Maryland House votes to oust Diebold machines

Marc L. Songini   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Legislation/Regulation Stories  

Bringing Order and Security to your Mobile Workforce: Corporate Mobility Policy and Device Management Achiving Compliance Through Good Governance Enabling Identity and Security Management with Open Source Report: Independent Evaluation of Requirements Management Solutions Next-Gen Load Balancing: 3 Keys to Successful Delivery of Advanced Web Apps Go Green with Webroot® Perimeter Security SaaS! Virtual Reality SaaS Solutions for Remote Systems Management Mobility @ the Speed of Business Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts

March 10, 2006 (Computerworld) -- The state of Maryland stands poised to put its entire $90 million investment in Diebold Election Systems Inc. touch-screen e-voting systems on ice because they can’t produce paper receipts.

The state House of Delegates this week voted 137-0 to approve a bill prohibiting election officials from using AccuVote-TSx touch-screen systems in 2006 primary and general elections.

The legislation calls for the state to lease paper-based optical-scan systems for this year's votes. State Delegate Anne Healey estimated the leasing cost at $12.5 million to $16 million for the two elections.

Healey is the vice chairwoman of the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee, which recommended the passage of the bill.

The bill was sent onto the State Senate for a vote after the House action, she said.

Healey said the effort was inspired in part by concerns raised by officials in California and Florida that the Diebold systems have inherent security problems caused by technological and procedural flaws.

“We’ve been hearing from the public for the last several years that it doesn’t have confidence in a system without a paper trail,” Healey said. “We need to provide that level of confidence going forward.”

If the bill becomes law, the state’s Diebold systems will be placed in “abeyance” and the vendor will be required to equip them so that they provide the requisite paper trail, she said.

Healey said the law would require that the machines provide a paper trail before the 2008 elections or Diebold would risk losing its contract with the state.

The bill also requires that any leased optical-scan system be equipped to accommodate the needs of handicapped voters, to ensure compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act statutes.

Healey said she expects the Senate to vote on the bill sometime in the next few weeks, before the legislative session ends.

A Diebold spokesman said the company will “certainly work with the state of Maryland, as we always have, to support their elections as they see fit.”

The spokesman noted that Maryland has been using Diebold machines for several years without problems. The state first contracted with the company to provide the systems in January 2002.

Maryland is following in the footsteps of several other states in expressing concern over the lack of a paper trail in the Diebold machines.

Earlier this month, Florida adopted a new set of security procedures for users of e-voting systems from all suppliers of e-voting machines.

The implementation of these new procedures in Florida was largely a response to reports issued last month by California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson that tests of the Diebold systems found them vulnerable to external access via hacking or bugs.

Continued...
1 | 2 | NEXT  

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"Welcome to a special IT Blogwatch EXTRA: watching bloggers' reactions to the latest spectacular development in the standards war over..." Read more... "Stephen Spoonamore offers more details on what I was trying to drive home in my recent column: Because individual votes..." Read more... Read more Government & Regulation posts or See all Blogs

Wall Street's collapse puts IT spending in (some) peril IBM launches Bluehouse, a Facebook for business Apple doesn't need Jobs, analyst says More top stories...

Microsoft fights Ballmer testimony in 'Vista Capable' suit Oracle tries to step up on high-end databases Laptop stolen from McCain campaign in Missouri

