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GOP cyber-security expert suggests Diebold tampered with 2002 election
Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane
Raw Story
Saturday, July 19, 2008
A leading cyber-security expert and former adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says he has fresh evidence regarding election fraud on Diebold electronic voting machines during the 2002 Georgia gubernatorial and senatorial elections.
Stephen Spoonamore is the founder and until recently the CEO of Cybrinth LLC, an information technology policy and security firm that serves Fortune 100 companies. At a little noticed press conference in Columbus, Ohio Thursday, he discussed his investigation of a computer patch that was applied to Diebold Election Systems voting machines in Georgia right before that state’s November 2002 election.
Spoonamore is one of the most prominent cyber-security experts in the country. He has appeared on CNN’s Lou Dobbs and ABC’s World News Tonight, and has security clearances from his work with the intelligence community and other government agencies, as well as the Department of Defense, and is one of the world’s leading authorities on hacking and cyber-espionage.
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In 1995, Spoonamore received a civilian citation for his work with the Department of Defense. He was again recognized for his contributions in 2004 by the Department of Homeland Security. Spoonamore is also a registered Republican and until recently was advising the McCain campaign.
Spoonamore received the Diebold patch from a whistleblower close to the office of Cathy Cox, Georgia’s then-Secretary of State. In discussions with RAW STORY, the whistleblower — who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation — said that he became suspicious of Diebold’s actions in Georgia for two reasons. The first red flag went up when the computer patch was installed in person by Diebold CEO Bob Urosevich, who flew in from Texas and applied it in just two counties, DeKalb and Fulton, both Democratic strongholds. The source states that Cox was not privy to these changes until after the election and that she became particularly concerned over the patch being installed in just those two counties.
The whistleblower said another flag went up when it became apparent that the patch installed by Urosevich had failed to fix a problem with the computer clock, which employees from Diebold and the Georgia Secretary of State’s office had been told the patch was designed specifically to address.
Some critics of electronic voting raised questions about the 2002 Georgia race even at the time. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Max Cleland, who was five percentage points ahead of Republican challenger Saxby Chambliss in polls taken a week before the vote, lost 53% to 46%. Incumbent Democratic Governor Roy Barnes, who led challenger Sonny Perdue in the polls by eleven points, lost 51% to 46%. However, because the Diebold machines used throughout the state provided no paper trail, it was impossible to ask for a recount in either case.
Concerned by the electoral outcome, the whistleblower approached Spoonamore because of his qualifications and asked him to examine the Diebold patch.
McCain adviser reported patch to Justice Department
The Ohio press conference was organized by Cliff Arnebeck and three other attorneys, who had filed a challenge to the results of that the 2004 presidential election in Ohio in December, 2004. That challenge was withdrawn, but in August 2006 Arnebeck filed a new case, King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Blackwell, alleging civil rights violations in the 2004 voting. The case was stayed in 2007. On Thursday, Arnebeck filed a motion to remove the stay and allow fresh investigation.
Individuals close to Arnebeck’s office said Spoonamore confirmed that the patch included nothing to repair a clock problem. Instead, he identified two parallel programs, both having the full software code and even the same audio instructions for the deaf. Spoonamore said he could not understand the need for a second copy of the exact same program — and without access to the machine for which the patch was designed, he could not learn more. Instead, he said he took the evidence to the Cyber-Security Division of the Department of Justice and reported the series of events to authorities. The Justice Department has not yet acted on his report.
Allegations surrounding Ohio in 2004
At the Ohio press conference yesterday, the former McCain adviser said Michael Connell, of the Republican Internet development firm New Media Communications, had designed a system that made possible the real-time “tuning” of election tabulators once Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell had outsourced the hosting of vote counting on the same server which hosted GOP campaign IT systems. He said he didn’t believe Connell was behind the alleged fraud, but that he should be considered a key witness.
Spoonamore also confirmed he’s working with Connell on overseas election issues and that Connell is now working as John McCain’s IT developer.
Connell has a long history with the Republican Party’s IT infrastructure. In 2001, for example, he set up MajorityWhip.gov for then House Majority Whip Tom DeLay. He also helped built georgewbush.com, as well as the Ohio GOP site Spoonamore referenced.
Sources close to Spoonamore said he was very concerned that he would lose his contracts as a result of coming forward and would take a “large financial hit.” These sources added that, despite his concerns, Spoonamore felt obligated to reveal what he knows to the public. “He felt he had no choice as an American citizen but to come forward, and he also knows the likely consequences of him doing so,” one source said.
An audio file of the press conference is available here.
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22 Responses to “GOP cyber-security expert suggests Diebold tampered with 2002 election”
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July 19th, 2008 at 5:28 am
And you thought votes were only rigged in third world countries.
