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brianberger56 · 4 years

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A President Who's For Justice, and Opposes Corruption = Right On, Thank You!

https://pic.twitter.com/ynWzkOy8rAA President Who's For Justice, and Opposes Corruption = Right On, Thank You Mr. President! Like him or hate him, it is FACT that President Trump is the first, and currently only, modern President who has made an effort to give the boot instead of rewarding and PROMOTING corrupt Federal government officials. He’s taken a first step to reverse YEARS of institutional corruption and OFFICIAL Federal Government policies intended too and effectively promoting, encouraging and advancing corruption and unrestrained abuses of power by unethical, unaccountable, criminally-corrupt local governments and local and state officials (elected and appointed). This has included and is perhaps most evident in the epidemic corruption, lack of accountability, transparency, ethics, integrity, or discipline in Law Enforcement Organizations from coast-to-coast, in small towns and big cities, where Presidents up-to and including President Obama advanced policies of Federal government collusion and protection for crooked District Attorneys and prosecutors and their sadistic, corrupt pals in law enforcement (and political and government offices) to deprive far too many decent, undeserving American Citizens (often “targeted individuals” considered a threat to those in power or their agendas or targets selected based on bigotry, race and even wholly arbitrary reasons) of life, liberty, justice, and the most basic and fundamental rights and liberties, deprivations removing from many any semblance of the Constitutional and civil rights, liberties and judicial principles (i.e. innocent until proven guilty, by a jury of peers, punishment based on credible evidence not the fabrication of “cases” irregardless of facts and evidence by habitually malicious prosecutors supported by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Attorneys, and the FBI, presumed to be a “watchdog” providing “oversight” by most Americans but in fact solely concerned with protecting and furthering corrupt prosecutors and sadistic, lawless, corrupt law enforcement agents - as partners of those institutionally-corrupt Federal agencies - rather than providing a check against egregious, indefensible murders, torture, beatings of law-abiding citizens, even war heroes in their own homes, men, women and children, of all races but undeniably especially those of darker complexions, and both major political parties are culpable and the corrupt thugs in the judicial system and law enforcement at every level include men and women, Dems and Republicans, officials of all races, two notable examples being Eric Holder, the most culpable U.S. Attorney General for the worst, routine abuses of law-abiding citizens by violent, brutal LEOs and official protection of government corruption as a formal Federal policy, and Denver’s Mayor Hancock who has prevented any local efforts to address these issues - and increased the national problem in his City for his selfish sexual pursuits and bribes - to appoint his lobbyist cronies to the so-called “Citizen Oversight Board,” a joke that mocks any citizen who believes in justice, Rule of Law, civil rights and liberties, and even life itself as being more valuable to Society than sadistic police brutality harming and murdering individuals of all races and ages who were not and never did break ANY law. President Trump has done far more to promote justice than all recent predecessors combined, while surrounded by the evil, corrupt criminals in office that are so entrenched and great in number that almost no community or government agency exists as an exception to this epidemic of corruption and injustice, or even minimal accountability for the corrupt officials destroying lives and communities and undermining justice and freedom - sacred American values that meant nothing to any of the narcissistic, evil thugs in North Carolina where I was a County Commissioner surrounded by the most immoral, evil people I have ever met, including those in jail and prison - where I was sent for the crime of being a threat to the “culture of corruption” and the officials and voters who live and profit and sin without consequence and with mutual support for each other. By comparison, the people incarcerated in those jails and prisons are saints, far better people with far greater Christian values and virtues (though many have done horrible things and some truly horrific acts that are undeserving of sympathy or mercy, the overwhelming majority were harmless to others and incarcerated for reasons not related to having hurt other people even if guilty of the charges against them...God would find much kinder, humane, moral & spiritual, if tortured & hurting, souls in jail than in any government office or agency or political/judicial body in North Carolina). https://pic.twitter.com/ynWzkOy8rA - An Appeal For Freedom Justice & An End to Torture For Fighting Corruption and Seeking Justice (or "North Carolina And the Crooked Feds - Ten Years Worse Than Death Surrounded By Corrupt Prosecutors, Media Trolls, the US Dept. of Injustice & FBI Swamp Rats, And Their Corrupt, Sadistic Politician & Police Thugs AGAINST Justice, Integrity, Morality and Traditional American Virtues!)

