Maryland Scraps Diebold Voting System 209
beadfulthings writes "After eight years and some $65 million, the state of Maryland is taking its first steps to return to an accountable, paper-ballot based voting system. Governor Martin O'Malley has announced an initial outlay of $6.5 million towards the $20 million cost of an optical system which will scan and tally the votes while the paper ballots are retained as a backup. The new (or old) system is expected to be in place by 2010 — or four years before the state finishes paying off the bill for the touch-screen system."
Diebold = Premier Election Solutions. (Score:5, Informative)
Changing the name was a sneaky move.
Verified Voting (Score:4, Informative)
Thought others might find it interesting.
What about the old machines? (Score:4, Informative)
Election fraud (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Diebold = Premier Election Solutions. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Paper ballots are pretty horrible, too (Score:1, Informative)
From the web page:
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The EAC provides a list of registered equipment manufacturers. It includes the more well known vendors such as Premier Election Solutions, Inc. (formerly Diebold), a name according to them "synonymous with security."
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Strike four, dude.
Heck, Shoup is still in the game today! (Score:5, Informative)
Here's a little of Shoup's history. [sptimes.com]
It's a big, hairball of a mess and none of the right people are in jail.
-FL
My previous county's voting system (Score:5, Informative)
Here's your paper, here's your marker. Fill in the dot next to who you're voting for. If you make a mistake, please see one of the attendants for a new ballot and we will destroy the old one, and record the action and confirm it with your signature. If you would like to vote and are unable to properly use the marker, please see one of our attendants for assistance. Once you are done, please slip your ballot into the secured box at either end of the room. The "I voted" sticker is optional and will not be forced on you.
I voted in that county for 7 years, and not once did anyone ever question the authenticity of the outcomes, even when outcomes were close.
electric voting could be great. (Score:2, Informative)
cryptographic voting protocols have gotten much better. All that's left to do is write a nice specification, and implement it. this is hard, but my guess is that it'll be easier than the crypography was.
it's sad, but i i think that diebold (and all other current electronic voting machines) may have soured the public opinion of electronic voting so badly that it will be impossible to convince people that cryptographic voting is any good, and cryptovoting was already hard to sell because it's tough to explain how it works.
we need to get the word out on cryptovoting though. it could raise the level of control people have over elections to an unprecedented height. let your less geeky friends know that you think it's good.
that is, if you DO think it's good. may i offer this pdf [teg.cti.gr] as a good place to start. also this video [youtube.com] is very nice, and seemingly a little more up to date.
Re:Especially in Chicago, NYC and the East Coast. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Especially in Chicago, NYC and the East Coast. (Score:3, Informative)