[TriLUG] Open source voting software

[Jeremy Portzer]

On Fri, 2002-11-08 at 07:04, Mike Mueller wrote:
> I saw a rant today associated with the Baldwin county Alabama vote tallying 
> software glitch that suggested having open source voting system software.  
> Not a bad idea.  Just make sure that the voting judges observe the loading of 
> software into the machines.  Even with closed source software I wonder how 
> voting fraud at the software level is prevented?

I'm of the opinion that ANY paperless voting system is a bad idea. 
While certainly open source software is better, since people could
independently look for problems, it doesn't mean there won't be
problems.  And if there's a bug, how can you do an independent recount? 
You can't.

The paper optical-scan system used in Wake & Durham counties is the best
compromise I think.  The ballots are counted by computer normally, but
the paper is available for a recount if necessary.  What's wrong with
this system?  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Here's a good article critiquing electronic voting, with a number of
references to other resources on this topic:
http://www.notablesoftware.com/evote.html

Also, there have been a number of threads about this recently on the
Usenet newsgroup triangle.general which you may find interesting.  

--Jeremy