A desperate appeal to our principled, pro-Justice President from a former elected official who opposed corruption and unaccountable, secret government practices in North Carolina, where Corruption is King, and the FBI and Governor Corrupt Government's Criminal, Narcissism-Infected Pimps for Evil, Unethical Prosecutors, Crooked Politicians and their like-minded, sin-sharing Media Troll service providers - Devoid of Ethics or Human Decency too, with their Sadistic deviant lawless badge-bigot goonies no better than your common Crip or truck stop sucker. Crooked Prosecutors and Politicians and suffered consequences far more torturous and less humane than death as a result. For more than ten years, since defeating a long-term Republican County Commissioner and Democratic career Sheriff in Wilmington, NC, where a culture of corruption was pervasive and unrestrained, and common knowledge among state and Federal officials who unbeknownst to most citizens were well-aware of the extensive corruption and routinely permitted criminal activities by elected officials, equally corrupt County and City managers, and sadistic, violent, law enforcement officials with a long, organized role violating civil rights, liberties and the safety and property of any real or perceived threat to the self-serving secret activities of the corrupt District Attorney and an incestuous County Courthouse that had long been the center for corruption and crimes including murders and vile acts of violence and total deprivation of the most basic human and Constitutional and civil rights of innocent citizens at the hands of Sheriffs Deputies and WPD officers serving extremely corrupt, malicious prosecutor, Ben David, his corrupt assistant prosecutors, immoral justices and a cartel of politicians who called the Courthouse home during the day to profit in front of perverted and corrupt judicial partners while laying the foundations for their political corruption behind closed doors in City Hall at night.

I am an admittedly uncompromising Constitutional strict constructionist and abhor injustice, abuses of power, sadistic violence and goon squad law enforcement SOPs including horrific acts of violence against unarmed, presumably innocent citizens, expensive cover-ups of violence occasionally concealed from the public as a condition of legal settlements for those few victims fortunate to be somewhat compensated for damages incurred at the hands or bullets, or K-9 officers employed as implements of torture by law-defiling, abusive, often drug-using Deputies with violent habits similar to the worst street gang skull crackers in the Cape Fear Region (Southeastern NC), but with absolute freedom from any consequences and absolute protection from legal accountability, financial or professional discipline or punishment, or any scrutiny or judicial response for violent criminal attacks – Directly resulting from local prosecutors and political criminal actors AND documented, blatant, unapologetic collusion of the North Carolina S.B.I., recent Attorney General and current Governor Roy Cooper, and numerous U.S. Department of Justice and F.B.I. officials – whose actions as individuals defy any semblance or interest in justice, oversight or prosecution of criminal violations of the law, criminal corruption by Federally-protected local officials and law enforcement personnel, even when extensive, irrefutable evidence is, or has been, provided to FBI Special Agents, Justice Department officials, the U.S. Attorneys Office, and other Federal agencies – under the Administration of President Obama, who in practice maintained policies intended to prevent and encourage, if not enhance and actively promote, local and State government corruption, prohibit investigations of apparent corrupt practices, including policies preventing investigation of documented prosecutorial misconduct, evidence and witness tampering, fabricated misinformation and defamatory, deceptive public statements contradicting documented evidence of criminal wrongdoing, coercion and bribery among other tools to elicit specific behaviors from members of law enforcement, media and public parties to criminal wrongdoing, explicit directions to deprive law-abiding citizens of the most basic and cherished civil rights and undermine the Rule of Law and equal protection under the Law. Further, in conjunction with twin brother Jon David and a District Judge, Sandra Ray Criner, conspiring and initiating determinations in flagrant violation of targeted individuals legal rights while exchanging protection for the aforementioned Judge’s spouse- therein providing protection and exclusionary permit in fact to engage in documented sexual abuses and assaults against pre-adolescent female victims – as well as providing favorable assistance to Judge Sandra Ray Criner’s tenure and ambitions as a member of the Judiciary.

