[liberationtech] Fwd: Free and Fair Elections in Egypt

Sun Feb 13 20:20:01 PST 2011

Sheila seems to be having trouble posting to the list, so I'm doing it on
her behalf.  Please direct all comments to her email address below.

I apologize for the inconvenience,

Yosem

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sheila Parks <sheilaruthparks at comcast.net>
Date: Sun, Feb 13, 2011 at 5:54 PM
Subject: Re: [liberationtech] Free and Fair Elections in Egypt
To: Steve Weis <steveweis at gmail.com>
Cc: "M[P" <liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>

 Hi Steve

What an interesting you tube.  Since I don't understand the language used, I
really cannot tell what was going on here

Was it for real?  etc

Luckily, I have a very close Egyptian friend, who happened to be in Egypt
while all this was going on,and who lives here now, so she can translate it
for me.

You say what's "apparently shown in this video"  does this mean you really
don't know either what is going on?

I agree with what you say about what is needed,(except the audit, because
the votes  need to be hand-counted twice, and that would be the audit) and
more than that is needed, and I shall list below

And perhaps I was not clear, because I was not only talking about the
mechanism for voting, but also HOW the votes are counted

It is not only that the votes are counted by hand, but also :

The poll books are checked before you vote and when you leave after voting,
and both of these books need to match at the end of the day

The vote counting must be observed and videotaped at the counting by
opposing parties and the public

Results must be posted at the precinct, in full public view, right after the
hand-counting

The votes must be counted twice

There must be a secure line of custody of the ballots before, during and
after the voting.

I am wondering if you read any of the material on the web site that stated
all this?

And on the web site there is research showing many computer geeks,
professors and students, hacking the machines and leaving NO trace that they
were there doing so

The ballot boxes must also be made of clear plastic so that everyone there
can see what is going into them. I see from the NPR clip that the ballot
boxes were made of wood and glass but there were NO seals or locks

Ballot boxes must have tamper proof seals and locks

The count of the ballots at the end of the count needs to be the same as
voters in the poll books, both before and after the voting

AND finally, since the NPR clip and the you tube were about an election
while Mubarak was in charge, what do you expect?

However, what interests me now, is how many people like you will give this
2010 election as an example of how bad hand-counting is, without really
looking into it more carefully, and move for the machines.

Gore won the 2000 pres election in the US and Kerry won in 2004.  Bush went
to the White House, also with some help from the SCOTUS.

I would imagine in the new election in Egypt things will be very different
from 2010. And Egypt has NOTHING to learn from how the US runs elections,.
Hopefully, as I already said, the geeks in Egypt know better than to go to
electronic voting machines, both DRE's and optical scams, not a typo

All of this is on the web site, always my tag line on every email I send
out.

I am disappointed and discouraged that you would send such a glib email
without looking further into the information

Sheila

At 03:05 PM 2/13/2011, Steve Weis wrote:

Egypt used hand-counted paper ballots in 2010 [1]. That didn't prevent voter
intimidation or ballot stuffing, like what's apparently shown in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4HBUKkXyIc

The specific mechanism of how the votes are cast is largely irrelevant
without vote enfranchisement, safe voting locations, media freedoms,
electoral oversight, and the ability to audit the results. Focusing on
whether someone votes with a pen and paper, or a touchscreen is missing the
bigger picture.

[1] - "Furor Grows Over Egypt's Election Results",
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/30/131704396/calls-grow-to-set-aside-egypt-s-election-results

On Sun, Feb 13, 2011 at 10:00 AM, Sheila Parks < sheilaruthparks at comcast.net>
wrote:
 My blood runs cold every time I hear that, wondering if, no WHEN the US
privatized, riggable electronic voting machine industry will try to sell
their poisons to Egypt.

The youth and geeks who organized and those millions of leaders who took
part in Revolution know better than that, I tell myself

I would really appreciate comments from you who are involved in democracy
and technology.

 Sheila Parks, Ed.D.
Founder
Center for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots
Belmont, MA 02478
617-932-1424 <+16179321424>
DEMOCRACY IN OUR HANDS
 www.handcountedpaperballots.org
sheila at handcountedpaperballots.org

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