Recount Does Not Match – Mystery? Discrepancy? Error?

Update: Middlefield, a sensible recount discrepancy report, a few votes off in the count, some sensible advice to count again, and a reasonable possible explanation <read>

Update, Colin McEnron interviews Rep Mike Lawlor <listen>

We learn that the counts of votes were higher in several districts, not just one. Lawlor likes a similar explination to that of Head Moderator Jaffe. Lawlor speculates that the checkers did not do their job and did not check off all voters. I am skeptical, election officials can make mistakes, but it just is hard to believe that multiple checkers in one town all made similar mistakes or that 130 voters made the same mistakes without being noticed.

I doubt either of these explanations. Just like the airlines and the aircraft manufacturers like to blame pilot error rather than the aircraft design or manufacture.

Blaming the Secretary of The State’s office is a bit of a smokescreen. Perhaps they should be available on Sunday, or maybe there should be no recounts on Sunday’s and holidays, but that takes attention away from the real issues here.

We don’t know what happened. It could be human error, but more likely one or a sequence of two or three errors rather than 130 errors by multiple people in multiple places.

Update, possibly the most rediculous attempt at an excuse ever <read>

[Head Moderator Lori] Jaffe told the New Haven Register that the new voting system may have confused some voters. “They might get a ballot, make a mistake on it, then go to the clerk and get a second one,” she said.

No – the ballot clerk is responsible to give one ballot to each voter. And to give another one the clerk must give one back and mark it spoiled and is responsible for it. (I don’t believe any Head Moderator would confuse that)
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The East Haven recount shows more votes than on election day and more votes than voters checked off <read>

the recount has completed. Now they are trying to figure out why they have more votes for mayor in the recount than they had voters voting.
… the results of the recount will not be certified by the recount moderator, Lori Jaffe due to significant discrepencies(sic) noted in the previous update. There are 114 more votes cast than people that are thought to have voted. The moderator and the Registrar of Voters will contact the Secretary of State on Tuesday to get instructions.

We also have unconfirmed reports of discrepancies and procedural questions with the recount performed Friday in East Hampton — and that the recount will be redone today.

TalkNationRadio – Raindrops Keep Falling

This week’s TalkNationRadio by Dori Smith, Raindrops Keep falling on Connecticut’s Diebold Voting Machines: <read and listen>

Interviews with Connecticut Registrars, Deputy Secretary of State Lesley Mara, and True Vote Connecticut member George Barnett.  Coverage of the November 6th election and the problems with wet ballots.

Former corporate auditor George Barnett:

‘In 2006 twenty eight of the 550 recounts from seventeen districts there were differences of ten votes or more between the machine counts and the hand counts. In 19 of those of those 28 recounts the machines recorded a higher votes than the hand counts. Now, after these audits the Secretary of State put out a press release saying the optical scan machines performed very well on election day without any problems and that any changes in vote totals found in these audits were due to ballots being marked incorrectly by the voter–not to any problems with the optical scan machine.

So if 19 recounts the machine count was higher than the hand recount during the audit, that contradicts that statement. And I personally reviewed an audit in Monroe where the machine had a higher count than the hand recount and I talked to the Registrars there and they never spoke to the Secretary of State. So it seems like the Secretary of the State made this statement without basing it on fact. She did not look into any of these differences.

Barnett has also written about these issues at CTVotersCount <here> and <here>.

Take Action – Be A Post-Election Audit Observer

UPDATE: The Secretary of the State has extended the audit period. The audits will be conducted through December 12, 2007. Still time to sign up!

Connecticut Citizen Election Audit Coalition

Four Groups Organizing Citizens To Observe
Post-Election Audits

CTVotersCount.org is one of the coalition members and requests that members of our mailing list and readers seriously consider spending a day observing our post-election audits. You will contribute to democracy, be a part of the election process, and learn something valuable – every time I have attend an audit I have learned something new and unanticipated, you will too, please join us.

Learn more and sign-up at www.CTElectionAudit.org

From the Press Release: Continue reading “Take Action – Be A Post-Election Audit Observer”

Fox News iTeam: Cuyahoga County Diebold E-Voting Machines

A six minute report form Cuyahoga Ohio covering Diebold and the California reports.

A recommended short introduction to the issues! <UTUBE Video>

Its almost as if you give someone your keys and yet they are able to hotwire your car faster than putting the key in the ignition – Candice Hoke

14 Towns Exempt From Post-Election Audits, So Far

Press Release from Secretary of the State, Susan Bysiewicz <read>

So far, 14 Connecticut towns have reported races close enough for an automatic manual recount.  That is the good news, unfortunately, due to Public Act 07-194 those towns are also exempt from the random post-election audits.  More to come as results come in and races are contested which can also result in exemption or avoiding the recount.

One slight mis-statement in the release: all paper ballots for selected races will not be counted – central count absentee ballots are also exempt by Public Act 07-194 audited.

Once again there is news – 300 memory cards were tested so far, and another 300 expected to be done soon.  At 600 that is a large portion of the districts in the election.

Bysiewicz Trashes Levers – Minimizes Vulnerabilities

Susan Bysiewicz held a press conference to symbolically trash a lever voting machine and raise voter confidence in the implementation of our new voting machines. We applaud her formal announcement of the testing of memory cards by UConn, however, we beg to disagree with the lack of concern for the programming of the memory cards <read>:

LHS has nothing to do with our elections except that they program the memory cards,” Bysiewicz said.

