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Aug. 2 - 8, 2012Urban WeeklyPro

RUNOFF SET

peebles a nd roundtree in runoffFreddie Sa nders WinsEl aine Johnson wins

Carlisle Overstreet winsVoters Approve TSPLOST

Lil Twis t JAMPPhotos by Vincent Hobbs

A group of supporters of Sheriff’s candidate Richard Roundtree eagerly await voting results at the Doubletree Hotel. Roundtree will face Scott Peebles in an August 21 runoff. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Profile by Timothy Cox

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PublisherBen Hasan

706-394-9411

Managing EditorFrederick Benjamin Sr.

706-836-2018

Sales & MarketingPhone: 706-394-9411

New Media ConsultantDirector of Photography

Vincent Hobbsemail:

Ben Hasanbzhasan54@yahoo.com

Frederick Benjamin Sr.editor@urbanproweekly.com

Mailing Address:3529 Monte Carlo DriveAugusta, Georgia 30906

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Urban WeeklyPro

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Program seeks to ‘buy back’ useless gunsGuns in exchange for jobs and

career advice. That seems like a presciption for positive action. The First Annual Gun-Buy Back/Peace Day seeks to strike just such a deal. Future Successors seeks to bring attention to the extreme level of gun

violence in Augusta while attracting positive change with its gun buy back program.

The group is asking citizsens to turn in their useless UNLOADED firearms to Antioch Baptist Church at 1454 Florence Street.

Additionally, Sizemore Staffing Agency will be on site to provide participants with potential job place-ment and/jor career advice.

The event takes place on Saturday, August 4, 2012 from 11 am - 4 pm.

Future Successors, Inc. is an orga-nization that was established to pro-mote the improvement of America’s youth for a future success by pro-viding resources and awareness to eliminate poverty and violence within their lives.

Qualifying forCommission, School Board races set for August 6-8

AUGUSTACandidates for the Augusta-

Richmond County Commission and Richmond County School Board seats will begin on Monday, August 6, 2012 and continue until 12 noon on Wednesday, August 8, 2012.

Those qualifying dates were originally set for May 2012, but since the state legislature did not provide a new redis-tricting map, a citizens’ lawsuit prevented any activity on those elections until a new map could be drawn.

U.S. District Judge Randal Hall drew the map and announced in late June what the new quali-fying dates would be.

Four of the newly drawn distri-crts are majority-black and three are majority-white. Another has a slight black majority.

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SHERIFF’S RACE DEMOCRAT PRIMARYCandidate Votes Received % ReceivedJOHN W. IVEY 1662 5.56%SCOTT PEEBLES 13932 46.63%RICHARD ROUNDTREE 11725 39.24%ROBBIE SILAS 2560 8.57%

SHERIFF’S RACE REPUBLICAN PRIMARYCandidate Votes Received % ReceivedMICHAEL GODOWNS 1241 23.94%FREDDIE SANDERS 3942 76.06%

US REP 12TH DISTRICT - REPUBLICAN PRIMARYCandidate Votes Received % ReceivedRICK W. ALLEN 2417 37.20%LEE ANDERSON 825 12.70%WRIGHT MCLEOD 2487 38.28%MARIA SHEFFIELD 768 11.82%

SUPERIOR COURT - NON PARTISAN RACECandidate Votes Received % ReceivedCARLISLE OVERSTREET 24684 72.93%WILLIE SAUNDERS 9130 26.97%WRITE-IN 33 0.10%

CLERK OF COURT - DEMOCRATIC PRIMARYCandidate Votes Received % ReceivedELAINE C. JOHNSON 16561 62.85%HATTIE SULLIVAN 9791 37.15%

Special Report: 2012 PRIMARY RESULTS

Peebles, Roundtree to competein August 21st runoff election

Richard RoundtreeScott Peebles Freddie Sanders

By Frederick Benjamin Sr.UrbanProWeekly Staff Writer

AUGUSTAThere were few surprises

in the 2012 Primary and non partisan races on Tuesday, July 31. As expected, Sheriff’s candi-dates Captain Scott Peebles of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department and former crime investigator Richard Roundtree were the top two vote getters in the four-person field.

