By: wendell
In the interests of democracy, I'm copying over a thread that just got deleted as a Double Post on the subject: How to Rig an Election - The Source Code Revealed blackboxvoting.com has exposed a system...
View ArticleBy: timeistight
Paper ballots aren't any more hack-proof than computerized ones if the results are aggregated on an unsecure system before being reported. But they are manually auditable.
View ArticleBy: mkhall
I can't speak for anywhere else, but in Miami the contingency plans are (a) to have a small supply of paper ballots on hand, and (b) to call the governor and beg for an extension of voting hours. Oh,...
View ArticleBy: Ignatius J. Reilly
um, dejah420, nice point and all, but you are fogetting one thing: He gassed his own people!
View ArticleBy: dejah420
You know...I'm sure there are contingency plans for stuff like this, but what happens if the power is out at the voting location and all they have are touch screen voting booths. (For example,...
View ArticleBy: mkhall
Just to clarify, electronic voting is now required by law in Florida, per some post-2000 lawmaking, so going back to a plain old paper ballot isn't really an option. Fortunately, the law is slack...
View ArticleBy: idlemind
Perhaps the point in my preivous post was muddled. It doesn't matter how you register your vote; if it is at any point computerized and stored in one of these unsecure systems, it's open to tampering....
View ArticleBy: Jimbob
Well, as others have said, marking on paper seems to work well enough in my part of the world. Whats more, we have preferential voting, where you number candidates rather than just tick one - and we...
View ArticleBy: troutfishing
smackfu - I know enough about web design to know that you might be speaking from an orifice which is not your mouth......how do you know? Do you have a specific technical critique which you are willing...
View ArticleBy: smackfu
This is crap written by people with just enough technical knowledge to be dangerous. Probably out-of-work web designers. They found a "security hole" in the copy of the software they downloaded from...
View ArticleBy: dash_slot-
You cast your ballot, review it on-screen, hit the PRINT button, review the paper ballot, and if it looks copacetic to you, drop it in the traditional locked steel box. Only the paper ballot could used...
View ArticleBy: mkhall
The Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition is working with our Miami area county commission to try to get a better system in place, now that electronic voting is mandated by federal law (HAVA). The...
View ArticleBy: troutfishing
Ignatius, XQUZYPHYR - Thanks. I just wanted to sum up all the great material posted on Mefi (this year, anyway) on vote fraud in the US - a rich load of smelly poo. BentPenguin - I guess Metafilter is...
View ArticleBy: Hogshead
They stole the last election. What makes you think they won't steal the next one too?
View ArticleBy: bas67
I know just how you feel eas98. I've been saying the same thing since last October. Nobody believed it or wanted to hear it or wanted to even think about it. Even with this coming out I still don't...
View ArticleBy: eas98
Lalalala... I've been saying this for months, but nobody listens.. Without a paper record of an electronic vote, electronic voting cannot be considered 'safe'.
View ArticleBy: riviera
How about this high-tech solution? Ballot papers + pencil + cross in box, counted by humans. Delivers 99% of British general election results (20-odd million voters) with in under 12 hours; delivers...
View ArticleBy: piper28
Personally I'm pretty content with the system I've used at times in michigan. Basically a paper form that you draw a line between two arrows to indicate your vote. Relatively idiot proof (although...
View ArticleBy: BentPenguin
Why does it take a website in New Zealand to cover this? Umm, cuz the American news media is in bed with the gov't. The news media has been served a big piece of the financial pie since Washington...
View ArticleBy: yesster
Why is this in New Zealand media? Perhaps because in the USA it would run afoul of DCMA, what with critical dissection of the innards of copyrighted software.
View ArticleBy: Ignatius J. Reilly
slipperywhenwet: As a US citizen, I can only say that I have no idea what in the hell the general sense of what the attitude in America is right now. My TV keeps telling me that I live in a nation of...
View ArticleBy: frykitty
Some of us have been following this story with headshaking wonder for some time. Here's the best resource for information I've found.
View ArticleBy: XQUZYPHYR
Wow. It's a magic fish that grants wishes. Awesome supply of evidence, troutfishing.
View ArticleBy: slipperywhenwet
so, if this is true.. is anything going to actually happen? From my perspective, [up here in Caaaa-na-da], one scandal after another just seems to roll of the back of the Bush administration. Can...
View ArticleBy: Steve_at_Linnwood
In Wisconsin (as least here in Milwaukee county) we use paper ballots that are ScanTron-like. What idlemind has said maybe true, but at least there is a physical copy that is proof.
View ArticleBy: Ignatius J. Reilly
troutfishing: Thanks (as always) for the collection of links. Why does it take a website in New Zealand to cover this? That is as sad as it is fucking absurd. Maybe one day the US can get media...
View ArticleBy: troutfishing
Great post, Dogmatic! I especially liked this (from the lead post): "November 2002, Comal County, Texas - A Texas-sized lack of curiosity about discrepancies: The uncanny coincidence of three winning...
View ArticleBy: nofundy
What timeistight said. Pencil and paper. Intent of the voter and all. There needs to be an auditable paper trail which cannot be easily altered to verify each and every vote cast. Period. This security...
View ArticleBy: PinkStainlessTail
Tampering issues aside, they're using Microsoft Access for voting machines? That would explain all those random "Invalid Argument" errors the last time I voted. I just thought my views were untenable...
View ArticleBy: idlemind
Gosh, I'm glad we still have punch cards in Illinois. Sorry, no protection there, either. Back in my high school days, I worked for a radio station that wanted to post live election results on their...
View ArticleBy: timeistight
I can't understand the aversion you people have to marking and counting ballots. Why use complicated machinery when pencil and paper works so well?
View ArticleBy: Ignatius J. Reilly
In short, Diebold's system sucks - the question is, why hasn't anyone noticed before now? People like Greg Palast have, but I really like the formality and structure of this article. The conclusions...
View ArticleBy: alan
Tampering issues aside, they're using Microsoft Access for voting machines? I can't think of any competent computer professional who'd think that's a good idea.
View ArticleBy: FormlessOne
Why does the orientation of the website friggin' matter? The facts are simple: - The system is highly unsecure - The system is designed for easy manipulation - why else would multiple vote ledgers and...
View ArticleBy: mosch
From a technical perspective this seems very believable, and having quite a bit of experience with hardware that must be secure, I have very little trouble believing that the security was as flawed as...
View ArticleBy: dash_slot-
Well, actually Slithy_Tove, there's something that inspires confidence in a website or news source that is prepared to recant, correct & apologise to me. That retraction does not in any way throw a...
View ArticleBy: Slithy_Tove
I think I'll wait for confirmation by someone besides a single left-wing New Zealand website (that in the previous 24 hours published at least one other false story) before panicking.
View ArticleBy: bas67
This is amazing and complicated. I had to reread a couple of the articles to start to understand it. Translation: The American public won't be told (via mainstream media) or won't care or both.
View ArticleBy: graventy
So...all I have to do is find a Republican state that uses Diebold, and change the world for the better. :)
View ArticleTampering with democracy
Are our elections fixed?Diebold Election Systems makes electronic voting machines being installed throughout the US. The problem? The systems contain serious security flaws that could possibly have...
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