The full audio of the Board of Supervisors meeting is available at
http://acgov.org/board/meetings/audio.htm?bos_reg_06_28_05The public hearing and supervisor discussion starts at about one hour, 55 minutes into the board meeting audio, and last about three hours, 20 minutes.
This summary is probably flawed; use at your own risk.
1:55 Acting Registrar Ginnold
read prepared text, but added about the paper trail:
"There is a magnifying glass that goes over it that
I understand that Diebold is redesigning because currently it cuts off
the last two lines of the vote"
2:00 Acting Registrar Ginnold
about the VSPP
After Acting Registrar Ginnold says VSPP no longer makes
recommendations, Sup Carson wonders what their purpose is
2:06 Diebold Reps - 3 People
Total BS!!!
2:32 $5.4 million - could offer paper,
but need 33 types of ballots (11 types of parties times 3 languages)
2:36 TSx could do IRV; Software needs to be developed for the TSx to do IRV
2:42 Dr. Don Goldmacher introduces
2:42 Dr. Barbara Simons
On software
1. violates proposed EAC guidelines - privacy
2. Can't recount with roll of thermal paper - Nevada - manual audit
Clark County 320 man hours to manually recount 1268 ballots -> 15 min/ballots
3. not a true AVVPAT
- blind can't verify, no sip-puff option or tactile keyboard
4. Diebold poor security record, Hopkins, ..., Red team ("good" hackers)
hacked in with amazing ease.
SAIC with negative comments, 2/3 redacted
5. State of Calif. redacts reports.
6. uncertified software on machines in 17 counties.
"goal of an election is to convince the losers and their
followers that they lost"
2:56 Dr. Judith Bertelsen - focused on AVVPAT
3:04 Dr. Goldmacher
special election - do optical scan and count by hand
in future - optical scan cheaper than DRE
presently 37% use absentee ballots in Alameda County
3:10 Jerry Berkman -
see http://election-reform.us/ for paper comments given to supervisors previous day
by Jerry Berkman
not certified
violates the election code in many ways
violates the state process for approving election systems
violates the state standards for AVVPAT
"You buy it, you use it, you get sued".
This would be a new system, we not only are trading TS DREs
for TSx DREs, must also get new Gems and who knows what else
DRE vs. Ballot Marking Device
AVVPAT is not a ballot, so if audit and recount and AVVPAT differs
from DREs - which is used to decide the election?
outsourcing election - bogus testing by Shawn Southworth
Source Escrow is meaningless, can't compare binary to source
Alameda county - 4 pages in summary of EIRS summary
Testing - Steven Freeman, California tester is anonymous
Maryland - DRE froze, Diebold can't read the votes
why does Diebold modify the firmware?
about the AVVPAT
3:20 Acting Registrar Ginnold and Pres. of Board
============= Public Comment ================
3:22 Jeffrey Kaplan - Bay Area chapter of restoredemocracy.org
not sufficient oversight
secret proprietary voting system undermines democracry
corporations should not own the voting process
need accountability and transparency
3:26 Robert Wick - voter
Why does everyone have such doubts
I was never able to get to their objections in Alameda county.
I feel they are safe - there must be a conspiracy theory
(must live in another world)
3:29 Dave Hiller -
Diebold's response to RFP by San Diego last year:
Diebold says "yes", it has implemented Instant Runoff Voting
(IRV) on TSx, and has been running IRV elections since 1995
in Cambridge, Mass.
Also bid in for Ireland with IRV, but want Alameda to pay $981,000
for development
"Are they lying to us or to San Diego County?"
3:33 Gordon Right
In 2003, I pressed "No" and "Yes" lit up. So I pressed "Yes"
and then "Yes" went dark and then I pressed "No" and it lit up.
I have no confidence.
"There are a growing number of citizens who believe these machines
were developed to fix elections," like the Downing Street Memo.
In France hand voting, hand counted, results in 4 hours.
3:36 Lynn Davidson
20 years in software
No confidence in these machines, "I felt like my vote was going into
a black hole". Since then I always vote absentee.
To important to just say "trust us".
3:38 Dave Kadelcheck, Californians for Electoral Reform
Shouldn't be sole source; should be competitive including
IRV, disability, etc.
Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro have IRV authorized, but can't do
it because County runs elections.
IRV shouldn't cost $981,000 when others will also use it.
Should get trade in credit, even from other companies.
3:41 Jim Soper
Former Senior Consultant, Digital Equipment Corporation
at European Technical Headquarters
Open Voting Consortium - public software, on the internet,
prints out the ballot, electronic record is backup audit
does IRV, free, will be ready by June if Secretary of State
approves money for Univerity of California and OVC to finish it.
"Mission Critical" - everything depends on that.
if we don't get this right, democracy collapses
Software originally developed by
cocaine traffickers, computer embezzlers,
in LA with roots to Malayasian gambling interests
Federal testers - vendor pays people to test their products.
