We Are, We Are… PERSISTENT!!!
Indivisible St. Johns also Putnam & Flagler Counties.
Telephone / Post Card Advocacy
Topics and Talking Points June 18,
2020
Good News: > Court rules all
Florida voters with past felony convictions can vote without first paying outstanding
fines or fees.
>Stay-at-home orders
in large U.S. cities saved 232,878 people from dying of the coronavirus, and prevented
2.1 million people from requiring hospitalization.
>Secretary of Defense Mark Esper states that active duty troops should not be used against protesters.
_____________________________________________________________________
To: Gov. Ron DeSantis, The State
Capitol, Tallahassee, FL, 32399-0001 Ph.
850-488-7146
When will you fix the unemployment benefits
system?
Jammed phone lines,
hours on hold; computer says, “refile”, then “refile” again!
Many Republican
Florida workers are thinking hard how they will vote.
You
need to get this fixed. Now!
___________________________________________________
To: Rep. John Rutherford (St. Johns) Rep. Michael Waltz (St. Johns, Flagler) Rep. Ted Yoho (Putnam Co.) U.S. House, Washington, D.C. 20515 Capitol operator: 202-224-3121
The economy can’t re-open without dependable child care services.
The Child Care is
Essential Act helps eliminate cost burdens for parents.
It would provide funding so child care facilities can reopen safely.
Will
you co-sponsor H.R. 7027 so the economy can reopen?
______________________________________________
To: Chris Strickland,
Candidate for St. Johns Sheriff, 3791 A1A South ste. B, St. Augustine, FL
32080 (904)-481-6616 (Thank Chris Strickland for his pledge to use body
cameras in the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.)
To: Barry Fox, St. Augustine Police Chief P.O.
Box 210, St. Augustine, FL, 32085 (904) 825-1075
Robert Hardwick, St. Augustine Beach Police
Chief, 2300 A1A S., St. Augustine Bch, FL 32080 (904) 471-3600
City of
Palatka & Duval County say they have successfully implemented police body
cameras.
No
officers in St. Johns County, including SJCSO, SAPD or SABPD wear body
cameras.
Body cameras could help re-establish trust between residents and
police officers.
Will you commit to use of body cameras by your police
officers?
Another action: Sign the Petition
for body cameras in all police departments in St. Johns County.
NOTE:
David Shoar, St. Johns County Sheriff, is retiring. Robert Fox and Chris
Strickland are running for Sheriff.
____________________________________________________________
To: Sen. Rubio, Sen. Rick Scott U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510 Ph: 202-224-3121
I value protection for all people during the
pandemic.
Will you urge the Majority Leader to bring it
to the Senate floor? Thank you.
____________________________________________________________
GENERAL MEETING NOTES
MAY 7, 2020
GUEST SPEAKER: ION
SANCHO
ELECTION SECURITY
EXPERT AND FORMER LEON COUNTY ELECTION SUPERVISOR
TAKE AWAYS FROM TALK:
·
AUDITS are a
sham in FL. Machine and hand recounts are useless/inefficient. Tabulations are
never compared to paper ballots. Tabulators are not always VERIFIED (60
counties do not). We need CLEAR BALLOT auditing software statewide. About 6
counties use this already. SOS could purchase licensing and allow all counties
to use. Greg Lattimore, SoE Association president, supports. All SoEs have
signed a letter to DeSantis on 4/7 to expand early voting, allow polling places
to be moved and made safer for in person voting. DeSantis has not yet responded
as of this meeting. A bill has already passed the state House and Senate
unanimously. FL has $19 million left to spend. This is doable. DeSantis did
this for Bay County after Hurricane Michael by emergency order 19-262 in 2016.
·
LOGIC AND ACCURACY TESTING All counties do this prior to elections, advertise and is
open to public inspection. People rarely attend these. They are important.
·
BMDS (Ballot marking devices) should only be used for ADA voters. There were less than
8000 ADA votes cast out of millions in the last election. (these often produce
a barcode receipt read by the tabulator, difficult to audit.
·
COVID challenges There is no way to get statewide vote by mail at this late date. Major
hurdles:
o
SoE challenges in staffing, ordering and mailing out ballots in time. Candidates are still qualifying,
deadline is July 3. Get voters to REGISTER FOR VOTE BY MAIL as EARLY as
possible. Highly time sensitive for SoEs to get printed and mailed.
o
Vote by mail ballots go out the first couple weeks in July. USE THE
INTERNET to
communicate problems with your SoE. They are too busy and understaffed to take
calls.
o
Pollworkers will be an issue. Recruitment will be necessary soon along with training.
o
Signature errors: prevalent among those under 25 who comprise 9% of voters but 32%
signature errors. Other issue is NO SIGNATURE. Public education is key.
THIS IS IMPORTANT
·
Voter registration system is vulnerable to intrusion by foreign actors,
believed Russia is still in the system thanks to breach of VR Systems, our
middleman vendor. Be
aware of complaints of people not receiving VBM and be early and
assertive via your SoE website. Update your signature if you feel it’s
necessary. Check your voter status regularly right up to the election day.
Follow your Vote by Mail ballot online after mailing.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
ION SANCHO PRESENTATION
MAY 7, 2020
Q: Are hand marked ballots and tabulators safe?
