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"The core of our American democracy is the right to vote. Implicit in that right is the notion that that vote be private, that vote be secure, and that vote be counted as it was intended when it was cast by the voter. And I think what we're encountering is a pivotal moment in our democracy where all of that is being called into question." ( more here)
Kevin Shelley, former
California Sec. of State
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Home » News » E-Voting News
| Thu, 31 Jul 2003 09:15:00 GMT
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July 31st, 2003
UK e-voting pilots deeply flawed
A leading British academic has warned of the shortcomings of electronic voting schemes tried at this year''s local elections. The criticism, from Dr Ben Fairweather, Research Fellow at De Montfort University''s Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, comes in advance of the publication of the Electoral Commission''s evaluation of the pilot schemes due later today. |
| Thu, 31 Jul 2003 12:00:00 EST
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July 31st, 2003
Editorial: Taking away paper ballots asks for trouble in close vote
According to a vocal and, until now, largely ignored group of computer scientists, no one really knows what''s going on inside the black boxes that count the votes. They may or may not work. They might or might not be compromised. The software is "certified" by federal and state governments under standards that are weak, vague and not finalized, critics say. Nor do political parties, candidates and ordinary citizens have the right to examine the source code behind the software. It''s considered proprietary - the company that made the electronic machine doesn''t have to show it to the public. |
| Mon, 28 Jul 2003 00:00:00 PST
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July 28th, 2003
Electronic Voting System Is Vulnerable To Tampering
The software believed to be at the heart of an electronic voting system being marketed for use in elections across the nation has weaknesses that could easily allow someone to cast multiple votes for one candidate, computer security researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have determined. |
| Fri, 09 May 2003 02:00:00 PST
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May 1st, 2003
Voting Machine Leaves Paper Trail
Voting machines that print individual ballots -- an election accessory many computer scientists have clamored for -- are moving a step closer to widespread availability. In response to concerns raised by election officials and security-minded techies, one of the largest makers of touch-screen voting machines has introduced a prototype capable of producing paper ballots. Developed by Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Nebraska, the machine is currently in beta testing, with plans to make it commercially available by July. "The idea is to provide a voter-verifiable ballot," said Lou Dedier, the ES&S vice president and general manager who built the original test model in his garage. Dedier said his mock-up was based on suggestions from elections administrators. |
| Thu, 27 Feb 2003 02:00:00 PST
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February 27th, 2003
Voting software firm gets sued
In a case calling into question the thoroughness of the certification process for touch-screen voting systems, a former engineer for an election software company has filed a lawsuit against his ex-employer, claiming executives ignored his warnings of potential defects. In the suit, filed in superior court in King County, Washington, software engineer Dan Spillane claims that his ex-employer, voting software developer VoteHere, wrongfully fired him after less than seven months on the job. The suit claims the termination occurred shortly before Spillane had planned to meet with officials of the independent testing authority responsible for certifying voting machines and the U.S. General Accounting Office. He claims the firing was "clearly in retaliation for whistleblowing." Although more than a year and a half has passed since he lost his job, Spillane said he decided to file the suit because he believed it was important to disclose potential defects in voting software applications and in the certification process. |
| Tue, 19 Nov 2002 02:00:00 PST
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November 19th, 2002
A Vote for Less Tech at the Polls
Two weeks after the most highly computerized federal election in U.S. history, a number of computer scientists continue to raise concerns over security risks created by the widespread adoption of touch-screen voting systems. Despite reports of smooth performance on Election Day from the major voting machine manufacturers, many experts remain concerned about fixing potential bugs before states spend billions more on touch-screen systems to automate the election process. While paper ballots, punch cards and lever machines have their problems, a worry among some computer scientists is that the risks presented by touch-screen systems are more insidious because they are harder to detect. Critics of so-called direct recording electronic, or DRE, voting machines, most of which employ touch screens, are particularly concerned about the lack of a paper trail. Although the most widely used DRE machines can at day''s end print out at a record of ballots cast, detractors say this is insufficient. Because of the potential for memory glitches or even possible tampering, critics such as Neumann advocate printing a paper record that voters can examine immediately after casting their votes. |
| Tue, 05 Nov 2002 00:00:00 EST
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November 5th, 2002
Voting into the void
When a voter touches the screen to make a choice, there is no confirmation that the machine has actually registered the correct selection. In the old punch-card and fill-in-the-circle paper systems, voters can see their choice marked on paper. And in the event of a recount, election officials can, as a last resort, manually count those slips of paper. Since the new electronic systems leave no paper trail, there''s no chance of a recount. "You can''t recount a database," says Jason Kitcat, a computer scientist who spent many years trying to develop an open-source Internet voting system. "You can''t audit electrons." |
| June 17, 2004
U.S. Election Assistance Commission Releases $841 Million for Election Administration
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Editorial: Computerized voting systems cannot be made secure
Despite the hacking, the viruses, the worms, the Trojan horses that have affected millions upon millions of computers -- corporate, government and private -- the makers of computerized voting systems and the legislators who support them want you to believe your vote is secure. They want you to overlook the proven holes in these systems, much less consider that the vote you cast may not be the vote that is recorded. The last thing they want is a verifiable paper trail that would be counted and compared to the machine tally. |
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More Scrutiny of Electronic Voting Systems
No electronic voting systems should be employed unless they leave a verifiable paper trail that can be audited. Otherwise the next election -- conducted on electronic systems -- could make the rancor of the last presidential election seem like a tea party. |
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Touch-screen voting secure as any oher technology
Like any new technology, there most likely will be some problems, but they''re not insurmountable. Lots of money is being spent to ensure that computer hackers can''t tamper with votes, said Larry Puccio. "I''d never say there''s a piece of equipment that someone couldn''t do something to," Puccio said. "In its own time it will be secure and allow folks to vote quicker." |
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