"Call for action" = Dear Friends of Open Voting: // SF Calif
Dear Friends of Open Voting:
Yesterday, I received a call from John Wildemuth, staff writer for the
San Francisco Chronicle. I explained what we have done in San
Francisco to get officials receptive to an open source voting solution.
Today, his article appeared in the Chronicle, "S.F.
supervisors blamed for blocking new voting system." He did not publish anything I said. He mostly presented the point of view of Mayor Newsom. The monied interests are winning today.
http://www.sfgate.com/...
We need your help now to counter this misinformation. Please write to the Chronicle.
**I AM REPOSTING BRENTS CALL TO ACTION**
We need your help now to counter this misinformation. Please write to the Chronicle.
You can reach the author here:
jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com
and/or call him at 415-777-7159
Also write to the editors:
letters@sfchronicle.com
Newsom says the board made a mistake in rejecting the Sequoia $12.6 million contract. We don't think so.
- Newsom implies that buying Sequoia would mean SF would "get it right."
The Secretary of State's top-to-bottom review uncovered a litany of problems with the Sequoia system. Is this what the Mayor means by getting it right?
http://www.sos.ca.gov/...
- A new voting system based on open source software would be much better, fully transparent, and far less expensive. The could open the bid for such a system at any time. Even though no such system is currently certified, that work could be included in the bid.
Here's an example of a system that uses FREE software based on an international standard:
http://www.openvotingconsortium.org/...
But if they don't like that one, it doesn't matter. Any vendor could provide a system to meet the bid requirements.
We recommed that the bid specify OPEN SOURCE so everything is open to public scrutiny.
- When the Mayor advocates for Sequoia, he is advocating for private ownership of information that should all be public. This is wrong.
Here is a sample written by Alec Bash.
John Wildermuth's "S.F. supervisors blamed for blocking new voting system" ignores the key issue, that we need to be confident that every vote has been counted accurately.
We have grown accustomed to instant election returns, but are also finding that electronic voting machines can be hacked and elections stolen.
San Francisco is doing absolutely the right thing to not spend $12M on new Sequoia voting machines. They will soon be obsolete, because they cannot be trusted as long as secret, proprietary source code is embedded in every machine. By blocking the new Sequoia voting system, San Francisco now leads the nation in demanding public disclosure of the source code in voting machines. Open source code must come next.
Let's not forget Ohio and Florida when we think about honest elections. Secretary of State Debra Bowen's review of all voting machines in the State shows that safequards are needed. We all want our votes to be counted, and that's exactly what Bowen is trying to ensure.
To help speed the vote count San Franciscans should vote by absentee ballot to the maximum extent possible, so that their ballots will be counted as the polls are closing on Election Day.
Alec Bash
San Francisco CA 94114
Please write and/or phone the Chronicle now.
Thank you and best wishes.
Brent Turner
http://openvoting.org
**I AM REPOSTING BRENTS CALL TO ACTION**