Here is the Report Again –
INVESTIGATION OF THE VOTE MISCOUNT
IN THE MONMOUTH COUNTY
NOVEMBER 2022 ELECTION
INVESTIGATIVE FINDINGS
You do not have to read all of it,
One of my Blog Readers has done that and made notes.
This is from Page 10. I am focused on the Media Status report.
At the end of the day on November 9, 2022, the user or users of the
programmer’s account ran a Media Status Report, a report that indicated the load
status of all flash drives, including whether, when, and how many times a flash drive
previously had been inserted. Electionware records do not indicate that the report
was run again before the county certified the November 2022 Election results.
No one we interviewed noticed the double insertions in the Media Status Report before the election was certified.
County personnel stated that they were never instructed by ES&S to
run after elections either a Media Status Report or an Election Audit Events Report
that tracks all activity in Electionware. In fact, the County Clerk stated that she did
not even know that those reports existed in November 2022.
This continues on page 11,
Although vendors should ensure that counties are aware of these reports
and know how to run them, we note that the Electionware User Guide does provide
instructions about how to run a Media Status Report and how to run a report
indicating the total number of ballots cast. Moreover, the user of the county
programmer’s Electionware account ran a Media Status Report at the end of the day
on November 9, 2022.
Here is page 19,
Although someone using a county Electionware account ran a Media
Status Report at the end of the day on November 9, 2022, no one discovered the
double insertions in any Electionware reports before the election was certified.
Counties that use ES&S’s election software can generate and review certain reports
to detect tabulation errors. Among these reports are an Election Audit Events Report,
which tracks all activity in the software; a Media Status Report, which tracks the
load status of all flash drives inserted during the election; and a report of the total
number of ballots cast, which counties can compare to the total number of voter
check-ins in pollbooks. Some of these reports are quite lengthy and difficult to read
and understand. For example, the portion of the Election Audit Events Report from
Election Day and the day after the election is nearly 1,000 pages, and the Media
Status Report is nearly 300 pages. Voting equipment vendors should ensure that
these reports are easily reviewable.
——————————————-
This media status report should show the double USB drives being inserted. So I OPRAed it from the county. The report said it was run. Let’s get a copy.
Here is their response.
Mr. ****,
My office represents the County of Monmouth. My office has been asked to reply to your request of September 21, 2023 for the Media Status report dated November 9, 2002 that was referenced in the Attorney General’s Investigation of the Vote Miscount in the Monmouth County November 2022 Election (the “Investigation Report”).
Unfortunately, there are no records responsive to your request in my client’s possession. In fact, my client was baffled by this reference in the Investigation Report as no Media Status report dated November 9, 2022 exists. Upon reading the Investigation Report, we requested a copy of the same record from Peter Harvey’s office a couple of weeks ago and have received no reply. The only Media Status report our client has that was provided to Mr. Harvey’s office was generated in January 2023.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Best,
Brian
Brian M. Nelson, Esq.
Spiro Harrison & Nelson LLC
200 Monmouth Street, Suite 310
Red Bank, New Jersey 07701
732.784.1470 Law Office
bnelson@shnlegal.com
—————————————————-
Here we go again.
“If voting mattered, they wouldn’t let us do it.”
Mark Twain
Don’t vote in these rigged, corrupt “elections.”
Tom-
the BOE election has 3 open seats and only 2 candidates on the ballot … would you serve if elected by write-in?
Oh please. God help us if Mr D got on the BOA.
Besides, voting doesn’t matter, so even if he won, it would be fake. There’s a Mark Twain quote he first takes out of context (he would have hated Mark Twain) and then uses from time to time. Something about voting not mattering.
Hello Gene, No, I wouldn’t, no need to inflict a person like me on the type of people who infest BOE’s. That would just be cruel. I have lost all hope for the schools. I advise parents to keep their children out of our “schools.” Thanks for the thought though.
