There were two deadlines for voter registration before the November 2, 2004 election: Mail-in registrations were due on Oct 2. In-person registration was still permissible through Oct. 18. Voters who missed the Oct. 2 deadline but registered by the 18th could only vote absentee. Anybody who missed the Oct. 18 deadline was not eligible to vote on Nov. 2.
Along these lines here's an interesting phenomenon in the King County voter list.
In the Dec. 29 version of the list, there are 70 voters who registered between 10/3 and 10/18. 4 are recorded as voting absentee, 66 are recorded as provisional. There are 35 voters recorded as having registered after 10/18, all of whom are recorded as voting provisional on Nov. 2.
The Jan. 7 version of the list shows only 12 voters who registered between 10/3 and 10/18 (2 absentee, 10 provisional), and 1 who registered after 10/18 (provisional).
Comparing the database versions record by record confirms that dozens of registration dates were changed between Dec. 29 and Jan. 7. Nearly all of the changes were backdates to 10/2 or earlier.
It is not clear why this was done. Were these simple corrections to fix earlier data entry errors, or was this a cover up to hide evidence of votes cast by ineligible late registrants?
I'll contact the King County Elections office on Tuesday to ask for an explanation. But you know that if (a) these changes were above board, and (b) King County Elections was competently managed, they would have issued a memo explaining all such changes to the voter list at the time they released the list.
[A big hat tip to reader Brian E., a database programmer who is doing his own analysis of the voter lists, and alerted me to the changes in voter registration dates. ]
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at January 15, 2005 04:57 PM | Email ThisKeep up the great work!
Posted by: jeanneB on January 15, 2005 05:36 PMOh, and BTW-This was the most accurate recount ever...
Posted by: smegma on January 15, 2005 05:38 PMAs for King County volunteering an explanation: At this point I imagine Logan et al have snowshoes strapped to their feet. They won't be volunteering much of anything -- it would really hurt if one of them stuck his foot in his mouth while wearing those snowshoes.
Posted by: Micajah on January 15, 2005 06:22 PMI believe we've reached the threshhold of critical mass. Issues like the judge registering to vote at the courthouse and late registration can be used, I believe, to establish a pattern of carelessness.
Posted by: South County on January 15, 2005 06:46 PM
The list of possible answers appear to be unversally negative. If you swallow any of the official policy line, I really would like to talk to you about some waterfront property in AZ.
The phrases "changed record" and "honest election" go together like...hmmmm....well, I keep thinking of the phrase "long-term guest of the state."
We not only have felons voting in King County....we have them printing our ballots, mailing our ballots and producing our registration and voting software????
King County has stated they sent the military absentee ballots to a Snohomish County mailing center (as an excuse for not having a Post Office receipt for the mailing deadline...)
I wonder if the Sno County mailing Center is Spectrum?... And if so....I found this from the Seattle Weekly of Feb 2004 - Here is just a snippet:
www.seattleweekly.com/features/0406/040211_news_election.php
"Two felons have been involved in printing and processing ballots for King County—one of them a convicted embezzler. A voter activist calls this a security breach.........
Jeff Dean, a 23-count embezzler, programming software.
In 1990, Dean was convicted of first-degree theft in King County for 23 counts of embezzlement of more than $385,000 from a law firm, where he was “a computer systems and accountant consultant,” according to Superior Court records.
Before his release, Dean told prison officials he had secured employment with Postal Services of Washington, in Seattle, which today is known as PSI. For years, the company has sorted and aggregated mail for clients, including ballots for King County Records and Elections.
Dean next shows up in the public record later in 1995, as the general manager for Spectrum Print and Mail Services in Mountlake Terrace, which was founded by his wife three years earlier. In 1998, Spectrum won the contract to print ballots for King County’s new optical-scan voting system, which is in use today. By 1999, Dean was also the point man for implementation of a new software system to manage voter registration in King County.
