By Luther Weeks on December 27, 2013
Study report covered by the Voting News and Houston News: National: Study: Voter Fraud Non-Existent, Partisanship at Heart of Voter Laws.
The Secret Ballot was proposed and passed for partisan reasons – to suppress the vote of illiterate African-Americans who would have trouble reading and correctly filling out their own ballot. An important principle to keep in mind – both good and bad reforms are most often touted based on supposed political gain.
Posted in National, Skulduggery and Errors
By Luther Weeks on December 22, 2013
This promises to be an important project. The powerful team all but guarantees a significant, trusted result. Yet, what is critical is that officials and legislators fully understand the result and undertake any Internet voting following any detailed requirements developed by the study. Our own educated prediction is that reasonably safe Internet voting is likely to be judged possible, yet unlikely to be feasible. There are significant security challenges, especially if voting were to be performed from voters’ computers, without requiring sophisticated verification techniques on the part of voters, and expensive security provisions by officials.
Posted in Internet Voting, National, Reports
By Luther Weeks on December 17, 2013
Reports that the Secretary of the State is asking for uniform school calendars for election day school holidays.
There are several good reasons to close schools on election day. Yet, not for primaries.
Posted in CT
By Luther Weeks on December 10, 2013
Another installment in our observations of Cognitive Dissonance in Connecticut, especially the Legislature. The latest dissonance/hypocrisy involves the breech of personal information by state contractor JP Morgan Chase.
All we are left with is that Internet Voting is no more safe than Internet banking. Actually less so because vote fraud, without double entry bookkeeping is harder to detect and prove.
Posted in CT, Internet Voting, Legislature2013
By Luther Weeks on December 5, 2013
To paraphrase Einstein, “Laws should be as simple as possible, but no simpler”
Posted in CT Law, National
By Luther Weeks on November 23, 2013
A state election audit revealed Thursday that Richland County[, South Carolina] officials failed to count 1,114 absentee ballots when finalizing results of the Nov. 5 city and county elections.
We point to two areas where South Carolina seems to do better than Connecticut
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits, Skulduggery and Errors
By Luther Weeks on November 19, 2013
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, assisted by volunteers from the Connecticut Citizen Election Audit Coalition randomly selected districts for the November 2013 post-election audit.
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on November 14, 2013
? What is more important to you? Democracy or the Education of our children?
Answer: <click>
Posted in Chain of Custody, CT, CT Skulduggery and Errors
By Luther Weeks on November 7, 2013
UPDATED, With two additional views. And a CORRECTION.
We half agree with the Courant and the Secretary of the State. We have supported the idea, applauded the start that the Secretary took, yet there are problems with the system as proposed, and even more problems with the some of the views and ideas in the Courant’s Editorial. Yet, one half-baked manual system does not deserve a half-baked automated one to solve the problems.
We would like to see the Secretary and the Courant Editorial Board close a polling place and get the data in via smart phone, or close absentee ballots and report via laptop. We will help time them and transparently provide the video on YouTube.
We also remind readers that the Courant is one of the newspapers that led the fight to require expensive paper legal notices instead of allowing for web based notices.
Posted in Costs, CT Law, Legislature 2014, Other Editorials
By Luther Weeks on November 2, 2013
Insanity:
1) doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
– Albert Einstein
2) doing something different from what has been done over and over and expecting the same result. – The Land of [un]Steady Habits
Maybe not this year, but sometime soon, in a high interest election, we will have a huge turn-out for Election Day Registration, and many voters and candidates disappointed at 8:00pm.
Posted in Legislature2012, Our Editorials