[Voterescue] IMPORTANT!! Thousands disfranchised by new HAVA electronic voter registration databases

[Karen Renick]

/
*IMPORTANT!!*  As you will see in the USA TODAY article below, thousands 
of eligible voters in states across the country are being removed from 
the voter rolls as a result of the creation of new electronic 
_statewide_ voter registration databases mandated by the disastrous Help 
America Vote Act (HAVA), a.k.a., the Help American Vendors Act.

We strongly recommend that you call your County Clerk's Office or County 
Tax Assessor's Office A.S.A.P. and verify that you are properly 
registered on the new database in your state. For Texans, the database 
is called T.E.A.M. which stands for Texas Election Administration 
Management.  For Travis County voters, here is the link to registration 
info on the Travis County Tax Assessor's website: 
_http://www.traviscountytax.org/goQuestions.do#voters_. *The deadline to 
register or fix your registration records is February 4, 2008 for the 
Texas March Primaries.* /

/And, as long as you are contacting your county election officials, why 
not also convey your heartfelt "sentiments" about having machines count 
the votes in secret?  Let them know you ONLY want to vote on a paper 
ballot that is hand counted in public view on Election Night at every 
precinct polling place.  And that you want the precinct results publicly 
posted at each precinct polling place immediately after the counting is 
completed. To top it all off, also *tell them that you are willing to 
work on a counting team* for your precinct on Election Night after the 
polls close. *_This_ is what they really need to hear.*

*Don't forget to check your voting registration!*


/http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080102/1a_lede02.art.htm
*Legal voters thrown off rolls
*Database woes could be 'sleeper issue of 2008'

*By Richard Wolf*
*USA TODAY*

Five years after passage of a federal law to create electronic 
registration databases to deter voter fraud, the new technology is 
posing hurdles that could disenfranchise thousands of legal voters, a 
USA TODAY examination finds.

 >From Florida to Washington, voters have been challenged because names 
or numbers on their registration forms did not exactly match other 
government databases, such as Social Security and motor vehicle 
agencies. "We know that eligible people have been thrown off the rolls," 
says Justin Levitt, a lawyer with the Brennan Center for Justice at New 
York University School of Law.

The databases are only as good as the information fed into them by 
applicants and election officials. That can lead to human errors as well 
as variations from state to state. Colorado, for instance, knocked 
nearly 20% of its voters off the rolls between the 2004 and 2006 
elections. Arkansas purged 3%, according to Election Assistance 
Commission data.

Voters who have problems at the polls can cast "provisional" ballots. 
Election officials rule later whether those votes were properly cast and 
should be counted. But even that backup system varies greatly from state 
to state.

More than nine in 10 provisional ballots cast in New Jersey, Oregon, 
Maine, Montana and Alaska were approved in 2006. Michigan, 
Massachusetts, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Delaware and Hawaii counted fewer 
than 25%, the Election Assistance Commission says.

After Florida's "hanging chads" in 2000 and Ohio's long lines in 2004, 
registration problems "could be the sleeper issue of 2008," says Doug 
Chapin of electionline.org, which tracks voting issues. "These new 
databases make it possible to make more mistakes faster," he says.

A day before voters begin choosing the next president, there are signs 
of database troubles. In Wisconsin, Elections Board Executive Director 
Kevin Kennedy says, "the users keep complaining that it's too complex." 
*In Texas, Henderson County opted out of the database after voters 
griped about being dropped from the list. "I was just afraid to trust 
it," says voter registrar Milburn Chaney.  */[my emphasis]/*

*/[See also the misleadingly-titled article from the Houston Chronicle 
below (sorry, I don't have the link)- it reports about the inadequate 
security controls and the problems county clerks in Texas are having 
with the T.E.A.M. database. The article also includes //more posturing 
about the "importance" of passing a Voter ID law in Texas to prevent the 
non-existent crisis of VOTER fraud.//  Keep your antennae up for more 
frequent mentions in the media of this "crisis" as we get later into the 
month of January.  O//n, or about, January 25, 2008, //the Elections 
Committee in the Texas State House of Representatives will be holding an 
interim public hearing about this very issue.  We will send out a notice 
when we know for certain when it is scheduled so you can plan to attend.]/*/

/*Perhaps the worst problems are in Florida, where a Gannett News 
Service analysis found more than 14,000 people whose voter registrations 
were disputed by the state because they didn't match other databases; 
about 75% are minorities. A federal district court ruled last month that 
the state couldn't deny registrations based on database matching.

