Thursday, September 09, 2004

State (California) Joins Suit Over Voting Machines

sub required so ...

---------------------------------------------------
Activists (Bev Harris of BlackBoxVoting.com and others) allege the maker sold equipment that was vulnerable to ballot tampering.

By Stuart Pfeifer, Times Staff Writer

California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer on Tuesday said he will join a lawsuit against voting machine manufacturer Diebold Election Systems for allegedly lying to state regulators about the security of some of its equipment.The lawsuit was filed in November by two voting-rights activists who contend that Texas-based Diebold sold vote-counting equipment to Alameda County that was susceptible to tampering.

The lawsuit seeks damages under the state false claims act, which allows "whistle-blowers" to sue companies for defrauding the state and to share a portion of any damages that the state collects. Lockyer's staff investigated and decided there was enough evidence of misconduct to take on the lawsuit, a spokesman said."These cases boil down to allegations of lying to receive taxpayer money," said Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar. "The allegations are that they didn't tell the truth to the state or the county in providing electronic voting systems. They misrepresented material facts related to those systems."The lawsuit alleges that one version of
Diebold's vote-tabulating software, used to count both paper and electronic ballots, lacked adequate security and was susceptible to tampering. There has been no evidence of tampering in California.A Diebold official issued a statement that said the company, the nation's largest producer of touch-screen voting systems, intends to cooperate with the state. He did not address the allegations."The company is confident that the state's decision to intervene will aid in a fair and dispassionate examination of the issues," said Thomas Swidarski, a Diebold senior vice president. "We will continue to work with California officials in an effort to put these issues behind us, build trust with the state and move forward with … safe, accurate and reliable elections."The lawsuit does not specify the amount of damages sought by the state.

Lowell Finley, a Berkeley attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the activists, said Diebold has potential liability of three times the $11 million that Alameda County spent on the equipment. He noted that the state could pursue damages on behalf of other counties that purchased the equipment.

The system's key vulnerability is that county election workers or others with access to the machines could type in a two-digit code and create a second set of results that would then be forwarded to the state as the county's official tally, said Bev Harris, one of the activists who filed the case. She said the Diebold vote-tabulating equipment at the center of the lawsuit is used in 19 California counties, including Los Angeles County.Diebold also makes touch-screen electronic voting devices used in some California counties.Lockyer's decision to join in the lawsuit comes six months after a March primary election in which

Diebold systems malfunctioned and caused voting delays at polling places in Alameda and San Diego counties. Secretary of State Kevin Shelley later accused Diebold of using software in that election that had not been approved by federal and state regulators and he called on Lockyer to consider pursuing criminal and civil charges against the company.

The attorney general has decided not to file criminal charges, Dresslar said.Harris said her lawsuit has nationwide significance. She said Diebold has sold the same equipment and software to counties in 30 states.

"I'm absolutely delighted," she said. "Again, California is leading the nation."
end---------------------------------

I like the way they added to code that allows someone (who knows how) to add a simple 2 digit code that creates and entire NEW set of vote results. That's all the proof I need to know for certain the technology is rigged to allow GOP friendlies to hand victories to the GOP candidates.

This one is in the bag for the gop this time around folks. Best we focus our efforts on 06 and 08.

Thursday, September 02, 2004

The Diebold GEMS central tabulator contains a stunning security hole

from BlackBoxVoting.com - this warrants coverage here..

-------------------------------------

Submitted by Bev Harris on Thu, 08/26/2004 - 11:43.

Issue: Manipulation technique found in the Diebold central tabulator -- 1,000 of these systems are in place, and they count up to two million votes at a time.
By entering a 2-digit code in a hidden location, a second set of votes is created. This set of votes can be changed, so that it no longer matches the correct votes. The voting system will then read the totals from the bogus vote set. It takes only seconds to change the votes, and to date not a single location in the U.S. has implemented security measures to fully mitigate the risks.

This program is not "stupidity" or sloppiness. It was designed and tested over a series of a dozen version adjustments.

Public officials: If you are in a county that uses GEMS 1.18.18, GEMS 1.18.19, or GEMS 1.18.23, your secretary or state may not have told you about this. You're the one who'll be blamed if your election is tampered with. Find out for yourself if you have this problem: Black Box Voting will be happy to walk you through a diagnostic procedure over the phone. E-mail Bev Harris or Andy Stephenson to set up a time to do this.

For the media: Harris and Stephenson will be in New York City on Aug. 30, 31, Sep.1, to demonstrate this built-in election tampering technique.

Members of congress and Washington correspondents: Harris and Stephenson will be in Washington D.C. on Sept. 22 to demonstrate this problem for you.

Whether you vote absentee, on touch-screens, or on paper ballot (fill in the bubble) optical scan machines, all votes are ultimately brought to the "mother ship," the central tabulator at the county which adds them all up and creates the results report.

These systems are used in over 30 states and each counts up to two million votes at once.

condt.......................

Get over there and read this stuff..of course it may already be too late.

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Theresa LePore looses!!! (OMG this is great)

Wow the snide little election stealing political weasel hack has been beaten.

Thank you Floridians!

SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS
Completed Precincts: 693 of 693 (100.00%)
Vote Count Percent
Arthur 'Art' ANDERSON 91,134 51.45%
Theresa LEPORE 85,601 48.32%
WRITE-IN 402 0.23%
Total 177,137 100.00%

more news as it becomes available..

end..............

Thx to Greg Palast for the heads up on this one..
see post below

Too bad this was not the fate that met Kathrine Harris in her previous Congressional bid.

Oh well...I'll take it nonetheless.