Diebold insider blows whistle

volesoft ^ | 07 December 2005 | Nick Farrell

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

WHISTLEBLOWER interviewed by voting rights advocate Brad Friedman [www.BradBlog.com] has claimed that the electronic voting machine maker Diebold is involved in all sorts of skullduggery.

The Diebold insider said he was once a staunch supporter of electronic voting but was stunned by seeing repeated efforts by Diebold to evade meeting legal requirements or implementing appropriate security measures.

[COEXERJ145]

I was being sarcastic and making fun of a couple of people here who actually believe it.

[strategofr]

"Did I miss it or was the "whistleblower" not named?"

Not named. Calls himself Dieb Throat.

[strategofr]

"After following the links and reading the actual complaints, I'm not really seeing any allegations that add up to anything more than incompetence."

Nonetheless, I think it would be good if voting machines were manufactured via an "open" model---i.e.--all hardware and software made public.

This would raise the price since the manufacturer would not lose competitive advantage over any features included in the machines. But it would be worth it.

Trust in the electoral process is central (even though the Dems do systematically cheat.)

[F.J. Mitchell]

If W is reelected again in 2008-I would say these loonies may have a legitimate case.

[Viking2002]

A POINT (or two) OF CONTENTION HERE, FROM AN INSIDE SOURCE:

I WAS one of the network technicians for Diebold in Georgia during the '04 elections. We tested, retested, and then restested these machines again. With double-blind test cards. Jeezus, we were meticulous in making sure everything went off without a hitch, right down to verifying the integrity of the remote connections we'd have to establish to the Secretary of States's office to send the final tallies. (We smoked their server and had to wait a week for them to upgrade the modem bank before we tried again.) And none of us were 'career' Diebold employees with a vested interest in rigging the voting - we were guns-for-hire with every manner of political persuasion and from every background. These machines are sealed, tagged, and stored in a secure place (such as a courthouse) between every election. No one is alone with them. Every machine is tracked. They can't be spirited away in the middle of the night. If Diebold was applying patches, or altering the software, it would take a conspiracy on multiple levels to even attempt it.

Given the souce of this story, WTF am I even trying to defend the system again for? It's just more Area 51 bullshit from the tinfoil hat crowd that are bored watching their X-Files DVD's in Mama's basement.

[frankjr]

"Are you ready to give up all your voting rights and eventually to have ALL elections decided by ONE person's vote?"

Yes. It would save a lot of wasted worker productivity on election day.

[Tench_Coxe]

Ya know, Diebold has about 60% of the domestic US market in ATMs. I would think that a company in a market in which its customers are concerned about honest, secure transactions would be very careful about doing something that would damage their reputation.

[VeniVidiVici]

Sorry, the alternative is marking an 'X' on a piece of paper and that ain't gonna happen.

After watching the Democrat fools from Palm Beach County count every freakin' chad that they could, I'm convinced that electronic voting can be safer and more foolproof than the paper alternatives.

[Just Lori]

You left out Haldol, Mellaril, and Thorazine.

[NonValueAdded]

"This corroborates a claim by Diebold contractor Rob Behler that a program patch titled 'rob-georgia.zip' was left on an unsecured server and downloaded over the Internet by Diebold technicians before loading the unauthorized software onto Georgia voting machines."

I can picture Maxwell Smart with the secret plans labeled "secret plans."

And what about the banner "Readers without a sense of humour please leave immediately"? Should this be posted under comedy?

[txhurl]

Hm.

[Theo]

... Washington state ...>

Don't get me started about the voting fraud in Washington state....

[commonasdirt]

Thank you sandrat. I am amazed it took 24 postings for the oh so appropriate picture to make its much needed appearance.

[Southack]

Good post.

[Sonny M]

Makes it sound like the patch was "riggedgeorgiaelection.zip" when its probably his own rejected design

Actually, the famous "rob.georgia" e-mail was e-mailed to a guy named Rob in diebold.

Not this rob, but a supervisor.

However, the left, will never acknowledge that fact.

[Kenny Bunk]

I'll tell you what is halfamazing. The RNC has let the Democrats completely co-opt the vote fraud issue. This, after Gore-Kerry, using Fast Eddie Rendell, Donna Brazile, and the always Slick Dick Daley to steal the electoral votes of 6 states.

The Republican Party is now bored with power and our leaders want to get back to the really big money, so don't look for the wimps of the RNC to get on the case.

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

Which ones?

The RINOs or conservatives?

[Kenny Bunk]

1/2amazing, when it comes to the RNC, the "Conservative" or "RINO" label is inoperative. These are the people that run the national party, decide how to spend the money, whom to back and whom to oppose within the party.

These also happen to be the people who have made a dog's dinner of practically every Republican electoral effort I have seen since a child. By ignoring vote fraud, they denied GWBush a mandate based on an uncontested victory. They specialize in fact, in snatching compromise and defeat from victory. Unless I miss my guess, they're a-fixin' to do exactly that in 2006. I also have that old 1992 nausea coming back, the inexorable feeling that they may be already writing off the election of 2008.

But I am not worried. I am sure they'll manage defeat at incredible expense.