By Luther Weeks on December 22, 2009
voters have a right under the Pennsylvania Constitution to reliable and secure voting systems and can challenge the use of electronic voting machines “that provide no way for Electors to know whether their votes will be recognized” through voter verification or independent audit.
Posted in Chain of Custody, National
By Luther Weeks on December 4, 2009
Last month we commented on reports of chain-of-custody problems in Haddam and on a Courant Editorial on the need for two people of opposing parties whenever ballots are accessed. The problem goes deeper. We sent the following letter to the Courant in the interest of using the breach in Haddam as an educational opportunity.
Posted in Chain of Custody, CT
By Luther Weeks on November 23, 2009
“The process was corrupted. When you go by yourselves, just you two, it gives the appearance of impropriety.”
Posted in Chain of Custody, CT, CT Law, CT Skulduggery and Errors, Other Editorials
By Luther Weeks on November 18, 2009
A tight Board of Education race in Haddam provides an example four understanding chain-of-custody and recounts vs. recanvasses.
* The chain-of-custody is important and its enforcement is important
* Every vote is important, counting every vote accurately, transparently, and credibly is critical to democracy
* Recounts and recount laws are important
Posted in Chain of Custody, CT, CT Skulduggery and Errors
By Luther Weeks on August 23, 2009
We side completely with the activists, they are on the side of democracy, integrity, and transparency of government. Beyond a CD ballots should be made available to the public, the actual ballots should be made available to the public.
Posted in Chain of Custody, CT, Instant Runoff Voting, National, Skulduggery and Errors
By Luther Weeks on April 16, 2009
“If we are correct,” Risner wrote in his Monday letter to the Attorney General’s office, concerning the absence of as many as 19,000 paper ballots, as estimated by observers of the counting in Phoenix, “the question arises as to what happened to those ballots.” The latest mystery adds still more fuel to the already high-stakes, long-sought hand-count, and raises new questions in the nearly three-years long
Posted in Chain of Custody, National, Skulduggery and Errors
By Luther Weeks on February 27, 2009
OpEd News reminds us that it could have been much worse. A picture is worth a 1000 words!
Posted in Chain of Custody, Electronic Vulnerability, National
By Luther Weeks on February 18, 2009
Update: We provide Testimony Response & Clarification
The primary issues needing your attention are the post-election audits, ballot chain-of-custody, and the reporting of election results…As you consider the current audit laws and other bills before the committee effecting voting integrity and security, we encourage you to seek the best advice of legal experts, computer experts, security experts, and the experience of other states…What often is an attractive idea, also often has risky unintended consequences as well…
We want every citizen’s vote to be counted!
To be counted accurately!
And to be counted only once!
Posted in Chain of Custody, CT, CT Law, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on January 28, 2009
We conclude, based on our observations and analysis of audit reports submitted to the Secretary of the State that the November post-election audits still do not inspire confidence…Among our greatest concerns are the discrepancies between machine counts and hand-counts reported to the Secretary of the State by several municipalities. In many cases, these discrepancies are not thoroughly and reasonably explained. We believe that the ad-hoc counting procedures used by many municipalities were not sufficient to count ballots accurately and efficiently
In some cases as many as twenty-four (24) fewer ballots were counted by hand than recorded by optical scanners. For individual candidate races, vote counts between hand counts and scanner tapes varied by as much as three-hundred-sixty-six (366) votes in one race or as much as 46% in another.
We find no reason to attribute all errors to either humans or machines.
Posted in Chain of Custody, CT, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on January 8, 2009
We call for action to enhance integrity and confidence in Connecticut elections, during the 2009 legislative session.
We believe the incremental costs of post-election audits that meet the requirements of the petition are appropriate considering the key role voting plays in democracy. Yet, we recognize that less costly alternatives may need to be considered.
Posted in Chain of Custody, CT, CT Law, Post-Election Audits
