M100 Election Systems and Software

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Author Message   Lewis Yancey Voting Rights Forum Participant Username: Zresse Post Number: 1 Registered: 12-2005 Best of Black Box? N/A Votes: 0 (A keeper?) Posted on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - 6:54 pm:        Does anyone have any information on the M100 Election Systems and Software (marksense tabulator)? Found out that my county (chesterfield) uses this machine. Ok - followed the link from the other thread to the state boards. I'm going to search on this.   Lewis Yancey Voting Rights Forum Participant Username: Zresse Post Number: 2 Registered: 12-2005 Best of Black Box? N/A Votes: 0 (A keeper?) Posted on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - 6:59 pm:        http://www.votersunite.org/info/ES&Sinthenews.pdf geez - not even 5 minutes and found problems with this company and the exact model my county uses. I'm a programmer by trade. Maybe I should design a better, more open system? Anyone have suggestions on where to get the requirements for voting machines. Do the state's election committees publish RFP/Requirements documentation? I'm horrible at this activism thing, and I have no idea how to go about getting the required information. Some pointers would be greatly appreciated.   BBV Admin Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 2906 Registered: 12-2004 Best of Black Box? N/A Votes: 0 (A keeper?) Posted on Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - 4:57 am:        Lewis -- Here are the 1990 and 2002 FEC standards for voting machines: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/2383.html New standards are coming out in 2006 or early 2007. The system you refer to would have been certified to 1990 standards, unless it is quite new. The RFP for this system is probably from the county or township, obtainable by public records request. At the time these were purchased (unless it is recently) most purchasing was done by local jurisdictions. Clearly, you are NOT "horrible" at this activism thing, because your instincts are dead-on. Effectiveness in voting activism is not achieved by marching down a freeway. It is achieved by locating the documents, rules, laws, representations that apply and using them to leverage change. I think I have a little more information on the M100 at the office. I'll try to check back in and post that. In the mean time, I'm going to move this to the 1-on-1 consulting area so you can get additional input. Bev   BBV Admin Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 2907 Registered: 12-2004 Best of Black Box? N/A Votes: 0 (A keeper?) Posted on Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - 5:08 am:        By the way, to obtain the RFP you simply write to Chesterfield County Elections Division with a public records request. You can see the basic format for many public records request in the section here called "Black Box Voting Document Archive" under the section "Public Records" http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/10455.html Basically -- You have to label it as a public records request. You have to date it and provide a place for them to send responses You can often do them by email You cannot ask for answers to questions, only for documents, like the RFP You should avoid temptation to ask for everything but the kitchen sink. Confine to very specifically defined items. Generally they can refuse the request if they consider it "overbroad" or if they can claim it must be protected under "security" or "proprietary information." However, you can request that in the last two instances, that you get the documents anyway, with redactions of any sensitive information. You will be charged for the records, but generally just minor copying fees. Sometimes they tack on a labor charge, around $20 per hour, and on an RFP request, I'd expect to see charges of around $25, but this varies widely. Just ask them to quote you the price before filling the request. You can find the public records laws for your state here: www.foiadvocates.com/records.html, but I say, just dive in and make a request -- it's not hard, and even imperfect requests are usually processed. One more thing -- by perusing the requests and responses in our document archive, you'll see that responses vary widely, from friendly to efficient to ignorant to obstructive. Ya never know what you're gonna get. Good luck!

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The public must be able to see and authenticate these four essential steps for an election to be public, democratic, and valid: (1) Who can vote (voter list); (2) Who did vote (3) The original count; (4) Chain of custody.