Mike Norton-District20

Saturday, October 07, 2006

HELP ME GET JEF HALL'S RESOLUTION ABOUT PAYMENT TO DEIBOLD FOR VOTING MACHINES BE BROUGHT AND HEARD BY THE ENTIRE COUNTY BOARD

Below is an article from the Northwestern earlier in the week talking about Winnebago County BoardSupervisor Jef Hall resolution dealing with payment to Deibold for payment for the voting machines purchased to be comply with HAVA.

The Judiciary & Public Safety Committee for Winnebago County voted 2-2 not to send this resolution to the full County Board. At the meting information was provided that I feel that the whole public should here. Information how the State Elections Board changed the ballot with in days of the September primary which lead to problems and delays in getting vote totals.

Urge your County Board Supervisor to let this resolution and information come forward for all the County Board and public can here the information.

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Supervisor urges county to withhold Diebold payment
Company: Problems fusible for November Bethany K. Warner of The Northwestern

Winnebago County Board Supervisor Jef Hall is proposing that the county withhold paying Diebold Election Systems for the county's new touch-screen voting machines because they did not perform as promised during the September election.Hall, the supervisor for the district that includes much of the central city of Oshkosh, wants the county to sit on the payment for the touch-screen voting machines because those machines did not communicate as promised with the county's existing optical scan voting machines following the September primary election. The county board agreed in June to spend $288,000 for the 50 machines.

After polls closed for the primary election in September, the county clerk had to add by hand votes cast on the touch-screen machines to the totals generated from the county's older optical scan machines.Hall said that shows that the county was sold on the Diebold system with promises that were not true."If we were sold something on a fraudulent basis," Hall said, "I don't think we should pay for them until the time they do as we were told."The problem on election night, state elections board officials said in September, was that a key piece of technology that allows the two systems to tally results together had not yet received federal or state approval for use in elections.But the company and local election officials on Monday insisted that the problems were a one-time glitch that stemmed not from the technology, but rather from the design of the primary election ballots. That problem can be corrected for the Nov. 7 election, they said.David Bear, a spokesman for Diebold Elections Systems, said the optical-scan and touch-screen machines should communicate with each other if the ballots are designed properly. Bear said he was unaware of any additional piece of voting or counting equipment waiting on approval."I don't think so. It was a matter of having to layout a ballot to have a special need for write-ins," Bear said.The problem that delayed final vote totals after the primary should be corrected by November, said Winnebago County Clerk Sue Ertmer.Ertmer said Diebold has told her that the machines will communicate without a problem with the November ballot. That ballot is currently waiting for state approval.Ertmer said she knew that results in September would have to be hand-tabulated but acknowledges she did not alert the county board to that fact.The money for the voting machines will ultimately be reimbursed to the county by the federal government. The county selected Diebold's touch-screen machines to meet a requirement of the Help America Vote Act to provide voting machines that improve access for disabled voters.Hall's request goes before the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee on Friday."They don't live up to their commitment and I think we should hold them to that in Winnebago county," Hall said.

A GREAT WEBSITE FOR FOLLOWING NATIONAL POLITICS


For those who like to follow politcal races and politics in general nationally- here is a site that is very useful--


Click for www.electoral-vote.com

http://www.electoral-vote.com:2006//

Thursday, October 05, 2006

FORUM ON THE REFERENDUM DEALING MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNIONS

The Oshkosh League of Women Voters Presents:

AMENDING OUR STATE’S CONSTITUTION
ON MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNIONS


Is it necessary?
Is it desirable?
Who would be helped?
Who would be harmed?

Come hear area leaders from Business, Faith and Government. Be informed!

Speakers:
Gregg Underheim – State Representative
John Bermingham – Private Attorney
Bob Pederson – Business Executive
Rev. Carol DiBiasio-Snyder – Pastor
Susan Werblow – Parent
Aaron Scherer & Paul Smith – committed couple
And others as well.

Monday October 16
6:30PM-8:00PM
J.P. Coughlin Center 625 E. County Rd Y Oshkosh
Free and open to the public

A PROGRAM TO GET MORE INFORMED ABOUT STEM CELL RESEARCH

The Business of Stem Cells:
An Introduction to Stem Cell Research in Wisconsin


Tuesday, October 24, 2006, 6:30 pm
Reeve Union Theater, UW Oshkosh


A presentation for scientists and the community about the basics of stem cell biology and policy and the importance of stem cell research to Wisconsin.

Susan Carlson, Director of Operations
WiCell Research Institute
Madison, Wisconsin

WiCell is a non-profit research institute established in 1999 by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) to advance the science of stem cells. The organization focuses on enhancing and expanding the study of human embryonic stem (hES) cells by conducting basic research into the characteristics of human embryonic stem cells; housing the National Stem Cell Bank; providing research tools, technical support and training to scientists worldwide; and supporting efforts to unlock the therapeutic potential of this seminal scientific field, particularly at UW Madison. WiCell also engages in active outreach programs to schools and the general public to educate and stimulate interest in the science. Stem cell pioneer Dr. James Thomson was the first to isolate hES cells and currently serves as WiCell’s scientific director.

The National Stem Cell Bank (NSCB) contract was awarded to WiCell on September 30, 2005 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The primary goals of the NSCB are to acquire, characterize and distribute the 21 human embryonic stem cell lines listed on the NIH Stem Cell registry and their sub-clones, which are eligible for use in federally funded research programs, to publish the data generated about the hES cell lines, and to provide technical support to the hES cell research community.


This informational meeting is co-sponsored by the UW Oshkosh Biology Department and College of Letters and Science and by the Oshkosh Area League of Women Voters
Public parking is available in Lot 15 on
Algoma Blvd across from Reeve Union.