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California Secretary of State Debra Bowen
August 7, 2007
VOTER’S WATCHDOG:
SAN DIEGO’S VOTING MACHINES DECERTIFIED BY SECRETARY OF STATE
By Miriam Raftery
In an announcement moments before midnight Friday—just before the deadline to make a decision in
time to ban voting machines for next year’s February primary—Secretary of State Debra Bowen
announced that she has decertified voting machines in 39 California counties.
That includes the Diebold system used in San Diego as well as systems by Sequoia Voting Systems,
Hart InterCivic, and Elections Systems & Software (ES&S). InkaVote, the system used in Los Angeles,
will undergo a late review after initially failing to turn over information repeatedly requested by the
Secretary of State’s office.
Voters will be casting paper ballots in February—unless vendors are able to meet stringent
recertification requirements set by Bowen’s office, including turning over secret source codes to the
Secretary of State.
Bowen has banned Diebold touchscreen machines, with the exception of allowing one machine per
polling place for the disabled, plus machines for early voting at the Registrar of Voters’ office. Votes
cast by disabled or early voters will be hand-counted.
Other votes may be counted by hand or on Diebold optical scanners, but only if additional requirements
are first met, including posting counts at polling places (unless all ballots are taken to the Registrar’s
headquarters for counting).
The Secretary of State’s decision follow revelations that the “red team” hackers she hired were able to
penetrate all of the voting systems to change votes without detection—in some cases, by using simple
tools such as a screwdriver or hotel mini-bar key.
San Diego Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler did not return calls or e-mails sent requesting comments
for this story. However an L.A. Times article quoted Seiler as calling the requirement for paper ballots
“pretty onerous” with 1.38 million registered voters in the County.
Seiler expects to finalize how ballots will be tallied within 30 days, according to a San Diego Union-
Tribune article on August 5. Delivering optical scanners to polling places would result in additional
expense; voting on paper ballots could mean delays at polling places and learning election results, she
added.
San Diego County has paid Diebold $25 million on a $31 million contract.
“The election officials need to begin suing the voting machine companies and we need to get our damn
money back for these stupid machines,” national election reform activist/blogger Brad Friedman wrote in
an e-mail to this reporter.
Local reactions varied.
“Huzzah!” wrote Jan Hedlun, the lone Potrero planner not facing recall in an upcoming special election.
“Decertification is a great first move toward election integrity. We must take steps to restore
confidence in the voting process,” said Leon Thompson, California Democratic Party executive board
member representing East County. Citing “questionable results” of recent elections on the machines, he
added, “Voter confidence means greater voter participation and voter turnout.”
Republican Mayor Art Madrid of La Mesa chided election officials for not taking public concerns over
election integrity seriously in the past. “That’s right, when all else fails, blame the victim!” he wrote in an
e-mail when asked his views on the decertification. “The public’s outrage during recent local and
national elections regarding the credibility of the electronic voting machines are legitimate and doing
something about them is long overdue.”
Madrid added, “As promised during her campaign, Secretary of State Bowen said she would address
the problems associated with the touch screen voting machine; she has, much to the dismay of many.”
Other problems, such as polls not open on time, lack of access for handicapped voters, and running
out of ballots have all led voters to “no longer trust the credibility of those in charge of process and the
toys they use to count their votes,” Madrid observed. “Having said that, let me assure everyone that the
employees we all interface with at the Registar of Voter’s office are the most dedicated and professional
individuals I have ever worked with.” But he added, “Unfortunately I can’t say that about [any] of their
bosses; Ms. Seiler excluded because I have never met her. However, the opposition expressed by many
with her appointment does a disservice to everyone, especially the appointing authorities who could care
less about the public’s comments.”
Asked how he would solve the election credibility problem, Madrid suggested that voters ask for
permanent absentee ballots and suggested that the county adopt an all mail-in ballot policy. “Currently
over 35% of registered voters in the country vote by mail, why not 100%?” he asked.
But Brina-Rae Schuchman of Del Cerro, chair of TrueVoteSanDiego and other election integrity task
forces, observed that mail-in ballots are still counted on the same machines used at polling places. “If
Seiler is allowed to use any secretive proprietary scanners or the Central Tabulator…I would call that an
election killer,” Schuchman said in an e-mailed response to questions. “Even with open source, we still
can never be sure someone didn’t meddle.”
Schuchman believes the Registrar should require hand-counting of all ballots at polling places in each
precinct, by volunteers from all political parties. She also calls on the media to stop “playing gotcha” and
accept that some election night results may need to wait a day or more until all ballots can be tallied.
La Mesa City Councilman Ernie Ewin, a Republican, believes public trust in those in authority has been
eroded, and sees lack of confidence in voting machines as a symptom of ethical failures in society.
“Would you do the things this issue is sounding the alarm on? Would your children?” he asked.
