RESOUR> CNN, NY Times, ABC,CBS: proof electonic voting machines can be hacked

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**************************************************************From:      
<KispokoT@xxxxxxx>
To:        <KispokoT@xxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2004 15:25:04 EDT
Subject: CNN, NY Times, ABC,CBS: proof electonic voting machines can be hacked

This is of interest to anyone concerned about fair elections.

An Emergency Call-to-Arms:
A Five-Step Battle Plan for YOUR Future

This year 28% of the vote (and counting) will be tallied on electronic
voting machines or scanners, which have been repeatedly hacked and can be
used to fix an election -- all without a trace. Below you'll find a link to
the diagrammed, step-by-step report of how activist Bev Harris
hacked one(13). If you think this is exaggeration, please follow the links
listed below, where everything has been well-documented and by the NY
Times, the Washington Post, CNN, ABC, CBS, the BBC, etc. (14)

Once paperless, effortlessly hackable (10) voting machines have been
installed, the situation will be PERMANENT -- we will never know or be
able to prove if an election has been stolen. And if it HAS -- those who
have stolen it CAN NEVER BE VOTED OUT. And without the fear of voter
reprisal, whoever takes advantage of such a situation could do literally
anything they wanted and NEVER LOSE POWER. It will mean the end
of Democracy. And if you work for an activist group, it will certainly mean
the end of your organization.

We have less than six months to prepare to fight the biggest power grab in
human history.

Do your part.

Help save America.

There will not be a second chance.

A 5-STEP BATTLE PLAN:

I. LOBBYING (20 minutes approximately)

Tell your representatives to support Bills H.R.2239, 1986, and ESPECIALLY
2045 (14)

Online e-petitions:
http://www.truemajority.org/actionregister/

http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=3D2&item=3D2821

http://www.verifiedvoting.org

http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/petition.cfm?itemid=3D14993

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/348035553?ts=3D1079111375&sign[p= 
artner_userID]=3D304336170&sign[memberID]=3D304336170&sign[partnerID]=3D1=

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/cleanvote.html

Congress
http://www.senate.gov/
Toll free: 1-800-839-5276
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

State elections boards
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html

State Attorneys General
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php

State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/

Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm

Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@xxxxxxx
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)

II. MEDIA BLITZ (one to three hours approximately)
Write a ltter and email or fax it to Radio & tv stations, newspapers &
magazines in your area:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/

National Media Contacts:
CBS Evening News
212-975-3691
evening@xxxxxxxxxxx

NBC Nightly News
212-664-4971
nightly@xxxxxxx

Peter Jennings : ABC World News Tonight
Tel : (212) 456-4025, Fax : (212) 456-2381
PeterJennings@xxxxxxxxxxx

Washington Post :
abramowitz@xxxxxxxxxxxx,colemanm@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
letters@xxxxxxxxxxxx,hadarm@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
kingc@xxxxxxxxxxxx,milbankd@xxxxxxxxxxxx,

New York Times:
nytnews@xxxxxxxxxxx,oped@xxxxxxxxxxx,
president@xxxxxxxxxxx,publisher@xxxxxxxxxxx,
society@xxxxxxxxxxx,washington@xxxxxxxxxxx,
web-editor@xxxxxxxxxxx,letters@xxxxxxxxxxx
USA Today: editor@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Houston Chronicle: viewpoints@xxxxxxxxx
San Francisco Chronicle: letters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Los Angeles Times: letters@xxxxxxxxxxx
Chicago Tribune:ctc-TribLetter@xxxxxxxxxxx
Washington Post: letters@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Newsday: letters@xxxxxxxxxxx
New York Daily News:voicers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

CNN HeadLine News executives :
cameron.baird@xxxxxxxxxx,dave.willis@xxxxxxxxxx,
bill.schneider@xxxxxxxxxx,
james.broyles@xxxxxxxxxx,jason.evans@xxxxxxxxxx,
lou.dobbs@xxxxxxxxxx,moneyline@xxxxxxxxx,
kathy.slobogin@xxxxxxxxxx,paul.varian@xxxxxxxxxx,
judy.fortin@xxxxxxxxxx,bill.galvin@xxxxxxxxxx,
susan.jalali@xxxxxxxxxx,kurt.kasting@xxxxxxxxxx,
tim.mallon@xxxxxxxxxx,wade.mckinney@xxxxxxxxxx,
jerry.mihoch@xxxxxxxxxx,stephanie.minter@xxxxxxxxxx,
dennis.newman@xxxxxxxxxx,alan.schrack@xxxxxxxxxx,
rolando.santos@xxxxxxxxxx,steve.shusman@xxxxxxxxxx,
jennifer.c.thomas@xxxxxxxxxx,

