Thursday, December 18, 2008
Humboldt Envy?
Last week I posted a letter to the editor I had published in the Eureka Times-Standard (archive). It was written quickly on the morning of December 5, in the midst of the breaking news that the Humboldt County Election Transparency Project had revealed a failure in Diebold's GEMS central tabulator causing the County's certified election results from November to be proven inaccurate.
I sent the same letter to the North Coast Journal since there was also a breaking story on their website about it, even though it hadn't yet appeared in their weekly print edition. When that came out last Wednesday, I wasn't too surprised the letter wasn't published or that editor Hank Sims had editorialized about the story. So I used his column as the basis for yet another letter, which the Journal has published in this week's paper:North Coast Journal
It is tough to be timely in a weekly paper when commenting on a fluid situation. See my exclusive report from Wednesday morning about Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich announcing her intention to dump Diebold scanners in favor of similar secret corporate vote "counting" machines from Hart InterCivic. It is a major advance of the narrative above and has been republished at OpEdNews and Scoop.
Mail Box
12/18/08
Dear Editor:
Hank Sims now says Humboldt's official method of counting votes is an outrage ("Town Dandy," Dec. 11) and the Diebold/Premier folks "should be shunned. Maybe indicted." He may be late to the party, but the top hat and tails are always welcome.
Yes, Humboldt has joined Florida, Ohio, and towns and counties across the land who have experienced the failures of electronic voting. Our certification of inaccurate results has made national news and broken down some of the local wall of denial.
A December 7 editorial in The Times-Standard said local opponents of Diebold "were right to make noise, and right to complain about a company that has been less than responsible." Humboldt Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich told Wired.com in a Dec. 8 article, "this has sort of put a cloud over any confidence that I had in the Premier equipment that's been in this department since 1995."
Has Humboldt finally reached a tipping point? Are we ready to consider alternatives to Diebold? If so, a careful evaluation of the possibilities and input from a well informed community would be both appropriate and desirable.
I'd like to see more consistency in Sims' election integrity advocacy. And bottom line, I hope he'll push for a thorough examination of our options. A lot of work has already been done to facilitate evaluating hand-counting paper ballots, though Election Transparency Project volunteers may have other preferences and ideas to contribute to what could become the most envied process and dialog in the country.
Dave Berman, Eureka
Permalink:
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2008/12/humboldt-envy.html
Labels: Carolyn Crnich, Diebold, Eureka T-S, Hank Sims, Hart Intercivic, Humboldt County, Letter to the editor, North Coast Journal
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day
Since I have been asked to speak Wednesday at a Constitution Day rally I Googled the phrase and learned from Wikipedia:Constitution Day (or Citizenship Day) is an American federal holiday that recognizes the ratification of the United States Constitution, and also recognizes all who have become citizens due to either coming of age or naturalization. It is observed on September 17, the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787.[1]
A guy (or even a country) could be forgiven for not remembering the creation or past celebration of this sort-of holiday. After all, a well-known dangerous man is said to have characterized the Constitution differently: "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!" It sure has been treated that way.
The law establishing the holiday was created in 2004 with the passage of an amendment by Senator Robert Byrd to the Omnibus spending bill of 2004.[2] Before this law was enacted, the holiday was known as "Citizenship Day". In addition to renaming the holiday "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day," the act mandates that all publicly funded educational institutions provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution on that day.[3] In May 2005, the United States Department of Education announced the enactment of this law and that it would apply to any school receiving federal funds of any kind.[4] This holiday is not observed by granting time off work for federal employees.
When Constitution Day falls on a weekend or on another holiday, schools and other institutions observe the holiday on an adjacent weekday.[4] This was the case in 2005, when Constitution Day was generally observed on Friday, September 16[2] and 2006 when the holiday was observed on Monday, September 18.
So Ellen Taylor has assembled an array of rabble-rousers to speak at the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka tomorrow at noon+15. This will be my first public speaking event in several months, likely since I very quietly took my leave of absence from the Voter Confidence Committee (VCC). It was a sabbatical, and it is now ending. I've been talking with members of the group over the past several days and next weekend will attend my first VCC meeting in five or six months.
It is not a done deal, but the odds look good for a shift in the group's emphasis over the next seven weeks. Tomorrow I'll be speaking about what I'd like to see happen, whether with the VCC or not, and not just here but everywhere citizens are organizing for election integrity. Frankly, it will not be much of a new message, just a different presentation based on timing. What follows is basically a stream of consciousness outline preview...
It is well understood that federal "election" results are unprovable...
Nothing that can be done here in Humboldt or in any other single given location can make federal "election" results provable...
