"There must be some bits here somewhere."
Electronic Voting Machines: Just say “No!”
Posted by Mike on February 3, 2008
Electronic voting machines have been introduced into various communities over the past few years. They are not without trouble or controversy. As the 2008 U.S. Presidential election draws closer, the use of these machines will receive closer scrutiny. Many people, justifiably, are concerned about vote fraud and otherwise troubled elections. Among the top concerns is the availability of an audit trail and voting records that can be used in a contested election.
Elections have been rigged and tampered with for decades. Electronic voting machines can make this less obvious, and can complicate the process they were designed to simplify.
My experience with software leads me to be highly suspicious of voting machines and the effects they can have on an election. Yes, we depend on computers for a lot of vital and safety-critical applications, such as airplanes, medical instrumentation, military operations, and railroad transportation. But voting machines have not been developed as a safety-critical system, and have not been testing to same the level of criticality as many of these other applications.
There are things that can be done with paper ballots to reduce election rigging. A big “X” on a ballot (with a verifiable receipt) and a purple finger are some low-tech things that can be used to enhance our confidence in elections.
Among article to read are “Electronic Voting” by Rebecca Mercuri, “A Paper Trail for Voting Machines” by William Poundstone, and the RISKS Digest which can be searched for related information. Some of the top names in cryptography and electronic commerce have been involved since some of the same concepts and concerns overlap with electronic voting.
There isn’t enough room here to discuss all the issues, but I’d urge you to investigate and become more familiar with this topic. My advice is to say “No!”, at least until these applications receive the scrutiny and high level of safety-critical development that they require. Our representative democracy deserves it.
UPDATE: It appears that electronic voting machines aren’t even as easy to use as they should be. Possible electronic “chads”? Read the posting “Voting Machine Usability Testing” for some insight into problems just using the machines for voting, not even considering security, etc.
