Florida's touchscreen voting machines appear to work smoothly in crucial p

[Kadie]

Florida's touchscreen voting machines appear to work smoothly in crucial primary test

RACHEL LA CORTE, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, August 31, 2004


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



(08-31) 13:57 PDT MIAMI (AP) --

Touchscreen machines brought in to replace the punchcard ballots at the center of the 2000 presidential fiasco appeared to work smoothly in primary voting Tuesday, in a crucial test for Florida less than three months before the November election.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, Secretary of State Glenda Hood said her office had no reports of major problems, even in the most populous counties and those hit hardest by Hurricane Charley.

"Everything is going very smoothly," said Hood, who visited precincts around the state Tuesday.

Concerns have centered on the ATM-style touchscreen voting machines that are used in 15 counties and which critics argue are vulnerable to tampering and glitches.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/08/31/politics1657EDT0731.DTL

[tom_paine]

1. Soviet Officials Report Soviet Voting Machines "work smoothly"

THAT is what Glenda Hood is, a Toady of The Party.

Her words are meaningless and unbelievable.

[lanparty]

9. Talked to my mother about this ..

... her opinion is "how would you ever know".

And her question is very refreshing. The truth is that even for computer security expers there is NO WAY to know.

You could install a malicious vote stealing program tht ran on the machine and redirected votes from one candidate to another. Then, that same program could delete itself without a trace.

I'd rather vote by placing transparent, locked boxes than by "computer ballot". There is simply ZERO transparency inside the computer. And it's time we realize that computers are not "magic boxes". They reflect the intentions (and misintentions) of their programmers. Very little software works correctly under all of it's intended scenarios and usage.

In short programmers are fuck shit up (I'm a programmer) and that turns computers into fuck up machines that lack the ability to reflect on their mistakes.

[moondust]

21. Precisely.

There is NO WAY to know.

It sounds like these people may be at the stage where they have learned how to plug it in and push the start button and if it is still running at the end of the day then it "worked smoothly." Unbelievable!

[ParanoidPat]

2. Key phrase, "appear to work smoothly".....

......Now how do you prove it? :shrug: :evilgrin:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. You are not paranoid Pat, that phrase does jump right out!

Appears? Either they do or do not. I believe "appearances" can be deceiving.

[Rose Siding]

6. No one "appeared to" have been electrocuted when voting?

...they did not spontaneously ignite or eat your quarter?

[tuvor]

11. Exactly. At this late stage

"appears" is not a word that instills much confidence.

Would have preferred a statement like "These damn things are ironclad tamper-proof, and we made sure of that years before we proposed using them in something so important as an election. We've had everything checked independently."

I just can't believe that this system of voting, which right now is tantamount to an experiment, is being allowed at all.

Isn't there anyone who's actually in charge of these things on a national scale? If not, WHY not?

[SKKY]

3. Yea, but...

...I'm sure Jeb and Katherine will find a way to jack this up.

[Trajan]

4. Ted Bundy reports ....

That the knife slid in smoothly and accurately as he dispatched his latest victim ...

"Easy as punch", he said ....

[highnooner]

7. I prefer Optical Scanners

because they leave a paper trail. But, who wants a stinking paper trail?

[MGKrebs]

8. Well, that would be the criteria then, wouldn't it?

"Easy to use."
"Cool."
High tech."
"Appear to be working smoothly."


Thank gawd some election terrorist wasn't able to have the screens shift to a flash movie of anime porn or something. As long as THAT didn't happen, it must be OK. Our votes are safe. What's on TV tonight?

[lanparty]

10. If I was to hack voting machines ...

PORN is EXCACTLY the approach I would take. It would be a sure fire way of getting the right wing to turn their backs on Porn-Box voting machines.

[ParanoidPat]

12. Just for you.....

.....:evilgrin:




:kick:

[lanparty]

13. My voting machines would ...

... Show the nudie pictures of Dr Laura. Then I'd shock them with the Schwarzenegger. The finale would be her spread eagle beaver shot!!!!!

[TroubleMan]

14. Not where I was...I'm too tired to explain tonight

You'll see something in GD tomorrow.

[leesa]

15. Where's the proof that the votes aren't altered?

I guess success is measured in the number of votes converted to 'Republican'. Catastrophic success!

[Zero Gravitas]

16. of course they "appear" to work

thats the whole point, there is no way to independently verify that they work or that they have not been tampered with.

[Endangered Specie]

17. In unrelated news: Saddam era Iraqi voting found to be unbiased

:eyes:

[struggle4progress]

18. Fla. Officials Maintain Hand Recounts Ban

Fla. Officials Maintain Ban on Hand Recounts for Touchscreen Voting Despite Judge's Ruling
The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Aug. 30, 2004 — Election officials said a new rule barring hand recounts in 15 counties with touchscreen voting systems will remain in place until after Tuesday's primary despite a judge's invalidation of the rule.
<snip>

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040830_1876.html

[spotbird]

24. Who gives a damn about the courts, this is Republican country!

The politicians make the law, if the courts say otherwise, oh well.

[stickdog]

19. 'Slot machines appear to run smoothly according to casino accountants.'

Just a related headline ...

[scarletlib]

20. I worked as a clerk in a precinct in Palm Beach County

which uses the touchscreen machines.

At the end of the night, we could not get one machine to print out the paper report which is a "tally" of the total votes cast for each issue/person on that machine. We called the elections office and they spent 20 minutes with us on the phone and could not get the machine to print this report.

I had another machine that printed the report which goes along with the cartridges to be counted. However, by law we are supposed to reprint a 2nd report and post it in a public place at the precinct. The machine refused to print the second report. Again I was on the phone with the elections office and they could not get the machine to do the report.

So, I had one machine with no paper report of any kind and a second that would not print out the second report for the public to see.

[Boredtodeath]

22. Which vendor is PBC?

Diebold? ES&S? Sequoia?

And one more question.....did you modem the results in or where the cards hand carried to the election center?

[scarletlib]

23. AVC EDGE by Sequioa

We pulled the cartridges and hand carried them to a designated drop-off site where we signed them over to the election office.

[spotbird]

25. Can you call the author of this story and tell your side?

Maybe she'd be interested.

[scarletlib]

26. I will

[farmbo]

27. Apparently the Press release touting the machines' working 'smoothly'...

...must have been released before any counting actually took place.

See post # 20...etc.