Judge Orders Electronic Voting Security Plan for November 7 Election

In the Colorado voters’ lawsuit challenging Secretary of State Gigi Dennis’s cursory certification of electronic voting systems manufactured by Diebold, Sequoia, ES & S, and Hart Intercivic, the Denver District Court ordered the Secretary of State to enact meaningful security standards for electronic voting machines and retest the four systems under those standards before authorizing their use in any future elections.  In his ruling, Judge Lawrence Manzanares said the Secretary of State's office failed to develop minimum security standards, as required by state law, and did an "abysmal" job of documenting the testing during its certification process.  He also ordered the Secretary of State to adopt statewide security standards before the November 2006 election, and ensure compliance by all Colorado counties using the machines.