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Re: Arrrrgh! (was RE: SOVC - Cumulatively Tally Precincts With Under Five Ballots Cast In EV/Absentee - For Texas)



Ken, this is Lesley.  My apologies for stepping into the 1.17 vs. 1.18 debate without a parachute.  My statements regarding this issue in Texas came from a conversation I had with DonV this morning and I had no idea this was such a heated subject.  I'm working with blinders here in many cases and have only been involved with the Texas accounts over the last few weeks.  My knowledge of Texas comes from my time spent conducting Texas elections and I know more about that than I do the DESI products.  The issue of the "Under 5" was always a sore subject with me and the previous Travis County vendor and their election night reporting system.  I only discovered these issues during my work with Nel preparing for the Texas Certification.  I appreciate your opinion and understand that in an even less than perfect world we would all know what we need to know and make decisions and take actions accordingly.  But, here we are.  Bottom line, the issue was recently rediscovered, the need exists, the circumstances are what they are.  Either we work within this framework or I need a workaround for this reporting need.  Thanks for your time and attention.  Lesley
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Ken Clark
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 2:19 PM
Subject: Arrrrgh! (was RE: SOVC - Cumulatively Tally Precincts With Under Five Ballots Cast In EV/Absentee - For Texas)

I don’t know how the agreement to add Texas features to 1.17 was reached (I was probably on the beach), but whether SOVC Under Five was on the list or not is entirely beside the point.  The whole notion that “Texas may never need the added functionality that the 1.18 series brings” is so self-contradictory it makes me stutter.  They already need the functionality that 1.18 brings:  Under Five! 

 

Oh, but they don’t need any of the other features in 1.18.  That makes perfect sense.  How about California?  They don’t give a rat’s ass about Under Five.  But Knecht/Tari need multi-lingual paper ballots this November.  Do I put that in 1.17?  How about export of audio files that Jeff Hallmark wants for Georgia?  Let’s toss that in too.  Greg Forsythe will surely have an easier time with cross-endorsement in Pennsylvania certification if we put it in 1.17, avoiding the need to explain all those pesky other features that are crufting up 1.18.  I’d go through the entire 1.18 feature set, but it gets repetitive fast.

 

Look.  New features get added.  The version numbers get bigger.  Why this even needs explaining is so beyond me I cannot comprehend.  If Texas wants Under Five, then they should be certifying the version that has this feature.  It is just that simple.  Under Five isn’t even a recent addition.  Dmitry finished the work Feburary 19th.  What have we been doing since then?

 

[bangs head on table repeatedly]

 

If the support group wants open season on adding features to whatever release suits their neck of the woods, then I am all for it.  It takes a lot of effort and even more discipline to maintain separate release branches so that you guys have at least a fleeting hope of running a stable version of GEMS come election time.  If you guys don’t want that, then say the word.  It makes my job a hell of a lot easier.  I am tired of being the bad-guy on this.

 

Ken

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-rcr@dieboldes.com [mailto:owner-rcr@dieboldes.com] On Behalf Of Green, Pat
Sent:
Thursday, September 12, 2002 11:17 AM
To: Thompson, Lesley
Cc: DES - rcr; Martin, Mickey; Juan Rivera; Herron, Barry
Subject: RE: SOVC - Cumulatively Tally Precincts With Under Five Ballots Cast In EV/Absentee - For
Texas

 

Lesley,

I don't need a rehashing of the 1.17 vs 1.18 argument.  Many weeks ago, we agreed to put all the changes needed for Texas into 1.17.23 specifically for these reasons.  I asked everyone to make sure we had a complete list of what Texas needed so we didn't waste time with multiple releases.  How was this one missed?

Pat

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Lesley Thompson (earthlink) [mailto:lesleytdiebold@earthlink.net]
Sent:
Thursday, September 12, 2002 1:27 PM
To: Pat Green
Cc: rcr@dieboldes.com; mickeym@dieboldes.com; Juan Rivera; Barry Herron
Subject: SOVC - Cumulatively Tally Precincts With Under Five Ballots Cast In EV/Absentee - For
Texas

Pat,

 

The requirement that was submitted in the following RCR was and is specifically for Texas.  DESI has only submitted GEMS 1.17 series to Texas for certification so having this change made in the 1.18 series does Texas and our customers no good.  I respectfully request that this change be added to the 1.17.23+ version currently under review at ITA so that we can assure Texas that we comply with this statute in the series we are asking to be certified for use here.  We have no option to go to GEMS 1.18 series in Texas at this time and Texas may never need the added functionality that the 1.18 series brings.  Therefore, any "fixes" or "changes" we do for Texas must be in the GEMS 1.17 series.  Thanks for your help.  Les

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Lesley Koop Thompson
Customer Service Project Manager
Diebold Election Systems, Inc.
415-235-6553 (office cell)
512-413-7618 (cell)
lesley@dieboldes.com

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Ken Clark

Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 10:27 AM

Subject: RE: Under Five Ballots Cast??????????????????

