California election official wants more testing for voting machines

By KEVIN YAMAMURA
Sacramento Bee
20-DEC-05

SACRAMENTO, Calif. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson asked Tuesday that memory cards made by Diebold Election Systems be reviewed by national testing officials, further delaying state certification of the company's controversial electronic voting technology.

The move all but assures that Diebold voting systems will not be certified before a Jan. 1 deadline, putting at least 17 counties planning to use Diebold equipment at risk of federal sanctions.

In a letter to Diebold on Tuesday, state Elections Division Chief Caren Daniels-Meade asked Diebold to resubmit some of its equipment to independent testing authorities (ITA) assigned with certifying equipment on the federal level. McPherson's office has "unresolved significant security concerns" with codes used on Diebold memory cards, Daniels-Meade wrote.

McPherson does not plan to conduct further evaluation _ including an unscheduled computer hacking test _ until the Diebold technology is reviewed by the ITA, said Jennifer Kerns, a secretary of state spokeswoman.

Some registrars last month urged McPherson to certify Diebold so they could comply with a federal Jan. 1 deadline to make polling places accessible. So far, California has certified only one system made by Election Systems & Software, slated to be used by at least eight counties, including Sacramento.

Federal election officials last month said that if counties do not meet the Jan. 1 deadline, the U.S. Department of Justice could pursue a lawsuit or consent decree to force states and counties to comply with new requirements.

McPherson pledged Tuesday to work with California counties to meet accessibility requirements by next June's primary election.

Diebold Vice President of Business Operations Dave Byrd said in a statement that the company would review what it called "new certification requirements."

"We have always complied with what the state has requested of us, and will treat this new request in the same spirit of cooperation," Byrd said.

State Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Rey, a candidate for secretary of state in next year's elections, criticized McPherson for moving Diebold testing back to the federal level.

"The Secretary of State shouldn't punt the decision about whether Diebold machines should be used to count ballots in California to the federal government and an 'independent' testing authority that's financed by the voting machine vendors," Bowen said in a statement. "That decision needs to be made in the open, right here in California."