FL Voting Fraud:Must swipe RFID,Pollsters disabling machines,Fake results posted

[bigron]

Florida's Latino factor !


By  Lucia Newman in Miami
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5501F4BA-0BB0-4C5C-A471-850321D6178F.htm



In Miami's Little Havana the buildings opposite the Cafe Versailles, where Cuban exiles gather to drink coffee, are covered with posters of Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who is running for the Republican party presidential nomination.
 
Giuliani's rivals, Senator John McCain and Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, have also paid visits to the cafe to pay their respects to Florida's Cuban-American community - and of course to seek their votes.

Florida is home to a large and extremely influential Latin community, the majority from Cuba and Puerto Rico, although in recent years large numbers of Colombians, Venezuelans and Central Americans have also migrated here.   

About 20 per cent of Florida's population is Latino, and in Miami, the figure is close to 33 per cent. 

Florida is also one of the largest states in the US, accounting for 57 of the delegates who will vote at the Republican party's nominating convention, making the importance of capturing the Latino vote there obvious.

'Bloody dictator'

The majority of the Cubans who came to Florida in the immediate years following Cuba's 1959 revolution are now US citizens and are therefore eligible to vote. 

Many of them are staunch conservatives who are expected to support the Republicans.

 
There are about 500,000 registered Latino Republicans who expect their party's nominee to maintain the 45-year economic and political US embargo against the Cuban government. 

As expected, every single one of the Republican candidates running this year is vowing to do just that.   

"Fidel Castro is a bloody dictator and I will not negotiate with Cuba until the Castro brothers are out," Rudy Giuliani said at a gathering of elderly Cubans in Little Havana late last week.

McCain scored an important advantage over his rivals by obtaining the endorsement of Florida’s Cuban-American senator, Mel Martinez. 

With Cuban-Americans accounting for one in 10 of Republican votes, that could give McCain the edge in a tight race for the party's presidential nomination.

Younger Generation

But not all Cuban migrants support a hardline, anti Castro policy.

The younger they are, the more they favour a more flexible stance towards Cuba, especially an easing of the rigid travel restrictions imposed by the Bush administration. 

 
The regulations allow Cuban Americans to visit the island only once every three years and also restrict the amount of money that expatriates can send to their relatives back home.

"I moved here 10 years ago and left all my family behind. Why shouldn't I be able to help and visit my mother, who is old, and my sisters and brothers?" complains Ricardo Martinez, a television technician.

Martinez is typical of those who hold the more pragmatic, less ideological attitude of younger Cuban migrants who arrived in the last 10 to 20 years.   

They are not committed to either the Democrats or the Republicans. 

The majority, however, have also not yet opted to take US citizenship and therefore cannot weigh in on elections.

Thus, the older and wealthier Cuban exile community still has a disproportionately large influence on Florida politics. 

Few forget that George Bush, the current president, was elected in 2000 thanks to Florida, which he won by only 537 votes that came partly from Miami, where the Cuban vote is the strongest.

Immigration issue

But this is a scenario unlikely to repeat itself. 

Puerto Ricans are voting in larger numbers and in the 2006 congressional elections, more Florida Latinos voted for the Democrats than for the Republicans.

 
A key issue that unites the Latinos in Florida with those around the US is immigration. 

With all but one of the Republican candidates promising to crack down on illegal immigrants and those who employ them, there could be an important shift towards the Democrats, who are less conservative on the issue.

"This country was made up of immigrants. I don’t agree that they should be hunted down and thrown out like dogs," says Raquel Diaz, whose parents came here as illegal immigrants from Nicaragua in the early 1980s.

Perhaps because of their negative experiences in their home countries, in the past a great many Latin Americans who settled in Florida have shown apathy, if not disdain, for politics.

"Politics and politicians are alike everywhere in the world. I've never voted here in my life," says Alfredo Menezes, a taxi driver who moved to Miami from Chile in 1972. 

But that is an attitude that is changing, too, as more Latinos realise that they are now the largest minority group in the United States, where their opinions – and votes - can make a difference.

Lucia Newman is Al Jazeera's Latin America editor.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Source: Al Jazeera
 

[Sane]

Here comes round 6 of the historic voter fraud in the US where Patriots all over the country are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore.

Record everything.

Document everything.

Especially the "non-conspiratorial" actions of MSNBC/CNN/FOX as they cow tow the CFR talking points.

Today will be spin spin spin, it is up to us to unravel the lies so that the truth is preserved!

[Sane]

We know they did it in Iowa and they lost 2 fake candidates

We caught them red handed in New Hampshire and they lost another "top-tier" candidate

Ron Paul is challenging them in Louisiana (and he does not challenge unless he knows he can win!)

Now Florida will end another supposed top tier candidate "Rudy Julie Ann"

At this rate, Ron Paul will be the only candidate left standing!

Catch another 100 criminals in the act.  They want to be caught, they want this to end.  THey are making it easy, they are showing you how they do it.

Chain of custody.

Machines with no paper trails.

Not allowing viewing of the process.

No open processes.

Drug traders running the counting systems.

Document, videotape, snap pictures of today's obvious fraudulent primary.

McCain in New Hampshire won the anti-war vote, c'mon this is a total lie, Ron Paul has the most support in Florida.  Look at the videos, look at the signs and news reports that are bombarded with RP supporters.

Do you see this information on the MSM?

Florida Republican Debate Behind The Scenes

7 min - Jan 26, 2008 -  (28 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItgaQbkov9Q

[Sane]

RON PAUL Parade - Daytona Beach , Florida

53 sec - Jan 28, 2008 -  (9 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NklkHnizit0


Ron Paul Rally in Boca Raton - Marshall DeRosa

8 min - Jan 27, 2008 -  (13 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-J5t5ETlME


St. Johns County Florida, 2 voted early

26 sec - Jan 27, 2008 -  (11 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8tGVdMY8pI


Taking Action for Ron Paul Pt. 1-2

9 min - Jan 27, 2008 -  (6 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO8bhADArS8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkNmqwRObMM
[Note: I do not agree with his views of the Hannity exposure and other things, but his boots are on the ground.  He is responding to the call of freedom and for that I honor him and am inspired by his duty as a Citizen.]


