New! Diebold Pulls Out of NC But Offers to Help Change the Law

Don't miss this new story at VoteTrustUSA ... more info on Diebold's NC maneuver!

Diebold Pulls Out of NC But Offers to Help Change the Law
By Warren Stewart, Director of Legislative Issues and Policy, VoteTrustUSA
December 22, 2005

In a surprising reversal, Diebold has notified the North Carolina State Board of Elections that they are withdrawing from the procurement process in the state. They also offered their assistance in "revising" the state's recently passed election laws to better suit their product. Just yesterday, a Superior Court had dismissed a challenge to the Board's decision to certify Diebold in spite of their failure to disclose third party software as required by State Law 2005-323.

Last month, Diebold had lost a bid for a judgement that would have exempted them from placing their software in escrow. In spite of this decision, the State Board of Election proceded to certify Diebold anyway on December 1, the action which prompted the lawsuit that was dismissed this week. However, in bestowing the "immaculate certification" on Diebold, the board had required the vendor to place a copy of their software with a holding company in Raleigh by today.

While the company's statement focused on third-party software, Diebold's tenacious refusal to escow their source code may be motivated by their reluctance to sign off on a statement that says the software in escrow is the same software that is on the machines. Such a declaration, and Diebold's failure to adhere to it, was the cause of their initial decertification in California in 2004. However, unlike California and other states, such a violation of North Carolina's escrow requirements is a felony, and while Diebold has been willing to install uncertified software to count votes, they apparently are less willing to risk criminal penalties in doing so.

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what's the matter with that huh? You afraid to show us the insides of your machines eh?