Ohio Secretary of State, Sue Voting Machine Vendors for Product Liability
Lobbyists Hack Your Elections: The OEJC Calls for Voting Systems Recall, Return, and Refund (Part I)
The OEJC is calling for the recall, return, and refund of Ohio's electronic voting systems, widely documented as unreliable, inaccurate, and subject to manipulation, and subject of several product defect suits nationally. Lobbyist suggested elections officials to current review of Ohio 's voting systems. Selected officials include representatives from counties plagued by election irregularities such as failing to preserve 2004 ballots as ordered by federal court. Voting systems purchased pursuant to HAVA, co-authored by former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), met with lobbyist Abramoff during drafting, both serving prison terms for convictions related to bribery and corruption of public officials, respectively.
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) November 21, 2007 -- In a press conference today, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) is calling for the recall, return, and refund of voting systems used in Ohio, the state that clinches presidential elections. Representatives from Boards of Elections (BOE) plagued by election irregularities, such as failing to preserve their 2004 ballots in violation of federal court order, are now sitting in review of the state's electronic elections systems, courtesy of a lobbyist.
According to the Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's answers to the State Controlling Board, which approved $1.8 million in Help America Vote (HAVA) funds to review Ohio's elections systems, the final recommendations will be the "responsibility of the Secretary of State's Office working with a representative group of the state's election officials."
Brunner's letter to this same board, dated Sept. 20, 2007, states, "The list (of election officials) was compiled with Aaron Ockerman who met with me this morning and suggested the names of those to be involved."
Aaron Ockerman, of State Street Consultants, is a registered lobbyist for the Ohio Association of Election Officials (OAEO), a corporation that promotes the business interests of Ohio election officials. He was a registered lobbyist for Election Systems & Software, ES&S, (ESS) in 2003.
Neil S. Clark and Paul Tipps, founders of State Street Consultants, were registered lobbyists for ES&S, 2002-04, and for Diebold (DB), 2004 and 2005. Clark is currently a registered OAEO lobbyist.
Ockerman, also a registered lobbyist for ACS (ACS) State and Local Solutions, Inc., formerly Lockheed (LMT) Martin IMS, co-hosted a reception for the Ohio SOS and others during the winter 2007 OAEO conference.
Of the twelve election officials, nine come from BOEs that disposed of 2004 election records protected by court order in King Lincoln v. Blackwell (S.D. Ohio), http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/klbna.php, four of the nine serving as BOE Director in 2004. Two of the nine disposed of their records before certification of the 2004 election; and another three have not submitted the requested explanation to the SOS for their missing records.
As of this date, almost half come from counties with various alleged recount irregularities, and one from a county with alleged voter suppression, King Lincoln v. Blackwell (S.D.Ohio). Although Ohio does have many BOEs secure from these problems, only two are represented on the list.
HAVA earmarked $3.9 billion in tax payer money to implement electronic voting systems. Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) co-authored HAVA, meeting with lobbyist Jack Abramoff during its drafting. Ney and Abramoff are now serving prison terms for convictions related to bribery and corruption of public officials, respectively.
The electronic elections systems have been widely documented as unreliable, inaccurate, and subject to manipulation. California decertified its electronic voting machines, Florida tossed them out, and New York has not even introduced them.
Lawsuits alleging breach of warranty, Lehto v. Sequoia (King County, Washington) and Axelrod v. Sequoia (Washoe County, Nevada), have been filed in state court. A complaint naming the Ohio SOS was filed in U.S. District Court, Schulz v. State of New York (N.D.N.Y.), seeking an injunction until elections are open, verifiable, and transparent.
To support the OEJC, donate at www.electiondefensealliance.org/OEJC. For background information on the failure to preserve the 2004 ballots, see http://www.prnewsnow.com/TextNews/168067.html.
Lobbyists Hack Your Elections: The OEJC Calls for Voting Systems Recall, Return, and Refund (Part I)
The OEJC is calling for the recall, return, and refund of Ohio's electronic voting systems, widely documented as unreliable, inaccurate, and subject to manipulation, and subject of several product defect suits nationally. Lobbyist suggested elections officials to current review of Ohio 's voting systems. Selected officials include representatives from counties plagued by election irregularities such as failing to preserve 2004 ballots as ordered by federal court. Voting systems purchased pursuant to HAVA, co-authored by former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), met with lobbyist Abramoff during drafting, both serving prison terms for convictions related to bribery and corruption of public officials, respectively.
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) November 21, 2007 -- In a press conference today, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign (OEJC) is calling for the recall, return, and refund of voting systems used in Ohio, the state that clinches presidential elections. Representatives from Boards of Elections (BOE) plagued by election irregularities, such as failing to preserve their 2004 ballots in violation of federal court order, are now sitting in review of the state's electronic elections systems, courtesy of a lobbyist.
According to the Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's answers to the State Controlling Board, which approved $1.8 million in Help America Vote (HAVA) funds to review Ohio's elections systems, the final recommendations will be the "responsibility of the Secretary of State's Office working with a representative group of the state's election officials."