Detailed, highly-consistent, evidence of malicious prosecutorial conduct by District Attorney Ben David, County Board Chairman and Attorney Ted Davis, on record stating a personal leading role in directing illegal targeting, harassment, political intimidation through threats and acts of violence including the use of lethal weapons to carry out lethal retribution for my outspoken opposition to corruption during the Republican Primary for County Board of Commissioners, harassment, stalking, including routine unlawful traffic stops, often occurring between 8-12 times per month, frequently conducted while legally parked (texting constituents), compelled to take a breathalyzer despite no record or regular consumption of alcohol, often accompanied by many of the often dozen or more responding officers pointing their loaded firearms and shotguns at my face and torso, physical and verbal abuse, public humiliation and perception-creation, and credibility eroding, use of six or more vehicles with lights flashing suggesting criminal activity among any onlookers or passers-by, escalating to far more violence and brutal torture, resulting in permanent neurological damage, PTSD and loss of some executive functioning, once well-above average and despite years of rehabilitation and therapy, documented by approximately a dozen or more medical professionals and experts, including independent government experts…

Sadly, this is a very concise and censured account of the torture and life-ruining sadistic violence, property and financial crimes and attacks, various abuses of government power and law enforcement authority to inflict harm, carefully documented and ALWAYS ignored by Senior Justice Department and North Carolina Attorney General (Roy Cooper), SBI and Obama Administration FBI agents, despite visible harm and illegal violations of laws pertaining to my sworn duties as a duly elected and honorable elected representative, acting according to the pledges made while campaigning, pledges I took seriously and led to increasingly illegal and wholly undemocratic, corrupt, nearly-lethal escalations of public and bodily destruction and harm – and possible only with the unyielding approval and periodic, active participation by the very officials and agencies of the Federal government and officials perceived by many Americans as the watchdogs and oversight agencies chiefly or at least most intrinsically and capably charged with pursuing justice and defending citizens from wanton criminal attacks as well as defending the integrity and legitimacy of American democratic government systems and process and representative sanctity.

In point of fact, I did not, do not and never will have the authority, charisma, financial security, connections and future prospects of prominent politicians, Governors, football team owners or multi-millionaire investment professionals, or the connections and resources and talents to influence national decisions, the esteemed Commander-in-Chief and Presidential advisors and trusted staff, nor the means and elites’ protective distance from the wholesale personal destruction inflict able with atomic catastrophic damage that modern social media and unapologetic, unethical and largely fictitious media outlets and troll armies are capable of inflicting. I do not have any recourse from defamation, no matter how dishonest, vindictive and deliberately distorting and ruinous the insults, absolute falsehoods and fabricated the narrative…and frankly, people naturally resent anyone who is constantly flashed on television or the front page of the newspaper…the “Vanilla Ice” effect – extreme overexposure in and of itself – generates negative feelings toward the subject…whether the audience believes the target is attention-seeking or whether they realize the target is a victim of others concerted efforts to harm and incite public hatred and negative feelings toward the targeted individual and everything associated with them, be it a product or principles or ideas….

I was thirty years old, an accomplished professional, and genuine, transparent, highly-principled public official, but the legal attacks and financial, medical, privacy, stalking, life-threatening, even threats to kill my beloved golden retriever, “Boomer,” especially given the history of County Deputies shooting unarmed individuals and killing their sweet dogs as well, constant baseless charges requiring my presence in court from Ben David, Assist. D.A. Lillian Salcines-Bright, Alex Nicely and a large corrupt staff army under Ben David ensured I would be in court constantly – that way, I was prevented to great effect from serving the public and attending to my $16,000 year public office. It was a job I took deathly seriously, and worked 80-100 hours a week, minimally, to be an effective advocate for the general welfare of New Hanover County taxpayers. I eventually lost my house to foreclosure and was robbed four times in one year – sacrifices from legal fees and lost opportunities to pursue my career along with public service, exacerbated by targeted zoning and various financial penalties government has the power to inflict and they came after me with a vengeance….in ways that would boggle most minds.

