Voting Machine Mess: Diebold upgrade "times out" after 2.5 minutes
A Diebold "software upgrade" is likely to cause problems for voters this fall in up to 34 states. The "feature" will cause the voting machines to "time out" if a voter takes more than 2 1/2 minutes to make a selection. This causes problems, delays and embarassment for voters (often the elderly or challenged) when it happens, and ties up election workers who have to assist the voter and re-start the the voting process. This "feature" is not new, however, activists believe it was first used in Maryland.
Johnson County computer voting machines prone to take a 'time out' By FINN BULLERS The Kansas City Star
http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/14307 Fifty-five days before an election of a lifetime, a tiny bit of computer code is threatening to erode public confidence in Johnson County’s election process.
....In February, Johnson County upgraded touchscreen voting machines with a new software release from Premier Election Solutions Inc., based in Allen, Texas.
Buried in the release notes was a mention of a new time-out feature that makes the voting machine eject a voter card if there has been no activity for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.....
more at:
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