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{{EP issue article header}}'''Diebold Election Systems''' (ref. parent [[Diebold Inc.]]) is a provider of "direct recording electronic (DRE) voting solutions" [<ref>http://diebold.com/dieboldes/]</ref>, or [[voting machine]]s.In August 2007, the Diebold subsidiary's name was changed to '''[[Premier Election Solutions]]'''. <ref>http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/FREE/70816004/1088&Profile=1088</ref> ==New name, same owner== Following a year-long failed attempt to sell its e-voting subsidiary, the parent company renamed the subsidiary Premier Election Solutions. While still Diebold-owned, PES "will have its own management team and board of directors," and is based in Allen, Texas, while Diebold headquarters are in Ohio, reported ''O'Dwyer's PR Daily''. The PR firm [[Edelman]] "is handling the recasting of Diebold Election Systems to [[Premier Election Solutions]]," reported ''O'Dwyer's''.<ref>http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0817edelman_diebold.html</ref> Diebold blamed the lack of buyers on "rapidly evolving political uncertainties and controversies surrounding ... electronic voting systems." Diebold also lowered its e-voting revenue expectations by $120 million, according to Crain's Cleveland Business. A Diebold spokesman "acknowledged that the highly charged attention paid to the subsidiary ... has been a distraction to Diebold," which hopes to "concentrate on its core ATM and security segments." <ref>http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/FREE/70816004/1088&Profile=1088</ref> ==History==

=="Delivering" Votesvotes==

"Wally O'Dell, CEO of Diebold Inc., this week [27 August 2003] sent out letters to central Ohio Republicans asking them to raise $10,000 in donations in time for a Sept. 26 Ohio Republican Party event at his home. ... [Ohio State of Ohio]House Minority Leader Chris Redfern, D-Catawba Island, ... and Senate Minority Leader Greg DiDonato, D-New Philadelphia, on Tuesday ... petitioned Secretary of State [[Ken Blackwell]] to drop O'Dell's company from the list of potential suppliers [of new electronic voting machines], saying his presence could undermine Ohio's entire election system." [<ref> http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/news/stories/20030827/localnews/140871.html]</ref>

:<u>Note</u>: According to the AP (August 29, 2003), the letter was actually dated [<ref>http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/business/6646063.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp 14 August 2003]</ref>, more than two weeks prior to news stories about it. This is supported by an August 28, 2003 [<ref> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0828-08.htm ''Cleveland Plain Dealer'' </ref> news story].

==Online BattlesAllegations of illicit interference with an election==On October 13, 2003, it is reported that a former worker in Diebold's Georgia warehouse says the company installed patches on its machines before the state's 2002 gubernatorial election that were never certified by independent testing authorities or cleared with Georgia election officials. If the charges are true, Diebold could be in violation of federal and state election-certification rules.<ref> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60563,00.html</ref>

==Online battles=====Attempts to prohibit publication of hackability evidence===On October 10, 2003, electronic voting company Diebold, Inc., sent a cease-and-desist letter to the nonprofit [[Online Policy Group]] (OPG) ISP demanding that OPG remove a page of links published on an Independent Media Center (IndyMedia) website located on a computer server hosted by OPG.

Diebold sent out dozens of similar notices to ISPs hosting [[IndyMedia]] and other websites linking to or publishing copies of [[Diebold internal memo]]s. OPG is was the only ISP so far to resist the takedown demand from Diebold.[<ref> http://www.eff.org/Legal/ISP_liability/20031016_eff_pr.php]</ref>

On October 1316, 2003, the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] announced that it is reported that a former worker in Diebold's Georgia warehouse says would defend the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and news website publisher against claims of indirect copyright infringement from the company installed patches on its electronic voting machines before the state's 2002 gubernatorial election that were never certified by independent testing authorities or cleared with Georgia election officials. If the charges are true, Diebold could be in violation of federal and state election-certification rules.[http://www.wiredmanufacturer.com/news/politics<ref>ibid</0,1283,60563,00.html] ref>

On October 1621, 2003, defending the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] right of a fair, democratic election, ''Why War?'' <ref> http://why-war.com/features/2003/10/diebold.html </ref> and the Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons (SCDC) <ref>http://scdc.sccs.swarthmore.edu/ </ref> announced that it they would reject Diebold's cease and desist orders and initiated a legal electronic civil disobedience campaign to ensure permanent public access to the controversial leaked memos. Thus, through active, legal electronic civil disobedience, Why War? and SCDC will defend bring to light the Internet Service Provider (ISP) usually silent acts of suppression and censorship. The result will be a '''permanent and news website publisher against claims public mirror'''<ref>http://cultcom.com/mirror.html</ref> of indirect copyright infringement from the electronic voting machines' manufacturermemos: documents whose public existence challenges the assumed presence of democracy in America. <ref>http://why-war.com/features/diebold_pr. [ibid]txt</ref>

