The Pandemic Soul

Please people, READ THIS IF YOU LOVE DEMOCRACY!

New e-voting study shows it’s really easy to steal an election (via Digg)

This is a serious frickin’ problem that people don’t have a clue about because it’s “technical,” or a “paranoid conspiracy theory.” I’m not making this shit up: electronic voting that doesn’t have the oversight of the people will lead us to the implosion of the entire democratic process.

Need more proof? Howabout this: 20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA. Notice the plethora of sources cited — research the fraud for yourself.

So how can it be fixed? Open-source the voting software and machines. For the non-initiated, here’s the long and short of open-source: it allows anyone to see the code behind software. (The term “open source” can apply to many realms, but right now we’re talking about the software and hardware of voting machines.) So, you’d think this would be a recipe for a disaster, right? Wrong!

Ever heard of Linux? It’s an open-source operating system. Think Windows, but made by thousands of people who don’t work for a company like Microsoft. It’s used throughout the world to run internet servers and desktops, and is widely considered one of the most stable and secure platforms. (To learn more about “crowdsourcing” — unpaid or low-paid amateurs who use their spare time to create content, solve problems, even do corporate R & D, per Wikipedia — see the article in Wired.)

Here’s the thing: open-source is great because anyone and everyone can see the strengths and flaws of a program. So, if we create voting machines and voting software that is open-source, then every person with any kind of technical knowledge (especially the smart ones, who are using their powers for good!) can look through the code and find any flaws that might lead to vote hacking of any type. This is good, because we want to eliminate all those holes that could lead to a broken election.

If this strikes any chord at all in you, then learn more about it! I’ve put together some articles and sites that might be of interest to you:

• Aussies Do It Right: E-Voting, Wired Nov, 03, 2003
• Open-Source E-Voting Heads West, Wired Jan, 21, 2004
• Open Source Voting Consortium
• Vote Trust USA

This is something we need to fix, and fast. Republican, Democrat — we can all agree that the people’s voice needs to be heard. Electronic voting is great, because it will eliminate the amibiguity in our voting process. But we need to take it a step further and ensure that our electronic voting is cinched up tight and secure.