(DIEBOLD BBV)Firm Blames Equipment for E-Vote Glitch [View All]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3981547,00.html

Firm Blames Equipment for E-Vote Glitch

Thursday April 15, 2004 6:46 PM


SAN DIEGO (AP) - The manufacturer of San Diego County's electronic voting equipment blamed a faulty power switch for problems that delayed the opening of 40 percent of polling stations, according to a report released by Diebold Election Systems Inc.

Switches on computer encoders malfunctioned, the company said Tuesday.

During the March 2 primary, poll workers were not able to activate electronic devices that encode the magnetic-striped cards used to activate touch-screen voting machines because the computer displayed the wrong screen.

The problem occurred because the faulty switches did not shut off the units, and the battery power drained. When poll workers then turned on the machines, a Windows operating system screen appeared, causing confusion for workers trained to see another screen. Voters were delayed, or forced to leave without casting ballots, while poll workers awaited instructions on how to find the proper screen. <snip>