CA Sec'y Of State: Diebold 10% failure rate "not good enough for voters"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

State rejects e-voting system
Counties scramble to replace Diebold machines
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER

Article Last Updated: 07/29/2005 09:27:42 AM

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_2898218

After possibly the most extensive testing ever on a voting system, California has rejected Diebold's flagship electronic voting machine because of printer jams and screen freezes, sending local elections officials scrambling for other means of voting.

"There was a failure rate of about 10 percent, and that's not good enough for the voters of California and not good enough for me," said Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.

If the machines had been used in an actual election, the result could have been frustrated poll workers and long lines for thousands of voters, said elections officials and voter advocates on Thursday. "We certainly can't take any kind of risk like that with this kind of device on California voters," McPherson said. Rejection of the TSx by California, the nation's largest voting system market, could influence local elections officials from Utah to Mississippi and Ohio, home of Diebold corporate headquarters, where dozens of counties are poised to purchase the latest Diebold touchscreen.

State elections officials in Ohio say they still have confidence in the machines.

[shance]

1. McPherson is lying. The "failure" rate can be anything they program

the failure rate to be.

[AntiCoup2K4]

3. True, but the point is that a large state just shitcanned Diebold!

And even if McPherson understated the problem, that's a huge step in the proper direction.

[shance]

6. I wish it were so. However, they will just utilize another company

such as ES&S or some other company.

I think we have to be realistic and assume they are doing this to appease a skeptical public, when in reality they have no intention of sacrificing electronic voting and their ownership of ballot data if they don't have to.

And there are other companies that will replace Diebold and produce the same outcome.

[rumpel]

7. Connie McCormack has to go.

LA registrar the prime supporter friend of vendor's wife pushing for the machines.

[rumpel]

2. Point is at the moment it can not be used. Small victory, but we'll keep

monitoring.

[Turn CO Blue]

4. Can you just imagine if your ATM failed 10% of the time?!?!

or switched your "yes's to no's" or change the amount requested, or only gave you 90% of the amount you requested, but still debited your account the full amount? There would be rioting at the banks, in the streets and the offices of Diebold!

I can't believe what the voters will put up with!

[K8-EEE]

5. I Voted On One Of Those Damned Things Here in L.A...

Because I wanted to volunteer to get people to polls on election day, and it was the only way to vote early, certain government offices.

Sure gives you a sinking feeling, seeing that Diebold logo on the screen then some message like Thanks For Voting, BuhBYE!

[DemInDistress]

8. I remember a story last year

a guy develops a computer touch screen that enables a voter to select their man/woman by touch,from behind a plexi-glass frame a paper ballot is shown to you ,if you agree with the printed paper vote you press submit.Down drops the paper ballot and 1 more vote is added to the computer count.This guy who invented this voting system has a head-on collision with an 18 wheeler and died.Walden O'dell owner of Deibold bought the dead guy company and disbanded it....says a lot.I think the man's name was Gibbs but don't hold me to it ..i will search for it

[Boredtodeath]

10. Athan Gibbs of TrueVote

And you have the story wrong - very wrong.

TrueVote was NOT bought by Diebold. They didn't have to buy the company after they killed the inventor. The company has just been sitting and dying a very slow death while Athan's children try to keep it alive.

And Athan wasn't hit head on, he was hit from behind. By an 18 wheeler which had been sitting on the side of the road for 18 minutes (waiting for Athan?). Athan's car flipped over a guard rail and he was ejected from the vehicle, killing him. We know these facts because we have the GPS from the 18 wheeler.

Of course, there were any number of irregularities surrounding the accident, right down to the state police officer who responded to the accident laying blame on Athan without any investigation, and giving a statement to the press before an investigation or accident reconstruction could be accomplished; within 5 minutes of the accident, actually.

TrueVote and Avante were the only systems with voter verified paper ballots federally certified at the time. And Athan had been to Atlanta to testify before a Senate Committee shortly before they accident; where the committee passed the legislation out to the floor and it passed after Athan's testimony and demonstration.

Athan was scheduled to go back to Atlanta to demonstrate his system to the house just days after his death.

As I said, there were a LOT of irregularities surrounding his "accident," but let's try to keep it factual.

[DemInDistress]

12. thanks for the correction

but still seems strange,a company with verified paper trails comes up dead.Coincidence? Why wasn't Truevote systems adopted? anyway thanks for his name

[Helga Scow Stern]

9. While this may be good news, it may just as well be a smokescreen.

They got rid of Diebold in Ohio, for instance, and look what happened there.

It may well be an appeasement measure, a diversion to counter opposition to McPherson doing other dirty bidding. Shelley was not surgically removed for no reason. There are many ways to steal elections, many other vendors to use. Conny McCormack, the biggest opponent of VVPBs, head of LA County Board of Elections, the biggest in the country, doesn't even use Diebold (except in the tabulation ;0).

[I_Make_Mistakes]

11. Did you know Diebold also makes ATM's

I was at WAWA, their machines charge no ATM fees. I stuck my card in, saw DIEBOLD, and immediately canceled my transaction. I drive the block to my local branch and checked not DIEBOLD, thank GOD.

[Name removed]

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