Diebold Inc., the embattled Ohio-based voting-machine maker, was blocked Friday from putting its touch-screen machines in Ohio counties in November. The decision by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell affects Lorain, Trumbull and Hardin counties. All were planning to use the machines to replace outdated punch-card or lever machines this year under the federal Help America Vote Act. The three counties now plan to stick with their current voting equipment for the fall presidential election.
All other Ohio counties that had prepared to roll out new equipment this year put their plans on hold in the wake of new state legislation that will
require voter-verified paper receipts by 2006.
Blackwell said that the machines were retested to see if security flaws identified in December had been resolved but that
preliminary results showed problems remain. Blackwell did not provide details of the lingering risks.
"As I made clear last year, I will not place these voting devices before Ohio's voters
until identified risks are corrected," Blackwell said in a statement.
Plain Dealer
