[no subject]

Schuylkill, Carbon bolster security efforts after glitch found.

By Chris Parker=20
Of The Morning Call=20

Alerted late Tuesday that new electronic voting machines that many counties=20
bought are vulnerable to tampering, election officials in Schuylkill and Car=
bon=20
counties say they will keep the equipment locked up tight until the May 16=20
primary.

A ''potential security vulnerability'' in machines sold by Diebold Election=20
Systems Inc. of McKinney, Texas, could let ''unauthorized software to be loa=
ded=20
on to the system,'' Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortez said in a=20
warning issued to the counties.

Diebold found the glitch and will fix it, but ''to mitigate any immediate=20
risk, all counties using [the equipment] shall install the authorized softwa=
re=20
during system start-up prior to installing, testing and sealing the election=
=20
data card into the unit,'' Cortez's memo says.

He said the Department of State will furnish the software and instructions=20
for it.

Schuylkill County Commissioner Mantura Gallagher revealed the alert at a=20
meeting Wednesday.

''The probability for exploiting the system is considered low, but there is=20
the possibility, and it's all about access,'' Gallagher said. ''You must hav=
e=20
access to these machines in order to break into them. It's not something tha=
t=20
can be done via another computer.''

Gallagher said she and Schuylkill Election Bureau Director Elizabeth Dries=20
discussed heightened security.

''We are going to do everything we can to make sure these machines are not=20
touched by anyone before the voters begin to vote,'' Gallagher said. Dries w=
ill=20
''have these machines under complete lockdown. She is using some for trainin=
g,=20
but will clear the systems and have them programmed again and that's when=20
they are going to go into lockdown.

''Betty knows that whatever she needs to make this happen will be OK with us=
.=20
We're going to support everything she needs to make this as secure as=20
possible.''

Counties bought the machines to comply with the federal Help America Vote=20
Act, passed in 2002 after voting problems in Florida in the 2000 presidentia=
l=20
election. The law forbids counties nationwide from using lever machines or p=
aper=20
ballots to conduct federal elections because they are deemed unreliable.

Gallagher was the only Schuylkill commissioner to vote against the Diebold=20
machines =E2=80=94 ''and this is why,'' she said.

In neighboring Carbon County, elections Director Kenneth Leffler said he got=
=20
Cortez's warning about 8 p.m. Tuesday, and memory cards for Carbon's 115=20
Diebold machines came Wednesday. Leffler said the cards were immediately loc=
ked up=20
in a location known only to him.

''We're going to follow the same procedures as we planned before,'' he said.=
=20
''But we'll probably do the actual ballot loading ourselves. Because it's th=
e=20
first time, Diebold was going to do that for us. But it's my understanding=20
that they want us to do it.

''When Diebold programmed the ballot a few weeks ago, we made sure all the=20
candidates were there. The ballot cards are ready and secured. We even liste=
ned=20
to the audio ballot for blind voters to make sure everything was correct.''

Leffler said that on Monday he'll do an ''accuracy and logic'' test on the=20
machines to make sure they work properly.

Poll workers have been trained, and the county will have roving=20
troubleshooters out and about on Election Day to deal with any problems, he=20=
said. He said=20
he also will have at least two units in every polling place, regardless of s=
ize.

''We want to make sure this comes off without a hitch,'' he said. ''If=20
something goes wrong with one unit, we want to have another there and ready.=
''

He said he's doing the best he can within time constraints.

''You can't change a voting system overnight and expect everything to be=20
perfect,'' he said.