At the time, Larry Alcantara was the director of King County Records and Elections and worked with Dean on both the new ballots and the new voter-registration system. Now retired, Alcantara had no knowledge of Dean’s criminal history. “I’m shocked,” he says. “I can understand folks being concerned. I am concerned.”"
Considering the history of King County elections.....This is amazing! I wonder if either of these guys played a role in the November election??
I still can't believe that this phrase means that unregistered voters (those registered after Oct 16, for purposes of the Nov 2 election) are considered "improperly registered" voters. Others (torridjoe) have advanced the argument that if you don't challenge a dead voter or a felon at the time they vote, it's too late. That phrase can't mean that ... otherwise how would any vote be considered illegal.
I believe the phrase refers to challenges because the registration is truly improper, not illegal. A challenge for improper registration would be like all the people registered at mail drops or the county administration building (like that King County judge and her husband).
Hah! Who knows?
These 2 felons alone are in charge of printing ballots, voter registration software, mailing ballots and God only knows what else!
The registration files of all precincts shall be closed against original registration or transfers for thirty days immediately preceding every primary, special election, and general election to be held in such precincts.
The county auditor shall give notice of the closing of the precinct files for original registration and transfer and notice of the special registration and voting procedure provided by RCW 29A.08.145 by one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least five days before the closing of the precinct files.
No person may vote at any primary, special election, or general election in a precinct polling place unless he or she has registered to vote at least thirty days before that primary or election. If a person, otherwise qualified to vote in the state, county, and precinct in which he or she applies for registration, does not register at least thirty days before any primary, special election, or general election, he or she may register and vote by absentee ballot for that primary or election under RCW 29A.08.145.
[2003 c 111 § 212. Prior:
I hope Stefan takes a look at the article from Seattle Weekly! (Though I'm not a fan of them...)
This is just incredible!!
I am almost afraid to perform a google search on king county anymore! I keep pulling up the most ridiculous election history data!
King County has stated they sent the military absentee ballots to a Snohomish County mailing center (as an excuse for not having a Post Office receipt for the mailing deadline...)
I wonder if the Sno County mailing Center is Spectrum?... And if so....I found this from the Seattle Weekly of Feb 2004 - Here is just a snippet:
www.seattleweekly.com/features/0406/040211_news_election.php
"Two felons have been involved in printing and processing ballots for King County—one of them a convicted embezzler. A voter activist calls this a security breach.........
Jeff Dean, a 23-count embezzler, programming software.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0312/S00191.htm
{snippet}"In King County, an individual named Jeffrey Dean obtained a contract to program the voter registration system. According to sources within the King County elections office, Dean also had a key to the computer room, the passcode to the GEMS computer, and 24-hour access to the building. Dean sometimes urged upgrades to new, uncertified software right before elections.
So here’s a man with access to our personal information and access to the programs that count 800,000 votes. He also had involvement with the Windows CE operating system used by the touch-screens:
From: Ian S. Piper, October 20, 2001: “I don’t know the outlook for implementing WinCE 3.0. Jeff Dean would be the person to make an inquiry to on that matter.
From: Larry Dix, October 20, 2001: “ Can anyone other than Jeff give an update on this? Any idea when CE will be available ...”
Jeffrey Dean was largely responsible for programming the 1.96 version of the optical scan software, which is used not just in Seattle, but throughout the U.S. (1.96.4 was certified in May 2003)."[end snippet}
I wonder if he is related to Howard?
Posted by: Deborah on January 15, 2005 09:56 PMWell....He's rich now! Take a look at this...from the same article above......
[snippet]"Jeffrey Dean was released from prison in August, 1995 and Elder was released in November 1996. In their prison release documents, both wrote that they had lined up employment at Postal Services of Washington, Inc., the firm that sorts 500,000 mail-in absentee ballots for King County.
