Is Diebold Elections Systems Inc., a big Bush supporter, rigging our new computerized elections software systems to throw the elections to Bush and the Republicans?

The Editor

The Oakland Tribune

Oakland, CA

To the Editor:

Your recent editorial, "Diebold's negligence points out potential problems" (The Tribune, November 10) presented some interesting and useful information about the new electronic computer voting systems being installed and used in California and elsewhere in the nation. However, the editorial entirely omitted the scariest part of the Diebold involvement: the fact that Diebold Elections Systems Inc. is owned and operated by rabid Bush supporters. Diebold officials have already promised to "deliver" Ohio's electoral votes to Bush and the Republicans in the November 2004 Presidential election. If that isn't scary enough, consider the recently uncovered information that Diebold Elections Systems Inc. secretly and illegally altered its electronic computer voting software just before the 2002 Senate election in Georgia, in which the Democratic candidate and incumbent Max Cleland unexpectedly lost to a Republican challenger.

After the Florida Republican Party, led by Governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris, illegally threw thousands of legitimate Democratic voters off of the Florida registration rolls just before the 2000 election (based on a list of Texas felons!), we need to insure that all new electronic voting systems produce a printed paper audit trail. We also need to ensure that these new electronic voting systems are secure from any possible last minute software manipulation. We should not allow any strongly partisan corporations to supply our new computerized voting software: are we completely crazy?

Yours truly,

James K. Sayre

10 November 2003