Would You Like Blackmail With Your Voting Machines?

The Dallas Morning News has finally realized there is something worth writing about when it comes to the security of and problems associated with electronic voting machines.

For the most part, there are few new revelations in their story aside from examining a few security measures taken by various counties with regard to electronic voting.

The most interesting thing I found in the story was that it appears ES&S, a company that manufactures and sells voting equipment tried to blackmail one Texas county into paying more than a million dollars for election equipment that was screwed up as a result of the company’s own mistakes:

Anger, frustration and a money dispute dominated primary elections in Jefferson County this year. But that had little to do with the candidates on the ballot.

The ballot itself was at issue, namely the county’s switch from clunky punch-card ballots to slick new electronic voting machines. The company that provided the machines didn’t have them programmed in time for early voting. Despite a heavy investment in technology, the Gulf Coast county had to prepare paper ballots.

“That was a bit of a nightmare. We were running around like chickens with our heads cut off,” said county clerk Carolyn Guidry.

[...]
Jefferson County’s new system is a far cry from its old punch cards, and that meant headaches that lasted long beyond the primary election.

Because of a missed step in the tallying process in March, there was a discrepancy of 5,000 votes and a full recount took place. The results did not change, but the process took several days.

County commissioners initially withheld a $1.9 million payment to Election Systems & Software, the voting machine vendor for Jefferson and more than 140 other Texas counties, Ms. Guidry said. The county threatened legal action, but the company refused to program machines for an April runoff until the bill was paid, and the county eventually complied.

Call me crazy, but if it wasn’t working, you would think the company would have gladly fixed in order to inspire confidence in their systems.

However, with election systems companies as with cars dealers, malt liqour manufacturers and Wal-Mart, it’s all about profit.

Surprise, surprise.

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