I don't know how we'd come to one conclusion or another at this point, frankly.
However, I think you're limiting your analysis to the first instance
in the video of the anomaly; the second half of the video has the
voter doing essentially the same thing from a vantage point that
encompasses the entire screen, so I wouldn't be so quick to attribute
this to an accomplice's finger. My personal preference would be to
examine the machine in more depth, and we have researchers who could
help with this if the machine was appropriately forensically
sequestered. Simply voting a few test ballots, but taking care not to
cast them, might show this anomaly, but we can't be certain. My gut
tells me it's a bug, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were faked.
We'll probably never know.
best, Joe
On Tuesday, October 26, 2010, Michael McDonald <mmcdon@gmu.edu> wrote:
With an accomplice, it would be possible to do this. Note how the video
zooms in such a way that the other Green Party lines are not visible when
the supposed vote switch occurs. The camera then zooms out after the
selection is made, and voila, the other ballot lines that were out of frame
have been selected. Note how at the critical moment, the camera happens to
be framed just right to hide the other parts of the screen. Ask yourself why
this critical piece of evidence is hidden from the camera. If I wanted to
show odd behavior on a touch screen, I would want to be sure that I filmed
the video so that it showed a button I could not have touched change.
Thanks for pointing this out. I am now even more certain this is a fake.
Everything is just too perfectly aligned -- the hand to hide the thumb and
pinky as they select the visible ballot lines and the camera angle to hide
the other ballot lines at the critical moment they change. Magicians are
good at making people see what they want to see.
============
Dr. Michael P. McDonald
Associate Professor, George Mason University
Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Mailing address:
(o) 703-993-4191 George Mason University
(f) 703-993-1399 Dept. of Public and International Affairs
mmcdon@gmu.edu 4400 University Drive - 3F4
http://elections.gmu.edu Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
-----Original Message-----
From: Joseph Lorenzo Hall [mailto:joehall@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 8:33 AM
To: Michael McDonald
Cc: Election Law
Subject: Re: [EL] Voter being referred to District Attorney for posting
election fraud video evidence
Certainly, we should be cautious. However, I know of no mechanism that
will re-select all the down-ballot Green party choices without again
selecting the Green straight-party selection at the top of the screen.
His left hand is holding the phone doing the recording, and no matter
what you think his right-hand pinky an thumb are doing, they remain
very far from the Green straight-party selection at the top of the
screen.
I don't think slight of hand can rule out a ballot configuration error or
bug.
best, Joe
On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 12:16 AM, Michael McDonald <mmcdon@gmu.edu> wrote:
I would be careful about interpreting anything from this video. Magicians
use slight of hand all the time to fool the eye. Don Relyea's thumb and
pinky appear positioned in just the right way to produce the screen
behavior, but hide it from the camera. In the frames immediately preceding
the apparent vote flip, you can see that his thumb is extended downward in
a
manner that would touch the screen on the Green Party candidate line. I
also
see what looks like his pinky extended as he pulls his hand away from the
screen. An extended pinky would press the Green Party line adjacent to the
governor's race. Another clue is that he visibly applies pressure with his
index finger to select buttons in a tapping manner, but does not do so on
when the vote switch occurs. When I do a frame by frame look, I see a
slight
rocking of his hand backwards when the switch occurs, as if he is indeed
applying pressure with his thumb and pinky, but not his index finger.
============
Dr. Michael P. McDonald
Associate Professor, George Mason University
Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Mailing address:
(o) 703-993-4191 George Mason University
(f) 703-993-1399 Dept. of Public and International Affairs
mmcdon@gmu.edu 4400 University Drive - 3F4
http://elections.gmu.edu Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
-----Original Message-----
From: election-law-bounces@mailman.lls.edu
[mailto:election-law-bounces@mailman.lls.edu] On Behalf Of Paul Lehto
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2010 10:50 PM
To: Election Law
Cc: Joseph Lorenzo Hall
Subject: [EL] Voter being referred to District Attorney for posting
election
fraud video evidence
According to Marketplace, a voter and computer programmer (Don Relyea)
who found his Republican touch screen vote for Governor of Texas (and
various other votes) flipped to Green Party choices is going to be
referred to the District Attorney for criminal investigation for
taking the video of his own vote. See
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/10/25/am-electric-touch-
screen-glitch-caught-on-tape/
Video of the vote posted to reddit and/or YouTube was either
restricted or taken down, but the Texas GOP still has the video
available at this link:
http://www.texasgopvote.com/2010-elections/texas-elections/video-voter-machi
ne-wont-let-texan-vote-rick-perry-caught-tape-error-or-fraud-001974
An extended analysis including a "play by play" of what the video
shows, and