The government and media will tell us the results and expect us to accept them, which is exactly what we should not do...
We need not and should not wait until after the "election" event to make our opposition known to accepting unprovable results (the objection is not to any particular result, but rather the claim that any result is even knowable)...
In towns across the country, we need swelling groups of citizens to appeal to anyone claiming to represent the People, starting at the most local level, city councils on up, asking for a commitment to reject unprovable federal "election" results...
The requested commitment may need to be conditional in some cases, going beyond the premise of secret vote counting necessarily producing unprovable results, spelling out familiar scenarios expected to repeat (electronic voting machines switching or losing votes, counting backwards, showing more votes than registered voters, etc.)...
A further potential condition should be expressed, namely the twin prospects of the "election" being canceled, or a subsequent refusal to allow an orderly succession of power...
Some may not be willing to commit to standing up against unprovable "election" results, but would finally make their stand if the Bush regime will not yield power...
This scenario is not guaranteed to happen, of course, but at the same time nobody can credibly argue about anything at all by saying "they'd never do THAT"...
So in one way or another we are looking for buy-in from the People and our representatives (sic), amplifying two messages...
First, that WE DO NOT CONSENT to "election" results that can't be proven, and which attempt to assume our consent and take it for granted; but also...
We must stand up to the media and insist they do not report as fact what can't even be proven, a sentiment repeatedly expressed here at WDNC for more than two years, as shown below in a June 2006 Humboldt Advocate article I called at the time "Best Election Protest Signs Ever."
Photo credit: Elaine Weinreb
Well this is a start anyway. I'll be ad-libbing around these themes and hope to post at least audio tomorrow...
Permalink:
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2008/09/constitution-day-and-citizenship-day.html
Labels: Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, Elaine Weinreb, Ellen Taylor, Humboldt Advocate, Humboldt County, succession of power, Voter Confidence Committee
Saturday, March 08, 2008
VFP-56 PRESS RELEASE: Supporting hand-count paper ballots; "No justice in secret vote counting"
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Jim Sorter, (707) 826-1781; and Dave Berman (707) 845-3749
Peace Group Says No Justice, No Peace, and No Justice With Secret Vote Counting
(March 8, 2008) -- Veterans For Peace Chapter 56 has adopted a resolution (below) calling for Humboldt County to abandon its Diebold optical scanners in favor of hand-counting paper ballots beginning with the June 2008 primary election. VFP-56 joins the Voter Confidence Committee (VCC), Redwood ACLU, and Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee (HCDCC) in an emerging coalition that also boasts more than 250 individual community members who have signed on to indicate their willingness to hand-count paper ballots on election night once the County makes the change.
"We have a saying that goes 'No Justice, No Peace; Know Justice, Know Peace,'" said VFP-56 Secretary Jim Sorter. "There is no justice in secret vote counting."
VFP-56 support of election reform goes back as far as 2004, when the earliest versions of what became the Voter Confidence Resolution were being circulated. The Arcata City Council later adopted that resolution in July 2005.
"We are repeating and amplifying our past calls for election reform," said Sorter, "by joining with these other groups in calling for hand-counting all the paper ballots."
The VFP-56 resolution for hand-counting is nearly identical to the statement adopted by the HCDCC on February 13. VCC co-founder Dave Berman brought the resolution to both groups and hopes to see this coalition displaying solidarity at the upcoming Peace March in Eureka on March 15. (Disclosure: Berman is also an associate member of VFP-56.)
"Big public events are a great time for us to get willing hand-counters signed up," said Berman, "and to help make it sink for people, as they look around the crowd, that we have a lot of people power on our side. Why is it even acceptable to be defending secret vote counting with totally discredited machines?"
Last summer California Secretary of State Debra Bowen conducted a Top To Bottom Review of voting systems used throughout the state. Her security experts were able to compromise every system tested, including Humboldt's Diebold optical scanners.
The same equipment was used to count roughly 80% of the votes in the New Hampshire primary in January. The other 20% of New Hampshire's ballots were hand-counted. According to a report by the We The People Foundation*, a statewide recount found the error rate was significantly higher where the scanners did the initial count, and that the scanners' error rate exceeded the limit allowed by federal law.
To read the VFP-56 resolution, visit www.vfp56.org.
For more information about election conditions in Humboldt County, read the free report at www.VoterConfidenceCommittee.org.
