NY ballot fraud ring. Hacker makes ATMs spew cash. OR online 'primary' 4%turnout

Voting rights lawsuit in Alambama over Bingo machine confiscation...DNA Evidence Sought in NY Absentee Ballot Fraud Case...More Ohio voting by mail means more mistakes...Cryptographers speak of threats, voting, and Blu-R...Oregon Ind Party internet primary 'electon' yields only 4% turnout and Ivoting vendor wants Oregon to trade vote by mail for internet voting....Do you think internet voting is as "safe as online banking"? Read Researcher's Hack Can Make ATMs Spew Money...

All this and more in today's voting news below...

AL: Voting rights lawsuit filed over Riley's Greenetrack raid
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20100730/NEWS/100739989?Title=Voting-rights-lawsuit-filed-over-Riley-s-Greenetrack-raid Voting rights lawyer Ed Still is one of several attorneys who has filed a voting rights lawsuit over the June raid and confiscation of more than 800 bingo machines from the Greenetrack bingo casino in Greene County.
..
The lawsuit’s premise is simple: Riley’s actions unilaterally reversed voter intentions in both counties, effectively canceling their votes.

CA: Sacramento County voter switched from Democrat to Republican
http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=88535&catid=2
Sacramento County elections officials were notifying Cracraft that she had re-registered to vote as a Republican

CA: Two Candidates and Four Voters File Lawsuit Against Certain Aspects of California Top-Two System http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/28/two-candidates-and-four-voters-file-lawsuit-against-certain-aspects-of-california-top-two-system/

CT: IRV: Is it legal in Connecticut? Can our scanners compute it?
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/irv-is-it-legal-in-connecticut-can-our-scanners-compute-it/

DC: U.S. Department of Justice Decides Not to Take a Position on Counting Write-in Votes http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/30/u-s-department-of-justice-decides-not-to-take-a-position-on-counting-write-in-votes/
On June 30, the U.S. Justice Department said that the Department has decided not to take a position in the pending lawsuit Libertarian Party v District of Columbia Board of Elections, now pending in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

FL: Eleventh Circuit Grants Injunction to Stop Extra Public Funding for One Florida Gubernatorial Candidate
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/30/eleventh-circuit-grants-injunction-to-stop-extra-public-funding-on-one-florida-gubernatorial-candidate/

GA: Longer early voting period in GA does not increase turnout in primary
http://www.earlyvoting.net/blog/2010/07/longer-early-voting-period-ga-does-not-increase-turnout-primary

NC: North Carolina Ballot Access Hearing Postponed
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/26/north-carolina-ballot-access-hearing-postponed/

NY: NY: 9 targeted in vote conspiracy (DNA evidence sought)
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/9-targeted-in-vote-conspiracy-594751.php
Court records filed in connection with the investigation include allegations that the officials, and several political operatives for the Rensselaer County Democratic Party, may have conspired to file dozens of fraudulent absentee ballots last year in an attempt to seize the Working Families Party line for the general election.

The officials identified as targets of the investigation are: Rensselaer County Board of Elections Commissioner Edward G. McDonough; city Councilmen Michael LoPorto, Gary Galuski, Kevin McGrath, and John Brown; City Council President Clem Campana; City Clerk William A. McInerney; and political operatives Dan Brown, who is John Brown's brother, and Anthony DeFiglio, a former Troy Housing Authority clerk.

NY: County Approves Electronic Voting Machines (Dominion)
The lever voting machines currently used in Commack will not longer be used for national elections as of Sept., new electronic tabulating machines have been certified.
http://commack.patch.com/articles/county-approves-electronic-voting-machines
The current voting machines – traditional lever machines – are still being used for district elections, at this point in time, Knoble said

OH: More Ohio voting by mail means more mistakes *
http://www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=12890771 More than 6,000 voters in the county that includes Cleveland made mistakes with mail-in ballots for the May primary. Some left off necessary signatures or information, while nearly 100 even forgot to include their ballot in the envelope.
...
County elections officials in Columbus say simpler rules would cut down on slip-ups. Any changes would be up to the Ohio Legislature.

OH: Ballot "Bloopers" *
http://www.wtap.com/news/headlines/99654689.html?storySection=story
Election officials in some larger Ohio counties have experienced problems with mail-in ballots ranging from leaving off voter signatures...to failing to mail in the ballot itself.

RI: Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Rhode Island’s Straight-Ticket Device
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/28/federal-lawsuit-filed-against-rhode-islands-straight-ticket-device/ On July 28, Robert J. Healey and eleven other voters filed a lawsuit in federal court, to stop the use of a straight-ticket device in Rhode Island. Healey is on the ballot as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor in November, with the partisan label “Cool Moose Party.”

