Where's My Voting Machine Sleeping Tonight? A letter to my Supervisor of Elections

Last night I posted this diary about Florida Voting machines having weekend sleepovers at poll workers' houses. http://www.dailykos.com/...  Tonight, I emailed my Supervisor of Elections on the issues and copied everyone I could think of-- practically the entire planet.

The email/letter and the recipient list are below the fold.

Who recieved  the email?

TO: The Supervisor of Elections, Jerry Holland [e-mail] <[e-mail]>

CC:
Local TV and Print News (Including locally produced NPR shows):
[e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ;

Mayors of 4 Cities in Duval County:
[e-mail] ; [e-mail]  ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ;

Bigger Media:
[e-mail] ;  [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ;  [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ; [e-mail] ;  [e-mail]

The funnier ones:
[e-mail] ; [e-mail]; [e-mail];

Candidates:
[e-mail] ; [e-mail]

What did I say?

Dear Mr. Holland,

It has come to my attention that you've made a dreadful decision as the Supervisor of Elections for Duval County, Florida.

Apparently, you've decided that it was a good idea to send all of our voting machines home with your employees for the weekend so that they can take them to the Early Voting sites on Monday morning for the Primary Election. Now, I understand that the rationale for this is that the sites open "early" (10 AM) on Monday and there is no time for you to have them picked up from storage and delivered to the sites on Monday. So, you thought that if the workers just piled the machines up in the back of their cars on Friday afternoon, they could conveniently drive them to the sites on Monday.

I can see where this might be convenient for you and your employees. However, I really have a problem with this decision. In fact, I am down-right furious.

Mr. Holland, are you not aware of all of the election fraud that's been committed in this very county?  Even if you don't believe it to be true, you must be aware that many voters are extremely concerned about our voting rights. You must know that it is your job, as an elected official, to use your power to its fullest extent to protect this very right. You must realize that it is entirely absurd that the very machine I will use to vote on Monday is sitting in someone's garage, living room or back seat of a car somewhere in Jacksonville right now!

Sir, it is bad enough that many voters will be using Diebold touch-screen machines that have been proven to be easily hacked. Do you have to make it worse by allowing these machines, along with the opti-scan machines, to sit unsupervised in the homes and cars of your employees for the 48 hours immediately prior to an election? Do you realize how crazy that sounds?

Even if you have 100% confidence in all of your employees, their family members, friends and whoever else may stop by their houses this weekend, you can't expect the Voters to feel the same way. And please don't tell me about all the "security measures" you have in place. Locks keep out the good guys. These machines are vulnerable if someone is smart enough to get around your measures. And believe me, someone is smart enough.

Mr. Holland, there are many other professional and secure ways to get the voting machines to work on time. How about asking your buddy, Mayor Peyton, to borrow 14 city vans and 14 city employees to get up real early Monday, pick the machines up from a locked facility and deliver them to the 14 Early Voting sites? Sure, it would cost a little overtime money but I'd bet you'd have plenty of volunteers who could really use a some extra cash in their paychecks this week. Isn't our right to have our votes protected worth a little extra money?

Now that I know about this mishandling of the machines on the way to the polls, I really need to understand where you plan for the machines to go after the election.  I assume it's probably the most convenient for your employees to take them home for the night after the election.  So, that's probably what the plan is. Just know that this is entirely unacceptable.

I do look forward to hearing back from you. I'm really hoping you can offer a better explanation than I've been given for these decisions. I also am interested in hearing about your plan to fix this prior to the General Election. If memory serves me well, you and I live in the same subdivision. Please feel free to drop by and discuss in person. I'll even make you a cup of coffee. I'm in the book.  If you're not up for a visit to your neighbor an email will suffice.

Regards,
[My real name]
Concerned Citizen and Proud American
Wondering where my voting machine is sleeping tonight....

•  good work

  but we have to make a distinction here. the voting situation is a Symptom, not the Problem. the problem is the legislative branch which facilitated the debacle and is still not doing anything to remedy the situation. this did not happen because of incompetence or oversight. if you go to black box voting and read the history of the situation, it's safe to say the country was purposefully flooded with these machines.

  that is why, when the roof is on fire you don't quibble about what color to paint the house, you put out the fire.

  there are only two legal ways to propose change within our constitutional form of government: congress or convention.

  the job of congress--both the right and the left--is to create a dialectic that keeps the electorate focused on symptoms instead of the problem--congress itself.

  http://www.article5.org

  by john de herrera on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 08:27:20 PM PDT

  •  I see your point

    But the only way to change Congress to is to change the people who work there. How do I do that? By drawing attention to these issues. If the public doesn't know what's going on, they certainly won't put these people out of office.

    by Alf Ranken on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 08:35:53 PM PDT

    •  well

      it's not about changing the people who work there, it's about utilizing the constitution to get around them, and in doing that exposing the charade. you can address a symptom, or you can address the problem.

      the public is not going to ever know how bad it is, and even if they were given all the facts many would deny them.

      it's time for a national convention, and a federal suit happens to be before the supreme court which asks if congress can veto the calling of a convention. draw awareness to that, or at least get up to speed on the subject in case a day arrives where the issue becomes more apparent.

