1115.org

Yet another story has surfaced about Diebold engaging in cyber-tampering with election results.

This one relates to the 2002 Georgia elections, which produces these two striking surprises:

Some critics of electronic voting raised questions about the 2002 Georgia race even at the time. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Max Cleland, who was five percentage points ahead of Republican challenger Saxby Chambliss in polls taken a week before the vote, lost 53% to 46%. Incumbent Democratic Governor Roy Barnes, who led challenger Sonny Perdue in the polls by eleven points, lost 51% to 46%. However, because the Diebold machines used throughout the state provided no paper trail, it was impossible to ask for a recount in either case.

What sets this election-tampering claim apart from previous ones, though, is its source. Raw Story’s headline reads: GOP cyber-security expert suggests Diebold tampered with 2002 election. The allegations come from Stephen Spoonamore who is not only a former adviser to Sen. John McCain, but very well regarded in the cyber-security community:

Spoonamore is one of the most prominent cyber-security experts in the country. He has appeared on CNN’s Lou Dobbs and ABC’s World News Tonight, and has security clearances from his work with the intelligence community and other government agencies, as well as the Department of Defense, and is one of the world’s leading authorities on hacking and cyber-espionage.

And Spoonamore came forward despite being painfully aware of the likely personal repercussions of doing so:

Sources close to Spoonamore said he was very concerned that he would lose his contracts as a result of coming forward and would take a “large financial hit.”

Read the full story. The short version is that Diebold CEO Bob Urosevich, personally flew in from Texas to apply a patch to Diebold voting machines in just two counties, DeKalb and Fulton, both Democratic strongholds, and the patch failed to fix the problem it was allegedly designed specifically to fix.