A Deibold insider who gave an exclusive report to
Brad Friedman of BradBlog
earlier this year has now spoken to
Raw Story. The following is some excerpts from the article but I encourage
you to visit
Raw Story and read the article in full.
The Diebold insider, who took on the appellation “Dieb-Throat†in an
interview with voting rights advocate Brad Friedman (BradBlog.com), was once
a staunch supporter of electronic voting’s potential to produce more
accurate results than punch cards.But the company insider became disillusioned after witnessing repeated
efforts by Diebold to evade meeting legal requirements or implementing
appropriate security measures, putting corporate interests ahead of the
interests of voters.[..]
Previous revelations from the whistleblower have included evidence that
Diebold’s upper management and top government officials knew of backdoor
software in Diebold’s central tabulator before the 2004 election, but
ignored urgent warningsâ€â€Âsuch as a Homeland Security alert posted on the
Internet.[..]
The insider harbors suspicions that Diebold may be involved in tampering
with elections through its army of employees and independent contractors.
The 2002 gubernatorial election in Georgia raised serious red flags, the
source said.“Shortly before the election, ten days to two weeks, we were told that
the date in the machine was malfunctioning,†the source recalled. “So we
were told ‘Apply this patch in a big rush.’†Later, the Diebold insider
learned that the patches were never certified by the state of Georgia, as
required by law.“Also, the clock inside the system was not fixed,†said the insider.
“It’s legendary how strange the outcome was; they ended up having the first
Republican governor in who knows when and also strange outcomes in other
races. I can say that the counties I worked in were heavily Democratic and
elected a Republican.â€ÂÂIn Georgia’s 2002 Senate race, for example, nearly 60 percent of the
state’s electorate by county switched party allegiances between the
primaries and the general election.[..]
Responding to public demand for paper trails, Diebold has devised a means
of retrofitting its paperless TSX system with printers and paper rolls. But
in Ohio’s November 2005 election, some machines produced blank paper.The whistleblower is not surprised. “The software is again the culprit
here. It’s not completely developed. I saw the exact same thing in Chicago
during a demonstration held in Cook County for a committee of people who
were looking at various election machines… They rejected it for other
reasons.â€ÂÂAsked if Ohio officials were made aware of that failure prior to the
recent election, the source said, “No way. Anything goes wrong inside
Diebold, it’s hush-hush.â€ÂÂ
These are just some highlights from the article but in full it contains very
scary insight into how the company operates. Our democracy’s most vital part is
its ability to ensure true and accurate votes. If that does not occur then we
only have an illusion of a democracy. The fact that an employee of our number
one supplier of voting equipment is out talking about these problems is enough
to spark an investigation. These are not minor crimes – they are crimes against
our constitution and should be investigated as such.
The longer we continue to ignore these reports and hide behind a shroud of
denial the further our country goes into demise. Everyone should start writing
their Representatives and Senators and demand an investigation be launched
immediately. If they don’t then its time to find candidates that will hold dear
our democracy and demand justice in its name.