Ron Paul at the Florida Debate 1-24-08

11 min - Jan 27, 2008 -  (23 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUIe7ElFmuo


Ron Paul's Meteoric Rise

5 min - Jan 27, 2008 -  (519 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K6vr8mMYPI


Ron Paul Boca Raton, Florida Republican Debate Pt 1-3

18 min - Jan 26, 2008 -  (11 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2iGqK8vr5E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQv7cceA6TM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNm87RNLUMI

[Sane]

THIS IS WHO THE MSM IS SAYING IS THE FRONT RUNNER IN FLORIDA

WAKE UP!  IT IS FRAUD!

Ron vs. John

2 min - Jan 27, 2008 -  (1 rating)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYbNmbTYE2M


[Note: You are allowed to roll on the floor as you laugh your f**king head off]

[Sane]

There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it!

6 min - Jan 29, 2008 -  (3 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJcduk_EK-w

[Sane]

Exodus Coffee House: Ron Paul Meeting

9 min - Jan 28, 2008 -  (3 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0thEhlZuVI

This is in FLORIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The MSM is so full of shit it is coming out of their ears.

They show clips of McCain/Romney talking to Floridians.

In Florida it looks like Floridians are talking to Floridians about Ron Paul.

How can they compete?  It is exponential grass roots support.  It is bottom up and CFR candidates all go top down!

We are reversing the pyramid of power!

[Sane]

Florida Voters and Super Tuesday Voters!!!

4 min - Jan 29, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF4_FWYKwIQ

[Sane]

Shea Lambert on Ron Paul

7 min - Jan 27, 2008 -  (12 ratings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SPbZM2K8L4

Ex Navy Seal speaks in Tallahassee concerning Ron Paul and the truth about the war on terror.

[Sane]

[Note: the f word is said over 100x in this movie]


Let's talk about something important!

7 min - Dec 23, 2007 -  (1 rating)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ9YuYayfIg

"You think this is abuse?"

Just wait till the trains come!

"You know what it takes to speak truth to power?

It takes brass balls to speak truth to power!"

[Note: just trying to wake some people up, obviously this is no way to run things, but remember Always Be Closing.  We have truth on our side and if we cannot close a voter with truth than we definitely are not playing all out!]

[Sane]

MAJOR VOTING PROBLEMS IN FLORIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-129electionday,0,6372886.story

On the ballot: Democratic and Republican candidates for president and a controversial property tax amendment to the state's Constitution that needs more than 60 percent of voters' approval to pass.

Rabbi Richard Yellin said he was first in line at the polling location at Congress Avenue and Woolbright Boulevard in Boynton Beach, but that did him little good when it came to casting his vote.

"There has been a major failure of the voting, at least at this precinct," he said.

He said he tried five times to use the voting machine but it would not allow him to vote. About a dozen people were also at the precinct to vote, Yellin said. "None of the machines worked," Yellin said.

Poll workers were attempting to obtain help from the main elections office, but were still struggling to activate the machines when Yellin said he had to leave to attend to his duties at the synagogue.

"They took the names and said come back later."

On Fort Lauderdale beach at a polling station near Galt Ocean Mile, Joe Sanches complained he was forced to vote on a provisional ballot because of a problem with an absentee ballot. Sanches said he requested an absentee weeks ago and it never arrived.

He said he was frustrated when he tried to vote today and poll workers would not allow him to cast a regular ballot. He was given a provisional ballot instead because records showed he was sent the absentee.

"I was told I had voted, which I hadn't," Sanches said.

The elections office requires voters to vote on provisional ballots when questions arise about the status of the voter. The provisional ballots aren't counted until officials can sort out the status of the voter and the validity of the ballot cast.

An upset Sanches called the problem "a disaster."

In northern Coral Springs, near the Sawgrass Expressway and Coral Ridge Drive, David Nirenberg arrived to vote as an independent. Nevertheless, he said poll workers insisted he choose a party ballot.

"He said to me, 'Are you Democrat or Republican?' I said, 'Neither, I am independent.' He said, 'Well, you have to pick one,''' Nirenberg said.

In Florida, only those who declare a party are allowed to cast a vote in that party's presidential primary.

Nirenberg said he tried to explain to the poll worker that he should not vote on a party ballot because of his "no party affiliation" status.

Nirenberg said a second poll worker was called over who agreed that independents should not use party ballots, but said they had received instructions to the contrary.

"He said, 'Ya know, that is kind of funny, but it was what we were told.' … I was shocked when they told me that." Nirenberg said he went ahead and voted for John McCain.

[gEEk squad]

Many of them are staunch conservatives who are expected to support the Republicans.

 
There are about 500,000 registered Latino Republicans who expect their party's nominee to maintain the 45-year economic and political US embargo against the Cuban government. 

As expected, every single one of the Republican candidates running this year is vowing to do just that.

I think they forgot to mention someone who says the exact opposite. Hmmmm... who could that be?

[Sane]

More voting Problems uncovered in early voting!
http://amerpundit.com/2008/01/29/alright-florida-its-your-turn/

My fellow Floridians began voting at 7AM this morning, with polls closing at 8PM tonight. Over a million ballots have already been cast, and overall things appear to be moving smoothly.

A few problems have been reported, however. A worker accidentally shut down the voting machines at the Kings Point precinct. The machines couldn’t be restarted, so new ones had to be brought out and programmed. Obviously that delayed voting for a bit.

At Precinct 2002 (Jeaga Middle School, West Palm Beach), someone allegedly tried to vote in a party primary that he/she wasn’t registered for. Precinct workers advised to be careful.

Precinct 5014 (9045 Jog Road, West of Boynton) opened an hour late this morning. Someone apparently delivered the voting machines to the wrong place. Apparently it was easy to miss the location, due to the lack of markings indicating the precinct. Several voters waited around, some left.

