GAO report: e-voting vendors causing problems for states

[helderheid]

By Julian Sanchez | Published: September 30, 2008 - 07:10AM CT

The Government Accountability Office last week issued the results of a year-long audit of state election systems, and while the tenor of the report is broadly optimistic, it finds states reporting difficulties in a number of problem areas involving the certification and testing of new voting systems. Perhaps more troubling, however, the report notes that the "full scope of the problems that may have been experienced is not clear" because the local jurisdictions directly in charge of running the polls were generally not required to report snags, glitches, or SNAFUs to any central state authority.

The report was based on survey replies submitted by 47 states (Michigan, New Jersey, and Utah declined to respond), the District of Columbia, and several US territories over the past year, and sought to assess how well states were coping with 13 different potential "challenges" in rolling out new voting systems.

The majority of respondents reported "challenges" in five or more areas, including properly configuring voting systems, finding qualified personnel to carry out tests, securing the funds needed for adequate testing, and completing certification of machines on schedule. The single most frequently cited problem was "ensuring vendors meet requirements," with 21 states and one territory identifying "minor" challenges in this area, and another 8 states describing the difficulties as "major." In all, 16 states and territories acknowledged "major" difficulties in at least one of these areas.

While all states had established some process for approving voting systems, whether codified in statute or laid out in administrative rules, only 31 had explicit procedures in place for revoking a prior certification in light of changed circumstances or new information. In 21 states, approval and certification of voting systems was left wholly in the hands of officials at the local level, despite increasing state-level control of elections. Fewer than half conducted post-election audits in 2006 to detect problems or discrepancies.



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http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080930-gao-report-e-voting-vendors-causing-problems-for-states.html

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. So the facilitation of one of the most important pillars of our democracy are in the hands of either

amateurs...or, more likely, criminals.

This alone should be causing massive protests. But much of America is in its Rip Van Winkle, extended sleep phase.

[helderheid]

2. It's outrageous.

[L0oniX]

3. All the more reason to use a mail in ballot.