"Phantom Ballots" Almost Swing Election in SD, Still causing problems in Pittsburgh

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Monday June 08, 2009 · 1:41 PM PDT

2009/06/08 · 13:41

Via Threat Level, news that voting machine software mistakenly recorded nearly double the number of actual votes cast in an election.

Yes, you read that right, almost double!

Poll

66 votes Show Results

What type of voting machines do you use?

66 votes Vote Now!

What type of voting machines do you use?

DRE (Touchscreen electronic, no paper trail)

6 votes

DRE with paper trail

9 votes

Optical scan

41 votes

Something else (is that even still legal any more?)

8 votes

Whoever has the most pies on their face wins!

2 votes

Playing with apportionment, redux

adamschloss

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Thursday December 25, 2008 · 10:51 AM PST

2008/12/25 · 10:51

A couple of weeks ago, I was playing with apportionment using the Hamilton method (which Congress no longer uses). Now, I've written a program to apportion seats using the Huntington-Hill method, which is the method that Congress uses today. Having run it several times, I've come to the following conclusion:

Congress got it wrong in 2000.

Poll

15 votes Show Results

How should we resolve this problem?

15 votes Vote Now!

How should we resolve this problem?

DC HVRA

2 votes

Re-apportion NC and UT, leave everyone alone

0 votes

Do nothing, 2010 is coming soon

10 votes

Pie fight

3 votes

Something better?

0 votes

Playing with apportionment

adamschloss

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday December 12, 2008 · 12:38 AM PST

2008/12/12 · 00:38

I got bored today and decided to have some fun with numbers. Something (can't remember what) got me thinking about apportionment — that is, the number of seats that each state gets in Congress, as determined every 10 years just after the Census is taken. I decided to mess around with the numbers, and I even did some projections as to how the results might change the electoral college numbers (assuming all else was equal).

By the way, this post is about to get very mathy and nerdy. If you don't like reading Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight, I suggest finding something else to read. You have been warned.

adamschloss

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Wednesday November 12, 2008 · 9:56 AM PST

2008/11/12 · 09:56

Barack Marley posted yesterday about a number of incidents that have occurred over the last week, following the election of Barack Obama. Consider this diary, then, a follow-up to his.

Racial tensions have spilled over in a Pittsburgh suburb, where a black high school student was beaten by a group of other students because he supported Barack Obama for President.

Poll

124 votes Show Results

How long until the racists get with the program?

124 votes Vote Now!

How long until the racists get with the program?

A few weeks to a month

1 vote

A few months to a year

11 votes

Until the end of Pres. Obama's (first) term

4 votes

Eight years

6 votes

Never?

102 votes

Voting machines -- Statement to the Allegheny (PA) County Council

adamschloss

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday September 10, 2008 · 8:56 AM PDT

2008/09/10 · 08:56

Last night, the Allegheny County Council held one of its regular meetings. On the agenda was a resolution that would be of interest to many here. The text is as follows:

Motion Expressing the Sense of Council of Allegheny County urging the Allegheny County Board of Elections to conduct a random sample audit of software currently loaded onto the County's electronic voting machines in order to ensure that such software meets applicable federal and state requirements, and to implement a public video monitoring system in the facilities in which the County's voting machines are stored once the software has been verified. [emphasis mine]

Yes, it's sad that in this day and age, the people in charge of running our elections have to be told to do simple things like the above, but it must be done.

Join me below the fold for my statement to the Council in support of this motion, and more:

Poll

18 votes Show Results

Verified voting?

18 votes Vote Now!

Verified voting?

Yes

9 votes

Yes

0 votes

Yes

0 votes

Piyes

3 votes

Yes

3 votes

What is this, Russia?

3 votes

NYT Editorial: The problems with Internet Voting, and my experiences with such

adamschloss

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday September 08, 2008 · 9:46 AM PDT

2008/09/08 · 09:46

According to a New York Times editorial published last Friday, a county in Florida is trying to implement an Internet voting (which I will refer to as IV) system so that its active-military residents may vote more easily. As they say, the goal is laudable, and I agree: allowing greater access to the polls should be a goal for any functioning democracy.

However, they soon point out the potential pitfalls of IV. Again, I have no choice but to agree, and I should know. I have administered such a system, and know just how easily things can go wrong.

The following is split into two general sections. The first is my story, and the second is an analysis of the issues around IV in general.

Poll

35 votes Show Results

Is any form of electronic voting practical?

35 votes Vote Now!

Is any form of electronic voting practical?

