I wish this were beyond question :

NH: "First in the nation" (with corporate controlled secret vote counting)

81% of New Hampshire ballots are counted in secret by a private corporation named Diebold Election Systems (now known as "Premier"). The elections run on these machines are programmed by one company, LHS Associates, based in Methuen, MA. We know nothing about the people programming these machines, and we know even less about LHS Associates. We know even less about the secret vote counting software used to tabulate 81% of our ballots. People like to say "but we use paper ballots! They can always be counted by hand!"

But they're not. They're counted by Diebold. Only a candidate can request a hand recount, and most never do so. And a rigged election can easily become a rigged recount, as we learned in Ohio 2004, where two election officials were convicted of rigging their recount. (Is it just a funny coincidence that Diebold spokesman is named Mr. Riggall?)

We need to get the count right on election night. Right now, nobody in New Hampshire, except the programmers at LHS Associates and Diebold Election Systems, knows if we are getting it right or wrong. Our state officials and representatives know this. They learned all about it when computer security specialists Harri Hursti and Bruce Odell testified before the legislative subcommittee on e-voting in September 2007 (Hursti's testimony is shown in this video). Scientific reports about the vulnerabilities and risks with Diebold optical scanners have been available since 2003.

We love our state. It takes courage and strength to admit where we are going wrong and to fix it. May our state officials and representatives find that courage and strength soon. Before we lose the other 19% of our votes.

Click the link to learn more, or just click the BlackBoxVoting.ORG video below.

By ntobi at 01/07/2008 - 16:15 | Fair elections | Features | Video | login or register to post comments

http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/node/view/5307


Fullerg

I don't know that you can say for sure you WERE wrong, Booman.

There are three possible explanations. I favor the first one.

Here's the problem:

John Silvestro and his small private business, LHS Associates, has the exclusive programming contracts for all New Hampshire voting machines, which combined will count about 81 percent of the vote tomorrow.

Silvestro IS the New Hampshire chain of custody

Or at least a very large component in it.

Last fall, with the help of some New Hampshire citizens, Black Box Voting began working on a "New Hampshire Chain of Custody" project, in which we identified some of the areas of concern that might affect many jurisdictions at once. First on the list is LHS Associates, a vendor with inside access to every memory card in New Hampshire, as well as to the chips containing the "brain" of the Diebold optical scan machines.

LHS Associates programs all the memory cards in New Hampshire and Connecticut; about all of Vermont's voting machines, and has a lock on almost all of Massachusetts as well.

RARE VIDEO FOOTAGE

In an unusual confluence of available video, we obtained footage of Silvestro grappling with Harri Hursti, the master hacker who had his way with the Diebold optical scans in Leon County, Florida in the famous exploit that was showcased in the film Hacking Democracy.

The exact same make, model and version hacked in the Black Box Voting project in Leon County is used throughout New Hampshire, where about 45 percent of elections administrators hand count paper ballots at the polling place, with the remaining locations all using the Diebold version 1.94w optical scan machine. Because the voting machine locations tend to be urban, this represents about 81 percent of the New Hampshire voters.

Source

I think there are two possible explantions, but honestly, the one that most plausibly explains such a drastic last-minute swing is the one above. Either through error or fraud, it's not impossible that a programmer, as opposed to the people of New Hampshire, chose the winner in the primary.

And before anyone starts screaming unsubstantiated conspiracy theory - I'd point out that in my own state, in San Francisco recently, an audit showed enough discrepancies between what voters had put on paper and what the machines said the voters did that the city ended up recounting the entire election BY HAND. There are precedents, and if I were in Obama's HQ right now I'd be bending some ears to get a recount in any key place where they felt they had significantly more support than showed up on the records.

THAT SAID, of course, here is the other explanation:

1. Women went for Hillary instead of Obama, reversing a trend from Iowa. (I'd say this is due to her very genuine-appearing choking up on camera the other day.)

2. Independents went for McCain instead of Obama. I don't know this, but I suspect this, IF the votes were accurately recorded.

3. Young people opted for the old white woman instead of the young black man. It gets hard to believe, but what else is left?

4. In Iowa, Obama was only a single point ahead of Hillary among Democrats. His big victory was due in large part to the addition of Republicans and Independents. He didn't appear to have those this time.

THIRD possible explanation: The American Idol Effect. Their favorite candidate down, all of Hillary's supporters started doubling their efforts, and it paid off.

The explanation may involve all three of these.

For those too young politically to know/remember, exit polls had been incredibly accurate for nearly forty years, right up until the 2004 election. Is it simply coincidence that coincided with broad use of direct recording electronic (DRE) machines? Maybe. Maybe not.

If I were Obama's campaign manger, I'd be trying to find a quiet way to get a recount in a couple of key areas to see if the paper records truly matched the machine results. This isn't about sour grapes. This is about trying to resolve a very obvious discrepancy.

To those who continue to think elections can't be bungled or gamed in this manner, all I can say is, such naivete will absolutely sink our vote, for good. It's worth knowing if the counts in NH were accurate, for all our sakes.


