CA Secretary of State asks for more testing of Diebold machines

Secretary of State asks for more testing of Diebold machines

By JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

SACRAMENTO, (AP)

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson on Tuesday told electronic voting machine manufacturer Diebold Election Systems that it must submit two of its machines for more rigorous federal testing before they can be certified in California.

The memory cards on the systems have "unresolved significant security concerns," according to a letter sent to Diebold Tuesday from McPherson's elections chief, Caren Daniels-Meade.

She asked the company to submit source coding, or program instructions, for the machines to federal investigators.

The problems were discovered during routine testing of the machines by state employees and independent consultants, said Secretary of State spokeswoman Jennifer Kerns. She said each system approved for use in California must meet 10 security requirements, and the Diebold machines did not meet one of those standards.

"This is a unique case in which we discovered that the source code had never, ever been reviewed," said Kerns. "There were potential security risks with it."

snip

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/12/20/state/n174200S20.DTL

This is hardly a "unique case."

I just thought they didn't test them well.

on edit

Never mind.

"Yet, examining the source code, Rubin said, won't necessarily pinpoint potential problems, such as if a computer expert tried to introduce malicious code through one of the memory cards.

Evaluating the source code, Rubin said, "is definitely not something that's going to give a definitive answer."

Source code review also is not something required of the federal testing authorities, yet it has become part of the state's own review process endorsed by McPherson."

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/13452703.htm

Dec. 20, 2005

Voting machines rejected

By Edwin Garcia

TIMES SACRAMENTO BUREAU

snip

The Secretary of State's office is asking Diebold to submit the machine's source code for review by the federal Independent Testing Authorities before resubmitting the company's application for certification in California.

Byrd, Diebold's vice president of business operations, is eager to comply.

snip

Some experts who closely follow developments in the emerging field of e-voting questioned whether McPherson's denial to certify the AccuVote-OS optical scan and AccuVote-TSX touch screen machines had more to do with trying to appease voters who may have doubts with Diebold's shaky reputation in California.

snip

"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," Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, said in a statement. "That decision needs to be made in the open, right here in California."

snip

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/13452703.htm

And the criteria will be...?

California election official wants more testing for voting machines

By KEVIN YAMAMURA
Sacramento Bee
20-DEC-05

snip

"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."

snip

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=DIEBOLD-12-20-05

December 20, 2005

David Byrd,
Vice President Diebold Election Systems, Inc.
P.O. Box 1019 Allen, Texas 75013

Dear Mr. Byrd:

As you know, Diebold’s application for voting system certification in California is currently under review with the Secretary of State’s Office (see chart below for components currently under review).

Unresolved significant security concerns exist with respect to the memory card used to program and configure the AccuVote-OS and the AccuVote-TSX components of this system because this component was not subjected to federal source code review and evaluation by the Independent Testing Authorities (ITA) who examined your system for federal qualification. It is the Secretary of State’s position that the source code for the AccuBasic code on these cards, as well as for the AccuBasic interpreter that interprets this code, should have been federally reviewed.

Furthermore, we strongly believe it is the duty and responsibility of the Secretary of State and you to make certain that the ultimate users of your products – the voters of California – have a voting system that has been thoroughly and rigorously evaluated. Therefore, we are requesting that you submit the source code relating to the AccuBasic code on the memory cards and the AccuBasic interpreter to the ITA for immediate evaluation.

We require this additional review before proceeding with further consideration of your application for certification in California. Once we have received a report from the federal ITA adequately analyzing this source code, in addition to the technical and operational specifications relating to the memory card and interpreter, we will expeditiously proceed with our comprehensive review of your application.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at (916) 657-2166 or via email at cdaniels@ss.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Caren Daniels-Meade Chief, Elections Division

Application under review relates to the following components:

GEMS Software version 1.18.24
AccuVote-TSX with AccuView Printer Module hardware
AccuVote-TSX Ballot Station firmware version 4.6.4
AccuVote-OS (model D) with firmware version 1.96.6
AccuVote-OS Central Count firmware version 2.0.12
Voter Card Encoder version 1.3.2
Key Card Tool software version 4.6.1
VC Programmer software version 1.3.2 AccuFeed


pdf:
http://www.ss.ca.gov/executive/press_releases/2005/05_145.pdf