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Florida Court Blocks E-Voting Review
by Michael Martinez
A Florida Democrat who has challenged the results of a U.S. House race was blocked again in court this week from reviewing the source code of the machines used during the contest.
The Florida 1st Circuit Court of Appeals declined to hear a request by Christine Jennings to examine the touch-screen machines from her race against Republican Vern Buchanan, who won by a razor-thin margin. Jennings has challenged the results in court and before Congress.
Florida Circuit Judge William Gary blocked Jennings from inspecting the Election Systems & Software devices in December and said her argument was "nothing but conjecture." He also cited concerns about whether ES&S trade secrets would be exposed by granting access to the code.
Jennings claims that glitches were responsible for 18,000 fewer votes being tabulated in her race than in other contests on the ballot in Sarasota County last November. But the appellate court blocked her challenge to Gary's decision.
According to the court, Jennings failed to satisfy the "extraordinary burden to demonstrate that the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law, resulting in irreparable, material injury for the remaining trial proceedings that cannot be rectified on direct appeal."
The House Administration Committee has launched is own probe into the race. The panel has asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the machines by July 27.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Jennings said she would accept whatever ruling is issued by that panel. She also said she is going to "spend some time away with family and friends" in the coming weeks and announce her future political plans shortly.
"I will accept their decision regardless of the outcome, comfortable in the knowledge that we have left no stone unturned in our quest for the truth," Jennings said. "I believe I have accomplished much as an advocate for the voters and for fair and accurate elections."
In the wake of the Jennings case, Florida lawmakers have decided to move the state away from touch-screen machines. A measure signed into law this year by Gov. Charlie Crist requires all the state's elections to be conducted on machines that produce auditable paper trails.
The mandate already has some county officials concerned about their pocketbooks. The Palm Beach Post reported this week that Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson claimed it would cost counties more than a dollar a page to print and deliver ballots for optical-scan machines. He said it would cost $5.9 million to switch to the machines by next year, prompting some county officials to weigh the legal ramifications of keeping touch screens.
Anderson later acknowledged that his estimate was inaccurate. He told the Post he planned to submit a significantly smaller budget for the county's voting system upgrade next week. He said he "suspected" that the county would be much more satisfied with the new request.
Ohio Data Breach Wider Than Thought
A data breach discovered in Ohio appears to be far more urgent than what the state originally disclosed.
Gov. Ted Strickland announced Wednesday that investigators have discovered that a data tape stolen from a state intern's car this month included the names and Social Security numbers of 225,000 taxpayers who had not yet cashed refund checks issued in 2005 and 2006. It also included the personal information of roughly 600 lottery winners who had not yet collected their prizes, on rejected electronic fund transfers, and on uncashed checks and fund payments.
The state warned 64,000 government employees earlier this week that their data was compromised. The Strickland administration has offered identity-theft protection to the additional victims discovered later in the week. The state has agreed to provide all of them free prevention and protection services against ID theft for the next year.
In a statement, Strickland, a Democrat, said investigators still have not discovered any evidence that the data on the tape was accessed or abused. But he strongly urged those whose personal information was exposed to do everything they can to protect themselves.
"While it is unlikely that someone can access the data contained in the device without specialized knowledge and equipment, we are proactively providing identity-theft prevention and protection services to the people of Ohio now impacted by this situation," he said. "However, we have no information to date that the data has been accessed."
According to The Columbus Dispatch, the tape included nearly 500,000 separate government records. A spokesman for the Ohio Administrative Services Department told the newspaper that a former technician for the Ohio Administrative Knowledge System had regularly been sending data tapes home with interns for safekeeping.
The data-security policies of the department infuriated lawmakers. State Rep. Jay Hottinger, a Republican, told the Dispatch that the department was foolish to give interns that much responsibility.
"Not since Monica Lewinsky have we seen an intern with such access," he said, referring to the former White House intern who had a romantic relationship with former President Clinton.
Oregon Lawmakers Clear Cyber-Bullying Bill
The Oregon Legislature this week cleared to Gov. Ted Kulongoski a bill that would require schools to adopt plans to curtail cyber bullying.
The measure, H.B. 2637, would require schools to address "the use of any electronic communication device to harass, intimidate or bully." But it stops short of prescribing specific punishments for students who say malicious things about their peers or their teachers online.
The Senate passed the bill by a 22-7 vote; the House passed it overwhelmingly in May.
Cyber-bullying proposals in other states have raised constitutional issues about whether they would impose improper limits on student speech, particularly on activities conducted at home. State Rep. Dave Hunt, a Democrat, told The Oregonian that the proposal in his state would "establish a base" of policies for school-related and on-campus activities.
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