BBV ALERT: "The Count" starts in 2 days: Instructions for Protect the Count

Black Box Voting was asked by YouTube to prepare an easy to follow public education program for Protecting the Count on ELECTION NIGHT and the days that follow. We collaborated with Videothevote.org and Election Defense Alliance. YouTube has created a Channel called Video Your Vote. The Black Box Voting Protect the Count series contains important information and several video clips never before made public. 

Please distribute immediately and as widely as you can. EASY INSTRUCTIONS: View the videos that best fit your location. 

1. Protect the Count - most locations in America(4 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3_xFb1sWKU
Takes 90 minutes on Election Night. You can even go out after polls have closed. Please also view video # 3, because it shows what to look for to identify tampered poll tapes and the kinds of small errors on tapes that can appear with memory card tampering. Upload any video you take to http://www.videothevote.org - Post link or comments for what you found in the state and jurisdiction athttp://www.blackboxvoting.org

2. Protect the Count - Absentee / Central Count (8 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZp3rA1XXjw
(Applies to 13 states with CENTRALLY COUNTED ballots and/or HEAVY ABSENTEE VOTING)
These are the most challenging Protect the Count locations. 

3. Protect the Count - New England / New Hampshire(5 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV4M12w6tY4
If you live anywhere in New England and can drive to any voting machine location in New Hampshire to observe and video poll closing, please do so. If you live anywhere in America that has polling place results tapes, please look at this video to see what tampered tapes look like.
Contact Protect the Count - New Hampshire organizers at protectthevote@gmail.com
You can view the list for which New Hampshire locations use voting machines here:
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/157/157.html

4. Protect the Count - New York (9 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmSn4qLdgbU
New Yorkers are probably in the best shape for Election 2008, but not for long. This shows the details of how the counting of the lever machines proceeds after polls close, and gives you the details of the fight New Yorkers will have on your hands in 2009.

I'm counting on you to be as proactive as possible to fight for your voting rights. The actions in the Protect the Count series are self-serve, simple to do, and designed for just grabbing a neighbor or a buddy and taking action. Don't worry about blanketing every area or organizing the whole state. Just pick a place and DO it. I guarantee it will be a fascinating and important experience, and could provide THE crucial evidence in the very undesirable event that the election turns out not to be fair.

Bev Harris
Founder - Black Box Voting
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

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This is an Election Alert for Black Box Voting list members. If someone has passed this along to you and you would like to receive these alerts, you can register here: http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-profile.cgi?action=register

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BBV ALERT: Massachusetts, New England memory card custody issue

An alert Massachusetts citizen named Lisa asked her town elections official today what will happen to the Diebold voting machine memory cards after the election. The clerk replied that she will give the memory cards back to a private vendor, LHS Associates, the day after the election! The memory cards are the ballot box, in all New England voting machine locations. This is a very serious matter.

LHS Associates, from Methuen Mass., programs ALL the memory cards for Diebold systems in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine. A member of the key management staff of LHS, Kenneth Hajjar, is a convicted narcotics trafficker. We have Hajjar's criminal record documents posted on our Web site. He is in charge of "sales and marketing" for elections for all of New England. In a radio interview, he admitted he drives around with memory cards in the trunk of his car. It is an unacceptable practice to have LHS controlling voting machine programming in New England, but it is outrageous that LHS is trying to collect its memory cards before the election is even canvassed or certified, not to mention before recount and contest periods have expired.

REMINDER: The New England "Protect the Count" actions are contained in this 8-minute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV4M12w6tY4
The video above shows how to spot memory card tampering (when it is done clumsily; if done skillfully it leaves no trace). Capture the evidence.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT: Lisa called the Massachusetts Secretary of State, who informed her that it is ILLEGAL for towns to let LHS Associates take custody of the memory cards before 30 days has elapsed. Lisa's town clerk has now agreed not to let LHS do that.

WHAT TO DO: If you live in Massachusetts, place a call to your town clerk and ask what they are planning to do with their memory cards. If they say give them back to LHS report this to Black Box Voting and to hotlines like 1-866-OURVOTE and to the secretary of state, and tell the election official this is illegal unless they wait 30 days. If you live in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine or Connecticut, you may want to make some phone calls to ask about this.

WHAT BLACK BOX VOTING IS DOING: In addition to issuing a general alert, we are faxing every town clerk in Massachusetts to remind them that it is illegal to give their memory cards to LHS before 30 days has elapsed. This will be more effective if local citizens also call, because they'll know people are watching. No New England election official should give the memory cards back to LHS before canvassing, certification, recount and contest periods have expired!

LONG TERM: The situation with secret vote counting on computers programmed by LHS needs to be resolved. After Nov. 4.

Grab a buddy (because it's more fun that way), don't worry about blanketing every area or organizing the whole state. Just pick a place and do it. I guarantee it will be a fascinating and important experience and could provide crucial evidence.

Bev Harris
Founder - Black Box Voting
http://www.blackboxvoting.org