Democracy for New Hampshire - Voting in NH

Lyndeborough passes warrant article prohibiting concealed vote counting by computers or any other method

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:56:43 -0400

Any citizen in New Hampshire can bring a petition article to their Town Warrant by securing the signatures of at least 25 registered voters. The article is then added to the Town Warrant to be voted on in Town meeting. Today, the citizens of Lyndeborough resoundingly approved enacting into the town's laws the following warrant article regarding the counting of votes. I hope that NH citizens all around the state will enact the same law in their town at next year's Town Meetings.

Here is the petition citizens signed to add the article below regarding the counting of votes to the Town Warrant:

To see if the Town of Lyndeborough will prohibit vote counting concealed from the human eye by method of computers or otherwise, and require that all methods used for sorting and counting the votes in an election be publicly observable for full citizen oversight of the entire voting system (with the exception of the voter’s casting of the secret ballot).

Joe Montibello for Exeter Selectman

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:13:16 -0500

I'm Joe Montibello, and I'm running for Selectman. I’m a family man living and working in Exeter, and I am concerned with the future of the town. Politically, I’m a progressive who believes that the purpose of local government is to put the will of the people into action.

The town can’t afford to just listen – it has to ask the people what they need and make every effort to provide it. The Board of Selectmen needs to seek feedback from the residents, so that everyone can be represented fairly. Giving some citizens a simple way to get their ideas to the Board of Selectmen – the attached postcard – is one way to encourage more participation among the people.

I support the articles regarding our police and fire departments, as well as the Healthcare District change. We need to reserve judgment on the Great Dam until a full study is complete, but I’m hopeful that we can find a way to generate power there, reducing our reliance on public utilities. I list my stances on all the warrant articles on my website - http://selectjoe.wordpress.com.

One of the most important issues in this race is not on the ballot. At the deliberative session, citizens voted to remove from the ballot a question about hiring two new positions in the Finance Department. I believe that these positions are needed, but the vote to remove the warrant article was the voice of the citizens. Reversing that kind of decision is a bad precedent to set. I’ll oppose it if elected.

Thanks for your time. I’d appreciate your vote.

Joe Montibello
Exeter, NH

FTC launches antitrust investigation of e-voting deal

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:05:04 -0500

SOURCE: arstechnica.com

This past September, Diebold high-tailed it out of the e-voting business by selling its entire e-voting unit to competitor ES&S. The sale was supposed to correct the company's enormous mistake of jumping into the elections business in the first place, a move that irreparably damaged the venerable safe and ATM vendor's once bulletproof reputation. But at the behest of voting rights groups, which objected strenuously to the sale on the grounds that it would only strengthen ES&S's e-voting monopoly, the FTC has launched a formal investigation of the $5 million deal.

We first got wind of the investigation in an e-mail blast from BlackBoxVoting.org, the group that had filed a formal, 21-page complaint about the sale back in September. The complaint alleges that the deal will hand ES&S a 74 percent share of the US electronic voting machine market, and will result in higher voting system prices and a lack of innovation. BBV also notes that 14 individual states are also launching antitrust investigations into the Diebold/ES&S deal, and for some of the states this investigation is in addition to the actions they're already taking against vendors for selling them faulty election equipment.

NH Voting Technology Committee to release report

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:59:56 -0500

The NH committee was formed to justify software-based voting systems. Here's my bet on the top 10 items to be found on the committee's final report. I truly hope they prove me wrong.

10) They will recommend moving to an open source code voting system. They will not address the fact that open source code does not meet the NH constitutional mandate for open vote counting because humans can not observe a software-based vote count regardless of whether or not the software is open source, or that open source only opens the voting system to a small circle of computer experts who do not meet the legal definition of "We the People".
9) They will not refer to the NH State Audit on the Office of the Secretary of State, which pointed to horrifying lack of process and gaping security holes in the conduct of all of its business, which includes administering our elections.
8) They *might* announce intention to work with Harri Hursti, who is in fact back in America to launch his own new company developing and selling software-based voting systems.

NH cited as interested in unconstitutionally concealed vote counting

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:38:26 -0400

Imagine instead of the headline above we saw a different headline: "NH leads the nation in eliminating unconstitutional concealed computerized vote counting". The NH Secretary of State and the NH Legislature both had the chance to make it happen in 2006, when NH Fair Elections Committee-endorsed legislation that would have prohibited concealed vote counting was brought to the newly elected Democratic majority in the House.

