View Full Version : Analysis finds e-voting machines vulnerable
Analysis finds e-voting machines vulnerable
Updated 6/26/2006 10:06 PM ET
By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Most of the electronic voting machines widely adopted since the disputed 2000 presidential election "pose a real danger to the integrity of national, state and local elections," a report out Tuesday concludes.
There are more than 120 security threats to the three most commonly purchased electronic voting systems, the study by the Brennan Center for Justice says. For what it calls the most comprehensive review of its kind, the New York City-based non-partisan think tank convened a task force of election officials, computer scientists and security experts to study e-voting vulnerabilities.
The study, which took more than a year to complete, examined optical scanners and touch-screen machines with and without paper trails. Together, the three systems account for 80% of the voting machines that will be used in this November's election.
While there have been no documented cases of these voting machines being hacked, Lawrence Norden, who chaired the task force and heads the Brennan Center's voting-technology assessment project, says there have been similar software attacks on computerized gambling slot machines.
"It is unrealistic to think this isn't something to worry about" in terms of future elections, he says.
The report comes during primary season amid growing concerns about potential errors and tampering. Lawsuits have been filed in at least six states to block the purchase or use of computerized machines.
Election officials in California and Pennsylvania recently issued urgent warnings to local polling supervisors about potential software problems in touch-screen voting machines after a test in Utah uncovered vulnerabilities in machines made by Diebold Election Systems.
North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold did not return calls for comment. The company, a major manufacturer of e-voting machines, said earlier this month that security flaws cited in its machines were theoretical and would be addressed this year.
The new threat analysis does not address specific machines or companies. Instead, it "confirms the suspicions about electronic voting machines that people may have had from individual reports" of problems, Norden says.
Among the findings:
•Using corrupt software to switch votes from one candidate to another is the easiest way to attack all three systems. A would-be hacker would have to overcome many hurdles to do this, the report says, but none "is insurmountable."
•The most vulnerable voting machines use wireless components open to attack by "virtually any member of the public with some knowledge and a personal digital assistant." Only New York, Minnesota and California ban wireless components.
•Even electronic systems that use voter-verified paper records are subject to attack unless they are regularly audited.
•Most states have not implemented election procedures or countermeasures to detect software attacks.
"There are plenty of vulnerabilities that can and should be fixed before the November election," says David Jefferson, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory computer scientist who served on the task force. "Whether they will or not remains to be seen."
The report said state election officials could improve voting-machine security if they conduct routine audits comparing voter- verified paper trails to the electronic record and ban wireless components in voting machines.
"A voting system that is not auditable contains the seeds of destruction for a democracy," says Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., a chief sponsor of a bill to improve electronic-voting security.
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-26-e-voting_x.htm
Steve Savicki
06-28-2006, 02:18 PM
Yeah, tis not always the hardware, the software is into account - and can be hacked anywhere.
Too bad America didn't realize this before the Gore election.
Originally posted by Steve Savicki
Yeah, tis not always the hardware, the software is into account - and can be hacked anywhere.
Too bad America didn't realize this before the Gore election.
Before the Gore election, it wasn't as big of a problem. Most of these machines were deployed after the 2000 election theft, as part of the Orwellianly named "Help America Vote Act".
Of course there WERE documented "irregularities", such as Chuck Hagel getting elected to the Senate by an overwhelming majority on ES&S machines that he owned.
No comments from the Busheep? :confused:
**Our hero opens a cold Obsidian Stout and listens to the cricket symphony orchestra chirping out one of Mozart's finest works......**
Wow, the Busheep continue to be speechless, and yet cling to their hopeless (and mathematically impossible) delusion that Chimpy had 4 million more votes in 2004 than he did in 2000.
Let's hear it neocons......
Are you willing to take a stand against this fraud perpetuated on the entire country, or are you comfortable with fraudulent elections??
And would your answer be the same if someone connected with the Democratic Party bought Diebold? ;)
Warham
06-29-2006, 04:16 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/furniture/in_depth/americas/2000/us_elections/florida_roundup/chads.jpg
No thanks, FORD.
