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Thread: Hidden History of Elections . DW

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    Senior Member Aianawa's Avatar
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    Hidden History of Elections . DW


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    Dreamtimer (19th November 2020), Emil El Zapato (18th November 2020)

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    Senior Member Aianawa's Avatar
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    Half way through, great facts and bit slow but great build up.

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    Dreamtimer (19th November 2020)

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    Senior Member Emil El Zapato's Avatar
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    Excerpts from congressional records of voting machine technology I would suggest that the relevant criminal charges of bribery was front and center and 'the conspiracy' charge was directly related to the bribery scheme. No drama, no sensation!

    Representative Charles Bennett of Florida,19 a longtime proponent of automated voting, strongly believed that not using modern technology to vote proved how antiquated the House of Representatives was compared with state and foreign legislatures: There once was a congressman who, when notified that a vote was to be taken, would race to the legislative chamber in time to beat the final rap of the gavel — from his home 19 miles away! He’d usually make it, too, because the taking of a record vote in the House of Representatives requires about 45 minutes the way it is done now.

    During the Democratic Caucus’s organizational meeting for the 91st Congress (1969-1970), Representative Charles Price of Illinois introduced a resolution on vote recording procedures in the House of Representatives. The resolution stated:

    RESOLVED: That it is the sense of the caucus that the Speaker of the House shall immediately proceed to take such steps as may be necessary to improve the vote recording procedures in the House of Representatives. The resolution was agreed to and sent to the Speaker of the House. In response to the resolution, Speaker John McCormack of Massachusetts sent a letter to the Committee on House Administration asking it to examine automated voting. In his letter, Speaker McCormack indicated that he was sure, while the resolution was adopted by the Democratic Caucus, “that all of our Republican colleagues would approve of the same.”

    The Committee on House Administration’s special subcommittee on electrical and mechanical office equipment held a hearing in April 1969 on electrical and mechanical voting. During the hearing, Representative Frederick Schwengel of Iowa, the ranking member, seemed to sum up the subcommittee’s desire for an electronic voting system: “On electronic voting, I think this is something we can do now which will improve the effectiveness and efficiency, particularly the efficiency, of our operations. So I am all for moving forward as fast as we possibly can to the consideration of the matter.”

    Clerk of the House W. Pat Jennings anticipated approval of an electronic voting system and included a request to support the development and installation of an electrical voting system in his proposed operating budget. Jennings estimated that the system would cost between $80,000 and $600,000, with $500,000 considered adequate to install a comprehensive system. The special subcommittee did not report on the Democratic Caucus’s resolution.
    Creation of Electronic Voting, 1970 to 1973 The House agreed to development of an electronic voting system as part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970. As design and development of the system neared completion, the House amended its rules to accommodate the system. On January 23, 1973, the House used the electronic voting system for the first time.

    The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970

    The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, as introduced and reported in the House, did not mention electronic voting. Representative Robert McClory of Illinois offered a floor amendment to authorize the development of an electronic voting system and to amend then House Rule XV to allow the system to be used to conduct votes and quorum calls after its development. The amendment, agreed to by voice vote, is contained in Section 121 of the act. Section 121 states: Sec. 121. (a) Rule XV of the Rules of the House of Representatives is
    amended by adding at the end thereof the following new clause: “. In lieu of the calling of the names of Members in the manner provided for under the preceding provisions of this Rule, upon any roll call or quorum call, the names of such Members voting or present may be recorded through the use of appropriate electronic equipment. In any such case, the Clerk shall enter in the Journal and publish in the Congressional Record, in alphabetical order in each category, a list of the names of those Members recorded as voting in the affirmative, of those Members recorded as voting in the negative, and of those Members voting present, as the case may be, as if their names had been called inthe manner provided for under such preceding provisions.”

    Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, Congressional Record, vol. 116, part 19 (July 27, 1970), p. 25818.

    (b) The contingent fund of the House of Representatives shall be available to provide the electronic equipment necessary to carry out the purpose of the amendment made by subsection(a)
    Section 121(b) authorized funding for the design, installation, and implementation of an electronic voting system. Representative McClory’s amendment authorized funding from the contingent fund to immediately allow for the creation of the system without an additional funding resolution. A report by the clerk of the House in the same Congress discussed the cost of a voting system and estimated the cost as no more than $600,000.29 Coupled with later rules changes, the change to Rule XV established the electronic voting system as the primary method for conducting a roll-call vote or quorum call, in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. In his floor speech in support of his amendment, Representative McClory acknowledged the work done on the subject of automated voting by other Members and the Committee on House Administration:

    I should like to point out that a report on this subject was made by a member of the original Reorganization Committee, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. HALL). It is also the subject of legislation at this session introduced by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. BENNETT), and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. DAVIS). I know that the Committee on House Administration has already undertaken studies. I know that the Clerk has made recommendations to the Committee on House Administration, and I feel that this amendment is an expression of support of the House for the work of the Committee on House Administration and perhaps to emphasize the need to bring their recommendations to the floor of the House in the form of a more specific and detailed change at the earliest possible time. It does not specify a particular system. President Richard M. Nixon signed the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 into law on October 26, 1970 (P.L. 91-510, 84 Stat. 1157).

    Designing the Electronic Voting System

    In December 1970, the clerk of the House contracted with Informatics Inc. to design the voting system. In addition, the House created House Information Systems (HIS) in 1971 to “satisfy the requirements for information, information technology, and related computer services of the Members, committees and staff of the U.S. Informatics estimated that completing these objectives would cost a total of $900,000. Informatics worked on the preliminary design concept for the electronic voting system until September 1971 when HIS recommended the termination of the contract. HIS took Informatics’ design and continued to refine and develop the electronic voting system. In November 1971, Representative John Dent introduced and the House agreed to H.Res. 601. This resolution authorized funds for the maintenance and improvement of existing computer systems and the creation of a computer systems staff,34 whose primary task was the creation of the electronic voting system.35 Also in November 1971, the Committee on House Administration approved a contract with Control Data Corporation to “develop a fully operational electronic voting system” based on the work of Informatics and HIS.

    In October 1972, the cost for designing and installing the electronic voting system was estimated to be $1,065,000.37 While this was substantially greater than the estimated costs in 1915, 1916, or 1969, Representative Wayne Hays of Ohio, chairman of the Committee on House Administration, justified the additional cost as a consequence of the use of electronic technology. Instead of having an electrical and mechanical system, the House chose a fully electronic, computer-based system with electronic display board “which flashes a running tally and records each member’s vote on an overhead scoreboard and a computer printout.”
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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    Aianawa (19th November 2020)

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    operative word 'Trump' ... it's a lie!
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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    Aianawa (13th December 2020)

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    Will put here to save doing another thread, latest and about to watch n listen, from >


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