Peebles, aided by a signifi-cant Republican crossover vote, garnered 47 percent of the vote (13,932) and Roundtree gathered 39 percent (11,725). Robbie Silas received 9 percent

of the vote (2,560) and John Ivey received 6 percent of the vote (1,662).

On election night, Peebles was upbeat about the forth-coming runoff.

“We put a message together that people believed in,” Peebles said. “At the end of the day, the voters believed in me. That was the difference. To show this good with four good people in the race makes me feel good.”

The Roundtree camp was also feeling good about their showing.

“You always want to win out-right,” Roundtree said. “We’re right back out there tomorrow.

John Ivey, candidate for Richmond County Sheriff, cam-paigns near the May Park voting location. Ivey garnered 5.56% of the vote as of midnight on election night.Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Hattie Sullivan (center), candidate for Clerk of Court, embraces a supporter at the Doubletree Hotel. Sullivan received 37.15% of the vote, while opponent Elaine Johnson received 62.85% of votes cast.Photo by Vincent Hobbs

KEY CONTESTED RACES

We’re going to concentrate on those people who did not come out. Despite the odds, “we’re still right there. They’ve thrown everything at us and we are right there and that motivates us. They spent $200,000 to our $40,000.”

In the Republican Primary,

Freddie Sanders easily won the nomination over Michael Godowns.

“I knew the number of votes would be low. I’m blessed that we would be able to lead like we did and I’m excited about the General Election,” Sanders said.

“I’ve got to get those Republicans to vote Republican in the general election. I’ve got to get some Democrats to vote Republican as well,” he said.

The runoff election will be held on August 21, 2012 and the General Election will be on November 6, 2012.

Richard Roundtree at his election HQ.Photo by Vincent Hobbs

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By Anna Mulrine

US military commanders are increasingly expressing frustration with the National Rifle Association for blocking what they feel are vital mea-sures to keep troops safe.

The controversy revolves around the surge in suicide within the armed forces. The Pentagon is facing an “epidemic,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told lawmakers this week, with some 206 US troops suspected of taking their own lives so far this year.

“That is an epidemic,” he said. “Something is wrong.”

As they cast about looking for pos-sible ways to bring down the rates of suicide, commanders say that the answer may lie in having candid discussions with their soldiers about their personal firearms--and to take personal weapons away from those who appear likely to hurt themselves.

“The majority of [suicides] have two things in common: Alcohol and a gun. That’s just the way it is,” General Peter Chiarelli, the Army’s former Vice Chief of Staff, told the Monitor this January, shortly before he retired. “And when you have somebody that you in fact feel is high risk, I don’t believe it’s unreasonable to tell that individual that it would not be a good idea to have a weapon around the house.”

The problem, say US military com-

manders, is that a new NRA-backed law prohibits them from engaging in discussions about weapons and safety.“I am not allowed to ask a sol-dier who lives off-post whether that soldier has a privately-owned weap-on,” Chiarelli says. The legislation took effect at the end of 2010.

While commanders are permitted to ask troops who appear to be an imminent danger to themselves or others about private firearms--or to suggest locking them temporarily in a base depot--the law requires that if the soldier denies that he or she is thinking about harming anyone, then the commander cannot pursue the discussion further, he adds.

Yet determining whether a service member is an imminent danger to himself or others has been an elu-sive and frustrating pursuit for the Pentagon.“I’m struck by the number of folks who come in for behavioral health counseling and are rated as ‘low to medium risk’ [of harming themselves or others] and two weeks later commit the irrevocable act of suicide,” Chiarelli says.

Half of troops that killed themselves use firearms to end their life and “sui-cide in most cases is a spontaneous event” that is often fueled by drugs and alcohol. But “if you can separate the individual from the weapon,” he added, “you can lower the incidences

of suicide.” [Editor’s note: An earlier version of this paragraph used phras-ing that left an incorrect impression about the number of military person-nel who kill themselves.]

