How Election Officials Use Media Proxies to Disseminate Misinformation & Disinformation to Avert Investigations of Election Malfeasance
A Case Study of Maricopa County Election Officials Effectively Using a Local Blog Purporting “Independent Journalism” to Malign An Auditor Who Reported Anomalies in 2020 U.S. Election
By Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai, MIT PhD SMVS, SMME, SBEE
October 6, 2021 (Prepared for the Arizona State Senate)
AUTHOR’S BIO
National Medal of Technology and Innovation. He holds multiple patents, is the author of twenty books, and has published original research, in leading peer-reviewed high-impact scientific journals including IEEE, IJPRAI, Nature Neuroscience, CELL Biophysical Journal, that have received thousands of citations. He has started seven successful high-tech companies, received numerous industry awards, consults for Global 2000 organizations and government, and has been invited to present Keynote and Distinguished lectures at leading institutions such as NSF, NIH, FDA, Harvard, and at MIT, where he delivered the Presidential Fellows Lecture.
In 1978, as a 14-year-old, he was recruited as a Research Fellow by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), in Newark, NJ after graduating with Honors from a special program in Computer Science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Science at NYU. At UMDNJ, he invented email – the system as we know it today – when he was the first to convert the old-fashioned interoffice paper-based mail system consisting of the Inbox, Outbox, Memo (To:, From:, Date:, Subject:, Cc:, Bcc:), Attachments, Folders, etc. into its electronic equivalent by writing 50,000 lines of code to create a software system, which he named “Email,” – a term never used before in the English language – and went on to be awarded the first U.S. Copyright TXu 111-775 for “EMAIL, COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEM” recognizing him as the inventor of email at a time when Copyright was the only legal mechanism to protect software inventions. Only in 1994 did the Federal Circuit recognize software as a “digital machine” allowing for software patents. Email is not the simple exchange of text messages. Dr. Shiva has never claimed to be the inventor of electronic messaging, which predates email – the system that he created in 1978.
Recognizing his talents in software programming, UMDNJ gave him the opportunity to conduct medical research focused on developing pattern recognition classification methods for categorization of sleep signature patterns from babies with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). His research was published in IEEE and presented at the IEEE-EMBS conference in Espoo, Finland. Since that time and for more than forty years, his research and development efforts in academia and industry have been focused in the field of pattern recognition classification systems, systems science, and development of large-scale computational systems for analysis of diverse signals and signatures across a range of industries: biology and medicine, engineering (e.g. aeronautical, civil, mechanical, electrical),
banking, finance, and, government, as well as across a diversity of applications including handwriting recognition of courtesy amounts on bank checks, automatic analysis and classification of electronic documents e.g. email, ultrasonic and radar wave signature classification for non-destructive evaluation (NDE), signals analysis of Tadoma feature identification, biomarker analysis for determining signatures of efficacy for multi- combination therapies, image analysis for cardiology, and signal detection of fluid flow anomalies in fluidized bed reactors.
He earned a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, a Masters in Mechanical Engineering, and another Masters in Visual Studies from the MIT Media Laboratory. In the midst of his PhD research in 1993, where he aimed to create a generalized platform – Information Cybernetics – for pattern recognition, he won an industry-wide competition sponsored by the White House, Executive Office of the President, to automatically analyze and classify President Clinton’s email, resulting in his developing EchoMail® – a platform for automatic classification of electronic documents –, and subsequently launching EchoMail, Inc., a company that grew to nearly $200 million in market valuation. EchoMail today applies its technologies across a diversity of applications.
In 2003, he returned to MIT complete his doctoral work in systems biology in the department of Biological Engineering where he developedCytoSolve®, a scalable computational systems biology platform for mathematically modeling the whole cell. Following his PhD, Dr. Shiva was selected for a Fulbright Fellowship returning him to India where he discovered the systems theoretic basis of eastern systems of medicine resulting in Systems Health®, a new educational program that provides a scientific foundation for integrative medicine. In 2012, Dr. Shiva launched CytoSolve, Inc. with the aim of modeling complex diseases and biomolecular processes to discover multi-combination medicines. His efforts led to CytoSolve earning an FDA allowance for a multi-combination therapy for pancreatic cancer in a record eleven months, developing innovative nutraceutical products, and garnering numerous industry and academic partnerships.
