E-Voting Security Ignored

[kster]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5291910

[MelissaB]

1. Hey!

Thanks! :hi:

Nothin' like spreading the election reform word.

[Up2Late]

2. Harry Shearer read most of this on his "Le Show" radio show Sunday too

(Sunday, November 6, 2005 on "Le Show")

He read these sections from this Computer World .com article. <http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/policy/story/0,10801,105684,00.html>

Since we don't have the benefit of his inflections and sarcastic wit while reading this, I left out some of his asides and left in some additional text from the article for clarity sake. You can hear his show at <http://www.harryshearer.com/active/leShow.php> when the page is updated, usually on Tuesday, or they have a "POD Cast" at <http://www.kcrw.com/>, but without the music breaks, and at the links below:

GAO questions progress on e-voting standards

Questions about security, accuracy likely to continue into the '06 elections

News Story by Grant Gross
OCTOBER 24, 2005 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - Questions about the security and accuracy of electronic voting systems are likely to continue into the 2006 national elections, because the U.S. government has not yet completed work on electronic voting guidelines, according to a new government report.

With lingering concerns about the security of e-voting systems, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) needs to define security policies and set up a machine-certification program... (report issued Friday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).)

"Until these efforts are completed, there is a risk that many state and local jurisdictions will rely on voting systems that were not developed, acquired, tested, operated or managed in accordance with rigorous security and reliability standards -- potentially affecting the reliability of future elections and voter confidence..., the GAO report said.

The EAC, established with the "Help America Vote Act" passed by Congress in 2002, is working...to help state and local governments improve their management of e-voting systems, the GAO said. ...working on security and reliability standards and on programs to certify voting machines and accredit independent laboratories to test e-voting systems, the GAO said. But those efforts aren't finished and are "unlikely to have a significant effect in the 2006 federal election cycle," the report said....

(clip)

"...GAO asserted that electronic voting systems must be secure and reliable, and EAC agrees," the EAC statement said. "Security has always been a top priority at EAC...",

(clip)

...The EAC and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are developing a vulnerability analysis of e-voting systems, the statement said.

The EAC also questioned the GAO's reference to security and reliability questions about e-voting systems....

(clip)

...The GAO report relies on documents produced by other people, but the agency didn't substantiate those reports of security and reliability problems, the EAC added....

(clip)

...The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), a trade group representing some e-voting machine vendors, said state election officials started late on working through e-voting machine concerns because of delays in Congress to set up the EAC...and because of congressional delays in funding. The EAC and NIST have, "put forth a steady stream of best-practices guidance,"

but Congress gave the EAC no regulatory authority to make states comply...

(clip)

...(Says) Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee..., "...It is certainly disappointing that, despite the recommendations from federal organizations and nongovernmental groups, many states still have not made progress to make sure their electronic voting systems are safe from fraud and can be relied on to accurately count votes...,"

(clip)

...Democrats, however, called for congressional action, (Michigan Rep. John Conyers Jr.)

(And Harry Shearer called for voting with Paper and Pencil, like they do in Austrailia...):banghead: :mad:

<http://www.kcrw.com/>
<http://www.kcrw.org/podcast/>

Or you try to catch it "live" through one of the local stations with on-line streaming (list at this link): <http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgi-bin/program.pl?programid=60>

[Peggy Day]

3. I've been trying to question news agencies

about why they aren't covering the GAO report.
Any suggestions about a list of newscaster emails?
or better yet, phone numbers?

[Up2Late]

4. At this point, they would tell you that it's "old news," your best bet...

...at this point would be Magazines or web sites like "The Nation" or "American Prospect" magazines.