"If you look for the social economic motive, you will not have to wait for history to tell you what was propaganda and what was truth." - George Seldes

  We made too much of the Obama win now we'll make too much of the Clinton win. In the background I hear the MSNBC folks talking about a historic win. The only thing historic about it is that its history now. Kinda like lunch today. A little more historic than that I guess(a salad). This looks like quite a fight for the nomination. Obama and Clinton could be too close politically for either to pull away. Maybe the electorate is just torn and we are not used to this kind of primary fight. Maybe its the Diebold machines. Booman I think your right to sleep on this one.
  I see Edwards is getting the Biden/Dodd treatment. He has dropped off the face of the earth as far as the MSM is concerned.
  This is now a historic post.  

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; now we know that it is bad economics;" - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

I think this was the best possible outcome tonight.  Each of our candidates will get more time to put out their message and more time to learn how to be a better candidate in preparing for the  general election.  

There is nothing that our candidates will throw at each other that will come close to what the GOP will throw at them.  Better to get some seasoning.

And the turnout was high -- things are looking up.

You BET it was stunning.

Stunningly honest.

A stunningly rebellious act by some rock hard New Englanders who wouldn't be stampeded by the natioinal media.

GOOD on 'em.

And the Clinton "emotional moment"?

iT was real. Real emotion.

Real frustration on an IDEOLOGICAL, MORAL LEVEL.

Not the frustration of naked ambition thwarted or of the James Bond villian-like Agent of the Evil PermaGov character that she has been painted by so many of the leftiness bloggers.

Go watch it yourself.

Try to watch it without "knowing" who Hillary Clinton might be. Leave your Clinton baggage at the door, pro OR con.

What do you think?

And further,  I read the constant kneejerk attacks on Hillary Clinton from the left...from men AND from women, including any number of women who consider themselves feminists...to be anti-female.

I really do.

You have heard of the idea of self-hating Jews? It's a common trope in certain quite upright Jewish circles. The Jewish version of Uncle Tomism.

Well...fill in the blanks.

I think that many of the leftist women who have been most vocally attacking Hillary Clinton are in some quite complex way actually attacking the fact that she is female.

And a WHOLE lot of the men. Who are quite unconscious of what they are doing or why.

I surfed around the TV a little last night after the results were in. I do not remember which usually empty talking head actually said this, but the point was made that if it was Barack Obama who had 35+ years in government, had experienced the White House system in a real, up close and personal manner for 8 years and had been a Senator for 8 years versus Hillary Clinton who had Obama's fairly limited experience in real power positions, Ms. Clinton would already have been laughed off of the national stage as a lightweight.

Obama's maleness gives him a certain kind of pass, and Clinton's femaleness means that she is not to be trusted.

EVEN BY MANY WOMEN.

Women who have staked their lives on being feminists.

Very Interesting.

Very interesting indeed.

Has our cynicism has reached such depths that we can believe NOTHING?

If so...BushCo has ALREADY won.

Later...

AG


Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.-Mae West

they're not going to go down without a fight.  At least the ones who see the chance to re-fight the past in Hillary.  It's a big generation, and one that won't give up on its hold over this country.  

She's a sincere woman, honestly, and I think she thinks she's going to help turn around this country.  But Gawd there's nothing inspiring about her at all.  And if she gets the nomination, then it's hello President John McCain, and one more c-note of years in Iraq.  Congrats, NH, you stuck it to the media (good for you, I hear ya on that), but this is when the democratic party decided it wanted to lose, yet again, another Presidential election.

We can understand, too, that natural species are chosen not because they are 'good to eat' but because they are 'good to think - Levi-Strauss

So...how many people told pollsters "Yeah Obama's my man" and then had voter's remorse?

It's almost like thousands of folks in NH woke up this morning and said "My god, a Black man is the frontrunner for the Democrats right now.  Can he, you know, win in November?"

All of a sudden what was going in with a clear Obama lead and a lot of undecideds -- and folks, there were a LOT of undecideds...turned into a whole bunch of those undecideds going to Hillary, defying a lot of political science wisdom.  Hillary wins a close one, even with the record turnout.

So how will SC play now?  All indicators are another Obama/Huckabee win, but now...who knows?

More at Zandar vs. The Stupid.