 

It is a 1.18 feature.  Here is the announcement from Tab, from April.


Ken

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Lesley Thompson [mailto:lesley@dieboldes.com]
Sent:
Saturday, September 07, 2002 5:38 PM
To: Ken Clark
Subject: Fw: Under Five Ballots Cast??????????????????

 

Ken, I can't find where this got put into the 1.17 series for Texas.  Can you shed any light here?  Thanks.  Lesley

 

(ticking, ticking, ticking....)

 

RE: SOVC - Cumulatively Tally Precincts With Under Five Ballots Cast In EV/Absentee - For Texas


1.      To: <rcr@dieboldes.com>

2.      Subject: RE: SOVC - Cumulatively Tally Precincts With Under Five Ballots Cast In EV/Absentee - For Texas

3.      From: "Rodney Turner" <rodney@dieboldes.com>

4.      Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 14:31:05 -0600

5.      Importance: Normal

6.      In-reply-to: <NEBBJGJMLKDDDJPJPODBOEENCHAA.csglobal@earthlink.net>


This is a "hot" item along with the "BOD" issue.  If we can deliver these upgrades to GEMS, it would seal the deal in Bexar for us.  They will be making a decision around the 7th of FEB.  So, we would have to let them know before then. (like by the 30th of Jan 02)  Keep in mind, these changes will effect all of the counties in Texas.

 

Rodney

-----Original Message----- 
From: owner-rcr@dieboldes.com [mailto:owner-rcr@dieboldes.com]On Behalf Of Cathi Smothers
Sent:
Monday, February 25, 2002 1:59 PM
To: rcr@dieboldes.com
Subject: RE: SOVC - Cumulatively Tally Precincts With Under Five Ballots Cast In EV/Absentee - For
Texas

Thanks, Ken.  Rodney and/or Barry - could you please provide a clear sense of the timing on this.  Ken, I do know that Bexar is looking for this now as it is a factor in the system selection process which is happening as we speak. 

 

Cathi

 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-rcr@dieboldes.com [mailto:owner-rcr@dieboldes.com]On Behalf Of Ken Clark
Sent:
Friday, January 25, 2002 2:40 PM
To: rcr@dieboldes.com
Subject: RE: SOVC - Cumulatively Tally Precincts With Under Five Ballots Cast In EV/Absentee - For
Texas

This is actually an exceedingly well-written RCR with the exception of the ASAP part.  I especially like the statute quote.  Let us know the deadline and the nature of the deadline, and we'll see where it fits into the queue.

 

Ken

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-rcr@dieboldes.com [mailto:owner-rcr@dieboldes.com]On Behalf Of Cathi Smothers
Sent:
Friday, January 25, 2002 10:32 AM
To: RCR
Subject: SOVC - Cumulatively Tally Precincts With Under Five Ballots Cast In EV/Absentee - For
Texas

Date Requested:    January 25, 2002

Requested By:    Texas Accounts

Date Needed:    ASAP

 

 

Description:    The Texas accounts need to have the ability to print an SOVC report where any precincts that have under five ballots cast in early voting/absentee (absentee/cumulative counter group selection) have only zeros displayed in their totals fields and the totals from those precincts then accumulated and displayed at the end of the precinct list but before the grand total line in a line labeled "Under Fives".  This would be best implemented as a check box in the "Show Options" labeled as "Separate Under Fives"

 

Motivation:    Texas State Law requires that early voting/absentee results for precincts where under five ballots have been cast cannot be released by precinct. 

 

The text of the Texas Election Code follows:

 

Title 7, Section 87.1231.

(a)  Not later than the time of the local canvass, the early voting clerk shall deliver to the local canvassing authority a report of the total number of early voting votes for each candidate or measure by election precinct.  The report may reflect the total for votes by mail and the total for votes by personal appearance.

(b)  The early voting clerk may not report vote totals under Subsection (a) for an election precinct in which fewer than five votes are cast during the early voting period

 

For verification, this and other associated code may be viewed at the following location: https://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/eltoc.html

 

 

Attached is a sample current SOVC and a representation of an SOVC with "Absentee" (cumulative) counter group and the proposed "Separate Under Fives" option selected.  Also attached is a representation of the "Under Fives" line as it should appear on the report.

 

 

Cathi Smothers
Global Election Systems
423.842.0937
423.505.7507

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Lesley Koop Thompson
Customer Service Project Manager
Diebold Election Systems, Inc.
415-235-6553 (office cell)
512-413-7618 (cell)
lesley@dieboldes.com