chris.parker@xxxxxxxxx

610-379-3224=20
Copyright =C2=A9 2006, The Morning Call=20

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<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN class=3Dstorydate1><SPAN style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 8pt"=
>May 4, 2006</SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorysourcecredit1><SPAN style=
=3D"FONT-SIZE: 8pt">From The Morning Call</SPAN></SPAN> <o:p></o:p></P>
<H1>Voting machine warning issued<o:p></o:p></H1>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><BR><STRONG><SPAN class=3Dstorysubhead1><SPAN style=3D"=
FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Schuylkill, Carbon bolster security efforts after glitch fo=
und.</SPAN></SPAN><BR><BR></STRONG><SPAN class=3Dstorybyline1><SPAN style=
=3D"FONT-SIZE: 8pt">By Chris Parker </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style=3D"FONT-SIZE:=20=
8pt; COLOR: black"><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorybyline1>Of The Morning Call </SPAN=
></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1><SPAN style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 9pt">Aler=
ted late Tuesday that new electronic voting machines that many counties boug=
ht are vulnerable to tampering, election officials in Schuylkill and Carbon=20=
counties say they will keep the equipment locked up tight until the May 16 p=
rimary.</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dst=
orytext1>A ''potential security vulnerability'' in machines sold by Diebold=20=
Election Systems Inc. of McKinney, Texas, could let ''unauthorized software=20=
to be loaded on to the system,'' Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Corte=
z said in a warning issued to the counties.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstor=
ytext1>Diebold found the glitch and will fix it, but ''to mitigate any immed=
iate risk, all counties using [the equipment] shall install the authorized s=
oftware during system start-up prior to installing, testing and sealing the=20=
election data card into the unit,'' Cortez's memo says.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN=20=
class=3Dstorytext1>He said the Department of State will furnish the software=
 and instructions for it.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>Schuylkill=20=
County Commissioner Mantura Gallagher revealed the alert at a meeting Wednes=
day.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>''The probability for exploiting=
 the system is considered low, but there is the possibility, and it's all ab=
out access,'' Gallagher said. ''You must have access to these machines in or=
der to break into them. It's not something that can be done via another comp=
uter.''</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>Gallagher said she and Schuyl=
kill Election Bureau Director Elizabeth Dries discussed heightened security.=
</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>''We are going to do everything we c=
an to make sure these machines are not touched by anyone before the voters b=
egin to vote,'' Gallagher said. Dries will ''have these machines under compl=
ete lockdown. She is using some for training, but will clear the systems and=
 have them programmed again and that's when they are going to go into lockdo=
wn.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>''Betty knows that whatever she n=
eeds to make this happen will be OK with us. We're going to support everythi=
ng she needs to make this as secure as possible.''</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=
=3Dstorytext1>Counties bought the machines to comply with the federal Help A=
merica Vote Act, passed in 2002 after voting problems in Florida in the 2000=
 presidential election. The law forbids counties nationwide from using lever=
 machines or paper ballots to conduct federal elections because they are dee=
med unreliable.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>Gallagher was the onl=
y Schuylkill commissioner to vote against the Diebold machines =E2=80=94 ''a=
nd this is why,'' she said.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>In neighb=
oring Carbon County, elections Director Kenneth Leffler said he got Cortez's=
 warning about 8 p.m. Tuesday, and memory cards for Carbon's 115 Diebold mac=
hines came Wednesday. Leffler said the cards were immediately locked up in a=
 location known only to him.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>''We're=20=
going to follow the same procedures as we planned before,'' he said. ''But w=
e'll probably do the actual ballot loading ourselves. Because it's the first=
 time, Diebold was going to do that for us. But it's my understanding that t=
hey want us to do it.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>''When Diebold=20=
programmed the ballot a few weeks ago, we made sure all the candidates were=20=
there. The ballot cards are ready and secured. We even listened to the audio=
 ballot for blind voters to make sure everything was correct.''</SPAN><BR><B=
R><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>Leffler said that on Monday he'll do an ''accurac=
y and logic'' test on the machines to make sure they work properly.</SPAN><B=
R><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>Poll workers have been trained, and the count=
y will have roving troubleshooters out and about on Election Day to deal wit=
h any problems, he said. He said he also will have at least two units in eve=
ry polling place, regardless of size.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1=
>''We want to make sure this comes off without a hitch,'' he said. ''If some=
thing goes wrong with one unit, we want to have another there and ready.''</=
SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>He said he's doing the best he can wit=
hin time constraints.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>''You can't cha=
nge a voting system overnight and expect everything to be perfect,'' he said=
.</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1><A href=3D"mailto:chris.parker@mcal=
l.com"><FONT color=3D#3a7690>chris.parker@xxxxxxxxx</FONT></A></SPAN><BR><BR=
><SPAN class=3Dstorytext1>610-379-3224 </SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN class=3Dstory=
copyright1><SPAN style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 8pt">Copyright =C2=A9 2006, <A target=
=3D_top href=3D"http://www.mcall.com/";><FONT color=3D#3a7690>The Morning Cal=
l</FONT></A></SPAN></SPAN> <B><SPAN style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><BR><BR style=
=3D"mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style=3D"mso-special-character: l=
ine-break"></SPAN></B></P>
<DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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