* http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/MISC/NH-Recount/FF-NH-Report-Feb-2008.pdf
Resolution In Support of Hand-Counting Paper Ballots
Adopted By Veterans For Peace Chapter 56
March 6, 2008Whereas elections in Humboldt County rely on Diebold's (now Premier) precinct-based optical scanners, and Diebold's GEMS central tabulator program to combine all precinct results; and
Whereas computer security experts have repeatedly demonstrated and documented the ability to tamper with this equipment, changing election results without leaving behind a trace of evidence; and
Whereas academic studies have repeatedly demonstrated and documented that security flaws in this equipment exist by design, and cannot be remedied with "procedural mitigations," or new security methods; and
Whereas claims of "trade secrecy" prevent citizens, the media, and even elections officials from observing the inner workings of this equipment, denying everyone the right to see their vote counted as cast; and
Whereas elections conducted under these conditions require blind trust, or faith, to accept unverifiable and inherently uncertain outcomes that provide no rational basis for confidence in the reported results; and
Whereas the County of Humboldt is free to choose not to use Diebold's equipment, and is likewise not prevented from choosing to hand-count paper ballots at poll sites on election night; and
Whereas hand-counting paper ballots provides transparency, security, and verifiable accuracy that creates a rational basis for confidence in reported results;
Therefore be it resolved, Veterans For Peace Chapter 56 hereby calls for Humboldt County to discontinue use of Diebold equipment and to introduce hand-counting of all ballots no later than the June 2008 primary election; and
Therefore be it further resolved that Veterans For Peace Chapter 56 will support educating the community about the benefits of this change, and to recruit registered voters to serve as poll workers and/or vote counters.
Permalink:
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2008/03/vfp-56-press-release-supporting-hand.html
Labels: ACLU, Arcata City Council, hand-counting paper ballots, Humboldt County, Humboldt Dems, Jim Sorter, Vets For Peace, Voter Confidence Committee, Voter Confidence Resolution
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Accountability Moment For Eureka Times-Standard
Recently here at WDNC, I have been calling attention to fact-deficient articles in the Eureka Times-Standard (see here and here). Naturally the focus has been on the coverage of "voting machine" news. Today the T-S has published a "My Word" guest opinion column (archive) that pulls it all together. The full text is at the bottom of this post.
But first, I want mention this past Tuesday, when Voter Confidence Committee members Rabbi Les Scharnberg, Ruth Hoke, and I met with the T-S editorial board to discuss the VCC's Report on Election Conditions In Humboldt County, our campaign for hand-counted paper ballots, and of course, their recent dreadful coverage. The meeting was roughly 42 minutes and on the record. A complete recording is here (.mp3). It may not be uniformly exciting, but then we stood our ground several times in challenging their assumptions and rejecting some of their marginalization tactics, and that may be worth hearing.
And one last thing before I get to the My Word column, in case you missed it last night, click here for a letter to the editor which I had published in this week's issue of the Journal.Eureka Times-Standard
Permalink:
Collective amnesia about e-voting safety
Dave Berman
Article Launched: 08/16/2007 04:15:49 AM PDT
Election conditions have figured prominently in recent news, thanks in part to a technical review of the state's voting systems conducted by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen. Bowen's "Red Teams" of computer security experts compromised the security of every system tested, including Diebold and Hart InterCivic equipment used in Humboldt County. The Times-Standard's coverage of this topic deserves serious scrutiny.
On July 28, the T-S ran this headline [on the Web]: "Local election systems may be vulnerable to hackers." This was the first paragraph: "A team of University of California computer scientists were able to hack into several voting systems used by California counties, including the two systems currently used in Humboldt County, the secretary of state announced Friday."
When clearly reporting that election systems are vulnerable ("were able to hack"), why does the T-S headline say they may be vulnerable? [Editor's note: The headline in the print edition said, "Election systems at risk of hacking."]
The T-S quotes Humboldt Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich being dismissive of these results, and in a manner extraordinarily similar to corporate propaganda defensively spun by "voting machine" vendors. This phenomenon is afflicting registrars throughout the state. They want the public to believe some new precautions can offset the machines' systemic design flaws.
In a report found on the secretary's website, Bowen's Diebold Source Code Review Team wrote: "Improvements to existing procedures may mitigate some threats in part, but others would be difficult, if not impossible, to remedy procedurally. Consequently, we conclude that the safest way to repair the Diebold system is to reengineer it so that it is secure by design."
On Aug. 7, the T-S presented another distortion: "E-voting order may have little impact here." While I may not think Secretary Bowen went far enough in defining new certification conditions, it is definitely a good thing that she has banned modems from transmitting precinct results to election department headquarters. Memory cards from all precincts will now have to be physically delivered to central HQ, and announcing results on election night may no longer be possible. Little impact?
