From: "VoteTrustUSA" <contact@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: March 21, 2006 10:57:09 AM MST
To: jpezzillo@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: California Voters File Lawsuit Against Secretary of State
California Voters File Lawsuit to Halt Use or Purchase of Diebold
Electronic Voting System
Illegal Computer Code, Security and Disability Access Problems Cited
Plaintiffs Include Dolores Huerta, Avi Rubin, Doug Jones,
Disability Advocates
A group of 24 California voters, including Dolores Huerta, social
justice activist and co-founder of the United Farm Workers of
America, announced at a news conference today that they have filed
a lawsuit against California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson to
nullify his “conditional” certification of the Diebold TSx
electronic voting system and to block purchase or use of the TSx in
California due to serious security, verifiability and disability
access problems.
“The right to a secure vote, which is recorded and counted as
intended, is a basic tenet of our democracy, and Californians
deserve no less,” said Dolores Huerta, social activist and
Plaintiff in the California voters’ lawsuit. “Diebold systems have
failed in security tests and in communities around the country. In
certifying the Diebold machines, the Secretary has sidestepped his
duty to deny certification to voting systems that violate state and
federal standards.”
“A crisis is brewing in California when computerized slot machines
used by gamblers in the state are more secure and auditable than
the electronic voting systems used by California voters to decide
the future direction of their government,” said Lowell Finley,
Esq., counsel for the plaintiffs and co-director of Voter Action.
“Expert testing has confirmed that the Diebold system contains
“interpreted” code --programming that is vulnerable to malicious
hacking, and prohibited by the California Elections Code. The
Diebold touch screen voting system is a severe security risk, and
does not accommodate all disabled voters as required by law.”
“California voters have the right to vote and to have their votes
counted correctly. The last thing we need is to start using voting
machines that deny access to disabled voters and create an
unacceptable risk of fraud and vote manipulation," said John
Eichhorst, co-counsel for the voter plaintiffs, and a partner with
Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin.
“People with low vision want meaningful access, not token access,
in our voting experience,” said Bernice Kandarian, President of the
Council of Citizens with Low Vision International. “Just because I
need an accessible voting system does not mean that I believe that
it is acceptable to vote on a system that is not trustworthy and
hard to recount or audit. I too want to know that my vote will be
counted by the most secure method. The Diebold machines are not
only insecure and hard to recount or audit, but they also fail to
provide meaningful access for many disabled voters.”
The lawsuit also challenges the Secretary of State's imposition of
"conditions" to the certification which seek to impose new physical
security requirements and liability responsibility upon County
Election Officials.
“The Secretary of State's conditions are new, untested, regulations
that were adopted without the benefit of appropriate expert
analysis and public hearing. These new regulations are not the
cure for the acknowledged vulnerabilities built into this voting
system," said Mr. Eichhorst.
As part of their case, the plaintiffs will present the expert
testimony of computer security experts Douglas W. Jones of the
University of Iowa and Dr. Aviel D. Rubin of Johns Hopkins
University concerning the serious security problems inherent in the
Diebold TSx technology.
“Voter Action is pleased to support this important lawsuit, which
will be watched closely by states across the country facing or soon
to face similar voting security issues and rushed purchasing
decisions. We know from the research of independent experts that
Diebold technology is not the answer. There are better, less
expensive and secure options that do meet the needs of those with a
wide range of disabilities, ”says Holly Jacobson, co-director of
Voter Action.
The lawsuit was filed with support from Voter Action, a non-profit
organization providing legal, research, and logistical support for
grassroots efforts to ensure the integrity of elections in the
United States. The action was filed in the Superior Court of the
State of California in San Francisco, prior to the Voter Action
news conference at the offices of the Howard Rice law firm in San
Francisco.
Voter Action, with members across the country, recently led
successful litigation in New Mexico to block purchase and use of
the types of voting machines that are most error prone and
vulnerable to tampering. In addition to California, Voter Action
is currently supporting similar efforts in New York, Pennsylvania
and other states.
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