Warham
06-29-2006, 04:17 PM
http://tspweb02.tsp.utexas.edu/webarchive/11-15-00/Images/election.colordom.ap.jpg
Give me that process (without Supreme Court interference) everytime, over an insecure MS Access database that can be hacked by anyone with a laptop and a goddamn wi-fi card
Warham
06-29-2006, 04:37 PM
I think you saw 'hacking' going on down in Florida in 2000, but in Gore's favor.
I like seeing all those Democrats huddled around looking at those chads, making sure they could find a vote in there for Gore.
I don't see any sign that says "Democrats" in those pictures. In fact one of the guys in the second picture looks like Jeb's kid.
Cathedral
06-29-2006, 08:27 PM
In Ohio we are mounting a movement to keep the Democrats and Republicans out of the Governor's Mansion.
We are starting to see the ads on the tube and for the most part people are pissed off because neither Blackwell (R) or Strickland (D) are addressing the states issues.
Their speeches comes across as rally's for their respective parties and NOT focusing on state issues.
Strickland only wants to support Hillary Clinton and try to get her elected.
Blackwell only wants to keep the Republicans in control.
So, I put $75 behind the Libertarian Candidate, Bill Price, who talks about state issues and his plans to reverse the economic trends here in Ohio. we used to pay the lowest taxes in the country, but now we are among the highest taxed states in the country.
I'm tired of National Politics being the focus of our local governments when they should be focused on the issues concerning the voters in their states.
So, a group of us pissed off voters are going to try our best to rally support against the two major parties.
It's time the career politicians learned that they cannot struggle over the power we give them and show them just who controls who gets that power to begin with.
And it being Ohio, it is important that we set an example for the rest of the Nation that the staus quo in the political arena is NOT going to cut it anymore.
Our very democracy depends on it, and that goes for everyone no matter what your personal affiliation is.
I will never support anyone who is focused only on those who choose them...it is one country, therefore we deserve to be served by one governement, period.
The President has let us all down.
The Senate has let us all down.
Congress has let us all down.
Power Hungry Politicians need to take a seat and everyone needs to stop supporting a party and support the country.
Let the voters in each state determine our path, not the rich and out of touch assholes that talk down to everyone as a parent would a child.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND THE TIME IS NOW!
LoungeMachine
06-29-2006, 08:39 PM
Too bad Warpig, et al don't have HALF the sac Catheter has.
The pResident has let you down, Cath?
He's Warpig's HERO
DEMON CUNT
06-29-2006, 09:10 PM
How the hell can Warham Sandwhich be so fucking mis-fucking-informed about everything?
He's gotta be faking! Maybe another one of Ford's aliases? His evil conservative side coming out?
Cat, the most important thing you can do in Ohio is get some sort of injunction to get Blackwell's ass forcibly removed from any involvement with this fall's election.
Otherwise, he will "win" even if everybody voted for the Libertarian candidate.
Honestly, I don't see how ANY Republican can win a fair election in that state after all the corruption of Blackwell, Taft, Ney, et al.
DEMON CUNT
06-29-2006, 09:12 PM
Originally posted by Cathedral
In Ohio we are mounting a movement to keep the Democrats and Republicans out of the Governor's Mansion.
...
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND THE TIME IS NOW!
Good for you! I hope you kick their asses and enourage other states to do the same.
Originally posted by DEMON CUNT
How the hell can Warham Sandwhich be so fucking mis-fucking-informed about everything?
He's gotta be faking! Maybe another one of Ford's aliases? His evil conservative side coming out?
Hah! If I HAD a "conservative side" it couldn't be that evil.
ELVIS
06-29-2006, 09:22 PM
Originally posted by FORD
Are you willing to take a stand against this fraud perpetuated on the entire country, or are you comfortable with fraudulent elections??
"While there have been no documented cases of these voting machines being hacked"
:rolleyes:
Cathedral
06-29-2006, 09:55 PM
Originally posted by FORD
Cat, the most important thing you can do in Ohio is get some sort of injunction to get Blackwell's ass forcibly removed from any involvement with this fall's election.
