Now comes the vote-flipping on touch-screen machines in Davidson County (Nashville), TN, where early voting has also begun. This time, the problems occurred for David and Patricia Earnhardt, the director and executive producer of the award-winning election integrity documentary, Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections which details the history of problems with electronic voting across the nation and some of the whistleblowers and EI advocates who’ve helped to bring the matter to light. [Disclosure: The BRAD BLOG is prominently featured in the film.]
The Earnhardts’ story of what happened to them last Friday when, among other things, Patricia’s attempt to vote for Obama on the ES&S touch-screen wouldn’t register at all, and at one point, with a poll-worker trying to help, had actually registered a vote for Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney — five rows away from Obama on the screen — follows below.
The first reports of vote-flipping on touch-screen machines (we expect many more, as we saw in both ’04 and especially in ’06) came in from two counties last week in West Virginia, which also uses ES&S touch screens across the entire state.
The machines in both TN and WV need to be taken out of use and impounded immediately. So far, it’s been Democrats, again, who are being affected by these problems, while votes are flipping from Democratic candidates to others. While the DNC and the Obama campaign ought to be raising holy hell, so far they are not…
Here’s the email sent by David Earnhardt yesterday…
“A poll worker directed me to a touch screen voting machine & instructed me how to use it. I touched “Obama” for president & nothing lit up. I touched 2 or 3 more times & still nothing lit up. I called the poll worker back over to tell him I was having a problem. He said I just needed to touch it more lightly. I tried it 2 or 3 more times more lightly with the poll worker watching & still nothing lit up. The poll worker then touched it for me twice — nothing lit up.
The third time he touched the Obama button, the Cynthia McKinney space lit up! The McKinney button was located five rows below the Obama button. The poll worker just kind of laughed and cancelled the vote. He hit the Obama button again & it finally lit up. I continued on to cast the rest of my votes.
After completing the process & reviewing my votes, I went to the VOTE page, hit the VOTE button & nothing happened. Again after several tries, I called the poll worker over & he finally got the machine to register my votes.” Patricia Earnhardt – Friday, Oct. 17 – Howard School Building – Nashville, Tennessee
I also had similar problems with the machine I was voting on that same day, although no vote flipping. I would touch the screen numerous times before I could get my various candidate choices to light up. It was strange and very frustrating. When I finally got through my slate of candidate choices, I could not get the VOTE button to light up when I touched it. I finally called over a poll worker and he told me that I needed to touch lightly. I touched the VOTE button more lightly, but was only able to get it to work after several more failed attempts.
The same ES&S iVotronic touch-screens now failing in WV and TN were responsible for losing some 18,000 votes in a very close FL Congressional race in Democratic-leaning Sarasota County in 2006, where the race went to the Republican by just 369 votes. Ironically, the race in FL’s 13th Congressional district was for former FL-SoS Katherine Harris’ old House seat. Though the race was challenged in Congress, under the Federal Contested Elections Act, the House Democrats eventually dismissed the case, even though an explanation for the disappeared 18,000 votes was never found
A startling expose on the lack of quality control and regular vote-flipping on ES&S iVotronics aired, to almost no fanfare in the corporate media, on HDNet in 2007 (watch it here).
In 2007 we had the displeasure of attending a meeting of the Davidson County, TN, Election Commission ourselves. While the Democrats on the committee were in the majority, the three hapless Democratic members were run roughshod over by the two Republicans who virtually ran the entire meeting themselves.
The Republican who seemed to be in charge of things, Commissioner Lynn Greer, while the actual Chair Eddie Bryan did almost nothing, actually told us after the meeting — and after we’d spoken during it, to warn about the troubles they would have with their touch-screen systems — that “paper ballots are the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on America.”
It seemed as though he actually believed those words as they came out of his mouth.
Meanwhile, more reports of vote-flipping have now come out of Putnam County, WV, the second county to report problems in the state were the ES&S iVotronic is used at every polling place. The Sunday Gazette Mail reports:
…
[Michael K.] Koon said he had no problem casting an early vote for president.
“However, when I chose Jay Rockefeller – and there is at least a finger’s distance between the two choices – it selected Jay Wolfe and printed his name on the receipt.
“I pushed Jay Rockefeller again a few times and it canceled Jay Wolfe. Then I chose Jay Rockefeller again and it verified it.”
In 2007, CA Secretary of State Debra Bowen found ES&S iVotronic touch-screens to be so unreliable, and prone to malicious attacks, that they were decertified in the state for all but optional use by voters with disabilities, in order to meet federal requirements for such voters.
