Diebold could be big loser in today's elections

[razors edge]

By Robert L. Mitchell on Tue, 11/07/2006 - 10:01am

With its reputation battered, Diebold may be ready to throw in the towel in the election machine business. According to a Fortune Magazine story this week, company CEO and president Thomas Swidarski is questioning whether it's worth the effort to continue to do business in this area. In Rage Against the Machine, Siwdarski is already trying to distance the Diebold name from its voting machine business to protect its brand. Here's an excerpt:

Swidarski is questioning whether the election business "fits into our product portfolio." He says he'll make a decision within the next three months. But it says something that the company recently ordered the name "Diebold" removed from the front of the voting equipment. Why? A spokesman would only say, "It was a strategic decision on the part of the corporation."

If things go badly today, November 7th might just be remembered as Diebold Election Systems' Waterloo.

But if vendors are driven out of the business and abandon efforts to improve the technology where will that leave voters? If you think other options are much better, have a look at the table in the Fortune story. It shows the pros, cons and weaknesses of different voting methodologies, including paper, lever machine, punch card, optical scan and electronic.

http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/3909

[gfnrob]

1. They should be turned out with the repiblofucks!!!!

[FSogol]

2. Good. If I can't trust them with counting the votes, why should I trust them for my banking? n/t

[eridani]

43. You can trust them with your banking--

--because their ATM software is all fucking OPEN SOURCE! Seems that their business customers won't tolerate buying a pig in a poke, unlike elections officials. Also, ATMs are banged up hard against reality on a daily basis, and therefore most of the bugs that matter have been fixed. No such testing is possible with something done as infrequently as voting.

[Deja Q]

3. Conceive and test it properly in the first place.

If they can do banking, why not election tallying?! Change a vote into a dollar sign and viola. Is it really that difficult?

Even I, with menial programming knowledge (I'm more technical than programmer), could program a tighter functioning system. :eyes:

[lapfog_1]

14. But you, and no one you know, can create a secure system

because it can't be done.

Whatever Fortune said about the various voting techniques, they are not telling you the whole truth.

Paper voting fraud can and does occur, but it is much, much harder to make such fraud systemic and undiscovered. Computer voting or tabulating, fraud can occur on a wide scale, and silently. Paper fraud will involve many many more people to occur on a wide enough scale to affect even a congressional district. Computer fraud can be caused by one or two and affect whole states or even the nation.

[WilliamPitt]

4. HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT.

[Subdivisions]

6. I'll ditto that. If today's election is stolen, perhaps we should change

our plans to march on Washington and march on Diebold instead.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

5. Voting Is Just Too Difficult...

It's just plain out too difficult for a society as Ignorant & STUPID as ours, to be able to have elections once every 2 years, and accurately vote and count those votes in a coherent manner, without FRAUD, GLITCHES, SUPRESSION, & IGNORANCE.

[Nostradammit]

21. Always the ray of sunshine, huh OCD?

[Tatiana]

7. Simple solution: Keep a tape of all tabulated votes and give the voter a receipt!

If the ATM machines can do it, why can't Diebold's voting machines?

[IntravenousDemilo]

22. Yes, but what happens THEN?

What fraction of the voters will keep their receipts and not just chuck them out? If there's an inquiry later, do you get all those voters who kept their receipts to come to the election office and then add them up? And if they show their receipt that says they voted Democratic or Republican, well, what happens to the secrecy of the vote?

No, the only answer is paper ballots you can mark with an X and then hand-count, the old-fashioned way. Why are we such goggle-eyed slaves to technology and the latest fads? Just because a machine looks sleek and ultramodern and goes "ping!", it doesn't mean we have to be in awe of or even remotely impressed by it. And just because we can vote electronically -- well, "can" doesn't always mean "ought".

[Tatiana]

40. The receipts would go into a secure storage box.

The voter would have the opportunity to review the receipt to make sure his/her votes were correctly reflected. The voter receipts would be available in the event of a challenge or recount.

[IntravenousDemilo]

41. Aw, just go to paper ballots, eh?

It's the only way to ensure the secrecy of the vote. There are very good reasons why it's a secret ballot.

[hedgehog]

25. The idea is that the voter puts the "receipt" into a locked box

that's used for a recount in case of a challenge.

[w4rma]

39. Any "receipt" is bad. The ballot itself must be what is paper. (nt)

[dave502d]

8. What i would like to see is.

Make them give all the money back to the states
for their junk machine.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

9. Removing their name is just another layer of deception

If you don't know who made the machine you voted on, how can you file a complaint against them?

I'm not the least bit impressed with this crap.

[MercutioATC]

10. Diebold makes ATMs. THEY'RE secure, why aren't Diebold voting machines?

My guess...

The voting machines themselves are sold as loss-leaders. Diebold makes the money on service, peripherals and software updates. That being the case, they didn't put a lot of money into making the machines themselves secure.

[casus belli]

19. Answer: Because they don't WANT them to be. n/t

[StraightDope]

33. "...why aren't Diebold voting machines?"

Because it's more profitable for Diebold to help Repubs rig elections and then reap the corporate taxation benefits.

[Fleshdancer]

11. Unless they open their software architecture for public scrutiny....

They will never be able to overcome this. I've talked to senior level architects and developers about the Diebold situation and when THEY are very concerned with voter fraud, then it doesn't exactly make me feel any better about the situation.

[Mandate My Ass]

12. They're afraid of being fined and sued into insolvency

It's been proven over and over again what pieces of crap they passed off on the states that use them.

[razors edge]

24. Thats what I believe.

They are getting of the gravy train due a clear "Bridge Out Ahead" sign.

[bobbolink]

13. A little late, eh?

Oh well, it was only "the most important election of our time".

:cry:

[aquart]

15. The opinion of Computer World on computer voting?

Oh, that influences me.

[casus belli]

16. "They're onto us. Abort! Abort!" Good riddance, Diebold. Next up ES&S. n/t

[SoCalDem]

17. Where does that leave it?? P A P E R ballots

and sharpie pens..

and real live people counting..

I would rather pay PEOPLE to count ballots and recount if necessary, than to shove money into pockets of republican corporate donors

[LondonReign2]

18. Great.

I'm willing to invest in a start up company that will produce OPEN SOURCE, VERIFIABLE machines.

[bullimiami]

20. the entire company should be shut down and liquidated

and thorough investigations should jail those who created this debacle.

it was never an accident. diebold is a totally competent company with many years of experience in secure tabulation machines.

[williesgirl]

23. K&R

[vanboggie]

26. What I would like to see

is the responsible parties tried and convicted for treason.

[Justice Is Comin]

27. Mike Papantonio will take care of your leaving the business Swidaski

and a little side trip to the penitentiary.

[texpatriot2004]

28. Live Free or DieBold nm

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

29. You can comment at the Computerworld site without any registration

You have to give them your email address, but WTF? My entry was immediately posted below the story.

[Pacifist Patriot]

30. Praise Jesus!

Oops, sorry. The plethora of Evangelicals at my polling place must have slopped over onto me.

[bobbie]

31. Vote with paper and pencil like Canada

Geez. And put the Diebold crooks in jail so they can have a nice honeymoon with Bush and Cheney with they're in there.

[BlueEyedSon]

32. LMFAO

[emcguffie]

34. Whatever happened to the TrueVote?

If I remember the name correctly?

Athan Gibbs? I'm not sure I've got his name correctly, either. Something like that.

[The Backlash Cometh]

35. You want some cheese with that whine?

Where would it leave voters if Diebold whimpers off into the sunset? It will leave a demand for a touch-screen machine that will produce a paper ballot. No brainer here.

[ourvoicescount]

36. Remember though, the label on the front doesn't steal the election,

It's the bastards making the machines that steal elections; we'll have to be aware of the new "brand" they give them. Something like "Happy Fair Vote Machine" most likely?

Thanks for the post.

[razors edge]

38. Welcome to DU

[gully]

37. Our votes need to be "audited" much like our banks are. Heck, have the FDIC

recommend changes.

[renate]

42. I liked the way Matthews and KO laughed about how we're teaching other countries

... to run elections.

It was even Chris Matthews who pointed it out, at least in that little interchange.

With Diebold et al out of the picture, we might have a shred or two of credibility in this regard again. Well, maybe.