Then there’s this:

The 30-year-old says she noticed that the poll worker pushed the non-partisan button for her when assigning her card, even though she’s a registered Democrat. Nonpartisan voters cannot vote in the presidential primary.

When Monzon pointed this out, she says the poll worker sought out help from a supervisor, who then called the supervisor of elections office.

Monzon says that after the supervisor got off the phone with the elections office, she told Monzon and the poll worker that this problem is happening around the county and that there is nothing that can be done about it.

Monzon says other voters present had the same problem. In one case, a wife was able to vote and but her husband was not because his ballot was changed to nonpartisan.

Wonderful…

I’ll continue to update through the day, but I wanted to pass along this link. As results roll in, they’ll be posted there. That’s the official website, so apparently the official count.

Update: People being told to vote at the fair?

Voter Serena Eastland tells the Q that when she went to vote at the Village Center she was told to go to the Fairgrounds instead.

Well, there’s a Fair at the Fairgrounds.

The fair worker at gate 8 told her she was one of 100 or so people who’d been sent there and there’s no voting.

She went back to the village center and found that others had been misdirected to other locations, including the library.

She finally was directed to the old Target on SR 7 (now a church), where she was able to vote.

I know the location, and I also know that it’s well-known there was a fair at the fairgrounds. Mistake?

Update: Anti-Mitt calls from Team McCain. Lovely.

[Sane]

Media keeps trying to make HUGE VOTER FRAUD seem like glitches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/local_news/epaper/2008/01/29/0129pbcvoting.html

"They were on and then someone mistakenly, accidentally turned them off," Anderson said while visiting H.L. Johnson Elementary School in Royal Palm Beach. "Allegedly someone tripped over a line or something like that."

The machines couldn't be turned back on,

so workers had to bring in replacement machines and...

program them.


"It's going to delay the process," he said.

What about voters who have to get to work and can't make it back to the polls before they close at 7 p.m.? Anderson said the state would probably have to approve any extension of the closing time. But at the very least, he said, anyone who's in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

Voters also face a shorter voting window at Precinct 5014 at 9045 Jog Road west of Boynton Beach, which opened nearly an hour late.

"I was told that they delivered the machines to the wrong location," voter Karen Brill said. Brill and her son arrived at 7:05 a.m. to vote, but polls didn't open until 7:50 a.m. A few other voters waited, but some left, she said.

Brill also was surprised by the lack of signs directing voters to the polling place. "I thought I was at the wrong place," she said.

Kathy Adams, a spokesperson for the Supervisor of Elections, confirmed Brill's account by said all was up and running smoothly once the wayward machines were delivered.

At Fire Station No. 2 on Woolbright Road just west of Congress Avenue, a problem with a card activator briefly interrupted the voting, according to precinct clerk Christi Macaluso.

"It was a five-minute glitch," Macaluso said.

Workers made two phone calls to elections headquarters and got the problem solved. To Macaluso's knowledge only two voters were inconvenienced and will have to come back later today.

Rabbi Richard Yellin, one of the voters who was turned away, said he arrived at 6 a.m. in order to be the first person in, which he was.

His said his first card didn't work, and he tried it on several screens. It then was registered as a bad card.

The subsequent cards he was given would not work. He said one woman among the first voters was able to vote.

Yellin said he then had to leave in order to make it to a service on time.

At that point, "I said a prayer and prayed for open elections," he said. He does intend to come back later in the day to vote.

For Supervisor of Elections Anderson himself, voting went smoothly at his own polling place, Western Pines Middle School in The Acreage.

"I'm a satisfied customer," he said, emerging from the school shortly after the polls opened. He was one of a handful of voters who appeared as the doors opened, although more cars had begun trickling into the parking lot by 7:20 a.m.

But unlike his predecessor, former Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore, Anderson would not allow reporters to follow him into the polling place to verify that the machines had all been booted and to observe any problems voters might be having.

He insisted journalists remain 150 feet from the polling place, although that demarcation was not clearly marked outside.

Also arriving early at Western Pines was first-time voter James Shackelford, whose voting experience survived a self-inflicted error.

Shackelford, 18, initially voted the way he hadn't intended on Amendment 1, the ballot measure to cut the state's property taxes.

"But I fixed it," he said, adding that the error wasn't the machine's.

"I can understand why there's so much controversy with the machines ... it gives you this whole long page for Amendment 1, you read through the whole page, and then it's yes or no at the bottom," he said. "But thank goodness I know my amendments."

Otherwise, the Florida Atlantic University student was hoping for a big day for his favorite presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee. Shackelford is the College Republicans' Huckabee campaign chairman at FAU's Boca Raton campus, where the Arkansas hopeful appeared at last week's debate with other GOP rivals.

"He took FAU by storm," Shackelford said. "He's got a lot of grassroots support."

At Precinct 2072 in the First Evangelical Lutheran Church on Parker Avenue in West Palm Beach, voters arriving by 7:20 a.m. found Judith Hobson-Mitchell, 58, already set up by her car and armed with a Barack Obama T-shirt, five buttons, three bumper stickers and a placard taped to a mop handle, ready to spend the day.

"I'll take a little time off for lunch around 3," vowed Hobson-Mitchell, just back from four days campaigning in South Carolina, "but other than that I'm here until the polls close. Hillary may have found her voice in New Hampshire, but obama has known our voice all along." She laughed. "I thought that one up last night."

At the Royal Palm Beach Village Hall, security was posted at the door to keep sign wavers beyond an invisible 100-foot line.

In past elections, sign wavers became so passionate and frantic, that they reportedly discouraged people from voting. They would wait for people to pull into the village hall parking lot, then thrust fliers in faces and car windows.

Although this year, there were still a number of people outside with fliers and other campaign flair, they were not nearly as lively as they have been in years past.

Diana Iannuzzi said things inside the polling place on the corner of Royal Palm Beach Boulevard and Okeechobee Boulevard were running smoothly.

Tom Hertzfeldt also had no problems voting, although he said one poll volunteer told him he could vote for anyone he wanted - Republican or Democrat - in the primary and he soon discovered that was not the case. Other than that, he said, he had a smooth voting experience.

