Florida county in legal fight over e-voting machines

Marc Songini   Today’s Top Stories    or  Other IT in Government Stories  

Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts

July 08, 2005 (Computerworld) -- A Florida county's refusal to purchase specialized voting machines that comply with handicap access laws has put it in the cross hairs of the state's attorney general and handicap rights groups.
On June 29, the Volusia County Council voted 4-3 against authorizing the purchase of 210 touch-screen systems from Diebold Election Systems. According to Florida state law, all counties were obliged to have at least one state-certified touch-screen machine in place by July 1. These particular systems, which have a touch-screen interface, meet the handicap access requirement because they also house devices that enable blind voters to receive verbal prompts to enable them to vote.
The council declined to purchase the machines because they don't generate a paper receipt. The majority of the council is joined by critics who maintain that the touch-screen systems can be rigged for political advantage (see "Fate of $25M e-voting system in Miami-Dade dangling").
The National Federation of the Blind and others filed suit this week in Orlando Federal District Court.
"This does put Volusia County in a very difficult position," said a county government spokesman. The four-person majority was "not comfortable with the Diebold system, and now we've been sued and we'll defend that action," the spokesman said
He said the council would prefer to buy a hybrid optical-scan system called AutoMark, made by Vogue Election Systems LLC in Glen Ellyn, Ill. AutoMark has an audio component to enable the blind to vote, but the system hasn't been certified by Florida.
None of the four council members who voted down the purchase responded to a request for comment.
Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist issued a letter dated June 30 to council Chairman Frank Bruno stating that the refusal could subject the county to liability for a civil rights violation.
Ann McFall, the county supervisor of elections, is urging the purchase of the touch-screen machines. She said she has directed her attorney to ask a federal judge in Orlando to either force the county to buy the Diebold machines or allow the election to proceed without them.
A spokesman for McKinney, Texas-based Diebold said the touch-screen machines have been used for 20 years and are completely reliable. In addition, the Diebold AccuVote-TS and TSX machines provide an internal paper receipt and can generate a hard copy of every vote cast via printer, he said.
Volusia County isn't alone in refusing to comply with the July 1 deadline. By emphazing just touch-screen technology, the state has taken a "heavy-handed approach" to enforcing handicap voting accessibility, said Ion Sancho, supervisor of elections in Leon County, which uses optical-scan devices. He wants the paper trail and is holding out for AutoMark certification.
"Voters demand that we can account for every vote 100% accurately," Sancho said. "And my goal is to make sure the votes are counted as intended."

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"One presidential candidate publishes his views on technology and the other doesn't. But does it really matter?..." Read more... "My colleague Mike Elgan points out in his blog that..." Read more... Read more Government & Regulation posts or See all Blogs

Google gives away home-cooked Web application security scanner Microsoft trumpets security additions in upcoming IE8 Apple cuts price of high-end SSD MacBook Air by $500 More top stories...

Ultrathin showdown: Apple MacBook Air vs. Lenovo ThinkPad X300 vs. Toshiba Portege R500 Best Places to Work 2008 Storm botnet stages Fourth of July attacks

