Election Reform News for Friday, 5.19.06

[FogerRox]

Welcome to the "ERD"

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.




1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x397093

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.


If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391

for MAC users-- IIRC its hold down control- and click on the image to view its source.

Watch the supposed video of FLight 77 hitting the Pentagon here:
http://pserver.mii.instacontent.net/defense/flight77/fl77-2_11094237.WMV

[FogerRox]

1. Diebold Cancels Outsourcing Contract

Diebold Cancels Outsourcing Contract, Brings Home IT, ERP

In a case of life imitating survey results, Diebold's decision will cost the company about $7 million.

By W. David Gardner
TechWeb.com

May 17, 2006 12:00 PM

Last spring, Deloitte Consulting released a study noting that 70 percent of large companies had negative experiences with outsourcing and that 25 percent brought outsourcing projects back in-house.

This spring, Deloitte Consulting learned that one of its outsourcing customers -- Diebold Inc. -- will bring its Deloitte outsourcing contract back in-house.

In an announcement Wednesday, Diebold said it will take over the implementation and support responsibilities for its Oracle global enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and some additional IT-related functions on June 1. Diebold said the shift will result in a charge of about 7 cents a share, which calculates out to about $7 million. The original contract was scheduled to last for seven years.

Diebold spokesman Mike Jacobsen said little disruption is expected in the move because the 80 IT employees involved already work at Diebold headquarters in Canton, Ohio. Moreover, most of them worked directly for Diebold until four years ago when Deloitte's affiliate, CD Outsourcing ITO L.P., began the contract.

More-

http://www.informationweek.com/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=187900203&subSection=Best+Practices

[FogerRox]

5. Arizona, Law suit, Diebold, Sequoia, Voting-machine suit filed too late...

Voting-machine suit filed too late, lawyers argue

Paul Davenport
Associated Press
May. 19, 2006 12:00 AM

PHOENIX - Government lawyers argued Thursday that a lawsuit, which challenges most Arizona counties' plans to acquire more than 2,000 special voting machines for the disabled, was filed too late to affect what equipment is in polling places for the September primary election.

The lawsuit seeks a court order barring use of touch-screen machines made by Diebold Election Systems and Sequoia Voting Systems.

The state is using federal money to acquire the voting machines for 13 counties.

Machines made by a third company, Elections Systems and Software and chosen by Cochise and Graham counties, do comply with a federal mandate for voting access by the disabled.

>snip<

He gave the government defendants until late June to submit a formal reply to the lawsuit and scheduled a hearing a few days later to decide the next step.

more-

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0519votingmachines0519.html

[FogerRox]

11. Serious Problems With Electronic Voter Machines

Thanks to Kster for posting this. See here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x428674

May 18, 2006 9:00 a.m. EST

Andrea Moore - All Headline News Staff Reporter

(AHN) - State and local officials are beginning to join voter-access groups and computer scientists in questioning the reliability of the three major suppliers of electronic voting machines.
The latest among several security flaws to be uncovered affects thousands of Diebold touch-screen voting machines across the country that permits someone to upload their own software into a voting machine.

Computer scientist Michael Shamos, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, says the problem is the "biggest we've ever seen." He says he is not surprised because Diebold has "a history of not paying attention to security."

Meanwhile, four Arizona plaintiffs have filed suit against Secretary of State Jan Brewer and numerous county officials to stop the implementation of touch-screen machines produced by Diebold and Sequoia Voting Systems, saying the state is wasting millions of dollars on machines that "are not trustworthy or transparent."

Voter access groups say paper balloting is the only verifiable way to ensure elections are accurate.

(End of article)

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003621932

[FogerRox]

2. Sequoia, wins no Bid contract

Vote machines no-bid pact signed
Auditor 'not happy' with liability limits spelled out in deal


By Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News
May 19, 2006
Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher says he has reluctantly signed a contract to purchase touch-screen voting machines for the August primary election.
Complaining that the deadline gave him no choice but to approve the $1.4 million no-bid contract with Sequoia Voting Systems, Gallagher said the city would be better off if it had more than one company vying for city business.

