Publius Freeman
01-29-2008, 11:07 PM
More critical, timely information from BlackBoxVoting:
From http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/71620.html?1201644252
Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 2:04 pm:
By Bev Harris - Black Box Voting
Vickie Karp - Vote Rescue, Austin TX
with Tom Courbat - SAVE R VOTE, Riverside Calif.
If you live in Florida or any of the Super Duper Tuesday (Feb. 5) states, your votes are soon going to be toted around the county. Who's transporting them? Is the chain of custody secure? What we found in New Hampshire proves you should take nothing for granted, and you may be stone cold horrified at what you see.
Now's the time to get in gear and track your own local chain of custody. Here are some tips:
TRACK BALLOTS, MEMORY CARDS, AND CARTRIDGES
The most interesting locations are the county (or in New England, Town/City) election headquarters, and the depots, drop-off centers, and other consolidated locations set up to receive multiple precincts at once before toting them downtown.
In Florida, we found some of the most interesting anomalies clustered in the Daytona Speedway drop off site. Here, poll workers from dozens of Volusia County polling places had been instructed to drive through a Daytona Speedway drop-off site, hand over their poll tapes and memory cards, and drive away.
In California, Tom Courbat and the SAVE R VOTE group tracked the memory cartridges from polling places to the county elections office.
In King County, Washington Kathleen Wynne stationed herself at one of the depots, drop-off sites, what have you, where she observed optical scan machines being tossed around and memory card handling in the dark of night.
In New Hampshire, we followed a van driven by "Butch and Hoppy" as they careened around the state picking up ballot boxes, delivering them after dark to a state archive building.
PREPARATION
Don't even bother if you don't take video of this. Collect evidence, not anecdotes.
1. Get at least one video camera for each vehicle and practice with it before you need it. Get the best zoom lens, remote audio and night vision adjustments you can, if you have a choice. Otherwise, just get any video camera and go.
2. Get enough recordable media -- mini DVs, disks, or whatever your camera takes. Plan for enough to capture 3-5 hours worth of video.
3. Bring your charger cord. Bring full batteries.
4. Get a converter. This will let you plug in your camera, charge it, whatever while in the car. The converter plugs into the cigarette lighter and gives you ordinary electrical outlets to plug in cameras, laptops, cell phone chargers, what have you. Available at Radio Shack for about $79. Looks like this:
(Keep the engine running while the converter is charging, it can drain the battery with car turned off).
You can also plug in your laptop to the converter.
5. Which reminds me: Bring your laptop. You may want to upload photos or comments live while you're there. Download Google Earth before you go, if you get a chance. You can use Google Earth in the car to help find your way. The satellite view is especially helpful.
6. Bring cell phones.
7. Set the date/time on your camera!
STAFFING THE CHAIN OF CUSTODY TRACKING TEAM
Best if you have two vehicles with two people each. Each vehicle should have cell phones and video. It is not unusual for the vote transport squad to drive over the speed limit and/or take evasive maneuvers to try to ditch citizens who are simply monitoring the transfer of the votes from one place to another. Two vehicles will help you find them if you can't see which way they turned.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO VIDEO AND DRIVE AT THE SAME TIME! Do not endanger others. One person should drive, the other person should video.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE TRANSPORT VEHICLE
1. Be at the drop-off points or your target location at least 15 minutes before the polls close. (Note: You cannot video during voting and in Florida and Texas, they may try to prevent you from video AFTER the polls close, but that only applies to inside the polling place.)
Position your vehicle(s) so that you can see all routes the transport vehicle may leave from. Park so that you can follow promptly when they go.
2. You may want to bring snacks and water, -- but not too much water, there may be no bathroom breaks. (Or else, bring some “Depends”!!!) In cold weather, bring a blanket in case you get stranded.
3. If possible, before they leave, approach the driver, on videotape, and ask where they are going. Ask them after they leave each stop, which place they are going to next. ASSUME COOPERATION AND AVOID CONFRONTATIONAL BEHAVIOR.
4. One vehicle needs to follow close. The other can be a little bit behind. Stay in contact by cell phone. If the second car misses seeing where the transport vehicle turns, call them & let them know where to turn to help everyone stay together
5. Try to keep your video camera running all the time. You never know when something happens that should be recorded. That way you can't forget to hit the "record" button. Tape everything.
