E-Voting Problems Are Mostly User Error, Says ITAA

grcumb writes "InfoWorld is carrying a story today which mentions a press kit being distributed by the Information Technology Association of America. Its purpose? To 'help journalists put election equipment-related snafus in context.' Most e-voting problems, they insist, are [l]user issues, where people who don't know how to deal with the new technology cause delays as they seek assistance. They don't seem to feel the need for journalists to understand basic system design issues (like making sure your computer and human processes work), why testing didn't identify these problems, nor why this is better than paper ballots."

Comments

Re:Ummm....

[gosand]

this is the ITAA? Aren't they supposed to advocate GOOD software design? Guess what, if the user is making errors, then it's the problem of the software maker. Obviously they didn't design their interface right, obviously they didn't write their instructions well enough etc. The user isn't supposed to have to study a user's manual before voting. Come on, this "blame the user" bs is getting really old. Appearently corporations are allowed to be totally incompetent with their own products, but it's always the users fault if they don't know how to use them......

Did I actually read this on Slashdot? What ever happened to RTFM?

Seriously though, I agree with what you said - I just wish that the OSS community understood this concept. I am not trolling, this is a serious issue with software in general, I am just pointing it out about OSS because we have to police ourselves. Believe me, I am a software tester, so I know how badly software can be designed. *I* am comfortable with reading man pages and the command line, but I understand that most people are not. As close as OSS software is to being "there", there are still some hurdles to get over. One of them is "ease of use" - but I temper that comment with this: only if we need OSS to take hold in the "real world". Things have to work more smoothly or people won't put up with it.

I am a victim of this too. I had a Mandrake 10.0 laptop, and recently purchased an 802.11g setup. I could NOT get the card working (Netgear WG511). After much searching on Google, I found out that there is a bug (reported in Bugzilla for Prism54) where the newest versions of the cards don't work, and they don't know how to fix it. So I was SOL with Linux. I could have returned the card (internet), wait for a fix, or just install Win2k. I gritted my teeth and installed Win2k. Now my wireless setup works, which is all I wanted in the first place. Maybe there was another solution, I don't know, but I got tired of fcking with it after 2 days.

Re:Well it's true

[Anonymous Coward]

That obviously justifies vote fraud.

Thanks so much for your post.

[OT] USA = Laughing Stock of Democratic World

[NoSuchGuy]

Sorry to tell you this. But you (=read: citizen of the USA) are the laughing stock of the "democratic" world.

Your administration threatens to bring democracy to so called rogue nations and can not guarantee a fair and equal vote in their own country.

Now a group of people want's to blame the other group of election fraud in "the land of the free and home of the brave" because of technical reasons.

1) Laws that forbid the recounting of votes,
2) no papertrail,
3) faulty technology
4) internet connected PCs / Laptops

==> tampering with the election result made easy!

You have to be registered to vote! Can someone tell my why? Why have you to tell you are a republican or a democratic voter?

Your voting system is fucked up! With or without technical assistance!

Rember your Supreme Court decision to stop the recounting of votes! In a democracy the people have only one chance to directly influence politics with their vote. Now the your Supreme Court denies you your right that every vote is counted and that all votes are equal! Think about it!

The old paper ballots are proven to be the best why spend millions of tax payers money for some bad products.

In the occupied regions the prisoners are/were tortured in the name of democracy by soldiers and intelligence personnel or contractors.
Just ask the iraqi people what's the difference between the regime of Sadam und the new proclaimed democratic gouvernment (=read: puppet regime) under supervision of the "coalition of the willing".

They will answer that the infrastructure is destroyed and their oil ressources are under an freign power (Halliburton).

I've said enough.
I'am sad to see the USA go down the drain.

Some years ago I wanted to visit the USA as a tourist and maybe work for some time.
Now you became a nation where free/other/liberal ideas are suppressed by fascistic groups like the Neocons, sects (=Church groups) or companies.
These groups have to much influence.

The pecking order is
1) politican
2) companies / lobby groups
3) religious groups
...) $other group
n-1) animals
n) people

Mod me down if you like -
I don't care because I live in a world more free than the USA.
In Germany we learned 60 years ago to not run into wars anymore like some brain dead void of commonsense.