Electronic Voting: A Failed Experiment

This document provides brief summaries of only some of the many DRE failures that have been reported in news articles, along with short excerpts from the articles. The list is in order by state

Cost Estimate for Hand Counting 2% of the Precincts in the U.S.

Hand counts of significant numbers of ballots were conducted in Washington State andNevada after the 2004 General Election. Estimated costs of a 2% audit of federal contestsare based primarily on the costs of those recent, extensive hand counts

Vendors are Undermining the Structure of U.S. Elections

As we approach the 2008 general election, the structure of elections in the United States -- once reliant on local representatives accountable to the public -- has become almost wholly dependent on large corporations, which are not accountable to the public. Most local officials charged with running elections are now unable to administer elections without the equipment, services, and trade-secret software of a small number of corporations. If the vendors withdrew their support for elections now, our election structure would collapse. Case studies presented in this report give examples of the pervasive control voting system vendors now have over election administration in almost every state, and the consequences some jurisdictions are already experiencing.However, some states and localities are recognizing the threat that vendor-dependency poses to elections. They are using ingenuity and determination to begin reversing the direction. This report examines the situation, how we got here, and steps we can take to limit corporate control of our elections in 2008 and reduce it even further in the future

Myth Breakers: Facts About Electronic Elections

Election transparency is the fundamental basis of election integrity. In transparent elections, all the processes of handling and counting ballots are completely open to public view. Nothing is hidden, nothing is secret -- except, of course, each individual's voting choices.Election fraud and miscounts have occurred throughout history, and they will continue to occur. Transparency is the only way to minimize them, but with electronic voting, transparency is eclipsed. Electronic processes that record and count the votes are not open to public scrutiny. Courts have ruled that election software is a trade secret, so even a losing candidate with a computer consultant cannot view it.With electronic voting, the most important and vulnerable election processes -- storing and tallying the votes -- are performed in secret, without public oversight. These processes were not developed by government officials charged with ensuring election integrity, but by anonymous software engineers, hired by vendors and not publicly accountable for the results of their work. One would expect overwhelming benefits to accompany this sacrifice of transparency and the resulting loss of public control over election processes. That's the myth. Ironically, overwhelming disadvantages accompany the sacrifice. The logical question is "Why make the sacrifice?" It's a question more and more people are asking.The facts presented in this document dispel many of the myths surrounding electronic voting. It is crucial to lay these myths to rest quickly, for as long as they are held by decision-makers, our democracy is at risk

Lever Replacement Costs: Case Study of a Small New York County

Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds will not cover County X's first-year costs of replacing levers. Costs will be at least $293,886 more than the county's HAVA §102 funds designated for replacing levers. The shortfall will nearly deplete the county's HAVA §101 and §251 funds of$333,733 that are intended for meeting HAVA requirements and for making election-administration improvements (such as ensuring ADA compliance)

Allyl Derivatives of Sympathomimetic Amines

The allyl group was substituted on the side chains of benzedrine and ephedrine in the belief that these derivatives would antagonize the parent compounds. Their antagonistic effect was clearly demonstrated; the action was believed to be due to reaction at the receptors in the muscles

Lever Replacement Costs: New York City Case Study

The costs of replacing lever voting machines with electronic machines will be enormous. The immediate costs -- hardware, software, licenses - will rapidly deplete the City's HAVA funds. The associated costs, which continue from year to year -- training, printing paper ballots, preelection testing, auditing elections, storage, inventory management, new personnel, and new procedures -- have not yet been fully identified. Many, perhaps most, of them are not eligible for HAVA funds. Even excepting the unknown costs, it is clear that the cost of lever replacement will be a heavy burden borne by City taxpayers, not only in the first year, but also in each subsequent year

The major genetic determinants of HIV-1 control affect HLA class I peptide presentation.

Infectious and inflammatory diseases have repeatedly shown strong genetic associations within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC); however, the basis for these associations remains elusive. To define host genetic effects on the outcome of a chronic viral infection, we performed genome-wide association analysis in a multiethnic cohort of HIV-1 controllers and progressors, and we analyzed the effects of individual amino acids within the classical human leukocyte antigen (HLA) proteins. We identified >300 genome-wide significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the MHC and none elsewhere. Specific amino acids in the HLA-B peptide binding groove, as well as an independent HLA-C effect, explain the SNP associations and reconcile both protective and risk HLA alleles. These results implicate the nature of the HLA-viral peptide interaction as the major factor modulating durable control of HIV infection