I’m not a big news watcher, and I try my best not to simply reproduce information you can find elsewhere on the net.  However, this one is big enough to warrant an exception.  An excellent report by Dan Rather entitled "The Trouble with TouchScreens" aired recently, and someone has put it up on Google Video.

Doh.. Looks like Google Took it down.
It’s an hour long, and covers a wide scope of information with some really interesting discoveries:
  • Calibration problems with Voting Touchscreens
  • Quality Control issues with Voting Touchscreens related to high-humidity (like the Humidity in Florida)
  • The fact that these units are assembled in Manila
  • The fact that 30-40% of these units leave the Factory, knowingly defective
  • Virtually no product testing prior to leaving the factory
  • An interview with Michael Shamos discussing the reliability problems facing current systems, and what’s needed to make workable ones
  • And much more…

And to make it even better, he talks to people behind the botched 2000 Presidential Election.  Talking with the people who make the paper ballots, he discovers that the ballots sent to Florida in that election were purposely made different from other ballots, both in composition and layout.  He also discusses the possibility that it was done intentionally to further the cause of electronic voting machines, now sold by that same company.

It’s a great insightful show, and I highly recommend that every American see it.

Update 8/17/2007:  Looks like google took the video down.  By the guy behind "The Brad Blog" has a WMV version for download.

[tag:news][tag:voting][tag:danrather]  

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