Dump Voting Machines

[kster]

By Mark E. Smith, San Diego

Monday, Jan. 29, 2007 | After they have proven over and over again to be error-prone, easily hacked, and not worth the paper trails they often fail to print, why do we still have voting machines in San Diego?

When I asked the Board of Supervisors, they directed me to the City Council. When I asked the City Council they directed me to the Citizens Election Task Force. And when I asked the Task Force, they said it wasn't on their agenda.

Since most of the labs that test these voting machines have been found not to have been properly testing them at all, and the machines themselves do not meet normal security standards, no less stringent election laws, it is very likely that our new Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, may decertify them. They had been decertified by a previous Secretary of State, Kevin Shelly, but he was recalled in an election run on those very same machines, and his successor recertified them even though they still weren't certifiable.

But even if the machines aren't certified, that doesn't mean we won't be stuck with them. Having spent a fortune on these pieces of junk, our Registrar of Voters is apt to insist that we need them in order to hold elections, and to ask for a waiver from the Secretary of State so that they can continue to be used.

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/01/29/letters/380dump.txt

[kster]

1. ............. nt

[galloglas]

2. K'n'R They won't forget Bilbray!

Sic 'em, mark! Good catch, Kster!