If New Hampshire's Primary Outcome Was Important - Why Were They Using Diebold Machines?
Main stream media pundits and some in the blogosphere are implying that Dennis Kucinich's demand for a recount in the New Hampshire primaryis somehow out of line or highly questionable. Far from it. Kucinich is right.
Diebold optical scanners, used in New Hampshire were decertified in California. Not only are the company's touch screen voting machines easily hacked say computer experts, even the memory card could be accessed by using a hotel minibar key.
Diebold's optical scanners are also vulnerable. As BlackBoxVoting has stated, "Diebold's opti-scan (paper ballot) voting system uses a curious memory card design, offering penetration by a lone programmer such that standard canvassing procedures cannot detect election manipulation."
New Hampshire's election officials seem to be as apathetic, naive, or willfully ignorant about Diebold voting machines as are election officials in other states.
BlackBoxVoting explained, "Most states prohibit elections officials from checking on optical scan tallies by examining the paper ballots. In Washington, Secretary of State Sam Reed declared such spontaneous checkups to be "unauthorized recounts" and prohibited them altogether. New Florida regulations will forbid counting paper ballots, even in recounts, except in highly unusual circumstances. Without paper ballot hand-counts, the hacks showed....that optical-scan elections can be destroyed in seconds."
How completely illogical and stupid!
While the NH primary vote count may be accurate, given Diebold's terrible history both in unsecure voting machinery and management, a recount should be obligatory in those precincts where Diebold machines were used.
Actually, a recount should be demanded by the Democratic National Committee.
The DNC and state Democratic Parties should follow the lead of California's Secretary of State and make sure that Secretaries of State in states where counties use Diebold, ES&S and other companies whose voting machinery has come into question or been challenged anywhere in the US, require the use of paper ballots and hand counts of those ballots in primaries and the general election. If a large state like California can do it, every state can.
No more blind trust of electronic voting machines and optical scans. The voting process is too important.
Diebold optical scanners, used in New Hampshire were decertified in California. Not only are the company's touch screen voting machines easily hacked say computer experts, even the memory card could be accessed by using a hotel minibar key.
Diebold's optical scanners are also vulnerable. As BlackBoxVoting has stated, "Diebold's opti-scan (paper ballot) voting system uses a curious memory card design, offering penetration by a lone programmer such that standard canvassing procedures cannot detect election manipulation."
New Hampshire's election officials seem to be as apathetic, naive, or willfully ignorant about Diebold voting machines as are election officials in other states.
BlackBoxVoting explained, "Most states prohibit elections officials from checking on optical scan tallies by examining the paper ballots. In Washington, Secretary of State Sam Reed declared such spontaneous checkups to be "unauthorized recounts" and prohibited them altogether. New Florida regulations will forbid counting paper ballots, even in recounts, except in highly unusual circumstances. Without paper ballot hand-counts, the hacks showed....that optical-scan elections can be destroyed in seconds."
How completely illogical and stupid!
While the NH primary vote count may be accurate, given Diebold's terrible history both in unsecure voting machinery and management, a recount should be obligatory in those precincts where Diebold machines were used.
Actually, a recount should be demanded by the Democratic National Committee.
The DNC and state Democratic Parties should follow the lead of California's Secretary of State and make sure that Secretaries of State in states where counties use Diebold, ES&S and other companies whose voting machinery has come into question or been challenged anywhere in the US, require the use of paper ballots and hand counts of those ballots in primaries and the general election. If a large state like California can do it, every state can.
No more blind trust of electronic voting machines and optical scans. The voting process is too important.
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