Eventually, I was forced to leave town after my four-year term concluded, facing continuing harassment and death threats from law enforcement officers. My greatest crime during this four-year period, though I never claim to be a saint, was having a seizure while on the side of a residential street sending a text. Despite medical evaluation, and a handful of seizures, and medical clearance, a B.A.C. of 0.0 and no impairing substances in my system, the D.A. plotted and executed a phony charge and MR. David advertised that I committed a “DUI” when this was totally dispelled by ALL facts and on-scene medical personnel…who determined I was fine to drive on my way from the scene after regaining consciousness. However, I was thrown in jail, again, and again, for no unlawful action justifying imprisonment. The use of solitary confinement was used effectively as a form of torture causing permanent damage in few days, this is universally true in regards to solitary confinement – it’s inhumane and torture that most people can’t endure for even 24 hours, though most people think they could manage it, Every scientific study proves we can talk tough and act tough, but most people have a better chance of beating Tom Brady in a Super Bowl than they do of not being broken by the solitary confinement method of torture.

Lest anyone presume that I harbor anti-police or anti-authority beliefs it should be noted and is not inconsequential that I was a conservative Republican supported by most of the grassroots, principled activists within the Party, as well as garnering significant support from an atypical coalition of Reagan Republicans, the most progressive, environmentalist organizations at the local University of North Carolina campus, seniors and many Democrats, esp. relatively new residents appalled by the ruling "establishment" Republicans and country club attorneys, or the "Jeb Bush/Mitt Romney" GOP establishment with its dominant motivation being continued domination of local government by Wilmington's leading landowning families, who's patriarchs' seized power through a bloody coup d'etat in 1898, the only Coup d'etat in U.S. history, when successful northerners and free blacks were forced to leave town never to return or cut down by machine guns - actions proudly defended by these families and the attorneys and realtors and cronies who cross Party lines and prioritize power and control (and traditional, accepted corruption as "normal business" practices by and within City and county government).

Supported by GOP activists, young working families, the most progressive, environmentalist and activist organizations at the local University, seniors, retirees and many Democrats esp. recent northern transplants appalled by the pervasive and short-sighted corruption by local officials - I pledged to pursue transparency, accountability and ending the closed door meetings where citizen awareness and participation were not welcome AND I took that promise seriously. I advocated support for law enforcement and fighting crime and gang activity, and since I have a record being an elected official, I voted 100% during my four year term to give the Sheriff everything he asked for, and admittedly, in those pre-Ferguson, Mo., pre-Eric Garner, pre-Black Lives Matter days, I was naive...having experienced nothing but a positive relationship with law enforcement my entire life prior to being elected to public office, and I worked closely with various law enforcement agencies as a first responder, and character reference for FBI Special Agents and aspiring law clerks for US Attorneys Offices. Even when crooked officers in the New Hanover County Sheriff's Dept. and Wilmington Police Department were routinely violating my rights, committing acts of violence and harm against me and my golden retriever pal, and engaging in property crimes to damage and intimidate and harm me, I STILL honored my commitment and supported with not a single exception, local law enforcement and the Sheriff - hand picked successor to the Career Sheriff who I defeated in the Commissioner Election, an election I won despite being outspent by approx. $100,000 to $10,000 by long-entrenched Machiavellian incumbents. I continue to support law enforcement causes, but I can no longer ignore the pervasive, epidemic institutional corruption, violence and brutality, bigotry and unaccountability, lack of integrity and ethical indifference that permeates law enforcement from coast-to-coast, in every state, small towns and big cities, and the systemic involvement of corrupt prosecutors, politicians and unethical media outlets along with the U.S. Dept of Justice, FBI and US Attorneys (most notably and personally responsible being Eric Holder in recent years).

There are no groups to whom my life matters. Ben David and the criminal swamp rats at the institutionally-corrupt Department of Justice, FBI, within the incredibly corrupt State of North Carolina, especially the N.C. Governor’s Office with three inhumane, indifferent justice adversaries, occupying that Office most recently, including Roy Cooper who’s record as State A.G. is appalling and current Attorney General Josh Stein is equally indifferent when it comes to Justice. I believe Justice is a traditional Republican value, President Trump has done far more for fixing the corrupt, broken criminal justice system than any other Commander-in-Chief in memory….he has the potential to be the greatest Justice advocate in the White House since Abe Lincoln…Hopefully, he will prioritize that admirable challenge as part of his legacy and continue the first steps he’s taken in Term One of Two! The President who opposes corruption and fights for equal, principled Justice in the face of widespread institutional corruption and epidemic sadism and bigotry and prosecutors who are as criminal, narcissistic and unethical as pervasively as law enforcement is epidemically consumed by institutional corruption that is so deeply-rooted in us-against-them, bullying, sadism values and disregard for liberty and the Rule of Law - and unfortunately, institutional corruption, lack of accountability, transparency, and devoid of integrity almost always requires outside remedy…rarely does an out-of-control rocket right itself without external forces.

