Wisconsin Requires Open Source, Verifiable Voting

AdamBLang writes "Previously covered on Slashdot, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle today signed legislation that "will require the software of touch-screen voting machines used in elections to be open-source. Municipalities that use electronic voting machines are responsible for providing to the public, on request, the code used." Madison's Capital Times reports "the bill requires that if a municipality uses an electronic voting system that consists of a voting machine, the machine must generate a complete paper ballot showing all votes cast by each elector that is visually verifiable by the elector before he or she leaves the machine.""

Comments

Common sense?

[Anonymous Coward]

Common sense and open source prevailing? In America? Surely not!!

That's great, but

[LodCrappo]

unfortunately you will still have to vote for either a republican, a democrat, or someone who will lose.

Unfortunately,

[Sheetrock]

There's also a provision that the voting machines be made out of cheddar.

Uh oh! I see the next calamity approaching!

[mister_llah]

So instead of people who can't figure out how to punch the proper hole, now we'll have people pushing the wrong button, accidentely pushing the "Are you sure?" prompt's "OK" ....

Oh wait, whew, Wisconsin, not Florida...

Re:Uh oh! I see the next calamity approaching!

[sucker_muts]

This one?
Link.

Re:ABOUT GODDAMN TIME!

[SilverspurG]

will require the software of touch-screen voting machines used in elections to be open-source.

Likely, the moment the lobbyists get their move on this, open source will be redefined to be source code printed on punch cards submitted to the state archives under an NDA to be kept in a vault next to Hoffa's shoes and The Ring of Power.

The printed receipt is fine. Governments have known how to manipulate those for centuries.

buried in the legalese

[revery]

the bill requires that if a municipality uses an electronic voting system that consists of a voting machine, the machine must generate a complete paper ballot showing all votes cast by each elector that is visually verifiable by the elector before he or she leaves the machine.

Of course buried in the legalese was the rest of the bill:

The vote-tallying software shall be closed source and shall be owned in whole by Diebold. As such, the printed ballot shown to elector may have no bearing on actual vote recorded. Names may be substituted based on (1) party of candidate (2) intelligence of choice (3) corruption in district (4) time of day (5) OR if you live in Palm Beach or Broward County, pure whimsy. Additionally, elector may be fined or audited based on vote case, or in extreme cases, placed on the National Do-Not-Fly list and scheduled for investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.

Re:KISS

[Rude Turnip]

To elaborate on kfg's comment..."No. I'd rather not give my employer or corrupt union leader a way of tracing my ballot back to me. I appreciate my status of being employed and only wish to have my bones broken due to a skiing accident."

Democracy run amok!

[second class skygod]

They're acting as if they want to avoid rampant abuse and fraud. While it sounds great, I don't think America is ready for such a radical notion.

-- scsg

Re:Nonsense

[killmenow]

Why are Americans obsessed with diluting their democracy by using machines to do it ?

Shhh! It's easier to control the populace this way. Now shut up!

Re:KISS

[kernelpanicked]

------ Begin PHP Signed Text -----
ReceiptID 243524534523423454345234234
Voted For: Kodos
------ Begin PHP Signatre Block -----
(signature here)
------ End PHP Signatre Block -----
------ End PHP Signed Text -----

I think what you're looking for is 'PGP" signed, but hen again some folks will use php for damn near anything.

Re:The greatest democracy?

[Anonymous Coward]

Forget it, He's rolling

Re:Federal Mandate Time

[User 956]

After the 2000 election debacle, we had money thrown at the states to "fix the problem." So we ended up with 35 different solutions.

Only 35 solutions? I'm pretty sure we have more states than that... Are you using wikipedia for reference again?

Re:KISS

[iluvcapra]

Well, if you're using PHP, I know exactly how I'd vote:

Enter your vote below:

Kodos; INSERT INTO votes ('candidate') VALUES ('Kodos'); INSERT INTO votes ('candidate') VALUES ('Kodos'); INSERT INTO votes ('candidate') VALUES ('Kodos'); INSERT INTO votes ('candidate') VALUES ('Kodos'); INSERT INTO votes ('candidate') VALUES ('Kodos'); INSERT INTO votes ('candidate') VALUES ('Kodos');INSERT INTO votes ('candidate') VALUES ('Kodos'); INSERT INTO votes ('candidate') VALUES ('Kodos');

Etc...

Re:This should not be news.

[Spy der Mann]

...but sadly, it is.

AH! But then it's GOOD NEWS! :)

In other news ...

[Anonymous Coward]

new legislation requires that all electronic voting machines be outfitted with open-source artificial intelligence engines that will examine the positions of the various candidates and compare them to the fundamental ideals of the government. The machines will assign scores to each candidate/issue and select the highest in each choice, thereby eliminating any burden the voting process has on the voter.

In a pilot trial of this technology last November, however, it seems that all electronic voting machines segfaulted since no candidate received a positive score.