Gallagher said he was particularly concerned by a clause in the contract that strictly limits Sequoia's liability if something goes wildly wrong on election day.

"I believe this limitation should not have been a part of this contract," Gallagher wrote to Alton Dillard, interim director of the Denver Election Commission.

"I am not happy about the circumstances that have led to the necessity of accepting such a limitation in a contract that I have no choice but to sign."

more-

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4710482,00.html

[FogerRox]

4. Sequoia mails out wrong sample ballots, California

Calaveras ballot blunder sends wrong samples to voters


ADDITIONAL WEBSITES
Calaveras County election information


Dana M. Nichols
Record Staff Writer
Published Friday, May 19, 2006

SAN ANDREAS - Many Calaveras County voters this week received incorrect sample ballots for the June 6 primary election, and the company responsible will send new ones to all of the county's 26,900 registered voters, elections officials announced Thursday.

Calaveras County clerk Karen Varni said the ballots that began arriving in mailboxes on Tuesday were sent to the wrong addresses because Sequoia Voting Systems used a computer file with the mailing list from the Nov. 8 election. The number of different ballot types in the county - three - was the same in the November election, but for completely different races and measures, Varni said.

>snip<

"Unfortunately, these types of things do happen from time to time," said Michelle Shafer, a vice president at Sequoia Voting Systems.

"It is not an overly common occurrence. When it does occur, we feel very badly and do everything necessary to correct the situation."

Shafer said the corrected ballots are being mailed out to Calaveras County voters today and that her company will pay the entire expense.

More:

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060519/NEWS01/605190323/1001

[FogerRox]

3. ES&S Ivotronic, shortage of paper Rolls.... WTF ?

Paper shortage for electronic voting machines worries election commission

By Warren Watkins

Tuesday, May 16, 2006 6:06 PM CDT


White County Clerk Tanya Burleson changes
a roll of paper in a voting machine at the
White County Court House Tuesday.



The Daily Citizen

It’s not miles and miles of red tape that concerns White County Election Coordinator John Nunnelly about the May 23 primary — it’s rolls and rolls of white tape that is crucial to the operation of the new iVotronic voting machines being used in White County for the first time.

Each machine prints out a copy of votes cast on the paper.

In the final meeting on Monday before next Tuesday’s primary, the White County Election Commission heard Nunnelly report there may be a problem with a shortage of the tape, which looks like calculator paper. The commission met to finalize plans to deliver and set up its 143 new machines at 32 polling sites.

Election Systems and Software (ES&S) is the only supplier of the paper, which costs the commission $8.50 a roll but comes with a take-up reel specific to the iVotronic machines. Nunnelly said the commission ordered 320 rolls and were only sent 80. Each machine comes with its own roll, but a new roll must be installed for about every 100 voters.

More-


http://www.thedailycitizen.com/articles/2006/05/17/news/top_stories/top01.txt

[FogerRox]

10. ES&S in Texas, traing was inadequate

Officials discuss creating election office
County Clerk says she wants to see how state voting goes

By Judith McGinnis/Times Record News
May 19, 2006

The business of conducting an election has come a long way from the days of "check this box" on a single piece of paper.

>snip<

"The (ES&S) school here was inadequate. They've just sold contracts to 149 more counties, so our concern is they may have outsold their ability to deliver services," Gossom said.

Bohannon echoed that worry. She said in their last training session, ES&S instructors demonstrated a mock election situation rather than let workers go hands on using a ballot with the names of real candidates.

More-

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_4710348,00.html

[FogerRox]

6. California: Alameda County abandons three-year experiment, loses $9 mill

Supervisors put off choosing new voting system
Alameda County abandons three-year experiment, loses $9 million in federal funds
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER


Facing a use-it-or-lose-it situation on $9 million in federal money, Alameda County supervisors put off choosing a new voting system Wednesday night under pressure from voting activists.
The county largely has ended its three-year experiment as the first big West Coast jurisdiction to gamble on Diebold and its electronic touch-screen voting machines. The question is, what's next, and when?

