By Luther Weeks on October 25, 2011
Most projects start out slowly, and then sort of taper off.
- Augustine’s Law #XL
Posted in CT, Electronic Vulnerability, Reports
By Luther Weeks on October 5, 2011
“Over the past century, our nation expanded the franchise and knocked down myriad barriers to full electoral participation. In 2011, however, that momentum abruptly shifted.”
Posted in Mail/Absentee Voting, National, Reports
By Luther Weeks on August 12, 2011
We were surprised and pleased to open the following letter from Deputy Secretary of the State, James Spallone, clarifying/correcting some of the impressions left by the report. We appreciate the clarification.
We remain concerned when the differences between machine counts and hand counts reported by several registrars of voters. We also continue to be concerned, that such differences are attributed to hand counting errors, without investigation.
ADDENDUM ADDED.
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits, Reports
By Luther Weeks on June 13, 2011
A new research report brings into question the degree of anonymity in paper ballots. The finding raises potential concerns for states and election jurisdictions considering the merits of either making ballots available for public review or releasing them under freedom of information requests. We find reasons for concern with ballot anonymity and reasons for skepticism that the result will hold under additional research.
Posted in National, Reports
By Luther Weeks on May 27, 2011
Charles Stewart III, presented a fascinating report earlier this spring. It is forty-two pages, double spaced, yet engaging throughout. In addition to describing HAVA and its implications, the report covers the political process which resulted in a useful, yet insufficient response to the issues raised in 2000.
Posted in CT, Reports
By Luther Weeks on October 25, 2010
Researchers found: The convenience of Early Voting depresses turnout. Election Day Registration increases turnout. When both are combined the effect is about the same as Election Day Registration alone.
Posted in Mail/Absentee Voting, National, Reports
By Luther Weeks on August 11, 2010
This week at the 2010 Electronic Voting Technology Workshop on Trustworthy Elections in Washington, D.C., Dr. Alex Shvartsman and his team from the Uconn VoTeR Center delivered a significant paper. It covered research into the cause of the complete failure of the AccuVote-OS memory cards, at an unacceptable rate — We suggest the costs of mitigating the problems should be born by the manufacturer and/or distributor since the ultimate cause is the inadequate design of the memory cards for their intended purpose.
Posted in CT, CT Skulduggery and Errors, Post-Election Audits, Reports
By Luther Weeks on July 22, 2010
A new Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project Report provides insight into the opinions of voters on several voting reform issues. We comment on Connecticut specific results and editorialize on voting integrity implications of the survey. We recommend the survey and commentary be contemplated by activists, legislators, and future Secretaries of the State.
Posted in CT, Mail/Absentee Voting, Reports
By Luther Weeks on April 26, 2010
“The main conclusion of this analysis is that the hand counting remains an error prone activity. In order to enable a more precise analysis, it is recommended that the hand counting precision is substantially improved in future audits. The completeness of the audit reports also need to be addressed…Submitting incomplete audit returns has little value for the auditing process.”
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits, Reports
By Luther Weeks on April 26, 2010
We should all applaud the unique memory card testing program, yet we must also act aggressively to close the gaps it continues to expose…The good news is that UConn has identified a likely cause of the “junk” data cards. Perhaps a solution is near.
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits, Reports
