Ohio Has Clearer Picture of Ballots Now
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Most of the presidential election provisional ballots rejected so far in Ohio came from people who were not even registered to vote, election officials said after spending nearly two weeks poring over thousands of disputed votes.
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A recount shows George W. Bush&#39;s win in Ohio - the state that delivered the president his narrow victory - was a bit closer than originally thought.
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Thanks to John Kerry's concession speech, Ohio's election workers don't exactly have the eyes of the nation upon them, but their job of checking and counting the state's provisional ballots is as difficult and time-consuming as ever.
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Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt was declared by The Associated Press as the winner of the very close Nov. 7 House contest in southern OhioÃ¢ÂÂs 2nd District, as the nearly completed canvass by election officials continues to show her holding a narrow lead over Democratic challenger Victoria Wulsin.
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Ohio, mother to seven presidents, is used to being in the center of presidential elections. Just two presidents have taken the White House without winning the Buckeye state since 1900.
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Ohio counties finished certifying votes in the presidential race Wednesday, and the results showed that election officials accepted about 77 percent of the provisional ballots that were cast.
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From malfunctioning machines to poorly trained poll workers, Ohio has become this year's example for electoral flaws.
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By The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio  Feb. 7--Chris Korleski said all the right things last week during his visit with the board of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Solid Waste Management District.
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A Denver-based e-voting testing laboratory and experts from three universities have been hired by the state of Ohio to undertake independent evaluations of the states&#39; e-voting hardware, software, and processes. The move is aimed at finding and fixing potential problems before the 2008 presidential election.The work is being done under a $1.7 million contract awarded earlier this summer by the state to get an in-depth picture of how the e-voting system is working. Since the 2000 presidential election,&#160;critics of e-voting systems have voiced concerns&#160;about the accuracy, integrity, and security of e-voting results and have pushed for tougher means of ensuring that every vote cast is properly counted.Ohio has faced e-voting problems in several elections in which electronic machines were used, including a&#160;May 2006 primary election,&#160;when a host of accuracy problems were reported.The evaluation process was announced by newly elected Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner after she took office in January. Chris Nance, Ohio&#39;s assistant secretary of state, said Tuesday that the review will test a representative sample of the 40,000 e-voting machines and systems used in Ohio&#39;s 88 counties to determine what changes and improvements need to be made. &quot;This is a risk assessment&quot; being done to identify potential vulnerabilities in the related systems, Nance said.After a competitive hiring process this summer, Ohio tapped Denver-based SysTest Labs to conduct the evaluation. SysTest Labs is accredited by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for e-voting system certification and testing.In a first for Ohio, and perhaps the nation, three computer security researchers from three major universities -- Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of California, Santa Barbara -- are also conducting independent evaluations of the state&#39;s e-voting systems. Those reviews will be submitted along with the ones being done by SysTest Labs.Having evaluations from various sources &quot;creates this range of feedback,&quot; said Nance.The e-voting hardware in the state is primarily from Omaha-based Election Systems &amp; Software and Allen, Texas-based Premier Election Solutions, formerly known as Diebold Election Systems. Two counties use machines from Austin-based Hart InterCivic.Brian Phillips, president of SysTest Labs, said that the testing processes began Sept. 24 and will be completed by Nov. 30. The performance testing covers hardware and election management software, as well as the polling place devices and the central counting applications that tally all the votes, he said.The company is conducting configuration management testing to ensure that the e-voting system hardware and software matches the specifications of the certified systems allowed in elections across Ohio, he said. Also being reviewed are systems that prevent any changes or updates in the hardware or software without the approval of election officials.Final reports from the reviews will be delivered Dec. 14 to Brunner&#39;s office. Those reports will then be evaluated by the governor and legislature for any action that may be needed, Nance said.&quot;It is certainly the intention... for any secretary of state... to put in place a set of policies and procedures&quot; to ensure that every vote is properly counted, Nance said. &quot;The American electorate has seen that there are issues related to electronic voting. We would not have spent $1.7 million for this study if we felt we were on a fool&#39;s errand. It is our responsibility to put together our very best effort to do that.&quot;&quot;Is this a perfect plan? Is this the perfect approach? I don&#39;t think there is anything that is a perfect plan or approach. This is our best plan.&quot;Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.
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By Olson, Scott  A redesigned state Web portal unveiled last month should make it easier for Hoosiers to plow through mounds of government minutia.  But, more important, the revamping set to be finished in mid- 2008 represents a major shift in state policy.
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With the critical state of Ohio too close to call, election officials are focussing on as many as 250,000 provisional ballots, which could determine the outcome of the US presidential election.
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With most states reporting massive new voter registrations and many political observers worrying about potential voter confusion and allegations of fraud on Nov.2, one organization has created a web-based tool to answer questions and provide information.
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Almost 4,000 votes got added to Bush's Ohio count. Reports of minor glitches continue to turn up.
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The vast majority of provisional ballots cast in Ohio were legitimate, say election officials who are poring over thousands of presidential election ballots.
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Voters in Ohio delivered a second term to President Bush by a decisive margin. But the way the vote was conducted there, election law specialists say, exposed a number of weak spots in the nation&#39;s election system.
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In a change that could give new meaning to direct democracy, San Franciscans will soon cast ballots listing their first, second and third-place choices for municipal offices under a new "ranked-choice voting" system that would eliminate separate run-off elections.
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(Eaton, OH) - A recent WISH-TV Indiana poll showed President Bush winning Indiana over John Kerry 55-35 percent. It&#39;s a different story next door in Ohio.