Something we SHOULD agree on

We have less than 50 days until another major election. One that COULD put the Democrats in the drivers seat in Congress for the first time in 12 years. Yet we seem to have ZERO concern as citizens in this country with the WAY we cast those votes.

Recently Sen. Boxer (D-CA), Sen. Dodd (D-CT) and Sen. Fiengold (D-WI) proposed a bill that would reimburse states for paper ballots used in cases where electronic voting machines go down or misbehave. There are federal laws in place to phase out pull-lever and punch card ballots ever since the infamous 2000 election, but heading to an all electronic system isn’t as glorious as some seem to think. I agree with the demand for a paper backup, but I think those behind this bill skimped on the requirements for the sole purpose of trying to squeeze the bill out ahead of the elections.

We’re too close to do much now and I think instead of trying to push a half assed attempt, a more detailed and complete attempt should be made for the 2008 election cycle. I am adamantly against electronic voting for many reason. The biggest reason is security.

Unlike ATM’s and bank teller windows, we cannot (for obvious reasons) place surveillance cameras in the voting booths, nor can we have a poll worker watch over your shoulder while you vote. We are guaranteed total privacy while we vote, and for that simple fact, digital voting is VERY easy to exploit given that polling locations are manned by part-time, often unpaid individuals who have little to no training in network security.

Electronic voting machines must be manually set up for every election and are accessible to thousands of polling employees days before election day. All it takes to hack one of these machines is access to a small locked door on the side of the machine (which can be picked in a matter of seconds) which grants the user access to the machines memory card and about 30 seconds for a system reboot. It has been demonstrated countless times how simple it is to infect a voting machine with a vote stealing trojan virus.

You wouldn’t shop online without a verified secure transaction, you wouldn’t bank at a location known for it’s underpaid and poorly trained security experts, yet we’re supposed to hand over our trust to a volunteer army of poll workers in order to cast our votes? I don’t think so.

If we are to phase out punch cards and pull levers, in favor of electronic voting give me one thing in exchange… a receipt. Print out a tally for each person I vote for, paired with a bar-code. Allow ME the right to prove my vote when the machines numbers simply don’t add up. Don’t expect me to just punch a couple of buttons and take it on faith that the machine will represent my intentions the way I presented them.