Hot off the presses at the Drudge Report
12 SMARTCARDS GO MISSING IN TENNESSEE; CONTROL ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES
Fri Nov 03 2006 10:09:31 ET
Political insiders have expressed alarm after 12 voter smartcards have gone missing from one Shelby County, TN early vote location!
The cards are used to activate electronic voting machines.
The location at the center of the controversy is Bishop Byrne High School on E. Shelby Drive in Memphis.
The polling place started out with 25 cards. By Wednesday, 11 were missing, says an eyewitness.
The location was given 5 more smartcards on Thursday.
And another card went missing!
Someone possessing a smartcard could use ‘off the shelf equipment’ [equipment that reprograms the card] and alter it to be used multiple times, and cast multiple votes.
One concerned insider explains: “Shelby County Board of Elections has been notified. They said is was ‘not a big deal’ because, they said, the cards are deactivated. But the reality is, you can buy the equipment at computer stores to reactivate them. It’s on the Internet how to reactivate the cards!”
Meanwhile, The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is reviewing reports by the Shelby County Election Commission that two people voted twice during early voting in Memphis.
Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons said he’s referred the cases to the TBI for investigation along with other matters he declined to discuss.
Poll watchers are expected to turn out Tuesday to observe voting in Tennessee’s heated U.S. Senate race between Chattanooga Republican Bob Corker and Memphis Democrat Harold Ford Jr.
Gilbert comment. A new business venture may be in the wings. Duplicating Smart Cards
Larry,
Did you happen to catch the article on Yahoo! news? “Tennessee Votes Early In Record Numbers”
With all the talk that the Dems might take back the Senate or Congress, the missing smartcards is just another smoking gun of the corrupt administration we have. Isn’t Diebold the maker of these voting machines. Hasn’t Diebold been one of the major contributors to the Bush administration? Are we headed for another “Ohio”(2004) in Tennessee? It looks like the Bush adminstration is hoping to stay in power by “any means necessary”.
I encourage all voters to use the absentee system rather than trusting an easily manipulated machine for your sacred vote. Why hasn’t a paper trail been mandated?
ABSENTEE BALLOTS are the only secure paper trail that ensures an honest count.
Come on people, wake up and read the writing on the wall. I have an honest belief that most people aren’t that stupid to trust your vote to a cyber system.
Fear of the computer.
Better not drive to your polling place, your car has a computer controlling it function. It could drive you to the “Wrong” polling place.
Better not watch TV or listen to the radio, both are controlled by computers. best to wait for the News Paper on “paper”.
The internet news? >>>Hack hack<<< vote for >>>hach hack>> this is your computer speaking, cyberdine systems <<<<< hack hack ...Arnold>>> Hack Hack… goven..////
Get real, unless you have all your money in cash under your mattress you all use computers every day without any problems.
By the way, all the computers used for voting in Orange County “printsout” a paper ballot on every vote.
You are invited to watch the opening and closing of your polling place. Of course all of the counties many polling places are open to the public during operating hours that include the opening and closing procedures.
Oh the results of the election is posted at the polls during closing. We print it out from the computer and tape it to the door for all to see.
I keep a copy, after the election is certified, I look up the results and compare it to my copy.
Trust but verify.
Cook.
My post was simply a story that might impact the national election. I am aware of the Yolo County and Orange County machines made by Hart which provide a back-up paper trail.
Following is a response from Max in Mission Viejo that he should have posted directly. I will do so now on his behalf:
“LARRY
Haven’t you been watching or listening to Lou Dobbs for the last months/ years about the problems with all the different electronic voting machines? You do not even need a card to steal for a Sequoia voting machine that by the way is owned by 3 business men from Venezuela. These machines have a big yellow button in the back of them that allows anyone to put the machine on manual which allows them to vote as many times as they want for their choices!!! How about California —- Orange and Yola county are the only two counties that have the Hart voting machine which provides a paper trail of all the votes cast so that you can have a recount that is not just electronic electronic. This election can very possibly turn out to be the greatest sham that our country has ever experienced. Already press reports are stating that thousands of lawyers are standing by to challenge the results when they come in. We are acting like a third world country and it is a disgrace. One election worker has told me that prior to Swartsnegger coming into power the Diebold ( a non- paper backup) electronic voting machine was thrown out of bidding for use in California. After McPherson was appointed as Secretary of State by Swartsnegger he allowed them back in for bidding and they and Sequoia are used in the majority of counties. No paper trail and a very much poorer accuracy than the slots in LasVegas and our ATM’s!!! Diebold ‘s failure rate is one in eleven!! What you say? Check out the Secretary of State website for the listing by county for the type of voting machines. If the refinery and petro chemical plants in this country and worldwide were designed with the instrumentation accuracy and failure rate of the present day electronic voting machines there would be disastrous explosions going on every second.”
On behalf of Max, in Mission Viejo
My final thoughts to Cook.
From your post you must work at the OC Registrar of Voters.
I have no issue with you nor members of the staff with whom I have had the pleasure of interfacing with over the past six years. I will single out Christina Avila who is very professional and efficient. And yes, I do my best to “Trust but Verify.”
looking forward t a quick and accurate count on Tuesday evening.
Larry
This takes me back to 2004 when Bush was “elected” or should I say stolen!to the presidency. Not surprising, however, with this corrupt administration. In all my 80 years I have never read or seen such sewer. Disgusting. Tom DeLay, Mark Foley, Cunningham, Cheney, Rumsfelt and even Bush himself. Such greed.
Yes Larry, I do work for the ROV on Tuesdays, twice a year on election cycles, and special elections when they pop up.
I am one of many private citizens who believe elections should be run by citizens, in the open for all to see. Not by the government behind closed doors.