January 2008

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Press Conference: Bysiewicz “Tried To Rest Lingering Skepticism”

By Luther Weeks on January 31, 2008

Christine Stuart has an accurate report of yesterday’s Press Conference and the post-election audit discussion: <read> Asked why the machines tend to over count by one vote, Dr. Alex Shvartsman, director of the voter research center, said he didnâ€™t know. â€œThatâ€™s a very good question,â€ he said, adding that the center would continue to look […]

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Post-Election Memory Card Tests, 8% “Junk Data”

By Luther Weeks on January 30, 2008

Last week Dr. Shvartsman of the UConn VoTeR Center released a report on Pre-Election testing of memory cards, that report showed 3.5% of the memory cards had “Junk Data” (the cards could not be read) and that many election officials had difficulty following pre-election testing procedures. This week Dr. Shvartsman released another Post-Election study of […]

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Bysiewicz Prepared To Eliminate Manual Recounts

By Luther Weeks on January 29, 2008

Update: The word “prepared” does not not necessarily imply “will”. Â Apparently no decision has been made.Â However, we now have a member of the GAE committee who has suggested machine recounts, the Secretary has mentioned it before, and the GAE leadership mentioned the possibility at the press conference announcing public hearings.Â This remains a […]

Posted in CT, CT Law, Recounts/Recanvasses | 1 Response

96.6% Of Memory Cards OK, Half Of Registrars Follow Last Minute Procedures

By Luther Weeks on January 26, 2008

At the request of the Secretary of the State, Dr. Alex Shvartsman and his team at the UConn VoTeR Center tested memory cards which were shipped to UConn by registrars across the state. <full report> From the summary: The total of 522 cards were received and tested by the VoTeR Center, out of which 378 […]

Posted in CT, CT Skulduggery and Errors, Post-Election Audits, Reports | 1 Response

Legislature To Hold Public Hearings On Optical Scan Elections

By Luther Weeks on January 25, 2008

The leadership of the Government Administration and Elections Committee(GAE) announced a series of five public hearings at a press conference yesterday. One hearing will be held in each of the five congressional districts in the state. Towns where the hearings will be held were announced with no specific dates or locations. Their goal is to […]

Posted in Chain of Custody, CT, CT Skulduggery and Errors, National, Post-Election Audits | 1 Response

TalkNationRadio On NH, CT, Outsourcing, and Audits

By Luther Weeks on January 25, 2008

Dori Smith interviews Brad Friedman, Dr. Alexander Shvartsman, and yours truly. She talks to Brad about the recount in NH, outsourcing to LHS, the chain of custody in NH, and implications for Connecticut. She talks to Dr Shvartsman about NH procedures, vendors on election day, and his soon to be released report on memory cards […]

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Correction: What Do Elections Cost?

By Luther Weeks on January 21, 2008

I recently wrote elsewhere that: A good audit costs $.25 to at most $.50 per ballot cast – (less than the cost of one mailing by a candidate or one of those newsletters from our state representatives and senators) The costs of running an election is over $3.00 to $20.00 per ballot cast Candidates spend […]

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Connecticut Reporter Uncovers Voting Machine Problems In New Hampshire

By Luther Weeks on January 13, 2008

Dori Smith of TalkNationRadio.org articulates problems with voting machines in New Hampshire for Brad Blog in Diebold Voting Machine Failures Found Across State During New Hampshire Primary <read> Election Officials Confrim that Employees from LHS Associates, Diebold’s Sole Programmer, Vendor, and Service Provider in NH, Were Allowed to Access Vulnerable Optical-Scan Systems Throughout Election Day […]

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Recounts: Some Good News. Some Not So Good News.

By Luther Weeks on January 11, 2008

Update: 1/11/2008 I have scanned in the actual report of the New Canaan recount sent to the Secretary of the State’s Office. Read the full report <here> the critical information provided by the Head Moderator is: Totals were the same as the original count or close with the exception of Paul Foley (-31 votes) [MINUS […]

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Doth The Courant Protest Too Much?