Feds eschew e-voting paper trail for the status quo

Remember that recommendation that we expected to see come out of the National Institute of Standards and Technology pretty soon -- you know, the one that would de-certify all those fundamentally flawed direct record electronic voting machines? Well, we apparently spoke too soon, as The Washington Post now reports that the recommendation didn't even make it out of committee. The Technical Guidelines Development Committee, a section within NIST that advises the US Election Assistance Committee, failed to reach the 8 votes necessary to pass the decertification measure. Seriously. Why didn't this blindingly obvious recommendation pass? Well, it's not entirely clear, but committee member Brit Williams, a computer scientist who certified Georgia's electronic voting system (we all know how well that went), said "You are talking about basically a re-installation of the entire voting system hardware." Um, dude, last we checked, if something's broke, you gotta fix it. Seriously, when was the last time you heard about a computer scientist that went out of his or her way to avoid fixing a system they installed? Don't answer that.

[Via Techdirt]

[Chris @ Dec 6th 2006 6:05AM]

I think it doesn't pass, because its not such a open-and-shut case. A little printer on each computer is just another part that can/will go wrong. In fact there are machines ou tthere that have printers on them - and guess what, they are now missing the paper records from unreadable/not printed.

Electronic voting is the way to go - but remember, KISS. Forget the paper and fix the electronic version.

[Luke @ Dec 6th 2006 6:43AM]

I find it so ammusing that Engadget of all websites is so anti-electronic voting. There are problems with any system, yet Engadget chose to jump on the same old "Republicans are stealing the election with electronic machines!" frame. Seems as though November 7th proved em wrong eh? :D

As a Political Science MA student who more or less stays out of politics, nothing irritates me more than a good old fashion political hack job. 9/11 ignoretheobvioustruth movement for one, and the "omg we have isolated incidents of corruption and technical failure, the sky is falling."

Engadget, I have a great solution for you.

1) Punish corurption.
2) Fix Technology.

Oh wait, but we weren't trying to be logical and nonpartisan were we?

[csnoke @ Dec 6th 2006 8:54AM]

I read Engadget's article differently... it seems to me that they're criticizing the e-vote only machines... those that fail to leave a successful paper trail that can be later confirmed. There is no indication whatsoever of "Replublican's are trying to steal the election" I'm unsure what part of the article even gave you that idea.

When I vote the computer goes through each option and then I confirm my ballot, after which it prints off my ballot which I visually confirm, and then I hit a "Yes, my ballot is correct" button which send the paper trail into a locked box.

I have seen a paper ballot which is correct and has my voter ID run off into a box. I know there are ways to beat this system... but I feel better about it than an electronic only, digital memory card which I cannot read or confirm.

[Julian Bond @ Dec 6th 2006 8:06AM]

Perhaps the US electronic voting advisers should go and investigate India and how electronic voting was successfully handled there.

There again, perhaps you should visit the UK and find out how to run elections successfully in the 21st century using nothing more than paper and pencils. Although we're trying to break the system as well by expanding absentee voting in ways that are not secure.

[hydrogen_wv @ Dec 6th 2006 8:06AM]

Engadget is against electronic voting because they realize that the people in charge of it can't even keep from screwing up something this simple. When we get some competent programmers to write the software for these machines, then beta testing can start. I think that before using these machines, they should have set up a mock election with booths in major cities across the US (not all cities, just 10-15) have people come in and vote (for something even as rediculous as favorite candybar), have them tell you what they voted for on the way down (paper copies of all votes, in other words), and if all goes well with no breakdowns, mess-ups, etc. and the paper votes and electronic votes coincide, then consider starting to use the machines....

I don't believe that the machines are a plot by the Republicans or anything, I think they are just shitty, half-assed machines that everyone creamed there pants about and were put to use before all the proper testing had been done.

[TC @ Dec 6th 2006 8:53AM]

Sad Points:
It's sad that the software on these machines are using MS ACCESS.

In certain NYC districts, we still use old Lever voting machine. The only issue is that they are limited to 99,999 votes per machine.

That these companies provide near flawless printing for Bank ATMs but can't for the most important right of a US Citizen.

The independent ATM at the local Bodega has better physical security.

Canada does paper ballots and has near flawless elections.

To Luke:
You are such a pathetic citizen. First you are a PoliSci student and stated that you do not get involved in politics. Second the issue of the flawed voting machines has nothing to do with Party Affiliations. It about the right to vote. Return to your Wii/X360/PS3 and bury your head cause people like you don't matter. You are just cattle at a slaughterhouse and are happy just to get your feed.

[MercWorks @ Dec 6th 2006 9:54AM]

@TC:

While I agree a PoliSci student who doesn't care about politics is pretty ridiculous (and outright stupid), are you suggesting in your last sentence that gamers - by default - don't care about the state of world affairs? How about the fact that less than half this idiot country votes, and with fairly good reason? People who refuse to vote for a bunch of corrupt fucking douchebags don't matter?

This whole situation parallels politics in the United States: The system is broken and instead of supporting the people who want to fix it we'd rather just bang our heads against the wall try it again under slightly different circumstances, stating blindly that there is no other way. Dumb, flawed, "patriotic" logic. My friend, you may matter, but that does not mean you're not making things any better around here.

[Mark @ Dec 6th 2006 9:46AM]

This discussion thread just goes to show how politicized the whole thing can get. People such as Luke, for example, reject the idea that everyone has a right to confirm their vote and have a hard copy available for verification if needed, solely because the party which he clearly associates himself with has made it their party line that "nothing is wrong with the system." But there is, and "fixing technology" is EXACTLY what we're talking about. Just becuase the GOP was under fire first for possibly benefitting from botched voting machines, that doesn't mean that the machines still aren't flawed, regardless of who might benefit.

If we can't agree on this simple thread that confirmation is either a good/bad idea, without politicizing the issue, imagine how those NIST meetings played out.

[MercWorks @ Dec 6th 2006 9:56AM]

And furthermore, since when is politics and voting the only things that matter? Seriously, if that's how you base your worth you're not a very worthwhile person.

[paul34 @ Dec 6th 2006 12:24PM]

Exactly as I posted back in the last post. I'm pretty sure none of us REALLY expected a multi-millionaire company to actually get their systems rejected. Companies losing in America? What a ludicrous concept!