County executives pressed supervisors Wednesday night to settle on a new, "blended" voting system supplied by either Diebold or Oakland-based Sequoia Voting Systems, with primarily paper ballots run through optical scanners, plus a touch-screen at each polling place to guarantee accessibility for disabled voters.

The price tag is $13 million to $17 million, and with a budget deficit already on the horizon, county officials are eager to use federal grants for more than half the purchase. The grants come with conditions and tight deadlines.


more-

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_3841279

[FogerRox]

7. California, Winnebago still debating touch screens

Winnebago still debating touch screens



OSHKOSH — Will future Winnebago County elections inevitably be riddled with errors?


Advocates both for and against new touch-screen voting machines carry separate arguments, but both groups would suggest the answer is "yes."


The Winnebago County Board fell two votes shy of approving a resolution Tuesday to accept a $294,000 state grant for the purchase of 49 Diebold touch-screen voting machines. Federal law come September will require each polling place to include a machine that is handicapped accessible.


County clerks say that any system other than the Diebold touch-screen voting machine wouldn't be compatible with county equipment, would require manual vote tallies from each polling place and would open the door to significant human error.


"It just opens up a Pandora's box in terms of how many errors there could be," Deputy Clerk Pat Rabe said Wednesday.

more-

http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060518/APC0101/605180709/1003/APC01

[FogerRox]

8. Wisconsin, Officials warn of election errors : Diebold equipment

Officials warn of election errors

Errors possible with or without controversial touch-screen machines

By Jim Collar
Of The Northwestern


Will future Winnebago County elections inevitably be riddled with errors?


Advocates both for and against new touch-screen voting machines carry separate arguments, but both groups would suggest the answer is yes.


The Winnebago County Board of Supervisors Tuesday fell two votes shy of approving a resolution to accept a $294,000 state grant for the purchase of 49 Diebold touch-screen voting machines. Federal law come September will require each polling place to include a voting machine that's accessible to the handicapped.


County clerks say that any system other than the Diebold touch-screen voting machine wouldn't be compatible with county equipment, would require manual vote tallies from each polling place and would thereby open the door to potentially significant human error.


"It just opens up a Pandora's box in terms of how many errors there could be," Deputy Clerk Pat Rabe said Wednesday.


Winnebago County supervisors, however, are concerned about reports that the Diebold system has high rates of failure and also has flaws that would allow hackers to influence votes.

more-

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060518/OSH0101/605180377/1128/OSHnews

[FogerRox]

9. Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman: Will The Major Media Cover The Issue?

Will The Major Media Finally Cover The Electronic Election Fraud Issue?

by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
May 15, 2006
From: http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2006/1964

That the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 were stolen has become an article of faith for millions of mainstream Americans. But there has been barely a whiff of coverage in the major media about any problems with the electronic voting machines that made those thefts possible---until now.

A recent OpEdNews/Zogby People's poll ( http://tinyurl.com/hgkgl) of Pennsylvania residents, found that “39% said that the 2004 election was stolen. 54% said it was legitimate. But let’s look at the demographics on this question. Of the people who watch Fox news as their primary source of TV news, one half of one percent believe it was stolen and 99% believe it was legitimate. Among people who watched ANY other news source but FOX, more felt the election was stolen than legitimate. The numbers varied dramatically.”

Here, from that poll, are the stations listed as first choice by respondents and the percentage of respondents who thought the election was stolen: CNN 70%; MSNBC 65%; CBS 64%; ABC 56%; Other 56%; NBC 49%; FOX 0.5%.

more-

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0605/S00265.htm

Hello Major Media........

[FogerRox]

12. Maryland, Linda H. Lamone rebuts Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr

Early voting safe from fraud, Lamone says
Ehrlich grills state elections chief on 'e-poll books' at meeting


By Kristen Wyatt
The Associated Press

Originally published May 17, 2006, 3:10 PM EDT
State elections administrator Linda H. Lamone, responding to concern that Maryland's newly passed early voting law will allow unscrupulous voters to cast multiple ballots, maintained today that such fraud won't be possible.

Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. grilled Lamone on early voting for about half an hour during a Board of Public Works meeting. Lamone insisted throughout that the primary and general elections this fall will be fair and safe from would-be cheaters.


"We will be ready" to safeguard the polling, Lamone said.

Many of Ehrlich's questions were about electronic polling books that will be used this year. The "e-poll books" will record when a person has voted. Lamone said they'll be networked to prevent a person from voting in one precinct and then going to another precinct to try to cast a second ballot, she said.

Ehrlich said he didn't know that the e-books would be in real time, preventing voters from cheating by voting more than once before elections administrators figure it out.

more-

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-voting0517,0,4447421.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

[FogerRox]

13. Washington DC, House Panel Endorses D.C. Vote

House Panel Endorses D.C. Vote
Davis Secures Passage; Bill Needs Approval From Judiciary Committee

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 19, 2006; Page B01

A congressional committee overwhelmingly approved a bill yesterday that would grant the District a permanent, full voting member of the House of Representatives and add another legislator from Utah.

The House Committee on Government Reform voted 29 to 4 in favor of the proposal sponsored by its chairman, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.). The measure now goes to the House Judiciary Committee, whose chairman has agreed to bring it up for a vote.

Davis expressed cautious optimism, saying, "This is momentum." But he acknowledged that there was no guarantee that the polarized Judiciary Committee would pass the bill. If it does, the measure could advance to the full House, then the Senate.

"We've got a lot of people working on this," Davis said. "We take one hurdle at a time."

Proponents of D.C. voting rights were jubilant about the vote, which they called the most promising legislative action on the subject in decades.

More-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051801407.html

[FogerRox]

14. PA Mercer County sues Unilect

Pennsylvania county sues Calif. company over voting machines




MERCER, Pa. Commissioners in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, are suing the Dublin-based maker of the Patriot touch-screen voting system, alleging breach of warranty.

The lawsuit seeks more than 925-thousand dollars in damages from UniLect.

The machines caused a problem in the 2004 presidential election in Mercer County, where votes were apparently lost through human error or mechanical problems.

The company has blamed the problem on an error in ballot coding and the omission of a test by the county elections office.

In April 2005, the state banned three counties, including Mercer, from using the Patriot systems they had used for several years.

County officials say they have been told by UniLect that the company has given up attempts to have the system recertified by the state.

Here-

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=4925275&nav=9qrx

[FogerRox]

15. Voting-rights report slams S.D.

Voting-rights report slams S.D.
By Kevin Woster, Journal Staff Writer
American Indians in South Dakota continued to be denied fundamental voting rights, even as the U.S. Congress works to renew right-to-vote guarantees that are more than 40 years old, members of a civil-rights coalition said Wednesday.

“In the past 40 years, South Dakota has become a battleground for American Indian voting rights,” said Janine Pease, vice president of American Indian Affairs at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Mont.

Pease, a member of the Crow Indian Tribe, is the author of “Voting Rights in South Dakota 1982-2006,” a compilation of allegations and examples of discriminatory actions and policies toward American Indians in the state. She spoke to reporters during a teleconference conference call that also included former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights.

The report by Pease was commissioned by the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights Education Fund. It comes as Congress faces the renewal of key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the landmark legislation signed by President Lyndon Johnson to break down barriers to minority voting.

More-

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/05/18/news/local/news02.txt

view report here:

http://www.votingrightsact.org/homepageimages/highlights.pdf.

[EFerrari]

16. Kick

Thanks, Foger.

[Algorem]

17. Ohio-Cuyahoga voters,poll workers invited to forums to gauge experien-

ces

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1148027466227450.xml&coll=2

Friday, May 19, 2006

U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones has organized five regional forums for Cuyahoga County voters to speak out on their voting experiences during the May 2 primary. Poll workers are also invited to attend...

The first forum will be at 7 p.m. Monday ...

