News
September 24, 2008
State rejects voting machines in Ohio, Hancock, Summers
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Voters in three West Virginia counties won't get to use new touch-screen voting machines in the Nov. 4 general election, after the state Elections Commission decided not to certify the machines Monday.

Secretary of State Betty Ireland said the commission acted out of an "abundance of caution," after the machines' manufacturer, Election Systems and Software Inc., told the state that the new machines have different parts than the machines ordered by the state in advance of the 2006 elections.

"This is a vendor saying, trust us, these are nominal changes," Ireland said.

In the letter, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company said there are a total of 14 hardware modifications in the new machines, and said the new components replace parts that were either discontinued or upgraded.

"These changes have no effect on the system's functionality and there has been no changes made to certified software," ES&S manager Kevin Kerrigan stated in the letter to the state Elections Division.

The changes have not yet been reviewed or certified by the federal Election Assistance Commission, which raised concerns for state Elections Commission member Robert Rupp.

"I'd feel a lot better about these changes by seeing a letter from the EAC," he said.

Commissioner Greg Collias at first questioned whether the new machines should be considered different from the ones purchased in 2006, simply because they contain a few different component parts.

"If an ultimately insignificant change is made, it's still the same machine," he said.

 "The problem is, it's not our place to say that," Ireland said, adding, "I'm not prepared to say this list is insignificant."

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Posted By: Anonymous (11:02pm 09-23-2008)
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These junk voting machines are not made in Omaha,Nebraska USA .But in the Philippines at slave labor with a 70% reject rate. Yet we are trusting something as valuable as our vote on something as unreliable as this is beyond me.It makes no sense unless someone wanted to steal the vote.The paper ballet can be recounted these machines can't. Let's go back to our old paper ballet.

Posted By: Anonymous (10:33pm 09-23-2008)
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All ES%E Ivoltronics VPB series 7 % 8 voting machines should be banned in the USA.These are the perfect machines to steal your vote.It can easly be made to swith votes,void votes,reset and begin counting backwards. just plan not dependable.

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