Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Phillip Rhodes <mindcrime AT cpphacker.co.uk>]

Marcia S. M. Clover wrote:

> Maybe, at least we, technology developers, should have more faith in our
> capabilities, or not.  But electronic voting is a reality in other
> countries, for almost 10 years!

As a technology developer, I for one think electronic voting is
not ready for prime time. Especially when it lacks any kind of
backup auditing mechanism to assure the validity of the vote.

Just yesterday a story was circulating in the press, relating how
they had more logged votes than registered voters, in some California
precints during a recent election.  Also the systems that are
available have been shown to be insecure, lack auditing capabilities,
and at least one of the companies (Deibold) that makes the
electronic voting machines, has been exposed for allowing non
certified code to be used in actual elections, and e-mails from
company executives have been leaked which demonstrate bias
for one political party.


Technology is a wonderful thing in many ways, and voting on
any sort of paper ballot may seem archaic... but when you consider
how unproven electronic voting is, and how infrequently one must
vote, I think the extra hassle of filling out paper ballots
is worth the peace of mind (if you believe such a thing exists).

Yeah, I know votes can be rigged or tampered with, even using
paper ballots...  but I think that, for now, using electronic
voting machines just opens up a whole new world of possibilities
for abuse.  Too few Americans vote now... imagine if there were to
be a widespread loss of confidence in the idea that our voting systems 
are (more or less)fair.


TTYL,

Phillip R.

--
When the 1st Amendment no longer protects your voice.
And when the 4th Amendment no longer protects your privacy or your stuff.
Thank God we have the 2nd Amendment to tell our elected representatives 
that enough is enough.
It's time to put "... from my cold, dead hands" back where it belongs.

FREE AMERICA
Vote Libertarian
www.lp.org