Now, let's see if this means the campaign will stop being so nasty.  I hope so.  That was embarrassing and I felt all, "Mommy! Daddy!  Stop Fighting!".

~~~THIS SPACE FOR RENT~~~

Anybody know how many delegates each of them gets?

Fullerg,
   Thanks for posting that Diebold article. I was just about to post the link myself.

I was born in 1968, a little under two weeks before someone decided to end Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, a little over two months before someone decided to end Robert Francis Kennedy's life.  I wasn't aware of much at the time besides my continual need to be fed and changed, but I get the feeling that I am going to get to experience a little bit of 1968 here and now, a little over two months from my 40th birthday.

I hope that things turn out differently this time...

The Underground Railroad

I really don't think this was racially motivated but other than that I'm not going to speculate.

I have to disagree with everything you said here, Boo.

Why was it stunning? A couple weeks ago she was supposed to have a 10 or 20 point lead. Her narrow win would have been ho-hum if not for the expectation hype raised by media/pollster windbags.

Did you really think it was all over if Obama won? Not by a long shot. Again, just crap made up by the windbags.

Why is it unfortunate? I think it's great that this process may be undecided right up to the convention, or at least the last primaries. I'm glad Obama is spared from being put into the superhero frame, only to be shot down mercilessly when he inevitably stumbles somewhere along the way. The narrative of the long and grueling race is much better for Obama (and Edwards) than the narrative of Obama being the new king of the world.

The first two Dem contests in this election cycle resulted, within less than a week, in two truly historic moments: the first black American and the first woman to win a presidential primary ever in this country. That is no bad thing for the Dem party or the country. I think this return to reality could actually result in a more civil and substantive primary.

I'm going to be pissed and depressed if Hillary goes on to win the nomination, but we're nowhere close to that at this point. Until that happens, I'm going to uncharacteristically enjoy the good things tonight might yet bring over the long haul.

FDR's response to progressive demands: "I agree. Now go out and make me do it."

Haven't we seen this somewhere before?

Zogby was predicting 42/29 for Obama over Clinton. And other not so good stuff.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5529#more-5529

Russert says the Clinton people had themselves down by 11% and Obama's people had themselves up by 13%.

I will say that this is a tremendously unfortunate development for our party and our nation and for the world

what...that the woman won? that it's Hillary? that it's bad for our democracy that 200,000 caucusers in a rural state (and a bunch of white male Beltway pundits) presume to decide who the next president will be before the rest of us have had a chance to weigh in? that the Obama coronation has been postponed?

that's a piece of shit comment, and I hope that you explain it or retract it.

Brad's just put up a new post...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5530

There is an upside to Clinton winning New Hampshire: nobody who prefers Barack Obama's message of hope will be able to simply assume that he will win - they'll know with absoulte certainty that they have to actually show up at the polls to make sure that their voices are heard. I'm sure that 100% voter turnout is a pipe-dream, but I'll be interested to see just how high the turnout numbers go in South Carolina and beyond.

The Underground Railroad

Maybe a lot of the independents voted for McCain. Maybe some even thought Obama had it in the bag and thought they'd influence the repub vote instead.

On the other hand, maybe our country isnt ready for someone young and doesnt want something fresh. Maybe people arent yet fully aware of the disastrous position the country is actually in.

Then sure the establishment media would rather have Clinton, McCain, Giuiliani or some other tired long term establishment character that they knew and loved. Maybe the people too, but hey the media just love the comeback kid meme and theyll sell it well

Well, you were right about McCain, which means I owe $20 to the Dem candidate of your choice.

I'm going to guess that isn't going to be Hillary Clinton. ;)

---Cthulhu for President: Why vote for the lesser evil?

Whatever actually happened tonight in NH, computerized voting is a real and very serious threat to democracy in this country.
Note -- the suit has ALREADY been filed in all 50 states, including NH.

November 6, 2007
50 States Sued to Block Computerized Vote Counting

Federal Court to be Asked to Delay Primaries
On October 2nd we posted an article in which we announced that the Clean Election Lawsuit was being expanded to all fifty states. We said we were in the process of filing an amended complaint to name all of the nation's chief election officials as defendants.

For the rest of the story, go to:
http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/UPDATE/Update2007-11-06.htm

On further checking I find that this We The People Foundation is an extreme right wing organization of "militia" and Posse Comitatus types. I don't know that they are the best people to be representing the voters of this country, to put it mildly.

As a Nevada resident, this now gets interesting for us on Saturday the 19th. Maybe we will matter after all.

Douglas Bersaw of Richmond, NH, plaintiff in the NCEL lawsuit in New Hampshire, is the founder and director of the St. Benedict Center, an extreme right-wing, virulently antisemitic  pseudo-Catholic cult.
http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/node/view/4723

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=782

The point being, when you have people like this purporting to safeguard the voting rights of Americans, the word that first comes to mind is PSYOP ... as in "discredit a movement by identifying it with right-wing nutcases."

Bottom line, I think, is that Hillary won because she is strong and determined. Maybe she comes off sometimes as too strong, but I think that's often better than the nonchalance, bordering on apathy, that the other candidates show.

Sometimes, particulalry, in pop culture (see Princess Hillary), she comes off a 'bitch', but--hey--if it wins primaries, then maybe the other candidates need more bitchiness! Or at least more drive.

Massive Party Regular Turnout Trumped Massive New Voter Turnout

The vote was rigged? I thought only Republicans do that. ;)

Little mentioned is an analysis that the late poll numbers still has a lot of undecideds and almost all went to Hillary and McCain. Exit polling showed a fair number literally making their choice in the booth.

In the end I suspect this has more to do with the effectiveness of the Clinton machine and voters not wanting to have the primaries effectively end in NH with a Obama victory.

Just curious, does anyone know who asked Hillary, "How are you doing?"

The more I have seen that clip of her crying, the more it seems her words were too well chosen to create the impression that she has passion too. Almost seems like it might have been a planted question.

Tin foil hat off. :)