Monday, October 23, 2006

DFA Event: A Forum On Voting Machines

I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the rest of my life.
- George Burns
The least of learning is done in the classrooms.
- Thomas Merton
Oh, I don't blame Congress. If I had $600 billion at my disposal, I'd be irresponsible, too.
- Lichty and Wagner

I have an email in my inbox, and I RSVPd. I don't know a whole lot about this issue, but I do know this is how they stole the last two presidential elections. It was something to do with voting machines.

On The Web

Diebold Voting Machine Owner Committed To Give Votes To Bush in 2004 The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." ..... O'Dell attended a strategy pow-wow with wealthy Bush benefactors - known as Rangers and Pioneers - at the president's Crawford, Texas, ranch earlier this month. The next week, he penned invitations to a $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser to benefit the Ohio Republican Party's federal campaign fund - partially benefiting Bush - at his mansion in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington.
The History of Voting Machines - History of the Voting System ...
Voting Machines
Voting machine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
VerifiedVoting.org : Index
Schneier on Security: The Problem with Electronic Voting Machines
Voting machine fails inspection | CNET News.com security experts--three from Johns Hopkins University and a colleague from Rice University--performed an audit and found numerous security holes. ..... There is no way to verify that a vote was correctly recorded and no permanent record is kept. ...... In the 2002 election, 19.6 percent of the electorate could have cast an electronic vote ...... The researchers were only able to see the source code to Diebold's system because the company accidentally left the file on an Internet server in January. ...... "You can't run voting machines on Windows." ...... By bringing a stack of valid cards to the voting booth, a person could cast several votes. ...... the secrecy that surrounds the creation and certification of electronic voting machines almost ensures that the systems will not be programmed securely.

The last such event I went to was the Iraq movie. (Iraq Movie, Liberally, But Not Drinking, Movie: Iraq For Sale) I feel like I owe it to my favorite Deaniac, Barack Obama, to show up for another DFA event. This can be my way to celebrate the interest he has expressed for the first time for a possible run for president. (Switching To Obama) I was also on TV recently. That also has to be celebrated. (March And Rally For Full Immigrant Rights)

Join Democracy for NYC and Community Free Democrats for an important public forum on Wednesday, October 25th. Learn what voting machines may soon be chosen for you, and what you can do to encourage selection of the most secure, reliable and cost-effective voting machines for NYC.

When: October 25th, 7pm-9pm

Where: New York Society for Ethical Culture on 64th Street at Central Park West in Manhattan.

Panelists: Adam Cohen, Member of the NY Times Editorial Board, will moderate a panel which will include Douglas Kellner, Co-Chair, New York State Board of Elections; David Kogelman, HAVA Committee Chair, NY Democratic Lawyers Council; Bo Lipari, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Verified Voting; Mark Crispin Miller, New York University Professor and Author; Jerrold Nadler, Member, U.S. Congress; and John Ravitz, Executive Director, New York City Board of Elections.

Sponsoring Groups: The forum is sponsored by the New York Society for Ethical Culture and the Sierra Club—NYC Group. Co-sponsors include: Ansonia Independent Democrats, Broadway Democrats, Park River Independent Democrats, Three Parks Independent Democrats, Vincent F. Albano Republican Club.

For information, call 212-252-4918 or visit this link:
http://www.dfnyc.org/cms/node/87729

Event Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Event Time: 7:00 PM

Venue Name: NY Society for Ethical Culture
Address: 2 West 64th Street
City: New York
State: NY
Zip Code: 10023
Handicapped Accessible: Yes



Democracy For NYC
Welcome to Community Free Democrats - Serving the Upper West Side
Home: New York Society for Ethical Culture
"Central Park West" (1995)
Manhattan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Manhattan (1979)
The New York Times Editorial Board - New York Times
Douglas A
The New York Democratic Lawyers Council
New Yorkers for Verified Voting - Bo Lipari
Bo Lipari's Weblog
Mark Crispin Miller
Democracy Now! | Mark Crispin Miller: “Kerry Told Me He Now Thinks.. “[Kerry] told me he now thinks the election was stolen. He says he doesn't believe he is the person that can be out in front because of the sour grapes question. But he said he believes it was stolen. He says he argues with his democratic colleagues on the hill. He said he had a fight with Christopher Dodd because he said there's questions about the voting machines and Dodd was angry.”
Jerrold Nadler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John A Ravitz News - The New York Times
sierra club new york city group home page
THE ANSONIA INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS; - The Democratic Club of the ...
Broadway Democrats | Democracy For NYC
Park River Independent Democrats | Democracy For NYC
Three Parks Independent Democrats
Welcome to the Vince Albano 74th AD Republican Club's Web Site

