Future paparazzis?
In this week’s column, Librarian Maureen Nimmo wrote about her moving experience while attending the bridge dedication for Sgt. Alex Jimenez, but she mentions something unpleasant that is becoming commonplace and most people don’t even realize it. I recommend that you read it on page 15 because I applaud her for doing it.
The issue is how impertinent some people can get at all kinds of public events taking pictures and videos with their iPads, call phones and whatever modern instrument is at hand. This ceremony, in particular, was very solemn and the behavior of people who probably didn’t even know Alex or his family, were very disrespectful trying to get every detail as if it were a movie star.
When Alberto returned from the bridge, he told me the same because they were getting in his way while taking the pictures you see in this edition.
Next time you are at a wedding, or any public event, watch how brazen they can be – and think of Maureen.
Recount of votes
On Saturday, November 23rd, city officials will be holding the recount of votes on Election Day. While the difference between Mayor William Lantigua and Mayor-Elect Daniel Rivera is 60 votes and that seems insurmountable, the mayor and the voters have the right to request it. In the meantime, I have been doing lots of reading on the problems involving scanners used during elections.
Over 40 states use the AccuVote optical scanners (AV-OS). Several reports document occurrences of AV-OS memory card failures, with up to 15% of all cards failing in some cases. UConn Voting Technology Research Center performed extensive research which was funded by the Secretary of the State in Connecticut involving the memory card failures. At times, data is erased from the card such as the case in Washtenaw County, Michigan where some cards “were wiped clean” of their data following an election. The reports indicate that anywhere from 3.5% to 15% of the memory cards examined in audits are found to be faulty.
Batteries can be another problem. For the typical election process in Connecticut, they identified the time when fresh batteries can be installed and the intervals during which the memory card depends upon battery power. For memory cards whose components depend on the battery, the warning time provided by AV-OS is inadequate to guarantee the retention of data for the duration of the electoral process. As a result, data retention cannot be guaranteed for any duration beyond the elections, as may be required by some jurisdictions. They recommend that for each election, consideration be given to the age of the batteries used with the cards or they should be replaced before the election to mitigate the frequent occurrences of data loss. They found that 4 out of 17 cards lost their data even after the installation of the new batteries.