As an educator dedicated to the field of systems science and systems thinking, Dr. Shiva pioneered Systems Visualization, a course he taught at MIT to graduate and undergraduate students, which integrated systems theory, narrative story telling, metaphors, and data science to provide a pedagogy for visualization of complex systems. He founded the International Center for Integrative Systems, a research and educational institution and home to Innovation Corps and R.A.W./C.L.E.A.N. Food Certified, for broader applications of systems science.
Dr. Shiva has appeared in The MIT Technology Review, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, NBC News, USA Today and other major media. Dr. Shiva was named Top 40 Under 40 in the Improper Bostonian. He continues his passion for entrepreneurialism as Managing Director of General Interactive to incubate, mentor and fund new startups in various areas including healthcare, media, biotechnology, information technology, to name a few.
Dr. Shiva is a member of Sigma-Xi, Eta Kappa Nu, and Tau Beta Pi.
FOREWORD
STATEMENT FROM PROFESSOR DEBORAH NIGHTINGALE
University Distinguished Professor of Industrial Engineering & Management Systems
Member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE)
Retd. MIT Professor of Engineering Systems & of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Fmr. Director of M.I.T. Sociotechnical Systems Research Center
I have known Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai (“Dr. Shiva”) for nearly two decades. He is a world- renowned systems scientist, a MIT PhD, the inventor of email, an expert in the field of pattern recognition classification methodologies, and one, who has led and participated in numerous audits. I have reviewed Dr. Shiva’s audit report submitted to the Arizona State Senate. The report is stellar, met all its objectives, and, more importantly, provides a thought leadership of Engineering Systems theory that is now necessary to move beyond partisanship so we may squarely address election systems integrity.
To be clear, I am a Democrat. I voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. I voted for Joe Biden in 2020. Dr. Shiva is a Republican. He voted for Donald Trump in 2016. In 2020, he did not vote for either Trump or Biden. The recent ad hominem attacks against Dr. Shiva, by Maricopa County officials effectively through their proxy at the Arizona Mirror, attempting to box him into a predefined category, must be addressed, particularly given their racist subtext. Dr. Shiva is a true, independent thinker – in deeds, not words. He cannot be put into some reductionist box. He has put his life on the line fighting corruption, the “Swamp,” his entire life. His loyalty to truth supersedes his loyalty to any individual. In fact, he released a highly critical video questioning if Trump was the “Swamp,” although he had earlier donated to Trump, and had worked hard on his campaign. And, when it comes to the invention of email: Yes, a 14-year-old dark-skinned precocious boy, in 1978, working in Newark, NJ did invent email – the system, as we know it today. There is no controversy. The facts are black and white. The only controversy is the one fabricated to deny his rightful claim to email’s invention. Anyone can read the research papers I wrote on this topic, after careful study of the facts.
The Arizona State Senate was wise in commissioning Dr. Shiva to participate in this historic audit. His team executed the audit with excellence, and produced a comprehensive 99-page report in less than 20-days. This is extraordinary. Having been a consultant on many projects, Arizonans got a bargain at $50K. I hope Democrats and Republicans unite around Dr. Shiva’s thought leadership, which calls for an Engineering Systems approach that will foster a culture that welcomes those who report anomalies, identifies root causes, and implements solutions so Americans get the fair and transparent elections they seek and deserve. That is how we unite America by solving the underlying systems issues, not, as Dr. Shiva states, by perpetuating ‘partisanship, vitriol and controversy.’ ” I believe that the state of Arizona (and the country as a whole) would be greatly served by both examining current operating procedures and adopting the recommendations Dr. Shiva makes for future improvements in the voting system.
As I understand, Donald Trump recently praised Dr. Shiva’s work at a rally in Georgia knowing Dr. Shiva was highly critical of him for not doing enough against the Swamp. If Donald Trump can take criticism and even praise a critic, I believe election officials in Maricopa County can do better.
INTRODUCTION
On October 1, 2021, Maricopa County election officials effectively used a proxy – a scribe at an unknown blog, Arizona Mirror, that purports to stand for “Independent Journalism,” to unleash a racist smear campaign of misinformation and disinformation in an attempt to avert further investigations of potential election malfeasance. Their blog post appeared after I had presented anomalies uncovered from an audit of the Early Voting Ballot (EVB) return envelope images from Maricopa County’s 2020 General Elections, which the Arizona State Senate had commissioned me to perform. The key findings and anomalies uncovered from this audit are detailed in a 99-page report – Pattern Recognition Classification of Early Voting Ballot (EVB) Return Envelope Images for Signature Presence Detection: An Engineering Systems Approach to Identify Anomalies to Advance the Integrity of U.S. Election Processes – as well as in the public presentation I made on September 24, 2021 to the Arizona State Senate (“the Report”).