Otherwise, he will "win" even if everybody voted for the Libertarian candidate.
Honestly, I don't see how ANY Republican can win a fair election in that state after all the corruption of Blackwell, Taft, Ney, et al.
I don't know how to go about that.
I would really like to get the electronic machines banned though, i don't trust them at all.
Blackwell doesn't have a lot of support in my county, that is a fact.
But Bill Price is gaining serious momentum and support from both Dem and Republican voters.
And to be brutally honest, I am not convinced there is anything that can be done to stop the corruption if e-voting is in place in any state.
Cathedral
06-29-2006, 09:57 PM
Originally posted by ELVIS
:rolleyes:
There is no evidence they haven't, either... ;)
Originally posted by ELVIS
:rolleyes:
It's the corporate media. They have to adjust to the reality slowly.
And their argument is technically correct. Nobody has yet been caught in the act of changing the vote count of an election. But in many cases, the numbers before and after have changed so radically - with the before numbers matching exit polls - that no other explanation makes sense.
And then there was this little piece of live television.....
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FhMUtzOxjJY"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FhMUtzOxjJY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
...in which the Man Who Should Be President demonstrates exactly how easy it is to change the results in the Diebold tabulator.
Let me put that another way. Howard Dean knows how to hack a Diebold tabulator. Doesn't that concern you Busheep at all? :D
Guitar Shark
06-29-2006, 10:56 PM
Originally posted by FORD
Let me put that another way. Howard Dean knows how to hack a Diebold tabulator. Doesn't that concern you Busheep at all? :D
So THAT's how Cuntine Gregoire became the governor of our state.
Originally posted by Guitar Shark
So THAT's how Cuntine Gregoire became the governor of our state.
Can't be. Howard Dean wasn't DNC chair yet ;)
LoungeMachine
06-29-2006, 11:26 PM
Originally posted by Guitar Shark
So THAT's how Cuntine Gregoire became the governor of our state.
Talk about a "nose-holding dem vote"
The lesser of whogivesashit,theybothsuckhard.
And now the head of elections moved to Cali. :D
Originally posted by LoungeMachine
Talk about a "nose-holding dem vote"
The lesser of whogivesashit,theybothsuckhard.
And now the head of elections moved to Cali. :D
Well, Christine may be the DLC poster girl, but damn it, if the Republicans want in the governors mansion in this state, then they need to put their party back in the hands of the Dan Evans and the John Spellmans and not this hardcore religious reich base which has owned their party since the 1980's.
The only difference between Dino Rossi and Ellen Craswell was better marketing. Their platforms were much the same (except for Rossi's being corporatist on top of christo-fascist)
The man played with Ann Coulter dolls and named his dog after Chimpy. That is NOT a moderate.
Sam Reed is probably the last moderate Republican in this state. And he'll never get elected to any higher office because the assholes think he "betrayed" them by obeying the law and NOT being the type of Secretary of State that Ohio and Florida have.
Nickdfresh
06-30-2006, 05:27 AM
Originally posted by FORD
Give me that process (without Supreme Court interference) everytime, over an insecure MS Access database that can be hacked by anyone with a laptop and a goddamn wi-fi card
I heard this today. Anybody with a Blackberry and a little knowledge could get into one of these things... It's scary that people are this stupid and irresponsible with technology...
Originally posted by Nickdfresh
I heard this today. Anybody with a Blackberry and a little knowledge could get into one of these things... It's scary that people are this stupid and irresponsible with technology...
But not all that surprising when you consider how stupid and irresponsible they are with everything else.
Cathedral
07-01-2006, 12:28 AM
Originally posted by LoungeMachine
Too bad Warpig, et al don't have HALF the sac Catheter has.
The pResident has let you down, Cath?
He's Warpig's HERO
Yeah, he has let me down, he let all of us down domestically.
The only thing i need to site to prove my point is the fact that he has submitted more Ammendments to the Constitution than any other President in History.
THE CONSTITUTION WAS NOT DESIGNED TO BE CHANGED BY ANY PRESIDENT!
