Sequoia is late with new voting machines

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Author Message   Foj Citizen Username: Foger Post Number: 1184 Registered: 9-2004 Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 11:49 pm:        Essex may be using a lot of lever machines to vote on this spring. SOE Casciano was expecting 700 new Advantage DRE E-voting machines by Febuary 28th. He has taken delivery of about 100. They are now 2 months late. 2 other counties, in NJ have found themselves, in the same prediciment. The same system was hacked by DR Micheal Shamos in PA a few weeks ago.   notehead Supporter Username: Notehead Post Number: 3189 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 4:16 pm:        So... that's good, right? If the system is hack-able then we're better off with the old machines?   tom Citizen Username: Tom Post Number: 4790 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 4:35 pm:        The later the better.   Foj Citizen Username: Foger Post Number: 1185 Registered: 9-2004 Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 6:54 pm:        We might see the old lever machines one more time.   LibraryLady.. Supporter Username: Librarylady Post Number: 3311 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 7:31 pm:        You guys told the Freeholders all this BEFORE they purchased them, yet they went ahead and contacted for them anyway,wasting out taxpayers dollars on useless machinery. So who's getting paid off????   Foj Citizen Username: Foger Post Number: 1187 Registered: 9-2004 Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 7:46 pm:        Library Lady, you say it best: "So who's getting paid off????" In what may be an interesting trend, some counties are announcing they are going to use uncertified software in Touchscreen voting equipment. In the rush to meet the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) mandates, voting machine vendors are facing late deliveries and what appears to be equipment shortages, while vendors customer service departments are being stretched thin. Without the vendors customer service and support, are jurisdictions feeling they should do whatever they have to do. Many Election Officials are facing School Board, Municipal and then Primary elections. FL. County to use voting machines with non-certified software: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/14389916.htm PA Allen County to use voting machines with non-certified software: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/14391021.htm IN. Kosciusko County to use voting machines with non-certified software: http://www.wane.com/Global/story.asp?S=4798441&nav=0RYb It may be, that the Big 3 vendors, Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia are giving Election Officials good cause to look elsewhere. If it was me, I would find a vendor that had product ready to ship. In Indiana, Kosciusko County has looked to Microvote for voting equipment, knowing that Indiana has yet to certify the software in the Microvote. This should good news to smaller vendors, who now can move out any equipment that is cluttering up the warehouse. Here is a shortage of, “memory paks”, in Harrison County Kentucky: http://www.courierjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060421/NEWS02/6042104 26 And yet vendors seem to be saying, ” We can deliver”.: PA., Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said ES&S will deliver 2,628 machines - two for each voting precinct - before the primary. Here: http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16506712&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_i d=478569&rfi=6 This same song seems to be playing in NJ. Essex and Passiac Counties were expecting deliveries to be completed by as early as late Febuary, Sequoia, is a good 2 months late on delivering the expected 1200 or so Sequoia Advantage DREs. NJ., Essex County Freeholders want to know: Where are the voting machines? “Originally, the county was supposed to deploy the new machines for the upcoming elections. As per the county’s contract with Sequoia, [b]the 700 machines were due[/b] to arrive by Feb 28. By …… Feb……, [b]only 49 had been delivered.”[/b] http://www.localsource.com/articles/2006/04/19/shared/essex_county_news/doc44464 20b09f53806735342.txt NJ., Passaic County County Administrator Anthony J. De Nova said he expects 600 machines with built-in audiokits to be delivered later this week. De Nova said the Sequoia machines would be ready for the June primary election, adding that 50 Sequoia machines without the audio accommodation had been delivered to the county to assist in training election staff http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1NiZmZ2JlbDd mN3ZxZWVFRXl5NjkyMTEwOCZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTM= Have we seen the end of vendor problems, probably not. With what appears to be tens of thousands of voting machines still contractually owed be vendors, it remains to be seen how many elections this spring get botched by vendors who wrote HAVA and now are overwhelmed by HAVA. I think many of us will vote on our venerable old lever machines – one more time. Election Officials will likely pull out the stops to assemble a combination of lever machines, optical scanners and touchscreens in hopes that Election Day in November goes smoothly. But the oncoming train wreck seems to be gaining momentum, something’s broken, and it won’t slowdown. What’s broken is HAVA. Greedy Vendors got their fingerprints all over the law from the start. 4 years later, HAVA has shown its true intentions, and it’s a powerfull locomotive barreling down on us..   GSP142 Citizen Username: Gsp142 Post Number: 103 Registered: 5-2003 Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 8:27 pm:        And while the old lever machines are not free of occasional problems (caused in part, I believe, by the lack of available parts due to the age of the machines), I at least had some confidence that my vote was being counted, unlike these electronic machines with no verified paper trail.   Foj Citizen Username: Foger Post Number: 1189 Registered: 9-2004 Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 11:06 pm:        Actually A.V.M. in New York has every part available for the AVM Printmatic lever machine. And the same voting system Essex bought from Sequoia, is the same that was hacked by DR Micheal Shamos in PA. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/bucks _county/14229311.htm   GSP142 Citizen Username: Gsp142 Post Number: 108 Registered: 5-2003 Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 12:37 am:        Thanks for the correction on the parts availability, Foj.   Foj Citizen Username: Foger Post Number: 1192 Registered: 9-2004 Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 11:05 pm:        IIRC the AVM is like the best lever out there, most widly used IIRC. But Essex Lever machines are 50 years old. It would have been cheaper to buy optical scanners that scan a paper ballot. NO need for a printer to print the Paper trail. What really pisses me off is that in times of deficit, the 5 DEMs who voted for the Advantage Machines, end up buying the most expensive possible system. ANd it uses the same chip as the Commadore 64 computer...... Thats right the z-80 processor,which dates back to 1976. TOP Dollar for WHAT?