“Probably not, because you were taught ethics and principles early on. Even if we put the FBI in charge,
there are some who would not support that.”
But he cautioned, “As we try to make elections a manageable, honest and viable means to preserve the
Republic form of government we take for granted, I believe we are putting ourselves in “harms way” by
always looking for what doesn’t work. While I believe that we must be “bullet” proof in terms of
equipment reliability, it says a lot as to what we have become in migrating from the deceased voting to
hanging chads to machines.”
As long as lack of trust in authority remains, he concluded, “Machines will not work. Losers will blame
the machine and the winner…We are adopting a FOD (free of defects) standard same as we expect from
airplanes. If it takes off, it must land…
The problem lies more in the process than in the machines, Ewin believes. “So is there one honest
person? Until you have a certified integrity process, I would not go to machines. I believe there is no
fool proof process or machine either.” In an apparent reference to potentially longer waits at polls, he
added, “If it is indeed more important to have the machines work properly, then I hope, if we go back to
a manual/paper/card temporarily, that there be no whining!”
Ewin posed an intriguing question: “Shall we support an oversight committee comprised of elected
officials? After all, they are really the only ones the citizens can go after and change out…Look how
many then get a free pass.”
Some activists expressed concerns that Bowen’s actions did not go far enough.
For example, if machines win recertification for February, there is no provision to ban voting machine
“sleepovers” at pollworkers’ homes – even though hacking of machines by insiders remains a potential
threat.
Given knowledge that San Diego assistant registrar Michael Vu oversaw an Ohio election in which two
of his employees were convicted of felony election rigging (and a judge stated that he believed those
employees were covering up for a superior), some maintain that fear of an inside job to rig a future
election is a valid concern.
Revelations that Seiler, a former Diebold representative, may have deleted a key file off the June, 2006
election night audit log has further raised concerns. Seiler has failed to respond to numerous inquiries
from Our Back Fence asking for explanation of the deleted file over the past week, despite granting
interviews to other media on different topics during that time period.
“Computerized voting machines can not possibly be made secure against criminal insiders,” Lehto said
in an e-mail for this story, “yet this is when we need our inalienable right to kick the bums out THE
MOST, to remove a criminal insider.”
Concentrated power always corrupts, he observed, recalling Thomas Jefferson’s warning that the only
safe repository of power is the people.
The nationally-renown election lawyer concluded, “Computers concentrate powers enormously when
the count votes in secret.”
VOTER’S WATCHDOG:
SAN DIEGO’S VOTING MACHINES DECERTIFIED BY SECRETARY OF STATE
By Miriam Raftery
In an announcement moments before midnight Friday—just before the deadline to make a decision in
time to ban voting machines for next year’s February primary—Secretary of State Debra Bowen
announced that she has decertified voting machines in 39 California counties.
That includes the Diebold system used in San Diego as well as systems by Sequoia Voting Systems,
Hart InterCivic, and Elections Systems & Software (ES&S). InkaVote, the system used in Los Angeles,
will undergo a late review after initially failing to turn over information repeatedly requested by the
Secretary of State’s office.
Voters will be casting paper ballots in February—unless vendors are able to meet stringent
recertification requirements set by Bowen’s office, including turning over secret source codes to the
Secretary of State.
Bowen has banned Diebold touchscreen machines, with the exception of allowing one machine per
polling place for the disabled, plus machines for early voting at the Registrar of Voters’ office. Votes
cast by disabled or early voters will be hand-counted.
Other votes may be counted by hand or on Diebold optical scanners, but only if additional requirements
are first met, including posting counts at polling places (unless all ballots are taken to the Registrar’s
headquarters for counting).
The Secretary of State’s decision follow revelations that the “red team” hackers she hired were able to
penetrate all of the voting systems to change votes without detection—in some cases, by using simple
tools such as a screwdriver or hotel mini-bar key.
San Diego Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler did not return calls or e-mails sent requesting comments
for this story. However an L.A. Times article quoted Seiler as calling the requirement for paper ballots
“pretty onerous” with 1.38 million registered voters in the County.
Seiler expects to finalize how ballots will be tallied within 30 days, according to a San Diego Union-
Tribune article on August 5. Delivering optical scanners to polling places would result in additional
expense; voting on paper ballots could mean delays at polling places and learning election results, she
added.
San Diego County has paid Diebold $25 million on a $31 million contract.
“The election officials need to begin suing the voting machine companies and we need to get our damn
money back for these stupid machines,” national election reform activist/blogger Brad Friedman wrote in
an e-mail to this reporter.
Local reactions varied.
“Huzzah!” wrote Jan Hedlun, the lone Potrero planner not facing recall in an upcoming special election.