Brunner's letter to this same board, dated Sept. 20, 2007, states, "The list (of election officials) was compiled with Aaron Ockerman who met with me this morning and suggested the names of those to be involved."
Aaron Ockerman, of State Street Consultants, is a registered lobbyist for the Ohio Association of Election Officials (OAEO), a corporation that promotes the business interests of Ohio election officials. He was a registered lobbyist for Election Systems & Software, ES&S, (ESS) in 2003.
Neil S. Clark and Paul Tipps, founders of State Street Consultants, were registered lobbyists for ES&S, 2002-04, and for Diebold (DB), 2004 and 2005. Clark is currently a registered OAEO lobbyist.
Ockerman, also a registered lobbyist for ACS (ACS) State and Local Solutions, Inc., formerly Lockheed (LMT) Martin IMS, co-hosted a reception for the Ohio SOS and others during the winter 2007 OAEO conference.
Of the twelve election officials, nine come from BOEs that disposed of 2004 election records protected by court order in King Lincoln v. Blackwell (S.D. Ohio), http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/klbna.php, four of the nine serving as BOE Director in 2004. Two of the nine disposed of their records before certification of the 2004 election; and another three have not submitted the requested explanation to the SOS for their missing records.
As of this date, almost half come from counties with various alleged recount irregularities, and one from a county with alleged voter suppression, King Lincoln v. Blackwell (S.D.Ohio). Although Ohio does have many BOEs secure from these problems, only two are represented on the list.
HAVA earmarked $3.9 billion in tax payer money to implement electronic voting systems. Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) co-authored HAVA, meeting with lobbyist Jack Abramoff during its drafting. Ney and Abramoff are now serving prison terms for convictions related to bribery and corruption of public officials, respectively.
The electronic elections systems have been widely documented as unreliable, inaccurate, and subject to manipulation. California decertified its electronic voting machines, Florida tossed them out, and New York has not even introduced them.
Lawsuits alleging breach of warranty, Lehto v. Sequoia (King County, Washington) and Axelrod v. Sequoia (Washoe County, Nevada), have been filed in state court. A complaint naming the Ohio SOS was filed in U.S. District Court, Schulz v. State of New York (N.D.N.Y.), seeking an injunction until elections are open, verifiable, and transparent.
To support the OEJC, donate at www.electiondefensealliance.org/OEJC. For background information on the failure to preserve the 2004 ballots, see http://www.prnewsnow.com/TextNews/168067.html.
We the undersigned, call on the Secretary of the State of Ohio to stand up against the voting machine vendors. We ask for a recall, return, and refund of Ohio's electronic voting systems.
These voting systems have been proven faulty by your own documented standards. The electronic elections systems have been widely documented as unreliable, inaccurate, and subject to manipulation. California decertified its electronic voting machines, Florida tossed them out, and New York has not even introduced them. Lawsuits alleging breach of warranty, Lehto v. Sequoia (King County, Washington) and Axelrod v. Sequoia (Washoe County, Nevada), have been filed in state court.
Secretary Brunner, you deserve credit for commissioning a study that revealed potential problems the state must address. It showed that direct recording electronic (DRE) or touch-screen voting systems used in 57 of 88 counties are vulnerable to security breaches and technical failures. We the undersigned, urge you to not throw good money after bad. Go to the front of the line with these vendors, while they still have the money, with product liability lawsuits. Do not negotiate purchasing another voting system machine with vendors that have such a track record of faulty equipment.
We the undersigned, are encouraged and hopeful that the Secretary of State will review all needed research, consider the issues of product liability, and will do what is necessary to see that these vendors are held accountable to the voters of Ohio. We thank you for taking the time to listen to our concerns.
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When third world countries can manage elections better than the U.S., we've got serious issues. I'm an American, and I want my vote to COUNT!
Quit stealing the US elections!!! No wonder over half the country doesn't bother to vote. Nobody wants to be played for a fool, and very few people down here these days are fooled.
In the last two elections the results were questionable due to a lot of factors and one of them being problems with the voting machines and ballots that were "never counted" to the benefit of the other political party and there were even "lost ballots" that turned up in boxes in a store room. We need and deserve a better system so people cast their ballot they have confidence that there vote is really being counted and that it also really matters.
I have never trusted the new machines. I was a canidate for a local office and due to some local questionable actions of our local Board of Elections during the 2007 election cycle and all reports from HBO and news reports about the new machines I don't trust that any counts are valid or have not been tampered with.
Perhaps the most important part of any govt. is good management. This must include taking responsibility for mistakes and problems and correcting them. If this means lawsuits, so be it. It would be morally wrong to let the taxpayers get ripped off by these corp. flim-flam artists.
This issue is HUGE in its impact in our lives and the very definition of democracy. I feel that most voters were very leary of electronic voting when initiated and here we are......having to fight for fair elections, something that should be a basic element of our voting system, we shouldnt have to worry about that aspect. Seems we are regressing in this nation to third world tactics........Lets get it right for ourselves and future generations.
Stealing peoples real votes away from them is so violating! It's a dirty lie. My vote is my vote & how dare anyone attempt to change it!
