Internet voting a national security question

Internet voting a national security question. Unredacted AVC Edge report

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 03:33 PM PDT

Computer scientist Dan Wallach News8 Austin TV: "Texas Supreme Court to weigh in on e-voting".....Computer Scientists, Election Integrity Advocates Question Feasibility of "Digital Democracy":"If I'm going to steal an election, I probably won't mess with these little pilots..."I'm going to wait until there's this groundswell for Internet voting." ~ Dr. Barbara Simons...Court permits release of unredacted report on AVC Advantage..

All this and more in todays voting news below...

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CO: Commissioners defend polling places
http://www.gazette.com/articles/places-106246-polling-monday.html
El Paso County officials on Tuesday defended their designation of polling places for the August primary and November general election, following Monday’s criticism from a coalition of First Amendment rights advocates who object to the number of local churches being used.

DC: DC Passes National Popular Vote Law
http://nonprofitvote.blogspot.com/2010/10/dc-passes-national-popular-vote-law.html

FL: Glitch in state database delays mailing of absentee ballots
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/oct/13/glitch-in-state-database-delays-mailing-of/
People who recently requested absentee ballots for the general election may have to wait an extra day or two before they can fill in their votes.

More than 1,000 absentee ballots requested by Treasure Coast residents were put on hold because of a glitch that shut down the state’s voter database Monday and early Tuesday.

IL: Kirk Campaign Voter Integrity Drive Targets Key Black Districts
http://gapersblock.com/mechanics/2010/10/12/kirk-campaign-voter-integrity-drive-targets-key-black-districts/

KY: More Ky. Counties Switching to Digital Scan Voting
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/More_Ky_Counties_Switching_to_
Digital_Scan_Voting_104844059.html http://tinyurl.com/2bwdeo9 The Nov. 2 general election will mark the first time voters in 45 Kentucky counties use a new digital scan voting system

LA: Simmons calls for recount of election results for School Board
http://www.beauregarddailynews.net/topstories/x710522369/Simmons-calls-for-recount-of-election-results-for-School-Board

MD: Maryland Pioneers Faster Way to Vote Absentee
Ballots now as close as your computer
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/politics/MD-Pioneers-Easter-Faster-Way-to-Vote-Absentee--104580499.html Maryland is becoming the first state in the nation to make absentee ballots available online.

NC: Instant runoff to be used for first time this election
http://charlottenews14.com/content/top_stories/631364/instant-runoff-to-be-used-for-first-time-this-election (With video) “It is instant for the voters, but it is not instant for the election officials that have to count it,” says Bartlett.

This sounds confusing, and Bartlett admits it might be. Political analysts say they are watching to see how it works.

NC: More on Instant Runoff Voting
http://www.news-record.com/blog/54431/entry/100902
I quoted Greensboro attorney Marshall Hurley: “I call myself an election lawyer and I had to struggle grasping it and explaining it to other people.”

NJ: New Jersey Court Releases Unredacted Voting Machine Analysis, Finds No Trade Secrets Threatened http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6787

NM: Herrera's troubles give GOP rare shot at office2010 ELECTION: Secretary of state job held by Democrats for 80 years http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/2010-election-Herrera-s-troubles-give-GOP-rare-shot-at-office Since early this year, incumbent Mary Herrera has faced a growing number of complaints — from her own staff as well as some county clerks across New Mexico — and has had to endure a barrage of bad publicity, including reports of possible criminal investigations.

NM: Overseas ballots will get four-day extension
http://newmexicoindependent.com/65031/overseas-ballots-will-get-four-day-extension
Ballots sent to uniformed New Mexicans and other state residents living overseas will get an extra four days to reach New Mexico to be counted.

NV: Nevada Secretary of State Acted Swiftly in Overseas Ballot SNAFU *
http://www.nationalreview.com/battle10/249518/nevada-secretary-state-acted-swiftly-overseas-ballot-snafu-elizabeth-crum The 34 voters in question, 25 of whom are members of the military or their spouses, all have addresses in Elko County, where the vendor chosen to print the ballots failed to deliver them to the county clerk’s office on schedule.

As a result, Secretary of State Ross Miller’s office filed an emergency regulation on October 6th allowing Elko County an additional six days to receive and count ballots from the voters.

NV: Nevada election official says it's too late to change ballots
http://www.lvrj.com/news/nevada-election-official-says-it-s-too-late-to-change-ballots-104798789.html CARSON CITY -- Secretary of State Ross Miller said Tuesday it is too late to reprogram voting machines with the complete names of political parties as requested by Tea Party of Nevada candidate Scott Ashjian.

OK: Debate over Voter ID Law Continues as Oklahomans Look to November 2 Referendum http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2010/10/13/debate-over-voter-id-law-continues-as-oklahomans-look-to-november-2-referendum/

SC: You’re Right to Question Voting Machines
http://www.free-times.com/index.php?cat=1992912063981076&ShowArticle_ID=12241210102607057

TN: Dickson polls back after hiccup*
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20101013/DICKSON01/101013040/Dickson-polls-back-after-hiccup
The first few hours of early voting in Dickson were hampered by Internet connection troubles at the Restoration Church. But the polls were reopened by 1 p.m.

