Tag: voting

Are Wayne County's voting machines trustworthy?

Early voting is underway in Wayne County, Indiana.  Voters showing up at the polling stations will find themselves directed to the Hart InterCivic voting machines.

A 2007 study of these machines, initiated by the Ohio Secretary of State and conducted by Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and WebWise Security, Inc. found that:

the Hart system lacks the technical protections necessary to guarantee
a trustworthy election under operational conditions...Virtually every
ballot, vote, election result, and audit log is forgeable or otherwise
manipulatable by an attacker with even brief access to the voting systems.

You can read a summary of the study or read the full 335-page report.

Wayne County 2012 election candidate information

Tim Russert's Office

(This blog post has been updated since the original publishing - see details below.)

This coming Wednesday at the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce candidate debates I'll be participating in some post-debate analysis with my colleagues on the Palladium-Item Editorial Board.

As a part of researching for that and for my own voting, I went in search of information that state and county candidates have made available online about themselves and their views, especially in contested races.

What I found was disappointing: state and local candidates are barely making any information at all about themselves and their views, plans and credentials available to voters.

Continue reading "Wayne County 2012 election candidate information" →

Removing straight party voting in Indiana - SB146

Hi-tech voting technologyIndiana Senator Mike Delph from District 29 has introduced Senate Bill 146 which would remove the option of straight party ticket voting from Indiana election ballots.  As Doug Masson notes, this change would probably favor the Republican party in most districts.

I think straight party ticket ballots generally only do a disservice to Indiana voters.

At best, it enables a kind of impulsive loyalty to a vague label that can mean very different things to different people.

Continue reading "Removing straight party voting in Indiana - SB146" →

Chris's campaign concludes, work continues

In today's election, the citizens of Richmond made a choice about who they want to help shape the future of this community in the coming years. While I am of course disappointed that I was not elected to City Council, I am grateful for the votes I did receive and for the amazing support I've had along the way.

Some highlights from the unofficial results [PDF]:

  • 5,945 voters voted
  • 2,717 of those voted for me to be one of the three members of City Council At-Large, 201 votes short of a win

This has been my first foray into politics, and it's been an incredibly rewarding journey. As I've walked through neighborhoods in Richmond, I've had a chance to hear from residents here what issues matter most to them. As I've sat down with community leaders and decision-makers, I've learned about the complexities of building a thriving city in tough economic times. As I've talked with supporters and members of the media, I've enjoyed being challenged to communicate my hopes and views concisely and authentically. In these last nine plus months I've come to appreciate how much important work there is to do in this great town, and how many opportunities we have to make it better.

I congratulate the winners of today's election, and wish them the very best as they take office or continue in their existing roles. I ask each of them to stay true to the promises they've made during this election, and to hold themselves accountable to the ideas and vision that they set forth in their campaigns.

My campaign would not have been possible without the gracious support and enthusiasm of those who have lent their time and talents in many forms:

Continue reading "Chris's campaign concludes, work continues" →

Chris wins in the primary!

In today's primary election, the citizens of Richmond made a choice about who they want to help shape the future of this community in the coming years. I'm grateful that in that process, voters have chosen me to continue on to the general election in the Fall as a candidate for City Council At-Large!

Some highlights from the unofficial results:

  • 14.46% of Richmond's registered voters voted
  • 54.92% of those voting chose a Democratic ballot over a Republican ballot
  • 791 of those voted for me to be one of the three Democratic candidates for City Council At-Large in the fall general election

This has been my first foray into politics, and it's been an incredibly rewarding journey so far. As I've walked through neighborhoods in Richmond, I've had a chance to hear from residents here what issues matter most to them. As I've sat down with community leaders and decision-makers, I've learned about the complexities of building a thriving city in tough economic times. As I've talked with supporters and members of the media, I've enjoyed being challenged to communicate my hopes and views concisely and authentically. In these last few months I've come to appreciate how much important work there is to do in this great town, and how many opportunities we have to make it better.

Today's win would not have been possible without the gracious support and enthusiasm of those who have lent their time and talents to my campaign in many forms.

Continue reading "Chris wins in the primary!" →

Links for the Week - January 12, 2008

Links of recent interest:

Links for the Week - Election Day Roundup

Election Day Roundup:

  1. The Results Are In: Four more years for Sally Hutton and Karen Chasteen, a bit of a shakeup on the City's Common Council, and a 27% voter turnout - bleh, but not so bleh as last time.
  2. Voting, a blog entry: Scenes and thoughts from one voter's experience
  3. Pal-Item endorses Hutton, Thalls erases blog entries: most voters were probably thinking of the critical need to observe good blogging etiquette when they cast their vote today...
  4. Meet the new Mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard: Greg Ballard, the Republican who pulled off one of the biggest political upsets in Indiana history, will be the next mayor of Indianapolis.
  5. Antioch College will stay open: a different kind of recent vote that affects the region. Of course, if you're the Weekly Standard, you might be a little disappointed after predicting Death by Political Correctness.

