You may have read this morning's diary on this subject by Bev Harris. Predictably, it became a debate about Bev Harris. That's too bad, because a truly scary (even by the standards of 2006 America) situation has developed in Leon County, Florida, a situation that could chill efforts all over the counry to expose the grave problems with our corporate-run election system.
Readers of this site may well be familiar with the Florida test-hacks of Diebold op-scan equipment , conducted in Leon County, FL under the authority of the County Supervisor of Elections, Ion Sancho. The hacks made national news, and California's expert voting panel, taking a close look at part of the source code, concluded that not only was that hack test for real, the system was even more vulnerable than thought, and that conclusion was based on their analysis of only a portion of the software code.
Now Sancho is facing a wave of hardball retaliation and may lose his job.
More on the flip.
From the columnist Fred Grimm in yesterday's
Miami Herald:
Ion Sancho may be a hero in California, where grateful election officials have verified the ''serious security vulnerabilities'' in Diebold voting machines that the Leon County election supervisor uncovered last year.
Sancho is regarded a little differently in Florida.
Florida's secretary of state's office disparaged Sancho's finding, demonstrating considerably more interest in propping up vendors than protecting elections.
California, alarmed by Sancho's report, dispatched its independent, expert-laden Voting Systems Technology Assessment Advisory Board to conduct its own investigation.
Florida, meanwhile, threatened to sue Sancho.
VOTING MACHINE VENDORS
When two of the only three voting machine vendors certified to do business in Florida (other potential competitors are shut out) refused to sell new machines to the troublemaking maverick from Leon County, the state snatched $564,421 in grant money away from Leon County for failing to meet a deadline for -- you guessed it -- obtaining new machines.
He may be a hero in California, but messing with monied interests makes him a pariah in Florida.
California's voting systems assessment board issued a report last month that cited -- in the very first paragraph -- Leon County's security tests. Sancho had dispatched renowned computer expert Harri Hursti of Finland to attempt to hack Leon County's Diebold voting system. He did. Hursti demonstrated that someone inside the supervisor's office could both alter the outcome of an election and erase any trace of his meddling.
`CONCERNS WERE VALID'
California's follow-up investigation ''absolutely vindicated Sancho's concerns,'' said David Wagner, a University of California computer scientist and a member of the voting machine assessment board. ``Our report found all of Ion Sancho's concerns were valid and, in fact, worse than anyone realized.''
Last month, California quickly issued a series of fixes for the holes in the system. On Friday afternoon, the Florida secretary of state's office sent out the same California security directives to county election supervisors. Of course, there was no mention that the California findings had been available all along right there in Ion Sancho's Tallahassee office.
''This is incredible how he has been treated,'' Wagner said Monday. ``He's the leader everyone else in the nation has been watching. Because of his investigation, we've been able to strengthen security and protect the voters of California and Florida.''
Wagner noted, instead of getting credit, Sancho has been savaged. One vendor canceled his orders at the last minute, one refused to sell him machines, the third won't return his phone calls.
Salesmen are suddenly too busy to sell him machines. The state, rather than react to possible collusion, promptly canceled his grant and threatened to sue him for failing to fulfill his official duties. A couple of Leon County commissioners have joined the pummeling.
`ROUGH FEW WEEKS'
''It's been a rough few weeks,'' Sancho said Monday, nearly in tears.
Wagner suggested that Sancho's situation ''exposed a weakness that no one has realized up to now.'' Florida apparently doesn't mind if its only licensed vendors refuse to sell their products to certain supervisors.
''Can a vendor punish someone who exposes defects in their product?'' Wagner asked.
``If they can drive out Ion Sancho, this is going to have a chilling effect on election supervisors across the country.''[boldface added]
He e-mailed Sancho: ``I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that some of us are grateful for your dedication to election security, even if the state of Florida can't bring themselves to thank you.
''In my mind,'' Wagner added, ``You are a real hero.''
In Florida, real heroes just catch hell.
And from Vote Trust USA:
At a Leon County Commission meeting on February 28, 2006, county staff revealed that Chuck Owen, Division Counsel for Diebold Election Systems, met with county staff behind closed doors on February 27. According to staff, Owen stated that Diebold would sell its touch-screen voting machines to the county if, and only if, the county removed Supervisor Sancho from office.[boldface added]
None of the Unfab Three voting machine vendors will sell Sancho the equipment he is trying to buy in order to be HAVA-compliant. They might just be doing CYA, since he has a track record of exposing nasty flaws. Whatever the case, the election supervisor leading the fight for transparent and reliable elections could be taken down. And the Florida SOS's letters, as well as the report of the Diebold closed-door meeting reek of payback. As the CA computer scientist Wagner noted, the effect on the movement if Sancho loses his could be terrible.
Floridians, write letters to the editor of the Miami Herald and the Tallahasse Democrat supporting Sancho and asking for more coverage. If you are not from Leon County, state clearly that you are affected by what goes down in Leon County, and that you owe Sancho a debt of gratitude as a Florida voter.
I'm thinking of more ideas to help Sancho. If you have them, post them. And drop Sancho a note of thanks yourself:
Leon County Supervisor of Elections Office
P. O. Box 7357, Tallahassee FL 32314-7357
Phone (850) 606-8683 - Fax (850) 606-8601
E-mail: vote@leoncountyfl.gov