From: Dave Ketchum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [EM] Why We Shouldn't Count Votes with Machines > > Regrettably James is making an incorrect analysis of the problem.
I believe that is a mischaracterization because James' prior email simply cited some recent articles. > BETTER to accept that computers are truly as dependable as their > successful use elsewhere demonstrates, So since computers work well for problems like banking where errors are easily detected and corrected due to a lack of anonymity and paper receipts and banking statements, then we should use computers for anonymously deposited e-ballots where errors can be virtually impossible to detect and even more impossible (if that were possible) to correct? Not good logic unless you think that we should anonymously deposit our money into banks without any receipts or bank statements and *trust* bankers blindly too. Here are some recent articles on this topic (all these articles were I believe published in August 2008): AP & USA Today: States throw out costly electronic voting machines Aug. 19, 2008 http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jej6XIWrQn6-gw5O5bJa1ELx78DgD92LK3E00 http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jej6XIWrQn6-gw5O5bJa1ELx78DgD92LLDO00 http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-19-electronic-voting_N.htm Scientific American: Planning to E-Vote? Read This First, Aug. 18, 2008 http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=electronic-election-day CBS News: Voting Machine Doubts Linger, Aug. 16, 2008 Concerns Over Vulnerability Of Electronic Machines Sending Many States Back To Paper Ballots http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/16/eveningnews/main4355733.shtml NY Times: Officials Say Flaws at Polls Will Remain in November, Aug. 16, 2008 [NOTE: Officials in two states admit that their voting machines are not accurately casting or counting votes] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/us/politics/16vote.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/us/politics/16vote.html Washington Post: Ohio Voting Machines Contained Programming Error That Dropped Votes, Aug. 21, 2008 [Note: States like MD with paperless voting cannot detect the errors in the vote counts via valid audits. States like OH and UT can detect the dropped votes *if* they do valid audits (Utah does not.)] http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/21/ohio_voting_machines_contained.html Company acknowledges voting machine error, Aug. 21, 2008 http://www.ohio.com/news/ap?articleID=688274&c=y Ohio's voting machine glitch exposed - Touch-screens can't be fixed before election, Brunner says Thursday, August 21, 2008 8:34 PM http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/08/21/voting_machines.html?sid=101 Did Washington waste millions on faulty voting machines? Aug 15, 2008 http://www.mcclatchydc.com/election2008/story/48508.html Voting System Standards: All Form and No Substance, June 12, 2008 http://washburnsworld.blogspot.com/2008/06/voting-system-standards-all-form-and-no.html States seek workarounds for e-voting systems http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/803 How do you compare security across voting systems? http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1367 http://accurate-voting.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/risk-eval-final.pdf http://www.josephhall.org/nqb2/index.php/2008/08/16/nakedeval States rush to dump touch-screen voting systems, Aug. 21, 2008 http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080820-states-rush-to-dump-touchscreen-voting-systems.html Vote fraud, crumbling democracy's bedrock, Aug. 21, 2008 http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20080822_Vote_fraud__crumbling_democracy_s_bedrock.html Voting Machines Can Never Be Trusted Says GOP Computer Security Expert http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=18097 VIDEOS: Republican computer expert re need to have audited paper ballots http://realhistoryarchives.blogspot.com/2008/08/republican-computer-expert-re-need-to.html U-Tube UNCOUNTED CLIPS: WEEK 7: The Electronic Voting Machine Hokey Pokey (You Put Your Right Vote In. It Spits Your Wrong Vote Out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqsL-KNiYJ8 DIEBOLD[/Premier] ADMITS TO MAJOR ACCURACY FLAWS, Aug. 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey2TrJvtGN8 and Lou Dobbs: CNN - Democracy at Risk - A voting machine company admits to software flaws in Ohio elections. Kitty Pilgrim reports. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/08/21/ldt.pilgrim.democracy.at.risk.cnn Diebold/Premier Actually Admits Its Machines Are Faulty! And That It Lied About Antivirus Software... from the wonders-never-cease dept http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080822/0352532064.shtml E-voting vendor: Programming errors caused dropped votes http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/082208-e-voting-vendor-programming-errors-caused.html Vote-Dropping Software Bug Could Gum Up Elections http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/Vote-Dropping-Software-Bug-Could-Gum-Up-Elections-64259.html Company admits voting machine error http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-21-voting-machine_N.htm Machines may have vote-dropping glitch http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/08/22/Machines_may_have_vote-dropping_glitch/UPI-88811219407988/ Sarasota County [Florida]- Sarasota told of new voting machine glitch http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080822/ARTICLE/310358&title=Sarasota_told_of_new_voting_machine_glitch Cheers, Kathy ---- Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info