Voting Machine Mess-up Du Jour (Displayed 07/20/04)

Venezuela. May 2000. ES&S Votronic paperless voting systems. The election had to be postponed because of problems with the electronic voting system. The election is known in Venezuela as the "mega-flop."
	The biggest election in Venezuela's history was supposed to take place on May 28, 2000. More than 6,000 public offices were up for grabs, and Chavez, elected in 1998, was seeking re-election. But two days before the vote, the Supreme Court postponed the election because of problems with computer software needed to tabulate votes and register more than 36,000 candidates. It was humiliating for election officials who had insisted things were going smoothly. The Omaha, Neb.-based software provider, Election Systems & Software, blamed constant changes by election authorities in posting thousands of candidates. ... the postponement prompted authorities to reject any new deal with ES&S.*

* Venezuela Using Untested Voting Machines. ABC News. July 11, 2004.

We believe in the security, the reliability and the accuracy
of the touch-screen systems that we have, the DREs.
~ Ken Carbullido, Senior VP, ES&S

The problem with touch screens as vote counters
is that they can be easily manipulated.
~ Mike Devereaux, VP of Sales, ES&S