Why is this issue so important to you? it is a real shame that in this country we even have to petition this! i expect my vote to count! public voting should also include the public viewing of those counts. any act of secrecy warrants suspicion. any public servant opposed to a fully disclosed process doesnt deserve to be in office.
Sir, you have the power to make the people responsible for our votes being stolen in 2004 and I urge you to do so. Party affiliation aside, justice is justice. Thank you.
This administration has reduced everyone's freedom. Badly working voting machines only add to the suspicion of fraud we all have been left with these past 7 1/2 years. Let's make sure our voting is accurate, honest, and trustworthy.
This is a serious issue. What good are elections if the will of the people can be tampered with, distorted, and ultimately ignored?
Voters like myself need to know that their TRUE vote counts.
I DO NOT WANT A REPEAT OF 2004...I WOULD JUST LOVE TO SEE OUR ELECTED OFFICALS DO THE RIGHT THING!
We have heard of cases where people who had voted democrat traditionally in the same precinct for years were turned away in 2004 or forced to vote provisionally because their names suddenly were not on the registry. We absolutely must have a paper ballot and better machines to help with all of the voting concerns that are out there. Holly Denlinger
WE NEED TO HAVE A SOLID RELIABLE SYSTEM TO MAKE OUR VOTING SYSTEM HONEST AND AUDITABLE.
Hopp!
We had election 2004 stolen, 2000 was rigged in Florida and now there are problems with N.H. Recount. Enough is enogh, Paper Ballots counted in public broadcast on Public Access tv for everyone who cares to watch.
What is right is the only way!
This matter is extremely important, and I want a garantee that my vote will be counted the way it is cast!
If there is no product liability in place for voting machines, we will never know whether elections of which they are a part are valid. It's bad enough that the Presidential Elections can be adjudicated by the Supreme Court. In order to honestly encourage voter participation, the voters should be given some sort of guarantee that the machines are properly functioning and adequately maintained.
These are our rights, as citizens of a free country.
I do not believe the election in 2004 was "free and fair". I believe that the election results were tampered with using the electronic voting machines. I want a VERIFIABLE system in place. NO more stolen elections. It has felt like we have been living in a third world country where corruption is rampant.
Vote fraud has always been a concern of many long time registered voters. The city I have lived in for the past 26 years, Chicago, has a notorious record for voter fraud. Think about how difficult it is to manipulate paper ballots like we have in Chicago. Now think about how easy it is to manipulate thousands upon thousands of electronic votes. Kind of makes you wonder what the elected officials were thinking about when they passed legislation to allow these electronic voting machines. We've had a taste of what can happen when these data is manipulated. I'm fine with technology in the form of communication and all, just not when it comes to exercising my right to vote. Sometimes, the old tried and true methods work just fine.
Fair and equal elections
I feel the out come of the 2004 elections & of future elections could be tainted by the election machines in use presently. These are days when our represenative system needs to be fortified, yet lack of confidence in elecetion results could shake the very foundation.
If people don't have confidence that their vote is counted and is accurate, they'll simply stop participating in the process.
A secure voting system is imperative for our democracy to work. We need to have confidence that our vote will be counted and that every one is give an equal chance to vote.
we need to have a voting system in place that prohibits any and all types of possible tampering/miscounts. PAPER BALLOTS in addition to poll machines are ideal because of the age old concept of check and balance.
Every ballot must be counted and each one must have a paper trail. to do any less is an insult to our democracy and undermines the faith voters have in the system.
I do not want to watch another election be stolen.
How can this issue not be important to every American who wants to respect our system and keep elections of the people, by the people and for the people.
This issue is so very important because democracy is of by and for the people and voting is the way to keep the democracy ball rolling along. It's in our court and we will make damn sure we get it in that hoop through voting our conscience. Ergo, the machines that register our votes MUST be free of any and all bugs, must be reliable beyond 100%, must be the agent for our individual voices to be heard.
With the condition the economy and country is in. My vote is very important to me and the candidate. If the state already know the voting machines malfunction and were truly concerned the petition would not be necessary. All the more to add my signature
Entrenched economic powers in the US, including the wealthy corporate elite, are not above electoral "dirty tricks." We should not think, because this is America, that stealing votes, denying prospective voters the opportunity to vote - or have their vote count, fixing ever more sophisticated and opaque election machinery so that it does not reflect the true vote, etc. are not likely to occur here. We have seen enough in the past Century, and indeed, during the past two Presidential elections. The Republican ultra right radicalism that continues in lockstep began with thinly veiled racist appeals by Ronald Reagan and his ilk. The rich will do whatever they can get away with to prevent government from serving the needs of most of the nation's people; to avoid being taxed to pay for universal health care; to prevent effective regulation to protect the water we drink, air we breath, to make working conditions safe in industry and agriculture; to abate the rampaging inequality which near three decades of Republican efforts have relentlessly pursued. They will assert property rights to command the electoral process itself; they will buy the trappings of democracy from under the feet of the American people if they can; they will cheat, lie, use bribery and extortion, and steal. A simple paper ballot, with low-tech but efficient processing as occurs in my own locale in Michigan, is all that is needed. No corporation should be permitted to assert any proprietary rights in the very mechanism of democracy.
