Douglas M. Duncan
County Executive, Montgomery County

George Leventhal
President, Montgomery County Council

Dear County Executive Duncan and Council President Leventhal,

Documents received from litigation between citizens of Maryland and the State Board of Elections have revealed the use of an uncertified voting system in Montgomery County in the March, 2004 primary, in violation of Maryland law.  Maryland Election Law Article 9-102(c) requires the use of certified voting systems.  A series of letters between the State Board of Elections (BOE) and Diebold, the maker of our voting system, posted at:

http://truevotemd.org/content/view/430/61/  [under Exhibit 7]

admit the use of illegal, uncertified software in 2004.

The State Board discovered the lack of certification in December of 2003 and withheld payment to Diebold.  Subsequent letters talk of an oral agreement to pay half of the invoice at the completion of delivery of the machines and the other half when proof of certification is finally received.  The letters reveal that this proof was not received until June 8, 2004 and not confirmed by State examination until July 1, 2004.  Diebold was paid the second half of the amount due on July 2, 2004.

The series of letters continues until December of 2004, when the State BOE Procurement Officer denied Diebold’s claims for interest on the amount of money that was withheld from the original invoice.  All through the letters, repeated reference is made to the specific laws of Maryland that require the use of certified voting systems.  The State Board cited these laws and specific contract language as the reason why payment was being withheld.

These revelations call into question the role of our own local Board of Elections, Administrators and technical staff in the use of this uncertified voting system for our elections in 2004.  The citizens of Montgomery County, whose taxes fund our local Board of Elections, deserve a full investigation of this shocking information.  What did our local BOE, Administrators and technical staff know about the use of uncertified systems?  Was the County Executive and County Council advised about this?  Was our local BOE complicit in the use of this uncertified system or were they compelled by the State BOE to use this system?  If they were unaware of the use of an uncertified voting system, were they negligent in their responsibilities to the citizens of Montgomery County?

In addition to this admitted illegality, the rest of the documents received from the litigation (Exhibits 1 – 6 at the above website) show ongoing problems with the administration of our elections that rise to the level of violations of Maryland Law and betrays public trust in our electoral process.  Article 9-102 of Maryland Election Law stipulates that the voting system must count and record all votes accurately and that the system must protect the security of the voting process.  The documents from the Board of Elections, however, revealed that citizens of Montgomery County have had votes lost because of errors and malfunctions of the voting system and that the security of the voting process is lax at best.

While any election system will inevitably have problems that will result in errors and malfunctions, the imposition of a paperless electronic voting system by our Board of Elections means that we have no ability to recover lost votes when these problems occur and that we have no ability to detect fraud if the security of the voting process has been compromised.

Some members of the Montgomery County Board of Elections have publicly advocated against the safeguard of a voter-verified paper audit trail despite these documented problems with the election system.  Transparency and accountability are the foundations of our system of government and are essential to the integrity of our elections.  Is it proper for a county-funded agency that administers our elections to advocate for an election system that makes it impossible to ensure the accurate recording and counting of all votes and that makes it impossible to audit or recount the election results?  Why has the Board hidden from elected officials and the public, documents and information about the problems that have occurred with the voting system?

Important elections will be held this year for every office of County and State government.  Regardless of what type of voting system is used, the voters of Montgomery County need reassurance that our Board of Elections will abide by all Maryland Election Laws and inform the public of all problems with the election system that could affect the accurate recording and counting of votes.

The integrity of our voting system is the foundation upon which public trust of our government rests.  The scandalous behavior by election officials in Maryland, cited above, requires an immediate public inquiry by Montgomery County government about the role of our local Board of Elections.  I look forward to hearing from you soon about when and where this public inquiry will begin.  If you have any questions, please contact TrueVoteMD at our office, 301-270-6150.  

Sincerely,

Robert Ferraro

TrueVoteMD.org

cc:Montgomery County Council
Montgomery County Delegation, Maryland General Assembly
Montgomery County Board of Elections