If you thought the Florida recount was bad, wait until the next time (2004?) when they just fire up the big fancy computer and tell us who won. No recounts necessary because there will be no recount possible.
Maryland is a case in point. Currently at the center of a controversy, Maryland purchased 5000 such machines in March 2002 (at a cost of $17 million) and has signed an agreement to purchase another 11,000 at a cost of $55.6 million. The Rubin report, mentioned above, prompted Maryland Gov. Robert L. Erhlich Jr. to hire Science Applications International (SAIC) to perform an independent risk assessment Diebold's machines. The risk assessment was performed from August 5th through August 26th 2003 and the 200-page report was delivered to State officials on Sep 2. After substantial redacting the report was made public on September 24th. The SAIC found 328 security weaknesses, 26 of them critical, and concluded that "the system, as implemented in policy, procedure, and technology, is at high risk of compromise."Diebold Machines and Your Vote (Agonist)
