BBV - A Deafening Silence

[reprehensor]

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0304-11.htm

I've always wondered what sound Democracy would make if it died.

Last night, I found out in Santa Clara, California. The sound it makes is a deafening silence, and it sent chills up and down my spine. This sound scared me more than anything I've ever heard in my life.

Last night, I experienced the illusion of casting my vote on a state of the art touch screen "DRE" (direct recording electronic) computer voting system. The poll workers were helpful and showed me how to vote. However, when I asked them a detailed question such as, who is the vendor that makes these voting machines, all I got was a blank stare. Do you have any information on these machines? No answer. I had to examine the machines myself to find out who made them. I didn't know that my most basic question was going to be a rhetorical one.

The particular model I went through the motions of voting on was an "AVC Edge" with a software (firmware) version of 4.2.4 (according to the label on the back), manufactured by Sequoia Voting Systems of Oakland, California. However, the software version number displayed on the touch screen was 4.2, not 4.2.4. (Should I be concerned that the software running didn't match the label on the back?) You can even view a demonstration of how the AVC Edge works on their company web site.

The poll worker politely programmed a smart card for me with my political party affiliation. I inserted the card into the voting machine which started the voting process. The voting machine displayed my choices to me based on my political party and I made all my choices very easily by touching the screen.

More at link.

[brainshrub]

1. I heard about the vote machines in Florida last night on NPR

They barely mentioned the problems.

[LibDemAlways]

2. I live in Ventura County and we still use punchcards.

When the Sequoia or Diebold vaporized vote machines show up here, I'm going absentee. SOS Kevin Shelley wants a paper trail by 2006. What a crock. These machines should be taken out of service until every one comes with the same kind of printed tally we get when we depart the supermarket - telling us exactly which brands we bought.