corrente

The puzzling thing about this whole stealth campaign on voting machines has been the slowness of the Other Side to realize how badly this could turn around and bite them in the ass in the right circumstances.

Looks like they're finally figuring it out. This really isn't a partisan issue, or wouldn't be if it weren't for the particular partisans pushing it. Bushites don't even deserve to be called a party, they are are interested in nothing but their own power.

(via Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

WASHINGTON — With Election Day less than two months away, a conservative group rated Georgia's paperless touch-screen voting system the worst in the nation, with Florida and several other states not far ahead.

The Free Congress Foundation, a longtime fixture of the political right, warns in a new report that if the Nov. 2 vote totals are contested, the result could be a "fiasco," since so many states have installed electronic systems that have no paper ballots that can be recounted.

Georgia, the first state to install a paperless system in all counties, was graded "F-minus" based on the reliability of the equipment and its capacity for a "verifiable recount."

Nevada was credited with having the best system, using a touch-screen computer that prints out a paper ballot that is visible under glass for voters to check before each vote is cast. The paper ballots are retained as a backup if there are questions about the electronic count.

Kara Sinkule, spokeswoman for Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox, dismissed the group's critique as "a rehash of what's been in the news and on the Internet."

Sinkule said the state would add printout devices if required but added, "Let's not rush to mandate a paper trail without federal standards in place."

One group, Verified Voting Foundation, founded by Stanford University computer science professor David Dill, recently set up a national hotline (1-866-687-8683) to allow voters to report problems they see or experience on Election Day.

The hotline is part of a project run by several nonprofit groups — including People for the American Way Foundation and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law — to assist voters and monitor elections.

On Nov. 2, Verified Voting Foundation's Web site (http://www.verifiedvoting.org) will provide a map of the country displaying where problems are reported and describing the incidents, said Pamela Smith, spokeswoman for the group.

In a test run in Florida's primary election Aug. 31, the hotline received nearly 300 reports from voters who said they were given the wrong ballot, encountered machinery problems or had other issues in 14 counties, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.

Print those numbers and links out, or write them down on a Post-it (tm) Note and stick it on your forehead for greater public attention. Nobody but us wonks yet seems to realize what a disaster is coming in November, so the more conversations you can start on this the better.