Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

More Diebold E-Voting Vulnerabilities

Posted by timothy on from the good-to-get-the-counties-involved dept.

presmike writes "ok, it looks like Diebold has more to worry about now that it is possible to change votes with a 5 line VB script. 'The vulnerabilities involve the Global Election Management System, or GEMS, software that runs on a county's server and tallies votes after they come in from Diebold touch-screen and optical-scan machines in polling places.'"

4 of 535 comments (clear)

  1. Blimey by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Interesting
    vbs script running in the background, well, they don't say it but it seems obvious that GEMS is running in Windows, the most breakable OS in the world. I'd think with that in mind that little scripts are the lease of their worries. If someone compromises their network and server enough to install and run a script, they've got considerably more at their fingertips.

    "There's 14,375 votes for Bush, 14,374 for Kerry and 2,793,036 for Mr. Magoo, let's tell the public about this 4 years after the election, OK?"

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  2. Re:Get rid of E-Voting now! by Paulrothrock · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The Scientific American article I posted about says that paper ballots are even more subject to jamming than punch card ballots. And while they're human readable, they take much longer to count than electronic ballots.

    Their solution: A dual-method system. First, the person fills out a card with their choices. Then they put the card into a slot which reads it, so they get a chance to review their choices. If they want to make changes, the old ballot is stamped with "Void" and shredded, and a new one pops out, ready to use. If they accept the choices, the ballot is placed in a bin *and* recorded electronically.

    --
    I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
  3. 2 brothers will count 80% of the vote by puke76 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I submitted this in April, crack mods rejected it.

    Two brothers will count 80% of the vote.

    In a country where no-bid contracts and the VP's corporate relationships aren't questioned, this is worrying.

    --
    London's finest organic fairtrade coffee
  4. Diebold Execs: Stupid or Crazy? by Paulrothrock · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Diebold spokesman David Bear said by phone that no one would risk manipulating votes in an election because it's against the law and carries a heavy penalty.

    WTF?!? Murder is against the law and carries a heavy penalty and people still do it, numbnuts.

    Diebold is saying essentially what the Bush administration and, really, all NeoCons. "Trust us, we'll do what's right. Why shouldn't you trust us? We're respected people in power."

    Hell, that was an argument a White House attorney made in front of the Supreme Court! When asked whether a chief executive could falsify documents he said something to the effect of "Yes, but *this* chief executive wouldn't do that."

    Why not create a system with ways to keep people from doing things that we don't like, instead of *trusting* people you *don't know* to do the right thing. We could call it something like "checks and balances."

    --
    I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.