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Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R), who personally blocked federal election-security legislation, is from TN. TN’s largest county is Shelby County where, in 2015, Bloomberg reported that voting machines in predominantly black precincts were losing black votes. 1/ https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-voting-technology/
2/ GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn blocks three election security bills. - 2/11/20 https://www.axios.com/gop-senator-election-security-blocks-3f432161-42f4-4fa2-9207-d281ec857058.html
3/ Shelby County’s touchscreen voting machines were supplied by Global Election Systems for early voting in 1998. https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2016/aug/23/new-voting-machines-on-the-political-horizon/
4/ In 2002, Global was acquired by Diebold Election Systems. In 2006, all of Shelby County moved to Diebold touchscreen voting machines. It has used them ever since. https://www.shelbyvote.com/history-shelby-county-election-equipment
5/ In 2006, a “critical security breach” occurred during a Shelby County election when the Diebold central tabulator was plugged into the County network & unauthorized software was installed. https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/NEDC-et-al.-Amicus-Brief-SAVE-v.-Hargett-filed-1.pdf
6/ This breach “allow[ed] unfettered remote access to the central tabulator to anyone connected to the county government network or the Internet.” https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/NEDC-et-al.-Amicus-Brief-SAVE-v.-Hargett-filed-1.pdf
7/ It was election-integrity advocate Jim March who discovered that the Diebold central tabulator in Shelby County, TN had PC anywhere (remote access software) installed. (Appendix A.) https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tacir/documents/trustbutverify_phase1.pdf
8/ Having remote access to the central tabulator is a big deal because the central tabulator is what aggregates all precinct totals.
9/ As of 2018, the population of Shelby County, TN was “53.6% Black or African American Alone, 35.4% White Alone, and 6.54% Hispanic or Latino.” https://datausa.io/profile/geo/shelby-county-tn
10/ In August 2010, Republicans swept the countywide elections in Shelby County, TN. https://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=51936
11/ During that August 2010 election in Shelby County, TN, which was swept by the GOP, some 5,400 eligible voters were turned away from the polls because the electronic poll book said they had early-voted already. https://kittyreporter.wordpress.com/2010/10/16/electronic-poll-books-in-shelby-county-memphis-tn-disenfranchise-thousands-of-legal-voters/
12/ Election officials claimed this was “all due to a little error of inserting the wrong elections database from May 2010 into the poll book that showed that people had already voted.” https://kittyreporter.wordpress.com/2010/10/16/electronic-poll-books-in-shelby-county-memphis-tn-disenfranchise-thousands-of-legal-voters/
13/ “A technician in Shelby County said if he hadn't been dismissed, the Memphis portion of the Glitch Election could have been avoided,” but the county election administrator, Robert Holder, said he was “just..trying to create something out of nothing." https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/blog/20436400/he-could-have-fixed-it
14/ In Sept. 2010, consultants examining the Aug. 5 Shelby County, TN election reportedly found 3,221 more votes than voters on documents provided by county election officials pursuant to a court order. @BevHarrisWrites https://freepress.org/article/tennessee-county-election-audit-finds-more-3000-phantom-votes
15/ “Most voterless votes [in Shelby County, TN] were found in large Republican precincts, a non-random distribution.
The inspection team sought and obtained documents in connection with a lawsuit filed by ten defeated candidates over irregularities in the election.”
The inspection team sought and obtained documents in connection with a lawsuit filed by ten defeated candidates over irregularities in the election.”
16/ During an election in Shelby County in August 2012, 3000 voters were given the wrong ballots. https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/no-rest-for-the-weary/Content?oid=3293440
17/ The 2012 general election in Shelby County was also riddled with problems. “[V]olunteers and city officials said people were turned away because of address problems while others gave up in the face of long lines and overwhelmed poll workers.” https://www.timesnews.net/News/2012/11/06/Monitors-report-Tenn-voting-snags-but-not-over-ID.html
18/ An investigation by the state comptroller found that “poor judgment” on the part of the Shelby County administrator (Richard Holden) & the county election board had caused the problems during the August 2012 election. https://www.memphisflyer.com/JacksonBaker/archives/2012/10/02/state-comptrollers-report-faults-both-administrator-scec-board
19/ In February 2013, the two Ds in the Shelby County Election board voted to oust Holden, but the two Rs voted to keep him. https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/21292356/shelby-county-election-commission-administrator-keeps-his-job/
20/ Later that year, the FBI initiated an inquiry into the Republican-led Shelby County Election Commission. https://wreg.com/news/fbi-inquiry-into-the-shelby-county-election-commission/
21/ Apparently nothing came of the FBI inquiry into the Republican-led Shelby county election commission, and Republicans again swept the countywide elections in August 2014.
https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2014/aug/8/democratic-divide-widens-in-election-results/
https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2014/aug/8/democratic-divide-widens-in-election-results/
22/ The following month, the nine losing Democratic candidates for county office filed a lawsuit alleging that the voting machines had been hacked. http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/9-losing-candidates-in-tennessee-sue-county-officials-alleging-hacked-voting-machines-140912?news=854236
23/ The plaintiffs claimed that “Memphis’ voting system made by Diebold ‘has long been tainted through fraudulent programming introduced into the system by hackers conspiring with the defendants,’ which include the Shelby County Election Commission....” http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/9-losing-candidates-in-tennessee-sue-county-officials-alleging-hacked-voting-machines-140912?news=854236
24/ The lawsuit was tossed out, but in 2015, Bennie Smith, who was later appointed to the county election commission, discovered that votes from predominantly black precincts in the county had disappeared. https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-voting-technology/
25/ Smith made this discovery by comparing the precinct totals to the reported totals.