So what’s the take away here? That there is a massive conspiracy (in Monmouth county) to elect only certain candidates (some republicans some democrats) by screwing with the software of the voting machines in the least secretive way possible? If so, then this is the most poorly run secret plan I have ever seen. And to what end? Of Monmouth county’s 4 state assembly districts, the majority positions are held by republicans. So, logically, one would assume, that the secret society that controls the voting booths in Monmouth county is run by republicans. They have a majority of the power in the county, so they must be guilty. Or is it the democrats running the secret levers of power and they’re electing republicans to throw everyone off the track? That’s genius.
Or is this a software glitch. They type that happens thousands of times a day in restaurants, hospitals, schools, your house, your car, and everywhere else that is run by computer software.
The political makeup of this county is majority Republican. The political winds of this town change like clockwork every few years. If there is a nefarious effort to sway elections, who’s doing it? Neither party seems to be benefiting. The company ES&S has been in charge of the voting machines since before Christie. And most elections play out in line with polls.
Safe and secure elections are the most important issue of our time. It should be taken seriously. While I am not comforted by this company’s ability to resolve this problem, I am not going to assume that there is a group of individuals that are stealing elections from democrats or republicans. Voter fraud is a very serious crime and those who have been convicted of it (both parties but slightly more on the republican side) are incredibly remorseful. Ironically, elections now a days are much more secure than they were during the party boss era of Tammany and in the rest of the country during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
If you don’t want to vote, don’t vote. But the only one your hurting, is your favorite candidate.
“Favorite Candidate”. HaHa. Unfortunately we have come to the point where you basically vote against the person that you think will hurt you the most. ALL politicians are crooks. Dems and Repubs. They waste YOUR money to take care of themselves and their crony friends, all along stealing your money. #*************.
(Asterisks are mine, Editor. Not sure where that is going.)
Thanks Jim.
As a candidate in the last election, I appreciated that you courageously and doggedly exposed the issues and failures associated with voting machine software by ES&S. I do not believe your intention was ever to convey underhanded activity, either intentional or unintentional, by the Monmouth County Board of Elections, but to show what turned out troubling flaws in the checks and balances. I believe having known you and worked on your campaigns, that your intentions are honorable. I know that what you want are fair elections with confidence in the results.
As this post suggests all isn’t settled and I applaud your tenacity.
Having said that we must go out and vote and not let our healthy skepticism stop our responsibility to our community and our country. God Bless America
I agree with that entirely Katrina.
My post is addressed to those many, many people who believe, rather than a flaw in the machine and a general lack of efficiently addressing those flaws, that there is a silent, secret cabal of powerful figures tilting elections for one party or another. This has gone to the highest seats of power and almost resulted in the overturning of a free and fair election. It is nothing less than our democracy at stake. When otherwise well meaning people believe the lies told by a desperate man, we have a serious problem on our hands. We have learned, from testimony in the Georgia trial, that all of those people involved, including the former president, did in fact know that the 2020 election was not rigged or stolen. The fact that so many people still believe it is a thousand times more dangerous than a software glitch.
There is a flaw in the ES&S system. That is a concern for sure, but it is just that, a flaw in the system.
I applaud Mr Bean for being vigilant. It is something we should all aspire to. But I warn against turning this into a phony conspiracy designed solely to erode faith in our elections.
Voter fraud. One cannot have followed these events and Jim’s follow up without being alarmed that the ES&S systems guardrails are still questionable. I don’t believe that is a good sign for voter confidence. Having the courage to question is important and should be encouraged not discouraged. Pressure to enforce transparency is also good. Please don’t turn your own obvious prejudice against people who genuinely feel past elections were flawed. Especially when Jim’s reporting shows errors that are present. We as Americans should be working together, regardless of political affiliation, to try and fix these problems openly and above board.
Again, I agree with your sentiment of transparency and restoring confidence in the voting system.
My ‘obvious prejudice’ is with those who take rational and thoughtful assessments of voting security and turn it into an opportunity to overturn an election in the name of political opportunism. Of the two problems: ES&S’s software troubles and the resulting bumbling resolution. And the attempt to overturn an election and the resulting attempt, for the first time in the history of this great nation, to disrupt the peaceful transition of power. I’ll take the former all day every day. One lead to a recount and a change of winner in one extremely tight, non-party label BOE race in a small Monmouth county town. The other lead to a violent assault on the US capital and is still used as a political strategy to just never concede.
