this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2024
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I have said it before and I'll say it again, electronic voting does not work and is a bad idea.
The election system is dependant on trust, trust that the votes are not changed nor counted incorrectly.
This works with paper ballots, you keep the ballot box sealed and under observation by observers from different parties, they can then verify that the ballots have not been changed after voting, you count the ballots together, in front of everyone, they can then verify that counting was done correctly.
With electronic voting the votes are cast by interacting with buttons on a black box, no one is able to verify that the votes are recorded correctly nor that they are counted correctly during the actual election.
In California we have electronic voting machines that are basically glorified printers. You go through the vote flow, then it prints your ballot and you can verify it's correct before it goes in the ballot box. All the upside of electronic voting and none of the downsides. Since it's printed consistently it's easier to electronically count as well without mistakes that can happen from scanning hand filled ballots. Even human vote counters can mistakenly read a hand filled ballot.
That's how it is in Georgia to. You make your selection, receive a print out which has your chooses visible on kt, put that into the counting machine which is next to a table where you get your I voted sticker so it's monitored for tampering. They then take your print out and put it in a box for manual recounts if called for.
But don't you then put it into a scanner that actually tallies the votes? The paper exists, but my understanding is it's not a hand count. There is still opportunity to manipulate the scanner.
But you still have the paper ballot so that when it's time for a recount you can validate the electronic and paper copies match.
How it is in Texas too.
That is fine, and a good usecase
xkcd warned us and that didn't listen.
https://xkcd.com/2030/
Tom Scott warned us too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3_0x6oaDmI
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkH2r-sNjQs
And also literally the guy from the OP article, who is the same guy who first demonstrated this kind of hack in 2006.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://www.piped.video/watch?v=w3_0x6oaDmI
https://www.piped.video/watch?v=LkH2r-sNjQs
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
I like the system we have in New Mexico. (Yes it's one of the 50 states)
You can go to any poling place, and they print you a local ballot for where you live, right there. You fill in the bubbles with your choices, then run it through a scanner machine on your way out.
You get instant counting and can track results live all day. If there's a technical problem, or any uncertainty in the results, you can always go back to the paper and hand count.
It gives the benefits of all the options.