Posted on 07/29/2005 1:43:45 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California election officials have rejected an electronic voting machine by Diebold after tests revealed unacceptable levels of screen freezes and paper jams.
Three counties already have purchased the TSX voting machine, which was found to have a failure rate of 10 percent. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said that was too high a risk and he notified company officials in a letter sent Wednesday.
In a mock election held last week to test the 96 touch-screen machines, McPherson noted in the letter that his staff encountered "problems with paper jamming on the ... printer module," he said in the letter.
The state withdrew certification for some of Diebold's e-voting equipment in April 2004 after then-Secretary of State Kevin Shelley found those systems unreliable because they lacked a paper trail.
The state was testing the touch-screen voting machines before re-certifying the system.
North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold Election Systems Inc. plans to fix the problems and will reapply for California approval, said company spokesman David Bear.
"As I understand it, there were 10 paper jams," said David Bear, a spokesman for Diebold Election Systems. "If you have a printer, you have the possibility of this, but you certainly want to lessen that possibility."
He noted that Diebold's system was the first to undergo such extensive testing for the paper trail.
San Joaquin, Kern and San Diego counties already have purchased the TSX system, the secretary of state's office said, spending $40 million on 13,000 machines that have been warehoused since 2003. Other counties were poised to buy the machines if they were approved by McPherson.
Kern County spent $4.1 million on the machines, but officials there were hopeful the system would eventually be certified.
"For this November election, we're going to be all paper," said chief deputy registrar Sandy Brockman, but she added that the county had planned only a limited use of the TSX machines in the special election as a test.
Federal law requires that by 2006, every polling place must have at least one handicapped-accessible voting machine - such as a touch-screen machine - that allows disabled voters to cast a secret ballot. California also requires e-voting machines to have a paper trail.
So far, no system has been approved that meets both requirements.
"I'm concerned for the counties (that bought these systems), but I'm very heartened that our new secretary of state has drawn a hard line on voter security and didn't allow the machine to be rushed through the testing," said Kim Alexander, president of the Davis-based California Voter Foundation.
Alexander's organization encourages counties to use an optical scan system, in which the voter fills out a paper ballot that is scanned and digitally counted.
"It's a ballot marked by the voter's own hand and can be used to verify the vote if there's a problem," she said. "It's more secure, more transparent and less expensive" than other e-voting systems.
--
On the Net:
Secretary of state's Web site: http://www.ss.ca.gov
Diebold Election Systems: http://www.diebold.com/dieboldes/default.htm
Yes, that is all we need in California, an easier way to voter fraud and cheating -- the libs would love it.
Well I for one am against these machines because of their closed nature. The friggin things run on access for G%ds sake.
I think it would make alot of people happier if they open up the code made it public and let the the hackers have at it. (of course I'm using hacker in it's real sense)
All of a sudden all this whining would stop (well you'd still get some confused souls). But it would shut up this whole stole the election crap.
All of a sudden all this whining would stop (well you'd still get some confused souls). But it would shut up this whole stole the election crap.
----
If it was a requirement that all voters in America MUST READ AND WRITE the English language (AS IT SHOULD BE) -- then a regular card ballot would work just fine, counted by card readers, just like they have been for decades. They work just fine, and are not subject to EASY ELECTRONIC FRAUD like the electronic systems are.
Screen freezes and paper jams, bad; total lack of security and virtually open access to the database, no problemo.
Gotcha Brucie, yer doin a great job out there.
In other words Windows LOL. Seriously I use windows everyday but I don't trust it to count ballots.
Here's an article from two years ago that discusses the Access database used by these machines. Scary!
Yep I know you want to avoid the tin foil that the RATS wear but on this one I tend to agree (shoot me someone). If the programs and databases were opened up, inspected and secured by our best and brightest, I'd feel a heck of alot better.
No company should be allowed to hold the voting system as a patented product (just isn't right).
Now don't get me wrong I don't think the government could do a better job developing a system (they've proven that they can't in the past), but if they make it available for outside bidding the code developed should be made public. I mean what is so secret about (1 vote +1 vote =2 votes)
I find it funny that a state that can keep track of six different lotteries can't vote using the same process.
Yeah sad isn't it. If I were to even try to hack or adjust the lottery I'd be busted in seconds.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.