In my former life as a financial auditor part of my duties were to test the integrity of a company's accounting systems (internal control procedures, computer software programs, and physical security controls.) It is the Secretary of State's responsibility to do similarly with regard to testing the integrity of the vote counting system.
Current CA SOS Debra Bowen has lived up to those duties, and then some. She deserves the support of the progressive community, as well as loud round of applause.
My first exposure to Ms. Bowen was when she ran for the 53rd CA Assembly district (southwest Los Angeles Co.), where I lived at the time. Bowen had done pro bono legal work for the environmental group Heal the Bay, and decided she could have an even bigger impact on environmental issues for the South Bay area by molding environmental law at the state level.
Bowen's opponent was the young Republican male (and as it would turn out, fundie before fundie was "in") mayor of Redondo Beach. The race was neck and neck for much of the time. Then shortly before the election a flyer was mailed to voters wherein Bowen was called a "fascist" (hey, they were ahead of Glenn Beck's time.)
Redondo Beach Mayor W. Brad Parton is angrily denying any ties with the religious right and is retaliating by comparing his opponent, attorney Debra Bowen, to Nazis and religious bigots.
source That was the proverbial straw that broke undecided (and even some Republican) voters to Bowen.
Debra Bowen followed that win with another for a second term in the Assembly. After being termed out in the Assembly, she won two terms as state senator for the 58th district. During those years in the legislature she tackled more than environmental law. She authored laws directed at election information disclosure and results verification (such as requiring paper records for electronic voting machines.) That work put her on the path to the Secretary of State office.
After taking office in 2007, Debra ordered a groundbreaking top-to-bottom review of California’s voting systems. When this review by dozens of independent experts revealed significant flaws in every voting system examined, Debra shored up election security and post-election audits in an unprecedented way. She specified detailed conditions for use of each type of voting system and imposed strict limitations on the use of direct recording electronic (DRE) machines.
For this trailblazing leadership in strengthening democracy, Debra was recognized nationally with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, one of the highest global honors for public servants who choose principles over partisanship.
As Secretary of State, Debra has also:
# Streamlined operations and cut her agency’s budget by more than 20%
# Enhanced public access by expanding website services and establishing social media feeds of Secretary of State news and directives
# Fought for increased accountability of private-sector election contractors
# Won $3.25 million for Californians in a lawsuit against a voting system vendor
# Strengthened election fraud prevention efforts
# Launched a complete rebuild of the statewide voter registration database
# Expanded voter education with creative new and traditional methods
http://www.debrabowen.com/...
Bowen is now up for re-election against a celebrity-only Republican (who never voted until last year) who will no doubt water down the controls she had so diligently implemented. Debra wants as much support as possible from the grassroots by the Sept. 30 quarter close. Please help Debra continue to protect voter rights and election information transparency.
Her ActBlue contribution page is HERE.
Note: The term "tic and tie" is jargon for what an auditor does when testing accounting records. A "tic" mark is a symbol to indicate an auditor has tested a particular item, such as verifying an amount per a list to a physical document like an invoice. (The term "tic mark fraud" is when someone marks an item as having been tested when they haven't actually done so.) To "tie" out an amount means to match/balance one amount to another. For example, the total of a sublist or journal to a line item on a summary, such as Accounts Payable.