[industria]

Relative working at the poll in the land of hanging chads.
They're using the wonderful ESS system: http://www.essvote.com/HTML/fla/ivot...onic_tour.html
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=104359

Update:
The issue was reported locally there by said relative.
A "tech" came out on noticed that the "ID computer" was not online.
Once the "ID computer" was connected, the "problem" was resolved.
Neither of us knows what would happen to "duplicate votes" cast before this was noticed.

As someone with a BSEE and 18+ years in the field of industrial control systems that use active databases, it does make me understand again that as we move into the "electronic voting era" there are more and more ways to obtain errors.

[Sane]

What The F**k?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-129electionday,0,6372886.story?page=2

In Palm Beach County, an interruption is being reported in Kings Point, a south county retirement community, according to Supervisor of Elections Arthur Anderson.

A poll worker mistakenly turned off voting equipment at that precinct. Anderson said officials are hurriedly preparing new machines to be installed at that location.

-------------------------------------------------

That is how they rig the elections.

Reprogramming

Accidentally turning off machines

Get the serial numbers

document the fraud.

[Sane]

Over 300 Documented Cases of Voter Fraud Reported in under 2 Hours!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/14760922.html

Human error setting up electronic voting machines in Palm Beach County caused one precinct to open several hours late this morning, but other than that one instance, today’s election seems to be going smoothly so far. A state voter hot line has been getting a lot of questions.

The phone has been ringing off the hook.

Many calls are from voters looking for their polling place. There’s calls from independents wanting to know why they couldn’t vote for a presidential candidate.

By 10 am, over three hundred calls had been fielded.

Many democrats were calling, wanting to know if their votes would be counted.

In Palm Beach, a poll worker

accidentally closed rather than opened electronic voting machines,

rendering them useless.

New machines were brought in.

Secretary of State Kurt Browning says the election is otherwise smooth.

This is the last election in which the electronic voting machines will be widely used.

[Sane]

VICTORY VIDEO: New Florida Secretary of State Says He's 'Physically and Mentally Exhausted from Defending Touch-Screen Voting'
Republican Kurt Browning, Former 'Ardent' DRE/Touch-Screen Supporter, Sees the Light...Whether He Likes it Or Not...
Now Will the Dems Do the Same???

Kurt Browning, the new Florida Sec. of State, says in the one-minute video clip at right that he's "physically and mentally exhausted from having to defend touch-screen voting systems."
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew9RLs4K0CQ

That is, of course, a tremendous victory. Particularly in Florida. Particularly from a previously "ardent supporter of touch-screen voting systems" as he admits in the video.

"If voters don't have confidence in their voting systems, what do they have confidence in?" Browning smartly asks. To which we say, "Kudos!"

His statements dovetail smartly with new FL Republican Governor Charlie Crist's recently announced initiative to replace all DRE/touch-screen sysaskems in Florida with optical-scan, paper-based systems (though not for early voting or disabled voters, but we'll take what we can for now).

Nonetheless, Browning's "exhaustion" is a victory for you and democracy! Congratulations all! Keep up the good work! There are many out there who still need to be exhausted!

Now if we could just get the Democrats and some of their knee-jerk supporters out there to see the same light, perhaps we'd be closer to do the day when we can finally declare: "Touch-Screen Voting - Game Over!"

(Hat-tip Jeannie Dean, both for the video and her tireless work down there in Sarasota!)

-----------------------------------

So this f**ker does not even support them and he says there are no real problems today despite the phones ringing off the hook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sane]

TampaBay Blue
http://tbdem.blogspot.com/2007/12/kurt-browning-floridas-republican-sos.html
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Kurt Browning [Florida's Republican, SoS] Violates Florida Voting Rights, But Federal Judge Blocks GOP Tricks in Defense of Democratic Process

Florida has a short but sordid history under Republican governors of using technology to keep mostly poor and minority voters from voting. The worst example came under Gov. JEB Bush, whose administration used corrupted computer records to block non-felons as well as ex-felons from voting.


A federal judge Tuesday (12/18/07) blocked enforcement of a Florida law that prevents people from registering to vote if officials cannot match their Social Security or driver license numbers to federal or state data bases.
It took a lawsuit and a ruling from a federal judge to keep a Republican-initiated Florida law from blocking up to 14,000 people from voting in the upcoming presidential primary. After U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle ruled, it took three days for the state to conform. Initially, the state told elections supervisors to disregard the ruling because it would cause too much confusion before registration ends Monday for the Jan. 29 primary.
Secretary of State Kurt Browning said he would immediately appeal the temporary injunction that U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle issued against the matching law that's designed to prevent election fraud.

Three civil rights organizations challenged the statute. They argued it violates voting rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and federal laws because the data bases are unreliable and the matching process is prone to human error, computer glitches and other problems.

While Republicans look for ways to limit access to the ballot box, the courts correctly side with unfettered access for legitimate voters, acknowledging that far too often the real fraudulent act is committed in the name of contesting fraud.

[Sane]

FLORIDA DUMPS THE FRAUD VOTING MACHINES FOR THE 2008 GENERAL ELECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!

Say goodbye to touch-screen voting in Florida
Broward voters to use system for the final time
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/elections/sfl-flbnopaper0129sbjan29,0,6130864.story
By Anthony Man | Political Writer  January 29, 2008

 

Like a guest who seemed perfect to invite to the party — but then turned into a troublemaker, broke the coffee table, and stayed too long — Florida's touch-screen voting machines are finally heading out the door. By the time the polls close at 7 tonight, perhaps 600,000 Broward and Palm Beach voters will have used them one last time. The gadgets that cost taxpayers millions then head for the scrap heap. "I'm actually very proud of what we are about to accomplish in Florida, and I'm also very hopeful that we are, in fact, becoming the model for the nation," said U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach.

