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# Re: Need AVTS Soft Boot Explanation

- To: <support@dieboldes.com>
- Subject: Re: Need AVTS Soft Boot Explanation
- From: "Lesley Thompson \(earthlink\)" <lesleytdiebold@earthlink.net>
- Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2002 12:41:15 -0600
- References: <002001c284f3$64c5a8f0$1e02af0a@dieboldes.com> <009201c284f4$ba4c89a0$950377d8@tari>

We have had at least one more unit experience the soft-boot behavior today. Lesley

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Tari Runyan
> To: support@dieboldes.com
> Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 11:56 AM
> Subject: Re: Need AVTS Soft Boot Explanation
> We now have had 3 units exhibit this behavior and are taking them out of service
> Tari

> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Ken
> > To: support@dieboldes.com
> > Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 10:47 AM
> > Subject: RE: Need AVTS Soft Boot Explanation

> > It is almost certainly a hardware problem with the machine. You should send the unit to McKinney for hardware diagnostics, but truth is the unit may never reboot again for the rest of its natural life. [That’s why I chose a career in software.]

> > There has been at least one other report of a soft reboot that I am aware of, from Tari. It appears to be a rare occurrence, or the problem is underreported. It will be interesting to see the stats from today once we are through.

> > Note that under CE 2.12 the system after soft reboot will come back up as if nothing happened. Under 3.0, an error message will appear when the machine comes back up after soft-reboot, and the poll worker will have to hard-reboot the machine. That is, under CE 3.0, the poll worker is at least given a chance to see the problem and issue the voter another voter access card if necessary.

> > Ken

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-support@dieboldes.com [mailto:owner-support@dieboldes.com] On Behalf Of Lesley Thompson (earthlink)
> > Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 8:57 AM
> > To: support@dieboldes.com
> > Subject: Need AVTS Soft Boot Explanation

> > Friends: I need to offer a written explanation of the reason this "soft-boot" occurred (see client comments after Ken's). Since this resulted in a voter's vote not being cast and we have no feasible way of knowing which voter this was, my client has requested a letter of explanation. Can I have a "technical layman"'s explanation of this event? Thanks. Les

> > ##

> > ## Additional Comments From Ken Clark 2002-10-28 16:29

> > # RCR#2196 Improve critical error recovery from soft reboot

> > [There is really no hope of reproducing this. Instead of listing as a bug, I am making a venue change to RCR/enhancement with a different summary.]

> > The worst part about this is that the voter walked away without having their vote counted. We have to prevent this at all costs.

> > Lets assume the analysis below is accurate (it sounds pretty plausible). Here are a few concrete improvements to the software that could help:

> > 1. We should write a ‘token’ to nonvolatile storage (flash) when we accept a voter card. When the voter casts their ballot, we delete the token. At power up, the software checks for the token and knows we crashed (for whatever reason) during voting if one is there. Then we could log the event more accurately. We could also force poll worker intervention when the unit comes back up, so humans are aware of the problem at the point that it happens.

> > 2. At power up, right now we just unilaterally eject an inserted card without fanfare and without even reading it. This isn’t good enough. We should read the card, log that there was a card in the machine at boot, and log the details of the card. Then we should pop up an error message and require poll worker intervention.

> > Ideally we would include some audio clues that a poll worker could hear as well, but alas the current internal speaker isn’t up to the task.

> > If we had something like the above, then at least the poll workers would have known about the problem and could have issued the voter a new card and asked him/her to vote again.

> > November 5, 2002 Advance Voting-Johnson County, Kansas

> > Here is the scenario:

> > A voter inserted their voter card in a touchscreen. Somehow the voter card

> > was ejected without the cast ballot being pushed...immediately after the

> > machine audit tape indicates that the machine was rebooted - however, the

> > machine was never turned off and on. The Supervising Judge (SJ) has the only key

> > and has instructions to not turn the machines off if there is a reported

> > problem. They know to just close the lid and call our office. That

> > location has had several of the problem machines this time and the SJ has

> > been following those instructions.

> > Our internal brainstorming leads us to this conclusion. Because of the

> > voter receipt and the date and time stamp in ESM (voter registration system)

> > for the computerized voter checking we are able to determine which voter experienced this problem.

> > It is an elderly voter - we telephoned the voter to do a "voter satisfaction

> > survey" - they loved the system and placed their voter card in the plastic

> > container and received their "I Voted" sticker on the way out. This leads

> > us to believe that the voter's ballot appeared on the screen - the precinct

> > was validated to the voter receipt by the machine judge and the voter

> > receipt was placed in the brown envelope for that voting machine. Sometime

> > during voting, the machine did an internal reboot and ejected the voter card

> > to the voter. The voter is elderly and simply took the card and placed it

> > in the container and left. The machine log indicates that the vote was not

> > cast and that the machine was turned back on. The SJ did not open the

> > swinging door and turn the machine off and on. I am concerned about this -

> > can you check with your software folks and get an answer for us. This

> > appears to be something like a soft reboot happening within the machine

> > which triggers the voter card to eject just like physically turning the

> > machine off and on or pushing the Cast Ballot button. As you will recall,

> > we had several instances in August where the machine ejected the voter card

> > after the voter voted for just one candidate. We understand that this

> > problem was also reported by other jurisdictions in their September

> > primaries.

> > We need your assistance to problem solve this one.

> > Thanks..Connie

> > ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

> > Lesley Koop Thompson
> > Customer Service Project Manager
> > Diebold Election Systems, Inc.
> > 415-235-6553 (office cell)
> > 512-413-7618 (cell)
> > lesley@dieboldes.com

- References:
  - RE: Need AVTS Soft Boot Explanation
    - From: "Ken" <ken@dieboldes.com>
  - Re: Need AVTS Soft Boot Explanation
    - From: "Tari Runyan" <tarir@dieboldes.com>

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