USA Today :
editor@xxxxxxxxxxxx,fanklam@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
jbacon@xxxxxxxxxxxx,lbranson@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
dcolton@xxxxxxxxxxxx,

Los Angeles Times :
dean.baquet@xxxxxxxxxxx,op-ed@xxxxxxxxxxx,
john.carroll@xxxxxxxxxxx,janet.clayton@xxxxxxxxxxx,
letters@xxxxxxxxxxx,latmag@xxxxxxxxxxx,
marjorie.miller@xxxxxxxxxxx,john.puerner@xxxxxxxxxxx
james.rainey@xxxxxxxxxxx,bill.stall@xxxxxxxxxxx,

REUTERS :
michel.gelbart@xxxxxxxxxxx,eddie.evans@xxxxxxxxxxx,
editor.reuters@xxxxxxxxxxx,daniel.grebler@xxxxxxxxxxx,
stephen.jukes@xxxxxxxxxxx,reshma.kapadia@xxxxxxxxxxx,
andrew.mitchell@xxxxxxxxxxx,dick.satran@xxxxxxxxxxx,
david.schlesinger@xxxxxxxxxxx,eddie.evans@xxxxxxxxxxx,
washington.daybook.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx,
miami.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx,michel.gelbart@xxxxxxxxxxx,
boston.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx,toronto.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx,
mexicocity.newsroom@xxxxxxxxxxx,

Associated Press:
info@xxxxxx,msilverman@xxxxxx,
gjohnson@xxxxxx,hjung@xxxxxx
tkorte@xxxxxx,sthomsen@xxxxxx
etompson@xxxxxx,ntrott@xxxxxx
rtanner@xxxxxx,mtighe@xxxxxx,
kathleen.carroll@xxxxxx,dcrary@xxxxxx,
adinnocenzio@xxxxxx,jaffleck@xxxxxx,
mfeldman@xxxxxx,paula.froke@xxxxxx,
tfuentez@xxxxxx,kgazlay@xxxxxx,
chanley@xxxxxx,bharpaz@xxxxxx,
lheinzerling@xxxxxx,rherschaft@xxxxxx,
hitalie@xxxxxx,sjacobsen@xxxxxx,
ajesdanun@xxxxxx, tkent@xxxxxx

III. WITNESS E-VOTE EVALUATIONS(one afternoon)
Ask your elections board (about any e-voting purchase evaluations meetings
to be held in your district. As a member of the voting public, it is your legal 

right to attend as a witness, although, out of convenience, they may try to
avoid giving you the information. Insist on your rights.

If you do attend as a witness, you may well be a victim of intimidation
tactics. Insist on voter-verified paper ballots. Bev Harris has written
comprehensive answers to arguments you will hear. DO NOT BACK DOWN
OR BE INTIMIDATED BY CIVIL SERVANTS -- they are your EMPLOYEES,
paid by YOUR TAXES:

 >From Bev Harris,http://www.BlackBoxVoting.Org

Assertion:"Upgrading the printer already in the (Diebold) machine costs
money" Fact: Diebold has stated in writing that their pre-installed internal
printers are sufficient to generate a voter-verified paper trail.

Assertion:"The paper is very expensive".

Fact: No, thermal paper is the cheapest made. And with an estimated
maximmum of 300 people voting at each touch screen. A LARGE precinct
may have seven touch screens, but many have just two or three. It might
cost $15 per precinct to print those ballots.

Assertion:"The paper won't last".

Fact: If the report to be by the machine will last the required amount of
time, the ballots will too, if printed on the same paper. The printer is
there to report totals at the polling place.

Assertion:"the machines will jam".

Fact: The printer is similar to models used in supermarkets and WalMart.
Remember: the total number of transactions, will be about 300. Do
supermarket and WalMart printers jam every 15 sales? No; They process
thousands of printouts without jamming.

Assertion:"the ink will run out"
Fact: There is no ink in a thermal printer

Question: "If a paper ballot record doesn't match a machine record, which
is the legal vote?"

