Spyware Wants To Be Your Friend On MySpace
Judge Says You Can't Edit Movies You've Bought

Insiders Set To File Whistle Blower Lawsuits Against E-Voting Firms?

Rumors, Conspiracies, etc.

from the this-could-get-interesting... dept

Mon, Jul 10th 2006 12:24am — Mike Masnick
There's not much to go on yet, but John has submitted this story, claiming that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (who recently wrote an article for Rolling Stone about voting problems in Ohio) is getting set to file whistleblower lawsuits against two voting machine firms, with insider testimony. Supposedly, that insider testimony will include details of how those companies misrepresented the accuracy, reliability and security of the various voting machines. Of course, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone who's followed the actions of voting machine companies in the past. It's well known that the voting machines have security flaws -- it's been shown time and time again. Yet, every time it comes up, the voting machine companies dismiss the issues as minor (sometimes with jokes) -- even when the evidence suggests the problems are quite serious. Past revelations from insiders at Diebold revealed how they knowingly used uncertified software in elections and how, if they were forced to provide a paper trail, they might as well charge extortionate prices to do so. Should be interesting to see what the latest reports from insiders will turn up.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

17 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Jezsik, 10 Jul 2006 @ 3:52am

    What ever happened to punch cards?

    Back in the olden days, computers worked with punch cards. Why, oh why, can't someone like IBM come up with a machine that creates a paper punch card when you vote; drop the card in the reader and *bingo* you've voted AND you've left a paper trail. Although it once was, it's no longer rocket science ... sheesh.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    VoteorDie, 10 Jul 2006 @ 4:58am

    You must be kidding...

    Do the words, "hanging chad" mean anything to you?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jul 2006 @ 5:38am

      Re: You must be kidding...

      The hanging chads and such were the result of trying to do things cheaply: they tried to use perforated cards and inexpensive styluses instead of the much more expensive card punching machines. I would guess that computer type card punchers, while reliable, are probably way too expensive to deploy.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Dam, 10 Jul 2006 @ 9:34am

        Re: Re: You must be kidding...

        I would guess that computer type card punchers, while reliable, are probably way too expensive to deploy.


        Well, maybe Walmart should start selling machines made in China......

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        jeff, 10 Jul 2006 @ 11:48am

        Re: Re: You must be kidding...

        I would guess that computer type card punchers, while reliable, are probably way too expensive to deploy.


        when the govt. can give totals of billions of dollars to other countries in aid, you'd think we'd be able to plunk down a little coin to get our own shit fixed, first.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Wolfger, 10 Jul 2006 @ 5:48am

      Re: You must be kidding...

      Yes.... "Hanging chad" means there is something there that a person can look at, and say "this might be a problem". Which is a heck of a lot better than the new Diebold machines that have no such indicator of problems or of intentional wrong-doing, and which cannot be recounted by hand if people suspect the machines of having an error.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jul 2006 @ 5:52am

    At least someone in congress realized these things are a huge problem, just waiting to happen

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jul 2006 @ 7:43am

    Open source voting machine

    I'll even write the first line of code.

    main(){}

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    h4x0r3l33t, 10 Jul 2006 @ 8:17am

    Concerned

    I'm all about the modernization and computerization of things... but something that can so easily be manipulated, i.e. computer programs, logs etc..., should not be allowed in the voting process. Political parties are the most corrupt groups of individuals this planet has ever known. Party affiliated people are as hardcore as religious fundamentalists. Why, oh why are we letting something as easily manipulated as computer systems into the voting process? Hell, doing it the old fashioned way still had its problems but they, by far, have such a smaller potential for manipulation compared to computerized forms of voting.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Wally O'Dell, 10 Jul 2006 @ 8:57am

    Security

    Security??? How secure was the old system? At least the new system takes a monkey called baxter to break into! I promise I will bring OHIO home for GW!!!! GW for KING!!!!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    h4x0r3l33t, 10 Jul 2006 @ 9:13am

    Re: Security

    The old system wasn't overly secure, but I repeat the potential for manipulation in a computerized system is far greater.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Pat "The Hack", 10 Jul 2006 @ 10:20am

      Re: Re: Security

      I'm not buying this BS. I think this talk is generated by the Liberal Press seeking a story. A story where they do not have to have evidence or perform research in order to support their story.

      Explain to me how such an orchestrated attack or fraud would take place? I'm sure you have thought this through.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    anonymous coward, 10 Jul 2006 @ 9:22am

    RFKjr and those insiders better be very careful. Diebold et al are capable of shit that would make a Grisham novel look a Mother Goose bedtime story...

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Wally O'Dell, 10 Jul 2006 @ 10:29am

    TRUST ME!!!

    Trust me, the people that work at Diebold Election Systems are not smart enough to be so calculated. Why do you think I sold my stake in the company? Also, the States have process in place to prevent such fraud. The States perform System Testing on each version of software and in some case put Tamper tape on the Machine to prevent mis use. Trust me, that taper tape is the ticket!!!!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    j37hr0, 10 Jul 2006 @ 12:24pm

    RE: Pat

    http://www.thenation.com/doc/20040816/dugger/7

    That's how Pat.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      mouse2000, 10 Jul 2006 @ 1:48pm

      Re: RE: Pat

      I liked the article, especially the following statement:

      "We had 22,000 voting stations. How would you like to be in charge of 22,000 passwords?"

      Gee, how many would he like? Keeping track of them? How about a database? Diebold could do so many things better for security.

      Thanks for the link.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    h4x0r3l33t, 10 Jul 2006 @ 10:08pm

    Re: Re: Re: Security

    ahahaha... I knew someone would try to make this a party issue... Pat, get your head out of your ass. If the systems are networked in any way to, say, a business network or any kind of network that has wan access a worm can definetly find its way in. If it happened at nuclear power plant http://www.securityfocus.com/news/6767
    then it could definetly happen on these systems.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


Spyware Wants To Be Your Friend On MySpace
Judge Says You Can't Edit Movies You've Bought
Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

Friday

19:39 Important Announcement: Techdirt Is Migrating To A New Platform (0)
More arrow

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.