A: Scanners
must be verified. Most counties do not do this. That is why CLEAR BALLOT or
similar audit software is necessary. It produces a digital library of votes
cast with a barcode pointing to a specific voter.
Q: How long does this audit take?
A: Leon
County could do a complete audit on high speed scanner in 30 minutes.
Otherwise, a complete audit would be 48 hours.
Q: Does this audit software work with
electronic voting machine ballots?
A; No but
touchscreen voting is banned in FL.
Q: Is Lee County solid then with Tommy
Doyle as SoE and this software?
A: Yes but
it’s still necessary to expand early voting days and sites.
Q: Do we need legislation to expand
early voting?
A: No, the
SoEs have written a letter (April 7, 2020, no reply received) to the governor
to use emergency Executive order.
Q: SJC has loaned its tabulators to
Chamber of Commerce and others for straw polls and such. Does the Secretary of
State offer guidance on this?
A: No. And
the county owns the machines, not the supervisor of elections. Leon County let
students practice on them to teach them about voting.
Q: Is the software safe in Clay county?
A: Attend the
Logic and Accuracy testing in your county. Ion trusts no one. Florida does not
have certification training; he went to North Carolina to get certified. The
machines are made primarily by two private companies over the years who’ve
merged and divested in face of anti trust litigation (answers another question
about possibility of anti trust). ES&S and Dominion have the lion’s share
in FL. Both are private, do not disclose anything, contracts now include
prohibition of hacking testing (like DefCon) without a company representative
present. Ion was part of an anti trust filing against ES&S when they
acquired a lot of Diebold equipment. That equipment went to Dominion to resolve
the issue.
Q: Is the current attack on the USPS
part of an effort to suppress the vote or cause chaos?
A: Ion thinks
NO, it’s a vendetta against Bezos and Amazon. He noted Trump voted by mail
here. It was also noted the new Postmaster is a Trump crony. Doubtful it’ll
affect elections and basically Republicans in rural districts would be hurt the
most.
Q: I’ve tried to get information from
SoS on VR Systems and they are requiring a date range. Do you have any
suggestions?
A: I know the
company, most counties use their software for voter registration and web site
management. They have been self contradicting over the 2016 hack; on a call
with the FBI, the FBI denied the hacks were successful. We know 2-5 counties
were hacked. Department of Homeland Security will not allow review of their
records. Bottom line: for a time frame, use all records pertaining to tests on
software between ____and _____, choosing dates prior to September 30, 2016.
Q: What should/can we do?
A: Letters to
the editor, social media postings, call in to talk radio shows to promote what
the SoEs are asking for in their 4/7/20 letter to the governor.
Q: Have there been any ADA lawsuits
against ES&S?
A: No. They
provide ADA compliant machines.
Q: Isn’t the USPS protected by the US
Constitution? Doesn’t it say it must be funded?
A: The USPS
is in the Constitution (funded by stamps, not Congress) but that doesn’t mean
you can’t destroy it by other means. Refer to Palm Beach Post article by Frank
Sarabino (SP)
Q: What are the prospects for free and
open source software for voting?
A: Ion had
been to Portland and is aware of discussions with Microsoft however there is
not time to implement such a huge project in the time remaining. He had hoped
Dean Logan (LA elections in March) would have used open source but didn’t and
doesn’t know of anyone who is.
Q: Tommy Doyle, Lee SoE, is a fan of
touchscreens for all voters. Is that a worry?
A: These
machines went to other communities, are hugely expensive, not a private means
of voting under certain circumstances and not auditable.
Q: Best thing for us to focus on?
A: AUDIT.
Clear Ballot Software statewide. Cost $20-$40K for software. State could buy
one license for Florida and all counties lease for free. You can use our current
scanners which is a cost saver. Not necessary to advocate specifically for
Clear Ballot. The previously mentioned bill would cover that.
___________________________________________________________________
Dear Sen. Sanders,
Thank you for throwing your
support behind Vice President Joe Biden for president. And thank you for
initiating discussions on how the two of you can work together on several
issues so important to all Americans. On health care, the most problematic
issue, I urge each of you to take one giant step toward the other, which must
involve compromise on both sides, in an effort to unite and thus strengthen the
party as we move forward. As you have said all along, the first and foremost
imperative is getting Trump out of office. With your support, Biden will
succeed in this.
Respectfully,
Congratulations for winning the
Democratic nomination! Now the hard work of unifying the party comes into play.
Thank you for working with Sen. Bernie Sanders on several issues so important
to all Americans. On health care, the most problematic issue, I urge each of
you to take one giant step toward the other, which must involve compromise on
both sides, in an effort to unite and thus strengthen the party as we move
forward. It is also imperative that you bring in other voices as well, from
Black Lives Matter to businesspeople to feminists to gun control advocates, to
evangelicals, to moderate Republicans such as those who formed the Lincoln
Project. Such a broad-based coalition is necessary for you to win election in
the fall. Beyond that, it will help de-escalate the hyper- polarization in this
country and help unite Americans.
It also would encourage members of Congress to talk across
the aisle again. All those elements are necessary to reverse the undemocratic
trends of Trump’s presidency and put us back on the
road to a healthy economy.
road to a healthy economy.
Respectfully,
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