The problem, Chairelli says, is that “we have issues in even being able to do that.”

Officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs are backing US military officials in the matter. Commanders who have asked troops they feel are at risk to consider locking their firearms on base temporarily are making use of an important “stalling technique,” Jan Kemp, national men-tal health director for the VA, said at a conference late last year.

She pointed to a study that found that a large number of suicides are impulsive events. If someone plans to jump off a bridge and finds that the bridge is closed, “Studies show that they won’t go to another bridge,” says Dr. Kemp. “They will think about it.”

NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam says that the organiza-tion is “not conducting interviews at this time, in view of what happened in Colorado.”

Others add that the law is not meant to preclude commanders from talk-ing about firearms. “Obviously, the intent of the law is not to preclude a commander from taking steps nec-essary to mitigate a suicidal or dan-

gerous situation,” says Jared Young, Communications Director for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R) of Oklahoma, in an email. Senator Inhofe was the author of the legislation. Spokesman Young said the senator is “very concerned” about sui-cide within the military. “At the same time,” he adds, “individual rights must be protected.”

That said, Mr. Young adds that Sen. Ihofe has “reached out to the DOD and other interested parties to ensure that all concerns have been adequate-ly addressed.” The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a question about what a changed policy should include.

In the meantime, some US military commanders say they need to find new ways to address rising rates of suicide. “In many circumstances, awareness of risk means removing firearms from those who we believe are at risk of harming themselves or others,” Brig. Gen. Jonathan Woodson, an Army Reserve physician and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, told the audience at a recent suicide prevention conference. “I would ask all of you at this confer-ence to commit to making reasonable recommendations that will guide uni-form policy that will allow the separa-tion of privately-owned firearms from those believed to be at risk of suicide.

Gun control: Why the US military is fighting with the NRAUS military commanders are trying to cope with an epidemic of suicides within the armed forces. Officials say they are frustrated by a recent law, backed by the NRA, that makes it difficult to talk to soldiers about personally owned firearms.

HOUSTONAugusta Branch NAACP mem-

bers Dr. Charles J. Smith, Sr., Life Membership Chairman Viola B. Elam, WIN Chairman Shirlene Ball, HBCU Chairman Paul Thompkins, Voter Empowerment/Membership Chairman Inger Carter, and Health Chairman Dr. Beulah Nash-Teachey all received National NAACP Convention Million Dollar Club Awards for “outstanding membership recruitment,” and for soliciting more than $1,000 each in memberships.

Branch President Dr. Charles Smith was honored receiving his fourth Million Dollar Award and his fourth 100K Club National Award for recruit-ing more than 100 members.

Additionally, Dr. Smith was re-elected as the National Convention Credentials Chairman for the second consecutive year in Houston. He pre-sented the report to the delegates on the convention floor during the con-vention and final session which includ-ed Vice President Joe Biden. Delegates who represented the Augusta Branch in Houston were Community Coordinator Clara Calloway, Treasurer and Finance Chairman Lizzie Wilhite and Branch President Dr. Charles Smith. The Augusta Branch NAACP First Lady Susie M. Smith was an Observer.

In 2011, he was elected as the Credentials Chairman at the Los Angeles NAACP National Annual Convention.

Augusta NAACP members cited for recruitment success

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Harold V. Jones IIATTORNEY AT LAW

SHEPARD, PLUNKETT, HAMILTON & BOUDREAUX, LLP

429 Walker StreetUpper Level

Augusta, GA 30901

Phone 706-722-6200Fax 706 722-4817

hjones@shepardplunkett.com

Criminal Law • Divorce • Personal Injury • Employment Law

Recently I was asked to give a scholarly presentation in front of a small group at the University of Phoenix. I elected to explore, in some detail, economic development and delve into what makes cities great. I gathered related articles and white paper; analyzed credible research – all in all digested a great deal of information to see if I could come up with an absolute truth or perhaps offer some thought leader-ship on the subject. Many among us know that despite all of the available wisdom, we are not seeing the com-prehensive progress we had hoped for. The result has been a great deal of upward mobility for ‘the few,’ but very little for ‘the many.’ So what are we missing, what do we not under-stand?