SC: Voting Locations of Four Precincts Moved (Pickens Co)
http://pickenselections.org/2010/07/29/voting-locations-of-four-precincts-moved/

WI: Brown County will join expanded election fraud task force
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100729/GPG0101/100729059/Brown-County-will-join-expanded-election-fraud-task-force
District attorneys, Department of Justice to collaborate on investigations
The counties joining the expanded task force are Brown, Dane, Kenosha, La Crosse, Marathon, Outagamie, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington, Waukesha, and Winnebago.

Internet Voting Watch

Independent Party sees few voters cast ballots in Oregon primary
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100730/UPDATE
The results are in from Oregon’s first online primary election: Fewer than 2,300 of the 57,000 members of the Independent Party voted.
That’s turnout of 4 percent, far less than the two major parties get in their primaries.
Independent Party leaders said Friday that’s also far more people than usually participate in conventions for other minor parties.

Oregon Independent Party Releases Results of its Private Primary
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/31/oregon-independent-party-releases-results-of-its-private-primary/

Independent Party primary offered interesting look at online elections
http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2010/07/independent_party_primary_offe.html
He (Paul DeGregorio) said that Oregon's vote-by-mail system is uniquely positioned to eventually move to online voting.

Researcher's Hack Can Make ATMs Spew Money
http://blogs.forbes.com/firewall/2010/07/28/researchers-hack-can-make-atms-spew-money/ ...Another method allows him to remotely access a machine over the Internet and eject money, or even record a history of users' credit card and PIN numbers as they're entered and send them back to the hacker.

(repeat) Honolulu Completes Internet/Telephone-Only Election
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090527/0359125027.shtml?op=sharethis
6.3 % turnout, an 83% decrease from similar election in 2007

National

Cryptographers speak of threats, voting, and Blu-R
http://www.rulance.com/?p=137
...He (Rivest)said software dependent is a category where a bug or a flaw could easily change the end result; this is along the lines of work done recently by Professor Ed Felten and his grad students at Princeton. Software independent is where the system doesn’t entirely depend on the software and uses paper or some other means of capturing the vote. He favors voting systems that are software independent.
...
Diffie began the discussion, saying that after 80 years, “we’ve gotten cryptography to a fairly good point,” but added that “the Internet’s a mess.” He said that on the Internet, “defense–pure defense–simply doesn’t work.” He said that where it takes us months and years to secure something, it takes the opponent only hours. “They can run rings around us.”

Should the Electoral College reflect the popular vote?
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Editorial-Board-Blog/2010/0728/Should-the-Electoral-College-reflect-the-popular-vote Massachusetts is set to become the sixth state to award its electors to the winner of the popular vote nationally.

"Legislative Battles Drive Second-Quarter Lobbying Spending by Major Corporations, Special Interests" http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016560.html

Tea Party Caucus Members Bankrolled by Health Professionals, Retirees, Oil Interests
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/07/members-of-tea-party-caucus-major-r.html

More CU Links
The People for the American Way blog offers The Consequences of Citizens United.
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016556.html

"EXCLUSIVE: DOJ Accused of Stalling on MOVE Act for Voters in Military"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016549.html

Successful NVRA Lawsuits in MO, OH have Led to Hundreds of Thousands of Applications from Low-Income Americans http://www.projectvote.org/blog/?p=747

A radical idea: Reveal source of political ads
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/07/30/1589930/a-radical-idea-reveal-source-of.html Look out, voters. U.S. Senate clears the way for open season.
A vital piece of legislation died in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. Democrats are to blame for larding up the bill with wrong-headed provisions that distracted from the bill's true purpose. Republicans are to blame for being intransigent and not working to get rid of those provisions and passing the crucial underlying policy.

International

Bahrain: Vote buying getting more expensive (cartoon and commentary)
http://mahmood.tv/2010/07/31/vote-buying-getting-more-expensive/
The democratic “experiment” is getting much more mature in the Bahraini custom now. Bribing poor people with sacks of rice, sugar and some oil as has happened in the elections of 2002 and 2006 is no longer enough, according to Al-Wasat this morning. People now demand more for their votes, they upped their prices!

India: the loaded dice : part 2
http://iltb.apargupta.com/2010/07/the-loaded-dice-part-2/ This part moves beyond this background to question the excuses to examination of EVM’s as well as reasons why it should be conducted. As per human nature, I will first start with the excuses (against examination) and then proceed to the reasons (for examination).



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