It's a must: hackerproof democracy.

[dave502d]

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.

Diebold is one of four companies providing voting machines in Colorado.

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.

The whole spectacle - along with the close presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 - has fueled the imaginations of Internet conspiracy theorists for years.

So it's no wonder that requests for absentee ballots are pouring into elections offices across Colorado this fall.

Dillard said Denver has processed about 55,000 requests, and they continue to arrive at a rate of about 1,000 a day. Doyle said 46,000 of the 151,000 active registered voters in Larimer County also have requested absentee ballots so far.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4527318