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2007

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Stamford Times: Advantages of new voting machines uncertain

By Luther Weeks on December 7, 2007

Fortunato said it is too early to tell whether the new machines will save their owners money. Ballots for the optical scan machines cost 50 cents each but older model lever-action machines required costly maintenance. “I think maybe at the end of next year, after you have the primary in August and election in November, […]

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Audit 54% of the Vote?

By Luther Weeks on December 5, 2007

Last Monday, with less than 90 percent of the vote counted and the opposition leading by just 50.7 percent to 49.3 percent, President Chavez congratulated his opponents on their victory. They had defeated his proposed constitutional reforms, including the abolition of term limits for the presidency. … An extremely large random sample – about 54 […]

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Secretary of State Questions Electronic Voting

By Luther Weeks on December 3, 2007

Electronic voting systems …still aren’t good enough to be trusted with the state’s elections, … she admitted having doubts as to whether the electronic voting systems will ever meet the standards she believes are needed … “I don’t rule out the ingenuity of some computer science student now in the eighth grade,” but what’s available […]

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TalkNationRadio: Memory Card Junk Data and LHS Replacement – Integrity of Testing Procedures in Doubt

By Luther Weeks on December 2, 2007

UConn is charged with testing a random sample of memory cards sent to registrars to be used in the election. If the actual cards used are replacements sent by LHS after the random card is sent to UConn, then there is no guarantee that the cards tested by Dr. Shvartsman were the same as those […]

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Bysiewicz To Consider Elimination Of Manual Recounts

By Luther Weeks on December 1, 2007

Last year the Legislature passed PA 07-194 mandating audits of the optical scan machines. Last year, Secretary of the State, Susan Bysiewicz promised advocates that regulations would mandate that recounts be manual counts and did not need to be included in the law. Now with less than half the mandated audits complete, according to the […]

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FAQ: Framing The Issue: Did the Machine Perform Flawlessly?

By Luther Weeks on November 28, 2007

(Note: I have benefited from reading and contemplating the concept of framing issues from the linguist George ‘Don’t Think of an Elephant’ Lakoff founder of Rockridge Institute and cultural anthropologist Jeffrey Feldman, founder of the frameshop. While contemplating press reports on the recent election in a moment of sudden inspiration, I realized everyone has been […]

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Voting Machine Mess Can’t Just Be Fixed by Congressional Bills

By Luther Weeks on November 28, 2007

Excellent article by Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute.  It is not just progressives that understand the problems with electronic voting. In addition to outlining some of the problems, Mr. Ornstein also articulates very well the business reasons why voting machines and ATM’s are different, not just in their function but in the market […]

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Blank Memory Cards and No Problems In Recounts?

By Luther Weeks on November 27, 2007

Update: The Secretary of the State’s Office was offered four hours to comment on this entry before publication, but said they needed more time to gather information. We will post their response promptly. New York Times: Voting Machines Are Put To The Test – reviews the optical scan performance in the municipal elections, with information […]

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Recount Reaffirm’s Wisdom of Recounts in Close Races

By Luther Weeks on November 25, 2007

That’s not the tittle of article, nor what it says. It says: with 14 towns holding recounts. New Canaan is included in that and held a recount on Tuesday to reaffirm the 25-vote difference between Town Council candidates Beth Jones and John Emert. That recount showed Jones edging Emert by seven votes. No. It reaffirmed […]

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Courant Fresh Talk: Voting: Too Far From Online

By Luther Weeks on November 23, 2007

Fresh Talk editorial by Courant intern asks question and answers well: <read> Why is it when more and more Americans spend more and more of their time at a computer, we still having a voting system that doesn’t incorporate online capabilities? …Several computer scientists took part in 2004 in federally funded program called the Secure […]

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