> > >California voting summit shuts out voting reform advocates; Panels appear >stacked with electronic voting proponents > > > > > >12/01/2005 @ 1:41 pm > > > ><http://rawstory.com/news/2005/California_voting_summit_shuts_out_voting_1201.html>http://rawstory.com/news/2005/California_voting_summit_shuts_out_voting_1201.html >Filed by Miriam Raftery > >A California summit on voting equipment, where many of the speakers had >apparent conflicts of interests, barred entry to consumer groups calling >for election reform, RAW STORY has discovered. >Advertisement ><http://www.burstnet.com/ads/sk10674c-map.cgi/ns/v=2.0S/sz=120x600A|160x600A/> >Click Here > > >A nonpartisan coalition representing 25 California election integrity >groups held a press conference Monday outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel in >Sacramento, where the "Voting Systems Testing Summit" was convened by >Republican California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson. > >The State appears to have skewed presentations in favor of electronic >voting, with advocates far outnumbering critics. Some panels contain >exclusively vendors of electronic voting equipment and representatives of >testing labs chosen by these vendors. > >"This smacks of Dick Cheney meeting with the energy companies and locking >out opposing interests of environmental groups," Sherry Healy, a member of >the California Election Protection Network steering committee, told RAW >STORY. "Diebold and other vendors selling electronic voting equipment have >been invited to attend, along with all 400 members of the California >Association of Election Officials," she said. "It costs one hundred and >seventy five dollars a ticket and will be picked up by ><http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_vst_summit.htm>the state." > >PANELS STACKED IN FAVOR OF E-VOTING > >Some of the conference's other panels are also weighted in favor of >e-voting advocates. A presentation of state election officials titled >"What Happens Now" includes Paul Craft, Nick Handy, Dr. Brit Williams, and >Connie Schmidt. > >Craft, an officer in the Florida Secretary of State's office, previously >headed Florida's Bureau of Voting Systems Certification and was >responsible for ensuring accuracy of new voting machines during the 2000 >presidential election debacle. > >Craft resigned from the state's Division of Elections to start his own >consulting company, which advises other states on purchase of election >equipment. He has also served on a Technology Guidance Committee appointed >by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), where he >solicited testimony from vendor engineers resulting in a vote to delete >new standards. > >Williams has been an outspoken defender of electronic voting. As an NIST >participant, he <http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=2144>stated >that "adding a paper 'receipt' could have an adverse effect." He also >served as a state evaluator of Diebold machines in Georgia, where he >allowed installation of a patch not certified by testing labs. BBV later ><http://rawstory.com/admin/dbscripts/www.ejfi.org/Voting/Voting-18.htm>revealed > >a "rob-georgia" file which contained "3,700 files of instructions to >replace files that were on the machines." Williams later ><http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0302/S00095.htm>admitted, "Some of the >things we did, we probably compromised security a little bit." > >Handy represents Washington state's Republican Secretary of State, Sam >Reed. In 2004, Voters Unite issued the ><http://www.votersunite.org/info/washingtonsix.asp>following alert: >"State Director of Elections Nick Handy, King County Director of Elections >Dean Logan, Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy, Kitsap County Auditor >Karen Flynn ... are putting the integrity of our elections at risk by >installing last-minute patches to the electronic voting systems, bypassing >state certification laws, and then conducting nothing more than miniscule >manual recounts if the party observers request them." > >Schmidt, as Election Commissioner of Johnson County, Kansas, stated that >99% of voters <http://www.ejfi.org/Voting/Voting-7.4.htm>were pleased with >Diebold machines in an August 2002 primary election. > >"They've been extremely reliable, and we've received tremendous feedback >from voters," she said. > >This comment came after an April 2002 election in which Schmidt found >Diebold touch-screen machines had under- and over-reported hundreds of >votes, prompting Schmidt to direct the Board of Canvassers to order a hand >recount. In some cases, vote totals changed ><http://www.ejfi.org/Voting/Voting-25.htm>dramatically. > >A panel titled "Best State Practices" includes Doug Chapin, director of >electiononline.org and research director for the Carter-Baker Commission. >Election reform activists criticized the commission for excluding >testimony by key election reform representatives and for its co-chair, >former Secretary of State James Baker, who represented Bush in Bush v. Gore. > >Another panelist, chair of the California Voting Systems Technical >Assessment and Advisory Board Dr. David Jefferson, has been a critic of >electronic voting procedures, pointing out serious ><http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041129/corn>security flaws and urging that >Internet voting for the military be scrapped. > >A panel on federal issues including HAVA, voting systems and accessibility >featured Donetta Davidson, Paul DeGregorio, Brian Hancock and Sandy Steinbach. > >Davidson is a commissioner on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission >(EAC). As Secretary of State in Colorado, she faced embarrassment over her >leadership in the Elections Center, a nonpartisan state office that >accepted donations from e-voting companies at the same time that it touted >their machinery. She also supported a partisan redrawing of congressional >districts which was <http://www.eac.gov/davidson.asp?format=none>shot down >in state court. > >DeGregorio was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the U.S. >Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Previously, as Executive Vice >President of the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), he >led a team supplying technical advice in Florida and Missouri during the >November 2002 elections. > >Hancock is secretariat of the EAC's Independent Testing Authorities >Committee. He formerly served as an elections research specialist the >Federal Elections Commission during George W. Bush's administration, where >he stated that no federal agency had the power to regulate the elections >industry. > >Some balance on other panels > >A panel titled "Securitiy/Paper Trails/Accountability" appeared more >balanced. > >Kim Alexander is president and founder of California Voter Foundation, a >nonpartisan group dedicated to advancing "responsible use of technology in >the democratic process," and has been an advocate of paper trails for >voting machines. > >Dr. Aviel (Avi) Rubin, professor of computer science and technical >director of the Information Security Institute at Johns Hopkin University, >co-authored a paper identifying security flaws in Diebold equipment and >has authored <http://avirubin.com/default-context.html>articles calling >for voter-verifiable paper ballots. > >Professor Henry Brady, director of the Survey Research Center (SRC) at the >University of California, Berkeley, has teamed up with Alan Dechert to >promote development of open-source software voting systems. > >Michael Shamos, Co-Director of the Institute for e-Commerce and Director >of the Center for Privacy Technology at Carnegie Mellon University, >however, has downplayed concerns over e-voting security, claiming that >"there has not been a single verified incident of tampering or >exploitation of a security weakness" in the 25 years since e-voting was >introduced. A former evaluator of voting systems for Texas and >Pennsylvania, he ><http://refeorm.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Shamos1.pdf>dismisses concerns >over hacking as "hypothetical rather than a real threat to the electoral >process." > >Activists shut out > >When several members of CEPN applied for admission, they were denied - >despite the fact that the event was not yet full. Correspondence from the >Secretary of State's office denying the request has been posted at the >CEPN <http://www.califelectprotect.net/home.html>website. > >"We offered to pay a fee," Healy said of the invitation-only event. "They >assured us that our views are being represented." > >But after reviewing a list of attendees, CEPN found no activists and only >three computer experts with views compatible with CEPN's election reform >goals. "Panels are stacked so as to be heavily pro-Diebold," Healy noted. >"Our side is heavily outnumbered." > >Actress Mimi Kennedy, head of Progressive Democrats of America and a >member of CEPN's steering committee, expressed outrage that the public has >been excluded from an event paid for by taxpayers. > >"Among California citizens are some of the best computer scientists in the >world," she said. "This is the home of the computer chip. Our concerned >citizens know more about computer software and its fraud capacity in >voting machines than do our election officials - and they must be let in >to challenge the vendors." > >CEPN maintains that the public has a right to know what goes on behind >closed doors. A letter hand-delivered to McPherson noted that "members of >CEPN have demonstrated knowledge and leadership in this important cause, >yet to date all of our requests to attend the Summit have been refused." > >Barring activists from the Summit comes on the heels of a hearing last >week on whether or not to recertify Diebold TSX machines in California. >The TSX system was de-certified by former Secretary of State Kevin >Shelley, a Democrat, after Diebold was found to have installed uncertified >software. > >A new California law requires paper trails on all voting machines. Earlier >tests of TSX machines retrofitted with printers to produce paper trails >had a combined failure rate of 30%, including printer jams and software >crashes. But a recent new test, conducted without public scrutiny by >California officials using a machine selected by Diebold, showed only a 3% >error rate, Healy said. > >Activists expressed concern prior to last week's hearing upon learning >that McPherson had dissolved the Voting Systems Panel (VS), which had been >charged with hearing public testimony and advising the Secretary of State >regarding certification. At the hearing November 21st, only members of >McPherson's staff showed up. > >"We thought it was a charade," said Healy. "They are political appointees, >and one attorney." Only one computer consultant, Steve Freeman, appeared >at that hearing to hear public testimony. > >CEPN lists seven reasons not to certify Diebold, including known security >holes that the vendor has failed to address, demonstrations by Black Box >Voting proving the ease of hacking into Diebold systems, criminal records >of a Diebold programmer, and ><http://ss.ca.gov/elections/voting_systems/vstaab_volume_test_report.pdf>warnings > >by the Secretary of State's own technical advisors of serious defects in >Diebold machines. > >In an interview Monday with RAW STORY, Diebold spokesman David Bear >revealed, California's "recommendation is to certify the equipment as >reviewed." Bear said McPherson's staff made a recommendation to recertify >the Diebold TSX system before hearing public testimony, based on a review >of the new test results. > >McPherson's office could not be reached for comment. > >BBV seeks other changes in protocol. "We want the media there," said >March. The state's proposed protocol would bar the public and the media. >"We would not be able to bring in a lawyer or court reporter," March >noted. "We could not tape record or videotape anything, or take notes - >and we had to give them anything we write about for them to include if >they see fit in the final report." The State's proposal also required BBV >to identify its planned attack method ahead of time. > >BBV believes it's important to videotape the attempted hack, as it did in >Leon County, Florida, where Harri Hursti penetrated a Diebold system in >less than a minute, altering contents of a memory card. > >Kennedy says California officials need to take such concerns seriously. > >"The State seems to be treating the buying of voting machines the same way >they'd treat buying toilet paper for the statehouse," she urged. "Don't >give private companies control of our vote." > >One goal of McPherson's goals is to ultimately standardize election >protocols nationwide who views California as ground zero for election >integrity. > >"This is a critical moment where technology can install fraud capacity in >our votes nationwide," Kennedy said. "Citizens being shut out is dishonest." >_______________________________________________ >Icujp-news mailing list >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://lists.meer.net/mailman/listinfo/icujp-news > >To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >You will receive a confirmation email. When you reply to that, you will be >off this list. 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