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Campaign Blasts Georgia Voting Machines
by Michael Martinez
A Georgia Democrat fighting to save her seat in the U.S. House is charging that the state's e-voting machines incorrectly recorded votes for her intraparty opponent on Tuesday.
According to a press release posted on the campaign site of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., after only an hour of voting during Tuesday's primary election, the state's Diebold voting machines incorrectly tallied ballots in favor of former DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson, who she now faces in an Aug. 8 runoff for the Democratic Party's nomination. Unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State's office showed McKinney received 47 percent of the vote and Johnson got 44 percent.
McKinney's release said lawyers for her campaign had been contacted and that McKinney would be forced to "take additional measures" if the situation is not resolved quickly.
The site was updated two more times Tuesday afternoon, with more complaints about voting equipment. In the final post, McKinney's staff pledged to produce a report of all of the machine irregularities they recorded throughout the day.
"Unexpectedly closed polling sites, combined with Tom Delay-inspired congressional redistricting imposed on Georgia voters, electronic-voting-machine malfunctions -- some even in the middle of the voting process -- all led to a frustrating voting experience for some voters in the 2006 primary election held in Georgia's new 4th Congressional District," according to the final message posted on the site. "The phrase blind-faith voting comes to mind."
In a telephone interview on Wednesday, McKinney campaign spokesman Jocco Baccus said McKinney's staff is still organizing the report. He would not elaborate on specific complaints that might be included or comment on when the report would be released.
It has been a tumultuous year for McKinney, who was thrust into the national spotlight after a scuffle with a Capitol police officer in March. A federal grand jury in June ruled not to indict her for assault.
Georgia's voting machines also have faced criticism the past several months. In June, the group VoterGA filed a lawsuit to block the state from using them this year. The group claims the machines are inadequate because they do not produce paper receipts that allow voters to verify their ballots and do not allow elections officials to conduct proper audits and recounts.
VoterGA founder Garland Favorito on Wednesday said the group closely monitored the performance of machines throughout the state during this week's primaries. But he did not cite any incidents involving machines incorrectly casting ballots in McKinney's district.
Favorito said he was concerned that workers in some polling precincts were not posting the tallies of their machines in places where voters could verify them and that VoterGA intends to file a complaint about their failure to do so.
State Prosecutors To Sue Chip Makers
State prosecutors on July 14 teamed up to file an antitrust lawsuit against the manufacturers of computer chips that provide high-speed storage and memory retrieval.
A group of 33 state attorneys general sued in a U.S. district court in San Francisco, accusing seven companies of fixing prices in the market for dynamic random-access memory chips. The targets of the suit are Elpida, Hynix, Infineon, Micron, Mosel Vitelic, Nanya and NEC.
According to the complaint, the companies conspired frequently over four years to fix the prices they charged to electronic equipment manufacturers. The suit alleges that the exchanges among the defendants intensified on the days before they submitted bids to supply the chips to their largest and most important customers.
The prosecutors are seeking unspecified damages and injunctive relief to bar the companies from illegal conduct in the future.
"Price-fixing strikes at the heart of free competition and fair play, which underpin our economic system and protect the interests of businesses and consumers alike," California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in a statement. "The defendants in this case conspired to rig the U.S. market for this essential computer product, working together to keep prices artificially high. In the process, they victimized individual consumers, governmental agencies, schools and taxpayers."
E-Textbooks, Not Computers, Covered By Funds
State funds reserved for the purchase of textbooks should not be used to buy computer hardware or other electronic equipment, according to an opinion issued by the top law enforcer in Texas on Tuesday.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled that a fund for textbooks outlined in the state's education code is not meant for the purchase of computers and other devices classified as "technological equipment." But software programs, including instructional materials and electronic textbooks, can be covered by the fund, he said.
"Funds set aside for textbooks, including electronic textbooks must be used explicitly for the purpose of conveying information, including curriculum content, to students," Abbott said. "And such funds may not be used for the purchase of hardware or other equipment."
Abbott filed the opinion at the request of Geraldine (Tincy) Miller, the chair of the state Board of Education, which is responsible for managing the textbook funds.
School Official Ends Bid To Unmask Web Critics
A school administrator in Oklahoma on Monday dropped a lawsuit that demanded the identities of people who anonymously criticized him on an online message board.
Jerry Hurd, the superintendent of Sperry Public Schools, dismissed subpoenas he filed last month seeking all information pertaining to the identities of those who posted messages on the site and those who registered for it. He had filed a previous suit against the operator of the site, accusing her and the message posters of libel.
Hurd's subpoenas sought to force two domain-name registrars, DomainsByProxy.com and GoDaddy.com, to provide information on those who posted messages on the site.
Lawyers for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed a motion to quash the subpoenas earlier this month, said they were satisfied by Hurd's decision to drop the case.
"We're disappointed that [Hurd] filed this frivolous case in the first place, but we're pleased that he finally recognized that it's wrong to use the discovery process to try to scare his critics into silence," EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry said in a release. "Free-ranging public debate and criticism is essential to promoting effective and responsive public schools."
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