      again, though, good work on the front lines--thanks.

      by john de herrera on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 08:46:25 PM PDT

      •  Is there something

        that explains this in plain English? A nice overview perhaps?

        by Alf Ranken on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 08:52:01 PM PDT

        •  we're working on it

          but basically, under the authority of the constitution there are only two groups of americans who can propose change for the country: congress or convention.

          everyone knows congress is bought and paid for and now working against the public interest. that leaves us with a convention. a federal suit, Walker v. Members of Congress shows that it's not a matter of opinion whether america should hold a national convention or not, it's a constitutional requirement based on the direct written language of the constitution. all the state appications are on the congressional record and members of congress are failing to uphold their oath of office and issue the call.

          in terms of political science, the suit will succeed if a tipping point majority of americans become aware of it.

          by john de herrera on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 10:02:00 PM PDT

•  Preach it brother

  testify!

  by Tamifah on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 08:40:13 PM PDT

  •  I must admit

    I'm actually a sister. My user name is a masculine one but I am really a woman. A 35-year old, hard-working, single mother of a 15-year old boy.

    by Alf Ranken on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 08:47:14 PM PDT

    •  haha i feel ya

      tamifah is a he-fah, not a she-fah

      but people around here seem to think tamifah is a 25-30 year old woman

      thank you so much for your diaries the last couple of days and your actions to confront this issue head-on, ma'am

      by Tamifah on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 08:52:56 PM PDT

      •  too funny

        I actually thoughht you were a female between the ages of 27 and 40.

        The funny part is that my real last name is also a man's first name. So, at work, when I write an email to someone who's asleep at the wheel and doesn't know me, they often respond by calling me by my last name.

        In the Kos world, I guess I sorta set myself up for it with my choice of names. But it actually doesn't hurt for people to assume I'm a guy.

        by Alf Ranken on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 09:13:18 PM PDT

        •  Guess what?

          I'm also female...never know it by my screen id!

          by Street Kid on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 09:30:16 PM PDT

          •  HA

            I SO thought you were a dude.

            by Alf Ranken on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 09:51:13 PM PDT

            •  lol

              I thought the same about you actually.  

              And I wrote a couple of diaries on 2004 awhile back...and there is something that is really bugging the hell out of me...Wasn't what I thought it was....

              And that is making me crazy!!!!

              by Street Kid on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 10:06:41 PM PDT

•  Great title. I for one say the best thing to do

  is ask for a divorce from that trampy sleep around viral-laden voting machine.

  by dash888 on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 09:22:22 PM PDT

•  The only ones who want skewable voting machines

  are the ones who can skew their results.

  The ones who disdain federal laws in judgement of local laws are those who want to control local law.

  Only when it's all out in the open do we get justice...national justice for the entire republic.

  Electronic voting machines should be wired to the manufacturer and scrutinized by state/federal voting boards much as your car is hooked to the state's emissions control.  Only after an online diagnosis and reset should a voting machine be approved and enabled for a vote.

  And at the end of the voting session, a similar series of remote tests should be conducted to validate the voting session.   The voting machine should then issue a voting result to the locals that is also broadcast to the senior voting officials and the manufacturer.  

  Vote control and tally should never be entrused to local, partisan voting officials without multiple verification.

  And, in the meantime, each vote should yield a verifiable, paper receipt to each voter.

  That's what they do when you make online purchases with your credit card.  Why should our national elections be held to a lower standard?

  by john07801 on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 09:28:16 PM PDT

  •  Thanks! n/t

    by Street Kid on Sat Aug 19, 2006 at 09:31:33 PM PDT

•  eVoting in Ohio

  eVoting and Blackwell's coming
  We're finally on our own
  This summer I hear the drumming
  Vote theft in Ohio

  — BruceMcF

  ```
  peace
  
  

  by peace voter on Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 04:27:12 AM PDT

•  Quest

  Hi Alf.

  I'm really pleased that your skeptical of the electronic voting machines and asking probing questions. I too want to hear the answer.

  (I'm also very happy that you're serving as a poll worker. The more eyes the better. Here's my call for everyone to step and serve. I learned more from being a poll worker than I did in a year of reading.)

  I asked a former superintendent of elections about this practice. She defended the practice. Apparently its common.

  The rationale is that its safer to distribute the machines before the election. That makes it harder for any one person to co-opt them.

  The alternative is keep the machines in a central location. Which could permit a few individuals access to all the machines at once.

  Note that in King County Washington, anything sensative I take home with me is put into a bag and all the bags are sealed. Of course, your mileage varies. I've seen the documentaries and know that not all counties take the same precautions.

  Quite often, we election integrity activists find ourselves disagreeing with the people running our elections and the politicians who set up the rules. But make no mistake, elections officials have a very tough job and work their asses off. Of course, there's always the 5% who are malignant, just like in the rest of life.

  I mention this because I've learned that I get a lot further using sugar instead of vinegar. Often times, there's good reasons for how things are. Other times, the decisions have already been made for them. (Who here hasn't had a boss who made a bad call, leaving you to pick up the peices and make things works?)

  Please, keep asking your questions. I'm very eager to hear their answers. Thanks for posting.

  by zappini on Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 07:58:54 AM PDT