This old laptop: Revitalizing an aging notebook on the cheap All it takes is a couple hours and about $125 to breathe new life into an old laptop. Here's how. Bill Gates moves on Is Microsoft's Golden Age over? What are Gates' most memorable quotes? Find out in Computerworld's complete coverage of the end of the Bill Gates era at Microsoft. Five things you should never tell your boss There are some things your CIO definitely doesn't want to hear. Also don't miss the flipside, Five things you should always tell your boss. Hands-On: Firefox 3 fixes what's broke and keeps what's right With its latest version, Mozilla's browser continues to raise the bar for what Web browsers should be. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland SecurityAsk a Premier 100 IT LeaderBlackBerry Legal BattleData Security BreachesElectronic VotingFirefoxH-1B VisasHP's Boardroom ScandalHandheld DevicesHurricane Katrina AftermathMicrosoft Legal IssuesMicrosoft's VistaOpen SourceRFID TechnologySCO's Linux FightSarbanes-Oxley ActSpamVoice Over IPWi-FiWindows Meta File VulnerabilityWindows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders2006 Salary Survey2007 Best Places to Work in IT2007 IT Forecast2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders40 Years of ComputerworldASPs, Take TwoBest Places to Work in IT 2003Best Places to Work in IT 2004Best Places to Work in IT 2005Best Places to Work in IT 2006Business Intelligence Home RunsBusiness Intelligence: Smarter BIBusiness Intelligence: The Future of BICRM Goes VerticalCRM: Sober CRMCareer Planning Guide 2005Careers: IT Profession 2010Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005Data Management: Mining for GemsData Management: Taming Data ChaosDevelopment: Hard-Workin' Web SitesDevelopment: New Tools New ChoicesDevelopment: The New World of Application DevelopmentDevelopment: The Web Services TsunamiDevelopment: Web Services HurdlesDisaster Recovery: Preparing for the WorstE-commerce Grows UpE-mail/Groupware: Big DecisionsFaces of Mobile ITForecast 2006Global MobileHardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple ChallengesHardware: On-Demand Un-HypedHardware: The Shape of Things to ComeHorizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge TechnologiesIT Management: Guide to Managing VendorsIT Management: Navigating Global ITIT Management: Recovery AheadIT Management: The Future of ITIT Management: The Resourceful Project ManagerInnovative Technology Awards 2004Management: Reinventing ITMicrosoft in TransitionMobile/Wireless Leaders and LaggardsMobile/Wireless: The Untethered WorkerMobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge CostsNetwork Management: Taking ControlNetworking: Turbulence Ahead!Networking: VoIP Goes MainstreamOperating Systems: In the Slow LaneOperating Systems: Linux Goes GlobalOperating Systems: Should You Nix Unix?Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's GuideOutsourcing: Outsourcing DangersPremier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in ClassPremier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in ClassROI: Do the Math!Salary Survey 2003Salary Survey 2004Salary Survey 2005Security Action PlanSecurity: Compliance HeadachesSecurity: Proactive SecuritySecurity: Risk and RewardSecurity: Tips From Security ProsSouped-up SecurityStorage: Battling ComplexityStorage: Cheap & Secure Data StoresStorage: Stretching Your Storage DollarsStorage: The Lean Storage MachineStorage: The New Rules of StorageStorage: The Ultimate Backup GuideSupply Chain: Missing LinksSupply Chain: RFID Reality CheckThe Business of SecurityWeb 2.0 SecurityWireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone Data Center Management Zone Enterprise-Class Security Zone The File Data Management Zone Grid Computing on Windows Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Storage Virtualization Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone See your link here

Computerworld Executive Briefing: The Compliance Era Get this briefing free (a $195 value), for a limited time, courtesy of VeriSign. The new Computerworld report, The Compliance Era, explains why regulatory compliance has zoomed to the top of the IT agenda and shows how real-world IT executives are dealing with the storage, security and privacy challenges. Get this briefing free (a $195 value), for a limited time, courtesy of VeriSign. Download this executive briefing  Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You? Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You? Download this webcast, free, compliments of Sterling Commerce Go to the webcast  Spam Spikes: A Real Risk to Your Business Download this white paper, free for a limited time, compliments of MessageLabs! (Source: Messagelabs) This white paper will help you understand the ever changing email threats to your business, and how MessageLabs provides a unique solution. Download this white paper  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Deploying Virtualized NetWare on Linux Whitepaper Toward More Flexible, Next-Generation Collaboration Solutions Driving Business Success Through Workgroup Choice and Flexibility View more whitepapers

• Google gives away home-cooked Web application security scanner
• Microsoft trumpets security additions in upcoming IE8
• Apple cuts price of high-end SSD MacBook Air by $500
• More top stories 

The Spy Files For Congress to do anything that helps protect consumers and the critical Internet infrastructure as a whole, it must pass laws that require proactive processes to protect computers, not that tell people how to deal with the resulting mess, says Ira Winkler. Click here to read the latest column by Ira Winkler

Understand Messaging Archiving Email storage is growing at an average rate of 35% annually - three out of five decision makers cite the growth of messaging storage as their leading messaging-related problem. This Osterman Research white paper discusses the several reasons to implement a messaging archiving system and provide an overview of Sunbelt Software's offering focused squarely on the archiving space. Download this white paper now!

Fired up about IT? Join Sharkbait and share your true tales of IT. SharkBait is the place for you to sound off about everything IT – the good, the bad, and the rest of the weird stuff you deal with every day. New baits

Computerworld Technology Briefing: An open-source path to optimal virtualization Looking for a virtualization strategy that offers both the flexibility and reliability to meet the demands of mixed-source environments? Look no further than the fast-emerging open virtualization approach backed by some of the biggest names in enterprise computing. Together they are pointing the way toward higher data center performance without higher costs. Download this briefing