A Partial Recount Confirmed

Marc Ambinder

AMES -- Mary Tiffany, an Iowa Republican Party official, confirms that at least one voting machine malfunctioned and that tabulators recounted at least 1500 ballots.

The state party rented optical scan machines from Diebold, a company at the center of several recent voting controversies. Recently, the state of California de-certified Diebold machines for the 2008 election.

Yesterday, Iowans who support Ron Paul failed to get a judge to require a voter-verified paper ballot be used in today's straw poll. Separately, the state party told the Paul campaign that a full paper recount would cost $184,000.

Already, some Paul supporters are whispering about a challenge.

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I think the results are pretty far fetched and it is worth a challenge. I really hope the Ron Paul campaign does not let them walk all over them. This needed to be addressed BEFORE the straw poll and it wasn't. I was called the wacko, weirdo, or the person hurting the campaign.

Here we are now after the poll, where the winners are announced all over TV and radio and TV interviews are being set up as I type. Instead of being proud of the results I would guess that every single Ron Paul supporter, in the back of their minds, are questioning the results. In my opinion, we are in a worse position challenging this after than we would have if we challenged it before hand.

This should be a learning experience for everyone involved.

Judge okays use of machines for straw poll

DesMoinesRegister.com

A federal judge shot down a request from a group of Iowans who distrust computerized voting machines and wanted ballots at today’s Republican straw poll to be stored in clear plastic containers then hand counted.

U.S. District Judge James Gritzner of Des Moines denied their request Friday for a temporary restraining order and an injunction against the straw poll’s use of the Diebold machines. The judge said there are no previous legal rulings that an unofficial straw poll offered by a private political entity is a public election that would be entitled to Constitutional protections.

The group of voting machine watchdogs oppose the Iowa Republican Party’s Presidential Straw Poll’s use of Diebold Election Systems machines. California elections officials decertified Diebold machines last week after a “top to bottom” security review found fundamental weaknesses. The California machines can still be used in that state, but new security measures are in place.

The machines at the straw poll are owned by Story County; 71 counties in Iowa use Diebold machines.

The watchdog group thinks the machines leave voting “ripe for fraud or machine failure – or even sabotage,” according to a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court.

The plaintiffs included five Iowans: Jennifer Maki of Dubuque, Pam Wagner of Homestead, Troy Reha of Des Moines, Ginger Corbett of Maquoketa and Roger Leahy of Fairfield. Three other plaintiffs, James Condit Jr. of Ohio, founder of Citizens for a Fair Vote Count; Robert L. Schulz of New York, leader of an organization called We the People; and Walter Reddy of Connecticut purchased the $35 tickets to the event but are not qualified to vote in the straw poll.

The complaint was filed against Story County election commissioner Mary Mosiman, Iowa Republican Party Chairman Ray Hoffman, the state of Iowa, Story County, and State Auditor David Vaudt. Voting will take place on the Iowa State University campus and be overseen by Mosiman’s office, with assistance from the state auditor’s office.
Mosiman on Friday expressed confidence in Story County’s machines, saying testing shows they’re counting the votes correctly.

“This is a very secure process and we wouldn’t want a machine that wasn’t functioning properly,” she said. (emphasis mine)
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Let's not forget that Mary Mosiman is on Romney's Leadership Team.

I wonder who she wants to win? According to this article on IowaGop.net, it is interesting that she is one of several people who have full access to the machines.

"The Global Election Management System (GEMS) computer is used to prepare ballots and voting equipment programs, and to compile and report election results. The GEMS shall not be used for any other function. The GEMS computer is not and shall not be linked to the Story County network or to the Internet. Access to the GEMS computer is limited to the Story County Auditor, Assistant Auditor, Deputy Auditors, and designated election staff member(s)."

Well I think someone is going to be shamed today and it's going to be Ron Paul and his supporters. Action should have been taken earlier to correct this potential disaster.

Romney Leadership Team Member Overseeing Straw Poll

I could certainly write volumes about this, but I think the facts paint the picture themselves.

The Iowa GOP is facing possible suit over their use of the same Diebold machines that were just de-certified. Story here.

