Electronic Voting Hearings Set to Start

[dusty64]

29 minutes ago

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Concerned about the reliability of electronic voting, a federal panel is examining ways to safeguard polling from hackers and bad software to avoid another disputed presidential election this November.


The first public hearing Wednesday by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission comes as many states consider legislation to require a paper record of every vote cast as a backup to technology they consider potentially faulty or vulnerable to malicious attack.


About 50 million Americans this fall are expected to use the ATM-like voting machines, which states rushed to get to replace paper ballots after Florida's hanging-chad fiasco in 2000.


Critics say the touchscreen machines can't be trusted because they don't leave a paper trail.


"My primary concerns ... are there is no way for voters to verify that their votes were recorded correctly, there is no way to publicly count the votes, (and) in the case of a controversial election, meaningful recounts are impossible," said Aviel D. Rubin, a computer science professor at Johns Hopkins University, who was scheduled to testify before the commission.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040505/ap_on_hi_te/electronic_voting&cid=562&ncid=716

[FreakinDJ]

1. Write the members of the panel

Tell them what you think of a system that can not provide a paper trail or even proper accounting methods.

Even a 3rd world country like the Philippines decided to scape the electronic voting systems after it was discovered there was no way to track all the downloads and accounting "Corrections". Their Supreme Court ruled in favor of out lawing the use of Electronic voting machines that could not provide these basic minimum requirements.

Are we now behind the Philippines in our technical understanding?????

[dusty64]

2. Problem is, I think

our so called "election" officials know exactly whats up with these machines and are pushing them anyways. It seems they are working for these manufacturers and have forgotten the People, I can't believe they could actually be that ignorant to lobby for this crappy method for any other reason.

[PATRICK]

3. In many cases they ARE that ignorant

These are not insiders in the computer age. if they were they would be tech enthusiasts and an even bigger problem.

The problem is trust and feeble imagination and belief in a routine world. Little Johnny Hacker is as much or more a nuisance threat as the controllers of the secret software translating the votes. if they can't see it, it doesn't exist. They DON'T want to see paper, hanging chads or Little Johnny Boxstuffer.

Here we start out with a Cassandra like distrust of the tangled alliances of the corporations and pols bearing gifts, cures and solutions to the most surface story allowed to be printed. Namely that Mess" in Florida with those "untrustworthy old machines" and dumb, confused people. Fraud is somewhere in left field, something discussed about as much as homosexuality was in the Nineteenth Century(which was the last time a fraudulent election could be called a fraud). So finding our starting point answers a lot of questions and raises clear and present alarms we go to officials and media and even computer experts who are relatively naive, uninformed about everything, and constantly sliding out of focus on the MAIN POINT.

Trying to make the tech danger simple to understand is not the big challenge. It is getting the attention of the natives concerning the potential and the real evidence of fraud. Then alas, comes the group support. Whether it is Colin Powell or the AARP or those nice trust inspiring sales people or crusading politicians, we have to argue against the 'crowd", break through the constant circle of wagons containing both victims and victimizers like some abusive family situation when someone tries to intervene.

The most frustrating thing is that- unremarked also in the media- a LARGE number of individuals believe the elections will be rigged and easily understand how and who. Even officials have this somewhere on their list of beefs. But never, ever does it clearly move to the forefront where it belongs. Stopping the fraud is low on the agenda. Other things, doing nothing or simply shrugging continues the maddening march to democracy's vaporization through the private secret auspices of a suspicious group of companies who will do anything BUT provide an auditable paper record or fix their junk.

It is like clawing our way out of a nightmare, the activists and fighters being the sole clear consciousness that is awake, aware and trying to wake up the body.

So while many keep celebrating victories or progress in this fight against lethargic stupidity and sell destruction I can only note with constant dismay that the consciousness barrier has not been broken, the stopping of touch screen fraud not a given anywhere yet.

[FreakinDJ]

4. I know you are right

But we need to keep this at a level any American can understand

The comparison to ATM machines is very good because we all use them. They have a paper trail and and audit trail. (notice the transaction number on your receipt)

Also the comparison of 3rd world countries like the Philippines throwing them out because they don't meet security standards is easy to understand too. BTW it was the same company that was contracted to provide systems for our military personnel

We need to get the word out and stop the sheeple from going to the slaughter

[FreakinDJ]

5. Here is the link to contact the commission

from their web site

http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/complain.htm#anchor460355