Fact: The voter-verified paper must trump the machine unless a mechanical
defect or fraud is shown, because it is a physical record seen and verified
by thousands of individual voters, whereas the machine is bits and bytes
that can be changed by a single technician!

Assertion:"Paper ballot systems have been tampered with".

Fact: Yes, and machines have been frequently wrong as well. Do not
allow sidetracking of the discussion or assertions that you are "against
electronic voting" -- no, we want them to put paper in a printer and use it
for auditing.

Assertion:"Officials won't know what to do with paper ballots and new laws
must be written."

Fact: Laws and procedures set up for optical scans are applicable.

Assertion: "A paper trail will only lead to demands for more complicated
and stringent auditing".

Fact: Yes, it will. We're asking for that anyway, with optical scanning. It
is still be cheap and efficient compared to many of the changes currently
being implemented to accomodate the sales of more touchscreen
machines.

Question:"Why use machines at all if you're demanding paper ballots?"
Fact: Voting machines are helpful for the visually impaired

Assertion:"Paper ballots prevent the visually impaired from voting".

Facts:Wheelchair-assisted voters can use a touch screen with the same
efficiency whether or not there is a paper printout, and the visually-impaired
are canbe provided with headphones for these machines. Nor does a paper
printout hinder their ability to vote.

Alternatives to the Diebold, Sequoia and ES&S machines (operated by
heavily partisan CEOs, designed to operate WITHOUT a paper trail, and
whose code and components are not allowed to be examined) exist.

Avante Systems has a machine that shows a printout through a glass
screen. After the voter confirms it is correct, the paper ballot is droped
into a storage box so it can be checked against the machine totals and
the=A0 AccuPoll system has a scanner that can pass over the printed ballot
to verify votes.

Alternative, secure e-voting machines you can suggest to your elections 
officials:

http://www.accupoll.com/
http://www.aitechnology.com/avantetech/home.html

IV. VOLUNTEER ELECTIONS MONITORING(three days approximately,
including preliminary training)

Vootewatch is organizing election monitor volunteers here:
http://www.votewatch.us/forum/register.php?

Bev Harris has outlined a point-by-point strategy on specifically what to
look for when monitoring electronic voting machines. It is also
recommended that you either download her free e-book "Black Box
Voting", or better yet, purchase it here:

http://www.blackboxvoting.org

 >From Bev Harris,http://www.BlackBoxVoting.Org

CITIZEN WATCHDOGS: What to look for and report -- Let's get good at
this before November!

Optical-scan systems and absentee ballots: We have information that all
systems recognize carbon-containing marks (soft lead pencil). Some DO
NOT recognize all inks. You may want to bring a soft lead pencil to the
polling place with you to mark your optical-scan ballots.

All Diebold counties (AccuVote and AccuTouch are Diebold brands) --
Ask that the poll workers print a report and post a copy at the polling
place at the end of the day, whether they are required to or not. All Diebold
machines, both touch-screen and optical-scan, contain internal printers and
have the ability to print a polling place results report. This takes 60 seconds 

and costs nothing, and is an important check and balance to compare with
the county results from the GEMS system, which we believe to contain
security flaws. Votes should not change from the polling place to the county.

Report any instance of mismatched polling place/county tabulations here. Do
NOT accept the excuse that they won't match because early votes, absentee,
provisional, or challenge votes were added into the polling place totals. That 
is
called "co-mingling" the data and is not an acceptable record-keeping
practice. Additional categories of votes must be accounted for as separate line 
items.

Sequoia touch-screens do not have an internal printer. A printer can easily
be hooked up with a serial port. If you see printers, demand a polling place
report.

Watch for any "wandering vote tallies" on election night, especially if any
votes go DOWN. (Yes, this has been known to happen).

Late poll openings: Report these immediately and we'll try to get cameras
there. This is a form of vote suppression, often occurring in minority areas.

Late vote results: Report late incoming tallies. These can be indicative of
the county trying to resolve voting machine anomalies before filing= reports.

Observe how many cords come in and out of the voting machines. Report
any evidence of networking the machines together. Report any time you see
more than a simple power cord plugged in while the election is in progress.

Wardrive election sites. See if you can pick up wireless signals either
during or after the election. Wireless communication is not permitted. Also,
report any use of cell phones for vote transfers, which is also not permitted.

Election workers: Report the procedures used for training if they seem
insecure. For example, we have already had reports that in Georgia, some
poll workers were told to take voting machines home after training; Georgia
flag artwork was uploaded right before the election; and other unwise and
insecure procedures were followed.

