Hacking NEDAP voting machine in 60 Seconds, San Fran voters privacy invaded, In WA a ballot box overflows

We've got another hack story today. Video shows NEDAP hack done in 60 seconds. In Aspen more calls to make May's ballots available for independent audit. Voting activist Harvie Branscomb is part of the audit team. Economic downturn mean less early voting locations in an Indiana County and consolidation of voting locations in a New York Village. In Ballard, Washington a ballot box is overflowing. The Justice Department rejected non-partisan municipal elections for Kinston NC as it "would hurt black voters' ability to “elect candidates of choice." In Nevada, Ex-ACORN Vegas director to testify against group. San Francisco voters upset to find their private information posted at polling places. Voting machines: hackable, crackable, hijackable

CA. City considers making voter information confidential
08/18/09 Privacy and accountability are apparently clashing in San Francisco elections. Complaints have been rolling in to the Department of Elections about personal information such as phone numbers and e-mail addresses being posted publicly outside polling spots...What’s the solution? The Department of Elections wants to change its policy so voters can provide their information for “administrative use only.”
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/under-the-dome/City-considers-making-voter-information-confidential-53618982.html

CO. Make the ballots public
If I may quote the actor Slim Pickens from the Mel Brooks movie “Blazing Saddles,” “What in the wide wide world of sports is going on around here?”
...Marks and Branscomb should be granted their request, knowing the facts stated above and that the city issued a press release on May 28 stating that there were errors in tabulations of the mayoral race exposed by TrueBallot (the company that ran the election).
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20090819/LETTER/908189974/1020

CO. Minnesota group takes aim at Aspen’s election
August 19 A Minnesota group which says instant runoff voting is unconstitutional said it plans to file a federal lawsuit challenging Aspen’s May election and the voting system it used. “This is the essence of the main argument against IRV — your vote can be changed in its value and effect by the votes cast by others,”
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/136163

CT. Hartford: Wasting $ As Usual
..For a city the size of Hartford there should be no problem having three registrars and the costs should be minimal.
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2254

IN. Library voting may end in '10
Budget cut seen as best election fit
August 19, 2009
Early voting in libraries in Vanderburgh County will be eliminated in 2010 if a budget cut proposed Tuesday takes effect, the county's chief elections officer said.
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/aug/19/library-voting-may-end-in-10-budget-cut-seen-as/

NC. Justice Department rejects non-partisan voting
Federal officials concerned changes would hurt black voters' ability to “elect candidates of choice.” August 18...In a letter sent to City Attorney Jim Cauley late Monday, acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King stated “the elimination of party affiliation on the ballot will likely reduce the ability of blacks to elect candidates of choice.”
http://www.enctoday.com/articles/department-57925-kfpress-justice-waiting.html

NJ. Should politicians be required to take lie detector tests?
The new electronic voting machine
August 18th.
http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/08/18/should-politicians-be-required-to-take-lie-detector-tests/

NV. Ex-ACORN Vegas director to testify against group August 19
Chief Deputy Nevada Attorney General Conrad Hafen said Wednesday that Christopher Edwards' plea deal strengthens a felony case against the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now and Amy Busefink, a former regional voter registration director for ACORN.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5isR8VrIHeni2GcKFAiy0OA1WG5kAD9A64B0O0

NY. Villagers Protest Polling Place Consolidation
But elections commissioners defend cost-saving decision
http://www.pcnr.com/news/2009/0819/front_page/003.html

OH. Darnell Nash will be sentenced for voter registration fraud
August 19. ...Nash, 24, of Garfield Heights, registered to vote via ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) nine times using false names and addresses in Shaker Heights and Cleveland
http://www.examiner.com/x-11711-Cuyahoga-County-Crime-Examiner~y2009m8d19-Darnell-Nash-will-be-sentenced-for-voter-registration-fraud

WA. Ballard ballot box overflows
August 18th The ballot drop box at the Ballard Neighborhood Service Center has been emptied, but earlier today people had to literally stuff ballots into the box.
...“For a ballot drop box, I guess it needs to be bigger. It doesn’t seem secure to have them sticking out.”
http://www.myballard.com/2009/08/18/stuffing-the-ballot-box-literally/

WA. Report from Election Central
08/18/2009 ...Ballot boxes are being emptied throughout the day. According to elections officials, only about 40 voters have come to the county’s three handicap-accessible centers to vote in person.
...Although a drop-off box in Ballard was reportedly stuffed full last night, KC Elections says the problem has been fixed and that no other problems have been reported. If you encounter any issues, contact the voter hotline at 206-205-VOTE (8683).
http://publicola.net/?p=12069


WA. Junk mail voting defeats me
I'm a political junkie. I never miss voting in an election. But I did on Tuesday.
For the first time, there were no polling places to go to in Seattle...Instead, I let the danged mail-in ballot languish in a pile with the Eddie Bauer catalog, the credit card offers and the grocery ads...
http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/archives/176882.asp

WA. What happens to your ballot?
August 18, 2009 · When your ballot arrives at King County Elections, your signature is verified and your ballot is processed and counted. You can track your ballot online at three different stages.
http://kingcountynews.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/what-happens-to-your-ballot/

US. Voting machines: hackable, crackable, hijackable
...If you don't believe that everything is hackable, crackable or hijackable, vote counters included, consider just a scant handful of recent reports:
http://www.examiner.com/x-1449-Dallas-Libertarian-Examiner~y2009m8d19-Voting-machines-hackable-crackable-hijackable

US. Two American Independent Party Notables Ask to be Re-admitted to Obama Qualifications Lawsuit
August 19th On August 19, Markham Robinson and Wiley Drake asked a U.S. District Court in Orange County, California, to re-enter the lawsuit Barnett v Obama, SACV09-82. This is one of the lawsuits over the constitutional qualifications to be President
http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/08/19/two-american-independent-party-notables-ask-to-be-re-admitted-to-obama-qualifications-lawsuit/

US. New publication compiles first-time voter stories
My First Vote, a new publication from the Brennan Center for Justice, is a compilation of stories from people across the country who voted for the first time in November 2008 after having lost, and then regained, their right to vote following a criminal conviction.
http://nonprofitvote.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-publication-compiles-first-time.html


Afghanistan. Bogus ballots and Britney: fraud threatens Afghan poll
Aug 19. Voter registration cards are for sale by the handful on the streets of Afghan cities and villages. Somebody even registered U.S. pop star Britney Spears to vote in Thursday's presidential election -- copies of her card were widely emailed and, for a while, pinned up in a Kabul hotel bar.
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Afghanistan-Pakistan/idUSTRE57I1SZ20090819

Afghanistan. Ballots And Bullets For Afghanistan
Ann Jones: The Fear Among Many Locals Is That The Fix Is In
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/19/opinion/main5253055.shtml

Netherlands. changing the ROMs of a Nedap e-voting computer in 60 seconds (Video)
http://genmakhirdavat.com/used-machine/changing-the-roms-of-a-nedap-e-voting-computer-in-60-seconds