On Aug. 8, the T-S again created a false impression with the headline: "County election system fares well in review." This headline contradicts previous T-S reporting as well as the facts.
This same article also congratulates the registrar for previously choosing optical scanners over touch screen machines, both of which "count" votes in secret. The T-S is correct to place a premium on paper ballots. But the methods of casting and counting votes must be evaluated separately. Lauding this decision is like feting Ford for new seat belts in response to exploding Pintos.
Why is the T-S shaping news this way, without even a balancing view from within the community? How can the registrar defend previously discredited equipment now again debunked? How could recent test results have strengthened her resolve to use Diebold's optical scanners? Why does the registrar choose to align herself with a company that employs convicted computer fraudsters and faces multiple class action lawsuits from investors, rather than with results of legitimate state-sponsored academic university studies?
Humboldt County's Voter Confidence Committee recently completed an eight-month study and published a "Report on Election Conditions in Humboldt County, California." Over the past several years, Humboldt media have documented numerous breakdowns of "voting machines." Yet somehow, word on the street seems to be that we have never had any problems here. Is there any wonder where such confusion comes from?
Regardless, this report is both an antidote for collective amnesia, and a blueprint for community involvement needed to make our elections transparent, secure, and verifiably accurate. The VCC has developed a spreadsheet tool for creating labor, cost and time estimates for an all hand-counted election. Using the VCC spreadsheet tool, The Journal's Hank Sims "twiddled" with the numbers and found hand-counting "wouldn't be all that time-consuming or costly" ("Town Dandy," Aug. 2).
Publicly counting votes by hand involves the community in its democracy and makes elections a citizen-owned endeavor. The media witnessing and documenting the process would establish the credibility of the reported results.
The VCC tool and report are now available at www.VoterConfidenceCommittee.org. We encourage more public discussion about election conditions, and in particular, what creates a basis for voter confidence without relying on blind trust.
To get involved, e-mail: info@VoterConfidenceCommittee.org or look for our volunteers signing up people who want the county to know they are willing to hand-count paper ballots on election night.
Dave Berman is a founding member of the Voter Confidence Committee. He resides in Eureka. His blog is http://WeDoNotConsent.blogspot.com.
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2007/08/accountability-moment-for-eureka-times.html
Labels: Debra Bowen, Diebold, Eureka Times-Standard, Humboldt County, Rabbi Les Scharnberg, Report on Election Conditions, Ruth Hoke, The Journal, Voter Confidence Committee
Sunday, July 01, 2007
VCC Report Covered in Sunday Eureka Reporter
Online within the past hour or so, Sunday's Eureka Reporter has an article on the recently released Voter Confidence Committee Report on Election Conditions in Humboldt County (.pdf).
As in the past, I would say again that elections beat writer Rebecca S. Bender presents a fair piece with quotes from the VCC press release and one item straight out of the report, balanced with quotes from Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich. Bender does err in referring to the 20-page report as a 30-page report, but I suspect this will be quickly forgotten.
Of greater consequence, Crnich questions the relevance of some of the references in the timeline portion of the report. True, not everything in this section refers to equipment used in Humboldt. However, this series of brief paragraphs does include detailed information about the history of machine failures in Humboldt County, the results of hack tests on the same type of equipment used here, results of a statewide audit that found Humboldt was using uncertified software, the determination by the Department of Homeland Security that our central tabulator program, GEMS, is a threat to national security, and the finding that requisite independent testing of our equipment was not done.
You might argue we had enough with just those bits of info. But we felt it was important to place all of this against the backdrop of what was happening nationally, revealing that machines by other manufacturers were also failing or found to be highly vulnerable to tampering, that some elections counted by optical scanners were overturned by hand-counts, and that official reports by the GAO and Congressional committees found that votes had been lost and miscounted. This context is not irrelevant since we want readers to understand why the VCC would take a systemic approach to viewing and improving election conditions. No more secret vote counting!
In the Reporter article, Crnich attempts to marginalize the recommendations in the report by saying that the Humboldt Transparency Project makes most of them moot. With due respect to the Registrar, this is disingenuous. The Transparency Project allows for images of all ballots to appear on CDs so that any community member can do a recount and compare with the official results. The biggest problem with the implementation of this is that the CDs won't be available until after the election has been certified.
It is vital to get it right on election night because the prospects of later getting election results changed are prohibitively small. Just look at the various challenges to questionable Congressional results from last November. The VCC report even points out that Crnich is at greater risk by allowing the post-certification audits than she would we be if such review were possible before certification. The VCC does not oppose the Transparency Project but we do have some reservations about how it is to be deployed.