The NH Constitution states clearly that the vote count must be sorted and counted in open meeting. Under the watchful eyes of the public. The Voting Rights Act states clearly that the vote count must be observable. Federal rules prohibit outsourcing of governmental functions that support the continuation of government (like counting the votes). Nonetheless, New Hampshire outsources nearly 90% of its vote count, which is then conducted using computers that conceal the vote count from public observation. It is physically impossible for electronic vote counting to meet the constitutional mandate for open vote counting. The human eye can not see a computer program counting votes. It does not matter if the software is open source or proprietary. The human eye can not see the inner workings of a computer program in action.

The $700 rig: Computer security expert Harri Hursti testifies to NH legislature on vulnerability of NH voting machines

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:03:47 -0400

Diebold voting system approved by NH Secretary of State & used to count majority of NH votes fails (AGAIN)

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:49:44 -0400

SOURCE: - The BRAD BLOG -

Diebold's Optical-Scan System FAILS in Sarasota, FL

County election director Kathy Dent's 'solution' as bad or worse than the actual problem...as usual...

The November 3rd Election Day is nearing, so naturally the words "glitch," "hiccup," "snafu," and "snag" are back in the headlines, instead of the word "failure," which would be the appropriate one to use in such cases.

Today, it's our old friends in Sarasota, under the continuing and now-legendarily failed direction of Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent and her latest failed voting system, this one an optical-scan system made by Diebold, featured in the Charlotte Sun's "Scanning glitch in vote machine test" (1):

Diebold: the state-approved voting machine "counting" ~86% of NH votes

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:11:01 -0400

CA TTBR Investigators Send Letter to the EAC

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:57:55 -0400

In 2007, California's Secretary of State Debra Bowen conducted a "Top To Bottom Review" (TTBR) of all electronic voting machines used in the state. The review findings were so disturbing that California decertified the Diebold voting machines - optical scanners and touchscreens - used in California elections. These optical scanners are the very same computerized scanners used to "count" nearly 90% of NH ballots. At the time, I sent the Secretary of State a request for a review of their approval of these insecure, defective, and fraud-friendly machines. The Secretary of State never acknowledged my request and the state of NH continues using these machines with virtually no state or citizen oversight whatsoever. The article below is written by one of the members of the California TTBR team. It questions the EAC approval of such defective voting machines, just as I had questioned NH's approval.

SOURCE: Not Quite a Blog

Today we sent a letter to the Election Assistance Commission signed by a number of the investigators involved in the California Secretary of State's Top-to-Bottom Review of voting systems.

The state-sanctioned Diebold monopoly control over NH's elections

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:17:57 -0400

Black Box Voting filed an antitrust complaint to the US Department of Justice requesting they investigate the proposed merger of e-voting companies Diebold and ES&S. Long before this merger, however, New Hampshire initiated its own antitrust situation with Diebold Corporation. Like so many other unconstitutional aspects of NH's election systems, the virtual monopoly over e-voting in New Hampshire was legislated with a wink and a nod and nary an objection from the office of the NH Attorney General, Secretary of State, the news media, or most public officials. In fact, the legislation itself that handed NH elections to Diebold on a silver platter, was written in consultation with John Silvestro of Londonderry, NH, President of Diebold's New England affiliate, LHS Associates. The legislation was passed under the direction of then Chair of the NH Election Law Committee, Don Stritch, with the full support of the office of the Secretary of State.

Former Representative Stritch is now Commissioner of Rockingham County, where LHS President John Silvestro resides. Stritch's interest in the e-voting industry is apparent in his subsequent unsuccessful appeal to be appointed by the NH Secretary of State to the Standards Board, a national board of state election officials reporting to the White House agency, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The Standards Board and the EAC maintain quite a bit of influence over national adoption of electronic voting technology, from advising on the design specifications for the technology to participating (formally and informally) in a disturbingly intimate network with e-voting industrialists.

