GAO investigation of BBV vendors requested by senate committee

Feinstein seeks GAO investigation of e-voting machines
Computer World

An influential U.S. senator last week called on the federal government to find out why electronic voting machines have caused problems in some recent elections.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) last Wednesday asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct an investigation of electronic voting machines -- especially those that fail to produce a paper receipt of the ballots cast. Feinstein, who chairs the senate Rules and Administration Committee, called on the GAO to complete the investigation before the 2008 presidential election.

Feinstein is asking that the GAO investigate claims by e-voting critics that some new machines are prone to error, can be easily hacked and altered, and can be secretly reprogrammed to change the outcome of a race.

This is WAY overdue. This should have been done years ago, or at the latest after the Diebold emails were leaked.

It should be followed up with a criminal investigation (with emphasis on the RICO statute) into every vendor and "certification" lab, as well as efforts by ITAA and to "lobby" those certification labs and government agencies to set standards which were favorable to the BBV vendors, at the expense of accurate and secure election equipment.

While they are at it, they should look into The Election Center and the money it received from vendors which appear to have influenced its recommendations on voting equipment.