26/ In December 2015, “State Rep. G.A. Hardaway calls for firing of, investigation into Shelby Co. election administrator [Richard Holden].” https://wreg.com/news/state-rep-g-a-hardaway-calls-for-firing-of-investigation-into-shelby-co-election-administrator/
27/ On December 7, 2015, Holden announced his decision to “retire” at the end of the year. http://archive.commercialappeal.com/Services/include.ashx?domain=www.commercialappeal.com&file=Election-Commission-administrator-Holden-to-retire-at-end-of-year-360815031.html
28/ The next countywide election in Shelby County, TN wasn’t until 2018. This time, it was the Democrats that swept the floor with the Republicans, winning every single county race. https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/the-901/2019/01/28/shelby-county-republicans-hope-make-comeback-after-loss-9-01/2698663002/
29/ In 2018, “Democrats embarrassed the Republican Party of Shelby County by winning every countywide office, reversing their own embarrassing showing eight years before [in 2010].”
30/ The Shelby County Commission is thus led by the Democrats.
31/ Unfortunately, however, the Shelby County election commission is majority Republican (by one vote) because its makeup depends on the makeup of the state legislature, which is majority Republican.
32/ This matters bc the county May replace its ancient Diebold touchscreens b4 November 2020. Altho almost all election-security experts recommend #HandMarkedPaperBallots as a primary voting system at the polls, at least 2 of the 3 Rs on the election board want more touchscreens
33/ The type of touchscreens preferred by at least two of the three Rs on the county election board are called universal use ballot marking devices (BMDs). I wrote about the dangers of these systems here. https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/12/17/how-new-voting-machines-could-hack-our-democracy/
34/ Among other concerns, almost all universal use BMDs put voters’ selections into barcodes. The barcodes, which voters can’t read, are the only part of the paper printout counted as your vote.
35/ Universal use BMDs from ES&S, which acquired Diebold in 2009, also take voters THREE TIMES longer to use than #HandMarkedPaperBallots and scanners. https://twitter.com/segreenhalgh/status/1232000197875687424?s=21 https://twitter.com/segreenhalgh/status/1232000197875687424
36/ Bennie Smith, one of the Democrats on the Shelby County Election Commission, wrote this op ed in support of #HandMarkedPaperBallots. https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/opinion/2019/11/21/shelby-county-voting-machines-elections-computers-errors/4254675002/
37/ “WILL NEW VOTING MACHINES THAT INCLUDE HAND-MARKED BALLOTS BE BOUGHT THIS YEAR FOR SHELBY COUNTY?” - 2/12/20 https://www.localmemphis.com/article/news/politics/elections/will-new-voting-machines-that-include-hand-marked-ballots-be-bought-this-year-for-shelby-county/522-b275e74f-d650-47b7-b409-b8bf26e6a281
38/ “Hand-marked paper ballots for elections get new push” - 1/17/20 https://dailymemphian.com/article/10131/local-push-for-hand-marked-paper-election-ballots
39/ “Make It Manual! Voting by Hand is Safer and More Accurate.” - 1/28/20 https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/make-it-manual-voting-by-hand-is-safer-and-more-accurate/Content?oid=22227633
40/ Note also that Shelby County does not currently allow no excuse vote by mail. Even if it votes to allow it, the county will likely nonetheless have substantial in person voting as well.
41/ As noted by @SmartElections & other election advocates, touchscreens are a disease vector & their use should be avoided during a pandemic to the extent possible. Hand marked paper ballots are safer because voters can bring their own pens to mark them. https://smartelections.us/public-oversight-of-funds
42/ As shown above, BMDs also take voters THREE TIMES as long to use. In a normal election, this would be bad enough. During a pandemic, it could be deadly.
43/ Here’s an earlier report explaining that touchscreens create longer lines than hand marked paper ballots bc they limit the number of voters who can vote concurrently to the number of working machines at the polling place. https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0810/0810.5577.pdf
44/ The Republican-led election commission is expected to vote on what type of new equipment to buy this Thursday. If you live in Tennessee, pls consider contacting them to request #HandMarkedPaperBallots, not universal use barcode BMDs. Thank you.
45/ Here is their contact information. Thanks again. 901-222-1200
46/ Polling place equipment WILL matter this year in Shelby County. The Republican county election administrator rabidly opposes significantly expanded vote by mail. 
https://twitter.com/local24mike/status/1250102005139415041?s=21 https://twitter.com/local24mike/status/1250102005139415041
https://twitter.com/local24mike/status/1250102005139415041?s=21 https://twitter.com/local24mike/status/1250102005139415041
47/ Additional screenshot re: the missing black votes discovered by Bennie Smith in 2015. I should have included with post 25. https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-voting-technology/
48/ Picture of the Democratic women of Shelby County who trounced Republicans after election administrator Richard Holden’s departure. https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/opinion/editorials/2018/08/03/editorial-shelby-county-elections-positive-pink-wave/898300002/
