By Luther Weeks on May 2, 2016
UPDATE: The bill passed the House unanimously, including several who responded to your emails with promises they would not vote to cut the audits.
The Connecticut Senate has passed S.B. 252. If the House passes and the Governor signs the bill it will be another national embarrassment for Connecticut, doing the wrong thing at precisely the worst time.
We have voter-verified paper ballots. To be valuable and provide confidence they must be used for strong, publicly verified, post-election audits. You can help. Tell your legislators that you want stronger audits, not weaker audits. Tell them to oppose S.B. 252. Then consider volunteering one day after each election and primary to observe with the Citizen Audit.
Posted in CT, Our Editorials, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on March 28, 2016
After the long lines in some states in 2012, President Obama said “We Have To Fix That“. Four years and a Presidential Commission later, it seems, at least Arizona is going the wrong way.
The results, entirely predictable, were endless lines akin to those that await the release of new iPhones.
We say:
- Any disenfranchisement, disenfranchises every voter in the United States. Our vote and democracy is distorted by the disenfranchisement of others. We could have a different President and different party in power next January based on a distorted result.
- Even if there was no disenfranchisement, (unlikely from what we see at this point), our democracy suffers from the lack of credibility unless the issues are investigated and effectively fully resolved.
Posted in National, Our Editorials, Skulduggery and Errors
By Luther Weeks on March 22, 2016
On March 11th, Secretary of the State, Denise Merrill, released an RFP along with a Press Release: Secretary of the State Aims to Revolutionize Voting Devices for Persons with Disabilities in Connecticut.
From what I can determine, this is a rushed, unsound plan. It is likely to be wasteful, risks chaos in November, and unlikely to satisfy the needs of those with disabilities, taxpayers, or polling place officials.
Posted in CT, Our Editorials
By Luther Weeks on February 14, 2016
There are several differences between a caucus and a primary election. These differences are glaring, especially in the case of the Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus. Like all elections, the rules, eligibility, and voting methods vary from state to state. In presidential primaries and caucuses they can vary from party to party.
Here is our list of important concerns with the Iowa Democratic Caucus. All things considered, democracy would be better served by a primary than the Iowa Caucus.
Posted in National, Our Editorials
By Luther Weeks on October 12, 2015
For Connecticut this is a time for our legendary “Land of Stead Habits”. A real crisis would be a knee-jerk reaction to claims of a crisis. It would be the National reaction to 2000 and the Help America Vote Act all over again.
There will be a time to change deliberately, once better systems are available and proven.
Posted in CT, National, Our Editorials
By Luther Weeks on June 10, 2015
In one of his books, Gerry Weinberg pointed out that employee evaluations should be multiplicative not additive, that is, the various dimensions of performance and capabilities should be multiplied rather than added to determine the overall value of an employee.
There is an analogy with laws, including election laws. Laws must be Sufficient, Enforceable, and Enforced. Missing one of the three, all value is lost.
Posted in Chain of Custody, Common Sense, CT Law
By Luther Weeks on March 3, 2015
Today the Hartford Courant printed an editorial citing the Citizen Audit’s latest report: Cheap Way To Boost Turnout
Posted in CT, Our Editorials
By Luther Weeks on November 22, 2014
We agree in part with the other critics, that we need radical change in Connecticut election administration. Yet, we need a carefully considered approach and a deliberate implementation of change. Our recommended approach is to do for elections what we have done for probate: Regionalize, Prioritize, and Economize. It won’t be easy, simple, or cheap in the short run, yet simply moving local administration to municipal clerks as many suggest would be a band-aid, with many of the same limitations and risks of the current system.
Posted in CT Law, Legislature 2015, Our Editorials
By Luther Weeks on November 12, 2014
We are amazed by the number of election integrity issues raised by this election and the flurry of suggestions for improvement, led by the Hartford Courant. Yet in all the excitement and rush to judgement and improvement, among the good intentions and good ideas, there is also a misunderstanding of the system, ideas that are not feasible, uninformed, and that would make a worse system.
Posted in CT Law, Legislature 2015, Other Editorials, Our Editorials
By Luther Weeks on October 15, 2014
[I]t doesn’t make sense that the Connecticut’s post-election audit law exempts all votes on questions, election day registration, originally hand-counted ballots and absentee ballots from our post-election audit. Election integrity and public confidence demand that all ballots be subject to random selection for audit. Exempt ballots already determine many elections, while the number and percentage of exempt ballots is growing.
Op-Ed for Connecticut Citizen Election Audit published today at CTNewsJunkie
Posted in Legislature 2014, Our Editorials, Post-Election Audits
