From John Brakey:
We are happy because we have the 10
winning tickets in our hands. Now, after all these years including twelve for me forty for my friend and mentor Attorney Bill Risner. Risner ran for county attorney in 1976 against the status quo in a historically dirty election in Pima county.
Well, Bill and I can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel! Yes, elections that are transparent, trackable and publicly verifiable. Yes, ballot images are a big step in that direction.
We filed yesterday a hard hitting, impunity busting public records request on ten other counties in AZ, to protect the Ballot Images from being destroyed.
What we stated up front:
“Dear Election Director:
Please read this carefully. If you destroy the ES&S ballot images for the November 8th election you will be accused of breaking the law. As we had recently proved in Pima County Superior Court that “ballot images” are public records, they are subject to laws pertaining to public records requests and must be handled accordingly. ARS 38-2407(A)(4) provides that “A person commits tampering with a public record if, with the intent to defraud or deceive, such person knowingly…destroys, multilates, conceals, removes or otherwise impairs the availability of any public record.” Under ARS 38-2407(C), tampering with a public record is a class 6 felony.”
On October 14, 2016, in case No. C20163926, Arizona Superior Court, Pima County, held that “(ballot) images… are public records for purposes of public records statutes.” If your office receives erroneous guidance from the office of the County Attorney or Secretary of State that ballot images are not public records, please refer them to the ruling cited. Here is a link to ruling: https://drive.google.com/openid=0B2TKmkSNAkCfVjZhWC1xVkh0WjA
Arizona indisputably has the strictest recount laws of any state. The only way a recount can be requested is when the results are within one tenth of one percent. A candidate, a committee or the public cannot request a recount, even if they were willing to pay the cost. Furthermore, when a recount does occur, they say that they must use the same machine and program in the same method that created a potentially errant result and that is wrong. Without the availability of the actual ballot images and the Cast Vote Record they can create, there is no way to effectively audit election results to expose potential errors rather than reinforce them.
In the state of AZ, Elections are based on procedures. We believe that procedures are necessary. However, they need to be consistent across the state to ensure that our elections are evidence-based with real proof of the outcome and real audits! All of us grow very weary of election officials claiming that they know the results are correct because they ran a “Logic and Accuracy Test” on certified software. Volkswagen, “VW” built software that cheated every time it was being tested! “VW scandal could just be the beginning;” By Bruce Schneier. Link:http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/28/opinions/schneier-vw-cheating-software/index.html
Personally, I am dismayed by these ballot images being destroyed and election officials using non-transparent procedures while hiding behind the legislature. They insist that we pass laws to make them do their job. We have never seen other public officials behave this way. Have you EVER seen any other public official other than an ELECTIONS official destroying automatically created records or refusing to verify their computers’ outputs? Can you imagine a state revenue secretary demanding specific laws be passed to require him or her to retain records or to make sure that the state’s revenue statements were accurate?
While using these machines, Pima County officials kept the new auditing function secret then secretly destroyed the ballot images, which also prevented these voting machines from producing a real Cast Vote Record (CVR). The refusal to use these excellent audit features (including the “CVR” and “Ballot Images”) for their intended use of verifying elections speaks volumes. In fact, some would conclude that the reason election officials destroy these ballot images is to break the chain of custody and protect the right to cheat, now or in the future.
We know that an application like “Fraction Magic” can only change the numbers, but it cannot change a complex hard copy hand-marked paper ballot pegged against its corresponding ballot image. When fully implemented, ballot images and audit features of these new ES&S DS850 & DS200 voting machines can help prevent fraudulent practices. However, denying this valuable function simply fuels the belief that the ballot images are being destroyed for nefarious purposes.
Please note that the Elections Systems & Software’s (ES&S) DS850 equipment is federally certified to:
- Create ballot images by scanning the actual original ballots;
- Mark physical ballots with a serialized number to match encoded corresponding ballot images (if such feature is turned on, which it should be to heighten the sanctity of the election);
- Count the ballot images to acquire vote totals; and
- Use the ballot images to create a Cast Vote Record (CVR), which is an audit trail that tracks every ballot and all votes cast. Any images created by the aforesaid systems now definitively represent public records that must be preserved. Those same images also provide an audit trail with an appropriate chain-of-custody to assure that reported election results are consistent with actual votes cast.
On the post The BradCast tonight, (http://bradblog.com/?p=11913)
“We are putting our whole system at risk,” warns Bev Harris, about both “Fraction Magic” and the use of voting and tabulation systems that are difficult, if not impossible, for the public to oversee. “Sooner or later, if we keep running these mystery elections, there’s going to be something that is actually destabilizing, kind of a perfect storm. This is predictable. Sooner or later, when you keep running elections that are not accountable to the public, that are not something we can verify with actual evidence — i.e. ballots and ballot images — there’s going to be a meltdown that’s destabilizing. This is actually rather dangerous.”
This devastating video from Black Box Voting contains a real-time demo of precise, scalable, invisible election manipulation that can be performed in multiple counties and states at the same time. Over 5,000 subcontractors and middlemen have the access to perform this kind of manipulation for any or all clients. All political power can be converted to the hands of a few anonymous subcontractors. For more details, go to Bev Harris’ video and site, https://youtu.be/Fob-AGgZn44 and www.Blackboxvoting.org.
Help AUDIT AZ Continue its Push for Elections that are Transparent, Trackable and Publicly Verifiable.
To aid in the costs of litigation, outreach and resources involved with the nationwide ballot image initiative, please consider a donation:
Via Paypal: go to” http://electionnightmares.com/
Or send a check made out to AUDIT AZ and mail it to:
AUDITAZ
P.O.Box 26361
Tucson, Az. 85726
Thank you and Best regards to all;
John R Brakey, ED, Co-founder; Americans United for Democracy Integrity and Transparency – AUDIT-AZ
