Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org
Rightfully, Sequoia Voting Systems has been taking a beating over the past few days due to its threatening emails sent to New Jersey counties and to computer scientists at Princeton University. It is clear that Sequoia knows something about the problems with its voting machines used in the primary and doesn’t want anyone outside of the company to find the problem.
That story, and today’s other notable voting news articles, all linked below…
- NAtional: EAC to Discuss States’ Use of Remaining HAVA [Funds] at Denver Meeting
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2789&Itemid=26 - AZ: Opinion – Test ballots shouldn’t leave county offices
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/230263 - AZ: Pima County – Voter notification cards will serve as ID at polls
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/80069.php - CA: California secretary of state wins Profiles in Courage Award
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_8616778 - CA: California Secretary of State Debra Bowen Awarded 2008 JFK Profile in Courage Award
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/03/california_secr_5.html - CA: San Francisco – SF’s New Non-Crappy Voting Machines May Actually Be Crappy
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2008/03/sfs_new_noncrappy_voting_machi.php - CA: Santa Clara County – Opinion – Early-bird voting changes election dynamics
http://www.mercurynews.com/losgatos/ci_8618649 - CA: San Joaquin County – Registrar: Primary election ‘smooth’
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080319/A_NEWS/803190319 - CO: Money woes spell doom for paper-ballot bill
http://www.denverpost.com/technology/ci_8627580 - CO: Editorial – Not A Burden
http://www.chieftain.com/editorial/1205906400/1 - CO: Paper ballot election could be doomed
http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8040902 - MD: Myers’ bill would require Md. voters to show ID at polls
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=188919&format=html - MS: Voter ID dies; may be revived
http://www.sunherald.com/200/story/439249.html - NJ: Tougher tests sought for voting machines
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1205904967248810.xml&coll=1 - NJ: Sequoia warns Princeton professors over e-voting analysis
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9897597-38.html?tag=newsmap - NJ: Voting machine vendor threatens computer science researcher
Don’t you dare test our machine!
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/19/voting-machine-vendor-threatens - NJ: Sequoia Versus Felton, Professor Fires A Couple Of Aiming Shots
http://www.bloggernews.net/114580 - NJ: Evidence of New Jersey Election Discrepancies
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1266 - OH: That Was Then
http://www.freetimes.com/stories/15/46/home-despot - OH: Editorial – Brunner is too fond of battles fought behind the scenes
http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/opinion/120591584292021.xml&coll=2 - OH: Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner wins John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award
http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isope/120591541592020.xml&coll=2 - PA: Major flaw in State of Pennsylvania online voter registration puts user data at risk
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=965 - WA: State ballot could pit two from same party
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004291576_primary19m.html
**”Daily Voting News” is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in “Daily Voting News” may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or BradBlog.Com**
Just another quick thanks to John and Brad for the “Daily Voting News.” It’s a major source for us here in TN….
shw
John, yep, Sequoia is like the telecoms who said they had done nothing wrong by letting the blush regime have all our phone and email records.
One wonders why they are whining for immunity then?
Sequoia Inc. is taking the name of Sequoia (Sequoyah) in vain and dishonoring it. Born in Tennessee and crippled in an early accident which split his foot and gave him the nickname “Sequoyah” or Sequoia (“pigs foot”), he went on to invent a way for the Cherokee to have an alphabet and prosper in learning by reading and writing.
The Sequoia Cherokee way is to make things known, not to hide things. His nickname means “pigs foot” in Cherokee because of his wound, but he made his name famous and lives on in good memory.
Sequoia fought against the King of England, “who could do no wrong”, yet he fought for Americans.
Sequoia Inc., the secretive power monger, instead seeks to hide democracy and the truth from Americans, urging us to have faith in them “who can do no [election] wrong”. How shameful!
The statement:
Sequoia’s products – and those of all election equipment manufacturers – go through a complete and independent review as part of the Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC’s) federal voting system certification process including rigorous testing and a line-by-line review of the voting system’s source code by EAC accredited Voting System Test Labs (VSTLs). found in the Sequoia press release (http://www.sequoiavote.com/press.php?ID=51) is false.
NO voting systems has been tested under the new EAC/VSTL process. ALL voting systems currently on the market and currently used in elections were tested under the discredited, vendor-funded, ITA program sponsored by the National Association of State Elections Directors (NASED).
Moreover, making a false representation that your voting system has been tested by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an express violation of section 2.3.2 of the EAC Voting System Testing and Certification Program Manual (VSTCP manual)
By making this false representation the EAC (if it found a spine) could suspend the registration of Sequoia (section 2.6 VSTCP manual. The side effect of a suspension is that testing is halted for all Sequoia products in the testing pipeline.
John
Excellent point. I read this and immediately sent an email to the EAC and asked that they take action. Of course, they won’t do anything because the comment is coming from a citizen and not an election official or vendor but it’s fun to keep letting them know we are out here and watching what they do.