Stemming from years of direct observation and involvement in communities; months of study on a variety of topics and frequent peri-ods of deep reflection – the best that I could come up with was “People.”

Going back to the original ques-tion: What makes a city great? It’s the “People.” It’s the people who have created the “Seven Wonders of the World” and built cities of splendor and awe while cultivat-ing environments with a distinctive

“sense of place.” And it will be the “People” who will make the CSRA what it could be.

Some of us understand this, but quite a few have yet to get involved in the process which has left us with economic development thought, ideas and policies that are highly homogenized. As a community we need a diversity of inputs, or we will see policy that keeps reaching for the same things, thereby getting the same results with most of the same set of people at the head of the table. Yes, there will be some, who will point to a few new faces in new places, but are they really “new” in perspective, approach or priority? And do they have the capacity to take us to “new” places? Look at the evidence all around, and make a decision for yourself.

Regardless of your opinion, real-ize that you play a role in the future of the CSRA. Define for yourself what that role will be. Overall, we must do what we can to be a con-structive part of the process. If noth-ing changes….Nothing will Change. Remember, it is YOU that makes this city great.

Anthony R. Page is a cultural arts advocate, actor and Artistic Director with Blue Bistro Theater.

People…What Makes a City Great?Trends, Troubles and Triumphs by Anthony Page, MBA

Trends, Troubles and Triumphs looks at the evolving cultural landscape of the CSRA. Periodically we offer insider perspectives, opinions and points of view on the state of the arts, cultural and entertainment industry in the CSRA.

He also serves as the current president of the CSRA African

American Arts Alliance. Contact: anthonyrpage@gmail.com

Chavas Boyd to be honored at Mt. VernonThe Mt. Vernon Baptist Church

Family is blessed and excited to invite you to The 3rd Pastoral Appreciation Service for Rev. Chavas L. Boyd on Sunday, August 12, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.

Rev. Willie Mincey, Pastor of Spring Hill Baptist Church, Hephzibah, GA will be the guest minister.

Mt. Vernon is located at 1930 Olive Road, Augusta 30906.

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Lila Jane Jenkins (L) and Gabrielle Jenkins (R) takes turns at the microphone during an introduction for the JB Academy of Musik Pupils’ Second Annual JAMP’Cert, held at the Augusta Museum of History.Photo by Vincent Hobbs Giving the drummer some. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

These young horn players would have made the ‘Godfather of Soul’ smile.Photo by Vincent Hobbs

The “cape man” and announcer for the late James Brown, Daniel Brown Ray (center), performs his signature introduction for the crowd during the Second Annual JAMP’Cert, held at the Augusta Museum of History. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Deanna Brown Thomas speaks to the crowd at the Second Annual JAMP’Cert, held at the Augusta Museum of History. The concert featured students per-forming James Brown hits.Photo by Vincent Hobbs

At the JB Academy of Musik, it’s all about the youth and their ability to navigate the choppy waters of modern pop music and traditional music education.

For Deanna Brown Thomas, the school is something her father, the legendary performer, James Brown always envisioned.

The JAMP (JB Academy of Musik Pupils) played their second annual concert at the Augusta Museum of History on Friday, July 27, 2012 and will be the featured performers at the next First Friday, August 3, 2012.

The First Friday performance is in response to a request by Coco Rubio, the downtown busi-nessman and music promoter who feels that their youth and artistic ability will serve the community well.

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Dallas rapper opens for Mindless Behavior at The Bell AuditoriumBy Timothy Cox

When Lil Twist hits the stage at the Bell Auditorium this week, he wants his fans to know that he’s the continuation of a hip-hop legacy that reigned supreme in the 1990s – right around the time he was born.

For Lil Twist, it’s the music of that by-gone era that he says sets him apart from today’s lyricists.

