Voting machine integrity through transparency [LWN.net]

Voting machine integrity through transparency

Posted Mar 28, 2008 10:45 UTC (Fri) by dvdeug (subscriber, #10998)
In reply to: Voting machine integrity through transparency by ljt
Parent article: Voting machine integrity through transparency

The traditional hand-based process isn't much cheaper, which is one of the reasons they're
changing. It's basically not auditable; any sort of recount is very expensive. And do you have
any idea what type of insane, biased software is running on some of the vote counters in the
traditional hand-based process?

Standard off-the-shelf processors and compilers are generally trustworthy. If they give you
the code, you can compile it yourself. Alternately, high-reliability software, like for
airplanes and military applications, will compile without complex optimizations just so they
can audit the assembly and the source code simultaneously.

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Reason for move to machines

Posted Apr 14, 2008 21:38 UTC (Mon) by Max.Hyre (subscriber, #1054) [Link]

Despite all the hoopla, the real reason machines are being pushed is so the vote is available the instant the polls close—we can't keep CNN waiting, now can we?

Canada manages to do it on paper ballots quite well, thank you. (For an interesting aspect of the method, check out the FAQ Can I eat the ballot?) Given the Canadian example, it's perfectly reasonable for every state to use paper ballots, including California, the most populous.