1-22-07: Diebold voting machines cost...

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Author Message   Bev Harris Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant Username: Site_admin Post Number: 463 Registered: 10-2006 Best of Black Box?  Votes: 4 (A keeper?) Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 11:29 am:        The Diebold optical scan machines being pitched by LHS Associates in New England are mighty pricey -- but just how pricey depends on whether you are a taxpayer in Vermont, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts. - In Vermont, the Diebold "AccuVote" optical scan machine have been offered for $4,500 each. Yet in Marlborough (MA) and Londonderry (NH), LHS is asking for $6,500 each. There are more reasons to question the LHS bids: - The Diebold AccuVote machines use archaic technology that is nearly obsolete, and requires memory cards that are NO LONGER MANUFACTURED, thereby guaranteeing obsolescence within the next few years. Black Box Voting purchased a Diebold AccuVote optical scan machine and took it to a computer reseller for a videotaped examination. What we learned: This system is based on technology from the 1980s. It also contains a number of security vulnerabilities. - The AccuVote machine was hacked by Harri Hursti in the HBO film "Hacking Democracy." The security defects he found were corroborated by scientists assigned to study the system by the California Secretary of State. Hursti study: http://www.blackboxvoting.org/BBVreport.pdf California study: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/14295.html When the manufacturer claimed that this vulnerability could be mitigated with seals, two 50-year-old women from Black Box Voting, neither of whom have technical skills -- circumvented the seals in four minutes using $12 worth of tools available at any hardware store. Here is a link to photographs of middle-aged women bypassing security on the Diebold AccuVote machine: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/36510.html Why the Londonderry purchase should be further questioned The budget recommendation featuring the pricey $6,500 per machine was presented by the Londonderry budget committee chaired by John Silvestro, who also happens to be president of LHS Associates, the firm trying to sell the machines. News article on Marlborough pending purchase, quoting $6,500 per machine for a total purchase price of $100,000: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/8/46474.html News article on Vermont offer for $4,500 per machine: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/8/46475.html Documents showing Londonderry quote of $6,500 per machine, and John Silvestro's position as chair of Londonderry Finance Committee, and John Silvestro's position as president of LHS: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/157/46448.html Other concerns: Is Diebold Election Systems ("DESI") on the selling block? Black Box Voting has now received tips from three independent sources that Diebold is trying to offload its election division. According to one tip, the deal is being brokered by a Washington D.C. firm. Two of the tips reported independently that deals have been difficult due to Diebold's reported insistence on keeping certain key employees in place after the sale. While this information should be considered speculative, two of the tipsters have provided information several times to Black Box Voting in the past, and in every case they proved to be correct. But that's not all: In addition, statements were made by a Diebold executive to reporter for Fortune Magazine in November concerning the possible sale of the division. What this means Any governmental jurisdiction seeking to spend taxpayer dollars on the machines should secure additional guarantees pertaining to a possible change of ownership, regarding tech support, replacement parts, and warranty guarantees. In particular, guarantees should be required for the Epson 40-pin memory card needed to operate the system, because it was taken out of production and is no longer manufactured. Substitution of another card would require recertification of the system, and because the other technology is obsolete also, jurisdictions should evaluate whether a redesign and recertification is likely to be done at all on the old AccuVote machines being pitched to New England municipalities for $6,500 each. Photos of the inside of the archaic AccuVote machinery can be found at Black Box Voting here: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/73/36563.html PERMISSION TO REPRINT OR EXCERPT GRANTED, WITH LINK TO http://www.blackboxvoting.org   Mac Hathaway Voting Rights Forum Participant Username: Mac_hathaway Post Number: 68 Registered: 08-2005 Best of Black Box? N/A Votes: 0 (A keeper?) Posted on Sunday, January 28, 2007 - 6:06 pm:        FYI, I contacted the City Council and the City Clerk of Marlboro MA about this last week when Bev's action email arrived. I will follow up tomorrow to see where everything stands. The City Council administrator sounded very interested and concerned. Mac   Bev Harris Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant Username: Site_admin Post Number: 517 Registered: 10-2006 Best of Black Box? N/A Votes: 0 (A keeper?) Posted on Monday, January 29, 2007 - 9:04 am:        The Boston Globe is looking into this too, because of this article, as is another Marlborough newspaper. While talking with the Globe reporter, I pulled several other documents showing comparisons of what Diebold has charged other locations. They charged Michigan locations around $4,700 for the AccuVote Optical Scan machines in 2005, but the New York City bid is for $6450 -- however, that includes extras, like the memory cards (which, because they are dependent on an obsolete and out of production Epson 40-pin memory card, cost around $250 each instead of the $50 that more modern cards would be); the NYC bid also includes the warranty and other amounts. I also found a 2005 document showing Diebold charging from $4700 to $5200 depending on the volume purchased, and perhaps most interesting of all, found that the M100 optical scan was on the Ohio bids for around $4900 -- and the M100 is MUCH newer technology. However, the M100 in the NYC bid is $6900 -- also including everything but the kitchen sink, like warranties and memory cards. Question 1 to ask of LHS is if they will provide everything -- tit for tat -- that is listed in the NYC proposal. Diebold apparently answered questions from reporters saying they can sell some places cheaper because of the volume purchased, and claiming it is the New England township system that causes the pricing to be too high. That's second hand, I might not be quoting it precisely. But that doesn't wash -- Diebold has sold their units to locals for the IBEW, to small Native American tribes, and there is no evidence they charge more. Either LHS is jacking up the price to cover their margin as a middleman, which calls into question why the municipalities in New England are stuck with LHS instead of buying direct from Diebold, or LHS is including a bunch of peripherals, warranties and guarantees in its price. Good questions for citizens to ask at town meetings.   Bev Harris Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant Username: Site_admin Post Number: 518 Registered: 10-2006 Best of Black Box? N/A Votes: 0 (A keeper?) Posted on Monday, January 29, 2007 - 9:09 am:        Documents on pricing: Diebold AccuVote-OS: State: North Carolina Document: Diebold final bid to the state of North Carolina http://www.ncacc.org/documents/equipmentpricing-diebold.pdf State: Michigan Document: Michigan pricing worksheet dated May 2004 Source: Diebold dumpster in McKinney, Texas http://www.bbvdocs.org/diebold/michigan-worksheet.pdf ES&S (Election Systems & Software) M100 scanner: ES&S used to sell the Optech scanner, which is an old 1980s technology somewhat comparable to the Diebold-OS scanner. That system is becoming hard to get parts for (as the Diebold scanners are, especially memory cards). ES&S switched to more modern digital scanning technology and now sells only the M100 as a precinct ballot scanner. State: Ohio Document: ES&S procurement information Source of Document: Public records request http://www.bbvdocs.org/OH/RFP_Price_List.pdf Here are the current New York City bids for Diebold & ES&S. They lump together a bunch of things with the scanner. Source: New York City Board of Elections Web Site I'll be darned if I can remember what link took me there, but Google does have these documents indexed. I simplified the name, so you won't be able to locate them on the NYBOE site by their title, but you will be able to find them if you search for text strings within the document. The most significant additional item contained here is the 5-year warranty; the memory cards, also, are pricey. http://www.bbvdocs.org/NY/DBD-NYC-BOE-RFI-Cost-Response.pdf http://www.bbvdocs.org/NY/ESS-NYC-BOE-RFI-Cost-Response.pdf

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