California Indefinitely Halts Certification of Diebold Machines, Virginia Has Problems with Electronic Machines, Republicans Sue

November 5, 2003

Montgomery County: The Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland has filed a formal "Citizens Complaint" with the State Board of Elections that seeks to have the Diebold machines decertified and have the purchase of the machines stopped until the machines are able to provide a paper audit record verified by voters. The complaint is attached to this release.

The complaint alleges that Maryland "has ceded responsibility for counting and reporting election results to a private corporation." This undermines the credibility of the vote counting process. Further, the complaint describes the corporate vote count as being done in secret, by a partisan corporation with conflicts of interest and a history of hiding flaws in its machines, as it is counted on "proprietary software known only to the corporate vender - unknown even to election officials." Thus, there is no open counting or transparency to the vote count process.

Kevin Zeese, Esq. a co-director of the Campaign urged the Board of Elections not to rush into election chaos. "Every report reviewing the Diebold Corporation machines has found serious security flaws. And, because of the lack of a paper audit and recount trail voters in Maryland will never know whether the security of the vote was violated and whether their vote was accurately counted. Counting every vote is too important to leave to an unverifiable corporate vote count."

In Virginia, problems with nine voting machines resulted in confusion, delay and questions about whether the vote count was accurate. The Republican Party is set to file a lawsuit concerning the electronic vote count, raising questions about the election results. The electronic voting machines in Virginia, like the machines in Maryland, do not provide an independent paper audit trail that allows for a recount or an audit of the accuracy of the machine count.

In California, the Board of Elections is halting - indefinitely - the certification of the Diebold Corporation machines. It is investigating potential violation of federal election law by Diebold Corporations use of uncertified software in elections.

"The Diebold Corporation's credibility has crashed. They are losing support and questions about their product are heightening as alternatives that provide a paper audit trail are becoming available," claimed Linda Schade, co-director of the Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland. "Maryland should not rush to put in place election machines that will be out-dated before they are ever used."

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