California SoS De-Certifies Voting Machines

Last week, I wrote about the study ordered by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, taking the various voting systems in use in California and examining their security. She examined both DRE and optical scan systems manufactured by Diebold, ES&S. Hart Intercivic and Sequoioa, and determined that all had weaknesses in their security which, unless addressed, could allow hackers to alter vote totals, violate the privacy of individual voters and delete audit trails, all without being detected during or afterwards.

On August 3, she dropped the hammer. She kicked one verdor out and gave the others 45 days to improve the security of both their source code and their handling protocols for the technology. Her order affects voting technologies made by Diebold, ED&S and Hart InterCivic which are ubiquitous in Texas.

Let's look at the vendors and their products:

ES&S
ES&S is, as Mont Python would say, "right out." They refused to participate in the Secretary of State's review, and she basically put them out of business in California. She de-certified their InkaVote optical scan system. ES&S also has other voting technology products, including the AutoMARK voter assistance terminal and precinct- and county-level optical scan counting machines which were not reviewed. Many Texas counties use those machines.

Diebold
She de-certified and conditionally re-certified the Diebold AccuVote-TSX DRE system and AccuVote-OS optical scan system. Re-certification is conditioned upon improved software security design as well as protocols for handling the machines and their codes. The AccuVote-TSX DRE system is currently used in Hale, Jackson, Lee, Sherman and Wilson counties; the AccuVote-OS optical scan system is currently used in Collin, El Paso, Guadalupe, Sherman, and Wilson counties.

Hart InterCivic
She de-certified and conditionally re-certified System 6.2.1 of Hart InterCivic's voting technology suite. This includes the eSlate DRE system, the eScan optical scan system and the Ballot Now optical scan system. Re-certification is conditioned upon improved software security design as well as protocols for handling the machines and their codes. Additionally, Hart InterCivic withdrew its System 6.1. Hart InterCivic's systems are ubiquitous in Texas.

Sequoia
She de-certified and conditionally re-certified the Sequoia AVC Edge DRE system and the Sequoia Optech Insight optical scan system. As with the others, re-certification is conditioned upon improved software security design as well as protocols for handling the machines and their codes. Sequoia's products are not used in Texas.

Bowen's actions, of course, cause quite a stir. Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo has called for a review of voting systems in that state. But no word yet from our Secretary of State.