--- Begin Message ---
Voter Verification Newsletter
Volume 2, Number 7, on May 21, 2004
*** Please forward this newsletter to your friends! ***
*** Invite them to visit http://www.verifiedvoting.org/ ***
*** For this and previous newsletters, see
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.asp?id=65 ***
Editor's Note: A lot has happened since the last regular newsletter
we published, so this issue is quite long. We hope to publish our
newsletter more often so that each issue is not as long, but
we also feel it's important to get all this important news out
to you in a timely manner.
CONTENTS
* State-By-State Progress on Verified Voting
* More Federal Paper Trail Legislation: Which Bills to Support?
* VerifiedVoting.org Visits Washington, D.C.
* U.S. Election Assistance Commission Holds First E-Voting Hearing
* Blind Voters Criticize E-Voting Machines
* Paper Ballot Advocates File Brief in California Lawsuit
* Computers, Freedom, and Privacy Conference: Mock Election
* New Staff and Board Members
* Verified Voting Needs You! Volunteer to Help
* The Onion's Take on E-Voting Machines
* Online Donations to 501(c)(3) Verified Voting Foundation
* Subscribe and Unsubscribe Information
STATE-BY-STATE PROGRESS ON VERIFIED VOTING
Alaska: Success! On Tuesday, May 11, the state legislature
required a paper trail for e-voting machines in case of
recounts. The law allows limited use of the paperless
Diebold machines through 2005 with paper ballots available
in all precincts in the meantime. More at:
http://verifiedvoting.org/article.asp?id=2105
California: Several counties have begun to take steps to
meet the stringent requirements set out by Secretary of
State Kevin Shelley so that they can obtain recertification
for their voting systems. Among these requirements--paper
ballots must be available at all precincts for voters who
prefer paper (we call it "paper or plastic"). Other counties
continue to balk at the mandate of the state's chief
election official, some even saying they'll use their
electronic systems, certified or not, or even filing a
lawsuit. Meanwhile, Shelley may get support for his
requirements: Senate Bill 1723, introduced by Johnson
(R-Irvine) and Perata (D-Berkeley), calls for a ban on all
paperless electronic voting systems for November 2004 in
California. Johnson and Perata have also introduced SB 1438,
a bill to require Accessible Voter Verified Paper Audit
Trails (AVVPAT) by January 2005. SB 1438 has passed out of
suspension and could be heard on the floor of the Senate as
early as Monday or Tuesday (May 24 or 25)!
Benavidez v. Shelley lawsuit in California:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.asp?id=2020
California Senate Bill 1438:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1401-1450/sb_1438_bill_20040427_amended_sen.pdf
California Senate Bill 1723:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1701-1750/sb_1723_bill_20040401_amended_sen.pdf
Florida: Voting Systems Under Pressure - The auditing system
of an ES&S iVotronic voting system used in Miami-Dade,
Broward and 9 other counties has a significant flaw. The
malfunction occurs when the flashcards used to download vote
information scramble serial numbers of the voting machines,
making it difficult to determine which machines the votes
came from. The net effect: it's impossible to audit
accurately. Officials are currently developing a work-around
but it is unlikely any solution will be certified in time
for the November 2004 election. And in Palm Beach County,
the Election Reform Coalition was joined by Rep. Robert
Wexler in calling for that county's voting equipment to be
subjected to testing similar to "red team" tests done by the
Raba team in Maryland. The group also called for
voter-verified paper ballots to be used with the machines.
Election official Theresa Lepore indicated she might be
willing to have the machines tested, but said it would have
to be with the State's cooperation, since only the Division
of Elections has access to the source code for the Sequoia
machines. Wexler, who has filed a lawsuit calling for
voter-verified paper ballots in Florida, said that the
problems that surfaced in the auditability of touchscreens
was yet another obvious wake-up call in the mounting
evidence against touch-screens being ignored by the Governor
and the Secretary of State. Noting the problems couldn't be
fixed in time for November, he called on the Secretary of
State to obtain optical scan machines instead, using a
portion of new federal election dollars coming through the
Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Raba "Red Team" report:
http://www.raba.com/text/press/TA_Report_AccuVote.pdf
Kentucky: During Kentucky's recent election on Tuesday, May
18, electronic voting machines in at least two counties
failed to show all candidates on the ballots, and voters
ended up using paper ballots instead. The Secretary of State
said safeguards, including certification, were designed to
prevent such problems. County election boards are required
to certify each voting machine in a public meeting,
including reviewing the ballot and testing machines. In one
area, a voting machine malfunctioned, was replaced, and then
the replacement malfunctioned. More info:
http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=1878133
Maine: Congratulations! On April 22, 2004 LD-1759 "An Act To
Assure the Accurate Counting of Votes" was signed into law
bringing Maine into the ranks of states requiring voter
verified paper trail. Maine LD-1759 legislation:
http://janus.state.me.us/legis/LawMakerWeb/externalsiteframe.asp?ID=280012037&LD=1759&Type=1
Maryland: Maryland's State Board of Elections held a 3-hour
hearing May 19, 2004 regarding the disenfranchisement of
voters who asked for, and were given, paper ballots to vote
on during their recent primary. Some 100 voters were
subsequently told their votes would not be counted, since
they had used "provisional" ballots instead of voting on the
Diebold TS electronic voting machines. It seems poll workers
in some areas were unaware of Election Board instructions
NOT to give provisional (paper) ballots to anyone asking for
"paper, not plastic," hardly the fault of the voters!
