A letter from the Emery County District Attorney David Blackwell and County Commissioner Ira Hatch accepting Elections Clerk Bruce Funk’s resignation effective April 1st was hand-delivered to Bruce’s office today. (I will post the letter soon.)
The only problem is, Bruce hasn’t resigned. Bruce was elected by the people, and cannot be fired unless he breaks the law, which he hasn’t.
Let it be known, Bruce is a republican, an active Mormon, and a brave man. Who will step up to defend him?
Bruce is one of only a few unique county elections clerks around the country who have spoken truth to power by standing firm on their oath to perform their jobs – in this case to insure fair elections.
Bruce Funk is under pressure to resign for bringing to light his concerns about 40 Diebold voting machines delivered to his office. He is a soft spoken man and a classic patriotic American in the Utah tradition. He was still reeling from the events of last night in which Utah State Officials came down to Emery County and excluded Bruce from a series of closed-door meetings with Diebold officials (who flew in on a private jet) and county commissioners after which Bruce was encouraged to resign.
“They made me a pretty nice offer if I resign, but then I thought, no, if I resign, then what kind of person am I after all these years of protecting our voting rightsâ€.
The Salt Lake Tribune article today quoted Funk:
Diebold’s $40,000 estimate is exaggerated to frighten other clerks from questioning the machines’ integrity, Funk said. “What they are really saying is, ‘We don’t want anyone else to think of doing this.
And said:
Commissioner Ira Hatch said Emery County will go forward with the Diebold machines.â€. “We’ve decided we are going have Diebold come and go through these machines and see if they are compromised,” he said, adding the company may be able to work with them on reducing the cost.
Funk has been advised that no one, especially Diebold should be allowed to access to the machines except under his authority and under his conditions. That is why his position is an elected one.
With no where else to turn, Bruce contacted Black Box Voting. They describe the situation here and here.
“Bruce Funk, the elected official who has run elections in Emery County for 23 years, noticed a critical shortage in flash memory/storage in seven of his 40 brand new Diebold machines. He arranged for an independent evaluation, a right granted to Utah county officials in the Diebold contract. Black Box Voting secured the services of Harri Hursti and also Security Innovation, Inc. for the Emery County evaluation.â€
#1 by cdc on March 28, 2006 - 5:53 pm
Just out from BBV.
http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/1954/19743.html
#2 by Nephi on March 28, 2006 - 6:43 pm
I hope that Mr. Funk fights the request (in fact, veiled demand) for his resignation, and stands up for what he feels is right as a protector of voting rights for all the folks of Utah – both Republican and Democrat. Mr. Funk is very likely to have a majority of Utahns – on all sides of the political spectrum – supporting his refusal to resign and thanking him for exposing what has been considered by many to be the case – the Diebold machines cannot be trusted at this point in time. This is not a partisan matter; rather, this is a matter of a few wayward folks freaked out because the scheme with Diebold is unraveling.
Certain powers at be in Kanab got a good ole ass kicking last week by a 17 year old who is now being congratulated by folks all over the country for standing his ground and speaking his mind. Could the powers at be in Emery County be next? I hope so!
#3 by Graduate Farmdog on March 28, 2006 - 7:23 pm
This one really gets my blood to boiling, and has roused me from a deep sleep.
Why do Utahns so often succumb to the “just trust me” mentality of elected officials? Bruce Funk has shown that the Diebold machines cannot be trusted, at least not in their current configuration. If Emery County officials really want to do the right thing, then they will join with Bruce Funk and, together, put these machines to the test, in a transparent fashion and for all interested parties to see and comprehend.
Why all the secrecy in response to the revelation that the integrity of these machines is being, and can be so readily, challenged? Why are voters in Emery County and elsewhere being prodded to “just trust me� After all, these same voters will undoubtedly leave their respective polling places in the upcoming elections having to wonder if their selection really counts or, worse yet, counts for a candidate for whom they did not choose to vote?
This is one of the rare matters about which all Utahns – Republicans and Democrats and Libertarians, etc., alike – should be able to rally and demand that our elected officials do the right thing. Bruce Funk is an honorable man in my book, and his actions should be welcomed by all voting Utahns, and maybe even those who, for various reasons, choose not to vote!
