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.
