Diebold whistleblower Stephen Heller compared to Daniel Ellsberg

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Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:37:24 -0400 (EDT)

Diebold whistleblower Stephen Heller compared to Daniel Ellsberg

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http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_bev_harr_060424_diebold_whistleblowe.htm

 

 

 

 

 

April 24, 2006

 

Diebold whistleblower Stephen Heller compared to Daniel Ellsberg,

Pentagon Papers

 

 

http://www.opednews.com

 

Permission granted to reprint, with link to

http://www.blackboxvoting.org. According to Cleveland Plain Dealer,

linked further down:

 

" Michael Kohn, general counsel for the National Whistleblower Center,

sees Heller as a " quintessential whistleblower " in the vein of Daniel

Ellsberg, who released the classified Pentagon Papers to The New York

Times in 1971. The Times' publication of lengthy excerpts shed

damaging light on the U.S. military's execution of the Vietnam War.

 

" This is a very rare instance, " Kohn said of the Heller case, " in fact

the only one of which I'm aware, in which a whistleblower has been

charged with a felony. I find it outrageous. "

 

The documents allegedly leaked by Heller show Diebold lawyers

budgeting for Diebold's criminal defense, after they advise their

client that engaging in certain acts might invoke criminal

prosecution. Following the leaking of these documents, Diebold was

referred by Calif. Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to Calif. Attorney

General Bill Lockyer, recommending criminal charges. Lockyer failed to

prosecute Diebold.

 

Yet Heller goes to trial today for allegedly leaking the documents

proving that Diebold knew in advance that it was lying to the

California secretary of state.

 

The lies Diebold and Jones Day told were material, and caused the

elections for the 2004 presidential primary to melt down in Alameda

and San Diego counties. Hundreds of polling places were unable to make

the customized-but-lied-about firmware work, disenfranchising

thousands of voters. Another whistleblower, James Dunn, confirmed in

an affidavit that the very system misrepresented by Jones Day

attorneys was in fact altered in unauthorized ways.

 

Jones Day admitted on April 21, 2004 that it was their idea to make a

representation to the secretary of state that the software was

unaltered. Now Jones Day is complaining because it claims exposure of

this lie through its documents cost " up to one million in legal fees. "

It's true that Jones Day had been expecting hefty fees from Diebold --

because the documents showed a budget for Diebold's criminal defense.

 

Heller was fired from his job after being arrested in connection with

the Jones Day documents. Black Box Voting has contributed $10,000 to

Heller's defense. More is needed. To donate to the Stephen Heller

defense fund,

 

http://www.hellerlegaldefensefund.com

 

Dunn Declaration:

http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/27423.html

 

Discuss this article here:

http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/27423.html

 

* * * * *

 

Because the information was publicly released, it was able to impact

public policy. Every day that evidence is withheld from the public

means one more election gets run on defective, hackable equipment that

also miscounts votes by accident.

 

STILL UNRESOLVED: GEMS central tabulator hackability - it's alive and

well and has never been corrected.

 

STILL NOT SOLVED: Diebold memory card hackability -- though test labs

claim that Diebold misrepresented the interpreter and interpreted code

to them, so they improperly passed the system, allowing it to be

certified -- the system is STILL certifed.

 

STILL OUT THERE TICKING LIKE A TIME BOMB: Customized Windows CE

operating system on the Diebold TS-R6 and TSx touch-screens. Used to

penetrate the system in Emery County, Utah. Test labs now admit they

should have tested it, but didn't, and the systems were improperly

certified. The problem has not been corrected and is likely to impede

the integrity of the 2006 federal election.

 

Calif. Attorney General Bill Lockyer was informed of the improperly

certified Windows CE, its risk to the voting system, and the fact that

Diebold misrepresented it to the testing labs. He was informed of this

in formal papers filed by Jim March and Bev Harris in Nov. 2003, but

did no investigation and took no action against either Diebold or the

test labs, who should have caught this.

 

Lockyer also knew of the problem with GEMS hackability and Diebold's

misrepresentation of GEMS as a " secure " system, but took no action and

did not investigate.

 

Investigations are now underway, led by public officials of courage

and sturdy character. Calif. Senate Elections Chair Debra Bowen proved

it can be done.

 

Backgrounder (long): The following documents show that the testing

labs lied and that, according to them, Diebold misrepresented its

materials to them. If you are in contact with state-level legislators

who can hold further hearings, please provide this document to them.

 

It's in two parts:

preamble: http://www.blackboxvoting.org/itahearingpreamble.pdf

 

Full transcript and backgrounder:

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/itahearing.pdf

 

* * * * *

 

Thanks to Stephen Heller and others like him. When it comes to

elections, there can be no justification for keeping information away

from the public while allowing public officials, ballot initiatives,

judges, presidents and control of the U.S. congress to take place. If

information is withheld, the damage cannot be undone.

 

link to Plain Dealer article:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business/114586770

1235570.xml & coll=2

 

* * * * *

 

 

Black Box Voting is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501c(3) elections

watchdog group focusing on hard-core investigations into election

accuracy and fairness.

 

This organization is supported entirely by citizen donations.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/donate.html

Black Box Voting, Inc.

330 SW 43rd St Suite K

PMB 547

Renton WA 98055

 

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