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Links: Ninth Circuit to Hear Suit on Computerized Votes
Posted by Steven Wu on Wednesday, August 06 @ 11:44:52 EDT Legal Technology
The Ninth Circuit will be hearing arguments on a suit challenging the constitutionality of computerized voting systems that do not generate paper records. The plaintiff is arguing that a recordless voting system is particularly susceptible to fraud; the company that produces the computer voting terminals is claiming that it has extra-secure safeguards to protect against fraud. Read the story here.

My question is why the company is even arguing against the creation of paper records. It's one thing for a company to fight against revealing the source code or design specifications of its voting software/terminals, based on the fear that others will copy the code or specifications to create competing merchandise. It's quite another thing for a company to fight the need to produce papers that will confirm the voters' intentions and that can be independently counted afterward to confirm that the computerized voting system's calculations are correct. What in heaven's name are the arguments against requiring a paper trail or some other independent (and independently verifiable) indicator of voter intent?

 
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Re: Ninth Circuit to Hear Suit on Computerized Votes (Score: 1)
by Nos on Thursday, August 07 @ 00:30:59 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) http://nosmorituri.blogspot.com
What a surprise - an American company wasting money on pointless litigation to "save money"


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Re: Ninth Circuit to Hear Suit on Computerized Votes (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Thursday, August 07 @ 10:50:10 EDT
It seems to me that the likely reason for the suit is that one of the best arguments in favor of such a system is that it saves the states money. Requiring a paper printout will probably increase the costs of using the system and thereby make it a less attractive purchase for the states. The company may just be trying to protect its business plan.


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Re: Ninth Circuit to Hear Suit on Computerized Votes (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Thursday, August 07 @ 13:11:07 EDT
Are you ready to get all your bank notices via e-mail? Are you ready to put all your medical records into a single computer, and live without backups? They why are you so quick to trust voting to a 100% electronic format?

I've worked with several systems that have added a small printer to do a quick "backup" in case of data loss. Usually the data is stored in bar-code, which takes very little space, and in this case would afford some privacy to the voter. It's not at all expensive, and could be offered as a very low cost "optional package". Their reluctance to even offer such an option should be more of a red flag to states then an extra $15 per unit for a printer.


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Re: Ninth Circuit to Hear Suit on Computerized Votes (Score: 1)
by Nos on Thursday, August 07 @ 13:54:36 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) http://nosmorituri.blogspot.com
Yes, I recognize that they're trying to save money by not backing up on paper, but this litigation will probably cost them more money than actually implementing paper backups.

Besides - why shouldn't they have paper backups? Paper may seem outdated in our electronic age, but it certainly is important to have backup copies that cannot be altered, especially when the issue is votes.


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Re: Ninth Circuit to Hear Suit on Computerized Votes (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Thursday, August 07 @ 16:11:04 EDT
I think Steven Wu and the other commentors are really missing the point.

First, I am pretty confident that the real reason the company is against paper backups is less idealistic than practical. They have no doubt already designed, built, and tested a product and along comes someone who wants to tell you to change it (that costs the company time and money). Regardless of the reason behind the effort to force paper backups, the company should stand up against it, if they feel the concerns of verification have already been addressed in its product's design. After-the-fact changes to a software application's programming are always much more expensive than those features in a product's original design. If you were Ford wouldn't you fight a lawsuit that argued that your new 2003 cars should also be designed to run on leaded gas?

Second, why use paper anyway? Yes, I get my bank statements via email and I pay most of my bills that way too. I also understand that there are paper backups (as another commentor discussed) but why the assumption that paper is more secure or desirable than a properly designed electronic backup method. I would agree that there is a strong public policy justification behind the third-party verification of voting records. Why does this need to be on paper? Especially when It can be done electronically. As long as the data can be transfered in a way that can be readily accessed, why transfer it to paper at all? Why not back up all paper records on clay tablets?

As the very wise Egon (Ghostbusters) said when asked if he likes to read: "print is dead."



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