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SHRED

(28,136 posts)
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 11:31 AM Jun 2017

Is there any public oversight for e-voting machines?


And aren't they owned by RW corporate interests who do not allow our government to have access to the source code that runs them?
If this is true then how can any oversight be legitimate?
I'm pretty sure our government does not have the resources to make sure all machines function correctly.

Why aren't these machine publicly owned?

Why aren't we protecting the vote better?
The right to vote that our veterans and many others have literally died for?
18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

librechik

(30,663 posts)
1. all very good questions that to be honest, Republicans should answer.
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 11:35 AM
Jun 2017

But they won't. It seems the cheating almost always favors Republicans.

 

SHRED

(28,136 posts)
2. It's like with Russia
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 11:39 AM
Jun 2017

As long as it favors them it's, "what's so bad about Russia anyways?"

When in the past they were staunchly anti Russia.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
3. Yes there is oversight
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 12:38 PM
Jun 2017

I have attended the testing of the machines in my county. Here is the Texas law on this

Sec. 129.023. PUBLIC TEST OF LOGIC AND ACCURACY. (a) The general custodian of election records shall create a testing board consisting of at least two persons. The general custodian of election records shall make every reasonable effort to ensure that the testing board consists of at least one person from each political party that holds a primary election.
(b) Not later than 48 hours before voting begins on a voting system, the general custodian of election records shall conduct a logic and accuracy test. Public notice of the test must be published at least 48 hours before the test begins, and the test must be open to the public.
(c) The general custodian of election records shall adopt procedures for testing that:
(1) direct the testing board to cast votes;
(2) verify that each contest position, as well as each precinct and ballot style, on the ballot can be voted and is accurately counted;
(3) include overvotes and undervotes for each race, if applicable to the system being tested;
(4) include straight-party votes and crossover votes;
(5) include write-in votes, when applicable to the election;
(6) include provisional votes, if applicable to the system being tested;
(7) calculate the expected results from the test ballots;
(8) ensure that each voting machine has any public counter reset to zero and presented to the testing board for verification before testing;
(9) require that, for each feature of the system that allows disabled voters to cast a ballot, at least one vote be cast and verified by a two-person testing board team using that feature; and
(10) require that, when all votes are cast, the general custodian of election records and the testing board observe the tabulation of all ballots and compare the actual results to the expected results.
(d) A test is successful if the actual results are identical to the expected results.
(e) To provide a full and accurate account of the condition of a given voting machine, the testing board and the general custodian of election records shall:
(1) sign a written statement attesting to:
(A) the qualification of each direct recording electronic voting machine that was successfully tested;
(B) any problems discovered; and
(C) the cause of any problem if it can be identified; and
(2) provide any other documentation as necessary.
(f) On completing the testing:
(1) the testing board shall witness and document all steps taken to reset, seal, and secure any equipment or test materials, as appropriate; and
(2) the general custodian for election records shall preserve a copy of the system's software at a secure location that is outside the administrator's and programming entity's control until at least 22 months after election day.

Amended by:
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 682 (H.B. 2524), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2009.
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1164 (H.B. 2817), Sec. 27, eff. September 1, 2011.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
7. The actual voting machines are never on the internet
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 04:25 PM
Jun 2017

I have been an election judge more than once and I get to listen in on the training sessions because my youngest is an election judge. None of the machines where the votes are counted are connected to the internet. Each e-slate machine is connected by wire to a machine called the Judge Booth Controller. The votes are counted by the JBC being taken to the election office and the chip taken out to count the vote. Each machine has three chips that count the votes.

There is a lap top at most polling places where you look up the voters on the county's voter registration rolls but that system does not count or tabulate votes.

I have found that being an election judge helps one understand the voting process.

 

Lee-Lee

(6,324 posts)
9. Your fighting a hopeless battle trying to explain this to many here
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 04:28 PM
Jun 2017

I swear some people must be so scared of technology and so bad at comprehending it that simple facts like voting machines not connecting to the internet are too hard to grasp.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
13. You can not hack into the machine unless you unplug and break the seal
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 05:35 PM
Jun 2017

After the inspection described above, seals are placed on each machine and to open the machine to get to the sections, one would have to break these seals. If a JBC comes to a judge with a broken seal, they are to call the election office. The election workers check to see that the seals are in place when you turn in the JBC.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
12. I try to serve as an election judge once every cycle to keep up on the process
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 05:33 PM
Jun 2017

As a favor to the local election administrator, I have even served as the judge for a GOP primary. GOP primary voters are nasty people

LeftInTX

(24,541 posts)
15. Thanks for this!
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 05:49 PM
Jun 2017

Dumb question: Is a recount/post-election audit possible in Texas?

It is hot, my brain isn't working very well.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
16. Each JBC has a backup chip and they print a paper report
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 06:02 PM
Jun 2017

There are several sources of paper trail that can help. When you check in a voter, that is registered on the laptop and at the county election office. The voter signs a poll book/combination form that provides a record of the number of people who voted. The election judge has to reconcile the number of people who signed in vs. those who voted. Unfortunately, people sometimes complete their ballots but do not hit the cast ballot button and so their votes are not counted. Election judges try to monitor this and we can tell if a voter leaves the machine without finalizing their ballot.

The JBC have back up chips that can be examined in the case of an election contest but these chips should match the chip that was used to tabulate the ballots.

Travis County is working on a prototype system that has a paper trail. If this system works in Travis County, more counties will be looking to adopt since the current machines are old and are having issues

red dog 1

(27,647 posts)
4. Public Oversight for e-voting machines?
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 03:20 PM
Jun 2017

Well, there is the United States Election Assistance Commission, which describes itself this way:
"EAC is an independent, bipartisan commission charged with developing guidance to meet the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, and serving as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration.
The EAC's Testing and Certification program is the critical first step in the process of maintaining the reliability of the voting systems used in our nation's elections."
http://www.eac.gov

The US EAC is the only bipartisan public commission whose job is to ensure fair elections without any voting machine tampering or "hacking"..right?

So naturally, the Republicans are against this bipartisan commission and want it to be disbanded.
"HOUSE GOP MOVES TO KILL ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION"
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/election-assistance-commission-republicans-congress/516462/


RECALL ELECTION FRAUD IN WISCONSIN? YOU BETCHA!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101630961



The best place to get the REAL facts on e-voting machines, aka "Touch-Screen voting machines is
http://blackboxvoting.org

 

TheFrenchRazor

(2,116 posts)
5. they need to be eliminated, period. we need all paper ballots, hand-counted, all the time. unfortun
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 03:54 PM
Jun 2017

unfortunately, a lot of dems don't even know that this is an issue, and repugs are naturally in favor of hackable, non-transparent voting machines, so nothing is going to change any time soon.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
8. The next generation of machines are being tested
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 04:27 PM
Jun 2017

Travis County is testing their own machines that will provide a paper trail. The current machines are getting old and are falling apart. When I was an election judge a while back, my machines locked up 6 times. Luckily the number of votes recorded on the JBC matched the number of voters who I signed in and who signed the "poll book" or combination form.

 

Lee-Lee

(6,324 posts)
10. Volunteer for your local board of elections
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 04:32 PM
Jun 2017

They always need volunteers for all kinds of positions. It varies by state but most have boards made up of local volunteers or local party appointed members who oversee things on a county level and have the authority to ask all the questions they want about the way things are done and how the things work.

And the boards make the choice what machines to buy when new ones are purchased.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
14. Thank you-that is a very great and valuable suggestion
Wed Jun 21, 2017, 05:37 PM
Jun 2017

If I have a choice, I would have a good democrat act as an election worker over being a poll watcher. Election workers can talk to voters and can do more to protect the vote than any poll watcher. The party is always looking for election workers.

Your suggestion makes me smile

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