 |
Mon Oct 13 2008 | |||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Departments Election Issues The money pit: Diebold vs. America by Denis Wright May 15, 2006 Georgia was the first state in the nation to go 100 percent with electronic voting, thanks to Secretary of State Cathy Cox. This was a mantle she carried, and continues to carry, proudly. In fact, she's using it to bolster her run for governor in 2006, and indeed she is currently the Democratic front-runner. But when you look at the facts Cathy Cox should be ashamed. She has failed the voters of Georgia. She has ensured that our elections are subject to fraud; she has knowingly allowed software that violates certification standards to be used in elections. She has wasted huge amounts of taxpayer funds on an election system that is proven to be ineffective at best, a downright scam at worst. And she has hidden or lied about these problems, not only to the voters of Georgia, but also to the state legislature. A Trail of Amendments In May of 2002 the state signed a contract with Diebold to provide DRE (Direct Record Electronic) voting machines for the entire state at a cost of $54 million. In July of the same year the first amendment to that contract was signed. It stated that: • Diebold is to redesign the pre-election training for Georgia officials. • Diebold is to create and prepare all election ballots for every county in Georgia. • Diebold is to deliver and install the election database and memory card in every county on or before October 25, 2002. Immediately, we can see that elections in Georgia have been entirely turned over to a private corporation, one with strong ties to the Republican Party. But it really gets interesting when we turn to later amendments. Contract amendments that were signed by Cathy Cox without any legislative oversight. Despite this written contract, during the November elections there was massive failure of the voting machines which was later documented -- and admitted to, quietly -- by Cathy Cox herself. This information came to light in internal documents obtained through FOIA requests. To the press, Ms. Cox consistently praised Diebold and admitted nothing. She even appeared in a promotional video and sales brochures for Diebold. The second amendment in December 2002 granted Diebold authority to test the GEMS software with Wyle Labs, certification due in January 2003. Wyle Labs is another privately owned enterprise. Diebold pays Wyle to conduct the tests and the results are made available only to their customer -- Diebold. The cost to Georgia voters: $10,029,167. Third Amendment: Certification has still not been accomplished. Paragraph three states that Federal Certification has not been received but a $1 million dollar payment is demanded, and paid. August 25, 2003, Amendment Four: The state of Georgia requests three more GEMS servers at a cost of $51,459, which have still not been certified and an additional $23,700 for Kennesaw State testing labs. Amendment Five: is for a "Security Adjustment" for software glitches, to be obtained by April 29, 2005. Installation of the “security patch” is not to be completed until after the November 2004 election. Amendment Six: The state bought an additional 955 AccuVote machines from Diebold costing $2.6 million dollars. They also extended their warranty with Diebold through December 2005 at a cost of $1.5 million. No one in the Georgia legislature knew about any of these amendments. They were not “in the loop.” There was no legislative oversight whatsoever. A Trail of Money Georgia has been told by Diebold that its three-year old machines cannot be upgraded to produce a voter verified paper ballot. They recommend that Georgia "toss and buy new" machines if paper ballots are required (Verbal testimony by Senator Stephens at SLOGO hearing). At a huge additional cost, of course. Additionally, the state's "pilot program" to have paper ballots in 2006 has dropped from three counties to merely three precincts, and even those will have only one machine with a printer. So this provides only three machines statewide that can produce a paper ballot in a state that had a 14 percent undervote in the 2004 Democratic Primary and Diebold is making the state rent these machines at astronomical costs. Georgians have already spent over $100 million on a voting system that has been proven over and over to be faulty, yet they want taxpayers to spent more. The $54 million dollar figure cited by Cathy Cox's office is a lie. Given the costs of programming, ballot creation and new purchases, the cost to Georgia voters exceeds $116 million dollars. And there is NO legislative oversight. Any public forums are shut down as soon as the questions start. Dr. Brit Williams is the chief consultant from Kennesaw State University who performed the certification test on the Diebold touchscreen machines used for the state of Georgia. At the March 9, 2005, meeting of The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Technical Guidelines Development Committee, Williams said, "Right now the primary use of wireless technology in a voting system is to program voting stations. Because if I have got 3,000 voting stations and I have to load those with pc cards, then I have got to sit down and manufacture 3,000 pc cards, and keep them separated by precinct. Whereas if I could sit in my warehouse and load those ballot images wirelessly, there is a tremendous advantage." Our vote is sacred -- the centrality of honest, transparent vote tallying to the necessary level of trust that underlies the basic contract between the people and their government. Who does Cathy Cox work for? The citizens of Georgia or the shareholders of Diebold? I personally think the answer is quite obvious. Note: Click here to read all the contract amendments. Copyright © 1998-2006 Online Journal Email this article to a friend |
Don't forget to check out articles from 2007 and 2008
"Renowned computer security expert agrees to meet California county supervisor's '1000 to 1' challenge to 'manipulate' Sequoia voting machine!"
