for-real-things-I-know
For Real Things I Know: Voting tabulator specifically made for election tampering?

For Real Things I Know

Fine-art digital photography, liberal hard left-leaning politics, and personal mindspace of Solomon

My Photo
Name:
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Voting tabulator specifically made for election tampering?

Consumer Report Part 1: Look at this -- the Diebold GEMS central tabulator contains a stunning security hole | Black Box Voting: "By entering a 2-digit code in a hidden location, a second set of votes is created. This set of votes can be changed, so that it no longer matches the correct votes. The voting system will then read the totals from the bogus vote set. It takes only seconds to change the votes, and to date not a single location in the U.S. has implemented security measures to fully mitigate the risks.
...
These systems are used in over 30 states and each counts up to two million votes at once.
...
Findings: The GEMS central tabulator program is incorrectly designed and highly vulnerable to fraud. Election results can be changed in a matter of seconds. Part of the program we examined appears to be designed with election tampering in mind. We have also learned that election officials maintain inadequate controls over access to the central tabulator. We need to beef up procedures to mitigate risks.
...
On Aug. 18, 2004, Harris and Stephenson, together with computer security expert Dr. Hugh Thompson, and former King County Elections Supervisor Julie Anne Kempf, met with members of the California Voting Systems Panel and the California Secretary of State's office to demonstrate the double set of books. The officials declined to allow a camera crew from 60 Minutes to film or attend.

The Secretary of State's office halted the meeting, called in the general counsel for their office, and a defense attorney from the California Attorney General's office. They refused to allow Black Box Voting to videotape its own demonstration. They prohibited any audiotape and specified that no notes of the meeting could be requested in public records requests."

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home