Episode 794, "Molly bites Her Cheek", addressed the admission by Diebold that votes had been lost in their voting machines in Ohio. Diebold, Inc. through a subsidiary, Premier Election solutions, has marketed touch screen voting technology. The system has been tested in forty-four counties in the state of Ohio. Diebold has admitted errors resulting in lost votes in at least eleven of those counties.
Touch screen machines had been made available to voters in Ohio. The system was touted for being user friendly and especially useful to handicapped voters. The system claimed to eliminate the possiblity of fraud and to increase security. Opponents cited the lack of a paper trail or other visual record. They expressed concern with the ability of hackers to access the system and create fraudulent outcomes.
The topic is very appropriate for the time with the upcoming govertmental representatives elections less than twelve weeks away. Diebold has admitted that the flaw cannot be patched before the election. Despite this admission Diebold says that the issue can be managed by proper training and instruction to voting officials.
Every system has flaws of one sort or another (hanging chads in Florida and moodle at ULM) but that is not sufficient reason to abandon the system. Convenience and reliabilty are critical to protect every vote and no system has proved more reliable than electronic voting machines. Reliability can be improved only through use with each new problem addressed and resolved as they develop. An advantage of the application of technology in the voting process should provide a system to eliminate the outright fraud that has occurred in elections in the USA for most of its history.
A question arises of what effect the publicity related to lost votes may have on Diebold's reputation in the banking industry. Before the technological revolution Diebold's development was tied to services to the financial community. Diebold adapted to the new technology and was a pioneer in the development of technology in banking. Their business expansion into the application of technology to voting systems is evidence of an aggressive attitude of application of experience in new markets, but it also reveals the risk side of venturing into those new markets.
References and extras:
Premier Continues Proud Tradition of Diebold E-voting Screw-ups - Digital Daily - Aug 22, 2008
Diebold Admits Ohio Machines May Lose Votes - Slashdot: Generated for g051051 (71145) - Aug 22, 2008
www.dispatch.com/live/content/index.html
www.bradblog.com/?p=6309
http://xkcd.com/463/
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4 comments:
This is a very important topic and one that seems to have never received the publicity and action it deserves. Because of the flaw in this system, some people's voices were silenced. Knowing this can't be fixed before the presidential elections, allowing this system to be used would be a setback for this country.
Presidential elections are about the selling of ideas and having the opportunity to blame information systems for blocking the transfer of those sales is shameful, at best. The system should be removed and replaced with a paper system if they can't fix it.
Let it be the fault of hanging chads, not the fault of an information system that we know will silence some voters come election day.
I feel that this issue is crucial enough to not let these systems with the touch screens be used for this years presidential elections. This will help take care of the untracked votes and they can improve the system for elections to come. If there is a way to improve the systems before the voting for the upcoming elections then I think they can consider using these if properly tested. The other part would involve making sure that each voter using the touch screens needs to be educated on how to properly do so. This will help take care of mistakes on the voters end.
The fact of the matter is that there will be mistakes whether the votes are taken on paper or electronically on touch screens, but unless they can improve the system in a very quick time, I think they need to stick to the old fashioned way with a pen and paper.
Presidential elections are too important to have machines with a proven track record of failure involved. The move to the electronic machines is a move in the right direction but it must be thoroughly tested to be accurate before being used in such an important election.
The new technology will eventually lead to elections with increased security in the ballots. But with new technology also comes new challenges. Diebold must correct these mistakes and stay ever vigilant to resist future problems. They took a major risk by entering into such a market.
Diebold had to weigh their options in proceeding with this technology. The risk and rewards are both great. Diebold's reputation is on the line with a product that given recent elections will be under great scrutiny. The reward is the opportunity to provide the product to a very large consumer base as elections occur in every jurisdiction in America.
Group 1
One thing is not to doubt that Diebold is a great technology and will improve the accuracy of voting once is implemented right, but another is to want to implement it in the most important election: the presidential election. Diebold had an error of 25% in the Ohio elections by having errors in 11 out of the 44 counties that were tested. With such a great percentage of error, there should be no doubt about NOT implementing this system in the upcoming presidential elections. It may be easier for voters and more convenience, but definitely it is not ready for accuracy results. And, what is the rush? Why try to implement a system so fast for this coming elections and have the possibility of errors when it can be tested again and made more accurate and be used in later elections? There is a popular saying in Latin America that fits right in: From the rush, you only get tired. We know that the sooner the better to implement such a system, but what about the disaster that can come with it if it is actually not ready to use accurate? The setback can be enormous and will not be worth getting it into the market soon. Better to wait and make it ‘perfect’ than to ruin it by doing it half way.
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