Testimony from Bob Ferraro of TrueVoteMD at Wednesday's
hearing questioned "whether rules were designed to defend a
flawed decision to force an unauditable system on the
citizens, rather than to facilitate the counting of
everyone's vote." A ruling is expected in 90 days. In other
Maryland news, TrueVoteMD filed suit in April to force state
election officials to decertify the electronic machines
until the manufacturer, Ohio-based Diebold Election Systems,
remedies well-publicized security vulnerabilities in the new
machines and institutes a voter-verified paper audit trail.
For info on verified voting litigation:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.asp?id=2020
Ohio: Working with Ohio's Citizens' Alliance for Secure
Elections (CASE), constituents of VerifiedVoting.org, the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, and TrueMajority.org in Ohio
have sent thousands of faxes, letters, and emails to local
county election officials to stop purchases of paperless
e-voting machines prior to the November 2004 election. The
news in Ohio is changing by the minute. At time of
publication, 17 of 31 undecided counties have made the
decision to postpone paperless e-voting purchases for now,
already a tremendous victory! The remaining 14 are listed on
our Ohio action alert page, with action steps for you to
take to help safeguard election integrity in the Buckeye
state. Action alert:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/alerts/ohio/
Vermont: Congratulations! On April 15, 2004, Vermont
Governor Jim Douglas signed S.202 into law. The bill was
passed by the Vermont House and Senate on April 2, 2004. The
law states, in part: "For general elections, the secretary
of state shall furnish each town with a number of printed
ballots approximately equal to 100 percent of the number of
voters on the checklist for the primary election," and "No
voting shall occur in any general election which does not
use printed ballots." The law goes into effect July 1, 2004.
"It is the people of Vermont who represent our greatest hope
and best opportunity for a brighter tomorrow."
~ Governor Jim Douglas
Vermont S.202 legislation:
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2004/acts/ACT094.HTM
NOTE: Is your state or county discussing the purchase of
e-voting machines within the next six months? We'd like to
organize to educate decisionmakers and get the public
involved in the decisionmaking. Please let us know at:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/contact.asp
MORE FEDERAL PAPER TRAIL LEGISLATION: WHICH BILLS TO
SUPPORT?
Several pending federal bills call for voter-verified paper
ballots. Of these, VerifiedVoting.org strongly endorses
HR2239, the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility
Act" introduced by Rush Holt (D-NJ), and S1980, its
companion bill on the Senate side, introduced by Bob Graham
(D-FL). S2313, the "Restore Elector Confidence in Our
Representative Democracy Act of 2004" or RECORD, also calls
for voter-verified paper ballots but includes a risky waiver
provision, allowing jurisdictions claiming a "technological
impossibility" to get around the paper ballot requirement.
The waiver, to be implemented by the Election Assistance
Commission (EAC), has the potential to undermine the
essential safeguards of the bill.
The current status of HR2239: Rush Holt's "Voter Confidence
and Increased Accessibility Act" is holding steady at 140
co-sponsors.
Before the recent EAC hearing (May 5), some lawmakers said,
"Let's see what the EAC says," but your active follow-up
could overcome that wait-and-see stance. Let your
Representatives know that the EAC, underfunded and behind
schedule, is not likely to speak out on the matter of
voter-verified paper ballots and auditability of our
elections in time for November, so it's up to the lawmakers
to take a stand to protect the integrity of our vote.
Add to that the fact that leaders from the Government Reform
and Judiciary Committees have asked for a GAO investigation
into electronic voting--a strong signal that everything is
not "fine"--and whether the GAO responds quickly or not,
lawmakers should take immediate action to safeguard
November's elections.
A new bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Steve King
(R-IA) in late April, HR4187. Although it does call for
voter-verified paper, it lacks the 2004 deadline and an
audit provision. It currently has 29 co-sponsors.
On the Senate side: S1980, Senator Graham's companion bill
to HR2239, has a new co-sponsor, Senator Mark Dayton of MN.
(He also co-sponsored S2313, which currently has nine
co-sponsors.) We're also waiting to hear from Senator
Edwards who expressed strong interest to one of our
volunteers--urge him to sign on today for S1980!
VERIFIEDVOTING.ORG VISITS WASHINGTON, D.C.
From April 23-28, sixty-five volunteers from 19 states (AL,
CA, CT, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, MA, MD, MI, NC, NY, OR, TX, VA,
VT, WA, and WI) worked hard to press their lawmakers to
co-sponsor HR2239, the Voter Confidence and Increased
Accessibility Act introduced by Rep. Rush Holt (NJ), and
S1980, the Senate-side companion bill introduced by Sen.
Graham (FL).
Participants launched the VerifiedVoting.org Petition
Delivery with over 6,000 signatures, and were supported by
calls, letters, and faxes from many of you back home. At a
press conference, Rep. Rush Holt--surrounded by activists
from many states--praised volunteers' efforts to raise
awareness about the issue. You can see some great photos
taken by C. Scott Ananian of Massachusetts and Marcia Patt
of California here:
http://temp.verifiedvoting.org/gallery/verifiedvotingindc
The result? SIX NEW CO-SPONSORS for HR2239!! The total is
now up to 140 thanks to everyone's efforts. For the full
report:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.asp?id=2143
U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION HOLDS FIRST E-VOTING
HEARING
The newly-formed Elections Assistance Commission (EAC)
reviewed "Use, Security, and Reliability" of electronic
voting on May 5, 2004. Four commissioners and a
standing-room only crowd heard an overview and testimony
from 22 speakers on five different panels: Technology,
Vendor, Election Administrator, Research/Human Interaction
Factors, and Advocacy issues.
Although the panelists selected by the EAC were nearly
4-to-1 against voter-verified paper ballots, the advocates
for verified voting provided compelling testimony.
The day-long event was punctuated by a well-attended
TrueMajority.org press conference at mid-day, with Rush
Holt, Kevin Shelley, Avi Rubin, Linda Schade from
TrueVoteMD.org--and the Vote-Eating Computer!
Pamela Smith attended the hearing as Verified Voting
Foundation's Nationwide Coordinator, and was interviewed by
CNN-Financial News and Pacifica Radio of Los Angeles. For
the full report:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.asp?id=2144
BLIND VOTERS CRITICIZE E-VOTING MACHINES
Following the March 2004 primary election in Santa Clara
County, California, the Silicon Valley Council for the Blind
(SVCB) conducted a survey of disabled voters about their
experiences with the Sequoia paperless electronic voting
machines at the polling places in that county. There was
almost universal dissatisfaction with the experience and
many blind voters either didn't cast a vote or had to resort
to assistance from a friend or poll worker. This report
casts doubt on some disabled rights advocates' claim that
electronic voting machines are more reliable and easier to
use for disabled persons. For the report:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.asp?id=2117
Media coverage:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/8673336.htm
PAPER BALLOT ADVOCATES FILE BRIEF IN CALIFORNIA LAWSUIT
The Verified Voting Foundation is a participant in a
friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Electronic Frontier
Foundation in the California case called Benavidez v.
Shelley. This is the litigation where Riverside, Plumas, and
Kern counties, along with some disabled rights advocates,
are trying to overturn California Secretary of State Kevin
Shelley's decertification of certain paperless e-voting
machines from Diebold Election Systems, as well as his
requirement for a paper ballot alternative and other
security measures in precincts where paperless electronic
voting machines are used. For a summary of verified voting
litigation, along with media coverage and legal documents,
see http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.asp?id=2020
COMPUTERS, FREEDOM, AND PRIVACY CONFERENCE: MOCK ELECTION
Electronic voting issues were at the forefront of conference
topics covered at the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy (CFP)
conference in Berkeley, CA, from April 23-28, 2004. Stanford
University Computer Science Professor David Dill, who is the
founder of VerifiedVoting.org and the Verified Voting
Foundation (VVF), was the opening keynote speaker at the
conference on Wednesday, then received a Pioneer Award from
the Electronic Frontier Foundation during a ceremony at the
Chabot Space & Science Center. VVF Advisory Board Member Avi
Rubin and California Voter Foundation President Kim
Alexander also received EFF Pioneer Awards this year. VVF
rounded up the conference with a rousing mock election (see
pictures link below), for which candidates Avi Rubin and
Deirdre Mulligan had stumped throughout the conference. The
mock election demonstrated the difference between an
election held with a paper trail or without one. If you'd
like to hold a mock election at a conference or other event,
please let us know at:
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/contact.asp
CFP conference website:
http://www.cfp2004.org/
Professor Dill et al. win EFF Pioneer Award:
http://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer/2004.php
Mock voter information center (with specs of mock election
machine):
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/cfp2004/
Pictures of mock election:
http://temp.verifiedvoting.org/gallery/mockelectionatcfp
Media coverage from PBS' "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer":
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june04/voting_05-05.html
NEW STAFF AND BOARD MEMBERS
The Verified Voting Foundation has brought on board Pamela
Smith as our new Nationwide Coordinator responsible for
organizing efforts and relationships with groups and
volunteers nationwide. Pamela was responsible for
coordinating the Petition Delivery Days event mentioned
above. We also have a new Webmaster named Chris Brainard who
has already made improvements to the website. He plans to
move the website from a proprietary Windows platform to an
open source Linux platform.
We are pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Ted Mohns to
the VVF Board of Directors. Dr. Mohns has already brought
his considerable expertise to bear for the organization as a
volunteer, raising a significant portion of the
organization's current funding. The newly formed VVF
Development Committee welcomes Christine Forester, a
dedicated volunteer who has already reworked funding
proposals for the organization and brings a wealth of
experience to our fundraising efforts.
VERIFIED VOTING NEEDS YOU! VOLUNTEER TO HELP
Volunteer to support VerifiedVoting.org with your unique
talents and expertise, and meet other volunteers. Whether
you can spare lots of time or only a little, we have a task
or project just for you!
If you are willing to share your skills as a disabled
community advocate, newsletter editor, graphic artist, web
programmer, lobbyist, researcher, or grantwriter, let us
hear from you! You can also help by getting petitions
signed, attending local meetings, coordinating events or
volunteers, meeting elections officials... all are welcome.
Participation is tailored to your interests and
availability.
Soon VV.org will set up volunteer meetings nationwide... and
our first ever local Volunteer Meeting kickoff was a great
success! On Monday May 17, 2004 a dozen San Francisco area
volunteers crowded into Verified Voting's temporary offices
to share pizza and lively discussion about verified voting
issues and how volunteers can support the organization's
mission. Participants offered feedback and showed how local
meetings can be a great resource as well as a very enjoyable
way to further the cause.
To find out how to start or join one in your area, contact
us at http://www.verifiedvoting.org/joinus_step1.asp
THE ONION'S TAKE ON E-VOTING MACHINES
You've made it this far in the newsletter and you deserve a
humor break. :-) Check out The Onion's take on e-voting
machines at
http://www.theonion.com/lib/pdf.php?type=ia&cat=Infograph&img_id=2383
(Adobe PDF format).
ONLINE DONATIONS TO 501(C)(3) VERIFIED VOTING FOUNDATION
Up until recently, it wasn't possible to make an online
donation to the Verified Voting Foundation, but Webmaster
Chris has programmed the capability into our website and we
can now accept online credit card donations to the 501(c)(3)
organization called the Verified Voting Foundation, as well
as to the 501(c)(4) lobbying organization called
VerifiedVoting.org.
Once the IRS approves our tax-exemption application,
donations to the Verified Voting Foundation will be
retroactively tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Contributions to VerifiedVoting.org, however, are not and
will never be tax-deductible. Besides the usual credit cards
(except for Discover which is still pending on the Verified
Voting Foundation donation page), you can also donate by
mailing a check or using PayPal online. We will gladly
accept matching gifts from employers, stock, bonds,
bequests, and in-kind contributions.
With such a wonderful variety of choices, how can anyone
resist making a donation today. For further information, or
to donate, see: https://www.verifiedvoting.org/donate/
Or if you just want to write a check, you can make it out to
either "VerifiedVoting.org" or "Verified Voting Foundation"
and send it to:
Verified Voting
454 Shotwell Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE INFORMATION
To subscribe to the Verified Voting newsletter, please go to
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/joinus_step1.asp
To unsubscribe from the Verified Voting newsletter, please
go to http://www.verifiedvoting.org/endorserupdate.asp then
log in, change "Email Preference" to None, then click on the
Submit button at the bottom of the web page to complete the
unsubscription process.
The Verified Voting Foundation and VerifiedVoting.org are
sister nonprofit organizations championing reliable and
publicly verifiable elections. Founded by Stanford
University Computer Science Professor David Dill, the
organizations support a requirement for voter-verified paper
trails on electronic voting machines allowing voters to
inspect individual permanent records of their ballots and
election officials to conduct meaningful recounts as needed.
The organizations' website is at
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/
(c) Copyright 2004, Verified Voting Foundation, Inc., and
VerifiedVoting.org, Inc.
Reproduction for nonprofit purposes permitted with
attribution to the Verified Voting Foundation at
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/
--
This is message #7.
**********
This list is hosted by the Verified Voting Foundation and
VerifiedVoting.org. For more information about our work
championing reliable and publicly verifiable elections, see
<http://www.verifiedvoting.org/>.
Donations accepted at <http://www.verifiedvoting.org/Donate/>.
--- End Message ---