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GUEST: Jim March, Board of Directors of Black Box Voting

A day long hearing was held in Sacramento yesterday to assess the findings of a recent University of California study on this state’s voting machines. Commissioned by Secretary of State Debora Bowen, the study found three certified voting machine systems to have faulty security systems. Released last Friday, Bowen’s “Top To Bottom Review” found that state sanctioned computer hackers were able to bypass security systems both physically and electronically to change voting results. Hackers were provided with all the vital security information made available to Secretary Bowen. Voting machine companies such as Diebold, and members of the public had the opportunity to address the conclusions of the review in yesterday’s hearing. Prior to that hearing both Diebold and Hart InterCivic, another voting machine company criticized how the study was conducted in terms of the information made available to hackers. However, critics contend that the greatest threat to voter security is internal manipulation. Secretary Bowen has until this Friday to decide which voting machines are secure enough to use in California’s February primary elections.

For more information, visit www.blackboxvoting.org.