E-Voting Company Pays Up To Settle Charges Over Election Day Problems

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the sorry-about-that dept

Over the years, we’ve written numerous times about problems with electronic voting machines, and various lawsuits related to such machines, and the issue is always about what can be done to make sure the elections are fairly administered and the votes are accurately counted. That usually means, making sure that the machines work, are secure and have some sort of accountability. In Indiana, it appears they had some problems with the machines from Election Systems & Software (ES&S), and following an investigation, the company has agreed to pay $750,000 to make up for problems with the last election. While it’s good to see that these companies are being held accountable when their equipment fails, the real question is whether it will actually make a difference when the next election comes around. It sounds like the money is certainly going to help with the election process: “About a third of it goes into a state account for high-tech consulting for voting systems. Another third goes to materials county elections workers can use, such as training videos. And a final third goes to personnel support for those workers.” That’s good, but if the machines are a problem, none of that will actually help.