Go visit the polling place at the end of the day and see how secure it is.
We had reports recently of machines left in the polling place unattended.

Felony watch: In some states, IT IS A FELONY for technicians who are
not sworn elections officials to touch the vote database in any way, shape
or form after votes have been cast. In fact, if you look at Chapter 13 of
Black Box Voting, the San Luis Obispo incident was probably illegal
(Diebold tech Sophia Lee was tied to a live vote database that appeared
on the Internet five hours before the polls closed).

Watch for statistical anomalies. Look at everything. Time is of the essence,
as these analyses take some time and there are only a few days before the
election is certified.

V. LEGAL CHALLENGES(indeterminate)

Author Lynn Landes has questioned the constitutionality of voting machines.
http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachinesUnconstitutional.htm

If your organization has the wherewithal to raise a legal challenge on these=
(or other grounds) here are some resources below:

Election campaign and civil rights lawyers listed for every city:

http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Election%20Campaign%20&%20Pol 
itical%20Law

http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Civil%20Rights

Institute for Justice:
http://www.ij.org/index.shtml

Center for Indiviual Rights:
http://www.cir-usa.org/intakehtml

Class actions:
http://www.bigclassaction.com/civil_rights.html

Southeastern Legal Foundation:
http://southeasternlegal.org/

Electronic Frontier Foundation attorneys:
gwen@xxxxxxx
jason@xxxxxxx
owlswan@xxxxxxx
wendy@xxxxxxx
tien@xxxxxxx
fred@xxxxxxx

Other challenges:
http://www.palmbeachpostcom/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/tuesday/l 
ocal_news_04d49255058760a400d8.html

http://www.electionguardians.org/actions.htm
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/dieboldlawsuit.pdf

Pax Christi is also organizing an international group of elections
monitors. More information here:
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_events_more.asp?id=3D887

REFERENCES:

1 (GOP:$115,667,827 ; Dems:$44,175,502).
http://www.opensecrets.org/parties/index.asp

2. Greg Palast, Harper's Magazine "The Great Florida Ex-Con Game"
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=3D122&row=3D2

3 a."Unprecedented" -- internet preview of the film
http://wwwunprecedented.org/UnprecedentedPreview.htm

3 b. Lynn Landes: "Mission Impossible - Federal Observers & Voting= Machines"
http://www.ecotalk.org/FederalObservers.htm

4. Barabara Walters interview"The Note":
http://wwwfreerepublic.com/focus/f-news/791744/posts

5.McConnell vs the Federal Election Commission
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/1637/

6.http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0404/hentoff.php

7. "Bush Assures Evangelicals of Commitment to Marriage Amendment"
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/12/politics/12EVAN.html?pagewanted=3D
print&position

8a. Online Journal: "Wag the Osama"
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/031004Burns/031004burns.html

8b.NewsNet5: "Ridge Sidesteps Question On Bin Laden's Capture"
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2917298/detail.html

9. U.S. Unloading WMD in Iraq
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=3D3/13/2004&Cat=3D4&Num=3D01= 1

10. Aljazeera.net: "Purported Al Qaida Statement"
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2CDD53D6-7AF7-40C7-AF88-32A16072F81B.= 
htm

11. NewsMax: "Tommy Franks: 'Martial Law Will Replace Constitution After
Next Terror Attack'"
http://infowars.com/print/ps/franks_martial.htm

12. The New McCarthyism, the Progressive:
http://www.progressive.org/0901/roth0102.html

13. Scoop: "Inside a US Election Vote Counting Program"
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm

14a. NY Times: "Hack the Vote"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/120303A.shtml

b. CBS: "Electronic Voting Causing Concern"
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/03/eveningnews/main591185.shtml

c. UK Independent: "All the President's Votes?"
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1013-01.htm

d. Salon: "Will the Election be Hacked?"
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/02/09/voting_machines/index_np.ht ml

e. BBC: "Concerns over US Computer Voting"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3489877.stm

f. ABC News: "Avoiding Another Florida Fiasco"
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/SciTech/Voting_machines_040305-1.html
=
g. "Comparison of Senate Bills 1980, 1986, and 2045"
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/senate_bill_comparison.asp
You are encouraged to distribute this document freely and widely.


"Action is the antidote to despair."~~~Joan Baez

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