http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2007/09/judge-voids-election-because-e-voting-snafus
Electronic Frontier Foundation
September 28th, 2007
Posted by Rebecca Jeschke
Good news from California's Alameda County -- a
judge has voided election results after the county botched its response to
a contested race conducted on Diebold electronic voting machines. The judge
ordered that the disputed Measure R -- an initiative addressing the operation
of medical marijuana dispensaries -- go back on next year's ballot.
Measure R lost by fewer than 200 votes in the 2004 election, and Americans
for Safe Access and voters in the city of Berkeley brought a legal challenge
seeking a recount. But while the lawsuit was ongoing, election officials
returned the voting machines to supplier Diebold Election Systems, and 96% of
the detailed audit information from the election was destroyed. EFF helped
analyze the remaining data, but as the judge recognized, it was impossible to
tell if the tallies reported on election night were correct.
This decision was expected, but
it's heartening that Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith saw the ramifications
of the county's behavior and ordered the appropriate remedy. If there is no way
to examine data, audit logs, and chain-of-custody records, there is no way to
do an accurate recount. This is only the second time in Californian history
that a court has ordered than an election be rerun. The message is clear: using
electronic voting machines and keeping sloppy records is not an acceptable way
to run an election.
The news is good in California, but serious reforms are needed nationwide,
including a voter-verified paper trail and mandatory random audits. Contact your representative
today and voice your support for H.R. 811, the Voter Confidence and
Increased Accessibility Act of 2007.