US heading for another election fiasco as reforms fail: "The United States may be on the way to another Florida-style presidential election fiasco this year because legislation passed to fix the system has either failed to address the problems or has broken down because of missed deadlines and unmet funding targets.
Such is the conclusion of a damning new report by the US Commission on Civil Rights, a bipartisan government body which previously looked into the Florida mess and found alarming evidence of voter disenfranchisement among poor and minority groups, incorrectly compiled voter rolls and other glaring irregularities. 'Many of the problems that the commission previously cautioned should be corrected yet prevail ... Unless the government acts now, many of those previously disenfranchised stand to be excluded again,' the report said.
The commission's criticisms focused on the failure to implement President George Bush's Help America Vote Act (Hava), passed in October 2002, which promised $4bn to help states overhaul antiquated voting machinery - notably the notorious punchcard devices that caused so much trouble in Florida - and sought to set up a nationwide system of provisional voting for people who believe they have a right to vote but find themselves omitted from the official list.
It said that out of 22 key deadlines that have come and gone since the act's passage, only five have been met. Most seriously, an oversight committee designed to advise states on streamlining their voting procedures and implementing the act's provisions was not appointed until last December, 11 months behind schedule. Most states are unlikely to make reforms before the presidential election on 2 November.
In addition, the Bush White House has consistently proposed less money than promised by the act..."

Surprise, surprise. I also read today in the Contra Costa Times that Diebold had willfully broken their contract with Alameda County in the March election. It's so bad that 'The problems with voting equipment in Alameda, San Diego and Orange counties prompted state lawmakers last month to propose urgency legislation banning the use of electronic voting machines in the upcoming presidential election."'

State official slams electronic voting machine maker: "California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley on Wednesday accused Diebold Election Systems of jeopardizing the March primary by selling California counties voting equipment was not fully functional or adequately tested.
According to a staff report released Wednesday by Shelley's office, the risk of using an untested voting system was illustrated by the failure of hundreds of voter-card encoders in Alameda and San Diego counties - a failure that prevented an unknown number of voters from casting ballots."
- posted by geoff @ #