Official: Ohio Won't Make 2004 Deadline for Electronic Voting

[tom bldr <tom_bldr@xxxxxxxxx>]

from Fox News, Fair and Balanced, They Report We
Decide, The Network America Trusts:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,104669,00.html

snip

COLUMBUS, Ohio  ? The state's top elections official
said Tuesday that security problems found in new
touch-screen voting systems (search) 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 69 counties will still be
using punch-card systems (search) 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 Elections Commission
(search) 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 (search), 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 had
already 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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