August 31, 2005

"Bars go up at county election office"

"After a contested election, a court battle and a civil grand jury inquiry, the Napa County elections office has put the last piece in place to upgrade security when it is counting ballots.

About 3 feet of heavy metal grating was installed recently between the top of existing interior walls and the ceiling of the office.

Motion detectors, an improved lock and identification system and other improvements were made last year following allegations that security breaches may have allowed some ballots to be tampered with or even changed after the close race between former Napa County Supervisor and his successor, Harold Moskowite.

Those allegations were never proven, but pressure to make the changes persisted. Napa County Registrar of Voters John Tuteur instituted the changes in the wake of last year's controversy. After Moskowite apparently eked at a narrow upset of Rippey, Rippey went to court to challenge the outcome. One focus of the trial was whether Tuteur's office had properly handled and secured ballots."

Here is the article.

Posted by Randy Riddle at August 31, 2005 08:47 AM