Kiosk-type (i.e. touchscreen machines many jurisdictions use now)

0 votes

Kiosk-type with paper trail

11 votes

Internet

6 votes

Internet with paper trail

3 votes

We can't even trust paper balloting with crooked election officials

10 votes

NEEDZ MOAR PIE

5 votes

Obama in Pittsburgh, Mar. 28 -- Photoblog (now with videos!)

adamschloss

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 28, 2008 · 10:55 AM PDT

2008/03/28 · 10:55

As promised, I'm posting a photoblog in this space. First, just some thoughts on the event itself:

Turnout, as expected, was massive. Every seat I could see in Soldiers and Sailors was filled with a body. I wasn't outside, but it seemed (as I was leaving) that there was a decent number of people standing outside as well, despite the cold.
Introducing Obama was Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), who took the opportunity to formally endorse Obama.
Since he declared, I haven't had a chance to see him speak in person, but wow. Sen. Obama really is as incredible as everyone says he is. I supported him previously, but am now far more firm in my convictions, thanks to his eloquence and message.

UPDATE: Pictures finally here! And now links to YouTube!

Flip it!

adamschloss

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Wednesday March 26, 2008 · 9:50 PM PDT

2008/03/26 · 21:50

So I was one of the lucky ones who managed to get a ticket in the madness that became Senator Obama's campaign office in East Liberty today. (cue the onrush of angry angry people who didn't get tickets...)

Fear not, though, fellow Kossacks! I plan to do a photoblog of the event afterwards for all those who cannot attend for one reason or another. Preserve it for posterity, if you will.

One request, then: Any tips on effective photoblogging? Is there anything I can say to the volunteer(s) to make sure I get a better seat for this purpose?

Other thoughts on the flip...

Poll

31 votes Show Results

If you planned a rally in Pittsburgh, where would you hold it?

31 votes Vote Now!

If you planned a rally in Pittsburgh, where would you hold it?

Downtown (i.e. Market Square, the Point)

7 votes

Heinz Field

13 votes

PNC Park

5 votes

Soldiers and Sailors

3 votes

Petersen Events Center

1 vote

CMU

2 votes

Flagstaff Hill

0 votes

Elsewhere

0 votes

Arthur C. Clarke on the "Sanctity" of Human Life

adamschloss

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 26, 2007 · 9:33 AM PDT

2007/07/26 · 09:33

One could consider this piece subtitled, "A lesson from fiction with implications for the politics of abortion and stem cell research". I will also warn those of delicate sensibilities now: there will be frank discussion of human anatomy, and practices which some find repugnant, under the fold. If either offends you, I encourage you to find something else to read on this site.

Lately, I've been reading a work of fiction penned by the great Arthur C. Clarke, entitled Imperial Earth. One of the aspects of Clarke's work that makes it so permanently popular is the fact that, despite its setting in the future, it speaks to us in the present.

In this case, there is a passage in Imperial Earth that, while published over thirty years ago, is relevant to the debates over abortion and embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). Upon reflection, it strikes me that this passage could even have been written in response to the abortion debate as fueled by the then-recent decision in Roe v. Wade.

adamschloss

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Thursday June 14, 2007 · 8:26 AM PDT

2007/06/14 · 08:26

In advance of a conference titled "Towards a Common Response: New Thinking Against Violent Extremism and Radicalization," a report obtained by Reuters concludes that there are few differences between religious extremists "adhering" to the world's three major monotheistic religions. Let's take a closer look:

adamschloss

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Tuesday April 10, 2007 · 8:14 PM PDT

2007/04/10 · 20:14

As diaried by Lucius Vorenius a couple of weeks ago, the Maryland State Senate approved a bill that would tie Maryland's electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.

Well, now Gov. O'Malley has signed said bill into law.

Poll

134 votes Show Results

How long before other states adopt this law and kill the Electoral College?

134 votes Vote Now!

How long before other states adopt this law and kill the Electoral College?

Yesterday (damn, that'd be nice)

8 votes

A few months

10 votes

Several decades

52 votes

3.1415926535 years

29 votes

Never

35 votes

Exxon-Mobil Paid Junk-Science Groups to Lie about Global Warming: UCS

adamschloss

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday January 03, 2007 · 12:58 PM PST

2007/01/03 · 12:58

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) reported earlier today that Exxon-Mobil paid a total of $16 million to 43 front groups so that they would cause the public to ignore the scientific consensus behind global climate change.

Here is a link to the press release, which I quote and discuss below.

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"Phantom Ballots" Almost Swing Election in SD, Still causing problems in Pittsburgh

Playing with apportionment, redux

Playing with apportionment

Here Come the Racists

Voting machines -- Statement to the Allegheny (PA) County Council

NYT Editorial: The problems with Internet Voting, and my experiences with such

Obama in Pittsburgh, Mar. 28 -- Photoblog (now with videos!)

Obama in Pittsburgh Mar. 28: A polite request

Arthur C. Clarke on the "Sanctity" of Human Life

Reuters: Religious Extremists Not All That Different

Maryland Says: "So Long, Electoral College" - updated

Exxon-Mobil Paid Junk-Science Groups to Lie about Global Warming: UCS