Anyone see the special on Diebold voting machines?

[2ndAmendment (Premo)]

Low tech rules. Let's go back to paper and people counting. We won't know for a week, but I take a slightly inaccurate count over a potentially fraudulent one.

• A computer guy had a memory card reader/writer and was given a Diebold memory card.
• A Diebold voting machine was selected at random.
• A preset vote was arranged where there would be 8 voters. 2 YES votes and 6 NO votes.
• The memory card was put into the machine and it was turned on.
• The machine went through its self test and printed a zero balance, zero vote tape.
• The votes were put into the machine.
• The machine was closed out.
• The vote tally tape was printed and there were 7 YES votes and 1 NO vote.

The guy had programmed the Diebold memory card with +5 YES votes and -5 NO votes. The self check/print start tape apparently checked that the total was 0, +5-5=0, so everything was OK as far as the Diebold machine was concerned. Great.

Also, apparently the Diebold central machine uses Microsoft SQLServer. Anyone who knows SQLServer knows you can use Excel to open the data files. No password, nothing required. A guy opened the data file and reversed the vote, so the looser won and the winner lost.

Another guy wrote a simple script that searched the files for a name and just added 10000 votes. Now that would be easy to detect, but if he had subtracted a total of 10000 votes from the other candidates, which the script could have done, the vote total would have been right.

The point is no passwords were needed for any of this. Is this a secure system? I don't think so.

You may want to request a Provisional Ballot to make sure your votes really go where they should.

[Lugnut]

If you google Diebold you can find "how to" info and even a DEMO on youtube!

[tikipirate]

Some Diebold humor from someone with way too much free time and Jagermeister.

http://homepage.mac.com/rcareaga/diebold/adworks.htm

[Sharon (Premo)]

Originally Posted by tikipirate

Some Diebold humor from someone with way too much free time and Jagermeister.

http://homepage.mac.com/rcareaga/diebold/adworks.htm

Cook the vote.

[vanbells]

Stop using your bank too. Diebold has a lot to do with banking systems and ATM's as well.

[Lugnut]

Originally Posted by vanbells

Stop using your bank too. Diebold has a lot to do with banking systems and ATM's as well.

Apples and oranges?

ATM's are designed from the beginning to be tamper resistant. Both physically, and electronically. Not so voting machines.

[vanbells]

Originally Posted by Lugnut

Apples and oranges?

ATM's are designed from the beginning to be tamper resistant. Both physically, and electronically. Not so voting machines.

Well. Forget it. Let me watch the video first and I'll let you know what I know.

[vanbells]

One of problems I see is getting into it the voting machine itself. It would be hard to take the memory card when multiple unit judges are watching over the overall care of the voting units during election day. As far as the turning the voting unit over and taking the screws out, fat chance. In the state of Maryland, there is an outer shell with legs and privacy flaps. You would really make a scene trying to take apart the unit from the outer shell. Also, the version shown in the video is an older version than what is currently in Maryland.

As far as voting provisional ballot, yeah that scanner is created by Diebold too.

[Lenny]

Originally Posted by vanbells

One of problems I see is getting into it the voting machine itself. It would be hard to take the memory card when multiple unit judges are watching over the overall care of the voting units during election day. As far as the turning the voting unit over and taking the screws out, fat chance. In the state of Maryland, there is an outer shell with legs and privacy flaps. You would really make a scene trying to take apart the unit from the outer shell. Also, the version shown in the video is an older version than what is currently in Maryland.

As far as voting provisional ballot, yeah that scanner is created by Diebold too.

To the conspiracists practicality doesn't come into the equation. "If it can be done it is being done and it is being done by whomever I don't trust." is the manifesto.

[ylexot (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Lugnut

Apples and oranges?

ATM's are designed from the beginning to be tamper resistant. Both physically, and electronically. Not so voting machines.

Exactly...poor requirements definition for the voting machines. My guess...a politician (possibly even a lawyer) came up with the requirements. Never send a politician to do an engineer's job.