Santa Fe Democrat's Ward 47-A

Kucinich to appear on Feb. 5 ballot

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich will be on the ballot for the Feb. 5 Democratic presidential caucus in New Mexico, the state Democratic Party announced Thursday.

Kucinich paid a fee of $2,500 to the party instead of gathering 5,000 petition signatures of registered Democrats in the state.

He is considered a long shot for the nomination. But in New Mexico’s caucus, every candidate is considered a long shot except Gov. Bill Richardson, who is expected to win a big “favorite son” vote. Also on the ballot are U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Chris Dodd, and former Sen. John Edwards.

Request forms for absentee ballots for the caucus can be downloaded at www.nmdemocrats.org or by calling the state Democratic Party at 505-

Senate President Pro-Tem dead at 77

State Senate President Pro-Tem Ben Altamirano, the longest-serving member of the Senate, has died at his home in Silver City. He was 77.

Details of Altamirano's death were not available. In recent years, he had suffered a heart attack and undergone surgery.

Altamirano, a Democrat, was an even-keeled retired businessman who had represented most of Grant, Catron and Socorro counties in the Legislature since 1971. A native of Silver City, he had held the Senate's top job for four years, and before that, was chairman of the Finance Committee for 17 years.

Gov. Bill Richardson announced Altamirano's death late Thursday, calling him a true statesman whose love for New Mexico helped him earn the respect of everyone who crossed his path.

Al Kamen - What Was in That Office, Anyway? You Tell Us. - washingtonpost.com

Link: Al Kamen - What Was in That Office, Anyway? You Tell Us. - washingtonpost.com.

That fire in Vice President Cheney's digs in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Wednesday naturally has everyone in Washington speculating about its origin. Arson might seem a bit far-fetched to folks outside the Beltway, but it would not be the first time a small conflagration was planned by a White House official.

We recall that Watergate burglary mastermind G. Gordon Liddy plotted firebombing the Brookings Institution -- "as a diversion," he writes in his memoirs -- to get into the security vault and steal Daniel Ellsberg's Vietnam War papers.

Jemez leader joins crowded House race - SantaFeNewMexican.com

Link: Jemez leader joins crowded House race - SantaFeNewMexican.com.

For Benny Shendo Jr., the idea of working in Washington, D.C., didn't really hit him until he worked for another man who's trying to return there.

In Gov. Bill Richardson's cabinet as secretary of the Indian Affairs Department, Shendo said, he saw how the now-presidential candidate put politics to effective use.

"I've always had an interest in politics and in helping the disadvantaged," he said, "and I've always seen education as the key, but I think I began to see how much an individual could make a difference." Shendo, who stepped down as secretary this month, will formally announce today at his home in Jemez Pueblo that he's running for Congress.

Shendo, 43, is part of a growing Democratic field seeking to represent Northern New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District. Five-term U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, a Democrat, is stepping down to run for the U.S. Senate, and all New Mexico's House seats are in play because of the planned retirement of longtime U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican.

City Council District 3 City Council race: Candidates’ scuffle over residency gets ‘creepy’ - SantaFeNewMexican.com

Link: District 3 City Council race: Candidates’ scuffle over residency gets ‘creepy’ - SantaFeNewMexican.com.

When City Councilor Miguel Chavez learned he had an opponent in the March 2008 municipal election, he also learned he was getting a new neighbor. Now he's not so sure.

Challenger Martin Lujan announced his candidacy for the office in late September, the same month he changed his voter registration from a Santa Fe County address and began renting a residence on Hickox Street.

But Chavez, 53, who lives a few blocks away on Camino Porvenir, said he's driven by Lujan's residence several times a day for the past few weeks and has seen neither hide nor hair of him.

"I don't want to be perceived as negative or petty," he said, "but the first thing that comes to mind is that you are required to live in the district that you are seeking office to, ... and if you are producing documents that have an address that you claim to be living at and you are not, I think that is very misleading."

My One Vote

Dear Delegates,

      Next year, 2008 is going to be a very important one for us Democrats.  We have the opportunity to win all three Congressional Districts, an historical event.

      With all the activity regarding  these races, I've  had opportunity to reflect on my own voting history, recalling the first time I voted at age eighteen.  The excitement and the overwhelming feeling of having arrived as an adult was tremendous.  I recall walking in the booth, at that time pulling levers.  It took me forever to pull the lever, knowing in my heart, my vote would be the one which would make all the difference for mankind.

     My father, my hero, who had fought during WWII, only to be a P.O.W during the Korean War, retiring from the USMC with honors, had instilled in me the importance of one vote.  He would tell me stories of all the men and women who had fought and died so my one vote would matter.  Today when I visit him at his resting place at the National Cemetery here in Santa Fe, I recall the honor and integrity he instilled in me.  I can only hope to live up to such a great legacy.  Contrary to what the Republican Party would like us to believe, that only Republicans serve their country, my father was a very proud Democrat!