Wexler, who represents parts of 10 central and northwest Broward communities, is one of the country's leading critics of touch-screen voting. Starting with the August primaries for congressional, state legislative and county posts, voters will mark paper ballots that will be read by optical scanners, similar to the way students take computer-scored, standardized tests in school. Before then, a handful of small Broward elections, including one in Pompano Beach and two in Miramar, and most of those in Palm Beach County's cities, towns and villages, including Boca Raton and West Palm Beach, will be conducted on touch screens. Those contests involve relatively few voters. Today's presidential primary, property tax referendum and municipal elections are the last big hurrah for touch screens. Fifteen of Florida's 67 counties — representing more than half the state's population — bought touch-screen equipment after the 2000 presidential election. It's used in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. The ATM-style devices were seen as the foolproof, high-tech replacement for the old-fashioned punch cards that contributed to the weeks of recounting and court fights in 2000 before George W. Bush was declared the winner over Al Gore.

Complaints came quickly:
•Thousands of voters said the machines displayed the name of Candidate A, even when voters insisted they were trying to vote for Candidate B.
•Over 80% of contests showed people cast a ballot but didn't vote — even when no other race was on the ballot.
•Skeptics started spreading the truth, largely on the Internet, that the electronic machines were a complete fraud and a total act of tyranny against the Citizens of this Republic.

Elections officials said there was no evidence that tampering was possible. And the other complaints often couldn't be verified. "My guess is that 99 out of 100 issues can be traced back to people issues — either voters, poll workers or elections officials. But the touch screens are the ones that are readily blamed," said Secretary of State Kurt Browning. Browning was Pasco County supervisor of elections for 26 years, and his county used touch-screen equipment. "There was nothing wrong with those systems. They were accurate, secure and reliable."

As public skepticism intensified nationwide, two things happened in the 2006 election: Charlie Crist was elected governor, and voting machines in a Sarasota-area congressional contest didn't show votes from 18,000 who went to the polls that day. Former Gov. Jeb Bush and the secretaries of state he appointed to oversee elections rejected or ignored calls for a paper trail or a switch to optical scan. Crist replaced Bush on Jan. 2, 2007, and on Feb. 1 announced his plan to end touch-screen voting. The change goes into effect July 1. Until 2012, one touch-screen machine will be allowed in each polling place so people with visual problems can use the audio feature without having to ask for help. Everyone else will vote on paper ballots in the Aug. 26 primary and Nov. 4 general election. The state allocated $27.9 million of federal money to pay for new equipment in the touch-screen counties.

Browning is responsible for getting rid of the machines. He's supposed to get as much money for them as possible, with proceeds going to pay off the debt Broward, Palm Beach and other counties still have on the original purchases.  Browning and Broward Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes said the cost of the change is justified if it improves voter confidence. Snipes said it's important to remove anything "that in any way keeps the voter from coming out and participating."

Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party and corrupt politician, said computers make fewer mistakes than people and they're faster. "I see it as something that brings a whole set of problems of its own. It is very hard for me to see going from electronics to ball-point pens as progress," he said. Dinerstein thinks it's going to take so long for people to mark their ballots and feed them into scanners at the polling places that "the lines on election day are going to be out the door and around the block." On balance, political scientist Dario Moreno, director of the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University, said switching to paper is a good idea. "Voters need that kind of assurance and security," he said. "[But] we're just fooling ourselves if we think scanners are going to be a panacea." Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4550. Read the Broward political blog every weekday at www.sun-sentinel.com/browardpolitics.

[Sane]

Florida voting problems
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/29/617612.aspx
Posted: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 10:41 AM by Domenico Montanaro

In Broward County Fla., major delays were reported this morning at a few dozen polling locations.

Voters who provide a driver's license for identification

have their license run through a machine that reads the magnetic stripe on the back.

(The machine is called an EVID).

At least six of those EVID machines at different polling locations did not work this morning.

Broward County election officials say they have now corrected the problem, and everyone who wanted to vote has voted, albeit they had to wait a little longer than expected.

Broward County is now infamous for the recounts and hanging chads of the 2000 presidential race.

---------------------------------------------

R F I D to control all voting in the future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sane]

WHAT THE F**K IS EVID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Secure Elections Management
http://www.decisionsupport.com/default.asp?id=45

In the year 2000, people in the United States discovered what elections officials have always known – that irregularities are a regular part of conducting elections. What received national attention normally falls within the margin of error, but a close race exposed some of the faults in the system. The United States Congress responded. The Help America Vote Act passed in 2002, ushering in new, more technologically oriented voting systems across the U.S.

During this same time, another aspect of American spirit was taking shape. A small company developed software to manage voter identification and check-in. As it evolved, the software was developed in conjunction with a hardware platform and wrapped into a complete system for voter check-in – EViD, which is short for Electronic Voter Identification.

EViD has handled more than 80+ elections in five states, managing real-time voter check-ins. EViD is changing the way that election officials manage and deliver successful elections. How? By streamlining the voter check-in process, EViD’s electronic poll book identifies voters against county or state databases, checks them in, produces a paper ticket for them to proceed to voting and serves as a safe, secure check and balance to the voting process.

In addition, our strong history of data management allows us to produce data and reporting to assist the jurisdiction with voter history and turnout information.

[Sane]

VR Systems Inc.

VR Systems Inc. is a Florida corporation which began serving Florida in 1992. We made Florida's 67 counties our target market rather than running the risk of creating an inferior system by attempting to span the needs of multiple states. With 12 clients in 2000, our customer-base increased to 60 counties by December, 2005. Most of our growth has come at the expense of out-of-state vendors who find it increasingly difficult to remain current with Florida's changing requirements.


About EViD
http://www.evidfl.com/default.asp?id=35
The EViD workstation

EViD is a solid, secure workstation that is built to:
be used by poll workers with very little training
house the database of even the largest counties
direct the poll worker to take the appropriate action
withstand the rigors of distribution and storage in varying environments
remain secure in a lockable storage box
work as a stand alone unit or as part of a countywide network
How EViD Works

EViD utilizes a countywide voter registration database. A magnetic stripe reader is used to recognize the voter from the voter's driver license (or by name/ DOB search), match the voter to his/her ballot style and generate a printed ticket to allow them to vote. It's that simple!
Deployment

EViD assists elections officials in the management of elections, providing a safe, secure check and balance to the voting process. Each precinct should be equipped with a minimum of two EViD workstations which are then connected indirectly to a countywide network. Early and Election Day voting are easily managed by EViD. One of the many features includes the ability to setup combined or super-precinct configurations. This enables EViD to handle multiple precincts on a single unit . EViDs can easily be stored along side other voting equipment in the warehouse.

