US Elections Dominated By Closed Source. Again. 403
An anonymous reader writes "Another American election is almost here, and while electronic voting is commonplace, it is still overwhelmingly run by closed source, proprietary systems. It has been shown that many of these systems can be compromised (and because they are closed, there may be holes we simply cannot know about). Plus they are vulnerable to software bugs and are often based on unstable, closed-source operating systems. By the inherent nature of closed software, when systems are (optionally!) certified by registrars, there is no proof that they will behave the same on election day as in tests. The opportunities for fraud, tampering and malfunction are rampant. But nonetheless, there is very little political will for open source voting, let alone simple measures like end-to-end auditable voting systems or more radical approaches like open source governance. Why do we remain in the virtual dark ages, when clearly we have better alternatives readily available?"
Common misconception (Score:4, Informative)
I think a big part of it (from the public's perspective, anyway) is a misconception about open source. Many non-technology-oriented people I know think open source automatically makes it less secure, since "anyone can see what makes it tick."
Personally, I think it has to do with money more than anything else (duh.)
Re:Because... (Score:5, Informative)
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volusia_error [wikipedia.org]
The error cropped up in Volusia's 216th precinct of only 585 registered voters. A Global Election Systems (acquired by Diebold Election Systems now Premier Election Solutions) voting machine showed that 412 of those registered voters had voted. The problem was that the machine also claimed those 412 voters had somehow given Bush 2,813 votes and in addition had given Gore a negative vote count of -16,022 votes
This margin of error alone was greater than the population of the affected riding, and is well beyond human error. It also caused a riding to appear it supported the candidate they didn't vote for.
Actually, they can be audited if you want your vote as part of a public record. In that case, the parents/employer/mafia/dictator will demand you vote in a certain pattern.
Re:Alternatives? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Because... (Score:4, Informative)
Oh geez, you're one of those Coleman Kooks.
Coleman is a carpet bagger. He moved here from new york, pretended to be a democrat to get elected into local politics then changed parties once he was elected. Franken moved here as well, but at least he was born and raised here. The guy is dishonest, a cheat, and even if he'd won the election he'd have serious legal issues to deal with that came to light during the election. Anyone that could support that in a candidate should just crawl in a hole and die.
And you're being dishonest about "found" votes as well. That was bogus talking points the republicans spread and you believe it.
Re:Because... (Score:3, Informative)
Look, another Slashdotter that can't figure out how to use Google.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/politics/campaign/06ohio.html?_r=1 [nytimes.com]
http://makethemaccountable.com/articles/Ohio_s_Odd_Numbers.htm [makethemaccountable.com]
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2005/08/0080696 [harpers.org]
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/995 [freepress.org]
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/2004votefraud.html?q=2004votefraud.html [whatreallyhappened.com]
http://www.jqjacobs.net/politics/ohio.html [jqjacobs.net]
Let Me Google That For You isn't enough (Score:3, Informative)
Apparently the Internet needs a "Let Me Scroll To The Bottom Of The Page For You [boston.com]" service as well. See the talk page for additional primary sources.