Electornic Voting: Fucked.

[Sycophant]

This is my hypothesis:

Electronic voting, in all of it incarnations especially DRE (touch screen) voting, is fucked.

There are now quite a few reports of all sorts of e-voting craziness...

3,900 extra votes for Bush for example, not to mention the 4,500 vote LOST in North Carolina.

And there's the exit poll variance, where electronic recorded votes are varying HUGELY from the exit polls.

And 'unusual' patterns in optically scanned Florida ballots.

Those Florida results are from Diebold systems, who's CEO said earlier this year that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes for the president"

I wouldn't like to say that Bush stole the presidency with electronic voting, but I'm pretty sure that, with untrustworthy audit systems, and poor accountability, nobody could say for sure he didn't or that the votes we saw were the votes the people cast.

I've said it before, and will say it again, "bastion of democracy, my ass!"

So, discuss - what other evidence of extreme weirdness is there, and who's saying that we are all nut for thinking there might be anything wrong with these fine systems?

[livius drusus]

www.blackboxvoting.org

I'm buying Bev Harris' book this weekend and will be sure to report on it, but from what I've heard and read so far, the lack of an audit trail and the ease with which the software can be hacked to shift votes en masse are the main horrors of electronic voting systems.

[Dingfod]

[freemonkey]

From day one I've been very suspicious of the outcome of this election. Its not just the irregularities like those described in the OP.

Its also the way certain things, like values, were spun afterward. Things just don't add up, don't feel right to me.

[ApostateAbe]

I share your fears. I also fear that this election will be seen as a success for e-voting.

[Sycophant]

Originally Posted by ApostateAbe

I share your fears. I also fear that this election will be seen as a success for e-voting.

Especially as most republicans seem to take any suggestion of an investigation as some sort of 'democrat denial' - they are satisfied that justice was done, and are completely unwilling to look at the situation, because they think it's just more "liberal whinging".

An investigation should be carried out - but the presidency has been decided, so regardless of the outcome of that investigation, it should not change hands. Or something.

[LadyShea]

Nevada is a strange State. Governor to AG are all Republican but Democratic Senators, Las Vegas has an infamous former mob lawyer as a mayor, liberal booze laws, legalized prostitution yet we voted not to recognize gay marriage some 4 years ago and can't get a marijuana vote on the ballot.

BUT when it comes down to certain issues they do it right. When it came time to get new voting machines, they called in our biggest guns....The Nevada State Gaming Control Board with their infinite knowledge of electronic security.

He told a news conference that Nevada becomes the first state to require voter verifiable receipts or printed ballots for the 2004 election.

Sequoia won out over machines made by Diebold, which has made a strong push to win the contract.

Sequoia and Diebold had been competing for the contract for about 1,800 machines. Heller said he selected Sequoia for several reasons, including a report from the state Gaming Control Board on the security of Diebold.

He said he believed the Diebold electronic voting machine "represents a legitimate threat to the integrity of the election process." Diebold's software is available on the Internet and that makes it a security risk. He said Sequoia was "a much more secure option."

source

So, we know there are machines that are secure, we just need to get them in every state.

[Zoot]

Originally Posted by Bakunin

In a word, we reject all legislation, all authority, and all privileged, licensed, official, and legal influence, even though arising from universal suffrage, convinced that it can turn only to the advantage of a dominant minority of exploiters against the interests of the immense majority in subjection to them.

So, Americans, how are you going to fix your voting system? How does Joe Citizen in an e-voting state become involved to effect that change?

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by Zoot

So, Americans, how are you going to fix your voting system? How does Joe Citizen in an e-voting state become involved to effect that change?

We need to go to our state lawmakers. An organized group of voters, armed with facts and viable alernatives, can affect change. Joe Citizen, alone, cannot.

[Zoot]

Right. How do you get organised? What facts do you need? What alternatives are there?

[Godless Wonder]

Rebecca Mercuri seems know quite a bit about electronic voting. http://www.notablesoftware.com/evote.html

[Godfather]

Even if none of the problems Sycophant lists were apparent, and there was no evidence to suggest any kind of foul play or irregularity, the whole situation would still look like someone's bizarre paranoid fantasy. Diebold executives have documented ties to the White House. I'm sorry, but even if they made the best, cheapest, most reliable voting machines in the world, there is a ludicrous conflict of interest, and in no sane world can their machines be used in an impartial election without detailed independant scrutiny. Such scrutiny is, of course, totally impossible, because the proprietary software used is closed-source. It could do absolutely fucking anything.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by Zoot

Right. How do you get organised? What facts do you need? What alternatives are there?

The people in states where the Diebold machines were used need to organize themselves to lobby their State Governments. The facts are readily available (see the excellent link Godless Wonder provided). The alternatives are the machines that Nevada chose, or that other states chose....I am sure there are many.

Each manufacturer bid for each state, and the state then awarded the contracts. That many states didn't require a paper trail, after the 2000 election either means they were galactically stupid, or they fully intended to undermine the integrity of the system.

[livius drusus]

Here's a few things that can help on a federal level. The whole site is a treasure trove of information. Check out its comparisons of the pending Senate and House bills requiring audit trails for all ectronic voting machines.

[LadyShea]

Thanks for the great info livius. What sucks is that none of those bills were in time for the 2004 elections. Hopefully they will be voted on before the 2006 mid terms and before 2008.

I wish the states had done the right thing on their own, rather than waiting for a Federal mandate