Re: [MLUG] Diebold demands that HBO cancel documentary on voting machines

[Dave McBride <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

I couldn't agree more with your concerns. It's odd (sad?), though, that 
for all I've heard about this problem, I haven't heard it proposed that 
we look at open source as part of the solution, until now.

Last week I heard an interview that included the Marketing Dir. of 
Diebold. His main proof that the machines were good seemed to be that 
they are used in a lot of jurisdictions.  He also pointed out that the 
computer scientists had got hold of a machine that they had no business 
having (he wanted to know the name of the person who got it for them), 
and used it to conduct some very dubious hacks that were not at all 
relevant for a Real-World polling place full of observant election 
officials and security personnel.

To quote Dave Barry, I'm not making this up.
http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/06/10/30.php#11767

Cheers,
Dave

Mike Miller wrote:
> You remember Diebold...
>
> http://taxa.epi.umn.edu/~mbmiller/pics/humor/diebold/
>
> ...the guys who make all the crappy electronic voting machines that 
> allow all sorts of easy cheating?  Well there is a new movie about them 
> that you can watch for free, in its entirety, here:
>
> http://throwawayyourtv.com/2006/11/hacking-democracy-full-film.html
>
> See the article below in which Diebold tries to protect its tattered 
> reputation by claiming that the film is inaccurate, but without citing a 
> single purported inaccuracy.  Diebold has tried to stop computer 
> scientists from studying their machines, but those scientists who have 
> managed to get access to a machine and study it have found it to be 
> extremely poorly designed and vulnerable to tampering.
>
> We need **open source** voting software and hardware!!!  It is essential 
> to our democracy.  We also need a paper trail.  The Columbia 
> fat-marker-plus-scanner strategy sounds great though -- a touch screen 
> interface doesn't add a lot to that (but it does add expense for 
> taxpayers and profit for manufacturers).
>
> Mike
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/290653_diebold01.html
>
> Seattle Post-Intelligencer
> November 1, 2006
>
> Diebold demands that HBO cancel documentary on voting machines
> Film saying they can be manipulated 'inaccurate'
>
> By MICHAEL JANOFSKY, BLOOMBERG NEWS
>
> Diebold Inc. insisted that cable network HBO cancel a documentary that 
> questions the integrity of its voting machines, calling the program 
> inaccurate and unfair.
>
> The program, "Hacking Democracy," is scheduled to debut Thursday, five 
> days before the 2006 U.S. midterm elections. The film claims that 
> Diebold voting machines aren't tamper-proof and can be manipulated to 
> change voting results.
>
> "Hacking Democracy" is "replete with material examples of inaccurate 
> reporting," Diebold Election System President David Byrd said in a 
> letter to HBO President and Chief Executive Chris Albrecht posted on 
> Diebold's Web site. Short of pulling the film, Monday's letter asks for 
> disclaimers to be aired and for HBO to post Diebold's response on its 
> Web site.
>
> According to Byrd's letter, inaccuracies in the film include the 
> assertion that Diebold, whose election systems unit is based in Allen, 
> Texas, tabulated more than 40 percent of the votes cast in the 2000 
> presidential election.
>
> The letter says Diebold wasn't in the electronic voting business in 
> 2000, when disputes over ballots in Florida delayed President Bush's 
> victory for more than a month and raised questions about the reliability 
> of electronic voting machines.
>
> "We stand by the film," said Jeff Cusson, a spokesman for HBO, which is 
> a unit of Time Warner Inc.
>
> "We have no intention of withdrawing it from our schedule. It appears 
> that the film Diebold is responding to is not the film HBO is airing."
>
> David Bear, a spokesman for Diebold, said the company bought another 
> firm, Global Elections, in 2002 that served about 8 percent of balloting 
> in 2000, including voters in Florida. The company, which hasn't seen the 
> film, based its complaints on material from the HBO Web site, Bear said.
>
> This is Diebold's second recent defense of its system. On Sept. 26, Byrd 
> wrote to Jann Wenner, editor and publisher of Rolling Stone, saying a 
> story written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., "Will the Next Election Be 
> Hacked?" was "error-riddled" and that readers "deserve a better 
> researched and reported article."
>
> The HBO documentary is based on the work of Bev Harris, the Renton woman 
> who founded BlackBoxVoting.org, which monitors election accuracy. In 
> 2004 the attorney general of California took up a whistle-blower claim 
> filed by Harris against Diebold and settled with the company for $2.6 
> million in December.
>
>
> © 1998-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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