Jeffrey Dean, when released from prison, had $87 in his inmate account. He was ordered to pay $385,227 in restitution for his embezzlements. For most of us, this would be a crushing financial blow, and we would find it difficult to bankroll a business, yet somehow Dean (and his wife, Deborah M. Dean) managed to become the owners of Spectrum Printing & Mailing. In 2000, Dean’s printing and mailing firm was purchased for $1.6 million by Global Election Systems.
Posted by: Deborah on January 15, 2005 10:07 PM"So when we try to find out what software is actually authorized, we get the buffalo shuffle. We’ve got a cocaine trafficker printing our ballots, an embezzler programming our voting system, and our absentee ballots are being funneled through a private company that hires people straight out of prison."
Posted by: Deborah on January 15, 2005 10:10 PMI found this information in the Seattle Weekly,in a New Zealand website and in a blog...but not anywhere in the MainStream Media.......
It has been reported in 2003 and in 2004! Where is the outrage?
What the heck is going on?
In the eyes of these radical Dems, it's wrong for us to wonder about these irregularities. They just don't want to hear it. It matters not that the election was close, nor that every Washingtonion ought to be concerened with the quality of our elections. Nope, to the radical Dems, this is just those "chilling Republicans out to get us."
Most rational Washingtonions are concerned enough about these results to ask for some answers, and that includes some Democrats who are honest enough with themselves to see that this election was not a model for the rest of the nation.
Posted by: Jeff B. on January 15, 2005 10:47 PMWe aren't the only state questioning Jeffry Dean's position in the election process....especially his expertise with voter software.....
http://www.truevotemd.org/Press_releases/pdf/Memorandum%20in%20support.pdf.
I found one court document in the URL above - from Maryland for this years election - complaint about Diebold/Global Election Systems policy of hiring felons to work there....Jeff Dean was a Senior VP with Global Elections Systems...
Then there is this...from Florida's certification? From 2001? He is listed in a CC from a memo regarding Florida's certification....
Our country's election systems could have been written by a felon hacker!....
http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~ping/diebold/lists/support.w3archive/200107/msg00150.html
"From: owner-support@gesn.com [mailto:owner-support@gesn.com]On Behalf Of Cathy Colgan
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 10:09 AM
To: support@gesn.com
Subject: RE: Florida Certification GEMS 1-11-14
This is great news...do we try and get FL up and running by Nov, since it is required they have software in the county...would that mean different computers, training, etc...from our end it is easy we just switch, or do w wait until the next upgrade to 1.17? let me know what you're thinking.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-support@gesn.com [mailto:owner-support@gesn.com]On Behalf Of Larry Dix
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2001 3:15 PM
To: Support@gesn.com; Salestalk@gesn.com
Cc: Bob Urosevich; Larry Ensminger; Jeff Dean;
If they do, though, it will probably be along the lines of "computer error / db error" ...
Anyone that works with computers and databases knows that it's simply not the case that errors like these are common.
Someone is playing with the data. Data doesn't play with itself, change itself, or conduct its own metamorphoses.
Posted by: DeadManVoting (aka Iguana) on January 16, 2005 12:55 AMhttp://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/160362_ccounty12.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=340
The Seattle Weekly article, as in the Stranger articles relied a bit heavily on the works of Bev Harris and Andy Stephenson, each of whom have their own issues with telling complete stories. Be careful putting too much emphasis on that information.
A couple more pieces for review
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/137775_ballots03.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=501
Posted by: Steve on January 16, 2005 07:53 AMInsane research like this (and the other unsubstantiated nonsense) brings back to mind the $65 million dollar intense hatchet search to find out Bill Clinton lied about having sex. And about President Bush's service in the national guard.
I suggest you get over it as soon as possible...you look really desperate and sad.
Embarassing really. It will not help your chances in the next election. As the country proved with the re-election of Bush, they have short tempers for whining cry-babies.
And the Democrats had much more substance to their claims in 2000 than you do here in 2004.
