US Election Assistance Commission - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines Vote
EAC Home
Introduction
View Guidelines
View Comments
Glossary

View Comments

Section CommentsGeneral CommentsGlossary Comments
 
Name :   Pete Nicholls
Organization :   N/A
Post Date :   9/30/2005

General Comments
Comment :  Subject  
electronic machines are hackable, period.  

Hi,  

I'm a very concerned citizen who happens to know a thing or two about  
computer hardware, encryption and even a bit about programming. I've  
written programs, built computers, taken them apart and rebuilt them  
again. One thing I know for sure is that no system is 100% secure and  
any digital system is less-so. Paper trails may seem like a solution  
but they aren't. Here's why:  

You tell an electronic ballot machine you want to vote for Joe Blow.  
It spits out a piece of paper that says you've voted for Joe Blow,  
meanwhile, it records that you voted for Joe Blow's opponent.  

An electronic machine could easily be programmed to function as I  
describe above. It could even be programmed to function as I describe  
some of the time or only after Joe Blow's opponent gets X number of  
votes behind Joe Blow. With computers, you can essentially fake  
anything and this can all be done without anyone being able to spot  
the nefarious code.  

I know it sounds absurd, but the safest, most secure way to hold  
elections is with a piece of paper with the candidate's name written  
on it by the voter. Obviously, that's incredibly cumbersome, but  
punch cards are at least more secure than *any* electronic machine.  
The only time punch cards are confusing to the voter is when they are  
intentionally made to be confusing, by using a design like the  
infamous butterfly ballot. If such obvious design flaws are simply  
attended to by election officials, then confusion over something as  
simple as poking a little hole where you are supposed to can be  
completely removed.  

Please reconsider the path to electronic ballot boxes. As I've  
explained above, you just can't assume they're programmed properly.  
This is the will of the American people we're talking about here that  
can be usurped by a single unscrupulous programmer. Please don't ask  
us to trust individuals to have that much power and to resist taking  
advantage of it.  

Please say NO to ALL ELECTRONIC BALLOT BOXES.