Friday, August 17, 2007

Yeah, That'll Fix It

Diebold, unable to sell its electronic voting machine subsidiary and forced to slash revenue projections, has changed the name of the e-voting business to Premier Election Solutions. Well, there you go -- problem solved. Or not.

"Rapidly evolving political uncertainties and controversies surrounding state and jurisdiction purchases of electronic voting systems" have hampered Diebold's attempts to sell its e-voting business, the company said in the release.

Um, yeah. That's one way to put it. Here's another:
In recent years, Diebold Elections Systems has been one of the main targets of critics who question e-voting security, and several security experts have shown vulnerabilities in e-voting systems. Researchers hired by the state of California found security problems in all e-voting systems they tested, including Diebold's, the state said in a report released in July.

Diebold's previous CEO, who promised to deliver Ohio for Bush in the 2004 elections, was forced out in late 2005 ahead of securities fraud charges against the company. Could be time to do some more housecleaning. But I guess a name change is easier.