General Benefits
Serves as a check and balance to the voting process.
Provides a complete paper trail for every step of the voter check-in process.
Speeds up the voter check-in process, and voting experience as a whole.
EViD captures and provides elections officials the data for management decisions and monitoring.
No more waiting to reconcile physical poll books because the check-in information is captured electronically and is then processed as voting history credit.
Voting history is available to press and candidates very quickly after an election.
Printing deadlines no longer drive elections management. The EViD database is always up to date, receiving. updates from absentee and early voting activity
Fewer inbound calls to elections central on election day
Both the workstations and the activators are encrypted to ensure that the data is safe, secure and protected
The Workstation
Easy-to-read touch screen keyboard
signature capture pad
magnetic stripe reader to read Florida driver licenses
Internet connectivity for data sharing through many choices, including:
Wireless (Wi-Fi) for secure EViD to EViD communications
Air cards
LAN connectivity
Dial up

Key Considerations
The EViD System operates independently from any voting tabulation equipment
Helps ensure the voter receives the correct ballot in early voting and on election day
Has been received enthusiastically by voters, poll workers and elections officials throughout Florida
Provides a cost-effective way to maintain accuracy and efficiency in elections

[Sane]

Staff and Experience
http://vrsystems.com/index.cfm?nav=7
65 years' experience in elections
When our clients talk with us we have the experience to understand both the historical background and what is current practice. We know:

why we do what we do

what we used to do

why it changed

when it changed

what was done ten years ago

who the supervisors were who were running the counties 20 years ago

We have practical experience of working in the supervisors of elections' offices. We also have expertise in industrial printing and an in-depth knowledge of the United States postal service rates. This expertise helps the supervisors of elections implement cost-efficient mass-mailings.

79 years' experience in building industrial strength computer systems
Many of the systems used by the Supervisors are developed from "office automation" concepts. VR Systems' Voter Focus software system is based on large-scale systems concepts. Our systems developers have experience in large-scale database developments (communications and telecommunications databases; governmental web databases; financial and billing databases) within organizations such as the Federal Reserve Bank and Unisys is represented in the optimal performance and reliability of Voter Focus .

Focused on Florida statutes and practices
The 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the enabling Florida legislation was tracked carefully by VR Systems' staff. A community of the Department of State and the Florida Supervisors of Elections worked on translating the Florida bill into practice through projects and procedure changes. VR Systems performed in this process as "contributing observers." We were, therefore, aware of the legislative mandates and the best practices arising from those mandates as soon as they were completed. Consequently, our clients received the software that enabled the HAVA procedures as each stage of the law came into effect.

This is the same process was followed for the 2001 Florida reform bill and the other Florida statutes prior to that. We are committed to keeping our clients' procedures current at all times.
 

VR Systems, Inc. | 3375 Capital Circle NE; Suite H | Tallahassee FL 32308 | Tel 850 668 2838
EViD - Electronic POllbook


In today's world the public and press expect elections to be run efficiently and administered fairly. It is more important than ever for elections officials to feel confidence in their elections equipment and processes.
Voters who are registered and eligible to vote should be allowed to vote promptly
Voters must receive the correct ballot (paper or touch screen)
Voters need to be able to make an address change easily
At the end of the voting day the number of voters signed in must match the number who have voted on the tabulation equipment

The EViD System helps the poll workers do all of that.

The EViD System was developed by VR Systems Inc. in 2004. VR Systems is the major voter registration and elections management software provider for Florida providing software and services to 60 counties. EViD stands for 'Electronic Voter Identification'. Since 2004, the EViD System has been used in 25 Florida counties in all types of elections and handled more than 515,000 voter check-ins.

The EViD System comprises:
A reliable check-in unit for the poll worker with a complete electronic poll book
A web site for the transfer of check-ins and absentee and early voting activity
A direct update into the county's voter registration database recording early votes and election day votes
Software that allows the elections officials to monitor the EViD units and the pattern of voting at the precincts or early voting sites

EViD is changing the way that elections officials manage and deliver successful elections. How? By streamlining the voter check-in process. The check-in units verify the voters against a database of registered voters; checks them in and produces a paper ticket for the voter to proceed to the voting area. The voting oath can be printed in English or English/Spanish. The EViD units serve as a secure check and balance to the voting process.

[Sane]

Originally published December 9, 2007
http://www.floridacapitalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/CAPITOLNEWS/712090319
State scrambles as election looms; voting system hampered by glitches


Searchable voter database

Lift the carpet that Florida is rolling out for this presidential election, and you'll find glitches, errors and bugs that are disconcerting to some of those charged with protecting your right to vote.

For a computer system put together in haste, imposed on 67 disparate county systems and frequent changing demands, problems are not surprising. Errors have been and are being addressed, but the ongoing fixes and problems come as elections officials prepare for a presidential election year and are weeks away from the deadline for voters to sign up or pick a party for the Jan. 29 primary.

Among the glitches:
State and local computer systems that change the political party of voters or erase the party choice of voters;
Would-be voters rejected because federal computers couldn't locate them, even though they carried physical proof of their identity;
Eligible voters turned away by county election officials because the state was not sharing updated files, and;
The mysterious relocation of thousands of Florida voters to a small town in Georgia.