They knew when they wrote the damn thing that if any changes were to be made, writing the Constitution would have been a waste of time.
It's the same as changing the rules in the middle of a game.
but what has come from Ammendments?
More fucking changes because changing one thing ran the risk of making other parts Unconstitutional which leads to what?
More fucking changes...
It isn't right, and it only hurts the people who actually keep this country running...YOU and ME, Blue Collar America..
Originally posted by Cathedral
Yeah, he has let me down, he let all of us down domestically.
The only thing i need to site to prove my point is the fact that he has submitted more Ammendments to the Constitution than any other President in History.
THE CONSTITUTION WAS NOT DESIGNED TO BE CHANGED BY ANY PRESIDENT!
They knew when they wrote the damn thing that if any changes were to be made, writing the Constitution would have been a waste of time.
It's the same as changing the rules in the middle of a game.
but what has come from Ammendments?
More fucking changes because changing one thing ran the risk of making other parts Unconstitutional which leads to what?
More fucking changes...
It isn't right, and it only hurts the people who actually keep this country running...YOU and ME, Blue Collar America..
Not only that, but it's the nature of the Ammendments that are being proposed by the Chimpministration. Whatever your feelings on gay marriage or flag burning might be, the real offense is that Chimpy and his rubber stampers in Congress want ammendments that restrict rights of American citizens, which is the polar opposite of what most other ammendments have done.
Not to mention that the issues themselves just don't come close to demanding the equivalent of "spinal surgery" on the laws of this nation (assuming the Constitution is still the "backbone" of the law)
Cathedral
07-01-2006, 02:54 AM
At this point i could care less about Gay Marriage or Flag Burning.
We have far far more pressing issues on the table.
If i want to burn the flag it is, as far as i know now, protected under freedom of expression.
Not that i'd burn one, yet, though it's my right to protest, for now at least.
And i'm not gay, so i've backed off the issue as it doesn't really apply to me.
To each their own, it isn't any of my business what people do with their lives.
Originally posted by Cathedral
At this point i could care less about Gay Marriage or Flag Burning.
We have far far more pressing issues on the table.
If i want to burn the flag it is, as far as i know now, protected under freedom of expression.
Not that i'd burn one, yet, though it's my right to protest, for now at least.
And i'm not gay, so i've backed off the issue as it doesn't really apply to me.
To each their own, it isn't any of my business what people do with their lives.
It's really as simple as that on both issues, yet still so many buy into this wedge issue bullshit. How the Hell do you get through to these people and convince them that these idiots in office are merely pandering?
Even when they see in print that Chimpy referred to the Constitution as "just a goddamned piece of paper", they don't seem to get it.
Cathedral
07-01-2006, 03:27 AM
His ass would have been ****, <----fill in the blank, by it's authors.
BigBadBrian
07-01-2006, 09:36 AM
Warham already posted a pic like this, but I'll take a good team of software engineers and an E-voting concept over this anyday:
http://www.kevindiehl.com/humor/Manual%20Recount.jpg
At least it's a verified record of the vote. If the punchcard machines are properly maintained, there wouldn't be a problem with "hanging chads" or holes not completely punched through.
As I said before, that entire process (minus the Supreme Court interference) would be worth it in order to know the actual winner of the election, rather than accept a result from a questionable machine that is 180 degrees different from exit polls or the voting history of the district in question.
BigBadBrian
07-01-2006, 04:08 PM
Originally posted by FORD
At least it's a verified record of the vote. If the punchcard machines are properly maintained, there wouldn't be a problem with "hanging chads" or holes not completely punched through.
As I said before, that entire process (minus the Supreme Court interference) would be worth it in order to know the actual winner of the election, rather than accept a result from a questionable machine that is 180 degrees different from exit polls or the voting history of the district in question.
No.
There is no "paper trail" with the punch card system, contrary to the common argument.
You only know how many people (living or dead) voted for which candidate. You cannot prove what people voted for which candidate to be able to detect errors. The punch card and optical scanners are just as flawed as the computerized systems.
