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    Voting Machines Don't Measure Up in Colorado
    By Christopher Osher
    The Denver Post

    Monday 17 December 2007

    A significant number of electronic-voting machines in use in Colorado aren't reliable enough nor secure enough for compliance with state laws, the Colorado secretary of state said today.

    "The results today will have national repercussions across the country," Mike Coffman said during a press conference.

    Coffman announced his office had determined that Sequoia's electronic-voting machines - the Edge II and the Edge II Plus - both failed due to security-risk factors.

    He also said the optical-scan devices eScan and BallotNow, manufactured by Hart, showed they could not accurately count ballots.

    ES&S optical-scan devices failed as well because of the inability to determine whether they worked properly. That manufacturer's electronic-voting machine, iVotronic, also failed because it can be easily disabled by voters. In addition, that system lacked an audit trail.

    Premier, formerly Diebold, machines did pass muster with the state.

    A meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday at the state Capitol, with Coffman and key legislators discussing the issue and trying to come up with solutions.

    Coffman's announcement means counties across the state either will have to come up with alternative voting systems in time for the 2008 presidential primaries or somehow convince Coffman to change his mind.

    "We will do whatever we need to do to make sure in the 2008 election, everyone who wants to vote can vote and that the votes will be counted accurately," said state Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat.