05-05-2004, 00:23
California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley banned the use of Diebold's new touchscreen electronic voting machines from the November election in four counties this past Friday due to security concerns and lack of voter confidence. Shelley also called on the attorney general's office to investigate whether the Diebold committed fraud.
California had been one of the first states to react to problems with Florida's punch-card voting system in the 2000 presidential election by moving entirely to electronic balloting in 14 of 58 counties. Shelley's order brought that movement to a standstill and prompted some counties to ponder legal options.
In 2000, tens of thousands of African American voters were illegally purged from the voting rolls in Florida. Three years later Bush signed the 3.9 billion dollar Help America Vote Act - or HAVA, which allocates millions for purchase of new electronic machines. BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast finds that HAVA will in fact worsen the racial bias of the uncounted vote through computerization.
Greg Palast, investigative reporter with the BBC and author of the books 'The Best Democracy Money Can Buy' and 'Democracy and Regulation.'
Avi Rubin, professor at Johns Hopkins University and co-author of the report "Analysis of an Electronic Voting System" the initial study of security flaws in voting machine software. He served as a judge in the Baltimore County primary election in March 2004
California had been one of the first states to react to problems with Florida's punch-card voting system in the 2000 presidential election by moving entirely to electronic balloting in 14 of 58 counties. Shelley's order brought that movement to a standstill and prompted some counties to ponder legal options.
In 2000, tens of thousands of African American voters were illegally purged from the voting rolls in Florida. Three years later Bush signed the 3.9 billion dollar Help America Vote Act - or HAVA, which allocates millions for purchase of new electronic machines. BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast finds that HAVA will in fact worsen the racial bias of the uncounted vote through computerization.
Greg Palast, investigative reporter with the BBC and author of the books 'The Best Democracy Money Can Buy' and 'Democracy and Regulation.'
Avi Rubin, professor at Johns Hopkins University and co-author of the report "Analysis of an Electronic Voting System" the initial study of security flaws in voting machine software. He served as a judge in the Baltimore County primary election in March 2004