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| | Name : | James C. Johnson III | Organization : | N/A | Post Date : | 9/9/2005 |
| Comment : | As much as I would like to support this process of voting system
certification, I find it extremely difficult. This process is so important
to the functioning of our democracy that I find it difficult to follow
the logic being used in developing these specifications, developing and
maintaining voting system. Having tracked this process from the IEEE
through the TGDC and EAC process, I personally find it disturbing that
recommendation by security experts such as Dr. Rivest and his subcommittee
have been consistently weakened, while partisan election officials were
allowed to shape the standards to facilitate undetectable abuse.
We start with the fact that this is a set of VOLUNTARY Voting System
Guidelines. They have been shaped [at the IEEE level] largely by voting
system manufacturer’s that dominate the study groups, and whose main
concern is making a profit, and who have no fiduciary responsibility.
At the TGDC level election officials further weakened the standards, largely
removing any serious efforts to mandate security. These MINIMUM
specifications (especially with respect to security and integrity) that
have resulted are also flawed and open to wide interpretation. The
Independent Testing Authorities are hired by the manufacturers to test
their systems. There are no penalties to either the manufacturer or the
ITA when systems that are deployed with flaws. | |
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