Voting Machines – Glitches or An Actual Problem?

Touch screen voting machines are the wave of the future.  As a society we are not unfamiliar with this interface at all.  Everytime I go to the grocery store, an ATM, purchase gas or even something from a vending machine I encounter a touch screen interface.  However, a concerning pattern is arising in regard to these machines.  More and more reports from all over the country have stated that votes are switching.  Some noted instances have come recently from two different counties in Virginia where voters reported that the machine registered candidates which they did not vote for.  In each instance highlighted in the news story from Charleston Gazzette, it was reported that those casting early votes for Senator Obama witnessed their vote being registered for Senator McCain.  The county clerks stated that this problem was “isolated” – this is not true.

In Florida, voting machine problems have been ongoing and even in one instance, 3400 votes disappeared (in this instance it was the optical scanners which have the advantage of having a paper hardcopy that the touch screens do not).  However, last year, it was reported that the machines in Florida had many problems and security issues that needed to be quickly addressed.

Back in September CNN reported that ten vital swing states were reporting problems with their voting machines as well.

The Washington Post reported in August of this year that the Diebold machines in Ohio contained “glitches” which dropped votes and it was blamed on some anti-virus software.

In most instances it is the machines produced by Diebold.  The state of California released a report studying the sourcecode of these machines and concluded that the, “software contains serious design flaws that have
led directly to specific vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit to affect election outcomes”.

In 2006 three researchers from Princeton University showed how vulnerable the Diebold machines are and how easily they are hacked:

Other research teams have echoed the results of the Princeton team’s findings.  Sarah Everett from Rice University in Houston, Texas made this the subject of her dissertation and showed how votes can be changed without the voter noticing.

So, no, Virginia county clerks, this is NOT an isolated problem.  It is a widespread problem.  This also fuels conspiracy theories of rigged elections.  Conspiracy or not, we recognize a problem and it must be fixed but will it be fixed in time for the presidential elections in November?  According to the New York Times, for many states, the answer is “no”.

~ by Cory on October 20, 2008.