Watchdog boss blasts e-voting plans
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Blighty vote fraud may be worst in Europe The chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life yesterday delivered a stinging attack on attempts to modernise the British voting system.â¦
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Black Box Voting hopes to halt the use of Diebold's voting machines.
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Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said Friday the head of the Justice Department's voting rights division should be fired for saying voter ID laws hurt the elderly but aren't a problem for minorities because they often die before old age.
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A think tank warns that a backup won't improve electronic voting systems, just increase costs.
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A watchdog says all-postal voting should not be used in UK elections. Do you agree with these findings?
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Elections experts today questioned the reliability and security of e-voting systems during a congressional committee hearing.
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Activists and computer programmers Wednesday demonstrated what they said were flaws with electronic voting machines that could allow hackers to change vote outcomes Nov. 2...
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By Jennifer Davies, The San Diego Union-Tribune  Jun. 22--From hanging chads to computer glitches that mysteriously lose  thousands of votes, Lori Steele figures there has to be a better way to run  elections.
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As proposed legislation adding safeguards to electronic voting languishes, criticism of the bill is mounting among legislators and experts.
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Europe&#39;s top election watchdog criticized Uzbekistan&#39;s parliamentary election, in which opposition groups were barred from running, saying Monday it fell significantly short of democratic standards.
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Advertiser websites in his sights The new boss of the advertising watchdog has said bogus web adverts and websites need better regulation and conceded that current rules are not far-reaching enough.â¦
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A judge said it would be too costly to allow voters skeptical of electronic voting systems to opt for paper ballots.
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JEFFERSON CITY - An election security expert has raised questions about Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt&#39;s plan to let soldiers at remote duty stations or in combat areas cast their ballots with the help of e-mail.
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With the presidential election less than six weeks away, activists and security experts are ratcheting up concern over the use of touch-screen machines to cast votes.
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(InfoWorld) - With hotly contested nationwide elections just weeks away, several computer experts Thursday questioned the reliability and security of e-voting systems during a congressional committee hearing. Access doors of thousands of Diebold AcuVote-TS touch-screen systems can all be opened with the same key -- a type commonly used for office furniture, jukeboxes and hotel minibars, Princeton University computer science professor Edward Felten told the committee. That door protects the removable memory card that stores votes. "Though some claim that election procedures will prevent the kinds of problems we identified, the rigid procedures described in vendor manuals are often ignored in practice," said Felten, co-author of a study that was highly critical of Diebold Election Systems' AccuVote TS. Also today, the Committee on House Administration took no action on legislation proposed by Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) aimed at remedying e-voting vulnerabilities. The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (HR 550), introduced last February, now has more than 200 bipartisan co-sponsors. Among its various provisions, HR 550 would mandate that each machine produce a paper receipt that could be used in a recount. The bill also calls for e-voting vendors to offer greater transparency to their software. By not sending the bill to the floor for a vote, the committee missed any chance of ensuring that November's elections would produce auditable results, Holt said. The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 was aimed at preventing the sort of notorious failures such as occurred in Florida in 2000 due to disputes over manually operated punch-card systems. Some $3 billion was earmarked under HAVA to fund state compliance, with most of that money going to purchase e-voting gear, said committee chairman Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.) in his opening remarks for the hearing. "Though HAVA did not require the adoption of any particular kind of technology, many jurisdictions purchased electronic voting systems because they felt these systems were best able to meet the requirements of HAVA," said Ehlers. "Not surprisingly, some jurisdictions using this new equipment for the first time have encountered some difficulties," he said. Ehlers cited recent problems with e-voting gear in Montgomery County, Md. Earlier this week, Ehlers submitted an amendment to HAVA to reimburse any voting jurisdictions that print out paper ballots for voters who prefer not to cast their votes on touch-screen voting gear this November. Similar legislation was filed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in the Senate. The bill calls for up to 75 cents to be spent per paper ballot. Ehlers estimated that it would probably cost no more than $10 million, based on the estimate of the number of voters in precincts using touch-screen gear that don't offer a paper trail. He told Computerworld he offered the amendment because he didn't expect HR 550 to be passed this year. "We thought in light of the problems we've seen, most recently in Maryland, that collectively, these problems were shaking voters' confidence," he said. "We thought if jurisdictions want to give voters another choice, we should support them in that." Ehlers declined to predict when or if the emergency amendment would pass. Like all House members, Ehlers is up for re-election this year, and his district uses e-voting gear. "Certainly, any voting system that is not verifiable and auditable is of concern," he said.
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Although they're glad the state of Ohio is looking for ways to improve and secure its e-voting systems, e-voting advocates said today that moving too fast to implement changes could make things worse.
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26 December 2004 -- Uzbek President Islam Karimov has lashed out at Europe&#39;s top election watchdog for criticizing today&#39;s parliamentary vote.