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
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Diebold Class Action Lawsuit and Florida Hack ≈
The elective office of the Supervisor of Elections has been non-partisan since the passage in 2002 of the Leon County Charter.
The Supervisor of Elections is the official custodian of the registration books and has the exclusive control of matters pertaining to the registration of voters, the conduct of local elections, the dissemination of election results, and the maintenance of election results. The Supervisor of Elections must receive and preserve information, such as campaign treasurer reports, relevant to local candidates, political committees and political parties.
Sancho criticized the Florida Secretary of State’s Office, which approves the voting systems used in the state, for not catching the alleged problems.
A spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office, Jenny Nash, said any faults Sancho found were between him and Diebold.
“If Ion Sancho has security concerns with his system, he needs to discuss them with Diebold”
Appreciate your diary on the Florida Diebold issue and the refusal of Jeb’s administration to let every vote count! My prior nicknames @dKos :: creve coeur and new creve coeur.
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY
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… the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina disrupted deliveries of the firm’s machines, affecting financial results negatively, Diebold reported earlier.
In a surprise announcement, O’Dell unexpectedly resigned from the company. A Diebold press release described O’Dell as leaving the company for “personal reasons”.
O’Dell Looking For A New Job!
Walden W. O'DellCEO O’Dell was immediately replaced by the company’s president and chief operating officer, Thomas W. Swidarski, who had directly overseen Diebold’s Election Systems subsidiary division for some time. Swidarski is also named as a co-defendant in today’s class action suit.
Hey, did you see this? ◊ by rumi
EXCLUSIVE: SECURITIES FRAUD LITIGATION FILED AGAINST DIEBOLD, INC!
Eight Current and Former Executives Named as Co-Defendants,
Including former CEO O’Dell and New CEO Swidarski.
The Aug. 14 letter from Walden O’Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc. – attended a strategy pow-wow with wealthy Bush benefactors – known as Rangers and Pioneers – at the president’s Crawford, Texas. 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.
The letter went out the day before Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, also a Republican, was set to qualify Diebold as one of three firms eligible to sell upgraded electronic voting machines to Ohio counties in time for the 2004 election.
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY