In an age where we can't even verify that we are getting accurate vote tallies from voting machines that require voters to stand in front of them, the Pentagon wants to use an Internet based voting system to allow some Americans outside the U.S. to vote from any PC in the world.
This is about the most asinine, stupid, and dangerous thing I have ever heard. Think about it. What better way to change votes than to hijack the packets as they go across the Internet. An even easier option would be to launch a DDOS attack against the vote counting servers to simply keep those folks from voting at all. They aren't talking about using VPN technology, biometrics, or smart cards to verify voter identity.
The whole system rests on the validation efforts of CIBER, an organization that also verifies the software used by voting machines deployed around the United States. Primaries for the mid-term elections and the gubernatorial recall in California showed the frailty of these systems, including problems in Florida, in which all of the votes in a Democratic primary were counted as being cast for a Republican candidate. It is obvious that CIBER needs to iron out the problems in their software validation schemes.
Until we can get electronic voting via physical machines, E-voting should not even be attempted. what we really need is a method for quickly and securely delivering the physical absentee ballots cast by Americans overseas. In this way their franchise would be protected, as would the integrity of the voting process. One method would be for overseas voters to deliver their ballots to the various consulates and embassies around the world, where they could be immediately delivered via diplomatic pouch to collection agencies in the United States, or even to the United States Postal Service for delivery to the states.
Posted by Chris at January 26, 2004 04:06 PM