EAC scandal grows--Sarasota's "undervote" voting machine models certified by banned lab, Ciber,

[kster]

before untested upgrades.



by Michael Richardson

Ciber, Inc. is the nation's largest independent testing authority of electronic voting machines certifying machines used by 68.5% of registered voters in 2006. However, last year the Election Assistance Commission secretly pulled Ciber's interim accreditation for failure to perform quality assurance testing and documentation of security testing.

Included in the long list of improperly tested or untested electronic voting machine models were the ES&S machines used in Sarasota, Florida, where a staggering 18,000 votes in a Congressional race were reported as "undervotes". Florida, which does not require federal certification, boasts, "Florida's voting systems standards and certification program are recognized as the most stringent in the nation."

Because Florida has its own certification program and because the Sarasota voting machines had upgrades that apparently lack federal approval, Ciber did not have the last word on the accuracy of the "undervote" machines.

However, in a March 3, 2006 "technical advisory" to county election officials Dawn Roberts, Director of Elections, relied on "Ciber Laboratory's Source Code Review and Functional Testing reports" to warn against "potential system vulnerabilities".

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_michael__070115_eac_scandal_grows__s.htm