PDA

View Full Version : NYT - Scientists’ Tests Hack Into Electronic Voting Machines in California/Elsewhere




PatriotOne
07-28-2007, 10:38 AM
Glad to see this issue getting attention. Fingers crossed that bill passes.
-----------------------

July 28, 2007

Scientists’ Tests Hack Into Electronic Voting Machines in California and Elsewhere
By CHRISTOPHER DREW

Computer scientists from California universities have hacked into three electronic voting systems used in California and elsewhere in the nation and found several ways in which vote totals could potentially be altered, according to reports released yesterday by the state.

The reports, the latest to raise questions about electronic voting machines, came to light on a day when House leaders announced in Washington that they had reached an agreement on measures to revamp voting systems and increase their security.

The House bill would require every state to use paper records that would let voters verify that their ballots had been correctly cast and that would be available for recounts.
The House majority leader, Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, and the original sponsor of the bill, Representative Rush D. Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, said it would require hundreds of counties with paperless machines to install backup paper trails by the presidential election next year while giving most states until 2012 to upgrade their machines further.

Rest here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/us/28vote.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

tonyr1988
07-28-2007, 11:11 PM
Agreed. I don't have a problem with electronic voting machines, but you've got to have some way of verifying the vote. I once read (I think on Slashdot) about a proposal to give you a number on a piece of paper after you vote, and where you could go to a website, type in the number, and it would tell you what the recorded vote was. How easy is that? It completely protects against fraud. Plus, there's no privacy issues (your name or other personal information isn't on there - even if you lose the paper, it's no big deal).

We actually had a problem in one of our local elections in 2006 due to this problem:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2646802

It's very hard to claim that something didn't go right.