Attorneys warned firm that use of uncertified vote-counting software violated state law

By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER

Attorneys for Diebold Election Systems Inc. warned in late November that its use of uncertified vote-counting software in Alameda County violated California election law and broke its $12.7 million contract with Alameda County.

Soon after, a review of internal legal memos obtained by the Oakland Tribune shows Diebold’s attorneys at the Los Angeles office of Jones Day realized the McKinney, Texas-based firm also faced a threat of criminal charges and exile from California elections.

Yet despite warnings from the state’s chief elections officer, Diebold continued fielding poorly tested, faulty software and hardware in at least two of California’s largest urban counties during the Super Tuesday primary, when e-voting temporarily broke down and voters were turned away at the polls.

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I’ll never trust Diebold to count the vote fairly- they’re irreparably corrupted. Last year, the CEO of Diebold promised to deliver it’s home state of Ohio’s electoral votes to Bush in a fundraising letter to Republicans. Is it really just a coincidence that Diebold’s machines have no way to verify that the count is correct? No audit trail?

If there’s a problem with the count (like in Florida, when Al Gore was given NEGATIVE 16,022 votes and George W. Bush was given 4,000 extra votes) nothing can be done? Is it still sane to assume these procedures were not put in place because Diebold just hadn’t thought of using the same technology ATMs have used for decades? Or is a more likely answer that Diebold has a horse in this race, and audit trails could make things inconvenient for their candidate?

ATMs work- they give you a paper receipt. That’s not a failure of our so-called paperless society- it’s accountability. It’s reassurance. That’s what we need when voting- and it’s incredible that it’s not there yet.