6. Keep a written "log" of each location visited, mark down the time you arrived and note activity. Get video on any ballot boxes, memory card pouches, etc. Use your zoom to capture as many location names/tracking numbers as you can.
7. If the transport vehicle speeds, take video of speed limit signs if you can and take a video shot of the speedometer and document with audio on the videotape.
At the next stop, videotape as you point out the speeding violations and request on tape that they stay within the speed limit.
8. Be on the alert for these evasive maneuvers which may be attempted: Pulling into a parking lot of a store or business, then circling around and making a left turn just ahead of traffic that will get between you and the transport vehicle; Circling round the same spot repeatedly; speedy driving through back roads and residential areas.
Any time the transport vehicle stops, park your car into a position that will allow a hasty exit offering either a right OR left turn, as you will not know which way they are going until they may "turn on a dime".
Note any locations where you encounter evasive maneuvers.
9. Be aware that some of the areas they stop have more than one way in and out, EVEN IF NOT OBVIOUS. NEVER let the vehicle out of your sight—what appears to be them "turning around" to go out the front driveway, might really be them circling around the back to elude you out the back driveway.
10. Be aware that if you run a red light or speed, you may be ticketed.
11. Be sure to record:
- Liasons, meetups, or rendezvous with other vehicles
- Extra stops
- Anything they don't seem to want you to see
WHAT TO VIDEO
- Closeups of the faces of each person working at the drop-off point or in the intake area of election headquarters
- Zoom in on ballot boxes and memory card/poll tape pouches. Record (and speak aloud) each tracking number you see
- Conversations of people at the drop off sites or elections headquarters as they speak with each other, especially if they are huddling over some problem or trying not to let people hear.
- License plates, make and model of cars of people handling and/or transporting votes.
- Ballot/memory card handling procedures
- Any incident that endangers the public safety (We watched "Butch and Hoppy" speed through a school zone with lights flashing and children present)
- Any situation where ballot boxes or memory cards are handled not in clear public view.
- If you are told not to videotape, record them telling you not to tape, but abide by their request to avoid having your camera confiscated.
- In California, Florida, Washington, Oregon, and many other Super Tuesday states, it is illegal to record voices secretly. It's a serious offense. Don't do it. You can look up whether secret audio is permitted in your state by searching for the term "single party consent".
- IF YOU ARE STANDING IN THE PUBLIC AREA, IN FRONT OF THE COUNTER, you can videotape even if they tell you it is not permitted. The ban against secret audio recording only applies in locations where there is an expectation of privacy, and the public area of a public elections office during a public election is not a location where a reasonable expectation of privacy exists. Bear in mind that a popular obstruction strategy nowadays is for government officials to block, confiscate or even arrest, then after it is too late, drop charges or say "oops."
Don't provide ammunition for camera confiscation. Be polite and respectful and follow directives.
WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR VIDEO
Learn to download it to your computer -- or just get help from someone who knows how, ask a high school kid.
Windows XP has an update patch with a free program called MovieMaker that is really easy to use to edit your film.
Keep an intact copy of your film and, if you capture something very important, get a copy made on the same media on which you originally recorded it, as soon as possible. Put the copy in a safe place.
You can edit your film into clips and post on YouTube, Google Videos, etc.
Your film can also be very helpful when anomalies are discovered. For example, in New Hampshire, Nashua Ward 5 had very significant anomalies. Later, looking at my film, I saw that a Nashua Ward 5 ballot box arrived ripped open, too large for its reported contents, and with its reported contents not matching the dispatch sheets.
You may want to request public records, or just request to videotape, any intake forms or dispatch records.
- Time/date
- Tracking numbers
- Signatures
- Faces of who was there
- Locations
- Information on results, poll tapes, number of ballots etc.
YOU MAY NOT REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE IS IMPORTANT
Quite often, you will catch something on video that does not become important until days, weeks, or even months later.
INDEX YOUR VIDEO
Always record on each tape or disk the date, time, and subject so you can identify it easily.
The next day, quickly look at your video and record what it contains -- at least in broad strokes -- so you can find what you need later.
SHARE YOUR VIDEO
Agree among those on your team that you will each share video with the other. Share important footage with the public via Internet, and with news reporters, voting rights groups and, if appropriate, law enforcement agencies.
http://www.blackboxvoting.org
http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org
http://www.ronpaulvotecount.com
RP2008!
