Big Brother Knows How You Voted--Millard Zimet

Aspen citizen Millard Zimet  filed the formal complaint  with Aspen's Election Commission questioning whether Aspen conducted a secret ballot election in May 2009. His complaint and related materials are linked below:

 Complaint :

http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/ZimetComplaintToElecComm.pdf

 Attachments:

http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/BallotLogZimet.pdf

http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/walkInMailInLog.xls

http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/Aspen_IRV_StringsReadOnly.xls

Relevant CO Supreme Court Case:

 http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/TAYLOR%20v%20PILE%20154%20Colo%20516%201964.pdf

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Addendum and update to Non-Secret Ballot Complaint:

http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/MillardZ2.0.pdf 

http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/Poll%20Book%20PageZimet2.0.pdf 

http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/TrueBallotScannerBatches.pdf

http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/Aspen_IRV_StringsReadOnly.xls

Feel free to comment on this below.

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Almost as interesting are the harsh words Mayor Mick has for nationally recognized Election Mathematics expert, Kathy Dopp.  Dopp has worked tirelessly  on a volunteer basis, across the country, to demonstrate the problems with IRV from a mathematical, Constitutional, and fairness perspective. She recently wrote to Council recommending that they reconsider IRV. Linked below is the hostile correspondence she got back from our mayor.

http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/DoppIrelandCorrespondence.pdf

followed by:

 http://theredant.squarespace.com/storage/DoppIrelandCont'd.pdf

Feel free to comment below.

Comments

[Joyce McCloy]

Many states consider early voting to be "absentee in person" voting. In North Carolina, the early voted ballot is tied to the voter, not by name, but by a number. With early voting, if you don't tie the ballot to the voter somehow, then there is a bit more risk of double voting.

Under our system in NC, if someone casts more than one vote somehow, it will be detected before election day and the duplicate removed.

For more about how we administer early voting in NC see
http://www.ncvoter.net/earlyvoting.html

I'm not sure how other states do it.

I do not vote early, but I can understand why some people need to do so.

[Horrified Local]

Mick Ireland is a DISGRACE. The fact that there are people in this community who see a shred of value in his leadership is APPALLING. He continually embarasses Aspen at every turn. This email exchange is indicative of his bitterness, arrogance and lack of self-control. The fact that he is fighting a review of the May election to this degree has me CONVINCED that he gamed the system BIG TIME. Just think, when he sees you in town, he KNOWS how you voted!

[donie grange]

ms. ant; are you a ditto-head and why dont you pen letters to the editor anymore? the times reduced the number of cartoons so your funny letters are missed

[Marilyn]

donie,
thanks. I think that Elizabeth is the good letter writer. My letters are always too serious. But I'll remind her that she owes the paper a good one.
We've been so busy on election reform work that it's been hard to focus on other things.
thanks for reading.
Marilyn

[Dopp skeptic]

Major errors in Kathy Dopp's letter to the Aspen city council (like not knowing that Torre would have defeated Michael Behrend in a one-on-one race) suggests the value of a closer review of her credentials through the magic of Google.

She first seemed to get some prominence in 2004 as an internet activist who claimi that George Bush defeated John Kerry in Florida through machine fraud. The New York Times addressed this claim.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/12/politics/12theory.html

In 2007 she was banned from a major conference. She complains about it here:

http://kathydopp.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/28-Mathematician-Ousted-From-Conference-Hotel-in-MN-For-Sharing-Ideas.html

Here is what a conference participant wrote about that decision:

"http://josephhall.org/nqb2/index.php/2007/10/26/mnpeas#c7703

"She was told on no uncertain terms that she was not welcome and not invited. I think claiming she 'originated a lot of the mathematics behind election audits' is a bit of a stretch. She's been very active and has made important contributions, but she does not play with other well, in asymmetric communication or real-time. The conference went off without a hitch and the organizers, unfortunately, spent an inordinate amount of time and money making sure that it did. They were intent on creating a productive, collaborative space for election officials, and they did a very good job."

She filed an affidavit in a lawsuit against the use of instant runoff voting in Minneapolis. She posts it here:
http://electionmathematics.org/em-IRV/Affadavit-KD-0929-v7.pdf

The district judge rejected her logic and the state Supreme Court upheld that ruling unanimously. See:

http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/2009/jun11/3303/big-win-independents-supreme-court-ruling-approving-instant-runoff-voting-minneapoli

Not sure if she meets your description of being a "national recognized expert," Marilyn. Perhaps along the same lines that John Dillinger was a "nationally recognized banking expert"?

[Marilyn]

Dopp Skeptic,
I've never met or even talked with Kathy. She and I have had our spirited debates by email, but :
1) she stands by what she says and signs her name to her opinions, and does not hide behind anonymous screen names.

2) when she misremembered the matched pairs result in Aspen, and was challlenged, she immediately dropped her pressing class work and recalculated the results and immediately sent out a correcting email. An honest professional does that! Who of us can claim a perfect memory? Can we all claim to step up to mistakes when we make them?

3) as I have "met" election integrity people across the country by phone and email over the last 3 months, Kathy's name always comes up as a technical expert resource to be consulted.

4) She has some controversial views on her preferences in voting methods, but she vigorously defends her preferred methods and is happy to engage in the dialogue on comparisons of advantages and disadvantages.

5) If our CC had accessed the work she had done or sought out her views long enough to consider them, we might have saved ourselves a very flawed election process, which few people understood.

I'm happy to have her interest in the Aspen election. She brings intelligent dialogue on the substance of the issues, and doesn't undermine her credibility by hiding behind screen names. Whether you agree iwth her our not, we need more such debate on the substance, statistics and facts.

[Shellie Roy]

Re: Budgets & Taxes & Hearing Officers

The County violated their own policies when they hired Mick Ireland and most of the other hearing officers. Policy requires public ads and notice which would have given the well qualified underemployed real estate brokers an opportunity to use their expertise and earn some money this summer.

The County's choice of Ireland though was a natural one as in prior years, the Commissioners job description INCLUDED acting as hearing officers in value disputes. As revenues are down and this is the best paid Board in history, I am baffled why the Commissioners are squandering tax payer money on a job they are supposed to be doing. This is usually a great opportunity for the commissioners to meet one on one with their constituents and to familiarize themselves on a more personal level with all the properties in the County.