Congress Wanted and Encouraged Election Audits
What is most unfortunate in the current milieu is that Maricopa County Election Officials and their counterparts in other local and state governments appear to believe that election audits are a bad thing, and those requesting them or participating in them, must be vilified. Let us be clear on the following facts:
- Congress passed a whole law, 52 USC 20701, BECAUSE Congress declared that election audits are a public good;
- Election audits are a public good BECAUSE it provides real data and feedback about the integrity of an election;
- Auditing the integrity of an election is a public good BECAUSE American citizens are ENTITLED to the constitutional GUARANTEE of One Person, One Vote;
- Congress declared election audits to be a public good BECAUSE Congress supports all steps that ensure One Person, One Vote;
- Only persons not in support of the ENTITLED RIGHT of American citizens to the Constitutional GUARANTEE of One Person One Vote would actively defame a request for an audit as conspiratorial disinformation; and,
- This is settled law and was passed by a Democrat-majority House 50 years ago.
Specific Aims of this Document
This manuscript aims to:
- Provide detailed replies to each of the statements of misinformation anddisinformation made by Maricopa County officials, effectively through their proxy in that blog post;
- Educate the public of the real racism that permeates this attack;
- Share why the actions of Maricopa County Election Officials are taken from the pages of a Playbook, written at Harvard Belfer Center’s Orwellian “Defending Democracy” Project, that provides a step-by-step playbook on how local and state election officials should respond to any American who criticizes their running of elections;
- Expose how the Arizona Mirror has nothing to do with “Independent Journalism,” but is part of an organized network of local and decentralized media funded by Arabella Advisors, what the The New York Times and Politicoterm as “dark money” aimed to manufacture narratives to meet partisan objectives; and,
- Put forth two (2) concrete next steps:
a. An open forum where a dialog takes place publicly between the Maricopa County officials and myself to review each anomaly and key finding documented in the Report; and,
b. An investigation on whether the 501 (c) not-for-profit named STATE NEWSROOM d.b.a Arizona Mirror, effectively serving as a proxy for Maricopa County election officials to execute a “hit job” on me – a member of the audit team of the 2020 Maricopa County, Arizona general election results -, was aimed to support one political candidate (Biden) over another (Trump).
The Racist Smear Campaign by Maricopa County Officials
This attack was racist – the kind of real racism that is discussed neither in mainstream media nor ever published by big academia.
The inability of Maricopa County election officials and their loyal scribe to keep in line a dark-skinned East Indian-American who dares to use his hard-earned scientific and engineering training and intelligence, is the source of this real racism. Their racist attack aimed to shame me back into their segregationist box of behavior that they deem acceptable for person of my background. For these Maricopa County election officials, it does not compute why a highly educated dark-skinned American, an immigrant, a low- caste Untouchable from India’s despicable caste system, a victim of racism his whole life, would ever perform an audit and report honest findings that may expose potential malfeasance of election officials, who likely support “liberal” Democrats – the rightful and sole heirs of the fight against “racism” in America.
Aren’t all people of my background supposed to be “liberal” Democrats, and, more importantly, isn’t someone like me supposed to shut up and fall in line when told to do so?
Herein, lies the real racism. I was not being a “Good Indian.”
So, they needed to be publicly “lynch” and shame me back into line, by demeaning what has earned my liberation: my reputation as a highly competent engineer, scientist, technologist, innovator, problem solver, and yes, an auditor, of all sorts of engineering systems and processes throughout my professional life. The DNA of engineering is “technical auditing.” The Arizona State Senate wanted the best in the world, and that is why I was selected and commissioned. What my team and I executed in 20-days for a contract of $50K, surpassed all expectations.
The Report was recently reviewed by Professor Deborah Nightingale, a distinguished professor and leader in the field of engineering systems. Dr. Nightingale acknowledged that the Report was “stellar;” was executed with “excellence;” and, was done at a “bargain” to Arizonans at $50K. I personally led the audit. I personally authored every word in that 99-page report. Their blog post aimed to attack my competence, integrity and credibility.