Move on. Rossi lost.
Posted by: Serious on January 16, 2005 08:01 AMhttp://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/108687_elections14.shtml?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=702
Oh, sorry. My bad. Dated two years ago.
Guess not
Posted by: Steve on January 16, 2005 08:31 AMWhere was your logic after the first and second counts of the votes (when Gregoire lost)? I think that, regardless of what side it may benefit, FIXING THE PROBLEMS is Priority One for Washington (not to mention the rest of the country). You cannot deny the mounting evidence of corruption in this election. Who caused that corruption is a non-issue, but the fact is, ANY winner after all this would be illegitimate. Wouldn't you rather have a governor who had enough faith in his/her voters to really examine the allegations? Or one who respected them enough to care?
Posted by: Brian on January 16, 2005 08:57 AMhttp://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/110225_kcelected.shtml?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=690
Oh, wait. Two years old too.
Bummer.
Dated 2003, was very interesting reading. Particularly liked the part about double voters, felons, and such.
Too bad we can't just sit back and trust our elected officials to do their jobs, and have the MSM do their jobs as the watchdogs on democracy.
Read this and view it in light of both 1) The confidence that this would have brought us at the time, and 2) looking back and seeing what result happened.
http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/pdf/132506.qxd.pdf
And Serious, 'whining' about the sudden realization that the current way of doing things, no matter what drove that realization, is not NEARLY as pathetic as whining about 'whiners.' Have a good day, my friend.
PR
Posted by: PR on January 16, 2005 09:16 AMSo, a burglar breaks into your house and steals the family jewels. In the confusion, he manages to get out the door.
Your logic says that the only reasonable thing to do is let him go, not require him to pay any consequences, and provide no reason for him to not do it again.
Right.
I suggest that you change your screen name to something more in keeping with your level of thought.
Posted by: scott158 on January 16, 2005 09:19 AMIn any event, I see no reason why Dino Rossi should have been 'supposed' to complain about King County's fishiness when he was ahead, or his failure to do so should be held against him.
Posted by: supercat on January 16, 2005 11:17 AMSerious, we are moving on. Unlike you, however, we are moving forward.
Posted by: SnoCo Voter on January 16, 2005 12:29 PMI would like to see a rule written into the statutes that the government must be able to show by a preponderance of the evidence that an election is legitimate. If proper procedures are followed, evidence of legitimacy should be overwhelming. If, for any reason, things deteriorate to the point where there is no longer even a preponderance of evidence affirming an election's legitimacy, it should be redone.
I would suggest that such a rule might be useful in cases where a county appears to have destroyed evidence which might either affirm or refute the legitimacy of an election. Such destruction might easily lead to a situation in which there is not enough evidence to show an election true or false. I would suggest that in cases where it is plausible that such action was taken to help the apparent 'winner', the presumption should be that the election may have been false.
Posted by: supercat on January 16, 2005 01:09 PMRead this and view it in light of both 1) The confidence that this would have brought us at the time, and 2) looking back and seeing what result happened.
http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/pdf/132506.qxd.pdf
Thanks for the cite to that report. It's titled:
"Maintaining the Integrity of Washington Elections, January 2003."
But, I think the person who gave it the filename was probably better at characterizing it: "...132506.qxd.pdf"
"qxd" = quixotic dreaming?
Now, it seems too late to be worried about "maintaining" the integrity of elections. The cat's out of the bag.
Even so, reading through reports like that may help us recognize what to look for in this contested election.
Posted by: Micajah on January 16, 2005 02:02 PMI come from 'standards' based quality background. We have certain guidelines that we adhere to in meeting stakeholder regulations, needs, expectations, and such. From that, we have published processes that are themselves audited by outside agencies, then our processes are audited as we do them, and then we are audited on the results. Not only are we audited, but we are to show continuous improvement processes.
I think part of that mentality can be brought into this mess and truly get things up to par with what expectations exist.
