[IP] Ohio Halts E-Voting Machines
Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2003 11:59:14 -0500 (EST)
From: Freematt357@xxxxxxx
Subject: Ohio Halts E-Voting Machines
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Ohio Halts E-Voting Machines
Associated Press
Story location:
<http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,61467,00.html>http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,61467,00.html
06:22 PM Dec. 03, 2003 PT
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state's top elections official said Tuesday that
security problems found in new touch-screen voting systems mean they won't
be in place statewide in time for the November 2004 presidential election.
Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell said some of the new voting machines
would be installed in August, some in November and the rest in 2005.
That means some of Ohio's 88 counties still will be using punch-card
systems for the 2004 election. Problems with punch cards in Florida left
the outcome of the 2000 presidential race in doubt for more than a month.
The four electronic touch-screen systems must be proven secure before Ohio
voters use them, Blackwell said. His office will work with the
manufacturers to ensure the problems are corrected, he said.
Ohio and much of the rest of the nation are upgrading voting equipment
under legislation passed by Congress after the 2000 election.
The state must ask the Federal Election Commission for an extension in
complying with the law, Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo said.
Companies that tested the security systems of the four machine types found
software that permits votes to be counted more than once, and a risk that
unauthorized poll workers or others could gain access to the system.
Identical passwords were discovered for more than one poll worker, while
voting booth cases did not provide for locks, leaving a risk of tampering
during transportation of ballots.
Each of the voting systems provided by the four vendors -- Diebold Election
Systems, Sequoia Voting Systems, Election Systems & Software and
Maximus/Hart Intercivic/DFM Associates -- has multiple but not identical
problems, Blackwell said.
Mark Radke, a Diebold executive, said the company already had fixed
problems in machines used in municipal elections in Maryland.
"These software enhancements will be implemented in all touch-screen units
deployed within Ohio and the process-related questions are addressed in the
Diebold Election Systems training manuals," Radke said.
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