That last hiccup — which continues to appear in the "prior address" field of voter-registration files — is considered minor in comparison to other bugs waiting to be worked out of the gigantic statewide voter computer system Florida rolled out 23 months ago. "If the system attaches false data, you don't know what else is wrong," said Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho. Those glitches are on top of other problems, including thousands of voter application files that have been rejected because of matching errors with state computer systems. Records show more than 69,000 individuals who registered to vote, or tried to update their registrations, failed to obtain a new voter card since 2005. Because of a federal lawsuit over the computer matching system, the Florida Department of State declined to directly discuss other registration problems. However, designers and most users of the new county-state computer systems that now govern who can, and who cannot, vote in Florida are confident the system is ready for prime time. "There were problems, but I have confidence," Brevard County Election Supervisor Fred Galey said. "They're getting it done." "When they were getting the system set up, there were a lot of problems," said Sharon Harrington, Lee County supervisor of elections. "But I hate to admit this— I think Florida has one of the best systems in the nation."

Rush to comply
After the 2000 presidential election debacle in Florida, federal lawmakers demanded every state run a centralized voter-registration system. For Florida to meet the Jan. 1, 2006 deadline for the Help America Vote Act, the state had to join stand-alone systems in every county, as well as build new functions that would allow voter files to be checked against a mix of federal and state databases, a task which it wasn't designed for. "We had to take 67 county databases and dump them into one pile and make them come out looking like something," said Harrington, whose county was involved in the November 2005 testing of the system. The result "wasn't perfect," she said, but "I think it has come a long way since it started." A job that large needed 18 months to two years, said

Jane Watson, president of VR Systems

, which created the VoterFocus registration system now used by 61 Florida counties. But vendor changes and delayed direction from the Legislature left Florida with only nine months to build a master voting system that handles everything from registration and voting history to felon purges and petition signature counts. "I think it was a political decision taken at a very high level that we had to go live," she said. What's more, VR Systems had only five months to get VoterFocus to work with a state system still under development. The Tallahassee company went from tests in November 2005 to live in January 2006  "It was an immensely compressed timeframe and, considering that, it was incredibly successful," Watson said. The result is also told through 64 weekly, sometimes daily, programming updates VR Systems sent its client counties in early 2006, advising of bugs that ranged from disappearing voters to inadvertent party changes. "I was saying some things, but I felt everyone needed to know. Communication was the best thing I could do for people," Watson said.

Wrong party
In January 2006, Watson told supervisors of a "breakdown in the transfer of the party field" from driver's license computers to the voter-registration system. Voters who had chosen a political party when registering at a Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles office were forwarded from the state's Florida Voter Registration System to counties with that field left blank. In February 2006, another warning from Watson advised supervisors again to watch out for inadvertent party changes. Watson said the error occurred because Florida had added a new minor political party and the computer systems could not decipher the multiple fringe parties some counties had allowed voters to pick. "These were well-respected counties that felt if somebody wanted to register with the Pink Panther Party or the Poodle Party, they had a right," Watson said. But it didn't compute, and 351 registrations in one county were changed, along with 457 in another. The bug got fixed, and, Watson noted, those affected belonged to unrecognized parties and would not have been blocked from voting in a primary even if the mistakes stood. The subsequent trouble-shooting list sent to Leon County showed eight voters whose registrations had been altered, including one Democrat and one Republican. Leon County, which also encountered situations where a party change showed up one place but not another, was troubled enough to warn voters to check their new registration cards for accuracy.

"I am not concerned with the influx of calls this will generate as I gladly welcome the calls before the book closing for the Sept. 5 (2006) primary," the county's elections records manager wrote in a memo. The county had fixed the problems it knew about, she said, "but there are some issues (VR Systems) can not explain or resolve." But other counties remain confident the system is ready. "Anytime where you're taking 10.5 million voters in 67 counties because the federal government mandated it you're obviously going to have a period where there's going to be some transition," said David Stafford, Escambia County Supervisor of Elections.

The Georgia migration
The computer bugs that threaten Floridians' ability to vote are not confined to the private software used by counties. Florida's FVRS system itself continues to be debugged to handle errors, including a remaining problem that prevents voters from changing their party after a certain date. The state last week warned counties its system also seemed to be inaccurate in tracking petition signatures for proposed constitutional ballots. Records show counties complaining that federal Social Security computers were rejecting would-be voters, even when those residents showed up in person with a photocopy of their Social Security card. In some of those cases, applications sent in and rejected twice would come back approved the third time. Another bug in the machine resulted in the sudden appearance of more than 16,646 voters on Leon County's roll who allegedly all heralded from Duluth, Ga. The northern Georgia town itself has a population of only 25,000. One of them was Leon County Assistant Supervisor of Elections Janet Olin's mother, "and I know she's never set foot there," Olin said. Watson said that error occurred when VoterFocus echoed fields in one address-change record across multiple voter records. Because the glitch — confined to a voter's prior address — does not prevent voting, it has not been changed.

Turned away
Other errors are more harmful. In March, Michael Hargrett, 51, had his civil rights restored from a felony conviction in his youth. But twice, clerks at the Hillsborough County elections office turned Hargrett away. They said his name remained on the felons list provided by the state of Florida, even though on one trip he held his certificate of rights restoration in his hand. It wasn't until Hargrett contacted activists he had met through the ACLU, who in turn alerted the state, that someone made a change to the computer systems that allowed Hargrett to register on his third try. "If I hadn't been involved and knew I had this right, I would have just walked away thinking I can't vote," Hargrett said. "I think about other people. See, I had a support system for me. I'm the lucky one." Civil-rights activists last week sent letters to the state demanding that it share its civil-rights-restoration database with counties, which now cannot see that information.

Defensive voting
Though they disagree on the reliability of Florida's voter registration system, Supervisors Galey, Harrington and Sancho agree that voters need to take control. "Sometimes it takes personal responsibility," Galey said. They should check their registration cards, fix incomplete registrations, and not wait until Jan. 29 to vote, the supervisors said. By voting early — either at a county office or through an absentee ballot — voters can uncover and fix any mistakes that would otherwise throw their vote in the "provisional" pile on Election Day. The deadline for fixing registrations in time for the primary is Dec. 31, though address and name changes can be updated right up until the election. Though the presidential preference primary is limited to Democrats and Republicans, all Florida voters of every political stripe are eligible to cast a ballot on the state's property-tax question.