1) We need effective regulations and laws on the books. No double voting, no false registries, no necro voting, no suddenly found ballots, no double registrations, no felon voting, and certainly some measures to address recounts/revotes.
2) We need people put in place to execute a statewide standard on equipment, processes, accounting, activities, and result validation.
3) It's time we turned Sonntag loose on this. This is my first performance audit candidate! If I can't trust the Attorney General, the Governor, the elections officials, I need to grant some authority to someone for the purposes of outside auditing. Brian, you talk a good game, it's time for you to step in and show the people what you and your organization can do!
4) The voters need to have access to the information, policies, procedures, and results. Every bit of the information relevant to process, procedure, and result needs to be available on a website for download, formatting consistent across the state. No more FOIA/Sunshine law requests. You go to the site, it's there for you to peruse. ALL of it! (Office of the Auditor being charged with handling complaints about nonsense like Stefan has experienced from our public servants making things difficult for no legitimate reason)
5) A voting base that cares. Type recount in the Seattle 3.14's (PI's) search and see the 6 races recently done. Wasn't a problem for Cantwell? Wasn't a problem for the 6 lesser races? We can't let this go!
Posted by: Steve on January 16, 2005 02:14 PMIn the case of the DOJ threatening the State - especially King County with legal action if they didn't get the Military Ballots mailed by a certain deadline is important!
The fact that King County was unable to produce receipts from the USPost Office showing they mailed the Military ballots on time is important.
That King County claimed they sent the Military Ballots to a Snohomish County Mailing Center for mailing instead of using the Post Office is important.
That Jeff Dean (the felon) and his wife own and operate a Mailing center in Snohomish County is important.
That Jeff Dean is a felon convicted of computer embezzlement - and is also responsible for our current election software is important!
But....these are just some of the many finds in this incredibly chaotic Washingon State election!
I'm getting a headache.....
This could indeed be timely. So, to restate your thoughts, Jeff Dean, convicted felon, owns a mailing center in Snohomish County through which the King County ballots are being sent.
Is that your contention?
Having said that, how is Jeff Dean, mail center owner and felon, involved with software on King County's current machines? I typically don't go to the Post Office for their programming offerings.
I've not seen any of this. Not even on the most conspiratorial websites. Help me understand.
Posted by: Steve on January 16, 2005 06:25 PMJust looked through Diebold's website and the company officers. Didn't see Dean listed, certainly not as a Senior Vice President in the company. Are we sure that's accurate information? Wasn't in the annual report either.
I did not locate a mail center reference for Mr. Dean. Is it open to the public? Might have to stop by and look this person in the eye.
I don't know, Deborah. Something isn't adding up here.
Posted by: Steve on January 16, 2005 06:51 PMFrom what I've read (in numerous sites and documents posted..)..Jeff Dean was a Senior VP with Global Elections Systems...a company that is connected with Diebold...
So Jeff Dean went from a King County embezzler,to prison, to the Postal Services of Washington (PSI) - to sort ballots fpr elections, then to Spectrum Printing and Mail Services of Mount Lake Terrace (Snohomish County) with his wife Deborah - where he won a contract to print ballots for King County elections, then he went on to implement software programs for King County elections, from there his printing and mailing firm was purchased by Global Election Systems - where he became a Senior VP - and Global Election Systems became part of Diebold.....
From a post above...:
In 1990, Dean was convicted of first-degree theft in King County for 23 counts of embezzlement of more than $385,000 from a law firm, where he was “a computer systems and accountant consultant,” according to Superior Court records.
Before his release, Dean told prison officials he had secured employment with Postal Services of Washington, in Seattle, which today is known as PSI. For years, the company has sorted and aggregated mail for clients, including ballots for King County Records and Elections.
