AlterNet: In Violation of Federal Law, Ohio's 2004 Presidential Election Records Are Destroyed or Missing

AlterNet: In Violation of Federal Law, Ohio's 2004 Presidential Election Records Are Destroyed or Missing: "Two-thirds of Ohio counties have destroyed or lost their 2004 presidential ballots and related election records, according to letters from county election officials to the Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner.

The lost records violate Ohio law, which states federal election records must be kept for 22 months after Election Day, and a U.S. District Court order issued last September that the 2004 ballots be preserved while the court hears a civil rights lawsuit alleging voter suppression of African-American voters in Columbus."

That would be 56 of Ohio's 88 counties that somehow lost the records... Sure, they have nothing that they need to cover up. It is kind of funny that they disappeared when people started asking questions about the accuracy of the state's votes, which happened to be a major swing state. Many questions have been raised about disenfranchisement efforts conducted by the republicans, vote counting inaccuracies, voter fraud, and machine malfunctions that rejected thousands of votes.

Scientists Hack Voting Machines to Prove Tech Weaknesses

Scientists Hack Voting Machines to Prove Tech Weaknesses: "Computer scientists from California universities have hacked into three electronic voting systems used in California and elsewhere in the nation and found several ways in which vote totals could potentially be altered, according to reports released yesterday by the state.

The reports, the latest to raise questions about electronic voting machines, came to light on a day when House leaders announced in Washington that they had reached an agreement on measures to revamp voting systems and increase their security.

The House bill would require every state to use paper records that would let voters verify that their ballots had been correctly cast and that would be available for recounts.

The House majority leader, Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, and the original sponsor of the bill, Representative Rush D. Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, said it would require hundreds of counties with paperless machines to install backup paper trails by the presidential election next year while giving most states until 2012 to upgrade their machines further."

Yeah, we are screwed in the next election. Even with a paper trail, these machines are easy to hack.