“Yes, I do wear my hair in the same mold as they did years ago, but that’s not my total influence,” he said during a phone interview from his former home, Atlanta.

Lil Twist brings his new-school rap show to Augusta as opening act for the Mindless Behavior Tour on Thursday, Aug. 2, featuring the young quartet of LA-based singers who, quiet-as-kept, are creating a national storm, especially among the young ladies from the tweens and teenage set.

Having already flooded his market with sev-eral mixed-tapes that reflect his original music, Lil Twist says he’s naturally influenced by his labelmate and “big brother” Lil Wayne, in addi-tion to one of his favorite rappers, Andre 3000 of Outkast fame.

Although Lil Twist once lived in Atlanta for three years, he has yet to meet one of his all-time influences. “I’m sure he knows of me and how much I consider him as one of my idols. In time, I’m sure we’ll meet someday.”

Lil Twist reveals that he earned his nickname after his mother kept putting his hair in small twists instead of corn-row braids.

The “Twist” nickname ensued and the rest is history.

The Dallas area native was “discovered”

during a talent show in his hometown, when Lil Wayne and Young Money Entertainment CEO, Cortez Bryant, saw him perform. “They signed me on the spot, and it’s because of their confidence in me that I have self-confidence,” said Lil Twist.

According to music indus-try publication “Celebrity Networth,” Bryant’s net worth is $60 million. Lil Twist’s other success-ful labelmates are Drake, Nicki Minaj and of course Lil Wayne.

“I’m a major NBA hoops fans and my favorite team are the Dallas Mavericks. Lil Wayne and I are both NBA fans and when we can, we take flights between Dallas and Miami to check out some games. I like (the city of) Miami over Atlanta because there’s so much more to do there. But, Atlanta is a good studio town with a great working environment.”

At age 19, Lil Twist, (real name Christopher Moore) is also a natural fan of the ladies. The Tyler, Texas product says he’s very apprecia-tive to be in the rap industry – especially with affiliations with Lil Wayne and his newest labelmate -- industry pioneer Busta Rhymes, who appears on Lil Twist’s current single, “Turnt Up.”

While he respects the older rappers and pays homage to 1990s hip-hop artists by wear-ing his hair in a “Ramp-fade,” similar to the Bobby Brown’s “Gumby-fade” and Kwame’s high-top fade – Lil Twist says he considers

himself, along with friends like Mindless Behavior, Jacob Latimer and Lil Niqo as the new pioneers of hiphop – picking up where Lil Wayne and Young Money Cash Money (YMCM) Records have blazed more recent hip-hop trails.

“I think we’re the next ones to create the new legacy,” says Lil Twist – and based on his confidence level, he should have no problem convincing his growing legion of fans that he’s got just what it takes to take hip-hop to the next level.

When asked about his future and whom he may want to emulate in the (rap) game, Lil Twist said, “I would love to stay in the music industry and drop albums, but, realistically, there’s probably a time when I’ll just do want to do whatever I want to do as a person.

“I would really like to be accomplished and live a very comfortable lifestyle just like … just like Jay-Z.

“Whatever Jay did, that’s what I would like to do too,” he said with a chuckle. “And of course have me a couple Beyonces along for the ride.”

‘I’m part of new-school rappers taking hip-hop to the next phase’ — Lil Twist

URBAN ROUNDUP • LIL TWIST

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Urban WeeklyPro Commentary

Continued on next page

By Mark Clayton Staff writer In elections this March in Palm Beach

County, Fla., an election management software glitch gave votes to the wrong candidate and the wrong contest. But paper ballots were available, and a recount was done. The mistake was corrected.

Such failures are hardly unique. And often they are worse. In every national election in the past decade, computer voting systems have failed with memory-card glitches and other errors that resulted in votes lost or mis-counted, according to a new national study, “Counting Votes 2012: A State by State Look at Voting Technology Preparedness.”

