By Luther Weeks on July 11, 2017
Its actually a battle for the information necessary for citizens to maintain democracy:
Battle fro the Internet: Write the FCC and contact Congress: <Battle For the Net>
Posted in National
By Luther Weeks on July 7, 2017
There is much to criticize in the Trump Commission. Yet there is no excuse for officials to unilaterally disobey the law. There are reasons for voting lists and voting history to be public documents. Perhaps we can providing a teaching moment.
Posted in CT, National
By Luther Weeks on July 1, 2017
As we often do, a suggested reading for the 4th of July weekend. It has been a while since we have read the Declaration. As we said six years ago:
This weekend is a great time to [re-]read the Declaration of Independence. We find it very inspiring to read it sometime around the 4th of July each year. As we have discussed before, some believe that the right to vote is more fundamental than the Constitution. Here is a link to a copy for your reading <Declaration of Independence>
The Declaration of Independence asserts our rights to determine and change our form of government – without voting integrity we lose that most fundamental of rights.
“The right to vote… is the primary right by which other rights are protected” – Thomas Paine
Posted in National
By Luther Weeks on June 27, 2017
Many articles on the Congressional hearings on the “Russian” hacking or not hacking of our elections. Brad Friedman and Mark Karlin come closet to my opinions:
Recent article by Mark Karlin referencing Brad Friedman: Beyond the Russians, Electronic Voting Machines Are Vulnerable to Any Hackers
Journalists and activists have been sounding the alarm about electronic voting machines and their proprietary software for years. The vulnerability of these machines to hacking has not been front and center for some time — primarily due to the failure of the corporate media and legislative bodies to take it seriously. That changed, to some extent, with the charges about Russian hacking from US intelligence agencies. However, the current emphasis is on the Russians allegedly attempting to influence the 2016 election, not on the flawed electronic voting machines that make hacking possible…
Meanwhile, our Secretary of the State continues to spread myths about the safety of voting systems not connected to the internet and “tamper-proof” seals that are at best “tamper-evident”.
We add that paper ballots are insufficient. They need protection from tampering. We need sufficient audits and recounts. Audits and recounts that are comprehensive and convincing. Audits and recounts that are transparent and publicly verifiable.f
Posted in CT, Electronic Vulnerability, National
By Luther Weeks on June 21, 2017
Article in the Atlantic summarizes some of the bad news from the last couple of weeks: There’s No Way to Know How Compromised U.S. Elections Are <read>
So let us not be complacent. Just because you do not understand something, does not mean that hundreds and thousands of others can’t easily hack it.
Posted in Electronic Vulnerability, National
By Luther Weeks on June 16, 2017
NPR story by Pam Fessler: If Voting Machines Were Hacked, Would Anyone Know? Fessler quotes several experts and election officials including Connecticut Assistant Secretary of the State Peggy Reeves:
Still, Connecticut Election Director Peggy Reeves told a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine panel on Monday that many local election officials are ill-equipped to handle cybersecurity threats.
“Many of our towns actually have no local IT support,” she said. “Seriously, they don’t have an IT director in their town. They might have a consultant that they call on if they have an issue. So they look to us, but we’re a pretty small division.”
Reeves said the best protection against hackers is probably the fact that the nation’s voting system isso decentralized, with different processes and equipment used in thousands of different locations.
We certainly agree with that and the cybersecurity experts quoted.
Posted in CT, Electronic Vulnerability, Internet Security Issues, National
By Luther Weeks on June 12, 2017
Every year Connecticut’s Citizen Election Program is under assault. This year is no different.
Here is the bottom line: The Citizen’s Election Program is a drop in the bucket. A small percentage of what we pay for the General Assembly and its staff; A smaller percentage of the state budget; $10 million a year compared to billions in the budget. Just one bad decision against the people can cost us several times that $10 million.
Read more from the In These Times article: Ten Years Ago, Connecticut Got Big Money Out of Its Elections. Now Democrats Are Gutting the Program
Posted in Legislature 2017
By Luther Weeks on June 6, 2017
Former NSA Chief and now CEO cyber security contractor says Canada needs more cyber security, cyber weapons, and should deploy electronic voting: Don’t let cyberattack threat deter Canada from online voting, says former head of NSA
foreign interference that may have influenced the U.S. election should not deter Canada and other countries from embracing online voting, says the former head of the U.S. National Security Agency.
Retired U.S. general Keith Alexander, speaking at a defence industry trade show in Ottawa, also said it is important the Canadian military have some kind of offensive cyber capacity, even if that ability is limited.
There is no going back to a manual voting system, Alexander said in an interview with CBC News following his remarks to defence contractors, in which he warned that both government and private sector networks are vulnerable to a rising tide of “destructive” cyberattacks…
The U.S. experience is something to learn from, he said, but it should not make countries like Canada leery of e-voting.
Posted in Internet Security Issues, Internet Voting, National
By Luther Weeks on May 30, 2017
Article in The Atlantic: The Case for Standardized and Secure Voting Technology
It’s time to fix the voting process.
American voting systems have improved in recent years, but they collectively remain a giant mess. Voting is controlled by states, and typically administered by counties and local governments. Voting laws differ depending on where you are. Voting machines vary, too; there’s no standard system for the nation.
Accountability is a crapshoot. In some jurisdictions, voters use machines that create electronic tallies with no “paper trail”—that is, no tangible evidence whatsoever that the voter’s choices were honored. A “recount” in such places means asking the machine whether it was right the first time.
We need to fix all of this.
Posted in Internet Voting, National, Post-Election Audits, Recounts/Recanvasses
By Luther Weeks on May 24, 2017
A few municipalities conduct elections in May rather than November. We joined Deputy Secretary of the State Scott Bates, Assistant Secretary Peggy Reeves, and SOTS Office Interns for the drawing. Sadly, due to last year’s reduction in the audit, only one district will be audited.
We strongly object to the official press release’s characterization of Connecticut’s Post-Election Audit as “Comprehensive”. A comprehensive audit would not exempt ballots from selection for audit, it would audit the totaling of votes, and include compliance audits of all aspects of the election such as checkin lists, voter roles, and ballot security.
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits
