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August 8, 2007 By News Report
In a letter sent today to Secretary Grayson, Attorney General Stumbo questioned the reliability of the Hart InterCivic Direct Record Electronic ("DRE") Precinct Voting Systems and the Diebold Accuvote-TSX DRE and Optical Scan ("OS") Voting Systems, which are used in 96 of Kentucky's 120 counties, including Jefferson and Fayette.
"Any voting systems subject to manipulation and corruption should be reexamined and decertified," Stumbo said. "Faulty electronic voting systems jeopardize the public's confidence in Kentucky's elections."
Stumbo's concerns are based on serious security flaws identified by experts in California, which led to emergency decertification of the voting machines by California.
The California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, ordered this review based on public concern over electronic voting systems. Secretary Bowen stated, "the Help America Vote Act [HAVA] ... pushed many counties into buying electronic voting systems that...were not properly reviewed or tested to ensure that they protected the integrity of the vote."
On August 3, 2007, California legally decertified these systems finding them "to be defective or unacceptable." The specific reports with detailed analysis of the vulnerabilities identified are available online at: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vsr.htm.
"Ensuring the integrity of elections is one of my primary responsibilities," said Stumbo. "I want to make it clear that the county clerks have done a fine job with the available equipment. But experts have now found these machines to be subject to manipulation, hacking, and fraud. We must act promptly to ensure the Kentucky Constitution's guarantee of free and fair elections."
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Don't fall for the hysteria contained in Secretary Bowen's order, it is designed to create a near McCarthy Era fear of voting equipment. Virtually every registrar is California is scratching their heads over this flawed test and misdirected decision by our Secretary.
The California Top To Bottom Review is the first time evidence has be gathered as to the reliability and accessibility of DRE voting systems. The evidence from the source code review is clear the software is unreliable. Notice Mister hysteria avoids the lengthier, more tedious, but more damning source code reports. The reports are so long because the system has so many defects, that cataloging the defects take many, many pages. The evidence from the accessibility review is that the DRE are inaccessible to people with disability especially the disabilities associated with aging (reduced vision, reduced dexterity, reduced grip strength, etc.). In the case of paraplegics with normal vision, normal upper body strength and normal dexterity, the DRE are an active impediment to voting. You can't get the wheel chair up to the DRE to vote in an easy or comfortable manner. Given the evidence what would you do if your constitutional duty is to insure the correct administration of elections? You would do what Secretary Bowen did; go where the evidence leads even if it means removing defective, but familiar voting equipment.