Opinion: Famous tech myths that just won't die Here's the scoop on widespread fables about Bill Gates, the iPhone kill switch, Internet2, Al Gore and more. 10 great Wi-Fi gadgets for work and play Add these Wi-Fi devices to your network for a new world of wireless productivity and entertainment. Chrome fades as users return to IE, Firefox Users who abandoned Firefox and Internet Explorer for Google's Chrome browser are starting to revert to their old favorites. The five best desktop Linuxes you haven't tried One of the pleasures of Linux is that you can try out different distros to see which one works best for you. Here are five to take for a spin. 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 Security Apple's iPhone Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader Bill Gates steps down BlackBerry Legal Battle Data Security Breaches Electronic Voting Firefox H-1B Visas HP's Boardroom Scandal Handheld Devices Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Microsoft Legal Issues Microsoft's Vista Open Source RFID Technology SCO's Linux Fight Sarbanes-Oxley Act Spam Voice Over IP Wi-Fi Windows Meta File Vulnerability Windows 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 Class 2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2006 Salary Survey 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 IT Forecast 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 40 Years of Computerworld ASPs, Take Two Best Places to Work in IT 2003 Best Places to Work in IT 2004 Best Places to Work in IT 2005 Best Places to Work in IT 2006 Business Intelligence Home Runs Business Intelligence: Smarter BI Business Intelligence: The Future of BI CRM Goes Vertical CRM: Sober CRM Career Planning Guide 2005 Careers: IT Profession 2010 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005 Data Management: Mining for Gems Data Management: Taming Data Chaos Development: Hard-Workin' Web Sites Development: New Tools New Choices Development: The New World of Application Development Development: The Web Services Tsunami Development: Web Services Hurdles Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the Worst E-commerce Grows Up E-mail/Groupware: Big Decisions Faces of Mobile IT Forecast 2006 Global Mobile Hardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple Challenges Hardware: On-Demand Un-Hyped Hardware: The Shape of Things to Come Horizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge Technologies IT Management: Guide to Managing Vendors IT Management: Navigating Global IT IT Management: Recovery Ahead IT Management: The Future of IT IT Management: The Resourceful Project Manager Innovative Technology Awards 2004 Management: Reinventing IT Microsoft in Transition Mobile/Wireless Leaders and Laggards Mobile/Wireless: The Untethered Worker Mobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge Costs Network Management: Taking Control Networking: Turbulence Ahead! Networking: VoIP Goes Mainstream Operating Systems: In the Slow Lane Operating Systems: Linux Goes Global Operating Systems: Should You Nix Unix? Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's Guide Outsourcing: Outsourcing Dangers Premier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in Class Premier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in Class ROI: Do the Math! Salary Survey 2003 Salary Survey 2004 Salary Survey 2005 Security Action Plan Security: Compliance Headaches Security: Proactive Security Security: Risk and Reward Security: Tips From Security Pros Souped-up Security Storage: Battling Complexity Storage: Cheap & Secure Data Stores Storage: Stretching Your Storage Dollars Storage: The Lean Storage Machine Storage: The New Rules of Storage Storage: The Ultimate Backup Guide Supply Chain: Missing Links Supply Chain: RFID Reality Check The Business of Security Web 2.0 Security Wireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone Windows Protection Zone The Enterprise Search Zone Software as a Service Zone See your link here

From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center Register for this complimentary webcast today! Go to the webcast  Computerworld Executive Bulletin: Building a Robust Antivirus Defense Download this Executive Bulletin (a $49.95 value) for free, compliments of MessageLabs. (Source: MessageLabs) Antivirus software alone isn't enough to prevent today's speedy, sophisticated virus attacks. Security managers should consider multitiered approaches that include behavior scanning, appliances that check e-mail for worms, and restricting user access to dangerous Web sites. Download this Executive Bulletin (a $49.95 value) for free, compliments of MessageLabs, to learn more. Download this executive briefing  Intercept Spam & Viruses Download this whitepaper to learn how to outsmart spam & viruses, compliments of MessageLabs. (Source: MessageLabs) Register for a complimentary 30 day trial of MessageLabs' new managed Anti-virus and Anti-spam security solutions. MessageLabs guarantees complete protection against all known and unknown email threats. By providing 24 hour support, your business can increase productivity and decrease risk.Register now for a complimentary trial and receive a free datasheet. Download this white paper  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Case Study: Golder Associates Case Studies Real Customers, Real Results Psomas Achieves Global Work-Sharing and Accelerates the Mobile Worker View more whitepapers

• Wall Street's collapse puts IT spending in (some) peril
• Microsoft fights Ballmer testimony in 'Vista Capable' suit
• IBM launches Bluehouse, a Facebook for business
• More top stories 

Go Green with Webroot® Perimeter Security SaaS! Webroot Perimeter Security SaaS is a powerful alternative to obsolete on-premise hardware based security solutions. SaaS allows businesses to obtain flexible protection through an expert security provider, solving the problems caused by software, hardware and appliance solutions. Benefits include easier manageability, better protection and guaranteed performance –all at a lower cost. Register for your free copy of the "Why Security SaaS Makes Sense" whitepaper and Go Green with Webroot! 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

"Turning information into a Competitive Advantage" Companies today are realizing that competitive advantage is harder to sustain when based solely on gains in productivity and cost efficiency. The focus is shifting to invest more in business optimization initiatives which rely on trusted information to develop new insights that deliver better business results. But how can this be done efficiently in a business environment across multiple applications and processes. The answer is an Information Agenda - an innovative approach to transforming business information into a strategic asset for competitive advantage. View this webcast now!  See more Webcasts

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols: Who writes Linux: Corporate America The urban myth that Linux is written by unwashed, unemployed hackers living in their parents' basements should be long dead. Rather, it needs a shove back into its grave. ... [more]