State notified of flaw in new voting machines

By CHRISTINA NUCKOLS, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 8, 2004

RICHMOND — New touch-screen computers designed to improve voting security are being tested in Virginia this year, but manufacturers already have notified state leaders of a flaw that causes the machines to shut down unexpectedly.

An official for Ohio-based Diebold Election Systems said the machines will be fixed before Election Day. After receiving those reassurances, the State Board of Elections voted Thursday to proceed with the tests.

Voters in Colonial Heights will use the new machines in this year’s presidential election, but the machines are not being used in South Hampton Roads this year. Norfolk uses an older model of the Diebold computer that is not affected by the flaw discovered in the newer machines, said company representative Don Vopalensky.

Norfolk Voter Registrar Elisa Long said she plans to use the upgraded equipment if it passes this year’s state review, which included Colonial Heights. Earlier Diebold models came under fire last year from computer scientists who said the machines do not have adequate safeguards to protect against hackers. The scientists had similar concerns about machines made by other manufacturers, but Diebold received the most attention after some of the company’s computer coding was anonymously posted on the Internet.

Norfolk is the only locality in Virginia that has purchased the Diebold machines, but they are also used in at least 12 other states.  
Long said the Diebold machines have operated without any problems in eight elections since the city began using the equipment in May 2002.

The newer models being tested in Colonial Heights have added security features that are not affected by the malfunction, Vopalensky said. He said the computers sometimes shut down after a poll worker prints a vote tally. The machines did not shut down while being used by voters, he added.