I was a highly functional, professional, ethical and public service oriented nice guy who was elected despite a speech impediment, minimal charisma, no talent for lying convincingly, and deep, unwavering principles esp. when it involves Liberty, Justice, the Constitution and Equal rights with Limited Government and Taxpayer, not Politician, Rule!

Now, thanks to events barely described here, and Google, I have been homeless, though not abusing alcohol or drugs, but abandoned by family, friends, supporters, and no organization willing to hire me after doing a Google search – despite my abilities and work ethic and character….

I am praying for mercy from President Trump and though a pardon doesn’t apply to my situation, his clemency and effort to expose the truth I experienced and maybe even allow me to join his staff in some capacity to work on criminal justice reform, anti-corruption action to free the President from HAVING to be the government watchdog against corruption because government has become so corrupt – the agencies that should be fighting corruption, DOJ and the FBI, are among the worst purveyors of corrupt narcissistic self-interested corruption tools – and its hurting America and undermining civil political discourse in our society.

President Trump, please help me. Being homeless and tortured and damaged to the point where death would be better than my life since being elected to stand-up to corruption is torture and nobody deserves it. Everyone deserves Justice and a justice system ruled by laws, not men. “Moderation in the pursuit of Justice is No Virtue,” the great Republican Barry Goldwater said. Let’s bring Justice back into the fold as a traditional value like it once was and you’re moving in that direction. Please help me and if you’re willing, allow me to serve this Nation on Earth by working for you toward that virtuous end!

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#ncpol #ncgop #politics #trump #corrupt gop #corrupt politicians #blm #police brutality #new hanover #wilmington #nc

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bountyofbeads · 4 years

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A Pennsylvania County’s Election Day Nightmare Underscores Voting Machine Concerns https://nyti.ms/2rGZTkk

The Trump administration and Republicans have done nothing to protect our election infrastructure, except for Ivanka Trump getting a patent for election machines in China.

"The snafu in Northampton County did not just expose flaws in both the election machine testing and procurement process. It also highlighted the fears, frustrations and mistrust over election security that many voters are feeling ahead of the 2020 presidential contest, given how faith in American elections has never been more fragile. The problematic machines were also used in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs — areas of Pennsylvania that could prove decisive next year in one of the most critical presidential swing states in the country."

A Pennsylvania County’s Election Day Nightmare Underscores Voting Machine Concerns

How “everything went wrong” in Northampton County.

By Nick Corasaniti | Published Nov. 30, 2019, 5:00 AM ET | New York Times | Posted November 30, 2019 |

EASTON, Pa. — It was a few minutes after the polls closed here on Election Day when panic began to spread through the county election offices.

Vote totals in a Northampton County judge’s race showed one candidate, Abe Kassis, a Democrat, had just 164 votes out of 55,000 ballots across more than 100 precincts. Some machines reported zero votes for him. In a county with the ability to vote for a straight-party ticket, one candidate’s zero votes was a near statistical impossibility. Something had gone quite wrong.

Lee Snover, the chairwoman of the county Republicans, said her anxiety began to pick up at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 5. She had trouble getting someone from the election office on the phone. When she eventually got through, she said: “I’m coming down there and you better let me in.”

With clearly faulty results in at least the judge’s election, officials began counting the paper backup ballots generated by the same machines. The paper ballots showed Mr. Kassis winning narrowly, 26,142 to 25,137, over his opponent, the Republican Victor Scomillio.

“People were questioning, and even I questioned, that if some of the numbers are wrong, how do we know that there aren’t mistakes with anything else?” said Matthew Munsey, the chairman of the Northampton County Democrats, who, along with Ms. Snover, was among the observers as county officials worked through the night to feed the paper ballots by hand through scanning machines.

The snafu in Northampton County did not just expose flaws in both the election machine testing and procurement process. It also highlighted the fears, frustrations and mistrust over election security that many voters are feeling ahead of the 2020 presidential contest, given how faith in American elections has never been more fragile. The problematic machines were also used in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs — areas of Pennsylvania that could prove decisive next year in one of the most critical presidential swing states in the country.

