Md. seeks $8.5M for flawed voting machines

BALTIMORE - The disputed presidential election of 2000 continues to have ripple effects -- this time in Maryland.

Attorney General Doug Gansler says $8.5 million spent to fix flaws in a touch screen voting system should be reimbursed to the state by the company that made them. Gansler says the state purchased the machines from Diebold Elections Systems for $90 million in 2001.

It turns out the machines have security defects that require $8.4 million in repairs.

"They should pay even more than that because the system they sold us in the first place, where they said we would have reliable results that these are accurate machines and they could not be tampered with, has proven to be not true."

An independent investigation done after complaints in 2004 revealed some security problems. Maryland spent millions to fix that problem before the 2008 election.

"At this point, we have some leverage because there's an outstanding bill for $4 million the state owes Diebold," Gansler says. "It's our position they owe us $8.5 million, so this dispute will be resolved in court."

The state has already made the decision to scrap the machines in favor of the more accurate optical scanners, most of which are made by Diebold.

The lawsuit has been filed in federal court.

A company spokesman says he can't understand the timing of the claim, and says Diebold Inc. helped the state have smooth elections in 2008.

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