The FBI is investigating the alleged theft of the electronic voting software which was used in Maryland touch screen voting machines for the 2004 elections. A former state legislator reported that three disks containing the high security code were anonymously delivered to her office.
A known critic of the paperless system, Cheryl C. Kagan said that the accompanying note said that she was "the proud recipient of an 'abandoned baby Diebold source code," and also mentioned that the disks had been taken from office of the State Board of Elections. “You must save democracy” the letter added.
The revelation has sparked concerns about security of these paperless computerized voting systems, also called direct recording electronic systems, or DREs. For years security experts, academics and government officials have been protesting against the use of these paperless DRE machines citing security risks such as technical and security related glitches and the probable risk of a malicious code that could affect election results.
Diebold, a major vendor of DREs is not new to controversy. Three years ago, the company was embroiled in a similar mess when its software code was found on an open site on the internet. Studies at various universities have also exhibited how the supposedly secure code could be altered and used to manipulate election results.
The company was also in the news in 1997 when it was warned about its sloppy key management. It was alleged that only one key was used for its entire gamut of voting products which were hard-coded into their source code.
The company however has defended itself against this Maryland fiasco. A spokesman for Diebold Inc., Mark Radke allayed the security fears. The disks contained versions of the software that were not in use anymore he said. "The availability of this software poses no threat to the safety, security and accuracy of elections in any jurisdiction using Diebold Election Systems voting machines,” David Byrd, the company's president said. The code that was being used now had various new security features that were not part of the earlier code, they added.
Critics however continue to remain skeptical. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., said that the suspected leak was disturbing but not surprising news. He said the security breach “raises yet another unanswered question about the Diebold technology on which our election system depends" and urged voters to take to voter-verifiable audit trails or absentee ballots. Kagan too said it was high time to put an end to the numerous glitches within the Election Board.
"Why is it that Marylanders cannot go to vote in a couple of weeks with confidence that their voting machines will work and that their votes will be counted accurately?" she asked. One however wonders if the troubles are more linked with the dubious practices of the officials manning the machine than with the technology itself.
