Let’s vote for accuracy
Thursday, December 29th, 2005
By Chris Fitzsimon
A voting-machine company that says it can’t meet North Carolina’s requirements apparently wants the General Assembly to weaken them.
That would be irresponsible.
Legislators adopted the common-sense requirements because – as in other parts of the country – some voting machines misbehaved during the 2004 elections. In Carteret County alone, 4,432 votes vanished, throwing the outcome of two statewide races into prolonged dispute.
Now Diebold Election Systems is saying it can’t meet a requirement that machine vendors cough up information about their software – including the names of people who wrote it – so that the state’s experts can try to make sure it works.
Diebold’s departure leaves only one other major manufacturer of voting machines. Some officials fear it might not be able to provide enough equipment for May’s primary. They want Gov. Mike Easley to call a special session of the General Assembly to change the law to allow the use of existing machines that meet federal standards.
That could be justified only as an emergency measure for the elections of 2006.
The state elections director acknowledges that competition would be a good thing, but he also points out that “it’s easier to manage” a system that uses only one kind of machine. (more…)
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