Catching Up – More Post-Election Fallout

Starting with three more articles in the Courant on Thursday: An apology, a column, and an editorial.

[read post] | By on November 15, 2014 - CT Law, Legislature 2015

2nd Graders Draw 77 Districts for Audit – Secretary Draws Races for Audit

DrawingYesterday, four members from the Citizen Audit attended the random drawing of districts and races for the November 2014 post-election audit. The districts were drawn by 2nd graders of Gilead Elementary School in Hebron.

[read post] | By on November 14, 2014 - CT, Post-Election Audits

Let us act deliberatly to actually improve elections

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.

[read post] | By on November 12, 2014 - CT Law, Legislature 2015, Other Editorials, Our Editorials

Election Wrap-Up: Got one right, one wrong, and “Who Could Have Imagined”

1. Can Hartford registrars do more than complain?

2. Don’t rely on all of our predictions.

3. We are not wrong all of the time

We Got It Right On Election Day Registration, “Who could have imagined?” We did. And we were not alone.

[read post] | By on November 7, 2014 - CT

Final Warning: Don’t say “Who could have imagined?”

Many of our friends are on the other side of this vote. Some say the Legislature will hold hearings and do the right thing – even though they are upset at what the Legislature has done with election financing. I would support secure in-person early voting, but that is not on the ballot and unlikely to be the result of a “Yes” vote.

[read post] | By on November 2, 2014 - CT Law, Mail/Absentee Voting

The Perfect Storm meets illegal, disasterous voting

" When hurricane Sandy hit the east coast, New Jersey exposed the vote and voters to additional risks.
New report from Rutgers:

The Perfect Storm: Voting In New Jersey In The Wake of Superstorm Sandy

[read post] | By on October 29, 2014 - Mail/Absentee Voting, National, Reports

Warning #3: Yes, Connecticut, your votING fraud is in the mail

When it comes to mail-in, no-excuse absentee voting we can learn a lot here in Connecticut and New England. You will hear many claim that we need stronger voter ID because of rampant votER fraud and others say there is no problem with expanding absentee voting since there is no votER fraud. They are both wrong, wrong, wrong!

[read post] | By on October 25, 2014 - CT, Mail/Absentee Voting

How can we vote on Internet that is unsafe for banks, Canada, and alarms the President?

Recent articles highlight the folly and blind faith in technology leading many to trust voting on the Internet.

As Roosevelt said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” seems to apply here.

There are real cyber risks, we need to protect or digital assets. Yet it does not help to jump to the conclusion that every breech is the work of our biggest enemy of the moment.

Like building new civic centers, baseball stadiums, and bankrolling fishing and hunting retailers there is plenty of real world evidence that Internet voting does not work well, yet we persist despite the evidence. Apparently the technology that actually works to protect Democracy, a technology actually under assault in Connecticut, is Freedom of Information.

[read post] | By on October 20, 2014 - CT, CT Law, Electronic Vulnerability, Internet Voting, National

Op-Ed: End Exemptions To Post-Election Audits

[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

[read post] | By on October 15, 2014 - Legislature 2014, Our Editorials, Post-Election Audits

Warning #2: Defying Common Sense, early voting DECREASES turnout

Voters considering the Constitutional Amendment on the ballot this November and legislators considering what to do if it passes, need to pay heed to the facts and experience of early voting in other state. Common sense is not always a reliable guide.

Did you know early voting of all types (polling place, no-excuse absentee, and mail-in) actually reduces turn-out?

[read post] | By on October 11, 2014 - Legislature 2014, Mail/Absentee Voting