Activists rip Diebold voting units 
By Bill Ainsworth   UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

June 17, 2005

SACRAMENTO ? Scores of activists urged a state advisory panel yesterday to reject a bid by Diebold Elections Systems Inc. to win approval for use of voting machines that were decertified last year.

Diebold is the maker of a $31 million touch screen voting system that malfunctioned in San Diego County during the March 2004 primary, causing more than one-third of polling places to open late.  
"Diebold has a checkered past in this state, and that alarms many activists," said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. "That's why this room is packed today."

Activists testified yesterday at an informational meeting of the Voting Systems and Procedures Panel at the Secretary of State's headquarters office, frequently booing, clapping and cheering various speakers.

Many of them had the same message: Diebold lacks credibility.

"You cannot trust this company," said Jim March, a board member of Blackbox Voting, a watchdog group.

Last year, then-Secretary of State Kevin Shelley banned San Diego and three other counties from using the Diebold machines for the fall general election. He gave counties using electronic voting technology until November 2006 to develop a system that produces a paper trail.

Since then, the company has worked on improvements and submitted the new system for state and federal tests.

This month, a staff report released by the Secretary of State's office recommended approval of the system, saying that it had performed accurately.

Mikel Haas, San Diego County's registrar of voters, said yesterday that even if the company wins approval from the state, the county doesn't plan to use the touch screen machines until the June 2006 primary.

In the upcoming San Diego mayor's race and the Nov. 8 special election, the county plans to use the optical-scan system it used in November's election, Haas said.

The state voting panel, which plans to meet again today, isn't likely to make a recommendation until after the June 30 deadline for submitting written testimony.

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson is expected to make the final decision next month.