

California moves toward open-source vote counting software - epall
http://www.truthout.org/092908VA

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tsuraan
How does posting the source to vote counting software help anything? The real
issue isn't that people want some source that's capable of counting votes
accurately. The problem is that the machines aren't necessarily counting all
the votes; having some open source software laying around somewhere doesn't
guarantee that the machines themselves are running audited and trusted code.
How can anything other than a physical, tamper-resistant audit trail help make
vote tallies trustworthy?

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acgourley
Security is always a matter of degrees, just because it doesn't entirely solve
the problem doesn't mean it is bad step to take.

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yan
I saw Debra Bowen speak at USENIX Security this year and it struck me how
completely intimate she was with all associated technology. She _understood_
PKI, various encryption methods and their caveats, open source, operating
systems, issues of intellectual properties and her drive to get it right the
first time was eye-opening.

The stereotype of politicians being technology-inept and low-bidder-first type
people was totally shattered with her. Not only did she truly care about the
voting process (and dedicates a huge portion of her time to it), she actually
took the time to understand the backing technology and made contacts with
mostly everyone who matter in e-voting.

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vaksel
it isn't California where vote accountability will be needed.

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dangoldin
Step in the right direction though. If it works in California and is cost
effective it'll spread to other states.

Shouldn't have a negative attitude against something just because it's used in
a non-ideal environment. I imagine most things wouldn't have been created or
invented without the first experimentation steps.

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vaksel
how can this not be cost effective? You could write an open source voting
script in 5 minutes. Why does it take them 4 years to approve a 10-20 line
piece of code?

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dangoldin
People fear what they don't understand. Also, most politicians are of an older
generation that doesn't embrace computers as easily as the tech crowd.

I would also think when things are done the same way for so long, it's hard to
change - look at how certain people are handling the new facebook layout. Now
magnify that to an election system to people who don't easily embrace
technology.

They will have to spend money on reeducating the people, testing the system,
and a host of other ideas that only politicians can think of.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I'm all for it and hope it gets to the
East Coast soon.

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known
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4343374.stm>

