Diebold, the manufacturer of ATM’s and “election” systems is re-evaluating it’s voting strategy. Seems that the effect of the security gaffs during the appointment of Republican candidates to the Presidency of the United States has hurt it’s ATM business. Ooops.
Though Diebold Election Systems — the company’s smallest business segment — has shown growth and profit, it’s faced persistent criticism over the reliability and security of its touch-screen voting machines. About 150,000 of its touch-screen or optical scan systems were used in 34 states in last November’s election.
The criticism is particularly jarring for a nearly 150-year-old company whose primary focus has long been safes and automated teller machines.
“This is a company that has built relationships with banks every day of every year. It pains them greatly to see their brand tarnished by a marginal operating unit,” said Gil Luria, an investment analyst who monitors Diebold for Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc
I would love it if some Open Source programmers (e.g. sourceforge) would come up with an E-Voting system that could be installed on specially secured hardware.
J/P=?
It’s also hurt American Democracy…
Considering that it was Algore that tried to illegally steal the election in 2000, it’s a good thing the American system worked as it should and prevented a travesty.
Again in 2004, just enough people realized that it would be better for all life on earth to end than to have Kerry in office, destroying all that’s good about the world.
Nice try though.
Ok. Bye, Diebold. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!
On the other hand, if they just did their work properly they wouldn’t have this problem…
Oh, I dunno. As I gaze into the distance, I see scandal, lawsuits, incarceration…
I’d like to think they’re trying to get the fuck outta there before it blows up in their criminal faces.
(pssst! Mister Justin! – it’s ‘gaffes’. Gaffs are used to stab fish…) 🙂
7,
Who said I didn’t want the fish-stabbin’ gaff, eh? Engrish is very flexible…
#8 – Mister Justin
“Engrish is very flexible…”
Don’t I no it…
Pains them? PAINS them? After their executives got caught promising to “deliver” Ohio to the Repubicans? Leaving idiots like TheDlobalWarmer to smear Al Gore for trusting a partisan Supreme Court to actually apply principles of constitutional law and leave state-level election outcomes to the states?
7 is clearly right. If they can get out of the voting machine business fast enough now, maybe their intentional disregard of basic security principles won’t be investigated. What the hell, the national treasure has already been looted anyway. HA HA HA grandkids.
If Diebold closes its election business, it means all states with diebold equipment will no longer have any technical support, and they will no longer be able to use them.
GOOD!
The biggest negative is that leaves one company that supplies electronic voting machines.
Some of this is being driven by reform legislation now being discussed in Congress requiring that all forms of voting in the US must have a paper trail that can be hand counted. Some states are requiring random hand counts to verify accuracy of electronic votes. This should also be nationalized.
Yeah a company that makes reliable ATM machines really isn’t the right people to trust with voting machines. I;m sure they had the reliability part down pat, but ATM transactions aren’t secret, and I don’t think they ever got past that.
I can see banks getting skeptical about Diebold after all the voting fiascoes.