Reply #4: CA Secretary of state very skeptical of voting machines [View All]

www.taftmidwaydriller.com
Opinion Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Secretary of state very skeptical of voting machines
By Thomas D. Elias
Published: Friday, January 19, 2007 1:13 PM CST



snip
Now comes Democrat Debra Bowen, elected last fall and just now about to move into her new job as secretary of state, California's top elections officer. As a state senator from Marina del Rey for the last eight years, Bowen was the Legislature's leading skeptic of new-fangled voting machines and their bells and whistles.


snip
“We are going to do a top to bottom review of every voting system in use anywhere in California,” Bowen said in an interview. “Yes, I would consider decertifying machines that my predecessor approved. Unfortunately, we've spent a lot of money on equipment that's not ready for prime time. Any Fortune 500 company would have sent those machines back with a letter saying they just don't do what they're supposed to.”



How bad is the current generation of voting machines? Well, California lucked out for the most part last fall, not falling prey to the worst malfunctions and dicey behavior of the machines. But in one Texas county, ES&S machines counted each vote twice. Plus, incidents of ES&S devices “flipping” votes from the intended recipient to another were reported in Missouri and Florida.

Meanwhile, the rear of Sequoia devices was found to bear a yellow button that could be pushed to cast as many votes as anyone wanted on the machine.

more...
http://www.taftmidwaydriller.com/articles/2007/01/19/news/opinion/opinion03.txt