Reply #9: It's Not Exactly the Right Question IMO

[On the Road]

the question is "which system offers greater security against tampering?" This depends not only on the technical system, but on the human process. Most pertinently, who has access under what condition to the ballots or voting data? How are those collected, gathered, and reported? What checks are in place to ensure that the official vote matches the total reported by an individual polling station?

I am more concerned about the possibility of paper ballot fraud than a lot of DUers are. Paper is impervious to hacking, but it creates other ways of committing fraud. Jimmy Carter, for example, wrote a book about his experience with paper ballot fraud. Hunter Thompson was convinced Humphrey used paper ballot fraud in Cuyahoga County to beat McGovern in the 1972 primary. The list can be expanded ad infinitum.

I believe it might be possible to design an automated or partially automated system that would be more secure than pure paper. But it's not what's being done today with the secrecy and massive security holes.