[E-voting] Many electronic voting machines decertified in California

[Catherine Ansbro]

I had numerous interruptions while writing that last post so I thought I 
should clarify.  Before midnight last night California SOS Debra Bowen 
de-certified all of California's electronic voting systems, including  
DREs and scanners.  Re-certification of some will only be possible with 
new tight restrictions.  DREs will only be allowed for disabled voters, 
1 machine per precinct, with a paper trail, and with 100% audit of the 
paper trail.  Scanners will only be recertified if new conditions are met.

Apparently Debra Bowen carefully timed her deauthorization, doing it at 
the last possible legal moment to make it impossible for vendors to file 
an injunction which would have forced a delay in implementing her 
decision.  The timing is crucial because new voting systems (e.g., 
paper-based) will have to be put in place before the primary elections 
leading up to the 2008 presidential elections.  This leaves only 6 
months to change all the voting systems in a state with 55,000,000 
people.  If vendors had filed court injunctions they could have narrowed 
this window, which could have forced courts to require California to 
continue using the existing machines and procedures.

Catherine