...though residents from other communities are also welcome.

Court reporters will take down voter and poll worker testimony so that a summary can be delivered to the election review panel set up by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to investigate major problems that arose during the primary...


Cuyahoga aiming for better result in election(yeahright.)
Board's procedures to be reviewed, changed

Thursday, May 18, 2006
Joan Mazzolini
Plain Dealer Reporter

Look for big changes for this November in how Cuyahoga County recruits and trains precinct workers for Election Day.

The panel investigating the May 2 election debacle said Wednesday it would come up with a system for finding competent people to work the polls and a program to give those people all the training necessary to guarantee a successful election.

"We see our primary responsibility to get this board ready for November and to restore public confidence in the election system," said Candace Hoke, a law professor running the Center for Election Integrity at Cleveland State University.

The three-member election review panel worked out the scope of the investigation Wednesday with Bob Bennett, elections board chairman. Essentially, the panel will conduct a wholesale review of how the board runs elections. The panel will examine how the board prepares machines for election day, sets up poll locations, designs ballots and awards contracts...

[paineinthearse]

18. MA/national: Put Fair and Clean Elections on MoveOn's Priority List

Added benefit to this link, you can post a response there!

http://www.johnbonifaz.com/

Put Fair and Clean Elections on MoveOn's Priority List

Submitted by Ofer Inbar on Fri, 05/19/2006 - 2:53pm.

Last night I attended a MoveOn house party in Cambridge. In a member's living room, we gathered with the New England MoveOn field organizer to discuss MoveOn's goals for the coming year.

When she asked us what we wanted MoveOn's top policy priorities to be, I sat back at first to listen. I was very happy to hear almost everyone bring up an election reform issue, such as public financing, or paper ballots. When all was done, enhancing democracy through election reform was one of the three priorities our group recommended to MoveOn.

The house party I went to was a pilot, one of a small number held yesterday. Next week, MoveOn is inviting supporters everywhere to hold "Positive Agenda House Parties" on Thursday, May 25th.

You want public financing, and instant runoff voting, and paper ballots, and election day registration. Electing John Bonifaz is a great way to makes these happen, but we also need promote our goals in other ways.

MoveOn is one of the largest progressive organizations in the country today, with tremendous power to put issues in the spotlight, get media coverage, and get the attention of lawmakers. So sign up to host a house party on Thursday! You can help make elections one of MoveOn's top priorities in the coming year.

[rumpel]

19. NV: Nevada election officials working with new registration system

Las Vegas Sun

Today: May 19, 2006 at 17:7:0 PDT

By BRENDAN RILEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS


CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Nevada election officials are giving good marks to a new voter registration program, developed in a hurry after the state ended a contract with a company for a system to comply with federal laws aimed at preventing voter fraud.

"The state working with the counties has put this together," John Trent, spokesman for Secretary of State Dean Heller, said Friday. "It's new territory, but so far, so good."

Heller had signed a contract with Covansys Inc. to develop a statewide, computerized registration system by Jan. 1, but suspended the contract in February because there were too many problems with the Michigan-based firm's product.

Ellick Hsu, chief of elections in Heller's office, then started working with county election officials, rushing to create the new system that started operating on May 8.

The program reviews voter registration reports sent in daily from counties to a state computer, comparing Social Security numbers with the state's driver license and vital statistics records.

If the state program spots a problem, such as someone who registered in one county but then moved to another county and registered again, the counties are alerted and can delete the outdated registration.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/may/19/051910428.html

[rumpel]

20. FL: Groups Fight Voter Registration Law

The Ledger

Published Friday, May 19, 2006
MIAMI

A coalition of grass-roots organizations and labor unions sued in federal court Thursday to challenge a new Florida law they contend could shut down voter registration efforts by imposing stiff penalties when deadlines are missed to submit the forms.

The law in question, which took effect Jan. 1, imposes fines that begin at $250 for each voter registration form submitted more than 10 days after it is collected from a person. The fines can reach $5,000 for forms that are never submitted. No excuses are permitted.