From http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/71620.html?1201644252
Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 2:04 pm:
By Bev Harris - Black Box Voting
Vickie Karp - Vote Rescue, Austin TX
with Tom Courbat - SAVE R VOTE, Riverside Calif.
If you live in Florida or any of the Super Duper Tuesday (Feb. 5) states, your votes are soon going to be toted around the county. Who's transporting them? Is the chain of custody secure? What we found in New Hampshire proves you should take nothing for granted, and you may be stone cold horrified at what you see.
Now's the time to get in gear and track your own local chain of custody. Here are some tips:
TRACK BALLOTS, MEMORY CARDS, AND CARTRIDGES
The most interesting locations are the county (or in New England, Town/City) election headquarters, and the depots, drop-off centers, and other consolidated locations set up to receive multiple precincts at once before toting them downtown.
In Florida, we found some of the most interesting anomalies clustered in the Daytona Speedway drop off site. Here, poll workers from dozens of Volusia County polling places had been instructed to drive through a Daytona Speedway drop-off site, hand over their poll tapes and memory cards, and drive away.
In California, Tom Courbat and the SAVE R VOTE group tracked the memory cartridges from polling places to the county elections office.
In King County, Washington Kathleen Wynne stationed herself at one of the depots, drop-off sites, what have you, where she observed optical scan machines being tossed around and memory card handling in the dark of night.
In New Hampshire, we followed a van driven by "Butch and Hoppy" as they careened around the state picking up ballot boxes, delivering them after dark to a state archive building.
PREPARATION
Don't even bother if you don't take video of this. Collect evidence, not anecdotes.
1. Get at least one video camera for each vehicle and practice with it before you need it. Get the best zoom lens, remote audio and night vision adjustments you can, if you have a choice. Otherwise, just get any video camera and go.
2. Get enough recordable media -- mini DVs, disks, or whatever your camera takes. Plan for enough to capture 3-5 hours worth of video.
3. Bring your charger cord. Bring full batteries.
4. Get a converter. This will let you plug in your camera, charge it, whatever while in the car. The converter plugs into the cigarette lighter and gives you ordinary electrical outlets to plug in cameras, laptops, cell phone chargers, what have you. Available at Radio Shack for about $79. Looks like this:
(Keep the engine running while the converter is charging, it can drain the battery with car turned off).
You can also plug in your laptop to the converter.
5. Which reminds me: Bring your laptop. You may want to upload photos or comments live while you're there. Download Google Earth before you go, if you get a chance. You can use Google Earth in the car to help find your way. The satellite view is especially helpful.
6. Bring cell phones.
7. Set the date/time on your camera!
STAFFING THE CHAIN OF CUSTODY TRACKING TEAM
Best if you have two vehicles with two people each. Each vehicle should have cell phones and video. It is not unusual for the vote transport squad to drive over the speed limit and/or take evasive maneuvers to try to ditch citizens who are simply monitoring the transfer of the votes from one place to another. Two vehicles will help you find them if you can't see which way they turned.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO VIDEO AND DRIVE AT THE SAME TIME! Do not endanger others. One person should drive, the other person should video.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE TRANSPORT VEHICLE
1. Be at the drop-off points or your target location at least 15 minutes before the polls close. (Note: You cannot video during voting and in Florida and Texas, they may try to prevent you from video AFTER the polls close, but that only applies to inside the polling place.)
Position your vehicle(s) so that you can see all routes the transport vehicle may leave from. Park so that you can follow promptly when they go.
2. You may want to bring snacks and water, -- but not too much water, there may be no bathroom breaks. (Or else, bring some “Depends”!!!) In cold weather, bring a blanket in case you get stranded.
3. If possible, before they leave, approach the driver, on videotape, and ask where they are going. Ask them after they leave each stop, which place they are going to next. ASSUME COOPERATION AND AVOID CONFRONTATIONAL BEHAVIOR.
4. One vehicle needs to follow close. The other can be a little bit behind. Stay in contact by cell phone. If the second car misses seeing where the transport vehicle turns, call them & let them know where to turn to help everyone stay together
5. Try to keep your video camera running all the time. You never know when something happens that should be recorded. That way you can't forget to hit the "record" button. Tape everything.