In an era where some candidates and incumbents try to challenge or discredit a close loss by questioning the system, either with unfounded allegations of voter fraud or claims of a “rigged” election, the proper functioning and security of election machines have never been more crucial.

“There are concerns for 2020,” Ms. Snover said, questioning whether the paper ballots generated by the same machine that had a digital error could be trusted. “Nothing went right on Election Day. Everything went wrong. That’s a problem.”

Election Day here had been marred by complaints of long lines, glitch-prone touch screens and frustrated poll workers. Voters across the county said the experience further eroded their already shaken confidence in the election process.

“It made me sad because with everything that’s going on, you kind of worry about: Was something tampered with, or was it just a mistake,” said Michelle Broadhecker, 48, of Easton, who said her anxiety about elections began after 2016. “There’s just too much going on that you worry about those things. And you don’t want the wrong people in the wrong places.”

Though there has been no conclusive study as to what caused the machines to malfunction, as the machines are locked away for 20 days after an election according to state law, the prevailing theory is that the touch screens were plagued by a bug in the software. A senior intelligence official who focuses on election security said there were no visible signs of outside meddling by any foreign actors.

County officials who led the purchase of the machines have argued that the system actually functioned as it should: The paper ballot backup process worked. The touch screens failed, but the backups had the correct vote, so while it was inconvenient, it proved the necessity of a paper backup.

“We also need to focus on the outcome, which is that voter-verified paper ballots provided fair, accurate and legal election results, as indicated by the county’s official results reporting and successful postelection risk-limiting audit,” said Katina Granger, a spokeswoman for Election Systems & Software, the manufacturer of the machines. “The election was legal and fair.”

But for others, it underscored the fractured system for selecting voting systems. Major decisions for testing, purchasing and operating complex machines are often left to county and city officials. Federal testing standards for election machines haven’t been updated since 2005, when a large percentage of the machines were not digital.

“Not only is that a decade before the current cybersecurity threats to our elections, it is two years before the first iPhone,” said Kevin Skoglund, a senior technical adviser for the National Election Defense Coalition, a nonpartisan group that focuses on election security issues. “There is a newer 2015 standard, but the Election Assistance Commission lets voting system vendors choose which one to use.”

The machines that broke in Northampton County are called the ExpressVoteXL and are made by Election Systems & Software, a major manufacturer of election machines used across the country. The ExpressVoteXL is among their newest and most high-end machines, a luxury “one-stop” voting system that combines a 32-inch touch screen and a paper ballot printer.

To initiate a vote, a voter places a blank ballot-shaped piece of paper in the machine, makes their selections on the screen, and then presses the word “vote.” The machine prints a ballot that is protected under a plate of glass for the voter to review. The voter then clicks “cast” on the screen, the digital votes are recorded on a USB and the backup ballot is transmitted to a sealed canister in the back of the machine.

The machines began arriving in the county in August, having gone through a federal and state certification process. The only remaining testing to be done was what officials called a “logic and accuracy test,” which is a quick dry run of roughly 20 dummy ballots. But the ExpressVoteXL has an auto-test function in which the machines can simulate a full digital test, a feature that election security experts say is ill-advised.

“It doesn’t test if the touch screen or the scanner work. It doesn’t even cast votes for everyone on the ballot,” Mr. Skoglund said. “It is especially concerning that it can send made-up votes to the vote counting software without needing a real ballot. Fake ballots are a feature no voting machine should have.”

The automatic tests in Northampton proved problematic, and did not even cast a test vote for every candidate, according to test receipts shown to The New York Times. But the machines were still rolled out on Election Day.

And instantly, there were problems.

“I walked into my booth, and I knew that I was going to vote straight Democratic and I’m voting that way until we get some balance back into the government, but when I hit straight Democratic, straight Republican is what registered,” said Angela Anderson, 55, of Forks Township, who said that many of her neighbors shared similar stories. “I kind of panicked for a second. But thankfully it easily reset, and I reset my system, and that time it registered Democratic.”

Deb Hunter, a member of the county election commission, said they were actually lucky that the county judge election went so poorly because that made the problem obvious.

“What would have happened if there was a glitch there that got at a 10 percent or 20 percent undercount?” she said. “That worries me. That worries me going forward.”