While basically accurate that is far from reassuring – the memory cards have EVERYTHING to do with our elections. If the memory cards are corrupted, democracy is lost, all our efforts to vote, the time and expense of running elections, the time and expense candidates and their supporters put in is in vein. Sort of like saying the Fox has nothing to do with the chickens except that we send the chickens to Massachusetts to the Fox house for a little vacation.

Update: Continue reading “Bysiewicz Trashes Levers – Minimizes Vulnerabilities”

Talk Radio Investigation Into New Voting Technology Reveals Vulnerabilities

Secretary Bysiewicz is taking steps to improve security and procedures with our voting machines. More seals and testing of spare memory cards for most districts by UConn. Yet, the procedures must be clear to election staff and followed unfailingly — a huge challenge when changing so many locations at once, with 169 municipalities with dedicated but predominately very part time election staff. CTVotersCount readers know that the audits remain insufficient to detect errors and deter fraud.
Dori Smith of TalkNationRadio.org covers her investigation of procedures not being followed in 2006, the risks of outsourcing election programming and management, along with potential problems posed by new and conflicting procedures <read>.

Are Connecticut’s new electronic voting machines safe from fraud? A year-long Talk Nation Radio investigation found serious security problems when the machines were first used in some Connecticut towns during the 2006 election. There was chaos at the polls during the 2nd District recount and LHS staff members were refusing to follow the voting machine security protocols drafted by Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz under Chapter 9 of Connecticut law. The 2006 protocols were rushed through, and a year later the state’s new protocols were hastily constructed and are still being updated for the public with the Nov. 6 election right around the corner.

Memory Card Failures 1%? 4%? 9%? – Diebold Won’t Disclose Data

Memory cards have been failing in Florida on AccuVote-OS scanners. Diebold won’t release the actual data claiming it is proprietary. Also attempts to blame the customer for the problem. BradBlog has the story. <read>

The resulting reports, from 17 of the 27 counties, show two counties with over 9 percent memory card failure rate and some counties with zero. The average failure rate is 2.8 percent; nearly three times what Diebold/Premier is admitting publicly.

Datona Beach News-Journal:

Diebold officials said the 4.4 percent error rate in Volusia was unusual, that the average was about 1 percent. The company conducted a survey of 27 Florida counties that use its machines but refused to release the results, calling them “proprietary business information.

The company offered several explanations for the damage, including improper cleaning, foreign objects and improper memory card removal or insertion,

Update: More from Brad Blog <read>

Nonetheless, some very good stuff here. Of particular note, are the points from Diebold’s recommendations which “appear to border on the absurd,” that should voting machine memory cards be lost, “elections must be re-scheduled.” Or if they fail, as our recent story concerning Diebold’s admissions about memory card failures in Florida pointed towards, the company says “all voters will have to be called in to re-vote.”

Update 11/12: Some responses from Diebold/Premier <read>

Unintended Consequences – Bridgeport Lockup

Update:Â Supreme Court to intervene <read>

Bridgeport, Conn., Voting Machines “Held Hostage” Says Secretary of State <read>

Judge Blawie has ruled that the primary election results are valid,” said Bysiewicz. “Rep. Caruso is entitled to appeal but he should not hold the city’s voting machines hostage in the process. The actual paper ballots would be available for review if necessary but the voting machines used in the primary should be released now so election officials can prepare them for next week’s general election. Rep. Caruso has the opportunity to help, and ensure that taxpayers are not forced to shell out thousands of dollars to have substitute machines shipped in from out of state.”

Here are some solutions:

  • Borrow the machines from towns not holding elections this year (Federal HAVA funds paid for them)
  • Have a team of representatives of both candidates observe as the memory cards are removed from the scaners and locked up, then reuse the machines.
  • Use paper ballots and hand count the election
  • Use the backup machines for the election, and use paper where the backup machines fail on election day

What has not been mentioned in any reporting, as far as I know, is that Bridgeport was supposed to conduct random post-election audits of the primary by October 1st, and has not because of the machine lockup.

New Britain – Shortage of Election Officials. Questionable Procedures? Short Fuses?

Update 11/3, more arguments <read>, no wonder they are having problems recruiting.

Between pay increases for poll workers and a candidate’s company moving voting machines, New Britain voting officials have had their share of the news lately. Now Rick Guinness reports on a shortage of poll workers, a shortage of cooperation between registrars, and frustration directed at the Secretary of The State <read>

As of Wednesday afternoon, Democrats need one to fill their quota and Republicans needed 27, according to Democratic Registrar of Voters Edward “Butch” Dzwonkowski…

Tensions have risen among voting officials. Staff members in the registrars’ office said [Republican Registrar of Voters Dorothy] Turnrose stormed out of the City Hall basement vault where she, Dzwonkowski and their staffs had been working to secure and store voting machines for Election Day. Turnrose did not show up for work Wednesday after Tuesday’s argument, and she did not return phone calls….

[Mayor Timothy] Stewart said the state thrust new voting machines and laws on cities and towns on the pretext they were more efficient and secure.