Anyhow, Diebold and other automated systems are the wave of the future. Count on it.
:gulp:
Warham
07-01-2006, 05:52 PM
Originally posted by LoungeMachine
Too bad Warpig, et al don't have HALF the sac Catheter has.
The pResident has let you down, Cath?
He's Warpig's HERO
You don't know who my hero is, knucklehead.
George W. Bush doesn't even rate.
:rolleyes:
Originally posted by BigBadBrian
Anyhow, Diebold and other automated systems are the wave of the future. Count on it.
:gulp:
Then there is no future. :(
DEMON CUNT
07-01-2006, 09:27 PM
Originally posted by BigBadBrian
... I'll take a good team of software engineers and an E-voting concept over this anyday...
Unless, of course, Hilary owned the company that produced the e-voting machines. Then you would be very concerned.
Cathedral
07-03-2006, 02:52 AM
A good old #2 pencil and filling in the space for your choice is a better option than e-voting machines.
Hey, it works on SAT tests, it can work here.
And it eliminates the chads altogether.
Unless we want to call into question decades of SAT scores as being inaccurate.
Anything that uses software can be programmed to say whatever the programmer wants it to say.
YOU CANNOT TRUST AN E-VOTING MACHINE, PERIOD!
Jerry H
07-04-2006, 05:01 PM
Originally posted by FORD
Analysis finds e-voting machines vulnerable
Updated 6/26/2006 10:06 PM ET
By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Most of the electronic voting machines widely adopted since the disputed 2000 presidential election "pose a real danger to the integrity of national, state and local elections," a report out Tuesday concludes.
There are more than 120 security threats to the three most commonly purchased electronic voting systems, the study by the Brennan Center for Justice says. For what it calls the most comprehensive review of its kind, the New York City-based non-partisan think tank convened a task force of election officials, computer scientists and security experts to study e-voting vulnerabilities.
The study, which took more than a year to complete, examined optical scanners and touch-screen machines with and without paper trails. Together, the three systems account for 80% of the voting machines that will be used in this November's election.
While there have been no documented cases of these voting machines being hacked, Lawrence Norden, who chaired the task force and heads the Brennan Center's voting-technology assessment project, says there have been similar software attacks on computerized gambling slot machines.
"It is unrealistic to think this isn't something to worry about" in terms of future elections, he says.
The report comes during primary season amid growing concerns about potential errors and tampering. Lawsuits have been filed in at least six states to block the purchase or use of computerized machines.
Election officials in California and Pennsylvania recently issued urgent warnings to local polling supervisors about potential software problems in touch-screen voting machines after a test in Utah uncovered vulnerabilities in machines made by Diebold Election Systems.
North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold did not return calls for comment. The company, a major manufacturer of e-voting machines, said earlier this month that security flaws cited in its machines were theoretical and would be addressed this year.
The new threat analysis does not address specific machines or companies. Instead, it "confirms the suspicions about electronic voting machines that people may have had from individual reports" of problems, Norden says.
Among the findings:
•Using corrupt software to switch votes from one candidate to another is the easiest way to attack all three systems. A would-be hacker would have to overcome many hurdles to do this, the report says, but none "is insurmountable."
•The most vulnerable voting machines use wireless components open to attack by "virtually any member of the public with some knowledge and a personal digital assistant." Only New York, Minnesota and California ban wireless components.
•Even electronic systems that use voter-verified paper records are subject to attack unless they are regularly audited.
•Most states have not implemented election procedures or countermeasures to detect software attacks.
"There are plenty of vulnerabilities that can and should be fixed before the November election," says David Jefferson, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory computer scientist who served on the task force. "Whether they will or not remains to be seen."
The report said state election officials could improve voting-machine security if they conduct routine audits comparing voter- verified paper trails to the electronic record and ban wireless components in voting machines.
"A voting system that is not auditable contains the seeds of destruction for a democracy," says Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., a chief sponsor of a bill to improve electronic-voting security.
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-26-e-voting_x.htm
THE BCE HACKED INTO THEM!!!!!!!
:D
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