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N.J. E-Voting Probe Sparks Concerns
by Michael Martinez
New Jersey's e-voting system is vulnerable to manipulation and abuse because of significant flaws in the state's process for certifying and purchasing voting machines, according to a report released this week.
The state Commission of Investigation said in a report issued Wednesday that a major overhaul is needed to fix the state's e-voting procurement process. The report found that the current system lacks competitive bidding, independent oversight and uniform contracting practices.
New Jersey is currently migrating each of its 21 counties from manually operated machines to new electronic platforms. "The transition to this new era of 'high-tech' voting has been neither smooth nor orderly," the report said.
According to investigators, there is no statutory or regulatory structure guiding counties that are acquiring systems, which are being purchased without competitive bidding. The report also found that there is no mechanism in place to determine whether systems that counties already have purchased comply with federal standards.
A spokesman for state Attorney General Anne Milgram, who is in charge of the e-voting system, told the Star-Ledger that she agrees legislation is necessary to ensure that companies are forced to bid competitively for e-voting contracts.
Milgram this week backed a proposal passed by a state Senate panel that would give counties until next spring to retrofit their e-voting platforms so they produce paper trails. Counties originally were given until January to install such devices. The state will conduct its presidential primary Feb. 5.
State Sen. Nia Gill told The Montclair Times that the machines in her jurisdiction are "constitutionally impaired" and that voter-verified paper records are necessary to ensure the integrity of future elections.
In other e-voting news, city officials in San Francisco this week moved closer to purchasing an e-voting system from the California-based company Sequoia Voting Systems.
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen earlier this year imposed severe restrictions on San Francisco's voting system. Bowen recently sued Elections Systems and Software for allegedly selling the city and four other counties unauthorized machines.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that advocates were upset that a panel on the city's Board of Supervisors did not choose a system with a fully transparent, open-source platform. The full board will meet next week to vote on the proposed $12.6 million deal with Sequoia.
Sites Accused Of Violating Kids' Privacy
The top cop in Texas this week accused a pair of Web sites of unlawfully collecting personal information about children who visit the sites.
State Attorney General Greg Abbott on Wednesday announced lawsuits against TheDollPalace.com and Gamesradar.com, alleging that those sites violated a federal law designed to protect children online. Investigators from his office claim that the sites illegally collected names, ages and home addresses from children, and that the sites' parental controls can be easily manipulated and sidestepped.
According to Abbott, the sites violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires sites that cater to children to implement certain privacy restrictions. TheDollPalace allows users to create and design virtual dolls, and offers chat rooms and games. Gamesradar hosts discussion forums on videogames and movies. Investigators claimed that users were asked to provide sensitive information to access certain features on the sites.
"Parents should be rightfully concerned about these Web sites," Abbott said in a news conference. He added that he will continue to aggressively seek action against sites that ignore protections that prevent children from divulging sensitive information.
Tobacco Cartoons Spark Complaints
The attorneys general from Maryland and roughly a half-dozen other states this week sued one of the country's biggest tobacco companies for using cartoons and an associated Web site to promote cigarettes.
Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler announced Tuesday that he would join states in suing R.J. Reynolds Tobacco for violating the terms of a 1998 agreement that prohibits tobacco firms from using cartoons and brand merchandise to market products. The suit was sparked by the company's recent marketing push, which included a nine-page special advertising section for Camel cigarettes in a recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine and an associated Web site.
Gansler said he wants R.J. Reynolds to be forced to pay $100 sanctions for every hit on the company's so-called "Farm Rocks" site that came from his state, as well as for every magazine that was distributed. He said in a news release that R.J. Reynolds attempted to do "exactly what it agreed not to do" in the $243 billion settlement reached in 1998.
"The [agreement] contains stringent anti-youth marketing provisions and this type of advertising is a blatant violation of [it]," Gansler said. "Nine years after we thought we had seen an end to the predatory marketing practices of the old days, Reynolds continues to use the deadly charm of cartoons and merchandise to entice new customers."
N.Y. Site Will Track Lobbying, Campaigns
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday announced the launch of an online tool that allows users to track how money is influencing the state's political system.
The "Project Sunlight" site provides users instant access to campaign finance reports, lobbying filings, government contract recipients and legislative updates. He said in a note on the home page that the site is still in its first phase of implementation, which involves "collecting and standardizing different data and making it available" in a comprehensive resource.
The New York Times editorial board already has opined on the project. The newspaper said Thursday that the site will give ordinary citizens access to information they should have had anyway. "More transparency can only help, although the old guard won't see it that way," the Times said.
In Arizona, meanwhile, Secretary of State Jan Brewer this week announced the launch of a Web-based system for filing campaign finance reports. She said in a statement that the state's old software-based system has been overhauled to encourage more open reporting and help campaign committees comply with reporting rules more easily.
"I made a pledge at the time I ran for re-election to replace our antiquated campaign filing system with a system that is Web-based and state of the art," she said. "I am pleased to announce that this process is now complete and the public will soon reap the benefits by having more information available to them via the Web."
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