Diebold appears intent on supplying shit equipment, no matter what the cost. Link via the Agonist
Yet despite warnings from the state's chief elections officer, Diebold continued fielding poorly tested, faulty software and hardware in at least two of California's largest urban counties during the Super Tuesday primary, when e-voting temporarily broke down and voters were turned away at the polls.
More than 600 of the devices froze or displayed unfamiliar screens and error messages on the morning of Election Day, for failure rates of 24 percent in Alameda County and about 40 percent in San Diego County.
Diebold Elections executives were told in October by state officials to ensure every piece of its voting systems was fully tested and approved by national and state authorities.
But Diebold resisted, arguing that the encoders did not need testing and approval because they were a "peripheral" device on its voting systems and that the devices were common, commercial products.
That was true for the hardware. But not the software.
I thought the way to succeeed in business was to provide the best product and/or service possible. Diebold's repeated efforts to do anything but that, show there are some other motivating factors at work.