     So as we approach the Caucus and Primary down the road, I must once again reflect on the voice of my father and the many people who have served our county, so my one vote could matter.  I can not allow my vote to be determined by one person or group.  To freely offer my vote based on favors or friendships, should never be the case.  My one vote may not change the world but it does help me maintain my own integrity and honor..

      Once again, as I enter the voting booth, I will most likely feel the same excitement and sense of duty I have always experienced since I was eighteen.  My one vote is my vote and mine only.  I will offer it to the candidate I feel will make a difference in our world.  Democracy should be just that, Democracy!

                                                                                               Happy Holidays,

                                                                                               Bernie Logue Y Perea

                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Chair Ward 47-A

Ohio report shows ES&S m100 vulnerable to vote switching

Link:
1,000 pages of bad news: Ohio e-voting report released
.

The EVEREST researchers described a vulnerability in the ES&S M100 optical scanner in which simply flipping the write-protect switch on the device's CF card to "on" would result in a precinct-wide undercount that's extremely hard to detect.

If this switch is activated after the polls are opened and reset before the polls are closed...the internal counts of the m100, and the paper tape reports will be correct and the system will function normally, but the counts of the votes scanned will not be added to the electronic media delivered to the central Board of Elections... To add to the level of difficulty in detection of the exploit, while the physical ballots are in the ballot box in the correct number and the paper tape shows the correct number, the memory card is delivered to the central Board of Elections where it is read and processed. The current processes in use in most polling places are a simple review of the paper tapes, which would be correct. As such, it is likely that unless close scrutiny or recounts of the precinct were performed that surgical use of this vulnerability would go undetected.

Note that this write-protect switch is apparently easy to flip accidentally.

Obviously, turning on the write-protect for the duration of a whole election would cause that machine's precinct to report "zero" votes cast, thereby tipping off election officials that something was wrong. But if a malicious precinct worker were to just reach down periodically and flip the switch on and off during the course of a day's polling, he or she could easily cause a serious undervote that would only be detected by a hand count of the optical scan ballots.

Voting machines set for use in N.M. elections decertified by CO Secretary of State due to programming errors and lack of security

The ES&S M100 and the ES&S iVotetronic voting system, currently set for use in every precinct in New Mexico in 2008, were decertified for use in Colorado yesterday after testing by state employees and outside consultants revealed security vulnerabilities and programming errors that could cause votes to be counted incorrectly.

Below is a list of other voting machines that were decertified as well as the letter from Colorado's Secretary of State, Mike Coffman, to ES&S.

The iVotronic machine was used exclusively on election day 2004 in San Juan County, NM. The election day undervote rate in precincts with greater than 50% Native American voters was 5.8% in comparison to 2.3% election day undervote rate in Anglo majority precincts. Undervote is when an individual does not vote in the race at the top of the ticket.

In addition, Colorado also decertified Sequoia Voting Systems (CO Sequoia Decertification.pdf ) for "failure to operate in a secured state requiring passwords" and "failure to provide auditable data to detect security violations." Sequoia Voting systems were used throughout New Mexico during the 2004 election. To see exactly where, check out this link.

To learn more about irregularities in the 2004 election due to e-voting, check out this study of the 2006 elections results, published on Brad Blog.

Stay tuned for more developments on this story.

Ward Calendar

Note the dates which have been added to the calendar.  Most are a Calendar of Events regarding the Caucus and other important dates leading up to the Primary in June.  It's important we have knowledge of these dates for the people within our wards.  Upon logging onto the calendar, click the link below, "google" calendar, proceed to Agenda to view the complete list of events.

                                                                  Thank You,

                                                                  Bernie Logue Y Perea

2008 Election: House race field widens again - SantaFeNewMexican.com

Link: 2008 Election: House race field widens again - SantaFeNewMexican.com.

The ever-changing field of Democrats looking to run for Northern New Mexico's congressional seat remains in flux, with three more considering joining the race and another saying she's out.

Among them are:

Teresa Leger, 47, daughter of retired Las Vegas, N.M., educator and former state Sen. Ray Leger, is a Stanford law school graduate and a managing partner of the Nordhaus firm in Santa Fe. Leger and her husband, Luis Fernandez, live in Chupadero.

"The compressed nature of this race means that I would have to make the decision very, very soon," she said.

Derrith Watchman-Moore, 43, is a former deputy secretary of the state Environment Department who is now a policy adviser to the department in Gallup. A Navajo who lives in the small town of Crystal, she ran unsuccessfully for the Public Regulation Commission last year and is the daughter of the late state Rep. Leo Watchman Sr. and the sister of former state Rep. Leo Watchman Jr.

Watchman-Moore said she is trying to arrange to have her formal announcement at Zia Pueblo on Dec. 28.

Jon Adams, 33, an Albuquerque lawyer who previously said he would seek the Albuquerque-area congressional seat, has been circulating nominating petitions for the northern district instead. The former assistant attorney general, who grew up in Los Alamos, reportedly is renting an apartment in Santa Fe.

Adams did not respond to messages seeking comment on his bid.