3:45 Pat Martin, poll worker
quite a few people come in and want to do the traditional
thing and vote a paper ballot.
Oklahoma has large oversized ballots and then they have
a vote-counting party to witness the hand count.
They bought an optical scanner and gutted it and put in
state owned software.
3:47 Roy Rockwell, former poll worker
want to talk other vendors too.
3:49 Mike Cole (blind?)
Voter in Berkeley
Interest is in Accessible voting for me; but paper ballot
doesn't do it for me.
3:50 Richard Tamm
Computer Programmer for 30 years.
Any number of studies by researchers that point to massive
vote switching and fraud by both Diebold and ES&S.
Diebold uses last minute patches, easily hackable.
Next election, all paper, spend money locally to hire
people to count in November.
3:53 Harry Scott, Hayward Demos Democratic Club
Had meeting: no paper trail, proprietary ownership
We need paper trail and take charge and have public ownership
of code.
There may be a need for electronic voting for paper trail.
We're seeing more and more absentee ballot.
3:56 Dan Ashby,
"I am a volunteer activist with the California Election
Protection Network, which is an organization of 25 groups
up and down the state that are working to reclaim our system
from a fraudulent voting system that is captive
to private corporations".
We should have had 30 days to prepare for Acting Registrar's
report.
Illegally certified by violating California's own system.
VVPAT is not a ballot; not a real verification of voter intent.
Nevada, only real world test of VVPAT system, only 8%
of voters
consulted printed record. Magnifying glass is a mediation
and illegal. Illegal to entertain a bid before federal
certification.
"If your own certification systems don't mean anything to you,
why bother?"
Connecticut study with Ballot Marking Device plus paper ballot.
3:59 John Bario
Electrical Engineer with over 25 years of software experience.
Why wasn't district two city council race not using IRV?
Diebold closed, riddled with security holes.
Throwing good money after bad doesn't make sense in business
or politics.
4:03 Supervisor Steele - couldn't voters use paper ballots in the
last election?
4:04 Michelle Gabriel
I have no confidence in adequate testing by companies, federal
or state testing.
quoted Ted Selzer, CalTech-MIT Voting Project
need defense-in-depth
Diebold submitted a system for Sacramento for testing where
the paper roll jumped out.
I haven't heard that anyone has done a recount.
4:04 Laura Offtadal, Chair of Alameda County Voting Accessibility
Advisory Committee
I pay first class taxes.
Please keep touch screen voting, not just one but at least
two in each polling station.
4:09 Jerry Berkman,
If you wanted to vote on paper in the last election,
it was provisional; your name was put on the envelope even
though you had already signed in.
4:10 Jennifer Kidder, volunteer with Voting Rights Task Force.
Over 1300 petitions against Diebold being certified in the state,
I collected about 180 this weekend..
Many people are not only passionate about not wanting Diebold in
this state, but also don't want any privately owned company
counting or more accurately controlling their vote.
Advocated hand count ballots.
"I personally asked for paper and was given a provisional ballot,"
and I had to fill out my name on the envelopoe and
"the person who worked at the polling place said that's not
important, you don't need to worry about that ...
I imagine ... my vote was probably not counted".
Many of the people who signed my petition were disabled.
One disabled person told me:
"Regardless of the HAVA requirement ... I always need assistance
to vote. ... this thing about an unassisted vote absolutely
does not matter to me ... I would rather have my assistant
whom I trust and have a relationship with than trust a
voting machine whether I hear it or move it ..."
4:14 Judy Shelton
We are talking about reliability and knowing the vote is honest.
Registrars have relationship with vendors, and I understand
how that happens, and they are very charming and likeable,
and good at what they do.
"Ease can not trump reliability and honest and integrity"
(Editor: I think she meant ease of upgrade/purchase for ease)
4:15 Dave Joki
high school math teacher for 12 and a half years
"Several Diebold executives employees and counsultants
who are ex-employess have been convicted of felonies
in the area of election law.
They were decertified here in California."
I would urge the registrar to do a mock recount with the
Diebold thermal paper.
"When I get thermal receipts, they smear all the time"
At VSSP hearing, security experts say Diebold security
systems are wholefully inadequate.
Germany hand counts, and they are very technological advanced.
Wireless capability of DREs - bad.
4:19 Sup Carson asks registrar - Logic and Accuracy Tests on each type
of ballot and each and every machine
4:20 Kim Alexander, President of the California Voter Foundation
First phase in paper ballots, and phase out electronic.
This county rate of absentee ballots has risen from 18%
to 37% since 2002.
Need full cost/benefit analysis before any purchases, including:
overtime, security, deployment costs.
Consider other vendors.
1% manual count does not include absentee ballots in Alameda
county, it should.
4:23 Craig Williams
President of Hayward Demos
We have one of the worst voter turnout in the world.
The cynicism only hurts us more.
In France, 80% turnout, ... much higher than ours.
4:25 Francis Hilliard, Berkeley
"I voted on a Diebold and all I got was suckered".