The suit contends that violates the Constitution's free speech protections by deterring voter registration drives, which could suppress political speech for thousands of people -- especially the poor, elderly, minority groups, rural residents and the disabled.

(entire article)
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060519/NEWS/605190387/1004

[rumpel]

21. PA: Hardaway to miss vote count Election official recuses herself after

getting 171 GOP write-ins

The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA

BY DAVID SINGLETON

A Lackawanna County election official will sit out the official count of Tuesday’s primary after she received Republican write-in votes for one of the legislative races on the ballot.

The absence of Cathy Hardaway, director of voter education, will leave the voter registration office shorthanded when the count begins today at 9 a.m. but won’t delay the process, assistant county solicitor Anthony Lomma said on Thursday.

“We’ll just get some other people involved,” said Mr. Lomma, who is assigned to the office.

Mrs. Hardaway agreed not to take part in tallying votes after objections were raised by state Rep. Jim Wansacz, D-Scott Township, who represents the 114th Legislative District.

Mr. Wansacz was unopposed for the Democratic nomination Tuesday, but both he and Mrs. Hardaway received write-in votes for the GOP nomination. There was no Republican listed on the ballot.

Mrs. Hardaway and Mr. Wansacz reached an agreement that Mrs. Hardaway would not participate “in an effort to avoid any hint of impropriety” in counting the write-ins, according to an order signed by county Judge Terrence R. Nealon.

“This way there won’t be any discrepancy,” Mr. Lomma said.


Efforts to reach Mrs. Hardaway were unsuccessful.

An unofficial election night tally by The Times-Tribune showed Mr. Wansacz with 420 Republican write-in votes — well more than the 300 he would need to secure the GOP spot on the November ballot — to 171 for Mrs. Hardaway.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16662410&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416046&rfi=6

on edit changed due to dupe

[rumpel]

22. AZ: Wheeler quits secretary of state race

Arizona Republic

Matthew Benson
The Arizona Republic
May. 19, 2006 12:00 AM
One of two Democrats hoping to unseat Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer dropped out of the race Thursday.

Bruce Wheeler said it would have been an uphill battle to defeat an incumbent while campaigning under the limits of public campaign financing. He added that he also struggled with logistical issues as a Tucson resident.

"Trying to get my name recognition up in Maricopa County, which is about 58 percent of the vote, was a real challenge," said Wheeler, a former Tucson mayor and state representative.

Wheeler's exit clears the way for remaining Democratic candidate Israel Torres.

Brewer faces a primary election challenge from former Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza.

(entire article)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0519wheelerquits0519.html

[Wilms]

23. VoteTrustUSA: Something Old Is Something New in Voting Machine Snafus

Something Old Is Something New in Voting Machine Snafus

By Vince Lipsio, Rebecca Mercuri, and Beth Feehan for VoteTrustUSA

May 19, 2006

While innuendo and rumors swirl around the “new” revelations regarding Diebold’s commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) security flaws, a bright light is shining on information that had been posted on the Internet well over a year ago, by Vince Lipsio, a computer scientist from Florida.

snip

But while reviewing components of the 2002 Federal Election Commission (FEC) standard used in the drafting of the IEEE standard, Vince noticed a blanket exemption for COTS products. His reaction to the exemption was simply that this meant these standards could not be taken seriously for their stated purpose; rather, they could only be some sort of bureaucratic cynical pacifier (aka, "smoke and mirrors") so that the FEC could claim to be doing something while, in fact, it was not doing anything useful. Vince's prior experience with medical electronics, aviation and other standards, was that COTS is given no exemption, but it may be unit tested only once before being used in multiple products.

snip

So the policy of not inspecting COTS materials, which could intentionally or accidentally be exploited to conceal voting system backdoors, continues to be perpetuated in the HAVA guidelines, despite numerous submitted comments to the EAC that have raised concerns in this regard. It therefore should not surprise anyone that actual evidence of such a COTS shell game having been played has now been discovered.

snip/links

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1295&Itemid=26


Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x428846