More than 300 voting-machine prob-lems were reported in the 2010 mid-term elections and more than 1,800 in the 2008 general election, according to the study by Common Cause, Rutgers School of Law, and the Verified Voting Foundation.

“Voting systems frequently fail,” the study concludes. “And when they fail, votes are lost. Voters in jurisdictions without paper ballots or records for every vote cast, including military and overseas votes, do not have the same

protections as states that use paper bal-lot systems. This is not acceptable.”

Despite glitches and lost votes, America has survived. However, with the November elections just months away, danger lurks in the surprising number of states with computerized voting systems that lack any paper backup system – potentially opening the door to fraud or altered election outcomes, the study found.

Computerized voting systems in 16 states – including some swing states – have no paper backup ballots or other paper trails “in some or all counties” and so could not reconstitute an accu-rate vote count from those machines if software or hardware fails, the report says.

Lack of audits – 25 states don’t do them – was another key problem, since paper ballots as a backup aren’t enough to ensure vote integrity.

“The problem is not just fraud and the threat that these systems can be manipulated, but that they are aging, complex systems where things go wrong,” says Pamela Smith, president of the Verified Voting Foundation. “What matters most is: Can you recover from problems? Can you recover votes

that are counted accurately? There are still way too many systems nationwide that can’t do that.”

States whose systems lack paper backups for some of or all their voting systems include: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

“I’m amazed so many states do not have paper backups for their equip-ment,” says Joanne Rajoppi, clerk of Union County, N.J., and the incom-ing president of the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials, and Treasurers, a vol-unteer organization. “We have paper backup in New Jersey. If there’s a chal-lenge to show where your votes come from, you’re going to have to prove it. It’s only fair.”

At the same time, 31 states have adopted new Internet-based systems intended to allow troops and other citizens abroad to transmit their vote home electronically. But while six of those states place some security restric-tions on how completed ballots can be returned, 24 states permit electronic

votes to be returned “without restric-tions,” thus running the risk of bal-lots being intercepted and altered, the study says.

Internet voting has been allowed in New Jersey ever since a US soldier requested a few years ago to send in his vote from his mountain outpost in Afghanistan, Ms. Rajoppi says. Yet New Jersey is the only state to require that the soldier also send in the original paper ballot as a backup.

A ballot sent via the Internet – includ-ing e-fax or e-mail – is “exposed to a far greater number of security threats including cyber-attacks such as modi-fication in transit, denial of service, spoofing, automated vote buying, and viral attacks on voter PCs,” the report says.

“We cannot overstate this fact: the technological reasons that 40 States have moved toward paper ballots or voter-verifiable paper records for voters at home also apply, with even greater urgency, to voted ballots returned to State and local election officials elec-tronically from outside the country,” the study says.

Is your vote secure? Georgia is among digital systems that lack paper backups, study says.Computerized systems in 16 states – including some swing states – have no paper backup ballots or other paper trails ‘in some or all counties,’ leaving the vote vulnerable, a national study says.

Born and raised in Augusta, Georgia, SwampClick consists of four M.C’s – Christopher “Gutta Redd” Powell, Vanesha “MsConceited” Powell, LaTasha “STARR” Henderson and Daniel “BOOM” Bogan.

URBAN ROUNDUP

SwampClickAugusta Rap EnsembleReady for Prime Time

SwampClick grew up in the same Hyde Park neigh-borhood where they became childhood friends.

They have been rapping together for 6-12 years and have performed in many tal-ent show events and local clubs all around the sur-rounding areas in the C.S.R.A. SwampClick has opened for Doug E Fresh, Slick Rick, & Melly Mel at the Bell Auditorium.

SwampClick life-long goal is to become one of the world’s greatest rap groups.

All four shared the same dream of becoming rappers and came together

as one to form a multi-talented group. They write their own rhymes and pro-

duce a lot of their own tracks. SwampClick has worked with DJ Unk & JBAR of SODMG and has

worked with BOOMondaTRACK(in house producer), K.E.On The Track,

JustP da Producer, Speilberg Shawty, Star Time and other producers in

the C.S.R.A.

