LETTERS TO COUNTY ELECTION OFFICIALS – Diebold counties

Alpine, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Kern, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Placer, Plumas, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Sierra, Siskiyou, Santa Barbara, Trinity


Dear_____________,


In California and elsewhere citizens are asking election officials to take a public position against the use of Diebold (which owns the renamed Premier Election Solutions) electronic voting systems in the 2008 general election. Election officials who are motivated to protect elections, and not special interests, want to ban Diebold. In California and the rest of the country the problems have been significant :

- In 2004, Diebold was forced to admit it had programmed the election systems in Alameda County with uncertified software, a violation of the law.

- Diebold election systems have been decertified on two occasions, most recently after Secretary of State Bowen's review of the systems revealed a lack of security so egregious that one scientist said it could not be fixed without a complete redesign.

- Citizens are demanding that their elected officials hold Diebold accountable for the millions of
dollars of equipment now gathering dust in warehouses throughout the state.

Secretary of State Bowen is working to make our elections as secure as she can given the unreliable, insecure equipment the counties have purchased. Where do you stand in supporting her
?