6. Keep a written "log" of each location visited, mark down the time you arrived and note activity. Get video on any ballot boxes, memory card pouches, etc. Use your zoom to capture as many location names/tracking numbers as you can.
7. If the transport vehicle speeds, take video of speed limit signs if you can and take a video shot of the speedometer and document with audio on the videotape.
At the next stop, videotape as you point out the speeding violations and request on tape that they stay within the speed limit.
8. Be on the alert for these evasive maneuvers which may be attempted: Pulling into a parking lot of a store or business, then circling around and making a left turn just ahead of traffic that will get between you and the transport vehicle; Circling round the same spot repeatedly; speedy driving through back roads and residential areas.
Any time the transport vehicle stops, park your car into a position that will allow a hasty exit offering either a right OR left turn, as you will not know which way they are going until they may "turn on a dime".
Note any locations where you encounter evasive maneuvers.
9. Be aware that some of the areas they stop have more than one way in and out, EVEN IF NOT OBVIOUS. NEVER let the vehicle out of your sight—what appears to be them "turning around" to go out the front driveway, might really be them circling around the back to elude you out the back driveway.
10. Be aware that if you run a red light or speed, you may be ticketed.
11. Be sure to record:
- Liasons, meetups, or rendezvous with other vehicles
- Extra stops
- Anything they don't seem to want you to see
WHAT TO VIDEO
- Closeups of the faces of each person working at the drop-off point or in the intake area of election headquarters
- Zoom in on ballot boxes and memory card/poll tape pouches. Record (and speak aloud) each tracking number you see
- Conversations of people at the drop off sites or elections headquarters as they speak with each other, especially if they are huddling over some problem or trying not to let people hear.
- License plates, make and model of cars of people handling and/or transporting votes.
- Ballot/memory card handling procedures
- Any incident that endangers the public safety (We watched "Butch and Hoppy" speed through a school zone with lights flashing and children present)
- Any situation where ballot boxes or memory cards are handled not in clear public view.
- If you are told not to videotape, record them telling you not to tape, but abide by their request to avoid having your camera confiscated.
- In California, Florida, Washington, Oregon, and many other Super Tuesday states, it is illegal to record voices secretly. It's a serious offense. Don't do it. You can look up whether secret audio is permitted in your state by searching for the term "single party consent".
- IF YOU ARE STANDING IN THE PUBLIC AREA, IN FRONT OF THE COUNTER, you can videotape even if they tell you it is not permitted. The ban against secret audio recording only applies in locations where there is an expectation of privacy, and the public area of a public elections office during a public election is not a location where a reasonable expectation of privacy exists. Bear in mind that a popular obstruction strategy nowadays is for government officials to block, confiscate or even arrest, then after it is too late, drop charges or say "oops."
Don't provide ammunition for camera confiscation. Be polite and respectful and follow directives.
WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR VIDEO
Learn to download it to your computer -- or just get help from someone who knows how, ask a high school kid.
Windows XP has an update patch with a free program called MovieMaker that is really easy to use to edit your film.
Keep an intact copy of your film and, if you capture something very important, get a copy made on the same media on which you originally recorded it, as soon as possible. Put the copy in a safe place.
You can edit your film into clips and post on YouTube, Google Videos, etc.
Your film can also be very helpful when anomalies are discovered. For example, in New Hampshire, Nashua Ward 5 had very significant anomalies. Later, looking at my film, I saw that a Nashua Ward 5 ballot box arrived ripped open, too large for its reported contents, and with its reported contents not matching the dispatch sheets.
You may want to request public records, or just request to videotape, any intake forms or dispatch records.
- Time/date
- Tracking numbers
- Signatures
- Faces of who was there
- Locations
- Information on results, poll tapes, number of ballots etc.
YOU MAY NOT REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE IS IMPORTANT
Quite often, you will catch something on video that does not become important until days, weeks, or even months later.
INDEX YOUR VIDEO
Always record on each tape or disk the date, time, and subject so you can identify it easily.
The next day, quickly look at your video and record what it contains -- at least in broad strokes -- so you can find what you need later.
SHARE YOUR VIDEO
Agree among those on your team that you will each share video with the other. Share important footage with the public via Internet, and with news reporters, voting rights groups and, if appropriate, law enforcement agencies.
http://www.blackboxvoting.org
http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org
http://www.ronpaulvotecount.com
RP2008!