BlogWood: MT Archives

Don't trust Buddy on this one

I know it’s his job to reassure voters that all is well with the new technology, but Buddy Johnson could at least feign some concern for making sure your vote counts this November:

"There's never been a perfect election," Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson said. "And there never will be."

Buddy seems to be taking to whole issue of electronic voting machines entirely too lightly, despite recent under votes in Palm Beach County, horror stories in California and Georgia, no verifiable paper trail, and numerous other problems, including this rather unsettling information:

Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc., told Republicans in an Aug. 14 fund-raising letter that he is ``committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.''

From the Tribune, an overview from AP:

It's true some changes have been made: Roughly 50 million registered voters, or slightly more than a quarter nationwide, will be able to cast ballots on the latest touchscreen equipment this year.

That means the glass is half- full, at best, especially with the biggest reforms so far now coming in for criticism. In particular, those ATM-style electronic voting machines - once trumpeted as the solution to voting problems - are under fire from some computer scientists and lawmakers. That, in turn, is slowing further reforms and weakening confidence in the system even more.
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After the 2000 crisis, promises of electoral reform didn't translate into quick action. It took nearly two years for Congress to pass the law giving states money and direction to buy new machines, and improve voter registration and training.

The problem was that policy-makers were pulled in different directions - minority and disabled voters sought federal standards to ensure all had equal access to the polls, and state election officials argued local control would best serve widely different communities.

Experts produced nearly a dozen studies, including recommendations from a Gerald Ford-Jimmy Carter commission (some of its top ideas, such as making Election Day a holiday and giving all felons the right to vote after serving their sentence, were promptly ignored).

Money for the states to implement reform took even longer: Of $3.8 billion promised, states have only received $650 million.
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Computer scientists' worries run much deeper.

The high-tech voting machines, they say, can miscount election results through a software bug or a crashing computer; what's even more troubling, they can be manipulated if someone hacks the computer's software. The biggest problem is that, without a paper ballot, there is nothing tangible to recount.

Because the voting machine industry keeps its computer code secret, claiming competitive business concerns, no one can be truly confident that the machines are as secure as they promise, critics say.

``If something can be stolen, eventually it will be,'' said Barbara Simons, a retired IBM computer scientist. ``Our democracy is much too valuable to trust them to this machine. ... If the election is close - or the opinion polls are close - that means people aren't going to trust the outcome. And there's no way to convince them that they are right.''

The solution, in this view, are ``voter verifiable paper trails'' - paper ballots the computer prints after votes are cast, that voters can see to ensure their choice was accurately recorded, and that will be locked away for any recount.

A number of studies of the electronic machines have confirmed the doubts, and studies in Maryland and Ohio found flaws, but said they could be corrected.

If you want a paper trail for your vote, request and use an absentee ballot (link is for Hillsborough County voters). In Florida, it is legal and common to request an absentee ballot even if you plan to be near your polling place on election day.

More information: BlackBoxVoting.org