The Reporter article accurately quotes from the report: "The Transparency Project and hand counting are not mutually exclusive. The Transparency Project would be a welcome backup method of verification for hand counting, but it cannot make any secret vote-counting machines acceptable."
Permalink:
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2007/07/vcc-report-covered-in-sunday-eureka.html
Labels: Carolyn Crnich, Eureka Reporter, Humboldt County, Humboldt Transparency Project, Rebecca S. Bender, Report on Election Conditions, Voter Confidence Committee
Thursday, June 28, 2007
And So Begins The HCPB Campaign
Last night I presented the Voter Confidence Committee press release announcing the release of the Report on Election Conditions in Humboldt County, California. I put that out to Humboldt media and to the Humboldt Supervisors and to the City Councils of Eureka and Arcata. The message went to several election integrity e-mail lists, and as I understand, forwarded on to several more as well. It currently has 15 recommendations (not bad) at Democratic Underground and has a top headline position at OpEdNews.com. It has only been on Daily Kos for a few minutes and experience says not to expect much response there. Sherry from the California Election Protection Network wrote me requesting permission to post it on their site but I don't see it up yet.
Now, how about some reactions in Humboldt? I don't imagine too many (if any) people here have read the whole report yet. That's OK. I just wanted to take a moment to further establish a little tone for this announcement and the introduction of this new body of work. What is now happening is the start of a campaign where we are not accepting that this can't be discussed and considered. We're starting the discussion by offering a considerable collection of facts and recommendations. Hand-counting paper ballots is on the table. Let the community dialog begin!
Permalink:
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2007/06/and-so-begins-hcpb-campaign.html
Labels: Daily Kos, Democratic Underground, hand-counting paper ballots, hcpb, Humboldt County, OpEdNews.com, Report on Election Conditions, Voter Confidence Committee
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
VCC Releases Report on Humboldt Election Conditions
I won't say it is the only reason I have so few blog posts in the past eight months, but the Report on Election Conditions in Humboldt County (.pdf) just released by the Voter Confidence Committee is something significant I have to show for that period of time.
The press release below says it (almost) all. The image below it is something I've had in my head for more than two years. I could never find anyone willing to do the graphic design work. What I always imagined as a flier or poster is now a powerful diagram that simplifies several pages of text in the report. Regardless of what else happens, I hope this image is picked up and used around the country wherever people are organizing on behalf of hand-counted paper ballots. Huge thanks to HSU student John Carter for helping breath life into this vision.
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Dave Berman
707-845-3749
info@voterconfidencecommittee.org
Group calls for community dialog on hand-counting paper ballots
June 27, 2007 - The Voter Confidence Committee (VCC) announces the release of its Report on Election Conditions in Humboldt County, California. The report contains an evaluation of the most recent local election (November 7, 2006), put in the context of widespread national electoral problems, and offers solutions that can be implemented locally. The VCC is a proponent of hand-counting paper ballots and is a strong critic of electronic voting machines which often fail, are not secure, and count the votes in secret.
"The ultimate goal of the Voter Confidence Committee is an engaged community working together to hand-count all paper ballots cast in an election," said VCC spokesperson Dave Berman. "This report is meant to be a community building tool and a blueprint for transparent, secure and verifiably accurate elections in Humboldt County."
Members of the VCC are seeking opportunities to present their findings and recommendations to other area community groups, media outlets, and local elected officials. Berman and fellow VCC member Rabbi Les Scharnberg will be interviewed at 7pm on Wednesday July 4 by Ellen Komp of the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project during her monthly call-in show on KMUD.
The report is available for free download at www.voterconfidencecommittee.org. Hard copies of the report are available by request. To request a copy or schedule a presentation, contact Dave Berman at 707-845-3749 or info@voterconfidencecommittee.org.
# # #
This is a visual summary of the report:
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Permalink:
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2007/06/vcc-releases-report-on-humboldt.html
Labels: Humboldt County, Report on Election Conditions, Voter Confidence Committee
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Election Manager Needed - Humboldt, CA
According to Aryay Kalaki of the Voter Confidence Committee of Humboldt County, long-time County Election Manager Lindsey McWilliams has left his position as of Monday and will soon take a similar position in Solano County, California. I won't say I'm celebrating but I have been calling for McWilliams to resign for a long time. What I will say is that this is an opportunity. Aryay also reported that Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich seems a bit stressed over having to fill not one but four vacancies in her elections department. Are there qualified members of the Election Integrity Community who I should encourage the County to recruit?
Permalink:
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2007/06/election-manager-needed-humboldt-ca.html
Labels: Carolyn Crnich, Humboldt County, Lindsey McWilliams, Voter Confidence Committee
