Another Voting System Certified by Secretary of State Gigi Dennis

Denver, March 3, 2006 - Today Secretary of State Gigi Dennis announced the certification of Diebold voting equipment for use in Colorado for the 2006 elections.

"The Secretary of State's elections staff has been diligently working on the functional testing of the Diebold equipment," Secretary of State Gigi Dennis said. "The Diebold system is in compliance with both state and federal laws."

The Diebold election system has been certified by the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) and has passed extensive independent testing at the federal level. Colorado has a very stringent certification process and requires that all equipment meet uniform standards and undergo rigorous scrutiny.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002, known as "HAVA", is a federal law that requires all states to provide a voting device in every polling place that is accessible for individuals with disabilities including the blind and visually impaired, which allows them the same opportunity to vote privately and independently as other voters. The voting machines certified in Colorado meet these accessibility requirements and Colorado State law which requires a voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs).

Colorado's certification process requires that each voting system successfully complete a hardware diagnostic test, logic and accuracy test (LAT), and a post-election audit test.

Any county that wishes to continue with Diebold products will not have to upgrade or replace any existing Model 'A' units, but they will have to upgrade new software and the AccuVote 'TS R6' units to the newer versions. If a county wishes to purchase new AccuVote units, they will be required to purchase the Model 'D' units and use the newer software.

"Certification of this new equipment is an important step in meeting the mandates of HAVA and the State of Colorado and will ensure Colorado's fair and transparent voting process," Dennis said.

The Secretary of State's office will continue the certification of other vendors who have applied for state certification. For more information about Colorado's certification process, visit the Secretary of State's website at www.elections.colorado.gov and click on "Voting Systems".