Posted on 11/10/2004 3:59:08 PM PST by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO -- California Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced Wednesday a $2.6 million settlement with Diebold Inc., resolving a lawsuit alleging that the company sold the state and several counties shoddy voting equipment.
Although critics characterized the settlement as a slap on the wrist, Diebold also agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to partially reimburse Alameda, San Diego and other counties for the cost of paper backup ballots, ink and other supplies in last week's election. California's secretary of state banned the use of one type of Diebold machine in May, after problems with the machines disenfranchised an unknown number of voters in the March primary.
Faulty equipment forced at least 6,000 of 316,000 voters in Alameda County, just east of San Francisco, to use backup paper ballots instead of the paperless voting terminals. In San Diego County, a power surge resulted in hundreds of touch-screens that wouldn't start when the polls opened, forcing election officials to turn voters away from the polls.
According to the settlement, the North Canton, Ohio-based company must also upgrade ballot tabulation software that Los Angeles County and others used Nov. 2. Diebold must also strengthen the security of its paperless voting machines and computer servers and promise never to connect voting systems to outside networks.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I'm Calling for a recount in California!!!
Kerry stole the election in California, conspiracy!
What's wrong with using a simple paper punchcard ballot?
Oh, I forgot... the Rats are too stupid to use them.
Help! Help! I've been disenfranchised!!
Me too. Anybody got those 10,000 Rat lawyers' phone numbers?
Yep. They'll never let go. What a sad way to live...
It is very easy for election workers to overvote large numbers of them to destroy votes for a particular candidate. Optically scanned ballots are much better, and it would be extremely time consuming an labor intensive for people to tamper with large numbers of ballots.
They (MSM) can't write a story on voting without using the word 'disenfranchised'. It's emotionally impossible for them.
Haven't these idiots heard of surge protectors, or UPS's? Why should a company have to replace equipment if the user is too stupid to spend a little extra to protect it?
The computer voting sucks, IMHO... whichever side loses is going to complain that the computers were rigged.
I think optically scanned ballots are good. They are human readble without any special equipment if you need to do a recount. The scanners used in my county actually tabulate the results as each ballot is submitted to the ballot box. When the precinct closes, all that is necessary is to run the reports on the races. They are accurate and fast.
Knock off the profanity.
The UPS and surge protection should be part of the unit. These are self-contained devices that you have to be able to hand to a 75-year-old poll worker and have them just work.
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