{news} Fwd: Member of Black Caucus tells Black voters: Be very concerned about voting machines

Mon Aug 21 12:18:55 EDT 2006

Black Box Voting <blackboxvoting at worldnet.att.net> wrote:  From: "Black Box Voting" <blackboxvoting at worldnet.att.net>
To: <info at votethornton.com>
Subject: Member of Black Caucus tells Black voters: Be very concerned about voting machines
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 08:59:03 -0700

This message is from Black Box Voting: http://www.blackboxvoting.org

BET.com -- Rep. Cynthia McKinney: Voting Machines Cheat Blacks
http://www.bet.com/News/mckinneyvotingmachines.htm?wbc_purpose=Basic&WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished&Referrer=%7B03CE5360-2620-42CB-AD7E-77E4249C5FB7%7D

Cynthia McKinney, the fiery Georgia Democrat said last week that electronic voting machines deprive Black folks of their voting rights. Speaking during the national Dialogue and Revival for Social Justice in the Black Church, sponsored by the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, McKinney said that Black voters should oppose the machines, which she added are designed to steal elections. 

"You won't know who won as long as we have [them], with the problems that have been manifested by them, McKinney said.

BLACK BOX VOTING, a national nonpartisan nonprofit elections watchdog group, concurs. SOLUTIONS and WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT are at the bottom of this article.

In a series of five tests in elections offices with real voting equipment, Black Box Voting was able to manipulate elections results without leaving a trace. Black Box Voting brought in two computer security professionals for demonstrations. Usually, it took less than 60 seconds to take over the election. Successful hacks were demonstrated using a number of attack points.

HACKED WITHOUT A TRACE

- On Feb. 14, 2005 and again on May 2, 2005, Black Box Voting and expert Dr. Herbert Thompson demonstrated a takeover of the voting machine "mother ship" -- the central tabulator that adds up votes from all the precincts. This demonstration was conducted in the Leon County Florida elections office and was videotaped.

- On May 26, 2005, Black Box Voting and Finnish expert Harri Hursti took control of election results by manipulating the electronic ballot box in a polling place optical scan machine. 

- On Dec. 13, 2005, Black Box Voting, with Finnish expert Harri Hursti, blew apart a mock election demonstrating total control of all parts of the system and all audit reports. The hacker never entered the room and the elections supervisor was two feet from the voting system that was hacked. It happened without a trace.

- In March 2006, Black Box Voting and experts Harri Hursti and a company called Security Innovation did a biopsy on a Diebold touch-screen in Emery County Utah, and discovered "back doors" -- openings to insert malicious election-tampering -- in all three levels of the system, the boot loader, the operating system and the voting program. (The boot loader can control the operating system, the operating system can control the voting program. When you turn on a computer, it whirs and thinks (BOOT LOADER) and then goes into Windows (OPERATING SYSTEM) and then you open your program (i.e. Microsoft Word). 

What Black Box Voting's experts found was that a back door had been constructed by Diebold Election Systems in each level, and that if one was to find one back door and close it off with new security measures, it could be re-opened from one of the other back doors.

The New York Times reported these findings as "the nuclear bomb" of electronic voting.

ZOGBY POLL SHOWS IT'S NEARLY UNANIMOUS: VOTERS INSIST ON RIGHT TO OBSERVE VOTE COUNTING
>From Scoop News, by Michael Collins, Aug 21 2006: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0608/S00220.htm 

According to a recent Zogby Poll: 
- At a stunning rate of 92%, Americans insist on the right to watch their votes being counted. 
- And, at an overwhelming 80%, they strongly object to the use of secret computer software to tabulate votes without citizen access to that software. 

Viewing vote counting has become a process of watching computers, somewhat akin to watching the radio, but without sound.

A Zogby Poll was commissioned and sponsored by election rights and business law attorney Paul Lehto of Everett. Washington. It consisted of 1018 interviews over a five day period beginning August 11, 2006. Details: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0608/S00220.htm

********** 

NEAR UNIVERSAL DEMAND TO SEE THE VOTES COUNTED

Most all likely voters (92%) agree that citizens have the right to view and obtain information about how election officials’ count votes Just 6% feel citizens do not have this right. 

Four fifths of respondents within every demographic group selected the right for citizen review and access, Statement A. This includes overwhelming majorities of both Kerry (92.8%) and Bush supporters (90.8%); independents (96.9%); Catholics (92.8%), Protestants (90.8%), Jews (87.2%), and those with no religious affiliation (93.3%). 

********** 

THE PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO KNOW AND THEIR RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW

What will people think and do when they find out that these rights are (a) not granted universally either in law or by custom and (b) that even if they are granted, they are virtually unobtainable due to the nature of computerized voting. Invisible ballots cannot be observed by voters. Computer software calculations cannot be observed by voters. Inquiring about and receiving information on these invisible processes requires an act of faith of epic proportions. Voters are expected to believe summary data and tables from election officials who routinely deny and/or discourage access to vote counting and who sign contracts with private vendors like Diebold, Sequoia, and ES&S, that surrender the right of officials or the public to inspect the most important software in the voting machines, the source code. 

Lou Dobbs’ coverage includes online polls that consistently show 80% and greater preference for a complete dismissal of voting machines and a return to paper ballots. 

* * * * *

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO TAKE BACK U.S. ELECTIONS:

- The public has the right to observe the entire election process. 
- The public has a right to get information on how that process works in order to satisfy the requirement for free and fair elections. 

SOLUTIONS FROM BLACK BOX VOTING, the nonprofit, nonpartisan elections watchdog group that proved once and for all that all electronic voting systems can be hacked, are prone to error, and through Freedom of Information and public records requests proved that citizens have lost the right to authenticate elections at all:

Black Box Voting ( http://www.blackboxvoting.org ) has prepared a "Tool Kit" to help citizens learn the skills to take back their elections. It is available as a free download (Adobe Acrobat, version 7 or later recommended):
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit.pdf

This fall, hundreds of thousands of citizens are about to discover for themselves that they do not have the right to authenticate their own elections. This discovery will propel change. 

If you have any concerns at all -- weird results, etc., you can obtain one-on-one help from Black Box Voting -- e-mail crew at blackboxvoting.org.

* * * * *

HOW YOU CAN BECOME PART OF SOLUTIONS: 

Take the following simple actions:

1) Sign up for the NATIONAL HAND COUNT REGISTRY: http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-profile.cgi?action=register

2) The Citizen's Tool Kit is the citizen's Declaration of Independence. 
http://www.blackboxvoting.org -- It contains 20 modules, each only a few pages long.

- Pick any module
- Choose any action from the module 
- See it through to its completion
- You have just participated in the launch of a remarkable evolution to put our republic back in the hands of the taxpayers.

* * * * *

Black Box Voting is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501c(3) elections watchdog group supported entirely by citizen donations. We refuse funds from any vendor or vested interest. 
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/donate.html
Black Box Voting
330 SW 43rd St Suite K
PMB 547 
Renton WA 98055

* * * * *

If you wish to be removed from any further updates, hit "reply" and type the word "remove" in the subject line.

Please plan to participate this fall to restore control of elections to the citizenry. Thank you for your stewardship of our republic.

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Tim McKee cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager-
    National Committee Member of the Green Party(Connecticut)

  Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer-   www.VoteThornton.com
  email: info at votethornton.com

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