Vote-machine suit designed to protect election process
11/05/05

Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer dismisses my lawsuit as "bogus" ("Brewer sued over voting equipment standards," Republic, Oct. 24).

My lawsuit asks the court to require Brewer to produce election equipment decertification standards that are required by state law, and which her office admits it has not produced.

Currently, there are no procedures or criteria of any kind for removing defective equipment from use in this state, or even determining that equipment should be subject to evaluation. Yet we have very good evidence that equipment is defective.

In a September 2004 Republican primary election in Legislative District 20 (Maricopa County), the margin between two candidates was so close that a recount was required. According to the recount, there were 472 additional votes counted on the same ballots. On one optical scan machine assigned to recount mail-in ballots, there was a nearly 4 percent increase in votes.

Which count was more accurate? We don't know. Either votes that were missed the first time were picked up the second time, or the second count read extraneous marks as votes. We have no idea how this equipment might have affected other races that were not subject to recount.

There are only two possible explanations for the count discrepancy. Either the machines are defective or the ballots were mishandled between the two counts.

Although there are now allegations that ballots were mishandled, election officials deny it. If we take their word, there is only one conclusion: defective equipment.

When this discrepancy occurred, the secretary of state should have recognized that there was a serious problem with the equipment, yet she did not decertify the equipment, and in fact she allowed the equipment to be used in subsequent elections. Without decertification standards, there is no legal requirement to do anything.

The secretary of state is responsible for the integrity of all elections in Arizona. She has had two years to fulfill her obligation since the decertification standards law was enacted.

My objective in filing the suit is simply to make sure that decertification standards are adopted to help safeguard our elections against defective vote-counting machinery. - Tom Ryan, Tucson

The writer is the founder of Arizona Citizens for Fair Elections, a nonpartisan group advocating voting integrity.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1105satlet5-05.html

Press Release - For Immediate Release
10/07/05

Secretary of State Jan Brewer ordered to appear in court for failure to perform duty to adopt voting equipment decertification standards

Secretary of State Jan Brewer has been ordered to appear in Pima County Superior Court on October 18, 2005 at 9:00am to explain why she has not complied with Arizona law that requires adoption of voting system decertification standards. This order is the result of a Complaint for Special Action filed on October 6, 2005 for plaintiff Thomas W. Ryan, head of Arizona Citizens for Fair Elections. More...

07/20/05
Letter to Secretary of State Jan Brewer
Click here to download the PDF.


10/15/04
Election Eve Nightmare

Can the Maricopa County Elections Department ensure the accuracy of early voting? 

Hell No!

BY JOHN DOUGHERTY

Maricopa County elections boss Karen Osborne botched the District 20 recount. 

With less then three weeks before the general election, I have serious doubts that whatever "official" results the Maricopa County Elections Department posts will be an accurate reflection of what voters intended.

After a week of investigating the department's mishandling of last month's controversial recount in the District 20 state House of Representatives race, I won't believe the results of any election in this county if the contest is within a couple of percentage points.

More... (link to external site - Phoenix New Times) 

McComish's District 20 2nd-place finish confirmed
Results of recount are certified by judge in Superior Court

Nedra Lindsey
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 24, 2004 12:00 AM

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge certified the contested recount of the District 20 Republican state House of Representatives primary, confirming John McComish's second-place finish.

"I find that with respect to procedure that they used proper use of the statute in light of the limited time," said Judge Eddward P. Ballinger Jr., referring to Maricopa County elections officials.

But after listening to a day of arguments questioning the accuracy and consistency of the county's Optech IV-C ballot tabulating machines, Ballinger expressed concern over the degree to which some votes actually count.
"Evidence heard today indicates our current system does not have a great ability to get an accurate count," Ballinger said.

An attorney for Anton Orlich, the third-place finisher, argued that ballots were mishandled, a tabulation machine malfunctioned and because of these reputed errors, voter intent was not preserved in the recount.

More...

Arizona Secretary of State
PRESS RELEASE
May 18, 2004
For more information, contact Kevin Tyne at 602-542-4919

Voting Pilot Project for Persons with Disabilities Slated for General Election

Arizona only jurisdiction in country to try out new touch screen devices with paper ballot

PHOENIX - Secretary of State Jan Brewer today kicked off the first phase of a pilot project to introduce innovative new voting devices that will be tested on a limited basis to enhance Arizona’s voting process. The new technology allows voters with disabilities and others special needs to cast a ballot without assistance and in private while still utilizing currently used optical scan voting equipment. Today’s initial Phase I of the pilot project included an interactive demonstration of this new equipment at the Secretary of State’s Office where members of the disability community, minority groups and literacy groups were invited to participate and try out the new voting technology developed by AutoMark.

More at http://www.sos.state.az.us/releases/2004/pressrelease26.htm

Arizona Secretary of State Elections Manual - download or read this 190 page document. Click here (or right click and choose Save As).

Legislation Introduced by Ted Downing for fair elections in Arizona. Click here to read more.

Secretary of State Appoints New State Election Director
Press release from Secretary of State's Office
12.24.03


Secretary of State Jan Brewer today appointed Joseph Kanefield to be her State Election Director effective January 26, 2004. Kanefield currently serves as Special Assistant Attorney General and has been providing legal representation to the Arizona Secretary of State office on election related matters since 1999. More...

Secretary of State Announces Intent to Form Panel to Review Election Process Statewide
12.12.03
Elections come under national, state and local governmental jurisdiction. A recent press release by Jan Brewer, Arizona Secretary of State, announced the intent to form a panel to review the statewide election process. More....