Paper ballots are hack-proof. It's time to bring them back.

[babylonsister]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/06/25/paper-ballots-hackproof-bring-them-back-glenn-reynoldscolumn/416652001/


Paper ballots are hack-proof. It's time to bring them back.
Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Opinion columnist 1:44 p.m. ET June 25, 2017
We like to tell citizens that every vote counts. But actually, no vote counts unless it is counted.


I’ve been talking about the importance of protecting against voting-machine hacks since 2002. And now, finally, people are starting to take me seriously.

The move to paperless voting started in response to the Florida “hanging chad” fiasco in the 2000 presidential election. Some people (like me) thought this was a mistake, but such concerns were often dismissed. Now, apparently, you can’t be paranoid enough. As Politico’s Bob King noted, while 10 years ago critics of paperless voting were called paranoid, now both parties are worried.

It remains true that there is no actual evidence that a single vote was changed by hackers in the 2016 election. But even the possibility of hacking has served to promote the sort of conspiracy-mongering and political hatred that led to, for example, the shooting attack on Republican lawmakers last week. In a democratic polity, people have to believe that their votes are counted honestly, or the legitimacy of the system collapses.

And if we are to believe the latest NSA leaks on the subject, Russian (and other) hackers have been interested in American voting systems for a while, and that interest — contrary to Obama Administration assurances — didn’t decline after Obama made a “red phone” call to the Kremlin. (Perhaps even more troubling, many cyberattacks on state voting systems came from Department of Homeland Security computers.

So what should we do? Well, we could try to boost our cybersecurity, but given that the NSA, the FBI and the CIA are leaking important secrets on a daily basis, maybe we’re not up to that job. So, once again, let me suggest that we return to something that, by its very nature, can’t be hacked by a guy in St. Petersburg: Paper ballots.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/06/25/paper-ballots-hackproof-bring-them-back-glenn-reynoldscolumn/416652001/

[DetlefK]

1. I can't remember how often I have posted this:

Germany:

- You get added automatically to the voter-rolls when getting an ID.

- When moving to another town, you have to go to the municipal office to register who you are and where you live now. The voter-rolls get updated there and then.

- Election-notification by mail 1 month ahead of election.

- Elections always on Sundays.

- Need the notification and ID to prove who you are.

- Ballots are pen&paper.

- Counted by hand. You may stay to watch the counting, as long as you don't disturb the officials. You may set up a camera to document the counting, as long as the camera does not do close-ups of ballots.

- Voting-places close at 6pm. The "Preliminary Official Result", comes at 8pm. The "Final Official Result" the next day.

[FakeNoose]

5. Thanks this is helpful

[The Wielding Truth]

2. Votes that can not be recounted are not valid votes.

[blueinredohio]

3. Agreed one thousand percent

[FakeNoose]

4. Shut down the internet on election day

The Russians can't hack our system if we go dark for one day. After the votes have been counted and reported, turn it back on again and there's nothing they can switch at that point.

I believe paper ballots are the best solution, but we need vigilance (always!) during the counting. Bi-partisan counting and reporting only, in every county and polling place.