Unloved e-voting machines cluttering warehouses, losing value fast

Just as the world's landfills could soon see an influx of unwanted televisions, many American warehouses are packed with e-voting machines that once held promise for a better way to vote. Instead, they turned into a multi-year fiasco, with hackers figuring out how to do everything save for their income taxes on 'em and states reverting back to less vulnerable methods. Now, many states are scrambling for ways to recoup costs, even for outlets that will take them in for recycling. Oddly, Ohio cannot ditch the systems it purchased until a couple of related lawsuits get dealt with. The result? Buckeyes will probably still be using e-voting machines come November.

[Via Slashdot, image courtesy of BradBlog]

[bolezhinkov @ Aug 21st 2008 3:51AM]

turn them into VLT machines.

[Alber1690 @ Aug 21st 2008 4:12AM]

I'd love one! Maybe I won't a Surface any time soon, but this will do for now...

[DTM @ Aug 21st 2008 4:28AM]

The tautology police rang, they want their reverting back.

[Volite @ Aug 21st 2008 9:12AM]

nice one.

[Ryback @ Aug 21st 2008 4:28AM]

They have touch screens don't they? Load them up with books and ship them to schools.

[Mustaine @ Aug 21st 2008 5:12AM]

Great idea. I shudder to think how many government computers get scrapped whenever there's an upgrade. Surely one desktop per student is a better idea than one laptop per child. And if they're really old and unusable they can still be taken apart and put together for teaching computer technicians.

[elasticbands @ Aug 21st 2008 5:30AM]

Huh? Because schools really need a non-portable machine that has to be plugged in, and kids would have to stand at, so they can read some generic books? Then they can hire technicians at $40/hour to convert the machines, and load them with books, and set them up at schools, and then run training sessions for the teachers and children. You can buy a lot of books for what these "surplus" machines would cost.

[scott @ Aug 21st 2008 4:48AM]

future virtual slot machines ftw

[bigteebo @ Aug 21st 2008 9:01AM]

1. Those touch screen games at bars.
2. MAME cabinets
3. kiosk computers for other purposes(e-ticket machines at airports, digital photo machine).

Plenty of possibilities.

[Tim @ Aug 21st 2008 9:28AM]

I'd say split them up amongst the state universities in each respective state; I'm sure psych departments could take advantage for experimental surveys, etc. If its a less than critical application, they're still fairly functional little boxes.

[ishism @ Aug 21st 2008 6:07AM]

Seems Ohio has been the center of voting controversy for the last few elections. If it ain't broke, why "fix it". It's what you call a swing state.

[john @ Aug 21st 2008 6:30AM]

now what r they gonna do...recycle it?

[Dave Chappelle @ Aug 21st 2008 8:19AM]

I wonder why nobody will buy them. I am looking @ you Florida.

[JimH @ Aug 21st 2008 9:18AM]

Move the machines to someplace desolate and windy. Set up a turbine or two to give them power and a net connection. Get the folks at folding @ home to write a client for them. Poof, brute force data center. Nothing has to be recycled.

[Johnny @ Aug 21st 2008 10:29AM]

It's hard to believe that we are going back to punch cards in 2008. Can we get DARPA to develop some new machines or someone with a little security know how?

[Graham @ Aug 21st 2008 11:51AM]

The thing about paper ballots, there is always a paper trail and you cant forge votes. Personally I like how we have it here in Brevard County, Florida. Its an optical scan, fill in the bubble on the paper and the computer reads it. That way if anyone messes with the computer there are paper backups. With electronics there will always be vulnerabilities and with something as important as an election it is best that we have something less easily tampered with.

[facebookfake @ Aug 21st 2008 1:56PM]

@Graham

That's how we do it here in Rockingham County, New Hampshire as well. I never understood the huge rush to touchscreens.