Election fixes stir worries on ballot security

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Houston Chronicle

Johnnie German admitted he was nervous as he used high-security codes to tap into the Harris County elections computer system last week and change some of the results manually.

The system was in good hands as the votes were counted from the sprawling Nov. 6 contests. German is the county's respected administrator of elections, and there were witnesses present as he corrected the vote totals on a sales tax referendum for a fire/ambulance district in the Cypress-Fairbanks area of northwest Harris County.

But German's late-night deed, said by officials to be a first-time event in the six years Harris County has used the eSlate voting system, has rekindled the debate about whether the newest electronic methods for counting votes should be trusted.

What German graphically demonstrated was that with the proper physical and informational access, one person can alter the results of an election in a county of 1.8 million registered voters.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5299827.html

[spotbird]

1. Paper ballots with random audits

there isn't a secure system, only systems which are more difficult to hack. This one seems like a no brainer.

[AtomicKitten]

2. It is insane that we have a national election in less than one year

... and virtually nothing has been done to remedy the problem of EVM fraud.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. "Remedy" implies that the system is broken

It is not broken; it is exactly what the Rulers want. If Pakistan used EVMs, Musharraf would be more than happy to hold democratic elections.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. "Corrected" vote totals?

Sounds like Bushspeak to me.