The New York Times says that a report commissioned by the State of Ohio shows that all of the voting systems used in the state “have critical flaws that could undermine the integrity of the 2008 general election.”
At polling stations, teams working on the study were able to pick locks to access memory cards and use hand-held devices to plug false vote counts into machines. At boards of election, they were able to introduce malignant software into servers.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is calling for all of the machines to be replaced with optical scan machines, which read and record paper ballots.
Florida, another swing state with a history of voting problems, is also scrapping touch-screen machines and switching to optical scan ones for the election. Such systems have gained favor because experts say they are more reliable than others and, unlike most touch screens, they provide a paper trail for recounts.
The integrity of the voting process is a critical component of our democracy. To read that the systems are vulnerable adds no confidence to the process. Virginia needs to get on board with this now.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
There is also a GREAT movie that discusses this very problem.
I think it is called “American Blackout” and it is about the Diebold machines and Ohio discrepancies. It covers former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s fight to regulate these machines.
I know the Naro movie store rents it.
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has been all over this. California has basically de-authorized the use of these machines after a study commissioned by Bowen was found to have very similar errors these machines do.
I would not be surprised if the study Ohio did relied heavily on California’s experience and results to reach their conclusions. Nobody should be using them, given the growing documentation showing they are not secure.
Optical scan ballots seem like the best idea to me. They have low rate of user error and if you need to have a recount you have the actual ballots to be recounted. So of course, where I live, we’re going from optical scan to touch screen machines. Your tax dollars at work.
Of course, in VA, the op-scan sheets are not a part of the recount process. So even where we have a paper trail it’s not being used. Ridiculous, if you ask me.
I agree that op-scan ballots make the most sense.
A lot fo news about this here in the Buckeye state. What is interesting is to see the Gov, Sec. of State and the AG and how they will handle this on the eve of an election year that they are not up for election, but the POTUS is.
Seems to be a lose-lose no matter what they do. If Ohio become a close call (again) for POTUS and there is no change, blame… If the same happens after they change something: Blame.
Days like this I am glad I am not them.
Now, to be clear, there has been no evidence of tampering or flawed elections, just that there concievably could be.
Stay tuned.
Oh, and by the way, this past election day the touch screen I used also produced a paper back up copy. Not all counties use the same machines, however
SW – I was wondering when you’d get over here, since you’re in Ohio now and have a front row seat 😉 I’d like to hear more about the paper back up copy on the machine you voted on. Did you actually see it or is it just inside the machine? And does OH use that paper backup in recounts?
When I first voted in Virginia Beach, we had punch cards. No hole no vote. Two holes, no vote. Simple. The instructions even told you to be sure the chads came off completely. If you’re too stupid to follow those directions, you’re too stupid to be voting.
I voted today using the machines mentioned in Ohio today, I like the system. Not only the computer screen let me know what I voted, the paper trail did also. We all have worries about flaws in the machines, probably because the results are shown and may be seen by people you may not want to see, however, since many people are noticing a flaw, it is very important to get this investigated. We only have seven months into the primary, and we can not afford; as Americans, to loose this election. Godspeed Mr. Obama.
I found the voting machine flawless. It was easy to understand and eased the pain if I made a mistake on my ballot. As far as the older generation, they should not have that much difficulty in using this technology. It was a great experience and look forward to using that voting machine again.