This is an important topic, no doubt. And if the past is any clue, we are going to have issues also in these elections a few weeks away which look so good to our side. The Dems will take over both chambers.

In The News

Obama: Somber Americans ready for change KVOA.com
Obama's book tour fuels White House speculation Austin American-Statesman
Obama Obama Obama CBS News
Worried Bush retires Iraq slogan The Australian
Bush Drops `Stay the Course' for Flexibility on Iraq (Update1) Bloomberg
Poll Finds "Time Is Running Short" For Republicans In Congress All Headline News
Snow says no to Iraq 'ultimatums' United Press International
White House Looks for Better Ways Forward in Iraq New York Times
US denies setting timetable for Iraq to disarm militia Xinhua
Voter intimidation controversy grows in southern California Houston Chronicle
Angelides Calls Election Letter Act Of Intimidation NBC4.TV
OC candidate defends letter scaring immigrants Los Angeles Times
And the winner of the election is... Diebold Houston Chronicle
E-Voting Bites CBS News
Diebold Election Systems at the center of security breach Earthtimes.org
Another source code leak for Diebold Ars Technica, MA
States Create Processes to Ease E-voting Concerns Computerworld, MA
Diebold Source Code Disks Mailed to Maryland Democrat
Electronic Voting Machines Could Skew Elections ABC News
Diebold source code leaked againComputerworld, MA
Diebold Code Spill Hikes Electronic Voting Security Concerns TechNewsWorld, CA
Concerns raised over security of electronic voting machines abc13.com, TX
Maryland Suffers E-Voting Security Breach
NewsFactor Network, CA
Maryland gets crabby over voting tech GCN.com, DC
How Accurate Are Electronic Voting Machines? WMDT, MD
E-Voting Diebold Machine Code Mailed To Former Maryland Legislator
Spotlighting News
Diebold Election Systems at the center of security breach
Ex-delegate gets Diebold voting code in mail engadget, CA
Link: Diebold Voting Software Source In Wild Again Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand
Elections Said to be Safe After Possible Theft WTOP, D.C
Mailed disks raise voting machine fears The Kindred Times, Utah
Diebold declares machines secure Baltimore Sun, United States
Diebold Voting Machines Stir Up More Controversy WJZ, MD
Diebold Source Code Leaked Again PC World
Diebold Voting Machine Woes 2.0
Diebold source code leaked againWebwereld, Netherlands
Recent Electoral Politics ZNet, MA
FBI Investigating Source of Disks; Diebold Says Elections Safe WJLA, DC
Lieberman opens wide lead on Lamont in Conn. race Reuters
Why is Joe Lieberman Still Ahead? - Oct 23 Beyond Chron
Final debate for Senate candidates tonight WTNH
ElBaradei warns of sanctions on N.Korea, Iran









More ....


Electronic Voting, Online Banking

Electronic voting is actually a super idea. That is the future of voting. It is step one. Step two would be online voting. No need to stay in line. On election day you log in and you vote. Nothing wrong with the technology.

It is the slimey politics, the obfuscation, the white supremacist urge to disenfranchise the black community, the handshake between big money and Republican power, and the sheer incompetence of those who can not get right what is essentially about 100 lines of software code.
So it's not the technology, it is the politics that is nifty.

If you trust software with your money, I think that software can be made good enough that you can trust it with your vote. But there are forces at work that are doing their very best to make sure that ain't so.

For the short term, the idea of paper trails is a good one. Give people in print what they did on the screen. But long term it is the software itself that has to be made secure and trustworthy.

The software way, you can have instant counts. As soon the polls close, the results are out.

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