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Voting Security from page 9

CSRA EOA, INC. Richmond, Columbia and Lincoln County Head Start

TEACHER Works directly with the children using various techniques and experiences to help each child develop socially, intellectually, physically and emotionally. Develops and implements group and individual lesson plans which will meet the individual needs of the children weekly. Post lesson plans daily. Makes required home visits. Makes a complete assessment of each Child’s individu-al needs. Must have AA degree in Early Childhood Education and three years experience.

Richmond County Head StartTEACHER ASSISTANT

Works with the teacher to implement daily activities and supervises outdoor activities. Supervises loading and unloading of the buses, makes the required home visits, conducts the individual child assessment, and performs other duties as assigned. Must have a high school diploma with vocational training in Early Childhood Education plus three years experience working with pre-school children. CDA Certificates will be required within first year. Apply by August 13, 2012. All applicants must have a pre-employment drug screen; a valid driver’s license, clean background and reliable transportation. Apply to: 1261 Greene Street, Augusta, Georgia 30901 or fax to (706) 722-8565.

“AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER”

Officials from companies pioneering Internet voting disagree.

“We take security issues extremely seriously,” says Lori Steele, chief execu-tive officer of Everyone Counts, a San Diego-based Internet voting company that provides services in Colorado, Utah, Washington, Florida, and Illinois. “We use military-grade encryption and feel ours is the highest-level security of any voting system, including when you compare systems like mail or polling stations.”

In Okaloosa County, Fla., Paul Lux, supervisor of elections, has had exten-sive experience with fledgling Internet voting systems, going all the way back to pilot tests in 2000. Today, the county is one of 13 in Florida that use LiveBallot, an Internet-based system developed by Democracy Live, a com-pany in Issaquah, Wash., that special-izes in voter information technologies.

In Florida’s primary election in January, those counties had 140 over-seas ballots returned using LiveBallot’s

Web portal – Okaloosa having 99 such ballots, officials there report. Troops and others were able to mark ballots on their screens, then print them out. Although they still had to return their completed ballot by fax or mail, just downloading the blank ballot saved weeks.

“So far this program is going really well,” Mr. Lux says. “Really, one of the biggest fears of those who don’t like Internet voting is that once the door is open to overseas voters, everyone is going to want to do it. Why can’t I vote at home?”

Downloading blank ballots and reg-istration forms is no problem: In fact, it’s to be encouraged, authors of the study say. It’s sending a completed bal-lot back by e-fax systems or e-mail that poses a serious threat.

“We believe the most secure way to return a ballot would be through our military-grade encryption,” main-tains Ms. Steele of Everyone Counts. “Certainly there’s nothing secure

GUEST COMMENTARY

Wayne Frazier got fired from Glenn Hills High School? Even though they are calling it a “reassignment” to the Alternative School, let’s call it what it is: Frazier was terminated as principal of Glenn Hills in an act of political retribution. It’s business as usual in the Richmond County School System.

Frazier is the principal who got a filthy building cleaned up, rousted wanderers from school hallways, removed athletics as the school’s pri-mary focus, took control of school finances, “lit up” indolent employ-ees, motivated disheartened stu-dents and began a long march to academic quality on “The Hill.”.

Why would the RCBOE “need to make a change” involving the “reas-signment” of such a leader less than three weeks before the start of his fourth year at Glenn Hills? Wasn’t Glenn Hills recently recognized for having the highest graduation rate among all the historically most underperforming public high schools in Georgia? Wasn’t the Frazier-initiat-ed mentorship program the subject of a local newspaper article which was recently selected by the Georgia Press Association for a first-place award for Education Reporting?

Why would Frazier be removed as principal of Glenn Hills? One board member cited “poor test scores.” Apparently the board member’s making this claim didn’t notice that the passing rates on 5 of the 8 End-of-Course-Tests given Glenn Hiills’ students has increased since Dr. Frazier arrived on “The Hill” in the late Spring of 2009.

