The Staton Jones Report

The New York Times reports that Kevin Shelley, the California secretary of state, has banned Diebold e-voting systems "because of security and reliability concerns." Furthermore, he found working with Diebold to be a frustrating and deceitful experience:

Mr. Shelley said that he was recommending that the state's attorney general look into possible civil and criminal charges against Diebold because of what he called "fraudulent actions by Diebold."

In an interview, Mr. Shelley said that "their performance, their behavior, is despicable," and that "if that's the kind of deceitful behavior they're going to engage in, they can't do business in California."

Many voters in the Super Tuesday primary in San Diego were not able to vote because of Diebold hardware and software failures. The New York Times noted that "Mr. Shelley has said Diebold's missteps 'jeopardized the outcome' of the primary" because of the failures. For months, security specialists have warned of the ease by which Diebold's system is compromised through simple "cracking" techniques.

All I can say is: one down, forty-nine to go (including my home state of Texas)! I have no idea how this ban will play out, but in the eighteen "battlefield" states, e-voting must be blocked or Rove will be able to steal the election without firing a shot.