Following the 2007 establishment of the NH "Electronic Ballot Counting Device Advisory Committee" (aka electronic voting technology committee), Stritch was appointed Chair of that committee by Secretary of State Bill Gardner. This e-voting committee was created by legislation passed after the Election Law Committee, under the chairmanship of Representative Jane Clemons (D-Nashua) killed several pieces of citizen-proposed legislation calling for open and public vote counting. Clemons, working with Deputy Secretary of State Dave Scanlan, instead orchestrated passage of this single bill forming the technology voting committee, effectively putting legislative stamp of approval on concealed vote counting by computers rather than the constitutional mandate for public and open vote counting. The following excerpt provides details on the shameful dealings that gave away NH's public elections to a Diebold monopoly.

more below the fold

NH's own e-voting anti-trust situation cited in BlackBoxVoting complaint to DoJ

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:09:32 -0400

SOURCE: Black Box Voting Letter of Complaint - Request for Investigation to AG Holder

Black Box Voting is writing to express our objection to, and to request your investigation of, the proposed acquisition of Diebold's Premier Election Solutions by Election Systems
& Software, Inc. (ES&S).

This acquisition is the latest action in a series of events which have created a concentration in the electronic voting industry. This acquisition will exacerbate and burden an already non-competitive and restrictive situation for our public elections, which under the Constitution are an essential part of our democratic system of government. This acquisition, in addition to overconcentrating the industry, will put a single company in a position to shut down federal elections at will. Thus, this overconcentration also creates a potential national security problem....

...The permitted sale of Premier Election Solutions to ES&S will consolidate this not-verycompetitive process for years to come based on the historical process timeline. In addition, certain states have added their own purchasing restrictions. The states of Texas and Ohio, for example, do not permit Sequoia Voting Systems to sell systems to their counties. The state of Florida does not permit Hart Intercivic to sell voting systems in Florida. And the state of New Hampshire has established an unusual ballot design requirement which precludes all vendors except Diebold/Premier. Some states, like (9) See e-mail documents from ES&S employee John Groh, above. Georgia, Maryland, New Mexico, Arkansas, West Virginia and Utah require all local counties to purchase a system from a single vendor selected by state officials.

Read the full complaint here

Take action here

Diebold - ES&S merger poses national security threat

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:16:08 -0400

Diebold - ES&S Merger poses national security threat

SOURCE: BlackBoxVoting.ORG

You will be sent an update and further information within 24 hours. (If you are already registered at Black Box Voting, please re-submit with a new user name for the merger opposition action.)

Click to view data in spreadsheet format.

Corporate control of America's vote counts before the merger:

Consolidated corporate control of America's vote counts post-merger:

Volunteer for Patrick Arnold Campaign - Manchester Ward 12!

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:44:46 -0400

Calling all ACTIVISTS!!

Make a difference in the Manchester municipal elections!

The Patrick Arnold for Ward 12 Alderman campaign in Manchester is looking for volunteers to hold signs and/or monitor the polling activity on Primary Day, Tuesday, September 15. Whether you can stand with us only for a few hours, or the entire day, any and all help is appreciated.

Manchester's Ward 12 votes at Northwest Elementary School at 300 Youville Street.

Contact Patrick at 657-0975 for more information.

Patrick earned his law degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center, and currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Breathe New Hampshire and the Campaign for Ratepayers' Rights.

Patrick Arnold for Ward 12 Alderman. Endorsed by Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, Rep. David Nixon, former Manchester Alderman Bill Cashin, former Senate candidate Bob Backus, and many more.

Patrick Arnold campaign seeks Primary Day volunteers! Manchester Ward 12

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:45:25 -0400

BlackBoxVoting to file AntiTrust complaint re: ES&S/Diebold(Premier) merger

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:45:23 -0400

Diebold/Premier Election Systems is being purchased by Election Systems & Software (ES&S). According to a Black Box Voting source within the companies, there will be a conference call among key people at the companies within the next couple hours. An ES&S/Diebold-Premier acquisition would consolidate most U.S. voting under one privately held manufacturer. And it's not just the concealed vote-counting; these companies now also produce polling place check-in software (electronic pollbooks), voter registration software and vote-by-mail authentication software.

You can discuss this here:
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/...

(If not registered or need to re-register because forgot your old login info, you can do that here:
http://www.bbvforums.org/... )

ES&S attempted to consolidate the electronic voting industry in 1997 with a purchase of Business Records Corporation (BRC), but the purchase was blocked by the US Security and Exchange Commission on antitrust grounds, and the acquisition of BRC was split between ES&S and Sequoia Voting Systems.

Here is a press release from Diebold/Premier confirming the acquisition: