BBV: "The Republican Principle of Openness to the Public"

[scottxyz]

Any Congressperson in any democratic nation can read only this peroration (the resounding finish to an absolutely magisterial letter from a Congressman, evidently to a proprietary software vendor or lobbyist) and understand why Black Box Voting must be forever banned.

"The Republican Principle of Openness to the Public"

"In conformance with this universally accepted principle, the citizen has the right to know all information held by the State and not covered by well-founded declarations of secrecy based on law. Now, software deals with information and is itself information. Information in a special form, capable of being interpreted by a machine in order to execute actions, but crucial information all the same because the citizen has a legitimate right to know, for example, how his vote is computed or his taxes calculated. And for that he must have free access to the source code and be able to prove to his satisfaction the programs used for electoral computations or calculation of his taxes." {Emphasis added.}

- DR. EDGAR DAVID VILLANUEVA NUÑEZ
Congressman of the Republica of Perú

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/25157.html
(available in Spanish and English)

Possibly one of the most powerful arguments for open-source voting (and other) software that I have ever heard...

Long - clear - well-written - inspiring.
100% accessible to non-techies!

[Eloriel]

1. Very nice

Latin America will soon be outshining us where democracy is concerned, if they aren't alredy.

Eloriel

[catzies]

2. And we are the Banana Republic.

Certainly these Banana Republicans are in charge of Fukcing Up Everything.

Do we know where the esteemed President Carter stands on this issue? I respect his opinion on this mightily, and would dearly love to know.

President Carter, save us from another coup!

[BeFree]

3. Pretty much says it all, eh?

The software is information, and as such should be freely available to any citizen. Paper, being the most efficient and easily understood holder of information, is the only completely honest form used to tabulate votes. Just say NO to computers owning your vote.

[scottxyz]

4. Shameless kick

The techies over at Slashdot liked this letter a lot too:

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/05/06/1739244&mode=thread&tid=109

"Peruvian Congressman David Villanueva Nuñez brilliantly vapourizes the Chicken Little division of the MS {Microsoft} FUD {Fear-Uncertainty-Doubt} Machine. Long read but inspiring."

[Pobeka]

5. Unshameless kick