Chalk up another victory for the voters of Florida. Despite acting Florida Secretary of State David Mann’s refusal to investigate Diebold electronic voting machines state-wide, Volusia County Council members decided in a
4-3 vote [that] allows the county to trade in the paperless touch screens for an ES&S-supported ballot-marking device with an accessible touch-screen called AutoMark, if it gets approved for use in Florida. Brad Blog
Mann’s office oversees (right!) the state elections department, and Mann claimed Thursday (12/15/05) that he has such “confidence” in his agency’s certification process that he has no intention of doing any double checking now. This despite
Top computer scientists and voting experts said Thursday that Florida must re-examine the way it tests voting machines and needs to verify claims by a Tallahassee elections official who said hackers could alter some computerized election results. Black Box Voting.org
Remember the Diebold smoking gun story of November 11, 2000?
“DELAND, Fla., Nov. 11 – Something very strange happened on election night to Deborah Tannenbaum, a Democratic Party official in Volusia County. At 10 p.m., she called the county elections department and learned that Al Gore was leading George W. Bush 83,000 votes to 62,000. But when she checked the county’s Web site for an update half an hour later, she found a startling development: Gore’s count had dropped by 16,000 votes, while an obscure Socialist candidate had picked up 10,000–all because of a single precinct with only 600 voters.” Scoop Independent News
So who do Florida voters have to thank for this lates move in the right direction of preventing voter fraud? The Electronic Frontier Foundation who filed an amicus brief on behalf or Handicapped Adults of Volusia County (HAVOC).
On July 5, 2005, the National Federation of the Blind, the National Federation of the Blind in Florida, and five blind Volusia County voters filed a lawsuit in federal court against Voluisa County Council’s decision to reject “paperless” Diebold touch-screen machines in favor of waiting for state certification of the AutoMark ballot marker. The County Council, after four long, emotional council meetings over as many months, voted 4-3 against Diebold. Verified Voting Foundation
You can read more about the National Federation for the Blind case at Electronic Frontier Boundation. Details included are:
* Appellants’ Reply Brief September 16, 2005
* EFF Amicus Brief September 14, 2005
* Appellees’ Brief September 2, 2005
* Amicus Brief of American Association of People with Disabilites August 24, 2005
* Appellants’ Brief August 15, 2005
* Opinion Denying Preliminary Injunction July 21, 2005
* HAVOC Amicus Brief July 14, 2005
* Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion For a Preliminary Injunction July 13, 2005
* Defendant Ann McFall’s Response to Plaintiff’s Motion For a Preliminary Injunction July 13, 2005
* Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction July 5, 2005
* Complaint July 5, 2005
