Maryland Citizen Group Demands Answers and Accountability

June 17, 2004

Diebold Election Systems, Inc. has admitted that the electronic voting machines used in the March 2004 primary in Maryland contained software that had not been federally qualified. Maryland law requires that voting systems and any modifications to those systems comply with applicable federal qualification standards before the State Board of Elections may certify them for use in an election.

Diebold made the admission in an official report to Alameda County, California election officials. The report -- entitled "Diebold Election Systems, Inc. Report of Assurances to Alameda County" (available at http://www.truevotemd.org/ebold_rpt_alameda.pdf) -- touts Diebold's use of the federally unqualified GEMS version 1.18.19 in the March 2004 primaries in Maryland: "[T]he State of Maryland successfully utilized GEMS 1.18.19 in their March Primary Election in their 22-county roll-out of touchscreens." The report elsewhere acknowledges, however, that the software was not federally qualified even as of the date of the report, April 26, 2004, which was long after the March election.

Diebold's use of uncertified and unqualified software and firmware in the March 2004 primaries has been the subject of considerable controversy, particularly in light of well-publicized security and reliability concerns with the Diebold machines. Recently, the California Secretary of State issued a scathing report on Diebold's performance in the March 2004 primaries in California, decertified Diebold machines in four California counties, and asked the Attorney General's office to launch a criminal investigation of Diebold's practices after it was revealed that the company misled state regulators about whether its machines had been federally qualified and was found to have illegally installed uncertified software and equipment in 17 California counties. "They broke the law," California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley said. "Their conduct was absolutely reprehensible. The evidence within the report is absolutely damning. They lied." The four California counties will use optical scan machines in the November 2004 elections.

Maryland election officials have denied for months that any problems occurred in the March 2004 primaries. "Maryland voters see it differently. We want to know whether federally unqualified software was used illegally on Primary Day and, moreover, who knew what and when," said Linda Schade, a co-founder of the Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland, also known as TrueVoteMD.org. "If the State Board of Elections did not know, then the Attorney General's office should follow California's lead and launch an immediate investigation of Diebold. If they did know, it is yet another example of the SBE failing the voters of Maryland. Either way, voters want answers and accountability. And make that BEFORE the November election."

"The revelations of use of uncertified and unqualified software and firmware in electronic voting machines in California, Indiana and now Maryland, should raise concerns nationwide," said Ren Bucholz, EFF's Activism Coordinator. "It's beginning to look like the certification and qualification processes, which are key measures that provide at least minimal levels of testing for these machines, were routinely skirted by vendors, or at least by Diebold and ES&S." TrueVoteMD.org is a citizen network of several thousand Maryland voters, including election judges, pollwatchers, candidates, computer professionals, and voters from all walks of life, who are registered Democrats, Republicans, Greens and independents.

A multi-partisan coalition of registered Maryland voters and candidates for public office sued the Maryland State Board of Elections in April to preserve the integrity of the November 2004 elections, and to ensure public trust and confidence in the system by which Maryland voters will help elect the next President of the United States. The plaintiffs include TrueVoteMD.org co-founder Linda Schade, Republican State Senator Andrew Harris, Democratic City councilmen Marc Elrich and Kwami Abayomi, TrueVote computer security expert Paul Suh, Green candidate for Baltimore City Council Terry Fitzgerald, MD. Sharon T. Beard, and Judith A. Burns. Several national organizations, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Verified Voting, and Voters Unite! have filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the case.

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