Dean next shows up in the public record later in 1995, as the general manager for Spectrum Print and Mail Services in Mountlake Terrace, which was founded by his wife three years earlier. In 1998, Spectrum won the contract to print ballots for King County’s new optical-scan voting system, which is in use today. By 1999, Dean was also the point man for implementation of a new software system to manage voter registration in King County.
From another post above:
Jeffrey Dean, when released from prison, had $87 in his inmate account. He was ordered to pay $385,227 in restitution for his embezzlements. For most of us, this would be a crushing financial blow, and we would find it difficult to bankroll a business, yet somehow Dean (and his wife, Deborah M. Dean) managed to become the owners of Spectrum Printing & Mailing. In 2000, Dean’s printing and mailing firm was purchased for $1.6 million by Global Election Systems.
Posted by: Deborah on January 16, 2005 08:27 PMHere is a snippet from the Seattle Times story:
"Serving time with Dean at the minimum-security prison southwest of Olympia was Elder, who had been convicted of selling cocaine, across the street from a junior high school in Kent. Elder entered an Alford plea. He said he had sold drugs to support his own serious drug addiction.
When Elder was freed in 1996, he also went to work for PSI.
Dean and Elder both declined to be interviewed for this story.
Dean and Elder later moved on to Spectrum, a company founded by Dean's wife and brother.
Former King County Records and Elections Manager Bob Bruce said Spectrum was an excellent contractor and that Dean kept coming up with better ways of printing and handling absentee ballots.
When Global Election Systems saw the ballots Dean produced for its new optical-scan voting system, Bruce said, "They said this is the best quality ballot we had."
In 2000, Global bought Spectrum for $1.6 million in promised cash and 1.6 million shares of Global stock.
Dean was appointed to the Global board of directors and named senior vice president with an annual salary of $144,000.
In November 1999, between the time Dean was put in charge of the King County voter-registration project and the sale of his company, King County prosecutors sought to accelerate his court-ordered payment of restitution to the law firm he had defrauded.
Dean resisted accelerated payments, telling the court he had been fired by PSI when it learned of his criminal record, he was unemployed and his job applications had been turned down.
Prosecutors were unaware of his work for King County, just as elections officials were unaware of his criminal past."
So...All I want to know is...What mailing company in Snohomish County, did King County use to mail it's Military absentee ballots in October of 2004? It may be something - it may be nothing...
Jeff Deans illustrious employment connections with King County have already been established...and verified.
That he went on to work on national voter software - is frightening! But for right here and now...I'm just trying to see if he - or his former company had anything to do with processing Military ballots in this election...
Posted by: Deborah on January 16, 2005 08:52 PMThank you for expanding my knowledge on this. Sounds seedy. Convicted penniless felon suddenly getting contracts to print ballots for King County, already having it's own issues with regard to integrity.
A lot of the citations are 5 years and older in what I am reading. Is there any current knowledge on what role/activities that Mr. Dean is playing in this? Or, is there a timeframe in which he departed involvement?
I apologize for asking, but you seem pretty well informed, and it would seem reasonable that you might know what effect he is having now, or in the recent past.
And, I will admit that I read with a jaundiced eye, anything that comes from or has associations with electronic voting advocacy, coming from local sources. Perhaps to my detriment I casually dismiss most of the citations attributed to that group, out of concern about completeness of facts.
Posted by: Steve on January 16, 2005 09:04 PMKeep up the good work. It will be interesting to know what you come up with. And don't let my niggling little Steveisms deter you from your quest.
And, I suppose you'll be looking at this John Elder person as well, since they were clearly connected in this article.
No process for ensuring that felons don't get deep involvement in your core election processes, King County? Wow, that's stunning!
Regards,
Steve
Posted by: Steve on January 16, 2005 09:10 PMI just post the dots...and hope that those who have the resources..can connect them...
Quite honestly, the dots found with the Washington State elections...are coming fast and furious! Unbelievably so!
I really hope someone out there is connecting them!
Posted by: Deborah on January 16, 2005 09:32 PM