[ale] Open Source voting software...

[aaron]

On 2009, Nov, 04, , at 9:43 PM, Michael H. Warfield wrote:

> Aaron,
>
>         And here's another one back at you:
>
>         Maryland Voters Test New Cryptographic Voting System
>         http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/scantegrity
>
>
>> The open source, optical-scan system, called Scantegrity, was
>> developed by cryptographer David Chaum, with researchers from MIT,  
>> the
>> University of Maryland in Baltimore, George Washington University,  
>> the
>> University of Ottawa and the University of Waterloo.
>
> Now, David Chaum is certainly a cryptographer who has my respect and
> admiration.  The system looks like an implementation of a "low tech"
> anonymous verified authenticated system using "bingo markers" I saw
> years ago only redone in a high tech manner.  This system is worth  
> some
> serious looking.
>
> Mike

And thanks again!

I saw this on the EFF Facebook feed right before I read your note.
Definitely a system worth researching further. My experience is that
it is extremely hard to introduce cryptography into the basic voting
process without undermining transparency or anonymity, but Chaum's
methodology might effectively address both issues.

SOS 2010 Candidate Angela Moore, having seen my video of a TruVote
system demo, is very keen on the idea of a ballot counting confirmation
process for voters in addition to her commitment to Paper Ballots and
Open Source software.  The TruVote system was vastly superior to the
Diebold Zero Evidence DRE systems it was competing against for Georgia's
2002 voting system contract because it printed the individual, voter
verified paper ballot records that were a specifically listed  
requirement
from Georgia's specially convened, multi partisan Millennium Voting
System review panel. The [Open Source] TruVote system was also superior
in several other design factors, including an encoded ballot numbering
process that allowing voters to, at least superficially, confirm that
their ballot was counted (without reveling or confirming any actual
voting choices, of course).

Given that voter verified paper records were a specific requirement
of the Millennium Commission, why the clearly superior TruVote system
didn't get picked by Cathy Rogers and Cathy Cox is extremely suspicious.
The suspicions grow considerably when you learn how the TruVote  
inventor,
Aethan Gibbs, was killed in an auto accident in 2003 -- his car was
run off the road by a tractor trailer rig near his home in Tennessee.
This happened shortly after he gave a series of "encore" TruVote voting
system demos in Georgia, one of which I was present at and video taped.

Cathy Rogers, for those who don't know, was the Elections Director
under SOS Cathy Cox. She played a pivotal roll in getting the zero
evidence Diebold election systems installed State wide.  In 2007, after
Karen Handel was installed to the SOS office, she left her appointed
government position and immediately took up a prominent, high salary
post with Diebold.

Even as dysfunctional and democracy destroying as they are, the
mechanics of the corporate welfare state are a marvel of political
and propaganda engineering! :-P

peace
aaron



> On Sat, 2009-10-24 at 12:06 -0400, aaron wrote:
>> On 2009, Oct, 23, , at 9:54 PM, Michael H. Warfield wrote:
>>
>>> This'll get old [Aaron's] blood a pumping!
>>>
>>> Nation’s First Open Source Election Software Released
>>> http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/10/open-source/
>>>
>>> ==
>>> The foundation already has California, New Hampshire, North Dakota,
>>> Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington interested in adopting the  
>>> system
>>> and is in talks with 11 other states. Florida, which has been
>>> racked by
>>> voting machine problems since the 2000 presidential debacle, has  
>>> also
>>> expressed interest, as has Georgia, which uses machines made by
>>> Premier
>>> Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systems) statewide.
>>> ==
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Mike
>>> -- 
>>
>> Thanks very much for the notice, Michael!
>>
>> Will add this to the list of points for my radio interview
>> about voting issues and the recent Georgia Supreme Court Catch 22
>> "pass the buck" decision in the VoterGA law suit against the
>> Zero Evidence electronic vote fraud system.
>>
>> I'm scheduled to be on WRFG, 89.3 FM on Monday, 10/26 @ 12:15pm
>>
>> peace
>> aaron
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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