Diebold: A New Beginning (to the First Step in E-Voting Terror)
by John Paczkowski
Posted on August 17, 2007 at 12:01 AM PT
Though it tried for more than a year, Diebold has been unable to sell off the electronic-voting subsidiary that is transforming its brand into a synonym for flawed electronic-voting systems. And so the company is doing the next best thing–renaming it.
“Diebold and its financial consultants have been actively engaged with a number of strategic companies and private investors with the intent to divest the Diebold Election Systems subsidiary,” the company said in a pair of press releases. “These efforts to sell this company, however, have proven unsuccessful due in part to the rapidly evolving political uncertainties and controversies surrounding state and jurisdiction purchases of electronic-voting systems. Given this changing business environment and the recent downturn in the capital markets, Diebold has postponed its efforts to divest the company and instead is realigning the election-systems subsidiary to allow it to operate as a more independent entity. … Diebold Elections Systems is changing its name to Premier Election Solutions. The change to Premier signifies a new beginning for the company.”
A new beginning? For the company that designed its widely criticized electronic-voting machines to be opened with a hotel minibar key? Perhaps in the same way that the donning of a wig and novelty Groucho glasses signifies a new beginning for the amateur comedian.
Comments
Terror or something perhaps more chilling. When “A Margin of Error Ballots of Straw” was first conceived, I wanted only to draw attention to our badly flawed election system. However, as I started collecting “proof” to build a story, the sheer simplicity of shaving a few ballots off here and there, converting actual votes to undervotes and flipping others…then when the voting’s done, replace the computer software with the original in case of an audit…Wouldn’t even take geek brilliance. Within the caverns of the computers, call an elephant a donkey or a donkey an elephant, the computer doesn’t care. Of course an inside job is the easiest and quickest way to populate all the voting machines from a given vendor. But in light of our recent proof of lax quality control, who would ever find it?
Is it possible? Absolutely. We can fix the machines, but if we are to achieve one voter, one vote…every time, we must go back to basics. Apply sound business practices to ensure the voting systems we purchase fully meet our needs for election integrity. And ensure those machines work …all of them. Not just a sampling. We’re caught in a tailspin of bottom-up catch and fix of serious flaws that should have been addressed prior to purchase.
Moreover, until we also fix our election laws to be on par with technology, to protect us from machine and human error, and HUMAN INTERPRETION of election results our election process will continue to be broken. The courts should not decide the people’s choices for them.
In “A Margin of Error: Ballots of Straw,” when Florida’s election is stolen, only one woman stands in the way of the governor’s fast-track to the White House…one woman and the man sent to spy on her.
Lani Massey Brown, MARGIN OF ERROR: BALLOTS OF STRAW, a novel of political intrigue/romantic suspense.
Posted by Lani Brown at August 17th, 2007 at 12:37 pm