Daily Voting News For March 24, 2007

First I want to welcome Kim Zetter to the “blogosphere”. She has been a respected reporter for Wired News and has covered voting technology for a few years now. You can find her work at Informed Consent.

As reported by both Kim and BradBlog, “(t)he private voting machine company [ES&S] who manufactured the touch-screen hardware and software used during the Sarasota Florida contested District 13 Congressional election between Christine Jennings (D) and Vern Buchanan (R) sent a letter in December of 2006 to David Drury, the chief of the state's Bureau of Voting Systems Certification, dictating the terms of the state-run audit convened to investigate the causes for massive undervote rate which seems to have tipped the election.”

“"David, below are ES&S source code review guidelines for the conduction of any review of source code to be performed by the Department of State and any agent acting on your behalf as a result of the under vote investigation from the Sarasota County mid-term election. It is our desire the methodology and focus of the review be performed in a manner that incorporates the items described below," the agreement begins, before including a long, bullet-pointed and very narrow litany of specific dictates concerning what may and may not be done and disclosed by the state-convened panel of investigators.”...

• NAtional: BREAKING FL-13 - New Undisclosed Letter From ES&S To State Unearthed! LINK
• National: Second ES&S Letter Shows Company Tried to Dictate What Florida Test Reports Could Say LINK
• National: S.A. representative part of Fla. election inquiry LINK
• California: House bill would require paper ballots next year LINK
• California: Many fear 'paper trail' law moving too fast LINK
• California: A recount on election savings LINK
• California: San Diego County - County looking for registrar ---- again LINK
• California: San Diego County - One of America's Worst Elections Administrators Gets a Promotion! Congratulations Mikel Haas! LINK
• Florida: Numbers shrink for League of Women Voters LINK
• Florida: Crist: Get rid of touch screens The governor tells Congress that he will push for optical-scan ballots in Florida. LINK
• Florida: Crist's push for paper ballots runs into resistance over funding LINK
• Florida: Crist takes push for paper trail to Congress Lawmakers call his state election plan a potential national model. LINK
• Florida: Sarasota County - Jennings' case evidence could lead to new election LINK
• Maryland: Voting Rights Advocates Applaud House Passage of Paper Trail Bill LINK
• Mississippi: Laurel-Jones County - NAACP working to add voters LINK
• New York: Unanimous vote for scanners, paper ballots - NYC Council runs from the idea of elections using electronic touch screen voting LINK
• New York: Elections commissioners: Let judge rule on Sleepy Hollow recount LINK
• New York: Clinton County - County needs new software for Board of Elections LINK
• Texas: Jefferson County - Commissioners to vote on ES&S ballots LINK
• Venezuela - Questionable machines LINK

**"Daily Voting News" is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in "Daily Voting News" may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or Scoop.**

John Gideon Executive Director www.votersunite.org and Member www.votetrustusa.org

© Scoop Media