On October 2122, 2003, Defending the right two groups have decided to pursue different courses of a fairaction, democratic election, [http://why-warconfident that the actions of both groups will independently result in continued access to Diebold's memos.com/features/2003/10/dieboldSCDC has decided to comply with any cease and desist requests and subsequently take legal action against Diebold.html Why War?] and the [<ref> http://scdcwww.sccs.swarthmore.edu/ Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons (SCDC)] announced that they are rejecting Diebold Elections Systems' cease and desist orders and are initiating a legal electronic civil disobedience campaign that will ensure permanent public access to the controversial leaked memosorg/daily/archive/fall_2003/20031023. Thus, through active, legal electronic civil disobedience, html#n1</ref> Why War? and SCDC , on the other hand, will bring continue to provide access to light the usually silent acts of suppression and censorship. The result will be [http://cultcom.com/mirror.html a '''permanent and public mirror'''] of the memos: documents whose public existence challenges the assumed presence of democracy in Americaby listing mirrors provided by individuals worldwide. [<ref>http://why-war.com/features/diebold_pr2003/10/diebold.txt]html</ref>

===Wiki wars==='''Spin on Wikipedia'''On October 22November 25, 20032005, the two groups have decided an anonymous poster from a Diebold IP address deleted extensive references to pursue different courses of action, confident that the actions of both groups will independently result in continued access to controversy surrounding Diebold's memoselectronic voting machines. SCDC has decided to comply with any cease and desist requests and subsequently take legal action against DieboldThis edit was picked up by the Wikiscanner tool. <ref>Wikipedia [http://wwwen.sccswikipedia.swarthmore.edu/org/dailyw/archive/fall_2003/20031023index.html#n1php?diff=prev&oldid=28623410 history log]. Why War?, on the other hand, will continue to provide access to the memos by listing mirrors provided by individuals worldwide. for [[httpw://why-warDiebold|]].com</features/2003/10/diebold.html]ref>

==PR campaigns=="Diebold Election Systems (DES ) has worked with numerous PR firms and consultants to burnish its public image nationally and in various regions of the country. These include [[Public Strategies, Inc.]], the [[Compliance Research Group]], hired [[Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide|Ogilvy PR]] to burnish the company's image and [[Joseph Jthe benefits of electronic voting in California," ''PR Week'' reported in August 2005. Andrew]]. [http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0822ogilvy_diebold.htm] [<ref>http://prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=240402&site=3</ref> The state had decertified one of DES' e-voting machines the previous year <ref> https://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2004Q2/history.html</ref>, and the company wanted to ensure that [[E-voting PR|their "story is told"]] and that voters "understand the technology," said Ogilvy's [[Michael Law]], who heads DES' California work. According to ''PR Week'', Ogilvy was researching public perceptions of DES, with an eye to developing messages "about the ease of electronic voting, particularly for voters who do not speak English, as well as for handicapped voters."

See the SourceWatch articles on the firmsThe same month, as well as ''O'Dwyer's PR Daily'' reported that DES' California PR is part of a national campaign headed by former [[A Short but Tragic History of E-voting Public RelationsDemocratic National Committee]] and chair [[e-voting PRJoseph J. Andrew]] . Andrew has been praised for more informationhis "grassroots organizing" and "golden rolodex" of CEOs and labor leaders, according to ''O'Dwyer's''. <ref>http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0822ogilvy_diebold.htm</ref>

DES has worked with numerous other PR firms and consultants to burnish its public image nationally and in various regions of the country. These include [[Public Strategies, Inc.]] and the [[Compliance Research Group]]. <ref>http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0822ogilvy_diebold.htm</ref> <ref>http://prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=240402&site=3</ref> See the SourceWatch Resourcesarticles on the firms, as well as [[A Short but Tragic History of E-voting Public Relations]] and [[e-voting PR]] for more information. ==Articles and resources=====Related SourceWatch articles===*[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Electronic_voting Electronic voting Index of articles]

==Other Wikis== *http://papertrailpatriots.org*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold Wikipedia's Diebold article] == External links == *[http://www.smashthetrifecta.com/diebold-memos-1.htm Insider Memos - The Smoking Guns of "Black Box Voting" Election Fraud Dangers]. Several years' worth of memos hosted on five non-U.S. servers. Most links are working (12/02/03).*David L. Dill's [http://www.verifiedvoting.org/ verifiedvoting.org web site]::*"In response to the 2000 Florida debacle, Congress passed a law, the [[Help America Vote Act]] (HAVA), which mandates voting process reform in all the states.":*"Mr. Darryl R. Wold, former chairman of the [[Federal Election Commission]] (FEC) believes that HAVA requires a voter-verifiable paper trail." *[[Jon S. Corzine]], [http://www.dscc.org/information/stopvotingmachines_letter/ Outrageous: CEO lobbies for Bush while seeking contract to sell voting machines], [[Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee]], no date. Includes online petition to Diebold: "Republicans must stop trying to steal elections. Sign our petition and send them a message today." ===Bev Harris=== *<u>Free Online Version</u>: [http://www.blackboxvoting.org/ Black Box Voting].*Bev Harris, [http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0301/S00166.htm "Senate Ethics Director resigns]; Senator [[Chuck Hagel]] admits owning [[voting machine]] company [[McCarthy Group]]", ''scoop.co.nz'', January 31, 2003.*Bev Harris, [http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm Inside A U.S. Election Vote Counting Program], ''Scoop.co.nz'', July 8, 2003. [http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm#intro Introduction]; [http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm#intro Part 1: Can the votes be changed?]; [http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm#password Part 2: Can the password be by-passed?]; [http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm#audit Part 3: Can the audit log be altered?].*Bev Harris, [http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00078.htm Bald-Faced Lies About Black Box Voting Machines and The Truth About the Rob-Georgia File], July 10, 2003. ===Other Linksarticles===

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