"Working at the election, training was so bad I knew I
couldn't do anything if there was any problems. But luckily
there wasn't anything we could do about the problems anyway."
"I stopped working at the polls; there's nothing anybody can do"
"throwing democracy down the toilet" by having corporations
4:28 Jerry ?
(couldn't understand his voice)
machine easy for me. I like the job with Alameda county.
4:30 Melisa Davis
I have no clue what you are talking about, no time to
read the internet. I don't know if the vote is counted,
it's important to make sure our voted is counted,
you can't proved anything to me without a 100% paper trail.
You need oversight from the public.
I'm unhappy because I don't understand it; it is too complicated.
4:35 CLOSE OF PUBLIC HEARING - Board discussion
Sup Carson, County Counsel, other sups - discuss "blended" system
and equal protection and ADA.
4:38 Steele - paper ballot question - why are they provisional?
4:39 === Move on to next item:
voting on proposal to open negotiation with Diebold
4:42 Sup Steele: I don't use the computer. "When I voted on
the system, I was so proud of myself."
Dilemmas: don't trust technology but do trust our registrar
and (former registrar) Brad Clark who do know a lot about this.
I'm leaning on our experts in our county ...
"100 years ago, when my grandfather was in politics in San
Francisco, there was a huge uproar .. about the paper ballot
... and nobody trusted it."
4:45 Sup Lai-Bitker
Difficult dilemma.
Touch screen real asset. Chinese community, seniors, very
grateful for that system because they can use it.
we need to include some people in our community like
UC Berkeley that have expertise in technology while evaluating
the system
we need to do a full cost benefit analysis,
including cost of operation, staffing,
likes "blended" option.
4:50 Acting Registrar Ginnold:
Overriding request today is for paper ballots so people feel
more comfortable that their ballot is being counted as they
intended.
Miley: with blended option, need 33 types of ballots?
Acting Registrar Ginnold: yes, still need 33 types of ballots?
4:52 Steele: wait for state certification
4:52 Acting Registrar Ginnold: item is just to negotiate and bring back to board
for approval
4:54 Sup Carson:
State law requires VVPAT by Jan. 1.
One option is all paper, but that compromises multi-language
and disabled.
4:55 Sup Steele:
Bring in outside experts.
4:56 Acting Registrar Ginnold
Other counties are putting in just one touch screen per polling place
L.A. has Diebold for early voting, InkaVote for precincts.
4:57 Motion was made? Miley seconds for discussion purposes for option 2:
trade in current touch screens for newer models.
4:59 Sup Miley:
do poll of voter confidence.
Acting Registrar Ginnold:
we could do that immediately, and use an independent polling company
Sup Miley:
also use outside experts
concerned with "blended option" about confusion at the polls
Acting Registrar Ginnold:
at last election: 300-350,000 used DREs, 35,000 provisional,
200,000 absentee
5:03 Acting Registrar Ginnold:
Some of other systems don't integrate well with our election
management system. Difficult timing as primary is very complex.
"Blended", must be with current vendor. Not enough time for
procurement.
5:04 Sup Carson:
"Motion and second.
All in favor say aye". (can't hear the votes)
I'm voting against. A sense of entrapment.
"We are purchasing new equipment,
and haven't gone through a proper RFP to see if any other
businesses could provide it at a competitive price."
"Verifiability is the fundamental issue here."
"Fundamentally haven't gone through the steps."
Entrapped in slippery road with Diebold.
We've had a lot of problems with Diebold.
"And it was very difficult to deal with Diebold and they
were extremely arrogant with this county in the beginning stages
... We have until the primary in order to implement the law
of the land..."
5:08 Clerk:
Can I clarify the vote?
5:08 Sup Carson:
"3 yes, 1 no, 1 excused for option 2
Clerk:
"which is the staff recommendation back on the board's agenda,
in addition the registrar of voters will pursue a voter confidence
poll through an independent agency
and also consider adding some technical expertise as we proceed."
5:09 Sup Lai-Bitker
We need to find a way to address voter confidence issues.
===========================================================================
From the minutes, as posted on Board web site:
Approved Option 2 in the staff recommendation; directed staff to pursue a voter
confidence poll through an independent agency and consider additional technical
expertise.
From the handout:
p. 3: Option 2: Upgrade the TS to the TSx, which is the option the
Committee recommended. See discussion below.
...
p. 4:
The Election Equipment Committee reiterated its support for electronic
voting in Alameda County for the following reasons:
...
The Committee recommended that the County trade in its AccuVote TS
machines for new TSx machines for the following reasons:
- The TSx has the VVPAT required by January 1, 2006.
- The TSx is lighter than the TS and therefore easier for poll workers and
staff to handle....
- The TSx has more functionality and is more voter friendly ...
- The Diebold VVPAT prints in all languages. It is unclear whether the other
voting systems are able to meet this requirement for Alameda County
========= end ==========