Diebold voting machines on hold in Ohio
Saturday, July 17, 2004
By PAUL E. KOSTYU Copley Columbus Bureau chief

COLUMBUS — Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell wanted all of Ohio’s 88 counties to be using electronic voting machines for this year’s presidential election. He foresaw Ohio as the nation’s leader in the use of the machines.

Then, the number ped to 31, then four, then three. Now it’s zero.

Blackwell announced late Friday afternoon that he halted deployment of machines manufactured by Diebold Election Systems. He said there were “unresolved security issues” related to the machines. His spokesman, Carlo LoParo, would give no details about those issues.

Now, it’s back to the drawing board for Blackwell, Green-based Diebold and the two other systems initially approved to provide the electronic machines — Election Systems and Software, and Hart Intercivic. That’s because new machines must now include a voter-verifiable paper trail, but there are no state or federal specifications for that requirement.

Before Friday’s announcement, Hardin, Lorain and Trumbull counties were planning to use new Diebold equipment this November. Mercer County also was on that list, but officials there decided recently they would stick with punch cards.

“As I made clear last year,” Blackwell said, “I will not place these voting devices before Ohio’s voters until identified risks are corrected. The lack of comprehensive resolution prevents me from giving county boards of elections a green light for this November.”

LoParo said the other two companies are “not as far along” as Diebold in correcting problems with the electronic machines. He said Blackwell now wants machines deployed by November 2005. Federal law requires deployment by May 2006.

Mark Radke, director of marketing for Diebold Election Systems, said, “We have not seen the full details of the preliminary report, nor have we had any discussions with either the independent testing authority or the Secretary of State to answer any questions they may have.”

In a related development, a federal lawsuit filed in April against Ohio and boards of elections in Carroll, Tuscarawas and 29 other counties has been ped by the National Federation of the Blind. The suit challenged the use of the old punch-card ballot machines, saying they denied voting access to blind Ohioans.

Daniel F. Goldstein, lead counsel for the federation, said it ped its suit after it became clear the state had stalled long enough to ensure “workable and secure” accessibility could not be implemented.

He called Blackwell’s announcement Friday “interesting” and said “we may be back.”

Repository Business Editor G. Patrick Kelley contributed to this story.