| TL;DR - let Tom Scott explain why electronic voting is a shockingly bad idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3_0x6oaDmI No, electronic voting should never exist. Seriously, stop trying to add terrible amounts of complexity to a solved problem. We have hundreds of years of experience with how to solve simple paper ballots. They work. They can be trivially easy to understand[1]. Any complexity added to this As for not having a hard copy backup - do you seriously trust 1) the computer hardware, OS, and other standard parts, 2) the software designer (no mistakes allowed), 3) the probably rushed implementation (bug free software?), 3b) if Diabold was involved, an easily modified MS Access DB with no audit trail and an open data port, 4) the collation process process good luck finding a device that uses crypto or signing, and 5) that all of the above will somehow stay secure from attack when run by numerous volunteers, defending against regular attempts to fix the results or otherwise modify the results. In a perfect world, electronic voting would work. In reality, electronic voting is guaranteed to fail far more often tan simple hand counting paper ballots. Even worse, the complexity of electronic voting allows damage to amplify. There s only so much damage someone can do to a paper ballot or local group of ballots. Once you involve networked computers, there is the risk that an attack to affect the entire system. What is the benefit, anyway? Very slightly faster results? Do we add all that risk, cost, and complexity so the media can have their show a bit earlier? The supposed benefits are not important. Electronic voting should be met with extreme suspicion. Like the con artist that tries to distract you with numbers and extra movements, electronic voting is almost certainly a sign that someone is trying to fix an election. [1] Canada gets ballot design[2] right - just make a mark next to your choice. Doesn't really matter what kind of mark, and no "hanging chads" or other mechanical nonsense that can fail. [2] http://blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org/allin/files/2012/11... |