As Mr Bean’s uncovering showed, there can be flaws in the system. Luckily the flaw turned out to have a fairly insignificant effect. As mentioned, one non-party affiliation BOE race.
All other races across the country in 2020 were, by all accounts, secure and had no measurable problems. Christopher Krebs, the security expert HIRED BY the former administration to head up election security, said the 2020 election was one of the most secure in US history.
Please don’t fault me for having an ‘obvious prejudice’ against political opportunists who prey on biases and vulnerabilities to try an overturn the will of the voters. I personally don’t believe overstating the danger in that is even possible. Like I said, I agree with you about the importance of election security. And I applaud Mr Bean’s tireless efforts. And I also agree that we should work together to fix this problem openly and above board, regardless of political affiliation (I’m actually for non partisan elections).
But I will ALWAYS be against trying to conflate the ES&S issue with the naked attempt to undermine our democracy. Regardless of political affiliation. L
Voter Fraud. I’d love to know who you are so our conversation can be transparent and equal.
It’s very hard to have a dialogue with a ghost.
If I’m reading Jim’s report correctly, it seems there are still unanswered problems.
From Jim: “This media status report should show the double USB drives being inserted. So I OPRAed it from the county. The report said it was run. “
From the county: “In fact, my client was baffled by this reference in the Investigation Report as no Media Status report dated November 9, 2022 exists. Upon reading the Investigation Report, we requested a copy of the same record from Peter Harvey’s office a couple of weeks ago and have received no reply.”
So…… now what?
I am not a ghost as far as I know. Nor am I an A.I. program. And, as Shakespeare so beautifully said, “what’s in a name? Would not a rose, by any other name, smell as sweet?”Or something like that.
Like I said, twice now, I agree that the ES&S situation is very bad and deserves our full attention and combined problem solving force. We agree. You and me. As for the now what? We do what citizens do. We keep asking and digging. The very things that you and other concerned citizens so wonderfully did during the corrupt Doherty administration. This election, which is a mere week and a half away, will be seriously scrutinized. Any hints of software issues or any other irregularities will be reported and disseminated through news outlets and social media posts. That is a good thing.
What I do not abide is when certain people take what is a software and election security issue that affects us ALL, and spin it into a vast and untrue conspiracy about rigged and stolen elections by a single party. It is not only false, it is incredibly dangerous. The goal, erode faith in free and fair elections and create a reality in which the loser never has to concede. I am sure you would agree that is not good. I am not arguing with you. I am simply pointing out the danger of taking this issue and turning it into political opportunism.
Unfortunately VF, I believe that horse left the barn years ago. Starting with Gore/Bush continuing with Clinton/Trump and capped by Trump.
Nov. 24, 2000 — Lawyers for Democrat Al Gore said Thursday the vice president will contest the close presidential election results in at least one Florida county, and that he will not concede the election, even after the final state vote tally is certified on Sunday.
Hilary Clinton claimed that Trump was an illegitimate president and suggested he knows he “ stole” the election. “That he understand that the many varying tactics they used, from voter suppression and voter purging to hacking to the false stories “ etc.
Conspiracy Theories? Or legitimate concern?
Trump has continued that trend. Conspiracy Theory? Or legitimate concern?
Forced mail in only ballots with out legislative approval by many states including NJ in 2020 caused much confusion and distrust among the populace. These machine issues are just another nail in voter confidence l
I don’t profess to have any answers to our dilemma. Although I would like to see voter ID. Can’t understand why that hasn’t happened.
I’m not sure what you’re saying. Are you saying that Al Gore tried to steal the election from Bush? That Fla debacle was a hanging chad issue. The Florida recount was halted and the SCOTUS ruled that the counting had to stop and Bush was made president. The Gore campaign called Bush and conceded. The end.
Hillary Clinton calling Trump illegitimate is a far cry from what Trump did this last time around. There were dozens of GOP congressional members calling Obama illegitimate for eight years. Not exactly newsworthy. Plus, the morning after the election, she put on her big boy pants and called Trump to concede. Something every loser has done in the history of the US. And she said to her supporters, “We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead.” Imagine that.
