Problems with Diebold machines already conceded in Vousia County, Florida!

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD03POL110206.htm

November 02, 2006

Supervisor told new vote machines pose time-change problem

By JIM HAUG
Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH -- Voting machines could stop accepting votes an hour or more before the polls close on Election Day because of a glitch in their automated clocks, elections officials said Wednesday.

<>McFall was waiting for assurances from Diebold, the manufcturer, and the state Division of Elections that the machines would not prematurely turn off next Tuesday. The County Council decided to buy the touch-screen machines in February after a year of debate about how to meet a federal mandate for access for disabled voters.

<>The machines are believed to be off an hour because their automated clocks were set back for daylight-saving time at the urging of the Diebold representative, McFall said. But the machines were already set to change automatically for daylight-saving time, she said. In another glitch, the time of the machines apparently goes back an hour every time they are turned on and off. So units at the four early-voting sites could be off by as much as six hours.

Glitches with the voting machines' clocks are believed to be confined to the five counties -- Polk, Putnam, Glades, Leon and Volusia -- that got the new, Class D machines from Diebold. Diebold did not respond to calls for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Anita Lapidus, a lawyer with the Florida Coalition of Free Elections in DeLand, said it was too early "to know the extent of the problems." "This is what happens when you rush it through the process," said Lapidus, noting the Class D machines have not been certified by the state.

(Interesting, indeed, that these Diebold DRE machines have not been certified. The Volusia County Commission wanted to buy new opti-scan machines equipped for handicapped voters, rather than these Diebold DRE's--but the state would not allow it--as they had not yet been certified by the state of Florida.)

[pooja]

1. In my county there seems to be a lot of problems with the

calibration of the machine... picking the republican candidates...

[bullimiami]

8. 'calibration' right......

[mom cat]

22. Yeah sure.

[soup]

10. There was an article - I think in the Miami Herald-

about the reasoning for this little 'glitch' and the need to recalibrate.

Something along the lines of 'going out of synch' when there's too much use, and likening it to picking at a scab.

My response would be - "So you're saying when I pick at a scab on my arm repeatedly, I can make my leg bleed? Interesting theory."

--

Volusia County - Isn't that where Andy went dumpster diving?

[RC]

2. And what happens if the polling place has to or decides to

stay open longer because of the crowds? For what reason do the clocks set the times the machines will allow voting? That needs to be an election workers job.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Can we just throw these machines in the harbor

and be done with them?

[Richard Steele]

4. We will have to, sooner or later. It's the only sane solution.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

5. Have you sent this to Hardball?? I caught something the other

night that they are having a voting problem line or dbase.

[flpoljunkie]

7. No, send it wherever you like. Lou Dobbs seems focused on evoting, has amost nightly segments.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

13. I just sent it to Chris Mathews. You are right about Dobbs !

[Thegonagle]

6. These touchscreen machines are horrible.

I hate them. These problems should not be problems!

I urge everyone to support optically scanned paper ballots, which can be re-counted by hand if there are any doubts what so ever about any precinct's numbers.

These things are worse than the paperless lever machines. Those didn't have a clock, and the worst thing that could happen in a power failure is that the lights turn off until someone lights some candles.

[Stevepol]

18. The optiscans are better than the DREs for sure, but the paper

is absolutely meaningless unless there are required audits, and those audits should be robust and truly random. Right now supposedly there are 14 states that require audits but there's not much consistency from state to state. And optiscans can be and clearly have been maliciously programmed just as often, maybe more often, than the touchscreens.

[Tin Man]

9. The new "Class D" machines *haven't* been certified ??????

:banghead:

K&R

[Eric J in MN]

11. The clock in a touchscreen can also be used to program...

...the machine to test welll in advance, but to swich some Democratic votes to the Republican on Election Day, November 7, 2006.

[flpoljunkie]

12. Holy crap! These machines are a disaster waiting to happen. That goes for unaudited opti-scan, too.

http://avi-rubin.blogspot.com/2006/10/uconn-voter-center-report-diebold-av-os.html

Reading this report was a hair raising experience for me. Diebold has clearly not learned any of the lessons from our 2003 report, and it is startling to see that their optical scan ballot counter is as vulnerable to tampering, vote rigging, and incorrect tabulation as the DRE. The big difference, of course, is that optical scanners can be audited. Ballots counted by hand can be compared to the totals of the AV-OS, and machines tabulating incorrectly can be identified. This report highlights the dangers of trusting any component of a voting system that is software based, and the importance of widespread random audits. With optical scan technologies, we can have a secure election even if the systems cheat, due to the opportunity to audit and perform recounts. With DREs, we are left with whatever results the machines compute.

I strongly urge everyone to read this new report out of UConn.

Posted by Avi Rubin: at 8:30 AM

[Eric J in MN]

14. Minnesota optical scan ballots will be audited...

...with an automatic hand-count for the first time after the November 7, 2006 election (2-4 precints per county, chosen randomly.)

The new law is thanks to Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota.

If you're a voting rights activist, please contact them for advice on getting such a law passed in your state.

[marions ghost]

16. Let's hear it for Minnesota'

:applause: let us know how that goes

[MISSDem]

15. Did you all hear Diane Reem (spelling?) show when they were

talking about the machines? They had a rep from Diebold and they were acknowledging that there were potential "situations" that would have to be dealt with on election day. Stuff like the people who run the elections at the polling places will have to "wipe down" the machines at certain intervals, etc. Even Diane was going "oh my God this is unbelieveable".

[robinlynne]

17. Leon County has diebold machines? That's Ion Sanchez territory.

[drm604]

19. Maybe Bob Urosevich will show up with a patch for the clock.

From here: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11717105/robert_f_kennedy_jr__will_the_next_election_be_hacked/2

Then, one day in July, Hood was surprised to see the president of Diebold's election unit, Bob Urosevich, arrive in Georgia from his headquarters in Texas. With the primaries looming, Urosevich was personally distributing a "patch," a little piece of software designed to correct glitches in the computer program. "We were told that it was intended to fix the clock in the system, which it didn't do," Hood says. "The curious thing is the very swift, covert way this was done."

Georgia law mandates that any change made in voting machines be certified by the state. But thanks to Cox's agreement with Diebold, the company was essentially allowed to certify itself. "It was an unauthorized patch, and they were trying to keep it secret from the state," Hood told me. "We were told not to talk to county personnel about it. I received instructions directly from Urosevich. It was very unusual that a president of the company would give an order like that and be involved at that level."

According to Hood, Diebold employees altered software in some 5,000 machines in DeKalb and Fulton counties - the state's largest Democratic strongholds. To avoid detection, Hood and others on his team entered warehouses early in the morning. "We went in at 7:30 a.m. and were out by 11," Hood says. "There was a universal key to unlock the machines, and it's easy to get access. The machines in the warehouses were unlocked. We had control of everything. The state gave us the keys to the castle, so to speak, and they stayed out of our way." Hood personally patched fifty-six machines and witnessed the patch being applied to more than 1,200 others.

[Imagevision]

20. Diebold machines are only affected in highly humid area's

[Imagevision]

21. could stop accepting votes early? - only if GOP is winning will this ocurr..

This is amazing, this is amerika under Bush regime... sad day in america!

[ChipsAhoy]

23. You took the words right out of my mouth! (n/t)