Ms. Granger noted that there are nearly 6,300 ExpressVoteXL voting machines in use across the country, and none had experienced similar counting problems to those in Northampton County.

It was the way the machines were selected by Philadelphia elected officials that drew the most scrutiny over the last year. Since 2013, E.S.&S. had been courting the two city commissioners who were responsible for choosing the next voting machine, according to a report from the city comptroller.

The lobbying firm for E.S.&S. had donated $1,000 in 2013 to the campaign of Al Schmidt, one of the city commissioners, and again to a group supporting his re-election effort in 2018. They also spent more than $27,000 in direct lobbying of Mr. Schmidt.

Mr. Schmidt made a visit to only one company’s headquarters: E.S.&S.

In total, E.S.&S. spent more than $425,000 in lobbying expenses related to the City of Philadelphia.

Emails obtained by the city comptroller also found that E.S.&S. had influenced the writing of the city commissioners’ $22 million budget request for new election machines, tilting the process in favor of its machine, the ExpressVoteXL. The city eventually purchased the machines for $29 million in February.

“It showed a very, very flawed process,” said Rebecca Rhynhart, the city controller in Philadelphia. “I want to make sure, and the country should want to make sure, that our voting machines are the best they can be.”

As for Northampton, some on the county council have a new goal: new, simpler paper-ballot machines ahead of the presidential election, as well as some money back.

______

Matthew Rosenberg contributed reporting from Washington.

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Mecklenburg voters to use new voting machines in 2020. Here’s why they’re changing.

BY ALISON KUZNITZ | Published NOVEMBER 20, 2019 06:01 PM ET | Charlotte Observer | Posted November 30, 2019 |

Mecklenburg County residents will likely vote starting next year on new touch-screen machines that also print out their marked ballots, part of an estimated $15 million technology reboot to ensure there’s a paper trail at the polls.

The ExpressVote universal voting system — which costs almost $3,400 apiece — is similar to the direct recording devices that have been used in the county since 2006. But voters will now be presented with a physical copy of their ballot, allowing them to verify their selections before submitting them.

If the ballot looks correct, voters will then insert the paper into a separate digital scanner and tabulator machine, called the DS200 that costs nearly $5,800. If changes are needed, voters can ask precinct workers to void the ballot and start fresh.

“Hopefully, voters can easily handle this and be able to use it,” said Michael Dickerson, the elections director for Mecklenburg County. “I think voters will be quite happy, especially the young voters.”

The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections unanimously approved the new voting technology Wednesday afternoon, deciding to purchase 350 scanners and 2,400 ExpressVote devices, said spokeswoman Kristin Mavromatis.

The next steps involve seeking approval for the purchase from the State Board of Elections and asking the county commissioners to provide the funding.

Mavromatis said the total contract price is unknown. The board still needs to consider the cost of other equipment, such as flash drives and voting booths, in addition to storage needs to accommodate the bulkier systems, she said.

The overhaul stems from a 2013 North Carolina voter law requiring paper ballots in an effort to maintain elections security and thwart potential hacking.

“We believe these are completely secure,” Dickerson said of the new voting system. “There’s no internet access to any of these things.”

Technically, the county’s old machines “always had the paper trail,” Dickerson said, in the form of a paper roll next to the electronic screen.

Yet various components on this outgoing system blurred what could be considered the ballot, including the real-time audit log and internal memory. ExpressVote clarifies the vote summary card constitutes the ballot, Mavromatis said.

The state “wanted an actual ballot,” she said. The machines were tested during the municipal election earlier this month.

Through ExpressVote, Mecklenburg residents will navigate a series of screens as they cast their ballots, receiving prompts along the way. The system, for example, will notify voters if they can select more candidates in a given race.

Voters can enlarge the text and change the color contrast on the machine. Among other accessibility features, ExpressVote comes with a headphone jack, privacy screen and detachable keypad.

Traditional pen-and-paper ballots, filled out like standardized school tests, will continue to be on hand at precincts — especially for those who vote curbside.

Dickerson said he expects the new technology will make the voting process faster in the 2020 primary and general elections.

“Instead of you sitting there filling in oval after oval, you’re touching a screen just like you do now,” Dickerson said. “It won’t let you mess up.”

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