Another board official cited staff discontent as the reason for Doc’s firing. What percentage of this dis-contented staff segment was com-posed of the incompetent, lax and/or uncaring hold-overs whom Dr. Frazier inherited from the notorious-ly ineffective principal which preced-ed Dr. Frazier? Did the poor-excuse-for-a-head-custodian whose reas-signment Doctor Frazier requested in his first days on “The Hill” com-plain to board members and/or The Broad Street Temple about the filthy

halls and b a t h r o o m s which Frazier found upon his initial inspection of the building? How about the member of the ath-letic staff too out-of-condi-tion to walk

from the GHHS gym to the office? How he’d like Doctor Frazier’s remov-ing control of the athletic funds to the principal’s office? How’d he like being relieved of coaching and administrative duties?

Like Columbia County Sheriff Clay Whittle, Doctor Frazier doesn’t play. The two Glenn Hills High School staff members mentioned in the previous paragraph and many oth-ers “riding the system” there learned “the hard way” that there was “a new sheriff in town.” Wayne Frazier isn’t about shamming. He’s about children, particularly poor children, and what’s best for them.

Now Doc would be the first to admit that working successfully with children, particularly poor children and most particularly poor children without Fathers, is demanding work which takes a passion and an energy which most teachers don’t have. Such work is not for the “eight hour per day, forty hour per week” type of teacher. Frazier also realizes that all teachers can’t be expected to have the energy and passion necessary for teaching effectively at “The Hill.” Most teachers have family respon-sibilities which preclude the close mentorship required for “reaching” kids who lack money and both par-ents. Glenn Hills High is not the best place for folks whose parental responsibilities prevent the extra time and effort needed to “reach” the at-risk kids who constitute a large part of the GHHS student body. Such teachers can be success-ful elsewhere. And Doctor Frazier wishes them well.

And Doctor Frazier wishes Mr.

Givens, his close friend and right-hand man at both Tubman Middle and GHHS, Givens’ staff and the GHHS student body success dur-ing the upcoming 2012-13 school year. Dr. Frazier looks forward to Graduation Day 2013. Frazier’s will be the biggest smile in the James Brown Arena when the freshman who entered Glenn Hills High in

August 2009 walk across the stage, receive their diplomas and enter the adult world to learn and lead.

Dr. Craig Spinks, ED. DDr. Spinks is an educator with the

Richmond County Public School System

This piece appeared originally online at CityStink.net

Why Wayne Frazier was really removed from Glenn Hills

about the idea of returning ballots by fax or e-mail. Using that as a stopgap isn’t a very good idea.”

Others say online voting systems aren’t likely to be truly secure anytime soon because Internet security hasn’t advanced enough.

“If an Internet target is attractive enough, we know it can be targeted from anywhere in the world,” says Ms. Smith of Verified Voting. “If a company with the resources of a Google or the Pentagon can’t prevent themselves from being hacked, how likely is it that a small, medium, or even large election district would have the ability to safe-guard the process?”

Few know that better than J. Alex Halderman, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In 2010, as a test of the supposedly robust Internet voting-sys-tem defenses in Washington, D.C., he led a team of students that successfully hacked into the system in less than 48 hours.

Picking through thousands of lines of

code, he and his team located a single errant punctuation mark in one line of code that enabled them to get into the system and decide who got “elected.” They changed every vote and knew how everyone had voted.

Could newer and even more-robust Internet-based voting systems be hacked and votes be changed to favor one candidate, with nobody the wiser?

“If there’s no paper backup, then we’re completely reliant on the soft-ware in that machine to do the right thing,” Professor Halderman says. “The problem is that you have to get almost all the details right at a superhuman level of perfection to avoid leaving the door open to tampering with the elec-tion result.”

“We bank online, and people tend to think that voting should be no prob-lem, either,” he adds. “But it’s going to be a long time before we solve this problem. It’s just a lot more difficult than online commerce. It’s going to be decades, if ever, before we are able to vote online – securely.”

Dr. Wayne Frazier

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