Not only did Trump not concede, he has spent the last three years doubling down on a lie that sworn testimony shows he knew was a lie. Over 60 court cases failed. Hundreds of millions of dollars wasted. People’s lives ruined. Trump’s assertion that he actually won the 2020 election is a conspiracy theory. The dictionary definition of one.
As for voter ID. I assume you are registered to vote. I assume you recall registering to vote in NJ. There is a rather onerous process with ID and proof of residency and such. You cannot register to vote without ID. So, I assume, you want to have to show ID every time you vote? Are you worried that someone will vote as you? They would have to pretend to be you, and it would only be effective if they knew who you were gonna vote for and then voted for the other person. Tricky.
And mail in ballots started during the civil war. They are as scrutinized as in person voting. And again, someone would have to forge the signature on a mail in ballot and then vote for the opposite person the true mail in ballot person was going to vote for. Otherwise why bother? My point, if voter fraud through mail in ballots is so easy, give it a try. Full disclosure, it’s a felony. There is a belief among some members of the Republican Party that voter fraud is rampant and only being done by democrats. The truth is quite different. Not only is it not ‘rampant’, the only mass mail in fraud that has occurred in the last 10 years was in North Carolina. It involved the destruction of large amounts of mail in ballots and was committed by, pause, the Republican candidate. Rep Mark Harris had to give up his seat and his campaign operative was charged with voter fraud. A felony.
I am willing to admit that our election system isn’t perfect. But I am also willing to admit that situations of voter fraud are relatively minor. Being upset that the other guy won is totally normal. But pretending that your guy didn’t lose by making sh*% up? That is bad. It’s one of the first things we teach our children. Win or lose, do it gracefully.
You don’t know who I am, I know that. But I have the upmost respect for you and we probably have more in common than in difference. We see eye to eye on most things, not the least of which was the ousting of Doherty. We can debate this issue til the cows come home but I think we both see the ES&S issue as a problem. Let’s try to fix it.
VF. I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with your points. What I’m trying to get across in my last post was that the American voter confidence started eroding years ago.
The other sad thing is that as a candidate I can’t tell you how many times people of both parties told me they don’t trust our voting system. They felt the last bastion of oversight and control was at the voting booth. The machine snafu has just exacerbated an already distrustful electorate.
Oh and yes I believe showing ID every time one votes is a step in the right direction.
Erosion in the confidence in our election process is the goal. It is the goal among those spreading the big lie. That is exactly what they want. Perpetuation of that lie is not helping. There is no real evidence of wide spread voter fraud. Yet some people are convinced that it exists. I agree it is a real problem. But there are people who believe the earth is flat. It’s a sickness.
Showing ID when voting is totally fine. I don’t think it’s necessary personally because you have to register to vote in order to vote. But I have no problem with it. The form of ID needs to be worked out. There are many people (including my grandma) who don’t have a driver’s license. And she’s also forgetful and fearful of leaving the house with things like her social security card. But hey, if it can be worked out without excluding a single registered voter? I’m all in.
Just one more thing, you realize everyone showing ID wouldn’t have done a thing to prevent the ES&S issue that started this whole conversation.
Columbo now? You have many unidentified names. Nothing like contributing to conspiracy by not being open and above board while sharing your opinion. Of course I know that ID wouldn’t have prevented the machines failure. I’m not an idiot. I’m talking about positive steps to help alleviate mistrust. In today’s world you need id to go to a doctor, to drive a car, to travel, to get credit, to open a bank account, even to go to the gym. If those entities can do it so can our voting system.
Colombo (the old Peter Faulk character) was famous for always adding “just one more thing”. That’s why I used the name. I thought you’d get the reference. Apologies. And I’m trying to debunk conspiracies, not contribute to them.
You are right when you say, “In today’s world you need id to go to a doctor, to drive a car, to travel, to get credit, to open a bank account, even to go to the gym”. But you left out one very import thing you need an ID for. To register to vote. And, like those examples you gave, you only had to show the ID to register.
I already said I’m totally fine w showing ID to vote. As long as no registered voter is denied access. Something I am sure you’d agree with.