Battle to stop e-voting steps up

[dave502d]

With the US presidential election less than two weeks away, the battle over electronic voting is raging stronger than ever. Opponents of the technology have resorted to a series of lawsuits in a last-ditch attempt to stop the use of the machines.


http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041018/full/041018-16.html

[teryang]

1. This is a good article that focuses right on the problems

<However, there is a more fundamental concern about the technology, which is that without a printed confirmation of each vote, it is impossible to hold an independent manual recount.

Trust exercise

"Voters using electronic machines without a paper trail will simply have to trust the good word of the vendors and local election officials that the electronic numbers recorded in the machine memories accurately reflect the intent of the electorate," says Matt Zimmerman, an attorney with the San Francisco-based Electronic Freedom Foundation, which studies civil liberties issues related to technology.

This means that no option is available for a reliable recount if there are technical glitches or if the result is very close, as it may well be in the upcoming election. Critics are also concerned that it offers no protection against fraud, either by somebody who might be associated with one of the companies programming the machines, or from a clever hacker off the street. <snip>

Then why did they wait till the proverbial last minute to bring these suits? I say go ahead with them anyway. I hope the Wexler suit succeeds before the election.

[dave502d]

2. They had 4 years to get this cheat in place.

[shraby]

3. They had 4 years to stop it, too.

Right from congress down. As my Dad would say, they're idjits.

[teryang]

4. Should have begun the suits at least 2 years ago

That's how long it would take to prepare an effective legal attack on no paper ballot evoting. I've been preaching it for years but alas it takes millions to prosecute this sort of litigation even in just one state.