How was your Election Day?

Three Questions to Ask When You Vote

IMG_1306.JPGTomorrow is Election Day here in Richmond, and in the name of helping us move toward a voting process where the vote you cast can actually be verified, I'll suggest these three questions to ask when you visit your friendly local computerized voting center. You may not get the answers you want, but the people who oversee the process will not know that changes are desired unless they hear from you:

  • Can I please have a paper record of my vote? The answer will likely be "no." In Indiana, there is no way for you to have a written record of your vote. The state would like you to trust that it has properly received and counted your vote in its computer system. If there were a need for a recount, the state would use the computer record of your vote, not a paper trail that humans can look at. But hey, who ever heard of an election that was close, or one where a recount really mattered?
  • Can you please show me a copy of the software source code that powers these voting machines? The answer is probably "no" again. The software that runs on the voting machines we use was developed by for-profit corporations, and the contract that your lawmakers typically make with them is that the source code won't have to be available for the public to see. We just have to trust that they haven't made any mistakes that might affect vote counts, or worse, any intentional changes that might alter the outcome of the election. But hey, who ever heard of someone trying to change the outcome of an election for their own benefit?
  • Can you please provide me with a copy of the testing procedures to insure that my voting machine has not been altered or compromised? Many officials will provide you with a copy of the procedures if you ask in advance, and sometimes copies may be available onsite at the voting center. You may be charged a reasonable per-page copying fee. If you can't get your verbal request fulfilled, submit your request in writing, which creates a legal duty for your public officials to produce the documents. Once you have them, you can decide if they're sufficient for you to trust the democratic process to the integrity of the machines and the companies that make them. But hey, who ever heard of a government-managed process that wasn't totally comprehensive and in the full interest of its citizens?

You can learn more about verified voting at VerifiedVoting.org and their page on Wayne County's voting equipment. If you'd like to take further action on this issue, there's a Citizens Tool Kit available that includes notes on how to raise awareness and make change in your community.

Initial analysis of the Wayne County primary election results

IMG_2013.JPGSome initial analysis of the Wayne County primary election results:

  • Only 4,378 people voted. That's 16% of our registered voter population, 27,290, which is also woefully small. These numbers are pathetic.
  • Republican mayoral candidates: of the 2,645 people who voted, almost 80% of them picked Rick Thalls over Ron Chappell and Danny Black. Possible conclusions to be drawn...Rick Thalls had the leverage of a career in the school system and all of the lives he's touched as a part of that? Danny Black and Ron Chappell needed to do a lot more campaigning? Mr. Black didn't have enough name recognition and people remembered Mr. Chappell's lack of integrity around the City's non-discrimination policy discussion? Hmmm. Quite a landslide, anyway, and some good momentum for Mr. Thalls as he faces the incumbent in the fall.
  • Democratic mayoral candidates: Mayor Sally Hutton garners more than 82% of the vote over Mark Cordell. Cordell didn't have a very widely distributed image or platform, and so the incumbent advantage easily wins out. Still, with only 1,651 voting, it's not exactly an overflowing of political capital for the Mayor, and falls short of her fall opponent's apparent levels of support. She'll need to work hard between now and then to win.
  • Republican candidates for city council district 2: Sharon Sheets beat Joshua Jones by 8 votes, with only a total of 84 votes. With voter participation that low for a particular seat, it's sad to see such a small margin, and you can't really fault the losing candidate. Let's just hope the winner is qualified.
  • Democratic candidates for city council: way too many unopposed seats or even empty seats. Regardless of your party affiliation, you've got to appreciate the benefits of a contest when it comes to holding political leaders accountable over time. For the at-large seats, the margins were all so close that again it becomes more a matter of voter turnout and less a matter of mandate based on qualifications. Let's hope the winners can do the job.
  • The voting process: mixed results. Convenience and efficiency seemed to be the general trend, but when I asked for a paper record of my vote they still could not give me one, and when I asked to inspect the software that powered the voting machines, they still could not let me in. It's a black box voting system and we have no idea who or what could be influencing the outcome...a complete failure of transparent democracy.

    The stickers they give out when you're done should read "I've been told My Vote Counted!"

What do you think?

A matter of some debate

IMG_1521Tonight I had the opportunity to serve as a moderator for the Richmond-Wayne County Legislative debates for contested seats in Wayne County. I did so under the label of a young adult professional, but also thoroughly enjoyed participating in the process as someone interested in local politics, policy and community-building. It was rewarding to see some of the questions I had helped to craft posed to the current and future leaders in our government, and while there are so many parts of local governing and elections that need improvement or replacement, I am energized by the commitment to service demonstrated by so many of the candidates in one form or another. Thanks to them for that.

Did you watch or attend the debates (or listen to them)? What did you think?