http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/politics/story/2940831p-11612326c.html
The Sacramento Bee
Colo.
scraps computer voter registration
By STEVEN K. PAULSON, Associated Press Writer
December 1, 2005
DENVER (AP) - Colorado pulled the plug Wednesday on its
problem-plagued voter registration computer system and will miss a Jan. 1
federal deadline for having it up and running.
Dana Williams, a spokeswoman for Colorado's secretary of
state, said the system had trouble registering voters and other problems. She
said a letter was sent to the data-processing company Accenture canceling the
$10.5 million contract.
The state has already spent $1.5 million on the system, she
said.
"When we saw these problems, we decided we were not
going to throw good money after bad. We're going to get this fixed as soon as
we can," Williams said.
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires states to have
statewide voter registration systems in place by Jan. 1.
Federal officials won't seek to take over the elections of
states that miss the deadline, "but we could seek an order from a federal
court to comply," said Justice Department spokesman Eric Holland.
Accenture spokesman James McAvoy said the system could have
been operating by the deadline had Colorado not scrapped the deal. He blamed
the state for key delays, including decisions on software and hardware and
giving Accenture access to information.
Earlier this year, Florida canceled its $2.3 million
contract with Accenture after accusing the company of creating a flawed
database of felons and dead voters. Wisconsin and Pennsylvania also have
reported problems with Accenture election systems.
In Colorado, Adams County Clerk Carol Snyder said the state
tried to do too much at one time, setting up a system that would update
computers automatically from all agencies involved in elections, from county
clerks to the Corrections Department.
Williams said the state may have to settle for a smaller
system that would require county clerks and state agencies to submit
information on voter registration once a day.
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