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Diebold Unplugged...Page 4 Rick Gagliano | 12/19/05
News of the lawsuits continued to expand through the media on Friday morning, as did the story of the Hursti Hack Test in Florida.
Early in the day, the Associated Press reported that the company had acknowledged the pair of class action lawsuits filed against them and added the usual mantra that the suits were "without merit."
Shares of Diebold continued to trend just sightly below break-even until the Wall Street Journal Report carried by over 100 radio stations in 78% of the nation's top markets, led off their broadcasts with coverage of the Diebold lawsuits beginning with their 1:30 p.m. ET report and continued to carry the story in subsequent airings.
Just after that, shares of Diebold began to sell off rapidly, ending the day down 75 cents at 38.32.
With the workweek drawing to a close, perhaps the most noteworthy story
came from the office of the Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, the President's brother, who told the Tallahassee Democrat that the state will seriously consider [Leon County elections director Ion] Sancho's complaint that it's easy to cheat on some voting machines.
Bush would later add to his remarks, saying, in stories carried by most Florida and some national media, "If there needs to be any changes in policy as it relates to certification of machines, then we should do so," after officials from other counties, including Volusia County, where election results, according to Sancho and others, were severely skewed and probably tampered with, in favor of George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election.
Jeb Bush's remarks began to promulgate through all the major media outlets in Florida and by Saturday morning had blown up into a full-blown scandal.
Late in the day on Friday, three more law firms - Chitwood Harley Harnes LLP, Schatz & Nobel P. C., and Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP - filed class action lawsuits against the company. By Saturday, the number of firms with suits against Diebold had grown to six, as Charles A. Priven P. A., joined the fray.
As the weekend progressed, the fate of Diebold and the investigation into the security and trustworthiness of their voting apparatus and software was beginning to take on immense proportions, that was reaching into the highest levels of government and calling into question the core of American democracy - not just the right to vote, but the right to have one's vote properly counted and recorded.
This is the end of the first part of the Diebold story. As events unfold, Downtown Magazine will provide updates. Check back on page one of this special report for updated information.
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