BBV: Pogue (NYT's) latest - his CBS Sunday Morning postponed to Aug 1

[swag]

"With electronic voting, a single programmer could make a
change in voting machine software that would be installed in
every machine in the country. And there is no reliable way to
detect that this has been done. I intend this to be a strong
statement!" (David Dill, Stanford)

. . .

Dill suggested an approach that had never occurred to me: a
nefarious programmer could escape detection by exploiting the
write-in candidate feature of every touchscreen voting
machine. (You tap the Write-In button, and then type on-
screen keys to enter your write-in's name.) Dill points out
that the trigger for switching the software into election-
stealing mode could be writing in "an implausible candidate
name. How about a last minute campaign to write in a joke
candidate? The joke candidate wouldn't be in the tests, and
voters wouldn't even know they were triggering the code." (He
also pointed me to this voting-expert roundtable transcript
http://news.com.com/2009-1028_3-5251471.html?tag=prntfr?8cir
,
which is fascinating.)

I also heard from Dan Wallach of Rice University, a co-author
of the Johns Hopkins report. "I think you underestimate the
ability of low-tech adversaries to modify the software inside
a voting machine," he wrote. "Here in Texas, where early
voting lasts maybe two weeks or so, I've learned that the
poll workers take the machines home with them at
night...Imagine the opportunity, in the comfort and privacy of
your home, to 'upgrade' the software on these machines. The
tamper-resistance measures they take (special tape or
numbered tie-wrap seals) can be easily gotten around if
you've got the time and privacy to work on it. Some election
officials require that their poll workers pass basic
background checks (i.e., they have no felony convictions),
but that's hardly reassuring."

In the column, I pointed out that conspiracy theorists might
find just as many potential vulnerabilities in older
technologies, like lever machines. But some of you pushed
back on that point. "The tallies taken from these machines
were always monitored by designated judges from all political
parties who were on the ballot," wrote one person. "We stood
next to the election officials as they opened the machines
and read the registers. And we read them ourselves, and wrote
the results on our own independent tally sheets.

. . .

If any BBV peeps would like me to forward Pogue's entire dispatch, please PM me.

Thanks.

[redqueen]

1. Sweet!

Thanks SO MUCH for sharing this!

:kick:

[swag]

2. It's my job, ma'am

I'm a DUer.