Action information below!
I know there have been several diaries lately on the various aspects and implications, etc., regarding electronic voting across the country, but having done a site search, I didn't see anything on this upcoming deadline, which was widely reported here in California on Monday.
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, must decide by this Friday which machines will be certified, in order to be ready for the February, 2008 primary.
More below...
From the San Francisco Chronicle
I'm not buying this paragraph:
The findings are not conclusive enough to dump the vote-counting devices - yet - especially given the short notice the state faces in preparing for a February presidential primary. (San Francisco's system, to be used in this fall's city election, wasn't among those tested.) Still, the examination should put voting officials and the ballot-counting industry on notice that added security both around and inside the machines is needed.
I think there are far too many questions and the advocates for the machines don't make me feel any better with the excuses and rhetoric I have been hearing. Which is why I'm writing this diary, so that anyone interested, might have the chance to communicate to the Secretary's office any concerns that they may have!
Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who won office as the state's top election overseer by proclaiming such doubts, ordered a five-week study by University of California computer scientists. They were given code books, manuals and unfettered access to vote-counting devices made by Sequoia, Diebold and Hart. It was a little like getting the keys to Fort Knox on a day when all the guards stayed home.
Even if the conditions were lop-sided, the details were striking. The testers were able to wield screw-drivers to open up one machine and get past safety seals. Software on all three systems could be overridden to produce new numbers. Security features to ward off such intrusions were minimal or an afterthought not fully integrated into the system. None of this is good.
Contact Information for the office of Secretary of State:
General Information - Elections Division
Secretary of State's Office
1500 11th Street, 5th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 657-2166
Fax: (916) 653-3214
E-Mail: elections@sos.ca.gov
Calvoter and Elections
* Program Manager - Catherine Ingram-Kelly
* Elections Analyst - Lisa Alvis
* Elections Analyst - Steven Carda
Election Information
* Program Manager, Voting Modernization Board/Publications- Jana Lean
Fraud and Investigations
* To contact the Fraud and Investigations Unit, please call (916) 657-2166 or you can lodge a recorded complaint by calling 1-800-345-VOTE.
Debra Bowen's email (best used with discretion) secretary.bowen@sos.ca.gov