sen. bowen replies to skippy's letter

sen. bowen’s office responded to our email with the following:

last friday afternoon, as millions of californians were preparing for their presidents’ day holiday weekend, secretary of state bruce mcpherson quietly re-certified diebold electronic voting machines for the 2006 elections.

to rush through this re-certification, the secretary of state had to go back on his word — twice — and violate federal and state law in the process. compounding this travesty is that the re-certification is based solely on the views and recommendations of people on the secretary’s payroll.

this is unacceptable!

more after the jump:

urge secretary of state mcpherson to reverse his decision on diebold — email him today!

the secretary of state based his decision on what he called an “independent audit” — which was really a review of the diebold machines conducted by a board that he appointed himself. the results of this study were kept secret from you and every other california voter until after the secretary made his decision to give diebold the green light.

there was absolutely zero public review or input before this decision was made. that’s not how you restore public confidence in california elections.

why is secretary mcpherson so intent to rush through this diebold certification?

where are the results of tests conducted by the federal “independent testing authorities?” mcpherson told us last december that he wouldn’t even consider diebold’s application until those tests were done.

and why didn’t mcpherson allow experts and the general public to review and comment on this latest report before he decided to flip-flop on the issue and re-certify these diebold machines?

urge the secretary of state to reverse his decision to re-certify the diebold machines — and schedule a public hearing to independently review new and damaging information about diebold’s machines!

this report determined that “there are serious vulnerabilities” with the diebold machines “that go beyond what was previously known.”

don’t you think that californians deserve voting systems without “serious vulnerabilities?”

urge secretary of state mcpherson to stop the re-certification of these diebold machines until we know the facts — send him an email today!

so, just to recap the facts here:

the secretary of state’s own rushed secret study points out “serious vulnerabilities… that go beyond what was previously known,” yet the secretary decided to re-certify the machines.
there has been absolutely no opportunity for public comment or review on these latest findings.
the secretary of state told us he would wait for test results from the federal “independent testing authorities” before acting on diebold’s request to re-certify its machines. he didn’t do that.
the secretary of state said any voting machine in california would have to meet all federal laws, rules, and regulations. these diebold machines fail that test — especially by using “interpreted code” that is banned by the election assistance commission.
the secretary of state said any voting machine in california would have to meet state law. these diebold machines violate state law because they don’t provide an audible “read-back” of the machines’ auditable paper trail for blind and visually-impaired voters.

what could secretary of state mcpherson possibly be thinking?

tell secretary of state mcpherson to put his decision to re-certify the diebold machines on hold now!

thanks so much for your help on this critical issue. the integrity of california’s state elections system is at stake.

sincerely,

debra bowen
california state senator

p.s. i’m pursuing many other actions as well, including compelling voting machine vendors and the secretary of state to appear before the state senate. but right now it’s important for secretary of state mcpherson to hear from all of us directly, since it was his decision on friday to certify diebold’s machines — and it is his responsibility to hear the facts and comply with the law.