By Luther Weeks on April 13, 2013
As promised, comments on earlier bills passed through the Government Administration and Elections Committee.
Posted in Internet Voting, Legislature2013, Mail/Absentee Voting, National Popular Vote, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on March 21, 2013
On Wednesday night I participated on a panel in Waterford, CT on Electoral Dysfunction, sponsored by the ACLU, Common Cause and the LWV. It was a very good discussion with a variety of views from the panel, a wide range of excellent questions, and unsurpassed moderation. In the near future we may have video available. I promised to provide more information here on the topics covered.
Posted in CT Law, Instant Runoff Voting, Legislature2013, National Popular Vote, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on March 12, 2013
All of these bills are well intended. In fact, I would support most of the concepts, yet in only a single case could I support one of these bills , based on huge gaps between the good intent and the actual details present and missing in those bills.
Posted in Chain of Custody, Electronic Vulnerability, Legislature2013, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on February 28, 2013
Coalition Finds Continuing Problems with Election Audit and A New Flaw
Post-Election Audit Flawed from the Start by Highly Inaccurate List
of Election Districts
The report concluded, the official audit results do not inspire confidence because of the:
- Lack of integrity in the random district selection.
- Lack of consistency, reliability, and transparency in the conduct of the audit.
- Discrepancies between machine counts and hand counts reported to the Secretary of the State by municipalities and the lack of standards for determining need for further investigation of discrepancies.
- Weaknesses in the ballot chain-of-custody.
Coalition spokesperson Luther Weeks noted, “We found significant, unexplained errors, for municipalities across the state, in the list of districts in the random drawing. This random audit was highly flawed from the start because the drawing was highly flawed.”
Cheryl Dunson, President, League of Women Voters of Connecticut, stated,, “Two years ago, the Legislature passed a law, at the Secretary of the State’s request, which was intended to fix inaccuracies in the drawing. For whatever reason, errors in the drawing have dramatically increased.
Weeks added, “Some officials follow the audit procedures and do effective work. This year one town investigated discrepancies and found errors to correct in their election procedures – that is one value of performing the audits as intended.”
Without adherence to procedures, accurate random drawings, a reliable chain-of-custody, and transparent public follow-up, when discrepancies are reported, if there was ever a significant fraud or error it would not be recognized and corrected.
<More Details>
Posted in CT, CT Skulduggery and Errors, Post-Election Audits, Reports
By Luther Weeks on November 20, 2012
Coalition finds 31% of Official Audit Reports Lack Critical Data
Municipalities failed to report data critical to audit evaluation. Increasing numbers choose paper only elections, avoiding scanners and audits.
The report highlighted concerns with two increasing trends:
- An increase in missing and incomplete official reports. There are 16 of 52 (31%) reports with errors making it impossible to determine if machines had functioned properly. What basis is there to trust audits, with this significant level of error in reporting?
- Up up to 19 towns avoided optical scanners and audits by conducting paper only elections. Such voting is not audited, not transparent, and error prone based on past observations of hand counts.
We conclude, based on our observations and analysis of official audit reports submitted to the Secretary of the State, that the August post-election audits still do not inspire confidence.
<Full Report (.pdf)> <Press Release> <Review detail data and municipal reports>
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on November 20, 2012
On Monday the Secretary of the state randomly selected 75 districts for post-election audit. I assisted by actually selecting the districts from slips of paper in a raffle barrel. You might find the Secretary’s list easier to read in the press release. <Press Release>
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on October 25, 2012
The Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project has released a thorough, comprehensive, and insightful new report timed to the 2012 election. We find little to quibble with in the report. We agree with all of its recommendations.Several items with which we fully endorse were covered in this report which sometimes are missing from the discussion or often underemphasised.
The report itself is 52 pages, followed by 32 pages of opinions of others, including election officials, advocates, and vendors, some of whom disagree with some aspects of the report. Every page is worth reading. The report is not technical. It covers a wide range of issues, background, and recommendations.
Posted in Electronic Vulnerability, Internet Voting, Mail/Absentee Voting, National, National Popular Vote, Post-Election Audits, Reports
By Luther Weeks on September 4, 2012
Once again, we applaud Dr. Alexander Shvartsman and his team for developing the technology to perform these innovative tests, the diligence to perform the tedious tests, and the fortitude to report the facts. Compliance by officials leaves much to be desired:
Prior to the primary 110 out of 598 districts sent cards, that is 18.5% compliance
After the primary 105 out of 598 districts sent cards, that is 17.6% compliance,
however, only 49 of those cards were used in the election, a compliance rate of 8.2%
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits, Reports
By Luther Weeks on August 31, 2012
Yesterday with assistance from Coalition volunteers, Secretary of the State, Denise Merrill conducted the random selection of districts for the post-election audit.
Particularly striking is the rapid consolidation and dramatic drop in the number of polling places over time:
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits
