Always happens: Every time I allow myself a day away from the bloody net, the most amazing stuff goes down. There's a ton of new material on the Wilkes/Cunningham front, which we will discuss presently. Now, however, we must discuss the fate of Diebold and democracy.
Let me confess: For months now, I have felt captious and disheartened about the possibility of returning democracy to this nation. But right now, we have a small window of opportunity.
Diebold, which just lost its ultra-Republican CEO Wally O'Dell, is the target of an important class action lawsuit files by Scott + Scott LLC in the Northern District of Ohio. Brad Friedman, as always, has the story, as does this Reuters account. Here are a couple of nifty nuggets from the suit:
Each defendant is liable for (a) making false statements, or (b) failing to disclose adverse facts known to him about Diebold.And just to make sure no-one can argue that this isn't about potential vote fraud...
During the Class Period, defendants knew and concealed that:Will the action succeed? I don't know. Will discovery uncover important information? Ah. Now that could be fun...
(a) the Company remained unable to assure the quality and working order of their voting machine products;
(b) the Company lacked a credible state of internal controls and corporate compliance;
(c) the 2004 settlement with the State of California served to conceal from investors the dimensions and scope of internal problems at the Company, impacting product quality, strategic planning, forecasting, guidance, internal controls and corporate compliance; and
(d) the Company’s "prediction" of astonishingly low and incredibly inaccurate restructuring charges for the entire 2005 fiscal year grossly understated the true costs defendants faced to restructure the Company.
That said, don't look for immediate change. Deibold's stock is heading back up, and some are saying the company is a good investment.
But that's not all... In Leon County, Florida, election supervisor Ion Sancho has denounced Diebold's machinery and vowed never to use the company's product again:
Finnish security expert Harri Hursti, together with Black Box Voting, demonstrated that Diebold made misrepresentations to Secretaries of State across the nation when Diebold claimed votes could not be changed on the "memory card" (the credit-card-sized ballot box used by computerized voting machines.Florida may be coming around.
A test election was run in Leon County on Tuesday with a total of eight ballots. Six ballots voted "no" on a ballot question as to whether Diebold voting machines can be hacked or not. Two ballots, cast by Dr. Herbert Thompson and by Harri Hursti voted "yes" indicating a belief that the Diebold machines could be hacked.
At the beginning of the test election the memory card programmed by Harri Hursti was inserted into an Optical Scan Diebold voting machine. A "zero report" was run indicating zero votes on the memory card. In fact, however, Hursti had pre-loaded the memory card with plus and minus votes.
The eight ballots were run through the optical scan machine. The standard Diebold-supplied "ender card" was run through as is normal procedure ending the election. A results tape was run from the voting machine.
Correct results should have been: Yes: 2 ; No: 6
However, just as Hursti had planned, the results tape read: Yes: 7 ; No: 1
The results were then uploaded from the optical scan voting machine into the GEMS central tabulator, a step cited by Diebold as a protection against memory card hacking. The central tabulator is the "mother ship" that pulls in all votes from voting machines. However, the GEMS central tabulator failed to notice that the voting machines had been hacked.
The results in the central tabulator read:
Yes:7 ; No:1
What does it all mean? It means Diebold is vulnerable. Events are turning against the company. Right now, they can no longer make problems go away simply by lining pockets. The Abramoff and Wilkes affairs have sensitized the public to allegations of blackmail. The heat is, as they say, on.
And if Diebold is vulnerable, then all compu-voting systems are vulnerable. Once the public (even the red-staters) comprehend that vote-hacking is a very real issue, then all such machines will be viewed as suspect. So right now, the best way to undermine the very concept of paper-free voting is to make sure Diebold goes down.
But what about North Carolina? In Warren County, the elections board is thisclose to buying Diebold's corrupt equipment. Can someone please pass the news from Florida to Debbie Formyduval, director of the elections board in that neck of the woods?
Here's her email: warren.boe@ncmail.net. You don't have to live in that state to send email to this public official. Send her a copy of this very post. Or send her a copy of the linked article about Florida. If she finds her mailbox filled with damning evidence (not spam: evidence), she'll have to reconsider, if she is honest.
Yes, this is a war we must fight county by county, state by state. Which means...
On to St. Louis! The elections board in St. Louis County is deciding whether to award elections contracts to Diebold, ES&S or Sequoat least demonstrate that Diebold, at the very least, should be considered radioactive, we will have accomplished something of genuine value. If you can't take on all your foes at once, take 'em on one at a time.
Again -- send 'em a copy of this post, or send 'em the linked articles. It's fun and it's easy. If you have a FAX machine, try this number: (314) 615-1998. If you prefer email (hey, who doesn't?), try this address: webmaster@stlouisco.com.
Or just give 'em a call: (314) 615-1800
The director of the elections board is a fellow named David Welch. Don't be shy about talking to these people -- they're public officials, and they damn well ought to know the facts before they make decisions.
But (I hear some of you muttering) what if these election officials are corrupt? My friends, the name "Cunningham" perfumes the air right now. We cannot say bribery is a thing of the past. But I do believe that all but the boldest practitioners of that craft would prefer not to ply their arts at this time.
On to California! Over 1300 people have responded to Debra Bowen's call for action. She wants us to tell Bruce McPhereson (the Arnie-imposed Caifornia Secretary of State) to go with the original plan of running elections without Diebold's filthy equipment.
1300 complainers is not enough. Now is the time. We need to hear from a hundred thousand people. More. This is one way to make your voice heard.
There's a time for cynicism and a time for action. As you know, I'm a big cynicism fan. But I also encourage my readers to do something.
Two great websites in Pennsylvania: Orange may not be my favorite color, but fate has decreed it to be the color of this movement. And the Orange American movement in PA is worth checking out. If you live in the state, or even if you don't, you will also want to visit VotePA.us.
2 comments:
"Florida may be coming around."
Well. I guess the Age of Miracles is here. Joseph just posted something...halfway optimistic looking about FLORIDA. A place that has been beyond the reach of democracy for many years. Yikes. Maybe there IS hope. There are so very few things I thought were less likely than anything good happening in regard to Florida's electoral system, such as it is, and Joseph writing something like "Florida may be coming around" was one of those things. I'm stunned.
I used to live in Tallahassee, FL and remember when Ion Sancho became the Supervisor of Elections there. He took over after the corrupt and basically incompetent elections supervisor there screwed up one too many elections. He takes his job very seriously, and has not backed down, even though I imagine he's experienced enormous pressure to do so - don't forget, Governor Jebbie lives there, too.
Hat's off to you, Ion.
Also, great news about the Orange Movement. I actually saw those ribbons for the first time when I volunteered during the Ohio recount. Glad to hear they're expanding over here.
Kim in PA
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