It infuriates me that Americans are forced to vote using easily corruptible systems (like tonight)

[Tom Rinaldo]

I spent mega hours ten to twelve years ago agitating on this issue, and very little has improved. The counter argument is always "there is no proof that elections have been hacked" (with no interest in pursuing any possible proof that they have been.) BUT THAT IS BLATANTLY THE WRONG STANDARD!

There is plenty of proof that elections can rather easily be hacked. This is just the latest in a long string of revelations about just how easily it can be done:
“Much of what happens at the Center for Election Systems is shrouded in mystery”
https://www.good.is/features/georgia-election-hack-richard-demillo

NOWHERE ELSE in our society do the appropriate authorities respond to documentation of critical flaws in essential systems that can lead to catastrophic failures with a shrug, and statements that boil down to "oh well, there's no proof that anything has gone wrong yet so there's no need to act."

People who care greatly about this are routinely dismissed as "conspiracy nuts" by the mainstream media AND BY political leaders in both major parties. Republicans never even acknowledge this as a possible issue of any importance. Democrats usually respond that they don't want to undermine public faith in our electoral system, which could suppress voter turnout, by spreading unproven allegations that our votes are being hacked.

WELL EXCUSE US. If you "don't want to undermine public faith in our electoral system, which could suppress voter turnout" then move to solidify public confidence in our voting systems by removing the egregious known vulnerabilities in them. You know, the way you do with tainted food or unreliable air bags.

Or even the way Microsoft does with their Widows operating system. Sloppy as they often are they at least are looking for back door vulnerabilities in their software and distributing patches to deal with them. Compare that to our political leaders. They remain content to just go whistling past the computerized graveyard of our democracy.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I'm reasonably certain there are some people who don't want this problem to be solved.

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. Me too. But how widely is that feeling shared, and in what circles?

Pondering that too much out loud leads one to being dismissed as a conspiracy theorist. But we shouldn't even have to ask these questions. Responsible leaders should not let it reach this point.

[msongs]

3. the democratic party Inc does not appear to be terribly concerned nt

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. Unfortunately that's the way it looks, whether or not it's true n/t

[mythology]

5. The more logical conclusion is that they understand there isn't an issue

How are these unsubstantiated claims any different than Republicans claiming in person voter fraud is a thing? All it does is tear down trust in the system and further polarize things.

[TheFrenchRazor]

7. right, because computers nevvvver get hacked... nt

[Tom Rinaldo]

10. Unsubstantiated claims? They are fully substantiated claims

The vulnerabilities of our voting systems are fully documented. They have repeatedly been tested and proven to exist. That is the case in this most recent issue of usage in Georgia. Russian "interest" in the mechanics of our voting systems has been fully documented by our top intelligence agencies. So have their many known "probes" in that regard. Of course the Russians aren't the only ones with the means or motivation to exploit vulnerabilities in computerized voting, it doesn't take a nation state to pull that off, but they make for a good case in point. One could well say that the Russians never launched a proven nuclear missile attack against the U.S. also. So does that mean we shouldn't waste billions of dollars developing anti-missile attack defense systems?

The Dutch had national elections in March, with rightest nationalists threatening to win and undermine N.A.T.O. Here is how Holland reacted to potential Russian meddling in their election:

"Dutch will count all election ballots by hand to thwart hacking"
"Ministers want no repeat of US-Russia controversy in the March poll that could see Geert Wilders’ far-right party win power"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/02/dutch-will-count-all-election-ballots-by-hand-to-thwart-cyber-hacking

"Dutch authorities will count by hand all the votes cast in next month’s general elections, ditching “vulnerable” computer software to thwart any cyber hacking bid, a senior minister has said...

...Plasterk told parliament that fears over “the vulnerabilities of the software” used by the country’s election committee “had raised questions about whether the upcoming elections could be manipulated”.

He insisted in a letter to MPs that “no shadow of a doubt should hang over the results” of the parliamentary polls, which some analysts predict could result in a five-party coalition."

Those silly Dutch, right?

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. I don't know that Ossoff didn't lose honestly

and I don't know that he did.

[TheFrenchRazor]

9. yes, and a lot of people here don't even think that's a problem, so it's a given that the dem leader

leadership isn't going to do anything about it.

[TheFrenchRazor]

8. one of the many ways that the people of this country are screwed by the 1%. nt