The end of Democracy?

In case anyone hasn't been following the huge list of problems with the Diebold voting machines that several states in the US use, then here's a roundup of just how easy it would be to steal an election (thanks Ars.)

Argh! Run for the hills!

I'm glad I live in the UK, and we still seem to vote using pieces of paper. Or perhaps that's just my backwards constituency.

hmm and that picture was necessary because?

I do believe that there should be a paper trail for SREs. People will never trust SREs when their candidate loses.

In the Netherlands we've been voting electronically for as long as I can remember. How hard can it be?

Sven Groot wrote:



In the Netherlands we've been voting electronically for as long as I can remember. How hard can it be?

Is there not a lot of tin foil in the Netherlands?

An Eagle can not change its spots.

dahat wrote:

Democracy? Which country are you talking about when using the the cleaner name for mob rule?

Certainly not the US... we are a republic afterall.

Yes, I know - but I was using the word democracy (taken from the greek demos meaning people, and cratos meaning rule if you really want me to show my education. And apparantly used synonymously with the word isonomia.) as a shorthand for "democratically elected government."

There hasn't been a democracy, in the athenian sense since... Well, the Athenian Democracy really.

Regardless, I count myself lucky I live in a backward Constitutional Monarchy where we use pieces of paper to vote. (But given we don't actually have a constitution, isn't being a Constitutional Monarchy a little strange?)

Oh, and if I hear people referring to the British as citizens one more time I'm gonna be really miffed. (We're proud subjects thangyouverymuch.)

Sven Groot wrote:



In the Netherlands we've been voting electronically for as long as I can remember. How hard can it be?

Hard, because in the Netherlands a month ago they checked out the voting machines and the security was reaaal bad.

The building they are stored in has no alarm. With a simple key witch is for all the machines the same you can open it and use the standard software(maintenance mode) of the machine to manipulate the result.

Were have you been?? I mean there is a big chance we vote on paper the 22 november.

eagle wrote:



Sad....

Sven Groot wrote:



In the Netherlands we've been voting electronically for as long as I can remember. How hard can it be?

I kind of agree with you.  It shouldn't be that difficult.  In the USA, the people who make voting machines are having trouble because their machines are suprisingly easy to hack.  

This, in itself, isn't a suprise, since it's still a young industry, but they seem to want to avoid any kind of a paper trail and they refuse to allow anyone to examine the code.

ATM machines have been around for quite some time and they all spit out paper receipts (if you request it) so that you can confirm that your transaction happened.  Further, you can always visit the bank to make sure that your transaction occured.

The voting machine manufacturers could and should just do the same.  Then, if there were ever a question about the ballot counts, people could verify their vote. 

Plus, I think in the case of voting, this is one area that should NOT be left to the private industry.  It leads to too many unelected officials making decisions that cannot be changed.

America doesn’t have one election, we hold over 3,000 separate elections on the same day.

eagle wrote:

America doesn’t have one election, we hold over 3,000 separate elections on the same day.

Will you shutup?

You're going back to your nonsense that got you banned before.

They must learn from India. Elections in India are carried out using Electronic Voting Machines very successfully.

Shreyas Zare