Bradblog: Diebold certified in NC after all by former Diebold rep!

[Amaryllis]

'IMMACULATE CERTIFICATION'! DIEBOLD ALLOWED IN NORTH CAROLINA AFTER ALL!
Voting Company Apparently Just Kidding About Pulling Out of State!
Former Diebold Rep, Now on NC Election Advisory Board Certifies Diebold, Despite Apparent Failure to Comply with State Law Requiring Source Code Escrow!

Surprise! Diebold got certified in North Carolina today. In what the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is calling the "Immaculate Certification" the North Carolina State Board of Elections has decided to certify Diebold. This is the same Diebold that three days ago said that they would have to pull out of consideration in the state because they were not willing to put their buggy software source code from their flawed Voting Machines into escrow claiming they had third-party software that could not be submitted to the state. This is the same Diebold that, as BRAD BLOG correctly surmised, were apparently making faux claims about their need to pull out of NC due to a court's refusal to allow them exemption from that state law. But what else is new for a company like Diebold?

And who made the decision to go ahead and ignore the code and certify Diebold? A gentleman by the name of Keith Long was hired to be in charge of the process for the state. And what are Mr. Long's credentials to handle this job? Mr. Long was one of the Diebold representatives responsible for previously selling the Diebold voting system to the state of Georgia.

URL: http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002105.htm

[texpatriot2004]

1. Live FREE or Diebold. Diebold LIES. Recommended. nm

[snowbear]

2. Just goes to show... anyone can be bought...

How sad.. I thought North Carolina was going to the shining example of how to say no to corrupt voting.

http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=4191425&nav=menu70_2

[kansasblue]

7. I was so proud of EFF and their victory... I'm sad

[hwmnbn]

3. Wait a second!!....

what about the court ruling that they must disclose their code. Wouldn't this be contempt of that court?

[Neil B Forzod]

13. it's not contempt of court

Diebold did deposit their source code in escrow, they never had a problem with that. They went to court to seek a clarification of the law and/or an exemption over some third-party components (like the operating system) to which they don't have the source, or to which they have a license agreement that precludes redistribution of the source.

There was no directive or order issued by the court, the judge simply said that the law was clear in its wording and that he can't/won't consider any interpretation of its intent until someone's actually charged with a violation of it (because that's the way the justice system generally works).

So no, it's not contempt of court for them to comply with the law and try to sell their wares in North Carolina.

Neil

[hwmnbn]

18. Thanks Neil....

I'm now left with the question, can anything be done legally to ensure honest transparent electronic voting?

I'm not optimistic about our chances unless e-voting becomes fully transparent, and right now there's no major uproar about it, example North Carolina.

[newyawker99]

19. Hi Neil B Forzod!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Skip Intro]

4. What!?

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Well, it IS North Carolina, afterall.

I was shocked that Diebold was questioned in the first place. This latest shenanigan is more in line with white good ole boy behavior I'm use to seeing in the South. I was worried there for a minute because I don't like surprises.

[depakid]

11. That was my thought exactly

Not for a minute did I think NC state officials would uphold the law. I guess now someone will have to raise money to take them to court.

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. And even if you do take them to court, they will cheat any way they

can in order to win. I guess Republicans are criminally inclined.

[bleever]

6. Who will sue? EFF? State Dems? Class action?

Any NC lawyers on DU?

[KoKo]

10. It's being worked on. The legislation says the code has to be examined.

Also. The machines will be very expensive and more of them will need to be purchased than the opti-scans. That's one factor in the favor of keeping them out. Cost and Efficiency and examination of their code.

No one is going to give up on this. We knew they would hit back hard because state by state they need to get their DRE's in place for 06.
Their agressiveness in hiring Keith Long when he's already been responsible for Maryland, Georgia and Ohio machine purchases and failures plus has had a long history of working for the companies in question might be a "push too far."

[ms liberty]

8. What's our legal recourse here?

I'm a citizen of this state, and this doesn't fly at all.

What can we do?

[KoKo]

9. Go to this website. It's non-partisan but there are activists there

trying to work on this. It will keep you updated too! Help will be needed on this for awhile and any person who can help will be appreciated.

http://www.ncvoter.net/

[Neil B Forzod]

15. what doesn't fly?

If they comply with the law and deposit their source code with a state-appointed escrow agency, what exactly doesn't fly?

The intent of the law when it was drafted was transparency in the voting system. If the drafters intended the law to keep Diebold from doing business in North Carolina, it should have probably been written "Diebold shall not do business in the state of North Carolina".

I'm not advocating on their behalf, I'm just not sure what the exact issue is if they comply with the law.

Neil

[OKthatsIT]

12. GODDAMNIT...I"M SO PISSED

(ranting, stomping, jumping up and down...)

[hunter]

14. So, are we having fun yet?

Diebold machines face crucial test
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER

Back in May, voting activists went on the Internet and for $300 apiece purchased two devices used to record moisture levels in corn.

Certain corn scanners use the same memory cards as Diebold Election Systems' optical scanning machines for ballots and can easily modify them. That makes corn scanners a tool for vote hacking.

Sitting by a hotel pool last spring in Florida, Finnish computer expert Harri Hursti wrote his own program on a memory card so it could alter poll results on a Diebold machine in Leon County and flash a screen message — "Are we having fun yet?" — that shocked the local elections supervisor.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_3258353

There's a possibility that the whole plan falls apart if we have honest elections in the United States... So we can't allow that, right?

[ngGale]

16. NC back in business ...

for '06. It was too good to be true, I'm not surprised.:nuke:

[Al-CIAda]

20. .