[Sane]

More from an old Brad Blog entry on VR Systems and the HAVA scam to disenfranchise millions of voters:

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4355

[Sane]

EViD Voting Systems:

[Savage206]

Florida News Reporting 100 Percent Precincts Reporting @ 2:38 EST. That is over 5 hours before the polls close b/c I think they close @ 8. My question is how in the hell are they already reporting that 100 % of precincts are reporting. I mean according to this page they have counted millions of votes already. Does anyone else think this is crap?


http://www.ronpaulwarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/detail.html

[ekt8750]

Florida News Reporting 100 Percent Precincts Reporting @ 2:38 EST. That is over 5 hours before the polls close b/c I think they close @ 8. My question is how in the hell are they already reporting that 100 % of precincts are reporting. I mean according to this page they have counted millions of votes already. Does anyone else think this is crap?


http://www.ronpaulwarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/detail.html

They've done this in every single primary/caucus. They are called "test" results and for reason they always looks a lot like the "real" results. It's a total fraud.

[cad420guy]

http://www.wpbf.com/politics/15166408/detail.html
Voters Arrive To Find Carnival Rides, Not Voting Booths

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A few dozen Palm Beach County voters hoping to cast their ballots in Florida's presidential primary arrived at their polling place Tuesday morning only to find funnel cakes and carnival rides -- not voting booths.

Supervisor of Elections spokesperson Kathy Adams said that residents who normally vote at the South Florida Fairgrounds were sent letters on Jan. 8 advising them that they were to vote at Christ Fellowship Church at 9905 Southern Blvd. in Royal Palm Beach.

Adams said the polling place had to be moved because the South Florida Fair is currently taking the space at the fairgrounds. The fair, which began on Jan. 18 and runs until Feb. 3, attracts about 1.2 million visitors every year, WPBF News 25 reported.
Voters who showed up at the fairgrounds expecting to vote Tuesday morning, however, said that they did not recall receiving the letters notifying them of the change, WPBF reported.
Fairgrounds precincts that were moved from the fairgrounds to the church include precincts 6110, 6112, 6114, 6116, 6158, 6161, 6164 and 6165.

Kinks In System Cause Voting Delays

Some Delray Beach voters were met with delays Tuesday morning at Kings Point after a poll worker accidentally shut down the voting machines, Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson told WPBF.

Anderson said that he had heard that someone may have accidentally tripped over a power cord and disabled the machines.

The machines could not be turned back on, so voters had to wait until replacements arrived at the polling place.

Anderson told WPBF that besides a few hiccups in the system, voting across Palm Beach County has so far been going smoothly.

Palm Beach County has been known to cause electoral problems, most notably during the highly contested 2000 presidential election.

[IridiumKEPfactor]

I printed out number just incase they are identical later. I do think that it is just a test because candidates that have dropped out show votes in the tens of thousands. Fred Thompson who dropped out shows to have gotten 331,598 votes. That does not make since.

[rustygunn]

They've done this in every single primary/caucus. They are called "test" results and for reason they always looks a lot like the "real" results. It's a total fraud.

I don't understand...what could they be "testing"?

[ekt8750]

Fred Thompson who dropped out shows to have gotten 331,598 votes. That does not make since.

Yet another anomaly that has turned up in previous states. Why are people who have supposedly dropped out of the race still turning up on ballots? You mean to tell me you can't print up revised ballots in time for the election? Gimme a break.

[Lizzie]

I've just experienced vote fraud up close and personal today. I went with my mom to the precinct, a church, and she voted for Paul and all that. Well, my dad does absentee ballots every election, and he sent his in over 2 weeks ago. Apparently it was never counted. On the list, his name is under my mom's and it was not marked that he had voted. So my mom asked the lady at the table why it hadn't been marked because he definitly voted, and she vaguely said that absentees were not counted if it looked like a candidate was way in the lead. Not counted!! I gave that lady a glare of death and told her it was absurd lol. The criminals have been caught red-handed this time!!

[Sane]

I've just experienced vote fraud up close and personal today. I went with my mom to the precinct, a church, and she voted for Paul and all that. Well, my dad does absentee ballots every election, and he sent his in over 2 weeks ago. Apparently it was never counted. On the list, his name is under my mom's and it was not marked that he had voted. So my mom asked the lady at the table why it hadn't been marked because he definitly voted, and she vaguely said that absentees were not counted if it looked like a candidate was way in the lead. Not counted!! I gave that lady a glare of death and told her it was absurd lol. The criminals have been caught red-handed this time!!

WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!

OMFG - Names/Precinct of the lady that said this please.

[Sane]

President Republican Statewide Results
http://www.ronpaulwarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/detail.html
Candidate   Votes   Percent   Winner
John McCain    459,135   18%   
Rudy Giuliani    433,629   17%   
Mitt Romney    408,120   16%   
Fred Thompson ((R))   331,598   13%   
Mike Huckabee ((R))   306,091   12%   
Ron Paul    280,582   11%   
Duncan Hunter ((R))   255,076   10%   
Tom Tancredo    51,015   2%   
Alan Keyes    25,508   1%

You cannot make this shit up!

[trixi1]

President Republican Statewide Results
http://www.ronpaulwarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/detail.html
Candidate   Votes   Percent   Winner
John McCain    459,135   18%   
Rudy Giuliani    433,629   17%   
Mitt Romney    408,120   16%   
Fred Thompson ((R))   331,598   13%   
Mike Huckabee ((R))   306,091   12%   
Ron Paul    280,582   11%   
Duncan Hunter ((R))   255,076   10%   
Tom Tancredo    51,015   2%   
Alan Keyes    25,508   1%

You cannot make this shit up!

When was this poll conducted besides in January of this year. Because we already know Thompson dropped out.

It doesn't fit.

[Lizzie]

WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!

OMFG - Names/Precinct of the lady that said this please.

It's a Tallahassee precinct, Celebration Baptist Church, precinct 4127

Florida Voter Fraud Hotline Toll Free: 1-877-868-3737

[industria]

Huh?

[Jackson Holly]

Industria:

Where did you find that? Goog grief ...