Voting Machines Deny Basic Rights

Here is yesterday's (Oct 20, 2008) content:

15 days until Election Day.

Election officials in Jacksonville Florida must not have done the required Logic and Accuracy testing on all of their optical scan machines to be used in early voting. Nearly half of the optical scan machines in use in the city failed because they indicated the ballot was too long. This is clearly an error that should have been discovered in pre-election Logic and Accuracy testing. The problem is also being reported in other counties in the state and is being attributed to the machines purchased by the state.

Voters in Houston Texas were faced with long lines for the first day of early voting. Long-lines in some voting sites caused by failures of the computers used to check-in the voters. There were also some reports of voters who voted straight-party Democrat only to find that their Presidential selection was given to the Republican.

Featured - FL: Jacksonville - Early Voting off to Rough Start

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/breaking/news-article.aspx?storyid=121489&catid=17

Featured - FL: Leon County - Ballots not being recorded at two Leon County polling places

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20081020/BREAKINGNEWS/81020024

Featured - TX: Houston - Voters turn out in force for historic campaign http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6068201.html

Featured - WV: Ireland Says No Major Problems With Early Voting

http://www.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=26987

National: Snopes confirms danger of Straight Ticket Voting (STV) http://www.opednews.com/articles/Snopes-warns-of-dangers-of-by-Joan-Brunwasser-081020-116.html

National: Are voting machines reliable? DVICE looks at every type -- in every state http://dvice.com/archives/2008/10/are_voting_mach.php

National: Obama Assembles U.S.'s `Largest Law Firm' to Monitor Election http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a.hk4HvCkpiE&refer=home

National: Heavy Voter Turn Out Nationwide Could Cause Delays at Polls

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002976666

National: YouTube, PBS urge Americans to record voting problems

http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/journal/article/453547

National: Class voting hacks prompt call for better audits University exercise illustrates the potential for electronic vote tampering http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27205654/

National: Eight Years After Bush v. Gore, Why is There Still So Much Election Litigation and What Does This Mean for Voter Confidence in the Electoral Process?

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20081020_hasen.html

National: CountTheBallots (CTB) Calls for 'Citizen Audits' on Election Day - Warns of Widespread Fraud http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/counttheballots-ctb-calls-citizen-audits/story.aspx?guid={6213A17F-0BA6-4A58-A3D1-A9573EAA1A47}&dist=hppr

National: Protect Your Vote - Carry This Number http://sanfrancisco.about.com/b/2008/10/20/protect-your-vote-carry-this-number.htm

AL: Bulging voter lists invite election fraud

http://www.al.com/opinion/press-register/editorials.ssf?/base/opinion/1224494160274420.xml&coll=3

AZ: Arizona expects less wait at polls

Early balloting, more sites aim to reduce winding lines http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/10/20/20081020azvote1020.html

AZ: Pima County - Help AZ Candidate Restore US Election Integrity http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0810/S00288.htm

CA: County registrars are scrambling to keep up with new voter rolls In some California counties, officials are doubling up on polling machines, ballots and workers, and even hiring people to direct traffic.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vote20-2008oct20,0,7589384.story

CO: Colorado will be under watchful eyes of media, monitors on Election Day http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/oct/20/state-will-be-under-watchful-eyes-of-media/

FL: Long lines, a few glitches mark start of early voting in South Florida http://www.miamiherald.com/979/story/733312.html

FL: Duval County - Machine Problems Plague 1st Day Of Early Voting Metro Counties See Brisk Turnout, No Problems http://www.news4jax.com/news/17760842/detail.html

FL: Miami-Dade County - Early voting draws lines at some Dade polling places http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/breaking-news/story/733312.html

FL: Past voting gaffes put Palm Beach County in spotlight http://www.tampabay.com/news/article862247.ece

FL: Pasco County - Early Voting Turnout Higher Than Expected http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/oct/20/early-voting-turnout-higher-expected/

GA: Ga. secretary of state faces slew of voter issues http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/329984.html

IL: Early voting in DuPage exceeds expectations

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=244076

MD: Md. US attorney creates election fraud task force http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=8858&type=UTTM

NJ: NJ Judge Allows Release of Princeton Report Critical of Sequoia Voting Systems Sequoia Counters With a Strongly Worded Response That Does Not Answer The Critical Question: Do Their Machines Count Votes Accurately?

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6527

NJ: Editorial: Our election systems still beset by flaws http://packetonline.com/articles/2008/10/20/the_princeton_packet/opinions/doc48fd0157b6044428005400.txt

NV: Washoe County - Early voters line up to cast their election ballots http://www.rgj.com/article/20081019/NEWS/810190350/1321/NEWS

NY: State finds some county election boards unprepared Schuyler among 18 county offices across state checked by officials

http://www.stargazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081020/NEWS0110/810200301

NY: Ulster County - Kingston, Ulster towns get nailed in voting upgrade County passes on cost of 2009 election http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081020/NEWS/810200315/-1/NEWS

PA: Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Outraged at Partisan Lawsuit Attempting to Undermine Voter Confidence http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/pennsylvania-secretary-commonwealth-outraged-partisan/story.aspx?guid={AA1B4F2A-3174-4C4D-996D-CB0C444E55F6}&dist=hppr

PA: Allegheny County says voting machines ready http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_594256.html

SC: League questions voting machines

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1954210/

TX: Big Texas turnout on first day of early voting http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D93UFFFG0.html

TX: Denton County voters urged to use paper ballots http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa081020_wz_paperballots.12d6c23f6.html

TX: Galveston - Voting Rights Watch: Post-Ike displacement could cause voting problems for Galveston http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/10/voting-rights-watch-post-ike.asp

UT: Study: Utah vote devices unreliable

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10765686

VA: Local precincts bracing for flood of voters Registrar officials have had to get more voting equipment and poll workers to handle the crowds.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_registration_1020oct20,0,6267498.story

WV: Paperless Electronic Voting Machines Flipping Votes from Obama to McCain in West Virginia http://www.opednews.com/articles/Paperless-Electronic-Votin-by-Kevin-Zeese-081020-346.html

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democracy." The Creekside Declaration March 22, 2008