California Voting Machines De-Certified

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen acting on the advise of numerous analysts and computer science researchers, de-certified California electronic voting machines in favor of paper ballots.  "The systems developed by the likes of Diebold, Sequoia, and Election Systems & Software were riddled with software-writing flaws and security holes that made the likelihood of error or foul play unacceptably high. The fact that the electronic systems had no reliable paper back-up – certainly not before one was mandated by law in many states, including this one – only made the systems’ vulnerabilities all the more unnerving. Not only could an election go badly wrong or be outright stolen; there was no guarantee anybody could prove it if it happened" (Los Angeles City Beat).  Click here to hear an interesting audio interview aired recently on NPRs Science Friday with Matt Bishop, one of the principle researchers and leader of a "red team" responsible for finding security holes in the recently de-certified systems (mp3 format).