Another Lawsuit Filed To Stop E-Voting Machines
from the groundswell dept
For years and years people have been pointing out the massive security flaws in e-voting machines. While the companies in the space laugh off the problem or try to block those who try to make sure the devices are secure, it seems like more and more people are beginning to recognize the problems with the machines. They're speaking up and letting politicians know that they're uncomfortable with these machines. The latest is that yet another lawsuit has been filed to stop these machines from being used in elections. This lawsuit is in Pennsylvania but is similar to lawsuits elsewhere. It's certainly true that no voting system is perfectly secure -- but the level of correctable problems found in many e-voting machines, combined with the level of disdain the equipment makers show towards those who point out the flaws makes it worthwhile to try to stop these machines from being used in elections.
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I want to blame Bush too!
When is Bush going to pull the national securty card and say that the machines cant be tested properly because it might threaten national security?
Our votes must be rigged. Its in the interest of national security.
/me falls off bandwagon and bumps head.
ow.
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I say have an e-interface that actually fills out the data on the card (so the rubes don't fill in the wrong bubble), have the person pick up the filled out card, and put it into an old fashioned vote counting machine.
That way, you've got a paper trail (yes: oudated) and a double check against the validity of the vote.
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Just why...
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Re: Just why...
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Documented Paper Trail Problems in Cleveland
A research firm examined the results of a recent election in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) and found that 10% of the paper receipts were "destroyed, blank, illegible, missing, taped together or otherwise compromised," rendering them unusable for a recount.
Furthermore, they found that in 75% of the voting machines they examined, the paper record did not match the electronically-recorded votes. In a third of the machines the difference was more than 25 votes.
The research firm blames much of the problem on poll worker training, and Diebold agrees.
A county commissioner is recommending to voters that they vote by absentee ballot in November to ensure that their vote is counted correctly.
Cleveland Plain Dealer: 10% of May ballots flawed
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Re: Documented Paper Trail Problems in Cleveland
Cleveland Plain Dealer: 10% of May ballots flawed
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Dead Chicagoian want the right to vote!
It is much more difficult to vote electonically when you are dead.
Being dead should not be an excuse or limitation to vote!
We need the paper ballot, the absentee ballot, the mail in ballot to allow the dead, undead, alien (both outer-space and foriegner), man, woman and child, terrorist, Jew, Muslim, Christian, Budda, Dolphins, Elephants and Ants the right to vote!
I don't need not stinkin proof of citizenship to vote!
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Remember!
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The amount of theft had increased dramatically since, now all you need is a number and you may well have access to large amounts of 'cash'.
With voting machines, I doubt it'll be much different. It's a can of worms just waiting to be opened.
While you can have 'this security measure in place' and 'that security measure in place' - all it takes is the ability to crack a backend database and then you can play with the numbers however you see fit.
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Don't get it
No fraud, no fixing.
I can register, authenticate, vote, get a confirmation and be done with it.
Why is everyone fudging all of this into more than it is?
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Re: Don't get it
-Qyiet
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why spend the money
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Re: why spend the money
that scantron buuble that's so great...
San diegans never got the mayor they voted for (Donna Frye) because they dismissed a good portion of votes as inadmissable due to the scantron forms not being filled out correctly.
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an idea
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problem here
The only people who seem to demand instant election results are the media - I would rather wait a month for the results to be hand-counted and trustworthy, then find out the next day and wonder if the count is even close to the truth.
Or to be a real old-fogey, if paper and pencil were good enough for our ancestors, they should be good enough for us now.
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Too Stupid
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Corruption...
I live in San Diego, although I wasn't able to vote in the above mentioned election, since I was still legally a resident of orange county at the time. I remember the Donna Frye fiasco, and that whole thing wreaked of corruption if you ask me. She won by a landslide in a three way race, as a write in candidate, and they threw out over a 1/3 of her votes, saying that you had to fill in the bubble next to the blank line for your write-in to count. That is far worse than any hanging chad. If someone has a name written on the write in line, it's pretty clear what the intention of the voter was.
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Hmmm...
You gave me the idea of having votes cast in a scrambled barcode with a key. Another machine that would do the counting would have the key as well decipher the barcode and make a count.
This way, no one would know what vote they were really holding. Only the machine that generated the code and the counting machine would know the details of the vote.
Only thing, there would have to be someone appointed somewhere, somehow, to ensure that this method is always in check...kinda like a secretary of weights and measures but obviously different.
Anyway, we'd have anonymity, hard copies (proof), and the machines can be served up on the net to view live tally results as they are processed. In addition, there would be an overly simplified, mickey mouse, touchscreen interface with big, colored, elbow sized, buttons. After a vote is cast, it would provide a fail safe asking "Are you sure you want to vote for ..." allowing you to reverse your choice due to whatever reason.
Finally we can test the entire system by using 4 year old kids as the subjects.
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