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Internet Voting is Too Risky for Public Elections

By Luther Weeks on April 4, 2008

We have criticized the DNC for accepting and promoting Internet voting for expat delegates to the convention. This set a completely wrong precedent. It does not take much to imagine the intimidation possible with an internet voting machine set up in a military base, union hall, nursing home, or church. By Verified Voting Foundation April […]

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Procedures Alone Insufficient For Effective Election Audits

By Luther Weeks on April 3, 2008

Coalition Releases 2nd Post-Election Audit Report <read>

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Quality and Voting Machines

By Luther Weeks on April 1, 2008

Imagine the discipline of Quality applied to voting machines. Business Wire story, ASQ Quality Report Offers Solutions to Error-Proof Voting Machines <read> .  Basic modern engineering but we are not applying Quality techniques to voting. Perhaps much more is needed than outlined in this article to produce a voting system with integrity, confidence, and efficiency. […]

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Voters Registering Like Their Life, Liberty, and Persuit of Happiness Depends On It

By Luther Weeks on March 28, 2008

AP Story, Official predicts Conn. voter registration could reach 2 million Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz says nearly 20,000 people have registered to vote since Connecticut’s presidential primary last month. She says there’s lots of enthusiasm and interest in the political process this year. Nearly a quarter of the new registrations since the Feb. […]

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Why We Vote: To Keep A Republic

By Luther Weeks on March 28, 2008

Robert Koehler, Huffington Post, Keep The Republic, <read> The ground feels a little soft, but we’re going to stand it. Premise one: Having a fair election — all votes counted, all who are eligible and want to vote allowed to vote — is far, far more important, even in 2008, than who wins. Premise two: […]

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Connecticut vs. New Jersey

By Luther Weeks on March 26, 2008

Pam Smith, President of VerifiedVoting, editorial in the NJ Times <read> pointing out how long it has taken New Jersey to actually obtain paper ballot election equipment: Why hasn’t New Jersey done in three years what New Mexico, Connecticut, North Carolina and other states — even Florida! –were able to do in far less time? […]

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Courant Editorial: Don’t Overlook The Assumptions

By Luther Weeks on March 24, 2008

We agree with the overall thrust and purpose of the editorial, to support the encoding in statute of privacy measures in the polling place to protect secret ballot and voters’ confidence in privacy.

Where we disagree is with some of the assumptions of the ediorial which subtely reaffirm the Courant’s blind faith in the integrity of our optical scan systems

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The Perils Of Online Voting – PA Voter Reg System Vulnerable

By Luther Weeks on March 21, 2008

Pennsylvania has taken down its voter registration system. It seems that a hacker can easily change voter registration information for other people. <read> Online voter registration PDFs are left unsecured on the server for anyone to access. Simply change the request ID at the end of the URL. Valid IDs appear to be working from […]

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E-Voting Is Very Different From E-Banking

By Luther Weeks on March 19, 2008

One more time, in detail from techdirt <read> the security model of an ATM is totally different from the security model of a voting machine. The most important line of defense against ATM fraud is not the machines themselves, but the fact that they produce a lengthy paper trail. If a hacker breaks into a […]

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American Statistical Association: Hard Copy Audits Critical To Election Integrity

By Luther Weeks on March 18, 2008

Press Release: American Statistical Association Calls for Audits to Increase Confidence in Electoral Outcomes, ASA Board adopts position on Electoral Integrity <release> . This should erase all lingering doubt on the part of legislators, election officials, and non-statisticians: “Trustworthy elections demand integrity throughout the entire electoral process, from voting laws and regulations to details of […]

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