State official: Election computers not compromised

Nancy Kline   Lima Ohio.com   13 October 2008

OTTAWA - After last week's firing of Putnam County's elections chief for upgrading voting software, the company tested the machines and said they were not compromised and are compliant with state regulations.

This testing was conducted Thursday after the Putnam County Board of Elections fired Director Virginia Price. The firing was sparked by a notice from the Ohio Secretary of State's Office that the county's voting software was upgraded without the state's authorization.

ES&S conducted the testing in the presences of Danielle Krivas, a representative from the Ohio Secretary of State's Office.

The company said the s to the computer system would not adversely affect the tabulation software and that versions of the software on the system are versions certified for use in the state of Ohio.

After the board received notice of the possible violation of the directives last week, they voted 3-1 to replace Virginia Price as the director of the board.

"People feel it was this one thing that resulted in her termination," said Democrat board member Ann Dillinger. "It was not. It was the result of ongoing failure to follow directives and policies and procedures."

Dillinger said the board has not given a response to the Secretary of State following last week's testing.

Republican Board member Lyle McKanna said the board reacted too quickly.

"The letter from the secretary of state indicated we should investigate the possible violations and then proceed with disciplinary action. Now we find out that nothing was compromised, what do we do? We've already fired Price."

McKanna was the lone dissenter on the motion to replace Price.

McKanna said the work was done on the computer to address a maintenance problem of noise in the computer.

"We did something similar last year and there was no problem," he said.

Price said the maintenance work was for embedded firmware that gives instructions to the hardware of the computer.

"Only a Dell technician knows how to make those changes," she said. "I wouldn't know where to begin."

Price said she is still considering whether to take any action against the board.

"I still have questions on how it was done and will make a decision once I have those questions answered," she said.

Price joins McKanna in voicing concerns about the lack of experience with the new board director, Karen Lammers.

"She only has about eight months experience in the office," McKanna said. "That concerns me. I hope the November election process goes smoothly," he said.

Dillinger said the Secretary of State's Office has indicated it will offer continued support.

"I have every confidence that everything will go well," she said.