Machine Gun Fundraiser in SC, Military ballots failure rate? Diebold return our money

Diebold return our money: group says Diebold should refund $100 million to California taxpayers.
Extreme fundraising? South Carolina politician holds a "Machine Gun Social" to raise funds.
Unintended consequences? The House legislation meant to defund ACORN may apply to a wide range of organizations and corporations.
Mass. fills seat left by death of Senator Edward Kennedy.

Boulder County adds more stringent testing for voting machines and ballots this year.

Unethical polling: Polling company Strategic Vision LLC failed to disclose methadology and basic polling data violates basic principles of scientific research.

Bo Lipari of NY Verified Voting fame has launched a new blog on how modern technology impacts elections, and what readers can do to..."Bo admonishes readers, "...it’s up to you to pay attention, and above all, to get involved."

What is the solution? An overwhelming majority of military and overseas voters did not return ballots to the United States in 2006... 660,000 of 990,000 military ballots not returned.

CA. Diebold Return Our Money.
As A Result Of The California Secretary Of State's Findings and Diebold/Premier's Own Admissions That Its Voting Systems Do Not Meet Federal Standards, Velvet Revolution Calls on the Company to Return the Well Over $100 Million in Taxpayer Funds Spent by Californians on Failed, Faulty Voting System Hardware and Software
California officials recently revealed that ALL of Diebold/Premier's voting systems violate federal certifications guidelines!...Send an email to Diebold/Premier, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and California Attorney General Jerry Brown.
http://www.velvetrevolution.us/db_money/

CO. Boulder County tests voting equipment
Clerk and recorder adds new procedures to the test
09/24/2009 ...Following last year's Boulder County election -- when it took election workers three days to get a final vote count -- the clerk and recorder has added extra testing procedures to this year's logic and accuracy tests, which will likely be completed this afternoon.
...This year, the ballots for the test have not only been folded, but they've also been run through the mail-processing machines at the post office.
There are 363 different combinations of ballots that will be voted in the county in November, and state law requires that at least one of each style be tested. Boulder County is testing 600.
But the biggest change to last year's logic and accuracy testing is the addition of procedures that will make sure the optical scanners are properly calibrated. A properly calibrated scanner -- one that has the correct device driver installed -- would not count a speck of paper dust as a vote, for example.
http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_13415390

MA. Kirk Sworn In to Fill Kennedy’s Seat
September 25, 2009
Paul G. Kirk Jr. of Massachusetts was sworn in Friday to fill the Senate vacancy left by the death of Edward M. Kennedy, giving Democrats a crucial 60th vote heading toward a health care debate and becoming only the second person to hold that Senate seat in nearly half a century...Mr. Kirk is the sixth appointed senator to join the Senate this year, given deaths and resignations.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/kirk-sworn-in-to-fill-kennedys-seat/?scp=1&sq=kirk&st=cse

NC. Election boards wonder if military ballots are too costly?
September 26, 2009 GREENSBORO --- An overwhelming majority of military and overseas voters did not return ballots to the United States in 2006, costing local election offices staff time and money.
The cost is easily thousands of dollars in North Carolina. And the expense grows into the millions as that law is applied to election offices across the country.
The reason is Congress, prodded by the Department of Defense, which passed a law making local election offices automatically send ballots for two years when a military or overseas U.S. citizen requests an absentee ballot.
Nationwide in 2006, 660,000 of 990,000 ballots never made it back, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, which runs the Federal Voting Assistance Program.
http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/09/25/article/election_boards_wonder_if_military_ballots_are_too_costly#nrcBlk_ArtComments

NC. Answers lead to questions at Topsail election seminar
September 26, 2009 SURF CITY — It’s not exactly cut-and-dried.
An session for Topsail Island residents on voting laws provided general information but underscored the fact that some questions have no one, definitive answer.
...Residency was the primary voting issue discussed in depth. Election technician Rosemary Blizzard emphasized that residency rules are not put in place to prohibit voting but to help determine where one is eligible to vote.
http://www.jdnews.com/news/residency-68073-answers-surf.html


NY. Bo Lipari – Essays and Images
News and Commentary on Election Integrity in the 21st Century
...be reporting and commenting on issues and developments that affect the most fundamental act in a democracy – Elections. In particular, I’ll be focusing on how modern technology impacts our elections, and what readers can do to participate in an enormously important process that is happening right now – defining how we conduct elections in the 21st Century.
http://www.bolipari.com/boblog/

SC. Candidate Giveaways
September 27, 2009 in South Carolina
A South Carolina candidate is holding a drawing for an AK-47 as part of a campaign fundraising effort, according to this report.
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/?p=5436

SC. Candidate Uses AK-47 to Raise Cash
Semi-Automatic Weapon Given Away at 'Machine Gun Social'
...The event, called a “Machine Gun Social,” was held at Allen Arms Indoor Range on Poinsett Highway. For $25, donors were given a barbeque lunch and twenty shots with a machine gun. A free drawing determined the winner of the semi-automatic AK-47, valued at $700...Allen said he chose the unusual venue to show support for the Second Amendment, and to give people a chance to have fun.
http://www.wyff4.com/news/21125802/detail.html

TN. Hargett Seeks Bids to Follow Law That Ramsey Says Will Change
Secretary of State Tre Hargett has taken an official step toward complying with the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act of 2008, though he's repeatedly said that's not really possible or practical. Some Democrats have hotly disputed that Hargett's proposition...Related is a pending request from House Majority Leader Gary Odom for an "expedited" opinion on the TVAC and its implementation. Click below for Odom's as-yet-unanswered inquiry.
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/humphrey/2009/09/hargett-seeks-bids-to-follow-l.html

Citizens United v FEC

A Collection of Letters to the Editor on Corporate Personhood
September 27, 2009 In response to an earlier Times editorial, the paper printed several letters to the editor discussing how corporations should be treated under the law.
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/?p=5434

National

Congress Went After ACORN. Big Business Must Be Next!
September 27, 2009 ...We are the Yes Men, two guys who dress up as powerful businessmen, propose horrible things to audiences of actual powerful businesspeople and film them cheerfully applauding our most outrageous -- and often illegal -- ideas...the House legislation intended to defund ACORN is written so broadly that it would similarly cut off money to "any organization" indicted for various forms of lawbreaking, and any organization with employees or contractors who have been indicted on certain charges.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/25/AR2009092502016.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Election Commission Decisions Deadlocking on Party Lines
September 26, 2009
WASHINGTON — A recent stream of deadlocked decisions at the Federal Election Commission has caused some people who follow its work to say that they cannot remember seeing less common ground between the three Republican members and the three Democrats...“Right now, we don’t have an enforcement agency when it comes to campaign finance laws,” added Mr. Wertheimer, who has criticized the commission’s ability to enforce campaign finance regulations for years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/us/politics/27elect.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1254071948-NAMPwKSR9UWhYUPvCI7LxA

AAPOR Raises Objections to Actions by Atlanta-Based Strategic Vision LLC
...Strategic Vision LLC, an Atlanta-based company, repeatedly refused to release essential facts about polls it published prior to the 2008 presidential primaries in New Hampshire and Wisconsin. The AAPOR Executive Council announced today that this nondisclosure by Strategic Vision LLC was inconsistent with the association's Code of Professional Ethics and Practices (http://www.aapor.org/AAPOR_Code.htm ) and contrary to basic principles of scientific research.
... The AAPOR Executive Council now concludes that the repeated noncompliance by Strategic Vision LLC was a violation of the AAPOR Code.
http://aapor.org/AAPOR_Raises_Objections_to_Actions_by_Strategic_Vision_LLC.htm



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