Thursday, December 15, 2005

Eureka Times-Standard Prints Call For Election Manager's Resignation

Based on the campaign launched Monday night in the GuvWurld blog, today's Eureka Times-Standard (original/archive) carries comments from Humboldt County Elections Manager Lindsey McWilliams defending Diebold, followed by a call for his resignation.
A few days after a Florida county election official swore off the use of Diebold voting machines for alleged security problems, Humboldt County Elections Officer Lindsey McWilliams said he still believes the system is safe from real-world tampering.

[snip]

McWilliams said the tests prove nothing, because the hackers in Florida had special access that real-life tamperers would not have.

[snip]

Dave Berman, a local advocate for election system reform, spoke critically of Diebold and praised the Florida county for its decision.

"I think the decision in Florida is long overdue and I think that there should be a complete product recall so that no county or voter in the country should have to use a Diebold voting machine and no voters should have to vote on a machine that uses proprietary technology at all because that amounts to a secret counting of the votes,"” Berman said.

He pointed to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, which he said meticulously outlines problems with a variety of voting technologies.

"”Lindsey McWilliams is in denial,"” Berman said. "“He's defending technology that has been documented over and over again as being flawed."

He said McWilliams may need to step down.

"Frankly, if he is resigned to the status quo for voting systems, he should resign his office and make way for someone who is willing to work to improve the elections system,"” he said.
This message should be cited and repeated throughout the country, but especially in the 17 CA counties where Diebold installed uncertified software in its voting machines (see page 3 of this CA Secretary of State Staff Report).

This campaign has already received significant recognition and participation through Democratic Underground, VoteTrustUSA, Craigslist, and several prominent listserves including the California Election Protection Network.

Link back to the original campaign launch announcement for more details, official contacts, and recommended action steps.

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