“Decertification is a great first move toward election integrity. We must take steps to restore
confidence in the voting process,” said Leon Thompson, California Democratic Party executive board
member representing East County. Citing “questionable results” of recent elections on the machines, he
added, “Voter confidence means greater voter participation and voter turnout.”
Republican Mayor Art Madrid of La Mesa chided election officials for not taking public concerns over
election integrity seriously in the past. “That’s right, when all else fails, blame the victim!” he wrote in an
e-mail when asked his views on the decertification. “The public’s outrage during recent local and
national elections regarding the credibility of the electronic voting machines are legitimate and doing
something about them is long overdue.”
Madrid added, “As promised during her campaign, Secretary of State Bowen said she would address
the problems associated with the touch screen voting machine; she has, much to the dismay of many.”
Other problems, such as polls not open on time, lack of access for handicapped voters, and running
out of ballots have all led voters to “no longer trust the credibility of those in charge of process and the
toys they use to count their votes,” Madrid observed. “Having said that, let me assure everyone that the
employees we all interface with at the Registar of Voter’s office are the most dedicated and professional
individuals I have ever worked with.” But he added, “Unfortunately I can’t say that about [any] of their
bosses; Ms. Seiler excluded because I have never met her. However, the opposition expressed by many
with her appointment does a disservice to everyone, especially the appointing authorities who could care
less about the public’s comments.”
Asked how he would solve the election credibility problem, Madrid suggested that voters ask for
permanent absentee ballots and suggested that the county adopt an all mail-in ballot policy. “Currently
over 35% of registered voters in the country vote by mail, why not 100%?” he asked.
But Brina-Rae Schuchman of Del Cerro, chair of TrueVoteSanDiego and other election integrity task
forces, observed that mail-in ballots are still counted on the same machines used at polling places. “If
Seiler is allowed to use any secretive proprietary scanners or the Central Tabulator…I would call that an
election killer,” Schuchman said in an e-mailed response to questions. “Even with open source, we still
can never be sure someone didn’t meddle.”
Schuchman believes the Registrar should require hand-counting of all ballots at polling places in each
precinct, by volunteers from all political parties. She also calls on the media to stop “playing gotcha” and
accept that some election night results may need to wait a day or more until all ballots can be tallied.
La Mesa City Councilman Ernie Ewin, a Republican, believes public trust in those in authority has been
eroded, and sees lack of confidence in voting machines as a symptom of ethical failures in society.
“Would you do the things this issue is sounding the alarm on? Would your children?” he asked.
“Probably not, because you were taught ethics and principles early on. Even if we put the FBI in charge,
there are some who would not support that.”
But he cautioned, “As we try to make elections a manageable, honest and viable means to preserve the
Republic form of government we take for granted, I believe we are putting ourselves in “harms way” by
always looking for what doesn’t work. While I believe that we must be “bullet” proof in terms of
equipment reliability, it says a lot as to what we have become in migrating from the deceased voting to
hanging chads to machines.”
As long as lack of trust in authority remains, he concluded, “Machines will not work. Losers will blame
the machine and the winner…We are adopting a FOD (free of defects) standard same as we expect from
airplanes. If it takes off, it must land…
The problem lies more in the process than in the machines, Ewin believes. “So is there one honest
person? Until you have a certified integrity process, I would not go to machines. I believe there is no
fool proof process or machine either.” In an apparent reference to potentially longer waits at polls, he
added, “If it is indeed more important to have the machines work properly, then I hope, if we go back to
a manual/paper/card temporarily, that there be no whining!”
Ewin posed an intriguing question: “Shall we support an oversight committee comprised of elected
officials? After all, they are really the only ones the citizens can go after and change out…Look how
many then get a free pass.”
Some activists expressed concerns that Bowen’s actions did not go far enough.
For example, if machines win recertification for February, there is no provision to ban voting machine
“sleepovers” at pollworkers’ homes – even though hacking of machines by insiders remains a potential
threat.
Given knowledge that San Diego assistant registrar Michael Vu oversaw an Ohio election in which two
of his employees were convicted of felony election rigging (and a judge stated that he believed those
employees were covering up for a superior), some maintain that fear of an inside job to rig a future
election is a valid concern.
Revelations that Seiler, a former Diebold representative, may have deleted a key file off the June, 2006
election night audit log has further raised concerns. Seiler has failed to respond to numerous inquiries
from Our Back Fence asking for explanation of the deleted file over the past week, despite granting
interviews to other media on different topics during that time period.
“Computerized voting machines can not possibly be made secure against criminal insiders,” Lehto said
in an e-mail for this story, “yet this is when we need our inalienable right to kick the bums out THE
MOST, to remove a criminal insider.”
Concentrated power always corrupts, he observed, recalling Thomas Jefferson’s warning that the only
safe repository of power is the people.
The nationally-renown election lawyer concluded, “Computers concentrate powers enormously when
the count votes in secret.”
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