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Diebold Rebrands What No One Wants

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the rose-by-a-different-name dept.

Irvu writes "Diebold has apparently failed in their bid to sell their tainted elections systems unit. Unable to find a buyer the CEO of Diebold promised that the system will be run more 'openly and independently.' To prove that they are serious, they renamed it. Diebold Election Systems is now Premiere Election Solutions. They still sell GEMS, AccuVote OS and the ever-unpopular AccuVote-TSX which performed so disastrously in California's Top-to-Bottom Review under the same names. Apparently their rebranding effort only goes so far."

4 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why can't they have the people who make there A by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When your ATM gets scammed: All you lose is money.
    When your voting system gets scammed: You lose your rights.

  2. They're looking at a different market. by khasim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    With a bank, if you get the numbers wrong, you lose that bank as a client FOREVER.

    With an election, if you get the number wrong, you have a politician who will be your friend for life.

    Think about it. They can handle billions of dollars, but they can't keep a million votes straight? At some point you realize that it isn't incompetence. It's their goal.

    1. Re:They're looking at a different market. by The+One+and+Only · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And hey: if you want to believe that every electronic election is rigged, no matter how eventually open source, now matter how eventualy trackable by paper-trail, etc., be my guest.

      You do realize that none of those terms describes the Diebold system, right?

      Keep in mind that most of the electronic voting solutions were the result of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which was supposed to address the alleged and/or real problems and unfairness of 2000...

      You say that as if federal legislation could never lead to horrible, unforeseen consequences.

      --
      In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
    2. Re:They're looking at a different market. by archeopterix · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And hey: if you want to believe that every electronic election is rigged, no matter how eventually open source, now matter how eventualy trackable by paper-trail, etc., be my guest.
      "Every" is a very strong word, but I'd say that it is very hard to get an electronic system right.

      Open source? Sure - but how do I know that the machine is actually running the code I reviewed? Trackable by paper trail? Good, but you need to: 1) let the voters check their part of the paper trail 2) have someone check the paper trail with the electronic record. If you believe that this is not effectively doubling the traditional ballot, then be my guest.