I hope that Emery County officials will come to their collective senses before this matter spirals further out of control, and before honorable men like Bruce Funk are tarnished for doing what is right!
#4 by gloworm on March 29, 2006 - 6:36 am
After what we have all witnessed in election fraud concerning the election for the highest office in the land, and many others, it is pretty clear democracy in this form is a sham whatever the device of coming up with the numbers.
So instead of simply taking control of elections back with paper ballot, the gnashing of teeth is about the good guy being pushed out for revealing how the machines are engineered to fraud the election from the beginning. It hardly begins to address the issue that our “democracy” and republic are a stinking corpse by now.
Old Roman voting was carried out with armed soldiers forming a circle, and then those voting would enter the circle with a stone, one pile for yes on an issue one pile for no. Bigger pile decides the issue. Counting was rarely necessary. Any shenanigans brought the soldiers sword.
#5 by Graduate Farmdog on March 29, 2006 - 9:09 am
Thanks, Gloworm, for your brilliant insight and helpful suggestions on moving forward.
#6 by gloworm on March 29, 2006 - 7:37 pm
FarmDog; One step forward, 2 steps back. What in GODS name are you waiting for? An arbitartor? Fools, run your own world or be run by it.
Make plans to be FREE, cause if you are waiting for some consensus of wrong, you will wind up in the GULAG. Of course if you WHORE yourself, you will be “safe”.
False Optimism, is True Pessimism. You are going to have to leave a MARK, to be FREE!
#7 by Graduate Farmdog on March 30, 2006 - 9:39 am
Ditto my previous comment. Seems to me that action is being taken to correct a wrong that is being forced upon us by the godfull zealots in Emery County and throughout the State of Utah. Read the top-posts and the articles cited therein; we are not sitting idle, waiting for the gulag, or whoring ourselves to the current powers at be.
Gloworm, your posts remind me of the old curmudgeonly academics that sit at a Ph.D. thesis defense – all critics with no solutions. Please tell us what you are suggesting we do – e.g., propose a solution that is at least plausible – and try and use plain English when you do, if you do.
#8 by gloworm on March 30, 2006 - 4:39 pm
Where was everybody when some nut decided it would be a good idea to use computers to vote?
Seems to me the dyed thumb and the paper ballot in the voting box, with an armed guard present would show that we are truly trying.Old fashioned paper ballot, the Roman analogy would make for very stiff penalties (the sword) for anyone found frauding an election, and planning such beforehand.
#9 by Graduate Farmdog on March 31, 2006 - 10:10 am
Ok, Gloworm, let’s try a different tack, as the last one seems to be getting us nowhere beyond hypothetical rants of dubious practicality.
When is the last time and place that you – personally – voted, and by what method did you vote?
When the decision to use Diebold computers for voting was made in Utah and elsewhere, what steps did you – personally – take to support or not support the decision?
#10 by gloworm on March 31, 2006 - 10:39 am
I have not had an opportunity vote since acquiring my citizenship, under an Oath you could hardly entertain.
However, how practical is it to have a corrupted election system no matter how “convenient” of “efficient” it is? For all “practical” purposes, you have an unelected dictator as leader. That would make the voters rather pathetic. For my purposes I am leaning towards emigrating.
Whatever it took to make a real election, boxes, paper ballots, armed guards, would be worth it in light of the sham you now attempt to rectify. Good luck. It’s like tainted meat, have to butcher a fresh cow in order to have something edible. That is of course unless you like the taint. We have to start over.
If 3rd worlders can run real elections in this manner, are you saying our Ph.d knobs are not capable of so simple a task?
PS. Cliff, aside from this note, if you do not print my entire post, unedited, I will not participate here anymore. If you don’t like it, censor the entirety, but do not butcher anothers thoughts. Only warning.
#11 by gloworm on March 31, 2006 - 10:42 am
ps Jimbo, when diebold was instituted, I was not a citizen and had no right to vote. So I did as is my station then nothing.
Oh and Cliff, you are an able Fascist.
#12 by Crazy18 on October 22, 2009 - 11:19 am
I think that was floating in and out of my reading as well. ,