The polling location was unavailable to take votes when it opened this morning, and technical difficulties stemmed into the afternoon. About 50 voters were estimated to have been turned away and directed to the Charlotte Election Office polling location.

TN: Shelby County Election Commission officials work on mending trust of voters
Public view tainted by controversy after issues raised over August miscues
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/oct/13/officials-work-on-mending-trust/
Some voters remain leery of the touch-screen voting machines and the lead lawyer in last week's lawsuit, J. Gerard Stranch IV of Nashville, has been one of the strongest advocates for making the state legislature follow through with its promise to introduce voting machines that scan paper ballots -- thus creating an irrefutable hard copy from each and every voter.

TN: Election Commission Urges Voters to Voice Problems
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/politics/101310-election-commission-urges-voters-to-voice-problems

TX: Group of Travis voters takes e-voting case to Supreme Court
NAACP, others want paper ballot backups. http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/group-of-travis-voters-takes-e-voting-case-968861.html

TX: Texas Supreme Court to weigh in on e-voting (video interview w/Dan Wallach)
http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/274630/travis-co--voters-file-lawsuit-against-paperless-voting "We don't have any confidence that these machines are secure and auditable," Sonia Santana said. "And we'd heard of several instances throughout the United States were causing problems in terms of people feeling confident in the results of the election."

It will be several months before the Supreme Court renders a decision.

TX: Dallas County commissioners call on state to monitor Nov. 2 election for fraud
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101210
dnetmvotemonitors.1833cf762.html http://tinyurl.com/25e8opr

VA: Va. Board of Elections says glitch was harmless*
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/10/va-board-elections-says-glitch-was-harmless
The Virginia State Board of Elections experienced some intermittent technical difficulties throughout the day that kept some people from seeing their registration information. Susan Pollard, a spokeswoman, said there was no security breach and anyone who was registering to vote today should not have experienced any problems

WA: State voter guide missing pages
http://www.whidbeyexaminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=4542
The state voter pamphlet for three counties – including Island County – is missing a section, and another section appears twice, according to an e-mail from the Washington Secretary of State’s Office.

WI: Groups protest voter fraud ads
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/104816414.html The Rev. Ken Wheeler, pastor of Cross Lutheran Church and a member of the Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope, or MICAH, said: "The message is offensive and implicitly and explicitly creates a climate of fear in the African-American community that was historically denied justice and discouraged from voting."

Internet Voting

Canada. Smell Test: Rossi's e-voting promise
http://www.thestar.com/news/torontomayoralrace/article/874251--the-smell-test-rossi-s-e-voting-promise

Computer Scientists, Election Integrity Advocates Question Feasibility of "Digital Democracy" http://www.truth-out.org/computer-scientists-election-integrity-advocates-question-feasibility-digital-democracy64144 Citing the Google hack, which many suspect originated in China, Simons emphasized that online voting systems are opening up the US to an entire planet of would-be saboteurs. "This is really a national security question," said Simons, who pointed out that Scytl is headquartered in Spain. "We certainly don't want other countries determining who runs our government. We also have to think about political parties engaging in mischief. Given how much money is spent on our elections, a small fraction could be used to hire a really good hacker."

Two million US PCs recruited to botnets
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11531657
The US leads the world in numbers of Windows PCs that are part of botnets, reveals a report.

More than 2.2 million US PCs were found to be part of botnets, networks of hijacked home computers, in the first six months of 2010, it said.

National

Election Tips from FVAP for October 8, 2010
http://www.fvap.gov/global/news/electiontips_100810.html
Vote Your Ballot Today! Most States began sending ballots September 18th. If you have received it, vote it and send it in now! If you have not received your State ballot yet, use FVAP’s online ballot tools at www.fvap.gov to get your ballot.

Common Sense: Paper Ballots are Insufficient for Voting Integrity
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/common-sense-exploiting-paper-ballots-to-create-voting-integrity/ Using the ballots as we have described is also necessary for voting integrity. Yet, we must insure that the ballots audited, recounted, or accessed by the public are actually the ones cast by voters

Activists Worried About Major Threats To Fair Voting Environment
http://www.talkradionews.com/news/2010/10/13/activists-worried-about-major-threats-to-fair-voting-environ.html Voter registration problems are projected to be the biggest threat followed by trouble with voting machines and ballot security operations run by private political operatives.

Overseas Vote Foundation Check it out: OVF President Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat to appear on Fox News tomorrow discussing MOVE Act implementation with Eric Eversole.
http://www.facebook.com/overseas.vote.foundation

Project Vote Smart unveils tool for the confused Election 2010 voter
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Election-2010/Vox-News/2010/1012/Project-Vote-Smart-unveils-tool-for-the-confused-Election-2010-voter

International

India: Out for a duck,MJP chief passes buck
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Out-for-a-duck-MJP-chief-passes-buck/696882/
Mahagujarat Janta Party (MJP) chief Gordhan Zadafia has attributed BJP’s landslide victory to the alleged manipulation and misuse of electronic voting machines (EVMs) by the party in power

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