December 13, 2006
Brad Friedman
"100 phantom votes found in one precinct; DelCo board of elections hinders investigation"
December 12, 2006
Stephanie Frank Singer
"Think globally, protect the vote locally"
December 1, 2006
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Will they or won't they: last chance for Democrats"
November 17, 2006
David Swanson
"The vote protectors"
November 16, 2006
Robert C. Koehler
"Ohio's 2006 vote count now includes a higher percentage of uncounted ballots than in 2004, and a statistically impossible swing to the Republicans"
November 14, 2006
Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman and Ron Baiman
"The drama of empty numbers"
November 9, 2006
Robert C. Koehler
"A monumental victory for the election protection movement"
November 8, 2006
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"Pick a number 2006"
November 7, 2006
Mike Ferner
"How they stole the mid-term election"
November 7, 2006
Greg Palast, The Guardian ( UK ), Comment
"STOP Blackwell, what's that sign: Everyone look what's going down"
November 7, 2006
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"Parallel election midday report"
November 7, 2006
Rady Ananda
"Tuesday's outcome may depend on the power of the election protection movement"
November 5, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"The power of a social movement can beat the GOP double Chickenhawks"
November 2, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Check out We Count for a great TownHall confrontation between Vicki Lovegren of Ohio Vigilance and Michael Vu, Supervisor of Cuyahoga County BOE"
November 1, 2006
Victoria Lovegren, Ph.D.
"Official states electronic voting system added votes never cast in 2004 Presidential election; audit log missing"
November 1, 2006
Peter Peckarsky, Ron Baiman, and Robert Fitrakis
"Repairing the U.S. system of voting: 50 concrete steps"
November 1, 2006
Harvey Wasserman, Bob Fitrakis and Steve Rosenfeld
"Will a shocking new GOP court victory and Karl Rove's attack on Ohio 2006 doom the Democrats nationwide?"
October 30, 2006
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"Renoite sue Sequoia Voting Systems"
October 28, 2006
Patricia Axelrod
"Severe election problems seen in ten states"
October 27, 2006
Jason Leopold
"Direct material proof of massive election fraud in Ohio in the 2004 U.S. presidential election"
October 26, 2006
Ron Baiman
"A talk with Mark Crispin Miller about what voters can do to prevent another stolen election"
October 26, 2006
The Ostroy Report
"Will Ken Blackwell find the ways to steal Ohio 2006 as he did in 2004?"
October 25, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Important voter activism"
October 22, 2006
Victoria Lovegren, Ph.D.
"A loaves & fishes/Holy Ghost victory for the GOP in November?"
October 17, 2006
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"Why is the man who stole Ohio campaigning with a white supremacist?"
October 9, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"This cannot be"
September 28, 2006
Robert C. Koehler
"Court victory lets preserved Ohio 2004 ballots tell new tales of theft and fraud as indictments and convictions mount"
September 25, 2006
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"Unfit for use in ANY democracy"
September 20, 2006
Rady Ananda
"An open letter to Gov. Robert Taft and Sec. of State J. Kenneth Blackwell"
September 8, 2006
Harvey Wasserman, et. al.
"Coshocton County complaint"
September 3, 2006
Tim Kettler
"Saving the ballot evidence from Ohio 2004"
September 2, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"San Diego suit’s second hearing: Judge to rule next Tuesday on constitutional and jurisdictional questions"
August 25, 2006
Rady Ananda
"New Zogby Poll: It’s Nearly Unanimous"
August 24, 2006
Michael Collins, “Scoop” Independent Media
"How the last presidential election awoke me from an unsound sleep"
July 22, 2006
Jeanne Norris Weinberg
"PFAW's Neas praises advance of Voting Rights Act, Calls on Bush Administration to start enforcing the law"
July 22, 2006
People For the American Way
"Why Democrats don't count: lessons from the un-Gore of Mexico"
July 16, 2006
Greg Palast
"Resolution of no confidence in current U.S. elections"
July 16, 2006
J30 Coalition
"An open letter from Ohio to the people of Mexico"
July 13, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"The stolen election of 2004"
July 11, 2006
Michael Parenti
"The Democrats must now say "We Do Not Concede" in the U.S. as it's being said in Mexico"
July 9, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Project Vote, voting rights organizations, file to overturn restrictive voter registration rules "
July 7, 2006
Brian Mellor
"BBV: Unredacted Hursti Diebold reports, photos released"
July 4, 2006
Bev Harris
"Ignore that man behind the screen, Dorothy"
July 1, 2006
Greg Palast
"Bob Fitrakis for Governor -- he is now on the ballot"
July 1, 2006
Fitrakis campaign
"Alameda County supervisors embrace election fraud"
July 1, 2006
Allen C. Michaan
"San Diego’s run-off election aggregate results are plausible"
June 18, 2006
Ron Baiman
"A vote of no confidence: democracy left to languish in living rooms, garages"
June 15, 2006
Robert C. Koehler
"Kennedy's challenge: Salon, Mother Jones & the tortured dialogue"
June 15, 2006
Michael Collins and
"Warren County revisited"
June 12, 2006
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Something smells fishy in San Diego!"