They are claiming of course, that there is nothing to worry about since the voting procedure will be conducted with the assistance and oversight of the Story County Auditor's Office. Story here.

If we look here we see the Story County Auditor is Mary Mosiman.

Mary Mosiman also happens to be on Mitt Romney's "Romney for President Leadership Team".

So there you have it, the Story County Auditor who will take part in overseeing the voting on the questionable machines is part of a team dedicated to "help Governor Romney share his vision for America".

That's a blatant conflict of interest and this is something we cannot ignore.

PS. It's also worth noting that according to this article, Romney's Commonwealth PAC gave State Auditor David A. Vaudt $1,000 in 2004.

Iowa GOP Extorting Ron Paul Campaign

VERY IMPORTANT!
nationalexpositor.com

Director of communications for the Ron Paul Campaign, Jesse Benton, stated today that the Iowa GOP would charge the Paul camp $184,000 if they wanted to verify a paper count of the coming Iowa straw poll. Today, on the Dale Williams radio show, Mr. Benton said there will be a manual electronic count of the Iowa poll results. What Mr. Benton did not explain, as exposed in a previous National Expositor Article, “it is commonly known that this manual count” with Diebold machines “would only consist of spot checks of the voting machines for device calibration purposes. This does not constitute a verifiable check of the accuracy from either an engineering or statistical perspective.”

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Click here to Listen to the --- Interview

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In what amounts to extortion, the Iowa GOP is telling the Ron Paul campaign they must pay an excessive amount of money to manually verify the results in this weeks’ poll. Both Florida and California have recently decertified the same electronic Diebold voting machines that will be used in Iowa. The validity of the upcoming Iowa straw poll should not rest on one campaign but is the responsibility of the Iowa GOP.

You must let the Iowa GOP know that you disapprove of the use of decertified Diebold electronic voting machines and nothing short of a verifiable manual paper ballot would be acceptable for the Iowa straw poll this week.

This is a call to action, anyone who wants a verifiable election must call the Iowa GOP and demand a back up paper count. Iowa Republican Party - (515) 282-8105

Iowa Straw Poll Voting Machines in Question

nationalexpositor.com

VERY IMPORTANT: PASS THIS AROUND TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

National Expositor Exclusive – Yesterday, Ernest Hancock, candidate for Arizona secretary of state spoke with Mary Tiffany, communications director for the Iowa state Republican Party. During the conversation, Tiffany confirmed that there will be no manual recount for the Iowa straw poll that occurs on Saturday. [Emphasis mine]This weeks Iowa straw poll is to take place using the same Diebold electronic voting machines that have come into question in recent days. In an article in the Washington Post, Debra Bowen, California’s Secretary of State made the decision to withdraw approval of future use of the Diebold systems. “All of the voting systems studied had serious design flaws that have led directly to specific vulnerabilities, which attackers could exploit to affect election outcomes," Bowen explained.

Computerworld, this week reported that Florida’s Secretary of State, Kurt Browning also withdrew approval of the same Diebold voting systems. “In a letter sent to Diebold Election Systems President David Byrd on Tuesday, Browning said that vulnerabilities cited in the report must be fixed by Aug. 17 or the vender’s certification would be denied.”

Both Florida and California in one week have decertified Diebold’s electronic voting machines. This should send a clear message to Iowa’s GOP that anything other than paper ballots would be unacceptable in this weeks straw poll. The Republican party of Iowa may claim that they will be doing manual checking of the Diebold systems, however, it is commonly known that this manual count would only consist of spot checks of the voting machines for device calibration purposes. This does not constitute a verifiable check of accuracy from either an engineering or statistical perspective.

Based on the same evidence that has forced California and Florida to decertify electronic Diebold voting machines it is not only reasonable to request a manual count of the votes in Iowa, but highly advisable. Anything short of a verifiable paper count will be unethical.

CALL:
Iowa Republican Party - (515) 282-8105

Please be polite but firm in your stance that there needs to be at least a manual recount of the vote at the Iowa Straw Poll. This could be the end of Ron Paul's campaign!