Instead of doing the voting system as a modular thing, where each component is separated and therefore, independently auditable and accountable, they are starting to make it one continuous thing. Let me explain:
Computerized, statewide voter registration: ES&S has long been in the market of computerized voter registration. Diebold bought the DIMS voter registration company last January. Election.com also does it.
Printing ballots: Did you know that Diebold has it's own ballot printing company? In Washington State, we have had a steady string of snafus about absentee ballots, and election officials have lost their job over it. Once again, the ballots went astray -- and this article, in the Seattle Times, explains why: Diebold error.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001702524_ballots03m.htmlVoter sign-in at the polling place: I got hold of a couple sales presentations these companies are making. They are proud that the voting machine system they make can "automatically log in to the voter registration database." Now, how long do you think it will be before instead of having a printout and checking off your name (the physical audit trail used to compare #votes cast with #votes counted), they start just entering a number and signing voters in electronically? And when they do that, who will know if the sign-in tally is correct or stuffed?
Voting -- as we know, we are now moving to casting our vote electronically
Vote tallying -- and then the machine calls in to the central tallying machine and dumps its data.
Now, picture the above with one company at the helm
It controls the voter registration list. It controls notifications sent to voters. It controls sign-in at the polling place. It controls casting of the vote. It controls counting of the vote.
And it is private and secret and we aren't allowed to know a damn thing about anything it does.
Bev
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