UPDATE 10/22/08: ES&S touch-screens failing to show races, candidates on final review screens in SC. Details here…
And 2nd TN county now reporting vote-flips on ES&S machines. This time from D to R! It’s time to take these machines out of service now! Details here…
A McCain “Win” Will Be Theft, Resistance Is Planned
OpEd News; David Swanson
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Newspaper endorsements – 124 Obama / 42 McPoot
Why Obama’s Shocking Landslide in Newspaper Endorsements Really Matters
Brad,
You should be on Thom’s show, I work during his show and so if he mentioned your updates, I did not hear them, but if not, we really need to drive traffic here so that we are all linked and can help out when a suggestion is made as to how we can help out.
I posted the contact info for West Virgina on the Obama board yesterday to see if we could get some more people to call their offices.
Having problems sleeping – Schindler’s List…
the repubs are working to shut down Democratic leaning satellite early voting sites in and around Gary Indiana (and throw out the votes that have already been cast) as they are claiming they may be more prone to vote fraud… a judge is weighing her decision now…
SUKABI #3 — WTF?????
Does their depravity know no bounds?
Of course I know the answer to my question … Nope.
Hey Brad, does this mean if I want to vote for Cynthia McKinney I should press Obama? 🙂 But seriously, do the poll workers know enough to unplug the machine and hand people a paper ballot? And I guess, instead of a contingency of lawyers, can we please get the behind-the-times-states to do ANOTHER emergency paper ballot measure???????????? Aint it a great dog and pony show! 🙁
Woot!
Even with all the dirty tricks, Red State Georgia has turned PINK!
Polls show Obama only 2 points behind McFailin’!!!
Let’s go GA! You know the only reason you turned RED was the Diebold Steal Your Vote Machines that flipped the vote in ’02.
I am seeing McSame ahead in Georgia by 7% and given the snake dancing mouth breathing inbreds that infest that area it is not surprising.
http://www.electoral-vote.com/icon.html
/Sigh I live in NC and since this state has Obama ahead in every poll by 1-3% for the past few weeks I guess I am going to go out everyday until Nov 4th and video odd happenings and also take exit polls from as many people as I can.
These 15EV could very well be the difference if other states are stolen.
Obama has to win by a MASSIVE margin to even stand a chance.
I have been hoping to avoid this because if Reich wing lunatics get in my face there is a very good chance I will end up getting arrested.
I don’t put up with ANY shit at all.
Well, I know how polls are, Nunya … however your figures are from Oct. 15 and mine are from Oct. 20 from TPM Poll Tracker Interactive Map. You have to scroll down a tad to see the map.
You are sooo cool, Nynyabiz! Keep up the good work.
Wow, sounds like a bunch of Political mumbo jumbo to me!
Jif
http://www.privacy-center.be.tc
Kira, True those are from 6 days ago however it is from 4 polls not just one.
Either way it is a good sign that even in such a backwards Red state he is that close.
It is also a good sign that Obama draws MASSIVE crowds where ever he goes even in Red states while McSame can barely scrounge up 15-20,000 at most even in Red states.
I bet he is much further ahead than the polls are stating.
and BTW I totally agree with David Swanson from the article you linked.
It is basically what I have been saying for months now.
Nunya – ok, I admit I did sorta cherry-pick the Oct. 20 poll from Democracy Corps 😀 I do like it!
I, too, fully believe the polls have been weighted to favor repubs – for many years. It’s an integral part of karl’s “The Math.”
But, I want to talk about GA being “such a backwards Red State” as you suggested in #10. Not just GA, but other so-called RED states. [Admittedly, there are those wonderful pockets of “snake dancing mouth breathing inbred” real Americans – but we’re seeing those in Ohio & really, all across America.]
Anyway, I think Liberals & Democrats do themselves a big disservice buying into the Red State propaganda. Consider this – Gore won in 2000 & Kerry won in 2004. Um … we won – we didn’t lose.
Please remember this before citing GA as a Red State:
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According to Chris Hood [a former consultant with Diebold Election Systems,] Diebold employees altered software in some 5,000 machines in DeKalb and Fulton counties – the state’s largest Democratic strongholds.
To avoid detection, Hood and others on his team entered warehouses early in the morning. “We went in at 7:30a.m. and were out by 11,” Hood says. “There was a universal key to unlock the machines, and it’s easy to get access. The machines in the warehouses were unlocked. We had control of everything.
The state gave us the keys to the castle, so to speak, and they stayed out of our way.” Hood personally patched fifty-six machines and witnessed the patch being applied to more than 1,200 others.
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So – GA didn’t really become a Red State, it’s just a perception following the theft and ensuing right-wing propaganda.
VIDEO RECORD IT…EVEN IF ILLEGAL!!!!
CAMERA VIDEO RECORD!!!
It’s not enough that they will divide us culturally to no end, they will also rig the machines to make sure it works. How dastardly can you get? I hope this voter madness does not happen again. We will be looking at a vastly different America if so.
