U.S. Voting Technology: Problems Continue
Linked by Howard Fosdick on Thu 8th Nov 2012 20:12 UTC
Editorial In the United States, state and local authorities are in charge of voting and the country uses more than a half dozen different voting technologies. As a result, the country can't guarantee that it accurately counts national votes in a timely fashion. This article discusses the problem and potential solutions to the U.S. voting dilemma.
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Howard Fosdick nailed it
by djohnston on Thu 8th Nov 2012 22:27 UTC
djohnston
Member since:
2006-04-11

Except for the hand counts, (paper ballots, too few and far between), the votes are "counted" by machines. Machines which use closed, proprietary software, unavailable for audit. The potential for cracking the results of those machines has been demonstrated over and over again, locally and nationwide, and is well documented at the http://www.blackboxvoting.org/ site.

What Mr. Fosdic refers to as a "miscalibration of some machines", I call vote tampering. To quote from the article, Mr. Fosdick writes:

"Most computer scientists argue that only 'evidence-based systems' can prevent stolen elections in the United States. As Bruce Schneier explains, 'Computer security experts are unanimous on what to do... DRE [Direct Record Electronic] machines must have a voter-verifiable paper audit trail and... Software used on DRE machines must be open to public scrutiny.'"

Bingo. Without a clear and verifiable audit trail, there is no accountability.

Reply Score: 5

RE: Howard Fosdick nailed it
by Thom_Holwerda on Thu 8th Nov 2012 22:50 in reply to "Howard Fosdick nailed it"
Thom_Holwerda Member since:
2005-06-29

We (The Netherlands) have gone back to paper voting because of the machines having security issues.

Reply Parent Score: 5

RE[2]: Howard Fosdick nailed it
by kwan_e on Fri 9th Nov 2012 04:08 in reply to "RE: Howard Fosdick nailed it"
kwan_e Member since:
2007-02-18

We (The Netherlands) have gone back to paper voting because of the machines having security issues.


We (Australia) still use paper voting because we have no electricity.

Reply Parent Score: 2

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phoenix Member since:
2005-07-11

Federal elections in Canada on done on paper ballots, counted by hand. And no results are shown anywhere until the last polling station has closed. All the ballots, ballot boxes, signage, etc are identical across the country (except the names on the ballots, obviously). And it's all run by a federal department (Elections Canada).

Provincial elections (at least in BC) are also done on paper ballots, counted by hand. And no results are shown anywhere until the last polling station is closed. All the ballots, ballot boxes, signage, etc are identical across the province (except the names on the ballots, obviously). And, it's all run by a provincial department.

Municipal elections (at least in Kamloops, BC) are also done on paper ballots. However, these are bubble sheets, and they are run through an electronic counting device to tabulate the results. This work well, as there is a paper trail (the bubble sheets) that can be verified by hand if need be. All the ballots, ballot boxes, signage, etc is identical across the city (including the names on the ballot). And it's all run by a municipal department.

I'll never understand how a FEDERAL election can be managed by STATE officials, without ANY cross-country standards. Nor how STATE elections can be managed by COUNTY officials, without any cross-state standards. Etc. It absolutely boggles the mind!

Reply Parent Score: 2

RE[2]: Howard Fosdick nailed it
by Carewolf on Sat 10th Nov 2012 09:40 in reply to "RE: Howard Fosdick nailed it"
Carewolf Member since:
2005-09-08

I think in Denmark we only have electronic voting for the handicapped (essentially for blind people who wants to vote more privately).

Reply Parent Score: 2

RE: Howard Fosdick nailed it
by frytvm on Fri 9th Nov 2012 01:44 in reply to "Howard Fosdick nailed it"
frytvm Member since:
2009-11-11

I'd say this is a situation where real progress has/is being made, though [and not something the US is say, especially bad at]. All of the green/turquoise states in the map have "optical" voting systems: i.e. people fill out paper ballots and then a machine counts them. By randomly checking the machine's results manually, large-scale vote-counting fraud is prevented.

Reply Parent Score: 1

modmans2ndcoming Member since:
2005-11-09

the unauditable machines were decommissioned in every state back in 2006/2007. Help America Vote act set forward requirements for voting machines that include a paper audit trail.

Reply Parent Score: 3

modmans2ndcoming Member since:
2005-11-09

Rather than citing why I am wrong I am modded down?

Dealing with 12 year olds.

Reply Parent Score: 2