[Sosfbay-discuss] All Fifty States May Face Voting Machine Lawsuit

[Drew Johnson]

http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/13/1852206
All Fifty States May Face Voting Machine Lawsuit
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Tuesday November 13, @02:51PM

according to an announcement made by activist Bernie Ellis at the premier
of David Earnhardt's film "Uncounted [The Movie]" all fifty states could
be receiving subpoenas in the National Clean Election lawsuit. The
documentary film, like the lawsuit, takes a look at the issue of voting
machine failure and the need for a solid paper trail.

"The lawsuit is aimed at prohibiting the use of all types of vote counting
machines, and requiring hand-counting of all primary and general election
ballots in full view of the public. The lawsuit has raised significant
constitutional questions challenging the generally accepted practices of
state election officials of relying on "black box" voting machines to
record and count the votes at each polling station, and allow tallying of
votes by election officials outside the view of the general public."

___

http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2007/11/13/fifty-states-face-voting-machine-lawsuits-uncounted-documents-dre-issues/
Fifty states face voting machine lawsuits; “Uncounted” documents DRE issues

By Christine Anne Piesyk | November 13, 2007
Business as usual will not be the norm over the next 48 hours as
Secretaries of State in all fifty states will each receive subpoenas in
the National Clean Election lawsuit, according to an announcement made
Monday night by activist Bernie Ellis at the Belcourt Theatre in
Nashville. There is still time, Ellis said, to require a paper trail for
the 2008 election.

The announcement was made in a panel discussion following the sold out
Nashville premiere of the David Earnhardt film, Uncounted [The Movie],
which ended with a standing ovation for its writer/director. The
documentary film addressed the issue of voting machine error/failure, the
need for a paper trail of votes, the political and business ties between
government officials and manufacturers of these DRE (Direct Recording
Electronic) voting machines, and the ease of tampering with such machine
and “flipping” votes that are electronically counted.

    “I cannot think of anything more important than to save the core of
our democracy — the vote! — David Earnhardt

The film also reviewed extensive cases of mechanical errors, lost votes,
voters turned away from polls, incomplete ballots and the installation of
uncertified software into voting machine reported from across the nation.

    “The lawsuit aims to establish that all computer systems (or other
systems) which hide the ballots from the people for even a short
period of time before the count is accomplished and the results are
posted – are unconstitutional

    “The lawsuit argues persuasively 
 that the use of computer and
machine election systems violate each  citizen’s right to vote, as
defined at least twice by the Supreme Court of the United States. ”

– Jim Condit Jr., NetworkAmerica.

The lawsuit is aimed at prohibiting the use of all types of vote counting
machines, and requiring hand-counting of all primary and general election
ballots in full view of the public. The lawsuit has raised significant
constitutional questions challenging the generally accepted practices of
state election officials of relying on “black box” voting machines to
record and count the votes at each polling station, and allow tallying of
votes by election officials outside the view of the general public. In
many cases, states have officially authorized voting “systems” that leave
virtually no paper trail from which to audit the vote. [We The People
Foundation].

Ellis said that regardless of what voters are being told, there is still
time to pass legislation that would mandate voter verifiable paper ballots
in 2008. The Tennessee Voter Confidence Act of 2007 [Senate Bill
1363/House Bill 1256], sponsored by Senator Joe Haynes and Rep. Gary
Moore, mandates a paper trail.

    “Today in Tennessee, 93 of our 95 counties use nonverifiable,
paperless touch-screen voting machines . In 2006, over one in every
six Tennessee counties reported problems with this equipment. Our
state is not alone, but (sadly) it is now one of the worst states for
voting security and accountability in this nation.” — Bernie Ellis

What began as lawsuits in ten keys states including Iowa, Ohio, New York
and Florida has burgeoned into a nationwide effort. Earnhardt’s film,
which was ignored by corporate media during this world premiere, exposes
the vulnerability in current technology of voting machines, or at least,
the lack of oversight in acquiring and using them without hacking,
flipping or under/overcounting votes, and other problems. Earnhardt asked
why, when it is so easy to get a printed receipt from anything from an ATM
machine to the drive-through register at a Krispy Kreme, it should be so
difficult to get a verifiable voting machine receipt.

The lawsuit seeks an Order from the Court prohibiting the use of all
voting machines and to force election officials to instead utilize paper
ballots and to count and total all votes by hand, always in full view of
the public. Plaintiffs from all fifty states have signed on to the
lawsuit.

In the question and answer period following the screening, an Iraq veteran
said he had pledged to protect his country “from all enemies foreign and
domestic” and viewed the issues of voting machines as a domestic threat to
voters across the country.

About Christine Anne Piesyk
      Email: womanspeak at yahoo.com