diebold finally admits that voting machines drop votes, says they cant be repaired

[e-brake]

Amazing, now they have not only admitted that the entire time voting machines have been used they have been dropping votes in the final count, but they have said that they cant fix the machines before the next election. Despite the fact that at least 11 counties in Ohio had all of the votes dropped in the last election due to the error they still plan to use the same machines with the same problem in the next election anyway.


http://dispatch.com/live/content/loc..._machines.html

The maker of touch-screen voting machines used in half of Ohio's counties has admitted that its own programming error is to blame for votes being dropped in some counties. The problem can't be fixed before the Nov. 4 election, so Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold) and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner are issuing statements to counties notifying them about the problem.
"We will continue to monitor the situation and provide boards of elections with the instruction and support they need to ensure an orderly and efficient election and an accurate count of Ohioans' votes," Brunner said in a memo released today.
Premier, formerly Diebold Election Systems, initially speculated that the problem was a conflict between its system and anti-virus software.
But in a letter Tuesday to Brunner, Premier President David Byrd admitted that further testing showed a source-code error that can cause votes not to be recorded when memory cards are uploaded to computer servers under certain circumstances.
"We are indeed distressed that our previous analysis of this issue was in error," Byrd wrote.
Brunner is suing to recover the millions of taxpayer dollars spent to buy Premier touch-screens after she said an investigation this year showed that votes in at least 11 counties had been dropped in recent elections, including the last presidential election.
Brunner said. The malfunction first was discovered in Butler County in April 2005, she said.
Forty-four counties, including Licking and Fairfield in central Ohio, use Premier touch-screens. Franklin County uses touch-screens from a different manufacturer.
Critics of Premier and touch-screen voting in general have long argued that the systems aren't secure and can't be trusted. Brunner herself has advocated moving Ohio toward optically scanned paper ballots.
But Premier spokesman Chris Riggall said the programming problem had gone undetected after years of use and both federal and state testing. He stressed that the systems are secure in conjunction with other election safeguards in place.
Shannon Leininger, president of the Ohio Association of Election Officials and director of the Ashland County Board of Elections - which uses the Premier touch-screens - said she's confident that problems can be avoided.
She noted that Brunner has been issuing directives recently dealing with security measures surrounding the election and is expected to address computer server security soon.
"This is something that we will watch very closely," Leininger said.

[GreyArea]

It's more of a "feature" then an error.

[e-brake]

lol

[transparentaura]

Apparently the Diebold machines have a negative number field built into their code, this allows a negative number to be entered into the tabulation card. Under what circumstances would there ever be a need to add a negative number in the vote count?
Read More:
http://www.alternet.org/democracy/94...curity_expert/

[umalak_]

cant you ask for a paper ballot when you vote and not use the machine?

[e-brake]

Originally Posted by umalak_

cant you ask for a paper ballot when you vote and not use the machine?

In most polling places in Texas yes, but some states like Ohio and Florida are 100% electronic with no paper voting whatsoever. Blowback from the hanging chad embarassment during Bush/Gore.

[johnny861]

Originally Posted by transparentaura

Apparently the Diebold machines have a negative number field built into their code, this allows a negative number to be entered into the tabulation card. Under what circumstances would there ever be a need to add a negative number in the vote count?
Read More:
http://www.alternet.org/democracy/94...curity_expert/

oh you know, whenever somebody votes democrat...