Wow! Drew Rickets #14 – thank you for the link & your excellent article Media Chases the White Joe Vote.
Mind if I send it around?
Has anyone reported these incidents to the 1-866-OUR VOTE hotline? I’m going to try them first thing in the morning, see if they can’t get someone to ISOLATE/ SEQUESTER and INVESTIGATE these machines before even MORE people vote on them! Jeezus.
Can a citizen insist that a faulty machine be removed from his or her polling place? I think Brad did that back in the CA Primaries when the Hart Intercivic disabled voters machine did that nasty little candy dance, bait-n-switch-a-roo on his ballot. But, that might’ve been because he’s Brad.
Anyone know…?
Harry Melon (#13) YES, SIR! Video tape everything you can and upload it to http://www.videothevote.org! It will automatically be linked to a national YOUTUBE/ PBS project called “Video YOUR Vote” and will act as critical documentation for the 2008 election record. The earlier we can get the footage up, the better informed the voters are, the more likely the (new) media outlets will pick it up, the more likely there will be pressure put on the candidate to NOT concede before every vote has been reconciled.
And Kira, you rock. Great Swanson piece, and yes–I’m in, too, Nunya.
“If you can’t vote. There is no freedom in the home of the brave.” – Phil 2008
All true Kira and I agree.
However the reason Georgia and other such Red states are even remotely able to be stolen in the first place is because these religious zealots which have clearly divorced themselves from reality are a large percentage of the population in those areas.
They also have by & large installed many of these lunatics into prominent positions of power so they can control much of what happens in the entire state.
Just read these 2 links to get a good idea.
http://www.theocracywatch.org/index.html
http://www.yuricareport.com/Dom...gOfAmerica.htm
and definitely watch this excellent video that was aired back in 1982 and narrated by Burt Lancaster.
http://www.theocracywatch.org/a...ty-256kbps.wmv
What is being done to make voters aware, on a large scale, of the vote flipping taking place in touch-screen machines in states where early voting has begun (i.e. W. Virginia, Florida, Tennesee)? Voters must be made aware of this situation so they can alert poll workers if their vote is changed, and make sure it is fixed. THese machines should be junked and paper ballots provided. THis could cause the entire election to “flip” to McCain (votes are only being flipped from Dem to Rep candidates. Doesn’t sound kosher to me!)
*fist-bump* Nunya! Didn’t you get those links from me – several years ago? 😀
Yurica has written several excellent articles exposing the evangelical Dominionists and how they’ve infiltrated all levels of government [according to their plan, led by pat robertson … think Monica Goodling … & countless others.]
I could go into a long discussion about how Newt Gingrich bought a NLP therapist to create the original GOP manual [passed around with orders to memorize and utilize in any conversation or interview with the media] which contains lists of derogatory words to be used when talking about Democrats & Liberals along with the list of very flattering words to be used when talking about republicans & “conservatives.” I call it The Hypnotizing of America via the Contract ON America. Thom Hartmann has the whole story here
But it’s not just GA – these anti-American evangelicals are spread out, in those wonderful little pockets, all across America. The good news is that a lot of America is waking up and noticing that these people aren’t representing the true message of Christ. I think the tide is turning.
Jeannie Dean – thanks for the compliment, but really, it is YOU! YOU REALLY ROCK, girl!
I don’t know how you manage to get your exposé videos but they are simply top-notch. There are signs posted everywhere at my precinct that say cameras & cellphones are illegal. How else can they maintain their secrets?
PS to NUNYABIZ – the Thom Hartmann article on NLP [Neuro Linguistic Programming] is pretty long and the part referring to Newt Gingrich is a little more than 3/4 down the page.
It’s all kind of important … to get the background info y’know. I just didn’t want you to give up & think I gave you a bum link.
“”Didn’t you get those links from me – several years ago”‘
Nope, been an avid reader of both the Yurica report and Theocracy watch for many years and been using those ever since they were first published.
I am always glad to see someone else that knows what the hell is really going on though.
That was actually my attempt at a wee joke, however I have posted the links here & at other blogs ever since I discovered her either ’04 or early ’05. Most people pooh-pooh it … kinda like they do regarding 9/11 Truth.
Anyway – I too “am always glad to see someone else that knows what the hell is really going on.”
I didn’t mean to ignore Theocracy Watch … another excellent site for information.
And this one:
talk2action.org
Thanks Nunyabiz
Have any voting machine irregularities been in favor of Obama’s campaign or is it always a glitch that helps the GOP? If it is the machine, I would think the errors should be about equal for both parties eh?
Is there such thing as a “voting irregularity” that doesn’t benefit the GOP?