July 19th, 2008 at 5:53 am
anything electronic CAN be hacked.
July 19th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Strange how people gripe about the system being rigged (Voting AND the MSM) yet are deluded enough to believe the same system that put the bu$h/cheney usurpation in office, that has if anything gotten even more corrupted, would actually promote (even with through reverse psychology) anyone that would bring real change to this system.
Of course I’m talking about the lying warmonger oBOMB’em (Obama). I would like to see more info about Obama’s racism, lies, support of attacks on our freedoms, & warmongering.
http://groups.msn.com/impeachb.....tooge.msnw
http://groups.msn.com/impeachb.....oting.msnw
http://groups.msn.com/impeachb.....hedoj.msnw
July 19th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Careful on the Spoonamore stuff.
July 19th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Play thier GAME and get burned!
July 19th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Paper ballots…maybe a new context for the phrase “Papers please”.
July 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I would also add cynthia mckinney’s loss to Diebolds handywork. Her loss seems the most suspicious of them all for me.
July 19th, 2008 at 11:04 am
NO! Can’t be!!
Ya think? Ya’ll don’t actually think our leaders are ELECTED, do you?
Come discuss this privately, securely:
https://www.intl-alliance.com/forum/index.php
See you there.
July 19th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Want a more secure voting machine operating system? Use Apple. Even Alex Jones has an Apple computer
July 19th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
This one goes in the “DUH” file.
They parade a couple of moron sell out, paid for pawns in front of us and we get to pick one of them. And to make it worse they fix the elections.
Then they have the audacity to run around saying that we live in an open, transparent, and free society.
If it wasn’t so sad, it would be hilarious.
July 19th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
folks, they’ve been rigging elections in Georgia for hundreds of years and constantly try out new ways to do it. paying off some stooge at diebold is just the latest wrinkle in a scheme as old as dirt.
July 19th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Hey Lefty Prog, would you also recommend Linux and/or UNIX and/or BSD?
July 19th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
i’ve said it a million times, so what’s one more…
i do not believe the American people are Stupid enough to elect “w” once and definately not two times.
this is what we get for allowing the control of our elections go to the hands of a private corporation.
tsk tsk…we sure do look like fascists bull dozing our way through other countries to “spread democracy and freedom”, at the cost of millions of lives.
“They” don’t hate us cause we are “free” (and i use that term loosely), “They” hate us cause we just don’t care.
July 19th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Stick a fork in ‘er she’s done…Amerika! SO let the pot smokers out of prison and make room from all the clowns in the government…I’ll be happy to pay for their imprisonment for life for teason…that goes for the generals who have helped…Meyers! (gee, I hope I spelled the traitors name right).
July 19th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
You’re worried about spelling when we’re ruled by people that can barely think.
There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
July 20th, 2008 at 12:47 am
http://koti.phnet.fi/elohim/theflood.html
Why do these guys hate women anyways? Oh I forgot
Genesis 3:15
“And I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.”
“Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all” (Dan. 11:37).
July 20th, 2008 at 4:41 am
Could someone please tell me at what point the paper voting system was replaced by an electronic device? The UK still use paper and people counting the votes.
July 20th, 2008 at 8:27 am
ILUVEISENHOWER – You’ve got to be kidding me. Eisenhower Mr.Keelhaul, buddy to W. Averell Harriman. You know Harriman, the same one who worked with Prescott Bush at the Union Banking Corporation (UBC) of New York City. The same Bank that was desolved under the “Trading with the Enemy Act” – the enemy being Hitler…. You know the Eisenhower Administration that supported the Communist rise in China. The Dulles Brothers? Nixon? Come on, Ike is loyal to Pike.
Dear LORD – deliver us from being dupes! Next we’ll have people praising Woodrow Wilson!!! It’s bad enough dealing with the Gore drones….
Read the Politician…. Yikes!
July 20th, 2008 at 9:26 am
One possible solution is the make the memory source for the program a read-only memory (ROM) That way there can not be any last minute patches. Also open up the source code so that we can review it’s quality. Did you guys know that 4 times as many people voted for Ron Paul at Google and Microsoft. We programmers need to fix Diebold’s monopoly with this important code.
July 20th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
We need hand-counted paper ballots (at the precinct level with multi-partisan, not “bipartisan,” oversight), and we need them NOW!
http://hcpbnow.org
http://www.ballotintegrity.org
July 20th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
i guess i will never fail to be amazed at how far a stupid idea can go…..electronic voting…no trail, indeed, how can that kind of thing ever be alowed?….is it just me?
people need to start flippin’ out, at voting stations….
July 21st, 2008 at 3:21 am
Here’s your sign, America.