But, here are the facts. As an engineer, I have conducted and participated in numerous technical audits, likely far more than any of these County officials or their proxy scribe. I earned four degrees from MIT, including a MIT PhD, and graduated with a GPA of 4.9 out of 5.0. My bio and curriculum vitae that detail my accomplishments are available publicly for anyone to review. Among those accomplishments are a Fulbright Scholar, nominee for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, Westinghouse Science Honors Award recipient, Lemelson-MIT Award finalist, and, the inventor of email. I invented email before I came to MIT, while a 14-year-old, working at a small medical college in Newark, NJ in 1978.
In their racist blog post, knowing of these facts, they maliciously hoped to misdirect the reader away from the substantive issues raised in the Report, by attempting to paint me as a fraud – surely a 14-year-old dark-skinned fellow could never have invented email -, a “conspiracy theorist,” a loyal supporter of Trump who would allow partisanship to rule over his commitment to science and engineering, and an illiterate in the field of auditing. They demanded that I pay the Arizona State Senate back $50K. My great-grandfather was an indentured servant, a slave, and the proxy scribe seeks send me back to such servitude, since I did not stay in the box they had envisioned for me.
To reiterate, this is the real racism that the Establishment never wants discussed. It is this racism that is the operating system of power, profit, and control, that is designed to segregate all of us, regardless of the color of our skin. It is this racism that is used to distract the broad public from discovering the truth, beyond left and right, in any situation.
The journey I have walked is what these true racists can never comprehend. I was born a low-caste Untouchable in India’s oppressive caste system. My incredible parents, who were two in a trillion to the power of infinity, managed to get from India to America. By the time I was 16, I had realized that all political parties were part of the Swamp. So, I never voted for any candidate. I never participated in any election. However, I was committed to activism, on the ground. This was in addition to my activities as an inventor, scientist, technologist and entrepreneur.
I organized food service workers at MIT to fight for a better wage. I fought against universities supporting apartheid in South Africa. I fought for minorities, women, and the poor – black and white – to have access to higher education. I protested the Iraq War, long before it was popular to do so. I put my life and career on the line when I exposed academic corruption in India and in America. I used by skills as a scientist to fight Monsanto. I filed lawsuits as a pro se litigant exposing election corruption and violation of the First Amendment. Most recently, I uncovered the domestic censorship infrastructure that was created at Harvard’s Belfer School, documented in Playbooks, revealing the unholy alliance between government and Big Tech, to silence any American who criticizes government election officials.
My life has been as non-partisan as it gets.
The first time I ever voted was in 2016. Donald Trump’s rhetoric and uncompromising attack on the elites and the Washington, DC Swamp inspired me to vote for the first time, and later to run for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, initially as an Independent, and later as a Republican. However, Trump’s actions relative to cleaning up the Swamp were counter to his rhetoric as exemplified in: his inaction in going after Hillary Clinton who misappropriated government property to have plausible deniability; his rescuing Big Pharma just as Obama had saved Big Banks; his printing $6.2 Trillion, 50% more than Obama; his calling on his supporters to walk to the Capitol with him, while he drove off in his SUV; and, his and the RNC’s lack of transparency in disclosing the use of the $400+ million raised to supposedly fight “Election Fraud.”
In 2020, I did not vote for Trump.
In fact, I did something very unpopular among the Trumpers: I made a critical video wherein I reviewed and “audited” Trump’s tenure. The video was highly critical, and posed the question: “Was Trump the Swamp?” After posting that video, I lost nearly 25% of my followers on social media. I was taught to tell the truth, at the right time, not when it was convenient, and not when it was opportune for self-gain.
I am the child of oppression. My parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, were born in abject poverty, and they were uncompromising to their principles. Articulating the truth, regardless of the pains it may cause, is in my DNA. It may perhaps goes against evolutionary natural selection. But that is who I am. I have no horse in the game, but Truth Freedom Health.
The reason that this real racism is never discussed is because there is no real discourse or debate on racism in America. The Right denies racism exists. That denial has created an ideological vacuum, which the Left has filled. In fact, the Left, like the proxy rag and its scribe that the Maricopa County election officials enlisted, think they own “racism.” To the Left, being “racist” is confined to such things as using the “N-word,” and opposing affirmative action. This narrow and improper definition by the Left, alongside the Right’s declaration that racism does not exist, perpetuates the Black and White divide, by design.
Real racism is about keeping people in those boxes.
If you are Black then you must talk like this, eat like this, and be like this. If you are a white from the South, you must hate Black people, and so on. If you are an East Indian, you must support Gandhi, move your head left to right, and be willing to take a good beating. That is a “Good Indian.”
To those who unleashed this racism against me, they expected me to be that “Good Indian.” Sorry, homey don’t play that game! Never will.