June 11, 2006
Ron Baiman
"Response to Salon Magazine"
June 6, 2006
Ron Baiman
"Analysis of Connally spreadsheet and other documents"
June 5, 2006
Ron Baiman
"RFK and Rolling Stone nail Ohio's stolen 2004 election, but much more must be done"
June 3, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Pick a card, any card"
May 27, 2006
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Will the major media finally cover the electronic election fraud issue?"
May 15, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"The money pit: Diebold vs. America "
May 15, 2006
Denis Wright
"Worst security flaw ever - 3 states invoke Diebold emergency procedures"
May 15, 2006
Black Box Voting
"Cranks and Kooks: Kerry won in '04"
May 11, 2006
Greg Palast
"Ohio 2004 election thief grabs Gov nod while (surprise! surprise!) voting machines malfunction"
May 5, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Hand counted paper ballots in 2008"
April 14, 2006
Sheila Parks
"Busheviks connected to New Hampshire phone-jamming scheme"
April 14, 2006
The Ostroy Report
"Are mainstream churches finally standing up to the GOP’s hateful “Christian” blitzkrieg?"
April 9, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Thousands march in New Orleans for right for Katrina survivors to vote in the city’s April 22 election"
April 7, 2006
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
"Shocking Diebold conflict of interest revelations from Secretary of State further taint Ohio's electoral credibility"
April 6, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Faith-based voting"
March 30, 2006
Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Targeting the voters in Toledo"
March 30, 2006
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Targeting the voters in Cincinnati"
March 30, 2006
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Through a glass Darkely"
March 30, 2006
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Is the Mainstream Media finally getting half the rigged voting machine story?"
March 29, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Please help Clint Curtis"
March 23, 2006
Robert Lockwood Mills
"Utah testing of the Diebold touch-screen reveals new problems"
March 19, 2006
Black Box Voting
"Trust us"
March 17, 2006
Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Harman vs. Winograd, tough choice?"
March 17, 2006
David Swanson
"Why did J. Kenneth Blackwell seek, then hide, his association with super-rich extremists and e-voting magnates?"
March 10, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Did 308,000 cancelled Ohio voter registrations put Bush back in the White House?"
February 28, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Statisticians recommend new measures to ensure vote count accuracy, release "Ohio’s 2004 exit poll analysis for novices”"
February 17, 2006
Kathy Dopp
"As Alito takes Supreme Court seat, Ohio GOP guts election protection "
February 1, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"The Harri Hursti hack and its importance to our nation"
January 29, 2006
Susan Pynchon, Florida Fair Elections Coalition
"Programmer Jeff Dean worked for chief of White House Plumbers unit"
January 26, 2006
Bev Harris, Kathleen Wynne, and John Howard
"Free Press Editor in Film at Sundance"
January 23, 2006
Free Press Staff
"PA activists sue to vote on machines"
January 20, 2006
Rady Ananda
"Important documents"
January 20, 2006
Free Press staff
"The gun is smoking - The gun is smoking - 2004 Ohio precinct-level exit poll data show virtually irrefutable evidence of vote miscount"
January 18, 2006
Kathy Dopp and Ron Baiman
"Recipe for hacking ES&S and Sequoia, Hursti-style"
January 4, 2006
Black Box Voting
"What’s all the fuss about Diebold in Florida and California?"
January 4, 2006
John Washburn, for VoteTrustUSA
"New info may take out Diebold touchscreens"
January 1, 2006
Black Box Voting
Read Articles by Year:
2007 2006 2005 2004
2003 2002 2001 2000
All content © 1970-2008
The Columbus Free Press
Disclaimer