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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (29673)	10/6/2003 10:29:56 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Computer Experts Fear Recall Voter Fraud Mon Oct 6, 2:43 PM ET By RACHEL KONRAD, Associated Press Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. - Punch-card ballots from Tuesday's historic recall election are sure to get a going-over by political activists, but some computer scientists think touch-screen voting machines deserve just as much scrutiny. While punch-card ballots caused headaches for Florida election officials with their "hanging" and "pregnant" chads, nearly one in 10 California voters will be using touch-screen machines, which don't produce printouts voters can see. And no paper printouts, the scientists say, would make a legitimate recount impossible. "You can't do a meaningful recount if the question is about the integrity of the voting machines themselves," said David Dill, a computer science professor at Stanford University. He urged voters in the four counties using touch-screen terminals to vote with absentee ballots. The concern of Dill and some of his colleagues was dismissed as overblown and irresponsible by county registrars and executives at the companies that sell and update the electronic voting machines. None of the elections officials who supervise the 50,000 touch-screen machines serviced nationwide by Diebold Election Systems has reported glitches or computer hacks that have resulted in known miscounts or fraud, said Mark Radke, director of the voting industry division of North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold. But according to a July study by Johns Hopkins and Rice universities, any clever hacker could break into Diebold's system and vote multiple times. Researchers found it was theoretically possible to insert "back doors" into software code that would allow hackers — or insiders — to change future voters' choices and determine the outcome. Activists are demanding that ballot machine vendors include printers that produce paper receipts so citizens can confirm that paper results match their touch-screen choices. Receipts would go into a county lock-box for use in recounts. "It's horrifying and ridiculous that these machines don't have a voter-verifiable audit trail," said Rebecca Mercuri, a Harvard University research fellow who specializes in computer security and voting systems. Officials from one affected county, Riverside County, have "total confidence" in the electronic system used by its 650,000 voters, said Mischelle Townsend, registrar of voters. On election day the county tests all 4,250 touch-screens for logic and accuracy, confirming that a "yes" vote is recorded as a "yes," Townsend emphasized. "The machines have always been adjudicated to be reliable and accurate," said Townsend, who has supervised 19 touch-screen elections and five recounts since November 2000. "There's never been a single incident of what the scientists fear." After polls close, elections officials make another accuracy check. They get printouts for 1 percent of voters in every precinct and compare the digital record with the printouts. Electronic voting advocates acknowledge no system is perfect but say touch-screen machines are better than older technology. The ACLU is watching closely for evidence of voter disenfranchisement, as is the California Democratic Party, which began soliciting $100,000 last week for a "No More Floridas!" campaign to scrutinize alleged violations. The computer scientists will be watching as well, looking for statistical anomalies in touch-screen counties. "The very thought of a recount — it's chilling," said Alameda County assistant registrar Elaine Ginnold. "We're all hoping there will be a huge margin because a recount would plug things up for quite a while." ___

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (29673)	10/6/2003 10:53:13 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Democrat Clark, in Iowa, Calls for New U.S. Vision _____________________________________ By John Whitesides Political Correspondent Mon October 6, 2003 10:06 PM ET asia.reuters.com FORT DODGE, Iowa (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Wesley Clark plunged into grass roots politics in Iowa on Monday, defending his Democratic credentials to party activists, slamming President Bush's policies and promising he can win the White House. Clark, who entered the Democratic presidential race less than three weeks ago, promised a new vision for America's role in the world and said he would rebuild international respect for the United States that has been shattered by the war in Iraq. "It's really hard to change people's minds when you're dropping bombs on them," Clark said while taking more than an hour of questions from likely participants in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses next January. Clark blasted Bush for rushing to war in Iraq without reason, and answered a range of questions on health care, abortion, trade, and other domestic issues during the last of a series of town hall-style forums with the Democratic presidential candidates, sponsored by Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin. Confronted by one activist who asked if Clark, who has admitted voting for Republcian presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, was "really a Republican disguised as a Democrat," Clark said he was proud to be a Democrat. "It's not about how long you've been in the party, it's about what you believe," he said. "We're going to appeal not only to Democrats, but independents and Republicans." Speaking at Iowa Central Community College as Florida Sen. Bob Graham announced he was dropping out of the race, leaving nine Democrats in the field of challengers to Bush, Clark mentioned his recent jump in national polls. With some polls showing him moving into the top tier of Democratic candidates and even beating Bush in one head-to-head matchup, Clark said the president was getting nervous. "I guess he's wearing his flight suit to bed at night," he said, quoting the Doonesbury comic strip that made reference to Bush's landing on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit in May to celebrate what he said was the end of major combat in Iraq. Clark said Bush's economic policies were "heartless, reckless and wrong" and touted his $100 billion economic plan, which would repeal Bush's tax cuts for those making more than $200,000 a year and put the money into homeland security, relief for state governments and business tax incentives. Clark said he favored improvements in the North American Free Trade Agreement and said he would not approve any new trade agreement that did not require U.S. partners to meet at least international labor and environmental standards. "There is a smarter and a better way to do it than what emerged in the 1990s with NAFTA," he said of U.S. trade agreements, saying the nation cannot open markets "willy nilly" without facing more job losses. In response to another question, Clark said he had studied the issue of abortion and prayed about it, and supported a woman's right to choose an abortion. "It's a decision the woman has to make ... it's her choice," he said. Earlier in the day, Clark worked his way through the lunch crowd at a diner near Drake University in Des Moines and met with Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. He planned to head to Oklahoma for a campaign event in Tulsa on Tuesday.