Federal officials say the system is evolving - and improving. "Even with 
the top-notch best database in the world, you're still going to have 
human error," says Thomas Wilkey, the election commission's executive 
director.  /[Yes, there will be human error, but there is also a greater 
opportunity for more widespread "intended" errors, too.]
/

*Nov. 28, 2007, 9:58AM*
*49,000 questionable names found on voter rolls*
Auditors say none /[ZIPPO!]/ of them cast ballots in the May election

By JANET ELLIOTT
Copyright 2007
Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau



AUSTIN --- State auditors found more than 49,000 potentially ineligible 
felons and dead people on Texas voter rolls this year, but did not find 
that any cast ballots in May's special election.

The audit report released Tuesday said that there may be even more 
potentially inaccurate voter information but they were unable to check 
for U.S. citizenship status or federal felony convictions or verify 
records that lacked a Social Security number and Texas driver's license 
number.

The audit recommended that the Secretary of State's Office do a better 
job of matching criminal conviction and death records with the voter list.

Although there were no instances found of potentially ineligible voters 
casting ballots in the May 12 special election, auditors noted the 
"relatively low 7 percent voter turnout" for that special constitutional 
amendment election to extend a school property tax cut to senior 
citizens and disabled homeowners.

*Computer system at risk*

*The audit also found inadequate security controls over a new computer 
system that maintains voter records and weaknesses in data backup that 
increase the risk of prompt and full recovery of data from a disaster. 
*/[my emphasis]/

Scott Haywood, a spokesman for Secretary of State Phil Wilson, said the 
office has implemented many of the auditors' recommendations but wants 
to be careful about wrongly removing anyone from voter rolls.

He noted that the auditors were unable to verify that the 23,114 
possible felons and 23,576 possibly deceased voters actually should be 
removed from voting lists.

"We can't remove someone from the voter roll unless it's a strong match 
because we don't want to take away an eligible voter's right to vote," 
Haywood said.

The audit said that potentially ineligible felons may be able to 
register because of the way the Secretary of State's Office processes 
data from the Department of Public Safety.

The office receives daily felony data updates from the DPS and weekly 
updates of death records from the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Those are 
matched one time against the voter rolls, but the SOS does not retain a 
comprehensive history of the records.

Thus, an ineligible felon could try to register at a later date, and the 
computer system would not flag the record as potentially ineligible, the 
audit said.

People convicted of felonies are eligible to vote once they have 
completed their sentences.

*Hampered by privacy laws*

Auditors tried to check for citizenship status but could not find 
authoritative information. They contacted the U.S. Social Security 
Administration to obtain the citizenship status but were told that 
federal privacy laws prohibit the disclosure.

The audit could provide fodder for supporters of legislation requiring 
voters to show a photo ID. Republicans were unable to pass photo ID 
bills over Democrats' opposition during this year's legislative session.

"This audit is further evidence that while our state and local elections 
officials are doing everything to secure the electoral process, 
additional safeguards as simple as requiring a photo ID to vote in Texas 
should be put back on the table next session and finally passed," said 
Hans Klingler, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Texas.

Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said the audit didn't find any fraud had 
occurred in the May election. He said the ID requirement could suppress 
turnout among many Texans who are eligible to vote.

"Everytime someone says, 'Show me the fraud,' there isn't any," said 
Coleman.

The audit also found deficiencies in a computer system developed through 
contracts with IBM and Hart InterCivic that came online in January. The 
computer was slower than the previous system for six of 10 benchmarks, 
including adding and canceling voters and producing a list of registered 
voters and those who voted.

*More than half of 204 county voter registration officials who responded 
to a survey said the Texas Election Administration Management system, 
known as TEAM, does not allow them to perform their jobs effectively. 
*/[my emphasis]/*  * /[Now, please tell me, why do we really need these 
new databases? Could it be because our government officials are planning 
on forming Super-sized Voting Centers for the future?  And then, just 
maybe, all the state databases could be interconnected into one huge 
national database? You bet they will!] /

Haywood said Wilson is working aggressively with the contractors to fix 
problems that arose in May. He said the system performed much better in 
the Nov. 6 election.

/janet.elliott at chron.com/ <mailto:janet.elliott at chron.com>

 



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