BBV--California delays certification of some electronic voting machines

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/11/04/elec04.california.machines.ap/index.html


California delays certification of some electronic voting machines



Tuesday, November 4, 2003 Posted: 7:49 AM EST (1249 GMT)



SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- New touchscreen voting machines failed to win the approval of a state advisory panel, throwing into question multimillion dollar contracts between the company that built them and at least three counties with plans to use them as early as next year.

Instead of certifying the Diebold AccuVote-TSX system as expected, the advisory panel to the secretary of state said Monday it would investigate uncertified software and hardware that may have been used in a recent election.

Assistant secretary of state Marc Carrel said the panel had discovered disconcerting information about the equipment, according to several people who attended a Monday meeting in Sacramento.

The state would not consider certification of the TSX until it completed the investigation, Carrel said to attendees, including voter rights advocates, computer scientists and representatives from Diebold and other voting equipment vendors.

At least three counties -- Kern, Solano and San Joaquin -- had planned to use the paperless voting terminals in the March 2004 primary.

Many attendees had expected Carrel to approve the TSX for use in the upcoming primary. During the meeting, Carrel refused to say where or how the uncertified equipment may have been used, or whether its use could invalidate any election results.

All voting equipment in California must pass federal and state certification standards; once the state approves, each county is free to select from a list of certified vendors, machines and software.

Secretary of state spokeswoman Terri Carbaugh refused to give details of the investigation or the alleged uncertified equipment, but emphasized that the postponement was not an indictment of electronic voting systems.

"There was no conclusion rendered at the meeting," Carbaugh said. "The panelists simply requested more information of the vendor."

Calls placed to Diebold Monday were not immediately returned.



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