Statement on Diebold Touch-Screen Machines in MA

Written by: Aslam Karachiwala on Oct 20, 2006 3:46 PM EDT

John Bonifaz, voting rights attorney and former Democratic candidate for Massachusetts Secretary of State, issued the following statement today on the introduction of Diebold touch-screen voting machines in Massachusetts:

"The Massachusetts Town Clerks Association is reporting in its October newsletter [www.johnbonifaz.com/phplist/list...] that the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office has announced that Diebold touch-screen voting machines will be tested in certain cities and towns in the upcoming November election.

"There are two major problems with this decision made by Secretary Bill Galvin.

"First, the Help America Vote Act (2002) [www.johnbonifaz.com/phplist/list...] required all states to have new voting equipment in each polling location to serve the needs of voters with disabilities by the first federal election of 2006. For Massachusetts, that meant September 19. Secretary Galvin failed to meet this requirement.

"On August 14, the Boston Globe cited Galvin [www.johnbonifaz.com/phplist/list...] as saying that he 'is near the end of a lengthy vetting process and could order the machines within days, depending upon an outside expert's evaluation of three models.' The Globe further reported that 'he hopes to have at least some of the machines for the primary but does not want to rush into purchasing a potentially flawed model.'

"There were no new machines in the primary. Two months later - and four years after the law's passage - Galvin has decided to purchase and test the flawed TSx Diebold machine during a critical election. Massachusetts remains one of only two states (New York is the other) that have yet to comply with the federal law.

"The second problem is the technology itself. The TSx model has been at the center of controversy for several years.

"California banned the use of any Diebold machines from its elections, pending further examination. The state also sued the company because of voting problems in four counties. Diebold eventually settled with the state and paid a $2.6 million settlement.

"The Maryland House, after several problems with the TSx machines, voted unanimously this year to approve a bill that would prohibit election officials from using the Diebold equipment in this fall's elections and use a paper-based optical scan system instead. Maryland's Governor has called for a return to full paper ballots and, just last month, Baltimore election director Gene Raynor resigned over the use of the TSx machines.

"In September, USA Today reported that Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia have also reported problems with touch-screen machines.

"Yet, here in Massachusetts, Galvin has green-lighted the use of the TSx machines in select cities and towns next month.

"This issue transcends any candidacy and any campaign. It goes to the heart of whether the integrity of our elections will be safeguarded. We must guarantee the openness and transparency of our elections with paper trails, hand-recorded paper ballots, access to the source codes and data for all electronic voting machines, and public control of our vote-counting process. There is no reason, in light of the problems the nation has witnessed with touch-screen electronic voting machines - especially Diebold's TSx model - that these machines should be introduced into our elections here in Massachusetts. Our right to vote, including our right to have our votes properly counted, must be protected."

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Location: Boston, MA 02118