RE: [election-services] GAO report on election system security

["David RR Webber \(XML\)" <david@drrw.info>]

Ed,

 

Chris is right. 

 

The root of the problem is the human layer of the voting infrastructure itself - which kinda likes things the way they are - less "precise" - and lots of need for local hands-on actions.

 

Do you really want to have your local State know your bank account information as the root key to your vote?!?

 

I will pass on that one thanks!!

 

I don't think there is any one quick fix here - all we can do is systematically improve each aspect on an incremental basis; and then leverage off those improvements to driven change in the next layer of the problem space.

 

DW

 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [election-services] GAO report on election system security
From: "Ed Dodds" <dodds@conmergence.com>
Date: Mon, October 24, 2005 12:23 pm
To:
Cc: election-services@lists.oasis-open.org

Has anyone looked at just using the ATMs during the elections?

 

Ed Dodds

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Lowe Chris [mailto:lowe_chris@bah.com]
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 11:12 AM
To: 'David RR Webber \(XML\)', sibain@tendotzero.com
Cc: election-services@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: RE: [election-services] GAO report on election system security

Also, in banking there is repeated use, on a weekly if not daily basis (ok, so the latter may only be my wife :)), allowing users to learn and develop confidence in the technology.  Compare that to the typical pattern of (non)voting in the US, and you can understand why acceptance is lagging.  And paper receipts are not an audit trail, either. 

 

The real problem (and where the GAO report also fails) is that the focus is on efforts to reconcile the key demands of a voting system (that it be fast, cheap, secure, usable, private, trustable, transparent, auditable, reliable, and feasible) while not addressing the procedures, policies, or people involved in the voting process.  And I maintain that there is NO technical solution/magic box that can guarantee proper elections, in the face of the wide range of poor practices into which that/any box is placed in the US. 

 

-Chris