. Republican Kathy
Richardson, an Indiana State Representative who was
Indiana's Hamilton County Clerk, purchased $1.3
million worth of electronic voting equipment from
MicroVote, and says she plans to purchase $700,000
more. She told WISH-TV, “When you work with a vendor,
you develop a relationship.” She works closely indeed.
MicroVote's president, James Ries Jr., has donated to
Richardson's campaign. Apparently, voting equipment
companies don't see that as a conflict.
Wendy Orange, who recently resigned her job as project
manager at ES&S (another voting equipment company),
was working with Indiana election officials, with her
office inside the election board's warehouse. She
stated that voting equipment companies say “trust us,”
and they have been trusted for years. But has that
trust been earned? Can voters really “trust” the
products and the companies who make them?
When Ries, the MicroVote President, was asked how a
citizen could know if his/her voted counted, he
replied, “It's one of those areas of a leap of faith.
You really do have to have a faith in your local
jurisdiction, that they are conducting equitable
elections in the best faith of the voters. The
security for the voter, once again, is the acceptance
of good judgment by a local board. Quite frankly, it's
very difficult to convince somebody how do I know my
vote counted…. There is no way to link that individual
ballot back to that individual voter.”
Is it any wonder Orange resigned her position after
she blew the whistle on ES&S when the company asked
her to cover up a software problem it had? “I was
faced with a moral and ethical dilemma, and I felt the
only thing that I could do was come forward and tell
the Marion County Clerk what had happened,” Orange
continued in her interview with WISH-TV.
Now, Marion County Clerk Doris Anne Sadler,
responsible for the largest voting population in
Indiana, is in the unenviable position of questioning
the reliability and veracity of ES&S, with whom the
county has so heavily invested. The company disputes
Orange's claims, of course. But ES&S's corporate
certification claim says: “Under a statute that took
effect in July 2003, the State of Indiana now requires
equipment to be certified to the new 2002 federal
standards. While Version 7.4.5 has not been certified
to these new standards--as is the case, we believe,
for other vendors’ systems as well--it is very
important to note that Version 7.4.5 has been tested
by an independent testing authority, certified to the
federal government’s 1990 standards, certified by
numerous states around the country, and used very
effectively in many jurisdictions around the country.”
The glaring omission in this statement is that
Nebraska-based ES&S does not claim that its results
are accurate, only that they adhere to the OLD
standards of 1990 and are just as good as anyone
else's in the industry. Further, Nebraska's Senator
Chuck Hagel was once president of the company. And the
Senate ethics committee found that Senator Hagel still
has financial ties to ES&S’s parent company, the
McCarthy Group. The senator's campaign treasurer is
the chairman of that company.
An investigation by the Palm Beach Post revealed ES&S
had a secret agreement to kick back a percentage of
its profits to the Florida Association of Counties,
and that the lobbyist representing both ES&S and the
Florida Association of Counties was Sandra Mortham, a
former Florida secretary of state and former running
mate of Governor Jeb Bush.
So if, as they claim, ES&S and MicroVote are
comparable to the others, let's look at the last big
player, Diebold.
The man behind Diebold, an Ohio-based company, is
Walden O'Dell. Last summer O'Dell sent out invitations
to fellow Republicans to attend a fund-raising dinner.
In his invitation he stated he was “committed to
helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the
president.” And O'Dell means it. In the last election
the Republican National Committee received $100,000
from O'Dell. With Ohio being a pivotal state in the
upcoming election, one doesn't have to go very far to
envision how O'Dell and Diebold will actually
“deliver.” Twenty of Ohio's counties have already
adopted Diebold technology for the November election.
In fact, from its own website, Diebold has this to say
about its machines to be used in some California
precincts: “[Diebold Election Systems] anticipates
that its TSX system … will be the first touchscreen
voting system to be qualified under the new 2002
federal standards…. The company is not obligated to
report changes to its outlook.”
Diebold further states, “Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.
The company's uncertainties could cause actual results
to differ materially from those anticipated in
forward-looking statements. These include, but are not
limited to:
* challenges raised about reliability and security of
the company's election systems products, including the
risk that such products will not be certified for use
or will be decertified;
* potential security violations to the company's
information technology systems.”
“Uncertainties?” “Faith?” Are they talking about
possible rain at a church picnic or an election?
Yes, Diebold is comparable to ES&S and MicroVote, all
right. And with the election in such good hands, it's
easy to have “faith,” isn't it?
If “faith” isn't enough for you, you might want to
write your Senators and Congresspeople to support the
Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act
(H.R.2239) (S.1980): click here.
Elaine Kitchel lives in Indiana where she is a
research scientist. She closely watches the political
scene and writes about it, instead of jumping from her
4th floor office window in disgust. You can email
Elaine at Elaine@interventionmag.com
Posted Monday, June 7, 2004