Great Column in Denver Post re: bad voting machines in CO

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Please read the column, and send her a thank-you email.
Thanks!

Also posted in GD:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2460111

Denver post column on defective voting machines
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4527318?source=rss

It's a must: hackerproof democracy
By Diane Carman
Denver Post Staff Columnist
Article Last Updated:10/22/2006 03:49:04 AM MDT

I snipped the whole first part, which is also worth reading.
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While county clerks and the besieged Secretary of State Gigi Dennis have tried to reassure voters that the systems always have been secure, the eight-page findings of fact and conclusions of law released last week by Denver District Judge Lawrence Manzanares paint a picture of a flawed patchwork system, vulnerable to manipulation and suffering from lax oversight by the secretary of state.

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"The court concludes that the secretary has not established minimum security" as required by state statute "and did not adequately test" the electronic voting machines, Manzanares wrote. The secretary's office "did not carefully evaluate the county security plans and in some cases approved plans that do not substantially comply with the minimum requirements" of the law.

The judge's stinging criticism was particularly worrisome in light of the testimony that computer scientists from Prince ton University hacked into a voting machine made by Diebold Election Systems Inc. and reprogrammed it in one minute.

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Not just incidentally, it's also the company that was represented by lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff while the House Government Operations Committee was establishing rules for electronic voting systems. And that committee was chaired by Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, another convicted felon.

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If the U.S. is willing to sacrifice life and limb for the cause of democracy abroad, the least it can do is find the money to keep it from becoming a laughingstock at home.

Diane Carman's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-954-1489 or [email protected] .

Please send her an email, and let her know her comments are appreciated!