E-voting / paper trail / Diebold Inc.
Schwarzenegger signs e-voting 'paper trail' bill
By Richard Shim CNET News.com September 28, 2004, 2:52 PM PT
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law Tuesday that requires a paper backup for ballots cast using electronic voting systems.
After aggressively deploying paperless e-voting setups, California is requiring machines to be retrofitted or replaced to meet the requirements of the new law, which will go into effect by the 2006 primaries. The law also prevents the certification of any new e-voting systems after Jan. 1, 2005, and prohibits purchase of systems after Jan. 1, 2006.
The bill, called SB 1438, was co-authored by Senators Ross Johnson, a Republican from Orange County, and Don Perata, a Democrat from Alameda County. Though other states have begun pursuing paper-trail legislation, California is among the first to enact a law.
The law is a response to nationwide criticisms over flaws in e-voting systems. Security researchers have said current systems have significant security vulnerabilities, and a paper trail has been the recommended method of ensuring the reliability and security of e-voting.
The Golden State's attorney general, Bill Lockyer, said he will sue Diebold, maker of e-voting machines used in California, for fraud. The state will charge that the company made false claims about its products, which were not tested or approved.
source: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9592_22-5387633.html
of special interest:
Published on Thursday, August 28, 2003 by the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Voting Machine Controversy
by Julie Carr Smyth
COLUMBUS - The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."
The Aug. 14 letter from Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc. - who has become active in the re-election effort of President Bush - prompted Democrats this week to question the propriety of allowing O'Dell's company to calculate votes in the 2004 presidential election.
O'Dell attended a strategy pow-wow with wealthy Bush benefactors - known as Rangers and Pioneers - at the president's Crawford, Texas, ranch earlier this month. The next week, he penned invitations to a $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser to benefit the Ohio Republican Party's federal campaign fund - partially benefiting Bush - at his mansion in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington.
for the entire article visit: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0828-08.htm
By Richard Shim CNET News.com September 28, 2004, 2:52 PM PT
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law Tuesday that requires a paper backup for ballots cast using electronic voting systems.
After aggressively deploying paperless e-voting setups, California is requiring machines to be retrofitted or replaced to meet the requirements of the new law, which will go into effect by the 2006 primaries. The law also prevents the certification of any new e-voting systems after Jan. 1, 2005, and prohibits purchase of systems after Jan. 1, 2006.
The bill, called SB 1438, was co-authored by Senators Ross Johnson, a Republican from Orange County, and Don Perata, a Democrat from Alameda County. Though other states have begun pursuing paper-trail legislation, California is among the first to enact a law.
The law is a response to nationwide criticisms over flaws in e-voting systems. Security researchers have said current systems have significant security vulnerabilities, and a paper trail has been the recommended method of ensuring the reliability and security of e-voting.
The Golden State's attorney general, Bill Lockyer, said he will sue Diebold, maker of e-voting machines used in California, for fraud. The state will charge that the company made false claims about its products, which were not tested or approved.
source: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9592_22-5387633.html
of special interest:
Published on Thursday, August 28, 2003 by the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Voting Machine Controversy
by Julie Carr Smyth
COLUMBUS - The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."
The Aug. 14 letter from Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc. - who has become active in the re-election effort of President Bush - prompted Democrats this week to question the propriety of allowing O'Dell's company to calculate votes in the 2004 presidential election.
O'Dell attended a strategy pow-wow with wealthy Bush benefactors - known as Rangers and Pioneers - at the president's Crawford, Texas, ranch earlier this month. The next week, he penned invitations to a $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser to benefit the Ohio Republican Party's federal campaign fund - partially benefiting Bush - at his mansion in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington.
for the entire article visit: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0828-08.htm
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More Troubles for Diebold
The New York Times | Editorial
Monday 04 October 2004
Diebold, the much-criticized electronic voting machine company, got another black eye last week. A federal court in California ruled that it had violated federal law when it falsely charged two students with violating its copyrights by posting critical information about its voting machines on the Internet. The case raises more questions about Diebold's honesty and its commitment to transparency.
The story began early last year when someone - it is unclear who - posted internal Diebold e-mail messages on the Internet that discussed flaws in the company's electronic voting machines. Two students from Swarthmore College then posted those messages on various Web sites. Diebold sent out a flurry of cease-and-desist letters claiming that the postings violated its copyrights. The students sued, charging that Diebold knowingly misrepresented its rights under copyright law.
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California agreed. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it is illegal to send a cease-and-desist letter while knowing that the claim of copyright infringement is false. The court held that Diebold knew that its e-mail messages "discussing possible technical problems" with its voting machines were not copyrighted, but went ahead anyway.
This is the second recent setback to Diebold's already troubled reputation. Last month, California's attorney general, Bill Lockyer, joined a false-claims suit against Diebold charging it with lying to the state about the security of its voting systems. Now, a federal court has ruled that Diebold made knowing misrepresentations to get damaging information about its machines' security off the Internet.
Diebold has a great deal to do to make its work transparent and its company trustworthy if it wants to remain in the elections business.
source: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/100504E.shtml
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